AS 2023 draws to a close one top amateur has revealed the brutal extremes he has endured in a bid to hang some serious muscle on his frame come his return to the stage next year.
Josh Goold, coached by IFBB pro Sasan Heirati, last competed in 2021 and has pushed his body through a long period of serious eating, as he targets a pro qualifier at the tail end of 2024.
A coach himself and creator of one of the most watchable and enjoyable YouTube channels available right now, with the correct balance of education and humour, [here] Goold threatens to cause a serious shake up in the super-heavyweights.
Speaking to frontdouble, he said: "It has been a long off-season. I was last on stage in 2021 and, coming off of that goal, it was very evident that I'm not a light-heavyweight and I need to be in the supers. If I want to really give it some, I need to build a pro-level physique – you need to have that size.
"So going into the off-season, starting at the back end of that prep, it was a case of, 'right, let's put this size on and spend some time growing and getting bigger. We still have a little bit left of this off-season because I won't be looking to compete until September/October time when there is that little run of pro qualifiers to see how I price up. We've really just been eating a ton of food, lifting big and getting big, progressing lifts and just really enjoying the off-season and embracing it.
"We have cleaned up nicely after being the heaviest I got so far, which was 285lbs [from his last stage weight of roughly 200lbs]. The first push I got to 265lbs, then we cleaned up and I got to about 240 something. Then we pushed back up and I tapped out at 275lbs. Then we pulled back and did another push which is when we hit 285lbs, then we come back. But each time I have been getting heavier and heavier.
"I started this push at 256/257lbs and at the minute I am 270.8lbs – but the leanest 270.8lbs I've been. I should be able to push an extra 15lbs no problem. If I'm not competing until September that gives me a good blast to be able to put that on. I may even get 290lbs, you never know."
Goold has often been vocal about what he calls "getting comfortable with being uncomfortable" in terms of off-season growth.
He said: "I felt really heavy – to the point where my heels all cracked because of the sheer weight of me and because I wasn't looking after my dry skin on the back of my feet. The water retention at that weight was not nice, even wearing socks felt uncomfortable, bending down felt uncomfortable – everything felt uncomfortable.
"I'm 5ft 9in, I'm not very tall – well, I'm 5ft 10 with my hair gelled up – but getting up on your tip-toes to get something, your calves get pumped and your lower back gets pumped. It is uncomfortable and some people say it is miserable, but you know what, we live for this s**t and it's the feeling of being uncomfortable that is living on the edge – this is it!
"Some people like driving fast cars, some of us like putting on lots of f*****g muscle and hopefully when we get on to the stage next year it presents itself as,'f**k me, who's that monster?!' That's it – that's what we want, right?
"Hopefully I have kept my shape all right so I'll a bit of shape, bit of size and hopefully I can do some damage."
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