Online bodybuilding coaching: £300 a month for a text?

Is Ryan Mackins right?

By Gary Chappell

THE debate around online bodybuilding coaching prices has been simmering for years – but this week bodybuilder and coach Ryan Mackins said the quiet part out loud.

In a series of Instagram stories, Mackins questioned whether athletes are being asked to pay £200–£300 per month for what amounts to “a couple (at most) messages a week” to coaches who juggle 120–150 clients at a time.

“Crazy to me that people pay £250-300 for a couple (at most) messages a week and to a coach with 120-150 clients. You’re funding their lavish lifestyle is all. Personal touch matters.”

Those words were blunt. But he went further, suggesting that peak week, the most critical stage of any contest prep, is sometimes being mishandled because coaches apply the same protocol to everyone.

“A lot of coaches that charge this are also f***ing up the peak because they apply the same protocol for everyone,” he said.

Mackins claimed he has experienced it himself. He says he knows others who have too. Indeed, frontdouble.com was told by one top-level bodybuilder at a competition last season that "none of these coaches are worth the money'. In fact, some coaches in the USA costing 'top dollar' will leave you waiting for days for an answer to emails and check-ins.

So the question is: Are rising online bodybuilding coaching prices justified, or has the industry drifted into volume-based business models?

The economics few want to talk about

Let’s look at numbers. If a coach has 120 clients paying £300 per month, that’s £36,000 in monthly income. At 150 clients, that rises to £45,000 per month.

Over a year? That’s £432,000 to £540,000 annually before tax. We are no longer talking about “side-hustle” money. We are now talking about serious money. Half a million pounds a year is not small-scale coaching. It is a substantial business operation.

Scalability is where the conversation about online bodybuilding coaching prices becomes uncomfortable. Online prep used to mean intense oversight. Daily communication during peak week [in some cases, that still applies]. Adjustments based on digestion, stress, sodium retention, sleep and psychological state.

Now? In other cases, it resembles a subscription model; upload photos, receive macros, weekly message, repeat. That does not automatically mean it is poor coaching. But it does raise a question: Can true individualisation exist at high volume?

You see, peak week is not a template exercise. As we know, carb loading response varies wildly, sodium manipulation can flatten or spill a physique, water handling differs athlete to athlete and stress response alone can alter appearance hour to hour.

If one protocol is applied across dozens – or hundreds – of competitors, statistically some will miss.

Mackins’ allegation is that some coaches are prioritising scale over precision. And that is where this debate becomes uncomfortable. Because bodybuilding is judged on millimetres; Fullness. Dryness. Timing. If an athlete peaks incorrectly, they do not get that day back.

The business coach effect

Another point Mackins made was more pointed: “Coaching now for some reason people been doing it a year or two and think that £200–£250 a month is what they’re worth (I blame business coaches).”

This is not a random dig. Over the last five years, online coaching has almost been corporatised, with business coaches actively targeting online coaches with promises of expanding their businesses to six-figure sums.

Charging more is not inherently wrong. In fact, experienced coaches with a proven track record should command premium rates. But the question remains: Is price now being set by marketing psychology rather than coaching quality? And if so, are athletes paying for prestige rather than performance?

It would be disingenuous not to acknowledge the other side, however. There are coaches charging £250–£300 per month who answer daily, provide video analysis or are available in person, customise every phase, travel to shows and deliver consistent results.

High volume does not automatically equal low care. Some systems are efficient and some coaches – despite the level of the athlete – really do have a sharp eye and can instill calm. But others will enjoy success because the level of their client/athlete is already high; few, if any, are turning water into wine, they are literally hand-holding someone who cannot manage their own diet. Is that worth £300 a month?

Transparency is key. If you are one of 150 clients, do you know it? Do you feel it? If your peak protocol matches 10 others, are you aware?

Mackins’ core argument is not about price. It is about personal touch.

The bodybuilding industry is no longer underground. Coaches now build brands before they build athletes. And that is not inherently negative, until it starts affecting outcome.

When the focus becomes client acquisition over client execution, quality inevitably strains. Athletes need to ask themselves one simple question: Are you paying for access, or are you paying for attention? And really, do you actually need the 'service' you are getting?

So: Is Ryan Mackins right?

He may not be right about everyone, but he is right about something. Online coaching has scaled rapidly, prices have risen sharply and some athletes are quietly disappointed with what they receive.

That does not mean the entire industry is broken, but it does mean scrutiny is overdue. And that is because bodybuilding is not Netflix. It is not a subscription service and it is not passive consumption.

It is preparation for a stage where mistakes are magnified under lights. So if you are paying £300 per month, you should not be wondering whether your coach remembers your digestion patterns. You should know.

In the end, results settle the argument. Not follower count. Placings. Conditioning. Consistency. That is the only scoreboard that matters.

And if Mackins’ comments spark athletes to question value versus volume, perhaps the industry needed the shake.

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Retatrutide in bodybuilding: The triple agonist that could redefine contest prep

How the rules of fat loss are being rewritten

By Gary Chappell

FOR decades bodybuilding prep has been a brutal balancing act between getting stage ready and holding on to every ounce of hard-earned muscle. Traditionally, that has meant manipulating food, cardio and, in many cases, anabolic steroids and fat burners. Now, in this study by frontdouble, a new class of drugs – originally designed for diabetics and the clinically obese – are rewriting the rules of fat loss.

You will likely have heard of semaglutide (Ozempic/Wegovy) and tirzepatide (Mounjaro). Both have been hailed as miracle drugs in the mainstream for their ability to slash appetite and drive huge weight loss, despite some stories of adverse side effects at higher doses. Now, however, there is a new kid on the block: retatrutide.

Still in "clinical trials", retatrutide is showing the most dramatic results yet – with patients in phase two studies losing up to 24% of bodyweight in under a year. For competitive bodybuilders, the implications are enormous.

What exactly is retatrutide?

Retatrutide is what is called a triple agonist, meaning it works on three different hormonal pathways, as follows:

GLP-1 agonism: suppresses appetite, slows gastric emptying, improves insulin sensitivity.
GIP agonism: enhances insulin release, improves carb handling, may improve fat metabolism.
Glucagon agonism: increases energy expenditure and fat oxidation.

That third piece – glucagon receptor activation – is what makes retatrutide unique. Whereas semaglutide and tirzepatide mostly just help you eat less, retatrutide may also help you burn more calories at rest. That is a potential game-changer.

Some bodybuilders have no doubt already experimented with semaglutide and tirzepatide and the pros and cons are becoming clearer:

Pros: Appetite suppression makes sticking to a prep diet relatively easy compared to white-knuckling through 12–16 weeks of cravings. Improved blood sugar control also helps with stable energy.
Cons: Flatness. Many athletes find they simply cannot eat enough carbs to load properly, especially in peak week. Slower digestion and nausea can sabotage the carb-up process and leave them stringy on stage. Muscle retention also becomes an issue if protein intake is not protected.

Retatrutide promises even more fat loss power, but that also means these risks are magnified if the drug is not managed correctly.

How could retatrutide fit into prep?

1. Appetite control

No question: this is the biggest benefit. At six weeks out, hunger can often begin to feel like torture. Retatrutide, much like its predecessors, could make dieting far smoother, leading to fewer binges, fewer slip-ups and more compliance.

2. Metabolic output

The glucagon pathway may help keep energy expenditure higher even as food intake drops. In practice, that could mean less cardio needed to peel off the final fat – or at least less of the “metabolic crash” that leaves athletes flat and tired.

3. Conditioning the stubborn areas

Every competitor knows the last fat to go is glutes, hamstrings, and lower back. Data so far suggests retatrutide strips both visceral and subcutaneous fat efficiently. In theory, it could help achieve that paper-thin look that separates “lean” from “stage-ready".

But here are some caveats

Muscle Retention

GLP-1/GIP/glucagon agonists do not target fat specifically, they just reduce energy intake and increase burn. If you do not deliberately program high protein, the body will use muscle tissue as fuel. In prep, where muscle preservation is everything, that is a major concern.

Flatness and carbohydrate handling

Many athletes already struggle to carb load properly on semaglutide or tirzepatide due to slower gastric emptying and suppressed hunger. Retatrutide may amplify this issue. Imagine peak week when you need 600–800g carbs per day to fill – and your client physically cannot stomach it.

Digestive side effects

The nausea, reflux and bloating commonly seen with GLP-1s are more than an inconvenience in bodybuilding. A distended gut or inability to process food quickly enough can wreck your stage look and your pump.

Unknowns in lean athletes

The trials so far have been in obese and type 2 diabetic populations. We do not know yet how retatrutide behaves in a 200lb bodybuilder at five per cent body fat, also running PEDs such as Tren, Mast, and GH. The interactions are uncharted territory.

Bodybuilders are no strangers to pharmacological “help” in prep. So how does retatrutide stack up?

Clenbuterol: Raises energy expenditure but does not suppress appetite. Retatrutide may do both, without the same cardiac risks – though clen works in days, not months.
T3 (thyroid hormone): Cranks metabolism but risks muscle loss. Retatrutide raises expenditure more subtly, but also risks muscle if protein is not managed.
GH (Growth Hormone): Mobilises fat and helps preserve muscle. Retatrutide does not preserve muscle directly, it is purely metabolic/appetite-driven.

So retatrutide is not a replacement, but a different kind of weapon: it makes the diet easier to follow and may boost fat burn slightly.

Here’s where it might fit:

Off-season: Probably not. You need appetite to grow, and retatrutide kills it.
12–16 weeks out: Useful in competitors who struggle with cravings and compliance.
Last four-six weeks: Riskier. By then you want controlled fullness, glycogen loading and digestive predictability. Retatrutide may interfere with that.

The smarter play might be using it in the first half of prep to get an athlete leaner, sooner. Then tapering it off before the final stage run-in.

Retatrutide's profile is hard to ignore. For mainstream patients, it looks like the most powerful fat-loss drug ever tested. For bodybuilders, it could mean:

Easier diet adherence.
Higher metabolic output in prep.
Potential for sharper conditioning in stubborn areas.

But it also comes with big risks: flatness, muscle loss, digestive unpredictability and unknown interactions with PEDs. Retatrutide is not about revving the engine, it is about cutting hunger and nudging metabolism. Used wisely, it could smooth the prep journey.

Retatrutide might be the next big tool in the prep coach’s kit but, as always, no drug replaces the work.

This article forms part of FrontDouble’s health and education coverage, focusing on real-world hormone management in bodybuilding. Visit our Health and Education Hub HERE

Bodybuilding Prep Psychology

From BMWs to a brand new Xbox, we examine the psychological aspect of prep spending when approaching competition condition

YES fellow bodybuilders – prep spending is real.

If you have ever reached a certain level of seriously low body fat during prep that you feel an urge to start spending, then fear not. You are not alone.

This week, frontdouble columnist Josh Goold revealed that he had shed more than 43lbs. In fact, he had shed a further few pounds sterling – by buying a new Xbox.

Goold, also an online coach, told frontdouble that one of his clients bought a new BMW M2 during prep.

In fact, the editor of this website can confirm that each of his four cockapoos was bought during a contest prep.

Why bodybuilding prep affects behaviour

It seems that, when competitors reach very low levels of body fat, they may experience psychological changes that influence spending habits:

Food cravings and obsession: The extreme dieting phase can make competitors obsess over food, cheat meals, treats for after the competition, or even excessive purchases of cooking tools to help prepare “perfect” meals.
Compensatory spending: The discomfort and deprivation of being lean can lead to compensatory spending. Buying new clothes, or gadgets may serve as a way to cope with the mental strain of dieting and training. This phenomenon is somewhat analogous to "retail therapy".
Anticipatory reward: Knowing that the competition will end soon, competitors might justify spending on rewards like vacations, luxury items, or non-essential goods as a way to motivate themselves through the final tough weeks of prep.

Bodybuilding prep can be so extreme for some of us that it sparks psychological spending triggers. The extreme focus on physique and the pressures of competition can make competitors more susceptible to making impulsive purchases, especially as they get leaner and the mental and physical demands of prep intensify.

So please tell us in the comments below – what is your biggest prep spend...?

Bodybuilding Peak Week: Full and Dry Explained

How Strom's Peak Max could be the answer to the Holy Grail – coming in bursting full and dry as a bone

By Gary Chappell

Bodybuilding peak week is all about achieving the perfect balance – full muscles and dry conditioning.

First of all, let's talk about pharmaceutical diuretics. Some people mistake water under the skin for fat. In those cases, a person just needs to diet for longer or harder.

But if you are fat free, the last thing you want is for water to be trapped under the skin. This will blur all the muscle definition you have worked hard to attain.

To avoid that and flush it out, some turn to pharmaceutical diuretics.

How diuretics work

Diuretics work by flushing out water from the body, reducing subcutaneous water retention and making muscles appear more defined. However, this method can be dangerously deceptive.

First, diuretics do not differentiate between water inside the muscle cells and water outside them. This means you can end up flattening your muscles instead of enhancing their fullness. What starts as a quest for sharpness can backfire, leaving you looking smaller and less impressive on stage.

More critically, diuretics can throw your electrolyte balance into chaos. This can lead to dehydration, cramping and even life-threatening conditions such as heart arrhythmias. We have all seen the spate of deaths in bodybuilding recently. While many are quick to say "steroids", the use of diuretics is certainly another cause to consider. The body's delicate balance of sodium and potassium is crucial for muscle contraction and overall health. Disrupting this balance can have dire effects.

Safer strategies such as controlled carbohydrate loading and natural water reduction can help you achieve that dry, defined look without endangering your health.

Where supplements like Strom Peak Max fit

Strom Peak Max is considered better than traditional diuretics for flushing water from under the skin for reasons related to effectiveness, safety and the balance of electrolytes and hydration. It also claims to improve vascularity and allows you to drink more water pre-show than you ordinarily might. At the bottom of this article is a video from Strom director Rick Foster, who says some unnamed IFBB pros have likened its effects to the diuretic Dyazide – without the risks associated with such a drug.

1. Balanced water reduction without severe dehydration

Targeted Action: Strom Peak Max is designed specifically to help bodybuilders reduce subcutaneous water (the water held just under the skin) without significantly impacting the water balance within the muscles. This ensures that muscles remain full and defined, rather than appearing flat, which is a common issue with diuretics.
Reduced Risk of Dehydration: Diuretics can lead to excessive water loss, causing severe dehydration and negatively impacting muscle fullness, endurance and overall appearance on stage. Strom Peak Max, on the other hand, is formulated to prevent extreme dehydration, which helps maintain muscle fullness and vascularity.

2. Electrolyte Balance

Preserving Electrolytes: Traditional diuretics often cause an imbalance in electrolytes, particularly sodium and potassium, leading to muscle cramps, weakness and, as mentioned, even more severe health risks such as heart arrhythmias. Strom Peak Max typically includes ingredients that support the maintenance of electrolyte balance, reducing the risk of these negative side effects.
Minimising Cramping: By preserving electrolytes and avoiding the extreme shifts caused by diuretics, Strom Peak Max helps minimise the risk of muscle cramping, which is crucial for performance and presentation during a bodybuilding competition.

3. Formulated for bodybuilders

Specific Ingredients: Strom Peak Max is specifically formulated with ingredients that are commonly used in the bodybuilding community to manage water retention, such as dandelion root, juniper berry and uva ursi. These natural diuretics are milder than pharmaceutical diuretics but effective in reducing water under the skin without compromising muscle volume.
Less Harsh on the Body: The formulation of Strom Peak Max is intended to be less harsh on the body compared to pharmaceutical diuretics, making it a safer option for bodybuilders who need to fine-tune their physique just before a show.

4. Avoiding "Rebound" Effects

Stabilised Water Levels: One of the issues with traditional diuretics is the potential for a "rebound" effect, where the body rapidly retains water after stopping the diuretic. This can cause the physique to lose its hard, dry look quickly. Strom Peak Max is designed to help avoid this rebound effect, ensuring that the peak condition is maintained longer.
Consistent Results: Due to its balanced approach to water management, bodybuilders can achieve more consistent and predictable results with Strom Peak Max, reducing the stress and uncertainty associated with diuretic use.

5. Safety and Health Considerations

Lower Risk of Severe Side Effects: Diuretics can have severe side effects, including electrolyte imbalances, kidney damage and increased heart strain. Strom Peak Max, being a supplement rather than a pharmaceutical diuretic, is generally considered safer and less likely to cause these issues when used as directed.

Watch the video below from Strom's Rick Foster:

Peak week bodybuilding: a myth that ruins your physique?

Bodybuilder Ryan Mackins explains why overcomplicating peak week can destroy months of hard work – and why doing less might actually bring your best physique.

BODYBUILDER and online coach Ryan Mackins says when it comes to peak week before a show "less is more" for most people.

Mackins took to instagram recently to explain why he believes most of peak week is just not "worth the reward".

And this week he recorded a short video exclusively for frontdouble.com to explain his thoughts. You can view that at the bottom of this article.

In his social media post, Mackins explained that many of us work hard for months and look great leading up to the show. Then because history says peaking should be done a certain way, we change things and end up looking worse.

He said: "Peaking – the risk is very often not worth the reward. Speak to bodybuilders and they will very often have a story of how they “fucked it” whilst trying something to make their physique “peak”. Usually involving something wacky involving carbs and/or diuretics at the 11th hour.

"I did fuck all for my last show [above]. Is it perfect? Far from it. But taking away the hassle of overthinking that side of things and the worry of having to keep checking if you’ve ruined it or whatever (constantly checking to see if you’ve smoothed over) was a brilliant thing.

"I treated the day like normal. No carb load at all. I just knew that on any given day I looked like this and without trying anything out the ordinary, I had a look that was predictable.

"Every bodybuilder I know and every one you know talks about the carb load into a show, convincing themselves that is going to be the secret to making them look invincible on stage. More often than not it is NOT the case. For a lot of people, less is more."

Watch Ryan Mackins' video explanation below:

Ryan Mackins can be contacted for online coaching by clicking here.

Is Ryan Mackins right?

The economics few want to talk about

The business coach effect

So: Is Ryan Mackins right?

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How the rules of fat loss are being rewritten

What exactly is retatrutide?

How could retatrutide fit into prep?

1. Appetite control

2. Metabolic output

3. Conditioning the stubborn areas

But here are some caveats

Muscle Retention

Flatness and carbohydrate handling

Digestive side effects

Unknowns in lean athletes

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

From BMWs to a brand new Xbox, we examine the psychological aspect of prep spending when approaching competition condition

Why bodybuilding prep affects behaviour

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

How Strom's Peak Max could be the answer to the Holy Grail – coming in bursting full and dry as a bone

How diuretics work

Where supplements like Strom Peak Max fit

1. Balanced water reduction without severe dehydration

2. Electrolyte Balance

3. Formulated for bodybuilders

4. Avoiding "Rebound" Effects

5. Safety and Health Considerations

MORE FROM FRONTDOUBLE:

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Bodybuilder Ryan Mackins explains why overcomplicating peak week can destroy months of hard work – and why doing less might actually bring your best physique.

Leave a Reply Cancel reply