Dom's8WorstMonthsinBusinessWereHisBestMonthsonPaper

Dom Hills is clear about what his bodybuilding competition prep did to his business. He describes the eight months of it as his worst professional period - and then adds the detail that makes it useful rather than just cautionary: as soon as he finished the competition and started eating normally again, his personality came back, and his clients actually started to like him again. That sequence is worth unpacking.

What extreme prep does to your coaching

The physical demands of competition-level cutting - severe caloric restriction, high training volume, reduced sleep quality, the hormonal consequences of very low body fat - do not leave a person with much left over. Dom describes sitting on a bench while a client deadlifted. Not actively coaching. Just present. The mental bandwidth that good coaching requires was not available because it was being consumed by the metabolic demands of maintaining single-digit body fat.

This is not unique to Dom. The experience of trying to coach at a high level while simultaneously running an elite prep protocol is widely reported among PTs who have tried it. You can survive it. But the version of you that shows up in sessions during a deep cut is not the version your clients came to you for.

The signal your condition sends to clients

When a PT is in competition condition - visibly extreme, clearly not eating at a normal level - it signals to clients that this is the standard. Most people who hire a PT are not trying to become competitive bodybuilders. They are trying to feel better, move better, lose some weight, manage a health condition. When the person coaching them appears to be operating from a completely different set of goals and a completely different relationship with food, the distance can be disorienting.

What this means practically

Competing in physique sports is a legitimate personal choice. The question is whether it can coexist with running a full coaching practice without one of them suffering. Dom's answer, based on direct experience, is essentially: probably not at the same time. The clients win when they have a coach who is healthy, energised, and fully present. That version of you is usually not compatible with competition prep. Knowing this does not mean giving up personal goals - it means not trying to do both at full intensity simultaneously.