Josh Maley: My Approach

HAVING JUST COMPETED IN THE PRO NABBA UNIVERSE, JOSH ENDURED A GRUELLING 17-WEEK PREP FOR HIS FIRST YEAR IN THE CLASS AS A PRO.

- Danni Levy And Darren Nicholhurst

“For the first time ever I actually enjoyed prep,” begins Josh. “Coming into it as a pro, I literally had zero expectation in terms of placings and put zero pressure on myself. The year before I had a lot of friends and family expecting me to win after a 2nd or 3rd place finish and that made things tough mentally. Whilst it gives you a confidence boost, you really don’t want to let people down or disappoint them, so it was nice not to be up against that this year, because being a first time pro I had nothing to lose.”

“Getting everything in place and doing everything I could with regards to training, cardio, recovery and diet paid off, because I came out with a 2nd place finish in my first pro show- which I was delighted with. The guy who beat me, Lee Seung Chul, had an incredible physique. I know a good physique when I see one and he really deserved it. I was hard, dry and my condition was on point, but he really does pop on stage and I don’t feel as if I let myself down in any way by not taking top spot on my very first pro outing.

“Bringing condition was relatively easy for me. I was 295lbs on stage and went down to 2800 kcals at my lowest. I had a guest spot at the BodyPower Welsh 8 weeks out from the NABBA Universe. I wanted to look good, so I pushed harder prior to that and was then able to take my foot off the gas and cruise into the Universe to an extent. I reduced cardio and went in easy. This helped to bring more fullness.”

Josh has competed in a massive 19 shows since 2014.

“It may seem as if I’ve competed non-stop, but I’m passionate about the sport and I feel good for it,” he says.

His impressive track record hasn’t been without the odd struggle though.