Set Point Theory - Why Stepping Off the Stage Doesn't Mean Falling Off the Wagon?

By Steve Doucette

After a grueling spring of competitions for Steve Doucette, it's back to the offseason, which for many competitors means back to stuffing their faces with anything they can get their hands on.  But being a Natural Bodybuilder, Steve has a very different approach to the offseason and what it means to him to stay closer to competition weight all year round.  Let's find out why?

Set point theory is something many people in the nutrition world will have come across. It’s not a very complicated theory, and one I have enough evidence to support from having witnessed it in others, as well as myself throughout the years. The point of this article is to define set point theory and what it means for anyone looking to lose weight – permanently, or temporarily.


Set point theory goes a little like this: Every person has their own internal thermostat that controls how much fat you keep on your body. Think of it like a thermostat in your house. Some people like to keep their thermostat high all winter, while others prefer to keep it a little lower. But the end result is always the same – their own house is heated to their own specifications. Not unlike the housing thermostat, an individual, for example, may have their internal thermostat to maintain a bodyfat % of say 12-13%. When that person goes on a crash diet, loses a few % body fat, what happens? The cravings start. All of a sudden that slice of pizza enters the mind more than just when that pizza commercial pops on the television set. All part of your mind telling you to get back to that set point!! Someone else may have a lower, or a higher set point, but at the end of the day this set point often dictates when trouble in a diet is going to begin.

So what happens when one decides it’s time to ‘bulk’? The bodybuilder decides, I must EAT TO GROW… So after a few weeks the person in our example above gets to 15-16%. Now what? Well, this is where I hear complaints such as: ‘not being able to get enough calories’ in their day, or ‘my muscle growth has stalled’, or ‘I have to force feed myself because nothing tastes good anymore’. Again, mind telling your body it’s too fat! STOP EATING SO MUCH!

I am sure almost everyone has in one way or another felt or experienced set point theory for themselves. Personally, this is why I don’t fluctuate too much in the off season. Ages ago, I decided in one of my off-seasons that I should try to hit 200 pounds (keep in mind, I was competing at about 150, and normally an off season diet would get me to about 175-180). So what did I do? I ate everything in sight. This started out great (and fun!), eating more food from healthy sources – as some would call it – a ‘clean bulk’… The weight climbed, but after a while, I really didn’t have any desire to eat a can of tuna here, or a chicken breast there… No, my protein sources started switching over to hamburgers, and then the food sources becoming more and more frequently, pizza, chicken fingers, fries, etc. Trying to stomach protein shakes involved adding peanut butter, and sometimes even ice cream, and so on. The weight climbed further… I almost made it to 190. But I seriously NEVER wanted to eat. It became force feeding to me, and really, all that eating 5000-6000 calories a day was doing was simply increasing my food bill, as well as my ‘toilet paper bill’. So set point theory was simply trying to bring me back down to where my body feels comfortable. Not only that, our body generally increases its metabolism in order to bring the body back to where it wants to be. During prep however, only after a few weeks of dieting, I will even crave things like tuna, chicken, eggs, - as long as it has calories I want it. And unfortunately, metabolism tends to decline in order to bring body fat levels back up. This is often why individuals will continuously decrease calories during a diet as their body requires less and less food to maintain current bodyfat levels.

In terms of physique related sports, a competitor is fighting set point theory for a period of time and then eventually most will see a return to their original bodyfat %. This can be devastating for men and women who believe they can stay in an on-season condition for the rest of their lives. It’s possible, sure… But you’re fighting what your body wants. Often, a first time competitor will not realize that what they’ve worked so hard for can vanish in a moment (moment on the lips, month on the hips ring a bell??). So if you can cope with those cravings, hormone changes, etc. then great – but without trying to be a pessimist, it really isn’t all that feasible or healthy to try to fight your body. What a successful competitor will realize is that these efforts are for a result that is apparent only for a day or two… For some, it may be something they will maintain for weeks, during shoots, etc. Others perhaps year round as part of a self promotion tool. But one thing is for certain – the further away from their set point they are, the harder it will be to maintain a year round competition physique. I consider myself lucky – my body feels comfortable at a level that permits me to get in contest shape in less than 10 weeks, but more importantly, that weight is what I also consider healthy. The problem arises when one feels as though their ‘ideal’ or desired weight is far below what most would consider healthy. This often leads to a vicious cycle for competitors of binging for long periods of time post-contest, followed by depression, and then jumping to do another show as an excuse to get themselves motivated to ‘deprive’ their bodies once more. This is what I call the ugly side of competition…Besides, there is a reason most men like curves on a woman, and why dry striated glutes with veins protruding through them is disgusting to most women!

I often wonder how far away from ‘ideal’ the set point of an individual can be. For example, if one’s set-point were 20% bodyfat, this would be not only be unfortunate from a ‘vanity’ stand point, but from a health standpoint. The good news is, to an extent, you don’t need to beat yourself up for being ‘lazy’ if you can’t maintain weight loss. The bad news is in order to remain healthy, that individual must figure out a way to reduce their set point…In my opinion, there isn’t a whole lot that can be done outside of choosing healthy foods, stopping when satisfied not full, exercising more, and making sure to take in lots of water. However, I think for 99% of the population, following these guidelines should get your set-point into a ‘healthy’ range. Our bodies have evolved over many thousands of years, and in general, eating right and exercising is enough to bring our bodies into a healthy range, and it only makes sense that most would have a set point in this range. Think of your body as a formula 1 race car – what type of fuel are you going to put into it? Obviously it will run more efficiently by giving it top quality fuel. Our bodies are the same. Eat pizza and fast foods every day, and your set point increase substantially. You’re body is not getting what it needs from the food, and therefore in order to get all the nutrients to sustain optimal health, your brain will tell you to eat more. Eat foods that contain all the micro and macro nutrients it needs to perform optimally, and your body won’t beg you for more.

So to summarize, eat right and exercise – it’s the only way to achieve optimal health. Whether or not that satisfies what you want to see in the mirror is up to you.