Ask me anything (NABBA professional bodybuilder)

[npanther24]

I'm just starting to lift and have read in another thread that I should be able to gain size and lift more fast, because of newb gains. The thread states that if your just starting you should be able to squat and bench 3x a week without any fear of over training if your bench max is under 225. My bench is at about 140.... so am I able to bench and squat 3x a week... safely, and efficiently?

[McDerpz]

wut is your opinion on fullbody vs splits?

[FLChamp]

What are your resting values for blood pressure and heart rate?

[SamSix]

Bulking/cutting vs. lean gains? Which is more effective?

[WhiteKnight4U]

Are you afraid of death?
Religious\spiritual? How so?
How do you deal with break ups?
How do you approach girls?
Favourite drink?
Favourite food?
Favourite chip flavour?
BB curls or DB curls?
Rope for Tricep, or regular bar thing?
Full RoM Or keep the muscle on constant tension?
Super Smash bros 64 or Zelda?
Do you like my leg? <--
Steak or chicken?

[Morsprincipium1]

What are your favourite leg exercise?
And how important is cardio while bulking?

Hack squats, love em
Very important, keeps your cardiovascular system in check and for overall health. If you have problems with bulking and cardio eat more.

missed mine?
::
Any tips on how to prevent injury? especially chest and shoulder.

Sorry my man didn't see it
Preventing injury...well honestly its just about keeping decent form, enough to where you don't hurt yourself but lenient enough to where you can still move around some heavy weight and put on some mass.

What exercises do you like the most to get a very aesthetic upper back?

Not sure about aesthetic but I like cable rows, tbar rows, and using a lat pulldown bar on a cable row and really focusing on the squeeze throughout the upper back.

opinions on training to failure/ using intensity techniques like drop sets.

also whats your opinion on mixing bodybuilding and powerlifting ie. starting with a main power movement like squats and then moving onto a "bodybuilding" styled leg workout.

Finally, whats your opinion on DC (doggcrapp)

I train to failure on every set (failure as in cannot do any more reps with that weight alone). I encorporate alot of dropsets/partial reps and supersets in my workouts, so I encourage them.
That's somewhat what I do with my workouts, heavy movements first to tax the muscle then moving on to more of a bodybuilding split, so yes.

I've heard of doggcrapp but im not sure what it incorporates, sorry.

what are your best lifts (1rm or at least weight u can lift for low reps)

can be squat, deadlift, bench, incline, curls, w/e you think is worth listing

Um, well I've benched 455 for 6 reps before
Squatted 580 for 12 reps (could probably do around 620-630 maxing, not sure)
I don't deadlift, I don't really find much of a benefit from it, I'd rather isolate the muscles used in a deadlift.
Bicep curl..um I've curled 90s for reps
Skullcrushers I've used 3 45lb plates on each side.

whered you learn your posing. what have you paid for in the past and what do you suggest not paying for (posing coach, nutrition coach, training coach, ect)

Posing I pay my coach every year, definately helps having somebody help you out with it and picking out your music etc. Nutrition and training coach is the same person, I would recommend it b/c having somebody watch over you while youre low bf and low carbs and your mind is playing tricks on you etc. It's nice to have an unbiased opinion on how you look so they can make decisions for you.

If you can do that stuff yourself though feel free to I just feel like it's easier doing it that way.

have you ever done starting strength or a 5x5?

do u like dem?

Ah, never really have(gotta remember I'm an old man), I think theyre great for beginners who need to build a base.

What are your thoughts on the mind-muscle connection? Do you believe in it? If so, how did you learn to use it?

Very important, especially with lagging bodyparts and posing onstage (if you need to)
Honestly when I was younger (and still now) I practice tensing and flexing certain muscles, and encorporate that into my routines. EX: when I isolate my upper chest I flex and squeeze it as much as possible.

wow thanks for answering all these questions. I've learn a lot and am definitely going to get that grip thing you posted because my forearms are slacking.

My question is can you be more specific about what you think a routine should look like. Like what do you mean "No two workouts I ever do are the same." how different are they? Can you give an example? thanks

Just structure it how you find is best, so let's say for a chest routine we start out with
Barbbell flat bench
Incline barbbell bench
Decline barbbell bench
Now we go to a superset
Dumbbell incline presses supersetted with incline flys (do with each section of the chest)
Now we go to an isolation movement, cable incline flat decline etc.

Maybe one day illl start out with incline, or focus on decline, or do all fly movements, it just depends. Be creative

What's the best way to achieve a symmetric and shredded body. I am only 15 and I think the symmetry might be out of line cause im still growing but I always wanted to look shredded and ripped just wanted your input on that thx

You're way too young to be worried about that, you have so much more muscle to grow its unfathomable! Don't worry about symmetry right now, just focus on getting bigger overall. Eat alot and lift heavy

At what age did you first start seriously getting into bodybuilding and at what age was your first competition?

Around 16-17 I started lifting, my first competition was 22 I believe

First off, whats your stats, I read 270@ 4.0% and just about freaked out,
But what excercises do you think is required for a decent chest? People say flies are the best chest excercise but I personally hate em, I only feel them in my shoulders, and similar to that, you hear about incline benching a lot in order to develope a deep line down your pecs, but others say the actual upper chest muscle is not even part of the line area, what is your opinon on that?

That's my offseason weight lol, I'm not 4% at this weight or I'd be the GOAT
There reaslly isnt a specific exercise thats the "best" for the chest. Just stimulate the muscle by whatever means possible. If i could make a suggestion on form with flys, be sure to keep your shoulders down and chest out, alot of the reason people feel flys in the delts ( i had this problem too) is because theyre using too much front delt and keeping their shoulders too high, try conciously keeping them down and really squeeze that chest!
As far as the "line" thats just developing the pectoral muscle. Keep it growing and you'll see that line come in faster than you can believe.

I'm just starting to lift and have read in another thread that I should be able to gain size and lift more fast, because of newb gains. The thread states that if your just starting you should be able to squat and bench 3x a week without any fear of over training if your bench max is under 225. My bench is at about 140.... so am I able to bench and squat 3x a week... safely, and efficiently?

Of course, you're young and your body will not tax as quickly as someone like mine, feel free to do the same exercise a few times a week, although allow a few days in between.

wut is your opinion on fullbody vs splits?

I like splits alot more, fullbody workouts seem a little too general for bodybuilding goals. If you can grow on a fullbody split - great! But i'd recommend a split, I like taxing a muscle to it's fullest and I feel like a full body workout won't give me enough time to tax that many muscles.

What are your resting values for blood pressure and heart rate?

Went to the doctors last week and it's 140/80, a little high but it's no problem.

[ANIMALISTIKZ]

What are your resting values for blood pressure and heart rate?

[Ka0s]

Great thread, subbed

WTF @ 3 45s on each side for skullcrushers... u mean on an EZ bar or regular?

Either way holy sh*t

[spartanftw]

bookmarked wow...... it's cool how pro's are willing to answer our questions. thx man

[Icons93]

What your opinions on pre intra and post workout nutrition ... i.e comsuming bulk of your carbs around your workout and breakfast .

And can working out in the mornings have an effect on your lifts compared to evening workouts ?

[Morsprincipium1]

Bulking/cutting vs. lean gains? Which is more effective?

Bulking and cutting IMO, lean gains requires too much tedious crap and I'd rather just put on as much mass as possible and cut the fat gains, cutting fat is extremely easy compared to gaining muscle. (IMO)

Are you afraid of death?
Religious\spiritual? How so?
How do you deal with break ups?
How do you approach girls?
Favourite drink?
Favourite food?
Favourite chip flavour?
BB curls or DB curls?
Rope for Tricep, or regular bar thing?
Full RoM Or keep the muscle on constant tension?
Super Smash bros 64 or Zelda?
Do you like my leg? <--
Steak or chicken?

No sir, it'll come eventually so I may as well live now and deal with it when it comes
Agnostic, I feel as if there's something out there but we haven't found it yet
Break-ups, disregard the girl, delete all contact with her and better myself as a person, so when the next time she sees me comes around she says "wow he's awesomewhy'd I break up with him"
Back in my younger years I used to do cheesy pick-up lines and talk to girls right off the street, definately the best place to get girls numbers.
Definately apple juice
Love mexican food, although I also have a soft spot for pizza (pepperoni)
Salt and vinegar no question
Barbbell, can use more weight.
I like the regular bar but the rope can give a white hot burn right in the meat of the tri
Keeping constant tension, IMO full ROM isn't as important.
Zalda is the sh!t my man
Looking good man, keep it up
Steak for sure, ribeye

Great thread, subbed

WTF @ 3 45s on each side for skullcrushers... u mean on an EZ bar or regular?

Either way holy sh*t

EZ curl bar, yeah my tri's are pretty strong thanks.
Thanks for subbin, i'll do my best to answer as many questions as possible.

bookmarked wow...... it's cool how pro's are willing to answer our questions. thx man

No problem, I like to keep things real

[ChadG17]

Wow, thx for all this info man it's great learning alot.

K I have a few questions

1. I want my arms to be sleeve fillers, so how many times a week should I target my Biceps and Triceps?
2. Also when doing biceps and triceps around howmany sets and reps do u suggest to do get the best outcome
3.I was told that the muscle between ur tricep and bicep (forget the name of it) pushes out ur bicep by 1-2 inches is this true?
4.How long do your workouts usually last?
5.Should I do abs every day I workout?
6.My Shoulders are lacking compared to my arms and chest, what exercise do you recommend? ( I workout at home, so I have DB's, Bench for bench pressing, Barbell and a door frame I use to do my pullups.
7. Lastly What can I do for my chest? I have a decent chest as it is, but it seems like it hasnt been progressing in awhile

My chest routine is

Shoulder width push ups till failure x3
Close push ups till failure x3
Wide Push ups till failure x3
Diamond pushups till failure x3
Bench Press 175x1-2 reps for 3 sets

[Juustin]

3 plate skullcrushers!!!!!!!!!!?

Please get that on video, I simply cannot imagine that being possible.

Also, nice of you to help everybody out, 5 star thread**

[Morsprincipium1]

What your opinions on pre intra and post workout nutrition ... i.e comsuming bulk of your carbs around your workout and breakfast .

And can working out in the mornings have an effect on your lifts compared to evening workouts ?

Well, I get a good amount of carbs before my workout and after, but for you you wouldn't need to, it's irrelevant when you get them just get them in.
I have to have carbs around that time b/c of certain substances.

I've read studies that men have higher testosterones levels in the mornings, but IMO I feel too groggy to lift in the morning so I keep it to the evenings.

Will be back later

[Porschy]

If your familiar with the Blood and guts 6 week trainer by Dorian Yates, I just finished that and im about 8 weeks in now. I didn't get that much gains in weight, because my nutrition lacked. But In strength I did tremendously.
now that Im finished, I don't know what I should continue doing, because I really enjoyed training to failure.. What should I Do now?
continue doing it? change exercises? sets? Day? i've very confused on what my routine should be now.. thank you for taking the time to read this :-D

[bigd54]

Been training hard/dieting for a year....Bout to do my first NPC show october of next year and I know in order to be competitive in this, I have to come in looking great. Therefore I am considering hoping on my first bicycle come winter break. Any suggestions as you were this age when you rode your first bike?

[L1AM]

Questions Round #2:
What is your opinion on multivitamins? Do they actually do anything?
Also I am designing a new routine and if I PM it to you when I'm done, can I get some feedback?

[Sbaker3]

Had a couple more questions if you don't mind, first off what do you think of smolov/critical bench type things?

And also for semi beginners, (training 6mo-1yr) how do you think arm training, heck size training in general should be done? Some people say compounds only, eg chinups and bench press, others say mostly compounds but add a few sets of curls and skullcrushers etc, and finally a select few say isolate it up, whats your opinion?

[cpaddoncpaddon]

Hello teens!
I am making this thread to help out the youth of bodybuilding, and to give you advice on any questions you may have about weight lifting, nutrition, and the dark side.

There are many misconceptions to this sport, and I'd like to clear up as much as possible, as in my day I wish there was somebody to guide me along the way.
If there is a question that I don't know, I won't bullsh!t you with a false answer to act like I'm smart, fire away younglings!

2 questions

1#

is Low carb / Keto / Carb cycling really the only way to get competition lean? Or can you get there with carbs in the diet. Even to 10% bodyfat

2#

How many times a week should you do cardio

[spiderman997]

Is this an accurate chart for tenderizing my baby before cooking?

[jbball92]

If you could only do 2 chest exercises what would they be and why?

[Says]

why did you choose NABBA over the NPC/IFBB? you've got the size to hang with the big guys in the IFBB and stuff?

also do you think hack squats hit the tear drop more than other squats?

[ShutOut]

How long would you say it'd take to drop 5% body fat with a deficit diet, consistent training and cardio?

[ilovemoney1]

is it possible to reduce fat and gain muscle at the same time

will masturbation affect any gains

which supplements do you use

all i can get in a day is maybe 70-100g's of protein a day and im 6'1-6'2 160 would this affect my gains

all i have at home is 25lbs dumbells and when i do curls on my right i feel it on my bicep and when i do it on my left i feel it on my forearms how can i even this out

[Morsprincipium1]

Wow, thx for all this info man it's great learning alot.

K I have a few questions

1. I want my arms to be sleeve fillers, so how many times a week should I target my Biceps and Triceps?
2. Also when doing biceps and triceps around howmany sets and reps do u suggest to do get the best outcome
3.I was told that the muscle between ur tricep and bicep (forget the name of it) pushes out ur bicep by 1-2 inches is this true?
4.How long do your workouts usually last?
5.Should I do abs every day I workout?
6.My Shoulders are lacking compared to my arms and chest, what exercise do you recommend? ( I workout at home, so I have DB's, Bench for bench pressing, Barbell and a door frame I use to do my pullups.
7. Lastly What can I do for my chest? I have a decent chest as it is, but it seems like it hasnt been progressing in awhile

My chest routine is

Shoulder width push ups till failure x3
Close push ups till failure x3
Wide Push ups till failure x3
Diamond pushups till failure x3
Bench Press 175x1-2 reps for 3 sets

1.Target them twice a week, allow for 2-3 days rest in between. Make arm only days
2. Just push them to their limit, your body will tell you when to stop. Start out with maybe 9-12 sets on each muscle, vary your rep count.
3. THe biceps brachialis? It would make the bicep "wider" persay... to focus on it try more hammer curls.
4. Anywhere from 1 and a half to 3 hours
5. I find that abdominals have a faster recovery time than other muscle groups, give them a few days off a week but other than that go for it.
6. Try doing lateral raises, front raises, and rear delt flys with the dumbbells you have, heavy barbbell overhead presses will also help in beffing out those delts.
7. try switching up your workouts, do something different, pushups aren't going to give you a big chest. I'd recommend getting a gym membership.

3 plate skullcrushers!!!!!!!!!!?

Please get that on video, I simply cannot imagine that being possible.

Also, nice of you to help everybody out, 5 star thread**

Yes sir, if I can I will. Not sure if i'm going to be able to considering the stuff i've talked about on these boards.

If your familiar with the Blood and guts 6 week trainer by Dorian Yates, I just finished that and im about 8 weeks in now. I didn't get that much gains in weight, because my nutrition lacked. But In strength I did tremendously.
now that Im finished, I don't know what I should continue doing, because I really enjoyed training to failure.. What should I Do now?
continue doing it? change exercises? sets? Day? i've very confused on what my routine should be now.. thank you for taking the time to read this :-D

Do exactly that. Change it up, and most importantly fix your nutrition. Be creative with it, encorporate training to failure along with the other guidelines of that routine.

Been training hard/dieting for a year....Bout to do my first NPC show october of next year and I know in order to be competitive in this, I have to come in looking great. Therefore I am considering hoping on my first bicycle come winter break. Any suggestions as you were this age when you rode your first bike?

Whatever compound you're going to do do a small amount at first. I'd say 200-300mg of a long estered testosterone would do the trick.

Questions Round #2:
What is your opinion on multivitamins? Do they actually do anything?
Also I am designing a new routine and if I PM it to you when I'm done, can I get some feedback?

I mean they're cheap so you may as well use them, but IMO they're not that important. Proper nutrition is far more important.
Sure.

Had a couple more questions if you don't mind, first off what do you think of smolov/critical bench type things?

And also for semi beginners, (training 6mo-1yr) how do you think arm training, heck size training in general should be done? Some people say compounds only, eg chinups and bench press, others say mostly compounds but add a few sets of curls and skullcrushers etc, and finally a select few say isolate it up, whats your opinion?

Not sure what smolov is.
Heavy movements that isolate the bi and tri, i've never been a believer that chin-ups will grow your bi's to where you want them, although you can try it out and see how it works for you. such as preacher curls, standing barbbell curls, tricep extensions, skullcrushers, close-grip bench etc.

IMO, isolate

2 questions

1#

is Low carb / Keto / Carb cycling really the only way to get competition lean? Or can you get there with carbs in the diet. Even to 10% bodyfat

2#

How many times a week should you do cardio

In my experience yes, in order to attain that competition conditioning low carbs are a must.
I'd say the same amount as your weight-lifting program, your cardiovascular system will need rest as well.

Is this an accurate chart for tenderizing my baby before cooking?

Wrong, you need to put it in a blender before cooking.

If you could only do 2 chest exercises what would they be and why?

Flat bench (IMO the king of putting on mass to the chest)
and Incline cable flys (really gives the upper chest that "pop" when you pose)

why did you choose NABBA over the NPC/IFBB? you've got the size to hang with the big guys in the IFBB and stuff?

also do you think hack squats hit the tear drop more than other squats?

Well I have a few friends who compete in the NABBA so I decided to join them, it was also because it was an easy pro card and I needed extra money, so the sponsorships from being an NABBA pro were far better than being an amateur trying to get my IFBB pro card. I may try for an IFBB pro card someday but I'm not sure at the moment. I need to improve ALOT before I can join the ranks of those elite.

How long would you say it'd take to drop 5% body fat with a deficit diet, consistent training and cardio?

I'd say 16 weeks, depending on your starting bodyfat. although 5% is pretty low that would be difficult to attain.

is it possible to reduce fat and gain muscle at the same time

will masturbation affect any gains

which supplements do you use

all i can get in a day is maybe 70-100g's of protein a day and im 6'1-6'2 160 would this affect my gains

all i have at home is 25lbs dumbells and when i do curls on my right i feel it on my bicep and when i do it on my left i feel it on my forearms how can i even this out

No, you're either in a calorie deficit (cutting) or a caloric surplus (bulking)
No, maybe your forearms if you jack it enough
Multivitamin, fish oil, protein powder, creatine monohydrate, ZMA/melatonin
Yes, greatly. You more than likely need twice that amount to grow.
Make sure you are doing the movement the same way on both arms, you may be leaning too much one way or not concentrating enough on the squeeze on one arm.

[jslam96]

1.) Are you natural?

2.) I'm 14, so I'm not going to do a cut (foreverbulking lol), but I have one question. I have a pretty low bf% (~12%), but I have love handles. Now, I eat alot before I go to bed (I treat sleep like an 8 hour fast), probably totalling around 1000 calories but not much fat (8-15 grams, but usually 8 grams). Do you think that eating that much before bed could be the reason I keep the love handles no matter how hard I lift and do cardio (I go hard on both - heavy weights and cardio intervals - it's all there). My waist is about 29" right now, so they're not huge, but I was just wondering.

[Porschy]

how many exercises per muscle? should my last set , if I'm doing 3 sets be to failure? thanks.

[Woofidy]

this needs to be stickied, there is some good stuff in here.

What is your personal favorite way to add 500-1000 calories to your diet? In other words, what do you use as a homemade mass gainer?

[ilovemoney1]

how long did it take you to get massive?

[whizkyy]

Thoughts on Split and routien

Bis/Tris/Deadlifts/Barbell Rows
Legs
Chest
Back
Chest/Shoulders
Legs
Rest



10 Reps 4 Sets


Bicep Barbell Curl Superset Tricep Extension
Bicep Reverse Curls Superset Tricep Rope Press
Bicep Hammer Curls Superset Tricep Pressdown
Barbell Rows
Deadlifts 6x4

Legs:

Back Squat 10x5
Front Squat 10x5
Leg Extension 10x5
Leg Curl 10x5
Inner Thigh 10x3
Outer Thigh 10x3
Donkey Raises 12x5
Barbell Toe Raises 14x5

Chest:

Straight DB Bench Press 10x4
Incline Reverse DB Bench Press 10x4
Decline DB Bench Press 10x4
Cable Flys Superset Machine Flys 10x4
Decline Flys Superset Decline Pullovers 10x4
Smith Machine Bench 12x1


Back:

Bent Over Rows 10x5
Seated Rows 10x5
Lat Pull Down (F) 10x5
Lat Pull down (R) 10x5
Deadlift 6x6


Shoulders:

Arnold Press superset Shoulder Press 10x4
Upright Rows Superset Behind Shrugs 10x5
Front Raises Superset Lateral Raises 10x4
Cable Reverse Flys 10x5



Anything i should add/change?