Jure Rus: Slovenian Natural Bodybuilder

[JureRus]

Hello, everyone!

My name is Jure Rus and I come from a small country called Slovenia, located in the southern part of central Europe. I am 21 years old and fond of natural bodybuilding. I study medicine and am a co-founder of Natural Muscle Zone community. It was established primarily to spread the natural mentality across Slovenia and to show others what one can achieve without the use of performance enhancing drugs. We just celebrated our 1st anniversary in October and are very happy with what we have managed to achieve so far. The whole natural mentality is considerably stronger than it was in the past and all the response from our followers is just confirming that we made the right decision in starting the community! English version of a much larger Slovenian website: naturalmusclezone.com/en/

I started training at the age of 15 so I am in my 7th year of training. After few years of training I decided to enter my first show in 2009. I had won the WFF's fitness junior class and after that my love for this sport just grew on. Until 2012 I have entered several shows (unfortunately no natural ones, since there are practically no events of this kind in Europe):
-2009: WFF Universe (1st place, junior fitness), WFF World (1st place, junior fitness)
-2010: WFF World (1st place, junior performance), IBFF Koper (2nd place, Men's Fitness)
-2011: IFBB Masters & Juniors European Championship (I planned on entering the bodyclassic division, but unfortunately it was cancelled and I had to enter Junior BB up to 75 kg - 5th place.

2012 was and still is a fun year!
I started my prep in May and in August NMZ Team (David (co-founder), my girlfriend Eva and I) went to California for a month. David and I entered the INBA's Night of the Natural Champions on the 15th of September in San Francisco. I initially enroled for Men's Open Class since I wanted to compete for a Pro Card. There was some misunderstanding and they've put me in Novice Men's division. To make the long story short: I won the Novice class and Novice Overall. In the duel for Novice overall title I had beaten the Men's Open Overall Champion (winning this title qualifies you as a INBA Pro) and since they had put me in the wrong division, they offered me a Pro Card!

Since then I have competed in two other (not natural) shows:
-IBFF World Championship in Slovenia - I placed 6th in Men's Fitness division;
-IFBB Slovenian Open Championship - I placed 2nd in Junior Bodyclassic and 2nd in Men's Bodyclassic

I have one more show planned on the 15th of December (IFBB Juniors&Masters World Championship in Budapest) and with it I will conclude the 2012 season.

Plans for the future? Improve as much as possible and qualify as an IFPA Pro in the next few years, continue on successfully spreading the whole natural mentality and, most important, enjoy the whole process!

Training and nutrition wise, I followed the typical bodybuilding nonsense (you have to eat every 2-3 hours, 1 muscle group per week, ''clean'' food, etc.) at the beginning of my carrer. As years passed and I broadened my horizon some things just did not make sense any more. Again, to make the long story short, here are my basic training and nutrition principles:

Training:
In order to improve naturally you have to get stronger. Muscles were made to move things. I stick most of the time in the 3-8 rep range with some sets as low as 1 rep and basically never higher than ten. Explosive concentric part of the rep.
During the off-season and first part of my prep I did a upper/lower body split, modified WSB approach: I had May Effort days and so called ''volume'' days instead of Dynamic Effort days. I trained for two days, had a day off then repeated the cycle. While travelling across California I trained whole body every other day. I liked it so much that I continued training in that manner even when we came back to Slovenia. After the last competition on the 27th of October I decided to try something new: I do a full body workout every day. I have three different days (for squats and bench press): Max Effort day, Dynamic Effort day, Volume day + some accessory work. I did the 15th consecutive workout today.
My max lifts in the off-season: 240kg squat (529lbs), 140kg bench (309), 220kg DL (485lbs)
Current maxes (cca. 25lbs lighter) around 200-210kg (441-463lbs) squat, 120kg bench (265 lbs), 210-220kg (463-485lbs) DL

Nutrition:
I just focus on hitting my macros at the end of the day – IIFYM principle. I usually have three bigger meals per day with some smaller snacks in between.
I am currently at 200g protein, 200g carbs and 20g fats per day - the lowest I have been this year. I will stick to this untill the end of this month. Come December, I will gradually start to up my intake (mainly carbs). Depending on how I feel, I will throw in a refeed day or two.

Current Stats:
Height: 174 cm
Weight: 72,8 kg (160,5 lbs)

I attached some photos of mine:
1.Me at the beginning of my training;
2.At the end of the off-season: April 2012.
3., 4., 5., 6.Morning before IBFF competition little less than a month ago.

[JureRus]

Yesterday's training (Max Effort):

Squat:
warming up and loading...
5x 140 kgs
5x 160 kgs
3x 180 kgs
2x 190 kgs (+belt)

Video: youtu.be/KSkhyGZmGB0

Bench press:
5x 60 kgs
5x 80 kgs
3x 100 kgs
3x 110 kgs
2x 110 kgs
2x 110 kgs

Finished off with bent-over rows (5 sets x 8 reps) and some vertical rowing.

[JureRus]

Today's post workout meal (my second meal of the day). Homemade pizza and chocolate milk: 52g protein, 104g carbs, 11g fats.

[fltallpaul]

Great stuff! Way to spread the word about Natural Bodybuilding and good luck with your goals!

[JureRus]

Thanks for the response! I (We) will definitely keep on giving my best on spreading the whole natural mentality. It is already well established in USA but is unfortunately still in its roots here in Slovenia - but we already have and will keep on changing that!

[JureRus]

Today was ''explosive'' day. Because of the busy schedule I trained early in the morning: woke up at 6, an hour later I was already squatting!

Two DE exercises:
Squats: 8 sets x 3 reps
Military press: 8 sets x 3 reps

+accessory work: cable rows (5 sets x 8-10 reps).

[lcurtis20]

best of luck to you!

[JureRus]

best of luck to you!

Thanks!

[JureRus]

Another early morning workout. Today was ''volume'' day and I woke myself up with some squatting...

Squat (weight in kg)
5x 100
5x 140
6x 160
5x 160
5x 160
5x 160
5x 160
5x 160
(Planned on doing 5x5x160 but I felt very good and did a ''bonus'' rep on the first 160 set and did another ''bonus'' set in the end )

Bench press:
5x 60
4x 100
4x 100
4x 100
4x 100
4x 100

Bent-over Rows with deadstop:
10x 60
8x 100
8x 100
8x 100
8x 100
8x 100

Finished off with 2 sets of cable lateral raises.

Morning weight: 72,4 kg (159,6 lbs) - the lowest I have been since 2010!

Picture of yesterday's ''on-the-go'' meal: microwave protein cake

[Bonkies]

interesting log, will follow along, best of luck bro!

[sculpt07]

you look great mate! in for this

[JureRus]

interesting log, will follow along, best of luck bro!

you look great mate! in for this

Thanks guys!

[JureRus]

After 23 consecutive full body workouts and more than 1000 squats and presses later it is time for some deload!

I did a last ''normal'' training today. In the next few days I will do 2 light full body workouts, up my intake a little and spend some extra time on ''prehabilitory'' work (soft-tissue massage, ...). I continue with my regular ''every-day-is-full-body-workout-day'' scheme on Sunday!

I am very pleased with the progress in the last 3 weeks. I have managed to hold on to my weights in the gym despite the low caloric intake and a drop in bodyweight. On some lifts I even improved a little! Due to the increase in workout capacity things should be very interesting when I start upping my intake after the contest in December...


I attached some photos of my komemade meals in the last few days!
1. bread ''balls'' filled with cheese and chicken breasts
2. protein cake
3. pizza!

[JureRus]

The president of IFBB Slovenia conveyed a rather shocking piece of information to me yesterday: due to IFBB regulations on competing in other organisations I am not allowed to enter the IFBB Juniors&Masters World Championship in Budapest for which I have been preparing. It was supposed to be my last contest of the season.

I was initially told that I could compete in different federations - I would just have to be tested when I go back to IFBB, which was not a problem for me being a natural bodybuilder. However, the rule is that you are suspended form IFBB for 1 year (and you are tested when you can compete again).

All-in-all, unexpectedly and a little disappointed I finished this year's contest season yesterday. The last competition was the one in Maribor, Slovenia, on October 27th. The weeks off prep afterwards were just a ''bonus''. But I always say: every action has it's consequences. I have managed to improve quite a bit in the last few weeks, brought my physique to my absolute best ever with the lowest BF I have ever managed to achieve, my training weights have gone up (relatively to bodyweight)... all of this will result in an even more productive offseason and I will achieve my current level of BF (even) easier in the next contest season.

Attached below, there are two photos of me from yesterday.

[Gibson5521]

Omg dude...that conditioning is second to only a handful of people in natural bb'ing

[NaturalPursuit]

DAMN! nice pics bro! gunna be following!!!

[JureRus]

Thanks guys! Means a lot!

[TakedaShingen]

That some serious shreddedness you have goin in those pics bro. Good job. I aspire to come in so tight as that.

[JureRus]

After a few days of deload I started a new training cycle yesterday - marking the beginning of an offseason!

I will continue with my full-body training described in the first post. I will just include rest days little more often - I'll do a 3-1 scheme (3 days of training, rest, repeat). Yesterday was volume day...

Squat:
5x 140 kgs
7x 140 kgs
7x 140 kgs
7x 140 kgs
7x 140 kgs
7x 140 kgs

Military press:
8x 40 kgs
5x 60 kgs
5x 60 kgs
5x 60 kgs
5x 60 kgs

Accessory work: Front Pulldowns (5x 8 reps), Dumbbell Bench Press (2x 7-5 reps) + something for rotatory cuff.

Today was Dynamic Effort day. I started with Bench press (8 sets x 3 explosive reps x 70 kgs), moved on to squats (8 sets x 3 explosive reps x 110 kgs) and finished off with some ''deadstop'' bent-over rowing (5 sets x 8 reps), one arm vertical rowing and 2 sets of Dumbbel Bench Presses.

As far as nutrition is concerned... I will gradualy increase my caloric intake to get the most out of the whole prep faze of the season -> Reverse Dieting! I am currently still pretty low at 200/200/40 but I feel great!

[JureRus]

That some serious shreddedness you have goin in those pics bro. Good job. I aspire to come in so tight as that.

Thanks! Unfortunately I will not be able to show it on stage but hey... there is always next time and I promise I will be even better!

[JureRus]

Few more photos from yesterday - just under 160 lbs.

[rippedmass48]

wow kid you look great, keep it up!

[Maoro86]

Hey, nice to see you here aswell

[joshuadelapenha]

In! You didn't work with Alberto and 3dmj did you?
Btw most bodybuilders say and i know this because i major in Biology and i asked my professor this as well. Once your fat intake drops below 15-20% then you will start to run into problems. Specifically when it comes to hormone production.

[h4xk0]

Go Jure! I'm in.

[JureRus]

Hey, nice to see you here aswell

wow kid you look great, keep it up!

Thanks!

In! You didn't work with Alberto and 3dmj did you?
Btw most bodybuilders say and i know this because i major in Biology and i asked my professor this as well. Once your fat intake drops below 15-20% then you will start to run into problems. Specifically when it comes to hormone production.

No, I did not. I have always prepared solo: made many mistakes but also learned a lot during the process.

However, I had the privilege to meet Alberto and Jeff in September this year during our trip across CA ... youtube.com/watch?v=8JCb2q-JY3E

As far as fat intake is concerned: I disagree. Most of us need about 30g of ''essential'' dietary fat, mostly saturated. When we cover that, optimal hormonal status has more to do with the whole caloric intake than with the intake of fats. Yes, my intake of 20g daily was extremely low and that is for few weeks max.

Go Jure! I'm in.

[JureRus]

Today's training...

Squat:
5x 5x 160 kilos

Dumbbell Bench Presses:
5x 6x 34 kilos

Dumbbell one-arm rows:
5x 10x 52 kilos

That was it; simple but effective!

[tobelatking]

Few more photos from yesterday - just under 160 lbs.

IMG_7524%20(400%20x%20600).jpg

Keep at your dream pursue it to the end. I gave it up for years and regret it. You look beyond years beyond your age. You will look only better with time. Grow, grow, grow.

[JureRus]

Thanks! No other plans than to grow grow grow, improve improve improve.... ;-)

[JureRus]

It was a very busy week but training wise it all went as planned with a couple of early morning and late night trainings.I am slowly increasing my intake thus taking full advantage of "reverse dieting". I have been at 200/270/45 since Monday. The weight is still at 160 pounds (72,6 kg this morning, I has actually dropped from 72,8). I am upping my carbs to 300 today.