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06-13-2007, 04:11 PM #301
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06-13-2007, 04:12 PM #302
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06-14-2007, 07:13 PM #303
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06-14-2007, 07:22 PM #304
- Join Date: Oct 2005
- Location: Tampa, Florida, United States
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06-14-2007, 07:58 PM #305
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06-14-2007, 11:55 PM #306
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06-15-2007, 12:01 AM #307
Heya John. I've been training for 10 weeks now, and although I might never have the genetics to be truly competitive, I'll definitely be standing on a stage someday at my best.
Just a question of curiosity though when it comes to shredding... is there a big difference between how ripped the average natural bodybuilder can peak at vs. the average non-natural on stage, while maintaining muscle?Interested in investing in militarizing poultry? Based in our Southernmost continent, no local taxes, no laws to worry about, guaranteed return! PM for further details
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06-15-2007, 08:35 AM #308
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06-15-2007, 08:45 AM #309
- Join Date: Apr 2007
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Thank you very much for the compliment. My BF at the show? Honestly I couldnt tell you. Why I can't tell. I really don't keep track of my BF. I go by look and feel. I use to keep track of it and I was to concerned about my bodyfat and not how I looked when I got ready for shows. So now I go by look and not worry about the BF. I just try to get as lean as possible. I do step on the scale though. Why? If i am starting to look leaner in the mirror but my weight is staying the same then I know I am losing BF. If I look the same in the mirror and my weight goes down then I know i am losing muscle. So I up my protein. You have to know your body. Everyone is different.
As far as Hams. I am a former world class sprinter, so I have always been blessed with great hamstrings from sprinting and still to this day I stick with sprinting when Iam getting ready for shows. Thats what helped the most.
Kiyoshi
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06-15-2007, 08:49 AM #310
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06-15-2007, 09:17 AM #311
- Join Date: Oct 2005
- Location: Tampa, Florida, United States
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The biggest difference I notice in the appearance of a natural bodybuilder vs. a non-natural is the degree of hardness in their physique. Natural bodybuilders can get ripped with very low bodyfat but guys who use drugs have more of a rock-hard look to their physique. It's not just low bodyfat, it's a different look. They can even have a little more bodyfat and still appear harder and, usually, more vascular.
As far as attaining that ripped look, I also think it is easier to achieve using drugs as opposed to being natural. The drugs allow you to hold onto your muscle when you are dieting or doing cardio. When you are natural, you have to be VERY careful about not losing muscle when you are losing bodyfat. In fact, I think that is the biggest challenge to natural bodybuilder who is competing, keeping all their muscle while getting ripped and showing up onstage ripped but with full, hard muscles. If you don't eat enough calories or you do too much cardio (or both), it is very easy to sacrifice muscle tissue when you are natural.www.Naturalolympia.com
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06-15-2007, 09:32 AM #312
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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Genetics is obviously important but sometimes you don't know how good your genetics are until you train really hard for years. In my book, "Natural Bodybuilding", I devote a whole chapter to genetics and I break it down so you can understand what type of genetics you have. For example, you have your bone structure, the shape of the individual muscles and the ability to develop muscles quickly. An "easy gainer" or someone who develops very quickly is said to have great genetics but what about their individual muscle shape or what their bone structure looks like.
For example, Tim Belknap, 1981 AAU Mr. America, had the ability to develop incredibly thick, massive muscles very easily. When Belknap first came onto the scene, he was one of the thickest bodybuilders ever seen at that time. However, he did not have a great structure because he had a narrow shoulder structure and wide hips on a 5'4" frame. Although he created lots of interest as an amateur bodybuilder, he didn't have much of a career when he turned professional because of his subpar structure.
On the other hand, Frank Zane and Flex Wheeler did not have the same genetics to get big and thick as easily as Tim Belknap did but they had much better structures and more of a pleasing look to their physiques. Although it took them much longer to develop their muscular development, when they did finally build the size and thickness they needed, they rose all the way to the top of the sport - Zane winning 3 Mr. Olympia titles and Flex winning 4 Arnold Classic titles.
Someone like Sergio Oliva and Lee Haney had it much easier because both of them were blessed with great bone structures (wide shoulders, small hips and the right size joints to make the muscle bellies look bigger) and they were also blessed with the ability to gain muscle very easily. I remember a writer commenting on the amazing development of the then 22 year old Lee Haney who just won the Nationals and Universe. The writer said so amazing was his development at such a young age that Haney must have grown from every workout he ever performed.
So, it's hard to tell what type of long term genetics you have until you start training and then break it down. It might be better than you think!www.Naturalolympia.com
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06-16-2007, 03:39 PM #313
Hi John, nice to have you on the boards.
Can you tell me what is a good meal for breakfast? What did you used to eat when you were bulking? Right now I'm not sure and my breakfast changes daily so I would like one meal to stick with.
I read through your thread and you've given a lot of great advice, but if you were giving advice to beginners only what would you say are the most important aspects involved in getting bigger?Politicians are like diapers. They both need changing regularly and for the same reason.
Only Thing We Have To Fear Is Fear Itself
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06-16-2007, 03:40 PM #314
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06-16-2007, 03:55 PM #315
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06-17-2007, 12:28 AM #316
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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For breakfast, you want to eat a combination of protein and complex carbs. I personally eat 1 egg plus 8-9 more egg whites for my protein and 1 cup of oatmeal and 1/2 cup of blueberries for my carbs. When I was 20 years old and bulking up, I used to eat 6-7 eggs (not whites, just whole eggs) along with some type of cheese and I would make an omlette. That would be my protein but by using the whole egg instead of the egg white, I would be eating a lot more fat which would give me the extra calories I needed to gain weight. For my carbs, I would have 2-3 slices of whole wheat toast with butter and jelly on top. The bread would be the complex carbs along with some simple carbs from the jelly and more fat and calories from the butter.
For advice on getting bigger for beginners, I would suggest using the basic exercises with weights heavy enough to limit the reps to 5-8 reps so you get bigger and stronger. Train a maximum of 3-4 days a week and rest on your off days. Try to sleep at least 8 hours a day and don't do any other activities on your off days so you slow down your metabolism and gain weight. Of course, this is for the beginner who has a hard time gaining weight. If you are beginning bodybuilding and you are older (late 20's or older), you might not want to eat as much because you might get too fat as your metabolism is slower as you get older.
When you are a "hardgainer" and need to get bigger, you should really eat a lot of food. Eating 6x a day might not be enough, you might need to increase the amount of food you are eating with each meal. This is what I had to do to bulk up when I was younger. I ate lots of foods that were high in protein, complex carbs and fats. It was a lot of work eating that food but it worked. I bulked up from 205 lbs. to 230 lbs. in 8 months and I dramatically changed the look of my physique.www.Naturalolympia.com
www.mp6training.com
www.johnhansenfitness.com
www.musclesatthemovies.com
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06-17-2007, 12:35 AM #317
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06-17-2007, 12:39 AM #318
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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Hey Wolf,
Bodybuilding judges used to take off points or look down on bodybuilders who had tattoos but that was the old days and not the current scene. There are so many bodybuilders now who have tattoos that it is not judged as harshly as it once was. I just got back from the Jr. Nationals in Chicago and most of the male competitors had tattoos, including the overall winner. If the tattoos you have are very noticable or are in a bad area so they cover up your development, there is some body make-up that you could use to cover them up and make them less apparent.www.Naturalolympia.com
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06-17-2007, 01:10 AM #319
- Join Date: Apr 2004
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John-
You've had an amazing career. You are a real inspiration. Anyway, i've competed once already and i plan on doing the junior class at the Emerald Cup next spring (natural). Last time i had a problem holding on to muscle and i really want to fix that this time. Since i still don't know enough about the competition diet and process, can you recommend anyone that could help? Do you help people with diets or anything?
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06-17-2007, 09:05 AM #320
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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Yes, I help both men and women online and in person. If you want to contact me online, go to my website at www.naturalolympia.com. How long did you diet the last time you competed and what type of diet did you follow? Do you know how many calories you were eating for that diet? Also, were you doing any cardio and how many days a week were you weight training?
www.Naturalolympia.com
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06-17-2007, 12:19 PM #321
- Join Date: Apr 2004
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Right on, sounds good. I dieted 12 weeks with a pretty standard competition diet (brown rice, broccoli, chicken, steak, fish, oats, protein shakes, occasional bar). That is pretty much what i ate spread over six meals. I was eating around 2100-2300 calories per day. At the time i was 5'9'', about 180 before dieting. At first i didn't do cardio but i got behind and was doing it twice a day 30 min a day for a good 6 weeks while training 4 days a week.
I am about 30 pounds heavier now so i am looking forward to competing again. I will definately try to acquire your services when it comes showtime.
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06-17-2007, 01:14 PM #322
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06-17-2007, 01:19 PM #323
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06-17-2007, 11:39 PM #324
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06-18-2007, 12:52 PM #325
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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Yes, I have done high rep squats to build the legs and it's pretty brutal because of the high reps. It's a totally different type of training than going heavy with low reps. The best I did was sets of 315 for 20 reps. Another good way to incorporate this training technique is to do a high rep set of 20 reps after you are finished training heavy, sort of as a pump set.
www.Naturalolympia.com
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06-18-2007, 12:55 PM #326
- Join Date: Oct 2005
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Yes, I would normally diet anywhere from 16-20 weeks, depending on how much fat I had to lose. I would aim to lose about 1 to 1 1/2 pounds a week and at least 1/4" off the waist each week. The fat loss was slow but I was still able to eat a good amount of calories and keep my muscle size and strength up as I lost the fat. If you try to lose the fat too quickly, you inevitably end up losing muscle.
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06-19-2007, 06:32 AM #327
I found your comments about how much weight to use for various antaganistic bodyparts interesting. I had a similer thought process, but was glad to see it written down by somebody with more knowledge.
What is your feeling about allowing certain movements to get much stronger as opposed to keeping a movement stagnent to let the antaganist catch up.
As an example. You said that rowing and bench press weights should be the same. Most people are probably stronger on the bench press. Should you halt progress on upping Bench weights to allow your rowing strength to increase?
This not to say that all your benching would stop. You would just not continue to increase your strength in this area. Or should you allow growth to happen till it stagnates on its own, or at desired a size, then work to balance the antaganist?
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06-19-2007, 09:57 AM #328
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That's an interesting question and I guess the answer would depend on what your goals are. If you are trying to develop your physique and keep everything in proportion, you would have to look at your body and assess your current development. For example, if you were a very strong bench presser and you had big, thick pecs that developed easily but your back was flat and lacking in thickness and, at the same time, you were pretty weak in barbell rows and other back exercises then yes, I would suggest keeping your bench press weight the same (if you feel that this is the movement that most directly contributes to your pec size) while simulataneously working very hard to bring up your back. Then, when you step onstage to compete (or take your shirt off at the beach), you will have a much more symmetrical physique and not be out of proportion. However, if your bench press is not a real strong movement for you and the reason you cannot do barbell rows with the same weight as your bench press is because you don't do barbell rows as much as bench presses (which is probably the most likely reason), then I would continue to work hard on your bench press while also working to increase your barbell rows.
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06-19-2007, 10:33 AM #329
Thanks John!
I realize it is a much more complicated scenario than I put forth, and that there are a lot of variables to consider. In the end there may not be one right answer for this question. The advice on the poundages to shoot for was in itself a great gage as to where some emphasis should be placed, and where to work to improve.
I take it you don't see any great issue with being out of balance as the catalyst for increasing the chance of an injury.
I look forward to your continued advice and knowledge here on the board.
JeffLast edited by glwanabe; 06-19-2007 at 10:39 AM.
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06-19-2007, 02:40 PM #330
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That's a good point you bring up about the chance of injury with two opposing bodyparts being out of proportion strength wise. To be honest, I wasn't even thinking along those lines, I was thinking more about how the physique looked. But there is the chance of injury if two opposing bodyparts are out of proportion in size and strength, particulary the abs and lower back, the front and rear delts and the quads and hamstrings. Still, like you said, it's a good gauge to go by to keep your strength levels in proportion to one another. I see so many guys focusing on the bench press but they have wafer-thin backs and they don't even look like the same person when you see them from the back. Also, many bodybuilders neglect their legs for their upper body training so attempting to keep the deadlift and squat in proportion is a good way to keep that balance.
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