As you may / may not be aware I have just competed in the recent, prestigious NPA Pro-Am event alongside 9 other athletes (report and pics to follow) and after not competing on a bodybuilding stage for some 4 years I have to say that I have gained substantial progress within this time frame. It is also apparent that my physique represents dense, usable muscle mass, and this has been evidenced by the feedback from respected athletes, judges and peers who have witnessed my contest physique. I honestly believe that this is due to my training and nutrition, and certainly not a genetic quality. The following are some of my opinions on training leading up to a bodybuilding contest:

Stay Heavy
Heavy weight is a core stimulus for muscle growth,..FACT! In order to build strength, and gain muscular hypertrophy the muscle fibres must be stressed through heavy basic exercises, and this should form the corner stone of every workout! It is a common misconception that during pre-contest training an athlete should reduce the weight, thus resulting in muscle atrophy, flatness and decreased metabolic rate. It is imperative to continually stress each muscle fibre, if by training lighter the muscle fibres recruited in heavy lifts seize to have use and becomes obsolete. It is worth highlighting at this point however, that a bodybuilder shouldn’t expect to replicate ‘off-season’ lifts, due to lower glycogen levels in the muscle cells, a realistic figure should be around 85-90% of the off-season poundage’s leading up to the last week of the diet. It is only in the last week when there should be an increase in exercise repetitions and sets whilst incorporating less rest periods, mainly to burn excess muscle glycogen (resulting in a metabolism shift burning more body fat),and increase calorie usage.

Diet and Supplementation
I have been very fortunate this year in having careful nutritional guidance from the Musclefactory Gym owner, Chris Wormley. In many instances I have concentrated entirely on working out and left the diet to him. For my recent show I maintained an 18 week diet ranging from around 4000cals p/day to 1900cals p/day progressively. The rate at which is altered by reviewing my bodies appearance on a regular basis. Chris introduced me to using ‘good’ fats as an energy source during the diet,..something which I lacked previously, this came in the form of fish oils, peanut butter and nuts. My staple protein sources were from white meats and fish, and carbs were almost entirely of a low glycemic nature. I did incorporate Protein Powders into my diet (exclusively AST ‘VP2 Isolate’,..only the best!!), glutamine and amino’s in order try and maintain positive nitrogen balance as much as possible. AST’s ‘Anabolic Rush’ creatine formula was also a tremendous asset which enabled me to continue workouts with extreme intensity and strength right up to the show, this certainly something I would advocate to any competitive athlete.

In summary, by combining Heavy and intense Basic weight training exercises, controlled and varied Cardio sessions with strict attention to a clean and monitored diet an individual can reach their potential and often exceed the realms of what might have been perceived as unrealistic.

‘Till next time,

Train……….Harder!!

Jay