Natural Bodybuilding Site

INTRODUCTION TO OFF SEASON BODYBUILDING

Entering a Natural Bodybuilding Contest is a way of showing off your hard work.

To me it was my way of measuring my improvements. I made it my goal to enter a contest looking better than I did before.

If you are an aspiring bodybuilder who wish to compete in a Natural Bodybuilding Contest someday then this site is for you.  If you are only interested in working out and developing muscles but have no aspiration for Competitive Bodybuilding then I recommend you read my Nutrition Section.  Competitive Body Building diet is very different.  For one thing there is a cycle whereas the average balanced diet for the maintenance of health doesn't.  I must warn you though that people who do participate in Off Season diet amd training must be in good health, i.e. not diabetic.  I will not be held responsible for any health problem that might occur.

OFF SEASON DIET

During your post competition it is good that you focus on a diet that allows muscles to grow. In order for them to grow that would mean need sufficient  Kcal, Protien, Carb., and Fat.  Doing so will compliment your training and recuperation.  Remember that in order for muscles to grow stimulation has to take place, then recuperation has to take place which means giving your muscles enough time to rest, and nutrients must be available to supply energy and raw materials for it to grow.  Nutrition is one of the most important key for muscle growth.  It is part of the Trinity Principle that I have mentioned in my Home Page.  Lack of nutrition along with sufficient Kcal would mean retardation of muscle growth.  Think of a high compression race car.  It will not achieve its full potential horse power if what you are putting in is regular unleaded with low octane rating.  A high compression race car would need a race fuel that is high in octane rating.  Your body is the same way.  You need high quality nutrition and sufficient Kcal in order to achieve your full potential.

When I was a novice at this I was given a lot of bad advice.  My problem was that I took advice from bodybuilders who were on drugs.  I was told to eat everything that is not nailed down on the table and to drink weight gainer supplements.  Well as a Natural Bodybuilder it didn't work.  What I ended up was 60lbs worth of fat that I later had to shed in order to get ready for competition.  Bodybuilders on drugs, particularly steriods, can get away with eating a ton of Kcal., but not for Natural Bodybuilders.   We don't process that much food a Drug Bodybuilders would, plus when it's time to compete we don't use the type of drugs they do in order to get shredded.

Another bad advice I got was to eat nothing but protein.  I did that during the Off Season where I ate nothing but meat, eggs, and milk.  What I found out was that I wasn't getting any stronger at all or buiding any muscles, and I often found myself tired.   On top of that I found myself binging on high carbohydrate food such as chocolate bars, beans, and rice.  I would often feel bad for doing so.  I later found out after taking a couple of Nutrition classes at Cal Poly Pomona that the human body was not meant to live on Protein alone.  You need balanced nutrients.  So my binging on Carbs was my body's way of telling me that I need this nutrient.  The guy who gave me this advice seven years ago, who likes to refer to himself as the Maverick, never made any gain when it came to muscle mass.  To this day he looked like he regress instead of progress. 

Going to the gym, training hard, resting, and eating the proper food to sustain growth is paramount.  It is the very reason why we workout in the first place and dream of showing off our hard earned muscles.  There is a right and a wrong way to go about it when it comes to dieting.  The main thing is to do it right in the first place.  To do it wrong would cost you your progress, ambition, and your dream of becoming a competitive Natural Bodybuilder.

Focus on Gaining Muscles

Off Season is the time to gain muscle mass.  This is the time for you to focus on nothing else but to gain as much muscle mass and strength before a competition.  This means that you train hard, eat good, and get plenty of rest in order for growth to take place.  Your training must consist of low to mid rep range.  This means that your average target repetition should be around 8, 10, or 12 whichever one you prefer and no more.  Read my Training Principle to understand what I mean by Target Rep, Proper Rep Scheme, and Positive Failure.  Target reps at 10 to 12 is okay if that's what you prefer.  Through my training experience, the experience of my clients, and training partners, training in a high rep range with the Rep Scheme I describe in Training Principle leads to the development of lactic acid.  If it develops enough, lactic acid can prematurely cause you to fail before your Positive Failure.  Target Reps at 8, 10, 12 is excellent because it means lifting more weights than you would if you were Targetting 15, 18 or more. 

During Off Season my Target Rep is 8 and my average rep is 5-6 to reach Positive Failure on any given exercise.  This really worked great for me.  I was able to reach the kind of muscle density and strength I want during Off Season.  Not only that, since the weight is heavy and my average rep is around 5-6 I never get the lactic acid build up where it affects the effectiveness of my workout. 

I remember Jack coming and saying "why are you doing low reps for?  It will make you smooth."  How can doing low reps make you smooth?  I asked him to explain that to me.  He couldn't explain it to me other than to say that low rep makes you bulky and high reps makes you rip and gives you a shapely muscle.  Well he's right about one thing, low reps does make you bulky, but the proper word is dense compared to high reps.  The shape of the muscle has nothing to do with high or low reps.  The shape of your muscle has a lot more to do with your genetics.  Like I mentioned before I've done everything I could for my biceps: high reps, high sets, scott curls, bench curls, and they are still flat with no peak.  So that is my genetic gift, but I can make them dense.  In 1997 I entered Natural Mr. USA and won my division.  I got ripped by doing only 8 reps. 

Ripness is merely due to an extremely low body fat and water content at a subcutaneous level.

My body fat at this contest was tested at 1.7%. Where normally from my past contest it's usually around 3.4%.

During Off Season my body fat is around 6-8%.

So don't be afraid to do low reps during Off Season and build up your muscle mass and strength.  If you are doing the Proper Rep Scheme I described in Training Principles you'll find out it's a lot more difficult and it takes more time to complete than your conventional rep scheme.  So the next contest you'll be better, bigger, and stronger.

Keep Your Body Fat Low

During Off Season it is always a good idea to keep your body fat on a low side.  You'll find out that you can actually train and recuperate better when your body fat is low.  Not only that, when it's time for competition you'll have no problem shedding the extra pound in order to obtain excellent definition.  In my last contest in 1997 it only took me 4 weeks to get ready for competition.  Top Natural Bodybuilders like Markus Reinhardt only need 3 weeks to get shredded.

Now if you inspire to compete someday and you are at the obese side I highly recommend that you take 4 to 7 months or as long as you need to focus on just losing the fat.  Read my Nutrition Site so that it is done properly.  Yes, it is possible to gain strength and muscle mass even if you are trying to lose the fat.  Just keep your training in the intense side and your nutrients on the balance side.

Why Bulking Up is a Bad Idea

As I mentioned earlier, I made a mistake of bulking up during Off Season because I took the advice of a fellow bodybuilder.  Bulking Up means eating more Kcal. than what your body needs.  This does not translate to acceleration of your muscle growth.  Extra Kcal that the body doesn't use usually leads to deposit on the adipose tissue, fat.  Unlike water where you can drink a number of liters a day, you can easily urinate the excess that your body doesn't need.  It is not the same for food.  Eventhough you elimate excess raw material from food the Kcal from it gets stored in your body.   

This was my third contest in 1993.  I bulked up to 212lbs during Off Season.  When it was time for competition I couldn't bring my weight down in time in order to ready myself.  Eventhough I went from 212lbs to 183lbs it wasn't good enough to bring out my definition.  My real contest weight at that time was 165lbs.  So I was definately way off.  Suprisingly and fortunately for me, because of the poor turn out and not too many quality competitors I was able to secure a 5th place win in this 1993 Natural Hercules.  And yes, that is a moustache on my face  :-))

Too much body fat is useless.  Imagine, fat is very muck like dead weight that you have to carry around.  Unlike muscles that can be readily use, body fat just stays within waiting for it to be used.  It is a burden to your system to have too much body fat.  You'll find yourself tiring sooner, it hampers your workout performance, and it may lead to other potential health problems such as type II diabetes.  So eat enough Kcal to develop your muscles and not your fat.

Eat Sufficient Kcal

Eating is very tricky.  You want to eat enough Kcal in order to sustain and promote muscle mass and yet at the same time you don't want to eat too much where too much Kcal goes to your adipose tissue.  We all have different metabolic rate.  Some of us have it in a fast rate and some of us in slow, and most of us just average.  So prescribing a specific Kcal to a general population of bodybuilders would be wrong.  The best way of knowing exactly how much Kcal you need a day is to keep an eating log.  As of right now, if you have not gained or lost weight for the past several months or years then you are at a maintenance level.  At this point I wouldn't recommend you change anything as of yet.  I highly recommend that you buy or checkout a book from the library called a "Food Index."  This Food Index gives you a rough estimation as to how many Kcal there are in the foods you eat as well as how many grams of protiens, carbohydrate, and fat. 

For the next 7 days, without changing your eating habits (even if it's bad), you should jot down everything that goes into your mouth.  After 7 days go to the Food Index and see how many Kcal, and how many grams of protein, carbs, and fat you have eaten for each day.  Add those up and then divide it by 7.  This will give you your average.  This will not be accurate and as a matter of fact it might even be way off, but what you are after is a rough estimation of how much Kcal, and how much grams of protein, carbs, and fat you are eating.

Once you have determined your maintenance level through this, change your eating habits with nutrious foods that have the same amount of Kcal that comes with good quality protein, carbs, and fat.  Add 300 Kcal to it so it would be sufficient for your muscles to grow and build strength. 

Emphasize Protein and Carb

I didn't included Fat because chances are a person who is getting enough Kcal from a good source of food will be getting sufficient amount of Fat.  Plus the extra Kcal that doesn't get burned off would be stored as Fat.  As a natural bodybuilder it is very important that you eat sufficient amount of Protein and Carbs.  The two macronutrients that would be important to your success.

Protein: When I was a newbie I was told to eat nothing but protein, and that usually means meat.  If you are a bodybuilding your protein requirement would be more than the average sedentary person.  How much depends on the individuals activity, metabolism, and tissue repair. Even age can be a factor.  This is indeed very difficult to determine.  But the Cardinal Rule of thumb seems to be 1 gram per pound of lean body mass or 1 gram per 2.2 kilo.  So if you are a 200lb lean bodybuilder your protein requirement would more compare to an obese 200lb bodybuilder.  Again, this is just an estimation and it should not be considered accurate.  So lets say that you are a 200lb bodybuilder with a bodyfat of 10%.  If you do the calculation this would mean that a lean body mass would be 180lbs.  So this means 180 grams of Protein is required.  So measure your body fat and then calculate your lean body mass and then establish the amount of protein that is required.

Carbohydrate: This is your source of power.  Often times people say it is Protein, but truly it is Carbs that gives you power.  Your muscles desire Carbs for energy in a form of ATP, which is what molecules of Carbs are broken into.  This energy is used to power your weight training.  Not only that Carbs are stored in your muscles in a form of glycogen.  Also, 1 gram of Carb consist of 4 grams of water (water binds to Carbs).  So if Carbs are stored in your muscles in a form of glycogen then so is water.  Remember from my Nutrition Section I mentioned that muscles are over 90% water?  Well this means that Carbs will add volume to your muscles.  Making them look bigger and powerful.  So how much Carb does one need?  Well for sure that if you are a bodybuilder your Carb requirement would be up to 3 times greater than that of a sedentary person.  Again, the requirement also depends on how active you are, metabolism, and how much energy your muscles generate.  A person who Squats over 400lbs would definately require more Carbs than those who Squat 200lbs.  But like Protein, it is very difficult to determine just how much.  Cardinal Rule would be to suggest to eat 2 times more than Protein.  So if you are 200 bodybuilder with 10% bodyfat and you determine your Protein requirement is at 180 grams a day, then that would mean your Carb requirement would be around 360 grams.  Again this is just an estimation, it is not accurate in any way.  It would be a mistake though to think that a bodybuilder, particularly a natural, would require more Protein than Carbs.

Supplements

If there's one thing I get asked a lot it is about what type of Supplements I take or what Supplements would I recommend.  In the past I have tried them all-literally!  I could have bought a sportscar if I didn't use the money to buy supplements.  From my experience and the experience of my clients Supplements did 3 things: make you nauseated, jittery, and or bloated.

Most bodybuilders believe in Supplements because the person with his ripped abs, massive chest, and big arms said it works and he or she is the poster child for it.  Most of those models who advertise for these Supplements forgot to mentioned about their use of anabolic drugs.  It is often the drugs that gives them results and not the Supplements itself.  But advertising for major Supplement companies is indeed one of the ways to make an income.

So are all Supplements bad?  No.  There are supplements that do work such as Creatine, Protein, and Multi Vitamins and Minerals.  Stay away from so-called health food bars, because those contain mostly sugar and the Protein source they use that derives mostly from peanut butter.  Most of them have high fat content and are very high in Kcal.  It doesn't mean you shouldn't treat yourself to it, but do so sparingly.  I would stay away from Amino Acid Supplements, why because it is useless.  If you are eating sufficient Protein then that means you have all the 22 essential Amino Acids.  Your body manufacture these Amino Acids at a cellular level already.  So it is better to take Protein supplements.  Stay away from fads: In the '80's and onto the '90's Chromium Picolante, Yohimbe Extract, Sarsaparilla, and other so-called natural anabolics was the answer to building muscle mass.  Today, these supplements are useless. 

Do Moderate Aerobics

As we all know Weight Training promotes muscle growth.  Along with muscle growth comes improved Basal Metabolic Rate.  Meaning you burn Kcal more effciently, even in your sleep.  So why do we need Aerobics?  Well there's 2 things Weight Training doesn't do:  burn fat, and improve the presence of oxygen in the blood stream.   Weigh Training is purely an anaerobic exercise where your muscles exert itself without the presence of fresh oxygen.  This is why lactic acid builds up immediately.  Since oxygen doesn't get replenished during weight training the muscles tend to use Carbs as its major source for fuel.  Where as Aerobics uses Fat as its major source for fuel.  Combining Weight Training and Aerobics together you improve your body's overall metabolism.  You'll discover that when it's time for Precontest preparation Aerobics becomes a very important tool in reducing your body fat. 

Besides, the presence of oxygen, it also helps with the recuperative process by keeping the blood circulating well with oxygen.  But too much Aerobics can destroy your goal in gaining muscles during Off Season.  What is too much Aerobics: spending 1 to 2 hours a day, and elevating your heart and breathing rate where you get exhausted in the end.  This taps in to your Recuperative Ability which will lead to retarding your muscular growth.  Aerobics should be done in moderation and in low impact.  A good example of Aerobics is walking at a steady pace for 20-30 mins. a day.  Riding a Stationary Bike or slow Stair Master.  Your heart beats and breathing rate is at a steady pace.  I don't recommend swimming, jogging, hiking, or cross country skiing.  Remember, Aerobics is nothing more than a supplement to your Weight Training.

Training Hard (Wrap Up)

Off Season as I said earlier is the time to gain as much muscle mass as possible.  This means training to Positive Failure, eating sufficient amount of Kcal, and getting sufficient rest.  Your goal at this time is to improve your strength by improving the number of reps. you do, and to use more weights in the hope that this will lead to muscular gain.  Your goal is to improve and bring out your full genetic potential.

Don't make the mistake of training the same way you did for Precontest.  I remember Allen back then from my gym.  He trained hard for 3 years trying to build size to his muscles.  When it was time for Precontest, he was able to bring his body fat down.  He won his division deservingly.  But after the contest, he never went back to hard training.  He trained exactly the same way as he did for a Precontest.  Three, Five, Seven years have past he never made any improvements to his physique.  The contest condition he won at a local level didn't do very well at a national level.  My motto: "Don't brother going to the gym if you don't plan on making any improvements.

Sample Off Season Diet

This is just an example of Off Season Diet.  Each meal should be 2 to 3 hours apart:

Meal 1                        Meal 2                      Meal 3                 Meal 4                                                

6 egg whites                1 banana                   1 cup of rice        25 gram protien drink       

1/2 oat meal                Creatine drink            8oz meat                                                     

or 2 wheat bread                                           Mix vegetable                                            

 

Meal 5                Meal 6  

 1 cup of rice        3oz tuna

 8oz meat 

  Small salad

This was my 5th Contest in 1996 Hercules USA.  This was the only time in my competition where my thighs were 28". 

Exactly 1" bigger than my waist which was 27".  I will never foget how I wowwed the audience that day.