How to add muscle and stay shredded
Adding size without increasing body-fat levels can be done, but requires a total overhaul of the way your train, eat and recover, says Ryan Terry Ryan Terry is an IFBB pro men’s physique model, Arnold Classic European men’s physique champion 2013 and a USN sponsored athlete. He is based in Doncaster, South Yorkshire. When I first started training all I really cared about was my abs. I did a lot of cardio, swimming and gymnastics and worked my abs daily. There were very defined but had no real depth or thickness. And I thought carbs were the devil and spent most…
It’s time you got tempo right
Ignore the importance of the speed at which you perform each rep and you’ll never place enough tension on the target muscle to stimulate growth, says Ben Pakulski Ben Pakulski is a IFBB Pro bodybuilder and creator of the new Mi40 Xtreme training system and the Mi40 Nation website. He is based in Tampa, Florida. Tempo is a very important aspect of training. In my Mi40 programmes I use a 4010 tempo. That’s a four-second eccentric, a zero-second pause at the bottom of the rep, a one-second, explosive concentric, then another zero-second pause at the top. Not pausing at the…
7 ways to train like a pro bodybuilder
Dr Jacob Wilson is director of the skeletal muscle and sports nutrition laboratory at the Department of Health Science and Human Performance at the University of Tampa. Ryan Lowery is senior research scientist at Department of Health Science and Human Performance at the University of Tampa, with a focus on sports nutrition and supplementation. 1 Engage your mind Focusing on the muscle is everything and there is data to support the mind-muscle connection that Ben preaches constantly. Does this mean you have to move the weight super slow? Absolutely not. However, using MIV (maximal intended velocity) whilst focusing on the…
Steve Cook: why it’s not about the six-pack
Steve Cook, the world’s number fitness model, explains why he wants a performance, as well as an aesthetic, outcome from his training Steve Cook is an IFBB Pro athlete and the founder of Swoldier Nation. He lives in Boise, Idaho. ‘For so long it was about the physical but recently I’ve wanted to be more functional. What set that off was being inspired by the rugby player Sonny Bill Williams. He’s a sportsman with a world class physique.’
Is how you train making you unhappy?
There is no ultimate destination when trying to build a better body, so learning to enjoy the journey means you’ve already won, says Steve Cook Steve Cook is an IFBB Pro men’s physique competitor, international fitness model and founder of Swoldier Nation. He is based in Boise, Idaho. Losing at the 2013 Olympia physique contest was a good thing for me. A lot of people were surprised but it made me ask myself some questions. I don’t do what I do to place at a show. I do what I do for me, because it makes me feel good. It took…
How I changed the bodybuilding game
Dorian Yates is a six-time IFBB Mr Olympia, winning in consecutive years between 1992 and 1997. He has the fourth-highest number of wins of all time, behind only Ronnie Coleman, Lee Haney and Arnold Schwarzenegger. He is based in Marbella, Spain. What first attracted you to the sport of bodybuilding? People perceive bodybuilding as achieving the peak of physical perfection, but there is so much more to it than that, and it’s much more than skin deep. It’s just as much a mental sport, if not more so, than a physical sport. I did a lot of mental rehearsing and…
Are you underperforming every rep?
If you want to get bigger you need to learn to contract muscles properly, say IFBB Pro Ben Pakulski and top IFBB coach Kasem Hanson Ben Pakulski is a IFBB Pro bodybuilder and creator of the Mi40 Xtreme training system and the Mi40 Nation website. He is based in Tampa, Florida. Kassem Hanson is an elite contest prep coach, and trainer of IFBB pro Ben Pakulski. He is based in West Des Moines, Iowa.
Rich Gaspari: follow the crowd and you’ll fail
‘To stand out from the crowd you need to do something that no-one else has done before, and that’s how I become a champion’, says Rich Gaspari Rich Gaspari is a former pro bodybuilder and member of the IFBB Hall of Fame. He is based in Lakewood, New Jersey. It’s satisfying to see what you’ve done has changed the sport of bodybuilding. It’s pretty cool to see shifts in the sport. I knew I had to look different to the other guys to win shows and I was the first competitor to get striated glutes. I could get my body…
Flex Lewis: Switch off or burn out
If you’re constantly thinking about training then you could be holding yourself back, says Flex Lewis Lewis James ‘Flex’ Lewis is a Welsh bodybuilder and five-time Mr Olympia 212. He lives in Parkland, Florida. Iron Insights 1 The hardest game I did my own prep for my first show – just to get a free gym membership – and I had no intention of ever stepping on stage again. I had excelled in a lot of sports, such as athletics and rugby, but bodybuilding was the hardest sport I’d ever done in my life. 2 You’re never happy I was the…
