In many ways it seems like only yesterday when I made my way to the gym for the first time and my love affair with bodybuilding began. I loved everything about it, especially the possibility of one day becoming a great competitor.
When I started out I was probably as naive as I was passionate. Naive about certain aspects of the sport, both good and bad. I didn’t know about supplements, nutrient timing, Max-OT or Max-OT cardio. I also didn’t know about the use of performance enhancing drugs in the various levels of the sport.
I remember when I first became aware that many top guys in the sport were using steroids. It was like finding out there wasn’t a Santa Claus. It disappointed me but didn’t discourage me. Thankfully I had a strong belief in myself and found role models that helped me stay true to my dreams and I continued going for the coveted IFBB pro card “my way.”
I’m not here to preach, I never have been. To each his own and how you choose to go about bodybuilding is your decision, however don’t make that decision because you think you can’t be outstanding if you stay drug free. I am here to tell you that you can achieve great things training naturally and to make your quest easier there are blueprints for success you can follow.
Take a close look at accomplished bodybuilders who train drug free and learn from them. That’s exactly what I did and what I strongly prescribe to you. For example, I remember after the 1998 Team Universe I knew I needed guidance. I wasn’t afraid to seek out help and decided to go to the best. I just witnessed Skip La Cour come back from disappointment in 1997 to smoke everyone and set a new standard for conditioning at that show, so who better to learn from I thought. I modeled a lot of what I did after Skip’s approach. I didn’t try to reinvent the wheel. I didn’t look at Skip and think “he’s better than me so he must be cheating.” I looked at him as someone who has achieved great things and someone I could learn from because he was obviously doing something right.
Unfortunately there are a lot of people missing the boat in my opinion. Rather than learning from the best natural guys they accuse them of cheating and assume they are lying about their methods. You can’t have this type of limiting mindset and expect to achieve outstanding results.
If you open your mind and learn from the best, you can unlock your full potential.
Believe. Achieve.
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Exactly!!!! The mind is so powerful and we need to use this as much as any muscle!
Hey Jeff, do you still recommend taking shakes with fast carbs/protein before and after workouts?
I hear so many people saying that its not necessary (they say its better to take EAA/BCAA before and after the workouts instead, or just take protein after and follow it with a meal), what are your thoughts on this?
Also if you could comment on my nutrition around my workouts i would be extremely grateful.
Btw i train with MAX-OT and follow the workout schedules thats in your journal
this is what i do:
2-3 hours before workout i eat a meal with high GI carbs +beef/chicken/fish + vegetables
30 min before workout i take Anabolic rush + 10capsules of BCAA 4500
before workout (usually while im warming up) i take 50grams of Vitargo (or ASTs DGC)+ 1½ scoops of vp2 +creatine and glutamine
right after workout i take the same thing (but with abit more protein)
30min after post workout shake i eat around 250grams of potatoes + 150-200grams of beef/Chicken
30min after the above meal i take the exact same thing (should i add a protein shake to this meal aswell or is that overkill?)
then about 1½hour later i take about 400grams of Non-fat cottage cheese (48g protein/13g carb/3g fat)
and 3hours after that before i go to bed i take one serving of Muscle XGF meal replacement.
Is this the optimal plan or are there any improvements i can make?
Sorry for the long question but its something thats been on my mind for a while confusing me.
There´s so many sources of different information out there.
Thanks a bunch in advance, appreciate that you take the time to write theese articles on your blog and answer the questions of the fans
Hi Jeff,
I've injured my left hand and need to avoid using it for at least four weeks. Considering I cannot do upper body workouts during that time, do you find it recommendable to train legs and abs more frequently than once a week?
I don't advise training legs more than once per week even in your circumstance.
Yes, I still advise high GI carbs directly pre and post training.
Due to a high volume of requests, unfortunately I am unable to make specific nutrition plan adjustments for each individual. I do offer a nutrition plan set up as part of my consultation service.
hey jeff i want to say first thank for your time and for even looking at our qestions and anwsering them it really mean alot and specally to take a minute or two out of your busy schedule to answer our qestions thank you again jeff. I have a problem and ive been asking people but they dont know what to tell me my legs seem to have great thick development but i feel that my upper body is lacking and iam afread i cant catch up my upper body with my lower body what do you suggest and do you have any hits on what i should do its got my afraid of training legs. thanks jeff for your time
I would still train legs for sure. If you really feel like they are way out of balance you could slightly scale back intensity on the legs. You could still use Max-OT principles but choose weights that keep you closer to the 6 end of the rep range.