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Gabriel
Wilson recently had the pleasure of interviewing the Hyperplasia
Challenge contestants. For more information on this challenge, click
Here. To read more interviews, Click
Here.
The
Question will be denoted by the letter "Q"
and the answer by the letter "A."
Interview with
steakzilla
Q.
Can you please share your ABCbodybuilding testimony?
A.
ABCbodybuilng has been probably the biggest influence in my life so far.
(Wow I never really thought about it but its true) Before I found abc I
wasn't really into anything, just kind of working to pay the bills for
the month so I could make it to the next month to do the same thing.
Slowly as I read more of abc I would make small changes in my life.
Eating a little better, learning more exercises, and so on. As time went
on more and more bodybuilding started becoming a part of my life until
it pretty much was my life, as in this contest, for 3 months every
decision I made was based upon bodybuilding. As a result I learned I
could do what ever it was I put my mind to, and that gave me the courage
and fortitude to decide what I want to do with my life.
Q.
Did you enjoy the HYPERplasia challenge? Please give us your sincere
assessment of the event, and why/if you would recommend it to other
bodybuilders?
A.
Yes I did enjoy the challenge; it was an all around positive experience.
I think the challenge is a great Idea, But I do think it needs some
tweaking if prizes are continued to be offered. It could have been
organized a little better, i.e. The point system could have been
announced before the contest. And I think I would recommend it to other
bodybuilders that where looking for a challenge. That is if I knew any
other body builders.
Q.
Did you feel that the contest facilitated hostility among the
competitors? If so, what would you change to avoid this in the future?
A. No
I don't think any hostility was brought about because of the contest.
There was smack talk but I believe that was just a fun part of any
competition, No harm was done by it.
Q.
Did you feel the contest facilitated friendship and cooperation between
the competitors? For example, did it encourage people to work with each
other and encourage each other?
A. I
think it did facilitate friendship and cooperation. Especially with
opposite categories. Example, male bulkers and female cutters where
really encouraging towards female bulkers. And the only reason that is
after all it is a competition so its hard to try and boost someone your
are directly competing against.
Q.
What was the hardest part about the challenge?
A. Hands
down the hardest part of the challenge was staying focused for that long
of a period.
Q.
How much did you have to adjust your life?
A. I
made major life adjustments. In fact I change everything but when I
worked my job. I ate at different times, ate different things. I carried
around a cooler with a strap filled with food and water. I hung out with
different people, had next to know social life. I increased my sleeping
length to 10hrs a night. (That was the hardest thing to stop after the
challenge.) Even my breaks at work where planned around when I need to
eat.
Q.
What kept you on track and focused for 12 weeks? There must have been
times that were difficult for you to train or stay strict to your
diet—what stopped you from slacking?
A. During
my bulk there where time when I would get sick and tired of eating, it
got to be a chore. To deal with this I would try to switch my diet up,
to foods that still fit in my plan, but I normally didn’t eat. For
example if I was getting tired of the same old chicken and sweet
potatoes, I would make a fish dish with a brown rice, or I would keep
the same food but “dirty it up a bit”. Example I would take the chicken,
batter it and make chicken strips, and I would have mashed potatoes
instead of the sweet potatoes. As for training the only problem I ever
had was, if I had a poor lift at the beginning of the workout, then I
would by thrown off mentally for the rest of the workout. To cope with
this I would just force my self to just finish the workout and start the
next day as a clean slate.
Q.
Did you ever feel like quitting the challenge, or feel signs of
overtraining? If so, how did you handle this?
A. I
defiantly had contemplated quitting the challenge a couple of time, you
see my bodybuilding was totally isolated, even the gym I go to
bodybuilding is a foreign concept, its all old cardio bunnies, and guys
with 2 inch ROM. Also no one in my family understands it so it was hard
to get any support there. So essentially the only place I could find any
support was from ABC. So there were times where I started to doubt my
self. How did I handle this well, I guess I owe it all to one person.
And that’s the Canadian national female bodybuilding champion and now
IFBB Pro, Autumn Raby. I found out about her just surfing the web
looking for bodybuilders from my province. I was searching for females,
as I really admire them as they have awesome muscle development put just
as much work in as the males, plus have the femininity and curves that
only a woman can poses. When I first found a picture of her I was
immediately drawn to her. So I decided to email her and see if I would
get a response. And she did, we exchanged a number of emails, where she
gave me some advice, and even sent me 3 sighed 8x10, no charge. So
having actual interaction with a pro bodybuilder really motivated me.
Q.
Do you plan on competing in the future? If not, what are your future
aspirations and goals in bodybuilding?
A. Well
actually no, I don’t plan on competing in the future. I am joining the
military so all my focus will be put into that. But if in the future I
am settled into a place where bodybuilding could be conducive with my
life style, then I would love to get back into it.
Q.
What was your diet like during the HYPERplasia challenge? Did you use
any advanced dieting principles such as calorie and carb cycling? And by
how many calories did you drop or increase on average from the start to
the end of the challenge?
A. 8
egg whites 120 0 32 0
½ cup oats 303 5 13 51
Flax 1 tbls 130 14 0 0
Whey 120 2.5 23 2
2scoops whey 240 5 46 4
50g matodextrin 190 0 0 47
50g dextrose 190 0 0 47
1 tin tuna 113 2 30 0
3/8 cup brown rice 257 1 5 54
Flax 1 tbls 130 14 0 0
Some salsa
ANd some cabage
Whey 120 2.5 23 2
12:00 Beff barley stew
1/3 cup raw barley 234 0 6 51
100g beef 370 30 29 0
Flax 1 tbls 130 14 0 0
Sub 671 44 35 51
OF coarse there are tomatoes and other veggies in here
Whey 120 2.5 23 2
2:30 chicken and sweet potatoes
chicken 162 4 31 0
200g sweet potato 200 0 2 50
Flax 1 tbls 130 14 0 0
Whey 120 2.5 23 2
5:00 Chillie
½ cup beans 301 1 20 56
meat 320 22 26 0
Whey 120 2.5 23 2
7:30 Zma
1 scoop casien powder 110 0 25 0
½ cup oats 303 5 13 51
Flax 1 tbls 130 14 0 0
Some Times I substitute the flax for Natty peanut butter
Total 4600 203 408 422
I didn’t use any advanced dieting techniques I prefer to use them only
while cutting. And before the contest started, I was consuming about
3000 cals, and at the end it was above 5000 clean cals.
Q.
What supplements did you use?
A. MULTI
VITIAMIN
5g L-Glutimine
5g BCAA
chromium 200mcg
vitamin c 500mg
creatine 10g
vitamin-c 1500mg
chromium 200mcg
5g L-Glutimine
Vitamin: A 25000 IU
E 2000IU
C 1000mg
vitamin-c 500mg
Vitamin-c 500mg
Zma
5g L-Glutimine
vitamin-c 500mg
I also of course used whey and flax, as stated in my diet
Q.
What did your split look like?
A. Well
my spits changed a lot for most of the contest, but on average it looked
like as follows.
Monday: chest /shoulders
Tuesday: Legs (glutes, quads, hams)
Wednesday: Back
Thursday: Biceps /Shoulders
Friday: Triceps /Traps
Saturday REST
Sunday REST
Also at the beginning of each workout I would do 20 minutes of either
Calves, Forearms and Abs, rotating each day.
Q.
How much cardio did you do?
A. The
only thing that I did that resembled cardio was, for a couple of weeks I
did my entire workout with no rest in between sets.
Q.
What was more important to you—winning the competition, or improving
your body? And why?
A. During
the contest I had my mind set that I wanted to win the contest, as I new
I could improve my body with or with out the contest, but winning it
would be a good motivator. But when it ended it didn’t matter that I
didn’t win, but that I surpassed what I thought was possible for me.
Q.
Would you have done anything different in your program if you could
start the challenge over?
A. Yes
I would, I would have stuck to 1 or 2 workout concepts instead of trying
some many, over the contest. This Way I could also keep better track of
how much my lifts increased, and made changes in accordance of how
things where improving. Also I would have thrown in some light cardio
Q.
What are some key training tips you would give to a bodybuilder
competing in the same challenge as you (whether it be cutting or
bulking)?
A. Well
I made the mistake of over training, I thought that with adequate rest
and extra calories, it would be beneficial, I was wrong, I would
defiantly recommend avoiding any over training. As far as diet I would
say keep calories high and clean. One more piece of advice would be try
and find a workout partner to compete in the same competition, the
rivalry and camaraderie would be great tools for success.
Q.
Based on the results of the HYPERplasia challenge, and your knowledge of
science, do you feel it is possible to lose fat and gain muscle at the
same time? Why or why not?
A.
Well I from what I
know of science I would believe that it is not likely to gain muscle and
lose fat at the same time, time being one day. And if so I don’t believe
that the muscle gained while trying to do both would be as much as if
the focus was on just mass as in a traditional bulk. But I do believe
over a month or 2 a person could produce results where, there is muscle
gain, as well as fat loss.
Q.
Thank you very much for the interview.
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