What was your lifestyle like prior to your transformation?
Before I started lifting weights (or more importantly, lifting weights and eating at a surplus) I was very much into cross country/middle distance running and football. I was always very active and really enjoyed the competitive nature of sports, especially contact sports. Physically, I was pretty skinny and lean.
When I was running my best times on track, I was 54kg (119lbs) and that was 12 months or so, after I started training with weights, but I was still only 15 years old at the time.
What was your low point or turning point?
There was definitely no ‘low point’ and really no ‘one point’ in time that I decided to be a bodybuilder. The longer I had trained, the more serious I got with my training/nutrition and the further my physique had developed because of this.
It had been a rather slow progression, in every aspect, over the last 14 years that I’ve been lifting.
Were there any unique challenges or circumstances that made your transformation particularly difficult?
Not really. Other than injuries here and there.
I fell out of a tree in 2003 (100% serious), tearing a hunk of cartilage off the bottom of my femur and tearing my medial ligament in the process. That required a cartilage graft and 12 weeks on crutches. That has probably been the biggest problem I incurred, along the way, but even that wasn’t a struggle to get through. After the injury occurred and I had a proper diagnosis, there was nothing I could change about it, other than to have it operated on and look forward to being 100% again after it was all healed and rehabbed. So I just focused on doing what I had to do, to get better.
Actually! One other setback, getting suspended for 2 years from all ASADA/WADA sanctioned sports, after having 1,3,Dimeth(the stimulant found in many pre workout supplements) in my system during the 2010 competitive season.
That sucked. I actually didn’t even know what 1,3,Dimeth was at the time, a client at the gym had just given me a tub of Jack3d to try, because he had been using it and really liked it. For those of you who are unaware, 1,3,Dimeth is a legal stimulant, that is legal for use by athletes at all times other than ‘IN COMPETITION’ periods, that is, as stated by ASADA/WADA. The 6hrs prior to, time including and 6hrs post competition. Unfortunately for me, I didn’t even know I was taking this stimulant, and used jack3d all the way through my comp prep, hence the positive test. If I had stopped taking it 1 week prior before each comp, I would have been fine. Shit happens.
Getting suspended from competition wasn’t really a setback though either, as I could still eat/train/sleep as planned, I just couldn’t compete for a while. Less calorie deficit, more calorie surplus for me!
I just really enjoy living the natural bodybuilding lifestyle. Focusing almost all my time and effort on my eating/training/sleeping and working too (I need money for food). The fact my lifestyle keeps me physically fit and healthy, is something I appreciate also.
So why do I enjoy doing all the above?
I guess I just like trying to get bigger and stronger every year, setting goals and achieving them and continually trying to improve on my physique.
When you are doing something you enjoy, you don’t need motivation to keep doing it.
What is your next goal? Where do you see yourself this time next year?
My next goal is to do well in the INBA and ANB in 2013. I hope to place well at the state and national titles and present a physique worthy of heading over to the U.S. to compete in the Natural Olympia.
This time next year, I hope to be at a buffet in Vegas somewhere, after competing in the Natural Olympia, impressing all the other competitors with my ability to eat copious amounts of food!
What is your current training philosophy?
My training is based around progressive overload, time under tension and optimal form/range of motion. I am constantly trying to put any given muscle under a greater mechanical load than it has been exposed to previously. My target rep range could be anywhere from 6-15 reps, depending on what body part I am training and where I am up to in my repetition cycle (I cycle my rep ranges throughout my training blocks).
My form is always slow and controlled, to minimise momentum and keep constant tension on the target muscle.
My range of motion is always the maximum range possible, whilst keeping tension on the target muscle. For example, I COULD move the bar in a bench press further, by locking out my arms at the top of the movement, but that would decrease tension on the target muscle (pectorialis major), so I stop short of lockout, which keeps the pecs working harder.
Some may say, then that is NOT a full range of motion, but it is definitely more optimal, if you are doing bench press to grow your chest.
Training Split:
Monday: Shoulders/Triceps
Tuesday: Back/Rear Delts
Wednesday: Off or Abs/Calves
Thursday: Chest/Biceps
Friday: Quads/Hams
Saturday: Off or Extra weak point training
Sunday: Off
These are the sequences I was following throughout my 2012 contest prep. I do 1 work set per exercise, when I am in the depths of my offseason, as I get closer to comp and my strength starts to decrease, I add in extra work sets.
Monday – Shoulders/Triceps
DB Shoulder Press 1-3 x 6-12
Smith Machine Shoulder Press 1-3 x 6-12
DB Lateral Raise (seated) 1-3 x 8-15
DB Shrug 1-3 x 8-15
Dips 1-3 x 6-12
Close Grip Bench1-3 x 6-12
Close Grip Overhead Press (I made this up, triceps tendons don’t like isolation stuff) 1-3 x 6-12
Tuesday – Back/Rear Delt
Chin-Up (close, neutral grip) 1-3 x 6-12
Lat Pulldown (supinated grip) 1-3 x 6-12
Barbell Row (pronated grip) 1-3 x 6-12
Seated Row (neutral grip) 1-3 x 6-12
Rear Cable Fly (for rear delts) 1-3 x 8-15
Deadlift 1-3 x 6-12
Wednesday – Off or Calves/Abs
Standing Calf Raise 1-3 x 8-15
Calf Press (on 180 deg leg press) 1-3 x 8-15
Hanging Leg Raise 2 x 10-15
Weighted Sit-Up (decline bench) 2 x 10-15
Thursday – Chest/Biceps
Bench Press 1-3 x 6-12
DB Low Incline Press 1-3 x 6-12
Barbell Incline Press 1-3 x 6-12
Cable Fly 1-3 x 8-15
Barbell Curl 1-3 x 6-12
DB Incline Curl 1-3 x 6-12
Reverse Cable Curl 1-3 x 6-12
Friday – Quads/Hams
Squat 1-3 x 8-15
Leg Press (45 deg) 1-3 x 8-15
Lunge (stationary, alternating) 1-3 x 8-15
Straight Leg Deadlift 1-3 x 6-12
Seated Leg Curl 1-3 x 6-12
Saturday – Off or Weakpoint Training
Various triceps/biceps work, higher reps, shorter rests.
Sunday – Off
Rest day
Favorite form of cardio?
My favourite form of cardio from an enjoyment point of view is getting down the athletics track and doing HIIT. HIIT is definitely my preferred form of cardio for improving my cardiovascular fitness also. I have not done HIIT regularly for years though. My preferred form of cardio when I am dieting for a show is LISS/MISS.
It is far less stressful on my body, at a time that I am already under stress from eating at a calorie deficit for so long and dieting down to rather low body fat levels.
Describe/List your cardio routine:
30 min speed walk, in a fed state, everyday, as far away from the times I lift weights as possible.
*NOTE – For my own interest sake, I did absolutely no cardio throughout my 2012 contest prep, didn’t seem to make any difference to my conditioning.
What is your approach to nutrition?
I focus on eating very basic, whole foods and try to spend as much of my time eating at a calorie surplus as possible. My food intake pretty much consists of: plants, animals, eggs, whole fat dairy, grains, legumes, nuts, seeds and fruits, preferably in the most unadulterated state as possible. I like to minimize my consumption of artificial sweeteners, flavorings preservatives, caking agents, thickeners, etc etc, so I include very little processed foods, in my day-to-day nutrition. The more processed and further away from its natural state, that you take any food, the greater its loss of nutrients.
Ideally I’d eat solely organic foods that had been freshly picked or killed, shortly before consumption. Unfortunately this is rather difficult, unless you grow all your own plants and animals.
Do you bulk and cut or stay lean year round?
I bulk and cut.
The majority of the 14 years I have been lifting weights was spent bulking, I only cut for the first time in 2006 and it has only been since I began competing in 2008, that I have cut down regularly (by regularly I mean once every 2 years).
That being said ‘bulking’ does not mean ‘getting fat’, it simply means eating at enough of a surplus so that you are SLOWLY gaining weight and fuelling your body with enough calories, so that you can progressively overload in the gym , each session.
Diet I followed for the 2012 competitive season:
0530 – Breakfast: Chicken Breast, Brown Rice, Chili, Salt, Pepper.
1850 – Post Workout: Kangaroo, Potatoes, Chilli, Salt, Pepper.
2200 – Dinner: Chicken/Beef with Steamed Green Vegetables or Salad.
0030 – Pre Bed: Eggs, Salmon, Salt, Pepper.
What are your best 3 tips for someone looking to reach their goal physique?
Progressively overload
Eat at a calorie surplus
Always practice optimal form/range of motion on all exercises
Favorite Quote:
One meal. One training session. One full night’s sleep. None of these things, in isolation, will get you any noticeable gains. Do those things day-in, day-out, for 10 years though and you end up with a pretty decent physique. – Aaron Curtis
I was heavily involved in fitness as a boy, playing recreational and competitive sports that lead me to the weight room. I was able to see a transformation in a short time.
This brought out my addiction to the mental aspect and the physical attributes that come from weight training and diet manipulation.
Where does your motivation come from?
Watching my body continue to develop and surpass its best each year motivates me enough to keep going.
There is no satisfaction better than self-sacrifice, discipline and hard work.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
I stick to basic training principles. One or two body parts per day, heavy and compound movements.
Monday: Legs
Squats – 4 sets, 8-10 reps
Walking Lunges – 4 sets, 12 reps/leg
Leg Press – 4 sets, 10 reps
Lying Leg Curl – 3 sets, 10 reps
Leg Extension – 3 sets, 10 reps
Tuesday: Shoulders
Dumbbell Shoulder Press – 4 sets, 10 reps
Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises – 3 sets, 10 reps
Single Arm Cable Side Lateral Raises – 3 sets, 10 reps
Front Lateral Raises – 3 sets, 10 reps
Rear Delt Fly – 3 sets, 10 reps
Wednesday: Back
Weighted Chin Ups – 4 sets to failure
T-Bar Row – 4 sets, 10 reps
Single Arm Dumbbell Row – 3 sets, 10 reps
Deadlift – 4 sets, 8-10 reps
Thursday: Chest/Calves
Incline Dumbbell Press – 4 sets, 10 reps
Flat Bench – 3 sets, 10 reps
Decline Bench – 3 sets, 10 reps
Dumbbell Fly – 3 sets, 10 reps
Cable Fly – 3 sets, 10 reps
Standing Calf Raise – 4 sets, drop sets
Seated Calf Raise – 4 sets, drop sets
Friday: Arms
Cable Push Down – 4 sets, 10 reps
Decline Skull Crushers – 4 sets, 10 reps
Weighted Dips – 4 sets to failure
Standing Barbell Curl – 3 sets, 10 reps
Machine Preacher Curl – 3 sets, 10 reps
Concentration Curl – 3 sets, 10-12 reps
Saturday: Off
Rest day
Sunday: Off
Rest day
If you had to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
Deadlifts, Squats and Chin Ups. These are compound and foundation movements.
These exercises encourage strength, endurance and muscular development.
What is your diet like?
My diet consists of high protein, moderate fat and moderate carbohydrates. I incorporate cheat meals, especially in my off season, as my metabolism is fast and I train hard year round.
Meal 1: 1 cup of Oats with Berries & 6 Whole Eggs
Meal 2: 8oz. Chicken, 1/2 cup of Nuts, 1 cup of Rice & a large Salad with Olive Oil
Meal 3: 8oz. Steak & 1 cup of Rice
Meal 4: 2 scoops Whey, 2 tbsps. of Peanut Butter & 2 scoops of Waxy Maize
Meal 5: 8oz. Fish, 1 cup of Rice & 1/2 cup of Nuts
Meal 6: 2 cans of Tuna & 2 tbsps. of Almond Butter
When cutting down do you prefer HIIT or normal cardio?
I prefer steady state cardio over HIIT. I walk on an incline for about a half hour and this has helped me burn fat while maintaining mass.
What is your supplementation like?
Supplementation is so important in weight training and bodybuilding for immune function, muscle building, fat burning and overall health.
What was your lifestyle like prior to your transformation?
Prior to getting into fitness, I had a typical lifestyle. I had a full-time job in a busy Bronx Hospital’s Emergency Room, while at the same time attending Nursing School full time. Therefore, my days consisted of working and studying, which did not leave too much time for fun, especially not enough time to work out.
I did have a gym membership and would train here and there but my focus then was not on working on my body, instead I focused on working on my “mind” and trying to get through Nursing School.
What was your low point or turning point?
My turning point was definitely when I graduated from Nursing School and started working as a Nurse. I then became very aware of sickness and death. I realized then how important it is to take care of one’s self and started changing my eating habits. I joined a new gym, which I found to be perfect for me. It had everything I needed, lots of equipment, not too crowded and very close to where I lived. I started resistance training and was completely hooked. I loved seeing the changes take place in my physique. I knew the more I pushed myself, the more I would change whatever it was I wanted to change in my body.
I was so deeply into my new fit life that I did not have one cheat meal for the first whole year of training. I definitely indulge a little more now, even though I’m still hooked on living a fitter life.
Were there any unique challenges or circumstances that made your transformation particularly difficult?
I did face some challenges but nothing that prevented me from achieving my goals. Being Dominican and part of a close family, our get-togethers consisted of enjoying each others company, and what better way than while eating some Dominican comfort foods.
I would hear my mom telling me how skinny I was getting, how I needed to eat more, but now a days when I go visit she has a grilled chicken breast and steamed veggies ready for me.
What is your life like now that you’ve made a transformation?
Now, from the moment I wake up until I get to bed at night, my whole day evolves around fitness and health. Whether it be planning and preparing my meals for the day, answering people’s questions about fitness and health on my social media pages, going to the gym, or while I work as full time Registered Nurse helping people.
Fitness and health is part of my life, it’s a way of living for me and I couldn’t imagine it any other way.
What motivates you to keep going and push harder?
My motivation comes from seeing my body evolve and become fit and stronger as a result of my discipline and hard work. Reaching a new goal, seeing a new vein pop, or even when a new muscle striation appears. All those things may seem like nonsense to everyone else but to a little gym rat like myself, those are the things that keep me going and push me to pursue a new goal. All the hard long hours spent in the gym and not giving away to self- gratification when the time comes, all those things are going to determine whether you are successful in achieving your goals or not. People need to remember that changing one’s physique does not happen over night. A lot of people give up on their dreams and goals due to lack of progress or slow progress. Remember how long it took you to put on those extra pounds, how many unhealthy meals you ate to get there.
The same goes when integrating fitness into your life. It takes time and you must learn to be mentally prepared for the task ahead, but most of all be patient and enjoy the ride.
What is your next goal? Where do you see yourself this time next year?
I have to say that 2013 started off great for me. I recently joined a new gym, which I love and always look forward to going there and train my hardest. I definitely see myself this time next year looking better than ever. I’m completely motivated to keep making positive changes to my physique; it’s an ongoing process for me that I never seem myself getting tired of. I also plan to help others achieve their goals as well. I have been receiving a large amount of messages from people who want to have me train them and advise them on how to become healthier individuals. I’m currently studying to become a personal trainer, so I definitely see myself doing more of that this year.
I hope to continue doing more fitness modeling as well and just enjoying life in general.
What is your current training philosophy?
I have always been a fan of resistance training, it is what I love doing and what has worked for me so far. Knowing that our bodies adapt very quickly to our workouts hence, stop responding to whatever it is we are constantly doing, I now include more circuit training and plyometrics into my routine, which has been a lot of fun. I also started doing more cardio and I try not to do the same workout more than once. I like to keep things fresh by changing the order or exercises, changing the amount of reps, changing the weight, adding drop sets and supersets or by reducing or increasing my rest periods. I also like to include a full body workout day into my routine here and there. If you find yourself not seeing results, see where your training/diet can improve and change things up every couple of weeks. We are all different and we have to pay attention to our bodies and how they respond to our training and eating habits and change things accordingly. Remember that we are all different and what works for one person might not work for another. You have to be in-tune with your body and learn what is best for you and your desired goals.
Full Routine:
Monday: Legs
Warm Up 5-10 mins on Stairmaster
Standing Smith Machine Calf Raises 10×15
Light Iso-lateral Leg Extensions 5x 12
Light Iso-lateral Leg Curls 5x 12Barbell Squats 5 Sets Narrow Stance and 5 Sets of Sumo Stance x10
Hack Squats 6×10
Barbell Walking Lunges superset with Stiffed-Leg Deadlifts 5×10
Leg Press superset with Leg Press Machine Calf Raises 6×10
Tuesday: Back/Biceps
Pull-Ups 2×15
Bent-Over Barbell Rows superset with Wide-Grip Lat Pulldowns 5×10
Seated Cable Rows superset with Underhand Cable Pulldowns 4×10
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 4×10
Iso-Lateral Front Lat Pulldown 5×10
Back Extensions 4×10
Preacher Curls 5×10
Barbell Curls 5×10
Closed-Grip Cable Bicep Curls 4×12
High Cable Bicep Curls 4×10
Wednesday: Shoulders/Abs
Seated Barbell Shoulder Press 5×10
Seated Arnold Shoulder Press superset with Seated Bent-Over Rear Delt Raises 4×12
Standing Dumbbell Lateral Raises superset with Front Lateral Raises 4×12
Standing Cable Crossover Rear Delts Raises 4×12
Dumbbell Shrugs 3×12
Standing Barbell Twists 4×20
Weighted Ab Crunch Machine 4×20
Hanging Leg Raises 4×20
Thursday: Legs
Warm up 5-10 mins on Stairmaster
Seated Calf Raises 10×15
Barbell Squats 6×10
Hack Squats 6×10
Barbell Walking Lunges superset with Stiffed-Leg Deadlifts 6×10
Leg Press superset with Leg Press Machine Calf Raises 6×10
Leg Extensions 4×12
Leg Curls 4×12
Iso-lateral Angled Leg Press 6×10 each Leg superset with Leg Press Calves Raises 10×15
Even though I’m not much of a cardio person, I recognize its importance for improving overall health, especially cardiovascular, or “heart health”. Regular Cardio exercise has been shown to make the heart healthier by lowering LDL which are also known as bad cholesterol levels, and increasing good HDL cholesterol. Performing cardio can also be beneficial for preventing or decreasing high blood pressure. Regular “cardio” exercises, strengthens your heart and lungs which in turn improve circulation. When the weather permits, I enjoy running stairs or sprinting outdoors.
When indoors I prefer the Stairmaster and/or the Elliptical machine and I do anywhere from 15-30 mins up to 3-4 times a week, usually after resistance training.
What is your approach to nutrition?
My body is my temple! Therefore, I don’t like to feed it crap. I stay away from junk food, sweets, and choose foods that are higher in nutrition for my meals. I don’t believe in bulking as I stay lean year-round. I find that a lot of people use that “bulking” excuse to eat crappy foods and therefore get fat. I like seeing my abs, so therefore I keep my body lean while at the same time gaining muscle mass. I allow myself one or two cheat meals a week, which in reality are not really “cheat” meals, since they consist of maybe adding more carbs, which is usually eating my mom’s Dominican foods or eating Sushi rolls.
Daily Diet:
Meal 1: 4 oz. 0% Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt with ½ an Apple and ½ teaspoon of Coconut Oil
Meal 2: ¼ cup of Oatmeal made with Unsweetened Almond Milk and 3 hard boiled Egg Whites and 1 Whole Egg
Meal 3: 4 oz. Grilled Chicken Breast, a side of Spinach and Cucumber Salad, with Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Lime Juice
Meal 4: 4 oz. Baked Salmon with ½ Baked Sweet Potato
Meal 5: Whey Protein Shake. 30 minutes post workout with ½ a Banana
Meal 6: 4 oz. of Grilled Chicken Breast with ¼ cup of Quinoa
Meal 7: 4 oz. 0% Fat Free Plain Greek Yogurt
What has been your biggest accomplishment in the fitness field?
So far it would have to be recently being on the International Cover of Muscle & Fitness Magazine, which was featured in 6 different countries. I have been reading fitness magazines for many years and before getting into the fitness industry I would dream of one day having a physique like the models featured within. It was totally a dream come true, and I hope that by being on those magazines I have inspired at least one person to get up, and work towards achieving their goals.
Dreams do come true if you work hard and stay true to yourself.
What are your best 3 tips for someone looking to reach their goal physique?
Stay on top of your nutrition. I find that the most difficult aspect of getting and staying in shape is one’s nutrition. Yes, you can go to the gym day and night and learn the proper way to perform an exercise, you can get good at Squatting, and yes you can master the pull-ups, but all of those things will mean very little to you if you don’t first master how to eat right and how to maintain good nutrition habits. Eating healthy doesn’t have to be difficult. Remember that no matter how much you workout, if you don’t eat clean to supplement your training, your hard work will not show. It all works together, you cannot do one without the other.
Prepare and cook your meals. As Kai Greene says “Proper preparation prevents poor performance”. Don’t leave your house without your meals; know what you are going to eat for the day. By preparing and carrying your meals with you, the possibility of being tempted to eat an unhealthy meal out of hunger is eliminated. A lot of people fall short and cheat on their diets due to lack of preparation. Don’t be that person. If you fail to plan then you plan to fail!
You will need to be mentally ready to be able to put in the work necessary to achieve a great physique. What the mind can conceive, the body can achieve. How you manage and overcome life’s obstacles that will inevitably present themselves and will try to prevent you from reaching your goals will determine if you are successful or not. Obstacles are a part of life. There’s always going to be something that will come up and prevent you from training. You’re always going to be too busy, too tired to train, too tired to cook, but the reality is that if you really want something, you put your heart into it and find a way to get it done. These are your goals, your dreams and it’s your responsibility to nourish, protect and fulfill those dreams. Therefore, set your goals, make a plan on how you are going to achieve them and put in the work necessary to get you there. It’s never too late to start.
Favorite Quote:
“The Iron never lies to you. You can walk outside and listen to all kinds of talk, get told that you’re a god or a total bastard. The Iron will always kick you the real deal. The Iron is the great reference point, the all-knowing perspective giver. Always there like a beacon in the pitch black. I have found the Iron to be my greatest friend. It never freaks out on me, never runs. Friends may come and go. But two hundred pounds is always two hundred pounds”. Henry Rollins
If you’re like most people, from time to time you’re going to find your motivational levels starting to wane, which can seriously derail your goals. Now let’s talk about what it’s going to take to increase your will to succeed. We hope this feature will help light that fire under your butt to go to the gym and push yourself to levels you never thought you could!
The measure of who we are is what we do with what we have. – Vince Lombardi
“The only way to be a champion is by going through these forced reps and the torture and pain. That’s why I call it the torture routine. Because it’s like forced torture. Torturing my body. What helps me is to think of this pain as pleasure. Pain make me grow. Growing is what I want. Therefore, for me pain is pleasure. And so when I am experiencing pain I’m in heaven. It’s great. People suggest this is masochistic. But they’re wrong. I like pain for a particular reason. I don’t like needle’s stuck in my arm. But I do like the pain that is necessary to be a champion.” – Arnold Schwarzenegger
Everyone knows the difference between dirty and clean foods, so I don’t have to explain the obvious…or do I? My favorite response to questions about how to eat clean is, “Wash your food.” The biggest problem with discussing foods in these terms is that there’s no clear definition of clean or dirty. The difference might seem obvious, but a closer look shows that it’s far from clear-cut. The confusion is compounded when clean eating is preached as the best way to optimal health and body composition.
In this article, I’ll use research and field experience to shed some light on these muddy issues.
The Fickle Nature of Clean
To illustrate the inconsistency of clean through decades, I’ll begin with the 1980’s, widely regarded as the start of the fitness revolution. Through much of the decade, fat (regardless of type) was portrayed by both the academic and lay press as the bad guy. Eating clean in the 80’s was largely characterized by avoiding fat, whether through the plethora of fat-free products, or the vigilant avoidance of all forms of added and naturally occurring fats within foods.
Toward the end of the decade, whole grain products were regarded as the foundation of optimal health.
The 1990’s was a decade that dichotomized unsaturated fats as good, and saturated fats as bad. Red meat, egg yolks, and pretty much all sources of dietary cholesterol were to be avoided. Abundant grain consumption was still encouraged, and even more so if the grain product had a low glycemic index (GI). High insulin elevations were considered harmful to health and body composition.
Therefore, multiple small meals around the clock was recommended not only to control insulin levels, but also to supposedly raise metabolism.
Moderation is Key
Moderation is the key. Gorging on fast foods is most certainly not the way…
Clean in the 2000’s was characterized by the beginnings of amnesty toward saturated fat and cholesterol. They no longer were considered as dirty as previously thought; now hydrogenated vegetable oil was the poison. Omega-3 fatty acids from fish and flaxseed were placed on a heavenly pedestal, receiving the more-is-better stamp. Carbohydrate was now seen as a potentially greater threat to dieters than fat.
Sugar was particularly unclean, as evidenced by the boom of artificially sweetened, low-carb products.
Caveman Clean (Paleo diet)
The present decade has just begun, and eating clean has taken some interesting directions. One is an appeal to imagination about Paleolithic eating habits, which eliminates the consumption of grains, legumes, dairy, added salt, sugar, alcohol, and even certain vegetables. This definition of clean is perhaps the most logically inconsistent one. It emphasizes a prehistoric model, yet many of its proponents take an array of cutting-edge nutritional supplements, and use satellite technology to navigate their drive to the closest parking spot at the gym. Fruits and vegetables have always been a mainstay of clean eating, but pesticide-free produce is now somehow cleaner, pests and all. Another twist in the carbohydrate saga has snowballed as well. Insulin spikes from high-GI carbs were the bane of the 90’s. But now, fructose, a low-GI carbohydrate with minimal effects on insulin response, is now one of the top public enemies.
As you can see, the definition of clean is an elusive target. Are there any common threads among the decades with respect to eating clean? Is there any way to objectively label foods as clean or dirty? Before I get to that, let’s take a look at the concept as it’s been traditionally applied to bodybuilding.
Bodybuilding Clean: The avoidance of Fruits and Dairy
Clean eating in the bodybuilding sense deserves its own discussion. Much of its ‘rules’ are adaptations of dogma from the 80’s and 90’s with a healthy dose of contradiction. Many bodybuilders who consider themselves hardcore will avoid (among other things) dairy and fruit, regardless of training season. Why? Nobody really knows, but I’d speculate that fruit & dairy phobia among bodybuilders originated from the pre-contest leaning-out process, which typically involves the reduction of carbohydrate. Milk and fruit are both carb-dominant foods, and are thus prime candidates for reduction or elimination. But still, my example above is speculative. This dogma could just as easily have come about by someone cutting milk and/or fruit out of the diet and experiencing further fat loss from the re-creation of an energy deficit, and declaring those foods barriers to fat loss. Nevertheless, in some pre-contest cases, carbohydrate restriction to extreme degrees is called for, and this nullifies the possibility of including milk & fruit (or any carb source, for that matter), at least cyclically. So, milk and fruit got blamed as bad for all occasions, when their omission only potentially applies to certain aggressively carb-restricted dieting phases.
Bodybuilders often pride themselves on having nutrient-rich diets, yet many of them opt for a significant portion of their day’s carbohydrate allotment as dextrose (or some other empty-calorie carb source) instead of fruit.
Attempts at Objectively Defining Clean
Scientific investigations of the nutritional status of bodybuilders have shown some interesting results, and here are some of the highlights. Kleiner and colleagues examined the pre-contest dietary habits of male & female junior national & national-level competitors,15-40% of whom admitted to using various drugs [1]. Despite consuming adequate total calories, women were “remarkably deficient” in calcium intake, which is not surprising given the widespread milk-phobia among bodybuilders. In subsequent work led by Kleiner on female & male competitors at the first drug-tested USA Championship, men consumed only 46% of the RDA for vitamin D. Women consumed 0% of the RDA for vitamin D, and 52% of the RDA for calcium [2]. Zinc, copper, and chromium were also underconsumed by the women. Despite dietary magnesium intakes above the RDA, serum magnesium levels in females were low. Serum zinc levels were high in men and women. It’s notable that not all research on bodybuilders has found nutrient deficiencies. Intakes in significant excess of the RDA in both offseason and pre-contest conditions have also been seen [3,4].
Still, the potential for nutrient deficiencies in this population is strong due to the elimination of food groups combined with a high training volume and lowered caloric intake overall.
Whole vs Processed: Is your Whey Dirty?
The two most commonly cited characteristics of foods considered clean are a lack of processing and a high nutrient density. Let’s look at processing first. Foods in their whole, naturally occurring state are often deemed clean. In contrast, foods that are altered or removed from their original state are stripped of the clean stamp. Is this demerit warranted? As we’ll see, this is not a reliable method of judgment for all foods. By this definition, most supplements are dirty, since they often undergo extensive processing and are far-removed from their original source. To use a common example, whey is doubly processed in the sense that it’s not only a powdered form of milk protein, but it’s a separated fraction of milk protein. Yet, when combining the results of standard ranking methods (biological value, protein efficiency ratio, net protein utilization, and protein digestibility corrected amino acid score), whey has a higher total than all other proteins tested, including beef, egg, milk, and soy [5].
Furthermore, research has shown not only its benefits for training applications [6], but whey has a surprisingly wide range of potential for clinical applications as well [7-10]. Therefore, despite whey being a refined/processed food, it has multiple benefits and minimal downsides.
Nutrient Density: A qualifier for “Clean” foods?
The next commonly proposed qualifier for a food to be considered clean is its nutrient density. A little-known fact is that there is no scientific consensus on what nutrient density actually means. To quote Miller and colleagues [11],“There is currently no science-based definition for either nutrient density or nutrient-dense foods.
Without a definition that has been developed using an objective, scientific approach, the concept of what is a “nutritious” food is subjective and, therefore, inconsistent.”
The existence of multiple methods of measuring diet quality illustrates the point expressed in the quote above. Nutrient profiling systems include the Healthy Eating Index (HEI), Diet Quality Index, and Alternative HEI. The most recent profiling method is the Nutrient Rich Foods Index (NRFI). The NRFI attempts to consolidate principles from previous methods to establish a more comprehensive definition of nutrient density.
It judges individual foods based on the presence of selected important nutrients and absence of problematic ones [12]. Still, the NRFI has its bugs and biases, particularly against saturated fat (& fat in general).
GSW : A Simplistic approach
A simplistic learning tool called the “Go, Slow, and Whoa” (GSW) food classification system was designed to help children and families make better food choices [13]. GSW was recently compared with the more sophisticated NRFI, and despite some differences, both methods closely corresponded with each other in terms of distinguishing energy-dense and nutrient-rich foods [14]. Although the two methods aligned fairly well, they also share similar out-dated ideologies. For example, sports drinks have a “Slow” designation, and whole milk is nailed as a “Whoa” food – brilliant, huh? Tuna canned in water is in the most favorable “Go” column, while fatty fish like salmon is not even listed.
A final example is the listing of egg whites in the “Go” column, and whole eggs in the “Slow” column. Unsurprisingly, the government-issued guidelines are still stuck in the fat-phobic era.
Perils of Judging the Parts & Not the Whole
In the process of classifying foods based on nutrient density, the context of the foods within the diet as a whole is often lost. Attempts at defining nutrient density of foods on an individual basis, for the most part, have failed. Much of the classifications are out-dated at best, and counterproductive at worst. It would seem to be a simple matter of labeling foods with a high ratio of micronutrients to calories as nutrient-dense, and foods with a high ratio of calories to micronutrients as energy-dense. However, this simply is not the case. An energy-dense food can still contain more essential macronutrition and/or bioavailable micronutrition than a nutrient-dense, energy-sparse food. Another thing that tends to get ignored is that athletes with high endurance demands or high overall training volume would compromise their performance if energy density was neglected.
Ultimately, it’s impossible to judge a food in isolation from the rest of the diet. Furthermore, it’s impossible to judge a diet without considering the training protocol, goals, preferences, and tolerances of the individual.
Dirty Fat Loss (Carbohydrates are not the enemy)
Clean diets are commonly touted to produce more favorable body composition changes than unclean diets. In fact, some even claim that dirty dieting will not allow fat loss to occur. For weight or fat loss, concerns of a dirty diet used to be centered on fat intake. That’s no longer the case; carbohydrate has been receiving the brunt of the contempt lately. In light of the current sugar-phobic climate with an emphasis on fructose, the following studies deserve special attention.
First up, Surwit and colleagues compared the 6-week effects of 2 hypocaloric diets – one with 43% of the total calories as sucrose (table sugar), and one with 4% of the total calories as sucrose [15].
No significant differences were seen in the loss of bodyweight or bodyfat between the high and low-sucrose groups. Strengthening these results was the use of dual X-ray absorptiometry (DXA) to measure body composition. Furthermore, no differences in blood lipids or metabolism were seen between the groups. It looks like a more sugary intake still cannot override a calorie deficit. Next up is a recent study by Madero and colleagues, comparing the 6-week effects of a low-fructose diet (less than 20 g/day) or a moderate-fructose diet (50-70 g/day) mostly from whole fruit [16]. The moderate-fructose group lost significantly more weight than the low-fructose group (4.19 kg versus 2.83 kg, respectively). Notably, the moderate-fructose group lost slightly more fat, but not to a statistically significant degree.
Unfortunately, body composition was measured with bioelectrical impedance analysis (BIA) instead of something more reliable like DXA. Nevertheless, bodybuilders afraid of fruit would have to admit that the dirtier diet prevailed in this case.
Trans fatty acids (TFA) have earned a lot of bad press for their adverse effects on biomarkers of cardiovascular health [17,18]. However, some research indicates that not all TFA are harmful. A distinction should be made between industrially produced TFA via hydrogenation of vegetable oils, and naturally occurring TFA in dairy and meat [19]. Vaccenic acid, the main form of TFA in ruminant fats, might actually lower the risk for coronary heart disease [20]. Currently, there’s no controlled human research specifically comparing the effects of TFA with other types of fats on body composition.
In any case, the fitness-conscious population has nothing to worry about unless they start indiscriminately gorging on fast food, cooking with vegetable shortening, and pounding loads of processed/packaged pastries and desserts.
All-or-Nothing Dieting & Eating Disorder Risk
In 1997, a general physician named Steven Bratman coined the term orthorexia nervosa [21], which he defines as, “an unhealthy obsession with eating healthy food.” It reminds me of the counterproductive dietary perfectionism I’ve seen among many athletes, trainers, and coaches. One of the fundamental pitfalls of dichotomizing foods as good or bad, or clean or dirty, is that it can form a destructive relationship with food. This isn’t just an empty claim; it’s been seen in research. Smith and colleagues found that flexible dieting was associated with the absence of overeating, lower bodyweight, and the absence of depression and anxiety [22]. They also found that a strict all-or-nothing approach to dieting was associated with overeating and increased bodyweight. Similarly, Stewart and colleagues found that rigid dieting was associated with symptoms of an eating disorder, mood disturbances, and anxiety [23]. Flexible dieting was not highly correlated with these qualities.
Although these are observational study designs with self-reported data, anyone who spends enough time among fitness buffs knows that these findings are not off the mark.
Applying Moderation: The 10-20% Guideline
For those hoping that I’ll tell you to have fun eating whatever you want, you’re in luck. But, like everything in life, you’ll have to moderate your indulgence, and the 10-20% guideline is the best way I’ve found to do this. There currently is no compelling evidence suggesting that a diet whose calories are 80-90% from whole & minimally processed foods is not prudent enough for maximizing health, longevity, body composition, or training performance. As a matter of fact, research I just discussed points to the possibility that it’s more psychologically sound to allow a certain amount of flexibility for indulgences rather than none at all. And just to reiterate, processed does not always mean devoid of nutritional value.
Whey and whey/casein blends are prime examples of nutritional powerhouses that happen to be removed from their original food matrix.
Use the 10-20% discretionary intake rule and enjoy life a bit.
The 10-20% guideline isn’t only something I’ve used successfully with clients; it’s also within the bounds of research. Aside from field observations, there are three lines of evidence that happen to concur with this guideline. I’ll start with the most liberal one and work my way down. The current Dietary Reference Intakes report by Food & Nutrition Board of the Institute of Medicine lists the upper limit of added sugars as 25% of total calories [24]. Similarly, an exhaustive literature review by Gibson and colleagues found that 20% of total calories from added sugars is roughly the maximum amount that won’t adversely dilute the diet’s concentration of essential micronutrition [25]. Keep in mind that both of these figures are in reference to refined, extrinsic sugars, not naturally occurring sugars within whole foods like fruit or milk. Finally, the USDA has attempted to teach moderation with their concept of the discretionary calorie allotment, defined as follows [26]:
“…the difference between total energy requirements and the energy consumed to meet recommended nutrient intakes.”
Basically, discretionary calories comprise the margin of leftover calories that can be used flexibly once essential nutrient needs are met.
Coincidentally, the USDA’s discretionary calorie allotment averages at approximately 10-20% of total calories [27]. Take note that discretionary calories are not just confined to added sugars. Any food or beverage is fair game. The USDA’s system is still far from perfect, since it includes naturally-occurring fats in certain foods as part of the discretionary calorie allotment.
This is an obvious holdover from the fat-phobic era that the USDA clings to, despite substantial evidence to the contrary [28].
It’s important to keep in mind that protein and fat intake should not be compromised for the sake of fitting discretionary foods into the diet. In other words, make sure discretionary intake doesn’t consistently displace essential micro- & macronutrient needs, and this includes minimum daily protein and fat targets, which vary individually. This may be tough to accept, but alcohol is not an essential nutrient.
Its risks can swiftly trump its benefits if it’s consumed in excess, so it falls into the discretionary category.
10% Versus 20%
Another legitimate question is why I’ve listed the discretionary range as 10-20% rather than just listing it as a maximum of 20%. This is because energy balance matters. In bulking scenarios, maintaining a 20% limit could potentially pose health risks that are already elevated by the process of weight gain, which in some cases involves a certain amount of fat gain. Conversely, weight loss tends to be an inherently cardioprotective process, independent of diet composition [29]. So, the 20% limit is more appropriate for those either losing or maintaining weight. Those who are gaining weight but want to play it safe should hover towards the lower & middle of the range (10-15%). Another factor that can influence the upper safe threshold is physical activity level. I’ll quote Johnson & Murray in a recent review [30]:
“Obesity and metabolic syndrome are rare among athletes, even though dietary fructose intake is often high, underscoring the robust protective role of regular exercise.”
In the above quote, you can substitute any controversial food or nutrient in place of the word fructose, and the same principle would apply. A greater range of dietary flexibility is one of the luxuries of regular training. Sedentary individuals do not have the same level of safeguarding from the potentially adverse effects of a higher proportion of indulgence foods. And just in case it wasn’t made clear enough, 10-20% indicates the maximum, not minimum discretionary allotment. If someone strives to consume 0% of calories from any food that’s been processed or refined from its original state, then that’s perfectly fine – as long as this is the person’s genuine preference, and not a painful battle of will. I’d also like to make it clear that there is still plenty of grey area in the study of dietary effects on health.
As such, the nature and extent of the miscellaneous or rule-free food allotment is a delicate judgment call. In this case, it’s wise to keep scientific research at the head of the judging panel, but don’t ignore personal experience & individual feedback.
Final Note: Linear Versus Nonlinear Distribution
A legitimate question is, what’s the best way to distribute discretionary calories? Should they be confined to a daily limit, or can it be a weekly limit? The best answer is to let personal preference decide. If we use a 2000 kcal diet as an example, a flat/linear approach would mean that 200-400 kcal per day can come from whatever you want, while meeting essential needs otherwise in the diet. Weekly, this translates to 1400-2800 kcal, depending on the factors I previously discussed. One nonlinear option would be to break the weekly allotment in half, where 2 days per week you indulge in 700-1400 kcal of whatever you want, keeping the remaining 5 days relatively Spartan. Again, there is no universally superior method of distributing the discretionary allotment. The same principle applies to the choice of foods to fulfill it.
Honoring personal preference is one of the most powerful yet underrated tactics for achieving optimal health and body composition. And that’s the nitty-gritty as I see it.
About the Author
Alan Aragon has over 20 years of success in the fitness field. He earned his Bachelor and Master of Science in Nutrition with top honors. He is a continuing education provider for the Commission on Dietetic Registration, National Academy of Sports Medicine, and National Strength & Conditioning Association. Alan has lectured to clinicians at the FDA and the annual conference of the Los Angeles Dietetic Association. He maintains a private practice designing programs for recreational, Olympic, and professional athletes,including the Los Angeles Lakers, Los Angeles Kings, and Anaheim Mighty Ducks.
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5. Hoffman JR, Falvo MJ. Protein-which is best? J Sport Sci Med 2004; 3: 118-30.
6. Hulmi JJ, et al. Effect of protein/essential amino acids and resistance training on skeletal muscle hypertrophy: A case for whey protein. Nutr Metab (Lond). 2010 Jun 17;7:51.
7. Xu R. Effect of whey protein on the proliferation and differentiation of osteoblasts. J Dairy Sci. 2009 Jul;92(7):3014-8.
8. Krissansen GW. Emerging health properties of whey proteins and their clinical implications. J Am Coll Nutr. 2007 Dec;26(6):713S-23S.
9. Parodi PW. A role for milk proteins and their peptides in cancer prevention. Curr Pharm Des. 2007;13(8):813-28.
10. Marshall K. Therapeutic applications of whey protein. Altern Med Rev. 2004 Jun;9(2):136-56.
11. Miller GD, et al. It is time for a positive approach to dietary guidance using nutrient density as a basic principle. J Nutr. 2009 Jun;139(6):1198-202.
12. Fulgoni VL 3rd, et al. Development and validation of the nutrient-rich foods index: a tool to measure nutritional quality of foods. J Nutr. 2009 Aug;139(8):1549-54.
13. US Department of Health and Human Services, National Heart Lung and Blood Institute. We can! Go, Slow and Whoa foods. http://www.nhlbi.nih.gov/health/public/heart/obesity/wecan/downloads/gswtips.pdf
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16. Madero M, et al. The effect of two energy-restricted diets, a low-fructose diet versus a moderate natural fructose diet, on weight loss and metabolic syndrome parameters: a randomized controlled trial. Metabolism. 2011 May 27. [Epub ahead of print]
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20. Field CJ, et al. Human health benefits of vaccenic acid. Appl Physiol Nutr Metab. 2009 Oct;34(5):979-91.
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29. Leenen R, et al. Relative effects of weight loss and dietary fat modification on serum lipid levels in the dietary treatment of obesity. J Lipid Res. 1993 Dec;34(12):2183-91.
30. Johnson RJ, Murray R. Fructose, exercise, and health. Curr Sports Med Rep. 2010 Jul-Aug;9(4):253-8.
I discovered the world of fitness when I was in high school. At first I did aerobics classes, and little by little after I gained more confidence I moved to the weight room. I remember flipping through a fitness magazine and thinking that “One day I want to look like these girls!” At that time my English wasn’t that good so I needed to use a dictionary to translate all the workouts. It took some time but it was well worth it! I started competing back in 2008 when I lived in Canada. I did smaller local shows, and did well as I won 2 competitions. After living in Canada for 4 years I moved back to Helsinki Finland and started competing with the IFBB in bikini (when it arrived to Finland) in 2011.
I found the perfect team that helped me to achieve my best physique ever “Team Bombshell” and the rest is history!
Where does your motivation come from?
I like setting goals. Having a goal motivates me to work out harder and I always follow my workout and nutrition plans 100%. I also like the challenge that reaching a goal brings. I am one of those people who love to exceed and accomplish new things. I am a very visual person as I draw inspiration from motivational photos that I find on the internet and fitness websites.
When it comes to discipline, I’m hardcore. I’ve found my sport and to do even better in the future I want to put all my heart in to it and give it all I have got.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Monday: Legs
5 X 15 Leg Extensions
5 X 20 Shoulder Width Leg Press
5 X 15 Switch (Jump) Lunges
4 X 15 Narrow Stance Squats
4 X 10 Walking Lunges
Tuesday: Shoulders/Triceps
4 X 10 Shoulder Press
4 X 10 Barbell Press
4 X 10 Rear Lateral Raises
3 X 8 Arnold Press
3 X 8 Lateral Raises
3 X 15 Rope Pushdowns
3 X 10 DB Skull Crushers
3 X 15 DB Kick Backs
Wednesday: Back/Biceps
6 X 8 Pull Downs
6 X 8 Seated Cable Rows
4 X 12 Barbell Rows
4 X 12 One Arm Pull Downs
5 X 15 Hyperextensions
5 X 15 Supermans
4 X 8 Preacher Curls
4 X 12 Seated DB Curls
4 X 15 Incline DB Curls
Thursday: Legs
5 X 15 Leg Curls
5 X 12 Weighted Step Ups On Bench
5 X 12 Seated Leg Curls
5 X 12 Stiff Legged Deadlifts
Friday: Chest/Shoulders/Legs
5 X 12 Pullovers
5 X 12 Incline Chest Press
8 X 8 Side Lateral Raises
5 X 15 Leg Press
5 X 12 Walking Pump Lunges
5 X 15 Cable Squats
4 X 20 Hyperextensions
Saturday: Off
Rest day
Sunday: Off
Rest day
Top 3 favorite exercises and why?
Squats: They’ve given me nice and round glutes and very strong and fit legs. I absolutely love squats to death.
Box Plyometric Jumps: This a great way to challenge yourself. It works my legs and glutes and gets my heart beat up. So it´s a quick cardio and weight movement in one.
Military Shoulder Press: Nice round shoulders give width to my physique and creates the “X” shape which is what I am aiming for. Wide shoulders, tiny waist and muscular round legs.
Favorite form of cardio?
I’m a big fan of High Intensity Interval Training. I like pushing myself to my limits with every cardio session. While I do cardio you would find me with my headphones on sweating and huffing and puffing like a crazy person. I also find this a great way to vent. I add HIIT training to my cardio routine about 3 times per week.
What is your diet like?
I never starve myself! Advice for the ladies – to get a nice muscular and toned looking body you need to eat quality food and get enough calories from your daily diet. I normally get 40% of protein, 30% of carbs and 30% of fat. My calories vary from 1400-2200 calories per day.
Full Diet:
Meal 1: 4 Egg Whites, 1 cup of Spinach Leaves, 1/2 cup of Oatmeal
Meal 2: 3 oz. Tilapia, 2 oz. Cottage Cheese & 1 Rice Cake
Meal 3: Whey Protein, 2 cups of Spinach Leaves with 1 tsp. of Olive Oil & Balsamic Vinegar & 1/4 cup of chopped Broccoli
Meal 4: 3 oz. Chicken Breast, 1 slice Ezekiel Bread
1/3 slice Cucumber & 2 thin slices of Tomato soaked in Balsamic Vinegar
Meal 5: 3 oz. Chicken & ¼ Grapefruit, 1/3 cup of Peas, 3 oz. Sweet Potato
Meal 6: 3 oz. Turkey Breast, 1/4 cup of Green Beans & 3 oz. Squash
What supplements do you use?
I’m a Mass Nutrition sponsored athlete so I’ve used their products for the past year. I use the following products throughout the year:
Glutamine
Whey Protein
BCAA
Multivitamins
Omega 3
Probiotics
MSM Powder for my joints
CLA and Fat Burners
What is it like competing? How does it feel to win?
I love being on the stage! That is my moment to shine! Before I hit the stage I give myself a little pep talk, bring a huge smile to my face, take a deep breath and prepare myself to dazzle the judges. The feeling that I have before I hit the stage is almost euphoric.
I’ve won two huge international shows, 2012 European Championships and the 2012 World Championships. The moment they announce the second place and you know that you have won, it feels amazing. I never know whether I should cry or laugh from all the excitement. The best feeling must be when they play your national anthem!
It takes some time to really understand what you have accomplished. The whole experience is truly something special and something that I will never forget.
This video is a tribute to all the people out there who train with a fiery passion; who refuse to be deluded by gimmicks and fads that promise impossible results. This video is for you. Hard work may not be fashionable, but it never goes out of style. [Watch in Fullscreen HD]
“Don’t limit yourself. Many people limit themselves to what they think they can do. You can go as far as you mind lets you. What you believe, you can achieve.” Mary Kay Ash
“To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like.” Mike Gafka
Motivational Clip
“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Tommy Lasorda
If you’re like most people, from time to time you’re going to find your motivational levels starting to wane, which can seriously derail your goals. Now let’s talk about what it’s going to take to increase your will to succeed. We hope this feature will help light that fire under your butt to go to the gym and push yourself to levels you never thought you could!
20 Of The Best Motivational Photos Part 15
“Man cannot remake himself without suffering, for he is both the marble and the sculptor” — Alexis Carrel
Age: 30
Height: 165 cm – 5’5″
Weight: 58 kg – 128 lbs.
How did you get started with bodybuilding?
From a very young age, I was always the skinny kid. Leading into high school, I was often accused of being anorexic. This embarrassed me, especially considering I ate like a horse! I then proceeded to join a gym, but not for the reason most would join, I wanted to add some curves to my tiny frame. I grew muscle quickly and I loved the way my body looked, so I continued to lift heavier and before I knew it I was targeting specific areas to become more symmetrical for the stage. I entered my first IFBB Figure competition in 2011 and took out both the Victorian and Australian titles, this blew me away as I did not expect this at all.
So I now train specifically for Figure competitions and I absolutely love it!
Where does your motivation come from?
My motivation did and still does come from some of the most talented and aesthetically pleasing athletes in the industry. Before competing, my goal was to build a physique similar to that of Larissa Reis or Monica Brant. I loved the fuller, rounder look of each muscle belly. I was determined not to step on stage until I felt I had developed each muscle to the best of my ability, yet still remaining symmetrical. I have always admired the old school physiques, those pleasing to the eye including Steve Reeves, Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane and of course my ultimate inspiration Corey Everson. As for self-motivation, I thrive on bettering myself. I love how I can alter certain muscle groups by varying my technique. I consider the body as a work of art.
Bodybuilding should be about admiring the hard work that has gone into sculpting the physique, not about throwing heavy weights around or boosting ones ego at the gym.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
My routine has gone through many phases throughout the years. Originally I would spend hours in the gym, I loved it and I refused to leave until the bodypart I was training was burning or fatigued. Although this may have built the base I required to get to where I am today, I came to realise I could achieve better results by dropping my rest time between sets and not over-fatiguing the muscle. Now my workouts are around 45 minutes, and I vary from strength to isolation exercises, always changing my routine around. My weekly routine is never the same, but I will always include basic compound exercises.
Full Routine:
Monday: Legs
Squats 4 X 5
Walking Lunges 3 X 10
Hack Squat 3 X 10
Leg Extension 3 X 10 (Drop Sets)
Standing Calf Raise 3 X 21 (7 X Toes Facing Outwards, Forward, Inwards)
Seated Calf Raise 3 X 12
Tuesday: Shoulders/Triceps
Standing Military Barbell Press 4 X 6
Dumbbell Lateral Raises 3 X 12
Reverse Pec Dec 3 X 12
Plate Front Raises 3 X 12
Rope Pulldown 3 X 12
Skullcrushers 3 X 8
Wednesday: Rest Day
Recovery day
Thursday: Chest
Incline Bench Press 4 X 5
Incline Dumbbell Fly’s 3 X 8
Flat Bench Dumbbell Press 3 X 8
Cable Chest Fly’s 3 X 12 (Superset with Pushups to failure)
Friday: Hamstrings/Biceps
Dumbbell Hamstring Curls 4 X 8
Standing Hamstring Curls 3 X 12
Glute Hamstring Raise 3 X 8
Ez Bar Wide Grip Curls 3 X 8
Incline Alternate Dumbbell Curls 3 X 12
Hammer Curls 3 X 12
Saturday: Rest Day
Recovery day
Sunday: Back
Barbell Bent Over Rows 4 X 6
Lat Pulldown 3 X 8
Plate Loaded T Bar Rows 3 X 10
Unassisted Wide Grip Chin Ups (3 sets to Failure)
One Arm Dumbbell Rows 3 X 8
If you had to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
Squats: Squats have so many added benefits which I don’t think many people are aware of. Not only are they great for overall leg development and firm glutes, but squats can also trigger the release of Testosterone and Growth Hormone into your body, vital for muscle growth and overall development of the lower and upper body. Also, performing squats (using the correct technique) has actually improved the overall strength of my lower back. For years I had a very weak back so I would avoid squats as part of my routine, I was so afraid that squats would injure me further. It wasn’t until I educated myself properly on the benefits of performing squats that my back has become stronger, not to mention overall mass in my legs due to being able to lift heavier!
Bent-Over Rows: Another exercise I was always very intimidated by, yet once I spent some time perfecting my technique my confidence grew and so did my back! I lacked overall density and mass, too afraid to ever go near this compound exercise due to my lower back injury. But, as with the squats, the more I utilised this exercise, the stronger my lower back became, allowing me to become stronger overall.
Dumbbell/Military Press: I decided to add this as one of my favorite exercises, but only reason being as it is required for my particular class. I am a huge fan of large, round delt caps on Figure contestants, and this exercise is also great for building overhead pressing strength, enabling me to perform heavier sets on dumbbell presses etc. As long as this exercise is performed correctly and the core is stabilized throughout, this would easily be one of my favorites for round, thick delts.
What is your diet like?
My diet throughout the off season has always been a little more relaxed. Through years of experimenting I have learnt my body best reacts to a moderately clean diet. Providing this is kept consistent, I have the opportunity to add in a couple of higher calorie meals per week (ie: Curries, Pizza, etc). Naturally, I have a very fast metabolism, so I always ensure I eat regularly, every 2-3 hours. To change things up a little, some weeks I will remove carbs from my diet and increase my good fats, ie: extra Avocado, Olive Oil, Nuts etc. This also allows me to assess how my body responds to certain foods types combined with timing throughout the day and around training times.
Full Diet: (Off Season)
Meal 1: Oats & Rice Flakes, Blueberries, mixed with Vanilla Protein Powder
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
Generally when preparing for a competition, I prefer to alter my calorie intake rather than performing copious amounts of cardio. My body type allows for me to only add some cardio during the final weeks of my contest prep, to which I will add Interval Training. This will consist of cardio first thing in the morning, and I will change it up by using the stepper, treadmill, and outdoor training. From previous experience, my body better responds to eliminating certain substances and portion sizes from my meals, and choosing leaner cuts of meat. This allows me to step on stage appearing fuller, with just the right amount of hardness for my specific division.
Too much cardio for me results in my body looking stringy and/or flat.
What is your supplementation like?
I use some supplements but they are very basic and generally only used around pre/intra/post workout. Pre/Intra workout I will sip on BCAA’s & Vitargo, and post workout I will have a WPI Protein Shake with added Glutamine. If I feel I need a little extra recovery during the day I will sip on more BCAA’s and Glutamine.
I also use Fish Oil Capsules, a Multi-vitamin and also Vital Greens everyday.
Favorite Quote?
“If you always do what you always did, you will always get what you always got”
SimplyshreddedTV
Rach White is also Featured in SimplyShreddedTV Episode 4 – Train Like Hell
After the birth of my son I decided that I wanted to get into shape. I had gained a relatively normal amount of weight during pregnancy – about 40lbs) but it was still bothersome for me to be considered “skinny fat.” So I decided to take things more seriously and hire a Personal Trainer. Naturally he had me lifting heavier weights and once I saw the results I was hooked. I decided in May 2011 that I wanted to compete in my first NPC show, the Branch Warren Classic, which was in July 2011! Needless to say, I kicked my butt into high gear and placed 2nd in my class. After that I loved the high I got from competing. I then entered the Dallas Europa 2011 and won Overall Bikini, then went to North American Championships in Cleveland where I placed 3rd. Returning home, I again took Overall at the Texas State, crowning me Miss Texas Bikini 2011. My 2nd pro card attempt was at Team Universe where I placed 4th.
I entered the Texas State again to defend my title, and did so by winning the Overall, defending my title and being crowned Miss Texas Bikini 2012.
Where does your motivation come from?
I have never been one to give up on anything no matter how hard the challenge was. I guess it’s because of how my parents raised me with that ‘Never give up’ approach on life. My motivation also comes from my son. He is one of my biggest inspirations to always be better, because I am his example.
I want to make sure I can be the best example and role model as possible.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
The workout routine of “listen to your body.” If its Leg day but your legs are still sore – then don’t train them! I listen to my body and evaluate myself on a daily basis to see what needs improvement, what needs mass and so far it’s been working. Every now and then I switch it up constantly so that my body never stays stagnant and I am always progressing.
Full Routine:
Monday: Quads
Smith Machine Squats 10×2
Squats 5×5
Leg Extensions 3×12
Lunges 3×20
Thigh Abductors 3×12
Tuesday: Hamstrings
Deadlifts 3×10
Romanian Deadlift’s 6×12
Leg Press 3×12
Leg Curls 3×12
Cable Kickbacks 3×12
Glute Ham Raises 3×12
Wednesday: Back/Shoulders/Chest/Arms
Pull Ups 3×12
Cleans 5×10
Shoulder Press 5×10
Power Curls 3×10
Push Ups 3×10
Barbell Curls 4×10
Cable Pushdowns 4×10
Thursday: Cardio
30-40 minutes of High Intensity Interval Training
Friday: Abs/Calves
Seated Calf Raises 3×10
Standing Calf Raises 3×10
Sit Ups 3×10
Hanging Leg Raises 3×10
Saturday: Rest Day
Recovery
Sunday: Rest Day
Recovery
If you had to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
Deadlifts: I am very close to hitting 315lbs on a free weight deadlift and I love the feeling I get from going heavy. Not to mention it is a great exercise for your hamstrings and lower back.
Squats: Again, I am able to do a pretty good amount of weight (315lbs easy on a free weight and 405lbs on the smith machine) so I enjoy the pump I get from squats. And of course, it is a great leg and core work out.
Clean and Press: A great overall exercise, it works not only your upper body, but your core and legs if you squat while cleaning. All three are “basic/core” exercises, but can make a world of difference to your body when performed correctly, so I would have to say they are my favorite exercises.
What is your diet like?
It is very simple and clean. I use the same philosophy as I do for working out – “Just listen to your body.” If I am hungry, I eat, if I am not, I don’t, simple as that.
Diet:
Meal 1: Egg Whites with Wheat English Muffin or Oatmeal
Meal 2: Turkey and Lettuce
Meal 3: Snack Mixed Nuts
Meal 4: Lean Fish (Tilapia/Orange Roughy) and Cucumbers
Meal 5: Snack Mixed Nuts
Meal 6: Chicken Breast or Protein shake
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
Definitely HIIT cardio. In my opinion it is the best way to lean down, get in, get out and strip the fat.
What is your supplementation like?
BCAA’s
Optimum Nutrition Platinum (Pre Workout)
HydroWhey Protein Shake (Post Workout)
Glucosamine
Fish Oils
Thermo Cuts
Favorite Quote?
“Physical fitness is not only one of the most important keys to a healthy body, it is the basis of dynamic and creative intellectual activity.”
-John F. Kennedy
Age: 22
Height: 5’8”
Off Season Weight: 195lbs – 88kgs
Stage Weight: 165lbs – 75kgs
How did you get started with bodybuilding?
My father was a non-competitive bodybuilder in the 70’s and I grew up watching him workout every morning at our home gym.
I was fascinated at the way his body looked and knew straight away that when I was older I would follow in his footsteps.
Where does your motivation come from?
My motivation comes from my fixation of self-improvement. I have been brought up believing that there is always room to grow and excel in every aspect of life. Bodybuilding has given me the ability to physically see myself grow and change. I hate losing and it has never been something I have been good at.
I fear losing. That fear gives me the motivation to push my body to its absolute limits and enables me to succeed and excel in this sport.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Cutting Phase Workout:
Monday: Push day
Circuit 1
DB Incline Press 20 reps
DB Standing Shoulder Press 20 reps
Close Grip Push-ups failure
Standing Isolated Oblique Contractions 10 each side
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Cable Fly 20 reps
DB Lateral Raise 20 reps
KB Oblique Slashers 15 reps each side
Side Prone Oblique Twist 15 reps each side
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 3
Depth Push-ups failure
Clean and Press 20 reps
Cable Crunches 20 reps
Isolated Accordion Crunches 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Tuesday: Pull Day
Circuit 1
Single Arm Cable Pull Down 15 reps each side
Single Arm DB Preacher Curl 15 reps each side
Standing Isolated Oblique Contractions 10 each side
Decline Sit-up with Oblique Twists 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Standing Single Arm Cable Low Row 15 reps each side
Rope Cable Bicep Curl 20 reps
DB Standing Alternate Bicep Curls 20 reps
Lying Cable Upright Rows 20 reps
Cable Torso Twist 15 reps each side
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 3
Seated Machine Row (wide-grip) 20 reps
Hammer Curl 20 reps
Swiss Ball Circular Crunch 15 reps each way
Alternating Abdominal Jack Knife 20 reps each side
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Wednesday: Lower Body
Circuit 1
Smith Machine Back Squats 15 reps
Squat Jumps 15 reps
DB Stiff Leg Deadlifts 15 reps
Single Leg Standing Calf Raise 20 reps each
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Leg Press 15 reps
Lying Leg Curl 15 reps
Leg Extensions 15 reps
Swiss Ball Hamstring Curl 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Thursday: Cardio
30 mins HIIT cardio
Friday: Push Upper Body
Circuit 1
Incline Smith Machine Press 15 reps
Reverse Grip Barbell Shoulder Press 15 reps
Overhead Cable Tricep Extensions 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Pec Dec 15 reps
Dumbbell Shoulder Fly’s 15 reps
1 Arm Cable Tricep Kickback 15 reps each
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 3
Decline Chest Fly’s 15 reps
Seated Dumbbell Lateral Fly’s 15 reps
TRX Tricep Skullcrushers failure
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 4
DB Shoulder Press 15 reps
Bent Over Dumbbell Reverse Lateral Raise 15 reps
Front Deltoid Raise (with bands) 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Saturday: Pull Upper Body Workout
Circuit 1
Lat Pulldowns 15 reps
Concentration Curls 15 reps ea
Decline Twisting Sit-ups 20 reps
Lying Toe Touches 20 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Close Grip Pulldown 15 reps
Incline Hammer Curls 15 reps
Decline Bench Leg Lifts (negatives) 20 reps
Cross Crunch 20 reps each side
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 3
Seated Cable Row with Straight Bar 15 reps
Twisting Dumbbell Curls 15 reps
V-ups 20 reps
Straight Leg Lifts 20 reps
Pilates Roll Ups 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Sunday: Lower body
Circuit 1
Single Leg Press 15 reps
Sit to Power Jump 20 reps
Single Leg Seated Hamstring Curl 15 reps
Seated Calf Raises 20 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
Circuit 2
Weighted Step Ups 15 reps each leg
Walking Lunges 15 reps each leg
Speed Squats 30 reps as fast as possible
DB Stiff Leg Deadlifts 15 reps
Repeat 4x with no rest between sets
If you had to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
Bench Press – I feel this exercise builds great upper body thickness all around and it is my best lift.
DB Lateral Raises – Really isolates and rounds off the deltoid. A great exercise that you can really feel working which also provides amazing pumps.
DB Standing Alternate Bicep Curls – Out of all the bicep exercises I feel this one the most. I have complete control throughout the whole range of motion and I always seem to get the most out of this exercise when compared to other bicep workouts.
What is your diet like?
Cutting Diet:
Meal 1: 1 cup of Liquid Egg Whites and ½ a cup of Oatmeal
Meal 2: 35 grams of Whey Isolate, 1 Orange/Apple and 24 almonds
Meal 3: 8 oz. Tilapia/Chicken Breast and 7 oz. Sweet Potato
Meal 4: 8 oz. Filet Mignon or 96% Lean Ground Beef and 7 oz. Asparagus
Meal 5: (Pre workout) 8 oz. Tilapia/Chicken Breast and 7 oz. Asparagus
Meal 6: (Post workout) 50 grams of Whey Isolate, ½ a cup of Oatmeal and 1 tbsp. of Honey
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
I prefer HIIT to normal cardio because I can’t stand sitting on a piece of cardio equipment any longer than 30 mins. I’d rather bust my butt and get it over with.
What is your supplementation like?
To be honest, I don’t supplement very hard. I take the basic Whey Isolate Protein and maybe a Fat Burner pre contest if needed. I rely heavily on my diet manipulations to ensure that I come in on point. I’m open to trying supplements but I haven’t necessarily needed them up to this point.
Favorite Quote?
“Being a champion is not an action, it is a state of mind”
I started in this sport by chance. I grew up training martial arts (Karate Renbukai) under the teachings of my good friend and Sensei Rodolfo Baez. At that time I was in love with karate and I was very focused on becoming a great martial artist. 2-3 hour training sessions was the part of my daily routine. At one point I was training Karate and Taekwondo at the same time. As a result I was very skinny but as a teen that was not a big deal. However the problem with my weight started when I turned 18 and moved from the teen division to the adult division where I was going to be facing older guys that weighed easily 50+ lbs. more than me. In a full contact situation that was a big problem.
For instance, my father suggested that I needed to lift weights to get stronger and gain weight. This was the beginning of my bodybuilding journey.
Where does your motivation come from?
I have come to the conclusion that the only reliable motivation comes from within. I feel that my motivation comes from the fact that I feel very blessed that I have the health to do what I love to do.
I also see it as a natural tendency towards my personal growth and development.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Full Routine:
Day 1: Upperbody Workout – max strength/Hypertrophy
Back & Chest: 3 exercises each (5-10 rep range)
Delts: 2 Exercises (10-12 rep range)
Biceps & triceps: 1 exercise each (10-12 rep range)
Day 2: Lowerbody Workout – Max Strength
Quads: 2-3 exercises (5-10 rep range)
Hams: 2-3 exercises (5-10 rep range)
Day 3: Delts/Arms – Hypertrophy/Muscular Endurance
Delts: 3-4 exercises (10-25 rep range)
Biceps and Triceps: 3 exercises each (10-25 rep range)
Day 4: Off / Cardio
45 mins cardio
Day 5: Upperbody Hypertrophy/Muscular Endurance
Back & Chest: 3 exercises each (10-15 rep range)
Delts: 1-2 Exercises ( 15-25 rep range)
Biceps & Triceps: 1 exercise each (15-25 rep range)
Day 6: Lower body Hypertrophy/Muscular Endurance
Quads: 2-3 exercises (10-20 rep range)
Hams: 2-3 Exercises (10-20 rep range)
Day 7: Off
Rest day
What are your future bodybuilding/fitness goals?
As far as bodybuilding, I just want to be able to keep competing. I love bodybuilding and I hope God gives me the strength and health to keep doing this for many more years. This sport is very hard and it takes a lot from you. I have a very demanding job and sometimes for me it is extremely hard to compete. Last year for example: I was forced to stop my prep for the worlds because of work related issues. But like I said, I love this sport and because of that I’m willing to do all the sacrifices that need to be done.
God and my family are my strength and I know that with them on my side everything is possible.
What is your diet like?
I’m a strong believer of eating good quality foods all the time. Lately, I have been focusing a lot on Micro-nutrition and I have had great results. Not only have I been feeling better at the gym, but also most of my joint pains disappeared. Food is magical in my opinion and by eating the right type of carbs, fats and proteins we can control to some degree stuff like inflammation and hormone production. Just to give you an example, we as bodybuilders eat tons of protein and carbs (acidic foods) in order to try to gain muscle but not enough fruits and vegetables (alkaline foods). This messes up with the delicate PH balance in our body. The human blood should be slightly alkaline in order to maintain good health and balance. For instance, once we eat an acidic diet with not enough alkaline foods our blood becomes acidic and this creates all sort of issues, it will decrease the ability of your body to absorb nutrients, repair damaged cells and make you more susceptible to illness. Another example is that most of us don’t eat a good balance of fats (omega 6 vs omega 3) and at the same time eat an excess of refined carbs. This triggers inflammation and inflammation is also the source all types of problems too. I was guilty of doing all this for many years. I believe that decreasing and managing inflammation through diet is a must if you want to keep training for optimal results.
Full Diet:
Meal 1: 1/2 teaspoon of Coconut Oil, 2 Whole Eggs (free range), 2 slices of Ezekiel Bread, 40g of 2% Fat Cheese and 10 oz. of Milk with Coffee
Meal 2: 45g of Whey Protein, 20g of Natural Almonds
Meal 3: 6 oz. of Grass fed Ground Beef (96/4), 200g of Asparagus and 20g of Natural Almonds
Meal 4: (Pre-workout) 45g of Whey Protein and a large Baked Sweet Potato.
Meal 5: (Pre-workout) 45g of Whey Protein, 200g of mixed Organic Berries, 40g of baked Fat Free Potato Chips
Meal 6: 6 oz. of Grilled Chicken, 3-5 oz. of Avocado, 1cup of White Rice and a Green Salad
What are your three favorite exercises?
Deadlifts: The king of all exercises and it works pretty much everything.
Squats: The queen of all exercises. Nothing better for big quads.
Pull ups: Upper body development for a big back and strong arms.
Favorite quote?
“Nothing in this world can take the place of persistence. Talent will not; nothing is more common than unsuccessful people with talent. Genius will not; unrewarded genius is almost a proverb. Education will not; the world is full of educated derelicts. Persistence and determination alone are omnipotent.” – Unknown
I had been fitness modelling for about three years and I was pretty much oblivious to the competition world. It wasn’t until a fellow model that I was working with told me how she was training for a fitness competition. I picked her brain about every detail that it involved and then went straight home and did more research. I concluded that any sport/competition that focused on a personal fitness journey which ended up in head to toe glamour was something I wanted to be a part of!
Soon after I started training with “Next Level” in San Diego and went to work.
Where does your motivation come from?
My biggest motivation is knowing what I’m capable of and having a strong desire to live up to my full potential. I never want to wonder about what I could have accomplished.
That is why every goal that I aim to achieve I make sure that I a give it my absolute all!
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Full Routine:
Monday: Lower Body/Abs
Squats 4×8-10
Leg Press 4×8-10
Romanian Deadlift 4×10-12
Weighted Hip Thrust 4×8-10
Butt Blaster/Donkey Kicks 3×12-15
Seated Leg Curl 3×10-12
Standing Calf Raise 3×15-20
Cable Ab Crunch on Ball 3×15-20
Low Back Extension 3×15-20
Tuesday: Upper body
Negative Pull-ups 4×3-4
DB Shoulder Press 3×8-10
Smith Machine Reverse Grip Shoulder Press 3×8-10
DB Lateral Raise 3×8-10
Lat Pulldown 4×8-10
Rear Deltoid Fly 3×10-12
Decline Skull Crusher 4×10-12
EZ Bar Curl 4×10-12
Incline Reverse Crunch 3x max reps
Wednesday: Cardio
30 min HIIT cardio
Thursday: Lower body/abs
Walking Lunges 3×10-12
Hack Squat 4×10-12
Sumo Romanian Deadlift 4×10-12
Weighted Hip Thrust 4×6-8
Hip Adduction 3×12-15
Cable Ab Crunch on Ball 3×15-20
Low Back Extension 3×15-20
Friday: Upper Body
Negative Pull-ups 4×3-4
Seated Military Press 3×8-10
DB Lateral Raise 3×8-10
Lat Pulldown 4×8-10
Wide Grip Cable Row 4×10-12
Close Grip Bench Press 4×6-8
Dumbbell Overhead Tricep Extension 3×8-10
Cable Preacher Curl 3×10-12
Hanging Leg Raise 3x max reps
Saturday: Cardio
30 min HIIT cardio
Sunday: Rest day
Recovery
If you have to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
Negative Pull-ups: These are a complete upper body workout that always leave me sore the next day!
Weighted Hip Thrusts: You can always improve your glutes and for me these bring the best results.
Cable Ab Crunch: These always give me a good burn in my abs.
What is your diet like?
Daily diet:
Meal 1: Egg Whites, Oatmeal and Blueberries
Meal 2: Chicken Breast, Broccoli and Sweet Potato
Meal 3: Tilapia, Brown Rice, Strawberries, Asparagus and Almonds
Meal 4: Yams, Green Beans and Lean Turkey
Meal 5: Chicken, Spinach and a Salad
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
I prefer to do HIIT, I catch myself getting bored with normal cardio and feel that it is less effective.
What is your supplementation like?
Women’s Active Multivitamin
Fish Oil
Whey Protein
Vitamin C
Potassium
Favorite Quote?
“Our deepest fear is not that we are Inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure. It is our light, not out darkness that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, Who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you not to be?” -Marianna WIlliamson
If you’re like most people, from time to time you’re going to find your motivational levels starting to wane, which can seriously derail your goals. Now let’s talk about what it’s going to take to increase your will to succeed. We hope this feature will help light that fire under your butt to go to the gym and push yourself to levels you never thought you could!
“The two most important days in your life are the day you are born, and the day you find out why” — Mark Twain
I’ve always been an athlete growing up. I went to college to play Division I soccer at Wofford College in Spartanburg, SC. That’s where I actually started to lift weights and fell in love with transforming my body. Lifting was just a hobby until I was challenged to do a fitness competition in 2011 after tearing my Achilles in a soccer game. Ever since then, I’ve been serious on pairing nutrition and training to accomplish my goals in fitness.
Chelcea:
The day I decided I was going to stop looking up to the women that had amazing, desirable physiques and become one. I have been in the gym most of my life but not until I actually started lifting with my, now, husband and soon did my own research did I actually know what I was doing. I was always a bit intimidated by the weight room and stuck to the cardio machines. I had no idea that strength training was so beneficial to a woman’s physique and could shape me the way I had always wanted.
The toughest part was actually putting on the muscle to achieve that look, but I fell in love with the hard work.
Where does your motivation come from?
Michael:
My motivation comes from my wife Chelcea Gonzales. When we first met she was one of those cardio bunnies. She finally caved into weight training in 2010 and has made some huge strides since she competed in her first show. Just watching her train and push herself daily keeps that fire lit inside me to continue growing.
Chelcea:
My biggest motivators are my clients and the relentless posts everyday from others in fitness. In the competition and fitness world it seems like there is always someone bigger and better. The posts everyday keep me on my game.
I strive everyday to be the person others look up to and get motivation from.
Lunges – 10 basketball court lengths down and back 20lbs dumbbells
Leg Extension 5×12
Squats 2×20, 4×10, 2×5, 2×10, 2×20
*Bulgarian Split Squat 5×12
*Box Jumps 5×10
Leg Curls 5×12
*Sumo Deadlift 2×20, 4×10, 2×5, 2×20
*Barbell Box Step Ups 10×10
*Superset
Tuesday: Chest/Calves
*Incline Bench 1×15, 4×10, 2×5
*Decline Pushups 7×15
Flat Bench 1×15, 4×10, 2×5
*Incline Fly’s 4×10
*Fly’s 4×10
*Decline Fly’s 4×10
Dips 100 reps
Donkey Calf Raise 10×20
Seated Calf Raise 5×10
*Superset
Wednesday: Shoulders
*Shoulder Press 5×10
*Up right Rows 5×10
*DB Lat Raises 5×10
*DB Front Raises Palms Up 5×10
*DB Front Raises Thumbs Up 5×10
*Db Front Raises Palms Down 5×10
Cable Rope Pulls toward neck 5×10
DB Lat Raise on Incline Bench 5×10
*Superset
Thursday: Arms/Calves
*Dips 5×20
*DB Curl 5×15
*Incline Skull Crusher 5×12
*Wide Grip Ez-Bar Curl 5×12
*Single Arm Tricep Cable Pulldown 5×15
*Single Arm Preacher Curl with Twist- 5×15
*Single Arm Tricep Cable Kickbacks 5×15
*Concentration Curls 5×10
Donkey Calf Raise 5×10
Seated Calf Raise 10×20
*Superset
Friday: Legs
Lunges – 10 basketball court lengths down and back 20lbs dumbbells
Leg Extension 5×12
Squats 2×20, 4×10, 2×5, 2×10, 2×20
*Bulgarian Split Squat 5×12
*Box Jumps 5×10
Leg Curls 5×12
*Sumo Deadlift 2×20, 4×10, 2×5, 2×20
*Barbell Box Step Ups 10×10
*Superset
Saturday: Back/Calves
Pull ups 5xMax
*Wide Grip Lat Pull Down 5×12
*Underhand Grip Pull Down 5×12
*T-Bar Row 5×10
*Lower Back Extension 5×10
*Single Arm Seated Cable Row 5×10
*Donkey Calf Raise 5×10
*Barbell Row 5×10
*Seated Calf Raise 5×10
Deadlifts 1×20, 5×10
Sunday: Plyo/Abs/Circuit
Box Jumps 3×10
Cable Crunches 3×10
Jump Rope 3×10
Russian Twists 3×10
Lateral Jumps 3×10
Toes to Bar 3×10
Chelcea:
Monday: Back/Posing
Lat Pull Down Burnout 1×1
Close Grip Pull Ups 5×3
Under Hand Barbell Rows 15×3
*Lat Pull Down 8×3
Reverse Close Grip Lat Pull down 12×3
*T-Bar Row 3×10
T-Bar Close Grip Row 10×10
30 min Quarter Turns
*Superset
Tuesday: Delts
*Dumbbell Side Lateral Raises 15×3
Rear Delt Reverse Raises 20×3
*Seated Arnold Press 15×4
DB Hammer Grip Cross Your Hearts – (Raise Single arm DB with hammer grip across your body, almost like a hammer curl but keep your arm tight) 12×4
*Cable Upright Rows Close 20×3
Bent over 45 Degrees Lateral Raises 10×3
*Barbell Cleans 10×3
Plate Twists (Hold out plate in front of you like a steering wheel, rotate left to right)1 min x3
*Superset
Wednesday: Legs
Squats on Smith Machine 15/12/10/8/8×5
*Hack Squats on machine 10×5
*Deep Squat Jumps on/off Bench 10×5
Step Ups 10×5
*Leg Extensions 15×5
Lying Leg Curls 15×5
*Single Leg Extensions 12×3
Single Leg Lying Leg Curls 15×3
30 min physique posing
*Superset
Thursday: Abs Circuit
Hanging Knee Raises 20×6
Lying Hip Curls 20×6
Roman Chair 20×6
Hanging Toes to Hands 20×6
Cable Crunches 20×6
30 min posing practise
Friday: Arms
Cable Press Downs 20×2
Rope Cable Pushdowns 10×3
Close Grip Bench 8×3
*Overhead Dumbbell Extension 15×3
Dumbbell Kickbacks 12×3
Barbell Curls 12×3
Seated Hammer Curl 10×3
Incline Bench Lying Curls 12×3
*Superset
Saturday: Rest
Recovery
Sunday: Boot Camp/posing
Boot Camp Circuit
1 hour of posing
What is your diet like?
Michael:
Right now I’m just eating clean(ish) maintaining my size while I get ready for my next contest prep.
Meal 1: 2 oz. Cream of Rice, 1 ½ Scoops FA Prime Protein & 0.75 oz. Cracknut Butter
Meal 2: 3 oz. Brazilian Nuts, 4 oz. Chicken Breast, 4 oz. Green Beans & 3 oz. Carrots
Meal 3: 6 oz. Ground Turkey (93% lean), 3 oz. Quinoa, 3 oz. Cabbage, 2 oz. Tomato Sauce & 1tsp Coconut Oil
Meal 4: 4 oz. Chicken Breast, 2 oz. Lentils, 3 oz. Carrots, 5 oz. Celery, 2 oz. Onion & 1 oz. Coconut Oil (Combine and make a soup or sautéed dinner)
Meal 5: 1 oz. Coconut Flour, 1 oz. Cracknut Butter, 4 Egg Whites, 1 scoop FA Prime Protein (Combined for protein pancakes)
Meal 6: (Post workout) 2 scoops FA Prime Protein & 1 Apple
Chelcea:
I keep a pretty clean diet but have one day a week that stays dirty. The toughest part was avoiding the convenience of packaged or fast food. Eliminating that through packing my foods for the day was tough at first but now a habit. I am also a certified nutritionist and play with food a lot to get it to taste like fun.
Meal 1: Muscle Mush Shake (Raw Almonds, Chia Seeds, an Apple, Protein Powder – 1 scoop and Rolled Oats)
Meal 2: Chicken Breast, Light Skinless Meat, cooked Lentils, Pepper, Green or Red chopped
Salsa and Chile powder
Meal 3: Natural Peanut Butter, Chicken Breast, Light Skinless Meat and Raw Carrot
Meal 4: Turkey, 2 whole Eggs, Brown Rice, Green Beans and 1 tbsp. of Soy Sauce
Meal 5: Fage Brand Greek Yogurt 0% with ½ scoop of Protein Powder
Back in high school I played soccer a lot and it kept me very fit. Although it wasn’t until I was 17 that I started going to the gym. I remember when I had first started I would train very often and with a lot of intensity. My friends would train with me too and were always there to push me to my limits. 4 months later I had noticed some great changes to my physique and that was when I began to fall in love with the weight room.
The gym became an escape from the world and I have been addicted ever since!
Where does your motivation come from?
It’s something from within, something inside of me that just wants it real bad. The whole idea of training and the pump, I just love it!
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Full Routine:
Note: I warm up on the bike for 10 mins before each workout
Monday – Back
Bent Over Rows 4×10
Lat Pull Down 4×10
Cable Rows 4×10
T-Bar Rows 4×10
Deadlifts 4×10
Tuesday – Shoulders/Biceps
Shoulder Press with Barbell 4×10
Side Laterals 4×15
Behind The Head Shoulder Press 4×10
Dumbbell Front Raise 4×10
Z-Bar Bicep Curl 4×12
Preacher Curl 4×12
Cable Curl 4×12
Hammer Curl 4×10
Wednesday – Rest Day
Recovery
Thursday – Chest/triceps
Incline Bench Press 4×10
Pec Deck 4×12
Dips 4×10
Cable Fly’s 4×10
Dumbbell Fly’s 4×10
Tricep Pushdown 4×10
Dumbbell Overhead 4×10
Single Handed Rope Pull Down 4×10
Friday – Calves/Abs
Standing Calve Raise 4×30
Seated Calve Raise 4×20
Single Leg Calf Raise 4×20
Rope Pull Down 4×20
Leg Lifts 4×20
Crunches 4×20
Saturday – Rest
Recovery
Sunday – Legs
Leg Extensions 4×10
Squats 4×10
Walking Lunges 4×10
Single Leg Press 4×10
Leg Curl 4×10
What is your diet like?
Daily Diet:
Meal 1: Protein Pancakes – 2 cups of Oats mixed with 1 scoop Of Hydrolysed Whey Protein cooked in Coconut Oil
Meal 2: 200g Salmon Fillet, half an Avocado, 1 cup of Brown Rice & 1 cup of Vegetables
Meal 3: 4 Whole Eggs, 2 cans of Tuna & 200g of Sweet Potato
Meal 4: 200g Chicken Breast, 200g of Sweet Potato & 1 cup of Vegetables
Meal 5: 2 Scoops Whey Protein Concentrate & 1 cup of Blueberries
What are your plans for the future?
I would like to be the next Australian IFBB Pro Champion. This has been my ultimate dream since day one. I will continue to train like an animal and never give up so that one day the dream will become a reality.
What is your favorite quote?
“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” Vince Lombardi
There are few topics as well accepted as “sleep” – every week someone influential will tweet “get your sleep! It’s as important as diet/exercise.” This isn’t an article disputing that instead it is an investigative look at what the actual research says. We are going to take a gander at the research conducted on sleep deprivation, and make evidence-based conclusions on how sleep affects you and your performance.
It may get heavy at times, but we’ve provided summaries for each section.
Photography: Rich Baker
Sleep Deprivation and its Effects on Hormones
The hormones that are most frequently stated to be affected by sleep are:
Insulin – One of the most misunderstood hormone there is
Androgens – The muscle-building hormones
Growth Hormone
Cortisol – The “stress” hormone
Insulin
Sleep deprivation doesn’t seem to affect insulin levels much, but there is definitely a decrease in insulin sensitivity in the fat cells and liver (1,2). This decrease in sensitivity can happen as easily as getting half your normal amount of sleep for less than a week (3,4) or even losing 90 minutes over a few weeks (5). This lack of sleep, coupled with decreased sensitivity, is a risk factor for the development of type II diabetes. Thankfully, these effects are quickly normalized upon recompensatory sleep.
The implications of reduced insulin sensitivity, beyond an increase in diabetes risk, are not too clear for an otherwise healthy person, as the decrease in insulin sensitivity affects all measured tissue (adipose, muscle, and liver) and is just due to impaired signalling through the insulin receptor.
Summary
Not getting enough sleep reduces insulin sensitivity and glucose tolerance. Even a little bit of lost sleep can have this effect, but it goes away once you get enough sleep.
Androgens and Testosterone
Testosterone is known for being affected by poor sleep (on a related note, you tend to sleep worse as you age, and this exacerbates sleep deprivation problems) (6,7). Studies have shown that getting 3 fewer hours of sleep for 5 days reduced testosterone by over 10% (8), whereas another study showed a 30.4% (9) decrease! These reductions all happened within 24 hours of sleep deprivation (10,11). Similar to insulin, getting enough rest quickly reverses this decline.
Summary
Not getting enough sleep is linked to reduced testosterone. Just like insulin, testosterone normalizes once you get enough sleep.
Growth Hormone
Growth hormone is actually a surprise in regards to sleep deprivation. For starters, we know that a large pulse of growth hormone occurs shortly after sleep begins, and in otherwise healthy young men, this accounts for roughly 50% of daily secretion.
So would missing out on sleep impair growth hormone?
Depends on the duration of sleep. Absolute deprivation of sleep for multiple nights can effectively suppress growth hormone. But neither an irregular sleep cycle (like a shift worker’s) (12) nor only sleeping for 4 hours a night (13) will adversely affect whole-day exposure to GH. It seems that the body compensates during daylight hours, and what is missed out on at night is adequately replaced during waking hours in those that are sleep-deprived.
Now, it is possible that the altered secretion patterns of GH can come with changes in its effects. However, the overall pattern is still pulsatile in nature (just biphasic rather than monophasic) and unlikely to be a huge issue.
Summary
Not getting enough sleep changes the GH cycle, but it does not decrease your full day’s GH – your body compensates during waking hours.
Cortisol
Cortisol is the hormone that mediates the process of waking up, and under normal rested conditions it’s elevated in the morning (to wake you) and suppressed in the evening (so you can fall asleep). It isn’t necessarily a bad hormone (the anti-inflammatory and fat-burning properties sound nice), but elevated cortisol also tends to be somewhat catabolic to muscle tissue, as well as being an indicator of other stress-related issues.
Sleep deprivation both dysregulates and increases whole-day exposure to cortisol.
Imagine a graph where a line goes from high on the left to low on the right, and label it “what cortisol should do over time.” Sleep deprivation turns that line into a straight horizontal line, and then raises it up on the Y-axis a tad. Interestingly, past studies were misguided a bit since they were only measuring morning cortisol concentrations and they kept on noting a decrease!
Most recent studies that measured 24-hour exposure noted an increase, some as high as 50%, following 4 hours of deprivation each night for a week in otherwise healthy men.
Summary
Cortisol is usually high in the morning and then low in the evening. Not getting enough sleep dampens this high/low wave, and results in more exposure to cortisol over a full day.
Sleep Deprivation and Physical Activity
Sleep deprivation has been noted to impair sprint performance and cardiovascular endurance (14,15). There is conflicting evidence here: Tests on cycle ergometers did not note much of an effect (16,17), and the one study to assess weightlifting performance also failed to find any adverse effect (18). Despite these mixed reports on sleep deprivation, acute sports performance is enhanced by caffeine and/or creatine supplementation during a state of acute sleep deprivation. The latter only seems to apply to things that require a high degree of coordination and mental processing (19). It’s important to note that these studies had participants just skip sleep for one night.
Real-world application is more chronic; you tend to lose a few hours every night, and it adds up. The impracticality of these studies makes it very hard to make solid conclusions.
Summary
Not getting enough sleep (for a single night) should not have much of a negative effect on athletic performance. There is little research on chronic abuse.
Sleep Deprivation and Body Composition: Food Intake and Hunger
One of the more talked about effects of sleep deprivation as it pertains to body composition is that it somehow makes you eat a ton more food and then you get fat. The general idea (based on rat studies) is that sleep deprivation eventually (after 5 days or so) leads to increased food intake, but oddly this is not met with an increase in body weight; absolute sleep deprivation paradoxically causes fat loss and mild sleep deprivation just prevents weight gain (20). The increase in food intake is probably because of an exaggerated response to orexin, a wakefulness-promoting hormone that positively modulates hunger.
Orexin increases as one is awake longer, causing more food intake as a side effect (21). Orexin also positively mediates energy expenditure, but it is not known if we can credit this for the observed weight-maintenance effects.
More practically speaking, studies in humans have noted an increased food intake of roughly 20-25% following a few hours of sleep deprivation for 4 days (22,23). This is likely due to the brain’s response to food intake being enhanced, thus making food more hyperpalatable (24,25). It is unclear how sleep deprivation affects weights in humans.
There is a very well-established correlation in society between obesity and sleep disturbances, but the studies currently conducted in people on weight loss programs with sleep deprivation control for food intake.
Summary
Not getting enough sleep seems to result in eating more, as you respond to food more.
Metabolic Rate
The effects of sleep deprivation on metabolic rate are harder to make sense of. One study found that getting 3 fewer hours of sleep per day for 2 weeks resulted in a 7.6% reduction in metabolic rate (26), whereas other studies showed no decrease (22,27).
To make it even more confusing, one study (on adolescent boys) found that less sleep resulted in more calories burned (28) – the participants burned more (being awake longer) and consumed less (decreased appetite).
In rats, chronic sleep deprivation is also known to greatly increase both food intake and the metabolic rate, resulting in weight loss (albeit a ton of other side effects such as lethargy, impaired cognition, and an aged visual appearance probably make sleep deprivation a bad diet strategy) (29). So ultimately, it doesn’t appear that there is much evidence that poor sleep reduces the metabolic rate.
More likely, being “tired” from lack of sleep tends to result in less physical activity (30) and a possible increase of food intake could shift the balance of “calories in versus out” towards a surplus.
Nutrient Partitioning
There is one other interesting study that controlled for food intake and noted no differences in weight loss between groups (sleep deprived people and control both subject to intentional weight loss programs). This same study showed more lean mass lost and less fat mass lost in the sleep-deprived relative to control31.
Summary
Overall, it does not seem that lack of sleep suppresses metabolic rate directly; it may do so indirectly by reduced physical activity. Furthermore, lack of sleep seems to results in less favorable body composition when cutting.
Enhancing Sleep Quality
So it seems that getting an adequate amount of sleep each night is quite important for those concerned with athletics and/or body composition.
It would be a tad abrupt to just leave off on the importance of sleep without saying how to improve sleep, so the following are some tips that can be used to enhance sleep quality.
Timing Food Intake
Food intake can be quite effective in influencing the circadian rhythm: One way to avoid jet lag involves having a high-protein breakfast intermittently for 3 days (separated by low-calorie “fasting” days) at your destination’s time; the final meal is breakfast eaten after having arrived. This high-protein meal at your destination’s breakfast time should be able to reset your circadian rhythm. This is known as the Argonne Diet, and although it lacks scientific evidence to support it, the anecdotes are promising.
It appears to play on the interactions between dietary protein and orexin, a wakefulness-promoting neuropeptide highly involved in the circadian rhythm (31).
Conversely, dietary carbohydrates may be able to promote relaxation (somewhat indirectly) secondary to an increase in serotonin synthesis, which then converts to melatonin. Since the conversion requires darkness to occur, this might mean a small serving of carbohydrate prior to sleep can promote restful sleep while focusing dietary protein earlier in the day might also work to regulate the sleep cycle.
Light Exposure or Deprivation
Both light exposure (blue/green or white lights; fluorescent or sunlight) and dark exposure (either absolute darkness, or an attenuation of white light into pink/red dim lights) can aid in sleep-cycle regulation. Both dark and light exposure have been investigated for restoring altered circadian rhythms seen with jet lag (32,33). The perception of light via the retina actively suppresses the conversion of serotonin into melatonin, and appears to have other neurological effects that promote wakefulness (in the morning) or otherwise impair sleep. Reddish lights appear to be less detrimental to sleep quality, and it is sometimes recommended to dim lights or switch to red lights in the evening to facilitate sleep quality.
For those of you at the computer frequently, this can be demonstrated with the downloadable software known as f.lux, which fades your computer screen to pink and reduces the brightness without affecting readability at a preset time every day.
Summary
To sleep better, get ample light in the morning, and less in the evening. If you cannot avoid light, transition from white to red light during night-time.
Supplementation
Supplementation to target sleep quality tends to stem from melatonin, which is a highly reliable and effective anti-insomniac agent that can reduce the time it takes to fall asleep. It is unlikely to do anything if you do not have problems falling asleep, but otherwise is a quite important and cheap supplement. The above light- and meal-manipulation strategies tend to work via melatonin manipulation anyways, and supplementation is an easy way to circumvent it. Beyond melatonin, other possible options include generally relaxing compounds (lavender and l-theanine) or other endogenous agents which seem to regulate sleep (oleamide being the latest up-and-comer supplement). Lavender is actually an interesting option since it appears to be somewhat effective as aromatherapy as a “relaxing” scent, and aromatherapy may be the only way to continuously administer a supplement throughout sleep (via putting a few drops of lavender oil on a nearby object and continuing to breathe while you sleep).
It should also be noted that restricting stimulants or anti-sleep agents (caffeine and modafinil mostly) should be advised if sleep quality is desired. Even if caffeine fails to neurally stimulate you anymore due to tolerance, it can still screw with sleep quality.
What You Should Have Learned
That was a lot of information and studies to throw at you all at once. We’ve summed up all the relevant points:
Not getting enough sleep can decrease insulin sensitivity; get enough sleep, and it normalizes to baseline.
Akin to sleep and insulin sensitivity, testosterone is also decreased from lack of sleep; get enough sleep, and it normalizes to baseline.
Performance may or may not be impaired from lack of sleep. It would be safe to say that lack of sleep would not help performance.
Lack of sleep does not directly lead to less weight gain; you likely end up moving less, thereby decreasing caloric expenditure.
Lack of sleep seems to negatively impact body composition.
Having protein early and then carbohydrates at night could help in a better sleep cycle.
Brighter lights in the morning and dimmer (red/pink) at night results in a better sleep cycle.
Supplement with melatonin can help you fall asleep; abstaining from stimulants and taking relaxing supplements (lavender and theanine) can help the quality of your sleep.
About the Authors
Sol Orwell and Kurtis Frank co-founded Examine.com to help separate the myths from the facts when it comes to supplementation and nutrition.
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16. [Enzymology. One of the basic features of diagnosis and therapy
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“The reason most people never reach their goals is that they don’t define them, or ever seriously consider them as believable or achievable. Winners can tell you where they are going, what they plan to do along the way, and who will be sharing the adventure with them.” Denis Watley
“Our goals can only be reached through a vehicle of a plan, in which we must fervently believe, and upon which we must vigorously act. There is no other route to success.” Stephen A. Brennan
“Without goals, and plans to reach them, you are like a ship that has set sail with no destination.” Fitzhugh Dodson
“Goals are dreams with deadlines.” Diana Scharf Hunt
“You must have long term goals to keep you from being frustrated by short term failures.” Charles C. Noble
“Obstacles are those frightful things you see when you take your eyes off your goals.” Sydney Smith
“Man is a goal seeking animal. His life only has meaning if he is reaching out and striving for his goals.” Aristotle
“If one advances confidently in the direction of his dreams, and endeavors to live the life which he has imagined, he will meet with a success unexpected in common hours.” Henry David Thoreau
“You can’t hit a home run unless you step up to the plate. You can’t catch a fish unless you put your line in the water. You can’t reach your goals if you don’t try.” Kathy Seligman
“Crystallize your goals. Make a plan for achieving them and set yourself a deadline. Then, with supreme confidence, determination and disregard for obstacles and other people’s criticisms, carry out your plan.” Paul Meyer
“The trouble with not having a goal is that you can spend your life running up and down the field and never score.” Bill Copeland
“Choosing a goal and sticking to it changes everything.” Scott Reed
“The tragedy of life doesn’t lie in not reaching your goal. The tragedy lies in having no goals to reach.” Benjamin Mays
“Progress has little to do with speed, but much to do with direction.” Unknown
“The world makes way for the man who knows where he is going.” Ralph Waldo Emereson
“You measure the size of the accomplishment by the obstacles you had to overcome to reach your goals.” Booker T. Washington
“Set your goals high, and don’t stop till you get there.” Bo Jackson
“Goals help focus you on areas in both your personal and professional life that are important and meaningful, rather than being guided by what other people want you to be, do, or accomplish.” Catherine Pulsifer
“Your goals are the road maps that guide you and show you what is possible for your life.” Les Brown
“What you get by achieving your goals is not as important as what you become by achieving your goals.” Zig Ziglar
“It doesn’t matter where you are coming from. All that matters is where you are going.” Brian Tracy
“Shoot for the moon, even if you miss, you’ll land amongst the stars.” Les Brown
Achievement
“We would accomplish many more things if we did not think of them as impossible.” C. Malesherbes
“Start by doing what’s necessary, then what’s possible, and suddenly you are doing the impossible.” Francis of Assisi
“To accomplish great things, we must not only act, but also dream, not only plan, but also believe.” Anatole France
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no hope at all.” Dale Carnegie
“Don’t let what you can’t do interfere with what you can do.” Anonymous
“Never be satisfied with what you achieve, because it all pales in comparison with what you are capable of doing in the future.” Rabbi Nochem Kaplan
“High achievement always takes place in the framework of high expectation.” Jack Kinder
Difficulties
“Real difficulties can be overcome; it is only the imaginary ones that are unconquerable.” Theodore N. Vail
“You can’t fly a kite unless you go against the wind and have a weight to keep it from turning a somersault. The same with man. No man will succeed unless he is ready to face and overcome difficulties and is prepared to assume responsibilities.” William J.H. Boetcker
“Undertake something that is difficult; it will do you good. Unless you try to do something beyond what you have already mastered, you will never grow.” Ronald E. Osborn
“Our greatest battles are that with our own minds.” Jameson Frank
“It’s not the load that breaks you down, it’s the way you carry it.” Horne, Lena
“Difficulties should act as a tonic. They should spur us to greater exertion.” B. C. Forbes
“Difficulties are meant to rouse, not discourage. The human spirit is to grow strong by conflict.” William E. Channing
“Triumphs without difficulties are empty. Indeed, it is difficulties that make the triumph. It is no feat to travel the smooth road.” Unknown
“Nothing is particularly hard if you divide it into small jobs.” Henry Ford
“In the middle of difficulty lies opportunity.” Albert Einstein
“To be successful you must accept all challenges that come your way. You can’t just accept the ones you like.” Mike Gafka
“For every mountain there is a miracle.” Robert H. Schuller
“Little minds are tamed and subdued by misfortune; but great minds rise above it.” Washington Irving
“A desire can overcome all objections and obstacles.” Gunderson
“Obstacles are like wild animals. They are cowards but they will bluff you if they can. If they see you are afraid of them… they are liable to spring upon you; but if you look them squarely in the eye, they will slink out of sight.” Orison Swett Marden
“The true measure of a man is not how he behaves in moments of comfort and convenience but how he stands at times of controversy and challenges.” Martin Luther King Jr.
“It’s not whether you get knocked down. It’s whether you get up again.” Vince Lombardi
“Stand up to your obstacles and do something about them. You will find that they haven’t half the strength you think they have.” Norman Vincent Peale
“You must do the thing you think you cannot do.” Eleanor Roosevelt
“Life’s challenges are not supposed to paralyze you; they’re supposed to help you discover who you are.” Bernice Johnson Reagon
Motivation
“Motivation is what gets you started. Habit is what keeps you going.” Jim Ryun
“In my experience, there is only one motivation, and that is desire. No reasons or principle contain it or stand against it.” Jane Smiley
“Motivation is a fire from within. If someone else tries to light that fire under you, chances are it will burn very briefly.” Stephen R. Covey
“Strong lives are motivated by dynamic purposes.” Kenneth Hildebrand
“People who are unable to motivate themselves must be content with mediocrity, no matter how impressive their other talents.” Andrew Carnegie
“Be miserable. Or motivate yourself. Whatever has to be done, it’s always your choice.” Wayne Dyer
Determination
“Determination gives you the resolve to keep going in spite of the roadblocks that lay before you.” Denis Waitley
“The surest way not to fail is to determine to succeed.” Richard B. Sheridan
“A determined person will do more with a pen and paper, than a lazy person will accomplish with a personal computer.” Catherine Pulsifer
“The difference between the impossible and the possible lies in a person’s determination.” Tommy Lasorda
“If you doubt you can accomplish something, then you can’t accomplish it. You have to have confidence in your ability, and then be tough enough to follow through.” Rosalyn Carter
“What this power is I cannot say; all I know is that it exists and it becomes available only when a man is in that state of mind in which he knows exactly what he wants and is fully determined not to quit until he finds it.” Alexander Graham Bell
“There is no chance, no destiny, no fate, that can hinder or control the firm resolve of a determined soul.” Ella Wheeler Wilcox
“A man can be as great as he wants to be. If you believe in yourself and have the courage, the determination, the dedication, the competitive drive and if you are willing to sacrifice the little things in life and pay the price for the things that are worthwhile, it can be done.” Vince Lombardi
“It was courage, faith, endurance and a dogged determination to surmount all obstacles that built this bridge.” John J. Watson
“So long as there is breath in me, that long I will persist. For now I know one of the greatest principles on success; if I persist long enough I will win.” Og Mandino
“Within each of us is a hidden store of determination. Determination to keep us in the race when all seems lost.” Roger Dawson
“Failure will never overtake me if my determination to succeed is strong enough.” Og Mandino
“You’ve got to get up every morning with determination if you’re going to go to bed with satisfaction.” George Lorimer
“We will either find a way, or make one!” Hannibal
“Never stop. One stops as soon as something is about to happen.” Peter Brock
Perseverance
“The greatest results in life are usually attained by simple means and the exercise of ordinary qualities. These may for the most part be summed up in these two – common sense and perseverance.” Owen Feltham
“The will to persevere is often the difference between failure and success.” David Sarnoff
“Perseverance is not a long race; it is many short races one after another.” Walter Elliott
“Persistence is to the character of man as carbon is to steel.” Napoleon Hill
“Most of the important things in the world have been accomplished by people who have kept on trying when there seemed to be no help at all.” Dale Carnegie
“You may have to fight a battle more than once to win it.” Margaret Thatcher
“Great works are performed not by strength but by perseverance.” Samuel Johnson
“Most people give up just when they’re about to achieve success. They quit on the one yard line. They give up at the last minute of the game, one foot from a winning touchdown.” H. Ross Perot
“A jug fills drop by drop.” Buddha
“If you want to get somewhere you have to know where you want to go and how to get there. Then never, never, never give up.” Norman Vincent Peale
“Perseverance is a great element of success; if you only knock long enough and loud enough at the gate you are sure to wake up somebody.” Henry Wadsworth Longfellow
“Perseverance is failing nineteen times and succeeding the twentieth.” Julie Andrews
Success
“Men are born to succeed, not fail.” Henry David Thoreau
“That some achieve great success, is proof to all that others can achieve it as well.” Abraham Lincoln
“People seldom see the halting and painful steps by which the most insignificant success is achieved.” Anne Sullivan
“The dictionary is the only place where success comes before work.” Mark Twain
“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” John Wooden
“Ones best success comes after their greatest disappointments.” Henry Ward Beecher
“What would you attempt to do if you knew you would not fail?” Robert Schuller
“Success seems to be largely a matter of hanging on after others have let go.” William Feather
“Success is the sum of small efforts, repeated day in and day out.” Robert Collier
“Do a little more each day than you think you possibly can.” Lowell Thomas
“It takes 20 years to make an overnight success.” Eddie Cantor
“The first and most important step toward success is the feeling that we can succeed.” Nelson Boswell
