WEBVTT
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00:00:13.367uh, yeah, we haven't done the intros for quite a while and I think it's uh, it's we get more information and just skipping all the intro stuff.
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00:00:25.847Yeah, but uh, here we are, uh, we, we have sam on the podcast with us for, uh, all those listeners and, uh, if you guys don't know, sam is, uh is, an absolutely amazing guy.
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00:00:33.472So, but I'm not, I'm not going to ruin it for all the listeners, I'm just going to let uh sam, you, uh, you have the floor.
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00:00:40.142Uh, why don't you tell all our listeners and all our fans, or millions and millions of fans, to tell everybody who you are?
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00:00:42.226well.
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00:00:45.335Thank you, adrian and brandon Brandon for having me here.
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00:00:48.540I'm really excited just to get to chat with you guys.
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00:00:52.466I'm a natural bodybuilder.
00:00:52.466 -->
00:00:57.655I've competed, I've done seven shows.
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00:01:00.944I think I'm prepping.
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00:01:01.384Right now.
00:01:01.384 -->
00:01:02.466I'm in my fifth prep.
00:01:02.466 -->
00:01:09.709It's a pre-prep phase, so, like the early stages of dieting, I'm also an online physique coach.
00:01:09.709 -->
00:01:19.209I work mainly with mainstream lifestyle clients that want to lose fat and build muscle, and that's me.
00:01:19.209 -->
00:01:27.632So I'm an online physique coach and I'm really passionate about natural bodybuilding physique coach and I'm really passionate about natural bodybuilding.
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00:01:28.433That's awesome, man.
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00:01:34.003I didn't realize you've done seven, shows man how many seasons in total.
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00:01:35.465Have you done so far?
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00:01:35.805I have.
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00:01:36.766So this is my.
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00:01:38.850This is my fifth prep, so I guess this is my fifth.
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00:01:40.634It'll lead into my fifth season.
00:01:40.634 -->
00:01:47.429My first three seasons were they're just like single show seasons.
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00:01:51.960My fourth season, so my last one.
00:01:51.960 -->
00:01:55.728I did four shows, so I knocked out I.
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00:02:01.162I knocked out a bunch in a single prep yeah, that's awesome yeah, that was a.
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00:02:02.504That was a long season for you.
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00:02:14.729I remember following along with it and it just I was like, oh man, he's still going it was a marathon, yeah when, when did that one like originally, like when was your first show that season and then when was your last show?
00:02:14.729 -->
00:02:19.085Like how many months were you actually like full, like in competition mode?
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00:02:21.187geez.
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00:02:30.668So the first show was the wmbf ontario, which I think was the date that I have in my head was september 9th 2023.
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00:02:31.491I don't know that.
00:02:31.491 -->
00:02:33.437That that date just sticks in my head.
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00:02:42.924I think it was probably such a priority at that time frame that it's just like ingrained in my brain at this point, but I think it was september 9th 2023.
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00:02:49.383The last show was like November, I want to say 17th or 18th, which was the.
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00:02:51.068I competed in the amateur world.
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00:02:51.971So it's like what is that?
00:02:51.971 -->
00:02:54.675Like two, two and a half months.
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00:02:56.443It was like 13 or 14 weeks.
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00:03:00.592Yeah, yeah, that's yeah, good on you, man.
00:03:01.942 -->
00:03:22.230I want to actually bring it back to like even before you started getting into the fitness, before you started getting into bodybuilding, because I loved, like for those of you guys listening, I was actually on Sam's podcast a couple of times he has a great podcast himself and I was just curious about your background because you dug into mine quite a bit.
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00:03:36.913So I was just curious about what your lifestyle, what your life looked like before you started fitness, before you started bodybuilding um, like if I was like a fly on the wall, like what would a typical day look like for you, man?
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00:03:38.763it would have.
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00:03:43.069It would have looked like, uh, pre-teen kid stuff.
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00:03:46.335So I started lifting when I was really really young.
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00:03:49.986I think I was 12 when I started being really consistent about it.
00:03:49.986 -->
00:03:58.489I was really lucky when I grew up, my uncle who lived very close to my family home.
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00:04:05.872He had a decently equipped home gym more than enough equipment for a 12-year-old kid to dig into.
00:04:05.872 -->
00:04:14.605So I started lifting when I was really really young and I got my first gym membership a few years later, when I was 15, I think.
00:04:14.605 -->
00:04:24.829But yeah, I was pre-lifting era version of me, did kids stuff, hung out with friends, I guess.
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00:04:26.053I guess I was into.
00:04:26.053 -->
00:04:36.574I was taking piano lessons, I liked video games growing up like really liked video games, went to school and I lifted weights.
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00:04:39.303Yeah, pretty, pretty early on.
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00:04:45.473So I guess, yeah, I would have been just kid stuff more or less.
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00:04:47.396Nice man.
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00:04:52.012Yeah, that's super cool that you were getting into it when you mentioned around 12.
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00:04:54.389So, yeah, no, that's awesome.
00:04:54.389 -->
00:05:02.290I wish I would have personally gotten into it at that age I think I was 16, 17 or something like that when I fully got into it.
00:05:02.290 -->
00:05:03.785But that's very cool.
00:05:03.785 -->
00:05:06.007Was it like barbells or dumbbells?
00:05:06.007 -->
00:05:08.148What was like the equipment that you had access to?
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00:05:10.247They had a dumbbell rack.
00:05:10.247 -->
00:05:22.189I think in hindsight it went to either 50 or 60 pounds, so not super heavy, but when you're 12 years old that's super, super heavy.
00:05:22.189 -->
00:05:24.387So it was more weight than I could handle, that's for sure.
00:05:24.387 -->
00:05:25.502So that was more than enough.
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00:05:27.107They had a nice adjustable bench.
00:05:27.107 -->
00:05:36.944They had an easy curl bar with like a preacher bench and they had a universal trainer which actually had pretty much everything you'd need outside of dumbbells.
00:05:36.944 -->
00:05:45.031That had like a lat pull down attachment, different attachments for like cable bicep curls, bayesian curls, um.
00:05:45.031 -->
00:05:48.985They had like a mid-level cable attachment.
00:05:48.985 -->
00:05:51.637It had a chest press set up and overhead press set up.
00:05:51.637 -->
00:05:55.190So it had basically everything that that I could have possibly needed.
00:05:55.190 -->
00:06:12.490There's no barbell outside of the little easy easy curl bar, um, but with the cables on the on the universal gym or the universal trainer and the dumbbells, it was like everything I could have possibly needed.
00:06:12.973 -->
00:06:18.550I wasn't good at lifting, I was horrible at it, I was like self-taught, like and in youtube wasn't a thing yet.
00:06:18.670 -->
00:06:20.463So it was like really, really self-taught.
00:06:20.463 -->
00:06:26.740I got a couple exercises from my dad here and there that and I just kind of like fault.
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00:06:48.762They had like a diagram on the wall of like pictures of different exercises, like really old school, like imagine you're, you go to like a planet fitness or something like that, and on all of their pieces of equipment it has a diagram of how to do the exercise and it like highlights the muscles that you're supposed to be hitting.
00:06:48.762 -->
00:07:11.968I remember they had like a big diagram on their wall that had a whole ton of different exercises that were illustrated with that kind of style of visual showing the exercise like what the movement roughly should look like, in one or two pictures with the muscle that's highlighted.
00:07:11.968 -->
00:07:20.970So I kind of tried to copy that until a little bit later on, when I got my gym membership, which was I think I was 15.
00:07:20.970 -->
00:07:24.807I was like in 10th grade, something like that, 9th or 10th grade, 10th grade I think.
00:07:27.500 -->
00:07:27.983So what it was?
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00:07:29.348Yeah, so how did you?
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00:07:30.321So?
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00:07:37.553You were sort of just working out at the at the home gym for quite a while before you got into an actual gym.
00:07:37.553 -->
00:07:46.132So did you have any coaches along the way when you perhaps joined the membership, or was everything just just self-taught?
00:07:47.454 -->
00:07:48.175it was.
00:07:48.175 -->
00:07:50.502I never had a formal coach.
00:07:50.502 -->
00:07:55.009I was mostly self-taught.
00:07:55.009 -->
00:08:00.641However, I was pretty influenced by my dad, so he was a.
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00:08:03.632He was a big like intrinsic motiv, I suppose.
00:08:03.632 -->
00:08:09.408Or I think my intrinsic motivation probably developed from watching my dad as I grew up.
00:08:09.408 -->
00:08:10.430He was like you know.
00:08:10.430 -->
00:08:12.903He trained five days a week ever since I could remember.
00:08:12.903 -->
00:08:16.413To me it's like you look up to your dad like he's a superhero.
00:08:16.413 -->
00:08:18.603Basically, that was like how I looked up to him.
00:08:18.603 -->
00:08:20.807He had big muscles.
00:08:20.807 -->
00:08:25.154I used to like brag to my friends like my dad's got bigger arms than your dad basically.
00:08:25.154 -->
00:08:38.226So he was a big motivational kind of an influence on me and he didn't help me a ton with the practical elements of lifting weights.
00:08:38.567 -->
00:08:43.748When I got my gym membership, I trained at the same gym as him but he kind of did his thing and I went off and did my own thing.
00:08:43.748 -->
00:08:48.399But there was a there's another guy that trained at that gym and I would get there really early.
00:08:48.399 -->
00:08:54.501I'd probably arrive at like 6 am, which for a high school kid that didn't have to be there, it was pretty early.
00:08:54.501 -->
00:09:04.991I was the only kid that was there and and the gym was like it's like a kind of hole in the wall like gritty bodybuilder gym in the industrial park in the small town that I grew up in.
00:09:04.991 -->
00:09:19.493So it was a lot of like blue collar workers around, like the steel plant close by and and the other industrial area, the other kind of like very physically demanding, tough, laborious jobs that were close by.
00:09:19.493 -->
00:09:23.705So there's a lot of those type of of lifters that were there and I was just like some kid.
00:09:24.166 -->
00:09:25.506But I remember there's one guy there.
00:09:25.506 -->
00:09:31.235His name was Gord and he's just like a super, super nice dude.
00:09:31.235 -->
00:09:38.092To me he was the most jacked guy I'd ever seen aside from my dad, of course and he's super strong.
00:09:38.092 -->
00:09:39.241I saw the way that he trained.
00:09:39.241 -->
00:09:40.745He was squatting super heavy.
00:09:40.745 -->
00:09:51.083In retrospect I'm not sure if it is as heavy as I would think it is now, but you know, when you're like 15 years old and you're seeing a guy with at least two plates on the on the bar, you're like wow.
00:09:51.083 -->
00:10:01.110So I don't know how much he's actually lifting looking back, but to me he was like hercules, um, but the dude was super, super nice.
00:10:01.129 -->
00:10:04.115He was really encouraging to me when I was there, like you know, and he was.
00:10:04.115 -->
00:10:05.416I remember the way he used to speak to me too, like he was really encouraging to me when I was there, like you know, and he was.
00:10:05.416 -->
00:10:27.621I remember the way he used to speak to me too, like he was very, uh, soft spoken so he's super jacked but he talked like kind of like this, like quiet and slow and um, something about that, like he was just very approachable, I suppose, and he'd give me compliments, but he'd also slide in like little bits of tips and some feedback on how I could train better.
00:10:27.621 -->
00:10:29.889He'd be like, yeah, you're doing that overhead press pretty well.
00:10:29.889 -->
00:10:37.783I can tell you're training hard, but have you ever considered moving a little bit more like this or doing this instead?
00:10:38.345 -->
00:10:41.110And I would pick up on what he'd share with me.
00:10:41.110 -->
00:10:47.643And it really helped because he was so approachable and also someone that I looked up to.
00:10:47.643 -->
00:10:50.591I actually took his advice to heart and that really helped.
00:10:50.591 -->
00:10:55.508He also gave me his what do you call it?
00:10:55.508 -->
00:11:00.261The new encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding, that old Schwarzenegger book.
00:11:00.261 -->
00:11:11.975He gave me his copy just because he's a nice guy, but yeah, he really um, he really had a positive impact on me and I got, I learned, a little bit about how to train better.
00:11:11.975 -->
00:11:12.476He wasn't.
00:11:12.476 -->
00:11:15.043He wasn't a personal trainer, not a fitness coach.
00:11:15.043 -->
00:11:24.830He wasn't like a world-class expert, but he knew enough to help me, to help me get a decent enough foundation.
00:11:24.971 -->
00:11:27.294So that's awesome, man.
00:11:27.294 -->
00:11:28.062Like.
00:11:28.062 -->
00:11:39.751It's always funny how usually the biggest guys like though they may look like mean or like, they're usually like the softest, like most genuine, most nice individual that but they're just giants, right.
00:11:39.751 -->
00:11:41.606So, no, that's, that's very cool, man.
00:11:41.606 -->
00:11:49.494When it comes to like nutrition back then, like I know for me as a kid kid, my nutrition wasn't the best as a kid, especially with the protein.
00:11:49.494 -->
00:11:58.448I'd just be curious about yours when you were growing up, when you started lifting, when did you get more serious with your nutrition?
00:11:58.448 -->
00:12:02.485Maybe looking at macros, if you want to go into that?
00:12:03.708 -->
00:12:24.530Sure, when I was a teen I didn't know anything about nutrition outside of I think protein is important for building muscle, so I didn't really do anything outside of eating what was cooked for dinner that my family had prepared and my lunches.
00:12:24.530 -->
00:12:39.591Thinking back in high school, like you know, I had the money that I saved up from working in the summers that I'd spend on my lunches and like the deli next and the store next door and they weren't great lunches like it wasn't.
00:12:39.591 -->
00:12:47.527I wasn't focusing on protein there's probably a little bit, but not very much in the old deli sandwiches they had and that sort of thing Tried to get protein in my breakfast.
00:12:47.527 -->
00:12:49.969But yeah, I knew protein was good.
00:12:49.969 -->
00:13:01.822Actually I didn't know what calories were, but I knew food probably was going to drive my muscle growth progress, but I didn't think much about it.
00:13:01.822 -->
00:13:17.205I think in retrospect I am fortunate in that my family had good, structured meals, like when it was cooked, like there was always like a protein source in the family meals that we had and I would eat a lot of it.
00:13:17.205 -->
00:13:26.110And like I'm thinking of like my mom growing up she always encouraged us to eat like a lot of protein, like make sure you eat the meat that's cooked for you.
00:13:26.110 -->
00:13:27.705So I think that was good.
00:13:27.779 -->
00:13:29.046I was also a big eater.
00:13:29.046 -->
00:13:36.432I got a high food drive, so I've always been someone that's had to stop myself from overeating.
00:13:36.432 -->
00:13:41.188I haven't been the other way around, where it's like got to get myself to eat or I forget to eat.
00:13:41.188 -->
00:13:44.470It's like I got to stop eating at some point.
00:13:44.470 -->
00:13:58.090So I think in retrospect that was probably helpful, because I was so fixated on lifting weights and I was training really, really hard, even though I wasn't perfect at it, that's for sure.
00:13:58.090 -->
00:14:04.144I think it was good that I had a high food drive because it helped me build muscle at the end of the day, even though I wasn't the leanest.
00:14:04.144 -->
00:14:17.888But I learned more about calories and macros and kind of the basic foundational principles of fat loss and muscle growth how that works with nutrition.
00:14:18.229 -->
00:14:59.227Probably in my earlier 20s I want to say in probably the latter years of university, nice man, is that when you started to get more involved with bodybuilding or what was kind of the point in time or something that triggered you to want to compete, when it comes to competing, the seed was first planted in my head, I think, in my last year of university, so at that point I I'm not sure how old I was.
00:14:59.307 -->
00:15:04.003I was in university for a long time, for seven years, so it would have been my seventh year.
00:15:04.003 -->
00:15:11.472I'd been lifting since I was 12, so I think I'd already been lifted lifting for at least 10 years almost 10 years by that point.
00:15:11.472 -->
00:15:19.442So I had a decent amount of muscle on my frame, um, but I never thought about competing or I, or even what competing really was.
00:15:19.442 -->
00:15:47.759I I thought about, like schwarzenegger and and those guys in my old modern encyclopedia of new bodybuilding, new encyclopedia of modern bodybuilding I can't remember, I got the name mixed up but I never really thought about competing myself or really what competing was, until I have a pretty distinct memory of working out, a pretty distinct memory of working out.
00:15:47.759 -->
00:16:00.592I had a training session in my last year of university and there was a personal trainer working at the gym that I was working out at it was a good life fitness and he asked me he's like yeah, you got a great physique.
00:16:00.592 -->
00:16:01.413Are you competing?
00:16:01.413 -->
00:16:02.816Have you ever thought about competing?
00:16:02.816 -->
00:16:21.428And I was like, like what's competing, um, but that was what initially planted the seed, and then I kind of I I can't remember what I did next, if I like looked it up or if I what my next step was, but that's the memory I have is is he asked me once or twice like, hey, you should, you should consider doing it?
00:16:21.428 -->
00:16:24.205I was like, oh, that's a big compliment, I took it to heart.
00:16:24.205 -->
00:16:26.149And that seed, seed grew, I guess.
00:16:27.052 -->
00:16:48.711And then, um, the next year, when I graduated from university, I worked as an in-person personal trainer and when I was doing that, that's when it really the desire really grew, cause I was around fit people all the time, the other personal trainers there's some of them that were in amazing shape, that I looked up to and they were competing and I was learning more from them and I was getting.
00:16:48.711 -->
00:16:58.322I was, at that point, looking more of this whole competition thing up online on youtube and, um, I started to get really interested in it.
00:16:58.322 -->
00:17:00.265I felt like, hey, why, why not?
00:17:00.265 -->
00:17:07.140I mean, I love training, I, I, I know, up to that point, I just wanted to keep building more muscle.
00:17:07.140 -->
00:17:16.573I knew I wanted to keep building more muscle, so why not just have this really focused goal where I get to, like, do the thing that I love and just focus it on this one thing.
00:17:17.315 -->
00:17:35.113So I I ended up, um, um, taking the plunge and deciding to do a prep, and that would have been 2018 or 2019, um, yeah, so I just I went for it.
00:17:35.113 -->
00:17:36.515But that's how the seed planted.
00:17:36.515 -->
00:17:40.126Someone said, hey, hey, you should compete or do you compete?
00:17:40.126 -->
00:17:45.469And that was it grew from there all right so you're saying your first season.
00:17:45.588 -->
00:17:50.067So basically your first ever bodybuilding show was 2018 2019.
00:17:50.067 -->
00:17:53.759What was that like and what what kind of category were you part at?
00:17:56.381 -->
00:17:56.781well, the.
00:17:56.781 -->
00:18:10.432The prep itself was, in retrospect I think, in the standards of of of.
00:18:10.432 -->
00:18:14.369If I were to look at all of the preps that I did, it was the easiest prep that I did.
00:18:14.369 -->
00:18:18.327Looking at it Now, it was the shortest it was.
00:18:18.327 -->
00:18:30.555I didn't get as lean, as nearly as lean as, like, say, the last prep I did, um, but it was hard in its own sense and that it was the first one I ever did so and it was the leanest I'd ever been in my life up to that point.
00:18:30.555 -->
00:18:35.958So even though it wasn't the leanest I'd ever been, it was a shock to my system at that point.
00:18:35.958 -->
00:18:42.678Even though it wasn't the longest prep I'd ever done, even close to the longest prep I'd ever done, it was still a shock to the system.
00:18:42.678 -->
00:18:43.159More or less.
00:18:52.884 -->
00:18:55.567I experienced all those kind of prep feelings for the first time that you don't know what they're like until you feel them.
00:18:55.567 -->
00:19:11.984So not just like that strange hunger focus, food focus that eventually sets in or you know the feelings that come with hunger, but also like the emotional kind of disturbances, the changes that go on, that I had no idea, like I didn't.
00:19:11.984 -->
00:19:23.673I needed to look back on that in retrospect to be like wow, that was something tough.
00:19:23.673 -->
00:19:37.208But I, I I feel like for me, like my personality is very built to prep for like that particular kind of challenge.
00:19:37.208 -->
00:19:46.933I like repetition and I like grinding, so I like I mean we're bodybuilders, we like doing reps, so like that's my personality.
00:19:46.933 -->
00:19:55.616So I I found I felt like I was doing something that I was kind of designed for from that psychological kind of a standpoint.
00:19:55.616 -->
00:20:05.211So I, even though it was tough, like I liked that kind of a challenge and I also found it really rewarding, like going from week to week and seeing myself get leaner.
00:20:05.211 -->
00:20:15.082That was really cool to get to see that kind of immediate, relatively immediate feedback.
00:20:15.082 -->
00:20:26.313And as far as like performance goals go, like how I expected to do on the show today itself, I had no expectations really.
00:20:26.313 -->
00:20:33.599I wasn't sure if I was going to come first, second, third, fourth, fifth.
00:20:33.599 -->
00:20:35.467I wasn't, I didn't know anything about it.
00:20:35.467 -->
00:20:38.318Never done a show in my life, I'd never been to a show in my life.
00:20:38.318 -->
00:20:39.664So no expectations.
00:20:39.664 -->
00:20:40.670I was an open book.
00:20:40.670 -->
00:20:50.086I was kind of just going into it like hey, we'll see what happens, which is like actually a beautiful thing when you're so I was such a blank slate happens, which is actually a beautiful thing.
00:20:50.086 -->
00:20:51.108I was such a blank slate, no expectations.
00:20:51.108 -->
00:20:51.849That was actually a special thing.
00:20:51.849 -->
00:20:55.916It's never been the same since then, but it was good.
00:20:57.244 -->
00:21:00.130It was a CPA show.
00:21:00.130 -->
00:21:05.298It was called the Natural Can Fit Pro.
00:21:05.298 -->
00:21:07.768It was in Toronto that's where I was living in the time.
00:21:07.768 -->
00:21:10.776It was under the what do you call it?
00:21:10.776 -->
00:21:11.617The cn tower.
00:21:11.617 -->
00:21:14.747There's a huge convention center around that area.
00:21:14.747 -->
00:21:14.988It was.
00:21:14.988 -->
00:21:15.691They held it there.
00:21:15.691 -->
00:21:19.964This is big, ginormous fitness expo, kind of right in the middle of it.
00:21:21.227 -->
00:21:23.270And uh, I competed.
00:21:23.270 -->
00:21:27.237There was a really small class there was was four.
00:21:27.237 -->
00:21:29.799It was classic physique.
00:21:29.799 -->
00:21:38.259I was one of four competitors in my weight class, or in my height.
00:21:38.259 -->
00:21:39.790It was in height, not weight.
00:21:39.790 -->
00:21:54.240That was how they divided the classes, I think, and I ended up winning my class, which was you know, when you're not expecting, you have no expectations going into a show and you end up coming first.
00:21:54.240 -->
00:21:56.632It was a pretty cool feeling.
00:21:56.632 -->
00:21:59.105I'm not going to lie Like I was pretty over the moon.
00:22:00.528 -->
00:22:05.510I didn't really understand what I'd just done or anything like that, and I didn't win the overall.
00:22:05.510 -->
00:22:10.201It was just me and another guy, or anything like that, and I didn't win the overall.
00:22:10.201 -->
00:22:16.627It was just me and another another guy and he was the guy you could tell he was.
00:22:16.627 -->
00:22:17.450It wasn't his first rodeo, for sure.
00:22:17.450 -->
00:22:19.276He was significantly leaner, way better conditioned than than I was.
00:22:19.276 -->
00:22:22.924I had a good amount of muscle, which was, which was helpful.
00:22:22.924 -->
00:22:27.207But, um, that other guy, he, uh he, his conditioning.
00:22:27.207 -->
00:22:30.188He had a ton of muscle and he was very, very, very conditioned.
00:22:30.188 -->
00:22:34.288Um, so he definitely deserved the one on that.
00:22:34.288 -->
00:22:36.150But I was just over the moon that I won.
00:22:36.150 -->
00:22:41.372I got a gold medal, I won my class and that was like that was the coolest thing in the world.
00:22:41.372 -->
00:23:22.457And, um, that did that really drove my desire to keep doing it after that point, because winning was something that showed me that I had potential and I ended up really enjoying being on the stage and, yeah, that was the experience.
00:23:24.105 -->
00:23:24.909That's awesome man.
00:23:24.909 -->
00:23:29.314That's huge First show ever and then taken the, the first place.
00:23:29.314 -->
00:23:31.106Man, like that's, that's very impressive.
00:23:31.106 -->
00:23:38.856How you mentioned like that was one of like the big things that kept you on, like in terms of you knowing that you have potential in this sport.
00:23:38.856 -->
00:23:49.048Do you think, like, looking back at it now, like if you were, say, to come fifth in like that show, would you think you would still be competing in bodybuilding or like what?
00:23:49.048 -->
00:23:50.330What are your thoughts around that?
00:23:52.173 -->
00:23:53.455oh, that's a good question.
00:23:53.455 -->
00:23:57.226What would I have done if I played slower?
00:23:57.226 -->
00:24:04.853I honestly I'm not sure.
00:24:04.853 -->
00:24:06.394I think it could have gone either way.
00:24:06.394 -->
00:24:26.664I think the answer that I'm leaning towards is something like if I came last, then a part of me would have wanted to do it again, just to show myself that I could be better.
00:24:26.664 -->
00:24:33.791I think that could have happened, um, but I'm not sure.
00:24:33.791 -->
00:24:38.566If I, if I came last and I was super discouraged from it, I'm not sure what I would have done.
00:24:38.566 -->
00:24:42.594I I suspect I would have wanted to come back and try again.
00:24:42.594 -->
00:24:55.898Um, man, I guess it's one of those things where the only way I'd know for sure is that I would have to be in that situation to know I did have a, my third prep, or my first, my third show, I did.
00:24:56.266 -->
00:24:56.385I.
00:24:56.385 -->
00:24:58.913That was one of the hardest experiences that I had.
00:24:58.913 -->
00:25:00.397It was a large, larger lineup.
00:25:00.397 -->
00:25:02.067I think there was like 12 or 13.
00:25:02.067 -->
00:25:04.211Um, in my height.
00:25:04.211 -->
00:25:05.594It was another CPA show.
00:25:05.594 -->
00:25:08.278It was a natural Van City showdown in Vancouver.
00:25:08.278 -->
00:25:19.869It wasn't a WNBF show, it was a CPA show and I did not do as well as I had hoped for, and that was up to that point.
00:25:19.904 -->
00:25:27.755That was the hardest prep I had ever done, for several reasons, and I didn't do as well as I'd hoped.
00:25:27.755 -->
00:25:29.070I came like fourth or fifth I was top five.
00:25:29.070 -->
00:25:30.037I didn't get didn't do as well as I'd hoped.
00:25:30.037 -->
00:25:31.084I came like fourth or fifth, I was top five.
00:25:31.084 -->
00:25:36.897I didn't get a first, second or third medal, but I know it's top five because I came out on that first call out.
00:25:36.897 -->
00:25:39.351So it wasn't that bad.
00:25:39.411 -->
00:25:42.779At a 12 or 13 competitors I was actually quite good.
00:25:42.779 -->
00:25:49.938But I was really disappointed in myself because I I felt I peaked really poorly.
00:25:49.938 -->
00:25:58.095I did some weird stuff with my diet the days leading up to it and I really beat myself up over that.
00:25:58.095 -->
00:25:59.590That was a really, really tough one.
00:25:59.590 -->
00:26:10.986I needed a little bit of mental recharge from that, from that.
00:26:10.986 -->
00:26:17.480But the the, the feeling that I got afterwards ultimately was I want to do this again so I can show myself that I can be better and do better, have a better end result.
00:26:17.480 -->
00:26:29.798And it wasn't just about getting a first, second or third medal, it was about looking better, because I felt like the what I showed on stage was a very poor representation of what I had been working for.
00:26:29.798 -->
00:26:33.792So I kind of want to want to reverse that the next time I prepped.
00:26:35.476 -->
00:26:36.357Yeah, Makes sense, man.
00:26:36.357 -->
00:26:44.557Yeah, the reason I ask that is just because I see it happen quite a bit with some people do one show and they don't place too well and they get discouraged and they never want to do it again.
00:26:44.557 -->
00:26:54.193So like even for me, like when I did my first show, I was like I don't know what I would have done if I wouldn't have placed as well as I did, because that was that initial driver for me to keep going.
00:26:54.193 -->
00:26:58.575But over time in bodybuilding you just learn to really love that process.
00:26:58.765 -->
00:27:00.692So, yeah, I was just curious to hear your thoughts on that.
00:27:00.692 -->
00:27:20.270But now, like, fast forwarding forward to like because you're competing next uh year and uh, I'm just curious on like, how much has your perhaps changed from the course of like your first competition prep to all the way to like what you're potentially going to be doing for this last one?
00:27:22.234 -->
00:27:23.157they've changed a lot.
00:27:23.157 -->
00:27:32.391So the first prep that I did, as far as, like, the logistics go, it was a very short prep.
00:27:32.391 -->
00:27:41.654It was like 12 weeks, which was kind of you know, that's like the traditional bodybuilding length 12 to 16 week long, week long prep.
00:27:41.654 -->
00:27:53.690I had a coach for that one, um, but it was like we just kind of started the prep at 12 weeks out because I was on his wait list and it was like, hey, we, well, I'm off the wait list list and we're 12 weeks out, so that's when we're starting the prep.
00:27:53.690 -->
00:27:54.653I knew nothing about it.
00:27:54.653 -->
00:27:57.892So I was like, okay, 12 weeks, that sounds like a long time, let's do it.
00:27:57.892 -->
00:28:09.398Um, but yeah, so the, the, the duration was significantly, significantly less than it is now.
00:28:09.398 -->
00:28:10.520So that's a big one.
00:28:10.987 -->
00:28:12.753My mindset is way different.
00:28:12.753 -->
00:28:17.576My approach to hunger and food is significantly different.
00:28:17.576 -->
00:28:30.287So the first several seasons was you know, I'm fighting hunger, I'm fighting it, I'm finding all these different hacks and ways to try to mitigate my hunger levels.
00:28:30.287 -->
00:28:32.372The first prep was kind of messy too.
00:28:32.372 -->
00:28:46.948I was kind of unintentionally cheating on my diet, in that I was, and this was just out of ignorance, this isn't wasn't out of like, oh I'm, I'm like I'm doing something I shouldn't be doing.
00:28:46.948 -->
00:28:47.429It was just.
00:28:47.429 -->
00:28:57.530It was an ignorance thing where I was like eating extra vegetables and I was like there's not really any calories in these vegetables, the amount of calories that I was eating from the extra vegetables that I was eating.
00:28:57.530 -->
00:29:06.854There was a lot of calories that I was taking in and it was leaving me bloated and extra uncomfortable from the extra vegetables I was cheating, using to cheat with.
00:29:06.854 -->
00:29:20.946But I was fighting those kind of emotions and those feelings significantly more for like that first prep, for example, than, let's say, this prep or my last prep.
00:29:20.946 -->
00:29:34.789I feel like I have a lot more control and mastery over embracing the feeling of hunger rather than fighting it and not trying to eat too much volume or too high of a volume of food.
00:29:35.192 -->
00:29:49.281The third prep that I did was probably the peak of how that could go wrong for me was I was fighting hunger so much for the third prep that I did that it left me just.
00:29:49.281 -->
00:29:51.688It made the process so much more difficult.
00:29:51.688 -->
00:29:55.001I bloated all the time and the hunger was still there.
00:29:55.001 -->
00:30:04.906So it's like this weird feeling where I was like super lean, I was eating a ton, I was bloated but I still wanted to keep eating.
00:30:04.906 -->
00:30:05.950I was really uncomfortable.
00:30:05.950 -->
00:30:08.054I was still thinking about it all the time.
00:30:08.054 -->
00:30:10.318I was thinking about all these weird flavors.
00:30:10.318 -->
00:30:21.859So, yeah, I think embracing the hunger instead of fighting it now is something that's been a big change for me.
00:30:22.286 -->
00:30:24.371Also, having more control over my mental.
00:30:24.371 -->
00:30:27.137The mental things that I'm feeling, the emotional things that I'm feeling, have way better control over my mental.
00:30:27.137 -->
00:30:32.289The, the mental things that I'm feeling, the emotional things that I'm feeling have way better control over that now.
00:30:32.289 -->
00:30:39.092I think that's just come with experience, having done it multiple times at this point and what else.
00:30:39.092 -->
00:30:44.968As far as like training goes, that's something that's changed pretty significantly.
00:30:45.669 -->
00:30:50.238My first three preps I was training seven days a week.
00:30:50.238 -->
00:30:52.290I love training.
00:30:52.290 -->
00:30:55.535So, honestly, I could still train seven days a week.
00:30:55.535 -->
00:30:58.590I love being in the gym, it's my favorite thing.
00:30:58.590 -->
00:31:23.986But those first three preps training seven days a week it was the same kind of split that I'm doing now, a full body training split, but the frequency was higher more overall weekly sets, more overall weekly training sessions, still training as hard as I possibly could, but just high, very high frequency and overall pretty high set volume over the course of the week.
00:31:23.986 -->
00:31:25.710And now I'm training.
00:31:26.151 -->
00:31:33.416At this point in this prep I'm training four days a week, which actually takes a little bit of self-control for me not to train five or six days.
00:31:33.416 -->
00:31:40.145But it's come with only good training a little bit less and I've learned how to train pretty efficiently.
00:31:40.145 -->
00:31:46.836So I think that's come with experience is the skill of lifting more efficiently.
00:31:46.836 -->
00:31:57.670Training really hard with the fewer sets and the fewer training sessions that I am doing during the week, I think it's leaving my body feeling less beat up.
00:31:57.670 -->
00:31:58.111Overall.
00:31:58.111 -->
00:32:00.497It is helping me from a psychological standpoint.
00:32:00.497 -->
00:32:05.711Started doing that in my last prep, actually in 2023.
00:32:05.711 -->
00:32:10.097But yeah, those are the first ones that come first.
00:32:10.097 -->
00:32:13.951Differences that come to mind initially anyways makes sense.
00:32:14.473 -->
00:32:15.636What did you notice?
00:32:15.636 -->
00:32:21.271Any change in appetite from training seven days a week to going to four, um like?
00:32:21.271 -->
00:32:26.488Did you notice like that coming down from not having as much fatigue, or did you notice it being about the same?
00:32:26.488 -->
00:32:27.809What did that look like for you?
00:32:31.513 -->
00:32:36.721you know, surprisingly I I haven't noticed much of a change.
00:32:36.721 -->
00:32:45.132I think I think my personality ever since I can remember I've got a high food drive.
00:32:45.132 -->
00:32:55.355So whether I'm like bulking or in a maintenance phase or dieting for fat loss and a prep, I'm always hungry.
00:32:55.355 -->
00:32:56.897I can always keep eating more.
00:32:56.897 -->
00:33:02.955And that goes for training versus rest days overall.
00:33:02.955 -->
00:33:15.921And actually you know, it's funny now that I'm thinking about it I often find that on the days where I don't train I'm almost more hungry than the days that I do train.
00:33:15.921 -->
00:33:39.815I think it's kind of nice in that the way that I structure my days is that when I do train, I plant my training session right in the middle of the day, after I've had like in between meals and from my understanding, like, if you're training really hard, you probably aren't, you aren't likely to be thinking about food as much if you're training really hard.
00:33:39.875 -->
00:33:40.778Training is a stressor.
00:33:40.778 -->
00:33:44.035Cortisol is released as a byproduct of that.
00:33:44.035 -->
00:33:50.766One of the effects that cortisol has when it's secreted is it suppresses appetite.
00:33:50.766 -->
00:33:53.771When it's secreted in spikes acutely.
00:33:53.771 -->
00:34:01.078So it actually keeps me not thinking about food when I do have my training sessions on those days.
00:34:01.078 -->
00:34:04.028But then the days that I don't have training sessions, my training sessions.
00:34:04.028 -->
00:34:12.891I've got a big empty space of time and also that empty space is filled not with the training session where I wouldn't be thinking about food.
00:34:12.891 -->
00:34:27.157So I think that might play a role in why I might actually feel a little bit more hungry on the days where I don't train, which might be counterintuitive to what you might think.
00:34:29.086 -->
00:34:35.871That makes sense, man, because I know even when I train I sometimes just almost feel nauseous just from training so hard.
00:34:35.871 -->
00:34:39.331So when you're feeling slightly nauseous you're not going to feel like eating food.
00:34:39.331 -->
00:34:41.211So it totally makes sense, man.
00:34:41.211 -->
00:34:43.804When it comes to the post-show period.
00:34:43.804 -->
00:34:50.936Since you have such a high food drive, naturally do you find that post-show period even more extreme for yourself.
00:34:50.936 -->
00:35:00.376Have you had quite a difficult time with that recovery phase post-show, or have you found ways to reduce the amount of weight gain post-show?
00:35:05.289 -->
00:35:06.172I have gained a?
00:35:06.172 -->
00:35:08.530That's a good question.
00:35:08.530 -->
00:35:20.385I've binged pretty hard after every show, every competition season I've done After.
00:35:20.385 -->
00:35:29.710I think the best job I did at delaying the rapid weight gain was after my first competition.
00:35:29.710 -->
00:35:45.666In retrospect I think that was because I didn't get as lean, so I wasn't hurting as much, whether I realized it or not, from just I mean, I was dieted for 12 weeks but you know I was like 12 or 13 pounds heavier than I was in my last season.
00:35:45.666 -->
00:35:53.018So I was just, you know I had more fat on my body, like I wasn't hurting as much, um for for that reason.
00:35:53.018 -->
00:36:06.217But what I ended up doing for that first season was I just kept eating my regular prep meals but I just added more food like what we probably should do like, added like three to 500 more calories and you know it felt fine.
00:36:06.217 -->
00:36:08.992I still had like a desire to keep eating, but it felt fine.
00:36:08.992 -->
00:36:10.717I didn't weigh myself after that.
00:36:10.717 -->
00:36:22.909So I'm not sure what my weight gain trajectory was like at all, but I did eventually binge and gain back like 10 pounds, 10 extra pounds, quite quickly within a very short period of time.
00:36:23.271 -->
00:36:27.528And that was the memory I have was I went on a trip to Vegas.
00:36:27.528 -->
00:36:29.074It was my first time in Vegas.
00:36:29.074 -->
00:36:30.771It was just my dad and I.
00:36:30.771 -->
00:36:41.157We flew down there, met up for a couple days and we went to an all-you-can-eat restaurant and, oh man, that was probably the most I ever ate in my life and I didn't know.
00:36:41.157 -->
00:36:49.362I had never experienced that kind of excess eating in a single session, I think, and a single meal.
00:36:49.362 -->
00:36:51.628But I remember that was our lunch.
00:36:51.628 -->
00:36:56.601I ate to the point of like food baby is an understatement.
00:36:56.601 -->
00:37:09.052I was so bloated that it was just ridiculous and we had to keep walking for the rest of the day, like we had stuff planned to do for the rest of the day and I remember being in so much pain, like walking around with my dad, but I was also trying to hide it.
00:37:09.052 -->
00:37:12.704It like I didn't want to let my dad know that I was like he didn't know.
00:37:12.704 -->
00:37:13.907I felt like I was dying.
00:37:13.907 -->
00:37:15.409He's like, oh, my son, he eats a lot.
00:37:15.409 -->
00:37:18.597It's like not a big deal, but like, um, I was dying.
00:37:18.597 -->
00:37:20.170So that was tough.
00:37:20.251 -->
00:37:25.487But yeah, for all of the other shows, like I gained, I gained weight back pretty rapidly for each of them.
00:37:25.487 -->
00:37:27.670I you know, the next, the next day, the following day.
00:37:27.670 -->
00:37:29.673I'd really really get after the food.
00:37:29.673 -->
00:37:43.550Um, probably more than 10,000 calorie days, probably more than that in retrospect, um, and then I would eat for weeks after lots of calories gain, gain weight back very quickly.
00:37:44.612 -->
00:37:56.755Um, from a psychological standpoint, my personality, I I don't struggle a lot with like losing the lines, losing the definition, losing the tone.
00:37:56.755 -->
00:37:59.612I guess a little bit it's like, oh, it kind of sucks, it's not there anymore.
00:37:59.612 -->
00:38:07.454But usually I get to the end of the season, the diet that I'm like, I just don't really I'm cool with gaining back body fat.
00:38:07.454 -->
00:38:19.753I don't care, I'll like put on my like a long sleeve shirt, sweater, sweatpants and, um, like I'm, I'm cool with just like being comfortable again as far as like being able to eat a little bit more.
00:38:20.715 -->
00:38:22.385Um, and then focus more on training.
00:38:22.527 -->
00:38:30.965Like I, I can focus my energy and my next set of of goals on like just having good training sessions and getting stronger again.
00:38:30.965 -->
00:38:39.896So, from a psychological standpoint, that's been okay and, yeah, I you know it's not, it's not like optimal the way that I've done it, that's for sure, or at least I.
00:38:39.896 -->
00:38:56.367I think it's not optimal like gaining weight back so quickly after each season after, yeah, after each season, after, yeah, after each season.
00:38:56.367 -->
00:38:57.331But, um, I think overall it's, it's been okay.
00:38:57.331 -->
00:38:59.677It's just I ended up getting to a healthy body fat percentage.
00:38:59.677 -->
00:39:32.929I just get there maybe faster than most people do, and then my training sessions end up going better, maybe faster than if I were to like slowly reverse up, um, so there's definitely there's definitely room for critique as to like the rate in which I gained weight, but at the end of the day, I ended up getting to a healthy body fat percentage and my training gets better faster, so maybe it's okay yeah, I do think for like, like from just uh coaching clients experience to like.
00:39:32.969 -->
00:39:38.831Yeah, there's certain individuals where it's almost better just to be a bit more aggressive with the weight gain post show.
00:39:38.831 -->
00:39:42.947Um, I find for a lot of people it's just the mental aspect of like.
00:39:42.947 -->
00:39:46.251Seeing that happen can sometimes be harsh.
00:39:46.251 -->
00:39:48.074Like it's awesome to hear that Like it's.
00:39:48.074 -->
00:39:50.778It wasn't much of a battle for you mentally to do that.
00:39:50.778 -->
00:39:57.463How how long did it take to like start to get to the point of feeling normal with your appetite?
00:39:57.463 -->
00:40:13.264After do you find you still, even if it's six months later, like you're still have a appetite where you still want to eat more than what you're consuming, or or does that calm down to a point where you're eating at a level where you're like okay, I'm very comfortable with the amount of food I'm eating.
00:40:14.425 -->
00:40:17.516For the first couple of preps I did because I didn't get as lean.
00:40:17.516 -->
00:40:34.755I think I recovered in that element, in that aspect, more quickly, so it didn't take as long once I gained back that had that initial weight gain spike happen.
00:40:34.755 -->
00:40:44.036It didn't take as long for me to feel like my appetite levels were kind of back to normal and my energy levels were kind of back to normal.
00:40:44.036 -->
00:40:50.414And this is thinking back years now so I can't remember for sure, but in hindsight that's what I I think happened.
00:40:50.414 -->
00:40:57.005My last couple of seasons though it took longer, it was harder.
00:40:57.005 -->
00:41:04.775So my last season, um the prep was that was the longest prep I'd done at and I it was the leanest I'd ever got.
00:41:04.815 -->
00:41:25.936Um, it probably took me that one probably took at least six months before I felt like I was completely okay as far as like normal appetite levels go, not as much food focus.
00:41:25.936 -->
00:41:32.552My energy was fine within within a month, probably overall, just because I gained weight back rapidly.
00:41:32.552 -->
00:41:34.856I had the energy stores on my body like.
00:41:34.856 -->
00:41:39.938So, from like a physical energy standpoint, um, I think that came back relatively quick.
00:41:39.938 -->
00:41:43.045Um, my strength came back relatively quick.
00:41:43.045 -->
00:41:58.568I remember thinking like, wow, I'm like my bench press has gone up pretty quick and it's only been about four weeks since prep and I was pretty pumped on that but psychologically and appetite wise it took.
00:41:58.568 -->
00:41:59.710It took a long time.
00:41:59.710 -->
00:42:01.333That one's probably.
00:42:01.333 -->
00:42:09.971I remember thinking six months after that show like wow, I still don't feel like a hundred percent normal gotcha.
00:42:10.612 -->
00:42:19.085Do you think that was just due to the length of the prep itself and like being that, getting to the levelliness that you got to and being trying to hold it for for that longer?
00:42:19.085 -->
00:42:23.826Because, like when you for that last prep that you did, like were you continuing to die down throughout the whole?
00:42:23.865 -->
00:42:24.626thing, or were you?
00:42:24.967 -->
00:42:29.172like getting to a point where you're starting to feed back up, or like holding.
00:42:29.172 -->
00:42:30.795What was that kind of looking like for you?
00:42:32.416 -->
00:42:33.016the.
00:42:33.016 -->
00:42:39.090I started to eat back up only three, three weeks from the end.
00:42:39.090 -->
00:42:44.340So it was between my, my second, last and my last show.
00:42:44.340 -->
00:42:47.353We started to eat up a little bit and it wasn't a lot.
00:42:47.353 -->
00:42:52.518It was like we added an extra like 25 carbs or something like it was.
00:42:52.518 -->
00:42:53.360Maybe it was more than that.
00:42:53.360 -->
00:42:56.329It was like 200 calories worth of carbohydrates, something like that.
00:42:56.329 -->
00:43:05.570So it was like a very a relatively small um ink reverse, I suppose um going from that second last to last show.
00:43:05.630 -->
00:43:11.400So the, the vast majority of the prep was, was fat loss.
00:43:11.400 -->
00:43:13.869I didn't do a maintenance phase or anything like that.
00:43:13.869 -->
00:43:14.851It was my.
00:43:14.851 -->
00:43:28.233This was my um first time working with jeff alberts too, so it was like from a coaching standpoint, I think he needed to get an understanding of like of my physique, like what, how lean.
00:43:28.233 -->
00:43:35.112We didn't know how lean I needed to get to actually um be really competitive on the stage.
00:43:35.112 -->
00:43:47.550So I think part of the prep was like him learning my physique and what my limits were, and also me learning more about my physique and what my limits were and exactly how lean I needed to be.
00:43:47.670 -->
00:43:52.943So anyways, the way we pace it, it was pretty much fat loss through the entire 11 months.
00:43:52.943 -->
00:44:07.427There were some periods where it was definitely easier, where, like I remember, there was probably a few months where I had three refeed weeks, three days a week, um, I had refeeds or high days, um.
00:44:07.427 -->
00:44:11.445So that was, like you know, it made fat loss dieting not very invasive.
00:44:11.445 -->
00:44:21.804Doing that for months and I think that was because we were kind of getting this understanding like, okay, maybe we don't need to push as much, but overall I was still in a deficit.
00:44:21.804 -->
00:44:33.023I was still losing weight within those weeks or within those months of having the three high days, within those weeks or within those months of having the three three high days.
00:44:33.023 -->
00:44:50.565But yeah, to answer your question, I think that, yes, one of the main reasons that I felt like my appetite was impacted or it didn't go back to my baseline, normal levels after the final show ended was because the prep was so long.
00:44:50.565 -->
00:44:51.708I think that was.
00:44:51.708 -->
00:44:56.735That was definitely a part of it makes sense, I guess?
00:44:56.755 -->
00:45:01.188yeah, like when you're in it for that long, hormones are just gonna continue, just trend downwards.
00:45:01.188 -->
00:45:15.164So yeah, makes makes sense, ben with with uh, how like your last prep went, everything like that what are you guys planning for your season next year, like, are there some main points that you guys are switching up or doing something different?
00:45:15.164 -->
00:45:17.775If you could go into that, that'd be great.
00:45:18.980 -->
00:45:23.322Sure, well, it's going to be another long prep.
00:45:23.322 -->
00:45:25.224I like the long preps.
00:45:25.224 -->
00:45:26.264Jeff sold me on that.
00:45:26.264 -->
00:45:39.454On the last one it was long and it was tough, but it was nice because I didn't have to be as assertive and those periods where you're adding in extra cardio or you're dieting super, super hard where it really feels invasive.
00:45:39.454 -->
00:45:47.025Even though the prep like the last prep I did it was longer, it was overall, it was just because it was less invasive.
00:45:47.025 -->
00:45:54.927It felt a little bit, it left me feeling more fresh and also I got the leanest I'd ever been up to that point.
00:45:54.927 -->
00:45:57.672So I had the best stage look.
00:45:57.672 -->
00:46:00.806So I think it just works better overall.
00:46:00.806 -->
00:46:02.009So I'm totally convinced of that.
00:46:02.009 -->
00:46:03.139So it's another long prep.
00:46:03.139 -->
00:46:04.362It's actually a little bit longer this time around.
00:46:04.362 -->
00:46:04.668So I think it just works better overall.
00:46:04.668 -->
00:46:04.963So I'm totally convinced of that.
00:46:04.963 -->
00:46:05.181So it's another long prep.
00:46:05.181 -->
00:46:05.623It's actually a little bit longer this time around.
00:46:05.623 -->
00:46:20.653So I think it's about 11 months from the start of the first part of the prep until the first show, and then I'll compete for somewhere between one to two months.
00:46:20.719 -->
00:46:34.606I'll do like three or four shows within a slightly smaller window of time than the last time around, I think, um, so the prep itself is going to be a little bit longer than, say, the last one, not a ton longer, but a little bit longer.
00:46:34.606 -->
00:47:06.992Um, we're also we, because jeff knows my physique a little bit better, he knows my personality better and because we've been working together for longer, we were very strategic, or we were more strategic about, like, planning my weight for the start of the prep and like we worked, he helped me through my whole improvement season and made sure like I didn't get too heavy, because that's my tendency I have a high food drive, like if I'm left to my own devices, I'd I'd I'd be heavier than I should be.
00:47:06.992 -->
00:47:14.369So we made sure that I was a certain weight when I got started and I actually started my like pre-prep diet 10 weeks ago.
00:47:14.369 -->
00:47:22.668So I'm, I'm dieting right now, um, but yeah, so, so perhaps a little bit longer because we have a little bit more time.
00:47:22.668 -->
00:47:30.900We're going to plug a maintenance block in the middle of it between my pre-prep diet and the prep-prep diet afterwards.
00:47:30.900 -->
00:47:37.454So the maintenance block, I think it's tentatively going to be somewhere between four to eight weeks long.
00:47:37.454 -->
00:47:40.744So that'll be new.
00:47:40.920 -->
00:47:47.768I didn't do a maintenance block in my last, in my last one, which I'm you know, I'm already kind of looking forward to the maintenance block.
00:47:47.768 -->
00:47:49.041I've been dieting for 10 weeks.
00:47:49.041 -->
00:47:58.784It doesn't feel super invasive or anything, but like you know how it feels dieting for a while and like from from a psychological standpoint, it's like you know I could, I could eat a little bit more.
00:47:58.784 -->
00:48:06.072I'm like my body feels okay, I feel pretty good, I'm feeling good about like looking tighter from week to week, but I could, you know I could eat a little bit more.
00:48:06.072 -->
00:48:10.115So I'm kind of already looking forward to a maintenance block a little bit.
00:48:10.115 -->
00:48:11.376So I'm excited about that.
00:48:11.376 -->
00:48:19.670I think that'll help me recharge my batteries and both physically and psychologically, before starting the hardest.
00:48:19.750 -->
00:48:23.905The latter part of the prep diet and then, yeah, of the prep diet and then, yeah, do the prep diet.
00:48:24.067 -->
00:48:28.786That'll be I can't remember how long, like four to six months in there.
00:48:29.327 -->
00:48:44.172It's five to six months and yeah, the goal is same as the last season, the other seasons to see if I can do better than I have ever before, get a little bit more conditioned than I have in the past.
00:48:44.172 -->
00:48:51.900I am really excited and hopeful that I will see some improvements on my physique.
00:48:51.900 -->
00:48:59.353During my improvement season I was really kind of focused on bringing up some of my weaker areas.
00:48:59.353 -->
00:49:07.755So I'm really excited to see if the extra attention that I gave my weaker areas during the improvement season it shows on my stage lean physique.
00:49:07.755 -->
00:49:14.028I'm really fingers crossed, that shows and yeah.
00:49:14.028 -->
00:49:19.083So I guess, to answer that question, some of the big changes would be perhaps a little bit longer.
00:49:19.083 -->
00:49:20.987Got a maintenance block in the middle middle.
00:49:20.987 -->
00:49:24.501It's going to be even less invasive than the last one was.
00:49:24.501 -->
00:49:31.539Goals are to see a better physique than I'd ever seen before, than I've ever seen before.
00:49:31.539 -->
00:49:37.161Hopefully I'll get to see some of the improvements that I've been really focusing on, especially in the improvement season.
00:49:37.161 -->
00:49:42.507But yeah, I think what are?
00:49:42.527 -->
00:49:51.757are some of the maybe specifics of either body parts or condition on places that you say quote, unquote, improvements.
00:49:55.581 -->
00:50:11.916As far as muscle growth goes, my weak body parts that we found for my last season were my delts and, like my mid upper back muscles, like my traps especially.
00:50:11.916 -->
00:50:22.719It was like I think my lats are pretty wide, which is no surprise because I've been like so fixated on like pull ups and pull downs ever since I first started lifting, like kind of obsessed.
00:50:22.719 -->
00:50:27.030I thought like building a back was all about the lats so I would focus on that.
00:50:27.030 -->
00:50:31.132Um, and I kind of neglected my traps, like the rowing movements.
00:50:31.132 -->
00:50:40.632I would do them cause it was like well, I'm doing them, cause you should probably have a row, but I was just like I can't really feel my lats as much when I'm doing a row, so I don't like them as much.
00:50:40.632 -->
00:51:12.456Um, so it's no surprise that my lat or my, my traps were, are considered, are probably there, are, are warranted to have been considered a weak point, um, but building my traps, building my lats to focus on them, I have in my improvement season I gave them a little bit more training volume, not not a ton, but on average maybe like three to five more sets per week to those body parts than my other body parts.
00:51:12.456 -->
00:51:34.666Focus I gave them and I am giving them with my training, like making sure my mind muscle connection is as good as it can be with my traps when I am doing rowing type movements, and same thing with my delts.
00:51:34.666 -->
00:52:02.202I think it's been easy in the past for me doing like movements, like lateral raises, to just do them like through the motions, like not really connecting very well with with my delts when I do the lateral raises, sometimes like lifting too heavy, doing I mean going through the motions, going to failure, but not really feeling my delts very well, getting to the end of the set and be like, well, I think it worked but not really knowing for sure because I can't really feel my delts, like I can't do another one.
00:52:02.202 -->
00:52:03.063So I think it worked.
00:52:03.063 -->
00:52:23.590But now it's just being really particular about making sure that for every movement that I'm doing for my delts and my traps that I'm spending that time efficiently, good mind-muscle connection, training them hard, moving with really good depth.
00:52:23.590 -->
00:52:33.492So just being really efficient with training them, and then on top of that a little bit I've added a little bit more volume to them compared to my other body parts.
00:52:34.501 -->
00:52:46.121As far as conditioning goes, I got pretty decent conditioning in my last season pretty decent conditioning.
00:52:46.121 -->
00:52:46.661In my last season.
00:52:46.661 -->
00:52:47.664Uh, that was the the leanest I'd ever been.
00:52:47.664 -->
00:52:51.940Up to that point, I got to the point where I I don't think, from a psychological standpoint, I could have got any leaner.
00:52:51.940 -->
00:52:54.807I know, uh, brandon, you asked earlier like, did I?
00:52:54.807 -->
00:52:58.063Was there a point where I ate up in that season?
00:52:58.063 -->
00:53:03.994And I did start eating up when I was three weeks out towards the last competition.
00:53:03.994 -->
00:53:18.079One of the reasons we started eating up was maybe I could have lost more body fat, but it was like I was so psychologically fried and hungry and food focused by that point that I don't know if, like, my psyche could have handled any more dieting.
00:53:18.079 -->
00:53:21.170So I think I got pretty much as lean as I could have.
00:53:21.619 -->
00:53:29.449But there was still at that point point like I was seeing striations, like, especially in my right glute, like they were there, like you could see them.
00:53:29.449 -->
00:53:35.148Awesome, my left glute, for whatever reason, stores a little bit more body fat than the right one.
00:53:35.148 -->
00:53:40.967It's, like you know, gonna blame the genetics on that one, at least a little bit.
00:53:40.967 -->
00:53:45.800So, shoot, I'm some hoping that for this this time around.
00:53:45.800 -->
00:53:53.346Like, I'm sure the striations are going to show up on the right glute, but I'm going to aim for them also a little bit more.
00:53:53.346 -->
00:53:58.452They were they were there on the left glute the last time, but they weren't not as visible this time.
00:53:58.452 -->
00:54:00.500Hopefully we can make them a little bit more equal.
00:54:01.382 -->
00:54:12.523So, as far as conditioning goes, just like, get those last couple trouble spots of body fats, and I think that's, in practice, that's just going to come from.
00:54:12.523 -->
00:54:15.452Well, maybe a couple things.
00:54:15.452 -->
00:54:21.811So losing more body fat, maybe I've got to lose another pound or two of body fat, maybe more than that, I don't know.
00:54:21.811 -->
00:54:27.563Another pound or two to body fat, maybe more than that, I don't know.
00:54:27.563 -->
00:54:32.753And on the other one is things like mastering stress management, that sort of thing.
00:54:32.753 -->
00:54:45.409I think that might help overall, whether it has some kind of an effect on fat loss or water retention or what have you, to help really leave my physique looking tighter by the time I'm on stage.
00:54:45.409 -->
00:54:47.543I think that kind of thing will be helpful.
00:54:47.543 -->
00:54:56.500So, self-mastery over stress management, working on that, that's something that I've been thinking about for a long time and that I've been working on.
00:54:56.500 -->
00:55:12.431I think that's actually I mean, I'm only 10 weeks into the pre-prep diet, but I feel like I've I have got a lot better control still a feel like I have got a lot better control Still a work in progress, but a lot better control on that and also sleep to an extent.
00:55:12.431 -->
00:55:17.992I think, if I can, I'm going to do something a little bit different this time.
00:55:18.501 -->
00:55:22.672In my last prep, my sleep schedule was it was so bad.
00:55:22.672 -->
00:55:27.681My last prep, my sleep schedule was it was so bad.
00:55:27.681 -->
00:55:29.144I was in the last part of the season of the prep.
00:55:29.144 -->
00:55:33.893I would fall asleep on my couch, I'd finish the work day and then I'd eat my dinner.
00:55:33.893 -->
00:55:41.304I'd watch something on Netflix while I'd eat my dinner and then I'd fall asleep on my couch at like 7.15, 7.30, just pass out.
00:55:41.304 -->
00:55:50.735Then I'd wake up at like 10pm, drag myself to bed my legs feel like they weigh a million pounds and then I'd fall asleep.
00:55:50.735 -->
00:55:52.079So I had no trouble falling asleep.
00:55:52.199 -->
00:55:55.266But then I'd wake up at 2 in the morning, 2.30 in the morning.
00:55:55.266 -->
00:55:59.422So my day would start at 2 in the morning, 2.30 in the morning.
00:55:59.422 -->
00:56:01.166That was really tough psychologically.
00:56:01.166 -->
00:56:05.855So I think what I'm going to do is I could use a little bit more sleep than that.
00:56:05.855 -->
00:56:11.271So maybe make it a goal to see if I can sneak in an extra 30 to 60 minutes.
00:56:11.271 -->
00:56:14.630But you know, when you're super, super lean it's like the body gets you up.
00:56:14.630 -->
00:56:16.940It's tough to get back to sleep after that point.
00:56:16.940 -->
00:56:22.313But what I think I'm going to do is I'm going to force myself to not fall asleep at 7 or 7.30.
00:56:22.313 -->
00:56:27.623Myself to not fall asleep at 7 or 7 30.
00:56:27.623 -->
00:56:30.949I'm gonna try to force myself to have like a, a real bedtime not an infant bedtime.
00:56:30.969 -->
00:56:31.550Yeah, go ahead.
00:56:31.550 -->
00:56:34.755Sorry, yeah, I just have a a side question that I wanted to ask.
00:56:34.755 -->
00:56:50.327Um, just dialing back, remembering you saying that you competed in classic physique in both of the cpa shows previously and, uh, just stalk through your last season, 2023, you did a bodybuilding.
00:56:50.327 -->
00:56:55.782Now there was probably a choice in between bodybuilding and classic physique.
00:56:55.782 -->
00:56:59.168Now introducing classic physique into the wmbf.
00:56:59.168 -->
00:57:03.190Now, I think last year, this year, I don't remember it was this year.
00:57:03.210 -->
00:57:03.793It was this year.
00:57:03.813 -->
00:57:04.579Right, it was this year.
00:57:04.579 -->
00:57:07.760Yeah, I'm going to get in trouble for this, but yeah.
00:57:07.760 -->
00:57:10.891So this year we are introducing Classic Physique into WMBF.
00:57:10.891 -->
00:57:17.228Would it interest you to take part in the Classic Physique division or would you want to stick with bodybuilding?
00:57:19.380 -->
00:57:23.309I'm leaning towards just sticking with bodybuilding.
00:57:23.309 -->
00:57:38.659I think I don't know, I don't I not sure how to fully articulate as to why that is, but I think it's like okay, I I decided my last season and this is yeah, that would have been like right before they introduced classic physique.
00:57:38.659 -->
00:57:46.045But I made the decision in my last season like I want to go all in on this in the wmbf, in bodybuilding.
00:57:46.045 -->
00:57:52.925I kind of made that decision and, um, when they announced that they're doing classic physique, I was kind of confused.
00:57:52.925 -->
00:57:56.172I was like I just thought, like should I compete in both?
00:57:56.172 -->
00:57:58.882Like should I consider doing one or the other?
00:57:58.882 -->
00:58:09.436And at this point I'm leaning towards just doing doing bodybuilding, seeing how far I can take that.
00:58:09.436 -->
00:58:21.889But I'm not completely, I haven't completely decided I might do both yeah like, I feel like bodybuilding and classic like.
00:58:21.929 -->
00:58:29.945like they're so close, like there's still a lot of people like well, you see it in the CPA all the time, like even in WMBF.
00:58:29.945 -->
00:58:33.474Sometimes you'll see like the classic person also wins the bodybuilding.
00:58:33.474 -->
00:58:37.423So it kind of gives you a second opportunity to potentially get that pro card.
00:58:37.423 -->
00:58:48.436But yeah, like that's another thing I wanted to chat about too is I know we were chatting on your podcast a little bit there about the pro card.
00:58:56.746 -->
00:58:59.213Is that one of the big goals of this season is to try to achieve that?
00:58:59.213 -->
00:59:00.856Yeah, material goals definitely.
00:59:00.856 -->
00:59:04.003Definitely doing it to win and to get a pro card for sure.
00:59:04.003 -->
00:59:15.952Um, it's not everything, but I'd be lying if I said it was definitely not at the top of my radar and then what, what, what's every show that you're doing this year are you?
00:59:16.233 -->
00:59:20.447do you have them all picked out so far, or is there like a couple that you're not sure?
00:59:21.268 -->
00:59:21.648about.
00:59:21.648 -->
00:59:23.512I've got two picked out so far.
00:59:23.512 -->
00:59:30.766The first two so I'm going to do the WMBF Vancouver it's the first one I'm aiming for and then the WMBF Kelowna.
00:59:30.766 -->
00:59:31.648I live in Kelowna.
00:59:31.648 -->
00:59:40.050It's a local show and I'd love to do a local show where I don't have to go to a hotel, just have my own kitchen and my own bed and everything.
00:59:40.050 -->
00:59:41.121So that'll be really nice.
00:59:41.121 -->
00:59:45.092So the first two are picked, not 100% sure about the next ones.
00:59:45.481 -->
00:59:50.309I think I am going to try to do ones that are all like relatively close to where I live.
00:59:50.309 -->
00:59:52.849The last season that I did, I went all over the place.
00:59:52.849 -->
01:00:06.748I went to like Ontario, then California, then Alberta, then Washington State, so it was like kind of just just bouncing all over the place and that was really really tough, all the travel.
01:00:06.748 -->
01:00:20.039So I think the idea of doing shows that are a little bit closer, where I can potentially they're not much more than a six or seven hour drive away I think that would be really nice.
01:00:20.039 -->
01:00:24.063So anyways, first two shows picked WMBF Vancouver, wmbf Kelowna.
01:00:24.063 -->
01:00:24.708Think that would be really nice.
01:00:24.708 -->
01:00:30.730So anyways, first two shows picked wmbf vancouver, wmbf colona, and then the third and possibly fourth show, I'm not sure yet I'll.
01:00:30.730 -->
01:00:34.864I'll decide a little closer, I think nice man.
01:00:34.884 -->
01:00:35.826No, that'll be good.
01:00:35.826 -->
01:00:37.750I'll be at the colona show, for sure.
01:00:37.750 -->
01:00:42.405I know adrian's gonna be at the vancouver, since he's one of the promoters for that one.
01:00:42.405 -->
01:00:45.813So yeah, man, looking forward to seeing you compete.
01:00:45.813 -->
01:00:48.083Man, it's going to be a good season for you, I know it.
01:00:49.246 -->
01:00:51.429Thanks, brandon, I'm excited.
01:00:52.833 -->
01:00:53.514We all are too.
01:00:53.514 -->
01:00:56.690Yeah, because you have a really great physique.
01:00:56.690 -->
01:01:00.519But yeah, is there any other additional questions you're going to have?
01:01:00.961 -->
01:01:10.451I was just going to ask one final question, um, just about like what was like the most memorable moment so far with, like, competing in bodybuilding.
01:01:10.451 -->
01:01:16.371What was like the one um thing that every time you think about it, you're like man, I was able to do that.
01:01:16.371 -->
01:01:18.641Or, oh, this was like such a cool experience.
01:01:18.641 -->
01:01:20.505Um, do you have one of those in mind?
01:01:22.788 -->
01:01:24.490I I think I actually do.
01:01:24.490 -->
01:01:27.896It was after my second show.
01:01:27.896 -->
01:01:29.623So the show itself it was.
01:01:29.623 -->
01:01:30.804It was a pretty good show.
01:01:30.804 -->
01:01:35.534I I came second and you know I was.
01:01:35.534 -->
01:01:45.536It was during one of the coveted years, so like they didn't even know if they're gonna have the show and like you know it was, it was pretty fun.
01:01:45.536 -->
01:01:47.461I was pretty happy with how I did.
01:01:47.461 -->
01:01:55.293But what I really enjoyed was afterwards was being with my family, like just it felt really rewarding, like the season came to a close.
01:01:55.293 -->
01:02:00.684I did pretty well, I felt like it was pretty fun being on the stage, but then just it was.
01:02:00.684 -->
01:02:01.605That was the.
01:02:02.166 -->
01:02:17.331The natural van city showdown in vancouver and I my mom was there, my grandparents were there and my brother lives in vancouver, so he was there.
01:02:17.331 -->
01:02:19.481So it's just us and so it's just.
01:02:19.481 -->
01:02:25.672You know didn't have a ton of people there, but my closest family and we all.
01:02:25.672 -->
01:02:34.072It was Thanksgiving that weekend, so what we did was, immediately after the show, we got sushi together, which was nice.
01:02:34.072 -->
01:02:38.527I didn't actually overeat yet, it's just like I had a normal meal and it was good.
01:02:38.527 -->
01:02:42.407I was really happy to be with my family and then we just chilled at my brother's place.
01:02:42.407 -->
01:02:43.983And Thanksgiving was the next day, but we just chilled at my brother's place.
01:02:43.983 -->
01:02:50.021And, uh, thanksgiving was the next day, but we just chilled at my brother's place and it was just like my closest family.
01:02:50.061 -->
01:03:01.927My brother had like a small studio apartment in kitsilano, a really cool location in vancouver, and um, yeah, just those couple days were really nice.
01:03:01.927 -->
01:03:07.675We ended up preparing the Thanksgiving meal in my brother's really small studio apartment.
01:03:07.675 -->
01:03:15.092There wasn't like a real kitchen or anything like that, everything was all in one place and that was just really nice, really close family.
01:03:15.092 -->
01:03:21.565I felt relieved and happy about how the show went and we had Thanksgiving dinner.
01:03:21.565 -->
01:03:27.867It was really nice, definitely overate, definitely ate too much, but yeah, it's just being with family.
01:03:28.121 -->
01:03:36.766And then I remember my mom drove herself and my grandparents home the day after Thanksgiving but I stayed there an extra day just to chill with my brother.
01:03:36.766 -->
01:03:42.532So I just hung out with my brother for that next day and that was just a lot of fun.
01:03:42.532 -->
01:03:54.646It was just one day of like no care in the world Could eat what I wanted, got to spend time with my brother and yeah, I just remember like it was such a I had so much internal peace.
01:03:54.646 -->
01:03:55.489That's what it was.
01:03:55.489 -->
01:04:04.525It was just like such a peaceful weekend, no anxiety about anything, just spending time with family, and that was it.
01:04:04.626 -->
01:04:16.269It that's what comes to mind, it's always a cool how, like the post-show period, especially with family, and like just they sound like everything just came together like perfectly for you on that that day.
01:04:16.269 -->
01:04:17.420So yeah, man that's.
01:04:17.420 -->
01:04:23.769That's awesome to hear um thanks again for for being on the podcast again.
01:04:23.769 -->
01:04:28.963Maybe share where the listeners can follow you, if it's.
01:04:28.963 -->
01:04:32.269I think you're really doing a really good job on YouTube.
01:04:32.269 -->
01:04:37.608But yeah, if you want to give them some of your, your links and stuff yeah sure.
01:04:37.969 -->
01:04:44.369well, on YouTube, I think my account's just Sam Kaplan, so you can subscribe to my YouTube account.
01:04:44.369 -->
01:04:49.188I've got a fitness podcast, a natural bodybuilding podcast, on there.
01:04:49.188 -->
01:04:54.922I also share some of my own journey as well.
01:04:54.922 -->
01:05:00.748In addition to YouTube, you can follow me on Instagram as well.
01:05:00.748 -->
01:05:09.922My Instagram handle is at Jade Athletics, so I think those two places YouTube, instagram.
01:05:11.186 -->
01:05:16.324Yeah we'll definitely put all those links in the description below so you guys can find them easily.
01:05:16.324 -->
01:05:22.202Now he is going to be competing, so please do follow his bodybuilding journey.
01:05:22.202 -->
01:05:29.414We are all very, very hyped and very, very excited to see him and making all those new improvements on stage.
01:05:29.414 -->
01:05:33.391We wish the best of luck and we look forward to all that.
01:05:33.391 -->
01:05:37.807Now, before we close out, any final words of wisdom for our listeners.
01:05:40.213 -->
01:05:42.025Oh boy, words of wisdom.
01:05:42.025 -->
01:05:49.748Oh boy, words of wisdom, um just anything if there's something.
01:05:49.748 -->
01:05:57.143If there's something that you want to work towards, then why not work towards it?
01:05:59.228 -->
01:05:59.608that's it.
01:05:59.608 -->
01:06:02.992Love it, love it, okay then?
01:06:02.992 -->
01:06:04.195Uh, yeah, we'll close out the stories.
01:06:04.195 -->
01:06:06.304Uh, so thanks guys for listening again.
01:06:06.304 -->
01:06:08.291Uh, we'll see you guys next time.
