How did you get started with bodybuilding?
It all started when I simply just wanted to switch my look from a more massive bulkier kid to a leaner more aesthetic body. I began cutting from 210 with a routine consisting of a 430am wake up, gym by 5, Stairmaster till 6 and I would run a gym from 6 until about 2 and a lift at around 6pm, trying my hardest to keep a clean diet. I went to school for Bioscience and also had a need to learn the body because this is a passion of mine so I began to read and educated myself on training routines, diet plans , and the glycemic index. With this knowledge I then continued my training. My friend Matt Gelormino who competed in the 2008 and won his teen class was leaving for Hawaii and said Matt you have great genetics I would love to see you shredded. He left me the information and I then began full steam ahead with plans of my first competition the INBF Long Island Experience.
From there I placed second and continued onto work at SHREDDED sports to use my image and knowledge to help and enlighten as many people about fitness as I could.
Where does your motivation come from?
My motivation comes from the will to be the best and by the people around me who go the extra mile and are living out their passions. This indirectly tells me to keep on doing what I’m doing, live life to the fullest while following your dreams. I feel blessed to be able to do what I love for a living! I feel like this is the basic goal oriented bodybuilding mentality or a mindset you can get from fitness or bodybuilding. I work almost every day as the manager of Shredded Sports, an upscale supplement, clothing, and nutrition shop and took note of the CEO’s work ethic and desire to build the store and it just inspired me to stay strong at what I’m doing because this was a dream he had and he went out and got it even if he had to build the store from the ground up. I love what I do and love helping people overcome their fitness goals for self confidence, the drive to accomplish anything, and to be more of a goal oriented person.
These are just some of the values you could gain too from adding fitness into your life!
What workout routine has worked best for you?
I work out heavy and hard. My workouts normally consist of the first one or 2 exercises’s being a heavy compound movement. I then move to 1 to 2 exercises for shaping movements and move to cap my workout with a FST-7 movement of an extreme drop set. And occasionally switch up to a more functional workout. Also I always progressively get heavier during each exercise and if I ever fail to hit the correct rep range say on the last set on a heavy exercise I will drop set.
This routine isn’t day specific it is a cycle followed by a day off because I like to work out 6 days a week for the most part and it’s not a problem if I have to take off. I would just continue what was due next in the cycle
Monday: Legs
HEAVY DEEP squats 4 sets.- Dumbbell lunges 3 x 10-15
- FREE WEIGHT hack squats 3 sets 8-12
- Jefferson Squats 2 sets 8-12
- Heavy leg extensions aiming for 10 reps
Tuesday: Chest
- Flat Bench 3×4-8 reps
- Incline Bench or dumbbell 3×4-8reps
- Decline flies 3×8-12
- Dumbbell pullovers 3×8-12
- FST-7 cable flies 7x12reps 30 second rest per set (incline, decline, or flat)
Wednesday: Back
- Weighted lat pull downs 4 x till failure
- Wide overhand grip bent over rows 3×6-10
- 1 arm dumbbell rows 3×6-10
- Low cable rows 3×8-12
- Lower back extensions 3×12-15
- Row machines 5 sets (dropsets)
Thursday: Hamstrings/Calves
- Standing one leg hamstring curls 4 x 10-15
- Romanian dead lifts 4 x 8-12
- Standing calf raises 3 x 6-10
- Donkey calf raises 3 x 8 -12
Friday: Shoulders
- Heavy Shoulder press (using all rep ranges)
- Wide grip upright rows (8-12)
- Front deltoid hammer raises 3x 8-12
- Rear deltoid dumbbell raises 4 x 8-12
- FST-7 on the side machine 7 sets 30 second rest 12 reps per set
Saturday: Arms
- Heavy barbell curls 4 x 6-10
- Light push downs (pump) 4 x 10-15
- Close grip preacher curls 3 x 8-12
- Behind the neck dumbbell presses 3 x 6-10
- Hammer curls 3x 8-12
- Dumbbell extensions on flat bench 3×4-8
- FST-7 arm variation
- Overhead cable curls and superset with dips
- 7 sets 12 reps per set back and forth superset
If you have to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
- Jefferson Squats: Because after every set my vastus medialis is so shot that I take a knee
- Behind The Neck Dumbbell Presses: Because it feels good to be pressing the heaviest dumbbells in the gym with nice form and a high rep range.
- Fst – 7 Cable Chest Flies: Because my chest is my best body part and to cap a workout with drilling the most blood and best pump possible at the end of my workout
What is your diet like?
My diet is mastered for my body type only because I’ve learned my body and how it reacts to certain foods and such so it changes from day to day but I will give a sample of a lean diet that I might use in a day.
- Meal 1: 10 huma pro, meltdown rtd, 1 poland spring of chaind out
- Meal 2: 6 egg whites .5 cups of oatmeal .25 cups of wheat bran cinnamon & 5 almonds crushed with stevia
- Meal 3: Chicken over broccoli
- Meal 4: Preworkout : Huma pro and a slinshot wait 20 minutes and have turkey burger bison burger
- 2 to 2.5 hours later GYM Preworkout stack 5 to 10 humapro concrete creatine caution preworkout
- Meal 5: Post workout 5 humapro and vitargo
- Meal 6: Just either bison turkey or chicken over any veggies I want to have
- Meal 7: Slow digesting protein shake (combat powder for me)
They say that the pre and post-workout meals are the most vital meals for the day, what do yours consist of?
I’m huge into a good pre intra post combo. Being natural I feel that these periods are most crucial because the bodies an anabolic vacuum, but it all starts with making sure you are on an empty stomach. I’ll make sure I get AT LEAST 1.5 hour’s digestion time shooting for 2. If I choose to go to the gym in the morning I usually will wake up have a vitargo and my recently bought concrete concentrated creatine with a serving half the serving size and wait about an hour and take my pre-workout. Otherwise if I go after work I will shoot for 2 hours digestion time and that meal consists usually of 25 to 50 grams (depending on how I ate that day already and what body part I’m lifting) of a high glycemic index carb. EVERY NOW AND THEN say if I’m doing a large body part like legs, back or chest ill have an insulin mimicker and 50 grams of white potato to really pop that workout and really go for an amazing pump. Next comes the intra. At the start of the workout I’ll have 5-10 huma pro which is a new human grade protein amino acid with a time release on the aminos which are high quality and 99:1 anabolic to catabolic ratio. Then usually after my first workout I’ll start sipping on some Fuji apple Amino Vital ER 7500. These are important because I’m limiting catabolism as much as possible because they are ajino moto certified which are one of the top grade aminos you can find in the world. It also possesses a medium range of carbohydrates (about 15) so as I’m burning carbs I’m starting to replenish during the workout while my body is a vacuum. Finally come the post workout.
Usually I would have around 35 grams whey with either 1 scoop of vitargo or about 35 to 45 grams of carbs worth of a fruit in or on the side of the shake. Now I have a serving of huma pro and vitargo or the fruit.
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
Well I never just do cardio. Since fitness plays such a heavy roll in my life I like to get out and just do any type of exercise. I truly feel that if you’re a normal individual you can’t just sit on a treadmill for months at end to lose weight. It’s important to find a hobby or something active that you like doing and run with it, enjoy it or it’s not going to last. The same thing with diet, if you don’t enjoy or can be comfortable doing it won’t last statistically. But I do prefer interval training because I’m so lean and the HIIT really helps with the stubborn fat that normal cardio might not hit. What I do like doing as a HIIT routine is 10 minutes 30 second sprints followed by a 30 second walk or stand still. After finished I make sure I go on a 15 to 35 minute low heart rate jog.
This draws the fatty acids out of the fat cells into the blood stream to be burned as energy and when you switch to a low heart rate jog you body feeds off the fat in the blood stream. Or at least from what I understand.
What is your supplementation like?
- Vitargo
- No Bomb
- Concrete Creatine
- Caution Preworout
- Huma Pro Amino Acid
- Chaind Out
- Fiberlyze
- Meltdown RTD
- Isoflex Isolate Protein
- Yohimbe HCL
- Essential Fats
- Dermatherm Target
- Amino Vital
Favorite Quote?
“If you do what you always did, then you will get what you always got.” – Tim Colman
