How did you get started with bodybuilding?
My brother Andreas Gloor and I were on vacation visiting my grandma, he said I can either go workout with him or stay and watch Golden Girls with my “Oma” (grandma in German)… tough call, so I flipped a coin. Now I have muscles.
Photography by: EMPYREAN PHOTOGRAPHY
What gets you motivated?
Good Question! After 13 years of training, I find myself waking up at 430am wondering -Why the F am I still training this hard!! Then after my first set, I remember, oh yeah, because I enjoy moving heavy things! Also, I tell myself- you never know when it might benefit your life to have shredded triceps and retarded quads.
My perseverance also helps motivate the clients I train. In my heart of hearts I know that I’d be training just as hard and eating just as clean if I lived on a desert island. The fitness lifestyle is my genetic imperative. Folks who don’t compete in powerlifting or some sort of pageantry, might view themselves as training in perpetual preparation for no foreseen goal. I’ve done bodybuilding contests and it was a great motivator to diet hard for 8 weeks to see how lean you can get. However, I never lifted a weight to win a contest or beat anyone else.
It’s not about a future goal. At the end of the day, I simply do it to become better inside and out.
Therefore, I always train with equal desire, because I see each workout as a battle to be won and never look beyond the rep I’m in.
Once you’ve adopted the fitness lifestyle, every day is game day. Everyday is a contest between you and the weights – make sure you win everytime. I reached my biggest size at 18 years old- 220lbs, since then I’ve just been leaning out and maintaining the muscle. I never wanted to be pro-size or freaky. When bigger is better, the motivation is obvious because you always desire more size. When a certain muscle group becomes perfect in your eyes (or even too big – yeah I said that!) then you train in different ways but just as brutally hard to create shape, vascularity and density.
My balance, vascularity and density are testaments of my ability to find motivation to kill myself in the gym and eat perfect, even when growing isn’t my desire.
What workout routine has worked best for you?
Depends on my goal, right now I train 5-6 days a week and I change up my workout a lot. I believe that once someone has evolved to the highest point in their fitness lifestyle they train purely on instinct and leave routines in the past. The body is a unique chemistry with hundreds of factors internal and external that require daily adaptation in training. Here’s something to sandwich:
Sample Routine:
- Monday: Calves, Hams
- Tuesday: Back, Traps
- Wednesday: Chest
- Thursday: Rest
- Friday: Calves, Quads
- Saturday: Delts
- Sunday: Arms
I do lots of variations of exercises, sets, reps and I always perform an exercise with traditional form (besides squats, presses and deads), because I always have a specific target area of the muscle I am trying to shape. So this sample may not be too revolutionary, but it’s a good basic split for size and balance. Since I am speaking in generalities, all rep ranges should be 12-6.
Sample Routine: (Exercises/Sets)
Monday: Hams/Calves
- Donkey Raises/3
- Standing/2
- Seated/1
- Lying Leg Curl/3
- Stiff Leg Deadlifts/3
- Seated Leg Curl/2
- One Leg Curl/ 1
Tuesday: Traps/Back
- Dumbbell Shrug/3
- Smith Behind-back Shrug/3
- Chins/3
- Bent rows/3
- One arm Rows/2
- Cable Row/1
Wednesday: Chest
- Incline Dumbbell Press/3
- Plate-loading Incline/3
- Selectorized flat press/3
- Incline Dumbbell Fly/3
- Cable Fly/2
- Dip/1
Friday: Quads/Calves
- Squats/3
- Leg Press/3
- Walking Lunge/2
- Leg Extension/1
Saturday: Delts
- Smith Machine Press/3
- Lateral Raises/3
- Reverse Fly/3
- Rear Delt kickbacks/2
- Cable Upright Row/1
Sunday: Arms
- Barbell Curl/3
- Cable Press-down/3
- D-bell Preacher Curl/3
- Machine Dips/3
- Iso-Curl/2
- D-bell Behind Neck Ext/2
- D-bell Hammer Curl/2
- D-bell Kickback/2
- Cable Curl/1
- Reverse dips/1
If you have to pick only 3 exercises, what would they be and why?
- Barbell Squat
- Incline Dumbbell Press
- Bent Rows
The reason why I chose the following exercises is because this combination would build me the most balanced physique.
Photography by: EMPYREAN PHOTOGRAPHY
What is your diet like?
My diet is simple: 5 meals a day with high carbs/protein and low fat. I eat very clean, mostly organic, but I’m an ectomorph – so simply training hard keeps me lean. I always said, if you’re fitness professional and you eat healthy and exercise 5 days a week and you DON’T have a six-pack, find another calling! I was born for this sport, so I keep a full six-pack even while eating restaurant meals once or twice a day. Hard training keeps me lean. However, if I want shredded abs then I cut out the burgers, sweet potato fries, whole-wheat pancakes, etc. and boom, there they are. Cut my clean carbs down too and abs gets real crazy. Add Cardio, abs get full-retard status.
Sample Diet:
- Meal 1: Oats, whey
- Meal 2: White bread whey (post workout)
- Meal 3: Chicken, kettle chips, and mash potato (smart balance butter and fat free sour cream)
- Meal 4: Hamburger and sweet potato fries (olive oil baked)
- Meal 5: Casein and Apple with peanut butter
- Meal 6: Sleep
Photography by: EMPYREAN PHOTOGRAPHY
They say that the pre and post-workout meals are the most vital meals for the day, what do yours consist of?
I wake up at 430 and my first set is at 5am so I eat a 1/4 cup oats with 15g of whey protein just to get me through. Post workout I usually do honey and white bread, gluten makes me anabolic. I only use it for that meal, so I don’t put on fat or retain water.
When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?
I did cardio for the first time in my life for my last contest (2009 GNC Tournament of Champions) but that’s because I only had six weeks to prep. It worked wonders. It was boring, but an hour of the day got me diced.
Did I mention it’s easy for me to be super lean?
What is your supplementation like?
I love sports nutrition supplements! The advances in sports nutrition are nothing less than amazing. I’ve taken several cutting edge supplements sold at bodybuilding.com and GNC. I only weigh 190-195 pounds (5’10+) and stay naturally shredded. Everything I need to maintain my physique is sold at health food stores. If I really want to get crazy veiny, I take
over-the-counter thermogenics and cell volumizers like No2 on the day of a show or shoot after dropping water- makes me look gnarly. Taraxatone by cytodyne works wonders at getting me to look supernatural. There’s so many products I love.
In fact, I went almost 2 years where I only ate one solid food meal a day and the rest were sports nutrition supplements, and I really didn’t notice much difference in my physique. I got a little more bloat from all the pre-digested proteins but that’s about it.
Favorite Bodybuilders?
Frank Zane, ideal physique and he was a teacher like me.
Favorite Quote?
The body is a marvelous machine… a chemical laboratory, a power-house. Every movement, voluntary or involuntary, full of secrets and marvels! – Theodor Herzl (1860 – 1904)
Website: www.josefgloor.com
