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Our Amateur Bodybuilder of the Week was...
Bodhi Sattva
How Did You Get Started?
Well it was just an add-on to my Shorinji Kempo (a Japanese martial art) training at the gym where I practiced. S.K. allowed me to use the weight room as well, so I started lifting. For a lot of years I just did what I saw from others and never really got into the thing.
In 2003 I started following some tough guys and started understanding more on why things work on muscles, I began training the hard way with the resoluteness of a martial mind, when I did so, I began seeing results from my training!
What Workout Plan Worked Best For You?
I won't bother you with precise exercise plans; everyone's got his favorite exercise and tells you "if you don't do this one you'll never grow!" I don't agree with this kind of mental stiffness, every exercise if done well will give you feedback.
My main guidelines are:
Keep the rest times under 1 minute and use the heaviest loads you can handle with this.
Don't add an extra plate to that barbell if you can't keep the movement under control, you'll engage muscles you don't want to use and grow in parts you won't see! Keep a constant motion like 2-0-1-0 (negative-rest-positive-rest) so never keep the weight in full contraction (if not requested by the exercise) nor in full rest, you should ALWAYS keep moving using the right muscles.
Give your muscles the time to adapt to the hard work, let them fill with blood with a couple of warm-up sets and then BANG them into the heavy loads, that's a key to growth.
I know you know what I mean if I say "eating correctly", avoiding animal fats and all the things you know to be "healthy", and most of all don't give in to your desires!
As I stated on my Martial Eating article on my BodyBlog you'd never use a bazooka to kill a fly nor use a water pistol to shoot Godzilla, so DON'T overeat if you're going to spend the next 3 hours sitting on a seat watching a movie!
Eat accordingly to your tasks, eat the major meal when you're going to work in the following hours, limit your intake when you're not training, eat once every 3-4 hours and minimum 5-6 times per day.
That's a key point, if you train well in the gym but miss the eating routine; you're going to miss the main goal: looking great and feeling great!
Change your training patterns very often, change exercises, their positions, the rest times, use chains, strings and whatever makes you feel your muscles are working harder than the day before, never "sit" on routines.
For those who wish to know which routines I'm into I suggest you to look into my BodySpace at http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/Bodhiflute and see my workout tracker.
For you lazy guys here's a sample workout:
* Have a buddy sit on your feet while you lie on a bench, come up at 30 degrees holding a plate with your hands overhead.
What Nutrition Plan Has Worked Best For You?
Post Workout - 18:00/18:30
What Supplements Have Given You The Greatest Gains?
As a choice I don't take any supplements, I can win with no tricks or shortcuts, it's heavier, but it's worth trying! I only use only occasionally multivitamins or zinc and B complex vitamins.
Why do you love Bodybuilding?
I am not with those who say "I do it for health." Bodybuilding is mostly to appear healthy, to project your personality through your body, and that's it: aesthetics and harmony.
What I like in it is the ways you reach this aesthetical standard, I mostly like brutal training patterns, no machines, old school exercises, pushups on the stairs and a lean body in mind.
I like to fight my mind while I train and eat, that's why I don't take supplements and train in a small gym where you have to invent your way to do this or that exercise, because there's no machine exclusively for that body part!
What Motivates You To Follow A Healthy Lifestyle?
I started challenging my mind and body in a martial art, and conditioning both to be ready for heavy situations in life. Most of us have a beautiful heart, but if our courage or overall health are not permitting us to project that beauty in the world, it's like we don't have it at all! If your body and mind work together, there's nothing you can't do, and no one you can't outrun. Think about it and work on it!
What Made You Want To Achieve Your Goals?
I'm in a band called The Fifth Season. When you sing in a band, you are the front line with the audience and have to look perfect, aesthetically and vocally, so to be healthy and good looking is mandatory to support both your voice and your live performance, so when I train I think about it. Check out a video of my band here.
But most of all I think that my lady deserves my best, so I'm pushed to give peak performance when I train to be perfect for her. As I wrote in one of my posts in my BodyBlog, love is the greatest inner turbine you can have while you train. Go and fall in love (choose your partner carefully though!), and your training will point to the stars!
What Are Your Future Bodybuilding Plans?
Not training to compete, maybe someday be a Bodybuilding.com model/spokesperson? Most of all be a guide for the guys who enter the gym and think they must go into drugs to reach some goal, I can show them that if they're determined and radical enough they can make it with no chemical help!
What One Tip Would You Give Other Bodybuilders?
Who Are Your Favorite Bodybuilders?
I like bodybuilding philosophers like Vince Gironda and Jack LaLanne, but even people like Dorian Yates or icons like Arnold and Ronnie gave a lot to the bodybuilding world so I respect them for that, even if I like the harmony Vince Gironda put in his thoughts.
What Features Do You Use On Bodybuilding.com?
Videos/training sections mostly, and BodySpace too!
BodySpace Photographic Credit:
Carlo Roberti, http://www.carloroberti.com
More Bodybuilder Profiles:
:: Current Amateur Of The Week.
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