Mastering Contest Prep: Insights from Coach AJ Sims

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checkout for 10% off all right folks I've got a great one for you today this is an interview I did

with contest prep coach AJ Sims AJ is one of the coaches that I look up to nobody gets people as peeled and as full

as AJ does he's one of the best out there and I have nagged AJ for a while to come on I probably probably was tired

of me dming all the time but AJ finally gave up and came on and we had a good talk about his strategy for getting

people absolutely peeled I didn't have enough time to cover everything I wanted to cover so hopefully we can get a part

two up if you enjoy this leave a comment in the comment section we'll talk about getting AJ on again

I hope you enjoy this one it's a really good interview and we'll get into it in just one

[Music] [Music] second all right folks big Paul here

today with the man himself AJ Sims AJ you were the most demanded interview that I've

ever had everybody was telling me you need to get this guy on you're you're known for getting people absolutely

peeled I don't think I've seen anybody really I don't know that there's any other coach that consistently gets

people peeled like you do man it's it's it's impressive but I I wanted to get you on and talk about that and anyway

thank you for coming on man how's it going it's going great man I'm humbled by that the fact that anybody actually

wants to hear what I have to say uh oh a lot of people want to know there's all sorts of speculation I get all time

people are like you know what's this super secret formula is there some secret cycle and has to be right it's

got to be yeah it's got to be something secret that nobody knows right it can't just be consistent hard work over a

period of time and controlling variables yeah no I mean it's it's it's going great brother I mean you know I'm

actually slowly getting out of the really high level ifbb coaching I feel like I have nothing to prove on that

level anymore not that I don't enjoy um from a physiological or psychological standpoint of helping highlevel athletes

it's just at this point in time in my life because as you know as a coach it takes a lot of time to work with

athletes yeah and in of of itself and then when you get to a higher caliber Arnold Classics olympias New York Pros

you know it's it's very time consuming where I'm kind of Shifting my focus more towards longevity lifestyle clients a

lot of WWE wrestlers still working with amateurs you know but as far as like high level I mean we can get into all

the stories all the preps I've done I guess that's why I'm here to kind of take you guys through the history and

kind of on my methodology uh and I think some people will enjoy hearing it but maybe some people are going be a little

disappointed because you know they're looking for that magic bullet that doesn't really exist right as far as

cont bread goes yeah I mean as you say at the end of the day it is just hard work this is

definitely a lesson I've learned the hard way is contest prep is sort of made in the off

season man if you [ __ ] off in the off season and you come in like a fat pile of crap prep's GNA be hard gonna be

really hard I've always said that shows are one and loss in the off season I call it progression season because I

always feel like trying to progress I think shows are one and lost during that time obviously you know being in

somewhat of a deficit during a contest prep um the law of thermodynamics as you like to say calories in calories out we

that you have to be expending more energy than you're taking in whether that be you know during training cardio

just your basil metabolic rate resting metabolic rate your total daily energy expenditure you know has to be higher

than what you're taking in uh to a specific amount so at the end of the day you have to do this year round whether

it be you're in a surplus and you're eating consistently and constantly and I always use Jay Cutler as the example

because I grew up in Las Vegas I trained with him during his you know chasing Ronnie and then when he beat Ronnie I

was training with him so I saw this guy who is an absolute Workhorse he's a machine through and through never missed

meals whether he was traveling every weekend guest posing he would fly home land in Vegas at 11: pm and shoot me an

email this was before you know texts were really popular and you know he was going to the gym to do cardio or train

that's just his mindset so when you have a Champion's mindset such as yourself this is something that you do year round

we were just speaking about this off camera that you you take it serious year round which is why you've made the pro

progression you've made over the course of two three years which has been phenomenal it's it's one of those things

you got to put the work in year round yeah I mean that's how people all the tell you got to treat the offseason

like a contest prep or you know you still I still weigh and measure your food still you know attention to detail

and Jay is a fascinating guy man he really I mean he's sort of my I I I would say if I wanted to model

myself or tell a young man to model themselves out of anybody and body building I mean he

exemplifies I think what a champion is in everything he does I mean you see his success in

business he seems to be a kind decent human being too I I was at his show I competed in his show and he took the

time to speak to everybody man I mean he T you know made you feel like you were the the most important person there it

was just it was impressive he's an impressive human being absolutely I mean you know real quick I mean when I moved

out to Vegas at 16 to pursue bodybuilding my mom was crazy enough to move me out there with the aspiration

awesome being a bodybuilder from Florida to Las Vegas and you know Jay was taking the time me at 16 this is when it was

2014 he would come by my house every week and drop off tons of muscle tech supplements and clothes that of course

they didn't fit me they were 5xl I still wore them but he would sit down in the living room and talk to me for two or

three hours I mean this is a guy that was literally top two in the world at that time and I'm just a 16-year-old kid

and he would spend the time just mentoring me teaching me about business like you said the business of

bodybuilding but also you know training correctly you know how to stimulate the muscle properly that it's not just about

throwing around weights constantly he would always tell me like the guys in the mitsuru okabi the battle for the

Olympia videos a lot of these guys or or even if they shot their own videos they were showing off by lifting a lot more

weights than they normally yeah and he would tell me he's like in 2001 when I and I'm I'll never forget this which is

why I'm mentioning he said in 2001 when he should have beaten Ronnie most people's opinion he never did dumbbell

presses over 100 pounds for chest so it just goes to show you once you have a specific amount of muscle there a little

tangent but you know you have a specific amount of muscle it's all about proper stimulus and you know that just went a

long way at 16 years old you know having this guy take me under his wings so what you're saying about Jay is absolutely

true through and through that's that's who he is he's always been like that yeah I remember when we were

backstage at the show and him talking about lifting and he brought up the fact that he never pressed more than 100

pound dumbbells somebody was talking about lifting heavy and he he goes what is

heavy what is what is that mean yeah he just that's that's what he said and then I Ed 100 pound I don't lift that heavy I

did when I was younger and I've made more progress and at the end of the day I mean like we know from all the modern

studies and whatnot a lot of it has validated this this mindset at the end of the day it is mechanical tension that

causes hypertrophy and your muscles don't know what weight is at the end of the bar they they know they experience

mechanical tension and you can manipulate that with form and leverage and all I mean just look at a

powerlifter powerlifters get very efficient with leverage so they actually experience it's the opposite of like

what what a bodybuilder would want to do you would want to place more tension on the muscle whereas a powerlifter is

actually trying to reduce that tension and increase leverage so they can move more weight so it's completely different

mindset sorry for the side rant there no no that's great stuff right there man and hopefully the listeners can take

that and utilize that in the gym I mean it is about the proper stimulus like you said I mean your body your muscles have

no idea what's on the bar the dumbbell the machine they only know stimulus it's it's kind of like looking at a chicken

breast on the on the digital weight scale I mean you can either take in the 10 ounces that's on the scale or taking

the six ounces that you're supposed to be eating that's on your program you know that your body is going to utilize

and and and digest and and obviously whether you're in a surplus or you're in a deficit what you're supposed to be

taking in now if you eat too much obviously you know you could be in a caloric Surplus going to throw you off

your fat loss or if you eat too little you could lose some muscle tissue kind of the same thing goes in the gym in in

in the sense of lifting too heavy on a consistent basis with sloppy mechanics and techniques is going to lead to more

systemic inflammation and and not in a good way more joints you know ligaments tendons you're going to get injured

you're going to feel horrible and what I've learned over the years because I did the same thing when I was young even

though Jay taught me that I still went in and ego trained and did way too much weight and at 35 years old now I have

lower back hip issues knee issues just from being stupid and not training properly where I know that you can make

more progress in the gym just by training smart mechanically you know getting a proper stimulus whether that

be slower on your Ecentric and full contractions and full stretching and range of motion time under tension you

know without going you know and trying to reinvent the wheel because that's what a lot of Fitness influencers try to

do is reinvent the wheel of training when it get again there's no magical bullet out there it's stimulus just like

you say the law of thermodynamics it's calories in calories out in the gym it's about proper stimulation then recovery

feed the muscle and then do it again consistently over time yeah it's it's it's funny how we all have to go through

that phase I I went through the it's the young dumb bodybuilder phase I I I talk about it where you got to heave heavy

weights around you probably do crazy [ __ ] with the peeds that you probably shouldn't

we all go through that with the the eating way too much food because you think it's going to make you bigger yeah

I remember I remember my post-workout meals being four double cheeseburgers from McDonald's and and a milkshake

thinking that was going to get me bigger and I just making myself fat you know stupid stupid crap like that but the ego

lifting thing yeah it was the same thing Man it always catches up with you at some point and then you start getting

injuries that's what happened to me and I think it's something that people forget about with this stuff and you

know man this is a long game like I don't know what the average is are but I would speculate that somebody from day

one in the gym to turning pro bodybuilder that you probably have to have a good 10 years of sustained

training eating and you know whatever whatever else under your belt to to make it happen to to have a mature physique

oh yeah and if you're getting beat up if you're sick if you're hurt you're not going to make it not at all

I I think that that's really what comes down to being a successful competitor obviously you know genetics are going to

play one of the biggest roles as far as getting to the higher level you know your shape your structure your muscle

insertions but also how you react to any performance enhancers you know are you one of those people that gets extreme

side effects are you one of those people that literally can utilize a specific amount and basically the kitchen sink so

to speak and get almost no side effects right that is honestly what what dictates you becoming a a good Pro along

with obviously that's along with a consistent work ethic discipline dedication for many many many years but

yes you have to have longevity health is going to be number one all your internal markers you know everything that you're

doing is working synergistically together so one without the other it will fall apart and this is a long game

I mean I started training in you know I'm 35 now but I started training in 2001

and you know I've seen so many people come and go over that period of time and I saw you know certain people like let's

say Nick trile I competed with Nick trile at Team Nationals when we were teenagers and he didn't turn pro until

maybe eight or nine years later so he had already just like you said 10 12 years of good training under your belt

kucho you know came up with Steve kucho teen Nationals as well Jason Hut I mean all these people uh it took a very long

time and these are guys with great gentics too yeah it's not something that happens overnight this is this is a long

game and if you don't have all your ducks in a row where you're methodically processing everything you're doing and

you just think that you're going to take a bunch of peeds train in the gym and two to three years later you're going to

be on the Olympia stage you know more than likely you're just living in another world because it's not going to

happen so you know that's 100% long game is the best way to put it yeah I mean it it's I mean you can look at it and

there's only so much tissue you can synthesize in a year even with Peds and play I mean Pro probably one of the

biggest growth Transformations I've seen is Nick Walker I mean you can look yeah you can see it I mean he added 100

pounds from the time the day he started to now and you know that was a 10 year time frame that it took for and what do

we know about Nick I mean the fact that he is you know yes he is one of the top genetic guys in the world but the kid

works extremely hard I know that for fact there's only a few guys right now from

what I know that are true workhorses like we would think all g J Cutler right where these guys they don't miss right

Nick would fall under that category and that's the little bit that I know about him and just seeing him throughout the

years that he's just he has a different mindset and he's driven and he has laser focus he has that killer ins inct uh

that only a few guys have and that's what it takes at the end of the day so you know long story that we're getting

into is it takes a long time guys so if you're not in it for the long game you may want to go do something else because

it it takes a long time or what do they say success is where hard work meets potential so I think that I think that's

the thing I'm probably slaughtering that they'll get the point you get the point though uh and yeah I mean I don't

I don't want to Discount genetics genetics play play a role in it too but everybody can

improve everybody can get better and I think that's the one thing that I do love about bodybuilding is it is a

metaphor for all things in life if you can learn how to master that discipline learn how to master that control you can

take that and apply it to everything else you do business life family you know being being consistent being stable

being um reliable all these things are going to going to result in um success in all other areas of your life if you

can if you can master that mindset man Paul that's phenomenal that is a huge takeaway right there I mean it it

definitely did that for me I mean I started bodybuilding at 13 years old and it taught me nothing but work ethic I

mean that is why I'm so disciplined to this day because that's exactly what I did when I stopped competing I applied

it in every aspect of my life was the fact that I was willing to go through you know getting to extremely low body

fat levels and being disciplined all year never missing meals never missing training no matter how I felt you apply

it to every aspect and you check those boxes off every single day so that's that's great stuff man well you may not

know it but you inspired me I don't remember I I saw one of your I think it was a real popup and it was late at

night and I'm sitting here and I got like a bunch of check-ins I still need to do and I'm like I don't feel like

doing them you had something up where you said do one more checkin there it is man that's right

you know do one more and I'm like damnn this is timely I just want to go to bed I love

it man it spoke to you that's great yeah so I mean it's that it's a I know you have that type of mindset but that's

that's really like when I like mentoring young men and working with young men and I think that's probably the biggest

point that I I try to get across to the guys that I work with is that work ethic mastering that work ethic mastering

being able to push through pain being able to push through uh making yourself uncomfortable really I mean success

success comes from you know I know it's cliche but being comfortable with being uncomfortable oh man it's true it's

absolutely true and we live in a microwave era right now everybody wants everything right now and that's not the

way it works you got to go through the hardships I mean I have guys come up to me you know I want to learn how to be a

coach like you you know at your age or be successful I'm like listen you better be ready to work 24 47 because this

didn't happen overnight I I put my first Olympia competitor on stage 10 you know a decade ago um in the 212 class so I

mean it's it's it's been a long time coming it's it's a lot of work it's a lot of work and it's a lot of dedication

it's putting so much effort but you have to care about each individual that you work with you know you really really do

it's not just another number these These are people I was thinking about this last night because I knew we were going

to do this podcast and you know as a coach you can get wrapped up in the numbers right and and just kind of want

to check the Box off of here's you know this is what you're doing go do it these are people I mean us as competitors you

know judges will judge you know competitors and they should based off the physique that day but these are

people that have insecurities worries doubts fears you know family life home problems you know Financial issues work

issues I mean these are people and you got to understand that you know each individual is going through something at

any given point of the time so you really have to tap into that psychology which is I think is has helped me as a

coach is something I always do and I think it's really important is to type tap into that psychological aspect of

the athlete what makes that person tick what makes them do what they do why do they want to be on the Olympia stage or

why do they want to win their Pro card what is the goal what's end goal and what makes them get up what's their why

right so these are things that you get into that psychological aspect as a coach which I always make sure I do even

if the person person is from another ethnicity and doesn't even speak English which I've prepped so many of those guys

I will still find a way psychologically to tap into it and find what we need to pull out the absolute best to get where

they've never been before which is why another reason I've been able to have somewhat success with higher level

athletes that maybe struggled in the past with maybe say conditioning right there's a a great book man if you

haven't read it on on mentoring people it's uh K the Duke Coach for years yeah I don't

know if you've read it but he has one all motivating people and he has a thing in there where he talks

about motivating but he has a reputation of motivating everybody and he said that there's really three types of people

that he's encountered and you can't coach all of them the same and he said there's the there's the guy that needs a

push you know the kick in the ass he said there's the guy that needs a hug and tell him everything's going to be

okay okay and then there's the guy that just needs the game plan and you leave him alone let him let him do his thing

so I thought that was pretty interesting and that's been that's very true I I've run businesses for years I've been a CEO

for the last decade or so and I that's sort of my Approach with staff too you can't Mentor everybody the same but

you're right it's it's just as much psychology as it is physiology at at the end of the day 100% absolutely and I've

always heard that about you that's one thing like why you know from being in in the Inner Circle of the stuff and

talking to people you hear Rumblings about other coaches that are dead beats and and some that are great and

everybody I've ever talked to that's worked with you so that you've always been there for them and that you care

about them and you give them your all I've never heard a bad word mentioned about you I appreciate that I mean I've

definitely made my mistakes over the years as Co I mean everybody does we're humans yeah we all have but I've

definitely learned from them you take accountability and you you move on and you learn from it you build from it

right um I just made a post about taking extreme ownership and accountability this morning you know kind of how

athletes like to switch coaches on a it's pretty crazy what you'll see Pros jump from five or 10 different coaches

because they're looking for that Magic Bullet and you know at the end the secret everybody's chasing the secret

what's Secret Sauce man but it really comes down to the individual so yeah taking extreme ownership has been key

for me and you know just developing that mindset like you know understanding hey these are people and I need to care for

them so just as much like you said the physiological standpoint of you know how do I manipulate the body how do we

manipulate the mind now you can't always force people to have a Killer Instinct and you can't necessarily teach a Killer

Instinct but you can bring it out of somebody if they've never experienced it before you can get someone really

comfortable with being uncomfortable like you said so that's that's what I try to do and I interwine it with

everything and you know I'm not a cheerleader but I'm definitely there to you know take the thinking out of it

right that's what a coach is supposed to do because we know when we get to the end of a contest prep there's a lot of

things going on neurologically people lose their mind yeah with our neurotransmitters because

of a lot of things that we're utilizing that are you know causing those neurotransmitters to downregulate uh and

sleep obviously gets a lot worse the last two or three weeks and there's a lot of things going on where we just

literally cannot see what we're looking at and people lose their minds like said so that's where a good coach will come

in and be like listen man you know and I have to tell guys like dude stop thinking that's why I'm here so you

literally need to almost not even look at your pictures and try to assess them just send them to me and let me do the

thinking let me land the plane so to speak just do the work right and that seems to work with a lot of guys

especially the over analyzers and the people that will be too neurotic they see a program and they're like yeah but

you know I know this and I know my body and you know they double think everything and usually those guys are

constantly in fight or flight and that those guys are usually the worst come the final week because they think their

body like and I think I think it was you talking about it maybe a week or two or a month ago an older podcast where you

guys were talking about your favorite foods backstage pumping up yeah and you know people will be like they'll eat

something in like 20 or 30 minutes the coach is like dude there it is that's it we did did it we nailed it like if it

wasn't there already you're not going to do a whole lot man I mean there's a there's an acute response to blood

pressure with sodium obviously for vasio dilation but outside of that man there ain't much going to happen besides maybe

drinking some fluids uh yeah no no eating the rice cakes with the honey and salt isn't gonna do a whole lot

backstage a little bit maybe but you know it that's all psychological it's it's like you know it's all the little

little I don't know it's like the football player wearing his favorite pair of socks on Sunday

right right it's the the lucky socks man it's just it's just cons consistency it's just a Superstition in consistency

but yeah really the the work is already done the day you show up for the show yeah I mean I'm a firm believer I'm a

firm believer in being pretty much ready two weeks out I think by two weeks out 14 days I mean let's just put it in days

14 days the the body fat should be gone for the most part I mean the body fat should be gone you should be waking up

pretty close to like I could slap Tan on and I'm dry enough um you know the body Fat's gone and then there you you look

at the small manipulations you can do at the end with maybe some water some sodium some glycogen um but nothing too

over the top because if you try to get over the top now there are cases we can get into that I've prepped some bodies

that the last week the most wacky stuff happens and you have to understand as a coach not to freak out uh because you

understand what's going to happen over the course of six seven days but the majority of people should be contest

ready two week in my opinion two weeks out and then just again variables at the end yeah I mean you should definitely be

if you're still trying to lose fat going into peak week you're you're in trouble you're not not not only are you

going to be in trouble with just your body's response but I mean think from a p psychological standpoint you're

stressed every day am I going to make it am I going to be ready you're not sleeping you know you're in fight ORF

flight constantly what does that do that shuts down rest and digest you know you're Notting the food properly you're

not going to the bathroom another problem people have the day before the show and the day of the show and yes it

could be a fiber issue it's a it's a dehydration issue but a lot of times it's also because they're in fight or

flight constantly they're just not processing that food too so man from a mental standpoint from a body standpoint

yeah two weeks out if you're trying to lose fat like you said A week out it's it's going to be a big problem yeah I

think I thought saw you post something about it that you said you're not going to like the results if that's where

you're at yeah it's going to be tough man but I mean I can take a couple of guys for example I mean I used to prep

Justin Rodriguez for many years he's on the pro circuit and he was one of those guys that a week out uh most people

would be like this dude's not going to be ready and that's because he was a he was a water bag I mean just one of those

guys that I knew doing the things that we did at the end that were complete 180 from whatever I would do with anybody

else he would drop s to n pounds anywhere between 7even to nine pounds of of mainly water and I would do things

that just again on paper don't make sense but we were a able to figure out because anytime I Peak somebody I always

take notes I have every note from every Peak with every with the food we ate the timing of the food the bathroom usage

digestion good idea everything I have notes and they're all saved from years I have years of notes and uh I literally I

can look back and understand what we did and how we improved and even though I don't get a you can't fully go by the

weight scale it's just a small gauge we have to also go by how you look I still use it as a small gauge because if you

get on let's say you know you wake up on show day and you're you know you're a little flat you have a meal of this a

little bit of fluid you step on the scale your 2 lounds up there's the look right there right that's the look okay

so apparently that weight correlates with the look and we want to be able to maintain that as much as we can and

you'll you'll see it because there's guys that will do prejudging they get off stage and they're fast metabolizers

maybe they sweat a little bit on stage they'll lose four to five pounds just from if they do a lot yeah they do a lot

of round there's just guys that just yeah like you just wacky metabolisms maybe get a little you know hypoglycemic

back stage or on stage you know and you just get back and you're like what just happened I mean so there there's a

there's a difference with maybe those guys where you know again but you can also use a scale because then we need to

get back up to that weight whether it come in the form of fluid glycogen sodium or all three together but yeah

Justin would be one of those guys that a week out he didn't necessarily look ready uh we still were able to bring his

best looks in ever where you know I was doing things with him and I have no problem being I'm totally transparent I

mean I would I would take sodium out for 48 hours 48 hours which I don't do with anybody but sodium would go out with 48

Hours potassium goes up and I would use in the form of new salt so yeah we we'd bump this potassium

levels up not dangerously because I don't I don't carve people up on dates and potatoes and bananas but you know

potassium goes up a little bit sodium comes out we would we would interject some other things like some alaon for

three days because I usually don't if I ever use alaon I don't like it more than 72 hours because we know that it blocks

the re-uptake of you know the aldost sodium essentially because it blocks aldosterone it's an androgen blocker so

you can actually start seeing people get softer on it and then no matter what they eat show day burgers fries you're

blocking that nothing's happening until you come out that so run a little bit of that small amount of dizide as far as

diuretics go but it was that manipulation of sodium and then really dehydrating him bringing the pottassium

up slightly dude I'm telling you right now the body the changes and I can I think I've posted it before it's

insane when he looked his best I think was 2022 Arnold probably the biggest he's been my favorite look was the 2020

Chicago Pro I think that was the most shredded he'd ever been uh we were doing these type of

manipulations and that goes against everything I talk about because I don't change much at the end like sodium wise

maybe small manipulation you know dehydration obviously and we know that when you're carbon up you still need

fluid to to be able to drive that glycogen properly and you need sodium also so I mean those co-actors go into

together but for some reason there are bodies out there that on paper it just doesn't correlate the same that

everybody else and I know that that a lot of people are going to probably push back and say well you know science is

science the human physiology is a human physiology but I'm telling you anecdotally I'm speaking anecdotally

from prepping so many people there are bodies out there that just respond completely different and you have yeah

you got to take notes and figure that out I mean we know it I mean you can look at it there's genetic outliers for

everything I mean there's medicine is not exact it's made to the mean when when you look at it you

so we we know I mean an example I mean just a clear example where you can see genetic differentiation as basketball

you can look at it I mean you know seven being seven feet tall there's only like 2 200 people out eight billion that are

seven feet tall and half of them are playing in the NBA whatever it is so I mean body it's people that are at the

high end of bodybuilding probably are genetic outliers man and like the rules that apply

like it would be like 56 and trying to play basketball and and with the same set of coaching that you would do if you

were 7 feet tall it's not going to work man absolutely that's what I and like you're talking about the scale too so

that's sort of my thought process on it I do like to look at pictures and see how the pictures are looking but if you

see any rapid changes in the scale I mean you can do the math on it you know it's not fat loss because you're not

you're not losing or gaining three four pounds of fat in a day that's just impossible it's got to be a water change

in water whether it's glycogen retention or sub subcutaneous water and you can pair that up with the pictures and see

where it is so I mean that's kind of yeah I mean I assume that's what you're what you're talking yeah no total

disclosure right so I just kind of made a little fun of coaches where they'll feed somebody sugar and be like there it

is but what I do do with guys and this is everybody amateurs all the way to TD the Olympia I even had guys where you

know I wasn't able to go backstage to the Olympia and they're texting me and I'm like listen go to the bathroom take

a pee get on get they have their scale with them step this is an hour before the stage get on your scale and and send

me the weight right and if it if it got below what I believe was the peak weight you know here taking six ounces of fluid

right now taking a little bit of sodium let's wait 20 30 minutes get your legs back up let's take some pictures let's

see what happened get back on the scale until we get back to that point ex exactly because they do correlate

together I don't want people to get too scale obsessed but when you're talking about at the very end yeah just like you

said if you're dropping fast it's not fast so it's gonna be it's GNA be a fluid loss typ typically it's coming

from the muscle at that point because you're already dehydrated to an extent and you probably use some sort of

phological diuretic you know whether it be you know hopefully just something like daite or or aldactone if you're

using that smart or you know some guys don't need it at all but still if you've dehydrated it down to an extent it's

coming from the muscle so therefore it's got to be replenished somehow in some way and we know the water can hit

somebody really fast sodium and water really can hit fast um where it can make substantial changes pretty pretty

quickly man yeah I've always just usually I don't even use a diuretic I generally don't need need need one last

year just ran on little bit of DIY yep going on the night before the show that was plenty drive me out plenty yep I bet

some like you said some people are water bags man I've seen it it's it's got to be

some differentiation and aldosterone regulation I would assume that's that's what I've always

thought over the years it had to be something with alone and and I honestly get like you know when I run Labs with

clients I'll get their those levels checked on their lab work their aldosterone levels like when I was

prepping Assan Assan in 2022 and we won two pro shows he was getting Labs every two weeks I had to figure out what was

what had been missing over those years where someone couldn't because a dude works hard I mean he's got a crazy work

ethic I mean he'll do three hours of cardio he'll eat next to nothing if he has to so there was something going on

and it correlated into that and you know we were able to pinpoint it figure it out

and and fix it and dial that in and he was another guy that you know substantial water loss the last week and

I usually man it's a lot of these really big guys um so I don't know if it has something to do with a myostatin gene or

just the size you know igf1 or you know that correlates with aldosterone I mean there's a lot going on from a cascading

effect that I don't necessarily claim that I even know again I've just seen anecdotally the type of bodies that

usually require well bigger guys are harder to Peak I mean it's just more tissue and at the end of the day it's

that's I mean you can see it like with big guys I mean you can carb you know car carb a large dude up on 1500 two was

it Dennis wolf I think I heard 5,000 grams of carbs yeah it was something insane man and he wouldn't spill over on

that 2007 when he when he just came out and just wrecked almost everybody but tall 5000

D yeah and and and you know what what do we on paper right from a from a scientific medical standpoint they will

tell you that the body can only store so much glycogen even at a specific body weight right but again bodybuilding is

outside the box a lot and I remember I I think I heard this 13 years ago or more Jose Raymond said bodybuilding almost

doesn't make sense sometimes the less you do the better results you get yeah so you got to think out you know in

terms of that sometimes I mean that would make sense it's less you know less variables less room for error that's why

I get like really hesitant when I see these super super complex peaking protocols

that I've seen some coaches put together I think one I think some people just do it to make themselves seem smarter than

what they are they have no idea what they're talking about I think they're just making [ __ ]

up half the time but it's you know but with big guys I mean it's it's really it's more real estate to manage at the

end of the day I mean I mean who who knows how much a glycogen a guy like his size can

store I mean clearly clearly if he didn't spill over that got stored yeah it had to be yeah I mean there's no

other way it got stored so and we know that the the energy output is extremely low the last couple days as far as like

doing you know training or cardio and of course back in 2007 nobody was doing steps I mean that was not even no one

even talked about doing steps right so I mean you have to you have to think about it man like that is a super

physiological response to carbohydrates storing glycogen that is just off the textbooks

off the charts that just doesn't really make a whole lot of sense but it worked and you got to have an eye as a coach to

actually be able to look at someone and see exactly what's going going on and almost know by default how to make calls

on the fly so when the body changes without over analization like you said because there's so many people that make

it super complex and I hear these these really big words and verbiage and terms to sound like you're coming from a

medical field um and it really doesn't always have to be that complicated it really

doesn't I mean is a complex thing but you need to distill it down into the simplest way possible yes yeah yeah I

mean make it no more complex than it needs to be and no simpler than it needs to be it's it's it's really I've often

wondered too like with the glycogen storage I've noticed this is just something once again I have no evidence

but there seems to be a genetic component to it it seems to be the guys that are of

German Heritage are the dudes that I'm not I'm not sh I'm I'm back background and I Dennis wolf I have

you know we talk to Roman all the time and Roman can just eat an ungodly amount of carbs it's a good point I've noticed

it's the big German dudes that seem to be able to you know I don't know if that's you know just probably no no I I

think ethnicity definitely could play a role I mean that's that's a cool anecdote that you're talking about

because what I've noticed too in the when it comes to and I can say this because my wife is Cuban she's Spanish

so a lot of the Cuban bodybuilding that I've worked with they they don't have a a very high response to being able to

load glycogen without spilling over almost every single person across the board um is more typically now you know

maybe not everybody but people that I've worked with over a long period of time they cannot store a whole lot of

glycogen without spilling so I think you you may be on to something I think ethnicity definitely will have a genetic

dispos disposition as far as well there's genetic components to it I it's going to be really politically in

incorrect but you can see you know like with a lot of African-American guys you can just diet the hell out of them and

they don't get flat 100% 100% I mean a great example is Shawn Rhoden you know Shawn Rhoden I remember aeto talking

about him dieting on 40 grams of carbs for like 10 weeks uh yeah they just look better and better and better and better

it's unbelievable I mean you would think that this guy would be I mean come on 40 grams of CBS would make you what would

that do to you in one day I would like a for labor camp victim like escap so you're you are 100% right and also like

somebody like Hassan that I I trained I've never seen someone eat um so low of carbohydrates and not lose muscle and

protein for that matter too just the ability to be able to hold on to tissue was UN like anything I've ever seen so

yeah dude there's definitely something there and again these are all very important tools as a coach to keep

in your toolbox to understand you know obviously you know there's a lot more that goes into it variable wise but it's

important to know these things and it's a good point because I've always wondered about Roman I mean just hearing

how much this guy eats is just insane I mean it just again off the charts so yeah I've never thought about the German

thing went hand in hand but yeah I think you're because I can't think of one German that doesn't has not been able to

eat an ungodly amount of food yeah it seems like they they I mean it's just just an observation I mean you'll see it

and it's like most of your highly successful strong men they're all Norwegian they're all British you know

that those guys that have all the skin and navian DNA you know they're just built for LIF and heavy [ __ ] yes as far

as you know just your general approach to prep I know you said you have people ready two weeks out I mean what

what I mean what is your your general framework for getting people shredded yeah so I mean really I'm a

huge proponent in carb cycling that's why you know every time you post something about carb cycling I'm like

there it is 100% really you know at the end of the day it's calorie cycling you know because we're

manipulating yeah we're manipul manipulating all macronutrients something Jay taught me when I was 16

called it the zigzag diet so yeah you know it's just calorie cycling so I pretty much right off the bat start with

that I mean you know depending on the the structure of their training their split you know how did we set off their

progression season if they just came to me you know after their progression season I didn't have a hold on it it's

just prep which I don't I don't like that I like to kind of have somewhat control throughout the entire year of

every variable so that we can build up what we need to build up going into prep because we essentially prep for the prep

right the progression offseason is a prep for the prep it's prep year round like you said so I structure it into a

carb calorie cycling right off the bat and then just manipulate cardio as needed now what I do with the majority

of my clients that compete U pretty much everybody is I'm a stickler for communication so I get into the point

where even when they're 10 12 weeks out we're talking every two to three days where I can make changes I never just

say here's a week you know check back in a week and this is what keeps me so busy and this is why I kind of have to pull

back on volume because I've been doing this for over a decade where I mean I'm talking to so many people starting at

4:00 in the morning all the way up to 9:00 p.m. depending on where they are in the world and we're making changes based

off their their the way they're looking what their body weight's doing what's their bio feedback in the gym what's

their sleep looking like you know constantly pulling Labs throughout the prep if they have that accessibility or

the finances depending on what we're trying to achieve and then just you know basically it's like an onion right I'm

peeling back the layers of the onion throughout the prep where I yes I want you to be ready two weeks out but I also

would like you to be ahead the whole time I am very comfortable with someone being ahead of schedule the entire prep

it makes it much easier to focus on training and posing and sleeping and then just enough cardio and that's not

the case with everybody but it's it's it's my preferred way if someone really did their homework to set everybody up

properly and we peel back the layers is nice and slow We preserve as much tissue as possible in some cases some guys even

gain tissue and we know this because they're getting constantly tested throughout the the course of the prep

whether it be a dunk tank getting you know uh at a university to test the body fat you know the muscle tissue Dex a

scan even though they're not 100% accurate uh I have seen it happen where people actually grow and obviously

that's a correlation to Peds and their their response to Peds as well but they are growing into the show but man I just

really try to manipulate based off what the body does I don't have a structure where it's like okay we're going to run

three lows one high two baselines we'll come back to that like you know if someone is checking in with me on a

daily basis which I do get to the last five weeks four weeks and I just see you know something like we just ran a high

day right and they check back in and obviously we know carbohydrates can increase and induce diuresis more UR

ation so it could be just a water loss or they're just their metabolic rate is just picking up just you're just running

through it just like you were you know usually at the end of your prep we know lower body fat levels insulin

sensitivity is higher you know you're you're on specific Peds you're just burning through glycogen you know we

could run two or three High days in a row we could run what I call Super saturation days which is an extremely

high day on top of that with some free foods right the specific foods that Digest well that don't cause systemic

inflammation people would call it a cheat meal I don't really call it that I call it more Super saturation mixed with

a high day so it's just really an overfeeding which we do over the course of two to three days so it's almost like

a diet break the terminology they like to to use now it's an overfeeding and then pushing so I always tell people you

got to know when to push the gas pedal and pump the brakes it's a it's a constant balance of structuring to hold

muscle tissue preserve it and be able to push you know and pull down so we can burn we can burn fat uh and lose fat

like you said there's a difference between burning fat and losing fat we're losing fat consistently and we're

holding on and preserving as much tissue consistently and as long as those are going hand inand and then their bio

feedback is good their digestion we're not getting side effects no gird acid reflux bloating sleep is good then you

know we're able to control all those variables because we know that proper sleep is going to induce a lot of

physiological things that we want to promote fat loss and preserve muscle and increase insulin sensitivity and all

those things when do you I mean what what is a warning sign you look for when you need to pull back and give people a

refeed usually I I can't say gym performance because it depends on the person from a psychological standpoint

if someone goes in the gym and they feel sorry for themselves they're already going in defeated they're not going to

have a good session so it may not even be it may not even be that now we know neurologically things happen when you

eat a lot of carbohydrates dopamine increases all the neurotransmitters you feel better but there's different

mindsets right so typically what I will look for before the refeed will come is either now it could be either or it

could be a stagnation in body weight and it's like man I'm I've been pushing this diet hard on this individual it's time

to feed them because we can't go any lower we can't do any more so instead of just digging them into a hole we're

going to do the opposite and actually feed the metabolism more and and it actually brings it back to life and

typically that's three to four days what I've seen anecdotally four days is usually the max of really really pushing

somebody again not everybody but this is just general population uh the average person so obviously a look right a

specific look where they actually look softer so they're so flat that they don't look as hard right so it's it's

almost like man this person either accured some body fat overnight which we know didn't happen or they're retaining

a ton of fluid which typically doesn't happen so they're they're so flat that the muscle is just not pushing against

the skin therefore it's time to pull the trigger and fill this body back up refeed it utilize that performance in

the gym the next day because at that point you're not going to feel the carbs that day it's just not going to happen

almost everybody on a high day they don't feel they don't feel that food until the very next day because glycogen

the onset time of glycogen can take some time to really get in there when you are at low levels of body fat so yeah you

know typically or sleep really goes down the drain so there there's a correlation of different biof feedbacks but

typically an over flat body and usually gym performance not always the case for everybody like I said but it's un

average is from what I've seen I remember when I was absolutely buried on that prep a few years ago I went into

the gym one day and I usually warm up with four plates on the leg press and then work my

way up I couldn't even move the four plates it's perfect example and I'm like well I know I'm in trouble yep perfect

example right there that was in a bad spot yeah you that that flat soft look you'll see it you'll see it now and then

I I wonder sometimes if it's just quarters all being high from pushing too hard um and combination of things so

that's that's kind of what I speculate oh yeah and that's another thing too real quick before not to get off too

much of a tangent but yes cortisol being too high will do that and sometimes if I'll pull cardio out for three days in a

row just as an example so obviously they're getting a little more rest they're training they're still training

obviously but the cardio is gone and they're getting more sleep just that in and of itself with the cortisol

reduction night and day difference to a body night and day difference I noticed too with pushing the stimulants and fat

burners too hard too that sometimes can cause problems I've had people where I'll just tell them you know take two

days off from the from the from the stimulant and or pull them back and then get some sleep and you'll see

improvements sometimes too no absolutely I mean that's where I'll usually interject like phosphole

serine and emodin things that will reduce uh cortisol ashwagandha Rola Rosa um rora alanine these are all things

obviously you would take closer to sleep and that reduction in cortisol and just like you said coming down on the

stimulants and you know if you're on any thyroid or anything like that too even taking a couple days break from that

will will make a huge difference so I mean these are all things that people have if people are listening to us talk

right now organically that this is how you coach people I mean this is this is how you coach you can't just do it as

everybody else is doing it everybody's response is individualistic and that's exactly how you coach I'll get guys that

want me to map out their diet and cycle for the whole 16 weeks and I'm like dude I can give you a framework but I I can't

say where we're going to be at we just have to see see how your body reacts and and adjust accordingly but I mean you

know we all have a sort of framework we work through from but or you just take a bunch of trim that works too yeah man

just do it load it up two grams a week man why not [ __ ] it right if you want to die go for

it don't do it kid don't do it kid I I hate to cut short man I I did want to talk to you about maybe we can do

another one but dig into a little bit of cycles and stuff for for contest prep and offseason but I'm running short on

time so maybe we can do a part two at some point and talk about approach to that stuff I think people always think

there's some secret formula man and there really isn't it's just basic stuff at the end of the day yeah there's

there's nothing that you know I always heard there's no secret Foods or anabolics being grown in weeder labs in

California it's pretty much everybody's doing the same stuff now you know what's funny with the anabolics yeah it's like

it's it's always the gem Bros that are running all the weird off-the-wall [ __ ] and you know doing the weird cycles and

then like I I talk to guys that are on the pro PR all the time and it's like OB Us in test EQ you or primo and GH you

know maybe a little bit of insulin and that's it dude I mean I I'll leave it at this because I don't want to I don't

want to cut your time I know you got another one coming up but like I've talked to guys amateurs that I mean you

know not to sound they didn't look great and these guys are running Exotics like citadin and Lasix into you know the last

day or two and I'm just like what like you missed the whole point of everything like you are

thinking like this is going again the Magic Bullet right this is it this is this is what they're doing in Kuwait

right they're hooking me up to an IV and it's like oh my gosh guys listen Burn the body fat preserve the muscle tissue

work year round do your homework show up on show day ready in shape make it happen I mean this is this is crazy that

people are getting into this nonsense so I mean it's wild stuff man well let's do another one at some point man and we can

fill people in on this stuff what I know you have a supplement M line and you got going now what stuff are you want to

promotee man what do you want to tell us about yeah so cement factory.com you can find

out I have some of it back there oh back there uh I still need to pick up your gut Revival I'll send it out to you

brother I'll send it out to you as a fellow irritable bowel disease brother I know exactly what you're going through

and how it feels it's up and down dayto day man and prep can definitely run some havoc on it you can put a little bit of

hot sauce on some chicken and be an hour later you're like dude I just made a huge even while you're eating it you

know you're going to pay people laugh at me and my my my plain ass chicken and rice man it's like the only [ __ ]

thing I can eat the way it works man and you're not in pain so I hear you man but yeah we listen I don't want to keep you

I appreciate that we'll we'll definitely talk about the supplement line we'll get into more prep anabolics layouts final

week peing whatever the case may be man I love talking about this stuff I know I haven't been around publicly so Paul was

able to you need to be out there man I've been nagging while get me I've been nagging him I've been chasing him down

folks so took a while doing a great job man Paul keep up the great work brother you're doing an amazing job with just

information you're putting out with these great guests man so I'm just honored to be on here thank you for

having me hopefully this was educational we'll get more going a lot more if anybody has any further questions leave

them in the comment section and next time maybe we can address them and we can go from there man yeah and I'll put

your contact information in the description below so you get that over to me I'll do that thank you for

watching folks thank you