Embry Rucker photo for Men's Health magazine shoot
What kind of training programs did you do when you first started?
You expect me to say something like "body-part splits", right? Well, I'm sorry to disappoint you. Really, I started with a program I got out of Men's Health magazine. I think The Rock was on the cover. No shit.
If I remember correctly, it was a three-day, full-body program that revolved around mainly compound movements like squats and deadlifts and presses. The funny thing is, I hated to deadlift. Hated it. I had no idea how to do it right and preferred to use the leg press. I have no idea why I thought it was a comparable exercise.
A few other things I'm now embarrased to admit:
- I didn't train legs for the first six months because "I do martial arts and hike and I don't need any more leg work." Yep. Smart.
- I did some variation of the bench press three times per week.
- I read that stretching made you lose power so I never stretched. Now I know better.
You followed a program from The Rock? Are you freakin' kidding me?
Nope.
But I quickly learned my lesson. I found TMUSCLE around 2003 and started on Chad Waterbury's "Anti-bodybuilding Hypertrophy Program."
This is when I started to read everything I could get my hands on. For those of you who read Built for Show, this is the time where I took a full year off from school, locked myself in my room, and did nothing but eat, sleep, read, and train. And masturbate. (Hey, my idea of a date was reading the NSCA-CPT manual and watching training videos. Not exactly a win with the ladies.)
So how much weight did you really gain?
I went from 145 pounds to my heaviest weight of 190 in about a year and a half. You can check out some progress photos in this article. I'm about 183 at 5'9" right now.
Got any bulking tips for me?
I don't really prescribe to the idea of "bulking" and "cutting" per se, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't try like hell to get as big as possible in those first couple of years. My abs slowly went away, but they never went far. I probably hovered around 12% body fat. Here are a few things that helped me.
- Ever hear of the "rock" analogy? You know, the one where the professor has a jar and he puts the big rocks in first, followed by the pebbles, and then the sand? Well, I looked at my body the same way -- there was always room for more. So after I ate a big meal, I'd immediately drink a two-serving protein shake. That's an extra 200 calories or so.
- I'd take shots of olive oil. Literally. I'd pour olive oil into a shot glass and slam it. It wasn't my proudest moment, but it did make me feel cool and freaked my mom out, which is always a plus.
- For some reason, I loved natural peanut butter, sugar-free jelly, and whole wheat sandwiches washed down with two glasses of 2% milk. I usually ate one of these before bed every night.
Is that healthy?
I no longer think it's optimal. I'd probably do a few things different like making sure I got enough fruits and veggies and ditching a lot of processed carbohydrates. But it worked pretty damn well.
When did your nutrition habits start to change?
I bought the Precision Nutrition package when it first came out and realized that I could actually eat healthy food that tasted great and was easy to make. (And the increased muscle and decreased fat didn't hurt, either.)
I think I was the only 20-year-old who could make Greek Burgers, 5-Alarm Chili, and badass scrambled eggs. You can check out more of my thoughts on that here.
What kinds of programs have you made the most gains on?
That's something I'll save for an upcoming blog post where I'll detail my current training program and what I think is needed to build the ultimate lean, muscular, athletic body.
So how'd you start training? Got any embarrassing stories? Let me know in the comments! Also, if you have any other questions you'd like me to answer, feel free to post them!
Posted May 19, 2009 by .
This entry is filed under nate talks and training.
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Comments for This Entry
Hey Nate,
See I was the opposite when I started really focusing on training whereas you were very skinny I was bigger. I weighed around 240-245, played Tight End in high school so I always just focused on being bigger, eating like ass, and pushing heavy weight. I no doubt bench pressed like 4 times a week, no real structure, neglected my legs, neglected incline benching because i sucked at it...i really did no legs except for leg presses (which I don't even do anymore). The "strength" coaches at my school weren't of the highest calibur either. I slowly noticed myself getting tired quicker, and general lower back problems, and my left hip was all sorts of messed up. It wasn't until my nephew (who is 10 now) and was 7 at the time said to me "Uncle Chad, what happened? You got really fat" and that's when it hit me...what the fuck am I doing to myself? Overall the late late nights of pizza and madden stopped. Stopping at Burger King just because it was convenient stopped. Man I couldn't even tell you the last time I even had a thought of going there anymore. Don't get me wrong I still stay up late on occasion playing Madden, but who doesn't have some vices? MensHealth also was my savior. I started with their "Abs Diet" Circuit workout and diet plan and the pounds started melting off. I then started the morning shift at the gym Steel Fitness in Bethlehem, PA, and my buddy introduced me to T-Nation. My god if it wasn't one of the greatest findings for me. I felt like Columbus finding America. Literally. I am loyal to that site and read the article every single day. I stumbled upon your article "Built For Show" and went out that day and bought the book. Read it the next day and started the workouts the next week and I couldn't be happier. I follow practically everything exactly as you put it, bring a stopwatch for my rest periods and all. I just added kettlebell swings after each session. Spring workout is almost over and I'll move on to the Summer program...it's exciting to me. I weigh 190 now and am 6'0" tall. Last time I got my bodyfat measure it was at 9.6%...I just keep striving for more, because I never want a young kid to walk up to me again and ask me what happened, and why I got fat...when you have little kids saying that to you...you know there is truly a bad problem. It's easy to relate to what you write generally because you are in the same age range as me. Thanks man, and keep it up. You are an inspiration to some, like me, who want to follow the same path as you. Your living your dream, and it makes me realize that I can get there to. Props man, props.
I started working out in 2007, when I was 15. Then, my goal was to simply get slim. I used to spend about 1. hours each day, and never did any cardio. Even today, my eating habbits are pathetic, though now I eat crap only about 50-40% of the time. My body fat % has stayed the same though I did gain some (invisible under the fat) muscle
Where to begin?
About 5 years ago, I stumbled across a website called "Tricks Tutorials." It was about martial art-style movements with a gymnastic flair. The dude who ran the site had a pretty good build. I was impressed. So I decided-Hey! I'm going to start tricking!
It didn't work out. So I opted for the next best thing-looking like the guy that ran the website.
I started working out. I would ride my bike everyday and then work out the muscles on the front of my body one day and the backside another (I had no idea what I was doing. It was essentially a crappy push-pull split). I did this for about 4 months, not making any progress.
It was then that one of my friends told me to start 'taking' protein after my workouts. Being a vegetarian, I was hardly getting any protein at all, so I made some okay gains when I started supplementing with the protein. (I decided later that I should go back to eating meat).
My training really 'began' when I was at a vitamin store and they were giving away copies of some workout called Maximum Strength (not the Cressey book) from a company called iSatori. It was a horrible body-part split with little to no hamstring/glute work, no back work except lat pull-downs and so many quad, pecs, and bicep exercises that it beat out anything you'd see in a bodybuilding magazine.
I found out the company that put it out had an online forum. I went, messed around for a bit and found a thread titled (I kid you not) "I need to bring up my Left Serratus." In it, there was a link to Eric Cressey's Shoulder Savers article.
I went, thought it was a cool website, filed it away and continued doing my crap workout. No cardio, no proper nutrition, etc.
I eventually stumbled across a book called "Nutrient Timing" that had some articles by Berardi. I went to his website. Read his bulking articles. I probably misinterpreted the information (on purpose) to do a dirty bulk that lasted for a couple years. I went from being a skinny vegetarian who weighed at most 150 lbs to a meat eating fatty who weighed 230 pounds.
Bought PN, found T-Nation again, half-assed some workouts, half-assed my nutrition, half-assed some rock climbing, half-assed school. Then, got burned out from nutrition, burned out from working-out, burned out from school. Took a semester off from everything.
Bought Cressey's book. Did his program. First program I ever completed start to finish. Had incredible results. Now I'm doing Nate's Summer program with some carb-cycling. 4 weeks done, lost 5.5 pounds and 1.5 inches off my waist. Going to increase my cardio to off days as well, tighten up my diet even more and expand each phase from 6-weeks to 8-weeks.
I'm loving BFS. After I finish Summer, I'm going to try Huge in a Hurry and then a speed/power program from Robert Dos Medios.
By the time I'm done, I'm hoping Nate will have a follow up/advanced trainers BFS book out. (HINT HINT NATE!)
Sadly enough, I started out with the Men's Health Body Sculpting Bible for Men my freshman year of college and I'm really embarassed to say it. I would love to wipe that from my memory. I have never done so much isolation work in my life. Really didn't see any results from that considering it was telling me to eat 80 grams of carbs A DAY. I eat that in two meals after I train!
After that, I stumbled across Robert Dos Remedios' Book Men's Health Power Training and have been following it religiously for a year and a half now. I've gone from 145 to 160 from doing compound lifts and it has completely shifted my training philosophy. I do 3 total body workouts a week with some complexes and density sessions on off days. I also follow the nutrition guidelines in Dr. John Berardi's Scrawny to Brawny so I've stopped eating like a 12 year old anorexic girl. So far, still goin strong.
I actually just started training less than a year ago and have packed on 15 lbs of muscle and lost 50 lbs of fat. I started similar to you but just did compound lifts. Oddly though, I was opposite of you in that I trained legs way too much and rarely did upper body. I was always weak up top but strong in my legs, I'm evening out though. Your book helped me develop more in my upper body, thanks to new lifts I never tried.
Holy long comments, Batman! I started working out in 1997 in 7th grade for Junior High football, though it was never very serious. I played football all through college so I was pretty much forced to lift. I took 2 years off after college and am not back at it full time. This is also the first time I've ever done any hypertrophy training at all. It's working, but I much rather prefer strength and explosion over size and mass.
@ Chad
Thanks for the comment, man. I sincerely appreciate the kind words.
@ David
That's a hell of a journey! I remember finding JB's old site and reading articles off T-Nation. Really, I think that's how I was hooked.
@ Sean
Dos's book is awesome, plain and simple. I was lucky enough to submit a program for his next book. (And he even did me a favor by writing a blurb for Built for Show.)
@ Jacob
That's some great progress, man. You should be proud.
@ Dave
I definitely respect your goals. I think there's something to be said for the muscular, jacked guy who's fast and athletic, though.
-Nate
You know, the "Rock's" program in men's health doesn't sound all that horrible. At least it had deadlifts!
and +1 for Precision Nutrition. Or if you're a hard gaining type you might like Scrawny to Brawny's nutrition chapters (not a huge fan of the workouts in that book though).
If you read a couple of Berardi's articles and follow them you'll definitely get better results and most likely be eating more healthy than 99% of the American population.
Cliff Notes of Why I Started
-Freshman in high school and 5'9 and 135 pounds.
-Football coach said , "Your Too SMALL to play".
-Pissed me off
-Started the typical Flex magazine workout routine. I knew very quickly this wasn't right.
-Stole the copy of "Bigger, Faster, Stronger" from the school library.
-Eggs, Oats, Protein Shakes, Wheat bread, Turkey, Tuna, PB&J and a Gallon of Milk Daily
-4 years went from 135 pounds to 185 pounds.
-During the process found T-nation and Dr. Berardi (Genious)
-Here I am today. 190 Pounds (200 @ heaviest and fattest). Competing in Bodybuilding, Powerlifting and most recent Strongman. All for the Love of the Iron.
Nate,
I remember that Men's Health with the rock on it. Came out when he was doing that Walking Tall movie I think.
While obviously the programs in MH are nothing compared to what CW puts together, a 3-day full body workout focusing on compound movements doesn't sound bad at all. Right?
Actually, it sounds just like CW's TBT, which I was a huge fan of in about 04.
What's up big Nate - Haha, is olive oil the only thing you were shooting?
I like the new layout by the way, if I haven't mentioned it -
Only really got serious about it back in November of '08, in a big competition with my brother. Lowest body fat every year at christmas pays an extra month on the mortgage for the investment property we bought (10 year bet).
Started out 28 yr. old male, 6'2 220 with 24% body fat (had to be the worst in my life because I'm always active with sports)
First month I also didn't lift legs because I "play soccer, volleyball, basketball, and racquetball and I didn't need to and didn't want to get slower" also now laugh at my stupidity.
now 190, 13% body fat - I still have a lot to learn but it's been a good journey.
Nate do you take creatine? So far I don't take any supplements.
@ Everyone
Thanks for the comments!
@ Andy
I'll do another blog post about my current supplement program soon!
-Nate
Cool writings Nate man!
I've gotten alot of great tips from Parrillo on nutrition FYI everyone. Top notch they are. Looking forward to your latest training & supp log.
Nate, ever get into the Dr. Ken type training. Also, got any god tips for trainers? Marketing & everything with that?
Also, I enjoy your writings/articles. Any tips about that??
Oh, is there a way for me know by notified when a now blog is put out?
Hey Chad! Please, purty please hit that ENTER botton from time to time. It's on the right side of your keyboard, above the SHIFT key. Thanks man!
Haha...sorry man, I just got into a writing mode and it kept flowing..
My bad!
What's Up Guys?
I started lifting when i was 13. My lifting partner was my Dad and he had me following a program called bigger, faster, stronger (BFS)....Nate you didn't copy this and just change the acronymn...hmm did you??JK for a beginning lifter and athlete it was a pretty basic, but pretty successful program. it followed a 3x3, 5x5, 5,4,3,2,1, and 10,8,6 progression. the goal was to increase your total amount lifted every time you repeated a workout. doing this, by the time i was 17 i was benching 315, squatting 460, and trap deadlifting 505.. that season in football i hurt my shoulder(torn labrum) and became content with how much weight i was moving. through college ball i did just enough to keep my starting spot, never making any real gains. since starting to read T-nation this past year, i have really gotten into high volume training. Since November, my bench increased from 275 to 310 last week, straight bar deadlift was 520 last time i maxed. I also was on the V-diet for a month during that time.
one thing i've found out, is that most people underestimate their own ability. most people give up to easy. if you really want to make a change, stop making excuses, and start doing what it takes to get the job done. do the little things right and the results usually take care of themselves.
I like the new look of the blog nate!
My first training program was jsut totallyr andom. Shit my friends told me to do. We NEVER trained legs, ever... I had no clue how to put any intensity in a workout.
I worked out for 18 months without my bench going up AT ALL.
I started training with my business partner Vic in 2007, and he introduced me to REAL workouts. Squats, deads, presses, bodyweight stuff etc...
I put on about 15 lbs in a year (what I was tryin to do)
Now I actually understand nutrition and training much, much better than I ever did before. Ive become a bit of a "gym junkie" as well...
Good post bro!
- Justin
Nate- I just started CW's Anti body building hypertrophy plan. I have serious training attention deficit disorder, but I love how it is planned out. I hate to say it but... I cut your winter work out (in BFS) short in order to start ABBH!
I do plan on starting BFS from the start (Fall) in the fall. My only worry is that my DL numbers will decrease for the first 6 weeks, as there is no DLing in it.
I used to do shots of olive oil, too! I think my mom freaked out because it's so expensive, though. And I never really gained much from it. Cool post, interesting to know about what it was like for you in the beginning, thanks for sharing
Similar story here!
Actually I detailed the story on my site as well (link available on my name).
I was about 149, and then I met a guy who had a similar story to mine -- except that he was about 200 lbs and LEAN. Actually, he went on to be a competitive bodybuilder.
Anyways. He taught me about lifting heavy and 5x5 templates. I got up to about 200 lbs at my heaviest, and am currently 178 (summer is around the corner!!). I got my max squat up to 470, DL 450 (LOL--i haven't had a reason to test it in a LONG TIME. going to test again at the end of Eric Cressey's program), and bench 280. My shoulders are currently recovering through mobility and soft tissue work :).
Great post, I love skinny-to-big transformations.
Keep up the good work Nate!
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