Journey to the WABBA World Body Building Championships in Padua, Venice, Italy – 11th June 2012 with the UK Team

The Journey began on the 27^th February at The Crowne Plaza (Essex Arena) in Colchester as this was to be the venue for the Hercules Olympia WABBA UK Qualifier on the 26^th/27^th May 2012, I had travelled down from Milton Keynes to take a look at the venue where I had been asked to guest pose and see the photo-shoot being done for promoting the event.

I now had 12wks to get in shape for the Guest Pose at the Hercules Olympia and a further 2 weeks following that event to be ready for the WABBA World Championships in Italy. You can see from the photo above taken on the 27^th Feb that I was in reasonable condition for the ‘Off season’ weighing in at 21’5lbs at 6’ft tall.

Weeks 14 – 10

Over the first 4 week period I would introduce two short 20-30 min C.V sessions to my normal daily routine, the first being on an empty stomach first thing in the morning and a second session directly after my afternoon weights workout.  I would begin my Carb Cycling which suits me and the way I work and live. There are several versions of it and you will find one to suit you. The main advantages of carb cycling are that you run down stored glycogen in the muscle, which in turn accelerates fat burning, however if you are in calorie deficit for too long a period, your metabolic rate will automatically reduce to protect from starvation. If you have a dramatic increase in Carbs for a short period this can replenish glycogen stores to near normal levels, without adding fat and trick your body into thinking it can remain at its heightened metabolic rate. The way that suits me is: Lower carbs Mon-Fri and then at the weekend increase carbs to normal non-dieting amounts and the cycle begins again on Monday.

This is done to burn body fat and stimulates the metabolism; I reduced my carbohydrate intake from 400g per day to 300g per day for the first 4 weeks and would use the scales each Friday morning and mirror to ascertain my progress. My protein intake remained at my ‘Off Season’ amount approx. 300-400g and Fats would remain the same at approx. 100g. This works out at approx. 3700kCal per day and combined with the added C.V work I was undertaking. My carbohydrate sources would mainly be low GI foods such as Oats, Sweet Potato, Quinoa and Basmati rice; this is done to keep energy levels and blood sugar levels stable as we don’t want to add fat we want to burn it. At this point I would still be using protein powder supplements and would of added several supplements to assist fat meltdown such as: BCAA’s and Glutamine, HMB, L’Carnitine, CLA, Fat Burners -Forza T5’s, I also recommend using digestive enzymes to help breakdown and assimilate nutrients. I am very fortunate and have two main sponsors who supply 99% of the supplements I use:

NRGFUEL & Genr8/Drink.be

                                

Weeks 10 – 6

At this point it’s normal to increase C.V to burn off more fat, I increase time in the morning to 60 mins, Post-Workout to 30 mins and I would add a 60 min Power Walk at lunch-time just to get out of the gym for a change. I also reduced my carbohydrate intake from 300g to 250g per day. Posing practice begins to get ‘match fit’ and other than that it’s pretty much ‘Ground-Hog day’ our routine is our downfall and saviour as a dieting body builder. We cling to the routine to time meals and combat hunger but if our routine is broken this can really mess up your head……..be prepared!

Weeks 6 – 2

C.V training is up to a full 2hrs a day at this moment in time along with 60mins of core exercises thrown in, to ensure the abdominals are nice and tight. The hunger is usually starting to grate and you find yourself becoming much more inventive with food, each meal is very important to you as you covet your food like it’s about to be taken away! Insomnia starts to creep in due to restricted carb intake and stimulants such as coffee, EPA, Yohimbe and Gurana all start to burn the candle at both ends. This is where self-discipline really comes in to its own as you feel lethargic and the motivation wains slightly. The end is in sight though, so close, don’t give in now as we are past the half-way point and everything would have been in vain.

Weeks 2 – 0

For most people this includes a 5 day depletion period to empty all the glycogen out of the muscles, this is pure torture and can stop some people in their tracks. It is done so that when your refill them with carbs something wonderful happens: SUPER COMPENSATION!

This is where the body having sensed calorie deficit go’s into overdrive and produces huge amounts of glycogen and packs those muscles full to the brim, tightening the skin around the muscles and veins. To do this copious amounts of water have to be consumed every day 8-14 litres depending on your body weight, for every gram of carbs to be processed by the body you need to put in 3g of water. Commonly people carb load with Oatmeal, Sweet Potato, Bananas, be.supreme, rice and I even know people who use baby food, as it contains no salt. Now simply got to shave and begin the tanning process. The bit I least like!

The results can be seen in the image below.

Train Hard, Train Smart but above all else ENJOY IT. Martin ‘The Beast’ Stevenson

WABBA UK Athlete

www.onlysupplements.co.uk

My Supplement regime

I keep being asked what supplements do I take, why and when? 

To save lots of time here you go: 

05.15 NRGFUEL L'Glutamine 10g - Immune support/Anti Catabolic 

06.45 NRGFUEL BCAA's 10g - Immune support/Anti Catabolic 

07.00 EVOGEN Cell KEM - 3 scoops - Anti Catabolic 

07.00 Cardio 

08.00 NRGFUEL 100% Whey - 3 Scoops - Muscle Build/ Immune support/Anti Catabolic 

08.30 MEAL 

10.30 MEAL 

12.30 MEAL 

14.00 PRE-Workout EVOGEN EVP - 3 scoops - Anti Catabolic/Cell Volumiser/Vasodilator. 

NRGFUEL BCAA's 10g - Immune support/Anti Catabolic, NRGFUEL CEE Creatine Ethyl Ester 5g - Cell Volumiser/Strength Enhancer 

14.30 TRAIN INTRA-WORKOUT: BODITRONICS 'Intra-cell' Amino & electrolytes 15.30 POST-WORKOUT: EVOGEN Cell KEM - 3 scoops - Anti Catabolic/Recovery enhancer Wait 20 mins, NRGFUEL CEE Creatine Ethyl Ester 5g - Cell Volumiser/Strength Enhancer 

16.00 POST-WORKOUT SHAKE: BODITRONICS 'ISO-WHEY' Whey Isolate 60g, 100g of Genr8 be.supreme Vitargo formula. Wait 60 mins 

17.00 MEAL 

19.00 MEAL 

21.00 MEAL

23.00 PRE - Bedtime: NRGFUEL L'Glutamine 10g - Immune support/Anti Catabolic, NRGFUEL ZMA - Immune support/Anti Catabolic/ Endocrine Support Wait 20 mins 
23.20 BEDTIME: NRGFUEL 'CASEIN' 75g - Immune support/Anti Catabolic/Muscle Build
All products purchased from www.onlysupplements.co.uk

Interview with Testosterone Muscle Forum

Introduction

Martin Stevenson – Competitive Bodybuilder/Gym Owner/Independent Sports Nutrition Distributor      

Age 42

Weight (Off Season 21’0lbs / 133kg)  (Competition 19’0lbs /120.6kg)

How did you get into training and competing ?

I used to race in Down Hill and Cross Country Mountain Biking events; I was very fit and had an athletic physique. At that time my bodyweight was approx. 13’2 lbs. / 184 lbs. / 83.4 kg and at six feet tall, I felt pretty skinny.

I then had an accident whilst riding and broke my clavicle (Collar-bone) and damaged ligaments and tendon in my right arm, I spent six weeks in a sling and the result was wasting of the muscle (atrophy) in my right arm and shoulder. In Sept 1999 I visited a renowned physiotherapist and accomplished body builder Stuart Cosgrove. Stuart used to treat and train with Dorian Yates and has treated Ronnie Coleman, Ernie Taylor to name just a few. Stuart treated the injury over a course of weeks and once recovered explained that I needed to rebuild the muscle or this would result in permanent weakness. Stuart set me a programme and instructed me to increase my protein intake to assist in recovery and strengthening by promoting repair to muscle tissue.

I continued riding and weight training and felt stronger than ever, my riding improved due to my upper body and core strength which helped manoeuvre and control the bike especially over rocky terrain. After a few months training Stuart commented on the rapid change in my body composition and suggested I take up body building as he felt I had good genetics, Stuart offered to mentor me and six months later I competed in my first bodybuilding competition, I placed fourth in the Intermediates at the Mr Northern UK show, I was delighted and no one believed I had been training for a total of twelve months. I now began to feel this was the right direction for me to take and under Stuart’s guidance I set about training for the same competition the year after. I entered the following year and won my class at 15’1lbs! I was hooked!

Several years of training and studying every piece of information I could find, led to me achieving more trophies and then ultimate prize. I bought my own gym, Olney Health & Fitness Ltd based in Olney near Milton Keynes in November 2005. I became a qualified Gym Instructor and Personal Trainer and have since helped many others compete. Boditronics offered to sponsor me and have done so for many years now until I recently signed up with NRGFUEL. I currently weigh 21’0 lbs. or 133kg with a body fat of approx. 10%.

Competition history

2001 OPEN ‘Mr. Northern UK’ Intermediates 4^th

2001 OPEN ‘Mr. Northern UK’ Open 4^th

2002 OPEN ‘Mr. Northern UK’ Intermediates 1^st

2002 OPEN ‘Mr. Northern UK’ O/80kg 2^nd

2002 EFBB ‘Mansfield Classic’ Intermediates 3^rd

2002 EFBB ‘British Finalist’ Intermediates

2002 OPEN ‘Fitness 2000-Mike Ahearn Classic’ Intermediates 1^st

2002 OPEN ‘Fitness 2000-Mike Ahearn Classic’ OPEN 4^th

2003 NABBA ‘Mr. England’ Intermediates 4^th

Nov 2005: Opened my own gym Olney Health & Fitness Ltd in Milton Keynes Area

2006: Qualified as Personal Trainer

2007 UKBFF ‘Midlands’ Super Heavyweights 2^nd

2007 UKBFF British Super Heavyweights Finalist

2010 UKBFF ‘Leicester’ Super Heavyweights 1^st

2010 UKBFF British Final Super Heavyweights 5^th

2010 UKBFF ‘Mr. Hercules’ Super Heavyweights 3^rd

2011 IFBB Amateur Olympia International Grand Prix 9^th

2011 UKBFF ‘Bodypower’ Super Heavyweights 3^rd

2011 UKBFF ‘Bedford’ Super Heavyweights 1^st

2011 UKBFF British Super Heavyweights Finalist

2011 WABBA Mr. UNIVERSE Germany Extra Tall Class 7^th

What was your best achievement to date ?  (how did you get to that point ? how did it feel when you achieved it ?)

My most rewarding achievement has been when I have qualified or been invited to represented my country which I have done twice :

2011 IFBB Amateur Olympia International Grand Prix and 2011 WABBA Mr. UNIVERSE Germany and a further time I was invited but was unable to due to work commitments: 2011 IFBB Arnold Classic Spain

This I felt was achieved by consistency, I actually enjoy my daily routine of eating clean and training. I don’t really drink alcohol apart from the odd glass of wine with a meal on a special occasion, I don’t really do anything to excess and so I feel I am in more of an anabolic rather than catabolic state the majority of the time. I was delighted to be asked by Neale Cranwell and Dean Ash of the Active Channel to be a guest Body builder on the SKY Active TV Channel High Voltage ‘Shoulders’ & High Voltage ‘Chest’ workouts which I appeared in and enjoyed.

What motivates you ?

I have 3 children my eldest daughter Ashley aged 18, my eldest son Callum aged 16 and my youngest son Jaime aged 11, they all think it’s great to have a Dad that everyone notices. My son Callum was starved of oxygen and has Cerebral Palsy as a result of damage to his brain, its mainly affected his ability to stand and so he is in a wheelchair. The fact that Callum is disabled, motivates me to do the best I can with my body and he is very proud to have a Dad like the HULK. Callum himself is a big lad and I need to be strong to lift him LOL. I never wanted to wake up one day fat, bald and ready for a heart attack due to poor diet, excessive drinking and lack of exercise.

What is your typical diet and training like for the competition ?

My diet consists of 1.8g protein /2g carbs / 0.5g Fat per lb. in bodyweight so at my current weight 21’0 lbs. /294 lbs. / 133kg I consume 530g protein / 600 g carbs / 140g Fat. I prefer to stay in good shape all year around and don’t see any benefit from putting on too much fat as it just makes tying your shoelaces so difficult without puffing and panting. The only weight I want to carry around with me is lean muscle tissue not an extra 70 lbs. of fat which affects your blood pressure and joints. My carb intake is moderate and my fat intake is higher than most, I must add that most of my fat intake is in the form of Udo’s Oil a blend of healthy fats with Omega 3, 6 & 9 EFA’s this is a good source of energy without water retention as high carbs cause water retention. Udo’s is also fantastic for joints, skin and has multitude of other health benefits.

Protein whole-food sources: Chicken, Turkey, Steak, Tuna, White fish, egg whites

Protein Supplements: Glutamine, BCAA’s, Whey, Micellar Casein

Carbs whole-food sources: Basmati rice, Sweet Potato, Baked Potato, Oats, small amount of fruit

Carbs Supplements: Vitargo (Fast acting Carbohydrate) be.supreme by Genr8

Fats: Udo’s oil, Olive oil, Walnuts, Almonds, egg yolks, oily fish

I train 5 days per week for approx. 1hr each session, I train for 6wks Heavy (10 reps with 2 min’s rest between sets) then I train for 6wks (15 reps with 30 sec’s rest) and then repeat. My split looks something like:

Mon: Chest & Abs

Tues: Back

Wed: Legs & Abs

Thurs: Shoulders, Traps & Rear Delts

Fri: Biceps/Triceps & Abs

What Supplements you use?

It is paramount to have a balanced diet and I try in the main to use supplements for around 50% of my calorie intake and whole-foods for the remaining 50%, this keep the gut healthy and intestines clear with lots of fibre. The clearer the intestine the more nutrients you can absorb.

I use in the main NRGFUEL supplements as they are my sponsor, I have found NRGFUEL to have no nonsense approach, they produce a high specification product, backed by research and without the hype and bogus claims of some of the industries less reputable companies.

I take 100% Whey / Vitargo Carb Powder first thing on waking in the off-season, this signals my body to stop being catabolic and return to a positive nitrogen balance. The reason I use Whey is that it is rapidly absorbed and the advantage of Vitargo over glucose is that it is absorbed 70% faster. I take this in the form of 50g Protein and 60g Carbs in the morning and for Post-Training 75g Protein and 100g Carbs to replenish glycogen and begin the recovery process (Consumed immediately Post-Workout) then eat a whole-food meal 60-90mins later as this represents the anabolic window.

BCAAs

Branch Chain Amino Acids are the 8 Aminos that the body cannot make from other amino acids, therefore supplementation of BCAAs is essential in times of increased stress from heavy training or dieting.

NRGFUEL L’Glutamine

When dieting I take L’Glutamine with water on an empty stomach pre-cardio in the morning, pre-training and before bed. With L’Glutamine it is very important not to take it with other forms of protein as the aminos compete for absorption so wait at least 20mins before taking other forms of protein. L’Glutamine can reduce DOMS (Delayed Onset Muscle Soreness), helps improve gut health and improves immune system. L’Glutamine is the most abundant amino acid in the body and so should be topped up when being depleted by hard training.

NRGFUEL TTP Anabolic

This is a Whey/Micellar Casein mix as a peptide this offers a time release effect and so can be taken any time of day to boost protein intake or as a stand-alone shake. It is high in BCAAs and has pre-biotics to aid digestion. This is a Pre and Post Workout shake again high in BCAAs but with added Creatine and Beta Alanine which delays fatigue, Profusion also has added carbs in the form of glucose and maltodextrin. This type of product is now referred to as an ‘All in One’

 

NRGFUEL Casein

This is a Micellar Casein this offers a time release effect the Micellar Casein is slow to digest in this product making it ideal before bed to reduce catabolism through the night.  It is high in BCAAs.

Other NRGFUEL Products also used:                      

ZMA                                      Endocrine Support, Testosterone booster

Creatine                               Increase strength

UDO’s Oil

Special blend of non-fish oils to give optimum ratio of EFA’s Essential Fatty Acids, including Omega 3, 6 and 9. This blend helps lubricate joints, control blood sugar, increase energy, moisturise skin, improve healing, increase concentration and improve cardio vascular function.

Example of (Off Season )diet

Meal 1: 50g Whey Isolate/ 60g Vitargo

Meal 2: 150g (Dry) Oats / Chopped Banana / 3 Scoops Whey Vanilla / 3 Dessert Spoons Udo’s Oil

Meal 3: Large Baked Potato / Broccoli /300g Fillet Steak

Meal 4: Pre-Training 3 Scoops TTP Anabolic

Meal 5: Post-Training 75g Whey Isolate / 100g Vitargo

Meal 6: 100g (Dry) Basmati Rice, / 300g (Cooked) Turkey

Meal 7: Large Sweet Potato / 300g (Cooked) Chicken

Meal 8: 3 Scoops Casein / 3 Dessert Spoons Udo’s Oil

Interests outside of bodybuilding ?

I ride motorbikes. I enjoy riding my Honda Super Blackbird 1100xx sports tourer around Europe in the Summer with my partner Kerry and my mates. We have travelled around the Alps, Black Forest in Germany and all over Northern Spain and Portugal.

I also do some Enduro riding and Green Lane riding in the Winter on my Suzuki DRZ400 and get covered in mud up to my eyes.

What are your plans for this year regarding bodybuilding ?

I am resting at the moment and enjoying the ‘Off Season’ having competed many times in the last 18 mths, I am guest posing at the Hercules ‘Olympia’ in May, a WABBA qualifier for the Worlds and Universe. I have qualified to do the WABBA Universe in Dec 2012 and my intention is to win the Extra Tall Class and challenge for the ‘Overall’ title.

Goals and ambitions in life ?

To win my Pro-Card and Mr. Universe/World Titles with NABBA, WABBA, NPA or IFBA.

I would like to be involved in more TV programs to promote Body Building in a positive way.

To continue and expand my own gyms success to date.

Continue to build my Independent supplement company to ensure body builders can get great products at a reasonable price.

Marry my finance Kerry

Final words / sponsors details, contact info ie fb fan page, website ect

Enjoy your training and if you are not achieving your targets then have the sense to take a step back and re-evaluate what you are doing and why? The answer is not always ‘MORE’ sometimes its ‘LESS’. Consistency is the key to everything, be consistent and you will grow, the last thing you want are reasonable gains followed by huge losses either due to injury or blind over-enthusiasm.

Sponsors: NRGFUEL, 1 REPMAX and Genr8 Vitargo

Gym: Olney Health and Fitness Ltd          www.olneyfitnessclub.co.uk

Supplement Company:                                 www.onlysupplements.co.uk

Face Book:                                                          www.facebook.com/pages/Martin-Stevenson-Bodybuilder/131877093547140

www.facebook.com/www.onlysupplements.co.uk

www.facebook.com/www.olneyfitnessclub.co.uk