When did you decide to get into bodybuilding and why?
I was around 12 years old, maybe a year younger, when I decided I wanted to be involved in organized sports. I moved to a new school and was befriended by some athletes that really made me feel welcome and I had a blast. The downside was that I had already begun a pre-puberty body-fat-gaining spree and I was a chubby, unskilled kid. I pursued it hard and started lifting weights, subscribed to muscle magazines, spent all of my allowance on the latest lifting gadgets, and my career was born. By the time I was 13 I was a baseball beast and training was the driving force of my progress. After high school, without organized sports, my focus turned to bodybuilding as a sport.
What keeps you motivated?
At this point, having competed from the time I was 20 years old through about age 37-38, I consider myself retired (haven’t been on stage in 3 years.) I loved competing in the WNBF as a pro and my motivation was to keep moving up…every show I wanted to improve my look and my placing, and I did. What brought me into this sport was purely the love of training and that’s still my greatest motivation today. I’ve always got a new training goal; a reason to train hard and the fun in the gym and the rewards of better health and maintaining the physique I want is enough for me – it’s as fun as ever, even after 28 years of training.
What are your major bodybuilding accomplishments?
When I was 16 I made goals of competing before I was 21 and turning pro before I was 30. I stepped on stage the month before I was 21 and won my pro card when I was 27. Turning pro makes you realize how genetically gifted people are at the top – we all have our strengths, but very few people aren’t saddled with enough weaknesses to keep them out of the top spots. My very pro first show I placed dead last. That was a long ride home, but adversity will either send you in a different direction or force you to improve. I chose the latter. Every contest I set goals of where I wanted to place and one by one I achieved them all, ending with a top-5 at the International. No World Championships, just an average pro who started at the bottom and had a blast working up as high as I could, forcing myself to get every ounce of progress I could from my will and my body.
In your opinion, what qualities must a person who is looking to embark in the endeavor of competing in bodybuilding must possess?
Patience above all else. This is an endeavor measured in years and decades. Too many people want to win their first show or turn pro their first year. Enjoy the process, set goals, and have fun. What will allow you to persevere and enjoy the sport and lifestyles is the determination to accomplish something that takes much time, much planning, and much consistency.
What does your diet consist of?
When dieting, due to a pretty low met rate/endomorphic body type tendencies, I have to stick to no more than about 1.25 g of protein per pound of lean body mass and about 1 g of carbs per pound of lean body mass. I keep fat pretty low to moderate. For me that means about 225 g of protein, 150 g of carbs, and 35-40 g of fat. One clean, moderate carb-up day per week at 300-350 grams. As I get leaner, I will sometimes need to go to 100 to 125 g of carbs, but most people don’t do well lower and I’m no exception. When I’ve tried to go ketogenic, it just causes too much muscle loss and metabolic shutdown. Though my diet is basic (egg whites, chicken, turkey, protein powder, oats, rice, vegetables, some fruit, etc.), I do allow variety….there’s 
nothing wrong with whole grains, breads, low-fat cheese, etc.
What is your training like?
I can’t stray too far from lifting heavy – I just love it. Fifteen to twenty years ago, though, I started tinkering around with undulating periodization models to make sure I was getting enough hypertrophy work and using those higher-intensity days/weeks as a break from the heavier core movements (squats, deads, presses). The results were staggering and many people come to my site now just for the articles on non-linear periodization. A week doesn’t go by that someone comments how much bigger and stronger they get with that structured of a lifting approach. Though there’s much more detail to it, in a nutshell, it’s lifting like a power lifter one week – only the heavy, basic movements, rest between sets, and the only focus is on strength progress. The next week you don’t use those movements at all, but you use nauseating levels of intensity…not “high reps” in terms of light weight, but super sets, giant sets, and going deep, deep into work load.
More on my background and my website
Being molded by baseball and training, I turned my college pursuits to physiology after three years majoring in business. I ended up in orthopedic physical therapy and loved it – still do. But, as I launched my career, training and competing was more and more my passion so I started graduate work in nutrition and health just for fun. I ended up finishing my first doctorate the same year I won my pro card and with only one young child at the time (four now), I decided it was then or never if I were going to do anything entrepreneurial. I bought a small, private gym, started doing nutritional work, started helping competitors diet and peak for contests, and through about fifteen years of twists and turns I now have published books in general population nutrition, I’ve been a contributing science editor for Natural Bodybuilding & Fitness Magazine as well as Best Body, I finished a second doctorate in health education, I have a tremendous staff that has helped me create a company with services for clients that just can’t be matched, and we have plans for so much more. Right now we’re even creating a non-profit organization to help with childhood nutrition in our country – both malnutrition and obesity. Our competition website is perfectpeaking.com, but you can find general info at thedietdoc.com, our store at dietdocshop.com, and a couple more sites you can link to from there. I hesitate to talk too much here and bore anyone, but there’s a lot of info on our forums and in our article sections.
Layne Norton And Dr. Joe’s Training/Nutrition Tips
Joe’s Professional Clients
Currently Joe has helped his clients win over 150 Pro Cards, and more than 30 Pro Titles!
Shaun Clarida – 2009 WNBF World LW Champion
Steve Subcleff – 2009 WNBF Masters Champion
Martin Daniels – 2009 WNBF World HW Champion/2008 WNBF Mid America Overall Champion
Jim Cordova – Previous client during 2007 – 2007 WNBF World Overall Champion/2007 WNBF Mr. Universe Overall Champion/2007 WNBF Pro America Overall Champion
Brad Steere – 2008 WNBF Mr. International LW Champion
Kent Julius – 2001 WNBF International LW Champion
Layne Norton – Previous Client during NGA and IFPA Pro Card Wins
Nancy Andrews – WNBF 4x World Bodybuilding Overall Champion
Joan Lopez – 2006 WNBF Pro America Bodybuilding Overall Champion/2007 WNBF Ms. Universe Bodybuilding Overall Champion
Jody Poirier – 2002 WNBF Ms. Universe Bodybuilding Overall Champion
Karen Miller – 2001 WNBF Ms Universe Bodybuilding Champion/2002 WNBF Ms. International Bodybuilding Champion/2005 WNBF Pro America Bodybuilding Overall Champion/
Kristi Dietrich – 2006 Ms. Universe Bodybuilding Champion
Nancy Hanna – 2005 WNBF World Overall Bodybuilding Champion
Arlene Lurey – 2006 WNBF US Cup Figure Overal Champion/2007 WNBF Ms. Universe Figure Overall Champion/2008 WNBF World Figure Short Champion
Janet Marsico – 2008 WNBF Figure World Overall Champion
Alli Kerr – 2008 WNBF Ms. Universe Figure Champion
Melissa Kelley – 2009 WNBF Short Figure World Champion/2008 WNBF Pro America Figure Overall Champion
Jennifer Pasterkiewicz – WNBF Pro and 2009 Naturalmania Best Body Champion
Michelle Shepherd – 2007 WNBF World Figure Overall Champion
Terri Morales – 2009 WNBF Mid America Overall Figure Champion
Websites:
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