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How did you get started with bodybuilding?

I started lifting weights in high school mostly for sports.  During my sophomore year my school hired a bodybuilder to be our strength coach and i was blown away by how much muscle mass this guy had!  I started learning the basics from him and by the time I got to college I was hooked on seeing how well I could develop my body.  I played football in college so I would lift with the team doing all the basic football/strength lifts but then sneak back into the weight room later to do my bodybuilding/muscle isolation lifts.  I also began reading a lot of muscle magazines around this time and after learning that Ramen noodles weren’t exactly good carbs and that a can of pork and beans weren’t the best source of protein, my development really began to show.

So what is the bodybuilding training routine that you use to achieve that killer physique?

I stick mostly with standard bodybuilding protocol of hitting each muscle group once a week, 5 days a week, giving them a full week to recover.  I like to hit legs on the 3rd day to break up my upper body.  I’ll typically stick around 3 sets of 10 but I’m always adding drop sets and extended reps to mix it up.  I’ve got a pretty decent metabolism so I cut out cardio when I’m mass building and save it for my cutting phase.

When trying to cut down do you prefer to use HIIT or just normal cardio?

I’m definitely a bigger fan of HIIT cardio.  It seems to help me hold onto my muscle mass while cutting, especially in my legs.  I also love the fact that it takes a fraction of the time!  Often when cutting for shoot I will do HIIT cardio following my lifting session earlier in the day and then do 30 min or so of steady state cardio at the end of the day to burn out any excess blood sugar before bed.  With the effect that HIIT has on my resting metabolism I find I can’t sleep for hours afterwards if I do it later in the evening.

What is your Diet like?

I do the best on my diet when I eat the same thing all the time.  Unless I’m cutting, I’ll cook a box of brown rice and 4 chicken breast in the morning.  I’ll mix that up with a jar of this pineapple salsa that l love and put them in tupperware.  This gives me 4 meals.  That with a couple of protein shakes and some egg whites in the morn makes up the most of my day.  I’ve recently started using those 100% liquid egg whites from Egg Whites International and love them, especially when I’m cutting.  While leaning up I have a couple different carb rotations that I rely on, depending on how much I need to cut and how fast I need to cut it.  If I’m in a big hurry I’ll do 2 days of no carb and then carb up on the third day (for no longer than 2 weeks).  If I have more time, I just taper them off towards the end of the day.

What is your supplementation like?

• 100% liquid egg whites
• Whey 100 form 8 ball nutrition
• NO2 platinum from MRI
• Black Betas from 8 ball nutrition
• ChiKara – Sensei Nutrition

Plans for the future?

My next public appearance will be in LA for the Fit Expo to represent bodybuilding.com on Jan 23rd.  I plan to continue with the fitness modeling and I’m also in talks with NBC for some upcoming projects.  I’m toying with the idea of doing a natural bodybuilding show in August but havn’t yet committed. I also have some big plans for my online personal training website, ithinkfit.com, as well as growing my gym in Omaha (ithinkfitgym.com)

Favorite Quote?

You are what you create and you are ALWAYS creating.

Bodyspace: http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/IThinkFit/
Website: http://www.ithinkfit.com

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