Brian Whitacre, WNBF Pro World LW Champion

[SteHowie]

Hi Brian - love you articles in the US Natural mag    Especially the last one about nipple vests, wiping sweat off with the bottom of your vest and flexing the abbs off - Ha guilty - gone back to my Tee Shirts and hang my head in shame.  Mind you I can't train with too much stuff on cause I sweat like a pig.

You mention that you use a Thermogenic - at what stage in your conditioning do you introduce it?
What brand is it - if you can say 
Do you feel any benefits from taking such a product?
If you were infront of plans - would you still incorporate this into your routine?

I agree with you on a long diet - short ones leave you flat, knackered and stringy - and have tried to use a fat burner before now - but have not really noticed any improvements or benefits - so would be great to get your views

[winter]

27 reps on 180kg- not bad

I read on the BNBF forum that David Kay done 24 at 170kg!

And he will be lighter than Miller.

[BW]

Brian do you find that as you get to lower bodyfat levels your mind plays tricks on you? eg you feel more angry or more emotional? How does your wife feel about the whole dieting process?

Good to see you on here Scott! 
I don't see dramatic changes in mindset as I get leaner, but I do tend to get lightheaded if I go for too long without a meal. When you get far enough along in the diet, there are times when small things upset you, but I always remind myself that I am the one who chose to take this route, and it's unfair to take it out on others.  My wife is extremely supportive of the lifestyle, she doesn't diet with me but understands why I do this and is fine with the hours spent at the gym. As I mentioned, having a supportive spouse is crucial - and she is my biggest fan! 

[BW]

Hi Brian great to have you here.

I have a couple of qs (to start!)

1) I am aware that you are an academic and have influenced many (heard you mention Valentine's name on the recent NB radio interview) into getting involved with the sport. Do you feel bodybuilding has a positive impact on your academic persuits in relation to the discipline, structure and will power involved?

2) Training related this one. Traditionally over here most of the time people seem to train to a weekly split. For the worlds to bring your quads you said you trained over a 2 week split and tabbed exercises onto other workouts, using the principle of increased volume to hit lagging body parts. Could you give us an insight into how you construct a programme like this? hope that makes sense.

Hey Bull (apologies for not knowing everyone's name yet),

1) I actually think that both areas positively impact each other.  I was interested in academia before I discovered bodybuilding.  In school (and now in my job) you keep your vision on long-term goals while accomplishing shorter-term ones, something that lends itself nicely to bodybuilding.  Similarly, the mental discipline required by bbing definitely relates very easily to my job.  I do think the strict schedule that BB requires has helped me plan my workday - I have specific periods of time between each meal that I can dedicate to a certain task. 

2) Yes I am a big fan of the "alternative" training split!  Here is the one I used for Worlds (from my website): 
Week 1

    * Monday: Arms / Calves
    * Tuesday: Shoulders / Traps
    * Wednesday: Back + 7 sets front squats
    * Thursday: OFF
    * Friday: Chest / Calves
    * Saturday: Legs (Quad focus)
    * Sunday: OFF

Week 2

    * Monday: Arms
    * Tuesday: Calves / Traps
    * Wednesday: Legs (Ham focus)
    * Thursday: OFF
    * Friday: Chest / Shoulders
    * Saturday: Back (Deadlifts)
    * Sunday: OFF

It took me a while to put this together.  I thought of what areas I needed to prioritize (quads, overall thickness, calves and traps) and then laid it out so that I wouldn't train anything too closely together and would have time to recover.  I know squats / deads are crucial for overall thickness, but found I couldn't train them in the same with proper intensity.  So I put them a week apart and then built in the additional training days based on my priorities / recovery time.  It's a little awkward in some sense (note that you don't train back for about 10 days before you deadlift) but by that time I was itching to hit it! 

I've just now come off this split after being on it for over a year.  I will likely return to it - got some of my best results I think. 

[BW]

Brian cracking stuff having you on here!.. Couple of questions:
- What does your diet look like both on & off season? Are you as strict with the diet in the offseason, ie: do you have scheduled cheat meals or do you have something if you fancy it at the time?
- Is it true you train with Doug Miller (he has some brill videos on YouTube of him doing deads!)
- If the above question is true, any chance you can persuade him to join the board too  ?
- Oh, English or American football lol ?

Thanks Dan - great to chat with like-minded folks. 

My contest diet is laid out on my website (although it needs updating) - the basics are low fat, high protein and cycled carbs spread out over 7/8 meals.  So for days when I'm training legs I would have a high carb day, while arms or an off day would be low carb.  In terms of P/C/F it might look like:
Low: 270 P / 120 C / 40 F = 1920 cals
Med: 270 P / 165 C / 40 F = 2000 cals
High: 270 P / 300 C / 40 F = 2640 cals

My off-season still has 7/8 meals, but more carbs / fat with each one.  6 of the meals are "bodybuilding friendly" meaning healthy food, but just more of it than in contest season, and dinner I eat every night with my wife and don't care what it is: pizza, lasagna, burgers, salad, etc.  So I guess you could say I have a cheat meal every day (although for the most part dinners are reasonable).

Yes, I have had the pleasure of training with Doug several times.  Unfortunately he is on the other side of the country now, but whenever I'm back in that area I try to lift with him.  I love training with people stronger than me, and Doug and Kurt Weidner are the most intense people I've ever trained with.  I would guarantee they could both pull 4 plates for 30+ reps.  I'll see what I can do to get him on board - I know he has a real job (as an economist too!) and also runs small businesses on the side, so he's a busy guy. 

And lastly, this may surprise you all, but I grew up playing soccer and it's still my favorite sport.  I was an average striker but wasn't good enough to play collegiately - although my wife was an all-state defender in college.  Still love watching EPL games - that Rooney goal last week was superb!  And of course please give my thanks to Robert Green for the W.C. gift to us yanks.    I do enjoy American football too - probably watch at least one game per weekend when it's in season.  The size and speed of those guys is insane.  We have some American football players on campus - 18 years old and 230-240 lbs (sorry no kg conversion) with reasonable levels of bodyfat.  True genetic freaks some of them. 

[winter]

Wow, amazing detail in the answers. thanks for sharing you knowledge, Brian.

[SCOTTGALTON]

Brian do you find that as you get to lower bodyfat levels your mind plays tricks on you? eg you feel more angry or more emotional? How does your wife feel about the whole dieting process?

Good to see you on here Scott! 
I don't see dramatic changes in mindset as I get leaner, but I do tend to get lightheaded if I go for too long without a meal. When you get far enough along in the diet, there are times when small things upset you, but I always remind myself that I am the one who chose to take this route, and it's unfair to take it out on others.  My wife is extremely supportive of the lifestyle, she doesn't diet with me but understands why I do this and is fine with the hours spent at the gym. As I mentioned, having a supportive spouse is crucial - and she is my biggest fan! 

Thanks Brian it's a real plus for us all to be able to pick your brains.

Do you do anything special to add some interest to your meals? or do you just eat for fuel?

[BW]

Hi Brian - love you articles in the US Natural mag    Especially the last one about nipple vests, wiping sweat off with the bottom of your vest and flexing the abbs off - Ha guilty - gone back to my Tee Shirts and hang my head in shame.  Mind you I can't train with too much stuff on cause I sweat like a pig.

You mention that you use a Thermogenic - at what stage in your conditioning do you introduce it?
What brand is it - if you can say 
Do you feel any benefits from taking such a product?
If you were infront of plans - would you still incorporate this into your routine?

I agree with you on a long diet - short ones leave you flat, knackered and stringy - and have tried to use a fat burner before now - but have not really noticed any improvements or benefits - so would be great to get your views

Glad you like the article!  I have another one in this next issue of NB&F (just came out here in the US).  I really dislike the egotistical stereotype associated with BB, I actually enjoy staying covered up and not drawing attention to myself while others (typically non-competitors) strut about like they own the gym. 

In terms of a thermogenic, I'm sponsored by Scivation who makes a great thermo called Dialene.  I also love their preworkout product Quake, although I understand it will be revamped and renamed in the near future.  I typically introduce thermos around 10 weeks into the diet, just before a.m. cardio, and then bump it up to twice per day around after about 18 weeks.  At that point, I take the other dose about 30 mins before my workout, along with Quake and rarely have a bad workout on that combo.  The only other thermo that I've tried and liked is Redline by VPX, it opens your eyes after a long day at work too.  I would say if you're using a thermo but not seeing any noticeable bump in energy - it's time to try a new thermo. 

If I felt like I was ahead of schedule, I would probably not introduce the thermo at that time.  One thing I have been pretty good at is taking progress pics as I diet down, so I can always compare to how I looked last year at the same time and see if I'm ahead of or behind schedule.  For the past 4 years, though, I've been consistent in my approach and my condition has dialed in almost exactly on schedule over that 26 week period. 

[BW]

One more thing...thought I would share this vid of my old training partner Kurt Weidner deadlifting with the trap bar.  Personally I love the trap bar as it saves my shins from being constantly scraped doing traditional deads.  In my opinion Kurt is the leanest HW in the WNBF, and I've never met anyone who trains harder. 

515 lbs (about 235 kg) for 13 reps.  I know, he didn't completely re-set on every rep, but I've seen him do that as well and it's pretty impressive also. 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VEkHqlS2dI

[SCOTTGALTON]

the only place I have found that magazine was in Guernsey when I was on holiday.

That video of Kurt is immense. Will he compete again?

[SteHowie]

Scott I oder it from the US - you dont get every mag - but it is great to see and rad about how the guys and girls over there live and breathe the sport.

Kurts form throughout the vid is brilliant and strength is immense. 

Is it easier to do deads with the trap bar in terms of balance and grip?

[BW]

One more from my buddy Kurt...405 lbs (180 kg) for 32 reps...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hafd5IPs1xk

Kurt also has an interview on Natural Bodybuilding Radio this week.  His nutrition knowledge really comes out in the end.  http://naturalbodybuildingradio.com/spotlight-on-champions/wnbf-pro-kurt-the-animal-weidner

In the interview, he says he's targeting Worlds this year.  I felt he was placed low in 2009 but the new Mass Round should really help him out this year.  Nobody lives or breaths bbing more than this guy! 

Personally I like the trap bar better - it's easier for me to balance and as I mentioned, my form on traditional deads is not picture perfect.  You do utilize a bit more quad, but it's still a great back builder in my opinion.  Grip is about the same - I use straps when I deadlift, but Kurt never does and you can see his grip didn't fail on that set of 32. 

Oh and Scott - in terms of food, I stick to the basics - I eat pretty much the same thing every day, and only rarely will I even heat up my meals.  I definitely eat for fuel.  I'm not the best in the kitchen, but I do use Mrs. Dash spices on my chicken and a good portion of hot sauce (0 carb of course) on several of my meals.  Mustard with tuna is something else I've come to enjoy. 

[thebull]

Kurts got a great video library on his website, he is truely a beast when it comes to weight for reps.
I managed to pick up nb and f on the isle of wight so not sure what the criteria is for places to get it in?!

Brian, in your diet on your website it looks like the only solid fat source u get in during your diet is yolks from eggs. All the rest seem to come from whatever is in food (ie extra in oats)
 Do u take an extra sup for this or am I missing something?

Thanks for your last reply, I have developed a programme to get the best out of those two lifts. (Squats and deads)

Also just a question about your competition-
There is a chap I have seen compete in wnbf shows, francisco monte(can't remember the last bit of his name!)
If he did the worlds as a light or middle, how do u think he would fair?

[daveybriggs]

brian, do you still get nervous in the run upto a show and do you pay much attention to your competition in the run up?

also are there many mind games backstage at the WNBF shows?


fransisco Montealegre i think it is bull

[thebull]

That's the fella davey! Yeah I only ask becasue he beat clarida the year shaun won the worlds. Brian has also mentioned that there are guys he has not faced off with in the wnbf yet.

Give yourself a break brian...world dominance on a number of occassions is a decent achievement !