20: A Day In The Life Of A Bodybuilder

What does it mean to be a bodybuilder? Is it really that hard?

In today’s episode, as a 20 year bodybuilding veteran, I share the specifics on what my diet, training, and cardio all look like. 

I also share how I structure my day in and around my training and nutrition.

And then…at the end of the episode I make an exciting announcement about my upcoming podcast tour of The United States!  Link below if you want to show tour support. Also, episodes are coming weekly, and while on tour, at least 2x a week.

Let me know what resonates with you in our Facebook group called “The ‘Everything Else’ in Bodybuilding Podcast Insiders!”

Additional Resources:

-Donate to support my podcast tour of The United States! https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb
-Want to learn how to pose effectively for your category from the start? Come to a Learn To Pose™ LIVE Virtual Clinic! www.posingpractice.com 
-Want to WIN your next competition? I can help! Learn more at: www.posingwinsshows.com
-FREE posing tutorials for Figure, Bikini, and Men's Physique competitors at www.learntopose.com 
-FREE ebook “5 Things Every Bodybuilding and Fitness Competitor Needs To Know Before Preparing For A Show” at www.eeinbb.com
-Grab your “My Own Motivation” tank top at shop.killitwithdrive.com 

Key Takeaways:

*Examples of nutrition protocols of some professional bodybuilders (3:28)
*The effects of labeling foods as good or “illegal” (5:05)
*My view on the “bodybuilding lifestyle” vs contest prep (6:16)
*My current nutrition protocol (8:11)
*My current training protocol (10:37)
*My current cardio protocol (11:15)
*Announcing my podcast tour of The United States! (12:27)

Welcome back to the show guys! There are many misconceptions about what it takes to be a bodybuilder. It goes without saying that when I say bodybuilding, I’m referring to not just the bodybuilding division, but the physique, classic physique, figure, wellness, bikini and model divisions. So when I mention bodybuilding just know I mean alll of you. I recently watched some vlogs on YouTube where people shared their contest prep journeys. They seem to all include doing a lot of cardio and eating no carbs. There was one person who was doing 2 hours of cardio a day on top of her lifting workouts like 8 weeks out from her show.  The crazy part is…all that work, effort, and time, and she didn’t look anywhere near lean enough on show day. A lot of people are frustrated when hopping on the bodybuilding journey and trying to figure out the right formula to get them ripped.  Getting someone to lift is rarely the problem, although I don’t think many people lift heavy enough or take enough rest time in between sets to keep the quality of work up.  Most of the time it’s the nutrition component that has people pulling their hair out. It’s to the point where I saw the word illegal used in a fitness group. This person actually referenced certain foods as being illegal.  I can only imagine the mental agony this person feels on a daily basis categorizing foods as illegal. I can feel the stress in my belly just thinking about what it must be like walking by an illegal food. Like if you decide to have an illegal food, do you need a bandana and a gun when grabbing it from the aisle at the grocery store? I mean, really, what a stressful existence that is totally not necessary.  

A lot of people are curious what a bodybuilder eats to achieve a ripped physique.  So much that some bodybuilding influencers are posting what they are eating in a day.  Hunter Labrada , who is an Olympia level pro bodybuilder  was just roasted on YouTube for posting that all of his meals are liquid. He has protein shakes for some of his meals and for others he blends the chicken and other solids so he can drink it instead of chewing it. He also eats a lot of Rice Krispies and that brought out the trolls in droves just waiting to pounce. Speaking of, what’s up with YouTube anyways. It has to be the most troll infested social media platform.  Anyone with me on this? If you don’t know what I mean, post something and see how fast the keyboard warriors come out to click the dislike button with utter joy.  

Lauralie Chapados who has one of the most incredible bikini physiques this sport has ever seen posted what she eats before a show.  The typical chicken, rice, and asparagus. No shocker there.  If you have been around in bodybuilding long enough, you know what I mean. 

There is so much confusion and stress around food in not just bodybuilding but everywhere.  So many diets. The grapefruit diet, the carnivore diet, the intermittent fasting diet, the paleo, keto, you name it diet. Food is such a mystery for people.  And now we live in a time where people are cherry picking parts of studies to use as “proof” that their diet works and pushing their new diet on all of us.   All this labeling of foods as good or illegal, all this does, is continue the narrative of an unhealthy relationship to food.   And if you are planning to do a bodybuilding show, you better have a good relationship with food before you start your prep or you are going to be in big trouble after your show when you don’t have the weight of a competition goal keeping you from eating everything illegal in sight.

I recently saw a post in a fitness type of group on Facebook by an aspiring competitor where she beat herself up for eating like an A-hole over the weekend. She feared that she completely blew her chance of getting on stage and was full of regret.  She was looking for support and validation that everything will be ok.  What an unnecessary amount of stress to feel around food. Tomorrow is another day.  If you don’t get lean enough in time, so what, there will always be other shows.  Apparently that binge is what you needed at that moment.  Likely because your body is sounding the alarm that you have an imbalance of nutrients in your current nutrition, or, you are eating such a strict diet and labeling foods as illegal so when you finally allow yourself a treat, you cram all the treats in at once and next thing you know you just pounded down 2 pints of ben and Jerry’s ice cream like a champion.   If you can’t control yourself from having an eating binge, then there is more going on than just will power. There is an imbalance somewhere and you need to take care of you. 

I’ve never committed to doing a show unless I knew I could fully commit.  There is a switch that goes off inside of me when I commit to something. If I don’t have that feeling, then I know I’m not all in on a goal, so I won’t bother committing to it. But if I’m all in, then step aside.

But committing to doing a show isn’t THAT much different than living a bodybuilding lifestyle.  At least for me. Swapping from living a bodybuilding lifestyle to actual contest prep just means I need to have a lot of patience and precision to keep track of my nutrition and overall daily output.  So basically I have to pay attention a lot more. With the bodybuilding lifestyle, you still have to be consistent, you still have to get your training in, you still have to fuel your body adequately, and you still need to respect rest and recovery.  When contest prepping, the literal calories and macros are precise and must be consistent.  And your overall movement is precise as well.  Not just cardio, I mean overall movement.  I keep an eye on my movement with step count since as you start to get leaner and your body wants to conserve energy, your overall movement without thinking about it can decrease. So I take that variable out of the equation.  Overall the general structure of life when contest prepping and living the bodybuilding lifestyle is quite similar.  The difference is you get more into the weeds with contest prep.

I find the lifestyle to be somewhat automatic these days. I spent many years building a healthy relationship to food for one. And two, I’m working on getting my physique photoshoot ready so I have a goal that keeps me motivated. I mentioned in earlier shows that I want to do a competition, but I’ve decided to hold off on an actual show for now while I focus on making my Posing Wins Shows clients look and feel like champions in their shows. Plus I mentioned on the last episode that I just launched my virtual posing clinics for all divisions at posingpractice.com. Head on over there if you haven’t done so yet. It’s a great starting place for new people and a great resource for veterans that believe there is always room for improvement. And they are only $47 to attend. Getting my people stage ready is my priority right now and their investment in me matters more to me than anything. So a photoshoot will do for now. 

But even if I didn’t have a photoshoot as a goal, there are consistencies to my daily bodybuilding lifestyle routine I’m living. For one, the simplest thing I do, is make sure I get my protein in. Even before the science nerds told me that protein doesn’t get converted to fat, I alway made sure I got my protein in. For one, it makes me feel satiated. 2, I want to build and preserve as much muscle as possible. And 3. With more protein I can keep my calories high while I dial back my physique. I’m around 200 grams of protein a day right now. I have a lot of 93% beef because it’s quick and easy to make. I have a meal replacement shake with 32 grams of protein when I wake up too because it’s quick, easy, and tastes good.  It’s chocolate too.  I also like Whole Foods rotisserie chicken. It’s cheap and you get a lot of meals out of one chicken. Plus it gets major bonus points because I don’t have to cook it myself. 

Right now I have 5 meals a day.  I wake up and have my meal replacement shake around 6:30am.  And coffee too.  I love my morning coffee.  My brain is the most creative and focused in the morning so I dedicate the first few hours of my day to everything creative for all of my businesses. I have my Learn To Pose posing business, this podcast, and I’ve also been a real estate agent and broker for 17 years so I handle all the transaction details in the mornings too. Details range from check lists and to-do lists for clients, managing details of contracts, and assisting my agents with their contract details.  After a few hours if I go to the gym I’ve been having Dina and Brett at energy fitness factory make me another shake. Not because I prefer shakes, but they have this oatmeal cookie shake that is to die for. It’s oats, a little raisins, protein powder, cinnamon, almond or peanut butter, and unsweetened almond milk. If I don’t go to the gym, I’ll have a solid meal.  I consider this shake a treat. The rest of my meals are solids. They all consistent of around 6 ounces of protein each, vegetables, fruit, rice, and I like to add either coconut oil, butter, or almond oil to my meals as well.  I find that a lot of flavor can make foods a little too taste specific and for me I can burn out from the flavor too fast and not like the meal anymore. So I keep the spices pretty simple. My uncle Barney has the most elaborate garden you’ve ever seen and he feeds me lettuce and veggies all summer so I’ll make some salads too - not because you need a salad to contest prep, but you guys, this lettuce actually tastes like something other than crunchy water. 

As for my training, I lift 4 days a week.  I have a goal of building my entire back side from the thickness in my back to the development of my glutes.  My workouts are tailored towards my personal goals. I train legs 3x a week at different levels of intensity.  I hit my back 2x. As a figure competitor, we are required to build balance throughout our whole physique. So I don’t skip any body parts. The amount of intensity, duration, and sets will depend on the body part I’m trying to bring up.  Although I don’t have a show in sight, I still train like a figure competitor because you never know when the time might come that I pick another show.  My workouts are about an hour total.

My cardio is just making sure I get my movement in on a daily basis because I can get so wrapped up in my work that before you know it, it’s 9pm and I’ve walked 2,000 steps. So I get up and take walks during the day and add some walking before workouts as a warmup too.  I don’t do any HIIT cardio. I find it too stressful on my body.  

My priority is keeping my calories high so I’m not one of those people that hits a plateau 10lbs out from their goal weight with very little food left to manipulate. Starting high in calories is my preference. When making an adjustment to bring on more weight loss, I’d rather move a little more than drop my calories.  Hence the high amount of protein.  I always feel satiated, don’t have energy drops, and have zero cravings.  Higher calories for the win.

So my lifestyle does surround eating. That is part of being a bodybuilder. In order to reach your goals, you have to prioritize getting in your meals.  Some people prefer meal prepping ahead of time. I prefer fresh food and choose meals that are quick to make or already prepared.   At the most I’ll do 2 meal replacements.  I focus on getting as much solid food as possible to keep me satiated.  Even when traveling I prioritize my meals. 

In fact, I guess this is a good time to announce, that my husband and I are going to hit the road in a few weeks to put this podcast on blast and tour the United States with it to get the word out. I’ve got a couple really great guests lined up that are going to talk about some topics that I think you guys are going to really enjoy learning about.  We plan to record the show at different destinations and share with you our experiences on the road.  I’ll be sharing how we get our meals and workouts in while on tour too. Right now we are in the process of purchasing a van so we can repurpose it for the tour and mapping out our destinations.  I have to be in New York to head judge a competition in September, but other than that, you might see us in your home city this year!  We will be posting and announcing our destinations as we tour them, so be on the lookout for us and stop in to say hi if you are in the area!  

If you would like to show your support of our tour, you can grab some of our merch at shop.killitwithdrive.com or you can donate to the podcast. https://patron.podbean.com/eeinbb . These links will be in this episode’s description too.  Also, if you have any suggestions on must visit gyms or specific locations around the country, let us know! You can post in the comments of the show or join the podcast Insiders group on Facebook and chat with us there.  Well its about that time I get my workout in so I’ll be back next week with another episode. You asked for more shows sooner, and I listen. I will be posting episodes weekly instead of the bi-weekly format I’ve been doing. And while on tour, I will be recording and uploading special tour episodes with my husband as well so expect new shows at least twice a week.  If you like what what you are listening to, please be sure to like, subscribe and share the show in fitness groups to get the word out. Talk to you guys next week!