Off Duty, Military Health and Fitness - Air Force Times

Get ripped

OKgirlie man, you know it’s time. The hardened six-pack that was once your gut has long since been replaced by a keg of full-bodied bulk, and those flab sacks under your arms are screaming for some serious firepower.

It’s time to get ripped. And while you may not have any interest in oiling up for Speedo-clad competition, the art and science of bodybuilding can help you frame the physique you’ve always wanted.

Indeed, whether you’re already a toned-up Sgt. Rock aiming to chisel out that shredded look or a Cpl. Cartman begging to turn pound cake into beefcake, building a bolder body is as much about flexing the brain as fortifying the brawn. In fact, says Marine Master Sgt. Philip Ricardo — a two-time Mr. Natural Olympia bodybuilder — the lowdown on pumping up always begins inside the brain.

Control freak

It’s no secret military people like to train hard, Ricardo says. “We kill ourselves in everything we do, but a lot of time that works against us, especially in bodybuilding. If you’re not thinking things through, you can hurt yourself.”

Mindless iron-pumping can also mean wheel-spinning when it comes to bringing the bulk.

Ricardo should know. During his 20 years in the Corps, he’s racked up 11 natural bodybuilding championships. He’s appeared on the covers of fitness magazines and is the face of Horley’s supplements.

“My body fat is kinda low,” he says with the understatement of a Formula One driver saying he tends to drive “kinda fast.”

When not competing, he keeps his body fat between 8 percent and 10 percent. When at his peak, that’s cut down to about 5 percent. The 20-pound difference — dropping from 200 pounds to 180 — means he keeps two sets of uniforms.

For Ricardo, the allure of bodybuilding is the no-excuses, confidence-building control.

“Bodybuilding is a sport that allows you to be in control without relying on teammates or others. Only you can transform your body,” he says.

That transformation should start with what you’re curling in the kitchen, before you reach for dumbbells in the gym.

Good eats

“Nutrition is the main thing to optimizing your fitness and your look,” Ricardo says. “It’s 70 percent of the whole equation. If you’re only eating two or three meals a day, you’re totally wrong. You need to be eating about every three hours. You have to fuel your body through the entire time you’re awake to keep your insulin levels right.”

His advice: plan five or six meals a day, avoid sugars (including sports drinks) and most other carbs, while increasing green veggies and lean proteins such as eggs, chicken and fish.

Air Force Tech. Sgt. David Henry agrees.

“For basic sculpting, diet is the key,” he says. “You have to get the proper nutritional approach before you can do anything with the weights. If you can’t stick with a strict diet, why would you think you can do anything in the gym? Most people do it the other way, but if you change diet first, in two weeks you’re going to see a difference.”

Henry, a weapons loader at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., competed in his first bodybuilding competition at16.

“Get your head around weighing out a chicken breast. I wish I had gotten that advice a long time ago. I’d be a lot farther along than I am now.”

That’s hard to imagine. Henry may be just shy of 5½ feet tall, but don’t even think about calling him small. Those tree trunks growing out of his shoulders? They’re called arms. That video on YouTube? Yeah, that’s him knocking out a set of 125-pound, doubled-fisted curls. That’s like curling two-and-a-half 5-gallon cans full of water — in each hand (search “David Henry curls”).

As the only pro on active duty in the top-tier International Federation of BodyBuilders, Henry competes among the most elite. The rare David to the typical Goliaths of the sport, Bodybuilding.com dubbed Henry “The Giant Killer” in 2007.

That was the year before he garnered the coveted Mr. Olympia title for the under-202-pound weight class in what is widely regarded as the Super Bowl of bodybuilding contests (and the same championship that propelled a certain governor of California to fame).

“I adapted the power building of powerlifting with some bodybuilding thrown in,” he says. “I still use a core powerlifting workout.”

In fact, he taps two of the big three powerlifting exercises — the squat and dead lift — which incorporate the entire body and build explosive strength along with huge blocks of muscle. He’s no fan of the third exercise in the powerlifting trinity, though: the standard bench press. “It’s just a male show-off exercise. It hurts more people than maybe anything else,” he says.

After constructing some mass, bodybuilding’s more targeted approach allows you to take those blocks and carve out the muscle-by-muscle definition. “Otherwise, you’re just going to be blocky with no real shape. That’s why a lot of these powerlifters are tanks; they’re trying to move extreme weight around,” says Henry, “but in bodybuilding, you’re trying to see that definition.”

When it comes to training, Henry says to take it slow. “Don’t rush anything. Get good at two exercises per body part — one that works the entire muscle and then a second that targets a part of the muscle.”

For example, do some squats or leg presses to work your legs, then do some lunges or leg extensions.

“Use those two, get good at those, and then add two more,” he says.

Stay in the eight-to-10-rep range for three sets, he says. By the end of the third set, you should be struggling to nail eight reps. Once you can start doing more, add weight in 2- to 5-pound increments.

How much, how long?

Those serious about building their bodies should work out at least five times a week, says Ronald Raymond, the fitness coordinator at Fort Lewis, Wash.

Raymond competed as a bodybuilder from 1978 to 1989 and has since trained scores of bodybuilders across the globe.

“Look at the weakest muscle and work from there,” he says. Just remember: “You can’t get mass and definition at the same time. You have to have mass before you can cut it.”

Work each muscle heavily twice a week, maybe a little lighter the second time around.

During the muscle-building phase of training, he recommends a diet a bit heavier on carbohydrates that packs in more calories “so that you have the energy to do that kind of lifting.” The daily food pie should be cut into slices that are about 50 percent carbs, 30 percent protein and 20 percent fat, he says. The average male should add about 500 to 800 calories a day during training; an average woman, about 300 to 500 calories a day.

The bulk-building phase could last anywhere from six months to a few years.

“It really depends on the intensity of the person. It’s a very selfish sport,” he says, “and the military life makes it hard.”

To start shaping newly erupted muscles, Raymond’s students shift into the definition phase.

“To get definition,” he says, “you have to cut back on carbs.” That means re-cutting the diet pie to about 20 percent carbs, 60 percent protein and 20 percent fat, while reducing calories. “But you don’t want to cut so many calories that you start reducing muscle mass.”

He recommends shifting the lifting plan to high reps (15 to 20) and going from three sets to five sets per muscle.

“And not a lot of rest in between — as soon as you get your breath back, you’re right back at it, getting the blood pumping into the muscle,” he says.

The typical service member has about 20 percent body fat, he says. Pro athletes average about half that. However, the 5 percent (and lower) that bodybuilders reach pushes the limits of what the body can withstand.

“Competition level is actually the worst state you can be in,” Raymond says. “There’s not enough fat to insulate your body; the slightest wind will make you shiver, so you don’t want to stay there long.”

Related reading

How to get washboard abs

David Henry’s secret weapon: CrossFit for bodybuilders