Flex UK - June 2017

50 FLEX| JUNE 2017

CLASSIC MUSCLE LOOKING BACK

what it was in 1992, is that I did
much more cardiovascular work
during the off-season. This
allowed me to keep my calories
and muscle mass up while
keeping my metabolism primed
so that I didn’t have to sacrifice
the last four months to bring my
muscularity up. I was thus able
to keep my bodyweight roughly
10 pounds over contest weight
until four weeks out, when I then
concentrated on doing some
finetuning instead of crash
dieting. Back then, I was taking
in about 5,500 calories a day,

but two weeks out from the

contest, I increased it to 7,000!

At the 1992 Mr. Olympia, I

made the mistake of decreasing

my calories, which left me

looking flat. In 1993, I was in my

best shape two weeks before

the show then I built up the

calories again so that my

muscles filled out properly.

The most important thing to

remember when upping your

calories before a contest is to

keep your body fat low. To do so,

you must prime your metabolism

through the offseason with

adequate aerobic work then

really eat heartily, but stay lean

the week before the contest.

Obviously, I wanted to get my

waist as small and tight as

possible, but to accomplish that,

I had to diet so as not to deplete

my body’s glycogen stores. I

upped my carbs and proteins,

but I made it a point to reduce

my fat intake even more.

Water intake was another

important factor in attempting to

reach maximum levels of

muscularity. I didn’t cut back on

my water at all, and I switched

There were only 3 great
bodybuilders who had
any chance of winning
the 1994 Masters
Mr Olympia. Boyer Coe,
Lou Ferrigno and
Robby Robinson.