As 
I take a moment to stop and reflect on this past year, which has brought about such an incredible amount of change in my life, I can’t help but realize how my life has truly been impacted by consistently projecting positive energy. It was only just more than one year ago that I first began my journey to improving my health and wellness, beginning with an unbelievable transformation of losing over 30 pounds. Trust me though; this journey has not been without stress and struggle. I have definitely had moments when I had hit a plateau, or faced difficult times with work, or simply the intense pressure of preparing for back-to-back Men’s Physique competitions. There have been many times when I have allowed doubt and negative influences to impact my state of mind and/or progress towards my goals. Over time, I have learned to recognize these negative influences or thoughts, and shift my focus to the many positive things I have in my life.
Preparing for your Detox:
The most practical way to detox is to stop eating refined and processed foods and just to drink plenty of water, fruit and vegetable juices for a couple of days. Mental rest is of great importance too. It is important, however, to prepare yourself for the detox in advance. A detox can last for one day to one month, but if it is your first time 2-3 days will make a big difference.
It’s a common question - and there’s no denying that when we bend over and touch our toes, we feel the hamstrings stretch. But does that automatically mean that performing that movement - as in a deadlift or “good mornings” - results in hamstring development?
Hamstring Anatomy
The hamstring is a four-part muscle. Three of the four parts originate at the lower portion of the pelvis, on a boney area known as the “Ischial Tuberosity”. One small part of the hamstring originates on the surface of the Femur (thigh bone) - about three quarter of the way up.
The names of the four parts of the hamstrings are as follows:
1. Biceps Femoris long head
2. Biceps Femoris short head
3. Semitendinosus
4. Semimembranosus
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us today is MP Competitor Kerry Buch. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I decided to compete in men’s physique after a buddy decided he wanted to try his hand in it. He is relatively she and was going back and forth about it, so I told him if he was serious, I would do the show with him.
Can you tell us a little about the show in which you just competed?
The last show I did and the Louisiana championships back in July. It was my first show so I was a little bit nervous and unsure about what to expect within the whole experience.
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us today in MP Competitor Dustin Homan. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I had a friend that competed in the division last year and he had mentioned to me that I should give it a try. I decided early this year that I would diet down and give it shot.
Can you tell us a little about the show in which you just competed?
The last two shows I competed in was the Grand Rapids State Championships and Jr. Nationals in Chicago. I came in 1st place and overall winner at the Grand Rapids and 6th place in Chicago against some really tough competition. I was happy with that placing for my first national show. It was a great venue and everything was well run.
Last 
month’s article was on the importance of our health in relation to sculpting the physique of our dreams. I thought I would continue down that path and talk about free radicals and antioxidants. For those that are not familiar with free radicals they are organic molecules responsible for aging, tissue damage, and possibly some diseases. Some of these molecules are very unstable and looking to bond with other molecules destroying their health and further continuing the damaging process. Not all radicals have a negative consequence in the body, but for the purpose of this article we will focus on just the negative consequences of free radicals and how to combat them.
There are five different forms of free radicals:
With
us today is National Level MP Competitor Kyle Lopez. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I originally just started lifting to be bigger and in better shape. Once I saw the new Men’s Physique Division introduced last year, I knew this would be a great opportunity to showcase my hard work.
Can you tell us a little about the Competition you just competed in?
My most recent 2 shows were the NPC Washington State Open and NPC USA’s, which was my first National show.
How 
do you recover from a hard gym session? If you are not recovering after a single workout session then this will impact you in the short term, it's when you are seeing this regularly that it really becomes an issue in and outside of the gym. One of my solutions to recovery is the supplement L-glutamine
L-glutamine is the most abundant amino acids found in human muscle and plasma and over 60% of the free-floating amino acid pool in skeletal muscle cells is made up of L-glutamine. It is also a primary nitrogen donor, meaning that it moves the nitrogen around in the body to where it is needed as maintaining a positive nitrogen balance is absolutely necessary for muscle building.
Corn
sugar, or high-fructose corn syrup (HFCS) as it is more commonly called, is the most common sweetener which is used in processed foods and beverages. In fact, HFCS comprises more than 40 percent of caloric sweeteners added to foods and beverages and is the sole caloric sweetener in soft drinks in the United States. It is adored by the food industry because it is extremely sweet, incredibly cheap, easy to transport and keeps foods moist. Like its chemical cousin table sugar (sucrose), it has raised eyebrows in the research world and prompted a growing body of studies which examine the manner in which the body processes it. The general consensus is that consumption of large quantities of any type of sugar is closely linked to dental cavities, obesity, malnutrition, and increased triglycerides. One study which was published in Metabolism Journal discovered that individuals who drank a beverage sweetened with HFCS had fructose blood levels five grams higher than those consuming a beverage sweetened with table sugar. This may not seem like much, but when you consider the cumulative effects, HFCS becomes a much more insidious dietary villain.
Today 
we are talking with MP Competitor Patrick Weitzel. What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I’ve been training for 9 years now and wanted to be a bodybuilder growing up. I had always trained for bodybuilding but could never pack on as much size on my frame as I needed to in order to compete at the National level for Bodybuilding. I was walking around campus last year and bumped into my buddy Ryan Hediger. He told me about the new division and convinced me to compete with him. I had been told I had “The Look” many times previously so I thought I’d give it a shot. From that point on I knew it was the sport for me...
As
I sit here on my flight to Dallas, headed to the Europa for Myotropics, I finally have a little uninterrupted time to reflect upon the last week and a half. As usual, my life is a roller coaster. Everything from my show life onstage, my business projects offstage and my personal life seems to intensify and become more complicated by the second.
Back in April, I competed at Jon Lindsay’s LA Grand Prix where I placed eighth. I had just come off my first pro win two weeks prior and was severely disappointed with my placing. I am not afraid to admit that I was a bit embarrassed since I had my entire family fly from across the country just to see me onstage in LA...
Joining
us today is Brandon Balaban. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I have had many friends and family tell me that I should compete. I already planned on competing, I just didn’t’ think I was going to do it so quickly. Everyone is their own worst critic, and I didn’t feel I was ready for the stage. But, after all the positive feedback over the past 2 years I decided to take the first step and entered in an NPC show!
Can you tell us a little about the show in which you just competed?
I competed at the NPC Duel of Champions here in Omaha, NE in the Men‘s Physique Tall Class. Jack and Anne Titone did an amazing job at putting this all together and getting Tony Freeman to do the guest posing.
Joining
us today is MP Competitor is Mark "The Country Boy" Bender. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
Thank you so much Ian for the interview! I did bodybuilding 3 years ago and competed in the Natural PA Championships, where I placed 1st in the lightweight division. But deep down, I knew my physique wasn’t built for bodybuilding. My body just can’t carry that kind of mass. So when the Men’s Physique division came out, it was like my prayers were answered and I could truly showcase my physique.
How 
many of you know what supplements to take? Or when to take them? Well fear not as I will be giving you my take on when and what supplements to take prior to specific workouts.
60 Prior to your weights workout:
Try to consume 5 grams of l glutamine and 3-5 grams of arginine on an empty stomach.
The glutamine will help energize your workout and will also help with the recovery aspect of your workout. The arginine will help with nitric oxide production; this will help with blood flow to the muscles.
Joining
us today is MP Competitor Emmanuel Banks. Congrats on a great showing! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
It's a good look. I did well as a bodybuilder, though naturally I'm a small guy. So competing as a middle weight was only going to go so far.
Can you tell us a little about the show in which you just competed?
The IFBB North American Championships. It was my first time competing in a pro qualifier as a men's physique competitor. It was very well organized. Lots of great physiques from bodybuilding to bikini.
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truly is amazing to see all of the new life that Men’s Physique is bringing into the competition realm of the National Physique Committee (NPC) and the International Federation of Bodybuilders (IFBB), literally growing by the day! Seeing so many who stopped competing, are changing divisions, and never have competed entering into contests week after week says a lot for the division and it’s excitement! With there being so many new to the sport, there also comes a lot of people with overall inexperience and sometimes with inexperience can come ignorance, this is where looking at those that have been successful within the industry for a long time and learning from their mistakes/successes and adding your own twist is crucial! If you want to know the best way to climb a mountain, ask someone who has done it before! Having been involved with the NPC for over 13 years now and always trying to stress balance in life, I feel that it is very important to discuss how the Fitness Lifestyle can and will enhance all other aspects of your life as long as you let it! Conversely, it can also tear you down if you don’t strive to find proper balance.
Joining 
us at MensPhysique.com is MP Competitor David Lees. Congrats on a great showing at your recent competition! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I used to model when I was in college and training/bodybuilding has always been a huge part of my life. I saw competing in Physique as a way to merge the 2 together and hopefully make a name for myself.
Can you tell us a little about the Competition you just competed in?
I competed at the IFBB North American Championships in Pittsburgh, PA in Men’s Physique “C” Class. This was only my second national level/pro-qualifying event.
If
you looking to get into the modeling industry, one of the most important things you will need is a strong up-to-date modeling portfolio. Aspiring models are often unsure how to put this together or end up adding images that are not suitable for booking the work they aim to do. Consider the following steps when looking to create a workable portfolio to develop your business.
Determine the type of modeling work you aspire to do...
Ever since I began weight training (bodybuilding) in 1974 - at the age of 14 - I’ve heard countless “recommendations” by pseudo experts, associating specific exercises with certain changes in muscle shape. Here are just a few:
1. “preacher barbell curls will make your biceps fuller”
2. “close grip bench presses will work the inner pecs, near the sternum”
3. “calf raises performed with toes in work the outer calves”
All three of these are false. There are others too, and I’d like to address them all, at some point. But today, we’re going to focus on the theory that certain foot positions on the squat, leg press, or leg extensions - will effect the shape our quadriceps....
Joining 
us today is the Overall MP Champ at the North Americans and new IFBB MP Pro Anton Antipov. Congrats on the big win! What made you decide to compete in the Men’s Physique Division?
I wanted to compete for a while, but I was always too slim for bodybuilding. Last year I heard about a new division called Men’s Physique, I saw it as a stepping stone towards bodybuilding, but there is so much room to grow in this division that I decided to stay in it and evolve and grow along with the division itself. On New Year’s I made 12 resolutions, one for each month of this year. One of those resolutions was to step on stage and compete in a Men’s physique show. I did that (at Steve Stone Metropolitan Championships 2012 where I got 4th place), but after stepping off stage I was hooked and wanted to go further with the idea, so I made it a goal of mine to see if I can improve and get 1st place. I started signing up for every show I could and the rest is history...
Being 
healthy is more than just about the way you look. As competitors we focus on the way we look since on stage that is the majority of the judging. The important question is, are you actually healthy? There are many things that go into being healthy. You cannot judge someone’s health by the way they look. Some good looking people are very unhealthy...
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