Back to Mike Rapp, Peak Perfomer.
Why did you start to train your legs more intense? How did it go?
I had not worked my legs hard for 2 years and I knew that to be competitive I needed to hit my legs hard to bring them up to par with my upper body. I prefer to perform my squat routine on the Smith machine due to being by my self and due to the reduced stress on my lower back. If you push each set hard, which I did, you can make some serious progress on the Smith machine. I also included four sets on leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises and leg presses. On the leg press machine I performed a lot of presses with lighter weights at different angles. It must have worked since they looked the best ever.
How did the supplements help you? What did you notice?
The supplements that Jeremiah {Beverly International Dietition} recommended allowed me to maintain a strict diet, reduce my fat percentages and keep my strength throughout the training and dieting for the first body building competition in West Virginia. The Ultra Size, Muscle Provider and the Mass Aminos were key supplements for me in maintaining my strength throughout the long training time period. The Beverly Glutacene product is a must if you want to reduce muscle soreness and fatigue. At my age (49) I would not attempt to train seriously without Glutacene. It was amazing how much better I felt on this product, it is worth every penny.
What things did you do differently than previous years that helped you?
One thing that I did differently this year was use the Stairmaster for my cardio, instead of an elliptical bike that I had used in the past. Jeremiah recommended this change and I have to admit it was much harder than I thought. I believe this really helped my legs separate as the shows got closer. Fortunately, due to my low body fat percentage I only had to do this cardio twice a week. Due to a shoulder injury during the summer months I was unable to perform a flat bench without pain. I decided to eliminate the flat bench from my chest routine and incorporate the following chest exercises; Incline bench press, Hammer wide grip bench press, flat dumbbell presses, peck deck and cable crossovers. I felt my chest development maintained itself throughout the dieting and training preparation. I have just recently started to use light weights on the flat bench, hoping to lift pain free, while continuing to use the other exercises noted above.
What advice can you give to someone in contest training preparation?
As far as advice I can only offer what works for me. 1. How do you want to look once you’re up on stage?
I always think about being up on stage in front of the crowd. This thought alone drives me to train hard, focus on the diet and practice my posing. Not only did I want to be competitive, I wanted my family to be proud of me and I wanted to be proud of my accomplishments.
2. Keep the entire family involved in the process. Having the support of your wife, your children, your parents, your sibling and friends can make this experience a much more tolerable and enjoyable time. For me, my wife Sharon helped tremendously with the buying and preparing of my meals and encouraged me to stay focused when the diet started to get tough. At the Monster Mash, my son was competing with me, my daughters came home from college and several of my brothers and sisters attended the show, making it a very special family affair. I will never forget that terrific weekend.
3. Get good advice on your diet and supplements. I was fortunate that Jeremiah was willing to advise me on my diets and my supplements. There is no way in this world that I would attempt to compete in body building without someone as knowledgeable, experienced, and easy to work with as Jeremiah Foster at Beverly International. Listening and incorporating his posing recommendations had a tremendous effect on my success. Don’t trust just anyone to this important component of bodybuilding. I know I won’t.
4. Find a training partner who has been there before. I know how valuable my training partners were for my first show, being a rookie at bodybuilding. Having been a former powerlifter and former bench press competitor I thought I knew how to train. Was I ever surprised!! A good training partner can help keep you focused on training hard every day, as well as, showing you lifting routines that will maximize your potential. This summer I trained mostly by myself due to my work schedule. I could not have done this without the bodybuilding training routines and wisdom that were passed on to me several years ago by my lifting partners. I found myself thinking back to what I learned from them about bodybuilding on numerous occasions.
What advice can you give to someon over 40 just getting into bodybuilding?
First , I would advise you to call Beverly International to see if they would be willing to recommend a diet and supplement plan to follow.
Second, I would advise someone over 40 to remember that it takes a great deal of time, energy and dedication to this sport and that consistency is so important. By consistency I am referring to the training that must take place, following the diets that are as important as the actual training, and incorporating the supplements needed to build muscle.
For me, competing is just a part of the healthy lifestyle that I have adopted and plan to maintain as long as I physically can. The bottom line is that I am in better shape now than most half my age. The long term benefits from my training and healthy lifestyle remains to be seen, but those potential benefits motivate me to continue working out on a weekly basis.
Describe the experience competing with your son!
Competing in bodybuilding with my son Jason was awesome. How many fathers and sons can say they have done that? We trained together one night a week, we traveled together to the shows, we tanned each other at his house the night before the shows, we cheered for each other while up on stage and we ate pizza afterwards until we were stuffed. Watching him place at the Big Dust Classic and watching his routine at the Monster Mash will always be special memories for me. I am the very proud father of special young man. FYI-We have talked about doing this again in 2007.
Thank you!
Back to Mike Rapp, Peak Perfomer.
Why did you start to train your legs more intense? How did it go?
I had not worked my legs hard for 2 years and I knew that to be competitive I needed to hit my legs hard to bring them up to par with my upper body. I prefer to perform my squat routine on the Smith machine due to being by my self and due to the reduced stress on my lower back. If you push each set hard, which I did, you can make some serious progress on the Smith machine. I also included four sets on leg extensions, leg curls, calf raises and leg presses. On the leg press machine I performed a lot of presses with lighter weights at different angles. It must have worked since they looked the best ever.
How did the supplements help you? What did you notice?
The supplements that Jeremiah {Beverly International Dietition} recommended allowed me to maintain a strict diet, reduce my fat percentages and keep my strength throughout the training and dieting for the first body building competition in West Virginia. The Ultra Size, Muscle Provider and the Mass Aminos were key supplements for me in maintaining my strength throughout the long training time period. The Beverly Glutacene product is a must if you want to reduce muscle soreness and fatigue. At my age (49) I would not attempt to train seriously without Glutacene. It was amazing how much better I felt on this product, it is worth every penny.
What things did you do differently than previous years that helped you?
One thing that I did differently this year was use the Stairmaster for my cardio, instead of an elliptical bike that I had used in the past. Jeremiah recommended this change and I have to admit it was much harder than I thought. I believe this really helped my legs separate as the shows got closer. Fortunately, due to my low body fat percentage I only had to do this cardio twice a week. Due to a shoulder injury during the summer months I was unable to perform a flat bench without pain. I decided to eliminate the flat bench from my chest routine and incorporate the following chest exercises; Incline bench press, Hammer wide grip bench press, flat dumbbell presses, peck deck and cable crossovers. I felt my chest development maintained itself throughout the dieting and training preparation. I have just recently started to use light weights on the flat bench, hoping to lift pain free, while continuing to use the other exercises noted above.
What advice can you give to someone in contest training preparation?
As far as advice I can only offer what works for me. 1. How do you want to look once you’re up on stage?
I always think about being up on stage in front of the crowd. This thought alone drives me to train hard, focus on the diet and practice my posing. Not only did I want to be competitive, I wanted my family to be proud of me and I wanted to be proud of my accomplishments.
2. Keep the entire family involved in the process. Having the support of your wife, your children, your parents, your sibling and friends can make this experience a much more tolerable and enjoyable time. For me, my wife Sharon helped tremendously with the buying and preparing of my meals and encouraged me to stay focused when the diet started to get tough. At the Monster Mash, my son was competing with me, my daughters came home from college and several of my brothers and sisters attended the show, making it a very special family affair. I will never forget that terrific weekend.
3. Get good advice on your diet and supplements. I was fortunate that Jeremiah was willing to advise me on my diets and my supplements. There is no way in this world that I would attempt to compete in body building without someone as knowledgeable, experienced, and easy to work with as Jeremiah Foster at Beverly International. Listening and incorporating his posing recommendations had a tremendous effect on my success. Don’t trust just anyone to this important component of bodybuilding. I know I won’t.
4. Find a training partner who has been there before. I know how valuable my training partners were for my first show, being a rookie at bodybuilding. Having been a former powerlifter and former bench press competitor I thought I knew how to train. Was I ever surprised!! A good training partner can help keep you focused on training hard every day, as well as, showing you lifting routines that will maximize your potential. This summer I trained mostly by myself due to my work schedule. I could not have done this without the bodybuilding training routines and wisdom that were passed on to me several years ago by my lifting partners. I found myself thinking back to what I learned from them about bodybuilding on numerous occasions.
What advice can you give to someon over 40 just getting into bodybuilding?
First , I would advise you to call Beverly International to see if they would be willing to recommend a diet and supplement plan to follow.
Second, I would advise someone over 40 to remember that it takes a great deal of time, energy and dedication to this sport and that consistency is so important. By consistency I am referring to the training that must take place, following the diets that are as important as the actual training, and incorporating the supplements needed to build muscle.
For me, competing is just a part of the healthy lifestyle that I have adopted and plan to maintain as long as I physically can. The bottom line is that I am in better shape now than most half my age. The long term benefits from my training and healthy lifestyle remains to be seen, but those potential benefits motivate me to continue working out on a weekly basis.
Describe the experience competing with your son!
Competing in bodybuilding with my son Jason was awesome. How many fathers and sons can say they have done that? We trained together one night a week, we traveled together to the shows, we tanned each other at his house the night before the shows, we cheered for each other while up on stage and we ate pizza afterwards until we were stuffed. Watching him place at the Big Dust Classic and watching his routine at the Monster Mash will always be special memories for me. I am the very proud father of special young man. FYI-We have talked about doing this again in 2007.
Thank you!
Back to Mike Rapp, Peak Perfomer.
