Full name: Brandon James Beckrich
Date of birth: January 26, 1984
Height: 5’10 1/2”
Off-season weight: 272
Contest weight: 225
Current residence: Schereville, Indiana
Years training: Six
Occupation: Personal trainer and nutritionist
Marital status: Single
Children: Son, Jaxin, two
How did you get into bodybuilding? I played a lot of different sports all the way through high school, including football, soccer and wrestling. I was also a very good bowler. I started training with weights for the various sports and started enjoying that more than the actual sports. After high school a friend invited me to come to his gym and meet a local bodybuilder named Donnell. He spotted my potential and took me under his wing. Six months later I did my first contest. I won the teenage class and took second in the open light heavies, and that was it. I wasn’t stopping after that!
Who inspired you when you were starting out? I always admired the physiques of Dorian Yates, Flex Wheeler and Kevin Levrone—Dorian for his hardcore training and the other two for their amazing combination of mass and aesthetics. But I would have to say that meeting Jay Cutler at the Arnold Classic when I was just getting into the sport made a huge impression on me. Jay was so cool to me and was very encouraging. That meant a lot to a young guy like me to be treated so well by one of the top pro bodybuilders alive today.
Top titles: ’07 NPC Indiana Heavyweight and Overall champion
Favorite bodypart to train: Legs
Favorite exercise: Squats or front squats
Least favorite exercise: Lunges
Best bodypart: I think it’s either my legs or back, but people are always complimenting me on my arms. They are 22 1/2 inches in the off-season.
Most challenging bodypart: Chest or shoulders
Obstacles overcome: Having to start up and run my own business (www.paradigmofpt.com) while trying to get custody of my son and maintain focus on my competition at the same time was extremely difficult.
Do you have a quote or a philosophy you try to live by? Whether you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.
How do you stay motivated? My son inspires me a lot. I want him to be proud of his dad. Also, I absolutely love to train, and I’m very competitive by nature. I would say being overlooked at the ’09 NPC Nationals gave me a huge boost of motivation to come back next time looking so good that I have to be recognized. I know I’m better than that, so now it’s up to me to prove it.
How would you describe your training style? I’m known in my area as a very hard trainer and have yet to find a workout partner who can keep up with me. I do a lot of supersets to break down the muscle fibers to the max.
Training split: Day 1: back; day 2: quads, calves; day 3: off; day 4: chest, calves; day 5: hams; day 6: off; day 7: delts, calves; day 8: arms
Favorite clean meal: Lean ground turkey with brown rice pasta and Louisiana hot sauce
Favorite cheat meal: Mexican food
What’s your favorite MuscleTech Hardcore Pro supplement and why? I love Cell-Tech Hardcore. I stay so full when I use it that I literally look pumped all the time —it’s a great feeling!
Goals in the sport: I want to turn pro and be the best I can be in this sport. Ultimately, I would like to make my mark in the industry and have some influence on the next generation.
Training Program
Back
Pullups 3 x max
Bent-over rows 4 x 12-15
Hammer Strength rows 4 x 12
Close-grip pulldowns 4 x 12-15
Superset
Bent-over dumbbell rows 3 x 6-8
T-bar rows 3 x 6-8
Hyperextensions 4 x 20Quads and calves
Leg presses 4 x 15
Hack squats 4 x 10-12
Front squats 4 x 10
Leg extensions 5 x 15
Seated calf raises 4 x 20
Donkey calf raises 4 x 20
Leg press calf raises 4 x 15Chest and calves
Incline presses 4 x 12
Incline dumbbell flyes 4 x 15
Hammer Strength incline presses 3 x 10
Flat-bench flyes 3 x 10
Superset
Dumbbell bench presses 2 x 6-8
Cable crossovers 2 x 6-8Hamstrings
Seated leg curls 4 x 15
Lunges 3 x 20
Jefferson lifts or dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts 3 x 15
Adductor machine 4 x 20
Lying leg curls 4 x 20Delts
Smith-machine presses 4 x 12
Seated lateral raises 5 x 12
Dumbbell front raises 4 x 12
Superset
Upright rows 3 x 15
Dumbbell shrugs 3 x 15
Superset
Bent-over lateral raises 3 x 15
Reverse pec deck 3 x 15Arms
Machine preacher curls 3 x 12
Cable curls 3 x 12
Incline dumbbell curls 3 x 12
Hammer curls 3 x 12
Bodyweight dips x 60 reps total
Overhead dumbbell extensions 4 x 12
Reverse-grip skull crushers 4 x 12
Straight-bar pushdowns 4 x 12
Off-Season Diet and Supplements
5:45 a.m.: Alpha Amino Prototype
Meal 1, 6:00 a.m.: 10 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, 3 ounces low-sodium deli turkey breast, 2 cups oatmeal pancakes with handful blueberries
Meal 2, 8:30 a.m.: 12 ounces chicken, 2 large sweet potatoes
Preworkout, 10:00 a.m.: 2 scoops naNO Vapor Hardcore Pro Series, Alpha Amino Prototype
Postworkout, 11:00 a.m.: 2 scoops grape Cell-Tech Hardcore, 3 scoops chocolate Nitro-Tech Hardcore
Meal 3, 12:30 p.m.: 12 ounces lean turkey burger on Ezekiel bread
Meal 4, 3 p.m.: 12 ounces chicken breast, 2 1/2 cups brown rice pasta with 1/2 cup spaghetti sauce
Meal 5, 5:30 p.m.: 12 ounces chicken breast, 3 baked potatoes, handful almonds
Meal 6, 8 p.m.: 12-14 ounces sirloin steak, 1 cup green beans, 3 cups homemade mashed potatoes
