Canadian Muscle By Fouad Abiad and Ben Pakulski

Under Construction

By Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad

Would you please post your current diet? How often do you do cardio in the off-season and contest season? And also, before you train, is there something you do all the time, such as warm up with cardio, stretch your shoulders or something?
My diet foods change all the time, depending on what I feel like eating that day. I have been eating a lot of fish and steak lately, rice and potatoes for carbs, and avocados for fats. In the off-season, I don’t really do any cardio because I train twice a day. I don’t feel I need it, since my workouts are so grueling. When I am dieting, I do cardio every morning on an empty stomach for 30-45 minutes and maybe some after training; 20 minutes or so if I’m at a sticking point with my fat loss. My pre-workout rituals are warming up on treadmill or bike for 5-10 minutes and stretching whatever body part I am working, as well as really warming up with light weights to make sure my joints are ready.

What have you been doing to bring up your legs? I know you’ve been working hard on them and I would like some ideas I can use.

I have started incorporating a completely different kind of leg training lately. It involves more reps per set and more sets overall. I used to keep my rep range around 10, but I have found in the last couple months that might work well for my upper body but not my legs. They just weren’t responding very well.

Now I do a lot of pyramid work. My sets start at 25-30 reps and come all the way down to 8-10 by the last set of an exercise. Instead of doing 12-16 sets for quads I am now doing 20-25 sets. I also have started doing less squatting and more hack squatting and leg pressing. For years I have been squatting to bring up my legs because that’s what everyone says you must do. All I have gotten in return for my efforts are bad knees and sore hips, and never the quad growth I actually wanted.

In the last couple months I have noticed that the extra machine work is really starting to bring them out. Once again, this proves that the only real rule is that you have to find what works best for you! Hopefully by the end of this off-season, if I can stay healthy all the way through, I will have a much fuller, rounder look to my quads to help match my wide shoulders.

Hey Hoss! Much respect on what you have accomplished so far and I know it’s only the beginning! I want to get lean for a photo shoot and I would like you to critique my diet:

Meal #1:
2 bags of oatmeal with one scoop of protein powder
Omelet made of egg whites with 2 slices of cheese, if desired; no salt added
1 spoon of honey and 1 spoon of peanut butter

Multivitamin
1 liter of water

Meal #2:
Any of the following with 1 liter of water and salad and you can eat until you are full:
Chicken, tuna, steak or fish
1 apple and 1 orange

Meal #3:
Protein Bar or a protein shake (70 grams)
Multivitamin
1 liter of water

Meal #4:
This meal must be avoided but if there is no choice, then eat one of the following:
Tuna straight from the can, or chicken breast

Well, there are two main things wrong with the diet. One, there are not enough meals in it. Two, there are no carbs to help really maintain your muscle or grow any new muscle. Here is a sample of a better diet plan:

Meal 1:
Oatmeal
Whey Isolate
Multivitamin

Meal 2:
Chicken
Sweet Potato

Meal 3:
Tilapia
Brown Rice

Meal 4:
Steak
Salad

Meal 5:
Whey Isolate
100% natural peanut butter

I only put five meals in because I figured if you’re eating four, you can add one more without much effort, but maybe not two. I tried to make it almost ridiculously simple because a diet like this is much easier to follow. Good luck.

What are the best movements for overall back thickness, and the best movements for chest thickness and width of the chest?

I had a lagging back when I started bodybuilding and I made a point to really bring it up. I think it’s one of my best body parts now, and it’s all from rows. I don’t think I can tell you the single best rowing exercise, because I don’t know your physique or the parts of your back that need the most work. For me, dumbbell rows were the most important, but honestly, T-bar rows and barbell rows are a very close second if not tied. Those exercises will give you a thickness that can’t be duplicated with anything else, not even machine or cable versions.

As for chest width, I always went by the notion that a wider grip meant a wider chest. I have wide clavicles and need more thickness to my chest, so I use a narrower grip. I had a training partner with a narrow, thick chest so he trained with a wider grip to bring out the outer edges of his pecs. We both got the results we were after. I also think incline and flat dumbbell flyes will also add to the outer edges if you give it a full stretch. Just be sure you don’t go too heavy on flyes if you’re new to the movement, and work on gradually getting deeper stretches. Get huge, but be safe, too!

My girlfriend’s little brother goes to school in Windsor, and I told him if he saw you at the gym to try and grab a signed 8×10 for me. He says he saw you training there, but was too much of a pussy to actually approach you!

How hard was it for you to transition from light-heavyweight to heavyweight? What did you weigh at the first show where you competed as a heavyweight, and how did you place? I’m jumping from light-heavy to heavy this year, and I would be interested to know.

As long as I’m not in the middle of a set, tell your girl’s little bro to come by and say “Hi” anytime. I might look mean sometimes, but I’m really a nice guy!

I was actually a 192-pound light-heavy at my first show, but I was the only one, so they put me in the heavyweight class. But it worked out fine. I won the class and the overall!

Jumping up a weight class is a good idea if you are ready to be competitive in that class. For example, if you are going to end up weighing 201 pounds, then you are usually better off getting extra-shredded and winning the light-heavyweight class at 198.

If you think you can make an impact in a higher class, then more power to you. Just make sure you add weight evenly over time, so you don’t ruin your physique. Moving up a class isn’t a good thing if you add four inches to your waist in the process like a lot of guys do!

Biggest Ben

By Ben ‘Pak-Man’ Pakulski

I have been a caffeine junkie for most of my life and I am thinking about getting off that train. How did you stop drinking coffee, and how long did it take before your energy came back?

I just stopped cold turkey, bro. If you want to optimize overall body performance, you need to ensure your adrenal glands are working properly. They tend to be overstimulated and burnt out after habitual caffeine use, which can affect so many aspects of progress and recovery. Google James Wilson and adrenal fatigue for more information about that. There will be a few rough days and you will probably have some nasty headaches, but once you get past that, you will be amazed at how much better you feel overall.

Hey Ben! You are an inspiration for us Canadians! It’s really nice to have guys like you and Fouad doing so well in the sport. There’s something that really bothers me with my physique. There’s no muscle between my knee and my outer quad! I have a space of almost four inches where there’s no muscle at all. Do you know what I should do about that? Any help would be appreciated.

Benjamin

Hey Benjamin! (Cool name.) Bro, that’s a tough one. I honestly would have to see it and perhaps watch how you train it. Maybe you just need some time to fill out your legs for that gap to fill in. Or as many guys have short biceps or high calves, maybe you just have short quads? Personally, I would try really controlling the bottom part of the range of motion (stretch position) on all leg exercises— almost like doing 21s for biceps. Utilize all aspects of the range.

Mostly, be patient in your workouts but be diligent and work hard. Just don’t be afraid to slow down, chill on the weight and control every inch of that range. Sorry I couldn’t give any type of clinical answer, champ— I have no formal medical training!

I am 5’10” and only weigh 121 pounds! I have a tough time gaining, obviously (I think it is a combo of a fast metabolism and not having an appetite). I have been getting in 180 grams of protein, 250 grams of carbs and 65-70 grams of fat. If I take protein much higher than 1.5 times my bodyweight I get bad constipation, so I guess I have to play with carbs and fats.

Based on what you have learned on your own and from your coaches/peers, what do you think would be better for muscle— getting in more calories mainly from carbs, mainly from fat, or increasing both a little until I start gaining? I have been thinking about bumping my fat up to 75-80 and carbs to around 275. And, what brand of fish oil do you take?
Up the protein, carbs, and fats! At 121 pounds, you really need to get everything up, my man! Clearly you are not eating enough. As for the constipation, it’s likely due to insufficient water intake and/or lack of fiber. Jack up the H2O to at least 4 liters a day for someone your size. If you still have trouble with food assimilation, digestive enzymes are essential.

I use Nutra Sea fish oil by a company called Ascenta, bro. Don’t know if it’s available in the U.S. or not.