Road to Ripped Ep.1- So You Wanna Compete? (Athlete Interviews)

Some footage from the 2015 GNC London Championships (OPA), working the booth for SD Pharmaceuticals, with Christy Wolfe (PharmaFreak).



I've been working a lot of these events lately, and I'm now considering entering a Men's Physique competition myself next year (Masters Class). I've never done a physique or bodybuilding contest so this will be taking me out of my comfort zone in a serious way, but it will be worth the experience.



Also I've had some inquiries from others who are interested in training for physique / figure / bikini comps (after they saw my client transformation testimonials), and I would never offer guidance to others with something I haven't learned, practiced, and experienced myself. So I decided to throw myself right into this, take on as much knowledge in the process as possible, and share it all with you along the way.



So I'll be running this as a "Road to Ripped" video series (with a new video every week or two) following my progress and revealing my nutrition plan, training program / workouts, supplements, posing, tanning, coaching sessions, etc... everything that's involved I'll be sharing with you!



I hope you enjoyed this video series. Let me know if you have any questions and remember to SUBSCRIBE, LIKE, & SHARE!



Stay strong,



Josh

10,000 Calorie Challenge | Full Day of Epic Eating & Training

A few weeks ago my friend Nassim Jebran suggested we try the ten thousand calorie food challenge. Naturally, I accepted. So we started planning which foods we wanted to include, based on our favorite "cheat foods" as well as selecting foods that were the most calorie dense ... we didn't want to make the mistake of trying to hit 10K calories with a crap load of carbs / sugars (which would most likely fill make us feel full right away). We also decided against allowing liquid calories for this challenge.

In the end, I'm not sure we made the ideal food choices in every case... it was tougher than we expected, but did we succeed? Find out!

Ontario Natural Championships 2015 - Athlete Interviews (contest prep)

Working the SD Pharmaceuticals / PharmaFreak booth at the 2015 GNC Ontario Natural Championships in London (Centennial Hall) with Christy Wolfe, asking the competitors what they found to be the most challenging part of preparing for the competition.



Gives you some insight into what these athletes go through while getting ready for a contest!

Is Nutrient Timing Really Necessary?

This is a quick summary of a lecture on Nutrient Timing I recently attended by Brad Schoenfeld, (where he discussed the exploration of this topic he did with Alan Aragon).



By introducing the key points from his lecture, I answer the question "is nutrient timing really necessary?". Also check out my blog post on this topic:



http://top-form-fitness.com/fitness-blog/nutrient-timing-revisited/



... as well as Brad and Alan's article "Nutrient Timing Revisited":



http://www.jissn.com/content/pdf/1550-2783-10-5.pdf



Also watch Matty Fusaro's hilarious video on the "Anabolic Window"... classic:



https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOeHsOMcX08

5 Big Benefits of Creatine - PLUS GiveAway!

Despite being one of the most well-researched sports nutrition supplements around, there still seems to be a lot of misunderstanding surrounding Creatine. In this video I will attempt to clear up some of this confusion, explain exactly what creatine is, introduce Five Big Benefits of Creatine, and provide a few links to some of the relevant research.

Creatine is a completely safe, natural food supplement. It is already present in our bodies and in many of the foods we eat (especially meat). Here is a great interview with Examine.com that covers most of the basics about supplementing with creatine:

www.schwarzenegger.com/common-creatine-questions-and-answers

Now let's take a look at a few of the impressive benefits of creatine.

1. Quick Energy & Faster Recovery during Intense Exercise:

Creatine will help you lift more weight and recovery more quickly, which can lead to greater strength gains.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/15707376

2. Creatine Leads to Greater Muscle Mass:

Research demonstrates that as part of a strength training program, prolonged creatine supplementation is met with an increased muscle growth rate as well as cell volumnization. So you get stronger AND bigger... what more can you ask for?

www.examine.com/supplements/Creatine/

3. Creatine Inhibits Myostatin:

Myostatin is a protein synthesized in our skeletal muscle that basically governs how much muscle we can potentially gain. This will determine our genetic potential to gain muscle mass.

When myostatin is decreased or removed, muscle cells are allowed to freely grow or multiply more quickly, leading to massive gains!  Well, during my research for creatine I came across a study that demonstrated how oral administration of creatine has a myostatin-inhibiting effect.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20026378

www.ergo-log.com/creatinemyostatin.html

4. Creatine Increases IGF-1:

Did you know that creatine has also been proven to increase IGF-1 in your muscles post-workout? IGF-1 is responsible for tissue growth and repair (including muscle).

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18708688

5. Creatine Enhances Brain Function:

A study published in the prestigious Neuroscience, showed that supplementing with creatine will enhance brain function. Also check out this study below:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1691485/pdf/14561278.pdf

I hope this video helps clear up some of the confusion around this awesome supplement.

My First GIVEAWAY Contest - RIPPED FREAK Fat Burner

Welcome to my first YouTube Giveaway contest! Up for grabs:

Ripped Freak Hybrid Fat Burner
- http://pharmafreak.com/ripped-freak-fat-burners.html

AND

My Get Lean Ebook
- http://www.GetLeanBook.com

To ENTER:

Subscribe to my channel: http://www.YouTube.com/TopFormFitness

AND

PharmaFreak: http://www.YouTube.com/RippedFreakVideos

Then post a comment below this video explaining why YOU need to become a RIPPED FREAK! That's it that's all!

Inspire me. Or tell me your sad story. Convince me. Or just make me laugh. Just make sure you Subscribe and Comment!

*(Want to increase your odds? Post a sweet training pic on your Instagram and tag me @topformfitness)*

I'll pick THREE (3) WINNERS in one week (ends May 23) from the messages below and will contact you. Will also post a follow up video to announce the winners. (US & Canada Only).

I plan on doing more of these... probably monthly, and most likely with more winners and bigger prizes! So watch for that coming up.