StrengthAddicts: Let's start with your name, age, ht/wt, where are you from, and when did you start weighttraining and/or bodybuilding? Chris Tucker: Chris Tucker, Age - 36 Weight -200lbs 8.5% BF, I started training when I was 12 and have only taken about 4-5 years off all together during that time. StrengthAddicts: What your home [base] gym and what can you tell us about it? Are there any gyms throughout the country that you've worked out at that you'd like to give special mention to? Chris Tucker: I work out at Fitness Connection off of I-45 near Fuqua here in Houston. It is only $10 a month. They have all the equipment you need. There are some drawbacks and some perks. They open the doors when it is cool outside so humidity gets into the gym and oxidizes the bar collars and the inside of the weights making them harder to put on or remove. They can be slow to fix things if broken, however there is tons of equipment so it isn't a ridiculous problem but it is an annoyance. However it is $10 a month. The best thing though in my opinion is that the don't discourage the occasional grunting or yelling a little at your partner. People who want to lift heavy and get buck wild can. Also they allow the use of chalk as well. Other than that i have a full power rack and olympic set at home in the garage with about 500 lbs in weights. StrengthAddicts: As far as weight-training goes which do you prefer and why: the dumbbells & straightbars, the machines, and/or the Smith variants? Do you mix and match? Chris Tucker: For building mass and functionality I think that dumbells are King on most exercises. However there is also a time for unadulterated effort and that is when Hammer Strength machines come in for me. No need for a spotter and the more natural and full range of motion compared to a barbell allow for more weight to be used and more mass to be built. For strength training barbells are key then things like Hammer Strength and smith machines. I mix an match quite a bit depending on goals. I tend to do a lot of different goals like functionality, conditioning, mass, and strength. I do 3 different workouts per body part in a rotation, currently in my chest rotation are A1 - Incline DB Bench, A2- Flat Barbell Bench, and A3 - Decline Hammer Strength. I am currently doing DC training on the two way split. So it is one exercise per bodypart per workout. Split is like this. Workout A - Chest, Shoulders, Triceps Back witdth, and back thickness. Workout B - Biceps, Forearms, Calves, Hamstrings, and Quads. I do a few warm up sets each body part then one all out set with 2 rest pauses. Look up DC Training at WWW.IntenseMuscle.com if you want more details. I also do full body workouts in the same methodolgy of 1 exercise per bodypart followed by 2 strip sets working out 3 times a week. StrengthAddicts: You have really good delts and quite impressive triceps - what are your typical routines for these key bodyparts. Chris Tucker: Shoulders - I do compound movements and add in some isolations on occasion. I also do all my shoulder work standing to build core strength. My favorite shoulder lifts are Push Press with controlled negative, Arnold Press, making sure to get the elbow out and back as far as possible at the mid point of the movement. I see to many people only twisting their wrist and not sweeping the elbows out. It is that arc of taking the albow back that makes the exercise work all the heads of the delt. Military Press is next then of course there is the beast for the medial delt that I just don't see enough people doing. Wide Grip upright Rows. You want your rear and medial delts pounded while hitting your traps at the same time that is the way to go and you can get much more weight on that exercise than a lateral raise. Triceps - Once again compound movements are king. Mainstays of training here are Reverse and Close grip barbell bench, weighted dips and the ever powerfull Smith machine shoulder press lock outs from the crown of the head up. As far as single joint movements, they are all over head movements for me, at least my staples anyway. The reason is that the third head of the tricep, the one that makes it hang off the back of your arm like a rump roast is best activated when the arms are overhead. This explains the sweep I have developed, I need my triceps to look like another bicep n the bottom of my arm when in a double biceps shot so that requires a lot of overhead work. The shoulder press lock outs are huge for mass in that area, but isolation exercises would be in order of effectiveness for me. 1) Seated Overhead cable tricep extension machine. The cable adds a type of resistance that really plays into this exercise. 2) Lying Barbell Triceps ext. This is important to do these correctly you want your elbow pointing back at a 45 degree angle behind your head. The bar should travel down and behind your head, not down to your forehead as many people do. When you extend the bar should go straight back out at the 45 degree angle, Elbows should never be pointed straight up in this exercise if you want maximum effectiveness. StrengthAddicts: I'm also noticing some pretty good quad separation in your recent videos, what are you doing for legs and what do you think squats play (as many people are doing less and less of them)? Chris Tucker: I think both body building and powerlifting squats are very important. Powerlifting for sheer strength, the groin, glutes and hamstrings get hit harder in this than in body building style squats while still hitting the quads hard. Then the ass to ground squats with a closer stance for more quad development and seperation. Both build mass like crazy but should be used for seperate goals. Also I stretch regularly and this is a big factor in getting seperation in your legs. Another thing on squatting, DO NOT CHANGE DIRECTION AT PARRALEL! The weakest and most dangerous point pressure wise on the knee is at 90 degrees. Go below this, you have to feel the dip where the muscle changes focus to hams and glutes before you come back up to keep it safer on your knees. StrengthAddicts: You recently did a show. Tell us about the contest, when you started your prep, and how did you place? Chris Tucker: I did a show with the FAME organization in May of Last year The FAME Texas Lonestar. I went in to the show with the intention of going into the novice class as it was my first show. In the screening the judges asked if I was willing to compete with the advanced guys who were going for thier pro cards. That my physique was at an advanced level. WOW! What a major compliment. I decided to run against the big boys rather than stay in a class they had already told me I was physically out of. I ended up with a 5th place finish. I was very happy with that as most of the guys there had done between 8-15 shows and had much more posing experience than I. StrengthAddicts: As far as contest prep goes, do you gradually reduce the carbs/fats or do you deplete hard the closer to the show? What are your thoughts on the more common Carb-Depleting and the less popular sodium-depletion? Chris Tucker: Honestly I don't eat a lot of carbs through out the year. I have found my body works best with 75-150 grams of carbs a day including fiber sometimes up to 200 grams. I prefer getting about 250-300 grams of protein daily and the rest of my calories from healthy fat sources. This way my body runs on fat for energy during times of light exercise or periods of inactivity and only dips into the muscles glycogen stores for intense anaerobic work like lifting weights, rolling, or doing wind sprints. I typically feed myself 25-50 grams of carbs after a workout then grapefruit and or blueberries the rest of the day in 15 gram doses up until 4rth meal. During last 8-10 weeks I stop with the post workout carbs and switch to a carb refeed every 18th meal, or every 3rd day while still having the blueberries and grapefruit. That way all of my full body workouts are carb depleting workouts. I did the sodium load/depletion for the show but I also used a natural diuretic which back fired on me resulting in a 7 lb weightloss overnight the day before the show. I was already ridiculously dry and was trying to shore up some loose skin but since I was dry the diuretic pulled all of the water out of my muscle belly instead. I couldn't even get a pump. I would like to think I would have done better if I had not done this. I mean 7 extra lbs of ripped muscle makes a huge difference on a frame. I will not use a diuretic again, and I am going to use Skip LaCour's Skip Loading for my next show during peak weak. He does not advocate all of the sodium stuff. I noticed I looked amazing 2-3 days after a carb up when the excess water came off and that is how his plan works. Also I will have mini peak week tests leading up to the show so I know exactly how my body will respond and peak week will just be another sting of days. |
StrengthAddicts: What are your views on the following supplements: Charles Tucker: Whey Protein (includes concentrates, isolates): Excellent, and a staple of mine. Add a little fish oil if you want to slow down absorbsion. Micellar Casein This is good to but I have found adding an oil or healthy fat source with a whey shake is just as good at slowing digestion down so this could be considered an extra expense. Waxymaize - In 10-30 gram doses mixed with other carbs it is fine. I do not use insulin spikes to create anabolism. I have Anabolic Pump which does this for me without any insulin spike. Keeping me healthier. Creatine - Is a staple however it is included in so many pre-workout andpost workout things that I rarely have to take it by itself but have it available for non workout days. Beta Alanine - Awesome stuff. Way more than just a vasodilator. Tribulus - I do not use tribulus terrestes, I do use tribulus aquaticus found in USP Labs PRIME totaly different compound however. Flax/Fish Oils - ESSENTIAL enough said. Multi-Vitamins - I take one a day not sure if it does anything or not but I take it to be safe. Some days I don't get my greens in and this is my back up. DHEA - Banned in natural competitions, I don't touch it. When I was younger I did but saw nothing. Older guys seem to get a little out of it. BCAA - Excellent, I do my training fasted and have some BCAA's and glutamine just before so i do not go catabolic during training. ZMA - A nice accessory, good for immune system and assist with test production, however I would only use during a natural test boosting stack. Any other supplements you'd like to include: Glutamine, I think it is one of the most underated supps out there. Assists with immune system, having higher levels in the blood stops the body from going into the muscle stores to break them down for the glutamine contained in it. Glutamine is the easiest amino acid for the body to break down to make ATP from. It will take it from your muscle if you don;t have it in your system. Also unlike BCAA's there is not an associated insulin spike with Glutamine. It is also helpful in losing weight and many other things. USP Labs Asteroid Stack, this was responsible for building a lot of my new muscle and assisting in my recomposition. I am a USP Labs Sponsored Athlete. I started using their products almost 2 years ago and fell in love with them. After getting amazing results from everything I tried, I approached them seeking sponsorship for my body building contest and luckily I was accepted. That is just a little history on my relationship with them but I would like to make mention of the supplements because of what they have done for me. Anabolic Pump, this is a staple I mentioned it above but it activated the glut-4 receptors uptake reaction in your muscle cells just like insulin. However it turns off the glut4 receptors used for fat storage in the fat cells unlike insulin which turns those on as well. This allows for less carbs to be eaten but more glycogen to get into the muscle belly while not allowing fat storage. Health benefits are great with this too. It can be used to reverse insulin sensitivity issues and even mild cases of Type II diabetes. USP Labs PRIME - great muscle builder, not a pro-hormone. I have built about 12 new pounds of muscle this year while staying in the single digits using PRIME. Huge natural strength increases and muscle growth for a lifter with 20 years experience. This is not like a prohormone where you gain 70 lbs on bench over a 2 week period, but a 50-70 lb increase over a 2 month period is not unheard of. PowerFULL - This also assists in muscle building and fat loss. It causes a Growth hormone release raising levels over 220%, it also increases lutenizing hormone that tells your body to produce more natural testosterone. Between the 2 actions it is both very anabolic and lypolitic. On top of this there are many overall health benefits with this product. It also helped my loose skin begin to tighten up within 2 weeks of starting it due to the growth hormones rejuvenating properties. Finally would be SuperCissus Rx, I beat the crap out of myself between learning MMA and my intense lifting style. My joints and tendons take quite a beating and the only thing I have found to help heal my tendonitis and joint issues was SuperCissusRx. The main ingredient being Cissus Quadrilangus, which feeds the white tissue while also acting as an anti-inflammitory without the negative sides of an NSAID. StrengthAddicts: As far as rest goes, how much do you normally sleep per night? Do you take any naps or rests during the day (e.g. post workout?) Chris Tucker: I honestly sleep about 5-6 hours a night. If I sleep more than this I feel lethargic. I do think a cat nap is beneficial whenever possible, however, i don't ever have the time to take one. I feel that a good general guideline is 8 hours a day however we are all made differently and if 8 makes you lethargic then it is just too much sleep for you. Some people need 10 some 4, it really is a personal thing. StrengthAddicts: Thanks for doing this Q&A. What would you say are you weight-training/contest goals for the next two years? Also do you have a website (myspace, twitter?) where people can get a hold of you? TY. Chris Tucker: I plan on competing again in May at the same show, however the owner left the federation and started their own here in the US called REAL, Real Athletes, Entertainers, Leaders. It is an all natural federation that is there for the athletes, they work with you to learn how to promote yourself and how to avoid some of the pitfalls and shadyness in the business. Jason C Powell a well respected Natural Pro started this federation and is truly a class act. You can check out the federation and the social network at www.RealSpot.org, I may also compete again in July, and i plan to try to do either a grappling tournament, or an MMA fight within the next year. That is a lot going on so it is tentative. I am currently at www.youtube.com/mrkleen73 and am going to start a blog soon as well. I also have a profile at www.bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/mrkleen73 that has pics from the begining of my journey in late 2006 until now. I respond to emails sent to both and will be setting up my own site very soon to have one spot I can keep all of my logs in as I begin to make my move towards begining Personal Training. |
| QUADS! |
| CONTEST SHAPE! |
| RIPPED! |
| Natural Bodybuilder, Chris Tucker Speaks |