Stay Hungry and Be a Savage in the Gym
Da Bullpen
By George “Da Bull” Peterson III
Stay Hungry and Be a Savage in the Gym
Q: I’m just curious because I am a fan and see how hard you work in the gym on top of having a full-time job with the cable company: do you have any time to hang out with friends? How about a girlfriend?
A: No, I don’t have time for either of those. I can’t tell you how many friendships and relationships I’ve sacrificed, along with so many “normal” social interactions like family events, birthday and graduation parties, and so on. I understood a few years back that I would need to sacrifice these things to advance myself in my chosen sport. It’s not just the time commitment. In a lot of those situations where you form a relationship with a wife or girlfriend, I feel you have to “domesticate” yourself in a way and make various compromises to make the relationship work. I honestly feel I can’t allow myself to become domesticated and content right now. I have to remain hungry, remain at war. I need to be a savage to go into the gym each and every day and do my best, especially at those times when I’m depleted and exhausted. Regardless, I still have to get under those heavy weights and be a savage. I can’t be worried about someone else’s needs or rushing through the workout to go home to them. This is more important to me at present. All that stuff can wait. There will always be time for friends or romantic relationships. There won’t always be time to go after my dream of winning the Olympia. Realistically, for any professional athlete, our window to be our best is brief. The time is now, just like I titled my video series.
Weighing and Measuring Your Food
Q: When a person is dieting for a contest, do you feel it’s absolutely necessary to weigh and measure everything you eat, and to know at all times exactly how many calories and grams of protein, carbs, and fats you are consuming?
A: Yes and no. It’s important to measure out your meals and portions accordingly so you know where you’re at and can make adjustments when your results aren’t totally satisfactory. If you don’t weigh and measure your food, you’re just winging it. You only have a very vague idea of how many grams of the three macronutrients you’re taking in. Say you’re not growing, and you need to increase your protein, your carbohydrates, or both. How can you do that when you don’t know how much you’re currently eating? It’s even more critical when you’re trying to lose body fat. Often when you’re not getting any leaner, the logical step is to reduce your carbs. Again, you must know exactly how many grams you’re eating in order to add or subtract from that amount. I don’t think it’s as necessary to know exactly how many calories you’re taking in. I don’t. I do measure out all the foods in my six daily meals, so I can tell you exactly how many grams of protein, carbohydrates, and fats I am eating. I go by the mirror. If I want or need to be leaner, I cut back on my carbs. If I’m not making the gains I want, I increase my protein and/or carbs.
Bodybuilding Got Me Cooking
Q: Who cooks your food?
A: I do! For most of my life, I didn’t know how to cook except to pop something in a toaster oven. Bodybuilding is the reason I learned. With the lifestyle of having to eat meals consistently every two to three hours, I had no choice but to learn. The only other options are to use a meal-prep company, which would need to provide 42 meals a week, or find someone to cook all those meals for me. As I referenced earlier, I don’t have a wife or girlfriend, so it’s up to me. It turns out it’s not that hard to cook the basic bodybuilding fare like chicken, lean beef, fish, rice, and potatoes. I’m not trying to be Top Chef, just get all the right food in every day.
Just Roll With the Punches
Q: How did you keep from getting stressed out in 2020 when contests were postponed and canceled, gyms were closed, and then when you could get back to the gym, you had to train with a mask on? You seem so chill in all your videos for your channel and on the Redcon1 channel.
A: It’s simple. I just try to remember not to worry about things that are out of your control. Control the things that you can, and don’t worry about the rest. I’m the sort of person that rolls with the punches with anything that comes at me. If I am training for a show, it’s all systems go as planned and intended. If the show gets moved to a later date or a different state, as happened with many shows in 2020, or an audience wasn’t going to be allowed, I just roll with the punches and that’s it. There’s nothing I can do about it, and worrying and complaining never helped any situation. It even helped me when I made the decision to switch from Classic to 212. After taking third place three years in a row, I could have just cried about how “they’re never gonna let me win!” Instead, I took the attitude that when something doesn’t go the way we want it to, it might very well mean it’s because something bigger is around the corner. If one door doesn’t open for you, it might be it’s because there’s a bigger door down the road waiting for you.
Online coaching info at http://www.dabullcoaching.com
Redcon1 Stack
Upon Waking
Double Tap powder, 1 scoop
With Breakfast
GI Juice, 1 scoop
Pre-workout
Total War, Big Noise and MOAB all together, 1 scoop each
Post-workout
Breach
2 scoops
Middle of the Day
Double Tap caps, 3 capsules
Evening
Silencer, 3 capsules
Before Bed
Fade Out, 1 scoop
For more information, visit redcon1.com
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