Adelfo Cerame - Pre-Contest-Prep: Rest, Recovery and the Underestimated Value of Taking a Week Off.

Image 1: If this is how you feel, than it is about time you take one week off from whatever routine you are on.

It's only Thursday and I feel like I could use an extended weekend (luckily this will be one, with Monday being a holiday, here in Germany ;-), already. Some feel like it's life or work that is getting in their ways, for others its their hobbies, like blogging and training (that's me ;-), but, after all, if we are honest with ourselves, in almost all cases there is "no one" or "nothing" that really stands in our way, other than we, ourselves. I mean, oftentimes we are so busy with our everyday routines that we begin to feel to be externally controlled, although, in almost all cases, we are the ones who decide / believe that we must follow the exact same routine day in and day out.

The results of this practice, in the best case, are boredom and discontent - in the worst case, however, our routines will burn us out and make us sick. Adelfo, our man at the  2012 Wheelchair Nationals, is well aware of the fallacy of routines - especially when it comes to going to the gym day in and day out and he knows that taking a day off before you feel it is utterly necessary is way smarter than digging a whole out of which you cannot escape, no matter how "hard" you rest ;-)

One Week Out = One Week Off

I'm taking a week off from training, before the hot phase of my contest preparation begins. The time, this stands out of question, is well spent to heal my nagging pains, to rest my body, who has already been sending me the first signs of a cold and, most importantly, to be able - mentally as well as physically - to really kickstart my contest preparation in October.

Image 2: Comparison shots from September, 1st to September 21 2011 - the prep has not yet begun, therefore no major changes in this time of experimentation (photos by Adelfo Cerame, 2011)

As it happens, I am also just reading Rob Regish's Blueprint. In his book, Regish mentions that a depressed immune system, and subsequent infections, like if you're getting a cold out of nowhere are tell-tale signs that is is about time to take a week off from training... Now, while this idea obviously was not new to me, reading it black (or should I say blue ;-) on white, from someone with Robb's years of experience in training people, and as one among a whole host of other valuable tips, really helped to put me at ease with my decision to take the week off... Let's be hones, I assume for many of you it won't be different: we are always hesitant to just stay at home lying lazy on the couch, when we "ought" to be in gym. For some its the fear to gain fat, for other's (as myself) it's because we are afraid to lose some of the muscle we have been working so hard for over the past weeks, months and years. And this fear haunts us, although we all "know" (our brain knows, but our hearts don't) that all we will lose (if anything) is some easily replenishable muscle protein, i.e. there won't be any substantial loss of muscle mass, the muscles will only lose some volume.

"You should always listen to your body!"

Well, I guess you will have heard this verdict before "listen to your body" - but what if your heart, certainly a part of your body, cries - "I am afraid I could lose muscle!" and it cries so loud that you can hardly hear the your aching muscles under the pain of weeks and months of continuous training. Now, what can your do? I guess, the best thing will be to advice your brain to tell your heart to shut up and rest. At least that is what I decided to do and to take my mind off the issue of losing muscle or getting fat, I am sitting down and getting the plan for my contest preparation stream-lined. I am planning my workouts (and off times !), sketching the meals I will be eating and deciding on which  the foods that will make up the majority of my diet in the next 4-5 months.

"Rest appropriate nutrition" - cutting back carbs, when you don't need them

Image 2: Healthy post-workout meal of the week - 7oz raw wild caught salmon, 12oz sweet potatoe, 6 carrots, 1c mangoes, 1 tbs raw blue agave and some refreshing coconut milk - the all natural sports beverage!

A pros pos nutrition, I am still fasting 16 hours and feeding for 8 hours, but during my off week all my meals are high in protein and fat and low in carbohydrates. Examples would be ...

• raw milk, carrots and raw cheese, or 
• raw/seared steaks / sashimi with carrots or fruit and coconut oil, or
• raw wild caught salmon from image 3, but without the sweet poatoe 

Basically a high quality protein source + some additional fat (if the former is not high in fat) + a minimal amount of carbs from veggies or fruit. I must admit that I still sneak in a meal from time to time, but this is partly psychological, because I know that this is the last week I can to it without messing up my contest prep, where I have already planned on the three days were I will deliberately "break" my diet:  thanksgiving, christmas and my birthday... and even those will be pre-planned refeeds.

Refeed? I guess you have already been waiting for this keyword to occur. After all, I promised you to report on my experience with a fruit based refeed... Well, I gorged on fruits just as I would have done with pancakes and the processed carbs that I usually eat on my re-feeds, and... I would have to say that even though I stuffed myself with fruits I did not get that comatose or sick feeling that I usually get, with the crappy foods from the grocery store. While I am still not a 100% sold on the idea, I am toying with the idea to start out my prep with fruit-based refeeds. We will see whether this will be sustainable, once I start getting leaner... for now, it works fine, though.

Adelfo Cerame's personal blueprint: Mens sana in corpore sano

Video 1: Adelfo does single arm cable rows 2 weeks before the hot phase of his contest preparation.

As far as my training is concerned, I have been toying back and forth with some of the suggestions from Regish's Blueprint. I've been reading the whole book on the past weekend and am still in the process of sorting out those training principles of which I think that they make a valuable addition to my routine. Don't get me wrong, the book is awesome, but if there is one thing I have learned in the past, then this is never to copy a routine from someone else to a T. Yet despite the fact, that there are some profound differences as far as the nutritional protocol is concerned (this is quite obvious, as the book outlines a muscle building not a contest prep diet), I really do like the weight training protocols and I hope to find a way to combine my constantly evolving contest prep diet with some of the training strategies from Regish's Blueprint...

I will also try and use my week wisely to do some meditating, soul searching and spend some time with the Lord, as I like to be spiritually healthy just as I am physically healthy. And, in case spirituality is not for you and you do not feel like taking a week off, anyway, you may want to check out the promised training video (video 1), head to the gym and treat yourself to a large portion of wild-caught salmon with delicious sweet potatoes and some carrots (cf. image 2) ;-)

Student Spotlight: Adelfo Cerame - A Terrible Accident Paved His Way to Competitive Bodybuilding

Image 1: Adelfo Cerame in his job as a firefighter (backrgound) and as a competive bodybuilder at the 2011 Buckeye Classic, where he took an amazing 2nd place (foreground).

His name is Adelfo Cerame Jr and he is a competitive natural wheelchair bodybuilder and physical culture enthusiast. Although he says of himself that he is just a regular guy that has a passion for fitness, nutrition, and the physical culture lifestyle, his willpower, toughness and absolute dedication made him succeed even after an accident that would probably have stopped the career of any other aspiring physical culturist in its tracks.

It is thus more of an honor than a mere pleasure for me that he was not only willing to recount his story, some of you may already have heard of on Super Human Radio in the SuppVersity Student Spotlight, but that he will also be documenting his preparations for the upcoming Wheelchair Nationals in March '12 in a series of blogposts, images and videos on the SuppVersity.

SuppVersity exclusive:
Adelfo Cerame's Road Road to the Wheelchair Nationals 2012

Adelfo Cerame's Road Road to the Wheelchair Nationals 2012

Don't forget to check back for exclusive weekly updates on Adelfo's progress. In his contest-prep documentation you are goint to learn more about Adelfo's raw-foods approach to intermittent-fasting and in his pictures and videos you will see how diet and training will gradually transform a well-built athlete into a freakishingly ripped muscle-freak with a realistic chance of grabbing his pro-card at the Nationals in March '12.

The Crash, the shock... the motivating challenge

My journey started on November 10, 2005, when I was involved in a car accident that left me paralyzed from the waist down, being diagnosed as a T-12 paraplegic. The reality of paralysis and not being able to walk again was a huge eye opener and reality check for me. I had to cope with the fact that things would be a bit different now, and I would have to learn and adapt to a new way of living. The realization of being a paraplegic broke me down spiritually, mentally and physically. It took me about a year to come to terms with my situation, and once I came to terms, I embraced it with open arms, and used it as a driving tool to challenge and motivate myself. I rebuilt myself from the ground up, from my self-esteem, my relationship with God, my new outlook on life, to my physical fitness and physique.

"It took me a while to figure out the whole dieting scheme and put it all together "

Image 2: Adelfo late 2007 (left) and in summer 2008 (right), when, as a result of research, networking and experimenting, for the first time in his whole life, he was finally able to see his abdominal muscles.

I started getting into bodybuilding around 2007 when I was browsing through “you tube” videos and I saw these guys in wheelchairs posing and flexing in bodybuilding competitions. I was so amazed when I saw these incredible physiques from people in wheelchairs, like myself. After looking and reading more into wheelchair bodybuilding, I thought to myself that I can do this; and that’s when everything began for my passion and love for physical culture.

Through research, networking, and experimenting, I was able teach myself about nutrition, fitness and dieting. Grasping the concept of weight loss and dieting was like finding a formula for a math problem after trying to figure it out for years.  I eventually figured it out and did my first bodybuilding contest in 2008.

Image 3: Adelfo during his firefighting days before the accident. While he was not exactly athletic, he never had weight issues with all the physical labor.

Before my injury, I have always been athletic. I played organized sports all through my childhood and adolescent years. Even my occupation as a wildland firefighter before my injury was physically demanding. I knew about fitness and exercise but did not really understand the aspect of the nutrition side of it until I started bodybuilding. I always thought that I was a slave to my subpar genetics and that I can never attain a shredded physique with washboard abs because I was not genetically gifted, but I eventually proved myself wrong with that concept.

"I had to find a different method of maintaining my weight, because I could not run or hike anymore"

Image 4: Adelfo after his first bodybuilding competition in the summer of 2008 where I took 1st place

As you can see from my photo before my injury, I was never really over weight or obese, I considered my self in pretty good condition, but I never really had that physique that I obtain now. My nutritional habits were horrible, I ate what I wanted and when I wanted, and I drank too much alcohol. During my firefighting days my diet consisted of pizza and a 6-pack of beer on a daily basis and the occasional bar hopping. The only reason I stayed in good physical shape as I was, due to the physical demands of my job. I ran 5-6 miles and hiked on a daily basis, and during fire campaigns, I worked 14-21 days straight doing 16 hour shifts hiking up and down mountains fighting fire, so I was burning hundreds of calories on a daily basis, which allowed me to eat and drink what I wanted, and not having to worry about letting myself go. I did not realize how important nutrition was back then, but finally realized the importance after my injury because now I had to find a different method of maintaining my weight because I could not run or hike anymore to burn the calories that I was so use to just shedding.

Image 5: 2010 was not a good year for Adelfo. In the beginning stages for my prep for the 2010 season, he was bed ridden for almost the whole year, due to an pressure ulcer on my behind that was infected with MRSA and needed surgery.

Throughout these past 4 years of my experience with bodybuilding and the whole physical culture lifestyle, I have gained a lot of knowledge about nutrition and fitness. My diet and training methods have evolved and will continue to keep evolving, because of my willingness to keep an open mind and apply and experiment with new strategies, methods and philosophies to my diet and training.

"A perfect diet should be something that you can convert into a lifestyle"

I have tried many, and different approaches to dieting. Through experiment, trial and error, I have taken what has worked for me and used it to build (or still building) a perfect diet, which suits me. I feel a perfect diet should be something that you can convert into a lifestyle not just a 12-week thing then get off of it. A diet should be flexible where you can still be happy, social, and not live like a hermit due to the fear of  “F” ing’ up your diet. I call it find your happy medium.

For my nutrition, I am a big fan of having a high fat, high protein, and low-carbohydrate diet. I feel that my body runs better on fats, but I understand that carbohydrates have their place and importance in nutrition, so I also incorporate some carbohydrates into my diet.

Making a handicap your training advantage

You think you could use some advice on your own training, diet and supplementation regimen and want it from someone who obviously knows what it takes to build muscle and lose fat? You can reach out to Adelfo via Facebook.

For my training I like to lift heavy and I’m not a real big fan of resting in between sets even if I am lifting heavy. Since I no longer have the use of my legs, I have the advantage to train individual body parts twice a week. An exemplary week would look like that:

• Monday- chest/ triceps (emphasize chest)
• Tuesday- back/ biceps (emphasize back)
• Wednesday- rest
• Thursday- triceps/ chest (emphasize triceps)
• Friday- biceps/ back (emphasize biceps)
• Saturday- shoulders and 1 body part depending on what I worked out on Friday.
• Sunday- rest

Adelfo finds sticking to basic supps both economical and effective

For my supplementation, I try to just stick to a quality protein powders, bcaa’s, creatine and oils like macadamia and coconut oil. If I have extra money to spend then I’ll supplement with N.O.’s , pre-workouts (only when I prep), fat burners and beta alanine.

Intermittent fasting is the newest tool in Adelfo's contest prep arsenal

Image 6: There is no doubt - Adelfo knows how to get (back) in shape.

What drew me to Intermittent fasting was the claims that some have made by being able to hold single digit BF% year round. I have no problem cutting for a contest and showing up on stage in great condition, but the hardest part for me, and I think I speak for most, is being able to maintain that contest physique. Even on a high fat, low carb diet (anabolic solution diet) during my off-season, I still can't hold my contest physique unless I was on a calorie deficit, but who wants to do that all year!

Convenience is a big plus of intermittent fasting

Another factor that made me want to try Intermittent fasting, and I think it was the deciding factor for me to experiment with it for my upcoming contest prep, was the relief from not having to prep meals for the whole day and waking up super early just so I don't miss breakfast. I was just getting burnt out on prepping meals and basing my daily schedule around my meals. My meals kind of dictate how my schedule goes.

Coming soon: Dr. Andro's Intermittent Fasting Write-Up - All about its effects on your training, your physique and your general health. You may also want to check out my posts on glycogen-free muscle growth in the meantime.

A final word from Dr. Andro: If Adelfo's bio got you interested - and I am pretty sure it has - make sure you don't forget to check back for the upcoming SuppVersity exclusive "Adelfo Cerame's Road Road to the Wheelchair Nationals 2012 - Raw Foods and Intermittent Fasting Pave His Way"! The best way to make sure you don't miss it, is to join the SuppVersity Facebook page, where you will find all the daily updates on what's going on in the world of exercise and nutrition science.