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Now that Garry had set the all time heaviest deadlift in history with his 931 it was back to the drawing board to make sure that this wasn’t a fluke. Hell I knew this wasn’t a fluke but the result of Garry’s dialed in nutrition and supplementation plan. It was now time to step it up a notch and prepare Garry for the next slew of competitions. Here he would embark on his goal of the ultimate total. So what would we do with Garry for his upcoming contests? Where would we take his performance in the next coming months? Most importantly what would be written in the strength history books when it was all over? All these questions would soon be answered when Garry stepped on stage against those looking to dethrone him.



Time To Heal

As I sat down with Garry after his super sweet victory we realized that there was still a lot that had to be done to get the most out of his nutrition plan. It was time to focus in and specialize on specific areas that needed to be addressed. We had to make sure that no rock was to be left unturned as we planned out his quest for power. The first thing that we were going to do is let Garry’s body and digestive system take a little break over the next 6 weeks. Yes you heard it right. Not only does the body along with the joints take a beating during a pre contest cycle, but the digestive tract also needs a break from a serious nutrition plan. This will help him get his mind focused again for the upcoming contest cycle and let him take a little breather from the massive nutritional pounding that I put him under for the last several months. Now don’t get me wrong here, I wasn’t giving Garry free rein to go and chow down at the “All You Can Eat” smorgasbord on a daily basis. I will admit it was time to allow him a few more cheat meals as well as reduce the overall volume of food. It was time to heal and rest and build the battle plans for the upcoming war that we were going to wage against all those who stepped in our path! During this off-season time here I kept his diet quite clean but I did reduce his protein intake and allowed a little more variety in the types of carbs that he would consume. I also allowed him to bump up his fat intake a little to help with the healing process. Here I also dropped out all his supplements and just kept him on his multivitamin and basic whey protein shakes. What a lot of people don’t realize is that you will get better results from your supplements by cycling them throughout the year. The reason why I kept in the multivitamin and protein shakes was to make sure that we weren’t missing any valuable micronutrients and to make sure that his protein intake didn’t drop too low. If this happened he would start going backwards with his progress and that was the last thing we wanted to happen. The goal here was to take one step backwards so that during our next training cycle we would take three steps forward. This is a theory that not only works for the training end of powerlifting but also the nutrition and supplementation end as well. Another very important point, which most people don’t realize, is that staying on a high protein diet for super long periods of time will actually decrease how much the body will absorb. So taking this into account I cycle protein intake with my athletes to make sure that they get the best results possible. Remember it’s not just how much protein you take in on a daily basis but how the body will absorb and utilize it towards protein synthesis.

Another major plan of action with Garry is the cleansing program that I created specifically for strength athletes. I will be launching this unique system known as the XP3 Power Cleanse sometime very soon. Keep your eyes posted in my column or check out my website to find out more info. I have mentioned cleansing the organs of toxins and pollutants several times in past articles. During a hard training cycle toxins do build up in the body. After a contest is the best time to cleanse the different organs to allow them a rest and to rejuvenate them. I have specific protocols for cleansing the liver, gallbladder, kidneys, colon, blood and more. The purpose here is to rid the body of pollutants that can latter down the road cause health problems. With the way most powerlifters eat and their lifestyle, the powerlifter’s body can build up a nice variety of toxins. The reality of our sport is that the large majority of powerlifters don’t take care of their health. It is a sad reality but this sad reality is seen on a monthly basis in the pages of PL USA with the passing of many lifters way before their time. At this time I put Garry through a comprehensive colon and liver cleanse to make sure that his body was running like a fine tuned machine. I know many of you make poke fun at all this “Cleansing Talk” but just make sure its out of ear shot of Garry as he may just turn you into a human pancake. If the world’s supreme powerlifter can open his mind to nutrition and cleansing then the ignorant out there should double think their current doubt on what the nutritional sciences can do for your total!

The New Game Plan

The first thing that we had to do is reassess and reanalyze what areas we needed to hone in on with Garry’s new nutrition plan. After going through our new game plan it was a consensus that we were going to get Garry’s weight back up in the range of 390-405 pounds. The reason for this is that Garry needed to get his Bench and Squat up a little more and with the new added weight it will provide more stability and increased leverages for these particular lifts. The main thing here was to make sure that the large majority of the weight we put on him was lean muscle tissue. We didn’t want just to pack on more weight because we would end up right where we started. This was not what we wanted to do so balancing his nutrition plan was going to be of utmost importance.

The Reconstruction

With all this said and done it was now time to focus our attention on what areas that Garry needed to change to make sure that he was going to come into his next few contests destroying anything and everything in his path. The first thing that we had to do is get his calories up. Now when I am talking bringing up his calories I am not talking just a couple hundred or even an extra thousand per day like most powerlifting mortals may think. We were looking to get them up from his last plan by at least another 3-5,000 calories. Now most of you guys out there even super heavyweights don’t take in 3-5,000 calories per day in total and here I am talking about bringing his current nutrition plan up by that much. Like I said before Garry is a beast and just as you can’t train the way he does, don’t expect to eat the way he does either. Now I don’t want you to get the wrong idea here. When I am talking about bringing up his calories by another several thousand you must be thinking that I just added in a couple pints of ice cream and some hot dogs to bring him up to speed. Well sorry young buck; that’s not the case in the least. I am talking quality calories here not garbage food. Remember good food in, excellent performance out. Bad food in, garbage performance out! You are what you eat and if you eat like a garbage disposal then you will lift like one. And for you genetic freaks out there, if you are eating horribly and you are performing well then I guarantee you that if you follow my advice you will see new heights in powerlifting faster then you could imagine. The power of nutrition is that good, yet most of you are probably still doubting.

Eat, Eat and Eat some More!

Now with Garry’s calories up even more then his last plan we had to also increase his meal frequency. I now had to get his meal intake to 8 per day. Yes you heard that right. It was now time for Garry to eat 8 times per day or every 2 hours. So if Garry wasn’t eating a meal, he was either thinking about his next one or having Teresa prepare it. I know most of you probably eat twice a day and think that’s just fine, well think again. Eating like that won’t keep you on top of your game that is for sure! With his calories up and his meal frequency through the roof, there was yet still more we had to perfect.



The Science of Pre and Post Workout Nutrition

Next up was designing his pre and post workout meals. Now most of you eat just about anything before you train without putting any thought into it. Now when it comes to what a lot of powerlifters eat after they train its just as bad if not worse. I will say that I have heard not one but numerous powerlifters tell me that they stop by the good old “Drive Through” from their local heart clogger on the way home from their workout. Well this sounds just great if you want to have a heart attack by 35. But for those who want a little more then a life of fast food and some angina accompanied with some tingling down the arm then you better fine tune your nutrition plan a little more than just wolfing down some grease at your local fast food joint. The point is here that I had to customize both Garry’s pre workout meal as well as his post workout meals. I had to make sure that the meal prior to Garry’s training would keep his glycogen stores full so that he would have the endurance to get through his mind boggling workouts. I also had to make sure that his blood sugar levels would be stabilized throughout the entirety of his workout to make sure he doesn’t get a nice dose of hypoglycemia right before he puts 1000 pounds on his back. This is the last thing you want especially when the weight gets that heavy. Most lifters don’t realize how important the meal prior to your training session is. After I discussed with Garry the finer points of pre workout nutritional sciences he now understood why I made sure he was doing as I instructed.

Next I had to design the ultimate post workout nutrition plan for him. Now most of you probably don’t know but what you consume within the 30 minute window after you train, and also the three hour period after your workout will have an important effect on your performance. This includes such things like your rate of recovery, glycogen replenishment, protein synthesis, Cortisol suppression, cell volumization, Insulin manipulation and much much more. The first thing that I did was give Garry my secret post workout formula. This is a post workout formula that I developed specifically for powerlifters. It is one that I only give out to my elite athletes and my selected clientele. Now with such a specimen as Garry I had to fine tweak it to make sure that it was going to get the job done. This formula is one that can make a huge difference in ones performance, increasing your strength, improving your rate of recovery and it will give you pumps like never before. Another benefit with it is that most of my athletes gain up to ten pounds in only the first week without an increase in bodyfat. Garry wondered what the hell I was making him drink after his workout. It was no simple protein shake to say the least. Garry thought I was giving him some type of witch’s brew that would give him some magic powers. Well he was part right because I knew that if he drank this as instructed he would see the results right away.

Next I had to customize his first post workout meal to work in conjunction with the formula and his pre workout meal. Whew, I am getting tired just thinking about all the work and number crunching going on but I knew it would be well worth it that’s for sure. As you can see just throwing some food together when I design a customized nutrition plan is not the game plan in the least. Everything that takes place when using the Nutrition XP3 program is very customized and scientifically designed to make sure that whether you are the strongest man in the world or you are a 58 year old light weight masters competitor you will see results like never before. It is through all my hard work and planning that your results will jack up like never before.

You are what you Absorb

Another area of concern was how well Garry would absorb and utilize the nutrients from his new plan. You are only worth what you can assimilate and absorb so we had to make sure that his body was processing the massive intake of nutrients. The fiber content of his diet was greatly increased along with other supplements that would help him metabolize his food better. Fiber is one of the most overlooked nutrients in the powerlifter’s diet and I wanted to make sure that Garry was taking in enough. A wide assortment of digestive enzymes and probiotics would help make him get that little extra out of the food he was consuming. Since he was eating enough for a small village we had to make sure that we didn’t over work his digestion to the point where he would not process these superhuman portions of food. Most people don’t realize how important this area of sports nutrition is for increasing your performance. But with Garry’s experience with the Nutrition XP3 Program there was going to be no area of concern neglected in our quest for the ultimate total.

Hydrate to Dominate

Let’s not forget his hydration level. With his increased caloric intake and new protein demands we had to get Garry’s water intake much higher. The three to four liters a day that we were taking in prior to his last show would not cut it now. We had to get him in the range of six to eight liters day in and day out. What a lot of people don’t understand is the more protein that you consume the more water you need because you will find that you get dehydrated much easier then before. This will also keep the kidneys flushed and keep your muscle cells saturated which will help shuttle more nutrients inside them. Water is very important and even a 3% dehydration level will cause a dramatic strength loss. That doesn’t sound so good does it? So making sure that Garry’s massive structure was well hydrated was another key factor that had to be addressed with his new weight gain plan. Many people think that drinking lots of water is only for those trying to lose weight but this is the farthest thing from the truth. Drinking more water will not only increase your performance and help you drop more bodyfat, but it will also keep your organs healthy including your liver and kidneys.

Not Giving Away All the Secrets

Now this wasn’t all the things we changed with his nutrition and supplementation plan, but just a few. There are many complicated and advanced ideas that we put into place to make sure he was coming home with the gold. I wanted to give you a brief overview of some of the things that we changed up but I don’t want to give away all our secrets. The Nutrition XP3 program is no doubt the most versatile customized nutrition program specifically designed for strength athletes. No other program comes close to the specialization and customization that takes place. Garry wouldn’t trust his success to some sub par generic nutrition plan from some book he found at the local bookstore. He wanted a customized nutrition and supplementation plan that changed as his body and workouts changed. He wanted the best and wasn’t going to put his faith in anything less then the best. This is why Garry put all his faith in the only customized nutrition system for the powerlifter…the Nutrition XP3 Program!

A Beast waiting for the Attack

Over the next several month’s Garry with Teresa’s help stuck to his nutrition plan like a soldier. Week by week we saw his weight climb. Not only that but his strength was going through the roof. He was hitting PR’s in all his lifts and was doing triples with weights before that was previous contest maxes. Garry’s mind has never been so focused on destroying the unthinkable powerlifting records of the past. Garry has the heart of a true champion and he was on track like a freight train with only one thing on his mind…the final destination! That destination is the unthinkable total of 2800 pounds. A total so unreal it makes the strongest men wince at the thought of trying to accomplish it. A total so massive it makes those totaling in the elite 2400-range look like child’s play. With Garry’s sweat and toil in the gym and with Teresa in the kitchen making more meals than a gourmet chef, we both knew that Garry would be soon taking on records that would shock the powerlifting world and would have his competitors wishing they took up another sport. Garry would soon set new powerlifting records that would shatter the history books and forever engrave his name in the history of strength.


Note abouth the Author: Anthony Ricciuto, B.Phed CFT SPN SWM FT SSC

Anthony is the current Sports Nutrition and Science Editor for Powerlifting USA magazine. He has a monthly column in PL USA as well and has written dozens of articles for numerous other magazines and websites. Anthony currently runs a private Training and Sports Nutrition consulting business in Toronto, Canada working with World Class strength athletes, fitness models, professional athletes, actors and bodybuilders. He has worked and consulted with numerous nutrition and supplementation companies helping them in product design and formulation as well as marketing promotions.

Anthony is the creator of the Nutrition XP3 Customized Nutrition System. He has revolutionized sports nutrition and supplementation for the strength athlete. This unique and one of a kind system has proven itself with numerous World Champion athletes from all over the globe. Their company X-treme Power is a collaboration of Anthony and World renowned strength coach and MuscleMag International Strength Science Editor, Rahim Kassam. He has recently launched his nutrition website at www.NutritionXP3.com . In the coming year Anthony will be releasing a DVD on Power Nutrition as well as a book. Another forthcoming project is his Power Cleanse XP3 which will be a unique and comprehensive system that will focus on cleansing the different organs of the body. This will be a one of a kind system focusing on cleansing and purifying the body from improper nutrition habits, unhealthy lifestyle choices and pharmaceutical enhancement. It will focus on improving the health and quality of life for the strength athlete as well as reduce the chances of health problems and life threatening diseases in latter years. Anthony has brought some very innovative ideas to the strength scene and his ability to dial in his elite athletes contest after contest has given him the nickname of the “Power Nutrition Guru.”

His list of past and current nutritional clientele includes: