Latest progress photo. I’m a lil leaner, but as you can see, smaller and more depleted. It’s ok. I can endure. Eight more days! Let’s go!

#1 Research Everything!

Google is your best friend. Learn everything there is to know about pre-contest dieting from reliable sources. With the Internet, it’s so easy to obtain information nowadays. Don’t guess anything you’re not sure of. You don’t need to. During my contest prep, I Googled and read tonnes of articles about loads of stuff including carb cycling, protein requirements, HIIT (high intensity interval training) vs LISS (low intensity steady state) cardio, ketogenic diet, carb depletion and loading protocols, etc. If you’re too lazy to do this simple task of researching, then you’re missing out on an incredibly valuable FREE tool to help you win! Of course, the downside of this is that you will read many articles that will contradict each other. When you do, you’ll have to use your own experience and critical evaluation to decide which “expert” to listen to.

#2 Listen To Your Body

There can be many calculators that will tell you how many grams of protein/carbs/fat you should be taking, how many sets and reps you should be performing, but all these are general guidelines. To make it more effective and personalized to your body’s needs, observe how your body respond to it. There are many signs your body will give you throughout your prep. Be sensitive to these signs. They include energy levels, hunger levels, strength levels, fatigue, blood pressure, body weight and most importantly, how your body looks. When something doesn’t seem to be going the right way, change your diet/training/rest. What factor do you change and how do you change it? Refer to tip #1.

#3 Keep A Strong and Positive Mindset

Runner-up at Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012.

When I was preparing for Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012, I wasn’t in the proper mindset, especially during the last two weeks. I honestly didn’t think I have a chance to win anything, or even place in the top 3. I actually screwed up my final week preparation and ate many things I shouldn’t have. And to my surprise, I actually placed runner-up in a category of 14 competitors, where I was the youngest! And I was like, “Shit! I could have won if I knew I was that good!”. No intentions to take any credit away from Ray, the winner of my category that day. He deserves it and he’s a really nice guy too! So, the lesson here is, give it your all. You never know what could happen. Even if you really REALLY think you can’t win, aim to look your best! The final days of contest prep are the hardest, but ENDURE. It’s going to be over soon and you can have all the food you desire with your loved ones. The pain will not last, but the pride of looking your best that day will. Endure.

#4 Have A Support Group

Amanda can surely support me well!

This year, I’m lucky to have my girl, Amanda and plenty of friends and gym-mates in the gym, on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter encouraging me and cheering me on to win this contest. And it helps, a lot! It motivates me and I want to make them proud too. So when you’re preparing for your contest, tell your friends and bros. Get them behind you to push through those difficult sets and low-carb days. You will be surprised by the difference it makes. Oh, and if you have friends who have contest experience, even better. They’ll give you tips and if you’re confused about something, you can just ask them.

#5 Arrange Photo Shoots While You’re Still In Shape

Seriously, if you’re going to work so hard to look this good, immortalize it in photos before you go back to bulking mode! This, of course, applies to those who don’t really bother to look ripped all year round (which I guess is most of us). Arrange a few photo shoots with some friends who are great photographers or hire professionals if needed. Then, upload them on your Facebook/Instagram… And go on with your bulking.

And there you go, my personal lessons from my contest prep. To those who are preparing for a contest, I wish you the best, especially if it’s your first time. It might be hard, but you’ll be proud you had the strength and courage to do it. Do like Fabodylous on Facebook for more fitness and bodybuilding articles, tips, memes and events.

Here I am, 5 weeks out. 78kg. Veins starting to pop out. And yea, I know you love my backdrop.

This year, I’m learning from my Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012 experience to bring in the perfect package to stage. All the criticism I’ve received – “Your legs were thin”, “Your abs weren’t clear”, “Your arms could be thicker”, I’m taking them all in, processing and evaluating them and taking action to fix those problem areas. Plus, I’m also making sure I don’t repeat the same mistakes I made last year, mainly peaking too early (and losing muscle mass), being negative, losing confidence and succumbing to the pressure and loading up on too much food the day before the contest.

My progress from 18 March to 20 April. I was about 81kg on 18 March and 78kg on 20 April. Not much weight loss, I know. But I’m not aiming for a certain weight, but a certain look – ripped. If you’re losing plenty of weight but your progress photos show minimal changes, watch out – you may be losing muscle mass instead of fat. Click on the image for a larger view.

Right now I have a six-day training cycle. Every six days, I weight train 5 times and perform 3 low-intensity cardio sessions, about 50 minutes each session. Diet wise, I’m taking in more carbs now, which is something I learnt from a mistake I made last year – lowering carbs too fast and too low. Thus, I’ll be able train harder in the gym and build more muscle mass.

My conditioning one day out from Mr KL 2012. Can’t wait to see the improvements this year.

So what can you expect from this year’s Wee Kiat at Mr KL 2013? Well, hopefully, you’ll see a bigger, fuller and more aesthetic me, with the same (or better) conditioning and vascularity I had in 2012. I want to thank all my friends and family who have supported me throughout this period either in person or on Facebook/Instagram/Twitter. You guys make this contest more meaningful to me and motivate me through my restrictive diet and intense workouts. I also want to thank my sponsor, Maximuscle for providing me with top-quality supplements, especially Cyclone and Promax, which I use a tonne of. For those who are interested to join/attend Mr Kuala Lumpur, the event will be held at Wisma OCM, Jalan Hang Jebat, KL on 26 May. Registration starts at 10am and show starts at 12pm.

Yeah buddy! Peace out.

I have definitely improved from 2 weeks ago, especially my legs. However, my body fat is still pretty high and I’m a long way to go to being ripped. My weight is still in the vicinity of 82kg. And here’s my current training split. I train my weak parts twice per week and stronger parts only once.

Monday: Chest, Triceps, Abs

Tuesday: Back, Biceps

Wednesday: HIIT (10 sprint sets)

Thursday: Morning: HIIT (8 sprint sets) Evening: Shoulders, Abs, Calves

Friday: Morning: HIIT (8 sprint sets) Evening: Chest, Biceps, Triceps

Saturday: Quads, Hamstrings

Sunday: Rest

Motivation is pretty good right now. I’m pushing myself hard in the gym and I’m ready to put all my knowledge and experience from last year’s pre-contest dieting to good use. So how will I fare at Mr KL? Like Fabodylous on Facebook to stay updated!

Before this, I had a 2 weeks deconditioning period. I did not train intensely during those two weeks. Good thing is right now, my body is ultra responsive to training stimulus. Even squats done slowly, ass to grass with just 100kg make me super sore the next day. Bad thing is, since my deconditioning period coincided with Chinese New Year, all the CNY treats have made me put on some unnecessary blubber. Sigh. Oh well, not like it’s too late for me to cut anyway.

For the next two weeks, I will be lean bulking and watching my diet closely. After that, I will be cutting full speed ahead. Here’s my diet plan. As for training, I’m hitting the weights five times per week, lifting moderate weights with full range of motion, focus and concentration. As for cardio, I’m doing HIIT once per week.

Just like last year, I will be updating you guys on my progress every two weeks. Like my Facebook fan page to stay updated!

When I was dieting for Mr Kuala Lumpur 2012, I did a lot of research via the Internet, books and asked other competitors and friends about their diets. Two of them told me, “I’m taking 500g of protein daily, with almost no carbs and fat. I’m basically only eating egg whites and steamed chicken breast”. Ok, I get it, it is recommended that a bodybuilder takes a high protein, low carb diet if he wants to lose fat but that is unnecessarily extreme. Unless you’re the size of a pro bodybuilder, your body isn’t going to utilize all 500g of protein. And going that low in carbs, you’re going to be so damn lethargic. Other unnecessary extremes I have seen are extreme training parameters. Either someone is doing too many sets or too few and using too much weight or too little. To these guys I say, chill. You’re only gonna need 2g of protein per pound of lean body weight AT MOST. And I wouldn’t lower my carbs to less than 80g per day even when I’m dieting (50g if you’re female). Training wise, choose a weight which you can perform your target number of reps with proper form and you won’t need more than 20 sets per body part, even for large ones.

Alright, so now that I’ve written about bodybuilding parameters which should be handled with moderation but are often taken to the extreme, what parameters SHOULD we take to the extreme? And there should be some, right? Cause if there is nothing that should be to the extreme in the sport, how could we push ourselves and what separates the champs from the wannabes? Well, there are, but these parameters are often not discussed about, hard to quantify and often forgotten. Champs know that these parameters are what they should be concentrating on while wannabes are distracted by which protein powder is better or is high intensity training or volume training better.

What am I talking about? I’m talking about consistency, discipline, determination and the willingness to suffer pain and deprivation (especially when strict dieting). In the end, the person who pushes himself the hardest in the gym, no matter with high intensity training or volume training, will be the best bodybuilder. So will the person who sticks closely to his diet and resists the temptation of unhealthy foods, alcohol and late-night partying. In short, keep your weights, reps, sets and macros moderate, but keep the fire and determination in you burning stronger than ever!

Sweet Potato Chips

Ingredients:

2 large sweet potatoes

canola oil

First, wash em! Then, cut off a bit of both ends of the sweet potatoes and throw those away. You don’t want those. Next, cut the sweet potatoes cross section into slices. The thinner the crispier, but that’s more work, so make your choice.

Next, pour some oil into a frying pan. You’re still deep frying, so make sure there’s enough oil. For those of you who are thinking, “Damn! That’s lot of oil! How can this be healthy??”, chill the fuck out.

Canola oil is full of monounsaturated fats, which is good for the body and helps with your cholesterol levels. And it’s a good source of Omega-3s too.

Fry them chips until they are golden brown and put them on a sieve or kitchen tissues to get rid of extra oil.

And walah!! They taste great on their own. No salt needed.

Fun fact: Just only 50g of sweet potatoes contains the daily recommended intake of vitamin A. When you’re done with a bowl of these sweet potato chips, you would have all the antioxidants you need to fight off nasty free radicals!

Now, let’s move on to the burgers.

Homemade Burger Patties

Ingredients:

Canola oil

200g ground beef

Worcestershire sauce

Instant oats

Oregano

Mix the beef with 2 tablespoon of Worcestershire sauce, 40g of  instant oatmeal and sprinkle some oregano into the mix. Mix them up with your hands and split them to 4 equal parts (or more, depending on how big you want your patties to be). Then, roll them up into balls and flatten them to give them the shape of burger patties.

Lastly, fry until they’re golden brown (or black. Don’t worry, they won’t taste burnt. Just that the oats turn black too fast! On the inside, the meat is perfectly cook and tastes awesome!)

Enjoy your meal!

For more recipes and other bodybuilding and fitness stuff, like Fabodylous on Facebook. There are tonnes of informative and fun updates there too!

 Looking for a personal trainer? Click here.

In my opinion, most of us should be eating fairly clean during our off season. Note that I said most, not all. That’s because I’m speaking from my own perspective and experience with my own physique. Some of you may relate to it. Some of you may notice your body reacts differently.

Alright, let’s cut the crap. So why do I eat clean during bulking? I have once tried eating almost whatever I can get my hands on in attempt to put on weight fast. However, I bumped into so many problems in doing so. Firstly, I’m naturally a small eater. I even had chats with some female fitness competitors and they went, “you eat THAT much? I think I eat more than you!” Lol. So what happened when I force in loads of junk into my body? I felt sluggish. My body felt heavy and bloated cause it’s always trying to digest my last meal. And yea, I did gain quite a lot of weight, but much of it was fat and water.

So after that, I switched my diet to something cleaner. It wasn’t 100% clean. However, I ate out only a couple of times in a week. Other than that, I cooked or had a protein shake. I felt so much better. My strength actually went up. I felt more energetic and less bloated. Nope, my weight barely went up, but guess what? I got leaner. And I wasn’t even in cutting mode. When I think back on why is this so, it all makes sense. I was giving my body everything it needs, thus I didn’t need a big appetite. When I was dirty bulking, not only I was forcing so much food into my tiny digestive system, but much of those food is crap and not what my body needed to build itself.

Thus, my recommendation to the bulkers out there  - eat clean. However, remember to listen to your body and judge for yourself if your body is rewarding you or punishing you for what you’re doing. I know some people who can’t make much progress if they don’t force in tonnes of calories into themselves.

And lastly, please don’t think things into the extreme unnecessarily. Of course you’re allowed to eat out. Don’t be anti-social. When your friends ask you out, go ahead and have fun. But during other times, remember to give your body what it needs.

Like Fabodylous on Facebook for more bodybuilding articles! And if you need some personal fitness advice, click here.

Maximuscle Cyclone is quite a premium product. Nope, it’s not cheap, but it’s worth its price tag. Maximuscle held nothing back to make Cyclone the most complete, fasting-absorbing and anabolic post-workout formula on the market.

So what is in Cyclone which makes it so much better than a generic whey, creatine and glucose mix? Firstly, yes, it has glucose and creatine monohydrate. For its protein source, it contains Biomax, which is Maximuscle’s proprietary blend of whey isolates, hydrolysates and peptides. Yup, no whey concentrate. Only the fastest-digesting whey there is.

The ingredient in Cyclone I am most excited about is HMB  (Beta-Hydroxy Beta-Methylbutyrate). HMB is a metabolite of Leucine and has two main advantages. One, it prevents breakdown of muscle protein. And two, it promotes protein synthesis. Remember, intense weight training promotes both protein breakdown and protein synthesis. So if you can change this balance towards more protein synthesis, the net effect will be muscle gain. Click here to read more on HMB.

The second ingredient I want to highlight is Beta Ecdysterone. Beta Ecdysterone is a plant sterol which acts like an antioxidant to combat free radicals produced during intense training. It also enhances anabolism and endurance and some studies have shown that it promotes fat loss. How does it work? Google it because I’m the kind of person who hates explaining stuff too scientific.

And to round it all up, Maximuscle added some Glutamine plus essential fatty acids. Taste wise, I would give it a 8 out a 10. My favourite flavour is chocolate, which is rich, thick, tastes natural instead of medicine-ish.

Give it a try! Click here to order!

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Me: Hey Ronnie, great to see you again. Remember me?

Ronnie: From 2010?

Me: Yea. I was that kid who was following you around the entire trip with my camera.

Ronnie: Oohhh yeahh!! Now I remember.

Ronnie Coleman and I in 2010.

Me: So how’s the wife and kids doing nowadays?

Ronnie: Everybody’s doing great. No problems and just having a nice time. Haha.

Me: How many daughters do you have?

Ronnie: Six.

Me: Wow. How old are they?

Ronnie: The oldest is 27. The youngest is 7 months. Her name is Lola.

Me: How’s your health now, after so many years of bodybuilding?

Ronnie: My health is 100% good but I’m recovering from my last surgery back in December. I had a double neck fusion. It’s going pretty good though. So far I’ve gotten back to say, 75%. The doctor says that I will take about 2 years for me to fully recover cause my nerves have been compressed for a good while. But as long as I’m seeing progress, I’m happy. Awhile back, it was pretty bad.

Me: Was it so bad that you couldn’t walk once?

Ronnie: No no no. What happen was my right lat, biceps and delt had lost about 3 inches. But now it’s getting back to where it was. I took some pictures the other day and my right biceps actually looked bigger than my left.

Me: So when you’re back to 100 percent, you’ll be going back on stage again?

Ronnie: Yea I will. I’m going to compete in the Masters Mr Olympia cause I can’t compete with the regular big guys no more. But with the older guys, we all had our glory days, so we’re going to just have fun.

Me: Can’t wait to see you onstage man. Good luck. Speaking of the big guys, one of my readers want to know, what do you think about this guy called Kai Greene?

Ronnie: I think Kai is a great bodybuilder. He can be Mr Olympia if he puts on just a little bit more size in his delts and arms. His legs are already huge, so a little more on the delts and arms will give him the appearance of being more complete in every shot. Some people said that he actually deserved the win this year but the champion will always have the advantage and be the favourite so it’s hard to overtake that.

Me: How about Jay Cutler? Do you think he can come back and reclaim his title?

Ronnie: No. One thing you can’t beat in this world is time. I learnt that the hard way. You can’t play basketball forever. You can’t play football forever. You can’t bodybuild forever. I mean you CAN do it, but not at a high level against younger guys who have more time and have not reached their peaks yet. There’s only so much the body can do and once you’re done, you can’t go back in time. He’s past his prime now. Especially with Phil Heath getting into his prime, Jay can’t compete against him anymore.

Me: Alright, let’s move on to your supplements. Again from one of my readers, he wants to know, what makes Ronnie Coleman Signature Series different or better than other brands?

Ronnie: What we always try to do is to put in more quality ingredients into our supplements. We don’t necessarily want to make the most profits out of our supplements. Instead, we’re trying to make the best supplements. I’ve been in the industry for a long time and I know that many companies put in cheap ingredients into their stuff. Many companies, especially when they have made it to the top, they just want to make money. They are more like marketing geniuses than anything else.

Me: So which is your favourite supplement and tell us why.

Ronnie: I must say my favourite is definitely the protein, Pro-Antium. It’s the only supplement I take twice per day, whether I’m training or not. I still live the bodybuilder’s lifestyle and have a protein shake with grits every morning and another shake at night. So, my favourite supplement is protein, by far.

Me: I heard that after every Mr Olympia, you take a 3-months break before resuming training. If you could do it all again, will you still take that break? And do you recommend that we smaller guys take that break too?

Ronnie: Yup. It allowed my body to recover. If you take a hammer and hit something over and over again, it’s gonna be destroyed. I don’t wanna destroy my body cause I want my body to last me as long as it possible can. If you train hard and push it everyday, your body is going to wear out. I wanted to keep on winning Mr Olympias, so I gave my body time to recover. I didn’t like it because working out is what I love, but it’s something I have to do. And I would recommend it to other bodybuilders too.

Me: When you train, what goes through your mind?

Ronnie: Umm… I’m always thinking about how many reps I’m gonna do and the amount of weight. When it’s time, I get really focused, reminding myself to breathe and only go up so high cause’ I don’t wanna put too much tension on my joints. And lastly I’m focusing on strength cause you need strength to do the number of reps you need to do. My goal is to get a certain number of reps.

Ronnie with two fans in Singapore.

Me: Some people say they focus more on contraction and mind in the muscle. Do you believe in that?

Ronnie: You can believe in that if you want to. For me, I focus on lifting the weight because contraction is automatic when you lift. I never focus on contraction. Some people have said, “Hey man, you’re doing half reps!” but I don’t really do half reps. I’m focusing on my muscle. I’m not focusing on a certain style of lifting or contracting. I’m just trying to get the weight up. I’m trying to build muscle.

Me: Alright, let’s get away from the serious stuff and to something more fun. What is the most insane thing a fan has done for you or to you?

Ronnie: Mannnn… I just don’t know where to begin. I must say the craziest thing is the mass of people trying to get to me. I remember once I was in China for a seminar or something and there were maybe a thousand people there. As soon as I was leaving the place, all of them rushed to me, just trying to touch me or something. I had many bodyguards trying to protect me but that was one of the craziest things that I have ever seen cause it was A LOT of people. I mean, I wasn’t scared or anything, haha, with my strength and all but I was just shocked and amazed at how people were inspired by me or whatever.

Me: Hahaha. Yup, there certainly were. Alright, so… Shawn Rhoden.

Ronnie: Yup, we just signed him up. I think Shawn is like me in a way when I just came into the sport. I didn’t know a lot about bodybuilding so I started to learn from people who do. I started learning from Brian Dobson (owner of MetroFlex Gym) and when Brian’s knowledge was maxed out I had to go on to the next level. I worked with Chad Nicholls and that took  me to the next level. Shawn is probably experiencing the same thing. There’s only so few people who can get him to where he wants to be and I think I can help him get there with my knowledge and expertise.

Me: So you’re gonna train him or help him with his diet or something?

Ronnie: Yeap, I’m gonna help him with his training, diet and everything else, including of course, supplements.

Me: One reader wants to know where did “Yeah buddy!”, “Ain’t nothing but a peanut!” and “Light weight!” came from.

Ronnie: One day I was in the gym alone and it was hot and quiet and I just got tired of being in there by myself. I needed some motivation so I just started yelling out stuff and it became what I yell out all the time. I was just trying to spice it up and make things different. Hahaha.

Me: Haha. Ok, here’s an interesting one. You know this guy named Justin Bieber? What do you think about him?

Ronnie: Yup, heard of him.  But I like rap music. I don’t really know what he does and what the fans think about him, but if he’s not rapping then it’s not my concern. I just know a lot of girls like him so more power to him. I don’t wish to be him, but I’m glad for him and I wish him as much success as he can have.

Me: Alright. Let’s find a way for him to see this. Hahaha.

Ronnie: Hahaha.

Me: *clears throat* Back to the interview, will you ever write an autobiography about yourself and what you’ve done?

Ronnie: You know, I actually thought about it but Ronnie Coleman Signature Series is keeping me busy right now. We’re coming out with more products, including a fat burner, Phenbuterol, and amino acid supplement, Amino Tone and a whey protein isolate supplement.

Me: So you said you have six daughters?

Ronnie: Yup six daughters. Maybe the next one will be a son.

Me: Wow, if you had a son, everyone will be like, “Whoah! That’s the next big thing! That’s Ronnie Coleman Jr!”

Ronnie: Hahaha. I would like that to happen. I mean, it’s not in my control, but that would be cool.

Me: Yup, imagine he’ll get nine Mr Olympias so both father and son combined will have seventeen Mr Olympias!

Ronnie: Yea, that would be the ULTIMATE for me!

Me: That would be cool. Do you think that people should train heavy when preparing for a competition?

Ronnie: Yup, I always train heavy and it worked well for me. I always train heavy and put on size for a competition. Most people would be worried about an injury but if you’re gonna worry about it so much, it’s gonna happen anyway. For me, I was doing 800lbs deadlifts 5 weeks out from a show. I was going heavy all the way up to 2 weeks from a show. By then, I couldn’t lift heavy because I was weaker, not because I didn’t want to.

Me: Last question, during your last Mr Olympia, you had a lat injury, right?

Ronnie: Yup, at the last Mr Olympia, I was in so much pain I could barely flex my abs. What happened was I had a herniated disc back in 1996. It has progressed to the point where I can’t stand for 5 minutes without being in excruciating pain. It was really pressing against my nerves and I guess it had affected my lats too, making hard for it to come out. I had a surgery 2 months after the Olympia.

Ronnie Coleman; my lovely assistant, Jacinta and I.

Me: Alright, that was the last question but do you mind doing me a favour? Could you look at the camera and read this for my girlfriend?

Ronnie:

And that was it, folks! Like Fabodylous on Facebook for more exclusive interviews, event updates and more videos!

Special thanks to Fitlion.com for this exclusive interview!