Most of the articles you read in the magazines that list pro bodybuilders as having really strict diets aren't even written by the bodybuilders themselves. 3 or 4 years ago Lee Priest did an instore signing at Supplement City here in CT. He was eating McDonald's before the store opened and asked for a garbage can to throw his bag in. Afterwards the owners took him to a restaurant and they said he ate everything in site. Can't speak for all bodybuilders but a lot of them put on a lot of muscle and fat between contests. From an article:
I've said this before, and I will say it again, you cannot get a highly competitive physique and maintain your abs all year long! It doesn’t work that way. And unfortunately, the majority of today’s magazines make this out to be the case.
The quickest way to gain mass is to eat, like you have never eaten before, and ask questions latter! If you have ever been to Venice Beach, you will understand exactly what I am talking about. Bodybuilders are absolute tanks in the off season!
I’m not sure how many of you are familiar with Ian Harrison, but he is actually one of the founders of the massive physiques you see on stage today. He is one of the first athletes to bulk up to over 320 pounds on a consistent basis, and as far as pure size is concerned, he was right up there with Yates, Rhul, and Nasser. Ian has stated that he literally doesn’t care what he looks like in the off season, as long as he’s gaining size. In fact he has been quoted with eating three liters of ice cream a day while bulking. Literally, as long as he doesn’t throw it up, he will eat it!
And even then he may force feed it. During a seminar he told a very inspiring story. He ate 30 desiccated liver tablets, felt sick and threw them up. They went flying across the room. What did he do? Casually rinsed them off, and re-downed them, because he knew that was what it would take for him to get the physique he wanted. Ian has a difficult time gaining weight, so he did what it took to gain it!
“ If you want to be one of the big boys, you can't just say eat when you are hungry. Or I'll just eat this, or I'm full, I can't eat that. You've got to just eat it. You're not eating cause you like it, you're eating to grow! If you have to force feed yourself, then do it! When I stopped competing it took me months to regain my appetite. I mean since I was 15 I force fed myself constantly, and you get to hate the idea of eating. But that’s what it took“
It’s a fact that bodybuilders do not stay within 5-10 pounds of their contest shape, not if they are one of the monsters up there. Ian has an extremely insane regimen, in which he eats anything he can get his hands on all day, and essentially just makes sure that he gets 50 grams of protein in him every two hours to keep his amino acid intake up.
Lee Priest is the same way, in one interview he stated that he had lost, something like 300 pounds over the last three years! That’s insane! But do you think he could have developed a physique that freaky by staying lean all year long? Absolutely not! If you have ever seen his videos, you know that Lee feasts on Kentucky Fried Chicken, and other tasty food sources in the off season. One of my favorite quotes from him during a contest was this:
Just three more days, and no more chicken and rice. Actually I will eat chicken, but it will be Kentucky, and I will have rice, but it’ll be fried. “
Lee’s got a good sense of humor. Another story that comes to mind is Mike Mattarazzos off season shakes! Here is a quote from the man with the freakiest arms of all time!
If I couldn't finish a meal during the day, I would put a cup and a half of apple juice in the blender -- and this is the honest-to-God truth -- and throw steaks, fish, whatever I couldn't chew, into the blender. Then I would hold my nose and suck it down. That's a fact. Many times I puked that stuff back up, but it did the job….If you have been working hard in the gym, but you're not making the gains you want, there's one very simple reason: You're not eating enough.
As you have also noticed and heard, many bodybuilders eat junk food in the off season, because it is impossible to stay clean and get the amount of calories needed for these mammoths to gain size! Some of the most hardcore athletes in the world will actually bring their fast food meals with them to the gym so that they continue to stay in a state of anabolism! That’s no joke, its what they do to obtain freaky big size( you can’t pick that up in a text book)!
Junk food is so calorie dense, that if you maintain a high protein intake you can gain quite a bit of muscle mass off the stuff. Take the Austrian Oak for example. When he went in the military, all they had was junk food. However, he had to eat, or he couldn’t continue to grow. He rolled up his sleeves and ate as much of these foods as possible, and ended up putting on about 40 pounds! More than he had ever gained!
Am I telling you to go out and start eating junk food? No and no wise although you may advance to a point in which it is necessary). What I am telling you, is that you are going to have to eat like you want to be freaky, or you will never be freaky! If you can’t finish your meal, tuff! Rest pause for 5 minutes and force it down. There is no excuse for not gaining mass, you just need to do what it takes to gain it!