HOW DID YOU GET STARTED WITH FITNESS/BODYBUILDING?
I always trained because of my background in football. When I decided to stop to pursue my studies, I continued training at the gym to maintain my fitness. There eventually came a time when I felt the need to train towards a goal in order to satisfy the competitive urges that I could no longer satisfy with football.
Due to my school and work schedule, other sports were not an option so I looked to bodybuilding and fitness modelling for the answer.
Because of the dark sides of many bodybuilding circuits I was hesitant to even begin, knowing I might be at a disadvantage. But luckily I heard through a great friend of mine, Rico Van Huizen, of a natural bodybuilding and fitness modelling circuit called Musclemania. From then on it was just hard work and smashing through any obstacles in and out of the gym that stood in my way to get myself ready for the stage.
WHAT MOTIVATES YOU, WHERE DOES YOUR MOTIVATION COME FROM?
I came from a humble background with a hard working family that has always done their best to support me. Because of this, I cannot handle not giving 100% in everything I do. It doesn’t matter if it was in the gym, at school, or at work. I owed it to them and to myself to do the best I could and leave no stone unturned. Now, more than ever it’s the people that I have helped or inspired, those are keeping me even more motivated.
DO YOU THINK YOUR BACKGROUND OF FOOTBALL HAS HELPED WITH YOUR BODYBUILDING?
Moving away from home at 15 years old and pushing myself the way I did growing up, had a huge part in developing my character. I learned very early the importance of staying humble, working hard, and being open to knowledge and opportunities. I always kept in mind that no matter how hard I thought I was working, there was always someone out there working harder. This drove me to continue improving in everything I was doing. Of course, another benefit of playing football my whole life is my leg development, I owe my leg striations to all those years of sprinting and training!.
CONGRATULATIONS ON WINNING THE 2012 MUSCLEMANIA JR CHAMPIONSHIPS, HOW DID IT FEEL TO BE ON STAGE AND ANNOUNCED AS THE WINNER?
It was an unbelievable feeling to stand on that stage and know that I had done everything possible to get in the condition I was in , and that the judges had acknowledged it. There is no better feeling than reaching your goals. The attitude I kept the entire time I was preparing for that competition was that , even if I didn’t win, it wasn’t going to be because I didn’t train and study my ass off. It was me against myself and it was an honour to be rewarded for my efforts.
WHAT’S YOUR TYPICAL WORKOUT LOOK LIKE?
WHAT’S YOUR TYPICAL DIET LOOK LIKE?
When I’m trying to maintain my body at 80kg around 6% I take in approximately 2800 calories split in a 40% protein 40% carbs and 20 % fat ratio. When im trying to peak I will implement a carb cycle which includes lowering calories while rotating the ratios of carbs day by day.
A normal day is usually like this
Meal 1:
Pancake s- 6 egg whites, 2 whole eggs, two scoops whey, 60 gr oatmeal, cinnamon, cacao powder
Multi vitamin
Omega 3
Meal 2:
preworkout – Two scoops whey, 60 gr ground oats, 5 gr glutamine, 10 gr creatine, tablespoon coconut oil or MCT oil. (pre workout if necessary)
intraworkout – Xtend BCAAs
Meal 3:
Post workout- Two scoops whey , 60 gr Vitargo, 5 gr glutamine, omega 3,
Meal 4:
250 gr cod fish or other lean protein source, 250 gr yams , spinach, Black pepper for the vanadyl sulphate, and chilli powder for fat burning and because im Spanish !
Meal 5:
Snack – such as Almonds, Peanut butter sandwich
Meal 6:
Pre bedtime- Casein shake, one whole egg, ZMA,
WHAT MISTAKES DID YOU MAKE WHEN FIRST STARTING OUT? – ANY ADVICE TO NEWBIES?
Like the majority of people starting out in the gym, my ego tended to get the best of me and I was trading technique and efficiency for too much weight. Thankfully, studying Aerospace engineering taught me do my homework when something wasn’t working. I looked up and researched absolutely everything I could on diet and training, and quickly found out that technique was a very important variable.
Why only get 60% out of an exercise by using wrong form?
WHAT ARE YOUR LONG AND SHORT TERM GOALS?
On the short term I will be competing at the Musclemania Paris show in October where i hope to repeat my accomplishments in Britain.
On the long term I am building up my new company with partner and former junior champion Rico Van Huizen called www.Body-Engineers.com . Here we will hope to provide a logical and ultra-efficient step by step approach for people to reach their fitness goals!. This will be based on
1-Learning to track your results and interpreting them.
2-Diet plans based on goals and lean body mass, and how to develop them yourself
3-Training based on your goals, through videos
4-Supplementation to get you that little bit further
5-online consultation
So stay tuned!
DO YOU BULK AND CUT OR STAY LEAN YEAR ROUND?
Due to my soccer background I have always maintained a lean physique. Once the heavy lifting started I still did not exceed 8% bodyfat at the peak of my bulking phase. After gaining approximately 8 kg of lean mass in a year, you can imagine I’m a big believer in doing a clean bulk. If you give your body what it needs to recover and just enough extra to grow, there is no need for excessive fat gain.
This also allows me to stay photo-shoot ready
HOW DO YOU DEAL WITH CRAVINGS FOR BAD FOODS; SWEETS, SALTY FOODS AND JUNK FOOD?
Simple.. Stevia and Peanut Butter! and a cheat day once a week. But this cheat day still stays within my caloric needs! Just getting them from junky sources
FUN QUICK QUESTIONS FOR OUR READERS
Favourite color? Red
Favourite food? Paella
Favourite TV Show? Dexter
Favourite movie? Warrior
Favourite Band/Artist? Tough… Linkin park
Favourite Sport Teams? Barcelona
Do you have any pets? A Beagle in Canada!
FINAL WORDS?
Wake up in the morning,look in the mirror, and ask yourself .How can you be better than you were yesterday?
Humility grows curiosity, curiosity grows intellect, and intellect grows MUSCLES Keep that ego in check!
How often have you passed an exam without studying? Do your research, learn how your body works, if you leave nothing to chance, success is inevitable.
Keep your head in the sky, your feet on the ground, your heart on your sleeve, and some whey in your hand!
HOW TO REACH TAVI CASTRO:
www.facebook.com/tavicastrom
www.body-engineers.com
www.tavicastro.nl
[email protected]
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