Powerlifting phenom Mark Bell hasn’t let up in his athletic endeavors since shelving his wrist wraps. In a recent YouTube video, Bell discussed building muscle for maximum longevity and shared his ‘hack’ for reducing calorie intake throughout the week.
With over 639,000 YouTube subscribers on his Mark Bell – Super Training Gym channel, Bell has captured the attention of his fans for years, offering insightful interviews, workout tips, and even nutrition knowledge, supported by years of experience competing at the highest level.
Bell is committed to his health at 47 years old, from protein management and intermittent fasting to flexible dieting. If living a longer and more fulfilling life sits atop your to-do list, Bell has wisdom and techniques that could help you build a better body.
Mark Bell Discusses Building Muscle for ‘Maximum Longevity,’ Opens Up on Calorie-Reducing Hack
Although muscle mass remains a priority for Bell, he emphasized that losing body fat is crucial to longevity goals.
Level Up Your Fitness: Join our 💪 strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!
“The muscle mass that I have, I can just say hey I admit, I don’t need to be this big. I’m still 230 pounds. I don’t need to weigh this much. I could stand to lose like 30-40 pounds and I’m not talking about just getting shredded and losing body fat but I think in terms of longevity,” says Bell.
Instead of pursuing a physique like former Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler, Bell believes Dr. Paul Saladino‘s body better represents maximum longevity.
“Just being in recognition hearing all of the information that’s around and seeing and being around a lot of other people, I think when you’re talking about maximum longevity would be a little bit more in the realm of someone like a Paul Saladino rather than a Jay Cutler.”
In addition to practicing intermittent fasting, Bell shared that he likes to start his day with a meal without carbohydrates.
“Some of these things that I have found over the years, I try to add them in but I don’t have to be on one particular diet. I’ve always really liked to start every day off without carbohydrates. I’m just used to that. It feels right for me. I’ll have a protein, a little bit of fat with that. I might do that in the a.m. and not eat till two or something like that.”
According to Mark Bell, the ultimate hack for reducing calorie intake is to fill the calendar with obligations to distract yourself from pointless eating.
“A huge hack to reducing your calories is to have a schedule. Really pin yourself down to doing a bunch of stuff in a day even if you don’t have, maybe you don’t have a job that you go to that’s 10 hours, maybe you have, maybe you work for your dad, or you work somewhere where you could have access to food, maybe you work from home… you better fill that calendar,” says Mark Bell.
Once you fill your plate with other activities, Bell contends that it’s much easier to avoid excess calories throughout the week.
“If you’re a lot fatter than you want to be and not healthy and not feeling great, start to literally look at next week and start to fill in Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, fill those days up with stuff. Find as much stuff as you can because when you fill your plate with those other things, it’s a great distraction away from the food.”
Considering how convenient food has become, Bell admits maintaining a lean body has always been a task, even for a former athlete like himself.
“We spend way too much time eating. Food is way too convenient. It is everywhere. It’s part of every single thing that you do and for me, personally, I’m very wired to food. I love food. I enjoy being lean. I enjoy being in shape but I enjoy food to the point where I’m still not anywhere near as lean as I want to be.
I still want to work towards being much much leaner but my enjoyment of food is so high that it kind of keeps me, I’ll flutter back and forth but the cool thing is the thing that i can proud of is that I have worked myself into a position where I can go off plan a little bit,” shares Mark Bell.
Mark Bell is an open book with the fitness community, unafraid to share his experiences as a professional powerlifter. He recently joined Bradley Martyn’s Raw Talk podcast to discuss his ‘on and off’ steroid use for over 20 years. While many in the community believe steroids net ‘instant results,’ Bell warned against using them without direction.
Boasting a ripped body since stepping away from sanctioned competitions, Mark Bell is an inspiration to the fitness community. Dieting can be an extremely daunting task, but Bell believes ‘filling your plate’ with activities could be the key to a better, leaner, and stronger body.
RELATED: Liver King ‘Approaching 9 Figures’, Mark Bell Visits his House, Found No Steroids
Watch the full video from the Thomas DeLauer YouTube channel below:
You can also follow us on Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, and
YouTube for even more content.
