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Name: Alain Petriz
Before:
After:
I have always been into sports: running, swimming, rugby (when I was 15), martial arts, diving. I discovered bodybuilding by chance and very late in my life. After I had quit rugby, I felt the need to exercise. A friend of mine had just subscribed a gym membership.
  Click Image To Enlarge.After I Had Quit Rugby I Felt The Need To Exercise.
I was 33 years old. My weight was 85 kilos (187 lbs.) and my height was 183 cm ( 6 feet). Believe me, I have never been really skinny. I must admit I was not very much impressed by the gym. I thought it was stupid to struggle with a barbell and two 10-kilo (22 lbs.) plates on the sides. I am honest. I kept on for several months.
 Click Image To Enlarge.I Kept On For Several Months. Eventually, I bought a gym-set to work out in my basement. Lonesome and in my basement - that was the very starting of my career as a bodybuilder. I had no knowledge. I didn't read bodybuilding magazines. I had been training insanely for three years.
 Click Image To Enlarge.I Trained Insanely For Three Years. I had not been following any special training program. My only goal was to acquire a noticeable size. Later on I started to read bodybuilding magazines and got interested into any bodybuilding champion. I subscribed to a brand new gym in Dijon.
 Click Image To Enlarge.My Only Goal Was To Aquire Noticeable Size. It was the Athletic Gym and the owner was Jacky Biondi. The ambiance and the people were wonderful. There I started to work out hard and to diet properly.
 Click Image To Enlarge.The Ambiance And The People Were Wonderful. One year later, Jacky began to talk me into entering for a regional competition. The idea had never crossed my mind before that day! He pressured me so much that he got me persuaded. So I got it started!
 Click Image To Enlarge.Jacky Persuaded Me To Compete. Thanks to his advice I won my first competition at Macon in 1994. I was 37 years old! My height was always 183 cm ( 6 feet ) but now my weight was 83 kilos (183 lbs.)! Today I can barely realize what I was able to do and the results I got.
 Click Image To Enlarge.I Won My First Competition In 1994.
My regime doesn't change much throughout the year as far as diet is concerned - but the quantities do vary. I'm not making any more big weight-gains (I've already got up to 125kg). My out-of-season weight is around 108-110kg, for 98kg at the weigh-in.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. My training is always pretty heavy, with a few lighter sessions to take the pressure off my joints. I don't have a set routine all year round - I tend to do what I feel I need to. I take on about 4500 calories a day out of season, and go down to about 2500 when I'm in training, with some variation from day to day.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. My basic diet consists of rice, pasta, fish, minced beef, eggs, nonfat cottage cheese, vegetables and fruit.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. When I'm preparing for competition, I start training between three and four months in advance. I used to start about two months in advance, but I was always very tired and I lost a fair amount of muscle mass as a result. This allows me to lose weight slowly, and avoids sudden energy crashes!
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. I train with fairly heavy weights right up to the end, and I do a bit more cardio than usual during this period. I reduce my intake of carbohydrates little by little, and increase my protein to about 300-350g per day. Sometimes I take a sugar supplement to boost my metabolism, but nothing too drastic.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz.
Each muscle is worked once a week during off-season. This makes for 4 training sessions a week in general. From time to time I do 5 sessions if I feel the need. So, I train Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday are my rest days.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz.
Thursday:
Abs are worked 3 times a week at the end of the set. Each series is executed to failure, with rest time around 1:30. This is an example but it can vary enormously given to the fact I train on instinct. I don't have a predetermined program during the year.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. I prefer to constantly vary the exercises, techniques, number of reps. During a workout, I can lift heavy and light, do pyramid sets, fatigue sets, triple sets, lowering my rest time at least by 30 seconds. This can seem like a lawless routine but it is what works for me.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. I'm pretty far from the almost scientific rigor that some advocate, so, in this sport there isn't an absolute truth. I often do just one exercise for a muscle group with a large number of sets.
  Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. As you gather, nothing revolutionary there. I think that cardio all year long is extremely important to stay in good shape! I do in general 3 to 5 exercises per each muscle group and from 6 to 15 reps.
 Click Image To Enlarge.Alain Petriz. 
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