Joe Petreycik turns a soft and shapeless "power lifter"
body into a rock-hard, competition-ready bodybuilder's physique in 10
weeks—with some timely help from Tetrazene ES-50
Joe Petreycik had always taken great pride in his weight-lifting
ability. He'd been seriously lifting since he was 16. He was a strong
guy, a former high school football player and college tennis player.
Sometimes, though, what we want to believe is at odds with the truth.
Even with his exercise regimen,
Joe weighed 225 pounds. (Once, not so long before, he'd weighed as much
as 252 lbs!) But even 225 was too much. Too much, certainly, for his
5'7" frame. Oh, sure, he was strong. He had plenty of muscle mass. But
he had plenty of excess fat, too.
"People always were mistaking me
for a powerlifter, when all I wanted to be known as was a bodybuilder,"
Joe says. "In my mind, I saw myself as weak-minded, and a failure. I
didn't like the way I looked in the mirror. I was constantly feeling
like people were judging me, based on how I looked."
Joe knew what he had to do. Fortunately, he also knew the importance of setting yourself a desirable goal.
"In early December of 2006, I saw an advertisement for a local
bodybuilding show in May that I wanted to compete in. What better
motivation to start then having a specific goal and date to achieve
that goal? I'm the type of person that works best under pressure. I
made the plan to start by the end of the month and give myself enough
time to achieve my goal."
To get started, Joe, an ICU nurse
and a certified exercise physiologist in a busy inner-city hospital,
had to rebuild his diet from the ground up. "For years, I was eating 6
meals per night, but they were definitely big meals, with too many
calories." Joe started measuring his portions, and recalibrated his
diet so it consisted of
high protein,
moderate carbohydrates, and moderate fat intake. He ate a lot of
boneless skinless chicken breasts, flank steak, and ground turkey. For
carbohydrates, he relied on oats, yams, brown rice, broccoli, and mixed
green vegetables. For fats, stuck to extra-virgin olive oil,
all-natural peanut butter, and flax seed oil. His total caloric intake
was 2,800 calories, including 300 grams of protein, 180 grams of carbs,
and 100 grams of fat per day.
Joe lost about 5 pounds in the
first couple of days, mainly water weight. Having a few less pounds
helped him increase his endurance, providing him with more energy to
get through the workouts. And then things got difficult.
"My energy levels were lagging, my
strength was suffering, and my weight wasn't really decreasing. Most
importantly, my body-fat levels were staying the same, and even
increasing slightly over a 2 week period! With only about 10 weeks to
go until showtime, I weighed 225 pounds, with 16.3% body-fat. I knew I
needed to do something quick."
Tetrazene ES-50 came to the rescue.
"I went to my local nutrition store," Joe says, "and the salesperson introduced me to
Tetrazene ES-50.
He said many of his customers were getting great results with this
product. Having explained to him the problems I was having with low
energy, fatigue, and reaching that plateau in my training, he was
confident that this product would help. I decided to give it a try."
Tetrazene
ended up being just what he needed. "I had more energy, which not only
helped my workouts along, but also enabled me to be more alert and
productive on the job. Having taken various thermogenic fat burners in
the past, including 'fat-burning legends of yesterday', I noticed
Tetrazene ES-50
was different, in that it didn't give me that jittery feeling. This was
a relief, since that would be a problem, especially when administering
medications with needles and inserting IVs into my patients.
Furthermore, I didn't experience a "crash" like I did with 'fat-burning legends of yesterday', on
the days I didn't take the product.
"Another benefit was the weight
really started to come off. My body-fat was finally decreasing on a
weekly basis. In fact, even though I was losing weight, my strength was
actually starting to improve!
Tetrazene ES-50
turned out to be just what I needed at the right time. My appetite
decreased, and the energy boost I felt from Tetrazene was very
significant."
Ripped and ready to compete
In May 2007, Joe Petreycik took the stage with a rock-hard, chiseled
194-pound physique. He'd lost 31 pounds. In the competition, he placed
5th out of 11 in his weight class. He was pleased with the results, and
he wants to take it further.
"My plan is to keep my body-fat
under 12% for this year. I will increase my caloric intake, take a
short break from Tetrazene, so my body will respond even better when I
resume it. The way I see it is I'll be taking one step backward, in
order to reach 2 steps forward. My goal is to compete next year in a
heavier weight class, yet keep the conditioning I achieved this year."
We like his chances. No one mistakes
Joe Petreycik for a powerflifter anymore.
Joe's Weekly Workout Regimen
|
Day 1 - Shoulders, Triceps, and Calves
Squats - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 5-10 reps
Hack squats - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps. 4 working sets of 5-10 reps
Lunges - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 2 working sets of 10-12 reps
Leg extensions - 1 warmup set of 15 reps, 2 working sets of 12-15 reps
Weighted crunches on decline bench - 4 sets of 15 reps to failure
Hanging leg raises - 4 sets of 25 reps to failure
|
Day 2 - Hamstrings and Calves
Lying leg curl - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 8-12 reps
Single leg curl - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 8-12 reps
Stiff-legged deadlifts - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 8-12 reps
Seated calf raise - 1 warmup set of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 25 reps
Standing calf raise - 1 warmup set of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 8-12 reps
|
Day 3 - Chest and Biceps
Incline dumbbell press - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Weighted dips - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Flat dumbbell flys - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 10-12 reps
Standing barbell curl - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
1-arm dumbbell preacher curl - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Reverse cambered bar curl - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 8-12 reps
|
Day 4 - Back, Traps, and Posterior Delts
Deadlift - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 4-6 reps
Front lat pulldown - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Bent over barbell row - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Dumbbell pullover - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Behind-the-back shrugs - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Bent over dumbbell rear lateral raise - 1 warmup set of 25 reps, 4 working sets of 15
|
Day 5 - Shoulders, Triceps, and Calves
Seated dumbbell press - 3 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Standing dumbbell side lateral raise - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10
Standing 1 - arm tricep extension - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps, 4 working sets of 6-10
Cable tricep pushdown - 2 warmup sets of 15 reps,4 working sets of 6-10 reps
Standing 1- legged calf raise - 4 working sets of 12-15 reps
Seated calf press - 4 working sets of 12-15 reps
For cardio, Joe started off doing 30 minutes, 3 days per week of the
recumbent bike, treadmill, stairmaster, or stepmill. He kept his heart
rate at 65-70% of my estimated max. Every 2 weeks, he gradually
increased duration and frequency, to the point where he ended up doing
60 minutes of cardio every day. He would either do cardio first thing
in the afternoon when he woke up on an empty stomach, or immediately
after a weight training workout. |
