Dave is from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and competed in professional bodybuilding from 1983-2007. During that time-span, he won many local and regional bodybuilding titles, as well as 3 state titles and 4 national titles. Dave's education and certifications include:
- National Academy of Sports Medicine Fitness Nutrition Specialist (FNS)
- National Academy of Sports Medicine Certified Personal Trainer (CPT)
- Dundalk University Certified in Exercise Physiology and Exercise Program Design
- DotFit Certified Sports Nutritionist
- International Fitness Professionals Association Certified Sports Nutritionist
Dave is also well known in the bodybuilding community on Youtube, and I'll post some videos at the end of this blog post for you to enjoy. It was such a pleasure meeting such an accomplished and knowledgeable person in person, and getting to ask him questions for an hour where he could give me valuable information that is hard to find anywhere else.
Source: ironmanmagazine.com
As a treat to all of my regular blog followers, I decided to take notes from my conversation with Mr. Pulcinella and post his responses. I hope you enjoy them, and can gain from the information he gave me.
Questions Asked:
Me: What is your opinion on bulk and cut cycles and, if you believe in them, what is your approach to both?
Questions Asked:
Me: What is your opinion on bulk and cut cycles and, if you believe in them, what is your approach to both?
Dave: I believe in bulking and cut cycles, but my bulking and cut cycles are not too different from one another. I believe in minor changes, or phasing, into each cycle. My cutting phase nutritionally doesn't look any different from my bulking phase, but the cardiovascular training that I do gets stepped up. You'll see me start to suddenly use the stationary bike, which I didn't do during my bulking cycles. Also, you don't want to suddenly drop your calories drastically all of a sudden going into a cut, or drastically increase your calories all of a sudden going into a bulk. Make changes in your diet and caloric intake slowly as you go into each phase, as your body will adjust better.
Me: How long does each cycle last?
Dave: About half a year for both. It's important if you're bodybuilding to gain mass, so you want to allot a lot of time to it. But never go over 20% bodyfat. If you reach that, it's time to scale it down a bit.
Me: What kind of cues do you look for when deciding whether or not to go into a cut or a bulk?
Dave: I pretty much just use an eyeball test. I also have "sweetspots" that I check and am constantly pinching to assess how much fat I'm gaining or losing. I've been at this for so long that I can detect very minor changes that my body is going through. The sweet spots that I use (for guys) are under the belly button and lower sides of the abdomen.
Me: What kind of cues do you look for when deciding whether or not to go into a cut or a bulk?
Dave: I pretty much just use an eyeball test. I also have "sweetspots" that I check and am constantly pinching to assess how much fat I'm gaining or losing. I've been at this for so long that I can detect very minor changes that my body is going through. The sweet spots that I use (for guys) are under the belly button and lower sides of the abdomen.
Me: You appear to be a big advocate for meal timing. Is that still the case?
Dave: I'm always eating around every 3 hours. Some people will tell you that it doesn't matter, but for me it's important. I can't necessarily explain it, but I'm a big believer in it. During competition prep, I would and tell my competitors to eat every 2 hours.
Me: Would you say that, for example, 3000 calories worth of cookies and candy bars is different from 3000 calories of brown rice in terms of how it influences your physique?Dave: Many people will say that they aren't, but I definitely say that they are. Look, the littlest things can throw off your physique. Each food is made differently and is processed by the body in different ways, and can thus throw things off that little bit for it to make a difference in how you look and perform come contest day if you're competing.
Me: So what kind of macros (proteins / fats / carbohydrates) do you recommend for each person?
Dave: I believe the general rule of thumb is 0.75-1.75g of protein per pound of body weight, and 0.5-0.75g of fat per pound of body weight. Carbs are something you manipulate and play around with depending on the person's carb-sensitivity or whether or not they are trying to get bigger / fuller or lean out.
Me: Do you recommend carb cycling diets?
Dave: Not for males. For females it's different. Males wouldn't necessarily benefit from it from an aesthetic standpoint for what I feel to be the ideal male physique. Women tend to have different goals though, and so I might put them on a carb cycling diet.
Me: Do you believe in cheat meals / cheat days?
Dave: (Laughs). You know, this whole thing with cheat meals and cheat days is a new thing. Us old school guys, when I was competing, would call it "f*cking up your diet". If you didn't eat on point that day, you screwed up. Plain and simple. We didn't believe there was any wiggle room whatsoever.
Me: What's your opinion on how much water someone should consume? Do you cycle how much you drink? Do you ever try to dehydrate?
Dave: I drink about a gallon a day. I don't cycle that. And I don't try to dehydrate at all. That's very dangerous. Many competitors have died trying to do that. A lot of people think it's the steroids that kill professional bodybuilders. But it's usually the dehydration processes they go through that cause their internal organs to fail.
Me: How long do you rest between sets? Is there a set time?
Dave: There is no set time. I recommend starting your next set once you catch your breath.
Me: What do you recommend for cardio when it comes to working out and bodybuilding?
Dave: Nothing less than 30 minutes and nothing over 60 minutes. Anything less than 30 minutes is a waste of time in my opinion, and 60 minutes in my opinion doesn't give you any added benefit.
And there you have it. I want to thank Mr. Pulcinella again for taking time out of his day to sit down and talk to me about some burning questions I had. He's an incredibly nice guy with an awesome personality to boot. He's also very good at making you think differently about things when it comes to trying to achieve your goals and see success.
Please visit Dave's website at: http://www.pulseadvancednutrition.com/ . You can also see videos of him on Youtube by visiting his brother Mike's channel located here .
I hope that some if not all of these responses have answered some questions anyone reading this blog has had about nutrition / exercise. I know they sure helped me out!
I will leave you with some of my favorite videos of Dave. Be sure to check back on this blog for more posts! Thank you to all of you who keep checking it out!
-Jtrain
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