Jay Cutler Hits Toronto
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JAY CUTLER: FOUR-TIME MR. OLYMPIA. THREE-TIME ARNOLD CLASSIC CHAMPION.
No one can deny Cutler’s dominance in the sport of bodybuilding. However, a recent biceps tear derailed Jay’s fifth Olympia title attempt and now fans are questioning his ability to dominate again. MUSCLE INSIDER caught up with Jay at the recent Jay Cutler Hits Toronto guest
appearance/seminar and covered his interaction with the crowd.
A BRIEF HISTORY
Jay Cutler grew up in Massachusetts and began his bodybuilding
journey at the age of 18. He attributes his rapid rise up the bodybuilding
ranks to a combination of the strong work ethic he learned on
his family farm and an impressive muscular base from the demands
of physical labour. Jay entered his first bodybuilding competition six
months after hitting the gym and placed an impressive second. The
following year, Cutler competed at the Junior Nationals and won the
heavyweight class but lost the overall to another rising star, Branch
Warren. This rapid rise through the amateur ranks should have been a
solid predictor of Jay’s future in the pro ranks. Cutler’s rise to the upper echelon of bodybuilding was just as swift. His first attempt at the Olympia title was in 2000, when he placed a respectable eighth. The following year, Jay moved to the runner-up position, which he held until 2006, when he was crowned Mr. Olympia. It is interesting to note that although Jay lost the title in 2008 to Dexter Jackson, Cutler is the only Olympian to reclaim the title the following year. During his prep for the 2011 Olympia, Jay suffered a potentially career ending biceps tear and was demoted to second place, having been bested by Phil Heath. Questions immediately arose regarding Jay’s future in the sport. The naysayers were quick to predict Jay’s retirement. But that’s not Jay. That has never been Jay. He won’t go down without a battle and is set to step onstage at the 2013 Mr. Olympia and regain his title. When
asked about hitting the stage again and winning the Olympia title, Jay
responded without hesitation, “I truly believe that I can come back
and beat Phil Heath.” Those in attendance at the Jay Cutler Hits Toronto event burst into applause. It’s quite obvious that Jay Cutler is a fan favourite and they want to see the underdog make a successful comeback. As Jay said, “It’s a big challenge for me. I realize looking back at my career, I live for the challenges. It’s not about any other reward.”
TRAINING
Jay’s game plan for his assault on Las Vegas hasn’t really changed much with respect to training. Admittedly, Jay is now training smarter,
and that is directly due to his biceps injury. Jay summed up his training
philosophy when he said, “When I go in the gym, I do average 20 sets per body part. I might do six or seven different movements of three sets
each to build muscle, obviously, get the pump. I shoot for the pump. Not
necessarily extreme weights. Everything’s done in eight to 10 repetitions at least … I train for the pump. I can’t really say for failure. I’m getting close to failure of that eight to 10 repetitions that I do. I can look at a weight and say, ‘Okay, I can bench press that eight times. I’ll struggle for nine or 10.’ I don’t ever push to where I have a training partner stripping weights and all that stuff, even when I get close to a show to bring up more conditioning. But I believe that if you train in high volume, you can’t necessarily burn yourself out every set for failure. It’s one or the other.” Newbies take note: It’s not all about moving the weight from point A to B or doing the kind of ego training that is prevalent in the majority of fitness centres. If most gym-goers heeded
Jay’s advice and chased the pump and not the numbers, they would see much faster and better results. Jay hits the gym five days a week. He likes to train three or four days consecutively and then take a rest day, but this really is dependent on his hectic travel schedule. This is the formula Jay has employed during his amateur and pro careers, this is the formula that defeated Ronnie Coleman and this is the formula that will elevate Jay to victory against Heath.
DIET
Of all the information that Jay presented during his Toronto seminar,
the diet advice was the most eyeopening. When Jay admitted the
extreme amount of calories he consumed in a day, the audience was in
shock. Jay was very candid when he said, “My diet is very, very particular. I try to eat enough calories, obviously, to support a very large body, so the amount of food that I eat is astronomical. It’s pretty ridiculous actually … I eat about four pounds of meat a day. Five pounds of fish on a contest diet. There were times when I dieted for shows that I ate 140 egg whites a day. I ate 30 egg whites a sitting, and I cracked every single one of them. That was before pasteurized
eggs. You guys have heard stories maybe. I used to buy a whole cow at a time when I lived in Massachusetts. I used to go to the butcher
and the cow would be hanging. I’d say, ‘Okay, I want that cow.’” 140 pounds of chicken was a common purchase, and it was normal for Jay
to fill his refrigerator with 30 dozen eggs. That’s a lot of food—a hell of a lot of food—but to maintain a body weight of 280 pounds with the goal
of 295 pounds, it really does take that much food. With all the food Jay is shoveling down, one would think that he can substitute some meals with supplements. Not so. Jay really stressed to the audience where protein shakes fit into his diet when he said, “I try to eat consistently enough. That’s the only way to gain weight. I tell everyone, ‘If you’re sitting there and you’re thinking in your head, “I eat a ton of food; I’ve not gained weight,” that’s impossible.’ Because as I just mentioned, don’t count your shakes as meals. Take the shakes out the equation. How many food meals are you eating? You need to eat food.” The importance of solid food meals (and not supplements) was revealed
when he said, “If you’re not eating your food, don’t go to the gym. If
you miss meals, don’t go to the gym. It’s like trying to run a car on no
gas. You need the food to train. It’s very, very important.” The focus in
Jay’s diet is food and not protein shakes. This is a point that many in
the physique game should heed. Jay revealed his eating philosophies
when he said, “I say you definitely need carbohydrates around the
training. You need to eat after you train, and that’s not a protein shake or anything like that. Protein shakes are great for recovery at the gym, but I don’t count any protein shakes as a meal. I eat seven food meals a day. I force-feed four out of those seven, honestly. I don’t have a huge appetite … I eat everything weighed out perfectly. Even in the off-season, I weigh everything. You have to have a portion at meals, so every two and half hours to three hours should be a scheduled meal. Every two and a half to three hours, you should be feeding your body, preferably protein but also carbohydrates as long as you’re trying
to build muscle. Now if you’re trying to burn body fat, honestly, like I said, those three meals I mentioned, when you’re training with weights, should be your first meal. The meal before and after you train should have carbohydrates and maybe nothing else. Just protein after that if you’re trying to lose weight. You do need to eat around training, even if it’s late at night.” The importance of diet in Jay’s journey to the Olympia crown cannot be understated. It is obvious that Jay puts great value on this aspect on his game plan in both the off-season and pre-contest prep phases. Take a page out of Jay’s book and adopt some (if not all) of his diet secrets, and I’m certain the results you’re deriving from your current program will be amplified.
COMMITMENT
Make no mistake. This comeback isn’t designed to keep Jay in the
press. Jay’s entire reason for stepping onstage in Vegas to interact with his fans. Early in his career, Jay realized the importance of commitment. He said, “I did everything for bodybuilding. That’s pretty much how I lived my life. I committed early to my career.” And because of that mature choice, Jay has reaped the rewards of a successful bodybuilding career—both on and off the stage. Can Jay come back and beat Phil? Heath has his flaws, and Jay plans to exploit them. Jay has all the necessary components to accomplish this task and repeat his previous Olympia wins. Win or lose, with Jay pulling out all the stops, expect this to be one hell of an Olympia!