Q: Introduce yourself to the readership and tell us a little about yourself.
I’m the assistant strength and conditioning coach at Illinois State University and have an undergraduate degree in Exercise Science and a master’s degree in Exercise Physiology. As the strength coach, I’ve personally implemented training programs for 11 of our sport teams. Those teams range from football to women’s gymnastics and anywhere in between. On top of that, I also consult with a wide range of clients on their training and/or diet goals online. I am a competitive bodybuilder that has and will continue to compete in powerlifting meets during my off-season. My two-year goal is to reach professional status in natural bodybuilding and qualify for the raw unity in powerlifting.
Q: How did you feel when Dave asked you to be on the Q&A staff? How did it happen?
I felt really honored when Dave asked for me to be part of the Q&A staff. He feels I can bring another area of knowledge and experience to the EliteFTS readers. This includes not only my training of athletes at the collegiate level and my training for powerlifting, but most importantly my preparation for natural bodybuilding.
Awhile ago, Dave and I were talking about my upcoming bodybuilding show and he mentioned I could definitely help many of the Q&A readers in the area of natural bodybuilding. With there only being a few bodybuilders on the site, Dave felt my addition would benefit those seeking information on diet and nutrition, cardio means and training philosophies.
Q: What is it like being BOTH a bodybuilder and a powerlifter? When was the last time you competed in both?
I really enjoy both worlds of competing. Each has its own challenges while preparing for a competition. Throughout high school and college, I always wanted to get on stage and compete in bodybuilding, but powerlifting ended up being the first competitive route I took. I did two powerlifting meets. At both competitions I took first place in my weight class. The day after my second powerlifting meet, I started my 16 week contest prep for my first bodybuilding show. At that show, I won the overall in the novice division and took fourth in the men’s light heavy open division. I just competed in my second show a few weeks ago and ended up taking first place in the men’s light heavy open division and second in the overall, which qualified me for nationals.
I’m going to give myself a year to train and diet for the Jr. Nationals in June 2011. Within that year, I’d like to possibly do one or even two powerlifting meets. I enjoy preparing for powerlifting meets during my off season, it keeps me competitive year long. Even though I will be competing at Jr. Nationals next year, I’ll also be competing in one or two natural bodybuilding competitions around the same time to help work my way up to the professional ranks.
Q: What’s your training philosophy for the collegiate athletes you assist with?
The first step I take before I start “picking” exercises, reps, sets, rest periods, and training means, is to develop a yearly blue print of mesocycles (off-season, in-season, preseason, etc.) of what the upcoming year should emphasize. I always work backwards, starting with preseason training and ending with in-season training. I take each mesocycle and break them down into microcycles, or training blocks.
Before I can begin designing my team’s training block, there are a few other factors that I need to take into account to dictate what I can actually do. Those factors are: facility space, training time, equipment availability, number of training days per week, duration of training sessions, number of athletes, injuries, athlete/team training age, the sport coach’s goals, etc. Once I account for those factors, I can begin writing up the team’s training block for that particular season.
From there, I look globally at what qualities the sport requires and the goals I want the athletes to obtain in that particular training block. Those qualities can be speed, power, reactivity, maximal strength, relative strength, limit strength, anaerobic capacity/power, aerobic/oxidative capacity, cardiac capacity, recovery methods, injury prevention and flexibility. Then, the last step is to actually lay out each training day. I’ll establish exercise means, training loads, sets, reps and rest periods. The exercises I choose are just tools for the athletes to reach their training goals. As long as the exercises are orthopedically sound and will elicit the greatest transference, I won’t hesitate to use them.
Q: Is there anyone on the EliteFTS staff that’s been an influence on you?
I would have to say Jeremy Frey and Landon Evans. I had the opportunity to work with both of them at Illinois State while I was observing for the strength and conditioning department. Frey was the one that got me really involved in powerlifting, both training and competing. At that time, he convinced me that powerlifting was better than bodybuilding…now I’m not too sure! As for Landon, not only was he my training partner after Frey left, but his knowledge base of training, nutrition and program design really influenced me to educate myself more and challenge myself personally to better assist the collegiate athletes here and clients that I consult with. To this day, the three of us are great friends and when we get together all we do is talk training, competing, and put each other down – it never stops.
Lastly, I cannot go without mentioning Dave and Jim. I enjoy every time I go out to EliteFTS to train. Those two have always treated me like part of the team. Dave and I always talk about bodybuilding and dieting, and how much we hate to cardio. Then, you have Jim. All he does is makes fun of how “skinny” I am. He claims that I’m a bodybuilder just because I enjoy wearing a “thong” around other men! Those two guys each influenced me in different ways; Dave’s knowledge and motivation towards his business and personal training goals and Jim’s “straight to the point, no nonsense humor…but truthful” outlook on training.
Q: What can we expect from you on the Q&A?
I’m more than willing to share my experiences and knowledge for anyone that is interested or has questions. I love to talk about training, diet, bodybuilding, powerlifting, athletic preparation, and anything else along those lines. I’ll also have my training log on the site, so anyone can see how I setup my training, diet, cardio (if any!), and possibly updated pictures as I continue through my off season.
Q: Any closing remarks?
I am extremely grateful to have this opportunity to be part of EliteFTS. If anyone wants to get a hold of me, you can find me on the Q&A, my training log, or email me at: christianccarter@gmail.com.
Read more about Chris Carter here.
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Rachel is training for her first competition and lifelong dream of being on The Bachelor. She believes she'll win because she enjoys long romantic walks on the treadmill, Disney movies, expensive dinners at McDonald’s, stuffed animals won for her out of claw machines and the smell of blue heat on sweaty men.
Her talents include, but are DEFINITELY limited to dancing, running the monolift, smiling, correcting Dave’s spelling, baking with Betty Crocker, writing and avidly following her 5/3/1 religion.
Rachel trains at the Mecca of strength hoping to one day wear heels, lots of pretty sparkles and Protan.
She is known to her many adoring fans as "Bubbles." 
This is pretty cool
Awesome physique ! Are you drug free for life ? If not, how long have you followed the natural path ? Do you think it is possible to get contest lean without #@!^#@ cardio ? ( I hate it ! ). How tall are you and what do you weigh off season and on stage ? Very inspirational !
A powerlifter, bodybuilder and coach – looking forward to this. Particularly interested in your sports coaching.