Be Your Own Bodybuilding Coach is for bodybuilding enthusiasts who relish the rewards the endeavor, both learning and doing, as much as the physique that comes from their efforts. Dr. Stevenson has poured decades of personal experience as a competitor, scientist, coach, educator and gym rat into a highly detailed strategic plan for setting goals, and navigating the Post-Contest, Off-Season and Pre-Contest periods of the "bodybuilder's year."
The book's purpose is to put you, the reader, in the driver's seat as your own bodybuilding coach by providing a structured reference guide that covers nearly every topic you might encounter along your bodybuilding journey:
• Setting goals and keeping to them: The Personal Bodybuilding Inventory.
• Dietary manipulations to gain size, drop body fat and maintain insulin sensitivity.
• The most important resistance training program variables, choosing and rotating training programs, an integrated approach to bringing up weak muscle groups, and dealing with overtraining/overreaching.
• Tracking and enhancing recovery: Sleep, sauna, heart rate variability, perceived recovery status, adaptogens and CBD oil.
• Peak week without pharmaceutical diuretics and an Advanced Loading Strategy that can be used, for instance, when making weight is a priority!
• Moving up a weight class, estimating body fat, bulking in the Off-Season, cheat meals, Off-Season "damage" control, and how / when to use cardio.
• Nutrient timing, probiotics, low FODMAP diets, fiber, and strategies to both increase and decrease appetite.
• Protein, Carbs, Fats and Alcohol: How much, what and when!
• Nutritional supplements for performance, fat loss, sleep, and cardiovascular, liver, gastrointestinal and kidney health, etc.
• Intermittent fasting and eating organic.
• Strategies for post-contest rebounding and avoiding the ghost of "metabolic damage."
• Bodybuilding performance enhancing drugs, side effects, and inter-individual variability.
• Posing, presentation, and travel: Being ready on game day!
• Training after 40 and beyond: Training strategies for the weathered lifter and dealing with aches n' pains.
• Insights on gender/sex differences.
• Being a critical thinking consumer of bodybuilding knowledge.
• Bodybuilding resources including trusted medical practitioners and sources for equipment, apparel, food and supplements.
Dr. Scott W. Stevenson, PhD, LAc is an applied exercise physiologist (PhD from University of Georgia, ACSM and NSCA-certified), licensed acupuncturist (State of Florida) and competitive bodybuilder (four overall titles, including the 2009 NPC Mr. Arizona, and four top 5 national level showings). Scott has over thirty-five years in the gym and two plus decades of experience personal training and coaching online. Scott believes in keeping an open "beginner's minded" approach to finding what works, while blending his experience, Western science and Eastern medicine (and philosophical perspective). Scott coaches with the intent of an educator, hoping his clients will eventually move beyond his guidance. He's a former college professor (Cal Poly Pomona), academic dean and instructor (ASAOM), columnist for EliteFTS™, and past adjunct professor at University of Tampa. Scott has published in the peer-reviewed scientific literature and his lay bodybuilding articles have appeared in Musclemag and Flex magazine. Scott is the author of the bodybuilding training system e-book "Fortitude Training®" and co-authored John Meadow's book, "The Brutality of Mountain Dog Training." He is part of John's MountaindogDiet team a founding member / supermoderator at IntenseMuscle.com. Scott is also the former training partner and long-time advisor to IFBB Pro David Henry. When not pounding the iron, Scott spends his free time with his beloved dogs, tinkering on his Jeep or RV, or riding his Harley. For exercise consultation (individual, group or team) and speaking engagements (worldwide), please feel free to contact Scott via his website (www.integrativebodybuilding.com) and / or email (scottwstevensonme@me.com).
