Q & A with Jay

Muscle & Fitness, March, 2005

This month, Jay tackles everything from how he built his guns to how much he spends on food to low-carb dieting. Enjoy!

Q Jay, you've got some real big arms! How do you train them to look like that?

A Thanks for the compliment. I stick to the basics. My biceps routine is made up of the traditional barbell curl, dumbell curl, and preacher curl movements. I train them really quickly--resting only 45 seconds between sets. For triceps, I like to stick with solid exercises like dips, heavy pressdowns, and overhead dumbell extensions.

I do between 8 and 10 reps. I really try to stretch the muscle and pump the arms to try to get the most out of it. I think high-intensity training with very little rest between sets helps to shock the muscle. The fast-paced movements incorporate a lot of other muscles. If you do a movement quickly and with high intensity, it'll shock the muscle into growth.

Q I've been training for five years and have built a good foundation. Do you think lower reps are something I should try, or should I stick to 8 to 10 reps?

A Stick to 8 to 12 repetitions. Low-volume training isn't good for bodybuilding. I just don't believe in it! What people don't realize is that weight training brings up the heart rate so you can burn bodyfat and build muscle at the same time. The harder you train, the more growth hormone your body will release, so you'll find yourself getting better results in the 8 to 12-rep range.

Q Jay, I've seen pics of you using CELL-TECH, and I want to know: Do you use it in both the off-season and pre-contest?

A In the off-season, I use about six scoops a day. I take two scoops of CELL-TECH[TM] after each workout, and I usually train twice a day. I'll also take a scoop before training most of the time too. That works out to six scoops per day. Pre-contest, I cut it down to about two scoops per day (one after each training session). That's just because my carbohydrate intake is lower when I diet pre-contest. Although I keep my carbs high, they're definitely not as high as in the off-season. In the off-season, I'd take in between 1,000 grams and 1,500 grams of carbs per day. Pre-contest, I'd take in about 400 grams to 800 grams per day.

Q I just started working out, and was wondering some things. How many days a week should I train? What exercises should I do? And how many reps and sets?

A Most people stick to training five days a week. You can train each day straight through the week and take the weekends off, or you can do the kind of rotation that I do, which is two days "on" with one day "off" in between.

I recommend that each body part be trained every five to seven days. I don't believe in training a body part twice a week. You do need to rest. You should be training one or two body parts per day. You can train chest one day (Monday), followed by arms the next day (Tuesday). Then train back (Wednesday) and shoulders (Thursday). The last day (Friday), you could train legs. That would be the schedule for a five-day rotation. I prefer to train a large body part combined with a small one on the same day. For example, I'd work chest and biceps on one day, then back and triceps on another day. I'd do quads and hamstrings on the following training day, and I'd work my traps on another day.

For chest, you want to do a dumbell flye movement and incline barbell bench presses. For biceps, you should do seated and standing curls with either dumbells or a barbell. Definitely do preacher curls as well! For triceps, do dips, rope pressdowns, and straight-bar skullcrushers. For shoulders, you want to do lots of side laterals to really pre-exhaust your medial delts, and then some shoulder presses. For legs, I'd recommend squats, leg presses, and leg extensions.

You want to keep it simple, doing just enough to build some muscle, and then you'd want to spend the rest of your time feeding it. Since you're just a beginner, I'd stick with just three or four exercises per body part. Shoot for 8 to 12 repetitions in each set and perform 3 sets of each exercise.

Q I've heard you eat a ton of food, man! How much do you spend each week in both the off-season and pre-contest?

A It's hard to say because I do eat out and I'm away on the weekends. A lot of my food is catered to me. I probably spend about $1,000 a week on food. If I was home all of the time, I'd probably still spend about $500 a week. Dieting for a contest, I tend to eat a lot more protein, and that costs more than the higher carbohydrate diet that I eat in the off-season.

Q What motivates you to stay dedicated with your training and diet? Is it the money and fame that comes with being a top pro, or something else?

A In the beginning, I wanted to be known. I wanted to be a star bodybuilder. Eventually, it became more of a money thing. I wanted to win the prize and make the big money. At this point in my career, it has become more of an ego-driven thing. I just want to be considered the best in the world! I want to put on my resume that I've won every major professional title in body-building. Winning the Arnold Classic last year wasn't about winning the $100,000. It was about becoming the first-ever three-time consecutive champ. That was my goal!