The Big Bad Wolf

By Dennis Wolf

I used to compete in 1998 and 1999, but stopped once I got married. I continued to train, but not as seriously. Over the past few years I have gotten pretty out of shape, with a little potbelly and everything! I am at the point where I have decided I need to get in shape again for my own mental and physical health. There is a local contest in about six months and I am old enough to do the Masters. Should I compete? Or, should I just get back into decent shape and not worry about competing until next year? I can gain back my size pretty fast; I just don’t know how long it would take me to get lean because I never had this much body fat in my life.

I think if you have already started thinking about competing, then you should do the contest. It’s not even so much about the actual contest. You obviously need a goal to focus on to get you training hard again and eating good food. There is nothing that motivates you so much, or at least this is what I have found to be true for me, as knowing you are going to be standing onstage in little trunks being judged against other guys who all worked long and hard because they all want to win.

And if you don’t do it now, when will you do it? Time has a way of slipping by fast without us noticing it, as you should understand based on what has happened to you over the last 10 years. If you don’t do the show, you will always wonder how you would have looked, and how well you could have placed.

Of course, you have an enormous amount of work to do in a pretty short time. Six months is really nothing. I have just under that amount of time left until the Mr. Olympia, and I know it’s going to fly right by. But really, I think it’s important for you to do this contest not only to get in shape, but also to have peace inside your own head. Knowing that you had the dedication to get back in shape and the guts to get back onstage after so long will feel wonderful, whether or not you win. Good luck and please let me know how you do!

My Daily Diet: Early April 2009

7 a.m. Shake with 60 grams of protein, 1 cup of oatmeal, 30 grams of glutamine.

9 a.m. 200 grams of steak, baked potato.

12 a.m. 300 grams of chicken, baked potato.

3 p.m. 300 grams of steak, fries, 1 piece of cake.

6 p.m. Pasta Bolognese with meatballs.

9 p.m. 2 cheeseburgers with fries,1 piece of cake.

11:30 p.m. Shake with 90 grams of protein, 1.5 cups oatmeal, 30 grams of glutamine, 2 scoops of ice cream.

Note: I am aware that this seems like I am eating too much junk. But I have learned over the years that due to my fast metabolism, I cannot grow without eating like this. If you have trouble staying lean, please don’t eat like I do and then get mad and say, Wolf turned you into a fat slob!

The Secret To My Small Waist Is…

I asked the universe to keep my waist small, and that’s what happened! No, just kidding. That’s a whole other secret. I don’t have any secret other than my genetics. There is a downside to it, though. Because my midsection is so small, any time I eat too much or get bloated as a reaction to anything I eat, my stomach looks like it doubled in size. I am sure some guys with big bellies could eat a whole pizza, wash it down with a pitcher of beer, and you wouldn’t even see a difference.

A Man For All Seasons 

By next year, I want to start competing in both the Arnold and the Mr. Olympia every year. Even though I am still a young guy, a career in pro bodybuilding goes by pretty fast. I read about guys like Shawn Ray and Lee Labrada who wish they had competed more when they had the chance, and I don’t want to have any regrets when I am retired. I know I can do it because in both 2005 and 2007, I competed in both spring and fall shows and I looked fine at all the contests. Dieting really isn’t so tough for me because I stay pretty lean all the time anyway.

Physique Status Report

Right now I am 304 pounds, which is the heaviest I have ever weighed in my life. I can’t tell you how many times I was close to 300 but never quite got there— 295, 297, etc. I didn’t want to put on fat and get over 300 just to say I did it, because that makes no sense in a sport where you are judged by how you look. People want to know, Dennis, what have you improved? Have you added mass to your back and calves?

I don’t put on much fat in the off-season, but I do hold a lot of water from eating the way I do— with plenty of sodium. I don’t trust what I see in the mirror right now as being accurate. Only once I start dieting and lose a lot of this extra water can I be sure that the gains are truly there from the last time I competed. We will know in a few months, because people love to put up pictures of you in the same poses either to show that you have improved, or that you look the same. Or in some cases, worse! I am still having trouble getting the pictures out of my head that showed how much flatter I was at the 2008 Mr. Olympia, compared to 2007. That can’t happen again!

I have heard conflicting answers about this question. Is it possible to build muscle and burn fat at the same time? Supposedly only beginners or people coming back to training after a long break can do this. I have been training consistently for over five years and with summer approaching, I would like to build some areas (arms and shoulders) while leaning out in general. I can sort of see my abs so I’m not that fat, but I want to have a six-pack and veins.

It can be done, contrary to what you have heard. You have to do cardio to burn fat. To build muscle, you have to eat a lot of good food. You need enough protein, good fats and good carbs like rice and potatoes. So if you just train with the weights and don’t eat healthy and do some cardio, nothing will change. But if you train with weights, do your cardio, and eat enough good food, you can build muscle and get leaner at the same time. I should add that you can build muscle faster if you do less cardio, but you won’t burn fat. And you can burn more fat by doing a lot of cardio (like an hour or more every day), but for many people, that keeps them from being able to make any mass gains. You have to find the best balance for you.

Workout Wear For The Seasons

Most of the year I wear long-sleeve shirts when I train, along with sweat pants or track pants. In the summer when it’s hot, I will wear shorts and sleeveless shirts. It’s all about comfort, not so much about showing off or staying covered up. If I lived somewhere like Miami or Los Angeles, I would wear shorts all year long. I have often said that I believe everyone should dress the way they like to. If you want to wear a tank top in the winter or a sweatshirt in the summer, that is your choice and nobody should tell you anything different.

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