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Written by Craig Titus
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Wednesday, 25 April 2007 |
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Page 1 of 2 Hey Craig, what do you think about Tom Prince, King Kamali and Bob Cicherillo going on the Internet message boards and talking all that shit? These punk motherfuckers were even mocking you in photos on Flex magazine's website! Hopefully, Flex will be reprimanded by the IFBB for violating the new "rules" since Flex is the official journal of the IFBB. Ha!
Brother, I really don't want to talk about these guys anymore. First of all, these individuals are behind me. I've beaten them time and time again. They are no longer in my league, so the last thing I'm going to do is give them any more publicity by riding my coattails. The Titus Express only has enough room for myself, my wife, Kelly Ryan, and my fans, period! Secondly, I have competed against Tom Prince about 10 times since 1996, and he's only beaten me once. So, if I suck, what does that say about him? The other two- Sherri and Chick- can make fun of me all they want. It doesn't help them on stage one bit. I just proved that by beating them both at the NOC. I believe in action, not words.
Bob Cicherillo complained that he was never compared to you at the Night of Champions and that every time he has been compared to you, he has beaten you. He says the judges kept you apart so you would look better. Is this true?
Jeez, what is it with this crap about Chick? Okay, this is it! This is the last time I ever want to comment about Chick, so please don't e-mail me about him from now on, period! I think the real reason we weren't compared is that the judges didn't want to embarrass him. This would have been even worse in the first round when I was on my A game (I realize I started smoothing out after the symmetry round). Frankly, I think he would have started crying. Chick is nowhere near the same caliber of competitor I am. One other thing that would have been obvious is that even at 36 years old, I still have that nice tight, young-looking skin. Bob has old-man's skin. It hangs, it's wrinkly and it looks weathered and beat up from too much sun. Of course, Bob claims to be 37, but I think it's more like 45. The guy was on the cover of the first NPC News, for God's sake! I think the judges were trying to spare his feelings. Once he saw a picture of his old-man skin and bugged-out eyes next to me it would have traumatized him so badly he would have needed a lot of therapy.
The problem with Bob is that he looks in the mirror and sees something that isn't really there. He thinks he's a much better bodybuilder than he is. I know where I stand, brother. I know who I can and can't beat. At this point in my career, I'm just happy to be doing as well as I am. This guy walked on stage last year at the Dallas pro show and lucked out because all the top guys were out of shape. He took second place there and again at the Night of Champions because again, all the big names were off. All of a sudden it goes to his head and he thinks he's one of the best pros in the IFBB. He needs to take a long look at his career. It took him 14 years to turn pro. He hasn't earned the right to talk shit about anybody. Bob brags about beating me? Hey, I was forced out of the sport for two and a half years; I wouldn't brag about that. What I think he should do is fess up to his real age and get into the Masters where he belongs.
I have been following Skip LaCour's training routine for a few months- you lift real heavy with high intensity for four to six reps every set. I am a lot stronger, but I'm very disappointed to say I have only gained a couple of pounds and I don't look bigger. Why haven't I made better gains? I eat seven times a day and take in two grams of protein per pound of body weight.
Let me ask you something: Are you Skip LaCour's twin brother? That's not a joke. With all due respect to Skip, who has achieved a lot as a natural bodybuilder, the type of training that makes him grow won't necessarily make you grow. In fact, I don't know too many guys who are able to grow training that heavy and with such low reps. Most of the time, you just get stronger. I feel that you need higher reps to stimulate muscle growth. I know that in my case, I was stuck at an impasse for a few years training heavy with low reps and not gaining much muscle at all. Not until I started trying 10-20 reps per set did I start seeing changes in my physique again and pounds on the scale. I suggest you go back to higher reps for a while just for the hell of it. If you start growing again as I suspect you will, you'll know this is exactly what your particular body needs. There are a few genetic freaks out there who can make mass gains on Skip's type of training, but I think they are the exception and not the rule.
I'm just getting into bodybuilding right now, and I'm curious as to how long it should take me to get a good physique?
That depends on what you mean by a good physique. If all you want is enough muscle to look good at the beach or in a nightclub compared to guys who don't lift, two or three years of consistent training will revamp your body to satisfy that criteria. If you're talking about a national-level or pro-type of physique, I would say it will take you at least 10 years. Most guys have been training for 12 to 14 years before they even turn professional. It took me from 1986 to 1996. And I feel obligated to say that not everyone has the genetics to look like a pro bodybuilder. But anybody can put on a good amount of shapely muscle and look a whole lot better than before if they put the time and effort into it. Don't worry about how long it's going to take, just get started and understand that every workout will make you a little bit better than you were before.
I have been looking at ads for Fat Burners and I'm very impressed with the before and after photos. I am ready to try one of the products, but I want to know if once I reach my goal, do I still need to keep using them forever to maintain my lean look?
My theory is this. You can't use Fat Burners indefinitely or you will shut down your adrenal glands, and you don't want that to happen. You still want to use the supplements because they are very effective at burning fat and also giving you more energy and focus for training purposes, but you need to come off them periodically. Something like four weeks on, two weeks off, or maybe even an equal amount of time on and off, will keep your adrenal glands safe from harm. You don't ever want to abuse Fat Burners, so don't take more than the suggested amount on the bottle. Finally, don't forget that you still need a good clean diet and some regular cardio to burn the fat off. Don't think that you can still eat crap, blow off your cardio and get ripped. It ain't gonna happen! It's ironic that you ask me about Fat Burners, because Kelly and I have both used Xenadrine by Cytodyne Technologies for years and absolutely love the product. We both used it just recently to prepare for the Night of Champions. Recently our sponsor, Pinnacle, bought Cytodyne and we were asked to endorse Xenadrine as spokesmodels. We're very excited about it because we truly believe in the effectiveness of the product from firsthand experience. It's crazy- we were asked to endorse a product that we've actually been using for years.
Craig, your forearms have a powerful, rugged look that I would like to have too. What is your routine for forearms?
This may be a little surprising, but I don't do any direct training for my forearms. However, I very rarely use wrist wraps, and that gives them a lot of work. Some guys use straps for every exercise they do on back day, or even for exercises like dumbbell curls or lateral raises. Not only are they never going to develop much grip strength, but they are missing out on a lot of potential growth in the forearms. You can do wrist curls and reverse wrist curls, but I personally think forearms get much more work out of doing something like holding on to 150-pound dumbbells for a few sets of shrugs.
I'm in the army and started bodybuilding a year ago. So far the results have been great. I gained 20 pounds and my lifts are way up from when I began. The only problem is that my run time in the Physical Fitness Test I take on a regular basis is down and I have developed painful shin splints. I'm running a 16-minute mile, my slowest time ever. I want to get it back down to at least 13 minutes. Is there anything I can do to keep my muscle gains coming but cut that run time down?
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