Fouad Abiad 2011

Fouad Abiad: Rehab is a B**ch!
Fouad is on the slow road to recovery
by Fouad Abiad on Jun 9, 2011



The saying “you never know what you have until its gone” is probably one of the most relevant to my life right now than any other. This week FLEXONLINE.com posted the video of my PRP Treatment that I had done on May 21; it’s been a little over two weeks and things are starting to feel pretty good. There was a huge response to the video; I’ve never gotten so many emails from fans. I guess I want to take a minute to address some of the questions.

Why was there no anesthetic? The particular doctor felt that any anesthetic used would interfere with the treatment making it useless.

Why did I opt for this instead of surgery since its not 100% proven? This treatment isn’t proven but I have three IFBB Pro friends that have had this done and have had great results. More importantly, surgery would definitely put me out of commission for at least 8 weeks where this treatment has allowed me to get back into the gym already (more on that later). I have a chance of being back to 100% in about 6 weeks if all goes well.

Why did it hurt so badly? The injection was being placed right into the tendon tear, so imagine having a gash in your leg or arm and some taking a needle and poking in and out as deep as they can. That’s almost what it would feel like…lol

Did you cry or puke? LOL, I felt like I wanted to puke when it was being done and as for crying a real man doesn’t cry…*cough*bullshit.

Anyway, I am on the road to recovery and no that doesn’t mean I am sitting around feeling sorry for myself. I know that tendons are just like muscles and anything else in the body, the better your nutrition the faster things are going to heal. I have been eating tons of protein, carbs and healthy fats every day. Eating six meals a day and not doing anything will make anyone fat, pro bodybuilder or not. I think I’m sitting at 275lbs still but its not too sloppy; my GF hasn’t left me yet so it can’t be that bad.

I spent the first 7-10 days in the house but after that I was cleared to start rehabbing the elbows and knees. To anyone who loves to train, loves to lift heavy or loves to feel like they have kicked their own ass in the gym, rehabbing sucks! I go to the gym now and I feel like a weekend warrior. I’m just going through the motions with 25lb plates on a barbell for bench or barbell rows. I’m basically just movin the blood around and trying to keep things feeling fresh. The doc says it will help so whatever it takes, but it still sucks.

At the five week mark I go back to the doctors for a check up and another ultrasound to see how the tear has healed. I hope to god everything checks out because I am itching to get back at the weights!!

All I can say is I am just really glad I caught this now; its no secret that I needed to bring up my arms and still bring up my legs a bit more. With my knees and elbow feeling better I can finally do that. I’m not sure if I will be ready for the Olympia but I am going to do my best to get healthy as soon as I can. If I can’t be ready in time for the Olympia, then the 2012 Arnold Classic is my focus and with another few months of offseason and healthy tendons, maybe I’ll be shakin the Arnold’s hand at the end of that night…

Sacrifice Without Regret, Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad

Fouad Abiad: Breaking Plateaus
Tips to bust through a stagnant program!
by Fouad Abiad on Jun 24, 2011


I have three more weeks to go before I get back into the gym and blast through old barriers. I am three and a half weeks into my treatment and rest phase and I go back on July 8th for my clearance to train. I’m counting the weeks and days, can’t wait to get back to the gym…pain free!

I figured since this week I don’t really have anything new to report I would touch on a topic that has been hitting my email over and over again…being stagnant in your programs.

There is no easy fix for this and one of the first things I can stress is whatever you do to try to figure it out you have to do it for more than one week to really know. I suggest sticking to a new plan or routine for at least four weeks before you can really tell how it’s affecting your body.

Nutrition:

The first place to look in your program is your nutrition. Are your carbs too high? Is your protein too low? Are you getting in any healthy fats? These are all things I look for first because generally speaking one or more is usually the problem.


Carbs – The culprit here usually is that they are too low. Most new bber’s are concerned with protein intake to build muscle but they forget the importance of carbs for a pump, sparing protein you’ve eaten and just overall energy throughout the day. So if your not getting 2-3 grams a day instead of reaching for the nearest nitric oxide product try increasing your carbs first and see how it feels.

Protein – The problem here isn’t usually that it’s not enough but more often protein isn’t being ingested often enough or in the right types. Some new bber’s forget when calculating there daily totals that protein from a bagel or rice does not count to your body (unless mixed in the right combo, i.e. Rice and beans). The body needs a complete amino acid profile during a meal for it to help rebuild muscle. So any animal proteins or anything that comes from an animal is always a safe bet. Those are the only things I count when tallying up my totals even if I know there’s more.

Fats – Most new bb’s avoid fats at all costs but for joint, hormone and muscle function fats are a must. Light saturated fats are important but more importantly mono and poly saturated fats like; olive oil, peanut butter, salmon are all foods that contain high amounts of healthy fats.

Training

This can be a complex issue if we want to make it one but I’ll try and keep things simple like I did with nutrition. The problems here usually like in the split and not getting enough rest.

Split – My training split never has legs and back anywhere near each other. They are the two largest bodyparts and most taxing on the body so I like to have a good rest between them. Secondly, not training too many days in a row is important. I like training either two or three straight days, I think anymore is too taxing and will hinder progress.

Volume – This is an age-old debate of whether to do high volume or low volume. I prefer a moderate amount of volume with a lot of pyramid training in my sets. What I can say in some certainty is I think being in the gym for more than 1.5hrs is too much. Eat, get in the gym, kill it and get out.

Supplements

Supplements are important but I listed them last because that is where they fit in my priorities. I think glutamine 2-3X’s a day is important for recovery, a good BCAA/Creatine product before and after training is also important. A REAL whey or casein protein, not one that’s loaded with fillers and lastly never your forget a full array or vitamins and minerals.

Okay that’s a brief rundown of things you should look for if your having trouble gaining new wait. Don’t be scared to try new things, the biggest gains of my career came when I entered the bizarro gym...lol. Everything was backwards and my body really responded. Just remember, any program can make you grow but finding the right one for you is your mission.

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad

FOUAD ABIAD: Toronto Pro Weekend
by Fouad Abiad on Jun 30, 2011


As most of you know, I have been rehabbing a tear in my triceps tendon and haven’t been training. But I still am focused on my clients, my show promotion and being part of the sport itself.

Toronto is about 3.5hrs from Windsor, so on Thursday morning I packed up my car with some meals, some clothes and my training partner and hit the road. We got to Toronto around 8pm Thursday night and from then on it was on!

I had a few clients in the show in Figure, Amateur BBing and the IFBB 202 class so I was doing my best to keep them all moving in the right direction. Whoever thinks coaches like Hany Rambod, Neil Hill or Chris Aceto have it easy have to think again. In three days I think I had about 9 meals and slept about 3-4 hrs a night…definitely not good for a bodybuilder and the only reason I was able to justify it was I’m not training hard right now since I’m rehabbing.

My clients did well, including Lou Joseph who took 4th in the 202 class. The show as a whole had some great quality and well conditioned athletes. I haven’t seen a 202 class that big and that deep in a long time; everyone in the class was awesome! In the open guys like Craig Richardson and Frank McGrath brought back old school conditioning to the stage. I couldn’t believe it, at one point I could see striations on Craig in between his oblique’s and his abdominals and I’ve never seen that before.
Being there made me want to hit the stage again and not wait for anything.

I could see how hard some of these guys were sacrificing for a win or an Olympia qualification. I talked to Craig Richardson backstage; I asked him what he did to get so shredded. He told me he worked with Jason Arntz and he had him eating 6-8oz portions of meat with very little carbs. For a guy like Craig who weighs about 225lbs solid, that’s not a lot of food. He mentally challenged himself to fight through hunger pains and he was rewarded for it with his first pro win.

Hearing that made me realize that I’m still not working hard enough. One of the privileges of being friends with a lot of these guys is I get to see and ask them what they did to get to the top. When you hear the stories you are able to re-evaluate how hard your actually working.

Are you giving it everything you got or are you just training the hardest in your own gym. I know it’s not too hard to be the hardest training guy in most gyms, that’s not enough for me. Having the praise of the guys in your gym is nothing, the guy that’s competing against you might be training in a basement somewhere all by himself knowing he’s gonna destroy you.

Next time your doing a set of squats, your thinking of leaving because you’ve had it, you slow down because you might puke or you are just plain slacking, think about that other guy. I know a lot of you reading this have shows coming up and I promise you if you aren’t thinking about the other guy and how hard he’s working, he will blow right by you. Being the best in your circle is not enough; you have to think bigger to become a champion. Don’t think like a small fish in a big pond or else when you get to the ocean you’ll be eaten alive.

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad

FOUAD ABIAD: Fresh Start!
Fouad is back in the gym and feeling better than ever!
by Fouad Abiad on Jul 11, 2011


I tossed the idea back and forth for about four weeks now and finally decided that the Olympia is not in the cards for me this year. The Olympia is not the kind of show you hope to show up at your best for, if your not your best then last place is a guarantee.

I’ve decided to focus on the 2012 FLEX Pro and the 2012 ASC. I was very unhappy with the way I looked at the 2011 ASC and I am doing everything in my power to make sure this time I have had off has really healed my injury. I have been in the gym the last week at about 75% and feel really good. The elbow feels like it did when I was 22 and there is nothing more I could really ask for. A lot of people told me “oh that treatment doesn’t work;” I ignored them and went through with it anyway. I couldn’t have made a better decision!

My training partners hate me now. They have been on their own for 6 weeks and I don’t think they’ve been carrying the torch with full force. I got back last week at about 40% didn’t really push too hard but this week was different! I got in there with a vision of reigniting that fire under everyone’s ass including myself. Monday was legs, after we were done both partners told me off and said they wished I was still hurt…lol, I love it! Tuesday was more of the same with Shoulders and Triceps and I plan on the rest of the week being the same way.

No more bullshit, no more time off, no more slacking and rehabbing, I am back and feeling healthier than I felt before the tear. I am ready to blast through all my old plateaus and bring a brand new package to the IFBB stage next year AGAIN!
I have made a change to my diet upon my return to the gym, something new I wanted to try to see how my body would respond. I have always done the high protein, moderate carb, and moderate fat type diet. For the next couple months I am going to try and lower the protein and increase the carbs and see how my body responds. Will I grow? Or will I just get fat? Lol Its gonna look something like this:

MEAL #1
75g Whey
2 Cups Oats Dry
1 Apple

MEAL #2
10oz Ground Steak
2 Cups Rice
¼ Cup Lentils
1 Apple

MEAL #3
10oz White & Dark Meat Turkey
14oz Potato

MEAL #4
10oz Tilapia
2 Cups Rice
1tbsp Olive Oil

MEAL #5
10oz White & Dark Meat Turkey
14oz Potato
1 Apple

MEAL #6
8 Egg Whites
4 Whole Eggs
2tbsp P.B

It’s not too different from what I’m used to but much more carbs for sure. I don’t think it will hurt me in anyway; I will definitely grow, my only fear is that I will get a little fatter than I like but I’ll keep an eye on it.

If any of you are thinking of trying out the diet just remember the protein weights are raw and the carb weights are cooked unless written otherwise. Also remember that I’m weighing in around 280lbs right now so adjust the cals to your weight so you don’t have to stuff yourself daily.

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad

FOUAD ABIAD: On A Roll!

Fouad shares his last back workout that pushed all limits!

by Fouad Abiad on Jul 15, 2011

I can’t believe it I’m only three weeks back into my training after taking time off from my Triceps Tendon injury and my body feels almost brand new. I was at the gym tonight and I actually felt a little better than I have in a little while so I decided I was going to go a little harder.

We started with:
Deadlifts off the floor - 7 sets
I always start with just the bar to get the movement right. From there to one plate for 10, two plates for 10, three plates for ten. I wasn’t sure if I wanted to push it after that, the doc told me to ramp things up slowly for the next three weeks. In my mind I justified it by saying my elbow won’t be impacted too much so fuck it. I added a plate to make it four and knocked out another 8 clean. I felt pretty good; this was my first time deadlifting in about three months. I did another set with four plates for 8, then decided I’m gonna jump again. Up to four and a quarter we went and I knocked out 5 more clean, on top of the world….this is a great comeback I’m thinking. For the last set I decided I was gonna take it a step further so I added a ten to each side..lol…I know its only a ten but give me a break I’m just getting back to it. I locked up my grip and drove my heels into the floor only to drop it after about a three inch lift. I was pretty disappointed but knew if I took a minute I could get back to it. I let both my partners hit it first and then decided I would give it another shot. BOOM! Knocked out four clean reps with gas in the tank! From deads this was the rest of the workout:

Reverse Grip Barbell Rows – 4 Sets
Wide Grip Pulldowns – 4 Sets (two second hold at the bottom of each rep)
Supported T-Bar Row Superset W/ Machine Rows - 3 Sets

Then we got into a little hamstrings; we did two exercises, four sets each. Killer workout and it took us about 90 minutes but god damn, I was slaughtered by the time we were done and haven’t felt that good in months.

I think people underestimate the power of the body in mind when working in sync. In my mind I have decided and did a while back that I would not let this lay off hinder me in anyway when trying to grow and get better for next year. I have actually taken this as a personal challenge that even with a six week layoff I can still make it back with even more gains than I already made the year before.

It’s a powerful feeling when you are in control of what you want your body to do. Sure I could just go to the gym and take it easy and go really light and use an injury as an excuse to be lazy but I have chosen the hard road. I’m using the injury as an excuse to drive myself harder!

How do you guys push yourselves everyday? When your getting ready to hit the gym to you imagine breaking records or do you think of how you can work the muscle and save yourself a little? Do you leave it all on the gym floor, or do you take some home with you at the end? Of course most of you might think your killing yourselves just like I did when I started. I’m telling you all, you have another gear; as a matter of fact you have a few more gears you just haven’t tapped into yet. When you hit that next gear you’ll look at your old self and wonder who that guy even was. Sometimes I want to kick my own ass for ever thinking that’s all I had in the tank, every time I think that’s it I get into another offseason and break through again and again. That’s how you keep improving, by kicking your old self’s ass! Take a good look in the mirror next time your about to go to work and ask yourself if your visions are limiting your true potential! Take it to the next level….

Sacrifice Without Regret,
Fouad ‘Hoss’ Abiad




19 juillet 2011

Fouad Abiad: Doctor's Orders



I've been through seven weeks of hell waiting to get back into the gym. In the last couple weeks, I started training lightly again under Dr. Clarfield's orders, but I've not been able to let loose. Now I finally got the green light from Dr. Clarfield to go back to what I love: All out sacrifice in the gym. In this video blog, you can follow along as I got in for my final treatment and get the official word that I'm back!

Fouad Abiad Chest Training 22 July 2011