Weight Lifting, Weight Training, Bench Press & Bodybuilding
April 20, 2024
Interview With Bodybuilder Guy Grundy

by Ben Tatar of CriticalBench.com

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOURSELF?

Guy Grundy I was born in a small town called Penrith, Australia, a couple of hours out side of Sydney. I didn't have what you would call a normal child hood. My parents separated when I was around 2 or so & I lived with various family members until I was 16 when my mother basically kicked me out & I lived in an abandon building & supported my self. I suffered from malnutrition as a child, I attended no less than 15 schools, and I even attended a couple twice as I was moved around so much. At 13 I was unable to read or write & was suspended from all sports for 7 months while I attended a Special reading school with 7 years old's, the scary thing is I was the slowest kid there even though I was the oldest.

I was always good at sports, representing at state & national level in 6 sports. I was a good kid, never got into trouble. Looking back I had every opportunity to be a total fuck up. I had one thing going for me & that was that I have always had a lot of heart. This made up for a lot natural talents & things most kids take for granted.

WHAT DOES YOUR DIET CONSIST OF?

I eat clean all year round; I am to vein to get out of shape in all honesty. I have a rather LARGE EGO " LOL. I eat 6 - 7 meals daily. Consisting of approx. 40% Protein, 50% carbs & 10% fat. I eat 25% of my carbs with breakfast & 25% immediately after training. The rest are spread evenly throughout the day. I eat 40g of protein with each meal coming from Chicken, Turkey, egg whites lean cuts of steak & Kaizen Nutrition 100% Whey. I eat fibrous carbs with each meal except for breakfast, which is Oatmeal & fruit. My carbs sources are potato, rice, oatmeal & bagels.

I enjoy the odd junk food meal, pancakes; McDonalds & those Dam Chocolate Chip Cookies always cause me trouble. The dam cookie monster ha ha

I went without decent food when I was young, so I think it is a little easier for me to eat clean as I enjoy the food so much.

CAN YOU TELL US ABOUT YOUR TRAINING ROUTINE?

I have tried every system out there. For me it is the Mike Mentzer method of high intensity training. Although I do not follow this religiously as I am a small boned person & my body & joints cannot take the heavy weights & intensity for long periods. I find if I train intense using his methods for around 6 weeks & then back off & do a lot more sets without any where near the intensity I grow & prevent burn out & injuries. I strongly suggest reading Mike's book that was published 2 weeks prior to his death "High Intensity training". Great book, full of facts & great information. I highly recommend it. There is also a Mike Mentzer bonus book available when you buy the Critical Bench Program.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE FOR A YOUNGER BODYBUILDER WHO WOULD LIKE TO BE A CHAMPION?

BELIEVE in your self, take a chance. It amazes me how many people settle for less than what they truly I want. I came to the US, with $4,000 in my pocket & a dream. That was all I needed, I left everything behind, my security, friends, supplement endorsement, and my personal training business. I left that behind, as I wanted something more for my life. I have a saying that has got me through some tough times; hopefully this may help some others. "We all get knocked on our Asses from time to time, that doesn't matter. It only matters that you get back up & NEVER give up on your dreams. Failure is life's way of testing us". I see my self as some one who gets what he wants, so each time I get up off my ass when life puts me on it. I am one step closer to my dream.

WHAT WAS YOUR FAVORITE BODYBUILDING MOMENT?

Guy Grundy Walking into Gold's Gym, Venice. I will never forget that day. I basically got of the plane at LAX & went to the Marina Pacific were we stayed & was at the Gold's Gym doors at 3.50am waiting for them to open at 4am. It is hard to put into words how it felt as no words can explain it. I worked so hard to win the Australia & over came so many obstacles to get there. From the moment I picked up a weight I just knew that I belonged there. Every thought I had was of one day being there so when it finally happened. It was AMAZING I just walked around for a couple of hours. That day will always be with me. Dreams do come true, I honestly believe that. I was so happy that I shared that moment with my best Mate! & Training partner Steve Hunter who was with me from the beginning.

WHAT MOTIVATES YOU TO WANT TO BE THE BEST?

What motivates me, I have been successful & I have been a failure many times. I like being successful LOL. Nothing compares to the feeling of achieving a goal & a dream. I do not have the best of anything i.e. genetics, intelligence etc. What I do have is determination & the ability to learn from my fuck ups & then builds from there. I Love a challenge, I believe I can do anything if I put my heart & soul into it. I couldn't read or write till I was 13, now I have my own monthly columns in Musclemag & have over 50 published articles. I always knew I could do it & I did. The best motivation for me is to tell me I can't. Fuck that I say to anyone that tells me I can't " Believe me many have " I can & I will.

WHAT IS THE BIGGEST MISTAKE YOU SEE BEGINNERS MAKE?

I know the answer to this one VERY WELL. I made every error in the book during my early career. The biggest are:

1-Not having a game plan or understanding of what they are doing. They should learn how to do the exercises correctly, which means starting very light & getting a feel for the exercises & then slowly increase the weights. This will teach them correct form from the beginning & get them into good habits early. Dorian Yates actually studied how to train & all the various elements involved before he started training. He was a great Champion as he planned ahead.

2- Do not over train, so many people think more is better, which is a serious mistake especially for a beginner. I would suggest training no more that 3 days a week for the first year for no more than 1 hour. After a year of training they can add an additional day.

I would advise reading books on nutrition & training & be open to learning. Once you stop learning, you stop growing & progressing.

WHAT MAKES THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN A CHAMPION AND AN AVERAGE JOE?

Champions have the ability to do things others can't because they set them selves' goals & work towards achieving them every day. All the champions I know have a strong believe in themselves. I believe what constitutes a true Champion is COURAGE, which to me means doing something even when you are scared. We all experience fear, champions experience it like everyone else, but they do what needs to be done & face their fears. Facing & conquering your fears is the mark of a Champion.

WHAT ARE YOUR FAVORITE LIFTS AND LEAST FAVORITES?

I enjoy them all to be honest; I love training & the challenge of pushing my self. Of course when you are tired from dieting exercises like dead lifts, squats, hack squats & high rep leg presses are not the easiest things to wake up to on your bad days. My least favorites are generally exercises that cause me discomfort due to injuries I have sustained during my career.

WHAT IS YOUR ADVICE ON STEROIDS/SUPPLEMENTS?

I do not advice or recommend their use, but the reality of the sport is that they do exist & will be used. So the following are what I suggest if you do go down that road. When it comes to steroids my advice is to learn as much about them as possible, you are responsible for the side effects you will face & anything else related to their use. Never cycle longer than 12 weeks & always have at least 6 weeks off preferably 12 weeks off. Have a blood test done before your cycle & again in the middle & then again at the end to check how your body is handling them. Take notes on which cause the most & least damage & plan your cycles according to this.

Be aware that there are side effects & we all differ in how we tolerate them. It's your body, your life, so be smart.

In regards to supplements, I have been very fortunate to been the spokesman for Kaizen Nutrition since I arrived in the US 5 years ago, They have a full range of products ranging from body building supplements to specialty products & vitamins. This has enabled me to experiment with a vast array of supplements. I recommend Whey Protein, Creatine & Glutamine in that order as the bread & butter of any supplements program. I also use fat burners; the Kiazen Herbalean is my preferred fat burner. I also find that prohormones work very well, "when used correctly". The Kaizen 1-Adiol & the Androbolic have given me great results. I have an easy to follow write up on the Whey, Creatine & Glutamine at my site www.fitnetusa.com. The link is called Guy's Top 3 supplements. This will break these products down into an easy to use & understand format. Supplements are a definite advantage I reaching your full potential.

Guy Grundy

ANY FUNNY STORIES YOU WOULD LIKE TO SHARE?

Funny stories, boy were do I begin. 1- after settling in the US & getting some exposure in the magazines, I had people asking for autographs & people wanting their photo taken with me. Which is very cool, just quietly. I was out side a hotel getting ready for a photo shot in San Diego & these 2 guys come up to me & ask if I can take a photo. So sure enough I am like "sure fella's & put my arm around the guys shoulder & hit a bicep shot. They both looked at me weird & to cut a long story short they wanted me to take a photo of them ha ha. That was a little embarrassing.

2- I was doing a semi nude photo shot with a hot looking fitness woman with a well-known photographer that will remain nameless. We had our backs to him as nothing major was being shown in these photos. We are standing there & all of a sudden we hear singing & a guitar playing. We look at each other & turn around & the photographer was sitting on the lounge singing us a song, I swear to God, hear we are butt naked & this guy is serenading us LOL. He finishes the song & then asks us what we thought. Like what could we say, we are standing their butt naked & we both mumble that was good? He needed no more motivation & started singing us another tune.

3- this was when I first started training; I guess I was about 14 or so. I was a real skinny kid, I was doing reverse leg presses were you lie on your back & push the weight up. This was one of the older ones that you had to load the plates on top. I am struggling with a 50 lbs plate trying to load the weight on the machine, finally after struggling with the plate I get it up high enough & let it drop onto the stack, only problem was that my little buddy down stairs was caught when the plate dropped, Man I was in shock. I couldn't wedge my fingerers to free my little buddy, I finally got free. All I will say is he swelled up so big, that he has never been that big again.

4- Another time I was training with my Mate Big Eddie from Canada, Eddie is hard-core & when you train with him there is no playing around. We are doing sets of dumbbell side laterals. Eddie would basically do his set, then I would follow & it went like this till one of us basically quit. We had done about 4 sets back to back so the form was getting a little lose, I was banging out the reps & as the form was lose the dumbbells were hitting each other at the bottom of the movement. Unfortunately the little fella got caught between the dumbbells & needless to say neither he nor I enjoyed the pain. I still finished that dam set though. I ended up telling Eddie about it at the end of the workout. He just laughed his ass of at me. Boys will be Boys

5- this one is for my Mate! Lou of Kaizen Nutrition. Lou is a classy guy as his wife Joan. One day we are walking along Venice boardwalk. I have my shirt off, & people are generally staring, as I look a little unusual. Anyway, I take Lou's hand & start screaming like a 5 year old & jumping around saying "Ice cream Daddy, you promised me an ice cream Daddy & I want my ice cream now. The whole board walks just stopped in there tracks. I never did get my use cream & Lou has never gone to the boardwalk with me since then. I wonder if that has anything to do with it ha ha

WHAT IS NEW IN THE LIFE OF GUY GRUNDY?

Well, I am truly enjoying being a father. My daughter Jesse is now 8 months old, my wife Kiyoko & Jesse are the best thing that has ever happened to me. I am recovering well from my recent shoulder construction & hope to be training again by mid-September. That would be 4 months with no training, not an easy thing to go through.

I have been busy with various businesses, I am about to release a weight training book which illustrates how to perform all the exercises correctly with picture demonstrations & a description's of how to ensure you get the most out of each exercise.

I have been busy writing various columns & promoting Kaizen Nutrition at appearances & such throughout the country. I have just signed onto endorse a great hair removal product called Hair No More. I actually have been using the product for a quite a while & just teamed up with the owner Mark Landyn to act as a spokesman & distribute the line. It is great to endorse something that you really believe in so this is something I am looking forward to.

ANYTHING ELSE YOU WOULD LIKE TO TELL CRITICAL BENCH READERS?

First I would like to thank you Ben or the opportunity, I always relish the opportunity to talk about my self, Ha Ha.

I would like to thank all the fans that have supported me throughout my career, both the good times & the bad. I always feel so honored to receive mail from people, I read every piece I get, I collect every letter I have received as it means a lot to be appreciated by others.

I would like to thank my Mate! Lou Routbard of Kaizen Nutrition, the man has been there for me no matter what. Lou & his wife Joan are my daughters Godparents, that's how special they are to my family. I better stop, as I am getting a little EMOTIONAL. I have been very fortunate in my life, but when it comes to friends I feel like I have been truly blessed. To everyone out there, Dream big, set goals towards their attainment & follow that path every day. One day you will wake up & your dream will be your reality. I know because I am living my dream.

 

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