JULIAN NAVARRO IS PLANNING THE PERFECT PHYSIQUE
Julian Andre Navarro was born January 15, 1991; and currently lives and grew up in Philadelphia, PA. In May he just graduated from Temple University with a degree in Kinesiology -Concentration: Exercise and Sports Science. Now, he is getting prepared for his 2014 MuscleMania Pro debut in Ft. Lauderdale at the Fitness Universe Weekend June 27-28 in Ft Lauderdale, FL. Julian, the 2013 Musclemania® Universe Champion, weeks before the MM show already looks amazing! .... At 5'8″, 175 lbs., he looks ripped, full and with 15+ lbs. more muscle. Hang on because Julian will return to the show, bigger, leaner and ready to take on the other Musclemania Pros.2013 Musclemania Universe Champions:
Sheronica Henton (R - Women) and Julian Navarro (L - Junior & Open Overall) were champions in so many ways last year in Miami Beach. Sheronica is a US Army soldier stationed in Germany. She was the '12 Figure Europe Champion and competing in the Universe was a natural progression in his competitive career. Julian stormed his way on to the stage and stunned everyone. The 5'8", 175 lbs. university student earned a standing ovation at the show with impressive muscle thickness, symmetry and showmanship like a seasoned veteran.
Julian has been training for seven years now. He started weight training in high school, at age 16 to gain strength for wrestling and crew, and then he fell in love with weight lifting. It wasn’t until he saw his first bodybuilding magazine with Victor Martinez in it that he said, “Woahhh!!! I want to look like that". He then joined a gym that was run by IFBB Pro Jason Greer who really helped to point him in the right direction, and answered any questions he had....a really great guy.
As a beginner, the mistakes that he made were probably the same as everyone else, poor diet, and too much training. When it came to diet he knew he had to eat every 2-3 hours, but he didn’t know what he should be eating. He was just shoveling food in his mouth like there was no tomorrow. When it came to training, he didn’t have a set plan, he would just train for hours, not realizing that he needed to rest and eat. He just loved to train, so he would spend all his time in the gym.
When doing his meals he plans for the whole year. He sets a goal weight to reach and calculates for that weight, making sure that each meal equates to the necessary totals for that goal. He believes that being consistant is the key, so if he keeps his diet on track and trains intensely he will get to where he needs to be.
Pertaining to training, Julian will analyze his physique and see where he needs to improve upon the most, and then stick with some core movements for that area. For example, when he needed to add more thickness to his upper chest (much like every bodybuilder) he would include three incline movements in his chest routine: incline press (barbell or dumbbell), incline cable fly, and an incline free-weight fly usually superset right into dumbbell pressing.
He used to bulk up, but that wasn’t very practical. He wasn’t able to see how his body was really changing and he would always be tired from just carrying around a lot of weight. Now he prefers to stay lean year round and adjust his portions as he meets desired goals. This way is much less stressful on the metabolism, it’s also nice to see exactly where the changes are being made.
When it comes to cardio he prefers HIIT or Steady State cardio. He usually does HIIT after a weight training session and for 10 minutes. He doesn't have set time frames that he sprints for, he just sprints as long as he can, resting until he catch my breath, and then spring again. When doing Steady state, he will usually do this fasted or late at night before he goes to sleep; if he choses a steady state over HIIT he will perform it at a 50% heart rate max.
When doing cardio he prefers to use an elliptical, that way he can set the incline to target the glutes and hamstrings.
Monday: Chest and Biceps (Mainly a pressing day) Favorite movements for Chest: Decline Barbell Press and incline cable fly’s
Favorite movements for Biceps: Barbell Curls and Preacher curls
Tuesday: Quads
Favorite movements Quads: Front Squats and Stationary Lunges
Wednesday: Back (Rowing and Rack Pulls)
Favorite movements for Back: Underhand Barbell Rows and Rack pulls
Thursday: Shoulders and Triceps Favorite movements for Shoulders: Dumbbell Press and Lateral raises on an incline
Favorite movements for Triceps: Cable Kickbacks and Bench Dips
Friday: Rest or Weak Body Part
[Currently he is using this as a second chest day instead of a rest day. He only does fly movements, two cable fly variants, two free weight fly variants and a burnout or drops set on the Pec Dec.]
Saturday: Hamstrings and Back (pull downs)
Favorite movements for Hamstrings: dumbbell narrow stiffs and standing hamstring curls
Favorite movements for Back:underhand pull downs and pullovers
Sunday: Rest
Abs and Calves are done three times a week randomly.
Cardio (3-5 times a week): Cardio will be done either post workout or a second session later during the day. If he feels like he has lot of fat to lose he will do fasted cardio in the morning first thing.
Reps and Sets:
Currently he is sticking within the 6-8 rep range with roughly 4-5 sets per exercise. Since he recently became a Muscle Mania Professional Bodybuilder he needed to put on some size. Sticking within this rep range has allowed him to pack on some serious size and thickness to his physique. When lifting I am not just moving the weight from point A-B, he focuses on controlling the weight and making sure he is contracting the tissue through the concentric and eccentric phases. A lot of people will implement this style of training when getting closer to a show to help bring out separation, he figured why not train like this year round and develop an amazing physique.
When Julian is getting ready for a show his diet is very simple. All meals (and he means all meals) become fish, sweet potato, and broccoli. Fish is high in protein and high in fat as well, this allows his body to mobilize more fatty acids because it recognizes that there is a constant supply of healthy fats and no longer needs to hold on to the stored fat. Sweet potato acts a natural diuretic, allowing him to hold less water and making my water depletion phase a lot easier.
Julian's favorite bodybuilders include: Arnold, Franco, Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane, and Victor Martinez.
Recovery: Whey protein, BCAA’s, Glutamine, Multi-vitamin
Fat loss: L-carnitine , CLA, Green Tea Extract, and Fish Oil
Joint support: Glucosamine
1. Take things one day at a time. Make sure you are doing your best each day to achieve that end goal.
2. Find motivation to keep going, follow an athlete or an inspirational speaker, anything that can help give you that extra push you need.
3. Diet is key! If you are eating for your desired physique you will get it.
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Julian Navarro's facebook page:
Instagram: @king_Navarro
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