M&S Talks To Ripped Teen Lifter Jack Grace

What is your athletic background, and how did you get involved with bodybuilding?

I’ve always been a fairly active person. Since early on as a little kid I've taken part in a variety of sports: swimming, cricket, basketball, football and motocross. Then at the age of 14 I decided to go to the gym one day to see what it was like. Needless to say after a few sessions that’s where all my focus was going and 5-6 days a week that’s where I was.

What I love most about bodybuilding is the fact that you get out what you put in. If you make the decision to work and train harder than everybody else then you will be better than everybody else. At the end of the day the only thing stopping you from achieving your ideal physique or your goals in life is the amount of effort your willing to give, and how much your willing to sacrifice.

What I like least is not being able to train every day of the year. As hard as it is to accept, rest is vital and days off are a must!

How often do you change your training routine, and do you periodize your training?

Personally, I change my training routine every 2-3 weeks for several reasons. I always like to keep my body guessing and not knowing what’s going to happen next. Not only does this keep my muscles growing but it helps me avoid hitting a plateau.

The further into your training you get and the more trained your muscles are, the quicker they will adapt to the stresses you put on them. So mixing things up is very important. Apart from this it keeps things interesting, I love the feeling of walking into the gym and getting ready to do a workout that you haven’t done before!

I do periodize my training and I make sure that I don’t overtrain by carefully evaluating each routine or split I’m about to do. Having the knowledge of what muscles and secondary muscles are trained or assist in exercises will be very beneficial to you.

What are some of the biggest training mistakes you’ve made?

I think the biggest mistakes I’ve made is when I first started out and I focused everything into training and overlooked my diet. I would just look at the label on foods and if it had a good amount of protein I would eat it.  Now I look back and think how stupid that was.

These days I have my diet pretty spot on and the biggest thing that’s helped me is taking advantage of nutritional timing. Many people don’t take advantage of the bodies anabolic phases throughout the day, but by making the most of these you can send your gains through the roof as well as keep off the fat.

The two meals of the day when your body is primed to take in all nutrients are breakfast and post workout. By making these the 2 biggest meals of the day and consuming high protein, fast digesting foods and even creating an insulin spike and you will make the most of your body's opportunities.

What attracts you to the natural side of sports and competition?

The reason I choose to be natural is not so much the health and side effects of the performance enhancing drugs but it’s more my outlook on life. I don’t see the satisfaction in cheating your way through life and having everything so simple.

Nothing worthwhile is just given to you, so when you take the easy way out then your not very strong minded and at the end of the day you will pay the price! I don’t hate people that use steroids and I will treat them like I would anyone else, but it’s not someone I would choose to look up to.

What keeps you motivated?

There are many things that keep me motivated. I think the main thing is my huge desire to succeed. A few years ago I set goals of where I wanted to be I what I wanted in life and at the end of the that’s what I’m constantly focused on. So I know that after bit of alcohol and fast food I turn down, and every burning rep I push out in the gym, I’m one step closer to where I wanna be, and that’s what keeps me pushing.

All the little things keep me motivated as well. Everything from getting comments and people noticing my physique to seeing improvements in myself. Whether it’s a tiny little vain that pops up or beating a personal best in the gym.

Which workout has worked best for you?

What has worked best for me is incorporating big heavy compound exercises into my routines, exercises such as squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc. Too often I see people doing little isolation exercises like triceps pushdowns and leg curls.

One of the main keys to building muscle is taking advantage of the anabolic hormones your body produces naturally, and it’s the big compound movements the produce the largest quantities of these. Yes these exercises are harder and that’s why people don’t do them.

What does your post-workout nutrition and supplementation look like?

My post-workout meal is the one I emphasis the most. I definitely noticed that since I started mastering my post-workout meal I really started seeing big results.

My post-workout meal starts immediately after I session where I will consume a WPI fast absorbing protein. About 10-15 minutes later I will create an insulin spike by having a sport drink or energy drink. What this does is prevent protein breakdown and increase amino acid uptake.

About 15 minutes after that I will have a meal, it will vary but I make sure that it’s high protein and carbs and low in fat. Fat is very slow digesting and will slow the absorbing of the rest of the nutrients. Ideal for me would be chicken breast or a lean meat with rice and a few vegetables.

Do you believe recomping is possible (gaining muscle while losing fat), and if so, is it as difficult as most people think it is?

Personally I don’t go through cycles of bulk and cut. I have been on a constant gain of lean muscle and that’s what I will continue to do. I believe that if you take advantage of nutritional timing and use it correctly during your body’s anabolic and catabolic phases then yes it is possible.

No you can’t gain muscle and lose fat at the EXACT same time as in each minute together. But over a period of time, say 8 weeks or so, if your diet and nutrient timing has been correct then yes in 8 weeks you may very well have gained muscle while losing a percentage of body fat.

What are your future goals, dreams and plans?

I have some big plans for the future. I am currently in the process of getting a modeling portfolio happening so I can get started on my fitness modeling. Next year if all goes to plan I will acquire my visa and move over to Los Angeles to continue with personal training and fitness modeling.

Eventually I want to be an independent trainer with the highest level of clientele. While they are big goals there is no stopping me. I’ve already come this far so young, so there’s no reason why I won’t continue to grow!