Top Fitness Model David Kimmerle Talks To Muscle & Strength

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

Well I was broke, fat, single, depressed and confused; pick a subject. I had fallen so far down the hole that... all I had left was potential. Then I started back to the gym, really only because it was something I could do for a dollar a day. I could kick my own butt while releasing all the pessimistic thoughts that were consuming my life. I am not kidding, nothing is worse than feeling like a life loser. I have been climbing the potential ladder out of that hole ever since.

Shortly after training and seeing results I made a goal in 2009 to build the body of my dreams. I decided to fuel my efforts toward this goal using the anger and frustration in my tank. I did not realize however that my life would get better, the anger would run out and I would be left with an empty tank.

I had only one tank left and it was positive, but I had no idea how to tap into it. Transitioning from a negative person into a positive person is so hard but I needed fuel.

Trying to figure out how to tap into my positive gas tank felt impossible but then it came to me. I remembered the frustration of being a consumer of products labeled with pictures I thought I could never look like. So I set another goal to go with the first one. I want to be the example of what that box or bottle can do with educated bites and steps and share my equation with the world.

Setting this specific positive goal allowed me to hold my efforts accountable and gave me an avenue of revenue. So every day I take all my pills and supplements, I eat 6 times and train hard. I want to mold my body into something that an 18 year old kid or middle aged man would want to look like. I think because I am natural they will believe they can duplicate my results (which they can :) not getting discouraged after the first bottle or steps do not manufacture their vision of themselves.

What do you love most about fitness and exercise?

I love that the only person I can blame or hold accountable is me! I also enjoy team sports but I have found that they are like business, duplicating your heart and work ethic is difficult and can become frustrating because others usually do not care as much as you do. One of the quotes I love is “Others in life will probably not share my goals and both of our achievements will reflect that”.

What were the major milestones that gave you that "extra" motivation boost?

I covered Men’s Workout and Muscle and Fitness a few months after I decided to make it a goal; I also was booking most of the “six pack” infomercials and commercial print in the small market of Utah. However I was never presumptuous enough to think that I could do what I do; it took those very symbolic achievements to get me to move from all my security and infrastructure in Utah to the unknown Hollywood.

Better worded and what I was thinking… “Acknowledging my track record, how could a ten year loser finally do what he said what he was going to do”? I spent a lot of years talking and not much doing. So it really did take some achievements that I could not discount to talk myself into owning my new reality as a fitness model.

What keeps you motivated?

My motivation comes from the hope and faith that I can make up for my mistakes and pay forward what was given to me enabling this transformation.

What does your current training and split look like, and what do you like most about it?

I love the Arnold Split. I am a full time sponsored fitness model so I am able to train twice daily and I take full advantage. I also like to fight so I made up a routine basically using some UFC style principles and the Weider Principles (Arnold Split). The split follows the numbers system instead of days.

Pre-contest or Fighter workout.

How often do you perform cardio?

Cardio is NOT over rated! How you perform your cardio I think IS and this is why. I am a believer in educating each and every step which gives the person taking them accountability for their time invested. WOW accountability, this is a double edged sword my friends, during each session if you wear a heart rate monitor and train in your zones (HIIT or Steady Rate) you will optimize your time and expedite the results you are looking for.

Some exercises are better than others for burning fat but in my opinion wearing a heart rate monitor discounts all of the arguments and screams JUST DO SOMETHING THAT KEEPS YOUR HEART RATE WHERE YOU NEED IT TO BE. Now for the other side of the sword, I wear one while I train as well because sometimes my heart, brain and lungs will tell me I tried and when I look down at my monitor it tells me I did not.

Example, on a good set of chin-ups my heart rate should be around 135-155, if not I did not try or my nutrition needs to be adjusted. You can accomplish a lot more when you educate your time in the gym beyond just following someone’s workout.

What are your thoughts on fasted cardio?

From all the reading I have done it is crazy to me that people still do it, however most bodybuilders swear by it. I came up with my answer when I realized that the theory I was leaning toward was coming from natural athletes and the advice I had been given as fact was coming from athletes that are not natural. Different equations for success, I am a fan of both sports to be real, I just want people to understand that a ton of time can be wasted if you do not decipher between good intentions and good advice.

What are some of your best training tips for someone who just wants to look good and ripped, but doesn’t want to compete?

STOP WITH THE EXCUSES! If you try as hard as you can you will probably not be too big or too bulky lol. I have had to train as hard as I can, even all my job to go to the gym twice daily and I am barely big enough acknowledging that I am natural. Good and ripped usually means that you know what you are eating, why you are eating it and when to eat it. The training is fun and you can put bumps where you have never had them but diet is 75-85% of the equation for the look--Good and Ripped.

I know not everyone wants to look like me or a bikini model but I also know that you have to eat and train like one to get the results you are looking for as fast as us Americans usually want them. The difference is, when you reach your goals you just stop and go on a maintenance program, the fitness model keeps trying for that almost unattainable potential.

How important is progression of weight in some form, in the muscle building process?

You have to stress your body for sure, if you do not raise your weights or reps your body will become accustomed with the work load and you will plateau. Remember: “where strength is muscle follows”.

What are some of the most common mistakes made when someone is trying to build muscle and/or get ripped?

I think the biggest mistake is people keep changing what they want. If you do not give your body time to build or cut, you will be like most of the guys and girls in the gym whose bodies never change.

Sure you can cut a little for summer or an event or you can even put on a couple pounds of muscle in a month or so but If you do not set aside a chunk of time and see your goal through then you will become a victim of the teeter-totter, up-down madness which is disheartening most of endless people filing into the gym every day.

Do you have any gym, muscle building or fitness pet peeves?

I hate it when people stand waiting for a treadmill; I want to scream at them to do something more productive with their time. I only want to scream because it is hard for me to watch so many people with goals not achieve them. I just want everyone to be happy lol.

What are your best tips for getting ripped and shredded abs?

Getting ripped equals cardio and diet. Following a proper diet and cardio regime will have your skin lean enough to show off the bumps you have near your belly button. However if the bumps are not big enough then you will be disappointed when you finally get there. Example - When I finally lost all my weight I admit that I was very disappointed with what was waiting for me, my muscles were almost nonexistent. That is when I learned that being lean is fun but being lean with the right measurements is way more fun.

So my tip for abs is to train them hard and often. I train them like my calves hard, heavy and often. Have you ever noticed that the underdeveloped areas in most physiques are the abs and calves? To me that means the person lacking cannot take the pain necessary to advance those muscle groups. People this is a sport where pain should be enjoyed, enforced and duplicated, follow those rules and you will have what others do not. Think to yourself the next time you are training, “does this hurt, am I in pain and how bad do I really want it”?

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

I take the entire Bodylogix line and some of the products they make in other lines. My post workout nutrition is easy because they put together a post workout equation and called it “Post workout” that is carbs and protein, so I take two scoops every post workout session at the gym to ensure it gets in fast.

What are some of your best diet, nutrition and supplementation tips for someone who just wants to look good and ripped, but doesn’t want to compete?

One of the equations I followed to get my original physique was simple. My first diet coach (Owner of Diet Sport in South Jordan, Utah) sent me this and I followed it to the T and made gains for a year, it works but you have to cycle it every 4 months. This is basically a no carb diet unless you are training or doing cardio. Reworded, you DO NOT eat carbs on this diet unless you are training or doing cardio.

During exercise, you have a natural insulin response to the demand for nutrition to be delivered to the cell. Insulin is required to get the nutrition into the cell. This nutrition, carbs and protein, is either used by the cell now or stored in the cell for future use. If you are running on a deficit of carbs during the exercise period, you will burn muscle. Our goal is to come as close as possible to the correct amount of carbs to include with exercise.

Clinical studies have shown us that you will burn 63 to 68 percent of all calories burned during exercise from carbs, regardless of if you drank or ate anything prior to exercise. For this reason, you must estimate your carb use based on your exercise performance. You can do this with a Body-Bug, Polaris Heart-Rate Monitor. Or you can take your weight and multiple it by 5.1. So if you weigh 200 pounds multiplied by 5.1, this equals 1020.

This means if your workout at a high intensity for one hour, you would be burning 1020 calories. If 60 percent of your energy comes from carbs, you would be burning 612 calories in carbs per hour. Divide 612 by 4, 4 calories per gram, and you would need to take in 153 grams of sugar per hour to offset a muscle burn and replenish the glycogen.

Remember one thing. Carbohydrates taken with exercise, before...during...after, will be completely used as energy during the workout or stored as glycogen in the muscle. Stored glycogen will make the muscle fuller, no fat storage. Carbs take during the day do not have 100 percent glycogen storage like during exercise, during the day it is only 50 percent. You can imagine where the remaining carbs are going. If you are going to workout two hours, take an appropriate amount of carbs, ie Waxy Maize or Dextrose.

What are your favorite meals and foods?

With most of my meals I simply add some spinach leaves and you have a salad.

• Chicken (Ms. Dash marinade) palm portion, 1/3-1/2 cup of long grain brown rice, 5 strawberries, broccoli 1 half cup cooked, (Optional) salad or romaine lettuce wraps.
• Turkey burger (99% fat free) palm portion, frozen strawberries 1/2 cup, non-fat yogurt ¼-1/2 cup strawberry flavored (Activa), broccoli 1 half cup.
• Steak barbeque palm portion seasoned no sodium, asparagus 8 spears, 1/2 med Yam, strawberries 1 quarter cup.
• One of my favorites: tilapia palm portion, baby spinach 1 half cup and spray dressing, asparagus 8 spears, ½ cup long grain brown rice, non-fat cottage cheese ¼ cup.
• Eason special - 99% fat free turkey(chicken), zucchini burgers, ½ yam with salad, less sugar ketchup.
• 8 egg whites 1 yolk, 1 /2 cup of oatmeal slow cooked, agave nectar.

What are some of your favorite motivational quotes?

• “Every bite is a bite closer or further away from your goal.”
• “Be proud of how far you have come and have faith in how far you can go.”
• “Suffer now and live forever as a champion.”
• “Honor is a gift man gives himself.”
• “Let me tell you something you already know. The world ain’t all sunshine and rainbows. It is a very mean and nasty place and it will beat you to your knees and keep you there permanently if you let it. You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain’t how hard you hit; it’s about how hard you can get hit, and keep moving forward. How much you can take, and keep moving forward. That’s how winning is done. Now, if you know what you’re worth, then go out and get what you’re worth. But you gotta be willing to take the hit, and not pointing fingers saying you ain’t where you are because of him, or her, or anybody. Cowards do that and that ain’t you. You’re better than that!”

If someone wants to connect with you, where can you be found?

• Website: http://davidkimmerle.com
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/david.kimmerle
• Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100002482175458
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/user/davidkimmerle
• Bodylogix: http://www.bodylogix.com/blog/?tag=david-kimmerle

Do you have any tips for someone who is looking to compete in your sport?

Choose a picture from a magazine or website, a picture of an athlete that is doing well and put it on your fridge and in your car. Train and eat until you look like that picture. Then take a picture like the one you have been staring at, if you look something like your goal then get on that stage or submit that picture to the magazines and let the games begin.

If you decide not to follow my suggestion that is fine however you might find yourself disappointed, all of us can stand in the right lighting and manipulate the image of ourselves to be better than we are. Be real and make your accountability real and you will find yourself happy after your competition or audition. Finally --- luck is usually earned!

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

What attracts me to the natural side of the sport and competition is the fact that I want to be the example of what that box or bottle can do with educated bites and steps and share my equation with the world.

Setting this specific positive goal allowed me to hold my efforts accountable and gave me an avenue of revenue. So every day I take all my pills and supplements, I eat 6 times and train hard. I want to mold my body into something that an 18 year old kid or middle aged man would want to look like. I think because I am natural they will believe they can duplicate my results (which they can :) not getting discouraged after the first bottle or steps do not manufacture their vision of themselves.

Favorite activities and hobbies you enjoy when away from the gym? I was raised in Utah so the fun I was having while growing up and as a young adult has been fishing, skiing, wakeboarding, ATV’s, horse shoes, darts, pool, hiking and reading last because it is last on my list of fun lol.

Which college or professional sports teams do you root for?

UTAH JAZZ! Root, Root! And any team Kevin Curtis plays on in the NFL, an old friend from Utah that made the big time.

Photo Credits:
Noel Daganta
http://ndpictures.com/
PH: 818-793-4472