Phily Nuku, Mass Plan

Phily Nuku has been weight training and involved in the Wellington bodybuilding scene since he was a 19 year old lad weighing 78kg. His passion for the sport has been burning for 17 years and now at 36 Phily has become somewhat of a stalwart in the Capital after competing in over 25 shows. In part 1, Phily Nuku gave us a glimpse into his bodybuilding background. In this update we take a serious look at his training strategy for muscle size...and his advice for novices.

Now that you’re not competing for a few months, have you been good or ‘bad’ with your eating plan. What’s your typical ‘off season’ diet for mass building?

Oh yes Good and bad would be a fair answer. Over Christmas, much the same as most folks do, I over ate and then some, I even included lots of foods that I’d not normally eat like sweets, chocolate & puddings. Being back at work now I find it easier eat properly as I have more structure to my day and diet as a result of that. Still I do relax off somewhat in the weekends. My off-season looks a little like this. During my working week:

5.30am 4 vogels toasted, marmite and a small tub of cottage cheese. Protein shake (MAX’S Daytime mass) in water . Coffee (white & one)
8.45am 2 cups (Dry measure) Oatmeal + sultanas Protein powder (Day time mass)
11am(ish) Steak, brown rice, chili beans and green veggies with flax seed oil
1.30pm Chicken, kumara, chili beans and green veggies with flax seed oil
2.30pm MAX’S Pre workout formula + MAX’S Crea X3 + Vitargo + Glutamine (1 serve ½ hour before weights)
3-4.30pm Daily training time, during which I’ll sip down another 1 full serve of the above pre workout formula
4.30pm MAX’S Post workout formula + MAX’S Crea X3 + Vitargo + Glutamine
5.30pm Can of Tuna, brown rice, chili beans & green veggies with flax seed oil
7.30pm Usually Steak and veggies + condiments or otherwise crumbed fish and salad.
9.30pm MAX’S Night time formula.

All my meals except the 1^st one (my bread meal) are fairly large, typically I always eat until I am slightly over full. In the weekends I’m a bit more relaxed, I use less in the way of my supplements and have fewer but HUGE sized meals.

What does your mass building phase involve? While (like everyone else) the off season is time for me to get bigger, more importantly it is my time to improve the flaws in my physique, to become more balanced and if anything look bigger by default. I mean sure I strive to grow as much as possible but only if by doing so- the balance is maintained with my body. Call me “Old School” but I am big on symmetry and proportions.

So while my training is heavy and full of basic exercises, we do tweak my movements (call them Hybrid exercises) to help me fill in the gaps. It’s hard to explain so here is an example- If I hit a basic DB incline chest press, I could go as high as 75kg for reps, but if I do the Hybrid version of the same exercise (Drop the thumb ends of the DB’s in, go to the maximum depth/stretch and push the DB’s back on an angle towards my spotter, then I can just manage the 52kg DB’s for reps. The major difference here is that my upper chest feels like it’s going to explode, something I just don’t feel by doing incline presses in the usual manner.

Here's what my (6day) Training split looks like:

Day	Body part(s)	Exercises	Sets	Reps
Monday	Shoulders & Calves	51-2	18ish6-7	6-1015 or more
Tuesday	Arms	3	16ish	6-8
Wednesday	Back	4	20ish	4-6
Thursday	Chest &Calves	3-41-2	15ish6-7	6-810 or less
*Friday	Bits day (typically)Breathing pulloversShrugsRear Deltoid FlysAbs.	11-21-21-2	55-65-66	12-156-81010-15
Saturday	Legs	5	20-22	10
Sunday	Rest	-	-	-

*Bits day is designed to target any area that may require extra work or any area that (for what ever reason) got missed out that week. Cardio, I have an off season rule that as a minimum I must do three ½ hour sessions per week. I have no problem with this as I enjoy walking around the Wellington waterfront after my workouts and bush walking with my kids (sometimes Mum too) in the weekends. Lately I have been averaging 3-4 walks per week at one hour each.

What is your best lift in: Bench press, Squat, Incline dumbbell press, One arm row, Seated dumbbell press, Barbell bicep curl?
Bench press is not an exercise that I do anymore, I have gone as high as 200kg for 1 rep but all heavy benching ever did was to mess me up with limited growth as a result.
Squats- only do these in the smith machine now, I can do rock bottom sets with 5 plates. In the past I used to do regular BB squats but I could never isolate my Glutes & Hamstrings in the same as I do with the Smith.
Incline DB press- 52kg, they are the biggest my gym has currently, so we often make them the 2^nd exercise in our chest routine.
One arm rows- I don’t do these because the DB’s aren’t heavy enough.
Seated DB shoulder press- I go up to the 45kg DB’s but that’s without the using a backrest.
BB curls- I do working sets with around 70-80 kg. Any more and it looks like the kids swing in the garden.

Supplements you live by? In the past I had not used a lot in the way of supplements mainly because of the cost them coupled with my already large food bill. Now days I’m fortunate enough to be sponsored by Paul Singleton of SMG Sports Distribution (Suppliers of MAX’S fine products), so naturally I now take them all, as many as I can get my hands on! Here’s what I take in the off season: - The complete MAX’S Mass Protein System, Crea X3 Creatine & L-Glutamine. - Vitargo, I’m trailing this for Martin Byrne at ABS performance- 2 thumbs up so far! - I have recently just run out of NOS- I like NOS because it sounds cool - Men’s multi vitamin & vitamin C, both by Red Seal, coz they contain Bioflavonoids.

Have you had a role model who’s inspired you? Which Male Bodybuilder’s physique do you admire? In the beginning it was Arnold, he is still The Man as far as I’m concerned. I did go on to like Lee Haney and from there I kind of lost sight of the pros. They had become like Monsters with their freaky size and (all of a sudden) big stomachs. No thanks, that’s not what I signed up for. Thank goodness for Flex Wheeler & Dexter Jackson, they in my opinion are- all Class.
By spending time with Max and by following his example, I was finally able to get lean & unleash my full package at the 2006 NABBA Nationals. Thanks Max but I think you will regret the day that you ever helped Phily Nuku (Te he).


Max and Phily

What was your favorite part about competing? And the worst?
When the big day comes and I’m ready, I’ll have my game face on, still I really enjoy being backstage all day with my mates, catching up with old friends and making new ones, sharing ideas and learning from one another. But what I absolutely love the most is the crowd’s response when I pull off a good posing routine- I just can’t get enough of that stuff. Winning the best Poser Award is one thing but ensuring that the crowd enjoys the show is important to me also. The bit that I don’t enjoy about competing is being dehydrated, this is never fun but still a necessary evil.

What is your ultimate goal in bodybuilding?To win the NABBA International Mr. N.Z and also to be competitive Internationally, beyond that I just want to help others with their preparations.

Now days my role models are a little closer to home. My Good friend and Training partner Max Stott is one such person. If you know Max then you’ll know that Body Building is his whole life and while Max is no spring chicken, he holds great Mass while staying lean all year round and comes in shredded at competition time. left: Phily and Max

You’re quite known in Wellington bodybuilding circles and have won many titles there, do you feel the pressure to perform or does the pressure make you better? Without sounding like a big head, I think that I am pretty much well know around N.Z now, I’ve been around awhile now, competed in both federations and done many shows all over the country. Do I feel pressure to perform, not really and here’s why. “When you have prepared with a passion- success is a forgone conclusion.”

What advice/tips would you give to some of the young men starting out on their Bodybuilding journey?
1. Goal setting. Define your short & long term goals. Revisit and reset your goals as necessary. Be realistic!!!
2. Read everything that you can get your hands on regards Bodybuilding.
3. Get help immediately, find a Coach, Pay for a Trainer if you have to. Don’t waste time trying to figure it all out for your self.
4. Movements first, can’t stress this one enough. Never mind bashing heavy weights with poor form, get your movements right first and the heavy weights will come soon enough. Do it this way and you have less chance of getting injured too.
5. Nutrition. Eat heaps of clean food. Train at eating more food all the time, just like your weights it takes constant practice to eat for growth. Drink plenty of water too.
6. Supplements. Take heaps of these, they help so why not- you shouldn’t be drinking or smoking now so why not spend that money on them.
7. Train your guts out- you can always take up Golf if you don’t agree.
8. Rest & Recovery. Make sure you get plenty of sleep, sounds easy enough but often this important ingredient gets overlooked. Make sure that you get enough recovery between training sessions and if you can- get deep fiber massage regularly.
9. Stretching. Yes you! You must learn how to stretch at least your major body parts and stretch out regularly.
10. Hang around people who are like minded. Ensure that you join a Bodybuilder friendly gym & learn all you can from the builders there. Stay away from negative people, no matter how good they might be at our sport, if they are negative- they will only slow you down.
11. Injuries. Do not ignore these. Treat all injuries immediately; you will probably have to CHANGE YOUR MOVEMENTS to make sure that it does not happen again.
12. Compete. Commit yourself to compete as soon as possible, yes be realistic but don’t wait to look like the Pro’s because chances are that will never happen especially if you don’t take the 1^st step. Thereafter you should continue to compete annually or at least Biannually. Why you ask- because nobody trains harder then when they are preparing for a show and on a deadline, it just keeps you honest!
13. Finally, visit the Go Figure Web Site regularly- Lisa paid me to add this one.

Finally Phily, can you give us an interesting Tidbit on yourself? Well yes, it’s funny but I actually do have a Superman logo tattooed on my right forearm. Mine is a little cryptic though as my “S” is colored green. Green is the color of kryptonite. It’s there to remind that no matter how Superman I might like to think I am, even I have my weaknesses…