Mitch Barham:
All right. What's up everyone? Mitch Barham here with the man, Matt Porter himself right over there. Over there somewhere. Somewhere in this box anyways.
Matt Porter:
Left or right.
Mitch Barham:
Yeah, left or right, somewhere around here. I don't know where I'm going to end up after I edit this. So post-Thanksgiving, we originally had a show recorded last week. I messed it up. Not technologically savvy apparently. So we're redoing it for you guys. So let's start off Matt, big news, everybody saw it. Everybody was jacked. Many people taken by surprise. You competed. So tell us about the process, your decision to compete. What made you want to get back on the stage? How did you feel on the stage? How'd you feel after the stage? Man, let's hear it. Everybody wants to know.
Matt Porter:
Yeah, it was a surprise because I kept it under wraps. Basically, I planned on competing in my head internally, I made the decision around before the Olympia because everyone knows I always diet year round constantly. But I started getting gradually in better and better shape. I'd post videos on Instagram posing and different pictures. I was doing DEXA scans to get my body fat tested. Different experiments with certain compounds and kind of being really open about everything like I always am. It sparked my interest around [inaudible 00:01:30] time because we were doing a photo shoot for a MPA Supps. I figured if I looked decent there, I have clients, pro athletes doing the Lou Ferrigno Legacy Show November 19th. So around late September I was like, "Man that'd be cool to go with my clients, not really telling anyone but slip into the show for the amateurs that weekend."
Matt Porter:
So that's what I was kind of mentally training to do. Unfortunately, after October 1st, super stressful because we were down at the strip during that horrible event, didn't get any sleep. I think that further ran down my immune system along with being lean and over-training and traveling. I got sick with I thought it was a flu at first. Then I thought it was bronchitis. And then I got my x-ray it turned into pneumonia. So literally all of October I was screwed where I couldn't train. I tried to train a couple of times and that's when it probably transferred into bronchitis to pneumonia from weakening my immune system. So entire October was a wash. So in my head I'm like, "Screw this, there's no way I'm going to compete at the Ferrigno show, I just lost a month of training."
Matt Porter:
So I was looking at the schedule and I'm like, "Well, maybe I can do the Excalibur December 12th or December 9th which gives me five weeks if I start November 1st trying to heal up my lung and just trying to train as best I can." And unfortunately we have obligations December 12th. So basically I made a really shotgun, gut decision November 4th at the Las Vegas Classic show. We had a [inaudible 00:03:07]. I was wearing a tank top [inaudible 00:03:11] for a month, but I stayed really perfect my diet the whole time. And people were noticing that I was very lean and that I looked like I could compete even though I was a little flatter and not as full from lack of training. And I was like, "Man, like if I can't compete at the next [inaudible 00:03:31]," or like, "Can I pull off fricking 13 day prep?" Then once I get a thought in my head, I'm the type that takes that inch and turns it into a mile. And I love challenges.
Matt Porter:
So I'm like, screw it. I'm going to literally play this day by day, minute by minute. I'm going to prep for this freaking show in 13 days with recovering my lung, can't do hardcore cardio, can't train too hard, I have to pace myself. But I'm like day by day I'm going to enter the last minute. That's what I did and I filmed the entire process well as best as I could. I've been very tired but I filmed as much as I could during this 13 day prep. And basically it was literally down to the wire. I signed up the day before. So I literally paid right there on the spot for tanning, everything. And it was interesting because I anticipated a smaller scale [inaudible 00:04:15] in the past and I was thinking maybe five [inaudible 00:04:19] in the heavyweight. Maybe six, seven, one call out, go through the quarter turns hit some poses, wham bam, we're done. Not going to be sweating or panting or breathing too hard is what I thought.
Matt Porter:
So I get there, man, and I'm talk to the expediter, whoever was doing the check-ins. I'm like, "Hey, so how many heavyweight are signed up?" This is after I paid, "It looks like 15." And I was just like, "What the hell am I getting myself into?" So I'm like, "Oh my God, 24 hours out. I got to go through with this." So then I got really nervous and my nerves were messed up because after the check in, I had to watch all my pro athletes that Saturday and scream for them and be on my feet all day.
Matt Porter:
So it worked out okay. I went through with it obviously and it turned out awesome where in the pre-judging I was placed to center. And I tell you what though with anything but a wham bam, in and out because they worked the crap out of us and that's when my lung was tested and I was literally just gasping. I was struggling. I couldn't pose that well. So I was fighting it as hard as I could. So, I don't think any people could really notice it too badly. When I got off that stage, I was literally so gassed Mitch, it was like, I hate to use the word excruciating or agonizing, but that's what I felt, I was in agonizing pain. And I had all these people come up or not all these people, I had two people. Last minute I called my client friend Randy, who literally went to the Oregon Ducks game on Saturday night with his daughter and flew in, first plane in Sunday AM to watch the pre-judging for me only.
Matt Porter:
So I'm trying to socialize and spend time with him. I'm hurting. I had another friend drive five hours just to see the event. So it's like, not trying to be rude to these guys, but I'm like, "Guys, I don't feel good. I need to go back to the room and rest." Went back to the room, couldn't calm down the lungs, took a hot shower. I'm literally tossing, turning. It's like a nonstop chronic pulsing, it won't stop. And Rachel's like, "You can not go to the night show and be fine. You already accomplished what you need to accomplish, health first." And obviously I'm like, "Yeah, I promise you if I don't feel good, this is bad, I'm not going to do the night show." And I was already in center and it looked like I was headed to win or be top two. So that was tough.
Matt Porter:
And I was able to tough it out and I got a little better at night. I won my class and then I was battling out for the overall. And I ended up coming up short and I know the middle weight won. He won and fair call as far as I'm concerned. I'm the first one to admit I'm overly harsh on my body. So in my opinion, my back never came back from my hiatus. And also I had a little lat issue where I split my tier T. And my injections in my right lat, like an idiot, instead of my glute and when he lumped my glute, so I did something. Yeah, I put that in my lat the last day before the show like an idiot because I only had 12 days to... I want to take my hormones all the way up until the day before the show because needed all the assistance I can get with 12 day prep. So usually you cut stuff like that out a couple of days in advance, farther out, so you heal up, you don't have any inflammation.
Matt Porter:
But I was like screw it. And I did that, hit a nerve. It's like my lat hurts whenever, my side chest, my side tricep to press my arm against my lat. So there's pain back there. Couldn't really spread my lat or hit my back double bicep. So I lost on my back, my back was honestly, I hated it, it was garbage. I was happy with some of my front shots and side shots. A lot of people are, I think unbiased, they were saying they had me winning the show, which meant the world to me. That was awesome.
Matt Porter:
But at the end of the day the overall package, that guy deserved it. He looked great and that was that, man. It was great. I just wish I could have enjoyed my stage time more because I was in such pain and just trying to get through it. I couldn't like really like be in the moment in a social mood and have fun. After normal prejudging, if you're in the middle and stuff and then you go hang out with your friends, you're in a good mood. I wasn't, I was kind of nervous and scared, I didn't feel good.
Matt Porter:
It is what it is. It was a gamble to go do a show of this caliber with literally no real training for six weeks and feeling kind of like crap with my compromised lung. And in the video I'll let everyone know I'm doing a compilation video of the last 12 days is, what I did for food, what I did for cardio and my half assed training, all that stuff. But this show, I want to be as healthy as possible like my approach with everything that people know about how I do things. And I didn't use a diuretic. I've done a couple shows with the dieretic. I didn't cut my water. I kept everything healthy and hydrated. So that's another reason maybe I could've been dryer obviously if I took a prescription directly. But once again, that would've been a very stupid decision on top of a compromised lung with prior pneumonia.
Matt Porter:
So yeah, I'll go over all that stuff, guys. The compilation video will probably come out when we get time after the holidays, maybe sometime December, early December. [inaudible 00:09:14] will make it. So I'll disclose everything that I did supplement wise and all that. So it was cool, man. I was very happy to be on stage. And my look was different. My upper body's not as big and full as it was in 2014 but my legs surprisingly were, my legs looked better because I was more balanced. I don't know if my legs improved. But yeah, I had a different look but it was still not a bad look. I was happy with certain shots so it's pretty cool.
Mitch Barham:
Yeah, you looked really good for a guy who hasn't been on stage in three years. Looked pretty good.
Matt Porter:
Not bad.
Mitch Barham:
Three years?
Matt Porter:
Yeah, I had no clue. Yeah, 2014. So yeah, it was three years exactly because I competed the Nationals 2014 in November. So it was three years to the date actually. Yeah, it was the day of the weekend of Nationals. So I had no clue, all I saw was in the mirror and like really favorable pictures and lighting because I'm always going to put out the best pictures and lighting. But me going out there on stage, I didn't have that confidence that I had back in '14 and '13 when I'd be out backstage, my shirt off and my tanner and my oil on. I just felt around and full. And I had this confidence that I knew people were, people recognized I was on point. I didn't know, I was looking, I was even nervous when I post, people said I looked, I was always looking down at my legs and looking down. I just wasn't sure what I was bringing in. So it's almost like I felt like a real novice again. So, it was interesting.
Mitch Barham:
So since we've seen Matt Porter on a stage for the first time in three years, is there hypothetically a chance of another Matt Porter reappearance on the stage in the future?
Matt Porter:
Oh, I would say in the future, yeah. I don't know the exact date, but I was thinking it just gave me more hope or more confidence to know if I did that with the limitations and setbacks and I did okay, I think I can pull off a really decent showing and look in the future without doing stuff that I did in maybe 2014 and before that with once again my healthier, safer approach. But don't get it twisted. Anything bodybuilding to this level that's untested and there's always going to be extreme. So even though I'm healthier, I'm not going to ever say that this is healthy because low body fat, overreaching, over-training, even taking whatever, your TRT and an extra hormone, even though it's low dose, a little bit above certain levels of dosages, it's still not good in the grand scheme of things.
Matt Porter:
But there's maybe a better approach or maybe you don't have to do things quite as gung ho and crazy. So that's my whole envision of what could hold the future for me is to show people that you can maximize things with the least variables and also the least amount of risk on your health. So yeah, there's probably, the future. As far as a date, I just don't know.
Mitch Barham:
Right on. So speaking of contest dieting, we just had Thanksgiving. Did you go crazy eating food that Thanksgiving or did you keep it clean like I'm pretty sure I know you do.
Matt Porter:
Yeah. Actually at that show we went to the Yard House, that was the only thing open. And I didn't eat anything crazy at all. I had some chicken and rice and teriyaki bowl and I had ahi poke or poke. And then the next day I got really ballsy and for me I had some protein bars and I had some beef jerky and smoked salmon and that was it. And I had a fruit smoothie from the mall, but I don't go crazy on cheats anyway just because my blood pressure and stuff and I can have heart palpitations here and there. When I have really junky fattening food, my metabolism's so crazy that I get sped up and it freaks me out, like my heart rate and stuff. So I literally don't feel good when I have delicious, fattening food.
Matt Porter:
So no, I didn't have anything crazy after the show. And Thanksgiving, I kept it clean with just white turkey breasts. I had some rolls, no butter. For my carbs, I had some sweet potatoes, no butter, but some marshmallows and whatever. But yeah, real basic and clean. I didn't have any pie or dessert. It's just the way I'm wired, more power to people to enjoy themselves. That's just my personal thing. Just the way I choose to do things. I might be extreme over the phone. That's fine. But yeah, it's just the way I do things.
Mitch Barham:
It's not extreme. It's called dedication.
Matt Porter:
A couple of words you can say, but-
Mitch Barham:
You're extremely dedicated over there. So you're ready to roll into some Q&A?
Matt Porter:
Yes sir. Let's do it.
Mitch Barham:
All right, so just a reminder for everybody. Every week, I put up a post on our MPA Facebook page as well as Matt shares it to his Facebook page. Post up any questions, diet, training, supplements. We'll try to answer as many as we can. We got to keep these short, so I'll jump right into the first question. This one pertains to training frequency and [inaudible 00:14:53] wants to know, what's your opinion on dividing weekly load over two to four sessions per week per muscle group as opposed to doing weekly volume per muscle in each session? Is it true that eight sets of chest three times a week would result in less growth than 24 sets in one session because there wasn't enough homeostasis disruption in each session for more, or excuse me, in each session for the more frequency style?
Matt Porter:
So either high volume, infrequent, or low volume frequent. I think that's something every individual is going to have to play with and I always recommend people do like a program for six to 12 weeks at least and see kind of what your recovering capabilities are, what your supplementation is, your nutrition, all these variables are going to play. Now I kind of like the high frequency lower volume because you don't really overreach as much. You don't have that propensity to do that and you're hitting the muscle more times per week. But some people do really well with volume training and they really have great central nervous system they can withstand that crazy volume of stress. So I would definitely experiment with it, literally give it a good eight to 12 weeks, record things, journal it and keep the nutrition, everything pretty stapled just so you have controlled variables.
Matt Porter:
But that's one of those things guys, you're just going to have to experiment. Some people just genetically respond to different stimulus to different movements, far as like high reps, low reps, all of that stuff. So yeah, I think both are very good options. I've done both. I like [inaudible 00:16:36] in the middle where I do like some volume, but frequency. So I'll train a muscle maybe twice a week and not three times a week. So that's for me as far as back and leg like that. And then you also got to train instinctively because sometimes you got to make audible decisions, cut yourself short on certain reps, not push it, not do train failure, not do drop sets. Certain days you don't have the adequate sleep, all that stuff. So training is so individual and instinctive too at the same time.
Mitch Barham:
Nice. Oscar [Tovar 00:17:11] is asking about HRT. So he says that in one of your videos you mentioned that you were doing your HRT and three shots a week instead of just one in order to have your blood levels steady and less side effects and avoiding having to take [Colamine 00:00:17:29]. Should everyone do that or what about people [inaudible 00:17:34] or would you recommend that to other people?
Matt Porter:
Absolutely. Regular general practitioners are outdated with endocrinology because they're not specialists. So if you get you get lucky and get a prescription for [inaudible 00:17:50] replacement therapy or hormone replacement therapy through a general practitioner, they're going to tell you to take a 200 or 100 milligram shot every two weeks. And then peaks and valleys with your blood levels. And the percent prescribed [inaudible 00:18:03] which seven to eight day half life. So you're doing more harm far as your mentality whenever you peak and then you dip because you go from a really, really high [inaudible 00:18:14] testosterone to a low and then you get moody, you have more aromatization where you're more prone to aromatize the estrogen. You can actually nut up and be a little bit of an annoyance and pin yourself or inject yourself more frequently. That's much more beneficial for a hormone stability.
Matt Porter:
So yeah, two times a week is good, like a Monday, Thursday, whatever you want to split it up. Three times better. And then I got really annoying one time and I did subcutaneous shots five days a week, 200 milligrams with whatever it was, 40 milligrams or whatever in small little doses in a insulin syringe. But I arrived back at the three times a week. And it work really well for my total testosterone level. My estrogen stays within range, within 20 to 50, so yeah's everything good. I would recommend if you can do it more [inaudible 00:19:07].
Mitch Barham:
All right, well there you go. More can be better. And sometimes you just get a feel like a pin cushion. So Bill Christman would like to know what are some things, info, advice, what have you, that you wished you had known from the start of your bodybuilding coaching career that would have saved you a lot of trial and error and setbacks and time?
Matt Porter:
Yeah, I've done so much with different diet approaches and training and supplements that thankful that I've done because it helped me be a better coach so I have more knowledge in trial and error experience. For my own personal plight, for my own bodybuilding endeavors, I competed too much. I competed way too frequently so I never had an adequate off-season to accrue new tissue and to change my [inaudible 00:20:07] to the stage and bring a much different package. In 2004 to 2011 or 2010, like seven years, I just didn't make the changes I needed to because I would train literally for five shows in a year or five shows in a season, I would stay lean and shredded for five to six months going from show to show because I'd always have to win in overall or go out on a good note is what I like to call it.
Matt Porter:
And I would try and experiment, carb up and water manipulation, all that stuff. So I would definitely have not competed so much for my own personal plight to be the best bodybuilder I could be. I would've saved a lot of time. But I would have lost maybe a lot of experience to as far as doing the intricate things that I do with people far as peaking them and all that stuff. But gained a lot of knowledge to. Other than that certain things of supplementation I would have started earlier with certain compounds and done a little things different in that regard. But yeah, all in all I'm pretty happy with kind of the approach that I-
Mitch Barham:
So last question is from Nick [Kohlmeyer 00:21:16]. Nick is asking, or actually Nick says, "I have been using five reps by five sets for my squat, deadlift and bench press to gain strength. I've been able to add over a hundred pounds to my squat and dead lift, and I'm still increasing the weight each week with both exercises. But with my bench press, I got up to five by five with 250 pounds, but I can't get it past that point. Last question is from Nick Kohlmeyer. Nick is, Nick is saying, "I've been using five reps, but five steps from my squat, deadlift and bench press to gain strength." He's been able to add over a hundred pounds to a squat deadlift, and he's still increasing the weight each week on both those exercises, but his bench press, he got up to five by five with 250 pounds but he can't get any further than that. He says his chest has always been the hardest area to grow. So he was wondering, what should you do next to stimulate growth and increase strength in his pecs?
Matt Porter:
First of all, congrats on your squat strength improvement. A hundred pounds on squat deadlift, that's amazing. Five by five, anything rep wise lower than six, actually lower than eight is not optimal for hypertrophy, for muscle growth, for the cosmetic look that we're looking, for muscle volume, all that stuff. But what you can do is take that five by five strength and then do a little phase where you convert over to sets of 10 to 12 reps, but you're graduating to a heavier weight in that 10 to 10 to 12 rep range that you would have had and you've gained that strength from the five by five. Now far as your chest, now if you're plateaued, I wouldn't push it because you're prone to chest pec tears. Your tendons are very vulnerable. So I would have graduated from the bench press and just do dumbbell work, do spit machine work.
Matt Porter:
You're really trying to get a chance to grow. I know with, strength, one thing obviously you want to keep practicing your bench, your five by five and stuff like that. But part of your chest, to grow, you really need to do a lot of different things as far as angles and I really highly recommend dumbbells because your stability muscles, you have the ability to contract a little better. So I would definitely get really familiarized with dumbbell work for your chest, incline, decline, flat. And then go back to the barbell after messing with dumbbells for six to eight weeks and go back to it and build yourself up and you might bust through a plateau.
Matt Porter:
But yeah, I know for hypertrophy, cosmetic reasons that five by five is great, but you transfer all that strength you gain by the five by five and put it over to that 10 to 12 rep range with higher weight at that point. They both kind of have a nice relationship. I would definitely start playing with different variables regarding chest training and that means new apparatuses as far as exercises with machines, dumbbells and not just the flat bench.
Mitch Barham:
There you go, Nick. Mix it up. So I think that's kind of all we got. You got anything else you really want to go over? Talk about?
Matt Porter:
No, just excited to try to get some new products for our company going. I think we have some cool stuff in store now. We're working hard for you guys to get it going, trust me on that one. So nothing but the best from us. And I'm always excited whenever we have new stuff, new projects coming out. There's some stuff in particular that's very tasty I will say that I'm really stoked about. So hopefully that meeting goes well with us on Wednesday.
Mitch Barham:
Yeah, I was going to say we have that meeting on Wednesday and crossing my fingers we can get her going quick because I think like you said, everybody's going to love it. I'm not even a bodybuilder by bodybuilding means. I call myself a normy and I loved it. The samples you set up were great. MPA Supps, the home of unique and novel. Very novel.
Matt Porter:
Novel. [inaudible 00:25:18] novel's like word.
Mitch Barham:
Yeah. All right guys. So episode two, I believe this is, is a wrap. I'll get this up in the next few days. Obviously, you'll see it and you'll hear me say that and think, "What the hell?" Then I'll get the post going for next week's video to get some questions for you guys. Matt will share it to his page and we will get episode three out. Look forward to it. As always, Matt, it's been a pleasure, enjoy the rest of your day. Tell Smokey and Rachel, I said, "Hey."
Matt Porter:
Yes sir, we will.
Mitch Barham:
All right, talk to you later.
Matt Porter:
[inaudible 00:25:56]
