Lee Labrada is the most aesthetic bodybuilder in the history of bodybuilding

One of the outstanding bodybuilders of the early 90s, Lee Labrada conquered the catwalks with his body aesthetics. The audience loved him for his charm, flexibility and artistry. “I view bodybuilding as an art. But instead of clay, I sculpt a figure from muscles,” said the winner of 25 national and international competitions. Despite the lack of large dimensions, he was not inferior in strength and relief to rivals with supermass - Kevin Levrone, Paul Dillet, and surpassed many in symmetry and proportions.

Facts from life

Lee Labrada is of Cuban descent. Born in March 1960 on Liberty Island. Due to the difficult political situation in the country, after 2 years the family emigrated to Chicago. After some time, he moved to Jacksonville, then to Florida and Houston, where the young man brilliantly graduated from the university and received an engineering degree . A student with a mathematical mind was destined for a career as a scientist. Tempting prospects loomed ahead, but the passion for sports turned out to be stronger.

What to name a Labrador puppy?

A fawn-colored girl can be called by a nickname reminiscent of sunlight. In this case, suitable options are Neysti, Ina, Aily, Kira, Amber or Ruta.

You can also name a dog with a name borrowed from ancient Greek mythology. This could be Daphne, Athena, Juno or Frida.

You can also choose a beautiful and sonorous nickname for a male dog. Representatives of this breed are often called Hermes, Brand, Rufus, Spark or Ulan.

An athlete with a strong character

As a teenager, the guy became interested in football and decided to pump up his muscles for the sake of a beautiful body.

“Among my peers, I was the smallest and puniest. To match my comrades in size, at the age of 16 I had to pick up a barbell. But I couldn’t even imagine that my new hobby would radically change my life.”

The pedantic Lee did not miss a single training session, even when he was passing the sessions. He tried in everything to be like his idol - Leonardo Da Vinci, who did not indulge himself and spent every minute usefully.

“At first I went to the gym to become strong, then for the girls. When I grew up, I realized that I wanted to become a champion.”

As he approached his 20s, the guy had new idols in Steve Reeves and Dave Draper, and he did everything to have bodies like theirs.

Labrador: breed standard

These animals are characterized by a strong, proportional physique. The weight of adult individuals varies from 25 to 36 kilograms with a height at the withers of 55-57 centimeters. The well-sculpted massive skull has drooping, not too large ears. The flat, strong back ends in a thick tail at the base, but gradually tapering.

The body of the animal is covered with short, thick, hard-to-touch fur. There should be no waves or frays on it. Beneath it lies a dense, waterproof undercoat. In dark-colored dogs, one light spot is allowed. As a rule, it is located in the area of ​​a fairly wide chest. The animal's eyes should be brown or hazel in color.

It wasn't easy

The sports debut took place in 1978 in Florida. Then, with a height of 169 cm, the novice bodybuilder weighed 59 kg. The young man easily beat his opponents and confidently won . But not everything went smoothly. The athlete continued to train hard, however, muscle progression was not observed for a long time. Everything changed when Lobrada began using Mike Mentzer’s technology and intelligently approached the preparation of the diet. Later he developed his own system. The athlete compared success in bodybuilding to the movement of a bicycle and drew an analogy with wheels.

“If one tire is not inflated, you won’t go far with one.”

In the future, personal failures pushed him to open a sports nutrition business.

Then in 1983 he took part in the Texas State Championships, where he showed the best result . By the 25th anniversary, Lee’s collection included a victory in 1985 at an amateur competition in Gothenburg, and the status of an IFBB professional , received after “Mr. Universe” in Sweden. Then came gold at the Night of Champions. The most important years for him were 1989-90. at Olympia. The bodybuilder was in excellent shape and was in no way inferior to Lee Haney, however, he could not rise above 2nd place.

He entered the history of heavy sports as a bodybuilder who did not fall below 4th position for 7 years.

He retired in 1995 after finishing 5th in the Arnold Classic. Since 2004, his name has been immortalized in the IFBB Hall of Fame .

Biography[ | ]

Little Lee was inspired to lift weights by his own father, who trained with a 50 kg barbell. [1]

Lee Labrada's debut as a bodybuilder took place in 1982 at the Texas Collegiate Championships, organized by the National Physical Culture Committee (NPC), where he took first place.

Labrada's professional debut took place in 1985 in the Mr Universe competition, 1st place. In 1986 he won the Night of Champions competition. Since 1987, he has been a seven-time participant in Mr Olimpia, but he has not won any of these competitions.

He professed an athletic style, the main point of which was the creation of a slender, athletic body.

He finished his sports career in 1995.

Lee Labrada's workouts

For the past 10 years, the athlete has been training using the inverted pyramid method (IPM). He came to him after analyzing different systems and the desire to get maximum results from every training day. It all started with the classic “Pyramid”, built on the principle of gradually increasing weight from set to set. One step away from the “top,” the session was performed with less weight and numerous repetitions. At the finish line, the equipment became even lighter, and the intensity of movements and the number of times increased.

Author's program

The system worked well, but since it was invented by powerlifters, it was not entirely suitable for pitching training. The method took a lot of time and forced us to expend a lot of energy. After training according to this principle, Lee realized that he was in danger of simply overtraining. After some thought, he decided to turn it over and limit himself to working with the maximum weight without preliminary approaches. Technology built:

• during prolonged warming of the body;
• two warm-up sets;
• one approach with maximum weight followed by its decrease.

This principle reduced the number of sessions, reduced the number of sessions, time, increased the intensity and efficiency of training. The scheme is as follows:

• 1 set – 12 takes with a weight of 60 kg;
• 2 – 12x75;
• 3 – 8x130;
• 4 - 6x130;
• 5 – 6x120.

The rest time between sets of exercises for the torso, back and legs is 3 minutes, for the arms – 60 seconds. It was this technology that helped increase 25 kilos of muscle mass. With a short height of 169 cm, the weight was 84 kg.

“Success comes from perseverance and consistency”

The author emphasized that the system is intended for professionals and is absolutely not suitable for beginner and intermediate level athletes.

“Don't despair if there are no visible results. Progress in physical development occurs in leaps and bounds. If you want to become a champion, give 100% in every training session.”

Nutrition tips from Lee Labrada

What does it take to be big? Intensive training, yes, but also precise nutrition. When you start training, your ambitions are usually quite general: building a lot of solid muscle mass. Building bulging biceps, strong thighs, powerful pectorals, stunning traps and a sculpted back. The only way you can achieve this is by subjecting your body to as much intense training as it can handle.

You must also nourish your body properly. When you train hard, you create nutrient demands for your muscles, and you must meet these demands if you are going to achieve optimal development. In years past, physique stars ensured they gave their bodies everything they needed by gaining weight - eating so much of everything that there was no chance of missing out on any of the nutrients their bodies needed. Today's bodybuilders have largely abandoned weight gain as a means of gaining maximum muscle mass. Not because it doesn't work. It works. But for a price, when you allow your weight to rise 10, 15 or 20 kg above your competition weight, more of that extra weight is fat rather than muscle. So gaining weight actually means gaining fat, which has a number of disadvantages:

1. When you're obese, you don't look particularly good, and why spend so much time working on your figure if you're only going to look good once a year or twice when you're on your pre-contest diet.

2. Being obese is unhealthy and increases your risk of any number of problems, from heart disease to cancer.

3. The more obese you are, the more difficult it is to maintain maximum muscle mass before competition.

First of all, you must define what “enough” really is. This covers:

1. How much protein, carbohydrates and fat do you need every day?

2. What should be the balance of these macronutrients in your diet?

3. When and how often should you eat?

4. What is the ideal proportion of these three macronutrients that varies from meal to meal, depending on factors such as time of day and when and how you exercise?

First, let's look at these three macronutrients from the perspective of an athlete trying to build maximum muscle mass.

Protein is the basic building blocks of muscle. Protein and the amino acids that form it perform many important functions in the body, but for our purposes we will only consider their muscle-building capabilities.

Carbohydrates also serve many roles and functions in the body, but for our purposes we will only consider their capabilities primarily as “fuel” for a seriously training athlete.

Fats have more than twice the calories per gram of protein or carbohydrates (9 versus 4), so eating a diet low in fat (less than 30% of your daily calorie intake) is essential for keeping fat off your body. at a low level when you are building muscles.

For a number of years, bodybuilders have claimed that they need much more protein than typically recommended, and recent research has shown that to be true. For example, there are two scientifically based considerations for consuming high levels of protein.

1. When you subject your body to the types of stress that bodybuilders and weightlifters do, you tend to go into a state of negative nitrogen balance, meaning the body begins to excrete nitrogen, which is one of the important elements of protein. To effectively build muscle, you must be in a positive nitrogen balance, where your body retains nitrogen, and the only way to achieve this is by supplementing with protein.

2. Hard training forces the body to use amino acids for “fuel” along with carbohydrates and fats. So when you train very hard, you need extra protein to balance out this loss. This isn't just true for bodybuilders and other strength athletes—endurance athletes like marathon runners are starting to consume extra protein, too.

In addition to these laboratory-proven considerations, there are empirical ones that have emerged over the past five decades: whatever the scientific explanations, it is often observed that bodybuilders who consume a lot of protein get big much faster and easier than those who eat too much protein. few. Exactly how much protein do you need?

In principle, at least 2 g for every kilogram of body weight. But there are other factors that need to be taken into account.

For example, it is your lean body mass that requires protein to build and maintain itself, not your “fat” weight. So if you weigh 100kg but are 15kg overweight, you don't need the full 200g of protein every day. So, a good rule of thumb is to eat at least 2g of protein for every 1kg of your best competition weight.

I say “at a minimum” for the simple reason that excess protein, as far as bodybuilding is concerned, is simply excess calories. And, since you are currently trying to build mass and not get ripped, it is better to err slightly on the side of too much protein, rather than too little, when working out on a muscle-building, mass-building program.

The shape of the protein can make a big difference. Egg whites are almost pure protein, and this type of protein is more than 90% absorbed by the body. Fish, contrary to popular belief, is not all solid protein. Some varieties may contain less than 25% protein, and this fish protein is only digestible at 80% of the net protein utilization scale.

Chicken has less protein per unit weight than tuna fish, and protein from poultry is less than 70% absorbed by the body. So when you're trying to get your protein from foods as opposed to supplements (we'll discuss those below), you may need to eat a lot more individual protein foods depending on their protein content and net protein utilization rating versus what you eat. whatever you might imagine to meet your needs.

When you eat your protein is important too. Frequent small meals are generally better. This gives your body constant access to the various nutrients it needs, as well as providing a steady source of calories, as opposed to less frequent larger meals that the body is more likely to store as body fat. Of course, you should eat some protein immediately after any and all workouts.

By the way, many of these recommendations could be disputed by a significant number of medical scientists, health officials, and doctors who, for the most part, know nothing about muscle building or the special needs of bodybuilders. They would highlight the potential side effects of eating large amounts of protein, such as gout. For “non-culturists” this warning would be quite appropriate. But in making these recommendations, I assume two things:

1. Those who can follow these directions accordingly are serious bodybuilders in good health, with no medical conditions that would conflict with eating high protein levels (if you are unsure, check with your doctor).

2. These bodybuilders train hard, hard and quite systematically in order to create the kind of demand in the body that will only be satisfied by high levels of protein. If you are not training regularly and rigorously - for example, you are in the break phase or recovering from injury - there is no point in taking so much protein. Protein does not build muscle on its own; it only satisfies the needs of the body created by frantic training.

These days, bodybuilders are increasingly supplementing their protein intake with supplements—usually protein powder or, in a more refined form, amino acids. The advantage is that you get your protein in a more concentrated form and with fewer calories.

Remember that protein products contain a certain amount of substances that are not found in supplements, so supplements should be thought of as supplements instead of in place of protein products like egg whites, chicken, red meat and fish.

Perfect protein, the ideal balance of essential amino acids, can also be achieved from plant sources - grains, nuts, vegetables, fruits. Bill Pearl, for example, a practicing vegetarian, is able to remain powerful and strong. But counting just the right amounts of different types of non-animal foods is pretty boring work, so if that's something you're interested in, be prepared to do a ton of research and a lot of time preparing to make it work.

Finally, these recommendations are just a starting point. The proof, they say, is in the pudding, or in this case, the muscle. You can increase or decrease your protein levels for a period of time and see what results you get.

Now that we've spent so much time figuring out the role of protein, what about other nutrients? For example, carbohydrates, as I said above, should be considered primarily “fuel” for bodybuilders. But of course, they are more than just that. They contain a variety of essential vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber and other ingredients needed for optimal health. When you're training for mass, you need to get natural carbohydrates. Here are my recommendations for carbohydrate intake when you are in bulking mode:

1. Once you have determined how much protein to eat, control your fat weight by raising or lowering your calories from carbohydrates. If you look too thin and emaciated, eat more of them; If you're getting too sleek—and adding unwanted fat—cut carbs.

2. The higher the intensity of your training, the more carbohydrates you need. More exercises, sets, and reps require more carbohydrates because you burn more energy. If, on the other hand, you do fewer sets and reps on fewer exercises, you burn less energy and don't need as many carbohydrates that day.

3. Take care of the quality of your carbohydrates. Eat a variety of foods, from starches like bread, potatoes, rice and pasta to green vegetables and fruits. Try not to eat the same vegetables or fruits two days in a row. Vegetables that can be eaten raw, such as spinach, cauliflower and carrots, for example, should be eaten raw, since cooking usually destroys some of the nutritional benefits of these foods. Other vegetables that need to be cooked are cooked only minimally and are preferably baked, steamed or microwaved rather than boiled.

For fats and oils, good health and weight control dictate keeping your fat intake below 30% of your total calorie intake. This can be difficult if you eat a lot of protein foods, which often contain more fat than you might think - even chicken and fish. Using protein supplements on a regular basis makes this task much easier.

Some authors recommend limiting fat intake even further, to 15-20% of your daily food intake. Of course, recent research casts some doubt on whether such further restrictions are actually good for your health.

So be careful with fats and oils, but not fanatical. When you are on a diet in preparation for a competition and need to count every calorie, this is the time to further limit fat calories. For muscle building purposes, of course, remember that fat is also an important nutrient, and if you keep your intake below 30%, you will likely get maximum benefit with minimal calorie intake.

The final element to consider in this mass-building program is vitamin and mineral supplements. They are especially important for a bodybuilder during competition dieting, when he is sometimes forced to limit his calorie intake. When you are training for maximum mass, you should not be in a nutritionally restricted state. Of course, you're subjecting your body to extremely high levels of stress, so some vitamin and mineral supplementation makes sense as a form of insurance.

NUTRITION BASICS FOR BUILDING MASS

Objective: Provide the elements the body needs to build maximum muscle mass, while keeping any increase in body fat to a minimum.

Protein: 1. An average of two grams for every kilogram of lean body mass (or calculated based on your best competition weight).

2. Prefer protein foods that contain minimal fat.

3. To get the optimal amount of protein with minimal calories, supplement in the form of protein powder and amino acids.

4. Get some protein in every serving of food.

5. Eat 5-6 small protein meals a day instead of 2-3 large ones.

6. Eat some protein immediately after every workout—both resistance training and aerobic exercise.

Carbohydrates: 1. Carbohydrates in relation to bodybuilding should be considered primarily as fuel.

2. Since your protein level is effectively fixed (and your fat intake is in a fixed ratio), you control your overall body weight by adjusting the amount of carbohydrates you eat. If you're gaining unwanted fat weight, cut back on carbs; if your weight drops too low or you lose strength, add carbohydrates.

3. Because the carbohydrate niche supplies the body with important nutrients as well as energy, try to eat a wide variety of these foods—including fruits, starches, greens, and other types of vegetables.

Fats: 1. Fats and oils should make up no more than 30% of your total daily calories.

2. Reducing your fat intake below 30%, with the exception of a competition diet, is unnecessary and potentially unhealthy.

Vitamins and Minerals: Supplements: Helpful, especially if you're restricting your calories. Training: the cornerstone of muscle building. No amount of fad diets, protein supplements, doping, or anything else will build powerful, massive muscles without a lot of hard, persistent, and technically sound training.

Tracking is extremely difficult because the person is not a rat.

In order to learn, you need feedback: you have to observe how what you do works and make adjustments to make it work better. As you throw the ball over and over again, you learn how to throw it more efficiently and accurately. It's the same with hitting a tennis ball or a golf ball.

But if you try to throw a ball in a dark room where you can't see exactly where it hits, how can you learn to throw it more accurately? You can't because you don't get any feedback. This is exactly the problem you face when it comes to designing any kind of bodybuilding program. The human body works in such a way that you cannot see the results of your efforts clearly enough or in a timely enough manner to fine-tune your adjustments.

If you were a rat, it would be a completely different matter. Laboratory nutrition studies are often carried out on rats because they have a metabolism that “rebalances” every 24 hours. If you feed a rat for one day, it will gain weight the next day; Underfeed her or force her to over-exercise and she will find herself losing weight the next day. This makes it relatively easy to assess the effects of any exercise or nutritional program on the rat.

Not everything is so simple for a person. The human body does not balance in any predetermined cycle. You may overeat for several days or even weeks before you begin to show signs of fat gain. Likewise, you can stick to a crash diet for a period of time and not see any results—until one day you step on the scale and find that you've suddenly started losing weight.

So the ability to evaluate the effectiveness of this mass-building diet program (or any other diet and exercise program) is complicated by the fact that you have a very difficult time telling at first how it works, or whether it works at all. But you can help overcome this difficulty by the following technique:

1. Based on the information in this article, determine how many different nutrients you theoretically need to build muscle without gaining fat. Once you develop a plan, stick to it. for some time. Don't try to make adjustments every day. An active young person of normal weight, neither overly obese nor overly lean, requires 2 g of protein (or slightly more), approximately 5 g of carbohydrates and approximately 1.2 g of fat (30% of total calories) per kilogram of body weight . Beginners and young athletes may need more calories, while women may need fewer. Individuals may need to adjust their overall caloric intake (either higher or lower) depending on their own metabolism and activity level.

2. Monitor your program and changes in your body using daily statistics. Write down anything noteworthy about your exercise program, diet regimen, supplements, and any facts about how you feel and what is happening in your life.

3. Review your progress periodically. In off-season training, where you are primarily concerned with building mass, once a month is probably a sufficient frequency. Make a plan that you will follow for a month, at the end of the month sit down and evaluate your progress. Although these changes in your body are subtle and difficult to see, over a period of 30 days you can get enough information from changes in volume, body weight, and other physical factors. for the feedback you need to keep improving.

FROM PEAK TO PEAK: A TOTAL APPROACH TO DIET

Every bodybuilder understands that proper nutrition is important for success. Of course, dieting is the result of a year-round effort that must be planned with clear goals, strategy and timing. We follow Lee Labrada through the year, exploring his eating habits, his rationale for his program, and the different phases and transitions he makes from off-season to competitive training.

Immediately after the competition, that same evening, it is important to replenish your body's energy with a high-carbohydrate, moderate protein, moderate fat meal. It is a mistake to let the reins down too much at this time, as this will not only make you look and feel like an amphibious tank, but will also serve as a tremendous shock to a system that has already adjusted to the rigors of pre-competition preparation. Sugar binges during this period can be especially dangerous because they can weaken the immune system, leading to colds and the like.

This does not mean that it should completely dispel your desire to eat something. Lee feels that the week after the show should be given time to relax and eat some “forbidden” foods - but it needs to be introduced gradually and in moderation.

At the end of the first week after the competition, Lee writes down the schedule for her next competition. This plan will guide his diet, transitions, and goals. Because a strict, year-round, “I'm hungry all the time” diet is not recommended because it can slow down your metabolism; a detailed program will ensure you hit the target.

Lee's goals are as follows: maintain a minimum level of body fat, increase no more than 4-8% above competition weight, provide the body with all sources of energy for intense training, maximum recovery and growth.

To achieve these goals, the second week after the competition, Lee begins a diet of approximately 3,500 kcal, which is 65% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 10% fat. This is a well-balanced diet and ensures you are getting at least 150g of quality protein. This is consistent with modern research, which shows that bodybuilders require almost 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of lean body mass. It doesn't contain much dairy, just a little country cheese, cereal milk and the occasional low-fat yogurt - much less than 10 years ago, when Lee was famous for drinking a gallon of milk with every meal! Milk is an excellent source of protein in young years, when metabolism is better and the body absorbs it. In his mid-20s, Lee discovered that dairy products led to excess mucus production. During this portion of her program, Lee rides her bike 2-3 times a week for about half an hour, which not only helps shed fat and increase metabolic rate, but also maintain a full, hard look.

As with training, the key to minimal body fat and maximizing lean body mass is consistency. Occasional (every week or so) off-season deviations don't hurt too much, but keep these outings as low in fat content as possible. Lee recently introduced more lean red meat into his diet. The key word here is lean—95% lean, if you can find it. A small 200-250g serving 3-4 times a week provides the body with excellent protein and creatine phosphate, which helps you get bigger and stronger, helping to stimulate fat metabolism.

OFF-SEASON DAILY DIET

Breakfast: 6 egg whites, a cup of oatmeal with skim milk, banana slices and raisins; high protein bun with unsweetened strawberry jelly; supplements of vitamins B- and C-complex, vitamin E.

Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat country cheese, fruit, a bun made from high-protein flour. Lunch: 1 can of tuna and mustard on whole wheat toast; baked potatoes (or rice or pasta), iced tea.

Lunch: (2 hours before training): oatmeal, fruit, baby food; additives - branched chain amino acids, inosine, gamma-oryzanol, B-6.

Dinner (after training): chicken breast or fish, steamed vegetables, baked potatoes.

Snack: granola, dried papaya, protein drink. Everything is about 3500 kcal.

Lee is careful with his pre-workout diet (2 hours before training to allow adequate time for absorption and avoid nausea that can occur with a full stomach). He also found that by keeping his calories high but not eating anything after 8 p.m., he stayed leaner. Researchers confirm that this is true. Eating a protein-heavy meal too close to bedtime can interfere with the rapid eye movement stages of sleep, which are important for the body's natural secretion of growth hormone. Too many carbohydrates can increase insulin levels, which antagonize the release of GH (growth hormone). Supplementation in this phase consists of a high-potency vitamin package, B- and C-complex supplementation, vitamin E, amino free forms, gamma oryzanol, protein powder drink (one per day), inosine and pre-workout branched chain amino acids.

This program continues until the competition is 10 weeks away. It is important to understand that by this time Lee is only 4-5 kilograms heavier than his competition weight, which is what he maintained in the off-season. From weeks 10 to 8, Lee's goal is to be as vigilant as possible about his fat intake and eliminate any "empty" calories or binge eating, while maintaining 2 grams of protein per kilogram of lean body mass. Caloric intake at this moment is still very close to the off-season level; from the 8th to the 6th week, its caloric intake gradually decreases to 2700-3000 kcal. Lean red meat is limited to a 200 gram serving 3-4 times a week. The training intensity gradually increases. From the 6th to the 3rd week, the diet becomes very strict, caloric intake is kept at 2000-2700 kcal.

Six weeks before the show, Lee begins aerobic exercise on a stationary bike every other day for 30 minutes. This consists of a 5-minute warm-up, 20-minute workout, and 5-minute cool-down exercise.

Aerobic exercise also increases fat metabolism. From week 6 to week 3, he also eats 500 kcal more than his usual level every sixth day in the form of complex carbohydrates to keep his metabolism elevated. Lee also found that if she starts to look too flat, has low energy, or gets a cold, he should eat a few hundred more calories over the course of a day or two.

It is useful for beginners to take detailed notes, especially during competition preparation, to learn how to adjust diet, training and appearance. Keeping a record of everything—sleep, mood changes—will help identify possible overtraining, underrecovery, or excessive diet restrictions.

Section: Food

Lee Labrada now

In addition to his achievements in sports, the former bodybuilder has brilliant entrepreneurial talent. In 2002, he created a business producing sports nutrition. Products under the Labrada Nutrition brand are now known all over the world. He also wrote a book on proper nutrition, “The Lean Body Promise.” He is constantly invited to CNBC, NBC, CBS, CNN and ESPN as an expert.

Lee was appointed supervisor of the Texas program to improve the nation's health. Thanks to his popularization activities, Houston lost its status as “the city with the fattest people.” At 58 years old, Labrada is full of energy and plans. He is one of the few who managed to use natural talents, build a career and love. He married the beautiful Robin, had two children and is absolutely happy.