Iron Game
Veteran
[h=1]Getting Ripped for Contest Action[/h][h=2]Hidetada Yamagishi Reveals His Strategy[/h]
In winning the 212 class at last March’s Arnold Classic (relegating Olympia runner-up Jose Raymond to second place) Hidetada Yamagishi now looms as a threat to Flex Lewis’s crown. Yamagishi has a physique that’s thick and balanced, with wide, round shoulders, a tiny waist and sweeping quads— a true X-frame. He happens to be one of the best posers in the sport today, but his true ace in the hole when it comes to beating the bigger men is the same attribute that his employer Rich Gaspari was known best for— consistently showing up ripped to perfection.
Condition— the Most Important Factor Today?
Being in extreme condition always creates an illusion of greater size. Many of you have probably had the experience of seeing a competitor onstage who was shredded and appeared massive, only to see them offstage and being shocked at how they were nowhere near the size you had thought they were. Hide is well aware that without this illusion, he wouldn’t stand a chance. “I can’t be even a little bit off,” he explains, “or else I won’t even get a look from the judges. I know I need to be in perfect condition, so that’s what motivates me throughout my prep.”
He also feels that even though the bodybuilding total package is comprised of a blend of mass, shape and symmetry, condition has taken on a primary role, at least in terms of the initial impression competitors make on the judging panel. “I really think the first thing that they look for, or at least the first thing that catches a judge’s eye, is striated glutes and hamstrings.” Many fans who have been around the sport a while bemoan this situation, asserting that bodybuilding has degenerated into a “glute contest.” Hide begs to differ. “It shows you who really wanted it, and who was willing to work harder and suffer to get to that extremely low level of body fat.”
Though there are a couple rare genetic marvels who show glute striations even in the off-season, Hide is not among that fortunate group. “Glutes and hams are the last areas to come in and get hard and dry for me, just like they are for most guys,” he details. “My chest, shoulders, abs, back” and even my quads are pretty much contest-ready weeks before a show. It takes me the remaining time just to dial in the glutes and hams.”
Ripped and Full— the Elusive Combination
In any pro lineup, you’ll see at least a couple of guys who are about as ripped as a human being can get. More commonly, you’ll see men who are huge and full. What you only rarely witness is a man who has managed to bring both of those qualities to the stage at the same time. Most men can get incredibly lean if they sacrifice mass and fullness, and just about anyone at the pro level can stay huge and round if they don’t ever lower their calories enough and do the cardio it takes to get ripped. Hide has struggled with this dilemma himself for years and fallen short of his goal many times, but now he believes he is solving the puzzle at last.
“My prep was always 12 weeks,” he begins. “I was afraid to diet any longer than that because of my fast metabolism. I’m not the biggest man as it is, so I didn’t feel I could afford to lose any size at all. But for this prep, I work with 10-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle, and she wanted me to diet 20 weeks.” Hide was both skeptical and had reservations about this plan, but he put his trust in Iris. “It was a longer diet, but also more gradual. I ate more than I usually do, and I averaged a pound of weight lost each week. Usually I lose some muscle at the very end, but on this regime I don’t.”
Hide also acknowledges that staying leaner in the off-season has paid dividends. “I used to go up to 250 pounds,” he tells us. “But to get in shape, I had to do three hours of cardio a day and cut my calories down too much. Now I realize that dropping calories too much, too soon just slows your metabolism down and makes it almost impossible to lose any more body fat.”
He’s also happy to report that he didn’t do nearly as much cardio now. “During contest prep now my cardio is just 40 minutes in the morning and again in the early evening. That’s great, because even though I do cardio— I have to— I don’t enjoy it."
Diet Changes and Cravings
The main thing Iris Kyle changed about Hide’s diet was to increase his protein, and also to change the protein sources. “Before, I ate a lot of fish on my diets,” Yamagishi reports. “Now there’s no fish— just egg whites in the morning like usual, and the rest of the meals were chicken breast and lean ground turkey. I look and feel fuller eating those, and I don’t really miss fish— I ate like a whole ocean full of them all these years!”
Yet ironically, it’s sushi that Hide craves most on his diet, but more so for the rice than the fish. “I don’t really crave sweets like most people, except in the last two weeks. Then I want to eat everything I see, even things I don’t really like!”
Aiming for First
Hide is a workhorse, and by maneuvering himself into 212 Olympia contention is living proof that with enough hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. Maybe you, reading this, aren’t particularly tall and don’t crush scales when you step on them. That doesn’t mean you can’t be the absolute best you can be, just like Hide Yamagishi.
Contest Diet— 2 Weeks Out from 2015 Mr. Olympia*
4:00 a.m. One capsule Halodrol
4:30 a.m. 40 minutes cardio
6:00 a.m. Protein pancakes made from the following mix: 10 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop MyoFusion, 3 tablets Anavite
8:30 a.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 100 grams rice, 2 cups broccoli, 6 tablets Vasotropin
9:30 a.m. 2 scoops SuperPump MAX, 1 scoop Aminolast
10:30 a.m. Train; during workout, 1 scoop Aminolast, 1 scoop SizeOn Max Performance
11:30 a.m. 2 scoops IsoFusion (whey protein), 1 scoop GlycoFuse
12:00 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 100 grams rice, 2 cups broccoli
3:00 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli
4:30 p.m. One capsule Detonate
5:00 p.m. 40 minutes cardio
6:30 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli
9 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli, 3 tablets Anavite
* All supplements by Gaspari Nutrition
STATS
Full Name: Hidetada Yamagishi
Place of Birth: Sapporo, Japan
Date of Birth: June 30, 1973
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Contest Weight: 212 (anticipated)
Off-season weight: 240
Training Split
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest and calves
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Back
Friday: Delts and calves
Saturday: Arms
Sunday: OFF
With a Little Help From 10-Time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle
Throughout her pro career, 10-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle has been known for consistently displaying impeccable condition, superior to just about everyone else man or woman! What many people don’t know (mainly because she doesn’t seek accolades or take credit) is that she also helps other athletes get into the best shape of their lives. Here’s her take on her client Hide Yamagishi.
“I’ve known Hide for a few years through our mutual friend, Cathy LeFrancois,” Iris said. “At times I stayed out in Cathy’s huge house out in Los Angeles to prepare for shows, and Hide was also living there. We would talk, as pro bodybuilders do, about our workouts, diets and how we prepared for contests. Hide was impressed with my level of expertise and with the condition I got into. He was always so humble and polite. Right around the time of the 2011 Arnold, I was training at Gold’s in Venice and he approached me to see if I would be interested in working with him. Since I knew I could help make him better, I agreed right then and there.
“Being that he’s shorter, he needs to be thicker and in perfect condition. It didn’t take long before I gave him the nickname ‘Hide the Machine.’ I call him that because he does what I ask him to, never questions me and never complains. It doesn’t matter if he’s dog-tired or low on carbs, he always works hard in his training and gets all his cardio done. I have a practice where I ask my clients to shoot me quick texts to let me know they are up and doing morning cardio, eating meal one, two and so on. Hide is the most reliable of anybody with this. Another reason I call Hide a machine is because he’s incredibly focused on being the best he can be. He doesn’t let any drama or distractions take his eyes off the prize. Hide is one of the hardest workers I have ever known, and an excellent representative for the sport of bodybuilding.”
The Dragonslayer Speaks About Hide
“Hide is one of the hardest-working bodybuilders I’ve ever known. I’ve trained with him a few times, and quit is not in his vocabulary. Probably the most impressive thing about Hide is that even when he’s in the final stages of a contest diet and his energy levels are sinking fast, he never shows it. Hide never lets up with his training or cardio, and continues to make time for his fans and have a genuine smile on his face wherever he meets them. He loves the sport with an ingrained passion, and he wants to be the best. And just like I did, he also uses presentation and condition as powerful weapons against the bigger guys. He’s fearless onstage and never intimidated, because he believes in himself and he believes that his hard work will pay off.”
—Rich Gaspari
In winning the 212 class at last March’s Arnold Classic (relegating Olympia runner-up Jose Raymond to second place) Hidetada Yamagishi now looms as a threat to Flex Lewis’s crown. Yamagishi has a physique that’s thick and balanced, with wide, round shoulders, a tiny waist and sweeping quads— a true X-frame. He happens to be one of the best posers in the sport today, but his true ace in the hole when it comes to beating the bigger men is the same attribute that his employer Rich Gaspari was known best for— consistently showing up ripped to perfection.
Condition— the Most Important Factor Today?
Being in extreme condition always creates an illusion of greater size. Many of you have probably had the experience of seeing a competitor onstage who was shredded and appeared massive, only to see them offstage and being shocked at how they were nowhere near the size you had thought they were. Hide is well aware that without this illusion, he wouldn’t stand a chance. “I can’t be even a little bit off,” he explains, “or else I won’t even get a look from the judges. I know I need to be in perfect condition, so that’s what motivates me throughout my prep.”
He also feels that even though the bodybuilding total package is comprised of a blend of mass, shape and symmetry, condition has taken on a primary role, at least in terms of the initial impression competitors make on the judging panel. “I really think the first thing that they look for, or at least the first thing that catches a judge’s eye, is striated glutes and hamstrings.” Many fans who have been around the sport a while bemoan this situation, asserting that bodybuilding has degenerated into a “glute contest.” Hide begs to differ. “It shows you who really wanted it, and who was willing to work harder and suffer to get to that extremely low level of body fat.”
Though there are a couple rare genetic marvels who show glute striations even in the off-season, Hide is not among that fortunate group. “Glutes and hams are the last areas to come in and get hard and dry for me, just like they are for most guys,” he details. “My chest, shoulders, abs, back” and even my quads are pretty much contest-ready weeks before a show. It takes me the remaining time just to dial in the glutes and hams.”
In any pro lineup, you’ll see at least a couple of guys who are about as ripped as a human being can get. More commonly, you’ll see men who are huge and full. What you only rarely witness is a man who has managed to bring both of those qualities to the stage at the same time. Most men can get incredibly lean if they sacrifice mass and fullness, and just about anyone at the pro level can stay huge and round if they don’t ever lower their calories enough and do the cardio it takes to get ripped. Hide has struggled with this dilemma himself for years and fallen short of his goal many times, but now he believes he is solving the puzzle at last.
“My prep was always 12 weeks,” he begins. “I was afraid to diet any longer than that because of my fast metabolism. I’m not the biggest man as it is, so I didn’t feel I could afford to lose any size at all. But for this prep, I work with 10-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle, and she wanted me to diet 20 weeks.” Hide was both skeptical and had reservations about this plan, but he put his trust in Iris. “It was a longer diet, but also more gradual. I ate more than I usually do, and I averaged a pound of weight lost each week. Usually I lose some muscle at the very end, but on this regime I don’t.”
Hide also acknowledges that staying leaner in the off-season has paid dividends. “I used to go up to 250 pounds,” he tells us. “But to get in shape, I had to do three hours of cardio a day and cut my calories down too much. Now I realize that dropping calories too much, too soon just slows your metabolism down and makes it almost impossible to lose any more body fat.”
He’s also happy to report that he didn’t do nearly as much cardio now. “During contest prep now my cardio is just 40 minutes in the morning and again in the early evening. That’s great, because even though I do cardio— I have to— I don’t enjoy it."
The main thing Iris Kyle changed about Hide’s diet was to increase his protein, and also to change the protein sources. “Before, I ate a lot of fish on my diets,” Yamagishi reports. “Now there’s no fish— just egg whites in the morning like usual, and the rest of the meals were chicken breast and lean ground turkey. I look and feel fuller eating those, and I don’t really miss fish— I ate like a whole ocean full of them all these years!”
Yet ironically, it’s sushi that Hide craves most on his diet, but more so for the rice than the fish. “I don’t really crave sweets like most people, except in the last two weeks. Then I want to eat everything I see, even things I don’t really like!”
Hide is a workhorse, and by maneuvering himself into 212 Olympia contention is living proof that with enough hard work and perseverance, anything is possible. Maybe you, reading this, aren’t particularly tall and don’t crush scales when you step on them. That doesn’t mean you can’t be the absolute best you can be, just like Hide Yamagishi.
4:00 a.m. One capsule Halodrol
4:30 a.m. 40 minutes cardio
6:00 a.m. Protein pancakes made from the following mix: 10 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal, 1 scoop MyoFusion, 3 tablets Anavite
8:30 a.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 100 grams rice, 2 cups broccoli, 6 tablets Vasotropin
9:30 a.m. 2 scoops SuperPump MAX, 1 scoop Aminolast
10:30 a.m. Train; during workout, 1 scoop Aminolast, 1 scoop SizeOn Max Performance
11:30 a.m. 2 scoops IsoFusion (whey protein), 1 scoop GlycoFuse
12:00 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 100 grams rice, 2 cups broccoli
3:00 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli
4:30 p.m. One capsule Detonate
5:00 p.m. 40 minutes cardio
6:30 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli
9 p.m. 6 oz. chicken breast, 5 oz. 99% lean ground turkey, 2 cups broccoli, 3 tablets Anavite
* All supplements by Gaspari Nutrition
STATS
Full Name: Hidetada Yamagishi
Place of Birth: Sapporo, Japan
Date of Birth: June 30, 1973
Residence: Los Angeles, CA
Contest Weight: 212 (anticipated)
Off-season weight: 240
Monday: Legs
Tuesday: Chest and calves
Wednesday: OFF
Thursday: Back
Friday: Delts and calves
Saturday: Arms
Sunday: OFF
With a Little Help From 10-Time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle
Throughout her pro career, 10-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle has been known for consistently displaying impeccable condition, superior to just about everyone else man or woman! What many people don’t know (mainly because she doesn’t seek accolades or take credit) is that she also helps other athletes get into the best shape of their lives. Here’s her take on her client Hide Yamagishi.
“I’ve known Hide for a few years through our mutual friend, Cathy LeFrancois,” Iris said. “At times I stayed out in Cathy’s huge house out in Los Angeles to prepare for shows, and Hide was also living there. We would talk, as pro bodybuilders do, about our workouts, diets and how we prepared for contests. Hide was impressed with my level of expertise and with the condition I got into. He was always so humble and polite. Right around the time of the 2011 Arnold, I was training at Gold’s in Venice and he approached me to see if I would be interested in working with him. Since I knew I could help make him better, I agreed right then and there.
“Being that he’s shorter, he needs to be thicker and in perfect condition. It didn’t take long before I gave him the nickname ‘Hide the Machine.’ I call him that because he does what I ask him to, never questions me and never complains. It doesn’t matter if he’s dog-tired or low on carbs, he always works hard in his training and gets all his cardio done. I have a practice where I ask my clients to shoot me quick texts to let me know they are up and doing morning cardio, eating meal one, two and so on. Hide is the most reliable of anybody with this. Another reason I call Hide a machine is because he’s incredibly focused on being the best he can be. He doesn’t let any drama or distractions take his eyes off the prize. Hide is one of the hardest workers I have ever known, and an excellent representative for the sport of bodybuilding.”
The Dragonslayer Speaks About Hide
“Hide is one of the hardest-working bodybuilders I’ve ever known. I’ve trained with him a few times, and quit is not in his vocabulary. Probably the most impressive thing about Hide is that even when he’s in the final stages of a contest diet and his energy levels are sinking fast, he never shows it. Hide never lets up with his training or cardio, and continues to make time for his fans and have a genuine smile on his face wherever he meets them. He loves the sport with an ingrained passion, and he wants to be the best. And just like I did, he also uses presentation and condition as powerful weapons against the bigger guys. He’s fearless onstage and never intimidated, because he believes in himself and he believes that his hard work will pay off.”
—Rich Gaspari
