3D Muscle Journey

In this episode, Brad Loomis, Jeff Alberts, and Andrea Valdez chat about how to lose a bodybuilding show. No, they are not telling you to suck or to be a bad athlete, but they are actually talking about how they handle losses in a sport built on subjectivity. The bulk of this conversation revolves around Andrea picking apart the most individually devastating losses in both of the lives of her more experienced colleagues. Because Jeff and Brad have had so many highs and lows throughout their decades as physique athletes, they are able to give us some unique insight on the anger, disappointment, depression, and hurt that can come from unrealistic expectations or self-inflicted ultimatums. The coaches also talk about the difference in competitive attitudes and approaches when going from an amateur to a pro athlete, and how they have learned to continue enjoying a sport that can often leave a bitter taste in your mouth if you feel robbed or cheated out of your would-be successes. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

In this episode, Eric Helms, Alberto Nunez, and Andrea Valdez give their insight and feedback regarding the many shifts happening within natural bodybuilding's competitive structure over the past 5 to 10 years. With every new division that is created, combined with the continual sweep towards further subjectivity in our sport, the athletes are becoming more and more green while the judging criteria becomes increasingly gray. As you can imagine, with 3DMJ being coaches attempting to promote healthy relationships between their athletes and the stage, our coaches are finding the industry's' changes to be a bit counterproductive towards their efforts. And since 3DMJ is fortunate enough to have a podcast and platform that serves this amazing community, they decided that it was one of their responsibilities to create a discussion around these organizational changes and the many issues that come along with them. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

In this episode, Jeff Alberts, Alberto Nunez, and Andrea Valdez discuss all the ways contest prep can be (and should be) a terribly difficult experience for bodybuilders to go through. The trio talks about the physical, social, mental, and emotional tolls that an elongated fat loss phase can take on an individual. Sure, there are things we can do as athletes and coaches to make this just a little more bearable, but there comes a point in every prep where things get dark and you have to suffer a bit. The coaches discuss our hard times with food, sleep, hunger, libido, relationships, marriage, body image, stretch marks, and much more. But not to fear, it's not all sad and depressing, the crew ends the episode with all the things they love about the sport. They take a few minutes to talk why they have decided to endure all the painful negatives, and how they can appreciate those rough times for all that they have contributed to their lives. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

In this episode, Jeff Alberts, Alberto Nunez, and Andrea Valdez discuss all the ways contest prep can be (and should be) a terribly difficult experience for bodybuilders to go through. The trio talks about the physical, social, mental, and emotional tolls that an elongated fat loss phase can take on an individual. Sure, there are things we can do as athletes and coaches to make this just a little more bearable, but there comes a point in every prep where things get dark and you have to suffer a bit. The coaches discuss our hard times with food, sleep, hunger, libido, relationships, marriage, body image, stretch marks, and much more. But not to fear, it's not all sad and depressing, the crew ends the episode with all the things they love about the sport. They take a few minutes to talk why they have decided to endure all the painful negatives, and how they can appreciate those rough times for all that they have contributed to their lives. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

This is our fifth and last of our one-on-one team interviews, featuring Andrea Valdez. As it is now December 2016, we'd like to close out the year with some "state of the coach" addresses, if you will. Basically, we're asking the same questions to each 3D coach to see where they stand through this annual change, and it's something we plan on doing every year. In this fifth episode with Andrea, we will discuss our lives as athletes and professionals in this industry. We talk about what a typical day looks like for each coach, where they stand in their athletic journey, what they diet and training looks like right now, and if there are any major lessons learned in 2016 along the way. We also ask Andrea about some of her coaching milestones this past year, and what other professional endeavors she plans to chase in 2017. We'll then end the interviews on a personal note, discussing any other resolutions, hobbies, favorite things, and ambitions for the year ahead. As mentioned, this will carry on each week with every coach getting their own time in the spotlight. Because we started our podcast the individual 3DMJ Origins episode that were so well-received, it's really cool to hear how much we've changed in just the past few months. More importantly, these episodes will carry a lot of value for the listeners in that they display how incredibly different the five of us are as athletes and individuals. We have different routines, we eat differently, and we train differently, all while carrying the same core values of discipline, dedication, and desire which keep us united as family. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

This is our fourth of five one-on-one team interviews, featuring Jeff Alberts. As it is now December 2016, we'd like to close out the year with some "state of the coach" addresses, if you will. Basically, we're asking the same questions to each 3D coach to see where they stand through this annual change, and it's something we plan on doing every year. In this fourth episode with Jeff, we will discuss our lives as athletes and professionals in this industry. We talk about what a typical day looks like for each coach, where they stand in their athletic journey, what they diet and training looks like right now, and if there are any major lessons learned in 2016 along the way. We also ask Jeff about some of his coaching milestones this past year, and what other professional endeavors he plans to chase in 2017. We'll then end the interviews on a personal note, discussing any other resolutions, hobbies, favorite things, and ambitions for the year ahead. As mentioned, this will carry on each week with every coach getting their own time in the spotlight. Because we started our podcast the individual 3DMJ origins episode that were so well-received, it's really cool to hear how much we've changed in just the past few months. More importantly, these episodes will carry a lot of value for the listeners in that they display how incredibly different the 5 of us are as athletes and individuals. We have different routines, we eat differently, and we train differently, all while carrying the same core values of discipline, dedication, and desire which keep us united as family. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

This is our third of five one-on-one team interviews, featuring Alberto Nunez. As it is now December 2016, we'd like to close out the year with some "state of the coach" addresses, if you will. Basically, we're asking the same questions to each 3D coach to see where they stand through this annual change, and it's something we plan on doing every year. In this second episode with Alberto, we will discuss our lives as athletes and professionals in this industry. We talk about what a typical day looks like for each coach, where they stand in their athletic journey, what they diet and training looks like right now, and if there are any major lessons learned in 2016 along the way. We also ask Alberto about some of his coaching milestones this past year, and what other professional endeavors he plans to chase in 2017. We'll then end the interviews on a personal note, discussing any other resolutions, hobbies, favorite things, and ambitions for the year ahead. As mentioned, this will carry on each week with every coach getting their own time in the spotlight. Because we started our podcast the individual 3DMJ origins episode that were so well-received, it's really cool to hear how much we've changed in just the past few months. More importantly, these episodes will carry a lot of value for the listeners in that they display how incredibly different the 5 of us are as athletes and individuals. We have different routines, we eat differently, and we train differently, all while carrying the same core values of discipline, dedication, and desire which keep us united as family. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

This is our second of five one-on-one team interviews, featuring Brad Loomis. As it is now December 2016, we'd like to close out the year with some "state of the coach" addresses, if you will. Basically, we're asking the same questions to each 3D coach to see where they stand through this annual change, and it's something we plan on doing every year. In this second episode with Brad, we will discuss our lives as athletes and professionals in this industry. We talk about what a typical day looks like for each coach, where they stand in their athletic journey, what they diet and training looks like right now, and if there are any major lessons learned in 2016 along the way. We also ask Brad about some of his coaching milestones this past year, and what other professional endeavors he plans to chase in 2017. We'll then end the interviews on a personal note, discussing any other resolutions, hobbies, favorite things, and ambitions for the year ahead. As mentioned, this will carry on each week with every coach getting their own time in the spotlight. Because we started our podcast the individual 3DMJ origins episode that were so well-received, it's really cool to hear how much we've changed in just the past few months. More importantly, these episodes will carry a lot of value for the listeners in that they display how incredibly different the 5 of us are as athletes and individuals. We have different routines, we eat differently, and we train differently, all while carrying the same core values of discipline, dedication, and desire which keep us united as family. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

Here in this episode, we are starting our second series of 1-on-1 team interviews, beginning with Eric Helms. As it is now December 2016, we'd like to close out the year with some "state of the coach" addresses, if you will. Basically, we're asking the same questions to each 3D coach to see where they stand through this annual change, and it's something we plan on doing every year. Beginning with Eric, we will discuss our lives as athletes and professionals in this industry. We talk about what a typical day looks like for each coach, where they stand in their athletic journey, what they diet and training looks like right now, and if there are any major lessons learned in 2016 along the way. We also ask Eric about some of his coaching milestones this past year, and what other professional endeavors he plans to chase in 2017. We'll then end the interviews on a personal note, discussing any other resolutions, hobbies, favorite things, and ambitions for the year ahead. As mentioned, this will carry on each week with every coach getting their own time in the spotlight. Because we started our podcast the individual 3DMJ origins episode that were so well-received, it's really cool to hear how much we've changed in just the past few months. More importantly, these episodes will carry a lot of value for the listeners in that they display how incredibly different the 5 of us are as athletes and individuals. We have different routines, we eat differently, and we train differently, all while carrying the same core values of discipline, dedication, and desire which keep us united as family. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com

Team 3DMJ welcomes their second guest ever, Dr. Mike Zourdos. He joins Eric Helms and Andrea Valdez to discuss the recent past and distant future of strength training research. Dr. Mike is an assistant professor at Florida Atlantic University, where he leads the Muscle Physiology Lab in Boca Raton. This discussion starts by covering quite a bit of ground in regards to academic and career paths within strength and conditioning realm. The trio then dives into some of Dr. Mike's previous research findings in regards to programming and periodization, followed by a glimpse into the future studies and methods that his lab aims to test over the next few years. You'll find out how Dr. Mike coaches his athletes, some of his personal insight in regards to his own training, and why Eric has been living in Florida for the past few weeks collecting data in the FAU labs for his own PhD thesis. While this episode might sound a bit nerdier than some of the team's other shows, the coaches still dive into the practical applications of all this research. They don't just talk about studies, but also about what that data means and how it can be useful for anyone interested in building strength training programs for themselves or the athletes they coach. Join the conversation by leaving comments, reviews, and insights throughout any and all social media outlets using the handle @team3dmj. For the full video interview, show notes, and links discussed throughout in this episode, visit our site at 3DMuscleJourney.com