Interview with Kelkel part 1

marcus300: Thanks for taking part in this interview Kel, I know we all like to keep certain things secret in our life's but if you can give the members a rough idea of the world of Kel lol I'm sure they will like to hear about it. How did you first get into training and how long have you been lifting weights for?
Kelkel: Well, when I got out of high school I weighed a little over 150. Think "stud." I started lifting as a senior and saw some progress pretty quickly. I worked out in a friends garage and they actually had some pretty good home made equipment, including a squat rack and vertical leg press. Thinking back it was a great start as all muscle groups were worked equally. None were disregarded. Basically I was tired of being skinny and was simply fascinated with all things muscle. I was determined to build my own.


marcus300: Have you ever competed and how did you place?
Kelkel: I competed a bunch in both AAU and NPC. I won 6 overalls at good shows, qualified for nationals but never went. Life / work just got in the way. It's a sore point for me as several guys I beat went on and did well nationally.

marcus300: When did you first do your first cycle and what was it?
Kelkel: Man, this is ancient history and before many of the current members weren't even born. It was a dbol only (gasp) cycle and I blew up. Keep in mind back then there was no internet and virtually no source of information to guide us. Eventually the Underground Steroid Handbook by Dan Duchaine came out which helped exponentially. It was the dark ages of anabolics. HCG, AI's, DA's were unheard of. No such thing as PCT. The available information today makes it so much safer. Guys have it spoon fed to them and still make serious mistakes which amazes me. It's usually due to their just not doing research. And with forums such as this there's really no excuse. Remember, way back then a cycle is about what guys today do for TRT.


marcus300: What are your rough current stats I know you don't weigh yourself often but give us a rough estimate and what have your best stats been over the years?
Kelkel: No, I don't weigh myself. Although you did force me to once! Never saw the value in a number personally. I've always just judged myself by the mirror. There are no scales on stage and when competing I would routinely beat the heavier guys I competed against. I think having small joints played a big part here. It gives the illusion of being larger once you attain some development. I'm sure you know what I mean. When guys compete they may lose X amount of pounds for the show yet look bigger. Heaviest I've ever been is around 250. Oh, I'm 5'11" btw. Right now I'd guess I'm mid 230's (just started a cycle.) But I always look heavier then I am. My 230's looks like most's 250's. Small joints and conditioning I guess.


marcus300: What do you do for a living and what would be your ideal job?
Kelkel: I retired from one career in government. So I've got a pension and benefits for life. I don't have to work but I do cause I'm greedy like everyone else! Currently I work from home doing research for business's, corporations, law firms, etc. Shit that they can't do or it's simply more cost effective to outsource. I do it full time for one company and part time for another (at the same time.) So my commute is from the upstairs bedroom to the downstairs office. Steps are cardio right?


marcus300: Are you married and do you have children?
Kelkel: Million dollar question. Lets say married single. Meaning we just cohabitate until we pull the trigger. We get along and it's been good for my son (12) to keep it together for now. We just live totally separate lives.


marcus300: What advice would you give to someone first starting out or within their first year of training?
Kelkel: Great question. Keep it simple and basic. Don't try and emulate what you see in magazines and video's. Stick to basic compound movements such as squats, deads, bench, etc. Don't over train and learn to listen to your body. It gives us feed back if you listen. One of the best things I ever did was to power lift. I trained in a gym when I was young where I was the only body builder in a gym full of power lifters. The fundamentals I learned from these guys stuck with me and have done nothing but help. I highly recommend implementing aspects of power lifting into your routine. They even talked me into doing a meet (Mountaineer Open) and I trained for it and loved it. Doing opening attempts a week before the contest a buddy wrapped my knees so tight that it broke veins in my gastrock putting me in the hospital for 3 days. My leg bled internally and filled with blood stopping all movement. They were in fear of it clotting. I have not wrapped my knees since then.


marcus300: Can you explain your training style and diet and what's been the most productive for you?
Kelkel: Well, I started out trying everything. For years I trained on a three day split which was then repeated taking Sunday's off. Over time I went down to 4 days. This lasted for years and years. Now I go M-W-F. I've learned as I've aged rest is so very important. With this split I'm always ready for my workouts and I feel I've continued to make progress. Now, going back maybe a dozen years I started to lean toward HIT training. It started with squats. Instead of doing 3-4 heavy sets and having a sore back from it I slowly cut it down to one balls out set realizing the same results without a sore back. Over time it just made sense to implement it to everything else as well. Even if not training HIT I don't do over two working sets per exercise.


marcus300: Tell the members about your steroid use over the years?
Kelkel: It's very basic actually. Never felt I needed a lot like some of my friends. I've never needed the cutting drugs, dht's etc. Never run more than 750 test. Not a big fan of orals other than anavar these days on occasion. During my competition years my use was obviously more frequent, but no where near the levels guys do today. I also took almost a twenty year break from them when I stopped competing. My training, nutrition and desire never changed and I continued to make progress. I never bought into the mindset that you can't make gains without them. A handful of years ago when diagnosed with a pituitary tumor and settling in on TRT I said it's time again and started cycling again. I recently ran about 6-7 months of low dose Serostim which I felt was effective. Basically what I do cycling wise is boring compared to many guys here.


marcus300: What would you change about your physique if you could?
Kelkel: For it not to be such a struggle to gain mass. Maybe a lower quad attachment. But I can't really complain about anything. I've busted my balls to be symmetrical and balanced over the years. You only get back what you put into this sport. You have to earn your results, they're not free.

marcus300: Can you expand further on your training philosophy, style and advice you would give for guys for various levels?
Kelkel - It's basically HIT unless I'm working around an injury. I got tired of being tired from doing so many sets and spending so much time in the gym. I slowly transitioned into HIT starting with legs and it just took off from there. For me it's simply the most effective and efficient way of training. Your thread encapsulates it very well and is a great asset to the forum. Main thing is guys have to realize you can't expect to be an expert at this in a week or two. It takes time to learn to handle both the mental and physical aspects of it. HIT also just fits my lifestyle so well. I only train three days per week not six like the old days. I've found rest is so important as we age. In my opinion it's allowed me to continue to make progress and carry a good amount of quality muscle well past what most do. That's become a source of pride for me I guess. One odd piece of advice that I've mentioned to a few guys here when it comes to nutrition: Every meal I sit down to eat I ask myself, "how's this going to help me." Maybe it's just my way of using guilt as a tool.

marcus300: That's some competition placing's for anyone standards my friend, well done on getting on the stage. Do you have any good old school stories you could tell us about the good old comp days?
Kelkel - First show I almost had to be drug out of the bathroom. I was so nervous and stuck on the crapper. But you soon get over that. Comp's were fun. I always enjoyed how some guys would show up there in their fancy warm up suits and strutting like they were gods gift to BB'ing. I always wore old crap or scrubs to remain more anonymous and also because the tanning agents just F'd up your clothes. Then after pumping up and getting ready to hit the stage it always seemed like the most gregarious guys were in the worst shape? Just an observation. Competing in North Jersey and New York was like being in another country. Felt very much like an outsider.
Funny thing is I still have most of my old trophies stored in my basement collecting dust. The old school 6' ones that snap in two after a couple years. Cheap shit back then. Only reason I've kept them is to show my son when he's a bit older and hope he understands the work that his dad put forth to earn them.
Stories? Got some good ones, imho. Me and a buddy scheduled a trip to the Arnold Classic. It was either the second or third one held. Our plane was delayed and we got the the main hotel about 4 hours late. Check in said they gave away our rooms. That didn't go over well and the clerk eventually came back with two keys and handed them to us, saying use these in the elevator above the room numbers. Turn the key and hit yours, etc. We had been up graded to the penthouse level. Our room was on one side of the elevators and Arnold's was on the other, Franco's down the hall, Jim Lorimer as well and many others. Had a free breakfast buffet for everyone on the floor. Met and talked with so many over those two nights. Like a kid in a candy store. Great memory.
Me and a different buddy drove to NY to the first Night of Champions held at the Beacon Theater. What I remember most is eyeballing some seats in the very front that were open. Eventually we moved there and sat down. There was one open seat next to me. Soon I hear a voice asking if the seat is open. It was Danny Padilla (if you don't know he was one of the best shorter BB'ers in the world back in the day) and he sat with us. Nice guy. Talked to us throughout the event.
The next year I was in Florida with my brother. He was on a business trip and I went for fun. In the hotel I saw an advertisement for the Night of Champions II, Southern Professional Cup which was about 10 minutes away. Ended up going to that with some guys I met with similar interests. If I recall correctly Robbie Robinson won it. What I remember most is the Mentzer Brothers. Both were in their prime and entered the event by walking down adjacent aisles simultaneously while dressed exactly alike. They were animals. It's a shame they both passed so early in life.
I also went to the NPC Nationals in Atlantic City way back when and saw Shawn Ray win. He beat Phil Hill who in prejudging everyone thought would win. By the time the night show came around Shawn was the obvious winner. Great show to see.

marcus300:Whats a typical day look like for you?
Kelkel - Up at 0645, walk downstairs (my cardio) and the race is on to get my son out of bed, ready for school and to the bus stop. He's not a morning child at all so it's not always fun. I usually have to eat quick so it's something like a protein drink, bagel and a banana. I work and train from home so it makes food prep and training much more convenient. After about 3 hours or so I'll eat again (pretty much every three hours all day) and then have another cup of coffee and head to my basement dungeon to train. My training is old school and basic but I have enough to get by. You don't need ton's of fancy equipment to grow, just desire and motivation. After my workout I'll usually have another larger protein drink with bananas, peanut butter, creatine, some ice cream, etc. Then back to work for a while. Pick up my son at the bus stop at 3:45 and that's about it. Any errands, food shopping, banking, etc I do while I'm working so it really is a big plus for free time. Other than that, just eat healthy throughout the day with my mind on making slow LBM gains. I'm not a fan of bulking anymore and cutting is something I really don't have to worry much about fortunately.

marcus300: Whats been your best cycle so far?
Kelkel - Easy for me. 750 test, 500 deca and anavar. Or, switch the deca for tren A. I respond well to just test and most current cycles are often just that. My TRT dose is 70 mg's twice per week and that itself keeps me in the 1400 to over 1500 range. I seriously think too many guys use far to much AAS than they need for their current state of development. You see it here on this board all the time. The ever present "more is better" philosophy of the younger generation. I understand it but don't agree with it. I think you said it best with your comment some time back to "grow into your aas use."

marcus300:If you had your time again and you knew what you know now about bodybuilding what would you do different?
Kelkel - Pursued a pro card when I was younger. Just to say I achieved it. I would have had to change careers to do so and giving up a pension and benefits for that goal was just not the smart thing to do. To many guys do just that, put everything into BB'ing, which is fine but they have no back-up plan. Nothing to fall back on or way to support themselves when their short career is over. Another thing, I wouldn't have over-trained so much. I lived in a gym and made great progress but always wonder if it could have been better with less back then.

marcus300: What would you change about the forum?
Kelkel - Not sure on this one Marcus. Nothing jumps out at me. Insert Jeopardy music now....

marcus300: What's been the happiest and saddest times in your life?
Kelkel - Easy. Happiest: When my son was born. Saddest: Watching my parents die. I was their caregiver and was with each when they passed. They've been gone since the mid-nineties and I would have loved for them to meet their grandson.

marcus300: Are you religious?
Kelkel - Nope. Never thought you had to go to church to be a good person. I have nothing against it and to each his own. I've just seen to many hypocrites when it comes to religion.

marcus300: What do you like doing to relax?
Kelkel - Ride my Harley. I've got a 2012 Street Glide with a lot of up-grades. Have a large group of friends and we'll meet on Sundays in warm weather and ride anywhere and everywhere. We have a lot of dock bars in my area and it's always fun to cruise to them or the beach bars. Good group of like minded individuals. Hope to go to Sturgis this year as well for the 75th anniversary.

marcus300: Your being very honest with your answers Kel and ive always wanted to ask you this about your journey. What effects whether good or bad as bodybuilding had throughout cartain parts of your life 20'.s, 30's 40's 50's?
Kelkel - Good, it's made me into the man I am today. It's a very disciplined avocation as anyone heavily involved knows if you want to make progress. It's not a one or two hour a day event. It's a life style. it's opened so many doors for me and I've made so many friends I would not change it for anything. it's definitely a brotherhood. I often wonder what people do with all their free time when they don't do what we do? I guess the answer is rather obvious, they sit around and get fat and out of shape, or so it appears.
Only negatives would be that I missed a lot of fun with friends. They'd be heading out to happy hour's or other events and I'd be heading to the gym. Definitely ruined a few relationships when I was younger due to my desire to lift and eat right. I just couldn't miss that workout or be there to kiss their ass....but you evolve and realize there's time for everything. With age comes wisdom.

marcus300: Who has been the biggest influences on the forum?
Kelkel - Other than you? Probably the staff. They're picked for a reason. There are some exceptionally bright guys on this forum but I'm not going to name names. I speak to certain guys on a regular basis about all kinds of topics from board related to personal. Everyone is willing to help, and that's what makes this forum so successful. The senior staff members do a great job keeping things controlled and running smoothly, and that's not easy with the diverse membership of this forum. I always nice to hear what the vets have to say as well as the newbe who's so excited to start his new journey. I'm influenced and motivated by all. The knowledge of the senior guys and the energy of the new ones make this a unique environment for all of us.