João Fialho is a Men's Physique athlete who debuted on stage this year with excellent results. Get to know him better in this interview.
He started in the South Regional where he took second place in his category, and after a week and some adjustments, he took the stage at the IFBB National Championship.
Not only did he take first place in his category, he also became the absolute champion of Men's Physique in the Overall, in other words, he is the current national champion.
- Name: João Fialho
- Age: 26
- Height: 1.72m
- Competition weight: 70/71kg
- Out-of-competition weight: 76/77kg
- South Regional 2016 – 2nd Place
- National Championship 2016 – Absolute Champion
How and why did you start training?
I started training, in fact, going to the gym when I was around 15 years old with my great friend André Cambim. At the time I played football and wanted to have nice muscles, but I didn't make the effort to do so.
Regularly, with determination and dedication, in 2013, when I was finishing my higher education degree in Sports, this was my change!
I started studying, researching, testing training methods, making some adjustments to my diet and the first results started to appear. I started this process because I decided I wanted to change. I wanted to be different and I wanted to be seen as an example.
I believe that in my area, the fitness area, we, as coaches, must be an example for our students/athletes. It doesn't mean that it is necessary to have huge muscles, but rather, we must be in shape.
What made you want to compete?
I always liked competition, this was the main reason.
I like to compete to test my abilities and at the moment, since my great passion is training, especially bodybuilding, I thought it would be time, as I said before, to test myself and measure ?strength? with others who share the same passion as me.
I don't come in to ?participate? but to do the best you can.
I structured my preparation and put it into practice, luckily it went well!
What type of diet do you follow?
My diet is based on what I consider basic for the results I want to achieve.
I rely heavily on good amounts of protein and fat, and smaller amounts of carbohydrates, especially when I'm cutting.
When I want to increase a little muscle mass, I increase the carbohydrates and reduce the fat.
This management is done with the help of the Nutritionist who accompanies me, Dr. Rita Mestre, an extremely competent person, with good knowledge of sports nutrition.
For example, when I want definition, I do something like this:
- Meal 1
- Source of protein
- Meal 2
- Oatmeal with fruit and nuts
- Meal 3
- Source of protein and fat
- Meal 4
- Sweet potato and chicken
- OR
- Lean beef with salad and fruit
- Meal 5 (Usually pre-workout)
- Source of protein and fat
- Meal 6 (Usually post-workout)
- Source of protein and fast carbohydrates
- Meal 7
- Source of protein
- Meal 8
- Same as meal 4 but with fewer carbohydrates
- Meal 9
- Source of protein and fat
What type of training do you follow?
I can't say that I follow the ?X? or ?Y? but yes, I have training methods that I use at specific times.
As I am my own trainer, it is necessary to have good self-knowledge to be able to evaluate which method and when to use it.
I personally like techniques like super-series, tri-series, giant series, drop sets and rest pause.
Now, as I'm at a stage where I want to maintain a low fat percentage, as it's summer and everyone likes to feel good, I opt for Antagonist Super Series, and train the main muscle groups twice a week.
Weekly planning
- Second ? Pectoral/Back and Abdominal
- Third ? Legs / Deltoid
- Fourth ? Biceps/tricepitis and Abdominal
- Fifth – Pectoral / Back
- Friday? Legs / Deltoid and Abdominal
- Saturday? Cardio HIIT
Training example – Legs and Deltoids – Supersets
- Press / military press – 5 x 12
- Leg extension / Dumbbell flights – 4 x 10
- Leg curl / Sides – 4 x 15
- Squat / High row – 4 x 8
- Standing calf raises / Shrinks – 4 x 15
What are your 3 favorite exercises?
Without a doubt, they are the Squats, Military Press and the Dead weight.
Where does your motivation come from?
From myself and those who support me (Girlfriend, brother, parents and friends), I always try to be better than I was before.
I consider that I am demanding on myself because I seek perfection, I am never satisfied and as such, to stop is to die!
Of course, I admire the great Arnold Schwarzenegger, Jeremy Buendia, Jeff Seid, Felipe Franco, among others, however, if the motivation does not come from ourselves, there will certainly be no one to do the work for us!
What supplements do you use?
Any tips in particular for those just starting out?
The same thing I always say to those I follow closely: Take your time and respect the natural process of things, no one was born ?Big?!
Do not abuse loads and prefer to use intense training instead of very voluminous training with huge loads.
Goals for the future, what are they?
I intend to continue my work and return to competitions in the future.
It's not easy, but I intend to make my international debut. I think it's a good experience and as I'm a believer in the old saying that "anything can be achieved with work", I'm going to work for it!
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