Tommy Bussey just released a great new program called Macro Mass Muscle Building and way nice enough to answer some question for me.
Q. Can you give us some background about yourself?
A. I'm 22 years old. I began weight training when I was 16. I started out lifting weights to improve my baseball skills. I ended up getting a scholarship to play Division 1 baseball at Liberty University.
During my time there I got really close with our strength coaches, Dave Williams and Bill Gillespie. I would always stay late and do extra lifting, so they took extra time with me to teach a lot of about the "science" behind getting bigger and stronger.
Q. What got you started in bodybuilding?
A. I got started into bodybuilding after my baseball career had ended. I suffered a terrible string of injuries and lost a ton of weight. Last year I was only about 153 lbs in August. I was pretty depressed about all that happened and kind of turned to alcohol and partying to try to cope with it. Anyways, one morning in October I woke up with a pretty bad hangover, and when I stumbled into the bathroom I looked in the mirror and said to myself, "Enough is enough." So, I began to do bodybuilding. So far the heaviest I have been is 211 lbs. with about 9% body fat. Right now, I'm at 195 with about 5% BF and getting ready to get back into a bulking phase.
Q. What are your favorite and least favorite exercises?
A. My favorite exercises are deadlifts, squats, bench press, and bb skull crushers, bb shrugs (to name a few ;)
I don't really enjoy doing triceps cable kick downs haha
Q. What are some tips you can give for the beginner, intermediate and advanced?
A. For the beginner, my best advice is to focus on training 3, maybe 4 days per week, doing mainly compound lifts. At the beginning it is smart to armor up your body, and build a good foundation for the muscle you're about to add. I always tell people that the biggest and best structures in the world are only standing because of how well the engineer designed the foundation. Also, a beginner should focus on adjusting to the eating schedule of a bodybuilder. I encourage beginners to focus on eating 6-8 meals per day and gradually trying to increase the calories each day. I try to keep it simple so (depending on metabolism) I recommend eating around 20X your target body weight to start actually building muscle.
For the intermediate, I recommend to start getting a little more scientific with training routines. Start keeping a log and really focusing on what lifts are producing the best gains. By this point an intermediate bodybuilder should be used to eating like a body builder so I recommend to begin really getting serious about the quality of calories they are putting into their bodies. Also, by the intermediate level I think it is good to start supplementing, but doing it properly. Obviously, there are a lot of supps that are just bogus and some work better for certain people than others. So, it comes down to being serious about doing your homework and actually being AWARE of what is going on with your body.
For the advanced bodybuilder I think the biggest thing I would point out is that one really beneficial thing to do when training is to put an extreme amount of focus on which muscles you are contracting. In other words, when doing for example DB Lateral Raises, an advanced bodybuilder will have the muscle control it takes to single out the lateral heads of the deltoids; however, it takes focus actually use this ability for producing optimal results. Obviously, this can be applied to every lift. Also, as an advanced bodybuilder you should be eating extremely clean and also have a good record of what types of food make you feel "anabolic" and make you feel energetic and ready to rip some iron.
Q. Where do you stand on the use of steroids and supplements?
A. I do not use steroids and will not use steroids. They are in my opinion too dangerous to be messed around with. I know that there are people who do them and experience little to no negative side effects; HOWEVER, the odds aren't that great. I don't look down on people who use them, it's their choice. But I would never recommend them, use them, or sell them.
As far as dietary supplements go, I think there are some good ones. I think something like Animal Pak should def be in a bodybuilders supplementation as well as a high quality whey protein. There are also some natural test boosters and prohormones that I don't have a problem with, but they should be taken very occasionally.
Overall, I think that the best "steroid" is eating the perfect bodybuilding diet and staying committed to that.
Q. What are your future goals?
A. As far as my body, I want to weight 220 lbs. with 6-8% bf. I don't really want to get any bigger because I'm not planning on doing any competitive shows (I may do a show just for the experience :) But mainly I want to have an exemplary body so I can show my clients and customers (online especially) that I not only talk the talk, but I walk the walk.
I just graduated college last May and have worked this whole summer to start my own marketing business. I've been working about 16 hours everyday to get up and running because I have not capital and have done everything on my own sweat, mind, energy, and dime.
I will be earning six figures or more per year before I turn 25. And before I'm 30 I am going to have a charity that helps young athletes who can't afford good sports equipment to be able to be properly equipped with the newest and nicest gear :)
Q. What is the toughest part about bodybuilding for you?
A. The toughest part of bodybuilding for me has been the eating. I have a lightning quick metabolism and can lose weight by eating 3-4 meals per day haha. So, I def have to focus the main part of my energy on my nutrition.
Q. Tell us about Macro Mass Muscle Building?
A. I designed Macro Mass on the basis of a couple thoughts. One, I wanted to combine the perfect amount of variation and consistency to spark muscle growth through forced adaptation mixed with a consistent mix of exercises. Two, I correlated the previous aspect with the proper muscle group isolation techniques. In my personal training, I have seen phenomenal gains in size AND strength using this system.
Q. What are the Macro Mass Muscle Building workouts like?
A. The workouts are designed to be relatively short 45-60 min. of weights. I feel like the majority of amateur body builders are led astray because they think they can lift like the pros, training hours upon hours. But they don't realize that most pros are either on steroids, have been training for a decade plus, have no other job but lifting, OR all of the above.
I want the users of Macro Mass to be able to easily incorporate the training into their busy schedules, but still get in the gym and get after. This is beneficial for people because it will help them stay focused when they see that they don't have a "laundry list" of exercises to get through. So, they will train hard, get a good pump, and then start the proper recovery process (which I emphasize in the written segment of my product).
Q. What is the Macro Mass Muscle Building diet like?
A. I've tried to keep the diet relatively simple. I've given users some easy formulas to calculate daily caloric intake and daily protein intake based on their target weights. Something really cool that I did is make a "pantry checklist." This is great because if people stick to the checklist they will only be putting muscle building foods into their bodies.
Also, throughout the product, whether written or video segments, I emphasize the importance of eating right and how it is crucial to building muscle. The diet revolves around the idea of eating 6-8 meals per day, divided into portions that add up to hit the target caloric and protein intakes.
Q. Anything else you'd like to add?
A. I'm in this business not only to make money but to truly help people change their bodies and improve their lives. website, he is on board with this launch as well. I'm really hoping to make this as successful as possible so I can begin to make a name for myself and help as many people as possible.