Interview With Gregory Panselinas
Featured Model - February 2010
Interviewed by: Tammy Reneee'
Photos by: BBPics
WP: What was it that made you know without a doubt that you wanted to go into bodybuilding?
GP: Before entering college, I was challenged by my father with the following question: “If money were no issue, what would you want to do for a living?” It is significant that he did not phrase the question in the conventional manner: what would you like to be when you grow up?” for many, this conventional question leads the mind to thinking about security and eventual payoffs such as money, power, and prestige. However the way my father phrased it made me look beyond these payoffs and allowed me to search deeper into myself. I found that the only thing that has always been part of my life since I was a little kid was fitness. So when my father asked me the question, it took me a few weeks to search into my personal characteristics, and I came up with the clear answer that I would like to go into bodybuilding and integrated with my degree in nutrition, show the world my ideal health model.
WP: How long have you been lifting?
GP: I have been lifting for about 8 years now, and it seems that the longer I do it the more addicted I become to it. I only skip it when it is necessary for my body to recover.
WP: You compete. You have recently won placed in a competition, right?
GP: Yes, I have recently placed third in Model World Tour, in their model division.
WP: What other competitions have you appeared in and what place did you win?
GP: I appeared in Musclemania’s model competition placing 3rd and in Wilhelmina’s Hot Body Search which I went up to the semi-finals.
WP: You have recently started modeling a bit. Tell me about that.
GP: Yes, I have recently started modeling, it seems that the agencies that I approach welcome me with a lot of warmth and I see great work opportunities in the future. I have recently shot for a fitness magazine, that I cannot disclose as of yet, but it is only a stepping stone and there is a lot more to come.
WP: You look great! How do you keep the physique you have? What is the hardest thing for you to face when it comes to keeping your physique?
GP: Everyone can keep a good physique, but when it comes to greatness, it requires a different level of dedication. You have to treat fitness as a job, and most likely your primary job. I design my whole day based on what I’m going to eat and when I’m going to work out. Sometimes I even compromise personal time. It might sound cynical but on days of hard dedication I might decide to be a party pooper and leave the clubs early so I have enough time to rest and not miss my run in the morning.
WP: What is it that gets you up in the morning?
GP: I have to say that the only thing that gets me up is my alarm clock. I do not use any stimulants and I do not drink coffee. Since I run in the morning my body is used to it, so I tend to be a bit hyper after the first 5 minutes of being awake.
WP: You worked with our Senior Photographer, John Mitchell at bbpics.com. What was it like working with him?
GP: It was a great experience. He even helped me put together my video for the Wilhelmina Model Search Competition, which I greatly appreciated.
WP: How did he go over and beyond for you?
GP: I never thought I would be ok to shoot in a cold weather, yet some times our thoughts are the ones that inhibit us from doing great things. I ended up overcoming that obstacle with John at BBpics and it showed me that I am able to take challenges if I want to be successful in this field.
WP: How do you build more mass and more cut? Any advice for the newbies out there?
GP: The way that I achieve that is by running in the morning on an empty stomach and lift in the evening, giving at least 8 hours of break between the two. Another very important factor would be diet. I tend to follow, what I call a pyramid diet. I start my day with very low carbohydrates and as I go on approaching my weight lifting time my carbohydrate intake increases. I only focus on good crabs, such as sweet potatoes and brown rice. After my resistance training my carbohydrates start decreasing again as I approach bed time.
WP: What do you eat in a normal day?
GP: I start my day on an empty stomach so I would have to say no breakfast, since the first thing I do when I wake up is abs and running. When I’m done with my work out, I try to introduce myself to protein first before anything else so I have a protein shake and my meal would be grill chicken and then brown rice and beans. I always make a big bowl so I can eat little by little throughout my day. For snack I have unsalted almonds or unsalted mix nuts. For dinner I have grill chicken, steak, turkey or salmon with a big bowl of lettuce or spinach.
WP: Do you allow yourself a cheat day?
GP: I say no to cheat days, since it ends up that we are always looking forward to that cheat day and we may overindulge in goodies that can have an adverse affect to our physique. But I do cheat regardless, yet it’s only once in a while and its quilt-free.
WP: What supplements do you take?
GP: I take whey protein powder (Stevia sweetened), grape seed extract, papaya enzymes, multivitamin, vitamin C, vitamin D, Calcium, Selenium, Coenzyme Q 10, Joint formula, Alpha-lipoic acid, Acetyl L-Carnitine, garlic, fish oil.
WP: Could you tell me a story of how you have gotten where you are today?
GP: When I graduated college, I was eager to put in use all the knowledge that I accumulated about different diets. This was the first time in my life that I had the flexibility to work out as much as I wanted without pressure. So I dedicated my first year out of college in figuring out how my body can be more efficient in burning fat without losing muscle. I went through plenty trials and errors till I finally put it together. For a while I supported a low fat diet, which even though it worked in making me lose overall weigh, I saw that I was simultaneously losing a lot of muscle mass. Next, I also tried the low calorie diet which allowed me to eat a little bit of everything, but this was also a failure, since I started looking very average. The biggest improvements I saw, was when I tied the low carb diets, and adding a lot of good fats and protein. The only adversity of this diet was the fact that it took me a while to adjust to it, I even felt like quitting plenty of times, since everything that I liked in the past, was loaded with sugars and I didn’t even realize it, thinking that it was good for me.
WP: Do you have anyone you can thank for helping you get where you are?
GP: I have to say that I am self motivated, since I have been living on my own since I was seventeen, yet, a person that has set an example for me, was my father, who himself was a great athlete and he also incorporates fitness as part of his daily routine, till this day. Yet my father was always against bodybuilding, since it was criticized for its association with steroids. This was also my motive of getting into body building to prove that a great physique can be achieved without the use of any adverse drugs.
WP: Where do you want to be in 5 years?
GP: In five years, I would like to take my accomplishments in Hollywood and show the world my physique in the big screen. I have been taking acting classes, in the hopes that a good opportunity will land some day.
WP: How do you create balance in your life?
GP: I’m a very well rounded individual, so I always try to incorporate other aspects rather than fitness in my life. What I have noticed is that since fitness might be a bit time consuming, I have to balance it by taking something else out of my life that can also take a lot of time. For a while I was addicted to TV, so I decided to limit it to minimal levels, in order to have extra time to read books, hang out with my friends and engage in additional hobbies that I may have neglected in the past, such as drawing and photography.
WP: What one piece of advice you can share with me on how to gain the most muscle the fastest?
GP: If you do not care about gaining fat with it, the fastest way is to lift very heavy, limit your reps to six, allowing for a good warm up set before any exercise and try to eat as much crabs and protein as possible. Since you want to set your body in an anabolic stage (storing stage), you need to focus a lot on resting. Besides your regular nap, you should also have a power nap in the middle of your day.
WP: Are you married, dating, or do you have kids?
GP: I’m single, but I do date. My schedule is so busy that I have not yet had the chance to establish a concrete relationship.
WP: What is your work-out regimen?
GP: I do 40 minutes of abs and 20 minutes or running on an empty stomach 4-5 times per week and I engage in resistance training in the evening 3-4 times per week. I focus on one body part per work out and I usually do 30 to 40 sets of 10 reps each with a minute break in between.
WP: Have you played in sports before?
GP: I played basketball and soccer, but my biggest success was in track and field, in the 100 meters dash.
WP: Anything you would like to see change in the bodybuilding world?
GP: I’m the type of person that values aesthetics a lot, and I see that some times in the body building world they place so much value in getting bigger that they neglect proportion. I always had the Greek status as a guideline of what a beautiful fit body should look like and I see that in this body building era the model is far beyond that.
WP: Any shout outs?
GP: I would like to thank Nikolas Tzikas, John Sideris, Jimmy Di Mauro, Dimitri Gorogensky, Paraskos Kalaitzis, Mixalis Georgousis, Panos Karagiorgis and my father Georgios Panselinas. These are the people that supported my efforts and never thought I abused any illegal drugs in the process.
WP: What is your greatest achievement in bodybuilding?
GP: My greatest achievement in bodybuilding is waking up in the morning and filling that I can face any challenge that falls in my way. Now, when it comes to my physical appearance I have to say that I made tremendous progress in the way my abdominal region looks like, which can qualify me as a model for the before and after pictures that some supplement companies use.
WP: What is the proudest moment of your life?
GP: When I won third place in Las Vegas in the Model America competition. I felt that the judges recognized my hard work and that meant the world to me.
WP: What are your interests outside of bodybuilding?
GP: I am very involved in real estate, I’m taking a lot of workshops and I’m learning how to invest and create cash flow so I can support my passion indefinitely.
WP: Do you use dumbbells, free weights, machine or all of the above?
GP: I use all of the above. Every method has a unique way of targeting you muscles and a well rounded bodybuilder should use all.
WP: Explain why you use all of the above.
GP: I like dumbbells because they trigger my stabilizing/ balancing muscles. This allows for more definition in my muscles. Free weights, which is the category that dumbbells also fall under is a great way to use the force of gravity in your favor to build muscle. I like free weights because it allows more flexibility of motion and abides to the biomechanics of the natural motion. Machines I like to as a way to finish me work out, since it targets isolated muscles and gives the privilege of building areas of aesthetic weakness.
WP: You have been a pleasure to interview! Thank you for your time and good luck in your future bodybuilding endeavors!
