World Physique

Interviewed by Tammy Renee'
Photos by: BBPics.com

Luke is a 27 year old fitness enthusiast. For work, he's a Personal Trainer, Model, and Nutritional Coach. he absolutely loves what he does and finds himself “working” in his free time because of it. "I’m happy to say that I possess the unique ability to get along with almost everybody. I’m a generally quiet person, but if you touch on a subject that I’m passionate about, and I’ll go on for hours", say Luke.

WP: Luke, it's great to have you here! How long have you been lifting?

LS: My dad always lifted weights and I think I was 11 the first time I snuck into his weight area to pump out some curls. I don’t know how much weight I used, but I remember doing 50 reps. on each arm. My arms were stuck at a 90 degree angle for a good 3 or 4 days and didn’t stop hurting for a good week. I absolutely loved it! I’ll forever be chasing after that workout that leaves me that sore again.

WP: I can actually mentally seeing you sneaking and working out. I bet you were so precious! Do you have any advice to people that wish to build more mass and more cut?

LS: Absolutely. I’ve spent years of my life studying this subject and would love to share some knowledge. Although a lot of fine tuning can be done once you develop the basics, the first step really lies in optimizing your hormonal balance.

The goal is to have the body produce as much testosterone and growth hormone as humanly possible while reducing the amount of cortisol produced. For those who don’t know, cortisol is the body’s main stress hormone and basically counteracts the beneficial properties of testosterone.

Personally, I choose to take the natural route and get great results with just these tactics. Having said that, I can give out four basic natural hormone building categories of tips that will work for everyone regardless:

With nutrition, most all body builders know that you have to get enough protein in order to build lean muscle. What I think lots of people miss is that natural testosterone production and fat intake has a linear correlation; meaning the more fat you eat, the more testosterone your body produces naturally. Good fat does not make you fat; good fat makes you lean, ripped, and full of energy. I always buy the fattiest cuts of meat and saturate all my vegetables in coconut oil. I would estimate that I get 40% - 50% of my calories from fat. There are, of course, bad fats to stay away from too, but otherwise, fat is really good and quite necessary if you want to boost your testosterone levels. Regarding the whole saturated fat – heart attack correlation, let me just say I don’t buy into any of it. Seriously, I do seminars on this stuff!

With exercise, I think most body builders already have it down. Do multi-joint exercises for the large muscle groups. Scientifically, when you do weight training you are making little tears in your muscles. The body responds by producing enough testosterone and growth hormone to repair those tears. Think of the difference in the amount of testosterone and growth hormone your body needs to produce after doing squats which makes you work the quads, hams, glutes, low back, abs, verses the amount of testosterone your body needs to produce from doing a bicep curl? Making the focus the larger muscles will do wonders to help you with both mass and cutting.

One aspect that most American’s are missing is sleep. Your body does its repairs, aka produces, its testosterone and growth hormone, primarily during sleep. Your circadian cycle causes your hormone production for physical repair to peak between 10:00 PM and 2:00 AM if, and only if, you’re sleeping at that time! As a side note, psychological recuperation happens between 2:00 AM and 6:00 AM. Being short on sleep can definitely stress you out.

Stress causes the body to produce cortisol. You can just think of cortisol as the anti-testosterone. I think most people sideline this factor but I know from personal experience, stress goes hand in hand with fat gaining and muscle burning. I would suggest to everyone to learn some breathing exercises or meditation, try to schedule enough breaks and vacations. In the game of life, more is not always better!

WP: Wow! That's some great advice. I hope breaking it down like you just did will help a lot of people! What do you eat in a normal day?

LS: I eat meat and veggies and lots of them. I make as many different variations in the types of both meats and veggies, but these are my two primary two food categories. I always make plenty of food and always have it available. I probably average 3 lbs. of meat and 1 lb. of veggies per day. I know it sounds pretty boring, but there are lots of options. I have to say I am a pretty good cook.

WP: That's a lot of clean food. Do you allow yourself a cheat day?

LS: No, I really don’t. I used to but, I realized that I felt like crap for my entire cheat day and would always wake up the next day wanting more crap. If I never have it, I never crave it. I am of the belief that many bad foods are addicting. There’s lots of research to back this up, too. You wouldn’t tell a smoker to only smoke on Tuesday’s if they were trying to improve their health right?

WP: I'm understanding your point. Go ahead with what you were saying!

LS: To me, it’s no difference. With a cheat day you end up being able to fight the urges all week because you know that you can binge on Sunday. Why not just trash the urges?

In all fairness, I do think that even most people who think they are eating clean are really still eating things that are causing them to get cravings. I do a good amount of nutritional counseling and it’s amazing the results and reactions I get after truly cleaning someone’s diet. Eating clean, for them, is such an amazing feeling that these people think they owe me a debt of gratitude even after already having paid me good money to work with them.

WP: That sounds like a book in the making. I'd love to read it! It all makes sense. What supplements do you take?

LS: I take nothing for muscle building purposes. I do take Probiotics, and occasionally, some vitamins and minerals. I’ve tried lots of stuff but, really like my life as pill and powder free as possible. I don’t even supplement protein. Everything is from the diet.

WP: To be the healthiest, it should be whole food. You're right about that! Let's switch modes and talk about modeling alittle. Tell me about your modeling.

LS: I’m actually really new to the modeling field. I’ve wanted to do it for a few years now, but really had no idea where to start. I actually ended up doing a ‘help me out’ ad posting on Craigslist and surprisingly got some good direction, which started me on my way. It’s awesome how supportive and willing to help everyone in this field is.

WP: I wouldn't have never thought about doing the craigslist. That is so smart. I've always said that this industry is the biggest on help others. Where do you want to be in 5 years?

LS: A friend of mine just asked me this same question and I don’t have a great answer. I love doing personal training and teaching health, so I assume that will always remain a part of my life in some capacity. Aside from that, I would love to land some serious modeling gigs and could even see myself try to get into the acting realm. The goal I had when I made the decision to start modeling was to get into a major fitness magazine. I’m definitely not loosing focus of that goal, but am always setting more goals as time goes by. I’m lucky to be the kind of person who’s always happy where they are. Not that I want to go back but, I was enjoying myself years ago when I was flipping burgers at my local fast food joint. I think regardless of anything, in 5 years, I’ll be happy.

WP: I've never had anyone answer this question so well! I love your answer! You are so positive! 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?

LS: The biggest thing is that I always have a very clean diet and love to workout. I do like to go out and have drinks with friends so, I guess that can hinder my physique a little bit. I’m also very much of a go-getter and know, for a fact, that taking on too many projects at once throws a wrench in my game. The good thing is that I’m very aware of my body, so if something’s not right, I know how to fix it. I’d say it’s definitely the case that if I’m doing something that is going to make me gain fat the same thing is probably also dropping my energy and making me stressed. It’s usually the feeling of well being, or lack thereof, that turns me back around before the lack of physique ever kicks in. I honestly don’t think I’ve let myself slip past 5.5% body fat or so for the last two years.

WP: Tell me about your future projects. Have any in sight?

LS: I’m actually excited to be competing at Model Universe in Miami in Mid-June. I’m kind of in the dark with this, because it’s presented runway style and I’ve never even watched a runway show. From what I understand, the premise of the show is that you do one swimwear, one sportswear, and one club wear and get judged based on your overall look. I’m excited to give it a try and see what I can do. Worst case scenario, I make a fool of myself and have a better idea of what to expect for next year.

WP: You will be okay! You have to show confidence so, don't let it worry you. Go to their site and watch some of their videos. It will give you heads up on what to expect. You will do just great. What gets you up in the morning?

LS: Well unfortunately, it’s either my alarm clock or my phone; whichever goes off first. Ha-ha! Honestly though, I get so excited about my work and my projects that I can’t wait to get started once I’m up and moving. I love being in front of an audience, being in front of a camera, and making a difference in peoples lives. So, whether I’m doing a shoot, a seminar, training my body, or training someone else’s body, it’s always a thrill. I do believe it’s important to remind yourself why you’re doing what you’re doing to ensure you’re getting the pleasure out of the means and not just the ends.

WP: How do you approach a challenge?

LS: I love to be challenged. For me, the best way to master any big challenge is to make it into a bunch of little challenges that will lead you to the end goal. This helps me from getting overwhelmed and keeps me motivated. I also believe it’s important to set it up in a way to which the whole process and not just the result will be fun.

WP: You should have been a motivational speaker! You have me so motivated right now by your answers! How do you create balance in your life?

LS: This is, honestly, one area where I struggle a bit. I tend to always be on a mission, but I do know how important it is to balance work with fun. I’ve recently started scheduling occasional days of personal beach time when I go to the beach alone and soak up the sun, walk the shore, play in the waves, meditate on the sand, whatever. It’s amazing how much better and happier I am the day after I do nothing compared to the day before.

WP: I understand you worked with our Senior Photographer, John at bbpics.com. What was it like working with him?

LS: I did. John brought me out to Phoenix towards the end of March for a shoot. It was truly an awesome experience and I have some great photos from it. John created a fun environment and put together an awesome group of models. I learned a lot over that weekend, both from John and from the other models, that he brought in. Everyone was really cool. I was really impressed with how John positioned us to get perfect shots with great lighting. I’m looking forward to getting together with John again soon for another shoot!

WP: How did he go over and beyond for you?

LS: Well, first off, he’s great at answering questions and giving general posing tips. What really impressed me, though, is the fact that during our trip, John started feeling really sick on the second day and through the third day of the shoot. He kept on track the whole time and baked out there in that hot desert sun with us to help us all have the photo shoot we were hoping for and really kept a great attitude through the whole thing. John is also very good at keeping in contact and I know I can call him up with any questions and he’s always glad to help me out.

WP: Would you recommend him to your friends?

LS: Absolutely. I think the quality of photos speak for themselves. Everyone I’ve shown them to has been like, “Wow! You’ve got a really good photographer.” And it’s often put like that too. Like I said before, he’s a great guy but, what it all comes down to is his work which is absolutely excellent.

WP: We are very proud of him. He does work hard to help his models.He puts his models first before he does his own self. What one piece of advice you can share with me on how to gain the most muscle the fastest?

LS: Slow down. Anything you do in the weight room, slow it down for size. The average person seems to be stuck in this 10 repetition mentality which is probably why they look like the average person. Let’s just say there’s a huge difference in the size generation you can get from taking 60 seconds to do those 10 repetitions verses taking 20 seconds.

WP: Are you married, dating, or do you have kids?

LS: 100% single and on my own. No wife, no girlfriend, no kids. I think that’s a good thing for me at this point in my life. I keep too busy to even spend free time with myself. I guess maybe that’s something I need to work on before I bring someone else into the mix.

WP: Who had the most impact on you growing up?

LS: My parents and sister had the greatest impact in making me who I am today. Both of my parents carry the mentality that above all it’s important to be happy and to keep others around you happy. My sister and I never fought growing up which seems to be more than most people who have a sibling can say about their childhood. It’s cool because I always had three different mentors in my own house and could choose who to pick out depending on what I needed advice on. I think the lack of stress as a child can definitely carry over to being a level headed adult.

WP: What is your work out regimen?

LS: My workout regimen is ever changing. If you give me a pen and paper, I can write down 20 exercise variations for each muscle group without hesitation. Part of my goal is to not stick with one thing unless I’m training for something specific that requires it. I once spent most of a month just teaching myself how to stand on a ball and afterwards how to do squats while standing on the ball. I’m happy with where I am physically so I basically just have fun with it.

I know that’s not exactly the answer you’re looking for so why don’t I do this: My proportionally biggest and best defined body part is my calves. Here’s my calf workout:

Seated Calf Raise: 2-sets of 10 with heavy weight.
Seated Calf Raise Pigeon Toed: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.
Seated Calf Raise Toes Out: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.

Leg Press Calf Raise: 2-sets of 10 with heavy weight.
Leg Press Calf Raise Pigeon Toed: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.
Leg Press Calf Raise Toes Out: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.
Single Leg Calf Raise on Leg Press: 2-sets of 10 with 40% or original weight.

Smith Machine Calf Raises (with heels hanging off step): 2-sets of 10 with heavy weight.
Smith Machine Calf Raises Pigeon Toed: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.
Smith Machine Calf Raises Toes Out: 2-sets of 10 with 85% of original weight.
Single Leg Calf Raise on Smith Machine: 2-sets of 10 with 40% or original weight.

Repeat entire workout with ½ original weight and 20 repetitions.

WP: What a great workout! Have you played in sports before?

LS: Surprisingly, not much. I was always out for sports in high school, but was never real good at anything. I was on a water ski show team for six years or so. I really enjoyed that. We did things like barefoot waterskiing, building pyramids, doubles, etc. I also had the opportunity to go over jumps, and try out everything imaginable you could do on the water recreationally with the team. It was great fun and took up most of my summer for the whole 6-year stretch

WP: One final question and we will be closing the interview. If you could change one thing about yourself, what would it be?

LS: I know that I am always taking on way too much. I don’t ever want to miss an opportunity so I am constantly accepting and looking for any project that I think would be fun or of benefit to me. I think that overall this mentality really hurts me.

WP: Is there anything else you would like to add?

LS: Thanks so much, Tammy, for doing this interview with me. Also, thanks to John Mitchell of BBpics.com for doing the shoot that ultimately lead to this exposure. You both have been great!

WP: I'm blushing! It is all of our pleasure, Luke. You have been a total delight to work with. Not only are you talented but, you're smart. You will go a very long way in your career! Good luck to you!