Interview Sponsored By Multipower Professional
Interview by Aaron Hallett aka incredible_bulk 16th April 2011 at FIBO
AH: Hi Gunter, it’s great talking to you again, the last time we spoke it was at the BodyPower Expo in 2009 and you were looking to compete at the Arnold Classic this year.
Can you you tell us why you had to pull out for you preparation for this contest?
GS: That’s pretty easy, at that time it was only my wife and me but when it came around to the Arnold Classic it was me, my wife and my little boy! With all the travelling I do I just couldn’t get the size I wanted to put on, being a part time dad and my wife also has a good career going too so I spent a lot of time supporting her. She has a new training concept that she is working on and helping out with the little guy it was tough you know?
My wife gave me a pretty hard time saying that I can't be so selfish any more like I used to and we have to all take care of each other. I’m still working out and staying in shape sitting at between 118-125kg, I am no longer bulking up to 150kg to diet down to 138kg for a show like I used to.
AH: You travel around the world a lot attending bodybuilding and fitness expos, for anyone who follows your blog on your website, you have recently travelled to Costa Rica, Russia, Sweden, etc, how hard to find to fit in your training schedule on top of keeping an eye on your diet?
GS: I always bring protein supplements with me as well as some good nutrition bars. If I eat out I usually order a grilled chicken breast with some salad; you can make smart choices when you travel. I try and eat a lot of fruit like apples and bananas to get something healthy so I don’t have to stop at every McDonald’s to get a hamburger [laughs].
At the moment I’m at FIBO and with all the travelling and meetings I haven’t been able to train for four days and it’s really a problem as you need to keep things consistent. There once was a time when I just got paid to train, eat and sleep and to be at the level I was, that’s what you pretty much have to do. It’s tough, I do the best I can and when I travel I sometimes feel jet lagged but working out makes you feel a little bit better as you have been sitting down for so long and it gets you going a little bit better.
I always try and find a gym somewhere to do a small workout; normally I train one body part a session but I end up combining body parts, even a whole body workout to try and maintain what size I have.
AH: You have recently signed with Multipower Professional and will be spearheading the imminent launch of their new product range with fellow IFBB Pro Dan Hill at FIBO. How are you liking working with Multipower Professional so far? What do you think of their new product range?
GS: That’s a good question [laughs] as I have a story: I just got in last Monday and that was the first time I got to try one of Multipower's products as it had just literally come in! I tried the No-extreme and the Muscle Effect, the No-extreme you use before a workout and the Muscle Effect you use after. I took the chemist (Dennis) for a workout and I’ve got to say I’ve never experienced something like that before, some NO products do something and give you a pump but it fades away over time while NO-extreme holds onto the effect; it was great.
I normally train for 35-45 minutes and I feel wiped afterwards but with this NO-Extreme you actually want to workout more and for longer, this is no BS! The Muscle Effect works really well as I didn’t even feel sore the next day after a heavy workout and it certainly has helped me to recover quickly.
I gave some samples of both to some of my friends that night and they went straight out and hit the gym, the next day they came to my booth at FIBO and said that it was amazing so came back for more free samples [laughs].
AH: Have you tried any of the other products from the new range from Multipower?
GS: Yeah, I’ve been trying out their protein supplements and Multipower ensure that they are of the highest quality, I tried the choco-cream flavour and its incredible. It’s a product you can drink every day, I love drinking it and with my long career trying many products you drink it once, you drink it twice and by the third time forget about it [laughs]. As a professional you drink and eat a lot of things because you have to but still, flavour is just as important as quality and Multipower's protein drinks do both for me and I’m 100% behind it.
AH: Having competed in six Mr Olympia contests with 5 top 10 places, amongst multiple other IFBB Pro shows throughout your career, what is it like to work with rookie pro Dan Hill? Do you feel you can help pass down some valuable advice and information to him as he takes the early steps in his career?
GS: As a team with Multipower and myself behind Dan, we hope to build a 'road to success' story that people can follow. I think Dan can learn a lot but he is already a really smart educated guy and I like that about him but I feel there are certain things he can learn to be more in the present. Dan always thinks ahead and I think he does too much, you can burn out when you do too much. You have to have a tunnel vision when you build up to a show and Dan is travelling every week doing photo-shoots like crazy and I said 'dude you can’t do that, first you have to get in shape, then you do the photo-shoots'. Don't do the photo-shoots when you're not in shape as people want to see you improving, results in bodybuilding takes time, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon. I will mentor him, I will say that he needs to be more in the moment and not think too far ahead as you have opportunities all around you and you need to see them as the happen like meeting people, etc.
AH: Your wife, Kim, works as a personal trainer, a top IFBB Pro Fitness competitor and is also best known as being one of the trainers on NBC's 'Biggest Loser' reality TV series, do you find she keeps you on your toes with regards to your diet and training?
GS: Kim likes how I look right now, like an athlete, so she gives me a hard time if I even eat a dark chocolate almond! I try and tell her that I’ll work it off [laughs], but we are both athletes and we both know about nutrition but we have different views as I’m looking at it from a bodybuilding perspective and she is looking at things from a fitness point of view.
AH: With both of you having busy careers, do you try and help each other out in the busy times?
GS: Kim is now the face of the website www.fasttracktofatloss.com and that has between 500,000 to 1,000,000 followers which is just incredible. She's working on her own training system which is really stressful because it’s such a big job so I’m working with her to help out, especially with our baby son.
AH: Kim has already published her first book and working on her second, will we ever see you put pen to paper so we can read about your tales of the Pro stage?
GS: You know, there was a time when I thought about it if I found time to put things together and the story I’d call “Coming to America” because I had a really hard but good start. When I first came to America I was travelling a lot so I didn’t really know what was going on and the things I experienced were really quite unbelievable and some people don’t know the difficulties with language and the rules of the government, I might think about writing about that.
AH: You have appeared in a few films and numerous TV adverts, reading your acting resume online, you are trained in fight choreography, martial arts and sword fighting. Will we be seeing you in any action films in the future? You fit the pretty well for a Conan-like character!
GS: The problem is, the people who make the movies no longer want the actors for the hero roles to be as big as I am any more but I do have a guy who is putting together a script for a low budget production with me as the main character but I like the story line. I told him that if he could pull it off then I’m in, but this project could take a while because you have to pull together the scripts, put a package together to sell to production companies and obtain the right budget to get the film done in the right way.
I did a film last year called “Never Surrender” where I had two fighting scenes as a character called 'Crusher'. The funny thing is I was sitting down in my home town in a coffee place enjoying my afternoon coffee and all of a sudden a car pulls over and two little English kids scream out of the window “hey you were Crusher!” The father of the kids steps out of the car and asks if I was in the film as the kids recognised me, it was quite unbelievable as two kids watched the film and recognised me!
I do get a lot of recognition from the movies especially in Europe, you have some people who watch a film 10 times and know all the words and will tell you that they get drunk with the guys, put on a film and they recognise you from it [laughs].
AH: Injuries are always looming for any bodybuilder, you never officially retire but after taking some time away to focus on your acting and caring for your new born son, while getting back to your larger than life size, have you changed in any way how you train to avoid injury?
GS: Yeah I do, I train way lighter and faster because for me it’s no longer about the weight but breaking the muscle down and let it repair to get my gains and stay in shape. Training with a lighter weight but at a faster speed helps me to stay in shape as it’s a form of cardio too burning the muscles out faster because they don’t have such a long break between the sets, 45-60mins and I’m done.
AH: You moved to California a while ago and train in Venice, are you still working with Charles Glass?
GS: I actually worked with him last year for around 3 months, but there was a time where I unsure if I should attack it all again, there was the birth of my son, I was back and forth a lot. If you're not 100% and your family life has changed a lot, the best trophy I actually have was holding my baby; it’s not that my life changed, but my view on the point of life changed. I will always love bodybuilding and training and the bodybuilding lifestyle in a positive way but the only thing I don’t do is go into a competition because that would take a more extreme way.
AH: So will we see you on stage again do you think?
GS: Not right now, but if I find the time I might do but not in the next year or so.
AH: Travelling around so much and now living in the US, are you taking this opportunity while at FIBO to visit family and friends? Do you miss living in Germany at all?
GS: Yes my friends swung by and visited me in my hotel, I have taken the time to see my parents which was nice as it was long needed as they need to know I’m well. I miss a lot things about living in Germany and Europe like the people but I’ve settled down in the USA because of the opportunities I have.
AH: I know this weekend is going to be a very busy one for you so I’ll let you get back to the action, on behalf of MuscleTalk.co.uk and all its members we wish you all the best for the future and we look forward to seeing you back on stage soon!
GS: You’re very welcome and a big 'Hi' to all the fans on MuscleTalk!