THE RELENTLESS WARRIOR INBF CHAMP ERIC HELMS
by WNBF Pro Jeff Alberts photos by WNBF Pro Jeff Alberts
Last Saturday September 5, 2009 we had the fortunate opportunity to witness Eric Helms, 26, out of Sacramento, California carry out an intense leg workout with just three weeks prior to his next competition.
Focusing in on the task at hand.
A light warm up before the punishment begins.
345 lbs. straight off the rack!
Rock bottom squats with 345 lbs. & just 3 weeks prior to showtime!
Right at the top and check out the intensity in the mirror. Does not get any better than that!
High intensity with Single Leg Curls, no pain no gain! On September 26, 2009 Eric will be competing at the "WNBF/INBF US Pro CUP/West Coast Classic" in Sacramento, Ca at the Crest Theatre for an opportunity to turn pro with the World Natural Bodybuilding Federation (WNBF). This will be Eric's 5th attempt this year to attain pro staus. Anyone who knows bodybuilding will understand the mental toughness it takes to go through challenges of just one competition let alone five. For this reason alone he is "The Relentless Warrior". Eric has been training for the past 5 years and he trains at the "Powerhouse Gym" in Rancho Cordova, Ca - where it is developing as the mecca for natural bodybuilding in California. Here are some pictures of Eric hitting some shots at the "Powerhouse Gym" exactly three weeks prior to the "West Coast Classic". These shots of Eric were taking cold at 182.6 lbs. No pump and low carbs. Impressive to say the least!
Front Relaxed, Left Side 1/4 Turn, Back Relaxed Great symmetry!
Front Double Bicep & Front Lat Spread
Side Chest & Side Triceps
Rear Double Biceps, This is where it gets freaky!
We needed a closer look at Eric's freaky lower back. With three weeks to go it is only going to get freakier!
Hitting a delt pose while displaying perfect symmetry & finishing off with a most muscular. Eric stands six feet tall and competes between 183-185 ripped pounds. In the offseason Eric will stay at a lean 200-210 lbs. Some of Eric's contest highlights include:
Eric's training style, as described by Eric. "I follow a periodized program in which I constantly balance the variables of: frequency, volume, and intensity. I will go for 8-12 weeks on a program and then I will transition to the next macro cycle. If I was doing a higher volume, lower intensity, moderate frequency program I will then transition to a higher intensity, lower volume, moderate frequency program. For example, switching from German Volume Training to Max-OT. The rationale here is that once your body has adapted to the current program, you then approach muscle growth from a very different angle, but also not switching programs so frequently that you don't get to make progress from each individual program". Eric says his best body part is his hamstrings and he talks about the best exercise for them. "Although I will admit my hamstring size and hang is probably mostly a genetic gift, I have found single leg DB romanian dead lifts, glute ham raises, single leg hyperextensions, sumo dead lifts and plain old dead lifts have added a lot of size and depth to them. So many guys just do squats, leg press, hamstring curls, and leg extensions. And you always see the same decent quad development, and lack luster posterior chain development. The hamstring performs both flexion at the knee and extension at the hip, and to get solid development one must utilize both movements with enough load to provide the stimulus for growth".
Eric's side hamstring, glute, quadricep tie-in is one of the best in natural bodybuilding. Eric does cardio both for off season and pre contest. "In the offseason I like to keep myself in decent enough cardio shape to have my muscles fatigue before my lungs and to keep open the metabolic pathways for fat burning. Nothing more nothing less. Normally this equates to 1-2x a week depending on how I feel, and what current phase of weight training I am in. I do not do much traditional cardio, I like cardio that carries over to strength training and muscle growth, so I do circuit training with kettle bells and strongman implement training such as tire flipping or light olympic lifting or high intensity interval training. However, if recovery is an issue at the time I will do some steady state, but I like to switch it up. For precontest I will do pretty much the same, just increase it as needed to drop fat. I also will reduce the high intensity work as my carbs come down and increase the steady state cardio. Carb dependent cardio just doesn't work as well when you aren't eating enough of them." Nutrition is always an important part of a competitive natural bodybuilder and Eric is no exception. "I eat 5 meals daily, the latest research has shown feeding protein too frequently (ie 6+ meals/daily) MAY lessen your body's anabolic response to it, and studies have shown no greater gain in lean body mass from eating 3 vs 6 meals a day. So I eat about every 4 hours which comes out to 5 meals/day. My philosophy on dieting comes from some of the scientific minds I respect in the field of science based bodybuilding: Dr. Joe Klemczewski, Layne Norton and Lyle McDonald mainly. I basically set my Protein around 1.25-1.5x my lean body mass in pounds, take my fat percentage to about 20-25% of my total calories, put myself in a moderate deficit BEFORE cardio of about 500 calories/day and then based on how many calories that is, the rest is in the form of carbs. I try to keep carbs as high as I can, but invariably they end up getting dropped pretty low along with my fat intake to get as lean as needed. I eat a wide variety of foods during contest prep to hit my macro nutrient goals. Lots of different meats, carb sources and fat sources. The end total calories matters MUCH more than the types of foods, however I do choose filling foods so that I don't get too hungry."
Eric's precontest meal of 7 oz. salted chicken breast and 10 organic corn thins. 50 grams of protein, 45 grams of carbs and a couple of grams of fat. Eric also uses supplements to help build his physique. "I stick to supplements that have scientific backing and that are allowed in the natural organizations in which I compete. My staples are a multi vitamin, fish oil, creatine, Free Form Amino Acids, Beta Alanine, Citrulline Malate, and Caffeine, Yohimbine HCL, 7-Keto and Synephrine if I am trying to get leaner. I get 99% of my supplements from my sponsor who has been supporting me for 2 years -Controlled Labs. I can't thank them enough!" Eric recently tore his hamstring leading up to this years contest season, but he has persevered and continued on his quest to achieve his pro card. Most individuals would have called it a day but not "The Relentless Warrior". "I tore my hamstring the day before memorial day. I was doing sumo deadlifts with 405, a heavy weight but nothing too crazy, I was planning on doing 6-8 reps with it, but on the 5th rep I felt a tear and my hamstring moved, and I collapsed in pain. I was sure I had a major tear. I was unsure on what I was going to do until I saw my doctor, and had a surgical consult with a specialist. Apparently it was not as bad as it felt, it was a partial tear that wouldn't require surgery, and I recovered much faster than anyone expected. It greatly affected my prep for the NGA Natural California, and the INBF Capital City Championships, in that I could no longer train legs heavy or do any high intensity cardio, but within a few months I was nearly 100%. I am currently approaching offseason weights on both squats and dead lifts, and my left leg is only slightly weaker than my right in isolation. I have incorporated lots of stretching, foam rolling, yoga, and sports massage into my routine to help it recover along with supplemental HMB which has shown to help injury recovery and is a potent anti-catabolic. The only lasting effect at this point is that the left hamstring doesn't appear as lean as the right but I think its just a little bit of scar tissue."
Eric Helms (far left) in the overall holding his own at the "Capital City" coming off a hamstring tear. Notice the hamstring is still larger than his competition. At Eric's last show the "Washington State Naturals" he took home the light heavyweight title which was his second straight class win. We asked Eric what he learned from that show in which he can carry over to the "West Coast" on September 26. "I learned that guys like Jeff Alberts might show up lean as humanly possible and kick your butt! Haha, no but seriously I've just been continuing to push as hard as safely possible and without risking losing muscle or irreparably flattening out to get leaner. I've had to drop the carbs so low as to the point that we decided to pull the trigger and go to a Targetted Ketogenic Diet with weekly refeeds. So, in accordance with the low carbs we've lessened the high intensity cardio and increased the slower cardio. Now I only get significant amounts of carbs weekly, and pre workout to keep my intensity up. The downside is there is a greater risk of muscle loss, which we are watching for, but the upside is we've dropped calories further but I feel mentally, and emotionally much better and energy levels have stabilized."
Eric winning the light heavyweight in Washington on August 8th.
Not only is Eric a really competitive individual, but he also displays awesome sportsmanship. Before heading into the finals at the Washington show Eric helped correct posing mistakes made by one of his top competitors. By doing that Eric possibly helped move that individual ahead of himself in the overall.
"There is no defense in bodybuilding, and there is no honor in beating a competitor when he is not at his best. This is an individual sport, and when we are all at our best, we ALL improve. I had no desire to beat him because of his mistakes, I wanted to beat him at his best, and I wanted him to be happy with his showing."
Eric is not scared to take on challenges and he is willing to go head to head with the best. For example before the "Capital City" Eric drank quite a bit of water before the weigh in to move up to heavyweight to hopefully take on Dave Blumgold. Eric could have easily decided to not drink water and easily move into the light heavies. Dave had defeated Eric 3 weeks prior at the California show. Dave is a very intimidating natural bodybuilder with a lot of experience.
"I knew that Dave was shredded 3 weeks prior at the NGA, and I knew that there wasn't much he could do to improve having already done his homework so well. And as intimidating as Dave was and as intimidating as it was being beaten by him, the only critique I got from the judges was that his conditioning was too much for me to match, in other areas it was close or I was given the nod. So, I put his picture up on my motivation wall, and did the best I could to get leaner and I wanted a rematch! It was a scary decision and I remember seeing the light heavies going out to go on stage and then looking back at Dave bursting out from his skin pumping up and thinking "what did I do!" hahaha. BUT, I slapped myself around, and got out there and posed as best I could, and I came away with my first class win and I beat a phenomenal bodybuider! Dave was so gracious, said some very encouraging words to me and in general impressed the hell out of me with his attitude and grace. I have the utmost respect for the man who started competing when I was born! A true class act, and from what I heard from the judges I BARELY beat him! No one would have questioned it going the other way."
Dave Blumgold at the '09 NGA Mr. Natural California. We asked Eric what he thinks will happen at the show on the 26th? "I see myself coming in such shredded condition that people will doubt whether or not I have skin! Beyond that, I don't know who will show up, what will happen, or how it will go down, but I am determined to be at my best! I also will be dedicating my posing routine to my father once again who passed away in February, I love you dad! I also see Brad Loomis and Angela Compili, both new WNBF Pros and close friends of mine doing very well in their debuts!" 3DMUSCLEJOURNEY wishes Eric the best of luck at his next competition. Thank you Eric for sharing your journey. Stay tuned for Eric's results! Watch Eric Helms in action on September 5, 2009. Just 3 weeks prior to the INBF West Coast Classic in Sacramento, Ca at the Crest Theatre on September 26, 2009. |
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