Rafael Brandão’s trainer for about a month, Marcello Alfonsi stated this week that the athlete has the potential to be Olympia champion. “The best version of him is capable of incredible things, (…) he can, yes, be Mister Olympia”, says the professional in an interview with the column.
The “coach” (a term used to refer to the person responsible for the nutritional and pharmacological aspects of a bodybuilder’s preparation) also reports changes in the strategy adopted by Brandão since the end of his partnership with Neil Hill: “Everything is very different. The first step of the work was to adjust his digestion. To give you an idea, he ate practically nothing right after the championship in Ohio – generally, athletes leave the competition and eat everything they couldn’t during preparation.”
“After that, we started doing more ‘old school’ work (…). I’m a big believer in the old school – no wonder, athletes from the past showed the results they did. Despite being a fan of what science says, I’m not one to ignore this side. I like to combine science with the experience I acquired in 14 years in bodybuilding. We’re doing more intensive work, and Leo (Leonardo Gramkow, Brandão’s new coach) is also a fundamental part of this – the training of the Rafa has completely changed. I believe that we will be able to make Rafa build more lean mass even though he is in a calorie deficit, weeks away from competing”, adds Tchellow, the nickname by which he is known.
Despite not revealing what the bodybuilder’s next competition will be, Alfonsi states that this has already been decided. In the short term, the team’s objective is to make him have better conditioning than what was seen at the Arnold Classic Ohio – the last competition in which the athlete participated – without harming his size: “We’re going to bring more conditioning, but we can’t let him waste away. At this point, Leo’s work is fundamental, because what will make him retain all that muscle mass even while losing fat is training. What the public can expect is a Rafael Brandão with a much denser appearance.”
In the long term, the trainer wants to structure a long period of “bulking” (a time in which bodybuilders increase their caloric intake in order to acquire more muscle mass, which generates increases in size and weight): “We want to work on adding muscle mass to his physique (…) I think that, realistically, we can expect an increase of 5 kg”.
The main criticisms suffered by Brandão refer to his supposed lack of volume for the Open category. However, Alfonsi refutes this idea: “What people need to understand is that bodybuilding is an illusion. No one comes with a scale on stage to weigh themselves. Rafa will probably never be the heaviest athlete on stage. If he brings a truly conditioned physique, the illusion created will be very different from what it was in Ohio. This is an understanding that many people don’t have. It’s about illusion, not about the athlete’s weight. And we will be able to improve this illusion by focusing on his strengths and improving his conditioning. This It will make him look bigger (…) his back has already evolved a lot and we haven’t even had a month of work yet. Although people have this concept of time damaged by social media, Rafa still has a lot of time.”
Finally, the professional summarizes the beginning of the work with the bodybuilder: “I’m seeing how his body responds to each stimulus (…) this month has been very good because we managed to get a glimpse of where we can go. Rafa changes every day, his body responds to each stimulus”.
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