Summary: Today we have an interview with Kidafi Byer who placed 2nd in the Open Level 2 Category in the latest Adonis Index Contest. Check out his pictures: Kadafi is no newbie to weight training or to the Adonis Index Lifestyle. He has been with us for a while now. And this wasn't his first Adonis Index contest either. From last contest he successfully maintained his fitness and even managed to gain a bit of lean muscle mass without putting any fat mass on, if anything he got more ripped! And that was exactly the point - get in shape with one or two contests and use the next one to find out how to maintain your body and get even more ripped. Decide, Plan, Act When Kidafi saw Allen Elliott's winning pictures in one of the contest he knew he would be a worthy opponent and that it will be hard to beat him. He decided to take his time to strategize, prepare and then put in as much effort as he could into building the Adonis physique for the contest. This time he wasn't fasting very often, just a few times in the last four weeks prior the contest. Rather than fasting he used the Reverse Taper Diet principles and tapered his calories up towards the end of the contest. In his diet he didn't change anything, he ate pretty much exactly what he did last time, just a bit more since he wasn’t really cutting much. And that’s what you can expect to happen. If you’ve been eating too much in the past and gained a bit of fat, then you need to start eating less. However, once you lose the fat and you get lean you can slowly increase your calorie intake closer to your maintenance. At this point dieting becomes super hard and cutting is a really big challenge. Basically your body will have very little fat stored and it will force you to eat more calories more often. This is why fasting at 8% bodyfat it's almost impossible. Can You Take the Pictures Yourself or Do You Have to Pay for a Photographer? For the photoshoot itself Kidafi recommends having someone else take the pictures. You can either have a friend/spouse take it or pay for a professional photoshoot. A lot of our contestants like to schedule the professional photoshoot, because it helps you with accountability and also gives you a clear deadline to shoot for. And since you are going to put a lot of effort into all this, you might as well capture it professionally and have the pictures for life. However, a professional shoot is not necessary to win a contest. We've had quite a few people take amazing pictures at home or on the beach. Kidafi's pictures are great and he did them by himself! Just realize that taking pictures is an art and there is a whole niche of photographers who specialize in fitness, so don't be surprised when your pictures aren't magazine cover quality when you take them yourself. But why would you even take the pictures? Well, even if you are not comfortable taking pictures right now, that will change once you get in shape. It's worth getting a real photoshoot to really see what you got. Kidafi's Approach for Building the Adonis Physique This time around Kidafi didn't care about his weight. His goals were to get a bit leaner, gain more muscle if possible and generally have more of a "fuller" look while remaining injury free. He is not the biggest guy in the gym, he is not the heaviest, but he is ripped and he loves the look. Apart from the fact that weight is irrelevant and doesn't tell the whole story, if you weigh yourself on a daily basis it's guaranteed to mess with your head. There simply aren't any big changes you're going to see day to day besides water fluctuations. In his workout Kidafi shifted from lifting heavy to concentrating more on the lifting technique. He gave himself permission to lift light and focused on the squeeze and tension of his muscle contractions instead of just lifting heavy weights up and down. The feeling after the workout was very satisfying,
