How Did You Get Started In Fitness & Bodybuilding?
My love for fitness began clear back in the 3rd grade when I started running a couple of miles per day with my sisters. At that time I also started doing push ups, pull ups, and sit ups in the basement while my father was working out with the weights. I didn’t actually get serious about weight lifting until 2001 when I was a sophomore in college (age 20) because I had a couple of roommates that were big into weight training. All it took was that first trip to the gym and I was instantly addicted to the adrenaline, pump, and the challenge of bettering my body and increasing my strength each new session.
I loved challenging myself and pushing myself to the max each session and my sessions became that “NO PAIN, NO GAIN” kind of philosophy. I loved conquering the mental battles in the gym too, by losing myself in my music and simply visualizing success before each set. I often visualize King Kong on top of the Empire State building pounding his chest before my sets and then I pound my chest and conquer my set. Anyways, staying super consistent with this weight training led me to compete in a couple of bodybuilding shows (Mr. Indiana State University & Mr. Wabash bodybuilding shows), both of which I was blessed with 1st place.
What Is Your Best Accomplishment So Far?
I would say my best accomplishment so far is either winning the 2011 WBFF World Championship or my 40+ fitness magazine covers. All of these accomplishments have been true blessing for the good Lord.
You want to shut your eyes and see yourself succeeding in your goals. Tell yourself you are a champion, victor, more than a conqueror every day and you will begin walking that out. Hang around people that are positive and uplifting and that believe in you and encourage you. Get all the negative people out of your life as much as possible. Every night before you go to bed you should make a list of the things you want to get accomplished for the next day and set specific times in which you plan to accomplish them.
What Workout Routine Has Worked Best For You?
My philosophy with weight training is to that I train using my ‘Scientific Training Methods’. What do I mean by Scientific Training Methods? I spent several years studying the anatomy of the muscles and how they move and work so that I could get a better insight on how to train each and every intricate part of each muscle. I don’t want to waste my time in any of my gym sessions by either over-training or under-training, so I’d rather have a very detailed program where I know I am hitting every part of the of those primary muscles when I am training them. So, I’ve broken down each of the muscles that I train into intricate parts so that I know I am training the muscle FULLY when I go into the gym and not leaving portions out.
For example, the chest is broken down into the Pec Major & the Pec Minor. Pec Major has three major parts to it, the clavicular head (upper head), sternocostal head (mid head) & the costal head (lower head). Then you have the Pec Minor which is three muscle strands located under the pec major and run from the shoulder blade and attache to the 3rd, 4th, & 5th ribs. With my Scientific Training Methods I learn muscle anatomy like this for all of my body parts and then I study how I can train them for maximum results each training session.
The second part of my Scientific Training Methods was to get an understanding of what secondary muscles are working when you are training those primary muscles. It’s good to know this so that you don’t mistakenly train a secondary muscle two days in a row, because the secondary muscle needs to recover and grow that next day and you don’t want to interrupt that process by tearing it down right away again before it even recovers. You won’t train legs two days in a row would you? Then you shouldn’t train secondary muscles two days in a row.
What is an example of a secondary muscle? On chest day your secondary muscles are front delts and triceps. On back day your secondary muscles are rear delts and biceps. So, you never want to train shoulders the day before or after a chest or back day as you have already hit the delts as secondary muscles on those day. I also don’t recommend training back the day before or after leg day as leg day already puts enough pressure on your back. The program below is what I came up with as I feel it allows plenty of recovery for the muscles. So, learn more about my Scientific Training Methods below.
Fitness Model James Ellis’s Full Workout Routine
Day 1: Back And A Bicep Burnout (Abs)
1.) Two exercises for lats (ex. Lat pull-down and seated rows)
2.) Standing mid traps row on the cable machine (palms facing down & elbow at a 45 degree angle)
3.) Superset two exercises for the lower traps (ex. pivot prone pull, & a high T-bar row machine)
4.) Superset two exercises for my upper traps (ex. shrugs using the standing calve raise machine, & trap dips)
5.) One lower back exercise (ex. maybe the hyper-extension machine using a 25 pound plate, or good mornings)
6.) Now a QUICK bicep burnout (3 different bicep exercises, 3 sets each too). Usually some fast super-sets and I make sure to hit the full bicep. (Ex. 3 sets of preacher curls and superset that with 3 sets of standing dumbbell hammer curls, finish off with 3 sets of reverse curls on the cable machine)
*I do hypertrophy training, so all of my back exercises are 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 with 60-90 seconds between sets. I do, however allow my Pivot Prone Pull, and upper trap exercises to be in the range of 10-15. The bicep burnouts are 10-15 or to failure.
**With this workout you are hitting FULL back and FULL biceps as well. Try to switch up the exercises occasionally to keep the body guessing though and continue on with maximum results.
***After I’m done with back/biceps I choose an ab exercise and an oblique exercise and super set them for 3 quick sets each.
Day 2: Chest And A Tricep Burnout
1.) Incline Barbell Bench Press
2.) Flat Dumbbell Bench Press
3.) Decline Hammer Strength Chest Press
4.) Incline Dumbbell Flyes
5.) Pec Dec or Flye Machine (for mid chest)
6.) Decline Cable Flyes (for lower chest)
7.) Gironda Dips (for pec minor)
8.) Now a QUICK Tricep burnout (3 different tricep exercises, 3 sets each too). Usually some fast super-sets and I make sure to hit full tricep.(Ex. 3 sets of skull crushers, 3 sets of overhead tricep rope presses and superset that with 3 sets of reverse grip tricep press-downs)
*I do hypertrophy training (muscle building/bodybuilding), so all of my chest exercises are 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 with 60-90 seconds between sets. Both the Gironda Dips and the tricep dips are to be done to failure.
**With this workout you are hitting FULL chest and FULL triceps as well. I switch up the order each week of what type of barbell bench I will start with (incline, decline, or flat) and that changes the rest of the workout too as you want to make sure you are hitting the FULL chest. Remember, you have to keep the body guessing to continue to get great results. So, switch up your order and exercises often.
***After I finish my chest & triceps workout I do 10 minutes of hit cardio (10 sets of 40 seconds of a high intensity cardio and then 20 seconds standing still to let the heart rate come down)
Day 3: Legs (Abs)
1.) Squats and/or Leg Press
2.) Leg Extension and superset this with Leg Curls
3.) Inner Thigh machine and superset this with Outer Thigh Machine (3 sets of 10-15)
4.) Hip Flexor knee raises on the cable machine and superset this with glute kick backs (you’ll need an ankle strap to hook to the cable machine for both of these) (3 sets of 10-15)
5.) Standing Calve Raise machine (3 heavy sets of 12, 10, 8) & superset this with the seated calve raise machine (3 sets of 20-30)
*I do hypertrophy training, so all of my leg exercises unless otherwise labelled are 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 with 60-90 seconds between sets.
**With this workout you are hitting FULL legs, however remember you have to occasionally switch things up to keep the body guessing and continue to get great results.
***After I’m done with legs I choose an ab exercise and an oblique exercise and super set them for 3 quick sets each.
Day 4: Shoulders
1.) Barbell, Dumbbell, or Machine Shoulder press and superset this with Arnold Presses
2.) Lying rear delt cable flyes and superset with seated or bent over rear delt dumbbell flyes (3 sets of 10-15)
3.) Lateral Raise Machine and superset with standing dumbbell lateral raises (3 sets of 10-15)
4.) Sit sideways in the lateral raise machine so you can perform and front raise with your forearm against the pad and superset this with dumbbell front raises using a hammer style grip (3 sets of 10-15)
5.) Wide grip upright rows on the cable machine (really focus on pulling with the elbows high as the focus needs to be more on the shoulder caps than the traps) (3 sets of 10-15)
*I do hypertrophy training, so all of my shoulder exercises unless otherwise labelled are 3 sets of 12, 10, 8 with 60-90 seconds between sets. The delts are a very delicate muscle, so you don’t want to go super heavy, but rather slow and controlled with less weight…that is why I do higher reps for them.
**With this workout you are hitting FULL shoulders, however remember you have to occasionally switch things up to keep the body guessing and continue to get great results.
***After I’m done with shoulders I do 10 minutes of hit cardio (10 sets of 40 seconds of a high intensity cardio and then 20 seconds standing still to let the heart rate come down)
Day 5: Biceps And Triceps
1.) Skull Crushes and burnout with close grip presses and then superset that with standing curls using the ez-curl bar
2.) Tricep kick-backs and super set that with seated hammer curls
3.) Reverse grip tricep press-downs on the cable machine using the straight bar and superset that with lying down reverse grip bicep curls on the cable machine using the straight bar
4.) Body weight skull crushers leaning against the smith machine bar and burnout by doing decline push ups with your feet on the smith machine bar. Super set that by doing a curl with both hands on a 45 pound plate (hammer style curl) and burnout by doing palm up curls with 10 pound plates in each hand. (This is the end of your biceps and triceps workout, so these are to be done to complete failure)
*Since the arms are typically a secondary muscle I train them 3 sets of 10-15 reps with about a 30-60 second break between sets.
**With this workout you are hitting FULL biceps & triceps, however remember you have to occasionally switch things up to keep the body guessing and continue to get great results.
***After I’m done with this workout I choose an ab exercise and an oblique exercise and super set them for 3 quick sets each. Don’t go super hard as you’ll have the weighted ab exercise the next day.
Day 6: Weighted Abs
1.) Hanging Weighted Leg Raises superset with hanging side knee raises (I typically use the ab sling for these as I don’t want my grip to give out before my abs)
2.) Decline Bench Weighted Crunches superset with side crunches on the bench
3.) Flutter kicks lying on the bench superset with a plank
*All of these exercises are to be done to failure with about 30-60 seconds between sets. You don’t have to use a ton of weight on the ab exercises but do challenge yourself. I don’t ever suggest using weight for your oblique exercises.
**After I’m done with abs I do 10 minutes of hit cardio (10 sets of 40 seconds of a high intensity cardio and then 20 seconds standing still to let the heart rate come down)
Day 7: Day Off
Attention: Now you can get all of my workouts I mentioned above (Back, Chest, Legs, Shoulders, Arms, Abs/Obliques) as video downloads from my website: www.JamesEllisFit.com. You will then see the how the exercises are performed, the pace of workout, etc. I am very descriptive and give a lot of great pointers and substitute exercises. My Abs video actually has 6 different ab workouts too. I’ll also be doing a few 15 minute workout videos soon that include HIIT cardio and quick weight training for those of you who don’t have a ton of time, so be sure to subscribe to My E-mail Listing on the website for updates.
Favourite Form Of Cardio?
My favorite form of cardio is HIIT cardio. However, when I’m prepping for show/competition I typically go through a cardio cycle: I do 30-45 minutes of speed-walking (4-4.5 mph) cardio in the morning on an empty stomach (take some BCAA’s) as this is one of the best ways to burn fat. Then every other day I will do 10-15 minutes of HIIT cardio on an empty stomach. You can read about HIIT cardio online, but I basically go for 30 seconds at 100% effort and then 30 seconds at a standstill. Do that interval 10-15 times and you’ll be pooped. So speed walking one morning and HIIT cardio the next is a great way to keep the body guessing and burn some fat.
What Is Your Diet Like? What Supplements Do You Use?
For diet I typically eat some good lean protein. So, chicken breast, fish, turkey, egg whites, Greek Yogurt & lean protein shakes are the foods I typically eat. I find that the good carbs I like to eat are sweet potatoes, brown rice, oats/oatmeal, rice cakes, & fibrous carbs (steamed broccoli & grilled asparagus). Another tasty thing I like to eat Greek Yogurt with Chocolate Protein & Blueberries mixed into it.
If people would like to get a good diet plan tailored to your specific needs they should go to my diet and training company page and drop us a note there: www.facebook.com/scientificbodysculpting. Just leave a note there saying that I sent you via this interview and I’ll give you all a great deal. 
As far as the supplements go, I currently use and enjoy Magnum Nutraceuticals supplements as they are clean Pharmaceutical Grade supplements. I am always taking there ‘DNA’ (BCAA’s), ‘Quattro’ (Protein), ‘G’ (Glutamine), ‘Primer’ (Performance Packs), & ‘Acid’ (CLA).
When I am trying to cut up I stack their ‘Acid’ (CLA) and their ‘Heat Acc.’ (Fat Burner) as it gives me some amazing results. Here is a link to the cutting stack deal they are running: http://hardmagnum.com/product/incinerator-stack
When I am trying to bulk up I use Magnum’s Bulking Stack as it gives me a great Jump Start to that process. You can find that here: http://hardmagnum.com/product/anabolic-growth-stack. To get 10% off of any Mangum supplements you can use promo code: JAMESELLIS10%. If you are outside of the US & Canada then you will have to get the Magnum supplements at Bodybuilding.com & I unfortunately don’t have a promo code for them.
You Work On The Ellen Show, Can You Tell Us About That & What Are Some Other Fun Things You Get To Do As A Fitness Model?
Yes, I’ve been on The Ellen Show well over 30 times and it is always an absolute blast. She typically calls me and a few other fellas when she needs shirtless guys on the show. We do funny skits like ‘Blind Folded Musical Chairs’ where the women will be blind folded and have to find us and sit on our laps. I’ve also done other fun skits on her show with her guests, such as, Gwyneth Paltrow, Miley Cyrus, Nicole Richie, NeNe Leakes, Bethenny Frankel, etc. Ellen is such an amazing person and so much fun to work with too.
Can You Talk Us Through A Typical Daily Routine For You?
Well, my full time job is modelling and acting, so every day is a bit different as I have random auditions and shoots each day. I typically try to get up each day by about 8am though so I can read my bible and pray as this is an amazing way to start the day. If I don’t have auditions or shoots then I will usually just work in my home office from about 9-5 and catch up on e-mails and business stuff. After that, I typically hit the gym for a good evening weight training session and then I come home to eat a good lean meal. When I’m done with the gym I either hang with friends or just relax to a good TV show or movie. Before bed I like to try to read my bible or a good book and then pray as well.
Best Tips & Exercises for Getting an Amazing 6 Pack?
My favorite exercises for abs are typically exercises that involve using weights. I do weighted ab training because my goal is to have bulky & cut abs and when you train with weights that helps to build bulky abs. When the abs are bulky you can see the cuts better as well, so it’s a win win situation.
Exercises: I enjoy doing hanging leg raises using weight. I typically hang in the ab slings and use a dumbbell between my feet for the weighted resistance, but as another option you can clip the two sides of the cable cross-over machine together and pull the cable up with your feet for weight resistance too. Another one of my favorites is the weighted ab crunch on the cable machine using the rope attachment. I do this one on my knees facing the machine…I allow the machine/weight to pull my chest up/stretch my abs and then I slightly/gently tuck my head and crunch down.
Tips: When training abs it is important to be slow and controlled as that engages/flexes the ab muscles much better/tighter. The harder you are flexing those ab muscles the better workout you are getting essentially. Another important tip is to make sure you are exhaling as much air out as you possibly can as you are engaging/flexing the abdominal muscles. Pushing tons of air out essentially causes you to flex those abs tighter, and holding that crunched position for a few seconds will give you the best abdominal workout ever.
I actually have an ab workout video download on my website called, “ABSOLUTE 6-Pack Abs” that show me doing 6 different ab/oblique exercises. I show tons of really creative exercises that I came up with that are too hard to explain in writing…you have to the demonstration to get the full effect. Here is the direct link: http://www.jamesellisfit.com/#!abs-video/cgeo
Give Your Best 3 Fitness Tips That People Can Implement Right Now:
Motivation & Inspiration are two huge keys to success when it comes to reaching your health and fitness goals. So, you need to first set some measurable and attainable fitness goals. Write those goals down and post them on your wall so you can be reminded of them each day and so you can stay on track too. Find some motivational/inspirational quotes and post those one your wall next to your goals as those quotes will keep you going when times get rough. Post a picture on your wall of the end result body you’d like to attain (tear it out of a fitness magazine). Now you have to just stay positive, visualize your success, and stick it out like a BEAST.
Get on a diet & training plan that it catered to your specific goals and needs. As I said earlier in this interview, you can get a diet and training plan from my company, Scientific Body Sculpting, or you may choose to go elsewhere. You can try out my JamesEllisFit workout video downloads or check out some of the fitness eBooks on my website as they might be great tools to help you reach your goals. All this to say, take action now by getting on a good diet and training program as having something to follow will help you be leaps and bounds.
Hang around people that will encourage you in your health and fitness goals, people that believe in you. Follow people on social networks, etc., that inspire/motivate you and that also put up good health and fitness tips. The team that you surround yourself with can either impact you in a positive way or in a negative way, so take the proper steps to ensure that your team with impact you in a positive way. You have to keep yourself motivated/inspired & driven each and every day.
Did You Make Any Mistakes When You First Started Out?
Yes, when I first started working out I made the mistake of overtraining secondary muscles as I didn’t fully understand the anatomy of the muscle then and how different muscles work together. I sort of explained this whole concept earlier in the interview, but the idea is that you want to make sure that you aren’t training the same muscle two days in a row as your body is trying to repair that muscle the next few days after training it. So, doing a program like my ‘Scientific Training Methods’ program will ensure that you are getting amazing workouts AND plenty of recovery time for your muscles.
The other mistake that I made when I first started working out is that I was training in a rep range that wasn’t the most effective for helping me to reach my goals. My goal was to gain good quality muscle mass and get cut too. I was doing 3 sets of 8, 6, & 4 and that is a rep range that focuses more on gaining strength and not as muscle building and cutting up. I should have been focusing on 3 sets of 12, 10 & 8 as this is hypertrophy training/muscle building. #TheMoreYouKnow
James Ellis Youtube Channel – Chocolate Protein Greek Yoghurt
Your Best Tips To Getting Into Contest Shape/Losing Those Last Few Pounds?
Get a diet from my diet and training company ‘Scientific Body Sculpting’ as referred to earlier in this interview. We have amazing several different contest diets that will shred you out to the max. The plan that I was on helped me to win the 2011 WBFF World Championship.
As I mentioned earlier in this interview, speed-walking on the treadmill will help to shred out. Glycogen depletion workouts in the final days are key. Getting on Magnum Nutraceuticals ‘cutting stack’ is amazing. Eating a very low fat high protein diet will help. Carb cycling is a great way to lean up for competitions. Without going into a ton of detail, you’ll want to water load and deplete, carb deplete and load, and sodium load and deplete. Doing all of this at the right time will bring you in super tight. All of this information is very detailed in our competition diet at ‘Scientific Body Sculpting’.
What’s Your Funniest Gym Moment?
Probably when I added too many weight plates to the cable machine and ended up breaking the cable on the machine. I felt kind of bad about that one and it made a loud crashing noise too. Whoops!
Where Does Your Motivation Come From?
Honestly, my motivation comes from the Lord and knowing that I am in this fitness modelling/acting business because He placed me here to be a light in what can often be a very dark industry. I love being in this business and giving the good Lord all the Glory, Honor, & Praise for each and every one of my accomplishments as those wouldn’t be possible without His help.
When the motivation in your life is healthy it gives birth to great discipline and the results from discipline then keep that motivation train fuelled up and running. The best way to stay disciplined is, as I said earlier, to set measurable and attainable goals and write them down too so that you aren’t confused about what your goals were. As you reach those goals you will want to set bigger and better ones as well. Find motivational and inspirational quotes and tape them on your wall where you will read them every day…you want to surround yourself with this winner kind of attitude and positivity.
Rip a picture out of a magazine of the end result kind of body you want and tape it on your wall so it will always remind you of your goals. ALWAYS visualize success in everything you do. You want to shut your eyes and see yourself succeeding in your goals. Tell yourself you are a champion, victor, more than a conqueror every day and you will begin walking that out. Hang around people that are positive and uplifting and that believe in you and encourage you. Get all the negative people out of your life as much as possible. Every night before you go to bed you should make a list of the things you want to get accomplished for the next day and set specific times in which you plan to accomplish them. Make sure that you definitely set out to accomplish the most important tasks too. If you want to be a success then you must plan every detail to be a success.
If you want to be disciplined then you need to do the things I mentioned above and you will then be a success in those areas. The question often is, how bad do you want it? Only you know how bad you want it and how hard you are working to get it, so don’t cheat yourself, but rather work as hard as you can to be fair to yourself. Know that YOU ARE A CHAMPION, and go out and get your trophy (whatever it may be for you).
For More Of Fitness Model James Ellis Please Check Out His:
Website: www.JamesEllisFit.com
Facebook: www.Facebook.com/JamesEllisFitness
Instagram: www.instagram.com/JamesEllisFit
Twitter: www.twitter.com/jamesellis3