Interview 11 - Hunter Douglas

Hello! What's your athletic background and what initially motivated you to transform your body?

My name is Hunter Douglas, I’m a 22 year old U.S. Marine and I’m currently stationed at Camp Lejeune, NC. I was born and raised in Fort Worth, TX. I’m currently 5ft 8in, 183 lbs and I’ve been going to the gym for a little over 4 years now. I’ve been playing soccer since I was 4 years old but I recently started playing rugby 10 months ago, so I’ve always had an active life. Once I decided to join the Marine Corps, I started working out in the summer after my high school graduation. It wasn’t until the end of the summer when I got a job that I started going to the gym. In March of 2014 I went to boot camp and over the course of 7 months I only went to the gym a few times — but of course I was still active with training. Eventually I decided I wanted to change my body and pretty much get all the girls. About 8 months later in the summer of 2015 I discovered men’s physique competitions and it was no longer about getting girls but building the best physique I could. I fell in love with the gym for what it gave me mentally and physically.

What's your approach to diet and nutrition?

My diet is very flexible, a bit too flexible I would say. I live in the barracks so I only have a microwave and a refrigerator. I do what I can when it comes to eating healthy and hitting my macros. My job and playing rugby burn off a lot of calories. With that, I also have a fast metabolism so I consume around 4,000 calories a day. All of this keeps me pretty lean year round. I don’t really have a set schedule when it comes to work so I can’t always eat when I want to. Field operations, deployments and long hours at work all affect my diet. I just try to eat every 2-3 hours. I also have rugby games almost every Saturday and sometimes I have to travel on Fridays. The day of my game I’m not able to track my calories at all so I use Friday and Saturday as my cheat days. I also enjoy a few beers and drinks with my team after the game. All in all my diet is not ideal but I do what I can to build muscle. I’m a firm believer in enjoying your life and eating what you want but in moderation. I believe that an ideal diet for me and most people is 85-90% healthy and the rest whatever I want.

Through all of this, here is what I eat during a regular work week:

Breakfast: oatmeal, pop tarts, bagels.
Snack: Nutri-Grain bar, fiber one bar, banana.
Lunch: PB&J with whole wheat bread, frozen meals.
Snack: Greek yogurt, cheese sticks.
Dinner: Frozen bags of rice, vegetables, and potatoes.
Snack: oats and granola.

Again, this diet is not great but it’s better than not tracking macros and calories at all. I also change up my diet a lot and try different foods because my diet does get a bit stale after a while. Of course once I’m out of the Marine Corps and out of the barracks my diet will greatly improve.

Do you supplement your nutrition with any sport supplements?

I supplement with creatine, glutamine, BCAA’s, beta alanine, multivitamins and mass gainer (as necessary). Ideally I would cut out the mass gainer and just eat food to hit my calories. I have done this before but I always have mass gainer on hand for when I can’t just eat all day.

What does your typical week of working out look like?

Every few months or so I change up my workouts and I constantly try different exercises. Normally I’m only in the gym for about an hour, 5 days a week. I’m currently using FST-7 in my workouts (if you don’t know what this is, it’s a lot to explain but it’s definitely worth a read):

Monday: Rugby practice, Back and Triceps
Tuesday: Chest Biceps
Wednesday: Rugby practice, Legs and Abs
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Biceps and Triceps
Saturday: Rugby game if I have one, Rest
Sunday: Rest

This setup is mostly to build bigger arms which I feel like I’m lacking in. I’m not always able to follow this and sometimes I’m only in the gym 2-3 times a week. Just like my diet, I do what I can and try to make up for it. For instance, I might miss my shoulder day so if I have time Friday I’ll do shoulders before my arm workout. When I’m not using FST-7 it looks like this:

Monday: Rugby practice, Chest and Back
Tuesday: Biceps and Triceps
Wednesday: Rugby practice, Legs and Abs
Thursday: Chest and Back
Friday: Biceps and Triceps
Saturday: Rugby game if I have one, Rest
Sunday: Rest

I don’t regularly hit legs as often because of rugby and sometimes mandatory runs that we do in the Marine Corps. I don’t just have a set exercises that I use every time. I use 4 sets of each exercise and stay in the 8-12 rep range. I focus a lot on mind to muscle connections. I often use lighter weight and focus on the squeeze of my muscle. I also like to use supersets in the middle of my workouts. Below is just the base of my workouts, and from there I make up my mind in the gym. This base also allows me to hit different parts of my muscle which I believe is very important. I also recommend looking up different exercises to use — if you have a smartphone there are apps that have a huge list of exercises.

The number is the number of different exercises I use during that workout

Chest: 2 different pressing exercises, 2 different squeezing and stretching exercises.
Back: 2 lat pulldown variations, 2 row variations.
Shoulders: 2 overhead presses, 1 front delt, 1 side delt, 1 rear delt.
Biceps: 1 hammer curl variation, 1 superset (hammer curl and bicep curl), 1 bicep curl variation.
Triceps: 1 overhead pulling motion, 1 superset (overhead pull and downward pull), 1 downward pulling motion.
Legs: 2 quads, 2 hamstrings, 2 calves.
Abs: I like using weights and staying around 15 reps (20-25 reps without weights). The exercises seem endless for abs, I just wouldn’t recommend never using weights or doing crunches. There are plenty of ways to use weights, one exercise I like doing is the hanging knee raise using a belt and chain with a plate. Lay the plate across your quads and raise your knees.
Sample chest workout: Cable fly, incline dumbbell, flat bench fly, dumbbell squeeze press. Since I didn’t use the bench press, I’ll more than likely incorporate incline bench in my next chest workout.

Overall I recommend trying different workout regiments and exercises to see what works best for you. What works for me might not work for you, but I’d say try it and see for yourself.

Have you found anything to be especially helpful or advantageous?

When I first started going to the gym I actually didn’t like it at all. I found it to be a bit of a hassle and I’d rather be playing video games. What kept me going back was the fact that I wanted the results so bad I didn’t care that I didn’t want to go. Over time I started to notice not just the physical gains but the mental gains as well. My overall mood and confidence were way better. I became a lot more social and in time I put more focus into enjoying my life. My main focus now is experiencing and enjoying life while building my physique to the best of my ability.

What mistakes have you made along the way?

I wouldn’t say I really made any mistakes when it comes to my experience with the gym. There have been plenty of things that have held me back in the gym but they also gave me knowledge. Things like injuries, too much cardio, and not tracking calories because of rugby have held me back, but if I could go back I wouldn’t change a thing. Going to the gym to get girls in the beginning isn’t one of my proudest moments but it still gave me drive which is better than none. These so-called “mistakes” are learning experiences, it’s up to you to learn from it.

What are some of the best tips you can offer for others trying to follow in your footsteps?

The best advice I can give is to chase a better you and do your research. Doing my own online research has definitely helped a lot in the gym and with my nutrition. Try new things and learn from your experience. Not just in the gym but in life. I love trying new things, it brings me experience in life and plenty of stories to tell. Throw yourself out there and be vulnerable. If you get hurt or have a bad time, pick yourself back up and keep going. Some of the best advice I’ve heard was from Matthew McConaughey when he won Best Actor at the 2014 Oscars. Something he said that stuck out to me was chasing your hero. Like him, my hero is me in 10 years, every day, every month, every year. Knowing that I won’t ever get to be the hero I want to be gives me something to chase and keeps me progressing. Don’t take this the wrong way, always be happy with who you are, but never let that slow you down into contentment. I’m by no means perfect or doing as well as people think, but my struggles remind me that God is still working on me.