TSO Athlete and IFPA Pro Bodybuilder Greg Trombly Interview

After accepting a sponsorship from TSO in 2013 Greg Trombly has shown himself to be one of the most passionate and enthusiastic athletes a company could have to represent them. Greg has a lot of experience competing in natural bodybuilding as well as helping countless clients learn to live a happier, healthier life through his career as a personal trainer.

Greg it’s great to sit down and interview you! Just like I’m sure the readers are interested in learning more about you, it’s also a treat for me to get to know you better as well! Let’s start off with a question I’m sure you get a lot, how did you first get into natural bodybuilding?

I got into bodybuilding when I was losing a bunch of weight after putting on way too much lol. A trainer named Harold told me I had a great physique and that I should think about doing a natural bodybuilding show. I was 23-24 at the time. I laughed and asked “what is that?!” So I played around on the web with my girlfriend, who is now my wife, and said let’s give it a try! She helped me and we did it all by trial and error, reading books, and watching it on the web. I fell in love after my first show!

Can you tell us some of your competitive background?

So my first show was when I was 25 years old. I did a few shows in Somerset, MA. Then got into the OCB and knew I wanted to become an IFPA pro. I’ve competed in almost 40 shows now and I’ve placed top five in every drug-tested show. That means a lot to me… But for me to turn pro I had to meet up with a very special person by the name of Larry Roberts. He formed team Xtreme and showed me some different techniques with nutrition and posing that completely put me over the edge! I wouldn’t be here today without him and the team.

Did your mindset or training/diet intensity change any once you turned pro? I could imagine that turning pro would be a surreal experience especially knowing the high level of competition that you would be facing at any of the IFPA shows.

Once I turned pro I had to change up a little bit of my nutrition and my training techniques to be able to maximize my physique in order to go against all those other amazing competitors. I stay around 7% body fat in my off-season so it’s really only about 12 to 15 pounds that I put on during the off-season. I feel that gives me the edge since I can get into complete conditioning for the shows which helps make up for not having the muscle mass that most pros have. I focus on my conditioning, symmetry, and getting my muscle bellies to pop. Larry and I agree that you need to try and enhance what you have, not try to be something that you’re not.

Well after a great season last year I’m sure you’ve been taking the last several months to improve even more before stepping on stage again. Give us an overview of what you’re training and diet is like during an offseason.

So for 2014 I’m planning on competing in 2 to 4 shows this year. Depending on how I do. I wanted to show everybody that what I did last year wasn’t a fluke and that I actually could get a little bit better with just 4 to 5 months off. I reverse dieted which has been really catching on lately in bodybuilding. Essentially I began adding in carbohydrates slowly over the next 6 to 8 weeks after my show. I stayed lean, only getting up to about 6-7% body fat. I lowered my reps just a little but my intensity stayed very high and my pace quick also. I’m hoping to be around 2 to 4 pounds heavier than I was last year which in that short period of time and considering my body frame would be a big improvement.

You’ve mentioned that you don’t like to get very heavy in your offseason, can you tell the readers how you go about managing your weight while still gaining enough size and strength to make improvements?

I feel like training hard in off-season or in season is critical. My philosophy is to train as heavy as you can but at a very quick pace. I feel like conditioning is the key to being competitive at the pro level. As long as you don’t go too fast or lift too light that you’re losing size that is key. Having a great coach who keeps it real will help you maintain that conditioning while also the adding the size needed to compete as a pro level athlete.

So after this offseason, do you have any specific shows you’re planning on competing at next?

I’m up in the air on what shows I’m going to compete in but I do know I’d like to do a show with the DFAC and IFPA and see if I could make their world stages; that would be a big accomplishment for 2014.

If someone were to be interested in entering the sport as a bodybuilder, what is some advice you would give to help them get off to a great start?

What I would say to anybody that wanted to get into bodybuilding competitively is that you must be willing to fall down a few times. You must be willing to take constructive criticism, and you must also be able to deal with adversity. Realize it’s not cookie-cutter sport and everybody’s body is different. We all need to find our own path or way to get there. Because we’re not all 5 10″ and 200 pounds we all have to find the right technique diet and regiment that works for us.

We see pictures all the time of your clients, their transformations, or samples and shakers you’ve hooked them up with from time to time. Tell us a little bit about what encouraged you to become a trainer, and what that is like for you. It doesn’t take long being around you to see that you are extremely passionate about what you do for a living!

I train between 60 and 65 clients and teach two classes a week. I was always into health and fitness as a child and then found a new level in my early 20s. I fell in love with personal training as well being a sous chef for a cooking school New England culinary Institute. I found after 17 years of cooking my real passion was training people. Showing them what I do with my body, how I push myself, and also what they can do with their own bodies. I like to say the body will do what the mind tells it and if you combine heart, will and desire every day and put it to use you can have whatever type of body or health that you want. My message is lifestyle not dieting. Nothing extreme; it’s about incorporating it into your everyday life with your friends and family.

No one can ever question your passion and enthusiasm that’s for sure. I’ve been lucky enough to speak with you a few times about your philosophy behind being a positive person. I’m sure the readers could benefit from hearing your outlook on not just bodybuilding related issues, but also on life in general and what you strive for every day.

Well myself I wake up every morning saying, “What can I do to improve today as a person, as a human being and as a competitive bodybuilder.” If I help others I feel like I get just as much reward personally. In our current society I feel like it’s necessary to have people around you that support you. A lot of people talk about it but few actually embrace it and do it. I want to be the best version of myself every day. At the end of the day if I can do that then I’m satisfied with myself.

Before I let you go, what would be your 3 favorite products sold on Top Supplements Online?

About six months ago top supplements online sponsored me as one of their pro athletes. That being said I feel honored and love having a support system like that letting me know that what I do is appreciated. Katie and James are really good people and I enjoy working for them every day. I would say my favorite three products on the site are: Core Nutritionals Core ABC, Dymatize Elite Gourmet Protein, and Gasapri Nutrition Anavite Multivitamin.

Do you have anyone you would like to shout out or anything you’d like to tell the readers before we wrap this up?

On the last note, looking back in the last 15 years of competing in the sport, the single greatest person that’s molded me into the bodybuilder I am today is Larry Roberts. Larry is a constant in my life. I can’t say enough to people that you have to find the right person to work with in order to get to the next level. Other people that have been important on my journey are Dave O’Brien, Sully Sullivan, Mike Halsey and Kent Bierly. Those are the main people from my early years and now Marshall Johnson has also been a huge help in my life. A bunch of the other top-level pros and I have a great partnership and family atmosphere so that’s always nice. So I hope some people can take some positive information from what we talked about and realize that I made the Yorton stage at 131.8 pounds which shows that while size matters it isn’t the only thing. I’m a firm believer on heart, will and desire…if you have all three and you put your mind to it you can accomplish anything. Thank you for the interview and I wish you all well!!!

Thanks a lot for taking the time to do this interview Greg and I can’t wait to see what is next for you and Top Supplements Online! Fans can follow Greg’s journey here:

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