FOUAD ABIAD

RISING STAR

ZONE:Tell us abit about yourself!
FOUAD: I come from a large family I am the youngest of five children.
I have very loving and caring parents that always supported me in whatever I decided to do.
I am lebanese and if you know any Lebanese people we love to eat
and I think that is where I got my base from.
I have two years of Universtiy education and a loving girlfriend
who also competes and helps me along in my career
ZONE:How did you got bit by the iron bug
& when did you first get involved in competition?
FOUAD: Bodybuilding was never my first aspiration,
actually I wanted to be a Police Officer which may still be my calling.
About six years ago I met Lou Joseph aka Silverback and we became good friends.
He showed me his competition tape and I decided I would like to try doing a show.
I did my first show and I felt as if I may be able to make a career
out of BBing and I also fell in love with training and dieting.
Ever since my goal has been to become a pro.

ZONE:What is the best part of this sport?
FOUAD: The best part of the sport in my opinion is being able to obtain
the knowledge to help the guys who actually want to be helped.
Alot of my enjoyment in the sport comes from being able to help
a friend get ripped and win a trophy for himself.
I enjoy being the go to guy when it comes to nutrition.
ZONE:And the worst part?
FOUAD: The worst part of the sport is the social outlook of it.
People generally don't understand BBing or BBers
they simply think it is a magic pill that makes us the way we are.
My dream as unrealistic as it is would be to sit everyone down at every gym
and let them know what we actually go through and that drugs are 10% of our progress.
ZONE:What is your diet like?
Both offseason & before a show?
FOUAD: My precontest diet for the last four years has been
very similar even though I have had three different trainers.
I do not enjoy the low carb diets and neither do my muscles.
My body needs Protein and Carbs, very low fats.
This is the type of diet Chad Nicholls has me on now and seems to be working wonders.
He is definetely the best trainer I have had to date.
My offseason diet has changed this year and will be the same forever.
Last year I had the impression that if I ate everything in site
my muscles would grow, soon after I found out that all I did was make myself fat.
This year I ate clean all year, basically diet foods but in much larger quantities.
I ate things like chicken, steak, ground beef, yams, potatos, eggs and all whole foods.
I tried to stay away from the junk and the shakes and I seemed to have
put on a good amount of size while staying somewhat lean.

ZONE:Where do you think most people go wrong before a show?
FOUAD: I think the last two weeks before a show are the most crucial
but I don't think that is where most people make their mistake.
Most people look at a diet like a ramp leadin up to the show,
the closer they get the harder they diet.
I think it is better to look at it the opposite way.
Train you hardest in your first few weeks of dieting for two reasons.
One, your calories are higher so doing lots of cardio is not going to burn out your muscle.
Secondly it will make the last six weeks less stressful when you are trying to tan,
and pay for last minute expenses.
Point is work your hardest in the begining and then you won't be rushing in the end.
ZONE:Who is your bigest inspiration & rolemodell thru the years?
FOUAD: Two of my closest friends have been my roll models and motivators thru the years.
Mike Coyle who is my training partner and trains like a militant soldier
and Lou Joseph who is one of my best friends.
Mike seems to know how to push my buttons to make me lift more and work harder.
Lou is also a competitor as most people know and we have a had
a friendly competition going since the beginning,
I think it is a good thing because I look up to him and he keeps me motivated.

ZONE:Future plans?
FOUAD: My future plans are currently unknown
as only time will tell if I earn my pro card this year or not.
I plan on applying to the police deptartment this year.
I decided a long time ago as well that I would only compete until I was 27years old.
If I am not a pro by then I will live a normal life and get a normal job.
ZONE:Thanx for the interview & good luck!
FOUAD: Thanks Zone
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