Interview With John Phung

Thanks for being with us today John. I love your journal and following your progress. Give us a brief background to who John Phung is.

I’ve been “lifting weights” on and off since I was 12, but nothing really structured or serious. I was a typical upper body gym bro, got most of my education from muscle magazines and didn’t train my legs because I thought they were big enough at the time. It wasn’t until November 2010 (when I was 30 years old) that I started taking strength training a little more seriously. I ended up doing the Starting Strength program, moved onto the Texas Method, and now I’m doing my own thing.

Current personal bests:

Squat: 550 lb

Bench Press: 400 lb

Deadlift: 570 lb

Overhead Press: 265 lb

I’ve competed in a couple of powerlifting competitions and will most likely compete again in November, 2014.

I’m also a blogger at www.johnphung.com, have a couple of articles published on T-Nation (http://www.t-nation.com/all-articles/authors/john-phung) and a trainer at a Canadian big box gym, getting people stronger 1 client at a time.

And for those who are interested in my size, I’m 5’4″ tall on non-squat days and walk around at 205 lb.

>Your lifts are inspirational and motivational and I can appreciate how hard you have to work to lift the poundage you do. a 570 deadlift is awesome. What got you into power lifting as opposed to bodybuilding?

Thanks! But the deadlift is actually my worst lift haha. I like the simplicity and objectivity of powerlifting. There are only 3 lifts (squat, bench press and deadlift), 3 attempts per lift, and the winner is the person who has the highest combined total in a given weight class. The training and dieting seems straight forward as well. I can focus on getting stronger, and don’t need to worry about how I look in the mirror! It just suits my personality better.

I don’t have anything against bodybuilding, but it seems more complicated and subjective to me when it comes to the training, dieting and competition. Also, to compete in bodybuilding I would need to tan and wear something more revealing than a singlet haha

>What act of strength are you most proud of?

I’d have to say 400 lb bench press.

Reason why: it’s a milestone weight at 400 lb, and using a reverse grip.

The next milestone is a 4 plate bench press at 405 lb.

>Squat, Bench or Deadlift. What is your favourite?

It’s a tie: Squat and Bench Press.

>Why?

Generally, because I’m OK at both of these lifts. For the squat, I like the feeling of having a heavy barbell across my back and taking it for a ride from the top of lift, down to a below-parallel position and blasting it back up.

For the bench press, I like it because I perform it in a unique fashion using the reverse grip. Not many people use it as the main way to bench. I feel like I’m part of an exclusive group of people who bench press exclusively with a backwards grip.

For those who are interested in why I bench press using the reverse grip: http://www.johnphung.com/qa/5477/why-reverse-grip-bench-press/

>Who are some of the strength athletes you find most motivational?

For strength athletes, Ed Coan and Mariusz Pudzianowski. Both are relatively short in height, but are super strong and dominated their sport in their prime.

But those who are the most motivational are people who are similar in size to me and/or just as strong as I am. They are someone I can chase (if they’re a bit stronger than me) or run away from (if they’re not as strong as me yet).

>Your twitter profile shows a picture of Bruce Lee. What athletes and personalities outside of strength training have had an influence on your lifestyle both in and out of the gym.

Well, mainly Bruce Lee. He was the reason why I got into lifting weights at a young age (I wanted to look like Bruce Lee at the time). I also dabbled in martial arts because of him.

His life and his work has a huge impact on the world which can still be felt today.

>You’ve ended up worlds apart from Bruce Lee now haha. How strict are you with your diet? Do you believe in the see-food diet many power lifters follow, or do you follow a calorie controlled diet.

My diet is not strict at all. I don’t count calories, follow macros or try to “eat clean“. I tend to eat more or less the same stuff every day. I don’t follow a calorie controlled diet because it’s a big pain in the ass to count calories accurately. I’d rather enjoy my food. Here’s a general idea of what I eat everyday: http://www.johnphung.com/blog/4129/what-i-eat-and-what-supplements-i-take/

>We can all follow your training split and schedule on your blog. How often do you change your routine?

At this point, I change my routine whenever I hit a plateau. I’m the type of guy who subscribes to, “if it’s not broke, don’t fix it”. If I’m doing a routine and it’s making progress and getting me stronger, I’m going to milk it as long as I possibly can! The thing is, when I do hit a plateau, I tend to stick with the routine for a few weeks before I end up changing something. This can be frustrating.

In the future I may experiment with a more structured periodized program in an attempt to avoid hitting plateaus altogether.

>When first starting out lifting how did you put a routine together? Where did you look to get started?

In high school in the mid to late 90s, my main source of education was bodybuilding magazines. But when I decided to take training seriously (in 2010), I first looked on the internet, which lead me to the book “Starting Strength” by Mark Rippetoe. It’s a simple routine that made sense and ended up producing some good results.

>What are your goals for 2014?

600 lb squat (current max is 550 lb)

440 lb bench press (current max is 400 lb)

600 lb (or more) deadlift (current max is 570 lb)

275 lb (or more) overhead press (current max is 265 lb)

Also I’d like to get some more articles published on T-Nation, and get published on BodyBuilding.com, Schwarzenegger.com and other popular websites to increase my e-cred.

>What is the 1 piece of advice you would give to a young guy just stepping into the gym?

My 1 piece of advice is to follow my 5 rules for newbie success in the gym that I just made up:

1. Focus on the fundamentals lifts: squat, bench, deadlift, overhead press, and chin ups/pull ups. They’re the exercises that will get you the most bang for you buck, or most results per time/energy put in.

2. Don’t take any supplements (yet). Get results from proper training, food, and sleep. You want to attribute your gains from your hard work rather than some supplement. Also, when you do decide to experiment with bodybuilding supplements, be skeptical.

3. Track your training sessions, and track your personal records. 

“What gets measured gets improved.” – Robin S. Sharma.

You can do this by using a pen/pencil and paper, using note taking applications like Evernote, starting a blog with Blogger or WordPress, or by using an online fitness tracking app like Fitocracy or WeightXReps.net (my profiles are here: https://www.fitocracy.com/profile/JohnPhung/ and http://weightxreps.net/journal/JohnPhung)

4. Don’t program hop. Pick a program and stick to it. Be patient and persistent. The gains will come.

5. Set relatively crazy but attainable goals. For example, a bodyweight overhead press, double body weight deadlift, 200/300/400 club (200lb bench, 300lb squat, 400lb deadlift).

And once you hit them, set your goals even higher.

>Thanks for your time John, is there any last words you have for fans and followers?

Stay hungry, keep getting stronger, and check out my blog at http://www.johnphung.com and subscribe to my Youtube channel at http://youtube.com/user/kaizenstrength

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