Could   you   tell   us   a   bit   about   yourself   and   how   you   started   training?

First of all, thank you for giving me the chance to be featured on this great website. As for training,  I competed in NCAA division 1 sports in college for USC and St.Francis college.  Competed in swimming and water polo (basically football in the pool), a big time contact sport.  The sport specific training had a weightlifting program as well which I loved doing more than the actual sport themselves.  After college I met my beautiful wife and we started our personal training business.  I have been very busy for the past 8 years building a good clientele.  And the past 2 years I got into competing.  Competing is a complete different animal, cooking meals for the day and training twice as hard, making sure I do everything that I can so that I don’t look back and wonder if I could have done better.

How   do   you   stay   motivated?

I am very driven by the thought of improving everyday and getting one step closer to my goals.  Also, my wife Ashley is a 100 percent behind me with achieving all my goals.  She helps me through the workouts and food prep.  One of the biggest motivating factors is setting short term goals and this allows me to stay on track!  I also have to thank my sponsors GRENADE Fat burner and MONSTA Clothing co.  for motivating me and supporting me.

What   is   your   current   workout   routine?

I currently follow Precision bulking and Precision cutting 5*2.  This is an extremely effective program that allows you to constantly trick your body into new growth.  To learn about my new system visit:  http://www.ironlifeforever.blogspot.com/

I strongly believe in a 10 day split.  With this 10 day split I train each body part 2 times every 10 days.  I found that this works great for me as far as proper recovery and taking the time to work on my weaknesses goes.  One interesting factor to my workout is that I pair chest and back, biceps and triceps, quads and hams together.  It was difficult in the beginning but once I got used to it, the results came fast.  I train everyday through these 10 days however every 5th day is abs, obliques, and cardio ( I consider the ab/cardio days my off days).

What   is   your   diet   like?

I eat 7 thousand calories or more off season.  As much as that sounds, my body type only responds to high calorie diets to add mass.  I would not recommend this to everyone since different body types respond to different diets.  Bulking cycle diet contains a lot of reduced fat peanut butter, thin crust wheat pizza, at least 30-40 ounces of white meat(fish, chicken, turkey, some red meat allowed), vegetables, total of 8 scoops of protein shakes taken periodically and 6-10 egg whites.  I have created a balance with this bulking diet and you have to find out that balance for your own body type.

What   gives   you   the   best   results   when   trying   to   get   lean?

For cardio I follow HIIT (High Intensity Interval Training) method.  This is a proven system to burn more fat without losing hard earned muscle tissue.  I use 2-1 ratio mostly and a total of 8-12 minutes.  For ex.  30 seconds fast run followed by 15 seconds slow walk until 8-12 minutes is complete.  As for dieting, I follow PRECISION CUTTING 5*2   SYSTEM, to learn more about this e-mail me at ironlifeforever@gmail.com.  This 10 week dieting program allows me to hold on to muscle while getting shredded.  It is done in a gradual format in order to not starve muscle tissue.

What   3   exercises   have   contributed   the   most   to   building   your   physique?

I would have to say DEADLIFTS, THE CHEST FLY, and DEEP FRONT SQUATS!  At the end of each off season I test my strength gain by doing 1 RM to see how much stronger I have gotten. As many pros and amateurs would agree,  in my opinion the deadlift exercise is a good overall indication of full body strength.

What   supplements   do   you   use?

I take BCAAs, protein powder, glutamine and some creatine as well as a new amazing fat burner (www.grenadefatburner.com)!  I have recently started using GRENADE and high energy levels, no crashes and I feel an overall well being.  I highly believe that supplement timing is extremely important.  The 15-30 minute window post workout is extremely important for maximum absorption of the supplements by the body. Certain  supplements must be taken right upon waking, pre and post workout as well as before going to sleep to avoid catabolic reactions.

What   is   the   most   common   training   question   that   people   ask   you?

I find that a lot of people ask me about adding muscle mass while getting lean.  My answer to them is, only very few genetic monsters are able to achieve these 2 goals at the same time.  For the rest, bulking up to add mass and cutting up to get shredded must be done separately.  Muscle and Fat are two different tissues.  While we gain muscle mass we must take in higher calories than we burn and some fat gain comes with this as well.  Now, it is up to the bulking diet to make sure you are adding more muscle than fat and not the other way around.

What   is   your   greatest   achievement   so   far?

I have just won the  2011 Eastern USA Men’s Physique Champion which is the new addition to NPC.  Shortly after this event I became a sponsored athlete of Team Monsta : http://www.monstaclothing.com/index.php?main_page=pangea&ppg=melihcologlu and I just picked up a sponsorship as the first US athlete with the Hottest Fat Burner in Europe now available in the US  http://www.grenadefatburner.com/news-events/

What   is   your   favorite   quote?

“You are only limited with your Thoughts not your ABILITIES”

What   are   your   plans   for   the   future?

I am currently training for North Americans to take a shot at earning my Pro Card for the sport of Physique,  if i feel like I am ready 100% I will do the show.  I only want to bring a 100% and the rest is not up to me.  I am honored to say I  will be working with TEAM GRENADE as they will be breaking into the US markets soon.

Melih   Cologlu   Gallery

Other Links:
http://www.grenadefatburner.com/news-events/
http://www.monstaclothing.com/index.php?main_page=pangea&ppg=melihcologlu
http://www.youtube.com/user/IRONLIFEFOREVER
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03skkdqpxS4