Interview with the “Bulldog” Mark Featherstone
Most of you know Mark from the workout videos done
with Hunt Fitness sponsored athlete Nick Wright. Mark is a wonderful person and
has a lot of experience in the iron game. Mark is also a personal trainer at
Powerhouse Gym in Plymouth Massachusetts, if you want to contact Mark his Facebook
link is provided below.
http://facebook.com/Bulldog112563
The Interview
Q-How did you get started working out?
MF- I got started lifting in the 80’s with Nautilus
and someone showed me the bench and some squats and I was hooked from there. My
gym kept expanding and the Nautilus stayed the same and finally got put into a
small room while the free weights just got bigger, more and better…
Q-What do you love most about training?
MF- What I love most about training is the feeling of
overpowering massive amounts of weight and controlling it from start to finish.
I love the feeling I get when my muscles are hard and pumped and I can see the
striations in each one and the separation of each muscle for one another…
Q-What training program has given you the best results?
MF- Right now I get the best results from a 5 day
split and hitting every muscle group once a week with very heavy weights, 10
reps and high volume of sets. I do 25 sets on chest day, 33 on shoulder day, 24
on back and 33 on arms and on leg day as well…
Q-Where does your motivation come from?
MF- My motivation comes from the people I train and
the confidence I get from being big and lifting huge weights. People look to me
for advice and training and I am so happy to be able to help them any way I can
so I stay motivated to be my best so I can help them be their best…
Q-What is your current diet like? Do you cut or bulk, if so how does your diet change?
– I do not cut or bulk, I stay lean and strong all
year long. I do not feel that I need to bulk to get bigger I simply need to add
weights. lower the reps and hit that body part twice a week rather than once a
week and honestly it’s hard for me to get enough calories in every day just to
maintain so I never need to cut because a lot of times I run close to deficit
anyway. I always eat clean 4 or 5 meals a day and if i ever want to cheat I
just do it. I just DON’T do it more than once in a few days…
Q-What supplements do you take/recommend?
– I take a pre-workout, usually Hemo Rage Black Ultra
or 1MR or C4… I use whey isolate twice a day, once right after lifting, I
take a multi, a C and 2 fish oil tabs a day and other than that I eat. I make
sure I get all colored veggies every day and all of my macros, that, food, is
my supplement…
Q-Why do you think people do not get the type of results they are looking for?
MF- A LOT of people come to me with nutritional
questions because they are not getting what they want and I ask them what they
eat but then they have a complete and healthy list of food that they eat. I
personally believe the biggest problem most people have achieving their goals
is that they don’t know how to exercise properly to achieve the goals they have
set. 99% of the people who come to me for diet get their results from the
lifting program I give them…
Q-How did you get involved doing personal training?
MF- I got into personal training on a whim in 1991.
They offered a 6 hour course and a certificate for $50.00 at my gym so I did
it. Back then it was fresh and new and the gyms didn’t need their cut and we
made our own money. At first I started in people’s homes but I hated the
perverts and getting hit on everywhere I went, lol… Honestly… I didn’t know
at the time it would actually be my calling and my career.
How do you balance living the bodybuilding lifestyle while still having a social life?
MF- I don’t have much of a social life lol, but when I
do go out I go out with athletes and we all have the same things to lose by
going too wild so we just grin and bare it. I mostly only go out to Cage
Fighting events to support friends and clients that fight.
Q-If you had to give a young aspiring bodybuilder one piece of advice what would it be?
MF- My advice to young bodybuilders most importantly
is to let your body grow naturally. Get to know it and understand it before you
start adding supplements to it. When you DO start supps add one at a time to
see and feel what it does to/for you. So many young bodybuilders start so young
stacking supps and they have no idea what is doing what so they are now
mentally committed to using all of these supps all of the time and that is when
they run into trouble… Learn to understand and communicate with your own body
THEN play with it here and there. You have all sorts of time to get there, you
don’t have to get there tomorrow…
Q- Any shout outs or people you want to recognize?
MF- There are so many people who have influenced me
that I really just want to thank EVERYONE because I don’t want to leave anyone
out. I’ve been lifting for 28 years now and I have met and worked with so many
people it’s impossible to name them all and they are all important so.. if I
know you, I want to thank you, lol… no matter who you are you have somehow
helped or pushed me in some direction be it good or bad and without that I
would not be the good man I am today… Thank YOU!!
I just want to conclude this interview with a special thanks to Mark for taking time to do
this! If you have any questions feel free to leave some comments….
Until next time “one dream, one reality”