Interview with Tyler Valenzia - All You Want to Know

How did you start training?

“I was always short and skinny as a kid but very lean. In seventh grade, my friends and I were arm wrestling and they were all beating me. I’m super competitive, so I decided to start lifting weights to get stronger. I began in my basement at age 14 with my dad’s old weight set and bench.

I watched YouTube videos with Arnold, Jay Cutler, and Ronnie for inspiration and mimicked what I saw them doing. At 16, I was a lifeguard and got my first gym membership at Gold’s Gym and started making great gains. By 17, I was in pretty good shape at 190 pounds.

A guy who worked there told me I had excellent potential for bodybuilding and thought I should compete, and that motivated me to get more serious. I started posting my workouts online, and began wondering if one day I could make a living at this. Even after I enlisted in the USMC, I stayed consistent with my training and continued producing videos.

Eventually they started getting more attention, and I picked up a sponsorship with MuscleTech.”

Which athletes inspired or inspire you?

“Arnold was my first big inspiration. Bodybuilding is what inspires me the most, but I do have more of a Classic frame and I’m a very good poser.”

Greatest obstacle or obstacles you have overcome?

“That would be maintaining my nutrition while on active duty in the military. Living on base in the barracks, the only way I could cook was with a microwave, so I had to be creative and find ways to get more quality food. I had a hot plate in my room, though technically we weren’t supposed to, and I would cook eggs and other things.

At the chow hall, I tried to eat as much as I could three times a day. Another challenge was training after working 12-hour days. A lot of times I would only get four or five hours of sleep. And on top of that, I needed to make time to record and edit videos so I can set myself up for a career in fitness when I’m done with the military.

Finally, I was deployed on the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier for 11 months from 2020 to 2021. It ended up being the longest US aircraft carrier deployment since the Vietnam War, due to COVID. I was in great shape because there was nothing to do except go to the gym twice a day! I would do cardio and abs in the morning, then hit a body part and more cardio later. But it was rough.

We had no cell phone service or Internet access most of the time, and several times we thought we were going home only to be told it would be another month or two because there were many delays getting people to relieve us of duty due to the pandemic.”

Daily diet including MuscleTech products:

Meal 1

4 eggs, oatmeal with raw honey

MuscleTech Platinum Multivitamin, Clear Muscle, and Platinum Muscle Builder

Meal 2

Sushi or chicken and rice with vegetables

Meal 3

2 scoops Nitro-Tech

Clear Muscle

Meal 4

Salmon with rice or potatoes

Snack

Rice cakes with natural peanut butter

Pre-workout

EuphoriQ (Icy Snow Cone)

100% Creatine

Post-workout

2 scoops Nitro-Tech

Platinum 100% Glutamine

Meal 5

Chicken and rice

Clear Muscle

Bedtime

Muscle Builder PM

Favorite MuscleTech product

EuphoriQ

Workout split:

Legs

Chest

Back

Legs

Arms

Shoulders

OFF, repeat

(Note, Tyler sometimes continues the cycle without a rest day, and at other times inserts rest days as needed)

Favorite exercise:

Pull-ups

“I’m really good at those. We had to do a lot of those in Basic Training and we still need to do them every year for our annual PFT (Physical Fitness Test).”

Short and long-term goals in the fitness industry

“My short-term goals are to continue making videos and getting as much exposure as I can to grow my brand. I’m working on getting certified as a personal trainer through NASM. I will pursue online coaching. In the long term, I would love to continue working with MuscleTech and start competing in Classic Physique.”

Instagram:        @tylervalenziaofficial

YouTube:          Tyler Valenzia