FULL DAY OF EATING DURING PREP
IFBB Pro Nathan Epler walks you through what a typical day in his life looks like, including eating and training, six weeks out from his Olympia debut.
Nathan Epler Day in the Life: 6 weeks out from the 2021 Olympia
IFBB Pro Nathan Epler walks you through what a typical day in his life looks like at 6 weeks out from his Olympia debut.
Nathan begins his morning with fasted cardio which consists of walking his dogs for 40 minutes on training days and 90 minutes on his rest days.
Following his fasted cardio, Nathan prepares his first meal of the day.
Meal 1:
- 8 ounces of egg whites
- 2 whole eggs
- 2 English muffins topped with sugar-free jam and calorie-free butter spray
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
Following meal one, Nathan will typically complete client work while having a coffee. After he is done all his client work, he prepares meals for the day. Today Mrs. Epler walks you through making air fryer chicken nuggets.
What you will need:
- Air Fryer
- Knife
- Cutting board
- Mixing bowl
- Beer can seasoning
- Ground black pepper
- No sugar added hickory BBQ sauce
Instructions:
- Begin by trimming all the excess fat off and cutting the chicken breast into 1-inch cubes.
- Place all cubes in a bowl and season with beer can seasoning, black pepper and BBQ sauce.
- Mix thoroughly to ensure that all chicken is evenly coated
- Place chicken evenly spaced on air fryer tray.
- Cook for 10-12 minutes at 400 degrees, stirring chicken halfway through.
- Make sure chicken is thoroughly cooked.
- Enjoy!
Once the chicken nuggets are prepared, Nathan uses them for his next meal before going out for grocery shopping.
Meal 2:
- 8 ounces of chicken breast
- 200 grams of jasmine rice
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
Following this meal, Nathan prepares his steaks for the week by grilling them on a skillet. He butterflies the steaks and cooks about 3-4 minutes a side, making a medium-rare steak.
Nathan then walks you through his grocery shopping trip. Typically, Nathan will go out to Costco for his larger items like meats and go to a smaller store like Meyer for condiments, seasoning, etc.
Nathan Epler's Meyer Grocery Shopping List
- Tums
- No sugar added BBQ sauce
- Quick oats
- Banana peppers
- Cold brew coffee
- English muffins
- Water flavoring
- Diet soda
Pro Tip: Don’t be afraid to add things like water flavoring into your diet to make your food more enjoyable.
Before going into Costco, Nathan eats his third meal.
Meal 3:
- 8 ounces of top sirloin
- 8 ounces of green beans
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
Nathan Epler's Costco Grocery Shopping List
- Apple Crumb muffins
- Mahi Mahi fillets
- Shrimp
Next, Nathan prepares his fish for the week. He seasons it with St. Elmo’s seasoning, garlic powder, black pepper, and a pinch of pink salt. He then cooks it on a skillet, or if he wants to change it up, he will cook for 10 minutes at 400 degrees in the air fryer. Once he is done cooking, he prepares his pre-workout meal, which he eats approximately 40-60 minutes before training.
Meal 4:
- Costco muffin
- 2 scoops of ISO[H1] grass-fed whey isolate protein in Chocolate Milk flavor
Nathan Epler’s Chest Demolition Workout
At six weeks out, Nathan is focusing on pushing his workouts as hard as he can. He completes 3-4 sets of each of the following exercises, taking the last set to failure. He starts off light and completes 10 reps and progressively increases weight each set until he fails at 10 reps on his last set.
- Incline Dumbbell Press
- Flat Hammer Strength Chest Press
- Seated Cable Press
- Incline Machine Press
- Pec Deck
After his 40-minute drive home, Nathan is ready to devour his post-workout meal.
Meal 5:
- 10 ounces of Mahi Mahi
- 200 grams of jasmine rice
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
- Topped with Old El Paso Zesty Ranch and Creamy Salsa Verde sauce
Nathans eats his last meal of the day before heading to bed.
Meal 6:
- 8 ounces of chicken breast
- 8 ounces of green beans
- Banana peppers
- ¼ teaspoon of pink salt
- Topped with Old El Paso Zesty Ranch sauce