Chris Toland: Inside Bodybuilding

How one of the nation’s top amateur bodybuilders eats, trains and incorporates and integrates Parrillo products, strategies and methods

Chris Toland is one of America’s best natural bodybuilders and one look at the photos accompanying this article is all the evidence needed to support that flat statement of indisputable fact.

Chris Toland has it all: loads of shapely muscle evenly distributed over a 5 foot 7 inch frame. He has no symmetrical weak points or discernable flaws and is the complete physical package. A disciple of Parrillo super-trainer Todd Swinney, Chris has been marinated in all things Parrillo for nearly twenty years. Nowadays, at age 36, he possesses the elusive quality of muscle maturity that only appears when an individual has a decade (or more) of hardcore training under their belt. Chris’ dad Dan and Todd Swinney were business partners way back in the 1990s when they formed Maximum Fitness in suburban Baltimore. Young Chris began

his transformational quest under Todd’s demanding, result-producing Parrillo approach. “I was lucky enough to be exposed to the Parrillo system of nutrition and training at a very young age. I am convinced that the physique I have today is a result of the foundation I built when I began bodybuilding under Todd’s no-BS direction back in the 1990s.” What makes Toland’s outstanding physique all the more remarkable is that he is a family man with young children and that he works in one of the world’s most stressful jobs: Chris is a Baltimore County police detective. He works tons of overtime while routinely dealing with dangerous perpetrators that routinely carry guns. His job doesn’t end promptly at 5 pm and he doesn’t have the luxury of sitting at a desk all day long. If he is on stakeout or if he is called into action, he stays on the job until the job is done. All of which makes it nearly miraculous that he has constructed the amazing body he now

possesses.

“I have to maximize my training time.  I make sure I get my training done prior to showing up for work. There is no way I can determine what type of day the job will bring and besides, after a long day I could never gather enough energy to train as hard and as intense as is necessary to trigger results.”  Chris routinely gets up at 4am. “I hit the gym at 5 am as soon as they open the doors. I do my weight training first and really blast whatever body parts I have scheduled. After an hour or more of super intense Parrillo-style weight training, I immediately perform fifty minutes of cardio on the Stair Master Step Mill. I set the Step Mill on the highest setting, Level 20, and go all out.  I stay at this difficult pace for the entire session. Sometimes I feel as if I am going to die and I have to hold on for dear life until the end of the fifty minute session.” If this weren’t enough, when prepping for a bodybuilding competition Chris will make time for a second cardio session later that same day. “Five weeks prior to a bodybuilding competition I will add another 45 minute cardio session at the end of the day after my last meal. I usually split this second session in two parts: I will use the Cybex Arc Trainer for half the session and the Step Mill for the second half. Again, the procedure is simple: go as hard as humanly possible for the entire session. I perform double cardio sessions seven days a week for the final 45 days.” Chris trains alone and feels that this suits his personality. “I am a self-starter and don’t feel the need to have someone else fire me up, encourage me, or act as a cheerleader. I am more than capable of being able to generate all the psyche and intensity I need.”

Chris is a huge proponent of Parrillo fascia stretching. Those in the know utilize the classical “Parrillo Three-phase Set” in which three distinct disciplines are woven together to maximize muscle growth: pump the muscle, stretch the muscle, flex the muscle. Facial stretching is designed to loosen muscle fascia, the sausage-like tubing that lies beneath the skin and defines the outer boundary of each individual muscle. In this patented Parrillo procedure, the bodybuilder first uses weight training to pump the muscle maximally before immediately performing a fascia stretch designed to loosen the fascia surrounding the just-pumped muscle. After pumping maximally and stretching maximally the bodybuilder flexes the target muscle hard and repeatedly. The Three-phase Parrillo procedure, pump/stretch/flex is state-of-the-art muscle building. “I was introduced to Parrillo fascia stretching twenty years ago and have always incorporated fascia stretching into every workout.  I don’t have access to the Parrillo FxStretch devices so I improvise and create my own fascia stretch variations. I always perform the “skin the cat” stretch and my version is performed on a lat pull down machine. I use this particular stretch for my chest, shoulders and biceps. I perform other homebrewed fascia stretches for every muscle. I lift and stretch and flex between each and every set. I flex to the point of cramping.” Chris works quickly and takes very little rest (if any) between exercises; his stretching mystifies gym members. “People at the gym see me stretch and are puzzled and often ask me what I am doing. I patiently explain to them the benefits of fascia stretching. I explain why I flex and pose at the conclusion of each set.  They usually wait until I am finished with my workout to approach me – or they get me to explain before I start my training session. I am all business when I am actually training and it is well known that once I put my iPod on, I don’t want to be interrupted and have my workout flow broken.”

Chris feels that competitive bodybuilders would be well advised to practice competition posing with the same determination and ferocity they exhibit towards weight training, cardio and nutrition. “In addition to everything else, when preparing for a competition I will set aside 30 to 45 minutes per day, five days a week for posing practice.  Gold’s Gym has a room with nice mirrors that is not often used and I will use this room to practice my posing. I practice each pose over and over, trying to hold each pose a little bit longer in each successive posing session.  I practice my posing routine until it becomes natural and second nature.” It is one thing to develop an impressive array of large and defined muscles, however if they are improperly displayed in an amateurish fashion, months of work and preparation can be sabotaged. “I start my segregated posing a full fifteen weeks prior to a competition. Learning how to pose properly, how to hold a pose while fully flexed and smile without contorting the face in a distracting fashion is difficult and requires practice.” Detective Toland first competed in 1993 and captured the AAU Teenage Mr. Maryland title. In 1994 he was the AAU Mr. Maryland short class winner and in 1994 took a second place in Mr. Natural Pennsylvania as a light heavyweight. In 1996 he took third place in the AAU Mr. Annapolis and stopped competing when he started a family and a career. Chris took a thirteen year hiatus from competitive bodybuilding before reemerging in 2009 to win the USBF Baltimore Natural Bodybuilding Championships in the masters division. He also won the men’s open light heavyweight class and was declared the overall winner, thereby capturing his USBF Pro Card. In his typically modest and understated fashion, he related, “It was a good night.”

“I am a very determined person, as Todd Swinney will tell you. When I set my sights on competing again, I had one goal in mind: to win my pro card.  A second place finish would be a bitter disappointment. I did everything I knew I had to do and I can honestly say I gave it 110%. In retrospect, I wouldn’t change a single thing about my preparation.  I feel very lucky in that I was taught and trained using Parrillo training and nutritional principles right from the beginning. I stick with what I know works best and I don’t fix things that aren’t broken. The Parrillo principles have been the backbone to my success as a bodybuilder. I live a healthy lifestyle and have for the past 18 years. I am very thankful that John Parrillo has shared his knowledge, ideas and products with the rest of us. He has helped me to build myself into a champion. John played a huge role in my quest to win my ultimate goal: a pro card.” As for future plans, Chris is reserved and noncommittal. “I am not really sure when I will compete again. Regardless, I will continue to train and diet and improve and we’ll see what the future holds.” Chris has a successful part-time business as a nutritional consultant. “I love helping regular folks revamp their bodies using the Parrillo strategies I learned from Todd. I have also started writing a book called “The Making of a Champion: The Success Story of a Natural Bodybuilder.” I hope to be finished writing it by this summer.  Again, thank you Todd Swinney and thank you John Parrillo!”

Chris Toland’s

Pre-Competition Workout Split

Day 1	Chest
Incline dumbbell press	4 sets
Flat dumbbell press	4 sets
Cable flyes	4 sets
Decline barbell press	3 sets
or Dips	3 sets

Day 2	Shoulders
Dumbbell press	4 sets
Side laterals	4 sets
Front dumbbell raises	4 sets
Bent-over dumbbell laterals	4 sets
or Upright rows	4 sets

Day 3	Arms
Skull crushers	4 sets
Cable pushdowns	4 sets
Overhead tricep press	3 sets
Underhand pushdowns	4 sets
or Bench dips	4 sets
Dumbbell curls	4 sets
Preacher curls	4 sets
or Concentration curl	4 sets

Day 4	Back
Wide grip lat pull downs	4 sets
or Pull-ups	4 sets
Seated rows	4 sets
Dumbbell rows	3 sets
Close grip lat pull downs	3 sets
Shrugs	4 sets
Weighted hyperextensions	4 sets

Day 5	Legs
Smith Machine squats	4-5 sets
Leg press	3-4 sets
Thigh extensions	4 sets
Walking lunges	3 sets
or Sissy squats	3 sets
Leg curls	4 sets
Stiff leg deadlifts	3 sets
or Standing leg curls	4 sets

Day 6 – start the training cycle over again

I trained using a five day split and start the entire sequence over again on the sixth day. I don’t take any days off when I am deep into my contest preparation. I will take an occasional day off if I feel exhausted or drained – but that is extremely rare. My workouts have used the same basic template for decades. I train in the exact same fashion as I did when Todd introduced me to Parrillo-style bodybuilding. This classic routine uses multiple exercises for each body part and includes a full compliment of intensity-boosting procedures such as forced reps and drop sets. I typically start with a weight I can handle for 15 perfect reps and pyramid upward, ending with 6 rep sets. Generally, on the last set of at least one of the exercises (for each muscle group) I will lighten the weight and perform a shock set of 50 to 100 reps. To keep things fresh, I will periodically do 50 rep squat sets. I wish I had access to a Parrillo Belt Squat apparatus as I am a big fan of the Parrillo 100-rep belt squat procedure. I train calves every 2-3 days using standing calf raises. In the next calf workout I will do seated calf raises and shoot for three sets of 100 reps. Sometimes I can’t walk after three 100 reps sets and this makes the cardio session that follows really tough.

TIP: During the last 3-4 weeks prior to the show, I eliminate heavy squatting and leg presses from my workout. During this time, I super-set sissy squats with hard leg posing.

Chris Toland’s

Competitive Daily Meal Schedule

Meal 1 – 8 am (post morning workout): 4 scoops Parrillo All-Protein™ mixed with water, 1 Graham Cracker Energy Bar™

Meal 2 – 10 am: 280 grams of ground turkey breast, 1 cup of brown rice, 2 cups of green beans

Meal 3 – 12:30: 4 scoops Parrillo All-Protein™ mixed with water, 1 Graham Cracker Energy Bar™

Meal 4 – 3 pm: 280 grams of ground turkey breast, 1 cup of corn, 2 cups of broccoli

Meal 5 – 7 pm: 460 grams of egg whites, 2 cups of green beans

Meal 6 – 9:30 pm: 4 scoops of Parrillo All-Protein™ mixed with water

Daily nutritional statistics for this meal plan: 2,577 calories, 409 grams of protein, 187.5 grams of carbohydrate, 11 grams of saturated fat

I will snack on Parrillo Lemon-flavored Shortbread Contest Cookies™ throughout the day. This particular “dietary snapshot” represents a typical day’s eating five weeks out from a competition. I periodically contact John Parrillo personally for guidance. Before my last competition he suggested I “add back” some carbs for a couple of days at a time then remove these same carbs for a couple of days. On the add-back days, I would add ½ cup of brown rice to my second meal of the day and a cup of peas to my forth meal of the day.  I eliminate all starchy carbs after 3pm.  In the final week leading up to my show, I eliminated the Parrillo All-Protein™ powder and the Graham Cracker bars™. From that point forward I ate food and food alone.  I use the same basic meal plan that Todd introduced me to 13 years ago. During the final week I keep my protein level high and start to deplete carbs and play with sodium and water levels.

Parrillo Supplements:

I take the following Parrillo pills and supplements: 1 Essential Vitamin Formula™, 1 Mineral Electrolyte Formula™, 10 Liver Amino Formula™, 5 Muscle Amino™ and Ultimate Amino Formula™, 2 Advanced Lipotropic Formula™. I take 3 Evening Primrose Oil™ capsules per day and 10 Grams of Parrillo Creatine Monohydrate™ up until about 10 days out from a competition. I love CapTri® and use it to make Parrillo Cookies™. CapTri® is in the Parrillo bars and I also love to cook with CapTri®.

To contact Chris for nutritional
consultations, e-mail him at:
chris029@verizon.net