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Dave “Jumbo” Palumbo went to college on a track and field scholarship and ran competitively for years at a weight of 140lbs [63kg].

Eventually gaining  an amazing122lbs [55kg] of muscle, Dave went on to compete as a super heavyweight at 262lbs[120kg] and was a top ranked NPC bodybuilder for many years.

He holds a bachelors degree in biology, and also completed three years of medical school and is presently a senior editor and contributor for the American publication Muscular Development.

A very well respected ‘contest prep’ guru Dave trains numerous IFBB pros and top level amateurs.

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• Dave's Diet & Precontest Prep Advice
• Dave's Diet Advice: Female Specific
• Dave's Training Advice

‘Cutting’ Diet

• Meal 1- 6 whole Omega-3 eggs 
• Meal 2- 8oz chicken with 1/2 cup raw almonds
• Meal 3- 50g whey with 2 tablespoons all natural peanut butter (PWO)
• Meal 4- 8oz salmon with 1 cup asparagus with 1 tablespoon macadamia nut oil
• Meal 5- 50 g whey with 2 tablespoon PB
• Meal 6- 6 whole eggs
• You can substitute any meal for another meal, all are interchangeable.

Supplements

• Omega-3 Fish Oil pills 1000mg 3x per day
• Evening Primrose Oil (Omega-6) 1300mg 2x per day
• Juice Plus+ gives you 12 servings of fruits and veggies in 4 pills
• Good legal Test/anti-aromatase
• Take all supplements with food

Diet Notes

• Have your cheat meal on the same day every week, last meal of the day so you don’t cheat again.
• When following the diet plan (which includes getting your brain into ketosis), there can be NO starchy carbs eaten!
• There are no between meals snacks on the diet. It's 6 MEALS........period!
• Diet is appropriate for naturals and enhanced competitors
• When your carbs go to virtually nothing (which they should be), for the first 3-4 days you will feel "weird" since the brain is desperately searching for gluose to use and it's starving for fuel. Once that initial 3 days is done, your brain will switch to using ketone bodies (fats) and it will seem as though someone flipped on the light switch-- you'll feel great.
• Dairy products contain lactose (milk sugar) which is difficult to digest. Dairy, in general, makes the body hold unnecessary water; it's very mucus forming.
• Women take in about 8-10 g fat per meal; whereas men take in 12-17 per meal.
• Your cheat meal should be a CHEAT!! Not a "clean" carb up. We want to shock the body.

For Weight Gain:

• Follow my same formula: High protein (50g per meal), Moderate Fat (25g per meal), and moderate carbs (35-50g per meal).
• If you're a hard gainer, eat 8-10 meals.
• If you're an easy gainer (but get fat easily), stick to 6 meals per day.

• Cut out the creatine 2 weeks before your show..........just to play it safe.
• Cut water 12 hours before a show
• Pre show carb ups normally 25 – 50 [depending on size] grams per meal using white rice, potatoes and/or grits

Alternate 1 day on DIET #1..... 2 days on DIET #2 and then repeat.

Diet #1

• Meal #1 - 12 egg whites
• Meal #2 - 40g whey protein
• Meal #3 - 6oz chicken with 1-cup asparagus or green beans
• Meal #4 - 6oz white fish (fluke, flounder, sole, ect.) With a green salad with vinegar & mustard (no olive or macadamia nut oil)
• Meal #5 - 35g whey protein or 12 egg whites

Diet #2

• Meal #1 - 2 whole (omega-3) eggs with 6 egg whites
• Meal #2 - 35g whey protein with 1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter
• Meal #3 - 6oz chicken with 1/4-cup (1oz) cashew nuts, or almonds, or walnuts (vary it)
• Meal #4 - 6oz salmon, swordfish, or red meat with a green salad (no tomatoes, red peppers, or carrots) with 1 tablespoon of olive oil or mac nut oil and vinegar
• Meal #5 - 35g whey with 1 tablespoon all natural peanut butter or 2 whole (omega-3) eggs with 6 white

Should be performed at a low intensity (under 120bpm heart rate). This will ensure that you use fat as a fuel source since as your heart rate increases, carbohydrates begin to become the preferred fuel of choice for the body. When on a low carb diet, you're body will break down muscle and turn that into carbs. Remember, fat CANNOT be changed into carbs therefore, for bodybuilding, the rule of cardio should be long duration, low intensity

General Weight Training Notes

• Dave advocates a high intensity training technique. Less sets, heavy weight, with excellent form and a greater variety of exercises (maybe 3 or 4 exercises) with 1-2 sets per exercise.
• For maximal chest development, maintain impeccable form; do all incline movements, use a shoulder width grip, keep your elbows flared out to the side to avoid tricep involvement
• Stretching ........"stretches" the fascia that surrounds the muscle. It's that tough connective tissue sheath that limits muscle growth; therefore, if you wanna "Grow" better, work on stretching the fascia of the muscle
• High reps become too aerobic and we know what aerobic athletes look like (runners, cyclists)-- they're skinny. Why, because when you stimulate slow twitch fibers (high reps), they fibers do not enlarge in response to the training, they merely get more oxygen efficient. When you stimulate fast twitch fibers with heavy weights and low reps (under 12), those fibers build themselves up with more bulk and fiber density (they enlarge).
• Train arms with unilateral (one arm at a time) concentrated movements. From my experience, compound bilateral movements stimulate everything EXCEPT arms. Stick with one arm cable and dumbbell movements.
• Once again, variation keeps the gains coming. Every so many workouts, try to incorporate different techniques to keep the body guessing.
• Bodybuilders need to incorporate all types of exercises into their regimen-- Compound movements as well as isolation.

Chest

• Incline Smith Machine Press or Incline Barbell Press:  3 sets (4-8 reps)
• Incline Dumbbell Presses 2 set (6-8 reps)
• Hammer Incline press:  1 set
• Dumbbell or Machine Flyes 2 sets (8-10 reps)

Calves

• Standing Calf Raises or Calf Presses on Leg Press machine 1 set (15 reps)
• Seated Calf Raises 1 set (15 reps)

Back

• Lat Pull-Downs or Pull-ups 3 sets (8-12 reps)
• Bent over Barbell Rows:  3 sets (8-10 reps)
• One-arm Dumbbell Rows 2 sets (8-10 reps)
• Machine Rows 3 sets (4-8 reps)
• Hyperextensions 2 sets (15-20 reps)

Biceps

• Single-arm cable or dumbbell curls 2 sets (8-10 reps)
• Single-arm dumbbell hammer curls 2 sets (8-10 reps)
• Single-arm dumbbell preacher curls or concentration curls 3 sets (8-10 reps)

Forearms

• Dumbbell reverse wrist curls 2 sets (15 reps)
• Dumbbell wrist curls 2 sets (15 reps)

Triceps

• One arm pushdowns 2 sets (10 reps)
• One-arm reverse grip cable pull-downs 2 sets (8-10 reps)
• One-arm overhead dumbbell (or cable) triceps extensions: 2 set (8-10 reps)
• Dumbbell or cable kickbacks 2 sets (8-10 reps)

Shoulders

• Machine press or Dumbbell press—3 sets (4-10 reps)
• Machine Lateral raises (one arm at time) 2 sets (8-10 reps)
• Dumbbell or cable front raises 2 sets (10 reps)
• Bent-over Dumbbell (or cable) raises- rear delts 2 sets (8-10)
• Shrugs (dumbbell or barbell) 2 sets (8-12 reps)

Legs

• Squats 4 sets (4-12 reps)
• Leg press or Hack Squat: 2 sets (10 reps)
• Leg extensions: 2 sets (6-10 rep): 1 set (8 reps) one leg at a time
• Single-leg standing or two-leg lying Hamstring curls: 2 sets (10 reps)

Abdominals

• Leg lifts 2 sets (25-50 reps)
• Crunches 2 sets (25-50 reps)
• Side Crunches 2 sets (10-20 reps to each side)