The bodybuilding industry, and the fitness industry as a whole, is one with a lot of varying opinions that has gone through several paradigm shifts over the last two decades. John Cardillo has seen these industry shifts firsthand, having started out as a bodybuilding champion, then becoming a fitness entrepreneur and now a writer with his new books on fitness and his nutrition system.

Check out John’s answers to a few questions about his experience and expertise.

Greetings John, when did you realize you reached the peak of your bodybuilding competition career and wanted to transition to business management/coaching/writing in the fitness world?

I realized that I reached my peak in my bodybuilding career when it became apparent to me that to turn professional, I would have to start using steroids and turn my back on my healthy type of lifestyle. I was not willing to do that, plus I found business very challenging. As a result, instead of pursuing more bodybuilding championships, I decided to put all of my energy and effort into my business ventures. I was also committed to teach my system of working out to trainers, to teach them how to guide people through workouts properly, so that they could make a career of their passion as well.

As I saw the health and fitness industry evolve, I realized that a lot of the information out there is deficient in the basic science about working out and nutrition, that is without commercial bias.

Therefore, I decided to write on various topics for people to understand the truth.

Over the years, you’ve encountered and worked with some influential people in the fitness/bodybuilding industry, are there are key people/lessons that stick out in your mind?

Over the years I’ve worked with many people who were very influential to my life.

Originally, the biggest influence and my biggest motivator was Arnold Schwarzenegger.

I trained in California in the same gym as he did and seeing him work out always motivated me.

He worked very hard and was a true champion.

In business, one of the people who inspired and helped me is Bob Proctor, a business educator who taught people how to be successful. He helped me to train my sales people, and his experience was invaluable.

Another person who influenced me a great deal was the late Bob Kennedy, the founder of Musclemag and Oxygen magazines. He was a true entrepreneur who had a great spirit for business, bodybuilding and fitness in general.

As for business, one of the people I respect the most is Jay Hennick, the founder of FirstService Corporation, a public company, and he actually was my first lawyer.

He started a business at a young age when he was at university and then became a lawyer.

From there, he started buying up different companies across North America to create a big public company called FirstService. He is also the Global Chairman of Colliers International Real Estate. His success has made him a multi-billionaire.

Do you notice any big changes in the bodybuilding industry compared to when you were actively competition? Are there any things you would change?

The biggest change in the bodybuilding industry how is that bodybuilders abuse steroids and drugs as a whole. There are a lot of bodybuilders dying in their 40s and early 50s as a result of drug abuse and the damage it did to their bodies. It has become an unhealthy sport now as opposed to when I was training.

Then, it was all about the hard training to make the muscle gains.

Now it’s about drugs. That nice athletic look is gone from bodybuilding.

The one change I would make is to implement drug testing in bodybuilding and clean up the sport.

In what ways do female bodybuilders need to approach training differently to men to maximize results? Are there any noteworthy differences?

I think that female bodybuilder ‘s are getting too big and too muscular because of steroids. Initially when female bodybuilding started, it was all about creating a nicely toned, beautiful body similar to bikini competitors today. Steroid use has gotten out of control, and I just don’t think that women were meant to look like that. Bikini competitions and figure competitors are very appealing to the general public

Apart from your competitive bodybuilding success, you are probably most well-known for your pioneering of the HIT3 program – what’s the best way for people to learn about and implement it?

The best way to learn about my HIT3 program is to read my book when it comes out, as well as some of the articles written about the system.

When someone understands the proper way to work out, they instantly start making better progress. They realize that it’s not the volume of training, but the intensity of training that gets results. It’s not about spending six days a week at a gym for two hours a day. It’s about training three to four times maximum a week for periods of no longer than 45 minutes to 1 hour each workout – very concentrated, intense sessions. That is the way to get results.

What are some of the coaching courses/products that are coming soon to your website?

Some of the coaching courses that are coming soon have to do with the following:

• how to work each body part,
• how to do high-intensity cardio training,
• how to lose body fat so your skin will stretches back to your body,
• anti-aging
• supplementation
• competition preparation
• training for specific sports
• Shredded Nutrition program