Big Man Teiko Reindorf Interview

Interview with Big Man Teiko Reindorf As told to CriticalBench.com by Ben Tatar

CRITICAL BENCH: Teiko, tell us about yourself.

My name is Teiko Reindorf aka TKO , aka the Enforcer, aka the Chocolate Thunder.

I am a personal trainer/ ex- bouncer based out of Toronto, Canada and it is my personal mission to make Big Men Strong.

With that said, I want to clarify something about my interpretation of strength.  It isn’t just what you do in the weight room or on the field.  The strength I’m talking about applies to all areas of your life.  Hopefully you’d like to join me on that journey.

CRITICAL BENCH: Tell us about what you do and your website.

My website is called Teikoreindorf.com and it is the one and only site on the web that teaches big men how to become strong and little men how to become BIG.

On my site you will find articles about training, stories from my days working the door at seedy Toronto nightclubs as and frequent updates detailing my experiences as a trainer in downtown Toronto.

 CRITICAL BENCH: What are your top 10 training tips to getting as huge and ripped as possible? (What are your tips without having to constantly sacrifice one for the other.)

– Huge is a mindset… it’s something you decide you want to become. Once that decision is made, everything becomes easy

– I’ve never met anyone who became big by talking about it. Get under the bar!

– Until I see one of these so called ectomorphs carry five meals to work and eat em – I ain’t listening to any excuse why they can’t grow.

– When it comes to mass, volume is king

– When it comes getting strong, focus on intensity.

– It’s impossible to grow when you are injured. Put time aside for soft tissue work and recovery.

– Eat real food whenever possible, people have been getting big and strong way before we started taking supplements.

– You know that exercise you hate to do? That’s the one that will get you stronger.

– Train with like-minded people. If your training partner whines or misses workouts – ditch him, he doesn’t respect your time or training goals.

– There will be a time when you won’t be able to put up the numbers you once did… until that time comes – go all out.

  CRITICAL BENCH: What are the 5 biggest mistakes you see other lifters make?

– Trying to talk their way into a physique. All of that theory doesn’t matter when a weight is bearing down on you.

– Not knowing when to back off. Sometimes your body has had enough, you’ve gotta learn to listen to it.

– Ignoring their blind spots. Everyone has a lift they excel at (whooptyfreakin doo) the guys I respect are the ones who figure out how to get better at the things they suck at.

– Not warming-up properly. It doesn’t matter when you are twenty and full of piss n vinegar but once you start getting older skipping warm-up is a recipe for disaster.

– Going to gyms where they play Justin Timberlake and Katy Perry. Your environment is everything. If you are around studs, you will become a stud.

 CRITICAL BENCH: How do you see the future of the Iron World?

– Lifting has become huge. Everyone is training now. The industry will further splinter off into little cells like it has been. I’d also like to see someone develop a system, which incorporates the best of all training systems, but I think that is a long ways away.

CRITICAL BENCH: Tell us about your diet. Do you have any special diet tips for bulking or cutting?

LOL diet? Hold on lemme put away these chips.

No seriously though, I’ve been a big boy my whole life and after many failed attempts at dieting… I am done with diets. My advice to people is to eat real food and train hard. Don’t bother being too militant with your diet unless you are stepping on stage somewhere.

CRITICAL BENCH: If people visit your website Teikoreindorf.com, big guys can learn how to get stronger. Why do you think there are so many huge guys that are weak?

Huge guys are weak because they are lazy or are doing the wrong type of training. 

The laziness is a direct result of being blessed with big boy genes, when you don’t have to work quite as hard for size – it becomes really easy to get complacent.

In terms of inappropriate training… this all falls back on the whole bodybuilding thing. Almost everyone who gets into strength training cuts their teeth with bodybuilding.  Most people realize somewhere along the way that bodybuilding, though effective for size – stinks when it comes to building strength.

The big guys you see who haven’t been able to move past this are the same ones who never get any stronger.

CRITICAL BENCH: Also, why are so many small guys strong but not huge?

It’s gotta be the whole Napoleon complex thing. A lot of small guys go extra hard in the gym to offset their size, it’s a bit of a gift and a curse.  When done properly it can yield massive results but if unchecked… it generally leads to burn-out or injury.

CRITICAL BENCH:  what should huge guys who are weak do differently to be strong?

Aside from man-up?

Honestly I think your success is largely based on who you train with. I’ve made my best gains in size and strength by training with people who force me to train harder. Hmm now that I think about it, my best training partners have all been little guys!

In short, if your training partner isn’t borderline psycho about sticking to a training plan – get a new one.

CRITICAL BENCH: Do most people want to be huge or strong?

Personally I think most people wanna be both huge and strong. I never buy it when a guy tells me he doesn’t wanna be too big and I’ve never heard anyone say they don’t wanna be stronger. Guys who say things like that don’t believe they can be bigger or stronger so they try to downplay it.

 CRITICAL BENCH: Tieko, what is it about weight training that you just love?

It’s a vehicle for transformation. When I started training I was a fat little butterball. Through my dedication to the iron, I’ve evolved into something much greater.  Nowadays I try to convince people to call me The Chocolate Thunder.  That never would have happened if I had never lifted weights.

CRITICAL BENCH: In closing is there anything else you would like to say?

Just that training should be more than just something physical you do. Each time you walk into the gym you are faced with an opportunity to test yourself and you should never forget that.

Go Big Or Go Home

– Teiko

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