👋 Hi! Tell us about yourself and your training
My name is Mitch Muller and I’m 31 years old, originally from Phoenix Arizona but currently living in Atlanta! I’ve been a personal trainer and coach since I was 19 years old and to say that it is a passion would be an understatement.
My main focus of work right now is through my online coaching platform called Mass Construction – where I specialize in helping guys pack on 15lbs of permanent muscle in just 15 short weeks. Along with this, I am a co-owner of a non-profit foundation for Veterans called Hearts and Minds Foundation of America.
In the fitness world, I’ve been very fortunate to surround myself with some of the best coaches in the world to learn muscle mechanics from including Vince Del Monte and Ben Pakulski.
I originally started training because I couldn’t stand the feeling of being skinny, so I soaked up as much information as I could on how to build solid muscle.
Over the years, I started to grow really well, which led me to my first two physique competitions where I took 1st place, and after this I was hooked! The stage gave me something to work hard for in the gym, and helped to satisfy my competitive nature that formally came out during sports like basketball, football or track.
Doing well on stage has translated into multiple sponsorships, which have come and go over the years, but as of right now I am currently a sponsored athlete/ambassador for S-force Watches and Generation Iron!
⏱ Describe a typical day of training
I’m like a freaking muscle Jedi!
I’ve always kept my training very simple but structured. Over the years, I’ve learned to find the areas of my physique that need the most improvement, or muscles that have a “harder time” contracting or growing.
I like to think of myself as a very mindful bodybuilder. Every single set and rep that I do in the gym has a purpose. I’m like a freaking muscle Jedi!
A few philosophies that I always teach and live by are 1) Momentum isn’t a muscle, so don’t train it, 2) Ego has no place in the gym, 3) Earn the right to lift heavy, 4) Make every single rep as hard as you can make it, and 5) Challenge muscles, don’t move weights.
A typical week for me is six lifting days with one off day. Since my goal is to create a more well-balanced physique, I’ve been working on putting more size on my legs over the last year. This has translated into two days of legs per week – one being quad dominant, and the other being hamstring/glute dominant.
As you can probably imagine, my calories are very high on these days to make sure growth is taking place. The tricky part comes from being a Classic Physique athlete due to the fact that I can’t get “too big”.
My height at 5’10 ½ only allows for my weight to reach 205 during show time, so making this weight has been somewhat difficult, especially when adding new muscle tissue and sitting around 225 in the off-season.
I truly believe in following a structured and consistent plan. This is why Mass Construction has been a game-changer not only for my clients, but for me as well! Pro card here I come!
👊 How do you keep going and push harder?
I work hard because I don’t know anything else. I either give 100% into something or I give nothing at all. The drive I have to succeed and be the best in what I do has always been a part of me. I’m honestly not sure exactly where it came from.
I train consistently each week because I love it. I fell in love with the bodybuilding process, having a structure, learning and growing and improving. I guess it’s just the athlete in me.
I also really believe in aiming to achieve balance in my entire life. I know that true balance will never be achieved long-term but we can get pretty close.
I always have a reminder in my mind of what I value most in this world, and my relationship with God is my number 1 priority.
I believe that if I’m continuously putting God first place in my life, then all other areas will be blessed and fall into place as they should. This helps to remind me to keep my focus on Jesus and not my personal agenda all the time.
Everything I have in my life is a blessing and I’m just thankful to be able to do what I love and be surrounded by other people who feel the same way.
To be vulnerable, the biggest challenge I think I’ve faced is not letting my selfish ambitions get in the way of God’s calling on my life.
Yes, I want to achieve a lot of things in this sport – turning pro and reaching the Olympia stage, but if my relationship with God is not thriving, then what’s the point?
I believe I was put here to help bring people to Jesus – more specifically to help average guys become extraordinary MEN through the vessel of fitness that God has given me!
🏆 How are you doing today and what does the future look like?
It is my goal to help equip the men I train not only to become the best version of themselves in the gym, but also in their day-to-day lives.
Today I feel alive and well! I’m honestly very excited for the future as well as all the areas of my life that I continuously aim to improve in.
My main focuses lately have been on my coaching business, which has accelerated rapidly since it began on January 1st. It is my goal to help equip the men I train not only to become the best version of themselves in the gym, but also in their day-to-day lives.
Outside of business, it is my goal to become an IFBB Pro in Classic Physique, which means qualifying for nationals again this year! Right now, I’m aiming to do the Olympia Amateur in September and possibly a warm-up show in August.
Provided that I’m healthy and life doesn’t get in the way, I’m very excited for competition season to start back up again, especially after taking all of 2019 off from the stage.
Thinking back on how far I’ve come in this sport, it’s hard not to think of things I “wish” I could have done sooner or changed that would have helped me at this point in my life.
But in all honesty, I believe God allows us to make our own choices, which can become learning opportunities down the road, and sometimes these opportunities can be enormous blessings!
Do I wish I took leg training seriously back in my late teens and early 20’s?? haha YES. But has it given me more motivation and fire to have the best legs the next time I step on stage?? Absolutely. It’s time to work!
🤕 How do you recover, rest and handle injuries?
Recovery has been an area of VAST improvement for me. Since I willingly kick the crap out of my muscles, six days a week, the least I can do is give them what they need to grow and recover!
I’m a firm believer in never allowing my ego to take over in the gym and I’m very aware of proper muscle execution and contracting properly in order to avoid injury.
I’m thankful for my bodybuilding mentors who instilled this mindset in me from a young age so I haven’t had to face any major injuries at all in the gym.
Sleep and managing stress have been game-changers as well. It’s amazing what the fundamentals can do. I am for at least eight hours per night, sometimes nine and I rarely find myself getting stressed out anymore.
Doing so is only hindering my progress in the gym, and that’s a no go! Taking supplements like Melatonin, Magnesium and L-theanine have been great additives towards a restful night sleep and optimal recovery.
I’ve had the benefit of meeting some tremendous massage and muscle practitioners in the fitness space to have kept my muscles feeling amazing. I truly believe in having regular adjustments from a chiropractor as well.
Aim to find someone who specializes in sports and active individuals; someone who can look at you, assess your muscle imbalances and weaknesses and set up your body to work OPTIMALLY inside and outside of the gym. If you’re in the Phoenix area, go see Dr. Tim! (@musclechiropractic on IG)
🍎 How is your diet and what supplements do you use?
My diet is always changing but always progressive! Since my goal right now is to build more size on my legs, my nutrition is structured around the two days that I train legs per week. You could say that I’m using somewhat of a carb-cycle approach.
On Mondays and Thursdays (leg days), I consume around 4500 to 5000 calories in order to support growth. On all other training days and my off day, I consume around 3000 calories, which provides me with enough energy to have great workouts but not build the upper body more than it already is. Remember, I can’t be above 205lbs for classic physique, UGH!
I do however love my cheat meals every once in a while, which will generally end up on a leg day where the food will be put to use. My guilty go-to cheat meals typically include pizza, Mexican food or donuts. My weaknesses!
The best way to track if I’m eating too much or not is using the MyFitnessPal app, which has been very popular in the fitness space. Tracking is super easy and I can see where my macros are lining up if I eat something out of the ordinary on a certain day.
As you can probably guess, food is my number one source for nutrients – as it should be for everyone! Supplements should always be what their name implies: a “supplement” to the diet.
From my experience though, I believe proper nutrition can only be achieved by using BOTH food and supplementation, but not just any random supps that you can buy off the shelf – most of which can be complete garbage.
I’ve taken much of my time this year researching the products that I put in my body and I can happily say that I’ve found some companies that stand head and shoulders above the rest!
Honestly, anything from Organixx or Calton Nutrition have my stamp of approval! THE BEST researched formulas out on the market by far.
👍 What has inspired and motivated you?
I’ve always found inspiration from those who have come before me and who have succeeded in the areas of life that are important – or at least important to me. From a young age, I have always been inspired by athletes who achieve the highest level of success possible, like Michael Jordan, Larry Fitzgerald, Kobe Bryant – to name a few sports heroes.
In the bodybuilding world, I see bodybuilders that I admire all the time and the physiques they’ve been able to achieve, which only lights more of a fire in my heart to reach this level of success as well.
I love finding inspiration in all aspects and areas of life including pastors, business leaders and CEOs, and even simply the great men that I know in my life who have successful marriages.
I believe that motivation is very temporary, but when you have a clear vision of what you want your future to look like, that kind of inspiration automatically becomes a part of you each day that you wake up. I aim to always be inspired, not motivated.
This was one of the best pieces of advice that I’ve ever been given: To make your “why” bigger than just you. When you do this, you no longer tackle life with a selfish ambition. You tackle it to make this world a better place.
✏️ Advice for other people who want to improve themselves?
The society we live in tells us we need to do “more” to look better, when in reality the opposite is true.
Honestly, if I were brand new to bodybuilding, I would do two things: 1) I would take my nutrition more seriously, and 2) I would focus on contracting MUSCLES in the gym, not just moving heavy weights around. These two things, once I adopted them into my regular fitness lifestyle, completely changed my physique for the better.
I started to grow like never before when I stopped using my “ego” to lift the weights and started using my muscles. This of course took some time to get down, but eventually I mastered this just like any other skill.
I could look around any gym in America right now and find 99% of the people using their “momentum muscles” more than their actual targeted muscle.
The society we live in tells us we need to do “more” to look better, when in reality the opposite is true. You need to do the minimal amount of work, with MAXIMAL effort and execution to illicit a specific result. Anything else is a giant waste of time!
I could provide a laundry list of things that people could do better in the gym, but honestly if we fix just these two things, we would see a ton more people in the gym with INSANE physiques. No joke.
🤝 Are you taking on clients right now?
Yes, I am currently taking on male clients who want to add 15lbs of permanent muscle to their frame in the next 15 weeks. My Mass Construction program is the only program that I coach right now simply because it WORKS.
My passion is helping average guys become the extraordinary MEN that they were meant to be, and building muscle is a great place to start!
This program is set at four months long but can extend up to a year depending on the goal of the individual. I never use a cookie cutter approach towards any of my clients, which is why each program is structured so my athletes get their desired results.
All of the Mass Construction program is online-based where they have access to a membership site, downloads, videos and exclusive content for the program.
Usually the most common question I get about the program is what kind of progress is achievable in four months – which is why I always start by saying it’s for guys who want to build 15lbs of muscle in 15 weeks because it has been proven time and time again with my clients – some even more!
My approach is unique and I can honestly say that my Mass Construction workouts will help you feel every single muscle that you want to grow, even your weak ones! If you have any lagging muscle groups, then this is the program for you, period.
📝 Where can we learn more about you?
You can visit my main website called MindsetFitness.net and apply for coaching directly here.
Follow me on Instagram (my main channel): @MitchMuller
Subscribe on YouTube: https://youtube.com/mitchmuller
