Mark Alvisi

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Goals set and reached for 2009
After taking second place at the 2008 NPC Nationals, my goal for this year was to turn pro at the NPC USA Championships. Actually, I didn’t just want one of the three pro cards. I wanted to win the Overall, because I feel that if you are going to be a very competitive pro in the IFBB, you need to be the dominant athlete at the show you earn your pro card at. I concentrated all my efforts and energy into doing everything necessary in my workouts, my nutrition and supplementation, and my cardio to make sure I would be more than ready. Not only was my condition spot-on, but I was also eleven pounds heavier than I had been the year before at the USA. Overall I was bigger in general, but specifically my legs, shoulders and arms were all rounder and fuller. I beat out a very tough challenger in the form of Lee Banks to win the Heavyweight class, and then proceeded to win the Overall. Everything went exactly to plan, and I have to thank Rich and everyone else at Gaspari Nutrition for their belief in me and all the support leading up to the contest. Just three years ago I entered the USA and didn’t even make the top fifteen. I knew if I kept working hard and refused to get discouraged, I could make my dream of becoming a pro come true – and here I am!

Most memorable appearance of the year
The Dragon’s Den seminars we did were a blast, but I would have to say the Olympia Weekend was the absolute best. I had been to the Mr. Olympia a few times before, and I had also worked the Gaspari booth at both the Arnold Classic and Olympia before, but this was the first time I did it as an IFBB Pro. Having just won the USA two months before, there were so many fans that came up to me all weekend long to talk, take a picture, or have me sign a photo or a magazine. That was another excellent aspect to that weekend, because the timing was perfect. My very first cover of Muscular Development had just been printed, and Steve Blechman was kind enough to ship us a couple boxes of advance copies to have at the booth. It was a classic old-school twisting single biceps pose like Arnold used to do, and it was in black and white with a white background. I couldn’t have asked for a better cover shot. And Joe Volgey from marketing had it blown up on a poster board to display at the booth. Then on Saturday night, I went to the private party for Gaspari Nutrition athletes and reps at club XS inside the new Encore hotel and casino – truly a five-star venue. I didn’t stay too late because I like to get all my meals and sleep in right on schedule, but I did get to meet a lot of our international sales reps. In fact, that wound up leading to an appearance I am making soon in Dubai. I’ve never been to the Middle East before, so I’m very excited.

Favorite new Gaspari Products of 2009
While I was getting ready for the USA, I would have said the duo of Mitotropin and Cytolean V2. Both of them came in handy to shred down to perfect contest condition, and they were also very useful for keeping my energy levels up. Those early-morning sessions on the Stepmill were a real mother, but having my Mito or Cyto when I woke up gave me the boost I needed to power through and incinerate those last vestiges of bodyfat. Now that the show is over and I’m in off-season mode, there are two new products that came along just in time for me to use. The first is Real Mass, a weight gainer with the same high-quality protein blend found in Myofusion but also with an advanced carbohydrate matrix for more sustained energy. A lot of people don’t realize that compared to a lot of other top-level bodybuilders, I’m something of a hardgainer. It takes intense focus in the gym and a lot of clean calories and nutrients for me to put on muscle. That’s why my other favorite new off-season product from Gaspari Nutrition is the new Size On Maximum Performance. It has slightly more carbohydrates than the original formula, and now it also includes whey protein hydrolysate to help keep you in an anabolic state while you train, plus an insulin mimicker. It’s basically a huge improvement on the original formula, and I felt the difference the first time I trained with it. There’s also a zero-carb version too, so unlike the original Size On I’ll be able to keep using this one all the way through my next contest prep.

Looking forward
Now that I have my pro card, it’s time for me to make the improvements I know I will need before I get up there with those guys. It’s a whole other level of athlete, and I definitely need more size to be able to compare with them. I’ve already started my off-season training and eating, and my goal is to get up to a fairly lean 260 before I start dieting. The show I would love to do as my pro debut is the Tampa Pro next August. I live in Florida, so it makes a lot of sense for me to do a show close to home. I have a lot of work ahead of me because I plan to hit the pro stage for the first time at 225, almost another ten pounds of mass up from my USA win. But I have a great support system and an awesome sponsor, plus the assistance of the whole line of Gaspari Nutrition products to rely on as I grow into a real pro over the next few months. I can’t wait!