Who Is Antoine Vaillant?
Antoine Vaillant is a professional bodybuilder and fitness model from Montreal, Canada. He received his Pro Card in 2012 after taking first place in both his weight group and Overalls in the CBBF Canadian Nationals.
Short Career of Antoine Vaillant
As a child, Antoine Vaillant participated in martial arts lessons and rugby games since he was so interested in physical exercise and sports. At age 16, this “innate passion” for physical development prompted him to start going to the gym.
In his own words, “I recall in my early years of training I was seeing results incredibly fast and straightaway I realized that this was what I wanted to do!” he said that from that point on he had only known weight training.
Then he started investing all of his time and energy into building the body of his dreams.
He eventually succeeded in doing that and more. By the time he was 25, he had established himself as a successful professional bodybuilder and fitness icon, building a solid online fitness following through social media.
“I started doing push ups at home every night at 13 years old hoping that this would help although I then soon realized that push ups won’t make you jacked so I joined a gym.”
Body Measurements of Antoine Vaillant
| Full Name: | Antoine Vaillant |
| DATE OF BIRTH: | July 28, 1987 |
| ERA: | 2000, 2010 |
| PROFESSION: | Professional Bodybuilder, Fitness Model |
| NATIONALITY: | Canadian |
| AGE: | 34 |
| HEIGHT: | 6′ (183cm) |
| WEIGHT: | 255 to 265 pounds (115.7 to 120.2 kg) |
Accomplishments
- 2004 CBBF Mr. Granby, 1st Place
- 2004 CBBF Quebec Provincial Championships, 2nd place
- 2005 CBBF Mr. Canton de l’est, 2nd place
- 2005 CBBF Mr.Granby, 2nd place
- 2005 CBBF Quebec Provincial Championships, 4th place
- 2006 CBBF Quebec Provincial Championships, 1st place
- 2006 CBBF Canadian Bodybuilding Championships, 1st place
- 2007 CBBF Canadians Nationals, 1st place
- 2008 CBBF Québec Provincials, 2nd
- 2009 CBBF Canadian Nationals, 4th
- 2011 IFBB Arnold Classic Amateurs, 2nd
- 2011 CBBF Canadian Nationals, 3rd Overall
- 2012 CBBF Canadian Nationals, 1st
- 2013 IFBB Toronto Pro Supershow – 16th
- 2013 IFBB New York Pro – 14th
Training
The Cardio Sessions Are Omitted
Antoine exercises on a treadmill for 20 minutes during the off-season, ideally every day but occasionally allowing himself to miss a session.
However, he makes sure to get at least one cardio workout per day during the pre-contest week. He’ll even go as far as doing two sessions per day, one for 30-45 minutes after a workout and one for 30-45 minutes while fasting in the morning.
Many bodybuilders worry that doing cardio will cause them to lose muscle mass. That is bullshit, I say!
Workout Techniques
Antoine never follows the same exercise routine; in fact, he alters his weekly training schedules.
He works out for five days straight, followed by one day off. He will practice posing between training sessions, which might last anywhere from 10 minutes to over an hour.
Antoine consistently strives to push heavier weights throughout workouts to get the best potential muscular pump. He believes that this mixture is the most effective technique to achieve long-term muscular hypertrophy.
Additionally, he enjoys including supersets and drop sets in his exercises because they aid in muscular building.
Training Programs
Here is one of Antonie’s weekly modified standard training schedules;
Back/Calves
- Modified One Arm T-bar Row: 4 x 8
- Cable Rows: 3 x 12
- Close Grip Chins: 2 x max
- Dumbbell Pullovers: 3 x 12
- Dumbbell Shrugs: 3 x 12
- Hang with 45lb plate: Max time x 1
- Banded/weighed Hypers: 3 x 25
- Seated Calves: 4 x 10
- Standing Calves: 3 x 10
- Donkey Calves: 2 x 30
Chest/Abs
- Machine Press: 15-12-10-10-10
- Flat Dumbbell Press: 4 x 12
- Tsuki Bench Press: 3 x 12
- Dips : 3 X 12 (partials)
- Kelso Shrugs: 3-4 x 12
- Cable Cross Overs: 3 x 12
- Low Pulley Cable Cross Overs: 3 x 12
- Broomstick Twist: 2 x 50
- Roulette : 3 x 12
- Rope Crunch : 3 x 12
Biceps/Triceps/Forearms
- Machine Curl: 4 x 12-15
- Tricep Rope Pushdown: 4 x 12-15
- Inclined Bicep Curls: 4 x 12
- Dumbbell Skull Crushers: 4 x 12
- Standing DB Curls (4 x 3 style) : 3 x 12
- DB French Press: 3 x 12
- Reverse BB Curl: 3 x 12
- Reverse Push-Down 3 x 12
- Wrist Push Downs: 3 x 12
- Wrist Alternating DB Curls (to the side) : 3 x 10
Delts/Traps
- Reverse Pec Deck: 4 x 12
- Bent Over Fly: 3 x 12
- One Arm Cable Side Lateral: 3 x 15 (non-stop)
- Side Lateral: 3 x 10
- Bent Arms Side Lateral: 3 x 10
- Hammer Grip Alternating Front Raise: 3 x 10
- Upright Row : 3 x 8-12
- Barbell Shrugs: 15-12-12-12
Legs
- Leg Extensions: 3 x 15
- Bodyweight Squats: 3 x 10
- Parallel Squat : 4 x 8-10
- Box Jump: 4 x 6
- Bulgarian Squat: 4 x 6
- Bulgarian Jump Squat: 4 x 6
- Stiff Leg Deadlift: 4 x 8
- Long Jumps: 4 x 6
- Lying Leg Curls: 3 x 10
- Standing Calf Raise: 3 x 10
Adding Another Back Session
Sometimes, Antoine will train back twice per week – one day being dedicated to thickness, and the other to width. This is what his routine for width looks like;
Back (Width)
- Wide Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Medium Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Close Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Pull Down Stretchers: 3 x 10
- Deadlift: 12-10-8-6
- Reeves Deadlift: 3 x 10
- Wide Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Medium Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Close Grip Pull Downs: 3 x 12
- Pull Down Stretchers: 3 x 10
- Deadlift : 12-10-8-6
- Reeves Deadlift: 3 x 10
Antoine’s Top 3 Movements
- Incline Bench Press: There was one longer period (3+ months) in Antoine’s career where he couldn’t do any incline movements because of a shoulder injury. He says that he missed this exercise a lot – nothing worked his upper pecs like the incline press.
- Deadlift: In Antoine’s opinion, this exercise is the “epitome” of strength. Not only does it add thickness to his frame, but it also works his entire body like no other exercise.
- Chin Ups: Alongside deadlifts, Antonie has found this exercise to be the best for his back – especially for width.
Getting Over Growth Plateaus
Antoine Vaillant will drastically alter his diet and exercise regimen if he encounters a muscular hypertrophy “plateau” to stimulate new muscle growth.
In particular, he’ll alter some of his dietary sources, eat “cleaner,” and alter his exercise routine (number of reps, sets, duration of rest periods, etc.)
Equipment or Free Weights
Even though Antoine Vaillant prefers free weights to machines most of the time, he thinks machines still have a place in workouts since they can sometimes isolate a certain muscle part that free weights can’t.
Nutrition
Antoine eats a diet that is primarily composed of carbohydrates and very little fat. Only in the morning, when he eats beef, does he have fats.
Other than that, the majority of his meals are made up of protein and carbohydrates like rice, chicken breast, egg whites, and occasionally beans.
Listed below is an example of his daily menu;
Here’s a sample of his daily diet;
1st Meal
- 8 oz extra lean ground beef
- 8 egg whites
- 1-cup oats
2nd Meal
- 10 oz tilapia
- 2 cups rice
3rd Meal
- 10 oz tilapia
- 10 oz sweet potato
4th Meal
- 10 oz tilapia
- 1-cup rice
5th Meal
- 10 oz tilapia
- veggies
- 50g whey shake (before bed)
- 50g whey shake + 20g carbs (post-workout)
Antoine’s Supplementation
- Morning: Multivitamin, Omega-3, L-carnitine
- Pre-workout: Pre-workout supplement
- Post-workout: Whey protein, 20g of Glutamine
- Before bed: 2.5 scoops Whey Protein, 20g of Glutamine
Influences and Idols
Antoine Vaillant admires Kevin Levrone, Dennis Newman, and Arnold Schwarzenegger as bodybuilders. He claimed Kevin always had a perfect physique, which he made an effort to imitate.
One of Antoine’s all-time bodybuilding heroes was Kevin because of his strong demeanor, enormously muscular physique, and “crazy” attitude in the gym.
Kevin refers to Arnold as “the king of all bodybuilders, the finest of the best” in regards to him. Antoine always looked up to Dennis Newman, who he described as having a fantastic physique at his peak.