Known for being an accomplished athlete, Greg Doucette’s workout routine, as well as diet plan, are increasingly becoming popular thanks to his YouTube videos on fitness and bodybuilding.
Greg Doucette has participated in over 100 powerlifting and bodybuilding competitions. It, thus, comes as no surprise that he turned to be an IFBB pro in 2012. He also made it into the Guinness world record under Sumo Deadlifts.
Bodybuilding is not an overnight miracle. It takes a lot of hard work, among other things, to build the muscles into the correct shape. Let’s look at Greg Doucette’s workout routine and diet plan, which play a vital role in the success of a powerlifter and bodybuilder.
Who is Greg Doucette?
Greg Doucette was born on 17th September 1975 in Canada. Although not much is known about his family, he has a twin brother.
Today Greg is known for weightlifting, fitness training, creating YouTube content, and his attempt at professional cycling. However, unknown to some, Greg also advanced his studies, having graduated from Acadia University, where he obtained a major in Kinesiology with the highest average in his class. In addition, he also has a Master’s Degree from St. Francis Xavier, Nova Scotia.
He started training as a 13-year old together with his twin brother under the guidance of his father. At such a young age, this interest was sparked by seeing Olympic sportspeople on TV. He has termed these early training sessions as some of his fondest memories growing up.
Greg entered his first bodybuilding competition at the age of 17, and he won! He set a national record at his first powerlifting in the bench press for seniors and juniors at his first attempt. He lifted 342 lbs. at the weight of 148 lbs.
Since then, Greg has engaged in various competitions, featured in numerous articles and magazines.
Currently, he is a full-time personal trainer, coach for contest preps, and nutrition advisor running a business known as Doucette Personal Training and Consulting.
Greg has not yet retired from powerlifting and bodybuilding competitions. He plans to break the all-time powerlifting record by benching 550, squatting 635, and deadlifting 725 while weighing 198 lbs.
He started a YouTube channel in 2007 by uploading short videos showcasing his workout routines. It was not until 2013 when his content took a different direction. Greg now incorporates longer videos where he shares this knowledge and thoughts about weightlifting and bodybuilding. His girlfriend Allyson also has a YouTube channel.
Despite the great success in bodybuilding and weightlifting, Greg has not been very successful in his professional cycling career, which he started in 2017.
After a cycling event in Nova Scotia, known as the Tour of Keji, Greg was requested to submit an anti-doping test, to which he refused. Although in his defense he alleged that he wasn’t aware that the Canadian Anti-doping Program was scrutinizing the event, he was banned from participating in professional cycling events for the next ten years.
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Greg Doucette Workout Routine
Greg’s workout routine entails a highly intense workout approach. He manages to hit all the muscle groups at high intensity to generate the maximum possible growth.
He is known for consistently applying the training to failure concept. When the muscles completely fail, their growth mechanism is stimulated, therefore giving you the gains you are aiming at. For instance, Greg’s advice to those whose goal is to get stronger is to lift heavier weights while performing fewer repetitions. On the other hand, the workout approach uses moderate weights for muscle gain while performing more repetitions.
Here’s an overview of Greg’s current workout routine, which focuses more on muscle gains, also known as hypertrophy gains.
CHEST WORKOUT
On chest workout, Greg incorporates five exercises, each having about four sets and ten reps.
- 5, 8 – 12 Barbell bench press
- 4, 10- 15 incline dumbbell press
- 4, 8 – 12 hammer strength press
- 4, 10 – 15 dumbbell fly
- 4, 8 – 12 Pec deck machine
SHOULDER WORKOUT
Greg has slowed down on the intensity of his shoulder workouts. This is because of a torn rotator cuff.
He is a great advocate for warm-up prior to exercises involving dynamic movements such as arm swings. A simple warm-up of, say, front and side raising of a 5 lb dumbbell will go a long way in helping blood to flow to the shoulders.
Greg performs five exercises of about five sets and an average of 12 reps on his shoulder routine.
- 5, 10 – 15 reverse pec deck machine
- 4, 10 – 15 hammer strength press
- 5, 12 – 15 dumbbell lateral raise
- 5, 12 – 15 standing front cable raise
- 5, 12 – 15 standing dumbbell shrug
BACK WORKOUT
Greg holds a world record as a powerlifter in sumo deadlift. Although he still incorporates traditional exercises in his back workout, the intensity has since reduced due to the fear of injury.
He performs the following five exercises in his back routine that involve an average set of 4 sets and 11 reps.
- 5, 8 – 12 Barbell sumo lift
- 4, 10 -15 hammer strength machine row
- 4, 8 – 12 close grip cable row
- 4, 8 – 12 wide grip lat pulldown
- 4, 10 – 15 bent over cable row
LEG WORKOUT
Greg has strong legs, which he is well known for. However, just as with the back routine, Greg doesn’t do the heavy lifting on squats due to a fear of injury. He often squatted heavy weights without a belt in his raw powerlifter days.
He is of the school of thought that intensity is the most crucial aspect of training. Even with limited workout equipment, practising training to fail will give you substantial gains.
He incorporates six exercises of 4 – 5 sets on leg routine, each having an average of 16 reps.
- 5, 8 – 16 leg press
- 5, 8 – 12 hack squats
- 5, 10 – 15 leg extensions
- 5, 10 – 15 lying hamstring curl
- 4, 15 – 20 seated calf raise
- 4, 15 – 20 standing calf raise
ARM WORKOUT
Greg’s preference is first to warm up using machine preacher curls before his arm routine. This allows his body to focus on steadily moving the weight. Further, he likes including partial reps, which are often more challenging. Different workout routines prevent the body from getting used to a monotonous routine.
Greg’s arm routine entails four specific exercises of 5 sets and an average of 12 reps.
- 5, 10 – 12 machine preacher curl
- 5, 10 – 12 lying cable curls
- 5, 10 – 15 seated dumbbell alternating curl
- 5, 10 – 15 standing plate curl
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Greg Doucette’s Diet Plan
With the intense workouts, it goes without saying that Greg Doucette needs to energize his body effectively. He is a firm believer in eating high amounts of low-calorie foods. His meals often involve plenty of salads, chicken, vegetables, and other healthy meals.
In addition, Greg is fond of eating a variety of toasts with different fruits. He also prefers popcorn instead of rice as it has more fiber and tastes better. His other favorite foods include low-carb bread, casein protein powder, sugar-free ketchup, BBQ sauce with no added sugar, zero-calorie chocolate syrup, and protein bread wrap.
Here’s Greg’s diet plan.
BREAKFAST
- Egg whites
- Toast
LUNCH
- Peas
- Chicken
SNACK
- Protein bread wrap
DINNER
- Salad
- Turkey
SNACK
- Fruit
Greg focuses on nutrition, intending to be healthy, fit, and grow muscles without feeling hungry. Another thing is that this bodybuilder doesn’t limit his intake of spices, especially on items such as broccoli and chicken, which he frequently eats.
Greg on Bulking
Greg is a strong anti-bulking advocate. He is against this concept and criticizes its popularity. Greg says that one doesn’t need fat gain to grow muscle. Instead, he encourages people to consume high-fat items such as nuts, avocados, and eggs to help them achieve this.
Greg Doucette’s Supplements
Greg Doucette uses supplements to energize his body further. His approach to supplementation is that one should take it all in moderation without abusing anything. The supplements he uses are:
- Whey protein: Greg supplements his diet with whey protein, enabling the body to quickly release essential amino acids after workouts.
- Casein protein: This delays hunger pangs by keeping his stomach full for longer. He also uses it as a snack before bedtime.
- Pre-workout shakes: A pre-workout supplements enable him to give his all in a workout session. Greg suggests that pre-workout shakes and stimulants such as caffeine boosts one’s overall performance.
- Melatonin: Greg strongly advocates the importance of getting proper sleep. He believes that it plays a great role in substantial gains. Melatonin is an ideal supplement for people struggling with getting adequate sleep.
- BCAA: This is an amino acid and one of Greg’s favorite supplements. It improves performance, boosts strength, and also minimizes fatigue.
- Others: Other supplements that Greg uses are Vitamin E, multivitamins, and greens superfoods.
What Greg Doucette Avoids
There are particular foods that Greg avoids, such as fast food. His advice on fast food is that garbage food items belong to the garbage. He has always been very disciplined with his diet, and there are certain foods he doesn’t take. The things he avoids are:
- Refined sugar
- Artificial additives
- Junk food
- Processed carbs
- Empty-calorie foods
- Chemical ingredients
Conclusion
Greg has been a fan of weightlifting since childhood. Besides sticking to a strict workout routine and diet plan, he also allows his body enough time to rest and recover. In addition, he also gets adequate sleep daily.
His physique and achievements are an outcome of many years of training. If you wish to follow Greg’s workout, make modifications to your goals, training experience, fitness level and other factors to ensure that you don’t overwork your body.
Marko Rakic is a trail runner and fitness enthusiast from Sydney, Australia. He is the lead writer for The Ultimate Primate and believes the best way to live a happy life is through constantly challenging yourself.