BEYOND THE STAGE WITH TAD THE DIET COACH

This time on Rising Muscle and Beyond the Stage it is time for a famous competitor and coaching profile in the bodybuilding & fitness industry. He. is also part of the Rising Muscle team where he contributes to his training and nutritional expertise in his own show “Tad TV”.

Let’s Welcome Tan Inoue for a brand new interview.

RM: Tad would you like to give us your training background and how the passion for bodybuilding and started coaching?

TI: Well, I started specifically bodybuilding at the age of 15 years old. Today I am 44 so that was about 30 years ago. I first started as an athlete and was determined to make it big in the sport. I thought at the time that I would become the greatest bodybuilder ever! LOL But as I evolved into the sport I have come to other conclusions about what I love most about this sport and my goals. By the time I got into college, I started managing a small vitamin store called “Country Vitamins” in Corvallis, Oregon that is still their today. I actually still know the owner, Pat Sardell, who was critical of my initial knowledge in supplements and nutrition. She got me started in helping others with diets and working out by encouraging me to share what I was learning with others. At the time in 1989, I had no idea that I could make a living at this and that there would be a vocation for me in being a nutritionist and diet coach.

I quickly gained a reputation in the Pacific Northwest as one of the best bodybuilders in the region and one that would help others. I had started competing in 1989 and  by the time I almost graduated with my undergraduate degree I was the head nutritional advisor for Oregon State University’s football program, and I was training and helping other athletes with diet and supplements. I quickly found that because I am such an academic at heart that my approach was already different from other trainers and athletes who at that time mainly relied on hearsay information and help from other competitors at the shows. In those days, there were no prep coaches to speak of.

Much of my passion for bodybuilding initially started because I wanted to change my own body, but by the time I got out of graduate school and had been working a while, I realized that my methodology was not only getting me in great shape at shows and people were noticing that, but that I was effectively helping others. By the late 90’s, I started to formulate my ideas about being a prep and nutritionist full time. I just didn’t know how I was going to do it. I bought a gym and ran that for about 2 years. I found out that loving to work out and owning a gym are two very different things. LOL. So I sold the gym and focused my entire effort on diet coaching and specifically prep coaching.

Now I have been coaching for about 28 years and love every bit of it. It was my coaching and experiences working with others as well as my own competitive experiences that led me to change much of my ideas about bodybuilding and the value that it brought and continues to bring to my life and most importantly how this kind of life process can add tremendous value to anyone’s life.

What I came to was the idea that goals and building a wonderful physique is great, but the real juice is in inward mastery and real self-actualization. In other words, what my bodybuilding process taught me, was that I am the grand creator of my life. My reality is exactly what my project and believed it to be. I know that what we ask for in life we get. We ask for the products of our lives through our thoughts, feelings, and emotions. What we focus our mind’s eye on and what we focus our internal and external energy on is exactly what the universe give us in our life. Ask anyone who doesn’t like what they have in their life and you will quickly find thinner-Tad-Inoue at they simply don’t believe they can have the things they want. You know this because most of their energy is spent on complaining about what is wrong, what they don’t have and what they really want. All of which is very negative thinking?

Instead, ask any of the most highly successful people in the world. Better yet, ask any person who is happy in this life. Which is what we all really want? We think we want success, but we really want what we think our definition of success will bring us. You will find that successful people dwell on their passions, what excites them, anticipation of tomorrow, what they are most grateful for, etc. When you do this you resonate a very different kind of energy and it attracts those things that you focus on in your life. Best of all, it produces a very happy individual. In essence, this is what my journey of bodybuilding helped me to realize, but best of all, it is what I now preach to anyone and everyone. This new way, of thinking about my life and bodybuilding, has given me more passion and excitement than any title or trophy or pro card could have ever given me. Now I compete not to be Mr. Olympia, but to be my best that I can be and to most importantly have fun every single day of my life with it.

RM: What are the basic faults beginners do when they start to train at a gym and aims to get in better shape?

TI: the biggest mistakes that I see beginners make is that they waste all kinds of energy on looking for secret pills and
workouts. LOL! There aren’t any! The secret weapon that all great physiques have (bar none!) is a lot of work and patience!

RM: Our industry is evolving as everything else – what kind of development would you like to see in the future?

TI: I would love to see the athletes focus less on beating others as the primary goal and instead focus on being in love with their own process and the journey. If you can’t enjoy and love your journey you won’t have a happy life. Happiness isn’t just a few moments in time, it is always in the NOW.

RM: In what field of life would you have put all of your energy and passion if you had to choose a different one than the culture of bodybuilding & Fitness?

TI: Wow… I love this question! I would make feature length movies! No doubt about it. I would love to create our modern day mythology (this is how I see movies). Movies are one way we as a culture express our desires, hopes, dreams, fantasies, and history. I would love to be in the business of presenting my personal messages through movies. Currently, I use social media and my conversations with my athletes and people I meet to do this. But it would be great to have a much larger stage to present my brand of message on!

RM: Tad, are you planning to compete again and if so – when will we see you on stage next time?

TI: I have been asked this a lot this year. I am not getting any younger and I feel I still have more left in the gas tank. But I have no plans at the moment. This year will be a big and busy year for me and I just don’t foresee myself having the time to compete this year. In my lifetime, I have competed in over 50 contests, I have done many national shows, I have won my division at a Nationals show, and won many regional shows. I have had a very long and successful athletic career so far. While I don’t feel I have anything to prove, if I felt excited to compete again, then I will. So for me the jury is out.

RM: What muscle groups are next in your schedule to train and what are some of the exercises will you use and why?

TI: Well delts and abs are next on my weekly agenda. I have always had an easy time developing my delts. But I also love to totally smash them in the gym too! I typically do 4-5 exercises and about 12-15 reps per set. I usually don’t change
exercises much. For delts I love side laterals, dumbbell front raises, reverse pec deck, single cable side laterals and maybe smith machine press.

RM: Time for the roundup – feel free to give a shout out or if you want to add something!

The only thing I would end with is this… while I have dedicated much of my life to bodybuilding, dieting, and nutrition; I have 3 other loves in my life that have been and are still essential to my success. My identical twin brother Asao, who from the beginning has been my biggest fan and supporter. I also go to him first when I need a word of advice or if I want to help clarify anything in my life. Asao and I are very close and I honestly can’t see my world without him. I am so thankful that he is my brother. And, of course, my wife Bernadette, who without her love and support I wouldn’t be where I am today. She is my complete soul mate. I know that the universe created her for me and we were drawn together because we are our own unique counterparts. I am so thankful that she loves me and that I love her. Finally, my life changed when Bernadette and I had Kiana, my 5-year-old daughter. Kiana is my hope, my legacy, and my heart through and through. I know she will most likely always want to work close to me. At least that would be a good hope. LOL. Whatever she decides to do with her life once she is grown, I am looking forward to seeing her express her own brand of uniqueness in this world. She is a vibrating light in my world that gives me so much love and hope for the future. I am eternally grateful for her.

Tad, thank you for participating in Beyond the Stage. It was really interesting to take part of your background story and point of views concerning coaching and the industry, in general.

We are looking forward to your next upcoming videos on “Tad’s Diet Talk.”