Name: Tavi Castro
Division: Classic Physique
Birth date: 2/3/1990
Height: 5’10”
Competition Weight: 185-195 lbs
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Biography
Early Years And Soccer
Tavi Castro was born in Mexico on February 3, 1990. At the age of 4, his family relocated to Canada where they settled in Edmonton, Alberta. Growing up, Tavi played soccer the majority of his youth. At the age of 15, he moved from Canada to Europe to continue playing soccer with multiple youth academies. After he was scouted onto the Canadian Youth National team, Tavi pretty much had his life figured out with a future in professional soccer.
Though Tavi Castro enjoyed his time as a sponsored youth soccer player, he soon decided to leave the sport behind at the age of 19. Tavi attended Delft University of Technology to secure his degree in Aerospace Engineering. He spent a lot of his time studying for school and working at nights just to make a living.
Though Tavi left soccer behind, he still dedicated time to the gym life. After years of fitness training, the gym took over anything else he had going on in his life.
Discovery of Bodybuilding
Tavi Castro was used to being in a competitive environment, so he often felt like something was missing in his life. He later discovered natural bodybuilding competitions, specifically Musclemania. That is when he knew it was time to achieve something that would be considered impossible for him. Tavi wanted to become a fitness model and a natural bodybuilder.
“Like the majority of people starting out in the gym, my ego tended to get the best of me and I was trading technique and efficiency for too much weight.” He continues ” Luckily, studying Aerospace engineering meant I knew how to do my homework when something wasn’t working.” Tavi says.
Tavi dedicated time to research and seeking all of the information he could on dieting. He quickly learned that technique was important to reaching his goal. He studied people like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane and many others. “Like a proper engineer I took all the tools and tricks and glued them together into my own method and process” Tavi says.
Tavi Castro often struggled with consistency in the gym. Like many people, he has made mistakes. He made sure that everything was laid out the easiest way possible to make sure he achieved all of his goals. With his 10 hour study days for school, he did not really meal prep. He left protein like oatmeal, bread, peanut butter and other foods in his locker at school.
The Journey To Go Pro
Tavi Castro’s took first place at his very first competition in the junior bodybuilding category and second place in the fitness modeling category at the 2012 Musclemania Britain. Though he often struggled to find joy in bodybuilding within a division that demanded so much size. It wasn’t until the Classic Physique division was announced that he became reinvigorated to compete again. In 2020, he competed in the NPC Worldwide Festival Regional competition. He placed first but failed to earn a top spot in the qualifier competition the following night. He continues to train and prepare to win an NPC qualifier and go pro in the Classic Physique division.
Training
Tavi Castro believes in using free weights for building solid muscle, this is where most of the muscle stimulation occurs. He also points out the importance of developing supporting muscle through isolation exercises. He says that machines play an important role for him whenever it is time to shock any muscle group with intense high rep drop sets or deplete glycogen for contest prep. He trains twice a week split into thickness and width.
Monday – Legs
Squat Wide Stance 4×8
Squat Narrow Stance 2×8
Stiff Legged Deadlift 4×8
Leg Press Wide Foot Placement 3×8
Leg Press Narrow Foot Placement 3×8
Leg Curls 3x drop set
Leg Extensions 3x drop set
Tuesday – Chest/Biceps
Flat Barbell Bench Press 4×8
Incline Barbell Bench Press 4×8
Dips 3x drop set
Flat Dumbbell Press 3×8
Incline Dumbbell Press 3×8
Barbell Curls 3×12
Heavy Hammer Curls 3×12
Cable Curls 3x drop set
Wednesday – Back/Traps
Deadlift 3×8
Bent Over Barbell Rows 3×8
Bent Over V-Bar Rows 3×8
Cable Rows 3x drop Set
Barbell Shrug 4×8
Dumbbell Shrug 4×8
Thursday – Shoulders/Triceps/Abs
Military Press 3×8
Barbell Upright Rows 3×8
Side Raises 3x drop set
Rear Pec Deck 3x drop set
Skull Crushers 3×12
Cable Tricep Extension 3×12
Over Head Cable Tricep Extension 3×12
Kneeling Cable Crunches 3×12
Standing Cable Crunches 3×12
Weighted Leg Raises 3×12
Friday – Chest/Calves
Incline Dumbbell Fly’s 3×12
Flat Dumbbell Fly’s 3×12
Incline Cable Fly’s 3×12
Pec Deck 3×12
Calf Raises 3×50
Seated Calf Raises 3x drop set
Saturday – Back/Abs
Wide Grip Pull Ups 3×12
Wide Grip Pull Downs 3×12
Close Grip Pull Downs 3×12
Machine Pull Downs 3×12
Crunches 3×30
Ab Rows 3×30
Leg Raises 3×30
Sunday – Rest
Recovery day
Nutrition
Tavi is a fan of low carb eating when prepping for competitions or photo shoots. He extends his low carb eating to get the most benefit. Tavi’s diet consists of 4 days carb cycling split; 250 gr, 150, 100, 50. He’d then add in an extra day of two of low carbs at around 50 grams per day for the best results. He is a firm believer in clean bulking.
Here are some supplements Tavi uses:
- Whey
- Multi Vitamin
- Creatine
- BCAA’s
- Omega 3
- ZMA
- Pre-workout when I need an extra boost
- Vitamin C (severely underestimated)
