{"id":11438,"date":"2026-01-21T04:35:59","date_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:35:59","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=11438"},"modified":"2026-01-21T04:35:59","modified_gmt":"2026-01-21T04:35:59","slug":"im-going-to-be-shredded-fitness-volt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=11438","title":{"rendered":"&#8220;I&#8217;m Going to Be Shredded&#8221; \u2013 Fitness Volt"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Brazilian Bodybuilder <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/rafael-brandao-profile\/\">Rafael Brandao<\/a> has ambitious plans on deck for the 2026 season. On Jan. 13, 2026, <strong>he joined Jay Cutler to discuss his prep for the 2026 Arnold Classic. Additionally, Brandao revealed future contest plans.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Brandao\u2019s aesthetics and shape turned him into a top Men\u2019s Open threat. In 2024, he maintained a busy schedule, competing multiple times throughout the year. He beat expectations at the <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/2024-arnold-classic-results\/\">Arnold Classic<\/a>, where he secured bronze behind <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/samson-dauda-profile\/\">Samson Dauda<\/a> and winner <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/hadi-choopan-profile\/\">Hadi Choopan<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Weeks later, Brandao secured the <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/2024-arnold-classic-south-america-results\/\">Arnold Classic South America<\/a> title in a close event against Tonio Burton. He didn\u2019t stop there; he traveled overseas to the <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/2024-romania-pro-results\/\">Romania Muscle Fest Pro<\/a> and won handily. After taking the 2025 season off, an improved Brandao is ready to shock the world in Columbus, Ohio.\u00a0<\/p>\n<h2 id=\"rafael-brandao-discusses-2026-arnold-classic-prep-and-reveals-contest-plans\">Rafael Brandao Discusses 2026 Arnold Classic Prep and Reveals Contest Plans\u00a0<\/h2>\n<p>In the video, Brandao reflected on reaching 300 pounds in the off-season. He feels he\u2019s at his best heading into the Arnold Classic.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cI had a good off-season. It\u2019s the first time I hit 300 pounds. It was hard for me because I\u2019m the guy who loses the weight really fast. I needed to keep feeding and eating. But now, we are under 10 weeks to the Arnold Classic and I\u2019m feeling I am at my best right now.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>He emphasized that he has nothing to lose in Ohio, as opposed to contenders like Choopan and <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/andrew-jacked-profile\/\">Chinedu Andrew \u2018Jacked\u2019 Obiekea<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<div class=\"hero-sub-form-wrapper\">\n<div id=\"title\" class=\"hero-title\">\n            <span style=\"font-size: 25px;\">Get Fitter, <strong>Faster<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n<p>Level Up Your Fitness: Join our \ud83d\udcaa strong community in Fitness Volt Newsletter. Get daily inspiration, expert-backed workouts, nutrition tips, the latest in strength sports, and the support you need to reach your goals. Subscribe for free!<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p>Please wait&#8230;<\/p>\n<div id=\"thankYouMessage\" class=\"thank-you-message\" style=\"display: none; text-align: center; padding: 20px; background: #f1f1ef; border-radius: 31px;\">\n            <span style=\"font-size: 25px;\"><strong>You&#8217;re In!<\/strong> Let&#8217;s Crush Your Fitness Goals Together<\/span><\/p>\n<p>Expect expert-backed workouts, nutrition advice, the latest in strength sports, and a whole lot of motivation heading your way.<\/p>\n<p>            <button id=\"subscribeAnotherEmailBtn\" class=\"btn-nav\">Subscribe Another Email<\/button>\n        <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<blockquote class=\"pullquote align-center\">\n<p>\u201cI think we\u2019re going to bring something different,\u201d he shared. \u201cHadi, Angel, all these guys. It\u2019ll be amazing. I\u2019m going there, and I have nothing to lose.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>Dieting for the Arnold Classic has gone smoothly, according to Brandao. He expects to weigh around 266-267 pounds onstage.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p>\u201c262 [is the heaviest my stage weight has been]. I think I\u2019m going to be like 266-267, probably,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=v75AqCuW_EM\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\">said<\/a> Brandao. \u201cI\u2019m not too fat. I\u2019m 285-286. So, if I lose like 20 pounds, I think I\u2019m going to be shredded. I don\u2019t think I need to lose more than that to be in condition.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>\u201cI do low carbs, medium carbs, and high carbs. My low-carb days is 300 grams. It\u2019s a good amount of carbs. Off days are high carbs.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>As for future contests, he teased competing at the Pittsburgh and New York Pro.\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cNo, no, no, because I want to go to Pittsburgh,\u201d he shared. \u201cYeah [I\u2019m going to compete there]. Not yet [haven\u2019t finalized my plans] but I want to go there. Yeah, this is one show I want to go and I said to Steve, [I\u2019d like to come to] New York.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">\u201cIt\u2019s a good show. I\u2019ve always said I want to go there and get this ring. It\u2019s really cool.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p>If Brandao wants to become the new Arnold Classic champ, he has a group of top-tier threats to get through. Choopan and Jacked are the clear on-paper favorites, given that they secured spots two and three on the podium at <a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/2025-mr-olympia-results\/\">Olympia<\/a>.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Brandao intends to bring his best and biggest physique to date in Columbus, Ohio. <strong>The 2026 Arnold Classic will award $750,000 to its Open winner and takes place March 5-8.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>RELATED:\u00a0<\/strong><a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/chris-cormier-posing-advice-rafael-brandao\/\">Chris Cormier Offers \u2018Tactical\u2019 Posing Advice to Rafael Brandao: \u201cThat\u2019s What\u2019s Going to Bring Him to the Next Level\u201d<\/a><\/p>\n<h4 id=\"watch-the-full-video-from-the-cutler-cast-youtube-channel-below\"><strong><em>Watch the full video from the Cutler Cast YouTube channel below:\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/h4>\n<hr\/><\/div>\n<p><br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/fitnessvolt.com\/rafael-brandao-future-plans-2026-arnold-classic-prep\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Brazilian Bodybuilder Rafael Brandao has ambitious plans on deck for the 2026 season. On Jan. 13, 2026, he joined Jay Cutler to discuss his prep for the 2026 Arnold Classic. Additionally, Brandao revealed future contest plans.\u00a0 Brandao\u2019s aesthetics and shape turned him into a top Men\u2019s Open threat. In 2024, he maintained a busy schedule, [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":11439,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"tdm_status":"","tdm_grid_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[290,215],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-11438","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-jay-cutler","category-mens-open-bodybuilding"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>&quot;I&#039;m Going to Be Shredded&quot; \u2013 Fitness Volt - World Bodybuilding News<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/worldbodybuildingnews.com\/?p=11438\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"&quot;I&#039;m Going to Be Shredded&quot; \u2013 Fitness Volt - World Bodybuilding News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Brazilian Bodybuilder Rafael Brandao has ambitious plans on deck for the 2026 season. 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