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AUGUST 2006 / IRON MAN MAGAZINE—WE KNOW TRAINING™

ARNOLD PHOTOS: Page After Page of Pullout Miniposters

™

Rare Photos of

ARNOLD A 15-Page Birthday Celebration

SLEEVE BUSTIN’ BICEPS You Can Build Giant Arms Fast!

ARNOLD PHOTO ISSUE

NUTRITION GURU INTERVIEW How to Pack It On And Rip It Up AUGUST 2006 $5.98

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5 MASS BUILDING MYTHS EXPOSED

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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261

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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

August 2006 Vol. 65, No. 8 ™

We Know Training™ FEATURES FEATURES

84 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 82 Are we ripped yet? The X Men on sear-factor training.

114 MYTH BUSTERS Christopher Pennington reveals five training secrets the so-called bodybuilding experts don’t want you to know.

Happy Birthday Arnold, page 218

128 COLOSTRUM Jerry Brainum delves into the research on this first-milk mass producer. Hey, it helps babies double their bodyweight in only a few weeks. Hmm.

142 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 13 If you’re training for the approval of others, you may be disappointed. Ron Harris tells why.

154 YOUNG JEDI OF NUTRITION Justin “Troponin” Harris is earning guru status on the nutrition front. You’ll see why in this insightful interview.

174 MUSCLE-MASS MASSACRE Skip La Cour outlines 10 things bodybuilders do to murder their gains. Don’t be a mass murderer!

Muscle-Mass Massacre, page 174

210 PRO ACTIVE Amateur bodybuilder Michael Ergas focuses on winning his pro card.

218 HAPPY BIRTHDAY, ARNOLD The big man’s b-day is July 30, and we celebrate with loads of classic fullpage pics of the Oak in his prime.

238 SLEEVE-BUSTING

Arnold Schwarzenegger appears on this month’s cover. Photo by John Balik.

BICEPS It’s X-caliber biceps training to put some new freak on your physique—as in giant, jagged mountain peaks.

Sleeve-Busting Biceps, page 238

246 HEAVY DUTY HardBody, page 270

John Little goes into growth vs. inflammation, actualizing your potential in one year and training for women.

270 HARDBODY Page after page of Caradoll showing how weight training does a female body good. Oh, yes, it does!

286 JESSE MARUNDE Randall Strossen, Ph.D., profiles this 315-pound American strongman.

298 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE Bill Starr shows you how to short-circuit the time excuse with a short circuit-training program.

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DEPARTMENTS

32 TRAIN TO GAIN How much do the pros lift? Also, belt up to blast off and Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine.

54 SMART TRAINING Top strength coach Charles Poliquin’s advice on how to pack on mass fast.

68 EAT TO GROW Muscle “In” Sites, page 258

Aminos curb overtraining and the awesomeness of asparagus (it does more than make your pee smell weird).

102 CRITICAL MASS Steve Holman tells you how to kick-start your lean machine. Tax-refund ideas are here too. (Say what?)

Jesse Marunde, page 286

Train to Gain, page 32

106 NATURALLY HUGE John Hansen answers common questions on fat loss.

258 MUSCLE “IN” SITES Eric Broser takes you Web crawling for cool muscle stuff. Surf’s up!

260 NEWS & VIEWS Lonnie Teper’s got all the bodybuilding buzz fit to print.

266 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY Jerry Brainum spreads the word on steroids and thyroids.

280 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE Ruth Silverman’s prose and pics on the physique world’s fittest chicks.

308 MIND/BODY CONNECTION Randall Strossen, Ph.D., gives you world-class confidence—plus, loads of hot shots in Graphic Muscle Stars and Serious Training.

News & Views, page 260

Pump & Circumstance, page 280

WEB ALERT!

320 READERS WRITE Site for more size, enough already—as in bodybuilding beasts—and readers X-it from Smallville.

In the next IRON MAN Next month we’ve got two info-packed interviews lined up. The first is with muscle-building researcher Rob Thoburn, who discusses his rest-only-briefly mass-packing theories. He’s corresponded with scientists all over the world for years, so get ready to grow with his info. We also have an interview with John A. Wise, Ph.D., who talks about the exciting new studies with beta-alanine and how it can get you bigger and stronger fast. It may be better than creatine. Then we’ll have Jerry Brainum’s look at what’s known as the metabolic syndrome. It could be the very reason you’re not gaining muscle or losing fat as fast as you should, and Brainum has some answers. Plus, you can check out drugfree bodybuilder Dave Goodin, the Texas Shredder.

Watch for the sizzling size-packing September IRON MAN on newsstands the first week of August.

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John Balik’s Founders 1936-1986: Peary & Mabel Rader

Publisher’s Letter

“Everywhere I Go, I Have a Great Time” Arnold Schwarzenegger has played many roles in my life: friend, workout partner, physique model, almost business partner (in a health food store in 1975) and governor of the state in which I live. As I chose the photos for Arnold’s birthday pictorial, which begins on page 218, the memories, emotions and lessons of time cascaded through my mind.

I now look back at the early-to-mid-’70s as the second golden age of bodybuilding (the first being the era of Steve Reeves in the ’50s).

Gold’s Gym, the original one on Pacific Avenue in Venice, California, was a magical place.

Every morning eight of the top-10 bodybuilders in the world would be training together. Many mornings, a bunch of us would have breakfast together and talk and laugh about everything and everybody. It was a group of oversize characters—Runyonesque, even—each a distinct individual but tied to the others by a shared obsession: bodybuilding. Today, the stars of our sport only see each other at contests; there is very little camaraderie.

Arnold was an indispensable part of the “perfect storm” of events that not only changed bodybuilding for those who were involved in it but also brought it to the masses. His outlook and character strengths have been consistent. One of his mantras was, “Everywhere I go, I have a great time.” He applied that to everything: the workout, the group breakfast— everything he ever did that I was involved with. When Arnold walked into the gym, the energy level immediately went up. You knew he was going to give his best to his workout, and your own workout was elevated because of it.

That boundless, focused, positive energy is one of the hallmarks of Arnold’s character, and he has directed it toward everything in his life, from his family to bodybuilding to the movie business to the governorship of California. Forget about Arnold’s training secrets, what and how he ate and his supplement routine. Yes, it’s fun to read about that, and he had some unique insights, but Arnold’s most inspirational attribute is not his physique but his attitude.

Thirty years later Arnold is still true to his mantras. Eight weeks ago I asked him how he dealt with the endless confrontations and skirmishes of politics. He gave me the same answer: “I love it. Everything about this job makes me excited.” We were at a fund-raiser, it was about 7 p.m. on a Thursday, and here’s how his schedule had gone so far: After working out at 6 a.m., he’d spent the day in Sacramento and then flown to Los Angeles for the event. It would be followed by another that would take him to midnight, and then he’d fly back to Sacramento. That’s an 18-hour day and more typical than not. He displayed no fatigue and said not a word about the demands of the job, only its rewards. Arnold is all about solutions—a problem only exists to be solved.

Thanks, Arnold, for being an inspiration, and thanks from a citizen of California for the way you’re applying your attitude—and your skills—to our great state. Happy birthday. IM

Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer Design Director: Michael Neveux Editor in Chief: Stephen Holman Art Director: T. S. Bratcher Senior Editor: Ruth Silverman Editor at Large: Lonnie Teper Articles Editors: L.A. Perry, Caryne Brown Assistant Art Director: Aldrich Bonifacio Designer: Emerson Miranda IRON MAN Staff: Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba, R. Anthony Toscano Contributing Authors: Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman, Teagan Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis, Dave Draper, Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum, Ph.D., John Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler, Rod Labbe, Skip La Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch Lebowitz, Stuart McRobert, Gene Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim Shiebler, Roger Schwab, C.S. Sloan, Bill Starr, Bradley Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D., Randall Strossen, Ph.D., Richard Winett, Ph.D., and David Young Contributing Artists: Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn, Jake Jones Contributing Photographers: Jim Amentler, Reg Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill Comstock, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Fredrick, Irvin Gelb, J.M. Manion, Gene Mozée, Mitsuru Okabe, Rob Sims, Leo Stern, Russ Warner

Director of Marketing: Helen Yu, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1 Accounting: Dolores Waterman Subscriptions Manager: Sonia Melendez, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 2 E-mail: soniazm@aol.com Advertising Director: Warren Wanderer 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1 (518) 743-1696; FAX: (518) 743-1697 Advertising Coordinator: Jonathan Lawson, (805) 385-3500, ext. 320 Newsstand Consultant: Angelo Gandino, (516) 796-9848 We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our discretion without explanation. All manuscripts, art or other submissions must be accompanied by a selfaddressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033.

We are not responsible for unsolicited material.

Writers and photographers should send for our Guidelines outlining specifications for submissions.

IRON MAN is an open forum. We also reserve the right to edit any letter or manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted have an implied waiver of copyright. Please consult a physician before beginning any diet or exercise program. Use the information published in IRON MAN at your own risk.

IRON MAN Internet Addresses: Web Site: www.ironmanmagazine.com John Balik, Publisher: ironleader@aol.com Steve Holman, Editor in Chief: ironchief@aol.com Ruth Silverman, Senior Editor: ironwman@aol.com T.S. Bratcher, Art Director: ironartz@aol.com Helen Yu, Director of Marketing: irongrrrl@aol.com Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: ironjdl@aol.com Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: soniazm@aol.com

30 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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SEXY ROCK-HARD ABS FAST The Secret to Etching your Granite-Carved Abs in 10 Short Minutes Picture this... you with tight, shredded abs, serratus and intercostals all sharp, sliced and visible from across the room or on the sun-glared beach! And from the rear, lower lumbars that look like two thick steel girders supporting your muscle-studded back. Imagine looking like a Greek god... in street clothes... in the gym... or anywhere.

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SIZE MATTERS, SO…

It’s a mistake to compare your poundages to those the pros use in their workouts.

32 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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INSIDER ADVICE

I get a decent amount of feedback from magazine readers, which is understandable. There are always a few odd e-mail messages, as you might imagine. One gentleman has been insisting for a couple of years that when I write about a pro’s training, I really should list his exact workouts, down to the last weight, set and rep. He claims that would be far more “informative” than simply saying, for example, that Lee Priest works his way up over four sets of alternate dumbbell curls with anywhere from 60 to 100 pounds. Apparently, the reader, who writes often under several aliases, doesn’t feel that’s adequate.

The fact is, there’s no way to supply that info with complete accuracy because even the pros have good and bad days in the gym. Factors like traveling, lack of sleep and missed meals, not to mention personal problems and the occasional illness or injury, can have a significant impact on a bodybuilder’s workout. That’s made clear in the latest Ronnie Coleman training DVD, “On the Road,” filmed in Australia several days after the ’05 Mr. Olympia. Though Big Ron trains hard for the camera, anyone who’s watched his previous two DVDs, in which he’s training for the Olympia, will note that he’s markedly less powerful after a very long flight and in a different environment. The weights are at times as much as 20 percent less than what we’ve seen him use before.

This all leads me to ask, What does it matter how much weight the pros use, and for how many reps?

How does that help you improve your own body? I feel it’s about as useful as knowing exactly what Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie bought at a fancy department store in London or what they ate for lunch. My suspicion is that some readers want to compare their own lifting poundage to that of the big freaks of pro bodybuilding. Further, I can imagine that they’d take a certain smug satisfaction in knowing that they were as strong or stronger on some exercise than a pro bodybuilder.

What they’re completely forgetting is that bodybuilding is all about developing the perfect physique. It’s not a weightlifting contest. That’s why we have the sports of powerlifting, Olympic lifting and strongman events. It doesn’t matter how much weight you can curl or press.

Truth be told, there are men out there who are stronger than most pro bodybuilders, yet they lack the tremendous muscle size and pleasing shape that would make them champions onstage.

Another dangerous trap for a bodybuilder is to use

cheating form and shortened range of motion to approximate the training poundages of the pros. Okay, so Ronnie Coleman can do barbell rows with more than 400 pounds. Do you really think that doing the same, by any means possible, will give you a back like his? More likely, you’ll rob your back of the proper stimulation it could have had if you’d used more reasonable weight and better form, as well as opening yourself up to the risk of serious injury.

How much weight do the pros use? As much as they need to, which is what you should be doing. Don’t worry if the weights you handle aren’t the same as Mr. Olympia’s or even the biggest guy in your gym. We all do what we can with what we’re given. As long as you’re making progress—even if it means going from bench-pressing 200 pounds for 10 reps to 225—that’s all that ultimately matters.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

Neveux \ Model: Lee Priest

Neveux \ Model: Jay Cutler

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HE WANTED TO FIGHTUntil I Crushed His Hand!

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You’ll develop a bone-crushing grip fast by adding one or a number of power coils for that critical progressive-resistance effect. Remember, when you wear short sleeves, it’s the lower arms that are exposed for all to see.

You’ll want your forearms to be huge and vascular to match your thick, beefy upper arms—and now they will.

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GYM GERMS

Clean Machines?

Is the equipment in your gym crawling with infectious agents?

Since disease transmission in the gym seems possible—sweat could serve as a carrier of pathological microbes and viruses—a recent study checked equipment in two gyms for disease-causing organisms. The machines examined were disinfected twice a day.

The study revealed the presence of bacterial contamination on both aerobic and weight-training equipment. The good news, however, was that none of the bacteria had any pathogenic potential; in short, none could cause disease. The situation with viruses wasn’t as uplifting. Fully 63 percent of hand-contact equipment showed the presence of rhinoviruses. Weight-training equipment was significantly more contaminated than aerobic machines (73 percent compared to 51 percent). That was because less disinfectant was used on barbells and dumbbells than on machines. In addition, viruses persist longer on nonporous surfaces, such as the steel of weights, than on porous materials.

Even more shocking was the effect of disinfecting the machines: It didn’t result in lowering the viral activity (48 percent positive before cleaning) but increased it to 86 percent after cleaning. The disinfectant may not have penetrated the often serrated surfaces of the equipment. Viruses can “hide” in areas where the disinfectant cannot reach. Or the disinfectant may not have been effective against the virus.

So it appears that your chances of acquiring a cold, particularly during the cold season, are high if you exercise regularly in a gym. Still, you can do some things to diminish your chances of getting sick. The obvious is to avoid being in the vicinity of someone who clearly has symptoms of illness. If someone on the treadmill next to you starts coughing or sneezing, get off the machine and move as far away as possible. Viruses, including flu viruses, can travel in aerosol droplets. Colds are transmitted to mucous membranes in the nose, mouth or eyes, so try not to touch any of those areas when you’re in the gym unless you’ve thoroughly washed your hands. You can never be certain when someone with a cold has just used a weight that you lifted or touched a machine you’re now using.

As for drinking from gym fountains, I stopped doing that when I noticed that some people had a nasty habit of spitting in the fountain. When I started bringing my own water bottle to the gym, the number of colds I caught dropped precipitously.

—Jerry Brainum

Power partials done at the end of a regular set, six-inch pulses right at the semistretch point, can give your workout a whole new feel—for example, pulsing near the bottom of a chinup when no more full-range reps are possible. Those end-of-set X Reps force the target muscles to continue to fire after the nervous system balks. That’s what makes X Reps such a powerful muscle-building tool, ultimate intensity and overload. Plus, the muscle burn you get is one of the best ways to stimulate surges in growth hormone.

In a study published in the Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology in 1997, researchers showed a direct correlation between higher blood lactic acid levels and GH release from the pituitary gland.

That means the more muscle burn you can induce, the more growth hormone you can stimulate—up to a point. And growth hormone does everything from helping you build muscle and burn fat to bolstering your immune system and strengthening bones, ligaments and tendons. Talk about bodybuilding bonus points!

Because X Reps are so intense, most trainees get best results by doing one straight set to exhaustion followed by another straight set to exhaustion with X Reps, which will induce extra burn. The first straight set to failure is more of an extension of the warmup. A warm muscle can contract up to 20 percent better than a cold one, so having the muscle primed for your X Rep set is very important. (Most bodybuilders don’t warm up sufficiently, which can significantly limit progress.) The first heavy set to failure extends the warmup sets, and it pumps up nervous system reaction time so your X set gets bigger gains cooking.

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson www .X-Rep.com

Goldhammer, K.A., et al. (2006). Prospective study of bacterial and viral contamination of exercise equipment. Clin J Sports Med. 16:34-38.

34 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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YOU CAN BENCH BIG Add 20 Pounds to Your Bench Press Almost Overnight!

How would you like a surge in upper-body power and a bigger bench press—say, 20 extra pounds on the bar—after only a couple of workouts? Sure, adding 20 pounds to your bench in two or three training sessions may sound crazy, especially if your bench press poundage has been stuck in neutral for a while.

But nine times out of 10 this stall is due to an easily correctible muscle weakness—not in the pecs, delts or triceps but in a group of muscles known as the rotator cuff.

The rotator cuff muscles stabilize the shoulder joint. During the bench press and almost all other upperbody movements these muscles protect the shoulder joint and prevent ball-and-socket slippage. If these muscles are underdeveloped, they become the weak link in the action and your pressing strength suffers, or worse, you injure your shoulder. One of the best ways to strengthen this area and create an upper-body power surge is with direct rotator cuff exercise.

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TRAIN TO GAIN

EXERCISE SCIENCE

Belt Up to Blast Off? When I began training more than 40 years ago, it seemed that every person in the gym wore a lifting belt—even on exercises that didn’t require extra lower-back support. Maybe wearing the belt constantly was a way to avoid leaving an expensive leather belt behind—or maybe it was because by cinching the belt tight, the user appeared to have a smaller waist than he really did.

As the years went by, lifting belts turned up in places other than hardcore weight rooms. Today, it’s not uncommon to see people whose work involves an extensive amount of physical labor, especially that of lifting, wearing a type of lifting belt. Clearly the motive doesn’t involve vanity, since many such workers don’t really care how big their waists may appear. So it would seem that lifting belts have actual utility.

Lifting belts are still popular in gyms, judging by a recent survey that found 27 percent of gym members preferring to train while wearing a belt. The consensus among belt enthusiasts was that wearing a belt helped prevent injuries. A smaller percentage felt that wearing a belt during training improved exercise performance because it permitted the use of heavier weights and better exercise form.

You’d think that the evidence for wearing a lifting belt would show its clear-cut effectiveness, but that isn’t the case.

Most studies have focused on the use of a lifting belt in work settings, which isn’t quite the same as gym use. The loads lifted under work conditions are much less than those lifted in the gym. In addition, the type of lifting that occurs with work involves more repetitions. That relates more to muscular endurance than strength. It’s not surprising that studies examining the use of lifting belts under work conditions often find that the belts provide no true lumbar support, nor do they increase intra-abdominal pressure.

The increase in intra-abdominal pressure, or IAP, is thought to be the key to why lifting belts provide a measure of support during heavy lifting. The belt helps stabilize the abdominal wall, which in turn stabilizes the spine, especially the lower back.

The increased stability is thought to be an important factor in improved exercise performance and injury prevention.

Lifting belts are supposed to supply enough support to offset fatigue in the lower back—again more a factor in work settings than in gym use. Even so, studies examining the issue found that a belt had no effect on reducing lower-back fatigue.

Other studies have looked at whether wearing a lifting belt adversely affects blood pressure, heart rate and breathing rate. At first, that might seem a curious consideration, but a tightly worn belt could theoretically impede breathing, which in turn would affect both heart rate and blood pressure. One study did find elevated heart rates and blood pressure when lifting belts were worn during stationary cycling and isometric deadlifts. Heart rates are always elevated during stationary

Are lifting belts useful training aids or useless props?

cycling, however, as is blood pressure during deadlifts. A study that looked at what happened when a lifting belt was worn during one-arm dumbbell One study bench presses found no found that increased heart rate or wearing blood pressure. (Anotha lifting er study should examine belt during why experimenters squats would choose an exerincreased cise such as one-arm thigh-muscle bench presses, which activation. don’t exist in the real world.)

What about increases in IAP? While that didn’t happen when workers wore lifting belts in industrial settings, it did happen in the gym. One study found that IAP was 25 to 40 percent greater when a lifting belt was worn during heavy squats. That would both stabilize the spine and decrease spinal compression. Another study found that wearing a belt during heavy lifts decreased the perception of effort during the exercise, thus making the lifting seem easier. Wearing a lifting belt tends to round the trunk area, leading to greater activation of both the lower back muscles and the abdominal muscles, both of which increase lower-back support.

In the past some bodybuilders suggested that wearing a lifting belt somehow limits the involvement of certain muscles during exercise. Studies show that the belt limits movements such as lateral bending and torso twisting, both of which are more applicable to work settings. On the other hand, the belt also tends to promote a squat-lift technique that would relieve stress on the lower back when a trainee lifts with a bent-over, rounded-back posture.

One study looked at the effect of wearing belts during two styles of deadlifts and found that not wearing a belt produced greater oblique muscle activity. The obliques are the “love handle” muscles that frame the abdominals. The same study also showed, however, that the shift of muscular activity transferred to the abdominals. That’s a positive finding, since the abdominals help stabilize the lower back, while the obliques stabilize the abdominals and trunk muscles.

Another study looked at muscle involvement during squats and found that the belt increased the muscular involvement of the prime muscles in the thigh—both front and rear. It also found a 23 percent increased involvement of the lower-back muscles when subjects wore a belt. The belt likely increased the thigh-muscle involvement because of increased lower-back stability, which enabled greater focus on the targeted muscles. In addition, wearing a lifting belt leads to increased exercise speed, which would increase muscle activation.

Add it all up and the lifting belt emerges as far more than a mere prop. It helps to stabilize the spine through increased intrabdominal pressure, reduces spinal compression and even increases muscle involvement during exercise. Wearing a lifting belt during heavy exercise makes sense.

—Jerry Brainum

40 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Some types of curls can wreck Curl Consciousness Beware: your wrists and shank your shoulders The two most popular exercises in any gym are the bench press and the curl. When someone says, “Make a muscle,” you automatically flex your biceps. Developed biceps are a sure sign you’re working out regularly.

The curl has been the standard exercise for developing the biceps. Most trainees begin with the barbell curl, and they experience increased biceps strength and growth. As they continue, they usually come across a cambered bar, sometimes known as an EZ-curl bar, which is a barbell that has been bent so there are subtle changes in the angles where the hands hold the bar.

The angles can reduce stress on the wrists and forearms.

Stress on the ligaments and cartilage in the wrist contributes to wrist pain during barbell curls. The forearm pain may be caused by tendinitis and by stress on connective tissue structure between the radius and ulna, the two long bones of the forearm.

Eventually, almost all trainees try the dumbbell curl. There are distinct advantages to the dumbbell curl, the most important being that you have the freedom to move your wrist to find positions that don’t cause pain in the forearm. Of course, if the dumbbell curl doesn’t cause pain, or as much pain, you can be more consistent with your biceps training, resulting in greater strength and muscle gains.

Neveux \ Model: Dan Decker

The freedom of movement dumbbells provide can relieve wrist strain.

The technique of the dumbbell curl that has evolved is biomechanically correct. You hold the dumbbells with the palms of your hands facing your thighs. As your elbows begin to bend and the dumbbells start to clear your thighs, you should begin to turn your palms upward toward the ceiling. That turn, known as supination, should occur gradually.

The biceps brachii bends your elbow and turns your palm upward. It also has an action on the shoulder that includes flexion (raising the arm straight up in front of the body), and it has an effect on overhead-pressing strength due to better shoulder stabilization.

That all seems simple enough, but there are two other areas of concern during the dumbbell curl. The first is the shoulder. When you have a rotator cuff injury—with or without instability—it’s very difficult to stabilize your shoulder, which makes the dumbbell curl difficult to perform. That’s obvious when you perform a strong, perfect dumbbell curl with one arm, and when you try the other arm, the shoulder dips to compensate for the injury. The elbow on that injured side is usually held a little closer to the body too. The heavier you go on the curls, the more pronounced that will be.

Once you address the shoulder problem and reduce the inflammation, perhaps with ice packs, and begin a strengthening program for your rotator cuff and shoulder blade, the injured shoulder will become stronger and will be able to support heavy dumbbell curls.

The second potential problem is the aggravation of low-back pain.

You can do dumbbell curls with one dumbbell at a time or two at a time.

Working both arms together places more weight in front, especially at the midrange point of the curl. That will cause your back muscles to fire more, and as the dumbbells become heavier, you lean back to some degree.

The lighter the weight, the better the posture. If you’re experiencing pain or discomfort while simultaneously curling two dumbbells, try going one arm at a time or alternating reps. There’s another advantage of the alternate style: You give the muscle a little longer time for recovery, and that will enable you to handle more weight. There are few trainees who don’t want to handle more weight.

—Joseph M. Horrigan Editor’s note: Visit www .SoftTissueCenter.com to find reprints of Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine columns that have appeared in IRON MAN. You can order the books Strength, Conditioning and Injury Prevention for Hockey by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A., and the 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by Horrigan and Jerry Robinson from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008 or at www.Home-Gym.com.

42 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Build a Better Bodybuilding Brain If you want to build your body as fast as possible, you first need to build your bodybuilding brain. Here’s how to do it to supercharge your workouts.

The haven. Treat your training time as inviolable—your haven. Make each set perfect: perfect technique, perfect control and perfect concentration.

That’s possible on a longterm basis as long as you keep your mind on one set at a time.

The instant you’re in the gym, switch off nontraining matters. Turn off your phone. Cut yourself off from the hoopla that may be taking place where you train. Ideally, train during a quiet time when there are few or no distractions. Furthermore, don’t squeeze your training between two demanding out-of-the-gym activities.

Protect and respect your privacy while you train. Then make each rep a journey into the haven, where you’re master.

Without such a singleminded application, you’ll fall short of your best performance.

Mental preparation. You can’t enter the gym with your mind full of problems and concerns and expect to put in a good workout. Transform yourself from your working and family persona to your training persona.

Before you start your general warmup, sit down somewhere out of the way, switch off from what’s happening around you, and switch on to your training. For a few minutes, mentally go through each exercise you’ve planned for the workout. Close your eyes and imagine performing two or three reps of each one. Feel your muscles working. See the weights moving with control. Become each rep.

The first few times you do that you’ll probably find your mind wandering. Keep pulling it back to the focus you need.

With practice it will become easier. Keep your mind on your workout as you do your general warmup work. Don’t let people or events disrupt your focus. Then maintain your focus throughout the workout.

Train hard, with discipline. The essence of training effectively is to work intensively and progressively, without rushing, while maintaining correct technique and smooth, controlled rep speed. It’s easy in theory, but to execute it demands great discipline.

1) With the bar loaded for a work set, switch on your training mode, and switch off from your life. You must become your training. Nothing else matters now. Visualize bigger muscles and power to spare to complete your set.

2) Perform the set one rep at a time. Look no further than the current rep. Don’t rush, and use correct exercise technique.

3) When the discomfort intensifies, dissociate yourself from it. Imagine you’re watching yourself on film. Push on. Again, don’t rush, and do use correct exercise technique.

4) Remind yourself of how much you want a stronger, better physique. Keep the reps coming. Again, don’t rush, and do use correct exercise technique.

5) To be able to train hard is a privilege. Don’t quit prematurely. Forge on—and use correct exercise technique.

Intensity with correct technique and rep control are what successful training is about, not merely banging out as many reps as possible.

Never cheat, never use more weight than you can handle correctly, and never use explosive lifting. Use a smooth, controlled rep speed no faster than two to three seconds up and two to three seconds down per rep. No exceptions!

Workout tape. It may seem somewhat extreme, but get someone to videotape your entire workout. Then study the recording at home. Examine your exercise technique, rep control, concentration level, effort level and use of time between sets. Look for areas you can improve, and address them at your next workout.

Put all of these elements into practice, and build your bodybuilding brain, and your training will become more effective—provided that your exercise program design is good. I’ll get into that in future installments.

—Stuart McRobert www.Hardgainer.com Neveux

TRAIN TO GAIN

HARDGAINER

Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s first byline in IRON MAN appeared in 1981.

He’s the author of the new 638-page opus on bodybuilding Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great, available from www.Home-Gym.com or Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008.

44 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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couple of extra sets could Warm Up to Safer Workouts Asave you from injury!

It was less than a month before the ’06 Arnold Classic, and Victor Martinez was rushing through a chest workout, something quite out of character for him. But it had been a bad day, and he was hoping to alleviate some stress with his old friend, the cold iron. The bench press has been a favorite exercise of the Dominican Dominator for years, and he’s pressed 500 pounds routinely. Part of his bench-pressing ritual has always been extensive warmups, at least two sets of 20 reps with 135, then the same with 225, just to get plenty of blood flowing and lube up the joints. On that fateful day, however, he did just one quick set of 10 reps with 225, then 315, before launching into a set with 405—a weight he can ordinarily manhandle any day of the week.

You can probably guess what happened next. While locking out the fourth rep, he felt and heard his pectoral muscle tear.

It’s a sound I’ve never heard, but from all accounts, sickening doesn’t even begin to describe it, especially if it’s your pec that’s tearing. Luckily for Victor, he racked the weight and probably saved himself from incurring a full tear, which would have required surgical reattachment and an extensive period of healing and rehabilitation.

Thanks to a very thorough treatment that included deep-tissue massage, physical therapy and acupuncture, Victor was able to compete at the Arnold, where he placed a respectable third. But for that brief moment under the bar, he saw a year of his career in pro bodybuilding, a sport in which careers aren’t very long to begin with, flash before his eyes. “Never again will I break from my routine of warming up right,” he says. “It kept me injury-free all those years, and the one time I tried to skip it and rush right into heavy weight, it was a disaster.”

Let that sink in. Warm- Victor ing up takes Martinez. a little time, to be sure, and time is something we all seem to have less of these days.

But I think we can all agree that spending a few extra minutes isn’t too much to ask if it helps ensure against months of missed workouts, or perhaps never being able to train heavy for the rest of your days. Take your time—in the long run you’ll be glad you did.

—Ron Harris

Comstock

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PREVENTION

Editor’s note: Check out Ron’s new free online training blog, The Daily Pump, at www.RonHarrisMuscle.com.

AB SOLUTIONS

A lot of people recommend reverse crunches as a good lower-ab exercise. You perform the movement as follows: Lie on your back with your hands under your hips and raise your legs until they’re perpendicular to the floor, with a slight bend at the knees. Now raise your hips off the floor to contract your abs. Each rep is simply a hip raise.

The reverse crunch is a good exercise for isolating the rectus abdominis, but it’s not an effective substitute for full-range hip-curl-function exercises like incline kneeups. The reason is synergy.

Synergy is muscle teamwork, and because of the way the human muscle system is designed, it functions best when you use complementary exercises. For example, to develop your quads, you usually choose squats as your first movement and then finish them off with leg extensions. Why? By training your quads in conjunction with your glutes and lower back in the squat, you can move heavier poundages, thus stimulating the mass of the target muscle—the quads. You then use leg extensions to isolate and finish off the quads, theoretically hitting fibers you might have missed with squats.

The same holds true for the rectus abdominis. While the reverse crunches isolate it in the same way that leg extensions isolate the quads, to effect the most development in the abs, you should begin your ab workout with an exercise that involves synergy, such as incline kneeups, so that you involve the hip flexors. That hits the mass of the target muscle, your abs, with an intense full-range movement. And don’t forget

Neveux \ Model: Bob Donnelly

Slicing With Synergy

to finish off your abs with a full-range torso-curl-function exercise, such as Ab Bench crunch pulls, for the best, fastest development possible. If you want to incorporate the reverse crunch into your workout, try a set or two between your incline kneeups and Ab Bench crunch pulls as a transition movement.

—Steve Holman Train, Eat, Grow Editor’s note: For more information on the bodybuilding best-seller Train, Eat, Grow see page 96.

48 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Get a Grip Q: You always talk about using different grips.

Trouble is, I don’t have the imagination to think of them. I would like to know what these different grips do. For instance, what grips can I use while doing dumbbell or barbell curls? How about pullups and pulldowns?

A: You have basically nine permutations of grip positions per upper-body exercise and three forearm-orientation positions: supinated (palms up), neutral (semisupinated, anatomical, hammer) and pronated (palms down). You can multiply them by the three grip widths: narrow, medium and wide. However, not all grips are ergonomically correct; for example, you couldn’t do narrow supinated bench presses or wide pronated barbell curls without seriously

compromising the joint integrity of your elbows and wrists.

Regarding pulldowns and pullups, the grip width and orientation have definite repercussions on the recruitment of the muscles—at both the elbow and the shoulder. When your palms are up, the biceps brachii have a more effective line of pull and thus are more fully recruited. That explains why you can perform more reps when your palms are facing you than when they’re facing away.

When your palms are semisupinated, the brachioradialis is most active in its elbow flexion role, and the biceps have a somewhat effective line of pull, which contributes to greater elbow strength. If you’re weak in chinups, the semisupinated grip is the best grip to start with. In the pronated grip, your biceps have an ineffective line of pull; thus the brachialis picks up most of the elbow flexion force.

A supinated, semisupinated or pronated grip also affects muscle recruitment at the shoulder differently. The supinated and semisupinated grips make the pullup action from shoulder extension more than from scapulae adduction. The opposite is true for the pronated, or overhand, grip. Therefore, supinated and semisupinated grip work involves the lats and teres major more while pronated work shifts the emphasis toward the rhomboids and middle and lower A neutral, or portions of the traps. hammer, grip Please keep in mind that changes in grip affects the change the emphasis brachioradialis of an exercise and don’t make it a pure isolation more and the exercise; there is no biceps less than such thing. What really happens is that the the palm-up, or percentage of contrisupinated, grip. bution of each muscle to the total force output varies when the type and width of a grip change.

Neveux

Q: Kinesiologically speaking, how does the split squat, with the rear leg elevated, compare with a conventional squat? The reason I ask is that I rarely feel the way you’re supposed to feel after squatting, and during back squats my lungs give out before my muscles.

That split squat with the rear foot elevated really blasts my leg(s), however, and I have trouble walking afterward.

54 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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A: The exercise you’re referring to is better known in

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strength-coaching circles as the Bulgarian split squat, as it was first seen in the training of elite Bulgarian triple jumpers. This great variation on the split squat was first introduced to the North American strength-coaching community in the mid-’80s by weightlifting coach Angel Spassov.

Because the back foot is elevated, you get a greater stretch and activation in the rectus femoris and psoas muscles, particularly if you pay attention to keeping the torso perpendicular to the ground. The split position also permits more recruitment of the adductors and hip stabilizers than the standard back squat. Of course, both forms of squats recruit the quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes.

The reason your lungs don’t burn as much after doing a set of Bulgarian split squats is that you use only half the load you use in regular squats. The total lactate output is smaller, since the front leg is mainly what produces it. On a back squat both legs would be activated during the set, hence jacking up the lactate levels. Therefore, your cardiovascular system doesn’t have to work as hard. That’s not to say that one is better than the other; they’re both very effective leg exercises and should be rotated in and out of your leg-training programs.

very unproductive training. It’s like studying Swedish to pass an Italian exam. First of all, you must consider which muscles are involved in developing a high vertical jump.

The most important are the glutes, as they contribute 40 percent of the power. Next are the hamstrings, which contribute 25 percent of the jump. Look at the Cuban volleyball players: When they were at their prime, they had outstanding glute and hamstring development. The quadriceps contribute only about 5 percent to the vertical jump.

As a matter of fact, the shoulder flexors—i.e., anterior deltoids—contribute as much as 15 percent to the vertical jump. If you don’t believe me, jump as high as you can with an arm swing. Compare that to jumping with your hands anchored on your hips. You’ll see that you jump significantly higher with arm swing.

In other words, two-thirds of the jumping height is a function of the strength from the bottom of your spine to the back of your knees. The stronger your glutes

Did you know that the quads contribute only about 5 percent of the work in a vertical jump?

Most of the thrust comes from the glutes and hamstrings.

Q: Even though my first love is bodybuilding, I really love to play pickup basketball a few days a week.

I’m the laughingstock of my peers: Even though I have muscular quads, my vertical jump sucks. I really need to increase it, so I’ve been doing plenty of leg extensions and leg presses—and it hasn’t gone up. Please help me.

A: No wonder your vertical jump sucks. You are doing 56 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour

Neveux \ Model: Noel Thompson

The split squat is like a lunge, but you train one leg at a time, and your working leg stays in the forward position. To make the exercise more difficult—and involve more hip stabilizer muscle—you can elevate your rear leg on a bench.

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Charles Poliquin’s

Deadlifts coupled with explosivestrength work on exercises like power cleans will improve your vertical jump and build new lower-body size.

and hamstrings are, the greater your vertical jump.

Second, you must select the right exercises for those muscle groups.

Simply isolating muscle structures will improve your vertical jump but won’t ensure that you get the highest return. For example, training your glutes on a multihip machine won’t increase your vertical jump nearly as much as the deadlift. You must use exercises that work the muscles in a chain with recruitment patterns that resemble jumping. For example a deadlift will improve your vertical jump more than a leg press. In a leg press the lower-back muscles aren’t involved.

Select exercises from the following: squats, split squats, stepups, good mornings, reverse hypers and deadlifts.

Those will increase the maximal strength of the muscles involved in jumping.

Then you should learn some of the exercises that make up the training of Olympic lifters, such as power cleans, power snatches and the various types of pulls they use. Besides training the maximal strength you need, you should train your explosive strength, or the ability of the nervous system to produce a great amount of force in the shortest time. That’s also known as the rate of force development.

Since Olympic lifts and their variations are multijoint exercises with relatively high neurological demand, I recommend that you get a qualified strength coach or Olympic lifting coach to show you how to do them.

In working with elite handball, volleyball and basketball players, I’ve found that combining slower lifts, such as deadlifts, to build maximal strength with faster lifts, such

as power cleans, leads to the greatest increases in vertical-jump height.

The slow lift cycles should be twoto-three-week blocks alternated with fast-lift blocks of another two to three weeks. That should position you to gain four to six inches on your vertical in about 12 weeks total. Expect some appreciable size increases in your lower extremities as well.

Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most successful strength coaches, having coached Olympic medalists in 12 different sports, including the U.S. women’s track-and-field team for the 2000 Olympics. He’s spent years researching European journals (he’s fluent in English, French and German) and speaking with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. For more on his books, seminars and methods, visit www.Charles Poliquin.net. Also, see his ad on page 187. IM Charles Poliquin Bradford

Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov

Smart Training

w w w. C h a r l e s P o l i q u i n . n e t 58 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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\ JULY 2006 181

EAT TO NUTRITION SCIENCE

Curb Your Enthusiasm Perhaps the most common error in bodybuilding is overtraining.

Bodybuilders often overtrain without realizing it, since the effects are not usually obvious at first. A medical examination, however, would likely find a number of abnormalities, such as increased enzymes from muscle damage, lowered muscle glycogen levels and a lack of complete muscle repair after training.

In the long term, overtraining leads to a lack of gains, which you can see.

As you gain experience, the signs

of overtraining become less obvious because of improved muscle repair efficiency coupled with fewer hormonal changes.

While overtraining appears to offer no benefits, a controlled form of overtraining known as overreaching is sometimes used to get past sticking points or training plateaus. With overreaching, you suddenly increase the volume, intensity or both for short periods, such as two to four weeks.

The body compensates by upgrading anabolic activity, leading to strength and size gains.

A new study found that most of the adverse hormonal effects of overtraining and overreaching are blunted if you use amino acid supplements. A high level of amino acids in the blood is associated with increased muscle protein synthesis and a blunting of muscle catabolism.

In the new study, 17 men with weight-training experience were randomly assigned to either an amino acid or placebo group. They underwent four weeks of purposeful overtraining. Those in the amino acid group took 0.4 grams per kilogram of bodyweight of a supple-

Aminos, intensity and overtraining ment containing essential and conditionally essential amino acids. They took the supplement one hour prior to meals and two hours after meals, as well as one to two hours before and after training. Those in the placebo group got an inert supplement on the same schedule.

As expected, after one week of overtraining, those in the placebo group experienced a loss of strength, but those in the amino group did not. Levels of substances indicating muscle damage were elevated only in the placebo group. The amino group maintained levels of total and free testosterone, but not the placebo group. In addition, those in the placebo group showed higher blood levels of sex-hormonebinding globulin, a protein that locks on to free testosterone, rendering it inactive. The placebo group, however, showed elevated levels of growth hormone. The authors suggest it was the body’s attempt to offset the lowered levels of other anabolic hormones that resulted from the overtraining.

The authors note that “amino acid requirements to maintain optimal repair and recovery of skeletal muscle may be greater during high-volume or high-intensity resistance training.�

Earlier studies showed that amino acid supplements promote increased muscle protein synthesis when taken after intense training. Recent studies

Taking amino acids can do great things for your results by decreasing muscle damage, maintaining testosterone levels and reducing the catabolic effects of overtraining.

68 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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GROW AMINO AMMO

Older Muscles, More Protein A study performed at the University of Texas found that muscles of older subjects assimilated 60 percent fewer amino acids from protein than younger subjects. That means you need more protein as you age, but usually just the opposite happens: The older people get, the less protein they eat—which could explain the tremendous loss of muscle that occurs from middle age and beyond. For health and muscle maintenance as you get older, up your aminos.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com Neveux \ Model: Frank Zane

show the effect occurs with as little as six grams of essential aminos.

The greater availability of amino acids appears to decrease muscle damage incurred by hard training. That’s how you maintain strength.

Other studies show that branched-chain amino acids can reduce muscle breakdown by inhibiting proteases, or enzymes that degrade protein in muscle.

In addition, the maintenance of optimal testosterone levels during intense training exerts a potent anabolic effect that also is conducive to building muscle size and increasing strength.

Those in the placebo group showed decreased levels of hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying protein in red blood cells. A loss of hemoglobin could adversely affect both energy and muscular endurance while promoting premature fatigue during training.

Bottom line: While purposeful overtraining isn’t a good idea for most people, you can negate many of the effects of overtraining by a judicious intake of amino acids.

—Jerry Brainum

Neveux \ Model: John Cowgill

Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 69

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Eat to Grow High estrogen levels can make abs do a disappearing act.

NUTRITION NOTES

Food Facts That can affect your workouts, weight and wellness

WARRIOR NUTRITION AND EXERCISE

Blasting Off Stubborn Fat Your fat-loss efforts may be stuck in neutral because of excess estrogen—yes, even if you’re male. When overexpressed, estrogen may convert to an extremely toxic compound, 16-hydroxyestrone. It’s known as “bad” estrogen and has been regarded as the culprit in some of the deadliest breast, ovarian and prostate cancers.

Note that estrogen isn’t a bad hormone. Proper amounts support the neural, skeletal and reproductive systems. Ideally, estrogen converts to the highly beneficial 2-hydroxyestrone, which plays critical roles as an antioxidant and anticancer compound. The so-called good estrogen may induce cancer cells’ apoptosis, or suicide.

When the body’s nutritional defenses are low and estrogen is overexpressed, however, it unfortunately converts instead into 16-hydroxyestrone, which is associated with stubborn fat gain as well as the formation of cancer cells.

If you control excess estrogen, you’ll be healthier and leaner. To do that you should increase your intake of cruciferous vegetables, such as broccoli and cauliflower; increase your intake of the omega-3 fatty acids, found in fatty fish; eat organic foods to avoid pesticides; and minimize alcohol consumption. You should also consider an estrogen-inhibiting supplement. [Note: The latest and most potent estrogen-inhibitor is EstroX, an all-natural supplement. It’s available from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008, or www.Home-Gym.com.]

—Ori Hofmekler Editor’s note: Ori Hofmekler is the author of the books The Warrior Diet and Maximum Muscle & Minimum Fat, published by Dragon Door Publications (www.dragondoor.com). For more information or for a consultation, contact him at ori@warriordiet.com, www.warriordiet.com or by phone at (866) WAR-DIET.

Rice cakes have appeared in the hands of many dieters because of their low calorie content. But did you know they have a very high glycemic-index number? That means insulin spikes and fat storage.

Beer can be healthful.

Scientists at the University of Wisconsin discovered that Guinness stout has more health-promoting flavonoids and more anticlotting properties than lighter beer.

Alcohol, in moderation, may help you stay lean.

Mayo Clinic researchers studied more than 8,000 people and found that those who had one or two alcoholic drinks a day were 54 percent less likely to be obese than those who didn’t partake.

Fish oil has lots of benefits, from making your skin and heart healthier to getting you leaner.

It also helps your breathing. Indiana University researchers tested fish oil capsules on subjects with exerciseinduced asthma. Results: The subjects had a 64 percent improvement in lung function. That could have something to do with fish oil’s ability to reduce inflammation.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

70 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Eat to Grow FOOD STUFF

Awesome Asparagus The U.S. government recently upgraded its recommended intake of fruits and vegetables from five to nine servings a day. If you look at nutrition research, however, you’ll find that the optimal intake of fruits and vegetables is at least 11 servings a day. Such foods contain thousands of chemicals called phytonutrients that are not found anywhere else, including most supplements.

Most phytonutrients provide potent detoxifying and antioxidant effects. That’s the reason fruits and vegetables help prevent the two greatest killers: cardiovascular disease and cancer. The plant chemicals are so potent that they can interact with genes in many of their activities in the body. A recent example of the power of natural foods comes from a study involving asparagus.

INJURIES

Joint Rejuvenation According to an article in the May ’06 issue of Prevention, lack of selenium may be a source of joint problems. Scientists at the University of North Carolina determined that by looking at subjects’ toenails. Those whose nails contained the most selenium were less likely to have osteoarthritis in either knee. Recommended daily intake of selenium is 55 micrograms.

Check your multivitamin-and-mineral supplement to make sure you’re getting enough. Good food sources include Brazil nuts, eggs and tuna.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

It’s a veggie with radical health benefits

Asparagus has natural diuretic and antiviral properties and fosters antimutagenic activity, or the destruction of incipient tumors.

The vegetable’s only known side effect is that it can impart a pungent odor to urine in some people. The odor comes from the six sulfur compounds, including DMSO, that it contains.

The odor of asparagus also varies with the genetics of people who eat it and is not exhibited or even detected by everyone.

In the new study asparagus was found to have potent insulin-stimulating effects while simultaneously inhibiting starch digestion.

An in vitro, or isolated-cell, study, the experiment involved pancreatic cells, which secrete insulin. When the cells were exposed to both an asparagus extract and glucose, or sugar, insulin activity increased by 19 to 248 percent. The extract produced an 81 percent increase of glucose uptake into fat cells, an effect attributed to a possible increase in cellular glucose-transporting proteins. Asparagus also produced a 21 percent decrease in starch digestion.

The effect is connected to an interaction with calcium ions in the beta cells of the pancreas, where insulin is synthesized and released. A drug that blocks calcium ion activity also prevented the effect of asparagus on insulin release from the beta cells.

How can bodybuilders use the information? First, eating asparagus may be useful for those with a genetic predisposition for diabetes, because asparagus may help increase insulin effectiveness.

Since insulin is also a potent anabolic hormone, asparagus may be useful for those who want to increase insulin release for purposes of increased muscle protein and glycogen synthesis.

While the starch-blocking effect sounds useful for promoting fat loss, the authors note that it may not work as well in the human body as it does in a cell culture.

—Jerry Brainum

Mathews, J.N., Flatt, P.R., and Abdel-Wahab, Y.H. (2006).

Asparagus adscendens (Shweta musali) stimulates insulin secretion, insulin action and inhibits starch digestion. Br J Nutr. 95(3):576-81.

74 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Eat to Grow ANABOLIC DRIVE

Creatine and Satellite Cells If aspirin were discovered today, it would be tightly regulated by the FDA because of its profound effects on the human body. Thank heaven we don’t have that kind of regulation. Now let’s look at creatine. If creatine had been “discovered” by Big Pharma rather than a supplement company, you know it would be regulated tighter than a noose around a calf’s neck during a rodeo. Talk about a supplement that seems to help a little bit of everything! You can take it to increase muscle mass and strength. It also helps those with neuromuscular diseases and improves cognitive function.

Now we’re learning that creatine is even more powerful than we thought. For instance, a few years back a rat study showed that creatine supplementation in combination with an increased functional load results in increased satellite cell mitotic activity.1 What does that mean? Satellite cells basically sit on top of muscle fibers, or cells. When you damage your muscle fibers, you turn them on, and they help repair the damaged fibers.

That’s good news for anyone who exercises. Satellite cells can contribute to increased muscle fiber mass. In perhaps rare instances they can fuse and form new muscle fibers—also known as hyperplasia.

Hot off the press is a study using human subjects that looked at creatine and satellite cell activity. Scientists examined the effect of creatine and protein supplementation on satellite cell frequency and myonuclei number in human skeletal muscle during 16 weeks of heavy-resistance training.2 Thirty-two healthy male subjects (19 to 26 years of age) were assigned to a strength-training group while receiving creatine, protein or a placebo or to a nontraining control group.

They received the supplementation daily. Furthermore, timed protein or placebo intake took place at all training sessions.

The researchers took muscle biopsies at weeks 0, 4, 8 and 16, three days per week.

The researchers discovered that all training regimens increased the number of satellite cells; however, they noted significantly greater enhancements with creatine supplementation at weeks 4 and 8. At week 16 the satellite cell number was no longer elevated in the creatine group but remained elevated in the other groups. Creatine supplementation resulted in an

increased number of myonuclei per fiber and increases of 14 to 17 percent in muscle fiber area at weeks 4, 8 and 16. By contrast, the protein group showed an increase in muscle fiber area only later (16 weeks) and the training control group only in the early (week 4) phase of training. The authors concluded that “creatine supplementation in combination with strength training amplifies the training-induced increase in satellite cell number and myonuclei concentration in human skeletal muscle fibers, thereby allowing an enhanced muscle fiber growth in response to strength training.”

Suggestion: Consume roughly 30 to 40 grams of protein and three to six grams of creatine immediately after your workout. It will enhance recovery and promote gains in lean body mass. And to top it off, your satellite cells will go crazy.

And that’s a good thing.

—Jose Antonio, Ph.D. Editor’s note: You can listen to Dr. Jose Antonio and Carla Sanchez on Performance Nutrition, their radio show Web and podcast at www.PerformanceNutritionShow.com.

References 1 Dangott, B., Schultz, E., and Mozdziak, P.E. (2000). Dietary creatine monohydrate supplementation increases satellite cell mitotic activity during compensatory hypertrophy. Int J Sports Med. 21(1):13-16.

2 Aagaard, P., et al. (2006). Creatine supplementation augments the increase in satellite cell and myonuclei number in human skeletal muscle induced by strength training. J Physiol.

[Epub ahead of print.]

76 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Eat to Grow D I E T F O R R E S U LT S

You Are What You Eat

it easy to store carbs as fat. Eat the majority of your carbs early in the day and at your postworkout meal, where they can be used to replenish glucose and glycogen and be used for fuel.

Variety is the spice of life.

Spice up an otherwise boring menu by including a variety of foods in your diet. Far too many bodybuilders today don’t eat fruits or vegetables at all. Some dietary restrictions are necessary when you’re dieting for a contest, but in the off-season you should eat more fruits and vegetables.

The guy I alluded to earlier—five protein shakes a day—is missing out on a lot of the essential vitamins and minerals. Bake, broil, boil or steam your foods to avoid fats used in frying and to keep from losing valuable nutrients.

Eat your favorite foods. To lose weight, it’s not necessary to go on diets that require you to eat just a few select foods. The cabbage diet, the grapefruit diet, the juice diet and so on are just not healthful. They deprive the body of important nutrients and are dangerous.

To make dieting more tolerable, eat foods that you like; just cut down the portion size. Of course, if chocolate cake happens to be one of your favorite foods, then you have to be a little tougher on yourself. Eat moderate quantities of healthful foods that you enjoy.

Don’t miss meals. The body thrives on routine, so eat at least five meals a day, every single day, depending on your goals. Try to eat at approximately the same time every day and, once again, every 2 1/2 to three hours. You’ll never realize even half of your potential if your eating habits are inconsistent.

Add fiber to your diet. You’ll reap myriad health benefits when you add more fiber to your diet. A new study finds that dietary fiber from cereals and fruits, but not vegetables, is associated with reduced risk of heart disease. Soluble fiber swells in your stomach and intestines, creating a sensation of being full, which can curtail overeating. High-fiber foods are also digested more slowly, so they don’t cause spikes in blood sugar levels like white bread or sweets.

The average American eats 12 grams of fiber per day.

Most health organizations recommend 20 to 35 grams.

Fiber not only promotes overall general health but can also significantly aid in your fat-burning efforts. Research proves that people who eat the most fiber (about 25 grams per day) weigh eight pounds less than those who eat the least (about 12 grams per day).

Supplement your diet. Supplements are a great adjunct to your diet to help ensure that you get all the necessary vitamins, minerals and protein that you require daily.

Choose your supplements wisely. Remember, don’t rely on them at the expense of eating whole food. A few good ones that I recommend are whey, casein and egg protein powder; branched-chain amino acids; creatine; multivitamins; vitamin C; vitamin E; and chelated minerals.

—Tim Wescott Neveux \ Model: Joey Gloor

The single most important ingredient in bodybuilding success, or failure, is nutrition. It accounts for up to 75 percent of your results, whether they’re below average or optimum.

Don’t put your faith in quick-fix diets or fads. Instead, simply eat well-balanced meals to ensure that you’re getting the proper macronutrients. If you have every diet supplement under the sun in your pantry but the closest thing to real food is a box of Lucky Charms, you’re in for real trouble. Supplements have a place in your diet, but you should always opt for real food whenever possible.

I see too many people drink five protein shakes a day and eat only one solid-food meal, then complain that they aren’t making gains and they lack energy. A supplement is just that—a supplement to the diet, which should be composed mainly of whole, nutritious foods. Don’t supplement your supplements with food; do just the opposite.

Here are some eating tips to help you on your way to physical perfection: Eat breakfast. After a fast of eight hours your body is in dire need of nutrients that will take you out of a catabolic state and stoke your metabolism. Your metabolism slows down considerably while you sleep, so jump-start your day with a well-balanced, high-protein, high-carbohydrate breakfast.

Eat more often. Having five, six or even seven meals a day has many advantages. Frequent meals help keep blood sugar levels stable. They aid the digestion and assimilation of food as well as the absorption of essential macronutrients.

More frequent meals also help keep your waistline down and your body in an anabolic state. Try your best to eat every 2 1/2 or three hours for best results.

Slow down. Take the time to enjoy your food. Eating more slowly will help you eat less, which will aid in your weight-loss efforts. Carbohydrate digestion begins in the mouth, so chew your food completely—no wolfing. Chewing thoroughly aids in digestion. You’ll use only the food that your body absorbs—anything else will be excreted.

Stay hydrated. Thirst is the first outward sign of dehydration. Don’t wait to get thirsty: Drink fresh, clean water throughout the day. Water does so many things to benefit your body’s health it would take a separate article to list all of its attributes. In bodybuilding, not drinking enough water is one of the most common mistakes—and one of the easiest to correct.

Carry a 20-ounce sports bottle with you all the time, and refill it when necessary. Water helps you lose bodyfat by keeping the metabolism stoked and creating a sensation of fullness in your stomach so you can avoid overeating.

Limit late-night carbs. Some studies say it doesn’t matter, but I think that eating excess carbohydrates at night, when you’re less active, is a big no-no. Lying around watching TV or going to sleep after eating a high-carb meal makes

Nutrition reminders to keep you on the bodybuilding/fat-burning fast track

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PERFECT POSTWORKOUT MEAL

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The biggest mistake many bodybuilders make is eating a meal of chicken breasts, baked potato or rice and vegetables after a workout. This is an approach doomed to fail because by the time this meal digests, the anabolic window has slammed shut.

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GRIND OUT THE GROWTH REPS™ Beta-Alanine Gives Your Muscles More Grow Power™ The biggest bodybuilders know that the last few grueling reps of a set are the key growth reps. It’s why they fight through the pain of muscle burn on every work set-—so they trigger the mass-building machinery. But sometimes it’s not enough; the burn is too fierce.

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Red Dragon is a new beta-alanine supplement that packs your muscles with carnosine—up to 60 percent more.

Muscle biopsies show that the largest bodybuilders have significantly more carnosine in their fast-twitch muscle fibers than sedentary individuals for good reason: Carnosine buffers the burn to give muscles more “grow power” on every set.

The bigger and stronger a muscle gets, the more carnosine it needs to perform at higher intensity levels. You must keep your muscles loaded with carnosine to grow larger and stronger. It all boils down to intensity and the ability to buffer waste products—hydrogen ions and lactic acid—so the muscle doesn’t shut down before growth activation.

Straight carnosine supplements degrade too rapidly to reach the muscles; however, more than 20 new studies document that beta-alanine is converted to carnosine very efficiently. All it takes is 1 1/2 grams twice a day, and you’ll see new size in your muscles and feel the difference in the gym—you can double or triple your growth-rep numbers! Imagine how fast your size and strength will increase when you ride the Dragon!

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©2009 Home-Gym.com

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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train ™

Train, Eat,

GROW W

ear-Factor training: That’s how we start our ripping phase every year. No, it’s not fun in the normal sense of the word (except for the skin-stretching pumps when vascularity is streaking over every muscle). Enduring the wicked burn we ignite during this period takes

by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux some courage, not to mention motivational coaxing prior to each workout, but it’s worth it. After years ear-Factor training: That’s how of weexperimentation start our we’re able tothe ridcorrect exercise.

1) Using ripping phase every year. No, it’s not fun in theof fatYou our physiques much faster, need to pick one that involves synergy, or muscle normal sense of the word (except for the skinand we’ve learned that the first but stepstill puts the target muscle in an teamwork, stretching pumps when vascularity streaking is to is chisel with sizzle. ergonomic position to exert max force as the prime over every muscle). Enduring the wicked burn we ignite In other words, gomover for the(for burn. example, decline presses for chest). during this period takes some courage, not to mention It’s one of the best ways to create a motivational coaxing prior to each workout, buthormone it’s growth surge, GH is to muscular and nervous system 2)and Working worth it. After years of experimentation awe’re now potent fat burner. exhaustion.

That’s why old able to rid our physiques of fat much faster, guysand whowe’ve go on GH Intensity therapy get lean is key. learned that the first step is to chisel with sizzle. and muscular. Oh, it also synergizes In other words, go for the burn. It’s one of the best with other anabolic hormones, like right rep range.

3) Using the ways to create a growth hormone surge,testosterone, and GH is a to make themreps much If your are too high, fatigue will stop you before potent fat burner. That’s why old guys who gopowerful. on GH But you more we’regenerate not talking enough force; if your reps are too low, your therapy get lean and muscular. Oh, it also synergizes about injecting GH.nervous We kick it up will crap out too early. system with other anabolic hormones, like testosterone, toworkouts. According during our make them much more powerful. But we’re not talking getting That to researchers, a GHlast surge one is a function of the size principle of fiber about injecting GH. We kick it up duringinour theworkouts. gym has something to do Basically, the low-threshold motor units recruitment: According to researchers, getting a GH surge in the gym of lactic with the pooling acid fire first inin a set, followed by the mediums, followed by has something to do with the pooling ofthe lactic acid in(Canadian muscles Journal of the high-threshold motor units kick in, the highs.

When the muscles (Canadian Journal of Applied Physiology.

Applied Physiology. you’re 22:244-255; generating the most force, so the end of the set 22:244-255; 1997), so we make a point of1997), chasing themake aispoint so we chasing For most bodyparts, doing sets with very of important. burn toward the end of every bodypart workout. the burn toward the15 end of every reps or more causes fatigue products to pool in the Notice we said toward the end of eachbodypart bodypartworkout. working muscle before max-force production occurs, routine. Why? Well, At the beginning of each bodypart Notice we said toward themuscle end of shuts down early. (Fatigue-product and the routine it’s important to go for max-force production each bodypart routine.

Why?isWell, pooling what you’re after later in the workout, but not on a big, compound exercise—we usually the At choose the beginning of each bodypart up front, when force production is the priority.) ultimate exercise listed in The Ultimate routine Mass Workout it’s important to go for What about lower reps—say, four to six? In that case e-book. Max-force production is the direct result ofproduction a max-force a bigare forced to engage too early—after only a theon highs few different factors: compound exercise—we usually they don’t get primed by the lowerfew reps—so choose the ultimate exercise listed www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 85 in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.

Max-force production Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Muscle-Training Program 82

Neveux \ Photo Illustration by Aldrich Bonifacio

From the IRON MAN Training & Research Center

From the IRON MAN PRO Style Store

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•How the Pros Pack on Extreme Mass •Arnold’s Size-Stretching X-ploits •The Forgotten High-Intensity Growth Trigger •A Muscle-Building Mystery Solved •Pounds of Muscle in Days •Bodypart Bloodbath for Super Size •Monster Arms: Torching Your Tri’s •Time-Bomb Training •Lean-Machine Ignition •Drop the D Bomb for Bigger Bodyparts •Pre-Ex vs. the Post-X Mass Jack •Less Training, Big Gaining: The Truth

(You can check out those past editions free at www.XRep.com in the X Files section.)

It’s exciting stuff! You’ve gotta subscribe Learn how to make curls three times more effecitve at building eye-popping bi’s. See issue 03/04/05. today so you can start building the muscle size you deserve for your sweat and effort in the gym. You’ve got nothing to lose and plenty of raw muscle to gain! Here’s what to do...

Subscribe free at www.IronManMagazine.com To read free sample issues, visit www.X-Rep.com and click on X Files

w w w. I ro n M a n M a g a z i n e . c o m

© 2005 IRON MAN Magazine

It’s a big blast of workout information, motivation and muscle-building science in your e-mail box every week—and it’s all free! Tons of practical training tips, analysis and size tactics are jam-packed into this e-zine from the IRON MAN Training & Research Center, where there’s more than 50 years of training experience to get you growing fast! Here are a few of the latest editions’ titles (online now):

Train, Eat, Grow / Program 82

IRON MAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 82 Workout 1A: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms Rack pulls or dumbbell upright rows (X Reps) 2 x 10 Seated forward-lean laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Standing dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 10 Superset Dumbbell shrugs (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable upright rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Nautilus rows 1 x 10-12 Superset Nautilus rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Bent-arm bent-over laterals (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset Behind-the-neck pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Bent-over laterals (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 6(4) Cable curls (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset Preacher curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable curls 1 x 8-10 Concentration curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(5)(4) Incline hammer curls (double drop; X Reps)1 x 8(5)(4) Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(7)(6) Dumbbell wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(7)(6) Workout 3A: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Incline presses (second set is drop; X Reps)2 x 10, 8(6) High cable flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 7(5)(4) Bench presses (X Reps) 1 x 10 Wide-grip dips (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(7) Low/middle cable flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 7(5)(4) Pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 10 Superset Chins (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Undergrip pulldowns 1 x 6-8 Superset Machine pullovers (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Rope rows (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 6(4) Elbows-flared pushdowns (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(5) Tri-set Decline extensions 1 x 8-10 Decline close-grip bench presses (X Reps) 1x6 Decline dumbbell extensions 1x5 Superset Kickbacks 1 x 8-10 Bench dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Superset Incline kneeups (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 12(4) Flat-bench leg raises (X Reps) 1x7 Tri-set Ab Bench crunches (X Reps) 1x9 Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1x8 Bench V-ups 1x8

Workout 1B: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms Rack pulls (second set is drop; X Reps) 2 x 10, 8(6) Superset One-arm cable laterals (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Incline one-arm laterals (X Reps) 1x7 Standing dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 10 Dumbbell shrugs (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) Nautilus rows 1 x 10-12 Superset Nautilus rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 One-arm dumbbell rows (X Reps) 1 x 10-12 Superset Behind-the-neck pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Bent-over laterals (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 6(4) Cable curls (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset Preacher curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable curls 1 x 8-10 Incline curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(5)(4) Incline hammer curls (double drop; X Reps)1 x 8(5)(4) Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(7)(6) Dumbbell wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(7)(6) Workout 3B: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Incline presses (second set is drop; X Reps) 2 x 10, 8(6) Superset Incline flyes (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) High cable flyes (X Reps) 1x6 Wide-grip dips (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) Bench presses (X Reps) 1 x 10 Superset Flat-bench flyes (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Low cable flyes (X Reps) 1x6 Pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 10 Superset Chins (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Undergrip pulldowns 1 x 6-8 Superset Dumbbell pullovers (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Rope rows (X Reps) 1x6 Elbows-flared pushdowns (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(5) Tri-set Decline extensions 1 x 8-10 Decline close-grip bench presses (X Reps) 1x6 Decline dumbbell extensions 1x5 Superset Overhead dumbbell extensions (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Bench dips (X Reps) 1x6 Superset Incline kneeups (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(5) Flat-bench leg raises (X Reps) 1x8 Tri-set Ab Bench crunches (X Reps) 1x9 Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1x8 Bench V-ups 1x8

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 82 threshold action. The size principle domino effect of the lows and mediums firing first is too short, almost nonexistent. That’s not such a problem if you’re going to do a lot of low-rep sets, but if you’re after max-force production on the first

few sets of your compound exercise, the last few grinder reps are so you want to keep the rep range right important.) around 10.

And, of course, to get even more Ten reps will get you close to force production, we recommend a 30-second TUT, or time under tacking on X Reps when you reach tension, which has been shown to exhaustion. On decline presses, be excellent for muscle hypertrophy. for example, lower the bar till it’s It allows the a few inches from your low-pec size principle line, and then fire out partial-pulse ITRC Program 82 (continued) of fiber reps—from the X spot, that low recruitment to point, to just below the midpoint Workout 2 (Always on Wednesday): run its course; of the stroke. Each forceful X Rep Quads, Hams (isolation), Calves, Low Back so around should be about an eight-inch Smith-machine squats (X Reps) 2 x 8-10 rep seven or movement. You may need help from Squats (nonlock) 1 x 15-20 eight your a partner till you get the hang of it.

Superset high-threshold (We prefer the safety and stability of Leg extensions (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) motor units a Smith machine on most pressing Dumbbell squats (low partials; X Reps) 1 x 6-8 start to kick in exercises.)

Superset big time. That’s In our e-books we’ve outlined Leg extensions (X Reps) 1x8 when you grit the ideal force-producing sequence Sissy squats (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 your teeth and as a concentrated warmup of two Leg curls (drop set, X Reps) 1 x 10(5) grind out two progressively heavier sets (see Hyperextensions (X Reps) 1 x 10 or three more “Prelude to Mass” in the X-Files Leg press calf raises (X Reps) 3 x 15-20 reps, the sosection at X-Rep.com for specifics).

Tri-set called growth After that force-production primer, Machine donkey calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10 reps. (Now move to your work weight and crank Standing calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 6-8 you see why out nine or 10 reps, no X Reps on Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 6-8 the biggest the first set.

Superset bodybuilders Wait! If X Reps are so great, why Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-12 say that not do them on the very first set? If Machine donkey calf raises (X Reps) 1x8 Seated calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 15-20 Your first exercise should engage the target Low-back machine (X Reps) 1 x 10

muscle so it generates maximum force.

Friday: We train our hamstrings all out, from all positions, first with the following:

Note: We do workout 1A on Monday, 3A on Tuesday, 2 (legs) on Wednesday, 1B on Thursday, and on Friday we train quads, hamstrings, calves and the upper-body muscles that we worked on Tuesday, except back, but we only do isolation work—contracted- and/or stretchposition exercises. The following Monday we pick up with 3B. Then it’s 1A on Tuesday, 2 (legs) on Wednesday, 3A on Thursday, and on Friday full hamstring workout followed by isolation work for legs and the muscles we worked on Tuesday. On Monday it’s 3B, and so on. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com for workout details.

Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or an X-Rep hybrid technique from the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book.

Models: Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman

Superset Leg curls (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(6) Hyperextensions (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Superset Lunges (alternating legs) 1x9 Dumbbell squats (low partials; X Reps) 1 x 6-8 Superset Stiff-legged deadlifts (low partials) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts (low partials) 1 x 6-8

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 82

ITRC Program 82, Abbreviated Home-Gym Routine Workout 1A: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms Dumbbell upright rows or rack pulls (second set is drop; X Reps) 2 x 10, 8(5) Seated forward-lean laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(5)(3) Standing dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 10 Barbell shrugs (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(7) Bent-over barbell rows 2 x 10 Bent-arm bent-over laterals (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(6) Bent-over laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Barbell curls 2 x 10 Concentration curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Incline hammer curls (double drop; X Reps)1 x 8(6)(4) Reverse wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8)(6) Wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8)(6)

Workout 1B: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms Dumbbell upright rows or rack pulls (second set is drop; X Reps) 2 x 10, 8(5) Incline one-arm laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Standing dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 10 Barbell shrugs (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(7) Bent-over barbell rows 2 x 10 One-arm dumbbell rows (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 10(5) Bent-over laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Preacher curls (X Reps) 2 x 10 Incline curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Incline hammer curls (double drop; X Reps)1 x 8(6)(4) Reverse wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8)(6) Wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8)(6)

Workout 3A: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Incline presses (X Reps; second set is drop) 2 x 10, 8(5) Incline flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Bench presses (X Reps; second set is drop) 2 x 8-10 Decline flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Chins (X Reps) 2 x 10-12 Undergrip rows (X Reps) 2 x 8-10 Decline extensions (X Reps) 2 x 10 Kickbacks (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Tri-set Incline kneeups 1 x 10 Bench V-ups 1x8 Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1 x 10-12

Workout 3B: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Incline presses (X Reps; second set is drop) 2 x 10, 8(5) Incline flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Wide-grip dips (X Reps; second set is drop) 2 x 9, 7(4) Flat-bench flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Parallel-grip chins (X Reps) 2 x 8-10 Dumbbell pullovers (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Decline extensions (X Reps) 2 x 10 Overhead extensions (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(4) Tri-set Incline kneeups 1 x 10 Bench V-ups 1x8 Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1 x 10-12

Workout 2 (Always on Wednesday): Quads, Hams, Calves, Low Back Squats 2 x 10-12 Squats 1 x 15-20 Superset Leg extensions or hack squats (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell squats (low partials; X Reps) 1 x 5-8 Superset Leg extensions or hack squats (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Sissy squats (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Superset Leg curls (drop set; X Reps) 1 x 9(6) Hyperextensions (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Superset Lunges (alternating legs) 1x9 Dumbbell squats (low partials; X Reps) 1 x 6-8 Superset Stiff-legged deadlifts (low partials) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts (low partials) 1 x 6-8 One-leg calf raises (drop set; X Reps) 2 x 15(8) Donkey calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 15-20 Seated calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 15-20

Note: You train workout 1A on Monday, 3A on Tuesday, 2 (legs) on Wednesday, 1B on Thursday, and on Friday you train quads, hamstrings, calves and the upper-body muscles that you worked on Tuesday, except back, but only do isolation work—contractedand/or stretch-position exercises. The following Monday you pick up with 3B. Then it’s back to 1A on Tuesday, 2 (legs) on Wednesday, 3A on Thursday and on Friday isolation work for legs and the muscles you worked on Tuesday. On Monday it’s 3B, and so on. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com for workout details.

Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or an X-Rep hybrid technique from the Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book.

Note: Train Monday through Friday, following the sequence of workouts as listed but with wdorkout 2, legs, always on Wednesday only. Also, for drop sets it’s best to have a selectorized dumbbell set, such as the PowerBlock, if you don’t have a rack of fixed dumbbells of various weights. If you don’t have a leg extension machine, do old-style hacks, nonlock style. Use partner resistance, towel around the ankles, if you don’t have a leg curl machine.

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 82 you’re advanced, you can add them and reap some impressive massbuilding rewards; however, we’ve found that most bodybuilders need a heavy set to prime the nervous system to fire optimally. In other words, your first work set is an extension of the warmup.

Rest 2 1/2 to three minutes, and then, on your second work set, take the same weight, and shoot for eight or nine reps, followed by as many X Reps as possible from the sweet spot up to just below the midpoint of the stroke. That will extend the tension time and, even more important, increase force production. It will also ignite the burn that you’re preparing to chase on your next exercise.

Chisel With Sizzle: Sear-Factor Training Get ready for pain-zone fire!

Your second exercise should be a contracted-position move—one that keeps tension on the target muscle throughout the stroke and is more of a so-called isolation, or single-joint, exercise. For example, for middle and lower chest pick

cable flyes or pec deck flyes.

A quick note: Muscles that are low responders usually lack neuromuscular efficiency. That’s the big reason they’re low responders in the first place. Slacker bodyparts are hard to feel, which means it’s more difficult to keep tension on them throughout a set. For example, we both have weak pecs—especially Steve—so we often stop our reps short at the bottom and top on cable flyes, repping from about the X spot, just above full stretch, to just below the contracted position, right before your hands touch. Staying in that slightly exaggerated middle area keeps the chest from caving in and the front delts as secondary movers. We like to do the partial range on the second part of a drop or double-drop set—the first phase we usually do through the full range.

Contracted-position exercises provide the most occlusion, or blood-flow blockage. That’s important because occlusion puts the muscle in a stranglehold, forcing blood out, and also produces serious lactic acid pooling. (For more on the size-and-strength studies on occlusion, see our Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book.) That’s what you’re

after—lactic acid for some serious burning to get the growth hormone churning.

Can you get it in one set? Possibly, if your reps are high enough; however, for the ultimate musclebuilding effect you want to combine a bit more force production with the burn. To do that, use drop sets, supersets, double-drop sets or trisets.

We like to start with drop sets and supersets. Once we can do those with minimal profanity—usually two to four weeks—we morph them into double-drops and tri-sets. And on the last phase, when we’re feeling brave, we add X Reps or an X-hybrid technique. Talk about feeling the burn! If you do them right, keeping your total reps for all phases at 16 to 20, you’ll have tears in your eyes— and start dropping bodyfat like a two-ton wrecking ball.

We went over drop-set techniques a few installments back, but here’s a refresher: Do a set to exhaustion, immediately reduce the weight and do another set to exhaustion.

That’s a drop set. To morph it into a double-drop, you reduce the weight one more time and do a third set, or phase. On a drop set your reps should go something like 10, six.

On a double-drop they should be something like eight, six, five. Those rep numbers will allow you to get an incredible burn, but because they’re all in the medium range, you still get some force production, mostly on the first phase.

Model: Jonathan Lawson

Chisel With Sizzle Supplement Support

94 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Max-force generation. Blasting into and through the pain zone.

Sear-factor extended-set training.

You can get more fat-to-muscle bang from all of those things if you add a few key supplements to the mix.

We started off talking about growth hormone and how it burns fat and builds muscle. You can optimize GH release naturally with GH Stak, an effervescent growth hormone booster developed by the

For your second exercise use a continuoustension, contracted-position move—and use drop sets to sear the hell out of the muscle.

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Train, Eat, Grow / Program 82 creator of the patch-delivery system for drugs, Dr. James Jamieson.

We use it every year for at least a four-week cycle to kick off our ripping phase. We take it before we train, after a two-hour fast.

Fasting is necessary so that no circulating aminos interfere with the proprietary mix in the supplement.

GH Stak is a great complement to sear-factor training.

To chisel with sizzle, you also need pain tolerance, and Gakic, the new ammonia-buffer supplement

by MuscleTech, can help you blast out more reps on every set, even when the burn is excruciating—or double X-cruciating. We usually phase in Gakic caplets after our GH Stak phase. It provides a great kick, especially through the first half of the workout. On our first few exercises we get two, three or four extra reps on every set. The stuff really works, as we reported in a Research Team feature in the November ’05 IRON MAN. Along those same lines, but

different receptor sites, there are the new beta-alanine supplements that provide a strength upper-cut by converting to L-carnosine. Studies show that the biggest bodybuilders have much more carnosine in their muscle tissue due to heavy training, which indicates a need for it. It appears to increase muscular power output via buffering activity, and it amplifies creatine’s effect (betaalanine plus Gakic plus creatine— hmm). We’ve been on top of the research thanks to Jerry Brainum, IM’s top science wizard. An item of his that appeared in the Train to Gain section in the June issue had some interesting conclusions: “Some preliminary research shows that combining betaalanine with creatine significantly increases the intensity level of bodybuilding training.”

Intensity means more muscle, so bring on the beta-alanine!

There are a few more supplements we use—from fat burners to estrogen-control

capsules to L-carnitine—but they aren’t as directly related to searfactor training as GH Stak, Gakic and beta-alanine. Nevertheless, we won’t let that stop us from giving a shameless plug for our Web site, which we’re very proud of: To see what supplements we use and when and why we use them, check out our X-Supplement blog at www.X-Rep.com. Our training blog is there too—complete with a few X-pletives.

Editor’s note: For the latest on the X-Rep muscle-building method, including X Q&As, X Files (past e-zines), our before and after photos and the X-Blog training journal, visit www.X-Rep.com.

For more information on Positionsof-Flexion training videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad section that begins on page 193 or visit www.Home-Gym.com. To order the Positions-of-Flexion training manual Train, Eat, Grow, call (800) 447-0008, visit www.Home-Gym .com, or see the ad below. IM

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Steve Holman’s

Critical Mass

Fat-Loss Kick-Start Q: I’m finally serious about getting ripped. I work out four days a week, and I’m getting my diet in line with your X-treme Lean e-book. Are there any tricks to making the blubber disappear faster? What’s the first thing you do to get the fat to start coming off?

A: First, as you’ve seen in the High-Def training program in that e-book, you want to be sure to go for the burn in the gym. Lactic acid pooling has been directly linked to significant surges in growth hormone—and GH is a potent fat burner, as well as an amplifier of the anabolic power of other key hormones. More anabolism, or muscle growth, is important as you burn off fat because the more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism. In other words, your body will burn more calories, even at rest, as you pack on more muscle. (And, yes, you can add muscle as you burn fat. I’ve done it the past few years, and I’m 46.)

You’ve read in the e-book how to apply extended-set techniques like X Reps and drop sets to crank up GH. That’s the first thing I do when my annual ripping phase rolls around—extend more sets, often turning drop sets into double-drop sets (three back-to-back sets instead of two). Another thing I do is a four-to-six-week cycle of GH

Stak. It’s an effervescent supplement designed to increase the body’s natural production of growth hormone. I take it right before I train, after a two-hour fast, and I know from experience that it synergizes with extended-set training to vaporize bodyfat.

GH Stak was developed by Dr. James Jamieson, the creator of the patch-delivery system used by many drug companies. He’s said the supplement is ineffective without at least a two-hour fast prior to taking it. If you don’t like training on an empty stomach, you can have a protein drink an hour before you hit the gym and take your dose of GH Stak before bed, at least two hours after your last meal of the day. I’ve tried that with good results, but using it before training has worked much better for me. [Note: For more information on GH Stak, visit www.Home-Gym.com.]

Q: I’m so confused. I read that most top bodybuilders do 20 sets or more per bodypart, but then Mike Mentzer’s programs have only one set of one exercise for each bodypart. I read in the Heavy Duty column that two researchers looked at a bunch of studies comparing multiple-set training to singleset training, and there was no difference in results.

Should I go the single-set route? I don’t have a lot of time to work out, but I do want the best gains I can get.

A: Keep in mind that those studies were looking at strength, not muscle growth. There’s a big difference between getting stronger and getting bigger.

Yes, pushing or pulling more weight can help add to fiber size, but there are many more facets to achieving extreme hypertrophy. A big one is building the endurance components of the fast-twitch 2A fibers. That takes longer tension times and occlusion, or blocking blood flow to the muscle. Stretch overload is also important, as it can increase anabolic receptors in muscle tissue and may even stimulate hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, after a while.

Yes, getting stronger does increase force production, which is one component of building more muscle. If all you’re interested in is strength with blips on the size meter, you may want to do one or two straight sets of a big, basic exercise for each muscle and use lower reps. That attacks the anaerobic portion of the fast-twitch type 2As, increases neuromuscular efficiency and builds your tendons and ligaments. In short, it zeros in on adding to your strength, with some residual muscle size.

If you’re interested in maximum muscle size with a strength side effect, you have to train all facets of the fast-twitch fibers. You may be able to do that with one compound exercise per muscle group, but it will take more than one set, and you’ll have to strategically add continuous tension, longer tension times, drop sets and other extended-set techniques, like end-of-set X-Rep partials.

A better strategy, if you have about an hour to train four or five days a week, is to

Getting the fat-burning furnace stoked takes more than upping your cardio.

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Steve Holman’s

Critical Mass

Q: You’ve suggested once-a-week leg training while working all other bodyparts twice a week.

What’s the reason, and has it worked for you?

A: The reason is a study that suggested the quads need more time to recover than other muscle groups.

Has it worked? I recently had to retire a favorite pair of easy-fit jeans because they got too tight around my thighs.

In my opinion, no 46-year-old man with streaks of gray in his hair should be dressing like a rock star, although Mick Jagger would probably disagree. Part of the reason for my new quad mass is the once-a-week training, but other factors include adding a few higher-rep sets for more tension time. Quads are very receptive to longer tension times because so many fast-twitch fibers have morphed into type 2As, fast-twitchers with both anaerobic and endurance capabilities—and the endurance characteristic is probably dominant in most. Medium-rep sets with X Reps along with a high-rep set or two plus drop sets and supersets hit every facet of the muscle cells, which no doubt blasts the quads

Q: I train at home with a power rack, adjustable dumbbells, an Olympic set and an adjustable bench. I’ve got a $1,000 tax refund coming, and I’m wondering what you’d suggest I invest in to make my home gym more complete.

A: Congrats on that extra grand coming your way. Some of us got the grand shaft from the government this year (no, I’m not bitter). Seriously, I suggest you get rid of the adjustable dumbbells and buy a PowerBlock set.

Selectorized dumbbells are invaluable for doing drop sets and double-drop sets, key techniques for developing the endurance components of the fast-twitch 2A fibers.

(I know I harp on that a lot, but it’s something a lot of bodybuilders ignore and a big reason so many aren’t gaining the way they should.) All it takes is a quick move of the U-shaped pin in each block, and you’ve got a lighter weight so you PowerBlock, the ultimate can keep on rephome-gym muscle builder? ping with minimal rest time.

Go for the 90-pound set, available at Home-Gym.com, and you’ll have a few hundred bucks left over from your refund. What should you do with that? Invest in Apple Computer stock. Its iTunes and iPod are changing the face of the music biz. Who would’ve thought buying singles would come back? And Apple has cornered the market.

Neveux \ Model: Marvin Montoya

use the Positions-of-Flexion 3D method. Your first exercise gives you max-force production via straight sets with X Reps, with minor endurance work. Then you attack the endurance components with a continuous-tension contracted-position exercise, adding drop sets and X Reps.

Finally, you finish off the muscle with a stretch-position exercise, for important stretch overload. (In Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building there’s more discussion of all of these components, as well as a look at an animal study that produced a 300 percent mass increase in only one month of severe stretch overload).

Incidentally, this approach is the primary reason Ronnie Coleman, who started as a powerlifter, doesn’t train like a powerlifter now that he’s the top bodybuilder in the world. Yes, he still does basic exercises, even some lowrep sets once in a while, but he also uses contracted- and stretch-position movements for medium reps (10 to 15) to get continuous tension and longer time under tension. It takes more than single-set, low-rep work to build incredible muscle size.

so completely that seven days of recovery is mandatory.

The sharp black POF T-shirt with the original classic logo emblazoned in gold can give you that muscular look you’re after (sorry, large size only). See page 235 for details.

Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many bodybuilding best-sellers, including Train, Eat, Grow: The Positions-of-Flexion Muscle-Training Manual (see page 96). For information on the POF videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad section beginning on page 193. Also visit www.X-Rep.com. IM

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Model: Ronnie Coleman, “Redemption” © 2005 Mitsuru Okabe Co.

All you need is one set of one compound exercise? To build more strength maybe, but not if you’re interested in maximum muscle growth. For extreme mass you have to attack all the facets of the fast-twitch fibers.

That’s the reason Ronnie Coleman no longer trains exclusively like a powerlifter. There’s more to size increases than moving more poundage.

Steve Holman ironchief@aol.com

Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s

Naturally Huge

Fat-Loss Facts This installment of Naturally Huge is devoted to questions about nutrition and dieting—the best way to get rid of excess bodyfat so you can display an impressive ripped physique.

Q: It seems many bodybuilders start their cutting diet by including carbs that contain starches and sugar and gradually phase them out as the weeks go on. What’s the rationale behind this? Wouldn’t it just be better to cut all carbs at once?

A: If you can lose fat by gradually cutting back your carb intake, weight loss is somewhat slower, which is better for preserving muscle mass. Cutting carbs (and most likely, calories) too much all at once will result in your losing as much muscle as fat.

Q: If someone starts his diet at 15 to 20 percent bodyfat, and his goal is to see his abs, how long should he expect to diet, and when should he cut carbs?

A: It all depends on how fast his metabolism is and how

he reacts to a fat-loss diet. People who are younger or are just naturally lean can get lean very quickly; for others it takes longer. You have to know your body in order to determine how fast you can get cut up. When I trained for my last competition, I expected to lose a quarter inch off my waist each week. According to that time line, I’d lose one inch after four weeks of dieting. If I had three inches to lose to get into contest shape, I knew it would take me 12 weeks of dieting to reach peak condition. The key thing to remember is to lose the fat gradually and always eat enough to feed the muscles so you don’t sacrifice muscle tissue.

Q: For losing fat, your articles advocate a balanced diet over low-carb or lowfat plans. But doesn’t cutting carbs help burn fat faster?

A: Again, it all depends on the individual. It’s too simplistic to say that cutting just carbs or just fats will get someone ripped. Cutting carbs usually works for most people, but when I was younger (20s and early 30s), I was able to eat higher carbs (300 to 400 grams a day) and get very ripped. As long as my total daily calories were at a certain number, I would lose fat and get ripped. Only when I reached my late 30s and early 40s did I have to modify my carb intake in order to lose bodyfat quickly.

I think a low-carb diet is suicide for the natural bodybuilder because we need a certain number of carbs in order to train and recuperate. A bodybuilder on steroids can eat very low carbs and not lose any muscle tissue because the drugs retain the muscle. If you try to do that without using steroids, your body will sacrifice muscle tissue before getting rid of the stubborn bodyfat. You have to really be intelligent about dieting when you’re a natural bodybuilder, and cutting out carbs completely or eating a very low-carb diet is not the right choice for most.

Q: How would the body react to dropping from a bulking diet to a low-carb diet in a week’s time?

A: The body would probably lose several pounds of bodyweight, which would most likely be from water loss (carbs retain water in the muscles). If a low-carb, low-calorie diet were followed for an extended period of time, the body would react by actually slowing down the metabolism and holding onto stored bodyfat.

The body senses that you’re starving, so it slows down the metabolism to adjust to the lower calorie intake. That, of course, is the opposite of what you want to happen. You want your metabolism to be as fast as possible, not slow down.

Q: Are there detrimental psychological effects to dropping carbohydrates too low?

Getting into ripped condition should be a gradual process to prevent loss of precious muscle tissue.

A: If you lose muscle tissue, which will most likely happen, that can be pretty hard for a bodybuilder psychologically.

But also lose (continued onyou’ll page 102) strength and muscle fullness if your carbs are too low. That will be a psychological blow as well to a bodybuilder who’s training hard. Lowering your carbs usually necessitates an increase in protein and fat intake.

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Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s

Naturally Huge body has to work harder to digest the additional meals.

Q: After the final weeks of a diet, many bodybuilders comment that eating at a buffet helps them to rapidly put on muscle. Why is that?

A: It has to do with restoring depleted glycogen stores in the muscles. Also, if your calories and carbs were too low, you may have sacrificed some muscle tissue in the process.

So the increase in calories helps restore the lost muscle tissue and create an anabolic environment, which helps build muscle rapidly.

Q: What role should cardio play in a diet? Should one introduce a lot of it immediately or gradually over a period of time?

A: I always recommend trying to lose bodyfat with the diet first and then introducing cardio later to speed up the process. I think it’s a mistake to cut calories, reduce carbs and start cardio all at the same time. There’s too much of a risk of losing muscle tissue. I’ve competed in really ripped condition and didn’t use cardio at all in my preparation.

You don’t have to use cardio to get ripped, but it can help speed up the process if it’s done correctly.

Q: After a long period of carb deprivation, how does the body react to the reintroduction of carbohydrates?

A: If the carbs are introduced gradually, the muscles will fill out and the bodybuilder will probably look even harder.

If bodyfat is very low, the muscles will suck up all of the carbs and refill the muscle tissues with glycogen. After the glycogen centers of the muscles are filled, however, continuing to eat a lot of carbs will lead to fat storage.

Q: Can you give any tips for spiking fat loss once a diet has reached a plateau?

A: There are several things you can do to bypass a plateau. You can introduce cardio into your routine if you haven’t started it already. You can slightly lower calories by taking something out—usually that amounts to reducing your carbohydrate intake in some way. Or you can keep your calories the same and start eating more meals per day. For instance, if you were eating six meals a day, you could reduce the size of some of those meals and add one or two meals so you’re eating seven or eight small meals a day—but make sure you’re still getting the same number of calories. That stimulates your metabolism because the

A: When you’re trying to add mass, you should eat quality foods that help build muscle tissue, but you can also eat some extras, which usually contain more simple carbs.

When you begin dieting to lose bodyfat, the first thing to get rid of is the simple carbs. I don’t remove the junk food in stages; I just eliminate it when I begin my diet. I may start off eating more calories than I will later in the diet, but all of those calories will be from complete proteins, complex carbs and essential fatty acids, with little to no simple carbs or junk foods.

Q: Could you give a simple time line on the stages you go through to bulk up and diet down?

A: Once again, this depends on the individual. When I was 20 years old and wanted to bulk up, I didn’t go through stages. I just kept eating more and more good food until I finally started to gain weight. I was eventually eating 4,500 to 5,000 calories every day. How long I dieted would depend on how far I had allowed myself to bulk up in the off-season. It was easier then to lose bodyfat and gain muscle mass by increasing or decreasing my calories. As you get older, your levels of growth hormone and testosterone naturally decrease, so bulking up is not as effective. I stopped bulking up when I reached my late 30s. My normal time line for dieting when I competed as a natural bodybuilder was anywhere from 12 to 20 weeks, depending on how bulked up I was or how much bodyfat I had to lose.

Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Natural Mr. Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner. Visit his Web site at www.natural olympia.com. You can write to him at P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561, or call tollfree (800) 900-UNIV (8648). His new book, Natural Bodybuilding, is now available from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 4470008 or www .Home-Gym.com. IM

Neveux

Start the fat-loss process with diet first, and gradually introduce cardio.

Neveux \ Model: Sebastian Siegel

Q: If your primary goal is putting on mass, would it be beneficial to eat more fat and simple carbs and then slowly eliminate them so the effect of dieting would be more dramatic?

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John Hansen John@NaturalOlympia.com

MYTH BUSTERS BUSTE BU USTE STE STERS RS BUSTERS 5 Training Secrets The So-Called Experts Don’t Want You to Know f you’ve been involved in weight training for any length of time, you have undoubtedly been subjected to all sorts of training advice. It commonly comes from well-intentioned older lifters reminiscing on how things use to be. It could be an uncle who used to “play a little college ball” or a friend’s older brother who did “a little lifting” in the basement with a concrete weight set from Sears.

Such advice is given freely to anyone who will listen. Those with the open ears are generally beginners getting involved in weight training for the first time. They don’t know too much about lifting weights and quickly gravitate to any perceived expert.

This so-called gym wisdom then gets passed from lifter to lifter.

Eventually, the ideas are repeated so often and spread so widely that they’re considered fact. It’s kind of like the old saying in politics: If you say something often enough for long enough, people will start to believe it. That saying certainly applies to weigh training.

Unfortunately, the effectiveness

Photography by Michael Neveux

of the advice can be questionable.

There are some strongly held beliefs about weight training that need serious reexamination.

Myth 1: Isolation exercises don’t build mass and should only be used for shaping or toning.

hypertrophy to occur.

A good example is concentration curls. The popular way to use them is for defining and shaping the biceps after a set of standing curls.

1

Reality: Any exercise has the potential to build mass as long as you perform enough sets and reps and the weight is challenging. Along with a proper set-and-rep scheme, you can use advanced techniques, such as drop sets and X Reps—partials at the max-force point—at the end of a set, to increase the intensity of the set, activate more fibers and further fatigue a muscle. The result is that you trigger the body’s adaptation processes and force

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Model: George Farah

by Christopher Pennington •

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Myth 2: Once you find a workout that works for you, stick with it and never change.

Reality: Workouts should be cycled regularly to stimulate muscle growth. The body is a highly adaptive organism and quickly adjusts to any workout you throw at it. Staleness occurs, plateaus develop, and if you stubbornly keep following the same path, injury is very likely. We all have that one favorite workout or exercise we love to perform. It’s human nature to enjoy consistency and get into a regular way of doing things. The problem is that in the context of a mass-building routine, you shouldn’t do the same thing for a long period of time.

There’s a science behind that principle of designing programs.

It’s known as periodization; what it really means is planned variation.

Even if a routine is working well for you now, you need to start

thinking about what your next phase is going to be. At some point the gains will end. Then—or preferably right before you feel a slowdown in progress—you want to switch up your routine. That keeps the body fresh and in a state where it’s constantly adapting to new training stimuli, thus getting bigger and stronger.

A quick note of caution: Even though it’s essential to adjust your workout on a regular basis, it’s just as important to avoid changing things too quickly or on a whim.

Fact: Workouts should be cycled regularly to stimulate muscle growth. The body is a highly adaptive organism.

2

Model: Cesar Martinez

MYTH BUSTERS: 5 TRAINING SECRETS

Try performing concentration curls first in your biceps program for eight sets of three reps. You won’t get a pump the way you would from a conventional rep scheme like three sets of eight, but you’ll notice a major increase in biceps strength and thickness.

Who says concentration curls can’t build mass?

Here is another good example.

At your next leg workout, in place of the usual mass-building exercise such as leg presses or squats, try performing 10 sets of eight reps on leg extensions. Your legs will be smoking, and your quads will grow.

Is it extreme? Yes, so don’t do it at every workout. It’s for shock value.

The point isn’t whether you should perform 10 sets of eight reps on the leg extension machine.

It’s that you can turn an isolation exercise into a mass builder by structuring the workout correctly.

It’s not just the exercise by itself that dictates the training effect but also the reps, sets and rest period you use.

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Myth 3: The back squat is the king of all exercises.

I know many of you gasp at my listing this. It’s one of the oldest maxims of weight training. Before you throw a fit, read what I have to say carefully and make sure you understand it. While the back squat is undoubtedly one of the top

producers of strength and mass, there are several other very good alternatives, one of which is the deadlift. In fact, many experts agree that the deadlift is fast becoming the alternative king of all exercises.

Why? The deadlift works everything from your forearms to the middletraps-to-lower-back area, the entire torso and all the leg muscles—while being much safer to perform with

Fact: The free-bar full squat is not the best quad exercise for everyone due to bonelength variation.

heavy weights.

Unfortunately, not everyone is biomechanically suited to performing the squat. Those with long torsos and long femurs—the main upper-leg bone—tend to lean forward quite a bit, transferring excessive and potentially dangerous loads to the lower back.

I commonly hear people argue in favor of performing a powerliftingstyle squat to counteract that.

That method keeps the load over the hips and reduces the stress on the lower back. Although that is true if the weight on the bar is the same as it would be if you were doing regular squats, most people end up using heavier poundages when they perform powerlifting-style squats because of better leverages. That in turn can offset safety factors that were the original reason for making the switch.

Additionally, it takes the trained eye of a good coach to get the technique down.

It’s not something you can just walk into a gym and start doing. You need time to learn proper form.

Anyone involved in competitive powerlifting needs to use that approach to squats. Everyone else, however, should use the squat as a means to an end, the end being the development of a muscular physique, not an increase in squat poundage just for the sake of increasing squat poundage.

Don’t misinterpret what I’m saying. The squat is an incredible exercise, and heavy squatting is a great goal. Just understand what you’re trying to accomplish and use the best exercise for your body type to achieve that objective. For some people it’s the squat; for most it’s the deadlift.

Model: King Kamali

MYTH BUSTERS: 5 TRAINING SECRETS

3

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Reality: One of the best ways to break through a training plateau is by doing several short workouts throughout the day instead of the traditional single long workout. Most of us cannot easily rearrange our days to fit in multiple training sessions.

Despite the difficulty, the effectiveness of the technique is unmatched.

For bodybuilding purposes, the best way to use multiple training sessions in a day is to focus on a specific set of muscle groups you want to overload. You would do it only occasionally, say, once every few months.

Model: Eric Domer

Myth 4: Short workouts are ineffective.

This type of routine takes careful planning because it is very easy to overtrain. Proper nutrition and supplementation and adequate rest are absolutely essential! Preand postworkout nutrition need special attention.

The details of using such a program are a topic for a future article. For now let’s go over some basic principles. Initially, try to perform two sessions of no longer than 40 minutes each. The goal is to do two or three 30-to-40minute sessions during the day.

Ninety percent of you will find that Saturday is the best day to do this.

Take off Friday before, and you will definitely need Sunday and probably Monday off also.

Fact: One of the best ways to break through a training plateau is by doing several short workouts throughout the day.

4

Model: Randy Vogelzang

MYTH BUSTERS: 5 TRAINING SECRETS

Fact: Some exercises are great for some people and ineffective for others.

You must experiment in the gym.

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Reality: This myth is really not as prevalent as it used to be, but I still hear it from time to time.

I think now more people would say that overtraining is just undersupplementation. Nutrition and supplementation are vital to training, but it’s wrong to say that not enough of either is the reason for overtraining. Certainly, you can train harder and/or longer if you use proper

5 supplementation, but there’s a point of diminishing returns. That’s the point when any additional sets you perform no longer add to the workout but only increase the time it will take you to recover.

A good analogy is when you’re up late cramming for an exam the next day. Sure, you can take in quite a bit of information while cramming—up to a point. Once you’ve hit that point, you start to get confused, nervous and tired, and the mind just won’t retain any more material. That’s the point of diminishing returns. There is no way

Model: Berry Kabov

Myth 5: Overtraining is just undereating.

Model: Luke Wood

MYTH BUSTERS: 5 TRAINING SECRETS

Fact: There’s a point of diminishing returns—when any additional sets you perform no longer add to the workout but only increase the time it will take you to recover.

There’s also the increasing chance of overuse injury. around the fact that the body needs rest and sleep.

Essentially, training is the process of breaking down the body with weights and giving it time to build back up to a stronger state.

Training and supplementation can help the process of repair, but they will never take the place of rest, period.

Remember, never take advice at face value. Think about it, experiment with variations and opposing recommendations—and you may just grow bigger than you thought possible. IM

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Nature’s Growth Serum

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Nature’s Serum Colostrum: First Milk for Fast Mass?

Neveux \ Model: Jorge Betancourt

by Jerry Brainum

In the classic 1939 novel Grapes of Wrath by John Steinbeck, a character called Rosasharn, who’s just delivered a stillborn baby, encounters a man near death who hasn’t eaten a morsel of food in more than six days. In a dramatic act of selfless humanity, she offers the famished stranger her breast, thereby saving his life.

She couldn’t have made a better choice from a nutritional perspective. The thick, yellow fluid that the stranger suckled is known as colostrum, which flows from the breasts of women for two days after they give birth.

The primary nutritional requirements for a newborn are immune and growth factors. Because a baby is born with little or no immunity, colostrum provides a rich source of immune-enhancing proteins.

Growth factors native to colostrum also enhance the newborn’s rapid growth.

All female mammals secrete colostrum as the initial source of nutrition for newborns. Most proteins undergo rapid degradation in the gut, but colostrum contains protease inhibitors that prevent its premature digestion. Bovine, or cow, colostrum is four times richer in vital immune factors than human colostrum.

In ayurvedic medicine, the ancient medicine of India, colostrum has been used to treat health problems for thousands of years. Before the advent of antibacterial drugs, colostrum, along with garlic, was often used as a natural antibiotic. Dr. Albert Sabin, who developed the first live vaccine for polio, found that colostrum contained antibodies that blocked the polio virus.

So what are colostrum’s potent protective factors? They include the following: www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 129

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Nature’s Growth Serum Immunoglobulins Immunoglobulin G is a protein that works as an antibody and counteracts bacteria and viruses in the blood and lymphatic system. So do IgM, IgD and IgE. Colostrum contains a minimum of 16 percent immunoglobulins.

Lactoferrin Also found in whey protein, lactoferrin deactivates bacteria by blocking the use of iron, which bacteria need to replicate.

Cow colostrum is four times richer in immune factors than human colostrum.

Proline-rich peptide PRP modulates immune function by calming an overactive immune response and promoting a weak immune response. Research has found that a proprietary form of PRP derived from the colostrum of sheep works against Alzheimer’s disease.1 PRP promotes the release of gammainterferon, a cytokine that inhibits the formation of the protein betaamyloid, which is thought to be a cause of Alzheimer’s disease.

Growth factors Colostrum include insulinlike growth factors 1 and 2, epithelial growth factor and transforming growth factors A and B, as well as growth hormone itself. IGF-1 is well known as a potent anabolic hormone. It’s also involved in muscular recovery, repair and growth. The major controversy about supplemental colostrum is whether IGF-1 is absorbed into the body with oral

colostrum supplements.

The most potent natural immune booster known to science, colostrum contains far more protective factors than milk. One study found that human subjects who took oral colostrum supplements before being injected with the bacteria that causes dysentery did not develop the disease.

PRP, the immune-modulating protein, stimulates the development of thymocytes, which are white blood cells secreted from the thymus gland, into active T cells, which protect against viruses and cancer.

An in vitro, or test-tube, study found that colostrum has about half the inhibitory activity of an antibiotic called gentamicin, but minus side effects.

Colostrum’s potent immune-promoting effects may make it a useful

Lactoferrin improves immunity and the growth environment.

supplement for older people. As people age, immune response becomes blunted, making them more susceptible to diseases, including cancer. In the case of autoimmune diseases such as rheumatoid arthritis and lupus, the body begins to attack its own tissues and organs.

Women are more prone to those kinds of diseases than men. The PRP in colostrum may help mitigate autoimmune pathology.

Another unique benefit of colostrum is protection against some of the side effects induced by nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

NSAIDs inhibit the synthesis of prostaglandins, which are made from dietary fat and which are involved in pain and inflammatory reactions. Some prostaglandins, however, offer protective benefits.

One example of such protection is the maintenance of the mucous barrier that lines the stomach and intestines. Without that barrier, corrosive acids the body produces would lead to tissue ulceration.

Unfortunately, the NSAIDs take a shotgun approach to prostaglandin synthesis, inhibiting both “good” and “bad” kinds. That’s why certain NSAIDs, known as COX-2 inhibitors, are linked to adverse cardiovascular effects, including heart attacks in some people.

While the primary use of NSAIDs is to treat pain from such inflammatory conditions as arthritis, they’re also used to treat pain that results from muscle and joint injuries common in athletes and bodybuilders.

Noting that the drugs can cause gastrointestinal side effects, the drug

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Nature’s Growth Serum

Colostrum’s immune boosters may be especially important as we get older. industry developed synthetic prostaglandin drugs to counter NSAID side effects. Those drugs came with their own side effects, such as diarrhea—clearly not an ideal solution.

Colostrum offsets NSAID side effects, apparently because of its growth factors, such as epidermal growth factor and alpha-TGF, which help heal injured mucous tissues in the gut. Studies using rats as subjects show that taking colostrum with NSAIDs prevents gastric injury by 60 percent or more. The wound-healing properties of active colostrum should work in all types of injury or trauma.

Neveux \ Model: Jeff Hammond

Colostrum conains far more protective factors than milk and may be superior to whey in many respects.

If colostrum did nothing more than help heal injuries and boost immune function, it would be a valuable dietary supplement. The presence of its potent growth factors, particularly IGF-1, indicates that colostrum could be both ergogenic and anabolic.

Studies done with animals such as pigs, which use protein much as humans do, show that supplemental colostrum leads to increased protein synthesis of muscle contractile proteins. That should increase strength and muscular size in those who lift weights. The first study to test the athletic effects of bovine colostrum ingestion, however, found no effects on either athletic performance or recovery.

That study lasted only eight days, possibly not long enough to show any significant effects.

A follow-up study one year later that lasted eight weeks did show improved recovery from endurance exercise. Subjects undertook eight weeks of combined endurance and weight-training exercise while getting 20 grams a day of bovine colostrum. A placebo group experienced no significant differences in measures of endurance and strength. Those in the colostrum group, however, did show an increase in nonbone lean mass.

The question is, What did that consist of?

A study that used magnetic resonance imaging examined the effects of

Is Colostrum Ergogenic?

colostrum on tissue of the upper arm. Subjects who took colostrum supplement experienced upperarm increases, not in muscle but skin. How that happened wasn’t determined, but colostrum is a rich source of epidermal growth factor, which promotes skin growth and healing.2 A study of the effects of colostrum supplement use in elite athletes found that colostrum increased repeat sprint ability in field hockey players. Another study found no effect on the performance of rowers.

It did find increased muscle-buffering capacity, which implies lower muscle acidity during intense training. That translates into decreased muscle fatigue and upgraded training intensity.

A more recent study compared the impact of oral bovine colostrum supplements to that of whey protein on competitive cyclists.3 Those in the colostrum group showed more endurance than those getting the whey. In their commentary, the authors note that while IGF-1 is thought to exist in colostrum, the level of IGF-1 in the subjects of both groups didn’t vary. Another possibility is enhanced nutrient absorption in the gut because of colostrum’s growth factors. Increased nutrient uptake would promote enhanced muscle recovery and accelerated repair of muscle damage from intense exercise.

The most recent study examining the effects of bovine colostrum

Colostrum also has links to leptin, which reduces food cravings in the brain.

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Nature’s Growth Serum significant changes in blood levels of IGF-1 after colostrum intake, which makes sense. As a polypeptide, or protein-based hormone, IGF-1 digests the same way as any other protein taken orally. That’s why IGF-1, like growth hormone, is usually injected.

The presence of IGF-1 in colostrum has caused concern in some athletic circles even though IGF-1 isn’t a drugtested substance. A study that looked into that controversy could find no effect on the IGF-1 blood levels of subjects who took 60 grams of colostrum every day for four weeks.5 Bovine colostrum contains large amounts of leptin, a protein produced by fat cells.6 Leptin reduces food cravings by inhibiting the release of a substance in the brain called neuropeptide Y. It also increases energy expenditure.

The unanswered question is how much leptin human beings can absorb from taking a Studies done with colostrum supplement orally. pigs show that If the protein can somehow colostrum may survive digestion, it could increase protein provide posisynthesis. tive effects on body composiintake focused on protein metabotion, such as lowered lism and strength performance.4 bodyfat.

Subjects took 20 grams a day of Even if colostrum either colostrum or a placebo for doesn’t provide bentwo weeks. Muscle protein syntheefits by way of IGF-1 sis was higher with colostrum inor leptin, it’s still a take, as were blood levels of amino valuable suppleacids, but no change occurred in ment. It would be either strength or IGF-1 levels. On particularly useful the other hand, the type of exercise for those engaged in done during the study was mostly extended exercise, aerobic, which wouldn’t have led such as weight trainto a significant strength increase ing and aerobics, or anyway. those on restrictedThe authors who did that study calorie diets, which had previously noted a 17 permay adversely affect cent increase in levels of IGF-1 in immune function. subjects taking colostrum suppleOlder people may ments. Most studies have shown no also benefit from coNeveux\ Model: Jose Raymond

The evidence suggests that colostrum can increase lean body mass.

lostrum because of its effects on the immune system. As one researcher concluded, “Bovine colostrum supplementation can increase lean body mass and improve exercise performance and recovery for a number of athletic activities.”7

References 1 Leszek, J., et al. (2002). Colostrinin proline-rich polypeptide complex from ovine colostrum—a long-term study of its efficacy in Alzheimer’s disease. Med Sci Monitor. 8:P193-P196.

2 Buckley, J., et al. (2001). Effect of bovine colostrum supplementation on the composition of resistancetrained and nontrained limbs. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 33:S340.

3 Coombes, J., et al. (2002). Dose effects of oral bovine colostrum in physical work capacity in cyclists.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 34:1184-88.

4 Mero, A., et al. (2005). Protein metabolism and strength performance after bovine colostrum supplementation. Amino Acids.

28:327-35.

5 Kuipers, H., et al. (2002). Effects of oral bovine colostrum supplementation on serum insulinlike growth factor 1 levels. Nutrition.

18:566-67.

6 Pinotti, L., et al. (2006). Leptin in bovine colostrum and milk. Horm Metab Res. 38:89-93.

7 Buckley, J. (2002). Bovine colostrum: Does it improve athletic performance? Nutrition. 19:776-77. IM

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Colostrum has wound-healing and traumareducing effects.

A Bodybuilder

Is Born Episode 13:

Do Not Seek Outside Approval

by Ron Harris - Photography by Michael Neveux

andy had been in Connecticut over the weekend. Most Massachusetts residents these days only go to that particular state for two reasons: Foxwoods and Mohegan Sun, two massive Indian-owned casinos that allow us to lose just as much money as if we had flown to Las Vegas. It wasn’t gambling that had called young Randy, however. It was grandparents.

Since both my grandfathers had shuffled off this mortal coil before I burst from my mama’s womb, and my grandmothers had followed suit when I was in my teenage years, I sort of forget what grandparents are like. All I can remember is that they were a lot older than I was, they usually smelled funny, and they asked me to repeat everything I said an awful lot. One of my grandmothers had whiskers on her chin that at almost 34 I still can’t match. Still, I figured Randy’s grandma in Connecticut was more like the ones you see on TV, always baking something and using endearing little phrases like, “by gum,” or, “in my day.”

Randy was looking a little bummed as we warmed up on chest, which is his favorite muscle group to train. I hated to ask, but I wondered if his grandparents were in good health.

“Hey, how are your grandmother and grandfather? Everything okay with them?” I tried to sound cheerful but was expecting the worst.

“They’re fine,” he muttered, seeming distracted. I let him do his final warmup, but it was clear he wasn’t volunteering any further information.

“So, what’s wrong?”

“They weren’t very supportive of my bodybuilding at all, and it’s the first time they have ever been like that to me.” I could see he had nobody else to unload this on, so I gave him the green light.

“Tell me about it.”

“They have known I exercised, but they haven’t seen me since right after I started training with you. I was hoping they were going to give me some kind of compliment for putting on all the size I have, but it was just the opposite. They told me I was going to get musclebound, out of proportion, and that I was going to hurt myself lifting weights.

Models: Dror Okave and Lisa Gleave

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A Bodybuilder Is Born Top IFBB Pro Victor Martinez owns a successful gym, but his dad still doesn’t approve of lifting weights.

Comstock

In your grandparents’ day muscles were supposed to come from hard, manuallabor jobs like construction, not lifting weights.

The idea of having muscles just for their own sake makes no sense to them.

They got upset when I didn’t want any chocolate mousse for dessert like everyone else, and when I tried to explain about eating clean, Grandma got mad.”

“She didn’t throw a pie in your face, did she?” I asked with a grin.

“No, she thought I was saying her food was dirty or something. She doesn’t understand that I try not to eat a lot of saturated fat or simple sugars, especially since I gained all that fat not long ago. Then a couple hours later I go for my protein bar, and she goes, ‘You just ate! You’re going to get indigestion!’ Then I tried to explain how I eat six or seven times a day, and she almost had a heart attack. Grandpa didn’t say much, he just kept shaking his head and grunting.”

“So you didn’t give them a posing demonstration?”

“No, you’re not gonna like this, but…,” Randy didn’t want to continue.

“What?”

“I brought them a couple issues with your “Bodybuilder Is Born” articles. I told them they were about me and showed them your picture.

I said you were the guy who was

training me—and they said you looked horrible. They said they hoped I didn’t want to look like you, with those awful lumps and veins.”

“So the elders are not big Ron fans, huh?”

“No. I think they got mad at you, like you’re corrupting me with all this ‘nonsense.’ I felt terrible, like they think everything I’m doing is stupid and wrong. They have always been proud of me growing up, but now they don’t approve of me wanting to be a bodybuilder. It sucks, man.”

That was Randy’s ultimate proclamation of unhappiness, so it was time to make him see things weren’t as bad as he thought.

“Randy, how old are your grandparents?”

“Seventy-five and 76.”

“Since they are the same age as my mother, I think I can tell you a little bit about their generation and the way they were brought up to think about things like exercise and eating.

“Exercise was something soldiers or professional athletes did, not regular people. If a man was muscular, it was supposed to be

from hard work like bricklaying or construction, not lifting weights. It was also a sign that you were lowclass, like you had to go out there and do physical work instead of staying inactive and flabby like the wealthier class. The idea of having muscles just for their own sake makes no sense to them. In fact, for some dopey reason in the old days it was considered healthy to be overweight. I think it’s because it meant you would have more fat to survive in times of famine. You have to remember that people in your grandparents’ generation were the children of the Great Depression.”

“Right, I remember studying that in American history.”

“My mom, in fact, still hoards enough food to last through a winter at all times, as if her access to it might be cut off at any minute.

That brings me to meals. Most of America still believes in the three squares—breakfast, lunch and dinner. Your grandparents were brought up on fatty meats and buttered bread and potatoes, for the most part. When you only eat three times a day, the food needs to be pretty heavy and filling so you don’t

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start getting hunger pangs. Eating plain foods like chicken breasts, white rice and steamed broccoli is almost as bad as fried dog poop to a lot of men and women of that generation.”

“Yeah, I guess you’re right. They really can’t understand bodybuilding.”

“Top IFBB pro Victor Martinez owns his own gym, but his elderly father still doesn’t approve of lifting weights. And you know what? It’s not just senior citizens who have a hard time comprehending the whole bodybuilding lifestyle; it’s just about everybody who doesn’t work out. You can’t expect them to approve of what you do or appreciate your physique, because they usually won’t. The bigger you get, the more apparent that will be. When you walk down the street looking like a bodybuilder, most people will look at you with disdain, jealousy or amusement. Don’t expect applause and cheers all the time.”

“Great, so I have that to look forward to,” Randy groused.

“There are those who appreciate and admire what we do, but

To really appreciate what a bodybuilder does, you have to do it.

Model: Gustavo Badell

Face it, a lot of people look at bodybuilders with “Letdisdain, me explain something jealousy or pros: They are about the not regular human beings.” amusement.

you can’t do any of this for other people,” I explained. “If you’re doing this so that other people will congratulate you for your efforts, you won’t last, because you won’t get too much of that outside the little bodybuilding community.

Bodybuilding is unique in that almost all of its fans are participants.

Obviously, all the guys who watch ‘Monday Night Football’ aren’t out there playing the game. But to really appreciate what we do, you actually have to do it. Be proud of what you accomplish in the gym and with your body, whether anyone else you know is or not.”

“It’s a little lonely being a bodybuilder then, isn’t it?” Randy asked sadly.

“No, I don’t think so. It’s more like you are a monk or something, leading a very disciplined life that most people can’t possibly understand the motivations behind. But that shouldn’t take away from your joy and satisfaction. You can either think of yourself as a freak or as special—it’s all how you look at it.”

“I thought being a freak was a good thing in bodybuilding.”

“Now you’re trying to confuse

me. Listen, are you going to cry because grandma and grandpa don’t understand biceps, quads and protein shakes? Are you going to be upset that they don’t ask you to hit a side chest for them the next time you see them?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“I’m even willing to forgive them for saying I look horrible, though I will take on your grandfather in a posedown any day. In fact, if I ever see them, I may just have to present them with an autographed poster of Ronnie Coleman for their living room.”

Randy had a chuckle at that.

“What do you say we go for lunch? I’m thinking pork chops, mashed potatoes with gravy and key lime pie for dessert. You know that’s how we old people like to eat, Sonny! And put that heavy weight down before your strain yourself.”

I know that someday, assuming I live long enough, I will be an old man myself. But I will be one of the only old men I know still training hard and eating right. And if I ever end up in a retirement home, there had better be a killer gym nearby!

IM

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A Bodybuilder Is Born

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Justin “Troponin” Harris Is Quickly Earning Guru Status Among Competitive Bodybuilders

by Ron Harris • Photography by Michael Neveux

Model: Berry Kabov

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n the Internet age, word spreads lightning-fast. In less than two years Justin Harris has gained a loyal following and earned a reputation as a man who can get anybody in shape. Just 26 years old and himself a national-level superheavyweight competitor, Harris has amassed a stable of athletes who have been consistently showing up shredded, from first-timers competing in local shows to seasoned veterans at the national level vying for professional status.

So effective are Justin’s methods that sections are devoted to Troponin Nutrition, his company, on the popular Web sites MuscleMayhem.com and IntenseMuscle.com. Of course, plenty of guys on the Internet are offered up

as the next Chad Nicholls, Chris Aceto or Hany Rambod. I barely pay attention to them. That all changed when my good friend and occasional training partner Jason hired Justin.

I’d watched Jason diet for two shows, and despite his incredible discipline and best efforts he hadn’t been in true contest condition. With Justin’s nutritional wisdom and guidance, though, he hit the stage leaner than I ever thought he could be. I started to wonder if perhaps this Troponin character might have something after all. I decided to track him down for IRON MAN readers and learn about his unique approach to shedding bodyfat while maintaining muscle. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 155

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Comstock \ Model: Art Atwood

“We’ll soon reach the point where the look that size brings isn’t as appealing. Nevertheless, I’m a fan of the full spectrum [of physiques].

I can appreciate the size of Art Atwood just as I can appreciate the look of Mark Dugdale.

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RH: How did you get into bodybuilding?

What were your early motivations and influences, and when did you know you wanted to be a competitor?

Comstock \ Model: Mark Dugdale

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JH: I remember watching a bodybuilding show on TV when I was about seven or eight, and from then on I was hooked. I knew I wanted to be a bodybuilder. My parents bought me a weight set when I was nine, and my dad even welded me a squat rack and bought a pulldown machine. I joined a gym when I was 15, and that’s really when it all started.

Initially, my training was totally geared toward sports. I was a two-sport captain in high school (baseball and football), and a two-time Division III All-American in football in college.

After my senior year of football in college I decided that I wanted to be a competitive bodybuilder.

RH: Have you always known exactly how to get yourself into great condition, or did you screw up in the early days?

JH: I dieted down into good condition a few times before I ever competed. I didn’t know any competi-

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tors and wanted to make sure I had it right before I actually did a show.

Looking back, I think that helped me, as it gave me an opportunity to put what I learned in school to the test a few times, without the pressure of a competition.

RH: What’s your educational background?

JH: I have a bachelor’s degree in exercise science, from Alma College in Michigan. I was lucky enough to attend a very good school by happenstance. I didn’t care that they had a good reputation. I was just glad they were going to let me play football. I currently work as an echocardiographer, and I learned that at Thomas Jefferson Medical College in Philadelphia. I’m also certified in advanced cardiac life support.

RH: Medical education is always a good thing.

When did you start helping other bodybuilders with their contest diets? How did that evolve into a business?

JH: I’d already helped other people before I ever did a contest.

I’d go to various bodybuilding Web sites and offer advice when someone asked. Apparently, people liked my advice, as more and more asked me to help them. Eventually, I was getting myself ready for the ’04 Mr. Michigan and didn’t have the time to help anyone. One person said, “Well, how about if I pay you?” That seemed like a good idea, so I did that for a few more people. I told my wife that I should start a Web site, not really knowing anything about it. One night my wife looked online for information on how to start one.

When I woke up the next morning, she had one started, and it’s grown from there. My first two national clients were a couple who competed at the ’04 Junior Nationals. Darin Dudash took eighth in the light heavies, and Anne Sheehan took fourth in the women’s heavyweights.

She then took fifth at that year’s USA, weighing in 24 pounds heavier than the year before, and with bet-

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RH: Do you find that being a national-level superheavyweight bodybuilding competitor gives you more credibility as a nutritionist? Do you think it should?

ter conditioning. Word started to spread then.

RH: That’s about as grassroots as it gets.

Where did you come up with the name Troponin Nutrition?

JH: Troponin was the handle I was using on the message boards at the time. I remembered the word from school and thought it would be a good name. You can see the definition on my Web site.

Basically, troponin [tro-PÓ-nin] is a complex of proteins that are integral to muscular contraction.

It’s attached to tropomyosin, a type of protein that in a relaxed muscle prevents contraction. When the muscle cell is stimulated to contract, the concentration of calcium rises. Some of the calcium attaches to troponin, moving it and tropomyosin out of the way so that actin, another cellular protein, can kick in for muscle contraction. Without troponin, there can be no contraction.

RH: Have you ever prepared two clients for the same contest in the same class or who go up against each other for the overall?

JH: That’s happened a number of times. At the ’05 Junior Nationals two of my clients took second and fifth in the heavyweight class, behind Phil Heath. It happens at local shows quite often as well. I do try to set a limit on the number of people I work with for a given show. I pretty much decided that after the Junior Nationals in 2005. I had seven competitors there.

RH: Have you ever had to compete against someone you prepped for a show?

What’s that like?

JH: I hope it holds credibility, as that would work in my favor. I don’t think it has a lot to do with your knowledge and ability to get someone in shape. It definitely helps you understand what your clients are going through, though. There’s no way to understand what happens to your body, or your mind, for that matter, when you get in true competition shape without actually going through the process yourself.

RH: Do you aspire to be a professional bodybuilder?

What events are you getting ready for now?

JH: I’d love to be a professional bodybuilder. It’s something I’ll continue to work toward, but it’s not my overriding goal in life. I’ve realized that I get more satisfaction from working with other competitors, and there’s more potential for me as a nutritionist than as a competitor.

That doesn’t mean I’m not going to try. I love competing too much to stop. If it’s not in the cards, I still have outlets to work in the industry.

JH: I actually competed against a client at the Junior Nationals last year. He placed better than I did. It was very difficult to get ready for a show while working with clients, difficult enough to make me decide to never do that again.

At that point something has to give, and in “I believe anyone is the end it’ll be capable of getting my prep.

in true contest condition.”

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“Too many clients are afraid to back off and recharge their metabolisms.”

“I like to work with clients for 16 to 20 weeks before a show.”

I’m currently getting ready for the ’06 Junior USA in South Carolina.

I try to keep progress threads up at my forum on Muscle Mayhem, to help potential competitors see the progression from off-season to contest condition.

RH: Are you friendly with any other so-called gurus in the industry? Are there any you share information with?

JH: I like to think I’m friendly with all the other nutritionists I’ve come in contact with. I speak with Dante, of DC training, through email often, and he’s actually helping me with the ins and outs of starting a supplement line. I also e-mail Skip [La Cour] quite often as well. And surprisingly enough, we share a lot of information. I don’t see how sharing information can hurt any of us.

The more we all learn, the better our clients do, which only reflects well on us.

RH: What gives you more satisfaction, helping people win a contest or helping them get into the best shape of their life, even if they don’t necessarily place very well?

JH: Helping someone get in the best shape of their life is probably the most satisfying. That’s all you can do really, as you never know what’s going to happen with the judging. But some of my most rewarding clients are those who aren’t yet on the national level. It’s a very good feeling to help someone who’s long believed that he or she can’t be a bodybuilder get into true competition shape for the first time.

RH: We all know that genetics plays a huge role when it comes to building a physique, in terms of structure, size and shape.

Do you feel that anybody can get down to what we consider contest condition? Or are there some unlucky guys and girls who just can’t do it no matter what?

JH: I honestly feel that anyone can get to that level. We’re all made up of the same materials. Our bodies all have the same processes.

Insulin is secreted in response to carbohydrate intake, the GLUT-4 transporter shuttles that glucose to the muscles, etc., etc. We all have the same physiological responses to exercise and nutrition. Not everyone is equally efficient at building muscle and burning fat. Some have

to work harder than others, but I believe anyone is capable of getting into true contest condition.

RH: Do you ever wrestle with the idea that maybe it’s not healthy for human beings to be as low in bodyfat and water as competitive bodybuilders are supposed to be on the day of a contest?

JH: I don’t think any competitor would really believe that the last few weeks of a contest diet are healthful, but that’s such a small portion of the year. You’d be hard-pressed to find a sport that’s truly healthy at its peak. You risk injury, dehydration and other problems with just about every major sporting event. The health benefits of weight training, proper nutrition and cardiovascular training that you have the rest of the year are worth those last weeks to me.

As a lifelong athlete and competitor, I’ve set aside health more than a few times to compete. Making weight for a wrestling match, breaking up a wedge on the football field, getting hit by a pitch in baseball—all are things I’ve done that wouldn’t be considered healthy. I work in the medical field, and I see what lack of exercise and poor nutrition can do to the body, so I try to focus on the (continued on page 164) positives of

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and together we both kind of know how long it will take. I will say that I’m a fan of longer diets compared to shorter ones. I like to work with clients for 16 to 20 weeks before a show. Most of my clients are yearround clients now. As I tell a lot of them, “You can be ready early, but you can’t be ready late.”

“I try to focus on the positives of the bodybuilding lifestyle.”

RH: When working with athletes in their offseason, how lean do you like them to stay?

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actually takes to lose that much fat?

the bodybuilding lifestyle.

RH: The standards for size, as well as condition, have steadily advanced.

Just how much thicker and more ripped do you think bodybuilders can or should get?

JH: I really think we’ll see more advances in size than people think.

I think conditioning is pretty much tapped out. You can’t get bodyfat much lower than what you’re seeing now.

I do like the slow swing toward more emphasis on conditioning and aesthetics, a word I don’t particularly like. The potential for more size is there, but we’ll soon reach the point where the look that size brings isn’t as appealing. I’m a fan of the full spectrum. I can appreciate the size of Art Atwood just as I can appreciate the look of Mark Dugdale.

There’s room for the full range of competitors.

JH: I get that all the time. You just have to be honest with them and tell them how long it would take to get into contest shape. A lot of them don’t want to believe it, but I think that deep down, everyone understands that miracles don’t happen overnight.

RH: How do you determine how long a client needs to diet for a contest?

JH: Most of my clients aren’t getting ready for their first contest, and I usually know who they are before we work together anyway. In that scenario, I just ask them what kind of condition they’re currently in,

JH: I like to keep my clients pretty lean. No one should ever call himself a competitive bodybuilder and get to the point where he can’t see any ab definition in the off-season.

But it’s different for everyone. If someone is going to take a year off and try to move up a weight class, you have the option of giving him a little more leeway for girth. But, all things being equal, the leaner you are when you start a diet, the better off you are.

RH: Is it more of a challenge to work with athletes competing in drug-tested events, where they won’t have the advantages of drugs that maintain muscle and burn fat as they diet down?

JH: It is more challenging but not as much as you think. As long as the client doesn’t use that drug-free status as a crutch to allow himself or herself to slack off, it shouldn’t really

“I like to keep my clients pretty lean. No one should ever call himself a competitive bodybuilder and get to the point where he can’t see any ab definition in the offseason.”

RH: Do you ever have people come to you with very unrealistic expectations in terms of going from obese to shredded in a few weeks?

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“I really think we’ll see more advances in size than people think. Conditioning is pretty much tapped out. You can’t get bodyfat much lower than what you’re seeing now.” be a factor. You do have to be more prepared. The drug-tested competitors need to stay leaner in the offseason and usually plan on dieting longer. Being drug-tested doesn’t mean you aren’t allowed to eat right and work hard.

people coming to contests in shredded condition. Most competitors aren’t afraid of hard work and low calories. And in fact, that’s often their downfall. Too many clients are afraid to back off and recharge their metabolisms.

RH: How do you make sure your clients maintain their muscle mass while getting down to extremely low bodyfat levels?

RH: How do you monitor the progress of your clients when they’re hundreds or thousands of miles away?

JH: I believe very strongly in rotating carbohydrate and calorie levels during a diet. In fact, my diets are actually different each day. I usually use three to four different carb and calorie amounts or days.

So, essentially, they have high-, medium- and low-carb and -calorie days. The trick is in knowing when to back off and use the higher-carb days to prevent muscle loss.

It’s not just about working hard. If all it took were hard work and suffering, there would be many more

JH: I use pictures. When working with clients for a contest, all I can really do is get the fat off them, as they’re born with their structure and there’s not much you can do for muscle size at that point. That can easily be seen through pictures. You can tell how someone’s bodyfat level is progressing and how muscle mass is being maintained by pictures.

One thing I do tell people to do is to avoid overhead lighting, and to use a flash. I want the photos to be taken in bright light, with a nice big

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Model: Lee Priest

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camera flash. Anyone can look good in gym lighting, but that won’t cut it onstage. If you can look shredded in a brightly lit, white room, with a flash camera, then you’re ready for the stage. And that happens long after you’ve begun looking peeled at the gym.

RH: What are your thoughts on using cheat meals to trick the metabolism into getting back into a fat-burning mode?

JH: I’m not afraid to use cheat meals. You just have to know how to use them. If someone is eight weeks out and looks 12 weeks out, that’s not the time to try to trick the body.

But if someone is ahead of schedule, adding a very high-calorie meal, or cheat meal, is a good way of quickly filling back out and recharging the metabolism. You really have to be ahead of schedule, though, for that to work properly.

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RH: Do you allow your clients to eat sugar-free candy or cookies, things like that?

JH: If the product is truly sugarfree and calorie free, then I allow— and encourage—it. I even keep them in the diet longer than people typically feel you should. Things like Crystal Light, sugar-free Tang and so on. I don’t allow sugar-free foods that aren’t calorie free. My food list is very basic and boring.

RH: What supplements do you feel are helpful for getting ripped? Has anything since the ECA products been as effective as they were?

JH: I don’t think anything is really as effective as ECA was. A lot of products, however, are extremely beneficial to a competitor. I almost always include green tea extract, caffeine, yohimbine and chocamine in my diets. Chocamine is something I haven’t used for that long, but I’m finding that it can be quite beneficial for a dieter.

RH: I understand you’re starting your own supplement line. Could you tell us a little bit about that and what will set your product line apart?

JH: It will initially specialize in select products for precontest individuals. We’re beginning with an anticramping formula and a diuretic.

It will incorporate the specific nutrients I use the final week before a contest to dry out without cramping up. I’m also planning on introducing a fat-loss supplement later this year that I hope people will find to be the most effective fat-loss product on the market. It won’t contain products because they have a fancy name; it will be composed entirely of products that have the most pronounced effect on fat loss. I’m very excited about its development, as I

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personally am tired of trying to mix and match various fat-loss products to get the nutrients I want.

RH: Without getting too specific about diet, do you feel that some individuals respond differently to carbohydrates? I’ve observed that some people can eat carbs with practically every meal and get leaner, while others need to go down to zero carbs to shed fat.

JH: Yeah, there is a wide variance.

I’ve even found people who can’t always handle a lot of carbohydrates but can handle a proportionately large amount at certain times. Of course, some individuals can tolerate high amounts all the time, too. I think that most people can tolerate a lot more carbs than they think they can. I typically prefer a higher-than-average carb intake for precontest dieting. That doesn’t mean I won’t drop the carbs very low at points, but I’m also not afraid to take them very high at points too. Many clients of mine have expressed initial concern with both the volume of food and the volume of carbs they’re given. After seeing the results, however, they realized they could handle more food than they’d previously thought.

RH: How much protein do you feel bodybuilders need in the off-season and precontest?

JH: That’s kind of a tricky question. Bodybuilders don’t really need as much protein as they take in. No one really needs to eat 500 grams of protein. There’s a lot more to the equation than that, however. When you have a 250-pound Superheavyweight trying to get to sub 5 percent bodyfat, you’re going to have to find a way to keep calories high enough to maintain that 250 pounds of muscle while keeping calories low enough to burn fat. That typically means that protein levels will be higher than necessary.

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JH: Cardio is usually set at a lower level to begin with. We set it based on what clients have used in the past, their current condition and how long they have to get into shape. From there we monitor their progress to manipulate the cardio level. I’m probably an advocate of moderate to high cardio volume. I use as little as needed to get into shape, but I take cardio levels very high if needed. As long as a person isn’t losing leg size, I’d rather keep cardio higher and add more calories than drop calories and cardio.

Losing leg size is totally different from losing leg fullness.

RH: In a nutshell, what would you say are the most common mistakes bodybuilders make when preparing for contests?

“Carbs can dramatically alter muscle size and appearance.”

Protein needs really vary inversely with carbohydrate consumption.

The more carbs you eat, the less protein you need. And the fewer carbs you eat, the more protein you need. You also have to consider how those nutrients affect the body. Protein is more thermogenic than carbohydrates. But carbs are a better energy source. There’s also the fullness factor to consider. A relatively small percentage of the cross-sectional area of a muscle is actual contractile tissue. You have to consider the space that glycogen will occupy, that the water attached to that glycogen will occupy—as

well as the space occupied by blood vessels, arteries, capillary density and so on in the muscle. While protein may be the only macronutrient that can specifically change the size of the contractile tissue in a muscle, other nutrients, and specifically carbs, can dramatically alter muscle size and appearance.

RH: How about cardio?

How do you determine how much cardio a person should do, in terms of frequency, duration and intensity?

JH: Bodybuilders usually make mistakes in one of two directions. The first and most common is that they judge their appearance by the leanest part of their body and how it looks in gym lighting after a workout. Having a nice six-pack after sweating out three pounds of water in a chest and biceps workout in overhead gym lighting is light-years away from having shredded glutes and peeled hamstrings.

The other direction, and a direction a lot of seasoned competitors go, is overdieting and obsessing. I’ve seen many competitors in great condition think that if they just restrict calories a little more and add a little more cardio, they’ll look even better, when in reality they’re almost ready and the smart thing to do would be to back off occasionally to stay full and keep their metabolism high. That will actually help them continue to lose fat without losing muscle. Whenever I hear people complain about being cold all the time on a diet, I know that they’re dropping calories too low. It’s not about losing weight; it’s about losing fat.

RH: It must be impossible to take on all the clients who wish to work with you.

Is that why you started Protégé Nutrition? What exactly is it?

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“I know so many bodybuilders out there who are confused about how to take the next step and get into real contest condition.”

JH: At the Junior Nationals last year, I had the second-placed light heavyweight, the second- and fifthplaced heavyweights, the 13th-place superheavy, who was only 23 years old, the women’s light-heavy firstplace winner and a third-placed figure competitor. After Elena Seiple took a controversial second place at the USA, my name came up pretty frequently just based on all the talk about that weight class. At that point I couldn’t really keep up with the requests, and I didn’t like turning away clients. So I asked some of my competitors who’d helped bodybuilders through the years if they’d be interested in working with me on a new Web site. From that I created Protégé Nutrition.

It’s a Web site with some clients of mine who are also great nutritionists in their own right. They all know how I structure contest-prep plans, as they’ve been through them with me. So essentially the diets they give are what I would give. The only difference is that the consultation throughout the prep and the changes made are between you and the nutritionist you’re working with. It’s really grown over the past year, and the nutritionists there are developing their own names as contest-prep nutritionists. Check out the photo gallery on the site to see some of the changes they’re making with clients.

RH: You’ve been building an excellent reputation and have a solid core of clients now. What are your ultimate goals in the industry?

JH: I’d like to accomplish a lot of things in the industry that means so much to me. As a competitor I know what competitors go through.

I’m very excited to be developing a supplement line that will focus on products that will improve people,

instead of the products that have the highest profit margin. There are so many great products, but you have to search high and low for them through bulk nutritional providers because supplement companies won’t touch them. The cost-to-profit margin is too low.

I want products that work, and those are the products I’m going to develop. I’d like to continue to develop Protégé Nutrition into the nutritional guidance home base that I know it can be.

I know so many bodybuilders out there who are confused about how to take the next step and get into real contest condition. I want a seasoned contest-prep nutritionist to be available to all of them.

I’m excited about watching my clients grow from local amateurs to national stars and eventually professional athletes. I had a client turn professional at the Team Universe in 2005, and I expect many more to do the same over the next few years. It’s very exciting for me.

You know how the saying goes: “Those who can’t do, teach.”

I’m also working on some books that explain precontest dieting from start to finish. They will include all the final-week subtleties that are so tricky, from water manipulation to sodium depletion and reintroduction and carb loading. Not everyone can afford to work with a nutritionist. I’m hoping to give them a book that will contain all the knowledge they need to develop strategies for getting into contest shape. There are a million ways of getting into shape, but following a million ways at once never works.

Editor’s note: For more info on Justin Harris’ nutrition ideas, visit TroponinNutrition.com, MuscleMayhem.com, Intense Muscle.com and ProtegeNutrition. com. IM

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Muscle-Mass

Massacre 10 Things Bodybuilders Do to Murder Their Gains

by Skip La Cour Five-Time Team Universe Champ

Model: Skip La Cour

Photography by Michael Neveux

ome bodybuilders make big mistakes when it comes to the way they train.

I certainly understand because I made them along my own bodybuilding journey. We often make training errors simply because we haven’t stepped back and thought about what we’re doing.

Some mistakes are the result of coming to conclusions too quickly.

We mistakenly believe that the strategies we’ve stumbled upon early in our training odyssey are the best routes to take. We close our

minds to new and better strategies.

We may have learned ineffective strategies from people who had the best intentions but steered us to a path that doesn’t work for us.

To help you get the results you want, I’m going to show you how to make the necessary changes to your training approach. Don’t just skim the following pages and hope you aren’t doing anything that I consider a mistake. Instead, avoid the mistakes and use these simple and easy-to-follow training strategies to launch your physical development into a new level of growth.

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When you train with passion, zeal and enthusiasm, constant improvement in your physique is inevitable.

Neveux \ Model: Eric Domer

will produce results that are mediocre at best. Intensity means pounding the weights so hard that every set ends in absolute failure. In other words, you have nothing left in reserve when the set is completed.

Intensity is just as much a mental feat as it is a physical one.

Intensity can also be defined as consistently striving for a higher level of excellence with every exercise, set and rep you perform— regardless of what you’ve achieved in the past. You strive to raise your standards for what you expect of yourself during every session. Intensity is never being satisfied with your current level of performance or development because, deep in your soul, you know that you’re capable of at least one more repetition, five more pounds or a slight improvement in your form or execution.

When you train with that type of passion, zeal and enthusiasm, constant improvement in your physique is inevitable. If you train with intensity, there’s no question that you’ll be more productive in your bodybuilding efforts than trainees who don’t. The higher your training-intensity level becomes, the better you’ll be at initiating the muscle-building process.

1) Bodybuilders confuse activity in the gym with training intensity.

Some bodybuilders show up at the gym on a consistent basis—but aren’t demanding enough of themselves while they’re there.

It’s as if they’re punching a time clock. They may have commitment and consistency, but to get the

muscle gains they’re after, they’ll have to improve the quality of their workouts.

There’s a huge difference between activity and intensity. Activity is merely showing up. That’s a good start, but it’s not going to get the results bodybuilders want.

Training is intense when you give 100 percent of your mind, body and soul to every repetition, every set, every exercise and every workout.

Whatever routine or philosophy you decide to use, you must train with intensity. Without it, your efforts

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Many bodybuilders mistakenly believe that the more time and effort they put into their training, the better their results will be.

They pride themselves on pushing themselves through grueling, marathon workouts that are loaded with lots of exercises and sets. They work each bodypart as many as three times a week in the hope that superhuman effort will produce massive results in a shorter time.

Most people who are committed to their training programs have the tendency to train too much. Their enthusiasm and desire make them want to train as often as they possibly can.

Wrong. Wrong. Wrong.

Unfortunately, that’s not how the muscle-building process works. That’s somewhat difficult to grasp because most things in life don’t work that way.

Most of the time the amount of effort you put into a particular endeavor directly correlates to your results—the more time and effort you invest, the better your results. That’s not true when it comes to packing on muscle and developing your physique.

Some bodybuilders say that one man’s set is equal to another man’s workout. Don’t confuse training volume with training effectiveness.

They’re not the same. You may need to cut down the time you spend in the gym and reduce your training volume to experience the muscle gains you’re after. You can do that by becoming more efficient in the gym.

Your weight-training sessions should last no longer than one hour. And you know what? I’m being extremely liberal with that amount of time. Longer sessions are not more productive. Force yourself to become more efficient.

You can stimulate the muscles quite effectively in one hour or less. The more time you spend in the gym,

Models: Markus Reinhardt and Hubert Morandell

2) They confuse training volume with training effectiveness.

Don’t confuse training volume with training effectiveness. They’re not the same. You may need to cut back for better gains. the more your concentration wanes.

The more your concentration diminishes, the less effective you’ll become physically.

Planning to do only two or three sets with only three or four exercises per bodypart creates a sense of urgency. Many lifters give themselves four and five sets of a particular exercise to get the job done. If you give yourself four or five chances to do anything, you’ll attach less importance to doing as much as you really can during the first couple of sets. It’s only human

nature to think that way under those conditions. In order to perform at our highest level, we must change those less-than-ideal mental conditions.

A set in which you give anything less than 100 percent is a wasted set. I can’t tell you exactly how many sets you should use to train each bodypart effectively—and neither can anyone else. It all depends on that ever-evolving, ever-changing, constantly redefining level of intensity. Just remember that more isn’t better. Better is better.

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Many bodybuilders don’t believe it’s important to lift heavy weight in order to build muscle.

Regardless of what the “everythingin-moderation” preachers say, big weights will lead to big muscles.

The word heavy means different things to different people.

I’m talking about continually challenging yourself to lift more weight than your body is acclimated to lifting week in and week out— whatever that amount may be. I know some bodybuilders who have lifted the same amount of weight for years—and wonder why they’ve hit plateaus.

I firmly believe that heavy, overload training is what you need to effectively build high-quality, dense muscle mass in the shortest period of time. I like to refer to the human body as a sensitive adapting machine. When you lift heavy weights, your body simply must adapt in order to handle the burden. In other words, you force your muscles to grow. If your body wants to survive the trauma you’ve created through resistance training, it has no other choice.

That adaptation is known as muscle hypertrophy. The muscles of the human body grow larger and stronger in an effort to properly adjust to the demanding conditions of the environment.

Heavy training is the most efficient way to build muscle.

How do I define the word efficient when it comes to building muscle?

It means getting the maximum results in the shortest period of time while putting forth the least amount of effort.

Why is heavy training so efficient? Physically, you reach absolute failure much sooner during each set. Absolute failure, or working every set until you’re so fatigued you can’t do any more, should be your goal for every set of every exercise. Additionally, heavy

training is more mentally efficient: If you reach absolute failure sooner, you’re required to concentrate for a shorter period. The shorter the time you need to concentrate, the better your chances of exerting 100 percent of your abilities.

4) They overestimate the need for “perfect” form.

Many bodybuilders deem the quality of their form the most important aspect of training.

Some people use the rationale that lifting heavy weight causes you to train less effectively. “I always use really strict form!” they state proudly. “Lifting heavy weight is not beneficial at all if you don’t use really strict form.”

Many bodybuilders are confused by what constitutes effective training habits. They feel forced to decide between executing properly and lifting heavy weight. You don’t need to go one way or the other.

To complicate matters further, some confuse striving for better execution with using strict form.

They feel that, because they use strict form, they’re properly executing the exercises. Strict form and proper execution are not the same thing.

I describe “proper execution” as squarely hitting the targeted muscle group during every repetition.

Contrary to what many people in the gym believe, extremely strict form is not always an effective and efficient route to take when training.

You can use strict form and not be executing the exercise properly. In fact, overly strict form often inhibits your progress. You can compromise your exercise effectiveness when you put too high a priority on

Heavy, overload training is what you need to build highquality, dense muscle mass in the shortest period of time. When you lift heavy, your body simply must adapt in order to handle the burden. strict form. A lot of guys in the gym are frustrated with their lack of development—but boast about how great their form is.

I’m certainly not saying you should train with careless, out-ofcontrol form. Nor am I suggesting that you risk hurting yourself in order to lift heavy weights. Using form that’s too sloppy won’t work the intended muscle sufficiently. If you get hurt while trying to lift too much weight, you’ll set yourself back in both time and momentum.

There is a happy medium, however: performing each set with what I describe as a good value and proper execution. That means

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Model: Kyoichiro Morinaga

3) They underestimate the importance of heavy training—it’s mandatory for building more muscle.

Muscle-Mass Massacre can lift at the same time that you’re stimulating the muscle group.

You have to find the right balance between using heavy, challenging, muscle-taxing weights and using execution and technique that are good enough to hit the targeted muscle group. That may take some time and practice—but you won’t find the right balance until you make it your goal.

5) They waste time and energy doing too many warmup sets

Model: Mike Morris

lifting heavy enough weight to build significant muscle mass while still using form that’s good enough to directly stimulate the intended muscle group.

Overloading the intended muscle group with heavy weight is one of the most important keys to effectively stimulating maximum muscle growth. Despite what many people believe, you don’t necessarily need to use strict form in order to stimulate the muscle.

If you want to build the most muscle in the shortest period of time, however, you need to use the heaviest amount of weight that you

Some bodybuilders make the mistake of doing a couple of warmup sets before every exercise.

When you consider that some of these chronic overtrainers perform up to eight exercises at each workout, you realize that they’re doing up to 16 warmup sets alone.

Add three or four heavy working sets for those eight exercises, and you see them painstakingly grinding out as many as 48 sets in a single session.

Don’t waste a lot of time, strength or repetitions on warmup sets.

Warmups are only designed to prepare your body and mind to lift a heavy, overloading amount of weight during your intense working sets.

When warming up, all you want to do is loosen your muscles enough to prevent injury. Your goal should always be to save the vast majority of your strength for your work sets, which are the ones that stimulate growth.

One other important point: Don’t use warmup weight after the first exercise for a particular bodypart. In other words, if you’re training your chest and plan to do three exercises (say, bench press, incline dumbbell press and weighted dips, in that order), you should do warmup sets only before your heavy sets of bench presses. After that, your chest muscles should be loose, and your mind should already be prepared to train heavily. For the following two exercises, incline dumbbell presses and weighted dips, you should go immediately to the heaviest weight possible and work each set until absolute failure.

When warming up, all you want to do is loosen your muscles enough to prevent injury. Save your strength for your heavy sets, the ones that stimulate growth.

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Some bodybuilders mistakenly believe that if they get more workouts in every week, they’ll get better results that much faster. Although I admire that kind of ambition, it’s not going to propel them forward. In fact, the approach will set them back.

Less effort will actually produce a better outcome than all of that work.

Rest and recuperation from each workout are probably the most important yet most neglected component of effective muscle building. You must let your muscles fully recover after every intense workout. Only when they’ve fully recuperated can they be blasted again. That is, of course, if you expect to build muscle in the most effective manner. You can train a bodypart before it’s fully recovered, but that’s not going to produce the best results.

Besides experiencing better muscle recovery, your training will get better. When you train each bodypart less frequently, you’ll have more strength during each bodypart workout. If you successfully overload the muscles with heavier weight, you’ll stimulate more growth over time.

Remember that more is not necessarily better. Let the muscle groups fully recover before you blast them again. Train each bodypart no more than two times a week—and even twice will be a stretch if you train naturally and with true intensity.

Model: Darrell Terrell

6) They don’t let a bodypart fully recover and recuperate before training it again.

Only when a muscle is fully and completely recovered should it be blasted again.

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Can you believe that some bodybuilders go to the gym without a well-defined game plan?

They put too much faith in their instincts to guide them through their training sessions. That’s a big, stupid mistake.

As the saying goes, “When you fail to plan—you plan to fail.” You should never step into the gym without knowing exactly what you’re going to do. Resist the temptation to be guided by your feelings on a particular training day. As you may already realize, your feelings can change every 10 minutes. Come to the gym with a plan of attack and be ready to execute it as best you can.

Set simple training goals before every workout. Creating a short list of training “disciplines” can be extremely helpful. The list can include a few simple tasks that you’ll focus on during your workouts—even when you’re not as motivated as you’d like to be.

Simply getting to the gym on time, completing all of the exercises and sets that you planned to do, making sure you really focus on the targeted muscle group during every repetition and completing your session in an hour are just a few examples of what you can include on your list of simple training goals. You don’t need to be extremely detailed right off the bat, but give your workout some structure so you’ll know that you’re progressing. As you track your goals, you’ll increase your ability to focus and successfully take your efforts to the next level.

Be ready for every single set you perform in the gym. Know what you want to achieve before your hands even touch metal. Always know the minimum number of repetitions you want to do. You should also know the minimum number of calories you want to burn and the minimum distance you want to travel before your feet touch the bike pedals or machine floor mat when doing cardiovascular training.

Neveux \ Model: Marvin Montoya

7) They don’t go to the gym with a definite workout plan.

You need to give your workouts some structure so you know you’re progressing. As you track your goals, you’ll increase your focus.

Never let your body dictate what you can do when you can use your powerful mind to bolster its performance. Unless, of course, your body wants to do a little better than the specific goals you’ve set.

Consider taking that training strategy a little further. Invest a little time in thinking about your next workout before you leave the gym. There’s no need to get really involved in that particular step, but

do give it a bit of consideration.

You’ll set your mental wheels in motion with a simple preview of what’s to come during your next training session. Trust me: You’ll be astonished at how effectively your subconscious will prepare you over the following day or so for your next productive workout—with very little effort on your part. It’s a great investment of the last 30 to 60 seconds you spend in the gym. (continued on page 190)

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Model: Allen Sarkiszadeh

Immediately after each workout evaluate your overall performance.

Many bodybuilders make blind “guesses” at how productive they should be during each workout. They don’t use their already established patterns to set standards and strive to take them up a few notches.

Documenting your training performance during every workout will produce significant results over time. Your mind is your most valuable training tool by far.

Documenting what you do helps you harness your mental power.

Assessing what you do in the gym helps you set and achieve higher goals. Seeing what you’ve done before you begin each set forces you to strive for more.

Always aim for improvement in the gym. Progressive, incremental improvements make your bodybuilding and training efforts more productive and enjoyable in the long run.

Writing down what you’ve done in the gym isn’t just an exercise in record keeping. You want to take a look at your past performance before you begin each set. That way you’ll know exactly what you need to do make incremental improvements. From week to week you won’t have to guess how much

weight you lifted or how many repetitions you performed during a certain exercise. You’ll be able to start each new workout at a higher level.

Evaluate your overall performance at each workout immediately afterward too. Every workout can set the stage for making your next one even better. While it’s still fresh in your mind, take one or two minutes to assess your performance. You

9) They don’t take scheduled breaks from weight training.

Some bodybuilders want to train for months on end without taking a break. I appreciate their enthusiasm, but training intensity, the cornerstone of productivity in

Intensity is important, but so is taking periodic breaks from training to recharge.

Neveux \ Model: Derik Farnsworth

8) They don’t document their progress.

want to reinforce what you’ve done well so you’ll repeat the things you’ve singled out—and curtail what didn’t go well before you’ve established bad habits. We all have different ideas of what makes a workout good, bad or somewhere in between. Well? How did you do?

Whatever is most important to you when training, evaluate how close you actually came to accomplishing your objectives. Make the assessment a priority before you step outside the gym.

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10) They skip the bodyparts they don’t like to train, or, when they do train bodyparts they don’t like, they aren’t enthusiastic or focused.

Stubborn bodyparts are a common complaint of trainees who assume they’re genetically disadvantaged when it comes to particular muscle groups. Do you ever notice that they also happen to be the same bodyparts those people hate to train?

Of course, they’re certain that their training strategies and mindset when they’re working those bodyparts are never the problem.

Whatever you believe often becomes your reality. With such a disempowering mind-set, your chance of experiencing results better than you expect is very slim.

You don’t get what you want in life.

You get what you expect.

When you aren’t enthusiastic about training a certain bodypart,

you have a tendency to ignore it.

You don’t train the muscle group heavy enough. You just go through the motions. Your exercise execution is poor. You’re more likely to give up and call it a “lagging” or genetically inferior bodypart. When you’re forced to miss a day of training, which workout do you think you’ll miss first?

If you expect your efforts to bring you the muscle gains and overall physique development that you desire, you must show some discipline. Discipline is defined in the dictionary as control gained by enforcing obedience or order.

Discipline means orderly or prescribed conduct or pattern of behavior. It means self-control. In other words, you sometimes have to do what you don’t necessarily like for the greater good.

If you’re truly committed to developing those stubborn bodyparts, you’re going to have to think differently about the challenges ahead of you. Your mind will always lead your body. Buck up, and act as if the bodyparts you don’t like to train are the ones you love to train more than any other.

Editor’s note: Visit Skip La Cour’s Web site at www.SkipLaCour .com. Take your physique to the next level by ordering his new DVD “Packing On Muscle! Max-OT Style.”

The two-disc, four-hour training, instructional and motivational DVD includes a complete week of training (explained in great detail and jam-packed with perceptive insights), exercises not included in the training week, instruction and video footage of cardiovascular training, inspirational training segments, unique tips for taking your physique to the next level, contest footage and a one-hour nutrition seminar.

If you want to pack on slabs of muscle in the shortest time, this DVD is for you. It’s only $49.99 (plus $8.50 for shipping and handling; international orders add $17.50 for shipping and handling). Order online at www.SkipLaCour.com. For credit card orders call (800) 6550986. Or send check or money order to Skip La Cour, 712 Bancroft Road #259, Walnut Creek, CA 94598. IM

Model: Steve Kummer

the gym, inevitably drops when you go on marathons—even if you don’t realize it.

You must schedule enough time out of the gym so your body can fully recover. You need to take a week off from training every eight to 10 weeks. Your muscles grow when they’re recuperating. When you return, you’ll be fortified with renewed physical intensity and mental energy.

The seeming step backward that you experience when you return after taking a week off goes away quickly. True enough, that uncoordinated feeling breaks your momentum. You don’t perform as well the first week back in the gym.

You aren’t always as strong. Well, just fight through the discomfort.

You’ll be back up to speed during your second week back, and your body will respond better to training in the weeks ahead. If you’ve trained hard, effectively and efficiently, you deserve the break. Enjoy it.

Buck up, and act as if the bodyparts you don’t like to train are the ones you love to train the most. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 191

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Pro Active Mike Ergas Focuses On Winning a Pro Card

by Cory Crow

“The best amateur.” That’s probably not a title that any bodybuilder would want for an extended period of time. Unlike the “best golfer to have never won a major,” or “the best player in the minor leagues,” the “best amateur” in bodybuilding reads “not a pro.” Other athletes can at least make a decent living, and in some cases they are millionaires. Bodybuilders are different.

An amateur bodybuilder doesn’t make a dime on his competitions.

But the title gets passed down, from Mat DuVal to Bill Willmore to Mike Ergas. In the case of Ergas, it’s a title that just means he’s not a pro—yet.

Mike looks like the prototypical California bodybuilder. He’s tanned, constantly smiling and thick. When you see his 5’6” physique on the street at an off-season weight of 260 pounds, you know that Mike’s a bodybuilder. What you don’t know is that he has a master’s degree in sports management from the University of Kentucky and a bachelor of business administration degree from Louisiana State. He was once a national-level gymnast.

Mike now lives and trains in L.A., at Gold’s Gym in Venice. The runner-up to light-heavyweight winner Kris Dim at the ’02 NPC USA Championships, he scored a pair of fifth-place finishes at the USA—as a light heavyweight in ’03 and a heavyweight in ’04—then made the jump to second in the heavyweight class at the ’05 NPC Nationals last November in Atlanta. So what makes Mike the “best amateur” in the minds of many fans?

Leading up to the Nationals, IRON MAN columnist, Graphic Muscle.com correspondent and bodybuilding emcee extraordinaire

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Photography by Michael Neveux and Bill Comstock

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Lonnie Teper did a video interview with Mike (find it at GraphicMuscle. com), and because of that footage, the buzz started to build. Clearly it was a different Mike from previous incarnations. Not only did he have more name recognition, thanks in part to his role as Franco Columbu in the TV movie “See Arnold Run,” but his physique was bigger as well, especially his upper body.

Much of Mike’s improvement was the result of hard work and heavy lifting. The problem is that most bodybuilders work hard and lift heavy, but few of them improve as radically as Mike did between the ’04 USA and the ’05 Nationals.

I wanted to know what sparked the physique changes that many see as pro quality right now.

CC: What enabled you to jump

“I want to keep my waist down and put on some more size to my upper body. My legs have always grown easily.”

Mike Ergas’ Training He warms up each bodypart by gradually adding weight before heavy sets.

Monday: Chest Smith-machine incline presses Incline dumbbell presses Flat-bench dumbbell presses Cable flyes Tuesday: Back Wide-grip chins Cable rows Bent-over rows Undergrip pulldowns Hyperextensions

3 x 15 3 x 15 3 x 15 3 x 15

3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 20

Wednesday: Quads Leg extensions 3 x 15 Squats 3 x 20 Leg presses 3 x 20 Hack squats 3 x 12-15 Thursday: Biceps, triceps Straight-bar curls 3 x 12-15 Incline curls 3 x 12-15 Hammer Strength curls 3 x 12-15 Concentration curls 3 x 12-15 Rope pushdowns 3 x 15 Superset Skull crushers 3 x 12-15 Close-grip bench presses 3 x 12-15 Dips 3 x 12-15 One-arm cable extensions 3 x 12-15

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Friday: Shoulders Smith-machine presses Lateral raises Dumbbell front raises Rear-delt raises Shrugs

3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 12-15 3 x 20

Saturday: Hamstrings, calves Seated leg curls 3 x 12-15 Lying dumbbell leg curls 3 x 12-15 One-leg Hammer Strength leg curls 3 x 12-15 Seated calf raises 3 x 20 Donkey calf raises 3 x 20 Standing calf raises 3 x 20

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from fifth place at the ’04 USA to second in the heavyweights at the ’05 Nationals?

ME: I actually didn’t change much in the gym; however, after the ’04 USA I made a promise to myself that the next time I stepped onstage, I’d look the best I’d ever looked. I worked really hard on what I felt I needed to improve. I focused on bringing my waist down and increasing my upper-body size. My arms, back and chest all grew. The year between shows gave me time to make the changes that I needed to bring a whole new package to the stage.

CC: Are there any specific changes you’re making now to move up and grab a pro card?

ME: Since the Nationals I’ve just been focusing on bringing an even better package to the USA. I want to keep my waist down and put on some more size to my upper body.

My legs have always grown easily.

CC: Do you mean adding width and V-taper when you refer to upper-body mass?

ME: Well, by upper-body mass I

mean everything, but I do definitely include improving my V-taper as part of my focus. While getting ready for the show, I did a lot of chins, pulldowns and oblique work. The more I could increase the width of my back and pull in my waistline, the better my V-taper would look.

One thing I also concentrate on is increasing my shoulder width by doing lateral raises. Bodybuilding is all about illusions, so the wider my shoulders look, the smaller my waist will look.

CC: What is your main training philosophy?

ME: To just stay focused and do the best I can. I know that once I step onstage, everything is pretty much out of my hands and up to the judges. So for me just staying focused and looking my best is an important personal goal. I never want to step offstage thinking that I didn’t give it everything I had. No regrets.

CC: Do you subscribe to volume principles or high-intensity-training principles?

ME: I don’t use HIT. I do train

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“For me just staying focused and looking my best is an important personal goal.”

ME: While dieting, I incorporate cardio the entire time, gradually building on it. I usually start with just 30 minutes a day, and as time goes on, it steadily increases to about two hours a day. The types of cardio I use are either the bike or the elliptical, and it’s strictly endurance cardio. That seems to work just fine for me.

CC: You’ve talked a lot about focus. How do you use that to your advantage?

ME: I try to always keep the next show in the back of my mind. I don’t want anyone to ever say that I didn’t look good, or, “What happened to him this year?” When the show is over, I always want to know I tried my best, so I’ll have no regrets.

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each bodypart once a week with more volume, which has given me great gains. So if it’s not broken, don’t fix it!

CC: How about outlining a typical deltoid workout, and then providing a little of the theory behind it?

ME: The main exercises I use in my shoulder workouts are overhead presses, lateral raises, front raises and rear-delt raises. I make sure that I hit every head of my shoulders.

That way they look full and round.

Also, I have always been taught to never neglect any delt head, which could lead to injury as well. Usually, I do four sets for each exercise and approximately 12 to 15 reps.

CC: Any tips for those of us who want to keep our waistlines in check?

ME: The main thing is just not to neglect your abs. I was a gymnast my whole life and always had a really tight waistline, so I never trained abs. After I began to get bigger, I realized I couldn’t neglect them anymore. Once I started to train them regularly, my waistline tightened up.

CC: One last precontest question: How do you handle your cardio?

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CC: And bad workouts?

ME: You have to realize, everyone has them. You just have to work through them and be happy you made it to the gym. Consistency is what is going to make you better.

CC: What would you tell novice competitors today if you could talk to all of them?

ME: One piece of training advice I’d like to give is to enjoy the process of getting ready for a show. Remember why you’re doing it. If you don’t love it, you won’t give it your all. I have seen so many people get caught up with petty things and lose focus and lose their love of the sport.

CC: Speaking of getting ready for a show, what are your contest plans this year?

ME: This year my main focus is on the USA, in Vegas. I’m not looking to any other shows.

CC: Any thoughts on the new Pro Division Inc.?

ME: Honestly, I’m not really sure of what to think of the PDI. Only time will tell if it’s going to be a good thing. With the current state of bodybuilding, however, it could end up being a good thing whether it works out or not. The IFBB could use some competition. Bodybuilding has been at a stalemate for a long time. I remember when the WBF came out with Vince McMahon. In the end it failed, but it opened the door for so many possibilities. I’m hoping that the competition will bring a much needed spark to the sport.

CC: A lot of people point to the Nationals judging as proof of that need. What are your thoughts on the fans’ reactions to that show?

ME: I’m really happy with all of the support I’ve gotten from fans, friends and family since the show. It has been incredible. I’ve put that behind me, though, and there’s noth-

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You Can Get ing I can do about it now but move on and concentrate on the USA. CC: I’m betting you have a lot of new fans after “See Arnold Run,” right?

ME: Oh, yes.

After the movie I had people coming up to me all the time. I didn’t realize that fans from the sport had paid so much attention to the movie. It was a great experience.

CC: Any other movies in the

works?

ME: Not right now, but who knows what could come down the pipeline?

CC: Speaking of movies, let’s talk special effects. If you could have one bodypart from another bodybuilder, what would it be and from whom?

ME: I’d love to have Lee Priest’s arms.

CC: Wouldn’t we all? How about sponsors—anything on that front?

ME: I would love to plug a sponsor, but that would require my having one! [Laughs] So if anyone out there is looking, please get in touch with me. Thanks!

CC: Is there anything you want to close with? The floor is yours.

ME: I would just like to thank everyone who’s supported me. Without my friends and family I would never have been able to accomplish the goals I set for myself.

My prediction is that Mike will get his pro card this year—at the USA Championships in Las Vegas. You can follow Mike and the other top competitors at www.GraphicMuscle .com.

Editor’s note: Mike can be reached at Mike@MikeErgas.com for guest posing, photo shoots and, yes, sponsorships. IM

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Happy Birthday

Arnold

A Classic-photo celebration Photography by John Balik

Who would’ve imagined that the big Austrian kid I met in 1969 would become the greatest bodybuilder in history? And then transform himself into one of the highest-paid movie stars in the world—and then be elected governor of California? I can’t say I knew he would do all of those things, but I had a strong feeling that here was a man who could conquer whatever goal was in front of him. Arnold had that special spark that lights up a room, true charisma and an unmistakable zest for life. When he spoke to you, it was—and still is—an all-encompassing connection, as if it were just you and him in a vacuum.

I cherish my friendship with Arnold, and with his 59th birthday falling on July 30, I decided to dig through my files and put together a photographic tribute to him. It’s my way of saying thanks for the many laughs, great workouts and wonderful memories over the past 3 1/2 decades. Happy birthday, Governor.

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Arnold

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Happy Birthday

Arnold Arnold

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1969

1970

1971

1975

1988

1989

1991

1994

January 2004

November 2004

February 2005

August 2006

Arnold became the best bodybuilder in the world, then one of the highest-paid movie stars, and now, at age 59, he’s the governor of california. Amazing. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 225

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Arnold

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Happy Birthday

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Sleeve-Busting

Biceps Fast-Mass Precision Blasts for Arms That Look Like 20-Pound Hams

by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux

W

e could start by trying to sell you on the idea that you want bigger biceps, but is that really necessary?

Have you ever heard a bodybuilder say, “Wow, my arms are just too big”? No way.

Arms can never be too big (unless they’re bigger than your legs; then you’ve got a problem). So instead of telling you that you need bigger biceps, which you already know, we’ll shift to the next gear and tell you that to get giant arms, you don’t really need loads of sets—just more precise training.

In fact, that’s the first thing most people ask us about when they see our workouts: “Don’t you guys think you’d make better gains doing more sets for each bodypart?”

Maybe—maybe not. The thing is, we have families, jobs and “Curb Your Enthusiasm” episodes to watch, so we have to train on our lunch hour—and we think most bodybuilders are in similar situations. Who in the hell has 2 1/2 hours to pump out set after set in a sweaty gym—before or

after working a full-time job? Less than 1 percent of the population is our guess.

That means we’re continually looking for ways to pack on muscle as efficiently as possible—without wasting time. We simply can’t afford to do endless sets that are only somewhat effective; our gains stall—or worse, fall. If you’ve got hours to train every day, great! Precision is not so critical (although overtraining is no doubt a serious concern and a big reason so many bodybuilders resort to steroids).

But even with our shorter workouts, overtraining can be a problem. Once again, we have to be careful—and precise. After all, we’re drug-free, and that’s where analyzing and identifying the key anabolic triggers enters the picture.

Anabolic-cause-and-effect analysis can help you pack on the most muscle in the shortest time possible—no camping gear in the gym required. Let’s take a look at those critical hypertrophic factors and apply them to biceps so you can start using them to bust some sleeves! www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 239

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Sleeve-Busting Biceps

Sleeve-Busting Biceps Programs Undergrip chins (X Reps) 2 x 10-12 Concentration curls (continuous-tension double drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6)(4) Incline curls (bottom twothirds of stroke only; X Reps or static X) 1-2 x 10-12 If you do undergrip chins or pulldowns in your lat routine, use the following biceps program: Close-grip preacher curls or close-grip cable curls (X Reps) 2 x 10-12 Concentration curls (continuous-tension double drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6)(4) Incline curls (bottom twothirds of stroke only; X Reps or static X) 1-2 x 10-12 Double-drop set: Do one set to exhaustion, reduce the weight, immediately do a second set to exhaustion, reduce the weight, and then do a third and final set to exhaustion.

X Reps: Do a set to exhaustion, move the resistance to the semistretched position, to where the target muscle is somewhat elongated, such as near the bottom of an undergrip chin, and do pistonlike partialrep pulses up and down through an eight-to-10inch range.

Undergrip chins or pulldowns allow you to blast your biceps with the help of other muscle groups.

Multijoint exercises are usually the best for max-force generation.

Size Factor 1: Max-Force Generation Getting a muscle to generate maximum force appears to be the biggest player in building bigger fibers. That means you want to priori-

Editor’s note: For more on X Reps, occlusion, stretch overload and Positions of Flexion, visit www.X-Rep.com.

Lawson’s 19 1/4-inch arm measurement.

tize and attack that factor up front before too much fatigue accumulates. How? Your first exercise should be a multijoint move that puts the target muscle in the best position to forcefully fire on every rep. A good place to start for each bodypart is with its so-called ultimate exercise, which is described in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book.

But even with the ultimate exercise you may not get all-out force production. A proper warmup, one that brings some occlusion, or blood-flow blockage, and uses the right poundage percentages, is key.

It primes the muscle for exceptional firing capacity. Remember, we’re after efficiency, and prepping the muscle as quickly as possible to exert max force is vital. (We’ve discussed a specific warmup procedure in past issues of IRON MAN and also in our e-zine. Look for “Prelude to Mass,” posted in the X Files section of www.X-Rep.com.)

The next factor is rest: You must

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rest long enough between sets of your big exercises, or your force output diminishes significantly.

That’s right, moving too quickly to your next set on your ultimate exercise can hold back size and strength gains. Research from the University of Kansas verifies that. The study showed the correlation between optimal rest and force production in the bench press (incidentally, the flat-bench press isn’t the ultimate exercise for your chest, but it’s close). What did the scientists find?

That trainees who rested for three minutes between sets did the best at producing force on their second set—more than 30 percent better than the trainees who rested for one minute. They also found that resting longer, even up to five minutes between sets, did not improve force production.

So if you do two sets on your ultimate exercise, you should rest three minutes between sets. To further max out force production, use X-Rep partials on the second

set, or both if you’re advanced. If you’re new to X-Reps, they’re partial eight-inch pulses that usually begin at the max-force point on an exercise’s stroke—such as just above the arms-extended position on undergrip chins for biceps—and go up to just below the midpoint of the stroke.

In case you missed that hint, the ultimate exercise for biceps is undergrip chins. There’s muscle synergy from surrounding muscle groups, and the underhand grip puts your biceps in the ideal position to fire with the most force—and don’t forget the X Reps.

Size Factor 2: Endurance-Component Work On your next exercise, force production, or anaerobic stress, becomes secondary as you shift into expanding the mitochondria and

capillary beds in the target muscle.

Remember, muscle biopsies show that the biggest bodybuilders have more fast-twitch type 2A fibers, and those fibers have both anaerobic and endurance capabilities. Maxforce production on your first, or ultimate, exercise primarily attacks the anaerobic components, with minor endurance effects; now you want to reverse that priority and blast the endurance facets with continuous tension for longer periods while still achieving some intense force production. How? You use an isolation exercise that enables you to maintain tension on the target muscle throughout the set—and you quickly do two or three sets back to back, reducing the poundage on each successive set. That’s the double-drop-set technique.

The first phase will give you more force production at first, but as you continue with two more phases, you quickly shift to stressing the endurance components of the fast-twitch 2As. (Neglecting endurance-compo-

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Model: Jose Raymond

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Model: Marvin Montoya

One-arm movements can enhace focus and muscle fiber recruitment.

Model: Randy Vogelzang

Incline curls: Try to keep tension on your biceps throughout the set and at the bottom of the stroke don’t pause—use a quick twitch to activate more fibers and create stretch overload on the biceps.

nent work is one of the big reasons low-rep bodybuilders’ muscle size stalls—they’re training only one facet of the muscle cells enough to trigger growth: anaerobic force production. Hardgainers, who are more endurance oriented to begin with, really need endurance work to grow!)

Have you ever heard a gigantic bodybuilder say, “You gotta feel the muscle working!”? Continuous tension is what he’s talking about. The biggest bodybuilders know that, in addition to force production, you need enough tension time to max out size. If you lose tension during a set, that set’s effectiveness is reduced considerably. Remember that. A good continuous-tension exercise for biceps is concentration curls—no resting at the bottom. In other words, stop short of full arm extension, keep the weight moving—and don’t forget the drop sets.

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According to MRI studies, curl movements that mimic a close grip on a barbell—arms angled in—work both heads of the biceps best.

Size Factor 3: Stretch Overload Exercises that elongate the target muscle to the extreme have some very potent mass-building properties. Some studies even suggest that stretch overload can cause fiber splitting, or hyperplasia (one animal study achieved a 300 percent muscle mass increase after only one month of stretch overload—for more on that study see our ebooks). Stretch overload has also been linked to increased anabolic receptors in muscle tissue and anabolic hormone release.

A good example for biceps is incline curls—reclining on a 45 degree incline bench so your arms are behind your torso. Ending a body-

Model: Robert Hatch

Sleeve-Busting Biceps

Larry Scott achieved amazing arm development with the help of endof-set partials, or burns.

part routine with a stretch-position exercise is an excellent mass-building strategy because the extreme elongation can trigger the myotatic reflex, a phenomenon that activates more muscle fibers. In other words, it can wake up sleeping reserve fibers, which can radically increase muscle size (and maybe stimulate hyperplasia, although that’s still only theory).

Okay, those are the big three size factors, and if you were thinking about giant arms as you read, you saw a fast-mass biceps program materialize: •Undergrip chins, rest three minutes between sets, and add X-Rep partials to the second or both sets.

•Concentration curls, a doubledrop set (three back-to-back sets), and add X Reps to the last phase.

•Incline curls, do only the bottom two-thirds of the stroke for stretch overload—and add X Reps or a static X. That’s your fast-blast for sleevebusting mass! Should you apply those size factors to all bodyparts? Precisely!

Beware: BicepsBuilding Blunders Those of you who check out our training blog at X-Rep.com may be screaming after seeing that recommended biceps routine, “Hey, you guys don’t use undergrip chins in

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Sleeve-Busting Biceps your online biceps program!”

Okay, that’s a legitimate beef, but we’ve got a simple explanation. We don’t use undergrip chins for biceps at the moment because we include undergrip pulldowns in our lat routine—and we train lats at a different workout.

Does that mean we’re overtraining biceps because we hit them three or four days a week? We don’t think so. In fact a recent study suggested that training a bodypart two days in a row can improve recovery, but that’s not why we do it—it’s just the way our split is constructed at the moment. Nevertheless, it’s improved our biceps, as Jonathan’s arm-measurement photo shows on page 240. That study aside, we don’t want to overdo our biceps attack in either our lat workout or biceps blast, which occur on separate days.

How do we prevent a biceps blowout from all that work? Well, on lat day we do our undergrips at the end of our lat program, usually as the second exercise in a superset. By that time our backs are pretty well blitzed, so the weight we can use on undergrips is fairly light—at least much lighter than it would be if we did undergrips first.

And as we said, the other way we prevent overtraining our biceps is by not including undergrip chins or pulldowns on biceps day. Instead we opt for more isolated moves from start to finish. So instead of starting biceps with some form of undergrip pulling exercise, we opt for preacher curls or cable curls as our first midrange biceps movement.

What, no standing barbell curls?

Nope. Barbell curls have a significant leverage shift at the bottom and so aren’t at all conducive to X Reps. Both preacher curls and cable curls make for those important fiber-activating end-of-set partials.

(Legendary bodybuilder Larry Scott had some of the biggest and best biceps around back in the day, and he relied on preacher curls, usually done with what he called burns at the top and bottom. After our experience, we’re convinced the burns he did near the bottom, the X Reps, gave his biceps the extra beef. That’s the max-force point.)

Let’s not forget that on any standing curl, whether you use a barbell or a cable, you should use a grip

that’s slightly narrower than shoulder width—more of a close grip.

Magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies show that the closer grip lights up both heads of the biceps, while wider grips, even with an EZcurl bar, hit the inside head almost exclusively, neglecting the outer side.

So a narrower grip is more efficient.

Bonus: The closer grip also blasts the brachialis, the smaller muscle that snakes under the biceps, so you develop more peak; the wider grip

misses the brachialis almost completely.

So there you have a number of biceps-building tactics that can trigger bigger gunfire in your program.

Put some or all of them to the test, and you’ll add mass fast. You want sleeve-busting biceps? No problem!

Editor’s note: For more on X-Rep mass-building concepts, visit www.

X-Rep.com. IM

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He Heavy

Duty Q & As From the

Intensity Camp

by John Little

Photo Illustration by Aldrich Bonifacio

Growth vs. Inflammation : I’ve read all of Mike Mentzer’s books, including the two most recent ones that you co-wrote with Mike and Joanne Sharkey. I also read your IRON MAN column every month. I was hoping you might be able to answer a question. I’ve been sold on the idea of taking recovery time between sessions, but I’ve repeatedly noticed an odd phenomenon. For two days after an arm workout my arms always measure about a half inch bigger than before the workout. They’re still sore at that point, so I generally conclude that I have not fully recovered and grown yet.

Therefore, I wait a couple of more days. The problem is, after about the fourth or fifth day, my arm size has usually shrunk back down about a half inch! I know that seems to fly in the face of everything in the Mentzer books and articles, but it’s absolutely true. I’ve seen it countless times.

Is it possible that I’m recovering and growing within 24 to 48 hours and then atrophying

back to where I started by 96 hours? It sounds ludicrous to me, but I don’t know what the real explanation is. Do you have any possible insight into this phenomenon?

A: I think the phenomenon you are experiencing is, in a word, inflammation that (in this instance) causes your arms to be bigger for a day or so. David Staplin, an assistant professor at the University of Minnesota, once wrote about the process in an article that Mike and Joanne posted on their Web site and that the Nautilus North study (IRON MAN, November ’05) mirrored in its results. Mike once summarized the process: “While no one understands the entirety of the recovery-and-healing response, present knowledge reveals that acute inflammation is involved. It’s been suggested by many researchers that delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) is one of the effects of an acute inflammatory process. The recovery-and-healing phenomenon follows a certain course of events within a specific time, which may vary owing to individual factors. The first is the actual damage resulting from the high-intensity muscle contractions, both concentric and eccentric. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 247

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Neveux \ Model: Chris Cook

Heavy Duty

Q & As

Don’t mistake a larger measurement during the inflammatory response for the production of new muscle tissue.

“The ensuing 24 hours sees an increasing number of neutrophils (white blood cells that respond to injury) congregating at the site of the exercise trauma.

Simultaneously, lysosomal enzymes, which break down and digest damaged tissue, are released. Then macrophages begin to accumulate, which goes on for up to several days.

They aid lysosomal activity and synthesize a variety of chemicals in response to inflammation. That inflammatory response is thought

to cause further damage and may continue for several days beyond the imposition of the training stress.

It’s only when the inflammatory responses are complete that the first signs of tissue regeneration are observed.

“Keep in mind that the muscle cell must recover, heal and compensate, or build back to normal levels; only then will the process of overcompensation, or growth, begin. In addition, the growth process takes time to

complete as well. The principle you should take from that information is as follows: Rest long enough between workouts to allow for completion of both the recovery and growth processes. How long is that?

My observations, along with those of numerous other high-intensity trainers around the country, clearly indicate that it’s at least a week— and longer if an individual has naturally poor recovery ability.”

It follows that, unless you’re an absolute beginner—one who hasn’t advanced in strength sufficiently to cause much damage to the muscles or expend a lot of energy in your workouts—it’s highly unlikely that you’ve fully recovered and overcompensated within one to two days. More likely what you’re experiencing within 96 hours isn’t atrophy but a reduction in inflammation as the healing process completes itself (much as a swollen knee will measure larger after the initial trauma and smaller once the inflammation has subsided).

Don’t mistake a larger measurement during the inflammatory response for the production of new muscle tissue (which is a process that takes much, much longer). If muscles grew within 24 to 48 hours, then everybody would have huge arms (and other muscles) as a mere matter of cause and effect. Muscle growth is a slow process for reasons of biological necessity.

When we performed the Nautilus North study, we had a state-ofthe-art body composition testing machine and it didn’t register any increase in lean muscle tissue until 6.6 days (on average), with some people not registering an increase until day 11. The immediate consequence of a workout is a diminishing of lean muscle, which then tracks up over the next week or so. Put away your tape measure, and take up a progress chart and pencil. If your muscles are getting stronger, they’ll be getting bigger; however, as each strength increase produces a minuscule increase in cross-sectional area, it takes many such strength increases to produce a measurable size gain.

Patience and persistence are of paramount importance in the muscle-building process.

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Heavy Duty

Actualizing Your Potential in One Year Q: Mike Mentzer repeatedly made the claim that it’s possible for someone to actualize the upper limits of his muscular potential in one year.

I’ve never seen anyone do that, so I’m curious as to how Mike could make such a statement.

Results from training are largely mediated by genetics. Moreover, Mike’s use of the term spectacular doesn’t mean you’ll automatically display the gargantuan proportions of bodybuilders who have exceptional genetics. Spectacular progress for one person who has poor genetics wouldn’t be considered spectacular for someone who has exceptional genetics.

Nevertheless, with a properly conducted Heavy Duty highintensity bodybuilding program a person will grow stronger from every workout (continued on page 252)

Neveux \ Model: Ron Harris

A: The simple answer is that after 30 years as a hardcore bodybuilding trainee and 11 years of empirical observation, having personally trained and kept records of thousands of clients, Mike developed a theory of successful highintensity training.

According to Mike, he began to modify his highintensity approach once he started training clients who didn’t possess the same genetic potential that he did. What had produced solid results for Mike and other genetically advanced bodybuilders in the past, such as Casey Viator and Mike’s brother Ray, caused those with lesser genetics to hit a wall in their progress quite quickly. Mike then began to reduce the volume and frequency of his clients’ training and saw their progress start up again—but he still wasn’t satisfied with their rate of progress.

“As well as my training clients did from the beginning,” Mike explained, “I eventually gained a conviction that they should be doing even better. I knew that there is a reason for everything in the universe,

including why a person might not be making regular, satisfactory bodybuilding progress, and that the number of possible explanations is far from infinite. What I had to do was further my knowledge of the fundamentals of exercise science—intensity, volume and frequency—and then refine their practical application so that my clients would make spectacular and continuous progress.”

Not every trainee is going to morph into Mr. Universe with Mike’s—or any other bodybuilding champion’s—training system.

With a properly performed highintensity program, a trainee should grow stronger after every workout. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 249

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Heavy Duty (continued from page 249) until

reps to failure on the Nautilus leg extension machine using the whole weight stack, while after only two months of training my client, the rank beginner—who appeared to be of average or slightly below average genetics—performed 10 reps to failure with the same stack on the same machine. How much longer would it have been before the beginner matched David’s performance? Probably never. Given his rate of improvement, however, that client would most likely have actualized his strength potential in well under a year.”

Don’t forget the direct relationship between muscular strength and muscular size. Once a trainee has actualized his strength potential, his size potential will soon be realized as well. After a year of high-intensity training, of course, most of us who don’t have exceptional genetics still may not measure up to someone who has superior genetics. The high-volume advocates, though, fare even worse because they can’t pinpoint what nature requires to turn on the body’s growth mechanism.

According to Mike: “Bodybuilders who know nothing of high-intensity anaerobicexercise-stress theory wouldn’t even know where to begin projecting how much time it would take to actualize potential. They don’t think about that issue at all, as much of their time is spent wringing their hands, biting their nails and worrying about whether they’ll ever make any progress. The same goes for the experts of the bodybuilding orthodoxy and many within the current exercise-science establishment. When was the last time you saw them even broach the subject of maximizing potential?

They imply that training progress is something to be expected in tiny dribbles, something that comes unpredictably every now and then.

That’s because the volume approach represents a wanton assembling of random, disconnected and contradictory ideas—which, of course, isn’t a theory at all and, therefore, cannot serve as a guide

Overtraining and not allowing yourself adequate time to recover and overcompensate from the training stress aren’t going to produce results.

Neveux \ Model: Todd Smith

he reaches the upper limit of his genetic potential—however great that potential might be. As Mike put it: “A few years ago I had a training client who was a rank beginner, never having lifted a weight in his life. He improved the functional ability of his quadriceps to the point where his performance on the Nautilus leg extension machine went from 170 pounds for seven reps to failure, to the entire weight stack (250 pounds) for 10 reps—and he accomplished it in slightly less than two months! Considering how little actual time he spent in the gym, by any standard that’s spectacular progress.

“Not long after that I was approached by David Paul, of the Barbarian Brothers, to supervise his workouts. Now, David is a genetic freak, a bodybuilder whose innate potential for gaining strength and muscle mass is vastly superior to the average. Here’s the contrast: After close to two decades of training, David, under my personal supervision, reached a high of 33

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for successful action.“ Whatever your muscular potential, you’ll never actualize it without employing a high-intensity program that limits volume and frequency. Overtraining and not allowing yourself adequate time to recover and overcompensate (or grow) from the training stress aren’t going to produce results. As Mike said on a number of occasions, “If NASA can send a man to the moon and bring him back safely each time, there’s really no reason we shouldn’t succeed with every one of our missions to the gym here on earth. That should be a cakewalk compared to a moonwalk.”

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Her physique has changed very little, if at all, and I’m afraid she’s losing interest.

That would be terrible because bodybuilding is one of the few activities we can share.

Women should train just as men do, gradually increasing their training poundages and using reps in the six-to-10 range on most exercises.

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Heavy Duty

Women’s capacity for muscular development is hormonally limited.

There’s no need to worry about a she looking more like a he.

Neveux \ Model: Federica Belli

are coed these days, the occasional anachronistic attitudes notwithstanding.

Some men, including gym owners and personal trainers, feel threatened by the presence of strong, assertive females in the gym. “Operating from a tenuous sense of their own masculinity,” Mike noted, “these men feel the gym to be a bastion of masculinity, and they discourage or prevent women from training there. If you encounter this problem, your only resort would be to purchase a home gym or have the women in your area who are interested in bodybuilding set up their own private gym.”

I also strongly suggest that your friend read Mike’s works and apply his principles. Not only will she obtain a true education in the science of productive bodybuilding exercise, but she’ll also be on the right track to realizing her full fitness and muscular potential.

Q & As From the Intensity Camp

What advice do you have?

A: Mike Mentzer was one of the first champions to get behind women’s bodybuilding—building their bodies to become stronger and leaner. I remember once asking Mike why he thought so many famous gyms and personal trainers encouraged Mickey Mouse training for women, since both men and women possess the same musculoskeletal system.

“The underlying reason,” Mike replied, “is the traditional image of women as the weaker sex. Associated with this is the outmoded idea that for a ‘real woman’ to exert herself intensely would compromise her femininity.

Let’s face it, today’s woman is different from her sisters of the preceding generations. The liberated woman of today can hardly be described as the weaker sex, since studies have shown her to be stronger and more stable than men in many areas—such as the emotional area, for example.

Women are becoming increasingly aware that their physical image makes a social statement and they

are choosing to make that statement assertively by exercising and dieting.

Women who are emotionally strong and competent want bodies that match their strong self-images.”

My advice to your friend is what Mike’s would have been: Tell her to train just as the men do, or should.

She should train intensely with weights that are heavy enough to allow between six to 10 reps, with the last repetition being an all-out, maximum-intensity effort. Have her limit her sets to no more than two (three at the most) per bodypart, and she should work out once every four to seven days at a high level of intensity on a four-way-split routine as prescribed in Mike’s last book High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way. She should also be aware—to counter the baseless belief that seems so rampant—that her capacity for muscular development is hormonally limited. So there’s no need for her to worry that weight training will make her look like a man. If the gym she attends won’t allow her to train in such a manner, perhaps she should join a regular bodybuilding club. Most of them

Editor’s note: For a complete presentation of Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty training system, consult his books Heavy Duty II, High Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer Way and the newest book, The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, all of which are available from Mentzer’s official Web site, www.MikeMentzer.com.

John Little is available for phone consultation on Mike Mentzer’s Heavy Duty training system. For rates and information, contact Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519 or at www.MikeMentzer.com, or see the ad on the opposite page.

Article copyright © 2006, John Little. All rights reserved. Mike Mentzer quotations provided courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and used with permission. IM

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Eric Broser’s

If you find something on the Web that IM readers should know about, send the URL to Eric at bodyfx2@aol.com.

>http://MilosSarcev.com/board/index.php There are hundreds of bodybuilding discussion boards on the Internet, and while most of them have similar content, forums and members, every once in a while I stumble upon one that stands out from the crowd. What sets this board apart immediately is that it’s owned and operated by IFBB superstar Milos Sarcev, also known as “the Mind.” That moniker has followed him for years, ever since he started coaching other bodybuilders in their preparations for competitions, helping them achieve the best condition of their careers. The cool thing about the board is that not only does Milos run it, but he’s a regular contributor as well. Many discussion boards claim to have pros as members, but they hardly ever post anything worthwhile. That’s not the case here, as Milos is on his board every day, answering questions, providing advice and giving members the inside scoop on the bodybuilding and fitness industry. Nor is Milos the only pro on the board. Other regular contributors include Dennis James, Kris Dim, Luke Wood and Gustavo Badell. Along with the basic forums on training, nutrition, supplementation and contest prep, you’ll find some unique areas, such as a section dedicated to iron warriors who have passed away, a mixed martial arts forum and extensive photo galleries of male and female pros, rising stars—even pics of Sarcev’s beautiful wife and daughter. If you are a fan of Milos and of pro bodybuilding in general, this is definitely a place you should check out the next time you’re goofing off at work (not that any of you guys do that…much).

258 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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>LiftForLife.com

>VitalChoice.com

I have to tell you: Here’s a site you guys could very well see featured in this space more than once. It has so much useful information that I couldn’t possibly give you all the highlights in just a single paragraph. LiftFor Life is dedicated to the natural bodybuilder, and it does a great job of supporting the cause with terrific articles, athlete profiles, links to all of the drug-tested organizations and the most complete contest calendar I’ve seen. One of the coolest areas is the fitness-calculator page, where you can quickly and easily find out things like your one-rep max, your ideal measurements and calories burned. Scroll down to the bottom of the home page and read, “What Is Natural Bodybuilding.” The author provides an interesting perspective and obviously has a good grasp of the sport. I spent quite a while on the site, especially after I happened upon the profile of a very fit and sexy blonde named Cindy. She alone is worth the price of admission.

Here we have another wholesomefood site, but it’s devoted to “the world’s finest health-enhancing canned and fresh-frozen wild salmon.” The latest research on good fat suggests we should be eating fish several times a week, and the natural, wild salmon you’ll find here is tops— plus, you can get it delivered right to your door.

>PRRSTraining.com Ah, the power…yes, the power of having your own column [insert evil laugh]. I can do or say anything that I want. Okay, maybe not, but I can give my new Web site a plug.

Visit PRRSTraining.com to read the original “Power, Rep Range, Shock” article that appeared in the pages of the best bodybuilding magazine on the planet—IRON MAN. Check out the P/RR/S athletes’ gallery and read the many testimonials describing the

>GrasslandBeef.com This is the site of U.S. Wellness Meats, and while it has a lot of info, its main thrust is to introduce you to its expanding selection of beef, lamb, bison and free-range chicken.

The meat comes from grassfed animals, which results in much more healthful products. U.S. Wellness Meats are high in CLA, branched-chain amino acids, omega3s and vitamins A and E—and because of that many of the world’s top athletes, including top U.S. stongman Jesse Marunde [his profile is in this issue on page 286], are switching to it. Marunde’s quote at the site says it all: “After consuming U.S. Wellness Meats, my lean muscle has increased 25 pounds, while my bodyfat percentage has decreased, and believe it or not, my LDL cholesterol dropped 50 points. I have never had any training-regimen impact my performance as much as the switch to grass-fed beef by U.S. Wellness Meats.” Pass me some of that grass-fed bison.

merits of my training program. Click on “Articles” for helpful training hints, and hop over to the “Online Training” page to learn how I can help you achieve all of your physique goals in record time. Now, I need to warn you that the site has a lot of flash, so if you have dial-up, type in the address, click go, watch a rerun of “Seinfeld,” wash your car, cook a turkey, use the bathroom (remember to wash your hands), and when you get back, it will probably still be loading [again, insert evil laugh]. Still, it’s worth a shot! IM

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Lonnie Teper’s

NEWS & ViEWS ’06 Colorado Pro-Am

Very Ful-Philling

Phil Heath.

The stories inside the story at the Shawn Ray Colorado Pro-Am, held May 12 and 13 in Denver: Shawn going from competitor to promoter, Phil Heath going from amateur to pro, and Gary Strydom going from retired to back onstage after a 10-year vacation. All three were smiling at the end of the event.

“As a promoter, it was everything I expected and more,” said Sugar Shawn from his Yorba Linda, California, pad three days after the event as he was preparing to watch “American Idol.” I knew he was in good spirits when I saw the e-mail note he’d sent earlier. It was accompanied by a photo of some guy in an ad, and the message was, “Is this you?” He claims it’s the best lookalike of the season. He could be right (see page Marcus David 265).

Haley.

Henry.

“I rented two minivans to get athletes and staff from the hotel to the venue,” Ray said, “and I became a designated driver when one of the drivers got sick. I made six trips back and forth and had a limo for the judges. These are the type of things I looked for promoters to be doing when I competed.”

Ray also had praise for the irrepressible Jeff Taylor, who handled his duties well, as always, as the promoter of the amateur NPC show. “I don’t think I could have done this without Jeff, and I don’t think he could have done it without me,” said Shawn. “Overall, the show went well—the athletes and the fans loved it. I’ve already signed on for two more years, with next year’s show being June 1 and 2. I will be adding a pro fitness category, boxing and several other activities.”

As the bodybuilding world knows by now, Heath scored a unanimous win in his first contest since he took the overall at the USA last year. According to Shawn, however, Heath’s margin of victory over Darrem Charles was a lot closer than the score sheet indicated.

“Heath won on the mandatory poses,” Ray said. “Pose for pose he had fewer flaws than Darrem. Charles had better stage presence and presentation. Darrem might have looked better standing relaxed, but he 260 AUGUST 2006 \

Darrem dazzled.

Find hundreds of photos from the Colorado and New York Pro competitions at GraphicMuscle.com www.ironmanmagazine.com Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Colorado Pro photography by Isaac Hinds \ Lift Studios

Heath Nabs Unanimous Win in His Pro Debut

POSING— Who was that masked man?

Page 261

CONTROVERSY— Maybe it was something he eight.

Pages 262 and 264

COUNTDOWN— Why is this man so excited?

Page 263

Comeback kid Strydom. is light in the calves and hamstrings; Phil has a better overall package.”

A package good enough, Ray said, that it should move him all the way up to a top-three finish in his Mr. Olympia debut come the end of September. “If Phil had been in last year’s Mr. Olympia, in the condition he was at my contest, he would have beaten Gunter Schlierkamp [who finished fourth at that show],” Ray claimed.

“At 5’9” and 216 pounds, he is a combination of Flex Wheeler and me. And a lot of people think Flex was at his best at the 1993 Arnold Classic, when he was 219 pounds. Phil will be right on Jay Cutler’s back in the battle for second this year if he shows up in top shape. He could be the next Mr.

Joy Newcomb \ Courtesy of Vyo-Tech

Bill Wilmore.

From left: Jeff Taylor, Spiro Kandis, Hummer winner Jim Bluff, Vince Kandis and Shawn Ray.

Rodney St. Cloud was sixth.

Kai Green.

Olympia.”

Does Jay know the highest he can hope to place is second?

Even though Strydom finished seventh, Gary “didn’t disappoint in his comeback,” Ray said.

Judging by the pictures, I’d say that Strydom was in outstanding condition and looked amazing for a man approaching his 47th birthday.

“It was a Vince Taylor–like comeback,” Shawn continued. “Because he’s been away for so long, Gary had presentation problems. He looked as good as ever in his signature poses, like the side chest, triceps, overhead abs, but when you don’t present yourself the best way possible, your weaknesses—in this case back width and thickness—are highlighted. Still, Gary wasn’t disappointed with his placing because he got so much positive feedback.”

Ray also felt that David Henry had been at his alltime best in taking third and that rookies Marcus Haley and Bill Wilmore, who finished fourth and fifth, respectively, were “in a dogfight. It was a great show from a fan’s perspective because the top five were so competitive.”

Congrats also to Kai Greene, who picked up 10 grand for winning the Best Presentation award, and to Jim Bluff, who came to the show to watch a friend compete in the NPC event and drove away with a new Hummer H3 after his ticket was pulled in a drawing.

Isaac Hinds covered the event for IRON MAN. To see hundreds of his photos, log on to www .GraphicMuscle.com.

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…or built?

Eric Hillman and a pair of Parisos.

Teper

Comstock

Neil Brake \ Vanderbilt University

ADD DENVER: NFL DRAFT—Jay Cutler won’t be happy to hear that Shawn Ray already has him pegged for second—at the highest—at the upcoming Olympia. But will Jay even be available to compete? I mean, isn’t he making a lot more cash now that he’s going to be playing on Sundays in the National Football League?

To think we all believed the guy when he said he was gone every weekend because of guest posings, store openings and other industry-related Vanderbilt… events. Turns out he was going to Nashville, Tennessee, where Jay doubled as the star quarterback for Vanderbilt University.

At the time he stretched into a Commodore uniform, Cutler was listed at 6’4” and 225 pounds. Darn, that commuting between Nashville and Vegas really caused you to drop water, huh, guy?

Didn’t affect his play, though; Jay broke several school records en route to being voted Southeastern Conference Player of the Year and went in the first round of the NFL draft to—of all places—Denver.

You know, the same town in which Phil Heath, his new nemesis, according to Shawn, resides.

Okay, you get my drift by now, right, gang? Our Jay ain’t that Jay. But our Jay did play high school football in Massachusetts 15 years back and did have the best body on the team.

That’s where he stole the heart of Kerry, now his wife of nearly a decade.

Got an idea. Let’s set up two competitions between the two Jays. First, it’s who can toss the pigskin the farthest. Then, who has the most accurate gun. After that, who has the best guns, as in front double-biceps?

Then we’ll move to your favorite most muscular.

Last, but certainly not least, will be who has the biggest bank account. Our Cutler was way ahead until the draft, in April. But the way the Ultimate Beef has been making trips to his local bank of late, don’t think the final showdown won’t be close.

ADD CUTLER: ONE STEP CLOSER— That’s the title of Jay’s latest hot-selling DVD, a nearly six-hour video journey that begins four weeks out from the ’05 Olympia and documents his doings through the O and into mid-December. Reviews on the Mits Okabe–produced disc have been overwhelmingly positive (How often do you hear that about a video this long?), and the Olympia section takes you from prejudging to backstage at the finals. Way beyond a training video, “One Step Closer” gives you a never-before-seen look into the lifestyle of one of the industry’s all-time greatest performers.

One of the best parts of the program features Scraps (a Cockapoo) and Trace (an Airedale terrier), Jay and Kerry’s two buffed, symmetrical pooches, in their own candid scenes. For more info on Jay’s finest DVD to date, log on to www.JayCutler.com.

Add Pro Events EXPANSION—Ed Pariso tells me that this year’s edition of the Europa Super Show and Sports Expo, which made its debut last Sep262 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Chick’s big night.

Masters Pro World photos courtesy of Bodybuilding.com

Rusty Jeffers.

tember, will be held on August 25 and 26 at the Arlington (Texas) Convention Center. And that the schedule has grown from seven events in 2005 to 15 this time around.

“With the support of the sponsors we’ve been able to grow this into the next big premier international event,” said Pariso. “We are expecting over 2,000 amateur and pro athletes from 15 countries onstage.

“We would like to thank our presenting sponsor, Designer Supplements, and our title sponsors—EAS, MuscleTech, Ultimate Nutrition, Pinnacle/Cytodyne and All-American EFX—for allowing us to expand this much in one year.”

I emceed the event in ’05 and, happily, was rehired to host again this year. I’m still amazed at how Betty Pariso, two weeks out from competing at the Charlotte Pro, worked nonstop in her role as co-promoter with her hubby last year.

As always, an NPC contest will be held with the pro show, along with many other exciting happenings, like the NPC Cover Shot contest, the Strongman Challenge, a bench press contest and the annual Max Muscle convention.

For more information on the big weekend, check out www.Europa SuperShow.com.

Comstock

Paul Robinson

Comstock

Comstock

MR. O UPDATE—Ronnie Coleman’s clash with destiny takes place a month earlier this year, with the announcement that the Mr. Olympia will be held on September 29 and 30 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. The Big Nasty, who turned 42 on May 13, is going for a record nine wins in a row this year and will have to be onstage earlier than usual since the action will Champs from the O.C. (from left): Mona Krause, now take place over two nights. Yup, Bea Fox and Troy Tate. the prejudging will be held on Friday night, along with the Ms. Olympia and Fitness Olympia Finals.

Thumbs-up to the people at AMI, who are again promoting the Olympia (with plenty of advice from a guy who knows a little about the game, Jim Manion).

Tossed are the Challenge Round and the Wildcard Challenge of 2005. Great move by the promoters.

A new title sponsor is also onboard, adding its unique brand of event showmanship to the mix— Hardbody Entertainment, LLC, a sports entertainment company out of Atlanta.

For tickets and for more info that can assist Contra kids (from left): Shawn Laskey, Jen your trip to Vegas, visit Thaler and Claire Rohrbacker. www.2006Olympia.com.

Comstock

Nga Azarian

Balik

Goin’ for nine.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 263

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Omar Deckard.

WINNER IS A CHICK—Congrats to Bob Cicherillo for successfully predicting his own victory at the Masters Professional World Championship, which was held April 15 at New York’s Tribeca Performing Arts Center on the campus of Borough of Manhattan Community College.

Chick, who turned 40 last December 1, scored straight ones at the show and qualified for the Olympia, but since he’s on the AMI promotion team and will be co-hosting the Mr. O with Shawn Ray, Bob will be onstage fully clothed for the festivities.

Jumpin’ Johnny Stewart, who took second to Claude Groulx at the ’03 Masters Olympia, did likewise in New York, besting Pavol Jablonicky (third), Groulx (fourth) and Stan “the Man” McCrary (fifth).

The biggest news of the contest wasn’t Cicherillo’s victory, which the Swami called weeks earlier. It was the eighth-place finish of Rusty Jeffers, who had plenty of supporters feeling that he got the royal shaft when he didn’t place in the top five. Shoot, I got three e-mail messages from people who attended the show saying that Rusty should have won!

From the pics I viewed, I’d say Jeffers definitely should have been in the top five; I think his lower placing was due to what the judges felt was a lack of conditioning.

Jerome Ferguson.

Faramarz Aghazadeh.

Amateur Action LOGJAM IN THE DESERT—It’s mid-May and, as always, I’m not sure exactly who’s in, who’s not, for the 2006 version of Jaguar Jon Lindsay’s USA Bodybuilding and Figure Championships, to be held July 28 and 29 at the Artemus W. Ham Auditorium on the campus of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas. From what I’ve heard, the superheavyweight class should set the tone in what is always an entertaining weekend, one that will include around 300 of the NPC’s finest bodybuilding and figure competitors.

Los Angeles aces Jerome “Hollywood” Ferguson, Omar Deckard and Lionel “L Train” Brown, who finished second, third and fourth, respectively, a year ago, will be back again. Throw in Leo “the Lion” Ingram and Rudy Richards, who impressed at the ’05 Nationals with second- and third-place finishes, and…well, you get the picture. All of those cats have been major players in the amateur ranks for years and want to say good-bye to all that in ’06.

And let’s not forget another L.A. boy, heavyweight Michael Ergas, who was just a couple of points away from earning pro status at last year’s Nationals when he was edged by Jonathan Rowe in a very controversial decision. Ergas was understandably devastated but says that’s all behind him and that he’s going for the gold medal in Vegas. The 264 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Michael Ergas.

Adorthus Cherry.

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USA contenders photography by Bill Comstock

ADD VIDEOS: “REAL MUSCLE”—IRON MAN columnist John Hansen’s latest DVD, “Real Muscle…100% Natural,” is good stuff. Hansen offers training info for steroid-free bodybuilders “who want to build the maximum amount of muscle mass without having to resort to drugs to accomplish their goal.”

The former Mr. Natural Olympia, a Chicago resident, has been training for almost 30 years, with 25 years of competition experience. “Real Muscle” covers his entire mass-building workout, including four days of training, with each exercise shown over two sets.

The production, shot entirely in black and white, in a “real gym” with “real weights,” is available at Hansen’s Web site, www.NaturalOlympia.com. You’ll also find info there on his recently released first book, Natural Bodybuilding.

Manuel Torres.

Swami says he gets one of the two pro cards being handed out at the end of the night.

Of course, three other California heavyweight standouts— Faramarz Aghazadeh (second to Phil Heath last year), Adorthus Cherry (fifth) and David Robles (sixth)—certainly won’t be agreeing with my prognostication.

Local Vegas standout Manuel Torres was third in the lightheavyweight division a year ago and has to rate as one of the favorites this time around, with Rick Sosias and Curtis McGovern looking right over his shoulder.

Of course, there are names I’ve left out who could end up fighting for top finishes; excuse me, lads, if you’re not mentioned, but I can only go with what I know at deadline. You can razz me about it backstage; it’s become a tradition.

See you there.

Leo Ingram.

Lionel Brown.

SPRING FLING—So far, 2006 has been a big season (as in large) for California NPC muscle action. As always, the Orange County Muscle Classic and the Contra Costa brought out huge numbers, both of contestants and of folks in the seats, and produced outstanding champions.

Heavyweight winner Troy Tate took the overall at the Jon Lindsay–produced Orange County, which was held April 21 in Anaheim, with Mona Krause topping the field in women’s bodybuilding and Bea Fox doing likewise in figure.

Three weeks later, and somewhat further north, in Hayward, where Lindsay teams with Steve O’Brien to promote the megahit Contra, middleweight Shawn Laskey won the whole shebang; lightweight champ Claire Rohrbacker proved she’s no lightweight by taking the overall; and Jen Thaler captured the figure title.

Keep a close eye on these winners.

Eric Otero, R.I.P.

Neveux

Eric Otero.

Okabe

Dave Robles.

I didn’t have all the details as this column went to bed, but the bodybuilding world was shocked in mid-May by the news that Eric Otero had passed away at his home in San Antonio, Texas.

Reportedly, the cause of death had something to do with a bad reaction to the antibiotics Eric had been taking due to recent dental work.

I was at the podium when Otero, then out of Sugar Land, Texas, won the middleweights at the ’99 USA, in Santa Monica, and when he earned his pro card by crushing the middleweight field at the ’01 Nationals, in Atlanta.

I thought he’d be a good pro, but he competed only twice, in Toronto in ’04 and at the Europa last year.

Unfortunately, I also made Otero’s final onstage introduction at the latter contest, where he did not place.

To contact Lonnie Eric was 36, and his wife, Amanda, was seven Teper about material months’ pregnant at the time of his death. He was an possibly pertinent to outstanding bodybuilder, always in good spirits—a News & Views, write smile on his face whenever I saw him—and gladly to 1613 Chelsea obliged when he was sitting in the audience at the ’05 Road, #266, San Texas Championships and I asked him to peel off his Marino, CA 91108; shirt. fax to (626) 289-7949; or send e-mail to Condolences to Eric’s family and friends.

L.T.’s doppelgänger?

tepernews@aol.com.

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Jerry Brainum’s

Bodybuilding Pharmacology function. A study of five bodybuilders published in 1993 showed that those using anabolic steroids had impaired thyroid function.

Another study, published in 2003, found that those who used anabolic steroids showed an elevation of thyroidstimulating hormone (TSH) and free, or unbound, T4 thyroid hormone. They also showed low values of other thyroid hormones and binding proteins in the blood.

The idea that steroids adversely affect thyroid function is confounded by the fact that steroid users rarely The effects of anabolic drugs often overlap with the rely just on anabolic steroids. The reality is that they use effects of other hormone activity in the body. Growth horother anabolic drugs concurrently—GH, insulin and mone, for example, has an antagonist relationship with clenbuterol, to name a few. Those drugs may also interact insulin: Insulin lowers blood glucose, or sugar, levels; GH with thyroid metabolism. increases them. Often, athletes who use anabolic drugs are To avoid the problem of multiple-drug use while evaluaware of that effect and inject insulin to offset the glucoseating the effects of anabolic steroids on thyroid function, elevating effects of GH. Another reason to use both GH and a new study used lab rats as subjects.1 Ostensibly, rats respond to steroids the way humans do, particularly in insulin is that while GH promotes an anticatabolic effect in regard to side effects. The rats were given just one anabolic muscle, insulin promotes an upgrading of muscle protein steroid, a popular injectable drug called Deca-Durabolin. synthesis. In that sense, GH and insulin work in tandem to (When I say “popular,” I’m referring to human athletes. promote muscular growth.

There’s no way to tell how the rats feel about the drug.) In Many other relationships exist between hormones that any case, the rats got doses 60 times greater than the clinithose who use anabolic drugs overlook. A good example cal levels used to treat such problems as low testosterone is the relationship between anabolic steroids and thyroid in humans. That level of drug intake was considered roughly equal to what’s typically used for muscular-enhancement purposes.

The Deca produced an increase in the size and volume of the rats’ thyroid glands. Levels of free T3 and TSH significantly decreased.

Levels of T4, however, remained unchanged. T4 thyroid hormone is considered a pro-hormone for the thyroid; the active version is free T3, which has one less iodine molecule. Special enzymes called deiodinases remove an iodine molecule from T4, which converts it to free T3.

Why did the T4 levels remain unchanged? According to the authors, it reflected a decrease in thyroid-stimulating hormone, which is secreted from the pituitary gland and controls thyroid hormone release. When TSH is blunted, as it is with steroid use, the level of thyroid-binding proteins in the blood increases. That lowers levels of the most active (T3) thyroid hormone, since only the unbound hormone In normal doses thyroid promotes an anabolic effect in is active in cells. Because muscle. In larger doses, however, the effect turns catabolic, T4 is more a pro-hormone favoring a breakdown of muscle. than an active thyroid hor-

Steroids and Thyroids

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mone, its content in the blood isn’t affected by anabolic steroid use.

The Deca also increased the activity of the deiodinase enzymes in the liver and kidney, which should have increased the level of active T3 hormone, but that didn’t occur. The researchers think the steroids may have impaired the enzyme’s ability to convert T4 into T3. The reduction in levels of total and free T4 reflected their increased liver metabolism induced by the steroid.

Growth hormone also causes a transient impairment of thyroid function, evidently due to a blunting of TSH release from the pituitary gland. The effect, however, usually lasts only during the initial weeks of GH use. Although the body reacts to the TSH deficit by increasing the rate of its release to compensate, many athletes still opt to add a thyroid drug when using GH. The drug of choice is a form of T3, such as Cytomel, favored because of its rapid onset of activity. A T4 drug, such as Synthroid, takes at least seven days to start working.

While the main reason for using a thyroid drug along with GH relates to GH’s initial suppression of thyroid function, another reason is the fact that GH doesn’t provide any anabolic effects unless thyroid output is optimal. The same holds true for insulinlike growth factor 1 (IGF-1)—even for testosterone. In normal doses, thyroid promotes an anabolic effect in muscle. In larger doses, however, the effect turns catabolic and breaks down muscle. For that reason, users of anabolic and thyroid drugs need to regularly monitor thyroid function through medical testing.

A Real-World Study of a Fat-Burning Supplement Most scientists agree that the main cause of excess bodyfat is an imbalance between calories and activity level.

People get fat because they eat too much and exercise too little. Other factors enter into the bodyfat equation, though, many of them related to genetics. How else to explain why some can eat whatever they want, whenever they want, with apparent impunity? Meanwhile, others seem to get fat by merely being in the proximity of a high-calorie food. Many write off such differences to “metabolism.”

The thyroid gland controls metabolism. While it’s easy to attribute rapid fat gain to a “sluggish” metabolism due to low thyroid output, that’s rarely a direct cause of excess bodyfat. Scientific studies show that obese people generally have normal thyroid activity. Only about 10 percent have actual thyroid problems.

That’s not to say the thyroid isn’t involved in weight loss.

Thyroid activity is usually the culprit behind the dreaded dieting plateau. After a few weeks of reduced-calorie intake, weight-loss abruptly stops. The body interprets continued adherence to a strict diet as starvation. In order to preserve vital lean tissue, such as muscle and internal organs, thyroid output is deliberately blunted. Active T3 thyroid hormone is instead converted into the metabolically inert reverse T3, which lowers the resting metabolic rate considerably. When that happens, fat loss stops or slows.

So if it isn’t thyroid, why do so many people have trouble losing excess bodyfat? The answer is complex and can involve several chemicals, such as leptin. On an elemen-

Ostensibly, rats respond to popular steroids the way humans do. “Popular,” of course, applies only to human perception; nobody has discovered how the rats feel about the drugs. tal level, though, most people with excess fat show signs of decreased thermogenesis, the conversion of calories into heat. Instead of disposing of excess calories as heat, they shuttle them directly into bodyfat. Even worse, they tend to burn less fat when they exercise, making fat loss exceedingly difficult.

Small wonder, then, that supplements offering alleged fat-loss benefits are among the best-selling and most popular. The two basic methods through which OTC fat burners—as they’re called—work is by blunting appetite and increasing thermogenesis. The famous ephedrine-caffeine combo did both but was removed from the market (for scientifically flimsy reasons).

Since then, other supposed thermogenic and appetite-suppressing ingredients have been incorporated into commercial fat-burning supplements. They include bitter orange, also known as Citrus aurantium, which functions like ephedrine but is thought to produce less cardiovascular stimulation. The key to the effectiveness of synephrine, the active ingredient of bitter orange, is that it interacts with beta-3 adrenergic fat-cell receptors. Those receptors provide no cardiovascular overlap stimulation, which means fewer side effects. On the other hand, beta-3 adrenergic receptors exist mainly in a specialized form of fat that is highly thermogenic. Brown adipose tissue, as it’s called, is found primarily in babies and animals. Most adults have little or no BAT activity (with the possible exception of Batman, but not of his young ward, Robin), but the rare people who do are the same types who seem to eat whatever they want with no gain in fat.

Green tea extract contains active ingredients known as polyphenols that seem to exert mild thermogenic activity, particularly notable when green tea is combined with aerobic exercise. The small amount of caffeine naturally occurring in green tea adds to the thermogenic effect; www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 267

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Jerry Brainum’s

Bodybuilding Pharmacology

Neveux \ Model: Tomm Voss

Those who have a history of exercise tap into fat stores faster than sedentary people.

caffeine increases the release of catecholamines, such as norepinephrine, which promotes fat release. Green tea also inhibits the activity of lipases, or fat-digesting enzymes. That would cause a small loss of fat from food intake.

So the key ingredients of most commercial fat-burning supplements appear to have a solid scientific rationale. The important question is whether they work as well in the real world as they do on paper.

A recent study examined what happens when a group of overweight men took a fat-burning supplement at rest and during treadmill walking.2 None of the subjects regularly exercised, and all had a minimal 20 percent bodyfat level. They took either a placebo or a commercial fatburner supplement that contained the following: •6 milligrams synephrine •150 milligrams caffeine •150 milligrams green tea polyphenols During the first part of the study the subjects took either the placebo or the supplement over a six-hour pe-

Instead of disposing of excess calories as heat, people who have too much bodyfat shuttle them directly into bodyfat.

Even worse, they tend to burn less fat when they exercise, making fat loss exceedingly difficult.

riod while lying down. Blood samples were taken every 30 minutes for the six-hour duration of the test. In the second part of the study the men got either the placebo or the supplement one hour before exercise. The exercise consisted of walking on a treadmill at a low rate of intensity (60 percent of maximum heart rate) to promote maximum use of fat during the exercise. Blood samples were taken six times in the course of the hour of exercise and twice at rest.

There was no significant effect on ATP or energy use at rest or during exercise. Using the supplement didn’t have any effects on energy expenditure. Fat oxidation decreased while subjects were using the supplement.

Carbohydrate oxidation, however, increased when they were at rest by more than 30 percent. The same increase in carbohydrate oxidation also occurred during the study’s exercise phase.

So the supplement, provided under acute conditions, didn’t affect metabolism, but it did shift energy use from fat to carbohydrate—the opposite of what you’d expect. That’s not good news, since most people with excess bodyfat are already “sugar burners” who have trouble tapping into bodyfat. On the other hand, as the authors

point out, that kind of supplement may need more time to work. The study used just a single dose.

Keep in mind, too, that the subjects were both sedentary and overweight.

Such people don’t have much capacity to rapidly use fat during exercise because they lack sufficient oxidative enzymes, which are developed through regular exercise. In other words, they didn’t have an adequate capacity to use fat because they were out of shape and inactive.

Properly designed, the next study should monitor chronic use of fatburning supplements in those with established exercise history. It’s possible that the increased oxidative capacity of exercising subjects would mean that those kinds of supplements would show greater interaction and different results.

References 1 Fortunato,

R., et al. (2006). Chronic administration of anabolic-androgenic steroid alters murine thyroid function. Med Sci Sports Exercise.

38:256-61.

2 Sale, C., et al. (2006). Metabolic and physiological effects of ingesting extracts of bitter orange, green tea, and guarana at rest and during treadmill walking in overweight males. Int J Obesity. In press. IM

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IRON MAN Hardbody

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Living

Caradoll Is a Model of Health and Fitness Compiled by Jonathan Lawson Photography by Michael Neveux www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 271

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IRON MAN Hardbody

Height: 5’4” Age: 30 Weight: 110 Hometown: Elko, NV Current residence: Venice, CA

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IRON MAN Hardbody Occupation: Holistic practitioner: “I help people create a lifestyle called health. I offer a Starter Kit of Nutritional Insight and then personally train them in yoga and outdoor exercise and activities.

I offer independent consultations by appointment only.

Those interested can call (310) 663-5275.”

Marital status: Never been married.

Workout schedule: “Health is a state of mind. I never just work out. Nothing is separate from the entire body—that is, the self.

My main focus is my state of mind, which is represented by my breath. Whether I’m weight training or doing yoga, ballet, plyometrics, ball training or meditating or detoxing with a sauna or steam, I’m always creating a calm, free breath that in turn is a moving meditation.

It helps encourage the visualization of what I want to look like and who I want to be.”

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IRON MAN Hardbody

Favorite foods: Fresh juice, an awesome raw salad and raw ice cream. “Anything that is in a raw, living state. Mother Nature is my guide!” www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 275

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Factoid: “My dream is to help the world reach optimal health— to give everyone a new bill of health through my starter kit.

Health is happiness. When we learn to make health a priority, then our lives just seems to be better, feel better, and, ultimately, we look better. Health is a lifestyle. I want to share my wisdom and get you started.”

Special thanks: “IRON MAN magazine for trusting me; Michael Neveux, photographer, for believing in me; Keith Berson, assistant photographer and set designer, for his beautiful energy; Joe Wheatley, Muscle Beach, for getting me started; Mario da Silva, my personal trainer, (310) 245-9077; Whole Foods Market, West Los Angeles, food and flower sponsor; The Aloha Sanctuary, shoot location, (310) 401-1260; Alexandra Grose, hair and makeup, (310) 985-3730; Total Tan in Marina del Rey, CA, (310) 827-5228; Ryan Reynolds, my love and confidant, rawfood chef and set designer, (323) 304-0005.”

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IRON MAN Hardbody

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IRON MAN Hardbody

Contact info and Web site: www.Caradoll.com or (310) 663-5275 278 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Ruth Silverman’s

PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE PRO POURRI

RISING STARS

May Sweeps Follow the bouncing Olympia invites

All aboard! Tara Scotti and Latisha Wilder lead the way into the spring season.

The list of ladies on the pro figure fast track blossomed like the Christmas cactus on my porch all through May. Starting with Jim Manion’s Pittsburgh Pro on the sixth and moving in a westerly manner to Denver for the Shawn Ray Colorado ProAm on the 13th and, finally, to L.A. for the Cal on the 27th, it was one new face after another getting the nod for a top-three finish. So come aboard the Figure Express, and see who else is going to the O come the end of September.

Hot blonde du jour Jessica Paxson got big buzz in the ’Burgh.

PITTSBURGH PRO

Jenny Lynn Derailed by a stomach flu that kept her from vying for her fourth-consecutive victory at the Figure International (and remember that pro figure is only four years old), Jenny Lynn hit the trail to make up for lost time and struck instant success at the Pittsburgh Pro. As the numbertwo-ranked figure pro in the world— behind three-time Olympia winner Davana Medina—she came

Scores a well-timed win to the Steel City the obvious favorite, and though she was not at her tightest, the lovely Lynn lines carried her through.

She scored a solid win, just one point off a perfect score.

The missing point—missing from her two-piece-suit score—went to runner-up Latisha Wilder, another familiar face, and, like many in the audience, I was expecting the number-three spot to go to Tara Scotti. The judges had other ideas, however: Newcomer Jessica Paxson got the nod in a two-point squeaker—Don’tcha just love surprises?—and Tara had to settle for fourth.

Fact is, I do love surprises. Paxson, a class winner at ’05 NPC Junior Nationals, should make a swell addition to the Figure O lineup—and the tenacious Tara is a good bet to pick up an invite as the lo-o-o-ng 2006 season of figure continues.

Zena Collins was fifth in the 25-woman lineup, with Inga Neverauskait, Melissa Frabbiele, Christine Wan, Pauline Nordine and Danielle Hollenshade finishing sixth through 10th, respectively.

Numbers. Careful analysis of the score sheets from Pittsburgh and Denver shows that Jenny can’t go wrong in a one-piece suit.

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BACKSTAGE BODS BACKSTAGE

COLORADO PRO

Upwardly mob ile. Marcy Porter, 12th in Pittsburgh, moved into th e top 10 at th e Colorado and the Cal.

Benched but not beached. When Julie Lohre, fourth in fitness at the ’05 Europa Supershow, was sidelined with an injury, she decided to keep her bodyparts in the game with a temporary switch to figure. Bet she can’t wait till it’s time to switch back.

Photography by Ruth Silverman

Workin’ it. Sherie Salvadori, overall figure winner at last year’s Master’s Nationals, mixed it up with the other spring chickens.

There’s nothing like the crowded backstage quarters at the Soldiers and Sailors Hall to bring together huddled masses yearning to breathe free, like these NPC Pittsburgh figure competitors waiting for their quarter turn in the spotlight.

Perfectly posed. I don’t know about you, but I find it impossible to take a bad picture of Pauline Nordine.

Statuesque.

Sure, the fact that she’s over 5’7” has something to do with Valerie Waugaman’s claim to that adjective, but the Ohio restaurateur has that certain something that makes her stand out from the crowd.

Isaac Hinds \ Lift Studios

Speaking of Squeakers

In a move that left the “haters” on a certain popular Internet bodybuilding forum scratching their cursors to figure out where the fix was, the panel at the Colorado Pro, held a week after the Pittsburgh, chose popular pinup-on-the-rise Valerie Waugaman over Pittsburgh winner Jenny Lynn by a single point.

Lynn’s condition had sharpened up since the previous show, but the 5’7 1/2” Waugaman was herself much improved over her own previous performance, an eighthplace finish at the International in March.

The point in question took place once again in the two-piece round: Lynn got a unanimous first in the one-piece comparisons; Waugaman did likewise in the bikinis. Based on the photos, which you’ll find online at GraphicMuscle.com, I’d say the close score was dead on the money.

Hometown standout Christine Pomponio-Pate took the third spot, which left Tara Scotti, in fourth, picking up an Olympia invite because the top three were already qualified (I feel like the gal on “Medium”; see the item on page 280). Inga Neverauskaite rounded out the top five in the 24-woman chorus line, with Zena Collins, Gina Aliotti, Marcy Porter, Jeanette Freed and Zhanna Rotar, in order, taking sixth through 10th. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 281

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PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE COMERS

Onward to L.A.

CPP has her day

According to several sources, one of them being the lady herself, the judges’ comments for Colorado third-placer Christine Pomponio-Pate were that she’d have beaten at least one of the ladies who finished ahead of her if not for an unfortunate choice of tanning product. Two weeks later everything was rosy for the petite-but-sweet Christine, who brought her 5’1” package to the quarter-turning platform at the California Pro Figure in her leanest condition ever—100 pounds, she said—and beat the 31-woman field with a perfect score.

It was a tough lineup—a lot of competitors in great shape—but the judges knew what they liked: Latish Wilder and a pair of Ginas. Runner-up Gina CamaChristine Pomponio-Pate under wraps at cho was followed by Wilder, in the Cal. Want to see what she looked like onstage? Check out IM’s photo coverage at third, and Gina Aliotti a single www.GraphicMuscle.com. point behind her, in fourth. With the top three already on the Olympia roster—Camacho was second at the San Francisco Pro in March—Aliotti earned the so-called sliding qualification.

Michelle Flake got the last money spot (promoter Jon Lindsay whipped up prize money for the top five, not just the usual three), with Melissa Frabbielle, Zena Collins, Pauline Nordine, Marcy Porter and Zhanna Rotar, in sixth through 10th, managing to avoid being “totally overlooked” by the panel.

Overlooked Competitor of the Month

Isaac Hinds \ Lift Studios

CALIFORNIA PRO

Talk of the first half of May was that Inga Neverauskaite, sixth at the Pittsburgh Pro and fifth in Denver, was deserving of the O-word, as in overlooked. Now, there’s an expression that’s getting to be way overused. Face it: Anyone who can finish that high in lineups that big and that loaded with well-known names has definitely been noticed.

Considering the people I heard it from, though, I feel comfortable predicting that if the former Lithuanian, European and World champ, now living in the U.K., does her homework, she’ll be landing even higher in future outings.

U P DAT ES

And Now for Something

Scott DePanfilis \ www.BodytechUSA.com

2003. After a two-year layoff due to shoulder surgery she came back bigger and stronger, setting another world record at the ’06 APF Bench Wars in Lake George, New York, this time in the 165pound class.

Submasters, by the way, means ages 33 to 39, which makes Ramsey’s accomplishments all the more commendable. At an age when many women think of lifting in very different terms, she’s focused on more-pressing matters.

For more info on the many facets of this fascinating woman of iron, including her training credentials and services, go to www.AnitaRamsey.com.

Barry Brooks

The lifting sports continue to attract bodybuilding women of note. In New Jersey you have light-heavyweight luminaries Elena Sieple and Heather Lee racking up the numbers on the powerlifting circuit. Now comes a one-time New Jersey Heavyweight champ who’s traded the posing platform for a lifting platform. Anita Ramsey was a top amateur bodybuilder for more than a decade, winning her first contest, the NPC Boulder Championships, in 1988 and earning her highest title, overall champ at the prestigious Southern States, 10 years later. That same year, in ’98, she also took third in the hotly contested heavyweight class at the North American Championships. Nowadays Ramsey prefers hoisting iron to pumping it, specifically, her own personal search for the elusive biggest bench.

She started competing in sanctioned bench press contests and set a world record in the submasters 148-pound class at the IPA Halloween Bench Bash in

Completely different

Strong woman. In the old days (above) Anita exerted a different kind of power.

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M O R E R I S I N G S TA R S

Heather Lee

Speaking of

Isaac Hinds \ Lift Studios

Les Sidweber

Big Entrance

HOT PIX

Has it been a whole six months since we ran a photo of that ohso-hot Jersey woman of iron? Bodybuilding, powerlifting, strongman competition, bikini contests—what hasn’t she done? Funny you should ask, as the physique artist formerly known as Heather Hulseberg was telling folks earlier in the year that she’d be switching to figure in 2006—and dropping to lightweight on the lifting platform. One thing you can say about the ups and downs of this luscious-looking lady (pun intended): She’s a master at getting us to publish her picture.

For more fine photos of Heather, check out her Web site, www.Heather LeeNJ.com.

M OR E UPDAT ES

Gina Aliotti strode into her professional career by finishing seventh with a bullet at the Colorado Pro Figure and earned a ticket to the O at her second show, the Cal. Not bad considering that the 21-year-old San Diego State student is about the youngest figure pro on the circuit.

It didn’t hurt Aliotti’s mark on the visibility meter that she was featured in a very positive story on figure competition that was published in the Los Angeles Times a few days before the Cal. That lucky stroke came about when Times writer Jeannine Stein chose the 5’4 1/2” curly-locked brunette from among the locally based contestants who had Web sites (a point that should not be lost on competitors looking to make names for themselves) and had her photographed in the gym—evidence that Gina’s mainstream appeal isn’t just a figment of this writer’s imagination.

Keep your eye on this native of Monterey, California, as she makes her way down the runway of figure. With a head start and that kind of time on her side, there’s no telling how far she can go.

Selma Rocks On

Speaking of enterprising women who are full of surprises

Fitness and figure stalwart Selma McPherson has a habit of popping up where she’s not expected. At least I didn’t expect to find the vivacious McPherson, who came to the West Coast a few years back to pursue an acting career and took up the fitness lifestyle, to be wo-manning a booth all her own at the IRON MAN FitExpo last winter. Selma chose the Southern California health-and-fitness mega event, where she was a winner at our very first NPC IM Figure Championships, in 2003, to debut her newest creative venture, Chakrocks, a line of custom belts and accessories made from polished agate and other stones that are believed to have healing properties.

McPherson fashioned the belts so the agate sits on the hips at the location of the second chakra—one of seven Selma’s Chakrocks are funccenters of biophysical and metaphysical tional, beautiful and “designed energy residing in the human body, if I’m to enhance the balance of your reading Wilkipedia right. I don’t know spirit,” she says. about all that, but they are absolutely gorgeous. Each piece has a unique color and pattern—handmade by Mother Nature and realized by Selma. It’s a combination that’s hard to resist.

To read all about it, visit www.Chakrocks.com.

Comstock

Out of the gate. Gina Aliotti is walking the walk.

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PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE B A C K S TA G E F O L L I E S : P I T T S B U R G H E D I T I O N P H O T O G R A P H Y B Y R U T H S I LV E R M A N

“Hey, Cathy,” says Melissa.

“Let’s give her a little girl-girl action.”

Hey, Melissa.

You’ve been doing this too long.

Christine goes wild.

And all we said was, “Go boogabooga for the camera.”

Cookie jar. Danielle, Zena and Jenny bond over a bag of Oreos.

Christine goes wild, part 2. After several quality backstage hours the pro figure contestants are unleashed onstage.

S T I L L M O R E U P DAT E S

Another Hot Model Figuring things out

Photo courtesy of Tina Jo Orban

Tina Jo Orban (née Bagne), a popular face and form of the mid-’90s—much photographed by IM’s Michael Neveux—is still astonishing her fans after all these years.

The 5’5” brunette, who was raised in Hollywood but is now based in San Mateo, California, recently relaunched her Web site (TinaJoOrban .com) and got back into competition, on the figJolie ure circuit, in time to win and the top trophy at the ’05 Tina Jo. INBA/ABA World Natural Figure Championships last October. That’s not all the former Playboy bunny has been up to, however.

Here she is posing with her trophy—and then-two-yearold daughter, Jolie Orban—after her win.

“Holy poo-poo!” says Mike, “I can’t believe Michelle finished out of the top 10.” She’ll get ’em next time, Mike. We guarantee it (see page 282).

MEDIA MUSINGS

Speaking of the online haters I’ve got to tell this story. Recently, another physique magazine featured some of the best-looking fitness and figure pros in its annual swimsuit layout, and one member at a popular forum started a thread asking what others thought of it, not mentioning who the models were. Amid the laudatory comments (and there were many—pretty girls in a hot-for-a-Wal-Mart-approvedmagazine layout; what’s not to like?)—came a jarring voice: “It is a complete failure, it is just worth $0.… Let them feature real fitness, figure or bodybuilder competitors not the b-tch types.”

Huh? People jumped right on the remark, assuming its veracity and further bashing the magazine. A moderator on the board, one whose résumé includes the word Olympia, finally jumped in to correct the member’s misinformation.

Oh, I know the boards provide endless amusement for untold millions (thousands?), myself included, as well as being a good source of real—and unreal—information, but You can contact sheesh: Shouldn’t you Ruth Silverman, know something is true fitness reporter before you blurt it out and Pump & Cirlike that into the public cumstance scribe, discussion? Guess I in care of know too many people IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., who think their opinions are fact to not know the Oxnard, CA 93033; or via e-mail at answer to that. ironwman@aol.com.

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Neveux

The devil made her do it. Oh, come on, Rebecca.

Everyone knows that you and Karen are a couple of angels.

Making Muscle with Jesse Marunde

At 315 Pounds He’s One Mighty American Strongman

Story and Photography by Randall J. Strossen, Ph.D.

I

f you like numbers, here are a few: Jesse Marunde is 26 years old and 6’5” and weighs about 315 pounds. What you can’t quantify is that he’s arguably the biggest American star to hit the strongman circuit in a long time. Beyond being an outstanding exemplar of the distinct mix of strength sport and entertainment that defines strongman competition, Marunde has the brains to understand and articulate what he does, combined with a charisma that makes people listen to what he says, so he’s going to help take what was once lumped into the category of “trash sports” and move it toward the mainstream.

With that much on his plate, it’s no wonder that Jesse hits the office early. Marunde trains twice a day, beginning with a morning workout that primes the pump for the heavy stuff in the afternoon. “I don’t drink coffee—this is my coffee,” he says of his morning workout, which is relatively light and designed to help chase away the residual soreness from the previous night’s training, as well as generally energize him for the frontal assault that’s coming again later that day.

Morning: Light-toModerate Workout Maybe it starts at around 6 a.m., with Marunde hitting three sets of reverse hypers, followed by three sets of situps. Then he grabs an empty weightlifting bar and does 10 squats, followed immediately by 10 reps of deadlifts, military presses, snatches, jerks, good mornings, upright rows and bent-over rows, followed by some stretching movements; for example, stretching with the bar as he holds it overhead in the snatch position. After that prelude the actual morning workout begins.

•Sliding a five-kilogram plate on each end of the bar, Marunde does three sets of 20 reps of what he calls barbell jumping jacks, with the bar resting on his shoulders.

Starting with a shoulder-width grip and a narrow stance, he jumps and kicks his feet out to the sides while he slides his hands to a wide grip position, in a movement that looks just like a conventional jumping jack Marunde did a very respectable

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stint as a weightlifter, so you’re going to see a lot of snatch- and clean-and-jerkrelated movements in his training, and his morning workout includes a lot of submaximal Olympic-style weightlifting moves. He sees great carryover value.

“Olympic lifting requires coordination, flexibility, speed and explosive power—essential elements to being an elite strongman,” Marunde says.

There’s a big rehabilitation component to the morning workouts, as he is working through the stiffness and soreness that followed the heavy training he did the night before.

•Next comes a clean sequence that includes a power clean and a military press, followed by a high hang clean and a push press, followed by a low hang clean and a jerk.

Moving up in 10-kilogram jumps, he works up to about 120 kilograms in that sequence.

•Muscle snatches followed by two hang snatches are next, working up to about 100 kilograms.

•Front squats polish off the morning lifts; he works up to a single with 160 kilograms.

•Thirty minutes of kickboxing done hard enough “to keep my heart rate up” finishes things off.

The purpose of the morning workouts is to create more energy for the heavy evening workout, Marunde explains, and while his morning workout changes all the time, its role as a revitalizer remains constant.

He’s the guy who popularized the push jerk in strongman. Jesse says he began using this style because it was the only way he could be competitive on the overhead lifts, given that he’s not the world’s top presser.

Evening Heavy Workout When evening comes around, the heavy workout begins.

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With an eye toward bulking up, Jesse based his diet around raw milk, organic vegetables, wild salmon and grass-fed beef.

MONDAY •Drop snatches to start

he says, so don’t think all those heavy singles disappear when a competition is drawing near.

•Power cleans, up to 160 or 170 kilograms

TUESDAY

•Light front squats, up to 180 kilograms

•Heavy power snatches, never going above doubles in his work sets and working up to 140 kilograms for a double or sometimes a single with 160 kilograms

•Sandbag carries: three sets down a 300-foot course, carried like a Husafell stone Jesse says that he isn’t sure exactly how much it weighs, but he uses an IronMind sandbag, and he says it’s completely filled and packed tight with sand, so we’d guess it’s somewhere north of 300 pounds.

“I’m not afraid to train heavy the week of a competition, and sometimes I’ll do a maximum single a couple of days before a show,”

•Heavy back squats, 5x5, not counting warmups—this is five work sets of five reps each, going up to about 500 pounds totally raw “I wish I could do more, but that’s all I’ve got,” Marunde says apologetically. “I wish I were squatting 650x5, but I’m not.”

Marunde will go to 700 for a double if he’s suited up. “If it were up to me, all strongman would be raw,” he said, “but it’s not, and I need all the help I can get”—which explains why you might see him stuffed into a squat suit at a strongman contest.

Generally, though, expect to see Marunde hitting it raw; he might do a whole week’s training without a belt.

•Front squats: two sets of 140 kilograms for 15 reps each •Very heavy ab work with an ab wheel to strengthen the Marunde midsection •Sled work: two 200-foot sled drags, using handles, pulling while going backward; one 200www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 289

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“Frankly, I’m the full package,” says Marunde, explaining that the combination he brings to the table includes both power and stamina.

world-class hand strength, and even though he’s quite casual about it, Marunde is one of the very few people who can simultaneously close a No. 3 Captains of Crush Gripper in each hand.

[For more on these grippers, visit www.IronMind.com.]

If Wednesday was pretty easy, “Thursday is the toughest workout of the week,” Marunde says.

THURSDAY •Heavy power cleans, working up to 160 kilograms for three sets of two reps •Deadlifts, 462 pounds for 20 reps •Seated military presses, 315 pounds for two reps •A kettlebell routine that Jesse describes as “extremely demanding”: a 130-pound kettlebell cleaned and pressed for five reps in each hand, alternating hands, followed by 10 bent-over rows and then 10 high pulls, alternating hands. The second time through this routine, Jesse does only the clean and presses and the high pulls. Next, he grabs a 90-pound kettlebell and does 10 swings with each hand and 10 high pulls with each hand.

foot sled drag going forward, hooked in a hip belt rather than a shoulder harness, to work the legs more

WEDNESDAY •Light snatches, up to 100 kilograms for three sets of three reps •Lat work with a variety of different grips, including pipes, softballs and a two-inch revolving bar •Eight sets of chins, doing two

sets each using different grips •Some bent-over rows may be thrown in Jesse says that this is a pretty easy day and that he includes all the grip work because to be a strongman, “you have to have a great grip. You are only as strong as what you can hold on to, so having strong hands is the most important thing. It’s true in all sports.”

This is not idle chatter: Jesse Marunde was the first teenager ever certified on the No. 3 Captains of Crush Gripper, the standard of

•Sandbag squats: three sets of 20 reps, which Jesses describes as “very challenging,” since he’s already very winded at this point

FRIDAY •Light snatches, working up to 100 kilograms •A back squat followed by a push press behind the neck, working up to 190 kilograms, a movement that Jesse describes as “squat into the hole and then explode up into an overhead lift” •Light power cleans from the

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hang, 130 kilograms for three reps

•Stones: warmup set with “five light rocks,” five reps with 240 pounds, then five reps with, progressively, 305, 325, 335, 355 and 325 pounds, all to a 54-inch box. Training inside, Jesse says that he loads a 385-pound stone to a 60-inch box and then the same 385-pound stone to a 72inch box. Next, he does a series of singles with stones weighing 305, 325, 335, 240 (rest weight) and 325 pounds (last heavy one).

SATURDAY No morning workout; at midday Jesse does events: •Progressive: five sets of farmer’s walk, 150 feet, starting with 200 pounds in each hand and working up to 313 pounds in each hand “You can get fantastic in strongman by training only on events,” Marunde says, but it’s always true that “to get better, you need to do more.”

•Yoke: four 100-foot walks with 600 pounds, very easy

Incidentally, all of Jesse’s training on the stones is done without using tacky, which he reserves for competition.

•Tire flip: 900 pounds, “20 flips, and then I collapse.”

•Viking presses: three sets of 10 with about 330 pounds at the handles

“If you are doing 20 shows a year, you can’t do your maximum deadlift in each show, and max deadlifts don’t work for TV—a race format is more exciting for the crowd. If I ever win World’s Strongest Man, I won’t claim to be the strongest man in the world but the best strongman in the world.”

SUNDAY •Kickboxing for 1 1/2 hours Jesse says that he always trains to do his best in shows, so he favors crisp, perfect raw form as well as training under the worst conditions; for example, he once power-jerked 495 pounds at 9:30 p.m. standing in a gravel driveway using rickety squat stands and a bent bar.

“Getting sloppy is allowable in competition, but what you do in training should be as perfect as possible,” he says. Also, he’ll lighten up if necessary. “My alternative to not doing it is to just do it light.”

“I’m not afraid to lift light—not afraid to walk into a commercial gym and train light. I’ll never not train—I will just back off.”

Jesse says he doesn’t hide from his weaknesses. “Presses and squats have always been the two lifts that I struggled with the most.” As a result he works on them the most. “More of the same will make you better.”

Incidentally, just so you understand what he’s talking about as his relative strengths and weaknesses, Jesse says that he can military-press 325 for five reps and jerk 500 from the front.

In addition, Jesse is the guy who really helped popularize the push jerk in strongman, but he explains that he didn’t do it simply because he came from a weightlifting background: “Push-jerking the log— I did it because it was the only way I could lift enough weight [overhead] to be competitive.”

Talking about the strongman contests, Marunde says that the purists choose events “to test strength in the best fashion, but everyone has different ideas,” Marunde has his opinions about what works and what doesn’t. ”If you are doing 20 shows a year, you can’t do your maximum deadlift in each show, and max deadlifts don’t work for TV—a race format is more exciting for the crowd.”

Thus, Marunde sees that instead of featuring just a series of maximum lifts, the key is to create a new sport, strongman, which recognizes those factors. “In my opinion, this is why the World’s Strongest Man contest is so successful,” he says. “On our field of play, we’re the best.”

“If I ever win World’s Strongest Man, I won’t claim to be the strongest man in the world but the best strongman in the world.”

Over the past three years Marunde has grown from a 270pound stripling to a 315-pounder, and fueling that journey has been three pounds of Grassland beef a day, plus one pound of Vital Choice Seafood, along with a gallon of raw milk. “I am lucky to live in a farm community, so I can eat all organic vegetables,” he says. [GrassLandBeef.com and VitalChoice.com are featured in Muscle “In” Sites on page 358.]

Reflecting the demands of his sport, Marunde, although massive, combines strength and stamina.

Never at a loss for words, he says, “Frankly, I’m the full package,” referring to his ability to mix power with the endurance to chug along rep after rep. Incidentally, Jesse Marunde is the kind of guy who makes that kind of statement without sounding like a hot air balloon—which helps to explain his star power in strongman.

Editor’s note: Randall Strossen is the author of five books and is the president of IronMind Enterprises, which provides “Tools of the Trade for Serious Strength Athletes™.”

IronMind is known worldwide for Super Squats, Captains of Crush grippers and MILO: A Journal for Serious Strength Athletes, among its hundreds of products. For more information on IronMind, please visit www.IronMind.com. IM

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Only the Strong Shall Survive

Short Quick-Hit Circuit Training Can Spark New Results

by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux There are several good reasons for using the circuit system of training, at least for part of the year. Whenever I suggest that someone try using a circuit for a while, he generally assumes that I mean working out on a series of machines. Not exactly. While machines can be used quite effectively for circuit training, so can free weights, both barbells and dumbbells, as well as a combination of free weights and various machines.

Most athletes decide to employ the circuit system rather than another training method because they’re short on time. Instead of having to spend an hour and a half in the weight room, they can zip through a circuit in one-third the usual training time.

Another big plus of the circuit system is that when you do it properly, you work the muscles and corresponding attachments of the body proportionately.

That makes circuit training ideal for beginners, older athletes, those who train to maintain a high level of fitness, women and youngsters.

The main reason it is particularly beneficial to anyone just starting a weight-training routine is that it doesn’t let one area move too far ahead of any other. Maintaining a balance between bodyparts is necessary at all levels, but especially in the beginning, when you establish the foundation for all future gains.

The circuit is equally useful to those getting back into heavy training after an extended layoff. People in that group are very anxious to return to lifting their former numbers on all the exercises, and they attack the weights too rapidly. They don’t allot sufficient time for muscle groups that respond at a slower rate than others. When a certain bodypart starts to lag way behind, sore spots, dings and troublesome injuries start occurring. Everyone fully understands that nothing hinders progress more than an injury.

An overlooked positive side effect of using the circuit system is that it can enhance cardiovascular and respiratory capacity while improving strength—if, that is, you move through the workout quickly. That’s the key. You must move from station to station with little or no rest in between.

The accepted guideline for an aerobic activity is that your pulse rate must be elevated to 60 to 90 percent of maximum, with age and level of fitness the determining factors, and held there for a minimum of 20 to 30 minutes, depending on which authority you agree with. I happen to like the longer period, and most workouts take at least a half hour. You can meet both of those conditions easily by doing a circuit on the machines or with free weights—or by mixing the two.

Machines let you change resistance much faster

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It’s best to use exercises in your circuit that hit multiple muscle groups rather than more isolated movements like lateral raises. Efficiency of effort is key. than you can with free weights—unless you’re using dumbbells and have a long row of them at your disposal. The downside is that machines are not as effective in building strength in the attachments, and in most fitness facilities the machines you want to use are generally the most popular. If you have to wait around for an extended period, you lose the aerobic edge.

If you train at home, setting up several stations and moving through them in a fast pace poses no problem. However, if you train in a commercial facility, you may often find it difficult to perform a circuit because you can’t control the environment.

One way around that is to train when there’s slow traffic in the gym.

Whenever I wanted to get in a quick workout and planned on doing a circuit, I’d get to the weight room at 2:30 or three in the afternoon. The crowd didn’t show up till after four, which left me ample time to set up my stations and zip through my routine.

A circuit that emphasizes strength will improve all levels of fitness, including endurance, even if you choose not to hurry through the

session. That’s another reason I like a circuit for youngsters. While they’re getting stronger, they’re also improving their aerobic capacities.

I know that’s true because I’ve observed it countless times.

I was staying with Lani Bal in Carmel, California. I ran twice a week and lifted four days a week. Lani expressed a desire to start training with me. Back home on Maui, he frequently hiked through Haleakala crater and lava tubes down the mountain to Hana, a grueling trek of more than 20 miles through jungle and some treacherous terrain.

He wanted to improve his overall strength as well as his cardiovascular base, since he often carried a heavy pack.

He joined me on Sunday at the Carmel High School track to begin his program. I usually ran the roads, but I wanted a measured course in order to know exactly how far he ran. Even though I maintained a slow pace, after only half a mile he was toast. The next day he started his strength work. Bailey’s Gym in Monterey catered to a working-class clientele, so we trained in midafternoon and had the place all to

ourselves. Lani did the Big Three in a circuit—bench, squat, and power clean. Working quickly, although not really fast due to his lack of conditioning, he made increases and at each session was able to move through his workout at a faster pace.

For a month all he did was weight work—no running at all. I told him that if he improved his strength to a considerable degree, he’d be able to handle the aerobic work much more easily and that he should put his energy into the lifting for four weeks.

He kept a record of all of his workouts, and after he had improved all his lifts by at least 40 percent, I encouraged him to take another shot at running.

He covered two miles on the Carmel track; we moved at a much faster speed. There was no doubt that he could have gone even further, but I had him stop because he’d improved considerably, and I knew that the amount of increase was taxing his knees and ankles.

Fitness experts often overlook a very important fact regarding the aerobic benefits of strength training: Someone who makes the large muscle groups, along with the cor-

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Yes, separating weight training and cardio is the norm, but combining them every so often in a circuit routine is a great change of pace that can stimulate new gains.

Model: Tamer Elshahat

responding attachments, stronger is going to be able to participate in any physical activity much longer, and that includes aerobic activities.

Increase leg strength, and you’ll be able to run, swim, row, bike or hike longer and faster—and also recover more rapidly.

I’ve received letters from readers asking for advice concerning their circuit routines. The problem most were having was that they weren’t gaining any strength, or at least not as much as they wanted. The trouble was basic—they were doing far too many exercises in a workout to produce positive strength results.

It’s true that if you move from exercise to exercise expeditiously, you’ll derive aerobic benefits. At the same time, too many exercises per session will limit strength gains. There’s only so much energy to go around, and when you spread it out over 12 or 15 movements, you just aren’t going to make significant progress.

When I asked why they included so many exercises in one day, they answered that they wanted to cover all the bases. Makes sense on paper but not in reality. If your goal is to get stronger while doing the circuit system, limit your core exercises to three—never more than four—and your auxiliary exercises to three.

You can put more effort into three exercises than you can a dozen or so. By selecting lifts that hit multiple bodyparts, you can cover all your bases while getting a great deal stronger.

For example, the power clean works all the muscles of the back, hips and legs and many in the shoulder girdle. No need to break the various bodyparts down and use separate movements for them. Plus, there’s lots of variety to choose from.

You can change your exercise selections often—at every workout if you so desire. Just keep your routines simple, working the exercises hard and heavy, and you’ll achieve positive results.

Let’s say that your goal in weight training is to maintain a certain level of strength fitness and you’re not really interested in pushing the numbers up—the case with many 50-, 60- and 70-year-olds. Doing a circuit of a dozen exercises is okay, and in some cases the smart approach. In contrast to performing

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Going through a circuit quickly fits nicely on a light day. Work fast, and you’ll have to use less weight.

only a few exercises with heavier poundages, doing a lot forces you to use less weight. That’s desirable for older athletes who have a history of joint problems, arthritis or osteochondritis. The exercise flushes blood to the joints and feeds the cartilage without being stressful. For that group of athletess I also recommend higher reps to help keep the weights even lighter.

So if your goal in using the circuit system of strength training is to keep your bones and joints healthy while maintaining a higher-than-average level of strength so you can enjoy taking long walks, riding bike trails or playing golf, more exercises is the route to take.

By moving through the routine with purpose, you’ll also be improving your cardiovascular and respiratory systems. Published reports have stated that those who exercise diligently three or four times a week for at least 30 minutes have 50 percent less chance of heart and circulatory problems than those who are sedentary.

I’m aware that many athletes prefer to separate their aerobic training from their lifting and don’t feel the need to rush through the circuit.

That’s what I do. Yet I also know that when I go through my

weight workout at a quicker pace than usual, I’m stimulating my muscles and attachments in a different fashion and that’s always beneficial.

While you may not want to work fast when you do a circuit on a regular basis, it’s to your advantage to do so periodically, just to jar your body a bit. It’s an easy way to gain strength.

Going through a circuit quickly fits nicely on a light day. You should be working fast on those days anyway, and because you’re handling less weight, relatively speaking, than you do on the heavy and medium days, moving through the stations rapidly is no problem. Condensing the time it takes to complete a workout aids your quest for greater strength and overall fitness.

Circuits with a few core exercises are ideal in-season workouts for athletes who compete several times during the week, as basketball, volleyball, baseball and lacrosse players do. Training during the season is essential if the athletes want to retain the strength they’ve gained in the off-season. At the same time they have to be careful to not do too much in the weight room because that can affect their performance on the field or on the court.

What athletes do in the weight room in-season must be balanced by what they do in practice or while participating in contests. The circuit is the perfect solution. It can be done in a very short time, which is really the most important consideration, and it enables them to handle heavy weights and retain or even gain strength. Not to mention the bonus of aerobic benefits.

One spring I had a group of baseball players at Hopkins who did a fast circuit religiously, sometimes four times a week. They never lifted on a game day but would train a few hours prior to practice or immediately after it. They worked in teams.

After setting up three stations— squat, power cleans and either flat bench or incline—one would move from station to station while his teammates made the weight changes. That enabled the lifter to train at a very fast clip. Five sets of five would be completed in 15 minutes or less.

On some days I had them take short breaks before their fourth and fifth sets so they could use more weight.

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Circuit training is good for younger and older trainees because it hits the muscles and cardio capacity at the same time.

Then they’d switch roles, with the lifter becoming the loader and so on until the entire group had done the circuit. The loaders also took on the duty of cheerleader, and the encouragement had a positive effect on the lifter. They swore by the circuit, and every player who trained regularly in-season made strength gains.

When the playoffs rolled around, they were primed and ready.

For athletes who decide to use a circuit in-season, I recommend staying with three core exercises, one each for the shoulder girdle, back and hips and legs. Start with three sets of five for each exercise.

Increase to four, then five sets of five. Stay with that set-and-rep pattern throughout the season, and try to move the top-end weights up. Leave the smaller groups, such as biceps, triceps and calves, alone until the season is over. More often than not, the extra work causes an athlete to overtrain.

If you’re not participating in a sport, you can work both large and small muscle groups in a circuit, although not at the same time. Work the major groups just as outlined, and then turn your attention to the smaller muscles with another circuit. Three exercises are enough for the auxiliary circuit. Keep in mind that you’ve already worked the smaller muscles to some degree when you hit the larger groups. So two—and never more than three— sets will be plenty. You also need to keep the reps fairly high—15s and 20s. You’ve taxed the attachments with the primary exercises. Your purpose in doing something for the smaller groups is to improve muscle strength, and you can accomplish that with higher reps.

You can do the same primary exercises at every workout if you want, or you can change them around to build variety into your routine.

Select the auxiliary movements according to your needs, by which I mean your weaker points. Let’s say your legs are lagging behind your back and shoulder girdle, strengthwise. For your secondary circuit do leg curls, leg extensions and adductors for two sets of 20 or three sets of 15.

In the event that your muscle groups are all basically equal in strength, select auxiliary exercises

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Only the Strong Shall Survive

If you train at home, setting up a few stations and training through them quickly is an ideal time-saving workout. that are nonantagonistic. That forces the blood to circulate more rapidly, which is helpful in promoting health and fitness. An example might be a combination of dumbbell curls and calf raises on a machine; dumbbell inclines and leg extensions; or straight-arm pullovers and back hyperextensions.

I take advantage of the circuit system when I travel. The brief workout helps me maintain the critical discipline of consistency and doesn’t take a great deal of time or effort. After I’ve been driving most of the day, a heavy workout isn’t that appealing, while a short session with moderated weights is most invigorating.

Even if you don’t feel the need to incorporate the circuit system into your yearly schedule, it’s still a good idea to have at least one circuit in your training repertoire.

Somewhere down the line it will come in handy when you find yourself pressed for time. It’s also useful should you decide that you need a change in your routine to jolt your body and mind out of their complacent states. Therefore, it’s smart to at least learn how to put together a

circuit workout for future use, After doing the circuit system for a while, you realize that your topend numbers on the core exercises have leveled off. At that point start working all the sets for the core exercises in the conventional manner, one after the other. That’s necessary if you want to improve on those lifts. You can and should, however, stay with a circuit for your auxiliary movements.

Remember that the circuit system, like an old friend, is always there when you need it. The circuit is a simple, effective way of improving strength and overall conditioning in a condensed fashion. It’s useful in many situations and can be done with a variety of equipment in a limited space and in a short period of time. Not many training methods can make that claim.

Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a strength and conditioning coach at Johns Hopkins University from 1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The Strongest Shall Survive and Defying Gravity. IM

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World Class Confidence better competitor. You can apply the same principle to all aspects of your life.

Great competitors have a burning sense of self-confidence: They are “I think I can do this” people—people who, when presented a challenge, assess it and conclude that they can master it. As you would guess, poor competitors tend to be less well developed in that area: They’re the ones who always hear a little voice whispering, “I’m not sure you can do this,” or even worse, “You’re going to fail.”

If it sounds as if the great competitors are more likely to be optimists and the poor competitors are more likely to be Optimism can feed pessimists, that’s because it’s true, and your inner champion. the difference in psychological orientation leads to profoundly different perceptions and results. Successful competitors remain hopeful that they can master the situation even if things look grim at the moment; they’re the guys who might start in the last row of an auto race, but their unswerving belief in their abilities sustains them as they knock off car after car. Unsuccessful competitors, on the other hand, might start from the pole, but somehow they just know that something is going to go wrong, and it does. Great competitors know they’ll find a way to succeed, and poor competitors know they’ll find a way to fail. Both are right.

In case you’re trying to sort out where your self-confidence stands, consider the following questions: Do you tend to be sad, depressed or lonely? Do you tend to doubt yourself? Do you feel uncomfortable in social situations and find it difficult to meet new people? Do you frequently feel misunderstood? If you’d generally answer “yes” to those questions, you’re probably pretty low in self-confidence; and if you’d generally answer “no,” you’re probably pretty high in self-confidence.

Having low levels of self-confidence often keeps you from getting into competitive situations in the first place. “Why should I enter?” you say to yourself. “I’ll only get beaten.” In fact, if you’re low in

ompetition brings out the best in some people; for others it’s an added pressure that crushes them. There are athletes who set all their personal records in lifting contests and often advance in the final placings because they come through with a clutch lift, frequently one that’s heavier than they have ever even attempted before. Then there are lifters who seem to fold in the face of competition and perform well below their capabilities. Let’s take a closer look at what separates the two groups and see how you can become a

C

Keith Berson \ Competitor: Jesse Marunde

IRONMIND

Mind

308 AUGUST 2006 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Body self-confidence, you’ll tend to avoid all manner of risk—which will be a sure ticket to a boring, unfulfilled life. If you’re low on self-confidence and get into a competitive situation, you’ll probably throw in the towel early on. Objectively speaking, you’ll quit way before you really have to, and why not? You “know” that you’re incapable of succeeding, so why struggle in vain?

If you have high levels of self-confidence, you’ll seek out challenges; after all, you expect to succeed. If things go wrong, as they almost certainly will some of the time, you not only don’t fold your tent, you gird your loins and mount a rally of great intensity. To help you in your battle, there are a number of psychological techniques you can use to your advantage.

Be aware of your thoughts, watching out for negative ones and eliminating them as they pop up.

To get rid of the negative thoughts, you might only have to think about them rationally, and they’ll disappear. For example, if you need a 525-pound deadlift to win the contest and the weight scares you, remind yourself that you’ve already done 520, and another five pounds won’t even be noticeable. If you need a little more power in dealing with negative thoughts, use positive affirmations to build a positive outlook. Get yourself psyched to the eyeballs by reminding yourself of your past accomplishments, that you achieve your goals. Continue in that manner until you absolutely know you can handle the situation.

It will help if, prior to your competition, you spend some time relaxing and visualizing yourself succeeding. Using mental rehearsal before competition will make tapping into it easier just before the heat of battle.

Do you think this is all so much psychobabble, with little relationship to the world of heavy weights? Consider Germany’s Marc Huster, a world champion weightlifter, and how he performed at the Atlanta Olympics.

Coming into the competition, Huster was expected to have a ferocious battle for the gold medal with Greece’s Pyrros Dimas. Huster missed his opening snatch, a devastating start, managed to make it on his second attempt and then missed his third attempt. In the meantime Dimas had not only made

three perfect lifts but had also broken Olympic and world records in the process. Barring a catastrophic mistake by or injury to Dimas, Huster’s chances of winning the competition were effectively zero, and in a world that divides the universe into the gold medalists vs. all others, Huster could reasonably have been crushed.

Before coming out for the clean and jerk, however, Huster had a little chat with himself. He told himself that he hadn’t done well in the snatch, but that was over, and things were going to start anew with the clean and jerk. He reminded himself of the ’93 World Championships, when he’d rallied for a world record in the clean and jerk. He told himself that his training had been going well.

He formed mental images of Having low himself succeeding. When he levels of selfcame out for his first clean and confidence jerk, he was ready for a big often keeps you fight. from getting Once again, Dimas was picinto competitive ture perfect and pocketed his situations. second Olympic gold medal, not to mention a million-dollar payday, for his performance.

Among other things, Dimas’ last lift set a new world record in the clean and jerk. Nothing could top his performance. Or could it? Huster, who’d made his first two attempts, still had one attempt remaining after Dimas was finished, and when he called for a world record, he rocked the hall in Atlanta.

When he made the lift, in grand fashion, it stood as one of the most tremendous comeback efforts you’ll ever see in strength sports, because where most others would have crashed and burned, Huster rose to the occasion and soared to new heights.

Not every self-confident person can become a world champion, but every world champion is a self-confident person.

—Randall Strossen, Ph.D. Editor’s note: Randall Strossen, Ph.D., edits the quarterly magazine MILO. He’s also the author of IronMind: Stronger Minds, Stronger Bodies; Super Squats: How to Gain 30 Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks and Paul Anderson: The Mightiest Minister. For more information call IronMind Enterprises Inc. at (530) 265-6725 or Home Gym Warehouse at (800) 447-0008, ext. 1. You can also visit the IronMind Web site at www.ironmind.com.

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Bomber Blast

MIND/BODY

Rock Around the Clock

Y

ou can loose a man from the millstone that binds him, but you can’t prevent him from hauling it to his shoulder, lugging it everywhere he goes and rejoicing. Four consecutive days off from weightlifting is my limit, and those I confine to special occasions. There are valid and invalid reasons for tight training control. Not one is original, and I respect them all.

You know how it goes: If I miss my workout...

I lose everything I trained so hard for.

My muscles shrink by the minute.

I get fat, round and smooth.

My strength leaks from my body like air from a worn retread.

The world becomes a frightening place.

I can’t think, make decisions or get out of bed.

I wanna pull my hair out.

I feel sluggish and have no appetite.

Unresolved stress haunts my soul, and I cannot stop eating.

I miss the gym, the sounds, the smells and the movement of metal.

I long for the pump and burn and exhilaration of a great workout.

I crave the order and rhythm and fulfillment of a thorough training session.

I want to crush things that get in my way.

People follow me and talk behind my back. (You’ve gotta believe me.)

I get headaches, nosebleeds and hallucinations.

I drool, I mutter, I wet my pants.

Returning to the gym after an extended layoff is numbing and nauseating and is probably the best reason for not suspending training. I cannot put into words the dull and defeated feelings I’ve suffered as I’ve picked up the bar and performed the first reps of the first sets after too much time away from the weights. Why did I let go? That dismal picture is exceeded only by the void and guilt felt during the layoff itself.

Oh, if only I had not abandoned my workouts, how much better life would be.

Neveux \ Model: Randy Vogelzang

Think twice before taking a layoff. Unless you’re hemorrhaging, bound and gagged or unconscious, don’t withdraw from lifting.

Layoffs, payoffs and such

Doctor! Over here! This man needs oxygen.

Reluctant yet insistent, I concentrate on the past to recall those cheerless occasions and the obvious question swirls through my mind: Why bother? Alas, much instruction is gained from past suffering. Savor the lesson and apply the learning; hate not the teacher or the classroom.

In a recent conversation I taped with Bill Pearl for a DVD production, Bill framed with considerable care and emphasis a testament about training layoffs. As if time stood still and sound was eliminated, the man, who speaks only truth, gained my attention.

“Do not lay off!”—accompanied by lightning and thunder—was the essence of his testimony.

Three decades ago, amid 60 years of training, Bill was determined to develop an ambitious gym business and devoted eight solid months to the project. During that time he exhausted himself, lost connection with the things that mattered, compromised his vigor, might and muscular dynamics and the cheer that fueled his being. He saw it happening, ground his way through it and came out the other side knowing it would never happen again...ever.

“Dave, if you can’t take your training with you, it’s not worth going there.”

How many bombers, strong and determined as they might be, are undergoing the same regrettable pain and turmoil today?

Falling into a training chasm is a catastrophe, and groping for purchase as you tumble to the bottom can be a severe and lonely deed.

Are you getting my subtle message, dear friends? Think twice before taking a layoff. Unless you’re hemorrhaging, bound and gagged or unconscious, don’t withdraw from lifting. It’s bad for you, the family and the neighborhood. Be strong and carry on.

Yeah, I know: the job, the kids, the spouse, the traffic, the fever and the bone protruding from your rib cage. Oh, the obstacles and sharp downward turns we face each day. Release your grip on training, though, and you release your grip on life. Let your workouts suffer, and the world suffers with you. Cast off the iron and you set yourself adrift. There’s enough burning hopelessness surrounding us without adding to the smoldering debris.

Careful, Draper; your dark side is showing. We’re just talking about a little time from the gym to rest, regroup and repair. That, of course, is fine, providing it does not lead to another day or two or three, whereupon you becomes lost, abandoned and atrophied, another rusting relic littering an untraveled prairie highway, a lifeless bony mass beneath circling vultures, a long-vacated shed leaning in an untilled field. Pick up your tools, man, lift that iron, and push that steel.

A little time off is for clocks without hands or a young lad’s outgrown Mickey Mouse watch or a grandfather clock whose pendulum no longer swings.

Go to the gym, review your training as you train, consider your ways as you make your way, rethink your exercises as you perform them, and note your responses to them. Are you tired? Then train to stimulate only. Blue? Have fun with your favorite movements.

Ailing? Go lightly through the motions. Achy? Warm up and follow your nose. Injured? Work around the darn things. Downright fed up, disappointed, frustrated and bored? Tough! Do it right! Blast it!

Need the time for a project? Train in the early morning, making it short and sweet.

Periodic layoffs for R ’n’ R make me nervous. You hit a flow of workouts for an appreciable length of time and reward yourself— and your small gang (girlfriend, boyfriend, cat, dog, family)—with a delicious training holiday. You’re about to return to action after

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unbridled freedom, and you fall off your bikey. The wrist must mend: a week off. You pack your gym bag once again for a comeback, and your boss emphatically recommends you visit Chicago to attend a weeklong seminar. Great, the Holiday Inn has a treadmill and recumbent bike. No problem. You return home in time for Thanksgiving, Easter or Christmas and the in-laws’ annual migration. They’re like Icelandic geese or North African coastal baboons, very predictable, dependable and noisy, and, if they find a desirable environment en route, they stay for weeks at a time. Hi, how are you, we missed you so much, we’ll sleep on the couch, the refrigerator is where it always is.

Now it’s been almost two months since your training was flowing—or your blood for that matter—and you’ve got a baby pouch to prove it to the stupid, uncompromising world at your door, darn it all. See what I mean?

No, I save layoffs for special times: wars, famine, earthquakes, floods, plagues and invasions from outer space. Layoffs are like dropping dollars in slot machines at roadside stands on your way to Vegas. Not me. I’d rather stick it in my fuel tank despite the cost of gasoline, get where I’m going and drive around town with the top down—see the sights, pick up some rays and let the desert wind cool my moist skin.

Newcomers to the engagement of weight training and shaping up are most susceptible to the grief of layoffs. I observe beginners who embark upon training, and my heart aches ’cuz I suspect they won’t last. I reprimand myself for the secret negative thought, as if my doubt was contributing to their failure. Swell! Now I think they’re a failure and it’s my fault, and I feel guilty, and all they want to do is ride the stationary bike and read the newspaper.

Excuse me, bombers. The peculiar mind-set I exhibit discharges a cascade of ramifications, which I need to expose and clarify.

One: I generalize and judge, scooping the newcomer into one lumpy package—a probable failure. Two: I’m overly sensitive and suffer an aching heart—how weak.

Three: I absurdly imagine I have some negative voodoo power over the beginning trainee’s choice to train or not to train. Four: I punish myself, if only vaguely, for my lack of support. Five: guilt paralyzes my cerebral cortex—I’m guessing here—and upsets my hormonal balance. And, six, assessing and analyzing them and me gives me a headache, and thus, seven, I lose my focus and pump. I’m a wreck.

I think I need a layoff, but I’m opposed to such a waste of time and effort. Let’s see. Where was I? After 1,400 words I lose my train of thought and expect no one is reading anymore anyway, so what diff does it make? And since 1,500 is my goal, I’ll just tap away at whatever keys get in the way.

If overtraining is your rationale for taking a juicy layoff, I strongly suggest you reaffirm your evaluation of overtraining. Sometimes it’s simple fatigue from good hard training, and we need to improve our anabolic environment with right eating and sound rest. Repair and recuperation are major processes and require our devoted attention. Bomber Blend, Super Spectrim and lots of sleep are good for the bones and muscles, the aches and energy levels, the strength and the mood.

I tend to overtrain occasionally and find backing off my training intensity for a day or two cures the ailment. If that doesn’t do it, I shift gears and take a long weekend, or one of those outer-limit, as-long-as-I-can-stand-it four-day layoffs we spoke of earlier. During that time I eat, sleep, wallow and play. I also consider my training methodology and redesign my workouts to suit my intelligence, my physical needs and my instincts—the last named leading the architectural team.

Yeah, I have a team working around the clock for me. They never rest: wise guys, goofballs, wackos, clowns, boneheads, bombers... and I gotta feed them and keep them out of trouble.

I’ll be doing chins and dips in hangar seven.

Doors open, come on in. My rig is undergoing a tune-up and oil change.

Full throttle, up flaps...the Drapes Godspeed.

—Dave Draper www.DaveDraper.com Editor’s note: Dave Draper’s new book, Iron on My Mind, is available from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008, or visit www.Home-Gym .com. Also check out his Top Squat device in the equipment section.

Presents the

CONTEST For the first time ever, fans got to vote for the winner of a major IFBB contest, the IRON MAN PRO. And the fans agreed with the judges as Lee Priest was the overwhelming choice of thousands who voted online during Bodybuilding. com’s live webcast.

...AND THE WINNER IS

Jonathan Fernandez of Venezuela, (pictured above with Gustavo Badell) correctly placed 8 of the top 10 finishers of the IRON MAN PRO. For his prolific prognostications, Jonathan received a $500 gift certificate from Bodybuilding. com and 2 Gold VIP tickets to next year’s Iron Man Pro TheFitExpo ($598 value).

For more information about the “You Be The Judge” contest or to see Jonathan’s picks and explanations, visit www.ironmanmagazine.com or www.bodybuilding.com.

Contest and rules © 2006 IRONMAN Magazine. All Rights Reserved

Free download from imbodybuilding.com UB_judgeTHIRD.indd

1

5/22/06 5:56:25 PM

Gallery of Ironmen

MIND/BODY MIND/BODY

David Sheppard

Photography courtesy of the David Chapman collection

W

eightlifter Dave Sheppard could have had a career as a bodybuilder if he’d chosen to go in that direction, but instead he put on more bulk and became a master of Olympic lifting. Sheppard was born in Astoria, New York, on December 12, 1931, and he showed an early aptitude for sports of all varieties, especially gymnastics. Strength sports, though, eventually grabbed his attention.

Dave had a particular aptitude for weightlifting, and he began to compete in the New York area, where he racked up significant wins. Most lifters use the split style on the clean and jerk, but Dave became an expert at the squat style (though he switched back and forth frequently).

His lifting was always praised as being technically perfect no matter which style he chose.

In 1951, after putting on more muscle and perfecting his style even more, Dave went to Southern California, where he competed in the national championships. After the meet was over, Sheppard decided to stay on, and he soon became a regular at Muscle Beach. He was also working on his physique, and by 1952 he’d packed on an impressive amount of muscle. His pictures began to appear in physique publications and weightlifting mags. His broad chest, massive shoulders and thickly muscled legs were proof of his athletic skill as well as his sheer brute strength.

Sheppard increased his bodyweight, and in 1954 he headed to Vienna for the world championships, although he weighed only about 84 kilograms (185 pounds). He was asked to compete against the Russians in the 90-kilogram class.

Though he tried valiantly, Dave simply could not overcome his opponent’s weight advantage. That was to be a pattern in Sheppard’s lifting career: coming close but never winning outright, although he did take a silver medal at the Melbourne Olympics in 1956.

A series of injuries sidelined Sheppard from about 1956 onward, and in 1958 he gave up competitive lifting, though he retained an interest in the game. The bulk that he felt compelled to pack on also meant that his physique was too thick and fleshy for honors in bodybuilding. Finally, Dave moved back to New York and lived in retirement until his death on October 1, 2000.

Sheppard was once called weightlifting’s forgotten man because he’d come so close to glory but had never earned top honors in the sport that he loved so much.

—David Chapman

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Down Town

MIND/BODY

Up With Bananas

Y

ou probably know that bananas are a good source of potassium— one supplies about 10 percent of your daily requirement. That mineral can help prevent muscle cramps. But did you know that bananas are also a good source of tryptophan, an amino acid that helps boost serotonin, a mood regulator, in the brain? In fact, many antidepressant drugs, like Prozac, manipulate serotonin levels.

Advice: Feeling down? Eat a banana.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

www.Home-Gym.com Best Sellers Books: 1) Train, Eat, Grow—The Positionsof-Flexion Muscle-Training Manual

by Steve Holman 2) The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and Jerry Robinson 3) Ronnie Coleman’s Hardcore 4) The Precontest Bible by Larry Pepe 5) 10-Week Size Surge by IRON MAN Publishing DVDs/Videos: 1) “IRON MAN’s Swimsuit Spectacular #9” 2) “2005 Mr. Olympia”

3) “Ronnie Coleman’s The Cost of Redemption” 4) “Gustavo Badell’s Common Sense” 5) “Ronnie Coleman’s On the Road” Top E-book: The Ultimate Mass Workout—Featuring the X-Rep Muscle-Building Method by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson (available at www .X-Rep.com)

The original X-Rep manual is getting rave reviews.

See “Satisfied XReppers” at X-Rep .com.

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IRON MAN MAGAZINE PROUDLY PRESENTS: MIND/BODY

Binais Begovic Weight: 200 Height: 5’10” Occupation: Owns supplement store.

Residence: Malmoe, Sweden Factoid: Binais is an Olympic judo champion.

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The Bodybuilding Stars of Tomorrow Here Today!

Photography by Bill Comstock To see more great photos of upcoming physique stars, visit

www.GraphicMuscle.com

Robert E. Lee Weight: 154 Height: 5’5” Occupation: Owns hair salon, is an oil painter and is in real estate Residence: Arlington, Texas Factoid: Lee does Ronnie Coleman’s mother’s hair.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ AUGUST 2006 317

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Serious Training

MIND/BODY

Michael Rizzo Photography by Jerry Fredrick Location: Gold’s Gym, Venice, California

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Serious Stats Weight: 188 Height: 5’6” Age: 40 Bodypart split: Day 1: legs; Day 2: chest, triceps; Day 3: back, biceps; Day 4: shoulders, abs; cycle begins again Factoid: Almost died two years ago when doctors found a baseball-size tumor in his stomach. Surgery and proper recovery saved his life. He’s an animal-rights advocate and supports no-kill rescue shelters.

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Readers Write Site for More Size

contribute to sensible high-intensity training. It’s hard to believe it’s been five years since their untimely deaths. I guess we’re lucky in that we have so many great photos of them to continue inspiring us, and John Little to further Heavy Duty research, interpretation and experimentation.

Seth Mitorsi Jacksonville, FL Editor’s note: Our thanks to Wayne Gallasch (www .GMV.com.au) and Leon Bach, owner of the Russ Warner photo collection, for the Mentzer brother photos used in that feature.

Enough Already!

Please, no more pro bodybuilders in IRON MAN. I’m sick of the deception. We don’t want to see their contests or their workouts because neither applies to most of us who train hard. In fact, it’s an insult. I can’t train like the top guys because I don’t have their genetics or their pharmacies. I want realistic physiques I can aspire to and real information.

William McKinney via Internet

NEW PDF

Being a Web surfer who’s overwhelmed most of the time with all the information, sites, etc., on the Internet, I really appreciate Eric Broser’s new column Muscle “In” Sites. It’s led me to numerous interesting homepages without a lot of wasted time. I also must applaud your Web site [www .IronManMagazine.com] for the articles you’re putting up in PDF format. I’ve downloaded all of them. It’s great to have some of the best features from IRON MAN as computer files that I can reference. It’s one more reason IM is the best bodybuilding magazine out there.

Stan DeWitt via Internet Editor’s note: For those who haven’t been to the IM Web site, the articles are also available in text-only format. So if you’re just looking for a quick read without the photos and feature presentation, click on the text-only link.

I Like Mike—and Ray Thank you so much for the tribute to Mike and Ray Mentzer [Heavy Duty, June ’06]. These brothers of iron were taken from us much too early. They had so much more to

Editor’s note: We try to provide some of both. While most of us will never achieve the sheer size of the pros, their physiques inspire many. As for their training programs, the majority may not be able to tolerate their volume, but some of the things they do in the gym can be applied to the majority’s mass-training efforts. See the X-Files features on Ronnie Coleman and Jay Cutler at www.IronManMagazine .com for examples.

X-it From Smallville I finally convinced my younger brother to train with me for the past year using [Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson’s X-Reps and Positions-of-Flexion concepts], and he packed on 30 solid pounds [of muscle]—and he’s an ectomorph! He took his leg press from 270 to 680 pounds!

Jess Perna San Diego, CA X Reps are fantastic! They are responsible for bringing out the medial heads of my delts in a very short period. In fact, after only four workouts [with X Reps] my physique was showing much more size and detail. How about that?!

Thank you so much!

Erick Bueza via Internet Editor’s note: For more results with X Reps and X-hybrid concepts, check out the next issue of IRON MAN. We have an interview with drug-free bodybuilder Mike Semanoff, who gained 20 pounds of muscle in only two months with X Reps—and then he won one of the biggest natural bodybuilding contests in the country. For more on X Reps, visit www.X-Rep.com.

Vol. 65, No. 8: IRON MAN (ISSN #0047-1496) is published monthly by IRON MAN Publishing, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Periodical Mail is paid at Oxnard, CA, and at additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Please allow six to eight weeks for change to take effect. Subscription rates—U.S. and its possessions: new 12-issue subscription, $29.97. Canada, Mexico and other foreign subscriptions: 12 issues, $49.97 sent Second Class. Foreign orders must be in U.S. dollars. Send subscriptions to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Or call 1-800-570-4766. Copyright © 2006. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.

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