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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261

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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Summer Abs,

July 2007

Vol. 66, No. 7

page 198

We Know Training ™ FEATURES FEATURES

62 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 93 The TEG men explain the pain of their new Shock workouts, from Eric Broser’s P/RR/S strategy.

88 HIT REDUX Chris Mason interviews Ellington Darden about Nautilus, Arthur Jones and Ell’s cool new book.

118 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 24 Ron Harris defuses workout excuses. Need motivation?

How about Greg Rando, a blind bodybuilding champion?

126 PRIME-TIME PRO David Young interviews Dave Fisher on his comeback to the pro ranks at 43—plus, his workout and diet.

142 BLUEBERRY POWER Jerry Brainum explores the musclebuilding, anti-aging power of this very potent berry.

158 ARMS & SHOULDERS SHREDDER STYLE Cory Crow talks with drug-free pro Dave Goodin on building the show bodyparts.

HIGH-INTENSITY TRAINING: ELLINGTON DARDEN SPEAKS OUT

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OVER-40 PRO Ripped Dave Fisher On Massing Up and Leaning Out

AB DOMINATION! Take Control and Let ’Em Rip

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180 HEAVY DUTY A guest appearance by the wisdom of Mike Mentzer—from the source.

198 SUMMER ABS

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C1JULY07dGood_F.indd 1

Cover photography by Michael Neveux. Abs

by Dave Goodin. Inset photo: Dave Fisher.

From the Bodybuilding.com archives, Layne Norton gives you all the ab-etching secrets you need to let ’em rip.

Only the Strong Shall Survive, page 282

214 RESEARCH TEAM Prime-Time Pro, page 126

Blood plasma expanders are the latest tactic for pro bodybuilders. Now a new supplement can mimic their effects and create hardcore pumps in the gym.

238 WEIGHTS VS. CARDIO Jerry Brainum looks at the fat-burning research and how to optimize the bodybuilding effects of both.

244 HARDBODY You’ll definitely want to take a peek at Monica Mark’s peaked physique. Wow! 282

256 IFBB FITNESS, FIGURE AND MS. INTERNATIONAL BLOWOUT

4/27/07 4:35:20 PM

Fitness, Figure and Ms. I Competitions, page 256

The women had it going on. Hot contest shots here. Plus, John Balik’s backstage Femme Physique Vérité.

282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE Bill Starr’s dynamic back-building advice.

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DEPARTMENTS

32 TRAIN TO GAIN Staying injury free and other bodybuilding secrets.

46 SMART TRAINING Coach Charles Poliquin gets into biceps tears and pullup scares, and he delves into diet too.

52 EAT TO GROW The truth about bodybuilders’ protein needs. Plus, how to shake up your mass gains.

Train to Gain, page 32

Hardbody, page 244

Arms & Shoulders Shredder Style, page 158

78 CRITICAL MASS Steve Holman ponders one-set wonders and how to extend your squat sets for bigger quads.

82 NATURALLY HUGE John Hansen lays it all out about getting big.

222 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY Steroids: A real heartbreaker? Jerry Brainum checks out the research on their cardiovascular effects.

226 MUSCLE “IN” SITES Eric Broser ran across Boyer Coe’s new site and was very impressed. He was also impressed—in a different way—with a sizzling hot-babe site. His impressive Net Results Q&A is here too.

230 NEWS & VIEWS Lonnie Teper is our go-to guy for physique-scene updates, not to mention Swami comedy. Jerry Fredrick’s Hot Shots are in the house as well, and there’s a remembrance of Ray Stern on page 236.

250 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE Ruth Silverman covers the women’s sports like smog covers L.A. That’s not lightning, it’s her camera flash popping. Lots of stimulating images here, folks.

News & Views, page 230

292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION Randall Strossen, Ph.D., explains the angles and edges of training, and TheRack flexes its home-training muscle.

304 READERS WRITE Dazzling Dina Al-Sabah, eye-opening info and unreal wheels.

Pump & Circumstance, page 250

WEB ALERT!

In the next IRON MAN Next month we throw our annual birthday bash for our favorite Big Guy. No cake, just plenty of rare photos of the birthday boy himself, Arnold, in his prime. The Gov is turning 60, and we turn back the clock to when his muscles rocked. We’re talking giant photos, many you’ve never seen before (we had to dig for them!)—a true collector’s issue. Of course, we’ll also have tons of training and nutrition info, like a delt blast from our Tactical Torture Training task master and lots of Power/Rep Range/ Shock and X-Rep insights. But back to Arnold—his birthday is July 30, so watch for the August IRON MAN on newsstands the first week of July.

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Publisher’s Letter

Relationships, Part 2 IRON MAN’s success over the past 71 years is directly connected to our ability to deliver quality information that our readers find useful. Useful is probably an understatement—maybe essential would be a better characterization. You are not just a reader but also a doer, and that distinguishes you and your needs from those of the masses who are simply observers. What you demand from IRON MAN are the tools you need to help you realize your goals, and that’s what you get. Our motto is, We know training, but it’s more than that: We do training.

The result-producing information and ideas we present flow from the minds and experiences of a diverse and accomplished group of writers.

We have the greatest range of subjects of any of the top bodybuilding magazines because of that unique mix of contributors.

Jerry Brainum would be on anyone’s short list of top training-andnutrition writers. With his 35-plus years of in-the-gym experience and in-the-journals research, he has probably counseled more bodybuilding stars on nutrition than all the so-called gurus combined. Jerry brings a passion to the science of bodybuilding that is second to none. His unique talent is to be able to gather the information, weigh it against his experience and then decode it so that the rest of us can understand and use it.

I recently watched Jerry’s mind at work as he conduced two interviews, one with an M.D. and another with a Ph.D.—experts in their fields. While Jerry is a generalist and the men were specialists, his questions were as probing as any they had encountered. Jerry was able to comprehend what they were saying on a level that they had never experienced from a representative of a magazine that was not an academic publication—IRON MAN. They commented to me what a pleasure it was to work with someone who was so well versed in their subjects.

IRON MAN is also fortunate to have Charles Poliquin on our roster of writers. He contributes an extensive body of scientific knowledge tempered by the experience of a strength coach and bodybuilder. Charles stays on the cutting edge of exercise science, and he takes what he’s learned and tests it in the crucible of his Poliquin Performance Center.

Bill Starr has a devotion to the basics of weightlifting—which work for most people—and he has honed them over his years as a professional strength coach. His series, Only the Strong Shall Survive, is a staple of IRON MAN, with information that’s always innovative and inspiring.

Check out this month’s installment on dynamic moves for building the back. It’s full of unique training insights—not your usual rows and pulldowns.

IRON MAN knows training because our contributors share your passion and commitment to bodybuilding. To comment, please send e-mail to me at ironleader@aol.com. IM

30 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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: Brett R Miller 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, John Little, Stuart McRobert, Gene Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim Shiebler, Roger Schwab, Pete Siegel, 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, Ron Avidan, Roland Balik, Reg Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Fredrick, Irvin Gelb, Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman, J.M. Manion, Merv, Gene Mozée, Mitsuru Okabe, Rob Sims, Leo Stern

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

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Neveux

Lee Labrada is a bodybuilding legend—and a wise man.

32 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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PREVENTION

The Secret to Staying Injury Free Recently, I had the privilege of speaking with Bodybuilding Hall of Fame member and owner of one of the most perfectly proportioned physiques of all time (and one of my early idols in the sport), Lee Labrada. One subject I was curious about was how he managed to stay injury free during his entire bodybuilding career while so many others were constantly tearing muscles and getting hernias.

“I was never stupid with the weights, and I always listened to my body,” was his matter-of-fact reply. That brought to mind that many of today’s pro bodybuilders have developed incredible strength in lifts like the squat, deadlift and bench press, among other exercises. Even if they’re dieting, they continue to put up 600-pound squats and deadlifts, and they perform flat-bench and incline barbell presses with more than 400. While the intensity and heart are admirable and it certainly looks heroic in the athlete’s training DVD, that’s not the time to be setting personal records in the gym. With less cushioning and lubrication of the joints, thanks to less bodyfat and water, the risk of injury is notably higher.

Should you lift heavy during the precontest phase?

Yes—but only as heavy as you can in good form, and not for very low reps. One fact I found surprising: Not only was Labrada injury free, but he didn’t even suffer from chronic aches and pains in his shoulders, knees, lower back or elbows, despite having trained hard for about 30 of his 47 years.

“Lifting superheavy weights for many consecutive years will wreck your joints, but I never went extremely heavy,” he said. That really inspired a sting of regret, as I know deep in my heart that the reason I have so many constant aches and pains is because I have pushed the envelope in terms of workout poundages far too many times over far too many years. If the secret to avoiding not only acute and horrible injuries like muscle tears but also the far more commonplace aching shoulders or knees is simply to use more manageable weight rather than struggle with spleen-busting giant dumbbells, then why don’t more of us do it? Clearly, ego and pride play major roles. You feel better pulling a 500-pound deadlift than you do with 300 pounds on the bar.

The big reason a lot of lifters train too heavy is because like most human beings, we can’t imagine anything bad happening to us. Some other guy might tear his pec, but

not me. Some other poor fool will have major shoulder and lower-back pain when he’s 40, but it won’t be me.

Yeah, keep telling yourself that, buddy. I too believed I was indestructible at one time. My body eventually made it known that it was not in fact hewn of twisted steel but of flesh, blood, bones, muscles and connective tissue—and all too vulnerable to injury should I do anything stupid. Not that it stopped me right away—I’m something of a slow learner, or maybe stubborn is more accurate.

But I will say that if I’d known what training as heavy as possible all the time would lead to down the road, I would definitely not have done it.

Maybe it’s not too late for you. Listen to Lee Labrada, who is a wise man, and train like a true bodybuilder.

Learn how to use good form and a strong mind/muscle connection to get awesome contractions and full-blown pumps without hoisting a ton of weight. It may not feed your ego, but preventing injury is something you’ll appreciate years later. If you fail to heed my advice, there will come a day when you’ll wish you had. Sorry if I sound like I’m trying to scare you—even though I am. If a little healthy fear keeps you injury and pain free, there ain’t nothin’ wrong with that.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

Superhuman poundages can lead to stupid aches and pains later in life.

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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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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train ™

TRAIN TO GAIN

X-FILES

Volume vs.

Intensity

Art Atwood.

AESTHETICS

Waist Management

How to avoid the refrigerator look

We spend an awful lot of time in magazines and online expressing our disgust at the trend of expanding waistlines and bellies on bodybuilders who look almost pregnant. We poke fun at the big guts and bemoan the lack of V-tapers on many of today’s mega-sized muscle men. But what if you’ve unintentionally supersized your own midsection? Is the damage irreversible?

Do you simply have to live with it and wistfully look back at slimmer-waisted days? Luckily, there seems to be some hope.

I found that out when I spoke with IFBB pro Art Atwood not long ago.

When Art earned his pro card at the ’01 Nationals, he was already a huge man at 244 pounds. Less than three years later he was competing at an utterly massive 285 pounds. Around that time the IFBB sent out its now-infamous memo warning competitors that it was going to be penalizing protruding abdomens and rewarding tighter midsections and better tapers. As far as Atwood was concerned, the letter could have been addressed directly to him.

Just in case he wasn’t sure, the 14th place he received at that year’s Arnold Classic and getting 10th the next week in San Francisco confirmed his fears.

“I knew that if I didn’t do something about my waist, I was pretty much done in pro bodybuilding,” he says. He put a plan together and set it in motion. First, he dropped several exercises—squats, deadlifts, barbell rows and hack squats—that he felt had always been pushing his abdominal wall too far outward, causing it to gradually enlarge. He bumped up his meals from six to 10 a day, eating smaller portions at every meal. That helped ensure that his stomach was never full.

Eighteen months later he unveiled his streamlined 267-pound physique at the Europa Super Show to rave reviews and a top-five finish. “The only thing that really looks smaller on me now is my midsection, so the plan is working,” he said.

Some of us are prone to growth in our stomachs and obliques (and yes, that includes me). The combination of certain heavy exercises and overeating can spell disaster. The solution is to identify what exacerbates the problem and eliminate it from your program. You may still never have a dainty little wasp waist, but at least you won’t keep on getting thicker and thicker in the midsection until you have all the aesthetics of a refrigerator.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

Neveux

Q: Which is better, volume training or short, abbreviated, high-intensity-style workouts?

A: High-intensity workouts or higher-volume methods? Both will work. Legendary bodybuilder Bill Pearl used to train with 20 or more sets per bodypart, but he never trained to exhaustion on any set. It just didn’t suit him. He got at more muscle fibers by doing set after set.

Others prefer to do fewer sets and push harder—for example, past central-nervous-system exhaustion with X Reps—to hit the majority of fibers. When you do that, you have to scale back the volume. As Nautilus creator Arthur Jones used to say, You can Bill Pearl. train long, or you can train hard, but you can’t do both.

There’s a lot of truth to that.

Is one style better than the other? It depends on you—your body, preferences and personality.

Bill Pearl probably wouldn’t have gained much on an HIT-oriented routine—he would’ve hated it and quit if that was the only way. Luckily for all of us, there’s more than one way to grow. We prefer to get it done as quickly as possible and get out of the gym. We’re efficiency minded, so X Reps and the X-hybrid techniques help us make that happen—and we certainly can’t complain considering the gains we’ve made—more in the past year than in the previous four!

—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building www.BeyondX-Rep.com

34 JULY 2007 \ 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

MATURE MUSCLE

Building Your Body Q: I’m a 45-year-old natural bodybuilder. How should I train? How often?

A: Men over 40 who train with weights can make exceptional gains—without the aid of any synthetic growth hormone or anabolic steroids. Almost everyone overtrains, however. Many don’t train intensely enough, nor do they use their strengths or understand what to do about their weaknesses. For instance, the first thing that I teach people is to eliminate long training sessions and to focus on what I call maximum muscle stimulation, or MMS. I also teach people to take a good look at their musculoskeletal makeup and get them to realize that the more leverage advantages that they can create with their genetic strengths and weaknesses, the sooner they’ll find the correct exercises for each bodypart.

From a scientific standpoint, duration-type training is inefficient when it comes to creating the greatest muscle gains.

Once trainees learn which exercises to do, they should train for no more than 40 to 50 minutes on any given day—intensely working two major muscle groups. (Usually biceps and/or triceps are worked into a two-major-bodyparts session.)

Strive to stimulate the fibers slightly more each time you train. Train as heavily, as hard and as fast as you can in order to stimulate the greatest number of fibers in the area that you’re focusing on. Maximum muscle stimulation is directly proportional to the speed (s) of each eccentric repetition; that is, the contraction part of the repetition and the length of time (t) for which you can maintain that speed, rep after rep, without stopping, while engaging the greatest number of fibers (f) while bearing the greatest amount of weight (w).

Through the lenses of both an exercise physiologist and a physicist’s theorem, maximum muscle stimulation would look like this: T (s + f + w) = MMS With MMS you need to understand how muscle recovers.

Stop thinking in terms of training X days a week. No one can predict when your muscles will be fully recovered; you’ll know when you’re no longer sore and you feel strong and energized.

In other words, you shouldn’t make out a training schedule but train by how you feel.

Many body systems are involved in the five phases of muscle hypertrophy. Phase 1 is MMS. Phase 2 is nutrients— macronutrients and micronutrients that you need to help heal (phase 3) muscle microfibers that have been slightly torn in the stimulation phase. Phase 4 is the nervous systems. Phase 5 is the lymphatic system, which helps drain lactic acid buildup.

Muscle hypertrophy follows—or at least it should. It takes four to eight days for a major muscle group to heal when you train with MMS—if you’re natural. Make the mistake of training too often, too long or not intensely enough or not supplying the right nutrients, and you’ll get little or no muscle growth.

The nervous systems are vital in training and recovery. Of primary importance is the synergistic way the neuromuscular system interacts with the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems. I’ve discussed before what that interaction

Through middle age and beyond

and interdependence mean—your nerves fire in order to make your muscles tense and relax. It’s very important not to stress the sympathetic nervous system. A message from the brain makes the nerves stimulate the muscles to push, pull, relax and contract during weight training.

It will take all that much more recovery time to repair overworked nerves if you train too long or too often. The more intensely you can train, the shorter the period of time you should spend training, so you’re overriding the sympathetic nervous system for brief periods. Overuse of the direct spinal nervous system can also slow down or stop muscle recovery altogether.

Another system you use while training with weights is called the androgenic pathway. That hormonal system releases growth hormone just after exercise, as well as testosterone (released in the morning hours, especially the day after a workout). The hormone system then gives the androgenic hormones a mission: to be the conduit for protein synthesis and carbohydrate metabolism in helping repair microtears caused by heavy and intense weight training. Those tiny fissures must be given proper nutrients and rest in order to heal and grow.

Another system involved is the lymphatic system. As we all know, lactic acid rushes to any intense neuromuscular stimulation. That’s the body’s way of ensuring that you don’t go beyond the bounds of your neuromuscular and anaerobic capacity. During rest and recovery, lactic acid is slowly removed from the worked area and drained through the lymphatic system, and it’s eventually secreted. That’s the reason you shouldn’t train with weights when your body is fighting a cold. It’s obvious that the lymphatic and other mucus pathways are already overburdened; there’s no need to make them work harder.

The more intensely you train, the shorter your workout should be. Also, finding the most advantageous exercises for each bodypart is essential to capitalizing on your strength.

Finally, remember all of the phases that your body must go through for muscle hypertrophy to occur, and keep in mind that if you’re natural, the entire process is quite slow.

—Paul Burke Editor’s note: You can contact Paul Burke via e-mail at pbptb@aol.com. Burke has a master’s degree in integrated studies from Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He’s been a champion bodybuilder and arm wrestler, and he’s considered the leader in the field of over-40 fitness training. You can purchase his book Burke’s Law—a New Fitness Paradigm for the Mature Male from Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 447-0008, or visit www.Home-Gym .com. His “Burke’s Law” training DVD is also now available.

36 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Tendons: a Sex Difference?

At rest and 72 hours after exercise the women had lower rates of collagen synthesis than men. At rest their rate was 55 percent of that of men. At the 72-hour mark after exercise the women synthesized only 47 percent as much as men. The lower collagen rates would explain the smaller tendons in women, as well as their higher injury rates.

Since muscle also contains connective tissue, it would seem that women are also more vulnerable to muscle injuries. However, the mechanical loading effect induced by exercise appears to overrule the effect of hormones in blunting collagen synthesis.

Since estrogen is the cause of the blunted collagen synthesis in women, how does this information affect men? Women naturally produce more estrogen than men under normal circumstances. On the other hand, many athletes use anabolic steroids that can convert into estrogen in the body.

In fact, male athletes on steroids sometimes have higher estrogen levels than the average woman. While that would blunt collagen synthesis, men’s naturally larger tendons would likely overcome that.

—Jerry Brainum

38 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson

Statistics show that women athletes tend to have more musculoskeletal injuries than men. One example is anterior cruciate ligament, or ACL, injury at the knee, where the shin bone and hip bone meet. It occurs six times more often in women than in men.

That injury is often ascribed to women’s greater “Q-angle,” which relates to the width of women’s hips in relation to their knees. Men’s hips and knees are in a somewhat straighter line.

According to a new study, however, there may be more at work than just hip and leg angles. The study notes that connective tissue is largely made of a protein called collagen. Ligaments and tendons contain estrogen receptors, which means that estrogen plays a role in connective tissue synthesis. Studies with animals, such as rats, show that high levels of estrogen decrease collagen synthesis.

In the new study researchers looked at the rate of collagen synthesis in 15 young women during either the follicular or luteal phase of their menstrual cycles; estrogen levels peak during the luteal phase. They studied the collagen synthesis levels 72 hours after the subjects did a bout of one-legged kicking exercise for 60 minutes at 67 percent of maximum workload. The results were compared to those previously obtained from men to determine any sex-related differences in collagen synthesis after exercise.

Neveux \ Model: Jennifer Micheli

TRAIN TO GAIN

MEN VS. WOMEN

Miller, B., et al. (2007). Tendon collagen synthesis at rest and after exercise in women.

J Appl Physiol.

102:541-46.

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Bodybuilding “Secrets” No matter how much you read about training and no matter how knowledgeable you become, what follows will provide you with the “secrets” bodybuilders hanker for in their quest to build bigger and stronger muscles.

Are you really delivering the training goods?

• Are you really following an abbreviated training routine?

Are you really focusing mostly on the big, compound movements? Do no more than eight exercises at each session and no more than three work sets for each exercise.

• Are you really using a training frequency that’s within your recuperative abilities? In other words, are you weight training at most three times a week? Try alternating two different routines over three workouts each week. For example, split your program so that routine 1 trains your quads, hamstrings, lower back, upper back and biceps, and routine 2 trains your abs, calves, chest, delts, triceps and neck. Perform routine 1 on Monday, routine 2 on Wednesday, routine 1 on Friday, routine 2 on Monday of the following week, and so on.

• Are you really using excellent technique?

• Are you really using a controlled rep speed?

• Are you really keeping written tabs on your workouts and recording an extra tad of iron on each big exercise every week or two without compromising your technique?

• Are you really training consistently and not missing workouts unless you’re sick?

Are you really delivering the recuperation goods?

• Are you really eating five or six meals daily, with enough calories and nutrients to grow on?

• Are you really eating healthfully?

• Are you really avoiding junk food?

• Are you really concentrating on food, not supplements?

• Are you really sleeping well for at least eight hours every night?

• Are you really avoiding distractions that would reduce your sleeping hours?

If you can’t answer yes to all of those questions—which

A Pep Talk

Neveux \ Model: Jorge Betancourt

TRAIN TO GAIN

HARDGAINER

summarize the essence of successful bodybuilding—you have only yourself to blame for slow or nonexistent progress. I don’t mean to sound harsh, but that’s the reality.

Nothing will compensate for deficiencies in those areas. It’s the essence, and it’s got to be 100 percent in order. No one can do that for you.

Make each day count, and make each week a perfect example of training, sleep and nutrition.

Challenge yourself to get everything in good order every single day, and then deliver on it all every single day on an unrelenting basis. Then you’ll make good progress.

Dedication. The best training know-how is worthless unless fused with dedication. But dedication in abundance will be wasted if it’s combined with a poor training and recovery program.

Dedication includes discipline. Discipline means doing what needs to be done with consistency and perseverance. If it’s time to train, then train you must, regardless of the weather, what’s on TV or any other potential distraction. That’s dedication—essential for training and muscle-building success. Make exercise a priority.

Never bemoan the discipline that must accompany serious training. Just as important, never bemoan the discipline that must be applied to your nutrition and other components of recuperation. To have the opportunity to apply that discipline is a blessing.

—Stuart McRobert www.Hardgainer.com 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 Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008, or at www.Home-Gym.com.

40 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Discount Pricing, Visit: The X Stack also includes titrated creatine, which heightens ATP regeneration to fuel future muscle conwww.X-Stack.com tractions and fills out your muscle structures even Results using the X Stack vary from individual to individual. These statements have not been evaluated by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. This product is not more (all of the key nutrients in the X Stack make it intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.

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More Wicked Muscle Size and Serious Blast-Off Power On Every Set

The Scale Means Nothing

Phil Heath.

Merv \ Models: Lonnie Teper and Eddie Abbew

Those of us who live the iron life never weigh as much as we want to. The more-is-better mentality dictates that the higher the number you see when you step on the scale, the more you’ve accomplished as a bodybuilder. Many guys practically become obese just to hit a certain target bodyweight, like 250 or 300 pounds.

All you have to do, though, is take a look at who’s been winning pro shows over the past couple of years, and you’ll see that quality frequently trumps quantity. Case in point: Last year rookie Phil Heath won his first two IFBB events weighing just 215 pounds at 5’8”. In doing so, he made short work of several 250-pound-plus mass monsters such as Dennis James, Gary Strydom and Bill Wilmore. Dexter Jackson and Darrem Charles, both around 225 pounds, have seven pro wins each and between them have defeated giants like Jay Cutler, Markus Rühl, Gunter Schlierkamp and Chris Cormier, just to name a few.

What a man weighs means nothing, even when

Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

TRAIN TO GAIN

BODYWEIGHT

you factor in his height. It may tell you how much relative mass he carries, but it gives you no indication of other qualities like shape, symmetry, proportion and condition. Without that total package of elements, size and weight mean diddly. Countless physiques have been ruined in pursuit of mass at any cost. Rather than focus on improving weak points so the physique flows with more pleasing aesthetics, many bodybuilders overdevelop their strong points as well as their hips and stomachs.

Bigger is not better—better is better. If you’ve been measuring your success in terms of increasing your bodyweight, maybe it’s time you took a good look at how your physique has been changing. Are your gains in all the right places, or do you just take them where you can get them?

Stop worrying about what you weigh, and concentrate on how you look. Bodybuilding is a visual sport, and our bodies are meant to be looked upon like works of art—not weighed like slabs of meat on a scale. Just remember: You aren’t being awarded points by the pound.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

42 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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3-D MUSCLE BLAST Positions of Flexion Builds Mass Fast!

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Get maximum muscle fiber recruitment from minimal gym time—only four to six sets per bodypart. Discover how to build power and size with 3-D Positions of Flexion: big midrange movements, stretch overload to activate the myotatic reflex and continuous-tension peak contraction to finish off the muscle.

This DVD explains Positions of Flexion, a breakthrough massbuilding method that has bodybuilders all over the world growing faster than ever and achieving skin-splitting pumps at every workout.

See this exciting size-boosting approach in action, apply it to your own workouts and watch mass surge to dramatic new levels in record time. Turn your guns into cannons and your shoulders into boulders. Chisel your chest and pack your thighs with new size. Bonus: 10 Minutes to Granite Abs is also included on this action-packed DVD.

©2009 Home-Gym.com

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Over 4000 best-selling products online

Charles Poliquin’s

Biceps Tears and Pullup Scares Q: Yesterday I was at the gym doing semisupinated-grip pullups with 70 pounds attached to my waist—sets of four reps in good form, including full-drop ROM and four-second eccentric lowering.

Between supersets, I was approached by a fellow who said that I was likely to tear my biceps “clean off the bone” because someone else in the gym had done that very thing recently. Furthermore, that person’s doctor told him that “big men” (increased lean mass in this man’s case) shouldn’t do pullups because biceps tears are likely. At 5’11” and 190, I’m not a “big man,” but with the addition of 70 pounds, I did have the resistance of one. While I’m familiar with the frequent occurrence of biceps tears due to improper tire-flip and deadlift technique, I’d

never heard of any incidence of biceps tears resulting from pullups. An Internet search on biceps tears provided little information and more questions. Since pullup variations are far too important to leave out, what are some safety guidelines for avoiding that fate? What predisposes someone to and/or causes biceps tears while training, especially during pullup and chinup variations?

What can be done to prevent them?

A: I’ve been a strength coach for 27 years, and I’ve never seen any evidence of “big men tearing biceps doing chins.” I’ve seen some pretty impressive strength performance on pullups, such as Olympic record holder Andre Benoit doing wide-grip full-range pulls for sets of three using 120 pounds of external resistance. One of my coworkers, who was on the national ski team, could do 22 onearm pulls at the end of a diving board above an empty swimming pool. I know plenty of offensive linemen, defensive backs and rugby pros who weigh in excess of 300 pounds and who do chinups on a regular basis with no biceps tears.

Let’s consider a few things: 1) What makes that man an expert on biceps tears? What makes that man’s doctor an expert on biceps tears?

2) A tear is more likely the result of an improper warmup than anything else. That’s why it happens so often in tire flips, as progressive warmups aren’t very practical—there’s always a big jump in weight when handling tires. Tires don’t go up in 10-pound increments. On the deadlift, the mixed grip causes biceps tears, so stick with a pronated grip, as you would with the clean.

Improper warmup is a leading cause of tears in the biceps. That’s why law enforcement people are often plagued with biceps problems. I recently saw a tactical officer tear his biceps holding onto a riot shield while some thug was yanking on it.

I saw a corrections officer tear his while trying to restrain an inmate. In neither case was a warmup exactly an option.

3) Certain meds increase the likelihood of tears, as well as some mineral deficiencies. For example, the anabolic steroid Equipoise has been singled out as the most common cause of muscle tears in

Biceps tears are usually more the result of lack of warmup than exercise choice.

46 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com eveux

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Neveux \ Model: Eric Domer

Smart Training

COST OF REDEMPTION Mr. Olympia’s Mind-Numbing Training DVD This 3-plus-hour DVD is a masters class on what it’s like to train without limits. Sit back and be amazed and inspired by a man who walks the walk.

Mitsuru Okabe spent 4 days with Ronnie in 2003 just prior to his sixth win in a row of the Mr. Olympia. This DVD is shot in an absolute “you are there” style. There are no set ups, no retakes, nothing but the real Ronnie Coleman. Ronnie is absolutely focused on his goal and he lives his life to make it happen. You will see him do 800-pound squats, 75-pound dumbbell curls and an astounding 2250-pound leg press—almost every 45-pound plate in the gym! It’s the stuff of legends. But more than just the sets, reps and the nutrition, you get an insider’s view of the personality that always lights up any room he enters.

It hits all the right notes: instructional, inspirational and a pleasure to watch a man at the top of his game. Four Stars.

Coleman DVD $28.95

©2009 Home-Gym.com

Visit us at Home-Gym.com or call 800-447-0008

Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train™

Charles Poliquin’s

Smart Training From a strict physiological sense, it takes the body 10 minutes after starting exercise to derive most of its energy from circulating free fatty acids.

Neveux / Model: Dan Decker

Mentally Challenged.” From a strict physiological sense, it takes the body 10 minutes after starting exercise to derive most of its energy from circulating free fatty acids. Free fatty acids will be the primary fuel burned for two to four hours, depending on the individual’s aerobic capacity. After that time he or she switches to using amino acid pool reserves, mainly the liver and muscles.

At that point up to 30 percent of the energy comes from brokendown amino acids. That’s why chronic aerobic exercisers look like concentration camp inmates, as their protein stores are emptied to supply the energy demands of inordinate aerobic training volume.

That doesn’t mean you need to watch all the episodes of “Band of Brothers” during your next aerobic workout. When you’re looking for optimal composition changes, the source of fuel during exercise is only part of the equation. More important are the energy demands postexercise and the hormone shifts during specific exercise regimens.

If you’re interested in increasing lean-body mass and decreasing fat tissue, interval programs lasting 20 to 40 minutes are best.

(To describe such workouts goes beyond the scope of this column.)

pro bodybuilders.

4) Low zinc and magnesium levels are also associated with muscle tears. Inferior manganese levels are linked to tendon tears as well.

5) Uneven levels of tension in soft tissue can cause tears.

For example, scar tissue from site injections can disrupt the normal line of pull of muscles, resulting in tears.

6) If you’re listening for the pop and waiting for the pain, then it will manifest itself. The mind is powerful. As Henry Ford has been quoted as famously saying: If you think you can’t do it, or if you think you can, you are right.

So forget the armchair expert. Keep warming up properly, cover your nutritional bases, and you’ll be fine.

Q: A friend who is a certified personal trainer says that it’s useless to do more than 20 minutes on the treadmill because you surpass your optimal fatburning zone. Is there really an optimal fat-burning zone? Am I wasting my time running for 40 minutes?

A: Your friend’s knowledge of exercise physiology is rather limited. He’s confusing fuel sources and physiological changes. Did he get his certification from the back of a cereal box? He probably takes his exercise physiology knowledge from “Energy Systems for the Profoundly

Q: What are the best muscle-building activities that don’t require setting foot in a gym?

A: According to research and basic observation, the best are mountain climbing and grappling sports, such as judo and wrestling. Results would come much more slowly than with weight training, however, and with far greater risk for injury. Mountain climbing is great if you live in Aspen but not too accessible if you live in Omaha or Fort Lauderdale. If you’re unskilled at

48 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Mountain climbing is one of the best outside muscle-building activities.

SWIMSUIT SIZZLEFEST The Hottest of the Hot This Sizzlefest DVD is an uncensored look at the best of the best of our nine swimsuit videos.

This collection of fourteen of the finest, fittest females in tiny bikinis (or even less) gives you a close up look at some of the most outrageously beautiful and sexy fitness females to ever slip into (or out of) a bikini.

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This 55-minute DVD contains nudity. You must be 18 or older to purchase it.

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©2010 Home-Gym.com

Visit us at Home-Gym.com or call 800-447-0008

Over 4000 best-selling products online

Charles Poliquin’s

Smart Training You should avoid alcohol when you’re on a low-carb diet, but if you have to cheat, red wine is a good choice.

One glass has only three net carbs. verely Defrauded Delusional Dweeb.

Q: I’m following the Atkins diet, so I’ve avoided all things high in carbohydrates, including beer. What’s the best alcoholic drink for a low-carb diet, and does low-carb beer really work?

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 183. IM

50 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

Bradford

grappling sports, there would be minimal training effect, as you’d be spending more time on your back than the most popular red-light-district professional.

Athletes coming from grappling sports, particularly if they did it at a young age, tend to have impressive strength levels when they first do a weight workout. For example, when the 132-pound national champion in judo first came to our gym, he squatted 240 for five sets of five—deep!— and he benched 180 pounds for 12 reps on his first workout with weights.

If you’re talking about at-home, no-equipment exercises, you can always do pushups and dips, but that gets old fast.

As you get stronger, you’ll have to do countless reps to get a training effect. Please, don’t do pullups hanging from a door, as a recent moronic book that came across my desk recommends. (Well, it’s okay if you weigh 76 pounds or less, but since most readers of IRON MAN are at least of voting age, the probability of weighing that little is quite slim.)

By the way, please don’t send away for your own copy of Mitigating Rising Moon Red Flying Dragon Wing Chun, a course of dynamic tension that promises superhuman strength with no equipment. In fact, that course should be renamed Forced Breathing and Isometric Spasms for the Se-

A: Alcohol in all forms, even “low carb,’’ should be avoided when you’re on a low-carb diet. Alcohol produces cravings for more alcohol and carbohydrates. The body can’t store alcohol as it can store fat, protein or other carbs. In other words, the fat-burning mechanisms are all put on hold until the body burns the alcohol. In all honesty, who’s ever gone out for “one beer” and stuck to that single beer? If you’re going to cheat, drink wine or vodka. A glass of red wine has three net carbs.

Beer contains phytoestrogens, compounds responsible for the socalled beer belly. Labeling laws in the United States are too lax and mislead the consumer.

I’m surprised I’ve not yet seen a “low-carb” olive oil or package of butter.

Charles Poliquin w w w. C h a r l e s P o l i q u i n . n e t

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NUTRITION SCIENCE

A Bodybuilder’s Protein Needs—the Truth While all nutrients are important for gains in muscle size and strength, without doubt the nutrient most associated with muscle size is protein. For years many scientists confidently stated that athletes need no more protein than the typical couch potato. More recent studies show that athletes do indeed require additional protein to support increased muscular growth. The big debate is over how much.

According to interviews, many competitive bodybuilders take in massive amounts of protein. Some claim

Neveux \ Model: Tommi Thorvildsen

Some bodybuilders believe that they need up to 600 grams of protein a day for building muscle.

they have 600 grams a day or more.

The goal is to maintain a positive nitrogen balance, since that promotes an anabolic effect in muscle. Studies conducted with recreational—that is, noncompetitive—persons, show that a range of 1.6 to 1.8 grams of protein per kilogram (2.2 pounds) is sufficient to maintain a positive nitrogen balance. That translates into a daily protein intake ranging from 144 to 162 grams for a 200-pound man—a far cry from the 600 grams suggested by some athletes.

The fate of the protein you eat is another matter of some contention.

Many dietitians suggest that dire effects await those who get too much protein, including dehydration (protein metabolic waste products increase the need for water); a loss of vital minerals, such as calcium; kidney failure; and perhaps even a conversion of excess protein into bodyfat. Almost none of those side effects are known to occur with longterm athletic use, so they have little or no relevance to active people.

The real-world fate of excess protein is oxidation in the

liver, with eventual excretion of nitrogen waste product as urea through the kidneys.

Normal kidneys have no problem handling this extra load, assuming the presence of sufficient fluids.

Besides its muscle-building effect, a high-protein diet is considered desirable for other reasons. Some studies suggest that protein intake influences the synthesis and secretion of various anabolic hormones, such as growth hormone and insulinlike growth factor 1, both of which are nothing more than long chains of amino acids strung together in a specific sequence.

Eating extra protein, particularly at night before bed, is thought to offset the normal rise of the catabolic hormone cortisol, which peaks during the early-morning hours. Blunting cortisol release would tip the metabolic scales toward anabolism in muscle.

A problem with the often-quoted studies suggesting increased protein intake for hard-training athletes is that they involved subjects who were either untrained or recreational athletes. Neither of those groups, however, has much in common with competitive athletes, who as a rule are far more dedicated to their training and who often overtrain.

A recent study examined the true protein needs for competitive athletes.1 Twentythree experienced college strength and power athletes, most of whom were football players, sprinters and throwers with at least two years of training experience.

None had used any anabolic agents for six months before the study began. They engaged in a 12-week weight-training program, training four days a week on a split routine.

The subjects were divided into three groups, according to the amount of protein in their eating plan: 1) Ate less than the suggested amount

52 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission of daily protein, 1.4 grams per kilogram of bodyweight. That’s still nearly twice the protein intake (0.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight) suggested for most active people not engaged in exercise.

2) Ate the recommended protein intake, 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight.

3) Ate more than the suggested protein requirement, above two grams per kilogram of bodyweight daily.

The subjects all got fewer calories than their level of activity demanded.

That’s important because protein intake has a direct relationship to total caloric intake. They were tested for one-rep-maximum strength in the bench press and squat, as well as for body composition and levels of various hormones, such as testosterone, growth hormone, IGF-1 and cortisol.

End-of-study metrics revealed no significant differences among the groups in body composition, lean mass or fat mass. While all three groups gained strength during the course of the study, those in the highest protein group gained 22 percent more strength in the one-rep-max squat and 42 percent more strength in the bench press than those in the recommendedprotein-level group.

Oddly, the researchers deemed those gains “nonsignificant.” They concluded that eating more protein than the suggested range of 1.6 to 1.8 grams per kilogram of bodyweight doesn’t yield

significant results. They did, however, say that the results might have been different if more calories had been on the eating plan.

Protein has a direct relationship to calories; the fewer calories you take in, the greater your need for additional protein to ensure an anabolic response in muscle. Another aspect not considered in the study is that carbohydrates exert a protein-sparing effect that also bears a direct relationship to protein needs during training. In short, when you reduce carbs, you need to increase protein.

Another study also compared a high (1.9 grams per kilogram of bodyweight) to a normal (1.3 grams per kilogram of bodyweight) protein intake in 15 young men who trained with weights and aerobics for 90 minutes, three times a week.2 The lower figure represented 15 percent of the total daily calorie intake, the usual level of protein suggested for most active people.

Both protein diets lowered blood cholesterol levels, but only the higher intake led to a loss of bodyweight. No one expe-

rienced a change in body composition, but only the normal protein intake led to an enhanced arterial blood flow. Why that happened in the normal-protein group but not in the higher-protein group wasn’t explained; however, the authors suggested that a normal-protein diet promotes a dilation of blood vessels. That may have something to do with increased nitric oxide production in the lining of arteries. The direct precursor of nitric oxide synthesis is the amino acid arginine. A smaller intake of arginine due to lower protein intake may let more arginine into the blood. Large amounts of oral arginine are known to be mostly degraded by a liver enzyme.

—Jerry Brainum

References 1 Hoffman, J.R., et al. (2006). Effect of protein intake on strength, body composition and endocrine changes in strength/ power athletes. J Int Sco Sports Nutr.

3:12-18.

2 Ferrara, L.A., et al. (2006). Effects of different dietary protein intakes on body composition and vascular reactivity. Eur J Clin Nutr. 60(5):643-649

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 53

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Eat to Grow NUTRITION NOTES

Food Facts That can affect your workouts, weight and wellness

Magnesium and zinc are related to testosterone production.

WARRIOR NUTRITION AND EXERCISE

Don’t Forget Your Minerals The list of mineral deficiencies is a long one. Active people can deplete themselves of minerals in a matter of hours, especially during the summer months. Warriors in the past were aware of the essential role of minerals. Salt, for example, was a precious commodity, and people used to trade mineral salts for gold.

I usually recommend taking a properly balanced multimineral supplement.

Magnesium is essential not just for relaxing muscles and therefore avoiding muscle cramps and spasms but also for maintaining hormonal levels, especially testosterone. Zinc is important for your glandular, reproductive and immune systems. Active people especially need it. It’s best to take the multimineral supplement before or right after your workout. Minerals alkalize your system and thus protect your body from the acidic side effects of physical and mental stress.

Note: Minerals should not make you nauseated if you use ones that are naturally derived from a live plant source. One of the best sources of minerals is coral-derived highly ionized minerals. Ionized minerals are biologically more active and better assimilated.

—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.

Fish oil supplements, with one to two grams of two types of omega-3 fatty acids—eicosapentaeoic acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA)—improve the lung function of asthmatics. In one study asthmatics reduced their bronchodilator use thanks to less inflammation in their lungs.

Green tea improves brain function. A Japanese study looked at people age 70 or older, and those who drank two or more cups of green tea a day had more than 50 percent less decline in cognitive function than those who drank three or fewer cups a week.

The peels of many fruits and vegetables are walls that hold in nutrients. That means many of the vitamins and minerals, as well as fiber, are found in the peel, or very close to it. Eat the peel of apples, potatoes, yams and zucchini—but wash thoroughly with a vegetable brush first to remove pesticides and other toxins.

Depression may lead to heart attack. Studies suggest that the risk of heart problems increases 50 percent in people who are depressed or stressed. One reason may be that depression leads to less activity—no exercise. So if you feel down, try pumping up.

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—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

KNOWLEDGE IS POWER The Best of Bodybuilding in the 20th Century Here in one definitive, information-packed volume, you have the best that IRON MAN has to offer. The articles and photos reprinted in IRON MAN’s Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia are of enormous and enduring value to beginners and experts alike. A tour de force of bodybuilding information with stunning photos of unrivaled quality, this massive volume covers every aspect of bodybuilding with authority and depth.

Included is complete information on: •Getting started •Bodybuilding physiology •Shoulder training •Chest training •Back training •Arm training •Abdominal training •Leg training •Training for mass •Training for power •Mental aspects of training •Bodybuilding nutrition With IRON MAN’s Ultimate Bodybuilding Encyclopedia, you will learn Arnold Schwarzenegger’s insights on developing shoulder and back muscles, along with many other champions’ routines.

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Eat to Grow Silvio Samuel.

PRO NUTRITION

Shake Up Your Mass Gains By now you’ve probably heard of Silvio Samuel Saviour, the Spaniard by way of Brazil and Nigeria who’s been making a name for himself as an outstanding rookie in the IFBB. His debut at the ’06 New York Pro show was fairly inauspicious, as he just barely squeaked into the top 15, but a few months later he placed sixth at the Europa show and fourth at the Santa Susanna Pro in Spain. Fast-forward a few more months, and Silvio’s shapely physique landed him fourth at the IRON MAN Pro, runner-up the following weekend in Sacramento and sixth at the prestigious Arnold Classic a week after that.

Just 194 pounds at his debut nine months prior, he had managed to pack on more than 20 pounds of pure muscle while maintaining his artistic lines. I asked him how he made such amazing improvements in so little time. Surprisingly, very little about his training had changed; however, after consulting at length with IFBB pro Milos “the Mind” Sarcev, Silvio had totally overhauled his nutrition program.

He thinks his gains came primarily from the trinity of growth shakes that Milos has been recommending in recent years.

Most bodybuilders have a shake after training, but Mishko takes this concept further. Before, during and after training, he has bodybuilders drink the following: 3-5 grams creatine 3-10 grams glutamine 15-20 grams essential amino acids 15 grams branched-chain amino acids 30-50 grams Vitargo 1 teaspoon electrolyte drink powder 16-24 ounces water

FOOD STUFF

“When you saturate the muscles with all these key nutrients around the workout, the results can be miraculous,” Silvio claims.

Indeed, Milos has stated that the average bodybuilder can expect to gain 10 pounds of lean muscle in as little as a month by adding these shakes to his program, while genetic superiors can often see double those gains—especially if they train twice a day on a double split (that would be six shakes a day).

Can this possibly work? Anecdotal evidence in the form of unsolicited testimonials on various message boards suggests there is definitely merit to it. The shakes certainly helped Silvio, as well as another of Milos’protégés, Hidetada Yamagishi. They both took their physiques to the next level. You won’t know whether you could drink your way to some phenomenal new gains until you try it for yourself.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com GOOD FAT

Beef It!

More Fat, Fewer Carbs

Corn became plentiful in the 1950s, and that’s when ranchers starting fattening up their cattle with grains. That infused beef with more saturated fat and calories. Now the trend is back toward grass feeding.

Grass-fed beef still has fat, but 60 percent of it is good omega-3 fatty acids. In addition, it contains a lot of conjugated linoleic acids, which have been linked to weight loss.

CLA is also believed to be a cancer fighter.

And, of course, grass-fed beef has zinc, iron, B-vitamins and loads of muscle-building protein. If you’re a meat-eating bodybuilder, you should be relying on grass-fed beef for your red-meat intake. It’s more healthful, and it’s delicious!

For more information visit www.USWellnessMeats.com.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

Here’s another reason to get enough essential fatty acids, or omega fats, every day either from fish or fish-oil supplements. An ’04 study reported in the Journal of Nutritional Health and Aging found that an omega-3 deficiency causes sugar cravings. Get more omega-3s, eat fewer carbs, lose bodyfat.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

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Eat to Grow ANABOLIC DRIVE

Whole Protein vs. Amino Acids Whole-food proponents (primarily physicians and dietitians) say that whole foods are always better than supplements.

If those folks were cross-examined by a mediocre attorney, they’d be shredded to pieces because the fact is that there are times when supplements are clearly superior. Issues of convenience, dosing and plain availability often trump the requirements for eating whole foods all the time.

Don’t get me wrong. Of course, the vast majority of what you eat should be whole foods (i.e., unprocessed carbohydrates, unsaturated fats and protein). Unfortunately, too many so-called nutrition experts take a dogmatic approach to nutrition and supplementation. Leave the dogma for theologians and religious zealots. It has no place in nutrition.

Perhaps the best example of a supplement’s being clearly better than whole foods is creatine, undoubtedly the single best substance for improving muscle strength and size. There are 1.4 to 2.3 grams of it per pound of meat (beef, pork) or fish (tuna, salmon, cod—though herring contains about three to 4.5 grams). Meat eaters get an average creatine intake of approximately 1.5 to 2.0 grams per day. With a normal turnover of approximately two grams per day, it’s probable (unless you’re vegetarian) that you’re basically maintaining your normal creatine stores. Certainly, you could eat an extra pound of herring daily or two to three pounds of beef if you wanted an extra three to five grams of creatine.

If you want to attempt a loading

phase without supplementation, however, forget it. Can you imagine downing 10 pounds of beef a day for a week during the loading phase? Didn’t think so. You’d want to take creatine powder instead.

Look at the role of nutrient timing in the anabolic response of muscle following exercise. Scientists studied the response of muscle protein balance to the intake of whey protein before and following resistance exercise.

They discovered that amino acid uptake was not significantly different at either time. Now, some would say that whey is really a supplement and that any comparison between whey and amino acids is comparing supplements to supplements.

Okay—make the comparison between intact protein and essential amino acids. Based on what we currently know, essential amino acids are indeed superior to intact protein. Keep in mind that in the pre-, during and/or postworkout feeding window, it is just plain easier to take a supplement than gobble down whole foods. Does that really need an explanation?

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

Dr. Antonio is the CEO of the International Society of Sports Nutrition—www.TheISSN.org. His other Web sites include www.SupplementCoach.com, www.Javafit.com, www .PerformanceNutritionShow.com and www.JoseAntonioPhD .com.

Tipton, K.D., et al. (2007). Stimulation of net muscle protein synthesis by whey protein ingestion before and after exercise.

Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 292:E71-6.

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Eat to Grow NUTRIENT TIMING

Before and After for Anabolic Effects Various studies have illustrated the fact that when you consume nutrients affects muscular growth and recovery from intense training. Most research shows that taking a protein-and-carb drink both before and after training leads to increased muscle size and strength. The drink before training leads to greater amino acid entry into muscle—due to the increased blood circulation induced by exercise.

Having it after provides the amino acids needed for muscle protein synthesis and the carbs needed to replenish depleted muscle glycogen stores. (You must replenish those glycogen stores to ensure complete recovery between workouts.)

A new study by Australian researcher Paul Cribb, Ph.D., examined how the intake of protein and carbs is affected by a high-protein diet and whether such an eating plan diminishes the requirement for supplemental protein and carbs. What happens when you add creatine to the mix—does it increase muscle gains more than just protein and carbs alone?

The primary purpose of the study was to compare the effects of supplement timing. The subjects, who were all bodybuilders, followed their usual diets in addition to taking the supplements. The subjects, divided into two groups, were all monitored during the course of a 10week weight-training program.

One group took in one gram per kilogram of bodyweight of a combination of whey protein, carbohydrate and creatine before and after a workout. The other group had the same combination in the morning and evening, away from the workout.

Having the supplement before and after training resulted in greater improvements in strength and body composition. Specifically, the men in that group gained more muscle and lost more bodyfat. Cribb noted that essential amino acids taken before and after training promote a higher level of muscle protein synthesis. The simple carb used in the study, glucose, enhanced the anabolic effect by promoting an insulin release that led to greater amino acid uptake into muscle. The carbs also reduced muscle CARBS protein breakdown during the workout, which further enhanced the anabolic effect. The fast-acting whey was particularly effective, since the rapid protein release sets into motion molecular processes that result in muscle protein synthesis.

When you eat candy or Those in the pre- and postworkout group any kind of refined-sugar also showed higher muscle creatine levels product, your blood sugar than the other group. Cribb suggested that the creatine intake enhanced cellular energy skyrockets, then plummets, reactions and may have upgraded muscle causing you to feel tired and hypertrophy–related gene activity. lethargic—but that’s not the The pre- and postworkout group also had higher muscle glycogen levels, thought to only effect. Because your be related to the intake of simple carbs. Inblood sugar is low, your body creased muscle glycogen aids muscle repair triggers a craving for—guess processes after intense exercise, as well as replenishing the primary fuel for bodybuilding, what?—more sugar. It’s a glycogen. Sufficient glycogen replenishment vicious circle that can make people fat very quickly (look ensures more intense workouts and, subsearound). quently, greater gains in muscular size and Sugar becomes an addiction. Most people should drop strength.

The study underscores the importance sugar from their diets completely, but that can be psychoof nutrient timing; that is, taking in nutrients logically devastating and trigger binges—and the cycle when the need for them is most critical. In starts all over again. To solve the problem, allow yourself practical terms, that means taking in a combination of protein, carbs and creatine before something sweet every day, but don’t overdo it. Always and after training. Taking the same nutrients have that sweet something right after a meal—preferably at other times won’t produce comparable a meal that includes some good fat, like fish or nuts. That results.

—Jerry Brainum

Sugar Shock

way the sugar will mix with the other foods, slowing its digestion and keeping your blood sugar on an even keel.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

Cribb, P.J., and Hayes, A. (2006). Effects of supplement timing and resistance exercise on skeletal muscle hypertrophy. Med Sci Exer Sports. 38(11):1918-25.

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PERFECT POSTWORKOUT MEAL

TM

To Kick-Start Immediate Muscle Growth After You Train Breakthrough research in exercise metabolism now reveals this fact: What you consume (or don’t consume) immediately after training plays a critical role in determining your success or failure! That time period is known as the “anabolic window” of growth.

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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Muscle-Training Program 93 From the IRON MAN Training & Research Center

by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux

A

1) We’re training only four days a week instead of five—Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday.

We always work legs on Tuesday.

The other bodyparts are split over two workouts, which alternate over the other three days. (See last month for a two-week snapshot.)

2) We’re using a lot of X-hybrid techniques—everything from Double-X Overload to X Fade to Static Xes (these along with others are explained in our e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building).

3) We’re wedging our past/present X-Rep program into Eric Broser’s Power/Rep Range/Shock system.

Most readers are familiar with P/RR/S, but here’s a breakdown for the newbies. We do one workout for each muscle group in the specific protocol, then move to the next protocol at the next session for those muscle groups.

Power You train every exercise with straight sets—no supersets, trisets or drop sets—and reps stay in the four-to-six zone. We recommend slightly higher reps on endurance-oriented muscles like calves, abs and forearms.

Rep Range For the first exercise you pick a weight that gives you seven to nine reps. For the second exercise you do 10 to 12 reps. On the third exercise you move the repetitions up to the high end of fast-twitch recruitment—13 to 15.

Shock Here you put your muscles through the meat grinder with supersets, drop sets and so on.

Repetitions for most muscles stay in the eight-to-10 range, but extended-set techniques are a must.

Okay, on to our customized Shock attack. We’re not quite following the same routine, but it’s close.

Tailor-Made Shock For Shock workouts, as with Power and Rep Range, we begin each bodypart routine with a big, midrange movement. So what do we do to make it shocking? Doggcrapp—Dante’s multirep rest/pause (MRR/P) method, which is a favorite of IFBB pro David Henry’s.

For those not familiar with D.C., you pick a weight with which you can get about nine reps and do a set to exhaustion. You then rest 20 sec-

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Model: David Henry

few reminders before we get into our Shock workouts: Remember that we’ve gone back to our original X-Rep program, which has given us great gains in the past. But we’ve added a couple of twists:

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 93

We recently switched from Smithmachine incline presses to incline dumbbell presses for more freeweight chest-building action. often add X Reps or an X-hybrid tactic, like an X Fade, on the last phase.

For example, on cable flyes we do a set of about eight reps, reduce the weight and then do a set of about six reps. We reduce the weight one last time and go for four or five reps, and when we reach exhaustion, our partner helps us into the top, contracted position for X Reps. Then we lower to the semistretch position and crank

out X Reps near the bottom of the stroke. Now, that’s a killer extended set! One round is all we can take— and the pump is usually immense.

Instead of a double drop, we may superset two exercises, using a standard drop set on one. For example, for lats we do a set of machine pullovers, then immediately go to rope rows for a drop set. That mimics the double-drop tactic but with two difBent-over rows in place of machine rows. The barbell provides a new midback blast for us, as the bar can move through a more natural arc.

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Model: Robert Hatch

onds and hit it again, getting about six reps. Rest again for 20 seconds and hit it one last time, getting about four reps.

To make the three D.C. sets even more shocking, we usually add X Reps to the last one to extend the tension time somewhat, even if it takes forced X Reps, done with partner assistance. Recall that the first midrange exercise in the other two protocols gets two straight sets, four to six reps for Power and seven to nine reps for Rep Range. The three-set MRR/P method is very different—shocking, if you will—especially since it occurs only every third workout for each bodypart (you gotta keep those muscles adapting to new stresses).

After the big, midrange move, we usually do a contracted-position exercise, like cable flyes for pecs.

Remember that for Power workouts we do a drop set with a low-rep phase and a medium-rep phase; for Rep Range we use a 10-to-12-rep set and a 13-to-15-rep set, normal rest between them. How do we shock it?

With a double drop—that is, three back-to-back sets with a weight reduction on each phase. Brutal!

To make it even more of a killer, we

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 93 ferent exercises.

After training the contracted position, we usually go to the stretch-position exercise—a straight set or two with a Static X after the last rep.

Old-School Retool In general, barbells and dumbbells are better than machines for building muscle. One reason is weight-stack drag, which makes the positive stroke harder and the negative stroke easier—the opposite of

what it should be, as you’re a lot stronger on the negative. [Steve discusses that in his traumatic/nontraumatic (T/NT) chapter in Train, Eat, Grow.]

Another reason is that many machines lock you into one position, making the movement less ergonomic for activating muscle fibers. On a row machine, for example, your torso is pressed against the chest pad and your arms are forced to move in one strict plane, no deviation. With bent-over barbell

rows, however, your arms can move in a natural arc when you’re pulling the bar toward your torso.

The same is true when you compare free-weight bench presses or incline presses with, say, Smith-machine inclines—the bar is restricted to a straight up-and-down motion on the machine without any allowance for the slight back-and-forth movement that is more natural.

Then there’s that drag problem on the Smith machine as well.

Doing end-of-set X-Rep partials

IRON MAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 93 Workout 1 (Shock): Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs

Workout 2 (Shock): Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms

Incline dumbbell presses (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 High cable flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Wide-grip dips (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Middle cable flyes (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Chins or pulldowns (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Superset Machine pullovers (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Rope rows (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset Undergrip pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell pullovers (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Decline extensions (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Superset Cable pushouts (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Bench dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Superset Dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Pushdowns (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Incline kneeups (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 12, 9, 6 Tri-set Ab Bench crunches (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6) Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1 x 10-12 End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps) 1 x 8-10

Seated laterals/upright rows (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Lateral raises (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Forward-lean laterals (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Seated dumbbell presses (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Bent-over laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) One-arm cable laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(5) Bent-over rows (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Superset Bent-arm bent-over laterals (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Behind-the-neck pulldowns (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset (20-second rest) Preacher curls 1 x 7-9 Cable curls (MRR/P; X Reps) 2 x 7, 5 Concentration curls or one-arm spider curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Incline curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Incline hammer curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Superset Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8) Forearm Bar reverse wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 13-15 Superset (20-second rest) Dumbbell wrist curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(8) Forearm Bar wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 13-15 Rockers 1 x 20-30

Legs (Shock): Quads, Calves, Hamstrings Leg extensions (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6)(5) Leg extensions (X Reps) 1 x 8-12 Squats 3 x 8-12 Leg presses (nonlock; X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Feet-forward Smith-machine front squats 1 x 8-12 Leg curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6)(5) Leg curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Superset Stiff-legged deadlifts 1 x 10-12 Hyperextensions (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9(6) Stiff-legged deadlifts (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Knee-extension leg press calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 15(10)(8) Superset Standing calf raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 15(7) Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-15 Machine donkey calf raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 15(9) Low-back machine (X Reps) 1 x 8-10

Add to Friday Workout (Shock): Soleus Knee-extension leg press calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps) Seated calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps)

3 x 15, 10, 8 3 x 15, 10, 8

Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tuesday; that is, legs are worked only once a week every week—seven full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body muscles get four to five days of recovery.

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 e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com for more workout details.

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We use both chins and pulldowns, one or two sets of each. Pulldowns enable you to angle your torso back for unique lat stimulation. on machine exercises can help even the score somewhat. You’ll get more fiber activation, but it may not be as much as you’d get with a free-weight exercise, on which the weights can move through natural arcs. The negative provides more stress in the semistretch position of every rep.

We’re not opposed to using machines, especially when we go stale on barbell and dumbbell exercises or don’t want to aggravate an injury.

When we use machines, we’re sure to add X Reps and a Static X for Beginning a quad workout with sets of leg extensions is a Ronnie Coleman favorite.

more fiber recruitment.

Lately, as we’ve transitioned out of our winter training, our joints have been feeling great, so we’ve been doing a lot of dropping and swapping—dropping machine work and swapping it for free-weight exercises. Here are a few examples:

Incline Dumbbell Presses We’re using these as our opening chest movement in place of Smith-machine incline presses.

The biggest problem we’re having

is that our dumbbells go to only 120 pounds. That’s not heavy enough, so we use Double-X Overload on the first few reps, then do standard reps afterward. (DXO is an X Rep in the semistretch position after every full rep, as explained in the e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building.) That half-DXO and half-standard-reps tactic is working so well that we’ve adopted it on a few other exercises too, such as wide-grip dips. That enables us to use a little less weight, which means getting into position isn’t so awkward—or dangerous.

Chins We’re still doing pulldowns, but we’re working in regular-grip chins as well. For example, on Shock day for lats we do a set of chins, rest 20 seconds, do another set of chins, rest 20 seconds, then rep out on one set of pulldowns. On Power day we do two straight sets on the pulldown machine and add one set of bodyweight chins afterward. For Rep Range workouts we do two sets of chins and one set of pulldowns, all in the seven-to-nine range.

Comstock

Squats Recall that last month we said we were doing one set of free-bar squats near the end of our quad workout so we didn’t have to use spine-comwww.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 67

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Train, Eat, Grow / Program 93 pressing poundages. Well, we’ve decided to put more emphasis on the king of the mass movements and move it closer to the front. To ensure that we get the proper quad action, we’re doing all of our leg extension sets at the very beginning of our quad workout—squats are second. The extensions provide a great warmup for the knees and get the blood flowing to the quads.

Because the quads are so large and dense, with so many fibers of all types, this minor prefatigue works well. Many pro bodybuilders, including Ronnie Coleman, have adopted the extensions-first order for training quads. It doesn’t work

as well for pecs or other less-endurance-oriented bodyparts, however, as it induces too much fatigue. For example, doing a few sets of crossovers to exhaustion prior to bench presses will reduce force output on the bench for most trainees due to fatigue-product pooling in the pecs and front delts.

In the routine you’ll notice that we have squats listed for three straight sets. What about shock tactics? We’ve just moved squats to the front, so we’re sticking with straight sets for a few workouts while we adapt to the heavier poundage. For shock value we may eventually try a two-set MRR/P attack on the first two sets

and do the last set alone with middle X Reps.

Seated Laterals/Upright Rows This combo replaces wide-grip upright rows on the Smith machine.

You may have read about Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, using the lateral raise/upright row to build meaty delts. He had narrow clavicles—we can identify with that!—so he had to create the illusion of width with sheer deltoid mass. It’s the exercise he relied on. We’re finding it very effective too.

We sit on the end of a flat bench with a dumbbell in each hand, torso angled forward, between a bent-over

ITRC Program 93, Home-Gym Routine Workout 1 (Shock): Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Incline presses (MRR/P; X Reps) Incline flyes (double drop; X Reps) Bench presses (MRR/P; X Reps) Flat-bench flyes (double drop; X Reps) Chins (MRR/P; X Reps) Superset Undergrip chins (X Reps) Dumbbell pullovers (X Reps) Undergrip rows (X Reps) Decline extensions (MRR/P; X Reps) Superset Overhead extensions (drop; X Reps) Dips or bench dips (X Reps) Incline kneeups (MRR/P; X Reps) Superset Weighted full-range crunches or Ab Bench crunches (drop; X Reps) End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps)

3 x 9, 6, 4 1 x 8(6)(5) 3 x 9, 6, 4 1 x 8(6)(5) 3 x 9, 6, 4 1 x 8-10 1 x 8-10 1 x 8-10 3 x 9, 6, 4 1 x 8(5) 1 x 8-10 3 x 12, 9, 7

1 x 8-10(8) 1 x 8-10

Legs (Shock): Quads, Calves, Hamstrings Squats or front squats (nonlock; MRR/P; X Reps) Leg extensions or old-style hack squats (double drop; X Reps) Leg extensions or old-style hack squats (X Reps) Squats or front squats (nonlock; X Reps) Lunges Leg curls (double drop; X Reps) Leg curls (X Reps) Superset Stiff-legged deadlifts Hyperextensions (drop; X Reps) Stiff-legged deadlifts (X Reps) Knee-extension donkey calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps) One-leg calf raises (drop; X Reps)

3 x 9, 6, 4 1 x 8(6)(4) 1 x 8-10 1 x 8-10 1 x 8-10 1 x 8(6)(4) 1 x 8-10 1 x 10-12 1 x 9(7) 1 x 8-10 3 x 9, 6, 4 2 x 15(9)

Workout 2 (Shock): Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms Dumbbell upright rows (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Seated laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Standing laterals (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell presses (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Bent-over laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Incline one-arm laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Bent-over barbell rows (MRR/P) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Bent-arm bent-over laterals (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Dumbbell shrugs (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Barbell curls (MRR/P) 3 x 9, 6, 4 Concentration curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6)(5) Incline hammer curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8(6) Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)(6) Dumbbell wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)(6) Rockers 1 x 20-30

Add to Friday Workout (Shock): Soleus Knee-extension donkey calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 15, 10, 8 Seated calf raises (MRR/P; X Reps) 3 x 15, 10, 8 Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tuesday; that is, legs get worked only once a week every week—seven full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body muscles get four to five days of recovery.

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 e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep .com for more workout details.

Note: 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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Model: Daryl Gee

We include both squats and leg presses. Squats train a more natural movement pattern, but leg presses let you use a unique foot placement. lateral and a standard lateral-raise position. As we raise the dumbbells, our arms bend to almost 90 degrees at the elbow, hands almost on the same plane as the upper arms but not quite, which is why it’s similar to an upright row. Also—this is important—we’re able to still see our reardelt heads in the mirror when the dumbbells reach the top position.

In other words, we stay forward at all times. That blasts the majority of the medial-head fibers, but correct form takes practice. (We plan on having video clips of this and other exotic and not-so-exotic exercises at X-Rep.com soon.)

Bent-Over Rows This replaced Nautilus machine rows, which we’ve been doing forever. We were worried about our lower backs at first, but so far we’re getting a deeper ache in our midbacks and no lower-back pain. We keep our torsos as close to parallel to the floor as possible, but some rise is necessary to make the movement more natural. We’re using a grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder width and pulling to the upper abs, arms angled slightly away from the torso, to get a midback contraction.

Stretch Overload

Supplement Update

If you read “Stretch Overload,” Steve’s feature last month, you may be realizing how important it is to stress the target muscle when it’s elongated if you’re after fast muscle growth. William Litz’s “Tactical Torture Training” in that same issue described how he uses stretch holds during and at the end of his bodypart workouts.

They were key in helping him transform his physique in eight weeks. We’re experimenting with them.

For example, at the end of our chest workout we’ll go to the cable crossover machine, recline on a bench in the center with a low-cable handle in each hand, pull up a few inches to get tension in the pecs and hold it— maybe using very small pulses near the stretch position—for 30 seconds.

If we don’t use that 30-second stretch hold technique for a muscle, we will end with a stretch-position exercise, and at exhaustion do a 10-second Static X near the full-stretch position. That results in a searing ache and burn.

Last month we mentioned some of the supplements we’re taking as we move into our ripping phase (the list and explanations are at X-Rep. com in the “Super 7 Size Surge Supplements” feature). One combination we want to emphasize is our preworkout supplements.

Studies show that getting branched-chain amino acids before training can reduce muscle wasting and may boost anabolic reactions (leucine is the key amino for muscle growth). We’ve been taking five BCAA capsules.

Also, we’ve been using Methyl Ripped as our fat burner, three capsules before each workout. It contains stimulants, such as caffeine, so we add Cort-Bloc to help suppress excess cortisol release, which occurs due to stimulant intake.

So our preworkout stack is five BCAAs, three fat-burner capsules and four Cort-Bloc caps—right before training. We also have a Pro-Fusion protein shake—two scoops—taken about an hour before we hit the gym. Pro-Fusion is a mix of micellar casein, whey and egg, so it has both fast- and slow-releas-

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Model: Joe DeAngelis

Train, Eat, Grow / Program 93

Train, Eat, Grow / Program 93

Model: Binais Begovic

Till next month, keep training hard.

We are ending most bodypart routines with a stretch-position movement for critical stretch overload. ing proteins, which ensures that we have available aminos in our bloodstreams during and after our workout. Immediately after training we have our X Stack—three scoops of RecoverX (fast protein and fast carbs) and one scoop of CreaSol (buffered creatine) mixed in water.

Our preworkout stack is also excellent as a precardio stack; how-

ever, if you do your cardio late in the day, you may want to skip the fat burner or you could be up pacing the floor after midnight.

By the time you read this, some of our supplements may have changed. If you’re interested in the latest info on what we’ve added and subtracted, visit www.X-Rep.com and go to our Supplement Blog.

Note: Our Shock workouts are listed on page 66. For all of our workouts in printable form, see Chapter 5 of our latest e-book, Xtraordinary Muscle-Building Workouts, available at www.X-Rep.com. It also contains analysis and printable templates for the Volume/Intensity Fusion Program, the 3D Power Pyramid Program, the 20-Rep Squat routine and many others—11 different workouts in all.

Editor’s note: For the latest on X Reps, including X Q&As, X Files (past e-zines), before and after photos and the X-Blog training and supplement journals, visit www .X-Rep.com. To order the Positionsof-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

One-Set Wonders Q: You and Jonathan [Lawson] are so close to coming over to total HIT (highintensity training). Why not just reduce your workouts to one set of eight to 12 exercises for the whole body, the type of program recommended by Darden, Jones and Mentzer?

A: Ultra-abbreviated training has its uses—for short periods, like a five-week training phase to get your muscles and nervous system in sync. Those routines can build some strength, which is why they’re usually referred to as “strength-training” programs. For most trainees, however, it takes more than one set to failure per bodypart to pack on extreme muscle size.

Even Nautilus creator Arthur Jones said that most trainees can engage only about 30 percent of a muscle on any one set to failure—and that’s under perfect conditions. A second set can help activate more fibers due to a different recruitment pattern, so it’s like built-in insurance for optimal growth stimulation for an exercise. Nevertheless, a single exercise can do only so much. Attacking a few more fast-twitch fibers with a second set is merely one part of the anabolic equation.

For extreme muscle development you also have to consider hypertrophy of the endurance-oriented components of specific fast-twitch fibers, capillary bed enlargement and even the possibility of hyperplasia, or fiber splitting—not to mention anabolic hormone stimulation. To properly potentiate those growth factors, you need specific training

modalities.

For example, extending sets by doing drop sets and/or X Reps so the target muscle is under tension for longer than 30 seconds can help trigger growth in the endurance-oriented fast-twitch fibers (hardgainers have lots of those). You also need to create occlusion in the target muscle, blocking the blood flow, for an extended time to affect endurance in the components and build capillary beds in the muscle, which add to overall size. Single-joint continuous-tension exercises—like leg extensions for quads and cable crossovers for pecs—best accomplish occlusion.

As for fiber splitting, stretch-position exercises have been linked to hyperplasia, as shown in the animal study Jonathan and I discuss in our e-books. Jose Antonio, Ph.D., et al., triggered a 300 percent increase in muscle mass in only one month of stretch overload in that study. Stretchposition exercises also increase growth-factor release in the target muscle.

All of those mass factors are why I so strongly recommend 3D Positions of Flexion—training each muscle with a big, midrange exercise, a stretch-position movement and a continuous-tension contracted-position move. For example, for middle and lower pecs you’d do decline presses (max force), flyes (stretch overload) and crossovers (occlusion).

With that efficient approach you get optimal size stimulation with just one to two sets for each, especially if you strategically use drop sets, X Reps and X-hybrid techniques.

You focus on optimizing force generation (midrange), stretch overload and occlusion (contracted) and get efficiency of effort—a precise hit with only a few sets.

A lot of people are attracted to ultra-abbreviated HIT programs—one set of eight to 12 exercises—because they take less time. If you can make time for just two sets per bodypart, though, try my approach. It has the potential to build much more mass: Use just the best, or ultimate, midrange exercise for each bodypart, and do two sets, as follows:

Neveux \ Model: Derik Farnsworth

Set 1: Pick a weight that makes you reach exhaustion at about nine reps, and add X-Rep partials. That provides max-force generation and some semistretch-point overload—due to the eight-inch X-Rep partials near the bottom of the stroke. Rest for 2 1/2 minutes.

Set 2: Use the same weight and shoot for seven to nine reps. This time at exhaustion, however, reduce the weight and immediately drive out five to seven more reps. That extends tension time to stimulate the endurance components, provides more semistretch-point overload

You can build mass with one exercise per bodypart, but it will take more than one set to cover all of the hypertrophic bases. Extreme muscular development—the bodybuilder look— requires more than just plumping up a few fasttwitch fibers.

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Q: I recently purchased your e-books Ultimate Mass Workout and Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building. Both are excellent! The high intensity concept isn’t new to me—I’ve used HIT as well as Doggcrapp training, but I wanted a change. At my first workout [with your X-Rep concepts] I did calves, quads and abs. I thought I was going to puke after squats.

My question has to do with the range for X Reps on squats. I did them on the second set, but I could only pulse four times. I tried to stay in the middle area of the stroke. Is that right? My second question is, Can I do deadlifts at one hamstring workout and stifflegged deads at my next ham session?

A: Technically speaking, X Reps on squats should be performed near the low point, where thighs are parallel to the floor, to a point up about eight inches, so there’s elongation in the quadriceps. That’s tough to do unless you’re squatting in a Smith or hack machine. There’s too much leverage shift on free-bar squats, which is why we suggest X-ing in the middle range on those. If you got four, you’re probably in the right area. There’s a photo in the quadriceps chapter in UMW, but we’re planning on some videos of key exercises at our Web site. There are a couple of other alternatives to the middle-range X Reps, which are somewhat inferior due to lack of target-muscle stretch: 1) Do one or two sets of free-bar squats, then a final set on the Smith machine or hack machine—including bottom-range X Reps. You may need help from a partner if you’re not used to beyond-exhaustion training.

2) Use the Double-X Overload technique, explained in Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building, on your second set.

That’s doing a bottom-range X Rep after each full rep.

You’ll have to lighten the weight a bit, but you’ll affect the important max-force point more on each rep.

To answer your second question, deadlifts aren’t really a substitute for stiff-legged deadlfts. Stiffs train the hamstrings’ stretch position; regular deadlifts don’t. I suggest you do deadlifts on either back day or leg day, depending

It’s impossible to do X Reps in the semistretch position—near the bottom of the stroke—at the end of a set of free-bar squats. There are some good alternatives, however, like Double-X Overload. on your split—you don’t want to do deadlifts the day before or after your squat day—and keep stiff-legged deadlifts as your stretch-position hamstring exercise. By the way, DXO is great on stiff-legged deadlifts.

Q: After reading your supplement blog [at X-Rep. com], I’m adding Red Dragon to my mass-building supplement plan. I’m training with [Eric Broser’s] Power/Rep Range/Shock, using your program [from 3D Muscle Building], and I’ve already gained 15 pounds. I take a week off after every six weeks of training, as you suggest. My question is, Should I continue to take Red Dragon during that off week?

A: For those not familiar with Red Dragon, it’s a beta-alanine supplement that loads your muscles with carnosine, a buffering compound that enables you to drive out more growth reps at the end of a set—and more X Reps after that.

I suggest you take Red Dragon the first two days off, just to make sure you’ve reloaded after your last workout. Don’t take it for the remainder of your off days. Start back on it the day before you return to the gym.

Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many bodybuilding best-sellers, including Train, Eat, Grow: The Positions-of-Flexion MuscleTraining Manual (see page 71). For information on the POF videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad sections beginning on page 156 and 278, respectively. Also visit www.X-Rep.com. IM

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What about occlusion? You do the two sets in nonlock style—don’t go all the way to the top. That keeps tension on the target muscle to block blood flow—not as well as contracted-position exercises but still effective.

The two-set ultimate-exercise approach is efficient, but obviously you can better attack all of the aforementioned mass-building factors—max force, stretch overload, occlusion—with a 3D POF approach. Here’s another example for triceps: decline close-grip bench presses (midrange/force), overhead extensions (stretch overload), pushdowns (contracted/occlusion).

If you don’t have time for that, the next best thing is the two-set ultimate-exercise approach. For triceps you’d use it on the declines. That will work much better than the one-set-to-failure approach—if you’re after that big-muscle bodybuilder look, that is. (Note: The Ultimate Exercises are analyzed and explained in the e-book The Ultimate Mass Workout, which also includes many programs with the exercises. Positions of Flexion is updated and explained in the e-book 3D Muscle Building. Both are available at www .X-Rep.com.)

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and expands and enlarges capillaries. Do X Reps on that second phase as well for even more stimulation.

Steve Holman ironchief@aol.com

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Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s

Naturally Huge tant than the supplements you take.

The first step to getting big is to eat plenty of the right foods and eat them often.

The calories you take in are responsible for adding muscle Q: I read your profile online and was mass and bodyweight. How amazed to learn that you had a tremenmany calories you need to dous body at 17. I’m 17 and cut but not accomplish that goal is unique big. I’ve always had trouble putting on to each individual. Because mass. I’ve taken protein and weight gainyou’re still a teenager, you ers, but I still weigh only 135. I’ve been may need 4,000 or more per taking creatine by Nutrex—Vitargo CGL— day to start adding weight and for one month. So far I’m getting great muscle to your frame. pumps. How long does creatine take to The first macronutrient kick in and produce results? Also, when I to concentrate on is protein. do a front double-biceps pose, my chest Make sure you’re eating plenty disappears. Do I need to go heavier? Abs of animal protein, such as have been one of my disappointments beef, chicken, turkey, fish and eggs. In order to get enough ever since I started working out 4 1/2 years ago. calories, it’s a good idea to eat protein foods that also What’s your recommendation? contain substantial amounts of fat, since fat has twice A: I’m glad to see you’re so into bodybuilding at the the number of calories as protein or carbohydrates. Lean young age of 17. You seem to have the same problem that a ground beef (20 percent fat), sirloin steaks, roast beef, lot of guys your age have: building more size. whole eggs, cheese and whole milk are all good sources of You mentioned the supplements that you’re taking, but complete protein that are also high in calories. you didn’t mention your diet. Remember that supplements Try to eat three to four whole-food meals each day that should, as the word indicates, supplement your diet and contain complete proteins. Since your bodyweight is 135 not be the basis of it. The food you eat is far more imporpounds, you want to eat around 200 grams of protein a day (1.5 grams of protein x 135 pounds). If you ate five meals a day (three whole-food meals and two protein drinks), you’d need to have about 40 grams of protein at each meal.

Protein drinks are a convenient way to add more calories between meals. Choose a supplement that contains a combination of protein sources—whey, egg and milk or casein—because the protein will be digested more slowly and stay in your system longer.

Muscle Meals is a meal-replacement protein powder that contains that protein blend, including 40 grams of protein in each packet, along with additional carbohydrates, essential fatty acids and vitamins and minerals.

In addition to eating enough protein, get plenty of complex carbohydrates in your diet. They supply the fuel you need to power your workouts. If you don’t have enough carbs, you’ll run out of energy during your training, and you won’t be able to lift the heavy weights that build muscle mass.

Want mass?

Complex carbohydrates are a better Get stronger choice than simple carbs because they on the provide a sustained source of energy due to big, basic their slower absorption rate. Because they exercises and digest more slowly, they don’t cause blood get plenty sugar to spike dramatically. That means the of quality carbs can be stored in the muscle cells as calories. glycogen, the energy sourceon you draw on (continued page 102) when you’re weight-training.

Since you’re trying to gain weight and get bigger, you can eat plenty of carbohydrates without worrying about adding fat.

I’d suggest eating at least 300 to 350 grams of Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson

Getting Big

82 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Workout 1 Barbell bench presses Incline dumbbell presses Flat-bench flyes

4 x 10, 8, 6, 6 3 x 8, 6, 6 3 x 10, 8, 6

Workout 2 Incline barbell presses Bench presses Wide-grip dips

4 x 10, 8, 6, 6 3 x 8, 6, 6 3 x 10, 8, 6

Use enough weight to limit your repetitions to the numbers I recommend in the routine.

When you can do more reps, add more resistance.

By getting stronger using proper form with the basic exercises, you’ll get bigger—as long as you’re eating enough.

With regard to your abs, begin by training them intensely enough to build more thickness in the muscle so they stand out even when you’re relaxed.

Here are two basic ab routines that I suggest: Workout 1 Incline situps (go halfway back and all the way up) Hanging knee raises

3 x 30-40 3 x 30-40

Workout 2 Kneeling cable crunches Lying leg raises

3 x 20-25 3 x 30-35

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carbohydrates each day to help you gain muscular bodyweight.

The best sources of complex carbohydrates are oatmeal, potatoes, pasta, whole-grain or whole-wheat bread and rice. You should try to get approximately 70 grams of complex carbs with each meal.

Now let’s talk training. I see many young bodybuilders making the mistake of spending too many days in the gym.

Limit your training to only three to four days a week, concentrating on the basic exercises and using only a moderate number of sets. Remember, you’ll grow and get bigger in the time away from the gym, when you’re resting and recuperating between workouts. You need those off days to rebuild the muscle tissue you tear down during your workouts.

A good mass-building routine that I recommend to intermediate bodybuilders who want to gain size and increase their bodyweight is to train chest, back, delts and calves on the first workout and legs, arms and abs on the second. You can train three to four days a week using this routine. Train on three nonconsecutive days of the week— such as Monday, Wednesday and Friday—and alternate workouts at each session. That gives you four days each week to recuperate and grow.

To build more thickness in your chest, you should use two pressing exercises along with a flye or dip exercise.

Here are two good mass-building routines for your chest:

Barbells and dumbbells force your muscles to work harder than machines.

Q: In your column you always stress using free weights over machines. Isn’t that old-school way of thinking a little outdated? There are some really good machines available in the gyms nowadays.

A: Although there are many very good machines, I think that using free weights forces the muscles to work much harder and produces more muscle tissue growth much more effectively than any machine ever could.

When you’re using barbells and dumbbells, your muscles have to balance and coordinate the weight in order to properly perform the exercise. Because the resistance is unstable and requires the muscle to control the weight on the eccentric part of the repetition, more muscle fibers will be activated, and strength and muscle gains will be greater.

That’s why you always lose strength if you use machines for a while and then go back to free weights.

The basic exercises with free weights force you to use many muscle groups in order to complete the movement.

The bent-over row using a barbell, for example, requires muscle fiber recruitment from the lats, the biceps, the rear deltoids, the lower back, the forearms and the hamstrings.

A similar movement using a machine wouldn’t require that many muscle groups and would be less effective at building mass and strength.

I’m not totally against machines, however. I think that leg extensions and leg curls are better when done with a cable machine than with free weights, although I do like the dumbbell leg curl as a substitute for cable leg curls. I also like the leg press and hack squat machine in addition to a free-weight exercise like barbell squats for developing the thighs.

Calf exercises, such as standing calf raises, seated calf www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 83

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Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s

Naturally Huge

raises and leg press calf raises, are very effective, although I feel that donkey calf raises, using the weight of a training partner plus additional resistance attached to a weight belt, are the best choice for developing massive calves.

When it comes to working the chest, back, shoulders, traps, arms and legs, however, the best exercises for developing mass are the ones you do with barbells and dumbbells. Classic exercises such as flat- and inclinebench presses, bent-over rows, T-bar rows, flyes, overhead presses, lateral raises, shrugs, curls, overhead and lying extensions, squats, deadlifts and upright rows are all more effective when performed with barbells and dumbbells.

Here’s a good example. I recently strained the muscles in my lower back from squatting a little too heavy. When I did my back workout later in the week, I couldn’t do the program I’d planned on. My normal back routine would have consisted of wide-grip chins, barbell rows, seated cable rows and deadlifts. Because of my back strain, I couldn’t perform any of those exercises without straining my back even more.

I decided to substitute similar machine exercises. I could still do the chins, but the rowing exercises and the deadlifts were out. Instead of barbell rows, I did an exercise with my chest supported on an incline bench. I rowed an attached bar up to the bench using a wide grip. It was like a T-bar row, except that my upper body was supported, so my lower back wasn’t involved.

As a substitute for seated cable rows, I did seated rows on a plate-loaded machine where my chest was set against

Neveux \ Model: Eric Domer

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.NaturalOlympia.com. You can write to him at P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561, or call toll-free (800) 900UNIV (8648).

His new book, Natural Bodybuilding, and new training DVD, “Real Muscle,” are now available from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008 or www.HomeJohn Hansen Gym.com. IM Neveux

There is no machine equivalent for the deadlift.

a vertical support. I rowed the handles one arm at a time, similar to seated cable rows, except that my lower back was again eliminated from the movement.

I couldn’t find a machine substitute for deadlifts, so I did a few sets of hyperextensions with only my bodyweight. I was surprised I was able to do the exercise at all because of my strained lower back.

I pushed myself as hard as I could during the workout, and I used weights heavy enough to limit my repetitions to six to 10.

The result? At the end of the workout, I had a decent pump and had managed to get in a good workout without straining my lower back; however, I wasn’t wiped out from the training session, and I actually felt my muscles could have used more.

The following day, I didn’t experience any soreness in my back, biceps or rear delts. If I’d been able to do my normal workout—barbell rows, seated cable rows and deadlifts—my middle lats, rear delts and lower back would all have been pumped the following day with the characteristic soreness that follows an effective workout. It’s a great feeling and one that I can get only by using free weights.

That’s why I always recommend that anyone looking to build the maximum amount of muscle mass and strength use barbells and dumbbells with plenty of resistance. If you’re just trying to tone the muscles and keep them from atrophying, feel free to pump away at the machines. If you’re serious about building massive size and strength, however, wrap your hands around some barbells and dumbbells. Nothing works better!

John@NaturalOlympia.com

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An Intense, Eye-Opening Interview With Ellington Darden, Ph.D. Part 1

by Chris Mason I’ve been a fan of Ellington Darden’s since very early in my career in the iron game. In fact, I have to credit a lot of my love for the iron to him. It’s not an overstatement to say that his writings saved me from the overtraining juggernaut that I had subjected myself to after reading Arnold Schwarzenegger’s The Education of a Bodybuilder.

While Arnold’s book was a great read and very inspirational, the suggested training routines placed me in a state of being chronically overtrained.

Upon first reading Darden’s work, I was struck by the logic of

his training philosophy. I quickly decided to cut my routine in half and soon thereafter became a devotee of high-intensity training, a.k.a. HIT. I can vividly remember going to the bookstores in the malls as often as possible to purchase, find and/or peruse Darden’s works.

His most recent book is The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results. It’s longer and more detailed than any of his previous ones, and the following interview will give you a taste of exactly what’s in it and why everyone involved in lifting weights should read it. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 89

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Casey Viator was the proof of Nautilus machines’ muscle-producing power.

CM: Please provide some background on yourself— when and where you were born and how you got into weight training.

ED: I was born in 1943 in Conroe, Texas, which is 40 miles north of Houston. As a youngster I was active in the traditional sports: football, baseball and basketball.

When I was in the eighth grade, in 1958, I lifted my first barbell. I was on the skinny side, 5’10” tall and 130 pounds—so naturally I wanted to be bigger and stronger.

I also remember a couple of years earlier reading the comic book ads for Charles Atlas’ Dynamic Tension muscle-building courses.

None of the coaches at the schools in Conroe knew much about weight training, so I had to do it on my own. I saved my money and eventually bought a 110-pound barbell set from the local sporting-goods store. It was made by Healthway. I still have the orange-colored booklet and

printed courses that were packaged with the set.

That was the summer of 1959, and I began training seriously with the Healthyway courses as my guide. They taught me the basic exercises: squat, pullover, deadlift, overhead press, curl, bench press, shoulder shrug, neck bridge, side bend and situp. I did most of those exercises three times a week for one set of eight to 12 repetitions.

At the end of that summer I had added 15 pounds of muscle—and all the coaches in high school began to take notice. Interestingly, that was sort of the pattern that I followed throughout high school. Each summer I added about 15 pounds of muscle. In other words, in the ninth, 10th, 11th and 12th grades my bodyweight progressively grew from 150 to 165 to 180 to 195 pounds.

By my senior year in high school I was the biggest, strongest athlete on our football team. Wait a minute— we had a huge, fat guy who was our center. I played quarterback.

I suppose I should qualify that statement by saying I was the most muscular and strongest player.

My results and the results many of my teammates experienced started a trend in Conroe—that trend being the use of weight training for football players. Over the next 12 to 15 years Conroe had the third- or fourth-best winning record in high school football throughout Texas—which is outstanding when you consider that more than a thousand high schools in Texas field football teams each year.

CM: I know that football is huge in Texas and to have one of the best teams in that state is tantamount to having one of the best teams in the country. Training with weights was frowned upon back then. How did you get your coach to embrace the idea?

ED: In Conroe during the (continued on page 94) 1960s and

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(continued from page 90)

Darden at 210 pounds in 1963, during his years playing football for Baylor University.

1970s we had a great head football coach, Chuck York.

He didn’t know a lot about weight training, but most importantly, he did not discourage it. Most coaches in the 1960s still believed that weight training slowed you down and led to inflexible muscles, so they did not recommend it, at least not like they do today.

Coach York understood the basics of getting stronger and playing sound, hard-nosed football. He pushed me to play middle linebacker on defense my senior year. He told me that my future was on defense, and he was right.

CM: Sounds like you played some college ball?

ED: I went to Baylor University and played on their football team for two

years—not as a quarterback but as a defensive lineman. At a height of 5’11” I got up to 210 pounds, which was below average for Baylor lineman at that time—although the 300-plus-pound monsters of today were not yet even close to being the norm. Baylor had 10 to 12 guys who weighed from 225 to 240 pounds, and all of them were well over 6’ tall.

I knew I couldn’t weigh much more than 210 pounds without adding a lot of fat to my body.

Thus, I eased out of football and got more and more interested in competing in bodybuilding and powerlifting.

CM: Who influenced you in those sports at that time?

ED: I saw my first physique and lifting contest in 1960 at the Downtown YMCA in Houston.

I was really impressed by John Gourgott, who won the 198-pound class in weightlifting and then won the Mr. Southern USA contest.

Gourgott (continued on page 98)

The great Sergio Oliva trained with Arthur Jones at Nautilus for a short period.

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ily incorporate the big three like powerlifting meets of today. There were all sorts of lifts—standing curl, upright row, as well as the bench press, squat and deadlift.

One of my fondest memories was when Cook and I drove to Tulsa in 1964. He won the Senior Mr. Oklahoma and I won the Junior Mr. Oklahoma, which was difficult to do because we were from out of state. But we did it—and that was my first win in a physique contest. The head judge in Tulsa was named John Johnson, and he talked to me afterward and told me I had good potential for bodybuilding.

At the 1969 Mr. Dixie competition in Atlanta (from left): Ellington Darden, firstplacer Charles Estes and Alex McNeil. Says Darden, “I won a number of contests in Georgia but not this one. I weighed 198 pounds.” (continued from page 94) was big, strong and muscular. A buddy and I slipped backstage and asked him a couple of training questions. He was nice to us and, up close, even bigger than I thought.

Boy, did I want muscles like his! Meeting and talking to Gourgott motivated me to train a lot harder—and the next year I entered a teenage bodybuilding and lifting contest in Houston. I placed second in the lifting and third in the physique—and I met Ronnie Ray. Ronnie was from Dallas, and he had the thickest chest I’d ever seen, even as a teenager. Three years later, when I was at Baylor University, Ronnie had a lot of influence on my training.

While at Baylor I was helped

by two bodybuilders who lived in Waco. The first was Ed Cook, the owner of the local gym. He had entered and won five or six bodybuilding shows throughout Texas. I traveled with Ed to many contests and learned from his experience.

The second was Dan Ilse, who had won the Mr. Texas in 1961. Dan was a great motivator, who always had encouraging words for me.

From 1964 to ’67, I entered 35 or 40 competitions throughout Texas and Oklahoma. The Dallas, Houston and Tulsa YMCAs were hotbeds for contests, and that was mostly before powerlifting became an AAU-recognized sport. Strength and bodybuilding contests were run concurrently in those days. The strength contests did not necessar-

CM: So winning your first contest added some fuel to your fire, right?

ED: Yes, I wanted to compete, I wanted to win, and I liked having trophies. The first time I visited Ed Cook’s home, I noticed that Ed had about 25 trophies displayed in his family room. I had a few small trophies from high school sports, but I didn’t have anything close to the size and number that Ed had.

I made up my mind right then that I was going to win 25 trophies over the next several years. By 1967, when I graduated from Baylor, I had achieved that goal.

Then, while in Dallas visiting with Ronnie Ray, I saw his trophy collection. Ronnie must have had 100 trophies, some of which were more than three feet tall. Now I wanted 100 trophies. Five years later I had 100 trophies.

When my dad died in 1994, I gave away all of my trophies— which I had lugged across the country multiple times and finally stashed back in Conroe—to a local elementary school to reward the students during a sports-fitness day.

Presently, my wife and I are building a new home in Orlando, Florida—which will have a neat training area, next to a custom-designed home office for me. Ironically, my wife has noted several times that it would be nice if I’d have saved some of my old trophies for display purposes. I agree.

I wish I still had them.

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Classic photos from the pages of Darden’s new book, The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results.

CM: What was the last trophy you won?

ED: My last contest was while I was finishing my Ph.D. in exercise science at Florida State University.

That was the Collegiate Mr. America, which I won in 1972. Shortly after that I began working with Arthur Jones at Nautilus Sports/ Medical Industries.

I met Jones in 1970 at the Mr. USA contest in New Orleans.

Jones was starting to really raise eyebrows in the bodybuilding world with his unique training methods and machines.

Very early in our relationship he asked me why I was doing multiple sets. Then he challenged me to focus on not stopping at a specific repetition number but instead keep doing reps until failure and then to try another and another until no upward movement was possible.

After I felt secure in going to failure, Jones taught me the value of keeping my workouts brief and infrequent—so my body would have plenty of time to overcompensate and recover.

It took me approximately six months to integrate Jones’ concepts into my traditional volume training. Once I did, I felt the difference quickly. Jones’ concepts got me into the best shape of my life in 1972.

CM: For the uninitiated, can you briefly outline the most important components of Arthur Jones’ high-intensity training?

ED: Initially, Jones defined high intensity and proper form. He said that high intensity meant to keep doing an exercise until the lifting part of a repetition could not be completed, despite a person’s best effort to continue the movement in proper form. This is otherwise known as training to failure.

Proper form entailed doing little things to make each exercise harder—such as pausing in the contracted position of single-joint movements, keeping the turnarounds in the stretched position smooth and striving for a greater range of motion with multiplejoint movements. But Jones knew those definitions wouldn’t be enough unless a trainee understood progression, duration and frequency. Eight to 12 was his repetition goal, and when the upper number was reached, a progression of 5 percent was added to the resistance. The duration amounted to one set of eight to 12 repetitions of eight to 12 different exercises—which could be performed in 30 minutes or less.

The frequency was three or fewer nonconsecutive days per week.

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CM: In the first chapter of your new book you discuss Arthur Jones’ role in helping to create the personalizedtraining industry. As you have stated many times, Jones was a tremendous influence in your life on many levels.

His training ideas were the genesis of your coining of the term HIT. It has been said that Jones’ training principles were created as a sort of master plan to fuel his Nautilus empire—that the low-volume, short-time-frame routines he advocated were created with the direct purpose of shuttling clients more quickly through his franchised Nautilus training centers, thereby allowing them to process more and more individuals and thus make larger profits.

How do you respond to that?

ED: First, Jones and Nautilus did not have, or sell, Nautilus franchises. If a person bought 12 or more Nautilus machines, generally that person had the right to use “Nautilus” in naming a club or fitness center. But Jones quickly found that there was no good way to enforce such a requirement. In 1982 there were some 1,500 fitness centers that used Nautilus in their names— but again, Nautilus had very little control over what they did or how they handled their business.

I don’t think Jones ever had any specific type of master plan. His best planning usually amounted to doing something “right now” to correct a problem. His long-range planning was always filled with multiple changes. “Why plan?” he frequently said. “Nothing ever goes the way you plan it.”

His low-volume, short-timeframe routines were designed so he himself could build a bigger, stronger body. They worked well for many others too.

Jones undoubtedly was interested in making a profit. Who isn’t? I certainly am, and so are you. But after working closely with the man for more than 30 years, I’m (continued on page 104)

Darden’s vast body of work.

His all-time best-seller was The Nautilus Bodybuilding Book.

In the 1970s most facilities that called themselves Nautilus fitness centers had 12 or more Nautilus machines. Many old-timers will recognize the two large Compound Leg machines on the left, the Multi-Exercise and 4-Way Neck in the middle and the Combination Biceps/Triceps on the right. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 101

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“Breathing squats and breathing pullovers helped me develop an expandable rib cage and chest,” Darden says. “This Polaroid shot was taken by Dan Ilse in 1967. Dan had visited California in the late 1950s and watched Millard Williamson do some amazing feats of rib cage expansion, and he coached me in this pose.” (continued from page 101) convinced that his primary goal was to provide serious, sound, safe exercise—and exercise machines—for the masses.

CM: Tell us a bit more about the Arthur Jones you know and the man he is thought to be.

ED: Jones has been thought of as a genius, inventor, scientist, adventurer, pioneer, bodybuilder, lecturer, teacher, mentor, joke teller, tough sonof-a-bitch, killer, writer, moviemaker, lover of young women, world traveler and aviator. I can assure you he was all those and more. To me, however, he was mostly a teacher. He was a very smart master teacher who had the ability to transition, remarkably well, from one area Arthur Jones introduced Nautilus machines and training in Iron Man.

Fifteen years old and 140 pounds. “My sister took this photo in 1959.

I was pleased that I had already built five pounds of muscle on my body.”

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Darden was an accomplished bodybuilder with exceptional proportion. to another. Doing so turned his teaching into a rare, rich, invaluable experience.

Over three decades I’ve heard Jones describe more than 100 hair-raising, life-or-death adventures that he personally lived through. Now, if either one of us had experienced any one of his 100 adventurers, that single experience would instantly become number one on our list of the most exciting things we’ve ever done.

Sure, there are some people in the world who have done one or two similar things in their lives—and lived to tell about them—but how many men have experienced 100 true, Indiana Jones–type adventures? Well, that’s the background Arthur Jones came from. That’s what Jones brought to bodybuilding and strength training in 1970.

You better believe I grilled him on all his concepts and principles—repeatedly, for the first five years that I worked with

His new book is loaded with amazing photos that span the history of physique development.

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him. Many of his answers were surprising and stunning, since they were from perspectives in areas other than bodybuilding.

At times he was raw and to the point.

Thank goodness, Jones wrote about most of those experiences in his autobiography, which he initially called Man Plans . . . and God Laughs. This 480,000-word book is available free on the Internet at www .ArthurJonesExercise.com.

CM: From his writings and your books, I can tell he was an absolutely fascinating individual on all fronts—as a businessman, adventurer and thinker.

Among my favorite parts of each book you have written are your iron game tales of days past. Your stories of the early days with Arthur Jones and his various protégés—men like Casey Viator, Sergio Oliva and others—always give me a

thrill. With your new book you take that approach to a whole new level with the various interviews you included. What prompted you to do that, and how did you select the personalities you interviewed?

ED: All of the guys I interviewed know the authentic Arthur Jones. They were Jim Flanagan, Casey Viator, Ben Sorenson, Kim Wood, Larry Gilmore, Roger Schwab, Joe Mullen, Boyer Coe, Dan Riley, Werner Kieser, Wes Brown, Drew Baye and Joe Cirulli. My objective was to present Jones in a way that reignites confidence in high-intensity training—the confidence that was so prevalent during the workouts he supervised and the bull sessions he held during the 1970s.

Plus, during an interview you can skip around and cover a lot of ground, without transitions—so you can present more facts in fewer pages. (continued on page 110)

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Arthur Jones with his Bell helicopter in 1972. “This is the way I remember Arthur looking when I met him in 1970 in New Orleans, Louisiana. (continued from page 107)

CM: Good point. On that note, let’s jump to a new topic.

Chapter 3 covers your “unvarnished arm routine,” which uses preexhaustion—performing a single-joint exercise for a bodypart followed

Jones demonstrates the Nautilus pullover. It was the first machine to provide direct, full-range exercise for the lats.

immediately by a compound movement for the same bodypart. For example, for chest you’d do flyes followed by bench presses. The theory is that the isolation movement fatigues the targeted muscle, and then

the compound movement uses other muscles—such as the triceps and delts with the bench press in the above example—to further blitz the target bodypart. I’ve read that magnetic resonance imaging studies have shown that preexhaustion actually provides less work for the target muscles than standard straight sets.

What’s your take on that?

ED: I’ve not seen the study you’re referring to, but I’ll tell you this: It only takes one properly performed preexhaustion session for a trainee to “feel” more blood flow and a deeper inroad being made in the targeted muscle.

CM: I agree.

I’ve always found preexhaustion training to be excellent for both a fantastic pump and a deep feel-

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The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results contains 312 pages, 34 chapters and 248 photographs. It’s the longest and most detailed of Darden’s training books. ing of fatigue in the target muscles. One conundrum I’ve always had involved judging progress from session to session. When taking both of the exercises in the preexhaustion sets to failure, I found that progress in the compound movement was very slow in coming.

The target muscles would be so fatigued by the isolation

movement that it was often impossible to use progressively heavier loads from session to session on the compound exercise. I could only progress with regularity on the isolation movement, and that became a bit frustrating.

Do you have any thoughts on that?

ED: I believe the key in that situation is to focus on progress-

ing on only one of the exercises.

For example, let’s say during workout 1 you did eight reps on the single-joint movement and eight reps on the multiple-joint exercise. During workout 2 keep the reps on the single-joint movement at eight and concentrate on getting nine or 10 reps on the other. Or, you could focus on the single-joint movement for nine or 10 reps and stick with eight reps on the multiple-joint exercise.

Note: In Part 2 of this interview Darden delves more into HIT, providing specific programs, and talks about Ray Mentzer’s 900-pound squat, Casey Viator’s amazing strength and muscularity and the concept of specificity in athletic training.

Editor’s note: To order The New Bodybuilding for Old-School Results for $39.99 plus shipping and handling, call Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008 or visit www.Home-Gym.com. IM

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What Was Your Excuse Again?

Model: Toney Freeman

b y Ron Har r is

P hot ography by Michael Nev eux

had competed in the NPC New England Championships in Boston for the past two years, but this time I was there to cheer on my wife. She had also competed for the past two years but in figure. At last she had decided to stop fighting her body’s natural inclinations and let herself become the muscular bodybuilding goddess she was meant to be. Of course, she wouldn’t listen to me about applying some type of tanning solution, and although my Cuban Missile looked very dark from a couple sessions of spray-on tan at a local salon under normal lighting conditions, she looked as white as I do up there under the bright stage lights.

But then again, since when do husbands and wives ever listen to each other? (Did I mention that Janet also came onstage almost two minutes late at prejudging because she was chit-chatting backstage?) I knew we were going to have to write off her first bodybuilding contest as a learning experience and try to enjoy the show.

But I digress.

Randy was with me to cheer Janet on and, even more important, to check out the men’s light-heavies. He was planning to make next year’s New England his next contest, even though it didn’t have a novice division. I am not sure what he was expecting, but when about 15 light-heavyweights filled the stage at prejudging, Randy instantly knew he would have to bust his ass even more if he was going to have a prayer of making top five in that very competitive division. “Hmmm,” was all he had to say, and he was frowning the whole time the class was on.

Episode 24

The top few guys were national-level caliber, for sure, and Randy needed a good 10 pounds more muscle before he would look like he belonged up there with them.

The night show was going to be pretty thrilling because we had not one but three enormous guest posers: Jay Cutler, Gunter Schlierkamp and Dave Palumbo. That’s almost a thousand pounds of prime beef between those mass monsters, enough to feed a Somali village for weeks. What I didn’t know—because he wasn’t listed on the contest flyer—was that there was a fourth guest poser, one who would make a much more significant impression on all of us than the three giants would.

Greg Rando was his name, and I had known him for about 10 years. Greg won the Team Universe Overall Championship in 2001, defeating some pretty heavy hitters from the other classes to do so: Marvin Ward, Derik Farnsworth, Tito Raymond and Jeff Willett (who had beaten Skip La Cour that year to win the heavyweight division). Greg had earned his pro card in the IFBB and was just three weeks away from making his pro debut at the Night of Champions in New York. He is also a successful business owner, with his own gym and a thriving personal-training business. Oh, wait, did I forget to mention something? Greg is 34 years old and has been legally blind since he was 15.

Emcee Mike Katz introduced Greg and informed the audience that he was visually impaired. As a stagehand led him to the center of the stage, I nudged Randy. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 119

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Model: Tony Freeman

You have to block out the pain when the sets get tough.

I tell ya, he must have the best mind/muscle connection in the world.”

“Jeez, I just realized he can’t even see how great he looks, can he?”

“No, he can’t. Vain bastards like you and me must clock in about an hour of mirror time every day checking our buffed selves out.

Greg is a professional bodybuilder and has never once flexed in a mirror to appreciate how awesome he looks. Makes you think, doesn’t it?”

“Yeah,” Randy replied, never taking his eyes off Rando as he moved from one impressive pose to another. “If he can look this

“I know this guy from way back; he’s amazing. And he looks way bigger and better than the last time I saw him a few years ago.” Indeed he did. Rando was very full and symmetrical at 5’8”, 215 pounds, with 20-inch arms and no weak points. Even if you didn’t know he was blind, you would be in awe of his physique.

“Wow, how does he train?”

Randy wondered aloud.

“By feel, of course. He feels his way around his gym and counts holes in weight stacks and the little plates on dumbbells to get the right weight. Try closing your eyes for a few seconds in the middle of a set sometime and you’ll get a tiny taste of what he has to do every day. But

Focus and visualize.

Mental attitude is as important as physical fortitude.

Model: Jose Raymond

Balik \ Model: Jay Cutler

It takes a champion mindset and an iron will to build extreme mass.

good with a handicap like that, what the hell is my excuse?”

“Exactly. Guys like Greg who let nothing get in the way of achieving their goals make us all stop and realize most of the excuses we have are just plain lame. I have heard so many excuses from guys who say they want to have a bodybuilder’s physique but they can’t because they don’t have the time, they don’t have the money, their kids or their wife are a hassle, they have a bum knee or lower-back problems, you name it. What was your excuse for a while, Randy?”

“Uh,” he stalled, “I couldn’t get big because I wasn’t using steroids.” He shook his head as he admitted this, knowing how fool-

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Greg Rando has built an incredible physique without drugs—oh, and he’s legally blind.

Roland Balik

ish that belief had been.

“Well,” I said, gesturing to Greg, who was almost done with his routine, “he has been winning shows since 1990, all of them drug-tested. So let’s see here, the man doesn’t have the benefit of seeing what he’s doing in the gym or what he looks like, and he became a pro not only in spite of that but also without ever using any pharmaceutical aids. From now on, anytime I’m feeling sorry for myself and start running through all my pathetic excuses for why I haven’t been as successful in competitions

Think of Greg’s dedication and results the next time you have some lame excuse for missing a workout.

Okabe

as I should have, I’m going to think of Greg. That should shut up those negative voices in my head that try to tell me the odds are stacked against me.”

“Me too,” Randy said, and he was definitely sincere.

I saw Greg three weekends later onstage in New York, competing against 45 other IFBB professionals. He didn’t win, and he didn’t even make the top 15. But there was no doubt in the mind of anyone in that theater that he was a champion. Rando got louder and heartier cheers and applause than almost any other man in the show, even though most of the others had faces and

physiques that were plastered all over the magazines every month and thus far more recognizable.

Flex Wheeler was sitting next to me and stood up to give him an ovation.

Since that night we saw Greg guest pose, both Randy and I have had a new attitude in the gym. It’s clear now that whatever we were allowing to hold us back was nothing but an illusion.

Nothing can prevent you from making your dreams come true unless you let it. There is a phrase that says, “Excuses are lies we tell to ourselves.” I really believe that.

Now you need to ask yourself this question, and think hard: What was your excuse again? IM www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 121

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At 43 Years Old Dave Fisher Is Gunning for His Best Condition Ever AD

by David Young Photography by Michael Neveux

At 43 most guys are starting to lose their edge. In competitive bodybuilding it’s often a time to hang up the trunks and look to other endeavors. Dave Fisher, however, isn’t quite ready for a sign that says, “Reserved for the Geezer,” on his parking place at Gold’s Gym in Redondo Beach, California. In fact, Dave turned out to be the most conditioned athlete onstage at the ’06 Europa Super Show.

According to IFBB athletes’ rep Bob Cicherillo, “Dave’s condition was almost too good—if he had just filled in five or 10 pounds, he would have been right in the mix.”

Dave agrees. “Next time I’m going to fill out a little more, eat a little more that last week and come in just as shredded.”

I’ve watched Dave train for years, so when I found out he was competing, I set up this interview. Let’s check in.

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“You have to want it!”

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“You have to want it more than your fear of the pain.”

DY: Dave, what are your height and weight? Where are you from?

DF: I’m 5’7”. My off-season weight is around 245 pounds, and my contest weight is 215 pounds.

I’m originally from Calgary, Alberta, Canada.

DY: How long have you been training, and what got you started?

DF: Since I was 14. I was a gymnast. I was in a bookstore and saw a copy of Pumping Iron. I had to save my money, but when I got it,

I went through it page by page. My father had an old set of weights in the basement, so I started training.

I wanted to be like the guys in the book and magazines.

DY: Twenty-nine years of training. Now, that’s real dedication. Did you have any role models?

DF: Yes. Arnold. To me that guy had it all. As a kid I read everything he wrote. Of course, as you get more advanced, you learn from a diverse range of reputable sources and form your own system. But Arnold’s influ-

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“A champion is driven—driven to the unknown.

Driven to accomplish something when the only reward may be the knowledge that you put it all on the table.”

ence on bodybuilding is huge.

DY: Competitive bodybuilding is no cakewalk. It takes a lot of hard work and dedication, and that’s even more evident on the pro circuit. So tell me, what drives you?

DF: I don’t know if that can be explained in words. What drove me to get in top shape and be ripped for the Europa show is the same thing that drove me to become a pro bodybuilder in the first place.

There is one thing I’m certain of: You have to want it! You have to want it more than your fear of the pain. You have to want it more than the hunger pangs. You have to want it more than the boredom of all the cardio. What drives someone who’s stranded in a snowstorm? One person gives up, and one keeps going to safety. A champion is driven—driven to the unknown. Driven to accomplish something when the only reward may be the knowledge that you put it all on the table.

DY: I think you just explained it: You have to want it. No, you have to need it. You have to need to get that one extra rep when it seems impossible or when it’s burning and the pain is excruciating as much as you’d need a breath of air if someone was holding your head under water.

DF: That’s it. That’s exactly it!

DY: So at 43 you were probably in your best-ever condition for the Europa show, and it was a comeback after more than six years away from competition.

Did you do anything differently from what you’d done in the past?

DF: Yes. I used to prepare myself for shows. I had a reputation for being in great shape. I may not have been the biggest onstage, but I always came in shape.

DY: Yes, I remember. I think it was the ’95 IRON MAN Pro where you were compared to Flex Wheeler and Aaron Baker.

You held your own with those two because of your conditioning.

DF: Well, thank you. For this

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weeks? Because it changes throughout.

DY: Let’s say six weeks out.

DF: Okay, here you go: Meal 1 1 dozen egg whites 1 cup oatmeal Meal 2 1 tablespoon peanut butter 1 piece fruit Meal 3 1 pound meat or fish 1 medium potato Green vegetable Meal 4 1 tablespoon peanut butter 1 apple

“I may not have been the biggest onstage, but I always came in shape.”

Meal 5 Steak Greens

Comstock

Before bed 10 egg whites 1 tomato DY: Do you have a cheat day?

DF: If I feel like I need to have something sweet or some cheat food, I’ll blend a chocolate protein shake with some ice. In the off-season every day is a cheat day. I love those McDonald’s $1 double cheeseburgers. I usually eat five of them and a shake. At contest time all bets are off. For the Europa I did not cheat ever. That was one of the main changes I made this time out.

contest I worked with Philip Goglia of Performance Fitness Concepts.

It’s funny that you mentioned Flex Wheeler because everyone always talks about his condition at the 1993 Arnold Classic as being his best ever.

He worked with Phil Goglia for that contest, and that’s one of the reasons I decided to work with Phil for my Europa preparations.

DY: Tell me about something you’ve done that you’re proud of.

DF: I love to help prepare clients for an event, a personal goal or a contest and see them get in their best shape ever. They get compliments from their friends and family, and their life changes. That makes me proud.

DY: So what did Phil have you eating?

DF: You know, there’s only a handful of foods that we can eat as bodybuilders. It’s not neccesarily what I ate but the amounts and combinations.

DY: Okay, so lay it out for me.

DF: At what point in the 16

DY: What is your favorite supplement?

DF: I don’t use a lot, but I do use protein and L-glutamine.

DY: How do you overcome training plateaus?

DF: Well, the first thing I do is (continued on page 134) work

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“I train each bodypart once a week and have found that it’s the best way for me to train.”

(continued from page 131) through

them. Most people don’t realize that you just have to keep plugging along. I’ll make changes with a new exercise or even train at a new gym for a while.

DY: What are your goals in terms of bodybuilding and fitness?

DF: I always want to look like this. I never want my bodyweight to go under 230. As for competing, a lot has to happen—I don’t think it’s going to be in 2007, so the earliest is 2008, and I’ll be 44.

DY: What’s your training philosophy?

DF: I believe in basic barbell and dumbbell movements—I don’t use many machines. I practice that, and I teach it. Because of my age and my injuries, I can’t train real heavy like when I was younger, but I believe in building my routine around the basic movements.

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DY: How do you switch from normal training and dieting to contest mode?

DF: First, I decide which competitions to do. Then I have to evaluate my condition. As you get more and more experience, you learn how long you need to be in your best condition. So I set my goals and hit the blocks running, I’m now in contest mode. Full speed ahead. Get out of my way because I’ve got a mission to accomplish.

“I build my routine around the basic movements.”

DY: So if you’re 240, how many weeks do you need to prepare?

DF: Twelve to 16 weeks.

DY: What’s your current training split?

DF: Monday: chest; Tuesday: back and traps; Wednesday: shoulders; Thursday: arms; and Friday: legs, including calves.

DY Did you ever train your bodyparts more often than once a week?

DF: Yes, I’ve probably trained with every split imaginable. I trained bodyparts twice a week using every possible combination. I settled on this system, working bodyparts once a week, several years ago and feel it’s the best way for me to train.

DY: What’s your overall philosophy of bodybuilding?

DF: When you look at the big guys like Ronnie and Jay, they aren’t lifting little weights; they’re lifting big weights. People say, “Well, they can lift big weights because they’re big.” And I say, no, they’re big because they lift big weights.

I follow that same principle.

I mean they are both huge, and Ronnie is probably the greatest bodybuilder of all time. I like his training philosophy. It’s basic, hardcore exercises—nothing fancy. That’s what I like to do.

Right now I’m recovering from a torn biceps, so I have to use some intelligence.

DY: What kind of sets and reps do you use?

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DF: Generally, I do four or five sets on an exercise—or until I get bored with it and move on to the next. I’ll do three to four exercises for a bodypart. But that’s just a general guideline. I also believe there are no rules. If an exercise feels good, I might do 15 sets of it, and that’s my workout for the day. In fact, yesterday I was doing two-hand,

one-dumbbell overhead triceps extensions, and it felt good. So I just stuck with it and did about 15 sets.

Too many people get stuck in a pattern: “First I have to bench, then incline, then…whatever.” You have to be more flexible than that. A muscle doesn’t know if it’s lifting 20 pounds or 40 pounds. It just knows force and resistance.

“Muscle size is still determined by how heavy a weight you lift.”

I also used to train heavier and stayed in that eight-to-12-reps range for as heavy as I could go. Now that I’m over 40, that’s just too dangerous. So I stay in the 12-to-20-reps range—but I still train as heavy as I can. Muscle size is still determined by how heavy a weight you lift. (See his program below left. He does four or five sets per exercise, 12 to 20 reps per set.)

DY: What about cardio? How much do you do?

DF: None in the off-season. For a show I do two hours a day—an hour in the morning and an hour at night.

DY: What range of motion do you use on your exercises?

DF: Not always full range, mainly because of injuries. It all depends on what I’m training and the injuries I’m working around. The most important thing as you get older is to train for longevity.

DY: How fast or slow is your training cadence?

DF: No explosive movements like when I was younger. Now I go nice and slow down and nice and slow up. Maybe three seconds each way.

DY: What about your rest periods? How long between sets?

DF: It’s pretty quick, just long enough for my training partner to get his set in.

Dave Fisher’s Routine Monday: Chest Dumbbell bench presses Dumbbell incline presses Pec deck flyes Decline presses Tuesday: Back and traps Pulldowns One-arm dumbbell rows Deadlifts (sets of 20 reps) Behind-the-neck pulldowns Dumbbell shrugs Barbell shrugs Wednesday: Shoulders Seated presses or Smith-machine presses Lateral raises Front raises Rear-delt raises

Thursday: Triceps and biceps Overhead extensions Lying extensions Pushdowns EZ-curl-bar curls Standing alternate curls Dumbbell preacher curls Friday: Legs and calves Leg presses Hack squats Reverse hack squats Leg extensions Lying leg curls Seated leg curls Seated calf raises Standing calf raises Leg press calf raises

DY: What’s the toughest thing about bodybuilding?

DF: Going to bed hungry.

DY: What is the best thing about being a bodybuilder?

DF: Well, I definitely love the recognition and knowing that I put it all on the table. I love overcoming the challenges. It not only makes me stronger physically, it makes me stronger mentally and emotionally.

Bodybuilding is an opportunity to set yourself aside from the pack. I like that.

Editor’s note: To contact Dave Fisher for help preparing for a competition or event, guest posings or seminars, write to him at BodyBy DaveFisher@yahoo.com. IM

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One Serving Has the Antioxidant Potency of Photography by Michael Neveux and M.J. Adelman

Blueberries as big as the end of your thumb Real sky-blue, and heavy, and ready to drum In the cavernous pail of the first one to come!

And all ripe together, not some of them green And some of them ripe! You ought to have seen!

—Robert Frost, 1915

Model: Steve Namat

You can only imagine the pressure on Jamie Gold of Santa Monica, California. Here he was, a relatively unknown participant in the World Series of Poker in Las Vegas. He’d made it to the final table and was closing in on a $12 million payday.

Under the stress of hours of intense concentration, Gold munched on something he later credited with helping him maintain his energy as he went on to win the $12 million: blueberries.

Bodybuilders and anyone else interested in health and disease prevention can take a tip from Gold’s poker-tournament diet plan.

It may not help you win $12 million, but eating blueberries will provide a wealth of health benefits: potent antioxidant activity that protects against cardiovascular disease and cancer, preservation of brain function with age, prevention of urinary

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Five

Servings of Fruits and Vegetables tract infections, possible prevention of diabetes and more.

Bodybuilders especially should find eating blueberries useful.

They contain a moderate amount of carbs balanced by a respectable fiber content that slows carb release and prevents a fat-producing insulin spike. Many bodybuilders don’t eat the minimum five servings a day of fruits and vegetables linked to disease prevention; blueberries are a source of concentrated pro-

tective nutrients and won’t make you gain fat. A hundred grams, or about 3.5 ounces, of blueberries deliver the antioxidant power of five servings of fruits and vegetables.

Small wonder that when food scientists from the United States.

Department of Agriculture Human Nutrition Center ranked 40 fruits and vegetables, blueberries topped the list. Blackberries, garlic, cranberries, kale, strawberries and spinach came next. The total antioxidant value of blueberries is twice that of spinach and three times that of oranges.

The medicinal value of blueberries was recognized by early American settlers. They learned the value of the fruit from Native Americans, who used blueberries to treat coughs and as a relaxant during childbirth. The settlers added blueberries to soups, stews and other foods.

Blueberries are available fresh, frozen, pureed, concentrated and dried. They’re also low in calories, fat and sodium and are a good fiber source. While fresh blueberries are higher in vitamins A and C than frozen or canned, one study found that the frozen version was highest in antioxidants.1 Frozen blueberries are also considerably less expensive

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supplement. Nineteen of the 25 anthocyanins present in the blueberries showed up in the men’s blood serum.2

Can Blueberries Slow the Aging Process?

Model: Jose Raymond

While the aging process cannot be halted, there are a number of ways to increase the chances of healthier aging. Exercise and nutri-

than fresh ones.

Key to blueberries’ antioxidant content are brightly colored pigments called anthocyanins, which provide the intense blue, red and orange colors of many fruits, as well as phenolic acids and flavonoids. Scientists are arguing about how many fruit antioxidants are

absorbed. Test tube studies show potent antioxidant effects; studies that use human subjects often find relatively little effect because many natural antioxidants are hard for the body to absorb.

A high absorption rate is what makes blueberries special. One study, for example, featured five middle-aged men who ate a high-fat meal that also included a blueberry

tion are central to quality of life with the passing years. One theory is that aging is the result of oxidative damage to cells. The body responds by activating its built-in antioxidant systems, such as superoxide dismutase, catalase enzymes and glutathione. But with aging, those natural defenses gradually decline.

The good news is that antioxidant nutrients can counteract the decline.

Because the major causes of death, cardiovascular disease and cancer, are related to out-of-control oxidation, you can see why the government and numerous scientists (continued on page 144) strongly

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take of antioxidant-rich foods, blueberries in particular. Researchers gave 19-month-old rats (equivalent to 65-year-old humans) extracts of blueberry, strawberry and spinach for eight weeks. Blueberries proved most potent in reversing declines in neuronal and cognitive functions.

Only the rats that got the blueberry extract showed improved balance and coordination.3 Providing blueberries to lab rats bred to produce Alzheimer’s disease helped the rats retain memory functions. The experimenters found that blueberries helped increase neuronsignaling mechanisms.4 Insulinlike growth factor 1 is most associated with muscle growth.

As the primary anabolic agent of growth hormone, IGF-1 offers potent protective effects against aging.

It helps maintain neurons in the hippocampus, the site of learning and memory and the part of the brain most damaged by Alzheimer’s disease. One study found that eating blueberries helps IGF-1 protect the

brain.5 Another study exposed rats to radiation, which leads to brain degeneration. Blueberry and strawberry extracts shielded their brains from the effects of radiation. The strawberry extracts seemed to work especially well in the hippocampus, while the blueberry improved function in the striatal area. The authors suggested that this information could be of value to astronauts who are exposed to high radiation levels for longer periods on extended space missions.6 One way that blueberries may improve balance and coordination in aged animals is by protecting and increasing the output of brain cells that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. Loss of those cells occurs in Parkinson’s disease and leads to the shaking and loss of coordination characteristic of the disease.

Many older people, however, show

Model: Dan Decker

Blueberries’ high antioxidant content will help muscles recover faster and maintain tendon and ligament strength. declining production of dopamine and experience loss of balance and slower gait. Blueberries are especially useful in protecting dopamine production in the brain.

Another way that the brain protects itself is by producing heat shock proteins. Those special proteins emerge under stress and help prevent the destruction of cells, including neurons. With aging the brain is less efficient at producing heat shock proteins. Rats provided with blueberry extracts, however, showed a heat shock response equivalent to that of young animals.7 The blood-brain barrier is the brain’s defense system—blood vessels that selectively allow only certain substances access into the interior of the brain. Without it many ordinary foods could prove fatal. On the other hand, the barrier also blocks many useful substances.

A study that sought to determine

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ing the activity of enzymes released by cancer cells that help spread cancer by degrading tissue that would otherwise contain the cancer cells.13 Other research shows that a chemical found in blueberries called pterostilbene inhibits cytochrome P-450, which converts chemicals into carcinogens in the body.

the ability of blueberry extracts to enter the brain found that in rats fed the extract for 10 weeks, blueberry extract concentrated in various parts of the brain, particularly those involved in learning and memory.

The rats showed improved thinking ability after feeding on blueberry extracts for 10 weeks.8 When the brain is deprived of blood, which happens in some types of strokes, brain damage ensues.

One study, however, found that rats with diets containing blueberry, spinach and spirulina extracts suffered less neuron loss when subjected to ischemia, or lack of blood flow. This has implications for brain protection during strokes.9

Blueberries Against Cancer A 2001 study found that blueberry and strawberry extracts slowed the growth of cervical and breast cancer cells.10 Another study found a 50 percent reduced rate of replication of colon cancer cells.11 A follow-up study confirmed the effect of berry extracts on preventing colon cancer and also found protection against breast, oral and prostate cancers.12 Cancer cells kill themselves when exposed to these extracts.

One way that blueberry and other fruits prevent cancer is by inhibit-

Blueberries and Cardiovascular Protection Pterostilbene, besides helping to prevent cancer, also appears to increase the number of low-density-lipoprotein cell receptors, which would have the effect of lowering blood lipids and preventing cardiovascular disease. Another study found that eating blueberries improved the plasticity of vascular smooth muscle, which also offers

protection from cardiovascular disease. A rat study found that blueberries help maintain the structural capacity of the aorta, the large artery leading out of the heart. Blueberry antioxidants also prevent high blood pressure by protecting nitric oxide production in arterial walls.

Cardiovascular complications are a major cause of death in diabetics.

One study found that blueberries have an insulinlike effect on boosting glucose uptake into cells.14 The antioxidant effects of blueberries may also help speed recovery from intense exercise and prevent such effects as exercise-induced muscle soreness. One study found that men who ate blueberries were protected from oxidative effects while training under hot conditions.15 Blueberries proved superior to vitamin C in that regard.

Another study, however, failed to find any significant antioxidant effect from blueberry intake prior to a 2 1/2-hour run.16 Blueberries can be easily added to any type of protein drink, assuming you have a blender. They add antioxidant value and fiber and exert an alkalinizing effect, which, studies show, prevents muscle catabolism.

Any way you look at it, blueberries and other berries are a definite asset to any bodybuilding nutrition program. They may even help you play poker all night long.

References 1 Wehrmeister, A., et al. (2005).

Antioxidant content of fresh, frozen, canned and dehydrated blueberries.

J Am Diet Assoc. 105(supp 2):A-38.

2 Kay, C.D., et al. (2002). The effect of wild blueberry (Vaccinium augustifolium) consumption on postprandial serum antioxidant status in human subjects. Br J Nutr.

88:389-97.

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3 Joseph, J.A., et al. (1999). Reversals of age-related declines in neuronal signal transduction, cognitive, and motor behavioral deficits with blueberry, spinach or strawberry dietary supplementation. J Neurosci.

19:8114-21.

4 Joseph, J.A., et al. (2003). Blueberry supplementation enhances signaling and prevents behavioral deficits in an Alzheimer’s disease model. Nutr Neurosci. 6:153-62.

5 Casdadesus, G., et al. (2004).

Modulation of hippocampal plasticity and cognitive behavior by short-term blueberry supplementation in aged rats. Nutr Neurosci.

7:309-16.

6 Shukitt-Hale, B., et al. (2006).

Beneficial effects of fruit extracts on neuronal function and behavior in a rodent model of accelerated aging.

Neurobiol of Aging. In press.

7 Shukitt-Hale, B., et al. (2005).

Dietary supplementation with fruit polyphenolics ameliorates age-related deficits in behavior and neuronal markers of inflammation and oxidative stress. Age. 27:49-57.

8 Andres-Lacueva, C., et al. (2005).

Anthocyanins in aged blueberry-fed rats are found centrally and may enhance memory. Nutr Neurosci.

Models: Nielson and Nielson

Add blueberries to your postworkout protein drink for reloading muscle glycogen—and a burst of health benefits.

8:111-120.

9 Wang, Y., et al. (2005). Dietary supplementation with blueberries, spinach or spirulina reduces ischemic brain damage. Exp Neurol.

193:75-84.

10 Wedge, D.E., et al. (2001). Anticarcinogenic activity of strawberry, blueberry and raspberry extracts to breast and cervical cancer lines. J Med Food. 4:49-51.

11 Yi, W., et al. (2005). Phenolic compounds from blueberries can inhibit colon cancer cell proliferation and induce apoptosis. J Agric Food Chem. 53:7320-9.

12 Seeram, N., et al. (2006). Blackberry, black raspberry, blueberry, cranberry, red raspberry, and strawberry extracts inhibit growth and stimulate apoptosis of human cancer cells in vitro. J Agric Food Chem. 54(25):9329-9339.

13 Matchett, M.D., et al. (2005).

Inhibition of matrix metalloproteinase activity in DU145 human prostate cancer cells by flavonoids from lowbush bluberry: Possible roles for protein kinase C and mitogenactivated protein kinase-mediated events. Nutr Biochem. 17(2):117125.

14 Martineau, L.C., et al. (2006).

Anti-diabetic properties of the Canadian lowbush blueberry. Phytomedicine. 13:612-623.

15 McAnulty, S.R., et al. (2004).

Consumption of blueberry polyphenols reduces exercise-induced oxidative stress compared to vitamin C. Nut Res. 24:209-21.

16 Shooter, L., et al. (2004). Effect of blueberry ingestion on oxidative stress and plasma antioxidant potential following a 2.5 hour run. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 26(supp):S258. IM

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Drug-Free Pro Dave Goodin Trains the Show Muscles

by Cory Crow • Photography by Michael Neveux

Empathize with the natural bodybuilder for a moment. You’re working out day in and day out to gain size and present a complete physique, and all anyone wants to talk about is whether you can attain striated glutes at your next contest. Bodybuilding message boards are stuffed to the gills with nutritional questions, specifically, how-to queries from lifters who are searching for that pot of shredded gold at the end of the rainbow. And when you do finally hit the conditioning bull’s-eye, it all comes crashing down in a sea of accusation and speculation that natural and you are no longer on friendly terms.

What people don’t see—or ask about—is how you built that muscle in the first place. This is bodybuilding, of

course, and the name of the game is still building muscle, but conditioning is God in the land of the “natty.”

Enough, already! Enough of hearing about nutritional protocols, carb cycling and sodium loading. Enough of wondering whether striated glutes are possible for a natural bodybuilder (they are) or if you can really know when you are 1 to 2 percent tighter. Let’s talk to a natural bodybuilder about how muscle is built and see what we can learn from someone who’s like the majority of us—not using chemical assistance to add an inch here or there or find the key to building a better physique. Here’s what natural bodybuilding pro Dave Goodin, age 48, has to say about how he approaches training arms and delts.

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Seated dumbbell presses is th e starting point for Dave’s delt attack. He does three all-out sets, usually for eight to 10 reps. He may finish with a lighter back-off set for max reps.

SEATED DUMBBELL PRESSES

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The Texas Shredder

Texas Shredder Q&A

“Keep Austin weird” is the battle cry of the old, pre-Dell Austin set, the type of folks who spawned Willie Nelson and the SXSW music festival. “Keep bodybuilding weird” should be the battle cry of all bodybuilders. It certainly applies to Dave Goodin. A longtime Austin resident, Goodin took up bodybuilding 25 years ago “just to stay in shape.” It was right after his college years at the University of Texas, and it was the beginning of a lifelong pursuit of the perfect physique.

Today, Dave is known throughout bodybuilding circles as the “Texas Shredder” in recognition of his consistently tight contest condition. Dave knows the importance of keeping up appearances. “Since 1986 [when I tried to come in heavier] I’ve never competed in a show where I wasn’t ripped. That’s part of the Texas Shredder mystique. Seriously, people who have followed my career have asked how I can be so consistent—even after so many years of coming in totally ripped.

There are, however, a handful of shows where I was not happy with my conditioning. People still were amazed at how ripped I was—but I could tell.”

Dave’s attention to detail has certainly paid off. Currently, he’s certified as a professional in three bodybuilding federations, the IFPA, the NGA and the WNBF; however, because of the coverage he’s gotten in IRON MAN over the past year or so, Dave received a three-year suspension from the WNBF and has all but left that organization.

With all of the demands that are placed on a pro bodybuilder, you might think that Dave wouldn’t have time for much else, but you’d be wrong. In addition to bodybuilding, he also has a thriving personal-training business in Austin, is part of a rock ’n’ roll band and has won multiple powerlifting championships. He also promotes the OCB Texas Shredder Classic, which was scheduled to be held in Austin on May 5. Proceeds from the event are donated to the Taylor Hooton Foundation, which provides information for parents about keeping kids from using steroids.

Struggle is common in natural bodybuilding. On the business front, Dave struggles to get sponsors for his show, and on the training front he struggles to add and keep muscle when he’s dieting.

So empathize with natural bodybuilders, for they often toil without accolades or the sponsorship and publicity that their nontested brethren enjoy. Empathize, but also learn from them, because from such toil and struggle are forged routines that are sure to help you pack muscle onto your frame that you never thought possible.

After the training talk, I sat down with Dave for a few more questions.

CC: As a competitor what are you goals for 2007?

DG: I would like to win my class at the NPC Team Universe and compete for the USA at the IFBB World Championships. There are a lot of big “ifs,” but people have told me that I would do really well at the Masters Olympia. Who knows?

CC: What would you say is the biggest challenge you face precontest as a natural bodybuilder?

DG: Walking the fine line with diet and cardio, getting bodyfat down to ridiculously low levels without losing muscle. I’m really not that big, so I can’t afford to lose any.

CC: Rank the following in order of importance for natural bodybuilding: size, symmetry, conditioning.

DG: I don’t think you can put any one ahead of another. It’s the total package that you have to bring to the stage. A lot of guys make the mistake of thinking that they have to weigh a certain amount, so they never get ripped. I know that I look bigger when I’m completely ripped—maybe not in my clothes, but onstage, where it counts.

I’ve never been the biggest guy in any of my competitions. But I look big onstage, and my symmetry helps me beat bigger guys who have major weaknesses or who just don’t have the right shape.

I think symmetry becomes more important at the higher levels of the sport. When I compete on the drug-free pro level or on the NPC national level, everybody is big and everybody is well conditioned. At that point your genetic shape and your attention to keeping everything in balance becomes much more important.

CC: Having the nickname “Texas Shredder” implies good conditioning. What are your top three keys to getting shredded?

DG: Keeping your bodyfat relatively low in the off-season. Not being afraid to drop the weight necessary to be completely shredded. Taking skinfold measurements weekly during the precontest period—the mirror can lie to you; the calipers don’t.

CC: What’s the most common misconception that the public has about you as a bodybuilder?

DG: I guess the biggest thing is that I’m not freakishly huge, and I don’t gain much weight in the off-season. Add the fact that I’m older, with gray hair, and people think that I don’t compete anymore.

—C.C.

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Old-School Training The first time you speak with Dave Goodin, you are slightly surprised at how soft-spoken he is. Here’s a man whose nickname implies a personality as big as the state itself, yet Dave’s outlook is very much relaxed, old-school Austin rather than the Starbucksfueled frenzy that is the high-tech new Austin. That duality explains why a natural pro bodybuilder still has the drive after so many years to continue setting new goals for his physique. For 2007 Dave hopes to bring the Texas Shredder to the NPC Team Universe and compete for the USA in the IFBB World Amateur Championships. To do that, he knows he’s got to pack on some mass in certain places.

“I would like to improve my biceps and my thighs. I’ve had biceps and brachialis tendon problems and knee problems the past couple years, and those bodyparts have suffered. Since I’ve been using Omega Stak, my joints are feeling much better, and I think I can improve in those areas.”

Building mass takes a plan, however, and Dave’s involves a series of basic lifts coupled with

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LATERAL RAISES

some isolation movements designed to shock the maximum growth response from his body. To illustrate that plan, I’ve highlighted three of Dave’s bodypart workouts. The first section looks at his approach to building his deltoids, the second focuses on triceps, and the third hits a muscle group that he wants to add some size to this year, his biceps.

Texas Shredder Nutrition Dave’s precontest diet is approximately 42 percent protein, 42 percent carbs and 16 percent fat.

He says, “I get most of my protein from egg whites, grilled chicken, protein powder [Muscle-Link’s Pro-Fusion] and protein bars [Labrada Lean Body]. Most of my carbs come from fresh fruits and the Gatorade that I mix with Pro-Fusion for my workouts.”

Supplements • Pharmanex Life Pak Nano multivitamin

Delt Training Seated Overhead Dumbbell Presses This exercise is the starting point for Dave when he attacks his delts.

“I do about four to five warmup

• Muscle-Link’s Omega Stak for essential fatty acids • Muscle-Link’s ZMA-T (zinc and magnesium) before bed • Muscle-Link’s GH Stak (growth hormone booster) first thing in the morning, along with Red Dragon (beta-alanine) •Muscle-Link’s Cort-Bloc after the workout www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 165

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SEATED DUMBBELL CURLS

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Texas Shredder Workout Split Monday: Legs Tuesday: Chest Wednesday: Calves and Abs Thursday: Back Friday: Shoulders and Arms sets, starting at 20 or 30 pounds and moving up 10 to 15 pounds each set.

I have tears in the posterior labrum in both shoulders, so it takes a while to get them feeling good. When I get to my work weight—anywhere from 75- to 90-pound dumbbells, depending on how my shoulders are feeling—I do three all-out sets, usually eight to 10 reps. Often I’ll finish with a lighter set with 60s or 65s for maximum reps.”

One word of advice that Dave offers to beginning lifters about this exercise: “I would say many people don’t go low enough. Their elbows never even get down to shoulder level. They can push a lot more weight, but the shoulders are missing out on the stretch position.”

Dave always makes sure that he uses good form on this lift, along with a moderate rep speed. With his history of shoulder injuries, form and warmups are key to avoiding more problems.

Lateral Raises Dave’s next lift is the lateral raise.

He uses fairly high volume on this exercise, aiming for four to five sets of 10 to 12 reps. On days when he is really trying to burn his delts, he finishes these with a drop set down the rack.

In discussing laterals, Dave is quick to point out the importance of using a controlled rep speed and avoiding the tendency to rely on momentum to lift the dumbbells.

Make sure that the medial head is doing the bulk of the work and really work to forge the mind/muscle connection between this lift and that portion of the delt, he says.

Rear-Delt Flyes Much has been written regarding the benefits of machines vs. free weights. When it comes to rear-delt work, Dave believes the rear-deltflye machine is definitely the only

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way to go. To use bent-over lateral raises, the standard free-weight exercise, would put too much stress on his shoulder girdle and could lead to serious shoulder injuries. Dave uses this exercise as a finisher to provide a balanced workload to all three delt heads. Again, his target is four to five sets of 10 to 12 reps done with a moderate weight.

Triceps Training Seated Dumbbell Extensions Dave begins his triceps workout with several warmup sets to fully prepare the muscles and tendons.

He’s struggled with tendinitis in his triceps in the past, so he warms up until he truly feels ready. Once he’s warmed up sufficiently, he performs three all-out sets of 12 to 15 reps, keeping with a slightly lighter weight than he would normally lift to ease the strain on his tendons.

Pressdowns For these Dave focuses on getting the most out of both the positive and negative portions of each rep.

His target workload remains relatively high at four to five sets of 12 to 15 reps. He likes to use the rope attachment on the cable for this because he believes it allows him the fullest range of motion.

Bodyweight Dips This exercise is an optional triceps finisher for Dave, depending on how his shoulders are feeling at the time. When he does include dips, he shoots for three to four all-out sets, frequently dipping to failure on the last set.

Biceps Training The name of Dave’s biceps workout is curls, curls, curls. All of the following exercises are performed with the strictest of form and at a moderate rep speed to ensure that the target muscle is doing the work and not momentum. Here’s his program: Seated dumbbell curls 4-5 x 8-12 EZ-curl-bar curls 4 x 8-12 Hammer curls 4 x 12-15

Dave prefers using the EZ-curl bar over a straight barbell on barbell curls because of the way it eliminates stress that would otherwise be placed on his joints, particularly the elbows. Just as with the other muscle groups, he performs warmup sets on the first exercise until he feels his biceps are ready.

Doing high reps with moderate weights and selected sets driven to failure brings to mind classic bodybuilders like Arnold Schwarzenegger, Sergio Oliva and Larry Scott.

With today’s emphasis on avoiding overtraining, you might think that Dave would consider making some changes to his routine.

Not a chance. He only trains each bodypart once per week, giving him plenty of time for a full recovery. In his current workout split (see the sidebar on page 167) he works his shoulders and arms together on Fridays.

Dave’s diet is strict, as is his workout, but not to the point of interfering with the rest of his life. “There have been people who have seen my photos and thought I would be arrogant or unapproachable. After they met me, they said, ‘He acts like a regular guy.’ I take that as a compliment. I like to be nice to everyone and help people. I feel like I am just a regular guy. I just happen to be good at bodybuilding. That certainly doesn’t make me superior to anybody!”

Empathize once again with natural bodybuilders, for they have chosen a hard road to muscle growth, one that is neither as financially rewarding nor as trumpeted in the muscle media as other athletes in the industry. The average bodybuilding fan may not even be able to name the top-five natural bodybuilders in the world. But the pride that this drug-free bodybuilder feels after 25 years, the pride that goes with the name “Texas Shredder” and the drive to compete again for the right to represent his country in the World Championships? That makes it all seem worthwhile.

Editor’s note: To contact Dave Goodin for personal training, sponsorships or appearances, go to his Web site, www.DaveGoodin.com.

IM

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Physique Metamorphosis

by Mike Mentzer

n the spirit of revisiting high-intensitytraining theory and practice— see “HIT Redux” on page 88—a look back at the last column Mike Mentzer wrote for IRON MAN is appropriate. It appeared in the August ’01 issue. Mentzer died on June 10 of that year, just a few weeks after submitting this Q&A.

Q: Weight training can effect changes in body composition, but which method produces the best results, volume or HIT? A: For the past 12 years I’ve been a personal trainer and have supervised the workouts of close to 2,000 people. Practically every one of those clients sought me out because he or she was on the verge of giving up training entirely. The volume, more-is-better approach didn’t work for them. That’s 2,000 people! Since the science of exercise, like the science of medicine, is based on an understanding of the principles of human physiology—i.e., principles that apply to all members of the species—there’s no reason to believe that those 2,000 people aren’t representative of the species. (The exceptions would be those who take steroids, which are recovery-abilityenhancing agents that allow users to get away with what otherwise would constitute overtraining.)

In fact, I myself used volume training more than 20 years ago. I really wanted to be a bodybuilding champion and was willing to do anything to achieve that goal.

At one point I was training three hours a day six days a week, just as the Weider system advocated. After months and months of zero results, I thought about training four hours a day—after all, more is better—but I couldn’t summon the requisite motivation and energy to engage in that much demanding bodybuilding exercise. I was severely, chronically fatigued, not to mention extremely frustrated. I reasoned that if more is better and I needed to train four or more hours a day, it just wasn’t worth it.

At the point where I was about to forsake my dream of being a champion bodybuilder, I met Arthur Jones, who explained how ludicrous it was to train for hours every day. He also taught me the theory of high-intensity training, which I

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could be gained on a high-intensity program in one month.

Balik \ Model: Mike Mentzer

Casey trained only three times a week, with each workout lasting no more—and sometimes less— than one-half hour. Since the duration of the experiment was one month, this meant that Casey trained 12 times for a total of less than six hours. The result was that Casey gained from a starting bodyweight of 166 pounds to his previous highest bodyweight, in top muscular condition, of 212 pounds. The exercise physiologist who conducted the experiment, Dr. Eliot Plese, discovered (using a sophisticated radioisotope assay test) that Casey lost 17 pounds of fat that same month. Casey’s actual lean body mass gain, therefore, was not merely the 46 pounds as evidenced on the scale but a whopping 63 pounds—and all from but a mere six hours of total training time!

Now contrast Casey’s achievement with what Arnold Schwarzenegger did to prepare for the 1975 Mr. Olympia contest. Arnold had gone to considerable lengths advertising the fact that, starting in July of that year, he trained twice a day for two hours each session, or four hours a day, six days a week right up until contest time in November.

As a result of training that totaled

Perhaps the best way to compare the efficacy of the two training approaches is to compare the results obtained by a genetically superior practitioner from each. On May 1, 1973, Casey Viator entered into a controlled experiment—conducted by the exercise physiology department at Fort Collins in Colorado for the express purpose of discovering how much muscle 182 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov

embraced immediately; and in one year I succeeded in transforming my physique from that of a mediocre bodybuilder to Mr. America. If it hadn’t been for the brief and infrequent workouts required by highintensity training—and my success with it—I would have undoubtedly ceased my efforts entirely. Here’s an excerpt from Chapter 1 of Heavy Duty 1 that may help clarify my point.

288 hours—that’s no misprint, 288 hours!—Arnold put on a mere 25 pounds of muscle, going from his starting weight of 200 pounds to 225 pounds. It’s interesting to note that Arnold, in gaining back only 25 pounds of muscle, failed in that four-month period to reach his previous best muscular bodyweight of 237 pounds.

Q: Do you believe that individual exercise stress tolerance varies a lot among individuals?

A: Not only do I believe it, but I’m also the person responsible for

Neveux

[Editor’s note: Casey denies using steroids during the Colorado Experiment. His before and after photos appear on page 188. Also, in fairness it must be stated that Arnold was training for a contest and dieting, while Casey was essentially force-feeding himself.]

Neveux \ Model: Robert Hatch

Not only are Casey and Arnold genetically gifted, both were also regaining muscle mass, which occurs more readily than gaining it in the first place. And since both were taking steroids during these periods of training, one is left to conclude that the factor accounting for Casey’s vastly superior achievement was that he used high-intensity training.

introducing that very concept to the bodybuilding world, a concept still ignored by most—if not all—of the exercise science community.

Review my articles over the years, and you’ll see numerous references to the issue of individual exercise stress tolerance. Do the same with articles by exercise scientists, and I doubt you’ll find one reference to this crucial issue.

Individual exercise stress tolerance is a genetically mediated trait; and, yes, like all genetic traits it is expressed across a broad continuum. The most readily observed genetic trait is height, where at one extreme you have midgets and at the other you have the giants of the NBA. In the area of intelligence, there are morons at one end of the continuum and geniuses at the other. With individual highintensity sunlight stress tolerance, there are light-skinned people who tolerate almost no sunlight stress, and there are dark-skinned types who tolerate more. The same thing obviously applies to individual exercise stress tolerance; you have those who can tolerate very little high-intensity, anaerobic, weighttraining exercise stress and those who can tolerate more.

Considering that the above is an obvious, irrefutable fact, I find it curious that the advocates of

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A: That’s a hell of an odd question. Success in athletics depends predominantly on skill and ability.

Weight training—in some cases— enhances performance. In many cases, however, it actually hinders athletic performance—yes, hinders.

Since many coaches already overtrain their athletes with daily, even twice daily, practice sessions, calisthenics and running, the addition of volume, weight-resistance exercise every day leads to gross overtraining. That’s evidenced by the enormously high incidence of overuse problems among athletes, including chronic colds and flus (due to the resultant weakened immune systems) and an alarming number of torn muscles and connective tissues, which are of great concern to coaches and team owners. Bear in mind that all exercise makes inroads into the body’s limited recovery ability. Apparently, only the high-intensity coaches understand that. They recognize that individuals involved in daily or twice-daily athletic training sessions must be very, very cautious about the amount of weight-training stress they impose upon their athletes, lest they incur the problems mentioned above.

Strength is the key factor that enhances athletic performance, with the other factors listed in your question being related to it. No one understands everything about the physiological mechanisms involved in strength increases, although most understand that it’s related to the

imposition of an anaerobic-training stress.

What is an anaerobic-training stress? Here’s a concrete example: a set of squats to failure. On the first rep of the set your breathing is not labored, your heart rate hasn’t increased and you feel normal. By the last rep to failure your heart is pounding like a trip hammer, your breathing is one continuous gasp for air and you feel quite distressed, even lightheaded and nauseous.

In other words, you experience acute anaerobic stress, or distress.

That’s the mechanism responsible for inducing strength and growth stimulation. Having triggered it on that one set, you don’t have to do another. The mechanism is already in motion.

To those who say more sets are needed, it’s incumbent on them to tell us precisely how many more sets. The actual issue here is not

that more is better or even that less is better but, rather, that precise is best.

It goes back to my contention that exercise science should be properly viewed as a branch of medical science. In medicine there’s a concept known as the narrow therapeutic window. Give the patient just the right dose and dosing frequency of a medicine, and there will be a positive effect. Any more than that and there will be a negative effect. The same thing goes for exercise. In exercise science, rather than giving the individual a chemical compound to induce a desired physical change, we’re imposing a specific training stress, or stimulus, to induce a positive physical change. If the dose, or volume, and frequency aren’t just right—that is, if you exceed the therapeutic window—there will be a negative effect; namely, overuse atrophy.

Strength is the key factor that enhances athletic performance.

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Neveux \ Model: Daniele Seccarecci

Q: As a coach I’ve learned that athletic performance depends on a number of kinetic and kinematic factors. Can you tell me what are the physiological mechanisms of each method that promote the following?

1) Muscular hypertrophy.

2) Strength.

3) Speed and power.

4) Peak rate of force production.

Neveux \ Model: Shawn Ray

volume training—including, and especially, exercise scientists—advise everyone to train with the same number of sets six days a week.

Why six days a week? Because it is religious tradition to work six days and take the seventh day off. Very scientific.

Given conventional weight-training equipment, there are only two accurate measures of intensity: zero percent, when you’re at complete rest, and 100 percent, when you’re exerting maximally. Only by training to a point of failure can you be absolutely sure that you’ve passed the break-over point. That’s the point in the set at which you stop—and start—stimulating growth. If you don’t train to failure, where do you cease the effort? Let’s assume you can curl 100 pounds for a maximum of 10 reps to failure. To those who say failure isn’t necessary, the question becomes, Where do you stop the set? On the first rep? The fourth?

The seventh? Advocating anything less than failure is undeniably arbitrary and is, therefore, unscientific.

The Colorado Experiment: Casey Viator gained more than 60 pounds of muscle in four weeks using highintensity training.

Carry each working set to a point of failure—except in certain cases where exercise is used for rehab.

A: Except in certain cases where exercise is used for rehabilitation purposes, yes. Everyone should carry each working set to a point of failure, where you cannot complete another full-range rep despite your greatest effort.

That’s known as training with

Neveux \ Model: John Hansen

Q: Should all sets be performed with the same degree of intensity by everyone all the

time?

Neveux \ Model: Allen Sarkiszadeh

It’s irresponsible for exercise scientists to advocate that everyone perform up to 60 sets a day. That’s precisely what Professor Vladimir M. Zatsiorski of Pennsylvania State University suggests in his book Science and Practice of Strength Training. If you don’t believe me, look it up.

And where did Professor Zatsiorski gain such so-called knowledge?

As he states in his book, “From observations of competitive bodybuilders.” Of course, he means drugged-up, steroid-using bodybuilders.

100 percent intensity of effort.

Some have intelligently suggested that maybe 100 percent intensity of effort is not required to stimulate an increase in strength and size; maybe only 67 percent or 82 percent or 95 percent is all that’s needed.

The problem is with measuring intensity.

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.

Next month John Little will be back at the helm of this column. He 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. IM

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With the KISS Routines

by Layne Norton - Photography by Michael Neveux

’ve heard so many theories on training abdominals that if I gained an ounce of muscle for every time someone talked about a crackpot method of working abs, I would be accepting the Sandow instead of Jay Cutler.

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Model: Daniel Decker

The Ab Bench has a rounded back pad that enables you to train the abs from full stretch to complete contraction on every rep.

AB BENCH CRUNCHES

Ab Myths Myth: You can work abs every day because they recover faster than other muscles.

Fact: Ha ha, I’m getting a great ab workout from all the laughing I’m doing at that one. Muscle tissue is muscle tissue. It responds to stimulus—weight training—to grow larger and stronger and needs sufficient recovery time to do so.

Myth: You need to use superhigh reps to increase definition in your midsection.

Fact: Yeah, right. You can do a thousand crunches per night, but if your diet isn’t correct, you’ll never see abs.

Myth: You don’t need to train abs because they get enough work by being supporting muscles during squats, presses and deadlifts.

Fact: I’m sure the same people

who believe that also don’t train biceps or triceps because they are supporting muscles during back, chest and shoulder work. I think not.

Myth: You shouldn’t train abs with weight because it will make your abs big, which will make you look fat.

Fact: Oh, my goodness, that’s the biggest misconception of all time.

I’ll explain why later.

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Abs Made Simple When it comes to training abs, the phrase KISS—keep it simple, stupid—should apply. The abs aren’t as complicated as everyone thinks. They grow the same as other muscles—with overload. When they are trained with weights that are heavier than the body is used to handling, hypertrophy is stimulated. Of course, the muscles need nutrients—protein, carbs, fats and vitamins, to name a few—and recuperation time to grow bigger and stronger. Would you train your chest every day? Of

course not. You’d never make any progress. So why would you train abs every day? There’s absolutely no reason to.

The abdominals can become overtrained just like any other muscle. One day of intense work per week is enough.

So how should you train your abs? Heavy. That’s right—heavy.

“But if my abs get big, they’ll make me look fat.” Not in the least. First of all, what we call the abs is a very thin sheet of muscle and thus very hard to enlarge. If you could make them grow, however, what would be wrong with that? Here’s

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CABLE CRUNCHES an analogy that involves a different muscle group.

Say there are two people: A and B. A has 12-inch arms with 7 percent bodyfat; B has 17-inch arms with 11 percent bodyfat. Whose arms are going to look more defined? It will be B because the muscle sticks out farther from the body. The same thing applies to abs.

If your abs were bigger, they would pop out farther, and it would appear that you’re carrying less fat around the midsection. That’s what everyone wants—visible abs, even when you’re bulked.

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: “If my abs are bigger, it will make my waist look bigger.”

Not in the least. If your abs stick out

farther from your body, it will appear that there’s less fat between the rows. The converse is true for the obliques.

You do not want to build your obliques. Large lower obliques will make your waist appear wider. You should still train them but only with a couple of light sets per week.

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Model: Derik Farnsworth

HANGING SIDE KNEE RAISES

Ab Training For training purposes, the abs are split into four parts: the upper and lower abs and the upper and lower obliques. Your workout should include exercises that hit each of those areas.

The following is a list of exercises and the part of the midection they hit.

Crunches. The bench press of the abdominals. Crunches hit all of the abdominals, with special emphasis on the upper abs.

Decline crunches: Emphasizes the upper abs.

Cable crunches done with a rope. Hits both parts of the

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abdominals with emphasis on the upper abs.

Reverse crunches. Hits the entire abdominal complex with special emphasis on the lower abs.

Hanging leg raises. Hits mostly the lower abdominals. (continued on page 208)

Model: Cesar Martinez

CRUNCHES REVERSE CRUNCHES (continued from page 204)

Hanging knee raises. Hits mostly the lower abdominals.

Situps. Hits the entire abdominal complex.

Decline crunches. Emphasizes the upper abs.

Oblique crunches. Hits the upper and lower obliques, with a bit more emphasis on the upper obliques.

Hanging side knee raises. Emphasizes the lower obliques.

Trunk twists done with a broom handle across the shoulders. Emphasizes the obliques.

Model: Joey Gloor

Abdominal machines. Hit the entire abdominal complex.

When training the upper and lower abdominals, keep your repetitions in the eight-to-15 range. When training the upper obliques, keep them in the 12-to-20 range. When training lower obliques, keep the reps over 30. Here are a few sample KISS workouts.

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Workout 1

Situps hit the entire abdominal complex with the help of the hip flexors.

Hanging leg raises (warmup) 2 x 12 Hanging leg raises 2 x 8-12 Cable crunches (warmup) 1 x 12 Cable crunches 2 x 8-12 Side crunches 1 x 12-20 Trunk twists 2 x 30+

Workout 2 Hanging knee raises (warmup) 2 x 12 Hanging knee raises (dumbbell between feet for resistance) 2 x 8-12 Crunches (warmup) 1 x 12 Crunches (do on a decline or holding a weight plate on chest) 2 x 8-12 Side crunches (per side) 1 x 12-20 Trunk twists 2 x 30+

Also, serious bodybuilders who are training with a focus on competing should practice stomach vacuums. These are very impressive when done onstage and can help you achieve great abdominal control. They can also help tighten your waist.

Okay, get to it. It’s time to etch in your summer abs!

Model: Joey Gloor

Do all sets other than warmups to muscular failure.

SITUPS

Editor’s note: Layne Norton has a B.S. in biochemistry and is a Ph.D. candidate in nutritional science. He’s a professional drugfree competitive bodybuilder in the IFPA and NGA. For more of his articles visit www .Body building .com. IM Layne Norton www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 209

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by Nathan Hinks and Chad Nicholls

Why Pumping Up With Plasmavol Is the Next Big Thing 214 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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The topic of blood plasma expanders in bodybuilding is controversial, to put it mildly. Which pros are using blood plasma expanders and what type they’re using to step onstage in full-blown freak mode are questions hotly debated in weight rooms, supplement shops and online bodybuilding forums.

While opinions vary, the most important question for you is, What can blood plasma expanders do for me?

Before we answer that, let’s nail down what blood plasma is and how pro bodybuilders are expanding it to gain a serious competitive edge. By the time we’re done, you’ll have the scoop on how to take your physique from ordinary to extraordinary. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 215

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removing the fatigue toxins that inhibit muscular contraction.

The bottom line: You recover more quickly and increase your workload—the number of reps and sets you do and the weight you use—so you can pack on even more muscle and jack up your strength to Hulk-like proportions.

Blood plasma expanders can increase nutrient delivery to the muscles.

How Do Blood Plasma Expanders Work?

What Is Blood Plasma?

Blood plasma is the yellowishliquid component of blood.

Approximately 90 percent water and 10 percent plasma proteins—albumins, globulins and fibrogens—plasma is the blood’s primary transport medium, carrying red and white blood cells and platelets throughout your body. It transports the vital nutrients, such as amino acids, creatine, glucose, minerals and vitamins; hormones, such as insulin, growth hormone and testosterone; enzymes, such as nitric oxide synthase; and oxygen to the cells. It also removes metabolic waste, such as carbon dioxide, ammonia and lactic acid.

So much for the technobabble.

What you need to know is how blood plasma can help you develop a physique that’s built not just to compete but to dominate.

The Benefits of Plasma Expansion Top pros have been (or least been accused of) using blood plasma expanders with names like dextran, mannitol and hetastarch through an IV drip that works while they’re asleep. Delivered in the veins the night before a show to draw subcutaneous water (it lies just beneath your skin) into the bloodstream, these substances improve vascularity and amplify that extra-dry, hard look.

Blood plasma expansion has practical applications for bodybuilders besides contest prep.

The most notable is increased nutrient delivery to and waste removal from the muscles. By increasing blood plasma volume, you can provide more of the nutrients necessary for training harder and longer while also

Let’s start with how the body distributes water. The human body consists of 70 percent water, threequarters of it intracellular fluid (the water inside the cells) and the rest extracellular fluid. The extracellular fluid can be further categorized as interstitial fluid and blood plasma, which are separated by blood vessel walls. Nearly identical in composition, they have the same constituents—water, amino acids, glucose, free fatty acids, enzymes and hormones—and they continuously and freely mix with one another via semipermeable membranes of the blood vessels.

The main difference is that interstitial fluid lacks the blood cells, platelets and proteins found in plasma.

Blood plasma expanders manipulate the distribution of water through osmotic pull. Translation: They draw water to them. Normally, expanders can’t pass through blood vessel membranes; hence the IV drip that shunts them into the bloodstream. Once there, they pull water from the interstitial fluid into the bloodstream, thus increasing blood plasma volume.

About now you’re probably saying, I understand how higher blood plasma volume can increase my gains, but no way I’m injecting something into my body. Fair enough, since until recently that’s exactly what you’d have to do.

NxLabs researchers, however, have developed Plasmavol.

Led by world-renowned physiologist Darren Burke, who’s published more than 30 peerreviewed articles, the NxLabs research team was among the first to recognize the implications of blood plasma expansion for muscle growth, strength development

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and recovery. With that in mind, Dr. Burke and his team set out to overcome the limitations of other plasma expanders by developing a liquid formula that users could take orally.

While Burke and his team had an idea of which compounds could effectively work to expand blood plasma, developing an effective and lightning-fast oral delivery system was a problem. NxLabs, though, has a reputation for achieving what many industry experts claim to be impossible. Plasmavol is no exception. The team worked closely with many top chemists, as well as with the “Diet Doctor” himself, Chad Nicholls, who’s no stranger to the benefits of blood plasma expanders.

Their collective efforts produced a solution: a bonding technology that would allow for the creation of a new compound with a high osmolarity, the measure of a substance’s ability to pull water to itself, called creatine glycerol ester.

That’s the driving force behind the Plasmavol formula.

Plasma-Blast—Plasma Expansion Complex Creatine glycerol ester is the key to Plasmavol’s highly effective oral-delivery system. The uniquely bound compound is rapidly absorbed through the small intestine into the bloodstream via three routes. First, the creatine glycerol ester quickly passes through cell membranes because the attachment of creatine to glycerol lets the creatine molecule piggyback its way in. Glycerol’s high osmolarity makes creatine glycerol ester capable of diffusing directly through membranes.

Once inside the bloodstream, the creatine glycerol ester demonstrates its true power. The high osmolarity of both glycerol and creatine creates a synergistic effect that pulls even more interstitial fluid into the bloodstream than either compound would on its own. The payoff: a rapid rise in blood plasma volume.

Another ingredient included in the complex that enhances blood plasma volume is mannitol, a pharmaceutical-strength plasma

They manipulate the distribution of water through osmotic pull and draw water to them.

compound familiar to certain segments of the bodybuilding community; it’s rumored to be one of the blood plasma expanders certain pros inject the night before a show. Now—if mannitol has to

be injected, why is it included in the Plasmavol formula? After an extensive assessment of the clinical research supporting mannitol, the NxLabs research team discovered a little-known

Increasing plasma volume helps increase waste removal from muscles, speeding recovery. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 217

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into muscle cells, creating an enhanced anabolic environment for muscle growth. By increasing the volume of muscle cells and blood plasma simultaneously, you set the stage for unprecedented muscle fullness and awe-inspiring pumps.

WI-32—Workout Intensity Complex By increasing the volume of muscle cells and blood plasma simultaneously, you set the stage for unprecedented muscle fullness and aweinspiring pumps.

fact—that an active component of lime juice actually increases the absorption of mannitol through the

gastrointestinal tract. That’s why lime juice is also included in the Plasmavol formula.

Plasmavol Works Fast!

HydraMax—Hyper Hydrating Complex

I’ve been taking T3, Anavol, Aminoval, Vaso, Plasmavol and Methyl Ripped before my shows and photoshoots. I have taken NxLabs poducts before but never stacked them. Now I’m stronger than ever, and it’s only been three weeks since my first-place win. I was in great show shape but very weak. I’ve never rebounded this fast from a show, and I feel great.

The product that most impressed me was Plasmavol. It is the fastest-working supplement I’ve ever used. Being only 22 years old, I find it very hard to get vascular, but when I started using Plasmavol, it started working the first day. My arms were the first bodypart I worked. I got about halfway though my arm workout and realized that they had a freakish pump. I could barely finish because my arms were so full and vascular. Love your products.

Mike Davila via Internet

The researchers included a hyper-hydrating complex, called HydraMax, to maximize muscle cell volume. Included in the complex are the amino acids taurine and glutamine, both of which increase cell volumization by pulling water

At present, NxLabs is the only company to offer consumers an oral blood plasma expander.

The final complex in the Plasmavol formula is WI-32, an exclusive workout intensity complex that includes the ultrapotent neural intensity agents tyrosine, phosphatidylcholine and white willow extract. The ingredients unite to dramatically sharpen mental focus and intensity in the gym to help you train all out and improve the overall quality and results of your workouts—a definite asset for every hard-training bodybuilder.

Plasma Expansion Changes Everything Serious bodybuilders have used supplements to smash through plateaus and develop physiques that are truly awesome.

Protein, creatine and nitric oxide products are the mainstays that help hardcore trainers get bigger and stronger in less time. Even so, have no illusions. You can flood your system with all of those supplements and then some, but if you’re not expanding your blood plasma, you’re not getting the best results possible. That’s why top pros are high on expansion.

At present, NxLabs is the only company to offer consumers an oral plasma expander. A number of smaller supplement companies that have recognized the potential of the delivery breakthrough are launching their own versions of the product. Look for more brands to hit store shelves this year.

Editor’s note: Now you can try NxLab’s Plasmavol at a special price of just $49.99 plus shipping for two bottles (you save $40 off of the retail price!)—that’s 18 ounces. Call (800) 447-0008 and ask for the Research Team Plasmavol Special. IM

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Jerry Brainum’s

Bodybuilding Pharmacology

Steroids: A Real Heartbreaker?

electrolyte depletion, diuretics can wreak havoc on the electrical conductance system of the heart and cause what’s called sudden death syndrome. Another popular drug, clenbuterol, damages cardiac cells, much in the manner of excessive stress.

Most heart attacks result from narrowed coronary arteries that are further occluded by a blood clot. The clot blocks blood flow to the heart muscle, leading to the death of the portion of cells served by that blood vessel. Steroid users Most researchers and medical professionals who study who suffer heart attacks usually have normal coronary anabolic steroids suggest that the most immediate danger artery function, but in a few cases heart attacks have been of using them involves changes in the cardiovascular sysprecipitated by the classic symptoms: occluded coronary tem. As with all drugs, the extent of the danger is related to arteries coupled with a blood clot. time and dosage—that is, how long you use steroids and One known cause of heart attacks is atherosclerosis, how much. Analysis of data obtained from the East Gerwhich is a narrowing of arteries by an accumulation of man sports institutes, which monitored more than 2,000 plaque. Physician consensus is that the disease is related to elite athletes, reveals that the primary medical problem long-term elevated blood cholesterol, though that remains athletes encounter involves not the cardiovascular system controversial. Some steroid users have blood cholesterol but rather the liver. That was particularly true with oral levels of 600 milligrams per deciliter of blood. The normal anabolic steroids, which tend to build up in the liver more and desirable level is below 200, though whether elevated than injectable versions. blood cholesterol is caused by steroid use, genetics or diAlthough you hear about bodybuilders dying from etary indiscretion isn’t clear. heart attacks or other cardiovascular diseases, a definite Simultaneously using large amounts or several kinds of cause-and-effect relationship linking steroid use to the anabolic steroids (a.k.a. “stacking”) increases several estabdeaths hasn’t been established. Athletes take nonsteroid lished cardiovascular risk factors, including alterations in drugs, some of which pose far more immediate cardiovasblood lipids, elevated blood pressure and increased risk of cular risk than steroids—diuretics, for example. Through internal blood clotting. Just how bad the risk factors are depends on how much and which types of steroids are used and for how long.

The longer you stay on steroids, the greater the risk of cardiovascular complication. What isn’t often mentioned, however, is that nearly all cardiac risk factors return to normal when you stop using the drugs.

Oral steroids tend to be more dangerous, in terms of cardiovascular risk, than injectables. Oral steroids increase the activity in the liver of an enzyme that degrades high-density lipoprotein and leads to lower blood HDL. That’s significant because HDL protects against cardiovascular disease. Composed mainly of protein, HDL acts like an internal garbage truck, soaking up excess blood cholesterol, then returning it to the liver, where it degrades into bile salts and eventually gets eliminated from the body. Known as reverse cholesterol transport, that process is the only way the body can rid itself of cholesterol; cholesterol can’t be burned A new study found or oxidized like fat. that steroid use HDL also prevents the oxidation of negatively alters the low-density lipoprotein, which carries elastic properties most of the blood cholesterol to cells. of the main artery Interestingly, that doesn’t occur in leading from the people who have excessive abdominal heart, the aorta. fat. Oxidized LDL is considered the primary cause of atherosclerosis. HDL carries its own special antioxidant, paroxanase, which thus far has never been produced synthetically.

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Testosterone injections usually don’t affect HDL levels because some of the testosterone is converted into estrogen by way of the enzyme aromatase. That helps explain the results of a recent meta-analysis—an analysis of many previous studies—showing that the evidence of testosterone’s negative effect on cardiovascular function is weak.1 Bodybuilders, aware of the side effects of excess estrogen, such as water retention and gynecomastia, often take anti-aromatase drugs, such as Arimidex, when using anabolic steroids like testosterone. That removes the protective factor—estrogen conversion—from testosterone injection, resulting in the same cardiovascular risk as with oral steroid drugs. Anti-aromatase drugs may also lower the release of both growth hormone and IGF-1.

Anabolic steroid use could initiate an internal blood clot. One way is by interfering with the production of nitric oxide in the endothelium, or lining, of the arteries, which would constrict arteries and increase your blood pressure. It would also explain why in some cases of anabolic steroid–linked heart attacks there’s no evidence of blocked arteries.

Steroids also can produce blood clots by changing the balance of eicosanoids, substances made from dietary fat. The eicosanoid thromboxane increases internal blood clots by promoting the sticking of blood platelets, which are involved in the clotting process, while prostacyclin, which prevents platelet adhesion, opposes thromboxane’s activity. Steroids and other drugs, such as the COX-2 enzyme inhibitors used to treat arthritis, tend to tip the balance in favor of thromboxane synthesis, which explains the increased cardiovascular risk.

A recent study found that using anabolic steroids led directly to the death of the endothelial cells that line arteries.2 Steroids increase intracellular calcium levels, and nandrolone (Durabolin) and testosterone were found to be capable of doing that—testosterone being nearly twice as potent as nandrolone.

Another new study found that steroid use negatively alters the elastic properties of the aorta, the main artery

Anabolic steroid use could initiate an internal blood clot. One way is by interfering with the production of nitric oxide in the endothelium, or lining, of arteries, which would constrict the arteries and increase your blood pressure.

On the other hand, another study concluded that judicious use of steroids may be beneficial to heart function, such as output and exercise capacity.

leading from the heart.3 A decrease in aortic compliance is associated with atherosclerosis and high blood pressure.

Steroids may also alter the structure of the heart, especially the left ventricle, its primary pumping chamber.

The left ventricle normally increases in thickness with consistent heavy training due to backload pressure on the heart from the increased blood pressure brought on by that kind of training. The heart compensates by thickening the left ventricle. That’s not considered pathological, although some studies suggest that if you don’t continue to exercise late in life, a thickened left ventricle can lead to heart failure. Studies done with animals show that excessive steroid use leads to a stiffening of the heart because of changes in the synthesis of collagen, a connective-tissue protein.

A recent analysis of the autopsy results of four bodybuilders who succumbed to sudden heart attacks showed no evidence of left ventricle problems, atherosclerosis or excessive internal clotting.4 Rather, the causes of death were direct damage to heart muscle cells, excess buildup of scar tissue in the heart and damage to the small arteries in the heart known as arterioles. The thickened walls of those small blood vessels meant there was less blood flow within the heart; that’s what caused the heart cells to die.

Confusing the issue is still another study, this one showing that using testosterone and nandrolone for one month had no more adverse effects on the heart than did a placebo.5 The researchers noted that the heart contains androgen receptors, and, if anything, judicious use of steroids may be beneficial to heart function. Providing steroids to patients with heart failure increases heart output and exercise capacity.

Perhaps the most consistent problem associated with testosterone use is an increase in the concentration of red blood cells. Steroids increase the production of erythropoietin, a kidney hormone that stimulates red blood cell production. Indeed, oral anabolic steroids, especially Anadrol-50, have been prescribed to treat a certain type of anemia. So have direct recombinant EPO drugs, such as Aranesp and Epogen.

The steroids that increase red blood cell production can www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 223

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Jerry Brainum’s

Bodybuilding Pharmacology

Despite its sheer bulk, there is nary a wasted word in Llewellyn’s mammoth reference. have good and bad effects. The good effect is the increased oxygen delivery to cells—the very object of blood doping. The bad aspect is that blood that is too thick decreases oxygen delivery while greatly increasing the risk of internal blood clots and upping the risk of heart attack or stroke. The increase in red blood cell production is linked more to testosterone injections than to most oral drugs, with the exception of Anadrol-50.

The greatest cardiovascular risk is incurred by steroid abusers who are already at risk for high blood pressure, elevated blood lipids and so on. Taking large doses of steroids for extended times aggravates the risk.

Another problem is that the risk of cardiovascular disease with longterm, consistent use of steroids isn’t clear. While most steroid-induced risk factors diminish when the drugs are no longer used, we just don’t know what happens when they are used year after year. That’s the true danger.

Book Review:

Anabolics 2007 The first question that one would naturally ask about William Llewellyn’s Anabolics 2007, sixth edition, is, Why a new edition every year? Are there so many new anabolic drugs? The truth is that the anabolic drug scene does significantly change each year, with new drugs introduced and others removed. While Llewellyn could produce a supplement to his primary book, he instead extensively updates existing entries, adding new drugs and information. The size of the book has burgeoned from a modest original version six years ago to the current monster, which is quickly approaching the volume of the Manhattan phone directory.

Despite its sheer bulk, there is nary a wasted word in Llewellyn’s mammoth reference. He’s completely revamped the style and content of the anabolic-steroid section, updating

every entry and adding new entries.

The organization is vastly improved, which makes finding relevant information on any particular substance easier and more effective.

Even those who think they have an extensive knowledge of anabolic drugs will learn much. For example, I previously believed that all pro-hormone over-the-counter supplements had been taken off the market because of the 2005 federal law banning their sale. I could have sworn that the new law had provisions that effectively prevented the development and sale of any new pro-hormone drug.

Anabolics 2007 proved me wrong.

Among the entries is a new one for an OTC supplement that, like the last generation of OTC pro-hormones sold prior to the banning of such products, is an actual, full-fledged anabolic steroid. That particular item was developed for pharmaceutical use but never released. How the company selling the stuff got away with it isn’t clear, but Anabolics 2007 says that’s moot, since the product will likely no longer be available.

Those who enjoy looking at photos won’t be disappointed. The book contains a whopping 3,000 photos of actual drugs, along with counterfeits. New to this edition is the identification of the origin of each drug accompanying each photo, such as whether it’s real, fake, available offshore, underground and so on.

Some of the entries are curious— for example, the new material on products no longer available, making you wonder why they’re in the book at all. Other entries, such as the one for carnosine injections, note that the injection isn’t a commercial product and must be specially made, such as by a compounding pharmacy or

a chemist with the right equipment.

Llewellyn appears to have included such items solely for the sake of completeness.

There are entries on diuretics, fat burners, growth hormones, painkillers, anti-acne drugs and so on. While the text doesn’t skimp on technical details, even including discussions of structural characteristics (no doubt reflecting Llewellyn’s career as a chemist), it is easily understandable, not requiring any scientific training.

Side effects, typical dose range and a history of each drug are discussed, along with comparisons of the standard medical doses to typical athletic dose ranges. You also learn the current availability of each drug and how to differentiate the true from the fake drugs. Don’t miss the stuff on the black market drug scene, such as the closing of the large Thai export company British Dragon and the downfall of the Mexican veterinary industry, a past source for many American athletes.

I haven’t seen a more comprehensive and accurate guide to anabolic and other athletic drugs than Anabolics 2007. Those interested or just curious about the subject will find in it very valuable.

References 1 Haddad,

R.M., et al. Testosterone and cardiovascular risk in men: A systematic review and meta-analysis of randomized placebo-controlled trials.

Mayo Clin Proc. 82:29-39.

2 D’Ascenzo, S., et al. (2007). Detrimental effects of anabolic steroids on human endothelial cells. Toxicol Let. 169(2):129-136.

3 Kasikcioglu, E., et al. (2007). Aortic properties in athletes using anabolicandrogenic steroids. Int J Cardiol.

114:132-34.

4 Di Paulo, M., et al. (2007). Sudden anabolic steroid abuse–related death in athletes. Int J Cardiology. 114:114117.

5 Chung, T., et al. (2007). Effects of testosterone and nandrolone on cardiac function: a randomized, placebo-controlled study. Clin Endocrinol. 66:234-45. 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.

>www.BoyerCoe.net What is the real secret of bodybuilding success? Here’s what former IFBB pro and multiple-time Mr. Universe winner Boyer Coe has to say: “At the most basic level there are no real secrets, although it’s only human nature for young bodybuilders to think that there are.

You must work hard and apply 100 percent effort 100 percent of the time.” Boyer continues: “Whatever can be conceived and believed can be achieved.” Isn’t that what bodybuilding is truly all about? Believing in yourself and working passionately and consistently toward your goals? It certainly worked for Mr. Coe, as you can easily see when you check out his contest history. He won dozens of major amateur and pro titles, including seven IFBB pro grand prix events in 1981 alone. Now, that’s impressive, especially considering how many great bodybuilders were competing at the time. Boyer was always known for his crisp conditioning and incredible biceps peaks, and the photos at his site definitely attest to that. One photo in particular, however, caught my eye and had me staring at the screen in awe for a few minutes (for once it wasn’t a girl with big, um, eyes). If you’re impressed by amazing back shots, do yourself a favor and click on the “links” page and scroll to the bottom. There you’ll find a black-and-white twisting back shot of Boyer in his prime that can be described as no less than incredible. There are few pros today who display that kind of muscularity. I’m personally a big fan of the physiques of the ’70s and ’80s and feel that was the true golden age of bodybuilding. If you agree, check out BoyerCoe.net and learn more about one of the legends of our sport.

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>www.GeneXMagazine.com When Motley Crüe performed the song “Girls, Girls, Girls” back in 1987, it’s quite possible they were having a premonition about a Web site called GeneXmagazine.com. Because that’s exactly what you’ll find here—girls, girls and more girls. Of course I’m not talking about just ordinary girls but about the women of bodybuilding, figure and fitness—along with plenty of eye candy. But in all seriousness (wait, eye candy is serious), if you enjoy following the happenings in the women’s side of the iron sports, surf on over to GeneXMagazine.com, as it’s one of the most complete and up-to-date sites on the Web. Just click on the “contest reports” link, and you’ll find excellent coverage of just about every major pro and amateur bodybuilding, figure and fitness event, from the ’07 IRON MAN all the way back to the ’96 Arnold Classic Weekend. So not only does the site keep you current, but it also gives you a bit of history. Women who are competitors themselves and want to find out what competitions lie ahead will find a detailed and easy-to-navigate calendar of all upcoming pro and amateur events. Of course, the area of the site that kept me busy for the longest period of time was the “profiles” section, where there are dozens and dozens of toned, fit, sexy and muscular gals to look (or, umm, gawk) at and read about, complete with bio, contest history and even measurements (and you know how us bodybuilders just love measurements). Whether your taste is blondes or brunettes, toned or totally buff, you’ll find it here. And if that isn’t enough, there are also some wonderful articles, awesome links, cool wallpapers—even a discussion board. So come on, ladies and gents, what are you waiting for? It’s time for some Girls, Girls, Girls!

>www.GetBodySmart.com Did you know that the muscles that act on the anterior thigh include the psoas major, iliacus, tensor fasciae latae, sartorius, pectineus, adductor brevis, adductor longus, adductor magnus, rectus femoris and gracilis? Would you like to know every muscle that acts on the arm, shoulder, foot, abdomen and more? What about learning more about how muscles contract, where they’re located, and what their specific functions are? Well, if you’re like me and find that stuff fascinating, visit GetBodySmart.com first chance you get. It’s a unique, easy-to-use and highly visual site that’s perhaps one of

the very best of its kind on the entire Net. If you’re a personal trainer, strength coach or dietitian or work in some other facet of the health and fitness industry, put GetBodySmart.com on your favorites list right away. I bet you’ll refer to it almost daily. I know I will.

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Eric Broser’s >Net

Results Q&A

The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your questions on training and nutrition.

Q: I’ve been using your Power/Rep Range/ Shock training with great success, but I’m looking for ways to get the absolute best possible benefit from it. As the workouts change from week to week, should my diet also change in correlation?

A: That’s an interesting and timely question. I’ve been researching it for the past year, using myself and a few higherlevel clients as guinea pigs. What I’ve been finding is rather intriguing. It seems that cycling proteins, carbohydrates and fats in a specific manner allows for greater lean mass accrual and less bodyfat deposition than simply keeping the diet constant. It’s my belief that just as your body reacts best to constantly changing training stimuli, it also responds when you rotate your macronutrient intake.

I plan to put together a P/RR/S training manual that will discuss the nutrition strategy in more detail, but for now, here’s what you might want to try, along with my P/RR/S training protocol, when your goal is steady muscle gain plus bodyfat maintenance (or even loss): Power week • Protein—2 grams per pound bodyweight • Carbohydrate—0.75 grams per pound bodyweight • Fat—0.5 grams per pound bodyweight Rep Range week • Protein—1.5 grams per pound bodyweight • Carbohydrate—1.25 grams per pound bodyweight • Fat—0.5 grams per pound bodyweight Shock week • Protein—1.25 grams per pound bodyweight • Carbohydrate—1.75 grams per pound bodyweight • Fat—0.375 grams per pound bodyweight If you weigh 200 pounds, that would put your calories at about 3,100 per day. Of course, you want your protein and carbohydrate to come from the highest quality sources possible, and you should try to get the larger part of your fat intake from essential fatty acids.

That’s the plan I’ve been using for the past year or so, and I’ve been steadily gaining muscle mass while keeping my bodyfat at around 8 percent.

Let me know how it works out for you, should you decide to try it yourself. The more information I can gather, the better I can help.

Q: I personally think that big, thick, vascular forearms are among the coolest bodyparts. I’ve been doing four sets of 12 to 15 reps of both barbell wrist curls and reverse wrist curls re-

ligiously after every biceps workout for three months, but I’ve seen little improvement. What am I doing wrong?

A. Well-developed, lean forearms are very cool-looking and certainly have a look of strength and power. Early in my training I never paid much attention to mine, just figuring they got enough work from gripping heavy barbells and dumbbells while training other bodyparts. I was wrong. A couple of years ago I caught a glimpse of my forearms in the mirror and finally noticed that they were out of proportion with my upper arms, so I immediately set out to do something about it. The funny thing is that I started off by doing something very similar to what you’ve been doing. Guess what? My results were just like yours—crappy!

Yes, there are those lucky genetic freaks out there who can do a few sets of wrist curls and show off freaky forearms (and I hate them almost as much as I hate morning people). Others, like you and me, need more work and a better strategy.

The following is the program I used to bring my forearms up to par. In fact, nowadays people tell me quite often about how nicely developed and highly vascular they are. One guy at my gym even nicknamed me “Popeye” (although I’m no great lover of spinach and Olive Oyl is way too skinny for my taste).

Week 1: Power Barbell wrist curls Barbell reverse curls

4 x 6-8 4 x 6-8

Week 2: Rep Range Barbell behind-the-back wrist curls Seated hammer curls Reverse barbell wrist curls Week 3: Shock Superset: Reverse barbell wrist curls Incline hammer curls Barbell wrist curls (drop set) Plate hold*

2 x 9-12 2 x 13-15 2 x 16-20

2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12 2 x 10-12(6-8) 1 x maximum time

*For the plate hold, pinch-grip a 25-, 35- or 45-pound plate between your fingers and thumb with each hand and hold by your sides as long as possible.

Once you complete the cycle, go back to Power week, but shuffle the exercises.

If your forearms are severely underdeveloped, you might want to train them twice a week until they catch up a bit. Once you’re satisfied with their development, you can easily maintain their size by training them once per week or even every other week. IM

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Lonnie Teper’s

NEWS & ViEWS Reflections Dept.

Are you ready for 2008?

Emery Photography Inc., Columbus, Ohio

Balik

Emery Photography Inc., Columbus, Ohio

Balik

Jim Lorimer’s comment, made a month after the ’07 Arnold Sports Festival, was certainly to be expected: “This was the best ever, by any measure,” beamed the Scene in Columbus (clockwise from top): Fitness International judging at the expo, Governor Schwarzenegger greets the young cheerleading contenders, Columbus Energizer. “We had over 150,000 people pass Vladimir Malachikhin performs at the Arnold Classic finals, Governor S poses through the event. There were 17,000 athletes in 38 with the top sumo athletes, and Jim Lorimer is introduced at the finals. sports, 14 of them Olympic sports.”

I already commented in last month’s News & Views on how every venue was packed to the limit this season, but I didn’t realize the magnitude of the Ultimate Fighting Championships’ effect. Sure, I knew the event had been sold out—but I had no idea that it took only 24 hours for fans to swoop up the 18,000 seats. And I would bet a dollar to a dime that the pay-per-view numbers went through the roof as well.

“We had a great relationship with the UFC,” said Lorimer. “These people did exactly what they said they would. They did a $3 million gate and became the largest event in the history of Nationwide Arena.

They took out a full-page ad in the Columbus Dispatch, saying thank you to Columbus for being part of the history-making event.”

A $3 million gate? Yes, I’d be very happy with the partnership too! And to sell out in one day? Those were $200, $300 and $400 tickets. And for those who thought that having the competition on Saturday night would hurt the gate at the Arnold Classic? Yeah, it hurt it so much, the ASC was sold out too.

You name it, Columbus had it. My main man Jack LaLanne flew in to speak at the Active Aging seminar. As Lorimer put it, “Seniors are staying involved in fitness more and more, so this was a strong addition to the weekend.”

Once again the Arnold Expo was toe-to-toe with activity, with 650 exhibitors, and more than 30 companies were on a waiting list hoping a space would open up. In all, the ’07 weekend generated an estimated $39 million for the central Ohio community, he said. I had the same problem with my Junior Cal. At least until I snapped out of my dream.

One of the additions to the weekend that especially pleased Lorimer was the NPC Arnold Championships, which garnered nearly 250 competitors and drew great crowds both Friday and Saturday mornings.

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Emery Photography Inc., Columbus, Ohio

Another Jim Dandy ASF

ARMED AND DANGEROUS How many guns are these dudes carrying?

Pages 232 and 233

SKULLDUGGERY The latest in grooming aids. Pages 232 and 235

POLE DANCE Get your Hot Shots here.

Pages 234 and 236

Gary Strydom.

Lackner

Kris Gethin

“Arnold and I are both committed to the sport of bodybuilding,” Lorimer said, “and we felt we had to include an amateur event within the weekend. This was a great success—we cut off the competitor list back in December—and we expect it to get bigger and better in ’08.

“We have just 324 days until the 2008 event,” Lorimer said. “As you know, it will be the 20th anniversary of the Arnold Classic [yeah, some kid named Rich Gaspari took home the grand prize in 1989], and we’re going to make it the biggest one yet. We plan to grow in every sport.”

I’ll take your word on that one, Mr. Lorimer.

Phil Heath.

ADD ASF—USA Powerlifting will join the sports festival as a key partner in 2008.

The only U.S. member of the International Powerlifting Federation, the USAPL is headquartered in Columbia City, Indiana, and has more than 5,500 men and women who compete with an organized commitment to drug-free performance. ”USA Powerlifting is committed to the honor and integrity of competitive powerlifting,” said Dr. Larry Maile, president of the organization. “We are thrilled to join the Arnold Sports Festival in the presentation of this sport on a fair, competitive platform emphasizing honor and respect. Our international affiliation with the esteemed International Powerlifting Federation will bring added attention to the sport and to the Arnold Sports Festival.”

The ’08 ASF will be held February 29 through March 2.

Strydom Sighting

Lackner

Lackner

As readers of this column know, Gary Strydom told me last year that he’d be back onstage at this season’s IRON MAN Pro. And as you undoubtedly realize by now, he wasn’t onstage—or even in the audience at the February event. Now I know why. The South African–born Strydom, a longtime U.S. resident, has been a busy man, heading to Thailand for several months to work on the launch of his new line of nutritional products.

Strydom Professional Series was developed by Gary in conjunction with some of South Africa’s leading experts in performance-enhancing nutrition for his much-publicized comeback at the ’06 Colorado Pro. (For my money the 47-year-old looked terrific and should have placed at least a couple of slots higher than seventh.)

“What sets my company apart is that it’s not a brand of products merely endorsed by me,” he said. “I developed it for my own use, and it’s my own brand—used, produced, distributed and marketed by Gary Strydom.

“Like the saying goes, necessity is the mother of invention. When I was preparing for my comeback, I became more focused on the sci-

Natural Ohio standouts (from left): Diane Bascomb, Teon Thompson, Stephanie Bullock and Moses Tomko.

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entific research and latest developments in supplementation, and that led me to want to combine everything I knew that worked for me into a line that would deliver exactly what I needed to maximize my body’s musclebuilding and fat-burning capabilities—so I created my own supplements.”

Gary decided to go for mass production when the e-mails kept flowing in asking about the products he’d used for his comeback. “I knew I was going to have to get my merchandise out there fast and in much bigger quantities. So we went into production, and finally it’s ready.”

He’s also ready to get back onstage again and indicated that it could take place at the Europa Super Show in Dallas in August. That contest, Ed and Betty Pariso are thrilled to know, is really shaping up in the men’s division: Strydom, Chris Cormier, Johnny Jackson, Bill Wilmore and Quincy Taylor just for starters. Updates down the road.

Lackner

Photo courtesy of Andre Ewing

ADD STRYDOM—To coincide with the release of Strydom Professional Series, Gary’s Los Angeles warehouse and showroom have recently undergone a major refurbishing. Open to the public on weekdays from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., the showroom carries all of Strydom’s products, including the new Strydom Wear clothing line, a division of his California Crazee Wear. It’s conveniently located at 4091 RedOfficers Smith and Ewing. wood Ave, Unit F, Los Angeles, CA 90066, a mere five-minute drive from Gold’s, Venice, so you can visit and order your goods on the spot.

For more information on Strydom’s inventory, visit www.StrydomProfessionalSeries.com, or call (800) 888-4439.

Lackner

Andre guest poses in Cleveland.

Above: Todd Pember, Mike Mondozzi, Dave Liberman and emcee L.T. At right: VyoTech-ers Shawn Ray, Mindy Pavlik, Mike Roden and “Oryx Fan.”

Todd Greene and Toney Freeman.

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Laurent Sky

Liberman

NATURAL OHIO—The ’07 Natural Ohio, held on March 31, was another blockbuster production for promoters Todd Pember and Dave Liberman—133 contestants (not counting crossovers), a large house, great grub, an 81-year-old phenom named Moses Tomko, who got robbed in the 50-and-over class (well, maybe not) and a couple of award-winning guest posers in Phil Heath and Andre Ewing. Shoot, I couldn’t even complain about the weather. Fortunately, Todd and Dave moved the show up a week due to Easter, ’cause the snow was piling in to Cleveland as I was piling out.

Shawn Ray, repping title sponsor VyoTech, made his first appearance at the Lakewood Auditorium event.

Pro figure starlet Valerie Waugaman was busy signing pictures while fitness pros Julie Palmer and Kristen Nicewarner were settled in at the GNC booth. Sugar Shawn even chipped in to Pember and Liberman’s traditional donation to the American Cancer Society with $500 out of his pocket (they raised $2,600 total). Also on hand to shoot the event for GraphicMuscle.com was Mike Lackner, who splits emcee duties with me at the guys’ twice-a-year productions—Mike gets the warm weather at the October show; I get the blizzards in early April. What is wrong with this picture?

Congrats to overall winners Teon Thompson (men’s bodybuilding), Stephanie Bullock (women’s bodybuilding) and Daphne Bascom

Teper

NPC Contests

Crystal Lowery with San Diego promoter Jon Lindsay.

Kiyoshi Robert Moody.

Noreene Castillo.

San Diego and Max Muscle Naturals photography by Nga Azarian

Raychel Sky.

(figure) and to all of the other class champions. (For complete results and photos of this event, go to GraphicMuscle.com.)

Neon Teon might have been in the lightweight class, but he was a heavyweight in this battle, knocking off heavyweight champ Steven Bradley, light-heavyweight winner French Ogburn, middleweight titlist Reginald Ruttin, welterweight victor Rick Lauro (who deserves a special award for actually posting on the GraphicMuscle forums!) and bantamweight champion DeWayne Sammons.

The 31-year-old Thompson is a 5’7”, 153-pounder out of Akron who trains at Bodybuilders Inc. Gym. I feel so bad for him—he had to diet a whole eight weeks to look the way he does here!

Bullock, who turned 35 two weeks after the contest, is a 5’4”, 114pound stay-at-home mom to daughters China and Helena. She lives in Glendale, Ohio, and works out at The Gym at Carew Tower in downtown Cincinnati. After Helena’s birth seven years ago Stephanie packed on 190 pounds, but thanks to bodybuilding, she turned that around. She was able to stay attentive to her training despite the stress of going through a divorce, although, she admitted, “My mind isn’t always where it should be.” Your body was, girl. Good job.

Bascom was competing in her first contest at age 41. In her day job the 5’4”, 125-pounder is a director of clinical informatics (in layman’s terms that means she helps hospitals and physicians’ offices install medical records). She earned her undergraduate degree in biology from the State University of New York at Buffalo and a Ph.D. in physiology from some place called the University Diana Feather. of Oxford. Yes, the one in England.

The body braniac, who calls Olmstead Falls, Ohio, home, said she finally decided to compete because, “I was always going to the gym and wanted a goal to keep me focused.” She prepped for the event at LifeWorks-Southwest General, also the workout home of pro figure beauty Mari Kudla (who was at the contest and said she’ll be back onstage real soon). As always, Daphne was at the head of the class, but what else would you expect from Dr. Bascom?

Special thanks to Muscular Michael Mondozzi, owner of Carrabba’s Italian Grill in Westlake, who kept his place open late on both Friday and Saturday night, so all attending—especially me and Sugar Shawn—had plenty of good food to eat.

ADD EWING—Andre Ewing and his good buddy Orlando Smith are quite an interesting team. Both have won their class at the Team Universe as well as the Junior Nationals. Both are from Cincinnati, and both run the streets. As policemen, that is. Andre, 36, has worked in that capacity for the past 11 years and, along with that full-time job, is a full-time single parent to a four-year-old daughter.

One of his greatest talents, though, is the ability to tie a Windsor knot, which saved me from taking the stage looking as if I’d just gone a round with a washing machine.

Ewing was coming off a second-place finish to Tito Raymond in the middles at the ’01 T.U. when he took three years off to devote time to raising his newborn. Then, while prepping for his comeback, he tore his right biceps in June 2004. A year later he began a successful return to the stage with a victory at the Cincinnati Championships followed by his class win at the ’05 Junior Nationals, where a 25-year-old wunderkind named Phil Heath took the overall, and his victory at the ’05 Team Universe.

I’m not sure if Smith is competing at the Team U this year, but Andre says he’ll be in the lineup at the Tribeca Performing Arts Center in New York on July 13 and 14. I say Ewing could walk away with the overall crown.

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to move up a class this time around. Not that you asked, but I say stay a middleweight, guy. In either case, Ewing will be in the mix, as always.

To contact him for guest posings, seminars or arrests, write to AndreEwing1@aol.com.

ADD PEMBER—The irrepressible Dave Liberman gets most of the attention, but his partner Todd Pember is one of those guys who speak softly but carry a big stick. He also holds the distinction of having been perhaps the youngest NPC promoter ever.

“I was working at a local YMCA and had competed in some local shows and felt I could do a better job at putting one on,” says the mildmannered Pember. “I was 16 years old at the time. The YMCA needed some new equipment, so I told them to give me $3,000 to put on an event, and I would donate the profits back. That event was the ’84 Ohio Governor’s Cup Bodybuilding Championships. I was the first promoter in Ohio to add the Fitness America Pageant.

“As time went on, I branched off from the YMCA and started putting on my own event. I asked Dave Liberman, who had guest posed for me in 1999 as Michael Myers from “Halloween,” if he would like to promote a show with me. He said yes, and the NPC Natural Ohio and and Natural Northern USA Drug-Tested Bodybuilding and Figure Championships were born.”

Now, Todd, if you can only get Liberman to understand that he can’t continue to impersonate Myers now that he’s a promoter. Next year I say he plays Hannibal Lecter—strapped to a chair during the event.

On a serious note, Dave was dealing with a lot in the days leading up to the show. Not only did he have to endure the typical production-related stresses that occur, but he was also coping with the loss of his father, Harry, 10 days before the event. Harry was 80 at the time of his death.

IRON MAN sends its condolences to the Liberman family.

ADD NPC: MOODY BLUES—At least it’s moody for the opponents of Kiyoshi Robert Moody, who dominated the field in his first two events this year, the San Diego Championships and the Max Muscle Naturals, which was held in Anaheim, California. I remember being impressed with this guy at his first contest, the ’98 Tournament of Champions, where he won the novice overall. Earlier that year, he said, he was in the audience at the IRON MAN Pro when Shawn Ray gave me a birthday cake.

Little do you know, Kiyoshi, that Shawn billed me for that dessert.

The 5’10” Moody, who’s of Japanese and African-American descent, is a rarity in the industry. He actually keeps his weight 10 to 15 pounds lower in the off-season and then eats his way back up to his contest weight, around 195 to 200 pounds.

A financial consultant and personal trainer living in Chula Vista, California, Moody has succeeded despite having it pretty rough the past two years. “My mother passed away a year and a half ago, and I was divorced the same year,” he said. “I attempted suicide twice. My mother’s passing was very hard on me because I blamed myself every day. She was on a ventilator and getting worse from pneumonia, I had to make the decision to take her off.

“It was the most difficult decision I have ever made; she was my only family since my father passed away when I was nine months old. I was born in Japan, and my mother brought me to San Diego and raised me on her own. I took my mother’s ashes back to Japan, as she wished. I spent a couple of months there contemplating what to do with my life.

“Once I got back from Japan, I decided to start training again. I joined the gym and started going twice a week for starters, then progressed to three, four, then five days a week. My body progressed, and I made quick changes. With the support of my gym [Ultimate Fitness Center, owned by Robert Hueso], I decided to enter the San Diego, just looking to get back into the swing of things. ”Being 100 percent natural, it was hard to hold onto size, but I was able to put on about 20 pounds of muscle. I weighed 194 at the San

HOT SHOTS Photography by Jerry Fredrick

Sometimes a hug is all it takes to turn a man into a big baby—which is how this fan explains his by-the-way-I’m-stillbreast-feeding comment to Marika.

Jarvis misinterpreted the term “male enhancement” on the bottle of the supplement he used before this event.

CATCH-UP DEPT.—In case you didn’t see it the first time, here’s the ad that Bodybuilding.com ran in USA Today after Jared Zabransky led Boise State to a stunning, last-second win over Oklahoma in the ’07 Fiesta Bowl. The kid sports some impressive guns, eh, gang?

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Diego and now am planning to compete at the Team Universe, either at the top of the light heavyweights or the lower end of the heavyweights.”

Hmm. Moody vs. Andre Ewing or Orlando Smith. Or both. This sounds like it could be a real fun contest.

Moody joined women’s overall champ Diana Feather—who was the overall bodybuilding winner at my Junior Cal last year—and figure titlist Crystal Lowery in the winner’s circle in San Diego. A week later, at the Max Muscle Naturals, Moody duplicated his winning ways, with Raychel Sky taking top honors in women’s bodybuilding, and Noreene Castillo doing likewise in figure. Good job by all.

Helpful hint: Usually the answer is more fiber, but a tighter lifting belt can also keep things “moving” for low-carb dieters.

Pioneers—Getting a Head Start Toney Freeman and Chris Cormier use it. So does Howie Mandell, “American Idol” fave Chris Daughtry and Major League Baseball catcher Todd Greene. Of course, several kind folks have suggested that I join the club too, but I’m still holding out.

HeadBlade Inc., a Culver City, California–based company that’s owned

by Todd Greene (the other Todd Greene), has created a lifestyle brand for millions of people who prefer the totally clean look. The HeadBlade power shaver, which was listed among the Top Ten Designs in 2000 by Time, is now in the permanent collection at New York’s Museum of Modern Art, and Greene continues to expand his product line.

“The all-new HeadBlade Sport comes standard with moving wheels and triple-blade technology,” he says. “We have developed a complete head care lineup, including HeadSlick, the world’s first shaving cream specifically formulated for the head; HeadLube, a moisturizer that comes in both gloss and matte finishes, and HeadShed, a preshave exfoliant.”

Greene is also moving into the bodybuilding arena, sponsoring several shows and taking out ads in muscle publications, including IRON MAN. “This just made sense,” he says, “since so many bodybuilders are shaving their heads now.”

HeadBlade products can be purchased online at www.HeadBlade.com or at Rite-Aid, CVS, Kmart, Walgreens, Meijer and select Target and WalMart stores. A slick job, Todd. Real slick.

Terry and Jay swear revenge on the notorious necktie thief.

Steve closely supervises Cathy’s autograph signing—making sure her hair smells terrific.

Add Condolences

Photo courtesy of Jeremy DeLuca

Neveux

While most of us were gearing up with enthusiasm during the week leading into the Arnold Sports Festival, it was a very heartbreaking time for members of the DeLuca family in Boise, Idaho. On February 27, Jayden Riley DeLuca passed away from a heart condition known as a single ventricle. She also suffered from severe pulmonary hypertension.

The only child of Jeremy DeLuca, Bodybuilding .com vice president, and his wife, Karalie, Jayden was born on June 5, 2004. “She was an amazing little girl. She was full of life and brought hope, love and happiness to all that knew her,” according to an article published at Bodybuilding.com. Her parents are now trying to keep that spirit alive by donating to the American Heart Association in Jayden’s name, with the money to go to research on new medical advances.Those wishing to contribute can go to www To contact Lonnie .HonorAmericanHeart.org and click on Donate Today.

Teper about material Granddad Russ DeLuca was a real trouper in possibly pertinent to Columbus that week, running his booth and heading News & Views, write up the Webcast of the pro bodybuilding, fitness and to 1613 Chelsea figure events, albeit with a heavy heart.

Road, #266, San Rest in peace, little one. Your smile tells us all we Marino, CA 91108; fax to (626) 289-7949; need to know about the qualities you shared in your or send e-mail to short time on earth. IM tepernews@aol.com.

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In Memoriam

The Amazing Ray “Thunder” Stern

by Gene Mozée

He was one of the most amazing legends the iron game has ever produced. Ray “Thunder” Stern’s life story would make a sensational movie—if you could find someone talented enough to play the part. His success in aviation, fitness and real estate made him a multimillionaire. He’s considered to have been the greatest of all the selfmade men who came out of professional wrestling.

He was born Walter Bookbinder in Brooklyn, New York, in 1933. In 1946, at the age of 13, he ran away from home.

Using a friend’s I.D., he joined the Merchant Marines to see the world and experience great adventure, much as renowned writer Jack London had done when he became an oyster pirate at age 13.

“Jack London’s autobiography became the map from which I was determined to live my life by for at least the next 20 years,” Ray wrote in his autobiography, Power of Thunder: The Rags to Riches Story of One Man’s Adventure of Fame, Fortune, Romance and Fitness.

He saw the Merchant Marines as a way out of his impoverished Brooklyn neighborhood. He took two 50-pound dumbbells in a duffel bag to sea, to the surprise of a shipmate. “Hey, get that bag out of the way,” said the sailor, who kicked it, much to his regret.

Ray started bodybuilding at age 13 weighing 147 pounds. With good eating habits and hard workouts he built himself up to 210 pounds of rock-hard muscle. In his prime he had 19-inch arms and a 50-inch chest. He was once featured in Joe Weider’s Muscle Builder/Power magazine.

At the age of 16 he came to California and met Armand Tanny and Joe Gold at Muscle Beach. He celebrated his 16th birthday by doing 30 reps with 300 pounds in the squat. It was Armand who encouraged Ray to stay in California to seek fame and fortune. Both Tanny and

Gold had wrestled professionally, and they persuaded Ray to give it a try.

Ray broke into wrestling in 1950 at age 17. At first he used his real name, but a savvy promoter convinced him that a name change would suit him better, so he changed it to Stern, his mother’s maiden name. He acquired the nickname “Thunder” for his spectacular maneuvers in the ring—like the flying drop kicks he used to demolish opponents.

He became a world champion and world tag-team champion in a 21-year career that included more than 3,600 matches, including one in which he pinned a previously undefeated 550-pound black bear in 35 seconds.

He later became an accomplished aerobatic stunt and commercial pilot and acquired his own small fleet of Learjets. Stern Air grew into a reliable transport system for passenger, commercial and medical cargo. On one occasion a business contractor wanted to transport 3,000 pounds of high explosives to a dangerous area, and all other airlines refused. Ray agreed to take the shipment and astounded witnesses by taking the controls and taking off at full blast, doing a barrel roll on the way skyward!

Ray was also extremely successful in the health club business. He started America’s first co-ed health club and offered the first health club day-care service so parents could exercise. At one time his San Francisco club was taking in $100,000 per month. He had phenomenal success in real estate and rental properties as well.

“My discipline for fitness and bodybuilding has always provided me with the competitiveness and drive needed for my success,” Ray told BestAeroNet.com.

Power of Thunder is loaded with “Thunder Principles,”

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in which he expounds his many valuable secrets of success.

In 2000 Ray was honored by his peers with the Iron Mike Mazurki Award at the Cauliflower Alley Club reunion in Las Vegas. The award was created to celebrate wrestlers who succeeded outside professional wrestling. In 2005 he received the Senator Hugh Farley New York State Award from the Professional Wrestling Hall of Fame and Museum.

“Ray always gave back,” said Steve Strong, his good friend and fellow pro wrestler. “He would often fly a few competitors to the Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic for free.” Stern attended almost every Mr. Olympia and Arnold Classic event. He never forgot his bodybuilding roots and was good friends with just about every well-known person in the iron game.

In 1996 Bob Delmonteque introduced Ray to beautiful fitness superstar Debi Lee. It was love at first sight, and they married in 1997. They had 10 great years together.

Debi won the Ms. Fitness USA title

Ray and Jim Lorimer.

Ray and Debi. in 1993 and numerous other awards during her competitive career.

Ray Stern died March 6, 2007, at the age of 74 of an antibiotic-resistant infection in Dallas. In an e-mail announcing his passing, Debi said, “Ray will be remembered for so many of his accomplishments and his incredible spirit, drive and dedication to anything he set out to achieve. He was a very unusual man with visions and the energy and know-how to make things happen.

He lived life to the fullest, and I am fortunate to have had the most perfect marriage for 10 amazing years to the most wonderful man on earth. Ray left pieces of himself in all of our hearts. Thank you for the love and support you have given us.” IM www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 237

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Model: Greg Smyers

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Fat-Burning Fact and Fiction

by Jerry Brainum

Photography by Michael Neveux Most competitive bodybuilders divide their training into weight-training and aerobics sessions. The ultimate goal of weight training is to shape and enlarge muscles. The primary purpose of aerobics for bodybuilders is to burn excess bodyfat and increase muscle definition. So it makes sense to separate weight work and aerobics. One longheld scientific axiom is the specificity-ofexercise principle: Exercise produces specific effects, depending on its type and intensity.

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Model: Binais Begovic

Simply put, if you want to get bigger and stronger, you lift heavy weights. If you want to increase endurance, you lift lighter weights for higher repetitions. Since fat can be burned only in the presence of oxygen, exercise that forces the use of more oxygen intake, such as aerobics, is best for fat burning. Aerobics also encourages cellular processes that use greater amounts of fat.

Because their intensity level is higher than that of aerobics, bodybuilding workouts are an anaerobic form of exercise. That means oxygen does not play the key role during them that it does during aerobic training. You do, of course, use oxygen during anaerobic training but much less than you do in aerobic training.

The major fuel for bodybuilding workouts is muscle glycogen. Another is circulating blood glucose, but that comes into play only when muscle glycogen is depleted by workout sessions of more than two hours.

Dependence on muscle glycogen would seem to indicate that fat isn’t a major player during weighttraining sessions.

That’s where hormones released during the weight workouts come in. Such hormones as the catecholamines, epinephrine and norepinephrine, as well as growth hormone, help release fat during exercise. They’re released during both weight and aerobic sessions, which suggests that both types of exercise stimulate fat use.

Model: Timea Majorova

Past studies have found that intramuscular fat deposits, or the fat located in muscle, is reduced after weight training, pointing to the use of that fat as fuel for exercise.

Another factor is the increased resting metabolism that results from an intense weight session. Studies have found differences in how long that lasts—anywhere from two to 48 hours—after a workout. The point is, increased metabolic rate uses more calories at rest, hence more fat use. Much research suggests that weight workouts promote a far greater posttraining metabolic rate increase than aerobics, though not everyone agrees.

A recent study took a close look at the effects of weight training on fat oxidation.1 Most such studies use untrained college students, which makes them almost irrelevant to people who have more exercise experience. This one used trained subjects. Fat breakdown and blood flow were measured in the subcutaneous—meaning just below the skin—fat deposits in the abdominal area of eight young men, average age 24, before, during and five hours after weight training and also on a nonexercise rest day.

Past studies have found that intramuscular fat deposits, or the fat located in muscle, is reduced after weight training, pointing to the use of that fat as a fuel for exercise.

Typically, there’s a lower respiratory exchange ratio right after and 15 hours following a weight workout than there is on a rest day. The lowered RER also points to increased fat use. In the study, indicators of

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Model: Hidetada Yamagishi

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Model: Greg Smyers

higher fat oxidation, such as blood glycerol and RER, were higher after the weight sessions than on the rest day.

During weight training the immediate cause of increased fat oxidation is the higher level of catecholamines, but that doesn’t last, with things leveling out about 30 minutes after the workout. A workout-induced elevation of growth hormone, however, would kick in much later and likely account for the use of fat hours afterward. The body also uses mostly fat to fuel postworkout muscle protein and glycogen synthesis. For that reason, some researchers suggest waiting about 30 minutes after a workout before putting any carbohydrates into your body to take advantage of the increased postworkout fat use.

them engage in three types of exercise:

1) Low-intensity aerobic exercise only Model: Cara Basso

2) Aerobics 20 minutes after a weight workout (RE20)

Another new study examined the best time, either before or after a weight session, to do aerobics.2 Common sense suggests doing aerobics after a weight session.

Weight training is far more intense than the average aerobics session, and you need all the available fuel for the weight workout. Doing an extended aerobic session—meaning more than a five-minute warmup— would make some inroads into fuel stores and likely detract from the weight session. In fact, one study found that doing a one-hour aerobic workout just prior to lifting weights completely eliminated the normal release of growth hormone during the weight session.

The new study used 10 untrained subjects—a notable flaw—and had

3) Aerobics 120 minutes after a weight workout (RE120) The weight training consisted of six exercises, three to four sets each done for 10 reps per set. The aerobic session consisted of cycling at an intensity level of 50 percent of maximum heart rate for an hour. That’s a low aerobic intensity—a method of promoting the maximum use of fat

as fuel and preventing the buildup of acid metabolic products that would blunt fat use during exercise.

There were more free fatty acids in the RE20 and RE120 groups than in the aerobics-only group, suggesting higher fat availability when a weight workout is done prior to aerobics. Another notable difference was that the most fat oxidation occurred in the RE20 group. That makes sense, since the catecholamines released during the weight session would still be elevated at that point. In contrast, more fat use occurred in the second half of the aerobic workout that was done 120 minutes after the weight session.

The subjects in the study showed marked rises in both catecholamines and GH during the weight session; the effects of GH take lon-

Common sense suggests doing aerobics after a weight session. Weight training is far more intense than the average aerobics session, and you need all the available fuel for the weight workout. One study found that doing a one-hour aerobic workout prior to lifting weights completely eliminated the normal release of growth hormone during the weight session.

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ger to show up than the effects of catecholamines. The GH was what fostered fat use during the aerobics session later. Significantly, both bouts of aerobics done after weight training yielded more fat oxidation than doing aerobics only.

During the first 30 minutes of aerobic exercise, you burn about 50 percent glycogen and 50 percent blood glucose. Fat comes into play gradually, beginning at the 30minute mark. On the other hand, the priming effect of fat-releasing hormones induced by working the weights first enables you to burn fat immediately if the aerobics follows the weight work within a short

Model: Amy Lynn

The highest level of fat oxidation occurred when the subjects did aerobics 20 minutes after the weight work.

time. The weight session not only stimulates a greater release of catecholamines but also blunts insulin release, which further improves fat oxidation.

The bottom line is that the highest level of fat oxidation occurred when the the subjects did aerobics 20 minutes after the weight session.

References 1 Ormsbee,

M., et al. (2007). Fat metabolism and acute resistance exercise in trained men. J Appl Physiol.

In press.

2 Goto, K., et al. (2007). Effects of resistance exercise on lipolysis during subsequent submaximal exercise.

Med Sci Sports Exerc. 39:308-315. IM

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’07 NPC IRON MAN Figure Winner

Compiled by Jonathan Lawson Photography by Michael Neveux

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Height: 5’1” Age: 24 Weight: 125 off-season; 110 contest Hometown: San Diego, California Current residence: Rancho Cucamonga, California Occupation: Personal trainer, fitness model, aspiring pro figure competitor and fitness director of SportsPros Inc. Marital status: Engaged Workout schedule: Five days a week—Monday: heavy delts, light triceps, abs; Tuesday: heavy back, light biceps, calves; Wednesday: legs (emphasis on quads); Thursday: light chest, light delts, abs, calves; Friday: heavy biceps, triceps, abs; Saturday: legs (emphasis on hamstrings, glutes and calves). Off-season cardio: 30 to 40 minutes five days per week; precontest: up to two hours every day, split over two or three sessions. www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 247

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Sample bodypart workout (legs, hamstrings emphasis): Leg extensions supersetted with leg curls, 4 x 20, 15, 15, 15; seated leg curls, 5 x 15; dumbbell Romanian deadlifts supersetted with walking lunges, 4 x 20; sumo dumbbell squats supersetted with stepups, 3 x 20, 15, 15; leg presses (feet high) supersetted with prone Swiss ball hip extensions, 2 x 20 Favorite foods: Healthful—rice cakes with natural peanut butter, homemade turkey meatballs. Less healthful—chocolate macadamia nut cookies, pizza Factoid: “I’m in the process of going back to school to finish my degree in exercise science.”

Future plans: “To compete in the NPC Figure Nationals in hopes of earning a pro card and to continue to help people achieve a healthier lifestyle through a better understanding of exercise and nutrition.”

Contact info: www.MonFit.com or mon_a.mark21@yahoo.com

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SPRING UPDATE

EYE ON THE FIGURE I

Confessions

Of a contest junkie

Lado Be Good No revolving titles here

Merv

Merv

It’s been quiet in the world of women’s physique competition. So quiet that I set my browser to the Bodybuilding.com New York Pro Fitness Webcast a week early desperate for some kind of contest fix.

The feverish activity of the ’07 Arnold Sports Festival in Columbus, Ohio, just five weeks before was but a distant memory (Could that be someone else in the videos at Graphic Muscle.com?). With deadlines and tax prep looming—and not even a figure show for distraction—I found myself roaming the Internet looking for news, kudos, controversy, anything to keep the Pump & Circumstance beat alive. I had to conclude that everyone was busy dieting.

Tracey Greenwood’s victory in New York on April 14 marked the end of the drought (for Tracey as well as the fans; it was her first win since the ’03 Jan Tana Classic). In fact, some might say, be careful what you wish for. With the Pittsburgh Pro Figure just two weeks away as I write this You got that right. Tracey nailed her (and the pro-figure-qualifying Junior second-ever pro win. For more on the USA only one), it’ll be nonstop bodies New York fitness follies turn the page. in motion until November, including 14 pro figure shows and all the pro qualifiers in all three women’s sports. In other words, it’s time to charge up the old camera battery.

In the meantime, I’ll be poring over the photo essays of the International competitions, which begin on page 256, and rechecking my notes and pics from Columbus to get in the mood.

Painted Lado. With her physique fuller than at the ’06 Olympia, where she took sixth, Mary Elizabeth had the look the judges love to reward.

B A C K S TA G E S T O R I E S Christine practices looking fabulous. Keep it up, Chris, and there’s a top-10 finish in your future.

Gina practices the bend and snap to pass the time.

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Zena is philosophical after the callouts. She’s always got the NPC Zena Collins Fitness and Figure Classic in Palm Beach, Florida, in October to look forward to.

MORE FIGURE

Speaking of Flavors of the Month

Photography by Ruth Silverman

Latisha gets the award for best sweat suit shot.

No truth to the rumor that D.J. was charging admission to the figure dressing room.

Merv

Merv

No doubt there were people who couldn’t see that Mary Elizabeth Lado was the winner of the ’07 Figure International from the moment the 15 toned and lusciously lean ladies of the lineup came onstage at the expo for the judging on March 2. I can’t imagine who they were, however, outside of family and friends of the other contestants. The 5’7” Louisiana lassie benefits from the fact that the one-piece-suit comparisons are usually held first in pro figure competition.

She looks particularly smashing in a well-cut one-piece, and the one she was wearing in Columbus—blue with a glittering multicolored upper body— appeared to be painted on.

With Monica Brant, perennial second-placer since the contest’s Money shot. Valerie Waugaman had a inception, sitting this one out, a delook the photographers love to capture. serving Amanda Savell moved up a notch from last year into second.

Third went to ’06 National Figure champ Sonia Adcock, who blasted past heavy hitters Latisha Wilder, Valerie Waugaman and Gina Aliotti in her second-ever pro show.

Wilder, in fourth, got her best placing at a major contest to date. Also deserved—she never looks bad to this observer. Ditto for Waugaman, who’d tightened up her physique and toned down somewhat her “posing” on the quarter-turns since the Olympia and cracked the Figure I top five for the first time.

Aliotti’s sixth-place landing, on the other hand, was an unexpected development. Based on her condition—and recent contest history—I expected Gina to be the one blasting past the heavy hitters into third. Oh, well. Not that Adcock didn’t look smashing, but the phrase “flavor of the month” did come to mind for just a minute.

See the item at right to find out how the rest of the lineup finished.

Everyone looked swell in this lineup.

That’s another thing we often say, although usually it’s, almost everyone.… In this case, though, there’s no qualification.

Absolutely everyone looked her absolute best—or darned near it—in Columbus. And with good reason: With the NPC What’s not to like? churning out 24 or 25 figure Chas went from fourth to seventh pros a year, a looking like this? girl just can’t afford to mistime her peak at the International. Even if she doesn’t, she can find herself inexplicably finishing lower. (Chastity Sloan, who dropped in the placings everywhere after taking fourth in this show last year, comes to mind.)

The scores for fourth, fifth and sixth were very close at the ’07 Figure I. After that there was a big jump to, in order, Sloan, Julie “D.J.” Wallis, Christine Wan and Inga Neverauskaite, who rounded out the top 10.

More game ladies—Jane Awad, Debbie Leung, Briana Tindall, Cory Matthews and Zena Collins filled the last five spaces. Tindall, the ’06 North American champ, gets the nod for most overlooked competitor, but I’m willing to bet that won’t be her status for long.

Look for plenty of these names to show up in Pittsburgh on May 5.

Figure deb.

Briana will have a bright future in the sport—if she takes off her coat and stays a while.

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TRENDSETTERS

’Dela’s Doings

Speaking of 14 pro figure shows to go

Guess who’s branching out into figure? None other than reigning Fitness Olympia champ Adela Garcia. Now, before you start fretting that Garcia’s loss of her Fitness International title to Kim Klein has her sidestepping the inevitable rematch at the ’07 O, you can save it for something important (like whether Mo Brant will ever win another title). Garcia, who moved to Austin, Texas, a year or so ago, will enter the Houston Pro Figure on July 21. That would be three weeks before the Europa Super Show, in Dallas, where she’ll compete in fitness. The twotime Olympia champ is taking advantage of a rule change enacted late last year that lets women athletes compete in more than one division during a competition year. Previously, they had to declare their sport for the year and stick with it, but now the only restriction is that they can’t compete in

multiple divisions at a single event. (Now, that would be one long prejudging.)

Adela’s reasons, other than possibly picking up a little change, are that she enjoys competing and would like to make some noise to promote the fitness camps she’ll be holding in the Houston area, according to a press release.

Since she can do it without making a total commitment to figure, why not?

Though she’s the first to take advantage of the new rule, Garcia is not the first athlete to make a midseason switch.

Last summer Pro League head Jim Manion allowed Cathy LeFrancois to return to bodybuilding from figure, setting the stage for the policy change. Though she’s likely to be followed by other fitness athletes, veteran and otherwise, looking to test their ta-tas in a bods-only show, it’s questionable how many will do as well as the Texas tamale—who has been top bod in more pro-fitness shows than Steve Wennerstrom has baseball hats—is likely to do in Houston.

Did somebody say fitness camps? Adela is teaming up with Phat Camp phenom Jen Hendershott to spin off her own camps in partnership with Hendershott’s wildly successful program. With a six-camp tour starting in June, Adela’s OFF, a.k.a. Overcome Fitness Fears, will offer different content from the Phat Camps and emphasize one-on-on interaction, with details to be found at AdelaFitness.com. Having watched the Texas tamale give a seminar at the IM FitExpo, I know it’ll be a fantastic fitness-ed experience.

MORE TRENDS

Speaking of Blazing Trails in Texas Also making announcements in April, the Said Pariso in her proposition, athletes’ rep for women’s bodybuilding, which was posted on a couple of Betty Pariso, put forth a proposiInternet forums, “The current attempt tion to the IFBB Pro Committee at weight classes is still not addressthat is bound to generate a bit of ing the concerns of the women who buzz. That the federation should want to be less muscular. (We all create a new division of women’s know you can be a lightweight and competition called “physique” to still have tons of muscle.) “bridge the gap between fig“For years we all have heard that ure and the current level of muscularity with women’s bodybuilding should go today’s women bodybuilders.” back to the Cory Everson look,” A fourth division? you query. Won’t that she continued. “To arbitrarily switch reduce the prize money to barely enough to the look at this point is of course purchase the complete works of Mitsuru unfair to the women bodybuilders of Okabe? today. But many of us got into the Apparently, Betty’s been listening to the sport idolizing the level of muscularcomments of her constituents. In last month’s ity that Cory exhibited.” The solution, installment of this column we talked about she suggested, is to start a the frustration of the so-called smaller women whole new sport. bodybuilders over the results of the ’07 Ms. Guess that pretty much International, in which no lightweight or sosums up the effect the called more aesthetic types finished higher 20-percent-less-muscle Tonie Norman, ninth at the Ms. I, than sixth, and that was Dayana Cadeau, guidelines of a couple years is 5’3”. Some reformers think that who, though she’s technically a lightweight, ago have had. height classes rather than weight has the thickness to hang with the likes of Iris classes would be the answer to mass A later post by Ed Pariso, Betty’s Kyle, Yaxeni Oriquen, Heather Policky, control in the female-bodybuilding husband—and partner in promoting Lisa Aukland and, ironically, Betty Pariso. ranks. the Europa Super Show—spoke of After Cadeau, the next-highest lighter-weight finisher was the women coming up in the sport who don’t want to have Tonie Norman, in ninth. to keep chasing size to continue competing. “Betty is the

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MORE NY NOTABLES

NEW YORK PRO

Oh, what a wondrous Web

Roland Balik

What a delight that Bodybuilding.com made the relatively late decision to Webcast the New York Pro Fitness on April 14. Despite my earlier impatience, the actual broadcast times turned out to be inconvenient. Not a problem. The ondemand download is always available. So when I did finally pull out the popcorn popper and settle in to watch the show, I already knew the results and had my list of questions at hand.

The contest was billed as “Julie ShipleyChilds Defends Her New York Pro Title,” but it turned out to be a two-point squeaker between Tracey Greenwood and Heidi Fletcher.

Greenwood, who appeared to have tightened up since her sixth-place finish at the Fitness I, won both physique rounds but not unanimously (no one took anything unanimously; the totals were high). Fletcher, who had to drop out of the International midcontest due to illness, made up for lost time with top-three physique scores and third-placed routines.

Also coming in leaner, possibly leaner than we’ve ever seen her (insert the usual caveat regarding computer images not being the ideal “Man, I dieted through Christmedium for basing judgments) was Jersey vet mas,” moaned Heidi after she Stacy Simons, who ventured across the was forced to drop out of the Fitbridge to enter this show for the very first time ness I. Not to worry. That “killer routine” she didn’t get to perform and got some respect, not just in the routine in Columbus looked pretty hot in rounds, where she took second and fourth, but New York. also in the comparisons, where her numbers were low enough to put her nine points behind Fletcher at evening’s end. Olympia qualifications went to all three.

Regiane DaSilva got the judges’ nod for best two-minute routine and took fourth overall. Shipley-Childs, whose dynamite librarian-themed number looked even better than when she performed it at the International, didn’t bring the career-best physique she had there. In Columbus she finished ahead of Greenwood, but even a win in the 90-second routines couldn’t save her from landing in fifth here.

first person that these young women come to and ask what they must do,” said Ed. “She’s smart enough and cares enough to look beyond herself and do what is right [for them].”

“This division would open up opportunities for the figure competitor who would like a little more muscle and the current bodybuilder who would like a little less muscle,” Betty said. Not only that, but they’ll be able to take advantage of the rule change discussed in the item on Adela Garcia on the opposite page. They’ll have to, as promoters might decide to pick and choose the divisions they offer.

The online discussion included the inevitable theories that this is another plot to kill women’s bodybuilding. That’s not likely, although if it were, evolve would be a better word than kill. (After all, it’s all bodybuilding.)

A year or so ago the IFBB amateur arm instituted a new division for the men called classic bodybuilding, and Pariso’s suggestions seem to be along the lines of that sport’s specs. At present the NPC, the federation’s U.S. member, has not added classic bodybuilding to its lineup, and it’s not a stretch to think that Pro League management—essentially the folks who also head the NPC—might see it as an impractical, if well-intended, suggestion.

The discussion will undoubtedly have evolved by the time you read this, so stay tuned. If Pariso’s proposal is still on the table, some obvious questions leap to the head of the list. Like whether the Super Show will be the first big contest to add prophysique competition. And if that will be in addition to women’s bodybuilding, fitness and figure.

Balik

Encore Performance

Standout-rookie-of-the-show honors went to Nicole Duncan, a class winner at the ’06 Fitness Nationals, who pulled off some snazzy tumbling in a pretty ding-dong-good routine to take second in the two-minute round and seventh overall.

Stacy Simons, who had to pass on the ’06 Olympia due to injury, got an early invite for ’07.

It will be her ninth appearance in the lineup since 1998.

Also performing a top-notch routine with an ever improving skill set was Angela MonteleoneSemsch.

Though she finished sixth in New York, she’s qualified for the O thanks to last season’s post-Olympia Palm Beach Pro Fitness.

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Photography by Ruth Silverman

STILL MORE TALES FROM THE BIG WEEKEND IN COLUMBUS

Stephanie’s new Finally Fit programs include workshops, home parties, one-one-consultation and cable-TV coverage. For info: Stephanie Worsfold.com.

Not only did Nancy interview Governor Schwarzenegger for the Bodybuild ing.com Webcast, but she mopped up afterward, as well.

“The better to shoot you, my dear.” J.C. adt vises Colette no ms to keep the ga under wraps.

Northern Exposure.

The Iron Woman greets Tosca Reno and Bob Kennedy of Mu sclemag and Oxygen fame. Who says the muscle press isn’t a col orful bunch?

Expo action. Amy manages to look hot and cool at the same time.

Speaking of Phat Ca mps, here are JenHen and some of her P.C. talent tru st (from left): Heather Bear, Jennifer Dobbins and Lishia Dean.

Dressing room action.

Chas starts out shyly and then.…

Suddenly, it’s girls gone wild at the Veterans.

Erratum. In last month’s review of cute Columbus couples, we left out Mike and Jules.

Mo introduces Pastor Michael Wenger of StrongholdMinistries. com, which focuses on the sports and entertainment worlds.

MORE STAR TRAINERS

Speaking of fitness camps

Did you ever get the feeling the top athlete-trainers are carving up the country? (And if so, will Adela Garcia and Monica Brant shoot it out in the streets of Laredo for the Texas territory anytime soon?) Another newcomer on the inspiration-plus-perspiration circuit is Figure O champ Jenny Lynn, who’s holding her first annual Jenny Lynn Fitness Weekend in Louisville, Kentucky, on July 7 and 8.

“The fun-filled event will be packed with weight training workouts, nutritional seminars, track workouts, a posing seminar, a seminar with professional make-up artist Amy Karr and photo shoots with famed photographer Terry Goodlad,” said Jenny, who offers a multitude of training services at JennyLynnFitness.com.

“Sadly,” she added with perhaps just a touch of humor, the three meals per day provided would “be diet food, as I’ll be preparing for the 2007 Figure Olympia.”

Talk about getting down with the stars. Participation is limited; consult the Web site for details.

You can contact Ruth Silverman, fitness reporter and Pump & Circumstance scribe, in care of IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033; or via e-mail at ironwman@aol.com.

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Neveux

Get Close to Jenny

Speaking of films by Mits Okabe, Jenny’s new DVD carries the intriguing title, “The Harder I Work, the Luckier I Get.” Recorded seven weeks before the ’06 Olympia, “it shows everything that went in to that victory, including weight training workouts, track workouts, meal preparation, a posing seminar I taught, an intense leg workout with legendary trainer Charles Glass,” reported the lucky girl. Lucky for IRON MAN, this video is available at www.Home-Gym.com.

ARNOLD

FITNESS Interna Panel Says It’s Klein’s Time to Shine

CLASSIC Photography by Roland Balik and Merv

Top six (from left): Tracey Greenwood, Jen Hendershot, Kim Klein, Adela Garcia, Tanji Johnson and Julie Palmer.

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tional 1) Kim Klein

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3) Adela Garcia

2) Jen Hendershott

6) Tracey Greenwood

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4) Tanji Johnson

7) Julie Shipley-Childs

Find Complete Coverage and Hundreds of Photos at

www.IronManMagazine.com

9) Hollie Stewart

5) Julie Palmer

8) Debra Czempinski

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FIGURE Inter Mary Elizabeth Holds On

ARNOLD

CLASSIC

Photography by Roland Balik and Merv

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national to Her Columbus Crown

Top six (from left): Gina Aliotti, Sonia Adcock, Mary Elizabeth Lado, Amanda Savell, Latisha Wilder and Valerie Waugaman.

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2) Amanda Savell 1) Mary Elizabeth Lado

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3) Sonia Adcock

4) Latisha Wilder

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Ms. Iris Soars

ARNOLD

CLASSIC

Photography by Bill Dobbins, Roland Balik and Merv

1) Iris Kyle

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International to Third “Classic” Victory

Top three (from left): Yaxeni Oriquen, Iris Kyle and Heather Policky.

2) Yaxeni Oriquen

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4) Lisa Aukland

3) Heather Policky

6) Dayana Cadeau

5) Betty Pariso

Find Hundreds More Photos at

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Femme Physique Pumping and Primping Backstage in Columbus

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Vérité Photography by John Balik

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Quick Lifts Are Key for Crafting a Stronger, Broader Back

Model: Justin Balik

by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux

ne of the things I’ve always liked about training the back is that there are so many useful exercises to choose from. In addition, the back responds very favorably to explosive movements, which is not the case for the shoulder girdle or hips and legs. While it’s true that push presses and jerks can be done dynamically, the other standard exercises for the shoulder girdle, such as flat- and incline-benches, need to be performed in a controlled fashion. That goes for exercises that work the hips and legs as well.

Attempting to squat, lunge or legpress rapidly usually results in dings or more serious injuries.

The back, on the other hand, thrives on vigorous movements, and you can do quite a few with very little equipment and in a small area. I believe every strength program should include at least one quick lift. That’s not because you can use more weight on those exercises—for in most cases you’ll handle less weight than you can on deadlifts or bent-over rows— but rather because the explosive movements activate muscles and corresponding attachments differently.

The greatest benefit of doing a quick lift is that it forces the nervous system to become more involved, which produces faster gains.

The quick lifts I use include power cleans; power snatches; snatch-, or wide-grip, high pulls; and clean high pulls. I start my athletes on the power clean. It’s the ideal pulling exercise to learn first. Once trainees learn how to power-clean correctly, they can do all the other exercises I’ve mentioned, plus a host of others, much more easily. And as they’re honing their form on the power clean, they’re building a solid strength base that will help them move on to the other quick lifts, especially the two variations of the high pull.

The power clean is known as the “athlete’s exercise” for a couple of reasons. Good athletes excel at it, and performing it enhances athletic attributes such as coordination, timing and quickness. I used to tell the coaches of various sports at the University of Hawaii and Johns Hopkins who their best athletes were just by observing them at their first power clean session. I was always right. When I taught the Big Three to the newly drafted players of the Baltimore www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 283

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Model: Chris Cormier

Dynamic exercises like power cleans can help build back size and etch in detail. The greatest benefit of a quick lift is that it forces the nervous system to become more involved.

Colts, I told the coaches and general manager that I could list them from best to worst in terms of athleticism.

They didn’t believe me until I wrote down the names. I ranked the rookies in the exact order in which they’d been drafted, and I’d never seen the draft report. I just put them through a workout. My gauge was the power clean.

Once athletes have perfected their technique and are handling heavier weights, the power clean has a great carryover value to any sport. It has been shown that after swimmers become proficient in the power clean, their move off the starting block is faster. The same happens with sprinters. Rowers respond very favorably to this quick lift. Not only does it improve overall back strength, but it enhances timing and coordination, critical factors for success in their sport, as well.

When done correctly, the power clean works nearly every muscle in your body from your feet to your head. The better your form, the

more muscles you activate, so you must spend time practicing technique. Don’t overcomplicate the mechanics of the lift, however—a common mistake. During the first hectic days of an off-season program the football coaches would help me with the beginners. Unlike most collegiate strength coaches, I never had an assistant. Invariably, my helpers would turn the simple movement of power-cleaning a weight into a highly complex maneuver that left the players dazed and confused. The coaches would break the lift down into several segments: how to bring the bar from the floor to your knees, then how to bring it from your knees to your waist and, finally, how to flip the bar into the racked position at the shoulders.

The athletes weren’t able to get the feel of the movement because there were too many factors to think about. When I’d see that happen with an athlete, after the coach moved on to bewilder another

player, I’d have the athlete assume the proper starting position and tell him, “Now pull the bar up close to your body in one fast motion and rack it on your shoulders.” And he would do just that without any hesitation or difficulty.

As with any other high-skill athletic movement, improvement comes with diligent practice and attention to the smallest form points.

The better your technique, the more weight you’ll be able to handle, which means greater strength gains.

Perfecting your form also lowers your risk of injuries. During the learning phase, stay with lighter weights so you can concentrate fully on doing each rep correctly.

Once you have the form down pat, the numbers will take care of themselves.

Step up close to the bar so that your shins are touching it. Your feet should be shoulder-width apart with toes pointed forward. To find your ideal foot placement, shut your eyes and set your feet as if you were about to do a standing broad jump.

That’s your strongest thrusting position. The grip will vary slightly due to different shoulder widths, but for most this guideline works. Extend your thumbs until they barely touch the smooth center of an Olympic bar. Or grip the bar just outside your legs. A bit of trial and error may be necessary. If your grip is too narrow, you’ll have trouble racking the bar properly, and if it’s too wide, the rack will hurt your shoulders.

Flatten your back, lower your hips, and look straight ahead—but don’t lower your hips too much.

Higher is better because it gives you a longer pulling lever, but only if you’re able to hold that starting position when you break the bar off the floor.

Before you commence the pull, make sure your front deltoids are slightly in front of the bar and the bar is against your shins. Instead of thinking about pulling the bar off the floor, push down through the floor with your feet. That helps you establish a solid base. The start needs to be a controlled move. Don’t attempt to jerk the bar upward. The bar will always try to run forward, so you have to guide it in the correct line close to your legs. Remember, a bar doesn’t have a brain. It only goes

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Model: Derik Farnsworth

You can do high pulls with a narrow grip, but to improve your quick-lift abilities in the snatch, you need a wider grip.

where you lead it.

Once the bar passes your knees, it should start picking up speed.

Drive your hips forward in a fast, powerful move, extend high on your toes, and contract your traps. All the while your arms are still straight.

Hips, calves, traps and then arms is the sequence you want. If you bend your arms before activating your traps, you won’t be able to use those very strong muscles nearly as efficiently, and it will have a negative influence on the finish. As soon as the traps elevate the bar, follow through with your arms to give it that final snap so you can rack it more easily.

When the coordinated efforts of your traps, arms and calves have put a jolt in the bar, it will float momentarily, and that’s when you drive your elbows under it and rack it across your front delts, not your collarbones. Banging the bar against your clavicles repeatedly is not only painful, but it can damage the bones as well. As you rack the bar,

lift your shoulder girdle up to create a ledge of muscle on which to fix the

weight. As that happens, bend your knees to help absorb the shock of the descending bar. That should be a short dip and not an exaggerated one. Since the purpose of doing the power clean is to develop as many muscles as possible, the longer the pull, the better. The dip should not resemble a half squat but, rather, a short, coordinated move that’s just enough to cushion the shock of the bar striking your body.

When the bar is racked, your upper body must remain erect or a bit forward, or you’re inviting lowerback problems. Some athletes are unable to correct that form fault, so I have them make adjustments to the way they rack. I have them take a short step to the side or back with one foot or skip to the side with both, which enables them to maintain a straight torso and eliminates jamming the lumbars.

After the bar is racked firmly on your shoulders, stand up and get ready to lower the weight to the floor. The important thing to remember is that you need to do that with a flat back, not a rounded one.

That’s best accomplished by flipping the bar over and stopping it at your waist, then deliberately lowering it to the floor.

Reset and make sure your grip, feet and back are where they should be; tuck the bar in against your

After a swimmer becomes proficient in the power clean, his move off the starting block is faster.

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shins; extend your deltoids out in front of the bar; and do your next rep. Do your breathing prior to the initial pull and after the bar is racked. Hold your breath during the execution of the lift.

As you’re pulling the bar upward, think of the movement in terms of a whip cracking; relatively slow coming off the floor, picking up speed through the middle and turning into a blur at the finish. Once you learn to blend all three segments into one smooth movement, the bar will float upward almost effortlessly.

A further word on racking the bar. Many who try power cleans for the first time find that they’re very tight in the shoulders and have difficulty racking the weight. That’s particularly true for those who’ve been doing lots of bench presses or extensive arm work. Also older athletes who haven’t bothered to keep their shoulders flexible. Those who have this problem must spend time stretching their shoulders and elbows before doing power cleans.

The best way to accomplish that is to put a bar in a power rack at shoulder height and lock it in place.

Grip the bar at your shoulders, lift one elbow as high as you can while keeping your body straight, and hold that position for a count of eight to 10. Then do the other arm.

If you’re quite tight, repeat for several sets.

For the next step you’ll need a partner. Grip the bar with both hands and fix it on your shoulders just as you would when you rack the power clean. Have your partner slowly elevate your arms by pushing up against your elbows. In order for this to be effective, you must maintain an upright torso. If you lean back, you’re defeating the purpose of the exercise. When your elbows are as high as you can stand, hold them there for an eight to 10 count, take a break, then do it again. Each time you do this isometric hold, you’ll find that your elbows are a tad higher than on the previous set. It’s also useful for anyone who wants to do front squats but is having trouble racking the bar properly.

Five sets of five reps works well for power cleans. Start with a relatively light weight and add to each set just as long as your form is good.

Should your form break down, take off some weight and correct your mistake—or mistakes. Doing 155x5 in perfect form will yield more benefits than banging around with 185x5 using sloppy technique.

I’m aware that many older athletes, no matter how hard they try, cannot achieve the flexibility to rack the bar on their shoulders without a great deal of pain. They

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If your shoulders hurt when you rack the bar on power cleans, try power snatches. They aren’t a high-skill exercise like power cleans, but they’re not stressful to the shoulders. should forget the power clean and try the power snatch. It, too, is a high-skill exercise that requires all the same athletic attributes as the power clean, yet it’s not stressful to the shoulders.

The main differences between the two quick lifts are that you grip the bar wider for the power snatch than for the power clean and that you have to pull the power snatch much higher. All the other mechanics are the same, except for the rack, of course. On the power snatch, instead of fixing the bar at your shoulders, you lock it out overhead. The longer pulling motion requires closer attention to all those form points I mentioned for the power clean. The bar has to stay even tighter to your body during the power snatch; the sequence of hips, traps and arms is more critical; and body extension is absolutely essential. Also, the analogy to a whip cracking is extra important for the power snatch because you’re seeking greater height.

Observant readers will have noticed that I overlooked a significant technical aspect of the power clean—the elbows must be up and out at the finish. I didn’t forget. I just wanted to save it for the power snatch discussion, since it’s so critical for success in the longer pulling movement.

Although it’s possible to cut your pull and still make a power clean, that doesn’t work for the power snatch. The bar has to move smoothly, accelerating up your body and over your head high enough that you can dip under it and lock out your arms. That requires a powerful finish—based on a strong start and middle—and can only be accomplished if you keep your elbows up and out to your sides until the bar is at your nipples.

Once your elbows turn back, you no longer have any upward thrust.

At that point you’re totally dependent on the momentum you’ve created. So the longer you keep your elbows up and out, the longer you’ll

be able to climb the bar upward and be in a position at the finish to put a jolt into it just before you dip and lock it out overhead. You must have sufficient floating time with heavy weights. Otherwise, the bar will stall too low to lock out correctly.

Another form point that’s critical to success when the weights get heavy is body extension. At the very top of the pull you must be high on your toes with your traps contracted, elbows bent while they’re up and out. Should you not be fully extended and leaning forward, even a bit, you’re going to have difficulty finishing strongly and locking the weight out. Seeking height and stretching out your body helps you achieve that objective.

More about the lockout in a moment. First I want to go over where to grip the bar for a power snatch.

It depends on: 1) how broad your shoulders are and 2) how flexible you are in your shoulder girdle. Dr. John Gourgott, as a 198-pounder, could power-snatch using a clean grip. He was, of course, the exception. There are scores on most Olympic bars located six inches in from the collars on both sides.

I have athletes grip the bar so that their ring fingers are around the scores. That works well for the majority of them. The factors determining where to grip the bar are whether you can pull the bar correctly and smoothly through the full range of motion and whether it’s not stressful to your shoulders when you lock it out. If it does hurt your shoulders, change it slightly until you find the grip that fits you.

Technically, a power snatch should be locked out with straight arms. No bending and pressing the bar to lockout. Should you be planning on entering Olympic competition, you need to make sure you lock the bar out completely on every rep so that you don’t develop the habit of pressing it out. If you’re only including power snatches for variety or perhaps to improve your athletic skills, however, you don’t have to completely lock out the bar overhead. It’s okay to press it out slightly at the finish. In fact, many coaches encourage that, since pressing out a weight with a wide grip strengthens the deltoids in a

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Model: Justin Balik

On power clean, before you start the pull, make sure your front delts are slightly in front of the bar and the bar is against your shins. Do not bang the bar against your clavicles at the top. different and beneficial way.

After the bar is locked out and you stand up under it, don’t merely hold it passively. Rather, push up against it forcefully, stretching your body as high as you can, and hold it there for a three-to-four-second count. On your final rep hold it even longer. Supporting a weight overhead that way activates a host of muscles in your back and shoulders that aren’t usually worked, including the rotator cuffs, Flip the bar over and stop it at your waist before returning it to the floor, making sure your back stays very straight all the way. Reset, check that the bar is snug to your shins, your feet are in the correct position, your back is flat, your deltoids are slightly out in front of the bar, and then do the next rep.

During the learning stage, stay with five sets of five, but once the weights get demanding, switch to this formula: two sets of five as warmups, followed by three to five sets of three, working to limit.

In a matter of weeks you’ll feel comfortable doing power cleans and power snatches. Now you’re ready to add high pulls. They’re less complicated than the longer pulling movements, so you’ll be able to use good form rather quickly.

Straps are necessary. They help you to pull longer and with more intensity without having to worry about maintaining a firm grip. All of the technical points are the same for the high pulls as they are for power cleaning and snatching, except for racking the weight. Plus, the bar doesn’t travel as high once the weights get heavy on the high pulls.

Nevertheless, the warmup sets on both forms of high pulls often climb up over your head. That’s what you want because from that very first rep you want to instill a mental pattern of fully extending that will carry over to the heavier poundages. So never cut your pull, even if the bar ends up high enough to lock out. Higher is always better.

While the high pull is a combina-

tion of a deadlift and shrug, the transition from one to the other must be continuous and fluid. Often with heavy weights there’s a tendency to hesitate in the middle, which results in hitching the bar. That disrupts the rhythm and keeps the bar from going as high as it might.

Another form fault that occurs frequently is that the hips come up too fast. You must lock your back and hips so they don’t lift up at a faster rate than the bar. When that happens, the bar runs forward and out of a strong pulling position.

Rounding the back is a common mistake on the high pull. It has an adverse affect on the finish, so you have to lock your back tightly. The best way to do that is to pull your shoulder blades together and keep them that way throughout the exercise.

So the keys to doing high pulls correctly with either grip are maintaining a flat back; elevating the bar and hips at same time; using the proper sequence of hips, traps and

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As your poundages move up on the quick lifts, you’ll see your overall mass start to increase as well. Your back and traps will take on a much thicker appearance. arms that you learned for power cleans and snatches; keeping your elbows up and out and extending fully. Try to get a pop at the top on every rep, and you’ll get greater results.

Most lifters like to do a few power cleans or snatches before moving on to high pulls. That’s useful, since the longer pulling movements enable you to practice the many form points before loading up the bar. A good workout plan would be to do two or three sets of power cleans or snatches with light-to-moderate weights, followed by five to six sets of threes on the high pulls.

I use triples rather than fives because you can handle more weight with the lower reps, and you can also concentrate on your technique if you’re not as tired. Keep in mind that the primary reason you’re doing the high pulls is to overload the pulling muscles and threes serve that purpose better than fives.

Should you want to increase your workload, just add extra sets.

How high should you go? Your eventual goal is 100 pounds over your best power clean on the clean high pull and 75 pounds over your top power snatch on the wide-grip high pull. During the learning stage, however, you need to stop whenever your form breaks down.

For instance, if you’re dragging the bar up your thighs with a rounded back and are only able to give it a nudge at the top, lower the weight.

Whether you decide to do power cleans or power snatches at the same session as high pulls or at separate workouts or choose to do just a couple of these exercises, you’ll be pleasantly surprised to discover how effective they are at building greater size and strength in your back.

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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ost people who fail to make progress in their training don’t try hard enough or long enough. They throw in the towel before they ever really get going. Maybe they shy away from the tough exercises that make you gain. Or when they do them, they slack off and have all sorts of excuses for why they can’t lift any more weight than they’ve been lifting for the past three years. Or maybe they just sing a song of general genetic woe, putting the burden for their stagnation on the scrawny shoulders of their forebears.

Given the fatal results of quitting too easily, it’s always good to keep in mind the image of pounding, pounding, pounding.

That’s why we all like to make heroes of the one more reppers, the guys who look like they’re dead meat on the third rep but actually grind out a full 10. Such bullheaded determination pays big dividends when it comes to size and strength. Still, there comes a time when you just can’t make any more gains by crashing up the center, a time when you have to find some new angles. In fact, learning to work the angles is a sure way to give your training an ongoing edge.

The basic principle behind training for increased size and strength is that if you coax yourself to do more than you have

in the past—and provide the elements you need for recovery— your body will adapt by getting bigger and stronger. It’s a nice theory, and it really does work. The problem is that you can’t stay with the same program too long. Many people have found that they really can add five pounds to the squat bar at every workout for a few weeks while they’re on a specialized 20-repsquat program or when they start with a moderate weight and are cycling toward a one-rep-maximum lift. As good as those programs are, however, it’s the kiss of death to stick with them forever. Instead of trying to milk a routine too long or focus on a certain lift month after month, you need to develop some horse sense about when it’s time to switch to another approach.

To help get the right mind-set for the next step, think of yourself as a guerrilla: Instead of going for a massive frontal assault, go for advancement by checking different angles and scouting around the edges. Sneaking up on the lift or the bodypart that’s stopped gaining calls for a little creativity.

Creativity means different things to different people, but we’re concerned with putting a new twist on an old concept.

One great strongman always switched to one-arm dumbbell presses whenever he stalled out on behind-the-neck presses.

It wasn’t a radical departure, but it was enough that his body and mind responded. That New angles in enabled him to sneak up on your workout can his behind-the-neck presses, lead to busting and he started gaining size and out of plateaus. strength again.

Today it’s well accepted that banging away on a few basic exercises is the key to big gains in bulk and power, but that was once a revolutionary idea.

Mark Berry, who developed it, was considered a heretic by the proponents of the 1,001 exercises approach. Believe it or not, there was a time when one set was the standard, but when J.C. Hise and others started doing multiple sets, their progress was astonishing, and others followed suit.

When you consider that even a guy who’s been going to a gym for only a few months has Neveux \ Model: Binais Begonic

IRONMIND

Angles and Edges M

Drop and swap exercises and techniques for better results

292 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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probably seen a dozen different types of curls, you’d think that bodybuilders would never get stuck in training ruts.

Because we’re all creatures of habit, however, we do, even when our routines are no longer working. Try hitting things from a different angle. It can be as simple as changing your sets and reps, but a better approach would be to change the exercises as well. You can also change the order of exercises, the days you train, the time you train or where you train.

Even a new T-shirt has been known to produce enough novelty to spark a gain or two. The important thing is to change what you do. How much? Enough to attack your workout with some gusto and to get somewhere for your efforts.

Powerlifters seem more constrained when it comes to training variety because they focus on just three lifts; Olympic lifters, of course, focus on just two. Don’t let that be an excuse for you. Consider snatches. You could do snatches from the floor, from boxes of different heights or from the hang—meaning below the knee—at the knee or above the knee. You could also do power snatches in each of those lifts. There are many applicable assistance exercises as well.

Remember, it doesn’t always take a radical change to get the fresh results you want—going from the floor to the hang might be all you need to hit a personal record snatch. You want to sneak up on the lift that’s been defying progress—hit it from a new angle.

As you make your changes, always keep your goal in mind. You might be hunting around the edges, but don’t confuse the means and the end. Let’s say you’re dying to get your bench press moving again and you reach the point where more benching just isn’t doing a thing for you. So you concentrate on some partials and doing a tremendous amount of triceps work. That’s perfect, but you don’t want to fall into the trap of trying to become the next partial-benchpress king or the grand master of the French press. You’re doing these things to boost your bench press. As soon as they quit being productive for that purpose, move along again.

It’s nice to be stubborn, but when coming straight in quits yielding results, it’s time to change. It’s time to play the angles and work the edges.

—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. Visit the IronMind Web site at www.IronMind.com.

Joints

Quads, Knees and Squats

R

ecently, scientists looked at the knees of more than 200 people with osteoarthritis of that joint and found that the subjects with the strongest quadriceps had less cartilage loss behind the kneecap. So if the best quad-strengthening exercise is the squat, it makes sense that squats strengthen the knee joints and don’t damage them. Of course, that conclusion is based on doing the exercise correctly, not overusing it or using dangerous form.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

Kid Stuff about self-esteem, De-Bully-izing It’s discipline and respect

A

recent study published in Adolescence found that middle school kids who took martial arts classes experienced a significant decrease in violent behavior, while their confidence levels increased. Martial arts stress courtesy and respect, so bullies taking regular martial arts classes may become less belligerent.

—Becky Holman www.X-tremeLean.com

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 293

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Bomber Blast

MIND/BODY

Muscle-Building Research and Study

S

Teen Scene

Vital Vitamins? study published in the Journal of the American Dietetic Association reports that teenagers who take a daily multivitamin have a healthier lifestyle and diet than those who don’t. The question is, Are the vitamin users healthier because they come from families that practice healthier habits? Possibly.

The teens who took vitamins were generally more physically active.

Nevertheless, taking a vitamin can reinforce healthful habits and can prevent deficiencies and is overall good health insurance.

Neveux \ Model: Justin Balik

A

—Becky Holman

the deeds wherein results are most forthcoming. Silence your TV and cell phone, and dare not drop your coins in the sugar-popping vending machine. Put on your sneakers and workout gear and head for the gym down the street, in the garage or at the park. Should you pass someone along the way, smile and say, “I’m gonna work out.”

I almost suggested, “I’m gonna blast it,” but in my town they’d dial 911 and you’d be surrounded by a SWAT team and Homeland Security.

“Get down on the ground...now!”

Working out is exactly that, working out our muscles and energies and health-based desires. Moreover, exercise works out our stresses, our insecurities, our inhibitions and our fears. Our workouts, our bouts with the iron, clarify our minds, strengthen our backs, heal our wounds and direct us in ways that are dependable and correct. Ample, powerful and well-contoured muscles happen along the way.

In a recent experiment I took a handful of terrorist volunteers and engaged them in the rigors of weightlifting to build muscle and might. I had them eat right (lots of protein and fresh whole foods regularly) and train according to a basic four-day-split routine, including supersets and moderate aerobics. After completing 12 weeks of exhilarating workouts, they set out to continue their lives.

The terrorists, a total of 12 in number, agreed to ongoing monitoring. When they were requested by their former associates to strap on explosive-packed vests, each refused, saying they were not going to wear no stinking vest over their muscular, well-formed pectoral muscles.

Some said, “I don’t think so, bub”—they were busy preparing their high-protein meals—while others exclaimed it was shoulder-and-arm day or whatever, and their training partners were waiting for them at the gym. Three of the group were studying for personal-training certificates and declined further cell functions. One guy joined the Marines and was leaving for boot camp. Bible study absorbed several of the fellows, and two were engaged to be married and working for the city fire and police departments.

Most of the gang meets every Saturday morning at the Denny’s for the Chamber of Commerce’s weekly pancake breakfast.

Working out extends one’s life and makes life worth living.

—Dave Draper Neveux \ Model: Markus Reinhardt and Hubert Morandell

ometimes I sense I should be focusing my attention on matters more urgent and critical than shaping muscles and lifting weights over my head.

Take a sharp knife and cut the world in half. What do you see?

It’s a bit of a mess, isn’t it? I feel compelled by duty and compassion to list the disturbances the planet and its inhabitants are suffering, most of them by the hands of you and me and our neighbors, but that would be off-topic and as welcome as lice.

The one thing we can do in keeping with our mission is contribute to the prevention of further destruction by cultivating our own garden.

We know life is unfair. Power, greed and conceit shadow the humble and virtuous. The few have much, and the many have little. The world produces nukes and nuts, terrorists and genocide, drive-bys and AIDS and cancer and politicians. We look and listen, but we don’t see and hear.

We could go on and on about imbalances and injustices like a beam of light into the darkness, a wave of sound into the silence, but why? Let’s save our energy and passion for

Editor’s note: For more from Dave Draper, visit www.Dave Draper.com and sign up for his free newsletter. You can also check out his amazing Top Squat training tool, classic photos, workout Q&A and forum.

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New Stuff

Introducing TheRack

Where old school meets hi-def

I

f bodyweight resistance keeps the soldiers that protect our country in great shape, can it work for you? The people at TheRack stake their reputation on it. They’ve combined military fitness and old-school exercises with state-of-the-art engineering, creating what fitness experts like Patrick Netter have called “a whole new category of exercise equipment.”

A workout on TheRack includes full-body dips, triceps dips, a variety of pushups and abs, biceps and shoulder exercises in a single one-unit-does-it-all device. You can perform exercises in three different machine configurations. Each targets the muscles differently by changing hand and body positions to build core strength, muscle balance, power and endurance.

In total there are 18 legitimate exercises, enabling you to hit and sculpt seven different bodyparts.

TheRack has three patents and 10 years of research and development supporting it, according to its inventor, Travis Burrell.

He should know something about strength and endurance conditioning, having spent the past six years competing around the world in Ironman triathlons.

The versatility of TheRack gives it the qualities of a home gym, yet it’s completely portable (and storable). Its 30-pound steel frame is rugged and offers the ability to add more than 40 pounds of plates for additional resistance.

According to Burrell, “Even if you’re at the gym every day, you’ll still feel TheRack workout immediately.” That’s thanks to its oneof-a-kind construction. In fact, TheRack is the only dip machine in the world that can be reconfigured to do 18 upper-body and ab exercises. What’s really amazing is that it’s priced under $200.

For more information call (877) 213 2131, or click your way to TheRackWorkout.com.

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Gallery of Ironmen

John Holtum

MIND/BODY MIND/BODY

The Cannonball Man

from attempting the n the golden age of stunt, but the Danish vaudeville strongmen athlete was persistent. plenty of athletes lifted After two years of heavy cannons overpractice and several head, juggled cannonaccidents (it was reballs or even fired artillery ported that one of his pieces while resting the fingers was blown off in massive guns on their one of those mishaps), shoulders. Only one man he eventually perfected dared to perform the the trick, and from ultimate cannon feat: then on his fortune and catching a ball shot from reputation were made. a cannon fired directly By all accounts at him. It seems incredHoltum’s act was truly ible that such a feat spectacular. An assiswas possible, but one tant would load a proextraordinary athlete did jectile into a regulation it many times a week. cannon on one side His name was John of the stage and after Holtum, and he was a deafening explosion born in the Danish town of Haderslev on October Danish strongman John the ball would fly directHoltum was a darling of 29, 1845. At the age of ly toward the strongthe ladies. This photo is 15 he enlisted as a sailor circa 1875. man. The athlete stood and ended up in Califorat the other side of the nia, where he had several stage wearing a pair of jobs. In San Francisco he found work sturdy gloves and thick padding on in a circus as a professional stronghis chest as he attempted to catch man. the ball in his hands. The charge of After returning to Europe in 1870, gunpowder was clearly much less he thought up the idea of catchthan would have been used on the ing a cannonball, and he began to battlefield, and perhaps the canexperiment. The experts all tried to nonball was hollow, but even so, it dissuade him was a difficult and dangerous feat, calling for tremendous strength, nerves of steel and lightning-quick reflexes. As soon as Holtum caught the projectile, he immediately threw it down to prevent burning his hands.

The Danish strongman created a sensation wherever he performed, and he was always very popular with the ladies. It was said that his physique was so beautifully muscled that when he performed in Paris, his female fans wanted to put an end to his dangerous act for fear that he might be harmed. Holtum eventually married a pretty equestrienne and retired in considerable comfort to England, where he lived until he died peacefully in The Cannonball Man is celebrated 1919. —David Chapman in this French poster from 1888.

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MIND/BODY MIND/BODY

New Stuff

Soon-to-Be Best-Selling Fat Burner?

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t’s important to maintain or build lean muscle tissue while you’re losing bodyfat. Independent studies now suggest that ingredients in many so-called fat-burner products can also increase protein breakdown.

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only $6.95 for shipping and handling).

For more information, call (800) 3385200, or visit www.Thermogize.com.

www.Home-Gym.com Best Sellers Books: 1) The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution

by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and Jerry Robinson 2) Train, Eat, Grow—The Positions-of-Flexion Muscle-Training Manual by Steve Holman

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MIND/BODY

Freak Physique

Pro Bodies Is this progress? t would be easy to assume that today’s top pro bodybuilders universally agree that the physiques of today’s stars are generally superior to those of years past. To feel otherwise could be construed as an admission that the changes we’ve made as a sport have not been entirely positive. Some, however, feel otherwise.

One man who’s never been afraid to express an unpopular opinion is ’06 IRON MAN Pro champ Lee Priest.

On a popular bodybuilding message board he recently noted some changes he has witnessed since he began competing in the late 1980s: “The guys today are definitely bigger,” he agreed, “but are they really better? The other day I opened a magazine from 1993 just for the hell of it. I was looking at a contest report of the Night of Champions.

What struck me immediately was that you didn’t see big distended guts, synthol lumps and bumps, and the guys looked healthier in general.” It was that last aspect that really caught his attention.

“Everything about these guys looked healthier than most of today’s competitors. The hair and skin looked better, plus they all had hair in the first place, and they didn’t look aged beyond their years. No offense to the guys today, but some of them look 10 years older than they are, and you wouldn’t be surprised if they dropped dead of a heart attack.”

While acknowledging that steroids have been a part of the sport for decades, Lee does feel that today’s pros often take things much too far. “Back in the ’80s and early-to-mid-’90s, guys were pretty moderate in what they used,” he says. “Some test, some Winny, some D-bol and Deca—those were the mainstays. Then all these other drugs came into the picture: GH, IGF-1, insulin, clenbuterol,

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thyroid meds, on and on. It’s become a pharmacological battleground.”

Though the physiques are larger, Priest doesn’t think the condition is any better than it used to be: “Some guys have great muscle separation, but a lot of them have done so much synthol and site injecting that they’ve lost a lot of detail between the muscle groups.”

So what’s the take-home message? Maybe that size alone isn’t everything, and chasing some elusive bodyweight is futile and possibly dangerous. If you look great at 200 pounds, there’s no reason to think you need to be 250 to look better. If doing what it takes to gain that 50 pounds destroys your shape and taper, makes you lose your hair, makes your skin coarse and wreaks havoc with your internal organs, is it really worth it?

As for steroids, Lee thinks that the average bodybuilder doesn’t have any business using them. “Unless you’re a pro and making a living at the sport, it makes no sense at all to take the risks involved.” If you’re going to dangerous extremes trying to achieve the standards of pro bodybuilding in 2007, maybe it’s time you stepped back and considered whether those standards are worth the trouble—and risks.

—Ron Harris www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

New Stuff

Bodybuilders’ Top Ripping Agent

Grabs a chunk of the GNC weight-loss market

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ooks like the physique transformational agent of choice for bodybuilders is about to cross over to the mainstream. The good news for fitness enthusiasts will also be good news for athletes, as Tetrazene ES-50 will now be available at your local GNC. Regular IM readers saw Tetrazene previewed in this section last year. The supplement’s technology delivers dramatic results via a unique and revolutionary complex of the two most researched thermogenic and metabolism-enhancing agents known to science. Since then the effectiveness of Tetrazene’s key active ingredients has been backed by dozens of published clinical studies, with more on the way.

Satisfied consumers have been flooding the big independent online consumer rating sites (RateItAll.com, Ratings.net, RemedyFind.com and others) with raves for Tetrazene. With sports supplement retailing giant GNC now jumping on the bandwagon, it looks as if the sky’s the limit for BioQuest and its advanced formulation.

So the next time you’re in GNC, look for Tetrazene. Or you can go to www.Tetrazene.com or call (866) 377-8378.

300 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Graphic Muscle Stars / GraphicMuscle.com

Grigori Atoyan Weight: Off-season, 255; contest, 220 Height: 5’6” Occupation: Owns two Max Muscle stores in Rocklin and Rancho Cordova, CA Factoid: Has two sons, Harut, 12, and Martik, 10 Contest highlights: ’02 California Championships, overall; ’04 Nationals, 2nd heavyweight

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ JULY 2007 301

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Readers Write Dazzling Dina

Broser Is Best I was so happy to see photos of Eric Broser on pages 58, 134 and 136 of the April ’07 IRON MAN. I always enjoy reading his informative monthly column and Web reviews.

His Power/Rep Range/Shock is a terrific innovation in bodybuilding, and his pictures are a testament to how well it works. The man is totally huge and ripped, which is extremely difficult to achieve for a natural bodybuilder. No wonder he’s always smiling.

Joseph Broser (his dad) Bellmore, NY Editor’s note: We’re Eric Broser fans, too, but probably not in your league, Mr. Broser.

Dina Al-Sabah.

Eye-Opening Info

Dina Al-Sabah [“Exotic Impact,” May ’07] is the most beautiful woman I’ve ever seen! She has that incredible mysterious face and those gorgeous round shapes all over her weight-trained body. More Dina! Her pictorial was way too short!

Dan Sebinson via Internet Editor’s note: We’ll work on an encore. In the meantime you may want to check out www.BillDobbins.com for more of Dina and other beauties he’s photographed.

Thank You

Reho.

Fredrick

I just want to very sincerely thank IRON MAN for including me in Serious Training in the Mind/Body section of the May issue.

My boyfriend, Dave Liberman, brought the issue to where I work to surprise me with it, and I was elated. So were the patients (I work at a hospital in cardiac rehab). I absolutely love IRON MAN and am so grateful to be in it. You all are awesome.

Linda Reho Linda via Internet

Editor’s note: Visit X-Rep.com for information on stretch overload and X-Rep training as well as order information for the e-books The Ultimate Mass Workout, Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building and 3D Muscle Building.

Unreal Wheels I just had to write and say that Erik Fankhouser’s legs are totally outrageous. I hit my legs harder than ever after seeing his photos [“Erik Fankhouser’s Monster Leg Training,” May ’07].

Jerry Medina via Internet Errata: The company sponsoring Eric Fankhouser was misidentified.

He represents Univeral Nutrition.

See Animalpak.com for more inforErik Fankhouser. mation.

Also in the May ’07 issue, in our IRON MAN Pro coverage Eddie Abbew was identified as Marcus Haley and vice versa. Our apologies to both athletes.

Vol. 66, No. 7: 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 © 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.

304 JULY 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Comstock

Dobbins \ ww

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The article by Steve Holman on stretch overload [May ’07] was quite an eye-opener. I now understand that stretching the muscle is just as important as squeezing the contraction—or more so. Seeing the concept in action in Mark Litz’s article [“Tactical Torture Training”] in that same issue really brought it all into focus. I even went to the X-Rep Web site and bought all the e-books available. They’ve opened my eyes even wider. I feel like I’ve got all the secrets and programs I need to pack on another 40 pounds of muscle. I’m motivated again. Thank you!

Aaron Clark via Internet