Muscle - Bodybuilding magazine free download. IRONMAN

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RONNIE COLEMAN’S OLYMPIA MASS TRAINING
NOVEMBER 2005 / IRON MAN—REAL BODYBUILDING TRAINING, NUTRITION & SUPPLEMENTATION
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261
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to sculpt your own impressive physique.
Greg is a former Army Ranger and was
recently voted Hollywood’s top body.
150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
November 2005
Vol. 64, No. 11
Hardbody,
Fitness diva
Adela Garcia
page 184
Real Bodybuilding Training, Nutrition & Supplementation
FEATURES
64 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 73
The TEG men made some X-traordinary gains over the
summer. Now it’s time to apply what they learned and
pack on even more mass over the winter. Here’s the plan.
78 ONE-SIDED LEG TRAINING
Sure, you put your pants on one leg at a time like everyone else, but it’s going to be a lot harder to squeeze into
them once your thigh growth explodes. Eric Broser’s
unique approach can make it happen one leg at a time.
94 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 4
Ron Harris teaches his young bodybuilding protégé about
form, function and the size/strength junction.
100 100 POUNDS OF MUSCLE: THE
NAUTILUS NORTH STUDY
John Little’s ground-breaking
experiment to determine optimal
training frequency—and if building
more than 100 pounds of muscle in
one year is possible. Interesting
stuff here, gang! Prepare to grow.
128 CHAMP-TRAINING
ANALYSIS
Sagi Kalev,
page 142
100 Pounds
of Muscle,
page 100
Steve Holman studies Mr. O Ronnie
Coleman’s training from R.C.’s
“Redemption” DVD and comes to
some startling conclusions—and
ideas on how you can put some
freak on your physique.
Barry Kabov and Karen
McDougal appear on this
month’s cover. Hair and
Makeup Kimberly Carlson.
Inset, Ronnie Coleman
Photos by Michael
Neveux.
142 SAGI KALEV: MIDDLE EAST MUSCLE
This Israeli bodybuilder has got it all—mass, proportion and
good looks (envy him, but also learn from his success).
158 WATER WORLD
Jerry Brainum tells you how and why to hydrate for
muscle growth, strength and health.
176 HEAVY DUTY
John Little on Mike Mentzer’s midsection meltdown.
184 HARDBODY
Fitness diva Adela Garcia hits you with her best shots.
200 RESEARCH TEAM
Our crew puts new GAKIC to the test. Is it really instant
strength in a can? Will you feel more like a man?
Mr. Olympia
Preview,
page 218
218 MR. OLYMPIA PREVIEW
Lonnie Teper contemplates the Big Dance, with plenty of
pics of the greatest physiques in the world. Damn!
230 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE
Bill Starr’s back-to-the-rack odyssey, part 5.
DEPARTMENTS
30 TRAIN TO GAIN
Prelude to mass—igniting the muscle fuse. Also, barefoot squat shock and Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine.
48 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman discusses up-front X power and comments on John Little’s Nautilus North Study.
54 EAT TO GROW
The spice of life, testing tribulus and how to eat to turn
up the heat—fat burning, that is.
72 SMART TRAINING
Champ-Training Analysis,
page 128
Charles Poliquin’s prescription for more mind gains and
quintessential quad mass above the knee.
88 NATURALLY HUGE
Smart Training,
page 72
John Hansen’s advice on power-packed arms and
competition training and presentation.
206 NEWS & VIEWS
Lonnie Teper and Ruth Silverman have got news from
the USA, the Swami has his say, and Jerry Fredrick
snaps away (his Hot Shots will make your day.)
240 MIND/BODY CONNECTION
Randall Strossen, Ph.D., chews up the it’s-only baloney,
while Dave Draper provides some healthy brainwashing.
Then Ron Harris discusses why you’re so vein—or not so
veiny—and mass-monster madness.
250 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY
Jerry Brainum’s always at the forefront of new research,
and this month he tells you how scientists got a 358
percent increase in free testosterone in only 10 days—
with over-the-counter products. T time. Bring it on!
Research Team,
page 200
256 READERS WRITE
Classy Hardbody hottie, “Muscles in Motion” mulling
and more X-citing gains.
News & Views,
page 206
Pump &
Circumstance,
page 212
WEB ALERT!
rld
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For the latest happ
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News at www.ironm uscle.com.
icm
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In the next IRON MAN
Next month we’ve got a whole slew of training
features to get you growing as never before. First,
Greg Zulak delves into forging freaking forearms
and getting a gorilla grip. Remember, in a shortsleeved shirt your forearms are all anyone sees,
so get ’em gnarly—as in big and crawling with
vascularity. Zulie tells you how. Then we have a
look at abbreviated workouts from Christopher
Pennington. Who says you have to spend your life
in the gym to get huge? Not Chris. He says you
can be in and out in 30 minutes or less. Then
watch your muscles morph into mountains. Plus,
we have another entertaining, mass-gaining
episode of “A Bodybuilder Is Born” from Ron
Harris and more champ-training analysis from
Steve Holman, not to mention X Files, your X-Rep
primer. Watch for the defibrillating December IRON
MAN on newsstands the first week of November.
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John Balik’s
Publisher’s Letter
Founders
1936-1986:
Peary & Mabel Rader
Unintended
Consequences
Usually, the phrase “unintended
consequences” has a negative spin, and in
bodybuilding it’s no different. Bodybuilding
has taken on an undeserved negative spin
because of drugs and the consequences of
taking them. Bodybuilding, as an activity,
sport and passion, is pure; it’s what we do
with it that makes the spin positive or negative.
Virtually everything in the world of sports and fitness has a
strength-training/bodybuilding/sports nutrition component that
has been “borrowed” (without credit) from the world of bodybuilding. That fact is not enough to give us—bodybuilding and bodybuilders—any credibility in the real world. Drug use has so
poisoned the well of public opinion that extraordinary muscle development and strength are universally seen as a badge of drug use.
The partially informed public talks about steroids, but we all know
that steroids are just the tip of the iceberg. And like the tip of the
iceberg that hid the huge danger to the Titanic, the stigma of drugs
is ready to sink us. How did it happen? Is there any hope for
redemption?
Our shared interest in bodybuilding (for some an obsession) can
take us in a multitude of directions and presents us with choices
and opportunities. Where we end up is the result of hundreds, perhaps thousands, of individual decisions. That undeniable fact governs all of life, and for most IRON MAN readers bodybuilding is life.
The Ferrari ad says, “The only way to predict the future is to invent
it.” Easier said than done.
I’ve talked with many people who have a lifetime in bodybuilding, and a pattern has begun to emerge. Most of us start bodybuilding as teenagers because we want to gain muscle and be stronger.
For some it’s an adjunct to other sports, and for others it is an end in
itself. That’s a very simple goal, but in actuality, bodybuilding is like
an upside-down pyramid of opportunity, with that simple goal as
the crown. You start with that simple idea, and the pyramid spreads
out above you. You don’t see the future above, but your decisions
create that future.
That’s the beginning, and in the next few issues I’ll explore what
bodybuilding has meant to me by looking at a lot of the small decisions that have created the big picture for the world of bodybuilding
in general and for me in particular.
Next month I’ll cover the positive power of bodybuilding. If you
have stories of your personal love affair with the weights, please
send them to me via e-mail at [email protected]. IM
Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik
Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer
Design Director: Michael Neveux
Editor in Chief: Stephen Holman
Art Director: T. S. Bratcher
Senior Editor: Ruth Silverman
Editor at Large: Lonnie Teper
Articles Editors: L.A. Perry, Caryne Brown
Assistant Editor: Jonathan Lawson
Assistant Art Director: Christian Martinez
Designer: Emerson Miranda
Ironman Staff:
Denise Cantú, Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba,
David Solorzano
Contributing Authors:
Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman, Teagan
Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis, Dave Draper,
Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum, Ph.D., John
Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler, Rod Labbe, Skip La
Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch Lebowitz, Stuart McRobert,
Gene Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim
Shiebler, Roger Schwab, C.S. Sloan, Bill Starr, Bradley
Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D., Randall Strossen, Ph.D.,
Richard Winett, Ph.D., and David Young
Contributing Artists:
Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn, Jake Jones
Contributing Photographers:
Jim Amentler, Reg Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill
Comstock, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Fredrick, Irvin Gelb,
J.M. Manion, Gene Mozée, Mitsuru Okabe, Rob Sims,
Leo Stern, Russ Warner
Director of Marketing:
Helen Yu, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
Accounting: Dolores Waterman
Director of Operations: Dean Reyes
Subscriptions Manager:
Sonia Melendez, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 2
E-mail: [email protected]
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: [email protected]
Steve Holman, Editor in Chief: [email protected]
Ruth Silverman, Senior Editor: [email protected]
T.S. Bratcher, Art Director: [email protected]
Helen Yu, Director of Marketing: [email protected]
Dean Reyes, Dir. of Operations: [email protected]
Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: [email protected]
Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: [email protected]
26 NOVEMBER 2005 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
SEXY ROCK-HARD ABS FAST
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SIZE MATTERS, SO…
A warmup is simply a means of priming
the pump—pushing blood into the muscle
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MASS MOVES
Neveux \ Model: William Campbell
Prelude to Mass
It’s usually the small details that add up to big results.
Little by little, things like eking out one more rep, adding
a few more pounds to the bar and overloading the maxforce point of an exercise (with turnaround partials and/or
X Reps, for example) can lead to much bigger muscles—
sometimes faster than you can imagine. Even something
as seemingly insignificant as a proper warmup can be the
difference between anabolic acceleration and stagnation.
For example, we’ve discussed occlusion, or blocking
blood flow to a muscle, and how scientists found that it
can jack up strength significantly. In case you missed it,
researchers placed a blood pressure cuff on subjects’
upper arms for two minutes. The cuff was then removed,
and the subjects did wrist curls. Results: Those whose
blood flow had been impaired showed a 20 percent
strength increase over that of the subjects who didn’t use
the cuff. Yes, 20 percent! (There have also been amazing
size increases from occlusion; see past e-zines in the X
Files section at www.X-Rep.com for more.)
That indicates significantly better fiber recruitment.
Along the same lines, studies on warming up muscles
found that doing a number of lighter sets prior to heavy
work can help the target muscle contract much better
than without those preliminary sets—about 20 percent
better, in fact. Hmm, there’s that 20 percent figure again.
So could occlusion merely be acting as a warmup?
Absolutely! After all, a warmup is simply a means of
priming the pump—pushing blood into the muscle so it
will perform to the best of its ability on the heavy sets. If
you block blood flow instead of (or in addition to) doing
some lighter pumping sets, you end up with a warm,
ready-to-fire muscle. Either way you get a rush of blood
to the bodypart immediately after.
Now, the question becomes how you can use that
information to set the stage for the most grow power
from your work sets. (Keep in mind that you want to max
out hypertrophic stimulation with the fewest work sets
necessary so you don’t drain your recovery system with
too much volume.)
We’ve said in the past that for big multijoint exercises
like squats and bench presses you should do two
warmup sets. Do the first one with about 60 percent of
your first work-set weight and the second with about 80
percent. But there’s more to it than percentages. We’ve
seen bodybuilders in the gym jerk through their
warmups, wasting lots of time jabbering and not paying
attention. Trust us, they’re severely limiting their gains
Igniting the muscle fuse
and creating the need to either do more warmup sets,
more work sets or extensive rehab work once they get
injured.
We’re convinced that if you take care of a few details
on your warmup sets, two is all you need on multijoint
exercises to stimulate more muscle growth (how about
20 percent more?). Here’s how to make it happen:
Warmup set 1: Take 60 percent of your work-set
weight and do 10 reps—five full-range reps and five
partials. Go from full stretch to complete lockout on the
first five. Then do the second five only through the bottom two-thirds of the stroke, without locking out. That
will lube your joints and get the blood pumping (partials
produce occlusion).
Warmup set 2: Up the poundage to 80 percent of
your work-set weight. Do four full-range reps followed by
four nonlock partials for occlusion. (Individual strength
may vary; if four plus four feels too taxing, try three plus
three. Remember, it should be a fairly nonstressful set
that doesn’t tax your strength but amplifies it.)
At the end of each warmup set you should feel blood
flowing to the target due to occlusion from the nonlock
partials. That blood increase will make your work sets
significantly more effective. For example, on bench
presses you’ll push the bar from your chest to just above
the midpoint of the stroke on your partials.
If you don’t feel blood moving to the target, especially
after the second warmup, you may have done your
warmup reps too fast. Keep each rep fairly slow and
controlled to activate your nervous system, get your mind
in touch with the target muscle and prime the pump.
That quick, efficient warmup strategy can get you
bigger gains from your heavy work, and it will take fewer
work sets to get the fast-twitch blast you’re after (for the
best work-set sequence see The Ultimate Mass Workout
e-book at www.X-Rep.com). Try that warmup sequence
on your big exercises at your very next workout. Remember, attention to the little things can make a big difference
in your muscle gains.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Editor’s note: The above is adapted from an issue of
the IM e-zine. You can get one delivered to your e-mail
box every week free: Visit www.X-Rep.com and click on
X Files. Go to any of the past installments and click on
the subscribe link at the bottom.
HE WANTED TO FIGHTUntil I Crushed His Hand!
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TRAIN TO GAIN
INJURY
Ankle
Weights and
RAW STRENGTH
Barefoot Squat Shock
Extensor reflex training for bigger gaining
You still see people wearing
ankle weights when they jog
because they think it increases
intensity and burns more calories. Bad idea. While that extra
weight near your foot may help
strengthen the leg muscles, it
can put excessive strain on the
hips and knees. Your knees are
fragile; they don’t need extra
weight every time you pick up
your foot to take a step. If you
want to up your intensity and/or
burn more calories, try running
hills or stairs. Ditch the ankle
weights.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
It’s a Russian joke (you had to be there): A guy wore shoes two sizes too small for
him. When asked about his bizarre behavior, he complained about his miserable life and
concluded that his only happiness was coming home and taking off his shoes. You’ll be
even happier than that dude if you lose yours—at least for part of your squat workout.
The forcefulness of muscular contraction is determined by the sum of the mental effort and various reflexes. When Dr. Fred Hatfield bounced out of the bottom of his thousand-pound squat, he took advantage of the stretch reflex. Another power-boosting
reflex is called the extensor reflex. That causes the leg musculature to contract in response to pressure on the soles of your feet. It protects you against loading.
Research suggests that always wearing shoes diminishes the sensitivity of the foot,
which may turn off the squat-friendly reflex. Too bad because when the barbell is intent
on squashing you like a bug on a windshield, you could use any help you can get. The
rare squatter who’s recognized the problem is Dr. Fred Clary, a human crane who’s
elevated 900 pounds. Fred regularly performs heavy thousand-pounds-plus walkouts
barefoot “just to fire off those receptors.”
Clary believes that training like that sensitizes the extensor reflex receptors and enables him to squat heavier. And he’s not alone. Brazilian jujitsu senior world champion
Steve Maxwell, M.S., read about barefoot lifting in my book Power to the People! He
ordered all the people he coached to lose their shoes—and they all succeeded in knocking a couple of extra reps off their leg exercises.
The proof is in the pudding: It pays to add barefoot walkouts or squats to your routine. But since the gym owner might object if you go native with your dirty toenails scraping his floor, get yourself a pair of deadlift slippers. They look almost like ballet
slippers—in fact, they’re probably available in pink. Have fun!
—Pavel
Beyond Bodybuilding
Editor’s note: The above is an excerpt from Pavel’s new book Beyond Bodybuilding.
It’s available from Home Gym Warehouse for $49.95 plus shipping and handling. Call
(800) 447-0008, or visit www.Home-Gym.com.
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour
Neveux \ Models: William and Michelle Campbell
Knee Aches
YOU CAN BENCH BIG
Add 20 Pounds to Your Bench Press Almost Overnight!
How would you like a surge in
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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
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How to Refresh Your Instinctive Workout
We human beings seem to be
slow at absorbing new ideas—
especially if the new idea is directly
in front of us. As Irish poet Aubrey
T. de Vere said, “Prejudice, which
sees what it pleases, cannot see
what is plain.”
We’ve all heard of instinctive
training, or I.T. Many consider it the
most effective method of training,
at least for advanced bodybuilders.
It can generally be described as a
system in which the trainee tries to
intuitively discover the unique
combination of exercises that will
be most effective for his body. I.T.
recognizes that each trainee is
unique and therefore that the system of exercises just right for him
may not be right for the next fellow.
There are some problems, however. Here’s what usually happens:
First, the trainee realizes that when he first starts a new
routine, he makes his best gains; second, he notices that
it isn’t long before he starts going stale on even the best
of exercise programs.
He eventually acquires a feel for the effectiveness of an
exercise and can quickly label it either good or no good.
Then, however, he learns to his dismay that the good
exercise soon becomes no good, and he’s left to once
again use his intuition to discover another set of good
exercises.
He searches for exercises that will produce that good
feeling for long periods of time—and that’s part of the
problem. He begins a new exercise that he’s selected instinctively as terrific. Initially it gives him a great pump,
and he makes good progress. Soon, however, the exercise
begins to peak, and he finds himself starting to get a flat
feeling—not getting the same terrific pump. So he increases the weight or reduces his rest time to increase the
intensity, all the while putting more strain on his joints,
ligaments and tendons. He may suffer some slight injury.
Let’s say he’s now flattened out and is even starting to
slide down the back side of his progress curve. He still
won’t change the exercise until he can no longer feel
anything from the movement. He may even sustain a severe injury. If he doesn’t get injured, he continues to use
the same exercise week after week, month after month,
hoping that somehow that magic pump and growth will
come back. That’s especially true on such standard exercises as bench presses and squats. He believes that every
routine must include those and similar exercises, or he’ll
never reach the top.
Nothing could be further from the truth.
About two years ago I became involved with using a
computer to generate exercise programs. At first I was
more than skeptical. How could a computer do what it had
taken me 30 years of agony to learn?
The first thing I noticed was not that the computer was
better than I was at determining which exercise was better
than another but that it was a whole lot faster than I was
once I’d trained it to do the things I knew. I could give
myself an entirely new program in less than a minute. I
now had an inexhaustible source of
exercise changes.
As for our experience with instinctive training, we’ve noted the body’s
strong growth response at the start
of a new exercise program and its
equally impressive ability to quickly
adapt to it. We’ve also noted that it
took the body longer to adapt to
some exercises. In the past, if we
were training instinctively, we would
have used only the exercises to
which the body could not adapt
readily. The others would have been
discarded as no good. Gradually, we
found that the exercises weren’t “no
good” but that the body simply
adapted to them more quickly. They
were almost as effective but maybe
for only a few days or weeks.
We never gave the body a chance
to adapt to the exercise. We didn’t
train until we felt the exercise fall off; we always stayed on
the steep growth portion of our progress curve. It was
exciting and fun.
We came to realize that the program should change
long before the flat feel arrived. We wanted to benefit from
the natural surge of growth hormone release, which occurred only during peak-output exercise. To do that, we
had to change the program often to get new psychological, physiological and neurological stimuli.
Yet even with that sophisticated approach to training,
we wondered if it could be improved by somehow integrating the sensitivity of an instinctive trainee.
I became much more critical of everything about training I’d held sacred. I became sensitive to the pump I was
getting on all my exercises, even those I’d always considered my old standbys. Soon I realized I couldn’t do even
my favorite exercises more than a few sessions in a row
without feeling diminished gains.
The need to be an instinctive trainee had not diminished; it had actually heightened. I needed to not only
identify my instinctive training program but also continually refresh it so it would give me the gains I was looking for.
I started getting gains faster and with fewer workouts per
week. In fact, I put on 12 pounds of muscle in one month,
and my bodyfat dropped. It may have had something to
do with the better hormonal profile the training causes—
especially the impact of growth hormone.
Don’t overuse even the best of your instinctively selected exercises. Continually refresh them by becoming more
sensitive to when they’re losing their effectiveness and
quickly switch to something that restores your instinctivetraining program to its prime.
—Larry Scott
Neveux \ Model: Greg Adler
TRAIN TO GAIN
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SPORTSMEDICINE
Train Around Low-Back Pain
One in three Americans experiences lower-back pain, and
trainees are no exception. Some have made unwise exercise
selections that contributed to their problem; others simply
developed lower-back pain, and they happen to train too. The
problem is how you should train around the pain.
Trainees with 10 or more years of consistent training often
find they must give up some exercises. Time after time they
say, “I had to give up bent-over rows because of my lowerback pain,” “I had to stop squats because of lower-back pain
[or knee pain],” or, “I had to give up bench presses [or overhead presses] due to shoulder pain.”
I’ve addressed squats and lower-back pain previously in
this space. The first thing to do while squatting is to stop
looking up. Looking up increases the curve of the lower back
and shifts the weight bearing to part of the vertebrae that
shouldn’t be taking so much weight. Instead, look down
slightly. That can shift the weight to a more appropriate area of
the spine. Also, stop performing twists or using seated rotary
torso machines. That places too much shear force on the
disks (shock absorbers and spacers) between the vertebrae,
which weakens the outer wall of the disk and can cause pain.
If squats still cause back pain, try front squats. Many trainees
who can’t back squat can still do front squats. If that doesn’t
work, try the horizontal squat machine and hack-squat machine.
Does the process of elimination sound familiar? If all those
choices fail, you can take a break from squats for four to six
weeks and try again with lighter weight. It may be that you
simply need to let the inflammation calm down. If you have too
much lower-back pathology (e.g., a collapsed disk), you may
have to permanently substitute the 45 degree leg press. Don’t
let your knees come all the way down, though. You don’t want
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour
If bent-over rows hurt your
lower back, try pulling the bar
to your lower abs.
your pelvis to lift
away from the
back of the seat;
that stresses the
lower back. Don’t
use the vertical leg
press if you have
lower-back pain.
That machine fell
out of favor many
years ago, partly
because it can
generate or aggravate lowerback problems.
If you enjoy
bent-over rows, try pulling the bar to your lower abdomen
instead of your chest. By pulling low, you shorten the lever
around your lower back. That may reduce your lower-back
pain during that exercise. Bar position is more difficult to
control on T-bar rows, which are usually eliminated early in
training programs. Many trainees find the seated cable row
more tolerable. Again, lighten the weight and perhaps cycle
the poundage so your back isn’t being hammered by the
same heavy weight month after month, year after year. If all
three of those rows cause lower-back pain, try dumbbell rows
and perhaps a seated row machine (a machine with a chest
pad to lean against). I rarely support the use of machines, but
this is a situation where a machine could be useful. Pulldowns
done with various grip widths and handles can provide a great
variety of training when used with the dumbbell rows and
seated machine rows.
If you can’t perform squats, rows or
deadlifts any longer, you still may be able
to do hypers, or back extensions. The
hyper bench is usually about 45 degrees
or horizontal. Raise your body to the point
where your spine is straight. Don’t arch or
hyperextend your spine. If you can do the
exercise without lower-back pain, then
your back muscles, glutes and hams will
still get a terrific workout. The leg press
will no longer seem to have missing
components. If the hypers are uncomfortable, then you can try another machine.
Most gyms have a variety of lower-back
machines.
Remember, your back muscles, along
with your abdominal muscles, must be
strong to protect your back.
—Joseph M. Horrigan
Editor’s note: Visit www
.softtissuecenter.com for reprints of Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine columns that have
appeared in IRON MAN. You can order
the books Strength, Conditioning and
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from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 4470008 or at www.home-gym.com.
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TRAIN TO GAIN
BOOK REVIEW
The Precontest Bible
When I started bodybuilding in the late 1970s, I read a
series of books called Three More Reps. Penned by master
bodybuilding writer Rick Wayne and gym owner/contest
promoter George Snyder, the books summarized seminars
that had been given at Snyder’s gym by many of the bodybuilding superstars of that time. That impressive list included
Arnold Schwarzenegger, Franco Columbu, Mike Mentzer,
Robby Robinson, Danny Padilla, Kal Szkalak, Boyer Coe and
many more. The books revealed the training and diet secrets
of the best bodybuilders in the world.
Now Larry Pepe, NPC judge and bodybuilding writer, has
repeated the process in his book The Precontest Bible. In this
prodigious 480-page tome, Pepe interviews 32 of the best
bodybuilders in the world today—from current Mr. Olympia
Ronnie Coleman to his predecessor Dorian Yates to
seasoned pros like Chris Cormier, Lee
Priest and Craig Titus to
brand-new professionals like
Mark Dugdale, Gustavo
Badell and Eryk Bui. The book
also includes three top amateur bodybuilders, Steve
McLeod, Stan McQuay and
Mike Ergas.
Pepe uses the same format
with each bodybuilder, which
makes it easy to compare what
the athletes do. The first page on
each bodybuilder reveals his vital
information: major titles, birthdate,
height, contest weight, off-season
weight and how far out he begins
preparing for a competition.
The next few pages cover precontest training. You’ll see how often each
bodybuilder trains when preparing for
a show and how he splits up his bodyparts. Also covered in this section is
how much precontest cardio each one
does.
I was surprised at how many of them train six days per
week, sometimes with a double-split routine, when preparing
for a competition. And when it comes to precontest cardio,
they don’t mess around. Many of them do it twice a day, six or
seven days a week, for as much as an hour each session.
Mike Valentino and David Dearth actually work up to doing
cardio three times a day before a competition.
Of course, some lucky individuals are always exceptions to
the rule. Rich Gaspari admits to doing cardio only three times
a week for 30 minutes per session, but he also uses a brutal
version of drop sets during his precontest training, which
burns up a lot of calories. Stan McQuay does cardio only
twice a week when he’s preparing for a show; however, the
luckiest bodybuilders in the book are David Henry and Dexter
Jackson, who normally do zero cardio when preparing for a
show and still stand onstage in ripped condition.
The next section of the book is on precontest nutrition and
supplementation. Every bodybuilder profiled eats at least six
The exact contest blueprints of
the world’s best bodybuilders
times a day (King Kamali eats 11 times a day), with an emphasis on protein, complex carbohydrates and healthful fats.
Ronnie Coleman, for all of his extremely heavy training and
extensive cardio regimen, eats fairly few calories and carbohydrates when preparing for the Mr. Olympia.
Jay Cutler favors alternating low-carb days with an occasional high-carb day to accelerate fat loss and keep the muscles filled with glycogen. He eats few calories and few carbs
for three to four days (300 grams of protein and 200 grams of
carbs). On his high-carb day, Jay eats only 200 grams of
protein but between 700 and 800 grams of carbs. During the
off-season he normally eats between 6,000 and 10,000 calories a day with 900 to 1,300 grams of carbs.
Many bodybuilders get confused about
what to do during the last week before a
contest. Many theories persist on the
proper way to carb deplete, carb up,
eliminate sodium, cut out water and so
on. Each bodybuilder profiled reveals
exactly what he does in that last week.
The majority favor carb depleting and
carb loading. They also explain how
they cut back on their cardio and
weight training as a show approaches.
The section on water depletion is
most interesting. By and large bodybuilders drink lots of water leading
up to a contest and then cut back
as the show gets closer. Johnnie
Jackson begins cutting back
water intake as much as four
weeks before the show. In stark
contrast, Shawn Ray and Mike
Valentino drink five gallons of
water a day during the last
week before cutting back in
the final days before the contest.
“Finishing Touches” explains each bodybuilder’s
approach to posing, tanning, backstage pumping and how
many days ahead they fly to a show to avoid water retention.
The last section is called “Finish this Sentence.” The bodybuilders answer questions, such as what they like most and
least about contest preparation, what foods they crave after
the show is over and at what show they feel that they were in
the best condition of their lives.
The Precontest Bible is packed with information about
what the top professional bodybuilders do to achieve their
contest-winning physiques. Every detail is covered, including
the settings they use on the cardio machines and the supplements they take precontest. If you want insight on what’s
required to get the look of a champion bodybuilder in peak
condition, pick up a copy of The Precontest Bible.
—John Hansen
Editor’s note: The Precontest Bible by Larry Pepe is available for $49.95 from Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 4470008, or visit www.Home-Gym.com.
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MUSCLE PERFORMANCE
Stretching—The Truth
Some form of flexibility training is considered an essential part of any bodybuilding program. Bodybuilders
stretch for various reasons, but most think that maintaining flexibility decreases the chance of injury. A simple
definition of flexibility is the ability to move a joint through a
complete range of motion. That implies that a lack of
flexibility equals a decreased range of motion. A shortened
range of motion, in turn, limits muscle size and strength
gains, as well as increasing the chance of injury.
Some bodybuilders stretch just prior to training, after
training any particular muscle group or following a workout. Some even suggest stretching between sets of an
exercise, with the notion that it helps the muscle recover
faster. Recent research, however, shows that many of
those ideas are simply false.
According to the research, the effects of stretching
differ when it’s performed regularly as opposed to acutely,
or just before exercise. Most of the benefits of stretching
come from everyday stretching activity. The belief that
stretching before lifting weights is an effective warmup is
mistaken. The most effective warmup features activity that
increases the internal temperature of muscle, which decreases muscle viscosity and increases energy reactions
and power. In practice, that means starting with a light set
of the exercise you plan to do, using higher reps.
Is stretching really good for your
workout and muscle growth?
Stretching the muscle you plan to train, however, leads
to a loss of strength, averaging 2 to 5 percent. It results
from a decrease in connective tissue stiffness—in other
words, the stiffness actually adds to muscle strength.
While tissue laxity induced by stretching would appear to
lower the risk of injury incurred during heavy training,
studies say it doesn’t.
Regular stretching routines, or stretching at times besides just before or during training, do lead to
performance improvement. The evidence of the literature
is that regular stretching leads to increases in force and
power, most likely due to an increased range of motion.
Those improvements amount to an average increase of 2
to 5 percent—the same rate of strength lost when you
stretch just before training.
Whether you should stretch before training is your call.
The small amount of strength loss may be offset by an
increased range of motion and more efficient exercise.
Trainees with a history of injury often feel that stretching a
muscle before training helps them train that muscle harder. Since most of the benefits come from regular stretching as opposed to stretching just before or during training,
it’s probably a good idea to consider stretching as a whole
’nother workout.
—Jerry Brainum
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guns into cannons and your
shoulders into boulders. Chisel
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on this action-packed DVD.
©2009 Home-Gym.com
TRAIN TO GAIN
BODY SCIENCE
Older, Weaker, Slower?
People get smaller and weaker with age. That’s particularly true if you don’t engage in some form of resistance
exercise. Aerobic exercise keeps your cardiovascular
system in shape but does little to preserve strength and
muscle with the passing years. By the time a man who
doesn’t exercise is 70 years old, he isn’t much stronger
than a child of eight and is far less flexible. Surprisingly,
until recently, scientists didn’t understand exactly what
causes muscles to degenerate with age on a molecular
level.
A new study by a group of researchers from the Mayo
Clinic, however, examined the effects of aging on muscle
in 146 healthy men and women, aged 18 to 89.1 The primary finding was that muscle aging is caused by cumulative damage to muscle DNA, which is required to replicate
muscle cells. When DNA is damaged, the cells don’t repair themselves correctly and eventually die. On a grand
scale, that means a gradual loss of muscle with each
passing year.
The researchers also found that the DNA in muscle mitochondria, where energy is produced in cells, reduces
with age. Having fewer mitochondria means less production of adenosine triphosphate (ATP), the source of cellular energy. Without adequate ATP the cell’s
“housekeeping” functions shut down, and the cell dies.
The loss of muscle mitochondrial DNA manifests such
symptoms as age-related weakness, loss of muscle mass
and related diseases, such as insulin resistance, diabetes
and heart disease.
Now scientists know exactly how the process of muscle aging begins and can design therapies to block the
effect. What causes the loss of muscle and mitochondrial
Why muscles age and what
to do to slow the process
DNA is long-term, out-of-control oxidation. Mitochondria
are highly prone to oxidation because ATP production
releases a lot of oxygen in the cell. That promotes the
activity of free radicals, by-products of oxygen
metabolism that are the destructive elements in oxidative
reactions.
As people age, the built-in antioxidant systems of the
body, such as the superoxide dismutase system of enzymes, begin to falter. That sets the stage for the degenerative aspects of oxidation in cells. In fact, that’s a major
theory of the aging process. The effect is especially troublesome in sedentary people who don’t exercise. Exercise
promotes the body’s built-in antioxidation system. Some
scientists think that may be the main value of exercise in
helping to forestall the aging process and the degeneration of brain and body.
The scientists who found this elemental cause of muscle aging suggest that the process begins at age 30. The
same is true of such other conditions as osteoporosis, a
bone-wasting disease more common in women than in
men, which begins at about age 30 but doesn’t usually
become apparent until after age 60. By then, however, the
damage is extensive, resulting in fragile bones and hip
fractures.
Can exercise block the loss of mitochondrial DNA in
muscle? The Mayo researchers didn’t reach that question,
but common sense and observation of people who stay
active and continue to exercise as they age indicate that
exercise probably helps.
Nutrition also enters the picture. Rats that get fewer
calories as they age show little or no degenerative muscle
changes. Specifically, old rats fed about 30 percent less
than other rats have muscles that appear the equivalent of
a quarter their age. That effect is thought to be due to less
muscle oxidation, which protects the muscle mitochondria and maintains the energy-producing function of the
cell. That in turn maintains muscle repair even though the
body is aging.
Reducing total calories by 30 percent isn’t practical for
most humans, of course, and it’s unclear whether humans
who did that would benefit the way rats do. Another, easier option would be to eat nutrients that protect the vulnerable mitochondrial DNA from oxidation, such as
coenzyme Q10, lipoic acid and acetyl L-carnitine. Research conducted at the University of
California, Berkeley, showed that
intake of those nutrients led to complete regeneration of muscle mitochondria and protected against
further damage. Typical doses would
be 30 to 60 milligrams a day of
CoQ10, 200 milligrams of lipoic acid
and 1,000 milligrams of acetyl Lcarnitine.
—Jerry Brainum
1 Short, K.R., et al. (2005). Decline in
skeletal muscle mitochondrial function
with aging in humans. Proced Nat Acd
Sci. 102(15):5618-23.
COST OF REDEMPTION
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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train™
Steve Holman’s
Critical Mass
Up-front
X Power
Q: In The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book you
say to do one positive-failure work set, rest, and
then do a second positive-failure work set with X
Reps—but I’ve been using Xes on the first work set
with great results. I do two progressively heavier
warmup sets, my first work set with X Reps at the
end, and then one or two standard sets. What I’ve
noticed is that additional sets after the initial X-Rep
set are more effective due to a kind of preexhaust
effect that comes from working in the X zone on my
very first set. Just an FYI from the trenches.
A: Jonathan Lawson and I have noticed that the more
experienced we get with X Reps, the better they work on the
first work set. On some exercises we’ve been experimenting, doing the first set with X Reps at the end, and on the
second set doing either a drop set or a stage set. The stage
work seems to be especially effective because you’re essen-
tially doing exaggerated X Reps right off the bat. The first
phase of a stage set includes the max-force point, or the X
zone.
For example, on Smith-machine incline presses we do
the bottom two-thirds of the stroke first, moving the bar
from the bottom to just above the midpoint. We usually get
about eight, and then we have to help each other move the
weight to lockout, where we do the top third of the stroke,
trying to squeeze the pecs at the lockout position on each
one.
The stage set is a killer technique. It enables you to
better emphasize the max-force point up front in the set
due to the partial range of the first phase, which we like a
lot after a standard X-Rep set. On some exercises you may
want to make your effort even more intense by adding
standard X Reps at the max-force point as soon as you
finish the stages (get details in the new e-book Beyond
X-Rep Muscle Building, available at www.X-Rep.com). So
on Smith-machine incline presses, you do the bottom twothirds of the range (exaggerated X Reps) to exhaustion,
then move to the top one-third of the range. When you hit
exhaustion there, lower to the max-force point down near
your chest and fire out as many X Reps as you can. If you
can’t manage any movement, max out on a static hold at
that key mass-building position. Talk about a pump! Obviously, you need an attentive spotter for exercises like inclines and bench presses, or you could end up overloading
your Adam’s apple along with the target muscle.
Q: Why can’t you just do X Reps
at the middle of the stroke of
every exercise? If you’re doing
bench presses, drive out your last
full rep, bring the bar down to just
a little below the middle, and
pulse through the middle of the
movement. Same with barbell
curls: Just do the middle portion
after regular reps.
Neveux \ Models: Lee and Alexander Apperson
Training the right
way with a spotter
can help you get
the most out of
workouts infused
with X Reps.
A: That may work to a degree; however, most scientists think that the
max-force point is below the middle
on most exercises. That means pulsing
from below the middle (where the
target muscle is semistretched) up to
the midpoint makes more physiological sense. It may depend on the exercise, of course. I find that lower on the
stroke is best for incline presses, but
closer to the middle is best for cable
curls. As for squats, well, there’s just no
way you’re going to get X Reps below
the middle of the stroke after you hit
exhaustion. We suggest top-range X
Reps on free-bar squats in The Ultimate Mass Workout e-book, but you
may still want to do a set of hack
squats or Smith-machine squats to
add the X factor to your big quad
movement in the important
semistretched position—below the
parallel point.
Q: How can I increase my chest
size? I’ve just started X Reps, and I
love them. The burn in my chest is
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Steve Holman’s
Critical Mass
insane, so I think X Reps will help, but how do I get
that cut under my pecs? I’ve used decline-bench
presses, but that doesn’t seem to help. One more
question: I’m hitting my chest on Monday and Friday, but I train all my other bodyparts once a week.
Should I hit my chest only once a week too?
A: In my experience, training a muscle only once a week
results in slow to no gains for the majority of trainees—
especially when it comes to weak bodyparts. We’ve tried it
several times here at the ITRC (because we want it to work
for us; training each bodypart once every seven days would
be ideal), but it’s always resulted in shrinking or stagnant
muscle growth. Hitting a muscle about once every five days
is best, at least for us.
The Nautilus North study reported on page 100 may
seem to indicate otherwise—that you need more than a
week between bodypart hits to get maximum muscle
growth. But notice the average of the peak-lean days. When
each of the 11 subjects was fully recovered and had gained
the most overall muscle, it was around day six. That’s in line
with our findings.
The results of that study are interesting. Though they
back up our findings, keep in mind that there are lots of
unknown variables—such as what the subjects were doing
before the experiment began; were they overtraining and
then getting gains from that overtraining period during the
experiment’s 14-day rest? It’s also possible that some of the
subjects trained hard at one time, took a layoff and then
entered the study. That would skew the results because
they were regaining muscle during the two-week experiment. Muscle is much easier to rebuild than build from
scratch.
Here’s another issue: We don’t know if any of the subjects
were experienced bodybuilders. If most of them weren’t,
they wouldn’t be used to high-intensity anaerobic work,
which could prolong recovery from the unfamiliar load.
Another fly in the ointment is that we don’t know which
muscles got larger and which stagnated or got smaller over
the 14-day rest. We’ve seen studies showing that quads
need longer recovery times than other muscles, so it’s pos-
sible that the legs grew while other muscles stayed the
same or regressed. Then there’s diet: We don’t know how
the subjects were eating, and their meal timing and
macronutrient makeup would have been critical to recovery. If some or all of their diets were crappy, that would
have skewed the results and prolonged recovery.
Even so, we’ll extrapolate and surmise that the average
experienced bodybuilder probably needs from four to
seven days between bodypart hits—and even that depends
on intensity. Let’s say you can recover completely in one
day from one set of medium-intensity barbell curls. It may
still take you five days to recover from three sets of all-out
squats.
In the study some subjects needed more than six days
and some fewer to hit their peak-lean levels, but the average was around six days. To us that means each individual
has to experiment to find his or her best recovery period.
(So much for oversimplifying the bodybuilding thing.
Turns out everybody is unique after all, and recovery varies
with stress levels, intensity, diet, age and training volume.
Whew!)
After lots of experimentation at the ITRC, which continues indefinitely as far as we’re concerned, Jonathan Lawson and I have found that we tend to make our best gains
training each bodypart about once every five days. That
fluctuates with intensity levels and diet. If we’re training
very hard during a calorie deficit, such as our summer
ripping phase, we tend to need more recovery time (although we’re often too motivated to take the hint).
We applaud Little for his efforts and hope to hear more
from him on the subject. His dedication is helping all of us
learn more about how the body adapts to high-intensity
stress.
About that line under your pecs—it could be a prime
fat-storage site on your body. Leaning out will help. Decline presses usually get the building job done, but you
may want to try wide-grip dips, elbows out, chin on chest.
You can even put your feet up on a bench to get your form
precise. X Reps are great on those when done near the low
point. You can really feel your lower pecs when you fire out
partials in the semistretched position.
New! The sharp black POF T-shirt with the original
classic logo emblazoned in gold can give you that muscular look you’re after. See page 203 for details.
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of a number of bodybuilding
best-sellers, including Train,
Eat, Grow: The Positions-ofFlexion Muscle-Training
Manual. For information on
the POF videos and Size Surge
programs, see page 179. For
information on Train, Eat,
Grow, see page 70. Also visit
www.X-Rep.com. IM
Neveux
Neveux
Having low bodyfat enhances those deep lines under
your pecs. If you’re looking for an exercise that will help
you build more muscle there, try wide-grip dips,
emphasizing the low, semistretched position.
Steve Holman
[email protected]
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\ JULY 2006 181
EAT TO
NUTRITION SCIENCE
The Spice of Life
Various spices contain active
ingredients that have potent effects
on health and well-being. Ginger, for
instance, not only prevents morning
sickness in pregnant women but
also provides potent antioxidant and
anticancer effects through its active
ingredient, gingerol. Capsaicin, the
active factor in hot peppers, stimulates
Curcumin, the active
substance in turmeric,
may counter the toxic
buildup of beta-amyloid,
which is linked to
Alzheimer’s disease, in the
brain.
From building a better brain to reducing
joint pain, curcumin’s got potential
metabolism and provides anti-inflammatory effects. Cinnamon not
only tastes good but also increases
insulin sensitivity. Perhaps the most
versatile of all is turmeric.
Turmeric is cultivated in India,
China and other Asian countries,
and its active factor is curcumin.
Ayurvedic medicine, the traditional
medicine of India, suggests that it’s
an effective treatment for maladies
as diverse as arthritis, inflammation, skin diseases, fever,
infections and jaundice. Traditional
Chinese medicine
uses turmeric to
treat liver and
gallbladder
disorders, to
control bleeding
and to treat
chest congestion.
Modern
Western
medicine has
confirmed
the effectiveness
of curcumin’s
many traditional uses. Studies show that
it’s a potent
natural antioxidant and antiinflammatory and
has anticancer and
antibiotic effects. It
also helps treat
peptic ulcers.
Curcumin helps prevent the
spread of cancer by blocking substances that tumors use to produce
new blood vessels. Without new
blood vessels tumors shrivel up and
die. Research shows that curcumin
appears to work against breast,
colorectal and prostate cancers. Its
effects in preventing new blood
vessel formation also make curcumin useful against diabetic retinopathy,
the major cause of blindness in
diabetics.
Other studies show that curcumin
helps protect the liver from toxic
substances that would otherwise
destroy liver cells. Whether that
effect would be useful to those who
take oral anabolic steroids, which
can be toxic to liver cells, isn’t
known. One property that has been
established, however, is its ability to
increase the flow of bile in the liver.
That’s important because excessive
use of oral anabolic steroids causes
swelling in the liver, which impedes
normal bile flow, and curcumin’s
naturally occurring anti-inflammatory
behavior may help counteract that.
One way that curcumin provides
anti-inflammatory, as well as anticancer, effects is by inhibiting an
enzyme called cyclooxygenase type2, or COX-2. Drugs that inhibit the
enzyme are used to treat inflammatory diseases such as arthritis. They
recently attained notoriety from
reports that they promoted cardiovascular disease.
The COX-2 enzyme works by
promoting the synthesis of prostaglandins, hormonelike substances
made from dietary fat. When COX-2
activity is blocked, inflammatory
properties of some prostaglandins
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are reduced, resulting in an analgesic, or pain-killing, action. COX-2
drugs replaced COX-1 inhibitors,
which caused problems because
they attacked the mucosal barrier
that protects the gastrointestinal
lining. COX-2 drugs were supposed
to prevent that side effect.
As it turned out, however, COX-2
drugs inhibited synthesis of a protective prostaglandin in blood vessels called prostacyclin, which
prevents clotting in blood vessels, a
major cause of heart attacks and
strokes. Even worse, COX-2 drugs
didn’t oppose the synthesis of
thromboxane, a prostaglandin that
promotes blood clotting. That meant
COX-2 drugs could promote heart
attacks and strokes in some people.
Curcumin is a natural COX-2
inhibitor but doesn’t appear to adversely affect prostacyclin. It follows
that curcumin helps prevent cancer
and inflammation throughout the
body.
Alzheimer’s disease has an inflammatory component, and related
studies of curcumin are the most
interesting of all. The major cause of
Alzheimer’s is thought to be an
increase of beta-amyloid protein in
the brain. In excess it potently causes inflammation in the brain, resulting in the destruction of neurons,
especially in the portions of the brain
that govern intellectual activity. Recently published studies show that
curcumin appears to not only prevent the buildup of toxic beta-amyloid in the brain but also remove
excess already present. Although
the finding is preliminary, anyone
concerned about developing Alzheimer’s might well consider taking
some form of curcumin, which is
nontoxic, before the disease manifests itself—in short, as a preventive.
As an antioxidant
and an anti-inflammatory agent,
curcumin has some
exercise-related
benefits. A recent
study involving
mice showed that
giving them curcumin led to a
decrease in markers of muscle damage, such as
creatine kinase and
various inflammatory cytokines.1 The
mice got curcumin
three days before
they were put on a
regimen of downhill
running, which, as
Curcumin works against the inflammation that’s
a largely eccentric
responsible for most joint pain.
exercise, causes
extensive muscle
damage. Those mice recovered
cumin with piperine, a substance
more rapidly than a group that didn’t
extracted from black peppers (sold
get curcumin.
as Bioperine), significantly increases
Curcumin may prove useful for
the absorption of curcumin and
treating any condition associated
other nutrients, such as coenzymewith inflammation, such as joint pain
Q10 and beta-carotene.
and muscle aches. In combination
You can use curcumin as a spice
with other natural joint remedies,
or take it in supplemental form.
such as glucosamine and chonSome curcumin supplements also
droitin, it makes sense and should
contain piperine to enhance absorpprovide synergistic benefits. While all
tion (by 2,000 percent!). A good
the supplements aid in reducing
dose for both protective and antiinflammation (the major cause of
inflammatory effects is 2,000 miljoint pain), glucosamine helps heal
ligrams daily in divided doses. That
injured joints, and curcumin reduces
will also extend the activity of other
the inflammation that delays the
antioxidants you take, such as vitalong-term healing process in conmins E and C.
nective tissue.
—Jerry Brainum
The only problem with curcumin is
1 Davis, J.M., et al. (2005). Curthat it’s hard for the body to absorb
it. That said, judging from the nucumin enhances performance recovmerous studies attesting to its beneery after exercise-induced muscle
fits, some of it must get absorbed. A
damage. Med Sci Sports Exer.
few studies show that taking cur37:S128.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ NOVEMBER 2005 55
LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
Build Incredible Pressing Power and Bulletproof Shoulders
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Eat to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES
Food Facts
Photo Illustration by Christian Martinez
That can affect your
workouts and health
ANABOLIC DRIVE
T Factor: Testing Tribulus
Tribulus terrestris, also called puncture vine, is credited with an array of virtues.
Some claim it improves sexual function in humans. In Turkey it’s commonly used
for blood pressure and cholesterol treatment. In China and India it’s been used to
treat liver, kidney, urinary and cardiovascular problems; of course, the Chinese and
Indians have been using ingredients for centuries that Americans have only recently
begun to examine. But what does science have to say about this herb?
I know what you’re thinking: “Trib is old news.” Not true, my friend. As long as
the guys in the white lab coats keep looking at this herb, new information will be
coming down the pike. For instance, did you know that trib may have an
anticancer effect? Saponins from tribulus terrestris were shown to have a potent
inhibitory effect on the Bcap-37 cancer cell line in a concentration-dependent
manner. In English, that means the more trib the cancer cell line was exposed to,
the better effect it had.
Also, we can’t ignore the potential sex-enhancing properties of trib. TT extract
increased sexual behavior and intracavernous pressure in both normal and castrated rats—meaning they were hornier and their peckers were harder.
A recent study placed 24 adult male rats in two groups of 12. Group 1 was
treated with distilled water, and group 2 was treated with TT at a dose of five milligrams per kilogram of bodyweight orally, once daily for eight weeks. The
researchers found a 58 percent increase in androgen receptor immunoreactivity in
the TT group, results that were statistically significant compared to the control.
Chronic treatment with TT in rats increases AR immunoreactivity in certain regions
of the brain. In essence, the trib sensitizes the rats’ brains for the next booty call—
and they weren’t even drinking beer.
Another report showed that tribulus engendered a mild-to-moderate improvement of sexual behavior in rats. TT extract appears to possess aphrodisiac qualities, probably due to androgen-increasing effects.
I think trib definitely needs to be looked at more closely; perhaps, once its specific active components are better identified, we’ll have a clearer understanding of
how this herb can affect bodybuilders and other athletes.
—Jose Antonio, Ph.D.
Editor’s note: Jose Antonio, Ph.D., is the CEO of the International Society of
Sports Nutrition, www.sportsnutritionsociety.org.
Omega-3
fatty acids are
found in fatty
fish. They’re
good for both
heart health
and hormone
production. The
American Heart
Association
suggests that if
you have heart
disease, you
need at least one gram a day. Others
should try to get at least two grams a
week. Fish oil capsules are a good
alternative if you can’t eat fish often.
Bromelain, an extract of pineapple,
has shown some promise in treating
arthritis and
joint pain. Two
other substances are also
being tested:
the enzyme
trypsin and the
antioxidant rutin. If you want
to try bromelain,
it’s available in
supplement form at most health food
stores.
Folic acid, a B-vitamin, appears to
help control the level of homocysteine,
an amino acid by-product, in the blood.
That’s important because there’s evidence that
elevated
homocysteine is a risk
for heart
disease and
may be
linked to
inflammation
and other
diseases,
such as
colon cancer.
Folic acid is
found in
beans, citrus fruits, leafy green vegetables and meat. If you want to supplement, take a B-complex capsule with
about 200 micrograms.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
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•Shoulder training
•Chest training
•Back training
•Arm training
•Abdominal training
•Leg training
•Training for mass
•Training for power
•Mental aspects of training
•Bodybuilding nutrition
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Eat to Grow
FAT FIGHTERS
Many studies show that eating foods that are rapidly
used energy sources, such as carbohydrates, just before
a workout blunts the use of fat as a fuel. Carbohydrate
drinks do, however, offer a few notable advantages when
drunk during the workout. Drinks that contain the proper
level of carbs (8 percent or less) combined with some
electrolytes (minerals) to speed fluid uptake provide hydration even more efficiently than plain water. Carb drinks
maintain energy levels during workouts that exceed an
hour and blunt the rise in cortisol that would normally
occur after an hour of hard training. But it’s all at the
expense of fat burning.
I’ve seen people eat full meals immediately before or
even during workouts. Such meals will have a delayed
digestion, as blood is shunted from the gastrointestinal
area to the working muscles, so the food goes more or
less undigested until the workout ends. In addition, weight
training is powered mainly by
stored muscle
glycogen, which
is a reflection of
what you ate 24
to 48 hours
earlier. The only
benefit derived
from eating just
before or during
a workout is
psychological.
But what’s the
time interval after
a meal if you
want to burn the
most fat during a
workout? A new
study, involving
obese women
over age 50,
examined the
issue.1 That
group may seem
to have little
relevance for a
younger population, but the
principles governing the study
apply to anyone,
regardless of
age.
The women
ate meals either
one or three hours before exercise. Not only did exercising
three hours after a meal result in greater fat oxidation, but the
level of fat burning was also similar to what happens after
fasting. The three-hour interval led to lower heart rates during
exercise and lower glucose, lactate and insulin levels, all of
which favor fat burning.
Why did eating a meal one hour before exercise lead to
less fat burning? The authors explain that eating so close to a
When to eat for maximum fat burning
during exercise
If you want to burn fat
during a workout, when
you eat is just as important as what.
workout increases the carbohydrate content of the blood, resulting in a blunted fat-burning effect.
The meal produces higher levels of
lactate, which blunts fat burning
during exercise. Elevated insulin
levels after a meal also block fat
release and oxidation during exercise.
The lowered heart rate occurred
because of the heart’s role in
supplying blood for digestion
purposes the first hours after a
meal. By the three-hour point the
meal was digested, leading to less
stress on the heart during exercise.
Even though the study featured
obese older women, the relationship between fat use and exercise
applies to anyone, regardless of
sex or age. In effect, the longer
you wait between your last meal and your workout, the
greater the level of bodyfat you’ll burn during the workout.
—Jerry Brainum
1 Dumortier, M., et al. (2005). Substrate oxidation during
exercise: impact of time interval from the last meal in obese
women. Int J Obesity. In press.
Neveux \ Model: Sebastian Siegel
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Eat to Grow
AMINO AMMO
Glutamine: The Muscle Amino
Neveux \ Model: Marvin Montoya
Glutamine was a relatively obscure amino acid
until a few years ago. It was considered a
nonessential amino acid, meaning that it could be
synthesized in the body from other amino acids,
such as glutamic acid and the branched-chain
aminos. In addition, the body content of glutamine
is extensive, with glutamine composing half the
free amino acids found in muscle and blood.
More recently, however, glutamine became
recognized as a conditionally essential amino acid,
meaning that under certain specific conditions the
body can’t provide sufficient glutamine to meet its
needs, and thus an outside source is necessary.
That first became apparent in critically ill hospital
patients, especially those suffering massive loss of
protein, such as burn patients or those recovering
from major surgical procedures. Plasma levels of
glutamine dropped rapidly in such patients, and
the skeletal muscles became catabolic. Muscle
protein was broken down to provide free
glutamine to support body functions.
Doctors soon realized that giving glutamine to
those patients rapidly ended the catabolic muscle
conditions. Glutamine proved to be a potent
anticatabolic nutrient. The information trickled
down to the athletic community, including bodybuilders, and the reputation of glutamine as a
“muscle amino acid” emerged.
Various studies show that intense exercise can
induce a type of immune suppression that glutamine can counter. Intense exercise causes a
loss of glutamine, and certain immune cells use it
as a primary fuel. So a lack of glutamine may adversely affect
your immune system.
Intense exercise also promotes a rise in cortisol, the major
catabolic hormone in the body. Cortisol breaks down amino
acids found in muscle. Some studies show that glutamine
opposes that effect of cortisol, thereby sparing muscle amino
acids and preventing muscle catabolism. Other studies show
that glutamine may favorably affect muscle glycogen synthesis, which would positively affect recuperation and recovery
after hard training.
Glutamine has been linked to increased muscle protein
synthesis. It’s among the most potent stimulators of cellular
hydration, or incorporation of water into cells. Cell hydration, in
turn, induces a process that results in upgraded anabolism, or
protein synthesis. Another way that glutamine may help foster
muscle gains is by increasing the release of growth hormone.
But not all studies show that glutamine is useful for bodybuilding purposes. In one, presented at the 2005 meeting of
the American College of Sports Medicine by researchers from
Ohio, 12 men were randomly assigned to either a glutamine or
a placebo group (six men in each group).1 All the subjects
trained with weights twice a week for seven weeks, using only
three exercises: bench presses, shoulder presses and squats.
Or is it?
Researchers tested glutamine for
anabolic contributions but came
up short. Was the training hard
enough to require extra
glutamine?
They did three sets of each exercise. They got 10 grams a day
in four divided doses of either a glucose placebo or glutamine,
twice daily on training days (before workout and before bed).
After seven weeks the groups showed no differences in
strength increases or body composition. That led to the conclusion that glutamine was ineffective for increasing strength or
changing body composition.
The problem with the study is that other studies have
shown glutamine to be most useful under conditions of intense
training that borders on overtraining. Unless a catabolic stimulus is induced in muscle, glutamine is nearly useless. The
routine listed in this study was neither intense nor anywhere
close to being catabolic. So we wouldn’t expect glutamine to
provide any benefits. We also don’t know whether the study
subjects were on a high-protein diet, which could also influence the results, as would carbohydrate intake; lowering carbs
increases the need for glutamine under hard-training conditions. The Ohio study is hardly the final word on glutamine.
—Jerry Brainum
1 Thistlethwaite, J.R., et al. (2005). The effects of glutamine
on muscle strength and body composition. Med Sci Sports
Exer. 37:S45.
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Eat to Grow
WARRIOR NUTRITION AND EXERCISE
Modern Americans typically don’t need to struggle to
survive. With a sense of safety and with basic needs—like
food and shelter—taken care of, we aren’t generally engaged in primal activities. Today we live lives that don’t fit
our primal biological makeup. As a result we suffer from
myriad metabolic problems, with symptoms such as obesity,
inability to cope with stress and dependence on drugs.
Scientists believe that from the late Paleolithic period—
about 10,000 years ago—we inherited genes that help us
better survive. Known as thrifty genes, they induce powerful
metabolic actions that increase our capacity for generating
energy and resisting stress.1
Survival is an active struggle against destructive forces.
We have survival mechanisms that help us adapt to
changes in food availability, changes in climate or environment. We also carry mechanisms that help us better survive
when we face major stressors.
Our survival mechanisms must be triggered in order to
exert their beneficial actions. If they weren’t triggered, the
body wouldn’t be actively surviving. Life doesn’t leave us
with many choices: If you aren’t actively surviving, you’re
passively dying.
X-TREME LEAN
How Protein Gets You Lean
Researchers believe that
humans and animals have
adapted to follow certain feeding cycles
that involve famine
and feast (undereating and
overeating) as well as
cycles of exercise and rest
(fight or flight and relaxation). The only way to
actively survive today is
by incorporating exercise
and feeding cycles that
methodically train the body
to resist fatigue and stress,
both nutritionally and psychologically.
The body’s survival depends on
its capacity for using fuel. Training
the body to shift between carb
and fat fuels forces it to
improve its use of
both. Training it to
exercise in a way that mimics
primal fight-or-flight activities by incorporating strength,
speed and velocity in special complex sets triggers
primal adaptation mechanisms that further improve the
body’s capacity for generating energy, sustaining power
and resisting fatigue and stress under intense or extreme conditions.
We’re all programmed to survive. What we need to
do is exercise our survival capabilities and thereby get
tougher, leaner and healthier.
—Ori Hofmekler
Every meal
should include
some protein.
Why? Well, it
keeps musclebuilding amino
acids circulating. That will
protect muscle
tissue, keeping
it in a building
mode instead of
a burning one—
for energy. It
also signals
your body that
it’s okay to have more muscle. You probably figured that out.
But did you know eating more protein also has a higher energy
cost? That recent discovery explains why higher-protein diets
are as effective at burning fat as they are at building muscle.
A “higher energy cost” means it takes more energy to digest protein. So you burn extra calories without doing a
darned thing. Therefore, increasing your protein intake at the
expense of carbs will be like a calorie reduction.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
X-treme Lean e-book
www.X-tremeLean.com
1 Chakravarthy,
Illustration by Christian Martinez
your body
Survive and Thrive Train
to live well
M.V., and Booth, F.W. (2004). Eating,
exercise and “thrifty” genotypes: Connecting the dots
toward an evolutionary understanding of modern chronic diseases. J Appl Physiol, 96:3-10.
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 [email protected],
www.warriordiet.com or by phone
at (866) WAR-DIET.
PERFECT POSTWORKOUT MEAL
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Breakthrough research in
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time period is known as the
“anabolic window” of growth.
The biggest mistake many
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vegetables after a workout. This
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OGRAM
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The biggest bodybuilders know that
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Fortunately, there’s now a potent new
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Muscle biopsies show that the largest
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carnosine in their fast-twitch muscle
fibers than sedentary individuals for good
reason: Carnosine buffers the burn to give
muscles more “grow power” on every set.
The bigger and stronger a muscle gets,
the more carnosine it needs to perform
at higher intensity levels. You must keep
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Straight carnosine supplements degrade
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Train, Eat,
GROW
Muscle-Training Program 73
From the IRONMAN Training & Research Center
Model: Jonathan Lawson
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux
s we mentioned last month, our annual photo
shoot occurred in mid-June, almost three
weeks earlier than last year. This time
around we included new hybrid techniques,
like X-centric training, X/Pause and X
Fade, which we believe are the reasons
our results came much faster this past summer, during our
second X-periment. We were both five to 10 pounds heavier than at our Õ04 photo shoot but in the same, or perhaps better, ripped condition. ThatÕs impressive, especially
for Steve, who just turned 46. He finally saw the scale
hover in the 200-pound range in his hardest, most shredded condition ever. Jonathan dialed it in too, with more
muscularity at a heavier bodyweight.
We were very happy that we improved, but the question
remains: Could we have been even better? Muscle just
shouldnÕt be that difficult to build. Sure, weÕre fairly advanced, so gains wonÕt be 20 pounds a year, as they were
in the beginning of our lifting careersÑor could they be?
After analyzing everything we do, we have to ask ourselves, Why the eff not?!
One of our strategies that raised an eyebrow and created an ah-ha moment was how we approach winter training. We usually continue to hit it fairly hard five days a
week, but we also try to maintain visual contact with our
abs. WeÕve always thought that staying fairly lean makes it
easier to get shredded as summer nears; howeverÑand
this is a big howeverÑit also makes muscle much, much
more difficult to build.
Huge muscles are a luxury for the human body, not a
necessity. Before your metabolism will permit a lot of leanmass gain, your body has to be damn sure famine is never
going to happen. In other words, you need a fairly large
calorie surplusÑof the right nutrientsÑto kick your body
into anabolic overdrive and prevent it from burning muscle
for energy. Just as important, those calories have to be
spread out over the course of the day every day. Hunger
is an absolute no-no. Keep your body in positive nitrogen
balance and positive calorie abundance, and if your workouts are intense enough to stimulate growth and you get
enough recoveryÑBam!Ñnew muscle should appear very
quickly.
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•How the Pros Pack on Extreme Mass
•Arnold’s Size-Stretching X-ploits
•The Forgotten High-Intensity Growth Trigger
•A Muscle-Building Mystery Solved
•Pounds of Muscle in Days
•Bodypart Bloodbath for Super Size
•Monster Arms: Torching Your Tri’s
•Time-Bomb Training
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•Drop the D Bomb for Bigger Bodyparts
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w w w. I ro n M a n M a g a z i n e . c o m
© 2005 IRON MAN Magazine
It’s a big blast of workout information, motivation and muscle-building science in your e-mail
box every week—and it’s all free! Tons of practical
training tips, analysis and size tactics are jam-packed
into this e-zine from the IRON MAN Training &
Research Center, where there’s more than 50 years of
training experience to get you growing fast! Here are a
few of the latest editions’ titles (online now):
Train, Eat, Grow / Program 73
Bodybuilders in the presteroidinsanity era—Arnold, Dave Draper,
Larry Scott—used to approach
winter as a muscle-feeding/building frenzy. A pretty good layer covering the abs was considered a
necessary evil during a max-muscle-building phase. These days
that’s not so much the case because
a lot of bodybuilders cycle anabolic
steroids throughout the winter. The
right pharmaceuticals make excess
calories a minor player. Sure, the
body needs something to work
with, but thanks to drugs it’s always
in anticatabolic mode, being overly
efficient with all the muscle-building blocks it receives. (No, it’s not
fair, but it’s reality.) Anyway, you
can see where we’re going with this:
We’ll be shoveling in more musclebuilding calories over the winter,
which means we’re throwing ab
visibility out the window. We’ll have
more on our winter mucho-mass
diet next month. Let’s segue into
training, as our new split is rather
ingenious, something we adopted
before the end of summer—and it’s
a gain maximizer.
We’ve mentioned before that
we’ve never been able to come up
with an ideal split, mainly because
we can’t train on the weekends.
We’ve said that, ideally, we should
be on a three-on/one-off split, with
a leg-training workout falling between two upper-body workouts. If
you do the math, you’ll see that you
can’t use that split without training
on the weekends. Our solution was
to still train on a three-way split,
IRONMAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 73
Workout 1A: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps)
Seated forward-lean laterals (X Reps)
Dumbbell presses (X Reps)
Barbell shrugs (X Reps)
Cable upright rows (X Reps or staged)
Nautilus rows (X Reps)
Bent-arm bent-over laterals (X Reps)
Behind-the-neck pulldowns
(X Reps or staged)
Bent-over laterals
Cable curls (X Reps or staged)
Concentration curls
Rope hammer curls
Barbell reverse wrist curls
Barbell wrist curls
Rockers
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 8-10
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
1 x 15
Workout 2: Quads, Hams, Gastrocs, Low Back
Smith-machine squats (X Reps or staged)
3 x 8-10
Leg extensions (X Reps)
2-3 x 8-10
Sissy squats
1 x 10-12
Leg presses
2 x 8-10
Hack squats
1 x 8-10
Leg curls (X Reps)
2-3 x 8-10
Stiff-legged deadlifts (partials)
2 x 8-10
Hyperextensions (X Reps)
1 x max
Leg press calf raises (X Reps)
3 x 15-20
Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps)
2 x 12-15
Standing calf raises (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Machine donkey calf raises (bottom X)
1 x 12
Seated calf raises
2 x 15-20
Low-back machine
1 x 8-12
Workout 3A: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Smith-machine incline presses
(X Reps or staged)
2-3 x 8-10
High cable flyes (X Reps)
2 x 8-12
Dumbbell bench presses (X Reps or staged)
2 x 810
Low cable flyes
1 x 8-12
Middle cable flyes
1 x 8-12
Parallel-grip pulldowns (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Chins (X Reps)
1-2 x 8-12
Machine pullovers (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Decline extensions (X Reps or staged)
2-3 x 8-10
Pushdowns
2 x 8-10
Superset
Incline kneeups
Bench V-ups
Twisting crunches
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
Workout 1B: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps)
Cable laterals (X Reps)
Dumbbell shrugs (X Reps)
Rack pulls (X Reps)
Nautilus rows (X Reps)
One-arm dumbbell rows (X Reps)
Behind-the-neck pulldowns
(X Reps or staged)
Uncrossovers (X Reps)
Preacher curls (X Reps or staged)
Incline curls
Incline hammer curls
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls
Dumbbell wrist curls
Rockers
3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 8-10
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
1 x 15
Workout 3B: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Smith-machine incline presses
(X Reps or staged)
Incline flyes
Wide-grip dips (X Reps or staged)
Decline flyes
Flat-bench flyes
Parallel-grip pulldowns (X Reps)
Chins (X Reps)
Dumbbell pullovers
Cable pushouts
Superset
Incline kneeups
Bench V-ups
Ab Bench crunches
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1-2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
Add to Friday’s workout
Seated calf raises
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
•Where X-Reps are designated, only one set is
performed with X Reps or an X-Rep hybrid
technique.
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Models: Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
When you’re making big
gains, keeping track of
your progress is a blast.
but train five days in a row, Monday
through Friday, picking up the
missed sixth workout the following
Monday and continuing with the
sequence.
That five-day plan has worked
well for us, but new research caused
us to rethink it. Here’s the report
from researcher Jerry Brainum that
clicked on the light bulbs in our
heads. It appeared in the October
’05 issue of IRON MAN.
“In a study presented at the 2004
meeting of the National Strength
and Conditioning Association, researchers from the University of
Alabama examined just how long it
takes to recover from a weighttraining workout. Fifteen men and
15 women were tested for strength
recovery at 48, 72 and 96 hours after
a weight workout. The workout
consisted of three sets of eight repetitions on the bench press and leg
press, using weights equal to 65
percent of one-rep max.
“The results showed that 66.7
percent of the male subjects needed
96 hours for full recovery from the
leg press. In contrast, 93.3 percent
of the men showed full recovery on
the bench press after 72 hours. As
for the women, 66.7 percent showed
full recovery on the bench press
after 72 hours, while only 46.7 percent showed full recovery on the leg
press at the 96-hour mark.”
We do a few more than three sets
for our quads at any one leg workout, so that study had us asking
ourselves whether we need even
more than 96 hours (four complete
days) for our legs to recover. Possibly, although our recovery ability
may be better because we’ve been
training for decades. Then again, we
can generate much more intensity
on any given set than the average
person—and we’re doing X Reps on
many of our sets. That may mean
our legs need more time away from
intense training to grow. Add to that
the fact that we’ll continue to do
cardio through the winter, mostly
only on weekends, and you see the
basis for our conclusion: We should
get better gains hitting a leg workout only once a week.
We used that strategy for the last
month or so of our ripping phase
over the summer, and it worked
extremely well, even when we were
doing cardio on a daily basis. If we
put on quad size then, we should
get even better gains over the winter, considering our cardio cutback.
So what’s the ingenious split
we’re so excited about? Here it is, no
weekend training, no bodypart
overlap:
Week 1
Monday: Workout 1 (delts, etc.)
Tuesday: Workout 2 (legs)
Wednesday: Workout 3 (chest,
etc.)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Workout 1 (delts, etc.)
Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Week 2
Monday: Workout 3 (chest, etc.)
Tuesday: Workout 2 (legs)
Wednesday: Workout 1 (delts,
etc.)
Thursday: Off
Friday: Workout 3 (chest, etc.)
Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Repeat Week 1
Repeat Week 2
Notice that we hit legs once a
week, on Tuesday, which breaks up
the two upper-body sessions. Then
Thursday is a complete rest day,
and Friday is a repeat of Monday’s
workout. We never work upper
body two days in a row, which
should make for some awesome
progress.
How does all of that pan out on
the recovery scale? Check it out:
•Monday bodyparts: 96 hours, or
four days, to Friday
•Tuesday bodyparts (legs): 168
hours, or seven days—although
weekend cardio affects leg recovery. (We’re also adding a mini-calf
blast to our Friday workouts
because calves recover much
faster than the upper-leg muscles.)
•Wednesday bodyparts: 120
hours, or five days, to the following Monday
Notice that every other Monday
we switch the upper-body muscles
trained on that day. For example, in
week 1 you start the week with delts,
traps, biceps and forearms. Then
they get four days of recovery—and
you hit them again on Friday. Chest,
lats, triceps and abs get hit only one
day that week, Wednesday, so they
get five days of recovery—the next
hit occurs on the following Monday.
So upper-body muscles get staggered recovery due to the rotation.
(We told you it was ingenious.)
ITRC Program 73, Abbreviated Home-Gym Routine: Monday Through Friday
Workout 1A: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Dumbbell upright rows or
seated laterals or rack pulls (X Reps)
Seated forward-lean laterals (X Reps)
Barbell shrugs (X Reps)
Bent-over barbell rows
Bent-arm bent-over laterals (X Reps)
Bent-over laterals (X Reps)
Dumbbell curls
Concentration curls
Hammer curls
Barbell reverse wrist curls
Barbell wrist curls
Rockers
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
1 x 15
Workout 2: Quads, Hams, Gastrocs, Low Back
Squats (last set staged)
3 x 8-10
Leg extensions or hack squats (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Sissy squats
1 x 10-12
Hack squats (nonlock)
1 x 8-10
Leg curls (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Stiff-legged deadlifts (bottom-range partials) 2 x 8-10
Hyperextensions (X Reps)
1 x max
Donkey calf raises, standing calf raises
or one-leg calf raises (X Reps)
4 x 15-20
Seated calf raises
2 x 15-20
Incline one-arm laterals (X Reps)
Rack pulls (X Reps or staged)
Bent-over barbell rows
One-arm dumbbell rows (X Reps)
Bent-over laterals (X Reps)
Preacher curls (X Reps or staged)
Incline curls
Incline hammer curls
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls
Dumbbell wrist curls
Rockers
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 10-12
2 x 8-10
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
2 x 15
2 x 15
1 x 15
Workout 3B: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Incline presses (X Reps or staged)
Incline flyes (staged)
Wide-grip dips (X Reps or staged)
Decline flyes (staged)
Flat-bench flyes (staged)
Parallel-grip chins (X Reps)
Chins (X Reps)
Dumbbell pullovers
Overhead extensions
Superset
Incline kneeups
Bench V-ups
Ab Bench crunches
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
Workout 3A: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Incline presses (X Reps or staged)
Incline flyes
Dumbbell bench presses (X Reps)
Decline flyes
Flat-bench flyes
Parallel-grip chins (X Reps)
Chins (X Reps)
Undergrip rows
Kickbacks
Superset
Incline kneeups
Bench V-ups
Twisting crunches
2-3 x 8-10
2 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-12
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 8-10
2 x 10
2x8
2 x 10-12
Workout 1B: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps) or
seated laterals or rack pulls (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Add to Friday’s workout
Seated calf raises
2 x 9-12
1 x 20-25
•When X Reps are designated, only one set is
performed with X Reps or an X-Rep hybrid
technique.
Note:
Train Monday through Friday, following the
sequence of workouts as listed. Also, itÕs best to have a
selectorized dumbbell set, such as the PowerBlock, if you
donÕt have a rack of fixed dumbbells of various weights.
If you donÕt have a leg extension machine, do old-style
hacks with a two-second contraction at the top of each
rep instead. Use partner resistance, towel around the
ankles, if you donÕt have a leg curl machine.
If you thought that was complicated, prepare to wrap your mind
around this brain twister: We’re
going to try to make every upperbody workout for the same bodyparts different from the last. How?
With the split-positions approach,
as dictated by Positions-of-Flexion
training. For example, in week 1 on
Monday we train our medial-delt
heads with a midrange exercise,
dumbbell upright rows, and a contracted-position movement, forward-lean laterals. Then at Friday’s
delt workout we do upright dumbbell rows again as the leadoff exercise, but we follow with a
stretch-position movement, onearm cable laterals—instead of forward-lean laterals.
We use the split-positions approach for every upper-body exercise. That way the target muscles get
some unique stress at every session,
à la Ronnie Coleman. In the routines that appear on pages 66 and
68, the A workouts are
midrange/contracted, and the B
workouts are midrange/stretch. The
B workouts always fall on Wednesday. Here’s why: Stretch-position
exercises are more traumatic.
Therefore, we structured the routine
so B workouts fall on Wednesday,
when those stretched bodyparts will
get more rest—all the way to the
following Monday.
Whew! Did you get all of that? Oh,
and on the midrange movements,
which stay constant, we’ll be using
X-Rep hybrid techniques, such as X
Fade, X/Pause and X-centric training, to name a few. That will give the
target muscles even more unique
stress.
We’ll have more on our winter
megamass strategy next month, but
we’re already rolling with it at the
ITRC—the training part, anyway; we
haven’t jacked up our calories yet,
which will be a gradual process
through the winter months. For
more details about our current
workouts, check out our training
blog at our Web site, www
.X-Rep.com. Click on X-Blog and
prepare to train, eat and grow right
along with us!
Editor’s note: The new e-book
Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building is
now available at www.X-Rep.com.
It includes all the X-Rep hybrid
techniques and how Holman and
Lawson applied them during their
’05 ITRC peaking phase. At the Web
site you’ll also find the latest X-Rep
info, including X Q&As, X Files (past
e-newsletters about X Reps) and
new ’05 photos and the daily X-Blog
training journal. For more information on Positions-of-Flexion training
videos and Size Surge programs, see
page 179. To order the new Positions-of-Flexion training manual
Train, Eat, Grow, call (800) 447-0008,
visit www.Home-Gym.com, or see
the ad below. IM
Charles Poliquin’s
Smart Training
Mind Gains
Q: I have a problem concentrating during my
workouts. Are there any supplement protocols that
can help me focus?
A: Certain nutrients in the right combination can dramatically improve concentration. Here are the ones I’ve
found to be particularly useful:
Acetyl L-carnitine (ALC). The ester form of carnitine,
acetyl L-carnitine, readily crosses the blood-brain barrier.
Nutrition researchers believe that ALC improves cognition
by enhancing the activity of acetylcholine and/or increasing neuronal metabolism. There’s a good chance that ALC
might increase dopamine activity in the part of the brain
where dopamine is produced, and it’s been documented
that ALC enhances blood flow, which potentiates the other
preworkout nutraceuticals that I’m recommending.
From an empirical standpoint I’ve noticed increased
strength in athletes who take a high dose of ALC prior to
workouts. Athletes report being more awake and focused. I
recommend that you take three grams of acetyl L-carnitine
on an empty stomach right after you get up in the morning. Anything less than that isn’t worth it. It seems that the
more the better. I’ve used as much as seven grams with
remarkable results; however, ALC is a rather expensive
product. The powdered form is the way to go.
An added benefit of acetyl L-carnitine is that, like
branched-chain amino acids, it prevents the decrease of
plasma testosterone associated with high training loads
and will likely have a positive effect on your body’s testosterone production.
Phosphatidylcholine is good to add to your preworkout stack, as it’s been shown to increase levels of another
vital neurotransmitter, acetylcholine. Phosphatidylcholine
is known to protect every cell, particularly the ones in the
nervous system, and it’s been implicated in controlling
motor unit recruitment, reflex and reaction times and
memory. The dosage should be 500 to 1,000 milligrams.
Dimethylaminoethanol (usually DMAE) enhances
the vigilance mechanism and is normally present in small
amounts in your brain. You can also find it in seafood, such
as anchovies and sardines. DMAE has been found to elevate mood, improve memory and learning, extend the life
span of laboratory animals and boost energy. In addition to
enhancing the effect of Ginkgo biloba, DMAE has produced
the following effects in controlled
studies:
•Improved mood.
•Improved memory and learning
ability.
•Increased production of acetylcholine.
Neveux \ Model: Jeff Hammond
DMAE works by accelerating the
brain synthesis and turnover of
acetylcholine. You need
acetylcholine for good mental performance and optimal muscle fiber
recruitment. It’s possible that DMAE
inhibits choline metabolism, which
means that free choline accumulates
in the blood, enters the brain and
stimulates cholinergic receptors.
The dosage should 100
milligrams, no more, as this compound has an inverted-U response
curve—meaning the response goes
up to a point and then decreases.
Vinpocetine was introduced
into clinical practice two decades
ago in Hungary for the treatment of
cerebrovascular disorders and
symptoms related to brain aging. It’s
a pharmaceutical extraction of Vinca
minor, or the common periwinkle.
In many countries it’s achieved the
A number of preworkout
supplements can spur your
concentration in the gym—and
improved mind conditioning and
focus can translate to strength and
muscle gains.
Smart Training
Aside from its neurotransmitter benefits,
acetyl L-carnitine has also been shown to
prevent the decrease of plasma testosterone associated with high training
loads.
Neveux \ Model: Jeff Hammond
which is responsible for thinking, logic
and integration. It has been shown that LC
neurons decline in number with increasing age, degeneration advancing at a
slightly faster rate in men than in women.
That plays a significant role in lowering
alertness, concentration and informationprocessing speed and ability.
The supplement is normally taken in
dosages of five to 10 milligrams two to
three times daily.
Glycerophosphocholine (GPC) is
the other one I really like, particularly for
older athletes. Research done with animals using radio-labeled GPC suggests
that it becomes incorporated into many
other regulatory and structural molecules
with various functions:
•It acts as a methyl group donor for
gene-level and other metabolic controls.
status of a so-called smart drug. A recent federal court
ruling now makes vinpocetine available as a low-cost supplement.
In the scientific literature, this supplement has been
shown to:
1) Enhance circulation and oxygen utilization in the
brain.
2) Increase the brain’s tolerance of diminished blood
flow.
3) Offer significant and direct protection against neurological damage caused by aging (the molecular evidence
indicates that the neuroprotective action of vinpocetine
is related to its ability to maintain brain cell electrical
conductivity and protect against damage caused by
excessive intracellular calcium release).
4) Increase the firing rate of neurons.
5) Increase neuronal ATP bioenergy production, even
under hypoxic (low-oxygen) conditions.
Vinpocetine activates the effect on the locus coeruleus,
or LC, which is what the noradrenaline nerve cluster in the
reticular activating system is called. That small group of
neurons propagates its noradrenaline-secreting nerve
fibers throughout the brain, mainly in its left hemisphere,
•It’s a precursor of acetylcholine, which
is used in the brain as a neurotransmitter and in the rest of the body as a messenger/regulator (muscle contraction,
organ function, skin tone, blood vessel
volume, platelet aggregation).
•It helps incorporate choline phospholipids, such as phosphatidylcholine and
sphingomyelin, into every cell membrane and myelin sheath.
It raises acetylcholine in the body, which is the key
transmitter for the central nervous system during resistance training, so it regulates nerve-muscle junctions
throughout the body.
GPC taken by mouth is well absorbed and increases
plasma levels of choline for up to 10 hours. I like the gel
form developed by nutritionists Robert Crayhon and Parris
Kidd. It’s quickly absorbed and translates immediately into
increased training focus. Another advantage of GPC is that
it helps older athletes up their GH levels to levels that
compare with their younger years—it’s a very effective antiaging supplement, and it actually outperformed many
nootropics such as aniracetam and piracetam. At the
Poliquin Performance Centers, our doctors have
prescribed its intramuscular form to restore memory in
older patients. In that form it works rather rapidly and well.
All users have reported increased strength, probably because in human skeletal muscle fast-twitch fibers have the
highest concentration of GPC.
It also has been shown to boost nerve growth factor
receptors, which helps athletes recover from injuries. Since
ALC boosts nerve growth factor receptor binding, these
two nutraceuticals work very well synergistically. GPC
supports such other neurotransmitters as dopamine, norepinephrine and GABA. It also improves electroencephalo-
Smart Training
If you need more quad development
above the knee, emphasize the low
position of your squats.
Neveux \ Model: Derik Farnsworth
range squats (which results from strength coaches being obsessed with claiming big numbers for
their squads) and many high-partial movements,
such as hang power cleans.
Here are two techniques used by the Olympic
athletes I coach that you may want to try:
Cyclist squats. Olympic-level cyclists use
these to attain world-record performances. In
this variation of the back squat you rest your
heels on a board in a narrow stance (4 to 6 inches
between your heels). The best type of board for
this is wedged, so that the pressure on the arches
of your feet is minimal. The higher the wedge, the
more recruitment of the vastus medialis you’ll
get. You’ll also find that you remain more upright
when using the wedged board, so you use your
glutes less. Make sure to ease into this by using
more warmup sets than normal.
One-and-a-quarter squats. This one is
used in training Olympic skiers to offset their
enormous development of the vastus lateralis
muscles and prepare their knees for the risky
situations they get into. Squat down for a fivesecond count until you hit the bottom position,
come up a quarter of the way at a slow and deliberate pace, go back all the way down under control until your hamstrings cover your calves and
come up until your knees are short of lockout.
That’s one rep.
Give a fair try to each of these variations for six different
leg workouts. I’m sure you’ll be pleased with the results.
As far as reps and sets are concerned, five sets of six to
eight should do the trick, because the vastus medialis
tends to have more fast-twitch fibers than the other heads
of the quadriceps.
Q: I just competed in a bodybuilding contest, and
the judges told me that I did not have enough mass
in my lower quads, so I’m interested in developing
the tear-drop muscle above the knee—I think it’s
called the vastus medialis. I really like squats. Are
there any variations that may help accentuate the
development of that muscle?
A: If squats are the mainstay of your leg-training routine,
as they should be, and you want to increase the recruitment of the vastus medialis, you have the choice of using a
specific foot position, overloading the bottom position or
both.
Elevating your heels will maximize the recruitment of
the vastus medialis. That places the load on the ball of the
foot. Leg-muscle recruitment patterns are affected by
mechano-receptors of the bottom surface of the feet, so
use a narrow stance and elevate your heels, which moves
your center of gravity forward.
Since the vastus medialis is responsible, along with the
hamstrings, for getting you out of the bottom position, you
can increase its recruitment by doing more work near the
low point. Knee injuries are fairly common in American
athletes, and I suspect that one of the major causes is the
improper ratio of strength between all heads of the quadriceps and the hamstrings. That comes from all the poor-
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 has
spent years researching
European journals (he
is 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
.CharlesPoliquin.net.
Also, see his ad on page
Charles Poliquin
115. IM
w w w. C h a r l e s P o l i q u i n . n e t
Bradford
graphic (EEG) patterns and diminishes the delta, or “slow,”
waves, which increase with age or accelerated cognitive
deterioration.
Make sure to take all of the brain nutrients in the morning only, as they’re stimulants.
Neveux
One-Sided
Leg Training
A Unilateral Approach to
Packing Size on Your Thighs
by Eric Broser
Illustrations by Larry Eklund
A
llow me to ask you a
few simple questions: Have you
found yourself feeling a bit bored in
the gym lately? Do you feel as
if you’re working pretty hard
but not getting much of a
pump? Are you getting
stronger, or are you using the
same poundages week after
week, month after month? Finally, and most important, are
you seeing any new muscle
gains?
The answers to those questions are very important because if you’re bored, not
getting a pump and not getting bigger and stronger, why
do you keep doing the same
old thing? Do you actually
think that one day your routine
will magically start working for
you again? Doubtful. While at
one time you may have thrived
on the routine you’re doing
now, you’ve probably reached
a point where you need to
change things to get back on
the path to progression. The
human body loves homeostasis (read: staying the same),
and if you continually provide
the same types of
stimulation—i.e., exercises,
sets and reps—your physique
will undoubtedly stagnate.
So you cannot become complacent in the gym. You will
not gain muscle with a whisper—only with a scream. You
must constantly seek out ways
to provide a novel stress to
your muscles to force overcompensation, which to a bodybuilder means increased
strength and muscle growth.
Luckily, there are a plethora
of highly effective ways to go
about revitalizing a tired routine. One of the best methods
of waking up muscles that are
sleeping on the job is, well,
being a little one-sided. Unilateral training, or training one
limb or side of the body at a
time, is an underused strategy
that can greatly step up the
intensity of your workouts and
help you to push past plateaus.
There are several unique
advantages to unilateral exercises that can help catapult
your physique to new levels:
1) Increased concentration,
as your mind and central nervous system are focused on
one side of the body.
2) Enhanced fiber recruitment with each repetition.
3) A greater number of
motor unit pools fatigued in the
target muscle.
4) The evening out of
strength imbalances that may
exist between your right and
left sides.
One-Sided Leg Training
While each of those factors is
extremely important, the fourth is,
in my opinion, the most important.
Strength imbalances can lead to
injury as well as uneven development, negatively affecting your
overall proportions and symmetry.
For example, if your right biceps
is stronger than your left, whenever
you do barbell curls, your right arm
will dominate the movement from
start to finish, greatly reducing the
stimulation that the left biceps receives. If you keep training your
arms that way, it will enhance the
strength imbalance as well as cheat
the left arm out of the stress necessary to facilitate optimum growth.
With unilateral exercises, however,
the weaker side will be forced to
fend for itself rather than to simply
go along for the ride while the more
Unilateral Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
TOP
BOTTOM
You will not gain muscle with a whisper—only with a scream. You must
constantly seek out ways to provide novel stress to your muscles.
powerful side does most of the
work.
Once you begin to even out the
strength levels of the two sides of
your body, you should start noticing that your symmetry is improving and that many nagging injuries
are fading. What’s more, all of your
standard two-limbed lifts should
skyrocket as well.
While unilateral training lends
itself to just about every bodypart,
there’s no greater challenge than
training legs one at at time. A normal leg workout is brutal enough if
you push yourself, but training legs
unilaterally will truly separate the
men from the boys. It will show who
has the strongest stomach, the
greatest threshold for pain, the best
lung capacity and, most of all, the
fiercest desire to become as good as
he can possibly be. Unilateral leg
training will call into play muscles
you never knew existed and force
you to call upon levels of focus
you’ve never needed before. It will
test you to your limits, but if you
can pass such a test, you’ll be rewarded with the best kind of prize:
more muscle.
Following is a list of unilateral exercises that work the quads and
Unilateral Leg Presses
TOP
BOTTOM
Unilateral
Leg Extensions
hamstrings, with brief descriptions
of how to perform them properly:
1) Unilateral
leg extensions
BOTTOM
Perform leg extensions as you
normally would, but use one leg at a
time. Complete all repetitions for
one leg before moving on to the
other.
2) Unilateral
leg presses
Position yourself in a leg press
machine as you normally would by
putting both legs up on the platform in a comfortable position.
Then move one leg where it will not
be in the way of the descending
platform. Perform slow, deep repetitions.
3) Unilateral
lying, seated or
standing leg curls
Perform any of these leg curl
variations as you normally would—
using only one leg at a time. Complete all repetitions for one leg
before moving on to the other.
TOP
Unilateral training can give you more focus
and enhanced muscle-fiber recruitment.
4) Smith-machine
lunges
Position yourself in a Smith machine with the bar resting on a
comfortable area of your traps. Put
one leg out in front of the other far
enough to give you a nice, deep
lunge. More-advanced lifters and
athletes who have better balance
can substitute dumbbells or a barbell for the Smith machine.
5) Bench stepups
Position a flat bench in front of
you, and place one foot on top,
making sure that the entire foot is
solidly on the bench. Using the
strength of the thigh and glute
Smith-Machine
Lunges
muscles of the elevated leg, lift your
body up onto the bench. Lower
yourself slowly and carefully back to
the floor using the same leg that
lifted you. Do not remove your foot
from the bench between repetitions.
For added resistance hold a pair of
dumbbells. More-advanced lifters
and athletes who have better balance
can hold a barbell across their backs.
6) Unilateral
stiff-legged deadlifts
Holding a pair of dumbbells,
perform a stiff-legged deadlift on
one leg. The nonworking leg should
be off the floor and back behind
you as you descend. Keep a slight
bend in the working leg, and your
back flat. Do not overstretch. This
is a highly advanced movement
that takes an enormous amount of
lization required for unilateral
movements make them far more
challenging than standard exercises.
For example, if you can normally
leg-press 600 pounds for 10 repeti-
The added balance and stability required for
unilateral movements make them far more
challenging than standard exercises.
balance to perform properly and
safely. Do it very slowly and carefully, using very light weights.
Note: Do not expect to be able to
simply cut your normal weights in
half because you’re only using one
leg. The added balance and stabi-
tions, don’t expect to be able to use
300 pounds for one leg. You’re better
off using about one-quarter of your
normal leg press weight, or in this
case 150 pounds. Of course, if you
do unilateral movements often, your
strength on them will increase
quickly.
Here are a couple of sample routines using these exercises:
Beginner
Bench Stepups
Unilateral leg presses
Unilateral leg
extensions
Unilateral seated or
lying leg curls
3 x 10-12
3 x 10-12
4 x 8-10
Intermediate
Smith-machine lunges 3 x 10-12
Unilateral leg presses 3 x 10-12
Unilateral leg
extensions
2 x 10-12
Unilateral lying leg curls 3 x 8-10
Unilateral seated leg
curls
2 x 8-10
Advanced
Bench stepups
Barbell lunges
Unilateral leg presses
Unilateral stiff-legged
deadlifts
Unilateral standing leg
curls
BOTTOM
TOP
3 x 10-12
3 x 10-12
3 x 10-12
3 x 8-10
3 x 8-10
My suggestion is that you
shouldn’t entirely abandon standard
training; just use a routine like the
above examples once every six to
eight weeks. I do suggest that you
perform at least one unilateral
movement at every workout for the
unique muscle- and strength-building benefits it can provide.
Unilateral Lying
Leg Curls
TOP
Unilateral exercises are especially useful for athletes who require
more strength and endurance in
the balancing and stabilizer muscles, which will translate to vastly
improved on-field play. And as
mentioned above, bodybuilders
will enjoy a more symmetrical and
proportionate physique.
So, if you’re man enough and
think you can handle the intensity
of a unilateral leg workout, get
some extra sleep—and then get
ready to rumble! It’s time to get a
little one-sided about your leg
training.
Editor’s note: For individualized programs, online personal
training, nutritional guidance or
contest-prep coaching, contact Eric
Broser at [email protected]. IM
BOTTOM
Perform at least one unilateral movement at each and every workout
for the unique muscle- and strength-building benefits it can provide.
Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Naturally Huge
Power-Packed
Arms
Q: I’m on a powerlifting program, but I’m not sure
whether I should train my arms. I don’t want to
overtrain my biceps and triceps because that will
lead to no arm-size gains. Here’s my program: Monday I do bench presses, high pulls and reverse-grip
pulldowns; Wednesday it’s squats; and Friday I do
military presses. Do you think I should train arms
on Friday?
Q: I just
turned 18 and
have been
training for two
years now. I live
in Australia and
am four months
away from my
first competition. I wonder,
What’s the most
valuable lesson
you’ve learned
You have to learn which key exercises
over the years?
build the most mass for you.
Also, do you
have any tips on
posing? It’s my area of struggle. I’ve built myself
from 140 pounds to my current 186 with 9 percent
bodyfat—all natural, the only way to be.
A: Yes, I think you’ll do fine if you train your arms at your
Friday workout. I don’t think that you’ll be in danger of
overtraining at all, especially on such a limited workout
routine.
I’m not a powerlifter, but I think you could also add a few
more auxiliary exercises to your routine to become bigger
and stronger. You need to include deadlifts as one of your
core movements. You could perform that mass-building
exercise on Friday or include it with your squat workout on
Wednesday—although that will probably be too much to
do in one session, as the squat and deadlift are very intense
exercises.
Arm training can
be valuable for
powerlifters, and
core training with
abdominal
exercises is
critical for moving
big poundages on
the key lifts.
A: I’ve been training for approximately 28 years now, and
I’m still learning new things about training and diet all the
time. Bodybuilding is a unique experience for everyone
because every body is different. That means we need to
find what works for us as individuals. Also, because our
bodies change as we get older, we have to learn new ways
of training and eating to get our physiques to respond
again.
Probably the most valuable thing I’ve learned over the
years is what exercises are most effective at building muscle mass and how to apply them in a training routine without overtraining the individual muscle or the body in
general. After I had the correct exercises and routine in
place, it was only a matter of applying enough intensity to
the workout itself to develop the muscle mass I was after.
As for learning how to pose, you can do many things to
improve in that area. The first is to watch accomplished
posers actually performing their posing routine. In my
opinion, the best posers were bodybuilders of the ’70s and
’80s. In general, bodybuilders from those eras seemed to
put more effort and creativity into developing a posing
routine. Many modern-day bodybuilders (with the exception of Darrem Charles, Melvin Anthony and Lee Priest)
seem to wing it and rely on audience applause for their
posing routines instead of creating unique presentations.
Buy videotapes of some of the top competitions from
that era (go to www.gmv.com.au or (continued on page 92)
Neveux \ Model: Steve Kummer
You should also do some abdominal exercises to develop
your core strength, which will keep you stronger on the
heavy squats and deadlifts. Half situps on a steep incline
bench along with hanging knee raises will work your upper
and lower abs, respectively. Work your abs at least once per
week at the conclusion of your workout.
As for the arms, I think adding a couple of sets of barbell
curls for your biceps and lying triceps extensions or dips for
the triceps will do
the trick. Perform
your arm exercises at the conclusion of your
workout—that is,
after you’ve completed all your
heavy work.
Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Among today’s pros, Darrem Charles
always has a breathtaking presentation.
(continued from page 88) visit the Home Gym Warehouse at
pick a pose just because it looks good on your favorite
bodybuilder. It has to look good on your physique. When
you have a dozen or so poses picked out, you can begin the
process of putting them together into a routine.
Once you put the poses into some type of order, you’ll
need to work out the transitions between them. Try to
make them as smooth as possible by using your arms to
create wide arcs and dramatic moves. It helps to have
someone who’s experienced in posing watch you to give
you an honest assessment of your routine.
Posing is a difficult art to master, but watching the best
in the sport will help you create a routine that will emphasize your physique. I have a whole section on how to develop a posing routine, as well as the correct way to perform
the mandatory poses, in my new book, Natural Bodybuilding, which is available at www.Home-Gym.com. It could
become a great reference for you as you master the art of
posing.
www.Home-Gym.com), and watch bodybuilders such as Ed
Corney, Arnold Schwarzenegger, Frank Zane, Mohammed
Makkawy, Chris Dickerson, Lee Haney, Rich Gaspari, Lee
Labrada, Phil Hill, Shawn Ray, Bob Paris and Vince Taylor
go through their posing routines. Watch how they move
from pose to pose—the transitions—how they choose
poses that accentuate the strong points of their physique
while hiding their weak points and how they create a dramatic posing routine by coordinating the poses with the
music they use.
The first step to putting together a posing routine is to
choose the poses that look best for your physique. Don’t
Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Natural Mr.
Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
Visit his Web site at
www.natural
olympia.com. You
can write to him at
P.O. Box 3003,
Darien, IL 60561, or
call toll-free (800)
900-UNIV (8648).
His new book,
Natural Bodybuilding, is now available from Home
Gym Warehouse,
(800) 447-0008 or
www.HomeGym.com. IM
Neveux
Bob Paris’
posing was
exceptional
in his heyday.
Neveux
Neveux
Naturally Huge
John Hansen
[email protected]
A
r
e
d
l
i
u
b
y
Bod Is
Born
Episode 4: When Less Is More
by Ron Harris
Photography by Michael Neveux
face reddening. I was standing above him at
the incline press, a concerned expression on
my face. An Olympic bar loaded with 245
pounds was slowly crushing him into the
bench, digging a trench into his upper chest.
I knew I should probably take it off him now,
but I wanted to make sure heÕd remember
the moment. He tried to say something else
but could get out only a little choking sound.
Sighing, I took it off him and put it safely
back on the rack.
ÒSpot!Ó Randy managed to sputter, his
A Bodybuilder Is Born
Models: Lee and Alexander Apperson
Models: Bolo and David Yeung
I applied enough force to
let him barely squeeze
out two more reps.
“What the hell?” Randy usually
didn’t get angry with me, but his
emotions were running a little hot
right now. He probably thought I’d
just showed my first signs of actually
trying to kill him. The Steve Michalik/John DeFendis drowning reenactment couldn’t be too far off.
“Why did you let me stay stuck like
that?”
I knew I had to phrase my response right to calm him down. I
spoke in a soothing tone. “How
many reps was that, Randy?”
He looked at me as if I were
speaking a foreign language. “I
didn’t get any reps because you
didn’t spot me!” Several gym members were watching, no doubt hoping to see a fight.
“I didn’t spot you because you put
more weight on the bar than you
could even get for a single rep.”
His expression now turned defensive. “I usually get five or six reps with
that weight, sometimes more.”
“I used to watch you train, don’t
you remember? You always had spotters, and they weren’t just spotting,
they were lifting part of the weight for
you from the beginning.”
He tried to think of a comeback,
but nothing was popping into his
head.
“Are you trying to impress me by
using so much weight?” I asked. “I
guess you don’t know that people
who rely on spotters to lift more
weight don’t impress me. They make
me laugh. They think they’re a lot
stronger than they actually are, and
they’re the ones being fooled.” I took
the 10 and 45 off and slid a quarter
next to the remaining 45 on each side
while Randy looked on. In less than
30 seconds his outrage had melted
into embarrassment.
“Try this.”
Randy got back under the bar and
did his little preset ritual; we all have
one. In his case it involves muttering
something to himself under his
breath with eyes closed. I never asked
him exactly what he was saying, but I
bet his parents would faint if I managed to record it for them. I say, do
whatever it takes to put yourself in
the right frame of mind.
I handed the bar off to him at arm’s
length. A grim expression painted his
face. I knew he was determined to
show me something special this time.
He lowered the bar slowly until it
just grazed his upper pecs, then
drove it up forcefully for a strong
contraction. His pecs bunched up
together, and he repeated that seven
more times. When I saw he had no
more reps on his own left, I got my
hands under the bar. I then applied
enough force to let him just barely
squeeze out two more reps. I helped
him rack the bar with a clang of
metal. He sat up and flexed his chest
in a crab most-muscular, as I had
taught him, then reached down for
two 20-pound dumbbells at his feet
and sat back up on the bench. Lowering into the bottom position of an
incline flye, Randy held the stretch a
good five seconds before dropping
the ’bells to the rubber-matted floor
with a cry: “Ouch!”
A Bodybuilder Is Born
“You realized that guy’s biceps
will never be any bigger than they
are now, right?” I asked. Randy
shrugged. “I’m sure in his heart of
hearts he is convinced those cheat
curls using his whole body are
putting him on the way to having
arms like Lee Priest’s, but they’re
just ensuring that his arms will be
more like Jerry Seinfeld’s.” Randy
chuckled. I fixed him with a serious
stare because this was not a subject
I wanted him to think I took lightly.
“That’s you if you’re not careful,
Junior,” I said.
“Not even!”
“I’m afraid so. If you keep trying
to use more weight than you can
handle in good form all the time,
you’ll never have the physique you
say you want so badly. And I won’t
help you do that. I lift enough
damn weight in my own sets, and I
don’t need to be lifting your
weights too. You have to get this
stupid idea out of your head that
piling on more weights is the secret
to getting big. Good form and feeling the muscle work are far more
important. Sometimes less is
more.”
If
you keep trying to use
more weight than you can handle
in good form all the time, you’ll never
have the physique you want so badly.
Models: Marcus Reinhardt and Hubert Morandell
“Now, that was a set,” I said, clapping him on the shoulder. “Your
pecs are pumped up like balloons.”
Randy had an aw-shucks smile at
that. I pointed to a guy doing barbell
curls at the squat rack. He had a 45
on each side, and his form was
beyond horrible. It hurt me just to
watch him.
“Are that guy’s arms anything
special?” I asked. It was a rhetorical
question. The curler was about six
feet tall and maybe 180, with a little
potbelly. His arms were probably no
more than 15 inches.
“His arms suck,” Randy replied.
“How much weight do I use on
that exercise?”
“I think a quarter on each side,
maybe a 35.” I wasn’t about to ask
him about my arms, because if I
were fishing for compliments, some
other bodypart would have been the
topic. Randy was well aware that I’d
struggled with weak arms for many
years and had brought them up to a
pumped 19 inches through a lot of
hard, smart training. Not until I’d
learned to suppress my ego and
lighten up had most of the progress
actually occurred.
Randy didn’t say a word. He got
back under the 185 on the incline
press and ground out another eight
reps.
“This isn’t going to be easy for
you because most of the guys your
age are still wrapped up in the howmuch-ya-bench mentality. That
crap isn’t bodybuilding. It’s macho
posturing. You’ll see your buddies
using more weight than you, and
you might be tempted to do the
same. But listen to me.” My tone
became more sober; some of his
friends were loudmouths, and what
I said next would come to pass.
“Your buddies will never be anything special physically, just as that
guy doing the curls probably never
will either. None of them will ever
have the type of muscular development that gets your picture in the
magazines or wins a contest. In fact,
I doubt any of them will ever even
look like they lift seriously.”
“Wow,” was Randy’s reaction to
that grim reality.
“Would you rather walk down the
street and have people think you
can lift a ton or have to stop a
passerby and explain how much
weight you lift, even though you
don’t look it?”
“That’s easy,” Randy said.
“It should be an easy choice to
make, but most trainees never understand that there is a choice and
that they aren’t choosing wisely.”
We did more for chest and triceps, emphasizing the contractions
and forcing the muscles to work at
full capacity. By the time we left, a
group of four guys, one in his 20s
and the other three over 40, had
started warming up on the bench
press. They came in twice a week,
each of them working up to a max of
more than 400 pounds. It was clear
to me that none of them could actually lift that much weight, but it
made them feel good to think that
they could. Only the young guy had
a good build because he stayed after
they were done and did lighter work
every time. The older guys all had
fat bellies and skinny arms and legs.
Randy nodded in their direction.
“Those guys are me in 20 years if I
keep trying to go too heavy, huh?”
“Probably. But I know you’re too
smart for that.” As we walked past
the group, the wise-ass in me shot
to the surface. One of the guys had
Model: Ron Harris
Would you rather
walk down the
street and have
people think you
can lift a ton or
have to stop a
passerby and
explain how much
weight you lift,
even though you
don’t look it?
just bounced 405 off his chest. It
had come crashing down, as it always did, and was stuck until a
spotter on each side of the bar got it
off him. His face was purple from
lack of oxygen, and the spotter congratulated him on a good effort. My
own chest was pumped, looking
high and thick enough to set a
pitcher of water on. I smiled as I
walked by and asked, “Yo, you how
much I bench? Nowhere near as
much as you.” He stared back
blankly at me, unsure of whether I
was mocking him. Randy and I
managed to get into the locker room
before bursting out laughing.
“The sad thing is, Randy, that I
bet he thinks benching all that
weight makes him the stud of the
gym. And if I ever catch you doing
some stupid crap like that, I’ll have
no choice but to slap you upside the
head.”
“If you ever see me doing that,”
Randy responded, “feel free to
knock me out cold.”
I’ll remember, kid.
Editor’s note: To contact Ron
Harris, write to him at his Web site,
www.ronharrismuscle.com. IM
The Nautilus
North Study
Determining Optimal
Training Frequency:
Is It Possible to Add
100 Pounds of Muscle
in One Year?
by John Little
f you only had time to train once
every seven days, would you be
happy with a gain of 11 pounds
of muscle in a month? If you only
had time to train train once every
two weeks for 15 minutes a workout, would you settle for a 19.5pound gain of solid muscle in a
year? If so, read on, for that’s exactly what subjects who took part
in a two-week body-composition
study are on track to gain this year
at Nautilus North Strength & Fitness
Centre in Bracebridge, Ontario,
Canada.
In June 2005, 11 individuals who
had training histories that ranged
from six months to 20 years took
part in the study. The goals were
many, including:
Cary Howe
Model:
Ad
The Nautilus North Study
•To determine exactly when the
body produces a muscular increase
after a workout and thereby determine optimal training frequency.
•To determine when a mass
increase, so produced, begins to
leave the body.
•To determine if it’s possible to
gain one pound of solid muscle in a
week or two pounds in two weeks
and whether it’s possible to sustain
that rate of gain—adding up to 52
pounds of muscle over the course
of a year.
Background
Optimal Training Frequency
“How much muscle can I gain in
a week?” “How much muscle can I
gain in two weeks?” Trainers and
bodybuilding authorities get questions like those on a daily basis. Answers, typically, have been vague,
owing primarily to the fact that no
one has ever conducted studies to
furnish conclusive evidence. We
have long known that muscle size
and strength are related and that
strength increases typically indicate
that your workouts are producing
positive results that will at some
point produce mass increases.
We’ve also known that after a work-
Is it possible to
gain one to two
pounds of
muscle a week?
That would
add up to 50 to
100 pounds in
one year!
out the body must first put back the
energy and resources that were
used up during the workout before
it can begin the process of putting
back more than was used up, the
process of overcompensation.
What’s more, science has revealed
that in order to stimulate muscle
growth beyond normal levels, you
must find ways to make your muscular contractions more intense,
resulting in greater tension being
generated within a muscle, and that
the body then responds by making
the muscle bigger and stronger.
When flipping through the pages
of a muscle magazine, most trainees lose sight of the fact that professional bodybuilders are genetically
blessed; i.e., they have long muscle
bellies and, even more important,
many more fibers packed into a
given muscle than the rest of us.
Consequently, when Joe Champion
doubles the strength (and hence
the effective cross section) of his
muscles, they get much, much
bigger than what happens with the
average person, whose genetics are
not as strong. A bodybuilder who
has four times the muscle fiber
density in his biceps as the average
person will, assuming both are
training with sufficient intensity to
double their mass, always have a
muscle that is four times bigger
than the average trainee’s.
With that in mind, genetically
average bodybuilders must develop
a more realistic perspective on how
much muscle mass increase they
can expect to gain through productive training.
Many years ago Arthur Jones—
the retired chairman of the board of
both Nautilus Sports/Medical Industries and the MedX Corporation—made the statement, “If you
want to learn how to train a racehorse, you don’t ask the racehorse.”
There’s considerable merit in that
idea, as it has direct application to
bodybuilders and the fact that genetics is the prime determinant of
muscle size, shape and definition.
That’s not to suggest that training
and diet can’t modify or enhance
those features, but even then the
results will fall into a small range
that is likewise genetically determined. As soon as you reach the
muscular size and strength that
your genetic predisposition has
deemed to be adequate for your
physiology, progress slows dramatically or ceases altogether. At that
Ad
Genetics is the
prime determinant of muscle
size, shape and
definition, but
those factors
can be
enhanced.
point simply doing more exercise,
switching routines or adjusting
your diet will do nothing to alter
that biological fact. The only way to
make additional progress is by
giving your body a damned good
reason to grow larger muscles.
Muscle growth is a defensive
reaction to the stress of exercise. If
you can perform 12 repetitions with
a given resistance, and you decide
to end your set at eight, your body
has no reason to grow any bigger or
stronger. As far as it’s concerned, it
still has four reps in the bank—
which you never came close to
utilizing. That’s why intense training, where one more repetition
simply isn’t possible, is an absolute
requirement for stimulating muscle
growth. If you only do eight reps
when you’re capable of 12, what
reason does your body have to get
stronger? Even if you do two, three
or 10 more submaximal-effort sets,
you’re only going to be restimulating the same fibers—and slowtwitch fibers at that, those with the
lowest capacity for increasing in
size—not involving more fibers.
It stands to reason (and physiologists have proven this) that the sole
stimulus for increased size and
strength is increased intensity of effort. The greater the intensity, the
greater the growth stimulation.
Even so, as intensity and volume—
You have to give your
body a damned good
reason to grow larger
muscles.
Cary Howe
The participants trained
hard. The greater the intensity, the greater the
growth stimulation.
or duration—exist in an inverse
ratio to each other, it’s a physiological fact that the harder or more
intensely you do anything, the less
time you can spend doing it. In
other words, you can train hard
with high intensity and for a short
duration or train easy with low
intensity for long periods—but you
can’t train hard for long periods.
How hard? How brief? And how
long does it take for the gains that
are stimulated to be produced? We
know that subjects can grow
stronger on a per-workout basis,
but how do those strength gains
translate into actual increases in
muscle mass? And when? Knowing
how soon a mass increase shows up
tells you exactly how often you
should train. If, for instance, a gain
in mass took two weeks to be produced, what would be the point of
training more than once every two
weeks? All that would do is postpone or preempt the growth process. If, however, the gains showed
up in 24 hours, then waiting two
weeks could possibly delay the
gains.
In addition, if such answers
could be determined, people could
determine their optimal training
frequency as soon as they started
training, and then they could do
everything possible to maximize
each trip to the gym. And it only
stands to reason that, as they grew
stronger and moved heavier
weights, the energy required to
move those heavier weights would
also be greater, and it would take
longer to replenish it. (After all,
lifting 100 pounds for 10 repetitions
does not require as much energy as
lifting 400 pounds for 10 repetitions.) So the gray area of how often
to train could suddenly be
described in terms of black and
white for each individual. The
thought of breaking new ground is
what motivated me to conduct this
study.
The object of the
study was to determine how long it
takes for a mass
increase to show
up after a brief,
intense workout.
The Nautilus
North Study
Cary Howe
Nautilus machines were
an integral part of the
workouts in the study.
As there are so many methods of
training in use, even within highintensity circles, it’s almost impossible to have a control group. It’s
not as if you can just give the control subjects sugar pills. The control
group would be anyone who
doesn’t lift weights and doesn’t get
stronger—on the assumption that if
people don’t strength train they
won’t, after puberty at least, grow
stronger and bigger muscles—and
there’s no way that the subjects
won’t know that they’re not lifting
weights. For that reason we decided
not to have a control group in the
study.
Then came the decision on what
protocol the subjects should use.
What routine and training style? As
our subjects were not beginners, for
whom any type of training would
produce results, we opted for advanced high-intensity protocols.
The training stimulus had to be intense enough to work.
Our main focus would be on the
questions of “when” growth is produced and “how much” of it is pro-
Each workout should
produce a positive
adaptation, or muscle
growth.
The Results of the Two-Week Nautilus North Study
Name
Start Lean
C. Greenfield
165.9
D. Craig
120.9
D. Beaudry
138.2
C. Bell
140.6
J. Biggs
171.9
I. Heshka
173.1
C. Howe
137.9
J. Riley
144.5
J. Ostertag
120.9
T. Peake
138.4
J. Williams
142.4
Finish Lean
166.6
121.6
138.7
142.3
171.5
172.2
138.9
146
120.1
143.2
144.1
Day of Peak Lean
Day 10 (169.8)
Day 5 (123.7)
Day 1 (143.1)
Day 6 (143)
Day 1 (173.8)
Day 7 (175.2)
Day 10 (139.4)
Day 11 (146.7)
Day 5 (122.6)
Day 6 (147.7)
Day 9 (145.7)
Day of Lowest Lean
Day 5 (160.7)
Day 10 (118.6)
Day 9 (137.8)
No low read
Day 4 (169)
Day 8 (170)
Day 7 (135.6)
Day 1 (142.8)
Day 1 (120.1)
Day 9 (137.7)
Day 3 (140.9)
Lean Gains in Two Weeks (in Pounds) Over Starting Level of Lean
Name
Start Lean
C. Greenfield
165.9
D. Craig
120.9
D. Beaudry
138.2
C. Bell
140.6
J. Biggs
171.9
I. Heshka
173.1
C. Howe
137.9
J. Riley
144.5
J. Ostertag
120.9
T. Peake
138.4
J. Williams
142.4
Day of Peak Lean
Day 10 (3.9)
Day 5 (2.1)
Day 1 (4.9)
Day 6 (2.4)
Day 1 (1.9)
Day 7 (2.1)
Day 10 (1.5)
Day 11 (2.2)
Day 5 (1.7)
Day 6 (9.3)
Day 9 (3.3)
in subjects with normal—that is,
not drug-enhanced—physiology.
We have clients with many different goals at Nautilus North Strength
& Fitness Centre, which is owned
and operated by my wife, Terri, and
me, along with our brother-in-law
Cary Howe. We’ve trained more
than 500 clients on a one-on-one
basis, and we’ve found that unless
people are grossly underweight, it’s
very difficult to put more muscle on
them. Not impossible, only more
difficult because it requires an
ultraintense effort—and average
trainees, by and large, aren’t willing
to invest their workouts with that
much intensity.
For that reason we decided to
limit the study to clients who were
very motivated—not to become
professional bodybuilders, necessarily, but simply to become
stronger and leaner for their work,
sports (baseball, football, golf and
hockey) and day-to-day activities.
The people who took part in the
study weren’t grossly underweight
or overweight, nor were they underconditioned. They were young-to-
Day of Lowest Lean
Day 5 (-5.2)
Day 10 (-2.3)
Day 9 (-.4)
No low read
Day 4 (-2.9)
Day 8 (-3.1)
Day 7 (-2.3)
Day 1 (-1.7)
Day 1 (same as start)
Day 9 (-.8)
Day 3 (-2.5)
middle-aged men, several of whom
were fresh out of college, where
they’d been coached in track and
field. They were fit, muscular and
already very strong. I wanted to see
when the muscular gain that they
stimulated at their workouts would
be produced over a two-week period. As the subjects would not be
regaining previously held muscle
(as Casey Viator did in the Colorado
Experiment) and were already fairly
well developed in terms of their
genetic potentials for mass and
strength, any gains—if they were
genuine lean tissue, a.k.a. real muscle—would be noteworthy. First,
however, we needed a reliable
means of assessing and tracking
body composition.
The Body Comp
Weight Analysis
Centre
It is very difficult for anybody to
test body composition accurately.
While it’s true that there are no
duced. As each workout should
produce a positive adaptation, our
job was to determine when that
adaptation manifested. As training
ought to be teleological—that is,
purposefully directed—we went to
what science had to tell us about
how to strengthen a muscle and
what type of contraction was necessary to do it. We also had our subjects submit to sophisticated body
composition testing on a daily basis
in order to determine when the
gains (however great or minuscule)
showed up. We figured that would
tell us how soon the subjects could
train again without disrupting the
process of recovery and growth.
With respect to how many sets
are required to produce optimal
size and strength increases, the
Journal of Exercise Physiology Online (December 2004) published a
most enlightening article in which,
after an extensive review of all of
the peer-reviewed scientific literature on training protocols, the researchers concluded that one set to
failure was all that was required for
building muscle size and strength
Finish Lean
166.6 (.7)
121.6 (.7)
138.7 (.5)
142.3 (1.7)
171.5 (-.4)
172.2 (-.9)
138.9 (1)
146 (1.5)
120.1 (-.8)
143.2 (4.8)
144.1 (1.7)
Putting two
inches on
your arm
means
nothing if
it’s two
inches of fat.
composition of individual limbs
down to the gram; however, it uses
radiation. Who wants to be exposed
to that for repeated sessions? That’s
what’s required to measure body
composition accurately: repeated
testing over a short span of time.
And we were going to test daily.
John Little supervises one of the
study participants on a Nautilus
hip-and-back machine.
Cary Howe
shortage of body composition testing methods available, it’s also true
that not all of them are accurate—
some can be off by 30 percent or
more. Without an accurate and
reliable means of assessing body
composition, you are a rudderless
ship. How do you know if your
training and diet are producing
muscle gains? A bodybuilder can
easily gain 10 pounds over the
course of a month—but 10 pounds
of what? Water? Fat? Muscle? Fat
and muscle? A bodyweight scale
can’t tell the difference.
The same applies to using a tape
measure: Putting two inches on
your arm means nothing if they’re
two inches of fat. To make any sort
of measurement relevant, you have
to be able to assess the composition
of the weight and volume accurately. Basically, you need to know that
the weight you gained from training
this month was the result of an
increase in your body’s lean mass
rather than fat. And if you’re trying
to lose fat, you need to know if the
weight you lost was fat, water, lean
tissue or a combination of all three.
We considered various methods
of testing body composition for our
study. A dual-energy X-ray absorptiometry (DEXA) machine is sophisticated enough to measure the
Underwater weighing is excellent
and very accurate. Indeed, Mike
and Ray Mentzer both used the hydrostatic method in 1980, when
Mike was preparing for the Mr.
Olympia contest. It revealed that
Mike had gained 12 pounds of
muscle over a period of only 12
days. Hydrostatic weighing was the
gold standard of body composition
20 years ago, but there have been
advances since that time, most
notably in the areas of practicality
and convenience. After all, who
wants to be dunked up to 10 times
for 30 seconds in an underwater
tank? Plus, it just wasn’t practical to
send our subjects to university
physiology labs in Toronto to have
the test performed.
Bioelectric impedance analysis
seemed promising, but the technology experienced problems with
regard to accuracy and repeatability; one client, a medical doctor in
town, has a niece who is morbidly
obese. He, by contrast, is a fitness
freak—not only performing
strength training but also competing in cross-country ski events. He
is so defined that you can see virtually every muscle on his body; however, when he and his niece tested
themselves on a bioelectrical
impedance (continued on page 114)
Ad
(continued from page 110) machine,
they both tested at 36 percent fat!
Evidently, many such machines can
measure only the composition of
the limb or limbs that actually
make contact with the apparatus,
as the current is too weak to measure all aspects of the body. On the
other hand, who would want a
supercharged electrical current
running through his or her body,
which is what it would take to increase the accuracy rate?
Calipers were another option,
but as bodyfat is stored all over the
body and not just in the three to
four areas you test, there’s no way
you can determine overall bodyfat
with such limited measurements.
(Similarly, when you lose bodyfat, it
comes off randomly from all over
the body and not just from the sites
where the tests are conducted.) In
addition, calipers only measure
subcutaneous fat deposits, so their
results tell us nothing about visceral, or internal, fat, which is the fat
that typically builds up to cause
serious health problems. Moreover,
of all the methods discussed above,
calipers have the highest percentage of error, typically the result of
people’s storing fat in different
areas from those being measured.
The only valid scientific method
I’ve found that was ideal for the
type of frequent testing we needed
was the whole-body testing offered
by Body Comp Weight Analysis
Centre (705-645-9754). The method
used there is based on the same
principle of displacement that
hydrostatic weighing employs, but
the machine—a Bod Pod capsule—
measures air displacement. The
testing procedure is quick (under
five minutes) and accurate to plus
or minus 2 percent, which puts it
on a par in terms of accuracy with
hydrostatic weighing and, shy of an
autopsy, is as accurate a measurement as science presently permits.
Moreover, although this technology
is used in universities, hospitals
and other professional institutions,
it’s the only one we were aware of in
Canada that was open to the general public. Using the Body Comp
Weight Analysis Centre’s revolutionary technology, we were able to test
the subjects and know—to .1 of a
pound—whether the weight they
were gaining or losing was lean or
fat and whether a particular training and recovery protocol produced
lean tissue—and, even more impressively, we were able to determine exactly—to the day—when
the gain or loss showed up.
The Stimulus
The subjects trained once, and
then we tracked their body composition every day for 14 days. We
engineered the workouts to target
the major muscle masses of the
body in the order that was most
likely to stimulate more growth.
The subjects did five to 11 sets
maximum in the workout (the higher set numbers were for two
trainees who were using the original Max Contraction training protocol of whole-body workouts
consisting of isolation exercises).
They took each set to either positive
muscular failure, negative-only
failure, static failure or Infitonic
failure. (Infitonic is a term coined
by the late Mike Mentzer to describe a technique whereby you’d
perform a maximum single lift
concentrically, followed immediately by a maximum negative, or
eccentric, lift. That was one repetition. You then took a 10-second
rest/pause, which allows your vasculature to empty, delaying or preventing the buildup of metabolites
such as lactic acid that can compromise a maximum-intensity contraction, and repeated the sequence for
a maximum of five repetitions.)
All the subjects were tested before the stimulus—that is, the workout—was applied. After the
workout we instructed the subjects
not to do any additional resistance
exercise. They simply went about
their day-to-day affairs for the 14
days of the study. As we were checking solely for lean tissue increases,
we didn’t have the subjects reduce
or increase their calories. We wanted the training stimulus to be the
sole variable. We knew that if the
subjects ate their usual diet, they
wouldn’t sacrifice muscle.
The numbers in the chart on
page 109 indicate not bodyweight
but lean weight. The subjects’ actual weight—as measured by a
scale—was considerably higher
than indicated in the chart shown
here, but as (continued on page 120)
Ending lean mass: 145.93
Gain in lean mass: .955
Peak lean mass: 148.23
Gain in lean at peak: 3.27
Day of peak gain: 6.5
Lowest lean before peak: 143.77
Prepeak loss of lean: 1.20
Day of prepeak loss: 1.9
Overall lowest lean: 143.07
Overall loss of lean: 1.90
Day of overall lowest lean: 5.18
(Averages of middle nine values,
dropping high and low in each
category.)
Beginning lean mass: 144.52
Ending lean mass: 145.88
Gain in lean mass: .733
Peak lean mass: 148.10
Gain in lean at peak: 2.80
Day of peak gain: 6.6
Lowest lean before peak: 143.17
Prepeak loss of lean: 0.8
Day of prepeak loss: 1.5
Overall lowest lean: 142.80
Overall loss of lean: 1.74
Day of overall lowest lean: 5.22
A New Observation:
Muscular Suppression
Cary Howe
Little and Chris Evans
made sure the subjects
attacked each set.
(continued from page 114) we were
only interested in lean, or muscular,
bodyweight, that’s the only reading
presented. The most striking gain
was recorded by T. Peake, who
peaked at 9.3 pounds after 6 1/2
days of recovery and was up 4.8
pounds after two full weeks of body
composition testing—all from only
one workout. If that rate of increase
persisted (which seems very unlikely), it would see him gain 9.6
pounds of muscle per month, or
115.2 pounds of muscle per year. As
that would be an unprecedented
increase, it’s more likely that his
growth would stop at some point,
although we can’t know in advance
precisely when or what that would
be. Besides, since muscle continues
to increase in size and strength if it
gets both the stimulus for change
and the time required to produce
such change, one must grant that
even an unprecedented gain is statistically possible. More likely, we
should look to the average gain the
subjects experienced as being more
realistic and, therefore, attainable.
In determining the averages, we
have presented the actual gains and
averages from all of the subjects in
the study, followed by the actual
gains and averages with the highs
and lows factored out in order to
determine a more likely average for
trainees with average genetics and
recovery ability:
Averages Including
All Study Participants
Beginning lean mass: 144.97
The data show a pattern of muscle growth: The lean composition of
human muscle actually dipped, or
was suppressed, after the workout
was applied, reaching a low at day 5
(on average) and not coming up for
several days afterward. Evidently,
muscle tissue is like a sponge; immediately after an intense workout
it is, for want of a better term, compressed. Some of its constituents,
like glycogen, are used up and not
immediately replaced, with the
result that the body’s lean composition can actually be reduced by
several pounds and stay that way
for several days after a workout. But
then over time the lean tissue fills
back up again, and, if the workout
was sufficiently intense to stimulate
a compensatory buildup of new
tissue, it will grow back bigger than
it was before. In other words, the
growth process is not an entirely
linear progression; the muscle
content of the body gets smaller
after training and then increases in
volume, with periodic ebbs and
flows until it finally recovers—that
is, returns to its preworkout size—
and then gets a little bit bigger,
which is the overcompensation.
Whereas some experts hold that
decompensation—or loss of muscle
tissue from disuse—occurs after 48
or 96 hours, our study revealed no
evidence of that. In fact, it often
took in excess of seven days, or 178
hours, for the gains to be produced.
Knowing that, and the fact that the
muscles must first recover before
they can grow, we can infer that
training before peak growth has
taken place will postpone the maximum production of new muscle.
The average peak gain from the
workout arrived almost a full seven
days later, and the subjects held a
large portion of the peak gain right
up until testing ended on day 14.
With this data we can now make
some predictions of rate of muscle
gain based on a continued growth
pattern and the trainee’s hitting his
targeted peak training day and also
predictions of the rate of growth by
those who train but once every two
weeks:
Predictions Based on
14-Day Study Average
Base value: 0.733 pounds
1 week: 0.367 pounds
2 weeks: 0.733 pounds
4 weeks (1 month): 1.466
2 months (8 weeks): 2.932
12 months (1 year): 19.058
Peak Training Time
Based on Best (Ideal)
Result
Calculations: 6.6-day period
Base value: 2.800
1 week: 2.970
2 weeks: 5.939
4 weeks (1 month): 11.879
12 months (1 year): 154.424
Into the Future
Here are a few things the data
indicate:
•The average peak day was 6.5. If
we drop the highs and the lows to
get a better average, it extends to
6.6 days.
•The average muscular suppression, or dip, day occurred at day
1.9 and continued for several
days thereafter.
•The average gain worked out to
be .733, or just under threequarters of a pound of muscle
per two-week period, and 5.93
pounds in two weeks (based on
the peak growth point).
Such gains are considerable
(some, such as the projection of 154
pounds in a year, undoubtedly
beyond considerable). They would
have the average trainee gaining at
least 19 1/2 pounds of solid muscle
per year, with those of above average genetics gaining more and
those of below average genetics
gaining less. Moreover, the gain is
achieved not by training every day,
not by taking expensive supplements or drugs, not by drinking
gallons of milk, but by eating normally and training only once every
two weeks.
If you didn’t gain 19 1/2 pounds
of muscle this past year, then the
figures for the compression, or dip,
of lean tissue prior to the growth
being produced should be particularly interesting to you, as it is a
phenomenon that was observed in
all our subjects and is, we suspect,
applicable to the vast majority of
trainees. Leaving it out of the frequency equation could be the reason that many bodybuilders fail to
make the progress that they’re
capable of.
Editor’s note: The scientific
training approach employed by
Nautilus North Strength and Fitness
Centre produces exceptional results. Nautilus North is one of the
leading fitness research centers in
North America, and the conclusions of the Nautilus North Study
are truly revolutionary. A complete
report of this landmark study, along
with a full breakdown of the exact
workout that produced the study’s
most dramatic gains in lean mass,
is now available in e-book form at
John Little’s Web site: www
.maxcontraction.com. Those wishing to perform a supervised workout at Nautilus North Strength &
Fitness Centre should call (705)
645-6525 to book an appointment.
IM
Radical
“Redemption”
Ronnie ColemanÕs Shocking Olympia Mass
Training Drops Jaws and Triggers Awes
by Steve Holman
All training photos are from “Cost Of Redemption” DVD ©2004 Mitsuru Okabe Co. All World Rights Reserved. Used with permission.
W
e were standing, frozen,
in front of the computer
screen in my office, our
jaws on the floor. No, we
hadn’t logged on to the “Girls Gone
Wild” Web site; Jonathan Lawson
and I were watching the Ronnie
Coleman DVD “The Cost of Redemption,” which is an ungodly
display of muscle mass and raw
strength captured by Mitsuru
Okabe. Once I’d locked my jaw back
in place, I noticed that Mr.
Olympia’s mass-training style is a
prime example of max-force-point
overload on almost every exercise.
What the heck am I talking about?
Let’s start from the beginning of
Mr. O’s DVD. On second thought,
let me explain max-force-point
overload first, which will help you
better understand why most of
Coleman’s training is so on target
for building incredible mass quickly. Then we’ll get to his training.
The max-force point is the place
along an exercise’s stroke at which
the target muscle has the most
power-output potential. It’s essentially the most important point of
any movement because it’s where
the most fiber activation can
occur—more force equals maximum muscle involvement. Where is
that point? Well, it’s different for
every exercise, but you can usually
find it near the semistretched position.
When a muscle is semistretched—not fully stretched, but
almost—the muscle fibers are perfectly aligned for ultimate power
generation. In simple terms, if you
want to trigger extreme mass, you
need to overload that point somehow. Coleman does that instinctively with heavy partial-range reps on
almost every exercise. For example,
he does only the bottom half of a
bench press stroke. In fact, he almost never does full-range reps.
Toro
That means he slams
that mass-morphing sweet spot
with severe overload on every single
rep.
Okay, you’ve got the basic concept of why and how this mindboggling mass machine got into the
Jurassic category of the muscle
elite. Let’s talk specifics—extracted
right from his DVD.
Opening. It’s 9:35 a.m., and
Coleman is fixing himself breakfast
in his kitchen. He’s wearing a
sleeveless, collarless shirt, and the
man is huge! With every move, as
when he’s whipping up his gritsand-egg-white concoction, the
vascularity on his arms and delts
gets more vivid. By the time he sits
down to eat, the veinous network
looks like the root system of a
giant sequoia shooting down
his arms. After he chows down
on his breakfast mix—from a
Jethro Bodine-size bowl—he
jumps into one of his cars,
SUVs or Hummers for his
drive to Metroflex Gym, a
hardcore Texas pain-and-gain
muscle dungeon.
Workout
1
note that on all calf exercises, even
the seated variety, he double
bounces when he gets to the highest point, which for him is just
above the middle of the stroke.
From a scientific standpoint he
might get better results doubleclutching at the semistretched
point, down near the bottom where
the most fiber activation can occur.
That’s exactly how he trains his
shrugs, double-dipping at the bottom stretch and then only moving
the bar up a few inches before he
lowers and double bangs again—
and his traps are absolutely enormous! Maybe his calves would get
even better with extra
semistretched-point overload (but
who am I to tell Mr. O how to
train?).
Delts. He kicks off shoulder
Coleman’s presses are partial-range,
Calves. He begins with
semistretched-position-overload
seated calf raises, and the first
reps with controlled explosion.
thing that’s noteworthy is
that he never gets close to full
contraction—not even on his first,
lighter sets. He works from just
work with seated dumbbell presses,
above the middle of the stroke to
using a seat with back support. He
just short of full stretch—the
drives the dumbbells from ear level,
semistretched point. He does the
the semistretched point, to about
same thing on one-leg leg press calf
eight inches above his head, far
raises; however, it’s interesting to
short of lockout. (It’s during this
exercise that you get to hear his first
surprising and humorous battle cry,
“Yeah, buddy!” He loves that stuff,
no matter how painful the set.)
He does four sets of dumbbell
presses, increasing the weight on
each till he’s using the 160s on his
last set for seven reps. (Yes, 160pound dumbbells!) His first three
sets are all in the 10-to-12-rep
range. It was rather shocking to see
that Coleman prefers higher reps
on almost all of his sets, but it’s
probably to hammer the target
muscle with more tension time.
Speaking of higher reps, here’s a
big surprise: After dumbbell presses
he goes to the Nautilus doubleshoulder machine and does lateral
raises, only the bottom half of the
movement (semistretched point
again), for about 20 reps. Then he
follows immediately with
presses on
the machine, turning his
palms out
(ouch) and
moving the
bar from ear
level to just
above his
head, no
lockout, for
about 20
reps. He
does three of
the high-rep
combo
sets—and his
delts get
pumped to the
extreme.
For front
delts he does a
few progressively heavier
sets of alternate
dumbbell front
raises, stopping
each rep at
about eye level.
His reps start at
15 on the first
set and creep
down from
there.
Uncrossovers are next. What the
heck is an uncrossover? You stand
in the middle of a cable crossover,
the cable handle from the opposite
side in each hand, your arms
crossed at midforearm in front of
He uses a
double-hitch
tactic at the
bottom of
every rep to
emphasize the
key stretch
point.
your face with a slight bend at each
elbow. You uncross your arms and
drive your hands out to your sides
at shoulder level, keeping the slight
bend at the elbows. After a few reps
you should get a wicked burn in
your rear-delt heads and midback.
Coleman does four sets, increasing
the weight on each and decreasing
his reps, going from 15 down to
eight.
Next it’s bent-over cable laterals
in the same crossover machine but
using the low handles—and zero
full-range reps. He does only half
reps from the stretch point to about
halfway up. In other words, his
arms never get close to parallel to
the floor for complete contraction.
He does four sets of these stretchemphasis back burners.
Are you seeing a pattern? The
stretched and semistretched points
appear to be critically important for
building mass. Coleman’s training
indicates that in a big way—even
more strongly on the next exercise.
Traps. To finish, he blasts out
heavy behind-the-back barbell
shrugs. He does them while holding
the Olympic bar behind his legs
rather than in front, and he uses a
tremendous poundage that rattles
the power rack to its core at the end
of his sets; however, his
catchers—other than his training
shoulders barely move.
partner and the Metroflex Gym
He only does bottomowner, neither of whom look too
range partials—and his
thrilled about having to pull 800
traps look like Grand
pounds off of Ronnie if he misses.
Canyon-size boulders
Oh, and did I mention that all of
sitting on his shoulders.
his reps are down below parallel
He starts with 445
and only partial range? Yep, it’s
pounds and does 15 reps.
semistretched-position overload,
Then he bumps it up to
never pushing close to top-end
645 for 12 and, finally,
lockout. If you look closely, you’ll
735 for 11. And as mennotice that Ronnie’s 300-pound
tioned above, he doublephysique is quite a contrast to the
clutches at the bottom,
poster of a skinny Bruce Lee hangstretched position on
ing on the wall behind him flapping
every rep, providing
in the breeze.
serious double overColeman does take quite a bit of
load at the max-force
time between heavy sets, as he
point.
wraps his knees and squeezes into a
My primary
power suit. Still, 800 for two deep
thought at the end of
reps nonlock style is amazing.
his workout, other
Another eye-popping display
than shock and awe,
occurs on leg presses. He does four
was this: Considering
progressively heavier sets with his
the impressiveness of
feet close and in nonlock style. On
his traps, which
may be his
freakiest bodypart, I wonder
why he doesn’t
try the doubleclutch semistretched-overload tactic on more of his
He starts from
exercises. I’ve used
lockout, but
semistretched-point partials,
after that first
or X Reps, at the end of sets
rep it’s all
and they’ve taken my mass
bottom-range
to new levels. Coleman’s
partials.
double-clutch method from
the very first rep may be a
good, or better, hybrid version. Could it make him even
larger? Scary thought.
Workout
2
Quads. Coleman starts with
four progressively heavier sets
of leg extensions to warm up
his knees. He does 30 quick
reps on each set. As before, it’s,
“Yeah, buddy!” as he primes
his knees and his mind for squats.
Prepare to be impressed. He does
five progressively heavier sets on
squats: 225x12, 405x10, 595x8,
745x4 and 800x2. Wow! But even
more impressive is that he doesn’t
use a power rack. He shoulders the
bar from heavy-duty power stands
and then squats without any safety
his last set he appears to have every
45 in the gym piled on, and a calculator is brought out to determine
that he was using 2,250 pounds—
for eight reps! Yep, more than a ton.
Hamstrings. Those leg presses,
with feet high on the platform,
provide a good transition to hamstring work. He begins with one-leg
of the movement only; bench
kneeups, bottom range only;
standing cable crunches and
twisting crunches. It appears
as though there’s no specific
order; he just does whichever
exercise he feels like doing—
but he still emphasizes the
leg curls, once
again doing only
the bottom twothirds of the
movement
(semistretched
point) and no
pauses. His reps
are rapid fire, and
he alternates legs
for three sets of
about 15 reps
apiece.
Stiff-legged deadlifts are last on
his day-two agenda, and the theme
slapped me in the face again: He
only moves the bar from ankles to
knees—stretched-position partials.
And his weight is relatively light. It
looked to be only about 275 pounds
for all three sets. He appears to be
using the exercise as more of a
stretch-emphasizing movement,
and as I’ve noted at X-Rep.com and
in our e-books, stretch-position
work has been linked to hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, in the lab.
Perhaps that’s one reason Ronnie is so damn huge—maybe
stretch and semistretch focus
has produced considerable replication of muscle fibers. Interesting concept!
Stretching. Even more evidence of Coleman’s attention to
muscle elongation: He ends this
workout with hamstring and
adductor stretches.
Workout
3
Would you
believe more
than 2,200
pounds on leg
presses?
semistretched point on
almost all of them, never holding a
contraction and almost always just
doing partial-range, rapid-fire reps.
Chest. He begins with bench
presses, five progressively heavier
sets—and his range is almost shorter here than on most other exercises. It looks as though he’s moving
through only the bottom half of the
stroke, exploding on every rep at
the low, semistretched point.
How much does Mr. O bench? At
this workout his last three sets were
315x12, 405x10 and 495x5. Not
too shabby.
For incline presses it’s a repeat
performance as far as range goes—
partial, max-force-point emphasis.
He does only the bottom half to
two-thirds of the stroke, often reversing the movement of the bar
and exploding on it before it touches his chest. He does three sets:
225x15, 315x12 and 405x8 plus one
forced rep. Forced reps are a rare
occurrence, at least on this DVD.
Next up: decline presses. Bottom
half of the stroke only, and he does
three sets: 225x15, 315x15 and
405x10. He lowers the bar to his
low-pec line on every rep.
Triceps. He begins with quickhit one-arm overhead extensions in
a seated position. He lowers the
dumbbell to just off his shoulder,
hand at about ear level, then drives
it up till his hand is just above his
head, not even close to lockout. He
just keeps pulsing in that middle
range, kicking out of the
semistretched position, for three
sets of 12 to 15 reps.
Machine dips are next. Here he
sits and grips wheelbarrow-type
handles. The fulcrum is at the middle of the two handlebars, and the
weight is at the opposite end. He
drives the handles from the
semistretched point, hands up next
to his pecs down to well short of
lockout. He does those pistonlike
reps for three sets of 12 to 15 reps.
Narrow-grip pushdowns finish
off his triceps. Not to belabor the
point, but (you guessed it) his range
of motion is from about the
middle of his chest (triceps’
semistretched point) to just
short of lockout. He fires out 10
to 15 reps with zero pauses for
three sets.
More partialrange explosions
on decline
presses.
Abs. Coleman’s ab routine is an
almost endless giant set. He does
bench crunches, bottom two-thirds
Workout
4
Calves. He starts the
day with some highrep calf work in his
home gym, once again
doing short, pulsing
reps through the
bottom range only and
double-clutching each
rep at about the
midpoint (Ronnie, try doubleclutching closer to the bottom,
where the X spot is; I swear you’ll
like it!). After pumping up his
calves, he’s off to the gym.
Back. Wide-grip lat pulldowns
are first. That may be the exercise
he uses the fullest range on. He
pulls from just shy of lockout,
semistretched point, down to his
middle chest. The explosive heave
just before lockout at the top of
every rep really overloads that
max-force point for some serious
mass stimulation in his upper lats.
You can see it happening. Unreal!
He does four sets of 12 reps, the last
with the stack plus a 45 pinned to it.
Behind-the-neck pulldowns are
next, although they’re really behind-the-head pulldowns. He never
pulls the bar past ear level, and he
releases to just short of lockout. He
does three sets of 12 reps here.
Cable rows follow—rapid-fire
reps from the forward-lean,
semistretched position and pulling
the parallel handle to near his
upper abs as he straightens his
torso. He does three sets of 12
again, and on his last set he rows
the stack plus two 45s that are
pinned to it.
To finish off back, he goes for
some serious stretch (and maybe
some critical fiber splitting, or hyperplasia). Cross-bench dumbbell
pullovers, with one ’bell, give his
lats some wicked elongation, especially when he gets to his last set,
pulling a 160-pound dumbbell from
back over his head to just over his
eyes. He does three sets of 12 again,
partial-range with a considerable
stretch emphasis (how could you
not emphasize stretch with that
amount of weight?).
Biceps. He begins attacking his
mountainous biceps with machine
curls. It looks like an old Nautilus
machine with an EZ-curl handle,
but he doesn’t do full-range Arthur
Jones-style reps. He curls from the
semistretched point, arms just
bent out of the straight-arm position, to just above the middle of the
stroke—no contraction emphasis
at all. His reps are partial, pistonlike max-force-point-overload reps
for all three sets.
Next up are alternate dumbbell
curls. Nothing special here, just
rocking the weight up in a see-saw
motion. Each of the three sets
seems extremely long because of
the alternating arms—one arm
rests while the other curls—plus
the fact that he does 10 full reps on
every set.
Last is a unique cable curl. Instead of facing the weight stack, he
turns his back to it so the cable runs
down between his legs. He bends
over slightly at the waist and curls
from the semistretched point, never
straightening his arms, to just
above the midpoint of the stroke—
like slightly exaggerated X Reps. He
performs three sets of 15, 15 and 11
reps.
Then he hits a few poses that had
the protein shake I was sipping
spewing out my nose. An incredible
impromptu display of raw muscle
size and separation, despite his
being months away from the Mr.
Olympia.
Mass-Building Lessons
So what can we learn from all of
this? First and foremost, it appears
that semistretched- and stretchedposition overload are much, much
more important than squeezy contractions—at least in the massive
Coleman camp. I’ve been explaining
why in the pages of IRON MAN for
many moons as well as in the e-books
Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building and
The Ultimate Mass Workout. Coleman’s training verifies a lot of what
we’ve discovered the past few years at
the IRON MAN Training & Research
Center.
Next, continuous tension appears
to be a very big player in building
muscle. When Coleman does partial
reps, such as nonlock squats or presses, the target muscle never gets a
breather. The technique creates an
occlusion, or blocked blood flow, and
that produces a skin-stretching pump
as well as spectacular anabolic responses in muscle tissue.
One thing you don’t learn on the
DVD is that Coleman usually trains
with two different workouts for each
bodypart, an A-and-B approach. He
rotates them to hit the muscle with
different stress at every session. In
other words, I only described half of
his workouts. The others hit the same
bodyparts but usually with different
exercises.
The last thing I picked up on is that
Coleman is one heck of a personable
guy and loves training. You can see it
in his eyes and hear it in his voice. My
only complaint is that now, after I
screened the DVD a second time at
home to write this feature, my daughters are answering any question I
throw out to them with, “Yeah,
buddy!”
Editor’s note: Ronnie Coleman’s three-hour-and-15-minute
“The Cost of Redemption”
DVD is available for
$29.95 plus
shipping from
Home Gym
Warehouse (you
save $10.00 of the
retail price). Call (800) 447-0008, or
visit www.Home-Gym.com. For more
on X-Rep training, occlusion and
semistretched overload, visit
www.X-Rep.com. IM
Middle East
Muscle
Sagi Kalev, a 33-Year-Old Israeli
Transplant, Has a Different Take
on Bodybuilding Success
by Joe Raymond
H
e hasn’t competed in a bodybuilding show
since 1999, but he’s one of the most soughtafter cover models in the business today. Unlike
most competitive bodybuilders, he manages to
keep his weight within a 10-pound range yearround. He also chooses to live in Dallas, Texas, rather
than in the one or more traditional bodybuilding and
modeling meccas—New York, Los Angeles or Las Vegas.
Sagi Kalev, a 33-year-old native of Israel, has charted
his own course with determination and creativity since he
began modeling and competing as a teenager. His consuming passion to become a top-level physique model,
however, didn’t kick in until the spring of 2003. Within
six months he landed a significiant contract with a nutrition company and a cover on one of bodybuilding’s
major publications.
Models: Sagi Kalev and Cara Basso
Middle East Muscle
“Self-centered
means being
successful in a
lot of different
ways. It means
doing a lot of
sacrificing. From
experience I
learned that if I
don’t make
myself happy, my
surroundings
aren’t happy, and
I won’t be as
successful as I
can be.”
Bodybuilding Success
Although Sagi continues to
spend most of his time on his personal-training business, his newfound popularity has brought him
international recognition, five more
magazine covers, guest-posing
appearances, video and theater
opportunities and sponsorships
and partnerships with several fitness-related companies. He attributes his success to a variety of
factors: genetics, discipline, a marketable look and the ability to
bridge the gap between
bodybuilder and fitness model. As
far as he’s concerned, the best is yet
to come.
JR: Describe yourself in up
to 10 phrases.
SK: Independent, grown-up,
mature, self-centered, good-looking, muscular, generous, openminded, kind, educated.
JR: A couple of those terms—
self-centered and generous—
seem to be somewhat
contradictory. Are they necessary attributes of a successful
physique model?
SK: Yes and no. Self-centered
means being successful in a lot of
different ways. It means doing a lot
of sacrificing. One of my sacrifices is
making sure I come first. From
experience I’ve learned that if I don’t
make myself happy, my surroundings aren’t happy, and I won’t be as
successful as I can be. That’s what I
mean by being self-centered. I’m
not saying I’m egocentric, because I
do care what other people do or
think. But in this sport, which is
24/7, it’s very important to know
exactly what you need to do each
day. You have to build your day
around your food and your training
and your sleep.
JR: I’ve heard that people
who see you for the first time
often try to guess your ethnic
background. What is it?
SK: Most people that I meet have
no idea where I’m from. Until I
speak, they think I’m from the United States. I’m from the Middle East.
I was born in Israel in 1971. My
background is Eastern European—
Romanian, Hungarian, Polish, Russian and some Bulgarian.
JR: Give us a short synopsis
of your experiences in that part
of the world.
SK: Growing up in Israel is very
similar to growing up in the U.S.
The main difference is that we know
growing up that we go into the
military at age 17 or 18 to protect
our country and our families. Our
education is important. Our health
and physical education are important. Otherwise we’re very much the
same in terms of clothes, music and
the foods we eat.
JR: Were you active in sports
as a child or teenager?
SK: I was active in any sport you
can think about, from swimming to
rock climbing to Ping-Pong, volleyball, tennis, sprinting, weightlifting,
soccer and basketball. We didn’t
play baseball and football. Those
are the only sports I wasn’t familiar
with.
JR: When and why did you
decide to turn your attention
to bodybuilding?
SK: When I was 15, my dad took
me to a gym for the first time. I was
Middle East Muscle
always athletic, and I was good in
chins and pullups. I used one of the
machines, and one of the trainers
approached me and said, “Wow!
You’re pretty strong for a little guy.”
And I said, “Little guy?” That’s something that really caught my attention. I said, “No more little guy!”
And that’s when movies like
“Conan” and “Rocky” and “Rambo”
came out. It was what the trainer
said and movies like that that
helped push me over to the bodybuilding world.
JR: What role did genetics
play in your decision to be a
bodybuilder?
SK: Genetics is about 80 to 90
percent of it. When it comes to
genetics, I’m not just talking about
the body. I’m also talking about the
mind and spirit. To be successful in
anything, you’ve got to have drive
and be persistent. That’s part of
your genetics. I have the genetics, I
believe, that enable me to achieve
the goals I want in the bodybuilding
and modeling worlds.
JR: You competed in Israel as
a teenage bodybuilder. How
was that?
SK: That was the first time I’d
ever been onstage by myself. That
was a unique and very special moment for me, and when I first realized that it wasn’t about just the
bodybuilding. It was about the
attention being centered on me. I
liked the attention. As far as competing goes, I had no clue what I
was doing, but because of my genetics, I looked pretty good considering what I was eating. Because as
we all know, bodybuilding is mainly
about what you eat.
JR: What role did the military
play in your life then, and does
what you experienced play a
role in your life now?
SK: The military was a huge,
huge influence in my life—from the
beginning of every day to the end of
the day the discipline, the timing,
the drive and knowing what you
were supposed to do. And knowing
always what your life is all about
and how important it is to protect
your friends and your family.
Number one was being disciplined, which is the bodybuilding
lifestyle. The second thing is always
knowing timing, being on time, and
doing the right thing at the right
time. There’s also playing the role of
a team player and being a leader
when necessary. I’m trying to do the
same thing in my career.
JR: How, when and why did
you decide to move to the U.S.?
SK: I finished the military in
1992. After four years you’re very
confused—coming from a very
strict lifestyle, from morning to
night knowing exactly what you’re
going to do. There’s always someone who gives you orders. You know
that there will be disciplinary action
against you if you don’t do what
you’re told. So I thought the next
step in life would be school because
in Israel life is a lot different than it
is here. You can’t get anywhere there
without an education, so I started
college there.
It just so happened that a friend
of mine had a father who worked
for TWA, and he could get us some
cheap tickets. I came to Dallas. I
flew to New (continued on page 150)
Middle East Muscle
“I’ve been
weighing from
195 to 205 the
past two years.
The lowest is
195, when I
come in the
most ripped.”
The moment you walk into a
restaurant, the moment you want
to get a job, it’s about the way you
look. It could be good, or it could
be bad. It’s not that way in Israel.
There it’s who you are, where
you’re from, what your education
is and what you’ve done in the
military. Here it’s basically how
you look. After that, maybe they
want to get to know you.
JR: What influenced your
higher-education choices?
SK: I decided to choose something that was going to help me as
a bodybuilder. I never really liked
to study for school. A lot of the
subjects were boring to me. So I
chose to study nutrition—something that was going to affect my
life and my future and something
I could use to help people.
(continued from page 146) York, L.A.,
Las Vegas and Orlando, Florida. I
had so much fun. I decided when I
got back to Israel that the U.S. was
the place I wanted to live because I
saw that my future as a bodybuilder,
with the passion I had for the sport,
would be here in the U.S. I saw
supplement stores and big gyms—
things that would make me improve
and learn more about the lifestyle.
What happened is I went back to
Israel, finished the semester in college, sold my car, gathered up all the
money I had saved and took it with
me to the U.S., first just as a tourist
for a few months. Then I got my
student visa and went to college at
the University of Central Florida in
1994. Then the show started.
JR: What was the toughest
thing about leaving Israel?
SK: Leaving my family and knowing that it was going to be a while
before I would see them again. I
came here without a place to live,
without a job. It was going to be a
new journey. I knew that I had only
myself to count on.
JR: What surprised you most
about the U.S. when you arrived?
SK: How looks affect everything.
JR: How did you end up in
Dallas?
SK: I performed in Chippendale’s male review in Vegas and
Hawaii in 1995. I moved to L.A.
after thinking that I was going to
become a movie star. Things
didn’t work out the way I wanted,
but for the tools I had, I think I did
pretty well. I appeared in several
magazines, including one cover,
and I was in a few TV shows.
But the fact is that it’s very hard
in L.A. not knowing anyone, not
having connections, starting everything from the beginning and
not having a base of financial
help. What happened was that I
had a couple of friends who were
opening a gym here in Dallas, a
company called Body Opus. They
needed someone to help them
nutritionwise and with advertising the company. They said that I
could make a lot more money and
a lot more friends in Dallas than I
could in L.A., which was very true.
So I moved to Dallas in late 1996.
Right away I had an apartment
and an income, which was a relief
at the time.
JR: Were there any bodybuilders or physique models
that you viewed as role models or whose physiques you
particularly liked?
SK: As a kid I had a poster of
Berry de Mey. I really liked his
physique. Bob Paris, Lee Labrada—
those are the guys I always thought I
could look like. I thought the way
they looked wasn’t too overboard or
intimidating. I had the thought in
the back of my mind, “I can do that.”
JR: For a while you competed
in shows in Texas. Tell us about
that.
SK: The first show I did was the
Southwest USA in 1998. I had a
friend who’d just moved here from
Israel, and he’d just won the Mr.
Israel at that time. He kind of
brought the fire back to my heart. I
heard that there was a show here in
town, and I had six weeks to get
ready. We started training hard, and I
won. Getting back onstage was
something I had a passion to do.
Being the center of attention
brought back memories. Competing
was part of it. Winning first place
makes you feel special. So I did a
couple of more shows the following
year.
bered me from the show I did in ’98.
It was pretty shocking that he would
remember me from so many years
back. He asked me to do a photo
shoot with him. I twisted my ankle
right before the shoot, but I thought,
“Sure. Why not.”
I think the reason he approached
me was that I was in good shape at
the show for no particular reason. I’d
just decided that that was the way I
wanted to look. So that was the
beginning of my new beginning, and
things started flowing from there.
From Joe’s influence and from meeting other people, like photographer
Irv Gelb, I met other people in the
business and got a contract with
Impact Nutrition, which still sponsors me. From that point things kept
on rolling.
JR: You’ve been on a lot of
covers and in a lot of ads over
the past two years. What
accounts for your success?
SK: Most magazines, when they
ask you to do a cover, they ask you to
JR: Your last competition was
in 1999. Why did you stop competing?
SK: I couldn’t think about another
day of dieting. I was starving myself.
I had nightmares in the middle of
the night. I would wake up and go to
the kitchen to eat, and it took me
almost two years to slowly get back
to eating right.
JR: Was there a contract
involved in your decision?
SK: I had a contract back in 1999
with Spencer Gifts, a major retailer
now owned by Universal Studios. I
had a contract with them for five
years. My pictures, posters and gift
cards were in their stores, and some
are still around. That pretty much
got me started getting back in shape
and back to looking as I always
have—very lean and proportioned.
JR: When and why did you
decide to restart your modeling
career?
SK: About two years ago I started
working with some figure competitors and bodybuilders to get ready
for some shows. One of the shows I
took a competitor to was the ’03
Ronnie Coleman Classic. At that
show I met Joe Lobell, who
approached me and said he rememwww.ironmanmagazine.com \ NOVEMBER 2005 151
Middle East Muscle
Sagi Kalev’s Training
I have two basic workout plans:
a five-days-per-week routine and
a four-day routine. I usually alternate between the two on a monthly basis.
On the five-day plan I train
major muscle groups—or sometimes a bodypart I feel might need
some special work—on Mondays
and Fridays. On Mondays I use
heavy weights with fewer sets and
maybe eight to 10 reps. On Fridays
I hit that same bodypart again
with lighter weights, higher reps
and less rest between sets. I do
cardio four days a week, one hour
per day, at a moderate intensity
level. I train the remaining bodyparts on Tuesdays through Thursdays and take the weekends off.
My abs get a lot of work during my
regular workouts, so I train them
only during the week or two before a photo shoot.
Here’s an example of a five-day
plan focusing on back:
Monday: Back (heavy);
60 minutes cardio
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Chest and triceps;
60 minutes cardio
Thursday: Biceps and
shoulders; 60 minutes cardio
Friday: Back (lighter weight,
higher reps, less rest between
sets); 60 minutes cardio
Saturday and Sunday: Off
The four-day plan includes a
similar split but facilitates more
cardio, usually in two 30-minute
sessions per day, six days per
week, at higher intensity.
Monday: Back and biceps;
cardio, two sessions, 30 minutes each
Tuesday: Legs
Wednesday: Cardio, two
sessions, 30 minutes each
Thursday: Chest and
hamstrings; cardio, two sessions, 30 minutes each
Friday: Shoulders and triceps;
cardio, two sessions, 30 minutes each
Saturday and Sunday: Cardio,
two sessions, 30 minutes
each
—S.K.
send photos a few weeks before the
shoot so they’ll know what shape
you’re in. I think I gave myself the
reputation that you can count on
me when you call me for a photo
shoot. You know that I’ll be in the
best shape possible. You ask me to
come in my best shape, and I will
do that.
JR: Lots of people with great
physiques never really succeed
in modeling. What makes the
difference?
SK: What makes the difference is
that I can appeal to a lot more people. I can come to a shoot as a
bodybuilder, or I can come as a
fitness model. I can also look like
any one of a number of ethnic
groups, or as an all-American
model. I think I have the gift of
being in front of the camera. Some
people look good in pictures and
not as good in person. Others look
good in person but not in front of
the camera.
JR: Modeling is about selling
your look. Pornography is taking that sale to a different
level. Where do you draw the
line between sexy modeling
and porn?
SK: I draw the line where I think
my mom would think it is too
much. That’s very simple. Money
would not make any difference to
me. I’ve been offered plenty of
money to do that, and I didn’t take
it. What I care about most is what
my family would think, and I won’t
jeopardize that for any amount of
money.
JR: Can a male physique
model be successful without
resorting to what many people
consider to be porn?
SK: Yes. And I don’t think that
crossing that line will make a person more successful. I think it
would hurt a career. I’ve been approached by different people and
corporations to represent them.
The first question they ask is, “Have
you done porn?” And the second is,
“Do you have any felonies?” So
that’s the answer.
JR: Tell us about your diet.
SK: I eat what most bodybuilders
eat. To be more specific: oatmeal,
egg whites, chicken, fish, vegetables, potatoes, protein powder,
supplements and all kinds of nuts. I
change my calories on a daily basis,
and my cardio changes on a daily
basis. If I’m close to a photo shoot,
my calories will be lower, and my
cardio will increase.
JR: Do you cheat on your
eating plan? If so, how often,
and what are your cheat
meals?
SK: I don’t like the word cheat. If
you go to a party and want to have
fun, you just choose food that will
be close to what you normally eat. I
enjoy eating sushi, but I make sure I
don’t overload myself. I stay away
from fried foods because I don’t like
the feeling after—the cramping and
the pain. My body is not used to a
lot of fat and sugar. But once in a
while I eat pizza or foods other
people eat. I just make
adjustments. My feel-good foods
are things like sugar-free pudding
from Sylvester Stallone and sugarfree Popsicles.
JR: How much does your
weight vary throughout the
year?
SK: I’ve been weighing from 195
to 205 the past two years. The lowest is 195, when I come in the most
ripped, and 205 is when I try to look
the biggest—a different style of
bodybuilder. So my weight only
fluctuates by 10 pounds.
JR: What supplements do you
regularly use?
SK: I use a lot of supplements
from Impact Nutrition, the company that sponsors me. I use DermaLEAN, Maxteron, Equi-Bolan
and protein powder, especially lowcarb varieties. I use powders from
other companies with different
flavors that I like. I use branchedchain amino acids and glutamine
for recovery. And I like the way
nitric oxide makes me feel—the
pump and the strength.
JR: I also understand that
you have a three-year contract
with Lifewave. Tell us about
that.
SK: Lifewave is a new company
that will have a major impact, not
just on the sport of bodybuilding,
Middle East Muscle
“I change my
calories on a
daily basis.”
Sagi Kalev’s Diet
I rotate through a 2-1, 3-1, 4-1
cycle, where the numbers represent the number of days in each
phase; for example, 2-1 means
three days in the phase. I increase
carbs throughout the cycle. On
the “1” day in each phase I triple
my carb intake. Protein remains
relatively constant at 350 to 400
grams a day. On the lowest carb
days I increase fats, using fish and
nuts to keep my calories in the
2,000-to-3,000-per-day range.
These components change during
the two weeks before a shoot, but
since I stay close to my ideal
weight, the changes aren’t drastic.
The secret to making this plan
work is to know when to eat carbs
according to when your insulin
spikes. Controlling insulin is very
important. I use glutamine and
branched-chain amino acids
throughout, and I don’t drink
alcohol.
Here’s an example of how this
cycle works over a 12-day period:
2-1 phase Carbs (g)
Day 1
100
Day 2
100
Day 3
300
3-1 phase Carbs (g)
Day 4
150
Day 5
150
Day 6
150
Day 7
450
4-1 phase Carbs (g)
Day 8
200
Day 9
200
Day 10
200
Day 11
200
Day 12
600
Calories are computed on the
basis of four per gram of protein,
four per gram of carbohydrates
and nine per gram of fat.
—S.K.
but on the public in general. It’s a
new technology. If you want to
learn more about it, go to my Web
site and follow the Lifewave link.
Other bodybuilders Lifewave chose
to represent their product are Ronnie Coleman and Monica Brant. I
consider myself to be in pretty good
company.
JR: I assume you’ve used the
patches. What do you think?
SK: The patches do work. It’s not
like taking ephedra or caffeine. It’s
more about what you don’t feel
than what you do feel. The main
effect I got from it had to do with
working out—what happens during
the workout and afterward. I don’t
have to rest as much between sets,
and I recover more quickly. My days
flow more evenly; I don’t have as
many ups and downs during the
day when I use the patches. My
joints don’t click or creak as much. I
sleep a lot better. I’m more awake
during the day. Those are the major
things I’ve noticed.
JR: Tell us about your Web
site, www.sagikalev.com.
SK: It started about two years ago
because I had so many photos and
got so many remarks from different
people about showing them. A fan
created a Yahoo fan group that has
almost 3,000 members, and another created one on MSN. Joe, my
business partner, surprised me one
morning with a phone call and said,
“Your Web site is up.” Links from
www.mostmuscular.com and from
mentions in the magazine articles
helped the site grow tremendously.
We have more than a thousand
pictures and hundreds of video
clips on my membership site that
the special fans get to see. We update the site weekly. That makes it
easy for people and companies to
learn about me. It’s a good way to
learn who I am and what I’m doing
and what’s going to happen with
me in the future.
JR: Do you do consultations
over the Web?
SK: We have general answers
about nutrition and training on the
site. If someone has a complex
question or needs more detailed
answers, we charge for it, and I
work with them either through email or over the phone. Some
clients have driven or flown to
Dallas to either train with me oneon-one or sit down face-to-face for
information and advice.
JR: At last count I believe you
have eight DVDs for sale on the
site. What’s on them?
SK: The first one, “Photoshoot:
Behind the Scenes,” is about my
first major magazine cover shoot. It
shows what I did before the shoot—
how I got ready for it. There were
long shoots and long days. That
shows how hard it is to stay in top
shape for all the shoots and how
you manage what you eat and drink
to make it work.
In “Photoshoot 2” we did much
the same thing a year and a half
later. I also have four DVDs that
focus on my workouts and a couple
with Chad Martin, a friend who’s a
very popular bodybuilder. Our
second DVD, “Showtime in Texas,”
showed what we did at guest-posing appearances a week apart.
“Photoshoot 2” also shows my
preparation for a cover shoot with
IRON MAN last year. I’ve always
wanted to be on the cover of IRON
MAN because of the legends that
have been featured on the cover—
Lee Haney, Dorian Yates and Lee
Labrada. I’m grateful to have had
the opportunity to shoot with Mike
Neveux and to do this interview. It’s
really exciting for me.
JR: What can someone learn
from the workout DVDs?
SK: The main thing people can
learn is having the right form and
using different techniques in their
workouts. The DVDs were shot at
different times, three to six months
apart, so people can see the progress and the changes in my physique. They can also see how work,
dedication, consistency and changing the workouts lead to the results.
JR: You have other major
DVD projects?
SK: I’m shooting one for WalMart. It will be a DVD that will appeal to the general public. The
second one will be for the Hilton
hotel chain. It will be for the businessperson who has only a short
time for a short workout, to give
him or her some ideas about what
to do. The Wal-Mart video will be
more for beginners, to let them
know what you can accomplish
outside a gym. The third video will
be for Lifewave. It will be about how
to use the patches and how they
work on a daily basis, from the time
you get up until you go to bed. I will
also talk about the right nutrition
and the right exercises to get the
most from the patches and how
their use can help you just doing
what you normally do every day.
JR: Speaking of workouts,
what’s your basic philosophy
on weight training?
SK: It’s about safety and having
fun. It’s about doing it for yourself
and not for show. Also switch what
you do from time to time, and don’t
try to be the center of attention by
screaming and trying to lift the
most weight.
JR: Give us an idea of your
workout plan during a typical
week.
SK: My workout changes every
week, but I try to keep it to the
basics. There are months I train five
days a week and months I train four
days a week. It depends on what I’m
getting ready for. Most of the time
I’m going to choose what I think my
weakest bodypart is and train it
twice a week. Sometime I do a split
morning and night if I have time,
and sometimes I split cardio if I
have the time. If I’m close to a
shoot, I make time.
JR: How do you vary your
workouts?
SK: One thing I do is try to
change training partners. Sometimes I go to different gyms. Sometimes I open a magazine, look at a
workout and just try it.
JR: Are there any lifts or
other training techniques you
do that are unusual or unique?
SK: Check out my videos. My
basic suggestion is to always be
safe. Do what you know how to do,
and if you don’t know, ask. If you
can afford it, also get a personal
trainer. If you can’t afford a trainer,
check out the magazines.
JR: How do your knowledge
and experience as a physique
model help with training your
clients?
SK: It’s like everything else. You
build a reputation. If you do a lot of
movies, you become a movie star. If
you do a lot of covers, you become
a cover model. So it helps your
business from recognition because
if you’ve accomplished enough to
be on the cover of IRON MAN, a
very recognized magazine, you’re
building a reputation, and the
clients like that.
NOVEMBER 2005 155
Middle East Muscle
“My workouts
change every
week, but I try
to keep it to the
basics.”
JR: At the pro level in bodybuilding today there seem to be
two different types of
physiques that are winning—
take Ronnie Coleman and Darrem Charles as examples. Is
there room in the sport for
both?
SK: There’s room for everybody,
from Darrem Charles to Dexter
Jackson. Dexter is my favorite. I’ve
never seen anybody like that. He’s
just amazing. He also represents the
sport very well, especially the way
he speaks. I also like the way Darrem Charles performs. He’s a great
entertainer. He can dance, he can
move, and they give him credit for
that. He always comes in in top
shape. He’s consistent, and that’s a
big plus. That’s what the judges like.
JR: Do you plan to compete
again, and what will influence
that decision?
SK: If I compete again, first of all,
it will be for me, for no one else. It
will be for me to see if I can do it—
and I’m sure I can. But at this time
I’m so busy doing other things. The
only way right now I would compete
is if a company came to me with a
huge contract that said I have to win
to get this or that. That would get
me onstage. In a way I feel that I’m
onstage doing what I do. I represent
the sport in a different way. For
example, next year I’ll be onstage in
London playing Hercules in a play
to benefit charity. Again, that’s
bodybuilding onstage, but I don’t
have to compete with other people.
There’s sometimes politics in bodybuilding, too, which I don’t like.
JR: Do you have any
contracts with any companies
besides Impact Nutrition and
Lifewave?
SK: I’ve opened my own company, Hot Abs USA, which focuses on
being lean and muscular at the
same time but not playing the size
game. That’s why we call it Hot Abs.
It’s about having an attractive, sexy
physique. You can go to www
.hotabsusa.com for information.
One of my good friends, Steve
Fuentes, is a police officer and president of the company. One day he
asked me, “Hey, I’m doing this project. Would you like to join me?”
That’s how it all started. It’s a big, big
deal for me because it’s about concentrating on proportion and being
lean.
The last contract that I’ll be signing will be with the company Smart
Snack. It distributes protein cookies
all over the country. So for me it’s
not one specific contract with one
specific company or product but a
variety. That will give me the chance
to go to a lot of places, do a lot of
seminars, do different kinds of appearances, and speak about the
things I like the most.
JR: If you could write a script
outlining what you’d like to see
happen to you in the next three
years, what would that include?
SK: Things will change because
I’ll get older. The script will be Sagi
Kalev getting better at what he does,
getting more educated in what he
does, helping more people achieve
their goals, representing the sport as
best he can, and getting into bigger
things—maybe even politics. The
joke is that with my accent I’ll be
the next governor of Texas. Maybe
it’s a joke; maybe not. It happened
in California, and it could happen
here.
JR: Any final words for your
fans?
SK: You guys are what make me
better. Because just seeing your
remarks and your e-mail means a
lot to me. Thank you so very much.
And I have some fans who have
become special friends. There’s
Mark from Alabama, and Pat, who’s
my oldest fan at age 100. To all the
other fans I haven’t mentioned, I
want to say thank you for your support. You guys keep me going on the
days when I feel down. For all those
fans who have had something in
their lives that have made them
disabled, depressed or otherwise, I
hope I can motivate you and make
you smile. That means everything to
me. I want to express my appreciation from the bottom of my heart.
I want to add a special thanks to
Mark Foster, my manager and attorney, for his belief in me and for all
the time he’s spent working on my
behalf.
Editor’s note: Contact Sagi
Kalev through his Web site,
www.SagiKalev.com. IM
NOVEMBER 2005 157
Hydrate to Heighten Muscle
Growth, Strength and Health
by Jerry Brainum
A
liso Viejo is a small city, population 40,000, south of Los
Angeles. Among its distinguishing characteristics is that it
was the first planned community in
the rapidly growing Orange County. Truth be told, Aliso Viejo isn’t
the most exciting place to visit, although it’s not far from Disneyland.
Under the heading “places of interest,” the city’s official Web site lists
Sora University, a Buddhist college,
and nature walks.
So it’s a matter of some interest
that sleepy Aliso Viejo managed to
make the world news in March
2004. What attracted the media
were reports that the good people
on the city council were going to
ban an extremely dangerous environmental contaminant. Somehow,
dihydrogen monoxide had reached
startling levels in Aliso Viejo. In its
crude form, this critical ingredient
in many common chemical compounds often spilled onto the city’s
otherwise pristine streets. Investiga-
tion revealed that it showed up
even in Styrofoam cups.
The serious effects of dihydrogen
monoxide were presented by a
paralegal who’d obtained the information from an official-looking,
seemingly authoritative Web site.
The report noted that dihydrogen
monoxide was lethal if inhaled,
that it could cause severe burns in
its gaseous state and that it was
the major component of acid rain.
In short, the report concluded, dihydrogen monoxide posed a
“threat to human health and safety.”
The Web site also noted that dihydrogen monoxide was particularly insidious, being odorless,
tasteless and colorless. The symptoms of excessive dihydrogen
monoxide intake included sweating
and urination, a possible bloated
feeling and an electrolyte or mineral imbalance. In large print, the
site proclaimed, “This horror must
be stopped!”
Water World
Muscle Growth, Strength and Health
Neveux \ Model: Gus Malliaradakis
Hydration of a muscle
cell sets off an anabolic
cascade.
Is it any wonder the city fathers of
Aliso Viejo were concerned? With
most of the population in the 25-to35-year-old age group, they had to
consider the impact of dihydrogen
monoxide on children and future
generations. Something had to be
done, and quickly.
Aliso Viejo’s alarm is replicated
daily because other Internet sites
proclaim the toxicity of everything
from protein to artificial sweeteners.
The well-meaning but seriously
uninformed paralegal who prepared
the report for the city council had
fallen for a put-on: Dihydrogen
monoxide is the chemical name for
water. (Nobody caught the joke in
time for Aliso Viejo’s plan not to hit
humor-hungry wire services.)
Eliminating water would prove
disastrous to life on Earth. A human
being can live without oxygen for
four to six minutes. You can survive
without eating anything for up to 60
days, but you may have noticed that
even those whose hunger strikes
make the news never stop drinking
water. No water almost certainly
means death within five days. The
immediate cause of death for Terry
Schiavo, a medically brain-dead
Florida woman whose feeding tube
was disconnected after more than a
decade, was dehydration. Fluids had
been withdrawn less than a week
earlier. Grotesque as it may sound,
she died right on schedule from lack
of water.
Water intake is no less important
for bodybuilders. While many look
at it merely as the source of a refreshing interlude between sets or
something they shower in after a
workout, water has much more
critical uses. From an aesthetic
viewpoint, the amount of water the
body retains can determine the
winner in a close bodybuilding
contest. Being bloated, or having
accumulated too much water, is
among most competitors’ greatest
fears, for it can obscure muscular
definition honed by weeks or even
months of hard training and dieting.
Some bodybuilders, especially on
the professional level, circumvent
the water retention that inevitably
results from using drugs such as
anabolic steroids and growth hormone by using other drugs, such as
diuretics. That can create another
whole new set of problems, however, such as an electrolyte imbalance
that results in embarrassing muscle
cramps onstage. Since muscle itself
is 72 percent water, injudicious use
of diuretics can lead to a flat appearance, especially after a low-carb diet
has eliminated the glycogen that
holds water in muscles.
The problem with diuretics and
other drugs that induce rapid water
loss is that they have an overkill
effect. Water is key both inside and
outside the body’s cells. Intracellular
water accounts for two-thirds of the
body’s water, and the other third is
extracellular. When a bodybuilder
uses diuretics, he intends to eliminate extracellular water, but the
drugs are so potent that they also
reduce intracellular water. That
leads to an electrolyte imbalance.
Research has illuminated some
fascinating effects of water that are
directly rele- (continued on page 166)
Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson
Water World
(continued from page 160) vant to
anybody who wants added muscle
and vibrant health. An example is
the cellular hydration theory, which
deals with the status of water contained in a cell.1 Hydration of a
muscle cell sets off an anabolic
cascade that results in upgraded
muscle protein synthesis. The reverse is true. When a cell is dehydrated, it becomes catabolic, prone
to breakdown. Dehydrated cells
characterize many diseases, such as
cancer, and they include a catabolic
component.
Hydration-related
cellular swelling is
anabolic because
hydration inhibits
protein breakdown.
Water World
Water: The Facts
The human body is 60 percent
water; babies are about 70 percent
water. Men have more water in their
bodies than women because men
usually have more muscle, which is
72 percent water. By contrast, fat
contains about 10 percent water,
which makes it an ideal storage fuel.
The structures of protein contain
water, as does glycogen, the stored
form of carbohydrate in the human
body. Each gram of glycogen is
stored with three grams of water.
That explains the high initial weight
loss that occurs with many diets,
especially low-carb plans. Without
carbs, glycogen rapidly degrades,
eliminating the water stored with it.
Muscle contains more water
because such elements as protein,
glycogen, creatine and amino acids
pull water into the tissue. Because
fat doesn’t contain those elements,
there’s no osmosis, which makes fat
a drier tissue than muscle.
Water is the primary solvent,
dissolving various nutrients, including minerals, vitamins, amino acids
and glucose. Water is also involved
in the digestion and absorption of
those nutrients, as well as their
transport, via blood, into tissues
and cells; blood is also largely water.
Water is an excellent solvent
because it’s a polar molecule. It has
no electrical charge of its own, but
its molecular structure fosters partial negative and positive charges on
its oxygen and hydrogen atoms.
Thus water interacts with other
water molecules and partially
charged substances, such as electrolytes, glucose and amino acids.
Dehydration is usually defined as
a 1 to 2 percent loss of bodyweight
resulting from fluid losses.2 Ratbased studies found that 28 hours
after rodents were deprived of
water, the solid elements of their
blood increased and that the liquid
portion, or volume, declined. Thickening of blood, associated with
blood clotting and slowed blood
flow, is also associated with strokes
and heart attacks.
A study of Seventh-Day Adventists—8,280 men and 12,017
women—examined the relationship
between heart disease and water
intake.3 Those who drank five or
Men have more
water in their
bodies than
women because
men usually have
more muscle,
which is 72 percent water.
more glasses of water daily were less
likely to die of a heart attack than
those who drank two or fewer. Of
the subjects who drank five or more
glasses daily, the women were 41
percent and the men 54 percent less
likely to die from a heart attack.
Drinking other fluids, however,
such as coffee, tea, juice, milk and
alcohol, reversed the benefits of
water and led to a greater mortality
rate. Blood thinning was water’s key
protective property; decreased
blood thickness, or viscosity, meant
less chance of fatal blood clots.
Fluids like coffee have the opposite
effect because to be digested they
need to be diluted, which draws
water from the blood, making it
temporarily thicker. Coffee is a mild
diuretic, causing some water loss,
which can also lead to blood thickening. On the other hand, in those
who regularly drink coffee, the diuretic action is lost, which makes a
cup of coffee equivalent to twothirds of a cup of water.
The Importance of
Water During a Diet
Fat is a storage base for various
toxins, and as it degrades through
When your
body water
goes down,
your heart
must work
harder.
diet and exercise, you need to take
in enough water to flush out the
toxins released from stored fat.
Water is also a natural diuretic,
flushing out such elements as sodium, which can lead to water retention and a bloated appearance.
Bodybuilders who restrict water
shortly before a contest are likely
working against themselves, depending on how limited their intake
is. As you restrict fluid intake, blood
volume declines. When the brain
detects that, the posterior pituitary
gland secretes antidiuretic
hormone. As the name implies,
ADH works to retain water so the
body can maintain the right blood
volume. In other words, you wind
up retaining more water when you
restrict water. Conversely, drinking
water inhibits ADH release. So does
alcohol, which explains why you
need to pee not long after you have
an alcoholic drink.
People who diet often complain
that they can’t concentrate, but the
cause may be less the lack of calories than a mild form of dehydra-
Neveux \ Model: Allen Sarkiszadeh
Water World
tion. Studies of animals have shown
that dehydration impairs brain
function. It damages the mitochondria of neurons, or brain cells—and
mitochondria are the source of the
energy that maintains cellular function. The level of glutamate, an
amino acid that stimulates neuron
activity, can increase too fast and
possibly kill neurons; excess glutamate activity is a primary cause of
stroke-related neuron death.
In human studies dehydrated
subjects show impaired math ability, memory and reaction time.4 That
happens after only a 2 percent
body-fluid loss—which is considered the point where dehydration
side effects appear. Nitric oxide, also
produced in the brain, is involved in
learning and memory. Normally
dehydration increases nitric oxide in
the brain, but that effect is lost in
older people, which may help explain memory defects.
Studies show that drinking water
with meals results in eating less
food, in turn leading to weight losses. An old dieting trick is to drink a
glass of water shortly before eating a
meal. The water makes you feel full
and decreases your appetite and
food intake.
A surprising property of water is
its thermogenic aspect.5 One experiment measured the effects on seven
men and seven women who drank
500 milliliters, or just over a pint, of
water. That amount resulted in a 30
percent increase in resting metabolic rate within 10 minutes of drinking
and reached maximum effects in 30
to 40 minutes. The increased
metabolic rate was fueled by fat in
men and by carbs in women. This is
related to a release of
catecholamine hormones, such as
epinephrine. The release of catecholamines usually leads to a rise in
blood pressure, but not when you
drink water. That’s because water
also elicits increased activity of the
vagal nerve, which works against
blood pressure increase caused by
sympathetic hormones.6
Anabolic Water?
Cellular hydration is considered a
potent anabolic stimulus. Conversely, when a cell is dry, catabolic effects dominate, often leading to cell
death. Most studies showing the
effect of cellular hydration have
used cells extracted from liver. One
such study showed that perfusing
liver cells with the amino acid glutamine makes the size of the cell
swell by 12 percent. It happens in
minutes and lasts as long as the
perfusion continues.
Glutamine swells cells because it
promotes the entry of sodium into
the cell. Inside the cell the sodium
exchanges with potassium, which
then exits the cell to prevent excess
swelling. That mechanism is known
as the sodium-potassium pump.
Other substances also promote
cellular hydration—various amino
acids, bile acids, insulin and possibly creatine. Researchers think that
most of insulin’s anabolic effects
come about because it promotes
cellular hydration. Some
substances—glucagon, cyclic AMP,
serotonin and urea—promote cellular dehydration, which has catabolic
consequences.
Hydration-related cellular
swelling is anabolic because hydra-
Water World
tion inhibits protein breakdown. Other effects include
an increase in glycogen
synthesis and a decrease in
glutamine synthesis, as
well as uptake of lactate
and amino acids. The effects of cellular hydration on
isolated liver cells are replicated in muscle, bone and other cells
and tissues of the body.
The effects of cellular hydration
on an intact human body have
been noted in clinical settings. For
example, burn patients are notably
dehydrated and also show huge
nitrogen or protein losses. Various
types of cancer marked by relative
dehydration also show a high nitrogen loss. While there is a dearth of
studies to back up clinical observations, one experiment did attempt
to show the effect of cellular
swelling in humans.7 Ten men were
artificially dehydrated or hydrated.
When they were hydrated, protein
breakdown significantly decreased,
and they showed decreased peripheral insulin sensitivity. The net
effect appeared similar to that of
fasting—protein sparing, increased
fat oxidation, increased ketone
release and impaired glucose
metabolism.
Does Water Help
Prevent Cancer?
Coffee has a mild
diuretic effect
because in order to
be digested, it
must be diluted.
A 10-year study featuring 48,000
men linked a lower incidence of
bladder cancer to a high intake of
fluids that dilute and eliminate
carcinogens. The researchers calculated that bladder cancer decreased
by 7 percent for every eight ounces
of water the men drank.
Other studies have demonstrated
water’s salutary impact against
colorectal cancer and premalignant
polyps, finding an inverse relationship between drinking as few as five
glasses daily and cancer. Evidently
drinking lots of water speeds passage of food through the gastrointestinal tract, thereby limiting
cellular exposure to carcinogens.
Water and Training
Whether dehydration adversely
affects your workouts depends on
such factors as the temperature and
the type of training you’re doing.
Individual response also enters the
picture; some people appear to
tolerate dehydration better than
others. The tipping point is usually
a loss of 2 percent of bodyweight in
fluid over the course of an exercise
session or athletic event, though
that applies mainly to endurance
exercise under warm or hot conditions. In colder temperatures, dehydration is less likely to manifest.
Other studies show that dehydration doesn’t seem to affect strength
training until you lose 7 percent or
more in fluid.
Some studies show that upperbody muscles are more vulnerable
than lower-body muscles to mild
dehydration. In one study, however,
10 experienced powerlifters became dehydrated after sitting in a
hot sauna for two hours.8 They lost
1.5 percent of body mass, primarily
as water. Tests of their maximum
bench press strength showed a 5.6
percent decrease. Full strength
returned after two hours of rest and
fluid intake.
Dehydration may adversely affect exercise for several reasons.
When your body’s water content
goes down, your heart must work
harder to pump the blood that
supplies working muscles and that
cools the skin. Straining your heart
by not getting enough fluids in the
heat may lead to fatigue and loss of
intensity. You can tell that from a
higher heart rate during exercise, as
the heart attempts to compensate.
Whatever you’re doing will seem
considerably harder when you’re
dehydrated.
Core body temperature rises,
which leads to exhaustion and the
end of the session. As temperature
increases, it’s detected by the central nervous system, which
responds by reducing the drive to
exercise; a big spike in body temperature can damage the brain.
When the body overheats from
lack of fluid intake, it accelerates
use of muscle glycogen, the primary fuel that powers anaerobic exercise. Rapid glycogen use is linked to
increased catecholamine release, a
stress reaction, and higher body
temperature. The reduced cardiac
Water World
response that occurs during
dehydration inhibits blood
flow to muscles, which results in less oxygen delivery
and greater fatigue. Dehydration also promotes a
stress response due to
lower blood volume, and that
promotes the release of cortisol, the body’s primary catabolic
hormone. Too much of it can lead to
muscle loss.
You can prevent dehydration
during athletic activity if you do the
following:
•Before exercise: Drink about 20
ounces of water two hours before
training.
•During exercise: Drink up to a
quart of water. You get better water
uptake by drinking a cold sports
drink that contains small amounts
of minerals and no more than 7
percent carbs.
•After exercise: Drink 150 percent
to 200 percent of total fluids lost.
Drink about 20
ounces of water
about two hours
before you train.
References
Water Requirements
and Myths
In an article published three years
ago, a physiology professor questioned the frequent advice to drink
at least eight glasses of water a day.9
He noted that there was no scientific evidence to confirm the recommendation, just as there’s no
scientific rationale for eating no
more than 30 grams of protein at
each meal. The idea that by the time
you experience thirst you’re likely
already dehydrated was also pronounced a myth by the professor,
who noted that the human sense of
thirst is remarkably accurate and
usually in concert with fluid needs.
The notion that dark urine means
you’re dehydrated is also false.
Many nutrients, as most
bodybuilders know, lead to darker
urine, but it has nothing to do with
being dehydrated.
Another myth is that you must
drink a copious amount of water to
maintain kidney function. True,
drinking clean, pure water is one of
the best things you can do to protect
your kidneys, but the kidneys aren’t
adversely affected unless severe
dehydration, or a bodyweight fluid
decline of 5 percent or more, occurs.
mone. Continued water intake
when the body is already retaining
water leads to hyponatremia, or low
sodium, and that leads to death.
Safe water intake means drinking
one milliliter (an ounce contains 30
milliliters) per calorie per day. So if
you’re eating 3,000 calories, drink
3,000 milliliters, or about three
quarts, per day. Factors that may
require increased water intake include exercise under hot conditions,
a high-fiber diet and the increased
fluid loss that comes with drinking a
lot of alcohol. Keep in mind that
your body’s metabolism generates
nearly a pint of water and that the
water content of foods such as fruits
and vegetables can be more than 90
percent.
Researchers who study kidney function say that in a normal-sized adult
in a temperate climate, one liter or
four eight-ounce glasses of water
are enough to meet all of the body’s
water needs.
When the body
overheats from lack
of fluid intake, it
accelerates the use
of muscle glycogen.
Drinking too much water can be
just as hazardous as drinking too
little. Too much water can dilute the
electrolytes you need for brain function and can lead to convulsions—
even death. Loss of sodium leads to
potentially fatal edema, or swelling,
of the brain.
Teenage deaths at rave parties
have been connected to use of the
drug Ecstasy. One of its effects is the
intense thirst that results from an
increase in body temperature. Ecstasy also promotes the release of
vasopressin, an antidiuretic hor-
1 Ritz, P., et al. (2001). Effects of
changes in water compartments on
physiology and metabolism. Eur J
Clin Nutr, 57:S2-S5.
2 Shirrefs, S. (2005). The importance of good hydration for work
and exercise performance. Nut
Reviews, 63:S14-S21.
3 Chan, J., et al. (2002). Water,
other fluids, and fatal coronary
heart disease. Am J Epidemiol,
155:827-33.
4 Wilson, M., et al. (2001). Impaired cognitive function and
mental performance in mild dehydration. Eur J Clin Res, 57:S24-S29.
5 Boshmann, M., et al. (2003).
Water-induced thermogenesis. J
Clin Endocrinl Metab, 88:6015-6019.
6 Brown, C.M., et al. (2005). Cardiovascular responses to water
drinking—does osmolality play a
role? Am J Physiol. In press.
7 Keller, U., et al. (2001). Effects of
changes in hydration on protein,
glucose, and lipid metabolism in
man: impact on health. Eur J Clin
Nutr, 57:S69-S74.
8 Schoffstall, J.E., et al. (2001).
Effects of dehydration and rehydration on the one-repetition-maximum bench press of weight-trained
males. J Strength Cond Res, 15:102108.
9 Valtin, H. (2002). “Drink at least
eight glasses of water a day.” Really?
Is there scientific evidence for
“8x8”? J Applied Physiol, 283:R993R1004. IM
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy
Duty
Building a Classic
by John Little
ike Mentzer possessed an absolutely striking midsection.
Photos and the video of his last competition, the Õ80 Mr.
Olympia, show that no other competitorÕs abs were cut so
deep or stood out in such bold relief. Not only was his rectus abdominis muscle, which covers the midsection from the bottom of the rib
cage to the groin, awesome, but his piano-key-like serratus muscles
and highly chiseled obliques were as well. He weighed 225 pounds
for that contest, and his bodyfat levels had been tested hydrostatically at an ultraripped 3 percent.
Balik \ Photo Illustration by Christian Martinez
Midsection
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
Heavy Duty
As coauthor of Mentzer’s last
book, High Intensity Training the
Mike Mentzer Way (McGraw-Hill
Publishing), I’ve been asked about
his approach to abdominal training
and whether the sets and repetition
scheme he used to obtain such
dramatic development differed
from that of other bodybuilders.
Mike trained his midsection the way
he trained any other muscle group
because he recognized that—like
the biceps and the pecs—the abdominals, serratus, intercostals and
obliques were skeletal muscles and
therefore responded in the same
way to the same stimulus (highintensity exercise), by getting thicker and stronger.
That’s why Mentzer trained his
midsection intensely and infrequently, with few sets. He
prescribed the same formula for his
personal-training clients after he
stopped competing. Seldom did he
prescribe more than one set of direct abdominal work, realizing that
the abdominals are stressed by
pulldowns, pushdowns, pullovers
and leg exercises. Indeed, it is impossible to think of a bodybuilding
exercise that doesn’t involve the
abdominals in some way, if only to
stabilize the trunk. As Mike wrote in
his last book:
“I fully realize that the prevailing
‘wisdom’ has most bodybuilders
performing countless low-intensity
sets and reps so as not to ‘overdevelop’ the abdominals. It seems silly to
me that bodybuilders should want
to develop large arms, chests, legs,
backs, etc., and leave the abs puny.
What could be more ridiculous and
incongruous than a thickly developed bodybuilder of 200 pounds
who has the abdominal development of a 160-pound man! Thick,
proportionately developed rectus
abdominis (frontal abs) set off a
well-developed physique and will
not thicken or broaden your waist.
The breadth of your abdominal
region is dictated primarily by your
pelvic bone width, which is inherited and, therefore, not subject to
alteration. I always train my abs in
high-intensity fashion just like my
other bodyparts because, yes, highintensity training will make your
abs thicker, which should be your
goal. The abdominals are skeletal
muscles—just like the biceps and
calves—and, therefore, their training requirement is no different from
these other muscle groups. The
abdominals don’t require volume
training but rather high-intensity
training, which, as we know, must
be intense, brief and infrequent.
Training your muscles in this manner will result in superb abdominal
development and, when combined
with a reduced-calorie diet to strip
off excess bodyfat, will cause your
abs to stand out in bold relief.”
Mike believed the midsection to
be the focal point of the physique.
The eyes tend to fall on the midsection first, which means bodybuilders must pay particular
attention to the abdominal region.
Mike held that most bodybuilders
devote more than enough time to
the development of the rectus abdominis, or front midsection, while
almost totally neglecting the
oblique, intercostal and serratus
muscles. Those muscles, however,
located along the sides of the rectus
muscles, set off the abs and are the
Heavy Duty
mark of a highly refined and ripped
physique—when bodyfat levels are
at a minimum. That last point is
rather crucial. As Mike put it:
“Developing thick, impressive
rectus, oblique and serratus muscles
through high-intensity exercise
won’t count for much if those muscles are lost under a blanket of fat.
Though you can take care of that by
going on a strict definition diet for
up to three months before a contest,
it’s best never to let enough fat accumulate that the abs become memories. Remember, accumulated fat
will have to be eliminated someday
through undereating and (usually)
overtraining—a fatal combination
that leads to loss of both muscle and
fat. Eat a well-balanced diet all year
with only enough calories for energy
and a tiny bit extra for growth and
recovery. In actuality, one needn’t
work his abs at all in order to present a highly defined appearance.
Definition is a state of the body
contingent upon the degree of subcutaneous fat one possesses: the
less fat, the more definition and vice
versa.”
When Mike was preparing his
midsection for competition, he did
low sets and moderate reps of highintensity exercise while relying on a
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
followed by four to seven days off
for recovery. After the fourth recovery period you’d begin the cycle
again.
Typically Mentzer did only one
exercise for one set during each ab
workout. For those wanting to develop their rectus abdominis, he
prescribed one set of situps—a
basic exercise, but one that would
certainly be effective. Here’s how he
described the proper execution of
the move:
“Situps can be done on any of the
innumerable new machines available for abdominal training in most
health clubs. At home they can be
done on a situp board or on the
floor with your feet held down by a
spotter or by placing them under
anything that will stabilize you.
With regular situps, be sure to bend
the knees to a 45 degree angle and
keep your arms folded across your
chest. Performing them in
that manner will help reThe Ab Bench provides a
move unnecessary stress
comfortable full-range loading from your lower back. Having assumed the proper
of the rectus abdominis.
position, sit up, or curl at
the waist, until your torso is
just shy of being perpendicular to
low-calorie diet to bring out the
the floor, with tension still on the
definition. Mike advised working
abdominal muscles. When you can
the abs only as frequently as any
do more than 20 reps with your
other muscle group. Usually that
bodyweight, hold a barbell plate in
meant doing a four-way-split rouyour folded arms (at the chest) so
tine: 1) legs and abs, 2) chest and
that you’re able to do only 10 or 12
back, 3) legs and abs and 4) shoulreps. Stay with that new weight until
ders and arms. Each of the four
you can do 20. Unlike the other
workouts in the cycle would be
exercises, where more weight can be
handled, increase the weight by only
five pounds when you reach the
upper limit of the prescribed rep
range. Increasing the weight by 10
percent will be impossible without
special equipment—or until you’re
handling 50 pounds or more on this
exercise.”
For bodybuilders wanting to bring
up the obliques, serratus and intercostals, Mike advocated angled
situps. He had guidelines for performing that exercise too:
“For this exercise I cross my legs
and hook them under the bar on a
special device [such as a hyperextension machine] at Gold’s Gym. Instead of doing regular front situps, I
come up sideways and rotate my
body as I come into the top position.
I was very weak when I first
started this one, but now I’m
doing them for 12 reps with a
Throughout his
25-pound plate held at my
competitive
chest.”
days Mike
Throughout his competitive days Mike would occawould perform
sionally perform two or three
situps of some
exercises for his midsection—
typically situps of some sort,
sort, hanging
hanging leg raises and angled
leg raises and
situps. His total number of
sets never exceeded six. Furangled situps.
ther research told him that
period of time
this volume of work (small as
away from the gym to enable the
it was compared to the dozens of
muscles to recover and grow.
sets and hundreds of reps most
Analyze your physique critically.
bodybuilders do) was unnecessary.
Your abdominal deficiency might
His abdominals had received ample
not be your rectus abdominis at all
stimulation from their involvement
but rather the obliques and serrain the exercises he performed for
other muscle groups. That led him to tus. If so, do the angled situp as
described. As Mike once said, “Try
advocate one all-out set to muscular
this routine. As long as you follow a
failure, coupled with an adequate
Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson
Heavy Duty
proper diet, you can achieve that
one-in-a-million, classic look.”
Editor’s note: For a complete
presentation of Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system, consult his books Heavy Duty II and
High Intensity Training the Mike
Mentzer Way, available through the
ad on page 223 of this issue, from
Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 4470008, or by visiting Mentzer’s official Web site,
www.mikementzer.com or
www.Home-Gym.com.
John Little is available for phone
consultation on Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system. For
rates and information, contact
Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519
or at www.mikementzer.com, or
see the ad mentioned above.
Article copyright © 2005, John
Little. All rights reserved. Mike
Mentzer quotations that appear in
this series provided courtesy of
Joanne Sharkey, © 2005 and used
with permission. IM
IRON MAN Hardbody
Adela Garcia,
’04 Fitness
Olympia
Champ, Has
What It Takes to
Get Standing
Oh-vations
by the Editors
Hardbody Stats
Height: 5’1”
Favorite foods: Oatmeal with cinna-
Age: 33
Weight: 108 (contest), 116 (off-season) mon and Splenda (healthful); ice
Hometown: San Juan, Puerto Rico
cream and cheesecake with oatmeal
cookies (not so healthful)
Current residence: Fort Lauderdale,
Factoid: “I have a beautiful dog, Lela.
Florida
Occupation: GNC-sponsored athlete,
professional fitness competitor, personal trainer, Spinning instructor
Workout schedule: Three weighttraining sessions per week, four routine practices per week
Sample bodypart workout (Delts):
Lateral raises, 3x15; front raises, 3x15;
rear-delt machine, 3x15; upper-body
plyometrics
She gives me unconditional love and
is always happy to see me. I also have
a degree in criminal justice.”
Future plans: “Open a fitness studio,
continue promoting bodybuilding
and fitness, help other women get
involved in fitness and figure competition.”
Contact info: www.adelagf.com or
www.jmpmanagement.com (for modeling or guest appearances)
Hair and Makeup by Kimberly Carlson
O Babe
IRON MAN Hardbody
IRON MAN Hardbody
IRON MAN Hardbody
IRON MAN Hardbody
IRON MAN Research Team
C
I
K
A
G O and
G
r
o
f
r
e
w
o
wP
Gro
Is This New Supplement
Instant Strength in a Can?
all us human guinea pigs or musclebuilding lab rats. It all comes with the
IRON MAN Training & Research Team
territory, where we try to determine what
works and what doesnÕt. The word research in
the ITRC name means we get bombarded with
lots of supplements to testÑsome good, some
not so good. WeÕre usually excited by the hype
that comes with a new product, but we never
allow it to hypnotize us. We always go into our
ÒtestsÓ with a healthy dose of skepticism to beat
down the placebo effect. That sums up our
state of mind when we received the latest
power supplement from MuscleTech: GAKIC.
Our doubt meters were set solidly on Òreality
check.Ó
The formula is a mix of L-arginine, alphaketoisocaproic acid calcium and L-glycine, and
itÕs billed as an Òadvanced muscle-fatigue-toxin
reducer.Ó In other words, itÕs supposed to help
you extend your setsÑan immediate 10.5 percent increase in strengthÑwhich should, in turn,
stimulate more muscle growth.
Most IM readers know weÕre big fans of extending a set to wring every last ounce of
growth stimulation from the anaerobic effort we
expend. Our favorite technique is X Reps, endof-set partials that we kick in at exhaustion,
when we canÕt get any more full-range reps.
TheyÕve done amazing things for us the past
year, so we knew that if GAKIC worked, it
would be tailor-made for our efficiency-geared
trainingÑbigger, faster gains in less time. We
could ignite more firepower in any one set, but,
as we said, we were skeptical.
Neveux \ Photo Illustration by Christian Martinez \ Models: Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
“stunned.”
Steve checked
the load on the
bar. It was the
exact weight
we’d used at our
previous leg
workout, but he
was still skeptical. He
got under the bar, and it
and his skepticism
weighed heavy on his 46year-old shoulders. “Ahha,” he thought, “Jonathan
is just having a good day.
I’ll be lucky to get my normal nine reps.”
Well, Steve barely got his
nine—and then with a shock wave
of power he blasted out four more
reps that looked almost as easy as
his first four. Was it really the
GAKIC, or had the laws of gravity
somehow shifted during our first
sets of squats? We each got more
reps on our second set as well, and,
here’s the real kicker for us: We got
more X Reps. That really excited us.
We do our X Reps at the end of
our second set of Smith-machine
squats, firing out partials from below parallel to just above the thighsparallel-to-the-floor point. They are
rough and usually require some
partner assistance. On the GAKIC
test run both of us whipped
out five X Reps on our own.
Of course, we needed help
getting back to full lockout,
at which point we racked the
weight and our disbelief
spewed forth with, “Holy
crap!”
It could have been a fluke.
Maybe we were both having
a good day. Maybe the planets were aligned just right or
the moon was pulling the
tides in such away that our
squats were easier. But lo
and behold, the next day our
strength on Smith-machine
incline presses jumped, and
then at our delt workout
after that, our upright rows
just kept going and going
and going. Jonathan got 15
reps before he racked the
weight—more from disbelief
than fatigue. We have to say,
without any doubt, that the
GAKIC worked for us (our
Neveux \ Photo Illustration by Christian Martinez
We received two versions of the
new product from MuscleTech,
capsules and powder. We were dieting strictly at the time, so we chose
the capsules because of the carb
content of the powder—24 grams
per serving. (Not that 24 grams is a
lot, but it can make a difference in
the final throes of an all-out fat-loss
campaign. We’re going to use the
powder over the winter.)
The capsules are convenient—no
mixing—but you have to swallow
eight of the light-gray grenades
about 30 minutes before you train.
We followed the protocol for the
first time on a leg day, a perfect first
challenge for the not-so-little power
pills.
What happened? We felt nothing—at first. Our two progressively
heavier warmup sets on Smithmachine squats felt the same as
usual—progressively heavier with
no sign of new explosive power in
sight. Then we threw on a few more
45s for our work sets. Jonathan
went first, looking normal through
his first eight reps. Number nine,
usually his last, was slower, and
then—bam!—he suddenly cranked
out five more reps without a lot of
trouble. It was like his quads kicked
into overdrive. His skepticism meter was immediately reset to
skepticism meters are now stuck on
“extremely impressed!”).
The background on this supplement is fairly extensive. Its development stems from research studies
performed at the University of
Florida Health Sciences Center, and
GAKIC is patented. We read about
two double-blind studies that appeared in the journal Medicine &
Science in Sports & Exercise, which
showed the remarkable, immediate
10.5 percent increase in strength.
That’s due to the compound’s uncanny ability to sustain muscle
force and delay fatigue so you can
increase overload and thus trigger
more growth on every set.
The drawback is that those effects tend to fade about two-thirds
of the way through a workout. Because of that we’ve decided to try
mixing the powder in the water
bottles that we carry into the gym
so we can get a sustained GAKIC
push throughout our training session. That’s part of our winter massbuilding strategy (more on that next
month in Train, Eat, Grow).
Oh, one other thing: GAKIC
works, but it’s not cheap. It retails
for $79.95 for 16 servings—but as
usual the ITRC has managed to get
a bargain price so you can try it at a
deep discount. The Research Team
price is $99.95 for 32 servings of
extra strength in a can (you save
$60!). All you have to do is call
(800) 447-0008 and ask for the
GAKIC Special. Then set your
muscle meter on “grow,” and dust
off the 100-pound plates. You may
need ’em very soon. IM
Lonnie Teper’s
’05 Mr. Olympia Predictions
Make Room for Ronnie
Swami sez the Big Nasty
Will tie Haney’s record
The Swami sez Ronnie Coleman looks good coming out of a
crystal ball.
Let’s see here. Hmmm, the crystal ball is filled with so much new data to
absorb…. New venue, new Wildcard Showdown, new ruling from Ben Weider
that says protruded bellies and oil-filled physiques are out, that small waists,
flat stomachs and V-tapers are in. Will that change things at the latest version
of the Mr. O, set for October 15 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas? Nope. At
least not from what this sphere shows.
The Swami sez Ronnie Coleman, all 5’11” and 290 pounds of him, will be
tied with Lee Haney at eight Sandows apiece when the votes are tallied. The
only change will be a different stage on which to accept the honor. The Big
Nasty may be 41 years young these days, but I don’t see him slowing down
much, which is really bad news for the rest of the fellas. Oh, others may match
Ronnie from the front view; problem is, they all have to turn around and face
the curtain at some point. To date that has meant facing defeat as well.
Jay Cutler will show up in his best shape in years and nab second again.
The guy gets way too much criticism for someone who’s among the best in
the history of the game. No one is more focused than Jay, and that’s why he
ends up with a big payday every
time he competes.
ADD MR. O
Dexter
Challenge Accepted
Comstock
Jackson, a.k.a. “the Blade,” is sitting this one out,
sharpening his cut body even more in preparation for
Readers of this column know what I thought of the challenge round that
the ’06 Arnold Classic, so third place will go to
was initiated at last year’s Mr. Olympia. Two thumbs-down. I just got word
that it will be back again, but, I have to admit, this version looks to be a whole lot
Chris Cormier. Or Gustavo Badell. Or
better than the previous one.
Markus Ruhl. Or Gunter Schlierkamp.
For starters, this year’s challenge round will have no bearing on the scoring of the
What about the Federov kid, Alexander?
Olympia itself. Instead, it’ll be a contest within a contest, with cash prizes totaling $50,000.
As big and gnarly as Ruhl, according to
That bumps up the total prize money for the men to $550,000, compared to $400,000 in
’04; with the total prize money for the weekend’s physique events rising from $541,000 to
reports. Lee Priest was awfully impressive
$711,000, an increase of 31 percent. Two thumbs-up.
in the early-season shows. And the
What’s more, the judging panel for the challenge round will consist entirely of former Mr.
Swami predicts that even though he isn’t
Olympias: At press time Sergio Oliva, Franco Columbu,
qualified—at least as of mid-August, when
Frank Zane, Samir Bannout and Dorian Yates were on
this issue went to press—Branch Warren
the list, with Lee Haney likely to be added.
The winner walks away with 25 grand, with
will make a magnificent Olympia debut.
10K, 8K, 5K and 2K going to the secondOkay, I’m quitting while I’m behind. It’s
through fifth-placers.
Ronnie, Jay, then take your pick. A year’s
Hey, Ronnie, what do you think of the
free subscription to IRON MAN and the
challenge round now?
chance to have your picture featured in this
column go to the reader whose crystal ball falls
most in line with the final results. Send your picks for
the Mr. Olympia top 10, in order, via e-mail to
JAY AND RONNIE IN ’04
[email protected]. The deadline is October 10. See how
easy this stuff is? You, too, can be a swami.
ADD USA
USA CHAMPIONSHIPS
from the
BEAST East
Denver Nugget
Former cager shoots down the field
Freaky Fakhri Takes Vegas
Comstock
Comstock
Folks playing
the betting line
prior to the USA
were putting
their chips on
Phil Heath and
Marcus Haley to
nab the two pro
cards. They were
half right. Haley
did follow up his
heavyweightclass victory of a
year ago with
another win—as
a superheavyweight—but was
defeated by
light-heavyMubarak plays Vegas.
weight champ
Fakhri Mubarak in the battle for the second pro
card.
Now, Mubarak didn’t come out of nowhere. In
case you haven’t been following the industry in
recent times, the cat finished fourth in his division
at the ’03 Nationals (a class won by Kris Dim), so
he ain’t exactly chopped liver.
The 5’5”, 195-pounder from Ozone Park, New
York, was drier than the Vegas air. His calves,
back and hamstrings were particularly sublime. “I
don’t have great genetics,” Mubarak says, “so I
have to rely on great conditioning.”
You don’t have great genetics? Now, that’s
being modest.
Freaky Fakhri, who trains at the Bev Francis
Powerhouse Gym in Syosset, New York (yup, the
same gym that used to operate under the Gold’s
banner), says he’s jumping right into competition
at the next level and will make his debut at the
Charlotte Pro on October 1.
“I hope to be 10 pounds heavier,” he says, “but
I am wary of getting too big and not keeping my
conditioning, which has been the downfall of a lot
of other smaller guys moving into the pros.”
Agree wholeheartedly on that one, Fakhri. Tight
is right.
Comstock
For the first time ever, I
picked a bodybuilder
whom I’d never met or
seen compete to win a
major event. Hearing
words of praise about the
guy from Jay Cutler, and
viewing Big Bill Comstock’s pics from the
Junior Nationals was
enough to get me to take
the plunge. And Phil
Heath has made me look
better for it. The 25-yearold former high school
basketball ace from Seattle, who played at Denver
University as a 5’9”, 180pound guard, proved
pictures certainly can tell
the story.
In only his third year of
physique competition, the
now 215-pound Heath
swept his class and the
overall at the ’05 USA Championships. And I didn’t hear too many complaints at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Artemus Ham Concert Hall
on July 30 that the kid didn’t deserve
the title.
Sure, he’s got some areas to work
on: width, general thickness and
sharper conditioning, but that should
come with time. His arms (especially
his triceps), delts, chest and calves are
filthy. I say the Denver Nugget should
make his pro debut at the IRON MAN
in February. What a handsome addition to the scenery at the stunning
Pasadena Civic Auditorium he’d be.
The contest will be just two months
past his 26th birthday. Can he win it?
That depends on who’ll be competing
in the always-tough field. Still, it’s safe
to say that Phil the Thrill could hold his
own, regardless. Come on, Phillip,
make me look good again.
Phil Heath swept
his class and the
overall. Could the
’06 IRON MAN Pro
be next on his
agenda?
SHOW STOPPERS
ADD LIGHT HEAVIES
T h i s M i n i - To w e r o f
Power Is No Lightweight
Sting Ray
Teper
Comstock
Comstock
Ran into Barbara Fletcher, the 4’9”, 96pound dynamo from Anaheim, California,
who took the overall at the ’05 Orange
County, in the restaurant of the USA host
hotel, Embassy Suites. Asked her to show
me her stuff, right then and there. She did.
Then asked her to pose down Bill Comstock, right then and there. She did. Fortunately, Bill kept his shirt on.
The following evening, Buff Barb became
the shortest, and lightest, lightweight winner
in USA history. She also supplied the most
entertainment during the
posedown
when she
aggressively chased
the other
Four-foot nine-inch Barbara Fletcher class winners
won the fans’ hearts when she took
on the other class winners in the
around the
posedown. At right: Fletcher had no
stage.
trouble winning this posedown with
Fletcher
Big Bill Comstock.
didn’t win
the overall
crown (that went to the wonderfully symmetrical Amanda Dunbar), but she won the fans’
hearts with her spirited display. Talk about
dynamite coming in small packages.
Arde
was
spoton in
Vegas.
He was
in his alltime-best
shape, but
it wasn’t
quite good
enough for
“Sting”
Ray Arde,
the 5’6”,
198pounder
from San
Jose,
California.
Fakhri
Mubarak
deserved
the light-heavyweight crown, but I
couldn’t help pulling a bit for Arde, who
won my first-ever California Collegiate
Championships back in 1999.
Okay, I’m a bit biased, but I thought
the guy could have had the third-best
bod in the entire show behind Phil
Heath and Mubarak, and that’s saying
a mouthful. In the lobby after the contest, Arde said he might jump into the
North Americans; I’d like to see him
onstage at the Nationals in Atlanta in
November.
Hang in there, Sting Ray. You’re a
pro in waiting. Let’s hope the wait’s not
too long.
ADD WOMEN
Teper
Traveling Man
“So many women, so little
time!” says Steve.
Says L.T.: Save some time to
get back behind the curtain
at the Nationals.
Wennerstrom wheels keep on turninÕ
How did I know that Barbara Fletcher was the smallest USA Lightweight champion
ever? Or that Heather Policky was the event’s first female heavyweight winner from
Colorado? Or that Britt Miller became the first North Carolinian to take the middleweight
crown?
Because Steve Wennerstrom, who was neatly tucked away behind the curtain while I
was emceeing the finals, told me so. And what better source of info? This was the 26th
consecutive year that Wennerstrom has covered the USA, going back to 1980, when
some gal named Rachel McLish won the inaugural affair.
Steve has worn many hats (not counting the NBC Sports cap he frequently dons)
through the years. He’s been the IFBB women’s historian since 1982, an editor at
Women’s Physique World since ’84 and has contributed to Flex (where he’s currently an
editor at large) since ’83.
“I’ve been lucky enough to have watched, photographed and written about women’s
bodybuilding since it first started in 1977,” says Wennerstrom, who was a 400- and 800meter standout during his collegiate track days at Cal State Fullerton. “I’ve covered
countless local, state [25 California Championships] and regional contests in the United
States over the past 28 years, plus dozens of national and international championships
around the world.”
Wennerstrom’s record ain’t perfect—he has missed one NPC Nationals since 1980.
Not that he could help it. In 1991 he was in Sydney, Australia, covering the World Amateur Championships, and “the NPC Nationals were held on the same weekend in Orlando, Florida. That was a very tough choice. So many women, so little time!”
Collector’s Book: Pumping Iron Overseas
IRON MAN’s Army
Operation Iraqi Freedom Issue
Predictions Gone Wrong
Soldiers push for military theme
Sam’s the Man
Teper
Connie SogaYes, I do
Moore, wife of
call ’em wrong
once in a great
Sgt. 1st Class
while. I had a friendBret Moore,
ly wager with Eryk Bui
wrote recently
that Jorge “Chic”
to let us
Betancourt would finish
ahead of Sam Bakhtiar
know what
in the middleweight
big fans of
class. A year ago
IRON MAN
Bakhtiar was third in the
her hubby
class, while Chic was
fourth.
and his
As everyone knows by
fellow solnow, Sam took third in the
diers,
memlatest battle, finishing
bers of the
second to Betancourt’s
fifth in the division; I had
Hawaii Army
BAKHTIAR (LEFT) AND BETANCOURT.
to put up with Bui’s
National Guard
taunts throughout the weekend, which is much worse than springstationed in
ing for a meal.
Kuwait, are.
Bakhtiar’s a fine bodybuilder—hell, he took the overall at
the Los Angeles Championships a week before the USA. So
Such boosters, in
it wasn’t like I was going with the strong favorite this
fact, that the guys,
time.
who train at their base
I’ll be happy to buy, Chop Bui, but I think I’ll
gym, wanted to show us
wait till you begin your diet for the IRON
MAN. Will Koo Koo Roo do?
what an IRON MAN cover
would look like if we ever decided
to go with a military theme.
Looks pretty impressive, gents, but next time take
off the shirts! And keep up the good work; it’s much appreciated on this end.
Bret Moore (front) and his comrades in Kuwait, all
members of the Hawaii National Guard (from left):
Derek Cutting, Kanoa Kawai, Josh Dixon, Bernard
Herodies, Frank Morris and Ed Fernandez. Next time
shake the shirts, fellas.
HOT SHOTS
BY JERRY FREDRICK
ice Is Right”
Man, some of those “Pr
.
old
els are getting
ad
who lift don’t like he
“Back up!” People
e.
tur
pic
the
in
guns
shots. Gotta get the
mod-
Here's how bo
dybuilders sa
parking spac
ve
es for each ot
her at
Gold’s Gym,
Venice.
For photo galleries and reports from the ’05 NPC USA and Team
Universe weekends, go to IRON MAN’s
Graphicmuscle.com.
Success Stories
Ohio Energizer
So many hours, so little time
Add Ohio
Liberman
plished off the stage. The 5’2”,
110-pounder has a B.S. in exercise physiology from Ohio University as well as two master’s degrees
from Cleveland State University: one in
exercise physiology, and the second in
Reho often gives motivational lectures at
REHO’S FIGURE REHAB
sports management. Plus, she did her internschools, talking to third and fourth
ship with the NBA’s Cleveland Cavaliers, and I hear
graders about heart disease, exercise and
she gave Labron James pointers on his jumper.
the evils of smoking. Her Theme: Butts
Are Gross.
When not training at Titan’s 24 Hours Gym in Mentor (“in the wee hours of the
morning”), Linda works as an exercise physiologist in cardiac rehabilitation at Lake
West Hospital in nearby Willoughby, is coordinator of the Smoking Education/Cessation Department and finds time to work in
the Health Promotions division as well. She somehow also comes up with an hour daily to play shrink for local promoter Dave
Liberman, using her educational background in counselling him about his obsessive/compulsive behavior deficiencies.
How did she manage to prep for a physique show with that schedule? “I pray, and I do what's in my heart,” she said. “I am
very dedicated and committed, and I rely on the dear Lord to help me follow my dreams, goals and passions in life.” As for
when she’ll step onstage again, she said, “I’m kind of a spur-of-the-moment person. I guess I’ll compete again in 2006.”
Shoot, by then you’ll have picked up another degree or two.
Liberman
At
Linda Reho won the ’01 NPC
the ’05
Natural Northern USA BodybuildGreat Lakes
ing Championships, besting,
among others, future USA and
Natural Figure
IFBB North American class
Championships.
winner Christine Moore. This
Linda Reho, who
year she switched to figure
won the ’01 Natuand took her class at the NPC
ral Northern USA
Natural Great Lakes Championships in Detroit on June 4.
Bodybuilding
Pretty impressive, huh?
Championships,
Well, not nearly as eye-catchnow completes
ing as what the 30-year-old
strictly in figure.
from Mentor, Ohio, has accom-
I N D U S T RY N E W S
Family Affair
Bodybuilding.com
muscles in on business
world rankings
In six short years Bodybuilding.com has muscled its way into the online
magazine Internet Retailer’s Top 400 Retail Web Sites, a yearly ranking of
the best revenue-producing sites, at 160. How impressive is that number?
Well, Liz Claiborne sits at 193, Patagonia is rated 205, and The Nautilus
Group landed at 237. In a related article the magazine singled out the
family-owned business—and who doesn’t know Russ, Ryan and Jeremy
DeLuca by now in our industry?—for focusing on a niche market and
DeLucas three (from left): Jeremy, Ryan and Russ.
providing excellent customer service. Service is critical, yes. Now, if I can
just get those darn supplements Russ promised me ages ago!
The Idaho firm, founded by 26-year-old Ryan DeLuca, was also recognized by the Boise Chamber of Commerce as the
“2005 Small Business of the Year” for its growth, management and community involvement. And it’s nice to know the company
will stay involved as the title sponsor of my ’06 NPC Junior California Bodybuilding and Figure Championships, set for June 3 at
Pasadena City College. The DeLucas have been strong supporters of bodybuilding events for several years now. Congratulations on the honors, guys, and best wishes for your continued success.
Now, Russ, about those supplements. Ryan? Jeremy?
U P, D O W N A N D R O U N D T H E ’ 0 5 N P C U S A C H A M P I O N S H I P S
You know you’ve
ma
referring to you by de it when they start
first name only. Th
was Elvis, Fabian,
ere
Cher, Fabio…and
now
Lonnie.
Teper
Comstock
Teper
Barry Brook
s
2,
took the USA in 199
Flex Wheeler, who
new vocation
his
in
st
fine
5’s
zeroes in on 200
for MD.
as photojournalist
Teper
Teper
Ron Avidan
Not only did
Fakhri
Mubarak have
to
pose down his
fellow trophy
winners onst
age,
but he was als
o
challenged to
a
calf-off again
st
lightweight six
placer Alex Az tharian
backstage at
th
prejudging. So e
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Alex, Fakhri ge ,
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the nod here
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Why is George Fa
rah
always on the ph
one?
Rick
Sosias
finds
the
perfect
place
at
iles
sm
all
was
Mi
y
ddleweight Guille
Jaguar Jon Lindsa
for precontest meditation. It obvirmo
competitors and
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the USA, and with 325
kick out of
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indulgence.
up the Artemus Ham
blame him?
HALL OF FAMER
TEXAS BODYBUILDERS
Everything’s big at Q.T.’S
Quincy Taylor, who moved from
California’s San Fernando Valley to
Mansfield, Texas, in 2004, was carrying
around 330 pounds on his 6’4” frame
in the early part of July and planning on
being about 310—”no less than 305”—
when he hit the stage at the fall shows.
Check out the scores at www.graphic
muscle.com to see how he did.
Quincy, who was seen in the 2005
flick, “Be Cool,” lights up when talking
about his 180-pound Neapolitan mastiffs, Sophie and Legend. Taylor needs
a victory at either, or both, contests if
he wants to be top dog in his household. Sophie has already earned championship honors as a show dog.
“This is a big year for me,” said the
big man, who won the ’01 USA Overall
crown. “I plan on qualifying for the
Olympia and proving I can stand onstage with the best in the sport.”
Comstock
Who Let the Dogs Out?
Dogs’ best friend. Taylor with Sophie
and Legend.
L.T. gets some precontest emcee advice
from the Performance Ready Team, a
Colorado-based group of fitness and figure
competitors coached by IFBB pro Carla
Sanchez (from left): Judy Warren, Jessie
Booth, Sanchez, L.T., Tanisha Harrison,
Brooke Paulin and Brandy Newman.
More crystal balls. IRON MAN Publisher
John Balik was inducted into the Muscle
Beach Hall of Fame on July 4 in Venice,
California. The award was presented by
longtime IM contributor Gene Mozée.
Ruth Silverman’s
PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE
SUMMER ’05
Comstock
On the Road Again
Sending a message. Tight but not ripped was the
order of the day in Vegas—for the ladies, that is.
And get a load of the calves-a-palooza on the
backs of Amanda Dunbar’s legs.
Another fabulous ride on the
Vegas-to-New York shuttle
I don’t know how the photographers do it. Or the judges. Several hundred
terribly toned female butts passed before these weary eyes during the back-toback USA and Team Universe weekends, and it would have been a huge burden if I had to be responsible for remembering every one.
I was reminded of that as I watched NPC judges Linda Lafave, John Tuman
and Linda Wood-Hoyte meeting with female competitors backstage at the
USA, giving the athletes their notes on how they needed to improve. Earlier I’d
seen the three taking those notes, knowing that they’d be the ones having
these little chats, but still.… That’s a lot of buff bootys to keep track of, and for
some on the panel—and in the press pit—it was just the first half of the tour.
The USA Championships was a huge success, as usual. The ’05 version,
held on July 29 and 30, attracted almost 200 women as well as 123 men to the
stage of the University of Nevada, Las Vegas’ Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall.
Even though 137 of those ladies came to compete in figure, the turnout for
women’s bodybuilding was highly encouraging. Also encouraging was the way
the judges stuck to the NPC’s guns regarding the standards for evaluating the
female flexers’ physiques.
Witness their choice for moving on to the professional ranks, light-heavy
champ Amanda Dunbar, a 135-pounder with stunning symmetry and a less-ismore muscular style from Fort Myers, Florida. Even the weariest of eyes could
pick out Dunbar as a contender for the overall the moment they got a look at
her. She showed enviable self-confidence onstage, considering that it was her
very first national show. The panel awarded her the overall trophy—and the pro
card—over a more muscular but also genetically gifted Heather Policky, the
heavyweight winner, as well as power pixie Barbara Fletcher, lightweight
champ, and the very balanced Britt A. Miller, middleweight victor.
Dunbar’s background as a gymnast may account for the poise she showed
on the posing platform. She’ll need it on the next level, where being a competitor who doesn’t need to lose 20 percent of her muscularity may or may not turn
out to be an advantage.
To view IRON MAN’s online photo gallery of all the USA competitors, go to
www.graphicmuscle.com.
U S A B A C K S TA G E PA S S
Elena Sieple, second light heavy at the ’04 Nationals, is gunning for a pro card. Stopped cold by
Amanda Dunbar, she has to settle for the runnerup slot again.
Janet Kaufman waits to find out who
gets to pose at the finals. Janet does
and finishes third in the
middleweights.
Angie Salvagno, third behind Elena in
the light heavies, conserves her wattage
for the posing platform. “Adorable” is
one judge’s reaction to the 132-pounder
from Chico, California, onstage.
FIGURE NEWS
WINNERS
Flaking Off
New Pro Score Card
Can’t tell the players without it
Perseverance pays off for
Arkansas mom
NPC USA \ July 29–30
Overall winner
Michelle Flake
Trophy shot of
the month.
A class: 1) Andrea Dumon*, 2) Angela
Komis, 3) Rebecca Rush
B class: 1) Michelle Flake*, 2) Jeanette
Freed, 3) Brooke Paulin
C class: 1) Bernadette Galvan*, 2)
Michelle Anderson. 3) Zhanna Rotar
D class: 1) Gina Aliotti*, 2) Danielle
Hollenshade, 3) Erica Davidson
E class: 1) Amanda Savell*, 2) Rebecca Lynn Slatt, 3) Melissa Thalhamer
NPC Figure Nationals
August 5–6
Overall winner:
Danielle Hollenshade
Amanda Savell of Allen, Texas, was one of
three USA class winners who jumped into
the New York Pro a week after becoming
pros.
USA)
A class: 1) Rebecca Rush*, 2) Karen
Zaremba*, 3) Huong Arcinas
B class: 1) Jeanette Freed*, 2) Jenette
Guenther*, 3) Gail Elie
C class: 1) Zhanna Rotar*, 2) Aida
Aragon*, 3) Jesse Ferguson (4th at
D class: 1) Danielle Hollenshade*, 2)
Erica Davidson* 3) Kristy Stone
E class: 1) Jessica Booth* ** (5th at
USA), 2) Alana Hernandez*, 3)
Stephanie Collins (4th at USA)
MORE USA FLEXERS
Eve of Reduction
F class: 1) Ali Metkovich*, 2)
Alexis Ellis* (6th at USA), 3)
Jamie Justin
*Earned pro card.
**Earned pro card in fitness as
well.
Nowhere was the emphasis on
reduced muscularity more evident
than in the physique of veteran
heavyweight contender Heather
Policky. Weighing about five pounds
less than she had at the ’02 USA,
when her fourth-place finish wasn’t
popular with all the fans in the house
(she was fifth in ’03), Heather looked
www.billdobbins.com
Photography by Ruth Silverman
F class: 1) Shelly Taucher*, 2) Simona
Douglas, 3) Ali Metkovich
light as a feather in comparison. The
168 1/2-pound Policky earned firstplace votes from all nine judges but
not a pro card.
Figure up-and-comer Michelle Flake
was in the dumps after the ’04 Junior
Nationals, where she failed to make the
cut. She was ready to quit—after all,
what did she need it for, all the training
and dieting and sacrifice? The Little
Rock, Arkansas, resident had been
hooked on figure since she’d entered—
and won—her first show, the ’03 Battle
on the Bluff in Tunica, Mississippi, but,
well, it’s not as if her Day Runner was
empty. The 5’2 1/2” mother of three kids
(12, six and two) and owner (with husband Chris Flake) of two daycare centers had plenty to keep her hands full,
including, recently, a pair of baby raccoons, which the family rescued, bottlefed and raised before releasing back
into the wild.
Enter Steve Wennerstrom, champion of female physique athletes and
noted expert, who talked her out of
quitting. A waste of talent for Flake to
flake out now, he said. Turned out he
was right. Michelle took fourth in her
class at the ’04 Figure Nationals, and
from there it was just a hop (first in her
class at the ’05 Emerald Cup), skip
(fourth at the Junior USA) and a jump
(overall at the USA) to the pros.
Along the way she started representing GNC at events, which boosted her
confidence greatly. Her victory in Vegas
lifted it high enough that she jumped
into the New York Pro a week later and
made the top five in her parade-forpesos debut.
With two shows to go before the O,
don’t be shocked if this new Southern
star makes it to a Vegas stage once
more before the season’s out.
PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE
NEW PROS
MORE NEW STARS
The Streets
of Laredo
Graduation
Precocious co-ed goes
to the head of the class
Gina Aliotti is a quick
study. How else do you
account for her swift ride to
the figure pros? (Well, that
and her stunning physique.)
In fact, the 20-year-old
junior at San Diego State
University got her card at
her first national show—in
her first year of competition.
That’s fast.
Growing up in Monterey,
California, the 5’4 1/2”
foods-and-nutrition major
studied gymnastics as a kid,
played field hockey and
softball in high school and
was “always involved in
dance.” In college, she said,
“I didn’t have time for team
sports.” Instead she tried
her bod at figure with enviable results: A six-show trip
to the top, including a win at
the ’05 World Gym Classic
Gina gives new meaning to the term “pro in March.
figure babe.”
Gina learned to lift
weights from her father, who
“was and is a bodybuilder,” during her first year of high school, she said.
“Every morning we would perform a quick, 20-minute dumbbell routine.”
Her mother owned a health food store, “so I grew up in a very healthy
environment.”
The suggestion that she should compete came from her dad as well,
and in June 2004 she stepped onstage at a show run by the WBFA and
won the teen figure division. A win at the ’04 Border States put her on the
NPC radar, and it’s not hard to see why. Balance, lines and lots of
curves— her 123-pounds-in-contest-shape body has it all. Can she keep
moving at the same velocity? Watch her sprint into the next level and see.
Spotlight on
Bernadette Galvan
Galvanized.
Bernadette is
poised for
battle.
USA C-class winner Bernadette
Galvan leaped into the pros after an
11th-place finish at the Junior Nationals in June. The 5’4” lady from Laredo,
Texas, opens corporate fitness centers
for a living and has a background in
modeling, which may explain why she
stood out by a mile in her division.
As the photo shows, Galvan is
ready to fight it out in the pros. Imagine
her with a couple of six-shooters holstered and a 10-gallon hat.
HOT SHOTS
BY JERRY FREDRICK
It's a tough
job, but
someone
has to put
up King
Kong's
Milk Duds.
morial lift was a big
The John Holmes me
hit.
Don't you
just hate
guys who
don’t have
any physical
flaws?
AUDIOMANIA
WORKS IN PROGRESS
Bev on Muscle
Comstock
Speaking of sending a message
Couple of white chicks sitting around talkin’ ’bout muscle. Has
bodybuilding legend Bev Francis changed her tune?
The tone couldn’t
have been clearer
when I talked with
Bev Francis after the
Team Universe/Figure
Nationals/New York
Pro Figure finals, a
week after the USA:
“It’s time to back off
from sheer size,” said
the former World Pro
champ and Ms.
Olympia runner-up.
And then the next
thing she said was,
Bringing it down for figure
The camera
loves Kathy
Johansson,
but the 5’7”
former
heavyweight
from Tucson
notes that
she started
getting more
modeling
work when
she started
toning it
down. She
finished
eighth out of
36 in the USA
tall class in
only her
fourth competition.
“You’re probably surprised to hear me say that.”
Surprised? That the women’s bodybuilding icon and seven-time world powerlifting champ—blamed by some for having caused the trend toward extreme female
muscularity in the first place—has changed her tune? Why would you ask that?
An A-list physique judge and promoter, with husband Steve Weinberger, of the
Team U weekend, four New York Pro events and a slew of local and regional
shows, Francis knows the sport from all angles—and she knows how to shoot from
the lip. Catch her unbridled—and uncensored—audio interview with yours truly at
IM’s Graphicmuscle.com.
SURPRISES
MORE CHAMPS
Speaking of
Overall Winners
Vibe Tribe
Plus one
San Diego’s Lisa
Bic
former Marine, wh kels agrees. The 5’3”
o was the Califo
rni
Lightweight and
Overall Bodybuild a
ing champ
in 2003, admits
that she may sti
ll have muscle
to shed. She too
k the figure B cla
ss at this
year’s Cal and wa
s ninth in her div
ision in
Vegas.
And bulking back up
Liberman
Tribal portrait (from left); Kelly Ryan, Ashley Titus,
Nicole Rollolazo and Tanji Johnson.
Dave Liberman, who knows how I
love to give a boost to competitors
from Pittsburgh, sent this shot of ’05
NPC Masters National Figure champ
Sherie Salvadori. The 41-year-old
Salvadori, who recently relocated to
Miramar, Florida, won the short class
and overall—and a pro card—at the
July event, which, coincidentally,
was held in Pittsburgh.
Of course it was no surprise that the fitness
performance group known as Vibe Tribe, consisting, as it does, of Kelly Ryan, Tanji Johnson and Nicole Rollolazo, gave a wonderful
guest performance at the USA. The surprise
was that Ryan had slipped so comfortably into
the role of stepmom to 17-year-old Ashley
Marie Titus, daughter of Ryan’s hubby, Craig
Titus. Ashley, who moved into Kelly and Craig’s
Vegas-area digs last spring, had a grand time
hanging out with the divas three and got to
contribute to the act. “That’s her voiceover on
the music,” Ryan announced proudly before
instructing Ashley on the fine art of posing for a
group shot.
“The muscle
just
wouldn’t
leave,” says
bodybuilder
Kim Harris,
who never
did make
her debut in
the figure
arena. With
the new
emphasis
on aesthetics in
women’s
bodybuilding, she
was hoping
to do some
damage at the fall sho
ws.
PUMP & CiRCUMSTANCE
SAD NEWS
Comstock
Fannie Barrios
Fannie posed with flare at the ’04 Ms. International. She loved to compete and made
four appearances at the prestigious event.
The sudden death of pro bodybuilder Fannie Barrios on August 7 in Fort
Lauderdale, Florida, had the physique world reeling last summer. The 41year-old Miami resident was in Fort Lauderdale to attend the NPC Southern
States Championships, in which her husband, Alex Ramirez, competed.
She spent the weekend helping the athletes backstage and seemed fine to
those who spoke with her on Saturday, August 6. Later that night, however,
she suffered a stroke in the couple’s hotel room and passed away around 2
a.m. She was probably the last person anyone expected to be making
sensational headlines.
Fannie Josefina Barrios was born in Caracas, Venezuela, on May 30,
1964. She won the Venezuelan Championships twice, in 1997 and ’98, and
turned pro after winning a 1998 contest in San Salvador called the Absolute
Center of the Americas. Her pro debut took place at the ’99 Jan Tana
Classic, a contest that saw her reach the winner’s circle twice—as the
middleweight champ in 2001 and the lightweight champ in 2002. She competed in three Ms. Olympia competitions and four Ms. International events,
finishing third at both of them in 2002. The last entry on her busy competition résumé was a third-place finish at the ’05 New York Pro last May, and
she was preparing for the Europa Supershow at the time of her death.
A sweetheart who loved competitive bodybuilding is how those who
knew her describe Barrios. Five feet, two inches and 126 pounds of solid,
balanced muscle and aesthetic lines presented with an elegant posing style
is how they describe her physique. Fannie moved to Florida in 2000 to
focus on her bodybuilding career and work as a personal trainer. She and
Ramirez had recently opened a gym in Miami, which makes her passing
seem even sadder, if that’s possible.
In addition to her husband, Barrios leaves the couple’s 13-year-old
daughter, Johadanys. IRON MAN’s condolences go out to the family and
friends of this dedicated physique athlete.
Neveux
Comstock
Indeed I did. Under the heading of, “Whatever will they think up next?” my bosses at IRON MAN have decided to unleash me—and L.T.—on an unsuspecting
Internet. Audio contest reports with flash shows, interviews, commentary and
whatever else we think up are just a click away, at the ever-evolving Graphicmuscle.com (where you’ll also find our photo galleries of all the big NPC and
IFBB contests). And since we’re in a
hurry to get the stuff to you—and too
cheap to edit it—we’re totally uncensored.
“You’re going to be a star, dahlink,”
said IM Publisher John Balik as he
pressed into my hand a tiny digital
recorder.
Really, John? You promise? But he
was off, in that way publishers have. I
looked at the thing in my palm. It was
shiny and skinny and so cute, I
couldn’t resist. Especially when all my
colleagues assured me that I’d be
great on audio. The jury’s still out on
that one, but we are having a fine time
finding new ways to keep you up to
date on what’s happening in the
Graphic masterminds are plotting our
physique world. Check our coverage of
strategy for the Olympia. Set your brows- the USA and Team Universe competier to www.graphicmuscle
tions—the T.U. Fitness notes give new
.com, and adjust your speakers.
meaning to the phrase “flash report.”
Neveux
Did I say uncensored?
Neveux
Ruthless Unleashed
1964–2005
To contact Lonnie Teper about
material possibly pertinent to
News & Views, write to 1613
Chelsea Road, #266, San
Marino, CA 91108; fax to (626)
289-7949; or send e-mail to
[email protected].
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
[email protected].
You can contact Jerry
Fredrick, ace photographer for
Hot Shots and Hardcore
Training, in care of IRON MAN,
1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA
93033; or via e-mail at
[email protected].
2005 Mr. O Preview
Eight
Ball
Coleman Zeroes In
on Haney’s Record
by Lonnie Teper
Photography by Bill Comstock
Cutler
Coleman
here are several changes
in store for the ’05 Mr.
Olympia, but will any of
them affect Ronnie Coleman’s quest for an eighth
straight crown on October
15? A Coleman victory, as you
should know by now, would
place his name side by side
with the illustrious Lee
Haney as co-owner of a
record eight Mr. O titles.
Well, moving the Las Vegas
event from the Mandalay Bay
to the Orleans Arena certainly won’t have any effect.
Neither will the addition of
one competitor from the
newly installed Wildcard
Showdown competition that
will take place during the
Figure and Fitness Olympia
finals a night earlier.
However, some folks think
the mandate Ben Weider
announced a few months
back could play a role in who
cruises, who loses. In the
T
Cormier
Coleman
memo Weider said, to abridge, that
the “look” bodybuilders should
present
features a
small waist,
a tight, flat
midsection
and a Vtaper. Bodies injected
with products like
synthol will
be graded
Ben Weider
down.
The Big
Nasty has good symmetry, a fairly
small waist for a man his size and a
wonderful taper, even at the 295
pounds he carried last year on his
5’11” frame. But detractors quickly
point to a (sometimes) distended
midsection they say belies the Weider slant. Admirers of a more sleek,
aesthetically pleasing bod say Ronnie has gotten, well, too big and too
nasty.
So, if the Weider mandate really
Ruhl
Is bigger going to be better at this year’s Mr. O? The powers that be have
spoken and said symmetry will trump size, if that mass is misproportioned. It should be interesting indeed.
2005 Mr. O Preview
X-FACTOR
For
For those
those who
who
weren’t
weren’t close
close
observers
observers in
in ’01,
’01,
Schlierkamp
Schlierkamp was
was
the
the people’s
people’s
champ
champ en
en route
route
to
to aa fifth-place
fifth-place
finish
finish in
in the
the
Olympia.
Olympia.
is adhered to on game day, could
the likes of Chris Cormier, Melvin
Anthony, Darrem Charles and Lee
Priest be moving into the favorite’s
role? Be sure to read the News &
Views on page 206 to find out how
the Swami sez it will all play out.
In the meantime, let’s take a
closer look at the field.
The champ. Ronnie Coleman,
holder of seven consecutively
earned Sandow trophies. Does the
new Ben Weider directive concern
him? Well, he did tell me a while
back that he was aiming to come in
at around 280 or so but admitted
later that he keeps putting on muscle—yes, even at 41—and that it’s
feasible he could be even heavier
this time around.
The top challengers. Jay Cutler, Chris Cormier. With Dexter
Jackson sitting this one out (along
with Ahmad Haidar), the two top
challengers to unseat Coleman are
still C & C Company, Cutler and
Cormier.
Cutler, the three-time Arnold
Classic champ, has been playing
second fiddle to Ronnie at this
event for some time now. Jay’s
biggest problem of late has been
finding that happy medium: He’s
either been too heavy, which hurts
him in the back-detail department,
or too light, which flattens him out.
Cutler began his contest diet
even further out than usual this
year; if the 32-year-old can come in
dry, at about 265 pounds, he might
have a legit shot at uncrowning the
king. Jay, however, was around 290
in early August, so showing up that
light might be a stretch.
Cormier is an enigma, as usual.
How many
times have
we said, “If
Chris can
come in at
his best”—
then he
doesn’t.
Now that
he’s 38,
there’s no
more time
to waste for
the 5’11”,
255-pounder with the
tremendous
symmetry.
If he’s on
the money,
he’ll be in
the mix for
the big
prize. If he’s
off again,
Badell
like last year, when he finished seventh, he’ll fade into the second five.
X factor. Gunter Schlierkamp.
Why does Schlierkamp, after his
sixth-place landing a year ago, not
to mention the thumping he had to
take in front of the whole place
because of that damn challenge
round, rate this high? Because he
told me back in April that “Guntermania will be
back.”
For those who
weren’t close observers in ’01,
Schlierkamp was
the people’s
champ en route to
a fifth-place finish
in the Olympia,
then upset Coleman at the GNC
Show of Strength
shortly after, becoming the only
person ever to
defeat a reigning
Mr. O.
Top-six contenders. Gustavo
Badell, Lee Priest,
Markus Ruhl,
Alexander
Federov. Badell
was ’04’s biggest
2005 Mr. O Preview
Federov
Photo by Kevin Horton. Used with permission
Priest
surprise, ending up third in the
event last year. Then the Frican
Rican started off ’05 with a bang,
winning the IRON MAN Pro before
taking third in the Arnold Classic.
But despite the impressive finishes, the 5’7” Badell has had as many
detractors as supporters this season, as he was 16 pounds heavier
than the 234 he sported in 2004.
Again, a distended midsection was
the main area of disapproval.
I’d like to see Gustavo display the
look he had in ’04, when he was
easily the most improved bodybuilder on the pro level; at 235
Badell, who will be competing in
front of his hometown fans, since
he moved from Puerto Rico to
Vegas a while back, will fight for a
top-three slot.
Priest has been a standout on the
pro level for more than a decade
and may have presented his best
look ever this season. The 5’4 1/2”,
200-pound Priest took second to
Badell at the IM, was a disputed
fourth at the ASC and then bested
Cormier at the Australian Pro event.
Always criticized for his lack of
thigh separation and smooth
glutes, Priest really dialed things in
during the early shows and brought
up those areas of weakness tremendously.
The big, bad Markus, all 285
pounds of him (at about 5’11”), is a
huge favorite of the fans, and if he’s
in shape, he’ll always be a contender, as he was last year, when he
finished fifth.
Russia’s Federov, the latest “big
thing” to make his Olympia debut,
is about the same size as Ruhl, has
gotten a lot of media exposure and
will probably join Ruhl as one of the
crowd favorites. If people are thinking Federov is a threat to Coleman’s
title, Ronnie isn’t one of them. “His
time isn’t now,” Coleman says with
a sly smile.
X factor. Victor Martinez. Martinez has sort of become the latest
version of Cormier. When he’s spot
on, the balanced Martinez can be
one of the best in the game, but he
hasn’t been at his best since he won
the Night of Champions in ’03. The
New Yorker, ninth a year ago, still
has to prove he’s among bodybuilding’s elite on a consistent basis.
Top-10 contenders. Darrem
2005 Mr. O Preview
X-FACTOR
When
When spot
spot on,
on,
the
the balanced
balanced
Martinez
Martinez can
can be
be
one
one of
of the
the best
best
in
in the
the game.
game.
Martinez
Charles, Melvin Anthony, Kris Dim.
Charles bested Martinez at the ’05
New York Pro, so perhaps he should
trade places with Victor in the rankings. The 36-year-old Charles has
really come on of late and has
recorded six victories on the pro
level. Still, will the judges allow the
always sliced Charles, at 5’9” and
220 pounds, to move ahead of some
of the mass monsters and land in
the top six?
Anthony, like Charles, presents
one of the most pleasing physiques
in the industry. But as
with Darrem,
is he big
enough to be
fairly compared to guys
like Schlierkamp and
Ruhl? Marvelous Melvin
goes about
5’8 1/2” and
230 pounds
and is the best performer in the
sport.
Dim was 12th last season and
easily laid claim to the title of best
Asian bodybuilder in the world.
Now he wants to be ranked among
the best, period. Kris will be one of
the smaller competitors in the
lineup, at 5’5” and around 200
pounds. But, remember, Priest is
about that size as well and can hang
with anyone.
Troy Alves, who would also fall
into this category, was sidelined
with a shoulder injury this summer
and had to withdraw.
More X factors. Johnnie Jackson, Branch Warren. At press time,
Jackson was in, and Warren was
hoping to qualify at the Europa
Supershow and Charlotte Pro in the
fall.
The two Texans—and sometime
training partners—both possess
high-quality physiques and have
the tools to crack the top 10. Jackson was 14th a year ago but looked
vastly improved when he took second behind Charles at the Toronto
Pro this year.
Warren, the most underrated
physique athlete in the
game, should
have qualified
for the Big
Dance last year.
Based on how
terrific he
looked when he
peeled off his
shirt at the
Texas Championships on July
23, he’s a shooin to do just
that this time
around—and
the man known
for the best
wheels since
the late Paul
“Quadzilla”
DeMayo
showed off only
his untanned
upper body.
There will
also be a competitor added
after the WildAnthony
card Showdown
2005 Mr. O Preview
Dim
is held on the night before the Mr.
O. This new feature is basically an
11th-hour qualifying match, in
which the winner not only gets 10
grand but also gets to stand next to
Coleman and his posse the following day.
The event is open to IFBB pros
who finished in the top 10 at IFBB
contests from the ’04 Mr. Olympia
through the ’05 season.
What’s more, despite any rumors
you may have heard, the challenge
round, inaugurated in 2004, will be
back. This year, however, it won’t
change the outcome of the contest.
It will bring a nice piece of change
to the top finishers. See the News &
Views for the details.
Additionally, American Media
Inc. and the IFBB, promoters of the
’05 Olympia Weekend, have raised
the prize money for all events held
during the weekend; the Mr. O pot
goes from $399,000 to $500,000.
The amount for the winner,
$120,000 last year, is being boosted
to $150,000.
This is a new contest venue, the
lineup is deep, and the booty has
been increased. Can’t wait to see if
Coleman makes it eight. IM
’05 Mr. Olympia Lineup
(As of September 1)
Jackson
Warren
s
R
O
T
C
A
-F
Ronnie Coleman
Jay Cutler
Gustavo Badell
Markus Ruhl
Gunter Schlierkamp
Alexander Federov
Mike Sheridan
Chris Cormier
Mustafa Mohammad
Kris Dim
Lee Priest
Melvin Anthony
Darrem Charles
Ronny Rockel
Victor Martinez
Craig Richardson
Capriese Murray
Johnnie Jackson
X
Back to the
Rack
Iso Magic Part 5
A
brief moment to
review the topic of this
series. An isometric
contraction occurs
when the resistance to the
muscle is so intense that the
muscle cannot move the
weight or object. Then the
muscle stiffens and does not
shorten. At that point, all of
the energy in the muscle is
used in tension and none in
the form of movement. That’s
how it develops the maximum
amount of muscle tension.
With this system of strength
training, you perform only a
single maximum contraction in
each exercise. Compared to a
typical free-weight or machine
workout, isos require very little
energy. One of the main selling points for doing isos was
that they weren’t fatiguing and
could be done more frequently
than conventional workouts.
You didn’t have to rest a day
between sessions, which enabled you to train six days a
week if you wanted to.
Model: David Dorsey
by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux
Only the Strong Shall Survive
Isometric work
can translate
into bigger lifts
on full-range
exercises.
Model: Skip La Cour
The maximum contractions involve the tendons and ligaments
much more than multiple reps on
free weights, and they also force the
nervous system to be more active.
Stimulating the nervous system is of
particular interest to any athlete
engaging in a high-skill activity, such
as Olympic weightlifting and the
field events in track. Enhancing the
ability of your nervous system to
respond more rapidly is a great asset
in any sport.
Studies have concluded that moving a loaded barbell a short distance,
isotonically, before locking it in an
isometric contraction is more productive than doing isometrics without movement. That’s not to say that
pure isometrics don’t work because
they’ve been proven to add strength.
It’s just that isotonic-isometric exercise is better, and that’s my focus
here.
There are a number of ways to
incorporate isos into your current
program. The best approach is usually to insert some isos into your
regular routine so that there’s not
much overall change right away.
When I first used isometrics, I did
them on my nonlifting days—Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday—and
trained with free weights Monday,
Wednesday and Friday. I was able to
recover from the six-day regime for
two reasons: The iso sessions were
short and sweet—15 minutes tops—
and I always paid close attention to
the heavy, light and medium concept on my lifting days. The short,
condensed iso sessions didn’t tire
me at all but instilled a pleasant
stimulation that carried over to the
following day and benefited me in
the weight room.
Unless you have easy access to a
power rack, however, that idea isn’t
very feasible. At York the weight
room was always available, and I did
a variation of that routine: I lifted
four days and did a couple of isos
two other days a week. I concentrated on my weaker areas in the power
rack—almost always my squats.
When I felt I was getting stale on
them, I’d switch over and do pulls or
presses for a few weeks. On occasion
I’d work all three bodyparts. Generally that was in the off-season, when
I didn’t have to worry about pushing
my numbers up on the three com-
petitive lifts. The change was
healthy because when I cut back on
the isos I had more juice for the
press, snatch, and clean and jerk.
Using the relatively lighter weights
for a length of time also let me pay
closer attention to my technique.
That had long-range positive benefits.
Some situations may prompt you
to give isos priority for a month or
six weeks. Maybe you’re feeling
burnt out with your present program, want some sort of drastic
change or are simply pressed for
time. Switching to an iso routine can
revive your enthusiasm: Isos are new
stuff and demand a type of concentration different from what you need
If you’re
stale on
an exercise, isos
can help
break
your
plateau.
in conventional workouts.
When Tommy Suggs was still a tax
accountant, he’d drop his regular
weight workouts and do an almost
exclusive iso routine during tax
season. He’d get up at 6 a.m., go into
his garage, zip through a 15- or 20minute session in the power rack,
shower and go to his office. That
permitted him to maintain his consistency of training and prepared
him for the mental stress of the day.
When he went back to his freeweight routine, he always felt
stronger and found that the rack
work had helped him get rid of some
nagging injuries.
I introduce my athletes to isos by
having them do one position per
Model: Berry Kabov
Iso Magic
Back to the Rack
Driving
up and
against
an
immovab
le object
is a great
way to
build and
strengthe
n the
calves.
Back to the Rack
Ab work is a good
warmup for isos.
Model: Jonathan Lawson
Iso Magic
workout. It’s the best way of becoming familiar with the technique.
Once they learn it on a single position, they can more readily move to
others. Contrary to what many believe, a great deal of technique is
required to achieve the desired
results. Isometrics is one of those
exercise methods that are easy to
learn but hard to master. You’ll soon
discover that the more you practice,
the greater the gains.
I recommend supplementing
your regular routine with isos for yet
another practical reason. Locking a
weighted barbell into a set of pins
and applying your absolute maximum effort for eight to 12 seconds
isn’t fun. It’s not nearly as rewarding
as pressing, pulling or squatting a
heavy poundage. It’s pure work. So
for most athletes, a little goes a long
way.
If you do decide to start including
one or two isos in your weekly program, add them sensibly. You must
always be aware of balancing your
isos with your other weight work.
For example, it wouldn’t be wise to
do isos for your legs on your heavy
squat day. Too much of a good thing,
But you could do one or two positions on your light and medium
days, In the event that you want to
do an iso position on your medium
day, drop your back-off set.
Even though isos are much less
demanding than full-range exercises, if you pile on too much extra
work, you’ll become overtrained. It’s
a delicate balance, but one that you
can manage if you pay attention.
Keep in mind the fundamental principle that Dr. Ziegler expounded
over and over: Once you’ve attacked
the attachments with maximum
effort and held that contraction for a
minimum of eight seconds, they
cannot be made any stronger. Same
rule applies if you have maxed out
with low reps using free weights. So
on a day you work some group extra
hard, don’t add isos. Even if you’re
feeling perky.
Similarly, never do more than
Isos are
much
less demanding
than fullrange
exercises.
Model: Mike Dragna
Models: Bolo and David Yeung
Use isos in
conjunction
with your
regular
routine.
Locking a
weighted
barbell into a
set of pins
and applying
absolute
maximum
effort for
eight to 12
seconds isn’t
nearly as
rewarding as
pressing,
pulling or
squatting a
heavy
poundage.
three positions for any bodypart. I
think that two are plenty for squats:
bottom and middle. Seldom is the
finish of the squat any problem,
except when the middle is very
weak. Instead of doing the finish for
squats, I prefer heavy overloads
inside the rack. Moving half a ton a
few inches and supporting it for a
long count is extremely ego boosting, and I guarantee the next time
you back out of a squat rack with a
heavy weight, it will feel lighter than
ever. Yet there’s no reason you can’t
do the finish of the squat if you so
choose.
The original program suggested
three press positions, three pulls,
two squats and, one I really like, the
“rise on toes,” an extremely effective
way to strengthen the calves. Nine
positions, done quickly with short
rest periods between sets, and you’re
finished. Articles on the subject list
six or seven iso positions for just one
bodypart. What they overlook is the
principle that once you’ve exhausted
the tendons and ligaments, they’re
through for that session. Even
though you’re hitting those attachments in a slightly different manner
at the various positions, you’re still
working the same tendons and ligaments. In other words, when it
comes to doing isotonic-isometrics,
more is not better. Less is.
What I like best about isos is that
you can strengthen certain positions
that are extremely difficult to work
with conventional movements, such
as the deep bottom of a back or front
squat. It’s almost impossible to overload that position with free weights,
especially if it’s relatively weak. You
can squeeze under a bar in a power
Back to the Rack
Iso Magic
rack, however, and perform an
iso. They’re brutal yet very
productive.
Dan Dziadosz was a football player at Johns Hopkins
who competed in Olympic
lifting in the winter and
spring. His pulling power had
moved ahead of his leg
strength, and he was having
trouble recovering from his
heavy cleans. That was having
an adverse effect on his jerks.
I had him front squat twice a
week, once heavy and once less
heavy. On his less heavy session I’d
have him drop a work set and do a
low iso to finish off, but I’d have him
get lower than he actually went
during a front squat or clean. He’d
be scrunched up in a ball and could
squeeze the bar only up to the pins.
What was important was that he
maintained perfect position. If he
hadn’t, the iso would not have been
useful.
Since he was already warmed up,
all he did was one set of one rep
where he held the bar against the
pins for a 12 count (I admit that I
sometimes counted kinda slow).
Within a month he improved his
front squat by 50 pounds and his
clean by 20. Due to his new leg
strength, his jerk also became solid.
That was the only change he made
in his leg routine.
The top of the pull is another
place where isos can really help. The
finish of the snatch is particularly
hard to strengthen. How are you
going to work it? While high pulls
All he did was one set of
one rep where he held
the bar against the pins
for a 12 count. Within a
month he improved his
front squat by 50 pounds.
isometric quite rapidly and
converts to the deadlift imMaximum
mediately—as in the very
contractions
next workout. The hardest
involve the
part is maintaining perfect
tendons and
body positioning through the
ligaments
count. The lifter has to learn
much more
than multiple to keep his hips in precisely
reps on free the same place for the duration, or it won’t help him. So
weights.
he focuses his full attention
on locking his entire body in
place and keeping it there
through staunch determination until he hears “12.”
Unless you train alone, always
and shrugs are somewhat useful,
have someone else do the counting
the amount of weight you can use is
(ideally, someone who likes you).
limited if that’s a weak area. By setFace it: If you count for yourself,
ting the bar slightly higher than you
you’ll always hurry, and on the denormally pull and performing an iso manding positions you might sound
there, you can vastly improve your
like an auctioneer. Staying with the
top pull. As every Olympic lifter fully hold for the required count is as
understands, pulling higher is the
much a matter of mental toughness
key to success in the snatch. Withas bodily strength.
out sufficient height, all the quickAlthough this is common sense,
ness in the world isn’t going to
I’ll say it anyway. Never do an iso
matter.
before working a muscle group with
If you decide to try this high
any other form of exercise. Be sure
pulling position with a snatch grip,
to warm up your target muscles
be prepared for a humbling experithoroughly. If the isos are an extenence. As a general rule you have to
sion of a session, such as a couple of
use at least 100 pounds less on the
pulling positions after you’ve power
top-end iso than you can snatch.
cleaned, then you’re fine. If you plan
When I was snatching 300, the most
on using isos as your primary moveI could handle at this position was
ments for your back on a certain
205. And I started off using 185. My
day, however, make sure you preteammates at York had the same
pare for the upcoming stress. A few
disparity, and that’s why many
reps with a light weight on power
lifters avoid the position. They just
cleans or power snatches for pulls,
can’t stand being seen using such
light squats for the legs and dumbweenie weights. What they fail to
bells for the shoulders will flush
understand is that if they swallow
their egos and keep working that
ultrahigh position, they’ll get
stronger there and the new strength
Isometric/
will carry over directly to the snatch.
isotonic
An iso also works well for the top
work also
end of the clean and is much easier.
stimulates
Standing high on your toes and
the
nervous
trying to keep the bar firmly against
system to
the pins with a wide grip for the
be more
required count is almost as exhaustactive.
ing as the low position in the front
That’s very
squat.
important
I’ve also had great success with
to athletes
powerlifters who are having probwho
lems with the start of the deadlift. I
engage in
have them do an iso at a position
high-skill
several inches lower than the height
activities.
of the bar when it sits on the floor.
That position responds to isotonic-
Iso Magic
Back to the Rack
position until it gets stronger.
I also like changing where
you grip the bar on the
pulling positions. Olympic
lifters do that out of necessity
since the snatch requires a
much wider hand spacing
than the clean. So try pulling
with a very wide grip, then a
bit closer and finally with a
clean grip. Anything closer
than that is of no value.
Which brings me back to a
point I emphasized last time:
the need to keep accurate
records of every iso session,
even if you did only one
position. You need to write
down where you set the top
pins, how much weight you
used, including warmups
and work sets, and the exact
count that you held the isometric contraction. The
sooner you do that, the better. Right after you complete
the iso is best because you
can double-check your pin
placement. While you may be
able to recall the count and how
much weight you used later that
night or the next day, the odds of
remembering the pin placements
for the isos are dead against you. In
the event you do start changing pin
placements or using different grips
regularly, keeping an accurate account of what you did is even more
essential.
Because all of the isos in Ziegler’s
program put stress on the back—
overhead presses, pulls and
squats—he advocated doing something at the conclusion of the workout to decompress the spine. He
suggested frog kicks, which are easy
to do from the high bar on the Super
Power Rack or any chinning bar.
Strap onto the bar and lift your
knees up to your chest or as close to
your chest as you can manage. Inversion boots or inversion machines
weren’t around yet, but I’m sure he’d
have put his stamp of approval on
both.
More next month.
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
Models: Andre and Rune Nielsen
blood to those groups. A
muscle that’s warmed up well
will respond to any exercise,
including isos, more readily
and be less apt to be injured.
Let’s take a look at the
method I use to ensure that
an athlete’s muscles and
attachments are absolutely
ready for the work set. Set the
bar in the power rack at the
position you plan for your
iso. If you’re going to do a pull
at midthigh, use straps for all
pulling positions. Let’s say
the last time you did this
position, you handled 405.
Today you plan on attempting 415. For your first set you
use 225 and do three reps,
tapping the bar against the
Isos work
top pins on each rep but not
well with
holding it against them at all.
partialYour second set is 315, and
range
you follow the same proceexercises.
dure on your initial set: three
reps, tapping the higher pins
each time. Now you’re ready for
the money set, 415.
You pull the weight up against the doing only a single rep on their work
set. A few prefer doing two prelimitop pins and once you’ve locked it
nary reps before locking the bar in
tightly, the count begins. Rememplace. Whatever helps them fix the
ber, the bar must be eased up
weight snugly against the top pins
against the pins. If you jam it
and pull harder is okay with me.
against them, you’ll end up knockIf you’re planning to do more
ing yourself out of position, and the
than one position for a bodypart,
bar will slide forward or backward
you need to use the three-rep idea
or crash back to the lower pins.
only on the first position you use.
Steadily exert more pressure on the
For example, you want to do the
bar so that when you reach six or
start, middle and top for your clean
eight, you’re pulling just as hard as
pull. Once you do the three-rep tap,
you can. So you do all that and
tap, hold at the starting position,
achieve your goal. When you hear
you should be sufficiently warmed
“12,” however, you don’t relax and
up and able to do single reps at the
let the bar drop to the lower pins.
middle and top. If you feel more
Instead, you slowly reduce the prescomfortable tapping the top pins
sure on the bar and lower it in a
once or twice before locking into the
controlled manner. Letting the bar
isometric contraction, though, by all
crash to the lower pins can be traumeans do so.
matic to your shoulders and elbows.
I’ve found that it’s helpful to
In some cases, especially during
change positions each time you do
the learning stage, I have my athisos for a bodypart. The change
letes follow this procedure on their
doesn’t have to be big; moving the
work set: Pull the bar up to the top
pins up or down one hole is enough.
pins and tap them. Lower the bar,
The new position, however, forces
reset and proceed to lock the bar
new muscles to get in the act, and
against the pins and hold for eight
that’s a good thing. Plus, the minor
to 12 seconds. The first rep helps
change adds some variety to the
them get the feel of the weight and
routine. Exception: If you know
also enables them to make necesexactly where your weakest point is
sary adjustments in their mechanon some lift, you’ll want to work that
ics. Beginners like that better than
It’s Only Baloney
T
he doctor came out of the delivery room and told the
man that he could save either the mother or the child
but probably not both. As good fortune would have it,
both lived, but the baby’s arm was broken during the delivery,
and in such a way that the nerves in his left shoulder were
shattered.
Despite a surgeon’s best efforts to reconnect the nerves,
the boy would face life with one arm that was a caricature of
the other. His left arm was four inches shorter than his right.
Even though he spent his first six years with his left arm in a
heavy steel and leather brace and his first 13 years in twice-
Meet the challenge;
don’t make excuses.
Don’t sell yourself short with the
“I’m only...” limitation
weekly physical-therapy sessions, his left arm was virtually
useless. He would never be able to raise it over his shoulder
or straighten it out; he would never be able to clench or extend the fingers. In fact, learning to tie his shoes was one of
the biggest challenges of his life.
But this kid was no whiner. He squared off with his challenges. With every insult he had to endure, he just got
tougher. When he was 14, he said, “I discovered that $42 was
all I needed to erase the hated image of myself that faced me
every night from the mirror.… My left arm hung crooked by my
side, practically without muscle.” Forty-two dollars, you see,
was the price of a barbell set he’d
seen advertised in a magazine.
Since his family could barely afford
the dollar each of his therapy
sessions cost, he knew it was out
of the question to ask for $42.
What did he do? He saved the 10
cents he’d been spending on bus
fare from the hospital twice a
week, first by walking and then
running the five miles. That, he
said, marked the beginning of his
athletic career.
He got the weights and put
them to good use. It wasn’t long
before he began playing high
school football, earning his eligibility by wearing a baggy sweater
and keeping his arms behind his
back so the physician wouldn’t
notice his gimpy left arm. He won
a starting spot by always trying to
hit harder and be tougher than
any other kid on the team. The kid
with the withered left arm was
moving on up, and you might
guess that he went on to a nice
job in a local car dealership, married his high school sweetheart
and lived happily ever after, with
his high school football letter
proudly displayed in the family
room of his suburban home.
That wouldn’t be a half-bad
Neveux \ Model: Luke Wood
IRONMIND
Mind
Body
story, but the real one is even better. The kid gave the
track team a shot, and one day he threw the hammer.
Pressure
Even if you’ve never seen the hammer thrown, you
probably know it’s a two-handed event. As with the
shot put, the best hammer throwers are among the
most powerful athletes on the face of the earth. If the
kid had been a crybaby, if he’d said to himself, “I’m
only a cripple,” he’d have never made it that far, but
id you know that
he wasn’t one to let his vision be limited by piles of
laughing can re“I’m only…” baloney. He stuck with the hammer,
lax blood vesattacking the event with his characteristic ferocity.
sels?
Scientists
at the
Fast forward a few years to Melbourne, Australia,
University of Maryland in
and the medal ceremonies at the 1956 Olympics. The
reporters were yelling at the winner to raise his arms
Baltimore screened a
over his head for their victory photos. The man raised
humorous movie and a
his right arm, but even to that day—the day he
stressful movie for 20
climbed to the highest level in his sport—he couldn’t
healthy subjects and
raise his left arm above his shoulder. Harold Connolly
tested their circulation.
may not have been born with two good arms, but
that didn’t keep him from winning the gold medal in
Laughter increased blood
the hammer throw. It didn’t keep him from making the
flow by 22 percent while
next three Olympic teams, either. If he had
stressful scenes decreased it
succumbed to the “I’m only” baloney, he’d probably
by 35 percent.
have been a bitter man hiding in some dark corner.
—Becky Holman
Instead, there he was, standing with an Olympic gold
medal around his neck and the world at his feet.
www.X-tremeLean.com
The “I’m only” baloney has a long history. It’s been
proffered as a reason for not taking on challenge and,
conversely, rejected as so much drivel. For example, in the Old behind all those “I’m only…”
lines. That’s the attitude that
Testament, when Jeremiah was told that he’d been appointed
paves the road to progress.
as a prophet, he tried to wiggle out of his mission by saying,
You might not be Harold
“I’m only a boy,” which netted him the rebuke, “Do not say, ‘I
Connolly or Jeremiah, but their
am only a boy.’” Jeremiah got the message and went on to
examples teach us a lesson:
work.
Don’t sell yourself short; don’t
Every day we face challenges in many forms, not the least
ever limit your vision of what
of which is how to tackle our training. Do we aim high or low?
you can do; don’t ever say,
Do we sell ourselves short and excuse our crummy performances because we’re “only 14,” “only genetically average” or “I’m only…” because that’s
nothing but baloney.
“only another middle-aged guy”? Do we use the “I’m only...”
—Randall Strossen, Ph.D.
perspective to look for little from ourselves and then settle for
even less? That’s the easy way out, but it’s also the formula for
Editor’s note: Randall Strossen, Ph.D., edits the quarterly
mediocrity. Face the fact that to do what it takes to move
magazine MILO. He’s also the author of IronMind: Stronger
forward requires serious effort. That’s why there are so many
Minds, Stronger Bodies; Super Squats: How to Gain 30
armchair experts and so few doers. If you insist on saying,
Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks; and Paul Anderson: The Might“I’m only...,” be honest and finish with something like “lazy,”
iest Minister. For more information call IronMind Enterprises
when it comes to training hard, or “scared,” when it comes to
Inc. at (530) 265-6725 or Home Gym Warehouse at (800)
lifting bigger and bigger weights, or “uncommitted,” when it
447-0008, ext. 1. Visit the IronMind Web site at
comes to making it to all of your workouts. Face up to the real
www.ironmind.com.
reasons you might not be making the kind of training progress
you’d like, and then do something about it instead of hiding
Heartfelt Humor
D
Bomber Blast
MIND/BODY
A Dose of Innocuous Brainwashing
here is
nothing
new under
the sun; you’ve
heard it before.
But we ought to
repeat some
things regularly
despite the tedium of the process. They’re
like reflecting
lights that illuminate our way,
and our way is
one step from
the shadow of
darkness.
Seek contentment, abhor
complacency,
and don’t be
anxious about
anything. The
most we can
expect of our life
is a grand virtue,
living it with its
hardships and
joys, accumulating our time
without regret
and doing our
best and accepting the rest.
Be honest and
true to ourselves and give
no ear to our
critics, who are
less pleased
with us than we
are with ourselves. Try too hard, and we fall on our backside. Put a squeeze
on time, and it slips through our hands. Expect too much, and our
best is never enough. Steady as she goes, bombers, and she’ll go
a long way, high and far.
Call it perseverance or stubbornness.
Set your goals, ample and wise, and seek them with diligence
and might. Be unique, be yourself, imitate no one and be kind to
those who follow your ways. Work hard, eat right and be consistent, a simple practice that keeps us untethered—alive and free.
Slip not into apathy, ward off lethargy and boldly resist gluttony,
the shallow characteristics typical of the masses crowding our
path. Don’t compromise standards set high by your spirit, mind
and deeds. Clay feet we have, and soiling our neighbor is too easy
to do and so hard to recall. Be careful. Be aware. Be grateful. Be
emboldened and filled with joy.
Wait until you can wait no more, and wait again. Do what’s right
once, twice and three times. If what you do continues to be right,
do it 10 times more. The least you’ve done is something right
many times and practiced a quality of greatness that eludes us
day after day. It goes by many names—a favorite is persistence.
Be persistent, always, when doing good is troublesome, when
getting to a worthy place is doubtful and precarious and when
giving up a wicked way is painful and slippery.
Courage accompanies that admirable quality. You’ve heard of
Neveux \ Model: Daniel Decker
T
fortitude and marveled. Oh, to have fortitude each morning when
the sun rises and each evening when the sun goes down. Nothing
wretched before us could endure.
Could be patient, or dull.
Living without constraints and wandering freely are priceless
lifestyles with immediate rewards. Looking and seeing, listening
and hearing, we learn, imagine, discover, wonder, invent, play and
pretend. It’s fun. Yet, without aspirations toward which to direct
our steps, we go nowhere and accomplish little. To grow we need
a place to go, a purpose to achieve, a target at which to aim.
Aimlessness and wandering take us around and about, backwards and sideways, but they don’t move us forward. They don’t
get us ahead. They don’t fulfill our longings. First objective: Keep
our eyes on the path. Ultimate objective: Reach our destination.
That one is definitely, without a doubt, goal-seeking, or singlemindedness.
We want something, know what we want and want it badly.
Good. This will help us achieve it. Incidentally, we must be certain
what we want “badly” is “good.” We don’t want something we
ought not to want, like the money in the local 7-Eleven cash
register or Bobby’s girl or several pizzas and beers. We have a
way of rationalizing our wants and confusing them with our needs.
As in everything, be realistic and well-meaning.
Let’s, for example, strive for a strong, well-built body, which is
about as good as good gets. Visualize your worthy goal; see, feel,
taste, smell and wear that mighty sight as if it were already your
own. Put your powerful subconscious to work. I don’t mean get all
goofy like a little kid, but close is not a bad idea. Determine the
methods required for achieving your goals and implement them
with resolve. Know that wavering in your pursuit is foolish, weak
and damning to the process.
There’ll be times when we give up, no longer care, get sidetracked, misplace inspiration, lose ambition, get lazy, procrastinate, encounter the blues or fall into a slump. That’s life, either an
affliction or a challenge. Afflictions attack the weak and take them
down; challenges are moments of truth subject to the strong.
Push on, press on; tug, pull and squeeze with all your might. The
day is ours, by God, to add to our wealth. Don’t waste it; make
the best of it. Smooth its course with repeated treading. Dedication and devotion, they beat like drums.
Absolutely committed—or, as some say, compulsive, idiotic.
At birth we’re given a miracle to enjoy, cherish and care for. We
call it life. Nothing compares to its splendor.
We are guided in our understanding of and regard for life by
those before us, our instincts and our common sense. Somehow
we miss the living picture, and our lives—our bodies, our minds,
our behavior, our direction—fall short of its basic requirements,
and we allow it to slip away. Physical health deteriorates as we
daily misfeed and mistreat it; the mind suffers as it is neglected or
stressed and overworked; our emotions are rattled by wrong
thinking, and we run in different directions madly looking for
wealth and satisfaction and pleasure.
We overindulge, seldom exercise and regularly worry.
Many of our wrong-doings, should we take notice, are unintentional. They are accidents, not premeditated crimes. That’s no
excuse, reason or rationale, and it doesn’t mean crimes aren’t
being perpetrated on a daily basis.
It’s a sad and simple fact that ordinary man has little respect for
his natural life, the life he should honor, nurture and protect. Respect has become lost in the crowd and given over to a mob.
That one is called irresponsible, very uncool.
When will we get our act together, dear people? Gratefully, we
are IRON MAN readers who are miles ahead and above the masses of whom I speak, and our ways are virtuous by comparison.
We try hard to do it right, we falter and try again. We’re getting
there by confidence, knowledge and encouragement...and by
applying the hot points outlined above.
—Dave Draper
Web alert: For more from Dave Draper, visit www.davedraper.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.
Quotable Quote
Don’t be distracted by
criticism. Remember: The
only taste of success some
people have is when they
take...a bite out of you.
ÑZig Ziglar
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Physiology
MIND/BODY
You’re So Vein
hen I was first buying IRON
MAN and other bodybuilding
magazines, back in my freshman year of college, there was one
pro I was desperate to look like: the
Dragonslayer, Rich Gaspari. Rich
wasn’t the biggest guy of his era, and
he didn’t have the prettiest shape, but
his physique personified rugged
power. In particular, the overlapping
network of thick veins that threatened
to leap off his muscles had me in awe.
And so, along with becoming a lot
bigger and stronger, one of my main
goals in my early bodybuilding days
was to somehow get a bunch of those
veins for myself. I assumed that if I
trained long enough, heavy enough,
and with enough intensity, one day I’d
be as vascular as Richie. While that
didn’t exactly come to pass, I did
show far more prominent vascularity
as the years went by, most notably in
my chest, shoulders, arms and legs. I
also learned a few things about why
some bodybuilders show more vascularity than others.
W
Genetics. How is it that one pro—
Paul Dillett, say—can have giant,
squiggly veins that look like angry
garter snakes writhing beneath the
skin, while you could hardly see a
single vein on Flex Wheeler? Paul’s
veins are larger and closer to the
surface of his skin, plain and simple.
And that is an inherited trait. Furthermore, some people have thinner skin
Ad
Why are some bodybuilders
more vascular?
than others, and by that I don’t mean
they get offended easily.
Bodyfat. Very few bodybuilders
show a lot of vascularity unless they
have extremely low levels of bodyfat.
You can’t expect to see many veins
popping out unless you get very lean,
as in 6 percent bodyfat or less. I recall
that for years I had tons of veins in my
upper body but almost none showing
in the legs. It wasn’t until I finally
learned how to dial into proper contest condition that my lower-body
veins could be seen.
Steroids. A final factor that definitely plays a role in the appearance of
vascularity is steroids. Some steroids,
such as Anadrol, are known to increase blood volume to a significant
degree. With more blood, your veins
become slightly more inflated, in a
manner of speaking. That may sound
great until you understand what’s also
going on in that scenario—a tremendous increase in blood pressure. Then
there’s the catch-22 of water retention. Steroids may make your veins
stick out more, but the more androgenic products, like testosterone and
Dianabol, also tend to make you hold
a lot of water below the skin. That
puffy sheet of water can and often
does blur all your cool veins.
—Ron Harris
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com
Neveux
Rich
Gaspari.
Perspective
MIND/BODY
rofessional bodybuilders today
are huge beyond belief, especially to those of us who started out
in the 1980s. Back then anyone who
could hit the stage ripped at more than
220 was considered very big indeed,
and the handful, like Lee Haney and
Gary Strydom, who edged closer to
250 were absolute freaks. A decade
and a half later, that’s changed. There
are at least 30 or 40 pros now who
compete at more than 250 pounds and
a few, like Gunter Schlierkamp and
Quincy Taylor, who tip the scales at
more than 300. The average off-season
weight of hundreds of pros and top
amateurs now hovers around that mark
as well, and we are talking in many
cases about men as short as 5’8”.
It boggles the mind to consider how
rapid the progression toward greater
mass has been. A few so-called smaller guys—Dexter Jackson and Darrem
Charles, for instance—are in the top
echelon, but the magazines are dominated by mass monsters like Ronnie
Coleman, Jay Cutler and Gunter.
Bodybuilding is unlike other sports
in that the fans and supporters are almost always participants, not mere
spectators. It’s not as though we have
Monday Night Bodybuilding on ABC
and all the guys come over and drink
Heinekens while whooping it up for
their favorite pro. If we did, instead of
hearing people yelling at the referees,
you’d hear, “That Manion don’t know
symmetry from shinola!”
The kids coming up today have role
models, just as I did in the late ’80s,
only now those role models are twice
the size. It’s a great way to derive inspiration and motivation to train hard
and eat well, but by the same token I
think the current generation of bodybuilding beginners is being set up for
failure—or at least an inferiority complex. You need two things in abundance to reach today’s size level:
extremely gifted genetics and lots of
performance-enhancing drugs.
I’m not putting down the enormous
elite, because it also takes many years
of intense, heavy training and thousands of meals to attain such dimensions. I don’t mean to downplay that.
The problem is a mass misconception
that the real key to joining their ranks
lies in pharmaceuticals. That’s inaccurate. Without the requisite genetics that
produce an aberrant degree of muscle
growth, all the hard training, eating and
juicing will never make you a body
P
Must you be 300
pounds to impress?
double
for Mr.
Cutler or
Mr.
Coleman.
Many
are in
denial in
that regard, believing
that if
they just
go on
the right
cycle
with the proper amounts and combinations of drugs, a 300-pound body is
just eight to 12 weeks away. I’ve seen
too many young men waste thousands
of dollars, risk their health and alienate
friends and family because they stubbornly refused to concede that perhaps
they were never meant to be giants.
The painful truth is that only a very
small percentage of men have such
genetic potential. It’s probably as rare
as having the genes to grow to 6’8” or
taller. But there’s no reason to despair.
Listen and listen well: Great physiques can come in all shapes and
sizes. I’ve seen 150-pound men with
sculpted bodies and clear definition attract 10 times more attention than a
250-pound man with more bodyfat.
Even in bodybuilding contests, smaller
men often defeat much larger men
based on shape, symmetry and conditioning. You don’t have to take up two
airplane seats to have an impressive
body.
By all means continue to train for
mass—I certainly do—but never get
down on yourself because you aren’t
as big as your heroes in the magazines. That’s one reason I applaud
IRON MAN—it shows a good balance
of body sizes and types. All of them are
the result of hard training, and they all
look damn good. No matter who you
are, you’ll spot a model or two with
your type of frame, someone you could
realistically look like. Always keep in
mind that the number you see when
you step on the scale is nothing but a
number. Don’t let it define who you are
and how you feel about yourself.
—Ron Harris
Editor’s note: Check out Ron
Harris’ Web site,
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com.
Neveux \ Model: Jay Cutler
Mass Madness
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
Taking the She
Out of the He
Estrogen is often referred to as a “female hormone.”
While women produce far more estrogen than men, men
also produce it—just as women also produce smaller
amounts of testosterone, the dominant sex steroid in
men. Testosterone promotes libido, or sex drive, in both
sexes, but what is the purpose of estrogen in men?
A folk medicine adage is that nature always has a purpose. If men produce estrogen, they do so for some specific purpose. Most scientists think estrogen has
something to do with the maturation of sperm cells. Others suggest that it may offer some cardiovascular benefits.
Indeed, one reason that younger women, who produce
the highest levels of estrogen, rarely show significant signs
of cardiovascular disease, may be the protection that their
higher estrogen levels provide. A recent study traced that
to the promotion of COX-2 enzymes, which produce
prostacyclin, a prostaglandin that inhibits internal blood
clotting linked to heart attacks and strokes.1 The study
implies that women who use COX-2 inhibitor drugs to
treat joint pain or arthritis are especially vulnerable to
cardiovascular complications, possibly even heart attacks
or strokes. The same scenario may also occur in men who
stay on aromatase-inhibiting drugs too long, but more on
that later.
Estrogen boosts levels of high-density lipoprotein
(HDL) in women. It also maintains vascular flexibility,
along with higher rates of nitric oxide synthesis, which
helps control blood pressure. Those protective benefits
are apparent, however, only with natural estrogen. Synthetic
estrogens—specifically, those given to older women for
hormone-replacement therapy—increase the incidence of
cardiovascular disease in women who are already at risk of
cardiovascular disease because of their declining estrogen
levels. That explains why cardiovascular disease shows up
mainly in postmenopausal women.
In men synthetic estrogen promotes the internal blood
clotting that’s the cornerstone of most heart attacks and
strokes. Natural estrogen, however, as produced in a man’s
body or in food such as soy, appears to offer protective
effects against cardiovascular disease, likely because of the
COX-2 effect, along with higher HDL levels and antioxidant
effects that estrogen promotes.
From a bodybuilding standpoint, estrogens are considered undesirable. Several types of anabolic steroid drugs,
including testosterone, convert to estrogen through the
actions of the enzyme aromatase, which converts the normal output of testosterone to estrogen at a rate of about 20
percent daily. It’s found in various parts of the body, including the brain, liver, muscles and particularly in bodyfat,
especially peripheral bodyfat stores in legs and arms.
Excess estrogen leads to a number of side effects, including gynecomastia, or male breast development, water retention and increased subcutaneous fat stores, meaning the fat
that’s stored just under the skin. Estrogen is even more
potent than testosterone in signaling the brain to inhibit
gonadotropins, or hormones that control the production of
testosterone in the body, mainly luteinizing hormone (LH).
The lack of endogenous testosterone production can result
in such conditions as lower sperm counts and shrunken
testicles.
Bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids are aware of the
estrogen problem. In years past they used a drug called
tamoxifen citrate, or Nolvadex, which was designed to treat
estrogen-responsive breast cancer in older women. Similar
in structure to estrogen, Nolvadex could displace estrogen
at cellular estrogen receptors. Since Nolvadex exerted weak
or no estrogenic activity, by displacing estrogen, it blocked
the effects of estrogen at the cellular level.
Many bodybuilders didn’t realize that Nolvadex could
either work against estrogen (antagonist) or work like it
(agonist). The latter occurred if they used too high a dose or
if they took the drug for too long. In addition, Nolvadex
blocked two enzymes the testes required for generating
testosterone—which led to a further reduction in testosterone.
Not long after Nolvadex became popular, another drug
that could be used to block estrogen’s effects was introduced. Called testolactone (Testlac), it worked differently
from Nolvadex. Testlac went beyond just blocking the effects of estrogen; it inhibited aromatase. But Testlac was
expensive and hard to obtain. Like other aromatase-inhibiting drugs, it also seemed to promote fatigue and lethargy.
Since then far more effective aromatase inhibitors have
been introduced, chiefly to treat breast cancer in older
women. A few studies, however, show that those drugs can
Over-the-counter estrogen-blocking supplements can
derail the nasty effects of the
enzyme aromatase—hideous side effects like gyno, or
male breast enlargement.
Some might complain that
the small experimental
sample—only five
subjects—calls the study’s
validity into question. On
the other hand, it was just a
look-see trial to determine
whether OTC estrogen
inhibitors might be effective.
also dramatically increase testosterone levels in men who
are clinically low in the hormone. Block aromatase, and
you get an automatic boost of testosterone. An added
bonus is that the testosterone affected is usually the free,
or active, form, the one not bound to blood proteins. Only
the free form is biologically available to interact with
cellular androgen receptors.
The newest aromatase-inhibiting drugs have trade
names such as Arimidex, Aromasin and Femara. They’ve
largely displaced such older drugs as Nolvadex, Testlac,
Clomid and Cytadren. They’re extremely effective—and
very expensive. Arimidex sells for about $10 for a single
one-milligram pill.
Cheaper alternatives are available without a prescription. Like the prescription versions, over-the-counter
estrogen-blocking supplements block the effects of aromatase. They’re the last survivors of the pro-hormone
supplements that were banned last January. Estrogenblocking supplements are legal because the main ingredients occur naturally in some foods, and they don’t directly
convert into testosterone or other hormones.
On the other hand, if you look at the advertisements for
those products, you’ll note that the main benefit touted
for them is their ability to increase natural testosterone
levels. The health benefits of controlling estrogen are
rarely mentioned. The question is whether such supplements work as advertised.
The initial answer to that pertinent question is provided by two recently published studies. The first examined
the effects of two unnamed but naturally occurring aromatase inhibitors in 15 men over a 28-day period.2 The
ages of the men in the study ranged from 21 to 71, for an
average age of 39. None of the subjects had taken any type
of testosterone-boosting supplements or medications in
the three months prior to the study. The aromatase inhibitors were combined in one capsule, taken as three
single caps once daily.
After 10 days total and free testosterone increased by
244 percent and 358 percent from baseline levels. At the
28-day mark total levels had jumped to 314 percent above
baseline, while free levels
increased to 492 percent.
Estrogen, meanwhile, was
undetectable in 10 out of 15
subjects by the 10th day. By
the 28th day it was undetectable in 13 out of 15
subjects. No significant
alterations in lipid, liver or
other blood chemistry
values occurred in the men
while they were using the
supplement.
The second study was
sponsored by a company
that advertises and sells
products in this magazine.3
Normally, that sponsorship
would raise some degree of
skepticism, since the company has something to gain
from favorable study results.
The study’s scientific
The product that spiked
protocols, however,
testosterone 300 percent was
were up to par, and
Gaspari Nutrition’s Novedex
there’s no reason to
suspect any rigging.
Xtreme. Try it at www.HomeBesides, someone has to Gym.com.
pay for such studies,
and no drug company would, since it’s a natural product;
it does have a use patent.
The study featured five men, average age 31, who took
four capsules of the aromatase-inhibiting supplement
before bed for 28 days. As in the first study, using the
supplement significantly increased both total and free
testosterone levels. Total test increased 145 percent, 183
percent, 232 percent and 240 percent over the first four
weeks of the study. Free test likewise increased from baseline levels, 300 percent, 402 percent, 511 percent and 528
percent during that time. Even so, no significant conversion to estrogen occurred. Blood chemistry tests showed
no adverse changes, nor were any other side effects observed.
Some might complain that the small experimental
sample—only five subjects—calls the study’s validity into
question. On the other hand, it was just a look-see trial to
determine whether OTC estrogen inhibitors might be
effective. The dramatic results would tempt many to use
the supplement year-round, but even the manufacturer
advises using it for no longer than eight weeks, then stopping use altogether.
Advice like that makes sense from a health-and-performance perspective because estrogen may have cardiovascular benefits for men, such as helping maintain vital
HDL levels. It may also help maintain the androgen receptors without which testosterone is worthless. Plus it has a
relationship with growth hormone and insulinlike growth
factor 1 (IGF-1); women release greater levels of growth
hormone during exercise because of their higher estrogen
levels. Indeed, some studies suggest that estrogen protects against excessive muscle breakdown during exercise.
If that doesn’t convince you that estrogen offers men
some benefits, consider recent research suggesting that it
may play a role in male sexual response. Male mice and
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
Studies of men whose bodies can’t produce aromatase show
that they have better sexual response when they get both
testosterone and estrogen onboard.
rats absolutely need a certain level of
estrogen to have normal sexual relations. For humans the picture is less
clear, but recent studies of men
whose bodies can’t produce
aromatase show that they have better
sexual response when they get both
testosterone and estrogen onboard.4
My recent IRON MAN feature on
the top 10 food supplements [August
’05], included aromatase-inhibiting
supplements on the list. My reasoning was that they appeared to work
exactly as advertised. They appear to
be a safe way to significantly increase
testosterone and, more important,
increase free test—the active, true
anabolic version of the hormone.
OTC aromatase inhibitors offer a
good alternative for those who want
to increase their testosterone levels
while reducing estrogen.
That scenario would appeal to a
man of any age, but especially to men
40 or over who are showing lower
testosterone and higher estrogen
levels. Guys who have higher levels of
bodyfat would also likely benefit.
That’s because of the link between
lots of bodyfat and increased aromatase activity, which equals more
conversion of testosterone into estrogen, which in turn signals the brain’s
hypothalamus to release less
gonadotropin—and even less testosterone. Although it’s still a subject of
debate in medicine, the weight of
evidence shows that maintaining
higher levels of testosterone as they
age brings men numerous health
benefits, such as maintaining muscle
and brain functions.
References
1 Shah, B.H. (2005). Estrogen stimulation of COX-2-derived PGI-2 confers
atheroprotection. Trends in Endocrin
Metab. 5:199-201.
2 Trimmer, R., et al. (2005). Effects
of two naturally occurring aromatase
inhibitors on male hormonal and
blood chemistry profiles. J Int Soc
Sports Nutr. 2:14.
3 Ziegenfuss, T., et al. (2005). Safety
and efficacy of a commercially available, naturally occurring, aromatase
inhibitor in healthy men. J Int Soc
Sports Nutr. 2:28.
4 Carani, C., et al. (2005). Sex
steroids and sexual desire in a man
with a novel mutation of aromatase
gene and hypogonadism. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 30:413-17. IM
Readers Write
Classy Hardbody Hottie
Keep up the great work, and thanks for thinking outside
the box.
Jerry Lackland
Salt Lake City, UT
Better and Better
Neveux
I’ve been reading IRON MAN
since the ’80s, and it’s always
been my favorite magazine, but
you guys have really taken it to
the next level lately. Coach
Charles Poliquin is a great addition. His stuff is interesting, and I
always learn something from his
column. I’ve also seen a few items
from Pavel and his Beyond Bodybuilding book. Off-the-wall stuff
but just what I’m looking for. The
X-Rep ideas you’ve been publishing are also exactly the kind of
training ideas that keep me hitting the gym regularly, and the
Arnold poster [in the September ’05 issue] was killer!
Thank you!
Bill Simons
via Internet
I want to thank IRON MAN for the great feature on me in
the August ’05 issue [“YuGo Girl”]. I am so happy that you
featured me in your magazine, and I will be proud to promote IRON MAN as a Hardbody model. I hope we will work
together in the future.
Danijela Crevar
via Internet
Editor’s note: And thank you for another opportunity to
run a photo that highlights your European beauty.
Muscles in Motion
Your photo layout of female track-and-field athletes by
Tony Duffy was spectacular! Most of the ladies don’t have
the musculature of a female bodybuilder, but that’s exactly
why I enjoyed it so much. They have functional muscle on
structures that don’t resemble in the least a male physique.
Editor’s note: You can thank artist Ron Dunn for the
Arnold art that appeared as a collector’s poster in our
September issue. (And let’s not forget John Balik’s classic
curl photo of the Big Guy that was on the reverse side.) Ron
is working on more Legends posters for IM as we speak.
Stay tuned—and subscribed.
More X-citing Gains
I’ve been following both the X-treme Lean [diet recommendations] and The Ultimate Mass Workout programs
[from those two e-books], and my progress has been great!
I’m 6’5” and compete naturally. I have had a tendency to be
ectomorphic, but those programs have helped me change
my training to fit my body type. In
fact, I don’t consider myself to be
an ectomorph any longer. I’m the
most muscular I’ve ever been.
Thank you!
Cal Schmidt
via Internet
Editor’s note: For more on The
Ultimate Mass Workout and Xtreme Lean e-books, as well as the
new Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building e-book, visit www.X-Rep.com.
Tony Duffy
New e-book at www.X-Rep.com.
Vol. 64, No. 11: 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
ratesÑU.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 1-800570-4766. Copyright © 2005. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.

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