Training - Bodybuilding magazine free download. IRONMAN

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ARNOLD EXCLUSIVE • FAT-TO-MUSCLE COMPOUND • BIG ARMS
SEPTEMBER 2007 / IRON MAN MAGAZINE—WE KNOW TRAINING™
™
Exclusive Feature
ARNOLD
THINK
Critical
Success
Strategies
of Bodybuilding Icon
and California Governor
SHOULDER
SHOCK
With Overload Drops
and Power X Reps
CORE
STRENGTH
How It’s Really Built
ARNOLD THINK / GET RIPPED
GET RIPPED
A Commonsense Approach
SEPTEMBER 2007
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PLUS:
•Hot Over-40 Hardbody Gina Ostarly (Wow!)
•Legends of Bodybuilding—Kevin Levrone
•Pro-Style Workouts With Victor Martinez
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261
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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Get Ripped,
Vol. 66, No. 9
September 2007
page 214
We Know Training ™
FEATURES
FEATURES
64 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 95
The TEG men discuss what they’ve learned about building
muscle—plus exercise tweaks for better physiques.
92 ARNOLDTHINK
Bill Dobbins probes the California governor’s psychology
of success, the thought processes that have led to his rise
to the top.
104 SHOULDER SHOCK
William Litz gives you a compact lateral attack for dense
delts that look like cannonballs.
116 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 26
Ron Harris helps prepare his young protégé for competition—mentally and physically.
130 POWER/REP RANGE/
SHOCK Q&A
ARNOLD EXCLUSIVE • FAT-TO-MUSCLE COMPOUND • BIG ARMS
™
Exclusive Feature
Steve Holman hits Eric Broser with
ARNOLD
THINK
questions on Boser’s P/RR/S massbuilding protocol and variations that SHOULDER
can create more size and striations. SHOCK
Critical
Success
Strategies
of Bodybuilding Icon
and California Governor
With Overload Drops
and Power X Reps
154 L-CARNITINE
ArnoldThink,
page 92
Jerry Brainum explores the research
on this so-called fat-to-muscle
nutrient.
180 VICTOR MARTINEZ
L-Carnitine,
page 154
How the new Arnold Classic
champion did it—his training,
nutrition and a few secret weapons.
CORE
STRENGTH
How It’s Really Built
GET RIPPED
A Commonsense Approach
SEPTEMBER 2007
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PLUS:
•Hot Over-40 Hardbody Gina Ostarly (Wow!)
•Legends of Bodybuilding—Kevin Levrone
•Pro-Style Workouts With Victor Martinez
C1_SK03SEPT07-011_F.indd 1
Sagi Kalev and Heather
Tindell appear on this
month’s cover. Hair
and makeup Yvonne
Ouellette. Photo by
Michael Neveux.
198 HEAVY DUTY
John Little analyzes Mike Mentzer’s statement, “As the
body changes, training requirements change.”
214 GET RIPPED!
From the Bodybuilding.com archive, Myron Mielke
discusses a commonsense approach to etching in
muscularity.
Shoulder Shock,
page 104
230 LEGENDS OF BODYBUILDING
Rod Labbe talks to Kevin Levrone about his bodybuilding
career, the current state of the sport and Levrone’s latest
foray into the movie biz.
256 HARDBODY
Shocker Mom—Gina Ostarly strips down and pumps up
for Michael Neveux’s camera. Very nice!
282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE
Bill Starr’s take on developing your core—for more strength,
solid size and fewer injuries.
7/2/07 1:28:16 PM
Victor Martinez,
page 180
DEPARTMENTS
28 TRAIN TO GAIN
Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine: Why Does My Shoulder
Hurt? Plus, stretching, strength and size.
42 SMART TRAINING
Coach Charles Poliquin’s tips on getting bigger and
stronger fast.
48 EAT TO GROW
Stubborn-fat busters, new beta-alanine research and
natural sources of arginine.
82 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman maps out how to get wide bi’s and tri’s.
Also, his complete, quick 3D back workout.
86 NATURALLY HUGE
John Hansen fends off a leg-training barrage and then
outlines a size-building supplement program.
224 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY
Kevin
Levrone,
page 230
Hardbody,
page 256
Jerry Brainum looks at thyroid drugs and busting diet
plateaus through chemistry.
244 MUSCLE “IN” SITES
Eric Broser reports from the Web on sites by Dennis
Wolf and Mary Lado. In his Net Results Q&A section he
discusses triceps training and nutrition tips for mass.
248 NEWS & VIEWS
Lonnie Teper’s gold mine of good stuff on the competitive-bodybuilding scene. Also, look for IM’s photo featurette of the Muscle Beach Venice Memorial
Day Bash on page 254.
272 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE
Ruth Silverman’s inside look at the women’s body
sports. (Pretty pictures too.)
Pump & Circumstance,
page 272
News & Views,
page 248
292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION
Randall Strossen, Ph.D., explains cumulative consequences, while Dave Draper says, It’s all in the mind, Smiley.
304 READERS WRITE
Arnold, the Great; creatine cred; just say “know”; and
HIT me again.
WEB ALERT!
In the next IRON MAN
Next month it’s our first-ever longevity issue:
how to train, eat and supplement to live longer
stronger—and more muscular too. We have a
blockbuster interview with former Mr. America
Jim Morris, who is now in his 70s—with current
physique shots (you won’t believe your eyes!).
Plus, we’ve got Jerry Brainum’s list of top longevity supplements, insights into growth hormone and
testosterone and a look at drug-free chest training
with an over-40 drug-free pro. Watch for the ageless October IRON MAN on newsstands the first
week of September.
from the world
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Publisher’s Letter
Critical Mass
Most IRON MAN readers know Bill
Dobbins as an innovative and passionate photographer of fit and muscular
women, but as “ArnoldThink,” his revealing portrait of Arnold Schwarzenegger, shows, he’s also an accomplished
writer. If you’ve read my editorials over
the years, you know I come back time
and time again to Arnold’s wisdom. In
last month’s editorial, which was part
of our 60th-birthday salute to the Governor, I discussed a day I had recently
spent with him and commented that I’d gotten a 12-hour crash
course in effective management.
In “ArnoldThink,” which begins on page 92, Bill draws on his
own 30-year working relationship with Arnold to highlight the
unique combination of attributes that have marked his success.
While I’ve made my own observations about that subject, Dobbins’ piece gave me new insight into the way Arnold uses reality
and self-criticism. In Bill’s description of the process, I’m reminded of the world’s greatest golfer, Tiger Woods. Tiger’s approach to
self-criticism—that you be critical of your performance but not
destructively so—is a huge learning advantage. As one of Tiger’s
coaches replied when asked how a certain poorly played round
would affect Tiger’s game: Tiger sees every experience as a learning experience.
Arnold’s realistic view of the world, which lacks the destructive aspects that usually accompany self-criticism, is one of his
greatest strengths—maybe even his greatest. An objective, constructive analysis of the situation gives both Arnold and Tiger an
incredibly clear picture of what they need to do to accomplish
the goal at hand. That’s the reason they’re both at the top of their
game—because they live in the present and know how to keep
reality in focus.
I’ve known Arnold since 1969, and I can see that the attributes
Bill talks about were present in his approach to life even back
then. If you’re interested in what makes Arnold tick, I believe that
this is the best single analysis of the traits that have informed
much of his success. It could be a daily read to help inspire you to
reach your goals and get the most out of your life.
How did Arnold “learn” all of this? Did he learn it at all, or was it
simply innate? My next step is to sit down with the Governor and
ask those very questions.
Speaking of thought processes, look for my new blog at
IronManMagazine.com. Click Blogs in the top navigation bar to
find my entries as well as the contribution of a host of IRON MAN
bloggers. IM
Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik
Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer
Design Director: Michael Neveux
Editor in Chief: Stephen Holman
Art Director: T. S. Bratcher
Senior Editor: Ruth Silverman
Editor at Large: Lonnie Teper
Articles Editors: L.A. Perry, Caryne Brown
Assistant Art Director: Brett R. Miller
Designer: Emerson Miranda
IRON MAN Staff:
Mary Gasca, Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba,
Contributing Authors:
Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman,
Teagan Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis,
Dave Draper, Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum,
Ph.D., John Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler,
Rod Labbe, Skip La Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch
Lebowitz, John Little, Stuart McRobert, Gene
Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim
Shiebler, Roger Schwab, Pete Siegel, C.S. Sloan,
Bill Starr, Bradley Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D.,
Randall Strossen, Ph.D., Richard Winett, Ph.D.,
and David Young
Contributing Artists:
Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn,
Jake Jones
Contributing Photographers:
Jim Amentler, Ron Avidan, Reg Bradford, Jimmy
Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Fredrick, Irvin Gelb,
Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman, J.M. Manion, Gene
Mozée, Mitsuru Okabe, Rob Sims, Leo Stern
Director of Marketing:
Helen Yu, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
Accounting: Dolores Waterman
Subscriptions Manager:
Sonia Melendez, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 2
E-mail: [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]
Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: [email protected]
Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: [email protected]
26 SEPTEMBER 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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SPORTSMEDICINE
Why Does My Shoulder Hurt?
shrugs and dumbbell rows. The
problem here is that trainees sometimes relax at the end of a rep or
may try to get an extra stretch.
When they relax the muscles during an exercise, though, the ligaments take the burden, and the
overstretch can cause pain and
further problems.
Imagine you’re overstretching
the ligaments in the front of your
shoulder as well as stressing the
cartilage ring during the bench
press, incline press and flyes. Then
you add upright rows plus laterals
performed with your hands positioned as if you’re pouring water
out of a pitcher, finally relaxing your
shoulder during shrugs and cable
rows. You now have shoulder pain
and don’t understand why. After
all, aren’t you following the advice
of the magazines, personal trainers
and your training partners and mentors in the gym?
The clinical biomechanics just don’t make sense.
Modify your technique. Don’t go for the extra stretch on
dumbbell flyes, do touch the bar lower on your chest
during bench presses, do eliminate upright rows entirely,
don’t tip the fronts of the dumbbells downward on laterals, and don’t relax at the bottom of shrugs or seated
cable rows.
The shoulder is such a hot topic that I’m going to continue to talk about it—common mistakes, modifications
and new clinical information. Interest in the shoulder led
me to cowrite The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution, which
gave me much more space to address shoulder-related
anatomical, biomechanical, clinical and training issues.
—Joseph M. Horrigan
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
Weight training is a fantastic
form of exercise. It’s changed lives
and bodies dramatically. Even so,
it can produce a laundry list of
injuries. One of the most commonly
injured areas is the shoulder. Why?
The shoulder is capable of a
tremendous variety of motions and
has great flexibility—from 100mile-per-hour pitches in baseball
to the butterfly stroke in swimming
competition, nearly unbelievable
movements in gymnastics, heavy
weights being pulled overhead in
one movement in the snatch and
extraordinary performances in
dozens of other sports we all know
and love. That incredible range is
permitted by the shoulder’s unique
anatomy.
The shoulder is a shallow balland-socket joint. Only a small
portion of the ball is in contact with
the socket at any time, and the joint is surrounded by
ligaments that attach bone to bone. The ligaments can
be stressed and overstretched by some weight-training
movements. The socket is surrounded by a cartilage ring
known as the glenoid labrum, and the same movements
that stress ligaments can also stretch and tear the cartilage ring.
Shoulder-stressing movements include the bench
press, incline press, dumbbell flye, cable crossover and
pec deck flye. They make the ball slide naturally forward
in the socket, and that can stress the cartilage ring and
the ligaments in the front of the shoulder.
The ball-and-socket joint is covered by a roof made
of bone and a ligament. Some movements can drive the
ball upward into that roof, causing the rotator cuff tendon,
biceps tendon and a fluid-filled sac called a bursa to be
compressed, or impinged. The impingement produces
tendinitis and bursitis. The movement culprits are exercises with internal rotation and elevation of the shoulder—like upright rows and lateral raises with the front of
the dumbbell turned down.
The ligaments in the upper and rear of the shoulder
joint can be overstretched as well. Exercises that can
contribute to the problem include seated cable rows,
Editor’s note: Visit www.softtissuecenter.com for
reprints of Horrigan’s past Sportsmedicine columns that
have appeared in IRON MAN. You can order the books,
Strength, Conditioning and Injury Prevention for Hockey
by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A.,
and The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by Horrigan and
Jerry Robinson from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 4470008, or at www.Home-Gym.com.
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MASS MOVES
Calf-Raising Details
Q: I’ve been using
the 3D POF calf
workout [from the
e-book 3D Muscle
Building], but my
calves have gotten
only a small growth
spurt. I train them
hard to failure and
with end-of-set XRep paritals. Should
I add more sets? By
the way, I’m a skinny
hardgainer type, but
I’ve added lots of
muscle lately with
POF—just not on my
calves.
A: You’re probably too
familiar with the genetic
barriers when it comes
to building calves, so
we won’t go there. Let’s
concentrate on a few
things you can do to get
your lower legs growing, despite your genetic
shortcomings.
First, what kind of
shoes are you wearing
when you train calves?
We’ve seen guys in the
Thick-soled shoes can hamper calf
gym wearing army boots
training and reduce results.
and basketball shoes
with thick, padded soles,
which is not good for calf stimulation. You’ve got our e-book 3D Muscle Building; go to
page 20. There we talk about the extensor reflex—the reason legendary trainer Vince
Gironda used to yell at people in his Hollywood gym to train their calves without shoes
on. Training calves barefoot causes the muscle to contract better due to pressure on the
soles of the feet. That’s the extensor reflex.
We don’t suggest you train calves without shoes—some calf blocks are mighty
sharp—but we do suggest you get some of the new minimalist running shoes, like Nike
Free. They have thin soles, so it’s almost like training barefoot (the company’s catchphrase for the shoes is, “It’s like running barefoot”). Two of the most important parts of
the stroke on calf exercises are the stretch and semistretch positions at the bottom.
Thick-soled shoes help you cheat with too much rebound. Thin-soled shoes force your
calves to work harder down low.
One other thing you should do: For your contracted-position exercise, don’t use the
standing calf machine. You say you’re a skinny hardgainer, so you probably have low
neuromuscular efficiency—less-than-stellar nerve-to-muscle connections. Some unilateral free-weight work will therefore help you realize more size. Try one-leg calf raises.
They make you concentrate on one calf at a time to fire more fibers.
Stand on a high calf block near an upright you can hold on to for balance (we use
one end of the cable crossover machine). Hold a dumbbell in your hand on the same
side as the calf you’re working, keep a slight bend at your knee, and try to drive up with
the big-toe side of your foot. Do two sets of about 15 controlled reps for each leg—and
don’t forget the X-Rep partials on the last set for each leg. Do those pulses down low—
to force your calves to grow.
Try one-leg calf raises—with the right shoes—for a few weeks, and you’ll be showing
more calf flare as well as vascularity. You may even start wearing shorts to church!
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.3DMuscleBuilding.com
Squat or Not?
Squats are by far the most
productive exercise for the lower
body. Because of the muscle mass
involved, they also provide great
overall stimulation. But they’re not
without their problems, and one
relates to depth.
“The danger in a full squat, a low
squat,” Arthur Jones said, “is not
a result of the position of your legs
in relation to your torso. The danger is a result of the direction from
which the force is imposed.” The
force is trying to bend the bones of
your lower leg and pull your knee
apart—the same as a leg extension.
Although the direction of force is
worse in a leg extension, the amount
of force is greater in a squat. Results
are about the same.
Nevertheless, Jones had trainees
and bodybuilders perform squats to
a level where their thighs, in photographs, were below parallel to the
floor. According to Ellington Darden,
Ph.D., who worked for Jones,
“Squats should be carried to a point
where the thighs first start to contact the backs of the calves. At that
point the squat should be stopped
by muscular action instead of by
bouncing the thighs off the calves.
Performed in the correct manner,
there is no danger to the knees. On
the contrary, squats can do more to
prevent knee injuries than any other
barbell exercise.”
—Gary Bannister
In Arthur’s Shadow—Daily
Musings on Exercise: A Tribute to
Arthur Jones
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
TRAIN TO GAIN
X-FILES
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How would you like a surge in
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But nine times out of 10 this stall is
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The rotator cuff muscles stabilize
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©2010 Home-Gym.com
Reasons to Lift
The top ways weight training can improve your life
Q: Why do you
their aerobics-trained
believe that liftcounterparts. Weight
ing weights is the
training increases
most important
muscle size, burns
form of fitness?
bodyfat and reshapes
A: Weight trainthe body. People
ing increases bone
who do aerobics only
density, provided you
have bodies that are
take extra calcium
generally less muscufrom supplements
lar and tend to hold
or eat calcium-rich
more bodyfat. In fact,
foods. Weight trainif you weight train
ing has an anti-aging
moderately heavy
effect because, as a
and fast, you probweight-bearing exerably don’t even need
cise, it gives the body
to do aerobics.
a reason to absorb
Because a properly
more calcium. As
weight-trained body
many double-blind
is healthier and more
studies have demonaesthetically pleasing,
strated, if you don’t
weight training builds
do weight-bearing
self-confidence.
exercises, your body
By merely taking
won’t absorb any
up weight trainof the calcium you
ing and its healthful
take in. It may end
lifestyle, many have
up in your kidneys
turned their lives
in the form of kidney
around. I know that
stones.
can happen because
Aging and death
it happened to me.
Weight training keeps your joints strong and hormone
are part of life; howHaving left home
levels higher for an improved quality of life as you age.
ever, there are many
at a young age for
ways of slowing the
financial reasons, I had
aging process. One of the most important biological markto take life by the horns. By 19, I was in the United States
ers of aging is muscle loss. Weight training can slow that
Air Force, and my life was very different from the lives of
to a crawl, and it can help the body produce more growth
crime so common among the peers I’d left behind. Lifting
hormone, which in and of itself helps preserve muscle, as
weights was a big reason. I never would have accomplished
well as heal injuries, improve skin tone, revitalize sex drive
so much or become the person I am today without it. The
and beef up tendons and ligaments.
dedication, discipline and self-esteem that weight training
Essentially, weight training improves the quality of life.
can produce can help every man, woman and teenager go
Most people who train moderately with weights will have
forward.
—Paul Burke
nearly pain-free joints their entire lives. (That’s also a reason
not to train with weights that are too heavy.)
Editor’s note: To contact
Training with weights gives you a sense of well-being
Paul Burke, write to him via e-mail
because it encourages the release of endorphins from the
at [email protected]. Burke has
hypothalamus, the brain’s control central. That feeling of
a master’s degree in Integrated
well-being can last for up to eight hours after training. In
Studies from Cambridge College in
fact, studies have shown that weight training is far more
Cambridge, Massachusetts. He’s
effective than many serotonin reuptake inhibitors in generatbeen a champion bodybuilder and
ing it.
arm wrestler, and he’s considered
Training with weights is twice as effective at burning fat
a leader in the field of over-40
as doing aerobics. No, that’s not a typo. The simple fact
fitness training. You can purchase
is that the more muscle mass you carry on your body, the
his book Burke’s Law—a New
more fat you’ll burn—even at rest. Muscle stokes the meFitness Paradigm for the Mature
tabolism long after training is over. The most you can expect Male, from Home Gym Warehouse.
from doing aerobics only is to burn off blood glucose first
Call (800) 447-0008, or visit www.
and then some stored fat.
Home-Gym.com. His “Burke’s Law” training DVD is also
In most cases, weight-trained bodies look better than
now available.
Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin
TRAIN TO GAIN
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Crossovers
Stretching, Strength and Size
A major law of
exercise physiology is the specificity-of-exercise rule:
To get stronger,
you overload the
muscles with progressively heavier
weights. To build
endurance, you
do aerobic exercise that raises
your heart rate to
a certain range. To
increase flexibility,
you stretch—but
when?
Many coaches
have their athletes
engage in extensive preactivity
stretch routines
with the goal of preventing injuries. The theory: Stretching
warms up and loosens the muscles, as tight muscles are
more prone to injury.
Yet under the objective eye of cold science that long-held
notion doesn’t hold up. In fact, there’s little or no scientific evidence to prove that stretching before exercise prevents injury.
The confusion stems from a failure to distinguish a warmup
from a stretch routine. Extensive evidence confirms that
warmups prevent injuries. In a typical bodybuilding workout an
effective warmup consists of one or two light sets of an exercise. The objective is to increase intramuscular temperature,
which in turn decreases muscle viscosity, making for more
fluid movement when you move on to a heavier weight.
Stretching, however, can be counterproductive. Several
recent studies have indicted pretraining stretching as a cause
of muscle-strength loss, notably a loss of strength varying from 4.5 percent to 28 percent when stretching
is done before heavy weight training. The strength
loss is most often attributed to a drop in muscle tension.
Strength requires a certain level of tension within muscle, and
stretching can deactivate some of that.
Other studies show that stretching decreases motor unit
activation. In simple terms, stretching interferes with
the neural control of muscles, leading to a weaker
contraction. One experiment looking at that issue found a
28 percent drop in maximum voluntary muscle contraction,
which remained depressed by 9 percent an hour after the
stretching ended. Stretching may interfere with the muscle
neural response by activating receptors in muscles, such as
the Golgi tendon organs, which respond to muscle tension.
Stretching decreases the viscosity of tendons, letting
muscle fibers slide with less resistance. In plain English, that
means a weaker muscle contraction. On a molecular level,
stretching activates a muscle protein called titin that’s responsible for muscular elasticity.
While stretching may be counterproductive to increasing
muscle size and strength, other factors make it beneficial
when you do it at the right time. For example, stretching
affects hormones.
Animal studies, mainly
with mice and rabbits,
show that stretching specifically
increases the release in muscle of
insulinlike growth
factor 1. IGF-1 is
considered the
primary anabolic
mechanism for
releasing growth
hormone and is
essential for muscular growth and
repair following
exercise. In addition, stretching
is the primary
stimulus to the
intramuscular
production of a variant of IGF-1 called mechanogrowth factor, which may be the most anabolic
muscle hormone factor of all. MGF helps activate satellite cells, which are required for muscle repair and growth.
Doing a prestretch before every rep is a good way to take
advantage of the benefits of stretching. It not only increases
the strength of the contraction of the muscle trained but also
activates the stretch response that promotes release of the intramuscular hormonal factors. Stretching in this manner won’t
weaken muscles but will strengthen them.
On the other hand, the common practice of stretching a muscle between sets is not a good idea,
based on existing research. Bodybuilders who think
they’re helping the muscle recover between sets are in fact
weakening it and even setting themselves up for injury. The
best time to perform a stretch routine would be
independent from a weight workout or following a
workout.
There’s even debate about the best way to stretch. The
type of stretching most often recommended is static. You get
into a stretch position and hold it for 10 to 30 seconds. The
usual advice is to avoid ballistic stretching, in which you do
short, bouncy movements in a stretch position, but bouncy
movements activate the muscle sense organs and thus
shorten the muscle—the opposite of what you want stretching
to accomplish.
Still, ballistic stretching can be useful for increasing tendon
flexibility, according to recent research. It may be useful for
activities that involve an intense stretch-shortening cycle,
which most often places stress on tendons. Apparently, ballistic stretching conditions tendons for that kind of activity,
increasing tendon flexibility and preventing injuries resulting
from sudden force.
—Jerry Brainum
Neveux \ Model: Ron Harris
TRAIN TO GAIN
EXERCISE SCIENCE
Witvrouw, E., et al. (2007). The role of stretching in tendon
injuries. Br J Sports Med. 41:224-26.
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Do You Know Your Exercise Categorization?
The leg
extension is
a single-joint
exercise for the
quads, whereas
the leg press
and squats
are multijoint,
or compound,
movements.
Exercises come in two
basic types: multijoint movements, which are often called
compound exercises, and
single-joint ones, which are often
called isolation exercises. The squat,
for instance, involves movement at more than
one joint and thus affects a lot of muscles—primarily those
of the thighs, buttocks and lower back. The leg extension—
straightening your knee against resistance at the ankles while
seated—is a single-joint exercise because it involves only the
knee. The leg extension primarily targets the quadriceps, or
thigh muscles. Compound exercises are often called big, or
core, movements, whereas single-joint exercises are labeled
small, auxiliary movements. A prudent mixture of both usually
gives you balanced development.
That’s a simplification, of course. Some single-joint exercises work much larger areas of musculature than others,
and it’s not accurate to call all of them “small.” Further, some
of the big exercises aren’t so big, and single-joint exercises
rarely involve only a single joint, as other joints and bodyparts
get recruited to some degree.
So while the single-joint and multijoint labels are used freely
to differentiate between the two groups, technically they’re
inaccurate.
Neveux \ Model: David Dorsey
TRAIN TO GAIN
HARDGAINER
There’s another pair of labels that are sometimes used for
the two categories: muscle builders and muscle refiners. The
multijoint exercises are said to be the builders and the singlejoint exercises the refiners. Ah, but that, too, is a simplification. Both groups of exercises are potential builders, although
a multijoint exercise typically works more mass than a singlejoint exercise. That means the former has more potential to
build overall muscle than the latter. Still, depending on the
exercises being compared, a given multijoint exercise may
not build as much muscle as a single-joint exercise in the
particular muscle(s) that both train. The work of the former is
dispersed, but that of the latter is focused.
A multijoint exercise works multiple muscles simultaneously
by spreading the load over them, and they share the load
and benefits. The body can be trained using only a handful
of compound movements. That has particular value if you’re
pressed for time or limited on equipment. Beyond the beginner stage, though, there are times when you want to give
exclusive or nearly exclusive priority to multijoint exercises.
Trainees interested in competitive lifting must use multijoint
exercises.
Even so, only single-joint exercises can provide meaningful work for some muscles. They’re sometimes essential for direct, specific and controlled exercise
of a particular muscle or muscle group when
highly controlled, safe work is needed, such
as in rehabilitation. It’s impractical, however, to train the entire body using singlejoint exercises only. Imagine the number
of exercises that you’d have to do.
Generally, multijoint exercises are
more demanding than single-joint ones,
and hard work on multijoint exercises
produces a lot of growth stimulation
as well as anabolic hormone output for
both the muscles directly involved in the
exercises and, to a degree, those indirectly
involved. Most single-joint exercises don’t have
much indirect effect. Done in excess, however, they
rob the recuperative system of its reserves, thus restraining, perhaps preventing, progress in all exercises. Too many
multijoint exercises would have the same negative effect. The
key is to avoid an excess of exercise in total.
Treat both groups seriously. Regardless of the category
an exercise belongs to, perform it properly. Use correct technique, control and discipline and—once you’re beyond your
first six months or so of training—effort.
—Stuart McRobert
www.Hardgainer.com
Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s
first byline in IRON MAN appeared in
1981. He’s the author of a new 638page opus on bodybuilding, Build
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More Wicked Muscle Size and Serious Blast-Off Power On Every Set
Steroids: Maybe They Really Can Kill You
LEGENDS
Push/Pull Bull?
A story about Mr. Olympia Lee Haney
drives home a point about minimal
overlap in a training split. Haney used to
follow the push/pull split that was popular
in his day. He would train for three days
on/one off.
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, triceps
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Back, biceps
The gains weren’t great, and Mr. O’s
shoulders were hurting, thanks to the
triple assault on that vulnerable joint on
day 1. Haney was confident enough
to admit that he did not have all the
answers. Someone suggested that he
switch to this arrangement:
Day 1: Chest, biceps, triceps
Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Shoulders, back
Neveux \ Model: Anthony D’Arezzo
The sport of bodybuilding has been losing athletes to
heart disease lately at what seems to be a frightening rate. In
recent years Don Youngblood, Don Ross, Derrick Whitsett,
Charles Durr and Curtis Leffler have all died of heart attacks
at surprisingly young ages. In a sport that is supposed to be
about health and fitness, this trend is disturbing. Just this past
summer a friend of mine, Anthony D’Arezzo, died of a heart
attack in his hotel room mere hours before he was to take the
stage at the NPC Masters Nationals, his first contest in nine
years, which was supposed to be a triumphant comeback.
The autopsy revealed that his heart was three times the size of
a normal adult male heart.
For years I’ve come down on those who tried to scare
bodybuilders away from steroids by making such alarming
statements as “Steroids will kill you!” I’m not pro-steroids, but
I am pro-truth, so my rebuttal to that was always this: “So
where are all the bodies?”
Now it appears that the bodies are piling up, and I can no
longer pretend that steroids are the relatively innocuous training aids I once imagined them to be.
All bodybuilders experience some degree of heart enlargement, but steroids appear to magnify the effect. There’s evidence that steroids are pro-atherogenic. That is, they increase
triglycerides and LDL, the bad cholesterol, while at the same
time reducing levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. Furthermore, being overweight increases the risk of heart disease,
and bodybuilders have been neglecting the fact that even
when the extra weight they carry is all lean muscle tissue, the
heart and other organs are overly stressed. Human beings
weren’t meant to be 5’10” and weigh 300 pounds, but thanks
to steroids, we now have a few thousand men who have
achieved that dubious distinction.
Could steroids be used safely under a doctor’s care, in
moderation? I believe they could, but the dosages that toplevel bodybuilders use are extreme—so extreme that no doctor would feel comfortable with a patient’s undertaking such
a drastic regimen. Add such
other commonly used
drugs as GH,
insulin, thyroid
and asthma
medications
and diuretics,
and I fear the
wave of death
and serious
health problems coming to
our sport has
only begun.
Drug testing isn’t the answer,
Instead of smoking all the pushing
as bodybuilders, like all high-level
muscles on one day and the pulling ones
athletes, will always find a way
on the other, all were getting heavy days
to beat the tests. The only solution is for bodybuilders to wake
and light days, an essential element
up to the dangers of what they
in continuous progress. His shoulders
may be doing and ask themselves
healed, and the scale needle and exwhether the risks are worth the
ercise poundages started climbing up
rewards. I have a feeling that if
again.
any of the deceased could answer
—Pavel
that question, most of them would
Beyond Bodybuilding
have been far more cautious and
put a higher value on their health
and longevity.
—Ron Harris
Neveux \ Model: Lee Haney
TRAIN TO GAIN
TRAINING AIDS
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Charles Poliquin’s
Smart Training
As for leg extensions, here goes:
The choice of machine is important. The best brands are David,
Atlantis, Flex and Avenger because
they best match the strength curve.
The angle of the seat is important. Research shows that 90
degrees is optimal. Other angles—
such as 100 or 110 degrees—decrease quadriceps recruitment.
Foot position affects quadriceps
recruitment—as measured by
magnetic resonance and integrated
EMG, a nerve-function metric. The
more the toes are turned in, the
more the vastus lateralis is recruited, the more the toes are turned
out, the more the vastus medialis is
recruited.
You should do leg extensions
using hypertrophy or strengthendurance protocols and do them
in a postexhaustion fashion. So
place them last in any quadriceps
routine.
Research has shown that leg extensions are an oddity. Most exercises stimulate enhanced motor unit recruitment if done
unilaterally, but not leg extensions. They bring
greatest activation when both legs are worked
simultaneously, or bilaterally.
Leg extensions are not a great exercise for
athletes who are pressed for time, but they
can be a valuable addition for athletes who
need greater hypertrophy, like bodybuilders,
or more local strength endurance, like speed
skaters.
Compared to full squats, though, leg extensions rank very poorly in workout efficiency.
Large quadriceps are built significantly faster
with full squats than with the fanciest leg
extension machine you can find.
Extension
Contention
Q: You seem to be very much
against leg extensions. Why? I
think it’s a great exercise and has
a place in leg training for bodybuilders.
A: Anyone who’s attended my seminars knows I’m not a huge fan of leg
extensions. The main reason is that I
believe in the-most-bang-for-yourbuck exercises. Throughout my career
I’ve had, on average, only 11 weeks to
work with an athlete—the amount of
time that NHL players have to get in
shape for the season.
Neveux \ Model: Cara Basso
Q: I’m a drug-free bodybuilder. How
can I maximize by recovery between
workouts?
A: Recovery is the forgotten element in
most sports training. Pro teams such as the
Chelsea Football Club and the Leicester Tigers
Rugby Club in the UK and the Chicago Bears
here have finally begun to hire sports nutritionists to develop recovery programs for their
players.
Attention to your recovery processes will
enable you to train intensely more frequently.
Here are five important tips for maximizing
growth.
1) Four to five times weekly, stretch your
Stretching can enhance the
hypertrophy process—but do it
after your workout or at a separate
session.
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Smart Training
muscles thoroughly. Besides the well-known injury prevention and increased flexibility benefits, regular stretching
maximizes hypertrophy by elongating the fascia, making
room for the muscle to grow. After a very brief cardiovas-
Neveux \ Model: Joe DeAngelis
If you need more than eight
hours of sleep a night, it
may be a sign that you’re not
eating often enough.
muscle gains by:
• Inhibiting the enzymes that product energy for your
workouts.
• Messing up your sleep patterns. The reduced quantity
and quality of sleep will
minimize your recovery
for the following workout.
An evening partying on
a Friday will foul up your
sleep until the following
Tuesday.
• Decreasing your
natural testosterone production. A study done in
Finland found that the
occasional alcohol binge
decreases your natural testosterone production for
as many as three days.
5) Pay attention to your
sleep patterns, recording quantity and quality
in your training diary. If
you have problems falling asleep, your training
intensity may be too high,
and if you feel you can
never sleep enough, your
volume may be too high.
Many self-hypnosis recordings are available. Try
them before falling asleep.
A number of athletes have
reported enhanced sleep
quality and diminished sleeping needs after using them.
Nutrients such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine
and magnesium improve the quality of your sleep.
If you follow these guidelines, you can achieve lean
bodyweight gains in record time.
cular warmup (two to five minutes, just enough to make
you break a sweat) stretch the targeted muscle group with
proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, a.k.a. PNF
stretching. (For details consult a physiotherapist or a coach
certified by me. You can locate a certified coach near you
at my Web site.) Finish off with four to six 15-second static
stretches. The combination of those two stretching methods is more effective than using one method alone. Static
stretching makes permanent the rapid gains made with
PNF.
2) Deep massage of the connective tissue is probably
the best recovery-boosting method. In my practice as a
strength consultant with various national teams, I’ve routinely observed strength gains of 2 to 10 percent 24 hours
after such treatments, though why elite athletes experience
such a strength gain I don’t really know. Bear in mind that
deep massage has quite a few names—such as Rolfing and
neuromuscular reeducation massage. Warning: NRM is
painful, about as much fun as getting the inside of your
nostrils scraped with a mentholyptus-coated potato peeler.
The rewards, however, are worth it. If your strength doesn’t
increase at the following workout, seek a better therapist.
3) Don’t sleep more than eight hours in a row. If you
need more sleep, you’re not eating often enough. If your
schedule can afford it, have an afternoon nap ending 90
minutes before your workout. It will give you half an hour
to eat your preworkout meal and an hour to digest before
starting your session.
4) Abstain from alcohol. Alcohol will slow down your
Q: I haven’t been able to train for a while because
of a nasty divorce. I’ve lost a lot of strength and
mass. What’s the quickest way to restore muscle?
A: People are forced to temporarily stop training because of various uncontrollable factors—death of a close
relative, highstress situations such
as divorce or
tremendous
work commitments—and
get discouraged once
they return
to the gym.
Both training
and nutritional tricks,
however, can
restore musAlcohol can disrupt sleep patterns
cle. First let’s
lower testosterone.
look at how
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Smart Training
Heavy negative, or eccentric, exercise can
help you regain strength quickly after a layoff.
Neveux \ Model: Idrise Ward-El
Nutrition is important. Use the four following
nutrients:
Vinpocetine—10 milligrams twice a day. Vinpocetine, extracted from a kind of periwinkle, is an excellent vasodilator and cerebral metabolic enhancer
and even seems to retard vascular-based cognitive
dysfunction. I find it very beneficial at restoring
muscle memory. I love it as part of any brain stack,
as it’s known as the gate opener and helps other
brain nutraceuticals to do their job. It will magnify
the effects of any stimulant. Dr. Ken Proefrock, a
professor at the Southwest College of Naturopathic
Medicine, considers it a compound far superior to
hydergine.
Bacopa—100 milligrams twice a day. Bacopa is
a botanical used in Ayurvedic medicine with welldemonstrated antianxiety, antifatigue and memorystrengthening effects.
L-carnitine—six grams per day. It significantly
reduces pain, tenderness and release of creatine
kinase, usually called CK, following eccentric effort.
That’s because of its vasodilatation property, which
both improves energetic metabolism of the damaged muscle and enhances washout of metabolites
that create pain.
Some people report difficulty sleeping when
using L-carnitine after 4 p.m. Make sure you spread
out your dosages, and take at least two grams postworkout. I like a product called Panthetine Synergy,
which contains both B5 pantethine and L-carnitine.
A precursor of the mother hormone pregnenolone,
pantethine does wonders to restore the adrenal
glands. To buy Pantethine Synergy, contact Judith@
CharlesPoliquin.com.
If you combine the nutritional approach and the training strategies, you should return to your best ever training
poundages in record time.
Protocol 1: At the end of a conventional concentric
four-to-six-rep set at 80 to 82 percent of your one-rep
maximum, add 25 to 30 percent more weight to the barbell
and perform additional eccentric-only repetitions. Another
option: Have a training partner manually apply resistance—for example, push down on the bar—for the eccentric portion. The negative repetitions will exhaust eccentric
strength and help get the contractile proteins to return to
their previous training size. Do eight total sets per bodypart, and be sure to rest four minutes between sets—or two
minutes between antagonistic pairs. Each eccentric lowering should last between four to six seconds.
Note: It’s vital to control the descent of the resistance to
avoid injury.
Protocol 2: Using 120 to 130 percent of your one-repmax load, do two to three reps for 10 sets, resting four
to five minutes between sets. Take eight to 10 seconds
for each lowering. On that day, do only one exercise per
bodypart. That will help you tap into the high-threshold
motor units that were responsible for your big poundages.
Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one
of the world’s most successful strength coaches, having
coached Olympic medalists in 12 different sports, including the U.S. women’s
track-and-field team
for the 2000 Olympics. He’s spent years
researching European journals (he’s
fluent in English,
French and German) and speaking
with other coaches
and scientists in his
quest to optimize
training methods.
For more on his
books, seminars and
methods, visit www
.CharlesPoliquin
.net. Also, see his ad
Charles Poliquin
on page 171. IM
Bradford
you should arrange your training. Eccentric training will
restore past levels of strength faster. Alternating between
two protocols for about six weeks is all it should take to get
your strength back.
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\ JULY 2006 181
EAT TO
GOOD FAT
What’s Your Poison?
Pet owners were recently horrified to
learn that many commercial pet foods
were contaminated. While it’s still not
clear precisely what the toxin in the
food was, it was found in wheat gluten,
a protein. Many unfortunate animals
that ate the contaminated food died
from kidney failure.
You might think that scenario is
unlikely to occur in human food, but
you’d be dangerously naive. In recent
years several food supplements, mainly
aimed at the bodybuilding market,
have contained ingredients that weren’t
listed on the labels. Analyses of several
pro-hormone products showed that
Are some foods toxic?
they contained not just pro-hormones
but full-fledged hormones, including
anabolic-steroid drugs. As the products
were synthetic, the drugs had to be
added.
The good news is that nobody died
from tainted supplements, although
athletes may have failed drug tests.
Other supplements may contain ingredients that can lead to serious health
problems.
Take, for example, a reported case
of arsenic poisoning in a 54-year-old
woman who took kelp tablets.1 Kelp
is a rich source of trace minerals, especially iodine. Two-thirds of thyroid
hormone, which
Some bodybuilding supplements have
controls basal
been found to be tainted; now certain
metabolic rate,
foods show traces of arsenic.
is iodine. The
other third is
the amino acid
tyrosine.
In the ’60s
and ’70s kelp
was a popular
supplement
among bodybuilders. They
had few choices
when it came
to fat-burning
supplements,
and the theory
was that a daily
dose of kelp
would boost thyroid hormone production, thus helping burn excess bodyfat
and increase overall muscularity. Some
bodybuilders took 30 to 50 kelp tablets
every day.
What the bodybuilders didn’t realize, however, was that iodine worked in
what statisticians call a bell curve. Simply put, while a certain amount
of iodine is indeed required for
thyroid hormone synthesis, too
much of the trace mineral leads
to a slowing of thyroid function,
or hypothyroidism. That’s been
observed in cultures where forms of
kelp are a food staple, such as in China
and Japan. Fortunately, even though
taking in large amounts of iodine shuts
the thyroid down, the condition is reversible when people stop getting so
much iodine.2
The 54-year-old woman with arsenic poisoning complained of hair loss,
memory loss and fatigue. Doctors
initially attributed her symptoms to
menopause and adjusted her hormone
supplements. The woman took various
supplements to treat the symptoms,
including kelp tablets, fish oil, ginkgo
biloba and grapeseed extract, but the
only supplement she used consistently
was the kelp.
She began with two kelp tablets
daily, then gradually increased the dose
to four a day. In due course she developed additional symptoms, including
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Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission
diarrhea, nausea and vomiting and
had pressure headaches, feeling as
if there was a band around her head.
Weakness and fatigue followed, requiring additional sleep. Within a few
months she noticed a skin rash on her
legs. Her toenails began falling out.
Her doctor realized that her symptoms indicated toxicity, and a spot
urine test showed an elevated arsenic
level. Analysis of her food supplements revealed that the kelp tablets
were rich in arsenic. As soon as she
quit taking them, her symptoms abated, and eventually the arsenic disappeared from her body.
Arsenic is a poison that’s found
naturally in the environment and as a
result of industrial contamination. Soils
rich in arsenic can yield foods with
higher content of the toxin. Because
of the high concentration of arsenic
in algae and microorganisms eaten
by fish, seafood averages four to five
parts per million compared to the
0.02 PPM found in grains and cereals,
which is below toxic levels.
The authors of the kelp case study
purchased nine samples of kelp
supplements from health food stores.
Arsenic was detected in eight of
them, and the concentration in seven
exceeded the Food and Drug Administration’s tolerance level of 2 PPM.
As it happens, kelp isn’t that popular
among bodybuilders these days; just
remember that a dose of the kelp is
not something you want.
Then again, that may not help if you
eat chicken. It seems that an arsenic
compound called Roxarsone is mixed
into the diet of about 70 percent of the
9 billion chickens produced annually in
the United States.3 The intent is to
promote growth, kill parasites
that cause diarrhea and improve the pigmentation of the
chicken meat. While relatively
benign, Roxarsone converts in
the chicken’s body
to inorganic
arsenic. According to the
Environmental
Protection
Agency, longterm exposure
to inorganic
arsenic can cause bladder, lung, skin,
kidney and colon cancers and adversely affects immune function, the
nervous system and hormone release.
Low-level exposure is linked to paralysis and diabetes.
A 2004 report from the United
States Department of Agriculture
showed that most people eat 1.3 to
5.2 micrograms per day of inorganic
arsenic from chicken alone. Those
who eat large amounts of chicken
(such as bodybuilders) consume 21
to 31 micrograms daily. An analysis of
151 samples of raw chicken obtained
from markets in Minnesota and California revealed that 55 percent contained inorganic arsenic ranging from
1.6 to 21.2 PPM. Three-fourths
of the samples taken from
conventional poultry farms
showed detectable levels of
arsenic, but only one-third of
samples from certified organic
and premium farms had detectable levels. Chickens from Tyson
and Foster Farms, which had both
stopped adding Roxarsone to chicken
feed, had no arsenic. The doctor who
released the report commented, “As a
physician, I find it ludicrous that
we continue feeding arsenic
to chickens now that we know
it increases our cancer risk
and is unnecessary for raising
chickens.”
The National Chicken Council responded by saying that
the report wasn’t “scientific”
and that there was no reason
to fear the use of arsenic-based feed
additives. Chickenspeak translation:
“Pluck you!”
—Jerry Brainum
References
1 Amster, E., et al. (2007). Case
report: Potential arsenic toxicosis
secondary to herbal kelp supplement.
Environ Health Perspect. 115:606608.
2 Kasagi, K., et al. (2003). Effect of
iodine restriction on thyroid function in
patients with primary hypothyroidism.
Thyroid.
3 Hileman, B. (2007). Arsenic in
chicken production. Chem Engin
News. 85:34-35.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ SEPTEMBER 2007 49
LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
Build Incredible Pressing Power and Bulletproof Shoulders
Unfortunately, shoulder injury
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•How the rotator cuff
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Eat to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES
Food Facts
Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson
That can affect your
workouts, weight and wellness
WARRIOR NUTRITION AND EXERCISE
Stubborn-Fat Busters
Citrus bioflavonoids contain natural properties that may block estrogen.
They are abundant in the white, spongy layer of the peel.
Soy flavones have mild estrogenic properties. They bind to estrogen receptors in the tissues and block them from estrodiol, the most potent estrogen hormone. Estrodiol is called the bad estrogen because of its occasionally
powerful effects on the body, such as bloating, water retention, fat gain,
feminization of men (such as “bitch tits”), fat under the skin and stubborn fat
gain around the chest and the belly.
Experiments in Italy have shown that
combining citrus bioflavonoids with soy
flavones resulted in a powerful, natural
way to block the estrogenic effect on
the body. Adding citrus bioflavonoids to
soy flavones created a more powerful
defense against estrogen than taking soy
flavones alone.
—Ori Hofmekler
Editor’s note: Ori Hofmekler is the
author of the books
The Warrior Diet and Maximum Muscle & Minimum Fat,
published by Dragon Door Publications (www
.dragondoor.com). For more information or for a consultation, contact him at [email protected], www
.warriordiet.com or by phone at (866) WAR-DIET.
Coca-Cola is
high in sugar—one
can has about nine
teaspoons—as you
probably know. But
did you know that
many of the new
flavored bottled waters contain almost
as much sugar as a
Coke? Check the label of your chosen
brand. It may be one
reason you’re not getting lean.
B-vitamins are important, especially when
you are dieting. Vitamin
B1, a.k.a. thiamine,
helps your body convert
carbs, amino acids and
fats to energy—rather than storing
them as fat. Niacin, or B3, helps in
that regard, and B6 promotes tissue
rebuilding. B12 also helps rebuild, and
it supports the nervous system. If
your calories are low, try a B-complex
supplement for more muscle, less fat
and increased energy.
Broccoli is
fulll of diseasefighting vitamins
and antioxidants, but boiling or steaming
it can reduce
that content by
at least 25 percent. It’s better
to microwave it,
which preserves
more than 90 percent of the broccoli’s
nutrients.
Vitamin D deficiency is implicated
in many cancers. Your body makes
vitamin D from sunlight, but you can
also get it from some types of fish,
along with good omega fats. For
example,
one
3 1/2ounce
serving of
salmon
contains
almost 90 percent of the recommended daily intake of D. —Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
The Best of Bodybuilding in the 20th Century
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Included is complete
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•Getting started
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•Chest training
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•Leg training
•Training for mass
•Training for power
•Mental aspects of training
•Bodybuilding nutrition
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Eat to Grow
SUPPLEMENT SCIENCE
New Beta-Alanine Research
H E A LT H F O O D S
In the new study one group of
cyclists, average age 20, received a
supplement containing 1.6 grams of
beta-alanine, 5.25
grams of creatine
and one gram of
taurine, which they
took three times
daily. The other
group received the
same supplement
minus the beta-alanine. The subjects performed endurance (five hours a day, six days
a week)—as well as weight training done
three times a week.
After 12 weeks both groups showed an
increase in the thickness of type 2 muscle
fibers. Muscle carnosine remained the same
in those who didn’t take the beta-alanine, but
it rose by 46 percent in those who did take it,
as did their taurine levels. Those in the betaalanine group also experienced significant improvements in various exercise metrics, such
as ventilatory threshold, time to exhaustion
and total work done, which the other group
did not. The improvements were attributed to
increased muscle-buffering capacity because of the enhanced
carnosine.
—Jerry Brainum
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour
Studies continue to confirm the ergogenic benefits of
supplemental beta-alanine for those engaged in exercise and
sports. The latest study, presented at the 2007 meeting of
the American College of Sports
Medicine, examined the use of
beta-alanine in elite cyclists, who
also engaged in weight training.
Various studies have shown
that chronic training alone appears to double muscle carnosine in the body. That makes
sense, since carnosine, a dipeptide, or bond, of two amino acids
(histidine and beta-alanine), is a
major intramuscular buffer required to douse the flames of the
heightened muscle acidity you
get from intense exercise. Acidity inhibits enzymes involved in
energy production, which in turn
leads to muscular fatigue.
The results of studies examining the relationship of training to
increased muscle carnosine have
been largely ambiguous. Some
have shown no increase, and
others have shown a doubling following eight to 16 weeks of
training. Still others show a 60 percent increase.
X-TREME LEAN
Coffee Grinds Disease
According
to Joe Vinson,
Ph.D., “An eightounce cup of
caffeinated or
decaffeinated
coffee contains
more diseasefighting antioxidants than a
typical serving
of fresh blueberries or oranges.”
In an article
published in the
June ’07 issue of Bottom Line/Health, Vinson explains that
those who drink about three cups a day appear to have a
lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and age-related mental
decline. So no need to feel guilty about that cup of joe you
chug before you hit the gym. It gets your engine revved and
your immune system functioning.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
Fat-Burning Foods
You may have
heard the phrase, “A
calorie is not a calorie.” When it comes
to the macronutrients—protein, fat and
carbohydrate—that’s
absolutely true. One
hundred calories of
each induces a different thermic response—meaning the
number of calories your body spends to digest it:
Carbs: 100 calories = 5-calorie thermic response
Fat: 100 calories = 10-calorie thermic response
Protein: 100 calories = 18-calorie thermic response
That’s another reason low-carb diets tend to work for
most people—eating more protein produces more of a
thermic response because of the energy required to break
it down and assimilate it.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
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Eat to Grow
ANABOLIC DRIVE
If you’re an old fight fan like me, you probably remember
the three epic boxing matches between Joe Frazier and Muhammad Ali. Ali squeezed out a victory (he won two out of the
three fights with Smokin’ Joe) and nailed his reputation as the
greatest boxer of all time. When it comes to the battle of proteins in the research literature, it seems that the Ali vs. Frazier
equivalent is whey vs. casein.
The initial study compared the effects of whey vs. casein
during the seven-hour period after a meal. Researchers found
that net leucine balance, a measure of possible gains in muscle protein, was more positive with casein than with whey.1
But that was a short-term study. What happens when you
take the stuff for weeks changes the story a bit.
We know that different proteins affect whole-body protein
anabolism and accretion. So scientists looked at whey vs.
casein supplementation during a 10-week supervised resistance-training program. In a double-blind protocol, 13 male
recreational bodybuilders supplemented their normal diet with
whey isolate or casein (1.5 grams per kilogram of bodyweight,
which equals 136 grams of protein for a 200-pound individual)
for the duration of the program. Strength was assessed by
one-rep maximums in three exercises: barbell bench press,
squat and cable pulldown. Body composition was measured
by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Plasma glutamine was
also determined. All assessments were made in the week
before and the week after 10 weeks of training.
Results: Plasma glutamine did not change in either group.
However, the whey-isolate group gained more lean mass than
the casein group (5.0 vs. 0.8 kilograms) and experienced a
more significant decrease in fat mass than the casein group
(-1.5 kilograms vs. +0.2 kilograms). To top it off, the whey-isolate group also got significantly stronger on all measures.2
It’s one thing to compare how proteins “work” over seven
CARDIO
Breathless Burn
You know how important it is
to breathe correctly during your
weight-training workouts—inhale on
the negative stroke, exhale on the
positive. But how you breathe during cardio is also important—and
a sign of what fuel you’re using. If
you can carry on a conversation
during cardio, you’re more apt to
be tapping into bodyfat for fuel. If
you’re breathing hard—sucking
air—and your pulse rate is very high, you’re past the lactate threshold and tapping into muscle glycogen. Interval
cardio, such as sprinting the straightaways and walking
the curves on a track, burns both fat and glycogen, with
even more fat used postworkout during muscle repair, but
it’s very similar to a weight workout for your legs. If you
use interval cardio sessions, be sure to cut back on your
lower-body resistance workouts.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
Whey vs. casein
Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov
The Thrilla in Manila
hours. Immensely more important is to see what they do over
weeks and months. If you use whey or casein only, whey is
clearly a great choice—but you can’t go wrong with casein
either. A so-called slow protein, it’s ideally used before bed or
in combination with whey.
I suggest you take a combination of whey and casein postworkout—say, 80
percent whey, 20
percent casein).
One hour before
you go to bed,
take an opposite
mix—80 percent
casein, 20 percent
whey.
—Jose Antonio,
Ph.D.
Editor’s note: You can listen to Dr. Jose Antonio and
Carla Sanchez on their radio show Performance Nutrition,
Web and podcast at www.performancenutritionshow.com.
Dr. Antonio is the CEO of the International Society of Sports
Nutrition—www
.TheISSN.org. His other Web sites include
www.SupplementCoach.com, www.Javafit.com, www
.PerformanceNutritionShow.com and www.JoseAntonioPhD
.com.
References
1 Boirie, Y., et al. (1997). Slow and fast dietary proteins
differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl
Acad Sci U.S.A. 94:14930-5.
2 Cribb, P.J., et al. (2006). The effect of whey isolate and
resistance training on strength, body composition, and plasma
glutamine. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 16:494-509.
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Eat to Grow
PUMP IT UP
Want Arginine?
Try watermelon
Arginine has always been a popular nutrient among bodybuilders. Along with its metabolite ornithine, it’s long been
touted as stimulating growth hormone. More recently, various
supplements that feature forms of arginine have been promoted as nitric oxide precursors. NO performs numerous vital
functions in the human body. It dilates blood vessels, lowering
blood pressure while increasing blood flow, and the increased
blood flow is thought to increase the flow of nutrients and
oxygen into muscle.
Besides being the direct precursor of NO synthesis, arginine
acts as a substrate for the synthesis of proline, the major amino
acid found in collagen, which is the primary protein of connective tissue. Arginine is also a primary precursor of creatine.
Some studies show that arginine may encourage fat and
glucose oxidation because of its link to NO. NO, in turn, increases the signaling effects of a nucleotide called GMP, which
is directly involved in fat burning and penile erection (drugs
such as Viagra also work by raising cyclic GMP).
While arginine offers heady health benefits, there are problems with supplementing it. In solution it’s strongly alkaline,
and it has to be compounded with hydrochloric acid to create
a supplemental form. Supposedly that prevents acid-base
problems when you take a concentrated dose, but taking more
than nine grams a day often leads to nausea, gastrointestinal
discomfort and diarrhea. The side effects may be due to 1) the
rapid conversion of arginine to NO in the gut coupled with 2)
impaired intestinal absorption of other amino acids, such as
lysine and histidine.
Looking for more options about now? You could take L-ci-
ENERGY
The Caffeine Scene
Considering all the news regarding the health benefits
of coffee, decaffeinated coffee and green and black tea, it’s
a good idea to get some in your diet. Unfortunately, coffee is too strong for many people, souring stomachs and
producing
jitters. Decaf
is short on
taste, and
tea is too
watery. The
solution may
be a popular
variety by
Celestial
Seasonings
called Morning Thunder. It has 40 milligrams of caffeine in
a serving—just enough to get most people going without
overdoing it. Some coffees have as much as 100 milligrams of caffeine. Morning Thunder tastes more like a
mild coffee than tea, and it contains yerba maté, a South
American plant rich in antioxidants. According to the label,
it contains more antioxidants than orange juice, broccoli or
tomato juice per serving.
—Daniel Curtis, R.D.
trulline, another
amino acid that
is a precursor
of arginine.
Because arginine is a basic
amino acid, it
competes with
other aminos
for uptake
into the body.
Citrulline is a
neutral amino
acid, which means that it doesn’t compete with other aminos.
Nor does it have to be made with hydrochloric acid, which
reduces gut problems. In its conversion to arginine, citrulline
also uses up ammonia, which is good since excess ammonia is
related to fatigue.
So where do you get citrulline? It turns out that watermelon
is a superior source.1 There are 0.7 to 3.6 milligrams of citrulline per gram of watermelon. Eating two pounds of watermelon
daily would supply enough to provide 40 percent of the average daily arginine intake of 3.6 grams. In the new study, subjects who drank a lot of watermelon juice (0.52 kilograms with
each of three meals) had higher plasma arginine levels than a
control group. Fasting plasma arginine increased 12 percent
after three weeks of lower-dose watermelon intake and 22
percent after high intake. Those in the high-intake group also
showed an 18 percent rise in plasma ornithine.
None of the subjects who drank watermelon juice showed
any interference with the uptake of other amino acids, so amino
acid balance wasn’t upset. Those who drank large amounts of
the juice—amounting to six cups daily—produced two grams
of citrulline. Studies show that 40 percent of dietary arginine is
degraded by the intestinal tissues of adult humans during initial
entry into the gut. In contrast, citrulline (which converts into
arginine in the kidneys) undergoes little breakdown. The liver
absorbs 10 to 15 percent of ingested arginine, which is then
broken down by the enzyme arginase. Citrulline bypasses the
liver and acts as a nutrient precursor of arginine synthesis in the
kidneys. From 5 to 15 percent of arginine produced in the body
is made that way. Another source is glutamine, which smallintestine cells also convert into citrulline that bypasses the liver
and travels directly to the kidneys—where it’s converted into
arginine.2
So those who want to get the considerable nutritional benefits of arginine without the side effects should consider adding
some watermelon to their diets. It tastes pretty good, too.
—Jerry Brainum
References
1
Collins, J.K., et al. (2007). Watermelon consumption increases plasma arginine concentrations in adults. Nutrition.
23:261-66.
2 Curis, E., et al. (2005). Almost all about citrulline in mammals. Amino Acids. 29:177-205.
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“anabolic window” of growth.
The biggest mistake many
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baked potato or rice and
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Train, Eat,
GROW
Muscle-Training Program 95
From the IRON MAN Training & Research Center
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux
W
e’re deep into our ripping
phase, and we’re motivated and making good
progress. Power/Rep Range/Shock
has held our interest and pushed
our gains forward, but now it’s time
to do something that’s very difficult
at this stage: back off for supercompensation—but in a different way
from what we generally prescribe.
Before we get into that, here’s a
quick review of P/RR/S:
Power. Train every exercise with
straight sets—no supersets, trisets or drop sets—and keep your
reps in the four-to-six zone. We
recommend slightly higher reps
on endurance-oriented muscles
like calves, abs and forearms.
Rep Range. For the first exercise
you pick a weight that lets you get
seven to nine reps. For the second
exercise you do 10 to 12 reps. On
the third exercise you move the
rep range up to the high end of
fast-twitch recruitment—13 to 15
reps.
Shock. Here you put your mus-
cles through the meat grinder
with supersets, drop sets and so
on. Reps for most muscles stay in
the eight-to-10 range, but extended-set techniques are a must.
In previous installments we’ve
suggested that this system has
built-in supercompensation. For
example, Steve doesn’t respond
much to the Power phase, as he’s an
ectomorphic type who gains better with longer tension times. That
means the Power phase would act
as a back-off for him. We recently
bastardized the phases, however,
and included some longer-tension-time sets in the Power phase.
In other words, we were no longer
doing pure low-rep training. So we
decided to create our own phase,
calling it supercompensation.
Supercompensation
We’ve also referred to the program as adjusted as phase training:
four to six weeks of all-out workouts followed by at least a week of
subfailure workouts. The less-intense workouts permit the body to
completely recover, preparing it for
another bout of all-out sessions.
Why not just space out the workouts so you get more recovery time
and never need a back-off phase?
Because stress is cumulative. If
you’re training hard, you will eventually hit a wall, which could send
you into an overtraining downward
spiral. In our experience, it’s much
better to build up and overshoot
somewhat, then back off with a lowintensity supercompensation phase.
There’s also a discrepancy between recovery factors. Steve’s book
Train, Eat, Grow discusses the difference between nervous-system
recovery and muscle recovery and
how that can affect gains. If you
space out the workouts enough so
that the nervous system completely
recovers, the muscles get too much
rest and regress. (There’s a more
detailed explanation in the book.)
We may seem to have a lot of
this stuff figured out—and we have
on a lot of levels—but we readily
admit that we often stick with our
intensity phases much too long, like
eight to 12 weeks, without throwing
in a back-off phase. As we said, it’s
GRIND OUT THE GROWTH REPS™
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muscles more “grow power” on every set.
The bigger and stronger a muscle gets,
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at higher intensity levels. You must keep
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
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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 95
very, very difficult to back off when
gains are flowing nicely. We’re finding it especially difficult this time
around, as our gains have come
more quickly—streaking vascularity appeared well before summer
started. So to remedy the problems
caused by our overzealousness, we
decided to bastardize the supercompensation phase too.
Lower Volume/Less Stress
We decided
to try our
undergrip
pulling
movement on
the chinning
bar, and what
a difference!
We can sure
feel our lats a
lot more.
When you have an intensity
mind-set, it can be difficult to just
shut it off for a week. It’s easier if
you’re really feeling overtrained,
but even then you may think that
you just need to train through it
(that’s usually not true). If you realize you’re on the brink of overtraining, the downshift is a breather you
welcome. But with P/RR/S, you’re
always switching protocols, so you
hardly ever feel burned out. Our
solution: Keep things intense but
ratchet down the volume—and
maintain that for two to three
weeks instead of just one. Here are
the adjustments we made to the
program for our bastardized supercompensation phase:
1) Delete the drop set from the
first exercise. We were using the
two-set/drop method, explained
in our e-book X-traordinary
Muscle-Building Workouts, on the
midrange exercises; now we’re
doing two straight sets.
2) Remove traumatic stretchposition exercises. Stretch
movements, like incline curls
for biceps and overhead extensions for triceps, tend to damage
muscle fibers. We did keep them
in the program for legs, however,
as we only train lower body once
every seven days.
3) Tone down the intensity techniques. We did X Reps for only
one set of an exercise and didn’t
do any X-hybrid techniques, like
Double-X Overload.
Undergrip Chins
So most bodyparts got a volume
reduction of one to three sets. We
used only the best hypertrophic
rep range—nine to 12 for most
exercises. We did, however, keep a
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IRON MAN Training & Research Center
Muscle-Training Program 95
Workout 1 (Supercompensation):
Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Smith-machine incline presses (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
High-low cable flyes (drop; X Reps)
1 x 8-10(6)
Wide-grip dips
1 x 9-12
Superset
Wide-grip dips (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Pushups (X Reps)
1 x 7-9
Low/middle cable flyes (drop; X Reps)
1 x 8-10(6)
Chins (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Undergrip chins (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Superset
Machine pullovers (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Rope rows (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Rope rows (Stage)
1 x 8-10
Decline extensions (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Superset
Kickbacks or pushouts (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Bench dips (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Incline kneeups (drop; X Reps)
2 x 12-15, 12(7)
Tri-set
Ab Bench crunches (X Reps)
1 x 10-12
Twisting crunches (X Reps)
1 x 10-15
End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Seated laterals/upright rows (X Reps)
3 x 9-12
Forward-lean laterals raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(6)
Smith-machine presses (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Seated dumbbell presses (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Bent-over rows (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Bent-arm bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Superset
Dumbbell shrugs (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
High rows (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Preacher curls
1 x 9-12
Cable curls (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Concentration curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
One-arm spider curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Superset
Incline hammer curls (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Rope hammer curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Superset
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (X Reps)
1 x 10-12
Forearm Bar reverse wrist curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Superset (20-second rest)
Dumbbell wrist curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10-12
Forearm Bar wrist curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Rockers
1 x 20-30
Legs (Supercompensation):
Quads, Calves, Hamstrings
Leg extensions (drop; X Reps)
2 x 9-12(7)
Squats
2 x 10-12
Superset
Leg presses
1 x 7-9
Sissy squats (X Reps)
1 x 7-9
Feet-forward Smith-machine front squats
1 x 9-12
Leg curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 8-10(6)
Leg curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Stiff-legged deadlifts
2 x 9-12
Hyperextensions (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Knee-extension leg press calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 15-20
Superset
Standing calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 15-20
Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 10-15
One-leg calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 12-15
Machine donkey calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 10-15
Lower-back machine (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Add to Friday Workout: Soleus
Seated calf raises (X Reps)
2 x 10-12, 15-20
Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tuesday; that is, legs are worked only once a week—seven
full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body muscles get four to five days of recovery.
Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond XRep Muscle Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com
for more workout details.
Forward-Lean Lateral Raises
few drop sets in the mix to ensure a
full pump and higher tension times.
As we write this, we just finished
the first week of our bastardized supercompensation phase, and we’re
feeling good and filling out. We’ll
continue with it for another couple
of weeks and report how it goes next
month.
Technique Tweaks
We’ve made a few adjustments
to certain exercises and flat out
switched some because of neuromuscular-efficiency problems. Last
month we discussed how we moved
to free weights for our midrange exercises, like bent-over barbell rows
for midback and incline dumbbell
presses for chest. Some of those
changes worked well; others didn’t.
Smith-machine incline
presses. We went back to the Smith
machine because both of us were
having problems feeling our upper
pecs work when we did incline
dumbbell presses. Part of the problem is that we both start relying on
our front delts instead of our pecs.
The instability that comes with
trying to push dumbbells up on an
incline complicated the problem.
The Smith machine makes us lock
in on our upper pecs and maintain
the proper arm position. We may
eventually try incline presses with a
barbell, but for our supercompensation phase the Smith machine is
ideal.
Pushups. We were using
flat-bench barbell presses and
wide-grip dips for our middleand-lower-pec midrange exercises.
Steve has a lot of problems feeling
bench presses in his pecs, even
when he sets up properly—shoulders down and back, chest high.
Jonathan is better at it, but he has
very strong front delts, so it’s easy
for him to lose form and pec feel.
We remembered that pushups
were much better for both of us
in the pec-pounding department.
We now superset our second set
of wide-grip dips with pushups. At
the moment we’re doing them on
the floor, but we’re getting a pair of
Perfect Pushup stands to increase
our range of motion somewhat.
Undergrip chins. We were
doing undergrip pulldowns, but we
were staying too upright and using
our biceps instead of our lats. We
decided to try doing our undergrip
pulling movement on the chinning
We’ve been
experimenting
with the angle
on forwardlean laterals.
A lower incline
may appear
ineffective,
but check out
the pump and
burn you get
in your lateraldelt heads
before passing
judgment.
Unilateral calf
work can ignite
a burst of new
lower-leg growth.
One-leg Calf Raises
Model: Jonathan Lawson
Push-ups
We were supersetting wide-grip dips with bench presses, but we needed a change on the second exercise. The
answer was pushups. The Shark stands or Perfect Pushup stands that rotate allow for more range of motion.
ITRC Program 95, Home-Gym Routine
Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Incline presses (X Reps)
Incline flyes (drop; X Reps)
Bench presses (X Reps)
Flat-bench flyes (drop; X Reps)
Chins (X Reps)
Undergrip rows (X Reps)
Decline extensions (X Reps)
Superset
Kickbacks (X Reps)
Dips or bench dips (X Reps)
Incline kneeups (drop; X Reps)
Superset
Weighted full-range crunches or
Ab Bench crunches (drop; X Reps)
End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12(6)
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12(6)
2 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12
1 x 8-10
2 x 10, 8(7)
1 x 8-10(8)
1 x 8-10
Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Dumbell upright rows (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Seated laterals (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Dumbbell presses (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Bent-over barbell rows (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Bent-arm bent-over laterals
(drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Dumbbell shrugs (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10-12(6)
Barbell curls
2 x 9-12
Concentration curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Incline hammer curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)
Dumbbell wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)
Rockers
1 x 20-30
Add to Friday Workout: Soleus
Legs (Supercompensation):
Quads, Calves, Hamstrings
Squats or front squats
(nonlock; X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Leg extensions or old-style
hack squats (drop; X Reps)
2 x 9-12(6)
Squats or front squats (nonlock; X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Lunges
1 x 8-10
Leg curls (drop; X Reps)
1 x 9-12(6)
Leg curls (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Stiff-legged deadlifts (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Knee-extension donkey calf raises
(X Reps)
2 x 15-20
One-leg calf raises (drop; X Reps)
2 x 12(7)
Seated calf raises (X Reps)
2 x 12, 20
Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tuesday; that is, legs get worked only once a week—seven
full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on
Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body muscles get four to five days of recovery.
Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond
X-Rep Muscle Building.
Note: For drop sets it’s best to have a selectorized dumbbell set,
such as the PowerBlock, if you don’t have a rack of fixed dumbbells of various weights. If you don’t have a leg extension machine, do old-style hacks, nonlock style. Use partner resistance,
towel around the ankles, if you don’t have a leg curl machine.
Rockers
Forearm rockers: Curl your hands up and in to hit
the flexors, lower, and then curl them up and out
to hit the extensors. Rock in and out. We’ve started doing these with very high reps—20 to 30.
What an incredible burn to finish off our forearms.
bar, and what a difference! We’ll
stick with those for a while and see
if our lats improve. We can sure feel
them a lot more.
Squats. We’re still getting results
from free-bar squats; however,
our adductors were getting sore.
Because of that we decided to do
our sets with our feet fairly close
together. That should deemphasize
our inner thighs and put more stress
on the outer sweeps.
One-leg calf raises. We decided
to work these into our routine after
reading some studies on unilateral
exercise. For many muscles it can
force more fiber activation. Doing
only one set has made our calves
sore right on the inner head where
the gastrocs flare. We’re convinced
that what Arthur Jones said is true—
one-leg calf raises are one of the
most perfect exercises for maximum
fiber recruitment.
Forward-lean lateral raises.
We were doing these facing backward on a seated bench that’s used
for presses. It has a slight incline—
but the incline wasn’t enough, as
Jonathan, with his strong upper
back, was pulling his elbows to the
rear instead of up. He was almost
doing a row instead of a lateral raise.
We remembered a few years ago
doing laterals facedown on the Ab
Bench, which has a much lower incline. In fact, when we get into position, it almost feels as if we’re going
to do bent-over laterals. But when
we start to lift the dumbbells, our
torsos raise up slightly and put us
into the perfect position to blast the
medial-delt heads. The first time we
did them, our delts got sore, which
is unheard of. We believe the new
twist on an old favorite is going to
give our delts some new roundness.
Smith-machine presses. We
were doing these behind our heads
and after dumbbell presses, as the
second phase of a drop set. Now
we’re doing them in front of our
faces (military-press style) and starting with them. We do these toward
the end of out delt routine, so the
medial heads are pretty fried. That
makes it somewhat hard to balance
dumbbells. Now we’re doing one
set of Smith-machine presses and
one set of dumbbell presses, and we
keep the dumbbell weight manageable, driving them up and out in
W-press style. They provide more
continuous tension and really sear
all delt heads.
High rows. If you want to feel
your upper traps and even delts
contract in a unique way, try high
rows. Hook a double-rope attachment to a high pulley machine—
same idea as the pulldown station.
Grab an end of the rope with each
hand and stand erect, but lean
back slightly, away from the machine—we like to wedge our knees
against the seat on the pulldown.
Now row, pulling your hands back to
the sides of your head, above your
ears, elbows high. You’ll feel your
upper traps contract hard, with help
from your delts. It’s a great finisher
on delt-and-back day.
Rockers. We’ve explained this
very efficient forearm move, which
trains both the flexors (undersides)
and extensors (tops), several times.
Hold a dumbbell in each hand at
arm’s length next to your outer
thighs. Curl your hands up and in to
hit the flexors, lower, and then curl
them up and out to hit the extensors. Rock in and out. We’ve started
doing these with very high reps—20
to 30. Wow! What an incredible burn
to finish off our forearms.
Experiment with some of the
above. That’s what this musclebuilding thing is all about—trying
new exercises and/or unique tweaks
to discover what gives you the best
gains.
Till next month, keep training
hard.
Note: Our latest Supercompensa-
tion workouts are listed on page 68.
For all of our workouts in printable
form, see Chapter 7—X-Rep Reload
in our latest e-book, X-traordinary
Muscle-Building Workouts, available
at www.X-Rep.com. It also
contains analysis and printable
templates for the Volume/Intensity
Fusion Program, the 3D Power
Pyramid Program, the 20-Rep Squat
routine, Time-Bomb Training and
many others—10 print-and-grow
workouts, most of which have been
tested and perfected in the IRON
MAN Training & Research Center
over the past decade.
Editor’s note: For the latest on
X Reps, including X Q&As, X Files
(past e-zines), before and after
photos and the X-Blog training and
supplement journals, visit www
.X-Rep.com. To order the Positions-of-Flexion training manual
Train, Eat, Grow, call (800) 447-0008,
visit www.Home-Gym.com, or see
the ad below. IM
Steve Holman’s
Critical Mass
Q: Your Positions-of-Flexion method is great and
has helped me add lots of mass. My question is
about arms. Mine look good from the side, with a
nice triceps sweep, but from straight on they look
skinny. Is it a genetic thing, or can I train to make
them look bigger from the front?
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
A: What you need is to enhance the illusion of arm
width. How do you create that? A few ways. First, you need
to add some mass to your lateral-triceps head. That’s the
only one that’s visible from the front, and it comes into play
near lockout on many triceps exercises.
For example, on cable pushouts, which you do facing
away from a high cable, your torso parallel to the floor, you
should go to lockout or very close to hit the lateral heads.
I also suggest you do an X Fade on at least one set. That is,
when you reach exhaustion, do X Reps at the top position
first, where the lateral-triceps head is most engaged, then
do X Reps near the bottom of the stroke to end the set. If
you can’t manage the second round of X Reps, near the bottom, just do a Static X instead, squeezing the triceps hard
down low.
Want your arms to look bigger from the front? Focus
on the lateral-triceps heads and the inner-biceps
heads to create an enhanced illusion of size and
width.
Overhead extensions hit the
lateral heads as well, but there
isn’t any resistance at the top,
so they’re not quite as effective
for lateral-head action as cable
pushouts.
Let’s say you’re doing an
abbreviated program, like the
two-sets-per-bodypart TimeBomb Training routine in our
e-book X-traordinary MuscleBuilding Workouts, which
has you do only one triceps
exercise. You could substitute
cable pushouts for the suggested triceps exercise, decline
Neveux \ Model: Will Harris
Wide Bi’s
and Tri’s
extensions, and/or you can make a point to hit your lateraltriceps heads on pressing movements by doing your first
set to full lockout—including bench presses and dumbbell
presses. Locking out on pressing movements brings in the
lateral-triceps head to a great degree, especially on overhead pressing.
How about biceps? They’re more visible from the front,
but the inner head, closest to your torso, provides the most
illusion of width. To beef up that head, do a wide-grip
curling movement. I’ve written in the past that a closer
grip—inside shoulder width—affects both biceps heads,
according to MRI studies, but you may want to specialize
on the inner head for a few sets by using an exercise like
wide-grip preacher curls as your first movement. Take a
grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder width, with your
elbows inside your grip width.
So if you’re using a 3D POF biceps routine, you’d do
wide-grip preachers (midrange), concentration curls (contracted) and incline curls (stretch). Note that the preachers
focus on the inner-biceps head, the concentration curls on
the outer head. The incline curls hit both, as you’re curling
with your hands in line with your upper arms.
Here’s a good rule to remember: in for out and out for in.
In other words, hands in to work the outer head and hands
out to work the inner heads. That’s why concentration curls
are best for the outer head, which is what creates biceps
peak—the movement mimics a close, or in, grip. A widegrip preacher, on the other hand, is an out movement, so it
hits the inner heads more.
Incidentally, that may be the reason Larry Scott was renowned for his full softball-size biceps—major inner-head
development from wide-grip preachers. To create more
Chest-supported dumbbell rows
Dumbbell shrugs
Wide-grip chins
Undergrip pulldowns
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12
Those are quick bodypart hits, but you still train the
three Positions of Flexion for the midback and lats. To
make the chest-supported dumbbell rows and chins even
more effective, try the two-set/drop method. Do the first
set for about 10 reps, adding end-of-set X-Rep partials. Rest
for two to three minutes, and then do your second set, but
at exhaustion quickly reduce the weight and continue repping out (drop set), adding X-Rep partials at the end of the
reduced-poundage set.
We include the two-set/drop method in a few of the
complete programs in our new e-book, X-traordinary
Muscle-Building Workouts, because it’s so effective—and
efficient—for triggering max force, semistretch-point overload and extended-tension time in two (okay, really three)
sets.
You may
also want to
try the SplitPositions
approach,
doing a big,
midrange
exercise and
a stretchposition exercise at one workout and the same midrange
exercise with a contracted-position movement at the next
workout for that bodypart.
An example of Split-Positions biceps training would be
barbell curls and incline curls (stretch) at the first workout
and barbell curls and
concentration curls
(contracted) at the
next.
That not only shortens your workouts but
also varies the stress
on the muscle each
time you train it. You
can easily construct
that type of workout
from the 3D POF
bodypart routines in
3D Muscle Building or
my Train, Eat, Grow
book.
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
Q: Your 3D mass-building concept [Positions
of Flexion as described in the e-book 3D Muscle
Building] is exciting and makes total sense. It’s
really motivated me. My problem is that I seem to
overtrain easily, so I can’t use full 3D POF routines
for every bodypart [usually three exercises for the
target muscle]. I feel too drained. Should I just
stick to one big, basic exercise for each bodypart,
like one of the programs in the e-book The Ultimate Mass Workout?
A: Don’t give up on 3D POF just yet. There are a lot of
ways to get the full mass-building effects of 3D POF using
a more abbreviated approach. Once you learn the concepts involved and how the muscles function, you’ll be
able to construct faster, more efficient 3D bodypart routines—often two or even one exercise per muscle is all you
need (there are lots of samples in that e-book).
For example, in the back-training section, Chapter 6, in
3D Muscle Building, notice that chest-supported dumbbell
rows provide muscle synergy, or teamwork, muscle elongation (stretch in the midback muscles at the bottom, when
the dumbbells come together) and complete contraction
(at the top when you move the dumbbells out wide and
your shoulder blades retract). In other words, a properly
performed set of chest-supported dumbbell rows covers all three Positions of Flexion—midrange, stretch and
contracted. What a great exercise! Follow that with one or
two sets of dumbbell shrugs for the upper section of your
midback—the traps—and you have an incredibly efficient
3D midback attack.
How about lats? You get to the midrange position for
your lats when you pull your arms into your sides from
overhead—a lateral-pulling action. Chins or pulldowns
done with a slightly wider-than-shoulder-width grip hit
that position. After two sets of chins, do one or two sets of
undergrip pulldowns, hands just inside shoulder width.
The “curl” grip lets you hit the lats’ contracted position (at
the bottom, when you’re driving your upper arms back)
and also achieve a pretty good stretch (at the top).
So here’s the complete shorter 3D POF back routine:
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many
bodybuilding best-sellers,
including Train, Eat, Grow:
The Positions-of-Flexion
Muscle-Training Manual (see
page 75). For information on
the POF videos and Size Surge
programs, see the ad sections
beginning on page 228 and
278, respectively. Also visit
www.X-Rep.com. IM
Neveux
peak, concentration curls—an Arnold favorite—would’ve
enhanced that. Arnold’s biceps were peaked beyond
belief!
Chestsupported
dumbbell
rows provide
midback
midrange-,
stretch- and
contractedposition
action. Add
dumbbell
shrugs for the
upper traps,
and you have a
very efficient,
effective
midback
attack.
Steve Holman
[email protected]
Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Naturally Huge
Leg-Training
Barrage
Neveux \ Model: Jose Raymond
ers using flat shoes and still others squatting with
plates under their feet. What’s the best footwear,
or does it make a difference? How do you achieve
squatting to parallel or below? I struggle in that
area. How much do I lose or gain with three-quarter
squats? On leg extensions, is it really helpful to turn
toes in and out to emphasize different areas of the
quads? How about moving the seat forward or backward on leg extensions? Does that work different
areas of the quads? Also, is there any advantage to
Q: I noticed in your “Real Muscle” DVD that you
training calves barefoot? How about turning toes in
wear boots on leg day. What’s the proper footwear
or out—does that emphasize different areas of the
for squats and/or leg presses? I’ve seen photos of
calves? How about hamstrings—are there exercises
Arnold squatting in his bare feet. I’ve noticed oththat cover upper or lower hamstrings, assuming
they can be separated?
A: Those are great questions. I know a
Angling your feet in or
lot about training legs because that was the
out does make a differmost difficult bodypart for me to develop
ence in the way your
when I began bodybuilding. We usually
quads develop.
become experts on training a bodypart that
doesn’t respond quickly because we have
to discover every little secret possible to get
that muscle group to grow.
I wear work boots when I train legs because I find that they give me a lot more
support, and I seem to feel stronger when
I’m doing leg presses, squats and hack
squats. A good friend and a very impressive
bodybuilder in her own right, Mona Roberts, recommended wearing work boots,
and it made a big difference the first time I
did it. I would strongly suggest you give it
a try.
I honestly don’t know how Arnold did
heavy squats and leg presses in his bare
feet. I would think that would be extremely
difficult and uncomfortable, but it sure did
work for the Austrian Oak. For those of us
who aren’t in Arnold’s legendary category, I
recommend heavy footwear for leg training.
Some lifters wear flat shoes, but that’s
usually for heavy deadlifts rather than
squats. Placing small plates under the heels
is a trick used by bodybuilders who lack
ankle flexibility and have difficulty squatting below parallel without bending over
and using too much lower back. By placing
a 2 1/2- or five-pound plate under each
heel, they get better balance. Raising the
heels also places more stress on the vastus
medialis, the teardrop-shaped muscle located on the lower-inner thigh by the kneecap, so it helps develop the lower thighs.
As for squatting below parallel, many
individuals with long legs have problems
doing that without bending over and using
their lower back more than their legs. One
trick that I often(continued
used was to
wider
ontake
pagea102)
stance with my feet slightly pointed out.
When I squatted, my knees would go in the
same direction as my feet, and it was easier
for my hips to drop in between my legs
while I kept my upper body straight.
If you keep your feet closer together, with your knees
going forward more than slightly out to the side, it’s more
difficult to keep your upper body straight. Those who are
taller than average or who
have long legs will be better
suited to a wider foot stance
in order to keep the upper
body as upright as possible
when squatting deep.
If you squat only to parallel, you’ll mostly develop
your quadriceps. The deeper
you go, the more you hit the
glutes and hamstrings. From
parallel to rock bottom is
mostly glutes and hamstrings.
I always try to squat slightly
below parallel to three-quarters of the way down to hit
the hams and glutes as well as
quads.
With leg extensions you can
hit the outer or inner part of
the lower thighs by pointing
your feet in or out; however,
you have to be careful not
to use weights that are too
heavy because that tends to
put more stress on the knees. I
keep my feet pointed straight
when I do leg extensions, but
if you notice that your inner or
outer lower quads are lackTry training your
ing in development, you can
hamstrings first
point your toes in to hit the
at every other leg
outer quads, out to hit the
workout.
inner quads.
I try to set the seat slightly
back on the leg extension machine so that when I’m in the
bottom position, I can feel a stretch in my upper quads. If
I have the seat closer, I feel the exercise more in my lower
quads at the top of the movement.
Now for calves: Some people prefer to train barefoot because they can feel the exercise more in their calves. I use
standard gym shoes because it’s more comfortable for me. I
think you can get a great calf workout either way.
Pointing your toes in or out does affect different areas of
the calf muscle. If you point your toes in, you’ll build the
outer portions of the calves more because the pressure will
go to the outsides of your feet. The opposite is also true. If
you point your toes out, the pressure will go to the balls of
your feet, which will build the inner calves.
As for hamstrings, I don’t try to separate exercises for the
upper and lower sections. I do separate hamstring exercises into leg curls and stiff-legged deadlifts. I do at least
one curl exercise and one stiff-legged deadlift exercise at
each leg workout.
I typically have two leg routines that I alternate from
week to week. For the first, I start with quadriceps and finish off with hamstrings. I do machine leg curls for four sets
of 12, 10, eight, eight reps and barbell stiff-legged deadlifts
for three sets.
At my next leg workout I do hamstrings first. I start with
dumbbell leg curls on a decline bench to keep constant
tension on my hams for three sets of eight to 10 reps. Then
I do seated leg curls for three sets of six to 10 reps and finish with two to three sets of dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts
for eight to 10 reps.
Q: I’m 36 years
old and have been
working out with
the goal of bodysculpting for the
past 14 weeks with
very good results.
I’ve always been a
stocky guy in decent
shape—until I hit
my 30s. I’m 5’9”, 195
pounds right now.
I still need to lose a
few more pounds,
as my bodyfat is
around 20 percent.
I do 30 minutes
of cardio after my
weight workout, alternating treadmill
walking and sprinting on an incline.
I take a number of
supplements and
wondered if you
would give me your
opinion on what I’m
taking and my diet:
1) 8 a.m. (on empty
stomach an hour
before training):
1500 milligrams Larginine, 200 milligrams pycnogenol,
1,000 milligrams green tea extract
2) 8:30 a.m. (30 minutes before training): NO
Xplode
3) 10:30 a.m. (postworkout): IDS whey protein (2
scoops in water—about 46 grams protein), five
grams creatine monohydrate, 1,000 milligrams
ALA
4) 11 a.m.: 3 poached eggs, 1 cup oatmeal, 1,000
milligrams green tea extract, 500 milligrams CLA
5) 2 p.m.: 6 ounces chicken, 6 ounces baked red
potatoes; optional: I might have a snack, like
a Met-Rx Protein Plus Bar (32 grams protein, 9
grams fat, 3 grams sugar), but not every day
6) 5 p.m.: 6 ounces chicken, fish or lean steak;
broccoli or asparagus; brown rice; 1,000 milligrams green tea extract; 500 milligrams CLA
7) 8 p.m.: IDS whey protein (2 scoops in skim milk)
8) 1,500 milligrams L-arginine, 200 milligrams
pycnogenol
I may not be eating enough. Should I eat a preworkout breakfast or just add a protein drink with
skim milk before I take the NO Xplode? Are there
any other supplements I should be taking? I’ve read
Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Naturally Huge
that a testosterone booster may be beneficial also.
A: You’ve put a lot of thought into your diet, but I think I
can improve it.
I’d never go to the gym on an empty stomach. You absolutely need the calories, carbs and protein in your system
before you train. If you don’t, you won’t have the energy for
an effective workout.
If you’re training at 9 a.m., I recommend that you eat a
good breakfast at 7:30, about 90 minutes before your workout—one to two whole eggs with six egg whites for your
protein source. Because you haven’t eaten during the night,
your muscles need to be fed the amino acids from the
trying to lose bodyfat, I suggest cutting out the complex
carbs at dinner. If you’re lean and trying to put on more
size, you could include a serving of brown rice, wholewheat pasta or a potato.
At 8 p.m. you could eat another meal. Depending on
your goals, you should have a complete-protein food, such
as egg whites or chicken, along with a complex carb, such
as oatmeal, oat bran or pasta. Again, if you’re looking to
lose bodyfat, skip the carbs and just take in the protein
along with some fats, such as a teaspoon of peanut butter.
For your final meal of the day have another protein
drink along with another tablespoon of flaxseed oil. You
could have this protein drink about 2 1/2 to three hours
after your last meal or right before you go to bed.
Here’s a summary of the nutrition program I just outlined:
7:30 a.m.: 1-2 whole eggs, 6 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal
8:30 a.m. (preworkout drink): 1 serving whey protein
or 1 serving of nitric oxide, 1 serving creatine
It’s critical to have a postworkout drink that consists of
fast protein and fast carbs.
protein as soon as you get up.
You also need carbohydrates to fuel your high-intensity
aerobics session. One of the best sources of complex carbs
is oatmeal. One cup of oatmeal contains 300 calories and
54 grams of complex carbs.
About 30 minutes before you train, have your preworkout drink—one scoop of whey protein powder along with
one serving of creatine. Or you could have your nitric oxide
precursor along with some creatine.
For your postworkout drink, the whey protein gets the
amino acids quickly into the muscle cells; however, I also
think you need some carbohydrates along with it. I recommend Muscle-Link’s RecoverX, a powder you mix in water
that contains 40 grams of whey protein and 60 grams of
quickly digesting carbohydrates. That’s the perfect postworkout blend. You can also include another serving of
creatine.
When you get home from the gym, have the chicken and
potatoes along with a fibrous vegetable, such as broccoli or
asparagus. That meal contains a complete protein source
(chicken), a complex carbohydrate (red potatoes) and
more fiber (vegetable). That’s your 11 a.m. meal.
At 2 p.m. instead of the protein bar, have a protein drink
made from a combination of egg, whey and casein proteins. You could include a tablespoon of flaxseed oil in the
drink. That will give you the protein you need along with
essential fatty acids from the flaxseed oil.
At 5 p.m. have your dinner. The chicken, fish or steak are
all good choices for your protein along with a high-fiber
vegetable like broccoli, green beans or asparagus. If you’re
10:30 a.m. (postworkout drink): 40 grams whey protein, 60 grams quickly digesting carbohydrates, 1 serving
creatine
11 a.m.: chicken, red potatoes, broccoli
2 p.m. (protein drink): 2 scoops protein powder, 1
tablespoon flaxseed oil
5 p.m.: fish, chicken or steak; green beans, asparagus or
broccoli; 1 serving rice, pasta or potatoes (if you’re trying
to gain size)
8 p.m.: 6-7 egg whites or chicken, turkey or tuna fish; 1
tablespoon natural peanut butter or a complex carb like
oatmeal or oat bran (if you are trying to gain weight)
10:30 p.m.: protein drink—2 scoops protein powder, 1
tablespoon flaxseed oil
Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Natural Mr.
Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
Visit his Web site at www.NaturalOlympia.com. You can
write to him at P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561, or call
toll-free (800) 900-UNIV (8648). Look for his new DVD,
“The Natural
Bodybuilding Seminar,”
along with his
book, “Natural
Bodybuilding,” and histraining DVD,
“Real Muscle,”
at www.
Natural Olympia.com. Also
available from
Home Gym
Warehouse,
(800) 447-0008
or www
.Home-Gym.
com. IM
Neveux
Neveux \ Model: John Hansen
9 a.m.: workout
John Hansen
[email protected]
ArnoldThink
Inside the Mind of the Greatest Bodybuilder of All
Time—and the Current Governor of California
by Bill Dobbins
Photography by John Balik
T
hroughout his spectacular career—in bodybuilding, movies and now as governor of California—Arnold Schwarzenegger has succeeded
in part because of his ability to accurately assess situations and then outsmart and out-think his opponents.
Sometimes it seemed as if he were a grown-up in a
world of children, a Great Dane in a pack of poodles.
How was he able to do that? How exactly does Arnold’s mind work? I’ve known him since 1975, and we
worked on three book projects together. So I’ve had
ample time to observe how he deals with the world.
Arnold’s approach to life is valuable not only when it
comes to achieving a variety of life goals but also because it’s the basis of the work ethic that brought him
maximum results in bodybuilding.
ArnoldThink
Arnold is an outer-directed
individual. A key factor in understanding Arnold is that he isn’t
somebody who lives primarily inside his head. He isn’t particularly
introspective or consciously analytical. That doesn’t mean he isn’t
intelligent; far from it. His mind is
working all the time, but he’s not
interested in examining his own
thought processes in detail. Rather,
Arnold focuses on the outside
world, on what’s going on around
him—who people are, what they’re
thinking and feeling and how that’s
going to influence what happens in
any given situation.
Arnold has a strong sense of
reality. There are different ways of
perceiving reality. An introspective,
inner-directed individual might well
be most concerned with reality on
the philosophical level or with questions of what might be, should be or
could be. Arnold’s approach is much
more practical. He wants to know
what makes things happen, what
will make a difference to the outcome of a situation or what won’t,
what’s important and what isn’t.
Arnold doesn’t waste time
on unessentials. He only cares
about what works. That has made
Arnold focuses on the outside world, on what’s going on around
him—who people are, what they’re thinking and feeling.
ArnoldThink
him a success in bodybuilding and
in the movies and has earned him a
reputation as an astute and honest
businessman. In business, Arnold
negotiates hard but always sticks by
his agreements. Otherwise, he has
observed, you just make trouble for
yourself—and Arnold is too clever
for that.
Arnold can be both
self-critical and selfconfident. Watching him
preparing for a bodybuilding competition, I was always struck by how honest
he could be about his own
physique. He’d look in the
mirror and see exactly what
his weak points were. Yet he
could do that without any
lessening of his overall selfconfidence.
Whether by instinct or
experience, Arnold came to
understand that self-confidence based on ignorance
of your weaknesses is no
path to success. Instead, the
successful man of action
is ideally somebody who is
not overly self-conscious
or introspective (as Arnold
isn’t), who has a healthy if
not tenacious grasp of what
counts and what doesn’t
count (as Arnold does), who
accepts that nobody’s perfect and that you have to do
the best with whatever you
have, who can assess his
strengths and weaknesses
as clearly as possible and then take
whatever steps are necessary to
make the best use of those qualities.
Arnold is goal-oriented. Life,
to Arnold, is a series of goals. In
Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuilding, he compares having a specific
goal in mind to being the captain of
ArnoldThink
a ship. A ship’s master
would never leave port,
he points out, with no
destination in mind,
intending to simply sail
aimlessly around in
the ocean. He’d have a
definite destination and
charts to show him how
to get there.
Arnold believes that
life should involve the
same kind of planning.
He admits that all the
while he was winning
bodybuilding contests
he was intending at
some point to become
a movie star. And there’s
no doubt that when he
was a movie star, he was
thinking about running
for governor.
Arnold has the
ability to focus. When
Arnold was winning
one Mr. Olympia title
after another, he was
also making a lot of
money in real estate
and engaged in a variety of other activities.
California First Lady Maria Shriver created a wall of photos dedicated to honoring her predecessors.
Arnold’s office, where he is surrounded by personal memorabilia and art he cares
about.
ArnoldThink
How did he do that without harming
his competitive career? By using his
ability to compartmentalize his life
and concentrate on each aspect of
it in turn.
When Arnold trained, he trained.
His mind and his attention were
on his workouts. Once he left the
gym, he left the training behind and
turned his attention to business,
real estate, collecting art, social
activities or whatever else he was
involved with. Too many bodybuilders aren’t able to do that. They
don’t concentrate. They think about
what’s happening in the rest of their
lives when they’re in the middle of
a workout and let their minds dwell
on bodybuilding when they’re supposed to be doing something else.
Arnold is methodical and
well-organized. Whenever I visited Arnold’s house, I noticed how
neat everything was. A place for
everything and everything in its
place. It always looked as if the maid
had just left. I realized that the ability to keep his life well-organized
played a part in Arnold’s success in
bodybuilding.
For example, he told me that he
used to sit down at the beginning of
each month and write out a training
program for the next 30 days. At the
end of the month he’d evaluate how
well the program had worked for
him, make whatever adjustments he
felt would be beneficial and incorporate them into the next month’s
program.
He kept careful track of each
workout, as well. In fact, in his early
years in the sport, Arnold used to
keep track of every set he did in the
gym. Of course, when I first watched
him training back in 1975, there was
no evidence of that kind of careful
planning. His workouts seemed unplanned and spontaneous—but that
was deceptive. He was able to train
that way only because of the experience he’d gained after years and
years of developing a master plan
that reflected the kind of training
that worked best for his physique.
Arnold is not a creature of
appetite. I’ve eaten many meals
with Arnold over the years, but I can
rarely remember a time when he ate
more than I did. Arnold is not indifferent to food, but he’s not ruled
by his appetite. He drinks, but he
isn’t a drinker. He
loves to ski, but
during his competitive bodybuilding
career, when the
simplest skiing
accident could
have cost him the
Mr. Olympia title,
Arnold kept off the
slopes. The same is
true of motorcycles.
He enjoys riding his
Harley nowadays
(“The reason I like
Harley-Davidsons is because they
are so American!”), but while he
was a competitive bodybuilder, he
stayed away from them. The pleasure of riding wasn’t worth the risk
of an injury that could have slowed
down or even ended his bodybuilding career.
Arnold is not ruled by his possessions. Arnold has always been
good at making money. He likes to
live well, to have the wherewithal to
live as he likes, buy what he wants
and travel as he pleases. Yet, at the
same time, making money and
acquiring possessions are not that
important to him. They are a byproduct of success, not the standard
by which success itself is measured.
Arnold has nice clothes, but he
doesn’t dress extravagantly. He likes
exciting cars and buys some interesting and expensive ones from time
to time. Most of the time he drives a
fashionable Hummer, often an ecofriendly hydrogen-powered model.
He owns an expensive airplane but
charters it out when he’s not using it
to pay for its upkeep. The last thing
Arnold would be likely to do is to try
One of Arnold’s
key philosophies:
Don’t let momentto-moment difficulties keep you from
having a fundamental enthusiasm
for living.
to impress you with what he wears
or what he drives.
Arnold knows how to enjoy
life. Arnold’s self-confidence and
ability to thrive on success came
about in large part because he
knows and seems always to have
known how to enjoy life. He’s proof
that you can be serious without acting serious all the time.
Sometimes, life isn’t a lot of fun.
Sometimes it brings hard work or
heartbreak, problems and challenges. Even so, you shouldn’t let
the moment-to-moment difficulties
keep you from having a fundamental enthusiasm for living and a sense
of your own existence. That’s where
the deepest enjoyment of living
comes, and if you’re in touch with
those kinds of feelings, as Arnold
could tell you, you usually end up
having a lot of fun as well. IM
Photo: Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin
Mountainous Muscle Growth With
Overload Drop Sets
by William Litz Photography by Michael Neveux
I
love drop sets. I’ve used them more than any other intensity
technique, except maybe rest/pause. Lately, though, I’ve been
doing a different form of drops.
For the uninitiated, here’s how you do a drop set: Take a weight
with which you can get six to eight reps; then once you reach failure, grab a lighter weight and get four to six more reps. You can do
double or triple drops with that method. I don’t suggest doing more
than three, as it seems to be counterproductive. It’s better to do two
rounds of triple drops than one huge six-set drop.
That’s the basic technique. For a number of clients, however, I’ve
found it very effective to have them do the first set with extremely
heavy weights and very low reps. I’ve discovered that the best
growth response occurs when trainees go superheavy on exercises
on which they don’t normally use heavy weights. That gives the
muscle a fantastic shock, as it has to work against a force it’s never
encountered before—truly a grow-or-die situation.
Dumbbell
Press
Overhead presses come after
heavy laterals, so you may want
to use a machine instead of
trying to balance free weights.
Before I go any further, I want to
caution you: Please use common
sense with this technique, as you
can get injured. Warm up first, and
don’t try to do lateral raises with
your deadlift weight.
After a comprehensive warmup,
pick a weight that will let you get
only two to three reps. Reduce the
weight and immediately rep out to
failure, which should occur in the
eight-to-10 range. The first phase is
the heavy-weight shock-value set,
while the second phase provides the
much needed time under tension
that muscles require for growth.
You need both—it’s not an either/
or scenario. You can see the difference between a bodybuilder who
has trained with heavy singles and
one who has only pumped with light
weights. Arnold understood that
and often flirted with maximum
reps to build raw power, but he also
used lighter weights to get a pump.
One client of mine was a former
powerlifter. He had more than
enough mass, but he lacked polish.
In particular, his delts had no caps
on the side heads. He lacked that
cannonball, or coconut, shape that
Photo: Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin
Start
Finish
I had him strap onto
a chin bar and hang
for 60 seconds to
stretch out his scapula,
lats and delts. Sixtysecond hang chins
are harder than they
sound.
Hanging
Chins
is essential to complete the classic
V-taper, a.k.a. X-frame. Overload
drop sets got the job done. Here’s
how he used them.
Warmup Time
He warmed up on flat-bench
presses with the empty bar for 20
reps. Then he did front presses with
the bar for another 20. Following
that he did two sets of band face
pulls and band upright rows to
warm up his shoulder girdle and in
particular his rotator cuffs.
Band upright rows performed
with a jump-stretch band, pulling
your hands
apart at the
top of the
motion, really
target the rotators and are a great
rehab movement as well. (For more
info on using the bands, see Dick
Hartzell’s Web site, www.Jump
Stretch.com.)
After that I had him grab 20(continued on page 110)
pound
Shoulder SHOCKER
(continued from page 106) dumbbells
and do one set of laterals for 15 reps.
Without rest he went to 30-pounders and did 10 more. After that he
usually felt sufficiently warm, but
on some days he’d do another set of
laterals or light dumbbell presses.
It’s better to take an extra few minutes of warmup to be safe. I always
say five minutes of prehab beats five
months of rehab any day. Use your
head and take your time.
Lateral
Raises
Start
Bombing and Blitzing
As I said, my powerlifter client
was a big boy, and he had the right
mind-set for this type of work—as
well as the right strength base. He
normally uses 50-to-60-pound
dumbbells for lateral raises, so I told
him to grab the 95-pounders. He
Finish
Shoulder SHOCKER
gave me a worried glance
that said, “You know you’ll
be paying my chiropractic
bills, right?” But he grabbed
one of the 95s anyway.
When someone’s going
that heavy, I suggest training one arm at a time. Hold
on to an upright of some
sort—power rack or Smith
machine, for example—to
balance and stabilize your
body. Now get that sucka
up! It may not be pretty,
but try your hardest to
keep your form about 80
percent strict. Use some
body thrust, as Dave Draper
would call it, but try your
best to throw all that heavyass resistance onto your
Shoulder-Shock Workout
One-arm lateral raises
(overload drop sets;
X Reps on drop) 2 x 2-4(8-10)
Lateral raises
1 x 12
Machine presses
(X Reps)
2-4 x 6-10
Note: Use this workout once
a week. If you train your delts
twice a week, use a lighter workout with more exercises at the
second session.
side-delt head. And don’t keep your
arm locked straight; allow a natural
bend at the elbow, but don’t turn the
movement into a dumbbell upright
row either.
Get two reps minimum and
three to four reps maximum. If you
can get more than four, add some
weight at your next workout.
After your low-rep set, put down
that dumbbell, shake off the burn
and grab a lighter weight. This trainee grabbed a 45-pounder. After nine
full reps he continued with four
bottom-position X-Rep partials in
the semistretch position to increase
the time under tension. After a brief
rest he hit the other delt. Then he
got some water and came back for
his last overload drop set. This time
he started with an 85-pounder—10
Smith-Machine Press
Model: Steve Kummer
Start
Finish
pounds less than the first round—
and his drop weight moved down to
40. He got three solid overload reps
and then 10 reps with the 40-pound
dumbbell.
After completing the second
round with his other arm, he did
a set of regular lateral raises for 12
reps. To finish off his delts, he did
machine overhead presses. I like
to use the machine at this point
because the delts are toast—there’s
no reason to risk injury trying to
balance a barbell. Two to four sets of
Shoulder SHOCKER
One-Arm
Lateral
Raises
Go heavy on one-arm laterals, two to four
reps, then reduce the weight and immediately
do eight to 10 more.
six to 10 reps plus bottom-position
X-Rep pulses finish the job nicely.
(Note: In my standard bodypart
schedule trainees work rear delts
after back.)
Stretch It Out
After the weight work I had the
powerlifter strap onto a chin bar
and hang for 60 seconds to stretch
out his scapula, lats and delts for
added width. Sixty-second hang
chins are harder than they sound.
If 60 seconds is easy for you, add
weight. This powerlifter pushes
the scales to 310 pounds, so I was
shocked to see him hang for 10
seconds. But he’s a hardcore trainee
and wouldn’t be beaten by his own
bodyweight. He stayed up there
for the whole minute at his second
Hold on to an
upright of some
sort—power rack or
Smith machine, for
example—to balance
and stabilize your
body. Now get that
sucka up!
Model: Michael Ergas
Start
Finish
workout.
After four weeks on the above
shoulder routine my powerlifter
buddy’s delts, which for years had
no shape at all, began to round out.
Combine these moves with a lot of
wide-grip chins and lat stretches,
and your narrow shoulders will soon
be a thing of the past.
Want Some More?
The routine described above is
short but hard. You can do it twice
a week, but I find once a week is
usually plenty. If I do two overload
sessions, my delts and joints start
to ache, so if I train delts again
during the week, I usually lighten
the weight and do more reps, say
10 to 12. I also do a greater variety
of movements—laterals, one-arm
cable laterals, overhead dumbbell
presses, dumbbell upright rows and
shrugs.
This type of training is brutal, and
the heavy workload can be hard on
joints if you do it for too long. If you
use it once a week for two to four
weeks, however, this blast can really
give you an uptick in muscle size
and density. So use your head: Don’t
go overboard on overloads. Use it
wisely, and your delts will grow awesome.
Editor’s note: Will Litz is the
founder of T3 Training. He also runs
Adrenaline Supplements with Darren Mehling, a personal trainer and
superheavyweight bodybuilding
champion. For more info visit www
.T3-Warriors.com and www
.TeamGOTS.com. For more on X
Reps, visit www.X-Rep.com. IM
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com \ Model: Kai Greene
A Chain Is Only as Strong as
Its Weakest Link
by Ron Harris
Episode 26
s I write this, I’m four weeks out from the NPC
Massachusetts State/New Hampshire State/
Northeast Tournament of Champions, which
takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire. You
geography whizzes may have caught something
odd there—you have to go to New Hampshire to
win the Massachusetts state title. It’s almost as bad
as going to Canada to win the Mr. America, but
at least you don’t have to go through Customs and
Immigration. This is the third time since Randy’s
been training with me that he’s watched me diet
down into contest condition. Actually, that may not
be accurate. Last year I did the show in New
Hampshire without dieting too
long or doing my usual amount of
cardio, as an experiment to see if I
could stay bigger and fuller. The answer was yes, but I also stayed fatter. Still, I realized a couple of weeks
ago that I couldn’t keep Randy from
competing any longer.
Understand that I have not been
holding Randy back the way Cinderella’s wicked stepmother tried to
keep her from going to the big royal
ball. Nor am I punishing the young
guy or attempting to keep him hidden from the world lest he reveal
a physique much greater than my
own. (There are plenty of those out
there, so hiding just one wouldn’t
do me much good.) Believe it or
not, I’m looking out for Randy.
As I mentioned in a previous
article in this series, when it comes
to the right time for a bodybuilder
to start competing, I embrace the
wisdom expressed by the late Orson
Welles in his TV commercials for
Paul Masson wine: “We will sell no
wine before its time.” Randy simply was not ready to step onstage
and compare favorably with other
regional-level bodybuilders in the
NPC. Perhaps if we lived in a state
like Florida or California, where
there are a lot more contests, he
might have taken home a trophy in
a novice class. But the New England
area doesn’t have many contests,
and rarely do they feature novice
divisions. That means all the good
bodybuilders come out to battle
only a couple times a year. If you
don’t belong in a show like that,
you know it right away, and it’s a
humbling experience to say the
least—kind of like being the poor
guy at the ritzy country club. I didn’t
want Randy to get his ass handed to
him and be turned off of competing
forever.
As I worked through my contest
prep, however, it became obvious:
It would no longer be possible to
contain Randy’s desire to compete.
If he didn’t do a show within the
next year, he was gonna burst—literally—and I ain’t cleaning up that
mess.
The contest he picked was the
NPC New England, about seven
months away. That might sound
like plenty of time, but if it does,
you aren’t a bodybuilder. Seven
months gives us just enough time
to improve his muscle size and
proportions as best we can before
he starts dieting down at three
months out. Actually, bodybuilders never talk about shows in terms
of months; they talk in terms of
weeks. Diets typically range from
as short as eight weeks to as long as
20, depending on how much fat the
individual needs to lose. It’s a good
thing we don’t apply that concept
to everything, or else I’d be 1,820
weeks old on my next birthday.
The first step was to take a good
look at Randy and decide what
needed work. That happened
after our last workout, which was
shoulders and hamstrings. Randy
is about 5’9 1/2” and 200 pounds
now, with abs. I estimate he will
only have to come down to between
180 and 185 to be in proper contest
condition. If this were the ’70s, long
before anyone worried about stri-
Comstock
The top pros, like Ronnie
Coleman and Jay Cutler,
constantly hone their
physiques to bring up
weak areas. (What weak
areas?)
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com \ Model: Darrem Charles
Less-massive
competitors
must depend
on shape,
proportion and
definition to
put them in the
winner’s circle.
Merv
No matter how well you
know your body, hitting
peak condition will usually
be a hit-or-miss proposition.
ated glutes and Christmas-tree
backs, he could come in closer
to 190. But thanks to progressive
standards, any man carrying more
than 5 percent bodyfat onstage is
considered a fat bastard now. Even
when they’re covered up in sweats
backstage, you know who’s in shape
by the sunken eyes and gaunt,
angular cheekbones and jaw lines.
If it weren’t for the big muscles, you
would swear those guys were in the
third week of a hunger strike or had
just been released from some POW
camp.
No doubt, Randy had made excellent progress in the two years
and a month we’d been training
together. When we started, he
was about 170 pounds, though
he hadn’t been training or eating
properly at that point. The early
and mid-20s are often fantastic
years for making gains. You still
have the supercharged hormones
of adolescence coursing through
your veins—although they’re just
about to start dwindling—yet your
metabolism has begun to slow
down, which allows many former
hardgainers to pack on some solid
muscular pounds at last.
“Well?” Randy asked, huffing and
puffing as he finished a few poses
in the locker-room mirror. An old
man who was dusting his feet and
his private parts with Gold Bond
powder nearby looked at us as if
we were crazy. Yeah, you’re the one
blowing powder up your wazoo,
and we’re the weirdos.
“Another five pounds of muscle
in the right places is what you
need,” I commented.
“Which places are those?”
“Your arms, your calves and your
upper chest. Right now they are all
weak compared to the rest of your
physique. And a chain is only as
strong as its weakest link, right?” As
I predicted, he immediately became defensive, trying to flex those
areas extra hard to convince me
they weren’t that bad.
“Let’s be real here for a minute,
Randy,” I began. “Like me, you are
no mass monster on the level of a
Ronnie, a Jay or even Jay when he
was 20 years old and already 250
pounds. As such, you have to get by
on your overall shape and balance
more than overwhelming amounts
of thick muscle. There are guys in
Neveux \ Model: Robert Hatch
Machines can help sculpt
muscular detail.
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
Free weights
are the choice
of most
bodybuilders
for packing on
mass.
the pro ranks today—like Darrem
Charles, Rich Jones and others—
who aren’t the biggest guys onstage
but have such incredible shape and
symmetry that they’re able to beat
most of the giants.”
“I’m not that small, am I?” Now
his self-esteem was starting to slip
away. Time to back-pedal just a few
steps before it went down the drain.
“I never said you were small.
Look, you have a lot of things going
for you. Your shoulders are wide
and your waist and hips are narrow,
which gives you a great V-taper.
Your quads and hams are about
even, which is a rare thing. And
your back has some good width and
thickness to it. But if you are to be
as good as you can be, you need to
bring up those weaker areas so they
aren’t distractions. Otherwise, the
judges will be drawn to them, and
they’ll have an excuse to place you
farther down the lineup. But if your
physique is evenly developed and
flows together, the opposite will
happen. Some bigger guys may not
have that overall balance. They may
have a great upper body and weak
legs or be missing something like
triceps or calves. Wouldn’t it be nice
to blow past some of your competition, especially when there will
probably be light heavies who are
three or four inches shorter than
you and about 15 pounds heavier?”
A dreamy smile spread on his
face.
“Yeah, that would be wicked
cool.” Quick lesson in Bostonian
for the rest of the country: Wicked
equals very, as in “Dunkin’ Donuts
has a wicked good new iced latte.”
Randy was sold and was putting
his faith in me. That was not easy
to deal with when I was on low
carbs and not my usual articulate,
energetic self. In fact, lately I’d
communicated more in grunts than
complete sentences. Needing a bit
of posing practice myself, I decided
to hit a few shots before packing up
my gym bag. Randy watched, and
a mischievous light came over his
eyes.
“You know, you really could use a
little more triceps yourself,” he said,
barely containing a laugh.
“Ah, who asked you?” I spat back.
“They’re not that bad.” IM
Eric Broser Answers Questions
About His Stellar Strategy for
Building Size and Strength
by Steve Holman
•
Photography by Michael Neveux
You may recognize Eric Brosers name from his countless articles, columns and items that have
appeared in IRON MAN. Or you may have seen his handle, BodyFX2, attached to message-board posts
and features on the Internet. The man is everywhere, primarily because hes in such high demand.
Thats because his Power/Rep Range/Shock strategy is helping so many bodybuilders grow without
plateaus—and grow fast.
In case you haven’t been reading
IM lately or visiting key bodybuilding Web sites, here’s a brief explanation of P/RR/S:
Power. Train every exercise with
straight sets—no supersets, trisets or drop sets—and reps in the
four-to-six zone.
Rep Range. For the first exercise
you pick a weight that lets you get
seven to nine reps. On the second
exercise you do 10 to 12 reps. On
the third you move the rep range
up to the high-end of fast-twitch
recruitment—13 to 15.
Shock. Here you hammer your
muscles with supersets, drop sets
and so on. Reps for most muscles
stay in the eight-to-10 range, but
extended-set techniques are a
must.
It sounds simple enough, but
my partner, Jonathan Lawson, and
I have been using it for almost a
year now (see TEG on page 64), and
though we’ve had success with it, we
have questions. If you’ve been using
it, you may have some too. Let’s get
some answers from the P/RR/S guru
himself.
IM: We made incredible
strength gains with P/RR/S over
the first nine weeks—three
cycles. Is that normal, and what
do you think is the reason?
EB: Yes, that’s normal, although
by no means am I calling you normal, my friend! [Laughs] Interestingly enough, when I first developed
the principles behind P/RR/S
training, increasing strength was
not a top priority of mine. Rather,
I was looking to find other ways,
aside from strength increases, to
stimulate gains in muscle mass.
However, once more and more
trainees started using my system, I
began receiving consistent feedback
regarding the breaking of both size
and strength plateaus. That led me
to realize that the factors that lead to
Model: Eric Broser
“The reason why most trainees stagnate is not because
they’ve reached their genetic potential but because
they are no longer challenging their muscles and
nervous and endocrine systems with their workouts.”
stagnation are, in general, all interrelated.
I like to call the human body
an adaptive machine. I’ve often
talked about just how brilliant it is at
adapting to a given stimulus. Early
on in one’s training career just the
act of lifting weights consistently is
a novel enough stimulus to force the
body to add muscle and increase its
strength. Over time, however, the
central nervous system and muscles
become more and more proficient
and will no longer respond the way
they once did to the same type of
training.
In other words, the reason most
trainees stagnate is not because
they’ve reached their genetic potential but because they are no longer
challenging their muscles and nervous and endocrine systems with
their workouts. My P/RR/S program
addresses that particular problem
in a very specific manner, allowing
everyone to start gaining size and
strength again and to continue to do
so on a consistent basis.
One of the primary reasons that
P/RR/S training works so well is the
miniperiodization that is inherent
in the program. Each week we look
to stimulate a specific and unique
growth pathway, which not only
creates a powerful multifaceted attack on the muscles but also keeps
the body off-balance so that it can’t
overadapt to any one form of training.
That said, I would not generally
recommend a back-off or drop set
during Power week, as I feel it could
compromise the long-term strategy
behind the program. It’s best to let
the specific goal of each week stand
on its own, especially for those new
to the P/RR/S protocol.
IM: Doing all sets in the fourto-six range, as in Power week,
produces little, if any, muscle
burn. Since muscle burn—
caused by lactic acid—is directly linked to anabolic hormone
release, do you think the lowrep Power week should include
some type of back-off set or
drop set? Or would that reduce
the effectiveness of using pure
Power rep ranges?
EB: Muscle burn has been directly linked to the release of natural
growth hormone, but many studies
have shown that increased testosterone output occurs when you perform multijoint exercises at about
85 to 90 percent of one-rep max,
which is the basic premise behind
Power week. Additionally, by handling near maximum poundages on
compound movements, we are also
stimulating the highest-threshold
motor units—the other central goal
of Power week.
Model: Eric Broser
Model: Skip La Cour
“There are those out there
who respond best to low-rep
training due to a unique fiber
makeup, and/or the ability to
fire off a tremendous number
of motor units with each rep.
Skip La Cour falls into that
category.”
IM: When you tax the muscles
with heavy weights and low
reps during Power workouts,
then reduce the weights for Rep
Range workouts the following
week, aren’t you reducing the
stress on the muscles because
you’re using less weight instead
of more? Wouldn’t that cause a
regression in stimulation instead of progressively increasing the stress on the muscles?
EB: If increasing the stress on a
muscle through constant progres-
“One of the reasons P/RR/S
works so well is the
miniperiodization that is
inherent in the system.”
(continued on page 138)
(continued from page 134) sion
in the amount of weight lifted
for low reps were the singular
factor in the mechanics of
muscle growth, powerlifters
would be the most muscularly
massive athletes of all those
involved in the iron sports.
However, that’s not the case.
Hypertrophy is a multifaceted
phenomenon and occurs
through a number of physiological pathways, each of
which is stimulated by specific training methods. You’ve
noted that fact in your writings as well.
Human muscle is made up
of two basic fiber types, fast
and slow twitch; however,
there are a few subtypes that
lie along the continuum. In
order to stimulate and affect
growth in all of those fibers,
we need to perform work to
failure in several different
ranges of repetitions. It is my
firm belief that one of the reasons most people reach plateaus in growth (and strength)
is that they fall into a comfort
zone whereby they tend to
stick to a specific number of
repetitions per set throughout
their training career. In doing
so, they are failing to attain
growth in all of their muscle
fibers, limiting their potential
for gains as well as causing
stagnation due to overadaptation of the muscles and central nervous system.
Model: Eric Broser
Model: Omar Deckard
“Hypertrophy is
a multifaceted
phenomenon
and occurs
through a
number of
physiological
pathways, each
of which is
stimulated by
specific training
methods.”
IM: Of the three protocols, it appears the Rep
Range week has the best
potential for developing
the most fiber types and
growth pathways—exercise one, seven to nine
reps; exercise two, 10 to 12
reps; exercise three, 13 to
15 reps. If someone is interested in building muscle, why not just use that
continually and perhaps
vary exercises?
EB: I agree. If I were forced
to choose just one of the
three weekly protocols, with
the main goal of increasing
muscle size, I would definitely
choose Rep Range. Using that
particular training method week in
and week out would in and of itself
be more effective than the way most
people set up their training in general. However, I’m not interested in
what is more effective but, rather,
most effective. And what is most
effective is a training program that
attacks muscle growth from every
conceivable angle.
As I’ve mentioned in previous
articles, gains in size occur through
not only simple fiber hypertrophy
but also other physiological adaptations such as increases in mitochondrial enzymes, stored glycogen,
triglyceride, ATP and phosphocreatine, from the laying down of
additional capillary beds. I believe
hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, is real
as well. In addition, through the use
of varying rep tempos, rest between
sets, intensity techniques, repetition
ranges and exercise combinations,
we can tap into myriad hormones
produced locally—meaning within
muscle—and systemically that are
responsible for increasing muscle
mass.
It seems that every day scientists
are discovering new chemicals within the human body that affect the
rate at which we can put on muscle,
both directly and indirectly. P/RR/S
was designed in an attempt to address all of those growth pathways
and will continue to evolve as we
learn more, both anecdotally and in
the laboratory.
Model: Eric Broser
“Gains in size occur
through not only simple
fiber hypertrophy but also
increases in mitochondrial
enzymes, stored glycogen,
triglyceride, ATP and
phosphocreatine, from the
laying down of additional
capillary beds. I believe
hyperplasia is real, as well.”
IM: As I said earlier, we gained
a lot of strength with P/RR/S,
but size seems to be more elusive. I think it could be from
a lack of stimulation to the
endurance components of the
muscle fibers, like mitochondrial and capillary bed development, which is lacking with
low-rep-only Power workouts. It
may just be a hardgainer aberration. Is there anything you
recommend for us hardgainer
types who don’t respond well to
low-rep Power sets?
EB: I’ve seen this a few times
but not very often. Leave it to you
to make my job more difficult.
[Laughs] Seriously, while I find that
most trainees respond extremely
well to the basic P/RR/S layout,
there are those who need some
minor variation of the program to
realize their full potential. It’s easiest
for me to troubleshoot a problem
when I’m working one-on-one with
a client, but let me give you some
examples of how I might vary the
routine for someone not gaining
muscle as fast as I’d like.
One solution is to increase the
volume slightly on Power week so
that you have the opportunity to ex-
haust more muscle fibers. Normally,
I recommend about eight to 10 sets
for large bodyparts and five to seven
for smaller ones. But for hardgainers
I sometimes find that 10 to 12 and
eight to 10 sets, respectively, work
better.
Another way I’ve found to increase size gains for some individuals is to increase the frequency of
Rep Range and/or Shock week so
that the structure is P/RR/RR/S or
P/RR/S/RR, for example.
Also, another general recommendation I make to most bodybuilders
is to train each bodypart just once
per week, but there are some with
superior recovery abilities who need
more frequent stimulation in order
to make the most efficient gains.
“Normally, I recommend
about eight to 10 sets for
large bodyparts and five to
seven for smaller ones for
someone who’s not gaining
as fast as I’d like on Power
week.”
For those types I might step up their
training split so that they hit each
bodypart twice every eight or nine
days.
Since we are on the subject, I
should also mention that I’ve had
some clients make more rapid
gains in size by using more Powerweek work rather than Rep Range
or Shock. You must remember that
there are those out there who
respond best to low-rep training
due to a unique fiber makeup
and/or the ability to fire off a
tremendous number of motor
units with each rep. Skip La Cour
falls into that category. He generally trains in the range of four to
six reps to failure just about every
week—and nobody could argue
Model: Eric Broser
week—and nobody could argue
with his results.
In addition, there are many wellknown strength coaches who feel
that the more years one has been
consistently training, the fewer reps
per set it takes for him or her to
stimulate hypertrophy.
IM: I can attest to some
trainees’ responding better to
lower reps. Jonathan is in that
category, while I’m more of a
hardgainer type who responds
to longer tension times. That
makes our workout structure especially challenging. On the subject of challenging workouts, in
a recent article you mentioned
creating hybrid P/RR/S workouts in which you combine all of
the protocols in every bodypart
routine. Can you give me an example? Also, how long should
someone use that style before
going back to standard P/RR/S?
EB: Yes, hybrid P/RR/S training
is a protocol I started experimenting with a couple of years ago. I only
recommend that people use it after
they have consistently worked with
the basic P/RR/S outline for at least
a year or two, and for only short periods—like four weeks or so. It’s just
another way to provide a unique
stimulus to your muscles, endocrine
as well as your mind.
An example of how you might
employ a hybrid P/RR/S workout for
chest is as follows:
Bench presses
3 x 4-6
Incline dumbbell
presses
3 x 13-15, 10-12, 7-9
Seated flye machine
(with end-of-set X-Rep
partials)
2 x 8-10
Another variation could look
something like this:
Bench
presses
3 x 7-9, 10-12, 13-15
Incline dumbbell presses 3 x 4-6
Seated machine flyes
(drop sets)
2 x 8-10(4-6)
I like to get very creative when
I embark on my short periods of
hybrid P/RR/S workouts. By the
way, one of the most effective Shock
techniques I’ve ever used in conjunction with my P/RR/S program is
X Reps. They are an amazing trigger
for new muscle growth.
IM: Thanks for the positive
feedback on our X-Rep concept.
I noticed that you often include
a very high-rep range during
Rep Range week—16 to 20. Why
do you feel it’s necessary to go
that high? Isn’t that tapping
more into the low-threshold
motor units and fatiguing the
muscle before much fast-twitch
recruitment happens?
EB: I don’t think necessary is the
right word—beneficial is better. First
of all, I do not feel that 16 to 20 reps
is an absurd number to perform,
especially for only two or three sets
in a given workout. There are some
training methods that call for 50 to
100 reps in a single set, which also
has its place every once in a while.
So, while I don’t feel that people
should build their entire workout
around such high-rep sets, I do feel
that they should be included in
small but consistent doses.
There are several crucial benefits
to performing high-rep sets. Remember earlier when I mentioned
that muscles get larger through multiple types of physiological adaptations? Well, with sets of 16 to 20 reps
you bring a tremendous amount
of blood and lactic acid into the
target muscle, which we
both know is a trigger for
natural growth hormone
release. And if you’re interested in big muscles,
then you’re interested in
increasing your GH output.
Second, the high volume of blood forced
through the vascular
system by high reps will
carry with it valuable
nutrients to nourish the
muscles and surrounding
tissues. In addition, it has
been shown that highrep weight training can
enhance capillary density,
increase the diameter
of existing blood vessels
and help to stimulate the
creation of new blood
vessels. All of that will
directly impact the overall
size and volume of your
muscles. Good stuff!
One other thing I would
also like to address is the
psychological aspect of
high-rep training. Without
a doubt it’s more mentally
and emotionally exhausting to perform an all-out
set of 20 reps than a set
of four to six or eight to
10. It takes far more commitment to deal with the
pain and burn associated
with high reps and a lot
more concentration and
focus to deal with a set
of that length; however,
I believe that this form
of training will over time
increase your pain threshold, enhance your ability
to concentrate harder and
longer, and push your
mind/muscle connection to a higher level. All
of those things will filter
down into all of your other
workouts and allow your
training and overall progress to reach new heights.
IM: When a trainee
does pure negatives,
the lowering part of
the stroke only, with a
heavier-than-normal
poundage, it causes a
lot of fiber damage. If
“Without a doubt it’s more
mentally and emotionally
exhausting to perform an
all-out set of 20 reps than a set
of four to six or eight to 10.”
a lot of fiber damage. If trainees want to do pure negatives,
should they do them during
Power, Rep Range or Shock
workouts?
EB: Even though I consider pure
negatives a shock technique, I’d use
them during Power week in place of,
or in conjunction with, the normal
protocol. And because of the tremendous amount of fiber damage
and central nervous system exhaustion that pure-negative training will
cause, I would reserve it only for
very advanced trainees on a quite
limited basis.
IM: How about D.C., Dante’s
multirep rest/pause—three sets
done with the same weight and
a 20-second rest after each?
Does that fall into Power, Rep
Range or Shock?
EB: First, let me mention that
Dante is a friend of mine and someone I have the highest respect for,
both as a training theorist and as a
person. His D.C. method has helped
thousands of people gain new size
and strength, and it’s a program that
many people switch back and forth
from, along with my own P/RR/S
training.
As for his specific multirep rest/
pause technique, it’s something
that can often fit in quite nicely
during the Shock week of P/RR/S.
IM: Do you use forced reps,
and if so, where—Power, Rep
Range or Shock?
EB: I do not use forced reps at
every workout, but when I do, it
usually occurs during Power week.
I should mention that most often
I train alone, but I’d perhaps use
forced reps a bit more often if I had
a steady workout partner. Quite
honestly though, I’m at a point
now where I’ve learned to focus
so intensely on every rep that by
the time I reach positive failure, I
believe I have fired off just about
every available muscle fiber!
IM: Do you ever recommend
a layoff, and if so, after how
many cycles of P/RR/S?
EB: Yes, I do recommend
scheduled layoffs from the gym.
For the average natural trainee I
believe that after every three or
four cycles—nine to 12 weeks—of
P/RR/S, he or she should take off
one full week. If trainees are uncomfortable with the idea of completely
staying out of the gym, they should
at the very least follow every three to
four P/RR/S cycles with one to two
weeks of low-intensity training.
IM: Interesting. Thanks for
the thought-provoking interview. I’ll have additional
questions for you after we experiment more with P/RR/S.
EB: I’m ready when you are. By
the way, I want to thank you for
included P/RR/S in some of your
workouts in your latest e-book [Xtraordinary Muscle-Building Workouts, available at X-Rep.com]. What
a tremendous resource of printable
mass-building programs!
IM: Thanks for the plug. When
we find something that works,
we want other bodybuilders to
try it. Which is why we included
P/RR/S in our X-Rep Reload routines. We’ve tried it, and we like
it. It’s a great system. IM
Model: Eric Broser
“Multirep rest/pause fits
in quite nicely during the
Shock week of P/RR/S.
to
L-Carnitine Can Help Burn Bodyfat and Increase Anabolic Receptors
by Jerry Brainum
Y
ou wouldn’t say that
L-carnitine had an auspicious start in nutrition
science. Discovered in
1905 by Russian scientists investigating a meat extract, carnitine
didn’t arouse much interest in the
scientific world. In 1952, studies
proved it to be an essential nutrient—for the species Tenebrio molitor, more commonly known as the
mealworm. The apparent necessity
of carnitine for the worm led to its
designation as vitamin BT. Soon,
however, carnitine morphed into
the Rodney Dangerfield of nutrients, when it lost its designation as a
vitamin. Carnitine didn’t seem to be
essential in human nutrition.
Further studies in 1958 found that
carnitine was indeed vital. Scientists determined that carnitine, a
name derived from carnos, meaning
“meat,” was essential to the process
of fat oxidation in cells.
Fat oxidation occurs in a portion
of the cell called the mitochondria,
where energy is produced in the
form of ATP. You need carnitine to
shuttle long-chain fatty acids into
the mitochondria, where it and two
enzymes mix it up to burn fat. Without carnitine, that can’t happen.
Recognition of carnitine’s role in
fat oxidation eventually led to its use
in food supplements as a so-called
fat burner. Theoretically, it should:
1) Enhance fat oxidation
2) Increase muscle glycogen
stores through enhanced use of
fat as a fuel
3) Increase use of glucose as a fuel
4) Lower acetyl coenzyme-A content in cells, which in turn activates another enzyme, pyruvate
dehydrogenase, leading to more
glucose use and less lactate. The
scenario favors decreased muscular fatigue.
While those effects all seem
perfectly plausible, most studies
examining the effects of carnitine
as either an ergogenic aid or a fat
oxidation agent have come up short.
One reason is that taking carnitine
supplements increases plasma
levels of it but not muscle levels.
On the other hand, recent evidence
shows that there is a way to substantially increase muscle carnitine.
Your body gets carnitine from
two sources: food and what’s produced in the body. Meats contain
the highest amount of carnitine,
while fruits and vegetables contain
low amounts. Most diets have an
average daily intake of 20 to 200 milligrams of carnitine. While vegetarians have lower blood carnitine than
meat eaters, they rarely show any
signs of carnitine deficiency. That’s
because the body, which contains
about 20 grams of carnitine, synthesizes it efficiently. Losses are rapidly
replaced.
Only those with certain inherited
conditions have outright carnitine
deficiencies, usually involving
mutations in the cellular carnitine
transporter. People who have the
deficiency have trouble absorbing
carnitine in the intestines and lose
more of it than normal through
kidney elimination. Primary carnitine deficiency is serious, resulting
in heart problems, musculoskeletal
disease, low blood sugar and other
ills. The treatment requires large
doses of carnitine, or the outcome
is death.
Such deficiencies, however, are
rare. Most people can easily produce sufficient carnitine provided
(continued on page 158
they take in
Neveux \ Model: Steve Namat
Carnitine appears to help
muscles use glucose as fuel,
and it also improves muscle
recovery.
Megadoses of Lcarnitine may have
you smelling like
dead fish.
(continued from page 155) the raw
materials, including the amino acids
lysine and methionine, iron, vitamin
C, vitamin B6 and niacin. The more
carnitine your food contains, the
less you absorb. Regular meat eaters absorb less carnitine than vegetarians. A high-fat, low-carb diet
increases blood carnitine after six
days but also leads to greater excretion of it. Most obese people have
higher blood carnitine than leaner
people do.
Oral carnitine supplements have
a systemic bioavailibility of 5 to 15
percent. The largest absorbable
oral dose is 2,000 milligrams. Any
more than that is rapidly excreted
through the kidneys. Muscle is especially stubborn in regard to carnitine absorption, since its carnitine
stores turn over more slowly. Some
evidence indicates that a particular
form of carnitine, called acetyl Lcarnitine, which offers some protective benefits in the brain, can enter
the brain much more easily than
L-carnitine can.
One problem with taking carnitine orally is that what isn’t absorbed into the blood is degraded
by intestinal bacteria into trimethylamine. The same thing happens
with excess choline, and you end
up smelling like a dead fish. Taking
riboflavin, a B-complex vitamin,
seems to prevent that effect, as does
avoiding megadoses of either carnitine or choline.
Studies suggesting the benefits of
supplemental carnitine for athletic
purposes are equivocal at best. A
few show that athletes who take it
experience
Researchers gave three
grams a day of carnitine
in divided doses to
healthy adults who had
no genetic carnitine
deficiency, and the
subjects experienced an
increase in carnitineinduced long-chain fat
oxidation.
(continued from page 159) improved oxygen uptake and decreased plasma lactate. Again, the
problem is that while oral carnitine
supplements increase its plasma
levels, muscle levels don’t seem to
change.
Another issue is quality control
in the manufacture of the supplements. One study analyzed 12 overthe-counter carnitine products.1
The actual carnitine content
averaged only 52 percent of
label value. Five of the 12
products tested didn’t dissolve
or break down properly.
Recent studies have discovered
a method of improving carnitine
uptake into muscle.2 Increasing
insulin secretion by eating simple
sugar ups muscle carnitine by 15
percent within five hours. If that
sounds familiar, it’s because other
studies showed that using the same
technique increases muscle uptake
of creatine. Elevated insulin activates the transport proteins for both
creatine and carnitine in muscle.
One study found that
taking L-carnitine
increased exercise time
to exhaustion by 14
percent in sedentary
rats and 30.3 percent
in trained rats.
Even so, certain obvious problems emerge. The body has to release a lot of insulin.3 That requires
eating more than 90 grams of simple
sugars, but if you do that prior to
training, you negate use of fat as
a fuel source during the workout.
That appears to cancel the whole
point of taking carnitine orally.
Many scientists suggest that the
limiting factor in how rapidly the
body burns fat isn’t L-carnitine but rather the enzyme
that works with it, namely
CPT-1. The primary brake
on the enzyme is malonyl
coenzyme-A—which is produced
by carbohydrate intake. That’s one
reason taking in carbs while training
prevents the use of fat as fuel.
Some studies, however, show that
you can increase the activity of CPT1 in the liver if you take L-carnitine
and genistein, a substance found
in soy. Isolated fat cells exposed to
L-carnitine increased the activity of
genes linked to fat oxidation while
suppressing genes associated with
fat synthesis.4 The bad gene, called
PPAR-gamma, recently made the
news when scientists gave rats a
Energy is produced in
the form of ATP in the
mitochondria of the cells.
You need carnitine to
shuttle long-chain fatty
acids into the mitochondria,
where it and two enzymes
mix it up to burn fat.
164 SEPTEMBER 2007 www.ironmanmagazine.com
to
drug that prevents its activity. The
rats could not gain fat, no matter
how much or what they ate.
Other rat-based studies show that
carnitine may work better for those
with more exercise experience. For
example, one found that taking Lcarnitine increased exercise time to
exhaustion by 14 percent in sedentary rats and 30.3 percent in trained
rats.5 Experimenters observed
greater activity of carnitine in the
soleus muscle, which is primarily
composed of type 1 muscle fibers,
the fibers that have a greater capacity to burn fat.
While many studies show that
carnitine has little effect on fat oxidation, others indicate otherwise.
Researchers gave three grams a
day of carnitine in divided doses
to healthy adults who had no genetic carnitine deficiency, and the
subjects experienced an increase
in carnitine-induced long-chain
fat oxidation.6 Another study used
tracers to track the use of fat in 12
subjects who took three grams of
carnitine supplements a day for 10
days. They experienced a significant
increase in fat oxidation, with no
loss of body protein.7
Why the discrepancies? One
reason is the failure to consider
the uptake time associated with
taking carnitine orally. Taking it 60
to 90 minutes before exercise isn’t
enough time for it to leave your
stomach, get absorbed in your small
intestine and then be transported
in the blood into muscle. A study
that traced the route of orally taken
carnitine found that five hours later
only 22.5 percent of the dose had
been absorbed into muscle; 48.8
percent was still in the intestine.
While the debate on the fat-burning merits of carnitine continues,
a few other exercise effects have
emerged. Several studies show that
taking two grams of carnitine after a
workout prevents excessive muscle
soreness and improves exercise
recovery. Carnitine enhances the
function of the endothelial lining
of the blood vessels, thus enhancing blood flow within muscle and
providing oxygen to cells. Carnitine
appears to act as a vasodilator,
meaning that it opens blood vessels,
improving circulation. Experiments
have dem-
One recent study found that 21 days of taking carnitine
increased the number of androgen receptors in
muscle, which interact with testosterone.8 Carnitine is
involved in the pituitary and testicular production of
testosterone, and it works with testosterone in treating
male sexual dysfunction.9 In the testes, carnitine is
needed to transport fat for use as an energy source
for testosterone synthesis. Rats exposed to the stress
of cold-water swimming showed lower testosterone
levels—except when they ate carnitine.
(continued from page 166) onstrated
that exercisers who take carnitine
orally experience only limited damage to muscle fibers caused by
eccentric, or negative, muscle contractions.
Carnitine may also interact with
anabolic hormones, which further
aids recovery after intense training.
One recent study found that taking
carnitine for 21 days increased the
number of androgen receptors in
muscle, which interact with testosterone.8 Carnitine is involved in the
pituitary and testicular production
of testosterone, and it works with
testosterone in treating male sexual
dysfunction.9 In the testes, carnitine
is needed to transport fat for use
as an energy source for testosterone synthesis. Rats subjected to
the stress of cold-water swimming
showed lower testosterone levels—
except when they ate carnitine.
Carnitine may also blunt the
effects of an overactive thyroid or
prevent side effects in those who
use thyroid drugs10 by inhibiting the
entry of active thyroid hormone, T3,
into cells. In addition, excess thyroid
use rapidly depletes carnitine in the
body, which may account for some
of the muscle loss you see in people
who have taken large doses of thyroid drugs.
The side effects of carnitine
have to do mainly with taking too
much—mild gastrointestinal symptoms, such as nausea, vomiting and
abdominal cramps, diarrhea and
rashes. Early carnitine supplements
also contained a mixture of D and
L isomers. The body uses only the L
form, and the D form can displace
it, thus leading to what appears to
be a carnitine deficiency, as evidenced by muscle weakness and
fatigue. Most supplements today
don’t contain the useless D form.
References
1 Millington,
D.S., et al. (1993).
Dietary supplement L-carnitine:
Analysis of different brands to determine bioavailability and content.
Clin Res Reg Affairs.10:71-80.
2 Stephens, F.B., et al. (2006).
Carbohydrate ingestion augments
L-carnitine retention in humans. J
App Physiol. 102(3):1065-70.
3 Stephens, F.B., et al. (2007). A
threshold
exists for the
stimulatory
effect of insulin on plasma
L-carnitine
clearance in
humans. J
Appl Physiol.
292:E637E641.
4 Shin, E.S.,
et al. (2006).
Positive
regulation of
hepatic carnitine palmitoyl
transferase
1A (CPT1A)
activities by
soy isoflavones and
L-carnitine.
Eur J Nut.
45(3):159-164.
5 Bacurau,
R.P., et al.
(2003). Does
exercise
training interfere with
the effects of
L-carnitine
supplementation? Nutrition.19:337-341.
6 Muller, D.M., et al. (2002). Effects
of oral L-carnitine supplementation on in vivo long-chain fatty acid
oxidation in healthy adults. Metabolism. 51:1389-1391.
7 Wutzke, K.D., et al. (2004). The
effect of L-carnitine on fat oxidation, protein turnover, and body
composition in slightly overweight
subjects. Metabolism. 53:1002-1006.
8 Kraemer, W.J., et al. (2006). Androgenic responses to resistance
exercise: Effects of feeding and
L-carnitine. Med Sci Sports Exer.
38:1288-1296.
9 Cavallini, G., et al. (2004). Carnitine versus androgen administration
in the treatment of sexual dysfunction, depressed mood, and fatigue
associated with male aging. Urology.
63:641-46.
10 Benvenga, S. (2005). Effects of
L-carnitine on thyroid metabolism
and on physical exercise tolerance.
Horm Metab Res. 3:566-71. IM
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
to
Carnitine enhances
the function of the
endothelial lining of
the blood vessels,
thus enhancing
blood flow within
muscle and
providing oxygen
to cells. Carnitine
appears to act as a
vasodilator, meaning
that it opens blood
vessels, improving
circulation.
Olympia Bound
With His ’07 Arnold Classic
Victory, Victor Martinez’s
Star Is Rising
by Ilir Gatollari
S
This photo and all training photos courtesy of MHP
S
ome people thought
Victor Martinez had
the greatest unrealized potential in
bodybuilding since
Chris Cormier. Then
on March 3, 2007,
Victor finally did what the physique
world had been waiting for him to
do since he won the ’03 Night of
Champions: He nailed the Arnold
Classic title over two-time defending champ Dexter Jackson. It wasn’t
easy.
Victor is a competitor who possesses unimaginable genetic gifts.
His potential is so extreme that
eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie
Coleman has publicly stated that
Victor will be Mr. O.
While most victories are a boon
for competitors, the ’03 NOC had
become Martinez’s albatross. It was
the benchmark by which the rest of
his pro career was judged, and the
judging was tough on him.
By all informed accounts, he
simply couldn’t repeat his previous
condition. While he came out strong
in the ’04 season, winning the GNC
Show of Strength over Darrem
Charles and Gustavo Badel, he was
far from his ’03 NOC mark. His subsequent dismal and disappointing
ninth-place finish at the ’04 Olympia set the stage for a series of blows
that would call into question Victor’s
competitive future.
The ensuing ’05 contest season
saw him struggle with seventh at
the Arnold Classic, third at the New
York Pro, fifth at the San Francisco
Pro and fifth at the Olympia, after
which he dragged his body home
looking at his shoes. What was he
going to do now? With perhaps the
greatest potential in the sport, he
just couldn’t seem to get it together.
Martinez himself wondered if he
ever could.
Then he showed up at the ’06
Arnold Classic looking like the old
Victor—only bigger and more imposing—kindling hope that things
were turning around. News of his
controversial third-place finish sent
a shock wave through the sport.
At the ’06 Olympia he looked
even better, weighing more than 260
pounds. He blew everyone away.
His image in silhouette behind the
screen at the finals made the hair
on the back of people’s necks stand
up. He was amazing—only a fraction from pushing the great Ronnie
Coleman into third place instead of
second behind Jay Cutler.
Victor Martinez wasn’t just back;
he’d brought out a whole new Victor—and one who was freakin’ dangerous.
Victory at Last
Victor could very likely
fulfill Ronnie Coleman’s
prophecy. The only problem
is that Ronnie wasn’t
counting on it happening
before he retired.
The ’07 Arnold Classic would
finally find Martinez the last man
standing in one of the toughest and
deepest bodybuilding fields the
world has ever seen. His win was
not only undisputed but a glorious
crowning achievement.
So it’s looking as if Victor could
very likely fulfill Ronnie Coleman’s
prophecy. The only problem is
that Ronnie wasn’t counting on it
happening before he retired. What
helped Victor make an improvement so profound and encompassing that it would pluck him from a
downward spiral and elevate him to
a spot in front of the best of the best
pro bodybuilders in the world?
Victor trained at the same gym,
with the same trainer, ate the same
food and pulled the same tricks out
of the same bag that he’d used in the
past. It was obvious, though, that
this time he’d had some help. What
made the dramatic difference? Two
very important notes are relevant
here.
First, some time in 2001, Victor
purchased several hundred dollars’ worth of a heavily marketed
and supposedly effective brand of
supplements (a brand you probably
know very well). They did nothing.
So he swore off supplements and
didn’t touch them for more than
four years.
Today, however, Victor is virtually
the only high-profile pro who has
endorsed just one supplement com-
pany. You can’t blame athletes for
chasing a bigger paycheck, but with
each new company they represent,
the worth of their endorsement
goes down proportionately. How
can so-and-so say that ABC brand
of supplements gave him a winning
Victor’s Secret Weapons
Cyclin-GF was the first test product that Martinez used with great
success. Here’s how it works: Within your body are millions of inactive
muscle cells—or as the medical researchers call them muscle precursor cells. MPCs expire unless they’re kick-started, but
once they’re activated, they begin dividing and forming
pools of myoblast cells that are programmed to become
muscle fibers—but only under ideal anabolic conditions.
When MHP researchers examined what needed to
occur in order to activate and develop MPCs into fully
grown muscle cells, they found that the greatest window of opportunity occurred at night. They found a
relationship between sleep quantity and quality and the
cascade of hormones needed for growing new muscle.
MHP’s Cyclin-GF is a multiacting nighttime formula that promotes
quality sleep and stimulates a cascade of anabolic hormone production.
Cyclin-GF helps get you into the deep-sleep and REM stages faster and
remain in REM sleep longer. The formula employs an advanced fullphase technology to induce the production of critical hormones needed
for muscle fiber development and growth. Additionally, anti-arrestor ingredients neutralize and reduce the levels of damaging arrestors that limit
muscle growth. With Cyclin-GF, peak MPC activation occurs, followed by
elevated muscle fiber growth and regeneration, increasing the overall rate
of muscle growth and size.
Along with Cyclin-GF, Victor used MHP’s selective
androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs. Over the
past 10 years leading scientists and biochemists have
been developing a new class of anabolic-steroidlike
compounds and have perfected what could be the
muscle-building breakthrough of the century.
Steroids work by binding to androgen receptors on
muscle tissue, where they enter the cell nucleus and
stimulate protein synthesis. Androgen receptors don’t
only exist on muscle tissue, however; they’re found
throughout the body on other tissues and such organs
as the prostate, heart and liver. The binding of androgens to the various
receptors is nonselective because
they target all androgen receptors
and not just those in muscle. Nonselectivity results in lower potency
and may lead to undesirable side
effects.
With the advent of SARM technology MHP researchers developed
SARM-X, a supplement designed
to work as a selective androgen
receptor modulator. SARM-X is
specifically engineered to deliver a
full dose directly to muscle tissue
and stimulate more rapid muscle
growth. Its superior selectivity triggers the greatest possible musclebuilding reaction yet presents less
risk of side effects, making SARM-X
the most advanced over-the-counter compound available.
One look at Victor and there’s no
question MHP’s secret formulas
worked.
edge when he was endorsing XYZ
brand last year?
Victor Martinez has endorsed
MHP products only. His association
with that company and its products
was the only difference he made in
his bodybuilding career between
the end of his dismal ’05 season and
the ’07 Arnold Classic. That makes
Victor’s endorsement of MHP
products the most rock solid in the
entire sports-supplement industry,
bar none.
Why MHP? Short answer: Gerard
Dente, former competitive bodybuilder and owner of MHP. Victor
signed on at the end of the ’05
season, and that’s when his competitive edge sharpened. Gerard
crafted an advanced supplement
program for Victor that included
MHP’s Probolic-SR timed-release
protein, along with TRAC Extreme,
the industry gold standard in advanced nitric oxide, creatine and
energy delivery, and Glutamine-SR,
a patented glutamine with superior
bioavailability. That was Victor’s
core supplement program.
Then, knowing firsthand the
unique physical demands put on a
bodybuilder, Gerard worked hand
in hand with key medical experts
to formulate a pair of breakthrough
products that were in the prerelease
phase—Cyclin-GF and a compound
known by the acronym SARMS. Remember, Martinez hadn’t touched
a supplement in more than four
years; he was the proverbial clean
slate.
Those two supplements did
much for his contest prep (for more
on them, see “Victor’s Secret Weapons” at left). His off-season training
was more intense than it had ever
been.
Overload Training
“The most important elements
of any successful training program
are intensity and consistency,” he
says. “In other words, train like an
animal with 100 percent effort and
keep at it—but don’t expect results
overnight.”
Victor’s current program is the
result of 15 years of fine-tuning and
tweaking. It’s a high-volume program with few (continued on page 190)
186
Shape, proportion,
mass, detail—Victor
has it all.
presses
4 x 20, 15, 10, 6-10
Hack squats
3 x 20, 15, 15
Squats
4 x 15, 10, 10
Lunges (barbell or
Smith machine)
3 x 10
Leg extensions
3 x 20, 15, 10
Day 2, p.m.
No workout
Day 3, a.m.
Pullups
3 x max
Seated rows
3 x 15, 12, 10
One-arm dumbbell
rows
3 x 10, 8, 6
Bent-over rows or
T-bar rows
3 x 10, 10, 8-10
Deadlifts (tap and go)
3 x 6-10
Day 3, p.m.
Lying one-arm extensions 3 x 8-10
Pushdowns
3 x 15, 12, 10
Close-grip bench presses
or bench dips
3 x 8-10
Seated calf raises
3 x 25-30
Leg press calf raises
2 x 25-30
Hanging leg raises
3 x 25-30
Crunches
3 x 25
Day 4
Off
Day 5, a.m.
Incline dumbbell
presses
4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
Incline barbell presses 3 x 10, 8, 6
Dumbbell bench
presses
3 x 10, 8, 6
Decline barbell presses
or flyes
3 x 10-15
(continued from page 186) rest days.
“It’s what my body responds best
to,” he explains.
Martinez has devised an odd but
extremely effective rotation that
hits all bodyparts in four workouts
over five days using a split routine.
He trains three days on/one day off,
and picks up on the next workout
scheduled. He trains abs and calves
at every other workout.
Day 1 a.m.: hamstrings, calves;
p.m.: shoulders
Day 2 a.m.: quads; p.m.: no workout
Day 3 a.m.: back; p.m.: triceps
Day 4 Off
Day 5 a.m.: chest; p.m.: biceps
Day 6 Cycle begins again
Day 1, a.m.
Lying leg curls
4 x 15, 12, 10, 8
Single-leg leg curls
(standing)
3 x 12, 10, 8
Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 x 10, 10, 10
Standing calf raises 3 x 25, 20, 15
Seated calf raises
3 x 25, 20, 15
Day 1, p.m.
Seated barbell front
presses
4 x 10, 8, 8, 6
Superset
Lateral raises
3 x 10-12
Dumbbell presses
3 x 8-10
Superset
Upright rows
3 x 8-10
Bent-over laterals
3 x 10-12
Hanging leg raises
3 x 25-30
Cable crunches
3 x 20
Day 2, a.m.
Incline leg
Day 5, p.m.
Barbell curls
3 x 15, 12, 10
Seated alternate
dumbbell curls
3 x 10-12
Concentration curls
3 x 10-12
Hammer curls
(sometimes instead of
concentration curls)
3 x 6-8
Day 6
Cycle repeats, starting with hamstrings, calves and shoulders,
and continues on a three-dayson/one-day-off schedule.
Editor’s note: For more on Victor Martinez, visit IFBBPro
VictorMartinez.com or Maximum
HumanPerformance.com. IM
Physique Metamorphosis
by John Little
n the six years since
Joanne Sharkey
asked me to do
phone consultations for her on
Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training
system, the most common
question we’ve received
is, What did Mike mean
when he said, “As the body
changes, training requirements change”? Does it
mean that everybody’s different? Does it mean that
there could be a time when
someone could (or should)
perform more volume—or
even high volume—in
one’s training? The answer
to the last two questions is
no. The answer to the first
is what we’re talking about
in this installment.
To begin with, everybody is not
different. As Mike accurately pointed out years ago:
“We aren’t all that different physiologically. We’re all unique as
individuals, but when a young man
or a young woman goes to medical
school and studies muscle physiology, whose physiology is he or she
studying? Everybody’s.
“We all have the same muscle
physiology. The biochemical changes leading to muscle growth in Mike
Mentzer are the same as the ones
leading to muscle growth in you. It
follows that the specific stimulus
required to induce the biochemical
changes leading to muscle growth in
you and me is the same. What is that
stimulus? High-intensity muscular
contraction!”
That’s why nobody ever put an
inch on an arm as a result of washing dishes—the intensity of muscular contraction involved in that
activity is far too low. As Mike also
pointed out:
“We all grow at different rates of
speed. I might grow faster as a result of high-intensity training, but
we’ll all grow faster when each of
us trains more intensely. If you’re
not gaining fast now or if you’re not
gaining at all, you’ll gain faster when
you train more intensely. Anybody
will gain more rapidly when he
trains more intensely. He may not
gain as rapidly as me. Then again,
he might gain more rapidly than I
do because of innate adaptability.
We all have different innate adaptabilities to exercise—age, physical
condition, motivation, a lot of different factors. The underlying muscle
physiology, however, is the same.
“The people who say we all have
different training requirements are
entirely wrong. They’re ignorant
of the basic facts regarding muscle
physiology. If we all had different
physiologies, medical science could
not exist. A doctor would have to
study each individual as a separate
physiological entity and then learn
all the intricacies of that physiology
and devise medicine around them.
The very fact that the basic principles of physiology apply to the whole
human race is what makes medical
science a viable discipline.”
As for the issue of whether highvolume training makes sense, the
answer is that a high volume of training and a high intensity of training
are mutually exclusive. The body
requires high-intensity muscular
contractions to produce the biochemical reactions that result in muscle
growth. Low-intensity contractions,
which let you carry on a particular
activity for a longer period of time,
do very little to stimulate much, if
any, growth at all. Again, try washing dishes for a couple of hours and
let me know when you’ve put two
inches on your arm. Let’s hear from
Mike Mentzer on the issue:
“Does anybody here think that
growth comes easily? Has anybody
grown ‘too fast’ this year? No, we
all know that growth doesn’t come
easily. You literally have to force
growth. Now, tell me how you can
force growth with light weights, mild
exertion, easy workouts. You can’t.
The harder you train, the faster you
grow. The harder you train, the less
time you can spend training, just as
the faster you run, the less distance
you can run.”
Given the above facts, we are
brought back to square one. So what
did Mike mean when he said that as
the body changes, training requirements change? Simply this: That as
an individual’s muscles grow bigger,
they also grow stronger. Consequently, the energy expended in one’s
workout from a given muscle group
As an
individual’s
muscles grow
bigger, they also
grow stronger.
Bigger, stronger
muscles expend
more energy, so
the larger you
become, the
more quickly
you become
exhausted.
The bigger and
stronger you
are, the more
stress you can
impose on your
body in any
given set.
Model: Steve McLeod
Incredible Tasting
WPI Formula For Athletes
Who Need To Supplement
Protein Intake
(You Won’t Get Sick of It!)
increases dramatically.
That causes you to grow exhausted more quickly and to take
longer to recover from the workout.
That should be evident to anyone
who’s trained in a truly all-out
manner. The harder the effort,
the more quickly exhaustion intervenes; when your gas tank has
been emptied, in other words, the
workout is over. Your gas tank gets
emptied very quickly when you
are exerting yourself to the max. As
you expend more energy in lifting
heavier weights—300 pounds for
15 repetitions in the squat vs. only
120 pounds for 10 repetitions in the
squat—it takes the body longer to
replenish a greater energy debt than
it does a lesser one. Or, as Mike put
it:
“As you grow stronger—that is,
as the weights grow progressively
greater—the stress on your body
becomes progressively greater and
must be compensated for. Perhaps
the easiest way to understand that
phenomenon is to observe the
stresses on your body when performing a warmup set of squats compared to what happens during the
actual work set to failure. On the
heavier work set you immediately
recognize the much greater stress
on the bones than you get on the
warmup set. The same goes for the
much greater demands on the cardiorespiratory system and so forth.
“Now simply extrapolate that
over time, as you lift progressively
more weight from workout to workout. As the stresses grow progressively greater, they’ll eventually add
up to overtraining. The first symptom will be a slowdown in progress,
and if you continue with the same
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Within two to
three weeks of
embarking on a
high-intensitytraining
program, you
should begin
inserting an
extra rest day
or even two into
your schedule.
volume and frequency, the stresses
will cause complete cessation of
progress. That’s typically referred to
as a ‘sticking point.’ You need never
experience a slowdown in progress,
let alone a sticking point, if you
bear in mind all the while that you
must compensate for them.”
Within two to three weeks
of embarking on a Heavy Duty,
high-intensity training program,
you should begin adding an extra
rest day or even two at random
so that you’re giving yourself sufficient time to recover from your
workouts. Do that with increasing
regularity until you’re training once
every seven days or so. According
to Mike:
“The implication here is that
if the individual trains again before the body’s growth production
process is completed, it will be
short-circuited and less than 100
units of possible progress will be
realized. Once the individual is
training once every seven days, I
suggest a reduction in the volume
of training, as outlined in my
books, along the lines of the Consolidation Program. [Editor’s note:
Please see The Wisdom of Mike
Mentzer or High Intensity Training The Mike Mentzer Way for a
detailed presentation of Mentzer’s
Consolidation Program.]
If you train
before recovery
is complete, you
short-circuit the
growth process.
“With a consolidation routine,
there’s a decided shift in emphasis
to predominately compound exercises—that is, ones that involve
multiple muscle groups, such as
squats, dips and deadlifts. A workout consisting of compound exercises still works all of the major
muscle groups but with fewer
total sets, making for minimum
inroads into recovery ability.
“Following the above advice,
Compound
exercises are
best for efficient
mass-building
workouts.
you’ll never hit a sticking point. You’ll
experience unbreached progress
with your training. As I’ve written
before, if scientists can send a man
to the moon and bring him back
safely each time, we should be able
to succeed with every one of our
missions to the gym here on earth.
Building bigger muscles should be
a cakewalk compared to a moon
walk.”
In other words, anytime you
increase the intensity of a workout—by lifting heavier weights,
performing more reps—you’ve increased the stress on your body. You
must account for that both in the
length (or volume) of your workouts
and in the extra time that will be
required between workouts in order
for you to fully recover and adapt
Model: Jose Raymond
Multijoint moves
that train the
largest muscles
stimulate the
metabolism
and anabolic
hormones.
from the training.
Editor’s note: For a complete
presentation of Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system, consult
his books Heavy Duty II, High
Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer
Way and the newest book, The
Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, all of which
are available from Mentzer’s official
Web site, www.MikeMentzer.com.
John Little is available for phone
consultation on Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system. For
rates and information, contact
Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519 or
at www.MikeMentzer.com, or see
the ad on the opposite page.
Article copyright © 2007, John
Little. All rights reserved. Mike
Mentzer quotations provided
courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and are
used with permission. IM
More-isolated
finishing
exercises
should be used
infrequently.
A Commonsense
Approach
Model: Hidetada Yamagishi
by Myron Mielke - Photography by Michael Neveux
f you’ve tried but repeatedly failed
to reveal your six-pack abs, I’ve got
the perfect plan for you. Many of the
countless articles over the years on
weight loss and shedding bodyfat
offer sound advice and can produce
incredible results. Even so, they always
seem to miss the bridge between no diet
and dieting.
That in itself makes some plans difficult,
perhaps impossible, to follow. Whatever
results a plan might be capable of
producing, if the average person can’t
follow it, it isn’t going to be effective.
Don’t Go Cold Turkey
Cardio: Double-Duty Fat Burning
According to most exercise physiology textbooks, the longer you do aerobic
exercise, the more fat you burn. During the first 30 minutes of aerobics you
burn an equal mixture of fat and carbohydrate. Then, as the carbs are depleted with extended exercise time, the fuel shifts mostly to fat. Two or more
hours of consecutive aerobic exercise can burn about 90 percent fat.
If you’re like most people, though, the notion of doing two straight hours of
aerobics is about as attractive as watching Rosie O’Donnell dancing the tango
nude with Louie Anderson in Macy’s. There’s got to be an easier way—and according to recent research, there is. A recent study compared doing one long
to two short sessions of aerobic exercise.
The study involved seven men, who engaged in three trials:
1) A single bout of 60 minutes of aerobics
2) Two bouts of 30 minutes each of aerobics, separated by a 20-minute rest
3) Rest, or control, group
The exercise was done on a stationary cycle, using 60 percent of maximum
oxygen intake, a moderate level of exercise intensity.
The stimulus for fat burning during aerobics is a combination of increased
catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and lowered insulin. The
catecholamines directly stimulate enzymes that cause the release of free fatty
acids into the blood. Insulin blocks that process, which is why you wouldn’t
want to eat simple carbs prior to an exercise session targeted for fat burning.
Past studies show that when you do two aerobic sessions on the same day,
levels of fat-releasing hormones, such as the catecholamines and growth
hormone, are higher during the second session than the first. Insulin is lower
during the second workout, while interleukin-6, a cytokine related to increased fat oxidation during exercise, is higher.
In the study described here, various processes related to fat release increased during the second 30-minute session while blood glucose levels
declined, which further increased the use of fat as fuel. Even an hour after the
workouts, levels of fat and ketones (indicative of increased liver fat oxidation)
were higher when the workout was divided into two sessions.
The researchers noticed that free fatty acids increased markedly during the
20-minute rest interval between the 30-minute sessions. Fat use peaked in
the final 15 minutes of the second session. Catecholamines rose significantly,
while insulin and glucose levels dropped. That indicates maximal fat use.
Levels of growth hormone didn’t differ between the single or divided sessions.
This information isn’t new to many pro bodybuilders. A common precontest practice is to divide aerobic work
into two daily 30-to-45-minute sessions,
evidently because the fat-loss payoff
is bigger with two shorter sessions.
An even more effective strategy may
be interval training, characterized by
alternating high and low intensity as
determined by heart rate. That type of
training is also associated with a considerably higher fat loss than conservative
aerobic sessions.
—Jerry Brainum
Goto, K., et al. (2007). Enhancement
of fat metabolism by repeated bouts of
moderate endurance exercise. J Appl
Physiol. 102(6):2158-2164.
Model: Eric Domer
Let’s say you follow a somewhat
typical off-season bodybuilding diet.
You try to eat four to six times per
day and try to eat protein with each
meal. You drink one or two protein
shakes a day, and you lift three to five
days per week.
You don’t count carbs, and you
don’t limit desserts and high-fat
foods. Pizza and burgers are part of
your mass-building diet. Your abdominal muscles are not visible, but
if you pull down on your stomach
skin, you can sort of see one row of
abs peeking through. By summer
(June or July) you’d like to see a sixpack.
I’ve seen people start diets at the
beginning of January. They know
they’ve added a few pounds of pure
fat during the holiday season, and
they’re fired up to get rid of it. Monday morning comes around, and
they make up their own diet. One
grapefruit and a bowl of raisin bran
for breakfast are a good start, especially since Friday’s breakfast was an
Egg McMuffin, hashbrowns and a
pastry.
Lunch consists of a hardboiled
egg, two slices of melba toast, carrot
sticks and a diet soda. Dinner is a
huge salad with about one-half cup
of ranch dressing. A bedtime snack is
a few celery sticks. Day two ends up
being much the same. By day three
many are ready to cave in. McDonald’s drive-through is just too hard to
resist for both breakfast and lunch.
The person I just described was
making up a diet based on what he
thought a diet should be like. What
about the person who reads about
someone’s incredible 12-week transformation?
That transformer, who eats an
astonishing six to seven times per
day, writes about his very own secret
recipes. After trying the transformer’s
secret recipe for frozen oatmeal-andsucralose Popsicles, the would-be
dieter throws in the towel again, and
McDonald’s drive-through awaits
with open arms.
The moral of the two stories:
Gradually adjust your diet by making
small changes. Don’t go from eating
Snickers to carrot sticks (or frozen
oatmeal Popsicles). That’s really hard
to do. Most people fail when they try
such an abrupt switch.
Fast-food emporiums can lure dieters, derailing a lot of hard
work. Beware of Egg McMuffins (and Ronald McDonald).
Starting Off
on the Right Foot
A typical get-ripped diet lasts 12
to 16 weeks. That gives you plenty
of time to slowly ease into your diet
without abruptly changing anything. It’s much easier to make a few
small changes at a time.
Week 1: Make sure you eat five
to six meals with high-quality protein. Stick with the high-protein
meals throughout the whole plan.
Next, eliminate one junk food from
your diet. If you eat chocolate or
drink regular soda, stop. Drink diet
soda instead. That’s it for week one.
Simple, huh?
Week 2: Eliminate all burgers
and pizza. If you eat at a fast-food
restaurant, order a grilled-chicken
sandwich and a small side salad
with low-cal dressing instead of the
fries.
Week 3: Stop eating desserts.
Many people love to finish dinner
with a tasty dessert. You’ll need to
eliminate desserts six days per week.
Have a dessert or two on Sunday—
as a treat and reward.
Week 4: Salad time. Replace one
meal per day with a large lettuce
salad. I’d recommend dinner, since
a lower carb intake later in the day
helps burn bodyfat. Any vegetables
are fine in the salad; just leave off
the croutons, cheese and high-calorie dressing. Eat a grilled chicken
breast with the salad.
Week 5: Introduce cardio. Incorporate three to four 30-minute
cardio sessions into your weekly
schedule. It doesn’t matter what
kind of cardio you do. Find something you like. I prefer walking,
running or biking outside.
Do the cardio exercise four
hours before or four hours after
your weight workout. That will
keep your strength up. Doing cardio immediately before you hit the
weights can sap your energy.
Over the Hump
By week six you could have lost
between five and 10 pounds while
maintaining your muscle mass.
You shouldn’t be feeling too depleted either. To keep the progress
going, however, you’ll need to step
it up a little more. You’ll need to
start monitoring your carbs more
closely.
Along with your five or six highprotein feedings, eat only three
servings of complex carbs per day.
Oatmeal for breakfast. Rice for
lunch. A yam at 3 p.m. Now that
you’ve eliminated various foods
over the previous five weeks, here’s
what you should be eating:
By week nine you should be 10
to 15 pounds lighter. During week
nine you might want to introduce a
fat burner. Follow the directions on
the label.
For weeks 11 and 12 you’ll be
doing some carb cycling. Basically,
you eliminate carbs for two to three
days and then eat more carbs for a
day or two and then repeat the cycle.
Keep protein high, and eat a few
nuts or peanut butter on your lowcarb days to keep your calories from
dipping too low. Increase cardio to
six days per week.
After week 12 you need to review
your situation. If you need to lose
more, keep going, but you might
want to take a cheat day or two and
eat some forbidden foods and then
start right up again. It’ll be mentally
refreshing when you cheat for a day
or two.
Training
Vegetables and lean beef or chicken make a great choice, but be
careful what you wrap them in.
Contrary to what many personal
trainers would have you believe,
your weight training for getting
ripped doesn’t have to be any different from when you’re building mass.
Breakfast
Six egg whites with one yolk
(scrambled)
One bowl oatmeal with NutraSweet or Splenda
Sugar-free Tang or iced tea
Midmorning
Whey protein drink or
Tuna salad with vegetables
Lunch
Lean steak
1 cup rice (white or brown)
Vegetables
Midafternoon
Whey protein drink
1 yam
Dinner
Large salad
Chicken breast
Before Bed
Cottage cheese
Vegetables
Follow the same plan for weeks
seven through eight.
Go for cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower.
They’re high in potassium and fiber. Add chicken for protein.
Nuts can help
you keep your
calories high
enough on lowcarb days—but
no candy bars,
even if they
contain nuts.
Model: Sagi Kalev
Train as heavy as you
can for six to eight
reps per set. You may
lose some strength
as you diet down, but
that’s no reason to
do high reps, which
don’t support muscle
growth.
A cheat meal can revitalize your metabolism.
Train as heavy as you can for six to eight
reps. You’ll lose some strength when you diet
down, but don’t feel that you have to increase
your reps to 15 to 20 (or 100) to burn fat just
because you’re dieting. Keep your workouts
intense, heavy and brief. You do cardio to help
burn the fat. You lift weights to build muscle.
Keep it simple.
Once you’ve completed the plan, you’ll
have a better understanding of how to get
ripped. At some point you’ll probably again
add a few pounds in your bulking phase.
When that happens, however, you’ll know that
you’re in control, and you’ll be able to lose the
weight when you need to—gradually.
You win the
fat-loss war by
making gradual
changes over
many weeks.
Editor’s note: Myron
Mielke has been competitive
in the sport of bodybuilding, a personal trainer and a
gym owner. He is currently
employed at a daily newspaper in Lancaster, California,
in the graphics department.
For more of his articles, visit
Bodybuilding.com. IM
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
Thyroid
Void and
Busting Diet
Plateaus
about 30 pills. The pills turned
out to be Armour thyroid,
which the pro told me would
promptly end my problem. He
was right, and I reached my fat
loss goal shortly afterward.
Bodybuilders have used
thyroid drugs for years as a
means of lowering bodyfat.
The thyroid gland controls the
resting metabolic rate. Located
in the neck, it works on a feedback mechanism and stops
producing thyroid hormones
when their blood levels optiYears ago, after several weeks on a nearly
mize. There are two primary
zero-carb diet to lose bodyfat, I abruptly
hormones, thyroxine (T4) and
stopped losing both weight and fat. I
triiodothyronine (T3); the
couldn’t figure out why. I knew that my diet
numbers tell you how many
was tight, and although I didn’t do any aeroiodine molecules the hormones
bic exercise (few bodybuilders did in those days), I’d been
have. T3 is four to five times more active than T4, which is
losing considerable bodyfat prior to encountering the sudconsidered more of a pro-hormone.
denly insurmountable diet plateau.
The thyroid hormone cycle begins when the hypoLuckily for me, my next-door neighbor at the time was a
thalamus secretes thyroid-releasing hormone. TRH travels
world-renowned professional bodybuilder who in the near
to the pituitary gland, where it stimulates the release of
future would win several Mr. Olympia titles. I told him
thyroid-stimulating hormone, which travels in the blood
my problem, and he handed me an envelope containing
to the thyroid gland and triggers the synthesis of (mainly)
T4. At that point, enzymes
activated by zinc and seleThyroid drugs are popular with
nium convert T4 into T3 in
bodybuilders for speeding
the liver and elsewhere in
fat loss and preventing diet
the body.
plateaus.
Not taking in enough
calories or eating fewer than
40 grams of carbohydrates
daily leads to the production of an inactive form of
thyroid hormone called
reverse T3, which usually kicks in after a loss of a
certain amount of bodyfat
or muscle. If you eat too few
calories, your body tries to
protect itself from breakdown because the brain and
central nervous system have
started getting the glucose
that fuels them from body
tissue (mostly muscle) instead of the blood. The net
effect is a decline in resting
metabolic rate, popularly
called a dieting plateau.
As most bodybuilders
drastically reduce calorie
intake for fat-loss purposes,
using thyroid drugs is a
popular method of maximizing fat loss and preventing a plateau. The top three
thyroid drugs are Cytomel
(T3), Synthroid (T4) and
Armour. Armour is derived
Competitive
bodybuilders often
combine T3 drugs and
clenbuterol to achieve
bodyfat loss significant
enough to produce
the much sought-after
thin-skinned, highly
defined muscularity
you see in today’s
competitions.
Neveux \ Models: Brenda Kelly and Kat Myers
from pig thyroid and contains both T3 and T4.
Most bodybuilders prefer Cytomel, as it acts the fastest.
Synthroid takes about a week to interact with enzymes
and convert into T3 in the body. If you were diagnosed
with a low thyroid output, most doctors would prescribe
Synthroid. Its slower conversion rate produces less chance
of side effects, especially cardiovascular problems.
Many people produce enough T4 but don’t convert it
efficiently into the active T3. The frequent treatment is to
give the patient both T4 and T3. Still, studies of patients
with low thyroid function show that although the combination mimics the production of natural thyroid hormone,
it doesn’t benefit them any more than giving them T4
alone. The syndrome is far more common in women than
men, and up to 40 percent of women produce antibodies
that destroy active thyroid before it can interact with cellular receptors. Blood tests for those women show normal
thyroid function, as their bodies produce normal levels of
T4. That makes Armour a good treatment for the problem.
Among the side effects of thyroid-drug overdose (almost always involving T3) are elevated and/or irregular
heart rate, congestive heart failure and muscle loss. That’s
why the drugs are rarely used in isolation but are more
often taken with other drugs, such as anabolic steroids,
growth hormone and others. Using the anabolic drugs
likely offsets loss of muscle caused by T3 drug use.
In fact, thyroid hormone has synergy with other
hormones. One example is insulinlike growth-factor 1.
Indeed, without a sufficient level of thyroid hormone,
IGF-1 simply won’t work. During the initial use of GH, a
temporary suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone
also occurs, usually lasting a few weeks, that makes GH
worthless. So bodybuilders also use T3 drugs to counter
the effect. Thyroid even works in conjunction with anabolic steroids, increasing the anabolic effect under normal
levels, though too much T3 blunts that.
The usual method for taking Cytomel and similar T3
drugs is to start with one 25-microgram pill, then gradually increase the daily dose to a maximum of 100 micrograms. Women should use about half that dose. The body
Up to 40 percent of women produce antibodies
that destroy active thyroid before it can interact
with cellular receptors.
detects the drug immediately and reduces thyroid output
accordingly. The maximum dose is more than the body
ever makes naturally, which means that if you use that
dose, you’re looking at hyperthyroidism, or overactive
thyroid. On the other hand, smaller doses would just lead
to a cessation of normal thyroid output without much
boost in metabolism, unless you experience the reverse T3
shutdown effect.
Several studies have shown that much smaller daily
doses of T3—no more than one tablet, or 25 micrograms—
will help you overcome dieting plateaus from too little
calorie or carb intake. People with heart disease, however,
just shouldn’t go there. You can probably get the same effect from such nutritional products as gugglesterone, olive
leaf extract, 7-keto DHEA and phosphate supplements.
For a while, several over-the-counter thyroid drugs were
sold as thyroid pro-hormones. Among them were Triacana
and T2. Triacana, a metabolite of T3, is often touted as a
mild form of thyroid, but several reports involving bodybuilders who experienced adverse cardiovascular effects
and suppression of thyroid function from using Triacana
led to its being removed from the market. T2, a pro-hormone intermediary between T4 and T3, has generated
potent fat-burning effects in animals but human evidence
is scarce or nonexistent. One much-vaunted advantage of
T2 was that it worked mainly in muscle and didn’t cause
muscle loss. Even so, most forms of T2 disappeared from
the market soon after Triacana did. One company is still
selling a form of it.
Competitive bodybuilders often combine T3 drugs and
clenbuterol to achieve bodyfat loss significant enough to
produce the much sought-after thin-skinned, highly defined muscularity you see in today’s competitions. What
you don’t much hear is that it also involves large doses,
which stimulate the heart and could result in serious cardiovascular complications.
Several years ago a top pro bodybuilder called me in
distress, complaining about extremely rapid pulse, exceswww.ironmanmagazine.com \ SEPTEMBER 2007 225
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
By-products of oxygen metabolism that are
destructive throughout the body, free radicals are
linked to most degenerative diseases, including
cardiovascular disease and cancer.
sive sweating and an inability to relax
or fall asleep. It turned out that he
was taking an oral T3 drug and using
a T3-based topical thyroid product,
plus a large dose of clenbuterol on
a day-on/day-off schedule. A local
emergency room diagnosed thyroid
storm, or excessive thyroid output,
which could easily have resulted
in cardiovascular collapse. Drug
therapy blocked the effect of adrenal
hormones on his heart and offset his
elevated thyroid hormone level. He
survived, though for other reasons he
didn’t win his contest.
Using T3 drugs will elevate the
production of reactive oxygen species, usually called free radicals.1
By-products of oxygen metabolism
that are destructive throughout the
body, free radicals are linked to most
degenerative diseases, including
cardiovascular disease and
cancer. Thyroid drugs
raise
cant amounts of dietary antioxidants,
such as vitamin E and selenium.
Selenium is absolutely essential
to thyroid metabolism; it activates
the enzymes that convert T4 into the
more active T3. On the other hand,
studies show that too much selenium slows down thyroid hormone
synthesis. The same holds true for
iodine. While two-thirds of thyroid
hormone is composed of iodine,
getting too much of it blunts thyroid
hormone output. The other third of
thyroid hormone is the amino acid
tyrosine, which explains its presence
in many supplements aimed at boosting thyroid function. In fact, however,
tyrosine is not the limiting factor in
thyroid synthesis, and taking large
doses of it will do nothing to boost
thyroid activity.
Many bodybuilding photographers
can attest to the common phenomenon of bodybuilders who appear
ripped, devoid of
any superfluous
Selenium is absolutely
bodyfat or water reessential to thyroid
tention. When they
metabolism, as it
show up for a photo
shoot as little as two
activates the enzymes
weeks after the conthat convert T4 thyroid
test, they frequently
hormone into the
appear smooth and
more active T3.
bloated. What happened?
One study provides a possible
cause—besides pigging out on junk
food after the show.2 The study, which
involved rats and isolated cells exposed to large doses of T3, found
that the gene expression of nearly
every enzyme in the body known to
produce bodyfat was rapidly upmeregulated. That didn’t happen with
tabosmaller doses of T3, which seems to
lism by
have downregulated the same genes.
upgradThe dose the rats received was about
ing the
the equivalent of the maximum dose
production of
uncoupling
of T3 suggested to bodybuilders for
proteins in the cellular mitochondria,
fat-loss purposes.
also the site of the greatest free-radiIt is reasonable to assume a similar
cal havoc. Taking dinitrophenol, or
scenario with humans. The rats in
DNP, a toxic chemical often used for
the study didn’t all react to the high
fat loss, exacerbates the uncoupling
T3 with excess fat gains, just as some
effect. If you’re thinking about using
humans might not. It could, however,
thyroid drugs, be sure you get signifiexplain the sudden rush of bodyfat
and water retention after a contest. A
female figure competitor a few years
ago, who was rumored to have taken
large doses of T3 to lose bodyfat, won
her contest but ballooned up so much
within two months afterward that
she was unrecognizable. It ended her
competitive career.
In the works are experimental
thyroid drugs that are far more selective toward bodyfat reduction. One,
code named GC-1, doesn’t affect the
heart or promote muscle loss, but
it does promote bodyfat loss.3 It’s
intended to distinguish between the
two thyroid cellular receptors, TR-a
and TR-b. Most side effects linked to
thyroid drug use occur when the TR-a
receptor is activated. The new drug
selectively activates TR-b. Basically a
tamed form of T3, it dramatically lowers blood cholesterol, helping convert
excess cholesterol into bile, which is
then excreted from the body.
Primate studies show that GC-1
leads to a 4 percent drop in bodyweight—all fat, zero muscle—after
only one week. It sounds great, but
like other thyroid drugs, this new drug
does suppress thyroid-stimulating
hormone by 40 to 45 percent. In addition, it hasn’t been tested in humans,
so its possible toxicity isn’t known. If
the drug passes muster, it could prove
the most effective and safest form of
thyroid drug ever. Time will tell.
References
1 Duntas, L., et al. (2005). Oxidants,
antioxidants in physical exercise and
relation to thyroid function. Horm
Metab Res. 37:572-576.
2 Zabrocka, I., et al. (2006). Pharmacological doses of triiodothyronine
upregulate lipogenic enzyme gene
expression in rat white adipose tissue.
Horm Metab Res. 38:63-68.
3 Baxter, J.D., et al. (2004). Selective activation of thyroid hormone
signaling pathways by GC-1: A new
approach to controlling cholesterol
and body weight. Trends in Endocrin
Metab. 15:150-157. IM
’96 Arnold Classic,
1st Place.
LEGENDS OF BODYBUILDING
Kevin Levrone
The Process of Becoming
Neveux
T
here are interviews…
and then there are
interviews that define
what it means to be a
journalist. Such was
my experience with
Kevin Levrone.
We all know his story, or at least
what’s been committed to paper:
the Arnold Classic triumphs and
spectacular Olympia showings, that
crazy action-figure physique, his
insatiable need for creative expression. Weider quickly signed him.
Fans mobbed every contest and personal appearance. Magazines ran
cover shots, training articles, photo
spreads, profiles galore.
Yes, indeed. As a competitive
bodybuilder, Kevin seemed guided
by preternatural force. At one point
I approached the Maryland Muscle
Machine, but Weider’s ironclad
contract kept rival publications and
writers at bay. Disappointed, I put
aside notions of an exclusive and
concentrated on other projects.
Years fell away, and Kevin’s situation changed dramatically. Released
from Weider, he’d moved to California for “Backlash,” an action-film
assignment. It seemed like a match
made in P.R. heaven. Late last year
the impossible came to be.
Good interviews can be tricky;
they often rise or fall on whim. In
the case of my interview with Mr.
Levrone, something cosmic occurred: Light flooded a darkened
room, and I began to understand
this very complicated man.
RL: You’ve done dozens of
these gigs, I know—so let’s try
for a different spin.
Feel like experimenting?
KL: Yeah, I do, but
we gotta be 100 percent
honest. That’s the only
way I can work nowadays—with honesty
and heart. Everything
out on the table. Just
don’t ask me how much
I can bench, okay?
[Laughs]
RL: You got it. Update us on Kevin
Levrone’s life. What’s
shakin’?
KL: I’m evolving—in
the process of becoming. Every morning I
thank God for the new
day—it’s another learning experience, another
piece added to our
human puzzle.
RL: The process of
becoming? Sounds
labor intensive.
KL: It is, and I probably won’t ever find out
who I am. Who’s Kevin
Levrone? He’s a mystery, a phantom. I’ve
spent years ridding myself of excess baggage,
peeling away layers to
find the real Kevin.
RL: How long have
you been on this
journey toward self?
KL: Since childhood. I hated school
and didn’t like people.
Photo courtesy of Kevin Levrone
by Rod Labbe
A lighter, lean Levrone
has honed his physique
for movie roles.
Arnold Classic 1996
1st Place.
Balik
“Anybody can be great.
There are degrees, but
you don’t have to be a
world shaker. You can
make a difference on a
more intimate level—by
being a good soul,
doing what’s right,
holding to your
own code.”
Kevin Levrone
Balik
I wanted to be left alone. In solitude
I could figure out things for myself.
Sometimes I’d find answers—but
behind them, there were always
more questions.
RL: The passing of your father proved a cataclysmic early
event.
KL: I was only seven years old
when that happened. I’d gotten up
for school, and my mother told me
to run and find my uncle because
daddy had a pain in his back. Thirty
days later we lost him, and our lives
changed forever.
RL: An unexpected death can
be surreal. Almost like a dream.
KL: Surreal is a good word. I
didn’t want anyone to see me cry.
I couldn’t vocalize my pain. I withdrew, shut myself off.
RL: Childhood experiences
often dictate the kind of adult
we become. Your loss produced
a great champion, someone
born from pain.
KL: I’ve always had a burning
desire for victory, understand what
I’m saying? I couldn’t control the
things around me, so I stopped
wishing and crying and made things
happen.
RL: Were there lessons
learned along the way?
KL: A harsh one: Never depend
on anyone to be there for you.
“Kevin,” people would say, “you’ve
got to grow up and take responsibility.” And I did, at a young age. Whatever I created was mine. No one else
would snatch it away. That’s why I
understood bodybuilding so well.
RL: Because bodybuilding’s a
solitary sport?
’95 Mr. Olympia,
2nd place.
KL: Not merely solitary but personal. Bodybuilding kept me going
and going, and I turned it into a living. I created a character, a muscle
guy, my twin—the other side of
me. I never smiled much as a child.
Even now, I don’t like to smile. I’m a
closed, lonely individual.
RL: Has life cheated you?
KL: Not in the sense that everybody might think, because I lost
my folks and had a hard time growing up. I absolutely like who I am
today. Look at Benjamin Franklin.
I’m not comparing myself to him or
anything, but look at how he persevered. There was something inside
of him, an innate greatness.
RL: True, but is greatness
born or made?
KL: Anybody can be great. There
are degrees, but you don’t have to
be a world shaker. You can make
a difference on a more intimate
level—by being a good soul, doing
what’s right, holding to your own
code. I was motivated by the death
of my parents. It shook me up and
brought out a greatness I didn’t realize existed.
RL: When did your mother
pass?
KL: In 1989. She never saw her
little boy succeed.
RL: Is that why you began
dabbling in vegetarianism? For
survival?
KL: For simple survival, yeah.
When they died, I started watching
what I ate. I hung out at the gym all
the time. As a teenager, I’d say, “I’m
goin’ to work,” but I’d lift instead.
RL: Team sports weren’t your
thing, either.
Kevin Levrone
to bodybuilding magazines and explained training methods and proper
nutrition. I paid attention
very carefully and learned
as much as I could. After
much trial and error, I was
doing things right.
RL: Didn’t Arnold
have a hand in all this?
KL: Arnold will always
be the man. “Conan” rocked. Bro,
I sat in that movie theater and
watched him kick ass and couldn’t
believe my eyes. How could a
human being be so massive? Yet,
there he was, alive and breathing.
Through Arnold’s example, I real-
ized there are no limitations, just insecurities.
RL: Then along
came the Mr. AAU
Colossus, and you
decided to test yourself.
KL: Not as a bodybuilder though. I
wanted to compete in
the powerlifting com-
KL: Team sports, like football?
Nah.
RL: What led you to the iron?
KL: My brothers worked out, and
I followed their lead. Never thought
of bodybuilding or doing a contest
or anything, but I became the strongest kid around. It was all about
strength back then.
RL: And size? Was that a primary goal too?
KL: Well, I naturally got bigger as
I weight-trained, but I had a wakeup call when my cousin came home
from the Marine Corps. The guy
was larger than life, a real mountain
of muscle—6’4” and built like the
Incredible Hulk. He introduced me
petition.
RL: Which you won.
KL: Yeah, 465 bench at 189
pounds, natural. Afterward, a buddy
of mine said, “Why not try the bodybuilding show?” Huh? Bodybuilding? Didn’t have a clue, but since
“Through Arnold’s
example, I realized
there are no
limitations, just
insecurities.”
Balik
’97 Mr. Olympia,
4th place.
Kevin Levrone
I like challenges, I bought bikini
underwear, shaved my body and
jumped onstage. And I won that too.
Everybody was like, Who is that guy?
He came out of nowhere.
RL: With dedication, you
could wreak havoc.
KL: Those first wins motivated
me, no doubt about it.
RL: Had you graduated from
high school yet?
KL: Nope. I trained between
school and working construction.
RL: School and construction.
Tough juggling act.
KL: Here’s the funny part: After
graduation I spent more time working out than working. I’d go to
construction sites and see the builders in their fancy cars and think,
“There’s gotta be something better
than breakin’ my back.” Lolita [Kevin’s wife] was my girlfriend then,
and I’d borrow her car and scrounge
pennies to buy gas. She wanted me
to get a job at the 7-Eleven, but no
way could I handle the public. I just
wanted to lift.
RL: She must’ve caught on
eventually.
KL: Once my checks stopped
coming in. [Laughs] Every day I’d
be at the gym from 6 or 7 a.m. until
11 at night, trudge home with work
clothes on, stretch and say, “Gee,
what a long day.”
RL: Didn’t you start your own
business?
KL: I had to—being broke is a big
Kevin Levrone’s Contest History
1991
• NPC Junior Nationals, Heavyweight, 2nd
• NPC Nationals, 1st Heavyweight and Overall
• IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st
’92 Night of Champions.
1994
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix France, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 2nd
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 3rd
• San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st
1999
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 3rd
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 4th
• IFBB World Pro Championships, 3rd
Balik
2001
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 1st
Neveux
2000
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 2nd
1995
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 1st
1996
’95 Mr. Olympia.
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 4th
• IFBB Grand Prix Czech Republic, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 3rd
• IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 5th
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 4th
• IFBB Grand Prix Switzerland, 3rd
1998
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 2nd
Mr. Olympia 1997
• IFBB Night of Champions, 2nd
• IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st
• IFBB Toronto Pro Invitational, 2nd
Arnold Classic 1999
2002
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 5th
• IFBB Grand Prix Australia, 4th
2003
• IFBB Show of Strength, 3rd
Neveux
1993
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 3rd
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix France, 5th
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 3rd
Neveux
1992
• IFBB Chicago Pro Invitational, 3rd
• IFBB Night of Champions, 1st
Balik
1997
• IFBB Grand Prix Czech Republic, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Hungary, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 1st
Mr. Olympia 1999
Kevin Levrone
incentive. I clocked some crazy
time working for my uncle, bought
a dump truck, and became an
independent contractor. No more
punching a card five to six days a
week, and I could go to the gym
whenever I felt like it.
RL: You also gave up being a
vegetarian.
KL: Oh, dude, that’s no way to
live. I chowed at Mickey Dee’s and
still won the Maryland Championships.
RL: What was driving you? A
need for order? Or perfection
in an imperfect world?
KL: All that and more. I used
bodybuilding to better myself on
several levels, but I wanted solitude to figure out this existence
in my mind and heart. If a mom
smacks her kid across the face, it
affects me. If people are nasty and
hurtful, it affects me. As human
beings, we should respect one another, care for one another. These
are the important things. I’m
seeking wisdom, a way to understand. If you’re open, it grows with
experience. More than anything
throughout my career, I wanted to
learn and walk away a wiser man.
RL: And have you?
KL: Yes. I’ve learned; I’ve grown.
And I’m still growing. Ever since
I was a kid, I’ve possessed an instinctive urge for expanding my
potential. I went after what I was
feeling at age 12 and focused in on
being the best.
RL: Almost from the get-go,
you were a lightning rod for
controversy.
KL: Man, every time I opened
my mouth, it started a ruckus.
[Laughs] Bottom line, I did my
own thing and rejected conformity. Who cares what others think?
Be ready to take responsibility
for who you really are, as a pure
human being. Stand up for yourself—my life philosophy, in the
nutshell.
RL: What about hype? It’s
easy to believe and not always
positive.
KL: Hype, good or bad, is really
designed to tear you down. Ignore
it. Go with your gut feeling and
operate from there.
RL: The ’92 Olympia—were
you going with your gut?
Neveux
KL: Of course.
I trained for
three short
months, not the
usual eight, like
most guys, and
took second
place on my first
Olympia try.
Why? Because I
trusted this [pats
stomach]. Hasn’t
let me down yet.
RL: Gut or
no gut, you
got hit with a
near-disastrous setback
in 1993.
KL: Damn.
Yeah. In February of ’93 I tore
my pectoralis
major and minor—ripped it off the
bone. Had to wear a partial body
cast, and my weight plummeted
from 260 to 220. Forty pounds lost.
Phew. Tires me out thinking about
it.
RL: How long were you laid
up?
KL: About five months, till June.
And they told me, “We expect you to
compete in the next Olympia.” With
six weeks left to train. [Shakes head]
Unreal.
RL: The IFBB said that to you?
KL: Flat out. Or else my contract
would be affected. It was a way for
me to see the sport’s political side.
Not a healthy situation. I felt less
than a man, bouncing at the end of
somebody’s string. It was degrading
as hell, but again, I had a responsibility, so I came back and placed a
decent fifth.
RL: Considering those injuries, I’m shocked you could
even move, let alone train.
KL: It’s a state of mind: If you
think you’re beaten, you are. Remember, the stronger or faster man
doesn’t always win. Stay determined
and focused, never let anyone steal
your dreams, and you’ll reach that
finish line ahead of any challenger.
RL: The ’94 Arnold Classic saw
Kevin Levrone back on track.
Did winning feel good?
KL: My friend, winning always
feels good. Did you know Arnold
himself invited me to compete?
We spent some
time talking. A
fascinating person, charismatic
and so sharp. All
bodybuilders,
including myself,
owe him a huge
debt of gratitude.
RL: Now that
your competitive career’s
behind you,
was it a satisfying ride?
KL: The best.
Nothing more
can be said. I
enjoyed myself
100 percent.
RL: What’s
your spin on
today’s monstrous physiques?
KL: Today’s bodybuilders are
training hard and takin’ care of business. Even if the world doesn’t agree,
they’re being true to themselves.
RL: There’ll be a day when the
Weider era will pass into history. Any reflections on their
legacies?
KL: Look, I can’t predict where
this sport will be a year from now,
let alone 10 years from now, but I’d
like to see the dreams of Joe and Ben
become realities. The Weider brothers are pioneers. When they’re gone,
it’ll be a new ball game and not
necessarily a better one.
RL: Have you taken anything
worthwhile from bodybuilding
that applies to Kev Levrone?
KL: One: the will to survive, no
matter the emotional cost. At heart,
I’m a bodybuilder; I’ve traveled that
road, and it’s not for anyone else to
understand. The sport has given me
integrity. I like who I am right now,
and if it weren’t for bodybuilding, I
wouldn’t be in California.
RL: Problem is, public perception pigeonholes you. To the
public, a massive bodybuilder
seems almost alien.
KL: The average person doesn’t
understand bodybuilding. They dismiss us as morons. How I think and
feel and the boy who died when he
was seven—none of that matters to
them. Forget stereotyping. Let’s read
about how Lee Labrada feels, how
“From the tiniest
speck to a gorgeous
sunset. Life is
an ever-growing
process, ever
renewing, meant
to be enjoyed and
savored, like a fine
wine.”
’02 Mr. Olympia,
2nd place.
Kevin Levrone feels on the inside, as
human beings. Those are elements
of a great interview. Without them,
you have mediocrity.
RL: Artistry is often born from
pain. There’s never legitimate
growth without struggle.
KL: It goes back to what I said
about greatness. When I started
elementary school,
I was isolated and
afraid and would
cry, and I mean every
day. The principal’s
office would call my
sister Tammy, and
she’d walk me to my
class. I felt protected
around her.
Man, I’ll never forget
this one teacher, a really scary lady, complete
with black umbrella, hat
and scarf. She’d yank kids
hard by their ears, just to
hear them yell. I was so
sketched, I’d run home as
soon as the last bell rang.
RL: She ever pull your ear?
KL: No, I escaped. But in the
eighth grade, my teacher, Miss Jenkins, told me, “Levrone, you’ll never
amount to anything unless you
do your homework.” I said, “Know
what, Miss Jenkins? Most self-made
millionaires don’t even have a high
school diploma. I’ll make it, without
getting good grades in your class.”
Well, she thought I had a sassy
mouth. Wonder what she’d say now.
I’m the CEO of a company and
don’t have any formal training, but
I’ve hired attorneys and put food
on their table. In life, experience is
always more valuable.
RL: Think about it: You’re
actually a classic American
success story. You weren’t born
to wealth or position, but the
world still knows your name.
KL: Damn, I love to hear you talk.
[Laughs] Seriously, I understood my
strengths at a young age and went
on from there.
RL: What role did determination play in defining Kevin Levrone’s bodybuilding career?
KL: It underscored everything.
Without determination—and
pain—I’d still be working construction.
RL: And being a straight
Photos courtesy of Kevin Levrone
Kevin Levrone
Kevin’s
man-ofaction movie
persona.
shooter, is that
an outgrowth
of pain?
KL: For me
it is. I choose
my words carefully. There’s a
lot for me to
express, and
I love doing
it through
words,
poems, song
lyrics. Posing too.
RL: Now you’ve got your first
film, “Backlash,” to use as another form of expression.
KL: Acting is a whole new venue.
By adding those experiences to a
character, I can show what’s going
on behind his eyes—inside, without
explaining, without telling. An actor
is the sum total of all he is: his highs,
his lows and everything in between.
RL: You’re melding the real
Levrone with your on-screen
character, essentially?
KL: Hmm—yes. And I’m ready.
Let me emphasize: Not only ready,
but someone who’s harmonizing the
duality of business and art with a
successful appropriate unity. How’s
that for a mouthful? [Laughs]
RL: Heavy. What’s your role in
“Backlash”?
KL: Turk, a former military guy
specializing in assassinations. There
are other facets to him as well; he
has this thing with God and women
and a problem with the political
side of things, the way our world is.
RL: You dropped some weight
for the part.
KL: Had to. Turk’s lean and mean,
and I like that look. It’s edgy.
RL: And what’s this I hear
about “Redline”? Another action picture?
KL: “Redline” is my latest film,
and my second hitman. Think “Fast
and the Furious”—billionaires who
put high stakes on exotic-car racing.
I started it two months after finishing “Backlash,” and we recently
wrapped.
RL: My spies tell me you had a
few steamy scenes.
KL: Very steamy. But they’ll probably be cut in order to keep the rating. When I’m in front of a camera, I
gotta take off my clothes just to feel
comfortable. [Laughs] Guess we can
blame bodybuilding for that.
RL: First Arnold shoots up the
screen as an action star, and
now Levrone’s in the house.
What’s next? Comedy? Drama? A
sci-fi/horror film?
KL: Bro, all I can say is, stay
tuned.
RL: Speaking of tunes, you’re
very much into making sweet
music.
KL: Music’s my passion, what
keeps me going. I like Motown. Soft
songs, love songs, passionate stuff.
When I sing “Three Times a Lady,”
I’m reminded of my mother. I feel
the music. I started writing things
down, and they became poems,
then lyrics. When you’re hurting,
music can be a real friend.
RL: Dug your first album,
“Mirage.” Aren’t you working on
a second CD?
KL: We are. Another labor-intensive project, moving slowly but
surely. I don’t like placing time constraints on creativity. That’s a piece
of advice I’d give anyone. Don’t wait
for others to validate your worth. If
you have something good enough,
let everybody see it. Let it find you.
I’m acting, and later on down the
road, I’ll try directing and producing. And if I fail, so what? At least I’ll
give it my best shot. We’re so used
to conditioning and programming.
Kevin Levrone
Neveux
’03 Mr. Olympia,
6th place.
Believe in your own abilities, your own talents.
RL: You’re older now.
Have you reached a
level of happiness?
KL: No, I wouldn’t say
happiness. Satisfaction,
maybe. Yeah, I’m satisfied
with life, at this point.
I’m in a very good place.
Happiness isn’t lasting; it
passes through and then
is gone.
RL: But to be
happy—isn’t that our
ultimate goal?
KL: Happiness is a
word open to interpretation. I honestly like the
feeling of sadness better.
I’m not one who smiles a
lot, and people say I’m an
unhappy guy. Happy, to
me, is being quiet, being
alone, going through
transitions of sad and
finding a peace there. If I
was smiling all the time,
people would ask, What’s
wrong with him?
RL: And by finding
peace, you feel and experience everything.
KL: From the tiniest speck to a gorgeous
sunset. Life is an evergrowing process, ever
renewing, meant to be
enjoyed and savored,
like a fine wine. We’re
created to feel, as long
as we can adapt to our
surroundings and environment.
RL: Are you after
truth and beauty? The
whole enchilada?
KL: Truth is hard to
find. When you find truth
in someone or something, cling to it and don’t
let go.
RL: One more question: Would you ever
consider competing
again?
KL: Good question.
And here’s my answer: no.
Editor’s note: Check
out Kevin Levrone’s
Web site at
www.kevinlevrone.net. IM
Eric Broser’s
If you find something on the Web that IM readers should know about, send the URL to Eric at [email protected].
>www.Dennis-Wolf.de
The moment I first saw a photograph of this German giant, shortly after he turned pro via the World
Championships, I said to myself, “Here lies the future.”
In a sport that seems to have spawned two separate
camps—the super freaks vs. the super shaped—I could
see right away that Dennis Wolf was a true hybrid. He is
massive, aesthetically pleasing and highly conditioned.
And now that Dennis has placed third in the IFBB New
York Pro and was victorious at the Keystone Classic, his
first pro win, it looks as if Lonnie Teper and I have more
in common than just our good looks. That’s right, I have
a crystal ball of my own. While much of Dennis’ site is in
German and there’s not much to look at just yet, I mention it because it’s something you should keep your eye
on. There are already several awesome photographs in
his gallery, which takes you from 2000 to 2007, as well
as a few mind-blowing off-season shots. His improvements from year to year are astonishing, and he’s managed to add more size in all the right places while keeping his
waist small, tight and shredded. Pictures from the New York Pro reveal a physique reminiscent of Lee Haney’s heyday but with far better legs and even wider shoulders. Trust me when I say that Dennis could very well be a future
Mr. Olympia. I predict top-six this year (whaddaya say, L.T.?). If you’re interested in how he trains, there is a short
section that shows his weekly schedule; however, he’s about to release a new training DVD called “The Beginning.”
Now that Wolf is achieving real success in the IFBB pro ranks, I’m sure he’ll begin to expand what appears to be a
relatively new site. He is definitely a major bodybuilding star on the rise.
>www.MaryLado.com
Merv
Okay, I admit it—I think Mary Lado is hot. She has this
haunting girl-next-door beauty but at the same time is both
extremely classy and unstoppably sexy. And those lips. Yes,
readers, I believe I have a small crush, but I digress. Mary
was born on September 16, 1978, in New Orleans and has
been an athlete since the age of nine, participating in such
sports as volleyball, basketball, track, soccer and softball.
In fact, she earned an athletic scholarship to Chipola Junior College in Florida to play fast-pitch softball and also
obtained an associate of arts in physical education. Hmm,
smart, athletic, sexy—will you marry me, Mary (focus, Eric,
focus)? Later she
moved on to finish
her studies at Georgia
Southwestern State
University, completing her bachelor’s in
sociology. She had always admired the look of toned athletes and became hooked
on the idea of competing in 2002, when she saw her first figure contest. After just
two years of hard training she won her pro card at the NPC National Figure Championships and debuted on the IFBB stage in 2005 at the Figure International, where
she placed an impressive third. Amazingly, she followed that with victories at both
the Pittsburgh and the California pro shows and then took a hard-fought fifth at the
Ms. Olympia. Needless to say, Mary’s first year as a pro was an auspicious one. After
making some adjustments in her diet and training regimen, she won the Figure International in 2006 and successfully defended her title this year. She certainly must
now be considered a serious threat for this year’s Olympia title. Mary’s site is rather
basic, offering viewers a short biography, contest history, a few sexy pics and a store
that sells a couple of her photos. If you want to shell out a few bucks, however, you
can join Mary’s fan club, which will give you access to her personal portfolio, where
you can see photographs unavailable anywhere else. That in and of itself is reason
enough to pull out your credit card. Additionally, as a site member, you can contact
her personally, view a special Q&A section and receive tips and advice from the
beauty herself. Now, where did I put my Visa card?
>http://contests.ironmanmagazine.com/vbp/forums/index.php
The Internet is full of bodybuilding discussion
boards, but how many of you realize that IRON
MAN, your monthly training bible, has a pretty
cool little board of its own? Well, it does, and it’s
a nifty place to hang out and talk bodybuilding,
fitness, figure and more. Regular posts come from
nutrition and supplement guru Jerry Brainum and
competition-emcee extraordinaire Lonnie Teper.
There’s a ton of news and gossip, as well a fun
“guess who” photo section. It’s new, so it’s not
as active as some of the larger boards out there,
but there are some very knowledgeable members,
and industry insiders discuss unique topics. I’m a
member myself (user name: Eric P/RR/S Broser)
and would love to see more readers log in and
participate in the forums. So when you get a minute, please register and join the fun.
>Net
Results Q&A
The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your
questions on training and nutrition.
Model: Omar Deckard
Q: I’m looking to build thick triceps, and I
know basics are the key. My training partner
loves close-grip bench presses, but I have trouble feeling them, even though I use good form
and push pretty decent weight. Is there a trick
to the exercise? I want to be a bodybuilder, not
a powerlifter.
A: I believe that you should follow basic form cues
for each exercise in order to get the most musclebuilding benefit. For instance, when training back, it’s
important to get a full stretch; then, as you contract,
you slightly arch your lower back, stick out your chest
and squeeze your scapulae together. When doing most
chest exercises, you better recruit the pectorals by
keeping your shoulders rolled down and back and your
rib cage held high throughout the set.
But sometimes, even when these “rules” are followed, a trainee still has trouble feeling an exercise.
That’s when experience and self-awareness come
into play. Because each of us has a somewhat unique
structure, muscle attachments and flexibility, we must
find nuances for each exercise—beyond just basic
proper form—that will enable us to target the muscle
we’re going after.
For example, you may see two guys with incredible
shoulder development who perform the same exercises—in almost totally different manners. That’s because
over time they have experimented with slightly different
positions, angles, grips and so forth until they were getting exactly what they wanted out of each movement.
And that’s what you must do as well.
That said, I think I can throw a good tip your way that
helped me turn close-grip bench presses from a decent
triceps exercise into my absolute favorite exercise for
arms. When most people perform the movement, they
press and lower the weight in a straight line up and
down. I’ve found that I get far more triceps recruitment
when I press the weight slightly away from me rather
than straight up. In fact, I perform this exercise almost
exclusively on a Smith machine, so that I can push
away aggressively without fear of losing control of the
bar. That small change in the exercise makes it feel
completely different for me and for most people I train.
In addition, make
sure you keep your
elbows in, close to
your torso, during
each rep. That will
force the triceps
to do more work
than if you let your
elbows flare out to
the sides (which
would shift emphasis to the chest).
Finally, you may
want to try the
exercise on a Smith
machine with the
safeties set so that
you can perform
only the top two-thirds. Start each repetition from a
dead stop on the safeties and focus on exploding to
the top with pure triceps power. I guarantee you will
brutalize your tri’s this way.
Enjoy the pain—and the tight sleeves!
Q: Any quick nutrition secrets, aside from the
ordinary recommendations, for putting on some
new muscle?
A: A few quick secrets, huh?
Okay, I’m game. Here are a
few things you can do to boost
your muscle growth without
getting too fancy.
• During every workout
sip a drink containing five to
10 grams of all the essential
amino acids, glutamine and
about 30 to 40 grams of simple
carbs, like dextrose or waxy
maize starch.
• After every workout drink
a shake of whey isolate and
dextrose in a 1-to-2 gram ratio
(for example, 40 grams whey to 80 grams dextrose).
One hour later drink another shake made of casein, egg
white and whey isolate, and eat a complex carb like
oatmeal (this time in a 1-to-1 gram ratio).
• Wake up in the middle of the night (every night) and
drink a protein shake of casein, egg white, whey protein
and flaxseed oil. It should contain 30 to 50 grams of
protein and five to 10 grams of fat.
• Take in five grams of branched-chain amino acids
and glutamine about an hour before every meal of the
day.
• One day per week try doubling your daily protein
intake. The following week pick one day to double your
normal carb intake. Switch back and forth from week to
week.
Now, don’t get mad at me when you need a new
wardrobe. IM
Neveux \ Model: Joe DeAngelis
Eric Broser’s
Lonnie Teper’s
NEWS & ViEWS
Dennis
Wolf.
Midseason IFBB Contest Thoughts
Greener Pastures
Branch
Warren.
Roland Balik
Darrem
Charles.
Silvio
Samuel.
David
Henry.
Ronnie
Rockel.
Colorado Pro photography by Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com
So, what did the midseason pro shows bring us? An upset win
in New York, a big, bad Wolf in Pennsylvania and Greener pastures in Colorado. What they didn’t bring, though, was a top-six
Mr. Olympia threat—at least not for this season’s showdown,
which is scheduled for the last weekend in September in Las
Vegas. More on that later.
Branch Warren, who was pretty much forgotten as a title
threat after he ended the 2006 season with a thud at the Olympia
and opened 2007 with a seventh-place landing at the Arnold
Schwarzenegger Classic, surprised many with a victory at the
New York Pro. It put him back in the category of contender—until
the next two contests put him back where he started (see below).
Dennis Wolf, a guy I felt was really overlooked at last year’s
Europa, where he finished seventh, opened the new season on
a powerful note, nabbing third in New York and then moving up,
into the winner’s circle two weeks later at the Keystone Classic in Pennsylvania. Warren dropped to fourth in that one.
Then, there was oh, my, Kai, as in Kai Greene. The flashy two-time
Team Universe champ, who didn’t even make the cut at the ’06 IRON
MAN Pro, brought a vastly improved version of his physique to 2007 and
promptly turned into the top contender for Comeback Bodybuilder of the
Year honors with a highly disputed sixth-place finish in New York, a thirdplace landing at the Keystone and, finally, his first win on the pro circuit
at the Shawn Ray Colorado Pro a week later. And in addition to the 25
grand handed out in Denver, Greene picked up another 5K for winning
Best Presentation honors.
On the downside, Warren slid all the way back to seventh in Colorado,
completely losing the steam he’d picked up with the win in New York.
Word has it Branch will sit out the Olympia—a good move. He should
rest, recoup and begin his 2008 redemption campaign at the IRON MAN
Pro.
I wasn’t in Colorado, but Isaac Hinds, on hand to cover the event
for this magazine and www.IronManMagazine.com, said Greene was the
clear winner. Which is what it looked like to me when I viewed the photos.
Which is why I was very confused by commentators on another contest
site who didn’t even have him in the top three after the prejudging.
“Greene definitely deserved to win,” said Hinds. “He was in great condition and presented himself very well.” Isaac did, however, have some
questions about some of the other top-five placings (Darrem Charles
in second, Silvio Samuel in third, Ronny Rockel in fourth and David
Henry in fifth). “I would have had Rockel second,” Hinds said. “I’d say
Silvio was a deserving third; I would have had Charles in fourth and agree
that Henry should have placed fifth.”
Will any of the above-mentioned guys make a dent in the top six at
the Olympia? I say no. Unless they displace my picks for top seven (in no
particular order at this point): Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, Dexter
Jackson, Victor Martinez, Toney Freeman, Melvin Anthony
Roland Balik
Will these guys make a dent in the
Mr. O rankings?
BEER BELLY
Could these
possibly be
L.T.’s abs?
Page 250
CONTEST
PREP
Check your
oil, Ma’am?
Page 252
PRIEST
UNFROCKED
Has Lee’s
suspension
left him
exhausted?
Page 253
Kai
Greene.
and Gustavo Badell. And that’s leaving out Phil Heath, who might be
passing on the show for the second year in a row in hopes of making ’08
his real breakout year.
Silvio.
Liberman
ADD HINDS—It wasn’t an easy task getting Isaac to talk about the
Denver show. He had been down—way down—after three off-base predictions forced me to reconsider using him in future installments of “The
Experts.”
It started back in March, when Hinds, joining yours truly and Ron
“Yogi” Avidan in the Arnold Classic predictions, tabbed Phil Heath
to win it all in his A.C. debut. As we know, the Gift landed in fifth at that
show. Vowing to rebound and regain his authority status, Isaac went with
rookie Desmond Miller to win in New York. As we know, Miller finished
fourth. Hinds went with Darrem Charles to win the Keystone; as we
know, Charles finished out of the money, in sixth.
Denver was going to be Hinds’ saving grace. That’s where LiftStudio
resides, so what better place to show he still belongs among the game’s
elite prognosticators. Sadly, though, he suffered another defeat. He went
with Dennis James for that one, but Dennis fell all the way to eighth.
Isaac felt disgraced. Especially after I picked Kai Greene on the
IronManMagazine.com forum to win the show. At least I did in one of my
three forecasts.
After much thought I’ve given Isaac a chance to redeem himself. I
didn’t have much choice; I was already considering Yogi for the chopping
block because he picked Darrem to win in New York when Darrem had
never said he was competing there. So Hinds will again be onboard when
“The Experts” make their USA predictions in July. In mid-June the poor
guy was headed for his optometrist’s office to get new glasses. “Maybe it
will help me with my picks,” he said.
How could anyone unload someone
Shawn L.T. queries Isaac about his
who’s that humble?
Ray and not-so-expert predictions.
Teper
NPC Events
Stars
of the
Lone Star
(clockwise
from
left): Beni
Lopez,
Max
Fairchild,
Maria
Davis and
Stephanie
Irick.
MAD MAX BEYOND LONE
STAR—After being forced to miss
my annual gig as emcee of Prince
Harrison’s Lone Star Classic in
2006 because the Junior Cal was on
the same day, I headed back to the
podium in Plano the first weekend
in June for the ’07 edition. About 140 competitors hit the stage at the
Plano Convention Center, with the usual number of outstanding physiques walking away with top honors. Kudos to Mad Max Fairchild,
a 6’, 220-pounder out of Dallas who took the heavyweight and overall
crowns. Fairchild, who trains at Energy Fitness in Dallas, has a lot of
potential and will cause some damage at higher-level contests when he
adds another 10 to 15 pounds of muscle to his frame.
Maria “Salsa” Davis, who I met at the Ronnie Coleman Classic
six weeks earlier, took the lightweight and overall titles in women’s bodybuilding. Stephanie Irick, a cute-as-a-bug 5’2”, 110-pounder from
Pilot Point, was sharp at the wheel with her victory in fitness and her
third-place showing in an extremely strong division A in figure.
ADD LONE STAR—With Texas State Chairman
Lee Thompson in Denver to judge the Colorado Pro,
Vice-Chairs Cecil Ballard and Hans Somez did a
good job of running the judges’ table. Judge Prince
Fontenot proudly showed off the poster for his June
30 event in San Antonio between scoring rounds, and
Tony Douglas took some time off from making decisions about who’s
first, who’s not with a visit to his favorite toy pinscher, Katie Munroe,
who was at her usual post with mommy June at the Flexstar booth.
Tony Douglas, June
Munroe and Katie,
and Harli Bruno.
Mike George
Photography by Lonnie Teper
The winner of the A class, Beni Lopez, beat Brandi Akers in a
tiebreaker and went on to capture the overall. The 39-year-old Lopez has
quite a story. A former bodybuilder, she was married at 15 and has three
children, 23, 13 and 12. The 4’11” Beni was coming off a 16th-place
landing at the ’05 Junior Nationals, which is quite a leap.
After the show at Texas Land and Cattle, the scene of the postcontest
eat down, I, uh, coerced Lopez into donning her two-piece one more time
and included Mark Dugdale in the shot. I tried to get Mark to at least
take off the shirt, but it was no go. Mark’s wife, Christina, and Mattie,
the oldest of the three Dugdale daughters, were nice enough to go along
with the creative photo-op.
Akers is another one to keep an eye on. Okay,
her boyfriend, Quincy Taylor, ain’t no oil painting, Quincy
Taylor.
but Brandi is a looker. She just
needs to tone down her lower
body, and she should be on
her way.
In case you don’t know, I’m
Quincy’s former teacher, and
Mark
as he says, “You’re old, so I
Dugcan’t choke you,” so I can get
dale
away with such comments
with
(about his lack of beauty).
Beni
Seriously, Quincy was carrying
Lopez.
345 pounds and was looking
very good for that size about
With Brandi Akers.
With Christina and Mattie.
10 weeks out from the Europa.
He looked terrific at the Ed and Betty Pariso–produced show last
year—finishing second to Toney Freeman—and if he can come in
that condition but a bit fuller, the Europa is his in ’07, I say.
Another highlight of the Lone Star was getting to see, up close
and personal, Dave Goodin actually compete instead of just looking at his pictures in IRON MAN. Dave had a copy of the August
Hans Somez and
issue with him, and we had people making guesses prior to the
Dave Jacobs.
contest as to who owned the shredded abs that
were featured on the cover. For those who selected
me, I thank you—and I’ll pass along the number of
Isaac’s eye doctor as soon as possible. Yup, it was
the Texas Shredder himself who supplied the sixpack. Dave was Good-in the contest too, winning
the masters 40-plus and the middleweight class in
L.T.
the open competition.
and the
Dugdale, two weeks away from beginning his
Texas
Mr. O prep, guest-posed along with Chad Ray
ShredMartin, who was two weeks out from the Junior
der.
Cecil and
Nationals. Chad, who was featured recently in this
Samantha
magazine, looked really good and should have a
Ballard.
great shot of winning his class in Chicago.
A dance group, led by Downtown Sheila Brown
Bob and
Laura
and featuring pro bodybuilding ace Kim Perez, also
Johnson.
performed. When Sheila saw some of my moves at the
podium, she invited me to join the group. After some
serious thought, I had to turn her down—keeping Hinds
and Avidan in tow is more than enough work.
Photo courtesy of Debi Lee Stern
Debi
and Ray.
Amy Peters, coming off a sixth-place finish at the Pittsburgh Pro
Figure a month earlier, was also in the house.
The Johnson Team—Bob, Laura and Josh—displayed the
latest issue of their magazine Posedown, which covers the physique industry and features local athletes. Hardworking, passionate folks, these Texans.
MORE LONE STAR—It was great seeing Debi Lee Stern,
who was holding up the best she could after the unexpected
death of her husband about three months back (see Gene Mozée’s tribute to Ray Stern in the August issue).
Debi and I had a long talk, and she discussed the
events that led to Ray’s passing. It’s a long story,
obviously, but, briefly, he went in for heart bypass
surgery in January after a diagnosis of two blocked
arteries. Five days after the surgery Debi noticed
Ray was not well, and he was taken back to the
hospital. Everything seemed okay, but his condition
was rapidly deteriorating.
After miraculously surviving the night, Ray was diagnosed with a staph infection and sepsis, a deadly
blood infection that destroys vital organs. “Ray was
so strong that he seemed to have gotten through
that and was improving each day,” said Debi. “Then
another crash, where the infection would build up,
and again he was near death.”
That went on five times, she said. The up-anddown battle continued for five weeks. “He was hooked up to all of
these machines,” Debi related, tearing up with each word. “He had
told me in the past that if he was ever unable to live life fully or was
dependent on machines for life, he would rather leave this earth.
“I called his closest friends, and each one went in to see Ray for
the last time. He told them that he loved
them all and said, ‘Now, I want you to
get back to work and move on.’ They
left and I stayed with Ray. He said, ‘This
is my big day…it’s show time. And I
want you to go. I love you dearly.’ About
48 hours after they unplugged the machines, Ray died in my arms peacefully.”
Debi made special mention of Jim
Lorimer, saying the Arnold Sports
Festival promoter had phoned every
Cal champs shine. Top
single night checking on Ray’s progress.
row: Jim Juge and
“Jim was a great source of strength for
Pete Ciccone. Middle
me during these tough times,” Debi said.
row: Kevin Reeves,
“I thank him for helping me through all
front and back, and
Rene Chavez. Below:
of this.”
Keisuke Yoshida,
Debi, 45, is in great shape and has
Lorenzo Reynaga and
taken up cycling. She’s putting in 50Noel Frias.
mile practice sessions in preparation for
a 60-mile ride in the near future. “Ray
would be thrilled, as he followed Lance
Armstrong during the Tour de France,” she said.
”My new path and life revolve around the bike! I know
Ray is smiling…approving of my choices.”
Merv
David Macias
David Macias
Merv
Merv
Debi
Lee
Stern.
Superman Rocks the Cal
Merv
Merv
Merv
A week before the Lone Star, Superman flew in to
Culver City and soared out with the heavyweight and
overall crowns. Now, I know Kevin Reeves’ buds
refer to him as “Swole,” but I’m officially changing the
Lewis and
friend.
Ron Avidan
Ron Avidan
ADD CAL—After the prejudging I ran into Dennis ”No Pain, No
Gain” Newman, who told me he’s
going through a divorce, has moved
back home to Salinas, California,
and said his personal-training business is going great. Newman, 37,
also said he has no plans of returning to the stage.
Bob Cicherillo
Then I saw P.D. Devers, who
and Milos
said he’s going to compete at the
Sarcev.
USA—but not before helping figure
competitor Maria Rogers, ah, get
her oil on just right, especially in the pec region. Flex
Lewis and his new lady were in the house as well
and said they are relocating to Reno, Nevada.
Bob Cicherillo and Milos Sarcev were heavy
into conversation; I don’t know if they were continuing their argument about the true story surrounding
Silvio Samuel’s leaving the Sarcev camp or laying
out their plan of attack regarding Milos’ one-year suspension from the IFBB, effective December 8, 2006.
Apparently, Milos wasn’t exactly thrilled with a
couple of placings at the ’06 Asian Games, held in
Doha, Qatar, on December 8 and 9. Milos was on the Robert Hatch and Jerome
scene as a coach of Malaysian athletes Sazali Abd
Ferguson.
Samad, and Tiaw Leong, who finished second
and fourth, respectively, and he let his feelings be
known about their placings. In various interviews, according to an official
press release from the IFBB Professional League dated May 29, 2007,
Shawn Ray and Richard
Hatch.
Ron Avidan
moniker to Superman, in honor of the late, great George Reeves,
who kept many of us riveted to the tube as the Man of Steel did his
thing on our black-and-white televisions. Hell, a lot of people call me
Swole too, but I think it’s meant in a different vein. As in not having
any.
Anyway, back to the modern-day Reeves. I was very impressed
with Kevin when I first saw him win the heavyweight class at the ’05
Cal; I thought he was vastly overlooked when he followed that up
with a 10th-place finish at the USA two months later.
A 36-year-old out of Riverside, California, Reeves does not lack
for aesthetics—or confidence. “I see where you are picking A.D.
Cherry to win the USA,” the 5’10”, 225-pounder said in June.
“Well, I can see how he is one of the favorites, because he has a
small waist, just like I do. But I have more muscle. I have the best
back in the NPC—I have the best physique in the NPC! I have size, Dennis
Newman.
shape and symmetry, like Melvin Anthony, Flex Wheeler and
Troy Alves. I plan on winning the show.” So throw Mr. Reeves
into the mix of those who will battle for a pro card, folks. How can
both the Swami and Superman be wrong? Robert Hatch and Jerome
Ferguson, who were both interested spectators at the Cal, think we are,
for sure, so this will be very interesting.
Congrats to the other winners at the Memorial Day–weekend event:
superheavyweight champ Jim Juge, who also took the 40-plus class,
light-heavyweight winner Pistol Pete Ciccone, middleweight titlist
Lorenzo Reynaga, welterweight champion Keisuke “I Do Every Show
Except the Junior Cal” Yoshida, lightweight winner Rene Chavez and
bantamweight front man Noel Frias. Check out Ruthless Ruth’s Pump
and Circumstance column for more doings on the Jon Lindsay production.
P.D. Devers and
Late-breaking news: For 2008 the California Championships will be
Maria Rogers.
growing grander than ever. Lindsay
says he’ll be opening the competiFlex
tion to any United States resident.
Milos stated that he felt top official Paul
Chua had fixed the placings and that
Walter van den Branden of the Netherlands had received money to “manipulate” the results.
The release went on to say that Sarcev had no factual evidence to support
his case, that he refused to withdraw his
statements and would not apologize to
Chua or van den Branden. Under Pro Rule
9.3 (Suspension Conditions), while under
suspension, Sarcev cannot compete, give
exhibitions or seminars, judge, officiate or
otherwise participate in an official capacity
Top Internet retailers: Ryan, Russ and
Jeremy DeLuca of Bodybuilding.com.
at any IFBB Pro League competition.
Shawn Ray told me that Bob, in his
role as the athletes’ rep, was looking into defending Milos on the matter. Now, that is a strange twist of fate—if true—considering the recent
battles Shawn and Bob had with Milos over what I’ll just refer to as the
Samuel rule. Enough has been written on the subject on the Internet
boards and magazines already, so I won’t rehash it, but stay tuned for
future developments.
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com
Mo Monsen.
Neveux
Kris Dim.
TEPER’S TALES: In an interview given on “Pro Bodybuilding
Weekly” on June 12, Lee Priest told hosts Dan Solomon and Bob
Cicherillo he would like to return to the IFBB. Priest, who turned 35 in
July, said he hoped to get a special invite to compete at the Mr. Olympia, but if he didn’t, he would try and requalify at the Atlantic City Pro on
September 15. Interestingly enough, that contest takes place one day
Lee Priest.
prior to the end of Lee’s one-year suspension. So, fans,
what should the IFBB do in this situation? Thumbs-up or
thumb-down? I think I already know your answer.… More
bad-health news for bodybuilding; according to reports
posted at GetBig.com and discussed on “Pro Bodybuilding
Weekly,” Kris Dim suffered what appeared to be an aortic
dissection (the same thing that killed actor John Ritter) at
his training studio in Northern California. If the reports are
accurate, Dim underwent open-heart surgery and suffered
multiple strokes during the procedure and at one point
was only given a 10 percent chance of surviving. But Dim
is a fighter and appeared to be on the road to recovery a
few days later.… More honors for Bodybuilding.com. The
Boise, Idaho–based company was ranked 152 overall and
number six in the Health and Beauty category of Internet
Retailer’s recently released 2007 Top 500 Guide. It was the
number-one sports nutrition site.
In 2006 Bodybuilding.com was
ranked 163 overall.… Richard
Vince Galanti.
Jones, once hailed as “the next
Shawn Ray,” apparently does have things in
common with Sugar Shawn. Rumors abound on
the Internet that Jones has officially retired from
competition. But, Magic, I won’t hold you to
it.… Forty-year-old Vinnie Galanti was looking good in recent pictures, and I say he
To contact Lonnie
Mr. O photohas a great shot at winning his pro card
op. Jay CutTeper about material
at the Masters Nationals in July. I also like
ler greets
possibly pertinent to
Mo
“Dream
Tan”
Monsen’s
chances;
Jon B. Celis,
News & Views, write
the guy hasn’t competed since 1992 but
winner of a
to 1613 Chelsea
natty comlooked great at the Cal, eight weeks out
Road, #266, San
petition in
from the event. And don’t ever discount
Marino, CA 91108;
Long Beach,
Mike Horn in any discussion of that
fax to (626) 289-7949;
California,
competition. IM
or send e-mail to
at a Max
Muscle store
event in Orange County
in May.
[email protected].
MUSCLE BEACH 2007 MEMORIAL DAY BASH
Photography by Jerry Fredrick and Merv
3
2
4
1
5
7
8
6
9
10
11
13
14
16
15
12
1) IFBB pro Emery Miller presents the Tuff Stuff
posing award to overall winner Carl Mathews.
2) Mark Grant (far left) and Brigadier General
Ellen Pawlikowski (third from left) with U.S. Marine and Army representatives.
3) Joe Wheatley and John Balik induct Tony Pearson into the Muscle Beach Venice Hall of Fame.
4) The parade of athletes.
5) A C-17 Globemaster flyover—from March Air
Force Base.
6) Teen competitors Christopher Barajas, Greg
Ferrer and Dan Corder.
7) Toney Freeman representing HeadBlade.
8) Chris Lacascia and Timea Majorova.
9) Two beefy dudes in sunglasses mug it up.
10) Dennis Quaid and Richard Gere—um, rather
IRON MAN’s Mark Missioreck and Bodybuilding
.com’s Russ DeLuca.
11) Roland Kickinger, Major Ken Goode, Kent
Keuhn, Tony Pearson and Dennis Tinerino.
12) Erin Lutz, overall figure winner, and Mathews.
13) Wheatley and Balik—proud of the show.
14) A beauty in the audience (there were lots!).
15) Emanuel Delcour—capes are in this year!
16) Gunter Schlierkamp greets an enthusiastic
competitor.
17) Rado Pagac’s flying V.
18) Wheatley and Cheryl Stoneham.
19) Gary Strydom looking large.
20) Jackie Wager hits a pretty pose.
21) The Marine booth—give me 20!
17
18
19
20
21
IronMan Hardbody
Shocker
Mom
Gina Ostarly’s Physique Electrifies—at 40
and With Three Children!
Photography by Michael Neveux
Hair and makeup by Alexandra Almand
Height: 5’4”
Age: 40
Weight: 125 off-season; 118 contest
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Current residence: South Florida
Occupation: Gym owner, personal trainer, fitness and swimsuit model, makeup
artist
Marital status: Married (to Walt Ostarly for 21 years)
Workout schedule: “I try to be flexible with my workout schedule. I train five
days a week, a different bodypart at each workout, and I change exercises often.”
Sample bodypart workout (abs): Hanging knee raises, 3 x 30; flutter kicks, 3 x
one minute; weighted crunches, 3 x 30; seated medicine ball twists, 3 x 20
Favorite foods: Healthful, chicken and sweet potatoes. Less healthful, Krispy
Kreme doughnuts
Factoid: Mother of three children, ages 20, 18 and 15, and just started taking
saxophone lessons
Web site: www.GinaOstarly.com
IronMan Hardbody
IronMan Hardbody
IronMan Hardbody
IronMan Hardbody
IronMan Hardbody
IronMan Hardbody
PROS SHOWS
Getting You Up to Speed
As the steamy summer of
figure continues
There have been
hunt for an Olympia
three IFBB pro figure
qualification.
competitions since
The results showed
the last installment
exactly that: Adcock
of this column—in
earned the biggest check
Southern California,
with a perfect score,
Denver and Westwhile just four points
chester County, New
separated runner-up
York—bringing the
Cooke and ’06 USA class
potential Figure O
winner Felicia Romalineup up to 22 and
no, who snagged the last
counting. Good thing
Olympia-qualifying slot in
the Orleans Arena
her pro debut.
has a b-i-i-g stage.
It was one of those
First up, the Cal:
contests where the judgThe California Pro
es line them up in the first
Figure Championship,
callout exactly as they’re
held in conjunction
going to place them. So
with the NPC Califorit was hardly a surprise
nia Bodybuilding and
when Cheri Lewis and
Figure ChampionChastity Sloan, also
ships, filled its regular Camaraderie at the Cal (from left): Kristi Tauti, Sonia Adcock, Mary Jo
just a few points apart,
Cooke, Kristin Gomes and Felicia Romano await their fate before the
slot in the schedule
rounded out the top five.
finals.
on May 26, the SaturEven so, that don’t get
day before Memorial
you money or a ticket to
Day, with the action going down at the Veterans Memorial
the O in the rough old game of figure, at least at this competiAuditorium in Culver City. It didn’t take a crystal ball to figure
tion, which suggests that we’ll be hearing more from Cheri
that Sonia Adcock, fresh off her victory at the Pittsburgh
and Chas as the fig seas (read: figure season) rolls along.
three weeks earlier, would pick up an easy win. Or that Mary
For complete results and photos from the NPC and IFBB
Jo Cooke, based on previous showings, would be in the
California events, go to www.IronManMagazine.com.
MORE FIGURE
Mile-High Honeys
Val rakes in the Rocky Mountain love
A week after the Southern California figure fest discussed in the item above,
24 pairs of clear-plastic ultra-high-heel slides slid across the stage of the Colorado Convention Center at the Shawn Ray Colorado Pro. It was another unanimous win—this time for Valerie Waugaman, the defending champ, who had
an easier time of it than she did at the ’06 Colorado, where her one-point margin
over Jenny Lynn set tongues a’waggin’.
Second place for the second week running went to a consistent Mary Jo
Cooke. Third went to Britain’s Nicole Pitcher-Scott, who gets my award for
the most improved bodybuilder of the spring shows. Her photos in the Colorado
Pro gallery at IronManMagazine.com indicate that the physique I saw in Pittsburgh a month earlier was merely a work in progress.
The close-but-no-cigar slots went to Elisha Archibold, fourth, and Felicia
Romero, fifth.
Waugaman heats up the stage in Denver. If all goes as planned, she’ll
marry longtime sweetie Sam Eells on August 18.
MUSINGS
Photography by Ruth Silverman
Reporter’s Notebook
Energy Cycle
With 21 competitors, the
Cal Pro Figure
was a little more
manageable
than last year’s
lineup of 30
women strong.
I arrived at the
venue for the
finals with plenty
of time to hang
out and take a
few pictures.
Thanks to the
Pittsburgh show,
which I’d covered
three weeks earlier, I was becoming more familiar
st,
mu
I
st,
mu
I
If
Makeup shot?
with the many
s.
rri
says Leslie Mo
Old school
women who were
.
Dela Lian Physique vets Dina
Valle
making their debuts at the late-spring
ka
a (left) an
es
al
W
.
ie
ok
d Milamar
ro
Sa
rc
nt
ia
ev figure
st
Rad
contests. Backstage at the Veterans even more names
they have
nors for be
each othe
n’t se
kes top ho
ta
r
fo
.
r
gy
al
most 10 ye en
and faces to be put together would be waiting—not waitener
ars.
backstage
ing for me, mind you, but for their turn to go onstage.
another realization
Now, the Cal is a big show, what with all the amateur
hit me. Though it had not been that long since my
divisions, and the ladies have a long wait till their first entrance. friend traded the world of rock-hard physiques for a world of
Promoter Jon Lindsay puts aside a separate dressing room rocks, probably not one of those newbies had been around
for the pros—a nice improvement over the backstage situlong enough to have been in one of her
ation at other such events, especially for someone
photo shoots. Now, that’s fast turnover.
who’s trying to get to know everyone, but it’s not a
Before I could ruminate further, all
huge area. I arrived about a quarter way into the laeyes turned toward the door, where Mr.
dies’ long wait and found a dozen or so lying around
Lindsay was strolling in. A sigh of relief
in sweats who were at least a half hour from even
from me. New energy in the room.
thinking about pumping up. Except for the occasional
More competitors arrived, including
eye glancing at the monitor, where a close-circuit feed
some familiar faces, and the vibe
from the stage indicated that the Masters Over 60
guys were being introduced, nothing in that room was
moving as I picked my way among the bodies looking
for somewhere to sit down.
“Hey, Ruth,” someone called, and,
r exZhana Rota
ues
suddenly, a dozen or so pairs of eyes
tols the virt
.
of Bikini Bite
riveted in my direction. The immediate
gh she’s
ou
Th
rush of panic (“Is my hair really that bad?”)
a
headed for
gave way to epiphany—new energy in
mid-top-10
a
the room—which gave way to momentary
finish, Zhan
ris not discou
panic. What to do next? It was clearly too
r
aged. “Afte
early for cute dressing room shots.
placing 18th
el
Snagging a spot next to where Rosalast year, I fe
great.”
Maria
Romero
began to build.
Backstage P.S.
had set up, I started to sit,
Sweats started
when another voice called out, coming come
“Cool bracelet!”
off and makeup
Cool indeed. So I told them checks abounded.
about the bracelet, with its
Out came the
numerous gemstone beads,
camera. It was
that was made by my friend
time for me and
who used to run the cremy bracelet to go
The bracelet: precious topaz,
garnets, rubies, onyx and
ative department at another
to work.
amethysts on silver. Original
bodybuilding magazine. As I
design by Lori Sandler,
www.DragonhorseStudio.com. spelled out the Web address,
Hands on. Masae Tagami smooths out her tan.
TALENT
J A N TA N A
Another
Return of a Classic
Beautiful bod to keep your eye on
Three weeks after the
model-pose down in Colorado a familiar name made
its reentry to the IFBB
schedule. The Jan Tana
Classic, a longtime stop on
the tour staged in various
cities south of the MasonDixon line, mysteriously
disappeared after the ’03
season (well, maybe not so
mysteriously). On June 23
it was back with a bang in
a new location up north, in
Westchester County, New
York, where the skin-careStephanie Kessler goes wild on learning she
products queen produced
won the heavyweights—and a ticket to the O—in
her comeback Classics in
her pro debut. Queen Jan (left) brought back the
women’s pro bodybuilding
show after four years.
and figure in conjunction
with an NPC show promoted by bodybuilder King Kamali.
Both pro contests attracted small lineups—14 in the figure show and only 10
female flexers. Talk about your mysteries.
The figure bottom line was perhaps easier to understand: With the New York
Pro going down in Manhattan less than a month later, ladies in a New York state
of mind had multiple opportunities to get onstage. Regarding the bodybuilders,
however, one has to wonder, What were they thinking? With only four open contests all season, you’d imagine that at least the East Coast–based flexers would
have flocked to the Classic. They must all be waiting for Betty Pariso’s bread
pudding at the Europa on August 10 in Texas.
Based
on her
photos
from
the ’06
Cal and
Europa
competitions,
where
Ines
Jiminez
languished
in 18th,
the
former
Costa
Rican
champion had
to have
been the
most
underappreciated
competitor
at every
show
she entered on
the pro level. Then suddenly, at the ’07
Colorado convention of quarter-turners,
she leaped to the forefront of the panel’s
attention—all the way up to sixth, missing a spot in the winner’s circle by one
little point. About time.
Ines
Jiminez.
Meanwhile, just a continent away
FLEXERS
More Tana Talk
Bradford
The lack of marquee names set the stage for a number of firsts to take place in the J.T.
Women’s Bodybuilding Classic. In the lightweights, Sarah Dunlap trimmed down to under
135 pounds to make her first appearance as a lightweight in her first contest since the ’05
Charlotte Pro and scored her first pro win, taking class and overall honors. In the heavies a
radiant Stephanie Kessler, the ’06 Team Universe champ, earned her first trip to the O
in her first pro competition. It was a fabulous development for both those excellent athletes.
Dunlap’s decision to come in a bit smaller delivered her best-ever package, according
to those in attendance, and Kessler, who managed a fourth-place finish at the tough IFBB
World Amateur Championships last summer, looked great. Since Jan decided to have
weight classes, only two Ms. Olympia berths were at stake, a matter of concern for some
people. The low turnout—only four in the lightweights—caused some online grumbling that
promoters should be able to change their mind about having weight classes if they don’t
attract sufficient players. I’ve got a better idea: The judges can simply decide which of the
runners-up gets the third Olympia qualification, and every show becomes a “top-three qualifier.”
Had that been the case in New York, I’m guessing that the honor would have gone to
Snap. Sarah Dunlap dialed down
lightweight
second-placer Dena Westerfield. Said one enthusiastic observer, “The best
to lightweight to snag her first
four women in a lightweight class I’ve seen—Dunlap, Westerfield, [Maria] Lehtonen,
pro win.
[Vicky] Nixon were all superb.” Now, that particular friend is prone to exaggeration on the
subject of women’s bodybuilding (plus he was not present in ’01, when Juliette Bergmann beat Andrulla Blanchette before taking the overall, over Iris Kyle, at the Olympia). For the record, Sarah won her class by a 42-point margin. Online photos
suggest, however, that my buddy was right about the lightweights being the tougher competition—for all that it was a little short.
The heavyweight class was loaded with largely unknown European competitors. Kessler’s more-than-respectable margin of
victory was 26 points. Second went to Maryse Manios of France, with Kim Buck of the USA, Irene Anderson of Sweden, Jana Linke-Sippi of Germany and Sarah Bridges of the United Kingdom, in order, rounding out the lineup.
JAN TANA FIGURE
ADVANCEMENTS
Felicia Forges to the Fore
Blog On
Speaking of hot rookies
Silver girl
Fredrick
Felicia Romero seems to have
taken a shortcut to the judges’
attention in her rookie season.
At the Cal, where the ’06 USA
class winner from Arizona
picked up a top-three finish
plus an Olympia invite, she
said she’d spent her time in
the gym since last summer
doing a little work on her legs
and shoulders. She reminded
me of another rookie with a
pretty face and softer presentation, Elisha Archibold, who
got fourth in Pittsburgh and
also looked like someone to
keep an eye on.
NPC CAL CHAMPS
Top trophies in the
women’s
ranks went
to Tammy
Jackson in
bodybuilding and
Jessica
Troha in
figure.
For more
on that
sword
Jess is
holding,
see page
276.
Merv
Tammy
Jackson.
Jessica
Troha.
Romero dropped to fifth in
Colorado, but that was just the
lull before her cross-country
sprint to the finish line in New
York, where she was definitely
displaying a bit of shoulder
cap.
The judges at the Tana seemed
to delight in putting first-timers in the
winner’s circle, and that carried over
to the figure competition, where Felicia Romero was anointed queen
for a day.
Amy Fry, who’s now two for two
in nabbing Olympia-qualifying spots,
finished eight points behind Felicia in
second, while Jeanette Freed, who
just keeps looking better onstage,
became the newest addition to the
Figure O lineup by taking third.
Jane Awad looked to be in fine
condition but missed her ticket to the
O by a single point, while Kristal
Richardson landed a few points
behind her to round out the top five.
We’re three weeks out from the
next string of shows as I write this, so
look for results and photos from the
New York (City) (July 13 and 14) and
Houston (July 21) Pro Figure shows
at IronManMagazine.com. The latter
event is being hyped in some circles
as a battle between, in alphabetical
order, Monica Brant, Adela Garcia and Valerie Waugaman. Yeah,
right. Like we don’t know who doesn’t
stand a
chance
coming out
on top
in that
threeway.
Another
panel
pleaser:
Jeanette
Freed.
Presenting a new way to enjoy
some of your favorite IRON MAN
contributors, including me and L.T.
Check out our blogs at IronMan
Magazine.com—there’s no telling
what we’ll say (or do). Here I am
looking bloggish, chatting up the
fit and famous at the Muscle Beach
Venice Memorial Day contest. That’s
former IM cover model Katarina Van
Derham on the left.
Merv
For results and massive media
coverage from all the hot figure
shows—not to mention bodybuilding
and fitness—keep your browser set for
www.IronManMagazine.com.
MORE TALENT
I was perusing the figure
judging at the
NPC California
Championships when
IRON MAN
Hot Shots king
Jerry Fredrick came up
to rave about
a competitor in
one of the taller
classes who,
he said, looked
just like Rachel McLish.
Onstage, the
E-class held its
breath while the
judges called
out the lucky ladies who would
probably make
the top three.
The more the Merryman. Tanya takes
“There she
to the stage once again.
is!” exclaimed
Jerry. I saw the one he meant right away, and my eyes
went wide. Could it be that Tanya Merryman, one-time
top diva in a certain “other fitness organization,” was making her long-unanticipated appearance in the NPC? Nine
years ago, right after her son Joshua was born, the 5’6”
brunette ball of talent from San Jose hit the fitness world
with a bang, winning the top title at that other organization, but not before she gave some friends of mine some
Meanwhile, back at the Cal
interesting moments. In the intervening years Merryman enjoyed a respectable run as a fitness champ—model, trainer,
choreographer and TV host for fitness competitions being
a few of the slots on her résumé. The last time I saw her, in
fact, was in 2000. It was backstage at a show, and she had
a mike in her hand. I heard that she’d left her husband and
moved to the Los Angeles area but not much after that.
Till now. At the Cal. Wow.
That night we had a little reunion before the finals, and
Tanya recalled that it was this reporter who first noted her
resemblance to McLish, the original Ms. Olympia. Tanya
had remarried her husband, moved back up north and had
another baby, Hunter, who’s almost a year old. After that
she got a hankering to get back onstage. “I don’t know what
it is about having babies that makes me want to compete,”
she said with a grin, recalling our first conversation almost
a decade before. Some girls just need that incentive to lose
the baby fat, eh, Tanya?
Despite earning an elite placing
at the USA Sport Aerobic Nationals
in 2001, she hadn’t really been onstage since ’99, she said. A couple
of injuries suffered while training
for fitness suggested that she
should make her comeback in the
less taxing land of figure. She took
the plunge at the ’07 NPC Contra
Costa, finishing third, before earning
a similar placing at the Cal.
“I know I’m starting at the bottom
again,” said the lady with the legs to
die for. It’ll be interesting to see just
how quickly she gets out of there.
Okaabe
Ms. Tanya Returns
In championship form in 1998.
STILL MORE TALES FROM CULVER CITY
rcia
t an award, Adela Ga
On hand to presen
how to
hand Jaime Garza
teaches backstage
t the
t. Did I mention tha
go for the money sho Cal are huge swords?
the
overall trophies at
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].
Neveux
has found
arne of Brazil
ate.
Juliana Malac
rough to navig
rs
te
wa
e
ur
says,
the fig
t smaller, she
ge
to
ing
try
She’s
ts, it’s
Given her asse
but even so.…
the sailing could
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th
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ed
pr
easy to
g.
before too lon
get smoother
Chas Sloan and
her hubby recently
launched a new business, HealthyFamily
.WorldVentures.com,
a full-service online
travel site advertising the “best rates”
for all your travel
needs, including
flights, hotels, cars,
family vacations and
honeymoons. With
the contest season in
full swing, there’s no
reason not to check
it out.
Supercharge Your Power Center
Model: Daniele Seccarecci
by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux
ou see as many TV
commercials for fitness
products and exercise
routines as you do for cars and
trucks. Well, almost. Turbo
Jam, Red X, Bean, Hip Hop Abs (my
personal favorite), along with a variety
of abdominal machines, all emphasize
how well they develop core strength—
which I find rather comical. How in
the world do you strengthen the core
muscles by sitting on a well-padded
bench and exercising your abs?
On the other hand, I applaud
their attention to the core muscles.
Long before core strength became
a catchword in fitness circles,
bodybuilders, strength athletes and
conscious coaches were striving to
enhance and maintain strength in
the core, or center of the body. Any
strength or bodybuilding program that
produced results always focused on the
muscle groups that made up the core:
abs, lumbars, hips and glutes.
The core is the center of power in the body—at
least it should be. I’ve noticed a trend, however,
that shifts attention away from the core groups to a
routine made up almost entirely of upper-body exercises. Some trainees ignore the back and lower body
almost completely, while others add token work that
does little for strength or size gains. Their programs
consist of lots and lots of bench presses, followed by
inclines and flyes, along with plenty of triceps, biceps
and deltoid work.
What happens, in the event they succeed in their
quest for huge chests and arms, is that they look silly.
Even in the close network of bodybuilders, they aren’t
admired. A pleasing physique is balanced, proportional and aesthetic, not top-heavy with puny legs
and flat glutes. An award-winning physique starts
with a solid strength base, and you accomplish that
only by working the core groups hard and heavy.
If a strong core is important to bodybuilders, it’s
absolutely essential to strength athletes. Without a
strong center, strength athletes will never be able to
handle the poundages necessary for them to compete at a high level in any sport. And that includes
non-contact ones such as tennis, swimming, track
and certainly all the field events.
Those who have my book The Strongest Shall Survive are familiar with the drawing of a figure high
on his toes, his arms reaching up over his head as
concentric circles radiate out from the center of his
body. The circles are more concentrated at the hips
and are weaker by the time they reach the ankles and
wrists. I got that from the great Olympic lifter Tommy
Kono, and it’s become the logo not only for my book
Without a strong center, athletes will be at a disadvantage,
no matter what the sport. Core strength will help almost any
athlete compete at a higher level.
but for all the programs I present
in this space. It clearly portrays the
idea that the seat of strength in the
body is the hips and glutes. The
further away from the center, the
weaker the muscles, attachments
and joints.
Once you accept that fact, designing a program is much easier. You
should give the core groups priority
in a routine, and you must work the
exercises diligently. Token weights
and staying in the comfortable
range just don’t get the job done. It
would be nice if they did, but the
rewards are worth the extra effort.
The main reason you need to
spend time strengthening the core
groups is that they must be very
strong if they’re going to transfer
power up and down your body. For
example, you might be a strong
squatter but haven’t bothered to
work your lower back with a specific
exercise. So it’s fallen behind, and
the strength you have in your hips
and legs can’t efficiently be transferred up into your back, shoulders
and arms. Sure, some strength
moves upward, but you’re not
achieving maximum productivity.
That’s often the case with throwers
in field events. They pay close attention to their leg strength but fail to
keep their lumbars equally strong.
By equal, I mean in proportion; you
can’t handle the same amount of
weight on a lower-back exercise that
you can on any type of squat. We’ll
get back to the ratio between leg
and lumbar strength later.
You need proportionate strength
between core and upper body too.
Bringing upper-body strength down
through the core into the lower
body is part of almost every athletic
endeavor. If any muscle groups in
the core are lacking in strength, the
process will be diminished, along
with the results.
In order to build and maintain a
strong core, you must pay attention
to all groups involved. Some, like
the abs and to a lesser degree the
lumbars, can’t be worked the same
way you work the larger-muscle
hips and legs. You can, however,
work the abs and lower back more
frequently. I encourage all my athletes to start every lifting session
with one exercise each for their abs
and lower back and then finish the
workout with another lumbar and
ab exercise. That helps in two ways.
First, the two midsection movements help warm up the core, which
in turn enables you to get more out
of the first exercise of your routine.
Second, by splitting up the work for
your abs and lower back, you get
less bored or annoyed, and the reps
all add nicely to your total workload
for those groups.
As athletes get more advanced, I
have them expand their warmups to
include all parts of the abs: upper,
lower and sides. An excellent routine that I used during my heavy
training period was as follows: one
set of back hyperextensions, 50 reps;
one set of situps, 200 reps; 200 twists
using a stick to hit the tranverse abdominals; and finish by holding the
stick overhead while leaning as far
as possible to one side, then doing
the same for the other side, for at
least 100 reps. That hit the obliques
without thickening them.
Many trainees use dumbbells to
work their obliques, leaning from
side to side, and that does strengthen the target muscles. Trouble is, the
resistance tends to make them grow
as well, and you’ll appear chubby
because it’s difficult to tell the difference between muscle and fat.
But you can get the same results by
using a stick and running the reps
way, way up. The obliques will get
stronger and stay trim. Two-for-one
deal.
After you finish your workout, do
a set of reverse hyperextensions for
50 reps and a set of leg raises for 200
reps. By the time you leave the gym,
you’ve covered all the bases. Keep in
mind that the midsection is not two
separate planes made up of a front
and a back but rather a continuous
girdle. That means your lower back
won’t get any stronger unless you
make a big effort to keep the various
parts of your abs proportionately as
strong.
Apart from the strength factor, all
that ab work will make you look a lot
better in a swimsuit. Before we get
to specific exercises for the lumbars,
though, let’s focus on the very best
exercise for developing and maintaining core strength: full squats.
By full, I mean going deep, way
below parallel. The deeper you go,
the more muscles and corresponding attachments you involve in the
exercise, resulting in greater gains.
You can do squats with the barbell
in front of or behind your head.
Both positions are useful, and once
my athletes have established a solid
base, I put them both in their program. The advantage of back squats
is that you can handle more weight.
Model: Jose Raymond
The seat of strength in the body is the hips and
glutes. The further away from the center, the
weaker the muscles, attachments and joints.
The plus for front squats is that they
force you to go deep and stay very
erect, thus making the core muscles
work harder.
The problem with front squats for
many is being able to rack the bar
properly. Those who lack flexibility
in their shoulders and elbows—older
athletes, for example—often have
trouble maintaining a secure rack. In
some cases, spending time building
a greater range of motion enables
them to eventually rack the bar
solidly, and they can include front
squats in their routines. Sometimes,
of course, that isn’t possible, and they
have to stick with back squats—fine,
so long as they set the bar high on
their backs and go extremely deep.
Full squats, done from front or
back, work all the groups that make
up the core: lumbars, hips, quadriceps, adductors, abductors, glutes
and hamstrings. How, you may be
thinking, are all the various groups
that form the upper leg involved with
the core? They’re certainly not in the
center of the body. They are, however,
all attached to the hips and so are very
much part of the core. Grouped together, they are potentially the body’s
strongest set of muscles and attachments, so it’s only logical that they
need to be worked the hardest. Until
you’ve established a firm foundation
in that area, you need to give squats
priority at every weight-room session.
That means putting squats first in
your routine three days a week. At
Johns Hopkins, I told other coaches
that any of their athletes who entered
the weight room and, after warming
up, went directly to the squat rack
would become considerably stronger
than those who opted to bench or
incline first. I was always right, not just
because of the value of the full squat
but also because of the mind-set:
Athletes who choose to do the hardest exercise in their routine first are
challenging the weights, and that’s an
important step in winning the battle.
As most readers know, I like to
use five sets of five for back squats
when trainees are in the formative
stage, along with the heavy, light and
medium system. When the numbers
start climbing and form is mastered, I
recommend the following set-and-rep
sequence:
• Heavy day: 5x5 plus one back-off
set of eight to 10 reps.
• Light day: 5x5, staying approximately 50 pounds under what you
did on your final set on the heavy
day; no back-off.
• Medium day: three sets of five reps
followed by two heavy sets of three.
The final set should be five or 10
more pounds than your last set on
the heavy day. Add a back-off set of
eight to 10 reps.
• On your next heavy day do five
reps with the weight you tripled on
your previous medium day.
I stay with lower reps for front
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Good mornings, performed with legs slightly bent, train the
lower back, glutes and hamstrings. They make a killer core
exercise—if they’re performed correctly.
squats because the bar will always
move slightly out of the secure rack
on every rep. So you do two warmup
sets of five, then go to threes. Three
sets of three are enough in the
beginning, but you can add more
to increase your workload as you
progress.
Right behind full squats in importance for building and maintaining
a strong core are specific exercises
for the lumbars. Not only must you
include an exercise aimed directly
at your lower back every week, but
you must attack it as well. There’s no
doubt that this is the most neglected
area of the core for the simple reason that, when it’s done right, lowerback work is the most demanding in
any program. Here’s the trouble: In
most cases, lumbar movements are
avoided, or, when one is performed,
light weights are used. Numerous
athletes from a wide range of sports
have contacted me complaining
of lower-back pain or, just as frequently, problems with one or both
of their hips. I ask them what they’re
doing for their lumbars. Invariably
they say, “Nothing. I figure I’m giving them plenty of work with all my
pulling and squatting.” Obviously
they’re not, and as soon as they
begin hitting their lumbars with a
specific movement, the pain goes
away. It’s simply a matter of the
weakest link rearing its ugly head.
There’s no way to ignore that weak
area.
I’ve already mentioned hyperextensions and reverse hypers. If
you have hyperextension benches,
then you can use them as a primary
lower-back exercise in addition to
having them as part of your warmup
and cooldown routine. I’m guessing that 95 percent or more of IRON
MAN’s readers don’t have access to
an apparatus that lets you load up
the weights, but all have access to
bars and plates, and that’s plenty.
I recommend two lower-back exercises: good mornings and almoststraight-legged deadlifts. Of the two,
I believe good mornings produce
greater results. When the poundage
gets really heavy on almost-straightlegged deadlifts, there’s a tendency
to lower the hips, which shifts the
stress from the lower back to other
groups. Good mornings, on the
other hand, require more precise
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technique. Any attempt to cheat only
makes them tougher. Plus, I always
got very sore after a session with
good mornings, as did 100 percent
of my athletes—not the case with
almost-straight-legged deadlifts. Sore
is good in strength training.
Good mornings are never easy, but
you can make them at least palatable.
Insert them into your program early
on, before your squat gets into high
numbers. What you want to achieve
is the right balance between your
good mornings and back squats. My
rule of thumb: Your good mornings
should be 50 percent of what you’re
squatting for 10 reps. Let’s say you
wait until you’re squatting 350 before adding good mornings to your
program. In order to strike the right
balance, you’d have to handle 175x10
on them. That’s not terribly difficult,
yet it would be much easier if you’d
started doing the good mornings
when you got to 250 in the squat.
You’d only have to deal with 125x10.
Once you’ve got your balance right,
it’s a simple matter of increasing the
good mornings in small increments
as your squat improves.
There is, however, a limitation on
the 50-percent rule. When I was editing Strength & Health, a pen pal in
Moscow traded me Soviet training
information for copies of the magazine. One thing I learned was that the
Russian Olympic lifters never went
over 100 kilos (220 pounds) on their
good mornings. I asked why, and
he replied that the coaches felt that
using more weight than that forced
the lifter to alter his mechanics in
order to counterbalance the weights.
It changed the focal point of the
exercise and didn’t isolate the lumbars nearly as much. Although I’ve
made exceptions with powerlifters
and other athletes who want to deadlift heavy weights, that, for the most
part, is what I teach as well. For those
who are squatting in the mid-500s or
higher, I add extra sets of good mornings at 225 to keep their lumbars
proportionately as strong as the other
groups in the core. That works well.
Good mornings not only strength-
Model: Mike Morris
Model: Toney Freeman
I’ve noticed a trend
that shifts attention
away from the core
groups to a routine
made up almost
entirely of upper-body
exercises. A pleasing
physique is balanced,
proportional and
aesthetic, not topheavy with puny legs
and flat glutes.
The plus for front squats is that they force a lifter to go deep
and stay very erect, thus making the core muscles work harder.
Model: Allen Sarkiszadeh
en the lumbars, but they also work
the hamstrings and glutes very
directly—more good stuff for the
core. In fact, the majority of my
athletes have told me that it’s their
hamstrings or glutes, much more
than their lumbars, that reminded
them why they called the exercise
“tomorrow mornings.” The weakest
group will be the one that reports
in the next day. That’s what you’re
after—finding and strengthening
the weaker muscles.
There are three ways to do good
mornings: flat back, rounded
back and while seated. I’ve been
criticized in Internet chat rooms
for advocating rounded-back good
mornings on the grounds that
rounding the back places the disks
between the vertebrae under extreme pressure and can cause them
to impinge on the spinal nerves.
Well, the spine—hello?—was
designed to act as an arch and be
rounded. It was only about four
million years ago that our ancestors
began to move in an upright position, though you’ve probably seen
a few examples at the supermarket
who looked as if they’d joined our
species 50 years ago. The curvature
in your lower back can handle bending forward. What it can’t tolerate is
bending backward, as in pressing
a weight with an extreme layback.
If rounding the back while moving
heavy poundage caused back injury,
all powerlifters in the world would
be in traction; they all round with
their max deadlifts.
The reason powerlifters don’t get
hurt and the reason rounded-back
good mornings aren’t dangerous is
that the athletes slowly work up to
the heavy weights and in the process
condition their muscles to handle
the increased stress. To be sure, if
you tried to lift a weight far beyond
your capabilities, you’d run the risk
of hurting your back. But that’s true
of any lift. In the course of teaching
good mornings to thousands of athletes at Johns Hopkins University,
I saw only one athlete—a football
player—injure his lower back doing
the exercise. Reason: He did way
too much too soon. On the first day
of the off-season strength program
he decided that he was going to
match his best good morning from
the previous year. He hadn’t trained
seriously since midsummer yet set
I encourage all my athletes to do one exercise for their abs and
lower back before they start their lifting program for that day
and then finish the session with another lumbar and ab move.
out to do 225x10
on the first day
back—without
mentioning his
plan to me. At
195, he pulled
a lumbar on
the right side,
and it took him
three months to
fully recover. It
wasn’t the fault
of the exercise
or the way he
performed it but
rather his eagerness to regain his
former strength
without going
through the necessary process of
reestablishing a
base. Establishing a base is a
law of nature that
you break at your
peril, no matter
how determined
you might be.
Having said
that, I don’t take
Model: Daryl Gee
On squats go deep, below parallel. The deeper you go, the
more muscles you involve. More muscles, plus corresponding
attachments results in greater gains.
chances either. Whenever someone
tells me that the rounded-back version hurts him—and I don’t mean
the exertion of doing the lift itself
but some other kind of pain—I have
him switch to the flat-back style.
In fact, I encourage everyone to try
both styles and decide which one
provides the most feedback the
following day. It’s really a matter of
selecting the type of good morning
that feels right and gives the greater
results.
I also have my athletes do seated
good mornings occasionally, about
every five or six weeks. Unless you
have some sort of injury that limits
you to doing only the seated variety,
you shouldn’t do them more often
because they’re easier than the
standing styles.
I alternate the sets and reps every
other week. While the difference
between A and B weeks is slight,
it’s enough to elicit a change in the
response of your body. Week A: four
sets of 10; week B: five sets of eight.
The total number of reps is identical, but I move the final set a bit
higher on the eight-rep week, such
as 220x10 followed by 225x8. Even
though the weight used on the
eight-rep week is a bit higher, the
load is lighter, and those small
bumps help my lifters elevate the
numbers to keep their strength
ratio to 50 percent of their back
squats. It’s just enough of a variation to promote growth and build
variety into the program.
Next time I’ll go over several
other excellent exercises that help
strengthen the core and discuss
in detail the correct form to use
on the lifts I recommend. I’ll also
suggest how to incorporate them
all into a functional routine. In the
meantime start going deep in your
squats and find out which version
of good mornings suits you best.
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—
Strength Training for Football,
which is available for $20 plus
shipping from Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 447-0008, or visit
www.Home-Gym.com. IM
Mind
How to stay on
the big-gain train
Cumulative Consequences
M
aybe you remember the fable about the ant and grasshopper. While the ant toiled steadily, the grasshopper
played. Days, weeks and months went by, and when
winter came, there was a huge difference in how each was
prepared to face the coming cold. Consider how those approaches work in the gym—as well as out of it—and whether
you’re running your life in a way that will help you reach your
goals.
For just about everyone the first day in the gym is terrific:
Attitude is great, effort is there, enthusiasm is bubbling over,
and plans to conquer the world abound. A week later things
still look good, but a month down the road attrition is showing.
Three months later a lot of people are back on the couch, the
remote within easy reach, and since they no longer go to the
gym, they have a few extra hours each week for their favorite
Internet activities.
Meanwhile, the people who are plugging away in the gym
are starting to morph. Stomachs are shrinking and getting
harder, chests are swelling, and weights that used to stay
glued to the floor are magically light. The real magic, though,
seems to be going on under their skin—there’s simply something about the way they walk. Whatever that thing is, it’s positive, and they seem to apply it to
whatever they do—things related
to lifting and things not.
What’s happened, basically,
is that those who continued to
train learned the skills necessary
for succeeding, while those who
quit learned the skills that make
failure likely.
Unless you’re Paul Anderson,
you don’t just walk into the gym
on the first day and bang out
honest squats with 400 pounds.
Throw four 45s on each end
of the bar, put the average guy
under it, and watch 405 pounds
drop him like a blow from a
sledgehammer. On the other
hand, virtually any guy lucky
enough to be born within the
wide range considered “normal”
can look forward to repping out
with that same weight if he trains
wisely and diligently. As odd as it
might sound, the wise part of that equation is the easy part; it’s
diligence that makes or breaks people.
Slow and steady is the sure path to victory. Meticulously
planned training cycles and the use of microplates reflect the
common belief in doing what you can to keep moving forward.
The most important point, however, is to show up, day in and
day out, because small differences day by day add up to huge
differences. That’s why devotion to duty leads to such rich
dividends over the long haul. Even better, conscientious effort
carries an extremely valuable fringe benefit—whatever you’re
doing becomes habit-forming. By training steadily, you’ll not
only reap the direct benefits of consistent effort, but you’ll also
find that it’s easier to get into the gym when you’re supposed
to. The process works in the other direction as well: Each time
you skip a workout, it becomes easier to skip the next one.
Though lifting weights is always going to be more work than
staying in bed, there are things you can do to make it more likely that you’ll hit the gym armed for progress rather than while
away your life on the couch.
If you’re surrounded by achievement-oriented role models, chances are you’ll have learned the attitudes, skills and
behavior to make headway yourself. If you aren’t surrounded
by successful role models, focus
your efforts on 1) realizing how you
control your situation, and 2) trying
to identify and surround yourself
with the people, images and activities that are most likely to produce
success. For example, if your family
doesn’t model the most appropriate attitudes, skills and behavior
for success, don’t let that limit you.
Establish a different set of reference
points for yourself. Identify people
who demonstrate what it takes to
get ahead, and learn how they do
things. Mentally surround yourself
with images that will take you forward. Every gym has a group that
never misses training and another
group that’s always at half-throttle
when it comes to commitment.
You know which group you should
identify with. With the help of your
reference group and positive images, day by day you march steadily
Neveux \ Model: Ken Yasuda
IRONMIND
MIND/BODY
Body
Editor’s note: Randall Strossen, Ph.D., edits the quarterly magazine MILO. He’s the author of IronMind: Stronger
Minds, Stronger Bodies; Super Squats: How to Gain 30
Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks and Paul Anderson: The
Mightiest Minister. For more information call IronMind
Enterprises Inc. at (530) 265-6725 or Home Gym Warehouse
at (800) 447-0008, ext. 1. Visit the IronMind Web site at
www.IronMind.com.
Mood
Neuronutrient Uppers
Y
our body uses specific neuronutrients to
make mood-enhancing neurotransmitters in the
brain. One key neuronutrient is
L-tyrosine, which helps make
dopamine, norepinephrine and
epinephrine. Try 500 milligrams
on an empty stomach—perhaps when you first get out of
bed—to get happier.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
Neveux \ Model: Sebastian Siegel
toward your goals.
Try to keep the process enjoyable, and use goals to motivate you and sustain you through the tough times. If you’re
struggling to boost your squat weight, think about each
five- or 10-pound jump along the way; think of how much
more impressive the bar looks each time you slap on another
pair of 25s; and keep in mind that every time another pair of
45s goes on the bar, you’ve reached a major milestone. Pat
yourself on the back each time you reach one of your goals,
and then set your sights on your next one.
To make goal setting even more effective, keep your goals
in context and dynamic. Context means you know why you
aspire to a particular goal so it has some value beyond your
being able to say, “I squatted with 315 for 20 reps today.”
Maybe, for instance, you take particular pride in the fact that
315 means you had three 45s on each side of the bar, and
when you started, just one was enough to make your knees
shake. Or maybe you made a deal with yourself that when
you hit 315x20, you’d buy a pair of real weightlifting shoes.
Perhaps 315x20 means you’d reached a size or strength
point you wanted, for example, to play football. Use context
to add flesh to your goals, and that will help you use your
goals to motivate each workout.
Keeping your goals dynamic can help you stay on course.
Let’s say that you have a goal to power-clean 225 pounds,
but you injure your wrist, so you can’t do power cleans at the
moment. You can head for the sidelines, or you can modify
your plan. Maybe you can do clean pulls or good mornings
and a lot of squats. The point is, some people quit as soon
as they get a hangnail, and other people find a way to train
even when they’re in a cast. You can guess who makes
progress and who doesn’t.
Progress, in all walks of life, is a wonderful thing. What’s
especially nice is that when you work hard, you have a pronounced tendency to go forward, which means you control
your destiny. Small, steady steps will take you where you
want to go, because where you end up is a consequence of
your cumulative actions.
—Randall Strossen, Ph.D.
Herbs
Mind the Mint
recent study at Wheeling Jesuit University shows that certain
scents can heighten brain and
body responses, according
to the June ’07 Prevention.
Athletes felt more invigorated
postexercise after inhaling peppermint aroma during exercise than subjects who weren’t
exposed to the minty smell. Other studies have shown
that peppermint can actually increase strength. Try chewing a stick of peppermint sugarless gum during your
workout. Your training partner may benefit too—and stop
calling you Protein Breath.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
A
Bomber Blast
MIND/BODY
It’s All in the Mind, Smiley
Mental Health
Wine for the Mind
S
cientists at Litwin-Zucker Research Center for
the Study of Alzheimer’s
Disease and Memory in New
York found that the resveratrol
in red wine curbs the formation of the beta-amyloid protein that’s linked to Alzheimer’s
disease. Because it also lowers blood cholesterol levels,
red wine appears to improve
circulation to the brain, which
also improves memory.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
nessing personal
insight into my
weightlifting and
muscle building?
Could it be I’ve
been too involved
for too many
years with too few
diversions, and I
was devolving?
The first grim
face, a sign of
mental fatigue—world-weariness; the second droopy kisser, an
image of physical fatigue—listlessness; the third sorrowful countenance, an indication of spiritual fatigue—faithlessness.
It’s better to be clairvoyant than a weak-willed person given to
superstition. Obviously I’ve been gifted with the power to read coffee beans and associated splatters. There’s money to be gained
here somewhere. I’ll place a blinking neon sign in my window:
PSYCHIC—Coffee Bean Readings—OPEN.
We must learn to separate ourselves from our pressurized gym
environs, those heavy-duty workshops where muscle and might
battle for superiority. The gym must be reserved for our training only, and our time beyond the gym walls should be reserved
for our duties and entertainments, family and friends apart from
the deeds of the gym. Further, our dietary needs, which grant us
immeasurable strength, health and clarity, ought to be greeted
with appreciation, not spoiled, weak-willed protest. We can get
so wrapped up in our fitness pursuits that we exceed our capacity to savor and enjoy them, and, thus, we inhibit and destroy
them. Oversaturation is not uncommon and leads to self-destruction—implosion.
We need balance. We must learn to compartmentalize. We
should go with the flow and lighten up as conditions permit.
Gauging ourselves without compromising our training enthusiasm and dedication is the key. We sometimes think that commitment to a worthy and tough goal requires fanatical devotion. Do or
die; all or nothing; now or never. I frequently say “blast it” to make
a point: that is, train hard, consistently and joyfully. Working out
hard and eating smart are good things till they approach obsession; then they become weird and extreme, and we burn out. We
lose.
What do we do? There’s so much to know. How hard, how
often and when should we exercise? What works for you? Will it
work for me?
When I’m stumped, or bored, or uninspired, unmotivated, uninterested or uncaring, defeated or in doubt, I say, “Be strong; this
too will pass.” And I work out with what reserve and resources I
have at hand. The obstructions are tough to overcome, yet overcoming them provides skill, savvy and practice for like obstacles
in the future. Any road worthy of pursuit is strewn with frustrating
and bone-breaking challenges, each presenting critical instruction,
and rejoicing, in eventual conquest. Throttle
forward.
—Dave Draper
Neveux \ Models: Clark and Anita Bartram
I
t’s gonna be a long day. I splashed coffee as I poured my morning cup, and the subsequent splatter formed an unmistakable
smiley face—one with a turned-down mouth. No biggie. I registered the mishap and went about my business. Within the hour I
poured a second sloppy cup, repeating the splash sequence, and
formed another unhappy face, this one almost mean in expression. Getting careless, I observed, yet the coincidence did not
escape my attention.
A third cup, not for me but for Laree, was poured with extra
care and not a drop dared go astray. I added a dash of milk, and
the cup held its contents heroically. Emboldened, I grasped the
mug assertively, Men Rule inscribed on its side, and it spat a rebellious arc of steamy java from its thick lip. A sneering droopy face,
number three, formed on the tabletop. I froze. It’s gonna be a long,
long day.
I was scheduled for a major blast at the blasting site, the
Weight Room Santa Cruz, and now this. I’m not a superstitious
person, yet some things in life cannot be explained. That’s one of
them. I’m hesitant to dismiss three consecutive scowling faces
revealed by errant coffee spatterings in a single morning. Rats!
Ruffled but undaunted—45 years under the iron tends to quash
doubt and despair—I completed my morning tasks and prepared
for my two-hour bout of metal against might. We read too much
into daily coincidence.
Seldom do I approach my workouts without scrutiny, psychingup and a touch of anxiety. When I was younger, this prepping ritual
was extensive and demanding, and I often found myself emotionally and psychologically spent by time I stood before the racks and
benches. It was as if the deed had already been done twice over;
I was exhausted, on the verge of overtraining, in need of oxygen
and a change of view. Hmmm, I wondered, was that the craftsman of the three grim faces I imagined staring my way from the
countertop during my morning breaks? Am I so utterly consumed
with weight training and muscle building outside the gym that I
face weariness and discontent inside?
These were my thoughts as I traveled Highway 1 toward the
Weight Room. The safe and familiar confines of my vehicle make a
welcome think tank for unraveling my daily dilemmas. Am I wit-
Editor’s note: 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.
New Stuff
MenScience Androceuticals
t’s an interesting new company. MenScience Androceuticals provides a full
line of grooming, skin-care and nutritional products scientifically developed
for the unique needs and characteristics of men. MenScience is committed
to developing products based on professional and dermatological-grade ingredients that deliver tangible
benefits. Its undivided focus
is on effectiveness and
visible results, and it avoids
distractions such as fancy
packaging and marketing
fluff.
MenScience’s customers come from all ages and
walks of life and have one
thing in common: They
expect the highest performance from their personal
and nutritional products. MenScience believes in informed consumers and
provides reliable content to complement its products’ effectiveness and promote better health overall.
For more on MenScience and MenScience products, visit the company’s
Web site at www.MenScience.com.
I
New Stuff
Betasine
Chad Nicholls reveals Nxlabs’
newest breakthrough
C
ontest prep guru Chad Nicholls recently let a few industry insiders
in on NxLabs’ hottest creation yet. “I barely had a chance to catch
my breath after working with the guys at NxLabs to formulate
Plasmavol—also found in the Pump System—before
they were asking for my input on Betasine,” he said.
“Those guys just don’t stop, and neither does this stuff.
It’s a combo of beta-alanine and carnosine, which
adds up to a serious weapon for busting through
any training plateau. The best part is that you know
it works because it gives you a tingling sensation all
over your body almost right away.”
The researchers at NxLabs tell us that new Betasine is bodybuilding’s first beta-alanine-plus-carnosine muscle-building formula that delivers clinically
proven, advanced ingredients that can jack up your
bench by 18.6 percent fast. It’s also been shown to
supercharge muscle power by 14.5 percent. NxLabs
promises superior bioavailability and delivery through
nanoparticulated and ethylated beta-alanine and
carnosine, which is immediately released via HyperExplode caplets.
For a free bottle of Betasine and your chance to experience explosive
strength, muscle growth and intensity, call (800) 511-1229 (while supplies
last). For more information visit www.NxLabs.com. Available exclusively at
GNC.
Gallery of Ironmen
MIND/BODY
MIND/BODY
Abner S. Brady
T
he history of early American
weight training is sketchy at
best. A few figures have been
well publicized, but the vast majority
of those athletic pioneers have been
forgotten. One amazing but littleknown figure in the history of sport
was Abner S. Brady. Unfortunately,
there’s almost no information on him
or his contributions. A few facts can
be pieced together, and they prove
that he was a weight trainer who was
decades ahead of most of his contemporaries.
Brady was born around 1835,
probably in New York, and he almost
certainly enlisted in the Army and
became a gymnastics instructor. In
1861 he opened Brady’s Seventh
Photos courtesy of the David Chapman collection
thing about
these
pictures,
however,
is that they
are some
of the
earliest examples of
physique
photography in
the United
States. Photographer Alexander
Gardner took the accompanying
pictures in February 1865, and their
purpose was clearly to show off
the man’s musculature and physical prowess. A few days after the
photos were taken, Brady
participated in a gala gymnastics demonstration at Ford’s
Theatre featuring some of his
star students and a special
performance by the renowned
Hanlon Brothers acrobats.
President Lincoln was present
for the festivities that evening.
All students of American
history know that Lincoln
returned to the theater a few
weeks later and was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth,
but only a few recall that the
Great Emancipator enjoyed
The interior of Abner S. Brady’s
an athletic display prior to his
Washington, D.C., gymnasium, 1865.
date with the ages.
Abner S. Brady remained
Regiment Gymnasium in New York
at the head of his gymnasium until
City, and soon it boasted nearly a
he disappeared from history. The last
thousand clients. Since the United
known reference to the pioneer gym
States was embroiled in its bloody
owner is in May 1866.
Civil War at this time, Brady concen—David Chapman
trated on getting fighting men up to
snuff or keeping veterans in good
physical condition.
Sometime before 1865 Brady
moved to the nation’s capital, where
he opened a larger and more richly
appointed gymnasium on Louisiana
Avenue, within sight of the U.S.
Capitol. Brady’s Washington Gymnasium was a massive structure featuring all the latest exercise equipment.
An engraving from a contemporary
broadside shows men working out
with weights and climbing ladders,
boxing and performing various other
physical exercises.
Some rare photos of the gym
owner have also survived, and they
show that he was a healthy specimen of manliness. The most amazing
MIND/BODY
MIND/BODY
Sex Supplements
Keep the Drive Alive
B
ginseng and
vitamin C to
increase her
energy—in and
out of the bedroom.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean
.com
Neveux \ Models: Amy Lynn and Adrian Janicke
odybuilders are taking nitric
oxide precursors to enhance
the pump in the gym, but a
pump can be enhanced elsewhere
too. A recent double-blind study
found that L-arginine, a potent nitric
oxide precursor, helped improve sexual dysfunction in women when it was
combined with a ginkgo-and-ginseng
product. Also, vitamin C helps. Men,
tell your gal to take L-arginine, ginkgo,
www.Home-Gym.com Best Sellers
2) 10-Week Size Surge by IRON
MAN Publishing
3) The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and
Jerry Robinson
4) Ronnie Coleman’s Hardcore
5) The Precontest Bible by Larry
Pepe
DVDs/Videos:
1) “Jay Cutler—One Step Closer”
2) “Ronnie Coleman: Relentless”
3) “2006 Mr. Olympia”
4) “IRON MAN’s Swimsuit Spectacular #9”
5) “2007 IRON MAN Pro”
Books:
1) Train, Eat, Grow—The Positionsof-Flexion Muscle-Training Manual by
Steve Holman
Top E-book:
X-traordinary Muscle-Building Workouts—10 Complete Print-and-Go
Size and
Strength
Programs
by Steve
Holman
and Jonathan
Lawson
(available at
www
.X-Rep
.com.
MIND/BODY
Women
In Praise of Female Muscle
physique is viewed. Women athletes have worked hard in
the weight room and have the bodies to show for it. Actresses, models and other women concerned about their
appearance routinely work out in gyms, hire personal trainers and strive to build hardbodies to a degree that would
have been rare or even unheard of decades ago.
For the most part, the most sexually desirable women in
our culture have generally been young. Every season a new
crop of barely legal bikini-clad beauty contestants arrives
on the scene to supplant those who arrived a year or two
earlier. It is not that
unusual for models
in the fashion world
to start as early as
14 and be out of the
business by their late
20s. Traditionally, as
those girls turned
into women, they
found themselves
less in demand. Remember the premise
of the movie “The
First Wives Club”:
Successful men
often trade in their
wives as they age for
younger trophies.
That’s changing,
however. By using
training and diet
strategies derived
from bodybuilding,
women can become
more attractive and
have better bodies
as they get older. It’s
rare to see women
in the upper levels of
physique competition who are not at
least 30 years old
or close to it. The
hardbody is a mature
physique, not that of
an adolescent girl.
Youth may fade, but the hardbody can keep improving for
decades.
The fact that women—and men—can build and maintain
fit and attractive bodies that actually improve with age is
itself a cultural (and medical) revolution. Hardbodies not
only look better and stay looking good for a longer time,
but they are also healthier and age at a much slower rate.
There’s no doubt that modern Homo sapiens live much
longer than in the past. How nice that there are training and
diet techniques available, developed over 60 years of competitive bodybuilding, that give us the opportunity to stay
fit, strong, healthy—and sexy—throughout an increasingly
extended life span.
—Bill Dobbins
www.BillDobbins.com
Dobbins \ www.bildobbins.com \ Mdels: Yaxeni Oriquen, Iris Kyle and Heather Policky
P
umping Iron author Charles Gaines calls the emergence of women who develop their muscles for aesthetic reasons “a new archetype.” He points out that
history is full of examples of men being admired for their
muscular bodies—from the ancient Greeks to Michelangelo
to the highly sculpted physiques of modern athletes. No
matter how hard you look, though, you’ll see no similar
examples involving women. What you see on the stages
of female bodybuilding, figure and fitness competitions is
indeed something new under the sun.
No matter
how strenuously
the federations
and contest
judges try to
deny it, those
women are all
bodybuilders.
The difference
is in degree, not
in kind.
Some “physique women”
arouse much
less controversy
than those in
the bodybuilding world. WWE
wrestler China
is bigger than
many female
bodybuilders
yet was twice
featured in Playboy. Next to the
vast majority of
women physique competitors tennis star
Serena Williams
is a giant. But
you won’t find
attacks on her
gender identity
or sexuality in
Sports Illustrated. Check out the muscularity on the top female sprinters
in the world. They all look as if they were about to enter a
bodybuilding competition.
Unfortunately, the problem seems to be a reluctance to
accept the idea of bodybuilding itself. Developing muscle
for the purpose of improving athletic performance is acceptable; building muscle for primarily aesthetic purposes
is suspect. So it isn’t the muscle that bothers people—it’s
the context.
Because the whole idea of females building beautiful
muscular bodies is so new and revolutionary, it shouldn’t
surprise you that these women have encountered cultural
opposition to their efforts. But rather than dwelling on the
attacks, try instead to focus on their successes. Since the
early 1980s there’s been a sea-change in how the fit female
IRON MAN’s Rising Stars / IronManMagazine.com
Photography by Issac Hines
Huong Arcinas
Age: 26
Height: 4’11”
Weight: 91 contest, 96–98
off-season
Residence: San Jose, California
Occupation: Personal trainer
Contest Highlights: ’07 Junior USA,
class A, 1st; ’05 Figure Nationals,
class A, 3rd
Factoid: Married with children, five
years and nine months!
Contact address:
gofi[email protected]
Readers Write
Arnold, the Great
Just Say “Know”
ARNOLD PHOTO SPECTACULAR: Incredible Full-Page Pullouts
™
Rare, Vintage
I appreciate your articles on pro bodybuilders’ training,
but as far as I’m concerned, they don’t know jack when it
comes to drug-free training. Twenty sets per bodypart, zerocarb diets—it’s all irrelevant to the majority of us who don’t
use drugs and have average genetics.
Kelly Sinclair
Portland, OR
Full-Page Pics of
Editor’s note: We look at IRON MAN as a training journal first and foremost, so we include pro training as well as
the workouts of drug-free bodybuilders. We agree that the
pros’ routines are somewhat irrelevant to the majority, but
they’re still interesting, and sometimes you can pick up a tip
or two that you can apply to your own training.
ARNOLD
A 60th-Birthday Celebration
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C1_GATEFldAUG07_F.indd 1
6/1/07 12:50:52 PM
The August IRON MAN cover was magnificent! I don’t
recall ever seeing that shot of Arnold. It rivals your last cover
that featured him on the beach. I’ve read comments from
people saying that Arnold lacked leg development, but I
think that’s what a bodybuilder’s legs should look like—well
muscled but still appearing capable of athletic feats. Pro
bodybuilders today have adductors that rub all the way
down to their knees. That must create one helluva rash, not
to mention jostling the jewels
(wait, anabolics reduce the jewels to raisins, so I guess that’s not
a problem).
Cal Stephenson
Seattle, WA
Editor’s note: That cover
shot was a vintage Gene Mozée
photo of Arnold. We’re not sure
it’s ever been published. There
were a few more of Gene’s rare
shots in the photo feature that
were amazing. Our thanks to
Gene. As for your jewels-to-raisins comment, we never thought
of that, but now you’ve killed our taste for Raisin Bran.
Creatine Cred
Thanks to Jerry Brainum for his informative article on
creatine [“Creatine Fact vs. Fiction,” June ’07]. The antiaging effects and ability to enhance growth hormone release got my attention, as I’m 52.
Mike Margolis
via Internet
It was good to hear from Ellington Darden again [“HIT
Redux,” July ’07]. I’ve been a fan of his since High-Intensity
Training and Super High-Intensity Training. He’s inspiring,
and his stories about Arthur Jones, Nautilus and the old
bodybuilding and lifting stars are priceless. Thanks for putting the interview in IM. Oh, his new book is one of his best,
by the way.
Kevin McGowen
via Internet
Editor’s
note: Darden’s
new book, The
New Bodybuilding for OldSchool Results,
is one of our
favorites of
his tomes. We
highly recommend it.
Iron Inspiration
Dave Goodin.
[Drug-free bodybuilder] Dave
Goodin is one inspirational guy
[“Arms & Shoulders Shredder Style,”
July ’07]. It’s still hard to believe he’s
48. I just turned 40, and his ripped
physique is what’s driving me to hit
the gym hard lately. If he can do it
pushing 50, I can do it too. Thanks.
Samuel Turner
via Internet
Editor’s note: Dave’s new column, Shtredded Muscle, starts next
month in IRON MAN.
Vol. 66, No. 9: IRON MAN (ISSN #0047-1496) is published monthly by IRON MAN Publishing, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Periodical Mail is paid at Oxnard, CA, and at
additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives
Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Please allow six to eight weeks for change to take effect. Subscription rates—U.S. and its possessions: new 12-issue subscription, $29.97. Canada, Mexico and
other foreign subscriptions: 12 issues, $49.97 sent Second Class. Foreign orders must be in
U.S. dollars. Send subscriptions to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Or call
1-800-570-4766. Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.

Training - Bodybuilding magazine free download. IRONMAN

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