Iron Man magazine 2008 10 - Bodybuilding magazine free

Transcription

Middle-Age Muscle: 40 Is the New 20—Lift for Life!
OCTOBER 2008 / IRON MAN MAGAZINE—WE KNOW TRAINING™
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Older Guys With
Muscle Size
Show You How
™
ERIC BROSER,
Age 40
Prime-Time-Physique
Techniques
GH
SURGE
Up Your Growth
Hormone in the Gym
MIDDLE-AGE MUSCLE
BIGGER,
STRONGER,
YOUNGER
Coach Bill Starr on
Workouts for Your Kids
Johnnie Jackson Q&A
OCTOBER 2008
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• DHEA—Do You Need It?
• #1 Muscle-Building Mistake
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261
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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE IRON MAN MAGAZ
WE KNOW TRAINING™
October 2008
CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS C
FEATURES
62 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 108
Three-days-a-week training—and gaining—with an innovative split.
88 TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO GROW, PART 2
Jerry Brainum’s research says to turn up the Zs for more muscle and less fat.
104 KILLING THE “OLD” MYTH
From the Bodybuilding.com archives, John Pasco, a 75-year-old bodybuilding
competitor, explains how to break the chains of so-called old age (hit the gym).
128
112 40 IS THE NEW 20
Cover man Eric Broser lays out a plan for getting bigger and better with age.
GH SURGE
128 GH SURGE
Jacob Wilson and Gabriel Wilson provide tips and research on how to maximize
growth hormone output with weight training.
140 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 39
Ron Harris explains why great backs come from great effort.
152 BRAD HARRIS: VERY ALIVE AT 75!
Gene Mozée delves into the fitness lifestyle of this movie star (he’s a god in
Europe), stuntman and all-around muscle legend.
166 THE TESTOSTERONE ZONE
Jerry Brainum explores legal ways to up your T, including a new form of DHEA
that’s over the counter and without the negative side effects.
178 X-FILES
The X men reveal the number-one bodybuilding mistake that you can’t afford
to make if you want to achieve your full growth potential.
188 BODY INSURANCE
Legendary bodybuilder Richard Baldwin, 58, provides a blueprint for achieving
maximum muscle, minimum injuries and lifelong health.
248
204 MASS CONSTRUCTION
‘08 MR.OLYMPIA
PREVIEW
After years of heavy lifting and recent surgery, C.S. Sloan constructs a kinder,
gentler muscle-building routine—but be prepared to turn up the volume.
236 MUSCLE BEACH
Pics from this year’s Memorial Day and Fourth of July events.
248 ’08 MR. OLYMPIA PREVIEW
As the big show draws near, Lonnie Teper checks his crystal ball for who’s hot
and who’s not in the land of the giants.
260 PROFILE: JOHNNIE JACKSON
Meet a man on a mission: big muscle and plans for the future to match.
Eric Broser and
Stephanie Iorio
appear on this
month’s cover.
Hair and makeup
Marisol Orozco.
Photo by Michael
Neveux.
Middle-Age Muscle: 40 Is the New 20—Lift for Life!
Age
Middle- !
Muscle
Older Guys With
Muscle Size
Show You How
™
ERIC BROSER,
Age 40
Prime-Time-Physique
Techniques
GH
SURGE
Up Your Growth
Hormone in the Gym
272 HEAVY DUTY
BIGGER,
STRONGER,
YOUNGER
The conclusion of John Little’s 1995 Q&A with Mike Mentzer.
Coach Bill Starr on
Workouts for Your Kids
Johnnie Jackson Q&A
OCTOBER 2008
282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE
Part 1 of Coach Bill Starr’s Bigger, Stronger, Younger—how and when to start
youngsters on a strength-training program.
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Vol. 67, No. 10
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PLUS:
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• #1 Muscle-Building Mistake
• Mr. Olympia Preview
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CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CO
DEPARTMENTS
26 TRAIN TO GAIN
Upper-pec problems and solutions, Joe Horrigan’s look at dumbbell rows and more.
42 SMART TRAINING
Charles Poliquin’s advice on how to grow bigger and stronger faster.
50 EAT TO GROW
The acid factor—is it slowing your growth?—and arginine’s anabolic connection.
72 NATURALLY HUGE
John Hansen’s sound advice on beginning bodybuilding, programs included.
78 SHREDDED MUSCLE
Dave Goodin answers questions on ripping up.
82 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman identifies the best moves for big bi’s. Plus, rest/pause and drop sets.
218 ANTIAGING RESEARCH
Jerry Brainum sifts through the studies on IGF-1. Is it a killer or saviour?
264
PUMP &
CIRCUMSTANCE
Picture-perfect panache
224 NEWS & VIEWS
Lonnie Teper’s world-of-bodybuilding coverage—plus, six big Rising Stars.
242 MUSCLE “IN” SITES
Eric Broser unearths the Web site of a new over-40 pro bodybuilder and reviews
Mark Dugdale’s “Driven” DVD. Ab-etching advice is here too.
264 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE
Ruth Silverman covers the ladies’ side of the sport. Warning: Hot photos featured
here!
292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION
Five big keys to happiness; review of Get Stronger, Feel Younger; and new research on
health, aging and longevity.
304 READERS WRITE
26
TRAIN TO GAIN
Ageless wonders, classic Arnold and Cutler’s cutting-edge workouts.
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See and hear
interviews with
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We kick things off with big-back-training advice from Mark Perry, a young
champ who has some old-school views.
He shows you how to get so wide you
can glide. Then Ron Harris explains how
to build your ultimate physique brick by
brick (or is that fiber by fiber?), and Jerry
Brainum does his research thing on fast
food—yes, people are really eating that
stuff. We also have the second installments of Bill Starr’s “Bigger, Stronger,
Younger” and Eric Broser’s “40 Is the
New 20.” Look for the November issue
on newsstands the first week of October.
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PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S
Publisher’s Letter
by John Balik
Muscle Beach
Muscle Beach, Santa Monica, California, was the birthplace of the
worldwide fitness revolution. Just a few names of those who made their
names there: From the prewar group there were Jack LaLanne and Joe
Gold; in the ’50s came Armand Tanny, Zabo Koszewski, Russ Warner,
Pudgy Stockton and Steve Reeves; in the ’60s and ’70s came Arnold
Schwarzenegger and Franco Columbu, among other bodybuilding stars.
Muscle Beach has always been as much a dream as a place. The magnetism of sun, sand and athletic men and women has drawn thousands
to Southern California for generations—including me. I’ve always been
drawn to the water, first as a teenager to the shores of Lake Michigan
and later through my ongoing love affair with the Pacific Ocean. That all
came flooding back to me on the Fourth of July, as I sat next to Zabo at
Muscle Beach, Venice, for one of Joe Wheatley’s contests.
At 88 Zabo is one of the last links to the golden era. He lives only a
few blocks from the Venice workout area, and as he told me, he loves
it as much as he did in 1950, when he made his way from Pennsylvania to the iconic beach. As he said, no one had any money then, but
they made up for it with a shared passion and camaraderie. Zabo was
with me not just to enjoy the picture-perfect day but also to receive an
award—his name was added to the Muscle Beach Walk of Fame.
My relationship with Muscle Beach goes back more than 40 years, to
when I was a competitor. That’s why I support Wheatley’s request that
IRON MAN be a sponsor of the Muscle Beach events and awards ceremonies. It’s still a special place, and the programs Joe produces there
underline that fact.
The contests and awards that took place on July 4 recognized both
the foundation of our sport—Zabo—and the enduring appeal of bodybuilding. If you have a chance to attend one of the Muscle Beach events,
you’ll understand what I mean when I say that it’s exciting not only to
watch bodybuilders from teens to 70-year-olds show why what we do
is so special but also to experience the love and appreciation the crowd
lavishes on the dedicated athletes. It’s bodybuilding in its most elemental expression: sun, sand and joy.
I enjoy the events because they refresh my memory. I get to talk with
people like Zabo, who inspire my own training. Everyone is having a
good time, the stakes are personal, and the exhilaration is experienced
by everyone who attends. That’s what bodybuilding is all about.
For photos from two Muscle Beach events, see pages 236 and 237. IM
Founders 1936-1986:
Peary & Mabel Rader
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: Fernando Carmona
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, Roland Balik, Reg
Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry
Fredrick, Irvin Gelb, Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman,
J.M. Manion, Merv, Gene Mozée, Mitsuru
Okabe, Rob Sims, Ian Sitren, Leo Stern
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We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our
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IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033. We
are not responsible for unsolicited material. Writers and
photographers should send for our Guidelines outlining
specifications for submissions. IRON MAN is an open
forum. We also reserve the right to edit any letter or
manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted have an
implied waiver of copyright. Please consult a physician
before beginning any diet or exercise program. Use the
information published in IRON MAN at your own risk.
IRON MAN Internet Addresses:
Web Site: www.ironmanmagazine.com
John Balik, Publisher: ironleader@aol.com
Steve Holman, Editor in Chief: ironchief@aol.com
Ruth Silverman, Senior Editor: ironwman@aol.com
T.S. Bratcher, Art Director: ironartz@aol.com
Helen Yu, Director of Marketing:
helen@ironmanmagazine.com
Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: ironjdl@aol.com
Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: soniazm@aol.com
24 OCTOBER 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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M AT U R E M U S C L E
High Anxiety
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
Neveux \ Model: Jay Cutler
Q: I’m 52, and I started working out with
weights 12 years ago. I’ve made good progress
in most areas, but I have struggled to make
my upper-pectoral muscles thicker. No matter
what exercise I do for my upper chest, it doesn’t
grow. Why don’t Incline movements work for
me?
A: I’ve had that problem myself. To make improvements
requires specialized, biomechanically sound training. I
don’t agree with most experts, who say that training the
upper-pectoral region requires lots of incline-bench presses and incline flyes. Let me explain.
First, you probably don’t have a lot of muscle tissue in
that area, which is genetic; however, you still can make
gains there. Your lower pectorals, a.k.a. the pectoralis
major, are probably responding to most of your chest
exercises. That has to do with autonomic muscle engagement. Your body is doing that automatically because of
your genetic deficiency. The person with ideal biomechanics, of whom there are very few, can isolate the pectorals
the way the experts suggest—flat-bench presses for the
entire chest, incline presses for the upper pecs and declines for the very lowest area. What if I told you to do the
exact opposite?
First, take off your shirt, turn sideways, and look in a
mirror. Notice where your deltoids sit. Are they forward of
the center of your neck and ear? Now, take note of the
front deltoid and your upper pectorals. Are your shoulders
forward of your upper chest? My guess is yes on both
counts.
Why is that important? That says your deltoids will grow
before your upper pecs if you follow the standard rules of
pec development. Even if you puff your chest up, arching your back, when doing inclines, your shoulders will
still take too much of a load because your deltoids are
positioned forward of the center of your neck and will be
worked more than your upper chest.
What has happened here involves a lot of musculoskeletal changes. You have gotten a little bit taken by the weak
upper-pectoral problem and you have made your upper
thorax move enough to make the shoulders change position. Your body may seem like a static group of bones held
together with some magical glue; however, each time that
you emphasize one muscle group more than the opposing
muscle group, you may change the arrangement of the
musculoskeletal structure.
My recommendations: First, start doing more centerback work in order to pull your shoulders back enough for
them to be in that imaginary straight line from the center of
the deltoid to the center of the ear when you’re standing
erect. Do low-pulley rows with a bar that allows for maximum squeezing of the shoulder blades. You might want to
do a couple of sets of those every other day until you get
your shoulders back where they belong.
The other two biomechanical presets I’m assuming are
that you have a) rather long arms and b) narrow or medium
Upper-pec problems
and solutions
width across your collarbones. Since your arms are long,
you are at a leverage disadvantage in doing almost any
pressing but especially when doing inclines as your primary
resistance work for upper pecs. Add those two disadvantages to the small amount of muscle fiber in your upper
chest, and you are never going to create hypertrophy in
that area until you eliminate at least two of the problems.
The first answer to your problem is going to be decline
presses. Why? Because they put you in a position that will
shorten the overall pressing range and take your front deltoids out of the work. It also allows you to use more weight
After one warmup set with a light weight on the bar,
do two to three heavy sets of six to eight repetitions with
a barbell. Then do two to three sets of 10 to 12 reps the
same way with the heaviest dumbbells you can handle.
You may want to alternate which of those you do first.
When you can do no more full reps, do X Reps—extended reps—by moving the bar or dumbbells a few inches up and down in the lower part of the stroke until failure.
For a finishing exercise, use machine flyes. Find a machine that has handles and long arms. Set the seat fairly
low so that when you are doing the exercise, your arms
are at the exact height of your clavicles—right straight
across your upper chest. There should be one continuous
line from either side of the upper-pectoral area out to both
arms and hands so that when you are in a fully contracted
position, it should look like a big-tree hug from the top
view. Keep your chest up throughout the exercise. Use as
much weight as you can and really squeeze your chest on
each contraction. Do three or four sets to absolute failure.
Your upper-pectoral area will begin to grow within three
months on this routine. Train your chest no more than
twice in eight or nine days and always keep your mental
focus to provoke muscular stimulation and hypertrophy.
Also, remember to work on getting your shoulders back
to where they belong—in line with the traps, neck and ear.
That’s important for both your overall upper-thoracic health
and your upper-chest development.
—Paul Burke
Editor’s note: To contact Paul Burke, write to pbptb@
aol.com. Burke has a master’s degree in integrated studies
from Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts.
He’s been a champion bodybuilder and arm wrestler, and he’s
considered a leader in the field
of over-40 fitness training. You
can purchase his book, Burke’s
Law—a New Fitness Paradigm for
the Mature Male, from Home Gym
Warehouse. Call (800) 447-0008,
or visit www.Home-Gym.com. His
“Burke’s Law” training DVD is also
now available.
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Train to Gain / OLD SCHOOL
X-FILES
Around the Worlds
I recently rediscovered a great old-school exercise. I think the last time I saw it was
in Bill Pearl’s “20 Months to a Championship Physique” about 10 years ago in IRON
MAN. The movement is part flye, part pullover and all-pec stretch. It’s called around
the worlds.
I credit Milos Sarcev for bringing these back, as he’s had Dennis Wolf, Hide Yamigishi, Silvio Samuel and others add them to their precontest programs. Around the
worlds are not a mass builder—you can’t go heavy, and if you do, you risk serious
injury. As a finisher, though, this will tie the pecs together nicely while stretching out
the lats, delts and even triceps a bit.
I like to do them at the end of my chest workout, which is often a heavy compound movement done for low reps, followed by a giant set of five to six exercises
that hit all the chest fibers by training the muscles’ full arc of flexion—a.k.a. Positions
of Flexion, or POF. After that I head over to a decline bench with 20-pound dumbbells
and stretch out with two to three sets of 15 reps of around the worlds.
Milos does them on a decline, and that’s the bench I’ve used exclusively since
adding them to my chest routine. I lie on the bench with the dumbbells in the top
of a decline flye, with palms facing each other. Next I bring the dumbbells back
toward my head while keeping my arms straight and rotating my hands so that my
palms face upward in the bottom, full-stretch position, similar to a pullover. Next,
I rotate my arms, bringing the dumbbells back to the start in a large circular arc
movement not unlike a cable crossover. My hands naturally twist inward so they’re
back in the palms-facing starting position.
After tensing your pecs hard, begin the movement again—it’s basically a large,
swooping arc. You’ll feel it stretching your chest, back and triceps at the bottom of
the movement and chest contraction on the way back to the start.
Keep in mind that around the worlds can be tough on the rotator cuffs, so don’t go
heavy. Also make sure you’re warmed up before doing them. Give them a try if you’re
in need of some new pec detail.
—Will Litz
Editor’s note: For more on Will Litz visit http://bodyspace.bodybuilding.com/
WinnipegWill/.
Q: The idea of a few mediumintensity [subfailure] workouts
after many weeks of going all
out makes perfect sense. My
question is, Should I reduce my
poundages so I can do the same
number of reps, or should I stick
with my same working poundages
and just do fewer reps? Which
way is best?
A: We prefer to use the same phasetraining approach Jonathan used on the
10-week Size Surge Program when he
gained 20 pounds of muscle [for more
on that, see 3DMuscleBuilding.com.
For each of his two supercompensation weeks (weeks 5 and 10) he used
the same work weights and stopped
just two reps short of failure—and that
worked amazingly well for him. He actually appeared to get bigger during each
downshift week as his muscles and
nervous system supercompensated.
The reason we like to stick with our
normal heavy poundages is to keep the
nervous system primed. If you use lighter
weights, your normal poundages may
feel excessively heavy when you go back
to them a week later—your nervous
system can lose some of its conditioning
if it’s not subjected to the same load.
For our supercompensation week
we use our same program—3D POF for
each bodypart—supersets intact, but we
do only one work set for each exercise
using our normal poundage and stop
two reps shy of our normal rep count.
That keeps stress to a minimum. On
some exercises, like the big, midrange
moves such as incline presses, we use
rest/pause. After the six-rep set, we rest
for 15 seconds and then do another
four to six reps, once again not to fail-
ure. That heightens blood flow, creating more of a pump, which is what we
are after—to enhance muscle recovery
without damage.
Try one week of subfailure training
followed by about four weeks of all-out
workouts. Phase training is truly a natural
anabolic based on human stress physiology.
—Steve Holman and
Jonathan Lawson
Neveux \ Model: Derik Farnsworth
Illustration by Larry Eklund
Supercompensation
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But nine times out of 10 this stall is
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known as the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff muscles stabilize
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Train to Gain / SPLIT TRAINING
Frank Zane’s 9-to-5 Sequence
A sequence refers to the order of workouts in a split
routine—in this case a three-way split, my favorite way to
train. For example, a seven-day sequence could mean you
train pushing muscles on Monday, legs on Wednesday and
pulling muscles on Friday. It takes seven days—including
rest days—to do each different workout one time, hence
the name seven-day sequence. A sequence repeats itself
exactly the same way over a designated period of time. In
the case of the seven-day sequence, it repeats exactly the
same way each week.
While that particular sequence is a nice way to train, I’ve
discovered that training the same way each week tends to
lead to plateaus. Your body becomes acclimated to it and
ceases to change. I overcome that by practicing a randomized routine, the 9-to-5 sequence.
The body thrives on routine—routines have advantages.
You need to practice your workout in a specific way in
order for your body to adapt to it. During that adaptation
period you make progress; you get into a groove. A routine
answers the question, “What and when should I train?”
Randomized training, sometimes called instinctive training, doesn’t give you anything specific to practice and get
good at. While it might be okay for advanced bodybuilders—Dave Draper trained that way when I worked out with
him in the 1970s—it isn’t so good for beginners because it
isn’t specific enough.
I’ve done many different sequences, a four-day sequence (train three days in a row, rest the fourth day,
repeat), a five-day sequence (train, train, rest, train, rest,
repeat), a six-day sequence (train every other day). The
problem with each of those sequences is that the workouts
fall on different days each week. With the 9-to-5 sequence
that’s not exactly the case.
It’s a nine-day sequence that uses a three-way split,
and you train one day, then rest two before the next workout—so it takes you nine days to do each different workout
once. You get plenty of rest, so it’s great for recovery, and
you’ll be stronger at each workout and able to use heavier
weights and, consequently, grow. Follow the nine-day
sequence with a five-day sequence, and you execute a
pattern that recurs exactly the same every 14 days. Here’s
how it goes down:
Week 1
Monday: Push
Tuesday and Wednesday: Rest
Thursday: Legs
Friday and Saturday: Rest
Sunday: Pull
Week 2
Monday and Tuesday: Rest
Wednesday: Push
Thursday: Legs
Friday: Rest
Saturday: Pull
Sunday: Rest
Frank Zane’s
legs at age 65.
Christine Zane
Week 3
Repeat week 1
Providing you don’t miss workouts, the pattern occurs
exactly like that every two weeks. You work each bodypart
twice in two weeks, and you always have Tuesdays and
Fridays off. If you began on Tuesday instead of Monday,
you’d have Wednesdays and Saturdays off, and Thursdays
and Sundays off if you started it on Wednesday.
I look back at my workouts recorded in my journal at the
end of each two-week period and then plan my poundages, sets and reps for the coming two weeks—and I don’t
reach involuntary plateaus. It’s a routine that’s randomized,
so you don’t get acclimated to it.
—Frank Zane
Three-time Mr. Olympia
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Train to Gain / HARDGAINER
The Brothers Grimm
If you’re not a regular reader of this
column, please get the previous few
issues of IRON MAN to catch up on
this series. You can apply the lessons I
taught Stelios and Yiannis to transform
your own bodybuilding training and
results. This month let’s continue with
the faults and fixes in the exercises in
the brothers’ new program.
Leg Curls
Faults: Incorrect setup, excessive
involvement of the lower back, excessive range of motion.
Fixes: Set up so that the center of
your knees is lined up with the center
of the pivot point and the resistance
pad is against your heels (not against
your lower calves).
During the ascent of your feet,
your hips should come off the bench
slightly, to permit full contraction of
the hamstrings. Your hips should rise no more than one inch.
Any more than that will overstress your lower back, which can
cause injury. Excessive lifting of the hips also reduces the work
done by your hamstrings.
Don’t exaggerate the range of motion at the bottom of the
exercise. Stop the descent a few inches before your knees
fully straighten.
Standing Calf Raises
Faults: Incorrect setup, incorrect use of the standing calf
machine, too much knee flexion.
Fixes: Use a block that’s so high, it’s impossible to touch
your heels to the floor even at full stretch. You’ll compress
your spine if your heels hit the floor when you have a heavy
weight on your shoulders.
When you get positioned for the first rep of any machine
standing calf raise, don’t round your back. Put the pads in
position on your shoulders, pull your shoulder blades back,
bend your knees, and place your feet in position correctly on
the foot support. Use a hip-width foot placement rather than
a feet-together stance, to help you keep your balance. Then
keep your lower back slightly hollowed as you take the resistance on your shoulders. Don’t round your back.
Put the balls of your feet on the block, not just your toes.
Keep your big toes pointing directly forward or slightly outward
and keep your knees straight or just slightly bent.
An alternative to the machine calf raise is the one-legged
dumbbell calf raise, with you holding a dumbbell on the same
side as the working leg.
Partial Stiff-Legged Deadlifts
While both brothers were using straight-bar deadlifts, only
Yiannis was performing them full range from the floor. Stelios’
longer torso and shorter limbs made the full-range deadlift
an inefficient, high-risk exercise. So I had him perform it in a
power rack from knee height—in effect, a partial stiff-legged
A bodybuilding
odyssey, part 10
deadlift. The reduced range of motion
made the exercise safe for him so he
could get the benefits. I’ll cover the fullrange deadlift in a later issue.
Faults: Incorrect range of motion,
incorrect positioning for the first rep,
incorrect back positioning, asymmetrical
form, leaning back at the top position,
setting the bar down between reps, grip
failure.
Fixes: In a power rack find the pin setting that puts the bar two to three inches
below your kneecaps when your knees
are slightly bent. That’s the bottom position. Alternatively, set a loaded bar on
boxes so that the bar’s starting position
is the same as in the rack setup.
Stand with your feet under the bar,
heels about hip width apart and feet
parallel to each other or slightly flared.
Take a shoulder-width or slightly wider
overhand grip. For just the first rep, bend
your knees more than slightly, to help ensure correct back positioning. Hollow your lower back slightly,
and, with straight elbows, shrug against the bar and pull your
shoulders back and push your chest up and out. The bar
won’t move unless the weight is light, but the shrug will lock
your lower back into the required, hollowed position. Now,
while looking forward or upward, simultaneously pull with your
back and straighten your knees to move the bar.
During subsequent reps, bend your knees only slightly. Your
knees should straighten as you complete the lift and bend
slightly once again during the descent. Keep your head up at
all times, shoulder blades retracted and chest pushed up and
out. During the descent push your hips rearward to help keep
your lower back in the correct position. The bar should brush
your knees or thighs.
Lift and lower symmetrically, and don’t turn your head.
Don’t lean back at the top. Stand straight, pause for a
second, keep your scapulae retracted and lower back hollowed without exaggeration, and then lower the bar to the
pins by bending your knees slightly and simultaneously leaning
forward.
Don’t rest the bar on the pins or boxes at the bottom position. Instead, pause very briefly just above the pins. Maintain a
locked, hollowed lower back, with your shoulders pulled back.
Smoothly move into the next rep.
To keep a secure grip, use a well-knurled bar and lifter’s
chalk on your hands. Eventually, when you build up to a big
poundage, you may be forced to use an over-under grip. If so,
alternate which way you position your hands from set to set.
—Stuart McRobert
www.Hardgainer.com
Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s first
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Train to Gain / SPORTSMEDICINE
Dumbbell Rows for Back Growth
Neveux \ Model: Noel Thompson
One of the most popular exercises in serious gyms is the
dumbbell row. It’s an easy lift to learn and works the large
muscles of the upper body, producing far less lower-back
discomfort than a barbell row.
The dumbbell row works the large latissimus dorsi muscles
of the midback; the teres major, or upper lats; the middle and
lower trapezius; the rhomboids and the rear delts, as well as
the biceps, brachialis, brachioradialis and gripping muscles.
The lats, upper lats and rear delts pull the upper arm backward. The middle and lower trapezius and rhomboids pull the
shoulder blades closer to the spine. The biceps, brachialis
and brachioradialis muscles of the arm bend, or flex, the
elbow. So, as you can see, rowing motions target a significant
amount of muscle mass.
Many trainees include the barbell row in the early stage of
their training, but it’s often dropped later for various reasons,
usually lower-back pain. Trainees try to keep their upper body
very still as they row, but it becomes more difficult to maintain
that position as the weight increases. Other trainees move to
doing the bent-over row standing on a bench, which enables
them to touch the bar to the bench and then pull it toward
them as their upper body returns to a position parallel to the
floor. That variation usually limits the amount of weight that
can be used.
Many iron legends have rowed incredible weights. Hall of
Fame powerlifter David Shaw, Barbarian Brothers David and
Peter Paul, former NFL strongman Pete Koch (remembered
for his role as Swede in Clint Eastwood’s “Heartbreak Ridge”)
and former Mr. Olympia Samir Bannout all performed barbell
rows with 500 pounds. Eventually, even very strong trainees
like them let the barbell row fall by the wayside. Very heavy
dumbbell rows, with 220-pounders, became a viable substitute.
There’s more than one way to perform a dumbbell row. One
method that evolved and is believed to be very “strict” is to
place one hand and one knee on a bench with the other foot
on the floor and the dumbbell hanging down. Then you pull
the weight in a very strict manner. There certainly are situations where that form is beneficial. If a patient has just returned
from a shoulder or lower back injury or surgery, the knee on
the bench will allow only so much weight to be used and only
so much force to be exerted. Beginners are often taught to
perform dumbbell rows that way. Once the dumbbell become
relatively heavy, however, it’s difficult to maintain balance with
one knee on the bench.
There’s much discussion today of “stability training,” in
which trainees are placed in unstable settings to force them
to use various muscles to stabilize their core. The concept
is a topic for another day, but there are limits to that form of
training. To lift heavier weights, you must work from a stable
platform. The most extreme example is Olympic weightlifting,
where the lifters pull from a solid wood platform and wear
lifting shoes, which are very stiff. Once they’re in a very stable
position, they can pull the greatest weights at significant
speed and acceleration. I assure you they have very strong
cores.
The same can apply to the dumbbell row. If you have both
feet on the floor, spread them apart a little bit, and move the
leg that’s on the same side as the dumbbell back a little, your
free hand can support you on the bench. That puts you in a
tripodlike position, which is very stable. You pull the dumbbell
as in any row. You can let your upper body rotate slightly as
you pull—the paraspinal muscles will be activated more with
the slight rotation. Another variation is to pull the dumbbell
toward a point where the front pocket of your sweat pants
or shorts would be. That angle gives you a stronger pull than
you’d get by trying to pull the dumbbell toward your chest,
which could affect how your shoulder blades are pulled back.
Train smart. That will let you remain in the gym making
more gains.
—Joseph M. Horrigan
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,
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Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A., and the 7-Minute
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Train to Gain / OVERTRAINING
Train—and Rest—to Gain
Neveux \ Model: Mark Ryan
When I first began training
more than four decades ago,
I followed exercise routines
published in the magazines
to the letter. I recall using the
current Mr. America’s workout
routines each year, feeling that if
it worked for him, it would work
for me. My adolescent mind
hadn’t yet grasped the notion of
individual genetic responses to
exercise, nor had I any concept
of overtraining. One routine that
I used featured 70 sets for chest
alone, and the total workout
required five to six hours of
daily training. The only reason I
likely survived was my age—14.
It seems silly now, but many
young people still follow often
poorly designed workout programs they see in magazines.
These days, of course, the men
featured are often taking anabolic drugs, which dramatically
increase exercise recovery ability. Those who attempt to duplicate their routines without pharmacological assistance are
doomed to failure.
I see routines in the magazines and online that are simply
disastrous. They will definitely produce results—but not the
kind that the users of such wacky programs are seeking. One
article suggested that you train arms six days a week. Such
training is guaranteed to lead to muscle catabolism, reflected
by a loss of size and strength. Writers of such drivel are living
in their own world, and it’s significant that they never show the
gains they or their clients made on such “super” routines.
A recent rat study clearly illustrates what happens when
you get a bit overenthusiastic about your training. The authors note that muscle gains result when exercise activates
certain hormonal and signaling factors in muscle. If all goes
well, muscle protein synthesis is increased, leading to muscle
gains. The initial recovery of trained muscle also has an inflammatory component, however, and while inflammation is initially
necessary to clear out muscle debris and so on, it can be
counterproductive if it persists for an extended time. Indeed,
a major component of the loss of muscle with age
is out-of-control inflammation, setting the stage for
catabolic processes that lead to a loss of muscular
size and strength.
In the study, the rats did a compressed form of overtraining,
termed “stacked” exercise by the authors. Specifically, the rats
did four bouts of 3x10 reps of squatting exercise, separated
by three hours of recovery. That resulted in an acute suppression of insulinlike growth factor 1 release in muscle and
also suppressed muscle protein synthesis factors. Locally
produced IGF-1 in muscle as a result of training is required
for muscle repair and regeneration. It activates special muscle
stem cells called satellite cells. Adequate muscle glycogen, or
carbohydrate stored in muscle, is also needed to fuel muscle
recovery, but the amount of exercise also suppresses muscle
glycogen. The lack of muscle glycogen then switches on a
protein called AMPK, which lets the muscle use alternative
fuels, such as fat. But a side effect of AMPK is suppressed
muscle protein synthesis. The authors note that excessive
exercise suppresses gene expression and reduces the force
of anabolic factors in muscle.
While all that is going on, muscle inflammation increases,
fostered by the excessive exercise. That tips the balance toward catabolism, leading to no gains or even a loss of muscle.
The inflammatory cytokines that rise in muscle after intense
training, such as tissue necrosis factor-A, block anabolism in
muscle and promote catabolic pathways. The authors note,
“These results indicate that adequate recovery between resistance bouts is important for reducing inflammatory signaling
and subsequent protein degradation in muscle.” They add
that those effects impair anabolic processes in
muscle for up to 48 hours after training.
The lesson is that more is definitely not better. Steer clear
of those self-styled Internet experts who recommend “high
volume, high frequency” overload training to make spectacular
gains. For maximal training progress, allow enough time for
complete recovery between workouts. In simple terms,
rest at least 48 to 72 hours before training the
same muscle group again to give the inflammation
a chance to recede.
—Jerry Brainum
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on this action-packed DVD.
©2009 Home-Gym.com
by Charles Poliquin
Triceps
Training Tips
and Myths
Q: Can you give me some tips for isolating each head of the triceps?
A: One key to making the fastest gains possible is controlling the variables of training.
Tempo, rest intervals, frequency and exercise
selection are among the loading parameters
I look at closely when designing workouts.
Another variable to consider is body position, an oftenoverlooked aspect of training.
Many bodybuilders—and strength coaches, for that
matter—regurgitate and perpetuate training ideas that
are off base, such as: Leg extensions can develop cuts in
the quads, high-rep twists with a
broomstick will trim the waist, and
close-grip presses will target some
mysterious muscle group called
the inner pectorals.
One reason those nonsensical
ideas have persisted for so long is
that top bodybuilders often endorse them, and their big muscles
suggest that they know what
they’re talking about. If it were revealed in the latest issue of Hypertrophy Today that Mr. Olympia Jay
Cutler used triceps kickbacks “to
sharpen the shoehorn edges of his
mammoth triceps,” young bodybuilders would tend to believe it.
What’s even more absurd is that
the bodybuilders such stories are written about often have
nothing to do with the story. One writer I know who’s published hundreds of training articles in national magazines
told me that when he calls champion bodybuilders for
interviews for training articles, the muscleheads often tell
him they don’t care what he writes as
long as he includes a plug for their
guest-posing services.
Bodybuilding urban legends aside,
strength training and bodybuilding
have evolved thanks to sophisticated
testing methods, including muscle biopsies and electromyography. In one
of the more creative research endeavors, sport-scientist Per A. Tesch, Ph.D.,
used magnetic resonance imaging to
determine exactly how hard specific
muscles worked during numerous
common strength-training exercises.
For example, Tesch had subjects
perform various types of squats to see
which areas of the upper-leg muscles
worked the hardest during each exercise. His book Target Bodybuilding
(Human Kinetics; available at HomeGym.com) provides a summary of
those results. Although MRIs have
their limitations, such research gives
us data we can use to make more
intelligent decisions about training to
achieve specific goals.
We use research so that we can take
exercise selection one step further by
looking at how body position affects
recruitment. Performing a triceps
extension from a seated position with
Neveux \ Model: Danny Hester
SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING
Smart Training
Body position and exercise
angle can improve your
recruitment of muscle fibers.
COST OF REDEMPTION
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It hits all the right notes:
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a pleasure to watch a man
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train™
medial head gets more work at the
end of the range of motion. At the bottom of the range, however, the prime
mover is the lateral head.
You also need to consider your
hand position. Simply stated, pronation means “palm down,” and supination means “palms up.” When your
palm is pronated, the lateral head is
usually more active, whereas when the
palm is supinated, the medial head
works harder.
How about a practical example? If
you’ve got poor medial triceps development and want to break a plateau
in arm development, superset the
following:
A-1: Decline EZ-curl-bar triceps
extensions with chains, 4 x 6-8 with a
4/1/1/0 tempo, rest 10 seconds. I use
chains because they provide resistance that creates a better overload
on the medial head.
Neveux \ Model: Benais Begovic
SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SM
Smart Training
The farther away your
arms are from your
belly button, the more
long-head recruitment
you get.
elbows perpendicular to the floor, for example, doesn’t
have the same strength-training stimulus as performing
the exercise from a seated position with the elbows parallel
to the floor. That example demonstrates that the approach
many exercise gurus take of limiting the variety in their
workout programs to “Keep it simple, stupid” is simply
stupid.
A smarter approach is to look at how body position affects the triceps, specifically the differences produced by
performing triceps extensions on flat, incline or decline
surfaces.
Keep in mind that the triceps has three heads: long,
lateral and medial. Because the three heads join at a common tendon to insert on the forearm, it’s impossible to
purely isolate one single head. By changing your position
to change the orientation of your upper arm in relation
to gravity and to your torso, however, you can affect the
percentage of contribution of each muscle. Here are some
specifics:
Incline to perpendicular. The farther away your arms
are from your belly button, the more long-head recruitment you get. Exercises for that area include triceps extensions performed on an incline bench (incline position) and
overhead triceps extensions (perpendicular position).
Flat. Performing triceps exercises on a flat bench increases the contribution of the lateral and long heads.
Decline. As your arms get closer to your torso, which
occurs during exercises performed on a decline bench, the
A-2: Decline elbows-under-the-bar
close-grip bench presses, 4 x 6-8 with
a 3/0/X/0 tempo, rest two minutes.
That elbow orientation, with the
arms close to the torso, maximizes
medial-head recruitment.
I hope you get a chance to attend
our seminars to learn more about the
effects of body position on musclefiber recruitment. There is much,
much more exciting information
available on the subject—just as there
are many common myths that need to
be forgotten.
Q: Is the old “gram of protein per pound of bodyweight” rule still good? I hear some coaches say
we need less—like a gram per pound of lean body
weight only—and some recommend 300 grams a
day for a 200-pounder.
A: For a 200-pound lean male, 300 grams of protein per
day would be the minimum. In fact, I think the rule should
be closer to two grams of protein per pound of bodyweight,
assuming the person is lean.
For about 70 percent of the population—those who
aren’t carb tolerant—two grams per pound is good for mass
gains. It can make a huge difference. Personally, I couldn’t
get above 192 pounds until bodybuilder Milos Sarcev
persuaded me to start taking in two grams of protein per
pound of bodyweight. In no time I was up to 205 lean.
Now, if a person handles carbohydrates very well, that
value would drop to one to 1.5 grams per pound of bodyweight.
Someone like my colleague Christian Thibaudeau, who’s
not carb tolerant, should be getting two grams per pound.
But for a guy like Milos Sarcev, who can wake up and drink
a gallon of 50 percent maple syrup/50 percent dextrose
without its affecting his blood sugar, I’d say one to 1.5
grams. Guys like Milos, however, do need to get 70 percent
of their calories from carbs.
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Swimsuit Sizzlefest
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This 55-minute DVD
contains nudity. You
must be 18 or older to
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©2010 Home-Gym.com
Drink up. Dehydration can
result in high cortisol levels
and increased fat storage.
Q: How important is water intake for muscle
growth?
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SM
Smart Charles
Training
Poliquin’s
Your body adapts
to steady-state
cardio work after
about six weeks.
A: Water is often the most neglected nutrient. Dehydration leads to higher cortisol output and repercussions
ranging from increased oxidative stress on the brain to
increased fat storage.
As a rule of thumb you should drink 0.6 to 0.7 ounces for
every pound of bodyweight. In other words, if you weigh
200 pounds, you should drink 120 to 140 ounces of water a
day. An easy way to ensure that you’re drinking your proper
daily quota is to measure your prescribed amount out in
containers for the day every morning. By bedtime all the
containers should be empty.
When first starting this hydration protocol, many individuals realize that they’ve barely drunk 40 percent of their
water needs by the time they retire for the evening. That
in itself is very educational. The best indication that you’re
The notion that lowintensity cardiovascular
work is superior to highintensity work was refuted
years ago.
staying well hydrated is that your morning urine is clear. If
it has the color of Vermont’s finest maple syrup, drink up.
Q: Why don’t you like low-intensity, “steady-state”
cardiovascular work for fat loss?
A: With low-intensity, steady-state cardiovascular work,
your body usually reaches maximal adaptations after six
to eight weeks—for life. It’s therefore better to move on
to interval training if you want very rapid fat-loss results.
Although aerobics gurus call for a single cardiovascular
training protocol for maximum weight loss, research suggests otherwise.
Further, the notion that low-intensity cardiovascular
work is superior to high-intensity work was refuted years
ago in a study published in the July 1994 issue of Metabolism, “Impact of Exercise Intensity on Body Fatness and
Skeletal Muscle Metabolism.” The authors reported: “The
results of the present study show that for a given level of
energy expenditure, a high-intensity training program
includes a greater loss of subcutaneous fat compared with
a training program of moderate intensity.”
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
on page 245. IM
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©2010 Home-Gym.com
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Train ™
\ JULY 2006 181
Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission
NUTRITION SCIENCE
The Acid Factor
From a dietary standpoint, muscle
growth results when anabolic factors
predominate over catabolic factors.
Anabolic factors include a hormonal
milieu favorable to promoting gains in
muscular size and strength—such as
higher levels of testosterone and growth
hormone and a controlled release of insulin at the right time. The primary catabolic hormone is cortisol, secreted from
Is it sabotaging your
muscle gains?
the cortex area of the adrenal glands,
which sit just on top of the kidneys. A
high-protein diet is also vital for encouraging anabolism in muscle because the
components of protein foods, amino
acids, are directly involved in muscle
protein synthesis. Amino acids also help
curb the effects of cortisol.
Cortisol is released when the body
is under high stress and has a protec-
Older people are
more susceptible to
acidosis, which can
lead to muscle loss;
however, eating high
protein and low carbs
can put the brakes on
muscle growth even
in younger people.
tive role in that regard. In fact, a lack of
cortisol can lead to death if a massive
stress event, such as shock, ensues.
Exercise itself is a form of stress that’s
beneficial under the right conditions.
The body reacts to exercise by upregulating the muscular and cardiovascular
systems. On the other hand, the body
also has a finite capacity for that. Excess stress can overwhelm the body’s
defenses, leading to disease. Overtraining constitutes excess stress, which
results in a loss of muscle because the
body can’t cope with an overabundance of induced stress.
A less recognized cause of
muscle loss, which is
common among many
bodybuilders, involves
alterations in the body’s
acid-alkaline balance.
The body functions best within
a certain range of pH, which
is a measure of acidity. Every
bodybuilder is familiar with the
burn induced by an intense set.
The burn is caused by a buildup
of hydrogen ions, signaling
that the end of that particular
set is near. Energy-producing
enzymes in muscle fail under
high-acid conditions, leading
to muscular contraction failure.
The body is also affected, however, by systemic acidity.
While high acidity often happens during pathological conditions, such as a heart attack
or kidney failure, a more subtle
form often isn’t immediately
recognized. Systemic metabolic
acidity relates to diet, specifically an imbalance between
high-acid-producing and alkaline-based foods. Most highprotein foods, along with
cereal and wheat products, are high acid. Protein
generates acid because of the
presence of certain amino acids
that contain sulfur—methioNeveux \ Model: Ed Myska
EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EA
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• Contains the potent bioactive pyroglutamate form of L-arginine
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Results using GH Stak vary from individual to individual. Testimonial endorser’s results using it may be considered atypical. Testimonial endorsers have been remunerated by
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This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
nine, cysteine and taurine. The sulfur
content of the aminos encourages the
production of acid, mainly highly caustic
sulfuric acid.
The body normally neutralizes the
excess acid with various buffers, which
include bicarbonate, phosphate and
carnosine in muscle. The buffer
system is aided by the intake of
foods rich in alkaline minerals,
such as potassium, magnesium
and calcium. Alkaline foods are
mainly fruits and vegetables.
What happens when you eat a highprotein diet and no alkaline foods?
Studies show that most people lean
toward a high-acid diet, mainly because
they don’t eat enough fruits and vegetables. As people age, their kidney
function declines, and the kidneys are
the primary organ that excretes excess
acid. As a result, many older people are in a chronic state of mild
acidosis. Other studies show that
obese people on fat-loss diets are also
susceptible to becoming mildly acidic.
The higher acid levels that result from
such diets can lead to a loss of muscle,
which in turn results in a lower resting metabolic rate—which just about
ensures a regain of the lost bodyfat.
Other studies show that supplying a buffer, such as potassium
bicarbonate, stops the loss of
muscle. An easier way to do that
would be to just eat more fruits
and vegetables.
In response to a higher acid
level in the body, cortisol levels
rise, leading to a breakdown of
muscle tissue. When the amino
acids that are released from muscle
enter the blood, they travel to the liver,
where they are converted into glutamine. The kidneys use glutamine to
synthesize ammonia. The ammonia
molecules readily accept acid protons
and are then excreted as ammonium
ions, which leads to acid excretion and
lower blood acidity. That’s a primary
buffering system of the body, but it also
explains the connection between high
body acidity and loss of muscle.
The scenario gets worse with age,
Balance your protein intake with sufficient
helpings of fruits and vegetables to create
a more alkaline and anabolic environment.
as kidney function often declines by an
average of 40 percent in older people.
A recent study found that older
adults who eat more alkalinebased foods, as determined by
excretion of potassium, a primary alkaline mineral, experience
less loss of muscle than those
who eat only high-acid foods.
The authors suggest that seniors who
eat fruits and vegetables in addition to
enough protein will stave off the loss of
muscle that leads to frailty.
Another interesting recent study
focused on 1,136 young women, age
range 18 to 22, to identify any association between an acid/alkaline imbalance and cardiovascular risk factors.
The study found positive links between
high-acid food intake and high blood
pressure, increased total and low-density-lipoprotein cholesterol and, surprisingly, a larger waist, which is associated
with the metabolic syndrome. Those
effects were thought to be related to an
increased amount of cortisol induced
by high-acid food intake, coupled with
a loss of minerals that act as buffers in
the body, such as calcium and citrate.
What does it all mean to a hard-training bodybuilder? As I’ve pointed out
in regard to low-carb dieting, one of
the main problems with following a high-protein, low-carb diet
is the increased acidity. Some
claim that such diets lead to
loss of muscle, often incorrectly
attributing it to a lack of carbs.
It’s not the carbs—it’s the high
acidity; high acid favors more
cortisol.
The cure is simple: Eat more fruits
and vegetables. Those who don’t
should get enough alkaline minerals,
such as potassium and magnesium, as
well as citrate, to offset the higher acidity of a high-protein diet. Eating more
alkaline foods is far better, though,
because they provide other nutrients
often lacking in high-protein diets, such
as fiber.
—Jerry Brainum
References
Hughes-Dawson, B., et al. (2008).
Alkaline diets favor lean tissue mass in
older adults. Am J Clin Nutr. 87:662665.
Murakami, K., et al. (2008). Association between dietary acid-base load
and cardiometabolic risk factors in
young Japanese women. Brit J Nutr.
18:1-10.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ OCTOBER 2008 51
LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
Build Incredible Pressing Power and Bulletproof Shoulders
Unfortunately, shoulder injury
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trainees have to sacrifice
gains on many of the most
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the powerful info in The 7Minute Rotator Cuff Solution.
You’ll learn:
•How the rotator cuff
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•Specific rotator cuff
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•The best and safest
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•Exercises you should avoid.
•Specific training programs.
•Rehab routines for sportsspecific injuries.
•Bodybuilder’s injuryprevention routine.
•Detailed biomechanics to
pathology.
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©2010 Home-Gym.com
to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES
Food Facts
That can affect your
workouts, weight and wellness
Neveux
Tomatoes or tomato products (like ketchup
or tomato juice) in your
daily diet can lower LDL,
or bad, cholesterol, by
almost 15 percent.
Lemon or vinegar
on your food or salad
or lemon in your drinking water can
ease indigestion. Lemon and
vinegar increase
stomach acidity,
which improves
the digestive
process.
HORMONES
A Problem With Plastic
In the July ’08 IRON MAN, my item “Bottled-Water Whoas”
discussed the negative impact bottled drinking water is having
on our environment—from adding to landfills to the waste created in making the bottles. I also mentioned the health problems
that turn up when bottled water is left in the heat, such as a
closed car in the summer—chemicals can leach from the plastic
into the water—however, it’s not just plastic bottles we need to
be aware of.
Many people boil water and pour it into plastic containers to
make iced tea. They also heat up food in microwave ovens in
plastic containers. When exposed to excessive heat, a lot of the
plastics, including polycarbonate drinking bottles, release excessive amounts of bisphenol A, a chemical that mimics estrogen.
BPA has been shown to create problems with reproduction and
brain development in lab animals.
If it mimics estrogen, guys, it can’t be good for your testosterone and muscle growth. You may want to ditch the plastic drinking bottles and purchase one of the safer metal types now on
the market.
—Becky Holman
X-tremeLean.com
Citrus fruits,
such as oranges,
appear to prevent
and/or reduce wrinkles. Researchers
believe it’s the vitamin C content, as
C is key in the formation of collagen,
the substance that repairs and rejuvenates skin, tendons and ligaments.
Skim milk is a good postworkout
drink if you can’t afford the recovery
powders. If you
drink 24 ounces,
you get 30 grams
of protein and 40
grams of carbs. If
you go the chocolate milk route, 24
ounces give you 30
grams of protein
and about 80 grams
of carbs. Go for the
chocolate when
you’re not dieting.
Honey appears to have antiaging benefits. Studies with mice found
that those getting honey in their diets
had better memories and were less
anxious.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
The Best of Bodybuilding in the 20th Century
Here in one definitive,
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you have the best that IRON
MAN has to offer. The articles
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•Chest training
•Back training
•Arm training
•Abdominal training
•Leg training
•Training for mass
•Training for power
•Mental aspects of training
•Bodybuilding nutrition
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
to Grow
FAT L O S S
Green Tea to Get Lean
In a recent study a group of researchers managed to separate the normal fat-burning effects produced by exercise and
compare them to what happens when green tea is drunk
before the exercise.1
The two-part study featured 12 young men, average age
26. In the first part they took a capsule containing ingredients
equivalent to 3 1/2 cups of green tea three times a day, the
last one hour before exercise. Other subjects got a placebo
containing corn flour. The exercise consisted of 30 minutes of
cycling at an intensity equal to 60 percent of maximum heart
rate—low-intensity exercise that past studies have shown is
optimal for fat oxidation. In the second part of the study 11 of
the men took an oral glucose-tolerance test before and after
taking green tea capsules.
Those who took the green tea capsules had a
17 percent greater contribution of fat to energy
expenditure during exercise than those who took
the placebo. That scale of fat oxidation was over and above
what usually occurs during exercise, pointing to a definite
green tea effect. The second part of the study showed that
green tea increased insulin sensitivity by 13 percent, which
reduces the insulin response to a glucose load by 15 percent.
Green tea is known to modulate glucose metabolism. It
boosts the activity of GLUT4, the primary carrier of glucose
into muscle, which itself would increase insulin sensitivity. It
also mimics the effects of insulin cell receptor binding, thus
boosting glucose uptake into cells. Through encouraging the
oxidation rather than the storage of fat, green tea reduces
intramuscular fat increase. That’s significant because that kind
of fat can also produce insulin resistance—although not in
those who work out regularly.
As for fat oxidation, one mechanism involves the inhibition
of an enzyme that breaks down catecholamines, such as nor-
New fat-burning
evidence
epinephrine, which are involved in fat oxidation.
Prolonging the activity of catecholamines results
in greater fat oxidation. Green tea also elevates the amount of various proteins
involved in fat transport and oxidation, especially if used for longer periods. Green
tea is known to reduce the content of malonyl coenzyme-A,
the substance produced by carbohydrates that blocks fat
oxidation during exercise. The effect would be to increase the
potency of carnitine transport of fat into the mitochondria for
fat oxidation, a.k.a. beta oxidation.
Another study, this time involving isolated fat
cells, found that green tea can inhibit the development of new fat cells.2 The mechanism involved an
inhibition of GPDH, an enzyme, along with the inhibition of
PPAR-gamma, a protein that boosts bodyfat. Green tea acts
as an oxidant in fat cells—but that’s good because it activates
AMPK, a protein that stimulates fat oxidation in muscle during
exercise.
Green tea is not a miracle fat burner, and taking green tea
supplements is not a license to eat whatever you want. It’s
a dietary aid that enhances fat oxidation. Unlike many other
touted “fat burners,” green tea at least has significant research
backing up the claim.
—Jerry Brainum
References
1 Venables, M.C., et al. (2008). Green tea extract ingestion,
fat oxidation, and glucose tolerance in humans. Am J Clin
Nutr. 87:778-784.
2 Seuk-Moon, H., et al. (2007). Inhibitory effect of epigallocatechin-3-gallate on lipid accumulation of 3T3-L1 cells.
Obesity. 15:2571-2582.
CANCER ANSWERS
APPETITE ARRESTERS
Grape Expectations
Oral Fixation
According to new research out of the University
of California, Irvine, eating
grapes regularly (or drinking
red wine) may help prevent
colon cancer. In a study
conducted there, patients
with colon tumors were
given 80 milligrams of grape
powder daily, which is equal
to about three small servings
of grapes or half a glass of
wine. That significantly reduced cancer activity. Note
that supplementing with
resveratrol, the compound
believed to be the cancer fighter in grapes, didn’t have the
same effect. Go for real grapes, grape juice, raisins or red
wine, not resveratrol supplements.
—Becky Holman
X-tremeLean.com
In a recent study
reported in BottomLine Health newsletter,
subjects who chewed
gum for 15 minutes
every hour for the three
hours before eating
a snack ate 39 fewer
calories than those who did not chew gum.
While that doesn’t sound all that significant,
it shows that chewing gum can diminish the
desire to eat—plus, you’re burning calories
via continuous jaw exercise.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
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to Grow
ANABOLIC DRIVE
Eat Protein, Lose Bodyfat
It’s high time you left behind those who are stuck in a carbohydrate-centric world. Unless you plan to run 26.2 miles
or compete in the Ironman World Championships, having a
dietary focus on carbohydrates is like watching the Pussycat
Dolls and focusing on their ankles. The most important nutritional factors when it comes to losing bodyfat are what? If you
answered protein and fat, go to the head of the class. Those
are the two macronutrients that you must emphasize. Especially protein.
Scientific studies have shown that a high-protein
intake combined with aerobic and resistance exercise can improve body composition and cardiovascular risk profile more than a traditional—that is,
low—protein intake combined with moderate-intensity aerobic exercise. In fact, the popular notion that those
looking to lose weight should limit themselves to 15 percent
protein is part of the nonsense promulgated by mainstream
clinicians with waist circumferences that come eerily close to
the average yearly snowfall in Buffalo. What happens when
you eat more protein? Let’s find out.
Twenty-four overweight or obese men and women were
randomly assigned to one of three groups for a three-month
nutrition and exercise intervention:
1) High-protein diet and high-intensity resistance and cardiovascular training (high protein + exercise)
2) Moderate-protein diet combined with high-intensity resistance and cardiovascular training (moderate protein +
exercise)
3) High-protein diet only (high protein + no exercise)
Interestingly, all groups experienced significant and similar
losses of bodyweight, body mass index and total and abdomi-
nal percentages of bodyfat
and similar improvements in
insulin sensitivity. So eating
lots of protein by itself is a
way to lose bodyfat.
Also, the high protein + exercise group had decreased total
cholesterol and triglycerides and increased insulinlike growth
factor 1 and IGFBP-1. The moderate protein + exercise group
experienced decreases in total cholesterol too, whereas the
high protein + no exercise group had increases in high-density
lipoprotein cholesterol, total cholesterol-to-HDL, IGF-1 and
IGFBP-1.
This study points out several key issues:
1) To improve body composition, just eat more protein.
2) High-protein diets are good for your health.
3) High-protein diets are good for your heart.1
4) Don’t get your dietary advice from the American Heart
Association.
To expand on that last point, here is some brilliance from
that vaunted group: “The American Heart Association doesn’t
recommend high-protein diets for weight loss. Some of these
diets restrict healthful foods that provide essential nutrients
and don’t provide the variety of foods needed to adequately
meet nutritional needs. People who stay on these diets very
long may not get enough vitamins and minerals and face other
potential health risks.”2 What, pray tell, is the AHA talking
about?
—Jose Antonio, Ph.D.
Editor’s note: Listen to Dr. Jose Antonio and Carla Sanchez on their radio show Performance Nutrition, Web- and
podcast at www.performance
nutritionshow.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
.PerformanceNutrition
Show.com and www.Jose
AntonioPhD.com.
References
1 Arciero,
P. J., et al. (2008).
Moderate protein intake improves total and regional body
composition and insulin sensitivity in overweight adults.
Metabolism. 57:757-765.
2 American Heart Association. (2008). High-Protein
Diets. Retrieved from American Heart Association Web
site, www.AmericanHeart.org.
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to Grow
SUPPLEMENT SCIENCE
Arginine’s Anabolic Connection
Neveux \ Model: Sagi Kalev
Most bodybuilders are familiar
with the amino acid L-arginine
because it’s often touted as a
“growth hormone” releaser. Various forms of arginine have recently played a starring role in sports
supplements used to boost nitric
oxide. Since arginine is the main
dietary precursor of nitric oxide,
it makes sense for NO-boosting
supplements to feature it. Increasing NO may boost vasodilation,
resulting in an increased muscle
pump during training. As I pointed
out recently in IRON MAN, NO
does a number of other things
that are beneficial to health and
training.
Arginine is classified as a conditionally essential amino acid.
That means the nutritional requirement for arginine rises under
certain conditions. Among other functions, arginine is involved
in the detoxification of ammonia, which is produced as a
result of the metabolism of amino acids. With the participation
of arginine, potentially toxic ammonia is converted into urea,
which is excreted from the kidneys.
Arginine is also a glucogenic amino acid, meaning that it
can be converted into glucose, the circulating form of sugar in
the blood. That process happens in the liver and is called gluconeogenesis. Arginine is involved in the synthesis of various
important body compounds, such as creatine, polyamines,
ornithine and citrulline. Adding
arginine to creatine supplements
does not offer any benefits,
because the limiting factor in
the conversion of arginine into
creatine is an enzyme rather than
arginine itself.
The most overlooked
aspect of arginine is its
effect on muscle protein
synthesis. While the branchedchain amino acids, particularly
leucine, are most associated
with muscle protein synthesis, all
essential amino acids are actively
involved in the process. More
recent evidence shows that arginine mimics many of the effects
of BCAAs in regard to muscle
protein synthesis.
One recent study used rabbits as subjects. The authors
note that under severe catabolic conditions, such as burn
injuries, the requirement for arginine rises. Past studies show
that arginine greatly aids wound healing. At first, the effect
was attributed to increased growth hormone release. Later,
when arginine was identified as the primary source of NO, the
increased blood circulation fostered by NO was thought to be
the cornerstone of arginine’s healing effects. The most recent
studies indicate that the source of arginine’s healing power
is its involvement in stimulating protein synthesis. BCAAs are
involved in the same thing.
The rabbit study involved wounds to the animals’ skin and
muscle. One focus was whether the healing effect of arginine
involved increased NO release in the wound area. The researchers gave the animals a chemical that blocks NO production. That had no effect on the increased muscle protein
synthesis that occurred after the animals were given arginine,
although the blood flow to the wounded area was markedly
reduced, confirming that NO was blocked. The researchers
also ruled out increased insulin release, since plasma glucose
didn’t decrease, as would have occurred with upgraded insulin release. What they found was that arginine stimulated the movement of amino acids from blood
into muscle. That increased amino acid availability
and, consequently, muscle protein synthesis.
The downside is that while you can duplicate the results of
the experiment in humans, it would require an intake of arginine of 3.1 grams per hour for several hours. A possible side
effect would be excess production of NO, resulting in a drop
in blood pressure. The main point, however, is that arginine
spurs muscle protein synthesis independent of NO—one
more aspect of a versatile amino acid. Also consider that the
dose suggested above is about what many bodybuilders take
anyway in various protein or NO supplements. The muscle
protein synthesis effect is a bonus of getting a lot of arginine.
—Jerry Brainum
Zhang, X.J., et al. (2008). The anabolic effect of arginine
on proteins in skin wound and muscle is independent of nitric
oxide production. Clin Nutr. In press.
PERFECT POSTWORKOUT MEAL
TM
To Kick-Start Immediate Muscle Growth After You Train
Breakthrough research in
exercise metabolism now
reveals this fact: What you
consume (or don’t consume)
immediately after training plays
a critical role in determining
your success or failure! That
time period is known as the
“anabolic window” of growth.
The biggest mistake many
bodybuilders make is eating
a meal of chicken breasts,
baked potato or rice and
vegetables after a workout. This
is an approach doomed to fail
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The best way to produce this
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Train, Eat,
GROW
Muscle-Training Program 108
IRON MAN Training
& Research Center
From the
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
Photography by Michael Neveux
If you’ve been following our TEG
series, you know that we’ve been
training four days a week, working
legs only once, every Tuesday. Recently, however, we were forced to
train only three days, which caused
us to stumble onto a killer split for
those who have limited time and/or
recovery—older trainees, listen up.
Before we get to that, let’s take a
look at our normal four-day split:
Week 1
Monday: Chest, lats, triceps, abs
Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
calves, lower back
Wednesday: Delts, midback,
biceps, forearms
Thursday: Off
Friday: Chest, lats, triceps, abs
Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Week 2
Monday: Delts, midback, biceps,
forearms
Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
calves, lower back
Wednesday: Chest, lats, triceps,
abs
Thursday: Off
Friday: Delts, midback, biceps,
forearms
Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Week 3
Repeat Week 1
To reiterate, we work legs only
once a week on that split. For some
indirect leg work we were substituting regular deadlifts for the back
routine on Friday, but as we got
leaner and more depleted during
our ripping phase, we eliminated
that due to recovery issues—a.k.a.
having trouble getting out of bed.
The current version of our four-day
routine appears on page 66.
As we mentioned, the hybrid split
we devised is only three days per
week. You still train legs only once,
but the two upper-body workouts
are compressed into one session
that you perform twice a week,
Monday and Friday.
How do you keep the time down
when you’re training so many
bodyparts at one session? The
heavy/light system. We’ll elaborate
on that in a moment: First here’s a
snapshot of the innovative threeday split (H = heavy; L = light):
Monday: Chest (H), delts (L),
lats (H), midback (L), triceps (H),
biceps (L), forearms
Wednesday: Quads, hamstrings, calves, abs, lower back
Friday: Delts (H), chest (L),
midback (H), lats (L), triceps (L),
biceps (H), forearms
Notice that the bodypart order
changes on the two upper-body
days. On Monday, chest is heavy,
so it’s first, before light delts. On
Friday, however, delts get a heavy
hit, so they’re first, with light chest
work following. The same is true
of lats and midback. Lats get hit
heavy on Monday, so they’re first,
with light midback after; on Friday,
heavy midback is first, followed by
light lats.
Biceps and triceps get the heavy/
light treatment as well, but they
don’t swap positions. Why? If you
train biceps first, the pump you get
acts as a forearm buffer on triceps
work—a fully engorged biceps
becomes a fulcrum that can slightly
force the elbow joint apart in the
stretch position of some triceps
exercises. That could eventually result in injury, so we prefer to always
GRIND OUT THE GROWTH REPS™
Beta-Alanine Gives Your Muscles More Grow Power™
The biggest bodybuilders know that
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Muscle biopsies show that the largest
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fibers than sedentary individuals for good
reason: Carnosine buffers the burn to give
muscles more “grow power” on every set.
The bigger and stronger a muscle gets,
the more carnosine it needs to perform
at higher intensity levels. You must keep
your muscles loaded with carnosine to
grow larger and stronger. It all boils down
to intensity and the ability to buffer waste
products—hydrogen ions and lactic
acid—so the muscle doesn’t shut down
before growth activation.
Straight carnosine supplements degrade
too rapidly to reach the muscles; however,
more than 20 new studies document that
beta-alanine is converted to carnosine
very efficiently. All it takes is 1 1/2 grams
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©2009 Home-Gym.com
Model: Dave Goodin
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FREE Mass-Packing Secrets to Get You Growing!
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•How the Pros Pack on Extreme Mass
•Arnold’s Size-Stretching X-ploits
•The Forgotten High-Intensity Growth Trigger
•A Muscle-Building Mystery Solved
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•Bodypart Bloodbath for Super Size
•Monster Arms: Torching Your Tri’s
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(You can
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It’s exciting
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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
The bent-over dumbbell row
is a very efficient midback
exercise—you get some stretch
at the bottom as the ’bells
move together, you get a good
contraction at the top as the
dumbbells move apart, and you
squeeze your scapulae together.
train triceps before biceps.
What about heavy/light for legs?
That’s not necessary because you
train them only once a week. You
part pairings:
Chest (heavy)
Incline presses
High cable flyes (drop)
Bench presses
Dumbbell flyes
Low cable flyes (drop)
2 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
2 x 8-10
1 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
Delts (light)
Dumbbell upright rows 2 x 10-12
Lateral raises
1 x 10-12
Incline one-arm laterals 1 x 10-12
You need to take note of a few
things when comparing the heavy
chest program and the light delt
workout:
1) The reps are lower on heavy
chest.
2) You use more volume on heavy
chest, primarily with the addition
of drop sets on isolation exercises—two sets back to back with a
weight reduction on the second.
should always train them heavy,
although you can work in some
lighter, higher-rep sets as well.
Let’s look at a few sample body-
3) You use full 3D POF for each
bodypart; however, the order
on the last two exercises is
reversed on light delts. That
provides variety and gives
you a fascia-expansion effect. You pump the muscle
with occlusion from the
contracted-position exercise
first—lateral raises—then
follow with a stretch-position
exercise—incline one-arm
lateral raises—to stretch the
fascia that encases the muscle
fibers. Theoretically, the fascia
loosening can result in more
growth.
4) There are no pressing exercises in the delt program; that’s
because you do four heavy
sets of pressing for chest before training delts. At the next
workout, when you train delts
heavy, you add a delt-pressing
move, as shown below:
Model: Skip La Cour
You don’t do overhead
presses for delts on
light day because of
all the heavy pressing
you do on chest
beforehand. Heavy
overhead presses
enter the picture on
heavy delt day.
Delts (heavy)
Dumbbell upright
rows
Incline one-arm
laterals (drop)
Dumbbell
presses
Lateral raises
(drop)
Chest (light)
Bench presses
High cable flyes
Dumbbell flyes
2 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
2 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
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Train, Eat,
GROW
Notice that the light chest routine
is more abbreviated—you don’t
train every position for each pec
section. You choose which ones you
cover, depending on your development. If your upper chest is weak,
you may want to focus on that
deficiency—for example, incline
presses, high cable flyes and then
low cable flyes.
Just remember that the most critical workout for each bodypart is its
heavy day. Try to train all the positions of flexion and also use some
extended-set techniques like drop
sets and X Reps. Really hammer a
bodypart on its heavy day. On light
day go only to positive muscle failure or, stop one or two reps short.
You’re striving for a pump without
too much muscle damage. Let’s look
IRON MAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 108
Workout 1: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs
Smith-machine incline
presses (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Superset
High-low cable flyes (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10(6)
Incline flyes (X only)
1 x 12-15
Superset
Wide-grip dips (X Reps)
2 x 8-10
Dumbbell bench presses or pushups
2 x 8-10
Superset
Low cable flyes (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10(6)
Dumbbell flyes
1 x 8-10
Wide-grip pulldowns (X Reps)
2 x 9-12
Chins (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Superset
Stiff-arm pulldowns or machine pullovers 1 x 8-10
Rope rows or undergrip pulldowns
1 x 8-10
Dumbbell pullovers
1 x 8-10
Lying extensions (drop to dumbbells)
1 x 9(6)
Superset
Decline extensions
1 x 8-10
Decline close-grip bench presses
1 x 8-10
Tri-set
Undergrip pushdowns
1 x 10-12
Pushdowns
1 x 10-12
Bench dips
1 x 8-10
Superset
Dumbbell overhead extensions
1 x 8-10
Cable pushouts (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Superset
Incline kneeups
1 x 12-15
Flat-bench leg raises
1 x 8-10
Tri-set
Ab Bench crunches
1 x 10-12
Twisting crunches
1 x 10-15
End-of-bench kneeups
1 x 9-12
Workout 3: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
1 x 18-20
1 x 10-15
Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12
Forward-lean lateral raises (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Smith-machine behind-the-neck presses
1 x 9-12
Seated dumbbell presses (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Superset
One-arm cable laterals (X Reps)
1 x 8-10
Leaning laterals
1 x 8-10
Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10(6)
Superset
Dumbbell shrugs (DXO or stage style)
1 x 9-12
Cable upright rows (drop; X Reps)
1 x 10(7)
Machine rows (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Horizontal chins (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Chest-supported dumbbell rows (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Superset
Behind-the-neck pulldowns (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Bent-arm bent-over laterals (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Preacher curls
2 x 9-12
Cable curls (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Concentration curls (drop)
1 x 9(6)
One-arm spider curls
1 x 9-12
Incline curls
1 x 9-12
Tri-set
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls
1 x 10-15
Forearm Bar reverse wrist curls
1 x 8-10
Cable reverse curls (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Tri-set
Dumbbell wrist curls
1 x 10-15
Barbell wrist curls
1 x 8-10
Rockers
1 x 12-15
1 x 10-12
1 x 8-10
Seated calf raises (X Reps)
Workout 2: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Lower Back
Leg extensions (warmup)
Squats
Superset
Hack squats (X Reps)
Leg presses
Superset
Leg extensions (drop; X Reps)
Sissy squats
Feet-forward Smith-machine squats
Leg curls (X Reps)
Leg curls (drop; X Reps)
Knee-extension leg press calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 12-15
Standing calf raises (X Reps)
2 x 12-18
Superset
Hack machine calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 10-15
Machine donkey calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 9-12
Leg press calf raises (X Reps)
1 x 12-18
Hyperextensions or
Nautilus lower-back machine (X Reps)
1 x 10-15
2 x 10(6)
2 x 9-12
1 x 9-12
1 x 9-12
1 x 10(6)
1 x 9-12
Friday: Add soleus work
1-2 x 15-20
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.
The biceps and triceps routines are
abbreviated. You can do full 3D POF
for your arms if you have time, but
keep in mind that the bi’s and tri’s
get a lot of work when you train
chest, delts and back beforehand.
IRON MAN Training & Research Center Home-Gym
Program 108
Knee-extension donkey
calf raises
2 x 12-15
Donkey calf raises 2 x 12-15
One-leg calf raises 2 x 15-20
Seated calf raises 1 x 12-20
Hyperextensions
1 x 10-15
Monday: Chest (H), Delts (L),
Lats (H), Midback (L), Triceps
(H), Biceps (L), Forearms
Incline presses
2 x 8-10
Incline flyes (drop) 1 x 8(6)
Bench presses
2 x 8-10
Decline flyes (drop) 1 x 8(6)
Dumbbell upright
rows
2 x 10-12
Lateral raises
1 x 10-12
Incline one-arm
laterals
1 x 10-12
Chins
2 x 8-10
Dumbbell pullovers
(drop)
1 x 8(6)
Undergrip bent-over
rows (drop)
1 x 8(6)
Dumbbell bent-over
rows
2 x 10-12
Shrugs
1 x 10-12
Lying extensions 2 x 8-10
Overhead dumbbell
extensions (drop) 1 x 8(6)
Barbell curls
2 x 10-12
Concentration
curls
1 x 10-12
Rockers
1 x 15-20
Friday: Delts (H), Chest (L),
Midback (H), Lats (L), Triceps
(L), Biceps (H), Forearms
Wednesday: Quads,
Hamstrings, Calves,
Lower Back
Leg extensions
(warmup)
Squats
Sissy squats
Leg extensions
Walking lunges
Stiff-legged
deadlifts
Leg curls
1 x 15-20
3 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
1 x 10-15
2 x 9-12
2 x 9-12
Dumbbell upright
rows
2 x 8-10
Incline one-arm
laterals (drop)
1 x 8(6)
Dumbbell presses 2 x 8-10
Lateral raises (drop) 1 x 8(6)
Bench presses
2 x 10-12
Incline flyes
1 x 10-12
Decline flyes
1 x 10-12
Bent-over rows
2 x 8-10
One-arm dumbbell
rows (drop)
1 x 8(6)
Bent-arm bent-over
laterals (drop)
1 x 8(6)
Shrugs
1 x 8-10
Undergrip chins
2 x 10-12
Lying extensions
2 x 10-12
Kickbacks
1 x 10-12
Barbell curls
2 x 8-10
Incline curls (drop) 1 x 8(6)
Rockers
1 x 15-20
Note: If you don’t have a leg
extension machine, do oldstyle hacks, nonlock style.
Use partner resistance, towel
around the ankles, if you don’t
have a leg curl machine.
at the back workouts:
Lats (heavy)
Chins
2 x 8-10
Dumbbell pullovers (drop)1 x 8(6)
Stiff-arm pulldowns (drop)1 x 8(6)
Midback (light)
Dumbbell bent-over
rows
Shrugs
2 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
You train all of the positions of
flexion for lats on heavy day, but
you use only two exercises for light
midback. As we’ve mentioned here
before, the bent-over dumbbell
row is a very efficient midback exercise—you get some stretch at the
bottom as the ’bells move together,
you get a good contraction at the
top as the dumbbells move apart,
and you squeeze your scapulae
together. Plus, you get muscle synergy from your lats and biceps. We
like to use chest support to keep the
reps fairly strict. Finish with shrugs
for your upper traps. That’s a great,
efficient light-day midback attack.
Now let’s look at the other back day:
Midback (heavy)
Machine rows
V-handle cable rows
(drop)
Bent-arm bent-over
laterals (drop)
Lats (light)
Undergrip pulldowns
2 x 8-10
1 x 8(6)
1 x 8(6)
2 x 10-12
Keep in mind that there’s a lot of
crossover with those two muscle
groups—when you work your midback, you train your lats indirectly
and vice versa. That being so, you
really need only one exercise on
light lat day—undergrip pulldowns.
That exercise is to lats what bentover dumbbell rows are to midback:
You get some lat stretch at the top, a
good lat contraction at the bottom
and muscle synergy from the biceps
and midback. Very efficient.
If you’re like us, you probably appreciate an entire program laid out
for you with all of the above plugged
in. That’s what we’ve done on this
page, and we’ve made it a homegym version with basic equipment.
You can adapt it to your time constraints, recovery ability and gym.
For example, the biceps and triceps
routines are abbreviated—midrange
Train, Eat,
Model: Todd Smith
GROW
and stretch on
heavy day, midrange and contracted on light
day. You can do
full 3D POF for
your arms if you
have time, but
keep in mind
that the bi’s and
tri’s get a lot
of work when
you train chest,
delts and back
beforehand.
Remember, the
program is only
a template; you
need to tweak it
to your recovery
ability, genetics
and time constraints.
If you’re an
older bodybuilder or are
recovery challenged or have
time issues,
the three-days-per-week program
makes a lot of sense—and can
produce some outstanding gains
for you if you train hard. As we’ve
mentioned in previous installments,
heavy/light is an effective way to
build muscle—it’s how many bodybuilders of the ’50s and ’60s developed massive physiques without
steroids.
Note: You may want to use fascia-expansion supersets on light
day. That can speed up the workout
because you combine the last two
exercises—a contracted-position
move and a stretch-position move.
For examples, see our current routine on page 66. For a complete
heavy/light fascia-expansion program with supersets, see the new
e-book X-Rep Update #1, available
at X-Rep.com.
Editor’s note: For the latest on
X Reps, X e-books and the X-Blog
training and supplement journals,
visit www.X-Rep.com. A few of the
mass-training e-books are shown
below. IM
X-traordinary Workouts — X-ceptional Results!
The Ultimate Mass Workout.
This is the original X-Rep
manual. Includes the
ultimate exercise for each
muscle and workouts.
Beyond X-Rep Muscle
Building. More on X Reps
and X-hybrid techniques,
including X Fade and
Double-X Overload.
3D Muscle Building.
Positions-of-Flexion mass
training. Includes the 20pounds-of-muscle-in-10weeks size surge program.
X-traordinary MuscleBuilding Workouts. The big
10 mass-program arsenal.
Includes Heavy/Light, 20Rep Squat, Power Pyramid.
X-Rep.com
by John Hansen, Mr. Natural Olympia
Beginning
Bodybuilding
Q: I’m a 20-year-old guy from England. I’ve been
training for two months now, four times a week,
using a split routine. I’m trying to bulk as fast as
possible without the use of steroids. My question:
Are eight to 12 repetitions adequate for bulking, or
should I be working in a lower or higher rep range?
Also, perhaps you could suggest a routine you’ve
used to bulk up with.
should include approximately one exercise for each major
muscle group. Because you’re doing only one exercise for
each bodypart, it’s possible to train your whole body in one
workout. That would be impossible if you were doing several exercises for each muscle group.
Here are two good workouts for someone who’s just
started weight training. Notice that the first workout begins
with the muscles of the upper body and the second with
the legs. That helps keep your body balanced by not putting too much emphasis on some muscle groups or neglecting others by training them at the end of the workout,
when you have less energy.
Workout 1
Bench presses
Wide-grip chins or pulldowns
Seated dumbbell presses
Lateral raises
Pushdowns
Standing dumbbell curls
Leg extensions
Leg curls
Leg presses
Dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts
Incline situps
Incline knee raises
A: If you’ve been training for only two months, you’re
really a beginner at this stage. I normally recommend that
someone who’s just starting train the whole body at each
workout and repeat that workout two to three times per
week. That way you establish a foundation for your physique as well as gradually push yourself to get into better
condition. During the beginning phase, your strength,
muscle mass and cardioA beginner should perform
vascular health should all
three sets of 10 to 12
improve.
repetitions for each exercise.
A beginner’s program
Workout 2
Leg extensions
Squats
Leg curls
Hyperextensions
Seated calf raises
Incline dumbbell presses
One-arm dumbbell rows
Standing military presses
Upright rows
Lying triceps extensions
Barbell curls
Exercise ball crunches
Hanging knee raises
Neveux \ Model: Justin Balik
NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY H
Naturally Huge
Perform three sets of 10 to 12 repetitions for each exercise. The exception would be the abdominal exercises,
where higher repetitions—20 to 40—are best.
Follow that routine for three to six months to establish
a good foundation. It will build muscle mass and strength
and enable you to make an easy transition to the next
level.
After following the beginner’s routine for three to six
months, you can move to an intermediate split routine.
You do more exercises for each bodypart, which makes
training the whole body in one
workout on
toopage
difficult.
(continued
102) A
split routine makes you focus more on the individual
bodyparts by using more resistance and more volume.
You’ll also need more recuperation between workouts.
You can divide the muscle groups in several ways when
using a split routine. Because there are eight major mus-
Naturally Huge
Seated cable rows
Incline curls
Barbell curls
Wrist curls
3 x 10, 8, 6
3 x 10, 8, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 12, 10, 8, 8
Wednesday
Rest
Intermediates should use more volume on a
split routine and do six to 10 repetitions.
cle groups—chest, back, shoulders, biceps, triceps, thighs,
calves and abdominals—you train four muscle groups at
each workout.
You can train chest, back, shoulders and abs at one
workout and thighs, calves, biceps and triceps at the next
workout. Another alternative is to train all the pushing
muscles—chest, shoulders, triceps and abs—on the first
workout and the pulling muscles—back, biceps, thighs and
calves—at the next.
When I was younger and trying (desperately!) to add
muscle mass and get bigger, I used the push-pull routine,
which was very popular at the time. I trained chest, shoulders, triceps and calves on Monday and Thursday and legs,
back, biceps and abs on Tuesday and Friday. I rested on
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday. Here’s the exact routine I
used to bulk up:
Monday
Bench presses
Incline dumbbell presses
Flyes
Dumbbell pullovers
Seated military presses
Lateral raises
Bent-over lateral raises
Barbell shrugs
Pushdowns
Lying triceps extensions
Weighted dips
Seated calf raises
Tuesday
Incline situps
Incline knee raises
Squats
Leg presses
Leg curls
Wide-grip chins
Barbell rows
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
3 x 10, 8, 8
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
3 x 12, 10, 8
3 x max
3 x max
5 x 10, 8, 6, 6, 6
4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 10, 8, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
Thursday
Bench presses
Incline barbell presses
Incline flyes
Weighted dips
Seated dumbbell presses
Seated lateral raises
Upright rows
Power cleans
Close-grip bench presses
Seated barbell extensions
Donkey calf raises
Leg press calf raises
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
3 x 10, 8, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 10, 8, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 20
3 x 15, 12, 10
Friday
Incline situps
Incline knee raises
Squats
Front squats
Leg curls
Wide-grip chins
One-arm dumbbell rows
T-bar rows
Hyperextensions
Seated dumbbell curls
Preacher curls
Wrist curls
3 x max
3 x max
4 x 12, 10, 8, 8
3 x 10, 8, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 10, 8, 6
4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 10, 8, 6, 6
3 x 15-20
3 x 10, 8, 6
3 x 8, 6, 6
4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
That’s a very intense routine. It took a lot of energy and
commitment to do it four days a week, but it did the job of
really packing on the muscle mass. Of course, I was only 20
years old when I was training like that, so I was able to recuperate much more quickly, and I didn’t have any injuries
or joint problems to contend with.
You asked about the repetition range you should use to
build more mass. I recommend six to eight reps. You can
see in the routine that I usually warmed up with 10 to 12
reps on the first set and then used a very heavy resistance
for six to eight reps.
When you use a weight that limits you to six to eight
reps, you build a lot of strength because you’re pushing
yourself to go heavier each week. You also build the maximum amount of muscle mass because you’re increasing
the muscle fibers and specifically targeting the white, fasttwitch ones.
Q: I live in Sialkot, Pakistan. I have been working
out for three years in my home gym, yet my body is
not growing. My shoulders, wings, biceps, triceps,
upper chest, middle chest and lower chest are not
big. My workout is very hard, as my chest routine
shows, but I don’t see results in my body. Please tell
me why.
Chest exercises:
1) Pushups
3 x 15
You should train all sections of
your chest, including upper,
middle and outer areas.
2) Incline dumbbell presses
3 x 12,10,8
3) Incline bench presses
3 x 12,10,8
4) Flat-bench presses
3 x 12,10,8
5) Flat-bench dumbbell presses
3 x 12,10,8
6) Flat-bench dumbbell flyes
3 x 12,10,8
7) Flat-bench pullovers
3 x 12,10,8
My coach has a gym as well. Here’s my workout
schedule when I go there to train:
Monday and Thursday: chest and abs
Tuesday and Friday: shoulders, wings, back and
abs
Wednesday and Saturday: back, triceps and abs
So here are my problems:
1) My upper body does not increase and does not
show definition.
2) My chest is not balanced.
3) My abs are not good (fat problem).
I await your good advice.
A: I think I can give you some suggestions that will help
you to achieve better results. Let’s look at your chest workout first. You’re using seven different chest exercises to
build your chest—three sets for each exercise for a total of
21 sets of eight to 12 reps each. My philosophy for building muscle mass is to use the basic exercises with a heavy
resistance—six to 10 reps—for a moderate number of sets.
You also want to choose the correct exercises so you’re not
training the same part of the muscle with similar exercises.
Let’s look at the exercises you’re using for your chest
routine and what areas of muscle they stimulate. Pushups
work the outer pecs; incline dumbbell presses and incline
barbell presses both work the upper pecs; flat-bench presses, flat-bench dumbbell bench presses and flat-bench flyes
all work the outer pecs; and dumbbell pullovers work the
upper-inner pecs and help in expanding the rib cage.
Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov
Naturally Huge
My first suggestion is to cut back on the number of exercises you’re using. Choose one exercise for each part of the
muscle. For your chest, use one basic exercise for the outer
pecs, one for the upper pecs and one shaping exercise.
For example, you could do barbell bench presses for your
outer-middle pecs, incline dumbbell or barbell presses for
your upper pecs and flat-bench flyes—more of an isolation
and shaping exercise—for your outer pecs.
Cutting back on the number of exercises and sets you
use will give you more energy to put into the exercises. If
you did four sets for bench presses, three sets for incline
presses and three sets for flyes along with two sets of
dumbbell pullovers, you’d be doing a total of 12 sets instead
of 21.
The other factor for building more muscle mass is to
progressively use more resistance in your workouts. You
need to get stronger and stronger using the basic exercises
in order to build more muscle mass. Every week you should
attempt to use heavier weights or do more reps—in the sixto-10 rep range—with the same weight. If you’re using 300
pounds on bench presses for six to eight reps, your chest
muscles will be much bigger than if you’re able to use only
200 pounds for six to eight reps. A stronger muscle is a bigger muscle. Remember that!
I’d also suggest that you train more muscle groups in a
workout so you don’t have to train six days a week. If you
combined your chest, shoulders and triceps into one workout and your back and biceps into another workout, you’d
get more work accomplished in one day, and you could use
the other days of the week to rest and grow. By eliminating
similar exercises, you’ll also be cutting back on the number
of sets you do for each bodypart and will avoid overtraining.
I also noticed that you’re not training your legs—a big
mistake that many bodybuilders make when they begin
training. The legs are the biggest muscle group in the body,
and you’ll build more muscle all over by training legs heavy.
Start by doing full squats with a light weight to slowly
build strength and size in your legs. If you have a leg press,
you can do a few sets on it after you do your squats. Don’t
forget to train hamstrings with leg curls and stiff-legged
deadlifts. Here’s an example of how you could structure
your workouts:
Monday and Thursday: Chest, shoulders, triceps, calves
Tuesday and Friday: Legs, back, biceps
Wednesday, Saturday and Sunday: Rest
Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Mr. Natural
Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
Check out his Web site at www.NaturalOlympia.com or
send questions or comments to him via e-mail at John@
NaturalOlympia.com. Look for John’s new DVD, “Natural
Bodybuilding Seminar and Competitions,” along with his
book, Natural Bodybuilding, and his training DVD, “Real
Muscle,” at his Web site or at Home Gym Warehouse,
www.Home-Gym.com. You can send written correspondence to John Hansen, P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561. IM
Cutting back on the number of exercises and sets you
use will give you more energy to put into the exercises.
by David Goodin
Questions and
Answers Online
I can’t believe that it’s been a full year since I started writing for IRON MAN. This column marks the first of my second year as a monthly contributor, and I must say that I’m
really enjoying it. What I like most is getting e-mail from
readers with their questions, comments and sometimes
just brief notes thanking me for doing what I’m doing. I
also love getting to work in the IRON MAN booth at the
IFBB IRON MAN Pro and at the Olympia and meeting our
readers face to face. It’s been great, and I sincerely appreciate all the support that y’all have given me.
This month I’m going to revisit a few topics that I’ve
written about over the past year. I’ve been getting some of
the same questions repeatedly, so I feel I should go over a
Dave Goodin,
age 48.
few things again.
Reader 1: I hear that the new thing for young men
to do in New York City is to slather themselves in
Preparation H before they go to a nightclub. They
say it gets them ripped, which the women like. If
that works, could we use it for a bodybuilding show?
Dave: I’ll answer that one just as I did the first time: Covering yourself in Preparation H is just going to make you
smell like ass. It’s probably what those morons are drinking, smoking or snorting that makes them think that they’re
getting “ripped” from Preparation H. Being ripped has to
do with having very low bodyfat and adequate amounts of
muscle so that the separation between muscles shows up
and the striations within a single muscle belly are visible.
Being ripped takes a lot of hard weight training, dieting
and, usually, cardiovascular exercise. Occasionally, people
are ripped due to superior genetics, but that’s rare. And if
you’re not already ripped, Preparation H isn’t going to get
you there.
Reader 2: I’m thinking about competing in a
bodybuilding contest. I’m already lean, but I’m
holding about 10 pounds of water. What can I do to
get rid of it?
Dave: Is it there all the time?
Reader 2: Yes.
Dave: It’s not water. It’s bodyfat.
Reader 2: I was told that if I cut my
water for three days and took an herbal
diuretic, I’d get rid of it.
Dave: Muscle is about 75 percent water.
Blood is about 88 percent water. As a drugfree bodybuilder you’ll lose muscle cell
volume and blood volume if you dehydrate
yourself. You’ll be smaller and less vascular
and have difficulty getting a pump. You’ll
appear softer because your skin won’t be
stretched as tightly; your muscle circumference will be less. You might also experience
severe cramping and/or dizziness and fainting.
You’re still carrying a relatively thin layer
of bodyfat. You need to reduce that by a combination of diet and exercise in order to be
ripped for competition.
Reader 2: What if I just cut back on my
water the day before the show?
Dave: Don’t cut your water. I usually end
up drinking 1.5 to two gallons of distilled
water the day before a show. On the day of
the show I do not restrict my water. I drink
whenever I’m thirsty. Cutting back on water
will make you smaller and less vascular. Also
keep in mind that water isn’t your problem.
It’s bodyfat.
Check out my photos from the ’07 NPC
Team Universe at IronManMagazine.com. I
drank more than two gallons of water in the
24 hours preceding the show.
Reader 2: What about using herbal
Neveux
SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSC
Shredded Muscle
diuretics?
Dave: You don’t want to do anything to dehydrate yourself.
Reader 2: What about coffee?
Can I drink coffee the day of the
contest?
Dave: If you’re accustomed to
drinking a cup of coffee every morning, by all means have a cup the
morning of the show. A buddy of mine
drinks an enormous amount of coffee every day. The first time I helped
him prepare for a show, I had him cut
way back on the coffee that he drank
before the prejudging. That was a
mistake. By about noon he was experiencing withdrawal symptoms, and
I had to go to Starbucks to get him a
cup.
I’ll admit I’m hooked. I have a
grande or venti Black-Eye every morning on my way to work.
Reader 2: So you’re saying that
I have some bodyfat to lose and
that if I get that off, I don’t have to
worry about cutting my water or
taking diuretics?
Dave: Exactly.
Reader 3: Dave, I’m 44 years
old, and I’ve been training for
about eight months. I want to
have washboard abs like yours.
I’ve been doing a good 30 minutes of abdominal training and
core work four days per week.
I’m working extremely hard, but I
still can’t see my abs. What’s your
secret?
Dave: There are no secrets. You
can’t spot reduce. You can do all of
the abdominal training you want to
do, but until you get your bodyfat
low enough, your abs aren’t going to
show up. To be very honest, I work my
abs only once a week for about 10 to
15 minutes when I’m preparing for a
show. I normally don’t do any specific
ab work in the off-season. When I do
train abs, however, my philosophy is
to try to contract them as hard as I can
on each repetition. I usually do about
four sets of a leg-raise exercise, usually hanging leg raises, and then four
sets of crunches—either on the floor
or on a therapy ball. I go to failure on
each set.
As I mentioned, the biggest factor in having great abs is getting your
bodyfat extremely low. I rarely let my
bodyfat get above 8 percent in the
off-season, and I usually get under
3 percent in contest condition. A
lot of people have great abdominal
muscles, but we never see the six-pack
because they never get their bodyfat
low enough. Dropping bodyfat to
extremely low levels takes discipline
in training and diet, and it also takes
consistency. I usually take 12 to 14
weeks to drop from 8 percent to below
3 percent.
Reader 3: So, if I do more sets of
the leg raises, will that get the fat
off my lower abs? I seem to hold
more there.
Dave: Again, you can’t spot reduce.
With a combination of diet and exercise you’ll lose bodyfat from all over
your body, and the fat on your abdomen will gradually get thinner and
thinner.
Reader 3: Okay, but what
should I do about my love handles? They’re pretty bad too.
Dave: Diet and exercise. You have
to burn more calories than you take
in. You’ll lose fat all over your body.
You can’t spot reduce bodyfat. As you
lower your bodyfat, your love handles
will disappear.
Now, about the obliques. Those are
the muscles in the love-handle area.
The obliques work as assistance muscles when you’re doing crunches and
leg raises. They also contract very hard
when you’re doing squats or deadlifts.
Since the obliques are involved in supporting your trunk, they’re contracting
any time you’re standing, walking or
jogging. I don’t do any direct oblique
training other than some light twisting
with a broomstick. I caution physique
athletes about doing direct oblique
work or excessive core work because
it will thicken your waist, and the Vtaper is extremely important in physique competition. If you participate
in a sport or activity in which twisting
is at a premium, you should do some
strength training for the obliques.
Thank you all for your support
over the past year. Please continue to
e-mail me your questions and comments. Don’t worry that your question
might be stupid or too basic or that I
may have already covered it. There are
many, many things that I don’t know
and for which I need to go to experts
to get good, honest information. There
are also things that I can’t get through
my thick skull right away too. I’m
sure some of my friends and family
are sick of my asking the same stupid
computer questions over and over.
The bottom line is, don’t be afraid to
ask. My column is here to answer your
questions. If you don’t send them, I
won’t know what to write about.
Train hard and eat clean.
DESIGNED TO BUILD RES U L T S
Editor’s note: See Dave Goodin’s
new blog at www.IronManMagazine
.com. Click on the blog selection in
the top menu bar. To contact Dave
directly, send e-mail to TXShredder@
aol.com. IM
FROM THE MAKERS
OF OHYEAH!
COMES RE-SATUR8
®
™
RELOAD.
RECOVER.
GROW.
www.issresearch.com
®
by Steve Holman
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
Best Moves for Big Bi’s
Concentration curls are an “in”
movement that targets the outer head
of the biceps for more peak. Widegrip curling exercises, with the lower
arm angled out, emphasize the inner
head for more thickness.
Q: I love 3D Positions of Flexion training. It makes
sense and has helped me bring up my chest and
delts with fewer sets. My question is about biceps.
Which is best for the contracted-position exercise,
one-arm spider curls or concentration curls? Or
are they about the same?
A: In the e-book X-traordinary Arms we explain the
in-for-out/out-for-in principle. For biceps it means that to
focus on the outer head for peak, you use an inner-grip exercise. Concentration curls are about as “in” as you can get.
By curling the dumbbell across your torso to the opposite shoulder, you’re simulating an extreme inside grip,
emphasizing the lateral, or outer, head of the biceps, which
adds to the peak when you flex. It’s the outer head that
rises above the inner head to produce an impressive jutting
crest.
One-arm spider curls, which are performed on the vertical side of a preacher bench, are an “out” exercise—you
angle your lower arm out away from your upper arm. That
focuses on the medial, or inner, head of the biceps. Beefing
up that area gives
it more thickness
when your arm
is down by your
side and viewed
head-on.
Obviously, one
is not better than
the other—unless you want to
specialize on one
of those biceps
areas. If you’re
after complete biceps development, you should alternate
them as your contracted-position exercise. A good 3D POF
biceps program would be barbell curls (midrange), incline
curls (stretch) and concentration curls or one-arm spider
curls (contracted), alternating the last two exercises from
biceps workout to biceps workout.
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL M
Critical Mass
Q: Do you think I could lose 15 to 20 pounds in a
month? I have a reunion coming up, and I want to
be in a somewhat healthy-looking condition. I was
250 last night. I want the fat off. It’s killing me to see
this gut—you have no idea!
A: Yes, you could lose that much, but most of it would be
water and muscle—and you probably wouldn’t look much
better or feel healthy. We’re all impatient when it comes to
changing our bodies, but the best strategy is relatively slow
and steady.
You’d be better off shooting to lose about 10 pounds
of fat and lifting hard to build muscle. You’ll be amazed
at what losing some ugly fat and gaining some rock-hard
muscle will do for your total look and how you feel—from
the standpoint of health and self-confidence.
If you do it right, you’ll be adding muscle and losing fat,
so the scale isn’t something you should pay attention to
very closely. In other words, if you lose 10 pounds of fat and
gain 10 pounds of muscle, you’ll look completely different—as in so much better—but the scale will read exactly
the same. Always keep that in mind.
Q: What’s the difference in effect between rest/
pause and drop sets? I know what they are: You use
the same weight on rest/pause sets and rest about
10 seconds between them, while on drop sets you
move immediately to a lighter set with no rest. But
is one better than the other?
A: I’ve found that rest/pause is best for exercises that use
max force as their key growth component. In 3D POF those
are midrange- and stretch-position moves. It’s a great way
to add a little more volume and force overload without too
much extra time in the gym. Try resting 15 seconds, then
hitting another set to exhaustion. That lets ATP and nerve
pathways regenerate somewhat so you can continue the
force-overload assault.
Wouldn’t adding another set after a two-to-three-minute rest be better? Possibly, but that adds significant time
Neveux \ Model: Nathan Detracy
Q: I keep reading that the shape of the biceps is
genetic and can’t be changed, but [in the e-book
X-traordinary Arms] you say that it can. I’ve even
seen respected scientists say that changing the
shape of a muscle can’t be done. How do you respond?
A: What those scientists are referring to is the length of
a muscle. For example, if you have short biceps, with a gap
between the lower part of the muscle and the elbow joint
when it’s flexed, you can’t fill in that gap. You’ve simply
been born with a high biceps insertion point—same idea as
a high calf muscle. To fill in the gap would require muscle
reattachment surgery.
You can, however, use exercises that focus on one head
of a muscle to give it a different look—genetics willing, of
course. For example, in the answer above I explained how
concentration curls train the outer biceps for more peak
because of the inward angle of your upper arm, while spider curls, with the lower arm angled out, focus on the inner
biceps head for more thickness.
Another example is keeping your feet close on squats,
which hits more of the outer quadriceps, the vastus lateralis, for sweep. A wide stance hits more of the inner quads,
the vastus medialis, and the adductors, the beefy upperinner-thigh muscles. Remember, in for out and out for in.
The same holds true for angling your feet on leg extensions—toes out hits more inner quad, or the teardrop,
while toes angled inward hits more of the outer area for
sweep.
The rest/pause tactic is great for big, midrange-position
exercises like incline presses. Drop sets are best for
contracted-position exercises, like concentration curls,
because they provide more tension and occlusion.
to your workout. I
train on my lunch
break four days
a week, so I have
to find innovative
ways to tweak up
the volume without adding much
time—and rest/
pause is one of the
best tactics for that.
(Note: See the new
e-book X-Rep Update #1 for more on
rest/pause.)
The numbers on a scale can be
Drop sets, on the
deceiving if you’re gaining muscle
other hand, are best
and losing fat at the same time.
when occlusion is
the primary growth
factor—contractedposition exercises like leg extensions, leg curls and concentration curls. On those you’re trying to extend the tension
time, so that means as little rest as possible—only enough
to reduce the weight on the stack or grab a lighter pair of
dumbbells. A drop—two sets back to back, the second
with a lighter weight—is a great way to force the secondary
layer of growth that consists of mitochondria development
and capillary bed expansion. Plus, you get more muscle
burn, which can activate more growth hormone, a potent
fat burner and muscle builder. If you want to look big like
a bodybuilder, you have to attack every layer of growth—
from max force to stretch overload to tension/occlusion.
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many
bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Positionsof-Flexion muscle training. For information on the POF
videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad sections
beginning on page 246 and 280, respectively. Also visit
www.X-Rep.com for information on X-Rep and 3D
POF methods and e-books. IM
To Sleep,
Perchance
to Grow
Snooze or You Lose Muscle,
Part 2
by Jerry Brainum
I
Sleep and Exercise
Most studies examining the effects of sleep on training have been
contradictory, with some showing
negative effects, others none. Some
trends have become clear, however.
For example, studies show that if
high-intensity exercise is done in
the afternoon, it will adversely affect
sleep at night. Low-intensity exercise, however, has no effect on sleep,
unless the exercise is prolonged.1
Training in the morning has no effect on sleep.
Overtraining may indirectly affect sleep quality. Studies show that
overtrained athletes move around
more when they sleep, which can
have a disturbing influence. I recall
once visiting the home of a wellknown professional bodybuilder. I
noticed that he had a small Army
cot next to a larger bed. “Who sleeps
on the cot?” I asked.
“I do,” he replied. “My wife moves
around too much when she sleeps,
and that keeps me up, hence the
cot.” His pragmatic approach made
sense to me. It’s underscored by
the fact that he’s still married to the
same woman nearly 40 years later.
Lack of sleep may affect some
forms of exercise more than others.
For instance, studies show that partial sleep deprivation led to a lowered maximal oxygen intake, along
with higher accumulation of lactate,
a marker of exercise fatigue. Those
lacking sleep show higher heart
rates and more labored breathing
while training. That all points to
insufficient sleep adversely affecting endurance, or aerobic, training.
The insulin resistance induced by
sleep deficiency adds to that effect,
as it interferes with glucose use in
muscle.
What about weight training?
One study examined the effect of
exercise—weight training—in depressed older people.2 It featured 32
subjects with an age range of 60 to
84 who engaged in a weight-training program three times a week.
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
n Part 1 of this discussion we saw how lack
of sleep negatively affects your anabolic
hormones and promotes bodyfat accrual.
It also affects your ability to perform.
Another group didn’t train. Those in
the weight group reported improved
sleep quality, along with less depression, which itself can interfere with
sleep. Because sleep is a particular
problem for older people, the study
suggests, weight training can help
improve their sleep.
Another study had eight male
subjects, aged 18 to 24, who slept
only three hours a night for three
consecutive nights, then had a
four-day phase of normal sleep.
The segments were separated by 10
days. The men trained on a weight
program
that
included
biceps
curls,
bench
presses, leg
presses and deadlifts. Initial tests
were done to establish maximal lifts.
Lack of sleep didn’t affect biceps
training but did affect the bench
press, leg press and deadlift. The
deterioration in performance on
those exercises became significant
on the second day of sleep deprivation. The implication is that largemuscle-mass exercises are affected
more adversely by a lack of sleep
than exercise of smaller muscle
areas, such as the arms.
Researchers put physical-education students on light exercise in the
morning, evening and late evening.
Exercising in the late evening resulted in subjective reports of better sleep, along with less daytime
sleepiness.4
How can exercise aid sleep?
Several mechanisms have
been suggested:
• Anxiety reduction.
Disturbed sleep is closely
associated with anxiety, and
anything that reduces anxiety, such
as exercise, will help promote sleep.
• Antidepressant effect. Disturbed
sleep is a hallmark of mental depression. Since exercise is a natural
antidepressant, it can promote
sleep. One theory suggests that
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
Snooze or Lose
The common notion that
exercising late at night will
lead to sleep disturbances
just isn’t true.
Neveux \ Model: Cara Basso
exercise rapidly relieves depression
by suppressing REM, which seems
to lower depression. Reducing REM
sleep by 25 percent showed significant antidepressant effects.
• Thermogenic effect. Exercise
increases slow-wave sleep, possibly due to elevated body temFor those who don’t work out, perature. That leads to a lowered
core temperature, which
taking a hot bath about an hour body
is a sleep signal. Studies show
prior to bedtime can trigger the that a drop in body temperature
of one degree near bedtime is
sleep response because of a rapid
an internal signal that triggers
core temperature lowering
the drive to fall asleep. For those
that begins as soon as you who don’t work out, taking a
hot bath about an hour prior to
step out of the bath.
bedtime can trigger the sleep
response because of a rapid
core temperature lowering that
begins as soon as you step out
of the bath.5
One other thing: The common notion that exercising
late at night will lead to sleep
disturbances just isn’t true.
One study involved subjects
who not only exercised vigorously late at night but were
also subjected to bright-light
exposure, which is thought to
delay sleep by interfering with
the release of melatonin. Neither exercising nor exposure to
bright light, however, had any
Snooze or Lose
Drugs and Sleep
Several studies have investigated the relationship
between anabolic and recreational drug use and sleep.
Various surveys of anabolic steroid users show sleep
disturbances. One survey of 500 steroid users found
that half reported having insomnia.13 Men on testosterone-replacement therapy
showed an increase in stagefour sleep,
along with
longer times
to REM sleep.
High-dose
testosterone
reduced sleep
time and lowered sleep efficiency and the
percentage of
non-REM sleep
but increased
stage-two sleep.
Other studies
link an increase
in sleep apnea,
or temporary
stoppage of
breathing during sleep, with high-dose testosterone use. One theory suggests that the increased
nighttime metabolism induced by high-dose testosterone leads to poorer sleep quality. The most
recent study featured three groups: 1) 20 current
steroid users; 2) 21 controls with no history of
steroid use; 3) 17 sedentary men with no sleep
disorders.14
All three groups were examined in a sleep lab, using
devices that monitor sleep activity. The steroid group
had more reduced sleep efficiency and more wakings
after they fell asleep than the sedentary group. Those
in the sedentary group experienced a higher percentage of stage-four sleep than the nonusers, who lifted
weights but didn’t use steroids. Steroid users and
nonusers alike showed a higher percentage of stagetwo sleep than the sedentary group, and both exercise
groups had the same amount of stage-four sleep.
What it all adds up to is that those who engage in
weight training, whether they use steroids or not,
spend more time in the lighter sleep stages than those
who don’t work out. Steroids may adversely affect
the activity of serotonin, a brain neurotransmitter
involved in sleep. Steroid users with higher estrogen
levels, due to the conversion of androgens such as
testosterone into estrogen by way of the enzyme aromatase, may have a downregulation of GABA receptors
in the brain. That would adversely affect sleep because
GABA is the brain’s primary inhibitory neurotransmitter. Most drugs prescribed to treat insomnia interact
with the GABA receptor.
High-intensity training without sufficient recovery
between training sessions may produce sleep disorders through increased sleep fragmentation—that is,
lack of smooth transitions between sleep stages—with
more time in the less restful stage-two sleep than in
the deeper,
more restorative sleep
stages. Of
course, the
scenario
adds to the
overtraining
syndrome
because of
increased
cortisol and
other stress
hormones
that would
normally be
degraded
during deep
sleep.
Other
drugs—not
typically
used by
rational bodybuilders—also
have the potential to adversely
affect sleep.15 As you might
expect, most stimulant drugs
play havoc with sleep. Notable
in this regard is cocaine, which
increases wakefulness while
suppressing REM sleep. That
contributes to the well-known fatigue experienced
the day after an evening coke binge. Coke also fosters
nightmares, and the negative effects continue through
sustained abstinence. MDMA, or ecstasy, is an amphetaminelike compound that leads to persistent
sleep disturbances. Consistent use of the drug selectively destroys serotonin receptors in the brain, resulting in permanent brain damage that includes sleep
disturbances. Smoking marijuana reduces restful REM
sleep; however, pot also promotes sleep and increases
stage-four sleep. On the other hand, people who experience marijuana withdrawal consistently report difficulty sleeping and strange dreams.
Although not in the category of recreational drugs,
any type of nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drug, such
as ibuprofen—trade names, Advil and Motrin—may
also seriously disturb sleep if taken at bedtime.
NSAIDS, most often taken to reduce pain, wreak havoc
on sleep by preventing the lowering of core body temperature that acts as a primary sleep signal and by suppressing the release of melatonin. The theory is that
NSAIDs disturb sleep by interfering with the synthesis
of prostaglandins involved in the sleep process.16 —J.B.
Snooze or Lose
adverse effects on sleep.6
Nutrition and Sleep
sleep problems, factors that cause
insomnia, such as anxiety and depression, also invite vitamin use. As
the authors themselves note, “The
results of this study are unreliable
and unreplicable.”
Taking certain nutrients shortly
before bed can indirectly have
negative consequences for sleep.
For example, a high dose of watersoluble vitamins, such as the B-vitamins or vitamin C, has diuretic
effects that can interfere with sleep
quality. They are also cofactors in
the production of brain-stimulating substances—just what you don’t
need at bedtime. Even amino acids
can stimulate the brain and
High-glycemic-index,
or simple, carbs can
aid sleep.
What you eat definitely affects
how you sleep. One recent study
found that not getting enough sleep
had a negative effect on antioxidant defense systems.7 The study
looked at how a lack of sleep affects
glutathione, as well as several other
antioxidants. After five to 10 days of
sleep deprivation, the antioxidants
catalase and glutathione decreased
in the liver by 23 to 36 percent—a
magnitude that compromises
antioxidant defenses and opens
the door to a multitude of
diseases related to outof-control oxidation,
including cancer and
cardiovascular disease.
Given those
results, you might
be tempted to
take antioxidant
supplements at
bedtime. Another recent study,
however, suggests that those
who take vitamins experience
impaired sleep.
The subjects were
772 people, age
range 20 to 98, who
answered a questionnaire concerning their
except L-tryptophane,
sleep habits. Those who
an amino acid that
took vitamins experienced
converts in the brain
poorer sleep than those who
to the neurotransmitter
didn’t, including awakening more
serotonin. That gives trypduring the night, which interferes
tophane easier access to the
with sleep quality.8 There are, however, several
caveats to
A high dose of water-soluble vitamins, such as the B-vitamins or
consider. As
vitamin C, has diuretic effects that can interfere with sleep quality.
the authors
noted, no
They are also cofactors in the production of brain-stimulating
single vitamin is known substances—just what you don’t need at bedtime.
to disturb
brain. Tryptophane itself is a precursleep, but a combination may do
produce insomnia.
sor of melatonin synthesis.
so. Another factor to consider is
High-glycemic-index, or simple,
High-fat foods, because of their
that those with sleep problems are
carbs can aid sleep.9 Only simple,
or fast-acting, carbs are effective for
lengthy digestive time, bring on
more likely to take vitamins in the
that purpose because of the heightlethargy and sleepiness. On the
hope that they may aid sleep. So
ened insulin release that results.
other hand, eating a high-protein,
the sleep problems may have preInsulin drives all amino acids cirlow-carb meal prior to sleep can
ceded vitamin intake. While there
culating in the blood into muscle
produce insomnia because it inducis no link between vitamin use and
Snooze or Lose
es brain stimulation from certain
amino acids, such as tyrosine. Caffeine intake would not be amenable to sleep, as it’s a stimulant that
interferes with the activity of adenosine, a calming brain chemical.
Nicotine also is a brain stimulant.
While alcohol is a depressant and
so can help induce sleep, the sleep
it supports is impaired because it
interferes with normal sleep cycles.
Despite the research suggesting
that taking vitamins may interfere
with sleep, several other nutrients
have proven effective in inducing
sleep and relieving insomnia:
• Inositol. When taken in large
doses—four to 18 grams—this nutrient helps reduce panic attacks,
which keep those who suffer from
them awake.
A bonus of melatonin is
increased growth hormone
release, which likely occurs
because melatonin
speeds the way
toward the deeper,
slow-wave sleep
stages, when GH
release is maximal.
form is superior because
melatonin is rapidly degraded, which can lead to
premature awakening. A
bonus of melatonin is
increased growth hormone release, which
likely occurs because
melatonin speeds the
way toward the deeper,
slow-wave sleep stages,
when GH release
is maximal. While
the mechanism of
• Magnesium. A natural
melatonin in inducing
sleep-inducing mineral
sleep isn’t known, one
when taken at a dose of
theory is that it works
300 milligrams before bed.
by lowering core body
• L-theanine. An amino
temperature, which is
acid found naturally in
a primary sleep signal.
tea; at doses ranging from
Melatonin is also a
200 to 400 milligrams it facilitates
potent antioxidant that may help
relaxation.
prevent various diseases and slow
• Valerian. An herb that works
the aging process.
through the same receptors as
Besides nutrition, there are several methods
of bringing
While alcohol is a depressant and so can
on sleep that
help induce sleep, the sleep it supports
don’t involve
drugs:11
is impaired because it interferes with
• Inverted
normal sleep cycles.
posture. Neck
and chest
below the heart with legs above
prescription sleep aids.
the heart. That posture lowers
The dose is 400 to 600 milsympathetic hormones, which are
ligrams. Caution: it smells
stimulatory, and promotes a paraterrible!
sympathetic response, which pro• 5-HTP. This is a by-product of the amino acid trypto- duces relaxation.
• Skin warming and cooling. As
phane that directly converts
noted above, warming the body
into serotonin. The dose is
leads to a lowering of body core
100 milligrams.
temperature, which initiates sleep.
• Melatonin. Minimize
the dose to prevent morning Methods include a hot foot bath,
a hot bath, warm blankets, socks,
grogginess. The dose range
thermal feedback and consuming
is one to five milligrams. A
ice. Stretching to reduce muscle
recent study of 170 people
tone may also aid relaxation and
over age 55 found that taksleep.
ing two milligrams a day of
• Sensory withdrawal. Darkness,
a timed-release melatonin
supplement for three weeks quiet and rhythmic sound, or “white
noise,” aid in this. Note that expoimproved the quality of
sure to bright light inhibits melatosleep and mental alertnin release.
ness in the morning. The
• Breathing techniques. Slow exresearchers suggest that
halation (count to 10) reduces symmelatonin offers a “benefipathetic activity while increasing
cal treatment effect on
parasympathetic activity. The techthe restorative quality of
nique is commonly used by yoga
sleep.” No significant
practitioners and produces a feeling
side effects occurred in
of calm. Raising the carbon dioxide
any of the subjects.10
Using a timed-release
content of the blood through heavy,
Snooze or Lose
never napped. Occasional nappers
showed a 12 percent reduction. The
protective effect is linked to the lowering of blood pressure that occurs
just before sleep.
A recent study of 20 men and
22 women found that a two-hour
midafternoon nap following a night
of sleep loss lowered levels of the
inflammatory chemicals cortisol
and interleukin-6, both of which are
elevated during sleep deprivation.12
During his bodybuilding-competition years, Arnold Schwarzenegger
habitually napped between his
morning and late-afternoon training sessions. Arnold may have been
ahead of his time in that regard—or
then again, he may have just been
tired. Arnold says that a key to his
success is in the way he handled
stress, and napping may have
played a role.
What hapThe study featured 32 subjects with an age range of 60 to 84
pened to our
who engaged in a weight-training program three times a week.
friend Randy
Gardner from
Another group didn’t train. Those in the weight group reported
Part 1 of this
improved sleep quality, along with less depression.
discussion?
He’s alive
and well,
still sleeping
soundly—although not excessively,
Neveux \ Model: Bill Grant
Mozée \ Model: Arnold Schwarzenegger
rapid breathing quickly brings on
drowsiness but can also cause acute
anxiety in some people.
When all else fails, consider taking a nap. Studies show an inverse
relationship between naps and
fatal heart attacks. One study from
Greece of 23,000 people found that
those who regularly took naps had
a 37 percent reduction in coronary
mortality compared to those who
During his bodybuildingcompetition years,
Arnold Schwarzenegger
habitually napped
between his morning and
late-afternoon training
sessions. Arnold may have
been ahead of his time
in that regard—or then
again, he may have just
been tired. Arnold says
that a key to his success
is in the way he handled
stress, and napping may
have played a role.
Neveux \ Model: Mike Icolari
Snooze or Lose
The implication is that large-muscle-mass exercises
are affected more adversely by a lack of sleep than
exercise of smaller muscle areas, such as the arms.
I assume. In any case, his sleep-deprivation record turned out to be
short-lived. Another high school
student shattered it by two hours
about two weeks later. The last listing for the sleep-deprivation record
in the Guinness Book of World Records dates back to April 1977—449
hours set by a British woman. Those
who are contemplating breaking
that record should seek other pursuits. The Guinness Book no longer
lists the sleep record, considering it
too dangerous. So, prospective ap-
plicants, rest easy. You might consider going for the egg-swallowing
record. Better yet, take a nap!
References
1 Driver, H.S., et al. (1996). Sleep
disturbance and exercise. Sports
Med. 21:1-6.
2 Singh, N.A., et al. (1997). A
randomized controlled trial of the
effect of exercise on sleep. Sleep.
20:95-101.
3 Reilly, T., et al. (1994). The ef-
fect of partial sleep deprivation on
weightlifting performance. Ergonomics. 37:107-115.
4 Yoshida, H., et al. (1998). Effects of the timing of exercise on
the night sleep. Psych Clin Neurosci.
52(2):139-40.
5 Youngstedt, S.D. (2005). Effects
of exercise on sleep. Clin Sports
Med. 24:355-65.
6 Youngstedt, S.D., et al. (1999).
Is sleep disturbed by vigorous latenight exercise? Med Sci Sports Exerc.
31:864-869.
7 Everson, C.A., et al. (2005). Antioxidant defense responses to sleep
loss and sleep recovery. Am J Physiol
Regul Integr Comp Physiol. 288:
R374-R383.
8 Lichstein, K.L., et al. (2007).
Vitamins and sleep: An exploratory
study. Sleep Med. 9:27-32.
9 Afaghi, A., et al. (2007). Highglycemic-index carbohydrate meals
shorten sleep onset. Am J Clin Nutr.
85:426-30.
10 Lemoine, P., et al. (2007). Prolonged-release melatonin improves
sleep quality and morning alertness
in insomnia patients ages 55 and
older and has no withdrawal effects.
J Sleep Res. 16:372-80.
11 Cole, R. (2005). Nonpharmacologic techniques for promoting
sleep. Clin Sports Med. 24:343-353.
12 Vgontzas, A., et al. (2007). Daytime napping after a night of sleep
loss decreases sleepiness, improves
performance, and causes benefical
changes in cortisol and interleukin-6 secretion. Am J Physiol
Endocrin Metab. 292(1):E253-61.
13 Parkinson, A.B., et al. (2006).
Anabolic androgenic steroids:
a survey of 500 users. Med Sci
Sports Exerc. 38:644-51.
14 Venancio, D., et al. (2008).
Effects of anabolic androgenic steroids on sleep patterns
of individuals practicing resistance exercise. Eur J Appl Physiol.
102(5):555-60.
15 Schierenbeck, T., et al. (2008).
Effect of illicit recreational drugs
upon sleep: Cocaine, ecstasy, and
marijuana. Sleep Med Rev. In press.
16 Murphy, P.J., et al. (1996). Nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs
alter body temperature and suppress melatonin in humans. Phys
Behav. 59:133-39. IM
Kill
THE
“Old”
Myth
PR E S E NT S :
by John Pasco
I
vitality because bones, muscles
and nerves are tired and need rest.
“He’s paid his dues,” they say. “Now
we should see that he enjoys some
leisure in the years (months?) he has
left.”
Well-intentioned, charitable
agencies similarly feed that myth.
For example, the church I attend
has a program to build a “retirement
center” for seniors. It’s full of concepts that are intended to make life
easy for the residents. I’ve advanced
the idea that while some seniors do
need caregivers, the plan should
include assisting capable residents
to become rejuvenated through a
vigorous exercise program. My offer
has been met with absolute silence.
It’s my suspicion that it’s more satisfying for them to make life easier for
the “old folks” than to promote their
physical, mental, social rejuvenation. To provide for the latter might
just elevate the seniors to a less
dependent vitality, decreasing the
“market” of seniors needing assistance in their last years.
The blame for perpetuating the
myth is shared by some seniors
themselves—probably because,
believing the myth, they’re eager to
allow themselves to vegetate. Many
have a certain weariness born of
years of meeting the challenges of
life. The opportunity to relax and
have others discharge the obligations rising from the challenges
becomes appealing.
I’m here to tell you that the myth
that we should surrender to socalled old age, accepting without a
whimper inabilities that we’re told
are inevitable, is dead wrong.
First off, the idea that people
must use their bones, muscles and
nerves less as they age is backward.
The human body is a wonderful
creation that responds favorably
to the challenges given it. That is,
when you exert your muscles, bones
or nerves beyond what they can
handle and then rest a bit,
the body goes to work to get
the muscles, bones or nerves
ready to meet the next similar
challenge. In other words,
they grow and improve when
they need to. The contrary
also holds: If you don’t require
your body to do more, it will
become even less able. That
being the truth, contrary to
the old myth, people shouldn’t
take it easy as the years
mount. Rather, they should
work out, challenging their
body to respond, as it will,
with growth.
Some personal trainers
make a mistake in working
with seniors. They’re afraid
Model: Dave Goodin
recently received the following response to my
articles on aging and training:
“It is so encouraging to
learn that you/we can create muscle mass at an older age and
progress in bodybuilding or strength
training. I get excited just reading
about it. The old mythology told us
to ‘give it up’ as we age. Your dedication and success are so inspiring
and are a great kick in the butt for
me. There really is no excuse not to
try. Thanks for that too.”
That message fires me up to kick
more butts off the couches and
rocking chairs and into the vibrant,
vital life of bodybuilding. It validates
my writings. You all know the myth
of which he writes. Well-meaning
people believe it’s their duty to “take
care of the old folks,” to give them
an easy time in their last years. Their
understanding is that anyone who
gets up in years should have less
Bodybuilding
coach George
Turner in his 70s.
to really work the senior trainee. I
know that to be true from my own
experience. In my first days of working out to reclaim vital life, I was
guided by a young, well-intentioned
but inexperienced trainer. I started
out with very light exercises. The
trainer believed that he had to “go
easy on the old man.” Although I
had clearance from my doctors,
the trainer believed that if I overexerted, I might have a heart attack
or a stroke or something. I think his
concern was as much for himself
as it was for me. He didn’t want an
emergency on his watch.
I had to ask him repeatedly to
train me harder, expect more of me.
His reluctance to do that was one
of the reasons I found a real bodybuilding trainer who expects no less
of me than he does of his younger
clients. “Ask and you shall receive” is
a better guide. If you’re really serious about developing your physique
through bodybuilding, you and your
trainer have to make demands in
your training that go beyond, far
beyond, the myth about seniors. If
much is demanded of you, much
will be achieved. To ask little is to
ensure that the ravages of age will
continue to manifest. In that, age is
not a consideration at all.
My primary goal is to help those
who have reached advanced years
and/or have some serious medical
diagnosis. I encourage you to take
charge of your life through bodybuilding. Heed the truth of the old
hymn’s words:
The idea that people
must use their bones,
muscles and nerves
less as they age is
backward. The human
body is a wonderful
creation that responds
favorably to the challenges given it.
“Lay hold on life, and it shall be
Thy joy and crown eternally.”
Kill the myth that says we can’t
increase muscle mass at an older
age and progress in bodybuilding or
strength training. Not only can you,
but your body demands it of you.
If you accept the myth, you’ll only
become progressively older in mind,
spirit and body. If you take charge
of your life through bodybuilding,
you’ll become living proof of the
error of the myth. Your muscles will
respond to the demands and grow,
accompanied by the equal growth of
your mind and spirit.
Editor’s note: John Pasco is a 75year-old competitive bodybuilder.
For more of his articles, visit www.
Bodybuilding.com. IM
Lee Apperson
in his 40s.
4020
Is the New
How to Get Bigger and
Better With Age, Part I
by Eric Broser
The date was August 19, 1989, and
as I stood onstage at my secondever bodybuilding competition, I
listened with nervous anticipation
as the announcer counted down
the top five placements. I was only
20 years old, weighing in at a
skinny but sharp and proportionate
171, wondering if after just three
years of hard training I could
actually go home as the winner of
the Natural Mr. Eastern USA title.
“In fifth place…! In fourth!”
Wow, I’m still standing. They
haven’t called my name yet. Is it
possible? Am I dreaming? “In third
place…!” Holy crap, I’m in the top
two! The other guy looks pretty
damn good. He’s thicker than I am
and just as hard, but I know I have
a better overall look. It’s apples and
oranges. Fingers, toes and eyes
crossed. “In second place…! And
the winner of the men’s middleweight division is Eric Broser!”
The crowd goes absolutely
wild—packed as it is with dozens
of my friends and family members.
My heart is beating wildly, and I
struggle to fight back the tears. As I
grab the trophy and hold it over my
head, I realize that this will be one
of the most memorable and satisfying moments of my life.
40
I look bigger and
better today at age 40
than I did at age 20,
albeit with a few extra
aches and pains.
So here I am, 20 years later,
and yes, that first win was still the
sweetest. I often find myself reflecting on that day. It never fails
to bring a smile to my face and a
boost to my spirit. As I sit at my
computer just a few months away
from my 40th birthday, however,
I look in the mirror and see the
reflection of a physique that isn’t
merely as good as it was on that
winning day 20 years ago; it’s far
superior. That’s right, I look bigger
and better today at age 40 than I
did at age 20, albeit with a few extra
aches and pains. That’s the beautiful thing about the bodybuilding
lifestyle: If you live it every day, you
can get better with age, like a fine
wine.
Even so, there are significant
differences in how I must approach
my training and diet at my present
age compared to when I was a kid.
Wait, did I just say that? Hold on a
second. I still am a kid—and I have
the PlayStation and Wii to prove it.
To achieve longevity in bodybuilding, especially if your goal
is to continue to improve your
physique over time, you must be
not only consistent, dedicated and
disciplined but also intelligent and
40
calculating in your efforts. Your
program must evolve if you want
to keep pace with the changes in
your body that naturally manifest
themselves as you get older. You
can’t expect to be able to train and
eat as you did 20 years ago and
achieve the same type of progress. In most cases that approach
causes regression and, more than
likely, injury. So let me discuss
how my physique-building strategy differs today from 20 years ago.
Warmups
That was then: My warmups
were not what you would call extensive when I was a young buck.
Basically, all I’d do was walk into
the gym, decide what exercise was
going to be first in the routine and
then do two to three progressively
heavier sets of about 15, 12 and
eight reps before launching into
my first work set. Perhaps I’d do
another quick warmup set of each
new exercise after the first one,
just to show my joints and nervous system the new movement
and angle that were about to be
attacked. That was pretty much it,
and it worked fine. But that was
then….
This is now: These days the
first thing I do is make my way
over to a treadmill or stationary cycle for a five-to-10-minute
medium-paced walk or ride. I do
that to get some blood pumping
through my system and raise my
core temperature. Luckily, I live in
a warm climate; getting my body
into a light sweat does not take
very long.
Next I do some calisthenictype exercises for my lower back,
including side bends and twists.
I’ve had some serious disk injuries
in the past, so that’s vital to my
warmup. From there I move to
various shoulder roll and rotation
movements, as well as direct rotator cuff exercises using dumbbells
and/or cables. Once I’ve chosen
where I’m going to start my workout, I usually do three to four
progressively heavier warmup sets
of that particular exercise and at
least one to two warmups for each
exercise thereafter. I never skip or
rush through any portion of my
40
On most exercises I
use textbook form,
with a very full
range of motion—
until it’s X-Rep time,
of course—and a
slower lifting speed,
especially on the
eccentric portion.
warmup; I believe that’s essential
to staving off muscular and joint
injury.
Exercise Form
That was then: Compared to
the average younger trainee, I usually had pretty good exercise form.
Still, I often found myself getting
somewhat sloppy in an attempt to
move more weight than I was truly
ready to handle. There was a little
of the infamous bouncing of the
bar off the chest to claim a bigger
bench press, some serious back
arch on barbell curls, minor body
English during my “power” laterals
and more than a just a bit of jerking when trying to outlift Dorian
on bent-over rows—Dorian never
had to worry much.
Almost all of the younger guys go
through sloppiness at one point or
another, and that’s okay—as long
as the cheating is not so excessive
that it causes a major injury. When
you’re young, of course, your body
is quite resilient and can take a
major pounding without falling
apart. If you keep using loose form
for too many years, though, it will
eventually catch up with you, usually in the knees, shoulders, elbows
and/or lower back.
Still, I look back on those years
with affection and recognize
that the overload the extraheavy
weights forced on my muscles did
effectively produce hypertrophy
and made me rather functionally
strong. But that was then.…
This is now: If I tried to lift
with the same loose and explosive
style today, I’d probably end up a
cripple. That’s not to say I don’t lift
heavy and intensely these days.
Quite the contrary—the form and
lifting tempo that I tend to use now
are in many ways far more brutal
and intense than ever but at the
same time safer.
On most exercises I use textbook form, with a very full range
of motion—until it’s X-Rep time,
of course—and a slower lifting
speed, especially in the eccentric
portion of each lift. That forces the
resistance to move solely through
muscular contraction rather than
momentum, with the force falling squarely on the target muscles
instead of joints and connective
tissue. When an exercise gets more
difficult, I usually slow the movement down even more, although
the natural tendency would be to
speed it up. To me that’s when a set
gets down and dirty and it’s time to
dig deep and make the muscles go
to work.
Bottom line: If you want to
stay injury-free as you train into
your 40s and beyond, you have to
tighten up your form and become
conscious of every movement you
make when lifting weights. Go after
the target muscle for sure, but at
40
the same time keep your entire body
tight and stable. Not only will your
muscle growth be more efficient,
but you’ll also get to use more ice
in your protein shakes than on your
joints.
Training Frequency
That was then: Unbelievably
enough, when I was in my late teens
and early 20s, I’d train on a threedays-on/one-day-off schedule most
of the year, and when I was about
12 weeks out from a competition,
I would step it up to a four-dayson/one-day-off program. Thinking
about it now, I have no idea how I
did it. While it might not have been
the optimal frequency for my body
even back then—I believe I would
have progressed more quickly with
more rest—not only did I do well
on that schedule, I thrived on it.
Between the ages of 19 and 24 I
gained about 50 pounds and could
toss around some pretty big weights.
At the time most of the pro bodybuilders I admired trained at least
six days per week, and I felt I had to
do the same if I ever wanted to look
anything like my heroes. With my
hormones in full swing; very little
pressure or stress in my life; a ton of
eggs, red meat, milk, pasta, potatoes
and fruit filling my belly; and upwards of 10 hours of sleep per night,
What works best
for me is a twodays-on/one-day-off/
two-days-on/twodays-off training
routine. Anytime
I attempt to train
more than two days
in a row, I have a
poor workout on the
third day.
40
I was easily able to recover from
old physique.
such frequent beatings. But, that
was then.…
Training Volume
This is now: What works best
That was then: When I was
for me is a two-days-on/one-dayaround 20 years old, not only did
off/two-days-on/two-days-off
training routine.
Anytime I attempt to train
more than two
I fry biceps and
days in a row,
triceps in just
I have a poor
workout on
five to six sets.
the third day,
become rundown—maybe
even catch a
sniffle.… Pass
the Kleenex,
please—and/or
begin to feel an
old injury rear
its ugly head.
It’s almost as
if my body is
reminding me
that after two
days it wants a
break from the
weights. That’s
fine by me.
Most weeks
I’m in the gym
on Monday,
Tuesday, Thursday and Friday,
giving me weekends off, which
works quite
well with my
social calendar.
While I might
do some cardio
work on my off
days, depending on the time
of year, that
doesn’t make
inroads into my
recovery ability
the way lifting
weights does.
I train more frequently, but I also
Indeed, studies have demonstrated
did many more sets per bodypart
that off-day cardio augments the
than I do today. Although I was
body’s process of healing from
never one for those crazy four-hour
training. I’ve been making steady
30-to-40-sets-per-muscle maraprogress on my current routine,
thons, I was still able to maintain
have fewer nagging aches and
a relatively high workload without
pains and feel rather energetic
repercussions. I performed anymost of the time, leading me to
where from 15 to 18 work sets for
believe that I’ve found the optimal
the larger muscle groups—quads,
training frequency for my 40-year-
chest, lats and shoulders, for
example—and somewhere
between eight to 14 sets for the
remainder of my bodyparts. Because of my training frequency,
however, I worked each muscle
twice per week.
Today each
bodypart gets
only one beating
per week, with
the exception of
abs and calves.
As for the training program
from my early
days, it’s a wonder I had time
to do anything
else, although
I’m pretty sure
my only concerns at age 20
were getting big
and getting girls.
But that was
then.…
This is now:
At this writing
the bodypart I’m
prioritizing is
my back. I feel
that compared
to my chest,
it lacks thickness and depth,
which gives
those two opposing muscle
groups a somewhat disproportionate look.
Consequently, I
do more sets for
my back than
for any other
muscle group,
maybe 10. That
seems like a
lot. I blast chest
and quads in
seven to eight
sets, beat down hamstrings and
shoulders in six to seven sets,
fry biceps and triceps in just five
to six sets and hit the rest of the
muscles in four or fewer total
work sets.
While that’s not exactly Mentzerian—is that a word?—it falls
under the definition of lowvolume training compared to
40
the way most trainees work out. Truth
is, why do more if I don’t need more?
Remember, I’m currently in the best
shape of my life, carrying more muscle
than ever with definition and density
I’ve
found the optimal
that match my best competitive stats. It
training
frequency
for
mybeen
might seem
that the longer
you’ve
training, the morephysique.
you’d need to do in
40-year-old
order to continue to improve, but that’s
not the case with bodybuilding—and
there are reasons for it.
Next time I’ll talk about why less is
more as we get older and touch on several other areas of my program, which has
evolved over my many years in the gym.
Until then, remember, you’re not getting
older, only better—and probably a little
balder.… Rogaine, anyone? IM
GH
Surge
How to Maximize Growth Hormone
Release During Bodybuilding Training
by Jacob M. Wilson,
CSCS, and Gabriel J. Wilson, M.S., CSCS
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour
W
hat is it about resistance exercise
that triggers muscle
growth? What we
and others have found in the lab is
that resistance training stimulates
the release of several hormones
and chemicals that signal trained
muscles to grow.
One of the major hormones
released in response to training
is growth hormone. Its effects on
growth appear to be essential. For
example, a study by McCall and
colleagues showed that resistance
training could induce immediate
increases in GH and that there was a
correlation between increases in GH
and muscle growth.1 That means
individuals who released more GH
grew the most, and the nail was
hammered home when scientists
found that blocking GH release following exercise eliminated muscular
growth adaptations.2 So it’s critical
that bodybuilders understand how
growth hormone works and, most
important, how they can manipulate their training to maximize its
release following exercise.
The cell nucleus is responsible
for regulating the size of a muscle
cell. The number of nuclei in the cell
is regulated by satellite cells—cells
that surround a muscle fiber. When
a muscle fiber is damaged, the satellite cells divide and fuse to the muscle fiber. As they fuse, they donate
their nuclei to the fiber. If satellite
cells aren’t allowed to divide and
fuse to a muscle fiber, growth stops.
GH stimulates an increase in
satellite cells and the actual binding of satellite cells to muscle fibers.
That occurs indirectly through GH’s
ability to increase insulinlike growth
factor 1 release from the liver.3 IGF-1
that directly stimulates protein synthesis, or the building of proteins,
and also activates satellite cells.4,5
Acute Training Variables
Affect Growth Hormone
By now there’s only one thing
you’re interested in knowing: How
do you optimize growth hormone
release? A virtually endless combination of variables can be manipulated to change the GH response
to exercise. We can narrow them
down, however, to five immediate
ones: exercise intensity, rest periods,
volume, exercise choice and exercise order.
1) Exercise intensity. Exercise
intensity is expressed as a percentage of a one-repetition maximum.
For example, if you can bench-press
200 pounds for a single, then benching 200 pounds would represent 100
percent intensity, while lifting 160
pounds would represent 80 percent
intensity. A threshold intensity is
required to stimulate an acute GH
release following exercise.6 To see
what that threshold was, researchers studied the effects of lifting at 60
percent, 70 percent and 85 percent
of individuals’ 1RM for a total of
three sets on each of 12 different
exercises.7 They found that 60 percent wasn’t enough to stimulate GH
but that stimulation increased in a
dose-dependent manner at 70 to 85
percent of the one-rep max.
What happens when you compare moderately high-intensity exercise—70 to 85 percent of 1RM—to
maximum-intensity exercise? Scientists compared 10 sets of 10 RM
squats to 20 sets at 1RM intensity.8
GH
2) Rest periods. Rest periods
have a tremendous effect on
growth hormone release. Studies have compared 5RM sets to
10RM sets with either one- or
three-minute rest periods between sets.10 Which do you think
produced the greatest GH response? Lactic acid builds up in
the muscle and blood, but with
shorter rest periods the body has
less time to clear the lactic acid,
which means lactic acid buildup
is greatest following 10-repetition-maximum sets compared to
five-rep maxes, and greatest with
only one-minute rest periods
compared to three-minute rest
periods. GH is also highest after
10-repetition-maximum sets
done with only one-minute rest
periods.
So moderately high-intensity
exercise with shorter rest periods
produces the greatest GH response to exercise.
Moderately highintensity exercise
with shorter rest
periods produces
the greatest
GH response to
exercise.
An exercise protocol
stimuulates the secretion of
GH proportionate to the amount
of lactate produced during
exercise. Go for the burn.
It was found that the 100 percent
intensity increased GH by 450
percent, while the moderately
high intensity produced a 200fold increase. What was really interesting was that the increase in
GH paralleled a greater increase
in lactic acid production.
That study lays the basis for the
lactate-concentration hypothesis,
which suggests that an exercise
protocol stimulates the secretion of GH proportionate to the
amount of lactate it produces.
Lactic acid is responsible for the
burn you get during weight training, and it’s maximally released
during higher-repetition sets,
such as within an eight-to-12-rep
range.
Now, as loyal IM readers know,
under special conditions you
can stimulate growth hormone
release at very low intensities by
means of blood occlusion training, which was discussed in the
April ’08 IRON MAN by yours truly
and our colleague Layne Norton.9
If you haven’t read that, we urge
you to do so.
3) Volume. Volume is
determined by the number
of sets and repetitions and
the amount of weight lifted
in a given training session.
High-intensity bodybuilding,
in which individuals perform
one set vs. multiple sets of
an exercise, has always been
controversial. The question
is, What delivers the greatest
GH response? To investigate
that question, Gotshalk, et
al., studied the effects of
a single-set vs. a three-set
workout on blood GH.11 GH
increased to a greater extent
with the three-set workout.
In a similar study scientists
compared a group of individuals who performed
eight exercises at one set
per exercise to a group that
performed eight exercises
at three sets apiece.12 The
higher volume elicited a far
greater GH response than
the lower-volume session.
Studies have found increases
in GH from one to three sets
and from eight to 24 sets.
That suggests that, when
intensity is held constant,
volume may increase GH in
a dose-dependent manner.
However, more studies are
needed to see how far-reaching the relationship is.
GH
4) Exercise choice. This variable
is related to compound vs. isolation exercises, as well as the size of
the muscle groups being trained. A
recent review on GH suggested that
GH is released to a greater extent
with compound exercises and with
exercises that involve larger rather
than smaller muscle groups.13 Compound exercises involve movements
at more than one joint. For example,
a bench press, which involves movement at the elbow and shoulder
joints, would have a greater effect
than the dumbbell flye at stimulating a GH response. The squat,
which involves larger muscle groups
like the gluteals, quadriceps and
hamstrings, would elicit a greater
GH response than the bench press,
which mainly stimulates the chest
and triceps.
GH is released to
a greater extent
with compound vs.
isolation exercises
and in exercises that
involve larger rather
than smaller muscle
groups.
GH
GH
5) Exercise order. Performing
larger-muscle-group exercises first
may elicit a more anabolic response
for the remainder of a training session.
Evidence suggests that GH peaks 25
minutes after high-intensity exercise.
That carries several practical implications. For example, typically after a leg
workout athletes leave the weight room;
however, if an athlete is prioritizing a
smaller bodypart, he or she may benefit
by training it after the main workout to
promote GH-enriched blood flow to it.
So throwing in a few sets of biceps curls
after squats, for example, could make
your arms grow faster.
That also has implications in fullbody workouts—it would suggest that
larger muscle groups should be trained
before smaller to facilitate a more anabolic hormone environment for the
duration of the session. While the theory
seems logical, it has yet to be tested.
Bodybuilders slave in the gym for
hours on end to maximally stimulate
muscle growth. Hypertrophy appears to
be triggered by an increase in hormones
and other growth factors following exercise. The most effective way to train
for GH release is eight to 12 repetitions,
with one-minute rests between sets and
multiple sets. The threshold is unknown,
but GH appears to increase proportionately with volume up to at least 24
sets. Evidence indicates that compound
exercises produce a greater GH response
than isolation work, meaning that those
of you avoiding the squat need to reevaluate your priorities.
Editor’s note: Gabriel Wilson is
completing his doctorate in nutrition
with an emphasis on optimal protein requirements for muscle growth, and is a
researcher in the Division of Nutritional
Sciences, University of Illinois, Urbana.
Gabriel is also vice president of the Web
site ABCBodybuilding.com. Jacob Wilson is a skeletal-muscle physiologist and
researcher in the Department of Nutrition, Food, and Exercise Science, Florida
State University, Tallahassee. He is president of the Web site ABCBodybuilding
.com.
If an athlete is prioritizing a smaller
bodypart, he or she may benefit by
training it after the main workout to
promote GH-enriched blood flow to it.
So throwing in a few sets of biceps
curls after squats, for example, could
make your arms grow faster.
Practical Applications
References
A More Efficient GH Response
While research shows that multiple sets of an exercise increase
GH more than a single set, using extended-set techniques can cause
GH response to happen faster—perhaps after only one or two sets.
For example, adding X-Rep partials to a full-range set at exhaustion
increases the time under tension as well as the burn, which is lactic
acid accumulation, a primary stimulus of GH.
Using extended-set techniques—such as X Reps, supersets and
drop sets—is one of the ways I have continued to improve my physique into my 40s and beyond (I’m 49); however, it’s not random
application. I use the techniques best suited to an exercise.
IRON MAN readers know that I am a proponent of Positions-ofFlexion training, which is basically training a muscle through its
complete range. That usually means three exercises, one each for
the midrange, stretch and contracted positions. For example, a POF
triceps routine would be close-grip bench presses (midrange), overhead extensions (stretch) and pushdowns (contracted). That trains
the triceps muscle at three points along its arc of flexion, which
creates full muscular development with minimal waste in the gym.
It’s also great for maintaining flexibility as you age, but that’s another
story.
Midrange-position exercises. These are the big, basic moves
like bench presses and rows. The best tactic for extending midrange
sets is X Reps. At exhaustion you move the resistance to a spot at
which the target muscle is somewhat stretched, such as near the bottom of incline presses, and continue to do eight-inch partial reps.
That increases intensity and fast-twitch-fiber activation, creates some
occlusion and muscle burn and encourages GH release.
Stretch-position exercises. These moves put the target muscle
into full elongation against resistance, such as overhead extensions for
triceps and pullovers for lats. The best tactic for extending stretch-position sets is a static hold in the stretch position at exhaustion. When
you can’t do any more full reps, move the resistance into the stretch
position and hold for as long as possible. Research suggests that
stretch overload triggers anabolic hormone release in muscle tissue,
and it’s also been linked to hyperplasia, or fiber splitting.
Contracted-position exercises. These are continuous-tension
moves that include the target muscle’s fully flexed position, such as
concentration curls for biceps, leg extensions for quads and pushdowns for triceps. Because those exercises don’t allow the muscle to
relax during a set, they produce the best occlusion effect, choking off
blood flow to the muscle as it works. That heightens muscle burn,
which initiates growth hormone release. The best extended-set technique is drop sets—at exhaustion, immediately reduce the weight and
continue to do reps to exhaustion.
Training your muscles with POF and adding the optimal extended-set technique to
each position is an efficient way to encourage
growth hormone release with fewer sets so
you can continue building muscle through
middle age and beyond.
—Steve Holman
Editor’s note: For more on 3D POF
and X Reps, visit www.X-Rep.com and
www.3DMuscleBuilding.com.
1 McCall, G.E., et al. (1999). Acute
and chronic hormonal responses to
resistance training designed to promote
muscle hypertrophy. Can J Appl Physiol.
24(1):96-107.
2 Palmer, R.M., et al. (1994). Effects
of a polyclonal antiserum to rat growth
hormone on circulating insulin-like
growth factor (IGF)-I and IGF-binding
protein concentrations and the growth
of muscle and bone. J Endocrinol.
142(1):85-91.
3 Crist, D.M., et al. (1991). Supplemental growth hormone alters body composition, muscle protein metabolism and
serum lipids in fit adults: Characterization of dose-dependent and responserecovery effects. Mech Ageing Dev.
58(2-3):191-205.
4 Coolican, S.A., et al. (1997). The
mitogenic and myogenic actions of
insulinlike growth factors utilize distinct signaling pathways. J Biol Chem.
272(10):6653-6662.
5 Florini, J.R., et al. (1996). Growth
hormone and the insulinlike growth factor system in myogenesis. Endocr Rev.
17(5):481-517.
6 Felsing, N.E., et al. (1992). Effect of
low- and high-intensity exercise on circulating growth hormone in men. J Clin
Endocrinol Metab. 75(1):157-162.
7 Pyka, G., et al. (1992). Age-dependent effect of resistance exercise on
growth hormone secretion in people. J
Clin Endocrinol Metab. 75(2):404-407.
8 Hakkinen, K., and Pakarinen, A.
(1993). Acute hormonal responses to
two different fatiguing heavy-resistance
protocols in male athletes. J Appl Physiol. 74(2):882-887.
9 Norton, L., Wilson, G., and Wilson,
J. (2008). Occlusion training: The new
frontier in muscle growth. IRON MAN.
67(4):102.
10 Kraemer, W.J., et al. (1990). Hormonal and growth-factor responses to
heavy resistance exercise protocols. J
Appl Physiol. 69(4):1442-1450.
11 Gotshalk, L.A., et al. (1997). Hormonal responses of multiset versus
single-set heavy-resistance exercise protocols. Can J Appl Physiol. 22(3):244-255.
12 Fleck, S.J., et al. (1996). Influence
of resistance exercise volume on serum
growth hormone and cortisol concentrations in women. J Strength Cond Res.
10:256–262.
13 Fleck, S.J., and Kraemer, W.J. (2003).
Designing resistance training programs
(3rd ed.). Colorado Springs: Human
Kinetics Publishers. IM
Opener: Big back
Other photos: Sports Illustrated
cover; Back-double biceps comparison (contest lineup); Pulldowns;
Heavy one-arm dumbbell rows;
Ronnie Coleman double biceps
shot or training back; Weighted
chins
A Bodybuilder
Is Born
Great Backs Come From
Great Effort
Episode
39
by Ron Harris
Model: Robert Hatch
F
all was coming to New
England. The change of
seasons meant a new girlfriend for my friend Randy,
whose makeup artist had gotten
back together with some guy she’d
been seeing off and on since high
school. Then again, I think the girl
Randy was dating now was one
he’d dated around the time we first
started training. It’s hard to say. The
kid goes through so many females,
I doubt even he can keep track. I
often wonder if he meets girls sometimes and has to ask, “Hey, have we
ever gone out before?” Some guys
use the cheesy pickup line, “Don’t
I know you from somewhere?” In
Randy’s case he’s being sincere.
We’d gone to a big regional bodybuilding contest over the weekend.
They’re always fun affairs, especially
on the rare occasions when I’m not
competing. It’s a lot easier to enjoy
yourself when you aren’t dehydrated, exhausted and stinking of Pro
Tan and oil. I must admit that it felt
strange being a spectator and not
part of the spectacle. Then again,
everyone is part of the spectacle at
a show like that. That’s the funny
thing about bodybuilding—the fans
are also participants in the sport.
Contrast that with baseball, for
instance. You don’t have everyone
in the ballpark aspiring to play like
Barry Bonds or Alex Rodriguez.
Instead, they’re perfectly content to
watch incredibly talented players do
their thing out there on the field.
Bodybuilding is quite different.
Nearly everyone in the audience at
a bodybuilding show, unless we’re
talking about the worried moms
(“Don’t overdo it, honey!”) either
has been onstage or wants to be.
We even have monthly magazines
that cater to the idea that anyone
can look like Ronnie Coleman and
friends just by mimicking his training exactly. To the outside world
that’s pretty ludicrous. I have yet to
see Sports Illustrated run a single
article about how you, too, can
throw a football just like Tom Brady.
That’s because we all know
that Tom Brady’s prowess as a
quarterback is the result of not
only many years of practice but
also a genetic anomaly that gives
his throwing arm such inhuman
power and accuracy. Top bodybuilders are also endowed with
rare genetics, yet the rank-and-file
bodybuilders tend to ignore the
fact. You know, denial ain’t just a
river in Egypt!
But I digress. The amateur show
was a good one, with plenty of
bodybuilders in shape and flexing
their hearts out. Still, there was no
doubt in anyone’s mind as to who
was going to win, once we knew he
was in the contest. “Carl,” as I’ll call
him, was doing the show purely to
requalify for the Nationals, which
would take place eight weeks later.
He’d been to the USA and Nationals a half dozen times, finishing
around seventh or eighth as a light
heavyweight on each occasion. If
that doesn’t sound too impressive,
you must not know how tough the
light-heavy class at any pro qualifier
is. Carl was loaded with muscle, a
walking tank at 5’6” and 198 pounds
shredded to the bone.
When the class took the stage,
however, it was clear that it wasn’t
exactly going to be like shooting
fish in a barrel for Carl, as we’d all
thought. First he was going to have
to get through Rick, a guy making
his competitive debut.
I knew who Rick was because he’d
backed out of a couple
of shows
A Bodybuilder
Is Born
quickly.
“Do you know why, aside from
the fact that Carl has been competing since you were in kindergarten?
He’s more seasoned than a family
bucket of KFC.”
Rick shrugged.
“It’s your back. It needs a lot of
work to match the rest of you.”
I asked what he did for his back
Comstock
over the past year and a half, having
announced his intent to compete
on the message boards. Rick was
loaded with potential, but I’d written him off as just another flaky guy
Too many magazines and Web sites cater to the idea that anyone can
look like a champion bodybuilder just by training like one. Not true.
Model: Robert Hatch
who talked the big talk but, when
it came down to dieting all the way
down and getting onstage, would
never follow through. Boy, did Rick
prove me wrong. Here he was, the
only guy out of almost 20 light heavies to really challenge Carl. Rick had
mammoth delts, chest and arms, a
tiny waist and sweeping quads. Like
Carl, he was also in great condition.
It was only when they turned
around that I saw that Carl was
going to sweep the class easily after
all. Rick’s back just wasn’t that impressive. Not to say it didn’t have
some width and thickness, but it
didn’t match the rest of his phenomenal body at all. Carl’s back looked
like a craggy mountain range, popping with bulges and ridges when
he hit his rear double-biceps pose.
Before the night show began, I
was sitting up front with my wife
while the Indian food I had just
eaten roiled around in my belly
and sent early warning signs of the
distress I would feel later. Rick approached me. Because I write for
the bodybuilding magazines and
have a Web site, people often seek
out my opinion. After Rick introduced himself and we exchanged
pleasantries, he got right to it.
“Ron, what do you think about
my chances?” Rick asked me.
“He’s going to beat you,” I deadpanned.
“Oh.” Rick looked a bit shocked
that I’d come right out and said it so
A Bodybuilder
Machines and cables have their place, but you’ll
never max out the density of your back muscles
without some heavy doses of raw iron.
Once I made it clear that he could
have taken out one of the best
Balik \ Model: Ronnie Coleman
ments—weighted chins, barbell
rows, dumbbell rows and deadlifts.
Model: Mike Icolari
Is Born
and learned it was mainly a lot of
cable rows and pulldowns, along
with some Hammer Strength
machines. When I chastised him
for the lack of free weights, he reminded me that his back routine
was nearly identical to the one
Ronnie Coleman performs in his
latest DVD.
“Yes,” I agreed, “but that’s Ronnie’s second back workout of the
week! In his other training video,
you see him do deadlifts, T-bar
rows and barbell rows. Machines
and cables have their place, but
you’ll never max out the density
of your back muscles without
some heavy doses of raw iron.”
“Maybe I should have bought
the other video too,” he said.
It turned out that Rick had
never liked training back and
had never really devoted himself
to the tough free-weight move-
bodybuilders in our part
of the country in his first
contest if only his back had
been better developed, his
attitude about training it
changed immediately.
“Back day is going to
become your favorite
workout of the week,” I
explained. “You’re going to
set goals with each exercise
to increase the weight, the
reps, or both on a regular
basis.”
Rick nodded in agreement. He planned to
compete again at the same
show next year and to blow
it away the way Carl was
doing on this day.
By the time Carl received
his trophy for winning the
overall a couple of hours
later, I knew something
was dreadfully wrong
down in my guts. I would
spend the next day or so
visiting the toilet, but at
least I could take solace in
knowing that somewhere
Rick was building himself a
bigger and better back. As
for me, the next time I’m
offered anything with the
words curry or tandoori in
it, I’ll pass. IM
“R
iding a life” is
the best way to
describe Brad
Harris’ rise from
a wide-eyed
youth of 14 who
was inspired by the immortal Steve
Reeves to start weight training and
traveled to Muscle Beach on a bus
from his home in Burbank, California. He later followed Steve Reeves
to Italy and, like Reeves, became an
international movie star. His film
career spans 48 years, and he’s appeared in more than 40 pictures
plus a slew of TV shows as an adven-
ture-movie hero and phenomenal
stuntman. He was inducted into the
Hollywood Stuntmen’s Hall of Fame
on January 19, 2006, and was honored with a Lifetime Achievement
Award at the “Brad Harris Live” Film
Festival on April 29, 2006, in Germany, where he signed autographs for
three hours. There are active Brad
Harris fan clubs even today.
Brad’s exciting and adventurous
career is documented in a 387-page
biography by Reiner Boller, Brad
Harris, the American Bavarian,
which received glowing reviews.
There are stories of incredible ad-
venture, life-threatening danger,
love, sorrow and grief, as well as
some that are very funny indeed.
Negotiations are currently under
way to make Brad’s life story into a
feature film.
Harris’ name represented action in the European cinema of the
1960s, whether as Hercules in the
Italian epics or as Captain Rowland
in the “Police Inspector X” series of
films. He was also the role model
for such strong action heroes as
Arnold Schwarzenegger and, in fact,
had the Governor under personal
contract at one point. He always
Brad
Harris:
Very Alive at 75!
All Photography courtesy of Brad Harris Archives unless otherwise indicated.
The Hollywood
Stuntman Hall of Famer.
Negrita Jayde
by Gene Mozée
Don Leomazzi
Filming
“Death
Stone” in Sri
Lanka, 1971.
Clockwise, from top
left: Brad filming
“Mr. Dynamite” in
Spain, 1967; poster
for Harris’ film
festival in Essen,
Germany, 2006; poster for Brad’s
first European film, 1961; in front of
a billboard for a film he and his wife
starred in and he co-produced, 1970;
filming “Hunt for the Red Tiger” in
Pakistan, where he’s called a “Golden
Jubilee Star,” 1971.
Brad Harris
many musclemen to appear in those
sword-and-sandal movies, none was
as versatile or as prolific as Brad. He
was far and away the best athlete of
the group.
Later this year Brad is set to appear in a new movie based on the
million-seller novel Shiver, written by Brian Harper. He will also
serve as associate producer on the
project. His rigorous daily workout
regimen keeps him in tiptop shape
so that he’s always ready.
Harris was an outstanding athlete
at Burbank High School, where he
competed in football, basketball
and track. Classmate and highly
acclaimed actor-bodybuilder Bill
Smith used to train with Brad in his
garage. Brad was elected student
body president and was offered a
football scholarship to USC, but
he chose the academic climate at
UCLA, where he graduated with a
degree in political geography. Brad
speaks Italian, German and some
French and Spanish.
“Because of Muscle Beach and
Steve Reeves, I began weight training,” says Brad. “Because of Muscle
Beach and Steve Reeves I became a
third-world movie star and traveled
around the world many times and
experienced many adventures. I
Don Leomazzi
performed his own stunts, risking
his life in more than a few of them.
He was the stunt coordinator on
many of his films and also trained
stuntmen.
He belongs to a unique fraternity
of cinematic heroes who established
their place in motion picture history
in the period Italians commonly
refer to l’epoca d’oro, or the golden
age, which began in the early ’60s
with Federico Fellini’s “La Dolce
Vita,” “Cleopatra” with Elizabeth
Taylor and Richard Burton and
“Hercules” with Steve Reeves, and
took in the 1960 Olympic Games,
which were held in Rome. Of the
At right:
performing in
the German film
“Death Trip,”
which was filmed
near Ankara,
Turkey, in ’67.
Above: training with
an assist from Arnold
and Franco Columbu at
Gold’s Gym in Venice,
California, circa 1970.
At right: starring in
“Masacre at Marble
City,” which was
filmed in Prague, Czech
Republic, in ’64.
Brad Harris:
Don Leomazzi
Brad as Captain Rowland
in the German film series
“Kommissar X.”
Art Zeller
party, the Oktoberfest,
in Munich, Germany—
2008 was his 49th consecutive year. Not even
Arnold can top that.
Today, Brad Harris is
dedicated to his fitness
corporation, Modern
Body Design. He produces Ab-OrigiOnals, a
unique abdominal-exercise device that enables the user to work
the midsection from all
angles for maximum
results. His company
also produces HotPex,
which are the ultimate
SPORT REVUE
Cover photo by
Albert Busek
now live near Muscle Beach and see
it almost every evening. I walk down
to the beach and sit on a turnedover trash can while gazing up into
the great beyond. The oxygen from
the ocean breeze is invigorating and
rejuvenating. I get some of my best
ideas during that quiet period of
meditation under the darkening sky.
Modern medicine is now discovering the value of pure oxygen used
in a hyperbaric chamber to combat
the many diseases that can’t survive
in pure oxygen. Exercise and oxygen
therapy is a new medical discovery
with great promise.”
He holds a possible world record
for attending the world’s largest
Clockwise from top: Brad and
Arnold at Muscle Beach, circa 1969;
wind sprinting on a mountain bike
in Santa Monica, California; at
Oktoberfest, Munich, Germany; on
the cover of Sport Revue, Germany’s
largest muscle magazine.
Brad Harris
pushup handles for working the
chest, triceps and shoulders. He
has developed other exercise
devices that he uses in his
workouts.
Brad is quick to point out
that his personal program is
designed specifically for his
needs and goals, based on
more than 60 years of trial
and error. He performs many
exercises with the equipment
that he designed and sells—he
feels that they are the best, or
he wouldn’t recommend them.
He doesn’t recommend that
anyone try to follow his exact
Brad in 1987,
after just
six weeks of
training with his
first pair of AbOrigiOnals.
Brad, his wife
Olinka and
their daughter
Sabrina at
their palazzo in
Rome, 1969.
Brad and Sabrina: “The most important job
in the universe is parenting.”
Brad Harris
exercises, but you can learn the
basic principles of his system and
apply them to your own workouts.
He has an individual approach to
training and diet:
“I train every single day—seven
days a week. Presently, I’m on a
four-day cycle. I concentrate on one
major muscle group each workout,
keeping in mind that several other
muscles assist on each exercise,
which gives them a good workout as
well. I train at Gold’s Gym in Venice
in the morning. My workouts are
40 to 45 minutes of high-intensity
action.
“In the afternoon, about three or
four o’clock, I run the famous stairs
in Santa Monica for legs and cardiovascular work. The 167 wooden
steps are used by hundreds of fitness enthusiasts every day. I used to
charge up those steps in less than
30 seconds and do it eight to 10
times, but that’s totally unnecessary.
We all used to overtrain all the time
in the old days. Now that I’m 75, it
kicks my butt to run them under
one minute, which is still a very
good time. I run them twice, once to
warm up, and the second time I go
full blast. I do the stairs every other
A young Brad with
parents, Stoney and
Helen, in St. Anthony,
Idaho, about to depart
for the “Promised
Land”—California.
“Exploring the
universe of my
mind, reviewing
my yesterdays and
contemplating my
tomorrows.”
“Someday I’m going
to change the world,
but first I’ve gotta
change my diapers.”
“The only gun
I’ve ever owned
is a squirt gun.”
“We must exercise our mind as
well as our body, to maintain
equilibrium in our life.”
day. Some days I do wind sprints
on my mountain bike instead of the
stairs. Those two exercises provide
all the work I need for my legs.”
Morning Workouts
Monday: Arms
Low-pulley rope curls
Forward-leaning rope triceps
extensions
Tuesday: Shoulders, back
Circle high pulls (Harris Row)
Seated side raises
Wednesday: Chest, front delts
Decline dumbbell presses
Bradomatic push presses
Thursday: Upper back
Pulldowns (slant bar, various
positions)
Friday: Cycle begins again.
Afternoon Workouts
Abs: Ab-OrigiOnals
4 x 40
Next day: Legs
Runs stairs twice or does mountain bike wind sprints.
Brad performing
pushups with his latest
HotPex handles.
“To describe each exact movement would be near impossible,”
he says. “On every exercise I try to
incorporate as many assistance
muscles as possible. I generally do
12 sets of 30 reps on a single exercise
each workout day. I may use a second exercise for four sets of 30 reps.
I start with a light weight, which
serves as a warmup. Then I increase
the weight 10 pounds each set until
I reach the heaviest weight I’m going
to use that day. Even though I know
I could use more weight, I don’t because I don’t want to injure myself.
Overtraining leads to injuries.
“For me it’s extremely important to have good blood flow every
day. When I do my decline-bench
presses with dumbbells, I put my
feet up in the air so that the blood
flows into my upper extremities and
blood flows throughout my entire
body. I want all those veins and
capillaries open. That’s what keeps
you healthy. When people get older
and aren’t getting enough blood
flow from their activities, those little
veins all shut down. That makes the
heart work harder, and if it’s suddenly overworked, a heart attack is
the result. That’s what happens to
people who aren’t paying attention
Brad Harris
to proper blood flow throughout the
body every day.
“My diet is based on getting balanced nutrition from fresh, healthful foods that are low in sugar, salt
and fat. I start the day with a protein
drink mixed with nonfat milk, nuts,
fruit and grains. For lunch I may
have a prepared meal from Whole
Foods Market, which might be a delicious thick soup with tender chicken and other healthful ingredients.
For supper I may have a big salad
with fish and assorted organic vegetables. About once a month I have
an eight-ounce filet mignon when I
go out and dine with friends. Green
tea is one of my favorite beverages.
I do take some food supplements,
such as vitamins and minerals,
vitamin E, vitamin C, fish oils and
MSM, for joint health. I believe that
supplements are intended to balance what may be missing from
your food intake. I try to get what I
need from a well-balanced, healthful diet.
“I monitor myself on how I look,
how I feel and how I perform. I
weigh myself every day. If I gain a
couple of pounds, I make necessary adjustments to get back in the
170-pound zone. If anything goes
out of balance, I correct it. I’ve never
been overweight, and I don’t take
any medicine. I try to avoid stress or
minimize it.
“The best advice I can offer for
anyone wishing to start a weighttraining program is to get a qualified
personal trainer to design a program suited to your goals and condition. You won’t need the trainer
forever. When training, you must
concentrate fully on each movement so that you feel it in the area
you’re working. Be consistent. At
first it takes discipline to stick to the
program and diet, but after a while
it becomes a way of life that you’ll
enjoy. It will add years to your life
and more life to your years.”
A fitting way to close is with
Brad’s motto: “Stay Fit, Have Fun,
Harm No One, Inspire Everyone.”
Editor’s note: For more information on Brad Harris, visit www
.hotpex.com and www.aborigionals
.com. IM
“It is my mission and desire to
inspire, until I expire, and thereafter,
while having fun! Thereafter?”
Overhead French
curls—a favorite
triceps exercise.
Floor pulley rope
biceps curls.
Overhead
pulldown biceps
curls.
The
Testosterone
DHEA,
Hormone Therapy
and Quality of Life
by Jerry Brainum
Dehydroepiandrosterone,
a.k.a. DHEA, is relevant for
bodybuilders for at least
two reasons. One is that
many supplements touted
for their “testosteroneboosting” ability have
DHEA as the active primary
ingredient, although it is
often listed by another
name. Another is that DHEA
is the only pro-hormone on
the market.
Neveux \ Model: Toney Freeman
Zone
DHEA
While the exercise program
led to beneficial changes in
body composition, insulin
sensitivity and blood lipids,
the addition of DHEA provided
no additional benefits to what
was gained from the exercise
program alone.
While pro-hormone supplements
were a previously lucrative commodity, they were banned by federal
law in 2005. There’s a current legislative attempt to have DHEA removed
from over-the-counter sales as well.
The proposed ban is based on reports in medical journals that DHEA
is an anabolic steroid and therefore
is subject to the same restrictions as
other anabolic steroid and pro-hormone drugs. One of the co-sponsors
of the bill is Republican presidential
candidate Senator John McCain of
Arizona.
The labeling of DHEA as an anabolic steroid implies that it’s capable
of increasing testosterone in the
human body. In fact, DHEA is an
adrenal steroid that can be a precursor, or starting substance, of various
other steroids, such as testosterone
and estrogen. Its actual effects in the
body, however, aren’t that straightforward. DHEA can take a number
of pathways through the body.
it takes. Early studies suggested
that it predominantly converts to
estrogen in men. More recent studies, however, indicate that a certain
amount of it converts to testosterone, particularly in men who have
lower testosterone or DHEA. A study
reported in the March 2004 issue
of the journal Fertility and Sterility
traced the pathway of oral doses of
DHEA in 14 men, age range 18 to 42.
The men were randomly assigned to
three dosage groups:
1) 50 milligrams of DHEA
2) 200 milligrams of DHEA
3) Placebo
The study lasted six months, and
during that time none of the men
showed any significant side effects,
such as gynecomastia, a.k.a. “man
boobs,” changes in testicular size or
enlarged prostate. DHEA also had
no effect on any of the men’s testosterone measures, regardless of the
Gynecomastia, or
“man boobs.”
Enzyme activity can convert
DHEA to androstenedione. “Andro”
may ring a bell, as it was the second
pro-hormone, after DHEA, to be
commercially marketed. It gained
notoriety when baseball slugger
Mark McGwire admitted to using it.
Andro can also convert into
other steroids. In women it usually
converts to testosterone. In men
it mainly converts to estrogen or
to a metabolite of the testosterone
by-product dihydrotestosterone,
though some does also convert into
testosterone.
The question is whether DHEA
itself can reliably boost testosterone
levels in men. Several studies have
examined the metabolic pathway
dose. More problematic, however,
was the rise of ADG in those who
took DHEA. ADG is a metabolite of
the testosterone by-product dihydrotestosterone, a.k.a. DHT, that
stays in the blood longer than DHT
does. DHT is linked to such maladies as male-pattern baldness, acne
and prostate enlargement.
Since none of the subjects experienced those effects even after six
months, the side effects attendant
to DHEA remain an open question.
On the other hand, the rise in ADG
could be a problem for long-term
use by men over 40, since DHT and
ADG are also linked to prostate
enlargement and possibly cancer if
estrogen levels are also higher than
DHEA
normal, which is common in older
men with high bodyfat levels.
Because some conversion to
andro and possibly testosterone
does occur, could DHEA prove a
useful aid for building muscle? That
issue was examined in a study published nine years ago.1 Ten young
men, average age 23, took 50 milligrams a day of DHEA. The men’s
serum andro levels rose by 150
percent within an hour of taking
DHEA, but that didn’t affect either
testosterone or estrogen. Another
19 men, the same age, trained with
weights for eight weeks, with half
the men getting a daily dose of 150
milligrams of DHEA and the other
half a placebo. The serum andro
levels increased in the DHEA group
at weeks two and five, but no other
hormones rose. Both groups made
similar gains in strength and lean
mass, thus pointing to no beneficial
effect from DHEA intake.
Does that mean that we can rule
out DHEA as a useful muscle-building aid? That’s unclear, especially for
older people. In a study published
two years ago that involved older
men and women, DHEA supplementation was found to increase
the effects of a weight-training program in building muscle mass after
16 weeks of training.2
A more recent study involved
women over age 64 who took 50 milligrams of DHEA a day and engaged
in both weight-training and aerobicexercise programs. Another group
of women did the same exercise
but took a placebo. After 12 weeks
the women in the DHEA group
had increased hormone measures,
including DHEA-S, the circulating form of DHEA in the blood (up
by 650 percent); total testosterone
(100 percent); estradiol or estrogen
(165 percent); estrone, a weaker
estrogen (85 percent); and IGF-1 (30
percent).
While the exercise program led
to beneficial changes in body composition, insulin sensitivity and
blood lipids, the addition of DHEA
provided no additional benefits to
In a study published two years
ago that involved older men and
women, DHEA supplementation
was found to increase the effects
of a weight-training program in
building muscle mass after 16
weeks of training.
what was gained from the exercise
program alone.
This study confirmed a previous
widely reported study done by researchers from the Mayo Clinic and
published in the October 19, 2006,
issue of the New England Journal
of Medicine. That study featured
87 men and 57 women over age 60
who took 75 milligrams a day of
DHEA (men) or 50 milligrams a day
(women) for two years. DHEA was
found to have no effect on muscle
strength, peak endurance, muscle
mass or fat mass. Further confusing
the issue was still another study that
found that older people who took
DHEA experienced a significant
loss of abdominal fat along with an
increase in insulin sensitivity.3 In
that study the older female subjects
all showed elevations of testosterone after oral intake of DHEA; both
women and men showed elevated
estrogen after using it.
Past studies show that giving rats
huge doses of DHEA led to a significant loss of bodyfat, but rats do not
produce significant levels of DHEA,
which made the study’s relevance
for humans questionable. Indeed,
follow-up human studies found no
fat-loss benefits with DHEA use,
even with massive doses. Other
reports showed that DHEA appears to blunt the effects of cortisol,
which tends to rise in aging bodies,
and improve insulin sensitivity, as
insulin and cortisol have an inverse
relationship in the body. DHEA may
also blunt inflammation, an underlying cause of most degenerative
diseases, including cardiovascular
disease and cancer.
So it appears that DHEA may
offer considerable health benefits to
those over 40. It does, for instance,
help maintain levels of IGF-1, the
active component of growth hormone. IGF-1 helps maintain muscle
function and connective tissue as
people age. The effects of DHEA on
building muscle are still nebulous
at best, however. It should never be
used by those under age 40, since
DHEA measures are sufficient in
most people until that age. People
over 40 who are considering taking
DHEA should have a blood test for
DHEA-S and take the supplement
only if they have a below-normal
(continued on page 174)
level. Since
Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson
DHEA
DHEA may help blunt inflammation, an
underlying cause of most degenerative diseases,
including cardiovascular disease and cancer.
(continued from page 170) DHEA
always converts to testosterone
in women, women who want a
bit more bang from their training
buck may consider taking a small
dose—25 to 50 milligrams—daily or
every other day. Be aware, however,
that women who take DHEA supplements also have a high incidence
of adult acne. That isn’t surprising
when you consider that DHEA is a
primary culprit in teenage acne. A
study published last year found that
merely taking oral doses of free fatty
acids leads to a rise in various hormones, including DHEA, in women.
Those who want to reap most of
the immune-enhancing and other
health benefits associated with
DHEA should consider a special
form called 7-keto DHEA, which
is sold as a dietary supplement.
It doesn’t convert into either testosterone or estrogen, but it does
offer some weight-loss effects not
offered by DHEA itself. The 7-keto
form brings on a thermogenic effect
in the liver that leads to greater fat
oxidation. The major drawback to
7-keto is that it’s far more expensive
than plain DHEA supplements.
I’ve taken DHEA supplements in
the past and still take it on occasion.
I did feel better when using DHEA,
although I didn’t notice any particular benefits in my regular training
program. The same holds true for
the 7-keto form. I’d probably now
stick with the 7-keto form for long-
term use because of the finding that
DHEA may promote the DHT metabolite. I’d rather not add male-pattern baldness or prostate problems
to the other stresses of life.
So if information on DHEA
supplementation is sketchy, what’s
the answer? After all, according to
statistics, two men out of 10 aged
60 or over have a testosterone deficiency. Even that stat may be low
because it represents total testosterone, which includes both the free,
or active, form of the hormone as
well as the form bound to plasma
proteins. Ninety-eight percent of
circulating testosterone in the blood
is bound to those proteins, but only
2 percent, the free form, can interact
with cellular androgen receptors.
So judging the level of testosterone
only by measuring the total test
level is both deceptive and inaccurate. Only the free level truly reflects
the state of testosterone in a man.
Based on that, I believe that many
men are walking around with lowerthan-optimal active-test levels,
especially since most doctors don’t
routinely measure free testosterone. At least three recent studies
that I know of show that having low
testosterone significantly increases
mortality in men, mainly as a result
of heart failure. Among the effects of
having low testosterone are these:
• Decreased energy
• Reduced muscle mass and
strength
• Decreased brain function and
possible risk of degenerative
brain disease, such as Alzheimer’s.
• Low libido, possibly impotence,
as test is required for nitric oxide
release
• Depression
• Increased bodyfat, especially
visceral, or deep-lying, abdominal fat, which is considered the
most dangerous form from a
health standpoint.
Physicians are hesitant to prescribe test to men because of fears
of activating prostate cancer—an
unfounded and inaccurate assumption, all based on one case study
published in 1942! A recent study
published in the Journal of the
National Cancer Institute analyzed
18 worldwide studies related to
prostate cancer and hormones. The
study included 3,886 men with prostate cancer and 6,438 men who were
cancer-free. It found no relationship
between blood testosterone and
estrogen and the onset of prostate
cancer. Men who have prostate
cancer should not take testosterone,
although that, too, isn’t a certainty
anymore. Consider that men with
the lowest test levels show the most
aggressive forms of prostate cancer,
and one form of non-androgendependent prostate cancer actually
recedes when treated with testosterone.
Actor Sylvester Stallone, who attributed his ability to portray action
hero Rambo again at age 61 to his
use of GH and test, believes that test
is so effective that it will be offered
over the counter within 10 years.
I wouldn’t go that far, but other
drugs currently in development
called SARMs, or selective androgen receptor modulators, offer the
benefits of test with little or no side
effects. Perhaps when those drugs
are available, doctors will have a
more enlightened attitude. Men
who are deficient in test who get on
some form of test therapy will likely
experience a far greater quality of
life—and perhaps even live longer.
In the meantime, here are a few
questions that men can ask themselves to judge whether they’re low
in testosterone:
1) Are your erections weaker (and
I don’t mean buildings)?
2) Do you have a decreased sex
drive?
3) Do you feel fatigued and lack
energy most of the time?
4) Do you fall asleep after dinner?
5) Has there been a recent de-
terioration in
your work performance?
6) Have you
noticed a decreased enjoyment of life?
7-keto DHEA, which is sold as
a dietary supplement, doesn’t
convert into either testosterone
or estrogen yet has weight-loss
effects not offered by DHEA itself.
7) Are you experiencing a decrease in strength, muscle size
and endurance?
8) Is your ability to play sports
lessened?
9) Are you sad and grumpy?
10) Have you lost weight?
11) Do you find yourself sexually
attracted to Hillary Clinton (just
joking)?
The test is positive for low testosterone if you answered yes to
questions one or two or to any three
other questions. The test was developed by a group of endocrinologists,
several of whom express sexual
interest in Hillary Clinton. At least
they didn’t mention John McCain.
References
1 Brown, G.A., et al. (1999). Effect
of oral DHEA on serum testosterone
and adaptations to resistance training in young men. J Appl Physiol.
87:2274-2283.
2 Villareal, D.T., et al. (2006).
DHEA enhances effects of weighttraining on muscle mass and
strength in elderly women and men.
Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab. 291:
E1003-E1008.
3 Villareal, D.T., et al. (2004). Effect of DHEA on abdominal fat and
insulin action in elderly women
and men: A randomized, controlled
study. JAMA. 292:2243-2248. IM
Neveux \ Models: Clark and Anita Bartram
Since DHEA always converts to
testosterone in women, women who
want a bit more bang from their training
buck may consider taking a small dose—
25 to 50
milligrams.
Balik \ Model: Arnold Schwarzenegger
e
h
T
1
I
Mistake
t was summer 1975, and
Arnold was Mr. Olympia,
bodybuilding’s top dog. The
muscle world was captivated
by the awesome Austrian, and for
good reason: He looked incredible
from every angle.
At 17, Steve was in awe too, but
his physique, at 155 pounds, was
far from awesome—and he was fed
up with it. So he decided that between his junior and senior years
of high school he was going to use
Arnold’s double-split Mr. O program and become unrecognizably
freaky huge by the start of school
in September—he’d show Michelle
what a fool she was for breaking up
with him.
Steve had been training for two
years, so he knew he was ready for
one workout in the morning and
another in the late afternoon, six
days a week. Steve knew he’d also
have to follow Arnold’s diet, so
every morning he planned to wake
up and choke down a hamburger
patty, toast, whole milk, juice and
fruit—the perfect mass-gaining
preworkout meal. He was stoked
that his arms would morph to at
least 18 1/2 inches—Michelle was
going to swoon—which was only
about 1 1/4 inches per month. No
problem.
Did he make it? Well, after less
than three weeks of two 1 1/2-hour
workouts a day, he was completely
burned out with nothing to show
for his efforts except calluses, sore
shoulder joints and a pissed-off
mom who had to wash all his
workout clothes. After taking a
few weeks off, he went back to one
workout a day four days a week
and did manage to build about five
pounds of impressive muscle that
summer. Arnold’s Olympia title was
safe for another year. There’s a hapthe genetic giants? None—in fact,
pier ending, though, as you’ll see in
you’ll probably quit trying. You have
a moment—with clues to help you
to find other ways to get the ball
get huge.
through the hoop—more efficient
Therein lies the biggest mistake
methods for your bodytype, such as
most bodybuilders make—they
jump shots and hooks.
use the pros’ training routines and
So here’s the truth about your
end up with zero gains. They think
muscle-building success: If you’re
that because they want to look like
disciplined and use your head,
the top stars, they have to train like
there’s real, almost unlimited possithem. It makes some sense till you
bility. In other words, loads of musreally think about it—would you
cle are just waiting to be slapped
jump into an Olympic swimmer’s
onto your frame. Just stop trying to
program because you want to some- dunk the ball before you grow tall.
day swim in the Olympics? No. You
Don’t try to use pro-style workouts,
have to gradually progress to that
which will do nothing but discourlevel. Patience and
age you.
gradual progresIt took Steve many
sion—as well as
years to figure that out,
smart training—are
and after learning all he
key to realizing your
could about his specific
potential.
requirements for muscle
You can be bigger,
growth and the science
much bigger than
behind anabolic stimuyou are now, but the
lation, he sculpted a
pros have different
worthy physique, using
genetics than 99.99
3D Positions of Flexion
percent of us. Plus
and eventually X Reps
they use pharmaceuand X-hybrid techtical enhancements,
niques. A happy ending,
which make an inbut it’s not over yet; he’s
credible difference in
still building muscle at
A recent shot of Steve in
workload tolerance,
49 years old. In fact, he
his late 40s.
recovery and growth.
looks better in his late
In other words, you
40s than he did in his
Steve
won’t look like the
20s.
at 15
champs by training
He’s no Arnold, but
like them, unless you and 120
he’s taken his genetics
have those two often pounds.
much further than his
unmentioned advanbefore picture, taken on
tages.
his 15th birthday, could
Think about it this
have predicted. Most exway: If you’re a 5’2”
perts would’ve told him
basketball player,
to give up bodybuilding
how much success
and try marathons. Steve
are you going to have
knew what he wanted,
if you try to dunk the
though, and stuck to his
basketball only like
guns. He’s living proof
Neveux \ Model: Steve Holman
by Steve Holman and
Jonathan Lawson
Photo courtesy of Steve Holman
#
Muscle-Building
that with experimentation, discipline and
effort, you can pack
on plenty of muscle.
Remember, he’s still
doing it as he nears
50—no drugs.
You can do it too—but you
shouldn’t train like the pros. Not yet
anyway. Give it time and progress
correctly. We’re not saying that you
shouldn’t check out the training of
the top guys. You can learn a thing
or two from them. For example, in
the e-book Beyond X-Rep Muscle
Building we analyze Ronnie Coleman’s Mr. Olympia training and
explain why he does certain things
to grow and how you can use them
correctly. We even analyze some of
the things Arnold did that you can
apply to your workouts.
Us? We don’t train with a prostyle program because we don’t
use drugs, and we have limited
time—and Steve’s genetics are far
from superior. Basically, we have
to work out on our lunch break,
usually only four days a week. Even
so, we’ve discovered a lot of what
works: efficiency-of-effort muscle
building that’s built quite a bit
of size for us as well as so-called
average trainees. One of the big
techniques we discovered is phase
training, or taking it easy during a
low-intensity week after four to six
weeks of all-out workouts. Phase
training is a must if you train to
muscular exhaustion on a regular
basis, which we believe is necessary if you want to make the fastest
gains—and quick gains are possible. Here’s a story that shows it
can be done:
“I wanted to give you an update
on my progress with X Reps. In
the last month and a half I’ve put
60 pounds on my bench and 1 1/2
inches on my arms. I use a combination of X Reps, Double-X Overload sets [from the e-book Beyond
X-Rep Muscle Building], drop sets
and double drop sets. Keep the information coming! I read the training blog [at X-Rep.com] every day.”
—Jon Julius, via Internet
Hearing about quick gains like
that get us stoked on a number of
levels. Here’s another motivating
statement, this one from Arthur
Jones, the creator of Nautilus ma-
chines and the
father of high-intensity training,
that should get you
champing at the bit
to hit the gym with
intensity:
“The potential
muscular size of
the average individual is far beyond
existing average
muscular size; in
effect, almost any
healthy man can
build muscular size
and strength to
such a degree that
most medical doctors would refuse
to believe accurate
before and after
measurements and
photographs. And
at least a fair percentage of apparently average men
can build literally huge muscular
size.”
You can do it.
Just remember,
progression, patience and smart
training are the
superhighway to
big gaining—not
pro-bodybuilder
workouts.
Neveux \ Models: Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
Arthur
Jones.
We don’t train with a pro-style program because
we don’t use drugs, and we have limited time.
We’ve discovered a lot of what works: efficiencyof-effort muscle building that’s built quite a bit of
size for us as well as so-called average trainees.
Editor’s note:
For more on X-Rep
training and 3D
POF, visit www
.X-Rep.com and
3DMuscle
Building.com.
If you’re a beginning bodybuilder,
a trainee coming
back from a layoff
or a trainer who
trains beginners,
visit www
.MuscleQuick
Start.com. IM
After a few weeks of allout training, you should
have a downshift week
of lower intensity. A
phase-training approach
like that is a key to
achieving great gains.
Body
Insurance
Maximum Muscle,
Minimal Injuries
and Lifelong Health
“Youth is wasted on the young”
is a saying that issues from the mouths of the old who
have made mistakes and wish they could do it over.
“Body insurance” is an injunction to all those who lift
weights to do so with thoughts of their future health
and well-being. It may be difficult when we’re young to
think about the ramifications of our youthful habits.
For one thing, the frontal lobe of our brains—the seat of
judgment—is not fully developed until we’re 25. Still, it’s
important to delineate some principles of weight training and nutrition that profoundly expand the quality of
human life—preserving youthful vitality into old age.
It’s not only competitive bodybuilders who do foolish things in their youth. We’re all prone to think we’re
by Richard Baldwin
immortal and don’t have to be
careful about what we eat or
drink or how we drive or how
hard we push ourselves in pursuing a sport. Thoughtless pursuit of any goal will always lead
to overtraining, injuries and
hindrances to progress. So let’s
look at some important elements of a lifestyle that can slow
the aging process and protect
youthful vigor long past the 20s
and 30s.
Body
The judgmental frontal lobe is not fully
developed until we’re 25.
Insurance
must make a permanent lifestyle
change.
One reason diets
and exercise fads
don’t work is that
humans get bored
rather easily. So how
do you maintain
motivation?
Periodization is
one answer—that is,
changing exercises,
sets, reps, even days
from time to time. Our
bodies get used to any
routine and then quit
responding. Regularly
changing the routine
disrupts that cycle.
Another challenge to
lifestyle fitness is overtraining. Symptoms
include loss of motivaWhen squatting, be sure to keep your knees pointtion, fatigue, insomnia,
ing and bending in the same direction as your toes
decrease in sex drive,
to avoid twisting your knees.
irritability, depression
and a host of other undesirable outcomes. If
those symptoms begin to characAccording to the American
terize your life, it’s time to examine
Academy of Family Physicians, the
what could be causing them: It
maximum benefits of exercise are
could be insufficient calories, lifting
achieved when it consists of 30 to 60 heavy weights too often, doing too
minutes, four to six days per week.
many sets and repetitions or just
According to the Harvard School of
not using periodization to avoid
Public Health, “Next to not smokovertraining.
ing, getting regular physical activity
If anything can interrupt a peris arguably the best thing you can
son’s dedication to lifestyle fitness,
do for your health. It lowers the risk
it’s injuries. To avoid injury, you
of heart disease, diabetes, stroke,
must perform each exercise properhigh blood pressure, osteoporosis
ly; a certified personal trainer could
and certain cancers.” Sarcopenia, or
help here. Putting your skeleton in
the loss of muscle as we age, results
awkward and dangerous or biomein a loss of up to 40 percent unless
chanically unsound skill patterns is
counteracted by weight-bearing
asking for injury. For example, the
exercise. Sacropenia is not a hidden
squat is one of the most productive
result of old age, like hardening of
exercises you can do, but if you do
the arteries. It’s often easy to recit improperly, it can damage your
ognize someone is old even from
knees. When squatting, be sure to
a distance just by the obvious loss
keep your knees pointing and bendof deltoid and pectoral muscle in
ing in the same direction as your
the upper body, plus atrophy in the
toes to avoid twisting your knees.
gluteus maximus and quadriceps in
Any severe inward rotation of the
the lower body.
knees can eventually result in injury.
Once a person begins an exercise
Find a good book on exercise kineprogram, the challenge is to make
siology to be sure you are following
it part of his or her lifestyle. Fads in
proper exercise form.
exercise and nutrition irritate me,
In addition, keep your ego in
because there’s no quick fix—you
check by avoiding singles, or maxi-
1) Proper Training
mum one-rep attempts. Unless
you’re shooting to be a competitive
powerlifter, singles are just too dangerous and unnecessary in normal
training.
Motivation and progress are also
greatly enhanced by setting goals.
Without a goal, most people will
have difficulty training consistently,
let alone actually getting fit. Set both
long-term and short-term goals.
For instance, many men would like
to add an inch or two to their arm
girth. The smartest way to do that is
to work on short-term goals such as
shooting for 1/16 inch first.
When I’m trying to gain in a bodypart, I measure the part before and
after I train it, just to see the difference between the cold and pumped
measurements. Then I begin to aim
for a greater pump every time I work
it. If an arm measures 16 pumped
now, pump it to 16 1/16 to 16 1/4
during the next workout. Whatever
you achieve, let that be the least you
let it pump to the next time. Soon it
will be larger in the cold stage and
pump even larger. If a couple of
weeks go by and the measurement
hasn’t changed an iota, determine
to pump that sucker up as long as it
takes to move that tape. Determination + faith + persistence = success.
You can do it.
(A caveat: Sometimes with goal
setting, you have to make a choice.
It’s very difficult to cut up and grow
muscle at the same time. It is very
difficult to gain pure strength—be
able to life twice bodyweight—and
concentrate on building big biceps
or a six-pack set of abs. You have to
set your sights on one goal and stick
with it.)
As you increase the intensity of
Body
Insurance
When I’m trying to gain in a
bodypart, I measure the part
before and after I train it, just
to see the difference between
the cold and pumped
measurements.
Putting your skeleton in
your workouts, warming up should
be part of your regimen, and I don’t
awkward and dangerous or
mean stretching: Do a few sets with
biomechanically unsound skill
significantly lower weight than your
six-rep maximum. Doing a couple
patterns is asking for injury.
of sets of 10 to 12 repetitions with
a weight you could actually do
more like 15 to 20 repetitions with
lubricates the joints—something
especially important for the over-40
crowd—and prepares muscles to
stress on the body that it
exert maximum effort.
responds to by overcompenFinally, let me alert you to a
sation—the anabolic pronewly discovered bonus from excess. Yet if it’s not properly
ercise: Proper, consistent training
fueled, training is a waste of
will protect your brain from detime. I always believed that
mentia. A number of studies over
it was not only the quantity
the past decade have demonstratof calories that counted but
ed that exercise can inhibit the
also the quality. In other
impairment of the dentate gyrus,
words, our bodies not only do not
the site in the hippocampus that
metabolize protein, fats and caris identified as the site of impairment in normal memory
loss. Exercise
I always believed that it was not
stimulates
increases
only the quantity of calories that
in cerebral
blood volcounted but also the quality.
ume, which
should result
in extension
bohydrates in the same manner,
of normal memory. In fact, corbut even complex carbohydrates
relation between exercise and
are metabolized differently than
better performance on memory
simple carbohydrates.
tests has been demonstrated in
Processed foods with an overnumerous studies, such as those
abundance of sugar, flour and
by Arthur Kramer at the Universalt are often referred to as empty
sity of Illinois and those at Israel’s
calories because they provide so
Bar-Ilan University and researchlittle nutritional value, especially
ers from the Karolinska Institute
the vitamins and minerals necesin Stockholm.
sary to turn food into lean tissue.
Resistance training creates
2) Proper
Nutrition
Body
Insurance
Concentrate on nutrient-dense
foods like baked, broiled or grilled
chicken, fish and beef; steamed
vegetables; and fresh fruit.
Also, eat six small meals if possible rather than two or three big
ones. Protein drinks and/or lowcarb protein bars along with vitamin-and-mineral supplements can
count as one or two of those small
meals. You’ll lose inches in the waist
and butt and gain in the shoulders
and arms. You will, therefore, look
slimmer and more shapely whether
you lose or gain bodyweight.
The importance of following a
nutritious diet cannot be stressed
3)Proper
ProperRest
Rest
3)
Training and eating right
are the keys to success, yet
some people still fail to make
the gains they expect. Often
it’s because of lack of sleep.
You can train and eat right, but
if you’re not getting seven to
nine hours of sleep each night,
forget it. While you’re sleeping,
growth hormone is released so
that your body can repair itself
and so that real growth of fatburning muscle can occur. [For
more on sleep, see page 88.]
While you’re sleeping, growth hormone
is released so that your body can repair
itself and so that real growth of fatburning muscle can occur.
enough. Gluttony is rampant in
America, with more than 60 percent
of Americans being overweight or
obese. That has resulted in a rising
incidence of cancer, diabetes, high
blood pressure and heart disease.
If that isn’t bad enough, the March
26, 2008, edition of the journal
Neurology reported the results of a
study involving 6,500 people: Those
who were overweight and had a
large belly were 2.3 times as likely
to develop dementia as those with
normal weight and belly size.
So the combination of a healthful and nutritious diet with a solid
exercise routine can’t be beat for
ensuring that your healthy body and
mind will last a lifetime.
4) Sparing Energy
for Workouts
Don’t expect spectacular muscle
gains if you go out dancing all night
or play basketball or some other
sport. When you want maximum
gains in lean body mass, limit your
activity to tossing the steel around.
Any energy expended on any activity other than pumping iron, including aerobics, is energy your body
won’t have to grow muscle. If the
goal is to lose fat, then aerobic exercise is probably a must for females,
whose metabolisms don’t remain
Don’t expect spectacular
muscle gains if you go out
dancing all night or play
basketball or some other sport.
Neveux \ Model:Carl Suliani
The best way
to warm up the
muscles is to do
a few sets with
a significantly
lower weight
than your sixrep maximum.
elevated after exercise as long as
males’ do, but if you have eliminated junk foods, you should see great
gains in health and fitness.
5) Learn
Learn to
to Manage
Manage
5)
Stress
Stress
If you’re in a lousy relationship
that upsets you or you’re worried
all the time about finances, health
or some work-related or family
problems, you can’t make maximum
gains. You must be able to manage
your stress levels. The body can use
up as much as 90 grams of protein
during a stressful day. Just think of
the maintenance, repair and growth
of muscle your body could have accomplished with those 90 grams.
Follow these simple lifestyle
protocols, and you’ll not only make
progress but maintain a fit and ac-
Stress can eat up 90 grams of
protein per day.
tive lifestyle for
life.
Richard Baldwin, Ph.D.
Editor’s note:
Richard Baldwin,
Ph.D., 58, is a former Mr. USA and
Mr. America class
winner. IM
Mass
Construction
State-of-the-Art, Holistic Training
for Outlandish Muscle Gains
by C.S. Sloan
I have a confession to make: I’ve been training like a bodybuilder.
Neveux \ Model: Luke Wood
After years of heavy power training—years upon years
of heavy triples, doubles and singles performed with
supermaximal poundages, my body just couldn’t take
it anymore. For six months I couldn’t even lift a weight
due to several herniated
The Principles of Mass
cervical disks. Finally I had
Construction
to have surgery.
The doc’s advice: “Don’t ever train
heavy again!” What, was the guy
crazy? I love lifting heavy weights.
It’s the most addictive thing I’ve ever
experienced. I’ve never tried heroin,
but I’m pretty damn sure that I
wouldn’t find it as addictive as getting under a 500-pound squat and
cranking out a few triples.
Nevertheless, when I recovered
from my surgery and it was time
to start pumping the iron again, I
knew it was also time to make some
changes to my training. So I decided
to trade one addiction for another.
I traded in the addiction of the max
single for the addiction of the monster pump. “Pump” training was my
original love, after all. I even wrote
about it in IRON MAN in the mid’90s.
One thing was certain, however: I
wasn’t about to start training like the
average pro bodybuilder. I decided
that my new-style bodybuilding
training was going to be state of the
art. I was going to take all of the stuff
I learned from years of powerlifting
and power building and apply it to
some serious hypertrophy training.
This bodybuilder was going to be
21st century—cutting-edge as hell.
we were going to do the entire program. We were going to train our
bench presses and deadlifts Russian-style too.
There are several cutting-edge
The program we followed had
training principles that will empower
us
bench-pressing three times per
you to pack on the most muscle
growth in the shortest time possible. week, squatting twice each week
and deadlifting twice each week.
I’ll start by discussing the most important principle; the others fall into The squatting and deadlifting were
place.
done on different days, which
meant that we were training our
Principle 1: Volume Is King! hamstrings, glutes, and lower back a
total of four times each week. None
”Whoa!” some of you are saying.
of the workouts we did were light on
“Hold your friggin’ horses, Sloan,
volume.
’cause there’s no way that principle
I definitely had my reservations
can be right. We’ve read Mike Menat first. After a few weeks, however,
tzer, and while we might not agree
I was sold. My squat had never
with everything he had to say, we do
been stronger, and my deadlift
know that less is better.”
and bench press were increasing.
Not so fast. Not only is less not
The only problem: I was gaining
better, but more is a helluva lot better.
too much muscle, funny as that
The key is knowing how to apply the
volume, when to pour it on and when may sound. The routine wasn’t
to back off—we’ll get to backing off in meant for someone trying to stay
in a weight class, but it was fantasa bit. First, I want to spin a little tale
tic for a trainee trying to pack on
about myself—how I first discovered
pounds. I had to actually decrease
there might be a lot more to this volthe amount of work I was doing in
ume business than I ever realized.
each workout in an attempt to stay
A few years ago I was training for a
in my weight class.
powerlifting meet in the Deep South.
A couple of training partners I lifted
Still, I’d learned a lesson, one
with wanted to try one of those crazy
that I’m now applying to my new
Russian-style squat routines. I decidhypertrophy workouts. Volume
ed, What the hell—might as well give
definitely rocks! You just need to
it a shot. If we were going to follow a
know how to manipulate it to get
Russian-style squat routine, though,
the best results. That’s where the
Mass
Construction
following principles come in.
Principle 2: Volume Might
Be King but Squatting Is
Queen
Volume training combined with
lots of squatting is the most surefire
way imaginable to pack on muscle
mass. You want to increase your
bench press? Squat more. Want to
gain 30 pounds of muscle? Squat
more. Want big arms more than anything else in the world? Squat more.
Get the picture? Those answers
have one thing in common. You’ve
got to squat if you’re serious about
gaining muscle mass.
Principle 3: Full-Body
Workouts Are the Best
Principle 4: Stay Away
From Failure
When training with high volume—
lots of sets, full-body workouts three
days each week—you want to stay the
heck away from muscle failure for the
Neveux \ Model: Mike Dragna
If volume is king and squatting is
queen, then full-body workouts are
the aces up your muscle-building
sleeve. Combining plenty of volume
with squatting and full-body workouts is like creating a muscle-building cocktail—a cocktail that, once
ignited, is hard to put out.
Mass
Construction
most part. You’ve probably heard people say that you can train either hard or long but not both. True enough, but
most people just don’t understand that training long is better than training to failure.
Even though I’m outlining a state-of-the-art program, it’s not really anything new. Bodybuilders of old knew
very well that it was better to train long than it was to train hard. Most classic bodybuilders from the ’60s and earlier trained their muscle groups three times each week. They didn’t do it because they’d read some newfangled
study that told them it was the best way to go. They trained that way because they’d tried every bodybuilding
workout under the sun and that was what worked best for them. Besides, they knew that in order to train their
muscle groups so frequently, they’d have to avoid muscle failure.
When training with a lot of volume, you want to avoid a couple of things besides training to failure. One, you
don’t want to train with incredibly heavy weights. Why? Because that would have you approaching or hitting failure on all of your sets, and, as we saw in our fourth principle, failure is bad. In other words, you can’t do 10 sets of
max triples and not expect to burn out.
That doesn’t mean you can’t do 10 sets of three; it just means that the weight should be only moderately heavy if
you keep the reps that low. Also keep in mind that when you’re trying to build maximum muscle mass—not maximum strength—your reps can be a little higher.
The second thing you need to avoid when training with a lot of volume is doing too many reps on each set.
Neveux \ Model: Brian Yerskey
Principle 5: Keep Your Reps Moderate
High-rep sets combined with a high
number of sets can add up to too
much workload in a single session.
That’s what leads to overtraining,
not volume workouts in and of
themselves.
What’s an ideal rep range for a
bodybuilder solely interested in
building muscle? I’d say anywhere
between six and 12 reps, with six to
eight being best.
Neveux \ Model: Luke Wood
Neveux \ Model: Brian Yerskey
Principle 6: Know When
to Back Off
Funny thing about those Russian
workouts my lifting partners and
I were doing: Every four weeks the
volume would drop for one week.
I’ve noticed something else about
all other great workout programs
that rely on volume, whether they’re
a Soviet-inspired squat regimen or
a bench workout from the famed
Westside Barbell Club of Columbus,
Ohio. Almost all of them call for a
break after three weeks of hard training. That doesn’t mean you have
to lay off for an entire week; it just
means cutting back on sets and reps.
In fact, principle 6 is the key to
making big gains with volume workouts. In case you haven’t figured it
out, not backing off every few weeks
is the reason that most people get
absolutely nowhere when training
with high volume.
(continued on page 212)
Mass
Construction
(continued from page 209)
Creating the Ultimate Workout
Okay, knowing the principles as we now do, let’s see what a really great training program would look like and
how you can keep the gains coming after completing it. What follows is a four-week cycle. Study the entire program
several times before hitting the gym.
A Formula for Mass Construction
Week 1
Day 1
Squats
Bench presses
Wide-grip chins
Superset
Barbell curls
Dips
Incline situps
Week 3
5x8
5x8
5x8
5 x 10
5 x 10
5 x 15
Day 1
Squats
Bench presses
Wide-grip chins
Superset
Barbell curls
Dips
Incline situps
Tips
8x8
8x8
6 x 10
8 x 10
8 x 10
5 x 25
Day 2
Sumo deadlifts
5x6
Standing dumbbell presses 5 x 8
Dumbbell curls (per arm) 4 x 10
Skull crushers
4 x 10
Incline situps
5 x 15
Day 2
Sumo deadlifts
8x6
Skull crushers
8 x 10
Incline situps
5 x 25
Day 3
Squats
Incline-bench presses
Bent-over rows
Superset
Preacher curls
Pulldowns
Incline situps
Day 3
Squats
Bent-over rows
Superset
Preacher curls
Pulldowns
Incline situps
5x8
5x8
5x8
5 x 10
5 x 10
5 x 15
Week 2
Day 1
Squats
Bench presses
Wide-grip chins
Superset
Barbell curls
Dips
Incline situps
6 x 10
6 x 10
5 x 20
Day 1
Squats
Bench presses
Wide-grip chins
Superset
Barbell curls
Dips
Incline situps
• When in doubt, use less weight,
not more.
• Rest two to three minutes between sets.
8 x 12
8 x 12
5 x 25
• The last week is your back-off
week.
3x8
3x8
3x8
• When you’re finished with the
fourth week, you can either start
the program over again for another four-week cycle or create
a workout of your own based on
the principles you have learned.
2 x 10
2 x 10
2 x 15
Day 2
Sumo deadlifts
2x6
Skull crushers
2 x 10
Incline situps
2 x 15
Day 3
Squats
Bent-over rows
Superset
Preacher curls
Pulldowns
Incline situps
Day 3
Squats
Bent-over rows
Superset
Preacher curls
Pulldowns
Incline situps
6 x 10
6 x 10
5 x 20
• Only the last set or two of each
exercise should approach muscular failure.
• The program is designed so that
each week builds on the previous
one. That means you do not miss
a training session.
Day 2
Sumo deadlifts
6x6
Skull crushers
6 x 10
Incline situps
5 x 20
6x8
6x8
6x8
• All sets listed are work sets.
Perform one or two warmup sets
on each exercise.
8x8
8 x 10
8 x 10
Week 4
6x8
6x8
6x8
• Train three nonconsecutive days
each week. The most popular
days are Monday, Wednesday,
and Friday.
3x8
3x8
3x8
2 x 10
2 x 10
2 x 15
Closing Words
I always enjoy hearing from
lifters, so if you want to e-mail
me with thoughts or questions
you can do so at cssloan@mac.
com. You can also visit my Web
site at web.mac.com/cssloan.
Forget about the things you
thought you knew about training and give this program an
honest try. You’ll be pleasantly
surprised with the results. IM
by Jerry Brainum
IGF-1: Killer
or Savior?
Insulinlike growth factor 1 is so named because of its
resemblance to insulin. IGF-1 is synthesized both in the
liver and in muscle. There are two variants of the hormone
in muscle, and each is a potent stimulator of satellite cells,
which are muscle stem cells and are required for muscle
repair and growth. Most scientists say that IGF-1 is the
primary anabolic effector of growth hormone, and GH
stimulates IGF-1 synthesis in the liver. Scientists are looking at IGF-1 therapy with great interest, as it appears to
reverse many of the effects of aging. As with GH, IGF-1
concentration drops with age, and many older people have
50 percent less than younger people do.
Numerous studies show that maintaining an optimal
count of IGF-1 forestalls many of the typical signs of aging.
For example, a lack of IGF-1 is linked to heart failure, which
affects more than half of those over age 60. IGF-1 is also
required to maintain brain cells, or neurons. Without a
sufficient amount in the brain, neurons undergo a cellular
suicidal process called apoptosis. Insufficient IGF-1 also
makes muscles and connective tissue break down, resulting in the weakness and stiffness that older adults often
experience.
With all these benefits, you’d think that just about every
person over age 40 who’s low in the hormone would be
supplementing it in some way. Thus far, however, commercial forms of IGF-1—which must be injected, as the hormone is protein based and composed of 79 amino acids in
a particular sequence—are prescribed only to treat certain
forms of childhood growth problems.
Because IGF-1 spurs cellular growth, some scientists
voice concern that at high concentrations it could stimulate cancer. Indeed, higher amounts of IGF-1 are associated
with certain forms of cancer, such as those of the prostate,
breast and colon. The big debate among researchers is a
chicken-and-egg argument: Does IGF-1 promote tumor
growth and spread, or do tumors themselves increase
IGF-1? IGF-1 is useful to tumors because it prevents their
apoptosis.
Complicating the cancer connection is the fact that
teenagers, still in a growth stage and thus producing large
amounts of IGF-1, have low rates of cancer. By contrast,
older adults have the highest rates of various cancers yet
also have the lowest blood IGF-1 counts. A more rational
scenario is that while IGF-1 doesn’t cause cancer, taking
it in large doses may result in tumor activity. One recent
study found that higher levels of IGF-1 are inversely associated with testicular cancer.1
Also confusing IGF-1 as a health issue is the way some
animals react to the hormone. Studies with worms and
other invertebrates show that a lack of IGF-1 helps extend
life. Mice and rats deficient in IGF-1 live longer than rodents not deficient in it. Female mice having defects in
IGF-1 cellular signaling appear to age more slowly than
other rodents. Animal studies, however, usually involve
lifelong exposure, which isn’t the case with human studies.
The hormone may also act differently in relatively shortlived animals, such as mice and rats, than in longer-lived
humans.
Preliminary studies of IGF-1 with human subjects have
shown beneficial effects. For example, researchers recently
examined the effects of IGF-1 on human mortality.2 Critics
of IGF-1 and GH therapy often say that rather than offering a fountain of youth, the hormones may hasten death,
citing the longevity of some animals that are hormone
Neveux \ Model: Carl Suliani
ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI
Anti-Aging Research
For now, you can take solace in the fact that regular
exercise is the most potent known method of maintaining
an optimal level of IGF-1. Weight training is the best form
of exercise for that.
deficient. In the eight-year human mortality investigation
of IGF-1, which involved 376 healthy subjects aged 73 to
94, higher amounts of IGF-1 were associated with longer
life and reduced cardiovascular risk. Those with the least
IGF-1 in their bodies showed nearly twice the risk of death
of those who had more. Those who had a lot of age-related
overall body inflammation were particularly at risk; IGF-1
appears to douse the flames of out-of-control inflammation. Inflammation plays a major role in nearly all causes of
premature death, including cardiovascular disease, cancer
and such degenerative brain diseases as Alzheimer’s and
Parkinson’s.
A new study shows that one way IGF-1 may slow aging is
through protecting cellular mitochondria. Giving IGF-1 to
aging rats normalized mitochondrial oxidative damage and
function while reducing free-radical generation.
Neveux \ Model:
One major theory of why we age relates to cellular
last longer in the blood, thus extending its active time.
structures called mitochondria, the site of energy producTaking too much IGF-1, as some bodybuilders and
tion and fat oxidation. Because mitochondria are the cell’s
athletes do, could lead to problems. The primary side efpower supply, when they die or cease to function, so does
fect of large doses of IGF-1 is hypoglycemia, or low blood
the whole cell. The main cause of mitochondrial death is
sugar, which points up similarities between insulin and
oxidation. The high rate of energy production in mitochonIGF-1. In other words, large doses of IGF-1 could start to
dria also generates the highest rate of free-radical producact like insulin. That isn’t likely to happen with IGF-1 drug
tion in the body. By-products of oxygen metabolism, free
forms that also include IGF-binding proteins, which exradicals attack cell membranes. Mitochondria have extentend and delay the activity of the hormone. Unlike insulin,
sive fat-based membranes, making them particularly prone
IGF-1 doesn’t stimulate bodyfat synthesis, although it does
to oxidation.
stimulate internal organ growth, resulting in the bloated
If you can maintain mitochondria as you age, the proabdomens you see on some athletes. That occurs only with
cess of aging should slow down, as should the incidence of
doses far bigger than you’d ever use for antiaging purposes.
age-related degenerative disease. A new study shows that
The same holds true for GH: Small doses are beneficial, but
one way that IGF-1 may retard aging is by protecting milarge doses place you in unknown biophysical territory.
tochondria.3 Loss of mitochondria isn’t usually an issue in
In the near future gene therapy will be available for placyoung people because of their higher IGF-1 counts. In the
ing IGF-1-producing genes directly in muscle. Preliminary
study, giving IGF-1 to aging rats normalized mitochondrial
studies with rodents show startling gains in muscle size
oxidative damage and function while
reducing free-radical generation.
Another study done by the same
researchers also provided low doses
of IGF-1 to aging rats.4 Old rats deficient in IGF-1 have a lack of serum
antioxidants, which were restored
with IGF-1. Older rats also have more
glucose, insulin, fat and cholesterol in
their blood. All those metabolic abnormalities were corrected when the
rodents got low doses of IGF-1. What
happened in the study is important
because insulin resistance increases
with age and is often linked to a loss
of lean mass, mainly muscle. Insulin
resistance results in insulin spikes in
the blood, which are linked to premature aging and diabetes, itself a cause
of premature death.
The study also showed that old rats
suffer brain and liver damage because
of inadequate antioxidant defenses,
but the low IGF-1 dose normalized
antioxidant protection as well as
mitochondrial dysfunction. Low-dose
Most scientists say that IGF-1 is the primary
IGF-1 also increased testosterone, not
anabolic effector of growth hormone.
a minor effect for anyone who wants
to maintain muscle size and strength
with the passing years.
and a 35 percent increase in strength with the technique.
Does that mean you should consider taking IGF-1 injecThe idea is that the therapy will eliminate the extensive
tions as a means of slowing the aging process? If you’re
weakness and loss of muscle that come with age, turning
deficient in the hormone, you will more likely be given GH
70-year-old muscle back into 19-year-old muscle. Even
itself. Since GH increases IGF-1, the benefits will be similar.
so, the technique is experimental with humans and needs
Also, most physicians have more experience in providing
refining. Attempting to try it now could lead to catastrophe,
GH than IGF-1, so the optimal doses of GH are better essuch as turning on cancer-friendly genes.
tablished. Drug forms of IGF-1 were approved by the UnitFor now, take solace in the fact that regular exercise is
ed States Food and Drug Administration in 2005, but one
the most potent method of maintaining an optimal meaform was removed from the market in 2007, leaving only
sure of IGF-1; weight training is the best form of exercise
one (Increlex) available. Athletes and bodybuilders have
for that. A high-protein diet is also directly related to IGF-1,
used a form called long R3 IGF-1 for years. It’s structured to
with lower protein intake linked to less total IGF-1 in the
body. Some studies suggest that taking DHEA, an adrenal
steroid, can normalize low IGF-1 and may be the reason
that DHEA is often called an antiaging hormone.
several preventive risk factors—most related to common
sense—such as not smoking, not having diabetes, not
being fat and not having high blood pressure. Their positive
relation to exercise, meanwhile, was particularly effective.
The authors suggest that a 70-year-old man who doesn’t
smoke, has normal weight and blood pressure and no
diabetes and works out two to four times a week has a 54
percent probability of living to age 90. With the presence of
adverse factors in his profile, his probability of living to 90
was reduced by the following amounts:
How to Live to 90 or More
A study published last February in the Archives of Internal Medicine included some tips on how to live to 90 or
more.5 Twin studies found that one-fourth of the variation
in human life span is attributed to genetic factors, which
means that 75 percent of life span is linked to modifiable
risk factors. The research involved 2,357 men who participated in an ongoing project called the Physicians’ Health
Study. At the beginning of the study in 1981, the men, average age 72, provided such information as height, weight,
how often they exercised, blood pressure, cholesterol
counts and so on. Twice during the first year and then once
a year through 2006, they completed a questionnaire about
• Sedentary lifestyle, 44 percent
• Hypertension, 36 percent
• Obesity, 26 percent
• Smoking, 22 percent
• Three factors—such as no exercise, being fat and having diabetes—14 percent
The authors suggest that a 70-year-old man
who doesn’t smoke and has normal weight and
blood pressure and no diabetes and who works
out two to four times per week has a 54 percent
probability of living to age 90.
• Five other factors, 4 percent
changes in their habits, health status and ability to complete daily tasks.
A total of 870 men, or 41 percent, lived to age 90 or older.
Those who made it to that age had a negative relation to
The primary point of the study is that if you adhere to a
healthful lifestyle as you age, your chances of living longer
are enhanced. Conversely, having favorable genetics but
living an unhealthful lifestyle can shorten your life. One example of that was the former king of late night TV, Johnny
Carson, who came from a family of long-lived adults, with
both his father and grandfather living past 90. Carson, however, was a heavy smoker most of his life and also drank too
much alcohol. Such behavior took its toll, overruling Carson’s favorable genetics. He died at age 79 from the effects
of emphysema related to his cigarette smoking.
References
©iStockphoto.com / Anne Clark
ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-AGING RESEARCH ANTI-
Brainum’s
Anti-AgingJerry
Research
1 Chia, V.M., et al. (2008). Insulin-like growth factor-1,
insulin-like growth factor-binding protein 3, and testicular
germ-cell tumor risk. Am J Epidemol. 167:1438-1445.
2 Brugts, M.P., et al. (2008). Low circulating IGF-1 bioactivity in elderly men is associated with increased mortality.
J Clin Endocrin Metab. 93(7):2515-2522.
3 Puche, J.E., et al. (2008). Low doses of insulin-like
growth factor-1 induce mitochondrial protection in aging
rats. Endocrinol. 149(5):2620-2627.
4 Garcia-Fernandez, M.G., et al. (2008). Low doses of insulin-like growth factor-1 improve insulin resistance, lipid
metabolism, and oxidative damage in aging rats. Endocrinol. 149(5):2433-2442.
5 Yates, L.B. (2008). Exceptional longevity in men: Modifiable factors associated with survival and function to age 90
years. Arch Intern Med. 168:284-290. IM
LONNIE TEPER’S
Contests
’08 NPC
Junior Cal
Jay
Cutler.
Stars Come Out in Pasadena
I’ve been around this game for a long time—much too long, according to a lot of people—but even I was a bit overwhelmed by the number
of industry icons who showed up at my annual Junior Cal on June 21
at Pasadena City College (if you haven’t read my blog on the show or
viewed the thousands of pictures taken by Merv, Yogi Avidan and
Nga Azarian that are posted at www.IronManMagazine.com and at
www.NPCJuniorCal.com, slap
yourself upside the head). Twenty
current and former pros were in
attendance, three of whom account for 12 Olympia gold medals—Jay Cutler (two), Lenda
Murray (eight) and Jenny Lynn
(two). Also in the house were
seven current and former Arnold
Sports Festival winners: Jay
(three), Jenny (three) and Gina
Aliotti, this year’s Figure International champ.
The Ultimate Beef was the featured
guest poser again, at a massive 291
Quincy
pounds. As always, he drove his huge
Taylor
legion of fans wild, jumping into the
(left)
audience and moving up and down
and
the aisles of the Sexson Auditorium of
Silvio
Pasadena City College, posing for picSamuel.
tures with all those who approached
L.T. and Jay.
him. Afterward, he had plenty of kind
words for the fans’ support and for every
Best
competitor who stepped onstage. Has
Poser
Kris.
there ever been a more giving Mr. Olympia than Cutler? The man puts out 100
percent, whenever he performs. Thank
you for your continued loyalty to my
event, Jason.
Lenda, who has lived in Los Angeles
for the past few years, came to support one of her clients, Carlissa SesFlex Wheeler, Kris Gethin
soms, who made her contest debut
and Brian Andrews.
with a third-place finish in the open-figure
A-class. Jenny came all the way from
Louisville, Kentucky, to be there for her best friend, Amy Carr, the
second-placer in the D and Masters-over-35 figure classes.
Flex Wheeler was part of the team repping EFX, co-title spon224 OCTOBER 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
P.D.
Devers.
PRECONTEST
DIET?
Silvio has it
his way.
Page 225
FIGURE
FIGURES
It’s all
relative.
Page 228
Jenny
Lynn
(left) and
Amy Carr.
Photography by Merv and Ron Avidan
YogiAvidan
Avidan,
Silvio
Yogi
and
Silvioand
atthe
theBurger
BurgerKing.
King.
Michael Ergas (left), Steve Kuclo
and Amy Peters.
Tanji
Johnson
and Mark
Mason.
BICEPTUAL
BATTLE
Any question
as to who
won this
one?
Page 226
sor of the event along with Bodybuilding.com.
The latter, by the way, was represented by Kris
Gethin, the Bodybuilding.com editor in chief,
and his bride, pro bodybuilding star Marika “Da
Freeka” Johansson. Darn if Gethin didn’t actually compete in the show—after my badgering
him for the past two years. He got fourth out of 15
in a tough novice middleweight class too, and he
was honored with the Best Poser award for the
men. Not bad for a guy who says he made up the
routine on the way to the stage.
Silvio Samuel showed up, much to my
surprise, since I didn’t think he even knew I was
putting on the affair. Quincy Taylor, who was
Lenda
helping Greg McCoy, a student at the University
Murray
of Texas, Arlington, was also on hand.
(right)
One of the many highlights of the evening was
and Patric
seeing Samuel and Taylor, who had some words
Birdsong.
at last season’s Olympia press conference (Q.T.
said his 6’4” height works against him, that it’s
easier for “ankle biters” like Silvio to put
on muscle; Silvio told him to take up basketball), go at it pose for pose onstage in
an impromptu session. Gee, wonder who
egged them on to do such a thing?
I have to hand it to both guys—Silvio
looked terrific, but to be fair to Taylor, Samuel was competing in Houston two weeks
later, and Q.T. was seven weeks out from
his debut 2008 appearance at the Tampa
Flex
Pro Bodybuilding Weekly Championships,
Wheeler
so the matador should have slayed the bull
and John
in that one.
Balik.
Here’s the kicker on Samuel: The 33year-old star
Pete Ciccone of 619.
was caught,
with Avidan,
munching on
cheeseburgers at Burger
King across
the street
from the PCC
campus after
the prejudging. Silvio
swore he was
not part of the
burger fest, which also included Gethin, and that
Elsa Escobar with June
he was just along for the ride. Later, at the postand Katie Munroe.
contest celebration at the Cheesecake Factory,
both Cutler and I saw Samuel downing a plate of barbecued ribs.
As Cutler broke up, I walked over to Samuel to make sure he knew
what he was doing; he firmly assured me the meal would have no effect
on his condition at the Houston Pro. As his easy victory on July 5 in Texas
proved, he was right. Sorry for the interruption; I’ll pass down the barbewww.ironmanmagazine.com \ OCTOBER 2008 225
cue sauce next time.
As always, June Munroe and Amy Peters flew in from Texas
to help me with the contest production, as did Amy’s beau, NPC star
Steve Kuclo. Amy, who was also planning on competing in Texas in
two weeks, was a happy camper when she got her hands on the one of
Cheesecake Factory’s rich desserts. She looked great, too, so I guess the
chatter about the tortures of dieting is greatly exaggerated. I eat ribs and
cheesecake all the time; how come I don’t look like Silvio and Amy? On
second thought, no need to respond.
Cathy LeFrancois had to cancel her guest-posing stint due to a
broken foot suffered when she was moving equipment into her El Monte,
Calilfornia, home gym. She still appeared at the Gaspari Nutrition booth,
along with David Hughes.
Tanji Johnson, in great shape in preparation for the fitness competitions at the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly and Europa events in August, drove
all the way in from San Francisco, where Gladiator “Stealth” recently
moved, and shared a table with Jenny Lynn in greeting the fans.
Kristy Hawkins, taking time off from the lab at neighboring Caltech
L.T. and
to attend, edged me out in a biceps spectacle that some wisecracking
Kristy
Hawkins
media member referred to on the IronManMagazine.com forum as the
pose
Posedown of the Century. Okay, I lost. Big Armin Scholtz (another
down.
shocker), Derik Farnsworth, Michael Ergas and Meriza DeGuzman were also among the pros in the house.
Cynthia Bridges-Satalowich, hubby Todd
David Hughes
and Jazz the dog drove in
and Cathy
from Gilbert, Arizona, to
LeFrancois.
which they recently moved
from Simi Valley, California,
because Tall Todd got a
promotion from BSN. Cynthia wasn’t sporting her
normally sharp abs but had
a pretty good excuse—she
and Todd are expecting their
first child in December. She
was sporting the usual slew
Cynthia Bridges-Satalowich (center) with Jazz, hubby
of competitors she brings to
Todd and a slew of figure competitors at the BSN booth.
my event each year. Zhanna Rotar
was part
of the
judging
panel,
which
was once
again led
by head
judge
Link
Swenson, while
Alesandro Komadina,
a former
pro from Italy who’s now a trainer at the Gold’s Gym, Pasadena,
also stopped by, as he has year after year.
Top NPC competitors Pete Ciccone (at his 619 Muscle
From far left: Steve Langham and Jim Arrington and Lorenzo Reybooth) and Alex Azarian (with wife Nga, who was shootnaga. Above: Andre Bueno with L.T.
ing the show for Muscular Development) were in the house,
as well as last year’s winners, Kiyoshi Moody and Jeane
Sunseri-Warp, who made the trip from San Diego and San
Jose, respectively, just to hand out the overall awards in men’s bodybuilding and open figure. Of course, the NPC district chairman, Jaguar Jon
Above, from far left: Anna Brown, Ali Olsen, Jeane Sunseri-Warp,
Brianne Shaw, Mona Liza Reyes, Charles Turner and Kiyoshi Moody.
Martha
Ybarra.
Leo
Delaine.
Garrett
Jaronczyk.
Keisuke
Yoshida.
Lindsay, was at the prejuding, helping me put out the usual fires that
are lit at every show.
Also on hand from San Diego was P.D. Devers, who interrupted
his USA prep to drive all the way to Pasadena (about a 2 1/2-hour haul)
just to open up the festivities with his always-entertaining posing routine.
Then he got back in his car and drove right back to continue with his
training. Seeing people do such altruistic things, year after year, makes
promoting the Junior Cal such a rewarding experience.
IRON MAN publisher John Balik got there early in the evening and
stayed for the entire event, despite his hour-plus drive back home; it was
great seeing J.B. and Silvio sitting side by side, chatting much of the
time about how much they respected the competitors. Now, John, Silvio
has guaranteed to me that he’ll be doing the IRON MAN Pro until he
wins it, so did you lock that up during your conversation?
A blown tire forced IM’s Ruthless Ruth Silverman to miss the action after supporting the contest with her presence for nine years, but
she left her “best wishes” message on my voice mail.
Mark Mason flew in from Seattle to videotape the
event; Mark does great work—check out NPCJuniorCal.
com if you want to order a video of the show. Flex editor
Allen Donnelly came to the contest; even the infamous
Hollywood Bert Perry showed up, late as always, but
still in time to get his celebrated grab shots for MuscleMag
International.
ADD JUNIOR CAL—The lineups were grand at
the 10th edition of the show, perhaps the most evenly
matched field in the history of the contest. In the end, Leo
Delaine took the men’s overall, with Martha Ybarra
winning the women’s bodybuilding title and Brianne
Shaw topping a very tough figure lineup. Leo, who I met
at the NPC San Francisco last October, is from Suisun
City, California. I think he’s a top-five-caliber guy at the
Team Universe. Remember, last year’s Junior Cal champ,
Kiyoshi Moody, took his class at that New York event
before losing the overall to Chris Faildo, so a precedent has been set.
Charles Turner—one of the stars of this event three years back,
when he won the novice middleweight class, was second in the light
heavyweights and was cited as Best Poser, Collegiate, and Most Promising—had a grand reunion by winning the open heavyweight and the
novice heavyweight and overall trophies.
Shaw, 22, recently moved to Southern California from Omaha, Nebraska, and was prepped for the show by Gina Aliotti; she was also
named the Most Promising figure competitor, an award that came courtesy
of Jimmy Mentis and Tight Curves nutrition. Mentis was at the Junior
Nationals in Chicago that weekend, but he supported the contest with that
special gift. The women’s Best Poser and Most Inspirational awards went to
Ybarra, who has lost more than 100 pounds in the past few years.
Kudos to double winners Andre Bueno, a PCC student who was first in
both the collegiate and teen categories; Steve Langham, who came out
on top in both the 50-plus and 60-plus classes; Lorenzo “Leonidis” Reynaga, who celebrated his 31st birthday with victories in the collegiate lightweight and novice middleweight classes; and Ali Olson, who came in from
Fort Collins, Colorado, to win the C-class and the 35-plus. Check out Ali
in this month’s Rising Stars section (beginning on page 230). The outdoors
photo was taken by none other than Ali’s mother, Ellie Schirra, a model
turned photog.
All four division winners in the open figure competition were outstanding.
Mona Liza Reyes, the ’06 California Overall winner, did the show, taking
the A-class, as a warmup for the USA, with eventual overall champ Shaw
taking the B category. As mentioned, Olson was crowned the winner in the
C-class, and the striking Anna “Sasha” Brown, who recently posed for a
Michael Neveux Hardbody shoot, took division D. Look for her dynamic
layout in an upcoming issue.
Anna, 28, came to the United States two years ago from Kiev, Ukraine,
without speaking a word of English. It’s amazing how fluent she has become
in such a short time. Silvio Samuel asked me about you only five times at
the Cheesecake Factory, Anna; where were you hiding?
As always, many of the competitors had great stories, and I can’t single
them all out, but I did want to mention the
mother-daughter team of Debbie Cruz, a
46-year-old mother of five, and Jessica Lindsey, a 22-year-old mother of two.
And I don’t want to forget to mention Krista
Pallett, a 17-year-old who came in from
Kingman, Arizona, for her first contest and left
with the collegiate crown, a second-place finish
to 19-year-old Kaila Fairchild in the newly
offered teen figure and a fourth-place award
in the open D-class; or Chris Abrahim, the
youngest competitor in the entire show at 16.
Jungle Jim Arrington, the Jack LaLanne
of the event, was the oldest at 75, and he actually seems to be getting better each year!
A special shout out to Nilav Bhadra, a student of mine at East Los Angeles College, who
Tracy Gaither
earned the moniker “Beast From the Middle
(left) and
East—India” during the semester. The kid really
Krista Pallett.
did a heckuva job, losing only to the impressive
Patric Birdsong in the novice lightweight and
finishing third in his class in the collegiate division.
I’m also handing out some special awards of my own. My
award for Most Promising figure competitor goes to Noella
Downs, an elegant 40-year-old who finished second to the
overall winner in her class. The 5’3”, 110-pounder from Valley
Glen, California, was born in Nairobi, Kenya, and raised there
until the age of 17. She speaks four languages—Luo, Swahili,
French and English—and she first drew my attention when
she finished third in her class at the Cal a month earlier.
I also want to say, “watch out for Birdsong.” The 18-yearold from Ontario, California, won the novice lightweights in addition to placing behind Bueno in the teen division and might
have been my second choice, behind Kris Gethin, in the
Best Poser category.
Gosh, has it really been 10 years since I first took on this
challenge? As they say, time flies where you’re having fun.
Debbie
Cruz (left)
and Jessica
Lindsey.
Kaila
Fairchild.
Noella
Downs.
Nilav
Bhadra.
UP, DOWN AND AROUND THE JUNIOR CALIFORNIA CHAMPIONSHIPS
Photography by Ron Avidan
2
3
6
1
4
5
8
1) The gang from Bazi.
2) Musclewerks in the house.
3) Rebecca Camden and Fleur Henry of
HeadBlade.
4) Adam Strachman for MHP.
5) Lourdes Medina and Liz Ramirez of
Hollywood Tans, Pasadena.
6) Dream Tan’s Mo Mohsen and Luka Cambio.
7) Gold’s Gym, Pasadena, reps Jack
Boyajzan, Tracey Bailey and Justin Seitz.
8) Jennifer Thomas and David Slagle of JS
Nitro.
9) Kimberly Insley models the merchandise
at ZsuZsi Athletic Swim Couture.
10) Elek Tenki, on hand for Dumbbell Mania.
11) Ali Cody and Nicole Jiminez of Labrada
Nutrition.
12) MetRx reps Kim Harris and Terry
Hairston.
12
7
9
10
11
To contact Lonnie Teper about material possibly pertinent to News & Views, write to 1613 Chelsea Road, #266, San Marino, CA 91108;
fax to (626) 289-7949; or send e-mail to tepernews@aol.com.
IRON MAN
Age: 25
Weight: 195 contest; 220
off-season
Height: 5’8”
Residence: Suisun City,
California
Occupation: USAF
Reserve and Fed-Ex
Kinko’s
Contest highlights: ’08
NPC Junior California
Championships, light
heavyweight, 1st, and
overall; ’07 NPC San
Francisco Championships,
heavyweight, 1st
Factoid: Married to
Kathleen, father of Kaleo,
two
Contact:
LeoDelaine@gmail.com
Photography by Merv
LO NN I E T E PE R’ S Ri si ng S t ars
Leo
Delaine
L O N N I E T E P E R ’S R i si n g St ar s
IRON MAN
Keisuke
Yoshida
Age: Ageless
Weight: 165 contest; 176 offseason
Height: 5’7”
Residence: Irvine, California
Occupation: Owner of
MoveOn44.com, an Internet
business
Contest highlights: ’08
NPC Junior California
Championships, middleweight,
1st; ’07 California
Championships, welterweight,
1st
Factoids: “Lifetime drug-free
is my motto,” he says; he’s a
member of the All-American
EFX team.
Contact: wwwMoveOn44.com
IRON MAN
Andre
Bueno
Age: 19
Height: 5’9”
Residence: Pasadena, California
Occupation: Student at Pasadena
City College
Contest highlights: ’08 NPC
Junior California Championships,
collegiate and teen, 1st
Factoids: Moved from Rio de
Janeiro, Brazil, at the end of 2006
to California to pursue a career in
accounting; is also a Latin dancer,
specializing in salsa and samba
Contact: AndreBueno14@yahoo.com
IRON MAN
L ON NI E TE P ER ’S Ris ing S t ars
Brianne
Shaw
Age: 22
Height: 5’3 1/2”
Residence: Foothill Ranch,
California
Occupation: National sales
executive
Junior California Figure
Championships, B-class, 1st,
and overall; Tight Curves “Most
Promising Figure” award
Factoid: She recently moved from
Omaha, Nebraska, to Orange
County, California, and is a
certified ISSA personal trainer
and certified nutritionist.
Contact: www.BrianneShaw.com
IRON MAN
Charles
Turner
Age: 30
Height: 5’10”
Residence: West Covina, California
Occupation: Manager of Max
Muscle store, Rowland Heights
Junior California Championships,
heavyweight, 1st, and novice
overall; ’06 NPC Tournament of
Champions, novice heavyweight,
1st
Factoid: Served four years in the
Marine Corps as an infantry squad
leader
Contact: EDT1209@yahoo.com
Ellie Schi
rra Photog
raphy
IRON MAN
Ali
Olson
L ON NI E T E PE R’ S Ri si ng S t ars
Age: 35
Height: 5’5”
Residence: Fort Collins,
Colorado
Occupation: Hair stylist,
Spinning instructor, nutritional
counselor
Junior California Figure
Championships, C-class, 1st,
and masters over 35, 1st
Factoids: She’s a former
swimmer and the mother of
two girls.
Contact: AliOlson@comcast.net
Be Mu
ac sc
h le
’0
8
Memorial
Day
3
1
2
4
Memorial Day, May 26
6
5
7
8
9
10
11
12
1) Jackie Lee, 75 years old!
2) Sherry Goggin and Stephanie
Hicks add to the beauty of Muscle
Beach.
3) Mark Antonia Grant and
Colonel Kenneth Allison.
4) IM art director Terry Bratcher
and Jon Jon Park, who accepted
his father Reg’s induction into the
Muscle Beach Hall of Fame.
5) The athletes stand at attention
as a C-17 Globemaster from
March Air Force Base flies
overhead.
6) Joe Wheatley and Angelica
Huston.
7) Laura Bailey, figure overall
winner.
8) Cara Basso and head judge
Jerome Ferguson.
9) Anu McKnight, novice men’s
bodybuilding overall winner, and
Sheanni Vanderbilt, novice figure
overall winner.
10) The crew from March Air
Force Base, in charge of the C-17
flyover.
11) Laura Bailey with Todd Greene
of HeadBlade, the host sponsor.
12) Dawn Michael Thomas,
women’s bodybuilding overall
winner.
Independence
Day
1
2
3
6
4
5
7
8
9
Photography by Jerry Fredrick, Brett Miller and SecondFocus
Independence Day, July 4
1) Joe Wheatley and Cheryl Stoneham,
figure-over-45 winner.
2) The class winners pose down.
3) Over-60 masters: Glen Greenbaum,
Jim Arrington and Phil Le Gault.
4) Laura Bailey, figure champ.
5) Bob Blair.
6) Zabo Koszewski, Hall of Fame
inductee, and IM’s John Balik.
7) The men’s heavyweight winners.
8) Kim Farley, novice figure overall
champ, and family.
9) Balik and Zabo.
10) Dawn Michael Thomas, women’s
bodybuilding overall winner.
11) Tattooes are in!
12) Ron Avidan (left), camera in hand
for GetBig.com.
13) The figure lineup.
14) Mike Manibog, men’s champ.
15) Figure class winners.
10
12
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Muscle “In” Sites
If you find something on the Web that IM readers should know about, send the URL to Eric at bodyfx2@aol.com.
>www.AndyHaman.com
Andy Haman is an unusual IFBB professional
bodybuilder—he earned his pro card at age
41. That’s right: After 20 years of hard training,
Andy started competing about two years ago. He
earned a string of impressive victories in local
and state shows and hit the big time with a win
at the Masters Nationals in ’07, which catapulted
him into the pose-for-pay ranks. In fact, after a
14-year career teaching, as well as coaching wrestling and football, in the public school system,
Andy retired specifically to pursue his dream of
becoming a pro bodybuilder. That dream began
many years earlier when Andy’s father permitted
him and his older brother George to fill the basement with barbells, dumbbells and benches so
that they could train to their heart’s content. And
Balik
MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUS
Eric Broser’s
now, with the help and support of his children
and loving wife, Michelle, Andy is ready to begin
his “second life” as one of the world’s top professional bodybuilders.
Andy’s site has a nice look; it’s colorful and eye
catching. He has a page filled with some interesting and fun facts about himself, including some
of his best lifts, one of which is a 615-pound
bench press—wow! He’s also put together a nice
photo gallery with dozens of shots from contests
and with his family, as well as shots of his training and just plain having fun. It’s easy to tell that
Andy is not a person who takes himself too seriously, and he appreciates the gifts life has given
him. He offers several services, such as online
training and contest prep, as well as one-on-one
sessions at either his gym or yours. Yes, Andy will
actually travel to where you live and train with
you at your facility while sharing as much knowledge as you can gather from him in a day. Pretty
cool. Many photos are for sale, and coming soon
is a DVD chronicling his entire preparation for his
debut on a pro stage.
I’m a fan of Andy’s, and I think after one look
through his site, you will be too.
>DVD Review: Mark Dugdale’s “Driven”
One thing I’d never do is
be dishonest with my readers, which is why I need to
tell you that I’ve watched
only about half of this DVD.
I wanted to watch it in its
entirety before reviewing it,
but some unexpected things
got in the way, and my magazine deadline was looming.
I really didn’t need to watch
another second—although
I will have watched it all by
the time you read this—to
tell you all how much I enjoyed “Driven.”
Shot in documentary style,
“Driven” is not just another
bodybuilding-training DVD
but a complete look at the
real life of Mark Dugdale.
We get to see just how hard
a champion works in the
gym and as a businessman, husband and father.
It’s apparent that Mark has
developed an incredibly balanced physique and, even
more important, a well-balanced life. I’d love to show
the DVD to anyone who thinks all bodybuilders are just
dumb, narcissistic, selfish meatheads; Mark absolutely
destroys the stereotype. He is truly living the American
dream—success, fame, love, family, friends, spiritual-
>Broser’s
Net Results Q&A
The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your
questions on training and nutrition.
Q: I just competed in my third bodybuilding
contest, where I placed second for the third
time. It was cool the first two times, but at my
last show I was definitely frustrated. I asked
the judges what was wrong with my physique,
and they said my biggest weakness was my
abs. When I look at photos, I can see what
they’re talking about. My abs just don’t “pop.”
I train them two to three times per week with
three exercises and about 30 to 50 reps per
set. What else can I do? I want to win next time.
A: Before answering your question, I just want to
mention that you should be very proud of yourself for
those second-place finishes. Some people have to
compete for many years before reaching a top-five
posedown, and you’ve accomplished that in each of
your first three competitions. Now, as to your question,
it’s interesting because it’s a problem I once faced. A
judge whom I respected very much told me early in
my career that a truly excellent set of abs should show
clearly even without being flexed. When I view early
ity are all abundant in Mark’s
life.
Intensity is obviously the
name of the game in his
training philosophy. His
style is quite reminiscent of
six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian
Yates, where maximum effort
on minimal sets was the rule.
Interestingly, there were a few
moments during “Driven”
that I was reminded of the
film “Pumping Iron”—something about the way the gym
scenes were shot, along with
the music and dialogue between Mark and his partners.
That in itself brought a smile
to my face. Those who like
only hardcore-training DVDs
might not appreciate two
discs, but if you want to take
an honest look at the life of
one of the very best and most
well-rounded bodybuilders
in the world today, you will
love “Driven.” I’ll have a little more on it next time.
Editor’s note: Mark Dugdale’s “Driven” is available
from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008, or visit
www.Home-Gym.com.
photos of myself, I can see that when I hit an abs-andthigh pose, my midsection looked fairly ripped, but
when I was standing relaxed, you couldn’t see a single
box.
So, if my bodyfat was low and I’d depleted my water
properly, why were my abs not clearly delineated? The
answer is simple: They were not developed enough.
As with any other muscle group, if there’s not enough
thickness to the abdominal muscles themselves, they’ll
fail to project as fully as they should onstage. What’s
the solution? Stop with the 30-to-50-rep sets and start
training them with resistance just as you would any
other bodypart you wish to improve. Do you regularly
train your chest or biceps with weights light enough
to give you such high reps? Do you think you’d carry
the size you do in those muscles if you did? No, you
wouldn’t, because high reps don’t challenge the muscle
fibers most responsible for growth.
Cut your reps from 30 to 50 per set to no more than
15 per set. Don’t be afraid to hold a heavy dumbbell on
your chest for floor crunches, Swiss ball crunches and
incline situps. Continue dropping the pin farther down
the rack on cable crunches as well. Challenge your abs
with progressive resistance and watch each of those
“boxes” thicken and take on more of a 3-D appearance.
When I started doing that years ago, I could only use
a 50-pound dumbbell on my chest for crunches done
Net Results
Neveux \ Model: Joey Gloor
on the floor. Nowadays I can easily use a 120-pound
dumbbell for sets of 15 to 20 reps. On cable crunches
I rarely find a weight stack heavy enough and normally
have to add some extra plates.
The most common question I get when I discuss the
need for “heavy” abdominal training is, “Will that thicken
my waist?” The answer is no, as long as you do all of
your repetitions with total control, perfect form and an
intense focus on only allowing your abs to contract on
each rep.
I do not recommend adding resistance to all of the
so-called lower-abdominal exercises, where the legs,
knees and hips are drawn toward the torso. I feel that
the movement too strongly activates the hip flexors,
leaving less stimulation for the abs.
Those exercises are
important, however,
and should be used
either as the second half of a superset with a weighted
abdominal movement or close to the
end of your routine,
when the abs are
more fatigued.
Q: I’ve been
using the Power/
Rep Range/
Shock training
program for a
year, and I love it. The change from week to
week really keeps my muscles guessing, and it
simply makes weight training more interesting.
My favorite is Shock week, so I was wondering if you have any new twists that would bring
even greater variation.
A: Every time I hear that someone is using my P/
RR/S training protocol with good results, it makes me
smile, so thank you so much for your feedback. Rarely,
however, is Shock week a favorite; you’re certainly in
the minority there. I love the feeling that shocking the
muscles provides, so yes, I’ve come up with some new
ways to do it.
One interesting method I’ve been experimenting with
this year is heavy/light supersets and drop sets. In the
standard P/RR/S program most supersets are in the
range of eight to 10 or 10 to 12 reps per exercise. As for
drop sets, the basic regimen calls for eight to 10 reps
with a drop of four to six more or 10 to 12 reps with a
drop of six to eight more. With the heavy/light protocol,
however, you go from a traditional Power range of four
to six reps immediately to a high-rep range of 16 to 20.
That provides a unique stimulus for both the muscles
and nervous system and gives your body a serious
wake-up call. Here’s an example of a Shock chest
workout using heavy/light:
Superset
Bench presses
Cable crossovers
Superset
Weighted dips
Incline dumbbell flyes
Smith-machine incline
presses (drop)
2 x 4-6
2 x 16-20
2 x 4-6
2 x 16-20
1 x 4-6 (16-20)
A training method called add-on sets, which I’ve
described in IRON MAN before, is another excellent
way to shake up the traditional Shock workouts. It seriously challenges your mind, stamina and muscles. I
like to use that method during cutting and contest prep
periods, especially as the workouts force copious lactic acid production, which in turn signals the body to
release increased amounts of fat-destroying, musclebuilding growth hormone. Here’s an example of an addon-sets Shock workout for quads:
Walking lunges
Superset
Walking lunges
Hack squats
Tri-set
Walking lunges
Hack squats
Leg presses
Giant set
Walking lunges
Hack squats
Leg presses
Leg extensions
1 x 10-12 steps per leg
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
1 x 10-12
You might also vary your Shock weeks by occasionally deleting the supersets and drop sets and using
advanced rep techniques during each exercise. Examples include 1 1/2 reps, X Reps, stretch/pause, eccentric/concentric emphasis and pause reps. They force
your muscles to work in ways they’re not accustomed
to. There’s no rule saying that a weight must simply be
lifted and lowered in the same standard manner all the
time. In fact, doing standard training all the time could
be keeping you from reaching your total growth potential. Here’s an example of a Shock workout for biceps:
Barbell curls with eccentric pauses: Curl the
bar to the top, squeeze the biceps, then lower slowly
only halfway and hold that position for three seconds
before lowering, 2 x 6-8.
Preacher curls with 1 1/2 reps: Curl the bar to
the top, squeeze the biceps, lower slowly only halfway,
then curl back to the top before lowering, 2 x 8-10.
Concentration curls with X reps: Do full-range
reps until positive failure, then continue with constanttension partial reps from just above the stretch position
up to the halfway point, 1 x 8-10.
Enjoy the pain. IM
Jay Cutler
2008 Mr. Olympia
Preview
by Lonnie Teper
Photography by Roland Balik and Merv
Is It Jay All the Way? Not According to
the Blade and the Big, Bad Wolf
A
s this is being written, we still have 14 weeks to go to the big show. In late
June—and with four qualifiers still to come—19 competitors had earned
the right to take part in the ’08 Mr. Olympia, which is set for September
27 at the Orleans Arena in Las Vegas. Although another 12 might be joining the party by game day, it’s fair to say that the main challengers are already onboard.
Can anybody put a stop to the Jay Cutler train ride? The Ultimate Beef has his
sights on a three-peat and, with last year’s runner-up, Victor Martinez, probably
out of the Big Dance because of knee surgery undergone during the first part of
the year, can the judges mail this one in?
Not according to Dexter Jackson, who feels the crown will change hands this
time around—as in his hands. Dennis Wolf, coming off his highly controversial
fifth-place finish last season—remember, Wolf won the fans’ vote at Body
building.com—might not agree with the automatic-Cutler-victory-approach either. So who has the best chance of knocking Jay off his Olympia perch? Let’s take
a look at the field so far.
The Champ:
Jay Cutler
Victor
Martinez
and Jay
Cutler.
He was off the past two years,
due to injuries and illness leading up to the show, and still won.
So can anybody stick with Jay if a
much-improved version hits the
stage this season?
Cutler was 291 pounds when he
guest-posed at my Junior Cal on
June 21 and, unlike years past, had
cleared his appearance calendar by
July 1 so he could devote the entire
summer to nothing but adding
another Sandow to his Las Vegas
fortress.
Jay, who turns 35 in August, will
probably carry around 265 to 270
pounds on his 5’9” frame and, with
the widest shoulders and back in
the profession, will look to overpower the field again.
Preview
2008
Victor Martinez
The Top Challengers:
Dexter Jackson, Dennis
Wolf, Phil Heath
Martinez, of course, would
be my choice if anybody has a shot
at Cutler, but he told me—and the
crowd—at the Lone Star Classic in
Plano, Texas, in early June that he
was too far behind in his leg training since the surgery and was going
to concentrate on the ’09 Arnold
Classic. Which makes perfect sense.
Then I heard at dinner after my
contest that he was back in the
hunt, so I don’t know Martinez’
exact status at press time. I will be
more than taken aback, however, if
Vic actually does end up flexing on
the Orleans stage.
Preview
2008
Dexter Jackson
Jackson, coming off his third Arnold Classic
I’ll be generous and say the
5’6 1/2” Jackson might have tilted the scales at
around 220 to 222—he was 205 the year before—
at the ASC. In any case, the 38-year-old from Jacksonville, Florida, says he’ll be five pounds heavier
in Vegas. In other words, an even bigger and better version of what we’ve seen in the past.
Will that be enough to upset Cutler? Dex thinks
so; he feels he has the edge in shape and conditioning and is fully confident he’ll be joining the
short list of Mr. O winners in a couple of months.
win in the past four years—Martinez prevented a
three-peat in ’07—plus back-to-back victories in
Australia and New Zealand in the following two
weeks, says he weighed 233 at the Arnold en route
to his unanimous victory. If you’ve been reading
my drivel for the past few years, you know what I
think about the Blade’s claims. Actually, you know
what I believe about almost all bodybuilders’
declarations
when it comes to weight. Deduct 10,
252 OCTOBER
2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
then begin.
Dennis Wolf
The big, bad Wolf broke
through big time last year, and
he has legions of fans who feel
that the 5’11” 260-pounder out of
Germany can truly cop the title
this season. He took the entire ’08
contest season off to focus solely
on the Olympia. We’ll see if he
brings up his weak areas enough
to overtake the Beef, the Blade and
the Gift.
Phil Heath
The last named, of course, is
Phil Heath, the 28-year-old out
of Colorado who opened up the new
year with a powerful victory at the
IRON MAN, following that up with
a second-place finish to Jackson at
the ASC two weeks later. The Denver Nugget was bigger at this year’s
events than in the past, but I hope
he doesn’t add much weight to his
5’9”, 230-pound frame.
The guy has outstanding calves,
wheels and nasty hamstrings and,
of course, possesses the best allaround arm development on the
pro level. Picking Heath as a legit
challenger to the title this year is a
stretch, I admit, but I like long shots.
Makes things interesting. If he
comes in the way he did at the IRON
MAN, though, or perhaps 10 percent
better, don’t be shocked if Phil provides a thrill or two in Las Vegas.
Preview
2008
matic invite to the ’09 Mr. O.
Both Warren and Samuel bested
Anthony at the Arnold—as did
Gustavo Badell and Toney Freeman—but I say the Marvelous One
makes up for his below-par eighthplace finish there to battle again for
a top-six slot—Anthony finished
fifth in 2006, sixth in ’07. He was
way off at the ASC but got better in
Australia and New Zealand, where
he took second.
Conditioning,
Melvin Anthony
Marvelous, conditioning.
With his fourth-
Branch Warren
Top-Six Contenders:
Melvin Anthony,
Branch Warren,
Silvio Samuel,
Gustavo Badell
With Kai Greene opting out of
the big show, postponing his Olympia debut for another season, the
four men listed above will vie for
inclusion in the finals and an autowww.ironmanmagazine.com \ OCTOBER 2008 255
Preview
2008
Silvio
a top-six finish at any contest in the
world. By the time
this issue of IRON
Samuel
MAN comes out,
the Houston Pro
will be long gone—and I say the 5’7”
220-pounder will have added that
contest to his “win” résumé.
Don’t forget Badell. The ’Frican
Rican, at 36, is still a great bodybuilder, capable of standing next to
anybody onstage. He’s been third
in this contest in the past, if you’ll
recall, is coming off a second-place
finish at this year’s IRON MAN and
was sixth at the Arnold. At 5’7 1/2”
and 245 pounds, the cat carries a lot
of muscle.
Gustavo Badell
place finish at this year’s Arnold,
Warren fooled a lot of experts who
thought the 5’7” 240-pounder had
seen better days—he also won
the Most Muscular award. Warren, like Anthony, has redemption
on his mind; he was 12th at the O
in ’06, and I don’t think you’ll see
anything but a gnarly Warren at the
Orleans Arena.
Samuel is an amazingly consistent bodybuilder and, as his fifthplace finish at the Arnold and last
year’s seventh-place landing at the
O prove, Silvio can never be counted out when you’re handicapping
Dennis James
Toney Freeman
Top-10
Candidates:
Toney Freeman,
Dennis James,
Johnnie
Jackson, Moe
El Moussawi,
Darrem Charles
Darrem
Charles
What version of the XMan will show up in Vegas?
Freeman fell all the way to
14th at the Olympia last
year and opened up the
year with an eighth-place
finish at the IRON MAN
before placing seventh at
the Arnold. Still, the 6’2”,
275-pounder has beautiful shape and, if he dials it
in, still has the goods for a
top-six landing, top 10 for
sure—even at 42.
Jackson, 37, qualified for
the O right out of the chute
this year with a fifth-place
finish at the IRON
MAN and, even
though he fell to
ninth at the Arnold,
is one thick son of a
gun at 5’7” and 250
pounds, especially
in his upper body.
The 35-year-old
El Moussawi has
been the surprise
of the ’08 season,
winning my Most
Improved Bodybuilder of the Year
award after just one
contest—the IRON
MAN, where he
shocked people with
a third-place finish.
Mo dropped to 11th
at the Arnold but
came back with a
third-place medal in
Australia; he ranks
right up there with
Heath when we’re
talking best guns in
Johnnie Jackson
Kevin English
Moe El Moussawi
Craig Richardson Sergey Shelestov
the sport.
James, 38, is another thickly
muscled contender and at press
time was one of the favorites to win
the Pro Bodybuilding Weekly event
in Tampa, Florida, and the Europa
in Dallas, Texas, in August. Dennis
always looks like Mr. Olympia in
the gym two weeks out from any
show he competes in. Will he be
able to peak when it counts the
most—at the end of September?
Assuming he qualifies, that is—and
I say he does.
David Henry
Charles, at 40, remains one of
the most consistent physique artists in the game. Always count on
Dazzling Darrem to be in primetime condition. Never count him
out of any top-10-prediction field.
I’m willing to bet that Charles will
qualify at the Houston Pro or one
of the other shows taking place
before Olympia time.
Others already eligible for the
O at this point are Kevin English,
Craig Richardson, Sergey Shelestov,
David Henry and Ronny Rockel.
Ronny Rockel
Considering the depth of the field
in the greatest bodybuilding lineup
of every season, it will be tough for
the above to crack the top 10. All,
however, have quality physiques,
so never say never. Remember,
that’s the exact term used when
people were discussing El Moussawi’s chances of finishing in the
top three at the IRON MAN.
For contest updates, log on to
www.IronManMagazine.com.
See ya in Vegas. IM
Profiles in Muscle
Johnnie Jackson
Profiles in Muscle
IFBB Pro Bodybuilder and MuscleTech Athlete
Compiled by Ron Harris
Full name: Johnnie Otis Jackson
Date of birth: January 30, 1971
Height: 5’8”
Off-season weight: 278
Contest weight: 250
Current residence: Hurst, Texas
Years training: 29
Occupation: Professional bodybuilder and
MuscleTech athlete
Marital status: Married to Rebecca
Children: Johnnie Jr., 14; Jonessa, 15; and a
baby on the way
Hobbies: Bowling, landscaping, going to movies
How did you get into bodybuilding? “My
older brother Willie was really into bodybuilding, and I wanted to be big and strong like him.
I competed once at age 16 and then didn’t do it
again for almost 10 years.”
Who inspired you when you
were starting out? “Lee Haney
truly was Totalee Awesome. Later
it was Flex Wheeler. I loved his
aesthetics, and it killed me to
see him ruin his shape and lines
when he got too big toward the
end of his career.”
Top titles: ’01 NPC Nationals,
light heavyweight, 1st, and overall; ’06 Montreal Pro, 1st; ’07 Atlantic City Pro, 1st
Favorite bodypart to train:
Back
Favorite exercise: Deadlifts
Least favorite exercise: “Anything for calves or abs—boring!”
Best bodypart: “My chest—it
would easily overpower everything else if I let it.”
Most challenging bodypart:
“Calves. I can say that by far I’ve
put the most effort into them for
the least results.”
Obstacles overcome: “Divorcing my first wife and having my
kids move back east to New Jersey
was the most difficult thing I have
ever had to deal with, even worse
than losing various loved ones
over the years.”
ders and triceps; Friday, back;
Saturday, light biceps and triceps;
Sunday, off
Do you have a quote or a philosophy you try to live by? “I
have two: Treat others the way
you would like to be treated, and
respect your elders.”
Favorite cheat meal: “Pizza
from Bruni’s Pizzeria in
Hammonton, New Jersey, where
I grew up—the best pizza in the
world as far as I’m concerned.”
How do you stay motivated? “I
want to be the best bodybuilder
in the world, and I also want to
make a good living at my chosen
sport. I guess you could say glory
and money.”
What’s your favorite supplement, and why? “I love MuscleTech’s NO Vapor drink before
workouts. It provides plenty of
energy to sustain me through all
the heavy weights, cardio and
even anything I might have to do
after the gym.”
How would you describe your
training style? “Power bodybuilding sums it up pretty well.
It’s very similar to the way Ronnie
[Coleman] trains.”
Training split: Monday, chest
and biceps; Tuesday, legs;
Wednesday, off; Thursday, shoul-
Favorite clean meal: “Salmon.
I can eat it plain, with no seasoning or marinade.”
Goals in the sport: “I want to
win at least three more shows,
one of which has to be the Mr.
Olympia. Any pro bodybuilder
who says he doesn’t want to be
Mr. Olympia is full of it!” IM
RUTH SILVERMAN’S
About October:
•
•
•
•
Summer Sensations
Coming Attractions
Notables
Trophy Shots
FAST MOVERS
Her twoshows-to-thepros blast
into figure
competition
was so
quick that
hot photos
of Lenay
Hernandez
were in short
supply, even
after she
qualified for
the Olympia in
her debut at
the Houston
Pro. Not
to worry—
hardworking
Hardbody.com
correspondent
Isaac Hinds
was on the
scene at the
Junior USA to
get this shot.
My hero.
264
Roland Balik
HOUSTON PRO
FITNESS Tracey
Greenwood
(left) grabbed
her first win
of the season
(she had two
last year) at
the Houston
Pro Fitness in
July. Erin Riley
(right) earned
her Olympia
debut there with
a third-place
finish.
Isaac Hinds \ LiftStudios.com
SUMMER SENSATIONS
Photography by Ruth Silverman and Merv
CHOICES Shannon Meteraud returned to fitness in Houston, took
second and earned her first trip
to the Fitness O since ’03. She’s
qualified in figure as well, but
Shannon’s best bet for a money
slot may lie with the sport where
reigning champ Adela Garcia recently withdrew due to injury.
COMING ATTRACTIONS
JUST BECAUSE
I was reminded of this
fabulous shot
of top NPC
flexer Kris
Murrell—taken
by IRON MAN
publisher John
Balik during
a shoot at
Bill Dobbins’
studio—while
preparing
my predictions for this
year’s USA. To
see how Kris
did—and how
well my coanchor Kristy
Hawkins and
I did in previewing the
stars of the
’08 USA Women’s Bodybuilding and
Figure Championships,
check out the
galleries at
IronMan
Magazine
.com.
TODD, TELL US HOW
YOU REALLY FEEL
ABOUT THAT BUMP
While Shannon and
Tracey were showing
the younger girls how
it’s done in Houston,
their fellow fitness
vet Cynthia BridgesSatalowich (here with
hubby Todd Satalowich and Jazz) was
engaging in a different
kind of body building.
“I’m going for the
biggest abs
now,”
she joked
in late
July.
Avidan
MORE BECAUSE
Another photo
I’ve been looking
for an excuse
to publish:
this triceps
shot of Kristy
winning the ’07
Nationals.
Manion
Bradford
N O TA B L E S
MORE CHOICES After hearing from
one too many disappointed friends
whose teenage daughters had abandoned “real sports” for more ladylike
activities, I had to laugh at the tale
of Cassie Manion. The 12-year-old,
who often competes in leagues with
14-year-olds, reportedly had some
qualms about telling her mom, former dancer Debbie Amelio Manion,
that she was giving up dance for softball and soccer. Not that it stopped
her. And you thought it was the guys
in that family who are strong-willed.
TALL TALE South Carolina’s Sharon Van der Horst
started the season with an overall victory at Ty
Felder’s Atlantic USA and won her class but not a
pro card at the Junior USA. What are the chances
that omission will be corrected at the next show
the 5’11” personal fitness trainer quarter-turns in?
DARING, DARLING DIANA Bodybuilding legend and performance artist Diana Dennis has never let being a grandmother—
or anything else—keep her from new challenges. At a benefit
in her hometown of Vegas in July she made her debut on aerial
silks, a Cirque du Soleil–style discipline that most fitness athletes would be hard-pressed to master. Find video of Diana
flying though the air at www.DianaDennis.com—and enjoy this
classic Michael Neveux photo of her right here.
PERSONALITIES
WORKS
OF ART
John Stutz \ Model: Meriza DeGuzman
QUEEN DEE Houston flexer Dee Lazard won
the over-55 title at the ’08 NPC Masters Nationals and was eighth in the over-35 middleweights. “I like to get up there and see where
I place compared to the younger women,”
she says. Dee, I know the feeling.
MOMENT IN
TIME Heather
French, third
at the Houston
Pro Figure, is
resting up for
the Olympia.
EROTIC—ER, ERRATA I was so-o-o excited about running a photo from John
Stutz’s collection in the August ’08 issue that I got the name of the book
wrong. It’s Fit Girls, Volume I, and you can read all about it at www.JohnStutz
.com. As punishment for my sins, I get to run another shot. Ouch, that hurts.
ANOTHER SIDE OF TRACEY Greenwood (right)
takes time from a full season of competing to
promote the Tracey Greenwood Fitness and
Figure Classic each year. That’s ’08 T.G. Fitness
winner Edna Valentino in the victory pose.
Bradford
For crackling commentary on all things
women’s bodybuilding, fitness and
figure, read my
Pump & Circumstance blog at
MORE MISTAKES
Erratum number two in the
August issue involved that
very same John Stutz photo,
specifically the model,
Breean Robinson. As I have
now misspelled her name
twice in this mag (see also
the February ’08 issue), I’m
pleased to finally get it right.
TROPHY SHOTS
From the ’08 NPC Teen,
Collegiate, Masters National
Championships, July 18–19.
2
1
Photography by Dave Liberman
3
4
’08 USA FLASH
5
1) Master’s Women’s Overall
champ Gale Frankie.*
2) Masters Figure 55 and over:
Kathy Cook, 1st; Deborah Freeman and Maureen O’Connell.
3) Teen Figure champ Aspen
Schmidt.
4) Figure 45-and-over overall
winner Elissa Schlichter.
5) Collegiate Figure winner
Chelsey Morgenstern and NPC
President Jim Manion
6) Master’s Figure Overall
champ Tina White.*
*Earned pro
card.
6
USA promoter Jon Lindsay hails
the new pros (from left) Curtis
Bryant, Isabelle Turell, Crystal
Lowery, Brandon Curry, Amy Lee
Martin, Mendi Sakamoto and
Rachel Cammon. (Not shown:
Jamie Costa and Kristi Nunn. )
Find IM’s slam-bang
coverage of the NPC
USA and Team Universe
Championships at
www.IronMan
Magazine.com—and more
here next month.
You can contact Ruth Silverman, fitness, figure and women’s bodybuilding reporter and Pump & Circumstance scribe, in
care of IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033; or via e-mail at ironwman@aol.com.
Heavy
Duty
Mike Mentzer Interview,
Part 2
by John Little
T
Balik \ Model: Mike Mentzer
his month IRON MAN brings
you the second part of a neverbefore-published interview with
Mike Mentzer, conducted in
1995, just before the release of his classic
book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body.
Q: It’s strange that more people don’t encourage a pursuit of
truth.
MM: You and I have enough experience to know that anyone who’s
innovative, no matter what the field,
is going to be attacked. Arthur Jones
spoke to me about that a number of
years ago. We were sitting in his favorite restaurant in Deland, Florida,
and he was railing on and on about
all the people who were attacking
him. He pointed out that the pattern
followed is almost always the same:
First you’re ignored, then ridiculed,
then attacked, then copied—they
steal your idea. I use a mnemonic
device: IRACS—Ignore, Ridicule,
Attack, Copy, Steal. And it’s true. In
the very beginning Nautilus was ignored, then ridiculed, then attacked.
Then all of a sudden everyone was
building cams “like Arthur Jones” or,
as they thought, “like Arthur Jones
did,” but, of course, their cams
weren’t created on the basis of any
scrupulous thinking; they just drew
a cam on a piece of paper.
Q: Why do you think this
IRACS phenomenon exists?
MM: Because bodybuilding is a
reflection of the culture at large—in
politics you see the same thing. For
people who understand the power
of ideas and the role that they play
in human life, it amazes me. I still
shudder in contempt, for instance,
when I see how little value politicians place on the power of ideas.
It’s just disgusting beyond belief. Let
me go back to bodybuilding in the
same context—allow me to quote
myself from Chapter 7 from the
book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body,
entitled “Either-Or,” which was my
favorite chapter to write:
“Having grown justly contemptuous of the vicious irrationality and
assorted outrages he witnessed in
the field of exercise science and
bodybuilding of the sort seen in
every sphere of human life and
Heavy
prompting Jones’ righteously
expressed indignation. There
is a certain point beyond
which the willful evasion of
knowledge and the associated violation of life-preserving ethical principles become
evil depravity. Each has a
responsibility to learn how
to judge critically so as to
protect himself, and each has
a responsibility to abide by
objective ethical principles.
“Only recently has the
field of bodybuilding fitness
been grudgingly accorded
a minuscule respect by the
scientific and medical community. The actual value of
bodybuilding goes largely
unnoticed because of the
influence of low-grade mentalities controlling it. Unlike
the hallowed researchers and
practitioners of Western theoretical medical science, who
rightfully pride themselves
on exacting ethical principles, too many of the individuals involved in regulating
bodybuilding have no explicit
intellectual standards. Worse,
their degree of control has
emboldened them to actually
take pride in flouting ethical
principles. Unfortunately, too
many of the self-styled experts in our field not only fail
to make a nominal effort to
stay abreast of the state of the
art, but they actively evade
such knowledge and even
work diligently to suppress
valid ideas that would help
people achieve greater progress as well as protect their
health. Sheer, innocent ignorance is one thing, but the
conscious evasion and willful
suppression of life-enhancing knowledge is another.
The motive of such people is
the irrational desire to project and
protect a false image of uncontested
superiority and infallibility. That
only makes them look pathetic and
poses a threat to the young and innocent, who are apt to be duped by
the blandishments of these not-sobig big shots.”
Q: I think one of the worst
manifestations of that is the
Neveux \ Model: Will Harris
Duty
crippling the progress of mankind,
Arthur Jones has often stridently
intoned: ‘Either you’re part of the
problem, or you’re part of the solution. The choice is yours. The issue
is either-or. Let the chips fall where
they may. The stakes are your ass.
There’s no other possibility.’”
I go on to say:
“In my earlier contact with
Mr. Jones such remarks excited
something in me that at the time I
couldn’t identify. It was my strong
moral sense of life as well as the nascent, explicit understanding I possessed of the actual serious nature
of the ethical issues Jones was expounding. Today I have a thorough
conceptual grasp and intellectual
understanding of the issues of morality and justice, and I fully concur
with the motives and premises
Heavy
Duty
Neveux \ Model: David Dorsey
“Range of motion,
speed of rep—
those things are
important but only
in the context of
understanding and
properly employing
the fundamentals.”
concept that some product will
make the user of that product
look like the guys in the magazines. It creates a standard that
is unattainable. Long-term
thinkers realize that they’re undermining their own market.
MM: Yes, they are—and that’s
what really irritates me. Cynicism is
resulting in the ongoing deterioration of the sport’s popularity. Whatever pinnacle it achieved a number
of years ago, it’s definitely on the
downside now. For people who have
a proper, ethical interest in it, to
see such willful flouting of ethical
principles, knowing that it will lead
to destruction, I find that contempt-
ible.
Q: Getting back to your book:
When you say that it’s an almost
total integration of philosophy
and bodybuilding and a correct
theory, it makes me wonder if
you’re going to have much more
to write on the subject of bodybuilding. Not that there isn’t
more to write, but I’m wondering if you have plans down the
road to move on to something
else.
MM: I do, but that doesn’t mean
that I can’t keep a foot in the bodybuilding waters. At times I saw my
thinking was going in the direction
of leaving the industry entirely.
I stopped myself and
thought, “There’s no reason to do that necessarily.” With regard to further
research, study and
thought, I’m convinced
that I’ve mastered the
fundamentals. The only
thing I have left to study
are the derivatives—aspects of exercise that are
based on and derived
from an understanding
of the fundamentals.
Namely, the importance
of range of motion, speed
of rep and things like
that. All those things are
important but only in the
context of understanding
and properly employing the fundamentals. In
other words, what’s the
difference if you understand the importance of
range of motion or speed
of reps if you don’t understand the necessity of
precisely regulating volume and frequency?
Q: And intensity.
MM: Right. It’s only on
the basis of properly understanding and employing the fundamentals that
the derivatives take on
any meaning.
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 © 2008, John
Little. All rights reserved. Mike
Mentzer quotations are provided
courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and are
used with permission. IM
282 OCTOBER 2008
Neveux \ Model: Nathan Forster
W
hile parents have no
qualms about letting their children
participate in such
contact sports as hockey, football, soccer and lacrosse at a very
early age—sometimes as young as
six—they completely reject the idea
of having their offspring take part
in a weight-training program. Way
too dangerous, they contend. Yet
they actually encourage their sons
to blast full-speed into an opponent at a football game or hockey
match. Even more insane is the
huge popularity of skateboarding,
in which very young boys often do
acrobatic maneuvers 40 feet above
terra firma. Currently more than
12 million athletes take part in that
risky sport, and the majority are
under 10 years old. So it’s okay to
skateboard but taboo to lift weights.
Totally illogical. It’s much safer to
weight-train in a controlled fashion
than to be gang-tackled or to crash
and burn on a skateboard.
The notion that any type of
weight training is harmful to a
young, undeveloped body is supported by the medical community. Most authorities recommend
waiting until youngsters are in
their teens before starting a lifting
program. It has to do with growth
plates. The contention is that if
youngsters lift weights, they’ll damage the growth plates in the long
bones and that will adversely affect
their height. Makes sense, right? Or
does it? I’ve never bought it. If that
were the case, then no one should
lift weights who hasn’t reached age
20 because growth is still occurring
till then. Plus, I’ve never read any
scientific studies that supported
the allegation. I have, however,
read several studies conducted on
youngsters in Europe who started
training very early, and none reported any damage to the growth
plates.
I think it’s simply a concept
that’s been around for so long,
everyone assumes it must be fact,
even though no hard evidence to
substantiate it has ever surfaced.
Otherwise it would be in every
magazine, newspaper and news
Only the Strong Shall Survive
Bigger, Stronger,
YOUNGER
Strength Training and the
Young Athlete
by Bill Starr
Part 1
In addition, the young farmers grew
to be taller than their parents.
What people fail to recognize
is that the hard work involved in
the daily operation of a farm was
basically a form of strength training. Before much of the labor was
mechanized, it entailed a great deal
of heavy lifting, pulling and push-
ing. Some of the programs used
by strength athletes in sports now
include many of the same things
done by farmers and other laborers
as part of their jobs.
Even if parents do understand
that weight training can be beneficial to their child, they still have
lots of concerns: How young can
kids start on
a routine?
Should they
do high reps
and use only
light weights?
What exercises should
they include
in their routines, and
which ones
should they
avoid? How
often should
they train
and for how
long? All are
valid questions.
The European sports
IStockPhoto.com
report across the country. I happen
to believe the exact opposite—resistance training done under proper
supervision helps stimulate growth
in bones and muscles.
It wasn’t many years ago that
children growing up on farms did
their share of the work even before
they started elementary school. As
they grew older,
they did more,
and some of
the chores were
quite strenuous.
It turned out
that farm boys
were invariably
bigger and much
stronger and
more athletic
than their nonfarm classmates.
They became
the cornerstones
of the sports
teams and didn’t
suffer in the
slightest from
the hard work
imposed on
them every day.
Neveux \ Models: Lee Apperson and Lee Apperson Jr.
IStockPhoto.com
It turned out that farm boys were invariably
bigger and much stronger and more athletic
than their nonfarm classmates, becoming the
cornerstones of the sports teams.
community is light-years ahead
of the United States in regard to
training youngsters. In Europe
it’s been demonstrated that very
young boys and girls can derive
positive benefits from a systematic, well-supervised strengthtraining regimen—and safely.
When I was the editor of Strength
& Health in the late 1960s, I exchanged copies of the magazine
for closely held information about
what the Russian Olympic lifters
were doing at the time. My pen
pal sent me a comprehensive
study dealing with young lifters,
some just eight years of age.
What many people fail to grasp
is that Russians cherish their
children just as much as Americans do, so a study was done to
find out if, in fact, weight training
might indeed be harmful over the
long term. Over a 10-year span
it compared weightlifters with
swimmers and concluded that
there was no significant difference between the overall development of the two groups, except
that the weight-trained athletes
had more muscle mass and better
posture. There was no evidence
of any disruption in the growth
process in either group.
So basically, a youngster can
begin to do resistive training at almost any age. The guideline I use
is not chronology but maturity
level. How a youngster takes direction and maintains discipline
is a better gauge than age. Some
eight-year-olds are more focused
than the majority of 14-year-olds.
Several excellent coaches in
this country believe that’s it’s
better to start boys on strength
training when they’re quite
young, before their interest turns
to girls, cars, girls. One of them is
Jim Moser, a former Olympic lifter
whom I started training when he
was 14. He has two sons, James
and Willy. James started tagging
along with his father to the gym
when he was nine. Jim is part
owner of three Valley Isle Fitness
Centers on Maui, so it was only
natural for James to start playing
with the weights. By age 12 he was
doing some serious lifting and at
16 had risen to the top echelon in
the sport of Olympic weightlift-
ing. At that point he’d already won
the Junior Olympics four times, the
Junior Nationals twice, held numerous National School Age Records
and come in second at the Junior
Pan Ams in Colombia. At 17 he
placed third in the Senior Nationals
and has personal bests of 363 in the
snatch and 410 in the clean and jerk,
at a bodyweight of 206. It certainly
didn’t interfere with his growth
pattern. He’s 6’2”, a good six inches
taller than his father. Now 18, he’s
considered one of our best hopes on
the international scene.
Willy is nine years younger than
James, and very early in his life he
began watching his big brother train
and started to mimic his moves. I’ve
seen videos of Willy snatching and
jerking a broomstick when he was
five years old. His father didn’t push
James Moser has been an
Olympic-lifting sensation
since his early teens.
him into lifting. Willy did it on his
own. It was merely another form of
play, and kids possess a wealth of
energy to expend on various physical activities. By six he was training
regularly and, like James, enjoyed
the Olympic lifts. In 2007 he won
the Junior Nationals in Knoxville.
At eight he was competing against
boys three years older, which is a
huge age gap at that stage of life. He
has done a 54-pound snatch
and 88-pound clean and
jerk—more than he weighs.
There are other examples.
Mike Burgener is one of the
very best Olympic-lifting
coaches in the country, and
he started his sons at an early
age on strength-training
programs. Currently, Casey is
the number-one heavyweight
in the United States with lifts
of 390 in the snatch and 480
in the clean and jerk. Norik
Vardanian is another who
started lifting when he was
quite young. He, Casey and
James are our hopes for the
future in Olympic lifting.
So there’s evidence in our
own country that it’s okay for
youngsters to embark on a
strength routine. It needs to
be noted that they were all
trained by fathers who had
extensive experience in the
sport and who understood
the many salient aspects of
coaching a young athlete.
Most of all, they put the kids’
health and welfare ahead of
everything else. That isn’t
always the case. Quite often a
father is so intent on making
his son strong, he’ll push him
beyond his limits. Or at the
other extreme, the father is so
fearful of injuring his son that
he doesn’t push him enough,
making the workouts wasted
effort. The latter doesn’t pose
much of a problem, but the
former does. I witnessed an
example of an overzealous
father who was coaching his
14-year-old son at the Marion
YMCA. The father was an excellent coach, with a couple
of state champions to his
credit, but when it came to
working with his son, he was
IStockPhoto.com
You Can Get
totally irrational. His boy
was chubby and possessed
little in the way of athleticism, which made learning
ideal form on the various
exercises a bit more difficult. The correct approach
would have been to have
him stay with moderate
and light poundages until
he perfected the technique.
That method didn’t fit into
the father’s plan. He kept
adding weight even when
the previous lift was so ugly
that the rest of the lifters
had to look away—especially on the back squat. Yet
despite the terrible form,
the father was determined
to have him squat 500
pounds by a certain day in
the near future. The boy did
in fact achieve that goal,
but it looked more like a
twisted good morning than
a squat.
Neveux \ Models: Lee Apperson and Lee Apperson Jr.
Weights are innocent hunks of metal and much
like cars can be instruments of pleasure and
reward or objects of pain and destruction.
It came as
no surprise to
the other lifters that the
boy sustained
a rather severe
injury to several parts of
his back and
was told not to
do any sort of
weight training
ever again. The
injustice of that
edict is that
it places the
entire blame
on the weights.
They’re innocent hunks of
metal. Weights
are much like
cars. They can
be instruments
of pleasure
and reward or
objects of pain
and destruction. It’s just a
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Neveux \ Model: Justin Balik
matter of how they’re used.
I’m not suggesting that every
youngster should be put on a
strength program. What I am saying
is that if a young person expresses
a genuine desire to lift and a willingness to follow a coach’s advice,
then it’s okay for him or her to do so.
There are, however, rules that must
be adhered to—and religiously.
By far the most important rule
in regard to training youngsters
is that they must be supervised.
To allow preteens or teenagers to
train on their own or with others
of the same age is an invitation to
trouble. Youngsters are not able to
foresee the consequences of what
they’re doing in the weight room.
Left alone, they’ll resort to sloppy
form and invariably attempt to lift
a poundage they’re not yet ready to
handle, especially if they’re competitive, which nearly all of them are.
One summer when I was training
at Fielder’s Shed, two 14-year-old
boys who lived in the area asked if
I would train them. They planned
on going out for the North Harford
football team in August. I said I
would but that they had to do exactly what I told them. One boy was
small and the other much larger.
The larger one followed my program
to the letter, but the smaller one was
determined to match his friend on
every exercise. So he started training on his own because I wouldn’t
let him use a weight that I knew was
too heavy for him.
I arrived early one day and
walked in while he was squatting.
Or what he believed to be a squat.
He’d loaded the bar up to about 50
pounds more than he was capable
of and was doing a quarter squat.
Even that was almost too much. Before I could get behind him to spot,
he went into a deep squat position,
and the weight crashed to the floor.
He dinged his back rather badly,
and his parents put an end to his
strength training.
Even more dangerous is every
youngster’s favorite exercise—the
bench press. It’s dangerous because
the bar is hovering over the lifter’s
face and neck. A lost grip translates
to lost teeth or worse. More than
one exhausted youngster has lost
his life when the bar fell across his
throat. I’m not being an alarmist
but pointing out how critical it is to
have adult supervision in the weight
room.
Other than the risk factor, there’s
another reason an adult needs to be
in charge of the training sessions.
If left to set up their own programs,
youngsters will do nothing but
upper-body work. Most parents are
worried about knees and back in regard to weight training, yet the areas
most vulnerable to injury are the
elbows and shoulders. Both joints
are extremely delicate, and when
anyone pounds them relentlessly
with arm and chest exercises, they
get overworked and break down. A
young person who suffers an injury
to elbows or shoulders will have to
deal with that problem for the rest
of his or her life.
While on the subject of safety,
I’ll address the bigger concern of
parents when it comes to lifting
weights: the full squat. It’s the very
best single exercise in weight training, and it’s perfectly safe when
done right. “Even young kids?” I’m
frequently asked. Yes. It’s a very
natural move for youngsters. It
becomes complicated only when we
grow older and less flexible. Observe
small children. They’re constantly
squatting. Up and down all day
long, and if you pay close attention,
you’ll notice that their form is impeccable. And they always do deep
squats—not any partial movements.
The concerns are about the
knees, of course, but studies have
shown repeatedly that full squats
strengthen the knees. That only
makes sense. The muscles and corresponding attachments that surround the knee joint get stronger
from the squats, thus better securing the joint in a bundle of muscles,
tendons and ligaments. Lifters who
rebound out of the bottom or let
their knees turn inward excessively,
however, can irritate their knees.
The culprit isn’t the exercise but
rather poor technique, which is true
of nearly every exercise in weight
training, even simple movements
like curls. Form is paramount when
it comes to training youngsters—yet
another reason to have a knowledgeable instructor in the weight
room.
If you decide that someone other
than you is better qualified to teach
your child the basics of strength
training, make certain that person
knows what he or she is doing.
Forget the certifications the coach
might have. They’re basically a way
of creating revenue and indicate
only that someone passed a written test. They don’t guarantee the
knowledge of how to coach a youngster. In truth, most of the better
coaches never bother to get certified. Be present at a workout and
watch how the coach or instructor
deals with your son or daughter.
Does the coach teach precise form
or allow sloppy technique? Push
them too hard or make it way too
easy? Deal with them as individuals
or merely as a group?
Since most fitness facilities don’t
allow youngsters under age 14 to
train because of liability issues, you
may have to take on the task yourself, unless you know of someone
who has a home gym and knows
how to coach young people. Obtaining equipment and setting up a
workout station in your home has
lots of advantages, such as being
able to schedule the training sessions at everyone’s convenience.
With the price of gas climbing higher and higher, it’s a godsend not to
have to drive to a gym several times
a week.
Once youngsters get involved in
strength training, they become more
health conscious. The weight work
helps them sleep more soundly, and
they begin to learn what foods are
beneficial to training and the ones
that provide only empty calories.
As they gain size and strength, they
become more proficient in school
sports and less susceptible to serious injuries.
Perhaps the best reason to start
a youngster on a strength program
is the effect it will have on self-confidence. Adding muscle is a heady
experience for a young person, particularly one who’s undersized. As
they grow bigger and stronger, their
self-esteem will also improve. I’ve
seen kids change from being quite
timid to assertive and very secure in
their abilities and worth.
Learning to train consistently
and with intensity instills discipline
in youngsters when that trait is in
short supply. Knowing that they
have a great deal of control over how
Neveux \ Model: Kris Rindt Hoffman
Perhaps the best reason to start a
youngster on a strength program is the
effect it will have on self-confidence.
Neveux \ Model: Kris Rindt Hoffman
they look and feel is a revelation that
will stay with them for the rest of
their lives. I have observed numerous examples of young people who
transformed not only their bodies
but their attitudes about themselves
rather dramatically.
I know it can happen because it
happened to me. I was the second
smallest male in my high school
graduating class. In all honesty,
most of the girls were bigger than
me as well. I weighed 135 and was
5’5” tall. Three months after joining the Air Force, I touched my first
barbell at the Great Lakes Naval
Training Center, where I attended
medical corpsman school. Although
I knew absolutely nothing about
weight training, I persisted, learning
as I went along, as almost everyone
did in my generation, by trial and
error. Despite my ignorance and
with only a standard bar and plates
at my disposal, I gained 50 pounds
and added four inches to my height
in two years. Maybe I would have hit
that late growth spurt anyway, but
I’ve always felt that it was a result of
the stimulation from the hard training and lots of good food. That’s
when I got hooked on lifting, and
I’ve been doing it ever since.
Parents need to know that it’s
perfectly all right for their children
to take part in a strength program.
When done correctly, it’s safe and
very beneficial. It’s certainly much
safer than many of the activities
young people currently participate in. Strength training develops
a young body in countless ways,
some being rather subtle, such as
elevating self-esteem. All it requires
is effort and time, which isn’t a bad
deal at all.
Next month I’ll get into the nuts
and bolts of how to put together
a functional strength program for
youngsters, along with some tips on
how to set up a home gym for training them on a budget.
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/Body
BOMBER BLAST
Time Flies, Kid—Hang On to Your Hat
A
t 66 years old I’m no longer a pile of rocks; more like
a pillar of salt. I’ve received considerable e-mail from
guys who are relieved they’re not alone. They know
better, but none is eager to acknowledge the bold truth, the
bare facts, the revolting predicament: the reality of—gag—old
age (OA).
See what I mean? Did you feel that? I said it, OA, and
ya’ll cringed. More than one not-so-young bomber flipped
the page. “Later! I’m outta here.” All these years invested in
muscle and might, iron, steel and discipline, and we fold like
beach chairs as the sun goes down.
Excuse me. I, in this day of social correctness and sensitivity, should have applied the more appropriate and graceful
terminology, gathering of years (GY).
Gee, why? Prevent mass hysteria.
Do you suppose we built a robust outer shell and not one
of us has developed inner strength, courage or mettle—spirit,
heart and soul? No way. I like older. Older lasts a long time,
forever, in fact. Once you’re older, young is silly. I was young
once but abandoned it for something more substantial and
worthy: oldness. Young is ephemeral, passing, untested,
vacant, thin, without density or mass. Old is deeply rooted
and thick-walled, established, profound and unyielding. It’s
masterful.
I can’t resist mocking myself, my tarnished conversations
and the fact that I’m 66 and nibble at the edges of crackersize workouts. I wonder how long this will go on, like I’m
gonna get better; like I’m in a short recovery period and with
a few nights’ sleep, some soup and a couple of aspirin, I’ll
be my old self again—younger and stronger—and charging
around the gym, a bull in a china shop. Warm up, don’t forget
cardio, keep a log, practice intelligent periodization, don’t
overtrain—but how can I help myself, compulsive whack job
that I am?—eat right, and rest lots. If only there were eight
days in a week. Push that iron, lift
that steel, eat that tuna, and drink
that water. That’s my bench; I’m
using that bar.
Have you noticed? The older we
get, the more closely we approach
the same abilities and capacities.
Soon we’ll be sharing similar instinctive training systems: breathe in,
breathe out—good. Again. Breathe
in, breathe out—good. Again.
Talk about insecurity: I went to
the gym last Friday, did six dandy
sets of cable work—rope tucks and
crossovers—and had to sit slumpshouldered for 10 minutes on the
nearest bench. Fatigue climbed
over me like an onslaught of slugs. I
dragged myself across the floor, out
the door, down the steps and into
my truck. I’ve never before walked
out on a workout. People pointed,
they gasped, they whispered, they
stared, they dialed 411. Hello, information? Where’s he going?
What’s that all about? It must
not become a precedent. No way.
I’ve trained twice since then, and all
systems are go. I’m a rocket ship.
Neveux \ Model: Daryl Gee
MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BOD
MIND/BODY
The warming days, the lengthening days, the hopeful days
bring with them an expectation of sudden renewal. We need
to modulate our training to suit the season of the year and the
season of our lives. As we eased out of fall and into winter
bareness, so should we ease into the spring and summer
abundance.
Stop, look, listen. Pause and take note. Put your ear to the
ground and sense the earth’s rumbling. Lift your moistened
finger to the air and determine the wind’s direction. String your
bow and choose your arrow; know your target and aim with
care. I’m a stealthy archer. Pull steadily, release gently, don’t
shoot to kill, shoot to live. Retrieve your arrow and do it again.
Where am I going with this? Nowhere. I was going to compare isolated left-right nanocell training with amplified molecular stimulus exercise, but no such things exist—yet. I guess I’ll
have to go back to the basics. By the way, this is my last pass
at the aging thing; have to get it out of my system. From now
on it’s strength and health, and bombing and blasting. I’m a
bomber.
Try this upon entering the gym when you haven’t a clue
why you’re there or what to do: Stand or sit someplace quiet
and out of the way. Close your eyes, relax, and count backward from 10 to one. If that confuses you, go home immediately. If not, go on to step two, which includes determining
which muscle group or groups need attention. Sometimes
I wiggle and shake my body to arouse meaningful muscle
sensations to guide me in my selection. Apply the technique
covertly. It’s dumb—embarrassing if observed—but works.
Flex, extend, contract, and consider. Where is the pain?
What stings or burns or feels like lead? Feels like Jell-O?
That’s been my general approach to training recently: Sit in
the corner, flex, wonder, and choose. Hello, chest, shoulders
and back. Pick two nonvexing exercises for each muscle
group, perform three to four sets of six to 12 reps—18 to 24
sets total—with 80 percent output, and complete the deed
in 45 to 60 minutes. Ride the bike or walk the plank for 15
minutes and call it a day—one of three or four workouts this
week.
At once cutting edge and prehistoric, this wholly unique
methodology is making its circuitous journey to the forefront of
resistance training. Time will prove its viability, its popularity, its
acceptance. Your humble participation is priceless, noble and
admirable.
Smile, go home, pet the dog, adore the cat, hug the
spouse, squeeze the kids, and feed the loving mob well.
Thank God. Tomorrow’s another day. Possibly arms.
Maybe legs. Perhaps a walk on the beach.
Preferably a charge down the runway, a dash for the
sky and wings outstretched for the heavens above, where
hope resides surely and abundantly.
—Dave Draper
Editor’s note: For more from
Dave Draper, visit www.Dave
Draper.com and sign up for his free
newsletter. You can also check out
his amazing Top Squat training tool,
classic photos, workout Q&A and
forum.
Heart Health
Cardio Strides
ou don’t have to
pound the pavement or soak your
clothes to build a decent
level of fitness. Researchers checked out data on
more than 60,000 people
and found that the risk for
stroke was the same in
those who had moderate levels of cardiorespiratory fitness as in those who exercised
more intensely. So a brisk 30-minute walk
four to five days a week is great for your heart
health—plus, it’s good meditation and a way
to burn more calories.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
Y
Mental Might
Mind-Altering Sodas?
I
n a study performed at the University of
Alabama, Birmingham, researchers gave
mice what amounted to five sodas a day
for six months. Those mice had more than
twice the amyloid plaque in their brains and
did far worse on memory tests than mice who
drank water. By the
way, amyloid plaque is
a sign of Alzheimer’s
disease. So was it the
sugar, extra bodyweight
or something else?
Does it matter? Drink
soda in moderation
only.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
MIND/BODY BodySpace Physique of the Month
MIND/BODY
Peggy Vreeland
veryone knows her as Peggy Vee, but her name
is really Peggy Vreeland. More than 15 years ago
Peggy was competing in fitness and bodybuilding,
even winning the Ms. Fitness Michigan title in 1998. Being
a mom sidetracked the 44-year-old until a few years ago.
Now she’s back and with more enthusiasm than ever.
At her home base in St. Paul, Minnesota, she’s rebuilt
her great physique by lifting and eating right. Check out
her BodySpace profile at BodyBuilding.com to get a peek
at the hot videos from her photo shoots, modeling and
posing. She was on the West Coast for the Muscle Beach
International Classic over Memorial Day weekend and then
at the FAME World Championships in Toronto.
So what makes Peggy Vee go? The onetime social
worker with a master’s degree says she
likes the way working out makes her
look and feel. A healthful lifestyle lets her
live her life the way she wants to and
gives her the opportunity to help others
do it too. As a certified personal trainer
she now gets to combine it all in her
personal and business lives.
Check out Peggy’s BodySpace profile
at http://BodySpace.BodyBuilding.com/
PeggyVreeland and drop her
a line telling her that you saw
her in IRON MAN magazine.
—Ian Sitren
Editor’s note: For more
BodySpace bodies and info,
visit Bodybuilding.com.
Photography by Ian Sitren \ SecondFocus
E
MIND/BODY New Stuff
Diet Turbo Tea
With green
tea extract
W
hat improves alertness
and gives you hydrating electrolytes—and
now green tea antioxidants—all
without any sugar, carbs or
calories? Introducing Amercian
Bodybuilding’s Diet Turbo Tea
in new green tea flavor. The tea
supplement promotes energy,
hydration and thermogenesis
with a refreshing formula that
includes 90 milligrams of caffeine
plus ginseng and guarana. It’s
great for before or during your
workout and even as a late-afternoon pick-me-up. For more
information visit www.American
Bodybuilding.com.
Life 101
Keys to Happiness
I
Balik \ Model: Arnold Schwarzenegger
n “Why We’re Happy” (Reader’s Digest, July 2008) Arthur C. Brooks
lays out a list of happiness predictors. Here’s a quick summary:
1) Faith. Attending a place of worship once a week or more, which
may have something to do with social contact. Hmm, does the gym
count? Lots of people worship there.
2) Work. It makes you feel needed and productive. “Job satisfaction is
nearly equivalent to life satisfaction.”
3) Marriage and family. “While 50 percent of married people of
faith who have children consider themselves to be very happy, only 17
percent of nonreligious, unmarried people without kids feel the same way.”
4) Charity. It’s true: ’Tis better to give than to receive. (See Arnold’s
quote at the end of this item.)
5) Freedom. People are happier
with unlimited moral choices. It’s the
foundation of democracy.
So happiness is not about having a
lot of things but having healthful values, according to Brooks. A quote by
Arnold Schwarzenegger is included
that sums it up: “Being passionate
about something is the key to success. But using that passion to help
others is the key to happiness.” Well
said.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
MIND/BODY Book Review
MIND/BODY
MIND/BODY
Get Stronger, Feel Younger
O
ne line from authors Wayne
Wescott, Ph.D., and Gary
Reinl sums up their book:
“Remember, you are not trying to
lose weight. You are trying to lose
fat.” Get Stronger, Feel Younger is
about building muscles, the calorieburning engines we need to stay
strong, lean and healthy throughout
our lives.
While the 200plus-page book is
aimed primarily at
women, men can
learn a lot from its
contents—and if
you’re an experienced male bodybuilder, you may
have a girlfriend
or wife who will
benefit from the
information and
motivation in it.
The strength-training programs
are relatively simple—one requires
only 20 minutes two days a week
and a more advanced version is a
three-days-per-week routine, each
workout lasting about 30 minutes.
Obviously, it isn’t a book for
getting your body into competitive shape, but it gives you a great
starter plan that claims great fat-off,
muscle-on results with no cardio and no strict dieting. In fact,
Wescott and Reinl discuss in Chapter 2 why diet plans don’t work—
one of the big reasons being muscle
loss. As you lose muscle, your body
needs fewer calories, so your metabolism slows down—your resting
metabolic rate can be reduced by
as much as 350 calories per day.
No wonder people who go off diets
gain all their weight back and more.
On the other hand, stronger
muscles burn more calories, and the
authors do a good job of explaining
why in Chapter 3. Then they get into
the specifics of training, covering
everything from sets, reps and progression to training speed, posture
and breathing.
They outline a number of programs that use various equipment.
There’s an all-machine workout for
those who train at a fitness facility.
There’s an at-home
workout that requires only dumbbells, an adjustable
bench and floor exercises. They even
outline a complete
Bowflex workout,
and they include
advanced versions
of each of the programs as well.
The end of the
book is all about
proper nutrition, and I was surprised and pleased to see a distinct
bent toward protein in every menu
presented—a total of 12 complete
meal-by-meal menus.
The last chapter is filled with
great recipes, like California chicken
soup, Thai chicken stir-sizzle, homerun hamburgers and spicy ’n’ light
shrimp curry. There’s even a section
of vegetarian recipes.
As I said, this book is not for
advanced bodybuilders. Rather it’s
for the advanced bodybuilder to
give to a female acquaintance to get
her started building muscle to lose
fat. It’s full of sound advice, simple
programs and detailed nutrition
recommendations and menus.
—Becky Holman
Editor’s note: Find Becky
Holman’s before and after photos as
well as her fat-to-muscle transformation story at www.X-treme
Lean.com.
MIND/BODY Aches
MIND/BODY
Tea Off on Joint Pain
Y
ou probably know
that vitamin C helps
build collagen, which
strengthens joints, tendons
and ligaments. You may also
have heard that glucosamine,
after a few weeks of taking
about 1,500 milligrams a day,
can relieve joint pain (recent
research shows that it doesn’t
need to be paired with chondroitin to be effective), but
did you know that green or
black tea can help
too? Both contain
polyphenols, which
help alleviate joint
inflammation. If you
can’t drink two to
three cups a day,
try supplements.
—Becky Holman
www.Home-Gym.com
Best-Sellers
DVDs/Videos:
1) “2008 IRON MAN Pro”
2) “2007 Mr. Olympia”
3) “Jay Cutler’s Jay to Z”
4) “Ronnie Coleman: Relentless”
5) “IRON MAN’s Swimsuit
Spectacular #9”
Books:
1) The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff
Solution by Joseph Horrigan,
D.C., and Jerry Robinson
2) 10-Week Size Surge by
IRON MAN Publishing
3) The Precontest Bible by
Larry Pepe
4) The Russian
Kettlebell Challenge
by Pavel Tsatsouline
3) Ronnie Coleman’s Hardcore
Top E-book:
Quick-Start
Muscle-Building Guide—Your
First 8 Weeks to
a Muscular Transformation by Steve
Holman and Jonathan
Lawson (available at
www.Muscle
QuickStart.com).
MIND/BODY Health and Aging
DHEAS Linked to Longevity
T
ship between DHEAS and life span, researchers
measured the hormone in 940 men and women
who ranged in age from 21 to 88 and followed
them until 2005.
The men had higher amounts of DHEAS at
the study’s outset, and both sexes showed a
decline in the hormone over time. In the women
there was no relationship between their DHEAS
counts and how long they lived. For men, however, low amounts of DHEAS, older age, higher
blood pressure and higher blood sugar after
fasting showed a significant association with
shorter life span.
Among the variables, the researchers found
that DHEAS was the most strongly linked to a
longer life. The relationship between DHEAS
and longevity remained even after the researchers adjusted for glucose levels, age and
blood pressure.
There was no difference in longevity
among men based on DHEAS until the 15year follow-up point, the researchers note,
which may help explain why some past
research found no relationship between the
hormone and longevity.
The study’s limitations include the fact
that information on cause of death wasn’t
available for every participant, so it wasn’t
possible to determine if low DHEAS correlated with death from heart disease or other
causes, the researchers say. Nevertheless,
they conclude, “These data suggest that
serum level of DHEAS is a strong predictor
of 27-year longevity in men.”
Source: Journal of the American Geriatrics
Society, June 2008.
—Dr. Bob Goldman
www.WorldHealth.net
Neveux \ Model: Carl Suliani
he amount of DHEAS, or dehydroepiandrosterone sulfate, that a man has in
his blood is a “strong predictor” of how
long he’ll live, a new report from a 27-year study
conducted in Japan suggests.
The adrenal glands secrete DHEAS, a prehormone that the body converts into androgens
and estrogens, according to Dr. Mika Enomoto
and colleagues from the Kurume University
School of Medicine. DHEAS peaks in the body
during a person’s 20s and 30s and then sharply
declines.
Animal research has found that the hormone
has a number of anti-aging effects, the researchers say. Some studies in humans have
linked it to longevity, while others have not.
In 1978, to better understand the relation-
Editor’s note: For the
latest information and research on health and aging,
subscribe to the American
Academy of Anti-Aging
Medicine e-zine free at
WorldHealth.net.
Letters
Ageless Wonders
I really
like the fact
that IRON
MAN features
over-40 bodybuilders on a
regular basis.
I’ve enjoyed
the features
on ageless
wonders such
as Frank Zane,
Jim Morris,
Clarence
age 71.
Bass and Jim
Morris. I’m a
42-year-old
P.E. teacher,
and I’ve been
reading IRON
MAN since
the ’80s, when
it was TV
Guide–sized.
The magazine
has really hit its stride the last couple of years by staying
true to its roots and including features on bodybuilders
of yesteryear. It has helped me
evolve my training, and I recently
placed fourth in the light-heavyweight class at the ’08 NPC Ironman Classic.
John E. Davidson
El Paso, TX
Editor’s note: Our over-40bodybuilding issues and legends
features have been very popular.
We’ll continue to be true to our
John E. Davidson.
roots and provide information
and motivation to keep our readerss training hard. By the way, you look great, John.
Classic
Arnold
The Caruso photos
of Arnold in the August
’08 IM were spectacular. There were some I’d
never seen before. All I
can say is, encore!
Aaron Donnelley
via Internet
Caruso
READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READERS WRITE READE
Readers Write
Editor’s note:
Watch for more of
Jimmy Caruso’s legendary work in future
issues.
Righteous Reviews
I notice that Eric Broser is reviewing books and DVDs
in his Muscle “In” Sites column now. I’ve followed Broser’s
work for years and respect his opinions, so I’m all for his
giving us the lowdown on what’s new in the bodybuilding
world. Maybe you should expand his column so he can do
more.
Paul Flarety
via Internet
Editor’s note: Hmm, that’s just what he’s been telling
us. Seriously, we’re pushing him to do more, so keep your
eyes on future IM issues.
Strength-Training Starr
The first two parts of Bill Starr’s “Ageless Strength Training” [June and July ’08] not only are excellent but also left
me hungry for the next installment. IRON MAN has always
been the leading edge for new information on training and
with Starr’s series has broken the mold that “older” somehow means “past 40”—hell, many of us have been training
for 50 or more years, so “past 40” must refer to something
for our children. As always, Starr’s work is first rate, full of
penetrating insight, good humor and the harsh, unavoidable truths of lifelong training—as we age, we’d better learn
to adapt to ensure our fitness, health and freedom.
Ken O’Neill
Austin, TX
Cutler’s CuttingEdge Workouts
The feature on Jay Cutler’s Mr.
Olympia training [“Mr. O’s Wild
Workouts,” August ’08] was absolutely fantastic! I read everything Steve
Holman and Jonathan Lawson write
because I always learn something new and usually pick up
a thing or two I can try at my next workout. The way they
put Cutler’s training under a microscope to show why he
does what he does to continue to grow got me fired up to
hit the gym hard and try some X-Rep-only sets. By the way,
I have all of their e-books. Great info and programs. I’ve put
on 10 pounds of muscle since I started using X-Rep training
concepts. X Reps and POF rock!
Silvio Martinez
via Internet
Editor’s note: Holman and Lawson’s analysis was the
result of viewing the “Jay to Z” DVD, which is available from
Home Gym Warehouse, www.Home-Gym.com. For more
on X-Rep training, visit www.X-Rep.com.
Vol. 67, No. 10: 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 © 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.

Iron Man magazine 2008 10 - Bodybuilding magazine free

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