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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 MAGAZI
WE KNOW TRAINING™
September 2008
CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS C
FEATURES
62 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 107
Exercise variation and order for serious new size gains.
84 GLADIATOR
Lonnie Teper interviews Mike O’Hearn, drug-free bodybuilder, powerlifter and
strongman and American Gladiator. Titan wants to rough you up.
108 TO SLEEP, PERCHANCE TO GROW
84
Jerry Brainum checks out the research Zs. Snooze or you lose muscle.
120 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 38

Ron Harris explains the Lee Haney adage: stimulate, don’t annihilate. Too much GLADIATOR
of a good thing is a bad thing—even if it’s intensity in the gym. MIKE O’HEARN
130 NO-CHEAT CHEST CHISELING

Cory Crow talks with pro bodybuilder Derik Farnsworth about sculpting perfect
pecs—no throwing, heaving or jerking allowed.
142 HOW I GAINED 100 POUNDS OF MUSCLE

David Young quizzes legendary bodybuilder Rich Gaspari on how he packed his
frame with mounds of raw muscle (and how you can do it too).
264
HARDBODY
AVA COWEN
168 ANABOLIC pH, PART 2
Our European research correspondent Michael Gündill provides basic solutions
for how to be less acidic to spur more growth.
188 7 STEPS TO STEADY PROGRESS

From the Bodybuilding.com archives, Matt Danielsson lays out a plan to keep
your muscle mass moving forward.
206 2008 FITTEST COUPLE

Dena Anne Weiner and Rado Pagac grabbed the title at the L.A. FitExpo. Here’s
how they did it (with plenty of great pics too).
218 HEAVY DUTY

John Little unearths an intriguing interview with Mike Mentzer from 1995.
264 HARDBODY
Ava Cowen unveils her muscle and hotness for our cameras. This BodySpace
favorite is smokin’!
282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE Michael

“AMERICAN GLADIATORS” EXCLUSIVE: TITAN’S TRAINING
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Cover Man Mike
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Hair and makeup and in the Gym
Yvonne Ouellette. 100

POUNDS
Inset photo Ava
OF MUSCLE
Cowen, Hair and How One Man Packed
It On (And How You
makeup Alexandra
Mike O’Hearn
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C1_AvaSept2008_F.indd 1 6/26/08 3:18:59 PM

CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CO
DEPARTMENTS
26 TRAIN TO GAIN
Victorious delts, fear of change and Joe Horrigan on lower-back pain.
42 SMART TRAINING
Charles Poliquin outlines the patient-lifter/stepladder combo strength system.
50 EAT TO GROW
CoQ10, cheap protein and a new thermogenic king on the fat-burning scene.
70 NATURALLY HUGE
John Hansen has answers for a trainee who’s lost fat but needs muscle.
76 SHREDDED MUSCLE
Dave Goodin on contests, drug tests and bodybuilding success.
80 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman discusses efficient 3D back attacks. Plus, barbells vs. dumbbells. 228
NEWS & VIEWS
228 NEWS & VIEWS L.T.’s world of
Lonnie Teper’s world-of-bodybuilding coverage—plus his four big Rising Stars. bodybuilding
242 MUSCLE “IN” SITES

Eric Broser’s cool Web site finds, a review of Phil Heath’s new DVD and Broser’s
Power/Rep Range/Shock hamstring-hammering routines.
248 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY

26
TRAIN TO GAIN
Jerry Brainum looks into the Internet pro-hormone-and-steroid trade.
252 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

Ruth Silverman covers the ladies’ side of the sport—with photo fortitude.
292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION

Bomber Blast, The Secret, BodySpace Physique of the Month and health and aging
research.
304 READERS WRITE

Iron-bug venom, gorgeous Georges and exploding muscle size.
ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLIN
www.IronManMagazine.com
See more Photos @
See more Video @
In the next IRON MAN:
It’s our middle-aged-muscle issue, which
ONLINE VIEWERS’ CHOICE
Here are the places that IronManMagazine.com viewers recently includes a guy who’s in his 70s but looks
clicked on the most: like he’s in his 40s—Brad Harris. He’s
a movie god in Italy and the devloper
of the Ab-OrigiOnals, but Brad’s real
claim to fame is being hard and mus-
cular all year at 75. Gene Mozée tracks
him down, and you won’t believe the
>CONTEST >BEHIND- >HOT CLIPS >PDF LIBRARY photos. Plus, we’ll have related info on
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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 L
Publisher’s Letter Founders 1936-1986:

Peary & Mabel Rader
Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik
by John Balik Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer
Design Director: Michael Neveux
Editor in Chief: Stephen Holman
Art Director: T. S. Bratcher
Senior Editor: Ruth Silverman
Unexpected Pleasures Editor at Large: Lonnie Teper
Articles Editors: L.A. Perry, Caryne Brown
Assistant Art Director: Brett R. Miller
Lonnie Teper’s NPC Junior California Bodybuilding and Figure Champi- Designer: Fernando Carmona
onships is grassroots bodybuilding at its best. It’s the kind of contest where IRON MAN Staff:
the audience appreciates every competitor and is as much a part of the Mary Gasca, Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba
event as the contestants. The Junior Cal and Joe Wheatley’s Muscle Beach Contributing Authors:
Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman,
events are, as Peter McGough of Weider Publications said to me at the
Teagan Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis,
beach, “what real bodybuilding is all about.” The events are “happy,” and the Dave Draper, Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum,
contestants are intense, but the competitors and the audience are sharing a Ph.D., John Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler,
love affair with bodybuilding and what it can do for everyone. The competi- Rod Labbe, Skip La Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch
tors are there to share the results of their labor, and it’s fun for all involved. Lebowitz, John Little, Stuart McRobert, Gene
Because it’s supported by the superstars of our sport, the contest is also Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim
Shiebler, Roger Schwab, Pete Siegel, C.S. Sloan,
very special. I sat next to IFBB pro Silvio Samuel, and he was an enthusiastic
Bill Starr, Bradley Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D.,
fan of everyone onstage. When Lonnie asked him to come onstage and hit Randall Strossen, Ph.D., Richard Winett, Ph.D.,
a few shots, he was joined by giant IFBB pro Quincy Taylor for some im- and David Young
promptu posing. The audience went wild. Remember, the two pros were in Contributing Artists:
the audience not as guest posers but as fans and supporters of friends and Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn,
•
contestants—only in Southern California. Jake Jones
As I entered the theater lobby, I stopped to talk with Jay Cutler and I Contributing Photographers:
was reminded what a class act he is. While I respect Jay as the current Mr. Jim Amentler, Ron Avidan, Roland Balik, Reg
Olympia, what I admire most is how he wears the crown. While we spoke, Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry
many fans came by to say hello, get an autograph or just stare. Jay gave each Fredrick, Irvin Gelb, Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman,
J.M. Manion, Merv, Gene Mozée, Mitsuru
of them his complete attention—take a picture, sure. Jay’s megawatt smile
Okabe, Rob Sims, Ian Sitren, Leo Stern
flashed over and over. His character is front and center; he genuinely cares
for his fans, and they can feel it. Director of Marketing:
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Later that night Jay was the guest poser, and he gave the fans more than
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Subscriptions Manager:
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bounded back to the stage and Lonnie handed him the microphone. What 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
followed was a short speech that really underlined Jay’s character. He, of (518) 743-1696; FAX: (518) 743-1697
course, thanked the fans for their support, but he then went on to talk about Advertising Coordinator:
the contestants and about his own experience as a beginning bodybuilder Jonathan Lawson, (805) 385-3500, ext. 320
and the courage it takes to, as he said, “stand onstage in your underwear.” Newsstand Consultant:
He asked for a special round of applause for all of the contestants. I believe Angelo Gandino, (516) 796-9848
Jay comes back year after year to Lonnie’s contest not only out of friendship We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our
but also because it’s a touchstone to his own start in bodybuilding. discretion without explanation. All manuscripts, art
Lonnie thanked me for coming to his event, but I really need to thank him or other submissions must be accompanied by a self-
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for the pleasure of the experience. How about this celebrity support for an IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033. We
event—eight-time Ms. Olympia Lenda Murray, Flex Wheeler, Cathy LeFran- are not responsible for unsolicited material. Writers and
cois, two-time Figure Olympia winner Jenny Lynn and IFBB fitness star Tanji photographers should send for our Guidelines outlining
specifications for submissions. IRON MAN is an open
Johnson.
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The Junior Cal wasn’t just a bodybuilding contest; it was a reaffirmation manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted have an
of why bodybuilding has been an important part of my life for 50-plus years. implied waiver of copyright. Please consult a physician
(For more on the NPC Junior Cal, see News & Views, which begins on page before beginning any diet or exercise program. Use the
information published in IRON MAN at your own risk.
228.)
IRON MAN Internet Addresses:
Erratum: In the feature “Transformation Sensation” (August ’08) Team Web Site: www.ironmanmagazine.com
John Balik, Publisher: ironleader@aol.com
BSN athlete Anthony Presciano said, “I’m actually now working with Hany
Steve Holman, Editor in Chief: ironchief@aol.com
Rambod, who now works with all of our athletes here at BSN.” BSN has Ruth Silverman, Senior Editor: ironwman@aol.com
released a statement saying that Hany Rambod is no longer affiliated with T.S. Bratcher, Art Director: ironartz@aol.com
BSN or working with any BSN athletes. BSN would like to take this opportu- Helen Yu, Director of Marketing:
nity to extend its best wishes to Hany and wish him all the best in his future helen@ironmanmagazine.com
endeavors. IM Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: ironjdl@aol.com
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24 SEPTEMBER 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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B I G G E R B O D Y PA R T S
Victorious Delts A technique tweak for

boulder shoulders
You can never be too rich, too good looking or stroke for a count of 10 on each rep. I get about five.
too wide. If you have a thick waist, that’s all the more Notice that end-of-set partials are very similar to X
reason to build your side delts. The wider your delts, Reps, except that instead of doing the partials with the
the smaller your waist will look. We can’t all be Dexter same weight, you increase it.
Jackson, but we can improve our V-taper with direct This is a great thrasher for the side delts; you need
side-delt work and intense stretching to help widen the presses, shrugs and rear-delt work too, of course. If
entire shoulder-girdle structure. you really want to add some width, though, give these
Victor Martinez, the ’07 Arnold Classic champ and heavy sets of partials a try. They sure worked for Victor,
the future Mr. Olympia (in my opinion), has one of the and I’m sure they will give your side delts some new
best shoulders-to-waist ratios in pro bodybuilding growth. —Will Litz
today. Victor is second only to perhaps Dennis Wolf
(who, I think, is actually a comic book illustration and Editor’s note: For more on X Reps, visit www
not a real person). .X-Rep.com.
Victor used a unique twist for his lateral
raises, something I’ve tried and really like.
He takes his usual lateral raise weight
(don’t go to heavy) and gets 10 to 12 The bottom of a
lateral raise is
reps. Next he grabs a much heavier pair a critical fiber-
of dumbbells and reps out in the bottom activation point.
of the stroke, moving the dumbbells only Try emphasizing
it with heavy
a few inches up and down. He keeps his partials, or X
elbows almost locked and arms 95 per- Reps.
cent straight—no bouncing or heaving.
That forces the medial-delt heads to do all
of the work.
Vic calls that midpoints. While the
heavy load prevents much range of mo-
tion, it puts all the stress right on the cap
of the shoulder where it ties into the arms.
Go for 10 to 12 partial reps—no explo-
sive movement despite the heavy weight.
Here’s an example of the poundages I use
on these:
Set 1
Full range: 35 x 12
Partials: 60 x 10
Set 2
Full range: 45 x 12
Partials: 65 x 10
Set 3
Full range: 50 x 12
Neveux \ Model: Moe El Moussawi
Partials: 80 x 10
I finish off with one set of laterals for 20

full-range reps with 30 pounders, then do
one static-hold set with 20 pounds, hold-
Merv
ing the peak contraction at the top of the

HE WANTED TO FIGHT-
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You’ll want your forearms to be
huge and vascular to match your
thick, beefy upper arms—and now
they will.
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Train to Gain / BROAD BACK
SIZE SURGE
Fear of Change
Change is a frightening thing.
Think of the times in your life when
you were most apprehensive. I can
guarantee you that they involved
new schools, new jobs, new rela-
tionships, moving to a new place
or, more accurately, leaving what
was comfortable and familiar. Many
times it’s simply easier to stay
rooted in something you know well,
even if change could be beneficial.
That’s why people remain in jobs
they don’t like—the fear of being
unemployed is too great. Others
stay in bad marriages.
You may be thinking, “Ha! That’s
not me. I’d never stay with some-
thing that I wasn’t happy with,
wasting my time.” Oh, really? When
it comes to working out, fear of
the unfamiliar keeps a whole lot of
Neveux
us bodybuilders mired in the same

type of training for months or years,
No Chinups? No Excuses! even when results ceased long
ago. For every trainee who gives a
program like X Reps, DC Training or
Pretty much every back-training article you read tells you straight up that chinups P/RR/S a try, there are a hundred
are essential for anybody who wants a wider wingspan. Curiously, very few of the top more who think about it but never
amateurs and pros do that supposedly mandatory movement. I’ve asked many of actually try it out. To do so would
them why, and the typical answer is fear of injury. Once a man reaches a certain size mean abandoning
and weight, generally in the vicinity of 250 pounds or so, the risk of ripping the shoul- the familiar and
der joints apart is too great to justify doing chinups. Most simply do lat pulldowns branching out into
instead. totally uncharted
One big man who calls that bull***t is IFBB pro Will “World” Harris, who happens territory.
to own one of the best backs in the game today. “There’s no substitute for chins,” You might think
he declares. “Pulldowns don’t work the back the same way at all; I don’t care what that if you weren’t
anybody says. Pulling your own bodyweight up gives a different feel that can’t be making progress
duplicated by pulling resistance down anyway, the
toward your body.” prospect of trying
Big Will, who’s been as heavy as 330 something new
pounds in the off-season, has been would be exciting.
Neveux
doing his chins faithfully since he was For the most part,
10 years old. Since he never gives his however, human
age and at times claims to be a vam- beings just aren’t built that way.
pire, that could mean he’s been doing Every month you read about new
chins anywhere from 30 to 300 years. training ideas and programs, and
For big men who hesitate to chin, Will I’m sure that you consider trying at
has the answer: “If you’re 275 pounds least a couple. But do you? Why
and jump right up and start chinning not? Surely you don’t think that
your bodyweight, your shoulders could a slight alteration in your workout
be in danger. That’s why I always start could shrink you to the size of a
Will Harris. with the assisted chinning machine. famine victim overnight. Nine times
Merv
Just about every gym has one. These out of 10, any significant change
let you warm up with just a portion of to your training after an extended
your bodyweight so you can prepare your muscles and connective tissues to pull period on the same routine is going
your entire mass safely.” to lead to new gains.
I know guys a whole lot lighter than 275 who stopped chinning years ago. Does Experiment when the urge strikes
that happen to include you, and if so, is it because you’re trying to play it safe and you. Something you’ve been avoid-
keep your shoulder joints healthy? If that’s the case, now you know it’s okay to go ing could hold the key to improving
back under the chinup bar and reap the benefits—just warm up first. your physique, if you just give it a
—Ron Harris chance. —Ron Harris
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

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if your bench press poundage has
been stuck in neutral for a while.
But nine times out of 10 this stall is
due to an easily correctible muscle
weakness—not in the pecs, delts
or triceps but in a group of muscles
known as the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff muscles stabilize

the shoulder joint. During the bench
press and almost all other upper-
body movements these muscles
protect the shoulder joint and
prevent ball-and-socket slippage. If
these muscles are underdeveloped,
they become the weak link in the
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Train to Gain / MATURE MUSCLE
Soft and Flat vs. Full and Ripped
Q: I’m a 47-year-old natu- ence that training very intensely
ral bodybuilder with many is extremely difficult. I’ve been
competitions under my belt. I training heavy and fast for so long
have yet to win one because now that when someone trains
everyone tells me that I come with me, he usually gets winded
in flat each time. They say I before we finish, or he makes
look better two weeks after a beeline for the regurgitation
the contest. What could I area—and that usually occurs
be doing wrong? Some guys within 15 minutes.
say it’s diet, and others say Use poundages with which
I’m overtraining. My protein you can pump out smooth,
comes from fish, lean meats fluid reps. Train without stop-
and egg whites. I eat what I ping—don’t rest so you can get
think is enough carbs—most- another rep; just go until you can
ly from vegetables, rice and do no more. When you can’t
fruits—and I usually limit my manage any more full reps, con-
fats from about 12 weeks tinue pumping out X-Rep partials.
out. I train six days a week You can even do short-stroke, or
and for all but those last few X-Rep-only, sets. On some body-
weeks before a show I can parts I do mostly short, contrac-
train really heavy. tion strokes. That creates the
A: Competing in a bodybuilding greatest amount of intensity.
Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin

contest teaches you more about Your flatness on contest day
your body than you could learn from comes also from cutting back too
any textbook or seminar. Having much on carbs and good fats. I
said that, I believe that you’re mak- can remember training, eating a
ing three major mistakes. lot of good, clean food and win-
First, you are overtraining. There’s ning contests. I never changed
no question in my mind about that. my diet or training. I just walked
Just consider what you’re putting onstage, big, full and separated
your body through while you’re taking in fewer calories. I can because I was always in shape and growing. Try to eat clean
remember making that same mistake myself a few times early all the time so you don’t have to feel that you’re dieting for a
in my bodybuilding days. show—and all that entails. The key is heavy, fast, intense train-
Think about it this way: You’re asking your body to choose ing coupled with a full, clean, rejuvenating diet.
between repairing microtears in the muscles and cleansing the If you’re a competitive bodybuilder and are approaching 50,
muscles of lactic acid and repairing the autonomic nervous why would you want to put on 20 pounds only to take it off
system and keeping the multitude of bacteria and viruses in again six months later? For a natural bodybuilder, bulking up
check by repairing the immune system (a lot of that is done during the winter and then dieting down for a show forces you
while you sleep). to do just that—diet down your muscles as you try to get rid of
I can tell you which the body will do: the latter. Muscles fat. Try to stay just a week or two away from show condition all
must be repaired, but they’re not a life-or-death issue. Make year long.
two changes in your training: Work out no more than three If you take this advice and really stick to your guns, within
times every seven days. Rest your body at least one full day six to 12 months you’ll be amazed at the change in your body.
before training again. You’ll know if you’re training too much I can’t guarantee you a win, only you can do that. You had the
and not resting enough merely by the way you feel when you gun. Now you have the right ammunition to blast away.
train and how you look in the mirror each day. Over time, as —Paul Burke
your body recovers on all fronts, you’ll find that you’ll be much
fuller, thicker and well-defined come contest day. Editor’s note: Paul Burke has a
You should also limit the time that it takes you to train. The master’s degree in integrated studies
only way to do that (without cutting back on sets) is to train from Cambridge College in Cambridge,
more intensely. You should be able to increase either pound- Massachusetts. He’s been a champion
age or reps regularly. I train for no more than 40 minutes. If bodybuilder and arm wrestler, and he’s
you train as hard and heavy as possible, there’s no way that considered a leader in the field of over-
you could do more than that. Compress your workout time 40 fitness training. To contact him, write
by picking up the pace so that eventually you don’t stop at to pbptb@aol.com. You can purchase
all when going from set to set. You should never have to de- his book, Burke’s Law—a New Fitness
crease poundages; try to increase reps and weights at each Paradigm for the Mature Male, from
workout. If you can’t, go home and wait until you feel as Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 447-
though you can. There’s no sense in training for the sake of 0008, or visit www.Home-Gym.com.
training. His “Burke’s Law” training DVD is also
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Train to Gain / HARDGAINER
The Brothers Grimm A bodybuilding

odyssey, part 9
Last month I discussed some of your hands and forearms during the
the improved exercise techniques lower part of each rep. Place your feet
that have brought Stelios and Yi- inside the bar so that the center of
annis the best gains of their lives. the ends of the bar runs through the
Here’s more on the squat, which bony prominence in the center of the
Stelios has used to great advantage: outside of each of your ankles as you
stand with your knees straight. This
Barbell Squats foot positioning won’t suit everyone.
Try it with a light weight and see. Then
You should be able to squat move your feet back an inch, and see
without elevating your heels any how that works. Try an inch forward
more than the thin heels on your of the original position too. If you’re
shoes. Use a stance that’s at least positioned too far to the rear, you’ll
hip width, with each foot angled out probably be bent forward too much
at least 20 degrees. Experiment with and the bar may swing as you lift it off
heel width and degree of flare to find the floor. If you’re positioned too far
the most comfortable position. to the front, the bar will probably also
Hold the barbell securely, as close swing as you lift it off the floor. The bar
to your shoulders as is comfortable. Never drape your hands shouldn’t swing. Once you know the foot position that works
over the barbell plates. You must lean forward to some degree best for you, use a reference point so that you can adopt it
but never to the point where you risk toppling forward; you every time.
don’t want to overload your lower back. Keep both hands centered and the bar parallel to the floor.
During the ascent, your shoulders should move up faster At the bottom position, your knees should be bent, your head
than your hips, so that the degree of forward lean decreases as up and your bodyweight mostly on your heels. You do the lift
you rise. If the weight holds your shoulders down and your hips with the thighs and back together. Focus on trying to push your
rise faster than your shoulders, you’ll lean forward more, greatly feet into the floor while maintaining the correct torso set, with
increase the load on your lower back (and the risk of injuring it) your shoulders pulled back and your chest out. During the as-
and even risk falling forward. cent, your shoulders should move faster than your hips so that
If you have the right stance, degree of foot flare and adduc- the degree of forward lean decreases as you rise.
tor flexibility, you should be able to keep your knees tracking Remain vertical at the top of the lift. Don’t lean back. Keep
over your feet and keep them from buckling inward on the your shoulder blades retracted, your lower back hollowed
ascent. Squat as deeply as you can while maintaining a slightly slightly and your shoulders, hips and ankles lined up. Pause
hollow lower back; never squat with a rounded back. for a second, then descend. Start by bending your knees and
Don’t perform your squat reps continuously. Perform one, leaning your torso forward. Sit down and back, and push your
pause at the top for one, two or three deep breaths, then per- hips to the rear. Always maintain a slightly hollowed lower back
form the next rep. Don’t rush. and keep your shoulder blades retracted. When your hands are
Always squat inside a four-post power rack with pins and at knee height, they should also be in line with your knees. If
saddles correctly and securely in place. Or use a half rack, your hands get behind that line, you risk being too upright. Your
sturdy and stable squat stands along with spotter racks or hands may, however, be a little forward of that line.
bars, or a squat rack unit that combines stands and safety Don’t perform the parallel-grip deadlift in an exaggeratedly
bars. Should you fail on a squat, you must be able to descend upright manner. A natural spread of work between the thighs
to the bottom position and safely set the bar down on sup- and back produces a balanced division of the stress. Once the
ports. Ideally, you should have spotters standing by in addition weight becomes demanding, use lifter’s chalk on your hands
to the safety setup. to improve your grip on the bar, and use a bar with deep knurl-
ing. Use collars on the bar to keep the plates in position. Don’t
Parallel-Grip Deadlifts bounce the weights. Gently set the weights on the floor or
platform.
Yiannis, who has longer limbs and a shorter torso than his If you can’t complete a rep in correct technique, dump the
brother, uses this movement instead of squats. A trap bar used weight. End the set before you get hurt.
to be the primary tool for the parallel-grip deadlift, but I prefer Until next month, train smart, and fully satisfy all the compo-
the hexagonal bar because it provides more space inside. nents of recuperation. Stuart McRobert
Here are some tips that have helped Yiannis get the most www.Hardgainer.com
out of these:
Soft shoes that get deformed during parallel-grip deadlifts Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s first
can cause problems. Wear sturdy shoes so you have a firm byline in IRON MAN appeared in 1981. He’s
base. Use a hip-width heel spacing, with your toes turned out the author of the new 638-page opus on body-
about 20 degrees on each side. Fine-tune that to suit you. building Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great,
Your knees must be in the same plane as your feet. If your feet available from Home Gym Warehouse, (800)
are too wide, your knees will travel inward to make room for 447-0008, or at www.Home-Gym.com.

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Train to Gain / SPORTSMEDICINE
Leg Presses and Lower-Back Pain
Leg presses rival leg extensions and leg curls in lower-
body-exercise popularity. The leg press machine has gone
through many changes. One of the earliest versions was verti-
cal and plate-loaded. You’d lie on your back and place your
feet on the carriage directly over your body. You’d straighten
your knees in order to turn the safety posts away so that the
plate-loaded carriage could be lowered. Instructions were
usually to lower until your knees came down to your armpits.
Popular multistation machines with selectorized-weight
stacks featured a seated leg press machine. The seat could
be adjusted forward or back for trainees of various heights.
There were two sets of foot pedals: one high to emphasize
the glutes more and a lower set to hit the quads, hams and
glutes. There wasn’t a carriage traveling along a path; rather
the pedals pivoted around a large hingelike mechanism.
These machines weren’t terribly comfortable.
Finally, the leg press machines of today evolved. The
trainee is usually seated low, near the floor. The angle of the
carriage path varies by manufacturer from 45 degrees to 60
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
degrees. Once again, the machines are plate-loaded, and

they’re very popular for several reasons. One is that they let
trainees handle a tremendous amount of weight, often around
1,000 pounds for the strongest. Trainees who either don’t
want to perform squats or can’t perform squats because of
lower-back pain substitute the leg press (although it’s not a
perfect substitute).
Some trainees are surprised when the exercise strains for 20 seconds or so, alternating legs several times, followed
their lower back. Sometimes it’s caused by tight hip muscles, by pulling your knee toward the opposite shoulder, your hip
which keep them from bringing their knees close to their arm- will loosen a bit. (Note: Your knee should be bent during
pits, as they’ve been instructed to do. That instruction began these stretches.) Light leg presses that permit your knees
with the original vertical leg press, described above, but gym to come down just before the point your lower back lifts off
myths fade very slowly. If you have tight hip muscles and liga- the back rest will also stretch the hip. Eventually the hip will
ments and let the carriage go deeper and deeper, your pelvis stretch and loosen. A lungelike stretch onto a short wall or a
will tilt and the lowest part of your lower back will lift away staircase can also help the stretch.
from the backrest on the seat. That will create a tremendous If you’re doing leg presses now and you’ve had a few
load of many hundreds of pounds. Then, when you push the twinges of lower-back pain, try lowering the carriage only to
weighted carriage back up to complete the rep, the lowest the point where your lower back moves. You will find that
part of your lower back will become an additional fulcrum or your knees are not near your armpits. That’s okay. The mus-
link in the process, subjecting it to a force it wasn’t designed cles are still working. The hip will eventually stretch enough
to withstand. to bring your knees lower, but you may never reach armpit
The force can sprain the facet joints that guide the move- depth. By avoiding a lower-back injury, you’ll be able to keep
ment of your spine, which can be quite painful. If you have training.
tight hip muscles and ligaments, the tilted position of the leg Train smart first, then train hard. “No pain, no gain” is
press can also stress the back wall of the disks of your lower another gym myth.
back. That can produce a disk protrusion, more commonly —Joseph M. Horrigan
known as a herniation. Disk protrusions can cause various
levels of pain from mild to severe. Once the injury occurs, you Editor’s note: Visit www.SoftTissueCenter.com for
must take a break from exercises that can load or shear your reprints of Horrigan’s past Sportsmedicine columns that have
lower back until the inflammation subsides. appeared in IRON MAN. You can order the books, Strength,
You can do several things to prevent that kind of injury. Conditioning and Injury Prevention for Hockey by Joseph
Tight hip muscles include the glutes, adductors, hip abduc- Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A., and the 7-Minute
tors and rotators. The posterior joint capsule—the ligaments Rotator Cuff Solution by Horrigan and Jerry Robinson from
in the back of the hip joint—can also be tight. You can stretch Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-0008 or at www.Home-
all of those structures with simple stretches—and exercises Gym.com.
too. If you lie on your back and pull one knee to your chest

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Train to Gain / GYM LIFE
The Late Show Could it be your best time to train?
What time of day do you train?

If you’re like most bodybuilders,
you hit the gym either early in
the morning before work or dur-
ing the evening rush hour after
clocking out. But have you ever
considered late-night training?
Some pros, like Mr. Olympia run-
ner-up Victor Martinez and big
Quincy Taylor, have been hitting
the weights late at night for years.
Could after-hours training be for
you? Maybe—just answer the fol-
lowing questions to find out.
Do crowds drive you in-
sane? Some people love to work
out in a crowded gym. They feed
off the noise, the atmosphere
Neveux \ Model: Abbas Khatami
and the energy of all those other

people. Maybe they even like
the attention that a packed gym
floor brings with it. For many
others, though, a crowded gym
is supremely frustrating. You
often have to wait for a bench you want, a machine, a way can be annoying and draining. If that’s your reaction,
power rack (where some knucklehead is doing curls while getting to the gym hours after the casual crowd departs
you wait to squat!) or a certain pair of dumbbells. And if might be a vast improvement in efficiency.
you want to do supersets or giant sets, dream on—it ain’t Do you have more energy at night? The average
gonna happen. The distractions of so many others moving person has more energy in the morning and early afternoon
around and clanking free weights make it hard to concen- and grows more tired as the day turns to night. Then there
trate. If that’s how you feel, late nights, when you pretty are the night owls, the guys and gals who come alive when
much have the gym to yourself, could be just what you the sun goes down and are bursting with energy while oth-
need. ers are winding down. If you’re like that, it’s quite possible
Do you hate being interrupted while you train? that working out at night would translate into more energy,
There are those who use the gym as a social outlet and more intensity and more strength. In short, better results
don’t mind spending as much time talking and joking as from training.
they do actually training. They tend to hang around the Are you able to sleep late? If you have to wake up
gym an awfully long time as a result, but that’s fine with at 5 a.m. to get ready for work or to get the kids to school,
them. They’re in no hurry. Others go to the gym to improve normal training hours make sense. But if you work a later
their physique. They don’t want to flirt, talk about “Ameri- shift or are among the many thousands who are self-em-
can Idol” or Tila Tequila or give the same fat guy advice ployed and essentially set your own hours, you could train
on how to eat to lose that gut for the 20th time. They may between 9 p.m. and 2 a.m. and then sleep as late as you
enjoy training, but they view it seriously, much like a job that need to.
they intend to do to the best of their ability. They also want Just think, you could start enjoying a whole new night-
to get in, get that job done, and get out. Being surrounded life—in the gym.
by many others who don’t see working out quite the same —Ron Harris

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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
by Charles Poliquin
Strength holders in that sport to know

that one.
2) Waiting too long to hire
Coach support staff. I’ve had a very

successful career, but I’m sure
it would have been a lot easier
Mishaps on my adrenals if I’d hired sup-
Neveux \ Models: Don Fry and Ken Yasuda

port staff earlier. Always hire
someone to do all the chores
Q: What would you say were that need to be done and that
the top-two mistakes you ever you hate doing. If those chores
made as a strength coach? are done by someone who earns
less than you, it enables you to
A: You’re a moron only if you earn more money by doing what
make the same mistake twice—so you love and gives you more free
the saying goes. I’ve made plenty time.
of mistakes, which has made me
Q: I’m moving up a weight class in jujitsu and
successful. As legendary hockey player Wayne Gretzky said,
want to be as strong as possible at that new weight.
“You miss 100 percent of the shots you don’t take.”
What sorts of sets and reps would you recommend?
1) Believing the instability model for too long.
During the mid-’90s there was a theory going around that A: This system is a blend of the late Canadian strong-
working on an unstable surface would make your prime man Doug Hepburn’s ideas and Hungarian and Romanian
movers stronger. That’s somewhat true. Yes, weak stabiliz- weightlifting methodology. It could be called the patient-
ers can inhibit prime movers to a certain point. For four to lifter/stepladder combo strength system.
six weeks a year novice athletes should do some unstable Part 1: Heavy singles work. After a good warmup
work. That’s it. A speed skater wears skates. What a news you recruit the highest-threshold motor units. Start with
flash! Want his times to go down? Work on his lower-back a weight you can do five singles with, and then go up to
strength. Believe me, I’ve trained enough world-record where you can do eight singles. After you’ve done your
singles work, you need to
go back down to a weight
Building up to where you can do five sets
a number of of three. At that intensity
consecutive step up to five sets of five
repetitions.
singles is a For success with this
successful strength-building system
strength- you need to keep in mind
building system. the following points :
• You have to do the

singles with 95 percent
effort; it’s the volume of
high intensity and not just
intensity that dictates the
training effect.
• Do the singles at a very
controlled tempo for the
eccentric lowering—five
seconds. Do the concen-
tric range as explosively as
possible. Concentrate on
accelerating the bar until
the concentric range is
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
completed.
• On the eighth single, if
you feel particularly good,
do not miss the opportu-
nity to go for more weight.

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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train™

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
tempo
Set 1: 240 x 3
Set 2: 240 x 3
Set 3: 240 x 3
Set 4: 240 x 3
Set 5: 240 x 3
Note: Tom was conservative

at his first workout, which was
quite wise.
Workout 2
Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/

X/0 tempo
Set 1: 305 x 1
Set 2: 305 x 1
Set 3: 305 x 1
Set 4: 305 x 1
Set 5: 305 x 1
Set 6: 305 x 1
Set 7: 305 x 1
Set 8: 305 x 1
Note: He reached the goal

of doing eight singles. At that
point, I like the athlete to aim
High-threshold hypertrophy for doing eight singles with a
work is sets of three to heavier load.
five reps done at a 3/2/1/0
tempo. Part 2: high-threshold hyper-
trophy work at a 3/2/1/0 tempo
Set 1: 240 x 5
Set 2: 240 x 5
Part 2: High-threshold hypertrophy work done Set 3: 240 x 5
at a 3/2/1/0 tempo. Work with about 72 to 78 percent of Set 4: 240 x 4
your best single. Lower for a count of three seconds for the Set 5: 240 x 3
eccentric range, pause for a count of two seconds in the
most disadvantageous position (in this case off the chest), Note: Obviously, the first workout was very easy, hence
and lift for a count of one. As you tire, the concentric-range the marked improvement in training volume at this one.
tempo will exceed one second, but that shouldn’t be a
concern. Workout 3
The function of the pause at the disadvantageous angle
is to increase intramuscular tension and total time under Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/X/0 tempo
tension for the set. Set 1: 310 x 1
Once you’ve excited the nervous system with the singles Set 2: 310 x 1
done in part 1, you can do hypertrophy work in higher- Set 3: 310 x 1
threshold motor units. Set 4: 310 x 1
I’ve found that people learn best from a combination Set 5: 310 x 1
of theory and practical examples, so let’s look at a sample Set 6: 310 x 1
progression using that training system. Set 7: 310 x 1
The trainee, whose name was Tom, had a previous best Set 8: 310 x 1
incline press of 320 pounds. His workout progression
looked like this: Note: Tom reached the goal of doing eight singles. At that
point, I had him aim for doing eight singles with a heavier
Workout 1 load.
Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/X/0 tempo Part 2: high-threshold hypertrophy work at a 3/2/1/0
Set 1: 305 x 1 tempo
Set 2: 305 x 1 Set 1: 240 x 5
Set 3: 305 x 1 Set 2: 240 x 5
Set 4: 305 x 1 Set 3: 240 x 5
Set 5: 305 x 1 Set 4: 240 x 5
Set 5: 240 x 5
Part 2: high-threshold hypertrophy work at a 3/2/1/0

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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
TrainingPoliquin’s
Note: He completed all five sets. I suggested he increase Set 4: 322.5 x 1

the weight, so at the next workout he got back down to five Set 5: 322.5 x 1
sets of three. Set 6: 322.5 x 1
Set 7: 322.5 x 1
Workout 4 Set 8: 322.5 x 1
Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/X/0 tempo. Note: Because Tom got all eight singles, he was ready for
Set 1: 315 x 1 another weight increase. Tom reported that the work was
Set 2: 315 x 1 very tough to handle, and so he planned to go up only five
Set 3: 315 x 1 pounds at his next workout.
Set 4: 315 x 1
Set 5: 315 x 1 Part 2: high-threshold hypertrophy work at a 3/2/1/0
Set 1: 250 x 5
Note: Tom was shot from workout 3, and he managed Set 2: 250 x 5
only six singles. We kept the singles weight the same for the Set 3: 250 x 5
next workout. Keep in mind that if we had tested his one- Set 4: 250 x 5
rep maximum, it already would have gone up. Set 5: 250 x 5
Part 2: high-threshold hypertrophy work at a 3/2/1/0 Note: Now Tom was ready for another workload increase.
tempo
Set 1: 250 x 5 Workout 7
Set 2: 250 x 4
Set 3: 250 x 3 Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/X/0 tempo
Set 4: 250 x 3 Set 1: 327.5 x 1
Set 5: 250 x 3 Set 2: 327.5 x 1
Set 3: 327.5 x 1
Note: Pretty good volume work, considering what hap- Set 4: 327.5 x 1
pened with the singles. Set 5: 327.5 x 1
Workout 5 Note: Completing only five singles at this weight, Tom

felt exhausted. He had maxed out this training system. I
Part 1: heavy singles at a 5/0/X/0 tempo suggested he move to a new program.
Set 1: 315 x 1
Set 2: 315 x 1 Part 2: high-threshold hypertrophy work at 3/2/1/0
Set 4: 315 x 1 Set 1: 260 x 3
Set 5: 315 x 1 Set 2: 260 x 3
Set 6: 315 x 1
Set 7: 315 x 1 Note: He could only two sets of three and felt drained.
Set 8: 325 x 1 Time to go home. Workout 6 was too demanding.
Note: This time he got all eight singles, so he was ready The aftermath. After five days’ rest for that bodypart,
for another weight increase. He felt so good that he couldn’t Tom tested his max on the incline press. He successfully
resist doing 325 on his last single. Because of that, I recom- did 347.5 pounds, which was 27.5 above his previous best.
mended that he use 322.5 at the next workout. For that My advice was for him to stay away from direct incline
weight I use either small Ivanko collars, each weighing 1.25 barbell press work for 12 weeks.
pounds, or small, 1.25-pound plates. I told him to take a week in which he would train only
twice for 16 total sets of six to eight reps covering his whole
Part 2: high threshold hypertrophy work at a 3/2/1/0 body. After that week of active rest, I advised him to do
tempo three hypertrophy cycles.
Set 1: 250 x 5
Set 2: 250 x 4 Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one
Set 3: 250 x 4 of the world’s most successful strength coaches, having
Set 4: 250 x 5 coached Olympic medalists in 12 different sports, includ-
Set 5: 250 x 4 ing the U.S. women’s track-and-field team for the 2000
Olympics. He’s spent years researching European journals
Note: Again, pretty good volume work. (he’s fluent in English, French and German) and speaking
with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize
Workout 6 training methods. For more on his books, seminars and
methods, visit www.CharlesPoliquin.net. Also, see his ad
Part 1: heavy singles at 5/0/X/0 tempo on page 259. IM
Set 1: 322.5 x 1
Set 2: 322.5 x 1
Set 3: 322.5 x 1

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Train ™ \ JULY 2006 181
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 EAT
Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission

to Grow
SUPPLEMENT SCIENCE single nutrients doesn’t work.
Various studies show that coQ10
Latest Research: CoQ10 may have considerable health benefits.

Several studies indicate that congestive
heart failure patients are low on coQ10,
which can contribute to the loss of
Coenzyme Q10 is a vitaminlike com- and results in the production of cardiac function. Giving them coQ10
pound made in the body, especially the ATP, the immediate cellular en- may improve heart function and quality
liver, from the amino acid tyrosine. Vari- ergy source. CoQ10 is also a potent of life. Other studies show that it may
ous other nutrients are also required to antioxidant and works with other anti- help prevent Parkinson’s disease, which
generate coQ10. As with many other oxidants, such as vitamins C and E. In involves a selective loss, possibly relat-
substances, the synthesis of coQ10 fact, it can regenerate oxidized vitamin ed to long-term oxidation, of dopamine-
declines with age. It plays a pivotal E by donating an electron. That’s one producing neurons in the substantia
role in the electron transfer pro- example of the synergy of nutrients nigra area of the brain. The process
cess that occurs in mitochondria in the body and illustrates why taking can be blocked by taking larger doses
of coQ10. Not all stud-
ies have found that
coQ10 helps, probably
Coenzyme Q10 is critical in
the production of ATP, which because it’s not easily
powers muscle contraction. absorbed.
CoQ10 is fat-
soluble, meaning
that it must be
taken with high-fat
food. Even under the
best circumstances,
however, about 60
percent of any dose is
rapidly eliminated. Once
absorbed, it attaches
to various lipid carri-
ers, such as low- and
high-density lipoprotein.
Some studies show that
coQ10 may prevent the
premature oxidation of
LDL, which is associ-
ated with atherosclero-
sis and cardiovascular
disease. It’s present in
some foods—such as
meat and fish—but in
very small amounts.
You’d have to eat one
pound of sardines, two
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour
pounds of beef or
2 1/2 pounds of pea-
nuts to get 30 mil-
ligrams of coQ10.
(Indeed, coQ10 was
discovered in beef mito-
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This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
chondria in 1957.) already demonstrate its benefits.
One current controversy about The first study examined both
coQ10 involves statin drugs, which are acute and longer-term effects
prescribed to treat cardiovascular dis- of taking coQ10 supplements.
ease risk factors, such as high choles- The subjects were 22 aerobically
terol. Statins inhibit a liver enzyme that trained and 19 untrained men
synthesizes cholesterol from precur- and women who were randomly
sors, such as dietary saturated fat. With assigned to either a coQ10 or
a lower production of cholesterol in a placebo group. They took a
the liver, more LDL cell receptors open 200-milligram dose and under-
up, which lowers plasma cholesterol. went various anaerobic capac-
The same biochemical pathway that ity tests. In the next phase the
produces cholesterol in the liver also subjects took 100 milligrams of
produces coQ10. Taking statin drugs coQ10 daily for 14 days. They
can lower coQ10 levels by as much as had higher plasma coQ10 after
40 percent. Some speculate that the two weeks and also after the
lower level of coQ10 leads to some of single dosage. Indices of oxida-
the side effects linked to statin drugs, tion decreased in those taking
such as muscle pain. coQ10, while the amount of it in
For athletes the research on coQ10 muscle increased. Those sub-
has been mixed. Since it is vital for the jects also increased their time
synthesis of ATP, coQ10’s ergogenic to exhaustion after two weeks.
value should be obvious. But not all The authors think that’s
studies have shown benefits. In one because of more efficient
study, taking coQ10 before training ATP production and im-
produced, paradoxically, prooxidant proved antioxidant activity.
effects, perhaps because of the higher In another study 17 subjects
oxygen intake typical of exercise. received either 100 or 300 mil-
Lack of adequate absorption may be ligrams of coQ10 for eight days, while supplement had lower markers
the culprit in many studies. It takes other subjects received a placebo. of muscle damage.
several weeks for coQ10 to Tests done on a stationary bike showed Based on these studies, several facts
build up in the blood, and many that those getting the coQ10 were emerge. First, it’s best to use a form of
studies were too short to prove less fatigued than those in the placebo coQ10 that is more easily absorbed,
much. One interesting study, group. One notable aspect was and several forms on the market are
however, found that taking that benefits occurred only in supposed to have that property. The
coQ10 orally prevented the con- those taking the 300-milligram best results are likely to occur with
version of fast-twitch to slow- dose. Taking 100 milligrams did long-term use, as it takes a few weeks
twitch muscle fibers in older nothing. to build up in the tissues.
people. That conversion is thought The third study examined the effects —Jerry Brainum
to be a primary cause of age-related of coQ10 on muscle damage indica-
muscle weakness and frailty. tors. The activity was kendo, a tradition-
Several newer forms of the supple- al Japanese sport that features dueling References
ment have been designed to improve with bamboo swords. A typical match
uptake into the body. One is fast-melt lasts for five minutes, and the winner Cooke, M., et al. (2008). Effects
capsules of ubiquinol, the elemental is the first to score two out of three of acute and 14-day coenzyme Q10
form of coQ10. Another form is highly points. Points are scored by inflicting supplementation on exercise perfor-
emulsified, converting the nutrient into blows on the head, torso, forearm or mance in both trained and untrained
tiny particles that are absorbed three throat. Kendo practice results in higher individuals. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 5:8.
times more readily than the common oxidative and cellular damage. Some Mizuno, K., et al. (2008). Antifatigue
forms. Adding piperine, a compound of the athletes received 300 milligrams effects of coenzyme Q10 during physi-
in black pepper, also appears to boost of coQ10 for 20 days, while others got cal fatigue. Nutrition. 24:293-209.
uptake. The newer forms may finally en- a placebo. Both groups engaged in
able coQ10 to prove its worth. In fact, kendo for 5 1/2 hours a day for six days
a trio of exercise-related studies have a week (yikes!). Those who got the
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ SEPTEMBER 2008 51
LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
Build Incredible Pressing Power and Bulletproof Shoulders
Unfortunately, shoulder injury

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to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES
Food Facts
That can affect your
workouts, weight and wellness
Red wine contains

polyphenol compounds
that boost the antioxidant
ability of vitamin E in broc-
coli. That’s a good excuse
to have a glass of wine
with any meal that in-
cludes the healthful green
vegetable.
Steaks
that are mari-
nated in an
herb mixture
Neveux \ Model: Mike Semanoff

of rosemary,
thyme, basil
and oregano
in olive oil for one hour prior to grill-
ing have an 85 percent reduction in
compounds linked to various cancers
compared to steaks that are not
marinated.
PROTEIN
Garlic can help raise
Cheap Protein but Good for the Joints testosterone. Animal
studies suggest that
garlic combined with
a high-protein intake
Collagen hydrolysate helps those with osteoarthritis, but can increase that ana-
what does it do for activity-related joint pain in athletes bolic hormone. Try garlic
supplements instead of
who have no evidence of joint disease? During a 24-week sabotaging your fresh breath.
study, subjects were randomly assigned to two groups: Glutamine,
a group receiving 25 milliliters of a liquid formulation that a conditionally
essential amino
contained 10 grams of collagen hydrolysate and a group acid, appears
receiving a placebo, which consisted of 25 milliliters of to do more than
bolster the im-
liquid that contained xanthan. It was the first clinical trial of mune system. It
24 weeks’ duration to demonstrate improvement of joint can also increase
pain in athletes who were treated with collagen hydroly- levels of L-leucine—considered the
most anabolic essential amino acid—
sate. in muscle fibers.
So don’t knock collagen. Just as proteins like whey and Boron appears
to have an effect
casein are great for skeletal muscles, collagen hydroly- on joint health.
sate may be great for the joints. Healthy joints, healthy According to the
muscles. World Health Or-
ganization, people
—Jose Antonio, Ph.D. living in areas
with high levels of
boron in the soil
Clark, K.L., et al. (2008). 24-Week study on the use of had a much lower
collagen hydrolysate as a dietary supplement in athletes incidence of arthritis than people living
with activity-related joint pain. Curr Med Res Opin. In in areas with low boron levels.
—Becky Holman
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MIND/MUSCLE LINK
Brains and Brawn L-carnitine’s benefits are broad

While L-carnitine is sometimes 93(1):35-42;
referred to as a vitamin, it’s really 2005)
a compound biosynthesized from Research on
the amino acids lysine and me- a newer form
thionine. You may have read about of L-carnitine,
L-carnitine’s ability to increase the glycine propio-
transport of fatty acids from fat cells nyl-L-carnitine,
into working cells’ mitochondria. showed it
That makes it a good fat-to-muscle has nitric-oxide-boosting abilities.
supplement, but it has other pow- Only three grams of it significantly
erful bodybuilding benefits as well. increased nitric oxide in the blood-
Studies show that carnitine may stream of weight-training men, which
enhance muscular-force produc- translates into bigger muscular
tion, a key to stimulating muscle pumps and better nutrient delivery.
growth. Researchers found that it (NO has also been shown to help
improved the contractile force in burn fat via enhanced blood flow.)
Neveux
the latissimus dorsi of dogs by 34 Are you beginning to see the
percent and overall force produc- benefits of L-carnitine supplementa-
tion by 31 percent. tion? Carnitine has also been used
There’s more: A new study shows that after 21 days of successfully to increase brain activity and treat male sexual
carnitine supplementation—one gram in the morning and dysfunction. (It’s present in sperm as well as brain and
one gram at noon—the numbers of androgen receptors in muscle tissue.)
muscle were increased. Androgen receptors interact with Try taking one gram of L-carnitine in the morning and at
testosterone, which can result in more muscle growth— noon and three grams of glycine propionyl-L-carnitine as a
something anabolic steroids do! (J Steroid Biochem Mol Bio. vasodilator before you train. —Becky Holman
LEAN SCENE G O O D FAT
Probiotics and Protein Fish vs. Flax

London scientists With all of the hoopla
suggest that good about the benefits of
bacteria, or probiot- omega-3 fatty acids, you’re
ics, found in yogurt no doubt trying your best
to get some every day.
can boost fat loss.
You may be taking fish oil
Mice treated with
capsules or perhaps flax or
probiotics more effec-
hemp seed.
tively blocked the ab- Is there a difference?
sorption of fat. More good news for bodybuilders Yes, the omega-3s found in fish consist of long chains,
looking to get bigger and leaner: A new brand, which are better absorbed and used by the body than
Siggi’s Icelandic Style Skyr Strained Non-Fat the shorter-chain type found in flax and hemp seed and
Yogurt, provides a whopping 17 grams of protein even walnuts. From recent studies it appears that the
per six-ounce container, which is about three long-chain omega-3s are better at blood-vessel dila-
times the amount in standard commercial brands. tion and lowering triglycerides, which can help prevent
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Ten subjects underwent two testing sessions ad- 10 milligrams of ephedrine plus 200 milligrams of
ministered in a randomized and double-blind fashion. caffeine, respectively. On the other hand, Meltdown
The test volunteers got either three capsules of Melt- showed a 50-calorie increase. That’s more than 60
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genic synergism between ephedrine
and caffeine in healthy volunteers:
a double-blind, placebo-controlled
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to Grow
FOOD STUFF
Egg-citing News
While many self-styled experts continue to decry eating
eggs, research shows that eggs are not only one of the best
protein sources but also among the most beneficial from a
health standpoint. One recent study found that eating a low-
carb diet boosted high-density-lipoprotein cholesterol—but
only in those whose diet included eggs. Interestingly, it
was the higher cholesterol content of the eggs
that was thought to be the active factor in elevat-
ing HDL. Those who ate a low-carb diet without eggs
showed no rise in HDL.
The same researchers recently published a follow-up
study. The object was to observe the effects of eggs and a
low-carb diet on markers of inflammation. The subjects were
28 men, 15 of whom ate three eggs daily and 13 who ate no
eggs. Results: Those who ate the eggs had a 21 per-
cent increase in levels of adiponectin, a substance and helps reduce cardiovascular disease by acting
released by fat cells. Adiponectin is a polypeptide, or as a methyl donor to lower elevated blood homo-
protein-based, hormone containing a string of 244 amino cysteine, a toxic by-product of the metabolism of
acids. It provides potent anti-inflammatory effects and is the amino acid methionine.
often low in those with higher bodyfat levels. Adiponectin In years past, choline was touted as a fat burner. In fact,
favors the loss of excess fat and is positively as- choline is not directly involved in the oxidation, or burning, of
sociated with increased insulin sensitivity. Those in fats. It is, however, required by the liver to synthesize lipopro-
the egg group also showed lower levels of C-reactive protein, teins, which transport fats in the blood. One sign of a choline
a general marker of inflammation. The authors suggest that deficiency is an increase of fat in the liver, considered an early
the effect may have been due to the high lutein content in sign of liver failure.
eggs. Lutein is an antioxidant most often associated with eye One recent study, however, suggests that taking excess
health, but it also exerts overall antioxidant activity. An impor- choline could present problems. It examined the effects of
tant point here is that the protective factors are situated only choline and its metabolite, betaine, in 7,074 men and women
in the yolks, and those who eat only egg whites—like body- in two age groups (47 to 49 and 71 to 74). The study found
builders—are making a huge mistake. that higher amounts of choline in the blood were associated
Another recent study featured 3,000 adult women and with a greater prevalence of symptoms related to the meta-
found that those with the highest intake of choline—an aver- bolic syndrome—higher serum triglycerides, glucose, percent
age of 455 milligrams daily, mostly from eggs—showed a bodyfat and waist circumference. On the other hand, higher
24 percent decreased risk of breast cancer. That followed a blood choline was also related to higher HDL and lower total
2003 study from Harvard, which found that women who ate cholesterol. The effect was thought to be linked to a disrup-
more eggs, vegetable fat and fiber during adolescence had tion of an enzyme that’s involved in choline metabolism. A
a lower risk of developing breast cancer as adults. Eating confusing aspect of the study was the finding that betaine,
one egg a day led to an 18 percent reduced risk of breast which is produced from choline, provided nothing but benefi-
cancer in the women. Another recent study found that eating cal effects. That’s likely related to the fact that betaine acts as
soy foods also offered breast cancer protection, but again, a methyl donor to reduce elevated homocysteine.
only if they were eaten during adolescence. A Chinese study —Jerry Brainum
published in 2005 found that women who reported eating
at least six eggs per week showed a 44 percent lower risk References
of breast cancer than women who ate two or fewer eggs Ratliff, J.C., et al. (2008). Eggs modulate the inflammatory
weekly. Studies show that only 10 percent of Americans get response to carbohydrate-restricted diets in overweight men.
the recommended amount of choline (550 milligrams a day Nutr Metabol. 5:6.
for men; 425 for women). One egg supplies 125.5 grams of Xu, X., et al. (2008). Choline metabolism and risk of breast
choline—only in the yolk. cancer in a population-based study. FASEB. 22(6):2045-52.
Besides helping to prevent breast cancer, cho- Konstantinova, S.V., et al. (2008). Divergent associations
line also helps to prevent birth defects, such as of plasma choline and betaine with components of metabolic
spina bifida; improves memory because it is a syndrome in middle age and elderly men and women. J Nutr.
precursor of acetylcholine, a major brain neu- 138:914-20.
rotransmitter involved in memory and learning;

TM
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Train, Eat,
Grow
Muscle-Training Program 107
From the IRON MAN
Training & Research Center
by Steve Holman and
Jonathan Lawson Week 1
Photography by Michael Neveux
Monday: Chest, lats, triceps, abs
L
ast month we discussed our experiment with our version of fascia Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
stretching—that is, supersetting a contracted-position exercise calves, lower back
with a stretch-position move. A good example is pushdowns fol-
Wednesday: Delts, midback,
lowed by overhead extensions for triceps. You get a big pump
biceps, forearms
from the pushdowns’ continuous tension and occlusion; then you stretch
the heck out of the pumped triceps with overhead extensions. That should Thursday: Off
have a loosening effect on the fascia, the sheath that encases the muscle. It’s
Friday: Chest, deadlifts, triceps,
believed that the fascia’s rigidity constricts muscle growth, and the supersets
abs
are designed to make it more pliable while still getting the anabolic triggers
from contracted- and stretch-position exercises. Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Here are a couple of variations we like to incorporate into our fascia-ex-
pansion supersets—that is, a contracted-position exercise followed by a
stretch-position exercise: Week 2
1) Use a drop set on the contracted-position exercise. That can Monday: Delts, midback, biceps,
amplify the pump. The more engorgement you get, the more you’ll stretch forearms
the fascia on the second exercise. Great for slacker bodyparts.
Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
2) Use rest/pause on the stretch-position exercise. Because the tar- calves, lower back
get muscle is somewhat fatigued when you move to the stretch-position
exercise, it may crap out early, a victim of premature exhaustion. Simply Wednesday: Chest, lats, triceps,
rest for 15 seconds, then continue repping out. That way you’ll get a bit abs
more force production and overload along with fascia expansion.
Thursday: Off
3) Use the X-only technique on the stretch-position exercise. You
want to stretch the muscle in its pumped state, so why do full-range reps Friday: Delts, deadlifts, biceps,
here? Lower to the stretch position and pulse for 12 to 15 X Reps. You’ll forearms
Model: Jonathan Lawson
feel it, believe us! Weekend: Off (with cardio)
We’ve made some exercise changes from last month’s program, and we
want to discuss the reasoning behind them. First, as usual, let’s review our Week 3
current split, which hasn’t changed:
Repeat Week 1

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Train, Eat,
Grow
We work legs only once a week; Okay, on to the new exercises in set but tacked on a set of incline
however, we substitute regular our program. flyes done in X-only style—that is,
deadlifts for the back routine on Fri- moving to the stretch position and
day. That gives us residual leg work Incline flyes (X only). To finish pulsing with partials, combining
at the end of the week as well as a upper chest we were doing a drop variations 1 and 3 above. It’s giv-
heavy back blast. We follow deads set on high-low cable flyes. We were ing us excellent upper-pec stretch,
with one or two sets of a direct back getting a good pump, but we felt the which should provide fascia expan-
exercise—pulldowns if it’s lat day; stretch portion of the movement sion. Plus, the elongation overload
machine rows if it’s midback day. was lacking. So we kept the drop at the insertion near the breast-
IRON MAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 107

Workout 1: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 12-15
Smith-machine incline One-leg calf raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(7)
presses (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12 Superset
Superset Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
High-low cable flyes (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) Machine donkey calf raises (rest/pause) 1 x 9-12
Incline flyes (X only) 1 x 12-15 Seated calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 15-20
Superset Hyperextensions or
Wide-grip dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Nautilus lower-back machine (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
Barbell or dumbbell bench presses 1 x 8-10
Tri-set Workout 3: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Low cable flyes (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12
Pushups 1 x max Forward-lean lateral raises (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Dumbbell flyes 1 x 8-10 Superset
Wide-grip pulldowns (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12 Leaning laterals (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Undergrip pulldowns 1 x 9-12 One-arm cable laterals (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Superset Smith-machine behind-the-neck
Stiff-arm pulldowns 1 x 8-10 presses (second set stage style) 2 x 9-12
Rope rows 1 x 8-10 Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Machine or dumbbell pullovers 1 x 8-10 Superset
Lying extensions 1 x 9-12 Dumbbell shrugs (DXO or stage style) 1 x 9-12
Superset Cable upright rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Decline extensions 1 x 8-10 Machine rows (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Decline close-grip bench presses 1 x 8-10 Chest-supported dumbbell rows (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Superset Superset
Pushdowns 1 x 10-12 Behind-the-neck pulldowns (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Overhead dumbbell Bent-arm bent-over laterals (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
extensions (rest/pause) 1 x 8-10 Preacher curls 1 x 9-12
One-arm reverse-grip pushdowns (drop) 1 x 10(6) Cable curls (DXO; rest/pause) 1 x 7-9
Cable pushouts (rest/pause) 1 x 9-12 Concentration curls (drop to stage set) 1 x 9(6)
Superset Superset
Incline kneeups 1 x 12-15 Dumbbell spider curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Flat-bench leg raises 1 x 8-10 Incline curls (rest/pause) 1 x 8-10
Tri-set Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 12-20
Ab Bench crunches 1 x 10-12 Dumbbell wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 12-20
Twisting crunches 1 x 10-15 Rockers (rest/pause) 1 x 12-20
End-of-bench kneeups 1 x 9-12 Superset
Cable reverse curls (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Workout 2: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Lower Back Incline hammer curls 1 x 8-10
Leg extensions (warmup) 1 x 12-15
Squats 1 x 10-15 Friday Workout
Hack squats (rest/pause) 1 x 9-12 Deadlifts (substitute for back exercises) 1 x 9-12
Superset
Leg extensions (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Sissy squats 2 x 9-12
Feet-forward Smith-machine squats 1 x 9-12 Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
Leg curls (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond X-
Leg curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) Rep Muscle Building.
Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com
Stiff-legged deadlifts 1 x 9-12 for more workout details.
Knee-extension leg-press
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Train, Eat,
Grow
bone is giving us new detail down one round of stiff-arm pulldowns,
the middle of our pecs. rope rows and dumbbell pullovers,
adding X Reps where appropriate—
Rope rows. Our fascia-expan- and when pain thresholds allow.
sion superset for lats was stiff-arm
pulldowns followed by dumbbell One-arm reverse-grip push-
pullovers. Because we weren’t quite downs (drop set). Steve has been
getting the lat pump we were after, having difficulty getting his triceps’
we inserted rope rows between the long heads to respond and develop
two exercises. We use a rope attach- more sweep. We decided to focus
ment on a low pulley, grab an end of on the long heads with one-arm
the rope in each hand, bend at the reverse-grip pushdowns—and do
waist just shy of 90 degrees and pull a drop set to really blast them. We
the ends of the rope to the sides of don’t do a superset, but we follow
our waists, contracting our lats. The the contracted-position drop set
key here is to not let your arms fully with cable pushouts, a stretch-posi-
extend on the downward stroke; if tion exercise, in rest/pause fashion,
you do, you lose lat tension. We do 15 seconds for the pause.
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Train, Eat,
Grow
clavicles. One thing we’ve
Hack squats (rest/pause). Our learned is that bigger rear-
lower backs tend to give us trouble delt heads make the entire
as we lose bodyfat. That affects our deltoid look wider and
squatting form, not to mention our rounder. More meat on the
getting out of bed in the morning. backside tends to push out
We decided to lighten the load on the medial head. For that
our free-bar squats so we could get reason we added a second
10 perfect reps, adding a rep at each set of bent-over laterals.
workout and increasing the weight We were doing one drop
when we reach 15. Plus, instead set; now we do the drop
of doing a second set of free-bar set, rest for two minutes,
squats, we now move to the hack then do another straight
machine, which is much kinder set with our thumbs point-
to our lower backs. We do a set to ing down for a slightly
Model: Todd Smith

exhaustion, around 10 reps, rest for different fiber-recruitment
15 seconds, then crank out as many pattern.
as possible, usually five or so. Our
quads are responding nicely to the Chest-supported
change, and our lower backs are dumbbell rows. We were
feeling better. doing two sets of machine Behind-the-neck exercises can be
Bent-over laterals. We both rows. We’d grown stale on dangerous, but there are ways to safely
have problems with delt roundness, those, so we decided to work them into your program if your
which is compounded by narrow substitute chest-supported rotator cuffs are in good shape.
IRON MAN Training & Research Center Home-Gym Program 107

Workout 1: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs One-leg calf raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)
Incline presses (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12 Donkey calf raises (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 10-15
Incline flyes (drop to X only) 1 x 10(12) Seated calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 12-20
Superset Hyperextensions (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
Bench presses or wide-grip dips (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Flyes or decline flyes (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 8-10 Workout 3: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Chins (X Reps; rest/pause) 1 x 9-12 Dumbbell upright rows (X Reps; rest/pause) 2 x 9-12
Undergrip chins (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Forward-lean laterals (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Superset Incline one-arm laterals (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Undergrip rows 2 x 9-12 Barbell or dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Dumbbell pullovers 2 x 8-10 Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10(6)
Lying extensions (rest/pause) 2 x 9-12 Superset
Superset Dumbbell shrugs (DXO) 1 x 9-12
Kickbacks 1 x 8-10 Upright rows 1 x 8-10
Overhead extensions (rest/pause) 1 x 8-10 Bent-over dumbbell rows (rest/pause) 2 x 9-12
Giant set Bent-arm bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(6)
Incline kneeups 1 x 15-20 One-arm dumbbell rows 1 x 9-12
Flat-bench leg raises 1 x 10-12 Dumbbell curls (rest/pause) 2 x 9-12
Ab Bench or full-range crunches 1 x 10-12 Concentration curls (drop to stage set) 1 x 9(6)
End-of-bench kneeups 1 x 9-12 Incline curls (rest/pause) 1 x 9-12
Dumbbell reverse wrist curls 1 x 12-20
Workout 2: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Lower Back Dumbbell wrist curls 1 x 12-20
Leg extensions (warmup) 1 x 12-15 Rockers (rest/pause) 1 x 12-20
Squats (second set DXO with narrow stance) 2 x 9-12 Incline hammer curls (drop) 1 x 9(6)
Superset
Leg extensions (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(6) Friday Workout
Sissy squats 1 x 9-12 Deadlifts (substitute for back exercises) 1 x 9-12
Walking lunges 1 x 10-15
Leg curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10(6)
Note: If you don’t have a leg extension machine, do old-
Stiff-legged deadlifts 1 x 9-12
Knee-extension donkey calf raises style hacks, nonlock style. Use partner resistance, towel
(X Reps) 2 x 12-15 around the ankles, if you don’t have a leg-curl machine.

dumbbell rows for the second set. need to psych up for these—the neck pulldowns—we do them late in
Wow! We’d forgotten what a great ex- hurt is horrendous! our midback routine.
ercise it is. You get midback stretch On the first exercise of the fascia- Form is key on the two behind-
at the bottom and a hard contrac- expansion superset we switched the-neck exercises. On the presses
tion at the top as you move the from dumbbell spider curls to we stop the descent at ear level to
dumbbells up and apart. You also barbell spider curls. There’s just minimize rotator-cuff risk. That’s
get muscle synergy from the biceps something better about having your the stopping point on behind-the-
and lats. We add end-of-set X Reps hands in a fixed position, locked on neck pulldowns as well. Problems
or a Static X for a killer growth burn. a barbell, that makes the exercise occur on both of those moves when
more effective—for us, at least. the range is exaggerated and the
Concentration curls (drop to One last comment concerning poundages are extreme. If you want
stage set). We were doing a simple behind-the-neck movements. We’ve to perform them safely, follow our
drop set on concentration curls to had some e-mail reprimanding us lead: Use a shorter stroke, and put
enhance the pump before we moved for using so-called dangerous exer- them late in your workout so you’re
to our fascia-expansion superset cises. We think the injury potential forced to use lighter weights.
for biceps. We do dumbbell spider of behind-the-neck pulldowns and Note: The new e-book, X-Rep
curls—contracted—performed behind-the-neck presses is over- Update #1, which includes fascia
on the vertical side of a preacher blown because it’s dependent on expansion, Forced X Overload and
bench, and incline curls—stretch. genetics, exercise form and where X-Rep-only training, is now avail-
To make concentration curls even you place them in your program. able. Visit www.X-Rep.com for
more pump-inducing, we decided For example, notice that we do details.
to do the second phase of the drop Smith-machine behind-the-neck
in stage style. That means doing presses toward the end of our delt Editor’s note: For the latest on
the top two-thirds of the stroke to routine. That means our delts are X Reps, X e-books and the X-Blog
exhaustion, for max occlusion, then fatigued when we get there, so the training and supplement journals,
moving to the bottom third of the poundage we use is much lighter visit www.X-Rep.com. A few of the
stroke and finishing with as many than it would be if we did them first. mass-training e-books are shown
partial reps there as possible. You’ll The same is true for behind-the- below. IM
X-traordinary Workouts — X-ceptional Results!
The Ultimate Mass Workout. Beyond X-Rep Muscle 3D Muscle Building. X-traordinary Muscle-
This is the original X-Rep Building. More on X Reps Positions-of-Flexion mass Building Workouts. The big
manual. Includes the and X-hybrid techniques, training. Includes the 20- 10 mass-program arsenal.
ultimate exercise for each including X Fade and pounds-of-muscle-in-10- Includes Heavy/Light, 20-
muscle and workouts. Double-X Overload. weeks size surge program. Rep Squat, Power Pyramid.
X-Rep.com
NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HU
Naturally Huge
by John Hansen, Mr. Natural Olympia
compete, I want to win!
Lost Fat, A: First of all, congratu-

lations on losing so much
Need Muscle
weight and so much bodyfat
in only one year. That’s a
great accomplishment after
being overweight your whole
life.
Q: As far back as I can remember, I was a fat boy— You’ve gone to so much
until I turned 30. That was last year, when I went trouble to lose all that body-
from 270 to 198 pounds at 6’1”. I think my bodyfat is fat, I’m not sure it would be
between 12 and 15 percent right now, and I want to a good idea to bulk up again.
compete next year in a few events around my area. As you said, your body gains
Now to the questions: 1) I do pushing muscles on weight fairly easily, so you
Monday, legs on Wednesday and pulling muscles on have to be careful about
Friday. Do you think that’s enough, or should I hit what type of weight you put on.
each muscle twice a week? 2) I can gain weight fairly Your current training routine has you working out three
easily, so I think I should add some cardio: walking days a week, each bodypart only once a week. I recom-
at 3.5 miles per hour. What do you think? If you have mend that you increase your training. I think you’ll build
any other recommendations, books, DVDs or other more muscle by working out more frequently at your level.
material that you think would help, let me know. A good program for you would be to train two days
Also, I’m really, really competitive—I don’t want to on/one off/one day on/one off. That has you working each
muscle group every five days instead of every seven. Here’s
an example of how you’d schedule your workouts using
your current training program:
Day 1: Pushing muscles

Day 2: Legs
Day 3: Off
Day 4: Pulling muscles
Day 5: Off
Day 6: Pushing muscles
Day 7: Legs
Day 8: Off
Day 9: Pulling muscles
Day 10: Off
You’ll be in the gym more often, which is better for stay-

ing leaner and building muscle. Even though you’ll train
more frequently, you still have plenty of rest days, so you
won’t overtrain. That’s a great intermediate routine for
building muscle.
You won’t have to do as much cardio because you’ll be
burning plenty of calories in the gym. If you’re going to
expend calories, do it building muscle instead of just trying
to burn them off by doing cardio.
Make sure you’re eating plenty of protein to build more
muscle mass while staying lean. Turkey, chicken, egg whites
and fish are all high-quality proteins that are low in fat and
Neveux \ Model: Joey Gloor
calories. You can also include some protein sources that are
lean but that contain some fats, such as whole eggs, lean
red meat—round, flank and sirloin—and salmon. Shoot for
1.25 to 1.5 grams for each pound of bodyweight.
The key to getting bigger without adding
(continued ontoo much
page 102)fat is
manipulating your carbohydrate intake. Eat enough carbs
to fuel your workouts and help with postworkout
Working each muscle group every five days is recovery, but don’t eat too many carbohydrates;
a good mass-building strategy. they could be stored as fat.
The best carbohydrate sources are low glycemic

NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HU Naturally Huge
We all want to win when we
compete, but the real victory comes
in achieving peak condition onstage.
and high in fiber. Complex carbs are absorbed more slowly for a 6’ 215-pounder. I don’t want to drop calories
and are more likely to be stored as glycogen in the muscle too much for fear of losing hard-earned muscle
cells instead of in the fat cells. Good sources of low-glyce- mass, so I just train harder and push myself harder
mic-index and high-fiber complex carbohydrates include on the cardio to burn the calories and hope that the
oatmeal, sweet potatoes, brown rice, oat bran and fibrous majority of those calories are fat.
vegetables like broccoli, asparagus, green beans, green peas As for weight workouts, I stick with a low-volume,
and cauliflower. high-intensity method. I throw in the occasional
It’s also important to eat carbohydrates at the right times high-rep, lighter-weight workout when I feel burned
of the day. The body is less insulin sensitive in the morning, out or when I don’t have the intensity to lift hard. I
so it makes sense to eat more carbs for breakfast and lunch train four or five days a week, hitting each muscle
than in the evening, when those carbs have a better chance group once per week, abs three days a week. I use
of being stored as fat. mostly multijoint exercises like squats, deadlifts
Another critical time for eating carbohydrates is im- and presses. I throw in isolation only at the end of
mediately after an intense weight-training session. Hard my workouts for a nice burn. For cardio I do three
anaerobic training depletes glycogen from the muscle to four sessions per week, HIIT for 15 to 20 minutes,
cells, so getting carbohydrates after a workout will help the usually about 1.5 miles on a decent incline. I’ve
muscles recuperate faster and create an anabolic environ- used the slow-and-steady cardio approach in the
ment. I recommend a postworkout drink such as Optimum past, but I ended up looking like a swimmer, so I’ve
Nutrition’s 2:1:1 Recovery or Muscle-Link’s RecoverX, as changed to HIIT to avoid that. I agree with Layne
they were designed with muscle glycogen replenishment in Norton that most track stars look like bodybuild-
mind. ers because of their sprinting and other training
If you follow all those guidelines, I think you’ll be able to methods, and most long-distance runners look like
add size without adding bodyfat. That should put you in a preteen boys because they burn all their muscle
good position to get ripped next year when you get ready during those long running sessions. Plus, I love
to enter your competition. Yes, we all want to win when the fact that I feel so much better and have more
we compete, but the real victory comes in achieving peak spring in my step from the hard running. I feel I can
condition onstage. breathe so much better afterward, as I really have
to open up my lungs to get through the cardio ap-
Q: I’m a 29-year-old natural recreational body- proach that I use now. The 35 minutes, 3.8 miles per
builder who has been training hard for about eight hour was boring, and all it did was make me sweat
years. Can you tell me your best approach to cutting a bit. I’m dropping about 1 1/2 pounds a week on
bodyfat while retaining as much muscle as pos- average, which is fine for me because I’m targeting
sible? Here’s my current approach: I’m eating the only about 12 to 15 pounds. I figured I’d ask how my
same number of calories that I eat for maintenance, current method looks to you.
but I’m eating much cleaner—barely any refined
carbs, no high-glycemic carbs except postworkout. A: You have a very well-thought-out program for losing
I eat about 15 percent fat, 45 percent protein and 40 bodyfat, and I agree with most of what you’re doing. Here
percent carbs, mostly complex. I do vary my calorie are my thoughts on all the aspects of your program:
intake from day to day so my body won’t plateau on Diet: You mentioned that you’re eating the same num-
me. I used the metabolic-rate calculator on Body ber of calories that you eat for maintenance, just cleaner.
building.com to determine my maintenance intake I personally have to lower my calories below my mainte-

NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HU Naturally Huge
Decreasing calories and ing. My macronutrient breakdown is 45 to 50
doing as little cardio as percent protein, 25 to 30 percent carbohy-
possible is the best way drates and 25 to 30 percent fat. On my train-
to burn fat and preserve ing days I eat 45 percent protein, 30 percent
muscle tissue. carbohydrate and 25 percent fat. On the days
I don’t work out, I eat 45 to 50 percent protein,
25 percent carb and 25 to 30 percent fat.
As I’ve discussed in this space before, I discovered
that as I got older, I needed to eat fewer carbohydrates
in order to lose fat and get really ripped. That meant
I had to increase both my protein and fat in order to
keep my calories consistent with what they were when
I was dieting for competitions.
One thing I have to disagree with you on is your
decision to keep your calories the same while increas-
ing your cardio in order to get leaner. I go the opposite
route, decreasing my calories and doing as little cardio
as possible. I’ve found that the combination of doing
cardio and lowering calories is dangerous for muscle
tissue, especially for the natural bodybuilder.
I prefer to slowly reduce my calories while keeping
my protein intake high and eating at least six to seven
meals a day to keep my metabolism stimulated. By
doing that, I starve the fat cells by eating just the right
amount of nutrients and calories. Doing too much car-
nance level in order to lose bodyfat. I eat 2,800 to 2,900 dio along with intense weight training tends to make
calories on my training days and around 2,500 calories on me lose too much muscle and flatten out.
my rest days. Training: My training is very similar to yours—high
I like the idea of raising your calories once or twice a intensity, moderate-to-low volume with heavy resistance.
week after going pretty low for a few days. That definitely I usually train very hard for seven to eight weeks before
works for me when I’m dieting. My waist seems to go down taking a break. Then I either take a full week off or go re-
after a day of eating slightly more calories and carbs than ally light for a week to give my body a chance to recuperate
when I go lower on calories and carbs for several days. before starting the cycle again.
That’s because of a boost in metabolism from the increased I think it’s a good idea to concentrate on the basic ex-
calorie intake. ercises—squats, deadlifts, barbell rows, bench presses,
Your macronutrient breakdown is similar to the one that incline presses, etc. Those are the mass builders, and they
I followed when I was getting ready for a contest. I’d eat al- make a difference in your physique.
most equal amounts of protein and carbohydrate (40 to 45 It’s also important to do exercises that will add more
percent protein and 40 percent carb) and 15 to 20 percent shape—laterals for the medial delts, hack squats for the
fat. My metabolism was a little faster when I was younger, outer thighs and dumbbell flyes for the outer pecs, to men-
so I was able to eat more carbs and still get ripped. tion just a few; however, I think you can train heavy on
I currently eat fewer carbohydrates now when I’m diet- those exercises and not just use them for a burn at the end
of the workout.
Cardio: I’ve never been a big fan of HIIT cardio. I don’t
My waist seems to go do a lot of cardio, but when I do, I use lower-intensity
cardio either at the end of my workout or first thing in the
down after a day of eating morning on an empty stomach. Nevertheless, HIIT cardio
seems to be working for you, so keep doing it. Each body is
slightly more calories unique, and we all have to find what works for us.
All in all, your plan sounds good. I think you’ll succeed in
and carbs than when I losing the 12 to 15 pounds that you need to drop in order to
get ripped. Best of luck!
go lower on calories and Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Mr. Natural
Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
carbs for several days. Check out his Web site at www.NaturalOlympia.com or
send questions or comments to him via e-mail at John@
That’s because of a boost NaturalOlympia.com. Look for his new DVD “Natural
Bodybuilding Seminar and Competitions” along with his
book, Natural Bodybuilding, and his training DVD, “Real
in metabolism from the Muscle,” at his Web site or at Home Gym Warehouse,
www.Home-Gym.com. Send written correspondence to
increased calorie intake. John Hansen, P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561. IM

SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSC
Shredded Muscle
by David Goodin
Contests and
of the size of the NPC and the amount of publicity that
the NPC shows get. If you added all the members of all
the drug-free organizations together, they still wouldn’t
come close to matching the membership of the NPC or
Drug Tests the amount of coverage that it gets in the various maga-
zines and muscle Web sites. I realized that if I stuck with
the exclusively natural organizations, I would reach only
the small number of people who were already sold on
drug-free bodybuilding. I’m excited to see that I’m already
Q: I heard that you’re sanctioning your contest having an effect on the NPC. Texas State Chairman Lee
(the Texas Shredder Classic) with the NPC this year. Thompson got such a big response from the news about
Is that true? If so, why did you leave the natural or- my getting onboard that he’s decided to hold an NPC Natu-
ganizations? Will it still be drug-tested? ral Texas State Championships in ’09.
A: Yes, you heard right. I’ve been asked this question so Speaking of Lee Thompson, I’ve been very impressed
many times this year that I think it’s time I wrote about it. I with his leadership and the changes that he has brought
did sanction the Texas Shredder Classic with the NPC this about in the NPC Texas. Before he took over as the state
year, and with the ’08 show behind me already, I’m sure chairman I don’t think I would have even considered mov-
it was the right move. And, yes, it was fully drug-tested. I ing to the NPC. Lee also brought in my best friend, Cecil
wouldn’t have it any other way. “CBX” Ballard, as a vice chairman for the area. Cecil’s en-
A number of factors led me to the decision to move my thusiasm for bodybuilding and his vision of what we could
show to the NPC. The biggest thing is that I can introduce do in terms of growing natural bodybuilding was instru-
so many more people to drug-free bodybuilding because mental in my decision. (Check out Cecil’s Web site for info
’08 Texas Shredder Classic
Chris Heitman, open Craig Ritchie, novice Kandace Shelby, open Mary Moran-Parker,
overall winner overall winner figure winner open overall winner
Photography by Lisa Brewer, www.LisaBrewerPhoto.com
Adrien Johnson, novice Desiree Aguirre, novice Don Strickland, masters Reed Masters, masters
figure winner overall winner 40+ winner 50+ winner

on the ’08 NPC Capital of Texas
Roundup.)
Quite a few people have asked
me if I was unhappy with the
OCB, which sanctioned my ’07
show. I must say that my experi-
ence with the OCB was a very,
very good one. OCB president
Matt Shepley is a great guy, is ex-
tremely well organized and does
a tremendous job of running the
organization. All the people I
met who were connected with
Lee Thompson, Dave and Cecil Ball.
the OCB were extremely nice
and were fun to be around. I
would say that the general feeling I got outside the NPC there was a pos-
from being around the OCB people sibility that I’d be suspended. When
was one of camaraderie. I felt bad I discussed my options with some of
about leaving the OCB, but again, I felt my closest friends, I figured out that
that I could reach a lot more people by I could do the most good not only for
going with the NPC. myself but for others as well by step-
I realize that some of the athletes ping onboard with the NPC. Then the
who have been competing in my show decision was an easy one.
for years were disappointed by my I applaud all the other bodybuild-
decision. Although I still tested every ing promoters who host drug-tested
athlete by polygraph for a compre- shows. It’s risky. There’s a lot more
hensive list of banned substances and work to do, a lot more expense in-
tested my open winners by urinalysis, volved, and generally you don’t get
some pointed out that drug testing at as many competitors. I was lucky to
higher levels (of the NPC and IFBB) have built a reputation as a natural
falls short of what we’re accustomed bodybuilder before I started promot-
to. My response is that if no one ever ing, so I didn’t have to spend the first
steps up and brings more comprehen- few years losing money in order to
sive drug testing to the NPC, it’s never build confidence in my show. We
going to happen. I would hope that started with 57 athletes at the ’98
what I do with my show can eventu- Texas Shredder Classic, and because I
ally effect a change at higher levels. have a great staff and my shows have
My final reason for moving to the always run very smoothly, the contest
NPC was selfish. After placing second has continued to grow. With the caring
to Chris Faildo (who won the overall) atmosphere that Lee Thompson has
at the ’07 NPC Team Universe, I want brought to the NPC Texas, I think that
to go back and give it another shot! I athletes who sat out my show this year ®
want to compete in the NPC Masters will want to come back next year—at DESIGNED TO BUILD RES U L T S
Nationals. Okay, actually I want to least I hope they do! And I think that
win those shows! They’re much big- longtime NPC athletes who were skep-
ger stages than I’ve been on in a long tical about the quality of a truly drug- FROM THE MAKERS
time, and I want to have the chance free show will want to compete next ®
to measure myself against the best. I year after seeing this year’s contest. OF OHYEAH!
knew that if I competed in any more I love bodybuilding! I especially
COMES RE-SATUR8
™
drug-free pro shows, I would be sus- love drug-free bodybuilding! When my

pended by the NPC, and I was worried days are done—I hope not anytime
that if I continued to promote shows soon—I don’t want to be remembered
just as someone who was a good natu-
ral bodybuilder. I want to be remem-
RELOAD.
I love bodybuilding. I bered as someone who did a lot of RECOVER.
especially love good for natural bodybuilding.`
natural bodybuilding.
Note: Dave will be guest-posing at
the NPC Capital of Texas Roundup
GROW.
in Austin on August 9 and at the NPC
I want to be Crystal Cup in Anchorage, Alaska, on
October 25.
remembered as
Editor’s note: Read Dave Goodin’s www.issresearch.com
someone who did a new blog at www.IronManMagazine
.com. Click on the blog selection in
lot of good for natural the top menu bar. To contact Dave
directly, send e-mail to TXShredder@
bodybuilding. aol.com. IM

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 MA
Critical Mass
by Steve Holman
Efficient 3D Back Attacks

Q: I don’t have a lot of time to train, which is why mass training combined with X Reps—the two-arm dumb-
I look to you for info. All of your techniques and bell row is a very efficient midback exercise. The hands
workouts revolve around efficiency, which is great. I move close together
can’t afford to waste time. My question is about back at the bottom of each
training. When I do a 3D POF lat routine, doesn’t my rep, which stretches
midback get plenty of work too? Isn’t the opposite the middle-trapezius
true as well: When I train midback, don’t my lats get muscles. They move
enough stimulation? I just don’t want to do work apart as you pull to
that’s not necessary. Every minute I’m in the gym the top, which lets
must count. you squeeze your
A: I hear you. Jonathan Lawson, my training partner, and scapulae, or shoulder
I train on our lunch break four days a week, so our primary blades, for midback
concern is efficiency-of-effort muscle building. That’s why contraction. Mean-
we try a lot of things and discard what doesn’t work, con- while, you’re using
stantly refining our workouts. your arms and lats for
You bring up a good point about back training—there synergy, which allows
is a lot of overlap between lat and midback work. You may a heavy overload. You
want to decide which is the weaker area and do a full 3D get stretch-, contract-
POF program for that muscle group, then simply add one ed- and midrange-
efficient exercise for the other area. Let’s say your lats need position work all in
more attention. Here’s a good 3D POF lat routine with a one midback exer-
potent midback exercise added to the end. cise. Very efficient. Chest-supported dumbbell
If you can, use rows are a very efficient
Midrange: Wide-grip chins 2 x 9-12 midback exercise—you get
chest support, as that
Stretch: Dumbbell pullovers 1-2 x 9-12 stretch at the bottom, as the
will keep momentum
Contracted: Stiff-arm pulldowns 1-2 x 9-12 dumbbells move together, and
in check. If you can’t
Midback: Two-arm dumbbell rows 2 x 9-12 contraction at the top, as you
use chest support,
As we discuss in the back chapter of the e-book 3D just do standard bent- pull the dumbbells wide and
Muscle Building—which is all about Positions-of-Flexion over two-arm dumb- retract your scapulae.

bell rows and keep your torso angled up, slightly above
parallel to the floor. As you row the dumbbells—whether
you use chest support or not—keep your arms angled out
away from your torso so your shoulder blades can move
together at the top. If you row with your arms close to your
body, your lats become the prime movers.
What if your midback is the weaker of the two areas?
You’d do a full 3D POF midback program like this, with an
efficient lat exercise to finish.
Midrange: Shoulder-width cable rows 2 x 9-12
Stretch: One-arm dumbbell rows 1-2 x 9-12
Contracted: Bent-arm bent-over laterals 1-2 x 9-12
Lats: Shoulder-width-grip undergrip pulldowns 2 x 9-12
Undergrip pulldowns are to lats what two-arm dumb-
bell rows are to midback. The undergrip gives you some lat
stretch at the top and max contraction at the bottom, plus
it puts the biceps in a strong pulling position for synergy
and overload.
Incidentally, you could alternate those two programs,
giving lats the most attention at the first workout and mid-
back the full-on hit at the second. We’ve used many 3D
POF programs to train our midback and lats over the years.
There are a lot of great variations. Does it work? Jonathan’s
Neveux \ Model: Abbas Khatami

back double-biceps, pictured at left, says yes.
Q: A guy at my gym told me that dumbbell bench

presses are better than barbell benches for chest
development. He said it’s because of the increased
range of motion you can get with the dumbbells and
the pec squeeze you can do at the top. What do you
think? Should I switch? Undergrip pulldowns give your lats some stretch at the
A: Well, as explained in the e-bookThe Ultimate Mass top and max contraction at the bottom, and muscle
Workout, neither of those is best for chest development; synergy with the biceps and midback contributes to
decline presses are a much better choice because the angle the action. It’s a very efficient lat exercise.
puts you in a more ergonomically correct position for hit-
ting pecs and minimizing front-delt involvement. It’s why
people lift their butts off the bench when doing them flat— you can overload the pecs with more weight than you can
to get into the more advantageous decline position. with dumbbells. With your hands locked on the bar, you
Nevertheless, we understand that it’s sometimes difficult can push inward statically, creating more nerve force and
Neveux \ Model: Jay Cutler
to find a decline-bench-press setup, so a flat-bench press is fiber activation in your pecs. With dumbbells you have to
the next best thing. Should you use dumbbells or a barbell? balance and control the arc as you push them up, and it’s
Both have their advantages. That’s the reason I often sug- very easy to allow your front delts and triceps to take over.
gest alternating them from chest workout to chest work- That’s not such a problem for trainees with naturally good
out—but I do prefer one over the other. pecs (and therefore good neuromuscular efficiency in
I’ve found that the barbell is better, but not just because those muscles), but for those of us who have below-average
nerve connections in that area, which means our front
delts and triceps will take over at every opportunity, bar-
bells will keep the focus where we want it—on our pecs.
What about the increased range of motion with dumb-
bells? If you use 3D Positions of Flexion, you get stretch
overload from flyes, the stretch-position exercise, and
tension in the flexed position with cable crossovers, the
contracted-position exercise. You cover the full spectrum
of the pectoral muscles’ range, so there’s no need to worry
about that on bench presses, the midrange move. That
means you can concentrate on max-force generation, the
biggest contributor to getting bigger pecs.
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many

bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Posi-
tions-of-Flexion muscle training. For information on
the POF videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad
sections beginning on page 200 and 280, respectively.
Also visit www.X-Rep.com for information on X-Rep
and 3D POF methods and e-books. IM

M i c h a e l O ’ H e a r n
Takes His Lifting Mentality Into Battle
as
Drug-Free and on TV
by Lonnie Teper
O
kay, I admit I was getting a tad impatient verman very well myself. Ruthless Ruth Silverman,
with Michael O’Hearn after 10 days of that is.
trying to run down that “Titan” of the en- Okay, Michael, I can live with the explanation. It’s
tertainment industry. After all, we go way, not like you were hanging out at the local Costco,
way back, and now he’d forgotten about little ole me? looking for deals. Well, you have been looking for
I first met O’Hearn at the famous Los Angeles deals, I suppose. And getting great ones, at that. Like
eatery The Original Pantry back in the early ’90s, the one that got you the gig as Luke on the popular
when he was an awestruck pup visiting from Kirk- soap opera “Days of Our Lives.” Or the possible con-
land, Washington. The intro came courtesy of Marty tracts surrounding promising big-screen roles on
Demirjian, a former manager of folks like Gary Stry- flicks like a “Conan the Barbarian” sequel, “Captain
dom and Shane DiMora. America” and “Hercules.”
When Marty said he thought somebody had the Plus, teaming up with Dr. Drew Pinsky on his radio
goods to be a star, I made sure to look—and listen— show, not to mention a possible spot on Pinsky’s
carefully. In this case, yes, I was impressed. Told the “Celebrity Rehab” reality show (not as one of the pa-
NBCU Photographs by: Paul Drinkwater and Mitch Haaseth
strapping kid he should be in the movies or at least tients, folks) ain’t too shabby. Then there’s a new fit-
get a TV gig. See, once in a while I do get it right. ness book, Work Smarter, Not Harder, thoughts about
I’d done several cover stories on O’Hearn since competing in the Team Universe, speaking to kids at
he’d moved down south, so not getting a shout back, local schools about health and fitness and, of course,
pronto, from the “American Gladiators” idol regard- the time spent five days a week at Gold’s kicking your
ing the interview for this cover story was gnawing at five training partners’ butts.
me. Michael’s a good guy, however, and a veteran of O’Hearn and I settled into our chairs in a quiet,
dealing with the media (you’d be, too, if you’d been second-floor room at Gold’s, overlooking a Pilates
on nearly 500 covers worldwide), so I gave him the class. Enough “jousting,” Michael. Talk to me.
opportunity to explain when we finally got together LT: Let’s backtrack a bit. This isn’t your first
at Gold’s Gym, Venice, on a Tuesday morning in May. gig on “Gladiators,” is it?
“Sorry, but I was in New York for a few days,” he MO: Correct. I was on the show in 1995 through
said. “On Sunday I partied until 4:30 a.m. with P ’96, but I didn’t get a lot of screen time because we
Diddy, Jay-Z and [NBC entertainment co-chairman] only had five men and five women [compared to 10
Ben Silverman,” O’Hearn offered. on the current show], and I was the first alternate.
Jay-Z? Did you forget about L.T.? And I know Sil- I played Thor, the mighty god of thunder. We were

MIKE O’HEARN
Titan
NBC’s “AMERICAN GLADIATORS”
syndicated—it was not a
network show at that time. Mike O’Hearn is a real-life superhero. Like the bodybuilding greats before him,
It was a blast. Arnold Schwarzenegger and Lou Ferrigno, Mike is a former Mr. Universe. In fact,
LT: What was your
size back then, com-
he holds four Universe titles and was voted one of the 12 greatest physiques of all
pared to now? time by the fitness industry. A fierce competitor who’s
MH: I was the same— undefeated in the joust, Mike will be back for season
6’3”, 250 pounds or so. two of NBC’s smash-hit television series “American
LT: You were a supe- Gladiators,” where he is known as Titan.
rior athlete in several Mike is a true champion and well-rounded athlete
areas even as far back with a background in natural bodybuilding, strongman
as high school—cham-
pion bodybuilder and
competition, powerlifting and mixed martial arts. Before
powerlifter; all-star winning his four Mr. (Natural) Universe titles, Mike
credentials in football, was Mr. California, Mr. USA, Mr. American and Mr.
wrestling and martial International. He is also a four-time powerlifting cham-
arts. Did that make pion and two-time Iron Warrior: Decathlon of Strength
it pretty easy for you Strongman champion.
when you did the initial Mike has graced the covers of more than 500 maga-
tryout?
MH: Well, it was cer-
zines worldwide, earning him the title of Fitness Male
tainly easier than an Model of the Year seven times. His 2008 magazine
acting gig because I’m covers include IRON MAN, MuscleMag International,
already visually that char- Reps and Planet Muscle. Women around the world will
acter. Every time there is a recognize him as the cover model for Topaz romance
show like the “Gladiators” novels.
or “Battledome” [O’Hearn Recent television and radio appearances include “Ellen,” “Today Show Weekend,”
was a featured player on
that series in 1998 and
TV Guide Channel’s “Reality Chat,” “Reality Remix,” “E! Hollywood Hot Bodies,”
’99], where it’s both theat- national radio media tours on hundreds of stations throughout the country and the
rical and athletic, I book it. nationally syndicated shows “Hollywood Confidential With Leeza Gibbons” and
When I watched the “Loveline.”
original “Gladiators” in A lifelong proponent of the natural approach to bodybuilding, Mike is the author
high school and college, of Proven Techniques for Drug Free Bodybuilders, which he wrote to inspire the
I thought of those guys next generation of weightlifters and teach them that they can achieve success with-
as walking superheroes.
To me, they were the pin-
out the use of such enhancers as steroids or growth hormone.
nacle of health and larger More than a positive role model for kids of all ages, Mike recently spoke to the
than life. second-grade class at Carpenter Elementary School’s Jump for Heart event.
Learning from the guys Mike and ’06 California Fitness champion Sherlyn Roy created S.H.I.F.T.I.N.G.—
who were already ahead of Serious High Intensity Fitness Training Integrating Nutritional Guidelines—to help
me on the first show really their high-profile Hollywood celebrity and executive clients reach their fitness goals.
helped me initially—and Mike grew up on a farm in Kirkland, Washington, and has nine brothers and sis-
what I learned from them
carried over to the current
ters. He began competing in bodybuilding at the age of 15, when he won the Teen-
show. Just being able to age Washington State competition. In college O’Hearn was a three-time all-state
fight with “Nitro,” “Hawk” defensive tackle and all-American football player.
and the others, learning In addition to appearing as Titan on “American Gladiators,” Mike will be seen in
how they worked the mike. NBC’s on-air advertising for the summer Olympics. When not training, he’s busy
They were great TV. writing, producing and directing a movie about a character who discovers he is a
LT: The show ran its superhero. He has a leading role in the just-released “National Lampoon TV—The
course, but you stayed
on track in the enter-
Movie.” Other film roles include “Barbarian” and “Keeper of Time”; film projects
tainment field. “Bat- due to be released in 2008 include “Tumblers” and “Captain Ultimate.”
tledome” came along
two years later and
lasted two seasons. was fun, but it just didn’t catch on. ators.” I got to go out there and beat
Eventually, you became a hot What was nice was that I did the heads. That was fun.
romance novel cover boy, seg- show from the ground floor—I did LT: One of your many advan-
ued into films and so forth. the pilot, and they booked me from tages over fellow team mem-
MO: Yes, we had a couple of good that directly into the show. It was bers and contestants has always
seasons with “Battledome,” and it much more violent than the “Gladi- been your strength—especially

considering that you’re a tested
drug-free athlete. I’ve written
about your powerlifting creden-
tials in the past, but you got back
into it last year and still set all-
time marks, correct?
MO: Yes, I did. I moved up to the
275-pound division and did a 600-
pound bench without a shirt, an 815
squat with no belt and 760 in the dead-
lift.
LT: I’ve always been curious
about how much of a benefit that
shirt gives somebody. Obviously,
it’s much more than a minor aid.
MO: Oh, yeah, it can mean as much
as 200, 300 pounds. Maybe more. You
need to do a story on that. You put
these shirts on and you can’t even
move your arms [because the shirt
forces them out straight], so you have
to lift 1,000 pounds to even [force your
arms to bend and] bring the weight
down. I mean, no disrespect, but if you
can’t do it walking around in posing
trunks, then you can’t lift it.
LT: Where can I get one of those
shirts? I want to say I benched
350. [O’Hearn and L.T. bust up.]
Besides, I have to wear the shirt,
because I sure as hell ain’t gonna
strut around in posing trunks. Did
you?
MO: [Laughs] No, but I did it in
shorts, no shirt. In the squat, no suit,
no belt, no knee wraps. No suit or belts
for the deadlift, either. I don’t use belts
because it’s just going to atrophy my
back.
Again, with everything that I do—
fighting, running, martial arts—why
would I wear a belt lifting if I can’t wear
it in a fight? It doesn’t help me. This
is just my belief, and I’ve never been
injured. And I’m stronger now than I’ve “I have never lifted
ever been in my entire life. light. I lift heavy
LT: You’ve had no major injuries every workout, five
in your athletic career?
MO: No. Now, humans get in- days a week.”
jured—I’ve heard that—but I don’t.
[Both laugh.] There’s a thing called
blunt force trauma, Wolf’s Law. If you
do something over and over again, you
are going to build up such strength to
that. Have you seen those shows on the
Discovery Channel? One of the seg-
ments shows a guy pounding things
over and over with his fist. Eventually,
he brings up even more strength in his
fist; an average person would break his
hand doing the same thing.
I have never lifted light. I lift heavy

A Gladiator’s Diet
Meal 1: 7:30 a.m.
Preworkout
2 whole eggs, 3 egg whites, 8
ounces strawberries, 6 ounces
pineapple, 2 ounces salsa
Meal 2: 9:30 a.m.
Postworkout
1 Angus beef patty, 1 cup rice,
2 ounces salsa, 1 banana, 1
scoop peanut butter
Meal 3: 11:30 a.m.
1 Angus beef patty, 1 cup rice,
2 ounces salsa, 1 banana, 1
scoop peanut butter
Meal 4: 1:30 p.m.
1 Angus beef patty, 1/2 cup
rice, 2 ounces salsa, 8 straw-
berries, 6 ounces pineapple
Meal 5: 3:30 p.m.
5 ounces salmon, 1/2 cup
rice, 2 ounces salsa, 3 ounces
broccoli
Meal 6: 5:30 p.m.
broccoli
Meal 7: 7:30 p.m.
broccoli
Note: He drinks 225 ounces

of water every day, one ounce
per pound of bodyweight.
O’Hearn’s Titan-ic Weight-Training One-arm dumbbell rows

Regimen Lat pulldowns
Seated wide-grip rows
Each exercise is performed for four sets, three to Seated cable rows
eight reps per set. Pullups
Legs Shoulders
Squats Seated overhead presses
Leg presses Lateral raises
Seated leg extensions Front raises
Leg curls Seated rear-delt laterals
Walking lunges Upright rows
Seated calf raises Arms
Chest Pushdowns
Bench presses Standing curls
Incline presses Lying extensions (skull
Flat-bench flyes crushers)
Cable flyes Incline curls
Dips
Back
Preacher curls
Deadlifts
every workout, five days a week. I
do one bodypart a day, and I will go
ballistic on it. I train like that year-
round. Now, my training method is
great for me and for what I do. For
somebody who is bodybuilding—or
interested in general fitness—I say
tone it down a bit. I admit my obses-
sion in the gym leads to overtrain-
ing. I know I should stop, but I have
such a passion for lifting, I can’t
leave.
I won the Natural Universe four
times, have broken records in pow-
erlifting. Last year I won the West
Coast Strongman competition. It
involved pulling a
truck, lifting the
Atlas stones, log
lifts, the clean
and jerk, the
farmer’s walk,
bench, squat,
deadlift—all those
things.
LT: It’s no se-
cret that people
have questioned
whether you’re
really drug-free,
especially with
the type of weight
you throw around. the Emerald Cup, my other sister
Do those rumors won the Washington Powerlifting
bother you? Championships, my two broth-
MH: No—I love it! ers won the Mr. Washington
When people ask me bodybuilding title.
if I’m on steroids, I say, So I was always getting my
“Thank you, that’s a real ass kicked not only by my
compliment.” I’m trying older brothers but by my older
to prove you can do these sisters too! I knew from an
things without drugs. To early age—I was eight, nine
me, what have I accom- years old—about working
plished if I used drugs? out.
LT: When you say you LT: Sounds as if the
overtrain, how many original season of “Survivor”
sets are we talking? LT: Yes, I can see should have been filmed at the
MO: You know Joe DeAn- the glee in your eye on the O’Hearn household. No Ozzie
gelis? You have done stories on him, show, especially when the Joust- and Harriet there!
right? Well, Joe said something to master is ready to whack down MH: For sure. If you wanted to
me that really meant a lot. He said his foe, often with one blow. eat, you had to carry a fork and stab
he’s never met anybody who is as MO: You are very observant—yes, the other person. [Both laugh.] So I
consistently as strong as I am year- I really enjoy taking people down, in was bred to be a fighter, to be in this
round. every form of competition. field.
When we train together, we don’t LT: What fueled such a com- LT: But you also grew up un-
count sets; we just keep going at petitive drive in you? Were you able to read or write.
each other. [O’Hearn has five differ- that way when you were grow- MH: Correct. Because I was big-
ent training partners, as mentioned ing up? ger than the other kids, I skipped
above, each for a different bodypart; MO: You know this: I grew up a grade and, in the process passed
“nobody can hang the whole week.”] with nine brothers and sisters—I’m over the basics of reading and
I work out to beat the other guy, to the youngest—and all of them did writing. Being that young, I didn’t
destroy him. It’s fun for me; it’s like bodybuilding, powerlifting, wres- understand it, thought I was slow,
a fight. tling and martial arts. My sister won whatever.

So I took to sports even more so. As a kid
you get teased when you are “different,” so
that drove me even more to be the stron-
gest kid in the school, the best athlete.
LT: Eventually, you were diagnosed
with dyslexia.
MO: Yes, in the ninth or 10th grade. And
I’m glad I had it because it helped me de-
velop other senses to function in life. For
example, I study scripts more than most
people to adjust for the disorder. It made
me who I am, and I wouldn’t change a
thing.
LT: I’d say you’ve handled things
quite well, Titan. Did the producers of
the “Gladiators” approach you, or did
you go to them? When did the tryouts
take place, and did you feel you had it
in the bag?
MO: It hasn’t even been a year since
this all began. I have to admit I had my
ego bruised a bit because I saw an an-
nouncement about the show in Variety, but
nobody had contacted me. So I called my
manager, told him I wanted to meet with
the producers at NBC.
He said, “Don’t worry about the first
couple of calls. We’ll get you on the call-
backs, get you right to the producers, since
they already know who you are.” I told him
that’s not how I roll. If everybody else is try-
ing out, then I need to try out.
I went into the tryouts saying I was going
to end up as the team captain, to lead these
guys into battle. I ended up setting all the
records for the tryouts. Now I always have
guys, both current Gladiators and competi-
tors, coming up to me and saying they’re
going to break my records. I just smile, say
okay. But we are in our second season, and
the records still stand.
LT: Where did the auditions take
place?
MO: Everywhere. Here, New York, Texas,
Chicago, Florida. I was 270 when I tried out
and ran a 4.8 40-yard dash—you have to
understand, we were on pavement, with
loose gravel. I did 35 pullups in 60 seconds.
LT: Still, you knew that you’d be get-
ting on the show before the first pul-
lup.
MO: Not really.
LT: What? I mean, come on—you
were on the first “Gladiators,” then
“Battledome.” You’ve been the lead
in films, been in front of the camera
nearly as much as Jay Leno. Oh, speak-
ing of Leno, that wasn’t very nice of
you, knocking out that little guy with
the joust just because he wanted your
Klondike bar [O’Hearn did a skit on
“The Tonight Show” on May 15]!
MO: [Laughs] Well, I did feel good dur-
ing the tryouts, and everyone was saying

it’s a sure thing for me, but nothing more than 12 million for the MO: [Laughs] I just wanted to get
in Hollywood is a sure thing. There’s premiere last January 6 and fol- him off there quickly so he could
always the “don’t quit your day job” lowing that up with more than get on to another game. No, I don’t
element in this business. On “Bat- 10 million fans watching the feel bad for any of the guys because
tledome” I never got beat, and I kept first episode the next night. Any they are all athletes and have a lot of
that personality through this audi- other differences? heart. Actually, I have found that the
tion process—I don’t lose, I’m going MO: I would say the biggest dif- bigger guys don’t have the heart the
to lead this team and teach these ference is that the characters are smaller guys do.
guys how to be great Gladiators. bigger. And although we’re playing LT: You say you aren’t playing
When I was in the last audition, characters, when you see me as a character this time? What is
one of the producers asked me what Titan, you’re really just seeing Mi- Titan?
would happen if I lost. I told him chael O’Hearn. That’s me; I’m just MO: What you see on the show
I don’t lose. The guy told me later, having fun. I love this stuff. I was is who I am. Remember, when the
after I got the show, that he was born to do this, so it has come very original “Gladiators” was on, there
going to tell me, “You lost this—have naturally for me. was no Internet. So those people for
a nice day.” He was actually thinking LT: Yes, you are definitely hav- the rest of their lives are going to be
about doing that because of what I ing fun, especially on the joust. “Nitro” and “Zap.” The difference
said. Nothing is for sure. I saw one instance in which the today is that people can go to the
LT: Of course, the biggest challenger came up to your Internet and find out who Michael
difference between the first knee, and you were filled with O’Hearn really is.
“American Gladiators” and the glee when he lasted about two A lot of people will come to me
current one is that you’re on seconds after being smacked in and say, “Hey, Titan—Mike O’Hearn,
NBC now. And it opened with the head, then dropped into the how are you? Mr. Natural Universe,”
a bang, with a viewership of water. No guilt there? and stuff like that. For me that is
NBCU Photograph
“What you see on the

show is who I am.”

great, but you never want to get lost the games 24/7, but we didn’t get MO: Well, here’s the best part
into a character. to practice any more than the con- about being lifetime drug-free—all
LT: Were you shocked by testants. Actually, we had less time, I have to do is eat to maintain what
the numbers when the show because we had to go out and do I have. During the filming you don’t
opened up huge? photo shoots, press junkets, etc. have time to work out. I just make
MO: I was pleasantly surprised— LT: The joust is obviously your sure to keep my diet exactly the
let’s put it that way. We were all favorite event. Anything else re- same, and I do not change from the
nervous, waiting to see how the ally get you going? beginning of the taping through the
ratings would be. It was the biggest MO: Well, like I said, I love all of final taping.
NBC opening in four years or so. To this. But I’d say Powerball is my sec- LT: How much time does it
open up that big was immense for ond-favorite game. Nothing is better take to record a season?
“Can you imagine,

I get to live that
Gladiator lifestyle—
I get to train, then
go beat somebody
up.”
NBCU Photograph
us. Obviously, the fans loved it. than going into battle with another MO: Two months. If it’s not on a
LT: What was the preparation man and beating him down. [Smiles daily basis, it’s every other day—on
time like before you hit the air? broadly] Can you imagine, I get to the off days you are just recouping.
You must have had at least a live that Gladiator lifestyle—I get to LT: So that’s why you didn’t
month of training. train, then go beat somebody up. show up the couple of times I
MO: We had one week of training. LT: And get paid for it. How challenged you to a bench press
They put this together so quickly, have the filming and the travel- contest. Guess you had a legit
people thought we were working on ing affected time in the gym? excuse to back out.

MO: I knew you’d understand It has worked out
[both laugh]. that I’ve become
LT: Obviously, being a major the fans’ favorite
player on a major network can male Gladiator, and
open up a lot of doors. How’s that’s huge for me.
that working for you, and what I mean, on “Sun-
may be coming in the future? day Night Football”
MO: When you do a show like there’s a commercial
“Gladiators,” you hope it leads to of me. I drive by the
other things. When I started body- NBC studio, and I see
building as a teenager, I was hoping a five-story photo of
I could follow Arnold and go into me. It’s not just hyping
television and movies. And that “Gladiators,” it’s for all
worked. NBC shows.
I have been blown away how It has led to my get-
much my life has changed since the ting a part on “Days of
show first aired five months ago. Our Lives”; I shot it be-
tween the first and

second seasons, and
I’ll be going back
again.
LT: Has that run
already?
MO: Yes, in March.
My character’s name
is Luke, I own a bar,
and I have a shady
past, of course. I’m
trying to change
my life, be a good
guy now. It will
be a recurring
role, but the
producers are
talking about
creating a new character.
But, that’s not the only project.
Ben Silverman has become a friend
of mine, and he wants me all over
the place. He’s talking about other
shows, like “Chuck,” a new show
coming out later this year called
“King,” and “Knight Rider.”
LT: Wow, things are blowing
up big time, guy.
MO: That’s not all. I get calls
from my manager and PR person:
“There’s talk about you playing
Conan.” Yes, Arnold’s Conan movie,
with a $100 million budget. The
studio [Millennium Productions]
brought me in to talk about the
movie, talk (continued on page 104)

(continued from page 100)
about the script. That’s mind-blow- to meet with Marvel about “Captain success people may think it is.
ing. America.” When did you move down here
At this point I know less than my LT: An “Iron Man” type flick? from Washington, 1992?
manager does, but because there’s How could you possibly mea- MO: Good memory, L.T.
no actual script at this point, the sure up to Robert Downey Jr.? LT: So I guess you’ll never
discussion has moved to another You know, he allegedly did 10 compete in another bodybuild-
film they do have a script for—“Her- reps at 235 on the bench. ing contest or powerlifting
cules.” Another $100 million project. MO: Did he really? Wow, that’s not meet again.
I left the office not sure exactly bad. Well, he did look good, and he MO: You’ll see me at the Team
how they felt about me, but then I pulled it off, big time. Universe.
got a call from my manager to let LT: With so many exciting LT: Only you would dare to
me know they would be sending things on your plate, how are say that. Despite all of the other
over the script, and I’m reading it you keeping your feet on the stuff, you’re still a bodybuilder
now. ground? and powerlifter at heart.
LT: You could be the new Steve MO: My manager and PR people MO: Those things have gotten me
Reeves, my all-time-favorite keep me in check. They’ve had other where I am today. I can’t give that
physique star. Can I get an auto- clients who have been very success- up; it’s my meditation. Seriously,
graph now, before you become ful, so they understand it. I think the T.U. is a possibility be-
unapproachable? LT: I hope it happens for you; cause I’ve seen the changes over the
MO: [Busts up)] Yes, can you I know better than anyone that years—the guys are looking so good
imagine that? And next week I go in yours hasn’t been the overnight now. It amps me up even more. I

calorie level throughout training—
keeping the caloric intake high and
“We work with clients and exercising it off instead of dieting it
trainers throughout the off. When it comes to training, we
believe in sticking with the basics
country using our beliefs and challenging the amount of
in nutrition and training, weight you can push, pull or press,
which Sherlyn and I whether you are male or female.
We both train a bodypart per
follow.” day: legs, chest, back, shoulders
and arms. Each training session
has four to six exercises, and each
exercise should be four sets, with
three to eight reps.
Sherlyn is a great example of our
program. She trained for 10 years
and got her body to a certain level
of physique and athleticism. After
six months of training under this
program, with a focus on competi-
tion, she completely transformed
her physique and stepped onstage
and won the fitness contest and
got second in figure at the 2006
Cal. Then she won the figure over-
all a week later at your Junior Cal.
Confirming that our program
works, she moved on to compete at
the Figure Nationals and got sev-
enth out of 50-plus females in her
class in her first-ever national-level
competition [Roy also placed ninth
in her class that same year at the
extremely deep USA].
LT: By the way, are the ru-
mors true that you inked a
deal with VyoTech Supple-
ments?
MO: Yes, they are. Me and
Shawn Ray. We’re moving forward
and are going to blow this thing up.
This will be something that I’ll be
able to get my hands into, help cre-
ate new products and so forth.
LT: How many hours do you
need in a day to be Michael
O’Hearn right now?
MO: I still get up at 3 a.m., kid.
LT: Not when you hang with P.
love the competition, the fight to be pany. Tell us about it. Diddy and Jay-Z!
the best. I compete, not for the title, MO: It’s called S.H.I.F.T.I.N.G.— MO: You’re right—got in at 4:30 in
just to beat the guys. Know what I Serious High Intensity Fitness the morning but got up at 7 a.m. for
mean? There is a difference. The title Training Integrating Nutritional my flight back to Los Angeles. But
is icing on the cake. Guidelines. We work with clients come on, when you have a chance
LT: Done with powerlifting and trainers throughout the country to hang out with those guys, you’re
though? using our beliefs in nutrition and not going to pass because you need
MO: Yes, but I love strongman training, which Sherlyn and I fol- to go to bed early—like, “If I see you
competition. You can lift a truck. low. Currently, with my schedule the next time I’m in New York, we’ll
That’s really cool. being as crazy as it is, Sherlyn has do lunch.”
LT: Despite your mainstream taken over most of the company, but Editor’s note: To contact Mi-
successes, you are still deeply here’s the gist of what our company chael O’Hearn about how to smack
involved in the fitness industry. is about. people around and get paid for it,
I know you and Sherlyn Roy Nutritionally, we practice and write to him at mike@mikeohearn
have created your own com- believe that one has to eat a good .com. IM

To
Sleep ,
Perchance
to Part 1
Grow
Snooze or
Lose Muscle
by Jerry Brainum
I
n 1963, 17-year-old Randy Gardner came could find nothing wrong. On the 11th and final
up with what he considered a novel experi- day Randy celebrated with his friends, then was
ment for the Greater San Diego, California, promptly whisked to a local hospital for a neu-
Science Fair. Randy thought it would be rological checkup. He fell into a deep sleep soon
interesting to find out what his mental reaction to afterward—15 hours. He showed no apparent
extended sleep deprivation might be. He choose permanent health effects.
to stay awake for 264 hours, or 11 straight days. While Randy’s experiment affected only him-
Two friends alternated staying awake to ensure self, other cases of sleep deprivation have proved
that Randy didn’t doze off. The experiment also tragic. One example is the infamous Exxon Valdez
caught the attention of noted Stanford University oil spill that occurred off the coast of Alaska in
sleep researcher William C. Dement, who moni- 1989, the result of someone falling asleep on the
tored the experiment with the intent of publish- job. Both the Challenger space shuttle disaster
ing the results in a scientific journal. and the Chernobyl nuclear accident were attrib-
By the second day without sleep, Randy was uted to sleep deprivation. Various surveys show
already experiencing focus problems. He was that most of us aren’t getting enough sleep. Half
handed a few familiar items but couldn’t recog- of all adults don’t get the recommended seven to
nize what they were. On the third day he became nine hours of sleep each night. Another 75 per-
moody and lashed out at the friends who were cent report having problems that affect the qual-
assisting him. When asked to repeat the phrase ity of their sleep several times a week. In some
“Peter Piper picked a peck of pickled peppers,” he cases—with people who are driving, for exam-
failed. On the fourth day he began having hallu- ple—lack of sleep can prove fatal. Other instances
cinations, believing that he was a famous profes- involve drops in work productivity.
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
sional football player. His speech began faltering A poll conducted by the National Sleep Foun-
on the fifth day, and he had difficulty focusing his dation in 2002 found that millions of Americans
eyes. He felt dizzy and continued to experience are short-tempered and prone to overeating be-
various hallucinations. cause they’re not getting enough sleep. A quarter
Randy’s alarmed parents insisted on a visit of the respondents reported that they were likely
to a local hospital, but the examining doctors to eat more food than usual on days they didn’t

Sleep ttoo Grow
get enough sleep. Recent studies
link the rising rate of diabetes and
obesity not only to eating too much
and exercising too little but also to
insufficient sleep.
The question is, How much sleep
is enough? Although sleep is under A recent study
intense scrutiny—at least four sci- from researchers
entific journals are devoted entirely at Duke University
to sleep research—precisely how Medical Center
much sleep is required for optimal found that poor
health isn’t clear. What is known is sleep quality can
that either too little or too much take a greater
sleep is detrimental to health. A health toll on
study published in the Archives of women than men.
Psychiatry in 2002 found that people
who sleep either eight or more
hours or fewer than four hours a
night have a slightly higher risk of
dying prematurely than those who
sleep six to seven hours a night. The
study examined the sleeping habits
of 1.1 million people between the
ages of 30 and 102. The subjects
were interviewed in 1982, then
followed up six years later. The re-
searchers found that while regular
Neveux \ Models: Lana and Craig Titus
use of sleeping pills was associated

somewhat with premature mortal-
ity, insomnia wasn’t.
A recent study from researchers
at Duke University Medical Center
found that poor sleep quality can
take a greater health toll on women
than men.1 In the study, which ex-
amined sleep habits in 210 men and
women, women with poor sleep sleep produced an increased risk
habits had more mental distress, of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged
including greater feelings of hostil- women but not in men.2
ity, depression and anger. The men Sleep is an overlooked anabolic
with poor sleep quality didn’t have factor in bodybuilding. Sure, we
those feelings. all know that we need sleep, but
The study found that women many bodybuilders skimp on it.
report sleep problems twice as often That can result in poor or no gains
as men. Women who had problems in muscular size and strength.
also had more higher inflammatory Conversely, improved sleeping
markers linked to cardiovascular habits can often pull you out of an
disease, such as C-reactive protein, apparent training rut.
interleukin-6 and higher resting
insulin levels. Those results were Sleep Science
most associated with trouble falling
asleep, not sleeping itself. Women Scientists characterize sleep
who took 30 minutes or longer to as occurring in distinct stages, as
fall asleep showed the worst health measured on an electroencepha-
profiles. The author wasn’t sure of lograph machine, which tracks
the cause of the gender disparity but brain waves. Certain types of brain
Neveux \ Model: Kat Myers
suggested it could relate to sub- waves dominate during specific

stances involved in sleep, including portions of the sleep cycle. Stage-
serotonin and melatonin. Another one sleep is a transitional phase
recent study found that either too from waking to sleeping. The true
little or too much—less than six onset of sleep happens during
hours, more than eight hours— stage two. Stages three and four,

Sleep ttoo Grow
Sleep is an
overlooked
anabolic
factor of
bodybuilding.
however, are the deep-sleep periods, eye movement. Each sleep cycle release of GH, which is thought
collectively referred to as slow-wave lasts about 90 minutes, and there to play a major role in cellular
sleep. At the end of the slow-wave are four to seven cycles per night, repair, occurs during that time,
stages the body reverts to lighter depending on total sleep time. usually about 90 minutes after you
sleep, followed by rapid eye move- Some sleep researchers suggest fall asleep.3 It’s during REM sleep
ment, or REM, sleep. REM sleep is that most body restoration occurs that brain restoration, including
often considered the stage where during the slow-wave, deep-sleep glycogen replenishment and other
dreaming occurs and is similar to stages. That’s when the maximum required processes, occurs. Insuf-
stage-one sleep, with the addition of secretion of growth hormone oc- ficient REM sleep leads to feelings
a lack of muscle tone and the rapid curs. In fact, 75 percent of the daily of grogginess when you awaken.

Sleep to Grow Certain drugs prescribed to treat in-
somnia adversely affect REM sleep,
explaining the fatigue hangover that
often occurs when those drugs are
used.
Not getting enough sleep is
known to adversely affect vari-
ous hormones that directly affect
training progress, including growth
When young men are hormone, thyroid hormone, tes-
deprived of sleep, their tosterone, IGF-1 and leptin. Lack
of sleep shifts the balance of hor-
testosterone levels mones from anabolic to catabolic,
plummet rapidly. as evidenced by the body’s higher
cortisol count the day after a night
of little sleep. It’s a vicious cycle,
since elevated cortisol adversely
affects restorative REM sleep, during
which excess cortisol is degraded.
Sleep and Hormones

Because growth hormone release
occurs primarily during deep-sleep
stages three and four, anything
that interferes with those stages
can interfere with GH release as
well. One example is sleep apnea, a
condition that temporarily halts a
sleeper’s breathing and is also linked
to heavy snoring. People who suf-
fer from sleep apnea often awaken
feeling tired and groggy, and they
have reduced levels of both GH and
its by-product, IGF-1. In one study
heavy snorers who used a device

that dilated their nostrils, increasing
breathing efficiency, did not expe-
rience residual fatigue when they
awoke and had significantly more
IGF-1, indicating higher GH release
during the night.4
A lack of sleep tends to increase a craving for

high-carbohydrate, high-calorie foods. It also may
increase bodyfat.

Sleep ttoo Grow Lack of sleep interferes with
testosterone even more. In a study
published last year, 12 healthy men,
aged 64 to 74—older people tend to
have more sleep disturbances than
younger people—had their testos-
terone levels monitored after a night
of sleep.5 The less sleep the men got,
the lower their testosterone. And not
just older men are affected. A study
of young men found that sleeping
during either the day or night led to
more testosterone release.6 When
young men are deprived of sleep,
their testosterone levels plum-
met rapidly. Another study found
that testosterone release at night
is blunted in middle-aged men. A
lack of REM sleep appears to have a
particularly potent blunting effect
on testosterone release.7 Shift work-
ers who experience disturbed sleep
patterns all show lower-than-nor-
mal testosterone.8
Another study charted the course
of sleep over the years in 149 men,
aged 16 to 83, none of whom had
any sleep problems or hormone
disorders.9 Researchers found a
The short sleepers were 40 percent less insulin decrease in slow-wave sleep that
sensitive. Having more insulin not only predisposes began during middle age, age 36
you to diabetes but also causes you to store more to 50. The deep-sleep stages were
replaced by the two lighter-sleep
bodyfat. In addition, having insulin resistance promotes stages, but there was no serious
catabolic reactions in muscle, leading to muscle loss. sleep fragmentation or adverse ef-
fects on REM sleep. During the tran-
sition from middle to older years, no
further decrease in slow-wave sleep
occurred, but an increase in time
awake of 28 minutes per decade did
lead to drops in the levels of REM
sleep averaging 10 minutes per
decade.
As expected, the decline in slow-
wave sleep during middle age paral-
leled a major drop in GH secretion,
since that’s the sleep period when
GH release is maximized. The GH
continued to drop with age, but
the decline was found to be closely
associated with loss of slow-wave
sleep. At the same time, cortisol
release rose with the passing years,

becoming significant only past age
50, when sleep became more frag-
mented by frequent awakenings
and REM sleep declined. A trend for
increased cortisol secretion at night
was linked to lessened REM sleep
that was independent of age.
More recent studies indicate
that not getting enough sleep may
lead to increased bodyfat. Miss-
ing just one night of sleep can alter

Sleep ttoo Grow
hormones related to body compo- with the appetite-stimulating ghre- tive estimation of growth hormone
sition, including norepinephrine, lin dominating the appetite-sup- secretion in normal man: Repro-
epinephrine, thyroid-stimulating pressing leptin. Another factor is the ductibility and relation to sleep and
hormone and cortisol, all of which drop in anabolic hormones caused time of day. J Clin Endocrin Metabol.
are increased. GH drops, as does by sleep deprivation, such as GH 74:1441-1450.
aldosterone, an adrenal hormone, and testosterone, both of which 4 Loth, S., et al. (1998). Improved
while insulin activity is adversely af- favor lower bodyfat. Thyroid hor- nasal breathing in snorers increases
fected. Changes in those hormones mones, which control resting me- nocturnal growth hormone secre-
affect various body functions. For tabolism, are adversely affected by a tion and serum concentrations of
example, blood pressure rises, heart lack of sleep as well,12 while cortisol insulin-like growth factor-1 subse-
rate increases, and inflammatory levels go up,13 which is also not a quently. Rhinology. 36:179-183.
chemicals in the body rise. Most good thing. More cortisol favors 5 Penev, P. (2007). Association
closely related to obesity are the increased fat deposition, especially between sleep and morning testos-
ways a lack of sleep affects leptin in the central, or trunk, area of the terone levels in older men. Sleep.
and ghrelin. body. The rise of cortisol interferes 30:427-32.
Leptin is produced by fat cells with insulin function within four 6 Axelsson, J., et al. (2005). Ef-
and signals satiety. Ghrelin is se- to six hours, leading to insulin fects of acutely displaced sleep on
creted in the gut and does just the resistance, which is considered a testosterone. J Clin Endocrin Metab.
opposite—it tends to stimulate prediabetic state. That implies that 90:4530
appetite and overeating. Sleep loss insufficient sleep could be a factor 7 Luboshitzky, R., et al. (2001).
can lower leptin by 16 to 18 per- in the rising incidence of obesity Disruption of the nocturnal testos-
cent. Calorie restriction also lowers and diabetes. terone rhythm by sleep fragmenta-
leptin, while excess calorie intake A study presented at the 2001 tion in normal men. J Clin Endocrin
raises it. The reduction in leptin meeting of the American Diabetes Metabol. 86:1134-139.
after two to six days of getting only Association clearly revealed the 8 Axelsson, J., et al. (2003). Hor-
four hours’ sleep is similar to the effect of a lack of sleep on insulin monal changes in satisfied and dis-
reduction caused by three days of sensitivity.14 Getting 6 1/2 hours or satisfied shift workers across a shift
eating only 70 percent of daily calo- less of sleep each night has the same cycle. J Appl Physiol. 95:2099-2105.
rie requirements. That would trans- effect on insulin resistance as aging. 9 Cauter, E.V., et al. (2000). Age-
late into severe hunger, especially In the study, healthy adults who related changes in slow wave sleep
if accompanied by a rise in ghrelin, slept an average of 5.2 hours a night and REM sleep and relationship
which is precisely what occurs from over eight consecutive nights se- with growth hormone and corti-
a lack of sleep. A lack of sleep tends creted 50 percent more insulin than sol levels in healthy men. JAMA.
to increase a craving for high-carbo- their better-rested counterparts 284:861-868.
hydrate, high-calorie foods.10 Again, who slept an average of eight hours. 10 Spiegal, K., et al. (2004). Brief
that translates into more difficulty The short sleepers were also 40 per- communication: Sleep curtailment
staying on a fat-loss or precontest cent less insulin sensitive. Having in healthy young men is associated
diet. more insulin not only predisposes with decreased leptin levels, el-
Ghrelin sends feedback to the you to diabetes but also causes you evated ghrelin levels, and increased
appetite center in the hypothala- to store more bodyfat. In addition, hunger and appetite. Intern Med.
mus, thereby increasing appetite. having insulin resistance promotes 141:846-50.
Secretion of the hormone increases catabolic reactions in muscle, lead- 11 Rontoyanni, V., et al. (2007). As-
between meals and drops rapidly ing to muscle loss. sociation between nocturnal sleep
when food is consumed. Ghrelin Next month we’ll look at sleep duration, body fatness, and dietary
increases during the night and may and exercise as well as how what intake in Greek women. Nutrition.
signal you to eat when you wake you eat affects your sleep. 23:773-777.
up. Short sleep duration is linked 12 Crispin, C.A., et al. (2007). The
to higher ghrelin levels and more References influence of sleep and sleep loss
bodyfat. Sleep loss is known to upon food intake and metabolism.
boost ghrelin by 15 to 28 percent. 1 Saurez, E.C. (2008). Self-reported Nutr Res Rev. 20:195-212.
Restricting calories increases ghre- symptoms of sleep disturbance and 13 Leproult, R., et al. (1997). Sleep
lin levels, and combining that with inflammation, coagulation, insulin loss results in an elevation of cor-
a lack of sleep tends to make losing resistance and psychosocial dis- tisol levels the next evening. Sleep.
bodyfat an uphill battle. Interest- tress: Evidence for gender disparity. 20:865-70.
ingly, ghrelin also helps bring on Brain Behav Immun. In press. 14 Schultes, B., et al. (2005). Sleep
slow-wave sleep and GH release. 2 Tuomilehto, H., et al. (2008). loss and the development of diabe-
Most studies show that a lack of Sleep duration is associated with tes: a review of the evidence. Exp
sufficient sleep is closely linked to an increased risk for the prevalence Clin Endocrin Diabetes. 113:563-
increased bodyfat.11 Several mecha- of type 2 diabetes in middle-aged 567. IM
nisms explain why. Hormones that women—the FIN-D2D survey. Sleep
control appetite get unbalanced Med. 9:221-227.
when you don’t get enough sleep, 3 Cauter, E.V., et al. A quantita-

A Bodybuilder
Is Born
Episode 38
Stimulate,
Don’t Annihilate
by Ron Harris
W
hen do you know you’re getting rich grandchildren of infamous Mafia boss John
old? That’s tough to say. You hear Gotti. They struggle with typical adolescent prob-
all types of tired clichés: “You’re lems—whether to take the Ferrari or the Lambo-
only as old as you feel”; “Age is just rghini to pick up those supermodels for a night of
a number.” Other markers let you know when decadence, which club to go to, as they’re on the
you’re really stepping into your golden years, VIP list at all the night spots in Western civiliza-
such as pulling your pants up to just under your tion, plus some happening joints in unexplored
nipples (what’s up with that?) and buying giant, areas of the Amazon rain forest and Antarctica.
boatlike sedans built by GM. The Gotti Boys—maybe six or eight of them—at
I think I’ve come across a far more accurate our gym all have hair that’s been slathered in in-
indication of when you can be sure you’re get- dustrial-strength gel and spiked up to form a nest
ting old: You suddenly realize that you consider of daggers jutting up from their skulls. They wear
the current crop of teenagers a bunch of shift- Adidas pants, white wife-beater tank tops and
less, illiterate punks. The worst thing is, I’m still thick gold or silver chains. The look is completed
in my 30s. I like the latest hits on the radio, and by trendy tattoos they’ll all surely regret later
I still spend an average of $1,500 a year on Nike in life, such as tribal bands around the biceps
Shox and Air Max sneakers. What geezer would and Japanese kanji characters that could well
do that? Even so, I have to accept that I’ve at mean “pansy white boy” or “egg roll with pork-
last aged enough to reognize a generation gap fried rice.” Their age range is 16 to 20. We used
between me and today’s youth. Here’s why: my to called that general look “guido,” and it went
distaste for the two big cliques of kids at my gym. along with certain brands of cars: Monte Carlo
No, they aren’t gangs like the Jets and the Sharks, SS Turbos and Iroc Z-28s. These days it’s little
and they don’t rumble, but they’re distinct groups imports tricked out with tinted windows, fancy
with a style of dress that sets them apart. rims and spoilers that make them resemble small
The first group’s name was assigned to them aircraft—not forgetting the neon lights below so
by my wife, Janet: the Gotti Boys, after the reality that police officers have an easier time pulling
show “Growing Up Gotti,” which follows the filthy them over at night.
Model: MIke Semanoff

A Bodybuilder Is Born
Their rivals: the Abercrombies, of Scott’s business. Having been over the years for offering urgently
today’s version of what we used to lashed out at by defensive types needed but (continued on page 126)
call preppies. Back in the day they
wore tight Izod golf shirts with the
collars turned up and painted-on The Gotti Boys at our gym all have hair that’s been slathered
jeans with the hems rolled up. The in industrial-strength gel and spiked up to form a nest of
group at my gym all either work at daggers jutting up from their skulls, a look that’s completed
Abercrombie & Fitch or do a great
deal of shopping there. You see by trendy tattoos they’ll all surely regret later in life, such as
a lot of cargo pants and T-shirts tribal bands around the biceps and Japanese kanji characters
with the sleeves ripped off, care- that could well mean “pansy white boy” or “egg roll with
fully faded to look like they’ve been
worn for 10 or 12 years. Did I men- pork-fried rice.”
tion the backward baseball caps?
Both groups annoy me for sever-
al reasons. Number one, they’re the
laziest bunch of twerps I’ve ever
seen disgrace a gym floor. I hap-
pen to think a gym is where you’re
meant to train and train hard, not
socialize. Those brat packs lounge
around and yap, half to each other
and half on cell phones to other
brats. When they do train, it’s end-
less sets of bench presses and
curls—horrible form and weight
my wife would laugh at. The Gottis
and the Abercrombies both look
emaciated, so skinny that I wonder
if they’re so busy trying to look cool
that they genuinely forget to eat.
Out of the entire mélange there’s
one exception: Scott. He’s prob-
ably 19 or so and is the only kid
in either bunch who has any type
of physique, far from complete
though it is—close to 6’ and 170.
He has decent arms and chest, and
his shoulders and traps aren’t too
shabby. From what I’ve observed,
though, those are the only body-
parts he trains—and far too much.
Sometimes I come into the gym
to train something like back or
legs, muscle groups that take me
roughly an hour to finish, and Scott
is working biceps. When I finish,
he’s still not done. It’s only when I
do my cardio that he’ll wrap it up,
meaning that he’s spent about 90
minutes just on biceps, performing
eight to 10 exercises for four or five
sets each.
Respected bodybuilding guru
John Parrillo famously said that
there’s no such thing as overtrain-
ing, only undereating and under-
Model: Justin Seitz
sleeping. Even John would have to

take issue with what Scott’s doing.
I’d watched it go on for months
and was committed to staying out

His chest was a bit
“How’d you get your abs like
droopy, thanks to that?” he asked.
tons of flat-benching I had no intention of answer-
with the bar, ing because of all the junk food I’d
been eating lately that had blurred
dumbbells, Smith and them out. Instead, I saw my chance
Hammer Strength to jump right in and criticize his
machines, plus training. “You have a pretty good
physique shaping up,” I said.
endless sets of cable That caught him off guard. “Oh,
crossovers—but little thanks,” he said, looking around
incline work for the and wondering whether to bolt.
“You could have a much better
upper chest. physique if you gave your muscles a
chance to grow.”
That clearly addled him. He just
looked at me like I was crazy.
Model: Mike Semanoff
(continued from page 122) unsolic- I was only 10 feet away on a stair
ited advice, I have a strict policy of stepper. He stopped and squinted
noninterference. If asked, I help; at the page, then looked over at me.
otherwise I let people continue in That happened three times before I
no-results ignorance. finally blurted out, “Yes, that’s me in
On the other hand, I know my the picture.”
way around an excuse to meddle. He ambled over. It had been chest
I often distribute magazines that I day for him, and his pecs were red
appear in at the gym, leaving them and swollen behind his wife-beater
on the magazine rack next to People, tank top (Scott seemed to have
Car and Driver and the rest of the a wardrobe that enabled him to
Model: Omar Deckard
reading material that keeps mem- walk among both Little Gottis and
bers occupied on the cardio ma- Abercrombies). His chest was a bit
chines. The kids are much more into droopy, thanks to tons of flat-bench- “Trust me when I tell you
watching the little TVs mounted ing with the bar, dumbbells, Smith that if you did half as much
on the machines than into reading and Hammer Strength machines, as you’re doing now, you’d
and rarely go near the rack. One plus endless sets of cable cross- probably put on 10 pounds of
day last week, though, Scott picked overs—but little incline work for the muscle in the next month.”
up a copy of one of my magazines. upper chest.

month.”
That hooked him, and
we spent the next 20 min-
utes going over changes
he needed to make with
his training and eating.
It turned out he wasn’t
eating nearly enough
protein or calories. I
explained that he needed
to add a couple of qual-
ity meals plus a shake or
two a day to his current
nutrition plan. I also ex-
plained that he needed to
work each muscle group
equally, even if he wasn’t
interested in competing
as a bodybuilder, which
he wasn’t. Hitting the big
muscle groups like the
back and legs stimulates
overall growth, and being
proportionate all over
makes any body look
more impressive.
When I stopped talk-
ing, Scott rejoined the
Gottis and the Abercrom-
bies, who’d convened at
our juice bar to discuss
such crucial topics as the
best illegal music down-
loads and who’d dumped
his girlfriend or been
dumped so that newly
available girls could be
“It means that you should work the asked to hook up that
Model: Mike Semanoff
muscle hard enough to stimulate growth weekend. Watching them,

I had to conclude that
but not overwork it with so much they weren’t really such
exercise that it can’t recover and grow.” a bad bunch of kids, and
no doubt today’s older
adults once looked upon
me and my friends with
disgust. I glanced at my
“I see you in here all the time,” don’t annihilate.’ Know what that reflection in the mirror, so close I
I said. “You train pretty hard, but means?” could reach out and touch it, and
you’re doing way too much for each “Not really,” Scott said. couldn’t help but notice a few gray
muscle group. Have you ever heard “It means that you should work hairs. I made a mental note to pick
of a guy named Lee Haney?” the muscle hard enough to stimu- up some Grecian Formula if it got
Scott shrugged. late growth but not overwork it with much worse.
“Eight-time Mr. Olympia? Totalee so much exercise that it can’t recov- Then I picked up my cell phone.
Awesome? Nothing?” er and grow. Tell me, are you trying “I’m afraid I’m going to be a bit late,
Scott stared back at me blankly. to get bigger?” babe,” I told Janet. “I need to stop by
“That’s okay,” I said. “He’s been “Yeah, of course,” he shot back. the mall to get some clothes at Aber-
retired since you were in kindergar- “Why else would I be in here every crombie, then to that auto place on
ten. Lee was a smart guy. He never day?” Route 138 to look into some fly new
had a training injury to speak of, “Trust me when I tell you that rims for the Infiniti.”
and he went out a winner. When if you did half as much as you’re I’d made up my mind. I’d get old
it came to training, Haney had a doing now, you’d probably put on someday, for sure, but not quite yet.
very solid philosophy: ‘Stimulate, 10 pounds of muscle in the next IM

No-Cheat
Chest
Chiseling
Derik Farnsworth’s
Pec-Building Program and Pointers
by Cory Crow
D
erik Farnsworth bodybuilders, Derik has accumu- of experience and more than 50
is famous for his lated a wealth of training wisdom contests under his belt, Derik is
posing to the that average lifters can apply to very conscious of how injury can
Randy Newman their training with lasting results. In prevent you from reaching your
classic “Short Derik’s case that involves 20 years of goals.
People.” That trial and error and a unique grasp of “The most frequent mistake
makes sense when you consider physique mechanics gained in his I see novice lifters make when
that, at 5’2”, Derik is typically one experience as a personal trainer and training chest is gripping the bar
of the shorter bodybuilders on any a massage therapist. too wide and bringing it down
stage. It doesn’t mean that he’s not “Massage therapy training has too high,” he says. Also, he says,
a thick, fully muscled competitor opened my eyes to a whole new spreading your hands out puts
or that he doesn’t look good, how- world,” he says. “I have a better strain on the shoulder joints, as
ever. It just makes it harder for him understanding of how the muscles does bringing the bar down at the
to compete against the mass mon- work now, how they are connected nipples. “I shoot for just under
sters that are in favor with the IFBB to one another and how to best the sternum,” Derik says. “Even
judges today. stimulate certain muscle groups.” though that’s outside of what most
Enter the 202-pounds-and- As a novice lifter who has trouble people shoot for, I’ve found that
under competitions, which have a isolating my chest, I thought that following that form with a slightly
lot of fans and competitors buzzing Derik would be a great resource lighter weight has improved my
with excitement. from which to glean some ideas for max bench.”
“I can’t stand next to Jay Cutler targeting the chest muscles. I’m sure If improving your max bench,
and be competitive, but I know that many of you have experienced increasing your chest size and pre-
I’m holding my own against guys the same thing—you finish a chest venting injury are concepts you’re
who are closer to my weight,” workout, and your chest isn’t spent. interested in, then you might want
says Derik. Those thoughts—and “The keys to a good workout for to listen to what Derik has to say
the new competitions—have chest are grip and rep speed,” Derik about chest training. “Not every-
recharged his training and lit a suggests. “Don’t flip the weight one will like my chest-training
new fire in the belly of the former around, and don’t go too fast. Focus style,” he admits, “but my clients
three-time NPC Team Universe on contracting the weight up in- usually thank me for changing the
lightweight champion and ’02 NPC stead of hurling it up—nothing but way they think about pec training
National lightweight-class winner. injury can come from that.” after they see the results.”
As with most lifetime natural- As you can imagine, with 20 years

Chest
Derik’s
The Second Chest

Workout
The following is a secondary
chest workout that Derik occa-
sionally uses, especially when he
doesn’t have a spotter available.
Smith-machine
Smith-machinebench bench
presses
presses(warmup)
(warmup)1-21-2xx30-50
30-50
Superset
Superset
Incline
Inclineflyes
flyes 33xx8-12
8-12
Smith-machine
Smith-machineincline
incline
pressups
pressups 33xx8-12
8-12
••1/3
1/3up,
up,down;
down;2/32/3up,
up,down;
down;full
up,
fulldown = 1 rep
up, down = 1 rep
Seated
Seatedflat
flatHammer
Hammer
presses
presses 33xx8-12
8-12
• Perform this movement with
a moderate rate and keep the
focus on squeezing the weight
to the top. Again, the move-
ment should resemble more
a piston moving up and down
than a jerky mess.
Modifiedcable
Modified cable
X-overs
X-overs 33xx10-12
10-12
•To perform this exercise, Derik
takes an incline bench and
places it in the middle of the
cable crossover machine. He
positions himself facedown on
the bench with his chest just
above the top of the back. When
he brings the cables down he
brings them under his chest as
if he’s performing a most-mus-
cular pose. He brings his fists
down to just where they cross
over at the bottom of the move-
ment.
(continued on page 136)

Chest
Derik’s
“I keep my rep range anywhere from eight to 12, depending on how I feel,
but I never go over 12 and never under eight.”
(continued from page 132)

learn more about the mind/muscle
Derik connection using light weights
Farnsworth’s Base than you can going ultraheavy if
your form is correct.” This lift has
Chest Workout the added advantage of being great
for injury prevention, as it gets the
Smith-machine bench muscles full of blood but doesn’t
presses. Derik starts every chest put a lot of stress on un-warmed-
workout with this movement. It’s up shoulders, thanks to the built-in
primarily a warmup that gives him stabilizers in the Smith machine.
a feel for his body’s responses that
day. “I typically shoot for a super- Incline dumbbell presses.
high-rep range of 30 to 50, using After the light Smith-machine work
very light weights. Not only does it’s time to begin blasting the pecs
that warm up the muscles, but it with three heavy sets of incline
takes the stress out of the move- dumbbell presses. “I keep my rep
ment and lets me focus on how my range anywhere from eight to 12,
chest feels that day.” depending on how I feel, but I
Derik uses a moderate rep never go over 12 and never under
speed, but he doesn’t sacrifice his eight,” he says. Derik also keeps his
form just because the weights are focus centered on “squeezing” the
light. “It’s easy to let your form slip weight up and not pushing it up.
on light weights, but don’t. You can “When you think ‘push’ instead of

Chest
Derik’s
Chest
Derik’s
‘squeeze,’ it’s very easy for your delts

and triceps to take over. If you think
‘squeeze,’ then your chest will do
most of the work by default.”
Bench presses. For most of his
weight-training career, Derik wasn’t
a huge fan of the standard flat-
bench press. “I used it extensively
at first,” he says, “but I never really
felt my chest get a huge pump after
I finished.” That changed when he
tried a trick used by powerlifters.
“I brought my hands in a little, to
just inside shoulder width.” Using a
modified powerlifting style—with-
out the pronounced back arch—
Derik found that he was recruiting
his pectorals to do more work than
when he used a more standard
bodybuilding grip width. Not only
did the change renew his belief in
bench pressing, but it also made
it easier for him to control the bar
speed. “Move the bar like a piston.
Don’t stop at the top, but think of
an automobile engine—up-down,
up-down.” Moving the bar like that
keeps continuous tension on the
pectorals and helps prevent cheat-
ing. With this technique selecting
the correct weight and keeping your
ego out of the way are of increased
importance.
Incline flyes or flat-bench
flyes. Derik alternates the two ex-
ercises from week to week, but his
philosophy of performing flyes does
not. He does them superslow. “I’m a
huge proponent of superslow train-
ing,” he says. “It allows you to really
tax your muscles without having to
resort to ultraheavy weights that can
lead to injury.” When you perform
these, think, “five seconds down,
five seconds up,” or five seconds on
the ascending stroke and five on the
descent. You can also do 10 and 10
or even more if you feel you have
control of the weights. Slow is good
when you’re finishing your workout.
Stretching
In past issues of IRON MAN
there’s been a lot of talk about Dogg-
crapp, a.k.a. DC, training. One of the
principles of DC is the stretch. Derik
is friends with Dante Trudel, the He uses a narrower grip on the bench press
creator of DC, but he doesn’t apply than most bodybuilders use and says he
a lot of Dante’s training principles. feels his pecs working much harder.
“I’ve been doing it my way forever;

Chest
Derik’s
Derik uses a superslow style on flyes, whether

he’s doing them on an incline or flat bench.
it’s working, so why change?” Derik then these things will

asks. That doesn’t mean he’s not help you reach your
open to new ideas, however. “I did goals.”
talk to Dante a lot about his stretch-
ing. The difference is that I use
stretches at the end of my workout The Coming
and not in the middle.” Derik’s fa- Year
vorite stretch? “Grab a set of dumb-
bells and lie on a flat bench. Then As mentioned
stretch out your chest with a flye above, Derik is very
motion, holding for one minute at excited about the new
the bottom of the movement—that’s contests for under-
the best stretch ever.” 202-pound pros. It’s
stoked his fire and
has him banging out
Preventive Care weights, using work-
“You see too many guys walk- outs similar to the
ing around with bencher’s chest, one above, five days a
that hunched-over look that people week in preparation
have because their front delts are so for several contests in
tight,” Derik says. He’s a firm be- the upcoming year.
liever in regular massage treatment “I may do the Tampa
to keep the muscles loose—so much show and want to do
so that he’s training to become a the Europa because
massage therapist to offer the ser- I love that show, and
vice to his trainees. “When you’ve there’s the new event
been training as long as I have, pre- at the Olympia.” Now,
venting injury becomes a very seri- for the first time in
ous issue,” he says. “Don’t think that years, the short body-
your body doesn’t require stretching builder known for his conditioning Farnsworth for personal training,
and massage. If you’re a serious and insane thickness feels that he guest posing and serious sponsor-
trainee, planning to stay involved has a chance. That’s all he needs. ship opportunities, visit www
in the game for any length of time, Editor’s note: To contact Derik .DerikFarnsworth.com. IM

How I Gained
100
Muscle
Pounds of
Rich Gaspari Tells How He Did

It—and How You Can Do It Too
by David Young
Photography by Michael Neveux and John Balik
I
vividly remember when Rich So why is this interview impor-
Gaspari came on the body- tant to you? Because Rich is a lot
building scene in 1984. I was like many of us. He had very humble
alternating working out at beginnings—underweight, sickly
Gold’s Gym, Venice, and Ray Men- and weak. Frankly, at 14 years old,
tzer’s Muscle Mill gym in Redondo he hardly seemed to have the poten-
Beach, California. Mike and Ray tial to become a Mr. Neighborhood,
Mentzer were, of course, sticklers for much less a world-class bodybuild-
high-intensity workouts, and they’d er. He had narrow shoulders, skinny
been hearing rumors about a kid arms and bird legs.
out of New Jersey who was ripping Still, a fire started burning in
up the gym with “Platz-like” inten- Rich’s mind—a fire that exploded
sity. Even to the hardcore Mentzers, into an intense desire to succeed.
Tom Platz’s intensity at Gold’s was That, combined with consistent
legendary. So if that kid Gaspari and well-planned training, set the
was being mentioned in the same stage for Rich’s onslaught against
breath, he deserved attention. his bodybuilding competitors. He
Of course, it’s no secret that Rich defeated some of the most star-
went on to become one of the fierc- studded bodybuilding lineups of the
est competitors of the 1980s, not time, which earned him the moni-
only because of his monstrous size ker “the Dragon Slayer.”
but also because of the new stan- Let’s get to the heart of Rich’s
dard he set for conditioning. He was ideas on gaining strength and mus-
the first-ever competitor to display cle size. He put on more than 100
striated glutes. That was at the ’86 pounds of muscular weight during
Pro World Championship. At the his first five years of training. (In a
evening show the audience went future issue we’ll cover his ideas on
absolutely berserk. The bar had contest preparation and condition-
been raised. Striated glutes became ing.)
a new standard for judging body- DY: I’ve heard that you were
building competitions—thanks to really skinny when you started.
Mr. Gaspari. How old were you, and what did

100
Muscle
Pounds of
you weigh?
RG: I started lifting weights when
I was about 14, but I got serious
about bodybuilding when I was
about 15 years old. I was a really,
really skinny kid when I started.
Actually, I started training because
my doctor advised my parents that
I should do something to gain some
weight. I was always sick when I was
a kid. I had mononucleosis and lost
even more weight. At one point I
was 89 pounds.
DY: How did your body re-
spond?
RG: Within a year’s time I put on
nearly 40 pounds, but I was also still
growing in height.
DY: Even so, that’s a really
good muscle weight gain. What
were you doing?
RG: I was eating quite a bit, and
I was reading all the booklets by
all the top bodybuilders. When I
read Larry Scott’s booklet, I related
to him because he said he was re-
ally skinny. I was trying to follow a
workout from somebody who had a
problem gaining weight.
I got myself to eat six meals a day,
making sure that I took in around
two grams of protein per pound of
bodyweight. I was taking in a lot
of calories as well. I was drinking a
gallon of milk and eating a dozen
eggs a day. I was actually using Rheo
Blair’s milk and egg protein with
heavy cream because that’s what
Larry said he did.
And I did gain a lot of weight. I
wanted to get as big as I could. At 20
years old I got up to 255 pounds—
that was my heaviest bodyweight.
DY: That was at 20 years old?
RG: Yeah, but then I competed at
the Nationals at 189.
DY: So you went from 89
pounds at 15 to 189 at 20—100
pounds of muscle in five years?
RG: Yes, but I overdieted. A year
later as a pro bodybuilder, at my
first show, I was at 212 pounds.
DY: That’s an incredible gain
(continued on page 150)
“I started training because

my doctor advised my
parents that I should do
something to gain weight.”
100
Muscle
Pounds of
“I did
some crazy
workouts.
At one point
I squatted
785 and
was hitting
525 on the
bench.”
(continued from page 144) in muscle RG: I read about Tom Platz’s the weights he was handling, and I
in six years. You’re talking about training, and I felt like I had to train said, “I can do just as much.” I did
gaining another 23 pounds that hard to make any gains. I did crazy stuff like squatting 50 reps
of muscle—123 pounds total. some crazy workouts. At one point I with 315, 405 for 20 reps.
Amazing. squatted 785 and was hitting 525 on Part of the reason I put on so
RG: I guess it is. I was really, really the bench. I mean I was using some much muscle mass was the inten-
determined. crazy weights when I was trying to sity of my workouts, but it was also
DY: One of the reasons I get big––almost like it was my rite of from the food that I ate.
wanted to interview you is that passage. DY: At some point it goes from
I’ve read so much over the years I never got to witness Tom’s work- “I want to gain some muscle”
about your intensity, drive and outs, but I tried to emulate what he to that twisted, over-the-edge
focus in the gym. What drove did in terms of intensity and what I intensity—where you leave
you to train with such ferocious was willing to put myself through. I nothing in the gym but a bunch
intensity and determination? looked at the workouts he did and of scrap metal. Where does that

100
Muscle
Pounds of
come from? my training. I read a lot, and I made heavy, strict dumbbell laterals and
RG: Well, I was reading all the sure that I was not following the rear lateral raises. I had trouble
magazines, and I was definitely precontest routines and diets. getting wide, so I made sure that
mesmerized by how the bodybuild- I made sure I was doing really laterals were a mainstay in my
ers looked. I was just bitten by the heavy movements and strict form, workouts—but I did them strict and
bodybuilding bug. Every time I’d six to eight reps. I made sure I was heavy. I had to resort to descend-
put on a few pounds of muscle, I’d doing basic exercises and not shaping, or drop, sets in order to really
tell myself, “I’ve got to get bigger; ing exercises. For example, chest force them to grow. I wouldn’t do
I’ve got to get bigger.” I was like the was heavy inclines, heavy bench that every workout but maybe once
opposite of an anorexic. I’d look at presses, heavy flyes and dips. Back a month.
myself and always thought I looked was chins, bent-over barbell rows, My leg workout was heavy
small—I thought my arms looked dumbbell rows and deadlifts. squats—very heavy—but I felt my
small, my chest was small—so I For shoulders I did front barbell legs also needed more reps, so I’d do
definitely was into the bulk phase of presses, Arnold presses and really heavy sets of six to nine reps, but I
would also do sets
of 12 to 25 reps.
I stuck to exer-
cises like squats,
leg presses, hack
squats and leg
curls.
For arms I
made sure that I
did basic move-
ments—but very,
very strict. I liked
barbell curls and
dumbbell curls for
biceps. For triceps
I liked close-grip
bench presses and
the pullover and
press.
DY: The pull-
over and press
is really old
school. It sounds
as if most of your
workouts were
old school.
RG: It’s kind
of funny because
when I was like 14
“I don’t or 15, the father
of a close friend
believe in of mine gave me
a bunch of body-
low carbs. building maga-
zines from the ’70s
You also So that was my
introduction.
need lean As I said, I did
the basic move-
proteins, and ments, and I
trained three days
I believe in on/one day off.
DY: Until the
eating whole early ’80s, ev-
eryone either
eggs.” trained four
days a week, di-
viding the body

100
Muscle
Pounds of
’88 Mr.
Olympia,
2nd.
’89 Arnold
Classic,
1st.
into two workouts, each done heavy for three days. You need rest do quads and hams in the morning
twice a week, or trained six days to grow. I did chest and arms on day and calves in the evening on day 3.
a week, splitting the body three 1, shoulders and back on day 2 and Leg training was the hardest work-
ways. Samir Bannout, Rich Gas- legs on day 3. out, and I threw up many times.
pari and a few others pioneered Once I turned pro, I started train- DY: That sounds pretty gruel-
the idea of the three-days-on/ ing twice a day, even off-season. I’d ing, but I guess it worked out
one-day-off routine, on which do chest in the morning and arms in well.
you got that extra day of rest. the evening on day 1. I’d do shoul- RG: Yes. The three-days-on/one-
RG: That’s right. You need that ders in the morning and back in the day-off routine was definitely the
extra day of rest after training really evening on day 2. Then for legs I’d mainstay for me for gaining muscle

100
Muscle
Pounds of
“I got to train
with Lee
Haney, and he
emphasized even
further that
it was about
really feeling
the muscle.
He’d say,
‘Stimulate, don’t
annihilate.’”
’89 Arnold
Classic,
1st.
mass. For larger bodyparts I’d stick RG: It was very noticeable, but it tant to have a good training partner.
with around 15 to 18 working sets, was always within that six-to-eight- DY: You’ve mentioned strict
and for smaller bodyparts I’d do 12 rep range. I did go even heavier form a few times. When I’m
to 15 sets. about once a month—down to sets watching people in the gym and
DY: You mentioned some of of two or three reps. As a teenager I some of the pros train, a ques-
the weights you used between was always striving to get stronger. I tion always comes up: What’s
ages 15 and 20. Your strength would always go strict and have my the difference between lifting
increases along the way must training partner occasionally help weights and throwing weights?
have been pretty dramatic. me get a few forced reps. It’s impor- That is, how fast or slow does

100
Muscle
Pounds of
the movement have to be to be

productive?
RG: The good thing about the
gym I trained at when I was 15 is
that it had a lot of experienced lift-
ers. When I first started there, I was
training sloppy and very quick. The
guys got on me about using strict
form—that I wasn’t going to gain
any muscle unless I used strict form
and slowed down the movement.
I was very fortunate to have those
guys who knew what they were
doing. I made sure the movement
was slower and continuous and that
I was feeling the muscle I was train-
ing.
Later I got to train with Lee
Haney, and he emphasized even
further that it was about really feel-
ing the muscle. He’d say, “Stimulate,
don’t annihilate.”
He was very big on strict form “I made sure
I was doing
really heavy
movements
and strict
form, six to
eight reps.
I made
sure I was
doing basic
exercises.”
and feeling the muscle. I was an
amateur, and he was already a
pro, so at 20 years old I took in his
knowledge. He was very strong. I
had him on leg strength, but it was
phenomenal how he could handle
some of the weights he did, espe-
cially considering the strictness of
his form. That also taught me the
value of really feeling the weight
that you’re using—not just throwing
up the weight.
DY: So you never used cheat
reps?
RG: There are times I would use
some cheat reps—like on the last
one or two reps of a set—but not on

With Cheryl Sandy,
from the February ’91
IRON MAN cover shoot.
the entire set. For me it was more
important to really squeeze the
weight on the way up, then squeeze
hard for a count at the top, then
lower the weight slowly. You’re going
to get a lot more lean muscle growth
that way than by trying to use an
extremely heavy weight with sloppy
form. You see a lot of people in the
gym training too heavy with sloppy
form. Train strict if you want to gain
quality muscle.
DY: What are some mistakes
that people make with their
routines in trying to gain size?
RG: I would say the biggest mis-
take is overtraining or overempha-
sizing certain exercises. I’ve seen
guys bench-press for 45 minutes
instead of doing three or four sets
and then moving on to the next
movement. Twelve to 15 sets is the
maximum for large bodyparts, noth-
ing more.
DY: And diet mistakes?
RG: The biggest one is eating crap
foods. You’ve got to eat high-qual-
ity foods if you want to gain muscle
mass—like good complex carbohy-
drates, such as oatmeal, rice, brown
rice, baked potatoes, yams. I don’t
believe in low carbs. You also need
lean proteins, and I believe in eat-
ing whole eggs—maybe 10 whites
with 2 yolks. Also eat chicken breast,
no skin, but I’d eat the dark meat as
well for mass. Lean steaks, fish. I’d
just try to eat a good variety, plus
a good protein shake. If you really
have a fast metabolism, take a good
weight gainer.
DY: Let’s talk about supple-
ments for muscle gain. Perhaps ’89 Arnold Classic, 1st.
you could start with the under-
20 group—the poor man’s sup-
plement program for those on a
limited budget.
RG: First, you should get a multi-
vitamin-multimineral just to get in
all those nutrients that you can’t get
from food alone, especially if you’re
training hard several times a week.
That’s even truer for athletes who
are going through practice sessions.
Also take a good protein supple-
ment and creatine.
One of the reasons I got into
the supplement business is that I
wanted to come up with the best
products, the best supplements. I
wanted to make sure that people got
the best that is out there.

100
Muscle
Pounds of
For the poor man’s

budget, I recommend
our creatine-com-
plex formula, SizeOn, “I would say the
which is creatine with
a four-to-six-hour biggest mistake
timed-release complex is overtraining or
carbohydrate. That
makes it ideal for stor- overemphasizing
ing glycogen in the certain exercises.”
muscles and for put-
ting on lean muscle
size. It also has ATP.
Creatine converts to
ATP, which provides
the energy for all
the cells in the body.
SizeOn is good for
building muscle size,
and it’s good for en-
durance.
DY: What about
protein?
RG: I recommend
IntraPro, a high-qual-
ity, strong protein
supplement engi-
neered specifically for
athletes who want
to gain lean muscle
mass. It has all of the
highest quality proven
nutrition bodybuilders
need for substantial
muscle growth.
DY: What about
supplements for
the guy who’s a little
bit older, has a little
more money and
wants to really get
the most from a
supplement.
RG: If you’re looking
for something that’s
not an illegal steroid
and is for an advanced
bodybuilder, base-
ball player or football
player, add Gaspari
Nutrition Halodrol
Liquigels. It’s a phe-
nomenal product. It
uses nonhormonal
ingredients along with
hormonal ingredients,
like arachadonic acid.
There have been a lot
of studies on it.
Arachadonic acid
increases prostaglan-
din output, which

in turn makes your body go into uct, not the product itself.
a rebuilding phase. It’s a patented RG: That’s exactly right. We have
compound licensed to Gaspari Nu- taken it a step further and made
trition. That exclusive license means sure the studies were done on the
that it will be the only product of its product exactly the way the con-
kind ever sold in the supplement sumer gets it, and not just one in-
marketplace. It’s also got DHEA and gredient. These are unbiased studies
an antiaromatase to lower estrogen. on each product that we offer.
Then we added another ingredient That’s what has legitimized Gas-
to increase the bioavailable tes- pari Nutrition. Lots of companies
tosterone. As you know, increases out there are trying to bamboozle
in testosterone help increase lean consumers with smoke and mirrors.
muscle. With that product people You look at graphs and charts, and
are putting themselves in an ana- sometimes you’re reading informa-
bolic state––increasing strength, tion that has nothing to do with
which in turn increases lean muscle what works.
mass. The first study that we did was on
DY: That sounds powerful. Novedex XT. We noticed that every-
What else would you recom- one was getting strength increases,
mend? and then this guy came to us with
RG: We cycle that with another blood work that showed his testos-
product, Gaspari Novedex XT Anti- terone had increased. We thought it
Aromatase. It naturally increases was just going to lower the estrogen.
testosterone. It’s one of the few So we got universities to conduct
products backed by unbiased stud- the studies. Now we have about
ies published in medical journals, three or four different universities.
conducted at Baylor University. It’s DY: You’re right: There has to
been shown to increase testoster- be science behind it, not just
one by 600 percent. Jerry Brainum hype.
raves about that product and has RG: The industry is being
discussed it in IRON MAN. watched by the FDA, and a lot of
DY: Didn’t I read that it in- outrageous claims are out there. If
creases testosterone for quite a you can’t substantiate the claims,
long period of time? it’s bad for everyone. I feel that
RG: Yes, as you continue to to protect the industry, everyone
take the product, it will increase should substantiate what the prod-
testosterone for weeks! The anti- uct does.
aromatase prevents estrogen from DY: What other products do
forming in males. The male endo- you recommend?
crine system tries to make estrogen RG: Problem: You go to the gym,
by increasing testosterone, but you don’t have any energy. We have
Novedex XT prevents estrogen from a product called SuperPump that
forming. That’s why in four weeks affects the neurotransmitters so
male subjects increased testoster- that when you go to the gym, you’re
one by more than 600 percent. ready to train. Plus you get pumped,
DY: Very impressive. What’s and you get improved recovery.
the recommendation on cycle
lengths? In a future installment Rich
RG: We recommend four pills a Gaspari gives his tips on shedding
day of the Halodrol Liquigels for 40 bodyfat and preparing for a contest.
days, then switching to the Novedex
XT, two pills before bed, for 30 days. Editor’s note: Find Gaspari
One of the things that you have Nutrition products at www
to know about Gaspari Nutrition is .Home-Gym.com, or visit www.
that we have unbiased studies to GaspariNutrition.com. Home-Gym.
prove the products’ effectiveness. com is the leading source for body-
Some people say, “Well you’re pay- builders and athletes who want to
ing for the studies.” Yes, but we’re get the edge. Products include legal
paying a lot of money for factual, supplements, books, DVDs, audio
unbiased studies—not lies. CDs, training supplies and accesso-
DY: Most studies are done on ries and more. IM
an ingredient that’s in a prod-

Model: Jonathan Lawson
How Acid in Your Body Affects

Muscle Growth
by Michael Gündill
The blood of bodybuilders tends to be acidic.
Their diets are rich in amino acids, and their muscles

release lactic acid while they train. Acid production
is even more intense in those who follow low-calorie
diets because free fatty acids are released from
the fat tissue. All that acid impairs muscle growth
and fat loss and reduces performance. Fortunately,
supplements can counteract the devastating effects
of a low blood pH.
pH
Anabolic
Part 2

Anabolic
pH
Too much acid—from
Model: Jim Romagna

amino acids to lactic acid
to fatty acids—can lower
blood pH and derail your
muscle gains.
An Increased Need for to fivefold. pared before and after the so-called
Buffers “bicarbonate loading.” Trouble is,
That’s why they have greater the buffering action after bicarb
Bicarbonate is a major extracel- need for buffers, especially bicar- loading starts in the stomach and
lular blood buffer. It neutralizes bonate, than the average person. digestive tract. When a huge amount
acid, therefore balancing blood pH. of bicarbonate is poured in the very
Unfortunately, bodybuilders tend to Cheap Science acidic environment of the stomach,
suffer from a shortage of bicarbon- carbonic gas is released. As a result,
ate for the following reasons: Despite their benefits, buffer- the stomach expands rapidly, which
1) Their diet is lacking in carbohy- ing agents aren’t all that popular as is not the most pleasant feeling (it’s
drate-rich bicarbonate precursors supplements because the research not like a pumped muscle).
such as sweet potatoes. is somewhat equivocal. Some stud- The rest of your digestive tract
ies show body composition and also tends to be acid. The arrival of
2) The generation of lactic acid performance improvements, and bicarbonate will alter the intestine
during heavy training increases others do not. pH. Local bacteria don’t appreciate
the need for buffer molecules
Typically, research subjects get the change. Result: side effects from
such as bicarbonate.
huge doses (200 to 500 milligrams bloating to diarrhea. There is no way
3) For several hours after an in- per kilogram of bodyweight) of buf- a trainee whose digestive tract is
tense workout, the urinary losses fers such as bicarbonate all at once. tortured by bicarb loading can do a
of bicarbonate are accelerated up Their athletic performance is com- strong workout.

Anabolic
Bicarbonate loading is bad re-
search methodology and a bad
training idea. It makes more sense
pH
to use smaller dosages for a longer
period of time so you optimize the
benefits of the supplementation
while minimizing the side effects.
Bicarbonate to Improve
Performance
Two studies have demonstrated
effects of bicarbonate supple-
mentation. In one trained athletes
received 300 milligrams of sodium
bicarbonate per kilogram of body-
weight 90 minutes before a leg
workout.1 Blood pH rose from 7.33
to 7.39—that is, it became more
alkaline—after supplementation.
Bicarbonate improved performance
by more than 5 percent.
In a more practical study, men
received 500 milligrams of sodium
bicarbonate per kilo daily for five
days. After 24 hours of supplemen-
tation, blood pH increased from
7.40 to 7.43. No additional increase
in pH was noted during the next
four days, but bicarbonate accu-
mulated in the body. The storage
of extra bicarbonate counteracted
the depleting effects of training and
diet. Leg force increased 10 percent
after five days of supplementation.2
Bicarbonate for Fat Loss

When blood is rendered more
alkaline, the release of fat-burning
hormones is triggered. In men and
women, 160 milligrams of sodium
bicarbonate per kilogram of body-
weight increased calorie expendi-
ture by 10 percent and fat oxidation
by 18 percent for three hours. In
women oral intake of 2.5 grams of Some supplements can
bicarbonate three times a day in- raise the blood pH,
creased growth hormone secretion making it more alkaline
by 15 percent over 24 hours. instead of acidic. Having
In a three-week study, obese less acid in the blood
increases strength and
men and women followed a very
the ability to burn more
low-calorie diet (400 calories per
bodyfat.
day).3 During the first week subjects
received either four grams of potas-
sium bicarbonate daily or a placebo.
In the second and the third weeks
bicarbonate doses were increased to
six grams. With the placebo, blood
pH acidified, falling from 7.42 to

Anabolic
pH
An acidic environment will
exacerbate joint pain. That’s
Model: Jim Romagna

why studies have shown that
regular bicarbonate use relieves
joint discomfort.
Time your bicarbonate intake

carefully. Don’t use it when you’re
having a high-protein meal.
7.38, and the blood level why studies have shown that regular
of bicarbonate fell by bicarbonate use relieves joint dis-
almost 10 percent. Those comfort.
changes didn’t occur
with the supplement. Bi- How to Use Bicarbonate
carbonate spared about
100 grams of muscle Time your bicarbonate intake
mass per week. When, carefully. Don’t use it when you’re
during the fourth week, having a high-protein meal. Pro-
the placebo group re- teins trigger an acid release in the
ceived bicarbonate, their stomach. Bicarbonate is destroyed
rate of muscle loss was by the acid, and the resulting buffer-
cut in half. ing effect means protein digestion
In another study, sub- won’t be very effective.
jects took 12 grams of You’re better off using bicarbon-
bicarbonate daily dur- ate between meals. Drink plenty
ing a two-week fast. The of water along with it so that the
supplementation spared gastric juices aren’t as acid as usual.
one kilogram of muscle That simple trick lets you assimilate
in 15 days. That is, in- more bicarbonate while minimiz-
stead of using muscle ing the side effects. Use only small
protein calories, the doses. Some mineral waters are rich
subjects burned more in bicarbonate. Add several grams of
bodyfat calories. That bicarbonate to the water and drink
means bicarbonate acts it slowly throughout the day, taking
as a repartitioning agent five to 10 grams daily.
during a low-calorie diet. Ease into daily bicarb use, and
Incidentally, an acidic don’t take it all at once. On day one,
environment will exac- use one gram. If everything goes
erbate joint pain. That’s well, try two grams the next day and

Anabolic
so on. If you experience side
effects, reduce your dosage a
bit before going up again. You
pH cause at high dosages they impair
some energy pathways. Sodium
citrate is the most studied form
do not need the large amounts of citrate, but like sodium bicar-
used in many studies. bonate it’s not the supplement of
choice for bodybuilders. If you are
Which Form of already using potassium bicar-
bonate, potassium citrate is not a
Bicarbonate Is Best?
wise choice either. Magnesium or
Sodium bicarbonate, a.k.a. calcium citrates make more sense,
baking soda, is the cheap- as they supplement your diet with
est and most widely avail- two important minerals on top of
able form of bicarbonate. Its the extra citrate.
main problem is that it is full
of sodium, which is likely to Citrate to Prevent Kidney
enhance digestive side
Stones
effects. Furthermore,
by promoting fluid re- If you
tention, sodium will are not
make you lose some using
muscular definition. citrate for
It is wiser for a perfor-
bodybuilder to mance, use
use potassium it for health
bicarbonate, purposes. In
though potas- urine, free
sium can be calcium is
lethal in exces- They were given either the main
sive amounts. 100 or 200 milligrams raw ma-
You have to of sodium citrate per terial for
gradually in- kilogram of bodyweight. kidney
crease your Ninety minutes after in- stones.
potassium take, their performance did When
intake in not improve significantly. citrate
order to The story changed, though, binds
avoid that with higher doses: with a
problem. If • At 300 milligrams of citrate cal-
you use potassium per kilogram of bodyweight cium
bicarbonate, make sure you performance improved 12 per- mol-
don’t use any additional potassium cent. ecule, it
supplements. prevents
Another solution would be to mix • At 400 milligrams of citrate per kidney
kilogram of bodyweight perfor-
sodium bicarbonate with potassium stone forma-
mance improved 14 percent.
bicarbonate. That’s what happens if tion. When
you mix your potassium bicarbon- • At 500 milligrams of citrate per blood gets
ate with a bicarbonate-rich mineral kilogram of bodyweight perfor- acid, the
water. mance improved 23 percent. kidney re-
tains citrate
Citrate Salt Supplements Not all citrate studies are so posi- in order to
tive. The incidence of side effects is buffer the
The effects of a bicarbonate buf- usually high in the studies that fail excess acid.
fer agent can be enhanced by sev- to detect any improvement of per- The urinary
eral other supplements. In the liver, formance. For example, research- calcium is freed
for example, citrate salts are trans- ers gave 500 milligrams of sodium and is therefore
formed to bicarbonate, which is one citrate per kilogram of bodyweight more prone to
reason you may want to try citrate to elite runners one hour before a form stones. By
supplements. The effects of sodium 3,000-meter run.5 No improvement increasing blood
citrate on performance were tested of performance was detected, but pH and by
in active men.4 The subjects had eight out of the nine subjects expe- adding extra
to cycle as fast as possible for one rienced gastrointestinal side effects. citrate to
minute, mimicking the kind of effort Citrate salts tend to be slightly your diet,
bodybuilders exert while they train. less effective than bicarbonate be-

Anabolic
pH
Carnosine, the New Kid

on the Block
Carnosine enhances performance
by acting as an intracellular buffer.
In sedentary subjects it’s responsible
for about 10 percent of the muscles’
buffering capacity. Its importance
increases in trained bodybuild-
ers, as their muscles contain twice
as much carnosine as untrained
subjects. Studies have shown that
supplementation with 6.4 grams
of beta-alanine can almost double
muscular carnosine concentration
in 10 weeks.
It may be wise to use citrate,
glutamine or carnosine along with
bicarbonate to better balance blood
pH.
Glutamine is a
conditionally essential
amino acid that’s critical
for muscle growth. It can
also act as an indirect
Model: Tommi Throvildsen
buffer, lowering blood

acidity.
you reduce the likelihood of kidney That’s why acidosis wastes muscle
problems. glutamine. Once in the kidneys, glu-
Citrus fruits such as lemons or or- tamine is converted to bicarbonate.
anges are rich in citrate, but fruits are Balancing blood pH spares muscle
usually not included in great quanti- glutamine.
ties in a bodybuilder’s diet. Citrate In one very famous study the oral
supplements can replace fruits. intake of two grams of L-glutamine
increased bicarbonate production
Glutamine by 20 percent after 90 minutes.6
Glutamine also increased renal acid
Glutamine, which is critical for secretion by 10 percent. It may be
muscle growth, acts as an indirect that by rendering blood more alka-
buffer. When blood pH is low, gluta- line, glutamine stimulates the natu-
mine is extracted from the muscles. ral release of growth hormone.7

Anabolic
pH
References
1 Coombes, J. (1993). Effects of Bicarbonate Ingestion on Leg
Strength and Power During Isokinetic Knee Flexion and Exten-
sion. Journal of Strength & Conditioning Research. 7(4):241-
249.
2 McNaughton, L. (1999). Effects of chronic bicarbonate in-
gestion on the performance of high-intensity work. Eur J Appl

Physiol Occup Physiol. 80(4):333-6.
3 Gougeon-Reyburn, R. (1989). Effects of sodium bicar-
bonate on nitrogen metabolism and ketone bodies during

very low energy protein diets in obese subjects. Metabolism.
38(12):1222-30.
4 McNaughton, L.R. (1990). Sodium citrate and anaerobic
performance: implications of dosage. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup

Physiol. 61(5-6):392-7.
5 Shave, R. (2001). The effects of sodium citrate ingestion
on 3,000-meter time-trial performance. J Strength Cond Res.

15(2):230-4.
6 Welbourne, T. (1998). An oral glutamine load enhances
renal acid secretion and function. Am J Clin Nutr. 67(4):660-3.

7 Welbourne, T.C. (1995). Increased plasma bicarbonate and
Model: Jim Romagna
growth hormone after an oral glutamine load. Am J Clin Nutr.

61(5):1058-61. IM

Presents
Model: Luke Wood

7
Grow Bigger and Stronger
Workout After Workout
by Matt Danielsson
Steps to
Steady
Progress
Photography by Michael Neveux Step 1:
E don’t
ver wonder why some guys keep growing every
year while others seem to take one step forward
and two steps back? The key to making continuous
gains is not found in a supplement, a routine or a
drug. It’s a matter of following a basic set of commonsense
get
steps that help keep you on track.
Let’s walk through them one by one. It’s not rocket sci-
ence, and you’ve probably heard some of this before, but put
injured
it all together and stay the course, and you’re guaranteed to
get results.
Step 1: Don’t Get Injured

This would seem to be a no-brainer. If you tear a muscle,
you won’t be able to train it properly. Worse yet, you may
have to stay out of the gym for a month to let it heal, which
will cause you to regress considerably.
The good news is that it is relatively easy to regain lost
mass, but that’s where many guys repeat their mistake. They
either start training again before the injury is fully healed, or
they pick up with the same weight they used before. Either
Model: Greg Smyers
way, you’re back to square one in a jiffy.

The remedy is simple enough: Check your ego at the door,
focus on good form, and listen to your body. Don’t jerk or
bounce the weights. One-rep-max attempts should be done
very sparingly, if at all. If your joints are aching, it may be a
good idea to cut them some slack.
It’s the same old litany you’ve heard before, yet a large
percentage of lifters, especially young ones, seem hell-bent
on getting themselves a nice ligament tear. Training smart is
more important than lifting heavy.

Presents
Step 2:
Use what
works
Model: Nahtan Detracy

Step 2: Use movement only seems to hit
What Works for
You
Step 3: their pecs and delts.
You probably know a few
exercises that just don’t feel
The magazines are
littered with work-
Mix it right, even though you use
textbook form. Either they
out routines, fads
and specific exer- up hurt in a negative way (as
opposed to the positive pain
cises that this or that you get from exhaustion), or
professional body- you may not feel anything at
builder swears by. Well, all in the target muscle. That
guess what? If squatting doesn’t mean there’s some-
hurts your lower back, it thing wrong with you—the
is totally irrelevant that a exercise just isn’t working
pro gets excellent results for you.
from squats. There will So don’t listen to the
always be those who dogma—use your head and
don’t benefit from cer- reject exercises that don’t
tain exercises. do it for you. If your training
Model: Berry Kabov
Some typical ex- partner happens to like one

amples besides squats: of your “bad” exercises, find
barbell curls done with a a compromise or simply
straight bar, which kills agree to do those particular
some people’s wrists, sets on different machines.
and behind-the-neck
pulldowns, which force Step 3: Mix Up Your
those with stiff shoul-
Training
ders to hunch over and
take a large part of the This is the flip side of the
load off the lats. While coin outlined in step 2: The
dips can be a boon to exercises you really like tend
triceps development to become the mainstays of
for some, for others the your (continued on page 194)

Presents
Step 4: Use Periodization
(continued from page 190) workout, step is the reliance on either free
which has a negative effect on your weights or machines. You will find In addition to changing the exer-
results over time. Even though you people arguing for sticking with cises around, you must also vary the
get good at pushing big weights with only free weights or machines, but weights and reps. That shouldn’t be
your handful of favorites, your body the best results are usually achieved a haphazard endeavor. By engaging
quickly figures out the pattern and when you combine the two. in a carefully planned periodiza-
gets less and less inclined to grow If you’re in the habit of hitting tion strategy, you’ll reap the benefits
in response. Check your workout chest with free weights—flat-bench, of low-rep training without letting
log every month for numbers that incline and decline presses; dumb- your muscles grow accustomed to it.
aren’t moving as they used to do. If a bell flyes—you’ll find it beneficial Alternate four-to-six-week pe-
specific exercise keeps popping up, to throw in some cable work and riods of heavy/light training with
let it rest for a couple of weeks while machines for a different resistance one-to-two-week transfer periods of
you try something different. curve. Again, the trick is to get as low-rep work. That shifts the atten-
Another issue that falls into this much variation as possible. tion among the muscle fiber types,
Step 5: Rest
Model: Mike Morris

cranks up the intensity and offers enough rest to make sure you’re not
other advantages. short-changing yourself. Think of
it this way: Training damages the
Step 5: Rest Between muscle. Suppose the first three days
afterward are dedicated to repairing
Workouts
what you destroyed, and the last two
Some degree of overtraining is days are used for overcompensa-
common, especially among more tion, meaning growth. In that case
dedicated bodybuilders. It’s easy to you’ll be good and ready to hit the
perceive time spent in the gym as weights again on day six.
something positive, while hanging You’ll be stronger, bigger and bet-
out on the couch back home is lazi- ter able to handle additional weight;
ness. That’s a mistake. however, if you’re too eager and hit
Unless you’re doing cardio to the muscles on day four, you won’t
burn fat, the sole purpose of going have given your body much time
to the gym is to trigger a growth for rebuilding. Instead of growing,
response. Once that is accom- it will be struggling just to keep up
plished, you should go home and with the damage you’re inflicting
not come back until the muscle is on it.
fully recovered. Again, the answer is a no-brainer:
That means short but intense Rest until the soreness is gone, get
workouts of less than an hour and eight hours of (continued on page 199)
Use periodization—
different rep ranges for
specific periods of time.
That shifts attention
among the fiber types
for full, complete muscle
development.

Presents
Step 6:
Do cardio
Model: Greg Smyers

Step 7:
Think
positive
Model: Greg Smyers
(continued from page 195) sleep per proaches to cardio. Lately, I’ve you. Listen to all the advice given to
night, and listen to your body. In ad- been leaning toward the interval you, and then discard the B.S. while
dition to growing more quickly, your technique, where you alternate low- keeping the nuggets that actually
body will thank you by being less intensity jogging with full-speed work. If you ever hit a plateau in
prone to injuries. [Editor’s note: For running, because of the dual ben- spite of the variation and periodiza-
more on sleep, see page 108.] efits of fat burn and increased heart tion, one of those nuggets may be
and lung capacity. the key to busting out and getting
Step 6: Keep Your back on track.
Step 7: Think Positive None of this is revolutionary. I
Cardiovascular System in
guess it’s like the Zen approach, in
Shape If you keep doubting your abil- which we’re told that the key to a
Running on the treadmill or ity to stick with a diet, fear lifting good life is to “do the right things
pedaling away on a stationary bike heavier weights and otherwise and avoid the wrong things.” The
is boring enough to make a grown undermine your resolve, it’s no good news is that the seven steps
man cry. It’s a necessary evil, how- surprise your expectations become above are pretty easy to stick with
ever, if you want to stay healthy and self-fulfilling. Your mind is what sets once you get in the habit.
make consistent progress. you apart from your dog—make full Granted, you may end up injured
First of all, cardio keeps your use of your mind, and have it work in spite of using common sense.
heart and lungs efficient. That’s to your advantage! And sure, periodization is not an
good for heavy compound lifts such Set challenging but realistic goals absolute guarantee that you’ll avoid
as deadlifts and squats, where you and commit yourself to achieving plateaus. All things considered,
need a fully functional cardiovas- them. Be consistent. Take a “before” however, your odds of success in-
cular system to keep the steam up picture and put it on your fridge. crease dramatically, and if you stick
during the last few sets. Choose a specific goal, be it to with the steps, you’re guaranteed to
Second, cardio burns fat, and gain 15 pounds of mass in the next make slow but steady progress over
bodyfat is not cool when you hit year or lose 15 pounds of lard, and time.
the beach. Furthermore, the extra write it down 10 times a day before
weight increases the impact on your breakfast. Try to get your mind in- Editor’s note: Matt Danielsson
joints as you walk, run and do any- side the muscles as you train them. became an IFBB-certified personal
thing at all. Oh, and fit people tend Look in the mirror and visualize the trainer in 1998 and then ran a
to live longer and have fewer health goal you seek. personal-training business, Pro
problems as they age. Bet you never Another aspect of putting your PT, prior to moving to California in
heard that before, huh? mind to use is to keep an eye out for 1999. For more of his articles, visit
There are a few different ap- new information that can benefit Bodybuilding.com. IM

Fittest
2008 addition to a few solo appearances.
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist
to figure out that there are some
tricks of the trade to learn from this
couple.
DY: What are your heights and
Couple
weights?
DAW: I’m 5’6” and weigh 122
pounds.
DY: Is that in contest condi-
tion or off-season?
DAW: I compete around eight to
10 times a year, and my weight stays
fairly consistent.
DY: Rado, what about you?
RP: I’m 6’1” and weigh between
200 and 210 pounds.
DY: Success in fitness and
bodybuilding doesn’t happen
overnight. How long have you
been training?
DAW: My entire life! I’ve com-
peted in two sports nationally and
internationally: gymnastics and
fitness and figure. I lifted my first
weight on July 31, 1994. Before that
I lifted my own bodyweight with
Dena Anne Weiner and Rado Pagac gymnastics to gain muscle mass and
be small and compact.
Shake Things Up at the Los Angeles RP: I started lifting when I was 13
years old and never stopped. So that
Convention Center With a Cirque would be 17 years now.
DY: Dena, you remember the
exact date? How did you get
du Soleil–Inspired Routine started?
DAW: On a dare. I went to a
by David Young gymnastics reunion. I was 5’6”, 125
Photography by Michael Neveux and James Farrlley pounds, whereas when I went to
UCLA on gymnastics scholarship,
The winners of this year’s Fittest fitness. Rado’s nobody’s fool—he I was 4’11”, 87 pounds. I had three
Couple competition at the ’08 Fit- wasn’t going to pass up an opportu- kids—ages six, five and three—at
Expo were a departure from those nity like that. the time. My ex-teammates dared
of past years. Why? Previously the So they ventured off, and in 2006 me to do some of my old gymnas-
winners have been young couples traveled the country doing guest tics moves, and they helped me get
just starting their fitness careers. appearances at contests sanctioned invited to compete in Florida at the
While that’s great, it can be an even by four different affiliations: Muscle- Ms. Galaxy competition in January
greater source of inspiration to see mania, Amateur Bodybuilding Asso- 1995. That was 76 fitness and figure
people like Dena Anne Weiner and ciation, Organization of Competitive shows and 13 years ago.
Rado Pagac. Dena is a 45-year-old Bodybuilders and the Muscle Beach RP: When I was seven years old, I
mother of three teenage sons, ages Classic. All in all, they did a total of started with karate. At the age of 12 I
19, 18 and 16, and a hardworking, six guest appearances. In 2007 they added traditional national dancing.
career-oriented mortgage broker. decided to change their style and A year later I discovered the world
Her partner Rado is a 30-year-old add difficulty to their routine. One of bodybuilding. It didn’t take long
personal trainer who moved to the of Dena’s friends who was familiar for me to fall in love with the sport.
USA from Slovakia in 2003. with Cirque du Soleil moves trained When I was 20 years old, I entered
Dena and Rado met in 2006 when them to do lifts off the ground and my first fitness show in the junior
she was judging Rado in a fitness flexibility and strength moves as a division and got second place. That
and bodybuilding competition. duo. That year proved to be even motivated me to do more shows.
Dena approached him after the more successful, and together they DY: I like that you both
event with the idea of pairing up performed at a total of nine venues, started with diverse athletic
to perform a fitness routine and go finishing out the season in Thessa- backgrounds, and it sounds as
on the road promoting health and loniki, Greece, in late November, in if you’ve both done quite a few

2008 Fittest Couple

and on track. either. I eat between
We motivate 2,500 to 3,000 calories
and inspire a day divided into six
each other meals. I eat most of my
to reach our carbs and fats in the first
competition four meals—lots of veg-
and routine etables and fruits. I try
goals. In 2007 to gain no more than 10
we were con- Rado and Dena pounds off-season. Most
stantly moving perform at the ’08 crucial are the last two
Fit Couple Contest.
from one com- weeks before the show.
petition to the I slowly start lowering
other trying to the amount of carbs and
improve our fats, and in order to not
competitions. It’s important routine and our body burn my hard-gained
to have good people influence composition. muscle mass, I increase
your training. Who inspired RP: Before it was the amount of protein
you? always competitions from 250 grams per day
DAW: A team of fitness experts that kept me on track, to up to 350 per day. I
has helped me along the way over but since I’ve met add BCAAs and regular
the past 13 years. That group has Dena, she’s been giv- amino acids to my diet
inspired and educated me to be suc- ing me lots of positive as well.
cessful, change constantly for every energy and motiva- DY: Do you add
show and make it fun. My sidekick, tion. cheat days?
nutritionist, bodyfat measurer, DY: You seem to DAW: Here’s how I
massage therapist, personal trainer, feed off each other’s look at it: If I’m going
rehabilitation and physical therapist positive energy. to do something and
is Steve Murphey in Newport Beach, DAW: We respect spend the time, money
California. Jay Cutler used Steve as one another, and we and dedication to ac-
well. My three sons also influence definitely feed off each complish it, I’m going
me to be a great role model for them other’s positive outlook to do it 100 percent all
and to teach them about the im- on life in general. We’re of the time. My biggest
portance of being healthy and fit 12 very fortunate and fear is that I would get
months out of the year. very blessed to have onstage to compete
DY: Rado, same question. met. We have a lot of and hear someone say,
RP: I’ve never had a real men- chemistry and a very “What’s that old lady
tor or fitness guru to give me direct powerful connection doing onstage? She’s not
inspiration. I found motivation and together when we’re prepared.” My motiva-
inspiration in fitness and body- performing onstage tion comes from that. So
building magazines. My biggest together. the answer is no, I don’t
hero since I was 15 years old has RP: I can say it’s find it necessary to cheat
been Arnold. pretty much mutual because I’m only cheat-
DY: Besides fitness, Dena, off-season, but when ing myself out of what
what do you do for a living? it comes down to a I’ve worked so hard to
DAW: I’ve owned a mortgage- few weeks before the accomplish in the first
banking corporation here in the show and my mood place.
Orange County, California, area changes—low carbs RP: I usually have
since 1991. I’m raising and training and a low-calorie one to two cheat meals
my three teenage sons, who all play intake—Dena always pulls out some per week up to one month before a
football in high school and college. tricks to cheer me up and keep me show. From one month out I stick to
DY: And aside from body- motivated and focused. the diet until the competition. I al-
building, Rado, what work do DY: Speaking of diet, tell us ways have a “free pass” the day after
you do? what your diet is—during the the show to eat anything I want,
RP: I work as a personal trainer season and off-season as well. including the cookies Dena makes
and nutrition adviser in a private DAW: Well, I’m a little different me after every show. The next day,
club in Dana Point, California. here. My diet on- and off-season is though, I cut back to normal eating
DY: You two are filled with basically the same. I’m fit for life. I habits again.
energy. It just permeates every- maintain a bodyfat percentage of 10 DY: Can you give us a sample
thing you do. How do you keep to 12 percent year-round. Since I’m of your eating for a day?
pushing yourselves? a fitness competitor, I don’t need to DAW: I never starve myself—
DAW: It helps working out with a be as lean as a bodybuilder. never! That would spell diet disaster.
partner in the gym to stay focused RP: I don’t have big changes I eat 2,000 calories a day. I do not eat

2008 Fittest Couple
“During my preparation for a show, I take glutamine, creatine, BCAAs,

regular amino acids, L-carnitine and thermogenic fat burners. I also take
vitamin C, a multivitamin, fish oil, glucosamine and flaxseed oil on
a regular basis.”

any dairy, no processed foods,
very little bread and nothing
white. I drink a lot of water, and
I make sure to eat every three to
four hours. For competition sea-
son I eat a little less, about 1,800
calories, and add a little more
pure protein—that is, meat—but
my workout intensity goes up. I
split my cardio day and night so
I’m able to get leaner and stron-
ger—for my stage presence in a
bathing suit and to get through
the fitness routine onstage.
I have three Crock-Pots with
meals cooking all the time, so I
never have to worry about pre-
paring meals at the last minute
for myself or my family.
RP: I usually start eating be-
tween 6:30 and 7:30 in the morn-
ing, and from then on I eat every
2.5 to three hours. A typical day’s
meals look like this:
Meal 1: omelet made with 10

egg whites and 1 yolk, 1 cup
lowfat cottage cheese, 1 whole-
wheat tortilla, tomato, bell
pepper, a cup of green tea
Meal 2: Protein bar with apple
Meal 3: 1 cup brown rice, 2
pieces grilled chicken, mixed
fresh green salad with lowfat
dressing
Meal 4: Protein shake with
banana, 1 cup oatmeal
Meal 5: Steamed broccoli and
asparagus, 8-10 ounces grilled
tilapia
Meal 6: Low-carb, lowfat pro-
tein shake
DY: What are your favorite
supplements?
DAW: As I’m in my mid-40s
and having been an athlete
my entire life, I now need to
take better care of my body. I
eat healthfully. I take glucos-
amine for joint support, MSM
“I never starve
for inflammation reduction
and connective-tissue support,
myself—never!
CoQ10 for my metabolic energy, That would spell
chromium picolinate for my
metabolism and calcium, mag- diet disaster. I eat
nesium, vitamins C and D and B
complex. 2,000 calories a
RP: I don’t take too many sup-
plements (continued on page 214) day.”
2008 Fittest Couple
(continued from page 211) off-season. shows, I compete in fitness and to make pairs fitness strong and a
DY: What are your goals re- figure as well, and Rado does body- division.
garding bodybuilding and fit- building and fitness-model com- DY: Dena, I notice that you
ness? petitions. I have four national and seem to always have a plan,
DAW: Rado and I are in the pro- international fitness shows planned a purpose and a goal. Do you
cess of preparing our routine for so far this year, with the first com- have a life philosophy that’s
this year with a theme: Rado as petition in June in Toronto, for the helped you be more successful
James Bond with me being his Bond World Championships. in your training or career?
girl. We still have to coordinate our RP: I’d like to get more exposure DAW: Life is not a dress rehearsal.
costumes, choose the songs and in the fitness industry, and my goal You are onstage every minute of
choreograph our routine. We’ve is to end up on the cover of a fitness your life. The character you choose
already been asked by some fitness magazine. Another big plan is to determines your destiny! Life is an
and bodybuilding associations to do promote couples fitness as much as adventure and an amazing journey.
guest appearances. When Rado and possible and encourage more and Never let an opportunity pass you
I do guest appearances for those more couples to get enough support by!
RP: Everything in life is possible.
You just have to believe in yourself,
work hard 110 percent and never,
never give up on your dreams.
DY: How do you switch from
normal training to contest
mode?
DAW: Once Rado and I have cho-
reographed our entire pairs fitness
routine, we practice it as much as
we can together. There are a lot of
timing issues and coordination we
need to accomplish for our routine
so no one gets hurt. My intensity
level for my cardio exercise picks up,
and I split my cardio between the
morning when I wake up and the
evening before I go to bed. I back
off heavier weights so I can concen-
trate on lifting my own bodyweight
for my gymnastics and strength
moves in my routines. I have three
routines: a fitness routine, a pairs
fitness routine and for some affilia-
tions a figure routine.
RP: The only difference is the
intensity of the workout. I usually
“I don’t cut the breaks down from one min-
have a ute to 30 seconds, and I increase the
time of my cardio from 30 minutes
specific to 60 minutes about five to six times
a week.
training I usually start with one heavy
plan. I try to exercise, which always includes
forced reps toward the end of the
change the exercise. Then I choose two to three
other exercises for the same muscle
exercises for group and superset them. I usu-
each muscle ally do eight to 10 reps per set. That
way I can utilize my muscles to the
group maximum and feel the great burn at
every single the end of each set.
DY: How do you organize your
week.” training week?
DAW: Rado and I train our pairs
fitness routine two days a week for
an hour and 15 minutes. A few days

“I have written in a journal
every day, one full page, since
January 1, 1977. That’s how I
am organized and efficient in
my life!”
a week we weight train together, do RP: Off-season I try to do cardio squats on the Smith machine, leg
yoga and stretch. When we do car- at least four days a week. When it presses, leg extensions, seated calf
dio together, we discuss our goals comes closer to a competition, then raises. Four sets of 15 reps.
and what we need to accomplish I do cardio five to six times a week. Monday, p.m.: Forty-five min-
each week to be prepared for our Depending on how close to the utes of cardio plus core movements,
upcoming show. show I am and how much bodyfat I Pilates, yoga, pushups, pullups and
RP: I train at the gym five times still have to lose, I do between 30 to moves that lift my own bodyweight
a week, Monday to Friday, and I 60 minutes of cardio training a day. and 45 minutes stretching.
usually do outdoor cardio activities Plus, working on our fitness routine Tuesday, 6 a.m.: Run stadium
over the weekend. Besides lifting together makes us sweat and defi- stairs and run sprints on the run-
weights—which I do a lot more nitely gets our heart rates up. ning track, walking lunges uphill.
of than Dena—I get together with DY: Please describe a typical That lasts one hour and 15 minutes.
Dena to work on our fitness routine, week of your training program Stretching afterward.
practice our gymnastics moves at bodypart by bodypart. Tuesday, p.m.: Forty-five min-
the gymnastic center, stretch a lot DAW: One thing you don’t know utes of cardio, plus doing my three
and do yoga. Altogether it’s about 10 about me is that I write my entire routines—one with Rado—several
hours of workout a week. life down. I have written in a journal times at the gymnastics center.
DY: How much cardio do you every day, one full page, since Janu- Wednesday, 5:30 a.m.: An hour
do? ary 1, 1977. That’s how I am orga- of cardio—same as Monday—then
DAW: One hour of cardio early nized and efficient in my life! 45 minutes of weight training for
in the morning before work and When I’m in training mode—April chest and shoulders. Exercises in-
45 minutes in the evening before I to November—my workout sched- clude flat- and incline-bench press-
go to bed, five days a week. On the ule is very strict and very calculated. es, cable flyes, lateral raises, front
weekends I do about an hour of Monday, 5:30 a.m.: One hour of raises and handstand pushups. Four
cardio, usually outside running, bik- cardio (anaerobic and aerobic)—20 sets of 15 reps each.
ing or playing sports. I practice my minutes on three different cardio Wednesday, p.m.: Forty-five
fitness routine, pairs fitness routine machines. Forty-five minutes of minutes of cardio plus core move-
and figure routine three days a week weight training—leg weights, calves, ments, Pilates, yoga, pushups,
for about an hour. quads and hamstrings. Inverted pullups and fitness strength move-

2008 Fittest Couple
ments for my routines and enables me to clear
lots of stretching for flex- my head and have a
ibility. positive attitude and
Thursday, 5:30 a.m.: outlook on life.
One hour of cardio—same RP: I’ve always
as Monday and Wednes- been a very active
day. Thirty minutes of person, and it’s hard
weight training for back— for me to imagine
pulldowns, pullups, seated one day without any
rows. Four sets of 15 reps. sport activity. If I
Thursday, noon to don’t work out at the
1 p.m.: Work on fitness gym or don’t sweat at
routine with Rado. We the beach, I have to
need to do our routine at least go for a walk.
several times a week for Otherwise I would
coordinating and timing get crazy. Working
so we don’t get hurt. Plus out is for me the best
we stretch each other out antidepressant. And
afterward. to keep myself happy
Thursday, p.m.: Forty- and full of positive
five minutes of cardio, do energy, I need my
my figure and individual dose every day.
fitness routines at the DY: What is the
gymnastics center. Stretch best thing about
afterward. being a body-
Friday, 5:30 a.m.: An builder or fitness
hour and 15 minutes of competitor?
cardio. Biceps and triceps DAW: Setting
work for 45 minutes— goals for myself; the
seated curls, barbell curls, journey it takes in
hammer curls, dips and rope push- group and do five to six sets of each. preparation to get onstage. Compet-
downs. Four sets of 15 reps. I start with lighter weight and about ing against myself to be the best I
Friday, noon to 1:15 p.m.: 12 to 15 reps for warmup and try to can be and to push myself to the
Forty-five minutes of cardio and 30 increase the weight on every set as limit in body, mind and spirit. It
minutes of sideways walking lunges, the reps decrease down to six. Right continues to make me very disci-
stepups, butt exercises and leg after a workout I usually do cardio. plined, accountable and dedicated
stretches. Two to three weeks before a show I to all aspects of my life. It’s balanced
Saturday, 7 a.m.: Run the sta- also add cardio early in the morning out my life with family, career and
dium stairs and run sprints on the before breakfast. making health and fitness a lifestyle.
track, jogging 1.5 hours. Pullups, My usual training split looks like RP: Bodybuilding has taught me
pushups and body countering this: to be focused, consistent, punctual,
movements—plus stretching. responsible and self-disciplined.
Sunday, a.m.: Bike ride—road or Monday: Chest and abs I’ve also built up a lot of self-confi-
mountain—outdoors. dence. All these aspects are reflected
Sunday, p.m.: Work on fitness Tuesday: Back and abs in my regular life, and I am taking
routines and individual gymnastics Wednesday: Legs and calves advantage of it every single day.
or strength moves to perfect them. Needless to say, this sport brought
Lots of stretching. Sometimes 30 Thursday: Biceps, triceps and abs great people with positive energy
minutes of cardio. Friday: Shoulders and abs into my life. Those people hap-
RP: I don’t have a specific train- pen to be my best friends. Last but
ing plan. I try to change the exer- Weekend: outdoor cardio (Roller- definitely not least, if it weren’t for
cises for each muscle group every blading or running at the beach) bodybuilding, I would have never
single week. I usually train for about ended up living in beautiful sunny
an hour. After trying to train differ- DY: What about rest periods? Southern California.
ent combinations of muscle groups DAW: I don’t know what that is.
in one training unit, I’ve found that I’ve been conditioned my entire life Editor’s note: To contact Dena,
I get the best results by training only with all the sports I’ve participated send e-mail to fitdena@yahoo.com;
one muscle group per workout. in to do some form of exercise. It’s to contact Rado, send e-mail to
Since biceps and triceps are small like getting up in the morning to pagacrado@yahoo.com. Their Web
muscle groups, I train them togeth- brush my teeth. I work out every sites are www.DenaWeiner.com and
er on one day. I usually choose five day for my sanity. Working out early www.RadoFitness.com. IM
different exercises for one muscle in the morning is relaxing, and it

Heavy
Duty
The Wisdom of
Mike Mentzer
by John Little
n going through my archive of bodybuilder interviews,
I I happened upon an April 1995 conversation with Mike

Mentzer that took place just prior to the release of his
book Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body. It gives the reader
an insight into that revolutionary book and Mike’s decision
to make it his most philosophical work.
Q: What’s the process of writing a book like for you?

MM: I like to remain plastered to the endeavor so that I can maintain
that sense of logical continuity day to day in my writing and editing.
When I am continually torn away from it for reasons beyond my control,
it becomes somewhat aggravating because I have to keep going back
and establishing that sense of logical continuity.
Q: How long is it since you revised the original book Heavy
Duty?
MM: It’s been 3 1/2 years. I’ve learned a number of things since then,
as I tell my clients all the time. Nothing contradicts the basic principles,
of course, as they’re eternal and universal. What I’ve learned, however,
that’s very important and that has me quite excited is a much finer ap-
plication of the principles of productive bodybuilding exercise.
Not too long ago in one of my articles I said that when I look back to
revising Heavy Duty, my level of understanding of exercise science was
limited. As well as my clients were doing, I wasn’t fully balancing their
physiological accounts. I knew they should have been doing even better.
Q: What prompted you to continue looking at this area?
MM: It was a philosophical idea: that when one is in possession of a
valid theory—whatever the field of endeavor—and making the proper
practical application, progress should be almost spectacular all the time.
My clients’ progress wasn’t always like that. So I continued refining the
application until I achieved a higher level of understanding.

Heavy Duty
Q: When I hear you say that,
I’m reminded of your critics,
who say, “There goes Mentzer
again—Mr. Omniscient. He
knows everything!”
MM: Hold on. I didn’t lay claim
to omniscience or infallibility.
I don’t even pretend to have an
exhaustive knowledge of exercise
science. I merely said I have a full
grasp of the fundamental princi-
ples of anaerobic exercise. Didn’t
even my critics master the funda-
mentals of mathematics—addi-
tion, subtraction, multiplication
and division?
Q: I see what you’re saying.
MM: So I’d say to my critics,
“Give me a break. It took me 20
years to master the simple fun-
damentals of exercise. I’m a little
slow.” That’s all it is—mastering
the simple fundamentals—which
of course relate to the principles
of intensity, frequency and vol-
ume of training.
Q: The additional informa-
tion that you were able to
assimilate—how does it apply
to training? What are the fine
points that changed?
MM: Let me go to that point a
little obliquely. It’s most clearly
manifest in my clients’ greater
progress. Remember, I said that
my motivating idea was that
when you have a valid theory and
are making the proper practical
application, progress should be
little short of spectacular all the
time. Whereas one, two, three or
four years ago I would only oc-
casionally have a client gain 10 to
20 pounds in a month, or 30 to 40
pounds in three or four months,
since February of last year it’s no
longer been the occasional client
or the exception. It’s become the
rule. My clients’ progress, by and
large, is spectacular all the time—
not 100 percent but in remarkably
large numbers.
Mentzer
training pro
bodybuilder
Aaron Baker.
Neveux

Heavy Duty
“That’s all it is—

mastering the simple
fundamentals—
which of course
relate to the
princples of intensity,
frequency and
volume of training.”
Q: What are they doing that
the previous people weren’t?
MM: Instead of training on a
three-day rotational cycle Monday,
Wednesday and Friday, as listed in
the first book, they now train on a
four-day cycle once every four days:
Monday, Friday, the next Tuesday,
Saturday and so forth. I’ve found
that frequency was misunderstood
by almost everyone—including me. “I have people
Lack of understanding was respon-
sible for compromising my clients’ gaining 10 to
progress short of 100 possible units.
Like almost everybody else, I’d 20 pounds in a
uncritically accepted the notion
that decompensation starts within month, 30 to
96 hours of training. In a period of
rigorous philosophical retraining, I
40 pounds, even
made a firm commitment to never
accept so-called sacred truths at
more, in three,
face value just because “they” say
it’s true.
four or five
Q: I’d bet you made a commit-
ment not to accept that many
months.”
years ago.
MM: Yes, but it takes a while to
apply it to every area of one’s life. A
lot of people say it to themselves,
but to actually follow through and
really make a rigorous application MM: It’s almost a perfect 50-50. concepts is a precondition not
isn’t all that easy. That’s been my Heavy Duty II: Mind and Body is merely for understanding science,
goal, by the way—to achieve philo- quite different from my last book; but all of the fundamental issues
sophical consistency, which is what it’s all philosophical. The opening of human life. A fundamental issue
Leonard Peikoff, in his new intro- paragraph from the introduction is one that pertains to all members
duction to Atlas Shrugged, claims is show the direction of my writing: of the species Man; an inescapable
“human perfection.” Human perfec- “This book represents a final at- aspect of human existence.”
tion is 100 percent philosophical tempt on my part to fully clarify the Q: Some people might be
consistency. fundamental issues of bodybuild- prompted to say, “Well, that’s
Q: You’re a bodybuilder, ing science. Much more so than too intellectual for a bodybuild-
writer and philosopher—a rare any of my previous writing, this ing book.”
combination indeed. book analyzes a very broad philo- MM: Bodybuilding doesn’t exist
MM: It’s interesting to be a body- sophic/scientific context within apart from the rest of life. Why
builder and writer and philosopher which to present my views on the shouldn’t someone integrate a phil-
because I’m dealing so very much subject of anaerobic, high-intensity osophical context into a bodybuild-
with the human body. Anybody stress physiology. In fact, the philo- ing book? It’s a part of life.
who has an interest in philosophy sophical context of this book is not Q: I think it’s great that you
understands the age-old mind- merely broad but comprehensive; don’t talk down to the reader
body dichotomy. To write a book so i.e., it includes all of the relevant the way so many articles and
exclusively about the mind and so philosophic principles required to ads do in bodybuilding maga-
exclusively about the body and then achieve an understanding in any zines.
attempt to integrate the relevant science—at least in terms of fun- MM: I’ve made the point recently
principles has been very exciting damentals. For many, some of the that almost all training articles
and very challenging. The challenge, terms or concepts will be new in so consist of little more than a series
though, is the reward. far as they are used in the proper of biblical-like commandments:
Q: What would you estimate intellectual manner. For example: “Thou shalt perform four sets of
Neveux SECCARECCI, DANIELE
is the split between the philo- philosophy, reason, logic, principle, this!” “Thou shalt perform five sets
sophical discipline of clear theory, identity, nature, causality, of that!” Why? No reason given—no
thinking, as a percentage of the cognition, volition and—unique to logic or explanation provided. The
book, and the application of bodybuilding books—ethics, moral- reader is expected to do what the
clear thinking to bodybuilding ity and critical judgment. A firm in- writer says merely because the
specifically? tellectual grasp of these philosophic writer “com- (continued on page 226)

Heavy Duty
the endeavor of bodybuilding
really is.
MM: It also exhibits, on their
part, an appalling indifference to
truth. Honesty and justice are two
virtues that most of the people in
bodybuilding have done very little
to identify and integrate. In fact, al-
most everyone in bodybuilding has
an appalling indifference. Chapter
7 of my book, entitled “Either-Or,”
is critical evaluation of the moral
status of the field of bodybuilding
based on Ayn Rand’s statements
that nothing that’s man-made
should be accepted uncritically and
that, as she says, “the proper opera-
tive ethical precept is not, ‘Judge
not,’ but ‘Judge and be prepared to
be judged.’” Only in that direction
lies a rational moral, life-enhancing
course.
Q: And if people are truly
open-minded and of a scientific
bent, they don’t mind construc-
tive criticism. To the extent that
the criticism is correct, it’s a
great benefit. To the extent it’s
just a hatchet job, nobody ben-
efits.
MM: Because they have not inte-
grated all the proper philosophical
principles. The idea shouldn’t be
to discover who’s right, necessarily,
but instead what is true. What’s the
difference who says it? We all benefit
from the truth.
Part 2 of this insightful interview
will be continued next month.
Editor’s note: For a complete

Mentzer won presentation of Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system,
the ’78 IFBB consult his books Heavy Duty II,
High Intensity Training the Mike
Mr. Universe Mentzer Way and the newest book,
with a perfect The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, all of
which are available from Mentzer’s
score. official Web site, www.MikeMentzer
.com.
John Little is available for phone
consultation on Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system. For
(continued from page 223) manded” time you’ve tried to advance a rates and information, contact
him thusly. That’s ridiculous, of new idea on training volume Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519 or
course. Any intelligent human being and frequency—it started when at www.MikeMentzer.com, or see
wants to engage in an endeavor you came on the scene in the the ad on the opposite page.
with a full understanding of what late 1970s, and it continues to Article copyright © 2008, John
he’s doing, not because some indi- this day. My observation has Little. All rights reserved. Mike
vidual he’s never met told him to do been that the turf guarding of Mentzer quotations are provided
it that way. so many people in the business courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and are
Q: You’ve been attacked every demonstrates how unscientific used with permission. IM

LONNIE TEPER’S
Personalities
Kris Dim
Update
Dim’s Light Shining Brighter
At the
It’s always fun to emcee the California Championships. ’07 IRON
No airplane trips or strange hotel beds—and no worry- MAN.
ing that I’ll get stuck in a room next to a competitor who’s
celebrating a strong performance, if you get my drift. Plus,
the Veterans Auditorium in Culver City is always filled with
some of the biggest names in the industry, so the paparaz-
zi are always snapping away.
This year’s event was no exception. For the first time
promoters Jaguar Jon Lindsay and Steve O’Brien
Kris
opened the show to competitors from everywhere in the Dim in
country. It paid off—about 25 out-of-staters came to So June
Cal to take part in history: the 170-plus field was the larg- ’08.
est ever. With the California Pro
Figure competition again part of
the festivities, the total came to Jon Lindsay and Bob Cicherillo.
about 200 athletes.
In fact, one of the winners, fig-
ure champ Sara Hurrle, flew in
from Denver to do the show. Of
course, I called her the “Denver
Nugget” when announcing her
as the new titleholder. Congrats
also to men’s winner Mark Byers,
who I met when he won Flex
Wheeler’s contest in Fresno
last summer, and to Julie Assa
for taking the women’s crown.
Fredrick
Jim Manion and L.T.

NPC Prez (and IFBB Vice
President and Chairman of the Richard
Professional League) Jim Manion made Jones.
his annual trip from Pittsburgh; J.M. Man-
ion was there as well, per usual, covering
the show for the NPC News.
Shawn Ray, who didn’t need to remind
Jim and me that he won the coveted crown
21 years ago, did exactly that, then pointed
to Richard Jones and let us know that
“Magic” had taken the title 11 years back. I
had to remind Sugar Shawn that folks were
wondering why his midsection was swole
more than wife Kristie’s after she gave
birth to Bella Blu a few weeks earlier.
Hold it in, brother. From left: J.M. Manion, Adela Garcia, John
Bob Cicherillo was at his post at the Tuman and Sonia Adcock.

PULLUP
MOMENT OF KING
SILENCE. VERSATILITY Why Russ is
How the Just what is a champ.
show went Tricky up to Pages 232
on in Plano. now? and 233
Page 231 Page 232
Bodybuilding.com booth, as were many other well-

known faces. Silvio Samuel was in the audience,
and I made sure he took off the shirt and hit a few
poses after he took part in the awards ceremony at
the finals. Brandon Curry, the Swami’s pick to
win the USA (see the segment below), was in the
house and said that he’s just moved from Tennes-
see to San Diego. Smart man, that Curry.
What pleased me the most, though, was getting
a chance to see Kris Dim for the first time in 14
months. A very healthy-looking Kris Dim at that.
Why is that big news? Well, for those who don’t
remember, Dim was given but a 10 percent chance
of survival on June 7, 2007, after suffering an aortic
dissection, the condition that had caused actor
John Ritter’s death five years earlier.
Fredrick
I was at the podium at Dim’s previous two con-

tests, the ’07 IRON MAN Pro, where he finished
Cal champs (from left): Wendy Kaszer, masters figure; Sara Hurrle, figure; 11th, and the now defunct Sacramento Pro, where
Mark Byers, men’s; Julie Assa, women’s; and Ric Escalante, novice men. he moved up to sixth. He looked
Silvio much better at the latter, and I agreed
Shawn Ray and L.T.
Samuel. with his feelings that a top-five finish
in his hometown would have been
justified.
Three months later, on June 7, at
8:30 a.m., Dim was training a client
at his Kris Dim’s Personal Fit studio in
Sacramento. As always he’d finished
his own workout at “Fierce Fitness”
earlier, at 5:30, and felt fine.
Then, Dim says, “I felt like a 1,000
pounds caved in on my chest.” He hit
the ground and told his client to call an
ambulance. Dim vaguely remembers
being put into the vehicle but has no
recollection of anything else that day.
Brandon
When he woke up, either later that night or the
Curry. next day (he doesn’t remember exactly), he found
out he’d undergone a 5 1/2-hour open-heart sur-
gery at Better Memorial Hospital in Sacramento to
repair the rupture.
Photography by Lonnie Teper, Ron Avidan and Merv
“Basically, my aorta had no oxygen or blood

flow,” says Dim. “My cholesterol and blood pres-
sure levels were high. Eventually the aorta burst.”
Kris spent a week in the hospital and was
told by his doctor that he had only a 10 percent
chance of surviving. “Or perhaps I’d have to live
with brain damage, or paralysis, or both,” the
35-year-old says. That he was young and strong
Kristy played a major role in the fact that none of it hap-
Hawkins pened.
and “My doctor said if I had been taking my blood
Branden pressure and cholesterol medications, this
Ray. wouldn’t have taken place,” says Dim. “I’d take
the blood pressure med, feel weak, so would get
off it. You know how athletes are—we don’t want

to take anything that will set back our training.”
Dim left the hospital in a week. In a story that belongs in Ripley’s Be-
lieve It or Not, he was back at work several days after his return home.
“The doctor told me to take it easy, so I did,” he says with a laugh. “I
would just drive, open up the door to the studio. My clients would put the
weights on and take them off.”
Two months later Kris began light workouts. He said he felt “40 per-
cent” after five months. Incredibly, today he is back to his previous off-
season weight of 216 pounds at 5’5”. He says he feels great, and he’s
actually thinking of competing again this summer! Fortunately, he listened
to training partner—and mentor—Leonard Crabtree, who convinced
Dim he needs to chill and rethink the competition scenario in about a year.
“I don’t train real heavy anymore. I slow down on all reps and am doing
more sets,” he says. “I check my blood pressure every day and have a Curtis
CAT scan every six months. I know you think this is really taking a chance Bryant.
with my health, but if I feel great and my scans are good, my blood pres-
sure is low and my cholesterol is down, why not?”
I quickly gave him the obvious answer to that question.
Shoot, Kris, I’m just happy as all get out you survived. Take it slow and
easy, man. The Man upstairs was with you on this one. I don’t want to
ask Him for his assistance again!
ADD CURRY—As stated above, I’m going with

the new-age Flex Wheeler to take it all during
the last weekend in July at Jon Lindsay’s annual
USA blockbuster (go to www.Muscle
Contest.com for all the details regarding the two-
day affair, to be held on the campus of the Univer-
sity of Nevada, Las Vegas). Check out my video
preview of the battle at www.IronManMagazine.
com, with former USA Lightweight champ Alex
Azarian joining the broadcast team.
Not only does Curry have the goods to win the
overall, but he’s coming off back-to-back second-
place finishes in the heavyweights at last season’s
USA and Nationals. So who else should I select?
Not that there won’t be a slew of outstanding
physiques onstage. I’ve already written about the
other Branden in the show—Branden Ray—who
is coming off an impressive light-heavyweight vic-
tory at the ’07 Junior Nationals. Branden has been
at Gold’s, Pasadena, quite a bit, visiting his lady,
Kristy Hawkins, so I’ve gotten a good look at
the kid. Thick and well balanced, he should be in
the hunt as he moves up a class in ’08.
Will Ray be the guy chasing Curry to the crown,
though? Not this time; that honor will go to Flor- More USA contenders (clock-
ida’s Lee Banks, who finished one slot behind wise from above): Grigori
Curry and two places behind class winner A.D. Atoyan, Al Auguste, Eric
Cherry at the Nationals last year. Lee just hap- Blancaflor and Sean Allen.
pens to be one of my Rising Stars in this issue, and
you know what that could mean! Check out the new section,
beginning on page 234.
Grigori Atoyan finished behind only overall winners Ben
White and Evan Centopani in the superheavyweights at
last year’s USA and Nationals, so Grigori is my sure shot in that
class—if there is such a thing. Photog Bill Comstock says
the division will go to Todd Jewell, and since Todd was a
Rising Star last month, can I argue with Big Bill?
Hold on a minute. Isaac Hinds just called and said he
has the name of the dude who will take the superheavyweight
class. It will be big Sean Allen, who won the overall at Steve
Weinberger’s Atlantic States this year. Allen is a large man,
at 6’4” and about 280 pounds, and if he nails his conditioning,
Comstock

Tamar El-
the Lifter could be accurate for the first time in 2008.
Guindy.
In the light-heavyweight class I’m going with Al Auguste,
but I also like the chances of Curtis Bryant, who was over-
looked at last year’s Nationals but came out west to take the
Excalibur, which put him back into title contention. Actually, I
really like Bryant, since he has heeded my advice and is moving
down a class to bring in the razor-sharp definition he’ll need to
best Auguste and the boys.
Azarian agrees with my selection of Atoyan, is high on Erich
Blancaflor in the heavies, and likes folks such as Tamar El-
Guindy in the light-heavyweights (Tamar was second to Jose
Raymond in the middleweight class last year at the USA),
Scott Hutchinson in the middles and Scott Turner in the
welterweights.
One guy who is an uncertainty at this point is Trey Brewer,
Scott he of the monster wheels, who was scheduled to compete in
Turner. the Junior Nationals on June 21 (the same day as my Junior
Cal), and I imagine he’ll make his decision about the rumble in
the desert after that.
For the record —and in case you don’t get this issue by game
day—this column is being written in early June.
ADD NPC Shows

LONE STAR CLASSIC—The show must go on, even in
times of tragedy, and that’s what happened at Prince Harri-
son’s Lone Star Classic in Plano, Texas, on June 7. If you read
my blog on the show (at IronManMagazine.com), you know I
titled it “Somber Weekend at Lone Star Classic.” A day before I
boarded the plane to emcee the show, the horrible news that pro
figure star Amanda Savell and on-again/off-again boyfriend
Dave Jacobs had been found shot to death in Jacobs’ Plano
home had pushed the Craig Titus-Kelly Ryan plea deal to
the bottom of the message boards. What’s more, according to
police reports, Jacobs was the one who pulled the trigger, firing
several shots into Savell before taking his own life.
I won’t go into too much detail here; you’ve no doubt read the
Lone Star winners (back row, from left): Jessica Brichta, Jaime various theories of what went down. Although he was always
Davila, Holly Chambliss and Ali Taktak. Front row: Stephanie Irick. very pleasant around me, the 35-year-old Jacobs was
Jill Brooks and L.T. and Stephen from all reports an extremely jealous boyfriend whose
life was spiraling out of control. Since he’d been ar-
Lee Thompson. Frazier.
rested during a highly publicized steroid bust a little
more than a year earlier, Dave had lost his Supple-
ment Outlet nutrition store in Plano. Plus, people
who he counted as close friends weren’t returning
phone calls, and his relationship with Savell was on
the rocks much of the time. Based on what the police
confiscated from his home after what they have called
murder-suicide (let’s start with 146 vials of steroids,
four containers of raw materials and scales), the man
who avoided prison time by agreeing to cooperate
fully with authorities might still have been in the busi-
ness of making and selling steroids.
I opened the show on Saturday night by
dedicating it to Amanda’s memory. Later in the
evening NPC Texas Chairman Lee Thompson
came to the podium for a tribute to Savell, then
asked for a moment of silence.
Amanda’s close friend Jill Brooks followed
Thompson to the mike and shared some per-
sonal stories about Savell.
Somehow, someway, we all got through the
evening fairly smoothly—even though we got off
Scenes from the tragedy in Plano (from left): Dave Jacobs’ nutrition store; to a rocky start when Harrison himself had to
Jacobs’ house, where the murder-suicide took place; and a local-news van.
L.T. Prince
man the music area until a kind volunteer from the audience and Jen Harrison.
donated his services. That Harrison is one all-around fella! Cook.
As always, the Lone Star produced some outstanding
winners (this is where I met Kristy Hawkins in 2003, when
she took the overall). Jaime Davila was in great shape en
route to winning the men’s overall crown; Holly Chambliss
muscled her way to the overall in the women’s division; and
Jessica Brichta was a “brick…house” as she led the way in
an extremely competitive figure contest.
Cute-as-a-bug Stephanie Irick defended her crown
in fitness as well as winning the A division in figure, and Ali
“Baba” Taktak was more than impressive in winning the
novice men’s overall. Look for this cat as a challenger in the
Prince Fontenot
open class in ’09.
Another Rising Star featured in this issue, Stephen Fra-
zier, joined Victor Martinez as the evening’s guest posers.
I’m picking Frazier to take the superheavy-
weights and earn pro status at the Nationals. So
The
don’t make me look bad, Stephen, or it will be
Munroes,
“Down goes Frazier.” June and
Martinez, who had knee surgery in January, Katie.
looked pretty good, especially for a guy who’d
been back in training for only a month. He admit-
ted, however, that it’s highly doubtful he’ll be able
to challenge Jay Cutler for the Olympia crown
this year and instead will concentrate on his Debbie
rehab in preparation for the ’09 Arnold Classic. and Prince
Despite the grave atmosphere surrounding Fontenot.
the event, I enjoyed seeing the folks who’ve
become friends over the years. Prince Fon-
tenot, a week out from his own production in Laura and
San Antonio, was on the judging panel, while Bob Johnson.
his wife, Debbie, was sleeping, er, cheering, in
the stands. Bob and Laura Johnson were at
their usual post for Posedown Muscle & Figure
Magazine; Jen Cook looked great as usual
and said she’s gotten her master’s degree from
the University of Texas, Arlington, and has been
deejaying and doing some fitness modeling. Jen
certainly has the look.
Last, but certainly not least, a special thanks
to June and Katie Munroe, who provided
chauffeur service for the weekend. That June—is
anybody on the go more than the owner of Flexstar’s New Age Nutrition?
She is to “keep moving” what Yogi Avidan is to “keep eating.” I did get a Tricky
bit nervous when Katie, the toy pinscher, wanted to take the wheel but, hey, Jackson.
it’s better than taking the bus. And she’s still the best dresser at any show.
Congrats to all involved with the event at such a tough time—Harrison, his
staff, the competitors, judges and the appreciative fans.
Same time, same place, next year.
A TRICKY PRODUCTION—Ricky “Tricky” Jackson is more than

a star bodybuilder; when he’s not competing in the new 202-pounds-and-
under pro contests, the Lexington, Kentucky, Lexus puts on his promoter’s
cap. And he’s been successful in that capacity as well for quite a while now.
Tricky’s next event is the NPC Bluegrass Muscle Classic Bodybuilding and
Figure Championships, which is set for Saturday, October 11, in Lexington.
Johnnie Jackson, who qualified out of the chute for the Olympia at our
season-opening IRON MAN Pro, is the featured guest poser.
For more info go to www.TrickyJackson.com, or call (859) 221-4959.
Roland Balik
RIBBON-CUTTING DEPT.—On May 17 I traveled to Muscle Beach,

Venice, for the grand reopening of the weight pen. Thanks to Russ DeLuca

of Bodybuilding.com and to Todd Greene of Headblade, a new structure
was unveiled. Russ donated $41,000 for the 30 pieces of Star Trac equip-
ment that now grace the area; Greene pitched in 20K for the new flooring.
Both DeLuca and Greene were a bit giddy at the event: Russ challenged
me to an impromptu pullup contest, while Greene offered to become a title
sponsor at my Junior Cal next year if I shaved my noggin with one of his
special blades. Since Bodybuilding.com has been the title sponsor of my
event for the past several years, I had to let DeLuca edge me in the pullup
posedown. Okay, so it was 20-1, but it was a lot closer than it looked.
As for Todd, he’ll have to come up with a lot more booty than that to get
me to shave off my beautiful locks. Or is it my lock?
DeLuca and Greene joined Sophia Piña Cortez, a superintendent of
the Los Angeles Department of Recreation and Parks, and L.A. City Council-
man Bill Rosendahl in the ribbon-cutting ceremonies before DeLuca cut
me up on the pullup bar.
Lee Priest (with
Jack LaLanne and Franco Columbu were there, receiving their
Rich Gaspari) Muscle Beach Venice Bodybuilding Hall of Fame plaques. Jack is as spry as
at the ’06 IRON ever, asking me if my goatee “tickles the girls” during a video interview of the
MAN Pro. fitness king that was recorded by Avidan (find it along with several fun videos
I did that day at Bodybuilding.com). Jack was pushing his latest book, Fiscal
Fitness, and made me smile when he autographed the inside cover before
giving me a free copy. If it’s free, it’s for LT.
Jack and Elaine LaLanne with L.T.
Kudos to Muscle Beach promoter Smokin’ Joe Wheatley for leading
the charge in getting this effort completed. I felt for the guy the week of the
event—he was calling morning and night, about to lose his head over all the
complications that usually accompany this kind of production.
Shoot, the place looks so good, I might be coming down now and then
to train in the pen. After all, I do need to work on my pullups.
More Personalities
CONFESSIONS OF A PRIEST—The Priest, suspended from his
favorite church since September 2006, has been let back into
Prince
the parish after admitting that he’s sorry for his sins.
Harrison.
Lee Priest, suspended from the IFBB since September
2006, when he moved over to the now-defunct PDI, got the
call from Jim Manion that he’d been waiting for in early
June. The suspension had been lifted, and Lee was free—to
compete, to guest pose, to give seminars, etc., as soon as he
fills out his IFBB membership card.
The controversial one, who had been moonlighting in video
production during his time away from pro bodybuilding, says
he’s 232 pounds and will be onstage at the Atlantic City Pro
in September and, he hopes, on the Mr. Olympia stage two
weeks later. At 36, will he still have the goods to be among the
best in the game? I think so, but we’ll know soon enough.
Priest was living in Scottsdale, Arizona, when he got the
good news, but said he’ll have relocated back to his native
Australia by the time you read this. Guess the rent’s cheaper.
Muscle Based on Lee’s history with moving trucks (he packed up
Pullup Beach ribbon an entire truck by himself and drove from Austin, Texas, to Lancaster, Cali-
king cutters (from fornia, in a single day a few years back—honest Injun!), how long do we give
DeLuca. left): Russ the man with the best arms in the industry before he transfers back to the
DeLuca, States? Look for him in a city near you sometime soon.
Sophia Piña
Cortez,
Councilman
TITUS-RYAN PLEA DEAL—Unless you’ve been buried under a rock
Bill
Rosendahl
for the past couple of months, you know that Craig Titus and Kelly Ryan
and Todd accepted a plea deal on May 30, three days before their murder trial was to
Greene. begin in Las Vegas. By the time you read this, they will have been sentenced
by Judge Jackie Glass, who will also preside over the O.J. Simpson
case come September. IM
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.

L O N N I E T E P E R ’S R i si n g St ar s
Lee
BANKS
Age: 36
Weight: 220 contest; 250,
Merv
off-season
Height: 5’8”
Residence: Jacksonville,
Florida
Occupation: Child care
owner-director
Contest highlights:
’07 NPC Nationals,
heavyweight, 3rd;
’06 NPC Nationals,
heavyweight, 6th
Factoid: He’s a Desert
Storm vet.
Contact:
www.LeeBanks.net
Merv

Fredrick
Cody LEWIS
Age: 17
Weight: 181 contest; 245 off-
season
Height: 5’11”
Residence: Modesto, California
Occupation: High school
student
Contest highlights: ’08
California Championships,
teen overall; ’06 Contra Costa
Championships, teen overall
Merv

Merv
LO NN I E TE P E R’S Ri sing S t a r s
Stephen
FRAZIER
Age: 28
season
Height: 6’1 1/2”
Residence: Dallas, Texas
Occupation: Owner of South
Grand Prairie Fitness
Contest highlights: ’07 NPC
Nationals, superheavyweight, 3rd;
’04 NPC John Sherman Classic,
overall
Contact:
Merv
Powerdriven@StephenFrazier.com

Merv
L O NN I E TE P E R’S Ri sing S t a r s
Monte
MABRY
Age: 40
season
Height: 5’6”
Residence: Miamisburg, Ohio
Contest highlights: ’07 NPC
Nationals, light-heavyweight,
4th; ’07 IFBB North American
Championships, light-
heavyweight, 2nd
Factoid: He’s the father of a 14-
month-old son.
Contact: www.MonteMabry.com
Merv

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 MUSC
Eric Broser’s
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.SupplementCoach.com
Without a doubt the science and
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Sure, reading the hype that most companies spew Stout, Dr. Tim Ziegenfuss and IFBB fitness pro
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Its profes-

>DVD Review: Phil Heath’s “The Gift: A New Beginning”
It’s been my contention for years that the qual- ous problem, he handles himself well, remains
ity of the physiques on the IFBB circuit has been calm and finishes up his leg workout—a true
slowly diminishing. Yes, warrior mentality. Other particularly in-
the guys have gotten big- teresting sequences include a trip to the
ger and freakier, but it’s chiropractor for an adjustment and some
become a rarity to see
the muscle separation,
striations and graini-
ness that were displayed
by such champions
as Shawn Ray, Dorian
Yates, Andreas Munzer,
Lee Labrada and Rich
Gaspari, to name a few.
One man, however, has
recently arrived on the
scene with a bang, and
he’s certainly helping to
keep quality alive with
a physique full of shapely, tight and ridiculously time in
conditioned muscle—Phil “the Gift” Heath. the fac-
Phil in contest condition reminds me of Shawn tory of
Ray circa 1994, when he almost stole the Olympia one of
crown—and in my opinion, he should have— Phil’s
from King Yates. Phil isn’t huge by any means, main
but the illusion he presents onstage through a spon-
combination of incredibly round muscle bellies, sors
tiny joints and crazy hardness enables him to slay (think
most of the giants, just as men like Ray, Labrada chick-
and Mohammad Benaziza did before him and en).
as the great Dexter Jackson is still doing today. Perhaps
Thus it was with great interest that I sat down to the best
watch Phil’s first DVD, “A New Beginning,” which part of
chronicles his journey from 11 weeks out right up “A New
Merv
until show day of his professional debut at the ’06 Begin-

IFBB Colorado Pro. ning” is
As with most new releases these days, this is seeing Phil’s body literally morph from a smooth
not only a training DVD but one that also gets a block of muscle that honestly does not look very
bit into the lifestyle of the subject. The gym se- impressive at week 11 into a chiseled, rock-hard,
quences are nothing groundbreaking. Don’t ex- stage-dominating physique that looks extremely
pect to see any unique exercises or crazy training impressive and that took on all comers at the
techniques—just simple yet fairly intense work- Colorado Pro, resulting in his first professional
outs with some commentary by Phil, explaining bodybuilding victory.
a bit about why and how he does things, as well Since the DVD was made, Phil has become a
as his overall approach to the sport. One thing I top contender in the sport, with two more pro
must mention that I’ve never seen before on any victories—one at the ’08 IRON MAN Pro—and a
previous DVD is an actual training injury during second-place finish to another giant killer, Jack-
a workout. Early on in the video you witness Phil son, at the most recent Arnold Classic. So while
severely pulling a hamstring while performing I’m not sure whether Phil is a gift—well, maybe to
lying leg curls. Although that could’ve been a seri- bodybuilding—he certainly is gifted!

Eric Broser’s
once you learn to master it—hyperextensions. I realize
>Net Results Q&A that exercise is usually reserved for the lower back, but
The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your if you can mentally connect with your hamstrings and
questions on training and nutrition. make them do most of the work, you’ll be rewarded with
some freaky mass on the backs of your legs. In fact, in
Q. My hamstrings are falling far behind my many ways hypers are actually superior to stiff-legged
quads. Judges at my last show confirmed that. I deadlifts for maximizing hamstring development. The
do the standard lying leg curls, seated leg curls key is to lock your ankles in very tightly under the pad
and stiff-legged deadlifts. My form is good, and and keep your hams tensed throughout both the ec-
I work hard. I’ve even backed off on the inten- centric and concentric phases of the movement. Don’t
sity of my quad training so I have more left for even start the first rep without consciously flexing your
hitting my hams. Any tips on how to get those hamstrings hard. Make sure to lower yourself slowly,
suckers growing? over three to five seconds, and only about two-thirds of
the way down. Once you hit the bottom position, think
A. That’s a pretty common problem in the world of again about tensing your hamstrings maximally while re-
bodybuilding. It can be seen at every level, from aver- laxing your lower back. Focus on using only hamstring
age gym rats power to move your torso back to the starting position.
to novice com- Once you get the hang of it, your hams will be scream-
petitors and ing for mercy.
often right into Finally I’m going to suggest that you use my Power/
the pro ranks. Rep Range/Shock (P/RR/S) training protocol to help
Many top awaken your hams and bring them up to your quads.
bodybuilders Here’s the routine. The numbers in parentheses indicate
bring massive the rep tempo to use
quad develop-
ment to the Week 1: Power
stage but fail Lying leg curls 2 x 4-6 (3/0/X)
to match it Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 x 4-6 (3/0/X)
with a pair of Standing single-leg curls 2 x 4-6 (3/0/X)
round, hang- Rest between sets: 3 minutes
ing hammies.
When you do Week 2: Rep Range
see someone Seated leg curls 2 x 7-9 (2/1/2/1)
with fully de- Hyperextensions 3 x 10-12 (3/1/2/1)
veloped ham- Lying single-leg curls 2 x 13-15 (2/1/2/1)
strings, it adds Rest between sets: 2 minutes
a whole new dimension to every side and back pose.
Take a look at old photos of former IFBB professional Week 3: Shock
Tom Prince, and you’ll truly understand the meaning of Superset
freaky hams. Seated leg curls 2 x 8-10 (2/0/1)
I’m going to answer your question in three parts: Hyperextensions 2 x 8-10 (3/0/1)
First, consider the possibility of training your hamstrings Lying leg curls (with X Reps) 1 x 8-10 (2/0/1)
before your quads either on leg day or on a separate Standing single-leg
day entirely. That’s called prioritization, and it’s one of curls (drop) 1 x 8-10(4-6) (2/0/1)
the most important concepts in the world of success- Rest between sets: 1 minute
ful bodybuilding. So many trainees complain of weak
bodyparts that won’t grow, but they fail to understand Use the program for three cycles over nine weeks,
that if they start giving those stubborn parts priority over trying to increase the weights you use at each of the
strong ones, that alone may well solve the problem. three workouts. Follow that with either a light week
Yes, most bodybuilders train quads before hams of training or an entire week off, and then repeat the
or chest before back, but sometimes you must break cycle—but shake up the exercises to keep the muscles
tradition if you want to reach your full potential. So my and central nervous system off balance.
first suggestion is to train hams first on leg days, when I promise that if you follow all of the suggestions
you’re fresher and can physically and mentally do a above, the judges at your next show will have an en-
better job of blasting them. Alternatively, you can train tirely different opinion of your hams—and you may need
hamstrings on a separate day, perhaps with a small a new pair of jeans.
bodypart like biceps. Either way you’ll more success- Note: Watch future issues of IRON MAN for my take
fully stimulate your hams to grow through more efficient on blitzing quads and hamstrings with my Fiber Dam-
and intense training. age/Fiber Saturation super mass-building protocol. IM
Second, add a new exercise to your hamstring pro-
gram that can really trash some deep muscle fibers

Bodybuilding Pharmacology
by Jerry Brainum
BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING
Under the
cluding estrogen and testosterone, which made it of inter-
est to marketers. Subsequent studies revealed that while
DHEA does reliably convert into testosterone in women,
it takes a variety of pathways in men. In some older men it
Radar
does eventually convert to testosterone, particularly if they
have low testosterone production. In younger men, how-
ever, DHEA converts to either estrogen or a metabolite of
DHT. A metabolite of testosterone itself, DHT is considered
the source of many undesirable side effects, such as pros-
tate enlargement, male-pattern baldness and acne.
It seems that hardly a day goes by without another elite So-called renegade chemists, such as Patrick Arnold,
athlete’s being exposed as having used anabolic drugs who later became famous for producing designer steroids
to enhance athletic performance. The furor about illicit that were implicated in the current crop of athletic drug
anabolic drug use is not new, however. Concern about it, scandals, began marketing what they referred to as “pro-
particularly among the young, led the first President Bush hormones,” the first of which was androstenedione. Andro,
to sign the Anabolic Steroids Control Act on November a more direct precursor of testosterone than DHEA, looked
29, 1990, placing the drugs in the same category as more promising, especially when such high-level athletes as
conventional drugs of abuse, such as amphetamines and baseball slugger Mark McGwire were found to be using
cocaine. The law didn’t appear to make a significant dent it. Later studies revealed that andro was more effective at
in the international use of steroids and other anabolics increasing estrogen than boosting testosterone. Back to the
by athletes and others, but concern about the side effects drawing board.
linked to steroid use did lead to the development of anoth- A series of other pro-hormones followed, all touted to
er popular anabolic offering: pro-hormone supplements. significantly increase testosterone levels minus the po-
The pro-hormone era began with the over-the-counter tential serious side effects. The results: They seemed to
sale of DHEA, a natural androgen made in the adrenal produce many of the same side effects associated with
glands. DHEA is a precursor of various other steroids, in- steroid drugs—but not the promised gains in muscle size
DHEA does eventually convert to

testosterone in older men who have low
testosterone production, but in younger men
it can convert to estrogen.

and strength. CEL M-Drol, SNS
Once again, the inventive marketers of pro-hormones Methyl Drol XT,
came up with a better idea. They dusted off old androgen Fast Action’s S-
research textbooks and came up with various anabolic Droll and IDS Mass
steroid drugs that had been developed by major drug com- Tabs. It usually
panies but never commercially marketed for one reason or came in 10-mil-
another. They were able to circumvent the 1990 steroid law ligram capsules,
because of loopholes in another law—the 1994 Food Sup- and the standard
plement Act, which had a clause stating that a substance dose was two cap-
existing in a natural form could be marketed without going sules a day taken
through an extensive and expensive drug-approval process. for no more than
The key to marketing new pro-hormones—actually old six to eight weeks.
drugs—was therefore to do some detective work and find Some Internet
a natural source of the substance. Once that was accom- ads described
plished, you could sell the substance without fear of action methasteron as a
by the United States Food and Drug Administration. designer steroid,
Eventually, government agencies, such as the FDA, likely to cash in on
caught on. That led to an amendment to the 1990 law in the publicity stem-
2004 banning all current and future pro-hormone food ming from the term
supplements that were capable of either converting into being in the news.
testosterone or were in fact testosterone derivatives—that In fact, as we’ve
is, anabolic steroids. The lawmakers thought that clinched seen, methasteron
it as far as over-the-counter hormones were concerned. was just an old,
Again, they underestimated the creativity of supplement discarded ana-
marketers. bolic steroid. The
While the 2004 amendment specifically mentioned most Internet ads also
of the current pro-hormones by name, several thousand warned of possible
had been developed in the early 1960s by various drug side effects: Andro was purported to convert to
companies, only to be discarded. The amendment was • Severe muscle
worded to prevent the resurrection of any of those limbo testosterone, but studies eventually
cramps, especially
steroids, but that didn’t stop some companies from market- in the lower back
found that it converts to estrogen.
ing at least one anabolic steroid that the lawmakers had
overlooked. • Extreme lethargy
The drug in question was methyldrostanolone, also or lack of energy and fatigue
known as methasteron, initially developed by Syntex in
• Painful shin splints, making cardio very difficult
1959. Around the same time the company was also devel-
oping other anabolic steroids that it did market, such as • Substantial increase in harmful low-density-lipopro-
oxymetholone (Anadrol) and drostanolone (Masteron). tein cholesterol with a lowering of beneficial high-densi-
Both became popular bodybuilding drugs, although they ty-lipoprotein cholesterol—common with oral anabolic
were marketed for treatment of medical conditions. Meth- steroids
asteron was described as a cross between Anadrol and
Masteron. In fact, it differed from Masteron only by a meth- • Methylation of methasteron, making liver problems a
yl group added at the C-17 position of the steroid molecule. possibility
That meant that it resisted premature breakdown by the • Loss of libido, or sex drive, near the end of a cycle
liver but also made it toxic to the liver. The drug is similar
to Anadrol, again with minor changes to its molecular The FDA finally caught on to methasteron in late 2005,
structure. Some have described methasteron as a “super- warning companies selling it that they were in violation of
saturated Anadrol,” the implication being that it produces the 2004 steroid law amendment. Most companies discon-
many of the same anabolic effects. Unlike Anadrol and tinued sales in 2006. One company, however, continues to
Masteron, however, methasteron was never released to the sell its “improved” form of Superdrol. The primary ingredi-
commercial market, other than briefly in another form. ent is listed as “Prasterone” and is described as a potent
Why that occurred is now clear, based on several recent precursor of testosterone. In fact, it’s just another name for
reports published in the medical literature. DHEA.
In 2005, companies began selling methasteron in com- Many who purchased methasteron likely assumed that
plete defiance of the 2004 steroid amendment. It was sold because it was sold over the counter, it was safe. In fact, the
under several trade names—Superdrol, EST Methyl-vol, substance was as toxic as—or even more toxic than—other
In 2005, companies began selling methasteron in complete defiance

of the 2004 steroid amendment. Some Internet ads described
methasteron as a designer steroid, likely to cash in on the publicity
stemming from the term being in the news. In fact, methasteron
was just an old, discarded anabolic steroid.

BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUIL
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
Be very afraid of anabolic steroids
that are available on the Internet,
unless you have complete
disregard for your health.
anabolic steroid drugs. That probably explains why Syntex overabundance of immune factors that attacked his kid-
decided to shelve the product in the first place. Its animal neys. The origin of the problem, however, was thought to
studies probably indicated excess stress in the liver, and be his use of methasteron.
recent case studies published in medical journals seem to A report of a more recent series of case studies showed
confirm that. that methasteron caused severe liver inflammation in five
One study reported on a 23-year-old bodybuilder who young men. The study notes that the two other steroids,
had nausea, vomiting, jaundice, pale stools, dark urine and Anadrol and Masteron, are linked to severe liver problems,
extreme body itching, all signs of liver inflammation. He and methasteron is a hybrid of the two. That makes liver
used the suggested 10 milligrams of methasteron twice a problems highly likely for someone who uses methasteron.
day for six weeks, stopping only when the itching began. In fact, in the five case studies, the liver inflammation
He had no previous history of liver disease. The patient was persisted an average of two weeks after methasteron use
initially treated with medication to increase bile flow in his stopped. The Internet ads about methasteron implied that
liver, along with an antihistamine to relieve the itching. He it provided the beneficial anabolic effects of Anadrol and
returned to the hospital two weeks later, however, com- Masteron minus the side effects. Actually, it proved to be
plaining of itching and vomiting. An examination revealed similar or worse.
extreme liver inflammation. He also showed a decline in According to several reports, methasteron may still be
kidney function with a diagnosis of IgA nephropathy, an available on the Internet, although it’s now illegal. Consider
abnormal accumulation of immune cells in his kidneys. that even highly profit-motivated drug companies refused
That particular condition is usually associated with liver to sell this stuff. Several other dubious “anabolics” are also
and immune diseases. The doctors suggest that it ema- being sold over the Net. If your health is important to you,
nated from his liver problem, with the liver producing an you’d be wise to avoid them. A recent report in a medical
journal found that a combination of early pro-hormone
supplements led to the development of a rapidly spreading
Anadrol and Masteron form of prostate cancer that killed one man. I’d say that’s
reason enough to give wide berth to these “safe steroids.”
are linked to severe liver
References
problems, and methasteron
Jasiurkowski, B., et al. (2006). Cholestatic jaundice and
is a hybrid of the two. That IgA nephropathy induced by OTC muscle-building agent
Superdrol. Am J Gastroent. 101:2659-2662.
makes liver problems highly Shah, N., et al. (2008). Methasteron-associated choles-
tatic liver injury: Clinicopathologic findings in five cases.
likely for someone who uses Clin Gastroent Hepatol. 6:255-58. IM
methasteron.

RUTH SILVERMAN’S About August:
• Contest Corner
• California Dreamin’
• Surfworthy Physiques
• Pump-Pourri
Photography by Ruth Silverman
CHANGE WE
CONTEST CORNER
CAN BELIEVE
IN? Massed-out,
ripped-to-the-
bone bodies
were nowhere
in sight, and
vivacious Amber
DeFrancesco
was queen of
the night at the
’08 NPC Junior
National Women’s
Bodybuilding
Championships in HONOREES
June. I thought I Amber and
was dreaming as Junior Nat’s
I paged through Fitness champ
Roland Balik’s Stephanie Irick
photos from the were among
event. Find them the first
at IronMan recipients of
Magazine.com, Roland’s new
and see if you “Pixelicious”
don’t think that Awards. Read
everyone’s taken all about it
a step way back, on his blog at
at least at the IronMan
Juniors. Magazine
.com.
GRAB SHOT STORY This photo-op, which

took place at the ’08 Cal in May, started
with three subjects and one photographer
and just grew. By the time (from left) Kristi
Tauti, Sonia Adcock, Adela Garcia, Michelle
Mayberry and Felicia Romero were in
place, there were three or four photogra-
phers snapping away behind me. No fair,
guys! Yours are faster.
CALIFORNIA DREAMIN’
UNWRAPPED
PACKAGES After
the photo below
left was taken,
Cal Pro Figure
finalists Felicia
and Kristi (right)
stripped to the
’tards. Felicia
looked like a
winner—and she
was.
BLASTING
OUT OF A
PLATEAU
Kristi
turned
her ninth-
place
finish at
the ’07
Cal Pro
into a dim
memory,
taking
third this
time. To
the O
they both
go.
SURFWORTHY PHYSIQUES
1) Last 3
month’s up- ’08 CAL PRO
and-comer
FIGURE
is this
month’s hot
new arrival.
Second in
Cali means
Heather
French is
headed for
the Septem-
ber classic,
a.k.a. the
OIympia.
2) Huong
Arcinas is
always rais-
ing the bar,
from eighth
at the Pitts-
burgh to
4
fourth here.
3) Zhan-
na Rotar 2
has got the 1
pose down
pat. Now,
if she could
just put flashing at her big time. Look-
together a ing, fabulous, Celeste! And I hear
package that would get her into the blast-off zone. you’ll be even more fabulous at
4) Spain’s Celeste Gonzalez hasn’t made the judges’ the Houston Pro in July.
A-list yet, but the physique-photography corps has started
N O TA B L E S
HANDSTANDING
OVATION Talk
about your fitness
fortitude. Kristen
Nicewarner will be
42 this summer,
and the reason
she’s competing
solely in figure
is that she’s still
rehabbing from
a shoulder injury
that struck during
LOOK OUT WORLD Lesley Stamper was introduced
her prep for the
to me as the business director of J.C. Lopez’s Hard-
’05 Fitness Inter-
fitness online magazine, but I predict she’ll soon
national. Don’t
be known for her bod (and beauty) as well as her
count her out for
brains. The two-time Arkansas figure champ should
fitness, says Kris-
stir things up at the national shows this season.
ten. She’s back to
doing handstands,
and it’s only a
matter of time.
NEWBIE The
last time I saw
Darlina Kir-
conzic, she was
passed out on
the floor at the
’00 Pittsburgh
Pro Fitness. Now
Darlina Brown,
she reminded me
of that incident
as she intro-
duced me to her
husband, U.S.
Army Major Cale
Brown, at the ’08
Cal Pro Figure.
It was a special
evening for the
couple, and not
just because
Darlina took
fifth. Cale, who
CUTEST COUPLE OF ALL Jayla Worrall, six, was
was soon to be
on hand at the Cal to cheer on her mom, April
headed for Af-
Fortier. Jayla and April take gymnastics lessons
ghanistan, got to
together, and the youngster hopes that she and
see her compete
Mom, a fitness and figure athlete who turned
for the very first
pro at the ’07 USA, can do fitness guest-posings
time.
as a duo. Promoters, take note. These lovely
ladies are based in Sacramento, California.
JUST
BECAUSE
B O D S T O WAT C H
M O R E C U T I E S AT T H E C A L
1) Be-
hold the 1
results
of Nicole
Pitcher-
Scott’s
patented
leaning
tech-
nique,
demon-
strated
in last
month’s
edition
of this
column.
Would
you be-
lieve, it
works?
2)
Speaking
of lean,
2 Heather
Green
looked at
least as
good as
she did
at the
Pitts-
burgh
three
weeks
earlier
and
got
sixth
Bradford
again.
SECRET WEAPON Ubertrainer Mike Davies chuckled when people (including

me) expressed surprise at Teresa Anthony’s star-making pro debut at the Pitts-
burgh. If I’d seen this photo ahead of time, I probably would have guessed.
STEEL CITY
TALENT POOL Mary Ann
The photo Newman,
3) on page 252 masters
Meriza of Amber figure
DeGuzman DeFrancesco, overall.
vowed who was
to refine the NPC
Pittsburgh
the pack- Bodybuilding
age she champ in ’07,
brought to shows why it
the Cul- pays to pay
ver City, attention
California, to the little
venue and shots from
wow ’em the Pittsburgh
that appear in
at the these pages.
Europa in The next time
Liberman
Liberman
August. you see the

Fair warn- ’08 Pittsburgh
ing to the figure win-
3
State of ners, at right, Amanda Breznau,
Texas. they could be figure overall.
gracing much
larger photos.

PUMP-POURRI—CALIFORNIA PRO
Stacy Clary gets
Don’t let the P&C award for
that pa- the most radi-
tient smile ant rookie at the
fool you. Cal Pro. Think
Michelle of all the good
Mayberry
has post-
times—and lessons
contest learned.
feasting
on her
mind.
Bill Dobbins, back in the pit

Andrea Dumon
after a recent illness, shot the
pro contest for IronMan (below) started
Magazine.com. In June he off her third year
picked up with his music career of big-time quar-
(which he’d revived last year), ter-turning with a
playing a gig in Redondo Beach, ninth-place finish.
California.
Photography by Ruth Silverman
Jessica Nabinger (below), last
seen doing splits and kicks at
the ’06 Team U, was practicing
her booth-babe skills at guess
whose table. On hiatus from
competition, she’s working on
her MBA at Capella University.
Above: That Nancy

Georges sure knows
how to pack for a figure
show. It’s what they call
being a pro.
Left: Terry Goodlad

and Cal co-promoter
Jon Lindsay were still
smiling after a long
evening of champions
being crowned.
Remembering Amanda.
AMANDA JO EARHART-SAVELL: 1978–2008 She was always having
fun, and she made my
job more fun whenever
our paths crossed.
That’s how I prefer to
remember Amanda
Savell—by the way she
enjoyed life rather than
the tragedy that informed
her death. (For more on
the latter, see my blog at
IronManMagazine.com.)
These images show the
vivacious Amanda (from
far left) onstage at the
’07 Figure International,
clowning around after
the ’06 Olympia and
attracting fans with Jen
Searles at the Pinnacle
Merv
booth at the ’06 USA.
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.
A FAREWELL
Of Endings
and the Period
Dr. Al Thomas, 1930-2008
by Steve Wennerstrom, IFBB Women’s Historian
T
o current-day IRON when bodybuilding as a sport was
MAN readers, the only a distant dream in the minds of
name Dr. Al Thomas a few. Al Thomas’ visions, however,
may not be immedi- were always beyond the horizon.
ately recognizable, His call to women to revel in the joy
unless you were a of strength and muscle had an effect
faithful follower of the magazine that was something akin to the way
during the publishing days of Peary the Pied Piper of Hamelin’s faithful
Rader. The magazine had a vastly followers came when he beckoned.
different look in those days, but Al dared women to empower
it was a haven for the preachings themselves in the purest sense—
of a man whose vision offered an through the “container” they walked
unexplored horizon for the female around in every day. His siren song
strength athlete. struck a chord—positive or nega-
When IRON MAN publisher John tive—with everyone who read his
Balik contacted me about writing a articles. His ideas forced deeper
farewell to Dr. Thomas, I froze. Hav- thinking. He implored the newly
ing labored as a writer in the area of Dr. Al Thomas, an outspoken initiated to become immersed in
women’s sports for the past 35 years, proponent of female muscle. newfound inner feelings of human
I felt for the first time that I might physical achievement. “Forcing
not have the faith in myself to com- farewell falls squarely with Thomas your container to grow is a free-
plete the assignment. Put simply, Dr. himself. ing experience,” he would declare.
Al meant the world to me, and his It was in Iron Man magazine With a childlike inquisitiveness Al
passing has left me numb. He was a where I first fell headlong into his would proffer: “Why is it that no
mentor of incalculable measure and writings—thoughts that touted his one questions a woman and her
the primary motivator in encourag- unbridled exhilaration over women desire to increase her
ing me to pursue the life path I’ve who were challenging mental capabili-
followed since my first communica- their physicality ties? No one raises
tions with him in 1974. Due to pow- for the first time an eyebrow over a
ers greater than I can comprehend, I and discovering woman elevating
was brought around to the decision the true beauty her IQ from 125 to
to write a tribute, and it was one of strength and 150, because then,
that left no alternative but to pro- muscle as an God forbid, she
ceed with what will be the toughest agreeable female would become too
assemblage of words I have ever put trait. His earliest intelligent. Yet when
to paper. writings appeared women enter the
The irony of my penning this largely in the ’70s, world of physicality

with a sincere desire to East Coast contests
push back the ‘bound- in the early ’80s.
aries of acceptability,’ Al’s feelings about
there are suddenly the beauty of hu-
those who line up to manity came spill-
caution women not to ing out in those
become ‘too strong’ or ‘too muscu- conversations:
lar.’” Mystified, he’d shake his head “Jesus, look at all
in disbelief. those women. All
Eloquent in his descriptions as unique, all differ-
he envisioned these women in the ent in God’s infi-
not-too-distant future, he used a nite wisdom. Some
masterful selection of descriptive are blessed with
Photographs courtsey of the Dr. Al Thomas family

words from the recesses of his vast the special genet-
vocabulary that had us exulting ics specific to this
in his verbiage and phraseologies. damn sport, while
Indeed, he was the proverbial kid in others, ordinary
a candy store, and muscular female in many ways, are
strength was his chocolate just not blessed
truffle. for bodybuilding
Only Al Thomas could stardom. But Ste-
create a uniquely colorful vie, Stevie, look at
female vision of a strength each one of those
athlete by referring to her as brave souls long enough, and
a “magnificent Clydesdale you will see that they all have
filly” with the capability of at least one redeeming quality.
radiating “shadow-casting Every one. That’s beautiful…
muscle,” never once using beeeeuoootiful!”
those terms in an unflatter- Beautiful, indeed.
ing way. In Al’s honor, I just un-
Meanwhile, he bled ad- covered my own manual
miration for those brave Smith-Corona typewrit-
women who always, always er—buried in my garage
suffered the slings and ar- for the past 10 years—and
rows of a culture that sim- used it to pound out
ply could not understand these final words, just
women who possessed the as he did for every letter
desire to enter a world of he ever wrote. In further
strength, power, aggres- honor of his passing I
sion and muscle that had am ending this farewell
been—since time imme- And how with a comma; as I recall
morial—a male domain. he loved the how much Al—a rebel
For anyone who ever gazed on a idea of those grammarian and English
female strength athlete with a true larger-than-life literature professor of the
appreciation for what she had ac- women “tak- highest order—detested
complished, the seeds of that appre- ing up space the period. “The period,”
ciation were sown by Dr. Al. on God’s green as he would say in no
My first letters from Al Thomas earth,” never uncertain terms, “signifies
34 years ago were magical in their realizing that all of their combined an ending. And there should never
content. Today they’re treasures of volumes of space could never fill the be an ending.”
his personal philosophies, which void he’s left. His point about the period is well
I’ve always respectfully called his I was struck by his profound taken. In my case, there will never
“Thomasonian theories.” They were insight into what he felt was an be an end to what Al Thomas has
generations ahead of their time. unavoidable unfairness with regard left with me in my life. His presence
It was at Al’s prodding that I to the finality of a contest and its re- will remain with me forever, never
began to submit my own articles to sults, as shown by his decades-long to end.
Iron Man—my first ever, in fact—in dissatisfaction with the concept of If there is such “a place”—we
an effort to help strengthen the fact a “bodybuilding contest” and the discussed the possibilities of such
that he was not alone in his philo- coldness with which a “placement” a place on many occasions—I’ll see
sophical thought regarding those was ascribed to each “contestant.” I you on the other side, my friend,
“grand fillies.” recall our sitting together at several IM

Showerin’

With
the Stunning
Ava Compiled by Jonathan Lawson
Cowan Figure Champion

Height: 5’4”
Weight: 123
Hometown: Sacramento, California
Current residence: Pompano Beach, Florida
Marital status: In a relationship
Workout schedule:
Monday: legs
Tuesday: shoulders, abs;
Wednesday: off;
Thursday: biceps, back;
Friday: chest, triceps

IRON MAN
Hardbody
Sample bodypart workout

(legs): barbell squats, 4 x 10; leg
extensions, 4 x 10; Butt Blaster,
4 x 8-10; lying leg curls, 4 x 8-10;
Romanian deadlifts, 4 x 9-10;
seated calf raises, 4 x 8; standing
calf raises (drop sets), 4 x 8(10),
8(8), 8(8), 8(8)
Favorite foods: “I love sushi,
dark chocolate, Mexican food
and pizza, although I rarely eat
any of them. As for healthful
foods, I enjoy the basics, such
as London broil and brown rice.
If I’m eating a quality muscle-
building protein along with a
low-glycemic-index carbohy-
drate, I’m very happy.”
Factoids: “I’m the current Ms.
Figure America world cham-
pion and a WNSO figure profes-
sional. I graduated from Fitness
Institute International, where
I obtained my CPTS, and am
certified through NSCA-CPT as
well. Additionally, I’ve started to
work with women preparing for
competition. I work with them
extensively on stage presenta-
tion, quarter turns, costume se-
lection and nutrition. I’ve won
overall titles in the NPC (’05
Southern States), the FAP (’07
Ms. Figure America) and FAME
(’07 FAME North American Ad-
vanced Figure Champion), and
I feel very excited and confident
that I’m able to share my expe-
rience with other women.”
Future plans: “I’m currently
collaborating with Dream Tan
Competition Color to develop a
brand-new color I can endorse.
I can promise that you won’t
want to step onstage wearing
anything else. Also, I’m looking
to team up with a quality sports
supplement company so that I
may continue to compete at the
professional level.”
Contact info: For bookings
contact AvaCowan@aol.com or
visit www.AvaCowan.com.

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody

IRON MAN
Hardbody
277 SEPTEMBER 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com www.ironmanmagazine.com \ SEPTEMBER 2008 277

Only the Strong Shall Survive
From Beginner
to
Intermediate
Intermedi-
How to Move to the Next Level
by Bill Starr
C
urrently, there’s a large what they read, winging it and and with enthusiasm. That en-
supply of information altering their programs fairly regu- courages them to continue with
to help you get started larly until they find one that works the discipline. The work done in
on a strength program: for them. It often turns out that the weight room, especially on the
books, videos and numerous ar- those who put together their own larger muscle groups, strengthens
ticles in a wide range of fitness programs fare as well as or even the muscles and, most important,
magazines. Some of them provide better than those following a sys- the attachments. When the ten-
very detailed outlines on how to tem laid out in a book or magazine dons and ligaments are exercised
put together a functional routine, or by a personal trainer. in a steady, progressive manner,
even recommending starting The reason that happens is they respond favorably and pro-
poundage, sets and reps to be quite simple. If trainees use at vide a solid base of strength for
used for the various exercises. least decent form, are consistent future work.
Most, although not all, also have with their training and put their At the same time, invigorating
instructions on how to use proper full effort into the exercises, they’ll workouts stimulate appetite, and
technique, along with sequence make progress at the beginning. beginners find that they’re able to
photos. Perhaps the most important vari- gain muscular bodyweight eas-
Then of course there’s the army able is consistency. I’ve noted in ily. As they put on weight, they
of personal trainers with more this space before that a poorly de- get stronger, and the stronger
initials behind their names than signed program done consistently they get, the more muscle they
professors at Harvard who know will produce greater results than a gain. Once that happens, they’re
absolutely everything about train- perfect routine done sporadically. hooked because few things in life
ing a beginner, not to mention The key to success early on—or at can equal the heady feeling of
having expertise on diet, aerobics, any level for that matter—is never being able to get stronger and alter
stretching, mental preparations missing X number of sessions in how you look—all through your
and who will win the next presi- a given week. If one is missed, for own volition and sweat. That can’t
dential election. whatever reason, it must be made be bought or obtained through
Model: Sebasstian Siegel
While resources like those are up during that week. Anyone fol- any other means, and that makes
beneficial, many embark on their lowing that basic rule will make it very special.
quest to get bigger and stronger gains. I can state unequivocally that
on their own. They pick up ideas Beginners make progress rather strength training changed my life.
from others at the gym and from rapidly when they train regularly When I came across my first set of

weights at Great Lakes Naval Train- did any of the free-weight exercises as long as I was consistent. While I
ing Center, I weighed 135. Two years he recommended, however, because was stationed in Iceland, I asked a
later I’d gained 50 pounds and was there was no way I could afford the friend who was going stateside on
loving it. Like my contemporaries, set of weights he offered. I did try leave to bring me back some fitness
I put together my own beginning using some parts from my father’s magazines. He brought me three
program. I had yet to see a fitness Caterpillar bulldozer, but all I got Strength & Healths, and I started
magazine or meet anyone with any out of that were bruises and busted building my routine around the
experience in the field, so I proceed- hands. I did learn that a bar holding three Olympic lifts. I liked the idea
ed by using logic as best I could. I’d weights needed collars. of being able to use the strength I’d
read the manual on Charles Atlas’ Although I had plenty of setbacks, gained in an athletic way. I’d study
Dynamic Tension when I was 15 and usually from trying to do way too the photos of a lifter snatching.
used that as a sort of guide. I never much too soon, I made steady gains pressing, and clean and jerking and
do my best to copy him.
When I was assigned to the
medical unit at Sheppard Air
Force Base in Wichita Falls,
Texas, I was elated to find that
the YMCA had a well-stocked
I quickly found two glaring weight room and an Olympic
faults in my training. First, bar. Even though I didn’t know
I was doing far too many what I was doing, I entered
exercises. meets, not only to participate
but to learn. I’d watch the other
lifters do their attempts in the
warmup area and on the plat-
form and try to mimic the ones
with excellent technique.
Some may find that a tough
way to learn a sports skill, but in
fact it’s most beneficial because
I took nothing for granted. Any
little form point I could pick
up was special and stuck with
me. Gains continued to come. I
was young, pumping plenty of
testosterone, had the benefit of
lots and lots of good food, was
full of enthusiasm and woke
up every training day thinking
about my upcoming workout.
When you’re full of youthful
vigor, you fully believe that the
sky’s the limit, and for quite
some time that was the case.
Then reality stepped in, and
I hit a wall. I couldn’t get any
of my lifts to move—not the
Olympic lifts or any of the basic
strength movements, like front
or back squats. I tried train-
ing longer at each session, and
that backfired. I reorganized
my program. Things went from
Model: Sebastian Siegel
bad to worse. I read everything

I could lay my hands on, but
none of the suggestions helped.
I decided to take a few days off
and quickly discovered that was
a very bad idea. I slipped back
even further.
I had arrived in the place
every strength athlete enters

sooner or later: the doldrums. I I know now that it was inevitable teach beginners how to get started,
had no one to turn to for advice. that I would eventually plateau. It very few can help them graduate to
I couldn’t figure out how to move had to happen, not just to me but to the next level. I believe the transi-
from beginner to intermediate. I everyone who ever started on any tion from beginner to intermediate
knew it could be done because I’d type of strength-training routine. is more difficult than moving from
watched many lifters achieve suc- Otherwise, there would be hundreds intermediate to advanced. Those
cess. Over the years I’ve talked with of people overhead-pressing 500 who have been training diligently
a lot of fellow strength athletes who pounds and cleaning 600. But it was at the intermediate level for some
told me they encountered the iden- very frustrating, and for a full year I time understand how their body
tical situation. In nearly every case made very little progress. responds to certain exercises and
the solution came from someone While nearly all coaches with workloads. They’ve also spent time
with experience. some background in training can perfecting technique, so they are
able to move into a higher strength
level more readily. Usually it’s just a
matter of gradually increasing the
If you hit a plateau, go total volume and intensity.
back to the fundamentals Moving up to the intermediate
and eliminate the frills. level requires lifters to pay close
attention to the subtleties, and most
beginners don’t know what those
might be. I learned what I was doing
incorrectly once I began train-
ing under the coaching eye of Sid
Henry. After I enrolled at Southern
Methodist University, I went to the
downtown Dallas YMCA to see if I
could lift with him and the rest of
the Olympic team. I was more than
welcome.
I quickly found out two glaring
faults in my training. First, I was
doing far too many exercises. I
was under the impression that if I
wanted to get out of my rut, I had to
increase my load. That was, in fact,
true, but I was spreading out my
energy doing a lot of movements for
my smaller groups.
That changed once I joined the
group training with Sid, more out
of necessity than philosophy. The
weightlifting area was in a cramped
space overlooking a squash court.
There was room only for a lifting
platform and squat rack. As a result,
everyone did exactly the same pro-
gram. We would do three exercises
per session: jerks or overhead press-
es, pulls, full cleans, full snatches,
power cleans or power snatches,
then front or back squat. That was
it. So in one stroke, all my extra work
was eliminated. That enabled me
to concentrate all my energy into
primary movements. It was a major
change, and my lifts began to move
upward right away.
My other shortcoming had to do
Model: Brent Kutlesa
with form. Since I’d never had any-

one coach me on technique, it was
little more than adequate, except for
my clean. That was a natural move

You Can Get
for me, and the only adjustment I
ever made for it was that I learned
me break out of my stagnation and
move into the intermediate category Bigger,
how to pull longer. When it came to
form, Sid was an absolute perfec-
within a few months. I’ve used the
concepts I picked up from Sid ever Stronger
tionist. When you trained with Sid,
you did exactly what he instructed
since and have helped countless be-
ginners break through that barrier and Leaner
you to do or you left. If a rep wasn’t of distress. Most who come face- Faster Than Ever
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even if it was completed. Again, that you’ve picked up over the months— Credit card orders call
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doing. Another positive side effect to evaluate a program, I quickly
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atic approach to training helped index for a training manual.

Go back to the fundamentals cises in the routine: triples, doubles find a way. Ask around. Find out if
and eliminate the frills. Limit the and singles. They activate the at- there’s a knowledgeable coach in
number of exercises in a workout tachments more than even slightly your area. You might be surprised
to three primary and no more than higher reps and are beneficial for to find that there is. Then seek him
one auxiliary. That’s not counting beginners just as they are for in- out. Every capable coach I know of
the warmup movements for the abs termediate or advanced strength is more than ready to help a fellow
and lumbars. Put 100 percent of athletes. For the most part, though, strength aficionado. That’s because
your effort into those primary lifts, stick with five times five. in all likelihood someone assisted
and they’ll begin to move upward. Another very necessary step him when he needed advice.
Your sessions will be shorter, and in the process is improving your If there’s a college or university
that saved energy will be useful for technique. I was most fortunate to nearby, inquire about its strength
your next workout. have Sid Henry teach me, and I fully program. At Hopkins there were
Those primary exercises should understand that it might not be an usually a dozen nonathletes and
center on strengthening the core easy task to accomplish. If you’re several nonstudents training with
lower back, hips and legs, with ad- truly serious about elevating your me. A few fathers brought their
ditional attention given to the large level of strength, however, you’ll sons for one-time visits to have
groups of the back and
shoulder girdle. Leave the
smaller groups alone for Besides having too many
the most part. When you exercises in a workout,
attack the larger groups, many beginners are guilty
the smaller ones always of training more often
are involved, and that’s than they should.
sufficient at this level of
training.
Another fault I find in
programs people send me
is that the set-and-rep for-
mula is all over the place.
When you’re attempting to
break through to the next
level, use the tried-and-
true strength standard of
four to six sets of four to
six reps. Regular readers
know that I prefer five sets
of five because 1) it’s easier
to do the calculating when
determining workload
with that formula, and 2)
it’s easier in general when
you’re working with a large
group of athletes.
Of course, some exercis-
es need to be done in lower
reps—front squats and
jerks, for example. Lower
reps are better because the
bar always tends to slip out
of the solid position on the
front deltoids during those
movements. When it slips
away from that ideal rack,
form is adversely affected.
That’s why it’s smarter to
lower the reps to threes or
sometimes twos and do
more sets to get the work
in.
Occasionally, it’s a good

idea to handle lower reps
on all of the primary exer-

me check their technique. A great strong. Usually they’re just too busy dark.
many workshops and clinics are with their occupations or family to Finally, nutrition and rest. The
held throughout the country and train hard enough to be national more wholesome your diet, the
are most helpful to those who need caliber. Yet they know the sport and easier it will be for you to gain
critical eyes to observe their tech- can lend much useful advice to strength and size. Avoid junk foods,
nique. You can track them down on anyone seeking it. foods with empty calories, colas,
the Internet. Or do what I did. Go Besides having too many exer- foods high in saturated fats and
to weightlifting meets and watch cises in a workout, many beginners sugar. That way you won’t have to
the form of the top lifters. Plenty of are guilty of training more often spend precious energy burning off
videos are also available. It may not than they should. They get caught the unwanted bodyweight. Build
be easy to find someone to critique in the split system, which puts them your meals around protein foods,
your technique, but at least make an in the gym four times a week. That and drink a protein shake right after
effort. system does have its place, but only you complete your workout. That,
for already intermediate too, helps recovery.
or advanced strength ath- Keep in mind that you don’t have
letes—and then only for a to gain bodyweight in order to get
short period during the year. stronger. Those who compete in
Three days a week is suf- sports that require weight divisions,
ficient. You need the off days such as Olympic and powerlifting
for recovery, and if you fully and wrestling, have to increase their
apply yourself to the three strength while remaining within a
workouts, you’ll make gains. fixed weight limit. As I made steady
A few other tips. Keep progress under Sid’s tutelage, I
an accurate record of every stayed in the 181-pound class. If the
workout: weights used on all sport of your choice is one where
the sets, number of sets and being heavier is an advantage, how-
reps done, plus anything ever, like football, hockey, lacrosse
else that you might think and basketball, by all means try
of that has an influence to pack on more muscle. Adding

on your training, such as bodyweight is actually the easiest
bodyweight, weather, bio- way to get stronger. You can do it by
rhythms, if you know how drinking several protein milk shakes
to figure them, diet, supple- a day—and be sure to have one at
Remember, ments, how much rest you bedtime. That’s one of the keys to
when you get and so on. Recording the gaining functional bodyweight.
attack numbers is absolutely criti- For many who want to get stron-
the larger cal because without them ger and perhaps bigger, getting a
groups, the you have no way of knowing sufficient amount of rest is the most
smaller ones just how much total work critical variable of all. It always was
always are you’re doing. You may think for me. Simply going to bed half an
involved. you can recall what you did hour earlier than usual the night
last week or two weeks ago, before a workout can spell the dif-
but you won’t. I had some ference between having a successful
In the same vein, find out where very intelligent athletes at Hopkins, session and a crummy one.
the strongest men train in your area. and none were able to do so unless So if you’re struggling to move up
In some instances their gym may be they kept a training book. to the intermediate level, condense
a good distance away, but again it Once you feel that things are your program, hone your technique,
will be worth the drive every week moving in the right direction again, train hard and consistently, keep ac-
or so to work out with that group. you must keep an eye on your work- curate records, eat right, and make
Training with athletes who are load. It has to go up gradually. The sure you arrive at the gym fully
stronger than you is always help- numbers will reveal which body- rested and ready for the task ahead.
ful. It raises your expectations and parts are receiving the most atten-
brings home the fact that if others tion and which ones aren’t. That will Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a
can lift a certain poundage, you enable you to bring weaker areas up strength and conditioning coach
can too, over time. Plus, the energy to par and may be the single most at Johns Hopkins University from
generated from training with highly important step in gaining strength 1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The
motivated strength athletes flows on a consistent basis. Your training Strongest Shall Survive—Strength
into everyone in the weight room. log will give you a picture of ex- Training for Football, which is avail-
I’ve discovered through the years actly what you’re doing without any able for $20 plus shipping from
that for a wide variety of reasons guesswork, and from that you can Home Gym Warehouse. Call (800)
some of the very best technical make adjustments in your routine. 447-0008, or visit www.Home-
coaches are not necessarily that Without it, you’re shooting in the Gym.com. IM

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
Mind/Body
BOMBER BLAST
No, I’m Not Running For President
S
itting at the bus stop organizing my gym bag, I’m once A: The basic movements were applied with good order,
again reminded how glad I am I’m not running for presi- repetition, force and regularity. The methods were not yet
dent this year. Hard training, smart eating and the basic analyzed, overintellectualized and named. I guess the popular
truths go right out the window. Strategy meetings, fund-rais- training MO among the original Gold’s champs was volume
ers and basic deceptions take their places. Not that I couldn’t training: three exercises per muscle group, reps in the 12, 10,
fix the mess, but the stress...and resulting catabolism. 8, 6 range, with max-power reps thrown in when the urge
I note mouse-size tooth marks on the edge of a faded was unstoppable. Each muscle group was trained compat-
meal-replacement wrapper, the content of which is rock-hard ibly twice a week and the gym visited at least five of the seven
and long past its 1999 expiration date. While contemplating days. Squats and deadlifts counted big time, and supersets
whether to keep, discard or eat the relic, a vaguely familiar were plentiful. Heavy dumbbells had a special place in our
voice from behind me asks if we might continue the conversa- hearts.
tion we started months ago. One generally amped his training in the spring and summer
It’s the guy who journeys biweekly to the unemployment and powered it in the fall and winter.
office to negotiate his compensation, as old and satisfying as Q: Describe the diet you used back in those
my mousey energy bar. “Anybody sitting here, Mr. Draper?” days.
Referring to me as Mr. Draper does not win him points. A: If you sat down with us after a workout at our favorite
Sitting back and crossing his legs, he asks his first of a Marina cafe, you’d see us order hamburger patties and eggs,
series of aimless questions: home fries and whole-wheat toast. Our diets were high protein
Q: What were the popular training methods used with an accent on meat and milk products, medium carbs
back in the ’60s? with plenty of salad and fresh fruits and medium fats with no
fried food or junk.
With me, some things never change.
Q: How long would bodybuilders train back then?
A: There was a season for hard training and a season for
harder training. The average time in the gym was 90 to 120
minutes, five days a week. When contest preparation loomed
(spring, summer and early fall), training twice a day was a
common practice for the guys. That added another hour to
the total.
Q: Today people say you risk overtraining if you
train beyond one hour, but back then guys rou-
tinely lifted for two hours or more, yet got amazing
results. How would you explain the progress that
was made under these circumstances?
A: I don’t see how a competitor can make progress with
much less. Overtraining can be a problem, and it must be
monitored closely. Training to the edge isn’t the most health-
ful method of training, but it is the only method for a superior
championship physique.
Q: Was cardio used as often as it is today?
A: You hardly ever saw cardio training in our neighborhood.
There was no stationary bike to mount at the gym, no tread-
mill for miles and miles, and the other swell gadgets (ellipticals,
steppers, goofy gofers) were yet to be invented.
Q: How did people respond to Arnold when he
arrived at Gold’s for the first time?
A: People in Venice in the ’60s weren’t easily excited. The
kicked-back nature of the stony beach community influenced
our reception of Arnold. Besides, bodybuilding was yet a nov-
elty, an anomaly, remember? A half-pint in a rolled-up brown

paper bag.
“Arnold, he’s the big kid with muscles and an odd accent Habits
from Europe. He won bodybuilding contests over there, Ger-
many, I think, and dresses funny. Looks like he learned to lift at
Camp Munich.” We liked him, helped him, taught him by not
Eat to Save
teaching him and watched him grow and grow.
H
The rumble you heard in the background was bodybuilding unger may
in its early stages of takeoff…five, four, three, two, one… cause you to
Q: I have seen some great photos of you and Ar-
nold training together. How influential was Arnold spend more
in your training and bodybuilding progress? money. In a recent
A: Arnold was impressive then, almost as impressive as
now. I was a loner who, like a wolf, knew and trusted and study from the National
tended his own territory. I could live beside a good man with- University of Singa-
out doubt, envy or antagonism. Arnold was a strong force,
and his energy and drive were infectious. His training at first pore, women who were
was clumsy—nothing to emulate—and gained grace and exposed to the smell
meaning day by day.
He and I and the rest of the small mob fed on each other of baked goods spent
generously. Our unity was evident, as were our developing more money on expensive items than those who
training styles and individuality. Intensity begets intensity, and
our wills to win rose to the surface like helium-filled life pre- weren’t. About 65 percent of the women who
servers. were exposed felt the need to splurge, despite a
Q: What was life in general like for bodybuilders
back then? tight budget. Only about 15 percent of those who
A: I never thought of myself as a bodybuilder. The term didn’t get the aroma wanted to spend carelessly.
never rolled off my lips with affection. The early lifters from
Muscle Beach were no fonder of the term than I. We were, Lesson: Have a filling meal or protein drink before
we are, weight lifters—people who lift weights. Bodybuilder you hit the mall.
has a connotation as likable as mercenary when speaking of
soldiers, or camper when referring to explorers or star-gazing —Becky Holman
when discussing astronomy.
Who knows? Maybe they hung at the beach and waited
for life to happen. You’d have to be one to know. I trained
hard and slipped out the back door, applied myself to forming
wood and lived a simple life. Sleep
Q: What kind of clothing did you wear in the gym
and on the street? Was there a specific dress style
for bodybuilders?
No Phone, Better Snoozing
A: Few of us were fancy dressers on the street and cer-
tainly not in the gym. Think T-shirt, tank top, sweatshirt and
R
esearchers at Wayne State University in
flannel shirt and jeans. We wore our clothes hard and adjusted
them to fit as needed and for comfort. The gear came later as Detroit have found that using your cell
the industry expanded. phone before bed can interfere with sleep.
We wore layers in the winter and shed them as the work-
outs warmed up; sweatshirts and T-shirts often lost their It appears that the low-level radiation emitted by
sleeves in the middle of a workout if needed. It was cool cell phones re-
to see the bulk and muscle bulging through the well-worn
clothes, but it was not the main source of entertainment. duces the secre-
There was work to do. tion of melatonin,
Speaking of which, this is my stop, and you should get a
job. Come to think of it, I should get a job. a hormone that
A job? Is that anything like work? And when would I take helps induce
off, fly, soar and glide?
If anybody asks, you haven’t seen me lately…better yet, tell sleep. Lesson:
’em I’m busy… Turn off your cell
—Dave Draper
phone at least an
Editor’s note: For more from Dave hour before bed-
Draper, visit www.DaveDraper.com and
sign up for his free newsletter. You can time.
also check out his amazing Top Squat —Becky
training tool, classic photos, workout
Q&A and forum. Holman

MIND/BODY BodySpace Physique of the Month MIND/BODY
John Perry
U
.S. Navy Petty Officer Third Class John Perry went
to sea in 2003 and became one of the first crew
members of the USS Momsen, a guided missile
destroyer. That job has enabled him to see Australia, Hong
Kong, Malaysia and Guam and go through the Panama
Canal. It also enabled him to get serious about lifting in
2006—when he cruised across BodyBuilding.com.
John was interested in working out, as were many of
the crew, but when he found BodySpace, he discovered
a place where people could share their interest in getting
Photography by Ian Sitren \ SecondFocus

into better shape. John found articles about how to lift and
how to build muscle—and he got answers to his questions
about supplements.
“We would be offshore, and the heli would come in with
the mail with as many as 100 boxes, all from BodyBuilding
.com—only three days after placing an order. Other com-
panies would take forever.”
John is looking forward to doing
his first show. He’s lifting hard and
loves it. He especially likes to work
arms, shoulders, chest and back
at least three times every week.
His diet is clean, but he knows
he has to tighten it up to be on-
stage. Protein from Muscle Milk
and VyoTech 17HD are among
his favorite supplements. Beyond
his aspirations of getting bigger
and getting onstage, he one day
hopes to open a gym.
What else makes it fun for
John? He often works out with
his wife, Jamie, and they are ex-
pecting their first child any
moment. For more on John,
check out his BodySpace,
“john22perry,” on Body
Building.com.
—Ian Sitren
Editor’s note: For more

BodySpace bodies and info,
visit Bodybuilding.com.

MIND/BODY New Stuff
Drink During Your Workout
S
TS’s GlycoNitric
was developed
as an in-workout
supplement. What does
“in-workout” mean? It
means that you should
drink GlycoNitric while
you’re working out. Gly-
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a low-glycemic-index car-
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For more information, visit www.sts-sports.com,
or call (800) 275-6079.
Stress
Mind Over Matters
B
odybuilders know that
stress can inhibit mus-
cle growth, primarily
due to the release of cortisol, a
stress hormone that also sup-
presses the immune system.
New research, however, sug-
gests that it’s not so much the
stress as how you perceive it.
Some people don’t suffer any
negative effects from stress
but instead tend to thrive on
it—a hectic life invigorates
them. If you feel stress nega-
tively, however, you’re probably not one of those few and should
take steps to reduce life’s stresses. Daily meditation is one way—
and yes, long walks and light workouts can count as meditative
activities that relieve stress.
—Becky Holman

MIND/BODY Book Review MIND/BODY
MIND/BODY
The Secret By Rhonda Byrne
the information off
A
ccord-
ing to with a laugh. He
the item finished the book
titled “Mind Over in two days and
Medicine” that decided to try the
recently appeared advice. He began
in IRON MAN, 45 visualizing the spot
percent of primary on his foot peeling
care physicians away like a scab.
have given pa- He used that visu-
tients placebos. alization technique
The reason is that every night before
if patients believe bed. Result: It
that something peeled off after five
they’re taking will days, just as he
improve their condition, the condi- had visualized. We were amazed,
tion often improves. It’s a case of and we cancelled the dermatologist
the mind controlling the body—and appointment.
that’s essentially what The Secret by That’s not to say you can cure
Rhonda Byrne is about. disease or that you should attempt
In bodybuilding you often hear to self-treat serious conditions with
the phrase, “Believe and you will visualization instead of doctor-
achieve.” No doubt you’ve read prescribed medication or surgery.
the stories of Arnold imagining his It’s just an anecdote to show you
biceps as huge, peaked mountains. the power your mind has to make
Making things happen, including things happen.
physical changes, has a lot to do On the flip side, having negative
with your heartfelt beliefs and men- beliefs or a bad-luck disposition
tal images. can make bad things happen. Ever
The Secret is full of testimonials hear of a self-fulfilling prophecy?
from people explaining how believ- How about a psychosomatic ill-
ing something would happen made ness? We’ve all known people who
it so—everything from curing bad thought they were cursed—and
eyesight to getting parking spaces sure enough, bad things happened
close to the entrance of a shopping to them over and over. Was it the
center. While a lot of the aligning- universe aligning to fulfill the mind’s
the-universe-to-make-your-life-bet- visualization? The Secret says ab-
ter rhetoric is rather esoteric, I’ve solutely.
seen it in action. Many of those quoted in the book
My husband recently showed tell of how they created fortunes by
me a slightly raised brown spot on believing and acting as if it had al-
his foot. Our dermatologist recently ready occurred. Go back to that last
told us to watch for strange mole- sentence and substitute “muscular
like growths on our feet and legs, as physiques” for “fortunes.” Have you
that’s often where melanoma, the ever laughed at the skinny guy in
fatal skin cancer, starts. We were the gym hitting poses and acting
concerned. After three months it as if his physique was 250 pounds
hadn’t gone away, so he decided of raw muscle? Maybe he was on
to make an appointment with the to something. Believe and you will
dermatologist. As fate would have achieve. It’s something to take seri-
it, I had given him The Secret to ously if you want to reach your goals
read, even though he’s quite a in the gym and in life.
skeptic, and I knew he might shrug —Becky Holman

MIND/BODY Heart Health MIND/BODY
Postworkout Cardio
A
number
of writers
in IRON
MAN have recom-
mended doing
cardio after you
train with weights
rather than before.
The reason is
that lifting clears
the bloodstream
of sugar so you
tap into fat stores
almost immedi-
ately when you
hit the treadmill.
Now a study out
of Japan says that
doing cardio after
weights also helps lower blood pressure, which tends to be higher
after lifting. The postworkout cardio made blood vessels more elas-
tic, which is a good thing, especially for older trainees.
—Becky Holman
www.Home-Gym.com
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MIND/BODY Health and Aging
Juice Prevents Clogged Arteries
J
uices made from apples or purple grapes— The amount of fruit the hamsters consumed
and the fruits themselves—protect against was equivalent to three apples or three bunches
developing clogged arteries, suggests a study of grapes daily for a human. Hamsters given juice
that was reported in Molecular Nutrition and Food got the equivalent of four glasses daily for a person
Research. Researchers fed hamsters the fruit and weighing 70 kilograms, or 154 pounds.
juice or water, plus a fatty diet. The animals who got The apples and grapes had about the same phe-
the grape juice had the lowest risk of developing nol content, while the purple grape juice had 2.5
artery problems. times more phenols than apple juice.
The University of Montpellier research team says Compared with animals given water, those given
the juice’s benefits come from its high levels of phe- fruit or fruit juice had lower cholesterol counts, less
nols, which are antioxidants. Antioxidants in various oxidative stress and less fat accumulation in their
foods have been regularly cited as being beneficial to aorta, the main vessel supplying oxygenated blood
heart health. to the body.
The French researchers looked at how juicing Purple grape juice had the greatest effect, followed
by purple grapes, apple juice and
apples. The researchers say their
findings suggest that the amount of
phenols contained in a food has a
direct effect on its antioxidant prop-
erties. They also point out that other
antioxidant compounds in the fruits,
such as vitamin C and carotenoids,
could contribute to their effects as
well.
The team, led by Kelly Decorde,
says that the findings “provide
encouragement that fruit and fruit
juices may have a significant clini-
cal and public health relevance.”
—Dr. Bob Goldman
www.WorldHealth.net
Editor’s note: For the latest

information and
research on
affected the phenol content of fruit—because most health and aging, subscribe to the
studies look at raw fruit. They then looked at how American Academy of Anti-Aging
various kinds of fruit affected the hamsters’ risk of Medicine e-zine free at World-
atherosclerosis—the buildup of fatty plaque depos- Health.net.
its in the arteries that can lead to heart attacks or
strokes.

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 READER
Readers Write
Letters
Iron Bug Venom In Awe Frank

Zane, 65.
Why do I got your Ageless Muscle
we pump issue [June ’08] and was
iron? Because blown away by Frank Zane’s
we have no photos. The man is 65 with
choice. I was the physique of a 35-year-
bitten by the old. Amazing. I know for
iron bug at a fact that he never had
the age of 15. stellar genetics for build-
I wanted to ing muscle, so to look the
be big like my way he does now is quite
favorite pro- an accomplishment. Keep
fessional wres- pumping, Frank!
tlers, Brutus Jerry Thatcher
Beefcake and via Internet
The Magnifi-
cent Moraco. I
used to think
Brainum Is
bodybuilders
looked dis-
the Bomb
gusting. Who I want to thank Jerry Brainum for his article on
wanted to branched-chain amino acids [“Branching Out for More
walk around Muscle,” June ’08]. I’ve been telling young bodybuilders at
with half their my gym that BCAAs are one of the most important supple-
veins pop- ments for building muscle, and most of them shrugged me
ping out everywhere? Not me, that’s for sure—that is, until off as old school. Now I’ve got research-backed ammuni-
I saw the November 1989 IRON MAN. Eddie Robinson was tion, thanks to Mr. Brainum. That article also taught me
on the cover, and he changed my whole world around—he that BCAAs not only build muscle but help burn fat and
was huge, cut and, most importantly, veiny. He had a look support anabolic hormones as well. Great info.
that I wanted. I was 19 at the time; I’m 38 now. I’ve been Sandro Melia
pumping iron off and on for 23 years. Try as I might, I can’t Miami, FL
purge the venom the iron bug injected into my system, nor
do I ever want to. I’m well on my way to creating a physique
that would blow that 19-year-old kid’s mind, and I owe it all
Exploding Muscle Size
to IRON MAN. Thank you for always being there for me. A few months ago I bought the e-books Ultimate Mass
James Davis Workout and Beyond X-Rep Muscle Building [at X-Rep
Pittsburg, CA .com]. I had been working out for a year without getting
much bigger. I’m 5’8”, 150 pounds, and I had some decent
Nancy Editor’s note: We’re muscle, but I had 11-inch arms, and my pecs were barely
Georges. proud to have inspired noticeable. I started with the Ultimate Mass Workout for
another dedicated lifter. By six weeks, and then I did the X-Rep Hybrid Program for six
the way, the antidote for weeks. My whole body exploded! I can’t thank you enough
iron bug venom is mara- for those programs. My body is so ripped now that some-
thon running. times I have trouble believing that it’s the one I started
with! Plus, my pecs are now one of my best bodyparts, with
14-inch arms to match. Thank you!
Gorgeous Bryan Marx
St. Louis, MO
Georges Editor’s note: Three inches on your arms in only a few
My photo session with months and a new armor-plated chest? We’re impressed! Keep
Michael Neveux was awe- training hard. For more information on X Reps and X-hybrid
some. He is great to work mass-training tactics, visit www.X-Rep.com.
with, and I was thrilled with
the results. I really had a Vol. 67, No. 9: IRON MAN (ISSN #0047-1496) is published monthly by IRON MAN Pub-
great time shooting with lishing, 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
him. Thanks for featuring
Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Please allow six to eight weeks for change to take effect. Subscrip-
me in IRON MAN. tion rates—U.S. and its possessions: new 12-issue subscription, $29.97. Canada, Mexico and
Nancy Georges other foreign subscriptions: 12 issues, $49.97 sent Second Class. Foreign orders must be in
via Internet 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.


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“AMERICAN GLADIATORS” EXCLUSIVE: TITAN’S TRAINING

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