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BUILD MUSCLE • BURN FAT • NO BULLSHIT!
THE WORLD’S
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TRAINING NUTRITION & PERFORMANCE


328 Muscle Form+Function By Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM 104 Research: Training By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
374 Extreme Muscle Enhancement 138 Research: Supplements By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
By Carlon M. Colker, MD, FACN
150 Research: Nutrition By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
380 Iron Mike: The Liberator By Mike Liberatore NEW!
192 Nutrition Performance Leucine Update By Robbie Durand, MA
386 The Predator By Kai Greene
204 Supplement Performance
394 The True Victor By Victor Martinez Potassium Bicarbonate & Egg Protein By Robbie Durand, MA
402 Mass With Class By Branch Warren 368 MuscleTech Research Report
406 Lee Priest Confirmed! By Lee Priest
412 Telling It Like It Is By Shawn Ray NEW! FAT LOSS
422 Branden Ray: Road To The USAs By Branden Ray 116 Research: Fat Loss By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
426 The Big Bad Wolf: The People’s Choice 186 Fat Attack
By Dennis Wolf Arnold Era— Then vs. Now: Fat Loss
By Dan Gwartney, MD
430 Erik ‘The House’ Fankhouser By Erik Fankhouser
436 National Hero By Evan Centopani
440 The Pro Creator By Hany Rambod
DRUGS
160 Research: Drugs By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
444 Contest Guru By Chad Nicholls 182 Future Pharmacy By Douglas S. Kalman, PhD, RD, FACN
448 Trainer of Champions By Charles Glass 310 Testosterone
Arnold Era— Then vs. Now: Anabolics & Adjuncts
By Dan Gwartney, MD
ARNOLD—
PUMPING 342 The “Clear” Chemist By Patrick Arnold
IRON! 354 Anabolic Research Update By William Llewellyn
288 358 The Anabolic Freak By David Palumbo
362 Anabolic Edge By Jose Antonio, PhD
378 Busted! Legal Q&A By Rick Collins, JD

HEALTH & PERFORMANCE


128 Research: Health & Performance
By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
170 Research: Sex By Steve Blechman & Thomas Fahey, EdD
206 Muscle Growth Update By Robbie Durand, MA NEW!

CUTTING 322 Bodybuilding Science


Low-Carb Ketogenic Diets—
EDGE They Burn Fat But What About Muscle?
RESEARCH! By Robbie Durand, MA

350 No Juice Bodybuilding By Eric Broser NEW!


370 Ask The Doc By Victor Prisk, MD NEW!

www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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X-MAN
TRAINING &
DIET SECRETS
262

BRANCH’S PREDATOR KAI


MASSIVE HUNTS FOR
ARNOLD THE ARNOLD
PREP 250 CROWN 238

MD’S INSIDE STACK


30 Editor’s Letter By Steve Blechman
32 Mail Room Where Our Readers Rave & Rant
36 Who’s Hot! By Mike Yurkovic
44 MD People
54 The Romano Factor By John Romano
70 musculardevelopment.com By Gregg Valentino
298 Major Distraction By John Romano
334 Ramblin’ Freak By Gregg Valentino
454 Hot Shoppe By Angela T. Frizalone
456 Web Directory
458 MD Marketplace By Angela T. Frizalone & Manda Machado
486 The Last Word By John Romano SILVIO GUNNING
FOR THE ARNOLD! MAJOR

FEATURES
82 FLEX CRITIQUE VICTOR vs. KAI vs. TONEY By Flex Wheeler
274 DISTRACTION
MAVI! 298

215 2009 ARNOLD CLASSIC PREVIEW VICTOR:


BY FLEX WHEELER, FOUR-TIME ARNOLD CLASSIC WINNER
NOTHING
228 VICTOR MARTINEZ 2009: THE COMEBACK CAN STOP
OF THE DECADE? PART 3: ‘NOTHING CAN STOP ME NOW!’
BY RON HARRIS
ME NOW!
228
238 ‘THE PREDATOR’ HUNTS FOR THE ARNOLD
CROWNTHIS TIME, KAI GREENE IS OUT FOR BLOOD!
BY RON HARRIS
250 BRANCH WARREN’S ‘MASS WITH CLASS’ ARNOLD
PREP BY RON HARRIS
262 TONEY FREEMAN: THE X-MAN
PART 2: LOWER BODY & ARNOLD PLANS BY RON HARRIS
274 ‘THE MATADOR’ MOVES IN FOR THE KILL!
SILVIO SAMUEL IS GUNNING FOR THE ARNOLD BY RON HARRIS
288 ”PUMPING IRON” — THE FILM THAT STARTED IT ALL
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEWS WITH GEORGE BUTLER,
LOU FERRIGNO BY JOHN ROMANO

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 25


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editor’s letter
By Steve Blechman Publisher & Editor-in-Chief

THE
ARNOLD
SPECIAL!
V
ictor Martinez, the 2007 surgery to reconnect his patellar tendon,
Arnold Classic winner, graces Victor seems unstoppable. It should be
this month’s cover of the 21st very exciting to see him comeback and
annual Muscular Development, devot- retake his Arnold Classic crown.
ed totally to the Arnold On page 238, ‘The Predator’ Kai
Schwarzenegger classic. This year, the Greene is also hunting for an Arnold
whole MD team will descend upon crown and he’s out for blood. Kai is
Columbus, Ohio to bring you the best also coming back from an abdominal
coverage we have ever given to a hernia operation. Can this amazing
bodybuilding contest— as we do every monster catch the champ? Has he
year to honor the very best bodybuild- ironed out the mass he added to his
ing has to offer. Our subsequent issue frame? These questions are sure to be
featuring the coverage is just as antici- answered sooner rather than later. One
pated as this preview issue. So, let’s thing for sure is that Kai will bring
get right down to brass tacks. down the house with a posing routine
First, on page 215, four-time Arnold I’m sure you will be talking about for
Classic champion Flex Wheeler runs the rest of the year.
down the preview of the guys in the Page 250 brings you the contest
show and how he thinks they will fare, prep of Mr. Blue-Collar Muscle, Branch
pitted one against the other. Weak Warren. ‘Mass With Cass,’ ‘The People’s
points, strong points, and his predic- Champ’— Branch embodies them all.
tions on where they will place. Then He is a true champion and staunch
we move on to feature the top five devotee of everything hardcore. His
guys who we feel have the best shot appearance in Columbus is sure to
at victory. shock and amaze us. Branch is also
On page 228, Victor Martinez is coming back after a debilitating triceps
poised to make the comeback of the injury and all of our best wishes are
decade. The 2007 winner should have traveling to Ohio with him.
two Mr. Olympia titles under his belt by On page 262, the biggest and bad-
now, but as you know, fate saw it anoth- dest dude in the show, Toney
er way. This year, fighting back from the Freeman— also known to bring down

30 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


the house with a stellar and outra-
geous posing routine— blasts his
lower body and talks about his
plans to do damage at the Arnold.
Toney is the original ‘X-Man’ and Publisher/Editor-In-Chief
Steve Blechman
out of all the competitors onstage,
he casts the greatest shadow. Senior Editor
John Romano
Watch out for Toney Freemen!
‘El Matador’— Silvio Samuel— Senior Science Editor
Robbie Durand, MA
makes an appearance on page 274
with his sword drawn, ready for the Managing Editor
Angela T. Frizalone
kill. He’s not the biggest boy in the
pack, but his superior condition and Creative Director
Alan Dittrich, Jr.
big round
muscle bel- Associate Editor
Alan Golnick
lies have
made many a Associate Art Director
Stephen Kolbasuk
giant run for cover. Silvio is that good. Everyone
Assistant Editor
is waiting to see what he brings to Columbus.
Louise Powell
Finally, on page 288, Senior Editor John
Contributing Editors
Romano sits down with director/photographer
Carlon Colker, M.D.,Thomas Fahey Ph.D.
George Butler and discusses the film that put Dan Gwartney, M.D.
Arnold on the map, “Pumping Iron.” With a spe-
Executive Assistant
cial appearance by ‘Incredible Hulk’ Lou Ferrigno, Michele Gampel
discover what went into the making of the film Photographers
that started it all. Chief Photographer: Per Bernal
Without “Pumping Mike Yurkovic, Dan Ray, Bill Comstock
Iron,” none of us Illustrators
would be heading to Bill Hamilton, Fred Harper, Jerry Beck
Columbus this year! Advertising
Dr. Dan Gwartney’s Advertising Director—Angela T. Frizalone
two columns this (239) 495-6899

month, Testosterone Corporate Office


and Fat Attack, are 800-653-1151, 631-751-9696

both directed at the Circulation Consultants


Irwin Billman & Ralph Pericelli
Arnold era. Both
departments take a To Order a Subscription:
look at anabolics and (888) 841-8007
fat loss during the Customer Service & Subscription Inquiries:
Arnold era, then vs. now. What did competitors (631) 751-9696; 1-800-653-1151
do back then that they don’t do today? Are the Advanced Research Press, Inc. reserves the right to reject any
advertising at its discretion.
competitors taking more drugs now vs. then? Are
MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT (ISSN 0047-8415) is published
the diets more radical today? Did they train hard- monthly by Advanced Research Press, 690 Route 25A,
Setauket, New York, 11733. Copyright ©2008 by Advanced
er back then? Find out in Fat Attack on page 186 Research Press. All rights reserved. Copyright under the
and Testosterone on page 310. Universal Copyright Convention and the International
Copyright Convention. Copyright reserved under the Pan Am
Finally, I want to add a warm MD welcome to 2008 USA champion Copyright. Rate: $49.97 per year (USA); $79.97 per two years
(USA); foreign: $79.97 per year. Nothing appearing in MUS-
Mike Liberatore. His new column starts this month on page 380. CULAR DEVELOPMENT may be reprinted, either wholly or in
part, without the written consent of the publisher. Send edito-
Welcome aboard, Mike! rial submissions to: MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT, 690 Route
That about does it for this 21st annual Arnold Classic special preview 25A, Setauket, New York, 11733. Stamped, self-addressed
envelope must accompany all submissions, and no responsi-
issue. The rest of the book is packed as always with the best cutting- bility can be assumed for unsolicited submissions. All letters,
photos, manuscripts, etc. sent to MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT
edge research information, news and entertainment on building the will be considered as intended for publication, and MUSCU-
LAR DEVELOPMENT reserves the right to edit and/or com-
body of your dreams by the very best our industry has to offer. We’re off ment. Periodical postage paid at Setauket, N.Y. 11733, and at
to Columbus! See you next month. Glasgow, KY 42141. Postmaster: Send address changes to
MUSCULAR DEVELOPMENT, Box 834, East Setauket, NY
11733-9704. Advertising Office Phone: (239) 495-6899.
Cover photos of Victor Martinez and Mavi Gioia are by Per Bernal PRINTED IN USA

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 31


www.fantamag.com
mailroom
Hardcore Special
Awesome issue with Metroflex Gym and all the guys who call this place
home [Hardcore Special, February 2008]. This is the way training is supposed to
be: no-bullshit, kick-ass and not always pretty. Too many gyms are becoming
sissy hangouts where everything has to be neat and clean. It’s like being in a
museum, not a gym. Don’t curse…don’t drop your weights…wipe down the
benches…give me a f***ing break! And some of those members never shut up.
They exercise their mouths more than any other body part. You just want to
bitch-slap them, but that would get you kicked out of the gym.
Ron Paulson, e-mail

Major Distraction
The women of MD’s Major Distraction are the hottest women on the plan-
et! Each month is a smorgasbord of boobs, booty and personality. My all-time
favorite is Alicia Marie. Sizzling hot, oh so fine and with a wicked sense of
humor. I’ve seen tons of pictures of her, and the lady is beauty and strength
personified. Alicia couldn’t take a bad picture if she tried. That girl would look
gorgeous after she walked through a wind tunnel!
Marvin Patterson, e-mail

King Ronnie In Iraq


My name is Staff Sgt. Callahan. My buddy, Cpl.
Dewoody and I found a painting of Ronnie ‘King’
Coleman while we were on patrol and we figured
Victor’s we would send it to our bible, MD. We just want to
The Man get a chance to get our picture in our favorite publi-
I’m psyched about Victor cation. After being in Iraq for over a year, this was
making his comeback at the the coolest thing we ran into while on patrol and we
Arnold. I know he’ll mop had to share it with you guys. Thanks for being
the floor with the rest of the there, MD.
guys in the show. From Staff Sgt. Callahan, e-mail
what I’ve seen of him from
the photos in MD, Victor
has never looked better.
He’s bigger, leaner and
more determined than ever.
Victor, you ‘da man!
Ronald Bixby, e-mail

Ask The Doc


One of my favorite columns in MD is “Ask the Doc” with Victor
Prisk. The doctor gives very practical and useful advice—not just to
professional bodybuilders, but also to anyone who works out and
might get injured. He’s very careful (and smart) to tell people to see
their own doctor, while he discusses issues that might affect many
lifters. Nobody likes to get hurt, but if you train regularly it’s bound
to happen sooner or later. It’s good to know that Doctor Prisk and
MD are in my corner, and there is somewhere I can go for help if
and when I need it.
Vincent Tarangula, e-mail

32 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
WHO’s HOT! Photographed by Mike Yurkovic

Enyta Romo: Aerial Acrobat,


California, USA
Ali Olson: NPC Figure Athlete,
Colorado, USA

36 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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March 2009
www.musculardevelopment.com

Desunka Dawson: NPC Figure


Athlete, Texas, USA
ntamag.com

Alecia Rankovic: NPC Figure


Athlete, Arizona, USA
MD 37

Britt Miller: NPC Bodybuilder,


North Carolina, USA
WHO’s HOT!

Kimberly Isom: Figure


Athlete, Georgia, USA
Athlete, South Carolina, USA
Tiffany Rabon: NPC Figure

38 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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Enyta Romo: Aerial Acrobat,
California, USA

March 2009
www.musculardevelopment.com
Huong Vo: NPC Figure

ww
Athlete, Arizona, USA

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Arina Manta: IFBB Figure

MD 39
Pro, Australia
By TEAM MD
CHECK OUT

MDPeople
MUSCULARDEVELOPMENT.COM
FOR COM ET
CONTEST COPL E
VERAGE!

Team MD presents highlights from the 2008 Arnold Classic!

44 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 45
www.fantamag.com
CHECK OUT

MDPeople MUSCULARDEVELOPMENT.COM
FOR COM ET
CONTEST COPL E
VERAGE!

46 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 47
www.fantamag.com
CHECK OUT

MDPeople MUSCULARDEVELOPMENT.COM
FOR COM ET
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VERAGE!

48 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 49
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THE WAY I SEE IT

TheRomano
Factor By John Romano

500-WORD SUBMISSION FROM


THE MD ONLINE CREW…
This month we are starting off with a special treat: a winning submission from a woman!That’s right, our very own
FitAdina becomes our first-ever female winner of the contest— and about time, too! Not only was Adina the first woman
to ever win the contest, but her submission won by the greatest margin. She captured a whopping 53 percent of the votes
with her essay, Proud To Be Misunderstood.
Proud To Be Misunderstood
I remember being scared to walk into my gym the first time. Actually, I felt physical-
ly ill just stepping through those doors. After years of judging people with visible mus-
cle, I now aspired to be one. But bodybuilders are frequently misunderstood. I had lost
50 pounds before I got brave enough to head to the gym. I knew the minute I walked
through the doors, I would be judged. I thought all heads would turn and stare at the
short, fat woman entering the room. It was their turn to judge me the way I had judged
them for years. I remember picking up magazines like MD and putting them quickly
back down, mumbling, “That is freaky and gross. Who would choose to do that to
themselves?” But in my journey to lose weight, I began weekly trips to the bookstore
for inspiration. I started with Shape, slowly progressing through all the publications
before graduating to MD. One Friday night I was feeling particularly sorry for myself.
“No one has to work as hard as I do to look the way I want to look.” Thumbing through
MD brought me to a picture of Markus Ruhl squatting under a weight heavier than I
will ever know. Veins bulging. Eyes straining. Sweat pouring. He was certainly working
harder than I was to look the way he wanted to look. Then came the realization,
“Everyone in here is working harder than me. Every single person.” When I had turned up my nose all those times, I was
jealous. Jealous of the hard work and dedication those people possessed. While I was struggling to move from morbidly
obese to just obese, they were taking it to a level that only existed in my dreams. In that instant I knew it. “I must join a
gym.” But after years of judging others, I was afraid of setting foot in a gym. Hadn’t they earned the right to say, “What are
YOU doing here?” Hadn’t I turned up my nose long enough to take what was coming to me? But that never happened. Not
once did anyone say to me, “What are YOU doing here?” They all KNEW why I was there! I weighed over 200 pounds.
Where else would I be but in a gym working it off? Time passed. I got the weight off. And sometimes I think those guys were
happier for me than I was for myself. In any good gym there is a community that becomes like a second family. If anyone
were to hurt me, 15 guys from my gym would descend on them in an instant. But they would have done that when I was still
overweight. They embraced me right away for working so hard to make goal. A coworker stopped me not long ago to say,
“You’ve worked out too long. Your shoulders are too broad.” She didn’t understand why I smiled.
I am one of the misunderstood, and I am proud of it.

THE WAY I SEE IT, Adina’s submission is one of those works that transcends the bounds of ‘writing.’ Her essay is one that
you read oblivious to sentence structure, syntax and punctuation— you simply ‘hear’ what it says. Loud and clear. For me, this
is another of our members’ submissions to which I can easily relate.
As some of you may know, I started bodybuilding because I was a fat kid. Cruelty from the other kids prevented me from
becoming morbidly obese, but it was the gym that got me out of the fat body and into the fit one. So, I can really relate to
Adina’s story. What’s most remarkable about her transformation is that she knew absolutely nothing about this sport. I mean,
she started out on NutriSystem! It was a picture of Markus Ruhl in MD that motivated Adina to get to the gym!
Now Adina is a permanent fixture in her gym, as well as in our online community; she’s a true inspiration. She’s always
offering encouragement to people who face difficult issues— and not just about weight loss. I can’t tell you how many times
I’ve read her words of encouragement to others and marveled at the depth of her sensitivity. I’m really glad she decided to
enter this contest and I’m grateful that her story is being published. Adina proves what Mr. G always says: Never give up,
Never give up, Never give up!

54 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
50,000
covering relevant topics ranging staff of dedicated moderators. In any

In December 2008, muscu-


lardevelopment.com forums
exceeded my expectations and
from diet, nutrition, contest prep,
health, drugs, supplements, psychol-
ogy, cooking, sex, religion, relation-
community, the cream usually rises
to the top. Our case is no exception;
our forums are completely self-run,
passed the 50,000-member mark ship issues and politics. And, of with little to no overseeing by the
st
before the predicted 1 of January, course there is the pit. You can inter- MD staff. Our forum leaders, moder-
2009. This represents a quantum act with some of the industry’s ators, senior and super moderators
accomplishment, especially in light biggest stars, scientists, researchers, have established a chain of
of the fact that getbig.com, rife with gurus, amateur command and they enforce a
multiple gimmick accounts (MD.com simple set of rules that were
has special software instigated from the very
that detects gimmick beginning. This has success-
accounts and blocks fully accomplished the
them) can only boast desired effect— a free space
23,000 members, while to respectfully discuss and dis-
having been around four and pro seminate news and ideas with no
times as long. I bring this athletes, as well as seek censorship and no reprisal for
up because it was the advice from prominent members of speaking your mind.
douche bags over there who said we the community on just about any MD.com has become the go-to
wouldn’t last six months. topic. There is an outlet pertaining to place on the Internet to find the truth
We have achieved these numbers just about everything, including you seek regarding any aspect of
because we don’t tolerate bullshit. hotly-debated topics by intelligent, bodybuilding, fitness and figure
Unlike other boards, the vast majori- competent members (some of them along with the most complete and
ty of our members are actually prac- trainers), industry bigwigs, and even in-depth contest coverage, photo
ticing bodybuilders— men and the boss of all bosses himself. galleries and interviews— both on
women— plus an assortment of THE WAY I SEE IT, the success MDTV and No Bull Radio.
accomplished fitness and figure of the MD.com community is due in Musculardevelopment.com has
girls. The MD forums host a vast and large part to the manner in which become a world unto itself and
intricately diverse subject matter the community is maintained by the everyone is welcome!

NO MD BOOTH AT THE
ARNOLD CLASSIC
Y ou read that right. Intense meetings with the Boss
of all Bosses have put to rest the issue once and for
all for 2009. As you cruise the expo floor this year, don’t
Saturday, between covering prejudging, interviews, the
videos we shot, then getting back over for the evening
finals and covering the after-parties, Palumbo and I sub-
bother asking directions to the MD booth. There won’t be sisted on protein bars and goat whey. We scavenged from
one. If someone does give you directions, be wary. booths we knew— can you imagine the gas? We spent all
Now, I wouldn’t take this as a bad thing. The costs of 12 minutes at the MD booth and didn’t get to bed until
involved in acquiring, staffing and running a MD-worthy 5 in the morning, because we were putting up videos,
booth at the Arnold are pretty big— and it runs us pictures and articles on the website. MD will be at the
ragged. We’re not selling anything but good will. We feel Arnold this year in force, covering the show the right way.
we can do better by you if we concentrate on doing what We just won’t be stuck in one spot on the expo floor.
we do best— covering the show. MD is a news organiza- Remember, the Arnold is much more than a booth at
tion and contest coverage is what we do best. Our the expo— especially to us!
resources and energies are put to better use covering the Speaking of Arnold, an idea came to me the other day.
show rather than putting one on. So our absence at the I’ve been watching the news, trying to digest Obama’s
expo is no shade. We are there to cover the show and you gazillion-dollar stimulus package and wondering about
will be getting the best coverage from MD that you can the other economic problems America faces and just
get anywhere. what the incoming administration plans on doing about
THE WAY I SEE IT, this is the best use of our valuable them. Well, I’m sorry to tell you, folks— I don’t see it get-
resources. Last year, I had people stopping by the booth ting better. If anything, it’s going to get worse, much
to see me and I was never there. Why? Because I was run- worse— at least as far as our own pockets are concerned.
ning around with Palumbo, covering shit. We ran our- Unfortunately, we have no choice now but to let this dis-
selves into the ground doing too many things at once. On aster run its course. Then we are going to need…

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 55


The Way I See It—Romano Factor

ARNOLD FOR PRESIDENT!


Arnold becoming governor of
California during the recall election
was no accident. He ran for governor
just like he competed for the Mr.
Olympia. Failure was not only not an
option— it just didn’t exist in his mind.
It is widely known among those of use
who are familiar with Arnold the body-
builder that Arnold stepped onstage
knowing he won— not because Joe
Weider was pulling any strings, but
because he was convinced of it. He
was only showing up to pick up his
Sandow. A mere formality. His victory
preceded him because he also con-
vinced everyone else he had won
before he even stepped onstage.
In the race for governor, amid accu-
sations of multiple gropings and his
stand-up guy public apology— along
with his appearance on Oprah where
his wife Maria told the mostly female
audience how he brings her coffee in
bed— Arnold bobbed and waved and
ran a meticulous campaign, with every
step carefully calculated. He was
always thinking three moves ahead.
He did it with guile and sagacity and
“My fellow Americans, during the course without slinging mud— unlike his fat
of this administration, ask not what your girly-man opponents.
Of course Arnold won— who could
country can do for you, but ask how ever doubt it?You can bet Arnold
many reps you can do for your country!” didn’t. He just showed up on election
night to make the speech he’d been
y now Barack Hussein Obama has complicated for a mere mortal to rehearsing for days, if not weeks.

B been sworn in as our nation’s 44


president. And many of you are
still scratching your heads thinking,
th
resolve. We need someone bigger,
stronger, smarter, more convincing.
Someone who knows the meaning of
So, now that he is in the twilight
of his governorship, rumors are
floating around that he’s thinking
“What the hell did we do?” I believe hard work, setting goals, enduring about the White House. If you step
before long the rest of you will be say- hardship and setting a good example, back and look at the whole Arnold
ing the same thing. Whatever travesty far beyond that of any ordinary politi- story as it has been so far written,
the democrats— lead by Obama— will cian. Building up Barack Obama in you’d have to agree that a couple of
inevitably spread across the country front of John McCain was like building terms as president of the United
and suck out of our wallets, I blame up Mother Teresa in front of Attila the States is pretty much a required
the Republicans. How is it possible Hun. He won because his competition chapter. Arnold loves power!
that out of all the competent, brilliant was horribly weak. As soon as Obama Obviously there are obstacles in his
minds that call this country home, the is out of the White House, we are way. The first thing Arnold needs to
best they could put up there is an old, going to need someone to build us terminate is that pesky little detail in
tired, ex-Vietnam POW, with old ideas back up— who better than a body- the U.S. Constitution which basically
and the personality of the middle of a builder? We’re going to need Arnold. limits those qualified to run for presi-
doughnut? The question is not if he’ll be able to dent to those having been born in the
Obama won by default and now fix the country— of course he will— U.S.A. If Arnold is going to be presi-
we are going to pay dearly. The mess the question is, can he become dent, then the Constitution will have to
this country is in is too vast and too Commander-in-Chief? be amended.

56 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
The Way I See It—Romano Factor
When you think of it, such a into the U.S. Senate. Once he gets cares about some aberrant camel jock-
requirement is kind of odd. there, the job of amending the eys in the Middle East, when America
Technically, the only real Americans Constitution becomes almost a slam- is going to get in shape with Arnold?
residing among us are the Native dunk, especially if the Democrats con- He’d continue his speech focusing
Americans whose ancestors met comitantly do what they always do— on what’s important. “The obesity epi-
Christopher Columbus on the beach. tax and spend. I know it’s a long shot, demic is out of control in this country.
In reality, the rest of us came from but as Lou Ferrigno says, “If anyone Obesity is costing the health care
whence those first boats came. can do it, Arnold can.” industry billions of dollars a year in
Indeed, to be born in the great U.S.A. OK, so while I’m dreaming, let’s say obesity-related illnesses. For America
makes you an American. Several gen- all of this gets accomplished and it’s to succeed, nutrition as it is must
erations of you may have also been 2012 or 2016 and Arnold is getting change! Our bodies must be strong, to
born in America and thus strengthen sworn in as the next president. Just build a strong nation and as president
your claim; however, it’s safe to say picture that! A young bodybuilder who it will be my first priority to get you
that, at some point, your progenitors came over here with $20 in his pocket into shape!” Just imagine the motiva-
climbed out of the ooze on the other ends up winning five Mr. Universes tion such a speech would instill!
side of the pond. How come we never and seven Mr. Olympias, then is cast “Before I address a single foreign
elect a Native American president? as an action hero and becomes an policy issue, before we overhaul social
Probably because we’d all get our international superstar, raking in the security or reform the IRS or bail out
asses exiled back to Europe, Africa, highest paycheck in acting history. another industry or do anything to
Asia, the Middle East, etc. Then he uses shrewd business acu- stimulate the economy, you must stim-
So, why can’t a guy who came over men to parlay his movie paychecks ulate your metabolism! You must get
here from Austria become successful into a billion-dollar empire; then he in shape!Your stomachs are too fat!”
and then get elected president of the marries a Kennedy, gets elected gover- In reality, fiscal policies are one
country which provided him with such nor of California, becomes a US thing, but how is America going to
an incredible opportunity? What better Senator and then gets elected presi- dig itself out of anything if no one
way to give back to the country that dent of the United States! can lift a shovel? “So,” Arnold would
offered him such a bounty, than to Can you imagine Arnold’s inaugural say, “my fellow Americans, during
offer to run it successfully for substan- address? It would be on every radio the course of this administration, ask
tially less than his time is worth? station, TV station, Web cast, palmtop, not what your country can do for
The state of California has the you name it— in color with digital sur- you, but ask how many reps you can
world’s fifth-largest economy. By the round sound— maybe even a holo- do for your country!”
time Arnold wrestled it from the evil graphic image! Arnold’s first words as The inspiration Arnold would instill
clutches of the incompetent Gray president would resonate through the would foster a new sense of purpose
Davis it was a mess. Ever since then, eardrums of several billion people in for the entire nation. We wouldn’t be
he has been coming up with novel real time; the rest of the world would building dams or bridges, space sta-
ideas and new approaches to lure hear them a little later. tions or visiting other planets. We
business back to California, generate I could just imagine him saying, would be staying home to get in shape
other sources of revenue and ease “My fellow Americans, this is the and build our bodies and Arnold
the burden of the taxpayers. Arnold is greatest country in the entire world!” Schwarzenegger would be America’s
just what the entire country needs Throngs of hopeful and energized citi- personal trainer. How cool would that
now and will probably need even zens would erupt in applause. When be? Would it work? It would if Arnold
more after Obama gets done breaking the cheering died down, Arnold would wanted it to; not since Teddy Roosevelt
all his campaign promises. That’s not continue, “But you are all too soft! We has America been united and motivat-
to say that Arnold is perfect. For are the richest country in the world ed to rebuild itself. After Obama, we
instance, he tried a heavy cigarette and 75 percent of you have the worst are going to need to feel good about
tax like they did in NY and ran the nutrition. Look at you! You are fat and something. It might as well start with
price of smokes up to $7 a pack. It unhealthy and unmotivated! You need what we see in the mirror.
worked for a while, then people start- to go to the chym. You need to work The moment Columbus’ foot
ed to realize that for three bucks more out! As president, I want to make it our touched down on this side of the
they could be smoking crack. goal before this decade is out that world, he sowed the seed of the great
Be that as it may, I think Arnold’s every man, woman and child will be American dream. In the following 600
conservative fiscal ideology is going to training in the gym for at least an hour years many, many would follow him
be even more important in the post- a day, five days a week! This is what chasing that dream, filling up this
Obama economy; even more so if Maria and I do every day with the chil- country with talented, dedicated,
Hillary ever gets in. For the good of the dren and we love it.” industrious foreigners eager for the
entire country, the next moves in You could believe it because Arnold opportunity the New World offered.
Arnold’s chess game are crucial. He is a man who puts his health and his Inevitably, our history would
needs to get out of California and family first. And what a relevant become checkered by the achieve-
make it to Washington— and probably domestic issue this is today! Who ments of extraordinary immigrants

58 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
The Way I See It—Romano Factor
who left their indelible mark on histo- America needs Arnold to be presi- from now, Arnold will be 69— five
ry. We all have our favorites, be they dent less for his policies, his ability years younger than John McCain
industrialists, political leaders, scien- as a leader, his fiscal expertise, his was when he made his bid for the
tists, artists or entertainers. morals or his mass appeal, but White House. While the ‘That’s too
Regardless of what brought them because in no other country in the old to be president,’ objection may
their notoriety, certain Americans will world could it be said that a muscle- have been valid for a war-torn former
forever be a part of our history. The head could land on her shore with POW, it’s not valid for a bodybuilder.
biography of President Arnold $20 in his pocket and end up running At 69, Arnold will just be hitting his
Schwarzenegger would be the the place in just a few decades. Only stride. Then finally America will real-
crowning jewel of the great American one man in the whole world would ize the change it so desperately
success story. How great is the coun- be able to say that and he’d be needs. Look at what Arnold has done
try that can tell such a story? I can’t ours— a bodybuilder. for Columbus, Ohio! We need Arnold
wait to read it. In 2016, two presidential terms to do the same for America!

MIKE “MAD DOG” BELL


1971-2008
“Bigger Stronger Faster” creator Chris Bell’s brother Mike The fact that Mike was involved at all in the
has passed away this month. A published statement from wrestling biz seems to have gotten him dumped in with
Chris reads: any tragedy that may befall any pro wrestler, regardless
of whether or not wrestling played any part at all in
My older brother Michael, aka ‘MAD DOG’ in the their death. Mike’s passing is sad enough for all who
wrestling world, passed away yesterday from knew and loved him. But to find the following article in
unknown causes. He was residing at a sober living the Blanchard Report does nothing but add insult to
place in Orange County, CA and was celebrating 60 injury, not to mention espouse the moral and
days of being clean and sober from any drugs or intellectual bankruptcy of those involved
alcohol. His roommates found him dead in his with the publication. As you’ll see from
room at about 2:30pm yesterday and he was the author’s report, Blanchard obvi-
pronounced dead on the spot by medical ously trolls from the bottom of the
experts. The cause of death is unknown barrel for their literary talent.
and does not appear to be self-inflicted. The headline by Ron Johnson
My brother was my true hero growing (senior writer) reads: “Two Years
up and I always wanted to be big and After Benoit Tragedy, ‘Roids Claims
strong like him. He was the inspiration for Yet Another Victim.”
me to make my movie “Bigger Stronger The opening paragraph further
Faster” because I saw how the ‘American inflames and incites the reader:
Dream’ negatively affected his sense of self- “More than two years after the tragedy
worth. I will always remember my brother as the known as Chris Benoit, I was informed
nicest guy in the world, who sometimes got caught that WWE developmental star, Mike Bell, who
up in the wrong things. I am so sad right now over his had admitted to using steroids during his professional
passing. He was on his way to getting his life back on wrestling career, passed away Sunday afternoon at the
track and he was taken away from us at such a young age of 37.”
age. I Love You, Michael. The article went on to further mislead the reader
Your little brother, with a plethora of errors about both Mike and the film,
Christopher which only proves that ‘senior writer’ Ron Johnson did-
n’t have a clue about his subject matter! His irresponsi-
I worked on Chris’ film for three years as a consultant ble coverage of Mike’s death was another glaring exam-
with Rick Collins; both of us also appeared in the film. I ple of the great job the national media has done
got to know Mike as the project progressed and instantly misreporting and misrepresenting the case of steroids.
took a liking to him. He was one of those guys you just THE WAY I SEE IT, I couldn’t be more appalled at
liked, right off the bat. Dave Palumbo and I had him as a this banal example of hack steroid journalism. Clearly,
guest on No Bull Radio after the film came out and his the medical examiner has not filed a report, but leave it
interview was very well received. I know Mike had some to Ron Johnson to figure it out for us: it must have
issues in his personal life but seemed content with the been steroids! And why the quick association to Chris
direction his life was taking after the film and his new- Benoit? Steroids were not found to be the cause of
found sobriety was certainly a step in the right direction. whatever led him to kill his son, his wife and himself,
I know Mike will be sorely missed. but for some reason, Johnson takes it upon himself to

60 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
The Way I See It—Romano Factor

push aside the accepted data on steroids and jump to genuous, it is also quite telling of the author’s and the
his own erroneous conclusions! What’s worse is that publication’s moral, ethical and intellectual bankruptcy.
nothing stops him from writing them, nor his publish- Alcohol has been clearly linked to episodic rage. The
ers from printing them! Here you have a deep personal Benoit household contained alcohol and so did the
tragedy— a brother, a son, a husband and a good bloodstream of at least one member of the family. Why
friend to many, who passes away from unexplained no mention of any kind of alcohol-induced rage?
causes, but because he had spent a tiny part of his life Despite its presence in both the house and in Benoit’s
as a wrestler and had admitted to using steroids, his system and in light of the prevailing and overwhelming
existence is maligned by a single stroke on an idiot’s data for its propensity to induce rage, alcohol was not
keyboard. once in two years ever mentioned as a possible motive
What’s really pathetic about Johnson’s lack of jour- in the tragedy. Just steroids— and Johnson had no data
nalistic integrity is that he hadn’t bothered to check a to support the claim.
single fact. This wasn’t a story of a minor political issue Mike Bell’s and Chris Benoit’s deaths couldn’t be
or some kind of meaningless celebrity gossip— more different nor more separate from each other.
although it was written in the same regard— this was a There is absolutely not one single scientific fact that
story about someone dying! I could only imagine the could possibly link the two, yet some insignificant hack
uproar that would come from this Johnson moron if it reporter took it upon himself to jump on the media
was a member of his family who was being reported on bandwagon and lump the two together. Both the
erroneously after they died! Blanchard Report and its ‘senior writer’ have not only
Let’s talk about data, folks. What does the accepted gypped the public out of the implied journalistic
research say? First, steroids by themselves are not responsibility inherent in their position, but they have
lethal drugs. Second, ‘roid rage’ is a term invented by leveled a misinformed and slanderous attack on a griev-
the mainstream sensationalist media; it does not exist ing family, in their misguided attempt to sound
in academia. Steroids do not cause murderous rage. To informed and important. Shame on them.
say that they do, or to insinuate that someone died My thoughts and prayers go out to Chris Bell and his
because of steroids— especially in absence of any kind family. Rest in peace, Mad Dog. You deserve much bet-
of medical report— is not only irresponsible and disin- ter than you got. !

62 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


SPONSORED THIS
MONTH BY:

muscular
development.com By Gregg Valentino
Hi…it’s me, Gregg…Roses are red, violets are THEY ARE HIS FRIENDS….HERE IS ONE OF MY FAVORITE
blue, I’m whacked in the head…And so am QUESTIONS ASKED OF SHAWN AND I LOVE HIS ANSWER
I…WHAT??..OOPS, SORRY MY BAD…THEY SAY EVEN MORE… QUESTION: Shawn, what was your
“Reality is just a crutch for people who favorite Olympia that you were in if you have
can’t cope with drugs.”…WELL, one…SHAWN’S ANSWER: Of course my
THAT’S WHY I CHOOSE TO GO TO 1st one, I was a rookie pro, one day
www.MuscularDevelopment.com after my birthday in my backyard
TO GET MY DAILY HIGH, MY here in LA! I was suddenly
DAILY DOSE OF REALI- struck by the company I was
TY...YEAH RIGHT…BY THE keeping (Haney, Labrada,
WAY, I’M DRINKING A PRO- Gaspari, DeMayo, Paris,
TEIN SHAKE RIGHT NOW Love, Robinson, Samir,
AND HALF OF IT SPILLED ON Strydom, etc.) I was way off
MY KEY BOARD WHILE I WAS my peak but I was like a kid
READING QUOTES ON THE “NO with so much admiration and
BULL” FORUM...IRONICALLY I JUST respect for these guys. I still had
WAS READING WHERE BRANCH pictures of on my walls at home but
WARREN WAS TELLLING FORUM MEM- standing there in the dressing room
BERS ABOUT DRINKING PROTEIN and onstage competing with them it was
SHAKES…HERE, READ IT FOR surreal and special!...AWSOME…I LOVE THAT
YOURSELVES…“I usually drink a protein REPLY, IT’S SO SHAWN…IF YOU KNEW HIM YOU WOULD
shake on the way home after I train. As UNDERSTAND.
soon as I get home I eat a meal, which OK, NOW WITH ALL THAT SAID IT’S TIME GIVE OUT
is steak and potatoe.”…BRANCH WAR- SOME MORE JUICY (NO PUN INTENDED)
REN…OH YEAH, BABE… BRANCH WAR- INFORMATION/ TEASERS FROM THE
REN IS ON THE FORUM JUST ABOUT KING OF CONTEST PREP HIMSELF,
EVERY DAY!!!!… BRANCH IS VERY EASY TO DAVE PALUMBO…HERE ARE A FEW
TALK TO AND THE OTHER FORUM MEM- Q&AsTAKEN FROM THE MOST POPU-
BERS LOVE TALKING TO BRANCH…AND LAR BODUYBUILDING INFORMATION
SPEAKING OF BRANCH WARREN, HERE IS THREAD ON THE PLANET AND ONLY ON
ANOTHER GOLD NUGGET FROM MY BOY www.MuscularDevelopment.com
BRANCH WARREN...POSTED October 14th,
2008, 09:20 PM >>> I am training hard Q&A WITH DAVE PALUMBO
again but still not 100% heavy yet. It has been 8 aka HUGE285.
weeks since the surgery and there was very little Q. Dave, I wanna add insulin to
atrophy. I think that is because of my very aggressive maximize growth and need help on
approach to rehab. By the end of the the protocol and which insulin I
month I should be balls to the wall should use. I am sure there is
again. My weight dipped to about 250 only one available over the counter and probably the
but I’m back up to 260 and climbing. one I will use.
All is well…I’M GLAD TO HEAR THAT A. HUMULIN-R is available over the counter. Try
FROM BRANCH’S OWN LIPS…I HOPE HIS starting with 6IU in the morning with breakfast
INJURY RECOVERS REAL QUICK AND HE (and your GH) and then another 4IU about 4-6
TAKES THAT SANDOW HOME HERE TO hours later. If you tend to put on fat easily, I would
HIS MD FAMILY. avoid the insulin altogether!
NOW TO ANOTHER ONE OF MY PALS, Q. Dave, today though I introduced Clen and
A GUY WHO I LIKE A LOT AND GET Cytomel, and following the same no-carb diet, my blood
ALONG WITH WELL, SHAWN RAY…I sugar levels went way up.
RESPECT SHAWN VERY MUCH AND A. How much CLEN? I’ve seen this phenome-
LOVE HIS WITTY SENSE OF HUMOR non before...Clenbuterol (if you take too much
AND SHAWN IS ON THE FORUM EVER per dose) can screw with blood sugar levels of
DAY TALKING WITH THE MEMBERS LIKE type 1 diabetics.

70 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Q. Dave, If synthol is just the oil minus the steroids, sizable, the feds can try to get you for purchasing
then why do people say it hurts to jab (the frequncy of with intent to sell. I’d stay away from ordering
jabs??) A. When 3cc of medium-chain fats is intro- online!
duced into the muscle, the muscle cells release a Q. Dave, how do you inject IGF-1 lr3??
ton of enzymes (lipoprotein lipase) that gobble up A. Intramuscular
the fats. When all these internal enzymes are into the deltoid imme-
released from the cells, it diately after training.
dehydrates the cell (oppo- WOW…LOTS OF
site of volumizing it). This GREAT INFORMATION
causes a prostaglandin COMING FROM MD’s
reaction within the cell. BIG PAPI DAVE
Anyone who’s familiar PALUMBO…YOU THINK THIS IS
with prostaglandin release GREAT STUFF????…THEN JOIN THE PARTY, THERE’S
will know that PAIN is MASSIVE AMOUNTS OF ADVICE FROM MASTER GURU
associated with it (think of a headache). I don’t DAVE PALUMBO ON THE NO BULL FORUM…BUT
recommend mixing steroids and synthol. The syn- JUST LIKE LOTTO “YA GOTTA BE IN IT TO WIN IT”…I
thol can delay the absorption of the steroids since DARE YA TO JOIN.
it tends to get “TRAPPED” in the muscle. Do NOT If the government ever declared war on stupidi-
inject your GEAR into the same muscle groups ty, I think we on the forum would all get
you site injected with SYNTHOL. nuked…OOOPS, ONE LAST THING, THE FORUM HAS
Q. Dave, can I shoot my claves with synthol? BEEN VERY BUSY LATELY, IT HAS GROWN IMMENSELY
A. YES, for calves use 3cc into each head of the IN THE PAST COUPLE MONTHS…WE HAVE WEEDED
gastrocnemius muscle (that’s 6cc per calf)...2x per OUT (GOTTEN RID OF) A LOT THE TROUBLE-MAKERS
week for the first 3 weeks...then 1x per week for AND WE HAVE KEPT THE TIME-WASTERS TO A MINI-
as long as you can tolerate it. UM…OH YEAH BABE, THINGS ARE GETTING REAL
Q. Dave, what’s your take on buying gear through INTERESTING AND THE PROS ARE CHATTING WITH THE
mail order? MEMBERS…I LEARNED ONE THING BY HANGING OUT
A. If you get a package seized that contains ON THE “NO BULL” FORUM >>> “Never settle with
anabolic steroids, you can indeed go to jail. If it’s words what you can accomplish with a flame
a small order, chances are it’ll just get seized and thrower.”…“It’s perfect for insomniacs who don’t
you’ll lose your money; however, if the order is respond well to strong drugs.”

WOW BRIANNE, THEY SAY “Your body is a tem- Favorite Quote: “You can judge a
ple”…So now I just wanna know >> “Do you want man’s true character by what he
ME to come over for midnight mass?”…yum...DAMN does when no one is looking.”
GIRL, YOU’RE HOT!!!...Stick with me, baby, and I’ll Favorite Makeup: MAC, the only
buy you rocks as big as diamonds. (LET’S SEE HOW high-maintenance thing I own
MANY BOZOS READING THIS DON’T GET THAT LAST Favorite Body Part to train: BACK
LINE...wink)…I’M SORRY BRIANNE, MUST TRY TO COM- Your Best Asset (Body Part): Back
POSE MYSELF & KEEP IN MIND THAT A hard-on doesn’t and glutes. I get a lot of compli-
count as personal growth…YES, YES, YES I KNOW, ments on my glutes but I used to
I’m a naughty boy...I need to go to your room!...GOD get made fun of all the time for it
DAMN IT, THERE I GO GETTING CARRIED AWAY when I was growing up.
AGAIN...LET ME INTRODUCE THE FORUM BABE OF THE Future Plans/Goals: Right now I’m
MONTH… just focusing on work and
Name: Brianne Shaw putting more size on my frame.
Forum name: maxinemuscle Trying to find the right balance
Age: 22 (my birthday’s for me body, fat-wise, and stay
December 9th!) around that weight. Thankfully,
Zodiac sign: Sagittarius this sport favors a little age. I’ll
Hometown: Urbandale, IA get back up there, I’ve got some
Height: 5’3 1/2” time. For now it’s just time to
Measurements: 34-24-36 build and define.
Eyes: Blue Wow! The past year has been
Off-season weight: 145 crazy. I remember the days I used to
Competition weight: 120 check the grocery store magazine
Favorite Food: Oatmeal protein rack with hopes of seeing the
pancakes with spray butter!! newest edition of MD. NOW I’m in
Favorite Junk Food: Frosted IT!!! Going from Nebraska out to
sugar cookies & chips and California has been quite an excit-
salsa ing adventure. Having the honor of

72 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
musculardevelopment.com
being trained by one of the best pros in the industry now. I love it and couldn’t have asked for more..I’m
(Gina Aliotti) has been a dream come true. Competing blessed beyond belief! As for competing, I’ll get back up
out here was the icing on the cake! For all those people there. I’ve got some work to do on my shoulders, hams
who used to tell me I couldn’t do it and I’d never be and my triceps. Until then, I’ll be putting time in at the
good enough for the NPC stage, who’s laughing now? gym, trying to outlift the boys and pick up the ones that I
I’ve got an overall title and they’re still left talking about can’t! ha ha!
doing something! I love the power of weight training. GOD DAMN, BIANNE IS A HOTTIE!!!!…Girls
There’s nothing better than the feeling I get after tearing have an unfair advantage over men: if they can’t
up my body at the gym. Going into the gym and being get what they want by being smart, they can get
able to lift with more intensity than most of those guys it by being dumb…BUT…BRIANNE SHAW IS NO
that suffer from ILS (imaginary lat syndrome) really DUMMY!!!…JUST A YUMMY HOITTIE WITH A GREAT
makes my day. I love life and the opportunities I’ve been FUTURE AHEAD OF HER!!!!!...I’M SORRY BRIANNE,
blessed with. My job allows me to travel and meet a lot IT’S JUST THAT You look just like my second wife.
of people in the industry and it’s my main focus right Of course I’ve only been married once...

CEDRIC McMILLAN, OUR COUN- Sergio, Dennis Wolf, Richard


TRY, AND THE IRAQ WAR…I GOT Jones, and Ronnie back in 2002. I
MAD RESPECT FOR CEDRIC…HE IS like Arnold, Larry, and Sergio because
A REAL LIFE WARRIOR. “A WARROIR of what they represent for me as the
DOESN’T PICK HIS BATTLES, A pioneers of modern bodybuilding. I
WARRIOR IS TOLD WHERE HIS like how Arnold and Larry had the
BATTLES WILL BE, THAT’S WHERE small waists and the wide lats and big
HE GOES AND FIGHTS WITH arms, just
HONOR.”…THAT, MY FRIENDS, IS nice flowing
CEDRIC McMILLAN. lines that con-
Name: Cedric Keenan McMillan nect together
Date of Birth: August 17th well. Dennis
Place of Birth: Lancaster, South Wolf has the
Carolina freaky shoul-
Height: 6’1” der and quad
Weight: Off-season 265-280lbs, sweep that I
contest 255-260lbs want sooo
Measurements: bad! I like the
Arms: 19.5 cold, 20.5 pumped way his
Waist: 33” shoulders
legs: 30” look in the
calves: 18.5 cold, 19-19.5 pumped most-muscu-
neck: 19” lar pose too.
Strongest Body Part: back pro and make a positive impact on the Richard Jones had the overall package
Years Training: Messing around sport. With that, I mean I want to bring that combines today’s definition and
since I was about 15, serious bodybuilding back to the mainstream detail with yesterday’s lines and sym-
training for 10, competing for 5 like it used to be on ESPN back in the metry… just a pretty body, that’s how I
Occupation: Instructor in the day. I want to turn pro and actually want to be viewed. Ronnie back in ‘02
Army look like a pro should look. I don’t because I watched that unbelievable
Hobbies: Painting/drawing want to make it and then disappear. video every day, all day. That was the
Where do you see yourself in 10 Competition Record: 1st video I had ever seen and it moti-
years? One of my weaknesses as a 2003 Palmetto Cup, novice overall vated the shit outta me! And showed
person is that I don’t set long-term 2003 S.C. State, junior heavyweight me what BIG really is, and what mus-
goals. I probably should but I’m kind winner cle should look like!
of a “live for the moment” type per- 2005 Carolina Clash, open heavy- “People seldom do what they
son. In 10 years I’ll probably be 200 lbs weight winner believe in, instead they do what is
lean as hell so I can start back smoking 2007 S.C. State, super-heavyweight convenient, then they repent
everybody on this 2 mile run again. and overall winner !!!!”...BUT NOT CEDRIC, HE IS A
(being heavy is hard) haha I need much bigger legs and arms. GREAT INSPIRIATION AND A FUTURE
I want a real good sweep on the outer BODYBUILDING CHAMPION…I
What are your bodybuilding quad and real thick arms and forearms HAVE MUCH RESPECT FOR CEDRIC
goals?? since they are so long and lanky (lol) McMILLAN, MY MD FORUM
Of course every bodybuilder’s goal Who are your favorite bodybuilders BROTHER & MD FAMILY MEM-
is to turn pro, but MY goal is to turn and why? Arnold, Larry Scott, BER!!!!!

74 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Flex Wheeler

FLEX Critique
Victor, Kai And Toney:
3 Who Would Be King
he 2009 Arnold Classic is shaping two pro titles and was third at the their physiques one aspect at a time

T up to be an all-out brawl between


three incredible physique athletes.
Leading the trio is Victor Martinez, the
2008 Arnold, only to Dexter Jackson
and Phil Heath. Rounding out this elite
group is the ‘X-Man,’ Toney Freeman,
to see how they compare to each
other. These are only my personal
observations and opinions based on
2007 Arnold champ and Mr. Olympia with five pro wins and a strong fifth having watched these guys compete
runner-up, returning after sitting out place at the last Mr. Olympia. When many times, so I make no guarantees
the entire 2008 season due to a knee confronted with three awesome ath- that the judges at the Arnold will see
injury. Hot on his heels is ‘The letes like these, most people’s reaction things the same way. Bodybuilding is
Predator’, Kai Greene. Just a couple would be, “I wouldn’t want to be a a subjective sport where ‘the ideal
years ago, this humble yet passionate judge.” I feel you on that one. But be physique’ exists only in the eyes and
young man from New York City (also judged they will in Columbus, and mind of the beholder. That being said,
Vic’s hometown) was a struggling also here in the Flex Critique. here’s how I would score Victor, Kai
rookie who nobody really noticed or This month, I gave myself the and Toney if they were onstage in
expected much from. Now he’s got unenviable task of breaking down front of me.

82 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.
w.fa
fant
fantam
ntamag
amag.c
ag .com
The Body Parts In Question
Biceps Back
Right off the bat, you should be Not one of these champions
able to see how tough this job is! lacks in the lat department, but all
All three of these men have tremen- have slightly different shapes and
dous biceps: nice full muscle bellies attributes. Victor probably has the
and mountaintop peaks. Kai has the best overall combination of width
shortest attachments of the three, and thickness, while Kai definitely
but he more than makes up for it has the market cornered on shred-
with those out-of-this-world double ded detail and separation. His lats
splits like Ronnie and Boyer Coe insert very low— almost too low,
had. Three-way tie on this one. drawing attention to his short
Victor: 9 torso. Still, Kai does have a nasty
Kai: 9 back full of lumps and ridges.
Toney: 9 Then again, you can’t overlook
Toney’s wide wingspan and tiny
Triceps waist. Very close call here.
Victor edges the other two out on Victor: 9
the horseshoes. His are fuller and Toney: 8
rounder, and look good in every Kai: 8
pose. Both Toney and Kai could use
just a bit more triceps development. Chest
Victor: 9 This was another tough call. If
Kai: 7.5 you go by pure size and shape, it’s
Toney: 7 Victor by a landslide. But when
you factor in detail and striations,
Shoulders Kai has the upper hand. You still
Kai slips a little here in compari- have to acknowledge Vic’s superi-
son to the other two. Both Victor or development of the upper chest
and Toney have super wide clavicles and factor that into the equation.
and thick melon delts. Kai’s bone The right side of Toney’s chest still
structure gives him more of a shows the battle scar from his pec
‘sloped shoulder’ appearance, and tear years ago, which unfortunate-
he does need more meat in the rear ly does count against him when
heads. you’re being this nitpicky.
Victor: 9 Victor: 9
Toney: 9 Kai: 8
Kai: 7.5 Toney: 7
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL AND BILL COMSTOCK

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 83


www.fantamag.com
FLEX CRITIQUE

Quads steel cables under the skin.


Victor seems to be dominating a lot Toney’s hams are pretty good
of these categories, but not this one. too, just not quite as good next
Toney has some of the best quads in to these ham-hock heroes.
the IFBB, and by far the best ever built Victor: 9
by a man of 6’2”. Kai also has incredi- Kai: 9
ble development, with probably the Toney: 8
deepest and clearest cross-striations
I’ve seen since the late Andreas Calves
Munzer. Kai takes this one by a slim Considering the ethnic make-
but still respectable margin. up of these three dudes, you
Kai: 9.5 have to give them all props for
Toney: 9 building up respectable calves.
Victor: 7 Whatever muscle groups may
have come easy for them, I guar-
Hams antee you calves were a pain in
Victor’s hamstrings have so much the ass to build! Victor’s calves
fullness and hang that you have to call insert the lowest, which is proba-
them Butterballs. Grandma might bly why his are the best of this
throw those suckers in the oven to group.
feed the whole family! Kai is no slouch Victor: 8
here either, and definitely has superior Kai: 7
detail. His hams look like bundles of Toney: 7

84 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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FLEX CRITIQUE
The Bigger Picture assuming all the guys have a lot of
Mass mass.
Three ‘all the way big dudes,’ as Victor: 3
they say. The weights here range from Toney: 2
245 to 280, and the heights from 5’7” Kai: 1
all the way up to 6’2”. For pure height-
to-weight ratio, Kai would be the obvi- Front Lat Spread
ous choice. But if you step back and Victor is the widest and thickest
really look at the physiques, your eyes man in this shot. What really sets him
tell a different story than the scale apart from Kai and Toney is his upper
does. chest development, which both the
Victor: 9 other guys can’t match. Even Victor’s
Kai: 8.5 quads don’t cause him to lose on this
Toney: 8 pose, because you’re too busy staring
at the phenomenal size and shape
Shape, Proportion upstairs. Toney’s amazing V-taper lets
and Symmetry him edge Kai out on this one.
Overall, you have to recognize that Victor: 3
Victor shines here. You don’t win the Toney: 2
Mr. Olympia (oops, my bad, he should Kai 1
have won) without having pretty phe-
nomenal shape and proportion. Kai’s Side Chest
structure isn’t optimal, but he has Great pose for Victor. This is where
done an amazing job with it. Toney’s Toney and Kai both seem to show a
shape is pretty damn good, just not chink in the armor with regard to tri-
quite as near-perfect as Victor’s. ceps, and it costs them. Neither looks
Victor: 9.5 bad, mind you, but we are trying to
Toney: 8 pick between three guys with damn
Kai: 7 near perfect physiques and some-
body has to come out on top.
Conditioning Victor: 3
If you go by track records here over Kai: 2
the past few shows, which is what we Toney: 1
have to do, Kai is the only one to con-
sistently bring that freaky sliced-and- Side Triceps
diced look that makes your jaw drop. Victor again, for most of the
Victor came close at the last Olympia, same reasons. Kai isn’t too far
and Toney certainly nailed it a few behind, and his crazy cross-striated
months ago in Las Vegas, but we have tri’s are pretty impressive in this pose.
to base this one on who has proven Toney’s triceps look a little flat here,
they can do it again and again, like and that hurts the overall visual
Dexter does. Only Kai can make that impression.
claim in this group. Victor: 3
Kai: 9.9 Kai: 2
Toney: 8.5 Toney: 1
Victor: 8
Rear Double Biceps
Scoring The Poses Another nail-biter. I promised
(3 points for first place, myself I wouldn’t have any ties, and
2 for second, 1 for third) this one really tested my resolve.
Victor has such amazing overall
Front Double Biceps shape in this pose, but Kai has built
Victor’s shape carries him here. such a thick back, etched and hewn
Toney also has a hell of a front double with detail. I went back and forth on
biceps. This is not one of Kai’s best this one a few times before making a
poses, and again that’s only due to his reluctant decision.
structure. I take nothing away from the Kai: 3
guy. This is a pose where genetic Victor: 2
shape and structure is everything, Toney: 1

86 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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FLEX CRITIQUE
Rear Lat Spread pose. The variation where he twists Victor steals the spotlight with over-
A similar pose, but one where to the side and shows off his inter- whelming mass in the shoulders,
superior structure is more obvious. costals is absolutely insane. I had a traps, chest and arms. Kai has some
As I said before, Kai does have a real challenge deciding between serious striations but needs to beef
short torso and his lats insert Victor and Toney, and in this case I his traps up some. Toney looks the
almost at his hipbones. This makes had to give Toney some well- best in the hands-on-hips variation.
it harder for him to compete with deserved credit for his tight midsec- Assuming we go with the crab,
the type of wider wingspan Victor tion and impressive wheels. Forgive Victor has the upper hand.
shows here. Vic turns the tables. me, Victor! Victor: 3
Victor: 3 Kai: 3 Kai: 2
Kai: 2 Toney: 2 Toney: 1
Toney: 1 Victor: 1
Final Tally:
Abdominals and Thighs Most Muscular Victor: 116.5
Thanks to his outrageous thigh Which most-muscular pose are Kai: 106.9
mass and deep cuts, Kai owns this we talking about? If it’s the crab, Toney: 99.5

Winner: Victor Martinez


You can all see how closely matched these three men are, and more so Victor and Kai. Going by my different categories
and my opinions, Victor beats Kai by a very slim margin. Maybe that’s what will really happen at the Arnold, or this could
be about as accurate as predictions from The Weekly World News, who have had the date for Armageddon wrong about
five dozen times now. It will all come down to how these three look on that fateful first Saturday in March, and we don’t
have long to wait to find out. See you there, muscle fans! !

88 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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w.fantam
amag
ag.c
ag .com
om
Another action-packed month of No Bull Radio is in with his schedule, Mr. Daskas was finally able to sit
the can and, as always, Dave Palumbo, our guests and I down and spend some time with the ‘Muscle Mob’ and
have provided the industry with a level of entertainment answer questions about the Titus affair that put to rest
and information not available any- once and for all any doubt over whether or not Craig
where else. Titus is indeed a murderer.
The month started with yet If you recall, much of Titus’s impassioned defense of
another employ- his actions surrounded the story about how he and Kelly
ment/unemployment, had found Melissa James already dead of an overdose in
employment/unemployment their house. In a panic to not call negative attention to their
volley with Jeff the producer. fledgling careers, Craig came up with the ingenious idea of
The guy just can’t hold a torching Kelly’s Jaguar in the middle of the desert with
job! At least he shows up Melissa’s body in the trunk,
on Monday nights. then heading to Greece to
Title sponsor Author L. wait for the fallout.
Rea was on, along with his Well, according to Mr.
attorney, to discuss the interesting if Daskas, Craig’s story held less
not perplexing lawsuit being waged against ALR Industries and water than Titus’s glutes at his
a certain pro football player who failed a drug test. What I found last show. The prosecutor
most interesting was that the items that showed up on the cited numerous pieces of evi-
failed drug test were also on the ALR product label! So, the guy dence that completely negated
failed a drug test for what’s clearly listed on the label and then any defense C.T. could possible
decides to sue ALR for the failed test? Obviously the wrong player muster. We also learned that
is being sued— this moron should sue himself! the motion to withdraw his
Later in the month, ALRI super-hottie Krissy Chin appeared guilty plea was denied and that
opposite IFBB pro Tricky Jackson for the championship game Titus will most likely spend the rest of his miserable life in prison and
of Muscle Mob Jeopardy. Krissy handily won yet again, proving die there. As anyone in this industry would join me in commenting,
to the world that you just don’t mess with Krissy. She didn’t Good Riddance!
mention it, but I’m sure she took some ALRI Primed and a Hyper Another guy to agree would be Jimmy ‘The Bull’ Pellechia. In
Shot before the show to boost her focus. She scored higher than another memorable appearance, Jimmy set the world on fire
anyone in the history of the game! with his unique approach to life in general. The creators of the
Our other title sponsor, Dr. Scott Connelly of Progenex SRG was Iron Bull soundboard 2.0 have definitely gotten a ton of new stuff
back on to further the carb debate. Dr. Connelly presented data that to put up. Out of all our guests, no one can incite a laugh riot
carbs are a nonessential nutrient for muscle building. I love the way Dr. quite like Jimmy the Bull!
Connelly gets fired up when defending his concepts. “How much protein The rest of the month’s shows were chock-full of the best body-
was in Met-Rx? 37 grams. Why 37 and not 40? Because 37 is the building news and entertainment on the web— and it’s all free! We
exact amount you need!” Progenex is a step beyond even that and me, owe a lot to the generosity of our sponsors. Without the support of
Dave and everyone who is using it are astounded by how effective it is! both Author L. Rea and Dr. Scott Connelly, Dave and I wouldn’t be able
Another highlight of the show this month was the appearance of to do what we do. From all corners of the globe, No Bull Radio is infil-
Robert Daskas, the Clark County (Las Vegas) prosecutor who put away trating the airwaves and we are just getting started. Pretty soon, the
Craig Titus for the murder of Melissa James. After much negotiating Mob will be a household word. Just wait and see!

98 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Training
Cardiovascular
Effects Of Super-
Slow Training
Similar To
Traditional
Weight Training
Low-velocity resistance training
(SST) is popular with many recreational
bodybuilders, but is the method safe
and effective? Jason Wickwire and fel-
low researchers from Kennesaw State
University in Georgia found similar car-
diovascular effects for SST and tradi- ents (i.e., amino acids, carbohydrates, calories) and resistive exercise. Amino acids,
tional training methods. However, most the building blocks of proteins, activate signaling chemicals in muscles that turn on
studies show that SST is less effective protein synthesis and increase muscle fiber size. Chemicals called ribosomal protein
for building muscle size and strength. S6 kinase and the target of rapamycin (mTOR) are important cell-signaling chemi-
SST works mainly slow-twitch fibers cals that regulate protein synthesis. They are sensitive to small changes in cell
because the training load is less than energy levels. They work like biological computer programs to line up amino acids
50 percent of maximum effort. Low-load needed to produce new muscle tissue. After weight training, supplementing carbo-
training is effective for building slow- hydrates and proteins activates protein-signaling chemicals that promote protein
twitch fibers, but most increases in synthesis and muscle growth. Muscle tension, blood levels of amino acids (particu-
muscle size come from overloading fast- larly leucine) and insulin are key factors triggering muscle growth. They stimulate
twitch fibers. Consequently, SST is of signaling pathways inside the muscle cells that promote protein synthesis and
little use to bodybuilders or power ath- modify muscle protein breakdown, remodeling and repair. (Journal of Applied
letes, except perhaps as an alternate Physiology, in press; published online December 2008)
training method. Muscle hypertrophy
(growth) depends on peak muscle ten- Poor Spinal Flexibility Limits
sion and time under tension. Constant
muscle tension— used in SST— Performance On Bench Curl-Ups
decreases muscle blood flow, which Bent-knee sit-ups and curl-ups are popular abdominal exercises and are
reduces peak muscle tension. Varying extremely effective for activating the four major abdominal muscles (i.e., rectus
the training load is important for abdominis, internal and external obliques, transversus abdominis). Greek
advanced bodybuilders, so the ultra- researchers showed that spinal flexibility is extremely important for performance
slow method might be an effective during a bent-knee curl-up test with the feet placed on a bench. The rationale
occasional alternative to traditional behind this exercise is that bending the knees flattens the low-back curve, which
methods. (Journal Strength protects the back. This study sends a dangerous message to athletes. Extensive
Conditioning Research, in press; research by Canadian spinal biomechanists Stuart McGill (www.backfitpro.com)
published online December 2008) demonstrated that maintaining a neutral spine and avoiding excessive trunk flexion
(trunk bent forward) during exercise protects the back and neck from injury. The
How Muscles abdominal muscles often act to prevent motion. Bent-knee sit-ups and bench curl-
ups overload the abdominal muscles but place excessive stress on the spine. High-
Get Big stress movements with the spine in flexion overload the spine and can cause injury.
Successful bodybuilders must maxi- Intense abdominal exercises that alter the spinal curves throw the baby out with
mize protein synthesis and minimize the bathwater. They build strong abs but set the stage for serious and chronic back
protein breakdown. A review of litera- injuries. (Journal Strength Conditioning Research, in press; published online
ture from the University of Kentucky December 2008)
College of Medicine described the
processes involved in muscle hypertro- Ice Decreases Muscle Performance
phy. Muscles increase in size in
response to growth factors (e.g., testos- Ice is a valuable therapy for decreasing inflammation, pain and swelling.
terone, growth hormone, IGF-1), However, using it during exercise or competition (e.g., while sitting on the sideline
cytokines (signaling chemicals), nutri- or between lifts during a weightlifting contest) could decrease performance and

104 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Training
increase the risk of injury. Ice decreases exercise program. Short rest intervals were also good for activating the TrA.
muscle and nerve metabolism, slows between sets prevent recovery but Researchers estimated muscle activa-
nerve conduction speed, and impairs increase the stress of exercise. Long tion levels by measuring changes in
the rate of muscle activation. rest intervals reduce metabolic stress deep muscle thickness with ultra-
Researchers from Old Dominion but allow greater recovery and sound. Prevent back pain by doing at
University, led by Jennifer Fischer, increased force output during subse- least 10-20 repetitions of curl-ups,
found that applying an ice bag on the quent sets. Researchers from side-bridges, bird-dogs and abdominal
hamstrings for 10 minutes decreased Kennesaw State University in Georgia braces every day. (Journal
performance in the shuttle run, single- compared the effects of 1-minute and Orthopaedic Sports Physical Therapy,
leg vertical jump, and co-contraction 2.5-minute rest intervals between sets 38:596-605, 2008)
test. The effects lasted for at least 20 on hormone levels, strength and mus-
minutes after exercise. Applying ice for
3 minutes had no effect on perform-
cle size during a 10-week study. One-
minute rest intervals triggered greater
Front Squats
ance. Ice is a valuable modality for increases in testosterone and cortisol Build Muscle
treating injuries and trauma during
recovery from physical activity, but
levels only during the first week of
the study. Rest intervals had no effect
With Less Knee
should not be used before or during on growth hormone, strength or mus- And Back Stress
exercise. (Journal Strength Conditioning cle size with the exception of arm Most people do back squats incor-
Research, in press; published online size, which was 50 percent greater in rectly. They lean forward on their toes,
December 2008) the 2.5-minute rest group. Rest inter- hinge at the back instead of the hips,
vals have variable effects on hormone and fail to abduct (spread) their thighs
Eccentric Exercise levels that are not necessarily related during the descent portion of the lift.
to changes in strength and muscle Also, they cave in at the chest and drop
Increases Heat size. (Journal Strength Conditioning their heads during the exercise. It’s eas-
Shock Proteins Research, in press; published online ier to maintain a neutral spine during a
December 2008) front squat than during a back squat.
Eccentric exercise (lengthening Jonathan Gullett and colleagues from
contractions) is linked to delayed
onset muscle soreness (DOMS).
Best Exercises the University of Florida found that
front squats activated the major mus-
Eccentric contractions generate high For Preventing cles in the thigh and back as well as
muscle tension that damage muscle
cells. Further injury occurs because of
Low Back Pain back squats, but placed much less
stress on the knee joints. Subjects per-
inflammation triggered by chemicals Decreased spinal stability, poor formed front and back squats, lifting 70
such as calcium, prostaglandins or muscle strength and endurance, and percent of their one-repetition maxi-
histamine released or produced as a poor neural control of the core mus- mum lift. The researchers performed
result of the muscle damage. cles are important causes of back mechanical analyses of the lifts and
Consequently, pain and swelling pain. Deep core muscles, such as the measured muscle activation levels with
often increase a day or so after exer- internal oblique (IO) and transversus electromyography, which measures the
cise. Danish researchers found that abdominis (TrA), help stabilize the electrical activity levels in muscles dur-
chemicals called heat shock proteins spine and act as foundations for pow- ing contractions. The study showed
(HSP) were linked to DOMS. However, erful movements in the upper and that muscle activation was similar dur-
HSP levels decreased with repeated lower body. Recommended exercises ing front and back squats, even though
bouts of eccentric exercise. This for these deep muscles include the the athletes used much more weight
study helped explain why physically abdominal crunch, abdominal draw- during back squats. Also, front squats
fit people are less prone to post- ing-in maneuver (bracing), abdominal placed less stress on the knees. The
exercise muscle soreness. (Acta sit-back, horizontal side support (side- front squat is not a popular exercise
Physiologica Scandinavica, in press; bridge), supine lower extremity-exten- because people have difficulty support-
published online December 2008) der, and quadruped opposite upper ing the weight high on the chest. With
and lower-extremity lift (bird-dog). time and patience, athletes can develop
Short Or Long Researchers from the U.S. Army- the necessary flexibility to enjoy and
Baylor University Doctoral Program in benefit from this excellent exercise.
Rest Intervals Physical Therapy in San Antonio Front squats are viable alternatives to
Between Sets? found that the best exercises for acti- the more popular back squats. (Journal
vating the IO and TrA muscles were Strength Conditioning Research, in
Rest is an important factor deter- side-bridges and abdominal crunches. press; published online December 2008)
mining the volume and intensity of an The bracing and bird-dog exercises

106 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Fat Loss
Snorers Burn body of excess cholesterol and reduces
the risk of heart attack. Just when you
People Don’t
More Calories thought you understood the basics of Think Straight
Heavy snoring burns as many calo- blood fats and cardiovascular health, When They Diet
ries as a typical workout in the gym. scientists complicated things. Swedish
Researchers from the University of researchers from the Karolinska Low-carb diets interfere with brain
California, San Francisco Medical School Institute in Stockholm found that a function. The brain uses mainly glu-
found that people with severe sleep component of LDL, ApoB100-LDL, acts cose (sugar) delivered from the general
apnea (common in snorers) burned an as a metabolic signal from the liver to circulation for fuel. The brain doesn’t
extra 300 calories per day. store carbohydrates and is incapable of
Unfortunately, they made up for it by using amino acids for fuel. It can use
eating more and exercising less, blood ketones formed from the
which made them gain weight. incomplete breakdown of fats, but
People with sleep apnea stop these fuels are less efficient than
breathing periodically during the glucose. A study from Tufts
night, which causes restless sleep University showed that memory
and daytime drowsiness. This is an decreased in women consuming a low-
extremely dangerous condition that carb diet, compared to women follow-
can result in automobile accidents and ing a balanced, low-calorie diet.
fatal disturbances in heart rhythms. Memory skills returned after they ate
Many bodybuilders snore or wake fre- more carbohydrates. However, the low-
quently during the night because their carb dieters reported less mental con-
large neck muscles obstruct airflow in fusion and performed better on atten-
the mouth and throat. If you have these tion tests than women in the balanced
symptoms, you might have sleep diet group. Low-calorie diets interfere
apnea. Inadequate sleep caused by with brain function, regardless of car-
sleep apnea contributes to obesity. bohydrate content. The effects of
Obesity also contributes to sleep chronic dieting on the brain are
apnea because extra tissue and unknown. (Appetite, 52: 96-103, 2009)
poor muscle tone in the throat block
the airway during sleep. Excess
body fat alters metabolism, Obesity Linked
which also interferes with To Sleep Loss
normal sleep patterns. Sleep
apnea is treatable through Obesity is epidemic in the United
weight loss, surgery or continuous States. Large population studies
positive airway pressure devices showed that lack of sleep might
(CPAP). See your doctor if you have make people fat. Sleep loss influences
trouble sleeping or suffer from daytime hormones that regulate appetite.
drowsiness, because sleep apnea can the fat cells that prevent fat break- Inadequate sleep increases ghrelin
kill you. (BBC News, December 16, down. During exercise, the body and decreases leptin, which causes
2008) secretes epinephrine (adrenaline), people to eat more. A review of the
which stimulates the fat cells to release literature from the Nutrition and Food
fat for energy. People with high blood Sciences Department at the University
Cholesterol levels of ApoB100-LDL have a dimin- of Vermont concluded that excessive
Carrier Linked
Illustrated by Jerry Beck/www.ironasylum.com

ished capacity to mobilize fat, which use of computers and television at


contribute to obesity and poor physical night interferes with sleep and pro-
To Obesity and fitness. Scientists are making great mote obesity. The causes of the rela-
Heart Disease strides in understanding chemicals in tionship are not known. People tend
the body that regulate energy balance, to eat more when they’re not sleep-
Almost anyone interested in health fat storage and obesity. This new ing. Also, inadequate sleep could
knows that high cholesterol increases knowledge will help them develop new interfere with metabolic control mech-
the risk of heart attack. Further, high methods for fighting obesity and pre- anisms that regulate appetite, meta-
levels of low-density lipoprotein (LDL) venting degenerative diseases such as bolic rate and physical activity levels.
and very low-density lipoprotein type 2 diabetes, coronary artery dis- Get more sleep if you need to lose
(VLDL) are also dangerous. Conversely, ease, and stroke. (PLoS ONE, 3(11): weight. (British Nutrition Foundation
high-density lipoprotein (HDL) rids the e3771, online journal) Nutrition Bulletin, 33: 272-278, 2008)

116 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Fat Loss
British Medical availability of desirable foods, and water Rather, they should exercise more,
Journal Blasts losses. While low-carb diets produce the decrease computer and television use,
Weight-Loss greatest weight loss in six-month stud-
ies, the differences disappear beyond
and consume less fast food and high-
sugar drinks. (Molecular Nutrition Food
Supplements that. A German study using rats that Research, 52: 1365-1371, 2008)
An editorial in the prestigious British consumed a low calorie, low-carbohy-
Medical Journal claimed that only drate, high-fat diet showed rapid
approved drugs are effective for weight weight gain when the rats resumed a Ketogenic Diets
loss and that weight-loss supplements normal diet containing more carbohy- Linked To
are ineffective and misleading to con- drates. Animals continuing the low-carb
sumers. Dr. M E J Lean, from the diet, but eating as much as they want-
Sudden Death
University of Glasgow, stated, “Of hun- ed, did not gain weight. The low-carb One person in 1,000 people experi-
dreds of products on sale, only appropri- diet had negative long-term health ence sudden cardiac death every year,
ately delivered diets and exercise, orlis- effects. It depressed growth hormone and the risk increases during or shortly
tat, sibutramine, and bariatric surgery and IGF-1 levels (important for sugar after exercise. Congenital defects (pre-
are safe, efficacious, and cost-effective. and fat metabolism), accelerated fat sent at birth), such as hypertrophic car-
The remainder should not be marketed gain at the end of the diet, and stunted diomyopathy (enlarged heart) and
until we have evidence of their effec- growth in young animals. In humans, abnormal arteries, account for most sud-
tiveness and safety.” A supplement low-carb diets are very effective for den deaths occurring in people under 35
industry spokesperson acknowledged short-term weight loss. We need more years of age. Coronary artery disease is
that some products are marketed irre- research to determine their long-term the most common cause in older people.
sponsibly. However, the editorial over- safety and effectiveness. (Obesity, in Factors altering the normal chemical
looked supplements proven to promote press; published online at November 27, environment of the heart, such as
weight loss, such as conjugated-linoleic 2008) severe dehydration and cocaine abuse,
acid, whey proteins that suppress can trigger fatal heart rhythms. In a
appetite, and a variety of herbal prod- new report, researchers from the presti-
ucts with proven safety and effective- Low-Carb gious McGill University Health Center
ness. In the United States, the Dietary Diets Dangerous reported two cases of sudden death
Supplements Health and Education Act associated with low-carbohydrate keto-
of 1994 (DSHEA) made it possible for
For Kids genic diets. Both died from abnormal
companies to sell food supplements Obesity rates in children nearly heart rhythms. The body produces
without conducting pre-market safety tripled since 1980 (6.5 percent in 1980 ketones from fats during periods of low
evaluations. The products must be gen- versus 17 percent in 2009). carbohydrate availability. While these
erally considered safe (based on wide- Approximately 35 percent of U.S. kids diets promote weight loss, they are also
spread use) and properly labeled and are overweight or obese, largely associated with selenium depletion and
make no health claims unless approved because they exercise less, eat more an abnormal heart rhythm (prolonged
by the Food and Drug Administration. fast food and consume more high-sugar QTc interval) that increase the risk of
The research summaries in Muscular soft drinks. Kids are getting fatter, but sudden death. Anyone on a ketogenic
Development present the latest studies their role models are getting thinner. diet should take a 200mcg selenium
on supplements and drugs, which will This has led to eating disorders and supplement daily. Do not take more
help you separate the street noise from crash dieting. Many overweight adults than this amount because selenium can
the street news. (British Medical follow calorie-restricted, low-carbohy- lower IGF-1 and may also cause glucose
Journal, 337: a2408, 2008) drate diets to promote rapid weight intolerance. I would also recommend
loss. A Brazilian study using young, magnesium and the amino acid taurine
growing rats showed that these diets which have been shown to prevent
Rapid Weight Gain have negative health effects. While the abnormal heart rhythms. I am also con-
Following Low diets caused rapid weight loss, they
slowed growth rates and increased
cerned with competitive bodybuilders
on ketogenic diets who are taking
Carbohydrate, abdominal fat mass. Increased abdomi- diuretics and cutting drugs, such as thy-
High-Fat Diet nal fat promotes poor blood sugar regu- roid (T3) and clenbuterol which can also
lation and eventually increases the risk cause abnormal heart rhythm. We need
Calorie restricted, low-carbohydrate of cardiovascular disease. Overweight more research on the long-term benefits
diets trigger more rapid weight loss children should not follow calorie- and risks of low-carbohydrate ketogenic
than low-calorie mixed or high-carbohy- restricted, low-carbohydrate diets diets in the average population as well
drate diets. Possible reasons include because they can interfere with growth as in bodybuilders. (Pediatric Neurology,
better suppression of appetite, reduced and trigger poor metabolic health. 39: 429-431, 2008)

118 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
RESEARCH By Steve Blechman and
Thomas Fahey, EdD

Health
Gene will measure ACTN3 to determine the lab tests within 24 hours of strenuous
genetic potential for elite level sprint- athletic events. Intense exercise can
Manipulation ing speed. The company claims the cause false positive results, which
Boosts test is an early indicator of athletic means the tests suggest disease
potential. This is only the beginning of when none exist. False positive tests
Muscle Mass what will prove to be a lucrative mar- cause needless medical expense and
Cells make new proteins by acti- ket for sports geneticists. For exam- worry. (The New York Times,
vating genes that combine amino ple, Dr. Miguel Rivera, a genetics spe- November 27, 2008)
acids in precise sequences. Increasing cialist from the University of Puerto
the rate of protein synthesis in muscle Rico Medical School, has identified High Thyroid
involves turning on key activating several key gene variants in
chemicals and genes. Australian sci- elite distance runners. Function Linked
entists found that increasing Identifying children To Atrial
the activity of the FHL1 gene with these genes
in mice turned on the NFATc1 might help develop
Fibrillation
gene, which increased mus- future Olympic champi- The atria are the chambers on the
cle mass, strength and ons. (Scientific top part of the heart that deliver
muscle endurance. American, December 1, blood to the ventricles, which then
Defects in the FHL1 2008) pump blood to the lungs or the gener-
gene are linked to al circulation. Normally, a well-defined
muscular dystrophy. electrical signal generated from the
In the future, gene heart’s pacemaker causes the atria to
therapies that contract. Sometimes the signals are
increase the FHL1 disorganized, which interrupts the
gene might help normal heart rhythm and causes slug-
cure people with gish blood flow in the atria. Heart doc-
muscle wasting dis- tors call this rhythm disturbance atrial
eases. They might also fibrillation, which is the most common
serve as the basis for abnormal heart rhythm. Many people
gene doping techniques with atrial fibrillation have no symp-
that might be used to toms, but it can cause fainting,
enhance athletic performance. chest pain, heart failure and
(Journal Cell Biology, 183: 1033-1048, stroke. Risk factors include aging,
2008) high blood pressure, and binge eat-
ing and drinking. In a study of near-
Company Markets ly 1500 people, Dutch researchers
found that those with the highest lev-
Gene Test to els of free thyroxine (T4) increased the
Predict Athletic Inaccurate risk of atrial fibrillation by 94 percent.
Potential Post-Exercise However, they could not be sure
whether high T4 levels caused a chill
If you want to be an Olympic ath- Blood Tests fibrillation. (Archive Internal Medicine,
lete, choose your parents very careful- Intense athletic competitions such 168:2219-2224, 2008)
Illustrated by Jerry Beck/www.ironasylum.com

ly. Specific genes determine the as marathon runs can cause extensive
capacity to develop strength, power, tissue damage. Blood tests taken Low Testosterone
endurance, agility and speed. shortly after extreme athletic events
Identification of specific gene variants often show abnormalities, such as ele- Levels
in elite athletes may one day allow vated troponin and creatine kinase Linked To Poor
scientists to predict athletic potential levels. These abnormalities are similar
in young people. A variant of the to those seen in heart attack victims.
Metabolic Health
ACTN3 gene has been found in Intense exercise can trigger inflamma- Testosterone and the biologically
Olympic sprinters and may be an tion and an elevated immune system available free testosterone decrease
important predictor of future success. response that might appear abnormal gradually after age 30. Low levels of
For $149, Atlas Sports Genetics, a on a blood test and suggest a heart these hormones are linked to muscle
company based in Boulder Colorado, attack or liver failure. Avoid routine and bone loss, erectile dysfunction,

128 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
RESEARCH By Steve Blechman and
Thomas Fahey, EdD

Health
decreased sex drive, psychological Testosterone
depression and reduced self-esteem. Supplements
A review of literature by researchers
from Boston University School of Decrease
Medicine concluded that low testos- Inflammation
terone contributed to the metabolic
syndrome— a group of symptoms C-reactive protein is a marker of
that include high blood pressure, whole-body inflammation, which
abdominal fat deposition, insulin increases the risk of coronary artery
resistance, type 2 diabetes, blood disease, heart attack and stroke. Low
clotting abnormalities and inflamma- testosterone levels are also linked to
tion. The metabolic syndrome vascular disease and inflammation.
increases the risk of heart attack, Dutch researchers showed that 91
stroke, obesity, erectile dysfunction, men who took supplemental testos-
poor energy levels and some types of terone for six months showed
cancer. The measurement of blood decreases in C-reactive protein and
testosterone levels should be a rou- improvements in symptoms associat-
tine part of medical examinations in ed with aging in males, such as
aging men. (Journal Andrology, decreased libido, erection problems,
30:10-22; 23-32, 2009) loss of muscle mass and depression.
Inflammation might be a cause of
Prostaglandins some of the negative effects associat-
ed with low testosterone levels in
Promote Post- men. (Andrologia, 40: 398-400, 2009)
Exercise Muscle
Regeneration Big Calves
Intense weight training causes Linked To Lower
muscle damage. Regeneration of
injured muscle tissue involves the for-
Stroke Risk
mation of satellite cells that combine Body composition and body type
with injured tissue, increasing its size are important factors predicting the
and strength. This process is accom- risk of various diseases. French
panied by inflammation and increased researchers found that increased calf
white blood cell levels that help pro- circumference was linked to a
mote healing. The inflammatory reduced risk of stroke. They studied
process includes the release of chemi- the relationship between body com-
cals called prostaglandins that con- position and carotid artery disease in
tribute to pain and swelling. Athletes more than 6000 people over 65 years
often use nonsteroidal anti-inflamma- of age. People with the largest calf
tory drugs (NSAIDs), such as ibupro- circumferences (top 25 percent) were
fen (Advil), to prevent prostaglandin nearly 30 percent less likely to have
formation, and to decrease post-exer- significant carotid artery disease.
cise pain and soreness. A review of Larger waist circumference and
literature by researchers from the waist-to-hip ratio were also linked to
University of Birmingham in the UK increased risk of stroke. While the
concluded that blocking study demonstrated a relationship
prostaglandins with these drugs between calf size and stroke risk, the
interferes with the muscle remodeling results do not mean that increasing
process after exercise and could the size of the calf muscles will
decrease training-related strength reduce the risk of disease. (Stroke,
gains. NSAIDs decrease pain but slow 39: 2958-2965, 2008)
progress. (Journal Muscle Research
Cell Motility, in press; published
online December 4, 2008)

130 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Supplements
Drug Police Nab study showed that consuming glucose
(sugar) and leucine increased insulin
able, we need more research before
we can recommend it as a safe and
NFL Players for release and decreased blood sugar. effective anti-aging supplement.
Bumetanide Consuming leucine alone had little (Molecular and Cellular Endocrin-
effect on insulin or blood sugar. We ology, in press; published online
NFL players learned the hard way can infer from this study that taking a November 2008)
that they must be careful about leucine/carbohydrate supplement
what they put in their bodies.
Several players tested positive for
after exercise replenishes carbohy-
drate stores (i.e., glycogen), increases
Pre-Exercise
bumetanide, a diuretic found in the muscle protein synthesis and decreas- Carbohydrates
popular weight-loss supplement Star
Caps. Bumetanide is on the banned
es protein breakdown. (Metabolism
Clinical and Experimental, 57:1747-
and Protein
substance list because it can mask 1752, 2008) Hydrolysates
drugs such as anabolic steroids, Boost Muscle
amphetamines and cocaine. Players
are under increasing pressure to
Protein Synthesis
lose fat and gain muscle. A Carbohydrates stimulate
University of North Carolina study insulin release, which is criti-
found that 56 percent of NFL cal for moving amino acids
linemen were obese, so into the cells and promot-
coaches put pressure on ing protein synthesis.
overweight players to trim Carbohydrate and amino
down. Many turn to acid availability are essential
weight-loss supplements for staying anabolic. The body
that sometimes contain uses its protein stores for energy dur-
banned drugs. A study ing periods of low caloric intake. A
conducted by the Dutch study showed that pre-exer-
International Olympic cise supplements contain-
Committee found that one- ing carbohydrates and pro-
third of over 100 supple- tein hydrolysates (‘pre-
ments tested contained digested’ proteins) promot-
banned substances. ed protein synthesis during
Athletes who are drug and immediately after exer-
tested should only use sup- cise, but had no further effect
plements that are guaranteed free of overnight. While the study is inter-
prohibited substances. (The New esting, we don’t know whether this
York Times, October 18, 2008) Is DHEA Bad For supplement strategy increases mus-
The Prostate? cle size and strength more than train-
Leucine-Carb ing alone. (Journal of Nutrition, 138:
DHEA is the most plentiful 2198-2204, 2008)
Supplement steroid hormone in the body. It is
Might Boost sometimes called a prohormone Branched-Chain
Illustrated by Jerry Beck/www.ironasylum.com

because it is converted to testos-


Training Gains terone and estrogen, both of which Amino Acids
Insulin is an important anabolic can affect the growth rate of a vari- Promote Protein
hormone that increases the movement ety of tissues. DHEA is widely used
of amino acids (the building blocks of as an anti-aging supplement in older
Synthesis After
protein) into muscle cells and turns on adults. The effectiveness or long- Exercise
chemicals that stimulate protein syn- term safety of this supplement is not
thesis. The amino acid leucine is an known. The prostate is rich in The branched-chain amino acids
important signaling chemical that pro- androgen receptors, so DHEA could (BCAA) include leucine, isoleucine
motes protein synthesis, slows protein potentially cause prostate enlarge- and valine. They are essential amino
breakdown and stimulates insulin ment or prostate cancer. While acids, which means they must be
release. A University of Minnesota DHEA is popular and widely avail- consumed in the diet. They make up

138 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Supplements
33 percent of skeletal muscle and mone delivery to muscles, tissue Fish Oil Does Not
turn over rapidly during exercise. oxygenation and general energy lev-
They are also essential for muscle els. The body makes nitric oxide
Increase Ketones
protein synthesis. Many body- from oxygen and arginine and from The brain and nervous system
builders and other athletes take citrulline, a non-essential amino use mainly glucose (blood sugar) as
BCAA supplements to promote pro- acid. Chinese researchers found that fuel but can also use ketones when
tein synthesis and recovery from short-term arginine supplementation carbs are unavailable. The capacity
exercise. BCAAs serve as the build- (6 grams per day for 3 days) for glucose uptake in the brain
ing blocks of proteins and activate increased blood arginine and cit- decreases with age, which might
signaling proteins in muscles that rulline levels but had no effect on cause diminished mental capacity.
turn on protein synthesis and nitric oxide levels or power output Ketones have therapeutic effects in
increase muscle fiber size. during repeated short sprints on a patients suffering from a variety of
Chemicals called ribosomal protein stationary bike. They concluded that mental disorders. The body pro-
S6 kinase and the target of arginine was ineffective for increas- duces ketones, such as acetone, ace-
rapamycin (mTOR) are important ing performance or boosting toacetate, and beta-hydroxybu-
cell- signaling molecules for protein nitric oxide levels in well-trained tyrate, during low calorie intake and
synthesis. They are sensitive to male athletes. (Journal Nutritional carbohydrate restriction. Canadian
BCAAs (particularly leucine) and Biochemistry, in press; published researchers speculated that fish oil
work like biological computer pro- online September 2008) supplements high in eicosapen-
grams to line up amino acids needed taenoic acid (EPA) would increase
to produce new muscle tissue.
Bodybuilders should consume
Whey Protein blood ketone levels and might be
good for brain function in older
carb/amino acid supplements high in Hydrolysates adults. They found the opposite: a
BCAAs, before and after training to
maximize protein synthesis. They
Speed Tissue single dose of fish oil containing
1480 mg of EPA decreased ketones
activate signaling pathways inside Healing After in young people but had no effect in
the cells that promote protein syn- Exercise older adults. The significance of this
thesis in the muscles and modify finding is not known. (Nutrition, in
muscle protein breakdown, remodel- Muscles get bigger in response to press; published online November
ing and repair. While they promote small muscle injuries created during 2008)
recovery and immune function, high-tension exercise. Muscle injury is
BCAA supplements do not seem to greatest during exercise involving
increase athletic performance or eccentric (lengthening) contractions.
serve as a significant fuel source After exercise, the muscle repair MD HAS THE
during exercise. (J Sports Med Phys
Fitness, 48: 347-351, 2008; Am J
process involves protein breakdown
and synthesis and works best with
WINNING FORMULA!
Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 294: E392- high blood levels of amino acids. The most cutting-edge,
E400, 2008; Am J Physiol Endocrinol Protein hydrolysate supplements scientifically-based, no-
Metab, 281: E365-E374, 2001; J. (‘predigested protein’) promote healing
Nutr, 136: 533S–S537, 2006) and enhance training effects. An
bullshit information on
Australian study showed that whey building muscle and burn-
Arginine Has protein hydrolysates promoted recovery ing fat—from drugs and
as measured by post-exercise muscle
No Effect on performance. Patients with pressure supplements to training,
Nitric Oxide ulcers showed that collagen protein nutrition and diet—from
hydrolysates increased the healing rate the top medical experts
Production by 100 percent. Protein hydrolysate
The amino acid arginine is vital supplements promote tissue healing and bodybuilding champi-
for maintaining metabolic health following trauma induced by exercise ons and insiders!
because it helps regulate nitric (i.e., eccentric exercise) or disease and
oxide (NO) production, which con- might promote recovery in body-
trols blood flow throughout the builders. (Journal Science Medicine
body. NO is vital for muscle blood Sport, in press, 2008; Advances Skin
flow, sexual function, fuel and hor- Wound Care, 19:94-96, 2006)

140 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Nutrition
Does Protein Finland, the risk of prostate can-
Quality Affect cer increased by 63 percent in
men with the highest intakes
Muscle Growth? of dairy foods. High milk
The three key ingredients for consumption reduced the
increasing muscle size are risk of obesity and high
weight training, positive blood pressure. Milk and
energy balance and ade- other dairy products decrease
quate protein intake. angiotensin-converting enzyme
Jason Tang and Stuart (which increases blood pres-
Phillips from McMaster sure), inhibit blood clots
University in Canada, in that trigger heart attacks
a review of literature, and promote brain endor-
concluded that resist- phin activity (natural
ance exercise and nutri- pain reliever). The bene-
tion independently stimu- fits of drinking milk
late muscle growth. exceed the small increased
Consuming protein after risk of prostate cancer. Nonfat
weight training helps maxi- milk is an excellent post-workout
mize training gains in body- drink because it supplies water and
builders. The protein quality has a young men with high-quality proteins and carbohy-
small effect on muscle growth. While their arms immobilized with plaster drates, which promote recovery and
milk, whey, casein and soy proteins casts for two seven-day periods. muscle growth. (British Nutrition
can promote muscle protein synthe- Casting without creatine caused a Foundation Nutrition Bulletin, 33:
sis, milk proteins and their isolated 3.7 percent decrease in muscle mass, 279-286, 2008)
forms (i.e., casein and whey) promote a 21.5 percent decrease in strength
muscle growth better than soy. and a 43 percent decrease in muscle
Protein mixtures containing large endurance. During creatine supple-
Phytoestrogens
amounts of leucine work best for mentation, muscle mass actually In Animal Food
boosting muscle hypertrophy, partic-
ularly in older adults. Bodybuilders
increases slightly, while strength and
muscle endurance decrease by only
Products
should train hard, eat plenty of calo- 4.1 percent and 9.6 percent, respec- Phytoestrogens are chemicals
ries and consume protein after they tively. Creatine monohydrate supple- found in plants that act like estrogens
lift. (Current Opinion in Clinical ments prevent large losses in muscle in the body. They may play a role in
Nutrition and Metabolic Care, mass, strength and endurance in hormone-related cancers, cardiovascu-
12: 6671, 2009) cast-immobilized limbs in young men. lar disease, bone loss, obesity and
(Journal Strength Conditioning type 2 diabetes. They can also create
Research, in press; published online sexual side effects in men, including
Creatine Prevents in January 2009) decreased sperm counts, reduced fer-
Muscle Loss tility, and breast tissue growth. A
During Arm High Milk Intake study from Cambridge University in
the UK measured the phytoestrogen
Casting Linked To content of 115 foods of animal origin,
Immobilizing an arm or leg with a
plaster cast causes rapid losses in
Prostate Cancer including dairy products, eggs, meat,
fish and seafood. Researchers found
muscle mass, strength and Large population studies found a phytoestrogens in all the foods they
endurance. Creatine monohydrate link between high milk intake and an measured but levels were dramatical-
boosts muscle size and strength in increased risk of prostate cancer. ly higher in soy products such as soy
athletes, older adults and people suf- British researchers, in a review of lit- milk, soy infant formula, soy ice cream
fering from degenerative diseases. erature, concluded that the benefits and soy-based meat substitutes. The
Canadian researchers, led by Adam of drinking milk, such as a reduced long-term health effect of phytoestro-
Johnson, found that creatine supple- risk of heart attack, stroke and col- gens in the diet is unknown. (Journal
ments (5 grams, four times per day) orectal cancer, compensate for the of Agricultural and Food Chemistry,
prevented muscle deterioration in increased risk of prostate cancer. In 56: 10099-10104, 2008)

150 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Nutrition
Low-Fat Dairy (Current Opinion in Clinical Nutrition
Foods Speed Fat and Metabolic Care, 12:86-90, 2008)

Loss High-Protein Meals


Low-fat dairy foods help control
bodyweight and fat and promote meta- Help Burn More
bolic health. These foods are high in
protein and calcium, which helps cut
Calories At Night
appetite and maintain blood sugar. A High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets
University of Tennessee study led by promote weight loss better than high-
Michael Zemel showed that consuming carbohydrate diets. High-protein diets
three portions per day of low-fat dairy may depress appetite, stabilize blood
foods helped dieters maintain lost sugar and increase the caloric cost of
weight. The study included a three- digestion. Australian researchers
month weight-loss phase and a six- showed that they might also increase
month weight-maintenance phase. nighttime fat-burning. They found that
During the weight-maintenance period, overweight people metabolized fat bet-
people consuming more dairy products ter after consuming a high-protein meal.
could eat more food and burn more fat The study did not measure weight loss,
than those consuming less than one so it’s unclear whether this is a short-
serving of dairy food per day. Dairy term or long-term effect. Bodybuilders
foods are rich in calcium and vitamin D; following a high-protein diet to cut fat
proteins and are important in a well- should choose healthy foods such as
balanced diet. (Nutrition & Metabolism, fish, lean meats, low-fat dairy products,
5:28 published online October 24, 2008) fruits and vegetables. They should avoid
foods high in saturated fats, such as
bacon and butter. (Nutrition & Dietetics,
Frequent 3: 246-252, 2008)
High-Protein
Meals Maintain Caffeine +
Muscle Mass Carbohydrate
In Older Adults Drink Increases
People lose 20 percent of their active Performance
muscle mass between ages 40 and 60. Caffeine increases endurance capac-
By age 70, most older adults can’t lift 10 ity by preventing fatigue in the central
pounds overhead. Loss of muscle mass nervous system and promoting muscle
with age (sarcopenia) decreases quality of function. Carbohydrate ingestion dur-
life and can lead to catastrophic falls that ing endurance exercise prevents
result in premature death. Douglas fatigue by maintaining blood glucose
Paddon-Jones and Blake Rasmussen, (sugar) levels. British researchers from
from the University of Texas Medical the University of Birmingham found
Branch at Galveston, argued that aging that cyclists who drank a beverage con-
does not reduce the anabolic effects of a taining caffeine and glucose during
high-protein meal. Consuming 25-30 exercise improved endurance capacity
grams of protein stimulates muscle by 4.6 percent compared to a glucose
growth in older and younger people. beverage alone, and by 9 percent com-
However, protein synthesis slows in pared to plain water. The caffeine had
aging muscle with inadequate protein no effect on carbohydrate metabolism
intake (less than 20 grams per meal). during exercise. Consuming caffeine-
They recommended that older adults con- carbohydrate drinks during exercise
sume 25-30 grams of high-quality protein prevents fatigue and promotes
during each meal. Also, increasing leucine endurance capacity. (Medicine Science
intake helps maintain muscle mass. Sports Exercise, 40: 2096-2104, 2008)

152 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Drugs
Growth Hormone- deaths in cyclists who had taken cle destruction due to extreme exer-
Stimulators Could amphetamines. In 2006, the Food and
Drug Administration banned the sale
tion). (Current Sports Medicine
Reports, 7: 244-245, 2008)
Be The Next Big of ephedra, a popular weight-loss
Anabolic Drug and energy supplement. A wide vari- Who Uses
ety of stimulants are on the banned
Many bodybuilders and older substance list for Olympic, profes- Anabolic
adults take injectable growth hor- sional and college athletics. Steroids?
mone (GH) to boost muscle mass, cut Stimulants are as popular as ever in
fat, improve skin texture and many sports. In professional baseball, Testosterone was synthesized in
strengthen connective tissue. In sev- 1934, so it is likely that athletes have
eral studies, GH increased muscle used it for many years. Bodybuilders
and bone density and enhanced the and power athletes used testos-
quality of life in growth hormone- terone and synthetic anabolic
deficient adults. In people with nor- steroids during the 1960s and ‘70s.
mal hormone levels, GH increased Gradually, the principal users were
lean mass but did not enhance nonathletes trying to improve
strength or functional capacity. GH appearance. A Swedish study
sometimes causes unpleasant side examined anabolic steroid use pat-
effects such as joint pain, terns and their relationship to the
swelling, insulin resistance, and use of other drugs. Researchers con-
numbness. Growth hormone-stim- ducted interviews with patients who
ulators (secretagogues) are prom- used steroids and attended an addic-
ising new drugs that increase nat- tion clinic. They noted extensive dif-
ural growth hormone production. ferences between reasons for taking
These drugs include growth hor- the drugs, side effects, perception of
mone-releasing hormone (GHRH), benefits, and the onset of use. The
which binds to GHRH receptors in only common thread between the
the pituitary gland; and MK-677, patients was a desire to train
which bind to ghrelin receptors in intensely. They concluded that physi-
the brain. Nass and colleagues, cians should have a thorough knowl-
in a two-year study involving edge about anabolic steroids and
65 healthy older adults, found their interaction with other drugs in
that MK-677 increased lean order to gain the confidence of their
body mass and restored patients. Also, physicians should
growth hormone to youthful levels discard preconceived notions about
but had no effect on strength, func- for example, 8 percent anabolic steroid users because they
tional capacity or quality of life. An of players had been ‘diagnosed’ with are extremely diverse and have many
editorial by Mark Blackman from the attention-deficit hyperactivity disor- reasons for taking the drugs.
Veterans Affairs Medical Center in der (ADHD) and received exemption (Substance Abuse Treatment,
Washington, DC concluded that to use Ritalin— a stimulant that Prevention, and Policy 3:24 (pub-
growth hormone-stimulators show improves performance. More than 50 lished online), 2008)
great promise for preventing many of percent of college hockey players
the negative effects of aging, but take stimulants— mainly pseu- Take Steroids And
Illustrated by Jerry Beck/www.ironasylum.com

they are not ready for general clini- doephedrine, Ritalin and Provigil.
cal use. (Annals of Internal Medicine, Modafinil— sold as Provigil in the You Will Be Dead
149: 677-678, 2008) United Sates and Alertec in Canada— In 5 Minutes!
is rapidly becoming the stimulant of
Stimulants Are choice. It provides the energy and Most side effects from anabolic
focus needed to work out regularly steroids are relatively minor and
Alive And Well and intensely and reduces the per- include acne, swelling, increased
In The World ception of effort during exercise. The hematocrit, decreased sperm count
main problem with stimulants is they and increased aggressiveness. High
Of Sport allow athletes to push harder than doses are associated with serious
Drug testing began in the 1968 normal, which can result in deadly side effects that impair liver and car-
Olympics in response to several heatstroke or rhabdomyolysis (mus- diovascular function and trigger

160 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Drugs
severe psychiatric problems.
Researchers from Lebanon published
study from the Department of Animal
Science at the University of
Clenbuterol-
a case report on a single steroid user Minnesota found that an implant con- Heroin Appearing
that was reminiscent of “Reefer
Madness,” the marijuana scare film
taining trenbolone acetate (an ana-
bolic steroid) and estrogen increased
On East Coast
from the 1930s. The patient was a IGF-1 mRNA levels in steers. IGF-1 Drug dealers often cut their prod-
24-year old man who used anabolic mRNA is an important growth factor ucts with a variety of substances,
steroids and amino acid supplements. that turns on protein synthesis. The some of which can be deadly. The
He was treated at the hospital for rates of weight gain, feeding efficien- U.S. Poison Control Center reported
abdominal pain and nausea. His lab cy (weight gain per pound of food) 34 cases of clenbuterol-heroin poison-
test showed elevated levels of liver and muscle mass increased more in ing treated in emergency rooms in
enzymes and creatine kinase, both of animals implanted with estrogen- five states on the East Coast.
which often increase with intense trenbolone than estrogen or tren- Symptoms included chest pain, nau-
weight training, and likely had noth- bolone alone. Estrogen plays a role in sea, elevated heart rate, low blood
ing to do with his symptoms. preventing muscle cell destruction. pressure, difficulty breathing and
Researchers concluded that anabolic We need more research before we muscle tremors. Lab results showed
steroids and amino acid supplements can recommend estrogen injections increased blood sugar, potassium and
could cause widespread organ dam- to bodybuilders. In other words, lactate, and six of the patients had
age that could be fatal. On the basis don’t to this at home. (Journal heart damage. The Centers for
of this single observation, the Animal Science, 86: 3418-3423, 2008) Disease Control and Prevention’s
researchers concluded, “This man- Epi-X system allowed rapid identifi-
dates worldwide and concerted Do ACE Inhibitors cation of the drug combination and
efforts to educate the public, espe- distribution of the information to
cially the youth, about the dangers of Improve Athletic poison-control centers across the
these increasingly abused drugs.” Performance? country. (Annals Emergency
While it’s true that anabolic steroids Medicine, 52: 548-553, 2008)
are potentially dangerous, blanket Angiotensin-converting enzyme
statements and unsubstantiated (ACE) is an important determinant Physiological
claims about the side effects of of endurance capacity. Olympic level
steroids and amino acids are over- endurance athletes have a variant of
Levels of
the-top. The take-home message is the ACE gene that reduces the Testosterone
don’t get sick in Lebanon! (Journal of
Medical Case Reports, 2: 340, 2008;
activity of the enzyme. The renin-
angiotensin-aldosterone system reg-
Increase Muscle
published online) ulates blood pressure and body Function
water. With the help of ACE, the Aging is linked to decreased mus-
Trenbolone system produces a chemical called cle mass, loss of strength, abdominal
angiotensin II that constricts blood fat deposition and a general decrease
And Estrogen vessels and increases blood pres- in muscle fitness. Testosterone
Implants sure. Drugs called ACE inhibitors replacement therapy helps restore
(e.g., Vasotec, Accupril, lisinopril, muscle and bone, which could pre-
Increase Muscle Lotensin) block the action of ACE vent life-threatening falls and frac-
Mass In Cattle and reduce blood pressure. A review tures. French researchers, in a study
of literature from the University of on castrated rats, found that replac-
Bodybuilders are muscle farmers. British Columbia speculated that ing testosterone to normal physiolog-
They cultivate their biceps, quads ACE inhibitors mimic the action of ical levels improved muscle function
and pecs through weight training; the ACE gene in world-class without causing muscle growth or
feed them with calories, amino acids endurance athletes and increase influencing pathways involved in pro-
and carbohydrates; and fertilize them performance. Currently, there is lit- tein synthesis. Muscle mass is an
with growth factors such as testos- tle evidence that ACE inhibitors important determinant of strength,
terone, growth hormone and IGF-1. boost endurance or provide the but the quality of muscle tissue helps
What better place to learn about same benefits as good genes. The establish its functional capacity.
muscle growth than meat science review brings up an interesting Maintaining normal testosterone lev-
laboratories? Meat scientists typical- question: Can we make up for less- els appears critical for slowing deteri-
ly work in agriculture departments than-optimal genes with drugs, oration in muscle and bone with age.
and do research on increasing meat training or diet? (Sports Medicine, (Acta Physiologica, in press; pub-
yields in cattle, sheep and pigs. A 38: 1065-1079, 2008) lished online October 2008)

162 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
ABy Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Sex
Porno In The craigslist. This free Internet site has and are often helpful in treating pre-
become a happy hunting ground for mature ejaculation. (Journal Sexual
Workplace horn dogs and people on the make. Medicine, 5: 1546-1551, 2008)
He’s alone in his own little world But the Wild-West days of craigslist
with his office door shut and locked. could be coming to an end; pressure
Chances are he’s watching porno from law enforcement and concerned Is She Faking
videos on his computer. The adult film
industry is recession-proof. People
citizens has made the online commu-
nity put a lid on its ‘erotic services’
An Orgasm?
watch porno videos to help them classified ads. People posting ads in She moans, groans, shakes and
relieve stress created by financial this category must now provide a screams in delight. You feel like King
hard times, and many are doing it at working phone number and pay a Kong because you made her come.
the office. Generation Y adults have small fee with a credit card. This will How do you know she’s not faking
grown up on computer porn and many allow police to track the activities of it? Sex scientists have identified two
are addicted. Nielsen Online reported prostitutes and sex traffickers. Police sure physical signs of orgasm. Roy
that 25 percent of the hits on video in many communities have set up Levine, from the Sexual Physiology
porno sites originate in the workplace. sting operations using craigslist to Laboratory in Yorkshire, England
This has created some serious prob- nab prostitutes and their customers. said that heart rate and rectal pres-
lems for companies, ranging from Be careful when using craigslist to sure increase in direct proportion to
decreased productivity to sexual- hook up; it could land you in the slam- the strength of the orgasm. What are
harassment suits. Porno sites are also mer. (NBC News, November 10, 2008) the practical applications of these
sources for computer viruses which observations? To measure elevated
can infect entire company networks. Gene Linked To heart rate, have your girl wear a
Beware, because big brother is watch-
ing! Companies can track computer Premature
use, and you can lose your job for Ejaculation
watching porno films at work.
(Newsweek, December 8, 2008) Women expect staying power and
a little sexual savoir-faire.
Sex Or The Unfortunately, many men are two-
minute wonders who leave women
Internet? flat and unsatisfied. Premature ejac-
Sex is man’s favorite sport, but is it ulation (PE) is the most significant
more important than the Internet? A sexual problem in men— more preva-
survey of more than 2000 U.S. adults lent than erectile dysfunction, low
showed that nearly 50 percent of men sex drive, delayed or inhibited
and women would stop having sex or orgasm, or physical abnormalities of
watching TV rather than give up the the penis. It affects more than 30
Internet. More women than men percent of men and is most common
chose the Internet over sex, but near- during the late teens and 20s. PE is
ly 50 percent of men said they would psychologically traumatic for men
give up sex for a month in exchange and women. Men feel sexually inade-
for a 50-inch plasma flat screen TV. quate and less masculine. PE
America is becoming a nation of spec- destroys self-confidence and can ruin
tators. Instead of watching porno current and future relationships.
movies on the Internet, go get the real Women feel let down and often use
thing! (CNET, December 15, 2008) it as an excuse to end relationships.
While therapists typically attribute
Craigslist PE to psychological factors, Dutch
researchers found that a cause might
Tightens Up be a gene controlling serotonin
On Erotic metabolism in the brain.
Serotonin helps control
Service Ads ejaculation. Men with PE
If you want a three-way with two had a gene variant that
buxom blondes dressed in nurse cos- reduced serotonin activity.
tumes, look in the erotic services cate- Antidepressant drugs influ-
gory on the online community ence serotonin secretion

170 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
By Steve Blechman and
RESEARCH Thomas Fahey, EdD

Sex
heart rate monitor during sex. She is because they might improve per-
faking an orgasm if her heart rate formance. Viagra will only boost per-
stays below 100 beats per minute. formance in the sexual Olympics or
Measuring rectal pressure is more at altitude. Studies from Stanford
troublesome, and we will leave that University showed that Viagra
to your imagination. (Archives Sexual increased power output on a station-
Behavior, 37:855, 2008) ary bike at a simulated altitude of
9000 feet but had no effect on sea
level performance. Other studies
Cheating Is found similar results. At altitude,
On The Rise Viagra improves exercise capacity by
reducing blood pressure in lung cir-
More people are having extramari- culation, which improves oxygen
tal affairs. However, sex researchers transport capacity. High lung blood
have a difficult time determining the pressure is usually not a problem at
prevalence of marital infidelity. sea level, so the drug has no effect
Surveys conducted by women’s mag- on exercise capacity. Many athletes
azines show infidelity rates of around will do whatever it takes to win, but
50 percent, but cheating women are Viagra won’t help. It will not
more likely to buy these magazines, improve performance at sea level—
which biases the results. In face-to- except in the bedroom. (The New
face interviews with women, only York Times, November 23, 2008)
about 1 percent admitted to having
an extramarital affair within the last No Over-The-
year. Well-controlled anonymous
computer surveys showed that the Counter Viagra
actual rate of infidelity in men and More than 35 million men world-
women is increasing, particularly in wide have used Viagra since its
people over age 60 and newly mar- release in 1998. The drug has provid-
ried couples. Viagra and testosterone ed a sexual second wind to legions
have given new life to aging Romeos of aging Romeos. Pfizer, the maker of
with roving eyes. Older women have the drug, has used high visibility
more financial independence than in spokesmen, such as Bob Dole and
the past, which has given them Mike Ditka to overcome the negative
greater opportunities to stray. Young connotations associated with erectile
working couples spend more time at dysfunction (ED). Many men with ED
the office, which increases the risk of are embarrassed and unwilling to
hanky-panky. But the institute of discuss this problem with their doc-
marriage is not doomed; most cou- tor. Pfizer attempted to release a
ples are spending more time together low-dose version (50mg) of the drug
than in the past and have sex at over-the-counter, but withdrew their
least once a week. (The New York application after European regulators
Times, October 28, 2008) objected to their plan. ED is an
important early marker of cardiovas-
Does Viagra cular disease. Medical experts worry
that the widespread availability of
Improve Sports Viagra would disguise symptoms of
Performance? heart disease and delay treatment.
Viagra is available without a pre-
The International Olympic scription on the Internet, but these
Committee considered putting drugs are often counterfeit or poor
Viagra (sildenafil) and similar drugs quality. (BBC News, November 20,
on the banned substance list 2008)

172 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


Future
Pharmacy
By Douglas S. Kalman, PhD, RD, FACN

Wheaties On Juice?
E
very month when you realize original Astro Nut, Peanut Better, hyperplasic gains. Now, Vanda
that you have been hitting the Pumpkin Chocolate and X-15 vari- Pharmaceuticals in Rockville,
gym consistently, getting in eties. Packaged in compact pouches Maryland has developed
quality meals, even finding the time for on-the-go consumers, the cereal Tasimelteon. Tasimelteon is a med-
to read, do you reevaluate your can be eaten on its own, or by ication that works similarly to the
programs to see if you are truly adding warm or cold water. dietary supplement melatonin in the
making gains? So many people go For now, if this cereal interests treatment of insomnia and sleep
to the gym as part of their daily you (it is an easy way to get fiber disorders. Melatonin is secreted
routine— but is that more about and grain-based protein) you can from the pineal gland and is the
being in a rut than about doing a find it online or in Good Earth master hormone for regulating the
productive workout? If you plan stores, six Whole Foods stores in sleep/wake cycle; supplementation
your workouts and plan your Utah and Colorado, as well as spe- is usually given in doses of up to
meals, eating 90 percent ‘clean’ cialty sports shops. 3mg. A study was conducted which
calories, it is OK to have other also examined how Tasimelteon
types of foods for the remaining 10 If you want to be affects melatonin levels.
1

percent. The goal of this column


and MD in general is to provide
successful, then A series of studies was conduct-
ed through Harvard University, at
you with resources, guidelines and you will prepare the Brigham and Women’s Hospital
support in obtaining your goals. In your workouts in Boston. After being subjected to
other words, if you want to be suc- a simulated plane flight, 450 sleep-
cessful, then you will prepare your and your life for deprived adults were given either a
workouts and your life for continu- continuing test dose of the drug or a placebo
ing progress inside and outside of and then allowed to sleep. The
the gym. With that said, let’s review progress inside results demonstrated that
some new items of interest to those and outside of Tasimelteon enhances sleep quality
of us in the iron game. by extending actual sleeping time
the gym. and allowing users to fall asleep
Anabolic Cereal fast. Vanda Pharmaceuticals claims
A company known as Rokit Fuel, Jet Lag? that the drug has no addictive
LLC, based in Provo, Utah has There are more than a few peo- properties like that of Ambien® or
launched a new (by official label- ple out there who have flown Lunesta®. Tasimelteon produced
ing) marketing category: sports across time zones and experienced benefits for all subjects studied;
cereal. The company is marketing ‘jet lag.’ Jet lag can affect your posi- those who were administered the
the cereal as a training food for tive nitrogen balance. Just as sleep highest doses experienced 89 per-
ILLUSTRATION BY LYMAN DALLY

people with healthy, active deprivation increases circulating cent sleep efficiency the first night
lifestyles. catabolic steroid hormones and of use. This is a potential category
This all-natural, vegan cereal stress, adrenal glands that are changer for sleep aids. And as you
contains 12-15 whole foods affected by jet lag will produce simi- know, it is during sleep that the
(depending on flavor variety), 10 lar, if somewhat less magnified majority of repair and growth
grams of protein, 55-59 grams of effects. Any time you increase circu- occurs; thus Tasimelteon may be a
carbohydrates and 8-9 grams of lating catabolic hormones, you are tool for promoting anabolism in the
dietary fiber. It is available in the causing your body to fight against future.

182 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Future Pharmacy

Compounding There is a strong feeling in the


Pharmacies research community and in the
Pharmaceutical giant Wyeth has investment community that
been battling with the FDA in Orexigen will get one or both of
regard to just what compounding these products to market before
pharmacies retail. A compounding long. The studies are demonstrating
pharmacy is a pharmacy where the good weight loss and appetite-
drug which is ordered is actually reduction effects, a control of the
made onsite and compounded into “reward pathway” if you will.
a ‘solution’ that is ordered by the So this brings me to a question
physician. These pharmacies are for those of you who are creative
very popular for hormonal replace- out here to ponder— if compound-
ment products and others that can ing pharmacies can create medica-
be delivered by alternative means. tions to have specific profiles or be
Compounding pharmacies have the of a specific time-release, why can’t
pharmaceutical industry afraid a compounding pharmacy develop
because many people turn to them generic versions of the aforemen-
for bio-identical hormones as well tioned drugs (the ingredients of
as personalized medicines. both weight-loss products are
There are currently two weight- already FDA approved and on the
loss products being researched market)? This may give a few of you
(phases II and III respectively) the idea to check out the Life
known as Contrave™ and Empatic™. Extension Foundation and the net-
Both products were developed by work of compounding pharmacies—
Orexigen Pharmaceuticals. take a note that a prescription is
Contrave is comprised of “slow- needed by the pharmacy to create
release” buproprion and naltrex- the drug for you. Since the weight-
one, while Empatic™ is composed loss studies to date have been
of buproprion and zonisamide, impressive, this may be one way to
which are slow-release as well. get tomorrow’s weight loss pill,
Buproprion is also known as today.
Wellbutrin® (the dose makes the
name of the product, at a lower That’s a Clean Lift!
dose; it is also known as Zyban® The goal of any decent trainer,
and is used as an aid to smoking nutritionist or therapist is to help
cessation). Naltrexone is an opioid the client get closer to their goals
receptor antagonist used primarily (as long as the goals are essentially
in the management of alcohol healthy). That same dictum applies
dependence and opioid depen- here and it is for this reason that we
dence. It is marketed in generic would love for you to share your
form as its hydrochloride salt, nal- questions regarding nutrition, train-
trexone hydrochloride, and market- ing, pharmaceutical drug develop-
ed under the trade names Revia ment and the like with the Editor at
and Depade. Muscular Development. Often you
In some countries, including the can find us on the MD Forums shar-
United States, an extended-release ing this information and trying to
formula is marketed under the trade support the readership. That said, I
name Vivitrol. Empatic™ utilizes look forward to “meeting” you on
zonisamide. Zonisamide is used to the MD Forums! !
treat or prevent seizures; it is also
known as Zonegran® and is sold by References:
Elan and Eisai. Orexigen’s website 1. Maugh TH. New drug may put jet
has more than enough information lag to rest. Los Angeles Times,
to detail for your mechanism of December 2, 2008.
2. Obesity News, Bio Investor Forum,
action of both products, coupled
(accessed December 8, 2008).
with their study results to date.

184 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


fatattack By Dan Gwartney, MD

ARNOLD ERA
Then Versus Now: Fat Loss
was noted in the companion and assumption of better health, ordinary day jobs. Rumors abounded

As article to this piece, there has


been an evolution in body-
building. Regardless of a person’s
compared to today’s bodybuilders,
as extremely low body fat and high
vascularity are often signs of poor
about bodybuilders working as ‘hired
muscle’ for crime figures, posing
nude or offering sexual favors in
taste, it is evident that the body- health or status in “normal” society. exchange for cash. Undoubtedly,
builder of today is more massive than Paper-thin skin and distended veins some of these scenarios did occur,
his predecessor of 40 years ago. The in a non-athlete are most often seen but they were in no way the norm
visual impact of the increased size of when disease approaches a life- and were no more common than in
today’s top competitors is magnified threatening state (i.e. cancer, cirrho- any other field where emotionally or
by a striking decrease in body fat. sis, starvation, hypertension). financially vulnerable people pursue
While many find the smoother dreams of fame and fortune, such as
contours of the early Olympians to be Whereas bodybuilders acting, academics or politics. Many of
more appealing, it is impossible not classically impressed their these men were employed in labor-
to acknowledge the dramatic ‘pop’ based jobs, keeping them active.
experienced when current competi-
fans with muscle fullness, Recreation was also more physical
tors perform their mandatory poses sweeping contours and and social in the years prior to the
or go head-to-head in a posedown. defined muscle bellies, commercialization of personal com-
The degree to which body fat is eradi- puters and video games. Remember,
cated is reflected in the slang terms today the standard this was a time when phones were
used to describe the onstage appear- requires cross-striations still attached to the handset by a cord,
ance: ‘cut’ gave way to ‘shredded’
which was replaced by ‘peeled.’
in all the major muscles, and let’s not forget disco (a form of
dance involving big hair, tight pants
Whereas bodybuilders classically from the triceps to the and lots of sequins).
impressed their fans with muscle full- glutes and quads. The classic bodybuilder typically
ness, sweeping contours and defined didn’t allow for much fluctuation in
muscle bellies, today the standard The companion article waxed on his bodyweight. Bodybuilding was a
requires cross-striations in all the about the aesthetics of bodybuilding lifestyle, a calling and as such, one
major muscles, from the triceps to and the underappreciated commit- didn’t become sloppy in the off-sea-
the glutes and quads. ment bodybuilders make to their son. Also, there was not as much
Vascularity has likewise leapt lifestyle, but as Mr. Miyagi (played margin for error, as available anabol-
from obscurity. Arnold by the late Pat Morita in the 1984 ics didn’t protect as well against over-
Schwarzenegger dominated body- film classic “The Karate Kid”) training and the limited fat-burning
building during the early-to-mid ’70s, instructed, “Wax on, wax off.” options were not strong enough to
yet he was never known for being Fat loss, then versus now— here is combat very many ‘cheat’ meals.
highly vascular. In fact, aside from the ‘skinny’ (pun intended). In the Most people believe that anyone who
prominent cephalic veins (the one ’60s and ’70s, obesity was much less gets lean, particularly bodybuilders
that goes down the top of the prevalent and there was a lot of who get extremely lean, must do a lot
biceps), vascularity is not overtly evi- social pressure against getting fat in of cardio. The in-house trainers
dent in most pictures of the Austrian the off-season. Despite the fact that preach cross-training, stating that
Oak. It may be that the slightly high- these men had developed the great- weightlifting is for building lean mass
er body fat and lesser vascularity of est physiques in the world, there was and cardio is necessary to lose fat.
the classical bodybuilders account not much money in bodybuilding. Yet, despite the efforts put forth by
for their greater public acceptance This required the men to work at legions of the well-intentioned and

186 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
fatattack
well-fed, fat loss is rarely achieved. contest, some might try to shed requires fat to be broken down and
Bodybuilders, then and now, knew some water weight through sodium released from fat cells. This occurs via
this as they focused on the results of depletion, diuretics and sweating in two pathways; beta-adrenergics and
their training and developed an the sauna. One thing to realize about growth hormone (GH). The beta-
innate sense of what works and what that time that many may not appreci- adrenergics and GH interact with
does not. One rarely sees a body- ate today is the broad variability receptors on the fat cell membrane,
builder on cardio equipment, even between facilities. A story shared by stimulating a cascade of enzymatic
during the pre-contest phase of train- one of the Arnold-era greats regard- reactions resulting in stored fat being
ing. The exception is a low-intensity ing dieting before a show related to released into the circulation (blood-
1-3
session either first thing in the morn- the 1972 Mr. Universe in Baghdad. stream) as free fatty acids. Both of
ing or right before bedtime, in order Specialty meals for bodybuilders these drug classes also hold the
to take advantage of certain metabol- were not commonplace, even in the potential of increasing lean mass;
ic windows. Weight training is not the United States. In Iraq, the competi- thus, they have been called nutrient
one-dimensional activity that fitness tors’ meals consisted of kabobs repartitioning drugs. The most com-
gurus want people to believe. (skewers of lamb, beef and vegeta- monly used beta-adrenergics are
Bodybuilders learned to train high- bles). It is hard to imagine today’s ephedrine/caffeine and clenbuterol.
intensity and heavy to optimize the top competitors eating salted meat Clenbuterol is the more potent drug,
metabolic challenge of a workout. Too from a street vendor prior to a major but it rapidly desensitizes the system
often, the uninformed will train with show. [How many kabobs would it by down regulating available recep-
weights to build muscle, only to take to get 400 grams of protein?] tors; this is why clenbuterol is dosed
break it all down with catabolic car- Today, body fat levels are incredi- intermittently (i.e., two-day on, two-
4
dio. The same goes with diet— star- bly low. In fact, between the near- day off cycle).
vation or very-low calorie dieting only absence of subcutaneous fat and GH is not cycled. The effects of GH
leads to muscle loss. Bodybuilders depletion of extracellular water, some are dose-dependent, which led many
are able to get/stay lean because bodybuilders are achieving skinfold bodybuilders to use very high doses.
muscle is constantly building and measurements so low that most fat- Unfortunately, the levels being used
recovering from strenuous workouts. measuring techniques are not capa- far exceeded the physiologic range of
Vigorous resistance-training, with ble of providing an accurate assess- the hormone, causing a number of
short (30-90 seconds) rest between ment. Unfortunately, the pursuit of an side effects which are overt, disfigur-
sets, can condition as well as hiking. anatomy-chart anatomy has proven ing and potentially affect one’s health
Of course, being lean is one thing, to be harmful, even deadly for many. and longevity. During the ’90s, the
but getting shredded is an entirely Andreas Munzer, who was mentioned appearance of a bodybuilder with
different physiological state. As was previously, was known for being the paper-thin skin and a distended
stated earlier, there really weren’t leanest onstage. Unfortunately, the abdomen destroyed the aesthetics of
that many fat-burning drugs in the extreme to which he pushed himself the sport; this effect was called “GH
and the drugs he belly.” Additionally, facial changes
Between the near-absence of subcuta- chose led to his appeared that quite frankly were not
neous fat and depletion of extracellular premature death. attractive. If one got close enough,
There are many enlarged feet and hands might be
water, some bodybuilders are achieving stories about top noted as well. Thankfully, the combi-
skinfold measurements so low that most bodybuilders nation of judging pressure and com-
cramping from mon sense induced bodybuilders to
fat-measuring techniques are not capa- dehydration or suf- lower GH use to physiologically
ble of providing an accurate assessment. fering heart acceptable ranges. At a low dose, GH
arrhythmias (an still offers many of the fat-loss effects,
’60s and ’70s. Weight-loss clinics irregular heartbeat) from uncompen- though the anabolic signal is not as
offered amphetamine-based stimu- sated electrolyte loss. strong. Bodybuilders found that GH
lants and thyroid hormone, neither of Achieving maximal fat loss and insulin are more effective for
which is overly effective without forc- requires the pharmaceutical modifica- mass gain than GH by itself, allowing
ing the body into the catabolic state. tion of many different pathways, them to maintain Herculean mass.
Most bodybuilders in the classic era some of which conflict with each Estrogen is the primary female-
got as lean as they did (which is other as the body normally attempts class of sex hormone; the ladies’
nowhere near the degree of today’s to correct metabolic imbalances— equivalent to testosterone, relative to
competitors) by avoiding excess fat which is what 2 percent body fat the sexual/reproductive system. In
gain in the off-season, training at a would be interpreted as, by the physi- humans, testosterone is the precursor
pace that boosted the metabolic rate ological control centers. to estrogen. Even though males have
and staying active during their There are several pathways to dis- much higher testosterone concentra-
employment and recreational hours. cuss, which only allows for a superfi- tions, they have a much lower activity
In the days immediately prior to a cial discussion. Fat loss obviously of the enzymes that convert testos-

188 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
fatattack
terone to estradiol. However, when GH to promote the anabolic balance; make informed decisions about their
testosterone levels are elevated, the but for people who suffer hyperthy- drug use. It is the legions of ama-
physiologic excess can ‘spill over’ roidism due to a disease condition, teurs who idolize and emulate these
into the estrogen-converting pathway the effect can be debilitating. The physical icons who are at risk of
(called aromatase), resulting in high greatest downside to thyroid misuse endangering themselves.
5
estrogen levels in a man. This is seen is that many people may not recover This is a world that expects
commonly in puberty as many male normal thyroid function immediately progress. A Gold Medal in the
teens develop sore or swollen nip- after ending the drug use. Several Olympic Games is lessened if a world
ples. Fortunately, for most, this is bodybuilding and fitness competitors record was not set, the salaries of
temporary and resolves as the wild are now permanently dependent on NFL draft picks always exceed the
fluctuations of testosterone become thyroid medication. previous year and bodybuilders must
more controlled as one approaches The ‘final touches’ before a show be bigger and leaner than ever
adulthood. Bodybuilders, who may involve shedding all possible extra- before. For better or worse, this is the
maintain very high concentrations of cellular water from the skin to tighten world we have created and the price
testosterone for long periods, may it. This involves the use of diuretics it exacts on its competitors is a direct
develop prominent breasts, requiring despite efforts to stop the use of reflection of the expectations of the
surgical removal of the tissue. To drugs. Much like wrestlers, boxers fans and promoters. Today’s body-
combat this, most bodybuilders use and horse racing jockeys, body- builders are leaner and more massive
an aromatase inhibitor (e.g. builders use diuretics in the hours than their predecessors. Whether or
® ®
Arimidex , Femara ). Prior to the immediately prior to judging. not they are better is up to the indi-
development of this class of drug, However, as has happened in other vidual to decide. !
®
most depended upon Nolvadex sports, misuse of diuretics can impair
which is not as effective, or 5-alpha- physical function, leading to severe References:
reduced anabolic steroids which are cramping. Top-level bodybuilders 1. Collins S, Cao W, et al. Learning new
tricks from old dogs: beta-adrenergic recep-
not capable of being converted to have had to leave the stage assisted,
tors teach new lessons on firing up adipose
estrogen but are also less anabolic. or received intravenous hydration tissue metabolism. Mol Endocrinol, 2004
During the classic era, Primobolan backstage due to an altered elec- Sep;18(9):2123-31.
was the steroid of choice for pre- trolyte balance. If the electrolytes get 2. Bartness TJ, Song CK. Thematic review
contest training as it gave a ‘drier’ too far out of balance, a dangerous series: adipocyte biology. Sympathetic and
sensory innervation of white adipose tissue.
look to the muscle. The reason aro- heart rhythm could develop that may
J Lipid Res, 2007 Aug;48(8):1655-72.
matase inhibitors aid in fat loss is lead to a fatal heart attack; correcting 3. Berneis K, Keller U. Metabolic actions of
that estrogens increase the fat cells’ the imbalance too rapidly can lead to growth hormone: direct and indirect. Baillieres
responsiveness to fat-storing signals brain damage. It is unfortunate that Clin Endocrinol Metab, 1996 Jul;10(3):337-52.
and by blocking the production of the demands of bodybuilding have 4. Broadley KJ. Review of mechanisms
involved in the apparent differential desensiti-
estrogen in the fat cell, it sways the led to such egregious levels of drug
zation of beta1- and beta2-adrenoceptor-medi-
metabolic balance to releasing use. Recognizing the long-term risks ated functional responses. J Auton Pharmacol,
6
stored subcutaneous fat. associated with the use of anabolic 1999 Dec;19(6):335-45.
Though thyroid hormone is very and fat-loss drugs at the concentra- 5. Ma NS, Geffner ME. Gynecomastia in
catabolic, in the metabolic environ- tions being used, the greatest imme- prepubertal and pubertal men. Curr Opin
Pediatr, 2008 Aug;20(4):465-70.
ment of a high androgen (anabolic diate risk may lie with the use of 6. Pedersen SB, Kristensen K, et al.
steroid) concentration, lean mass can diuretics. The death of IFBB great Estrogen controls lipolysis by up-regulating
be preserved while fat loss is acceler- Mohammed ‘Momo’ Benaziza was alpha2A-adrenergic receptors directly in
ated. Synthroid is the pharmaceutical attributed to high potassium in the human adipose tissue through the estrogen
brand name most recognized; it is T4 blood, as a consequence of diuretic receptor alpha. Implications for the female fat
10 distribution. J Clin Endocrinol Metab, 2004
which is the less potent thyroid hor- use, which led to cardiac arrest. Apr;89(4):1869-78.
mone, basically a prohormone to T3. Bodybuilders have given their 7. Videla LA, Fernandez V, et al. Thyroid hor-
T4 is converted in most cells to T3 via lives— figuratively and for a few, lit- mone calorigenesis and mitochondrial redox
a deiodinase enzyme; T3 is roughly erally to achieve their personal goals signaling: upregulation of gene expression.
Front Biosci, 2007 Jan 1;12:1220-8.
five times as potent. T3, available as and the demands of competition.
8. Casimiro-Lopes G, Alves SB, et al.
the drug Cytomel, aids in fat loss by Extremist fans will always call for Maximum acute exercise tolerance in hyper-
increasing the metabolism; this more muscle and less fat. The pres- thyroid and hypothyroid rats subjected to
increases the rate at which calories sure placed on today’s professional forced swimming. Horm Metab Res, 2008
7
are burned. Ideally, the increased bodybuilders is significant, forcing Apr;40(4):276-80.
9. Morrison WL, Gibson JN, et al. Skeletal
calories would be fatty acids, but T3 is many to take extreme risks to deliver
muscle and whole body protein turnover in
non-specific and will break down pro- the physiques that grace the stages thyroid disease. Eur J Clin Invest, 1988
teins and glycogen as well, causing of the top competitions. But the Feb;18(1):62-8.
8,9
muscle loss and fatigue. This is not greatest threat is not to these gentle- 10. Furlanello F, Serdoz LV, et al. Illicit
an issue for a bodybuilder who is men, who have access to resources drugs and cardiac arrhythmias in athletes. Eur
J Cardiovasc Prev Rehabil, 2007 Aug;14(4):487-
using anabolic steroids, insulin and and information which allow them to
94.

190 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
nutrition By Robbie Durand, MA

performance
Leucine Update!

L
eucine has the unique ability to stimulate muscle protein ized resistance training protocol to stimulate muscle hyper-
synthesis independent of insulin. The anabolic actions of trophy.The ingestion of 4 grams of leucine is similar to eat-
leucine are through signaling pathways via mammalian ing 230 grams of beef. Here are the results:
target of rapamycin (mTOR). The mTOR pathway facilitates
cell growth. Scientists have discovered that this is the single Peak Concentrations
most important amino acid for stimulating protein synthesis. in Blood
Leucine rest: 67 minutes
Strength Training Slows the Leucine before resistance exercise: 90 minutes
Absorption of Leucine and (23-minute delay)
BCAAs
Many bodybuilders know that consumption of a pre- BCAA rest: 72 minutes
exercise mixture of BCAAs or leucine before resistance exer- BCAA before resistance exercise: 78 minutes
cise enhances anabolic effects, but new research suggests (6-minute delay)
that strength training can slow the absorption of both BCAA
and leucine. Researchers measured peak concentration of Glutamine rest: 60 minutes
three amino acids (BCAA, leucine, and glutamine) during Glutamine before resistance exercise: 57 minutes
rest and before intense resistance exercise.The subjects took
50 mg/kg of bodyweight of leucine (4 grams), BCAA (4 The researchers speculated that the delay in peak con-
grams of leucine, 1 gram isoleucine, 1 gram valine), or gluta- centrations of leucine and BCAA was due to delayed gas-
mine (4 grams) immediately before performing a standard- tric emptying, which means that blood flow is diverted to

192 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
nutrition performance
exercising muscle and away from the the addition of leucine may be a
stomach, which slows the digestive great way to maintain anabolism
process. The researchers were puz- in a calorie deficit and maintain a
zled at why peak appearance of gluta- ketogenic state as it does not
mine in the blood was not affected; stimulate glucose, modestly
they speculated that glutamine is affects insulin response, increases
metabolized differently and resistance glucagon, and results in large
exercise does not slow absorption blood concentrations of leucine.
kinetics. The important take-home Another interesting finding was that
point is that taking leucine should leucine tended to produce a greater
probably occur at least 90 minutes degree of fullness!
before exercise so that when you
reach the gym you have peak concen- Kalogeropoulou D, Lafave L, Schweim K,
Gannon MC, Nuttall FQ. Leucine, when ingest-
trations of leucine in your blood. ed with glucose, synergistically stimulates
insulin secretion and lowers blood glucose.
Mero A, Leikas A, Knuutinen J, Hulmi JJ, Metabolism. 2008 Dec;57(12):1747-52.
Kovanen V. Effect of strength-training session
on plasma amino acid concentration following
oral ingestion of leucine, BCAAs or glutamine Leucine:
in men. Eur J Appl Physiol. 2008 Oct 21. The Ultimate
Anti-Catabolic
Leucine May Be Supplement
The Perfect Leucine may be the perfect “com-
Supplement Using petition” supplement as it elicits potent
Low-Carb Diets anti-catabolic actions. Leucine is an
Previous research has shown that essential amino acid, which is capable
leucine is a stimulator of insulin, but of producing anabolic effects on mus-
how much of an impact this would cle tissue; moreover, when adminis-
have on fat metabolism remains unde- tered in large dosages it is capable of
termined. Some bodybuilders have promoting important anti-catabolic
questioned using leucine while dieting. actions as well. Leucine has been
The effect of leucine on protein synthe- shown to attenuate skeletal muscle
sis is via insulin independent mecha- catabolism during weight loss, facili-
nisms, although basal insulin levels are tate muscle healing and improve skele-
important for maximal effect. How tal muscle protein turnover in aged
leucine brings about its metabolic individuals. In a recent review article
effects has not been fully elucidated. published in the Journal of Nutrition
Researchers wanted to compare the and Metabolism, researchers dis-
insulin and glucose responses of cussed the potent anti-catabolic
leucine (7 grams) or leucine (7 grams) actions of leucine in humans.
plus glucose (25 grams).The amount Summing up, in human studies,
of leucine would be equivalent to a leucine supplementation clearly
350-gram steak. induces an inhibition in skeletal
The researchers found that muscle proteolysis (anti-catabolic
leucine by itself resulted in a mod- actions) and there are several studies
est increase in insulin; however, the suggesting that the leucine concentra-
rise in insulin was small compared to tion capable of preventing protein
when leucine was ingested with glu- breakdown may be larger than that
cose. The combination of leucine and capable of maximally stimulating pro-
glucose resulted in a greater insulin tein synthesis, especially under cata-
spike than glucose alone.The insulin bolic conditions. Under catabolic con-
response was 72 percent greater with ditions, muscle tends to become
glucose and leucine compared to glu- leucine-resistant; however, leucine pre-
cose alone. Leucine administration vents muscle tissue breakdown. ■
alone also resulted in a large increase
in glucagon concentration but did not Zanchi NE, Nicastro H, Lancha AH Jr.
result in changes in glucose. Potential antiproteolytic effects of L-leucine:
The key point is that for body- observations of in vitro and in vivo studies.
builders following a low-carb diet, Nutr Metab (Lond), 2008 Jul 17;5:20.

194 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


Sports Supplement
Product Review By Robbie Durand, MA

THE NEXT GENERATION PRE-WORKOUT FORMULA FOR


EXTREME MUSCLE PUMPS, POWER AND PERFORMANCE
HP’s Dark Rage introduces a new pump-inducing The Science Behind EPO

M technology that goes far beyond nitric oxide.


Compounds called Erythropoietin (EPO)
Stimulating Agents are being used by bodybuilding’s elite
and Muscle Growth
EPO is a hormone that controls erythropoiesis, or red
blood cell production. It also has other known biological
to induce muscle pumps and muscle growth far beyond functions. Erythropoietin has traditionally been thought of
nitric oxide or anything else ever used. The truth is that a as an endurance doping agent as it enhances red blood cell
pump is the result of delivering more blood to muscle tis- production, which enhances oxygen being carried to mus-
sue, so while the use of nitric oxide stimu- cle tissue. EPO is directly associated with
lating ingredients like AAKG and red blood cell production and blood
Arginine are somewhat effective by volume. Recently, researchers have
causing vasodilation, they do not discovered another function of EPO: it
increase blood volume. MHP’s has the ability to enhance muscle
research and development team set recuperation and muscle growth.
out to formulate a product that
would far surpass all others in • EPO receptors are found
not only pumps, but also in in skeletal muscle; activation
energy, workout intensity, mus- of the EPO receptor in muscle
cle power, muscle endurance, stimulates the activator of a
muscle growth and recovery. protein called STAT5. STAT5
Dark Rage’s dual erythro- also activates the PI3 kinase-
poietin-nitric oxide action caus- Akt signaling pathway, which
es what scientists call ‘hemo- is believed to result in activa-
dynamic blood plasma tion of AKT and p70s6K, which
vasodilation.’ What this means in turn plays a role in protein
1,2
is a larger supply of EPO- synthesis. This pathway has
induced blood is simultaneous- been suggested to be critical
ly being transported through in regulation of skeletal mus-
3, 4
nitric oxide-induced vasodilat- cle hypertrophy. On the basis
ed veins and capillaries to of the above findings, it
muscle tissue. This increased appears plausible that EPO
blood supply not only increas- receptor activation may con-
es the size and effects of the tribute in regulating skeletal
muscle pump, but it also has a muscle fiber growth.
profound anabolic muscle
building effect as it engorges • A single injection of EPO
your muscle tissue with Dark results in very high plasma EPO
Rage’s other active ingredi- concentrations which increases
ents like creatine, beta-alanine, MRF4 (muscle regulatory factor
BCAAs, AAKG, Arginine and is part of a family of genes con-
many more. ducive to muscle growth) content for

196 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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Sports Supplement Product Review
hours after injection. MRF has been shown to be a part of ingredients such as Arachidonic Acid, Echinacea, Cobalt,
the genes related to muscle fiber growth as resistance exer- Albumin, Iron and a matrix of essential vitamin and min-
cise has been shown to increase MRF4 mRNA in human eral blood-building co-factors.
5
skeletal muscle as well.
HEMASTEM™:
• In this month’s Journal of Orthopaedic Research, HEMATOPOIETIC
researchers caused muscle damage in rats and adminis- STEM CELLS STIMULATOR:
tered EPO. The researchers concluded that, “EPO results in This ultimate innovation contains research proven
faster and better regeneration of skeletal muscle tissue after ingredients that stimulate the production of the stem
severe trauma and goes along with improved microcircula- cells, which are the precursor cells that are activated by
tion. Thus, EPO, a compound established as clinically safe, EPO to develop into full-fledged red blood cells. HEMAS-
may represent a promising therapeutic option to optimize TEM makes the EPO-simulating effects of DARK Rage
6
the post-traumatic course of muscle tissue healing.” even more effective in boosting red blood cells and
increasing blood volume for extreme vascular expansion
Interestingly, many bodybuilders report greater muscle and muscle pumps. HEMASTEM features proven stem
pumps while using anabolic steroids such as Anadrol. The cell stimulating ingredients such as Cyanophyta,
use of Anadrol has been shown to increase EPO which may Angelica, Ginkgo, Anthocyanins, Polyphenols and essen-
be facilitating greater blood volume which enhances muscle tial vitamin and mineral nutrients.
pumps.

Mind-Blowing Pumps, Increased


Strength, Maximum Muscle
Growth, Extreme Energy and
Intensity! DARK RAGE is ALL of
The ABOVE and MORE! Dark Rage
goes beyond the PUMP and has 6
formulas in one container, making
it the most comprehensive pre-
workout supplement to date!

EPODROL™: EPO
PLASMA RED
BLOOD CELL
STIMULATOR:
A patent-pending com-
pound of clinically researched
EPO co-factors, designed to
trigger the powerful hor-
mone Erythropoietin to
increase the production of
red blood cells and
increase plasma blood
volume for far greater
muscle pumps and vas-
cularity. This increased
blood volume in turn
increases oxygen
transport and the
delivery of anabolic
hormones and nutri-
ents to muscle tissue,
which has an immedi-
ate impact on muscle
pumps, performance
and stimulating muscle
growth. EPODROL fea-
tures proven EPO and
red blood cell-producing

198 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Sports Supplement Product Review
VASOSHOCK-NO™:
NITRIC OXIDE (NO)
MASS PUMP INFUSION:
The most advanced and only nitric oxide complex with
Hemafolate designed to override NO agonist and push NO
beyond normal physiological levels for greater vasodilation.
This proprietary blend of compounds promotes maximally
effective nitric oxide (NO) induced vasodilation and muscle
pumps through a series of complex NO-producing bio-
chemical pathway synergists. This extra vascular expansion
is critical to improve blood viscosity to support Dark
Rage’s increased blood volume and enhance blood flow
rate for maximum muscle pumps. VASOSHOCK-NO fea-
tures proven NO-elevating ingredients such as the special
multi-arginine complex (AAKG, Di-Arginine Malate,
L-Arginine, Arginine Ethyl Ester), Citrulline, Gynostemma,
Pycnogenol, Cnidium, Icarin and Hemafolate.

MYOVOL-ATP™: ADVANCED
MULTI-PHASE CREATINE
TRANSPORT AND CELL
VOLUMIZING MATRIX:
This cutting-edge matrix works synergistically to acceler- Caffeine, 1-amino-2-phenylethane, Beta
ate creatine transport directly into working muscle tissue, Methoxyphenylethylamine, Tyrosine, Hyperzine A,
along with delivery of vital metabolic co-factors to produce Vinpocetine, Theobromine and Yohimbe.
extreme muscle bioenergetics for increased strength and
muscle fiber enlargement. MYOVOL-ATP features proven cell Dark Rage sets a new scientific standard of pre-workout
volumizing and bioenergetic boosting ingredients, such as supplementation with exclusive EPO Blood Doping
Glucose Bound Creatine Gluconate, Creatinol-O-Phosphate, Technology™ and an amazingly powerful combination of
MicroTein sustained-release creatine, Glycocyamine, advanced next-generation ingredients designed to take
GuaniPro guanidine propionic acid and TMG. your workouts to an entirely new level of intensity,
increased strength, extreme muscle growth, incredible ana-
BETAENDURE™: MUSCLE bolic muscle pumps and fast recovery!
ENDURANCE BETA ALANINE/
pH BUFFERING SYSTEM: Feel the Power of DARK RAGE and Experience
A key factor for enhancing muscle strength and stimulat- the Ultimate Workout!
ing muscle growth is optimizing the anaerobic bioenergetic
fast-twitch muscle fiber capacity to contract over and over Hear the live interview about Dark Rage with
again during heavy weight training. BETAENDURE contains Gerard Dente at the MD website!
an advanced muscle pH buffering system that actually
enables you to fight off muscle fatigue so you can squeeze For more information about MHP products, go to:
out more reps and pump even more anabolic blood into www.maxperformance.com
your muscles during your totally outrageous ‘overload’
1. Ratajczak J, Majka M, Kijowski J, Baj M, Pan ZK, Marquez LA, Janowska-
training sessions. BETAENDURE features proven fatigue Wieczorek A, Ratajczak MZ. Biological significance of MAPK, AKT and JAK-
fighting and anti-catabolic ingredients such as, Beta Alanine, STAT protein activation by various erythropoietic factors in normal human
Citrate, Phosphate, Taurine and BCAAs. early erythroid cells. Br J Haematol, 115: 195-204, 2001.
2. Deng L, Sowers JR, Cutaia MV, El Sherif N. Erythropoietin protects car-
diac myocytes from hypoxia-induced apoptosis through an Akt-dependent
PSYCHORAGE™: EXTREME pathway. Biochem Biophys Res Comm, 308: 990-994, 2003.
3. Bodine SC, Stitt TN, Gonzalez M, Kline WO, Stover GL, Bauerlein R,
FOCUS AND ENERGY UP Zlotchenko E, Scrimgeour A, Lawrence JC, Glass DJ, Yancopoulos GD.
REGULATORS: Akt/mTOR pathway is a crucial regulator of skeletal muscle hypertrophy and
can prevent muscle atrophy in vivo. Nat Cell Biol, 3: 1014-1019, 2002.
Get ready to experience the most intense, energized 4. Rommel C, Bodine SC, Clarke BA, Rossman R, Nunez L, Stitt TN,
workout of your life as exclusive psychotropic factors, Yancopoulos GD, Glass DJ. Mediation of IGF-1-induced skeletal myotube
hypertrophy by PI(3)K/Akt/mTOR and PI(3)K/Akt/GSK3 pathways. Nat Cell Biol
neuro-active compounds and energizers found only in Dark 3: 1009-1013, 2001.
Rage ignite extremely powerful neural system impulses. 5. Psilander N, Damsgaard R, Pilegaard H. Resistance exercise alters MRF
PSYCHORAGE triggers an extreme state of euphoria and and IGF-I mRNA content in human skeletal muscle. J Appl Physiol 95: 1038-
1044, 2003.
mental focus, while stimulating the release of adrenaline to 6. Erythropoietin improves functional and histological recovery of trauma-
super-charge your workouts. PSYCHORAGE features proven tized skeletal muscle tissue. Rotter R, Menshykova M, Winkler T, Matziolis G,
Stratos I, Schoen M, Bittorf T, Mittlmeier T, Vollmar B. J Orthop Res. 2008 Dec;
neuro-active ingredients, such as Glucuronolactone, 26(12):1618-26.

200 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Supplement
Performance By Robbie Durand, MA

Potassium Bicarbonate
& Egg Protein
Potassium Bicarbonate women and reduce muscle catabolism. The study provides
Reduces Muscle Tissue evidence that IGF-1 may be the mediator of a beneficial
Breakdown and Increases IGF-1 potassium bicarbonate effect on muscle. If you are following
A few months ago in Muscular Development’s ‘Muscle a high-protein, high-fat diet, consuming alkaline-producing
Growth Update’ column, an article was titled, “Alkaline vegetables is essential.
Diets Increase Muscle Mass.” The article was based on new
research suggesting that acidic diets induced by high pro- Groundbreaking Research!
tein and low consumption of vegetables induced acidic pH 20 Grams of Protein Maximally
in the blood, which caused increased protein breakdown, Stimulates Protein Synthesis
leading to a decrease in muscle mass. However, an alka- Rates
line diet was shown to enhance muscle protein synthesis Researchers from the Exercise Metabolism Research
and muscle mass. Another interesting fact is that alkaline Group, Department of Kinesiology in Canada reported in the
diets enhance bone strength, which may be mediated by American Journal of Clinical Nutrition that 20 grams of
increasing plasma levels of IGF-1. protein after resistance exercise maximally stimulated
In this month’s Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and protein synthesis, yet higher dosages had no effect.
Metabolism, researchers found more evidence that Young, healthy men with previous resistance training experi-
increasing alkalinity can enhance muscle mass. ence performed intense resistance exercise and consumed
Researchers administered potassium bicarbonate (subjects an egg protein drink that contained either 5, 10, 20 or 40
started on three capsules daily, one after each meal) and grams of egg protein. Interestingly, researchers found that
gradually increased the dosage by three capsules every increasing protein intake (up to 20 grams of dietary protein)
three days to a maximum daily dosage of 12 capsules (90 stimulated protein synthesis in a dose-dependent manner.
mmol/day; four capsules after each meal with 8 ounces of After 20 grams, there was no further increase in protein syn-
water), which they took throughout the study. The subjects thesis; 40 grams did not stimulate protein synthesis greater
were assigned to a low protein (0.5g/kg/day) and high-pro- than 20 grams.
tein diet (1g/kg/day); each subject served as his own con- This data suggest that there is a maximal rate at which
trol and then switched groups (low protein/high protein). dietary amino acids can be incorporated into muscle tissue
Blood samples were taken throughout the study. and that with increasingly higher concentrations of amino
At the end of 41 days, supplementation with 90 acids, there is no further stimulation of muscle protein syn-
mmol/day of potassium bicarbonate resulted in a net alkali- thesis. So how many times in a day could someone con-
producing intake (reduced blood acidity) and reduced the sume such a dose (20 grams) to stimulate muscle anabolism
rise in urinary nitrogen excretion by almost 50 percent. This that would ultimately translate into muscle growth?
reduction in urinary nitrogen excretion can be consid- The researchers speculated that five to six small
ered an indicator of reduced muscle wasting. (20 grams) servings daily would be the optimal mea-
Circulating levels of IGF-1 were higher in the potassi- sure to increase anabolism and increase muscle
um bicarbonate group than the placebo group after mass. !
each metabolic diet period. This suggests that it was
increased by potassium bicarbonate supplementation. References:
Interestingly, the high-protein diet that was acidic caused Ceglia L, Harris SS, Abrams SA, Rasmussen HM, Dallal GE, Dawson-Hughes B.
Potassium bicarbonate attenuates the urinary nitrogen excretion that accompanies an
a decrease in IGF-1, which was likely related to liver IGF-1 increase in dietary protein and may promote calcium absorption. J Clin Endocrinol
response to reduced circulating growth hormone. The study Metab, 2008.
Moore DR, Robinson MJ, Fry JL, Tang JE, Glover EI, Wilkinson SB, Prior T,
provides the first evidence that ingestion of alkali may Tarnopolsky MA, Phillips SM. Ingested protein dose response of muscle and albumin
increase serum IGF-1 levels in healthy, older men and protein synthesis after resistance exercise in young men. Am J Clin Nutr, 2009

204 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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MuscleGrowth
Update By Robbie Durand, MA

Low Intensity, Slow Movements


With Continuous Tension,
Increase Muscle Growth To The Same
Extent As High-Intensity Weightlifting
In
the last column of the Muscle speed (1 second for concentric and vertical squat, chest press, and lat pull-
Growth Update, I wrote about eccentric actions, and 1 second for relax- down, the subjects did not extend their
how light weights were not as ing). The slow movement with continu- legs or arms fully, to maintain continu-
effective as heavy resistance exercise for ous tension exercise movement was ous tension in the muscles throughout
stimulating muscle growth.Traditionally, configured to achieve continuous force the exercise movement.
resistance training at medium-to-high generation throughout the exercise
4
intensity (~80 percent one-repetition movement . • The high-intensity group exercised
maximum [1RM]) is generally regarded One thing that must be acknowledged at high intensity (~80-90 percent 1RM),
as optimal for increasing muscular size is that this is not SUPERSLOW train- with normal speed (1 second for concen-
1,2
and strength . It has been reported that ing! SuperSlow training represents 4-6 tric and eccentric actions, and 1 second
resistance training at intensities lower repetitions consisting of a 10-second for relaxing).
than 65 percent 1RM is virtually ineffec- concentric phase followed by a 4-second
tive for increasing muscular size and eccentric phase. The new research group Slow Movements
3
strength . A previous study from the recommended a protocol that calls for 3 With Continuous
University of Tokyo challenged the con- seconds for eccentric and concentric Tension As
cept that resistance exercise must be actions, a 1-second pause and no relax- Effective As High
performed at 80 percent to stimulate ing phase. The same research group Intensity Exercise
muscle hypertrophy; the research group added more data by having subjects For Increasing
showed that continuous force generated complete multi-joint exercises instead of Muscle Mass And
at lower intensities could stimulate mus- a single leg movement (leg extensions). Strength!
cle hypertrophy just as effectively as high The subjects in each training group per- The study reported a significant
intensity explosive exercise. Here is the formed whole-body resistance training increase in muscular size and a concomi-
study breakdown: regimens consisting of five types of exer- tant increase in muscular strength after a
Subjects were randomized to a 12- cise: vertical squats, chest press, lat pull- 13-week training program of whole-body
week program of relatively low-intensity downs, abdominal bends, and back slow movements with continuous ten-
(~50 percent 1RM) resistance training extensions. A 3-minute rest period was sion. The low-intensity (~55-60 per-
with slow movement (3 seconds for taken between exercise events. The train- cent 1RM) resistance training pro-
eccentric and concentric actions, 1-sec- ing session was performed twice a week gram with slow movement and tonic
ond pause and no relaxing phase) for leg for 13 weeks. The subjects were divided force generation resulting in gains
extensions, which caused significant into two groups: in muscular size and strength were
increases in muscular size (~5 percent similar to those after the same
gain in cross-sectional area) and strength • The slow-movement group with whole-body training program using
(30 percent gain in 1RM) in young men. constant tension exercised at low intensi- a high-intensity load (~80-90 percent
The effects of muscular size and strength ty (~55-60 percent of 1RM), with slow 1RM) with normal speed (1 second
gains in slow continuous resistance exer- movement and tonic force generation up, 1 second down). One surprising
cise were comparable with those seen in (three seconds for concentric [lifting finding was the slow continuous move-
traditional high-intensity (~80 percent phase] and eccentric [lowering phase] ment group did not lose body fat at the
1RM) resistance training with normal actions, and no relaxing phase). In the end of 13 weeks whereas the high-inten-

206 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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MuscleGrowthUpdate
sity group (>80 percent) tended to have muscle activity exercise were likely then cycling back to a high-intensity pro-
a greater reduction in body fat.The attributable to the restriction of muscular tocol may provide superior changes in
researchers speculated two possible rea- blood flow by continuous muscle activi- both fat loss and muscle growth.
sons for this: 1) High-intensity exercise ty. It has been speculated that local accu-
tends to cause greater increases in cate- mulation of anaerobic energy metabo- Key Points:
cholamines which enhance fat loss; 2) lites, such as lactate, stimulates the • The low-intensity (~55-60 percent
2,5
The larger amount of worked performed secretion of GH and the local secretion 1RM) resistance training program with
6
may have caused a greater amount of fat of growth factors, such as IGF-1 . Slow slow movement and tonic force genera-
loss.The high-intensity group performed movements with continuous tension tion (3 seconds for eccentric and concen-
about 1.5 times greater work than the also lower muscle oxygenation without tric actions, 1-second pause and no relax-
low-intensity group.This new study real- the painful experience of cutting off ing phase), resulted in gains in muscular
ly shocked the research community as blood supply with tourniquets. (See: size and strength similar to those after
typically the current recommendations Review Article suggests that Tourniquet the same whole-body training program
for muscle hypertrophy are around 80 Training is not necessary!) using a high-intensity load (~80-90 per-
percent of a 1RM, yet the study found cent 1RM) with normal speed (1 second
that using lighter loads resulted in 2. The accumulation of lactic acid up, 1 second down).
equally effective gains in muscle mass! results in greater fatigue and fatigue may • Not “locking out” at the end of the
be a potent stimulator of strength and movements keeps tension constant on
Physiological muscle growth. In a previous study, muscle throughout the entire set.
Responses To researchers randomized subjects to • A slow, controlled non-locking exer-
Low-Intensity, either a no-rest group (performed repeat- cise set produced ischemic conditions
Continuous ed lifts without resting) or a rest group that can trigger muscle growth factors.
Movement Training (30 seconds between lifts). Both training • Traditionally, tourniquet training was
As you well know, muscle hypertro- groups performed the same number of thought to be the only way of producing
phy is a complex process and multiple lifts at the same relative intensity. ischemic (oxygen shortage) in muscle,
pathways are involved. Some of the Subjects who trained without rests expe- however research suggests that maximal
physiological responses have been docu- rienced significantly greater mean contractions also produce similar
mented with slow, low-intensity continu- increases in dynamic strength than sub- ischemic conditions. Squeezing a muscle
ous movements: jects who trained with rests. It was con- to invoke these conditions may be con-
Slow continuous muscle activity is cluded that greater short-term strength ducive for muscle hypertrophy. !
kept constant throughout the entire exer- increases are achieved when subjects are
cise movement. Greater tension is a required to lift training weights without References:
stimulator of muscle hypertrophy. One resting. These findings suggest that 1. Kraemer, WJ, Deschenes, MR, and Fleck,
SJ. Physiological adaptations to resistance
thing that was emphasized by the metabolic processes associated with exercise. Implications for athletic conditioning.
researchers is that the subjects were fatigue contribute to the strength training Sports Med, 6: 246-256, 1988.
8 2. MacDougall, JD, Ward, GR, Sale, DG, and
instructed not to lock out at the end stimulus . Sutton, JR. Biochemical adaptation of human
of the movements to keep tension In conclusion, this new study actually skeletal muscle to heavy resistance training
and immobilization. J Appl Physiol, 43: 700-
constant throughout the entire set. means that you can train with lighter 703, 1997.
Not locking out may be more important weights and grow to the same extent as 3. Campos, GE, Luecke, TJ, Wendeln, HK,
Toma, K, Hagerman, FC, Murray, TF, Ragg, KE,
than we had previously realized for you would with training at higher intensi- Ratamess, NA, Kraemer, WJ, and Staron, RS.
increasing muscle mass. It had previous- ties. When you train at the recommended Muscular adaptations in response to three dif-
ferent resistance-training regimens: specificity
ly been reported that vascular occlusion intensities greater than 80 percent for of repetition maximum training zones. Eur J
training can stimulate muscle hypertro- muscle hypertrophy, the central nervous Appl Physiol, 88: 50-60, 2002.
4. Tanimoto, M and Ishii, N. Effects of low-
phy, but not locking out during training system takes a beating. Incorporating a intensity resistance exercise with slow move-
also induced ischemia. Here are some lower intensity protocol such as the ment and tonic force generation on muscular
function in young men. J Appl Physiol, 100:
interesting facts about slow movements study mentioned, can be a great way to 1150-1157, 2006.
that may stimulate muscle hypertrophy: give your central nervous system a rest 5. Kraemer, WJ and Ratamess, NA.
Hormonal responses and adaptations to resis-
while increasing muscle mass.The key tance exercise and training. Sports Med, 35:
1. Lowered peripheral muscle oxy- point of the study was that the group 339-361, 2005.
genation level during exercise. In previ- that lifted with slow movement and con- 6. Schott, J, McCully, K, and Rutherford,
OM. The role of metabolites in strength train-
ous studies, tourniquet training has stant tension, exercised at low-intensity ing. II. Short versus long isometric contrac-
been shown to increase muscle hyper- (~55-60 percent of 1RM), and slow force tions. Eur J Appl Physiol Occup Physiol, 71:
7 337-341, 1995.
trophy at very low workloads . The study generation (3 seconds for concentric [lift- 7. Kawada S, Ishii N. Changes in skeletal
found that slow movements resulted in ing phase] and eccentric [lowering muscle size, fibre-type composition and capil-
lary supply after chronic venous occlusion in
greater lactic acid concentrations during phase] actions, with no relaxing phase). rats. Acta Physiol (Oxf)., 2008 Apr; 192(4):541-9.
exercise. The lowered muscle oxygena- One must also keep in mind that the 8. Rooney KJ, Herbert RD, Balnave RJ.
Fatigue contributes to the strength-training
tion level and increased blood lactate high-intensity group lost more body fat, stimulus. Med Sci Sports Exerc., 1994 Sep;
concentration during slow continuous so switching to a slow lifting phase and 26(9): 1160-4.

208 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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www.fantamag.com
Kai Toney Branch
L. Greene Freeman Warren

Arnold Classic champ competing, and crisp look. I can relate, because out of huge for his frame. With his type of
he’s the only Mr. Olympia runner-up. the 33 pro shows I did, I probably only structure, namely a short torso and
The only man to beat him in the past truly had that look four or five times. long legs, he runs the risk of becoming
two years was Jay, and I think you all The first Arnold I won in 1993 is one blocky. Bigger isn’t always better,
know how I feel about that B.S. by show of mine people still talk about as which was a harsh lesson I learned
now. Of course, the big X factor here, my best-ever condition, along with the toward the end of the ’90s. But from
and the million-dollar-question, is will ’96 Night of Champions. So far, Victor what I’ve heard, he’s put on something
his injured leg look the same as hasn’t shown up with the type of con- like 5 pounds of new muscle since last
before? dition people will refer to as his all- spring, which should be fine— assum-
Victor never had the most over- time best, though he’s come close a ing it’s in the key areas he needed,
whelming quads in the front poses as few times now. If he can accomplish such as the upper chest, shoulders and
it is, so they need to look at least as that for the Arnold, that big paycheck maybe a bit in the triceps. Once those
good as they did at the ’07 Arnold and has his name on it. areas are up to par, he really won’t
Olympia. From the side, his quads need any additional size. Kai should
bulge out and his hamstrings have a 2. Kai L. Greene just focus on refining and adding
nice hang to them, but from the front If there is any one man who poses detail to what he has. But regardless,
they don’t appear quite as enormous a formidable enough threat to be Mr. Greene is most definitely in the
as his upper body does. Part of that Victor’s worst nightmare, it’s “The running and could give Victor the fight
stems from his wide clavicles. A guy Predator.” If for any reason Martinez of his life.
would need to have pretty crazy thigh isn’t firing on all cylinders, Kai will
sweep to match shoulders as wide as steal the show away from him. 3. Toney Freeman
Victor’s. The funny thing is that I bet if Remember that crisp look we just Toney, my man! Talk about an
you took a tape measure to the thighs talked about? Kai brings it! Greene has inspiration. This cat is 42 years old
of Vic, Kai and Toney, they probably all been batting a thousand lately when it and he’s still getting better and mov-
measure about the same. But body- comes to nailing that ultra-dry condi- ing up the ranks. The “X-Man” has a
building is a sport of illusion, not tion. And the crazy thing is, he does it lot going for him. At 6’2” and 280
measurements. A thigh with great while still gaining mass and improv- pounds with a small waist, he simply
outer sweep like Jay’s or Toney’s will ing. Far more often we see guys show overwhelms just about any other
always appear larger. up bigger, but having sacrificed the physique that stands next to him. He’s
Martinez also needs to bring the shredded look. Not The Predator. Every on a roll with two wins and a fifth
condition or else he leaves the door time you think you’ve seen his best, he place at the Mr. Olympia this past fall,
open for someone like Kai Greene to comes back looking even better. and he also seems to have finally
waltz right on in. He’s been very lean He still hasn’t maxed out his full mastered the fine art of combining
the last few times we’ve seen him, but potential. Kai does need to watch out awesome condition, including striated
Victor has yet to bring that super dry, and make sure he doesn’t get too glutes and hams, with nice fullness.

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Silvio Dennis Moe
Samuel James Moussawi

Another area Toney shines in is posing about to a lot of people. And it doesn’t D.J. can afford to trim down and it
and overall presentation. He has a even need to be said that he has the only makes his shape and separation
great stage presence and knows how best wheels in the game today. Those better. I’ve spoken to him off the
to display his physique perfectly. cross-striated fibers in his quads are record and Dennis definitely knows
Great posing has almost become a just not right. If Branch can nail it like that the look he had as a rookie pro is
lost art with just a few guys today he did last year with the fullness, the the one that would do the best with
maintaining that tradition, but I would grainy condition and the perfect color, the current judging criteria.
put Freeman right up there with Kai, he could edge Silvio out.
Melvin and Darrem. Physique-wise, But the Silvio coming to Columbus 7. Moe Moussawi
Toney is almost flawless. is not the same one you saw last year. The new “Lion of Lebanon!” The
Aside from the noticeable pec tear, I was in Gold’s Venice a few days ago razor-sharp cuts this dude displayed
he has no weak body parts and every- and watched him hit a few poses dur- at last year’s Iron Man were off the
thing flows with full muscle bellies ing a workout with Charles. I guessed chain, and he brought them back for
sweeping off of small joints. If Victor that he had put on another 10 pounds the Olympia. That earned him ninth
and Kai slip up at all and don’t show of muscle, and he confirmed that I place in his debut at the big dance.
up looking the way we expect them to, was dead on. His chest, shoulders, Moe doesn’t compare with the top
the X-Man could very well leapfrog back and arms all look bigger. guys on raw mass, so it’s shape and
right over them and win this thing. Conditioning isn’t an issue for Silvio; condition that are his aces in the hole.
Otherwise, I have him as a solid pick we know he’ll handle his business He needs to show up with his A-game
for third, which is right where he was there. With him, the issue is present- again. If he does that and if he’s
in 2007 when Victor won. ing his physique correctly. Silvio brought his back up since last fall,
needs to control his diaphragm and Moe could surprise us all and do
4. Tie: Silvio Samuel hit all his shots in a way that plays up even better than this.
and Branch Warren his strengths. If he does all that, I see
I hate to seem indecisive, but for him no lower than fifth. 8. Gustavo Badell
the life of me I couldn’t pick one of The Freakin’ Rican has taken a lot
these guys over the other. When we 6. Dennis James of heat lately for what people have
see how they each look I am sure it Which D.J. will we see here? Will it said are mysteriously shrunken legs. I
won’t be such a nerve-wracking be the ginormous beast lacking deep want to be the first one to say that I
choice, but as it stands right now muscle separations and with a large don’t believe Gustavo’s legs are any
either one could beat the other. Talk midsection, or the more streamlined smaller than they were when he was
about your apples and oranges. and detailed version unleashed last placing top three at the Olympia and
Branch is a true freak, a monster with year? I think it’s safe to say that Dennis winning shows. Instead, his upper
loads of thick and striated muscle. He stopped playing the mass game. With body has grown. Add to that the fact
personifies what bodybuilding is all the amount of thick muscle he carries, that he has lacked his stellar condition

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Gustavo Darrem Johnnie
Badell Charles Jackson

of past years at most of his recent con- are. When I won my first Arnold does, just like his back), but his quads
tests, and you have the illusion of Classic at 213 pounds, people refused just don’t impress in the front shots.
smaller legs. I do know that he suf- to believe I was any lighter than 225-
fered some injury last summer that 235. With Darrem, it’s the opposite. He Those are my picks. How accurate
forced him to cancel on guest posing does compete now at 235 pounds, but they will be remains to be seen, but I
at the NPC contest I promoted. I heard doubters like to say he’s really closer did my best without an actual crystal
a rumor that was never substantiated to 210-215. Shape, symmetry and ball in front of me. As for the guys who
that claimed he passed out while train- insane condition are Darrem’s strong will probably get pissed off at me,
ing legs and had to be rushed to the points, along with his entertaining pos- which might just be everyone except
hospital. Again, I have no confirmation ing routines. Lately he’s been giving Victor, as always I ask that you not take
of this, but he was able to rally back up some of his usual freaky condition- my comments personally. Easier said
and compete in the Mr. Olympia. ing in an effort to come in bigger and than done as I know myself, but there it
I know that he has a warrior men- fuller, but so far it hasn’t been a suc- is. The 20th anniversary Arnold Classic
tality and never wants to stop training cessful gambit. Maybe he’ll succeed is gonna be a true battle, and I can’t
and competing, but I think Gustavo this time, in which case Darrem could wait to see how it all goes down! ■
needs to step back and at least take a place several slots higher than ninth.
little break from contests to examine Arnold Classic
himself and figure out what he needs 10. Johnnie Jackson Champions
to do to get back to the Gustavo of old, I like Johnnie a lot and feel he has 1. Rich Gaspari
the phenomenon that came ‘out of one of the best upper bodies in the 2. Mike Ashley
nowhere’ to push all the top men for sport, but his condition is all over the 3. Shawn Ray
supremacy. I personally handed place. At one show he looks incredible, 4. Vince Taylor
5. Flex Wheeler
Gustavo his trophy over a decade ago then he’s off the next time you see
6. Kevin Levrone
when he turned pro, and I would love him. I have to wonder if this inconsis- 7. Mike Francois
to see him get back to kicking ass and tency is directly related to the fact that 8. Kevin Levrone
taking names. he continues to compete at the highest 9. Flex Wheeler
levels of powerlifting. With pro body- 10. Flex Wheeler
9. Darrem Charles building as fiercely competitive as it is 11. Nasser El Sonbaty
I hate to put Darrem so low in my these days, you really need to focus 12. Flex Wheeler
13. Ronnie Coleman
predictions, because he’s a hell of a on it 100 percent if you want to be one
14. Jay Cutler
nice guy and he does have an amazing of the best. Johnnie also needs more 15. Jay Cutler
physique. The only problem is that thigh sweep from the front. He’s 16. Jay Cutler
with his small frame, it’s hard to com- another one who has awesome legs in 17. Dexter Jackson
pare with the other men in terms of the side shots thanks to his Butterball 18. Dexter Jackson
sheer size. There are some guys who hams (which probably come from 19. Victor Martinez
you swear are heavier than they really those sickeningly heavy deadlifts he 20. Dexter Jackson

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VICTOR MARTINEZ 2009
THE COMEBACK
OF THE DECADE?
Exclusive Interview by Ron Harris
Photography by Per Bernal

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It’s almost time for the most anticipated comeback in the annals of bodybuilding. Victor Martinez has kept his
legions of fans on ice for over a year. His date with destiny at the 2008 Arnold Classic and again at the Mr. Olympia
were deferred due to his knee injury, but at last the long wait is over. Soon we will all see just how well his recovery
went, and whether or not he is able to regain his previous winning form— or perhaps even surpass it. No less than
Ronnie Coleman himself predicted that Victor would be the man to carry on his Mr. Olympia legacy. Could it come to
pass? The testing ground will surely be the Arnold Classic and Martinez seems poised to make short work of that presti-
gious event. Even the recent death of his father in December won’t sway his determination, because Victor is truly a
man on a mission to take what’s rightfully his.

RH: First off, I was very sad to hear that your when I got top three for the first time. That was a really
father had passed away in early December. If I’m tough one. She had been very sick with cancer and it
not mistaken, didn’t your mom pass away a couple was bad.
years ago while you were getting ready for the RH: I think a lot of us have unfortunately seen
Arnold Classic? that happen. How about your dad— was he sick? I
VM: No, it was three weeks before the ’06 Olympia, know he was fairly old.

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could stop me unless it was something really terrible,
God forbid. I have the energy and the drive to overcome
any obstacle, and I’ve had many. The knee injury was just
another challenge.
RH: The big question on everyone’s mind is:
What if Victor’s leg isn’t exactly as big as the other
one? Let’s say for the sake of argument that maybe
it will be a tiny bit smaller than the leg that wasn’t
injured. Dorian won at least one Olympia with a
torn biceps that he never had reattached. More
recently, Jay Cutler won two Mr. O titles with one
leg that was much smaller than the other. So why
would it be such a huge deal, a make-or-break situ-
ation, if your previously injured leg isn’t exactly
the same as it used to be?
VM: That is a good question. As long as my physique
flows and I show up in great condition, I don’t see why it
would matter. But I have it in my head that I have to be
just that much better than another guy does, to get the
same reward. I’m not bitter or upset about it, I just see it
like that’s the way it is, so I need to work harder and look
better.
RH: Speaking of the Olympia, you were there
and even hung around backstage with the guys.
Was it weird being there and not competing? What
was it like watching the show and wanting to be
up there battling it out? I read a report in FLEX
magazine that almost made it sound like you were
fighting back tears the whole time.

VM: He was 89 years old and he had a


heart condition, but it was still pretty sudden.
He went upstairs to go to sleep, and I guess
his heart went right when he got into bed.
RH: My condolences. After you tore
your pec a couple years ago, you came
back and were able to win the Arnold
Classic. Does that give you added confi-
dence that you still have what it takes
to beat the best guys out there?
VM: It was a partial tear and it happened
before the ’06 Arnold.
RH: My times are way off, sorry. But
still— did that past experience make it
easier to know that you could still be
your best once you healed up?
VM: I always knew it was in me. No injury

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serves some purpose and they keep the whole sys-
tem in balance. Personally, I love it when the haters
doubt me and say I am finished in the sport. It just
gives me more drive to prove them wrong. They also
generate more publicity by talking about you all the
time. Someone once said that when nobody is talk-
ing about you anymore, that’s the time to worry.
Haters are an important part of the industry. At least,
it helps me to think about it that way.
RH: Do you think you make a great target

VM: That was a little exaggerated. Honestly, I did go through


a lot of emotions a month or two before the show, because for a lot of haters out there because you represent
that’s the time I normally would have been coming into the what they really fear and are most jealous of, this
final stage of my prep. It’s always a very exciting time, and here smooth, good-looking inner-city minority guy with
I was doing nothing. But by the time I actually got to the show, one of the best physiques in the world? You’ve
I had come to terms and accepted that I was sitting this one also been known to do OK with the ladies. In
out. It was still weird, but I wasn’t crying my eyes out or sitting other words, does all the extra jealousy inspire
around all sad and depressed. extra hate and shit-talking?
RH: Like all the top guys, you have your army of fans VM: I guess so. I mean, these are disgruntled, unhap-
and your army of haters. How do you appreciate the py people who are not satisfied with their own lives and
first group and not let the second group get to you? get angry and jealous at anyone who they think is happy
VM: I appreciate them both. I look at haters sort of like mag- or successful. I can’t even begin to guess the issues that
gots or cockroaches. Your first instinct is to just think the world really drive these people and I do feel bad for them. If I
would be better off without them, right? But every creature could say one thing to them, it would be this: Stop wast-

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ing your time and energy complaining and hat-
ing. Use that energy to make your own life bet-
ter and achieve some of your goals so you won’t
be so miserable.
RH: Where will you train for the Arnold?
What are the names of the gyms you go to
now that you live in New Jersey?
VM: I’m not that far away, just a 15-minute
drive over the bridge or through the tunnel. Let’s
see: 19th Street Gym, Steel Gym, and on week-
ends I like to hit Bev and Steve’s Powerhouse on
Long Island. Oh yeah, Star Fitness in the Bronx
too.
RH: Did you say Planet Fitness?
VM: No! I have never set foot in a Planet
Fitness. I don’t like any of those places where the
yoga and aerobics people look down on anyone
that trains hard. All the places I train at are more
welcoming to bodybuilders.
RH: Yeah, I think if you walked into a
Planet Fitness they would probably try to
drive a stake through your heart or shoot
you with silver bullets. You’re working with
Chad Nicholls again. What is it about his
style of contest prep that you like?
VM: It’s very basic, nothing too crazy. Nothing
against other nutritionists or their type of dieting,
but it’s a more balanced approach that doesn’t
go to extremes. He doesn’t have you doing 3
hours of cardio, which I personally think is for
girls. Any male bodybuilder is gonna lose mus-
cle doing that much cardio, in my opinion. If you
have to do that much cardio, then you got too
f*cking fat in the off-season. The way Chad has
you do it is very gradual, so you are still able to
function even at the end. I’m not saying you
don’t suffer toward the last few weeks, but
you’re not feeling like you’re about to die or any-
thing like that. The last thing I really like about
Chad is that he isn’t always up my ass.
RH: Excuse me?
VM: I mean he’s not calling me every 20 min-
utes to make sure I ate what I was supposed to
or did my cardio. He trusts me to do the things I
need to do. I’ve had other guys who were blow-
ing up my phone all day and night and it just
annoyed me.
RH: With so many other big-name prep
guys out there like Hany, Dave Palumbo,
and Joe McNeil, do you ever stop and think
about trying one of them just to see how it
would work out?
VM: I thought about Hany or Joe, but I’m
happy with Chad. We work well together and I
am satisfied with how he brings me into shows.
RH: In years past, your condition was a

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so you have to assume both are going to bring their
‘A’ game to you.
VM: Good, I hope they do! I want to win in a good line-
up. Nothing takes the wind out of your sails more than
hearing, yeah, he won, but it was a weak show and
nobody looked too good. We are all rested up and hungry
to win, so it will be a great show.
RH: What are the chances Dexter will compete? I
know he’s not hurting for money these days, but
he’s also the type to cash in whenever he sees a big
paycheck up for grabs. Do you think he’ll be up
there trying to win the Arnold in a few weeks?
VM: I seriously doubt it. It would be pretty risky for him.
If he lost to me, it would not look good for him at the
Olympia.

hit-or-miss thing. Sometimes you would look really


good, and other times— not so great. What did you
eventually figure out about your body and what it
needs that allowed you to finally be more consis-
tent with your condition?
VM: What I was just talking about with extremes? I
found out my body doesn’t react well to anything too
extreme. A more moderate approach with the diet works
better. I also found that by eating cleaner in the off-season
and not getting too out of shape in the first place, it wasn’t
such a struggle to get in shape when the time came.
RH: Another vital part of your team is Victor
Munoz, your trainer for the last 10 years. Do you
think you could possibly push yourself as hard as
Victor Munoz pushes you in the gym?
VM: Yeah, it’s not about that. I always push myself hard.
My motivation comes from inside. I actually enjoy tortur-
ing myself and seeing how much pain I can take before I
quit. Victor is great at coming up with new ideas and new
routines. That’s important when you train all the time,
because it’s easy to just do the same things all the time.
My training partner Jakob is also good for dreaming up
new ways to pulverize the muscles.
RH: There is also a rumor going around that you
might be training with Charles Glass sometime
soon. Is there any truth to that?
VM: There is. I actually went out there this past summer
and trained with him once. I got a whole new feeling in the
muscle than what I was used to. Charles has worked with
the best in the business, so it’s an honor to train with him. I
will go out there for a week at a time every few months. I
wish I could train with him more consistently, but we’re on
opposite ends of the country.
RH: I just talked to Kai, and he wants to go out
there a lot more often than that.
VM: Huh— does he have a relative working for the air-
lines or something? That would get pretty pricey real fast.
RH: I would think so. I know you’re hungry for
this win, but so are a few other guys. Kai and
Branch both had to skip the Olympia due to injuries,

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shows? Has it already had an
Victor Martinez Contest History impact on how hard you’ve been
1993 Elmo’s Gym Contest Teenage Champion training, or how strict you have
1994 Bev Francis Atlantic States No place
been eating?
1997 New Jersey Suburban Light-heavyweight & Overall Champion
VM: I always train hard and diet the
1997 Metropolitan NYC Light-heavyweight & Overall Champion
way I’m supposed to, but I have to say I
1999 Bev Francis Atlantic States 2nd, Heavyweight
2000 Junior Nationals Heavyweight Champion am definitely hungrier to win this than
2000 NPC Nationals Heavyweight & Overall Champion anything else I have prepared for. I have
2001 Night of Champions 8th place never as a pro missed an entire year
2002 Iron Man Pro Invitational 9th place like I did in 2008. I almost won the
2002 Arnold Classic 13th place Olympia; then when I was really on a
2003 Night of Champions Winner roll I got hurt. I feel like I have a lot of
th
2004 Mr. Olympia 9 place missed time to make up for. The Arnold
2004 GNC Show of Strength Winner is a key show for me. I want to do what
2005 Arnold Classic 7th place
Dexter did in ’08 for this coming year:
2005 San Francisco Pro 5th place
rd win the Arnold and then become Mr. O.
2005 New York Pro 3 place
And I know it won’t be handed to me on
2005 Mr. Olympia 5th place
2006 Arnold Classic 3rd place a silver platter. I’m gonna have to look
2006 Mr. Olympia 3rd place that much better than all the other guys
2007 Arnold Classic Winner to convince the judges that I am the
only possible choice for first place in
both shows.
RH: Not that you ever trained
recklessly, but knowing what’s at
stake and the toll an injury can
take on your career, do you train
differently now than you did a few
years ago?
VM: I’ve always trained carefully.
Maybe it’s time to set the record straight
about my knee injury. I hurt that knee
way back in high school playing foot-
RH: Heath is out of the Arnold. Do ball, and I have had a partially torn
you think he would have given you patellar tendon ever since. That knee
any real trouble in Columbus? And had been giving me pain on and off for
now that he’s taking the time off to years and years. At some points it
grow and improve for the Olympia, would swell up and get so inflamed that
does that make him a bigger threat I couldn’t even train legs. I couldn’t even
for the title in Vegas than he would train legs leading up to the 2005 New
have been without the time off? York Pro, and only worked them for the
VM: Probably, yeah. He keeps getting last five weeks before the Olympia that
Victor
better and it’s because he takes all this year. For the 2006 Mr. O I was only able
won the time off to improve. He’s a young guy and to train legs for the last seven weeks. If I
2007
Arnold still has plenty of shows left in him, so hadn’t been very careful and used strict
Classic.
skipping one here and there isn’t a big form, the tendon would have gone a
deal. The Mr. Olympia is the title he wants, long, long time ago. It was just a matter
so it makes sense for him to focus on that of time, and it went when it did. Now
now that he’s been third place. that it’s been fixed, I don’t need to keep
RH: What about Dennis Wolf? He’s worrying about when it will finally give
another guy out of the Arnold. If he had looked the same as at the O out. Nothing can stop me now.
but with a lot more fullness, would he have been a problem for you? If
not, what does he still need before he would be a problem?
VM: He’s not quite there yet. Dennis still needs to fill in his lower lats and Ron Harris is the author of “Real
maybe bring his calves up a little too. I don’t doubt that he is going to be great Bodybuilding— Muscle Truth from 25
one day soon, but that day is still a little ways off. Years in the Trenches,” available at
RH: How does your desire to win this contest compare to past www.ronharrismuscle.com.

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This Time, Kai Greene
is Out For Blood!
By Ron Harris, Photography by Per Bernal
The spring season of 2008 was a good one for Kai Greene. He kicked it off with third
place at his first trip to the Arnold Classic, trailing behind the man who went on to
become Mr. Olympia six months later— Dexter Jackson— and Phil Heath, a super-
star juggernaut who nobody with an ounce of sense would bet against becoming Mr.
Olympia within the next year or two. Kai looked amazing at around 255 pounds, having
gained almost 20 pounds of pure muscle mass since his last contest and, it needs to be
said, battling a last-minute illness that had him fighting just to stand onstage without
keeling over or throwing up. Greene was also training with the pain of a severe hernia,
which he would continue to do for nearly three more months en route to winning the
second pro show of his career right in his own backyard of New York City. Even a verita-
ble superhero like Kai eventually had to come down to earth and deal with such a seri-
ous injury, and surgery was scheduled for the summer. That took him out of what would
have been his first Mr. Olympia, and also knocked him out of the gym for the first time
in nearly 20 years.

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Who is That Fat Dude
in the Mirror?
Kai had taken layoffs from training at
several points earlier in his career, but
those were voluntary and far briefer in
duration than the forced exile from the gym
following his operation. Because he was
unable to train for over two months, Kai’s
physique began to take on a more ‘normal’
appearance, at least relative to what he had
grown accustomed to and thus took for
granted. “Even at my heaviest off-season
weight, I had always been able to see my
abs and some cross-striations in my quads,”
Kai begins. “But here I am looking in the
mirror and finding it hard to believe this is
my body I’m seeing. Is that really my stom-
ach, that big smooth mass? Are those my
legs? Is my ass really that fat? As illogical as
it sounds, I started getting anxious and
wondering if I would ever be able to look
the way I used to again.”
Equally upsetting was the feeling of
helplessness when it came to his training
regimen, or rather, the complete lack
thereof. “I had always been in total control
of my training,” he says. “If I wanted to
work out 10 days in a row, I would. If I
wanted to take days off and just do cardio
or work on my posing, that was also my
prerogative. But here I was unable to do
anything of the sort. I could not work out
in any way, shape, or form and had to
watch my body deteriorate day by day. It
was maddening.”

Camp Kai— Under New


Management
Meanwhile, there were big changes
afoot in Kai’s ‘camp.’ Kai uses this word
quite a bit, and it can be a bit confusing if
you don’t know what he means. Kai’s daily on the phone, but soon Kai will begin trekking west to Venice to
‘camp’ is really his support team; made spend portions of his Arnold Classic prep under the direct training
up of all the people who contribute one supervision of Charles.
way or another toward his success as a Kai first met Charles in 2004 shortly after he turned pro, following his
bodybuilder. Though he considers them second overall win at the Team Universe. It’s a meeting Charles probably
all valuable and an integral part of his doesn’t remember too clearly, and one Kai would rather forget. “I was
career as a pro, it’s his trainer/nutritionist staying with a friend and we drove four hours to get to Los Angeles to
who really plays the lead role. During see The Mecca,” he says. “I had never been outside of the New York/New
Greene’s recovery, there was a change in Jersey area, so it was almost like I was on another planet. When I
leadership, for reasons Kai didn’t offer approached Charles, I was like a timid little kid standing in front of this
and I didn’t pry into. Suffice it to say that icon of the sport who I had looked up to for years. I actually couldn’t
Kai will soon begin working with a man even get any words out, so my girlfriend at the time had to do the intro-
all bodybuilding fans and especially MD duction. Pretty sad.”
readers are very familiar with: Charles Now Kai isn’t quite so shy, and he and Charles have set some clear
Glass. For now, Kai and Charles speak goals with ‘The Predator’s’ physique. “I want thicker, fuller triceps, of

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course, to help balance out my arms,” he notes. “I also want a
little more brachioradialis and forearm flexors to give my arms
a more powerful look when they are at my sides. And for the
first time in many years, I am working on improving my traps.”
It was a comment from a judge when Kai was only a teenager
that caused him to hardly train this muscle group until recently.
“He said that my traps overpowered my shoulders, and that
remark had a lasting impact on me. Over the years, my traps
began to lag a bit behind because I was afraid to get them any
bigger. That should serve as a cautionary tale to other body-
builders to not necessarily listen to all criticism and accept it as
being gospel truth.”

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Down to Victor and Kai?
Even as pundits are already predicting that the
2009 Arnold Classic will come down to a fierce trad-
ing of poses between Victor and Kai, Greene himself
discourages portraying this or any contest as a two-
man show. “As somebody who used to be in the posi-
tion of not getting any hype at all leading into a con-
test, I can tell you that it hurts,” he says. “When you
hear about the same few guys over and over again,
you start to think that no matter how hard you pre-
pare and how good you look, you won’t get looked at.
I would hate for the other guys going into the Arnold
to feel like that, even though we all want to win.”
Kai has also had the dismal experience of not get-
ting a decent appraisal, and it still haunts him. “You’re
up there hitting your poses so hard that you’re about
to pass out, and then you look out at the audience to
see that most of them aren’t even paying attention.
It’s so alienating and makes you question why you are
even trying. You go home from a show like that feel-
ing like there’s no point in competing anymore. Every
competitor, especially at the pro level, should feel
their efforts are appreciated. The Arnold Classic is not
a two-man show, or a five-man show. It’s a contest of
about a dozen or more guys who have all worked
very hard to get to that stage, and we all deserve
equal respect.”

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“The New Ronnie?” now. Kai refused to even entertain the comparison. “I have
Further proof of Kai’s humble nature was evident when such tremendous respect for Ronnie Coleman,” he
I solicited his opinion about a popular thread on the MD began. “To me, he’s the baddest pro in bodybuilding histo-
No Bull Forum entitled, “Is Kai Greene the Next Ronnie?” ry. I remember being very young and seeing pictures of
The thread was referencing the similarities between the Sergio Oliva. He was so big and freaky that I couldn’t
two when it comes to the shift from also-ran to upper-tier really process what I was looking at. Eventually, the
pro, which coincided with dramatic gains in muscle mass. physiques caught up to that standard, but then along
For Ronnie, that period happened around 1996-1997, and came Ronnie. Ronnie was practically a cartoon character.
we all know what followed those years— eight years as There are photos of him that still defy human comprehen-
Mr. Olympia. The argument can easily be made that Kai sion, just like the things he did in his training videos. I
seems to be in that same type of transitional phase right can’t do what he did in the gym— no one can! As good as

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I want to be and as good as I plan to be, I
am no Ronnie Coleman. I have a long Contest Diet: 12 Weeks Out
way to go before our names are men- Meal 1: 16 oz. steak, 12 egg whites, qt. white rice
tioned in the same breath. But I want to Meal 2: 2 chicken breasts, turkey burger, pt. white rice
say thanks for the compliment and it Meal 3: 16 oz. salmon, 6 egg whites, large green salad
fuels me to keep striving to be better.” Meal 4: 16 oz. steak, 2 sweet potatoes
Meal 5: 16 oz. salmon, 2 cups oatmeal with raisins, cup corn
Kai 4.0 is Coming to Meal 6: Shake: 85 grams protein, cup cashews or avocado
Columbus Meal 7: 16 oz. steak, 2 cups mixed vegetables
With no hernia insidiously nagging
away at every aspect of his training and Note: Kai does lower his carbs somewhat as the weeks go on, but
day-to-day life, a new coach in the form never goes down to zero carbs. “My body simply does better with carbs
of Charles Glass, and recent gains in than it does without them,” he comments. “I feel good when I eat them,
quality mass to add to the already my workouts are better, and I stay big and full while I lean out.”
impressive version of his physique that
Kai first unveiled at the 2008 Arnold
Classic, ‘The Predator’ is confident that
he can bring a package to Columbus that
will exceed anything we’ve seen to date.
At 12 weeks out, he was sitting at just
over 300 pounds at 5’8” and in much
leaner condition than he was last year
at this time at roughly the same
weight. “I want to prove that I can fulfill
the expectations others have for me,
and that I have for myself,” he says.
“Failure is not an option for me. I don’t
know what the future holds, but I am
going there to win.” Victor Martinez
may be the heavy favorite for the
Arnold, but he’d better watch his back.
There’s a hungry ‘Predator’ ready to
attack, and he just might snatch victory
from Vic’s hands!

Kai’s Pro Record


th
2005 New York Pro 14 place
2006 Ironman Pro Did not place
2006 New York Pro Did not place
th
2006 Colorado Pro 14 place
2007 New York Pro 6th place
2007 Keystone Classic 3rd place
2007 Colorado Pro Winner
rd
2008 Arnold Classic 3 place
2008 New York Pro Winner

Sample
Training Split*
Day One: Back and Biceps, Calves
Day Two: Quads
Day Three: Chest and Triceps
Day Four: Hamstrings and Calves
Day Five: OFF
Day Six: Shoulders
*Kai rotates the order he trains body
parts on a fairly regular basis.

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Gyms of
‘The Predator’
The 4 Iron Dens Kai Calls Home!

Powerhouse Gym— Syosset, Long Island,


New York
“Bev and Steve’s Gym has been an east coast
Mecca for going on 20 years. I used to go there back
in the 90s when I was an amateur, just to see who I
could catch a glimpse of. Dorian Yates would spend
the last couple weeks before the Mr. Olympia training
there, and tons of other pros would stop by if they were
in the area. Imagine working out next to Mr. Olympia,

then going into the locker room and bumping


into Flex Wheeler? I still go there to keep my
finger on the pulse of the sport. Many times I
see Dave Palumbo shooting an “In the
Trenches” video for MD TV with a pro or a top
amateur. And now I go there to spy on my com-
petition when they are in town, guys like Phil
Heath! I also need to say that Powerhouse has
more equipment than a bodybuilder could ever
want or need. Seriously. Back in the day, I used
to rate a gym by how good their leg equipment
was, and Bev and Steve had the best I had ever
seen, from the squat racks to the leg presses
and more. It’s simply the best gym on the east
coast, period.”

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Survivor Gym—
New York City
“This place isn’t a huge gym, but
it’s a cool spot. It does have every-
thing you need. What really makes
this gym special is the vision of the
owners, who are in sync with body-
building and understand its true
nature. Their vision is reflected in
everything from the images on the
walls, how the equipment is
arranged, to the energy of the peo-
ple at the counter. You feel wel-
comed when you walk in, like
you’re where you belong. Owner
Lea Ann Scalfo is the reigning
Team Universe women’s heavy-
weight champion, and she has a
deep love and appreciation for the
sport and respect for her fellow
athletes. It’s nice to train in that
type of atmosphere.”

Coliseum Gym— Queens


“Coliseum is the only place I go
to that’s open 24 hours. The owners
love and support the sports of
bodybuilding and powerlifting, and
anybody who trains hard is part of
the family once they step inside the
door. In a day and age where a lot
of places look down on anyone that
actually wants to put out effort and
improve, that’s a wonderful thing.”

Fifth Avenue Gym—


Brooklyn
“If there’s one gym that I
would consider my home, this
would be it. It’s closest to where I
live, and I’ve been going here
since I was a teenager. It’s
changed ownership several
times since then, but I will
always remember Charlie
Carrollo. He was a very good
regional-level bodybuilder who
dreamed of becoming a pro but
never quite made it. That never
stopped him from encouraging
and supporting many other ath-
letes to reach their potential.
Charlie always told me I would
be one of the best in the world
someday, long before I would
even dare to dream that.”

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BRANCH WARREN’S
‘MASS WITH CLASS’
ARNOLD PREP
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By Ron Harris, Photography By Per Bernal and working toward future goals. Well-rested, hungry to
win and with his trademark inhuman work ethic, Branch
As we draw closer to the Arnold Classic, the excitement Warren is on a mission.
is building. It’s a show where most of the front-runners are
returning from injuries and have been out of action for a Predictions Don’t Mean Shit!
while. Victor missed all of 2008, and Kai was sidelined after If you believe all the pre-contest hype and predictions,
the spring shows. When Branch Warren steps onstage in the 2009 Arnold Classic belongs to 2007 winner Victor
Columbus, it will have been exactly one year since he last Martinez. The other guys shouldn’t even bother showing
competed. Warren was set to roar into the last Mr. Olympia up! Kai’s name gets tossed around a bit along with Toney’s,
until he tore his left triceps in a freak accident at home but few seem to have much doubt that Victor will win.
over the summer. With Victor and Kai missing from the When I spoke to Branch about this, he didn’t seem too ruf-
lineup, an all-time best Branch very well could have landed fled. “Man, those predictions don’t mean shit,” he said dis-
in the top five. But Branch isn’t the type of guy to dwell on missively. “Nobody knows what he’s gonna look like, or
the past and ask ‘what if?’ He’s all about the here and now, what the rest of us will look like. Those predictions are

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Pre-Contest Diet
5:30 a.m. 12 egg whites, cup of oatmeal
“I’M GOING THERE TO WIN. I’VE 8 a.m. Egg and steak omelet— 6 egg whites, 1 yolk, 8 oz.
steak, 1 oz. cheese; cup of hash brown potatoes
NEVER BEEN THE FAVORITE, EVEN (fried in Pam).
11:30 a.m. 16 oz. steak (fillet), 6-8 asparagus stalks
GOING INTO SHOWS THAT I DID 1-2 p.m.
2 p.m.
Train
Nitro-Tech shake (whey protein)
WIN. I’VE ALWAYS BEEN AN 3 p.m.
6 p.m.
16 oz. chicken breast, asparagus
8 oz. chicken or turkey breast,
UNDERDOG, AND THAT’S FINE BY 9 p.m.
vegetables
10 egg whites, 8 oz. of either
ME.”—BRANCH WARREN 10 p.m.
chicken, turkey or steak; vegetables.
Cardio, shower, sleep

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about as accurate as the ones for the Super Bowl. Last year the
Patriots had a perfect season and Brady set a record. The New York
Giants were supposed to have zero chance to win. But when it was
all said and done, the Giants walked away as the champions. I
don’t care what anyone says or who is supposed to be the favorite,
I’m going there to win. I’ve never been the favorite, even going into
shows that I did win. I’ve always been an underdog, and that’s fine
by me. I’m comfortable with that role by now, and there are a lot of
people who love to root for the underdog.”

Healed Up, And Then Some


While the status of Victor’s injured leg is still something of a
question mark, there are no such doubts about the left triceps of
Branch Warren. Not only has it regained 100 percent of its former
size, it is now actually bigger than before! “I thought it looked like
that, but I was skeptical,” Branch said. “I mean, who would believe
it? But Trish got out the measuring tape and we saw that my left
arm is now actually a quarter-inch bigger than my right.” As to how
this could have happened,
Warren has a theory. “I did a lot
of rehab work on my own, so
much squeezing and higher-rep
work, that I think the left arm
responded to the new types of
stimulation and grew.”

Injuries: Curse
Or Blessing?
Speaking of injuries, for
most bodybuilders any type of
serious injury is bad. At the
very least, you miss training
time and possibly can’t com-
pete in shows you had planned
to. At worst, you can be left
with glaring imbalances or
deformities (think torn pecs that
were never surgically repaired
and leave huge dents in the
chest), and these can impact
placings negatively for the
remainder of a competitive career. Not
many guys can say that injuries seem
to work out well for them in the long
run. But Kevin Levrone and Victor
Martinez both won an Arnold Classic
title within a year of tearing their pecs.
As for Branch, you probably know his
story. After tearing his biceps, he went
on to win the Nationals. A few years
later he tore his triceps, then came
back and won back-to-back titles at the
Charlotte Pro and the Europa. Now that
he’s torn the other triceps, could it be a
good omen for what’s in store at the
Arnold in a few weeks? And does

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Training Changes
Training Split Not a whole lot has changed about the way Branch trains, though
Sunday: Off
he has adjusted his chest workouts to be on the safe side. As you may
Monday: Back
Tuesday: Chest know from his training articles and DVD, Warren would do barbell
Wednesday: OFF incline presses with 405 for 10-12 reps with no problem. Though he
Thursday: Arms probably could, as of three and a half months post-surgery, he wasn’t
Friday: Legs taking any chances. “Now I am doing 315 for 15 and slowing the reps
Saturday: Shoulders and deadlifts down to get better contractions,” he tells us. “I’m also coming up with
Pro Record other ways to jack up the intensity without necessarily going crazy
2004 Night of Champions Eighth place heavy. A couple days ago I was doing tri-sets of chain dips, dumbbell
2004 GNC Show of Strength Fourth place flyes and cable crossovers. It’s actually interesting to challenge myself
2005 Charlotte Pro Winner to come up with new ways to attack the muscle beyond simply doing
2005 Europa Super Show Winner very heavy presses.”
2005 Mr. Olympia Eighth place
2006 Arnold Classic Second place
2006 San Francisco Pro Second place
Still Improving
2006 Grand Prix Australia Fifth place As good as Branch looked at the 2008 Arnold, he knows he can be
2006 Mr. Olympia Twelfth place better— and needs to be if he is going to have a shot at taking out
2007 Arnold Classic Seventh place formidable opponents like Victor and Kai. Overall, he recognizes that
2007 New York Pro Winner he has all the mass he needs at this stage— at 245 shredded pounds
2007 Keystone Classic Fourth place at 5’7”, nobody is killing him on size. He’s brought up his arms, and
2007 Colorado Pro Seventh place his back is a rugged landscape of muscular terrain. The final piece of
2008 Arnold Classic Fourth place
the puzzle now is to carve the type of detail and separation into his
back that his astounding legs are known for.
“I LOVE TRAINING AND COMPET- “I’ve been training the hell out of my back,” Branch said. “Just

ING, AND THIS SPORT IS SUCH AN today I did 30 sets for it— a mix of heavy weights and lower reps,
plus moderate weights with higher reps and a lot of squeezing. I’m
IMPORTANT PART OF MY LIFE. TO determined to get my back as good as my legs. When I do that,
SEE IT FLASH BEFORE MY EYES there’s no stopping me.” I would have to agree with that bold state-
ment. Branch isn’t as flashy or vocal as some of the top men in the
AS I HAVE A FEW TIMES NOW sport. He just works his ass off and gets the job done, and you know
MAKES ME APPRECIATE IT THAT that once you see him stride onstage looking like a winner.

MUCH MORE.”—BRANCH WARREN Will his fourth stab at the Arnold Classic title be the one that
nets him that coveted first place? We’ll all find out soon enough.
But don’t count out The People’s Champion. The titan from Texas is
Branch have a logical explanation for this odd all business when it comes to competition, and he aims to take
pattern of injury followed by victory? care of business in Columbus.
“I think getting hurt makes you realize that
all this could end at any time, and you can’t The Greatest Arnold Classic
take it for granted for one minute,” he mused. “I Champ Ever
love training and competing, and this sport is “That’s an easy one,” Branch said.
such an important part of my life. To see it flash “When Ronnie won the Arnold in 2001,
before my eyes as I have a few times now I think he looked better than he did for
makes me appreciate it that much more.” any of his Mr. Olympia wins. I know he
In addition to the psychological boost that went all the way down to 248, which
comes along with being able to come back was light for him, but the level of condi-
tion he achieved created the illusion of
from injury, there is also a very tangible bene-
a lot more size. I saw him pose at the
fit that ironically stems from the downtime
gym right before he left for the show,
that ensues. “Most of us at the pro level love
and he was so shredded and detailed it
training so much that we rarely take any time was insane. The muscles were just pop-
off to allow for the whole system to rest and ping off the bones, and the separations were so deep that there
regenerate,” Branch said. “When you’re hurt, was actual darkness in them. Nobody could even say anything.
you don’t have a choice. You have to rest. And We were literally speechless and shaking our heads at how
as much as you hate not being able to go to crazy ripped he was. Put that Ronnie up against anybody else
the gym and do what you want, it works out who won the Arnold, whether it’s Flex, Kevin, Jay, Dexter, who-
for the best. I always come back fresh and ever— and it’s not even remotely close. Ronnie at the 2001
ready to work even harder.” Arnold blows them all away.”

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Branch’s
Arnold
Classic
Memories
2006— So Close!
“This was my first Arnold
Classic. I came into the show at my
all-time best, with a very good
combination of fullness and condi-
2006 tion. Even so, I was more nervous
than I had ever been before
because I thought I had a shot at
winning but at the same time had a
feeling they would give it to
Dexter. I was a little intimidated
because he had already won the
show and was this veteran we all
looked up to. In the end, I took sec-
ond to Dexter while he won it for
his second time. Still, it was great
because from then on, I knew I
could stand up there with the very
best in the sport.”

2007— A F**king
Disaster
“After looking like shit at the
Olympia a few months before, I
was determined to come into this
contest shredded like no one had
ever seen me before, just peeled. I
2007
did manage to get my body fat
down to the lowest level ever, but
at a terrible cost. I was so flat that
my muscles didn’t push against the
skin at all. After the fiasco at the
Olympia and then this, people
started writing me off as a has-
been. But that motivated me to
come back two months later and
win the New York Pro, so it all
panned out in the end.”

2008— A Controversial
Placing
“This last Arnold was where I
think I looked the very best of my
career to date. I actually exceeded
all my own expectations with the
package I brought. Full, dry, ripped.
Everything people had knocked me
for had been corrected. My color
was perfect, my waist was smaller,
and my back had a lot more detail.
Honestly, I don’t complain about
how I place, but I really think I
should have been higher than
2008
fourth. To get the Most Muscular
Award and place anything lower
than second was unprecedented
and pretty confusing.”

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Part 2: Lower Body and Arnold Plans
By Ron Harris, Photography by Per Bernal
As we look forward to the big day in Columbus, it’s time to talk about a ‘dark horse’ that could very well surprise us all
by giving Victor, Kai, Branch and the rest of the lineup a big headache. I’m talking about 6’2”, 285 pounds worth of well-
proportioned beef in the form of Toney ‘The X-Man’ Freeman. He broke into the top five at the recent Mr. Olympia, and
most felt he deserved at least a place or two higher than that. There was even a contingent that maintained Toney could
have been awarded the Mr. Olympia title that weekend. Toney does have one of the most impressive physiques in the
world today; that we all agree on. A couple months ago we talked about the X-Man’s killer upper body. Now it’s time to
turn our attention to the bottom of the ‘X,’ and delve into Toney’s incredible wheels and what makes them so good.

Eight Lower Body Training a tall guy. A big part of why he was able to build his legs
into the outstanding specimens you see today was
Secrets of ‘The X-Man’
because Freeman never let the negative stereotypes about
1. Toney never bought into ‘the tall men and leg training get to him. “People were always
tall man’s curse.’ telling me I would never be able to get huge in general at
Aside from Gunter and maybe Paul Dillett, I can’t think my height, and especially when it came to legs,” he said. “I
of any pro bodybuilder over 6’ who has managed to build didn’t listen.”
legs that are just as thick and impressive as his upper
body. It’s generally a lot easier for the guys with less dis- 2. He went deep from day one
tance to travel in exercises like the squat to develop that on squats.
level of thickness that conjures up images of tree trunks. If there’s one thing that quad-monsters like Platz,
Toney is also in rare company in that he has also devel- Branch, and Ronnie have in common, it’s that they did
oped hamstrings that are proportionate to his quads. That’s their squats all the way down to the basement— none of
not too common in general, and it’s almost unheard of for that bitch-ass half-rep crap we all see in the gym whenever

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most guys use anything over 135 pounds.
That’s because when he was just a 160-
pound newbie over 20 years ago trying to
navigate his way around the gym, he was
lucky enough to meet an iron veteran named
Glenn Koone. Koone had the type of enor-
mous legs Toney coveted and secretly
dreamed of having, so he simply had to ask
Koone how he built them. Not only did
Glenn tell him, he went one better than that
by showing him. “Glenn put just 25 pounds
on each side of the bar and demonstrated
perfect form for me,” Toney explains. “He
kept his torso straight up and down and
descended until his hamstrings literally
touched his calves.” Until Freeman could
duplicate that form, he was not allowed to
add any more weight to the bar. Eventually
he was able to squat 725 pounds for three
deep reps in this style, a feat few body-
builders alive can lay claim to.

3. Toney has all the right


accessories.
Every time the X-Man trains legs, he has
two key accessories with him: his Nike
Jordan boxing shoes, and his custom
Cardillo leather belt with “Freeman” in
huge letters on the back. The shoes are
high-tops with flat, thin soles, similar to
wrestling shoes or the Otomix workout
shoes that every bodybuilder and his
grandmother wore back in the 90’s (along
with Hot Skins tights, T. Micheal tops, and
mullets). Many of you have discovered on
your own that this type of shoe is a much
better choice on leg day than sneakers with
air-filled soles or boots with a heel. “Arnold
and the other guys from the Pumping Iron
era used to squat barefoot,” Toney reminds
us. “The more you can feel the floor during
squats, the better.” As for the belt, it does
help support his lower back, but the boost
it provides is mainly a mental one. “I just
feel more safe and secure with my belt
cinched up, so I have the confidence to
train heavier and harder.”

4. He gets more out of


leg extensions than
most guys do.
To most bodybuilders, leg extensions
aren’t much more than a warm-up before
they get to the ‘real workout.’ They don’t put
a whole lot of thought or effort into them.
Toney has come up with a way to do his

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extensions that makes them a very productive exercise in on either the vastus medialis (teardrop) or the vastus later-
their own right. Freeman will do half the reps in the stan- alis (what gives a thigh ‘outer sweep’).
dard position, sitting straight up, with his toes pointed up
to the ceiling. Halfway through the set, he adjusts the seat 5. His legs were once stick-like.
so he can lay back more and shift his hips forward, and When Toney first started training, his legs measured a
does the exercise with his toes pointed straight ahead. This measly 23 inches. On a guy of average or below-average
targets the upper thighs where they tie into the hip, an height, that’s really not so bad. On a dude that’s 6’2”, those
area that really stands out if you have detail in the region are some real chicken legs. In the years that followed, he
(think Cormier at his best). “That’s an old-school thing the was able to add over 10 inches in circumference to those
guys in Arnold’s day used to do,” Toney informs us. “They once wimpy wheels. “I’ve had them at 34 when I was in
would actually almost lay all the way back.” He’s also been rebound mode right after a show, and they were rubbing
known to point his toes in or out to focus more specifically together.” It’s fairly obvious that Toney doesn’t need any

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 265


more raw size on his wheels, so his goals now are based quads. Because like Lee Haney was fond of saying, “If you
on refinement. “I want more detail overall, and better sepa- don’t have good hamstrings, you only have half a leg.”
ration between the quads and hams from the side espe-
cially,” he says. 7. He doesn’t use high reps.
Though we often talk about the legs being composed of
6. Toney doesn’t favor quads a far higher percentage of slow-twitch muscle fibers than
over hams. the upper body, that’s really not a good reason to train
The main reason that it’s rare to see bodybuilders with them with very high reps. Toney has been doing most of
hams that match their quads is because just about every- his sets for legs in the 10-12 rep range for many years, and
one trains quads first in the workout. It’s primarily ego that doesn’t feel that sets of 50-100 are of much value to body-
drives this practice. They want to do squats and leg press- builders seeking exceptional lower body development.
es earlier in the workout when they’re fresh, so that maxi- “You need to think about recovery, and it’s hard to beat
mum weights can be used. Inevitably, the hamstrings suf- your legs up with all those reps on a regular basis and
fer from being worked later, and lag further and further think they can repair and grow over and over again with
behind the quads as time goes by. Toney alternates those demands put on them. Besides which, unless you’re
between two leg workouts (see SIDEBAR): one that’s quad- talking drop sets or giant sets, the weight would have to
dominant, and another that puts more emphasis on the be so light that you wouldn’t be able to stimulate growth.”
hamstrings. This ensures that the hams aren’t neglected As for giant sets, which are gaining popularity lately to
and have the opportunity to grow at the same rate as the Milos Sarcev and the flock of foreign pros he trains, Toney

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feels those are not ideal when you train legs twice a week sion. Most bodybuilders wouldn’t need more than 225
as he does. pounds if they did their squats correctly.”

The X-Man Will Rock the Arnold!


8. He doesn’t squat ridiculously
heavy anymore.
As I said earlier, Toney used to slap on seven plates and
His Coach Dave Palumbo Tells Us Why
some change on each side of the bar for squats. Those
days are long gone. At 42 years old, he is a lot more wary RH: Dave, the last time we talked about Toney and
of potential injuries that could drastically cut away at the the Arnold, you said he would be starting his diet at
few remaining years he has left in the pros, so these days a much leaner bodyweight. Now that it’s getting to
he gets more out of less. In fact, you may be shocked to be that time when his prep must be beginning, can
learn that Toney rarely uses more than 315 pounds on you elaborate?
squats for sets of 15. Occasionally he will go up to 405, but DP: I just sent him his program, and he starts it next
not too often. “The biggest mistake bodybuilders make week. That’s 12 weeks out. He’s sitting at 305 right now,
that keeps them from having the leg development they which is no more than 25-30 pounds at most over what he
want is being afraid of squats,” he explains. “But that’s should weigh on stage. Since about 10 pounds of that is
because they think you have to go super-duper heavy, and water, we’re really only looking at about 17 pounds of body
you don’t. I think it’s all about going slowly and getting all fat to lose in 12 weeks, or a bit more than a pound a week.
the way down, and keeping the legs under constant ten- That’s a nice, gradual rate to lean out.

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RH: What did he weigh the last time he started his
Complete Contest History diet?
1990 4th, Tall class
AAU Junior Mr. America
1993 NPC Junior Nationals Heavyweight winner DP: He was 310, but it was sloppier. Toney had a good
1993 NPC Nationals 6th, Heavyweights rebound after the Olympia and actually put a little bit of
1994 NPC Nationals 4th, Heavyweights
1995 NPC Nationals 4th, Heavyweights
muscle on. The thing with him is that he eats much better
2001 NPC Coastal USA 2nd, Super-heavyweights when he’s dieting. He gets more protein, more healthy fats
2001 NPC Nationals 8th, Super-heavyweights and never misses a scheduled meal. The longer he does
2002 NPC Nationals Super-heavyweight
& Overall Champion that, the better he grows once he goes back to higher calo-
2003 Night of Champions 11th place ries and less cardio.
2003 GNC Show of Strength 9th place
2004 Night of Champions 10th place RH: Don’t you find it pretty unusual that Toney is
2004 GNC Show of Strength 8th place still able to gain any appreciable amount of muscle
2005 Arnold Classic 10th place at 42 years old? Who the hell does that?
2006 Iron Man 7th place
2006 Arnold Classic 9th place DP: He’s a freak. The rules just don’t apply to him that
2006 San Francisco Pro 5th place way. I think the key is that he has no injuries and he takes
2006 Europa Super Show Winner
2006 Mr. Olympia 7th place excellent care of himself. Toney is constantly making use of
2007 Iron Man Winner therapeutic treatments like massage, ozone colonics, hyper-
2007 Arnold Classic 3rd place
baric chambers, on and on. Most guys his age are so
2007 Sacramento Pro Winner
2007 Mr. Olympia 14th place plagued by injuries that they can’t train heavy anymore, or
2008 Iron Man 8th place not with enough intensity to make any gains.
2008 Arnold Classic 7th place
2008 Australia Grand Prix 4th place RH: Tell me about it— I’m not even 40 and I just
2008 New Zealand Grand Prix 3rd place found out I have arthritis in both shoulders and a
2008 Tampa Bay Pro Winner
2008 Europa Super Show Winner
bone spur in one.
2008 Atlantic City Pro 2nd, Masters DP: Yup, I’m there too. Arthritis in the shoulders. When I
2008 Atlantic City Pro 4th place can get through any workout without major pain these
2008 Mr. Olympia 5th place
days, it’s cause for celebration.

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RH: And Toney is older than both of us!
DP: You also have to remember that he had a period of Leg Workout #1:
about five years when he didn’t train. I think most guys his quadriceps dominant
Leg extensions 5 x 30, 20, 20, 15, 15
age have never taken any real time off, so they typically Lying leg curls 5 x 10-12
suffer from multiple overuse injuries in the shoulders, Squats 6-8 sets of 10-12
knees, and elbows. Hack squat or leg presses 4 sets of 10-12
RH: It’s also worth mentioning that he started Walking lunges 4 trips around the gym
training at 20, a few years later than most guys. So
again, he doesn’t have as many years of wear and Leg Workout #2:
tear on the joints and connective tissues as the hamstrings dominant
Deadlifts 5 x 8-10
average 42-year-old bodybuilder.
Lying leg curls 4 x 10-12
DP: Good point. Leg extensions 4 x 10-12
RH: Will you be making any major adjustments to Seated or db leg curls 4 x 10-12
Toney’s diet for the Arnold? Smith machine ‘step-backs’ 4 x 10-12 each leg
DP: Not really anything major. Last year I only had Glute-ham machine 4 x 10-12*
Cable kickback for glutes 4 x 12-15 each leg*
about eight or nine weeks to work with Toney, but this
*Optional, energy permitting
time I have a full 12. We’ll start him off at seven meals a
day, then cut that back to six meals at the eight-week-out Training Split*
point. I want to take advantage of the fact that he does eat Day one: Legs
better on a regimented diet so that he can maybe gain a (Quads and some hams)
Day two: Chest and some biceps
little bit more muscle in those first few weeks of the diet.
Day three: Backs and some triceps
RH: Considering how awesome Toney looked at Day four: Shoulders and traps
the Olympia, is it safe to say that you will be Day five: Hamstrings and deadlifts
repeating everything you did over the last week for Day six: Arms
the Arnold? *Toney usually trains thirteen days in a row on this
DP: Yeah. It took me until the Europa show last year to rotation, then takes one day off before resuming.

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really figure out Toney’s body and how it responds to every-
thing, but now I can predict what will happen week by week
almost to the exact weight. When he starts the low-carb diet,
he drops weight very fast in the first couple weeks— like
10-15 pounds. A lot of that is just weight lost from water and
muscle glycogen, as his body is deprived of carbohydrates.
Then as his body adjusts to that, he starts gaining weight
again for about three or four weeks. Finally, it begins drop-
ping again until he gets right to the show. I learned that
Toney definitely smoothes out fast if you try to fill him up
with too many carbs at the end. But if you deplete him down
to nothing and then fill him out just a little bit, the results are
spectacular. That’s what you saw at the Olympia. It’s the
strangest thing. You can torture him with low calories and
tons of cardio and he just doesn’t lose muscle. And when
you take him to that point and put some carbs in, he looks
phenomenal. Like I said, he’s a freak.
RH: Do you also work with Toney when it comes to
designing his weight training workouts, or does he
handle that on his own?
DP: Toney has his training down, but I do make sugges-
tions at times. One thing is that Toney likes to use higher
reps most of the time and doesn’t often go very heavy. It’s
not like he isn’t strong, because he is. I think ever since he
tore his pec years ago he’s been much more cautious and
more conscious of injury. I have recommended that he train
heavier at times because I feel that he’s cheating himself out
of gains he could be making. I understand that he wouldn’t
want to train chest super heavy, but there’s no reason he
can’t go heavy on his back workouts. But Toney knows what
he’s doing, and he works hard on his weak points.
RH: Some have suggested that Toney still needs
more overall mass if he’s going to be a contender
to win shows like the Arnold. Do you agree with
that? And if so, how much bigger does he really
need to be?
DP: Not a lot bigger— maybe 5 pounds heavier than he
was at the Olympia with the same condition. That’s how I see
him coming into the Arnold; ultimately, maybe another 5
pounds.
RH: Last question now. In all the hype and predic-
tions for the Arnold, we hear about Toney being in the
mix but never mentioned as a threat to win. What do
you think about his chances?
DP: Obviously, Victor is the man to beat, but he’s still a
question mark. Will he be able to look the way he did in
2007? If he does, he wins. But he still needs to prove that.
He’s coming back from an injury and nobody really knows.
Kai is a lot thicker and denser than Toney, even though I
think Toney has better overall shape and structure. If Kai
shows up looking ridiculous, he will probably beat Toney.
Both of those guys need to be at their best, because Toney is
very good and should be considered a potential threat to
win. You have no Dexter this time, no Heath, and no Wolf. I
think the show is going to be a lot closer than people think,
and Toney has a shot to win. ■

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‘The Matador’
Moves In For The Kill!
Silvio Samuel Is
Gunning For The Arnold
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By Ron Harris
Photography by Per Bernal
Muscular Development was the first
bodybuilding magazine to feature and
promote Silvio Samuel. I am proud to
say that I helped ‘discover’ Silvio
Samuel back at the 2006 New York Pro.
Really, I just happened to be the first
person from the U.S. bodybuilding
media that I know of, along with
Romano who was standing next to me,
to lay eyes on what we both immedi-
ately recognized as one of the most
impressive ‘unknowns’ to venture from
overseas in hopes of making it as a pro
bodybuilder. Any of you who have ever
been to one of the shows with huge
lineups like the New York Pro or
Europa, already know that there are
always a couple dozen guys you have
never heard of from Europe and other
places like South America. Compared
to the A-list Americans, just about all of
them suck and have zero chance of
doing well. Most of them would never
have been able to turn pro at the USA
or Nationals.

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Silvio stood out from that crowd like he had neon all down to the most important factor, one that you either
lights shining on him. The combination of thick, round have or you don’t, it’s genetics. Silvio has some of the
muscle that seemed to leap off the bones reminded me of most amazing genetics seen in decades. Why do you think
Shawn Ray or Dexter Jackson. I knew it wouldn’t take long they tried to stick him with the nickname ‘The New Myth’ in
for this guy to make a name for himself. Now, less than reference to that Cuban genetic monstrosity and three-time
three years after making his pro debut as a total ‘no- Mr. Olympia, Sergio Oliva? Like Sergio, Silvio looked like a
name,’ he has two IFBB wins and another eight top-five champion bodybuilder long before he had a clue about
finishes to his credit. The man gets better and better every physique competition. By the time Samuel was 19, photos
time you see him, and I think 2009 is shaping up to be his show that he already had the thick, round muscles and
best year yet. Now he has his sights locked in on the overall shape that most guys in their late 30s that have
Arnold Classic. In the last two seasons he has been sixth been training and juicing their asses off for 25 years still
and then fifth at the Arnold, and it shouldn’t surprise any- don’t come close to. Silvio was blessed with tiny joints, a
body if he continues that upward trend toward the num- good bone structure, and full muscle bellies that insert all
ber-one spot. I’m not saying he’s going to push the heavy the way down in almost every muscle group.
favorites like Victor and Kai aside— but Silvio is a tough
competitor who should not be underestimated. Still not 2. He got screwed at the last
convinced? Let’s see what we can do about your skepti- Olympia.
cism, friend! If Silvio wasn’t the most shredded man at the 2008 Mr.
Olympia, he was damn close. Yet for the second year in a
row, he was shuttled down to seventh place. This last time,
9 Reasons Silvio Is A Legitimate
it was behind Melvin Anthony. Now, I think Melvin has a
Threat For The Arnold: hell of a physique, but he was a bit soft in the hams, glutes,
1. Genetic freak of the highest order and back. Silvio was hard as nails anywhere you looked.
What makes a great bodybuilder? We all know that Judges are only human and they do feel guilt. I can’t help
hard work in the gym, good eating, adequate rest, as well but think that more than one will feel a twinge of that guilt
as supplements of the over-the-counter and ‘otherwise’ stabbing away as they remember Silvio’s screwing that he
variety all play huge roles. But if you really want to boil it took without complaint. Chances are they may be inclined

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trained by the man widely regarded as a genius at what he
does, but only a privileged few will ever actually experience
it. Having watched Charles in years past put guys like Flex
Wheeler, Paul Dillett, Aaron Baker and Chris Cormier through
the paces at Gold’s Gym in Venice, I have to agree with the
high praise heaped on Glass. Charles is a master at dream-
ing up new angles, new hand positions, new foot positions
and a hundred other ways to tweak standard exercises so
they can more effectively work not only the target muscle,
but the exact area of a muscle group that needs improve-
ment. Silvio’s physique has definitely taken on a more pol-
ished, refined look since he started training under Glass’s
seasoned eye. A lot of guys out there can train you to make
you bigger, but only an elite few can make you a better
bodybuilder. Every time Silvio walks into Gold’s to meet with
Charles, he leaves the gym just a little better than before.
They don’t call Glass ‘The Yoda of Bodybuilding’ for nothing!

5. Coached early on by ‘The Mind’


Before he hooked up with Charles, Silvio was down at the
Koloseum Gym in Fullerton training with the owner, Milos
‘The Mind’ Sarcev. Bodybuilders literally come from all over

to decide in his favor if he’s very close to another com-


petitor, and it could basically come down to a coin toss.

3. Consistency
There are very few men in the sport right now who
you never have to wonder about being in top condition.
In fact, you can count them on one hand and still have
your thumb and pinky left over. Dexter is probably not
competing in the Arnold, and the other dude who nails it
every time— Heath, has already announced he’s not
doing it. That leaves Silvio as the only man entering who
you can bank on being shredded and dry. We’ve seen
Victor, Kai and Branch all compete, looking awesome at
times, and a bit blurry at others. Silvio’s track record is
unblemished in this aspect. In 15 IFBB contests, he has
been in great shape 15 times.

4. Trained by the real


‘Trainer of Champions’
For well over a year now, Silvio has been under the
personal training supervision of the undisputed most
sought-after trainer in the bodybuilding world: Charles
Glass. Many out there wish and dream about being

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the world to glean what they can from this veteran pro,
and storehouse of knowledge and experience. Mishko
knows his training, but he’s equally sought after for his
expertise in the areas of nutrition and supplementation.
Silvio soaked up plenty of tips and tricks from this wily
master of the bodybuilding game before moving on to
study under a different teacher. And since both men have
quite different styles, Silvio got the best of both worlds.

6. Olympic lifting background


From the ages of 14 to 23, Silvio Samuel competed
internationally in Olympic weightlifting for both Nigeria
and Spain, setting many records. That in and of itself does-
n’t mean much— we’ve all seen plenty of Olympic lifters
who wouldn’t look like anything special on a bodybuilding
stage. But training five days a week in the snatch, clean
and jerk, deadlift, and alternating squats and front squats
gave him a solid foundation of strength that would carry
over to his bodybuilding training, as well as development
in areas like the traps and shoulders that have served him
well in physique competition. He also learned perfect “ass
to heels” squatting technique that allowed his quads and

hams to become phenomenally built, while


others were farting around with half-reps and
looking for any excuse to do hacks or leg
presses instead of getting under a heavy bar.
The bottom line is that 40-50 years ago, often
the best bodybuilders and the best Olympia
weightlifters in the world were the same
guys: Tommy Kono, Bill March, Steve Stanko
were a few. Silvio carries on that proud tradi-
tion with honor.

7. The guns are growing


Silvio had been cutting back on his arm
training for the last couple years because they
grow so easily. He didn’t want them to get out
of proportion. Finally realizing that having
truly freakish arms like a Lee Priest could
actually help him garner more attention, and
that arms probably can’t ever really be ‘too
big’ unless they are shot up with gallons of
synthol, Samuel went back to blasting them
full-bore around the middle of 2008. With his
very gifted genetics, don’t be too shocked if

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they are noticeably bigger at the Arnold than you’ve
ever seen them before.

8. Security and support


In his early days as an IFBB Pro, Silvio was in a
bad situation financially. He was living over in
Spain and had no sponsor to help pay for travel,
food, supplements and all the other assorted
expenses associated with being a top bodybuilder.
Since then, he has relocated to Southern California
and now has a supplement contract with Muscle
Asylum Project. Now, he can focus entirely on train-

Silvio’s Training Routine


(Courtesy Of Charles Glass)*
Day One: Back
Lat pull-downs to front 4 x 8-12
One-arm dumbbell rows 4 x 8-12
Hammer-strength machine rows 4 x 8-12
Seated cable rows 4 x 8-12
Bottom-range hyperextensions 3 x 12-15
Day Two: Biceps and Triceps
Barbell drag curls 4 x 8-12
Skull-crushers on decline bench 4 x 8-12
Machine preacher curls 4 x 8-12
Rope pushdowns 4 x 8-12
Seated dumbbell curls 4 x 8-12
Overhead cable extensions 4 x 8-12
Day Three: OFF
Day Four: Quads and Calves
Leg extensions (as warm-up) 4 x 15-20
Leg presses 4 x 8-12
Reverse hack-squats 4 x 8-12
Walking lunges 4 rounds
across gym
floor and back
Leg extensions (heavy) 4 x 10-15
Standing calf raises 4 x 12-20
Seated calf raises 4 x 12-20
Day Five: Chest and Delts
Incline presses on Smith machine 4 x 8-12
Hammer Strength decline presses 4 x 8-12
Incline dumbbell presses 4 x 8-12
Free-motion machine press/flye hybrid 4 x 8-12
Dumbbell lateral raises 4 x 8-12
Upright rows, wide-grip 4 x 8-12
Seated overhead presses
on Smith machine 4 x 8-12
Day Six: Hamstrings and Calves
Lying leg curls 4 x 8-12
Seated leg curls 4 x 8-12
Stiff-leg deadlifts 4 x 10-15
Calf raises on leg press 4 x 12-20
Seated calf raises: 4 x 12-20
Day Seven: OFF
*Charles changes the routine all the time— this is
merely an example of how one training week might
look.

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2001 Francisco Del Yaro (local Spain show) Overall Champion
2002 NAC World Championships Medium and Overall Champion
2003 NAC World Championships Medium and Overall Champion
2003 NAC Mr. Universe Medium and Overall Champion
2003 WABBA World Short class winner
2004 WABBA World Masters winner
2004 Joe Weider Cup (France) Winner
(earned pro status in IFBB)
2006 IFBB New York Pro Fourteenth place
2006 IFBB Europa Super Show Sixth place
2006 IFBB Santa Susanna Pro (Spain) Fourth place
2007 IFBB Iron Man Fourth place
2007 IFBB Arnold Classic Sixth place
2007 IFBB Sacramento Pro Second place
2007 IFBB New York Pro Fifth place
2007 IFBB Keystone Classic Fifth place
2007 IFBB Colorado Pro Third place
2007 IFBB Europa Super Show Lightweight & Open winner
2007 IFBB Mr. Olympia Seventh place
2008 IFBB Iron Man Fourth place
2008 IFBB Arnold Classic Fifth place
2008 IFBB Houston Pro Winner
2008 IFBB Mr. Olympia Seventh place

ing, eating, sleeping, and hanging around the


Max Muscle Store in Venice. With all the stress
and pressure of being flat broke off his shoul-
ders, Samuel can reach his full potential.

9. Training age
Silvio has only been competing in body-
building now for a little over seven years.
Compared to the rest of the top guys in the
upcoming Arnold, that makes him a fairly
new guy. It also means his body is probably
a little fresher and more receptive to train-
ing, nutrition, and all manner of supple-
ments compared to a guy who’s been at this
game twice as long. In other words, while
others may be in danger of burning out, he’s
still just hitting his stride.
So, will Silvio Samuel be the man to leave
Columbus with the Arnold Classic title? That
may not happen when you have heavy hitters
like Victor, Kai, Toney and Branch all showing
up and hungry to win. But Silvio is a man
who should not be counted out of the mix,
ever. The Matador is turning into a real killer,
and his powers are growing! ■

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“You have to do everything possible to win, you know, By John Romano, Photography by George Butler
no matter what. The day of the contest if he comes in his
In 1974, Charles Gaines and George Butler collaborat-
best shape and he is equally as good as I am— or let’s say ed on a book called Pumping Iron. In 1977, George
if he is a few percent better than I am— I spend with him Butler, Robert Fiore and Jerome Gary turned it into a film
one night. I will go downstairs to book us together in a documenting the events leading up to the 1975 Mr.
Olympia contest in Pretoria, South Africa. In so doing,
room— you know, to help him for tomorrow’s contest.
they unwittingly brought the world its first reality show.
And that night, he will never forget. I will mix him up. He That film brought the world face-to-face with the front
will come to South Africa so ready, so strong, but by the line of the ‘golden age’ of bodybuilding and what it was
time the night is over— the next morning— he will be like to be a bodybuilder back then.
Weider had kept bodybuilding insular; “Pumping Iron”
ready to lose. I mean, I will just talk him into that— that’s
let it out of the bag. For Lou Ferrigno, Franco
no problem to me. So, all those things, you know, are Columbu, Mike Mentzer, Robby Robinson, Mike
available; and so if they are available you might as well Katz, Albert Beckles, Ken Waller, Frank Zane, Paul
use them. So that’s why it doesn’t matter if he comes in Grant, Ed Corney, Serge Nubret and Danny Padilla
this film started it all, lifting their images from the pages
shape or out of shape. If he comes out of shape at least
of bodybuilding magazines and bringing them to life. But
it’s less hassle for me, you know. And if he’s in shape, one man in particular stole the show, igniting a V-2 rocket
fine. I hope he is.” —Arnold Schwarzenegger that is still catapulting him to higher and higher heights.

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That man, of course, is Arnold Schwarzenegger. And his pic- Arnold and Franco took to smooth out their posing routines. From
ture isn’t even on the box. there, the film becomes a journey split in two. The first part of the
What is also missing is the knowledge of how close this film film features the 1975 Mr. Universe contenders and begins with a
came to not being done at all. The prevailing attitude at the time profile of Mike Katz. Katz is likely to win except for a guy
was that Arnold was not— nor would he ever be— worthy of named Ken Waller standing in his way. The two have personali-
note. If not for George Butler and his incredible vision, which ties as different as their physiques. Katz is humble and unassum-
was light-years ahead of his time, the bodybuilding world, action ing, while Waller is self-assured and plays dirty. Katz has strange
films, Maria Shriver and the entire state of California would proportions, with a 60” chest— only Ferrigno’s was bigger— and
never have even heard of Arnold. The film’s plot is key, of arms that didn’t match and conditioning that needed work. Waller
course— but it was the plot behind the plot that interests us was better-proportioned, harder and better-conditioned. The
today, as it speaks volumes about tomorrow. famous scene where Waller hides Katz’s shirt is a testament to
But first, I want to talk about the film. their differences, as is the posedown where it is apparent that
The opening scene is the famously awkward ballet lesson Waller’s superior shape and condition have brought him the title,
while Katz has to settle for a dismal 4th
place.
The second part of the film follows the
Olympia contenders, Arnold
Schwarzenegger, Lou Ferrigno and
Franco Columbu, leading up to the 1975
Mr. Olympia contest in Pretoria, South
Africa. Louie trains with his father at the
dingy R&J Health Club in Brooklyn. In
contrast, Arnold trains at Gold’s Gym, in
Venice, CA, alongside other top-level body-
builders. Gold’s is bright and airy with big
windows and an outside workout area that
offers views of the Pacific; it’s bright and
action-packed and beams with motivation—
just like Arnold’s personality. Ferrigno is
beset with a hearing impairment that has
narrowed the scope of his world to reading
lips and interpreting gestures. Along with
dank surroundings and his disdain for his
father’s approach, Ferrigno seems introvert-
ed and hesitant. Without fellow body-
builders to motivate him, Ferrigno has to
rely on his father, with whom he doesn’t get
along. Just as Gold’s Gym echoes Arnold’s
personality, R&J’s is a dark, wood-paneled
dungeon that seems to mirror Lou in much
the same way that Gold’s reflects Arnold.
Ed Corney, whose picture is on the
box, was Arnold’s training partner leading
up to the 1975 Olympia. It wasn’t Franco,
as everyone believed. The explanation is
simple: Franco was busy going to chiro-
practic school and his training schedule was
difficult to coordinate with Arnold’s. Butler
shot as much footage of Corney as he did of
Franco, based on the fact that he believed
the under-200-pound title would go to either
one of them (back then there was an under-
and over-200-pound class, with the winner
of each class posing down for the overall
title). When Corney took second, they were
able to edit the film to focus more on

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Franco. My favorite scene takes place in Sardinia where Franco the rivals are all brothers.
dislodges a car parked too close to the one behind it by picking it There are two immediate images the film brings to light.
up and moving it to the side! The first is near the beginning of the film when we see Arnold
Prior to the Olympia, the film focused on Arnold through sev- guest posing. While we are aware of Arnold’s confidence and
eral one-on-one interviews where he makes such comments as: command of the crowd, what stands out is the exuberance of
“I’m cuming day and night— that’s terrific, right?” as well as his the crowd itself. They’re going nuts at the sight of Arnold pos-
idea that psychological warfare is all part of the game. ing. He is Mr. Olympia five times already and the roar of
The documentary then takes off to Pretoria, South Africa, to approval for all that he brings to that stage is deafening. Far
the buildup before the competition. We see the competitors go more than it could ever be today.
through the pre-judging rounds. The under 200-pound class is The second image the film notes that is also far different than
judged first, then the big boys. At the evening finals, Franco it is today is the scene in Gold’s Gym where everyone is training.
Columbu is declared the winner. Then we see how the three There are no personal trainers, no soccer moms, no weekend war-
over-200-pound finalists Louie, Arnold, and Serge Nubret place. riors in sweat suits. Everywhere you look there are hardcore
Louie takes 3rd, Serge 2nd and of course, Arnold wins. bodybuilders wearing tank tops and shorts, throwing down the
He then poses down against Franco and for the 6th time old-school way. Certainly there are other standout moments, as
Arnold is crowned Mr. Olympia. After his win he announces his well as instances where the film’s creators took the license their
retirement from competition. He is shown celebrating his victory craft allows, but as far as the marked distinction between yester-
by smoking weed, eating fried chicken and some of Louie’s day and today, that was some seriously powerful contrast.
birthday cake, and wearing a T-shirt that says “Arnold Is Numero “To me that part in the beginning when Arnold was guest pos-
Uno.” The final scene takes place in the back of a bus with ing was a defining moment in the film,” Lou Ferrigno recalled.
Arnold sitting between Louie and Mattie Ferrigno, talking about “That moment captured the love of bodybuilding, the energy.
going to the Ferrigno’s house for spaghetti and meatballs. Louie People loved it. It’s not the same today. Today the audience is
takes off his jacket and squashes the other two in the process. made up of bodybuilders; back then it was everybody. People
Not to be outsized, Arnold responds by sitting up and flaring his loved us.”
lats. Mattie is crushed between the two giants and all of them “What about training, Louie? People say you guys trained
have a good laugh. It’s all good; no hard feelings. Clearly, even harder back then, harder than the guys today. Do you think that’s

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true?” “What about drugs, Louie? Today some guys are on their
“I do,” Louie replied. “I’d say we trained harder. In the old whole careers. What was it like back then?”
days there was a greater satisfaction. Back then we had to work “There are chemicals in use today I’ve never heard of before,”
for a living. We never had a contract. First prize was $750. In the Louie replied. “Back in the day, guys only went on eight or 10
old days it came down to how badly you wanted it. We didn’t weeks before a show and they did really small amounts. You
have the privilege of getting a check every month. Today most would call it a baby cycle. And they used simple stuff— not like
bodybuilders don’t work for a living. I won the Mr. Universe two today.”
times while I was a sheet metal worker. I’d get out of work at “But the guys look a lot more impressive today than they did
3:00. I went to the gym, then went home and collapsed. We had back then. I mean, even you came back in 1994, 57 pounds heav-
more personal hunger. No one was satisfied if they reached 80 ier and in sharper condition than you did in 1975.”
percent of their potential. All of us went all-out all the time.” “So much was different in ’94, John. You know, you were
right there. My training, my diet,
everything was far more advanced. If
the guys back then knew what we
know now, they would have looked a
lot better. One big thing that is differ-
ent is that the guys were much healthi-
er back in the ’70s. The whole mindset
was different. We were there to train
and have fun. We were bodybuilders
when no one else was.”
“Do you think Arnold misses those
days, Louie?”
“I do. I think he misses the old
days. He’ll always miss the old days.
We were all happy back then. Life was
simpler and we all loved each other.
You can see it today when Arnold
speaks at the Arnold Classic. You can
see he’s more relaxed around us and
he can be himself.”
“Arnold seemed to have it in for
you in the movie. He was planning
some very unfair tactics against you.
And you didn’t seem very happy.”
“Of course Arnold had it in for me,
I was bigger than him!” Louie
laughed. “But some of that was
staged. Arnold was always very nice
to me. He never made fun of me or
anything like that. I had other issues.
My father and I were not getting along
and I didn’t want to go to South Africa
to compete. My heart was not in it.
George Butler didn’t ask me to be in
the film until seven weeks before the
Olympia. At that time I was training
for the ABC Superstar competition. I
had to drop that for the Olympia and
only trained seven weeks for the show.
I was training at the R&J Health
Club— that dungeon in Brooklyn with
my father— and I was the only BB
there. I had to motivate myself.”
“I’ve been to that gym, it’s pretty
bleak. It’s the one they filmed you in

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for the film, right?”
“Yes, that was it. It’s a dungeon, right?
Can you imagine if I was training in
California with all the bodybuilders? And
if I had the proper time? Things might be
very different today. Arnold knew I wasn’t
in shape so it wasn’t hard for him to win.
He knew I needed another month, too.”
“Yeah, he said so when you guys got
to Pretoria.”
Louie laughed. “Yeah, I know. But
Arnold would never mock me. He only
weighed 228 and I weighed 268 the day of
the show.”
“Damn Lou! 268 in 1975? That was
huge for back then! What did you weigh
in 1994 when you came back to do the
masters?
“325.”
“Jeez!”
“Yup.”
“When did you first meet Arnold?”
Olympia. They held the Mr. America
and the Mr. Olympia on the same night. I
won the America and Arnold won the
Olympia. I was very honored to be on the
same stage as Arnold and win that title.”
“Now he’s your governor,” I said. “Do
you think he’s doing a good job?”
“He is doing a good job; he’s working
nonstop.
“Louie, some people say that after
Arnold finishes his tour of duty in
Sacramento that he is going to run for the
Senate. He’s trying to change the
Constitution to allow foreign-borne citi-
zens to run for president, then he himself
will run and get elected. What do you
think?
“That’s a long shot, John. But, you
know, he could probably do it. Arnold can close Arnold came to having never been ever been seen outside of bodybuilding.”
do anything he sets his mind to.” discovered— at least not by the inevitable Roughly 300 people attended that
It’s hard to imagine that Arnold path he took. exhibition. “It was touted in the press as
Schwarzenegger might not have ever In 1972, Charles Gaines and George something roughly equivalent to midget
been. To view him now in the seat of so Butler were writing a book about body- wrestling and dwarf tossing,” Butler said.
much power, it seems unimaginable that building called Pumping Iron. In Sports Illustrated covered the event
history could have been devoid of not only September of that year, Gaines and Butler and stated in its coverage, “this is the first
“Pumping Iron,” but also “Conan,” “The hired a few bodybuilders, including a rela- and last time we will ever cover Arnold
Terminator,” “Predator,” all his other tively unknown guy named Arnold Schwarzenegger.”
films, the Arnold Classic and his gover- Schwarzenegger, to give an exhibition at The original publisher for Pumping
nor’s seat. That’s not to say that Arnold’s the Brooklyn Academy of Music to publi- Iron was Doubleday. “I had already pub-
indomitable spirit may not have perse- cize the book. “That’s where I first met lished a book with them about the
vered, but the path that “Pumping Iron” Arnold. I had an assignment for The Vietnam war,” George remembered. “And
carved is undeniable. As ingrained as Village Voice and photographed him there. Charles had published a book called Stay
“Pumping Iron” is in the contemporary Those pictures in the The Village Voice Hungry. When we turned in Pumping Iron
lexicon, no one knows how perilously were the first time Arnold’s pictures had the agent at Doubleday said, “No one will

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ever buy this book. You are a disgrace and have wasted all the ting ready for the exhibition to open and someone came up to me
money we gave you.” and said you better look out the window. When I did I saw 5,000
“I can’t believe how much opposition there was to bodybuild- people waiting on line to get in! They were all bodybuilders! We
ing back then,” I said. “Wasn’t Weider already successful by charged $10 to get in and right after the doors opened, the cash
then?” registers overflowed. People were throwing their money on the
“He was, John, but he never marketed outside the industry. floor and it was piling up. When John Mac walked in and saw all
He only concentrated on bodybuilding. You can’t imagine how the money on the floor, he changed his mind about Arnold.”
difficult it was to get anyone on the outside to look at this book.” “I bet a lot of people did.”
“So how did it get published?” But there was still opposition. “After the event at the
“We went to Simon and Schuster,” George said. “They were Whitney Museum, which Andy Warhol attended, I was sharing
much bigger and could afford to take a gamble on our book. a cab with the actress Candice Bergen. She said, ‘Arnold’s
Through their superior sales and marketing, Pumping Iron was career is over. This thing with Andy Warhol was his 15 min-
on the bestseller list before it hit the stores and in its fifth print- utes. It’s over.’ I told her he’s going to be governor of
ing. Gaines and I knew bodybuild- California one day. And she laughed and said, ‘Yeah
ing was getting big in America.” Butler, who was right, and Ronald Reagan will be president.’”
Two years later in Forest Park, “When was this?” I asked.
MA, Butler, who was mainly a
mainly a writer and “February, 1976.”
writer and still photographer with no still photographer By hook, crook and any other means, George
experience at all in filmmaking, with no experience Butler was finally able to secure the funding he need-
believed that this guy named Arnold
Schwarzenegger, whom he had met
at all in filmmaking, ed to finish his film. When the film opened it played
number two to “Rocky” with lines around the block.
for the first time two years earlier, believed that this “I got Jacqueline Kennedy to come to the premiere
should be on the big screen. So, he guy named Arnold party at Elaine’s in New York,” George said. “I got
borrowed $30,000— a huge sum in Andy Warhol to come to the opening of the film;
those days— and made the test film
Schwarzenegger, every celebrity came to the opening. Afterward,
with Arnold at the event held in whom he had met Arnold was on the “Today Show.” His picture was
Forest Park. According to George, for the first time two everywhere. The film was an instant success.”
“Arnold was very good in the film. I “Wow… I remember seeing the film. I was 16
really thought I had something. So, I
years earlier, should when it came out. Everybody was talking about it and
called up some friends I had on Wall be on the big screen. everybody wanted to move to Venice to train at Gold’s
Street and got 100 potential investors afterward! But, now wait a minute— you said you had
to watch the film. They watched in dead silence. After the film Jackie Kennedy attend the premiere party at Elaine’s. Does that
was over, people looked embarrassed. One of the guys in the mean you had something to do with Arnold meeting Maria?”
room told me, ‘If you ever make a film about Arnold, we will “Do you want to hear that story?”
laugh you out of NY.’ Another gentleman said, ‘I’ve never felt so “Hell, yeah!”
sorry for anyone in my life as I felt for you here today.’” “In July 1977 after the film had been released, I got a frantic
“Not very encouraging,” I said. “That didn’t deter you?” call from a woman named Helen Bransford. She worked for a
“I still had options,” George said. “With the book on the best- publicist named Bobby Zarin. They were frantically looking for
seller list, I went to Hollywood. Everyone I knew laughed and Arnold and wanted to know if I knew where he was. I told them
turned me down at the prospect of making a movie about body- that Arnold was on Monhegan Island off the coast of Maine. But
building, starring Arnold. Ned Tannen, the head of production at there were no telephones on the island. So, I got a guy named
Universal said, ‘This is the most ridiculous idea for a movie I’ve Jimmy Belano to get on a lobster boat to pick up Arnold. A car
ever heard.’ That conversation always sticks in my mind because met Arnold at the dock and took him to the airport and flew him
10 years later when Tannen was head of Universal, he was mak- immediately to the Robert F. Kennedy celebrity tennis tourna-
ing a film called “Conan the Barbarian.” ment. And that’s where he met Maria. It was a Saturday. The next
“Hahahaha!!! One of life’s little jests,” I chuckled. morning, I got a call from Arnold and he said, ‘George, guess
“It was one brick wall after another, John. In January 1976 I where I am? I’m at Hyannis Port!’ Quick work, Arnold!”
didn’t have enough money to finish the movie. I did a screening Arnold always did what he said he was going to do. And he
for this guy named John Mac from a little company called always worked harder than anyone else. Charles Gaines remarked,
Morgan Stanley. Afterward, he said, ‘I kind of like this guy “This guy never cheats on an exercise. He never wasted a motion.
Arnold but how do I know anyone will pay to see this him?’ So I There was nothing he did physically with his body that you would
went to the Whitney Museum in New York and talked them into say he didn’t do enough.”
putting on a live bodybuilding exhibition.” Butler remembers, “It was very impressive to be around
“How did you talk them into that?” I wondered. him. We needed to make a film and I need a tremendous
“I sold them on the idea that bodybuilding is art and they amount of attention from him. And he understood that. He just
went with it. Opening night was a madhouse. I was upstairs get- flowed with it.”

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“I remember Arnold from my days training in World Gym all ago. It has played many times since all over the world. In fact
thorough the ’80s. Arnold was always there and clearly the gym he ran the film 50 times on Cinemax prior to the recall election.
was his element, regardless of all the films he made subsequent Why? “Awareness is a very important thing in politics,” George
to “Pumping Iron,” I remarked. said. “Anyone who saw it would know how serious he was.
“You’re right,” George said. “Arnold is the same guy today Anyone would come away from the film saying I know this
that he was back then. Arnold had an event recently with Mayor guy— I trust him.”
Bloomberg. I met him there and Arnold told me he was going to I guess that’s true, except for maybe this line from Arnold in
Yale to do a speech on the environment where he was going to the film, “And that night, he will never forget. I will mix him up.
give many bodybuilding references and asked if I would join him He will come to South Africa so ready, so strong— but by the
there. When he arrived with his entourage in seven cars it was time the night is over— the next morning— he will be ready to
still the same Arnold you would have met outside Gold’s Gym.” lose. I mean, I will just talk him into that.”
“He does seem to gravitate toward us: his community,” I said. I never thought that film, nor the contest it documented,
“He certainly does,” George replied. “I did a film about were fair to big Lou Ferrigno. But, as they say in the IFBB, “It
landing on Mars. I was in Pasadena at the jet propulsion labo- is what it is.” At least Louie made it in his own right and is still
ratory waiting for the Mars ship to touch down. You couldn’t living the life of a successful man— and deservedly so. But he
believe the people in the room. There were congressmen, sen- will always be overshadowed by the man who is now, ironical-
ators, the heads of Lockheed and Boeing and other captains of ly, the governor of the state in which he lives. The man who
industry and Arnold was in the thick of it. Then one of his will likely run for the U.S. Senate once he’s done ruling Cally-
aides came up to me and said that Arnold wanted to see me. fornia. The man who will endeavor to change the constitution
So I followed him over to where Arnold was and he instantly to allow citizens born outside the U.S. to hold the office of
became oblivious to everyone else in the room. He wanted to president and then run for, and most likely occupy, the highest
make a bet with me that there was no life on Mars. I told him office in the land.
I thought there was probably some cellular life— he and I Because as it said on Arnold’s T-shirt, while he was inhaling a
were just laughing and joking about life on Mars in the mid- lungful of pot smoke at Louie’s birthday celebration, “Arnold is
dle of it all.” Numero Uno.”
Arnold bought the rights to “Pumping Iron” some years And no one can argue with that. ■

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MAVI GIOIA
ITALIAN HOTTIE WITH
A SMOKIN’ HOT BOOTY Interview By John Romano, Photography By Per Bernal
Fresh off her middleweight and overall win of the 2008 Excalibur, Mavi Gioia is yet another rising
star supporting the new physique standard set by the likes of Britt Miller, Cindy Phillips, Kristy
Hawkins and the rest of the new breed of hot ‘iron sisters’ raising eyebrows across the land. That
means not only does she display well-conditioned and beautifully proportioned feminine muscle, she’s
also smokin’ hot!! Not only is she smokin’ hot, but she is also the proud owner of perhaps the most
finely tuned booty in the biz. Being a boob, leg, ass and ab man myself, I have to say that Mavi counts
as a seriously Major Distraction.
The only drawback to this interview, except for the visual impact posed by curves one would normally
find marked with little white crosses, is the fact that this Italian hottie speaks very little English. While I
speak some Italian, my family comes from southern Italy near Naples. Mavi is from the Republic of San
Marino, which is in the northeastern part of Italy. Same language, but different enough due to the
regions that I had a really hard time communicating with her. So, I apologize in advance for the choppy
interview. But, with a body like hers, these pictures will do most of the talking.

JR: OK, Mavi, we always start this interview with you would ever want to do?
your stats— height, weight, measurements? MG: I don’t know about acting. But I love to
MG: 127 pounds, 5’3” and 36.6,” 25.5,” 35.4” model and do photo shoots.
JR: You live in Italy! What part? JR: Do men find you more attractive here in the
MG: I live in the Republic of San Marino. U.S. or in Italy?
JR: Would you rather be anywhere else? MG: I really don’t know. I don’t pay attention to
MG: No, not really. I love Italy! It is my home. them!
JR: If you could have a second home any place in JR: What do you like most about living in Italy?
the world, where would it be? MG: I love the food, the beaches are beautiful
MG: Hmmmmm… possibly somewhere in the and there is so much history and art here.
U.S. Maybe California. JR: What did you do before you became a famous
JR: How big is women’s bodybuilding in Italy? bodybuilder?
MG: Not very big. Not like in the U.S. MG: I’M NOT FAMOUS!!!! Ha, ha… I have
JR: How did you decide to be a bodybuilder? always been a personal trainer.
MG: I wanted to change my body. I like the way JR: Tell me something you want people to know
muscle looks on a woman, so I did it! about you.
JR: Is TV, movies, acting, whatever, something MG: That they have to discover me.

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JR: Do you think your look is intim-
idating?
MG: No, absolutely not.
JR: What does a guy have to do to
get your attention? And don’t say,
“Be yourself,” “Make me laugh” and
all that stuff. Anybody can do that.
What’s it really take to get you to go
hmmmmmm…?
(She thinks for a few seconds, then
smiles)
MG: He has to weigh more than
220 pounds. :-)
JR: What do you think of being
photographed for MD?
MG: It was the best experience
I’ve ever had in this sport… I’m seri-
ous! What an incredible honor to
have my photos in MD!
JR: What’s the best part of being a
hot female bodybuilder?
MG: That I can show people a
female bodybuilder can still have
muscle and be feminine.
JR: What’s the worst?
MG: To only be considered ‘hot’
and not a really good athlete.
JR: Has anyone ever told you your
butt is amazing?
(After several failed attempts, I
finally got the point across that I
meant ‘ass’ and not ‘glutes’)
MG: Of course!
JR: Have you ever done anything
and afterward said, “Oh my god,
what was I thinking?”
MG: (laughing…) Yes, I have.
JR: Can you tell us what that was?
MG: No.
JR: OK, then… what makes it a
good day for you?
MG: A smile from my husband.
JR: Can you cook?
MG: I’m Italian, silly! Of course I
can cook… I love it!!
JR: Is it hard to diet in Italy with
all that amazing food they have?
MG: Believe it or not, it is harder
to diet in the U.S., trust me…
JR: Do you have a website?
HAIR & MAKE UP BY TERI GROVES

MG: I’m working on it. I’ll make


sure I tell you when it is finished.
JR: When are you coming back to
the U.S.?
MG: February 2009
JR: HURRY!!

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testosterone By Dan Gwartney, MD

ARNOLD ERA
Then versus Now:
Anabolics & Adjuncts
ake out Angeles communi-

T your ipod
ear buds
next time you are at
®
ties. Young men,
whose first taste of
iron usually came
the barbershop and through exposure
you will hear old- to powerlifting,
timers reliving the were immigrating to
past, turning the Venice, California to
most mundane activ- train at Joe Gold’s
ities into epic tales gym where it was
that rival the achieve- rumored that the best
ments of Beowulf. bodies in the world

R BERNAL
Time glosses over a were being devel-
lot of life’s nasty oped. Within this neb-
details in a temporal ula shone a star who
version of ‘beer gog- PHOTO BY PE
defined the era and
gles,’ allowing society’s remains to this day a
more senior members singular example in
to declare that sports roster spot on a Division I team. bodybuilding— Arnold
heroes were better athletes, Mom’s Bodybuilding has existed long Schwarzenegger.
cooking was the best and politicians enough to develop its own ‘senior Arnold’s meteoric rise in the areas
were honest. Yet, an objective measure society.’ As the most vocal fans of of bodybuilding, acting and now poli-
of ‘Then versus Now’ often disproves competitive bodybuilding are young tics has been well documented. Even
these passionately-held beliefs. adults and adolescents, it is not sur- today, some of his photos are still
Consider the iconic backfield of the prising that debates of the greatest regarded as representing the apex of
1924 Notre Dame Football team, nick- physiques often exclude past competi- muscular development. Some argue
named ‘The Four Horsemen.’ The play- tors. In fact, it’s difficult to find pictures that there are or have been physiques
ers, quarterback Harry Stuhldreher, left of many of the one-time greats; prior equal to or even greater than Arnold’s,
halfback Jim Crowley, right halfback to the ’90s, photo archives were not but his impact on bodybuilding contin-
Don Miller and fullback Elmer Layden, digital records available on the web. ues to be unrivaled.
led the ‘Fighting Irish’ to a national They were celluloid rolls of film or In comparison to today’s champi-
championship with a perfect 10-0 slides in protective sleeves contained ons, does Arnold’s bodybuilding
record, under coaching legend Knute in three-ring binders. physique continue to reign supreme or
Rockne. Though they were giants in The earliest days of bodybuilding would it pale, much like The Four
college football history, each being consisted of traveling performers who Horsemen of college football? This is
named to the National Football would put on displays of strength. It an argument that will never be
Foundation Hall of Fame, none of the was not until the ’60s that a bodybuild- resolved, since bodybuilding is subjec-
players exceeded 162 pounds in ing industry developed, resembling tively judged. However, it is clear in
weight. One can only imagine how what it is today. Bodybuilding was a comparing bodybuilders of Arnold’s
few plays these icons would last in a true niche activity, emerging out of the era to current competitors that the
game against today’s top college psychedelic ’60s, establishing its bodies have changed.
defenses, or if they would even earn a beachhead on the beaches of the Los Compare Arnold and his contempo-

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testosterone
raries to recent Olympians. At first were not the focus of their efforts— time. Of course, there was no standard
glance, both groups are muscular and they were and are just a tool. drug schedule then, no more so than
lean; yet, closer scrutiny reveals vast Unquestionably, bodybuilding in there is now. However, in talking with
differences. The Arnold-era physique the ’60s and ’70s was a far cry from several of the icons, a general pattern
st
generally followed classical lines of what it has become in the 21 century. emerges. Training was consistent year-
symmetry, with an emphasis on upper The conditions were primitive, equip- round, with the intensity being relaxed
body development. The general public ment was often made of scavenged only slightly off-season to focus more
was awed by these figurative and liter- parts, supplements were very basic on strength and mass; bodyweight did
al giants, as they embodied the and there was no money to be made not fluctuate nearly as much, remain-
desired aesthetics of the male as a bodybuilder. In conversations ing within 5-10 percent of competition
physique at that time. Contrast those with several pros of that era, including weight. Bodybuilding was a demand-
images with the more exaggerated men portrayed in “Pumping Iron,” it ing lifestyle; few of these men had
development of today’s champions. was clear that the culture and society careers or dependents. Few had a sig-
The extreme builds that stretch the of bodybuilding was not the sport it is nificant amount of money to spend on
imagination as much as they stretched today. Outside the Mecca of Venice, CA clothes, housing or drugs. Also, the
the skin of the elite competitors earlier and a few other metropolitan areas, amount and types of anabolics avail-
this decade represent maximal devel- there was not much opportunity to able at that time were much more
opment rather than the optimal aes- participate in or even be exposed to limited than today. Considering the
thetic. The impressive but overwhelm- bodybuilding. limited resources (money, anabolic
ing accretion of mass parading across Venice, CA was a magnet that steroids), promoters rewarding aes-
stages in recent years has been dis- drew the top talent in the world to its thetics over mass, and the more con-
played to smaller and smaller crowds; doors to learn from or at least be near servative use of drugs by those body-
the physique of modern champions no the budding legends. As bodybuilding builders, amazing physiques were
longer resonates with the public as the was such a niche activity, and its con- developed, using a surprisingly small
male ideal— witness the example of cept was foreign to most people, pio- amount of anabolic steroids.
the gentlemen immortalized in the film neering bodybuilders developed a In general, cycles only lasted 8-12
“Pumping Iron.” The question could be tight community, supporting each weeks; most bodybuilders of that era
posed, “Is it better for top body- other in their pursuit of physical only cycled twice a year. There was no
builders to appeal to hardcore fans, or development as well as against the insulin, GH, IGF-1, etc. The training,
should the opinion of the public dic- verbal attacks of those who viewed especially pre-contest, was intense and
tate the direction of the culture?”This bodybuilding as narcissistic, freakish catabolic; thus, the drugs of preference
goes outside the scope of this article or gay. [Attitudes toward homosexu- were those that maintained mass and
and its companion on fat loss. ality were vastly different in the ’60s drive. The gyms were owned and man-
and ’70s as com- aged by guys like Joe Gold, who was
The extreme builds that stretch the imagi- pared to today.] actually in the gym and part of the
nation as much as they stretched the skin Bodybuilders forged scene, not an investor. There was no
of the elite competitors earlier this decade deep friendships place for rage or disorderly conduct. All
represent maximal development rather and rivalries that of these factors influenced the cycles to
continue to this day. being more androgenic and lower-
than the optimal aesthetic. The group barbe- dosed than the pre-contest cycles of
What accounts for the noticeable cued together, traveled across the today, explaining why the bodybuilders
difference between the champions of world together and drove each other of that era were all much fuller-appear-
the Arnold-era and current times? The to excel. Acceptance into this circle ing and not as lean. Diuretics weren’t
‘800-pound gorilla’ answer is drugs, was earned through hard work, typically used and there were no local
and this will be addressed; however it results and positive support. Much inflammatory drugs like synthrol or
belittles the sport to say that the only like a fraternity, these men recognized prostaglandins, so the size and shape
difference between then and now is a each other as trusted companions. was directly reflective of the underly-
few jabs of a needle. Several top Of course, the question often arises, ing muscles and the overall condition-
bodybuilding professionals con- “What were the Arnold-era champions ing (body fat, subcutaneous water).
tributed to this article, from this gener- using?” It is fair to say that drug use Most people don’t realize that 10 years
ation and from the Arnold-era. The was perhaps as prevalent in that group later, The Underground Steroid
consensus when asked about drug as it is today, as these men were dri- Handbook still only listed 29 drugs
use during competition was “It’s not ven and competitive, just as body- used by bodybuilders.
just the drugs, you have to builders are today. Over the decades, One champion of that era was quite
consider…” Each of the respondents several have admitted to anabolic frank in stating, “Look, we weren’t
had a different emphasis, but univer- steroid use in magazine interviews, but saints. That’s just what was there at the
sally, they all finished that sentence understand that the social and legal time.” He went on to state that, like
with an attempt to clarify that drugs environment was more open at that other competitors, nobody wanted to

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testosterone
give up an advantage to anyone else.
In reminiscing, he related his opinion A COMPARISON OF CYCLES ACROSS TIME:
that the Arnold to Haney years repre- *The presentation of these cycles is for informational purposes only and
sented the peak of bodybuilding. does not condone the uses described below.
So, in the course of a year, the pros
of the ’70s were cycling twice, for a
period of 8-12 weeks each cycle at peak
dose. Pyramiding added a few weeks Duration: 8-12 weeks + taper
to the beginning and end of the cycle. Week 1: Testosterone cypionate 200mg, 20mg Dianabol daily
The cycles were basic and moderate, Week 2: Testosterone cypionate 200mg, 30mg Dianabol daily
consisting of 10-50mg of Dianabol (or Week 3: Testosterone cypionate 200mg X 2 (Mon, Fri), 30mg Dianabol daily
other oral equivalent, e.g. Winstrol, Weeks 4-6: Testosterone cypionate 300mg X 2 (Mon, Fri), 30mg Dianabol daily
Anavar) daily, stacked with 200-800mg Weeks 7-10: Testosterone cypionate 400mg X 2 (Mon, Fri), 40mg Dianabol daily
testosterone ester weekly. Some used Weeks 11-12: Testosterone cypionate 200mg X 2 (Mon, Fri), 30mg Dianabol daily
Deca or Primobolan in place of or Week 13: Testosterone cypionate 200mg, 30mg Dianabol daily
along with testosterone; others may Weeks 14-16: Taper on Dianabol only
have stayed with an all-oral cycle. *Note: During the ’60s-’90s, pyramiding was common as post-cycle recovery was
[Many do not realize that most of these dependent upon tapering. Also, the lack of effective aromatase inhibitors and sensi-
bodybuilders were getting their drugs tivity to estrogenic side-effects caused some to use lower doses of testosterone and
through a physician. Nearly all LA substitute Anavar for the Dianabol, though with lesser mass and strength benefits.
bodybuilders in those days were Pre-contest cycles would substitute Primobolan for the testosterone in ever-increasing
1
patients of Dr. Kerr. ] It is noteworthy ratio. Rumors of higher doses are likely invalid as water retention and gynecomastia
that the cycles used in those days were would have been evident.
very similar to the cycles used by most
current, non-competitive, anabolic
2
steroid users of today.
Now, this is not to say that there Weeks 1-10: Ephedrine, Aspirin, Clenbuterol, Valium, Captagon, Cytomel
were not those who pushed anabolic Weeks 1-5: Testosterone Enanthate 500mg daily, Parabolan
steroid use to the extreme at that time. 152mg daily, Dianabol 150mg daily, Halotestin 150mg daily, HGH 20IU daily
There were some known for following Insulin 20IU daily
the ‘more is better’ path— a few to a Weeks 6-8: Masteron 300mg daily, Parabolan 152mg daily,
premature death. This trend became Winstrol Tab 250mg daily, Halotestin 150mg daily, Winstro lnj.
increasingly prevalent during the mid- 50mg daily, HGH 24IU daily
to-late ‘80s as bodybuilding’s appeal Weeks 9-10: Masteron 200mg daily, Winstrol Inj 100mg daily, Halotestin
became mainstream; suddenly there 200mg daily, Winstrol Tab 400mg daily, HGH 24IU
were millions of people wanting the Daily Insulin IGF-1 Aldactone and Lasix for 3 days before show
‘Arnold’ look or its female equivalent. It Note: some have disputed this list as being inaccurate,
is pathetic that to this day, laypeople whereas others state it is consistent with Munzer’s use. No
are unwilling to acknowledge the com- toxicology report was available for confirmation of the drugs’ presence.
mitment, sacrifice and honest labor
that Arnold, his contemporaries and
successors put in to achieve those Weeks 1-6**
physiques. The public (and anti-doping 1. 250mg testosterone enanthate every other day
concerns) wish to believe that anabolic 2. 200mg Deca every other day
steroids are a quick substitute for years 3. Growth Hormone (GH) 3IUs per day, every morning upon waking
of strict training, dieting and other fac- 3a. Insulin (Humulin-R) 8IU with breakfast/4IU 5-6 hours later
tors which are the essential founda- 4. 1mg Arimidex or 2.5mg Femara, every other day
tions to bodybuilding success (compet- Weeks 7-12**
itive or personal). 1. 250mg testosterone cypionate every other day
Another factor that contributed to 2. 200mg EQ every other day
the pressure for longer, higher-dose 3. Growth Hormone (GH) 3IUs per day
cycles and the eventual inclusion of 3a. Insulin (Humulin-R) 8IU with breakfast/4IU 5-6 hours later
GH, insulin and other drugs was the de 4. 1mg Arimidex or 2.5mg Femara, every other day
facto standard, rewarding greater mass Weeks 13-18**
and minimal body fat by event judges 1. 250mg Sustanon-250 or Test
and the publishing industry. The larger Cypionate (or Enanthate),
bodybuilders of the Arnold-era every other day
weighed 230-240 pounds and were 2. 75mg trenbolone, every other day

314 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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testosterone
over 6’ tall. Now, competitors walk
onstage weighing 20-90 pounds more, 3. Continue GH, 3IU per morning
with much less body fat. [2008 Mr. 4. Insulin (Humulin-R), 8IU with breakfast, 4IU 5-6 hours later
Olympia champion Dexter Jackson 5. 1mg Arimidex or 2.5mg Femara every other day
competed at a weight similar to
Arnold’s, despite being seven inches
shorter.] If one looks closely at the pic-
tures from the ’70s Olympia meets, a 1. 250mg testosterone cypionate every other day
near-absence of vascularity would be 2. Equipoise (Boldenone) 200mg every other day
noted. Today, the entire vascular tree 3. Clenbuterol: 20mcg 2x per day
can be mapped from the 10th row of the 4. Cytomel: 25mcg per day.
audience. 5. GH, 3IU taken every morning before breakfast
It was the untimely death of 6. 1mg Arimidex or 2.5mg Femara, every other day
Andreas Munzer and the revelation in
the German periodical Der Spiegel of
his alleged cycle, that brought the 1. 250mg Sustanon (or Test Cypionate or enanthate) every other day
extremes to which drug use were 2. Trenbolone 75mg, every other day. Take every day for last 7 days.
headed to public light. Munzer was 3. Winstrol, 50mg every other day. Take every day for last 7 days.
known for pushing himself rigorously 4. Continue Clenbuterol, GH, and Cytomel
and this approach was reflected in his 5. 1mg Arimidex or 2.5 mg Femara
drug protocol. every other day, every day the last 4 weeks
More recently, reports of drug use
by elite competitive bodybuilders, as Note: There are numerous examples of bodybuilders using MUCH higher doses.
well as non-competing men and This protocol is one that is consistent with many of the top-tier bodybuilders, averag-
women seeking the strength and/or ing between 1,000-2,000mg androgen exposure/week. Of course, some report taking
mass offered through anabolic drugs, up to 5,000mg androgen/week, along with adjunct drugs. Several of the top body-
have been published in professional builders still include oral anabolic steroids in their cycles at extremely high doses
journals. What is apparent is a disorga- (e.g. oral Winstrol tabs in excess of 100mg/day). IGF-1 is still used by some, whereas
nized approach, especially outside of the more exotic research chemicals (e.g. myostatin inhibitors, interleukin-15) or
the elite competitor circles. designer drugs are rarely mentioned. Further, most pros stay on year-round, though
A number of drugs have been they may have low-dose ‘vacations’ of 150-200mg testosterone/week as there is insuf-
developed since the 1970s that serve as ficient time for full recovery of the hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis.
adjuncts to anabolic steroids in pro-
moting muscularity. Some control side
effects, allowing greater doses of ana-
bolic steroids to be administered; oth- Weeks 1-17: 750mg testosterone cyionate/enanthate weekly
ers promote muscle growth via differ- Weeks 1-14: 100mg testosterone propionate every other day
ent metabolic pathways, Weeks 15-20: 100mg testosterone suspension daily
complementing the effect of anabolic Weeks 1-20: 50mg of Deca-Durabolin daily
steroids. Still other drugs have entered Weeks 1-20: 150mg Parabolin every other day
the bodybuilding circles as a conse- Weeks 1-20: 50mg trenbolone acetate daily
quence of the audience expanding out- Weeks 1-20: 100mg equipoise daily
side disciplined athletes, as well as a Weeks 1-20: 8 Andriol gelcaps daily
function of anabolic steroids being (Not specified): 8 Clenbuterol— 2 days on, 2 off
viewed as and distributed through the Weeks 1-20: 150mg Winstrol-V daily Weeks 1-20: 40mgs of Nolvadex ED
same channels as drugs like cocaine Weeks 1-14: 4 IU Growth Hormone (Humatrope) 5 days on 2 off
and painkillers. Restricting observa- Weeks 15-20: 6 IU Humatrope— 5 days on, 2 off
tions to competitive, elite-level current Weeks 1-20: Insulin (Humalin N and Humalin R), dose not specified
bodybuilders, one sees some striking (Not Specified): Cytadren, dose not specfied
differences from the classical anabolic Weeks 1-20: Cytomel 75-150mcg daily
steroid stacks of the ’70s. Weeks 1-20: Halotestin 40mg daily
Currently, bodybuilders are using Weeks 14-20: Masteron 50mg daily
much higher doses of anabolic
steroids, in conjunction with human Note: This cycle obviously was in use prior to the advent of effective aromatase
growth hormone (GH), insulin, and inhibitors, as they have replaced the need for Cytadren and dependence on 5-reduced
rarely, IGF-1 to promote maximal mus- anabolic steroids (e.g., Masteron). This is an extremely dangerous cycle due to the fre-
cle growth and recovery. Variably, quency and volume of injections, inclusion of Halotestin and use of insulin. It is pre-
some use human chorionic sent only for illustration of the drug use trends.

316 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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testosterone
gonadotropin (hCG) during a cycle to against the 2008 Saturn Sky Redline; if
maintain testicular function and pre- Johnny Unitas or Tom Brady is the bet-
sumably increase testosterone levels. ter quarterback; or a preference for The
The use of aromatase inhibitors Beatles 1968 White Album versus Guns
(Arimidex, Femara, etc.) is near-univer- N’ Roses’s 1987 Appetite for
sal, and 5α-reductase inhibitors (i.e. Destruction. For bodybuilding fans and
finasteride, duasteride) are frequently bodybuilders, the question of who had
added to control side effects. As a com- or has the greatest physique of all time
petition approaches, local inflammatory can be just as passionate. The defining
agents (i.e. synthrol, esiclene) are presentation of Arnold at the 1975
injected directly into muscle to promote Olympia is the standard for many, but
localized swelling. calls for Sergio, Lee Haney, Dorian,
Another disturbing trend seen in Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler or Dexter
the last decade or two is prolonged Jackson are heard as well.
use, to the point where some body- If one focuses on the use of ana-
builders do not go ‘off-cycle’ at all. bolics by bodybuilders, the culture
More commonly, an off-cycle period is and commitment of the men and
scheduled during the winter months, women is lost. Of course, drugs are
but it is brief and consists of a short essential to developing the mass and
bridge and accelerated post-cycle definition requisite to excel in profes-
recovery. The off-cycle may be no sional bodybuilding and over the
more than 4-6 weeks in a year. The course of time, they have played an
reasons for the near-continuous use increasingly dominant role.
of anabolics is the extension of con- One competitor noted that in the
tests throughout the year, frequent ’70s, the only real reward was the
photo shoots for endorsements or achievement, making bodybuilding a
media exposure, promotional videos calling. A competitor of today com-
or streaming on websites and appear- mented that it is more of a business,
ances at amateur events. Today’s requiring a person to be more profes-
bodybuilder is more of a professional sional and take calculated risks.
than the classical bodybuilder. In the The comment could be made that for
’70s, it was not uncommon to see the Arnold-era bodybuilder, it was hard
bodybuilders working at an unskilled work back then; others may state that
job to support the gym fees or travel. current bodybuilders work smarter, not
The top guys were sponsored, but harder. Some believe that genetics
there was little money to be made in played a bigger role in the ’60s and ’70s
bodybuilding, unlike today. (see Sergio Oliva, Mr. Olympia 1967-
Today, top bodybuilders have 1969); some feel that genetics continues
product and clothing lines, endorse- to play a role and that increased public
ment contracts and agents. While awareness of bodybuilding and access
there are several multimillionaire for- to well-equipped gyms (and drugs) have
mer bodybuilders, even among the improved the odds of the genetically-
current top competitors, income is rel- gifted entering the competitor pool.
atively generous. Clearly, finances are Regardless of the differences
both a requirement and motivation across the generations, one fact is
for the current generation of body- universal to all of these elite body-
builder, as drug use and other building icons— they have devoted
expenses can cost more than $50,000 themselves completely to achieving
annually. A cost of $100,000 was esti- physical excellence. !
mated in the ’90s, but the advent of
Chinese-manufactured GH brought References:
drug expenses down considerably. 1. Janofsky M. Doctor Says He Supplied
People have passions. Some drive Steroids to Medalists. The New York Times,
themselves to reach new heights in 1989 June 20.
2. Cohen J, Collins R, et al. A league of their
excellence; others live vicariously
own: demographics, motivations and patterns
through their idols as zealous fans.
of use of 1,955 male adult non-medical anabolic
Some may argue the merits of the 1962 steroid users in the United States. J Int Soc
Ford Thunderbird Sports Roadster Sports Nutr, 2007 Oct 11;4:12.

318 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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bodybuilding
science By Robbie Durand, MA

Low-Carb Ketogenic Diets—


They Burn Fat
But What About Muscle?
was mentioned by Chad Nicholls on ‘NO BULL RADIO’ prostate cancer via reducing IGF-1.

It that Dennis Wolf needs his carbs! If you are not visiting
the MD forums on a regular basis you are missing out
on some serious action! The Royal Rumble was posted on
• Ketogenic diets promote acidosis in muscle (reduced
Ph), which can increase muscle tissue proteolysis.
• Ketogenic diets turn on genes for catabolism. (SEE
December 8, 2008 on the MD message boards; normally all AMPK section).
the staff members and writers are very kosher to each other • Reduced exercise intensity
but not this day. • Carbs suppress cortisol
The research guru and Publisher/Editor-in-Chief of • Lowers SHBG (i.e., lowers free testosterone)
Muscular Development started a thread titled, “Clearing the
Air on Zero-Carb or No-Carb Diets” by Steve Blechman, Why Ketogenic Diets May
which can be found under the NO BULL section in the MD Not Be Conducive for
forums.The Boss posted in his comment’s section, “The fact Muscle Anabolism During
of the matter is that, based on the scientific research, zero- the Pre-competition Diet
carb diets are not optimal for muscle growth!!” Steve also Many people on the message boards were asking,
mentioned that, “Zero-carb diets are great for fat loss, but at “Where is your proof that you need carbs to build muscle?”
the expense of muscle. I endorse low-carb diets, but I do not There are two studies that lead one to speculate that training
believe that zero-carb diets should be used because you lose in a glycogen-depleted state leads to impaired genes for
too much muscle mass!” That’s when the MD Royal Rumble muscle hypertrophy.This study does not prove that being in
began; proponents of those for or against the zero-carb diet a glycogen-depleted state all the time may not be healthy
began posting the reasons carbs should or should not be for muscle anabolism.
used. Comments were posted by Dave Palumbo, John The study was published in the Journal of Applied
Romano, Evan Centaponi, Mike Liberatore, Eric Broser Physiology and reported that performing resistance train-
and Layne Norton. This was no ordinary debate— it was ing in a glycogen-depleted state results in impaired genes
1
like the opening scene of the movie “300,” when the for muscle hypertrophy . The study follows a 2005 study in
Persians first attacked the Spartans! which researchers from the Human Performance Lab in
Indiana reported that a glycogen-depletion diet blunts the
Advantages of a expression of the muscle protein Akt. Akt, or protein
Ketogenic Diet kinase B (PKB), is an important molecule in cellular signal-
• Superior fat loss ing. Akt is also able to induce protein synthesis pathways
• Better appetite control and is therefore a key signaling protein in the cellular
• Increased uncoupling proteins stimulated in muscle pathways that lead to skeletal muscle hypertrophy and
and fat general tissue growth.
• Lowers cardiovascular risk by reducing insulin, Akt is regulated in response to a wide variety of growth
triglycerides, etc. factors, including insulin and more recently has been associ-
• Ketogenic diets may be cardioprotective ated with rapid activation in response to exercise in human
skeletal muscle. In the study, they didn’t use rats or cell cul-
Disadvantages of a tures; they used resistance-trained athletes. (The athletes
Ketogenic Diet had trained for almost 8 years, using resistance exercise and
• Insulin is a potent anti-catabolic hormone. had exceptional leg press strength). Resistance-trained
• Low-carb diets are currently being used to reduce males performed resistance exercise in the glycogen-deplet-

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bodybuildingscience
ed state or with adequate glycogen stores.The next day the constructed to maximize, or at least match, absorbable
subjects returned to the weight room and completed 1- energy. After 5 days of a high fat/lo-carb diet, levels of
legged leg presses (8 sets of 5 repetitions ~80 percent of a 1 AMPK were higher than those on the carbohydrate-rich diet.
RM) with one leg that was glycogen-depleted while the This is valuable data, but does not prove that carbs play a
other leg was not. Muscle biopsies were taken before exer- role in the regulation of muscle mass.
cise, immediately after and three hours after recovery.
When they examined the muscle biopsies, the All Anabolic Reactions
researchers found that depleted muscle glycogen concen- Occur in a Hydrated Cell
trations reduced the gene expression of muscle hypertro- Many of the research studies investigating ketogenic
phy genes. Some of the more disturbing findings were that diets have reported that dehydration is a common adverse
resting levels of genes involved in muscle hypertrophy event that occurs with low-carb diets. Cells that experience
(Myogenin and IGF-1) were lower in the glycogen-depleted decreased hydration have impaired anabolic reactions.
2
muscle. Akt expression was similar in both groups before There is evidence that cellular hydration is an important fac-
and immediately after exercise (after 10 minutes of recovery tor in controlling cellular protein turnover, while protein
in the high carbohydrate trial). The Akt/mTOR regulates synthesis and degradation are affected in opposite direc-
muscle hypertrophy and is downregulated during muscle tions by cell shrinking and that an increase in cellular hydra-
atrophy. Akt phosphorylation increased 1.5-fold after resis- tion (swelling) acts as an anabolic agent, whereas cell
16
tance exercise with glycogen. During the low glycogen trial shrinkage is catabolic. Additionally, subsequent studies on
2
after exercise, Akt remained unchanged. The study con- the effects of cell volume on protein synthesis have report-
cluded that commencing resistance exercise with depleted ed similar findings. The results strongly suggest that cell
muscle glycogen does not enhance the activity of genes volume is an important cellular signal for the control of pro-
17
implicated in promoting hypertrophy. This is the stance that tein synthesis in general. Being on a ketogenic diet natu-
Steve Blechman took on the message boards; low-to-mod- rally disposes you to dehydration and as mentioned previ-
erate carb diets are better for losing fat and maintaining an ously, training in a dehydrated state also blunts
18
anabolic state then a low-carb ketogenic diet.The study rais- testosterone levels.
es awareness that low-carb ketogenic diets may not be con-
ducive for putting on muscle mass. Ketogenic Diets and
For a look at a brief overview of the study, download a Exercise Intensity
free copy of the National Strength and Conditioning Resistance exercise is intermittent in nature so typi-
Association’s Performance Training Journal and go to page cally, resistance exercise does not result in significant
5. The article is titled, “Is Muscle Glycogen A Concern For reductions in muscle glycogen. Some of the respon-
Athletes Who Want To Stimulate Muscle Hypertrophy?” by dents in the debate say that they feel they can train
Gregory Haff, Ph.D. harder on ketogenic diets. The literature suggests that
http://www.nsca-lift.org/perform/Issues/PTJ0606.pdf reduced muscle glycogen is associated with muscle
3 4
weakness, decreased isokinetic force production, and
5
The AMPK Connection reduced isokinetic strength. The only athletes who
AMPK is activated during states of energy stress such as have been shown to benefit from low-carb diets are
hypoxia, glucose starvation and restores the energy-deplet- endurance athletes training at low intensity, which
ed status by concomitantly inhibiting anabolic and stimulat- enhances fat oxidation. Some members in the debate
11-13
ing catabolic pathways. Protein synthesis, a major con- reported having increased strength gains on a keto-
sumer of ATP in mammalian cells, is inhibited upon AMPK genic diet— remember that resistance training at low
14
activation. Protein synthesis as mentioned previously is reps (5 reps are less) is dependent on the ATP-PC sys-
10
inhibited by increased levels of AMPK . Furthermore, the tem. However, high intensity training using resistance
degree of AMPK activation during sub-maximal exercise exercise (10-12 reps, multiple sets, with short rest peri-
6,7
was also shown to be dependent on the fuel status of the ods) can result in depletion in muscle glycogen. In a
contracting musculature, with AMPK activity elevated to a review article written in the Journal of Strength and
greater extent in muscle with glycogen depletion compared Conditioning Research titled “Carbohydrate
15
with high glycogen levels. A new study released this Supplementation and Resistance Training,” the author
month in the Journal of Applied Physiology reported that makes several points about the benefits of carbohy-
low levels of glycogen caused an increase in levels of drates and resistance exercise.
AMPK.They examined athletes (not resistance trained, but
endurance athletes) and assigned them to high fat/low Spiking insulin occasionally can increase elevations in
carb/high protein diets. The subjects were prescribed a high- GH later in the day through hypoglycemia by insulin.
fat (4.6 g/kg/bw, 68 percent of energy), low-CHO (2.5 Therefore, occasional carbohydrate spikes lead to increas-
g/kg/day, 17 percent of energy) diet. High carbohydrate was es in GH that may enhance hypertrophy induced by resis-
used as a comparison. CHO was an isoenergetic diet pro- tance exercise. For example, a study reported that the sup-
viding 10.3 g/kg/day-70 percent of energy from CHO and 1.0 plements which promote the greatest insulin spike
g/kg/day, 18 percent of energy from fat. Protein content was post-exercise lead to significantly higher GH levels 5-6
maintained at 2.3 g/kg/day during both trials and diets were hours later. In the study, the supplements that contained

324 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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bodybuildingscience
carbohydrates and/or carbohydrates/protein caused this are necessary to hold on to muscle while losing fat dur-
8
spike. So occasionally spiking insulin with a carbohydrate ing the pre-competition diet. Based on the literature,
may be good for muscle. training in a glycogen-depleted state adversely affects
genes for muscle anabolism. No one has looked at
The author also concluded in the review article that, changing the fat ratios either; no study has ever looked
“Current research strongly suggests that resistance at zero-carb diets while using healthy fats (mono and
training, especially using large-muscle mass free-weight omega-3s).
exercises performed with high training volumes with Unfortunately, there will probably never be a study
moderate loads, is partially dependent upon muscle performed for bodybuilders dieting for competition and
glycogen stores. The amount of glycogen used in these muscle growth. We can only make conclusions based on
exercises also appears to be related to the total amount peer-reviewed research articles; there is no one shoe
of work accomplished and the duration of the resis- that fits everyone. Only through trial and error can you
tance-training bout. The ingestion of liquid carbohydrate find out exactly how many carbs you need and how fre-
may serve to promote a faster recovery, which may quently they should be consumed.
9
enhance subsequent exercise and training sessions. ”
The bottom line is that there is no universal diet that Key Points:
works for everyone. My graduate professor always told • Ketogenic diets are great for enhancing fat loss, but
me to remain objective. Each year at major conferences may cause more muscle loss.
such as Experimental Biology, National Strength and • Training in a glycogen-depleted state resulted in
Conditioning Association, and American College of reduced genes for muscle hypertrophy.
Sports Medicine, scientists present research from their • Weight training performance is limited by low muscle
laboratories and at the end of each session, there are glycogen levels.
other scientists who question the validity of their ideas • Low glycogen turns on AMPK which is a molecular
and research. In the scientific community, being skepti- component of a functional signaling pathway that
cal stimulates thought and leads to other questions and allows skeletal muscle cells to sense and react to
keeps the scientific community pursuing more answers. nutrent avaiability. Interestingly, age-related atrophy
Based on the literature, it seems that carbs, although and decreased growth capacity is specific to fast-twitch
not essential to the human diet, are needed for muscle skeletal muscle. When muscle biopsies are performed,
anabolism, as indicated by certain genes being blunted AMPK is elevated with age in resting muscle;
during glycogen-depleted states. I am not recommend- additionally elevated AMPK activity would correspond
ing a high carbohydrate diet, but I am also not recom- with atrophy in growth in fast twitch muscle.
mending a low-carb ketogenic diet. I personally believe • Ketogenic diets promote acidosis in muscle (reduced
that occasional increases in carbohydrates and insulin Ph), which can increase muscle tissue proteolysis. !

References: heavy-resistance exercise. Eur. J. Appl. Physiol, skeletal muscle. Mol Cell, 7:1085-1094
1. Creer A, Gallagher P, Slivka D, Jemiolo B, 55:362-366. 1986. 14. Wojtaszewski JFP, MacDonald C,
Fink W, Trappe S. Influence of muscle glycogen 7. TESCH, P.A., L.L. PLOUTZ-SNYDER, L. Nielsen JN, Hellsten Y, Hardie DG, Kemp BE,
availability on ERK1/2 and Akt signaling after YSTRO¨M, M. CASTRO, AND G. DUDLEY. Kiens B, Richter EA. Regulation of 5AMP-acti-
resistance exercise in human skeletal muscle. J Skeletal muscle glycogen loss evoked by resis- vated protein kinase activity and substrate uti-
Appl Physiol, 2005 Sep;99(3):950-6. tance exercise. J. Strength Cond. Res, 12:67-73. lization in exercising human skeletal muscle.
2. Churchley EG, Coffey VG, Pedersen DJ, 1998. Am J Physiol Endocrinol Metab, 284: E813-
Shield A, Carey KA, Cameron-Smith D, Hawley 8. CHANDLER, R.M., H.K. BYRNE, J.G. PAT- E822, 2003.
JA. Influence of preexercise muscle glycogen TERSON, AND J.L. IVY. Dietary supplements 15. Steinberg GR, Watt MJ, McGee SL,
content on transcriptional activity of metabolic affect the anabolic hormones after weight- Chan S, Hargreaves M, Febbraio MA, Stapleton
and myogenic genes in well-trained humans. J training exercise. J. Appl. Physiol, 76:839-845. D, Kemp BE. Reduced glycogen availability is
Appl Physiol, 2007 Apr;102(4):1604-11. 1994. associated with increased AMPKalpha2 activity,
3. YASPELKIS, B.B.D., J.G. PATTERSON, P.A. 9. Haff GG, Lehmkuhl MJ, McCoy LB, Stone nuclear AMPKalpha2 protein abundance, and
ANDERLA, Z. DING, AND J.L. IVY. MH. Carbohydrate supplementation and resis- GLUT4 mRNA expression in contracting
Carbohydrate supplementation spares muscle tance training. J Strength Cond Res, 2003 human skeletal muscle. Appl Physiol Nutr
glycogen during variable-intensity exercise. J. Feb;17(1):187-96. Review. Metab. 2006 Jun;31(3):302-12.
Appl. Physiol, 75: 1477-1485. 1993. 10. Rolfe DF, Brown GC 1997 Cellular ener- 16. Latzka WA, Montain SJ. Water and elec-
4. MACDOUGALL, J.D., S. RAY, D.G. SALE, gy utilization and molecular origin of standard trolyte requirements for exercise. Clin Sports
N. MCCARTNEY, P. LEE, AND S. GARNER. metabolic rate in mammals. Physiol Rev, Med, 1999 Jul.
Muscle substrate utilization and lactate produc- 77:731-758 17. Busch GL, Völkl H, Ritter M, Gulbins E,
tion during weightlifting. Can. J. Appl. Physiol, 11. Long YC, Zierath JR 2006 AMP-activated Häussinger D, Lang F. Water, electrolyte and
24:209-215. 1999. protein kinase signaling in metabolic regula- acid base disturbances in renal insufficiency.
5. ROBERGS, R.A., D.R. PEARSON, D.L. tion. J Clin Invest, 116:1776-1783 Physiological and pathophysiological signifi-
COSTILL, W.J. FINK, D.D..PASCOE, M.A. BENE- 12. Hardie DG 2004 The AMP-activated pro- cance of cell volume. Clin Nephrol, 1996
DICT, C.P. LAMBERT, AND J.J. ZACHWEIJA. tein kinase pathway— new players upstream Oct;46(4):270-3. Review.
Muscle glycogenolysis during differing intensi- and downstream. J Cell Sci, 117:5479-5487 18. Judelson, A. et al. Effect of hydration
ties of weightresistance exercise. J. Appl. 13. Mu J, Brozinick JT, Jr., Valladares O, state on resistance exercise-induced endocrine
Physiol, 70:1700-1706. 1991. Bucan M, Birnbaum MJ 2001 A role for markers of anabolism,catabolism, and metabo-
6. TESCH, P.A., E.B. COLLIANDER, AND P. AMPactivated protein kinase in contraction- lism. Journal of Applied Physiology, July 10,
KAISER. Muscle metabolism during intense, and hypoxia-regulated glucose transport in 2008.

326 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


muscleform
&function By Stephen E. Alway, PhD, FACSM, Illustrations by William P. Hamilton, CMI

Revolutionize Your Chest


And Arms With Close-Grip
Barbell Bench Presses
R
oman gladiators have been portrayed on the
big screen by some of largest chest structures
that Hollywood could produce. Even a few legit-
imate bodybuilders have dawned the Roman garbs
and mounted a chariot or two to fulfill this fantasy
role. In the movies, a barreled thick chest of a gladi-
ator is often covered with thick metal plating, so
that the chest appears to be invincible in battle.
However, a bodybuilder cannot hide behind a gladi-
ator’s armor, so his chest must be thick and square
from the bottom of the ribcage to the top of the
clavicle. The fibers of the pectoralis of the chest
must have thickness along the sternum and not just
be thick along the lateral edge of this muscle. A
well-trained, thick chest should scream power and
command attention, even if you are away from the
gym and fully clothed. Does yours?
For the most part, massive slabs can be added to
your chest with a lot less effort than that which you
must expend in thigh and back muscles. It is a bit
more difficult to push the thickness along the inner
side of your sternum, but certainly, this in an
achievable goal. The flat bench press is pretty good
at activating a wide range of muscle mass, but it is
particularly good at stressing the most lateral parts
of the chest. However, a small change to the bench
press can turn the focus from the outside to the
inside of the chest. That simply is taking a closer
grip on the barbell for your bench presses. Close-
grip benches can be equally brutal for both the tri-
ceps. As you approach your last set, this exercise
can make your posterior arm and the medial parts
of the pectoralis major of your chest feeling like you
are driving knives through these muscle bellies.
Perhaps not a pleasant feeling, but definitely a great
result will be in store if you stick it out.
The pectoralis major muscle is shaped like a
fan, which spreads across the entire chest to the
humerus bone of the upper arm. It attaches to and

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muscleform&function
moves the arm through the shoulder strongly in this hand position. crosses the shoulder joint posteriorly,
(glenohumeral) joint.The pectoralis The triceps are also hammered the arm should be moved posteriorly
major muscle has two heads.The quite intensely with close-grip bench into shoulder extension (i.e., arms and
clavicular head lies along the anteri- presses. As its name implies, the tri- elbows back) to fully activate this mus-
or lower surface of the clavicle (collar- ceps has three parts (tri = three) or cle head. This happens very well in the
bone). The sternocostal head of the heads (ceps = heads). The fibers in all down position of close-grip bench
pectoralis major muscle beings on the three muscle heads taper to attach to a presses. The medial head of the tri-
manubrium (the top portion of the common triceps tendon that crosses ceps brachii lies deeper and between
sternum), the upper six costal carti- the elbow joint to attach to the ole- the other two heads of the triceps. It
lages and (cartilages at the ends of the crenon on the ulna bone of the fore- encompasses two-thirds of upper and
ribs that attach to the sternum). It also arm.Therefore, contraction of the tri- posterior part of the humerus bone. It
attaches to the tendon-like portion of ceps brachii muscle primarily causes is a very thick muscle further up the
the superior part of the external extension of the forearm at the elbow arm toward the shoulder and provides
oblique muscle (a lateral muscle of the (straightens the elbow joint). Some enormous depth to the curved “U”
abdominal wall). The clavicular and people have a short triceps tendon and part of this horseshoe; however, it has
sternocostal heads converge on a the triceps muscle belly appears to a shorter muscle belly than the other
groove near the head of the humerus extend all the way to the elbow. heads and this gives the appearance
(intertubercular groove) near the Others have a relatively long triceps of the hollowed-out center part of the
shoulder joint. The sternocostal head is tendon, which gives them a more horseshoe near the elbow.
preferentially activated by close-grip “peaked” triceps, but a short muscle
bench presses. belly. The lateral head of triceps Close-Grip Barbell
Both heads of the pectoralis major brachii creates the lateral part of the Bench Presses
muscle adduct the humerus bone “U” in the horseshoe of the triceps. Its 1. Place an Olympic-style barbell on
(draws the arm toward the midline of fibers run from a small vertical section the weight stand of a flat bench. Load
the body) and they medially rotate of bone on the posterior part of the the barbell so that you can get 10-12
the humerus at the shoulder joint. humerus (upper arm bone), starting repetitions.You should warm up the
They also flex the humerus bone by about two-thirds of the way toward the shoulders and chest with a light set or
moving the upper arm anteriorly (or shoulder joint and stopping short of two first before hitting the heavy stuff.
toward the front of the body), and the shoulder joint.The long head of 2. Lie supine on the bench. Place
this is the major function achieved in the triceps brachii (the “inner head” your hands on the bar with a pronated
a bench press. By moving the hands in gym lingo) begins on the scapula grip (palms facing to the ceiling and
close together, the arms are adduct- (shoulder blade) just inferior to (below) away from your face). Grab the barbell
ed and the inner parts of the pec- the head of the humerus at the shoul- with your hands a little narrower than
toralis muscles are activated most der joint. Because this muscle belly shoulder-width. This will be about 8-12

330 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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muscleform&function
inches apart for most people. Some
people prefer a thumbless grip. This
does not affect your chest any differ-
ently, but you will have to be a bit
more careful with balancing the bar
with a thumbless grip.
3. Lift the weight from off of the
stands by extending (straightening)
the elbows. A training partner can be
used to lift the bar for you so it is over
your shoulders. Make sure that you
are in control of the weight in this
position before going to the next step.
4. Slowly lower the bar in a slight
arch, so that the bar moves from clos-
er to your feet at the top and closer
(slightly), to your chin at the bottom.
The weight should move from over
the shoulders to a position where it
just barely makes contact with your
chest at the nipple (the fifth intercostal
space). You should inhale as the
weight is lowered to the chest in a
slow and controlled fashion.
5. Without making a strong con-
tact with your ribcage (and never
bouncing the bar on your chest),
immediately explode upward with the
bar. Move it in a slight arch toward
your head so that the weight is
returned to a position immediately
under the shoulder joint. Exhale dur- form. That is because these muscles References:
ing the ascent of the barbell. Make limit movement of the glenohumeral Jandacka D and Vaverka F. A regression
sure that your training partner hangs joint posteriorly (and the rotator cuff model to determine load for maximum
around until the end of the set in case muscles prevent this posterior loca- power output. Sports Biomech, 7: 361-371,
you get stuck with the bar across your tion) as the bar is being lowered. 2008.
chest. Obviously, the greater the resistance Koshida S, Urabe Y, Miyashita K, Iwai K
and Kagimori A. Muscular outputs during
The close-grip bench press clearly and the more times it is done, the
dynamic bench press under stable versus
involves more than just chest mus- more potential irritation is imposed
unstable conditions. J Strength Cond Res,
cles. It strongly activates the anterior to the rotator cuff muscles.
22: 1584-1588, 2008.
fibers of the deltoid and the triceps Nevertheless, if your form is excel- Martins J, Tucci HT, Andrade R, Araujo
brachii as the weight is moved lent, you should be able to benefit RC, Bevilaqua-Grossi D and Oliveira AS.
upward. The intercostal muscles are from the advantages of the positive Electromyographic amplitude ratio of serra-
active during the forceful inhaling effects of close-grip bench presses tus anterior and upper trapezius muscles
and exhaling. The serratus anterior is without tapping into any of the nega- during modified push-ups and bench press
active to stabilize and protract the tive potentials. exercises. J Strength Cond Res, 22: 477-484,
scapula during the lift upward (flex- Neglecting your inner chest is 2008.
ion of the humerus at the shoulder). bodybuilding suicide, and certainly a Moore, K.L. and A.F. Dalley. Clinically ori-
Even the latissimus dorsi and teres great body is not complete without ented Anatomy. Fourth edition. Baltimore,
major muscles of the upper back are fully developed and thick chest mus- Lippincott Williams & Williams, 685-720,
active, both as stabilizers for the cles. Proper selection of your torso 1999.
shoulder and when the humerus is exercises will give you the ability to Norwood JT, Anderson GS, Gaetz MB
and Twist PW. Electromyographic activity of
extended at the shoulder. develop a supercharged and bal-
the trunk stabilizers during stable and
Aside from the safety problems anced chest, without inducing any
unstable bench press. J Strength Cond Res,
common to all free-weight exercises, injury. Close-grip benches are an out-
21: 343-347, 2007.
any flat bench press, including close- standing way to pack mass on your Rambaud O, Rahmani A, Moyen B and
grip benches, can aggravate or triceps while simultaneously packing Bourdin M. Importance of upper-limb inertia
induce rotator cuff irritation— espe- enough mass on your chest to make in calculating concentric bench press force.
cially if you get a little sloppy in your any gladiator envious. ! J Strength Cond Res, 22: 383-389, 2008.

332 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
www.
ww w.fa
fant
ntam
amag
ag.c
.com
By Gregg Valentino

DISCLAIMER:
The following is uncensored/
unedited and in no way reflects the
opinions of the staff of Muscular
Development. Who the hell knows
what this guy might say... he’s a
mental freak. This article is for enter-
tainment purposes only.
YO’, TODAY I WAS BREAST WITH MUSTARD AND A LITTLE OIL ON IT,
DRIVING TO BOB WHILE I WAS EATING PIZZA WITH BOB BONHAM… AT
BONHAM’s FIRST THE SMELL OF FRESH PIZZA REALLY SEEMED
STRONG & SHAPE- TO BOTHER GUY, HE LOOKED SO RUN DOWN, EATING
LY GYM & I WAS THAT NASTY CHICKEN BREAST…..EVENTUALLY I
SINGING TO MY FAVORITE BRITNEY SPEARS SONG >> THINK HE REALLY ENJOYED SMELLING THE PIZZA
“Oops I did it again I played with your heart got lost in ON MY BREATH, YES GUY WAS REALLY THAT DEPLET-
the game, oh baby baby “ …EEERR…” OH MY GOD”… ED & HUNGRY…HE SAT REAL CLOSE TO ME AND
AAAHHH UMMMM….SHIT!!….I KINDA FORGOT SMILED AS I ATE MY SLICE ….BUT IT WAS ALL WORTH
WHERE I WAS FOR A MOMENT THERE…UMMMM… IT BECAUSE ONE WEEK LATER GUY CISTERNINO
WHAT I REALLY MEANT IS THAT I WAS ROCKIN’ & WON THE NATIONALS…OH YEAH BABE, IT’S TRUE, I
SINGING TO METALLICA…YEAH THAT’S IT …I MEANT KNOW THAT SUBCONSCIOUSLY THE SMELL OF MY
I WAS ROCKIN’ TO METALLICA BABE !!! …WOOOF, PIZZA BREATH SATISFIED GUY’s NEED FOR REAL
THAT WAS A CLOSE ONE,,,MAN IT’S HOT IN HERE, I GOT ITALIAN FOOD, NOT NO CHICKEN BREAST
TO OPEN UP A WINDOW I’LL BE RIGHT BACK… DAMN, I BULLSHIT…. AND
talk more shit than my ass can pro- BECAUSE OF MY PIZZA
duce…that’s bad!! …ANYWAY, I JUST GOT BREATH, GUY DID-NOT
BACK FROM MY BOY BOB BONHAM’S CRAVE PIZZA ANY-
STRONG & SHAPELY GYM CHILDREN’S MORE AND THERE-
CHARITY EVENT…. IT WAS AN AWESOME FORE GUY DIDN’T
TIME, THERE WERE LOTS OF COOL PEOPLE BREAK HIS DIET!!!
THERE… THE REAL TREAT FOR ME WAS …YA SEE HOW FUNNY
THAT I GOT TO HANG OUT WITH MY BOYZ THINGS WORK OUT
aka THE BRAT PACK >>” EVAN CEN- SOMETIMES, WHO
TAPONI, PJ BRAUN, GUY CISTERNINO” WOULD HAVE
(YO’, I COINED THESE GUYS “THE BRAT THOUGHT???…BUT
PACK,” I WANT CREDIT WHERE CREDIT IS HEY, NO NEED TO
DUE… THANK YOU), AND THEN THERE WAS P a c k ... THANK ME, THAT’S
RUSSIAN IFBB PRO ALEX FEDOROV, The Brat WHAT FRIENDS ARE
(GREAT GUY, VERY BIG BOY IN PERSON), FOR wink… I’M JUST GLAD TO HELP OUT A FRIEND….BY
ANTHONY ROBERTS (STEROID BOOK AUTHOR) AND THE WAY, IT WAS EXTRA CHEESE AND SAUSAGE
MY 2 YUMMY GIRL PALS ELISE FIRESTONE & PIZZA THAT I ATE…BERRRRUPPP, OOPS EXCUSE ME!!!
JANET MARISCO….THEN THERE WERE “THE LEG- J ..ANYWAY, YOU HEARD IT HERE FIRST, THE RAM-
ENDS” >>2 OF BODYBUILDING’S “NATIONAL TREAS- BLIN’ FREAK HELPED GUY CISTERNINO WIN THE
URES” > DENIE & BOB GRUSKIN, with MY LONG-TIME NATIONALS….NOW A BIG CONGRATS TO MY BOY GUY
VERY GOOD FRIEND NABBA VICE PRESIDENT ALEX CISTERNINO, MY ITALIAN BROTHER!!!... If the old
ABBAY, ALL GREAT GUYS WHO I HAVE KNOWN & saying is True > You are what you eat, then I’m Fast,
LOVED FOR OVER 30 YEARS NOW…..IT WAS A GREAT Cheap and Easy!!!!...OH YEAH BABE..“A little nonsense
TIME AND I MET A LOT OF RAMBLIN’ FREAK FANS now and then is cherished by the wisest men.”
THERE….BUT YO, IN ALL HONESTY, I KINDA FELT BAD FOR ALL YOU MARRIED GUYS I GOTTA A LITTE FUN
FOR GUY CISTERNINO BECAUSE IT WAS JUST A WEEK FACT FOR YA >>.“Having sex with your pregnant wife is
TO THE DAY BEFORE THE NATIONALS AND POOR like putting gas in a car you all ready wrecked”…, WHY
GUY WAS STRUGGLING DOWN PLAIN CHICKEN BOTHER???….I THINK I READ THAT ONCE IN A FOR-

334 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
TUNE COOKIE BUT IT’S SO CLUB…. RIGHT?? .. YA SEE, IT
TRUE….HEY SPEAKING OF FOR- MAKES GOOD SENSE TO
TUNE COKKIES, IN CASE YOU “CLEAN YOUR ASS-PIPE
DIDNT KNOW YET, THIS NEW OUT” BEFORE YOU LEAVE THE
YEAR MARKS THE BEGINNING HOUSE.. HEY I’M NO
OF THE CHINESE “Year of the DUMMY!!!!…..BESIDES, DR.
Pig!!!”. …So, guys, Be Good to COLKER TOLD ME TO FLEET
Your Girl, It’s Her Year!... IT OUT, TRUST ME,
SIKE!!!!...LEMME STOP….OK DR.COLKER KNOWS BEST,
I’M PLAYIN’ RELAX!!!.. SIM- THE MAN IS AN ANAL
MER DOWN…SIMMER DOWN EXPERT… I’ve given up the search for Reality; now I’m
…GEEZ DO YA REALLY THINK ANY GIRLS OR YOUR GIRL- just looking for a good hot Fantasy...OH YUM!!!
FRIEND MIGHT SEE THIS OR READ MY BULL- ****A LITTLE SIDE NOTE: FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO
SHIT????...WELL IF SHE IS ASK HER ABOUT THIS RID- KEEP WRITING TO ME ASKING ME IF I’M STILL WITH MY
DLE.... “One of life’s biggest mysteries is how a two-pound LITTLE MEXICAN ENCHALADA THE ANSWER IS YES…I
box of candy can make a woman gain five pounds”…. SEE BOTH GIRLS HER AND MERCEDES!!! …I’ve learned
ANSWER THAT SHIT!!!!!...wink. OK YOU SMART that you cannot make someone love you. All you can do is
PEPOPLE CAN SKIP THIS NEXT FEW SENTENCES AND stalk them and hope they panic and eventually give in to
READ ON… AS FOR YOU DUMB FUCKS, HERE IS WHAT I you!!!!….THAT’S A JOKE GUYS, I’M NOT A STALKER!!!!
MEANT BY MY STATEMENT ABOVE . …I SAID> “If it was ... I prefer to describe myself as a “Contemporary
the thought that counts, then I would have been laid by Anthropological Interactive Observer” because it has just
many women” …WELL RETARDO’S, WHAT THAT MEANT the right amount of flair. Besides, “Stalker” is such an
IS I’M ALWAYS THINKING ABOUT GIRLS AND GET- ugly word.
TING LAID, SO IF THINKING ABOUT THAT COUNTED WARNING : I KEEP TELLIN’ YOU PINHEADS!!!!..>>
THEN I’D BE LAID ALL THE TIME!!!….YA GET THE JOKE ANYONE WHO BUYS STEROIDS ON-LINE OR ORDERS
NOW???….WELL DO YA????…YOU MAY NOW READ THE SHIT THROUGH THE MAIL IS A KNUCKLE-HEADED
REST OF THIS COLUMN It’s better to be a smart-ass than MOMO…. ACCORDING TO SUPER LAWYER RICK
a dumb-ass… COLLINS >> “There was a bill that was signed by
Recently, I was the victim of a hit-and-run ..Yo, I was just President Bush on October 15, 2008, and became Public
getting to my feet when a policeman ran up to help me. I was Law 110-425.” … IF YOU’RE AN ON-LINE JUICE BUYER
a little bit shaken but I told the cop “My girlfriend just YOU BETTER BEWARE , BECAUSE EVEN THOUGH THE
tried to run me over!” .....”The car hit you from behind,” LAW IS FOR THE PHONY ON-LINE CLINICS, LAW
the officer said. “How could you tell it was your girlfriend ENFORCEMENT WILL SQUEEZE THE BUYER’S BALLS
?”..... “I recognized her laugh!”…OH RELAX, THAT DID JUST TO GET YOU TO RAT ON YOUR SUPPLIER aka
NOT REALLY HAPPEN , IT WAS A JOKE..SIMMER THESE PHONY INTERNET – ONLINE PHARMACY
DOWN!!!…..GEEZ, YOU GUYS ARE A LIT- SELLERS…OOOPS AND IF YOU’RE AN INTERNET SUP-
TLE EDGY THIS MONTH….GO TAKE A PLIER WITH PRIOR ARRESTS YOU COULD GET AS MUCH
GASPARI MITROPHIN AND HAVE AS 20 YEARS IN PRISON….IMAGINE
SOME FUN, YOUR TOO DAMN UPTIGHT… THAT 20 YEARS FOR SELLING A
I WILL TELL YA WHAT IS TRUE > My PERFORMANCE ENHANCER ON-
girl Mercedes considers walking LINE…..IT MAKES YOU FEEL
around the Mall and Shopping as LIKE YOU’RE BETTER OFF
her Physical Fitness Routine…, To COMMITTING A BURGLARY OR
her it’s Exercise and her way of MURDER, JUST DON’T SELL STEROIDS OVER THE
“Working Out!!!” …I’M STARTING TO NET…..YES TRUST ME, YOU ON-LINE BUYERS ARE TAR-
BELIEVE SHE HATES ME….LAST NIGHT, GETS TOO, REMEMBER WITHOUT A RAT/SNITCH LAW
I TOLD HER “Baby I want to give myself to you.” …. ENFORCEMENT IS POWERLESS!!!!!!!.... SO IF YOU’RE A
MERCEDES “THE SMART ASS” REPLIED TO ME: “Sorry, BUYER DO NOT THINK YOU’RE SAFE, THEY WILL GET
I don’t accept Cheap Gifts.”…HOW HURTFUL!!…I AM YOUR ASS AND YOU’LL SQUEEL LIKE A PROM QUEEN
NOT A CHEAP GIFT, I’M A MAN GODDAMN IT… HOW IN THE BACK SEAT OF A CAR ON PROM NIGHT…SO IF
DARE SHE….. MERCEDES HATES INTRODUCING ME TO YOU’RE DUMB ENOUGH TO BUY SHIT ON-LINE THEN
HER FRIENDS AS “HER MAN,” SHE SAID IT’S EMBAR- YOU’RE A PINHEAD WHO IS NOW FULLY WARNED….Keep
RASSING TO HER…..YO’ IMAGINE THAT SHIT!!!!…. BUT Smiling Everyone Loves A Moron…. LISTEN UP RETAR-
I’LL TELL YA THIS MUCH, SHE AINT EMBARRASSED TO DO’S……I HATE WHEN GUYS WHO BUY THE SHIT (JUICE
TAKE MY VISA CARD AND SPEND MY MONEY!!! …OK ) ON-LINE THINK THEY ARE SAFE FROM BEING PROSE-
HOLD UP A MIN, I KNOW I’M NO BRAD PITT IN THE CUTED …BA-HAHAHAHA….YOU MORONS!!!... LAW
LOOKS DEPARTMENT BUT HEY, JUST A FEW BREATH ENFORCEMENT USES THE LITTLE GUY (YOU BUYERS)
MINTS AND A FLEET ENEMA AND I’M READY FOR A TO GET THE BIG GUY (THE SELLERS )….IT’S JUST LIKE
NIGHT ON THE TOWN BABE…JUST TO CLARIFY THINGS USING A MINNOW WHEN YOU’RE FISHING TO CATCH
A LITTLE, IF I FLEET-OUT MY ASS-PIPE BEFORE I GO THE BIGGER FISH….IN THIS CASE YOU’RE THE FUCK-
OUT ON THE TOWN, THEN THERE’S LESS CHANCE I’LL ING MINNOW!!!!…...I GET DUMB FUCKS TELLING ME
HAVE TO DROP A “CREATINE BLAST” WHILE IN THE >>” I DON’T SELL STEROIDS, I JUST BUY ONE OR 2

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 335


www.fantamag.com
BOTTLES FOR MYSELF, WHY WOULD THEY WANT
ME??” …OR THEY SAY DUMB SHIT LIKE >> “THEY DON’T
WANT ME, I DON’T SELL NOTHING, THEY WANT THE
DEALERS NOT US LITTLE GUYS”….DUMB FUCKS WHO
MAKE STUPID STATEMENTS LIKE THAT DESERVE A
KICK IN THE ASS, HOW FUCKING RETARDED CAN SOME
OF YOU PINHEADS BE??…YO GET THIS IN YOUR HEADS
“LAW ENFORCEMENT IS OUT OF BUSINESS IF THEY
DON’T USE THE LITTLE GUY AS A SNITCH aka A
RAT”…DON’T BE A FOOL AND FOR GODSAKE IF YOU’RE
BEING QUESTIONED ABOUT ANYTHING, SHUT YOUR
PIE-HOLE!!!!!.....I’M TELLING YOU, ON-LINE PHARMA-
CIES ARE BAD NEWS AND IF YOU’RE DEALING WITH
THEM, THEN MORE THAN LIKELY LAW ENFORCEMENT
ALREADY HAS YOUR NAME…THEY (LAW ENFORCE-
MENT) ARE LIKE LIONS SITTING IN THE GRASS
WATCHING THE ANTELOPE (YOU MOMO’S) JUMP THAT HE GOT DRUNK FAST AND IN NO TIME JIMMY
AROUND AND GETTING ALL COCKY THINKING THE STAGGERED OUTSIDE INTO THE MIDDLE OF THE VINE-
LIONS ARE LAZY & DUMB JUST LAYING THERE IN THE YARD AND PISSED ALL OVER THE GRAPE
GRASS… .UNTIL…BAM!!!!!....THE LIONS JUMP UP AND VINES….BUT, IN THE MIDDLE OF TAKING A PISS
TAKE DOWN THE DUMB FUCKING WEAKLING ANTELOPE JIMMY PASSED OUT AND FELL TO THE GROUND IN A
WITH EASE!!!!….WELL THE SAME WITH “THE POWERS DRUNKIN’ SLEEP…..ABOUT AN HOUR LATER HIS
THAT BE” (LAW ENFORCEMENT), LET YOU THINK FRIENDS WERE FRANTIC LOOKING FOR “THE DRUNKEN
YOU’RE GETTING AWAY WITH SHIT AND THEN ONE SLEEPING BULL” BUT HE WAS NOWHERE TO BE
DAY..BAM!!!!!...ITS OVER, YOU’RE FUCKED!!!!!...THAT’S FOUND…..FINALLY, ONE OF THE VINEYARD WORKERS
WHY MORONS WHO SAY “I BEEN BUYING SHIT FROM CAME INSIDE AND SAID THERE IS “SOMEONE SINGING
THIS SAME COMPANY FOR A WHILE AND I NEVER IN THE MIDDLE OF THE VINEYARD”….JIMMY’S
HAD A PROBLEM”…WELL PINHEAD THAT DOESN’T FRIENDS IMMEDIATELY RAN WAY OUT TO THE MID-
MEAN YOUR MAIL AIN’T (IS NOT) MONITORED OR DLE OF THE VINEYARD AND THEY HEARD JIMMY
THAT YOU’RE NOT BEING WATCHED….YO’, .WHEN THEY SINGING ITALIAN SONGS !!!!.....WHEN THEY GOT TO
(LAW ENFORCEMENT) NEED MINNOWS TO TAKE JIMMY, HE WAS LAYING ON HIS BACK IN THE MID-
DOWN THE INTERNET BIG FISH THAT’S WHEN YOU GET DLE OF ALL THE GRAPE VINES EATING GRAPES AND
FUCKED!!!!... JUST BECAUSE YOU AIN’T THE SELLER SINGING REALLY LOUD……WHEN JIMMY SAW THEM
DOESN’T MEAN SHIT, YOU’RE STILL A MINNOW aka HE GOT REALLY HAPPY AND HE SAID TO THEM “HEY
BAIT FOR THE BIGGER FISH (DEALERS), YOU’RE WHAT ARE YOU GUYS DOING HERE IN ITALY, HERE
BREAKING THE LAW THAT’S EXACTLY WHAT YOU’RE TRY ONE OF THESE GRAPES THEY ARE THE BEST
DOING!!!….I HAVE ZERO TOLLERENCE FOR DUMB FUCKS, GRAPES I’VE EVER EATEN”… THEN JIMMY “THE
IM WARNING YOU HERE AND NOW, QUIT WHILE YOUR VINEYARD SINGER” STARTED SINGING IN ITALIAN
AHEAD, FIND ANOTHER WAY… How can there be so much AGAIN “O sole mio - sta ‘nfronte a te!”…JIMMY TOLD ME
incompetence in the world when they don’t teach it in THAT HE WAS PISSED OFF WHEN HE FOUND OUT HE
schools… WASN’T REALLY IN ITALY AND THAT INSTEAD HE WAS
I HAD A CLOSE CALL THE OTHER NIGHT….MY GOOD JUST IN A DRUNKEN STUPOR STAGGERING AROUND
FRIEND JIMMY “THE IRON BULL” PELLECHIA WAS IN HIS FRIEND’S WINE VINEYARD…...YO’, I SWEAR TO
SUPPOSED TO CALL ME ABOUT US GOING TO ANGELO’S GOD THIS IS A TRUE STORY!!!.... HE LATER TOLD ME
IN LITTLE ITALY N.Y.C. FOR SOME AUTHENTIC ITAL- THAT HE WAS SO DRUNK THAT HE PASSED OUT AND
IAN DINNER TOGETHER…..WHEN I DIDN’T HEAR FROM WHEN HE WOKE UP, HIS EXACT WORDS TO ME WERE
JIMMY I CALLED HIS CELL PHONE AND ONE OF HIS BUD- “GREGG , IT WAS SUCH A BEAUTIFUL NIGHT , THE
DIES ANSWERED…..WHEN I ASKED WHERE JIMMY WAS STARS WERE ALL OUT IN THE SKY AND THERE WERE
THE FRIEND SAID HE DIDN’T KNOW, THAT JIMMY DIS- GRAPE VINES EVERYWHERE AND IN MY HEAD I
APPEARED AND THAT EVERYONE WAS CURRENTLY HEARD ITALIAN MUSIC, I ACTUALLY THOUGHT I
LOOKING FOR JIMMY…..I GAGGED, AND TOLD JIMMY’S WAS BACK IN ITALY TILL MY FRIENDS RUINED IT
FRIEND TO CALL ME WHEN HE FINDS JIMMY “THE FOR ME”…….NOW THAT’S WHAT I CALL SOME STRONG
LOST BULL” ….ABOUT 40 mins LATER MY PHONE RINGS ASS WINE!!!!!!!...WOW….I COULD JUST ENVISION MY
AND IT’S JIMMYS FRIEND JOE…THEY FOUND GOOD FRIEND JIMMY “THE DRUNKEN BULL” PEL-
JIMMY!!!!!... HERE’S WHAT HAPPENED….JIMMY AND LECHIA LAYING BACK ALL RELAXED, EATING GRAPES
A FEW OF HIS FRIENDS WENT TO A WINE VINEYARD FROM THE VINES, SINGING ITALIAN SONGS WITH A
OWNED BY ONE OF JIMMY’S FRIENDS….AS YOU PROBA- BIG GRIN ON HIS FACE ALL THE WHILE THINKING HE
BLY FIGURED OUT BY NOW, MY BOY JIMMY “THE WAS IN ITALY…..YA GOTTA LOVE MY BOY JIMMY “THE
THIRSTY BULL” STARTED DRINKING SO MUCH WINE IRON BULL” PELLECHIA HE TRULY IS ONE OF A

336 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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KIND!!!!!...“They say that drinking kills brain cells, but WHOLE WHEAT BREAD, YUKKK!!!!!….NOW HERE IS
the way I figure it is that it’s like a lion chasing a herd of THE FUCKED-UP PART OF MY LITTLE RANT HERE
buffalo…. It will only Kill the Slowest Ones HERE….YO’, AS ALWAYS, I HAD TO TAKE A SHIT!!!...OH
LISTEN UP: I GET A LOT OF LETTERS FROM OUR U.S. YEAH BABE...I HAD A BOLOGNA SANDWICH ON WHEAT
ARMED FORCES SERVING OUR COUNTRY OVER IN THE BREAD MONSTER-SHIT-TSUNAMI (pronounced su-na-
MIDDLE EAST, AND I WANNA SAY TO ALL OF THEM , I mi) … MEANING I FELT MY GUT ERUPTING LIKE Mount
HAVEN’T FORGOTTEN YOU ….I LOVE YOU ALL AND I St. Helens AND THINGS COULD GET REAL MESSY REAL
RESPECT YOU ALL…THANK YOU!!!.. GET HOME SAFE, FAST IF I DID NOT ACT RIGHT AWAY!!!! …IRONICALLY A
YOU ARE ALL MY HEROES…AND CAN SOMEONE PLEASE FEW OTHER INMATES COMPLAINED THAT “THEY HAD
REMIND THESE “HOLY WARRIORS” INSURGENTS OF TO SHIT TOO” ( IT’S THE DAMN SHITTY JAILHOUSE FOOD
THEIR OWN TEACHINGS WHICH CONDEMN THEIR OWN AND THE FAKE ASS MEAT THEY GIVE YOU) …BUT, THERE
ACTIONS >>“If you take the life of just one innocent per- WAS ONLY ONE TOILET AND IT WAS IN THE MIDDLE OF
son, you then kill all of humanity” …The Muslim Koran THE CELL WITH NO WALLS OR ANYTHING ELSE BLOCK-
…..THE “HOLY WARRIORS” WANT TO LIVE THEIR LIVES ING ITS VIEW……OOOPS AND MOST IMPORTANTLY, THERE
ACCORDING TO THEIR GODS’ LAWS, WELL,,,,LIVE spelled WAS ONE OTHER BIG PROBLEM, THERE WAS NO TOILET
backward is EVIL!!!!!… I ALSO GET A LOT OF LETTERS PAPER TO WIPE YOUR ASS WITH …..BUT UN-LIKE THE
FROM MY BROTHERS IN JAIL…“It takes a long time and OTHER HERO CONVICTS I WAS LOCKED UP WITH, I
many steps to climb to the top of a mountain, but in only COULD NOT HOLD IT IN OR I WOULD HAVE SHIT MY
an instant, it takes just one wrong step to fall all the way ORANGE JUMPSUIT!!!!....SO I ANNOUNCED TO ALL THE
down and crash at the bottom”..GV…..BUT LIKE ROCKY GUYS THAT I WAS SORRY BUT I HAD TO GO, “MOTHER
SAID: It ain’t about how hard you hit, it’s about how hard NATURE WAS CALLING ME” AND IF I DIDN’T ANSWER
you can get hit, and keep moving forward, how much you HER CALLING THERE WOULD HAVE BEEN A BAD SITUA-
can take, and keep moving forward…. But you gotta be TION FOR ME AND ALL OF THE REST OF MY FELLOW
willing to take the hits and not point fingers saying: You INMATES, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE WOULD ALL BE
ain’t what you wanna be in life because of him or her or BACK IN THAT LITTLE VAN AGAIN ON OUR WAY
anybody else other than yourself is WRONG!!. Cowards do BACK TO THE COUNTY JAIL……SO THEY AGREED WITH
that ain’t you! You’re better than that!”...GET UP GO FOR- A BIG “OH HELL NO, FUCK THAT” …SO MY FELLOW
WARD AND PROVE THEM WRONG…. INMATES ALL TURNED THEIR HEADS AS I SAT ON
SPEAKING OF JAIL HERE IS A QUICK TRUE THE STAINLESS STEEL CONVENIENCE AND
STORY….I REMEMBER WHEN I WAS LOCKED UP IN RELEASED THE HOUNDS!!!! (SHIT MY BRAINS OUT)
JAIL AND THEY WOULD TRANSPORT US CONVICTS TO …THEN, WHEN I WAS DONE I ASKED ONE OF MY CELL-
COURT THE REAL FUCKED-UP PART IS THAT THEY MATES FOR A SANDWICH THAT WAS THROWN ON THE
WOULD HAVE 6 OF US INMATES CHAINED WITH FLOOR BY AN UN-HUNGRY FELLOW CONVICT…..I
ANKLE CUFFS ON AND WE WE’RE ALL ATTACHED TO PROUDLY TOOK THE BOLOGNA OFF AND THEN WIPED
EACH OTHER BY A LONG CHAIN THAT WENT AROUND MY ASS WITH THE WHOLE WHEAT BREAD >>>BOTH
OUR WAISTS, THEN TO THE NEXT INMATE…..THEN SLICES….YES, I ADMIT, AT FIRST THE BREAD WAS A
THEY LOADED US INTO A SMALL VAN, NO BIGGER LITTLE SCRATCHY ON MY ASS, BUT AT THE SAME TIME
THAN A REGULAR-SIZED WORK VAN…..ONLY THIS VAN THAT HELPED CLEAN ME UP A LITTLE BETTER THAN
HAD A WALL DOWN THE MIDDLE SO IT WAS 6 IF I WOULD HAVE USED WHITE BREAD!!!!……YES IT’S
INMATES ON ONE SIDE, THEN ANOTHER 6 INMATES TRUE >> I TOOK A SHIT IN JAIL AND WIPED MY ASS
ON THE OTHER SIDE…..THAT’S 12 JAIL-MOMO’S IN THE WITH A BOLOGNA SANDWICH!!!! …THE OTHER
BACK OF A WORK VAN-TYPE VAN….YO’, IF THAT WAS YOU INMATES SHOOK THEIR HEADS IN DISBELEIF BUT
WITH 12 OF YOUR FRIENDS IN THE BACK OF YOUR SHOWED MY PROPS FOR NOT GIVING A FUCK AND DOING
VAN, YOU WOULD PROBABLY GET A VIOLATION FOR WHAT I GOTTA DO…THAT MY FRIENDS IS SUR-
UN-SAFE PASSENGER TRANSPORT…..BUT HEY THE VIVAL!!!!!!.. “You can stab me with a knife, you can beat
GOVERNMENT CAN DO WHATEVER THEY WANT TO me with a club, you can even force me to open my eyes
DO, THEY PROVE THAT SHIT EVERY- when I’m having sex with my girlfriend, but there’s no
DAY!!!!…..ANYWAY, WHEN WE GOT TO THE COURT- way on earth you can make me hold in a Shit Blast
HOUSE WE WERE THEN ALL PILED INTO A BIG CAGE when I gotta go….Yo’, there’s a freight train coming,
WHERE 12 OTHER PINHEADS WERE TRANSPORTED BY get outta the way or its gonna get
ANOTHER VAN WITH AN ILLEGAL-SIZED LOAD OF CON- messy!!!!!!”....Gregg Valentino I’M OUT..TILL NEXT
VICTS……BUT HEY WE ALL GOT A NICE BOLOGNA SAND- MONTH, FUCK OFF!!! !
WICH FOR LUNCH….OH YUM,,NOT!!!!.....AND THAT DON’T FORGET TO GO TO MY WEBSITE
NASTY FAKE-ASS BOLOGNA-SHIT SANDWICH WAS ON WWW.GREGGVALENTINO.NET…. MY MAILING
SOME SORT OF DRY ASS WHOLE WHEAT BREAD…..I’M ADDRESS IS >> GREGG VALENTINO 3663 LEE RD.
SURE YOU JAILHOUSE BROTHERS ARE READING HIS # 415 , JEFFERSON VALLEY NEW YORK 10535. BUT
WITH BAD FLASHBACKS….I KNOW MY BROTHERS, I PLEASE UNDERSTAND , ITS VERY HARD FOR ME
KNOW, …FUCK ’EM ALL……ANYWAY, I FUCKIN’ HATE TO WRITE BACK …F/O

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PATRICK ARNOLD

By Patrick Arnold ARNOLD, PATRICK


93351-11

Prohormones,
Conversion Rates
and Broscientists
OK, it’s time to discuss your favorite subject:
prohormones!! It’s my favorite subject too,
as I have spent many years studying and manufactur-
hormone, about as well as counting how many cars are
on the highway at an exact given time represents how
many cars have ever been on the highway! Hormone
ing the stuff, and have made most of my living selling metabolism in the body is a multidimensional system
them. I do wanna move on to other things— but peo- and involves way more things going on than just one
ple keep bugging me about prohormones so I keep thing turning into another and stopping. Just like how a
discussing them. And I am sure this article won’t be car can get on the highway, then get off on another road,
the last one on the subject then get on again, then get off on another road etc., a
prohormone can convert to an active hormone, then
The Folly of Prohormone convert back to the prohormone, then convert to the
‘Conversion Rates’ active hormone again, and then convert to something
Ten years ago when I first introduced prohormones to else. And these dynamics are ongoing.
the marketplace, I presented some research that was One of the most well-known of the prohormones is
meant to illustrate the relative efficien- 4-androstenediol and it is often stat-
cy of a prohormone in converting to The concept of ed that it has a conversion rate of 15
an active hormone in the body. I conversion rate, percent (the number coming from
coined the term ‘conversion rate’ based as heretofore the aforementioned blood study).
which was supposed to represent the Well then, let me ask you something:
amount of active hormone formed in
described, has what do you think the conversion
the body after a given period of time. become embedded rate of testosterone is? Or, to put it
The values for these conversion rates in the popular another way, how much testosterone
were based on studies done with a terminology used do you think you will see in that
series of hormones—androstenedione, blood study, relative to the amount
DHEA, 5-androstenediol, and 4-
by bodybuilding you started with? I ask this question
androstenediol— which were incubat- science dudes— to a lot of guys and then I tell them
ed in human blood for about an hour. whom I refer to as the answer is probably not much dif-
I wish now that I hadn’t used the ‘broscientists.’ ferent than 15 percent. They look at
conversion rate term in the fashion me like I am nuts. But using the
that I did. Since that time, the concept of conversion method of this blood incubation, that’s about the num-
rate, based as heretofore described, has become ber you would get. You see how this is so misleading?
embedded in the popular terminology used by body- Examine the chart of hormone metabolism on the
building science dudes— whom I refer to as ‘broscien- next page. This chart is greatly simplified, but it can
tists.’ This has led to gross misunderstandings of how effectively illustrate the basics of what happens to
prohormones work in the body and about how to steroid hormones after they enter the body. The arrows
accurately predict the true endpoint potency that a between the chemicals represent metabolic transfor-
prohormone possesses. mations, with the single arrows designating one-way
These blood incubation conversion rate numbers rep- (irreversible) reactions and the double arrows desig-
resent how much a prohormone converts to an active nating equilibrium (reversible) reactions.

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PATRICK ARNOLD

ments of the blood levels, beginning as


soon as the prohormone is added to the
sample and up until target hormone levels
start to fall to insignificance. Then you sim-
ply average the numbers. The more mea-
surements, the more accurate it will be.
This will tell us how much testosterone
your body is exposed to over the entire
period of time, rather than just at one sin-
gle time point (e.g., one hour).
Of course, it’s still not that simple.
When you ingest a prohormone, it only
spends a part of its time in the blood. It
spends a substantial portion of its time in
the liver and dozens of other tissues of
the body and each of these tissues has its
own balance of enzymes, with its own ten-
dency to transform steroids in one way or
another. So this means the numbers from
the blood sample paint an incomplete pic-
ture, even if you do take a multitude of
samples. You really need to give the pro-
hormone to living human beings and then
take blood samples from them over the
course of the time it takes for the com-
pound to be processed
Anyway, I hope you get my point. And I
hope when you hear someone throw
around that term “conversion rate” again
you tell them to shut up and read this arti-
cle. And then they can be just as confused
as you are right now.
Start by looking at 4-androstenediol (4-AD). Notice
that it pretty much has only one direction to go and How to Make a Hormone
that is toward testosterone (research indicates that this No, the answer to the question I am talking about is
is its sole initial metabolic transformation). Now is that not “Don’t pay her.” I am talking about making active
it? Does it just stay as testosterone? Of course not. As anabolic steroids from readily available prohormones.
you can see from the chart, this newly-formed testos- Actually, this is not something I would normally write
terone can then go right back to 4-AD— although this about, but I had writer’s block this month and John
rarely happens. Or this new testosterone can go on to Romano said this sort of thing would be something he
change to androstenedione and then back again. would be interested in reading. So I thought I would
Alternatively, when it changes to androstenedione, the delve into it a little. I have to warn you though, unless
androstenedione can then convert irreversibly to estro- you have a background in steroid chemistry, this is not
gens or hydroxylated metabolites. Once it does that, gonna make much sense to you.
the steroid is out of the picture and can no longer go As you know, prohormones are metabolic precur-
back to testosterone. sors to active hormones, which are converted through
This is how it works. The steroids are constantly the action of enzymes in your body. But these same
changing in your body to other steroids. Sometimes prohormones can also be converted to the active hor-
they go back and forth or on to other things and then mones synthetically— that is, by the use of chemicals
perhaps back again, or whatever. Sometimes these in a lab. In particular, diols and diones can be made
whatevers may be an irreversible pathway and then into their corresponding active hormones by proce-
they become part of a new metabolic transformation dures that are actually remarkably simple.
system. The bottom line is that a prohormone’s effi-
ciency cannot be measured by looking at how much Diols
target hormone is hanging around an hour after it is The most basic diol is 4-androstenediol. However, it
added to some blood. is now illegal. There are still some diols out there,
To make a blood incubation test meaningful for our though. On the following page is a list containing 4-
purposes, you would need to keep taking measure- androstenediol and some other still legal diols.

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PATRICK ARNOLD

If you look closely, you will see that eral hours (say 6-8 hours). After you
all these diols have double bonds in are done, you filter off the manganese
the first ring that are one carbon atom dioxide, or let it settle out and decant
away from the 3-hydroxyl.The hydrox- the clear layer.This clear layer will
yl at carbon 17, however, does not contain your active steroid in acetone
have this feature. We can use this dif- and you can retrieve it either by slow-
ference to our advantage and perform ly evaporating off the acetone, or by
what is known as an ‘allylic oxidation.’ adding about five parts water and pre-
Allylic oxidations can be done cipitating the steroid out.The precipi-
using a variety of different chemical tated steroid can then be filtered off
reagents; however, activated man- and dried.
ganese dioxide is the most conve- Examples of this reaction are the
nient one to use. What this chemical conversion of 4-androstenediol to
does is oxidize the hydroxyl at car- testosterone, the conversion of 17a-
bon 3 to a ketone, while leaving the methyl-1,4-Androstadien-3b,17bdiol to
17 beta-hydroxyl unaffected. This dianabol, and the conversion of 4-
leaves you with the classic ‘3-one- chloro-17a-methyl-androsta-1,4-dien-
17b-ol’ structure that most active 3b-17b-diol to oral Turinabol.
anabolic steroids possess. Please don’t forget the fact that as
The procedure is simple.You dis- soon as you are done with this
solve the steroid (let’s say 5 grams) in chemical procedure, you have a con-
an appropriate organic solvent (let’s trolled substance on your hand and
say 250cc of acetone) and then add you are therefore committing a
about six times its weight in activated felony. It is for this reason that I must
manganese dioxide. It is important remind you now that this is all being
that you use activated manganese presented to you for purely informa-
dioxide because regular manganese tional and entertainment purposes.
dioxide won’t work.The activated Next month I will continue the
manganese dioxide will not dissolve, chemical information and entertain-
but rather it will sink to the bottom. ment by discussing the chemical
You must then mix the slurry for sev- conversion of diones. C’ya! !

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TRAINING, NUTRITION, DIET, & SUPPLEMENTATION

NOJUICE
Bodybuilding By Eric Broser

CLASH IN
COLUMBUS:
Arnold Classic Thoughts
It
is truly amazing how time Kai Greene— After sitting out the now. In fact, a 100 percent on-his-
flies, isn’t it? I feel like the Olympia to heal an injury, Kai is taking game Victor Martinez is probably
2008 Arnold Classic (ASC) his training to a new level in the off- unbeatable at this point in time. The
weekend just ended, and here we are season in order to put it all together questions are…1) Has his knee fully
gearing up for the 2009 extravagan- for the ASC. Kai has become a true recovered since his surgery, and 2)
za! While I do not want to take up my mass monster recently, but it has been Will his time away from the stage
entire column (Steve! More room, at the expense of some of his trade- help him or hurt him? I am betting
please!) on this topic, I do feel com- mark conditioning and a somewhat we will see a close-to-his-best Victor
pelled to share my thoughts on The larger waistline. I feel that if Kai is will- and a tough fight to the wire
Governator’s classic competition. ing to bring his contest weight down between him and Kai.
There is only one problem, however. just a bit so that he can bring back the Toney Freeman— Just when I
At the time of this writing, I am not definition and dryness he owned at his thought the X-man had reached his full
exactly sure who is confirmed to first pro win, while at the same time potential, he shows up at the 2008
compete. I do know Dexter, Phil, combining it with all of the new size Olympia at his all-time greatest! Toney
Dennis, Lee, Melvin and Jay will not he has built onto his frame, he can has always been known for his wide
be there, so let me just focus on a steal the show in Columbus. shoulders, tiny waist and flaring quads,
few of the top athletes who will more Victor Martinez— I will be so but never truly sharp/dry conditioning.
than likely trek to Columbus in order happy to see Vic step back onstage, Well, in the Olympia he had it all and
to contest the second-biggest body- as he is without a doubt one of the managed to grab fifth place, although
building show in existence. best bodybuilders in the world right few would have complained if he were
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

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a couple of notches higher. If big Toney Gustavo Badell— Over the last
can further improve his arms, chest few years, Gustavo has been watching
thickness and back depth, while main- his placing slip further and further with
taining the same hardness he showed each show. However, it is not for a lack
at the Olympia, he could easily upset of effort, as I truly believe Gustavo to
everyone’s plans at the ASC. be one of the most passionate and
Branch Warren— When I think of dedicated athletes in the sport. He gen-
Branch, the first word that comes to uinely loves bodybuilding and does
mind is ‘hardcore.’ His attitude is hard- everything in his power to improve
core; his physique is hardcore; his with every contest outing. That said, it
training is hardcore! We need more seems that he has been moving in the
guys like this in the sport of body- wrong direction for the last few years,
building to remind us that blood, adding too much size for his frame,
sweat and tears can carry us where which is making him look progressive-
genetics leaves off…just like Gaspari ly more ‘boxy.’ Oddly enough, while
and Yates before him. As far as the his upper body is growing, he seems
ASC goes, no doubt Branch is capable to be lacking some of the mass he
of piercing the top three if he is in used to display in his quads. I person-
shape and his color is on. However, if ally feel that Gustavo should drop his
his conditioning is not 100 percent, he competitive weight back to between
could easily be pushed out of the top 235-240 (à la 2004), which gives him a
six. My hope is that Branch has done better taper, more pleasing lines, and
his homework in the off-season and the type of sharp definition that is nec-
will show us improved biceps, an even essary for him to stay on top. One
more refined back, and a super-tight thing is for certain, though…Gustavo is
waist along with his striated thighs a true warrior and will never give up
and wicked vascularity. If he does, he the fight to once again be among the
will be a crowd favorite in Columbus! Dennis James— Coming off of a best in the world at the sport he loves!
Silvio Samuel— Along with Phil solid eighth place at the Mr. Olympia, It would not shock me at all to see him
Heath, I would say that Silvio has the Dennis is still a threat in any contest back in the top five.
thinnest skin in the IFBB right now. His he enters. Last year Dennis began Well, unfortunately, I did take up my
muscle has incredible detail and full- working with MD’s own Chad Nicholls, entire column this month discussing
ness, which makes him look like a liv- with the goal of transforming his the Arnold, but what can I tell you…the
ing anatomy chart at every show. physique back into the version that ASC is big in our world! However, next
Silvio’s only downfalls lie in his overall garnered him a career high fourth- month I will be back to answering your
lack of size and a sub-par back. Is his place finish at the 2003 Olympia. For questions, giving out my best advice,
back poor? Not by any means…but the most part it worked, although to and hopefully sneaking in some inter-
when standing next to guys like Phil, me his legs looked a bit more shallow views with some of the best drug-free
Dexter and Melvin, Silvio comes up a than they have in the past. Dennis has athletes bodybuilding has to offer.
bit short in his back shots. Regardless, enough size and thickness to stand Thank you, Steve Blechman, for
his overall package is amazing, and his next to anyone, so if he can continue giving me this voice in your maga-
seventh place at the 2008 Olympia cer- to bring up his quads and refine his zine…and thank you to everyone on
tainly shows that he can hang with the muscularity even further, he can end the MD forums for your incredible and
best in the world! Do not count him up leaving Columbus with a big check unending support. It is all of us who
out of the top four at the Arnold. in his mighty hands. make up TEAM MD! !

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KNOWLEDGE IS POWER

Anabolic By William LIewellyn

ResearchUpdate
Warning: Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the views of this magazine’s publisher or its
editorial staff. MD does not condone any form of illegal drug use for bodybuilding or for any recreational pur-
pose. MD also does not condone abuse of legal drugs for any purpose.

Iranian Gear:
Does It Stack Up?
Iranian Anadrol certainty that something like this is not a counterfeit just by
In ANABOLICS 2007, you show a picture of examining a picture of its box. This is especially true when
oxymetholone from Alhavi pharmaceuticals in Iran. I the drug product doesn’t use detailed security features such
came across this oxymetholone from Iran Hormone, as holograms or ID verification systems that would make
a different company. Have you heard of them? Is this duplication more difficult. Iran Hormone does not. In this
legit or is this a rip-off? Are a lot of steroids coming case, the box Iran Hormone uses is fairly simple in design,
from Iran now? and could be copied without difficulty. I have not been
To answer your first question, yes, I have heard of the hearing about fakes of this product, however, so I am not
company. Iran Hormone is based in Tehran, Iran, and manu- immediately suspicious. Best I can tell, this is the legitimate
factures a variety of drug products. They presently make item, and should contain a proper dose of oxymetholone.
Note that I was able to get photos of all three Iran Hormone
steroids in the latest ninth edition of ANABOLICS so there
was something for readers to compare these products to.
Iran has traditionally not been a strong ‘source country’
for steroids in the West. But this does appear to be chang-
ing, at least to some extent. Shrinking supply in Western
nations is probably causing this, as well as strong profit
incentives, given that Middle Eastern drug products are
usually easier and less expensive to purchase in volume
than their Western counterparts. A number of Iranian drugs
are now being exported fairly commonly, usually to Europe
though, not the United States. The most prominent of these
products are stanozolol and methandrostenolone from
three anabolic steroids in generic form. The first two are Ramopharmin, nandrolone decanoate and phenylpropi-
nandrolone decanoate and nandrolone phenylpropionate onate from Iran Hormone, and the oxymetholone from
(commonly known as Deca-Durabolin and Durabolin, Alhavi, and Iran Hormone.
respectively). These items come in very low doses, carrying
only 25mg/mL of steroid each. This is very low for body- Underground Gear
building use, of course, making such items in lower Why are you so hard on underground steroids?
demand than many other nandrolone products. The fact Human pharmaceutical steroids are all counterfeit
that these nandrolones are available very inexpensively, now. The market is worse than underground. Don’t
and consumers generally trust them as such low-dosed you like any underground companies?
items are rarely counterfeited, are probably the reasons I do try not to be overly hard on underground compa-
they circulate at all. nies. I do concede that there are some good operations out
The third product is indeed oxymetholone in 50mg there, which really care about product quality. You need to
tablets. Given the sophistication of counterfeit manufactur- understand though, this is a market filled with uncertainty
ers these days, it is always difficult to say with 100 percent by its very nature. Underground drug manufacture is syn-

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AnabolicResearchUpdate
onymous with reduced seem to work. For example, I could tell you to always add
safety because there is no Dianabol to Anadrol. If you only used Anadrol before and
government oversight, and started stacking the two, you would probably find this ‘the-
no legal accountability. It is ory’ of mine very effective. Really, however, it doesn’t sug-
the unfortunate result of gest that I have uncovered any unique synergy between the
governmental criminaliza- two steroids. The benefit may simply be caused by the
tion of the steroid trade. higher dose. In fact, you couldn’t even call my idea a ‘theo-
So in some regard, the ry’ without some foundation. The same holds true with this
dramatic expansion of premise of ‘three-family stacking.’ When we look at it close-
these products in recent ly, we find there is simply no logic in saying that there is
years illustrates the suc- benefit in stacking one each of a testosterone-, DHT-, and
cess governments have nandrolone-derived steroid. Let me explain further.
had in keeping registered For this three-family stacking theory to have any validity,
drugs out of the hands of we would need three unique modes of anabolic action that
illicit commerce. But the all steroids of the same derivative base share, but other
underground market is ‘families’ did not. Just as a hypothetical example, nan-
indeed here, and not going anywhere any time soon. And I drolone and its derivatives might stimulate growth via the
understand that product quality is something that needs to androgen receptor, testosterone and its derivates might
be addressed for consumers everywhere. On this note, I block the cortisol receptor only, and DHT and its derivates
plan on expanding my previous testing efforts of under- might support growth via some third pathway. If this were
ground companies. While these tests do not offer assurance true, stacking the three types would make a lot of sense, as
the underground market will ever be reliably safe, I do it would encompass all three modes of growth.
hope it sheds some light on the better operations. Stay Upon examination, however, this idea quickly falls apart.
tuned, as I will provide more detail in the coming months. For one, most of the growth achieved via anabol-
ic/androgenic steroids occurs because the drugs all activate
Bad Stacking Prescription the same androgen receptor. Stacking tends to facilitate
I read on the Internet that it’s always best to stack growth mostly by increasing stimulation of this receptor,
three steroids together, one from each of the three not necessarily by adding ‘new modes of action.’ Even
families (testosterone-based, nandrolone-based and when we are able to identify unique properties to the most
DHT-based). This seems very technical and new. I put well-known and studied base steroids (nandrolone, testos-
the stacking list below. Is this possibly the next new terone and DHT) that might aid growth, these traits would
way to stack? I figure if anyone knows the answer, have to be retained by all of their derivative steroids no
you do. Is this really the best way to stack steroids? matter how much you chemically altered them. This just
isn’t the case. Individual modifications can change the char-
The Three Steroid Families for
Stacking (Pick 3: 1 from Each List) acter of a final steroid drastically, and similarities to its orig-
inal base are often very difficult to see. A ‘base-driven’
Family #1: Testosterone Derivatives mode of anabolic action has never been identified nor even
Testosterone logically theorized in 50 years of steroid research, and I see
Boldenone no basis for such a concept now.
Methyltestosterone The three-family stacking idea seems to me an obvious
Methandrostenolone result of an assumption. It was probably something to the
Fluoxymesterone effect of, “since there are three different types of steroid
‘bases’ for synthesis, this means there are three different
Family #2: Nandrolone Derivatives
types of anabolic steroids. It, therefore, is best to stack one
Nandrolone
Norethandrolone of each type together.” This is really just simplistic thinking.
Ethylestrenol In the end, knowing the base of a steroid is really only rele-
Trenbolone vant for a chemist’s understanding of its structure. This is
most certainly not a road map to stacking success. While
Family #3: DHT Derivatives there may be many reasons why you would want to choose
Mesterolone one type of drug combination over another (or might not
Drostanolone feel a need to stack at all, for that matter), what each steroid
Oxymetholone is derived from is far less important than its character
Stanozolol (aromatizable or not, primarily androgenic or anabolic, oral
or injectable, etc.). !
Methenolone
Oxandrolone

Any time you stack steroids together, you tend to get a Know Your Gear! William Llewellyn’s ANABOLICS 9th
greater anabolic effect because you are taking a higher Edition (2009) is out NOW. Order your copy of this monster
cumulative dose. So in this regard, it is very easy to come steroid reference guide today by calling 888-828-8008 or
up with new stacking theories that to the casual observer, visiting www.AnabolicsBook.com.

356 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
BODYBUILDING WITHOUT GENETICS

The Anabolic
Freak By Dave Palumbo,
Editor-in-Chief,
musculardevelopment.com

Warning: Opinions expressed in this column do not necessarily reflect the


views of this magazine’s publisher or its editorial staff. MD does not condone
any form of illegal drug use for bodybuilding or for any recreational purpose.
MD also does not condone abuse of legal drugs for any purpose.

Dave, I used trenbolone For many, the inability to relax and


acetate during the last eight turn your thoughts off results in
weeks of my pre-contest diet, trouble falling asleep.
as you recommend. During that While general anxiety and irri-
time, I suffered from terrible tability can often be ignored or dealt
anxiety and headaches that with through medicinal means, tren-
seemed to worsen as the days bolone’s blood pressure-elevating
passed. I also had trouble sleep- effect is serious business.
ing for more than 2-3 hours at a Remember, the kidneys filter the
time. Could these symptoms be blood and remove toxins. If the
attributed to the tren- pressure going into the kidneys is
bolone? If so, what too high, there’s a very good chance
can I use as a substi- that over the course of several
tute in my next years, the kidney’s filtering appara-
diet? I love the way tus can get damaged. When the kid-
I look while taking neys can’t filter the blood at maxi-
tren, but I can’t mal rates, the glomerular filtration
take the side rate (GFR) drops, and kidney func-
effects. tion is compromised. Since
Trenbolone headaches are telltale signs that
acetate is a blood pressure may be elevated
very potent beyond what’s safe, I would suggest
anabol- you go to your doctor for a com-
ic/androgenic plete workup. If your blood pressure
steroid. Most is too high (diastolic pressure—
people think of lower number— greater than 90), I’d
testosterone as suggest cycling off the trenbolone
being the most for six to eight weeks to see if
androgenic things return to normal.
steroid available. If you’re really determined to use
The truth of the mat- trenbolone, have your doctor write
ter is that trenbolone you a prescription for an anti-anxiety
acetate is four to five times medication such as Lexapro or Zoloft.
more androgenic than the Additionally, the occasional use of
gold standard, testosterone. Xanax or Valium is quite beneficial
As such, along with its great for sleepless nights and moments of
strength and muscle-building extreme anxiety or panic.
effects, you get a tremendous If you choose to avoid using tren-
PHOTOS BY PER BERNAL

mood-altering effect. Many users bolone altogether, good alternatives


report aggression, irritability and would be Equipoise (boldenone),
general anxiety. For some, the anxi- Deca-Durabolin (nandrolone
ety becomes more than the per- decanoate) or Masteron (dro-
son can handle and they’re mostanolone). They’re all highly ana-
forced to stop using the drug. bolic, mildly androgenic compounds.

358 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Dave, have you ever seen Carbohydrates are like gasoline
any positive results from topi- in a car— they fuel the car but they
cal fat-loss creams? I know don’t affect the size of the motor.
Dan Duchaine was a huge pro- Off-season, you want to eat enough
ponent of topical yohimbine carbohydrates to fuel your workouts
cream, but I haven’t seen or and feed your brain but if you over-
heard of any great results. I do it, you’ll overfill the tank (glyco-
also see that one fat-burning gen stores) and you’ll wind up get-
cream on the market uses ting fat. Remember, carbs spare the
usnic acid (a component of protein and fats you consume so
your fat-burner, LIPOLYZE). Is that they may be used for building
there any merit to topical use and repairing muscle. If you don’t
of usnic acid? eat enough carbohydrates, some of
I get at least three to five ques- the fats and protein will, invariably,
tions per day concerning the use of get used for fuel. While you won’t
topical fat-loss creams. I think the lose muscle, the limited resources
reason is that people want to find a make it harder to grow at an opti-
way to spot-reduce fat in all their mal rate.
trouble areas. The truth of the mat-
ter is that if an effective site-specific In the December issue of MD,
fat-loss cream existed, it would be Eric Broser wrote an article that
selling off the shelves. listed seven reasons why a zero-
While Dan Duchaine was an advo- carbohydrate diet is bad for
cate of using yohimbine on estro- bodybuilders. He claimed that
gen-dependent fat cells, his theory low-carb diets result in no
was to spot-inject the yohimbine insulin production, high corti-
directly into the fatty tissues. sol, low thyroid, low GH, low
Whether you rub the yohimbine on IGF-1, a compromised immune
or you inject it locally, the result is system and impaired gene
usually the same— the stuff gets expression for muscle hypertro-
into the body and enters the blood- phy. What’s the deal with these
stream. Think about what happens claims?
when GH or insulin is injected local- I really don’t want this to turn
ly. After a few minutes, it enters the into a bash on Eric Broser’s
bloodstream and starts exerting its response because I really like the
effects in all the tissues throughout guy and respect what he’s doing in
the body. In essence, you’re merely the industry. However, when people
infusing the supplement or drug into make bold statements like this, I feel
the general circulation through a they must be held accountable for
rather circuitous route. This certainly what they say. Let’s start by
won’t cause localized fat loss and it addressing the statement, “Without
might, in fact, have less of an effect any carbs, there will be no insulin!”
due to the difficulty in absorption Eric then goes on to explain that
through the skin. Having said that, without insulin secretion pre- and
the use of a topical usnic acid won’t post-workout, you won’t transport
have a localized effect either, since vital nutrients into muscle cells.
the compound needs to enter the Anyone who knows anything about
circulation and access all the cells of biochemistry will realize this state-
the body and cause the mitochondri- ment is ludicrous, since glucose is
al membranes to become leaky and constantly being made in the liver
energy-inefficient. via gluconeogenesis (remember, 80
percent of the glucose you use dur-
I’m on a low-carb diet similar ing weight training comes from
to the type you put your ath- amino acids). In order to shuttle this
letes on. Do you put your guys glucose into the working muscle
back on carbs for the off-sea- cells, insulin in required. Likewise,
son? If so, can you tell me why? it’s important to understand that in a
What’s the carbohydrate’s place low-insulin environment, GH and
in the process of building mus- IGF-1 levels are elevated. IGF-1 can
cle? Dave, I know you’ll give me do everything insulin can do (except
the No Bull answer! store fat)… and it does it better!

360 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
BODYBUILDING WITHOUT GENETICS
With regard to the statement that output of functional thyroid hor- immune system failure. However,
low insulin leads to increased corti- mone. This is certainly true, and it’s when amino acids and essential fats
sol, I have to remind Mr. Broser that why I recommend a weekly insulin- where added to the IV bags (at a
when consuming a high-pro- spiking ‘cheat meal’ once a week! mere 3,000 calories), the patients
tein/moderate fat/low-carb ketogenic When addressing Broser’s state- began gaining weight and resisting
diet, cortisol levels will be low (not ment that attempts to correlate ele- infection.
high) because the brain is feeding vated cortisol with low levels of GH Finally, I’d love for Broser to show
on fats. Contrary to what he’s think- and IGF-1, I have to again remind me one stitch of research that demon-
ing, cortisol levels are much more him that cortisol will be much higher strates that bodybuilders, who follow
elevated while on a high-pro- on a diet where the brain is depen- a high-protein/moderate fat/low-carb
tein/moderate carb/low-fat diet, dent on glucose (i.e., his high-pro- ketogenic diet, have compromised
because the brain is constantly look- tein/moderate fat/low-carb diet). muscle hypertrophy genes. That’s one
ing for glucose to feed itself. When While on high-protein/moderate study I’d like to read. The problem is
blood glucose dips (especially fat/low-carb ketogenic diets, insulin that it doesn’t exist.
between meals), cortisol (a stress levels are low, GH levels are high,
hormone) is released, and it helps to and IGF-1 levels are also elevated. Dave, I have seen a lot of
raise blood sugar by telling the liver Will the exclusion of carbs, pre- new cortisol-reducing products
to turn amino acids (possibly com- and post-workout, result in a sup- on the market that contain the
ing from muscle) into glucose. pressed immune system? No way! ingredient ‘adrenosterone.’ Is
Given the fact that we now know Remember, immune cells are made there any merit to these prod-
that cortisol levels are low while fol- from protein and fat; therefore, it’s ucts? Would they have any place
lowing a high-protein/moderate insane to think that no pre- or post- in a pre-contest cycle?
fat/low-carb ketogenic diet, Broser’s workout carbs would have any effect While the hormonal precursor
statement, “With more cortisol, whatsoever. More likely, the ‘adrenosterone’ has been talked
there will be decreased thyroid func- immune system will suffer on a diet about for many years, it’s still a very
tion” becomes much more relevant that is deficient in essential fatty new product on the supplement
to his high-protein/moderate acids. When Dr. Scott Connelly was market. Sold primarily by Patrick
carb/low-fat diet. However, what he doing his initial research on burn Arnold’s company, Ergopharm,
may have meant to say was that low patients, he found that diets as high under the brand name 11 OXO,
insulin levels can decrease T4 (inac- as 10,000 calories in carbs per day adrenonsterone works by inhibiting
tive thyroid hormone) to T3 (active wouldn’t stop patients from withering the action of the enzyme, 11b-
thyroid hormone), thus reducing the away and dying of wasting and hydroxysteroid dehydrogenase type

Name: Juan Morel always in trouble and he


Age: 26 Anabolic never thought he’d leave his
Height: 5’11” Freak ‘hood. According to Morel,
of the M
Weight: Off-season: (260); onth: “People said I’d never amount
pre-contest: (215) Juan Mo to anything and that I’d either
rel
be dead or in prison by the
Contest Highlights: time I was 21. The sad part
2007 NPC New Jersey East Coast, 2nd, was that I believed them.”
light-heavyweights th
Despite all the negativity in
2007 NPC Eastern USA, 16 , light-heavyweights Juan’s life, he did shine when
2008 NPC New Jersey Suburban Championship, it came to drawing. His art
1st place, heavyweights; overall teachers in high school were
2008 NPC Eastern USA, 2nd, heavyweights the only ones who believed in
Current Profession: personal trainer him and his artistic talents.
Unfortunately, at age 16, Juan
Juan ‘Diesel’ Morel first appeared in the pages dropped out of school and
of Muscular Development after sending me an became addicted to the
impressive photo of himself when he was incarcer- streets— selling drugs and
ated at the Arthur Kill Correctional Facility in wasting his life playing handball
Staten Island, NY. Several months after this photo and basketball in the park.
ran in the Prison Bodies section of this column, Everything changed when
Juan was released from jail and he contacted me Juan turned 19. His beautiful
for my help in preparing for an upcoming body- daughter was born and his life
building competition in six weeks. I was a little turned around. He left the
taken aback at first, but I truly admired his streets and went to live with his
courage and determination. Amazingly, Juan parents and his daughter’s moth-
wound up placing second at the 2007 NPC New Jersey East er in the Bronx. However, by age
Coast and then one week later, he failed to make the cut at 21, misfortune struck while Juan and his best friend were
the ultra-competitive NPC Eastern USA. This taste of compe- ‘play wrestling’ on the floor of his house. Juan accidentally
tition only served to fuel Juan’s desire to be the best. broke his friend’s neck, which ultimately resulted in the boy’s
Juan Morel’s story started many years earlier on the mean death. If the guilt of what happened wasn’t bad enough, Juan
streets of Jamaica, Queens. By his own admission, he was wound up serving four long years in prison for his unfortu-

362 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
BODYBUILDING WITHOUT GENETICS
nate mistake. Eastern USA Championships. His efforts paid off in a big way.
When the man who would come to be known by the nick- He won the heavyweight and overall title at the Suburban
name ‘Juan Diesel’ started lifting in prison, all he was looking and he placed second at the Eastern USA in the heavyweight
for was a little stress relief. He started reading bodybuilding class, behind two-time winner and top-five national competi-
magazines to learn more about different workout routines tor Anthoneil Champagnie.
and diets. Juan was amazed at how incredible the guys in Juan’s future goals are to compete at the national level
the magazines looked, so he started eating and training like a in 2009 and to eventually earn his IFBB pro card. When I
bodybuilder. asked Juan whether he thought it was a coincidence that
Eating in prison isn’t easy. Believe me, I know! Juan he just happened to pick up a copy of Muscular
wound up eating tons of canned mackerel and tuna, rice and Development, just happened to read the Prison Bodies
beans. However, after only six months of lifting, he entered section in my column and just happened to get locked up
the annual prison bodybuilding competition and won the in a prison that holds annual bodybuilding shows, he
heavyweight class on his first try. The following year, 2006, flashed me that knowing smile that only someone who’s
he won the heavyweight and overall title in convincing fash- overcome adversity could possibly understand and said,
ion, and that’s when he mailed his photos and story into my “There is no such thing as coincidence. I know I’m on the
column. right path now. I just want to be a positive role model to
Since his release from prison, Juan has been working as a all the kids on the streets who had it rough like me. I
personal trainer. Most days, he puts in 10-12 hours to ensure want them to know that yes, it’s possible to accomplish
that he stays in a positive environment and that he earns positive things in your life. You can do anything you set
enough money to pay for all his food and supplements. After your mind to!”
his second-place finish at the 2007 NPC New Jersey East Juan ‘Diesel’ Morel’s second appearance in this column
Coast and his failure to make the cut at the Eastern USA, is proof positive that everyone deserves a second chance
Juan put all his efforts into the 2008 NPC Suburban and NPC to be the person they could have been!

1 reductase. When this enzyme sys- you’re gonna use a product like 11 tion. According to Hutchinson, “They
tem is blocked, cortisone can’t be OXO, listen to your body and back keep me moving forward in body-
converted to its catabolic end-prod- off the dosage if you start experienc- building, and in life.”
uct, cortisol. While inhibiting cortisol ing painful joints or symptoms of Larry would like to thank MD for
sounds like a great thing for body- low blood sugar. all the great information and guid-
builders because of the immune- ance he’s gathered over the last sev-
suppressing, abdominal fat-storing Prison Bodies eral years. He reminds us, “It’s the
and muscle-wasting effects, we must Larry Hutchinson sent in this articles in the pages of MD that push
also remember that cortisol has impressive photo from the Fishkill me to go on and to keep growing.”
many important actions in the body Correctional Facility in Beacon, NY One look at his physique and
such as blood sugar regulation and where he’s currently incarcerated. strength accomplishments confirms
anti-inflammation. Eating only the prison food and that MD is truly all things to all folks!
I’ve talked to a few people who’ve training in a less-than-spectacular
used 11 OXO, and most thought it facility, Larry has the physique of a Reminders
worked pretty well. They felt like they top national-level bodybuilder. He My Personal Training Certification
recovered better from their workouts also has the distinct honor of being Course, S.M.A.R.T., is now available
and they had an easier time drop- the first man in the New York State online at smarttrainingonline.com.
ping body fat. Increased recovery Prison System to ever break the Become a certified personal trainer
can result from less 2,000-pound mark in from the convenience of your own
catabolic hormones powerlifting with a 525- home. I personally wrote the infor-
being produced follow- pound bench, 800- mation-packed 100-page manual and
ing stressful workouts. pound squat and 725- I guarantee it’s the most comprehen-
Likewise, when cortisol pound deadlift. When sive diet, supplement and training
levels are lowest, less you try to imagine how manual available. By popular
glucose gets produced a prisoner who eats demand, a paper (hard copy) version
in the liver via gluco- marginal food, trains on is now also available for $39.99.
neogenesis. Lower beaten-up weights and Check out the web address above. !
blood sugars result in has no access to sup-
lower insulin output. plements or muscle- To purchase my book, Perfect Prison
This leads to less body building drugs can pos- Physique, please send a $25
fat storage. On the neg- sibly accomplish such money order to the address
ative side, several users an incredible feat of below or order online at
davepalumbo.com. To
of 11 OXO whom I strength, you realize
order any of my SPECIES
spoke to complained of that Larry defies all laws supplements visit
chronic joint pain. of probability. He speciesnutrition.com.
When too much cortisol explains that his incredi- Dave Palumbo
is inhibited, inflamma- ble physique and P.O. Box 1122
tion can rise to unsafe strength is the result of Seaford, NY 11783
levels. Therefore, if inspiration and dedica-

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 363


www.fantamag.com
AnabolicEdge By Jose Antonio, PhD

Androgens, SARMs
And Stupid Science
Gateway Drug— concomitant use of other drugs of activities and use of ergogenic sub-
Stupid Stuff From abuse. The use of AAS can, however, stances, mass e-mails, and print
The Annals Of progress to the use of other drugs. media to participate in a 291-item
Science Egads!!! A gateway drug (OK, I added web-based survey. The Internet was
More on the evils of androgens. that for dramatic effect).The study also utilized to provide a large and geo-
With folks dying right and left from indicated the importance of obtaining graphically diverse sample with the
alcohol, tobacco and tangling with ter- accurate, comprehensive information greatest degree of anonymity to facil-
rorists, we have a bunch of wishy- about the development of AAS use in itate participation.
washy busybodies who are convinced designing treatment programs and Here is what they found. The
1
that androgens are evil incarnate. For prevention strategies in this area. majority of respondents did not initi-
instance, a recent investigation inter- ate AAS use during adolescence and
viewed six patients (four men and two Researchers discov- their NMAAS use was not motivated
women) with experience of anabolic- ered, by golly, that by athletics. The typical user was a
androgen steroid (AAS) use who were Caucasian, highly-educated, gainfully
attending an addiction clinic for what there was signifi- employed professional approximately
they believed were AAS-related prob- cant variation in the 30 years old, who was earning an
lems. The patients were interviewed development of drug above-average income, was not
in-depth about their life stories, with active in organized sports, and whose
special emphasis on social back-
use in relation to use was motivated by increases in
ground, substance use, the develop- social background, skeletal muscle mass, strength, and
ment of total drug use and subjective onset of drug use, physical attractiveness. These findings
experienced psychological and physi- question commonly held views of the
cal side effects. Researchers discov-
relationship to AAS typical NMAAS user and the associat-
ered, by golly, that there was signifi- use and experience ed underlying motivations. As you
cant variation in the development of of AAS effects. can clearly see, most ‘users’ are high-
drug use in relation to social back- ly educated white guys who want
ground, onset of drug use, relation- This study is so dumb; first of all, bigger pecs.
ship to AAS use and experience of it is SIX, count ‘em…six case studies; The notion of androgens as being
AAS effects. certainly there will be a self-selection gateway drugs is just plain silly, stu-
All patients had initially experi- issue of fu#$ed-up people who are pid, and silly. It really is silly; and not
enced positive effects from AAS but, likely to have drug problems in gen- very scientific.
over time, the negative experiences eral. What this study ignores is the
had outweighed the positive effects. data published in the Journal of the Move Over, Viagra
All patients were dedicated to excess International Society of Sports The relationship between hypogo-
training and took AAS in combination Nutrition (JISSN), showing indeed nadism and erectile dysfunction (ED)
with gym training, indicating that the that the average androgen user is has not been completely clarified but
2
use of these drugs was closely related NOT an abuser of drugs. In this let’s face it, if you have ED, than a little
to this form of training. Use of multi- study, researchers examined non- bit of T can’t hurt, right? This study
ple drugs was common either in paral- medical anabolic-androgenic steroid evaluated the efficacy and safety of a
lel with AAS use or serially. Therefore, (NMAAS) use. United States-based 50mg/day of 1 percent hydroalcoholic
in their infinite wisdom, these scien- male NMAAS users (n = 1,955) were testosterone gel applied on non-scro-
tists concluded that AAS use can recruited from various Internet web- tal skin for hypogonadal men with
develop either with or without the sites dedicated to resistance training sexual dysfunction. Researchers found

364 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
AnabolicEdge
that subjects with ED at baseline (61.2 need to tease out those effects first.
percent) showed significant increase Another SARM, called JNJ-
of (Index of Erectile Function) IIEF-6 37654032, has also been studied in
3
score after six months of treatment. orchidectomized rat models. Why
Now I guess someone will stack it can’t they give SARMs normal
with Cialis. names? What’s up with this alphabet
soup? Anyhow, they found that it stim-
T Enhances Muscle ulated growth of the levator ani mus-
In HIV Men cle with ED(50) 0.8mg/kg, stimulating
Sixty-one HIV-infected men with maximal growth at a dose of 3mg/kg.
weight loss were randomized to Researchers concluded that JNJ-
receive weekly intramuscular injec- 37654032 is a potent, prostate-sparing
tions of 300mg of testosterone enan- SARM with the potential for clinical
6
thate or placebo for 16 weeks. benefit in muscle-wasting diseases.
Testosterone administration was asso- SARMs are a fascinating category
ciated with increased fat-free mass and in my opinion, will certainly
(i.e., muscle). Also, leg press strength ‘replace’ anabolic steroids or andro-
increased significantly in testosterone- gens. Athletes will want the anabolic
treated, but not placebo-treated, men. effects minus the crazy androgenic
Men receiving testosterone demon- effects. Hey, it can make muscle
strated significantly greater improve- grow and keep your prostate small
ments in mental health and quality- (one of the few things guys want to
of-life scores than those receiving be small). That, my friend, is a gate-
placebo and improvements in way to more money, fame, and
fatigue/energy and mood scores that women. Just kidding. !
were not significantly different from
those receiving placebo. Thus, Jose Antonio, PhD, is vice presi-
improvements in mood, fatigue, and dent of the National Strength and
quality-of-life measures in the testos- Conditioning Association. He has a
terone group, although clinically PhD in muscle physiology and is chief
4
important, need further confirmation. executive of the International Society
I wonder if testosterone enanthate is a of Sports Nutrition.
gateway drug to friggin’ feeling better?
References:
SARMs 1. Skarberg K, Nyberg F, Engstrom I. The
development of multiple drug use among ana-
As you are well aware, this new bolic-androgenic steroid users: six subjective
class of drugs, selective androgen case reports. Subst Abuse Treat Prev Policy,
receptor modulators (SARMs) main- Nov 28 2008;3(1):24.
tains the beneficial effects of andro- 2. Cohen J, Collins R, Darkes J, Gwartney
D. A league of their own: demographics, moti-
gens, including increased muscle vations and patterns of use of 1,955 male adult
mass and bone density, while having non-medical anabolic steroid users in the
reduced activity on unwanted side United States. J Int Soc Sports Nutr, 2007;4:12.
3. Corona G, Petrone L, Fisher AD, et al.
effects. Amen to that, mister! A novel Six-month administration of 1% testosterone
SARM, LGD-3303, was studied in a gel is able to restore erectile function in hypog-
castrated rat model of androgen defi- onadal patients with erectile dysfunction. Arch
ciency. LGD-3303 has potent activity Ital Urol Androl, Sep 2008;80(3):103-108.
4. Knapp PE, Storer TW, Herbst KL, et al.
on levator ani muscle but is a partial Effects of a supraphysiological dose of testos-
agonist on the preputial gland and terone on physical function, muscle perfor-
ventral prostate. LGD-3303 never stim- mance, mood, and fatigue in men with HIV-
associated weight loss. Am J Physiol
ulated ventral prostate above intact
Endocrinol Metab, Jun 2008;294(6):E1135-1143.
levels in spite of increasing plasma 5. Vajda EG, Lopez FJ, Rix P, et al.
concentrations of compound. Tissue Pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of
selective activity was maintained LGD-3303, an orally available non-steroidal
selective androgen receptor modulator
when LGD-3303 was dosed orally or (SARM). J Pharmacol Exp Ther, Nov 18 2008.
by continuous infusion, two routes of 6. Allan G, Sbriscia T, Linton O, et al. A
administration with markedly different selective androgen receptor modulator with
time vs. exposure profiles. Well, this minimal prostate hypertrophic activity restores
lean body mass in aged orchidectomized male
particular SARM needs some work; rats. J Steroid Biochem Mol Biol, Jun
5
who needs a bigger prostate? They 2008;110(3-5):207-213.

366 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
MuscleTech
RESEARCH REPORT
By Team MuscleTech Research and Development

BODYBUILDING Q&A
Q: I’ve been working out for
a while and I feel like I’ve
tried just about everything possi-
hormone-mediated protein degrada-
tion (catabolism) and drastically
increased anabolic myofibrillar activa-
being trained, creating the optimum
anabolic environment fast! As a result,

INTRAVOL is engineered to stave off
ble to maximize my workouts— tion (muscle growth). muscle protein degradation as well as
but there has to be something As a result of creating a glycogen accelerate the activation of hyper-
more that will really make a dif- sparing, cortisol-reduced environ- hydrated muscular pumps, intracellu-
ference. Lately, I’ve seen a lot of ment, test subjects actually gained lar protein synthesis and glycogen
the ‘hardcore’ bodybuilders carry- 9.04 pounds of lean muscle com- reloading— resulting in superior per-
ing around shaker cups while they pared to the placebo group, which formance in the gym.

train. What are they consuming only gained a meager 3.97 pounds. INTRAVOL has been formulated
during workouts and what are the In the same study, test subjects also based on proven scientific ratios of
benefits of it? increased their 1-rep maximum leg key compounds tested in cutting-edge

A: The guys you see carrying


shaker cups around the gym
while training may have adopted a
press by an average of 129 pounds
more than the placebo group (463
vs. 334 pounds). So in other words,
university studies to create the most
intensive, muscle- and strength-build-
ing state imaginable. After trying

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way you can do that is with a beginning to see so many body- Independent and combined effects of liquid
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research-based formula like INTRAVOL . builders sipping on shakes between
on hormonal and muscular adaptations follow-
Every bodybuilder knows the sets. To achieve the best results from ing resistance training in untrained men.
importance of capitalizing on the criti- your intra-workout supplementation, European Journal of Applied Physiology, 97:
cal post-workout time slot, but the lat- don’t rely on inferior intra-workout 225-238.
est research reveals that during work- formulations that fail to do anything
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368 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
INJURY & REHABILITATION
By Victor Prisk, MD

AskTheDoc
After training calves, the next you straighten your knee and dorsiflex this in a number of ways. You can roll a
morning my heel hurts badly when your ankle puts a great deal of stretch tennis ball or golf ball on the bottom of
I get up out of bed. It is now start- on this muscle. The gastrocnemius the foot. You can see a massage thera-
ing to hurt more toward the end connects to the heel. When this is tight, pist or dig in with your hands. At the
of the day. What’s up, doc? it puts more stress on the plantar fas- end of the day, rolling your foot on a
As an orthopaedic surgeon, this cia as the toes touch the ground and it water bottle made into ice can be
sounds like the bane of my existence— has to fight the tight gastrocnemius soothing to the burning pain. This mas-
plantar fasciitis. Plantar fasciitis is a muscle. All of this stress is applied to sage, in combination with gastrocne-
painful inflammatory condition of the the plantar fascia, which pulls on the mius stretches— when done consis-
plantar fascia. The plantar fascia is a heel, causing excruciating pain. tently— can cure much of plantar
tight ligament on the bottom of the Pain is usually felt on the inside bot- fasciitis.
foot that connects the heel to the base tom portion of the heel. It often sub-
of the toes. It plays an important role sides after walking around for a few
in maintaining the arch of the foot. minutes, then gets worse toward the
end of a day of
being on your feet.
Obesity, weight
gain, jobs that
require walking on
hard surfaces, walk-
ing up hills, and
shoes with little or
no arch support
often exacerbate
this condition.
However, there are
a few conditions
Plantar fasciitis is often associated that should be ruled out when you
with long periods of standing or walk- have heel pain, such as calcaneal
ing, or sudden changes in weight-bear- stress fracture, insertional Achilles ten-
ing activity. I often see this condition in donitis, nerve pain and even tumors. In
patients who were relatively inactive an Arnold accent, “It’s not a tumor!” I
and then become more active. For always wanted to say that.
instance, I see this after doing a total In all seriousness, this condition can
knee replacement, after patients have be quite disabling to an athlete. It is
less knee pain and become more important to begin treatment early,
active. I also see this in people who before it becomes constantly painful.
have changes in their foot alignment At its worst, some people need crutch-
that result in more pronation or flatten- es or a ‘cast boot’ to walk. There are
ing of the foot. many ways to treat this and the key to
But, you are not an inactive or over- the treatment is consistency.
weight person— you are a fitness ath- First of all, stretching the gastrocne-
lete! Why does your calf day result in mius muscle is very important. Doing
this pain? Well, some believe that plan- Achilles tendon or runner’s stretches
tar fasciitis is perpetuated by a tight with the knee straight, twice a day, is Third, with the diagnosis of plantar
gastrocnemius muscle. The gastrocne- easy to do. Stretch slowly for 30 sec- fasciitis, most insurance companies
mius is the calf muscle that crosses the onds five times on each side, once in will approve a couple of orthotic
knee joint and is tightest when you the morning and again at night. That’s devices. A custom orthotic with a
stand. After sleeping, the calf muscle only 10 minutes of stretching. In addi- medial arch support and a cushioned
gets tight because you don’t hold your tion, avoid activities where you stand heel will often off-load the plantar fas-
toes up at night. And, I bet it is much on the ball of the foot for long periods. cia when you are on your feet during
tighter the morning after your calf Second, deep tissue massage of the the day. An over-the-counter arch sup-
workout. plantar fascia where it hurts can be port and heel cup may also help.
That first step in the morning when done twice a day. I recommend doing Another orthotic device is the night

370 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


AskTheDoc—
Injury & rehabilitation
splint. This is a device that holds the stretching, massage, orthotics, night
foot in dorsiflexion and stretches the splints and shoe changes, shock wave
Achilles tendon, and thus the gastroc- therapy or surgery may be tried.
nemius, while you sleep. Extracorporeal shock wave therapy
Fourth, a change in shoe wear is (ESWT) has been used with some
important. Avoiding open-backed success in patients with symptoms
shoes, sandals, flats or flip-flops will lasting more than six months. ESWT
help. A shoe with a slight heel and is the same procedure used to break
good arch support will help. A type of up kidney stones. The treatment is
shoe that is fantastic for treating this nonsurgical, but is painful, and should
condition is the MBT shoe by Swiss be done either under sedation or with
Masaius. It has a cushioned heel and local anesthesia with or without intra-
a bottom that rolls and propels you venous sedation. ESWT re-inflames
when you walk. the area and in doing so, increases
Medical treatments are a last blood flow as a means to heal the
resort in plantar fasciitis. If your area. After the procedure, it can take
physician or podiatrist wants to give as long as six months to see results.
you an injection on your first visit, Most patients should improve
find another doctor. An injection can after one year of nonsurgical treat-
result in a rupture of the plantar fas- ment, without any long-term prob-
cia, which can be devastating for an lems. A few patients may require
athlete. Do the more conservative surgery, which has great risks. The
exercises first. Non-steroidal anti- risk that the plantar fascia ruptures
inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) may or becomes incompetent after
help but are often ineffective. Some surgery is an unfortunate problem.
doctors may also tell you that you A flatfoot deformity is a high price to
have a heel spur that needs to be pay for heel pain. Don’t get me
surgically removed. The heel spur is wrong, I love to operate, but you
a result of the extra tension on the should exhaust all of your conserva-
flexor digitorum brevis and not the tive treatments first. Be honest with
cause of plantar fasciitis pain. yourself. Did you do your stretches
When the condition is resistant to and massage every day?

PHOTOS COURTESY OF DR. VICTOR PRISK

What’s Up With Dr. Prisk?


I had a fantastic time at the Nationals. Thank you, Mr. Manion! I have to
give a shout-out to a few of my champion friends… way to go, Peter Putnam
and Guy Cisternino! Peter definitely deserved the Steve Stone award. It’s
about time, Peter!
I’ve made some good friends in the bodybuilding world and next to
Timothy Corscadden, the tattooed freak, this guy is Mr. Dedication. Mike Z,
better known as the Algebra Wizard, is a math teacher who has taken his
profession to heart. Check out these tats! They say ‘education’ and ‘disci-
pline.’ No wonder he dates the famous Debbie Kruck!

372 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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BODYBUILDING’S MOST POWERFUL TECHNIQUES

Extreme Muscle
Enhancement By Carlon M. Colker, MD, FACN

GHRELIN:
Growth Hormone
Meets Its Maker
W
hen my sister Pamela and life here— it’s about finding the start- before meals, thus stimulating
I were little kids, our dear ing point where the essence of the appetite, then sharply decline right
mother would set all very best things in life begin. Every after eating. Ghrelin appears to signal
things in motion. In other words, if smart person knows that by going the brain to eat and then terminates
she did not wake our asses up and back to the source, you usually get the desire once full satiety is reached.
sometimes literally pull us out of the best results. The same applies to In addition, we know ghrelin preferen-
bed, we’d gladly squander the day. the human body, from the most tially increases metabolism of carbo-
Like clockwork, mom gave us a gen- obvious functions all the way down hydrates over that of other macronu-
tle and sweet wake-up nudge and to the very neurotransmitters and trients. As a result of these striking
kiss. Exactly 5 minutes after that it hormones that govern our health influences, it has become the intense
was a stern warning. If you ignored and well-being. Identify this prover- focus of anti-obesity drug research.
that, then precisely 5 minutes later bial spark and you understand how But the mystery of ghrelin and its
the sheets came off, and so did you the fire begins! extraordinary powers does not stop
if you didn’t get the hint! Once we there.
got used to the precision of mom’s There’s a lesson Ghrelin stimulates endogenous
routine, however annoying, it did
provide a certain comfort in its pre-
in life here— it’s growth hormone production by way
of acting on a distinct receptor called
dictability. When motion began, about finding growth hormone secretagogue
everything fell into place like clock- (GHS). This receptor is recognized as
work. Faces were washed, teeth
the starting point a key controller of growth hormone
brushed, hair combed, clothes put where the essence production. Once stimulated by
on, book bags packed, breakfast ghrelin, the receptor signals and sets
eaten, lunch bags grabbed and out-
of the very best in motion growth hormone secre-
side we’d be, front and center, wait- things in life tion. This mechanism should be dis-
ing for the bus. After that we were tinguished from the hypothalamic
subject to the order of school, then
begin. growth hormone-releasing hormone
our after-school programs, and final- (GHRH). GHRH is a biologically-
ly home for homework, dinner, Ghrelin is such a spark. It is a small active natural polypeptide comprised
shower, a bit of playtime and right 28-amino-acid peptide protein with a of approximately 44 amino acids.
back to bed to start all over again! fatty-acid side-chain naturally pro- Injections and infusions of GHRH
Looking back, it was this regimen- duced in the human body. It is pro- have been shown in research to
tation that prepared us for life. duced and secreted by endocrine cells increase growth hormone and IGF-1
I became a doctor and my sister is a in the gastric fundus, as well as by the by directly stimulating cells of the
lawyer. To this day, we both remain hypothalamus, to a smaller degree. anterior lobe of the pituitary gland.
habituated to the ingrained structure Classically, ghrelin has been described In this case, unlike ghrelin, GHRH
that all started with our mom. Mom in scientific literature as an important acts on its own GHRH receptor. So
was the proverbial atom that set the factor in the control of appetite. Blood GHRH and ghrelin are not inter-
chain reaction of molecules in levels of ghrelin are directly associated changeable terms, as much of the
motion to follow. There’s a lesson in with digestion; levels rise immediately confusing references to them would

374 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
ExtremeMuscle Enhancement
lead you to believe. In fact, the two study of 65 healthy men and women really don’t get rid of the underlying
are quite distinct in size, shape, form ages 60-81. Each subject received illness! After some testing of the
and function. MK-677 at a dose of 25mg each new synthetic molecules they come
I think that the natural physio- morning. Subjects experienced up with, they get a patent.
logic action of ghrelin may have a restoration of growth hormone lev- Amazingly, this patent allows them
lot to do with explaining why so els along with significant improve- to be the exclusive distributor. Then
many guys who compete experi- ments in muscle tone similar to that they jump through some FDA
ence their best mass gains after seen in healthy young adults. hoops, pay them some money, and
dieting for a show. This is part of Merck is not alone in their the drug is deemed fit to sell. So
the conventional wisdom of count- efforts. Another company called they go on a marketing jamboree—
less competitors who have dieted Sapphire is developing “RC-1291.” and not just to the doctors. They’re
intensely to the point of getting This potential drug is a synthetic now marketing directly to the con-
ripped for completion. Only if ghrelin-like molecule. Like MK-677, sumer. You’ve seen the ads in maga-
you’ve done it do you get it. I dis- RC-1291 can be administered orally zines and on TV commercials. Once
cuss this effect in my book, since I and only once per day. The hope they convince you that they have
personally experienced it over and again here is that it might one day the drug for you, they put a premi-
over again in competition. It always soon be a treatment for patients um on what it will cost you to use it.
bugged me to see this happening with the wasting associated with In the final analysis, I don’t
to my body, but this rebound size certain diseases. In January 2005, believe MK-677, RC-1291 or any
gain was and still is a welcome and RC-1291 received FDA fast-track other similar synthetic is really the
steadfast fixture of the bodybuild- designation and thus went almost answer to how to properly stimulate
ing competitor’s landscape. immediately into Phase II trials in growth hormone production. We
Looking back, I now suspect that cancer patients with wasting. So we don’t know much about these cre-
ghrelin may have had something, may see this product on the market ations, nor without costly trial and
or possibly everything to do with it. before others. error will we ever really know. More
At this point in time, ghrelin is This pharmacokinetic concept of than likely the ghrelin-stoking solu-
stimulating one’s tion will come from nature. Perhaps
The natural physiologic action own growth hor- we can figure out a way either
mone is much through diet, lifestyle changes, or
of ghrelin may have a lot to do more physiologic. perhaps a naturally-occurring sub-
with explaining why so many In my estimation it stance or combination of ingredi-
guys who compete experience far outpaces the ents to prime our own natural pro-
potency and poten- duction of ghrelin. In fact, I’ll bet we
their best mass gains after tial safety of can… but don’t think the pharma-
dieting for a show. repeated injections ceutical industry likes that concept
of growth hor- one bit. Any way you look at it, one
only available to researchers and mone. So in many cases I can seri- overwhelming and undeniable piece
must be administered by injection. ously see this approach supplanting of information emerges: daily injec-
In the meantime, drug companies the current use of growth hormone. tions of growth hormone may not
are busy working on ghrelin-like But remember that these products be the best and most physiologic
analogs that they can patent and use are still not ghrelin; they are ghrelin method of enhancing growth hor-
for diseases that involve wasting, analogs. In my opinion, the reason mone. Instead, a new method of
such as cancer and AIDS. In the that ghrelin itself is being cultivated stimulating one’s own natural pro-
November 4, 2008 issue of Annals of as a treatment has everything to do duction is a reality and may be far
Internal Medicine (vol. 24; no. 9), with the fact that it is a normal, nat- superior.
Nass and colleagues reported the urally-occurring substance, and in So again this leaves me with the
effects of reversing the age-associat- being so is much more challenging new query of what can naturally
ed loss of muscle and fat gain using for the pharmaceutical industry to stimulate the production of ghrelin.
a novel chemical drug called “MK- exert patent ownership over. In I guess it all goes back to finding
677.” Merck Research Laboratories sharp contrast, they can patent and that proverbial spark.
provided MK-677 and placebo, plus own molecules they come up with I think I’ll give my mom a call.
several of the study authors reported when they are synthetic analogs and She’ll straighten this out! !
being on the payroll of the pharma- newly-invented. The only problem is
ceutical industry. That said, MK-677 that we have to hope these novel Dr. Colker’s book, Extreme
is an oral drug that mimics ghrelin molecules really do the same thing. Muscle Enhancement:
and reverses the normal age-related You see, the way big pharma Bodybuilding’s Most Powerful
decline in growth hormone and fat- works is that they are in business to Techniques is available by calling 1-
free mass in elderly adults. They con- make synthesized compounds for 800-310-1555 or ordering the book
ducted a two-year double-blind ‘disease management’— but they online at www.prosource.net.

376 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Busted! By Rick Collins, JD

LegalQ&A
“Pregnant
Man” Is Juiced!
The “pregnant man” was given testosterone while
switching from female to male. Why is it illegal for a
heavier beard, more body hair, harder musculature, maybe
a more manly jaw line. Isn’t it curious that the very things
physically healthy woman to take steroids to get buff, that the medical community vilifies as horrific “side effects”
but legal for her to take steroids to get butch? of female steroid use are desired by doctors helping trans-
For anyone who missed the ubiquitous news blitz, the gender-seeking women? If under modern medical sensibili-
“world’s first pregnant man” appeared on “Oprah” and ties, these and other steroid-induced effects are so terrible as
other talk shows recently.The headlines suggested a scientif- to subject physicians to imprisonment for cosmetic prescrib-
ic breakthrough on a par with the discovery of the atom or ing, why are the drugs being permitted in this context?
the first lunar landing. People magazine carried a photo of a Either steroids are too dangerous to give to physically
bearded Thomas Beatie, shirtless and with a bulging baby- healthy people for cosmetic reasons, or they’re not.You can’t
bump. But let’s clarify what we’re talking about. Beatie, a for- have it both ways. Here’s an ironic observation: we’ve some-
mer Miss Teen Hawaii USA finalist, had been a lesbian times heard some fat jackass mutter something insensitive
woman named Tracy who underwent a double mastectomy about a passing female bodybuilder such as, “She looks like
and took male hormone injections but refused any genital a man.” Most female bodybuilders don’t want to look like a
surgery. man. But possessing steroids could get these women arrest-
Legally declared a man by the State of Oregon, Beatie ed… unless they really do want to look like a man, in which
married his lover and together they desired to be parents. case, confusingly, they can get steroids legally prescribed by
But his wife could not conceive a child for medical reasons, a doctor!
so Beatie stopped taking testosterone and was artificially The waters get even murkier when you bring men’s
inseminated with donor sperm using a device bought from a bodybuilding into the equation. It’s generally recognized that
veterinarian. He carried the child to term, giving birth in June the health dangers are worse for women using steroids than
to a baby girl.The media ran wild with the story and the cou- they are for men. So from a gender-equality standpoint, why
ple seemed only too happy to bask in their moment of fame, should we allow transgender-aspiring women to use
as America chewed over the implications. steroids for cosmetic appearance purposes, but not fitness-
Beatie recently announced he is pregnant again. His story aspiring men? Why does one group get “Oprah” and the
has provoked strong reactions– support as well as expres- other group get prison?
sions of confusion or even disgust. Some critics have sug- I’m not passing judgment on Thomas Beatie or other
gested that, notwithstanding Oregon’s declaration, Beatie transgender folks, nor am I advocating for or against
remains a genetic and biological female; he does have steroids. I’m just challenging the inconsistency.You can’t say
altered secondary sex characteristics, but still possesses that steroids are so inherently dangerous that a physician
vagina, uterus, and ovaries. Given the genital hardware, crit- can’t prescribe them in the absence of a serious physical ill-
ics shrug, where’s the scientific breakthrough? ness, but then allow them to be prescribed to a physically
ILLUSTRATION BY LYMAN DALLY

Your question raises a more important point than mere healthy woman who wants to look more like a man.
scientific novelty. Beatie was a woman desiring to dress like Thanks for your question; keep ’em coming! And be sure
a man, live like a man, and undergo some surgical and hor- to say “Hi” to me if you spot the Team Legal Muscle crew at
monal alterations to look more like a man, while remaining the Ah-nuld Classic! ■
a functioning woman from the waist down.The goal of
Rick Collins, JD, CSCS [www.rickcollins.com] is the lawyer that members of
administering testosterone wasn’t to “turn” the woman into
the bodybuilding community and nutritional supplement industry turn to when
a man (that issue was resolved by the State of Oregon); it
they need legal help or representation. [© Rick Collins, 2008. All rights reserved.
was to add a masculine appearance to the face and body– For informational purposes only, not to be construed as legal or medical advice.]

378 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
MIKE LIBERATORE—THE LIBERATOR

IRON Mike By Mike Liberatore

Editor’s note: MD is proud to welcome NPC National Heavyweight Champion


Mike Liberatore to our team. Recently we were promoting Mike as ‘America’s
Top Amateur.’ Obviously that particular title no longer fits! He’ll be taking your
questions and keeping us up-to-date as he strives to make improvements and
looks toward making the huge transition to professional competition.

Hey MD readers, what’s up? I am so happy to be part of the team, or


rather, family. When I won the first MD Cyber Classic at the 2007 Arnold
Classic, I was lucky enough to meet and talk to the whole crew: Steve
Blechman, John Romano, Dave Palumbo, Flex Wheeler and more. I could
sense right away how much the guys behind MD cared about the sport and
its athletes. Steve kept in touch with me and was very encouraging as I
worked my way toward my goal of turning pro. I have been reading MD for
years, too. It’s always on the cutting edge and is the only magazine that actu-
ally tells the truth about the good and the bad parts of the sport, and I really
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL AND BILL COMSTOCK

respect that. And now, here I am with my own monthly column. It feels good!

The NPC Nationals: Good Enough


To Win— But Not Good Enough!
After losing the heavyweight class at the USA to Brandon Curry by one
point, my dream finally came true at the Nationals. Mark Alvisi looked
excellent taking runner-up to me, and his time will be coming soon, too.
Though I was happy to win and get my pro card, I wasn’t satisfied with
how I looked. I had been around 217 for the Junior Nationals and the USA
earlier in the season and went down to 213 for Nationals. I’d like to say it
was because I was more shredded, but I was simply flat. My body just
couldn’t stay full anymore after so many months of dieting (a total of about
eight months, all told). Had I been fuller, I feel I would have battled Ed
Nunn for the Overall and silenced a few critics too.

380 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
C
N U
O
The Great

E M
L
Palumbo

W N
Diet Debate
I have been following
along on the MD NO BULL
Forum as the thread debating
the merits of Dave’s diet just

!
keeps going and going. As a client of
Dave’s and a believer in the diet, I will
concede that it’s not for everyone. No
one diet can ever be the best way for
everybody. Until you really give it a
solid try, you can’t know whether or
not it’s cut out for you and your
physique and metabolism.
One critique I have heard that
seems to make sense is that a no-carb
diet probably isn’t suited for lighter
athletes who don’t have much muscle
to spare. If a guy or girl like this flat-
tens out or even loses mass in the
process of leaning out, it’s far more
obvious and more detrimental to the
overall appearance. In contrast, big-
ger, heavier guys can probably afford
to lose a bit of size and it doesn’t real-
ly hurt them, especially since getting
shredded creates the illusion of look-
ing bigger anyway.

The Plan For 2009


I stayed out of the gym for two
weeks after the Nationals, and ever
since then I have been back training
mainly for a pump and just to keep
the blood flowing. I won’t really get
back into heavy training until
February, which will mark the begin-
ning of my first true off-season in
three years. 2009 will be a critical year
for me. I go on my honeymoon
(delayed, obviously) at the end of
January, and then it’s ON! My goal is
to work hard on my chest and back
and bring my stage weight up to
about 227-230. To do that, my off-sea-
son weight probably needs to get up
to around 260-265. Until now, I’ve
never weighed more than 245
2008: The Longest Year Of My Life pounds. So as you can see, my work is
As this year comes to a close, I have to say it felt like 10 years. As I men- cut out for me!
tioned, I dieted for three different National-level shows. I also got married, The training is key, but so is the
moved from Kentucky back to my home state of Illinois, and started a new nutrition. Regardless of what people
job. I had a lot on my plate! The only real break I had was for a little over a may think is the most important fac-
month after the USA before I started it all up again for Nationals. My nutri- tor in putting on muscle mass, food is
tionist Dave Palumbo wanted me to have at least a brief rebound so my sys- the most anabolic substance you can
tem could normalize after all the dieting, cardio and fat burners. But with put into your body. Dave is big on
everything I had going on, there was no real time to relax. I’m just very grate- increasing calories to fuel growth in
ful that I got my pro card at the Nationals, and that challenge has been over- the off-season, and I will be putting
come. There are so many great athletes that all want that one spot and that that strategy to good use this whole
pro card that I don’t take it for granted at all. year.

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 381


www.fantamag.com
Mike Liberatore—
The Liberator

CHEC
musculardevelKopOUT
ment.com
FOR COM
CONTEST PLET
E
COVERAGE
!

Midwest Muscle: Everything happens for a reason, and


Time To Represent! I’m sure that’s part of why I came
I will miss training with my good back here.
friend Blair Mone back in Kentucky.
But at the same time, I am very excit- My Arnold Predictions:
ed to be back home in the Chicago Victor Martinez
area after four years away. I have Toney Freeman
already met a few very good local Branch Warren
bodybuilders. Every weekend, we get Kai Greene
together either on Saturday or Sunday Silvio Samuel
to hit legs at the gym that I run:
Fitness 19 in Lake Zurich. After the
brutal workout, we all head out to eat
and talk about what’s going on,
shows we are going to watch or com-
pete in, whatever. I am also a member
of XSport Fitness, with over 20 loca-
tions in the Chicago metro area.
I like the idea of traveling around
the region and meeting new people all
the time. There are so many guys and
girls with great potential around here
who just need a little bit of direction,
motivation and encouragement. I
want to ‘pay it forward’ because I had
help making the right choices in this
sport and that played a big part in the
success I’ve already had. This week-
end I’m headed over to Chuck
Sanow’s gym to meet with him. He’s Dark Horse Pick
the state NPC Chairman and an IFBB For Top 5 If He
Pro. I want to get more involved in the Does The Show: Ed Nunn
amateur scene here, because Chicago Talk to you guys next month!
has so much talent that the rest of the
country really knows nothing about. I Got a question for Mike? Send it to
really think it’s a new ‘bodybuilding editor@musculardevelopment.com and
powerhouse’ just waiting to emerge. you could see it answered here!

382 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
KAI GREENE

The Predator By Kai Greene

Who impressed So I take pictures, answer questions and what have you.
me at the Nationals? Often 20 minutes have gone by and I still haven’t made it
I get this question after any show I attend these days. to the bathroom! I don’t really mind being nice and accom-
The truth of the matter is that it’s very rare that I actually modating to the fans, because without them I would have
get to watch a contest anymore. Even if I’m not working a no career and there would be no sport of bodybuilding.
booth for my sponsor, Muscle Meds, I still have certain So I was on the way back to my seat when someone
responsibilities that come with being in the spotlight. For called out to me. I recognized the face, but it took me a
instance, if I get up to go to the bathroom, many fans see minute to realize it was Marvin Ward from New Jersey. We
the opportunity to interact with me on a one-on-one basis. go way back. In 1999 we were both representing the US
Team at the IFBB World Amateur
Championships in Slovakia. Marvin asked me
to keep an eye out for him in the lightweights
and let me know what I thought his chances
were. That threw me for a loop, because I
thought Marvin was already a pro. He had
earned his pro card first by being the only
bantamweight to ever win an Overall at a pro
qualifier at the 2000 Team Universe, then
another time by winning the same class at
the 2003 NPC Nationals. But apparently he
didn’t want to take his pro card until he could
at least move up to lightweight and do it
(he’s 5’2”).
In my opinion, Marvin is one of the best
drug-free bodybuilders alive today. His shape
and structure remind me of one of the tro-
phies. I’m not ashamed to say I’m even a little
envious of some of his attributes. So when he
asked me to look for him, I asked him if he
had done his homework. I already knew the
answer from his sunken eyes and jutting
cheekbones— the man was shredded. I told
him he would win and immediately regretted
saying that out loud. Other competitors in his
class may have heard that and felt hurt. I
hadn’t meant it as any disrespect to the other
lightweights, it’s just that I know Marvin and
what he’s capable of. He did go on to win the
class and earn his pro card for the third time.
Hopefully this time he takes it and we can
start seeing Ward battle in the 202s.

Meeting Expectations
There were a few guys going into the Nationals with a lot of hype and a lot of expectations from fans, media and their
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL COMSTOCK

sponsors to win. Peter Putnam and Mike Liberatore had that pressure going into the show and luckily won their classes.
Trey Brewer wasn’t so fortunate, and I feel for the young guy. I’ve been in that position where there’s a lot riding on you,
though not to his extent. When so much time, money, and publicity has been invested in a person, that person is expect-
ed to come through. It’s like a machine pushing on him, and I imagine it must seem overwhelming. Trey looked very good,
but it just wasn’t his day. Ed Nunn was the clear winner in the super-heavies. I know what it’s like to be up there posing
your heart out and see that no one is even looking at you anymore. It’s a terrible feeling. You know that in bodybuilding
there is always a ‘next time,’ but when all those expectations are on you, you are supposed to win now, not some other
time. Brewer has a lot of freaky body parts and he’s getting better all the time, so he’ll get another chance.

386
000 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009
www.fantamag.com
I am in awe of the back
thickness you have built over
the last year. Which exercises
would you say have made the
biggest difference?
I know the simple answer that
you probably want and expect:
deadlifts, bent rows, T-bar rows,
clean and presses, etc. And those
are all exercises that I have been
doing that no doubt contributed
to my improved back thickness.
But the truth of the matter is that
it’s not the exercises themselves
that made the differences—I’ve
been doing them for years and
years. One thing I started doing
recently was pull-ups, every day,
between sets when I was training
other body parts. Arnold called
these ‘staggered sets.’ But again,
it’s not that doing those pull-ups
stimulated the new gains in a
direct manner. I used those pull-
ups as a means of becoming
more cognizant of how to perfect-
ly retract my scapula and contract
my lats to develop a more com-
plete mind-muscle connection.
This allowed me to achieve more
significant contractions in all my
back exercises. If you can truly
master the pull-up and learn how
to activate each and every fiber of
your lats throughout the course of
the entire range of motion, you
can apply that same technique to
various rows and even the dead-
lift. Another shift took place in my
mind after seeing how drastically
Phil Heath had managed to
improve his back from the time of
the Arnold Classic to the Olympia,
a span of just over six months. It
humbled me, to be honest. Back
was one of my strong points and I
certainly expected to dominate
Phil in the back shots the next
time we met onstage, but now I
saw that I had been presumptu-
ous and had underestimated When Do I Train?
Heath’s capabilities. I realized that A few years ago, I used to love training anywhere from 3 to 7 p.m. The
my back would have to be better, gyms were crowded with tons of people that had just gotten off work and
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

and resolved to make it happen. there was always an abundance of energy to feed off of. It was typically a
So if you were hoping I would packed madhouse, but the air was electric with adrenaline you could just
simply list my ‘magic routine’ soak up. Nowadays, I hit the gym whenever the spirit moves me. Usually
responsible for my new back this can be anywhere from early morning to early afternoon. I like it now
thickness, it went a lot deeper when the gym isn’t so congested, as it makes it easier to do things like giant
than that. sets, supersets, or compound movements. It’s tough to use the power rack
for squats when a couple guys are doing their curls on it!

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 387


www.fantamag.com
KAI GREENE—
The Predator
Driven By Fear
When I’m in the gym training, I
admit I am not very approachable.
I put my head down and concen-
trate on giving 110 percent to
what I’m doing. This is not a time
for me to talk or be sociable. It’s
my time to be alone with my
thoughts, fears and insecurities.
Yes, you read that correctly. As
much as you may read my words
and see me in photos, you can’t
ever truly understand what it is
that motivates me in the gym:
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

fear. My greatest fear is not living


up to my own expectations and
those that others have for me.
I haven’t been a pro long
enough to make mistakes and fall
on my face with a bad showing. I
still have a lot to prove and failure
is simply not an option for me. Not
everybody out there wants to see
me succeed; I know there are those who pat me on the back in congratulations,
while at the same time they desperately want to see me fail. Most of the people I
encounter in this sport are sincere and honest, but not everyone fits that descrip-
tion. At the end of the day, my dreams and goals are really only important to me,
and that’s as it should be. I look at the iron as my salvation, as my tool to over-
come the very real threat and possibility of failure. You have to stay on top in pro
bodybuilding. One false move, one bad show, and you are written off and dis-
missed. I don’t mean to sound bitter and I am not blaming anybody for it— it’s
just the way things are in this game. So when fans say they really want to get
inside our heads and find what it is that drives us, I would counter that you’re
probably better off not knowing. It’s not always pretty in there.

Shout-outs: Victor was making the transition from


Special thanks to Sergio Pacheco and powerlifting to bodybuilding and tore
Mari Redondo, promoters of the NPC both triceps while training for his first
South Florida in Miami. I guest-posed show.
and had an excellent time. Thanks also
to Peter Potter, Deke Warner, Bill Neylon Good luck to my friend William
and Jeff down in Florida. Gibbs, who is doing some commentat-
ing for local shows here in New York
A million credits to my girl Dayana and hopes to have a great career in tele-
Cadeau. vision news.

Shout-out to my boy Joe Williams, a Shout-outs to Toney Freeman,


training partner of mine from a hundred Marcus Haley, and last but not least to
years ago who recently started hitting it Desmond Miller and his family. Keep
again in the gym with me. Also gotta your head up, and hopefully everything
mention Justin, who trains with me will work out for the best. You are in my
whenever I go to Bev and Steve’s thoughts and prayers. !
Powerhouse in Syosset and a nod to
Little Teddy at Coliseum Gym. Got a question for Kai? E-mail him at
editor@musculardevelopment.com and you
Get well soon to Victor Baciere. could see it answered right here in MD!

388 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
VICTOR MARTINEZ

THE TRUE VICTOR By Victor Martinez

Goodbye, Dad
In the first week of December, my dad passed away at the age of 89. His
name was also Victor Martinez. Dad came to the USA in the late ’70s and
worked at the old Woolworth department store for years before he retired.
We clashed a lot when I was younger. I was getting in a lot of trouble in
high school so I dropped out. Dad saw me lifting weights and didn’t
approve because he thought I was throwing my life away on this dopey
dream of being a muscleman. At one point he even threw my weights out
in the trash! Eventually I went back and got my GED, and he was relieved
about that.
Dad came around to the whole bodybuilding thing once he saw how
dedicated I was and how it gave my life structure and discipline. He was
very proud of my accomplishments and would cut out any newspaper arti-
cles and send copies out to all our relatives. Dad was also happy any time I
gave him a magazine that had an article about me. I know he had quite a
collection of MD issues. Dad was a lot older by the time I was competing as
a pro, so traveling to my shows wasn’t something he was able to do.
Unfortunately, he never saw me compete. We took him back to the country
town of San Francisco in the Dominican Republic to bury him. I miss him
just like I miss my mom, who passed away going on three years ago. Now
they’re together again.

394 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
I just tore my pec
about two hours ago
(bench pressing). I
went to the ER and
have to go see some-
one tomorrow. It
seems like a partial
tear, and I remember
reading that you
rehabbed yours. I was
wondering if your
protocol was written
somewhere, so I
could follow it.
It really wasn’t any-
thing too complicated
like a routine to follow.
The main thing was that
I made a conscious
effort to keep my arm
extended so that scar
tissue didn’t form and
limit my range of
motion. I also had a lot
of soft-tissue work done
by a certified massage
therapist, which was
also aimed at prevent-
ing scar tissue from
building up. You have to
keep stretching the pec
out even though it feels
more comfortable to
just tuck your arm into
your body. Make sure you have an MRI done to find out exactly how serious
the tear is. It may need surgical reattachment and it may not, but without the
MRI you won’t know. X-rays never tell the whole story. You might have to be
a little aggressive and demand an MRI if your health care provider isn’t
immediately willing, but stick to your guns. It’s your body and you have to
be the one to look out for it!

Assuming I live in a country where everything is legal and that’s


not the issue, which is worse for bodybuilders: alcohol or marijuana?
That’s easy— alcohol. For one thing, it’s full of empty calories. Alcohol
itself is really a sugar, and almost any alcoholic beverage uses even more
sugar to dilute it. Some of those girly drinks have as much sugar as a few
candy bars! Also, people tend to skip meals when they drink. It blunts the
appetite. Then, if you drink too much like a lot of people do, you get what’s
called a hangover. This means you are feeling nauseous for hours, maybe
even the whole next day, and again you’ll miss meals. If you were supposed
to train that day, you probably won’t feel like it and will skip the workout.
Alcohol also raises estrogen levels and suppresses testosterone.
Compare all this to marijuana. Pot tends to make most people sleepy and
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

hungry. There have been many bodybuilders who use it to relax after a
tough workout and to stimulate the appetite so they can take in the quality
calories they need. Obviously, if someone gets the munchies and eats a
bunch of junk, that defeats the purpose. There is no hangover with weed. It
does affect short-term memory and some people also have issues with los-
ing motivation in general if they smoke on a regular basis. So really, neither
alcohol nor marijuana is something I would recommend to bodybuilders, but
you did ask me to pick the lesser of two evils.

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 395


www.fantamag.com
Victor Martinez— The True Victor
Victor, I read about how you now prefer doing way to go. The height of the object you step up on
step-ups to lunges and I want to give them a try, needs to be such that the quad of the leg you are step-
too. Just wondering, how high does the bench or ping with is parallel to the ground when your foot lands
box need to be off the ground? My choices at my on the surface. Unless you are really short, a single
gym are to either use a flat bench, which has that Reebok step wouldn’t be anywhere near tall enough, so
pad on it, or to stack Reebok steps from the aero- stacking a few of them would be better. I wouldn’t use
bics room. Also, does it matter whether I use a the flat bench because the padding is too unstable of a
barbell or dumbbells? surface. It’s almost as bad as trying to
Whether you use barbells or dumbbells really step up on to one of those big
depends on how good a sense of balance you have. Swiss balls! That’s too bad,
Holding dumbbells gives you a lower center of gravity. because that height is about right
If you’re not the most graceful or agile person, that’s the for most guys.

Hungary Like the Wolf


In November I went over to Budapest to guest pose at the
Hungarian National Championships and to appear at the mini-
expo they had set up. Flex Wheeler was out there too, which
was cool. It’s always nice to have someone familiar around when
you’re so far away from home and in such a strange place.
Unlike the ethnically diverse New York City that I am accus-
tomed to, Hungary is all white people! Everyone at the
contest was very hospitable; but once I was walk-
ing around the city, not so much. I think they just
don’t trust outsiders in general, at least that was
the vibe I was getting. Then again, being a man
of color and 275 pounds probably intimidated
more than a few people.
The buildings and streets were beautiful,
and I felt like I was walking through the
Middle Ages or something with all the old
buildings and cathedrals. But I tell you, the
trip really made me appreciate how much
more convenient everything is in the USA.
For a country that’s been civilized for many
centuries before there even was an America,
we are a lot more advanced and modern in
many ways. I visited a couple gyms while I
was there and let me tell you— I give those
Hungarian bodybuilders props for being able
to train in those conditions. Considering the
crappy equipment they have available, they
look pretty damn good.

Muscle Maker Grill:


Grand Opening in February
It’s now looking like I will be having the
grand opening for my Muscle Maker
Grill in Edgewater, New Jersey in
February. I really want to do it on
Super Bowl Weekend, but it’s tough
at this point (mid-December) to pin
down the exact date due to permits
and so on. Please check out
www.musclemakergrill.com for updated
information. !
Got a question for Victor? E-mail it to him at
editor@musculardevelopment.com and you could see it
answered right here in MD!

396 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
BRANCH WARREN—THE TEXAS TITAN

MASSwithCLASS By Branch Warren

I know this is quite a hypo- your house for the rest of your life pasta. Do you think it’s best to
thetical question, but here goes. so you won’t have to worry about not worry and just go for it, or
If somehow you were able to getting hit by a car or kidnapped. should I be more careful and go
maintain all your size and densi- You’d be ‘safe,’ but what kind of life a bit slower?
ty using very light weights, would you really have? I’m mean- First off, 10 pounds of muscle in a
would you? Or do you enjoy or dering, but you catch my drift. No, I year is awesome! If I could do that at
take pride so much in lifting wouldn’t train light even if I could this point in my career (in the right
heavy that you would do it any- maintain my size that way. places) I would jump for joy. I used
way, even though training very to let myself get pretty heavy. Before
light would pretty much guaran- On your way to working up in my first USA, I got up to 240 and
tee healthier joints and an size, say the time when you couldn’t see my abs. But I was build-
almost zero chance of injury were about to hit the National ing a lot of mass along with the fat. I
ever again? level, what type of conditioning was only 202 for that show, but I got
Believe it or not, I would still would you stay in during the up to 250 after that, then dieted
train heavy. And it’s not an ego off-season? I am trying to gain down to 220 and turned pro at the
thing where I have to be the some size now before my shows Nationals. I can’t let myself get out
strongest guy around or anything next year and never had a true of shape anymore because I am con-
stupid like that. I simply enjoy train- off-season, even though I have stantly guest posing and making
ing heavy, and have from day one. been adding approximately 10 appearances. If not, I wouldn’t care
It’s fun. I’ve had to train light on cer- pounds a year to my stage so much about staying lean. It
tain things after injuries, and it weight the last three years. sounds to me like you stay lean pret-
sucks. It’s not fun for me. If I didn’t What body fat percentage did ty easily anyway, so you should defi-
enjoy training, I wouldn’t do it. As you try to stay around? I have a nitely go ahead and increase your
far as healthier joints and never get- fast metabolism so it’s hard to overall protein and calories and
ting hurt again, that’s like saying get fat, and I do add some good throw in a couple of cheat meals a
you should stay locked up inside cheat foods in each day like week. For someone with a metabo-
lism like yours, you can probably
get away with pizza, Chinese food,
or burgers and fries for those
meals. Even so, I would keep an
eye on what’s going on with your
body fat and don’t let yourself get
carried away. It’s easy to do, as evi-
denced by a lot of borderline
obese bodybuilders I have known!

I know you were a pretty


decent football player in your
younger years. If you had a
choice, would you rather be
the pro bodybuilder you are
now, or a pro football player?
That’s a good question. I started
lifting because of football and it
lead to bodybuilding. My first love
was football, but only a few make
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

it to the top, just like bodybuild-


ing. I was good, but I wasn’t amaz-
ing at football the way the guys
who go on to the NFL are.
Everything happens for a reason.
That being said, I love what I do,
what I have achieved, and have no
regrets.

402 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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The Deer Hunter— Not Exactly
A few weeks ago, I shot three deer in a single morning, and so did my good
friend Brian Dobson. If you’re thinking that sounds like pretty unbelievable luck
on a hunting trip, you’re right. It wasn’t what I consider hunting at all. We were
invited to a private game reserve where some guy had about 900 deer inside a
1,700-acre compound with a high fence around it. The deer were ‘genetically
superior,’ bred to be bigger than normal deer. They weren’t the size of a
Clydesdale or anything, but they were pretty large. Apparently a lot of them
were starving to death even though they were dumping in two tons of corn feed
every day. So Brian and I were asked to come in and help ‘thin the herd.’ I really
didn’t want to do it. These deer weren’t even afraid of us. There were tons of
them just walking around for you to shoot. The only reason I did it was because
all the meat was being donated to a local homeless shelter. But this is still noth-
ing I go around bragging about.

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 403


www.fantamag.com
BRANCH WARREN—
THE TEXAS TITAN
Children Are spent a very relaxing week in
Our Future Hawaii with Trish (also guest-
One thing I am proud of is the posed there at the Paradise Cup).
work I have been doing lately The highlight was my trip to
for a local organization Sweden for my new sponsor,
called Mission GASP clothing. They were also
Outdoors. I got the main sponsor for the Swedish
involved with it Bodybuilding Championships in
through the minister Gothenburg, which also featured
who runs it. a big fitness expo that drew over
Underprivileged 8,000 people. Flex Lewis and Joel
kids are taken Stubbs were also brought over;
camping, hiking, Flex by GASP and Joel by Muscle
hunting and also Asylum Project. I flew into the
do skeet shooting capital city of Stockholm and was
and archery. It’s given an amazing tour by my
important that all hosts Michael and Erika from
kids learn to respect GASP. We saw the royal palace
firearms, and that’s (Sweden still has a king and
one thing they all queen, but like Great Britain they
learn. I grew up around really don’t do a whole lot from
guns, but never dreamed of what I could gather), all types of
messing around with them. I incredible buildings that were
saw what they did to animals hundreds of years old, and the
and knew the deadly conse- canal system that runs through
quences that could result. the city. Being December, they
Plus, my dad would have were all frozen solid, but I am
beaten me senseless! We told you can ride around them in
took them boar hunting and the summer just like Venice, Italy.
there was one hilarious inci- At the show, I guest-posed and
dent where a 17-year-old kid sat at a booth to meet the fans.
had a boar and was trying to stab The Swedish fans were very nice,
it with his little pocketknife. Of but for some reason they all kept
course, those things are so big coming up to me speaking
and have hides so tough that he Swedish! Man, do I look like a
wasn’t getting the job done. Brian Viking or something? Flex Lewis
had to hand him his Bowie knife was laughing hysterically every
to put an end to that nonsense. time I would tell them, “English
Brian and I were also asked to go please, I only speak English!”
talk to the high school football
team in Grandview, Texas about Condolences
hard work and working together to Victor Martinez
as a team to achieve our goals. I I heard about Victor’s dad
like working with kids and passing away as soon as I got
encouraging them to believe in home from Sweden, and I offer
themselves and succeed. You him my condolences for his loss.
have to remember, these are the My own father passed away in
people who will be running the June, so I know how tough it is. I
world when we’re old! don’t know how close they were,
but you only have one father in
How Swede It Is! life and when you lose him, it’s
From the beginning of not easy.
November all the way into the Got a question for Branch?
CHEC first week of December, I was on E-mail it to him at editor@ muscu-
musculardevelKopOUT
ment.com the road more than I was home. I lardevelopment.com and you
FOR COM
CONTEST PLET
E
COVERAGE went to Vancouver, could see it answered right here in
MD! !
!
Newfoundland, Nebraska and

404 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


ww
www.fantamag.com
LEE PRIEST

Confirmed! By Lee Priest

My Comeback!
Let it hereby be known that I, Lee Priest, am officially announcing
the two contests where I will be making my comeback: The
Australian Pro show on Saturday, March 14 and the New Zealand
Pro show the very next day, Sunday the 15th. I did give some serious
thought to doing the Arnold Classic, or at the very least making an
appearance there at the expo, but I decided against it. Any of you
Americans who have ever been to Australia know what an incredi-
bly long and exhausting flight it is, and I know it would negatively
affect my condition for the shows over here. My plan is to be at least
as good as I’ve been before in terms of condition, and I know from
past experience that it wouldn’t be possible with all that traveling. So
I am sorry to all my fans who wanted to see me at the Arnold. Don’t
worry, I’ll make it up to you somehow! I definitely plan on qualifying
for the Mr. Olympia and being in that show.

Progress With My Biceps Tendon—


Or Lack Thereof
Many of my concerned fans have been asking me how my biceps
tendon is coming along and if it’s healing up. Sadly, it’s exactly the
same and won’t get any better on its own. I do need to have surgery to fully reattach the tendon, as it won’t magically
do that by itself. That procedure will have to wait until I have at least done a couple of shows this spring. I’ve been
gone too long and getting back up onstage is my top priority now. Bodybuilding is not a sport where the athletes get
paid no matter what. For instance, Tom Brady of the New England Patriots hurt his knee during the very first game of
the season and went straight off to
surgery. He missed the entire season,
but guess what? In the NFL and other
major sports, the multimillion-dollar con-
tracts are guaranteed. Pro bodybuilding
is a different story. If you can’t compete,
obviously you can’t win any prize
money. But more importantly, sponsors
usually don’t want to have you under
contract when you’re out of commission
with an injury. So my surgery will have
to wait until such a time when I can
schedule it and not miss any critical
training or prep time for a contest. I
guess if I had it done early in the spring,
I would be able to recover and be back
on track for the fall shows. Right now I
don’t want to worry about it.

Suicide, Live Online himself, shoot himself in the mouth, jump into a bath-
I heard about the young guy who committed sui- tub with electricity flowing through it, cut his throat,
cide with his webcam on, being broadcast on the or even come up with something far more original and
Bodybuilding.com forum. I was pissed that I missed it deranged, like what they do in the “Saw” movies. But
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

because I would have been egging him on just like taking some pills so we can watch you sleep and
the others were. As far as suicides go, I only give this eventually stop breathing? I feel sorry for his family
one a single star. Pills? How fucking boring is that? and friends, but this guy clearly wanted as many peo-
People watched him lie there unconscious. If you are ple as possible to watch the final act of his life. I
going to off yourself live on camera, do something a would watch anyone do this online if they are that
bit more dramatic (not that I am urging anybody to dumb and desperate for an audience. But I would pre-
end his or her life, of course). A person could hang fer a more entertaining method.

406 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


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‘The Gift’ Skipping
The Arnold
Was this a smart career
move? Only he knows and
really only time will tell. If I
were in his position right
now, I would do the Arnold.
He’s acting like he’s been
competing in the IFBB for 15
years and now he only does
one show a year, like Shawn
used to do. Shit, I remember
when all of us except whoev-
er was Mr. Olympia at the
time would do at least four
shows a year: The Iron Man,
the Arnold, the San
Francisco, the Olympia, and
sometimes even the whole
Euro tour on top of it all. I
think that unless you are Mr.
O and need to focus on
defending your title, doing
just one show a year is stu-
pid. Even guys like Shawn
and Lee Labrada look back and say they regret not competing more often
when they had the chance. Hopefully Phil won’t feel the same way years from
now. But he has his reasons and it’s his life.

Return Of The Rühler?


I saw the video clip of Markus Ruhl guest posing at the Mr. Germany con-
test in November. It’s by far the best I have ever seen him look in the off-sea-
son and I was not surprised to
hear that his ‘retirement’ at
the 2007 Mr. Olympia was not
really final. And why should it
be? He’s the same age as me,
36, and he’s only been com-
peting as a pro since 1998. I
think Markus just needed a
nice break. The fans absolute-
ly love him and he has legions
of them around the world.
He’s supposedly doing the
New York Pro in May, a show
he has won in the past when
it was the Night of
Champions. I have heard peo-
ple say that the time of the
mass monsters is over and
that only ‘pretty’ physiques
can do well. I don’t really buy
that. If Markus is in shape, he
can still do very well. Maybe
not at the Arnold or the
Olympia, but certainly at one
of the other shows. I have
competed with Markus a few
times over the years and he’s
a really nice guy, so I say
“Welcome Back!”

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 407


www.fantamag.com
LEE PRIEST—Confirmed!
Ed Nunn— Further Proof
That Cloning Is Being Done?
Congratulations to Ed Nunn for winning the NPC
Nationals and earning his pro card. If I have to be hon-
est, he doesn’t impress me too much. It’s not his fault.
It’s just that there seem to be a ton of big, bald, black
guys with good symmetry and great shape these days.
It’s almost like they are being cloned in some lab some-
where. And I thought the United Nations made it clear
that humans were not to be cloned? The minute this
issue comes out I will be called a racist because I am
suggesting that a lot of African-American bodybuilders
these days seem to look very much alike. For the
record, I must state as always that Lee Priest is not
and has never been a racist. I hate all people equally.
So if anyone wants to complain about my comments
and opinions, I say fuck off and get a life, ya wanker.

New Ink
One thing I said I would do that I did follow through
on was to join the tattoos on my face and my neck so it
all flows together. I think it looks much better this way,
but of course I am sure I will have to hear from people
who will say I look stupid or that I must be crazy or
whatever. These are the same people who used to com-
plain about my hair years ago, how I cut it or what color
I had it dyed. I must be pretty important to have
debates raging on about such ridiculous shit with my
appearance!

Stupid Question Of The Month!


Lee, I need to know how to do better
with women. I am a decent-looking 26-
year-old guy and make well into the six fig-
ures, plus I keep in great shape. I have
dated quite a bit, but I never get more than
a peck on the cheek. Despite me taking
women out to very nice restaurants and
concerts, things like that, they all tell me
they want to be ‘just friends.’ Then I have
to hear them complain about the guys they
hook up with that are jerks and losers.
These guys don’t even have jobs half the
time and treat women badly, yet those
guys are the ones getting all the action! I
guess my real question is, do I need to
become a jerk, too? How would I even go
about doing that?
First of all, you should probably stop training
and let yourself go physically. Most women want
you to be out of shape so they shine. They don’t
want any competition when it comes to getting
attention. That’s why most of them will seek out
friends who are heavier and less attractive, and a
man who’s not in their league when it comes to
looks or body. Women want a man with a lot of
money who will spend every last dime on them,
then go into debt to spend even more to keep
her in the latest fashions, sporting plenty of bling

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LEE PRIEST—Confirmed!
to make the other women die from They have no idea what they want. Right for a while before her true colors
jealousy, and for all the various hair Sure, they will tell you that they do, come out. But you know what they
and beauty treatments. but it’s a lie. They are never happy no say about women: can’t live with ’em,
You should also feed their fragile matter what kind of guy they are with, can’t live without ’em. Welcome to the
egos every single day by showering because they will always want some- real world. Hope that helps!
her with compliments. Don’t ever for- thing more or different than what they
get to do this even one day or you’re have. When they are with pieces of Bonus Question
fucked. If a girl starts talking about her shit, they cry about how they want a Of The Month!
I live in the Midwest and there
aren’t many bodybuilders at all in
my area. I have been thinking a lot
lately about moving to Venice,
California. Not only could I train
at Gold’s and eat at the Firehouse
and mingle with a lot of top pros
and amateurs, but the winter
weather there sure would beat the
10 degrees and two feet of snow I
have to deal with now. You lived
out there for awhile, so would you
recommend it as the place to go
for me? What are the positives
and negatives?
Venice Beach ain’t what it used to
be. The Firehouse restaurant is OK,
but it’s overpriced for what it is. Gold’s
Gym is nothing like the Gold’s you
may be imagining from the ’80s and
’90s. It used to be a pretty hardcore
place with tons and tons of top ama-
teurs and pros, but now it’s a trendy
place for wannabe actors and models
to prance around and primp with per-
fectly styled hair and the hippest
clothes. Most of them spend more
time talking and text-messaging than
they do exercising, and even then
that’s mostly cardio. Bodybuilders
used to be the ruling class there, but
now they are a rare sight. Not quite
the Mecca you had in mind, is it? The
weather is nice, but the air in LA is
smoggy and you have to go pretty far
north or south for a clean beach.
Venice is a nice place to visit but I
wouldn’t pack up and change your
whole life to go there and live some
loser boyfriends, stop her right away guy that’s more responsible, honest, bodybuilding fantasy. You can do that
and tell her you don’t want to hear and loving. If they actually get with a anywhere as long as you have access
about them. Don’t let them tell you nice guy like that, they get bored soon to a decent gym and you have a
about their drunken one-night-stands and want something more exciting, a strong desire to be the best. If you
either. Instead of being a sympathetic ‘challenge’ they can ‘fix’ with their really want nice weather and clean air
(notice how the word pathetic is in amazing nurturing instincts (please year-round, look into Arizona. !
there?) shoulder to cry on, be a real note my sarcasm on that last part).
bastard. Tell them they deserve all the I wouldn’t worry so much about Got a question for Lee, preferably a
abuse they get if they choose to be your troubles with women. If you hap- really stupid one? E-mail it to him at
with guys that treat them like shit. And pen to meet your Miss Right, then editor@musculardevelopment.com
it is a choice. But most women are there you go. But based on my own and you could see it answered right
really and truly fucked up in the head. experience, she will only be Miss here in MD!

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TELLING IT LIKE IT IS
By Shawn Ray

ShawnRay

FAILING THE ARNOLD DRUG TEST


Winning The Arnold Classic,
Then Losing It All
In 1990, the first drug-tested bodybuilding contest would
be the second annual Arnold Classic Invitational held in
Columbus, Ohio. Fourteen of the world’s best would com-
pete after the drug test on the day of the contest, with the
results to be announced one week after the show. While the
idea was novel at the time, the results would take me on the
ride of my life, at the age of 24. see me compete and also because I could use it as a
Here’s my story… ‘warm-up’ for the Arnold Classic two weeks later! I would
already be in shape, taking photos and the possibility of
ven though it’s been nearly 21 years, I remember win- winning $60,000 was irresistible.

E ning my first pro show like it was yesterday. I pocket-


ed $10,000 for my efforts at the first annual Iron Man
championship in Pasadena in 1990, and served notice to
I moved from Marina Del Rey, California, where I lived
only five minutes from Gold’s Gym in Venice Beach, to live
back home at my dad’s house. This way I could focus on
the bodybuilding world that I had arrived! Fresh from this building the best body I ever had, in order to become a two-
victory, I knew I’d be able to hold my peak two weeks time champion in as many weeks. I was dedicated to the
later at the second annual Arnold Classic Invitational and task of training smart, as I knew I would have no additional
walk away with the title, joining Rich Gaspari as the sec- assistance from the drugs our sport had embraced since my
ond winner of this coveted contest. I had stormed the arrival on the pro scene in 1988. I paid closer attention to my
stage in Pasadena, whipping through seasoned veteran diet, and the detail of my training. I used every supplement
competitors such as Gary Strydom, JJ Marsh and Tony known to mankind to compensate for what I might be lack-
Pearson, as well as beating up on newcomers like Vince ing nutritionally and otherwise. I ate more, slept more,
Comerford and Mike Ashley. Winning the pro Iron Man trained harder and focused like a man possessed, with noth-
set the stage for me as a ‘pre-contest favorite’ in ing to lose and everything to gain! It was this at this time in
Columbus with more seasoned pros like ‘Iron’ Mike bodybuilding that I felt my calling had arrived and I needed
Christian, former Mr. Olympia Chris Dickerson, ‘The to be ready to answer the bell!
Black Prince’ Robby Robinson and former Mr. Olympia Feeling that much more confident with the pro Iron Man
Samir Bannout throwing their names into the mix by victory behind me, my sights were set on even bigger things
way of personal invitations from contest promoters Jim in Columbus. With no time to revel in my victory, I had some
Lorimer and Arnold Schwarzenegger himself! carrot cake on the evening of the win, then it was back in the
The lineup was stacked to put it mildly, but I was up for saddle doing what I had done the four previous months,
the challenge. We all knew the drug testing was in place which was suffer! I don’t use this word lightly with respect
and prepared ourselves accordingly. Many of the guys sim- to what I had to give up for this contest. I had walked away
ply stopped taking drugs when they heard about the con- from the independence of living on my own, then found
test coming in 1989, as I had done. I had committed myself myself ignoring family functions and the holiday season
to the pro Iron Man contest because it was the first of its feasts that were held at my dad’s house. I suffered isolation
kind in California and my family would not have to travel to from neighboring childhood friends I grew up with, and put

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Shawn Ray—Telling It Like It Is
off girlfriends I had everything was going as scheduled. 202 pounds was what I
built relationships weighed when I left California the Wednesday of the con-
with over the years. test, 4 pounds more than what I had weighed when I
Life was on hold as turned pro in 1987, and exactly what I weighed at my first
I chased this dream Mr. Olympia in 1988 only now I had more matured and sea-
of mine. soned muscle, with detail from head to toe— I was ready! I
You see, being a got a glimpse of some photos I had taken in between the
national champion Iron Man and the Arnold, which served as confidence
and a pro body- builders, since I had no issues with how I was looking and I
builder was the envy felt it would take a Mr. Olympia to deprive me of victory in
of everyone inside this show!
the walls of Gold’s People congratulated me on winning the Iron Man from
Gym and all body- the moment I checked into the hotel, to just after we gave
building circles, but at our samples to the doctor. To me that was history and I had
home I was known as unfinished business, not to mention I wanted to add a few
Shawn, the guy who of these prestigious athletes to my list of defeated!
lifts weights. There Surprisingly, none of the athletes spoke about the test in
was no pressure, no the hotel or during the weekend. It was assumed that if you
expectation or interest were there, you were drug-free and it was all good. I cer-
in what I was undertaking, but the strain and pressure of tainly felt that way and to think or feel otherwise would be
handling my business against the world’s best was mount- a lie to myself, as I had been clean since October 1989.
ing. I didn’t use trainers/gurus for contest preparation, nor Many so-called “experts” were saying the orals wouldn’t be
did I have a mentor at the time, only the mirror and a work- detected and that water-based steroids were fast-acting, in
out partner from time to time. I trained at 6 a.m. for two and out of the system
hours, then again at 6 p.m. for another two hours. I had a within a week to
couple contracts with Weider, Pro Fitness, USA Sportswear 10 days. The last
and Powerhouse Gyms International. These sponsorships oral or injection I
enabled me to focus on my training without having to had had was in
punch a clock, enabling me to be the best I could be when I October of 1989,
stepped onstage. I trained almost exclusively at Block’s following the Mr.
Gym in Fullerton, California, 10 minutes from the house. At Olympia contest I
the time, I trained a lot with Former NPC National had watched
Champion Troy Zuccolotto and future USA Champion from the audi-
Dennis Newman. We had some great times back then and ence in Rimini,
killer workouts, but the pressure of living up to my potential Italy with Berry
with a drug test in place was building. DeMey.
Many bodybuilding pundits felt at the time that this drug We spoke
test would help maintain the classic beauty and symmetry about 1990 as if it
of our sports elite. Competitors bring more fans and poten- would be where
tial sponsors into our industry such as ESPN, Coca-Cola history would be
and so on. The testing would lend credibility to our sport, as made by whoever
well as help Ben Weider in his efforts to gain Olympic won this Arnold
recognition. The time for me to come into my own was now Classic, because of
and with Arnold in the driver’s seat, how could I go wrong? the potential ‘mar-
PHOTO COURTESY OF SHAWN RAY

This was the most highly anticipated event of the year, with ketability’ of the
more media and depth of competition than ever before, winner. Berry was out of the competition due to a torn pec,
and I would be front and center of everything that was while I was touring Russia and Italy where we met up and I
good and I’d make my mama proud! Sadly, the turn of decided the Arnold was what I’d train for. Even he had
events after the show would leave a stench of bad sports- agreed with the experts that water-based injectables like
manship that would take a long time to get rid of. Winstrol V and Test Suspension were fast-acting steroids
I sauntered into Columbus, Ohio as the golden boy of that if used properly would be out of the system in a rela-
bodybuilding, a future Mr. Olympia winner in the making. tively short period of time. However, knowing the magni-
People wanted my autograph and photo, not to mention a tude and ramifications of a victory failure at a show this
victory! As I approached the good doctor for the piss test, I big, I chose to stop all drug use in October of 1989 to be
had no foreboding that something could go wrong, or even safe, with the exception of Anavar tablets which I used right
considered the possibility of foul play. As a matter of fact, I up to the new year! Clenbuterol was something I had heard
had too much piss for the cup, which felt good because I a lot of guys were using, but I had no interest in introduc-
was excreting excess water from the plane flight! Ahhh, ing something I had never taken before into my contest

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Shawn Ray—Telling It Like It Is
preparation at this point in time. I was after giving the trophy to my mother
a man on an island with no one to and house-hunting, I had a new con-
turn to for wisdom in areas of drug tract with Weider and set off for
testing and the like, so I chose the Toronto, Canada for a string of semi-
safest course, which was to do what I nars. The magazines were all on
always did: train hard and let my deadline and held their issues back
genetic potential take me where it for the Arnold Classic story.
would, then let the chips fall where A week almost to the day after my
they may. victory, I received a phone call from
As the contest progressed, it was acting IFBB Vice President Wayne
clear after prejudging that I was DeMilia, regarding the results of the
going to win the contest with per- testing. His tone was not unusual, as
fect scores! I even had the pleasure we have spoken many times on the
of a vote of confidence from Arnold phone in the past. After some small
himself, who called my room and chatter and banter about my tour,
made sure I was aware of the dinner Weider and McMahon, Wayne spoke
invitation extended from him and frankly about the drug testing results
his wife Maria Shriver after the as he said, “Shawn, you’ve failed the
show! I was ecstatic and relieved to drug test and were found positive for
say the least, as this phone call was the drug Winstol V. We will need you
all I needed to hear, especially from to return the trophy as soon as you
Arnold! Things started picking up return to the states.”
around me; I was being pho- I was numb and questioned him
tographed after the prejudging before the finals as if I about the possibility of a mistake and asked that sample
had already won and I was giving interviews as if the “B” be re-tested. He replied, “You can fly to Chicago on
show were already over. To me the $60,000 was already your own dime and have sample B tested, but in my opin-
being spent in my head at this point! ion Shawn, the outcome will be the same— only you will
At the announcement of my name as the winner by leg- have wasted your time and money.” With that phone call, I
endary bodybuilder Reg Park, I wanted to cry, then scream hung up and called Joe Weider to tell him the news he
with satisfaction, but my emotions wouldn’t allow the tears had already heard. I said, “Joe it’s me Shawn, I’m in
to flow, nor my vocal Canada doing seminars
cords to work. I simply “Shawn, you’ve failed the drug and just found out I failed
smiled and held it in, the test— what does all
relieved that what I did test and were found this mean?” Joe
had worked! I had no
secret weapon, trainer,
positive for the drug Winstol V. answered, “Shawn it
means you’re going to
guru or magic potion. My We will need you to return the have to stay clean and
time in the gym and dedi- pass the test at the Mr.
cation to the sport had trophy as soon as you return to Olympia in September in
brought me here to be
honored and revered as
the states.” Chicago— can you do
that?” I said, “WHAT?”
the future of the sport! A fresh new face ushering in youth Joe went on to say, “Shawn, there is nothing you can do
and vision, a man with marketing ideas and dreams to be about it except redeem yourself in September. We’ll be here
played out for the betterment of the sport for everyone! to help you through this and promote you accordingly—
Needless to say, the reporters tirelessly interviewed me you’re still one of the guys who can win this show!” That
and my fellow competitors about the show, the testing and was really all I needed to hear. My job with him was secure,
our sports future. I ate dinner with a legend and future gov- his faith in me did not waiver. I imagine he knew that WBF
ernor of the state in which I live. I had the hand-crafted 75- and Vince McMahon were still hovering around his prized
pound bronze trophy with Arnold hitting his famous twist- athletes, and he didn’t want to lose me— or he is really the
ing ‘side back double biceps’ pose and a blank envelope man I’ve always thought he was: a bodybuilder’s business-
that said pending the results of the test, I was $60,000 rich- man’s dream!
er! I felt the weight of the world was off my shoulders and Joe didn’t blink an eye at the situation, which at the time
we had turned another corner as a sport. Joe Weider really helped me through this process. I had lost money I
arranged immediate photo shoots back in California and never really had, but it was an experience they could never
was re-writing my contract based on the upcoming 1990 take away from me. As well, the trophy was but a symbol
Mr. Olympia in Chicago, and an aging Lee Haney was con- of my participation, but the experience onstage and off is
templating retirement. Wrestling tycoon Vince McMahon something that lives with me today in my memories. I had
was starting his own bodybuilding federation and had set no choice but to stay the course mentally and business-
his sights on me as a potential member of his team. Days wise. I began speaking of the failed test results before the

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BRANDEN RAY
By Branden Ray

Road tothe USAs


Last year was my first trip to ting out this show. The message
the Arnold. I had the honor of boards have been flooded with
watching my girlfriend, Kristy mixed opinions about The Gift’s
Hawkins, make her pro decision to skip the show and a
debut at such a prestigious possible six-figure check. Yo Phil,
show. I was so proud of her from one bailer to another,
that weekend, sharing the smart move, bro!
same stage with Iris, See, Phil was a guard in his
Dayana, Kathy, Lisa and basketball days and as guard,
Yaxeni, just to name a few. you have to make the best
For those of you who have decisions at all times. You have
been there already, I’m pretty to know when to take it to
sure you’ll make it to Columbus. hoop, or when to pull back and
For those of you who haven’t, let the clock run down. Right
well, get your ass a ticket now, the clock is on your side. I
already! You don’t want to miss trust that he will hit the big
out on the show this year and shot and I have him being a
especially the expo! I will be top dog at the O.
at the VPX booth handing Now, the person that I’m
out samples of my favorite dying to see under the lights on
product, NO SyntheSize. Its that stage in Columbus is
stimulant-free NO with five Victor Martinez. Victor is
forms of creatine and 20g of ready. Victor will win the
protein per scoop. I’ll be Arnold… and possibly the
handing that out along Olympia. I am 100 percent confi-
with VPX T-Shirts and dent in my pick because Victor
other quality products, has so much to motivate him.
so definitely come We’re not going to talk about
check me out. You the 2007 Olympia. Let’s talk
know we always about the injury first.
have the most girls They say when there is a fire
at our booth! in the forest and the smoke
Now, with the clears, new life can be created.
tradition of Mr. O Victor has been given new life.
sitting out the He’s so motivated after the freak
Arnold, Dexter injury that I feel that he will be
Jackson, who even better because he’s really
training smart. He has been so
cool when facing this adversity
and the passing of his dad, that
a rigorous four months of diet
will be a piece of cake.
His greatest challenges will
be Kai Greene and Branch
Warren. I know all of you
have seen videos of Kai pos-
ing online, but until you see
him in person, you don’t fully
understand how gifted he is.
PHOTO BY PER BERNAL

once called my job at The crowd gets anxious when


CNN and announced they know that all of the other
himself as Mr. O, will competitors have done their
be sitting out this routine, and the Greatest
show. As of recently, Entertainer representing BK is
Phil Heath will be sit- about to shut it down!

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ww
www.fantamag.com
w.fa
w. fa
BRANDEN RAY—
Road tothe USAs
My jaw dropped when Kai walked out on the
stage last year. He had a stiff walk like RoboCop
but with an added NYC swagger. He was
HUGE! When I saw him at the Nationals,
he was even BIGGER! I can flip a coin
with Vic and Kai. The reason why I lean
toward Vic is only because I think he
might be the most hungry and has actu-
ally won this show already. I didn’t
really base it on physique
because they are both
really incredible and
Kai has really closed
the gap between
them really fast. If
Kai nails his con-
dition, he can be
coming home
with the big
paycheck.
Branch is
another athlete
who has battled
back from injury.
He will push Vic
and Kai to the
end. He comes
in super grainy,
and if he’s a lit-
tle crisper than
last year’s Arnold where he shut everybody up, it will be his time. Branch is a
fan favorite and just one of my favorite people in the sport. In fact, I admire
him more than any pro bodybuilder for what he’s accomplished off the sport.
He is my favorite pro because he is also an entrepreneur and so down-to-
earth. He’s not a flashy guy and just gets it done. He definitely embodies
everything that a champion bodybuilder should— fan friendly, articulate and
a hardcore, OK—freaky physique! If Branch doesn’t win this show, I would
love to see him do the New York Pro and or the Europa later on and get a
win. He is definitely a true champ.
Now, my sleeper is Marcus Haley. After seeing him in Atlanta, posing at
the Gold’s Gym on Peachtree St., this dude has put on some SIZE! Marcus
is also an excellent poser (thanks for the posing tips, bro) and presents his
physique so well. He’s already big but poses even bigger! I really want
Marcus to nail his conditioning and slice up all that added muscle. He is a
showman and loves this sport and he also interacts with fans really well.
For all of you guys out there who need help with posing, you better hire
Marcus. He really knows how to bring your physique out, because so often
we ‘lose’ just because of presentation. I’m warning all of you dudes out
there: watch out for Marcus, because he will hold his own in any pose.
I can’t wait to meet all of you at the Arnold. It’s cold in Columbus but it
gets hot at the expo, so for all of you guys (and girls) who think you can
get away without a quality deodorant, don’t even try it. The judges will
remember you and mark you down the next time you’re onstage… lol, just
kidding. Oh yeah, please limit the silent-but-deadly protein farts. You lose
all cool points from me. I’ll give you props if you let out an earth-shatter-
ing loud one, though. Don’t be a punk. Claim it if you laid it! Holla at your
boy in Columbus! !

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DENNIS WOLF— THE PEOPLE’S CHOICE

The Big Bad WOLF By Dennis Wolf

The Operation Was A Success!


My hernia repair surgery went very well. I was told the actual
procedure took something like 45 minutes to an hour, but I didn’t
regain consciousness for four more hours after that. The first thing
I saw was my wife Katja sitting near my bed. We started talking,
but then I fell right back asleep. She left for a few hours and came
back to wait for me to wake up for good. It was nighttime, which
was odd as I had arrived at the hospital very early in the morning.
It was like I lost a day. There was no pain at all. Later my wife told
me that I was talking complete nonsense the first time I woke up.
She wished she had a tape recorder to play it back for me because
it was all so bizarre and stupid.

Meshing Together
One thing I made very sure of was that my surgeon put a mesh
screen over the repaired area before sewing it all back up. I had
talked to some guys who had hernia operations who did not have
a mesh screen put in, and each and every one of them got another
hernia later on! I really, really can’t afford to lose more time like
this again. As it is, I am going to miss the Arnold, a show I had
been looking forward to and that I could have had a good chance
to win. So if any of you bodybuilders out there have a hernia repair,
be very sure you specifically ask for a mesh screen.

Too Much Time On whole lot, but one time I did the
My Hands day after the operation and it
My days are normally pretty almost felt like someone stabled
full with training and eating. me in the guts! I really thought
After about a week following the I had torn open the hernia again
surgery, I didn’t know what to do because the pain was horrible.
with myself. I was watching all Pretty scary.
my DVDs and some old UFC
fights, but the boredom and the Back To The Gym—
feeling that I was just wasting With Extreme
time sitting around was tough to Caution
take. I’ve always taken some Next week (beginning
time off from training after a big December 8), I am going back
show like the Olympia, but that to the gym for some very light
was by choice. It’s worse when training, just to see how it
you can’t train even if you really goes. I will be using very light
want to. It definitely made me weights and probably mostly
appreciate being strong and machines, just to get the
healthy that much more. blood flowing and maybe a bit
of a pump in the muscles. I
It Only Hurts When I. . . have to be very careful and
• Sit up. Who knew how ease back into heavy training
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

much you depend on your abs to very gradually. If I do it right


do this? My wife helped me a lot and have patience, everything
with this in the first couple will be perfect. If I try to rush
weeks. back into heavy training
• Laugh. I can’t watch any- before I’m ready, I don’t even
thing too funny on TV or in the want to think about what
movies for awhile. could happen.
• Sneeze. I don’t sneeze a

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Is Markus
Coming Back?
I was at the German
Championships where
Markus Ruhl guest-
posed a couple weeks
ago. We talked a little
but he never said any-
thing about competing
again soon. Then I read
online that he is sup-
posed to do the New
York Pro in May. I have
no idea why he didn’t
mention it to me when
we were talking. Not a
big deal. It’s not like he
needs to tell me all his
plans. I wish him the
best, as Markus is a
very cool guy and
always so friendly.

Heath Skipping The Arnold— But Why?


I also heard about Phil Heath deciding not to compete in the Arnold
Classic. I just wonder whether the main reason is to give his body a
break and more rest after doing both the Arnold and Olympia in 2008, or
if Phil is not competing in the Arnold because he is sure he can win the
Mr. Olympia in 2009 like a lot of people seem to think. If he takes second
or third at the Olympia, maybe he will be upset that he missed out on
the Arnold. It won’t be clear whether this is a good idea until after the
Olympia, I suppose.

What I Asked Santa Claus For:


All I want for Christmas is a 2009 with no injuries, to come into the Mr.
Olympia shredded and full at 285 pounds, and to return home to Germany as
the new Mr. O. That’s not too much to ask, is it? I’ve been a very good boy!

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 427


www.fantamag.com
Dennis Wolf— The People’s Choice
Since you are German, I
thought you would be the perfect
man to ask about German Volume
Training, or 10 sets of 10 with
very little rest in between. Have
you ever tried it? Do you think it
can be as effective as using heav-
ier weights and longer rest peri-
ods for fewer sets?
I can’t really give an opinion about
German Volume Training from my own
experience because I have never tried
it. I am pretty sure that you are only
supposed to do one exercise for those
10 sets, and that’s the whole workout
for the body part. I don’t really like the
idea of only using one exercise like
that. Muscles need to be worked from
different angles to get the best devel-
opment. This is why bodybuilders
have such great proportion and shape
compared to guys who just focus on a
few exercises all the time and don’t
bother to keep different parts of mus-
cle groups (upper chest, rear delts) in
proportion to the other parts. Another
thing I would not think would be too
good in the long-run is that the
weights you are using are pretty light,
relatively speaking. Any weight you
can use for 10 sets with such little rest
in between can’t be too heavy. Maybe
this is a good idea for someone who is
injured or who needs a little break
from heavy weights.
All I can say is that the way I
train seems to work very well for
me. I cycle between two training
styles. On some workouts I will go
heavy and use an explosive type of
rep speed. I do three or four exer-
cises for 3 or 4 sets of 8-12 reps.
The second way I train is to use less
weight and slow the reps down to
focus on the squeeze and the
stretch. I wouldn’t only train one
way or the other, because I think it’s
more effective to work the muscles
in different ways. As for German
Volume Training, I am one German
who has never tried it! You can defi-
nitely try it for yourself and see how
it works for you. If you get very
good results, then keep doing it! !
OUT
CHECK
ment.com
eveloPpLE
muscuFlaOrd TE
Got a question for Dennis? E-mail him
R COM VERAGE! at editor@musculardevelopment.com
ST CO
CONTE
and you could see it answered right here
in MD!

428 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
ERIK FANKHOUSER—NORTH AMERICAN CHAMPION

Erik “The House”


Fankhouser By Erik Fankhouser

I have pretty big quads and a small waist, and


cannot find any pants that fit me right. I was just
wondering were you buy your clothes and how the
hell do they fit those calves?
That is a good question, bro. Some of us have that
great problem finding clothes to fit because our propor-
tions are so crazy compared to the average mofo. I think
this is a good problem to have. One of the funniest
things is trying to get fitted for a tux. They always have
trouble finding things to fit right. I have never been fitted
right in a tux. The pants are usually too damn big and I
end up wearing suspenders. Also, the tux jacket and vest
are always too big in the waist. It always looks like I have
a huge waist because of all the extra material. I always
get a laugh when they do my measurements and the lit-
tle lady looks at me like I am a freak. All I can say, bro, is
learn to wear a belt…lol. I have to wear a belt with all of
the pants I own, because of my waist. I usually end up
getting a 40-plus waist because that is what will fit my
legs, and I only wear a 32 waist in the off-season. Old
Navy wide-leg jeans fit me the best.

You have some of the craziest calves on the


planet. What the hell do you do for them, and do
people stare at your calves when you walk around
town? You got to tell me your workout. I will try
anything. My calves are like pencils and need to
grow.
Thanks, bro. My calf training has changed through the
years. Early in my training when I was a young buck, I
wanted to make my calves as big as I could make them. I
trained them as heavy as I could. Bro, I remember doing
sets with as low as 6 reps. I would do them on a day
with abs and forearms. I would try to get 12 working sets
on calves, going as heavy as possible. My favorite exer-
cises were leg presses, calf raises, seated calf raises, and
standing calf raises in a squat rack off of plates. Doing
theses exercises heavy gave me the mass that I have Mass-Building Calf Workout
today in the calf department. Calf raises on leg press
Today I have a different approach to training calves. I 15, 12, 10, 8, 15
train them with quads and hams. I just throw in a few Seated calf raises
sets of calves at the end of my leg workout and do a few 15, 12, 10, 8
sets on the leg press if I am doing the leg press for legs Standing calf raises
that day. These days, I am not trying to gain more mass 12, 10, 8
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

in my calves. I am only trying to keep what I have and


give them as much detail as possible. Maybe when the Maintaining Calf Workout
rest of my body catches up with my calves, I will go back Calf raises on leg press
to mass building for calves. I got a lot of training to do 30, 30, 30
before I catch everything else up. I would be huge if Seated calf raises
everything matched them. Only the future will tell. The 30, 30, 30
day I have to worry about bringing my calves up is a
good day for me.

430 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
ripped me and said I would never win shows, but when
you put pictures out on the ‘net, you got to be ready for
that. It never bothered me when people would talk shit
on me, and besides, they still do today and I just use it
as motivation. So for you, I would start posting pictures
online on all the forums and you should definitely post
them on the md website. If you post them on my thread,
I will give you some feedback. I don’t blow smoke up
anybody’s ass; I will tell you how it is.
Another good form of exposure is going to all the
shows and expos that you can. I remember going to the
Arnold Classic expo and hitting up all the booths, passing
out contact info. I also remember trying to show some of
the pros pictures of me from my shows, and most of them
just looked at me like I was crazy. But, oh well. Little did
they know that I would be a pro standing onstage next to
them someday. That is one reason I always give time to
anybody who comes up to me at an expo. You never know,
I could be talking to the next pro.

House Calls
House, you busted onto the bodybuilding scene
North American
pretty damn quick. Could you give me some tips on
Overall Champ 1st Place
how to get my name out there and get noticed? It
would be nice to pick up a supplement sponsor. How It is funny that you should ask how Universal
did Universal find you? Nutrition found me. It ties right in with the question. Irv
Yeah bro, it has been a fast ride so far. I only did four Gelb, a well-known photographer, saw some of the pho-
shows in three years before I turned pro. It was pretty awe- tos I had posted and he set up a shoot for me and got
some. I still remember doing my first show. It was the me in contact with Universal. Universal then saw pic-
Upper Ohio Valley NPC show. I had no idea what was going tures of me that I had posted online. They e-mailed me
on. I was dieting while I was still in college, but I was lucky and at first I thought it was people messin’ with me, but I
to have some good people in my corner to show me the followed up with it and they ended up signing me over
CONTEST PHOTO BY BILL COMSTOCK

ropes. So yes, it all happened pretty quick. the phone in a few days. It was crazy; I went from Mr.
Getting your name out there is pretty important and WV to being signed with them. They signed me before I
doing that will get you noticed. I think that the Internet is had even stepped on the national-level stage. Getting
one of the best tools for any bodybuilder at any level to signed with Universal was my first big step in bodybuild-
get noticed. I used the Internet early in my career to get ing, and now being with MD is just a dream come true.
my face out to different people. Once I started dieting I also have to say my wife has also been very sup-
down for my shows, I was posting pictures online for portive and she is my biggest promoter. She is always
people to give me some input. It is funny to look back at talking on the boards and keeping me in the light while I
what people thought of me then. There were people who am training hard.

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 431


www.fantamag.com
Eric Fankhouser—North American Champion

OUT
CHECK

usculardevelopmenEt.com
m FOR COMPLER ET
AGE!
T COV
CONTES

House’s Hot Plate So I am working on thickness. Heavy-ass deadlifts, squats,


Back by popular demand, I have had tons of requests and good-old flat bench presses are what’s on tap for me.
and questions on how the hell I cooked my frozen tilpia in I am also doing less volume when it comes to reps and
my MDTV video. Let me tell you this: it’s not the best way sets. In the past I have been a big volume guy. Now I am
to cook the fish, but it’s the fastest way to cook the fish. If focusing on training heavy with less reps, staying around
you are anything like me, time is short when you are train- 8 reps and not going over 16 sets for big muscles and 12
ing for a show. I mastered the ‘frozen fish nuke’ in the for smaller muscles. In the past I did nothing under 20
microwave. I was eating it eight times a day for over 15 sets per body part. I am also keeping the workouts to
weeks. Don’t remind me…lol. under 80 minutes.
I cooked my fish so many different ways in the
microwave. Sometimes I would overcook it so it would be ABCs
tough and it would have a different texture. You can also use We just had a great Animal ABC event at the gym I train
a variety of seasonings. One of my favorite combos was hot at, The Body Shop. We had a ton of great people training
sauce and Splenda on my fish. It is like ‘candy hot sauce’ together. It is always great to train with people with a com-
fish. Now that I am not dieting, it doesn’t sound so good, but mon goal and people who like to train hard. We are also
back then it was like a treat. I tried many different going to have a big ABC event at the Arnold this year and
microwave-safe bowls, but I could never find one that would we hope everyone can make it. For more info, go to
cook it right. Until I came across the heat-and-serve bowl www.animalpak.com.
made by Tupperware. I had an awesome Tupperware dealer
who worked out at my gym and hooked me up. Thanks, Kim Family
Reed, you rock. That bowl was the best. It is ‘House Everything on the homestead is good. I got to attend one
approved’ and I still use it in the off-season to cook in. of my son Xavier’s gymnastics classes. The wife and I take
Here it is. Step one: take the frozen fish and place it in him each week but they don’t let the parents watch
the heat-and-serve bowl. Cook in microwave for 2 min- because of distractions. They let us watch this week and it
utes. Step two: remove the fish, drain off the water and was awesome. I never knew he was as good as he is. He
break up the fish. If you want to add seasoning, add it was doing better than all the kids his age in his class. He
after you drain the water. Step three: put fish back in the has such good natural ability. His balance was so much bet-
microwave for two more minutes. Then it’s done. ter than anyone else’s in the class when they were walking
Remember, time may vary depending on how good your on the balance beams. He also surprised me with his ability
microwave is, and depending on how ‘cooked’ you want to jump. I see him jump every day but when he jumps in
it. Play with the time and eventually you will fined the hoops and jumps over cones, it is crazy. I know I am his dad
right time for yourself. Enjoy. but he has definitely got some awesome God-given abilities
when it comes to that stuff. Also, he amazes me because
Training Journal we took him to the eye doctor the other day and found out
Training is going great; I am in the full swing of things that his left eye has half the vision of the right. So now the
now. After taking a little time off I am feeling all healed up little guy is looking adorable in his new glasses. So even
and doing great. This year I am trying to get back to my old with a not-so-good eye, he is still maintaining excellent bal-
ways. I am lifting heavy weights and doing all the core lifts. ance and posture in gymnastics.
I am adding thickness this year to my entire body. After Heather, Andy B and I have been promoting our show for
competing last year and evaluating my pictures next to all September and cannot wait till it happens again. It is going
the other pros, I feel I need more thickness. When I turn to to be better than last year and last year was great. Look at
the side, I feel I am just not up to par with all the big pros. www.erikfankhouser.net for updates on the show. !

432 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


EVAN CENTOPANI By Evan Centopani

NATIONAL HERO
It’s Gonna Be A Great Arnold Classic!
As I write this in mid-December, the lineup for the 2009
Arnold Classic hasn’t been announced yet. The two big
mystery entries that a lot of people would love to see are
Dexter Jackson and possibly Ronnie Coleman. If any Mr.
Olympia can compete twice a year without risking much,
it’s Dexter. He’s shown many times that peaking is not an
issue with him. So I would not be surprised if he decided to
show up and spoil the party. I am pretty skeptical of
Ronnie. Personally, I would love to see him compete again
because he’s a living legend, but I doubt he will do any-
thing before that big show in Berlin after the Olympia.
As for Victor Martinez, the Arnold could easily be his if
he is able to look as good as he did back in 2007 where he
beat Dexter at both the Arnold and the Olympia. Nobody
really knows yet how that leg looks. Kai Greene could also
be right up there and could even push Victor or Dexter for
the title if he’s improved again. He gets better at every
show, which makes him a serious threat. He’s a freak, and
he brings the condition.
Toney Freeman and Branch Warren will also be there
gunning for glory. Toney is coming off a very strong fall
2008 season and Branch missed the Olympia and is practi-
cally foaming at the mouth to do his best here. It would
have been an even better show if Phil Heath hadn’t decid-
ed to skip it, of course. People are debating whether this is
a smart move, but the guy has made nothing but wise
choices so far when it comes to picking which shows to
enter and which ones to pass on. Regardless, the 2009 sea-
son is already shaping up to be one of the most exciting
ones we’ve had in a long time.
Fortunately, I never had any problems with my skin. I
Evan, have you ever had problems with acne? know a lot of guys who are susceptible to acne on either
My doctor prescribed me some tetracycline their face, body or both. You may want to try drinking more
because it was getting bad on my back (bacne). water and cleaning up your diet if it isn’t already in good
Then I read something Dave Palumbo wrote, that shape. I wish I could offer you more advice. One thing I will
this drug inhibits protein synthesis. Great— so my say and some people will probably disagree with me, is that
skin will clear up but I won’t be able to make any you may want to make sure your liver function is up to par.
gains! Do you have any suggestions on what I can It would make sense to me that your body excretes toxins
do for my acne instead of using tetracycline? through your urine and your fecal matter and if either if
those are not working up to par, you will excrete them
through your skin.
Maybe this is entirely untrue and I’m out in left field with
this theory, but I do know people with skin issues who start-
ed using liver products that cleared up their skin dramatical-
ly. Liv.52 is very popular. Also, there is a product from a
company called Standard Process called LivCo. It’s only pre-
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

scribed by medical professionals and it’s a combination of


milk thistle, rosemary and schisandra. I know of a few peo-
ple who have had great success with it. Just make sure
you’re taking care of your body and that your colon, liver,
kidneys, etc. are functioning up to par. In my mind, so long
as they are, you shouldn’t have issues with your skin and
shouldn’t need to use powerful acne drugs that all have
nasty side effects you don’t want.

436 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Light-Heavyweights
A lot of haters bashed Peter
Putnam because he did not bring his
best-ever package to this show and he
didn’t seem to have improved much in
the full year he had since his last con-
test. But regardless, I still think he
won fair and square. Putnam carries a
lot of muscle for a light-heavy. Al
Auguste and Chulsey Graham were
both good, but Peter was just better
on that day. This was not the typical
awesome light-heavyweight class we
are used to seeing at the Nationals. If
Chulsey Graham puts on just a bit
more size and nails his condition, he
will win this class soon. His shape and
symmetry are fantastic.
Middleweight
Guy Cisterino
Heavyweights
Now this was a tough class! Based
on what I saw from the weigh-in pho-
tos, I thought Mark Alvisi was going to
be the surprise and knock out Mike
Overall-Super Heavyweight Liberatore for the class win. Mark
Ed Nunn somehow lost just a tiny bit of that
freaky dry look he had by the time
Nationals Wrap-Up they got on stage the next night. Even
From The 2007 though I think it still could have gone
either way and few would have com-
Overall Champ plained, Mike got the nod and the pro
It’s hard to believe it’s already card.
been a little over a year since I won
the Nationals. It really does seem just Super Heavyweights
like yesterday when I think back to Ed Nunn pulled a ‘lights out, game
that contest. Though I wasn’t at the over’ on the rest of this class. I was
recent Nationals, I did see plenty of very impressed with newcomer Steve
photos and talked to many people Kuclo, since I think he’s only 23. Trey Heavyweight
who were there. Here’s my brief com- Brewer also looked much better than Peter Putnam
mentary. he did at the Junior Nationals. Still, I
was surprised to hear that he was 10
Middleweights pounds lighter, which puts him about
My buddy Guy Cisternino blew 20 pounds lighter than when he won
this class away with condition none his first open show two years ago.
of the other guys could touch. There Trey needs to go back to whatever he
was some debate after prejudging was doing back then and get that size
PHOTOGRAPHY BY BILL COMSTOCK AND MICHAEL PINTO

because a couple of the other mid- and fullness back, along with the con-
dles outmuscled him in terms of raw dition he had here (and then). I don’t
mass and thickness, but Guy had know if it means going back to heavier
deep, clear separations and an overall lifting or what, but Trey Brewer could
polish that carried him to the win. If be one of the best if he figures out
he wants to compete as a pro in the what his body really needs. He’s a nice
202 class, I think he could do really kid and I would love to see him fulfill
well as long as he takes a year or two his potential, even if that means I’ll
off to add quality size. You have guys have to go up against him in the pros.
like Dave Henry, Kevin English, Flex
Lewis and possibly Lee Priest bat- Overall
tling it out in the 202s. All those men Easy call for Nunn. The dude was
pack a lot of mass on their frames. huge, had great shape and was Heavyweight
But congratulations to Guy on a well- ripped. I doubt the judges had to Mike Liberatore
deserved win. sweat too hard over that decision.

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 437


www.fantamag.com
Evan Centopani—
National Hero

CH
musculardeECK OUT
velopment.co
FOR CO
CONTE
S
MPLET
E
m
T COV
ERAGE
!

Squat First In The Workout, Or Last?


Variety is key. While squats are a fundamental exercise for growth and
you have to do them, I think that how you arrange the rest of your leg train-
ing around squatting makes a huge difference. You can go into the gym and
squat first with heavy weight and then move on to the other movements. Or
you can do three other exercises first and squat last. You can do giant sets,
drop sets, supersets... and each will have a different effect. Almost anything
will work for a period of time. But squatting first every time, forever, will
surely cause you to hit a plateau sooner or later.

Fast-Food Fanatic
I still can’t get over how a few comments I made here about how I used
to chow down at Wendy’s in my earlier years trying to bulk up has almost
taken on a life of its own. It’s almost like I am getting to be the official
Wendy’s pro the way Lee Priest is known for KFC! I don’t eat that crap any-
more. If I’m gonna have a burger, I go someplace where they do it right and
use quality meat. But I will say that for guys who can’t add weight even
though they eat as much good food as they can stuff down, fast food would
probably help them reach their goals. Just make sure you avoid trans fats.
Those really clog your arteries up, and that’s not good.

What Will I Weigh?


Every day, somebody asks me how much I will weigh at the New York
Pro in May when I make my pro debut. I won the Nationals at 245. In the off-
season that I’ve been on since then, my weight has gone from 292 to 312.
That’s 20 pounds. I look at photos and I don’t feel I am really any fatter, so
the majority of that weight has to be lean muscle mass. That being said, I
wouldn’t expect to be able to hold on to all of the new muscle and diet
down into crazy condition. If I can keep three-quarters of it, that puts me at
about 260 onstage in May. I would be very happy with that! !

Got a question for Evan? E-mail it to him editor@musculardevelopment.com


and you could see it answered right here in MD!

438 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
ThePROCreator By Hany Rambod

Why Phil Heath Is Skipping


The Arnold Classic
W
hen the man known as ‘The Gift,’ aka Phil Heath, announces his contest
plans, the entire industry sits up and takes notice. As one of the fresh-
est rising stars in pro bodybuilding, his every move seems to be ana-
lyzed and dissected. And that’s a good thing— it means people care which
contests he does and doesn’t compete in. In his first two seasons as a pro,
Phil chose to skip the Mr. Olympia, even though he was quali-
fied. That strategy paid off, as it provided Phil with ample
time to make the improvements he knew were needed
before being able to stand on the Olympia stage as a true
contender. When he finally did compete in the Mr.
Olympia in 2008, Heath made one of the best debuts in
Olympia history, placing third behind winner Dexter
Jackson and defending two-time champ Jay Cutler.
The margin among the top three was so slim that
had Phil been declared Mr. O, few would have
argued. Now, Phil has decided to skip the 2009
Arnold Classic and focus on the Mr. Olympia
instead. As his coach, I can shed some light as to
what went into the decision- making process.

Being Selective
Both Phil and I are extremely logical and ana-
lytical when it comes to picking his shows. He
doesn’t just randomly jump into any contest on a
whim. Since he turned professional at the 2005 USA,
each contest has been carefully selected to make sure
it’s the right step for him at that point in time. Some
concerns would obviously be: Is he ready to do well at
this level of competition? Would he have sufficient
time to make improvements since his last event?
And, has Phil allowed enough time between events for full
recovery of all systems? A key process before deciding
whether to compete in any given contest is to see if it makes
sense after taking various factors into consideration, other-
wise known as weighing the pros and cons.

Doing The Arnold: The Pros


If Phil competed in the Arnold Classic, he would be rid-
ing a strong wave of momentum from his third place at
the Olympia. If he won, Phil would earn a nice paycheck
of over $100,000. Assuming he was able to beat Victor,
he would also set a precedent there that would put
him in a very favorable position to win the Mr.
Olympia in the fall.

440 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.
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www.fantamag.com
w.fa
w. fant
fantam
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amag
ThePROCreator
Doing The Arnold: around for a long time, and the Mr.
The Cons Olympia is the title that he really
First and foremost, Phil’s goal is wants. So for all these reasons, Phil
to make significant improvements is passing on the Arnold Classic.
from one show to the next. He has
done an excellent job of this so far. The Wheels
2008 was the first time that Phil did Are In Motion
two full contest preparations in the Currently, Phil and I are putting
same calendar year: one for the Iron together his next training program
Man and Arnold Classic, and the that will be a new version of FST-7.
other for the Mr. Olympia. Honestly, The should help maximize his gains in
he was a little burnt out after the this coming off-season. He’s back in
Olympia. Turning right around and the gym training, but keeping the
beginning another prep for the weights and intensity at only around
Arnold would neither have afforded 80 percent so that his mind and body
him time to make more improve- will be ready to begin taking it all to
ments, nor even to adequately rest the next level in the new year. I think
and regroup before starting the it’s safe to say that Phil has proven
whole contest-prep process all over several times now that he picks and
again. It would certainly not have chooses his shows shrewdly, and it’s
been the best strategy toward win- paid off. Skipping the Arnold will also
ning the 2009 Mr. Olympia. prove to be a wise strategy, though it
won’t be evident until we see him at
A True Challenge the Mr. Olympia and can appreciate
To Victor, And For the improvements that this coming
The Mr. O Title off-season will yield. Should Phil be
Phil and I both recognize that victorious in Las Vegas, this decision
Victor Martinez is the front-runner to may be praised as his best yet.
win the 2009 Mr. Olympia. He’s beat-
en Dexter the last several times they Postscript:
competed against each other, and Where’s Phil
Jay is no longer the champ. So it’s Gonna Be?
really Victor that Phil needs to take Phil won’t be in total seclusion until
out if he wants the Sandow on the the Mr. Olympia, unlike Dorian Yates.
mantle in his new home. Dorian was known to hide in his musty
The last time Phil stood next to basement gym until it was time to
Victor was at the 2007 Arnold compete. Heath is a little more social
Classic, and at that point Martinez than that. Fans can see him at both the
outweighed him by 20 pounds: 235 Iron Man and the Arnold Classic. Check
to Heath’s 215. Victor is 35 years him out at the Arnold, where he’ll be
old and has been bodybuilding dividing his time between the Met-Rx
now for almost 15 years, training and Weider booths. !
closer to 20. Phil is just 28 and has
only been training for six years. My website is now up and running.
He’s added a lot of quality muscle Visit www.hanyrambod.com or
mass since then, and certainly can www.fst-7.com for previous articles,
add more. If Phil takes the next few news, an interactive forum, video clips
months and uses it as an off-sea- and member profiles and blogs. You’ll
son to make further improvements, also find updates on my current
his chances of winning the Mr. clients and who is preparing for
Olympia are much better.
upcoming contests. Free registration
As for missing out on the big pay-
gives you full access to all of it.
day at the Arnold, Phil is currently in
Got a question for Hany you would
a pretty fortunate financial position
like to see answered here? E-mail him
with his contracts with Met-Rx and
Weider. He’s also not in the final at HanyRambod@aol.com. Due to the
stages of his pro career where he high volume of e-mail he receives and
can’t afford to miss out on any limited editorial space, only selected
shows. Phil is pacing himself to be questions will be answered and used.

www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
CHAD NICHOLLS
The Contest GURU
Bringing It To
The Arnold:
Top Stable Of Athletes
N
ow that the holidays have joined the bodybuilding, fitness and to the competitive stage. After winning
subsided and 2009 is official- figure weekend roster. Minus a couple the Arnold Classic in 2007 and with a
ly here, it’s time to look at the of Olympia names, anyone who is any- controversial second place finish to
2009 IFBB competitive season and the one will be in this year’s Arnold Classic Jay Cutler at the 2007 Mr. Olympia,
crème de la crème of weekends— the lineup, with hungry athletes, veterans Victor had set himself up not only to
2009 Arnold Classic! As always, this and rookies all wanting to prove what collect a second consecutive Arnold
event promises to be first-rate and they are made of. This year’s competi- title, but had also set himself up as the
have something for everyone, from the tion will be fierce! ‘heir apparent’ to the 2008 Olympia
larger-than-life expo, to the multitude The most anticipated event this title. Unfortunately, an untimely knee
of sporting events that have now year is the return of Victor Martinez injury quashed our dreams and goals

PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

444 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
for last year.The one positive for Vic’s show for Victor, as it will be the first helped him quickly climb up the ranks,
injury is that it has made him hungrier time since his injury that he has pre- he will be hard to beat— not just at the
than ever to regain the Arnold title this pared and dieted for a show. The ques- Arnold, but at the Olympia as well.
year, along his path to his goal of cap- tion on everyone’s mind is: “What will Taking off the remainder of the year
rd
turing the 2009 Olympia title. Victor look like?” Everyone has their after his 3 place finish last year, I think
This is going to be an important viewpoint on how the injury affected we will see a fresh and complete Kai,
his physique, but regardless of opin-
ions, we are all chomping at the bit to
see his post-injury debut— and I can
tell you he will deliver. He looks to
come in at about the same size and
conditioning as he did at the 2007 Mr.
Olympia and since he’s stayed leaner
than normal in the off-season, we will
see even more detail and separation,
as well as superior conditioning. Being
a consummate professional, Victor
views the injury both as an opportunity
and a challenge to make himself an
even better and more complete athlete
and I think that is exactly what he will
show us on the 2009 Arnold stage.
Chomping at the bit to get back
onto the competitive stage is Kai
Greene. Kai Greene has the potential
to throw a monkey wrench into every-
one’s plans. With his thickly muscled
physique, if Kai can get back to the
crisply detailed and separated look that

March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 445


www.fantamag.com
Chad Nicholls—The Contest Guru
the IFBB and the fans that he is back
and ready to show his fellow competi-
tors just how dangerous he can be!
Showing consistency with his condi-
tioning and working on his leg separa-
tion will keep his forward momentum
going— he’s always had plenty of
size— but refining and honing it to dis-
play incredibly crisp conditioning is the
current plan. Keeping Dennis full
enough without spilling is the key to
making or breaking his performance
and placement. With his momentum
from the 2008 Olympia, he could very
well find himself battling for a top spot
at the 2009 Arnold.
This is the top stable of athletes I
see really bringing it to the Arnold this
year.You can always count on a couple
of surprises along the way— an up-
and-coming new athlete, or maybe a
veteran who has finally hit his stride, to
add to the excitement of a fantastic
and always impeccably-run weekend.
Both Jim Lorimer and Arnold go all-
out to give the athletes and fans a
weekend filled with great times and
good memories and I’m sure this year
will be no exception! I’ll look forward
to seeing you all there!
In closing, since answering a recent
question on skin care for men, my e-
mail boxes have been overrun with
more questions! It seems as though
the man stepping up to ask the ques-
tion has now opened the door for
those who were either afraid to ask
about men’s skin care in the past, or
who didn’t know there were skin care
product options available to men. Keep
those questions coming— I’ll be happy
to answer you and will provide more
men’s skin care information in future
installments.
who has found the formula to balanc- ners off the top of the heap. Branch Here is the date and address for the
ing his newly-acquired muscle mass Warren, Silvio Samuel, Dennis 2009 Muscle Mayhem Championships:
with his trademark freaky conditioning. James and Toney Freeman are all Saturday, May 30 in Kansas City, MO
This package will definitely push him competitors who can battle with the at the Folly Theater. Once again our
to the next level and he could definite- best of them when they bring their “A” host hotel will be the Downtown
ly give Phil some competition! games to the stage! Marriott.To make your reservations
All in all it looks like Kai is the Dennis is the one competitor who call: (816) 421-6800. If you would like to
nd
favorite for 2 place. If Kai comes in at could truly throw a monkey wrench have an entry e-mailed to you, please
his all-time best, he could very well into everyone’s plans. Dennis has just contact me at
battle with Vic for the top spot! confirmed with me that he will be tak- mayhemmailbag@aol.com and I will
In my opinion, Vic, and Kai will be ing part in the 2009 Arnold. After fan- be happy to send one to you. You can
the two standouts of the show— but tastic performances in the late quali- receive show updates and information
there are many more incredible ath- fiers leading up to the Olympia and an by going to the Mayhem event thread
letes in this event just waiting for their even more stunning performance at on www.MuscleMayhem.com— just
chance to knock any of these front-run- the 2008 Mr. Olympia, DJ has shown click on ‘NPC Info and Events.’ !

446 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
CHARLES GLASS

Trainer of
of Champions
Champions
THE BODYBUILDING
First of all I want to say how much I love your and they would have to be carrying an extreme amount
column. I get MD every month and go straight to of muscle mass. I’m talking someone with about as
your article. I appreciate all the tidbits I’ve picked much beef as Cutler— and there aren’t many humans
up over the years; they’ve really helped me as a out there fitting that description! Furthermore, given
bodybuilder. I’m 48 and trying to diet down for your age and the fact that you are admittedly leaning
my first show. A guy I know who went to toward the endomorphic body type, chances are you
Nationals gave me a diet program that didn’t would be much better off on a very low-carb diet.
work (it included 7 cups of cooked rice a day), so The diet you outlined seems far more appropriate for
I thought I’d solicit your advice on the diet I’m your needs. What does look woefully inadequate,
going to try next. though, is the amount of cardio you are doing. Twenty
I’m 5’8” and 254 pounds, my body fat is about or 30 minutes is hardly a warm-up for someone your
15 percent and I’m 19 weeks, five days out from size and with as much body fat as you have to lose. I
my show. I’m more of an endo-mesomorph (prob- have found that in most cases when a person estimates
ably heavier toward the endo). My diet is as fol- his or her body fat to be 15 percent, it’s actually more
lows: like 20-30 percent. Just for the sake of argument, let’s
say it’s 20. At your weight, your lean body mass would
5 a.m.: 2 scoops whey protein with 1 cup of raw oat- be 203 pounds. Of course, you aren’t going to get down
meal blended into 16 oz. of coffee, 1 Animal Pak, 16 oz. to zero percent body fat.
water. So, let’s say you want to get down to 5 percent body
7 a.m.: Ab training and 20-30 minutes cardio: heart rate fat. To do that, you would have to lose about 38 pounds.
in the upper 120s. If you have 19 weeks to do that, you need to lose an
8 a.m.: 1½ cups liquid eggs scrambled, 32 oz. water. average of 2 pounds a week. This can be accomplished
10 a.m.: 9 oz. chicken, 1 cup cooked rice, 1 cup by increasing caloric expenditure via your cardio and
steamed broccoli, 32 oz. water. decreasing your caloric intake via your diet. Keep in
1 p.m.: 9 oz. chicken or lean beef, 1-2 cups green mind that you need to burn 3,500 calories to lose 1
beans, 32 oz. water. pound of fat. If you were to attempt to lose all the fat
2:45 p.m.: Workout (64 oz. water) you have merely using cardio, you would need to burn
4 p.m.: Post-workout carb shake with 60g maltodextrin an average of 1,000 calories a day. This is a very rough
carbs, BCAAs, 5g creatine, 100mg potassium, 400 IU vit- estimate, but that would mean about 2 hours of moder-
amin E, 1,000mg vitamin C, 16 oz. water. ate-pace cardio every day. I need to point out that
4:20 p.m.: 2 scoops whey protein, 16 oz. water. unless I saw your body and also tracked how your body
5:45 p.m.: 9 oz. chicken or lean beef, 1-2 cups broccoli, responded to various diet and training factors, there is
32 oz. water. no way I could give you specific diet and cardio recom-
8:30 p.m.: 9 oz. chicken or fish, 1 cup broccoli, handful mendations to follow. What I can tell you is that you def-
almonds, 32 oz. water. initely need to bump your cardio way up. Find someone
who can give you accurate body fat readings once a
Sorry if this is too much info but you always week so that you can track changes in your body com-
say the more the better. Thank you in advance for position. Ideally, you want to maintain all your muscle
any help you can give me. mass and gradually lose as much body fat as possible.
First, you were smart to recognize that the diet given
to you was not suited to your needs. I’m still shaking I’ve been pretty lazy this year and have finally
my head over the seven cups of cooked rice a day— decided to get off my lazy ass and get back in
that’s about 350 grams of carbs! Only a rare few men shape. What would be a good program for someone
could possibly get leaner eating that volume of carbs, coming off a long layoff of about nine months?

448 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Charles Glass—
Trainer of Champs
(And no, I am a man so I wasn’t will burn the fat, but you can also try
pregnant!) I’d prefer to work out to keep your rest periods between
Monday, Wednesday and Friday. I sets brief during weight training to
have a lot of fat to lose and a lot boost your metabolism and inciner-
of muscle to be gained. Please ate even more calories. Good luck!
help! Thanks a lot.
You called yourself lazy twice in A girl I talk to at the gym is
that first sentence. Before you do trained by a guy I don’t really
anything else, change that terrible think knows what he’s doing.
self-image! You are out of shape, and On leg day, he never has her do
you will get back in shape because leg extensions or lunges
you are dedicated to reaching that because he says both are dan-
goal. What you need to do is start off gerous to the knees. I’ve never
on a very simple and basic routine. heard this and wonder if
For the first three or four weeks, I there’s any truth to it or if this
would do a circuit-training routine of trainer just came up with this
the entire body on those three days, idea on his own. Personally,
with just one exercise per body part I’ve done both for years and
for 2 sets. Follow that up with 20-30 my knees feel fine.
minutes of cardio. I would also do 30 Any exercise has the potential to
minutes of cardio on two of the off cause harm if done improperly. In the
days, preferably first thing in the case of the lunge, often trainers aren’t
morning on an empty stomach. After conscious of the body mechanics and
that initial ‘break-in period,’ you can don’t make sure that their knee travels
start on more of a conventional body in a straight line in the same direction
part split. If you want to train on three as the foot, or they allow the knee to
days, this should be fine: extend too far forward and stretch in a
position it was never meant to. Add
Monday: Chest, Shoulders, Biceps resistance in the form of a barbell or a
Wednesday: Legs, Abs pair of dumbbells, and the forces act-
Friday: Back and Triceps ing on that knee are going to be
amplified. Leg extensions are an
The reason I have you doing excellent way to warm up the muscles
biceps with the pushing muscles and of the quadriceps and get blood flow-
triceps with the pulling muscles is so ing around the knee to the tendons
that you get a bit of a crossover. Your and ligaments. But some people want
triceps will get some indirect work on to make it a mass-building exercise
Monday with chest and shoulder and go as heavy as possible for 8-10
pressing, then they will be trained reps. Bad idea! The knee can take fair-
directly on Friday. Your biceps are hit ly heavy loads in compound move-
directly on Monday and indirectly at ments like squats and leg presses, but
the end of the week. They will also be it was never meant to handle extreme-
a little fresher that way instead of ly heavy resistance in a single-joint
being pre-fatigued by assisting with movement like leg extensions. It’s
the larger muscle groups. As for your even worse if the roller pad is set up
cardio, start cranking that up to 40-45 too far back so that the repetition
minutes after each of those workouts, starts from an extreme stretch of the
and 45-60 minutes on two of the off quadriceps. If you really want to go
days. After a couple more weeks, add heavier on the leg extensions, wait
another cardio workout on an off day. until the very end of your leg workout
You may want to eventually work up when you won’t be able to use the
to doing cardio every day, or you whole stack, and whatever you do, do
may choose to have one day of the not set the roller pad way back.
week completely off to rest and Lunges and leg extensions can be
recover. It’s really up to you and how valuable tools in your quest to build a
much rest your body and nervous great set of wheels, but they can also
system requires. The cardio is what be hazardous if done incorrectly.

450 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
Charles Glass—Trainer of Champs

The Best Arnold Classic Silvio brings a lot to the table: stellar
in years? conditioning from head to toe, awe-
Even with Phil Heath, Dennis some shape and symmetry, and a
Wolf, and Melvin Anthony all round, full look to all the muscle
out of the Arnold as of this writ- groups. I don’t know how this
ing in mid-December, it’s still Arnold Classic is going to turn
shaping up to be one of the out, but it will be exciting to
best Arnold Classics in years. watch all these incredible com-
The man to beat is definitely petitors battle it out in March.
going to be Victor Martinez.
After missing out on the Arnold Got a question for
and the Olympia last year, two Charles? E-mail it to him at
huge shows he very likely would editor@musculardevelopment.com
have won, he is taking no prisoners and you could see it answered right
this time, to make sure he grabs here in MD!

them both in 2009. Can he pull it off?


We’ll see. Kai Greene is also out to
upset a lot of people. The only two
who were able to hold him off at the
last Arnold were Dexter and Phil.
Phil won’t be there to stop him this
time, and I doubt Dexter will either.
Toney Freeman looked absolutely
amazing at the Mr. Olympia. He’s got
his conditioning handled, and with a
bit more overall size I think he could
really challenge Victor and Kai. You
can’t write off Branch Warren,
either. He was fourth last year and
practically stole the show along with
Heath. Branch is a crowd favorite
and has that thick, freaky look that
few of the other top men can match.
Finally, you have Silvio Samuel.
Anyone who ignores him or writes
him off just doesn’t know what the
man is capable of. He’s proven to me
over the last year that he can accom-
plish anything he wants to, because
he is willing to work as hard as it
takes to edge out his competition.

Correction:
In my January column, something I talked about regarding Silvio Samuel and my critique of his posing presentation
at the Mr. Olympia made it sound like I was throwing him under the bus. I want to set the record straight. According to
PHOTOGRAPHY BY PER BERNAL

Silvio, both Flex Wheeler and Shawn Ray offered to work with him on his posing for a fee. At the time, Silvio did not
have it in his budget and instead accepted the help of Bob Cicherillo. Bob offered to work with Silvio free of charge—
but I don’t want to put the blame on Silvio for not having the type of polished posing he should have. I am part of his
team. We succeed as a team, and we fail as a team. From now on I am going to make sure Silvio works harder on show-
casing his physique. We work too hard in the gym and he has far too good of a physique for it to be presented less than
perfectly. So to sum it all up one last time, some comments here were blown a bit out of proportion and that’s regret-
table. However Silvio posed before doesn’t matter, because we’re looking forward to better things in the future.

452 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
www.fantamag.com
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454 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
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March 2009 www.musculardevelopment.com MD 455


lastword By John Romano

here is perhaps no greater debate the most read, most anticipated place of you are unaware of the fact that just

T raging these days than that of the


necessity for carbs in the diet ver-
sus the belief that we don’t need them.
to be on the entire bodybuilding-
focused Internet. There were guys who
stopped watching TV during its run,
about everything that is a staple in
bodybuilding today— from creatine to
whey protein— was dissected, studied,
Do bodybuilders need a nutrient that intent to merely hit their refresh button tested and brought to market by
is considered by some to be to see what was up next. Twinlab long before many of you ever
nonessential? Are carbs needed for In the final analysis, the debate picked up a weight. The fact is, Steve
optimal muscle gains (‘optimal’ being proved that pretty much neither view- Blechman paved the way for a huge
the key word)? point is entirely accurate. There are as part of the supplement industry today
Well, the boss of all bosses recently many guys who think carbs are neces- and brought to light a great deal of the
started a thread on the MD message sary as there are guys who don’t. But research that we study today in regard
boards, called “Clearing the Air on that’s really irrelevant. We are all differ- to building muscle and burning fat.
Zero-Carb or No-Carb Diets.” In Steve ent and what works for me doesn’t While the thread I’ve mentioned did
Blechman’s entry— one of the very little to settle the debate on the efficacy
few the boss has ever put up on the Steve Blechman of carbs in the bodybuilder’s diet, I
boards, due to his dedication to occu- paved the way for a was glad it ferreted the boss out of
pational responsibilities and not a lack hiding. For too many years he has had
of desire to participate— the boss huge part of the sup- his nose stuck in the publishing busi-
described, with certainty derived from plement industry ness and let an important part of his
published studies, the ineffective persona stand idle. Steve has more
nature of low-carb ketogenic diets for
today and brought to information at his fingertips than just
optimal muscle growth. light a great deal of about any member of our community
Almost instantly, the thread the research that we on the subject of optimal muscle
exploded with almost 18,000 views growth and the most effective means
and nearly 700 replies. Those replies
study today in regard of burning fat while preserving muscle
amounted to an impassioned volley to building muscle mass. I believe that thread was Steve’s
among the ‘who’s who’ of carb oppo- and burning fat. long overdue comeback— his reemer-
nents: Dave Palumbo, many of his gence as the information guru who
charges and of course yours truly, necessarily work for you. What the helped grow a small family business
against proponents who included not thread proved was the veracity and that started in a garage into one of the
only the boss, but also gurus Lane degree of intellect abundant on our industry’s greatest powerhouses and
Norton and MD columnist Eric Broser forums. But even more so, I was very innovators of much of what we prac-
and a host of pro and amateur com- happy to see the boss involved in an tice today. Steve needs to get out of
petitors who straddled both sides of area where he used to be King. the office more and get on the boards.
the debate, offering their undeniable It has been over a decade since And all of you need to egg him on!
empirical views. Steve Blechman resigned his post as Get on the boards and ‘call out’ the
There were studies cited, clinical chief of product development for boss! There is no one I know who has
research claims posted and tons of Twinlab. That means, for many of you access to more peer-reviewed studies,
personal testimonials that provided just getting started in bodybuilding, journal articles, research, textbooks
the very essence of empirical evidence you were still playing with G.I. Joe and an applicable understanding of
for one side or the other, regardless of with the Kung Fu grip while the boss how it all works. In my mind, he is the
what the research held to be evident. for twenty-five years was developing greatest untapped resource in the
Back and forth the debate raged for and bringing to market the first of industry. Let’s get him out of the office
days and nights, seemingly without many of the supplements and ideas and up on the boards so we can all
end, making that one thread perhaps that are taken for granted today. Many pick his brains! ■

486 MD www.musculardevelopment.com March 2009


www.fantamag.com
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