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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRONMAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAINING IRON MAN MAGAZINE WE KNOW TRAING IRON MAN MAGAZINE IRONMAN MAGAZ

WE KNOW TRAINING™
284
April 2008 HARDBODY
Jamie Eason
CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS C

FEATURES
62 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 102
The keys to making the 3D HIT program a bigger-body builder. (Up your mass!)

88 LOW-CARB LOWDOWN
Jerry Brainum cites the good, bad and ugly about the fat-burning eating plan.

102 OCCLUSION TRAINING

Layne Norton analyzes the research on blocking blood flow and its amazing
hypertrophic effects. Plus, a discussion of Charles Atlas’ Dynamic Tension.

130 BENCH-PRESSING ISSUES

Top researcher Jerry Brainum looks at the most popular lift in gyms everywhere.
(You want to wreck your pecs, not your shoulders!)

140 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 33

Ron Harris says weakness during a diet is in the mind. Go mental on the metal!

148 MONSTER TRAPS

Greg Zulak tells you how to mass up your midback, Jack.

170 FULL-BLOWN BICEPS

Cory Crow talks to Dan Decker about his techniques for sky-high peaks.

204 GREG PLITT

The cover model extraordinaire lets you in on his secrets of success.

224 HOLISTIC HYPERTROPHY

From the Bodybuilding.com archives: Glen Danbury shows you how to max out
the growth of every muscle fiber. It hurts, but it works.

244 HEAVY DUTY

John Little channels the wisdom of Mike Mentzer. This month: negatives.

252 VICTOR MARTINEZ

102
OCCLUSION
Ilir Gatollari reveals how the Olympia runner-up’s controversial placing is fueling TRAINING
his fire to win. Blocking blood flow
to grow
284 HARDBODY
Here’s a hottie with a weight-trained body: petite powerhouse Jamie Eason.

298 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE

Strength coach Bill Starr on how the weights can make you faster on the field. Dan Decker LOW-CARB DIETS: The Latest Scientific Findings
™

appears on this
month’s cover.

130 BENCH-PRESSING
ISSUES
Wreck your pecs, not
your shoulders
Inset Jamie Eason.
Hair and makeup
by Alex Almond.
Photos by Michael
ARMS
SHOCKING
Cover Man Dan Decker’s
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OCCLUSION
TRAINING
Hot Hardbody
Photos of
Jamie Eason
Inside!

Neveux. The New Frontier

of Muscle Growth

BENCH
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Pecs, Not Your
Shoulders

LOW-CARB
LOWDOWN
What Science Says APRIL 2008
$5.99

PLUS:
•Speed Freak—Run Faster With Weight Training

Vol. 67, No. 4 •Pro Muscle—Victor Martinez’s Olympia Quest

•Monster Traps—Etch Upper-Back Mass Fast
www.IronManMagazine.com
Please display until 4/8/08

C1_April2008_F.indd 1 2/5/08 12:37:54 PM

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CONTENTS CO

DEPARTMENTS

28 TRAIN TO GAIN
The power of the pump and why we lift. Plus, Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine.

44 SMART TRAINING
Coach Charles Poliquin solves another deflated-delt dilemma.

50 EAT TO GROW
New findings on creatine, saturated misinformation and Holy cramp!

72 NATURALLY HUGE
John Hansen explains proper bench press form for the perfect pec-growing storm.

78 SHREDDED MUSCLE
Dave Goodin’s muscle-building decision: To use, or not to use?

84 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman on muscle contraction and the size reaction. 274
PUMP &
238 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY CIRCUMSTANCE
Jerry Brainum talks testosterone boosting with estrogen blockers. Picture-perfect panache

260 MUSCLE “IN” SITES

Eric Broser’s Web-browsing finds—Dexter Jackson is in the house—reviews (Jay
Cutler’s latest DVD) and training advice.

264 NEWS & VIEWS

28
TRAIN TO GAIN
Lonnie Teper covers the wild world of bodybuilding. Plus, the Reg Park memorial. Power of the
Pump
274 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE
Ruth Silverman’s physique-comp commentary with plenty of picture-perfect punch.

308 MIND/BODY CONNECTION

Bomber Blast with Dave Draper, IRON MAN’s Rising Stars and a review of the new
Jon Pall Sigmarsson DVD, “Larger Than Life.”

320 READERS WRITE

Cory encore and mistakes galore. Plus, old-guy gusto and NO to grow.

ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLINE ONLIN

www.IronManMagazine.com
See more Photos @
See more Video @ In the next IRON MAN:
Eric Broser presents the nine secrets of
ONLINE VIEWERS’ CHOICE
Here are the places that IronManMagazine.com viewers recently manifesting mass mentally. It’s all in
clicked on the most: the mind, says Boser, as he shows you
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 PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S LETTER PUBLISHER’S
Publisher’s Letter
by John Balik
The Five-Minute
Workout
My friend Bob Gajda, a Mr. America and Mr. Universe in the mid-’60s,
started out as a three-letter athlete in high school. He spent four years
in the Air Force as a fitness instructor, but his athletic accomplishments,
while extraordinary, come in a distant second to his vision and creativ-
ity.
I first met him at the Division Street YMCA in Chicago in 1962. The
YMCA had given him a couple of rooms in the basement to set up a
weight-training gym. Bob took the empty rooms and put together a gym
that was equipped with many of his own designs, which he had talked
various people into welding together for him. The members of the Y
were a diverse ethnic mix who had the common bond of working out.
Bob was the undisputed cheerleader, but they also included the newly
arrived from Cuba Sergio Oliva. In addition to Sergio, many local body-
builders trained there.
The Duncan Y learned of Bob’s skills and hired him away from the
Division Y. Now his fertile mind was fueled by not only his enthusiasm
but also a budget, which had to bring his ideas to life. Bob created one
of the best gyms in the country at that time and attracted a group of
bodybuilders and weightlifters equal to the gym. Besides spending
many hours keeping it all going, he was working on a master’s degree
in kinesiology. Many years before anyone else talked about range of
motion, he was already applying his theories on ROM to championship
weightlifters and other athletes. He talked about and created devices
to enhance balance and coordination, again when no one else in our
world discussed it. I sort of tolerated the conversation, since I was only
interested in strength and development. Ah, but now the world has
caught up with Bob’s vision. There isn’t a world-class athlete today who
doesn’t work on range of motion and balance as a part of strength and
skill training.
All of these memories have surfaced because of two things: 1) nu-
merous articles that have appeared in the popular press about athletes,
stretching for ROM and balance over the past few months and 2) the de-
cline of those attributes with age. These days my workouts contain not
only strength and cardio but also stretching and balance work. I wish
I had starting doing them back then. As per Bob’s advice from 40-plus
years ago, I don’t overdo stretching, and I only do it when fully warmed
up—after I have worked the bodypart. Bob was the first to state that
everyone has a unique range of motion. If you exceed it, you can dam-
age the joint and cause instability in the joint.
I have recently added a new five-minute routine to my regular pro-
gram that includes stretches for my lower back, shoulders, hamstrings
and quads and some balance work. Those short routines have given my
training a new dimension and have reenergized me.
To comment, please send e-mail to ironleader@aol.com. IM
26 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
™
Founders 1936-1986:
Peary & Mabel Rader
Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik
Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer
Design Director: Michael Neveux
Editor in Chief: Stephen Holman
Art Director: T. S. Bratcher
Senior Editor: Ruth Silverman
Editor at Large: Lonnie Teper
Articles Editors: L.A. Perry, Caryne Brown
Assistant Art Director: Brett R. Miller
Designer: Chester Chin
IRON MAN Staff:
Mary Gasca, Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba
Contributing Authors:
Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman,
Teagan Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis,
Dave Draper, Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum,
Ph.D., John Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler,
Rod Labbe, Skip La Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch
Lebowitz, John Little, Stuart McRobert, Gene
Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim
Shiebler, Roger Schwab, Pete Siegel, C.S. Sloan,
Bill Starr, Bradley Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D.,
Randall Strossen, Ph.D., Richard Winett, Ph.D.,
and David Young
Contributing Artists:
Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn,
Jake Jones
Contributing Photographers:
Jim Amentler, Ron Avidan, Roland Balik, Reg
Bradford, Jimmy Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry
Fredrick, Irvin Gelb, Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman,
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Okabe, Rob Sims, Ian Sitren, Leo Stern
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Advertising Director: Warren Wanderer
1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
(518) 743-1696; FAX: (518) 743-1697
Advertising Coordinator:
Jonathan Lawson, (805) 385-3500, ext. 320
Newsstand Consultant:
Angelo Gandino, (516) 796-9848
We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our
discretion without explanation. All manuscripts, art
or other submissions must be accompanied by a self-
addressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to
IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033. We
are not responsible for unsolicited material. Writers and
photographers should send for our Guidelines outlining
specifications for submissions. IRON MAN is an open
forum. We also reserve the right to edit any letter or
manuscript as we see fit, and photos submitted have an
implied waiver of copyright. Please consult a physician
before beginning any diet or exercise program. Use the
information published in IRON MAN at your own risk.
IRON MAN Internet Addresses:
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Helen Yu, Director of Marketing: irongrrrl@aol.com
Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: ironjdl@aol.com
Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: soniazm@aol.com
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28 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 B I G G E R B O D Y PA R T S

Power of the Pump The importance

of engorgement

I remember being Pro

disappointed and Creator”
disgusted by the way Ram-
some of the top pro Paul Dillett. bod, I
bodybuilders in the came to
’90s trained when realize
I watched them at that al-
Gold’s Gym in Venice. though
I distinctly recall seeing the
Paul Dillett go through stretch-
an entire shoulder es were
workout without once some-
using what I consid- what
ered heavy weight, effective
especially for a man of in ex-
such freakish propor- pand-
tions. Instead, he used ing the
higher reps, supersets fascia,
and short rest periods an even
to blow up his delts more
to the point where effective
they weren’t much way to
smaller than basket- accom-
balls. “Pump trainer,” plish
I said dismissively that
about him and others was to
like him while holding get the
deeper respect for best
men who pushed and pump
pulled earth-shattering pos-
weights, like the reigning Mr. O, Dorian Yates. sible. Suddenly it made sense how so many pumpers
That’s how I styled my own workouts, and I took pride could grow so large despite not always training heavy. By
in the big numbers I could claim on various exercises. Not filling up the muscles with more blood than they’d ever
coincidentally, I soon accumulated many injuries, just like held before, they pushed outward against the fascia and
Yates. I wrote off the pump trainers’ undeniable results as forced it to expand.
a combination of very gifted genetics and a medicine cabi- If you have a problem bodypart, ask yourself how well it
net full of goodies. Yet it was always obvious that those pumps compared to your better bodyparts. If you answer,
guys looked like superhuman comic-book heroes, while I not very well at all, try doing higher reps, multiple sets with
looked, well, all too human. very brief rest periods, drop sets and supersets. Be sure
As the years went by, I began incorporating fascial to eat carbs and drink plenty of water before training and
stretching into my workouts between sets on the advice of perhaps even throw in a nitric oxide precursor supple-
Cincinnati-based training and nutrition expert John Parrillo. ment. The solution to bringing up a stubborn bodypart, or
More recently I’ve been training D.C. style, and aggressive even making overall gains, could be as simple as making
fascial stretching is also part of that system. The theory is it a priority to not only get stronger on basic exercises but
that fascia, the very tough connective tissue that sheaths also make sure you always get a hellacious pump.
all the skeletal muscle (stronger on a square-inch basis Lifting heavy weights is nice, but believe me when I say
than stainless steel), effectively restricts muscle growth. In that it’s not the only important factor in building bigger
Neveux \ Model: Lee Priest

other words, you could be training and eating to stimulate muscles. —Ron Harris
growth, but the fascia would prevent it from happening www.RonHarrisMuscle.com
because it had your muscles in a choke hold, like a tight
corset.
Finally, after a conversation with nutritionist Hany “the

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 HE WANTED TO FIGHT-
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 Train to Gain / EFFORT
PRO ADVICE
Higher Reps for
Bigger Delts
Quick show of hands: How many
of you have shoulder problems? If
not now, then at one time or an-
other? Wow, that’s a lot of you. Now,
how many of you have done barbell
or dumbbell presses with so much
weight that you got only four or five
reps? What do you know, same peo-
Neveux \ Models: Markus Reinhardt and Hubert Morandell

ple put their hands up!

Don’t worry, I’m not picking on you.
My hand was up too. I talk to an awful
lot of top amateur and pro bodybuild-
ers, and shoulder problems are as
common as tribal tattoos and fake
designer sunglasses. But I noticed that
I never hear female bodybuilders com-
plain about shoulder pain or injuries.
Not long ago I had the chance to ask
four-time Ms. Olympia Iris Kyle about
the phenomenon, and she answered
in a flash. “It’s the male ego. A lot of
men are very concerned with being
the strongest guy at their gym, and
It’s All You! Are your spotter—and your ego—
costing you muscle gains?
they use the heaviest weight possible
to make sure of that.”
Iris has some fantastic shoulders
There are three words I never want to hear from my training partner during a set:
“It’s all you.” Talk about ironic. Whenever you hear someone shouting that phrase, you of her own and works them in the rep
can be 99.9 percent sure that it’s all him doing the lift—the guy spotting, not the guy range of 12 to 15. That’s two or three
lifting. It’s most commonly used to encourage a guy attempting to bench-press about times as many reps as you see most
50 percent more than he is actually capable of, as his unfortunate spotter is forced to men performing for their delts, espe-
pick up the slack with a heavy upright row to prevent the first guy from being crushed cially if we’re talking about dumbbell or
to death by the heavy barbell. barbell presses.
If you really want to make sure a lift is all you, give strict instructions to your spotter “Doing low reps on overhead
not to touch the bar until the lift is complete. A spot- presses makes no sense,” Iris said.
ter can legitimately assist you in unracking or rack- “The shoulder joint is such a vulner-
ing a weight, but in between those two moments, able area, so why would you want to
the policy should be hands off. have it support so much weight that
Kai Greene, a rising pro star with wheels that you have to battle just to keep it bal-
are truly outrageous, talks about always doing his anced? One false move, one slip out
squats 100 percent on his own strength, even when of the groove, and your shoulders are
the bar is bending under a 600-pound load. “My wrecked. For another thing, you barely
training partner is behind me in case of emergency, stimulate the muscle until you get up
but I don’t allow any of that hugging-under-the-arm- to at least 10 reps.”
pits nonsense,” he says. “I need to know that every If you don’t mind taking advice from
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

rep I do is really mine. Once someone is helping, a girl (who happens to be the best fe-
there is no way to know exactly how much he did male bodybuilder today), you would be
for you.” wise to listen to what Iris has to say.
Training partners are great, and having a spotter Fewer injuries and more gains in your
on standby for heavy lifts is a smart idea too, but shoulders—doesn’t that sound pretty
Roland Balik

be careful that you don’t rely on anybody but your- cool to you? —Ron Harris
self to lift your weights. For many years I foolishly www.RonHarrisMuscle.com
believed I was using X amount of weight on this or
that exercise when in fact I was only lifting a portion of it on my own. At one time I used
to load up the squat bar with more than 700 pounds and do half-reps with a spotter
behind and under me like a shadow. Now I do the reps with no help, and my physique
is infinitely better than it was in the old days.
In short, “it’s all you” shouldn’t be a lie told to you by a training partner or spotter
helping you—it should be the truth told from a slight distance. —Ron Harris
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

30 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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

The rotator cuff muscles stabilize

the shoulder joint. During the bench
press and almost all other upper-
body movements these muscles
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these muscles are underdeveloped,
they become the weak link in the
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 Train to Gain / MATURE MUSCLE
Knee Pain and Quad Gain
Q: I’m 49 years old and have
trained since my early 20s. Now
when I squat, my knees hurt; but
everyone tells me that if I don’t
squat, my legs won’t grow. Is that
true?
A: While squats are a very good mul-
tijoint exercise for overall leg size, they’re
not the only way to build your thighs. In
fact, ideally, you should find your specific
biomechanical and musculoskeletal-op-
timized exercises, based on your bone
lengths, joints and muscle fiber varia-
tions.
For instance, a tall man—say,
6’5”—with narrow hips and small knees
and ankles is going to get very little out
of squats. His chances of ever getting
enough weight on his back to perform
10 perfect reps, without his upper body
tilting forward, are slim to none. For you
I recommend one warmup set and two
sets of heavy leg presses to failure, followed by leg exten-
sions—as many as you can with as much weight as you can.
Finish with leg curls for three sets of 12 reps. Or you could try
doing hack squats, leg curls and leg extensions in a tri-set, tak-
ing each exercise to muscular failure.
Another element of your question is interesting—you say
that your knees hurt. Are you dropping down too fast and/or
bouncing out of the bottom? I suggest that you have a very
good physiatrist (a doctor who knows kinesiology, anatomy
and the musculoskeletal system better than any other M.D.).
Physiatrists look at the area of concern and do a variety of
tests. They can find muscle imbalances. Often people work
their quadriceps far too much and neglect their equally impor-
tant hamstrings. That can cause anything from tightness in the
backs of the thighs to knee injuries.
To avoid knee problems, I train with the same fluidity and
strict rigidity that I use for my upper-body work. For example,
when I work my hamstrings with leg curls, I imagine that I’m
doing concentrated barbell curls for the biceps of my upper
arms—except I’m doing them with my legs. That helps the feel
of the exercise.
When squatting, I use knee wraps and two belts, and I
wear boots that support my ankles. Using two weight belts
may sound strange, but it helps me. I use them only when I
squat for six to 10 reps with very heavy weight—which I rarely
do anymore. Because I’m tall, my upper body starts to bow
forward; however, having a powerlifting belt around my waist
and a regular belt above it, turned so that the buckle faces the
back, supports my long upper body. The extra support helps
me stay upright throughout the entire set.
If you cannot see a physiatrist, ask yourself whether your
knees hurt if you squat slowly without weight to just below
parallel and then back up to just before lockout. If the answer is
yes, then the problem could be metabolic. Some people form
crystallized uric acid–based substances and/or calcification in
the joint.
If that’s the case for you, try the following diet for six to eight
weeks and see if your knees feel better:
• Your protein should come only from egg whites, wild
32 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
salmon, skinless turkey and/or chicken
breasts—no red meat at all and no protein
shakes.
• Your carbohydrates should come
from green vegetables and low-glycemic
fruits—that’s all. No bread, rice, pasta,
oatmeal, nothing that has been made by a
human being.
• Your oils should be limited to small
amounts of almonds, macadamia nuts and
olives—do not cook with any oils.
Here are a few key points to remember:
Neveux \ Model: Derik Farnsworth
1) The knee joint is intricate. Always have
your knees over your feet when doing
any type of squat or leg press. Don’t
point your feet inward or outward when
squatting or doing a leg press. That
will change the way that the knee joint
moves.
2) Don’t bounce at the bottom of your
squats. That can cause permanent damage to the patella
tendon.
3) Use wraps only when you squat heavy. Don’t use them
for light sets or for leg extensions or any other leg move-
ment.
4) If you’ve struggled with squats and you’ve tried all of the
methods that I’ve suggested but still don’t feel right when
squatting, do leg presses or hack squats instead.
5) If your knees continue to hurt, find out if you have an
injury; if you don’t, try the diet.
6) Wear above-ankle boots for better balance and stability
when you squat.
7) If you’re tall, try squatting while wearing two belts to help
keep your body erect.
8) Never lock out when squatting or leg pressing; always
keep as much tension on your thighs and glutes as you can.
9) Don’t squat every time you train legs. Once in two cycles
is plenty. Rotate in other movements for your thighs.
—Paul Burke
Editor’s note: To contact Paul Burke, write to pbptb@aol
.com. Burke has a master’s degree in integrated studies from
Cambridge College in Cambridge, Massachusetts. He’s been
a champion bodybuilder and arm wrestler,
and he’s considered a leader in the field of
over-40 fitness training. You can purchase
his book, Burke’s Law—a New Fitness
Paradigm for the Mature Male, from Home
Gym Warehouse. Call (800) 447-0008, or
visit www.Home-Gym.com. His “Burke’s
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 Train to Gain / HARDGAINER

The Brothers Grimm A bodybuilding

odyssey, part 4

It’s been three months since days a week, not four. They train
Yiannis and Stelios performed the Monday, Wednesday and Friday,
two pseudo workouts I described alternating upper-body and lower-
in the first column of this series. body workouts. That gives them
The brothers are making con- four full rest days each week and
sistent progress and are thrilled has them train each bodypart three
about what bodybuilding is doing times every two weeks. On their
for them. old program they were getting only
Their training routines now three full rest days a week and
reflect their different body struc- training each bodypart four times
tures. Previously they’d always every two weeks.
followed the same routines. They The gym the brothers trained
continue to train together, spot at didn’t have the small exercise
each other and encourage each plates they required in order to
other. make gradual progression once
Although Yiannis, at 6’, is just they were close to their best cur-
two inches taller than Stelios, rent poundages. I had them get
he has a much lankier body their own set of small exercise
structure. Yiannis’ limbs are sub- plates—two pairs of one-pound
stantially longer than Stelios’, but plates, one pair of half-pound
his torso is shorter. As a result, plates and one pair of quarter-
Stelios is much better suited to pound plates. They take them to
the barbell squat and the bench the gym, keep them in a pouch
press than Yiannis, and Yiannis is when not in use, and guard them
much more suited to the deadlift well. They even have “Brothers
than Stelios. Grimm” engraved on the plates.
So while Stelios uses barbell Before each exercise, Stelios
squats and bench presses, Yian- and Yiannis check their train-
nis does parallel-grip deadlifts ing logs for the weights to use
(using a hexagonal shrug bar) and for warmup sets and for work
parallel-bar dips. Both use the sets—and immediately after each
regular straight-bar deadlift, but exercise they write down the work-
only Yiannis performs it full range from the floor. Stelios’ longer set weight and the rep numbers they achieved. If one of them
torso and shorter limbs make the full-range deadlift an ineffi- made his target, he marks an asterisk alongside his note of
cient, high-risk exercise for him. Instead, I have Stelios perform weight and reps to remind him to increase the poundage for
it in a power rack, lifting from knee height. The reduced range that particular exercise. Prior to my involvement, they never
of motion has made the exercise safe and more effective for kept any type of written record.
him. Right from the start I stressed the importance of good nutri-
Now that the brothers have had some physical restrictions tion. They’d both been cutting corners there. They immediately
ironed out by a chiropractor and some soft-tissue therapy from got themselves on a good dietary program—for their health
a physical therapist, they have symmetrical flexibility developed and their bodybuilding. They eliminated all junk food, started to
through the stretching I’ve had them doing. As a consequence eat every three hours and satisfied their calorie requirements
they are now in much better physical condition and able to use every day, neither overeating nor undereating. I urge you to do
correct exercise technique. the same.
Because they had to unlearn bad exercise technique, I had They also stopped shortchanging themselves on sleep.
them start out with very comfortable poundages. Now they Because they have to be up at 6:30 every morning for work,
are training hard on all their exercises except squats, deadlifts they now go to bed at 10:30 every evening. Eight hours’ sleep
and parallel-grip deadlifts. They’re still consolidating correct each night is now their minimum. I urge you to do the same if
exercise technique in those exercises, using very comfortable you want to maximize your recuperation ability.
poundages. Next time I’ll take you through the brothers’ new lower-body
Prior to my intervention, the brothers had been following a routines.
four-day-split routine, dividing their program into upper-body —Stuart McRobert
and lower-body work, hitting each bodypart twice a week. www.Hardgainer.com
Not only were they training too frequently, they were doing too
much at each workout. They were unable to train hard enough Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s
to stimulate growth on such a program, and even if they’d first byline in IRON MAN appeared in
been able to train hard enough, they weren’t allowing enough 1981. He’s the author of the new 638-
recovery time in which to grow. I abbreviated their routines and page opus on bodybuilding Build Mus-
reduced their overall training frequency to three times a week. cle, Lose Fat, Look Great, available from
Their new program alternates a different pair of routines for Home Gym Warehouse (800) 447-0008
each of them—still using an upper/lower split—but over three or www.Home-Gym.com.

34 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 Train to Gain / SPORTSMEDICINE
Unexpected Benefits
IRON MAN readers have quite an age range. Some have just
begun weight training, usually in the high school weight room for
football. Others have read IRON MAN for 40 years. Younger read-
ers don’t know the stereotypes and myths that surrounded weight
training, many propagated by the medical community. Almost all
the myths were based on bias and prejudice.
For example, people were told that training would make them
slow, enlarge their heart, stunt their growth,
hurt their knees and so on. Dedicated trainees knew those ideas
weren’t true. They kept working out, and eventually, the rest of the
world came to realize the myths were unfounded.
If you look at the men in the 100-meter finals in the Olympics,
you’ll see heavily weight-trained athletes who aren’t slow. Any NFL
or NCAA football game is filled with very fast, very agile and very
strong football players. More knees have been ruined by heavy leg
extensions than heavy squats. Now we’re beginning to realize that
there are benefits from weight training that we never considered.
That should be of interest to older readers, as well as the parents,
aunts, uncles and grandparents of younger readers.
When I first started working in physical therapy in the late
1970s, we were taught that structured weight training was worth-
less in the rehab setting for stroke patients and deconditioned
patients. Our focus was to be on specific motions with manual
36 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
resistance in certain patterns. Research now overwhelmingly
indicates that strength training in elderly, deconditioned patients
results in improved ability to walk, increased walking distance,
increased endurance and improved balance and agility.
The benefits of weight training don’t stop there. Studies have
shown that serum lipid levels have been lowered with weight train-
ing. Serum glucose—a.k.a. blood sugar—is lowered with weight
training. Exercising muscle doesn’t require insulin to transport glu-
cose across the muscle membrane. A marker of inflammation in
the body—and one that is often associated with obesity-related
inflammation—is C-reactive protein. Diet and aerobic exercise
can help lower that marker; however, weight training, aerobic
exercise and diet lower C-reactive protein much further. If we
can reduce fats in the blood, blood sugar and inflammatory
markers by weight training, we’re truly generating good health.
Women can increase their bone density with weight training.
If we combine improved lower-extremity strength, bone density,
balance and agility, we can help women reduce the risk of hip
fractures. One of the biggest fears of the elderly is falling. That
fear can be reduced. Again, weight training promotes health
and well-being.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease affects millions of
people. Weight training has been found to improve various fac-
tors of COPD.
Weight training is now recommended for patients after
heart attacks. Thirty years ago it was believed to be harmful to
the recovering heart attack patient. Research revealed few ir-
regularities in the heart with weight training, and weight training
gives the patient more confidence.
Body-image issues in college-age females have been found
Neveux \ Model: Ed Myska
to improve with even short-term weight training. So it has
mental as well as physical benefits.
My hope is that the ancillary benefits further motivate you. If
you’re a young reader, perhaps you can share the information
with mothers, fathers, grandparents, aunts, uncles or friends
who suffer from any of the maladies mentioned. Show them
how to train. Start them very, very slowly and carefully. Make sure
their primary doctor knows they’re embarking on a gently pro-
gressive exercise program and get the doctor’s approval. When
in a few months I post this information on my Web site, SoftTis-
sueCenter.com, I’ll include many references for your interest and
follow-up. —Joseph M. Horrigan
Editor’s note: Visit www.SoftTissueCenter.com for reprints
of Horrigan’s past Sportsmedicine columns that have appeared
in IRON MAN. You can order the books Strength, Conditioning
and Injury Prevention for Hockey by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and
E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A., and the 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by
Horrigan and Jerry Robinson from Home Gym Warehouse, (800)
447-0008 or at www.Home-Gym.com.
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 Train to Gain / PLAN TO GROW

Pack on Muscle With the 4 P’s

More than 20 years ago my Marine Corps JROTC
instructor taught me a little catchphrase that stuck in my
head. It was one that had served him well during his two
tours in Vietnam. He called it “the Four P’s”—Preparation
Prevents Poor Performance.
It’s a simple but an important concept in wartime.
Preparation means things like making sure all weapons,
vehicles and communication equipment are functioning
properly and thinking ahead so you have the ammunition,
fuel and other supplies you may need. As wacky as it may
sound, the four P’s can be equally applied to ensuring
success in your bodybuilding goals.
A large part of success in bodybuilding comes from
doing several things correctly and consistently. The most

Neveux \ Model: Eric Domer

obvious is your training. A lot of bodybuilders and serious
weight trainers treat their workouts in a fairly random man-
ner. They may know what bodyparts they will work on a
given day, but when it comes to the actual exercises, the
weights, sets and reps they will use, they have no plan.
They do whatever the hell they feel like, essentially.
That brings me to another little catchphrase involv-
ing P’s: If you fail to plan, you plan to fail. Write out your
workouts ahead of time in a training journal, including the
weights you’ll use and how many reps you need to get.
That’s a far more concrete way of evaluating the success
of a workout than generalizing about getting a pump or
MOTIVATION
how you feel the training session went.
You should be even more diligent and organized in
planning your nutrition and supplementation. Know what
you’re going to eat for every meal, every day, as well as
which supplements you need to take and when. Stock
your foods and supplements so that you don’t ever run
out. Cook large quantities
of food so you have multiple
meals ready to heat up and

Why We Lift eat.

Finally, plan exactly what
you’re trying to accomplish
at any given time. Without a
In his book Primal Branding, Patrick clear and definite goal to aim
Hanlon describes why people get attached for, you tend to get lost and
to, or even fanatical about, their chosen
vacillate between whether you
hobby. He used mountain biking in his
description, but let’s put lifting in its place want to get leaner, gain mus-
and you’ll feel a sense of pride and identity cle, get stronger or improve
as you read it: specific bodyparts. Pick one
“You [lift] for self-fulfillment, for the or two goals to work toward in
adrenaline rush, because the fat guy living a short and finite time period
Neveux \ Model: Micheal Ergas

next door to you can’t or won’t or is afraid

before moving on to another.
to; you [lift] for affirmation, to defy death;
you [lift] to scare your mother; you [lift] for To some, taking the time to
a sense of love or abandonment or com- plan the details of their training
panionship; you lift because you need the and nutrition may seem anal
endorphins; you [lift] because you are a and nerdy, but they’ll be the
screaming kamikaze who needs to feel the first to come up with a list of
rattle of the [iron] in your bones in order to feel like your life has meaning and sub- lame excuses for why they fail
stance and emotions that can’t be expressed sitting behind a desk or basking in the
to see results themselves. The
communal fire of prime-time television. And sometimes you just [lift] to get exercise.”
That about says it all. real reason they fail is that they
—Steve Holman don’t plan!
www.X-Rep.com —Ron Harris
www.RonHarrisMuscle.com

38 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
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Smart Training
by Charles Poliquin

Deflated-Delt
Dilemma
Q: My delts are about as flat as pancakes. Any
rapid solution to the problem?

A: Wide, round shoulders have been built with both high

loads and high volumes. Powerlifters and Olympic lifters
have built impressive shoulders using low reps for multiple
sets on compound exercises, such as presses and upright
rows. On the other hand, there are plenty of bodybuild-
ers out there with the fantastic deltoid development that
comes from high reps, short rest intervals and isolation-
type movements. I’m of the opinion that people achieve er—back to back—before taking a rest. Here’s a good tri-set
better deltoid development if they cycle in and out of both for the mid delts:
approaches.
A-1 Standing lateral raises 3 x 8-12, tempo 4/0/X/0
I find that descending, or drop, sets and preexhaustion
A-2 Low-pulley upright rows 3 x 8-12, tempo 4/0/X/0
are particularly effective at promoting shoulder growth.
A-3 Seated dumbbell presses 3 x 8-12, tempo 4/0/X/0
When someone has problems adding mass to the middle-
delt area, tri-sets or Omni-rep breakdown sets can solve the Perform A-1, A-2 and A-3 in a series, take a two-minute
problem. break, and repeat two more times, for a total of three tri-
Tri-sets are three exercises performed one after anoth- sets.

Neveux \ Model: Daniele_Seccarecci

Lateral raises
done as part
of a tri-set can
help round out
flat delts.

44 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 COST OF REDEMPTION
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 SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SM Smart Training
Notice that on the standing lateral raises you should
do the concentric, or positive, stroke explosively, as the
leverage is disadvantageous in the exercise. For low-pulley
upright rows I recommend using a rope attachment, like
the one normally used for pushdowns. That will remove
some wrist stress.
On an Omni-rep breakdown set you select one basic ex-
ercise and its variation and essentially destroy all the fibers
that can be used in the movement:
1) Do 6-8RM of standing one-arm lateral raises with a
2/0/X/0 tempo. That targets the highest-threshold fibers
in your delts.
2) Do 10-12RM of lean-away one-arm lateral raises
using a 2/0/X/0 tempo. By changing the mechanics, you
take the supraspinatus muscle out of it and change the
strength curve for the medial deltoid. You also tap into
the intermediate-fast glycolitic fibers.
3) Do 20-25RM on one-arm low-pulley lateral raises with
a 1/0/1/0 tempo. By using a low pulley, you get even
tension throughout the movement. The higher reps will
finish off whatever low-threshold fibers that can still fire
after steps 1 and 2.
Do not rest between steps 1 and 2 or 2 and 3. After
performing all three exercises, take a 90-second break,
and then repeat with your other arm. Do three Omni-rep
rounds per arm.
By the way, these routines are reserved for high-pain-
46 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
A lifting belt can impede the deep
breathing necessary for proper higher-
rep squatting.
threshold individuals. Wimps should stay
away from them. Try each program for six
workouts each. I’m sure your deltoids will
become more massive and with noticeable
roundness.
Q: What’s your opinion of powerlifting
training for bodybuilders? I see some
guys at the gym using the full parapher-
nalia that powerlifters use when squat-
ting—supersuit, wraps, powerlifting
belt.
A: Unless you’re in the final three weeks
before a powerlifting meet, you should avoid
knee wraps and the use of a weightlifting belt,
which supports the lower back. If your lower
back and knees are prone to injury, you must
first restore proper body alignment by using
corrective exercises, such as stepups and true
abdominal-training techniques.
At the Athens Olympics, most of the world-
record setters and medal winners weren’t
using any belts for their snatches and clean
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
and jerks, and those lifts are way more stress-
ful to the lower back than deadlifts and
squats. The trend became popular about 15
years ago as doctors and trainers realized that
the belts had enabled the athletes to forgo
abdominal work, which made them more
susceptible to injuring their lower backs. The
coaching staff emphasized extensive abdomi-
nal work with junior lifters so that they wouldn’t rely on the
psychological crutch of a belt. As the years went by, fewer
lifters were getting injured because their trunk muscles
could now handle the heavy loads.
For bodybuilding purposes, if you squat and always need
to wear a belt, you should try to have a qualified strength
coach show you how to squat properly—and the belt will
soon become unnecessary.
I discourage the use of the belt for athletes, as they won’t
be wearing one when they compete in their respective
sports. The belt also tends to impede the deep “abdominal”
breathing they need to get through high-rep squatting ses-
sions.
To wean yourself off the belt, start not wearing it for sets
of more than 12. A few workouts later remove it when doing
reps of 10, then reps of eight and so on. Eventually you’ll be
able to do a single without one.
Q: I read that arachidonic acid and saturated
fat in red meat can raise serum triglycerides and
cholesterol. I also read that arachidonic acid is
a precursor of bad eicasonoids, which have been
associated with a variety of ills, including heart
disease, chronic fatigue and so on. Is there a way to
enjoy steak without feeling like I’m destroying my
body?
A: Yes, there is way for meat lovers to enjoy meat with a
reduced fat and arachidonic content. The steps to that pro-
cess are from the book Protein Power by Michael and Mary
Dan Eades, M.D. (Bantam; 1999).
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 SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SMART TRAINING SM Smart Training
Marinating steak in red wine and olive oil for
24 hours can help tip the balance to a more
healthful protein-packed food.
down. When I try to gain weight, I tend to put on too
much bodyfat. So I’m at the point that I’d rather just
be as strong as possible and increase muscle mass
through strength training. My problem is that I tend
to make gains for a few weeks and then begin to lose
strength or feel burned out. I eat very well—high
protein, moderate carbs and fat—and use a few
supplements. I’ve also noticed that when I follow
your routines, I tend to overtrain. I think it’s due to
the higher volume that you prescribe. So my ques-
tion (finally!) is, What are your recommendations
for me to gain maximal strength?

Q: The answer to your question is in your question: You

1) Trim all visible fat from the piece of beef. are slow-twitch, and you have conflicting goals. You’re
interested in maximal strength, yet you also want to make
2) Place it in a large resealable plastic bag along with one
bodybuilding-type gains. You have to decide what you re-
cup of red wine and one cup of olive oil.
ally want.
3) Allow the meat to marinate for 24 hours, flipping the First, relative strength protocols won’t do much for you if
bag and its contents over a couple of times. you’re a slow-twitch individual. None of the gold medalists
4) An hour before cooking, take the meat out of the bag in weightlifting have a poor vertical jump or like to do aero-
and drain until it’s ready to cook. bic work. The lifters at the USOC drive their cars 500 meters
5) Season to taste and grill. to avoid the walk to the cafeteria—no kidding!
Second, you can gain hypertrophy as a slow-twitch
The wine leaches out a fair amount of saturated fat, individual but not with relative strength-loading param-
which is replaced by the monosaturated fat found in olive eters. Only individuals like Roger Estep would gain on such
oil. Besides, the wine enhances the flavor of the steak and protocols. So I suggest that you do no fewer than six reps
makes the meat juicier without the high arachidonic acid per set and that you seek out time under tension of 40 to 70
content. You can use the same process for roasts, but it seconds per set for three weeks. Make sure to completely
won’t be as effective as grilling the meat. vary your loading parameters every six workouts, keep-
ing them shorter than normal: 42 minutes after warmup
should be the maximum workout length for you. I also sug-
Q: I’m interested in increasing strength. I know
gest you do strength training only every nine weeks or so,
the basics about the loading parameters—one
for a short period of three weeks. That will be a much better
to five reps, two to four ex-
ratio for your body type.
ercises, 85 to 100 percent
You have to deal with the cards
of 1RM, complete set in 20
that were handed to you at birth.
seconds or less, rest three to
You cannot turn a Shetland pony
five minutes. I also under-
into a Clydesdale. Frank Zane
stand that you like to train
didn’t have the gifts of a Gunter
each bodypart once every
Schlierkamp, yet he won a few
five days and change reps,
Mr. Olympias by maximizing his
sets and tempo once every
strengths.
two to four weeks. I’m quite
familiar with your ideas and
Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin
techniques, but I’m hoping to
is recognized as one of the world’s
find a way to train for maxi-
most successful strength coaches,
mal strength for my entire
having coached Olympic med-
body using your principles
alists in 12 different sports,
throughout the year. I’m 25,
including the U.S. women’s track-
5’4”, 140 pounds, 13 percent
and-field team for the 2000 Olym-
bodyfat (I’m working on get-
pics. He’s spent years researching
ting it down). I’ve been weight
European journals (he’s fluent in
training for about six years,
English, French and German) and
much of it trial and error
speaking with other coaches and
until I found your articles a
Photo Courtesy of Frank Zane

scientists in his quest to optimize

couple of years ago. I think
training methods. For more on
I have a higher slow-twitch
his books, seminars and meth-
makeup, and I have small
ods, visit www.CharlesPoliquin.
bones. My metabolism used to
net. Also, see his ad on page 273.
be much higher, but over the Frank Zane made the IM
past few years it has slowed best of his genetic gifts
and limitations.
48 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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Train ™ \ JULY 2006 181
EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EAT TO GROW EA
Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission
NUTRITION SCIENCE
Creatine: New Findings
More muscle, better recovery, less bodyfat—it does it all
The research base on creatine
continues to grow. While many
bodybuilders think its primary benefit
involves increased training energy,
there’s far more to it than that. One
recent study featured 11 triathletes,
who got either 20 grams a day of
creatine or a placebo five days prior
to a half-Ironman competition—not to
be confused with the IRON MAN Pro
bodybuilding contest—that consisted
of three consecutive events: a 1.9-
kilometer swim, a 90-kilometer bicy-
cling round and a 21-kilometer run.
The athletes ranged in age from
34 to 56, and none had used any
performance-enhancing drugs or
50 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
to Grow
creatine prior to this study. Nor did
they use anti-inflammatory drugs, the
significance of which will be explained
shortly. In the five days preceding the
competition, the athletes were ran-
domly assigned to either a creatine or
a placebo group. The creatine group
got 10 grams twice a day in a liquid
that included maltodextrin, a carbo-
hydrate. The other athletes received a
drink containing only the carb.
Damaging a muscle through exer-
cise results in localized inflammation.
The damaged tissue sends a signal
that leads to an infiltration of immune
cells, mainly macrophages. Those im-
mune cells, in turn, release signaling
chemicals called cytokines, the me-
diators of the inflammatory process.
You experience the muscle inflam-
mation as a delayed-onset soreness
that peaks 24 to 48 hours following
an intense workout. While some initial
inflammation is desirable because it
sets the stage for muscle growth, un-
controlled inflammation could result in
muscle catabolism, or breakdown.
In the study of triathletes, those
given the creatine showed a marked
decrease in inflammatory cytokines
compared to the group that got the
placebo. Those results imply that
taking creatine helps block inflam-
matory activity in muscle, meaning
less muscle soreness and improved
recovery after workouts.
Since the study focused on tri-
athletes, are the results applicable
to those engaged in bodybuilding?
The muscle damage in a triathlete
is caused by eccentric muscle con-
Taking a
creatine-and-
CLA combo may
increase your
muscle gains.
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This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any disease.
tractions. In bodybuilding, eccentric
muscle contractions occur when the
weight is slowly lowered. That type
of contraction is responsible for most
of the soreness that follows after
intense weight training. Therefore,
creatine would be equally
beneficial for bodybuilders in
reducing muscle inflammation
after intense training.
Another new study examined the
molecular effects of creatine supple-
mentation. An ongoing controversy
about creatine is how it affects mus-
cular growth. Some scientists say
that creatine doesn’t directly promote
muscle growth but boosts it by in-
creasing muscle energy, thus permit-
ting more intense training. Others say
that any perceived gains in muscle
size associated with creatine use is
more related to water retention (they
used to say the same thing about
anabolic steroids).
In a new study of how creatine
works inside cells, 12 healthy young
men took either 20 grams of creatine
for three days, followed by five grams
for another seven days, or a placebo
for 10 days. Creatine use increased
fat-free mass, body water and body-
weight. The results on a molecular
level, however, were far more inter-
esting. Creatine increased the
activity of genes and protein
enzymes involved in sensing
cellular water content and
also upgraded messenger RNA
content, which is involved in
protein synthesis. As a result,
several cell-signaling events were
increased that regulate protein and
glycogen synthesis, satellite-cell prolif-
eration and differentiation (the primary
impetus to muscular growth), DNA
replication and repair and cellular sur-
vival. So in practical terms that
means the gains experienced
while using creatine supple-
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
ments are real.
Still another
new study exam-
ined what hap-
pens when older
adults engaged in
a weight-training
program receive
a combination
of creatine and
conjugated linoleic acid. CLA is a fat-
based supplement often touted for its
anticatabolic and fat-reducing effects.
Some studies suggest that taking
CLA with creatine would augment
creatine’s natural anabolic effects.
The subjects were 19 men and
20 women, all over age 65, who
trained twice a week for six months.
One group got five grams a day of
creatine, along with six grams of
CLA. Others received a placebo.
Although both groups trained
on identical programs, those
who took the creatine-and-CLA
combo showed greater gains in
muscular endurance, knee-ex-
tension strength, fat-free mass
and decreased bodyfat after
six months than those in the
placebo group. The creatine-and-
CLA group experienced no adverse
effects from using the supplements.
A Canadian study confirmed that
the combination of creatine and CLA,
along with a protein supplement,
synergistically stimuates muscular
gains. Fifty-two men and 17 women,
average age 22 1/2, were randomly
assigned to one of three groups:
1) Protein, consisting of 45 grams
a day of whey protein supplement
2) Protein and creatine—36 grams
of whey protein and nine grams of
creatine daily
3) Protein, creatine, CLA—36
grams of protein, nine grams of
creatine and six grams of CLA daily
The supplements were
taken during a five-week pe-
riod of weight training. Those
in group 3 had an average
14.3 percent gain in leg press
and bench press strength
compared to 8.5 percent for
the other groups. Group 3
also had a greater gain in lean
tissue than the other groups. The
two groups that got a combination of
creatine and protein had more lean
mass gains and bench press strength
than the protein-only group. Those
findings led to the conclusion that “a
combination of protein, creatine and
CLA is best for increasing leg and
bench press strength, and combining
creatine and protein is effective for in-
creasing lean tissue mass and bench
press strength.”
—Jerry Brainum
References
Bassit, R.A., et al. (2007). Creatine
supplementation reduces plasma
levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines
and PGE2 after a half-Ironman com-
petition. Amino Acids. In press.
Safdar, A., et al. (2007). Global
and targeted gene expression and
protein content in skeletal muscle of
young men following short-term cre-
atine monohydrate supplementation.
Physiol Genomics. In press.
Tarnopolsky, M., et al. (2007).
Creatine monohydrate and conju-
gated linoleic acid improve strength
and body composition following resis-
tance exercise in older adults. PloS.
2(10):991.
Cornish, S.M., et al. Effect of sup-
plementing with conjugated linoleic
acid, creatine monohydrate and whey
protein during high-intensity resis-
tance training in young adults. Paper
resented at the 2007 meeting of the
Canadian Physiological Association.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 51
LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
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 to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES

Food Facts
That can affect your
workouts, weight and wellness

Folate, found in
leafy green vegetables,
helps make new skin
cells. Australian re-
searchers found that
folate is the reason leafy
greens reduce the risk
of skin cancer.
Eggs have
more eye-building
carotenoids than
carrots. Moreover,
research shows
that eggs, eaten
in moderation,
do not increase
cholesterol.
Kissing increases
saliva, which cleans
your teeth. So if you
can’t brush after every
meal, try smooch-
FAT
ing—or sugar-free

Saturated Misinformation? gum works too.

An apple a day
gives you the same
Does saturated fat really cause heart disease, or is it something else? anti-
oxidant boost as 1 1/2
What if overdosing on sugar, not fat, caused heart disease? That’s not
grams of vitamin C, plus
to say that eating a lot of saturated fat is good for you; however, many fiber.
people who go on low-carb diets improve their blood levels of high-density Selenium is known
lipoproteins, the good cholesterol, despite eating saturated fat. The reason as a cancer fighter, but
may be lower insulin levels. it’s recently gained status
as a brain builder as well.
Researchers suggest when you eat a lot
Subjects who had a low
of carbs, enough to initiate an insulin surge, selenium count had lower
the carbs must be converted to fat. That cognitive test scores
happens in your liver, where excess carbs are than those who had an
converted to triglycerides. adequate count. About
55 micrograms a day is
On low-carb diets insulin remains steady,
recommended. Nuts are
with no surges—if you eat small, frequent a good source.
meals. That diminishes the need to store Magne-
excess carbs as fat because there are no sium makes
excess carbs. What about saturated fat? It you stronger,
according to
could have adverse cardiovascular effects,
handgrip tests
but not as severe as when you overindulge and leg ex-
in simple carbs. ercises done
The lesson is that your carb intake with more than
should match your energy expenditure, and 1,000 men and
women. It can also
you should minimize simple carbs in your
help you sleep and recover better, so
diet. Eat small, frequent meals that won’t try one of the popular calcium-magne-
raise your insulin levels, and you’ll reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease. sium combo supplements available.
—Becky Holman —Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com www.X-tremeLean.com

52 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
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 to Grow
DEFICIENCY

Holy Cramp!
We’ve all had those involuntary muscle
spasms, some of which can be excruciat-
ing—like your calf seizing up in the middle
of the night after a brutal lower-leg workout.
What causes that annoying, often painful
phenomenon? It could be anything from
dehydration to the depletion of certain min-
erals—specifically potassium, magnesium or
calcium.
To prevent charley horses, as they’re often
called, drink plenty of water, replenish your
electrolytes with sports drinks and eat foods
that contain the aforementioned minerals,
including bananas. You may want to supple-
ment with a multimineral capsule as well;
take it with food for best absorption.
If you still get a cramp, gently stretch the
affected muscle and massage the area. Bet-

Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers

ter yet, have someone else massage it for
you so you can really relax.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com

MYTHS PUMP

Gummy Fears Preworkout Chocolate?

If you chew Recent studies dis-
cussed in the December
gum during
’07 Bottom Line Health
your work- newsletter show that
out, you’ve people who ate dark
probably chocolate or other
swallowed cocoa-rich products daily
a piece or two for two weeks lowered
their blood pressure.
by accident. The first thing that goes Researchers suggest
through your mind is, “It’s going to be in my diges- it’s because cocoa is
tive system for seven years!” Don’t fret. That’s an high in procyanidins, an antioxidant that boosts nitric
age-old fib told to children to keep them from chok- oxide—yes, the NO you want to increase for a better
ing on chewing gum. While it’s true that gum has pump during your workouts. The boost in NO may also
explain why chocolate is considered an aphrodisiac in
resin in it that doesn’t get broken down by digestion,
women—perhaps it increases blood flow to our sexier
the stuff still passes through you in a few days—not parts. Why not men? Anything is an aphrodisiac to
seven years. them—even a strong breeze.
—Becky Holman —Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com www.X-tremeLean.com

54 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 to Grow
ANABOLIC DRIVE
Phosphatidylserine and 18 Holes
Imagine eating a fat and then being able to
perform a high-skill activity with more grace and
panache. That isn’t science fiction—it’s real-
world fact. One word: phosphatidylserine.
When most people think of healthful fats, they
think of the omega-3s from fish or the monoun-
saturated fats found in nuts and olive oil. Those
types of fat—technically, lipids—have effects
that make them special.
Phospholipids form part of the structure
of the cell membrane. Two of the important
phospholipids are phosphatidylcholine and
phosphatidylserine. In some individuals
doing very long and intense exercise re-
duces circulatory choline concentrations.
Because choline is a precursor of the neu-
rotransmitter acetylcholine, some evidence
shows that short-term oral supplementation
with phosphatidylcholine at about 13 grams
for a 150-pound person gets better results
when exercise has depleted circulating
choline concentrations. Short-term
oral supplementation with soy-derived
phosphatidylserine reportedly attenu-
ates circulating cortisol concentrations,
improves perceived well-being and re-
duces perceived muscle soreness after
exercise. A dose of 750 milligrams per
day for 10 days has been demonstrated to improve exercise
capacity during high-intensity cycling and tended to increase
performance during intermittent running.1
If you like to hit the links—come on, you can’t be in the
gym 24 hours a day!—phosphatidylserine may improve per-
formance in that very high-skill sport. A study published in
the Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition
BODY FIX
With
Breathe Easier pycnogenol
You may have heard of the
supplement pycnogenol, which
is extracted from the bark of
a French pine tree. It contains
a number of antioxidants that
reduce inflammation, and new
research shows that it im-
proves breathing in asthmatics.
In a recent study involving 60
children, 60 percent were able
to discontinue their asthma
drugs after a few months of
100 milligrams a day of pycno-
genol. Adults may need about
double that amount.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com
56 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
investigated the effect
of oral phosphatidylserine
supplementation on golf per-
formance in healthy young golfers
with handicaps of 15 to 40. Perceived
stress, heart rate and the quality of the
ball flight were evaluated before and
after the subjects got 42 days of
200 milligrams per day of phos-
phatidylserine or a placebo in the
form of a nutrition bar. The sub-
jects teed off 20 times, aiming at a
green 135 meters from the tee area.
What happened?
Phosphatidylserine supplementation significantly
increased the number of good ball flights, whereas
placebo intake had no
Neveux \ Model: Greg Blout
effect. Phosphatidylserine
supplementation tended to
reduce perceived stress during
tee-off, whereas stress levels
remained unchanged in the
placebo group. Supplementa-
tion did not, however, influence
average heart rate in either group.2
Those findings suggest that phosphatidylserine
is a neural agent that could help high-skill activi-
ties like golf swing, baseball swing and swimming. If you do
high-skill weight-room activities like the snatch and clean and
jerk, it should definitely be added to your supplement arsenal!
—Jose Antonio, Ph.D.
Editor’s note: You can listen to Dr. Jose Antonio and
Carla Sanchez on their radio show Performance Nutrition,
Web and podcast at www.PerformanceNutritionShow.com.
Dr. Antonio is the CEO of the International Society of
Sports Nutrition—www.TheISSN.org. His other Web sites
include www.SupplementCoach.com, www.Javafit.com,
www.PerformanceNutritionShow.com and www.Jose
AntonioPhD.com.
References
1 Jager, R., et al. (2007). Phospholipids and sports perfor-
mance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 4:5.
2 Jager, R., et al. (2007). The effect of phosphatidylserine on
golf performance. J Int Soc Sports Nutr. 4(1):23.
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 to Grow
PROTEIN

Milk vs. Soy—Updated Info

In a previous issue I reported on
a study that compared milk to soy
postworkout. It found that milk led to
greater amino acid uptake in muscle
and a higher level of muscle protein
synthesis than soy. Milk protein is
more targeted at muscle, whereas soy
is metabolized mainly in the gut. The
authors of that study recently pub-
lished an update that added carbohy-
drate to the mix.
Fifty-six young men with little or
no prior training experience trained
five days a week for 12 weeks on a
resistance-
exercise pro-
gram. The
men were
randomly
assigned
to down one of three drinks im-
mediately after and one hour after
exercise:
1) Fat-free milk
2) Fat-free soy protein
3) Maltodextrin, a carbohydrate
After five weeks those in
the milk group had greater
gains in type 2 muscle fiber
size. Type 1 muscle fibers in-
creased only in the milk and soy
groups, with greater gains occurring
in the milk group. The milk group
Neveux \ Model: Carl Suliani
One reason milk protein may be more effective than soy as
a muscle builder is that milk contains more branched-chain
amino acids, though the subjects made equal gains regard-
less of the protein source. That may be because they were all
weight-training novices. Beginners make rapid initial muscle
gains because of improved neuromuscular efficiency. This
confounds the study’s findings.
Soy is known to diminish estrogen because its isoflavones
inhibit aromatase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into
estrogen. Yet those in the whey group also experienced lower
estrogen. The authors explain that the whey protein used in
the study contained isoflavones, an ingredient never before
found in whey. Or it may be due to an unknown effect of whey
itself on estrogen metabolism. The main point of the
study, however, was that contrary
to popular belief, soy protein sup-
plements don’t lower testosterone
levels in men.
On the other hand, another recent
study found that soy protein isolate spurs
the excretion of estrogen in men. Soy
protein isolate triggers the con-
version of the active form of es-
trogen linked to breast cancer and
prostate cancer in men into an
inert form that is easily excreted.
In fact, soy protein isolate proved superior
to milk protein isolate in that regard.
The prostate-protecting property of
soy has been demonstrated in another
study. Men followed both high- and low-
soy diets for three months. While they
were on the high-soy diet, their
serum testosterone wasn’t af-
fected, but levels of prostate-spe-

also lost more bodyfat. The cific antigen, or PSA, a marker

authors attribute that to the higher
calcium content of the milk or to the
fact that milk protein aids in fat loss.
Another study examined the
effects of various proteins on sex
hormones in the body—significant
because a frequent criticism of soy
protein is that its isoflavones, which are structurally similar to
estrogen, lower testosterone.
The 12-week study featured 20 subjects who supplement-
ed 50 grams of protein daily from the following sources:
1) Soy concentrate
2) Soy isolate
3) Soy isolate and whey blend
4) Whey blend only
The subjects also engaged in a weight-training program
throughout the study. Significant gains in lean mass
occurred regardless of the protein source. None of
the groups showed differences in testosterone, although the
testosterone-to-estrogen ratio increased in all groups, while
estrogen decreased. The whey-blend group showed the most
significant drop in estrogen.
of prostate cancer, dropped by
14 percent. That points to a pro-
tective effect of soy on prostate
gland health.
—Jerry Brainum
References
Hartman, J.W., et al. (2007). Consumption of fat-free milk
after resistance exercise promotes greater lean mass accre-
tion than does consumption of soy or carbohydrate in young,
novice male weightlifters. Am J Clin Nutr. 86:373-81.
Kalman, D., et al. (2007). Effect of protein source and
resistance training on body composition and sex hormones. J
Int Soc Sports Nutr. 4:4.
Hamilton-Reeves, J.M., et al. (2007). Soy protein iso-
late increases urinary estrogens and the ratio of 2:16 hy-
droxyestrone in men at high risk of prostate cancer. J Nutr.
137:2258-2263.
Maskarinec, G., et al. (2006). Serum prostate-specific anti-
gen but not testosterone levels decrease in a randomized soy
intervention among men. Eur J Clin Nutr. 60:1423-1429.

58 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 TM

PERFECT POSTWORKOUT MEAL

To Kick-Start Immediate Muscle Growth After You Train

Breakthrough research in
exercise metabolism now
reveals this fact: What you
consume (or don’t consume)
immediately after training plays
a critical role in determining
your success or failure! That
time period is known as the
“anabolic window” of growth.

The biggest mistake many

bodybuilders make is eating
a meal of chicken breasts,
baked potato or rice and
vegetables after a workout. This
is an approach doomed to fail
because by the time this meal
digests, the anabolic window
has slammed shut.

The best way to produce this

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62 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 GRIND OUT THE GROWTH REPS™
Beta-Alanine Gives Your Muscles More Grow Power™

The biggest bodybuilders know that

the last few grueling reps of a set are
the key growth reps. It’s why they fight
through the pain of muscle burn on
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Red Dragon is a new beta-alanine

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Muscle biopsies show that the largest
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muscles more “grow power” on every set.
The bigger and stronger a muscle gets,
the more carnosine it needs to perform
at higher intensity levels. You must keep
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Straight carnosine supplements degrade

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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train ™

Train, Eat,
Grow
From the IRON MAN Training &
Research Center
Muscle-Training Program 102
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux
I
n the last installment we dis-
cussed our streamlined 3D
HIT program—essentially one
set in each of the three posi-
tions of flexion for every bodypart.
Yep, only three work sets for each
muscle, but they’re all-out sets
and usually include X Reps or an
X-hybrid technique to supercharge
them. Plus, before the first work set
of the big, midrange move, we do
two or three progressively heavier
warmup sets.
Is that enough to build more
muscle? So far it’s working nicely,
but we’ve had to really focus on and
hone the details. Before we get into
those, let’s review our split:
Week 1
Monday: Chest, lats, triceps, abs
Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
calves, lower back
Wednesday: Delts, midback,
biceps, forearms
Model: Dave Perry
Thursday: Off
Friday: Chest, lats, triceps, abs
Weekend: Off (with cardio)
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
Week 2
Monday: Delts, midback,
biceps, forearms
Tuesday: Quads, hamstrings,
calves, lower back
Wednesday: Chest, lats,
triceps, abs
Thursday: Off
Friday: Delts, midback, bi-
ceps, forearms
The Trap Bar is designed so you can stand
Weekend: Off (with cardio) inside it, which enables you to squat in a more
upright position. That’s easier on the lower
back and more ergonomically correct. Trap
Week 3 Bar deadlifts hit the legs and back hard.
Repeat Week 1
By the way, for deadlifts we’ve
Remember, we work legs only been using a Trap Bar, which is
once a week; however, we substitute designed so you can stand “inside”
regular deadlifts for the back routine it. The middle of the bar is a square,
on Friday. That gives us residual leg and you stand inside that configu-
work at the end of the week as well ration and grip handles that are
as a heavy back blast. We follow the outside your legs near the barbell
deadlift, an anabolic-acceleration plates. That enables you to deadlift
exercise, with one or two sets of a with a more upright posture—with-
direct back exercise—pulldowns if out having to drag a straight bar
it’s lat day, machine rows if it’s mid- up your shins. The Trap Bar makes
back day. the deadlift safer, and you hit your
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 63
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 Train, Eat, Grow
quads and back much harder
without rounding your lower
back.
On our new 3D HIT pro-
gram each workout lasts about
50 minutes. As we said, how-
ever, there are critical details
we must continually be aware
of and put into practice if
we’re going to flip the anabolic
switch with such brief blasts:

1) A thorough
warmup for each muscle
is mandatory. A properly
prepped muscle can contract
up to 20 percent better than
a cold one. We’re following
the comprehensive warmup
Model: Marvin Montoya

sequence from our e-book A thorough warmup is critical

3D Muscle Building, which to getting the most fiber
is two to three progressively activation on your work sets.

IRON MAN Training & Research Center Muscle-Training Program 102

Workout 1: Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Seated calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
Smith-machine incline presses (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Hyperextensions or
High cable flyes 1 x 12-15 Nautilus lower-back machine (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
Bench presses (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Flyes (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Workout 3: Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Wide-grip dips (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Seated laterals/upright rows (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Low cable flyes 1 x 12-15 One-arm cable laterals
Chins 1 x 9-12 or incline one-arm laterals (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Parallel-grip pulldowns 1 x 9-12 Forward-lean laterals 1 x 12-15
Machine or dumbbell pullovers 1 x 9-12 Smith-machine presses (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Rope rows 1 x 12-15 Bent-over laterals 1 x 12-15
Lying extensions (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Machine rows (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Overhead dumbbell extensions V-handle cable rows 1 x 9-12
or cable pushouts 1 x 9-12 Bent-arm bent-over laterals 1 x 12-15
Pushdowns or kickbacks (X Reps) 1 x 12-15 Dumbbell shrugs 1 x 12-15
Incline kneeups 1 x 12-15 Dumbbell curls 1 x 9-12
Flat-bench leg raises 1 x 10-15 Incline curls 1 x 9-12
Tri-set Concentration curls or
Ab Bench crunches 1 x 10-12 one-arm spider curls 1 x 12-15
Twisting crunches 1 x 10-15 Incline hammer curls 1 x 9-12
End-of-bench kneeups 1 x 9-12 Tri-set
Behind-the-back wrist curls 1 x 12-15
Workout 2: Quads, Hamstrings, Calves, Lower Back Rockers 1 x 15-20
Leg extensions (warmup) 1 x 12-15 Forearm Bar reverse wrist curls 1 x 8-10
Squats 1 x 9-12
Sissy squats 1 x 9-12 Friday Workout
Leg extensions (X Reps) 1 x 12-15 Deadlifts (substitute for back workout) 1 x 9-12
Walking lunges 1 x 10-15
Stiff-legged deadlifts 1 x 9-12
Leg curls 1 x 12-15
Knee-extension leg press calf raises Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
(X Reps) 1 x 12-15 set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond X-
Leg press calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 12-15 Rep Muscle Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com
Machine standing calf raises for more workout details.
or one-leg calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 15-20
64 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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 Train, Eat, Grow
heavier sets with some partial-range
reps—X Reps—for occlusion and
then heightened blood flow. The
bottom line: Warm up thoroughly if
you want to get the muscle-building
job done with only one work set.

2) Your neuromuscular
efficiency must improve. Lag-
ging bodyparts usually have weaker
nerve-to-muscle connections,
which means they’re harder to feel
as they contract. So you can’t acti-
vate as many growth fibers on any
one set. Superior neuromuscular
efficiency is one of the big reasons
Casey Viator was able to build—or,
actually, rebuild—60 pounds of
muscle in only four weeks during
the Colorado Experiment back in
the ’70s. He was a pure fast-twitch
Model: Idrise Ward-El

animal who could contract an Deadlifts can provide

enormous number of muscle fibers residual leg work on a
on any one set. In fact, he accom- back-training day.
plished that phenomenal muscle-

IRON MAN Training & Research Center Home-Gym Program 102

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

66 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 Train, Eat, Grow
building feat using only one or two
exercises per bodypart, one set
each. His workouts took about 30
minutes, and he trained three days a
week. For us mere mortals, training
each muscle in its three positions of
flexion will help build better neuro-
muscular efficiency, as will doing X
Reps.
you’re beginning to tap into the key
growth fibers. You can do that with
end-of-set X-Rep partials: When you
can no longer do full-range reps,
move the resistance to a point that’s
near the turnaround, where the
target muscle is semistretched, and
fire out as many eight-inch partials
as you can. For example, do X Reps
sion: Was Charles Atlas Right?” on
page 125 for details.)
Of course, even with all of the
above, one set in each position
still won’t be enough for stubborn
bodyparts with extremely low neu-
romuscular efficiency. The slacker
muscles require you to specialize for
more size—and the efficient, abbre-

3) Use X Reps on most

exercises, especially the big,
near the bottom of an incline press.

4) Extend the tension

midrange moves. Because most
of us don’t have Casey’s superhu-
man fiber-firing capability, we need
to find other ways to get at more
muscle fibers. Using the three posi-
tions of flexion—3D POF—for each
muscle group is one way. Training a
muscle from the midrange, stretch
and contracted positions gets at
more fibers and also produces max
force, stretch overload and continu-
ous tension and occlusion.
While POF gives you an enor-
mous muscle-building bang, to
make one set in each position as
effective as possible, you must leap-
frog nervous system failure. That’s
what stops your work set right when
time on continuous-tension
exercises. Contracted-position
exercises, like leg extensions, push-
downs and concentration curls, are
done last in the 3D POF bodypart
routines. Do higher reps and slow
down the cadence so your work set
lasts around 50 seconds—and do
not allow the target muscle to rest
during the set. Continuous ten-
sion for a longer-than-normal set is
vitally important. (We’re beginning
to think contracted-position exer-
cises with longer tension times may
have almost as much hypertrophic
potential as compound moves, if
they are performed slowly with long
tension times; see “Dynamic Ten-
viated nature of the 3D HIT program
is perfect for rotating in more elabo-
rate routines for lagging areas. We’ll
discuss that next month and provide
some examples of specialization
routines you can plug into our 3D
HIT program.
Note: Our latest e-book, X-
traordinary Arms, is available at
X-Rep.com. It includes biceps and
triceps specialization routines for
width, peak and sweep plugged into
the 3D HIT program.
Editor’s note: For the latest on
X Reps, X e-books and the X-Blog
training and supplement journals,
visit www.X-Rep.com. The training
e-books are shown below. IM

X-traordinary Workouts — X-ceptional Results!

The Ultimate Mass Workout. Beyond X-Rep Muscle 3D Muscle Building. X-traordinary Muscle-
This is the original X-Rep Building. More on X Reps Positions-of-Flexion mass Building Workouts. The big
manual. Includes the and X-hybrid techniques, training. Includes the 20- 10 mass-program arsenal.
ultimate exercise for each including X Fade and pounds-of-muscle-in-10- Includes Heavy/Light, 20-
muscle and workouts. Double-X Overload. weeks size surge program. Rep Squat, Power Pyramid.

X-Rep.com
68 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY H

Naturally Huge
by John Hansen, Mr. Natural Olympia

Bench Press incorrect form,

and it turns out
they feel the

Form for
movement more
in the shoulders
than the chest.
The bench

Pec Growth press is a chest

exercise, but it
also involves
the anterior, or
front, deltoids
Q: I got your DVD, and it’s very good. I’m a natural and the triceps.
bodybuilder, and it helped me very much with my Properly per-
preparation. I have a problem when positioning formed, the
my shoulders on the bench for bench presses. As a exercise should
result, I can’t isolate my chest enough. I know you be 70 percent
said, “Chest up, expand the rib cage, shoulders down chest, 15 per-
and back, big arch, hold shoulder blades tight.” cent delts and
But I feel like I’m still missing something. Can you 15 percent
explain step by step how to position my back and triceps. If you
shoulders to take them out of the movement—espe- do it wrong, however, you’ll feel it more in your shoulders
cially shoulders? I noticed that most pro bodybuild- or triceps.
ers do something before they start to bench. When The proper way to set up for the exercise is by using
they first lie on the bench, they grab the bar and moderately wide hand spacing on the bar. The rule to
make one fast movement. Do I need to do that? remember here is that when your upper arms are paral-
lel to the floor during the exercise, your forearms should
A: Your question is a common one. When I’m train- be perpendicular to your upper arms. Your hand position
ing beginners on the barbell bench press, I usually notice should be wide enough to make that happen.
If you use a closer
hand spacing, you’ll feel
the exercise more in
If you want your triceps than your
the most chest chest. I notice that a lot
involvement, roll of people tend to favor
your shoulders a close hand spacing. I
back and hold think that’s because you
your chest high feel stronger and tighter
during bench when using a narrow grip
presses. on the bar. Grabbing the
bar wider may make you
feel as though you’re at a
mechanical disadvantage
when you press; how-
ever, your primary goal
is to develop the chest
muscles, not push up
the maximum amount of
weight. With wider hand
spacing, you use your
chest muscles more.
If you do the opposite
Neveux \ Model: Cesar Martinez

and grab the bar with a

very wide hand
(continued spacing,
on page 102)
you use more deltoids
than chest. A wide grip
limits the range of motion
for the exercise and puts
an abnormal strain on the

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

 NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY H Naturally Huge
Neveux \ Model: Sagi Kalev
Reducing your poundage and doing ultraslow reps can
help you establish the mind/muscle connection that’s
necessary for maximum mass.
front deltoids instead of the pectoral muscles.
Now that you’ve established the proper hand spacing,
let’s go over the rest of the exercise. You need to put your
body in the proper position to feel the exercise in your
chest and not your shoulders. You want to expand your rib
cage and keep your chest high with your shoulders pulled
back. Many people have difficulty keeping their chest high
and their shoulders back, which is why I recommend ex-
panding your rib cage when you bench. That will make you
automatically pull your shoulders backward as your chest
expands. Also, by expanding your rib cage, you hold your
chest higher. That positions the pectoral muscles to benefit
from the exercise.
By keeping your shoulders pulled back, you take them
out of the movement and place most of the stress on your
chest muscles.
Many people make the mistake of pushing the bar up
too far at the conclusion of each rep. By caving in their
chest and extending their arms and shoulders to push the
bar up that far, they bring in their shoulders, shifting the
load to their deltoids instead of the pecs. As long as you
keep your rib cage expanded and shoulders back, you’ll feel
the exercise in the pecs, not the delts.
If you do all of those things and you still have trouble
feeling the exercise in your pecs, I recommend that you
start with a very light weight so that you can focus more
on feeling the movement in your chest. Keeping your rib
cage expanded and your shoulders pulled back, grab the
74 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
bar with a moderately wide grip and pull your elbows back
during the exercise so they’re right under the bar.
I remember reading about the way Tom Platz improved
the mind/muscle connection when it came to training his
biceps. Tom said that he had a very strong mind/muscle
connection when training his legs but a very difficult time
doing the same thing when training his biceps.
To overcome the problem, he stopped training his bi-
ceps heavy and started doing curls with 10-pound dumb-
bells. He did the exercise very slowly and deliberately,
feeling every muscle fiber contracting during the move-
ment. When he’d firmly established the mind/muscle con-
nection, he moved up to 15-pound dumbbells. He followed
the same procedure until he was back up to his normal
75-pounders.
You could do the same thing with the barbell bench
press. Go back down in weight and use correct form so that
you feel the exercise in your chest instead of your shoul-
ders. When you’ve nailed the mind/muscle connection,
you can start increasing the weight on the bar until you get
back to the weight you’re using now.
Q: I recently purchased your book and have read
it cover to cover. I’m 22, 6’4” and 350 pounds—not
exactly bodybuilding condition, but that’s what I
want to work toward. I need to know how to calcu-
late calories for bulking and cutting, as I didn’t see
how to do that in your book. I know I should experi-
ment, but there’s a ton of room for error when you
don’t even know where to begin. Is there a formula?
Do you calculate using lean mass or total body-
weight? I ask because I wouldn’t think you’d need
to add more calories just to feed the fat. One more
question: I’m of the endomorphic bodytype, so is it
okay to get most of my carbs from brown rice? Your
book is very inspiring, and I can’t thank you enough
for writing it. Just the information on how to do the
exercises correctly was worth the price.
A: The method I use to calculate the calorie require-
ments for bulking or cutting is to look at each macronutri-
ent separately and establish a number for each. Protein,
carbohydrate and fat all play different roles in the body,
and they must be adjusted for gaining weight or losing fat.
When you’re trying to lose bodyfat and maintain or build
more muscle, protein is the most important macronutrient.
I eat approximately 1.25 to 1.5 grams of protein for each
pound of bodyweight when I’m dieting to lose fat. If I weigh
220 pounds when I start my diet, I eat anywhere from 275
to 330 grams of protein per day. One gram of protein equals
One way to add size
without putting on
too much fat is to
alternate the amount
of carbohydrate you
eat on training and
nontraining days.
 NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY HUGE NATURALLY H Naturally Huge
You must manipulate your protein, carbs and
fats, depending on your goals.
four calories per gram, so that comes to 1,100 to 1,320 calo-
ries of protein intake alone.
When I’m trying to lose fat, I moderate my carbohydrate
intake in order to starve the fat cells while still getting
enough carbs to supply the energy I need for my intense
weight-training sessions. If I don’t eat enough carbs, I risk
losing muscle because the carbs are protein sparing, which
means they are used for energy rather than the protein,
which should be used for building muscle. If I eat too many
carbs, however, I won’t lose bodyfat fast enough because
of the excess glycogen, which can be stored as fat or, at the
very least, slow down the rate of fat moblilzation.
On the days I weight train, I need more carbs to fuel the
session. I also need them immediately after the workout
to replace the glycogen I just burned up in my training.
I always have two scoops of the postworkout drink 2:1:1
Recovery from Optimum Nutrition, which provides me
with 70 grams of fast-acting carbohydrate after my training
session.
On my training days I take in almost one gram of car-
bohydrate for each pound of bodyweight. Using the above
example, if I weigh 220 pounds and I get .95 grams of carbs
for each pound of bodyweight, I eat around 209 grams of
carbs on a training day.
On a nontraining day I drop my carb intake drastically. I
don’t need as many because I’m not training, so I eliminate
my postworkout drink, which cuts out 70 grams of carb
from my diet. By eating fewer carbs, I’m essentially “starv-
ing” the fat cells by not feeding them with nutrients that
could possibly be stored as fat.
On a nontraining day I limit my carbohydrate intake to
only .7 grams for each pound of bodyweight. If I weigh 220
pounds, I eat only 154 grams of carbohydrate.
As for my fat intake, I eat a moderate amount of fat
because my carb intake is low to moderate. If I were eating
a higher-carbohydrate diet, I’d eat less fat. To lose fat, you
basically need to eat a high-protein diet plus either low
carbs or low fat.
76 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
Since I lose fat by moderating my carbohy-
drate intake, I eat a moderate amount of fat.
I prefer the monounsaturated fats in flaxseed
oil, salmon and peanut butter. My fat intake is
usually between 55 and 70 grams. I eat more
fats on my lower-carb days than on my train-
ing days.
The calorie breakdown for a diet designed
to lose bodyfat comes out to about 45 percent
protein, 35 percent carb and 20 percent fat on
a training day. On a rest, or a nontraining, day
the calories break down to 50 percent protein,
25 percent carbohydrate and 25 percent fat.
When trying to gain weight and put on
muscle, the percentages are different. Protein
is still important, but the carbohydrate intake
should be increased. As with the fat-loss diet,
the carbs are the one macronutrient that’s
adjusted to achieve the goal.
When I’m trying to gain mass, I eat more
carbohydrate than protein. Depending on how
fast your metabolism is and your age—metab-
olism tends to slow down as we get older—you
should eat anywhere from two to four grams of
carbohydrate for each pound of bodyweight.
At 220 pounds I eat an average of 440 grams a
day when trying to add muscle mass. When I
was younger, I ate anywhere from 500 to 600
grams to bulk up.
One way to add size without putting on too much fat is
to alternate your carbohydrate intake on training and non-
training days. I did that when I was dieting to lose fat, eat-
ing more on my training days and fewer on my nontraining
days. You can do the same by eating two grams of carbs for
each pound of bodyweight on your training days and one
to 1.5 grams per pound on your nontraining days.
My protein intake is also high when I’m eating to add
size and bodyweight but not as high when I’m eating to
lose fat. I get an average of 1.25 grams of protein for each
pound of bodyweight. If my weight is 220, that will be 275
grams of protein per day.
My fat intake is about the same on my mass-building
and fat-loss diets. Those who have a very fast metabolism
would benefit from eating more fat because fats have more
calories per gram—nine calories vs. four calories for pro-
tein or carbohydrates.
When I was eating to gain size, I ate whole eggs and red
meat because of their higher saturated-fat content. That
helped boost my calorie intake, which was essential due to
my extremely fast metabolism.
The macronutrient breakdown for a bulking diet would
be 35 percent protein, 50 percent carbohydrate and 15
percent fat on a training day. On a nontraining day it would
be 40 percent protein, 40 percent carbohydrate and 20
percent fat.
Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Natural Mr.
Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
Visit his Web site at www.NaturalOlympia.com. You can
write to him at P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561, or call
toll-free (800) 900-UNIV (8648). His new book, Natural
Bodybuilding, and new training DVD, “Real Muscle,” are
available from Home Gym Warehouse, www.Home-Gym
.com or (800) 447-0008. IM
 SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSCLE SHREDDED MUSC
Shredded Muscle
To Use, or
Not to Use?
Q: Is it true that you’re a lifetime natural body-
builder? I’ve been told that you can’t win in the NPC
without using steroids. If you really are drug-free
78 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
by David Goodin
and you’re winning nontested shows, aren’t you
tempted to use bodybuilding drugs to get to the next
level?
A: Yes, it’s true. I’m a lifetime drug-free bodybuilder. I’ve
never used steroids, testosterone, HGH or any other body-
building drugs. I know a lot of people out there don’t be-
lieve that you can look the way I look without using drugs.
There are even people who know me very well who can’t
believe it. I dated fitness and figure star Abby Marie Wolf
for more than two years, and she—who
knew me better than anybody—would
periodically ask me to “come clean”
and tell her what I really used.
As I told her a number of times, I
gained about 30 pounds of muscle in
20-plus years. That averages to less
than a pound and a half of muscle per
year. Gaining muscle at that rate is not
extraordinary. I’ve seen guys using the
juice who put on 30 pounds of lean
bodyweight in six months.
The other thing that people say is,
there’s no way to get that lean (I mea-
sured myself at 2.4 percent the week of
the ’07 NPC Team Universe) without
using some kind of drugs. Well, first
of all, I’m a naturally lean person—in
fact, naturally skinny. If I don’t lift, I
lose weight fast. Second, I take 14 to 16
weeks to lose eight to 12 pounds. I nor-
mally lose eight to 12 ounces per week
on my contest diet. Once again, that’s
not extraordinary. My “magic pills” are
consistency, persistence and discipline.
I figured out the basics of my contest
diet more than 20 years ago. I’ve always
stepped onstage ripped. I just follow
my plan, and as long as I give myself at
least one week (preferably a little more
than one week) for every pound of
bodyfat that I need to lose, I can always
achieve the results.
When you look at what I’ve done in
bodybuilding—in terms of muscle and
leanness—and the time that it’s taken
me to do it, you can see that it’s not a
stretch. You can see that it is very pos-
sible to do it drug-free.
Getting to the temptation part of
your question, the answer is yes, it is
It’s taken Dave many years
of trial and error to do it
drug-free. You can build a
lean, muscular physique
without steroids.
I’m often asked if I use steroids,
and it feels good to be able to look
people in the eye and say, “No, I
don’t use them.” I do my best to
persuade people not to use drugs,
but at the same time it doesn’t
make you a bad person.
tempting. When I first got interested
in bodybuilding, there were no drug-
tested contests. You could get a pre-
scription for anabolic steroids from a
doctor (some built their practices on
writing prescriptions for bodybuilding
drugs), and almost all of the competi-
tive bodybuilders I knew used ste-
roids. In 1984 I was told by a relatively
high-ranking official, “If you’re not
willing to take steroids, you shouldn’t
be a bodybuilder.”
Nevertheless, some of the maga-
zines were starting to report on the
side effects of steroid use. Even the
more superficial side effects like ac-
celerated hair loss, acne and testicular
atrophy were enough to get my atten-
tion. When I started thinking about
competing, I decided that I’d give
myself at least five years of drug-free
training to see what I could accom-
plish on my own.
I’ll be very honest here: Every in-
terviewer who’s ever asked me about
it has gotten the same anecdote. In
my fifth year of competition, I lost—at
an NPC national qualifier—in a tie-
breaker to a guy who was seriously
juiced. He went on to take second at
the USA Championships the follow-
ing weekend. I was very upset. I knew
that if I’d had even 10 more pounds
of muscle I could have easily won the
overall at that show. I talked it over
with my wife, and we decided that if
I was going to move up in bodybuild-
ing, I needed to do ’roids. I did some
research and then called Larry Mistric,
a former training partner (and world-
class powerlifter), to find out how to
go about acquiring them.
Larry told me, “Dave, look at what
you’ve done drug-free. Steroids are
about to be classified as a controlled
substance, and there are going to be
drug-tested contests in the very near
future. Don’t do it!”
That was all I needed—just some-
one in the industry to say, “Don’t do
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
it.” I didn’t, and I haven’t looked back.
If I’d done things differently, could
I have been a force in the IFBB for the
past 20 years? Maybe, maybe not. Who
knows? All I know is that I have, in that
time, become somewhat of a legend in
natural bodybuilding—at least that’s
what people tell me. With my status in
natural bodybuilding I’ve affected so
many people’s lives, both directly (see
the Bodybuilding.com interview of
Layne Norton) and indirectly. I know
that I feel 100 percent good about
what I’ve accomplished in bodybuild-
ing and how I’ve done it.
I’m often asked if I use steroids, and
it feels good to be able to look people
in the eye and say, “No, I don’t use
them.” It feels even better when the
next questions comes: “Have you ever
used steroids?” Once again, I can look
them in the eye and say, “No, never.”
Do I condemn those who use body-
building drugs? No, I don’t. I do my
®
best to persuade people not to use DESIGNED TO BUILD RES U L T S
them, but at the same time it doesn’t
make you a bad person—unless you’re
entering drug-free shows and/or lying FROM THE MAKERS
to people and telling them that you’re ®
natural. OF OHYEAH!
To use or not to use is a choice that
COMES RE-SATUR8
™
each person has to make. Are you
willing to risk your health to be more
muscular now? Last year I lost a friend
to a heart attack, and he was only
40. He was supermuscular, but those
RELOAD.
who loved him would have loved him
even had he been a smaller guy. Even
RECOVER.
though I’m not competing for the Ar-
nold Classic or Mr. Olympia titles and GROW.
(I’m sure) never will, I know my loved
ones are happy with the path that I’ve
chosen.
Editor’s note: See Dave Goodin’s www.issresearch.com
new blog at www.IronManMagazine
.com. Click on the blog selection in
the top menu bar. To contact Dave
directly, send e-mail to TXShredder@
aol.com. IM
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 79
 CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL MASS CRITICAL M
Steve Holman’s

Critical Mass
by Steve Holman

Contraction and Q: I need some back width—

that is, lat development. I’m
following your 3D HIT program
listed in the e-book X-traordi-

the Size Reaction nary Arms, but I’m not getting

a pump, and I have a hard time
feeling my back working. Do you
have any suggestions?

A: The 3D Positions-of-Flexion lat

routine in that program is the follow-
ing:
Chins (midrange) 1 x 9-12
Dumbbell pullovers
(stretch) 1 x 9-12
Rope rows (contracted) 1 x 12-15
One reason you may not be get-
ting a big pump is the last exercise,
rope rows, a contracted-position lat
exercise. While it does place your lats
in the contracted position at the top,
where your upper arms are slightly
behind your torso, it’s not a pure
contracted-position movement. Why?
Because it’s not isolated enough—you
use your arms, specifically your bi-
ceps, to pull the rope handle into
your waist.
So while you get your lats into
full contraction, you use a lot of arm
strength. That can diffuse the con-
tinuous-tension effect, especially for
trainees who have low neuromuscular
efficiency, or nerve force, in the lats.
They tend to use their arms a lot more
than their back muscles.
A substitute exercise I recommend
is stiff-arm pulldowns. Stand slightly
back away from the pulldown ma-
chine and take an overhand shoul-
der-width grip on the bar. With the
bar at eye level and tension on your
lats, drive the bar down in an arc,
keeping only a slight bend at your
elbows, until the bar is just in front of
your thighs; then return the bar in an
arc back to eye level. Concentrate on
keeping tension on your lats through-
out the set.
One of the keys to getting a lagging
bodypart to respond is continuous
tension and occlusion, which is a
blockage of blood flow. As I’ve noted
before, a number of Japanese and
American studies have found that
restricting blood flow during exercise,
as you do with most contracted-po-
sition movements—like stiff-arm

84 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Rope rows
(left) hit
the lats’
contracted
position,
but for
more
occlusion
try stiff-arm
pulldowns
instead.
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
pulldowns, leg extensions and so on—increases strength,
muscle activation and stimulation of anabolic hormones,
such as IGF-1 and growth hormone. Scientists at the Uni-
versity of Texas found that occlusion training can activate
the TOR-signaling pathway, which triggers protein synthe-
sis and muscle hypertrophy.
That’s the reason we finish off every bodypart with a
higher-rep continuous tension and occlusion exercise in
the 3D HIT program. In your case, the stiff-arm pulldown
should accomplish that better than rope rows for lat pump
and development. If you want to take it to the next level, try
a drop set on that last exercise to extend the tension time
and increase intensity. [Note: For more on occlusion, see
the feature that begins on page 102.]
Q: Most of programs in your articles and e-books
don’t have a lot of work sets. Are there any studies
that give a benchmark relating to the number of
sets that’s best for a workout?
A: Too much stress, whether in relationships or in the
gym or when you’re bunjee jumping, causes cortisol to rise.
Cortisol can force your body to eat muscle tissue for energy,
and it lowers testosterone. A study that looked at how train-
ing volume affects testosterone in men was done in 2004
(Alemany, J.A., et al. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 36:S238).
Group 1: No exercise (control)
Group 2: 25 sets
Group 3: 50 sets
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
The workouts consisted of big, basic exercises—squats,
bench presses, etc.—that have elevated testosterone in
other studies. Reps per set were five to 10, with 90 to 120
seconds of rest between sets.
Results: The high-volume group had significantly sup-
pressed testosterone over a 24-hour period. There was no
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
such reduction in the moderate-volume group.
I’ve always recommended workouts of no more than
about 30 work sets at any one session for drug-free train-
ees, and the study confirms what I’ve discovered over the
years.
Q: In your arm-specialization programs [listed in
X-traordinary Arms], is it okay to mix up the exer-
cises? Can I do a biceps-peak exercise for midrange,
then the stretch move, followed by a contracted-
position biceps exercise for width? I like the idea of
training for width and peak at every workout rather
than emphasizing one over the other at alternating
workouts, as you recommend.
A: Experimentation is good. I believe it’s necessary for
anyone interested in gaining the most muscle possible as
quickly as possible. Your idea has merit because no matter
what arm exercise you choose, you’ll affect all heads of the
muscle to some degree. In other words, you can’t work the
inner biceps head while the outer head takes a nap or vice
versa; however, you can stress one over the other.
Here’s a sample biceps routine you’d use at your first arm
workout:
Inner biceps (width)
Wide-grip curls (midrange exercise)
Inner and outer biceps (width and peak)
Palms-forward incline curls (stretch exercise)
Outer biceps (peak)
Concentration curls (contracted exercise)
That’s the standard 3D POF routine I often recommend
for overall biceps growth and development, as it’s very bal-
anced; however, you lead off
with an inner-head, or width,
exercise. So at your next biceps
workout change the first exer-
cise to an outer-head, or peak
midrange movement—like
close-grip preacher curls, fol-
lowed by stretch, followed by
an inner-biceps-head-domi-
nant exercise for width to hit
Neveux \ Model: Jay Cutler
the contracted position, like
one-arm spider curls done on
the vertical side of the preach-
er bench.
You’re still alternating
biceps workouts that stress
different areas, which is what we suggest in X-traordinary
Arms. What’s different is that you’re not focusing on one
section as much at each workout, as the arm-specialization
routines in the e-book do.
Those routines hammer one section, or head, of the bi-
ceps in all three positions, with the other head getting less
attention. So at the next workout you focus on the other
head. Your variation should work. Try it with the triceps
width and sweep exercises as well.
Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many
bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Positions-
of-Flexion muscle training. For information on the POF
videos and Size Surge programs, see the ad sections
beginning on pages 138 and 296, respectively. Also visit
www.X-Rep.com for information on X-Rep and 3D
POF methods and e-books. IM
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 85
 O
n July 31, 2005, the low-
carbohydrate diet was
declared dead by the
popular media. The oc-
casion was the filing of a Chapter 11
bankruptcy by Atkins Nutritionals, a
company founded by the godfather
of the low-carb diet, Robert Atkins,
M.D. Atkins himself wasn’t around
to watch his company fade, since he
had died two years earlier after slip-
ping on an icy sidewalk in New York
and going into a coma.
Although Atkins’ name was most
associated with the low-carb diet,
he was hardly the first to advocate
that kind of eating plan. The use
of a low-carb diet dates back to
antiquity—the fifth century B.C.
to be exact. A two-time Olympic
long-distance champion named
Stymphalos attributed his athletic
success to following a diet of mostly
Neveux \ Model: Markus Reinhardt
meat. The legendary Greek wrestling
champion Milo of Croton, who won
no fewer than five Olympic wres-
tling events between 536 and 520
B.C., was reputed to eat an average
19 pounds of beef daily to attain his
prodigious strength. Milo is also fa-
Low-Carb
Lowdown
Part 1:
Are Low-Carb Diets Dead?
by Jerry Brainum
88 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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mous for using the first progressive-
resistance exercise regimen, which
consisted of lifting a calf every day,
even when the calf became a bull.
Whether that bull eventually be-
came a source of protein for Milo
isn’t recorded.
The first popular low-carb diet
was offered by William Banting, a
retired London undertaker who
claimed to have shed 45 pounds of
fat in 1863 by eating a low-carb diet.
The diet was suggested to him by Dr.
William Harvey after Banting con-
sulted him about a recurrent ear-
ache. The doctor felt that Banting’s
symptoms stemmed from the excess
fat in his ear. Banting was so im-
pressed by the results of his diet that
he published it in a brief book called
Letter of Corpulence that became
the first commercial diet book.
In the early 20th century, Arctic
explorer Vilhjalmur Stefansson lived
among the native Inuit people and
adopted their 90 percent meat and
fish diet, devoid of carbohydrates.
While consuming this diet, Stefans-
son noted that he and his fellow
explorers remained healthy. In fact,
 www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 89
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 Low-Carb Lowdown

the only side effect occurred when

one intrepid explorer decided to eat
fish only. That led to nausea, which
was rapidly rectified when fat was
added to his diet.
When Stefansson reported on the
diet in a series of published articles,
medical professionals expressed
skepticism concerning the effects of
not eating carbohydrates. Stefans-
son elected to prove his contention
about the safety of the diet by liv-
ing in a metabolic ward at Bellevue
Hospital in New York while eating a
carb-free, meat-based diet for one
year. During that time he was close-

Stefansson elected to prove his contention about

the safety of the diet by living in a metabolic ward
at Bellevue Hospital in New York while eating a
carb-free, meat-based diet for one year. During
that time he was closely observed by medical
researchers. The results, published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association in 1928,
showed zero adverse effects from the diet, not
even a vitamin deficiency.
ly observed by medical researchers.
The results, published in the Journal
of the American Medical Association
in 1928, showed zero adverse effects
from the diet, not even a vitamin
deficiency.
Since then, numerous ver-
sions of the low-carb diet
have appeared. The most
popular was Atkins’ plan,
first published in 1972. The
cornerstone of Atkins’ and
all other low-carb diets is that
bodyfat is largely the result of
excess insulin release. Insulin
is required for the uptake of
glucose into cells, but it also
stimulates the synthesis of
bodyfat.
According to low-carb-diet
proponents, those who have
excess bodyfat produce too
much insulin because their
enlarged fat cells make them
Neveux \ Model: Will Harris

insulin insensitive. Carbs

are considered the primary
culprit because sugars trigger
the greatest release of insulin.
A lesser-known fact is that
protein also triggers insulin

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 Low-Carb Lowdown

release, explaining why modern

Supplements for Low-Carb Dieters postworkout supplements empha-
Using certain food supplements makes low-carb dieting size a combination of protein and
easier, safer and more efficient. simple carbs—taken together, the
• Potassium and magnesium. These minerals are nutrients maximize insulin release
particularly beneficial during the initial stages of a low- more than either alone.
carb diet to prevent muscle weakness and fatigue. Aim for Critics of low-carb diets point out
at least 450 milligrams of magnesium and 2,000 milligrams that it’s calories that count when it
of potassium daily. An alternative is to take a well-balanced comes to bodyfat loss. Many suggest
multimineral supplement that contains both minerals, that insulin alone doesn’t stimulate
plus calcium, another mineral often in short supply in excess bodyfat in the absence of
people who follow low-carb diets. In fact, a daily vitamin- an excessive calorie intake. Studies
and-mineral supplement provides additional nutritional with diabetics and nondiabetics in
insurance. which the subjects ate an identical
• Fish oil. Omega-3 fatty acids found in fish oil lower elevated blood number of calories—the only dif-
triglycerides and lower insulin resistance. Some studies suggest that fish ference being that one group also
oil may also stimulate fat oxidation when combined with exercise. In injected insulin—demonstrated
addition, it significantly adds to the natural triglyceride-lower- that those injecting the insulin had
ing effects of low-carb diets, as does aerobic exercise. Aim for a significantly more bodyfat. Iso-
daily intake of five grams or more. lated-fat-cell studies also show that
• Creatine. While meat, a staple of low-carb diets, is rich insulin alone doesn’t trigger bodyfat
in creatine, it wouldn’t hurt to maximize muscle energy stores synthesis. If you add sugar to the
with a creatine supplement. That’s especially true for body- mix, however, bodyfat synthesis
builders, who depend on the ATP-creatine energy system in goes up significantly.
muscle to fuel exercise. Taking creatine with a rapidly absorbed Still, the debate rages about the
protein source, such as whey, removes the necessity of taking it effectiveness and safety of low-
with a simple carb that may trigger excess insulin release. carb diets. Studies published in the
• Glutamine. Glutamine helps replenish glycogen stores New England Journal of Medicine
in the body and can act as an alternative fuel source during a diet. Low- in 2003 found that while low-carb
carb diets tend to promote the increased excretion of glutamine, about diets are effective for weight loss,
25 percent above normal levels. Get five to 20 grams daily. it was the drop in calories on the
• L-carnitine. This amino acid product helps the body diets that caused the fat loss, not
use fat as an energy source and may be particularly useful the decreased carb intake.1 What
during low-carb diets. The goal is two to three grams daily in the authors didn’t explain, however,
divided doses, with one dose taken 60 minutes prior to train- was the average 37-pound weight
ing. loss for those on low-carb regimens,
• 5-HTP. It’s a precursor of serotonin, a brain chemical compared to the four-pound weight
related to a craving for carbs. Taking 5-HTP may help prevent loss for those on a high-carb diet.
bingeing on sweets. The dose is 100 to 300 milligrams daily. Another study found that when
Don’t take it prior to training, as it can cause drowsiness. compared to a lowfat, high-carb
• Total milk protein. High protein intake is key to suc- eating plan, low-carb diets proved
cess during low-carb dieting. Milk protein is easily digested and superior for spurring bodyfat loss
low in carbs. A useful alternative is a milk protein-based meal-re- for the first six months. After a
placement product low in carbs (fewer than 25 grams of carbs per year, however, both diets showed
serving). similar results, which can
• Branched-chain amino acids. These are not be explained by the gradual
required if you opt for a milk protein supplement. They’re addition of carbohydrates to
useful for preventing muscle loss if you’re engaging in the diets of initial low-carb
aerobic exercise while dieting. Taking five grams prior to dieters. Those on the low-carb
training works well. diet showed some beneficial
• Beta-alanine. Beta-alanine improves muscle endur- changes in cardiovascular
ance and prevents premature fatigue during train- risk factors, such as increased
ing. Take three to six grams daily in divided doses. high-density lipoprotein and
• Protein-and-carb recovery drink. You can lowered blood triglycerides.2
have one either before or after workouts without A more recent survey compar-
its adversely affecting the rate of fat loss. Taking it ing various diets showed that
prior to training imparts a muscle-sparing, anabolic effect. the low-carb diet proved superior to
Taking it after promotes glycogen synthesis and amino high-carb, lowfat diets for fat loss.
acid uptake into muscle for more efficient workout recov- When Atkins released his book
ery. Dr. Atkins’ Diet Revolution in 1972,
—J.B. he was promptly pilloried by his
colleagues in the medical profes-

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 Low-Carb Lowdown

sion. The acerbic critiques

targeted Atkins’ espousal
of a high-fat intake, even
saturated fat, the alleged
dietary demon linked to
cardiovascular disease.
Atkins, a practicing car-
diologist, felt that insulin
was a more direct cause
of cardiovascular disease
than saturated fat. He
believed that an increased
fat intake wasn’t a prob-
lem because you’d use the
fat as an energy source in
the absence of carbohy-
drate.
Research over the years
has proven that Atkins’
assertions were correct. A
low-carb diet offers car-
diovascular protection.
Its higher fat content raises HDL,
which helps the body remove excess
blood cholesterol. Lowfat, high-carb
Another recent diets are known to lower HDL while
raising levels of triglycerides, or
animal study blood fats. Low-carb diets consis-
found that a tently lower triglycerides, an effect
amplified when you add fish oil
high-fat, low- supplements to your diet.
carb diet helps Low-density lipoprotein, often
referred to as the bad cholesterol,
prevent the because of its association with car-
enlarged heart diovascular disease, is also favorably
affected by low-carb diets. It turns
associated out that the smaller, denser forms
with high blood of LDL are more dangerous than
the larger, more buoyant forms.
pressure. Research shows that a low-carb diet
favors the formation of the larger,
benign LDL molecules.3
That’s why the low-carb
Low-carb diets diet is now suggested
as an effective form
consistently of therapy to treat the
metabolic syndrome,
lower a harbinger of cardio-
vascular disease and
triglycerides, diabetes.
A recent study of
an effect guinea pigs, which
process cholesterol
amplified when much as humans do,
revealed one way that
you add fish oil low-carbohydrate diets
help control choles-
supplements to terol. A high intake
of dietary cholesterol
your plan. increases the activity
of an enzyme in the
liver that synthesizes

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 Low-Carb Lowdown

fat. But when the guinea pigs are
put on low-carb diets, the enzyme is
suppressed, despite a high amount
of cholesterol in the animals’ diets.4
Another recent animal study found
that a high-fat, low-carb diet helps
prevent the enlarged heart associ-
ated with high blood pressure.5
Human studies likewise confirm
the beneficial effects of low-carb di-
eting. One example is a recent study
involving moderately obese human
subjects who followed two types of
low-carb diets. One featured foods
high in saturated fat, such as meat,
similar to what Dr. Atkins originally
A recent animal
study found that
a low-carb diet
lowered a protein
that accumulates in
the brains of those
with Alzheimer’s
disease and is
considered a major
cause of the disease.
suggested. The other diet focused
on fish, poultry and shellfish that
contained a high content of poly-
unsaturated fats, which are sug-
gested for reducing elevated blood
cholesterol. After 28 days both diets
proved equally effective in stimu-
lating weight loss, and neither diet
adversely affected blood cholesterol,
although the diet that had more
polyunsatured fat more effectively
lowered triglycerides.6
While some saturated fatty acids,
such as palmitic acid, can increase
cholesterol, they don’t do so in the
presence of polyunsaturated fatty
acids, such as linoleic acid, found
in vegetable oils and food. The au-
thors observe that fears of soaring
cholesterol from eating low-carb
diets don’t make biological sense.
Saturated fats are most potent in
increasing HDL, while polyunsatu-
rated are the least efficient.
Another study found that eating a
low-carb diet seemed to trigger se-
lective bodyfat loss. Seventy percent
of the subjects, who were all men,
lost more fat on a low-carb diet,
even though they ate more calories.
They also lost more fat in the chest
and stomach—highly significant
because fat stored in those areas
is more metabolically active and is
linked to cardiovascular disease,
high blood pressure, diabetes and
the metabolic syndrome. In fact,

According to low-
carb-diet proponents,
those who have excess
bodyfat produce too
much insulin because
their enlarged fat
cells make them
insulin insensitive.
Carbs are considered
the primary culprit
because sugars trigger
the greatest release of
insulin.

96 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 Low-Carb Lowdown
they lost three times as much fat in
the trunk area as those on a lowfat
diet.7
While a diet high in cholesterol
and saturated fat is often linked to
the onset of Alzheimer’s disease,
that correlation may not be correct.
A recent animal study found that
a low-carb diet lowered a protein
that accumulates in the brains of
those with Alzheimer’s disease and
is considered a major cause of the
disease.8 That makes sense because
a protein in the brain called insu-
lin-degrading enzyme is known to
break down both beta-amyloid, the
toxic protein in Alzheimer’s, and
insulin. Eating too much carbohy-
98 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
drate increases insulin. That makes
the insulin-degrading enzyme focus
on insulin, enabling excess beta-
amyloid to accumulate in the brain,
which has led many researchers to
refer to Alzheimer’s as “type 3 dia-
betes.”
Recent animal studies also show
that low-carb diets, by lowering
both insulin and insulinlike growth
factor 1, may prevent prostate
cancer.9 In contrast, diets high in
refined carbs are linked to prostate
cancer.10
So are low-carb diets dead? Ap-
parently not for those who want to
live longer. In Part 2 we’ll discuss
why low-carb diets are effective.
Next month, why
low-carb diets
are so good for
a fat-to-muscle
transformation.
References
1 Bravata, D.M., et al. (2003). Effi-
cacy and safety of low-carbohydrate
diets. NEJM. 289:1837-1850.
2 Foster, G.D., et al. (2003). A ran-
domized trial of a low-carbohydrate
diet for obesity. NEJM. 348:2082-
2090.
3 Sharman, M.J., et al. (2004).
Very-low-carbohydrate and lowfat
diets affect fasting lipids and post-
prandial lipemia differently in over-
weight men. J Nutr. 134:880-885.
4 Torres-Gonzalez, M., et al.
(2007). Carbohydrate restriction al-
ters hepatic cholesterol metabolism
in guinea pigs fed a hypercholester-
olemic diet. J Nutr. 137:2219-2223.
5 Okere, I.C., et al.
(2006). Low carbo-
hydrate/high fat diet
attenuates cardiac hy-
pertrophy, remodeling,
and altered gene expres-
sion in hypertension. Hy-
pertension. 48:1116-1123.
6 Cassady, B.A., et al.
(2007). Effects of low-
carbohydrate diets high
in red meats or poultry,
fish, and shellfish on
plasma lipids and weight
loss. Nutr Metab. 4:23.
7 Volek, J.S., et al.
(2004). Comparison of
energy-restricted very-
low-carbohydrate and
lowfat diets on weight-
loss and body composi-
tion in overweight men
and women. Nutr Metab.
1:12.
8 Van der Auwera,
I., et al. (2005). A ke-
togenic diet reduces
amyloid beta 40 and 42
in a mouse model of
Alzheimer’s disease. Nutr
Metab. 2:28.
9 Freedland, S.J., et al.
(2007). Carbohydrate re-
striction, prostate cancer
growth, and the insulin-
like growth factor axis.
The Prostate. In press.
10 Venkateswaran, V., et
Neveux \ Model: Darly Gee
al. (2007). Association of
diet-induced hyperinsu-
linemia with accelerated
growth of prostate can-
cer (LNCaP) xenografts.
JNCI. 99:1793-1800. IM
 Training
Flow the Next Big
Is Blocking Blood

Muscle-Building
Occlusion

Frontier?

102 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Free download from imbodybuilding.com
Model: Tom Platz

by Layne Norton • Photography by Michael Neveux

ild and crazy training methods seem to come out every other week
W these days. Whether it’s static-contraction training, superslow mo or
one-set-per-week workouts, the get-big fads go in and out of style faster than
bell-bottom jeans and capri pants for guys.
 Occlusion Training

Researchers have
found that occluding
blood to the muscles
during low-intensity
physical activity can
produce an anabolic
response equal to, or
perhaps greater than,
moderate-intensity
exercise.

Model: Moe El Moussawi

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 Could occlusion
training someday
make heavy training
obsolete as the
optimal technique for
stimulating muscle
growth?
Much of that is probably due to
the explosion of information avail-
able on the Internet. Unfortunately,
the explosion has included a lot of
collateral damage—unscientific and
downright bad training methods
being popularized.
What if I were to tell you that one
method of training has been proven
to cause significant hypertrophy
in numerous scientific studies?
That it involved lifting weights that
are about half the poundage you’d
typically use? Then what if I told
you that the method stimulates
growth by reducing blood flow to
the muscles you’re working? You’d
probably say I’m an idiot and turn
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
the page—but then you’d remember
that I mentioned scientific research.
Ah, you are interested.
The method is called occlusive
training, and it’s been around for a
while, racking up unbelievable re-
sults backed by solid data. For some
reason nobody’s jumped on the
concept, but I’m here to tell you how
you can integrate it into your cur-
rent training to help slap on some
big-time muscle.
Research on Occlusive
Training
Studies show that moderate-in-
tensity training (60 to 85 percent of
Model: Markus Reinhardt
one-rep maximum), with short rest
periods (one minute) yields optimal
strength and hypertrophy gains.
Some scientists suggest that an
intensity threshold of 60 percent of
1RM is required to stimulate hy-
pertrophy and strength gains. That
renders low-intensity training—20
to 40 percent of 1RM—obsolete in
strength training and bodybuilding.
Two primary mechanisms by which
moderate-intensity training stimu-
lates growth are greater recruitment
of muscle fibers and the accumula-
tion of metabolites—lactic acid, for
instance—that serve as signaling
molecules for anabolic hormones
and other growth factors.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 105
 Occlusion Training
It’s reasonable to assume that
Some isolated if athletes could simulate the
continuous-tension conditions produced by moder-
ate-intensity training, they’d get
exercises produce similar results. Well, assume your
an occlusion effect brains out, for it is entirely pos-
sible, and you won’t even have to
without the need for train heavy to do it. Researchers
additional wraps or have found that occluding blood
to the muscles during low-inten-
bands. sity physical activity can produce
an anabolic response equal to, or
perhaps greater than, moderate-
intensity exercise. Occlusion train-
ing has also benefited the young
and the elderly, regardless of train-
ing status.
In a short-term study investigat-
ing the effects of blood-occlusion
training on protein synthe-
sis—a.k.a. muscle anabolism—six
healthy male subjects, average
age 32, performed two sessions
of low-intensity leg extensions for
four sets, working at 20 percent
of 1RM and taking 30 seconds of
rest between sets. They exercised
with and without a blood pressure
cuff wrapped around their thigh
and inflated to 200 mm Hg. The
cuff increased blood pressure and
impeded blood flow. Protein syn-
thesis increased by nearly 50 per-
cent following occlusion training
but was unchanged in the control
condition.
Longer-term studies have
shown several advantageous ad-
aptations as a result of occlusion
training. A research team looked
into the effects of performing leg
extensions twice weekly for two
months in elite rugby players. The
athletes were separated into three
groups: those doing leg extensions
with blood occlusion of the thighs
at 50 percent of 1RM, those doing
leg extensions without blood oc-
clusion at 50 percent 1RM and a
control group doing no exercise.
Strength and quadriceps size
improved by 14 percent and 12
percent, respectively, in the blood-
occlusion group, while neither
increased in the nonocclusion or
control groups.
Amazingly, this method works
Model: Derik Farnsworth

regardless of the age of the trainee.

One study had 24 healthy elderly
women, average age 58, perform
dumbbell curls twice weekly
for 16 weeks. The subjects were

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 Occlusion Training

separated into groups: one doing Occlusion during leg training has increased blood
low-intensity exercise—at 30 to 50
percent of 1RM—with occlusion,
GH by as much as 290 percent, while traditional
another doing low-intensity exercise high-intensity training has resulted in up to only
without occlusion and a third doing
moderate-intensity exercise without
100 percent increases.
occlusion. Muscle mass was greater
in the biceps brachii and brachialis
after occlusion training (20.3 and
17.8 percent, respectively) than
nonocclusion training (6.9 and 3.8
percent), and occlusion train-
ing tended to produce greater
hypertrophy gains than the
moderate-intensity training
(18.4 and 11.8 percent).
More recently, scientists have
found 6 percent increases in thigh
muscle along with 8 to 10 percent
increases in 1RM and isometric
strength, respectively, in young men
who walked for two five-minute
bouts with occlusion, six days a conditioned look of a bodybuilder stronger and better-conditioned
week for three weeks. Conversely, no by increasing vascularity. Some muscles.
increases in either muscle mass or studies reveal increased vascular
strength were observed in the con- endothelial growth factor, which Mechanisms of Action
trol condition. stimulates the growth and forma-
Another interesting finding is that tion of new blood vessels. Overall Several mechanisms may explain
occlusion training may improve the occlusion training leads to bigger, the exciting growth and strength

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 Myostatin has
Occlusion Training received a great
deal of press over
adaptations that occur
with blood-occlusion the past decade,
training. The first is and rightly so, as
related to fiber recruit-
ment. One of the major its upregulation
reasons high-intensity stunts muscle
training works so well
is that it forces trainees growth by inhibiting
to recruit the larger
fast-twitch muscle
the addition of
fibers, the fibers that nuclei capable of
have the greatest capac-
ity for growth. Studies
supporting further
have demonstrated an growth to the muscle
increase in fiber acti-
vation equivalent to
fiber. That very
high-intensity training, factor was recently
as measured by elec-
tromyographic activity, found to be inhibited
greater whole-body in the quadriceps
oxygen uptake and
increased depletion of following short-
ATP from muscle tis- duration occlusion
sue. Likely, the fatigue
in the small slow-twitch training.
muscle fibers in a low-
oxygen (no blood flow)
environment causes
increased motor unit
recruitment, as well as
inhibiting muscular
contraction in those
fibers due to lactic acid
buildup. As fatigue sets
in, the body is forced
to recruit larger muscle
fibers to maintain force
output.
A second major
mechanism is related
to occlusion training’s
stimulation of anabolic
hormones. Occlusion
during leg extensions
increases blood growth
hormone by as much as
290 percent. To put that in perspec- local chemical receptors and carried rise in muscle tissue damage. That’s
tive, traditional high-intensity train- back to the hypothalamus, which amazing, as many scientists suggest
ing has resulted in up to 100 percent ups the rate of GH secretion. that muscle damage is essential to
increases in GH. Myostatin has received a great trigger growth. Finally, a number of
The explanation lies within the deal of press over the past decade, studies have revealed that cortisol
finding that low-oxygen environ- and rightly so, as its upregulation may not increase after occlusion
ments increase lactic acid produc- stunts muscle growth by inhibiting training. By contrast, cortisol rises
tion, while the occlusion traps the addition of nuclei capable of relative to increasing intensity and
it inside the muscle tissue. Past supporting further growth to muscle is responsible not only for myostatin
studies show strong correlations fiber. That factor was recently found upregulation but also for overtrain-
between blood lactic acid and GH, a to be inhibited in the quadriceps ing and the breakdown of muscle
phenomenon most likely explained following short-duration occlusion tissue.
by increasing acidity in the blood. training. To recap, blood-occlusion train-
Moreover, research suggests that the What really makes the technique ing can increase motor unit recruit-
accumulation of lactic acid in fast- unique is its ability to stimulate ment, raise anabolic hormones and
twitch muscle fibers is sensed by muscle growth without a detectable suppress local (continued on page 114)

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 Occlusion Training
Unfortunately occlusive training is (continued from page 110) negative
feasible only for the arms, legs and regulators of muscle growth. It’s also
free from many of the negative side
possibly shoulders, as it would be nearly effects of training, such as increased
impossible to occlude blood flow to muscle damage and unfavorable
catabolic hormone increases.
the chest and back muscles
without suffocating. Practical Applications
“Okay,” you’re saying. “I get it. Oc-
clusion training works. Tell me how
to do it already.” After reviewing the
studies and doing some experimen-
tation, I’ve devised a few protocols.
Unfortunately, occlusive training is
feasible only for the arms, legs and
possibly shoulders, as it would be
nearly impossible to occlude blood
flow to the chest and back muscles
without suffocating.
You must place more pressure
on the limb you’re trying to occlude
than the blood pressure of that area.
That’s how a tourniquet works. In
the lab, researchers used a special-
ized blood pressure cuff to achieve
a diastolic blood pressure of around
200 mm Hg—probably overkill, as
most people have diastolic pressure
of far less than that. Most people’s
readings are anywhere from 110 to
140 mm Hg.
You can use several different
methods to occlude a muscle:
1) Buy the actual cuffs used for
kaatsu training. Unfortunately,
they’re hard to find, as they’re made
in Japan and are on the expensive
side.
2) Use a blood pressure cuff. That
enables you to get a precise mea-
sure of the pressure needed. Still,
an actual blood pressure cuff may
be a bit awkward to use in the gym.
People may look at you as if your fly
is open.
3) Use a Velcro-equipped lifting
belt. They’re inexpensive, easy to
find and quite fast and easy to use.
The downsides: You’ll probably be
able to use it only for legs, as the belt
will be too big to properly occlude
your arms. You also won’t know
exactly how much blood flow you’re
blocking the way you do with a pres-
sure cuff. A quick and dirty method
of finding out if it’s tight enough is
to put the belt around your leg tight-
Model: Luke Wood

ly, then stand up and see if you feel

a strong “pump” and slight numb-
ness after about 60 seconds. If you
do, it should (continued on page 118)

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Occlusion Training
Blood pressure (continued from page 114) be tight
enough.
cuff 4) Use powerlifting knee wraps.
They’re inexpensive and readily
available and can occlude the arms
or legs. The downside is that it
takes time to wrap your limbs, and
if they’re not tight enough, you’ll
spend more time rewrapping. Ad-
ditionally, it can be more difficult
to get them on both limbs with the
same degree of occlusion; you don’t
want to occlude one limb more
than the other if you’re wrapping
them both at the same time. Unilat-
eral training is an easy fix: Wrap one
limb, do your sets, and then wrap
the other limb.
5) Apply a compression wrap—
typically used for injuries—tightly
around the trained muscle. They’re
particularly effective for small
muscle groups such as calves, bi-
ceps and forearms, but they can be
rather difficult to wrap around the
arms. Having someone assist in the
wrapping is helpful.
Now that we’ve covered how to
occlude a muscle, the next obvious
Compression question is which exercises, sets,
wrap reps, etc., you should use. I suggest
adding occlusion work at the end
of a typical leg or arm day. It should
take only five to 10 minutes, but be
forewarned: Occlusion training is
very taxing.

First set: 30 reps with 20 percent

of one-rep max
Three subsequent sets: 15 reps
with 20 percent of one-rep max,
taking 30 seconds of rest between
sets
Four sets to failure with 50 per-
cent of one-rep max, taking 30
seconds of rest between sets
Four sets to failure with 50 per-
cent one-rep max, taking one
minute of rest between sets
Powerlifting knee wraps
Note: Do not remove the occlu-
sion device until you’ve complet-
ed all of the sets.

You may be looking at those

poundages and thinking this
is some kind of joke. Go ahead
and laugh. You’ll be cursing soon
enough.
If you’ve occluded the muscle
properly, you’ll find that the first

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 Occlusion Training
few reps feel very easy, like normal.
As the set progresses, however,
you’ll find that you hit a wall very
fast because the slow-twitch fibers
have been prefatigued by the lack
of oxygen. The rest between sets
will do very little to help you recov-
er. The pump will be intense, but
so will the pain if you’re working
correctly—so intense that you’ll
want to remove the occlusion after
every set.

A Cautionary Tale
It’s important to note that while
occlusion training has proven to
be an extremely effective agent of
hypertrophy, more is not neces-
sarily better. Safety first: Do not
occlude any muscle for more than
10 minutes at a time. Long periods
of occlusion can put you at risk for
necrosis or embolism. The pro-
tocols provided here are for very
short periods and are very low risk.
Even so, as with any training pro-
gram, it’s wise to consult a doctor
before starting.
If you want to do more occlu-
sion training, you might try using
the protocols multiple times in
the same workout, releasing the
occlusion between bouts. For

Model: Skip La Cour

example, you could do four sets
to failure with 50 percent of your
one-rep max, resting one minute
in between sets. After those four
sets release the occlusion, rest for
a few minutes, and then repeat the
protocol.
While most exercises are suit-
able for occlusion training, I rec-
ommend that you stay away from
free-weight squats, as the occlu-
sion may make it more difficult to
balance the weight properly. Keep
in mind that occlusion training is
no replacement for heavy lifting,
which should be an important part
of every serious bodybuilder’s ar-
senal. It builds a strength base that
is necessary in order to stimulate
significant hypertrophy over time.
It also causes significant muscle
tissue damage, which itself is a
Model: Raymond Fornsworth

very powerful signal for growth.

You should use occlusive training
as an adjunct to heavy training,
and you can use it with great suc-
cess during deloading periods.
It’s just too hard on the joints to

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 Occlusion Training
lift heavy every
day for years on
end. You need pe-
riods of reduced
load to enable
your joints to heal
and your state of
mind to recuper-
ate. Historically,
that’s meant sacri-
ficing short-term
gains over a few
weeks’ time for
long-term benefit.
With occlusive
training, however,
you can achieve
significant hyper-
trophy while lift-
ing light.
Note: Maybe
you don’t need
a tourniquet at
all. For another
view of occusion
training, see “Was
Charles Atlas
Right?” on page
125.
Editor’s note:
Layne Norton has
a B.S. in biochem-
istry and is a Ph.D.
candidate in nu-
tritional science.
He’s a professional
drug-free compet-
itive bodybuilder
in the IFPA and
NGA. His Web site
is www.BioLayne
.com. IM
References
Abe, T., et al.
(2006). Muscle
1430.
Hakkinen, K.,
and Pakarinen, A.
(1993). Acute hor-
monal responses
to two different
fatiguing heavy-re-
sistance protocols
in male athletes.
J Appl Physiol.
74:882-887.
Kawada, S., and
Ishii, N. (2005).
Skeletal muscle
hypertrophy after
chronic restriction
of venous blood
flow in rats. Med Sci
Spts Exerc. 37:1144-
1150.
Kraemer, W.J.,
et al. (1990). Hor-
monal and growth
factor responses to
heavy resistance
exercise protocols.
J Appl Physiol.
69:1442-1450.
Kraemer, W.J., et
al. (1991). Endoge-
nous anabolic hor-
monal and growth
factor responses to
heavy resistance
exercise in males
and females. Int J
Sprts Med. 12:228-
235
It’s just too hard on the joints to lift Kraemer, W.J., et
al. (2002). Ameri-
heavy every day for years on end. You can College of
need periods of reduced loads, but you Sports Medicine
position stand. Pro-
don’t want to lose muscle during those gression models in
periods. Occlusion training, with its resistance training
for healthy adults.
unique hypertophic stimulus, may be the Med Sci Spts Exerc.
answer. 34:364-380.
Model: Greg Symers

size and strength McCall, G.E., et

are increased fol-
lowing walk train-
ing with restricted
venous blood
flow from the leg
muscle, Kaatsu-walk training. J Appl
Physiol. 100:1460-1466.
Burgomaster, K.A., et al. (2003).
Resistance training with vascular
occlusion: Metabolic adaptations in
human muscle. Med Sci Spts Exerc.
35:1203-1208.
Fujita, S., et al. (2007). Blood
al. (1999). Acute
and chronic hor-
monal responses
to resistance train-
flow restriction during low-inten- ing designed to
sity resistance exercise increases promote muscle hypertrophy. Can J
S6K1 phosphorylation and muscle App Physiol. 24:96-107.
protein synthesis. J Appl Physiol. McDonagh, M.J., and Davies, C.T.
103:903-910. (1984). Adaptive response of mam-
Gosselink, K.L., et al. (1998). Skel- malian skeletal muscle to exercise
etal muscle afferent regulation of with high loads. Euro J Appl Phys
bioassayable growth hormone in the Occ Physiol. 52:139-155.
rat pituitary. J Appl Physiol. 84:1425- Meyer, R.A. (2006). Does blood

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 Occlusion Training

Model: Todd Smith

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 Dynamic Tension: Was Charles Atlas Right?
Remember Charles Atlas? He sold muscle-building
courses for years. His ads had a cartoon of a bully kick-
ing sand in the face of a 97-pound weakling and steal-
ing his girl. The guy with the buggy-whip body orders
the Atlas course, buffs up, kicks the bully’s ass and wins
back his babe. The method in the Atlas course was
called Dynamic Tension—basically pitting one muscle
against another in a type of opposing muscle tug-of-
war. For example, you resist curling your right arm by
pressing against it with your left. What a hoax! We all
know you have to lift heavy weights to build muscle,
right? Not so fast, mass seekers.
Here’s what happened in a study that compared
lighter, slower-rep training with heavy, normal-speed
sets. Three groups used different styles of training on leg
extensions:
1) Low intensity. 50 percent of one-rep max—
light—with slow movement and tonic force genera-
tion, taking three seconds each to raise and lower the
weight, with a one-second pause at the top of each
rep. No relaxing phase.
2) High intensity. 80 percent of one-rep max—
heavy—taking one second to raise the weight and
one second to lower it, with one second of relaxing
between reps. Conventional-style training.
3) Low intensity, normal speed. Same rep cadence
as for group 2.
The workout consisted of three sets of eight reps,
done three times a week for 12 weeks. Results: Signifi-
cant muscle gains occurred in the first two groups, with
no gains in group 3.
How on earth did the slow-rep light training in group
1 build so much muscle? Answer: sustained muscle
activation, or longer tension time. Notice that each of
the light reps lasted for about seven seconds. That’s 56
seconds of continuous tension on the quads (7 seconds
x 8 reps). That produces a high level of blood-flow oc-
clusion due to muscle oxygen deficit, which produces
muscle growth—perhaps on a few different pathways
from the standard heavy training road.
The authors suggest that the increased gains in size
and strength come from localized increase in hormone
signaling, which spurs the release of growth hormone
and insulinlike growth factor 1. Light, continuous-ten-
sion training also produces nitric oxide, which helps
muscle satellite cells proliferate. So restricting blood
flow to the muscle releases more NO, which dilates
blood vessels in an attempt to overcome the decreased
blood flow within the muscle, which activates GH re-
lease. (In fact, we contend that most of the upper-body
muscle development of gymnasts comes from occlu-
sive activation on the rings and floor exercises, as they
don’t do any heavy progressive-resistance work. Inter-
esting!)
Yes, heavy sets at normal speed produce the most
force, and that activates the fastest-growing fast-twitch
fibers toward the end of the set. In 3D Positions-of-
Flexion training, you do your big, midrange exercises,
like squats and bench presses, with heavy weights for
around eight reps at normal speed. That stimulates
force-activated fiber hypertrophy. You finish each
bodypart with an isolated contracted-position exercise,
like leg extensions or cable crossovers. That’s where
you get the occlusion—using lighter weight and slower
reps with continuous-tension isolation. The occlusive-
activated hypertrophy benefits both fast-twitch fibers
and the endurance components, like mitochondria and
capillaries—plus brings a rise in growth hormone.
If you do only one style of training—heavy, nor-
mal-speed training or lighter, slower-speed occlusive
sets—you can miss key anabolic stimulation. In other
words, you won’t grow as fast as you could. That’s why
it’s important to use both styles, as in this 3D HIT quad
routine adapted from the program in our e-book X-
traordinary Arms.
Squats (midrange) 2 x 9-12
Sissy squats (stretch) 1 x 9-12
Leg extensions (contracted) 1-2 x 12-15*
*Slower cadence: 2 seconds up, 3 seconds down.
If you keep the weight moving—that is, no rest at the
top or bottom—you get some occlusion on the first two
exercises. The real occlusion, though, occurs on the last
exercise, when you use the slower speed—five seconds
per rep, which gives you about 60 seconds of tension
time, as in the study.
You also get special mass-building properties from
the stretch exercise—as shown in an animal study that
produced a 300 percent mass increase after only one
month of progressive-stretch overload—but that’s a
whole other anabolic can of worms.
So was Atlas right? His Dynamic Tension system defi-
nitely had merit, if the trainee kept tension on the target
muscle long enough. You could try it, although you’d
have to be very innovative for some muscle groups. A
better way is to use isolation contracted-position exer-
cises, as illustrated above—longer tension time, maxi-
mum muscle occlusion and burn. It hurts, but it works.
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.X-Rep.com
Tanimoto, M., and Ishii, N. (2006). Effects of low-
intensity resistance exercise with slow movement and
tonic force generation on muscular function in young
men. J App Physiol. 100:1150-1157.

flow restriction enhance hypertro- 95:65-73. after low-intensity resistance exer-

phic signaling in skeletal muscle? J
Appl Physiol. 100:1443-1444.
Takano, H., et al. (2005). Hemo-
dynamic and hormonal responses
to a short-term low-intensity resis-
tance exercise with the reduction of
muscle blood flow. Euro J Appl Phys.
Takarada, Y., et al. (2000). Effects
of resistance exercise combined
with moderate vascular occlusion
on muscular function in humans. J
Appl Physiol. 88:2097-2106.
Takarada, Y., et al. (2000). Rapid
increase in plasma growth hormone
cise with vascular occlusion. J Appl
Physiol. 88:61-65.
Takarada, Y., et al. (2002). Effects
of resistance exercise combined
with vascular occlusion on muscle
function in athletes. Euro J Appl
Phys. 86:308-314. IM

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 125

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 Bench-

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Pressing
Issues
Chest Development
V S .
Shoulder Injury
by Jerry Brainum Photography by Michael Neveux
T
he bench press can be
done with a barbell, a
pair of dumbbells or on a
machine. It’s considered
a basic exercise because it works
important muscles in the chest,
such as the pectorals, as well as the
shoulders and triceps. Nearly all
bodybuilding champions do some
form of bench pressing at some
point in their careers.
You can do bench presses in a
flat, incline or decline position.
The idea is that using varied angles
focuses the exercise stress on differ-
ent parts of the pecs. So flat-bench
presses target the central, meaty
area of the pecs; incline presses
focus on the upper portion of the
pecs; and decline presses work the
lower part of the pecs.
Bodybuilders generally find that
the most difficult portion of the
pec to build is the upper part, often
called the pectoralis minor, though
it isn’t anatomically correct to use
that term to refer to the upper chest.
Anatomists say that the pectorals
are actually just one muscle and
that the pec minor is merely a strip
of muscle in the upper clavicular
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portion of the chest. That means
what most bodybuilders are training
when they do incline presses is the
clavicular portion of the pectoralis
major.
Heavy barbell bench presses are
more associated with injury than
incline and decline presses. There
are, however, exceptions to that
rule. I injured my shoulder joint a
couple of times doing either barbell
or dumbbell incline presses. When
I did incline presses, I lowered the
weight to my neck, which places a
disproportionate amount of stress
on the shoulder joints. Eventu-
ally, that leads to a tear in the joint
that manifests as shoulder pain.
Because of the injuries, I’ve had to
avoid both barbell and dumbbell
incline presses for the past seven
years, substituting machine incline
presses. I’ve found that using the
machine produces no shoulder
strain whatever, although I didn’t get
the strength and added mass that I
would have gotten from using free
weights.
While the flat-bench press is still
popular, many bodybuilding cham-
pions have opted to do other ver-
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 131
 Bench Pressing
sions of the exercise. Some eschew
any type of flat or decline work,
preferring to train only the upper
portion of the pecs by doing incline
work exclusively. Others favor the
dumbbell flat-bench press, figuring
that using dumbbells increases the
range of motion, thus working more
muscle fibers and building more
complete pectoral development.
There are problems, however,
with the stretch hypothesis of bench
Correct
pressing. While doing a prestretch
is a good idea for most exercises
because it lines up muscle fibers
and adds an elastic pushing com-
ponent, that isn’t the case with the
pectorals. Because of the way the
shoulder joint aligns with the pecs,
excess stretch places a high degree
of strain on shoulder joints. In-
deed, numerous studies show that
most pectoral tears occur during
the lowering, or eccentric, phase
of the rep, since that places a high
degree of tension on the pectoral-
shoulder attachment and may lead
to a tear.
Some kinesiologists—experts on
body movement related to muscle
function—suggest that you should

Some kinesiologists suggest that

you should avoid all stretching
during any type of flye or lateral
exercise for chest, as well as any
type of press.

Incorrect

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 Bench Pressing
avoid all stretching during any type
of flye or lateral exercise for chest, as
well as any type of press. They rec-
ommend lowering the weight only
about halfway when doing bench
presses, and stopping a flye as soon
as you feel a stretch in the pectorals.
[Editor’s note: On the other hand,
many research studies suggest
stretching and stretch overload in-
crease hypertrophy and may initiate
hyperplasia, or fiber splitting.]
Another common misconception
involves grip width. Bodybuilding
dogma dictates that using a wide
grip during bench presses stresses
the “outer portion” of the pectorals,
producing a wider-appearing, more
aesthetically pleasing pec. Most
elite bodybuilders do have that type
of pec development, but it’s more
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a function of heredity, or muscle
attachments, than how you perform
an exercise. Using a wide grip on
bench presses doesn’t target the
outer pecs but does strain the shoul-
der joints. Using a closer grip, one
of slightly less than shoulder width,
decreases pectoral stimulation by
less than 5 percent over using a wide
grip, but it also relieves shoulder
stress. Using a close grip is even less
stressful on the shoulders, although
it tends to shift the exercise focus to
the triceps.
As for incline presses, research
shows that doing that variation of
the bench press doesn’t target what
bodybuilders call upper pecs, but it
does reduce activation of the sternal
portion, or “pec major.” In fact, you
may be surprised to learn that most
exercise scientists consider incline
presses and flyes useless, ineffec-
tive and dangerous because they
impose greater stress on the shoul-
der joints without offering much
pectoral development. The problem
with such assertions is that they’re
often voiced by people who don’t lift
weights but who scrutinize anatomy
and neural connections to muscle.
Anyone who lifts weights rec-
Using a close
grip is even
less stressful on
the shoulders,
although it tends
to shift the
exercise focus to
the triceps.
Model: Alex Azarian
 Bench Pressing
Nearly all bodybuilding champions do some form
of bench pressing at some point in their careers.
The late Reg Park stopped
doing bench presses and
even pectoral work shortly
after his last Mr. Universe
victory in 1965.
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ognizes that there’s a vast dif-
ference between flat-bench
and incline presses. When I do
inclines, I feel the muscle pump
entirely in my upper chest, yet
according to the academ-
ics, I’m actually training
my central pecs. Those are
the same guys who
say that bumble-
bees can’t possibly
fly because their wings
violate the laws of aero-
dynamics—explain
that to the nearest bee
buzzing merrily around
your head and see how far
you get.
Still, it makes sense not to
overstretch when doing any
type of dumbbell press or flye
for chest. Contrary to popular
belief, overstretching won’t in-
crease muscle development but
can result in injury and set you
back considerably. That’s the
voice of experience talking here.
Other things to watch out for
include not bouncing the bar off
your chest, which can fracture
your sternum. Don’t even think
of doing a heavy bench press
without a spotter. Most home-
gym deaths result from someone
being choked by a barbell while
doing heavy bench presses alone.
One other thing might sur-
prise many of you about chest
training. If you like to finish off
your chest routines with a
pulley crossover exercise, you
should know that it doesn’t
work the “inner pec” mus-
cles; it works the entire
pec muscle.
You’re just
bunching
up the muscle
when you do
it. Also,
crossing
your hands at the end of
each rep adds absolutely
nothing to pectoral de-
velop- ment. (I cross my hands
over anyway.)
The late Reg Park, the great
three-time Mr. Universe and idol of
Arnold Schwarzenegger, stopped
doing bench presses and even pec-
toral work shortly after his last Mr.
Universe victory in 1965. Reg was
well known for his flaring pectoral
development and deep rib cage, but
he felt that with age gravity would
take a toll and that massive pecs
would eventually devolve into sag-
ging sacs. Similarly, women who
have large breasts with age, due to
devolution of Cooper’s ligament,
which is responsible for breast lift.
Women who opt for disproportion-
ately large breast implants should
take heed. IM
140 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 A Bodybuilder
Is Born
Episode 33—Weakness
Is in the Mind
By Ron Harris Photography by Michael Neveux
B
oth Randy and I were six
weeks out from the New
England Bodybuilding
Championships. As if he
wasn’t discouraged enough about
his chances, I was leaning toward
dropping down into the light heavy-
weights, the same weight class he
would be in. Though I’ve technically
been competing as a heavyweight
for the past three years, a more fit-
ting class for me would be known
as “barely heavyweight.” In contest
condition, I’d weighed in at various
times between 201 and 203 pounds
when the limit for the class was all
the way up to 225.
That meant that usually I was one
of the smaller guys in my class. The
only guys who ever made me look
huge were the ones who probably
should have been basketball play-
ers but got it in their heads—heads
perched atop tall bodies with gangly
limbs—that they’d make good body-
builders. Either that or they tried
Model: Jonathan Lawson
basketball and sucked at it. Point is,
building a thickly muscled physique
is a losing battle for very tall men,
just as Lee Priest would have been
foolish to think that at a very stocky
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
5’3”, he belonged on the NBA courts
with LeBron and Kobe. I suppose he
could have too—as the leprechaun
mascot for the Boston Celtics. Just
jokes, Lee, just jokes!
So anyway, dropping down to
198 1/4 to make lighty heavy wasn’t
going to be too difficult for me. I
used to note sarcastically that as
a heavyweight, I was never more
than a couple of missed meals and a
healthy bowel movement away from
light heavy. Of course, that didn’t
sit well with Randy. Now I was one
more person he couldn’t beat, as far
as he was concerned.
“Kid, if you’re worried about me,
you really have problems,” I said.
“There’s one guy in our class I know
of who already won his class at the
Junior Nationals a couple years ago
and is using our show as a warm-
up to qualify for the Nationals. He’s
only 5’4” and a light heavyweight,
for Pete’s sake—a freaking fire hy-
drant. You have to stop losing sleep
over who else is going to be in the
show. There will be some very good
competitors, but you just worry
about you.”
“I’m worried. I can’t help it,”
Randy said, glumly hitting a side-
chest pose in the gym’s mirror and
shaking his head in disgust. It was
back day, and we were starting out
with parallel-grip chins. I jumped
up first and knocked out 12. My
weight was around 215. Randy was
down to 195. He grimly got his grip
on the bar and pulled himself up
eight times, struggling on the last
one. I scowled, knowing he was
punking out, and went to the front
desk to ask for the leather belt with
the chains on either end that en-
ables you to add weight for chins
or dips. Why must it be kept back
there? Apparently, the gym owner
is concerned that some guys would
love to steal it and hang objects
from their waists and do weighted
chins at the local park from the
monkey bars. Or perhaps that it
would make a dandy accessory to
an S&M outfit.
“What are you doing?” Randy
asked as I returned, swinging the
belt as if I were a Hell’s Angel about
to jump into a rumble.
“We’re adding weight, silly. What
does it look like?” I fetched a 25-
pound plate and leaned it against
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 141
 A Bodybuilder Is Born

Contest prep
should still
involve taxing
the muscles
with heavy
poundages
to maintain
muscle mass.

Model: Steve Kummer

Art Atwood
gets stronger
as a contest
the base of the cable crossover/chin easy way out while approaches.
station, then threw the belt at his preparing for two
feet with a jingle of steel. shows. I switched
Randy looked aghast. “Are you from a solid mix of
serious? Dude, I’m dieting!” free weights and
Oh, boy, I thought. Here we go. machines to using
Nearly all bodybuilders think that mostly machines and
as they diet down for a contest and cables. Even then
lose bodyfat, they’re bound to lose I wasn’t training as
strength. The logic is that with the heavy as I could have.
increase in cardio and decrease in I also killed myself
complex carbs and overall calories, with up to an hour
there simply isn’t enough fuel to and a half of very in-
Roland Balik

move the same weights you do in tense interval cardio

the off-season.
Not that there isn’t something to
that, but I look at it differently. If
you’re dieting correctly and taking
in just the right amount of protein,
carbohydrate and fat, you should
be able to maintain your muscle
mass—assuming you keep training
heavy. Training lighter is a mistake
I’ve made in the past with disastrous
results. In the spring of ’03 I took the
every day in the final
six or seven weeks.
The result was that at the second
show I weighed in at 197 pounds.
I nearly fainted at the weigh-ins
because I hadn’t been under 200
pounds in eight years. Or maybe I
nearly fainted from the stench of
all the Pro Tan and farts around me
from my fellow bodybuilders—all
of whom were fully carbed up, con-
stipated and producing roughly a
metric ton of methane gas each. I
looked like crap at the show and
failed to make the top five for the
first time in 10 years. (I tell people
that it wasn’t me that year, just a
skinny look-alike out to sully my
good name.)
Back to my new theory, formed

142 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 A Bodybuilder Is Born
In his DVD “The
Unbelievable,” Ronnie
Coleman is five weeks out
from the Mr. Olympia,
and he’s still using some
ridiculously heavy weights.
in the wake of that shameful loss
of enough muscle to feed a fam-
ily of four for a week. If you can
indeed maintain your muscle mass
while dieting, you should be able
to handle the same weights as in
the off-season, or at least close to
it. Think about it: Bodyfat doesn’t
make you stronger, so why would
losing it make you any weaker? IFBB
pro Art Atwood told me he actually
gets stronger when he diets because
he’s so much more focused on his
training.
Think about Ronnie Coleman
too. In his famous training video
“The Unbelievable,” he’s five weeks
out from the ’01 Mr. Olympia and
dieted down, in very close to con-
test condition, yet moves some
ridiculous weights. He does an
800-pound deadlift, 600-pound
144 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
front squats and 200-pound dumb-
bell flat-bench and incline presses.
Ronnie obviously doesn’t drop his
heavy basic free-weight exercises
and switch to machines and cables
for higher reps when it’s time to get
ripped and compete. As a result he’s
in a league of his own.
With all that in mind, I turned to
Randy. “You’ve dropped more than
15 pounds of fat from your body,
correct?”
“Yeah, so?”
“So why are you doing worse on
pullups, ya knucklehead? You have
less weight to pull up!”
“This diet is just kicking my ass—
and the cardio.”
“Wah, wah, wah!” I jeered. “Some-
body call a wambulance! It’s all in
your head. You think you should be
getting weaker, so you are. If you
haven’t noticed, I’ve been
getting stronger on a lot
of things.”
“I guess. I mean we
haven’t been able to train
together too often.”
“Take my word for it.
Pullups are something
you should always get
better at when you drop
some pounds of bodyfat.”
With that, I strapped on
the 25 I’d meant for him
to use and knocked out
another 12 reps. I slid
the belt off my hips and
pointed to it.
“You’re up. I want to
see at least eight reps.”
Randy looked at me as
if I was crazy, but then
he paused. Something
seemed to click in his
head. I saw his face
change in an instant, and
I knew that he got it. A
determined grimace re-
placed the hapless pout,
and he strapped himself
onto the handles, then
kicked away the milk car-
ton we used to stand on.
“Light weight!” he
shouted, and several
nearby members turned
Model: Ronnie Coleman
in curiosity. That was
Ronnie Coleman’s catch-
phrase that he used to
motivate himself before
each set. Randy got seven
reps and got stuck half-
way up on the eighth. He struggled,
face turning crimson, until at last
his back and biceps completely gave
out and he dropped down from the
bar. The difference in effort from
his first to second set was like night
and day, and it had all been a simple
matter of the way he thought about
precontest training.
“Not bad at all, kid, not bad at
all,” I said, clapping him on the
back. “You keep that up, and not
only will you not lose any muscle,
but you may even gain a pound or
two over the next six weeks.”
“You think, really?” he asked, still
trying to catch his breath.
“Absolutely.” I went and grabbed
a 45 for my next set. “Now I have to
make sure you don’t get bigger than
me!” IM
 Build Monster
TRAPS
And Etched Upper-
Back Mass and Detail
by Greg Zulak • Photography by Michael Neveux
H
ave you ever noticed that
most bodybuilders limit
their back training prin-
cipally to lat exercises?
While many train their lats with
intensity, doing any kind of training
for the traps—the second largest
muscle group of the upper body—is
often an afterthought. Once they’ve
completed all their chins, pulldowns
and various rowing exercises, they
throw in a few sets of shrugs or up-
right rows and figure the traps have
had enough. You can put that type
of training in the category of wishful
thinking.
If you look at the trap and upper-
back development of any Mr. Olym-
pia competitor, you can be assured
that it took more than a few sets of
shrugs to get those massive traps.
The traps are an unusual muscle
group in that they can be seen from
any position—front, side or back.
Trap development gives the whole
back a distinctive muscle density.
Bodybuilders who don’t train their
traps hard often look thin from
the side and unbalanced when
viewed from the rear. Let’s face it,
bodybuilders who wish to develop
complete backs and, especially,
large, rugged traps and thick upper-
148 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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back muscularity and detail, must
give their traps an equal share of
work—about as much as the lats.
Only then will their backs take on
that appealing thickness and rugged
appearance.
Some people avoid trap work
because they believe it will take
away from shoulder width. For most
people that’s sheer nonsense. Sergio
Oliva, Lee Haney, Serge Nubret, Flex
Wheeler and Ronnie Coleman all
stepped onstage with huge traps,
and yet they appeared tremen-
dously wide and V-tapered. The only
people who have to be concerned
about overdeveloping their traps
are those who have short necks and
narrow clavicles. Someone who pos-
sesses a short neck with huge traps
can take on a no-neck appearance
and look “hunchy.” Most women
won’t want to overdevelop their
traps because it would detract from
a feminine shape.
Bodybuilders tend to think of
traps and trap development in
Model: Daniele Seccarrecci
terms of the upper traps, the part
of the trapezius that slopes into the
shoulders from the neck. The tops
of the traps are certainly important,
especially if you want to look good
in a most- (continued on page 152)
 www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 149
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 TRAPS
(continued from page 149) muscular
pose, but they aren’t the full story.
For back thickness and density it’s
important to develop the middle
and lower traps too. While the tops
respond well to movements such
as shrugs, it takes other exercises
to work the total group, from top
to bottom. It’s also vital to develop
the rhomboids, both major and
minor, along with the traps. Many
bodybuilders are not aware that the
rhomboids lie beneath the traps,
as does the infraspinatus, and de-
veloping them gives thickness and
density to the traps and upper back.
Recipe for
Monster Traps
Dumbbell bent-
over laterals
This is the best exercise for de-
veloping the rhomboids when you
152 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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pinch your scapulae, or shoulder
blades, together at the top of the
rep. If you move the ’bells smoothly
just to deltoid height, the rear delts
get the bulk of the work. By moving
the bells higher and consciously
pinching the scapulae together at
the top, you work the rhomboids.
Seated behind-
the-neck presses
Muscle-building guru John Par-
rillo says that this is one of the best
exercises for developing the lower
traps. Most people tend to think
of the behind-the-neck press as a
deltoid exercise, but done the way
Parrillo has his pupils do it, it devel-
ops the lower traps too. Says Parrillo,
“Many bodybuilders have shallow
backs because they haven’t built
their lower trapezius, which sup-
ports the musculature of the back.
Perform behind-the-neck presses
correctly, and you’ll get bigger traps
and a larger back overall.”
Behind-the-
Neck Presses
START
So how do you work your traps
with behind-the-neck presses? I’ll
let John tell you in his own words:
“The most effective way is to drop
your shoulders and flex your lats
as you press the weight upward.
Straighten your elbows, and, as you
Model: Jay Cutler
lock out, press your hips forward
while tightening your abs. Then
push the weight back slightly with-
out arching your back.”
What you do not want to do—but
what is commonly done by the
average trainee—is to arch your
back excessively as the bar goes
up. Arching, or bending backward,
enables you to maneuver heavy
weights overhead but leads to poor
shoulder flexibility and lets the arms
and lower back do most of the work,
instead of the deltoids and traps.
Power cleans
For overall trap development and
for thickening the upper back and
bringing out cuts and detail, the
power clean (continued on page 156)
FINISH
John Parrillo says,
“The most effective
way to perform
behind-the-neck
presses is to drop
your shoulders and
flex your lats as you
press the weight
upward.”

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 153

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 TRAPS
(continued from page 152) clean also works the spinal erectors,
is unbeatable. Albert pumps the biceps and forearms,
Beckles had one of the develops balance and coordination
most muscular backs and, as the name implies, power.
of all time, and one of It also gets you huffing and puffing
his secret exercises was like a steam engine to give you an
the power clean. He aerobic effect.
almost always included You must take some precau-
it in his routine. I’m tions, though, when doing power
surprised that more cleans. Because you are cleaning
bodybuilders don’t use the weight—throwing the weight
this great trap move- up quickly—you place tremendous
ment. Besides giving stress on connective tissues. It’s
the traps a terrific important to warm up properly.
workout and adding Begin with a light weight, and
slabs of muscle to the do an easy 20 repetitions on your
upper back, the power first set. I also recommend one light
set of reverse curls for
15 to 20 repetitions.
START That will heat up the
FINISH tendons and ligaments
and get some blood
flowing to lubricate
the joints. An easy set
of hyperextensions
to warm up the lower
back would be prudent
too.
If you’ve never done
power cleans before,
try to find an advanced
lifter at your gym to
show you how. I’ll de-
scribe briefly how to
do them for those who
train at home or who
don’t have access to an
advanced lifter.
Get into position as
if you were about to
do a deadlift. The bar
is on the floor, your
knees are bent, your
back is flat, and you
have a slightly wider-
than-shoulder-width
grip on the bar. Pull
the weight off the floor,
and just as it gets to
about knee height, sud-
denly “snap” or clean
the weight upward,
catching it at shoulder
height. It is vital that,
as you snap the bar up
with your arms, you
shrug strongly with
your traps and upper
Power Cleans
Model: Greg Blout

back. Then, when you

lower the weight, do it
with control. Pause and
lower the bar to midcalf

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 TRAPS
height—where bar and aim for eight repetitions.
START you’re at what’s For the third set add more weight
called a dead- and go for six reps. Add more weight
hang—and to the bar so you’ll have a real strug-
then clean the gle getting five to six reps on the
weight again. fourth set. Add more weight to the
The power clean bar and try to get four reps for your
is not the type final set.
done by Olym- Believe me, after a few weeks of
pic weightlift- hard work on power cleans, your
ers as they do entire back will be thicker and more
their clean and muscular. You’ll kick yourself for not
jerks. There is having added this great exercise to
no diving under your routine months or years ago.
the weight. The
knees bend a Barbell upright
little, but that’s
about it. rows
The power
clean is not a These have long been considered
high-repetition a good deltoid-and-trapezius exer-
exercise—sets cise and good for tying in the delts
of four to eight and the traps, but many people
reps work best. seem unaware that you can place
After complet- more emphasis on the delts and less
ing one light on the traps, or more on the traps
warmup set and less on the delts. To work the

Model: D.J. Green

of 20 repeti- deltoids primarily, use a medium-
tions, add some heavy weight and move the bar up-
weight to the and-down in a smooth, pistonlike

To work the traps, take a narrower

FINISH grip—say six to eight inches—and use a
heavier weight that forces you to heave
the bar to get it to chin height and to
shrug hard with the traps.

Upright Rows
158 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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motion, with no heaving the weight
or shrugging the shoulders. Keep
your shoulders down and back and
use a 12-to-15-inch-wide grip. Keep
the bar in constant motion—there
should be no deliberate pauses at
the top or bottom—and take it just
to shoulder height, not to the chin
or nose. You just row nonstop until
muscular fatigue forces you to stop.
Because you don’t shrug your shoul-
ders, trap involvement is minimal.
To work the traps when doing
barbell upright rows, take a narrow-
er grip—say six to eight inches—and
use a heavier weight that forces you
to heave the bar to get it to chin
height and to shrug hard with the
trapezius. Lean forward at the start
of each rep and shrug hard with the
shoulders as you heave-row the bar
to your chin. Really get your back
into the movement. Keep your rep-
etitions in the six-to-10 range, say,
10, 8, 6, 5-6.
Exercises to
Kick It Up a
Notch
I could stop there—tell you to do
the power cleans and the upright
rows, followed by several sets of
shrugs—and you’d have a pretty
With power uprights you’re using the speed and
momentum to help you drive the bar past the
sticking point until it gets to chin height.
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
damn good trap-and-upper-back
routine. But I have a couple of other
exercises that will turn a pretty
damn good trap-and-upper-back
routine into a great trap-and-upper-
back routine.
Power upright
rows
I particularly like this exercise
because it works both the upper and
lower traps. Here’s how to do it:
Pick a fairly heavy weight, one
that limits you to five or six repeti-
tions of the barbell upright row as
described above. Do as many reps
as you can. When you fail—and by
fail I mean when you can no longer
get the bar to chin height no mat-
ter how much you cheat, heave and
shrug with your traps and shoul-
ders—lower the bar to the floor with
control, as if you were doing a stiff-
legged deadlift. Then, using speed
and momentum, lift the bar from
the floor all the way up to your chin.
You can even bounce the bar off
the floor a little bit. Basically, you’re
using the speed and momentum to
help you drive the bar past the stick-
ing point until it gets to chin height.
Lower with control again, and then
explode up from the floor to chin
DELICIOU
INVIGOSRLAY
height again. Keep going until you
hit failure again—that is, you cannot
INFINITELY LATING
STING
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 159
 TRAPS
Dumbbell
Shrugs
drive the bar to your chin even with
the help of speed and momentum.
I find that I can usually do double
the reps of what I used for the up-
right rows. If I did six reps of cheat-
ing upright rows, I can do another
six reps of power upright rows—
sometimes even more than double.
Power upright rows are a fantastic
trap exercise that works both the top
160 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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and the bottom of the traps. If you
do them after you’ve already done
the power cleans, your traps will get
a really heavy blast.
Shrugs
Without a doubt the favorite trap
exercise of most bodybuilders is the
shrug. There are many variations:
You can do shrugs with a barbell,
START
Model: Jay Cutler
with dumbbells or on a bench press
station of a Universal Gym unit. You
do them while holding the weight
in front of your body, to the sides
of it or behind it. You can do them
with an overhand or underhand
grip (a Lee Labrada favorite, which
he claims works the lower trapezius
effectively). You can do them while
standing or sitting. You can do them

in a bent-over position, with your
torso parallel to the floor, or with
your body at a 45 degree angle.
No matter which style of shrug-
ging you do, there are a few basic
rules to follow. Try to keep your
arms straight and shrug your traps
as high as possible (imagine them
touching your ears). Since the range
of motion is fairly short to begin
with, you need to shrug as fully as
you can. The one exception to that
might be when you are handling
extremely heavy weights in the
power rack. If you can shrug 400 to
600 pounds or more using straps to
reinforce your grip if necessary, then
despite the shortened range of mo-
tion, you will still work your traps
quite intensely—not to mention
your hands and your grip. Some-
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
FINISH
VASOFLOW
IMMEDIATELY FLOODS
YOUR SYSTEM WITH POWER
INDUCING N.O. SUBSTRATES*
VASOFLOW FORCES COLOSSAL
MUSCLE PUMPS AND RAPID
INCREASES IN MUSCLE BELLY SIZE*
VASOFLOW VASOFLOW IGNITES
ROAD MAP VASCULARITY RESULTING
times you have to go heavy and the IN ENHANCED NUTRIENT DELIVERY*
hell with strict form.
Here’s a good trapezius routine to VASOFLOW IS SCIENTIFICALLY
follow: PROVEN TO RADICALLY ELEVATE BLOOD
LEVELS OF POLYAMINES, GROWTH
HORMONES AND INSULIN*
Power clean (warmup) 1 x 10-12
*These statements have not been evaluated by the
1 x 8, 6, 5-6, 4 FDA. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat,
Bent-over laterals cure or prevent any disease.
(pinch scapulae
at top) 3 x 8-10, 6-8, 6
Superset
Barbell upright rows to
power upright rows
Shrugs
3 x 6-8, 5-6, 4-6
3 x 10
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Trap pulldowns AVAILABLE AT THIS AND
OTHER FINE RETAILERS:
One final exercise I’d like to share
with you is what I call the “trap”
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 161
 TRAPS
pulldown. It brings out upper-back
START detail and muscularity like crazy
and also carves out separation and
increases density and muscularity.
I discovered this exercise almost
by accident. The trap pulldown
is a cheating behind-the-neck lat
pulldown taken to its logical con-
clusion. Most people tend to think
of behind-the-neck pulldowns as
a good lat exercise, but the way
they perform it, they actually work
their traps more than their lats.
Because they use weights that are
too heavy for proper form, as they
pull the bar to their neck, they
hunch over and lean forward, chin
pinched to their chest, turning
behind-the-neck pulldowns into a
move that actually works the traps
and upper back more than the lats.
When working lats, it’s vital to keep
your torso vertical throughout the
movement and to pull your elbows
down and back. You can’t use as

FINISH

Pinch your
Bent-Over scapulae
Lateral together at
Raises the top of
each rep.
Model: Steve Kummer

162 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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much weight that way, but at least
then you’re working your lats.
One day in the gym I was fooling
around, trying to find a good finish-
ing movement for the traps using
the lat machine. That’s when I hit
upon the trap pulldown. I thought,
“If leaning forward takes the work
away from the lats and increases the
traps’ involvement, why not lean
forward as much as you want and
do trap pulldowns?”
The trap pulldown is all about
contraction and squeezing your
traps and upper back. The range
of motion is relatively short. Here’s
how to do it:
Kneel on the seat support of a
lat machine or brace your knees
against it, feet on the floor and
balancing on your toes. Bend over
until your traps and upper back are
almost parallel to the floor. Pull the
bar straight down until it touches
the traps-and-upper-back area.
Pause and squeeze with all your
might for a count of three. Allow the
bar to return to the starting position
and repeat for several sets of six to
10 repetitions.
All that tensing and squeezing
will bring out the cuts and separate
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
A trap
pulldown is a
behind-the-
neck pulldown
with a distinct
forward lean.
UP TO 6 TIMES FASTER
not only the traps and upper back
THAN DEXTROSE FOR
but also the rear delts and the bi- DELIVERING VITAL
ceps and triceps to some degree. MACRONUTRIENTS
When you’re doing trap pulldowns
and you’ve pulled the bar to your Replenish glycogen at
traps, do a rear double-biceps pose lightning fast speed.*
for a count of three or four, then
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go ahead and use as much weight as
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 163
 Full-Blown
Biceps
Dan Decker’s Techniques
for Sky-High Peaks
by Cory Crow • Photography by Michael Neveux
Y
ou don’t want to be that
guy. You know who I
mean: the guy walking
around the mall wear-
ing the “Welcome to the Gun Show”
T-shirt who’s got popguns barely
stretching the sleeves? That’s right—
that guy.
My guess is, if you’ve spent the
money to buy this magazine and are
taking the time to read this article,
you already know what good biceps
development looks like. You know
that spindly arms in a “Gun Show”
T-shirt aren’t going to get the job
done (unless ridicule is your goal).
You also know that soft, fluffy biceps
aren’t going to pass muster either.
You’re here because you want to
expend the effort to build dense,
full biceps resembling softballs
under the skin, right? To do that
you’re going to need a plan, and
chances are that plan will involve
doing curls. No, not the Olympic
competition with the big stone and
the brooms. I’m talking curling
weights—dumbbells, barbells you
name it.
Outside of curling, however,
there’s very little consensus as to
170 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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what goes into building the perfect
pair of biceps. Some adhere to the
hard-and-heavy principle, where
low reps and high weights are the
norm. Still others will tell you that
high volume is the key, the object
being to engorge the muscle with
blood to ensure growth. Who’s right?
Well, they both are. That’s because
everyone’s body works differently
and responds to different stimuli.
How do you know what’s the right
method for you? The answer lies in
trial and error. Come on now, you
didn’t expect this to be easy, did
you?
Biceps Anatomy
Whenever I want to learn about
training a bodypart, I seek out
someone who’s known for having
exceptional development in that
area. For biceps I tracked down Dan
Decker, a top national-level NPC
bodybuilder. Dan is known as much
for his aesthetic physique as he is
for having well-developed arms. I
thought he’d be the perfect candi-
date to dispense some biceps-train-
ing knowledge that can help you not
be that guy in the T-shirt at the mall.
Biceps are funny muscles, and a
lot of people don’t do them justice
when they work out. “Most trainers
tend to neglect the outer head and
brachialis when they work biceps.”
That was one of the first things
Dan mentioned. The biceps brachii
actually consists of two heads: the
shorter inner head and the longer
outer head, with the outer head pro-
viding the most mass in the muscle
group. Underneath the biceps is the
brachialis, which is visible on the
side of the arm between the triceps
and biceps—if you’re lean and the
muscle is developed. When training
biceps, you want to make sure that
you fully exhaust every muscle in
the group, not favoring one section
over the other, to ensure full devel-
opment.
The Full-Blown Workout
The keys to any biceps routine
are form and range of motion. Poor
form on curls can lead to shoulder
and elbow injuries, and a poor range
of motion can lead to decreased
movement (continued on page 175)
 www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 171
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 Decker’s Bodypart Split
Monday: Chest
Tuesday: Back
Wednesday: Off
Thursday: Shoulders
Friday: Arms
Saturday: Legs
Sunday: Off

Note: When he’s on a contest

diet, Dan performs cardio
every morning on an elliptical
machine for 33 minutes. He
does limited cardio in the off-
season. —C.C.

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(continued from
page 170)
in the arm.
If you’re
lucky
enough
to train at
Gold’s Gym
in Venice,
California,
or the Fitness
Factory in
Costa Mesa on
a Friday, you’ll see
Dan doing his arm
workout—and you’ll see
firsthand what good form is
all about.
Dan’s biceps workout is typically
coupled with his triceps workout,
but he took the time to break out
the specific biceps movements so
we’d get the full-blown info regard-
ing his development.
Incline hammer curls. This
is Dan’s favorite starting move-
ment, and he very rarely removes it
from the leadoff spot in his biceps
batting order. Remember the bra-
chialis? Incline hammer curls spe-
cifically target that muscle and the
outer head of the biceps.
Dan’s standard plan is to start
off with a manageable weight. For
him that usually means 50-pound
dumbbells for a warmup and then
70-to-80-pounders for three to four
work sets of eight to 10.
“Don’t rush it,” he warned. “You
want to take your time and focus
on having the target muscle move
the weight—don’t throw the weight
around.”
Don’t get too weight happy when
it comes to working biceps either.
If he had to choose between good
form and pushing around more
weight, Dan would choose the
former every time. Big weights may
seem cool at the time, but there’s
nothing cool about shoulder sur-
gery or having an injury that keeps
you out of the gym for weeks or
months.
Standing barbell curls. If ever
there was a “basic” exercise for
a bodypart, the standing barbell
curl is it for biceps. Odds are you
can walk into any gym in the land
at any time and see at least one
person performing barbell curls.
The bottom (continued on page 180)

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 (continued from page 175) line is, they Dan a lot of flexibility, which, again, this movement, starting out with
work. The standing barbell curl is a lets him put equal stress on every a 10-pound plate on each end of a
mass builder for biceps that has no part of the target muscle. 45-pound bar. Then he adds five to
equal, and using the barbell gives Dan uses a pyramid approach on 10 pounds (continued on page 185)

He goes a little on the

lighter side for three
sets of 15, which
engorges the muscle
with blood and
increases the fiber
activation.

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 www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 181
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184 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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Incline hammer curls or (continued from page 180) per set for
standard hammers hit the around 10 reps each. Dan will do
brachialis muscles that snake three to four sets total, and he var-
ies his grip width on each set, which
under the biceps. Developing
changes the force point of the lift.
them gives the biceps new That way he involves the entire
dimensions. muscle group equally.
In discussing his curling tech-
Decker’s Full-Blown Biceps Attack
Incline hammer curls (pyramid the poundage)
Standing barbell curls (pyramid the poundage)
Reverse EZ-curl-bar preacher curls
Standing cable curls
Machine one-arm preacher curls
Running the Rack
Although this intensity
technique isn’t officially in his
workout, Dan recommends oc-
casionally using it as a finishing
move in place of the machine
preacher curls. He suggests using
the fixed barbells that you find on
a pyramid rack in the free-weight
portion of most gyms, or you can
use fixed dumbbells.
Choose a weight that allows
you to complete 12 reps at or
near failure. Perform the set, and
then, taking no rest, move to the
next-lighter-weighted barbell and
complete 12 reps. Continue mov-
ing to the next-lighter-weighted
barbell until you complete 12
reps with the lightest weight
available.
This technique is called
“running the rack” or “going
down the rack” because it is
typically done with dumbbells,
in which case you’d be working
down the rack of dumbbells,
choosing progressively lighter
weights. It’s not something that
you can do at every biceps work-
out because you could become
overtrained. As an occasional
growth shocker or plateau buster,
however, Dan finds it to be just
the thing he needs. Just make
sure that you have a spotter to as-
sist you if you start hitting failure of the biceps by choosing a weight
so that you don’t drop and dam-
age the weights or hurt yourself.
—C.C.
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
nique, Dan warned again about
never sacrificing form for weight.
He also advised that it’s essential to
have a spotter, if at all possible, on
this movement.
“One final tip,” he said, “is to keep
your wrists cocked back to really
focus on the biceps and to keep the
forearms disen-
gaged.”
Reverse
EZ-curl-bar
3-4 x 8 preacher
4 x 10 curls. “A reverse
4 x 8-10 [palms-down]
3 x 15 grip is a simple
3 x 8-10 way to spread
the workload,”
Dan said about
this exercise. By
holding the bar with a reverse grip,
you increase the workload on the
brachialis. That also activates the
pronator muscle on the underside
of the forearm, a seldom worked
area that’s responsible for supina-
tion. Because of the risk of injuring
the shoulder with a reverse grip,
Dan keeps things relatively simple,
using the same grip width, a moder-
ate weight and a consistent eight-
to-10-rep count.
“I have to rest about three min-
utes between sets because I’m get-
ting close to, or hitting, failure on
almost every rep,” he said. This is
where having that spotter will pay
dividends as well.
Standing cable curls. By
this point in his workout, Dan’s
biceps are screaming for mercy.
After working to failure with heavy
weights on the previous move-
ments, Dan switches to more of a
concentration move: standing cable
curls. He goes a little on the lighter
side for three sets of 15, which en-
gorges the muscle with blood and
increases the fiber activation. Dan
performs the reps at a moderate
speed, focusing on keeping his form
on both the ascending and de-
scending halves of the movement.
Machine one-arm preacher
curls. For his finishing move, Dan
likes to take advantage of a machine
and really isolate the inner head
that’s going to take him almost to
failure in eight to 10 reps. He does
three sets at a moderate speed,
focusing on (continued on page 190)
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 185
 (continued from page 185) getting the
full range of movement until he hits
failure.
The Gun Show
Even if you follow this workout
to a tee, I guarantee that you won’t
build biceps like Dan Decker’s.
Remember, Dan has chosen body-
building as his career, so he lives a
lifestyle that allows him to spend
more time in the gym than someone
who works a nine-to-five job would.
His career as a personal trainer and
fitness model is designed to afford
190 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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him the opportunity to pursue an
IFBB pro card. He also has excep-
tional genetics.
Does that mean you’ll never have
good biceps? Not at all. You should
take a look at Dan’s routine and
learn the basics of what he’s saying.
Ultimately, your own work ethic—
and your genetics—will determine
what size biceps you’ll have stretch-
ing the sleeves of your T-shirt. You
can try his program with fewer sets,
or pick out a few key exercises and
give them a go. Of course, if you’re
experienced and have the time, you
can put his full program into prac-
tice and see what happens.
The bottom line is that if you
work hard, you can have people
gawking at your guns, even if your
genetics aren’t that great. Use Dan
as a role model: He’ll be at Gold’s,
Venice, almost every Friday getting
ready for the ’08 NPC Junior Na-
tionals in June. The guy in the “Gun
Show” T-shirt will probably be sit-
ting on his couch dreaming.
Editor’s note: To contact Dan
Decker for training consultations,
guest posings and sponsorships, go
to www.DanDecker.net. IM
 www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 191
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204 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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The Path
Less
Traveled
Cover Man Extraordinaire
Greg Plitt Takes His
Talents to the Limit
by Rod Labbe • Photography by Michael Neveux

T
his just in: Greg Plitt rules
as America’s number-one
male fitness model. Need
convincing? Peruse any
neighborhood bookstore, and you’ll
GP: Yeah [laughs], I’ve had pretty
decent luck with covers, knock on
wood.
IM: And movies. And televi-
sion. And commercials. And
Reg Park

OTOS
ND REMEMB ERED—RARE PH
undoubtedly spot Greg’s mug grin- photo spreads. REG PARK: A LEGE
ning out from any number of fitness GP: Ha. You’re descibing me like
2008 / IRON

and bodybuilding magazine covers. I’m a supermodel. I’m just a regular ™

“Aw, shucks” handsome, astound- guy who saw a window of opportu-

MUSCLE
MAN MAGAZIN

ingly ripped, emanating health and nity and jumped through it. Right
vitality, he epitomizes the ideal place at the right time. SIZE
young American dude, circa 2008. IM: Okay, let’s hear how a SIMPLIFIED
E—W

The Science of
E KNOW TRAIN

Okay, that’s the public persona— regular guy scores the cover of Hyperspeed
Hypertrophy
but we tend to forget our pop cul- Muscle & Fitness on his very
STEROIDS
ING™

ture heroes have histories, unique first try. H

THE TRUTand
experiences, opinions and feelings. GP: It went down like this: Mom’s •Who’s Using
Why, page 240
As you might imagine, Greg is a busy an interior designer, and when I •Life After ’Ro
ids
page 298
lad, bouncing between photo ses- came back from Korea, she gave
sions like a pinball. He’s also moving me a voucher for a free stay at any 3D H.I.T.
Complete
MUSCLE SIZE

aggressively into the acting field, Marriott hotel. My buddies and I Workout to
Up Your MARCH 2008
which requires time, dedication and were heading to D.C., and I thought, Mass $5.99
SIMPLIFIED

FAST!
strict discipline—not to mention Hell, why not use her voucher? So, PLUS: r Hardbody)
Inside (She’s Ou
/ REG PARK

com

•See More of Her

nMag azine.

a thick hide. Squeezing me in took we find the closest Marriott—it’s Ret ro— Ful l-Page Pics of
www.I ronMa
Please displa y
until 3/4/0 8

•IRON MAN Pro tler, Priest, Wheeler, Wow!)

schedule juggling, but he and I were dumpy, a bad location, TV in the Every Winner (Cu 1/3/08 6:33:35
PM

both determined. bar doesn’t work, all shabby and C1_Mar2008_F.

indd 1

run-down. I’m sitting with my bros,

IM: In one month alone, I
counted five mags featuring
you as their cover boy. We’re
talkin’ Cindy Crawford territory.
Crazy.
catching up on stories, and there’s
a model and acting agency conven-
tion going on in one of the banquet
rooms. An agent walks out and says
to me, “You here for the conven-

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 205

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 Greg Plitt
tion?” “No,” I answer,
“just knockin’ back a few
beers.” “No matter what kind
After more small talk,
he gives me his card and of sucky day I’ve had,
asks if I’d mind going the gym melts away
upstairs for a few pic-
tures. I’m like, uh, no tension.”
thanks. My buds had a
good laugh over it, but
I started wondering, Is
this guy legit? I’m the
kind who never likes to
ponder what-ifs; I’d rather
experience the truth of a
situation. I researched his
agency, and after things
checked out, I gave him a
call. Two weeks later I’m
in New York City doing a
test shoot.
IM: There’s that
window of opportu-
nity you were talking
about.
GP: Exactly, though
I had no clue where it
would lead. The photog-
rapher was professional
and smart, and I en-
joyed having my picture
taken—a kind of wacky
experiment, nothing
more.
IM: They do claim
the best things happen
spontaneously.

GP: You want spontane-
ous? Get this—suddenly, I’m
on a plane, heading to L.A. for
a cover session with Muscle &
Fitness. I used to read the mags,
never dreaming I’d actually be
in one. Unreal.
IM: Think of the kids
you’ve inspired.
GP: A sobering thought. My
greatest reward is giving back
some of what was given to me
way back when.
IM: Even with the sub-
sequent media overload,
you’ve remained blissfully
unaffected.
GP: My personality was set
a long time ago, and it’s not in
me to go around boasting. The
work should speak for itself.
IM: The Muscle & Fitness
gig had to be a mind blower.
GP: Man, my feet were
off the floor. A friend called and
said, “Did you know you’re on this
month’s Muscle & Fitness?” I didn’t—
and booked it to Barnes and Noble,
pronto.
IM: Anyone recognize you?
GP: At the counter, I’m trying to
be nonchalant, keeping the maga-
zine facedown and all. The clerk
flips it over, looks at me, and we
laugh. And here’s the best part: He
pulls cash from his own wallet and
pays for it himself.
IM: Way cool. And your fami-
ly’s reaction?
GP: Mom told everyone she pos-
sibly could, and the Gold’s I was
training at called Weider’s office for
permission to have an autograph
session. Come and meet the cover
kid. I went along on one condition:
They had to hook up my platoon
buds with free memberships.
IM: Which Gold’s was it?

206 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 GP: In
Arlington,
Virginia.
IM: I
assume
lifting’s
a life-
time
thing,
then—like
eating and
sleeping?
GP: Seriously,
I will do it all my
life. No matter what
kind of sucky day I’ve
had, the gym melts away tension
like frost on a warm window pane.
It’s where I control my own destiny,
outcome and speed of progress.
After any bad day, I always find
solace in a good workout.
IM: You’re empowered be-
yond the physical.
GP: Big-time empowerment.
Exercise releases endorphins,
resulting in a sense of euphoria.
Seeing—but most of all feeling—
results is an astonishing emotional
buzz. The natural high of my mind
and body being in sync makes me
feel invincible.
IM: Generating a few bucks
from your gym exploits melts
that frost even faster.
GP: Weight training paved the
way to a career in fitness modeling,
an extra, unexpected benefit. Even
if that hadn’t happened, though, I’d
be maintaining a strict gym regi-
men. My original goal was to be fit
and strong and excel at sports, and
I still consider that an honorable
goal.
IM: How was your upbring-
ing?
GP: Both my sister and I have
been blessed with a wonderful
home life and two caring parents.
We were independent, competitive
and sports-oriented. My grand-
father went pro in baseball and
hockey. My dad almost got picked
up by the Mets. On their side the
firstborn had been a boy for 80
years. Ginnie, my sister, broke that
streak.
IM: Little Greg evened things
out 15 months later.
GP: Somebody had to do it.
[Laughs] I swear, I was born wear-
ing a cup. (continued on page 212)

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 207

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 Greg Plitt
school I was a two-time All-Ameri-
can, second in the nation my senior
Greg Plitt’s Workout Philosophy year and a multiple state champ.
I’ve always been fitness-minded, even before I entered the world of Golf and football were also personal
modeling. For me, staying in shape’s not merely a way to pay the bills. It’s passions. I still toss the pigskin
a lifestyle. whenever I have a chance, and
“Ugh, sounds like too much work,” people say, but If you love some- nothing will ever drag me off the
thing as much as I love the gym, it isn’t work. driving range.
I train on a five-day split that covers my entire body. When the fifth day IM: Talk about your big sister,
is done, I begin again. I don’t schedule off days; they happen on their own Ginnie.
due to work or scheduling conflicts. Usually that occurs once a week. GP: Athletic and definitely more
Not a big deal, but when your foundation is based on the high you into schoolwork than me. Champi-
experience at the gym, a break in routine leaves you out of sync. Believe ons usually come in twos, and my
me, I feel those days! Not lifting is almost like a case of withdrawal. sister and I made a good competi-
I was asked to provide my “typical” workout. That’s pretty much im- tive pair growing up. Ginnie gradu-
possible. It can’t be broken down and presented simply—the reader won’t ated from the U.S. Naval Academy
learn much. It’s much like that aphorism: Give a man a fish, and he eats and is now in her fourth year of med
for a day; teach him how to fish and.… If you learn the philosophy of school.
shocking your system and changing your workouts, it’ll be like learning IM: Naval Academy? Interest-
how to fish: You’ll never go hungry in the gym again. ing choice.
A simple change from doing dumbbell presses instead of barbell GP: Dad suggested it. She’d been
presses is enough, or throw in a machine press. Switch around the order applying to all these distinguished
of your workout. With chest, instead of doing flat, incline and decline Ivy League institutions. With USNA,
presses, do flat presses, incline flyes, decline presses, dips, then incline if you qualify, it’s a free education.
presses and decline presses. Ginnie threw in an application,
The only consistent thing in my workout is gym time. I do things dif- went through the selection pro-
ferently every day. In order for your physique to grow, you must shock the cess—including a Congressional
muscles. When it’s guessing, your body’s forced to adapt. Move out of that appointment—and discovered a
comfort zone, dammit! brand-new way of life.
Go heavy one day, and the next time you hit that muscle group, go light IM: Your focus changed too.
with high reps. It’s easy, and the results will pour into your psyche. GP: At the high school wrestling
Don’t let your body become complacent. If it expects a certain workout nationals, a scout from West Point
and you give it something else, watch the fireworks! said I had potential and could likely
—Greg Plitt win a congressional appointment—
unless I preferred riding my sister’s
coattails. That pissed me off, but
I couldn’t come up with one good
(continued from page 207) reason why USNA was better than
Kids nowadays are glued to PlaySta- situps instead. Your choice.” Being West Point.
tion and Nintendo. I’d be outside the defiant child, I chose working I agonized over every consider-
till the sun went down, involved in out, and within weeks I was faster ation again and again. West Point
a game somewhere, and wouldn’t and stronger and had increased my would mean turning down several
even bother with schoolwork. That endurance tremendously. wrestling scholarships. In the final
proved problematic—especially IM: Dad didn’t mind that not- analysis, I did the right thing. West
during summer. so-subtle subversion? Point offered much more of what
IM: Why then, of all times? GP: Oh, he minded. We reached a I was seeking as a developing per-
GP: We always had a summer compromise, and I began focusing son. Plus, it would be mine, a new
reading list to prep us for the next on schoolwork—but the seed had path forged—without any family or
academic year. Sitting in class was been planted. I loved exercising. friends to fall back on. A major step.
bad enough, but when summer was IM: Academics weren’t chal- No “riding my sister’s coattails.”
calling? The last thing I wanted to do lenging enough? IM: After West Point, military
was crack a book. GM: I just wasn’t motivated. What service is required, correct?
IM: Did you eventually see the I needed was a way to find enjoy- GP: Education’s free, but you pay
light? ment in studying. Mr. Merrick, my by serving your country. I gradu-
GP: Not by myself. I had an in- fourth-grade teacher, turned me ated in 2000 a second lieutenant
tervention. One hot afternoon Dad around. He said, “Greg, why settle and spent the next five years going
grabbed me and asked, “How’s your for a C when you can get an A?” I around the world and back again.
reading going?” Duh, what read- understood his logic, and from then I also earned the rank of captain,
ing? I hadn’t been doing any. We on, I was a straight-A student. Airborne Ranger.
made a deal. He said, “Either you IM: As a lad, did you have a IM: Airborne Ranger? Sounds
read half an hour a day or swim 100 favorite sport? elite.
laps and do 100 pushups and 100 GM: Wrestling, bar none. In high GP: Becoming a Ranger is tough.

212 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 “The natural
high of my
mind and body
being in sync
makes me feel
invincible.”

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 213

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 Greg Plitt

“Music, training
partners and the
right atmosphere are
excellent motivators,
but believing in
yourself is second to
none.”

It’s the Army’s equivalent of a Navy
Seal. You attend U.S. Army Ranger
School and spend 70 grueling
days in training. When I started, I
weighed 215 pounds, and I left the
program a lean 163, shredded.
IM: Don’t you also have some-
thing like 800 jumps to your
credit?
GP: Try 850. I joined the skydiv-
ing team at West Point and loved it.
Its pool of applicants reaches 300 to
400, and only 10 are chosen. I was
fortunate to break in as a freshman.
IM: Fresh out of the military,
and your career is accelerat-
ing—modeling assignments, TV,
film. Is there a science to all this
madness?
GP: No, and that’s fine by me. I
like the edginess involved. I’m prep-
ping with acting classes, improving
my craft and staying in top shape.
IM: What if the phone doesn’t
ring?
GP: A real possibility, given the
nature of show business. It’s like
when I was wrestling. Before every
meet, there’s fear inside. Maybe you
even question your own abilities or
freak out a little. But guess what?
People destroy themselves before
entering the arena. Not me. Per-
spective is everything.
You can slowly lose patience and
drive and motivation or switch the
mental channel. In the slow times
I don’t freak. I plan and prepare. If
you’re going into a sketchy situation,
feel confident. Look sharp, be sharp.
If my opponent beats me, fine—but
I’ll never lose.
IM: Are you a contented guy?
Satisfied with the status quo?
GP: I’m rarely content. If I ever do
feel contentment, it’s a temporary
satisfaction. The first time I won the
state championships in wrestling, I
was pumped. But it didn’t last. Same
with modeling. You shoot a cover.
It’s neat, and you’re already contem-
plating that next big assignment.
IM: It helps to have the look,
whatever it might be.
GP: The look changes on a whim.
Photographers don’t want someone
to smile and pose like an empty-
headed mannequin. They appre-
ciate people who can contribute
intellectually.

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IM: Photo shoots: hard or
easy?
GP: Easy because I find fun in
the work. The shoot is my reward, a
culmination of training, dieting and
intense preparation.
IM: Your basic appeal lies in
the all-American physique—not
too big, not too threatening and
cut.
GP: I have an all-American
physique because I built it the old-
fashioned way: through diligent
gym time and staying chem-free.
Anybody can have a good body, but
they’ve gotta put in the hard hours.
No excuses.
IM: I was gonna ask you about
so-called enhancers—um,
’roids.
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
GP: Bottom line: Anything com-
ing quickly will leave quickly. Work-
ing out changes your body, and with
steroids an outside element aids in
that transformation. Training clean
is always better. Wake up at five in
the morning, run, go to the gym.
Discipline yourself. The results will
be permanent, not fleeting.
IM: You’ve never tried a short-
cut?
GP: Listen, when I was a kid, I
wanted to leave baseball halfway
through, and Dad said no, you gave
your word. You’ll stay the season.
Next year, if you still don’t like it,
cut out. But not now. That’s how I
handle life’s roadblocks, by sticking
to my game plan. Looking for short-
cuts won’t defeat the challenges.
Go forward, and if you fall, at least
you’ve fallen as a warrior. At the end
of the day, be happy with your ac-
complishments.
IM: Motivation is the princi-
pal element in any long-term
fitness regimen. Finding and
keeping it, however—there’s
the rub.
GP: Bona fide motivation is in-
ternal. Music, training partners and
the right atmosphere are excellent
motivators, but believing in yourself
AD
is second to none. The race can’t be
won overnight. Start your morning
with this one main goal: to be better
and stronger than the day before.
Enjoy the process of getting there.
IM: If you and your bros
hadn’t stopped at the Marriott
to pound a few, where would
Greg Plitt be today?
GP: Who can tell? The last thing
I expected to be doing is modeling
and launching an acting career in
L.A.
IM: Was meeting that photog-
rapher a crossroads moment?
GP: Absolutely. There were two
paths presented to me: the one I’d
been on, safe and comfortable. And
the other, less traveled, unfamiliar
and probably dangerous.
IM: Which do you usually
choose in such situations?
GP: The path less traveled. It’s
harder to navigate, but rewards far
outweigh any pain inflicted.
IM: Speaking of paths less
traveled, you were in “The
Good Shepherd,” starring Matt
Damon and directed by Robert
 Greg Plitt

“I earned the rank

of captain, Airborne
Ranger. Becoming
a Ranger is tough.
It’s the Army’s
equivalent of a
Navy Seal.”

DeNiro. Is film your number-
one goal at present?
GP: It’s the sole reason I relocated
to L.A. Landing “The Good Shep-
herd” as my first credit was an awe-
some springboard. There’s no one
better than Robert DeNiro, and he
treated me like a peer.
IM: Ever toy with the idea of
doing a soap?
GP: Great minds think alike. I
have a small recurring role on “Days
of Our Lives” as a cop named Hen-
derson. If viewers like me enough,
maybe the writers will build a sto-
ryline around my character. Soaps
aren’t as easy as they look. Actors are
required to memorize upwards of 50
pages of dialogue a day, but nobody
can fault the exposure.
IM: You’re dabbling in reality
programming as well.
GM: For the Home and Garden
channel, yeah—“Designed to Sell.”
It’s HGTV’s number-one show. I’m
part of a team, and we transform old
and run-down homes for resale. Our
work budget is about $2,000.
IM: Meanwhile, your Bowflex
spot is all over the tube. Sweet

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 Greg Plitt
or what?
GP: That one little com-
mercial has brought me so
much visibility, it’s insane.
IM: What’s the inside
word about your Bravo
project?
GP: Oh, “Workout.”
Yeah, I’m doing that right
now. It’s a pseudo-real-
ity show. It’ll run the first
week of April. Can’t go into
details; gotta keep it on
the down-low.
IM: C’mon, don’t be
coy.
GP: Okay, you con-
vinced me. [Leans forward
conspiratorially] Jackie
Warner’s a personal trainer
who owns a gym. She hires
a staff of trainers—which
includes me—and much
drama ensues. I like to
call “Workout” the “world
of vanity in a gym.” We’ve
got competitiveness, sex-
ual tension, relationships
developing and crashing,
and Jackie, who’s trying to
keep a lid on the pot be-
fore it boils over.
IM: And does she?
GP: Stay tuned to Bravo
and watch the big pre-
miere.
IM: Your attitude is
so positive. Are you Dr.
Jekyll in disguise?
GP: Heck, no. I’m an
optimist, tried and true.
IM: Between assign-
ments, classes, the gym
and casting calls, any
time to unwind?
GP: I like golfing, hik-
ing, going for a run. If the
mood strikes, I’ll track a
flight to some random
town and explore it with
a good buddy. Not having
plans is best, flying back
home to my family, being “I’m an
spontaneous. I’m con-
stantly stretching 40 hours
optimist,
into 24 hours. tried and
Editor’s note: For true.”
more on Greg Plitt, go to
GregPlitt.com. IM

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 Opener: Curls, with biceps fibers
showing (like you did with Jona-
than’s arm a while back)
Other photos: Bench presses;
Incline presses; Bent-over rows;
Chins; Stiff-legged deadlifts; Squats;
Muscle closeup;

224 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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Holistic
Hypertrophy
Attack All Muscle Fiber
Types for Fast Mass Gains
by Glen Danbury • Photography by Michael Neveux

Training to add mass sounds simple:

Recruit and exhaust as many muscle
fibers as possible. Unfortunately, the
most common methods of training
usually fail to exhaust one or another
group of muscle fibers. To understand
that, let’s look at how muscle fibers
differ in recruitment and vulnerability
to fatigue.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 225

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 Presents

Higher-repetition
programs miss training
the faster-twitch
fibers while lower-rep,
strength-style training
does not exhaust the
slower-twitch fibers. You
need both.

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 Holistic-Hypertrophy
Training: Additional
More Than Two Types Benefits
cations of muscle fibers—type 1, 1c,
Ask any fitness buff to 2c, 2ac, 2a, 2ab, 2b—and they act in As well as aiming to recruit
define the different muscle sequence, from slowest to fastest. and exhaust as many potential
fibers, and you’ll usually The slower the fiber, the lower the fibers as possible, this program
hear fast and slow twitch. threshold of recruitment—meaning has other strength and growth
The more reading the easier it is to activate the fiber— benefits:
you’ve done, the more and the more fatigue resistant it
likely you are to cite is. As the sequence continues, the • Post-tetanic potentiation.
the slow (type 1), fast fibers’ recruitment threshold in- As the three-rep set employs
oxidative (type 2a) and creases, but their fatigue resistance near maximal contractions
fast glycolytic (type 2b). decreases. with minimal fatigue, there
That’s correct, but there During muscle contraction, should be an increase in
are up to seven classifi- fibers are recruited in an orderly strength during subsequent
sets due to increased neural
The last set should feel like hell as the lactate output and increased calcium
levels within the muscle.
buildup becomes unbearable. You’ll need to grit
• Sarcoplasmic hypertro-
your teeth, but you’ll also have to swallow your phy. Higher-repetition train-
pride because the weight you’re going to be using ing—as in work set 3—can
increase stored energy and
is almost laughable. the cytoplasm within muscle
cells. Although that doesn’t
aid in strength, it will increase
muscle size.
• Increased capillariza-
tion. The higher-repetition
training will increase the num-
ber of small blood vessels—
capillaries—in a muscle. That
increases the muscle’s overall
size and endurance and aids in
recovery between sets.

—G.D.

manner—what’s known as the

size principle. Basically, the
small, slow-twitch fibers with
low-recruitment thresholds are
recruited first, and as increasing
force is required, the larger, fast-
twitch fibers are recruited.
So the slow-twitch fibers are
recruited first, and the fast-
twitch get recruited with greater
effort and loads. In order to re-
cruit fast fibers, you need to lift
greater loads, yet lifting greater
loads means you spend less
time lifting [less tension time
with heavy weights and fewer
reps]. That means the fatigue-
resistant slower fibers aren’t
exhausted.
As a practical matter,
therefore, higher-repetition
programs miss training the
Model: Jeff Dwell

faster-twitch fibers, while lower-

rep, strength-style training does
not exhaust the slower-twitch
fibers. (continued on page 231)

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 227

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 Presents The method uses a
heavy-to-light training
program in which
you do specific sets,
starting with high loads
and low reps, and
then on subsequent
sets decrease the load
and correspondingly
increase in reps.

Model: Derik Farnsworth

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(continued from page 227)
In either case potential hypertro-
phy remains untapped. So most
people periodize their workouts,
doing strength training for so many
weeks followed by another number
of weeks of higher-rep work. That
approach has some drawbacks in
that as one motor ability, strength,
is developed, the other motor abil-
ity, muscular endurance, starts to
diminish.
It’s much more effective to use a
program that recruits and possibly
exhausts all fiber types. This one is
aimed at individuals who wish to
add as much size as is possible in
the quickest time possible.
Holistic-Hypertrophy
Training
This program is built on what
are called holistic sets. (Don’t
worry, you don’t have to use crys-
tals and funky chants, unless that’s
your cup of tea.) It’s basically a
heavy-to-light program in which
you do specific sets, starting with
heavy loads and low reps. On sub-
sequent sets you decrease the load
and correspondingly increase the
reps. Combine those loading pa-
rameters with specific tempos, and
you have the basis of the program.
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
Gradually increase the poundage
with low reps to avoid fatigue. A for-
Set 1 mat like the one here should work
fine. Figure the weights as percent-
33reps
repsx x95%
95%of3RM
3RM ages of the weight you will use on
Rep cadence: 1/0/X your first work set.
Rest: 120 seconds Warmup 1
50% of work weight x 3
Set 2 Warmup 2
70% of work weight x 3
8 reps x 8RM
Warmup 3
Rep cadence: 3/2/1 80% of work weight x 2
Rest: 60 seconds Warmup 4
80% of work weight x 1
Set 3
The first work set aims to recruit
20 reps x 20RM the fast-twitch fibers. So the load is
Rep cadence: 4/4/4 high (95 percent of 3RM) with the
eccentric performed relatively fast
Rest: N/A (one second); that’s been shown to
preferentially recruit the fast-twitch
fibers with relative safety. The speed
Note: Rep cadence is expressed of the concentric, or positive, stroke
as eccentric/isometric pause/ should be fast. Considering the load,
concentric in seconds; X means it will move at a slower pace.
to explode with a controlled but After two minutes of rest do your
fast movement. second set, which is a standard
bodybuilding affair—eight repeti-
You do only three work sets per tions performed with a three-sec-
exercise: ond eccentric, a one-second pause
The first work set is heavy, so in the down position and a two-sec-
you should start with warmup sets. ond concen- (continued on page 234)
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 231
 The purpose
Presents of the program
is to recruit as
many muscle
fibers as possible.
The exercises
you use should be
multijoint ones
such as bench
press, bent-over
rows, pullups,
squats, stiff-legged

Model: Daryl Gee

deadlifts, etc.

(continued from page 231) tric. The a second round

overall time under tension should will defeat the
be about 50 seconds, which will purpose. In
exhaust all of the intermediate fi- other words, the
bers with an endurance time under fibers should
50 seconds. be exhausted,
Perform the third set after a min- and it would be
ute of rest. You’re aiming to exhaust impossible to
a reasonable number of slow-twitch develop levels of
fibers. The repetitions should be force that would
slow—four seconds each for the recruit the high-
eccentric, pause and the concentric. threshold fibers
There should be no rest, so the reps again.
are performed in continuous-ten- Perform two
sion style. workouts for a
The last set should feel like hell given muscle
as the lactate buildup becomes group within a
unbearable. You’ll need to grit your week, using two
teeth, but you’ll also have to swal- different motor
low your pride because the weight patterns—for
you’re going to be using is almost example, bench
laughable. presses at your
first chest work-
Exercise Choice out and incline
presses at your
Because the purpose of the pro- second. The
gram is to recruit as many fibers clavicular heads
as possible, the exercises you use of the pectorals
should be the big, multijoint ones. are recruited
You’re looking at bench presses for during move-
chest, bent-over rows and pullups ments in which
for back, squats for quads, stiff- you raise your
legged deadlifts for hamstrings, and arms toward your
so on. head, like incline
Do only one round of the three presses, as op-
sets for each exercise. Performing posed to raising

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Model: Derik Farnsworth

them straight out in front

of your body, as in bench
presses. A similar example
would be bent-over rows
and pullups for the back.
Remember, this style
of training is aimed at
developing maximal
hypertrophy in a short
period of time. If your goal
is pure strength, then a
strength-training program
will be more suitable. As
long as you address the
underlying principles of
progressive overload and
adequate nutrition, holis-
tic-hypertrophy training
should create exceptional
mass gains over a 12-week
period.

Editor’s note: Glen

Danbury has an honors
degree in sports science
and human nutrition and
is currently working to-
ward his master’s degree in
sports nutrition. For more
of his articles, visit www.
Bodybuilding.com. IM
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 235
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 Bodybuilding Pharmacology
BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING
Estrogen-
Blocking
Supplements
Until two years ago bodybuilders who wanted to in-
crease testosterone levels without using anabolic steroids
could purchase pro-hormone supplements. The original
forms of those supplements weren’t effective. For example,
DHEA, an adrenal steroid produced in the human body, is
used in the synthesis of other hormones, including testos-
terone and estrogen. Based on that, DHEA supplements
were touted for increasing testosterone in bodybuilders.
DHEA did do that—but only in women. In men under age
40 it was converted into either estrogen or dihydrotestos-
terone, a testosterone metabolite associated with acne,
male-pattern baldness and prostate enlargement.
Noting the problems, several entrepreneurs scoured the
238 MARCH 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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by Jerry Brainum
scientific literature and came up with compounds that, on
paper, provided more direct routes to testosterone con-
version. The most popular was androstenedione, which
was said to be more effective than DHEA because it was
a step closer in the synthesis process: In the body DHEA
converted into andro, which then converted directly into
testosterone.
Andro peaked in popularity after being linked to pro
baseball player Mark McGwire. During his 1998 home-run
spree, which broke a Major League record, a reporter no-
ticed a bottle of andro in his locker. McGwire didn’t deny
using the supplement, noting that it was perfectly legal in
baseball. He’s been evasive in denying his use of anabolic
steroids.
While it would be wrong to overlook the natural ability
of players such as McGwire or Barry Bonds, consider the
findings of American physicist Roger Tobin of Tufts Univer-
sity. Tobin estimated that using anabolic steroids can help
batters hit 50 percent more home runs by boosting muscle
10 percent. With 10 percent more muscle, a batter can
swing about 5 percent faster, which increases the speed of
the ball 4 percent as it leaves the bat. Added speed can lead
to home runs 50 percent more often—up to 100 percent
according to Tobin. Then again, muscle and steroids are
only part of the home-run equation; there’s no shortage of
muscular ball players who come nowhere near the home-
run record.
But I digress. Andro was wildly
popular for a while among body-
builders. Shortly after it hit the
market, I looked at the testosterone
pathway and noticed that it could
easily be converted into estrogen.
When I said so on an Internet
forum, I was accused of being “jeal-
ous” of andro’s success, but medical
studies proved me right. Rather
than being converted into testos-
terone, andro tended to take the
estrogen route in men. In women,
however, as with DHEA, andro did
raise testosterone levels.
So it was back to the drawing
board for pro-hormone purveyors.
They came up with a few esoteric
androgens that flew under the FDA
radar for a while. None were ever
definitively shown to build muscle,
but some produced such side ef-
fects as acne and liver enzyme
elevations.
It was left for more technically
oriented supplement gurus to turn
to the musty old steroid textbooks
of the late 1960s and search for
more effective compounds. Thou-
sands of potential drugs were origi-
nally researched from the 1950s
to the late 1960s, but most never
reached the market. They were
described in arcane chemical guides, most notably in An- estrogen-re-
drogens and Anabolic Agents: Chemistry and Pharmacology, lated side effects.
a 1968 tome by Julius A. Vida. Several of the compounds— Despite that,
nothing less than full-fledged anabolic steroids, by the you often see
way—were resurrected and released as commercial pro- gyno in compet-
hormones. But not for long. In 2005 the federal anabolic ing bodybuild-
steroid law, as amended, formally prohibited them. ers—not because
The last generation of pro-hormones before the ban was of estrogen but
unquestionably the most effective. How could they not be, because of pro-
as they were the real thing? Nobody bothered to raise the gesterone, an-
obvious question of why the drug companies that had done other female sex
all that R&D didn’t put them on the market. Two words: hormone. Heavy
side effects. Most of the drugs were harder on the liver use of anabolic
than the oral anabolics that did reach the market, and they steroids, such as
attacked the cardiovascular system even more rapidly. To Deca-Durabolin
avoid liability, the manufacturers relegated them to phar- and the infa-
maceutical limbo. mous designer
With the demise of such effective but problematic com- steroid THG,
pounds, companies turned to the only other legal means ups the body’s
of boosting testosterone: substances that inhibit the activ- progesterone
ity of an enzyme called aromatase, which is found in such content.
tissues as liver, brain, muscle and fat in the legs and arms, Because a cer-
and which converts free testosterone circulating in the tain amount of
blood into estrogen. Aromatase may explain the failure of the testosterone
the first generation of pro-hormones. Even if they did raise men produce is
free testosterone in the blood, it didn’t take long for aroma- converted into Why wasn’t the last generation
tase to kick in and convert it into estrogen. estrogen—about 1 of pro-hormones sold by drug
Bodybuilders who use anabolic steroids have long been to 8 percent daily— companies? Because most of those
familiar with gynecomastia, or “bitch tits,” a common side taking a drug that drugs had potential side effects that
effect characterized by an accumulation of excess glandu- blocks the activity didn’t warrant the possible legal
lar tissue in male breasts. The culprit is an overbalance of of aromatase would
estrogen vs. testosterone, which can also cause water re- lead to an increase ramifications.
tention or even interfere with brain chemistry and impede in blood testoster-
testosterone synthesis. one. That’s the mechanism behind the test-boosting effects
The original way of dealing with excess estrogen was to of over-the-counter estrogen-inhibiting supplements.
take tamoxifen citrate, trade name Nolvadex, which was Beyond all the hoopla, however, do those supplements
and still is prescribed mainly for older women who have really work as advertised, and are they as side effect-free as
breast cancer. It’s molecularly similar to and binds to the the ads claim?
estrogen cell receptor, thus blocking the path of actual Two of the most popular are Novadex XT and 6-OXO. No-
estrogen and rendering it inert. Trouble is, Nolvadex is not vadex XT is marketed by Gaspari Nutrition. Two companies
only an antagonist but also an agonist of estrogen. That is, sell 6-OXO, one owned by actor Sylvester Stallone, and the
it can bind to estrogen itself. So when taken too long or in other is associated with Pat Arnold, who was instrumental
too great a dose, it interferes with testosterone synthesis. in popularizing the original pro-hormone supplements. Ar-
Drug research has produced other compounds that work nold was indicted after being identified as the person who
more directly than Nolvadex in reducing estrogen levels. synthesized “the clear”—a.k.a. THG—the designer steroid
They block the activity of aromatase and considerably at the center of the BALCO drug scandal.
diminish the estrogen count. Newer forms of aromatase A study examined the effects of providing 72 milligrams
inhibitors, such as Arimidex or Aromesin, are extremely a day of Nolvadex XT to a group of young men engaged in
effective. Many pro bodybuilders rely on them to prevent weight training.1 After eight weeks researchers measured

American physicist Roger Tobin estimated that using

anabolic steroids can help batters hit 50 percent more
home runs by boosting muscle 10 percent. With 10 percent
more muscle, a batter can swing about 5 percent faster,
which increases the speed of the ball 4 percent as it leaves
the bat. Then again, there’s no shortage of muscular ball
players who come nowhere near the
home-run record.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 239

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 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY BODYBUI
Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology

Because some of the testosterone men produce is converted

into estrogen—about 1 to 8 percent daily—taking a drug
that blocks the activity of aromatase would lead to an
increase in blood testosterone. That’s the mechanism behind
the test-boosting effects of over-the-counter estrogen-
inhibiting supplements.
the following increases in hormone levels: acne and prostate problems. Purveyors of these products
• Total testosterone, 283 percent suggest using them for limited periods, such as four to six
• Free, or active, testosterone, 625 percent weeks, as lowering estrogen levels for an extended period
• DHT, 566 percent could adversely affect cardiovascular function. Estrogen is
No increase in fat-free mass occurred in the subjects, good for maintaining protective high-density-lipoprotein
but their bodyfat decreased by 3.5 percent more than it did levels, and women tend to have better HDL counts because
for those in the placebo group. Slight increases in estrogen they have more estrogen. In addition, users of injectable
also occurred, indicating that the supplement only par- testosterone show no adverse effects with regard to HDL
tially blocked estrogen because some of the test is converted into estrogen. If you
activity. add an aromatase blocker like Arimidex, that doesn’t hap-
The same research- pen. Most oral anabolic steroid drugs also lower HDL and
ers then focused on thus are a long-term risk.
6-OXO.2 Sixteen young Since Novadex XT and 6-OXO don’t completely block
men, average age 26, estrogen, the safeguard mentioned by the sellers of such
used either 300 or 600 supplements is mainly a precaution, assuming that some
milligrams of 6-OXO people, such as those at risk for cardiovascular disease,
for eight weeks in a may be more susceptible to potential problems. Thus far,
double-blind experi- there is no indication that using them will adversely affect
ment. Free testoster- cardiovascular health.
one rose by 90 percent Elevated DHT is a more immediate problem, in my
for the 300-milligram opinion. If you have the genes for male-pattern baldness
group and 84 percent or acne, you may experience flareups if you take too large
for the 600-milligram a dose or stay on the supplements too long. The same
group. DHT rose by holds true for the drug versions. You can remedy that by
192 percent and 265 taking drugs that block 5-alpha reductase, such as Proscar
percent, respectively, or Avodart. Natural inhibitors of 5-AD include soy in small
and the testosterone- amounts, as well as green tea.
to-estriadol ratio rose There is another problem with the OTC supplements.
by 53 percent and 67 I’ve recommended them to men who are interested in
percent. Estrone, a boosting testosterone levels but who don’t want to use
weaker form of es- anabolic steroids. About half have reported a loss of libido.
Nolvadex XT increased trogen, increased by Since the supplements boost free testosterone, which is
free testosterone by a 22 percent with the associated with elevated sex drive in both sexes, I’m at loss.
whopping 625 percent. 300-milligram dose It’s not a placebo effect, for the men expected increased sex
and 52 percent with drive, and it doesn’t happen to every man who takes the
the 600-milligram dose. Estradiol, the most potent of the supplements. As to what the precise cause is, your guess is
three forms of estrogen, rose by 27 percent with the 300- as good as mine.
milligram and 12 percent for the 600-milligram dose. Once
again, there was no change in body composition and no References
side effects or adverse body chemistry alterations.
The rise in free testosterone likely accounted for the 1 Willoughby, D., et al. (2007). Eight weeks of aromatase
increase in DHT, since 5-alpha reductase, the enzyme that inhibition using the nutritional supplement Novadex XT:
converts test into DHT, wasn’t affected by the supplement. Effects on steroid hormones, body composition, and clini-
Some published studies suggest that when you inhibit aro- cal safety markers in young, eugonadal men. Int J Sport Nutr
matase, the activity of 5-alpha reductase tends to increase, Exer Metab. 17:92-108.
again because there is more free testosterone in the blood 2 Rohle, D., et al. (2007). Effects of eight weeks of an al-
available for 5-alpha conversion into DHT. leged aromatase-inhibiting nutritional supplement 6-OXO
The implications of these studies are that neither Nolva- on serum hormone profiles and clinical safety markers in
dex XT nor 6-OXO totally blocks estrogen and that both resistance-trained, eugonadal males. J Int Soc Sports Nutr.
increase testosterone and DHT. The elevation of DHT could 4:13. IM
prove problematic, as it’s linked to male-pattern baldness,

240 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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244 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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Heavy Duty
Q&A
The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer
More on Intensity
Q: I like Mike’s scientific ap-
proach to bodybuilding very
much. He renders very techni-
cal issues intelligible to lay
people like me in a way that
makes perfect sense. I’m really
intrigued by his writings on
intensity in training. What else
might he have said about the
subject of intensity?
A: Joanne Sharkey and I are asked
hundreds of questions about Mike’s
Heavy Duty training system, and
almost all of the questions deal
with a misunderstanding of what
intensity is and its role in training.
That confusion goes back over 30
years, as Mike himself discussed in a
magazine in the late 1970s.
“What remains obscure to so
many bodybuilders, as evidenced
by the many questions I receive in
letters and at public appearances, is
how to progressively increase the in-
tensity of muscular contraction. The
obscurity arises from the fact that
many still do not fully understand
the concept of intensity.
“Intensity is a term that’s been
bandied about a lot lately in body-
building periodicals but is rarely
described accurately. It’s obvious
from the various articles that even
certain top champions confuse
intensity with duration and haven’t
grasped the fundamental relation-
Balik
ship between the two.”
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by John Little
According to Mike, intensity and
duration are mutually exclusive.
Only when a muscle is contracting
with the greatest possible force at
any given moment is there maxi-
mum intensity:
“When you’re training so that
every rep of every set of every exer-
cise requires an absolute maximum
effort, the duration of that workout
must and will be brief. High-inten-
sity muscular contraction, in other
words, prevents a large number of
such contractions. So maximum
training intensity limits the duration
of your training. What’s even more
significant is that anything less than
maximum intensity will result in
less than maximum results.”
Arthur Jones once told Mike that
muscle growth being produced by
exercise could be compared to a
hammer and a stick of dynamite,
in that hitting a stick of dynamite
lightly with a hammer won’t pro-
duce an explosion no matter how
many times you hit it. If, however,
you hit it very hard, only one blow is
required to stimulate an explosion.
Mike understood the analogy:
“Much the same situation exists
in stimulating growth with weight
training. No amount of light or low-
intensity training will produce an
increase. High-intensity training is
a basic requirement for producing
the desired physical change. Large
quantities of such stimulation aren’t
necessary, nor are they desirable. In
other words, it takes only one hard
blow from the hammer to set off the
explosion of the dynamite.”
Personal experience has taught
most of us that high-intensity train-
ing produces an effect on our bodies
that we never get from low-intensity
work. The effect that training of
different intensity levels has on our
systems can be better understood if
we look at an intensity continuum
in which complete inactivity and
rest constitute one extreme and
absolute, all-out effort constitute
the other. The effect each extreme
has on our system is obviously very
different:
Rest—total inactivity
(lowest possible intensity)
• Pulse rate: slow, 60 to 75 beats
per minute
• Breathing: shallow and slow, 12
to 14 breaths per minute
• VO2 uptake (ventilation-oxygen
uptake): 20 to 25
• Respiratory exchange index
(energy exchange within body—
partial measure of body metabo-
lism): 0 to .825
Maximum effort
(highest possible intensity)
• Pulse rate: vast, 150-220 beats
per minute.
• Breathing: very rapid: 50 to 100
breaths per minute.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 245
 Heavy Duty
• VO2 uptake: 30
• Respiratory exchange index:
1.20
Those are just four indices reg-
istering the change in your system
when you go from a state of rest
to one of all-out effort. There are
many more indices, such as for pH
and lactic acid, but you get the idea.
High-intensity training is hard train-
ing, and as such, it has a definite
effect on the body’s systems that can
be measured in the lab and felt by
the individual.
The effect is dramatic and can
be very uncomfortable. Whereas
rest and total inactivity are expe-
rienced as comfortable, training
at maximum intensity is brutal. If
246 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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you can talk between sets and feel
the desire to add more sets to your
workouts, you’re not training with
maximum intensity. If you’re train-
ing with maximum effort, you won’t
be able to talk between sets because
you’ll be breathing too hard. Instead
of thinking about more sets, you’ll
begin looking for excuses to shorten
your workouts. According to Mike:
“While intensity is necessary for
anyone wishing to build muscle and
its effects are similar on everyone,
intensity remains a relative mea-
sure, contingent on an individual’s
strength and development. Let’s
face it: A 12-inch arm contracting
maximally won’t require the same
amount of fuel or produce the
same quantities of by-products and
wastes as a 20-inch arm contracting
maximally. Since we require increas-
ingly greater contractions if we hope
to continually progress, we must
search for increasingly brutal meth-
ods to provide such contractions as
we get stronger. For the beginner
just about any form of resistance
exercise will represent an increase in
intensity. As trainees progress to the
intermediate and advanced stage,
however, they will require increas-
ingly intense training methods.”
Training to Failure
Q: I keep reading on high-in-
tensity forums that one should
“train to failure.” That sounds
like a bad (and possibly harm-

“Maximum training intensity
limits the duration of your
training. What’s even more
significant is that anything less
than maximum intensity will result
in less than maximum results.”
ful) thing to do. As Mike was one
of the first bodybuilders to ad-
vocate the concept, what exactly
does it mean?
A: Putting aside all academic and
theoretical considerations for a mo-
ment, what we’re talking about by
“train to failure” is quite simply hard
work, or as Mike described it, “gut-
busting, all-out effort.”
“Any degree of effort below maxi-
mum may yield the bodybuilder
some results but never on the same
order as all-out effort. When I say
‘all-out effort,’ I’m not referring
to the performance of marathon
workouts involving set after set after
set until you fall over from fatigue.
Training to a point of momentary
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Balik
muscular failure, where the comple-
tion of another full rep is impos-
sible despite your greatest effort,
is the only way to force the body to
resort to its reserves sufficiently to
stimulate real growth. None of us
needs to be reminded that growth
never comes easy; it must literally
be forced!”
Remember, ending a set just be-
cause an arbitrary number of repeti-
tions has been completed will do
little or nothing to stimulate growth.
As Mike pointed out years ago:
“If you can curl 100 pounds for
10 reps and you never try to do that
11th rep, your body has no reason
to alter itself, to grow. The body
will always attempt to maintain the
existing situation. Only when you
impose some extraordinary demand
upon it will it change. You needn’t be
a physiologist to understand that.
Carrying a set to a point of momen-
tary muscular failure ensures that
you pass through the ‘break-over’
point—the level of effort in the set
at which growth stimulation com-
mences. Where is that point? Is it 85
percent of maximum effort? Is it at
90 percent? No one knows for sure,
but you can be certain that if you
train at 100 percent effort, you will
have reached the break-over point.”
For those who are just taking up
weight training, Mike would sug-
gest that you proceed with caution
at first:
“If you’ve been sedentary most of
your life, weight training will rep-
resent a radical departure for you.
Training to absolute failure may be
not only unnecessary but danger-
ous as well. Spend the first several
months learning proper exercise
form and developing a sense of
your capacities. As you develop
confidence in handling weights and
gain added muscle and strength,
start carrying every set (not includ-
ing warmup sets) to a point of mo-
mentary muscular failure. Select
a weight in each exercise that will
allow approximately six reps in strict
form. Maximum reps in strict form
means going to a point where you
can no longer raise the weight in
perfectly strict fashion from a point
of complete extension to one of full
contraction. Everyone wishing to
induce maximum muscle growth
should use that method of training
to failure.”
Negative Repetitions
Q: I heard that Mike Mentzer
believed in using techniques
such as negatives with his
advanced clients on his Con-
solidated Routine; however, I’ve
never read what his thoughts
on negative training were or his
recommendations for how neg-
ative-only repetitions should be
used. Do you have any insight
on that?
A: Mike wrote quite extensively
about high-intensity techniques. He
wrote about negative-only training
mainly during his competitive days.
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 247
 Heavy Duty
forced reps—which resistance, you could cause severe
will exhaust your injury to the knees. Beginners don’t
positive and static require negatives, as it is a high-in-
strength—can you tensity method reserved for ambi-
reach a point of true tious intermediates and advanced
and absolute momen- bodybuilders. Negatives can also be
tary muscular failure. done in a ‘pure’ style—that is, they
Having completed your don’t have to be preceded by posi-
six positive and two tive and forced reps. Take a weight
forced reps, have your that’s at least 40 percent heavier
partner, or partners, lift than you’d normally use in a posi-
the weight to the top tive fashion. Have spotters raise it
(or peak-contracted for you, and continue lowering the
position) so that you weight slowly until you’re begin-
can lower it. ning to lose control. Make sure your
“You’ll probably spotters remain alert to what you’re
be surprised at your doing so they can grab the weight
ability to continue as soon as you signal for them to do
lowering a weight even so.”
after you’ve reached You can do entire workouts in the
positive failure. The pure-negative fashion or combined
first few negatives will with positive and forced reps as
seem very easy, and Mike described. He’d be the first to
you’ll be able to lower suggest that you improvise. Some
the weight slowly. The suggestions he made for employing
next couple of reps their use:
will become difficult, “The isolation portion of a pre-
however. The down- exhaust superset can be done posi-
ward movement will tive/forced/negative fashion and
pick up speed, and you the compound exercise of the same
won’t have as much superset in a negative-only style.
control. End the set There are limitless combinations
when you can no lon- and ways of employing all these
ger control the descent methods so that no two workouts
of the weight. Or stop need be the same. I advise against
a rep before that, as a using negatives in every workout,
heavy weight yanking however, since the intensity is so
a bodypart out of the high that it could lead to overtrain-
contracted position ing.”
can be dangerous.”
Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov

With certain exercis- Editor’s note: For a complete

es involving large and presentation of Mike Mentzer’s
You can do entire workouts powerful muscles, such Heavy Duty training system,
in the pure-negative fashion as the thighs, you must consult his books Heavy Duty II,
or combined with positive use extreme caution. High Intensity Training the Mike
and forced reps. Mike advised against Mentzer Way and the newest book,
performing squats in a The Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, all of
negative-only fashion which are available from Mentzer’s
According to Mike: for obvious safety reasons, and even official Web site, www.MikeMentzer
“Our skeletal muscles possess leg extensions can be dangerous. .com.
three types of strength: 1) positive According to Mike: John Little is available for phone
strength, or the ability to raise a “You may find that the weight consultation on Mike Mentzer’s
weight; 2) static, or holding strength; you used for six positive reps will be Heavy Duty training system. For
and 3) negative strength, or our abil- too light for continued negatives. rates and information, contact
ity to lower a weight. We’re weakest If that’s the case, your partner will Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519 or
in positive strength and strongest have to apply manual resistance at www.MikeMentzer.com, or see
in negative strength. Obviously, we as you lower the weight. Do not—I the ad on the opposite page.
can’t really say we’ve trained to fail- repeat, do not—attempt to halt the Article copyright © 2008, John
ure until we’ve also exhausted our downward motion of the weight Little. All rights reserved. Mike
ability to lower the weight. Only by when you’re doing negatives. The Mentzer quotations are provided
continuing to lower a weight after knees tend to be delicate. If you courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and are
completing six positive reps and two fight against a maximum negative used with permission. IM

248 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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252 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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 The Real
Victor
Even a Controversial Loss at
the ’07 Mr. O Can’t Derail This
Muscle Bound Locomotive
by Ilir Gatollari
A
s the newest addition
to an impressive list of
uncrowned kings, Victor
Martinez shrugs off his
controversial finish at the ’07 Olym-
pia and sets his sights on ’08, where
he’ll prove to the world that he’s the
real victor.
The ’07 contest will go down in
bodybuilding history as a moment
when public opinion countered
convention. It’s said that in order
to defeat the reigning champ, you
have to knock him out. When Victor
Martinez stood next to the champ
during the first callout at the pre-
judging, it was apparent to wizened
eyes—from an IFBB judge and
six-time Mr. Olympia who placed
Victor first in each round he judged
to most of the competitors onstage,
as well as writers, photographers in
the pit, industry insiders, gurus and
the audience at large—that Victor
had come out throwing haymakers.
And they were landing. He displayed
enough size, shape, symmetry and
condition to pack a wallop that
knocked out not only the champ but
anyone else within striking distance
as well.
It was apparent to anyone who
has an eye for bodybuilding that
the champ was off. What showed
up seemed like a civilized version
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of the monster we watched claw his
way to the top. It wasn’t the man
bodybuilding had come to expect
on contest day. The champ left the
door unlocked, and Victor brought a
battering ram. There was no doubt
among most who came that Satur-
day night that we’d be addressing
Victor Martinez as Mr. O.
Well, as we all know, it didn’t work
out that way. Fans voiced their fury
all over the message boards and in
the magazines. “Victor was robbed,”
they said. There was simply no rea-
sonable explanation for what had
happened.
“He got more first-place votes
than me,” Victor says, shrugging off
the question. He does it every time
he is asked how it was possible the
champ beat him. “But, you know,
second isn’t too bad either.”
Victor has that lovable smile,
which, along with his humility and
diplomacy, makes you think he
actually likes being the underdog.
“It’s great to be recognized by the
fans and my peers as the winner,”
he says. “That means a lot. I put it
behind me, and I started right away
training for next year.”
A blow of the kind Victor suffered
at the Olympia would normally
derail a person’s dreams and aspira-
tions, but not Victor. “I really felt I
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 253
 Victor
was the best man on the stage that
day,” he maintains. “I did everything
I had to do to bring the best pack-
age, but it just didn’t go my way.”
Perhaps the win didn’t, but his
“not so bad” second place did do
one thing. It silenced the critics who
said Victor couldn’t get crazy shred-
ded. What did he do differently to
outdo the condition he displayed
when he won the Arnold Classic
earlier in the year?
“I’m getting more and more in
tune with my body,” he says. “I can
feel what’s happening better so I can
adjust my cardio and my diet when
I need to. But to tell you the truth, I
really believe Dren is what made the
difference.”
Dren Silences the
Critics—Victor was
Ripped to the Bone
About 12 weeks out from the
Olympia, Victor was visiting MHP
headquarters to meet up with Ge-
rard Dente, the company’s presi-
dent. They usually meet every other
week leading up to a show. Gerard
has a great eye for bodybuilding de- rat—er, “test subject”—when he
tails, having gotten ready for a show comes out with a new product. On
or two himself back in the day. the other hand, should an assault on
Gerard is also the mastermind the O be considered test grounds?
behind Victor’s nutrition and sup- “Trust me,” Gerard said. “This
plement program. What Gerard had shit will rock your world. But, don’t
in mind for the Olympia was not take more than one pill. Believe me,
much different from the program he one is all you need or will be able to
laid out for the Arnold. If it’s not
broken, why mess with it? Body-
building, though, doesn’t work
that way. When you’re splitting
hairs at the top, there’s always
room for improvement. As Vic-
tor was leaving, Gerard handed
him a Ziploc bag with bright
yellow pills in it and said, “This
is going to get you shredded for
the O.”
Victor looked at the capsules
and rolled them around in his
fingers. One of the re-
quirements
of being con-
tracted to rep-
resent MHP
products is
that you are
obliged to be
Gerard’s lab

Victor, the Big Dipper

When the talk is about triceps training, you hear quite a bit about skull crushers, cable pushdowns, overhead
dumbbell extensions and close-grip bench presses. But one compound movement isn’t mentioned often enough,
considering its incredible potency when it comes to stimulating mas-
sive growth in the triceps: the dip.
Victor Martinez has been doing it since he was a child: “Back before I
had weights, I used to do dips between chairs in my apartment, late at
night after my old man went to sleep.”
Later, when he became a full-fledged bodybuilder, he found that
weighted dips seemed to be the most effective exercise for building tri-
ceps bulk. “I did close-grip bench presses too, but I always felt the dips
hit my triceps better,” he says. “I think a lot of people have a hard time
with the close-grip bench because they end up working inner chest and
front delts more than they do triceps.”
Victor, harking back to fellow New Yorker Marvin Eder—a strength
phenomenon from the ’50s who was famous for dipping with 400
pounds at a bodyweight of only 195—has made weighted dips a core
exercise for many years. He’s been known to hang up to 200 pounds in
plates from his waist for dips—not too shabby at all.
He doesn’t go so far as to credit this one valuable exercise with his
hellacious horseshoes, but he does think that a lot of bodybuilders are
really missing the boat by not doing dips on a regular basis. “The basic
compound movements are always going to be the ones that work best,”
he says. “Weighted dips and bench dips with plates on your lap are
awesome for building the triceps.”
Machine dips are fine once in a while for variety, but the free-weight version is superior simply because it’s
tougher. “If you can build up to the point where you can dip with half your bodyweight or more in plates hanging
from your waist, there’s just no way your triceps won’t grow,” he concludes.
I don’t know about you, but that sounds pretty enticing to me. —Ron Harris

254 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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handle. Promise me you’ll only take
one.”
Victor did as the master said.
The next day he swallowed a single
Dren before his workout and felt
like he was jacked. “It was the best
and most intense workout I ever
had,” he recalls, beaming with the
Cheshire cat grin of a man who
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
“I am getting
more and more
in tune with my
body. I can feel
what’s happening
better.”
knows a secret. “I immediately
knew my metabolism was crankin’
because sweat was pouring off me.
Afterward, I called G and said, ‘What
the hell did you give me?’”
“Dren is the new fat burner we
just developed,” Gerard replied.
“How did you like it?”
“I can’t believe this stuff is legal,”
Victor told him.
After using Dren for a few days,
Victor started getting harder and
tighter. Every week he just kept get-
ting better. “Usually the few weeks
before a show I have to drag my ass
into the gym,” he says, “but with
Dren I got such a rush that I was
fired up for every workout. I think
that had a lot to do with coming in
bigger and harder than ever at the
O. I know that—I could feel it—Dren
cranked up my metabolism. It al-
lowed me to train harder than ever.”
Does Dren sound intense? That’s
because it is. Victor has more than
half of the guys at his gym on Dren
and a list of pros to whom he sends
it every month, and all of them say,
“Dren is the shit.”
The War of 2008
What does Victor Martinez do
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 255
 Victor
from here? He has the best shape
and symmetry in the sport; he’s as
big as a house with full, round mus-
cle bellies, and now with Dren he’s
going to be ripped to the bone. What
else can he possibly do to ensure the
title in 2008?
“I’m going to continue on my
path,” he says. “I’m determined to
take the crown in 2008. I can’t con-
trol the judging, but I will do every-
thing in my power to be the best
bodybuilder on the stage. Last year’s
training and supplement programs
were proven effective, so this year
things will remain pretty much the
same with a few additions.”
256 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
insulin through the roof,
replenishes glycogen and
increases cell volume.
It does all those things
synergistically with
new compounds and
technologies. One such
compound is Waxi-
Max-C3G, a unique
tripolymer that sends
insulin through the
roof with only 10 grams
of sugar and quickly
Last replenishes muscle glycogen. Unlike
year’s formu- conventional postworkout formulas
la for success that use large amounts of sugar to
was Probol- spike insulin—some have 75 to 100
ic-SR, Trac grams—Dark Matter does it with
Extreme and WaxiMax-C3G.
Glutamine- Dark Matter also contains a pow-
SR, which erful new anabolic amino acid com-
formed the plex called ProSynthagen, which
core of the stimulates protein synthesis faster
program than whey and is equivalent to 40
Gerard Dente grams of protein. Plus, it has an
designed for advanced creatine cell-volumizing
Victor. Then transport called HydroSize.
he kicked it The final step in this break-
up a notch through postworkout powerhouse
with Sarm-X, makes the compounds work more
T-Bomb II quickly and synergistically at the
and Cyclin- anabolic axis. It’s a new technology
GF, which that MHP calls High Velocity Nano
combined to Physics.
peak testos- Victor’s been taking Dark Matter
terone and immediately after his workouts to
other criti- maximize the postworkout anabolic
cal growth window and he’s already packed on
factors. This 12 more pounds of muscle for this
year, howev- year’s battle. Although he had to
er, with a full withdraw from the Arnold Classic
year of Dren’s due to a knee injury, Victor intends
fat-burning to get back on his path and settle
and intense the score at the ’08 Mr. Olympia.
training Sure, his training and supple-
effects be- ment programs are extensive, but
hind him, Victor is sure to come out that’s what it takes to be the best in
throwing haymakers at the champ the world. Last year’s program was
again. To make sure those shots enough to open the bodybuilding
land with a thud, Gerard is adding world’s eyes to the fact that Victor
another weapon to Victor’s arsenal means business. Adding Dren and
of Olympia battle gear. It’s called Dark Matter to an already superior
Dark Matter. supplement program will be the
This new weapon of mass con- nail in the coffin for anyone trying
struction might be the most effec- to stand in Victor’s way at this year’s
tive muscle builder ever produced. Olympia, where he will prove to
Dark Matter doesn’t just open be—the real victor!
the anabolic window—it opens it
faster and wider and keeps it open Editor’s note: For more on Vic-
longer for optimal muscle growth. tor Martinez and Maimum Human
Dark Matter stimulates protein Performance products, visit www
synthesis faster than whey, spikes .MaxPerformance.com. IM
MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE ‘IN’ SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MUSCLE “IN” SITES MU Eric Broser’s

Muscle “In” Sites

If you find something on the Web that IM readers should know about, send the URL to Eric at bodyfx2@aol.com.

>www.DexterJacksonShredded.com
It’s my belief that the overall condition-
ing of professional bodybuilders has gone
down in the past 10 years. While the pros
certainly have gotten bigger and freakier,
it’s happened at the expense of deep muscle
separation, striations and truly crisp defini-
tion. The finer details of the physique are
becoming more and more obscured in the
quest for size. There is one man, however,
who continues to hit the stage dry, hard
and peeled—head to toe. That man is “the
Blade,” Dexter Jackson. According to his site
bio, Dex is 5’6” and weighs about 217 in con-
test shape. While that’s not very big by pro
standards—which is just crazy considering
that Arnold himself was 6’2” and was only
about 10 pounds heavier when he com-
peted—Dexter is packed with full, round and
dense muscle quite reminiscent of the great

Flex Wheeler, whom Dexter acknowledges as having the

greatest physique ever. Particularly outstanding are his
chest, arms and shoulders. Check out some of the pho-
tos he has for sale on his site, especially the two color
shots with the black background, to see a combination
of mass, shape and hardness that’s simply amazing.
Something I found interesting is that when asked what
accomplishment he’s most proud of, Dex claims it’s his
first “major pro victory” at the ’03 Show of Strength. I
find that surprising, considering his two Arnold Classic
wins. I should note, though, that the man he beat for the
SOS title in ’03 was none other than current Mr. Olym-
pia Jay Cutler. All you PlayStation freaks out there might
be interested to know that the Blade believes himself
unbeatable at Madden Football. While I’m pretty good
at that game myself, I don’t plan on challenging him to
that, or a posedown, anytime soon. Overall, his Web site
is pretty basic in terms of info, but it has a unique look,
feel and functionality. Personally, I’d like to see him add
to his photo gallery and tell us more about his training
and diet philosophies. Still, the site is definitely worth a
look—especially if you’re a Dexter fan.
Merv

260 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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>www.CatherineAndersen.com
With every passing year the IFBB figure ranks
become more and more competitive, and ’08
will be no different. One who won’t get lost
in the crowded waters is ’07 NPC USA overall
champion Catherine Andersen. With her long,
dark hair, piercing eyes, radiant smile and
beautifully proportioned physique, she’ll be
generating some major waves when she makes
her pro debut at the Figure International on
February 29. An athlete all her life, Catherine
didn’t take up weight training until after college,
but she noticed changes in her body very rap-
idly once she did. That led her to compete in,
and win, her first bodybuilding competition in
’03, but she refocused to figure in ’06. By ’07 she
had her IFBB pro card. If you take a look at her
picture gallery, though, as well as the photos
she has for sale, it’s easy to see why Catherine
has been so successful so quickly. Her body has curves in all the right places, and while she possesses quite
a bit of muscle, it’s a perfect fit for her frame. That type of development doesn’t happen by accident. It takes
a meticulously planned training and nutrition program. Luckily, Catherine is more than willing to share her
secrets with anyone looking to benefit from her knowledge through one-on-one personal training, online
training and a series of Adventure Boot Camps that she’ll be running in 2008. Check out her site for the
details. While you’re there, you can read more about her. If you’re an up-and-coming figure gal looking to
increase your exposure in the industry, CatherineAndersen.com provides links to a sample résumé, spon-
sorship-request cover letter and an expense sheet specific to the sport. It’s always nice to see a champion
help those who wish to one day walk in the same shoes…or in this case, high heels.

>DVD Review: “Jay Cutler: From Jay to Z”

Okay, I admit that when I received my review copy of there are many on this DVD), attend the grand open-
this DVD and saw that it was almost seven hours long, I ing of his Max Muscle store in Venice, California, and
said to myself, “There’s no way I’m watching this entire much more. This DVD truly “humanizes” Jay and shows
thing. If I’m going to spend seven hours in front of my exactly what it takes to be Mr. Olympia both inside and
TV, it’ll be for ‘Seinfeld’ reruns or ‘The Matrix’ trilogy.” outside the gym. In fact, after watching Jay in action,
Well, guess what? I did watch the whole thing—and I I’ve come to respect him even more as both a body-
really enjoyed it. It would take many pages for me to tell builder and a representative of the sport. He’s remained
you all about “From Jay to Z,” as it’s truly packed with humble, levelheaded, passionate and, most important,
entertaining and interesting footage of the world’s great- approachable and friendly to all of his fans, no matter
est bodybuilder. That’s what the situation. I
quite unlike most other highly recommend the
bodybuilding DVDs. It fol- DVD and applaud Jay
lows Jay through almost all Cutler for being such
facets of his life and work. a fine ambassador of
While the training pieces bodybuilding. Oops,
are enjoyable to watch, “Seinfeld” is on. Gotta
the footage outside the go.
gym is the most engaging. Editor’s note:
The viewer gets to see Jay “Jay Cutler: From
meet and greet fans, work Jay to Z” is avail-
at the Muscle Tech booth, able from Home Gym
hold a seminar at the IRON Warehouse, 1-800-
MAN Pro, talk to other 447-0008 or www.
fitness celebrities (and Home-Gym.com.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 261

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 Eric Broser’s

>Net Results Q&A
The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your
questions on training and nutrition.
Q: I have an odd problem with my shoulders.
My posterior- and lateral-delt heads are well
developed, but my anterior delts look flat. With
all of the heavy pressing I do, how can that be?
I can handle 110-pound dumbbells for seated
presses, and I bench close to 400 pounds. How
can I bring up my front delts?
A: That’s an interesting question, as I actually have
the same problem and have just recently set out to
fix it. I’m not sure if this is the case with you, but I’ve
become so proficient at recruiting my pectorals during
pressing movements that I believe my anterior delts
might not receive enough stimulation, even from seated
dumbbell and military presses—and, yes, my chest is
my best bodypart. So if shoulder presses aren’t getting
the job done, where does that leave us? The answer
lies in tweaking the pressing movements and
adding some front-delt isolation work. Here are
the movements I suggest you add to your pro-
gram:
Neveux \ Model: Dan Gwartney, M.D.
than holding the bar the standard way, use a reverse
grip. That forces your elbows to remain out in front of
your body, which contributes to greater recruitment of
the anterior delts. It might feel awkward at first, so take
it slow and start with a light weight.
Incline barbell or dumbbell front raises. Hold-
ing a pair of dumbbells or a light barbell, lie facedown
on an incline bench set at about 60 degrees. Raise the
weight to just above shoulder level, using front-delt
power only. The angle of your torso takes away any
possibility of cheating and makes for a much more
intense contraction at the top of the movement.
Cable front raises. Attach a short straight bar to
a low pulley. Stand facing away from the weight stack,
holding the bar with your palms down and the cable
running between your legs. Lean slightly forward at the
waist, and raise the bar to just above shoulder level.
Hold the peak contraction for a moment, and lower the
bar under full control. The constant tension of the cable
provides a unique stimulation for the anterior shoulder
fibers.
Use one
pressing move-
ment and one
isolation move-
ment in each
shoulder work-
out. I suggest
that you occa-
sionally superset
two of the move-
ments in either
preexhaust or
postactivation
fashion. Each
type of super-
set provides a
unique feel and

effect.
I started notic-
ing new fullness
Seated twisting in my front delts
dumbbell after only four
presses, a.k.a.
weeks of using
Arnold presses,
those exercises.
hit the front
delts hard. Work hard, and
you should ex-
perience the same sensation.
Seated twisting, or Arnold, dumbbell presses.
Instead of keeping your palms facing forward through- Preexhaust superset
out the movement, start with the palms facing toward Cable front raises 2-3 x 12-15
you, with your elbows slightly in front of your torso. As Seated twisting dumbbell presses 2-3 x 6-8
you press, twist your wrists so the palms face forward
at the top. Then reverse the process on the descent. Postactivation superset
That will activate the anterior delts somewhat more Seated reverse-grip barbell presses 2-3 x 8-10
than standard dumbbell presses. Incline dumbbell front raises 2-3 x 10-12
IM
Seated reverse-grip barbell presses. Rather

262 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 LONNIE TEPER’S

Predictions Dept.

Contests
Brandon-ing
Who’ll be heading to the
pros in ’08?
As you know, in 2007 it was Ben White and DeShaun Grimez
leaving the USA with pro cards and overall champ Evan Centopani
leading the seven class winners at the Nationals, who are all eligible to
move on to the next level. Who’ll be out of the gate first in ’08? Early or
not, the Swami is here to tell ya who the main contenders going from
the NPC to the IFBB will be. I’ll start—and end—with a couple of guys
named Brandon. As in Curry and Rey.
Brandon Curry, at only 25, doesn’t need to be in a hurry but is one
of my picks for most likely to get a pro card in Vegas at the end of July
at the USA. No going out on a limb here. The 5’8” 224-pound Curry was Brandon
second in the heavyweight class at the USA and Curry.
Nationals last season. The new age Flex Wheel-
er would seem to have a lock on the class, but Brandon
contests are won onstage, not on paper, so Bran- Rey.
don still needs to show up in prime-time condition
to earn pro status. I say he does.
Brandon Rey, 28, took the light-heavyweight
class at the ’07 Junior Nationals, but the Silver
Spring, Maryland, resident will be moving up a
division—or two!—this year. At 5’7” the CNN as-
signment editor-producer was carrying a hard 240
pounds in the off-season and could be producing
a segment on himself in a “Look Back at 2008”
highlight reel.
Not sure where this Brandon will turn up on-
stage, the USA or the Nationals, but he’s more
than capable of nabbing that pro card at either
one. Say, who wants to see a Brandon-Brandon
Contest photography by Roland Balik and Merv

showdown in Vegas? All in favor say aye!

ADD NPC VIPs—A kid who really caught my

eye at the Nationals was Ozzy. No, not Osborne. Jeff Olcsvary.
Olcsvary, as in Jeff ”Ozzy” Olcsvary. He stands
only 5’4” and weighed in at 151, but don’t let the size fool ya. The chap is
real big, both on a posing dais and in the powerlifting arena.
Born in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, but pretty much raised in Moss Bluff,
Olcsvary says the first time he saw “Conan the Barbarian” he wanted
to be as big as Arnold. Claims he even worked out by carrying a log
around the yard, and that he pushed his truck around the neighborhood
to get stronger at lineman drills for football.
Though he’ll never be as big as the Governator, at least sizewise, Ozzy

264 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 WEIGHTY UNION
BEST GYMS CHRISTMAS IN
New things you can do
Where can you JULY?
in the gym
build a body No, but it
Pages 267-268
like this explains why
Pages 268- Santa loves
269 Southern
California
Pages 266
through 268

will be making plenty of noise in the industry real soon. At the Nationals
he gave himself a wonderful 22nd birthday present by earning a third-
place finish in a tough lightweight class. A few months earlier he took
the division at the Junior Nationals, facing off against Brandon Rey,
among others, in the overall posedown.
Olcsvary’s powerlifting feats are something to behold. He’s the owner
of American and national records in two weight classes: At the ’05 Col-
legiate Nationals Ozzy was awesome with a 369-pound bench, a 501
squat and a 468 deadlift at a bodyweight of 148. He set the Collegiate
National Bench press record in the 123-pound division with a lift of 303.
What’s more, he’s a “strong” choice to win the lightweight class in
Atlanta next November at the Nationals. I’m willing to bench, er, bet, on
that too!

IFBB Expansion
THREE UP, ONE DOWN—Although the Colorado Pro is gone
from the IFBB Professional League men’s schedule after a two-year
run, three new contests appear on the slate for ’08. The New Zealand
Elite Pro on March 15, the Houston Pro on July 4 and 5 and the Pro
Bodybuilding Weekly Championships in Tampa, Florida, on August 9
will make their debuts this season to run the total of events to 11.
Under the direction of promoter Tim Gardner, the Pro Bodybuild-
Evan ing Weekly Championships will be the only men’s pro show staged in
Centopani. the Southeast. In fact, it’s been five years since a pro show has been
held in the Sunshine State.
“The PBW contest is a great way for us to give something back to an
Dan industry that has helped us popularize bodybuilding talk radio,” said PBW
Soloman creator Dan Solomon. “The state of Florida has produced countless
and Joe world-class bodybuilders, and we are excited to team up with Gardner,
Weider. one of the area’s top promoters. We expect an impressive lineup come
show time.” The event will be
held at the prestigious Tampa
Troy Alves
Photo courtesy of the IFBB Press Commission

Bay Performing Arts Center,

with Larry
Pepe.
near the historic Ybor City
district.
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

ADD SOLOMON—Dan
could only shake his head at the
conclusion of the ’07 Nationals.
Can you blame him for being
upset? I mean, the guy actually
bet the Swami a steak dinner
that Brandon Curry would win his class and best Evan
Centopani. How dare you question my crystal ball? Solo-
mon will be paying up during IRON MAN Pro weekend, at an
eatery of my choice. Filet mignon, medium well, please.
Tyler goes to the
mat—literally.
ADD PBW—Solomon and sidekick Bob Cicherillo
began their fourth season in January, as well as celebrated
their 100th show, and this year they have added Larry
J.M. Manion

Pepe’s “Pep Talk” to their Monday night-lineup. It’s good

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 265

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 to have Larry back on the radio; I was a guest on his old show, “Muscle
Radio,” a couple of times, along with John Romano, and felt the seg-
ments went very well. Larry knows his stuff and is always well prepared.
The 30-minute show airs immediately after Solomon and Cicherillo’s
hourlong broadcast. So, what got ya back in the saddle, Larry?
“For the past 20 years I’ve lived the bodybuilding lifestyle and have
been a part of virtually all phases of the industry,” said the Pepster. “The
opportunity to create 30 minutes of quality content for the fans every Anjelica
week sounded like too much fun to pass up. The popularity of PBW radio Huston and
speaks for itself.” friend.
Good points, my man.

People and Events

ADD CENTOPANI—As a lot of people
figured, ’07 NPC National champ Evan Cen-
topani will be making his first venture into the
flex-for-pay arena at the New York Pro. Even so,
Centopani fans will have to wait a bit to see the
Italian Battalion onstage, as he’s shooting for the
’09 New York Pro.
“Last year my off-season was only from March
to July, because after the Nationals the year be-
John Balik and Bill Rosendahl.
fore I made the mistake of trying to stay in shape
too long,” he explained. “For my pro debut I’d
like to give myself some time and have a full Lisa Boushard (with Quincy
season to train hard, eat up and grow. I feel I Taylor) at the ’07 New York
can really make some dramatic improvements Metro.
if I allow myself the time.”
Centopani says he knows he’ll “catch some
heat” for waiting a year and a half, but “I know
what’s right for me, and if I ended up plac- Santa Joe Wheatley and his helpers.
ing high in New York this year but didn’t feel I
made any improvements from the Nationals, I
wouldn’t be satisfied.”
No heat from this guy, Evan. You’ll just be
turning 27 then, and I can see you coming it at
a hard 260 (he was 245 at the Nationals) and
making a solid run for the title.
People have whined about Phil Heath’s
decision to pass on the past two Olympias,
but if the Gift has the great season I foresee for
him this year, everyone will be telling him just
how smart he was. Happy
So I say to Evan, take your time, kid—you have 80th,
a long career ahead of you. George!

OUCH! DEPT.—As Mr. T said in “Rocky

III,” “My prediction? Pain!” Tyler Manion is only
about 5’2” and weighs around 100 pounds, but
you’d better not get the 14-year-old ticked off. Or,
more specifically, get him on a wrestling mat.
Son of J.M. Manion and grandson of Jim,
Tyler the Terror is 17–2 for the season and un-
beaten in junior high competition. Gee, he seems
like such a sweet young man. Where in the world
did he get his killer instinct? They do say genetics
often skips a generation, right, Lats?

Brian Andrews and Flex Wheeler.

KEEPING UP WITH FLEX—With the deepest IRON MAN Pro
lineup ever just five weeks away as I write this, it’s not a bad time to check

266 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 in with Flex Wheeler, the all-time IM record holder with five victories.
Wheeler, 42, has been writing and taking pics for Muscular Development
for the past few years, and he recently joined forces with All American
EFX, one of the fastest-growing sports nutrition brands in the land, a
company whose motto is, “Pure. Potent. Drug-Free.”
If you’ve seen Flex at contests or in pictures recently, you may have
noticed the “Natural Freak” T-shirt.
“People find it hard to believe I’m now natural,” said Wheeler. “They
see the crazy size I had put on after only six weeks of using only AAEFX
products. That was months ago, and I’m still growing. I’m also here to tell
you we’re going to shake the industry up with what we’re doing together.
As for my plans, who knows? Hey, I’m Flex Wheeler—you never know
what I’ll do!”
Flex says it was a twist of fate that brought him together with AAEFX.
“About two years ago I got a sample bottle of their Kre-Alkalyn EFX cre-
atine product at a trade show in Italy,” he related. “After I used it for only
a few days, I was hooked. Once I started training again after my shoulder
surgery, I wanted to get back on the product again. So I called the num-
ber on the side of the bottle, spoke with the president of the company,
Brian Andrews, and the rest is history.”
You can learn more about the product at www.getkre-alkalyn.com.

More Milestones
TURNER, 80, STILL GOING STRONG—George Turner, for-
mer IRON MAN scribe, bodybuilding star and gym owner deluxe and
Anna and Jeff. a personal trainer at Powerhouse Gym in St. Louis, Missouri, recently
celebrated his 80th birthday at the facility, which is owned by fitness pro
Angela Semsch and her husband, Roger. Turner’s birthday bash was
part of the holiday party for staff and members that
Angie and Roger threw at the gym. NPC bodybuild-
ing standout Lisa Boushard, who won the New
York City Metro Championships in 2007, also works
there and tells me that George draws top dollar from
his clients—and that they’re all getting major results. I
wouldn’t expect anything less, Lisa!
Turner opened his first gym, the West End Bar-
bell Club, back in 1950 and went on to own seven
workout centers in the St. Louis area until 1992.
Adir George, who, like the late Joe Gold, made his own
Fihlo. equipment, was one of the first to produce 45 and 75
degree leg presses. Ken Waller, Tony Pearson,
Samir Bannout and Jeff King are just a few of
the stars who trained at Turner gyms over the years.
George still looks great, Lisa looks great, Angie
looks great. They must be doing something right at
that gym—congrats to all, folks.

MUSCLE BEACH TOY DRIVE—More than

450 toys and $300 in cash donations were raised for
Venice’s Bible Tabernacle Church at the initial Muscle Beach Toy Drive,
which was held over three days in December at the famous Venice weight
pen. The church provides toys to homeless and needy children in Venice
and the surrounding area.
Various celebs showed up at the event, including award-winning ac-
tress Anjelica Huston and award-winning Santa Claus Smokin’ Joe
Wheatley, who brought his helpers, Barb Garcia, Delinia Lewis,
Cheryl Stoneham and Marie Cunningham. Joe, next time trim the
beard a bit so we can see more than three inches of your face. Were you
hiding from anybody in particular?
One of the many highlights of the event was the presentation of a
Certificate of Appreciation to IRON MAN Publisher John Balik from the

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 Jon Jon Park (center) with
City of Los Angeles and Councilman Bill Rosendahl Mr. Olympias Samir Bannout
for Balik’s continued support of bodybuilding activities (left) and Franco Columbu.
at Muscle Beach.
“The challenge is out for the 2008 season,” said
Wheatley, “we’re working on a Venice Christmas Pa-
rade, which will culminate with the toy drive.”
IRON MAN, Bodybuilding.com, HeadBlade, Muscle
& Fitness and Joe Wheatley Productions sponsored
this worthy cause. Thumbs-up to all who supported it.

WILLET TIES THE KNOT—Where else would

former Team Universe Overall champ Jeff Willet
have the wedding when he married Anna Grossman

Fredrick
on December 29? At Jeff Willet’s Powerhouse Gym
in Adrian, Michigan, in front of about 100 gym
members and family. The new Mrs. Willet is from
Waterloo, Ontario, Canada.
Willet earned his pro card at the ’03 T.U. but
never competed on the pro level, instead focusing
on his gym, which opened the following year, and
on producing videos that center around maximiz-
ing drug-free performance. Mike Uretz
Congrats to Jeff and Anna. Here’s wishing you with Carla
a lifetime full of wonderful times. and Lou

Fredrick
Ferrigno.
Teper

Hollywood Bert Perry.

Junior Cal L.T.
and the
SAY IT HAS TO BE JAY—Due to strict requirements set by several governor.
members of the Pasadena City College staff, two-time Mr. Olympia Jay
Cutler doesn’t have a choice about guest posing at my annual NPC Junior
California Bodybuilding and Figure Championships. The Ultimate Beef has re-
ally grown on many in the PCC family, and they insist that Jay must return to
the Sexson Auditorium stage so they can get an up-close-and-personal look
at the 5’9”, 290-pounder in his full-but-fairly-tight off-season condition.
So on June 21 I’ll round up the faculty and staff on hand and get the
money shot onstage after Cutler does his thing. Might even have Kenny
Lawler, PCC’s head football coach and a former physique standout himself

Bert Perry
a couple of decades back, take off his shirt and pose Jay down.
Last year the contest grew to 100 contestants (from 68 the year before
and 38 in 2005), so I’ve added a superheavyweight class in the men’s open.
And at the urging of fitness pro Cynthia Bridges, a strong supporter of
my event through the years, I’m also adding in a teen figure division for ages 16
through 19. One of those competitors better go by the name of Jordan Bridg-
es, as in Cynthia’s 16-year-old daughter, who is currently running the offense as a
starting point guard on the Newbury Park High School girl’s basketball team.
Kiyoshi Moody, last year’s men’s overall champ—who went on to win his
class at the Team Universe—says he’s coming by to view the festivities. Think I’ll
get Moody to peel off his clothes onstage at some time during the evening?
Defending middleweight champ Adir Fihlo, who finished second to Moody in
the overall balloting at the Junior Cal after winning the overall in both the collegiate
and novice divisions, announced he’s coming back to take the overall this time
around. Since several other standouts have made similar comments, it looks like
the quality will be extremely high again.
For more information on the shebang, go to www.NPCJuniorCal.com.

More Personalities
Photo courtesy of Bob Bonham

BANNER YEAR FOR BOB—The 2007 season was a banner one for Bob
Bonham and his Strong & Shapely Gym. The East Rutherford, New Jersey, facil-
Bob Bonham
268 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com with the Strong
Free download from imbodybuilding.com & Shapely guy.
 ity was featured in the November ’07 Powerlifting USA as the Hardcore Gym of the
Rick Bayardi and
L.T.
Month, and Bonham was recently profiled in the self-help book How to Climb Your
Ladder of Success Without Running Out of Gas!” by IRON MAN contributor John
M. Rowley. Actually, the title of the book is even longer, but I don’t have space for
the remaining 25 words. John, have them edit it down next time, will ya, buddy?
Additionally, Bonham served as an adviser for an upcoming article in Men’s
Health about the best gyms in the country. I’ve been to Strong & Shapely numerous
times. Got in some great training sessions, and I always ended things by crushing
Bob in a posedown. He always blamed his defeats on water retention.
By the way, Bob has been seen in Southern California quite often of late, and it
ain’t ’cause he was visiting me. Brenda Kelly is the reason Bob has tripled his
frequent-flier miles in the past three months. Come to think of it, Brenda’s been
seen in New Jersey quite a bit recently. Bob has been training hard since the two
got together. Guess we’ll have to call the new couple Strong and Shapely.
Liberman

GET WELL WISHES DEPT.—NPC Ohio and West Virginia State Chairman
Rick Bayardi underwent a triple-bypass surgery in December and then got pneu-
monia a couple of weeks later. Rick, who’s one of the nicest guys in the industry—
and one of the finest expediters to boot—is only 53 and appeared in great health
every time I saw him last year.
Here’s to a speedy recovery, Rick—you’d better be in the house at the Natural
Ohio in April, or I’m not going to emcee. And you need to stick around a lot longer
if you want a shot at winning my Best Dressed award this year after placing a close
second to Ken Jones in ’07.
Dennis
Tinerino.

A Fitting Ending
Thanks to California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and First Lady
Maria Schriver for hosting a tribute to Reg Park at the Miramar Fairmont Hotel
in Santa Monica in December. A large crowd came out to pay its respects to Reg,
who passed away from melanoma at the age of 79 in November.
Once again, I’ll comment on how sad it is that it takes the death of an icon for
many of the industry’s major players to get together. Don’t miss my video interviews
with Jon Jon Park, Lou Ferrigno, Zabo Koszewski, John Balik, Steve
Strong, Franco Columbu, Boyer Coe, Jerry Brainum, Samir Bannout,
Peter McGough and Shawn Perine at www.IronManMagazine.com. You’ll find
my blog about the touching event there too, as well as a complete video of the
affair, which includes the Governator’s euology for the man he idolized.

What Ever Happened to…

Former Mr. America and Mr. Universe Dennis Tinerino was known for much
more than his great physique three decades back. Try lucrative illegal ventures,
celebrity friends and partying like a rock star. While serving time for pimping and
pandering more than 25 years ago, however, the mob-connected Tinerino, who
came from the projects of Brooklyn, New York, was, as he puts it, “brought to my
knees.
Photo courtesy of Dennis Tinerino

“God let me continue on a path of self-gratification and of trying to fill the void in
my heart until I hit rock bottom in jail.… But He didn’t give up on me.”
Fast-forward to 2008. The 60-year-old now travels the world as an evangelist,
sharing his story of God’s mercy and redemption and also hosting annual pro-
phetic conferences near his home in Northridge, California.
In addition to preaching in such nations as South Africa, Turkey, Japan and
Greece, Tinerino and his wife, Anita, went last year to minister in Europe’s larg-
est church, the Embassy of the Blessed Kingdom of God for All Nations, in Kiev,
Ukraine.
To learn more about Dennis’ mission, log on to www.Tinerino.com. IM

To contact Lonnie Teper about material possibly pertinent to News & Views, write to 1613 Chelsea Road, #266, San Marino, CA 91108; fax to (626) 289-7949; or
send e-mail to tepernews@aol.com.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 269

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 The Reg Park Memorial
Hosted by Arnold Schwarzenegger, December 14, 2007
Photography by Jerry Fredrick and John Balik
n event honoring the
A life of Reg Park took
place on December
14, 2007, at the Fair-
mont Miramar Hotel in Santa
Monica, California. He was
a bodybuilding legend, a
wonderful role model and a
hero to many, including
Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Here’s what the governor
had to say about Reg
Park:
“Other than my par-
ents, there may be no
single person who had
more to do with me be-
coming the person I am
today than Reg. I first
saw him on the cover
of a muscle magazine
when I was a kid in Aus-
tria in 1962. The photo
was Reg in his Hercules
film role, and I wanted
to be just like him.
“He was so powerful
and rugged looking that
I decided right then and
there I wanted to be a
bodybuilder, another
Reg Park—and I could not
have found a better hero to
inspire me.
“I read every article about
him. I saw him in his movies.
I found out what his train-
ing regimen was and made it
my own. He was a three-time
Mr. Universe, and when we
met and began working out
together, it was Reg who im-
pressed upon me how hard I
270 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
would have to work if I want-
ed to achieve my dreams.
“I’ll always remember him
making me do calf raises with
1,000 pounds at five o’clock
in the morning. It really woke
me up that he worked out so
hard day and night.
“He is the reason I was
motivated to become Mr.
Universe myself and come
to America and make mov-
ies. And he was like a second
father to me.
“Reg was a wonderful role
model in so many ways. He
was a gracious and proud
champion who lived every
day of his life to the fullest
and was loved by everyone
in bodybuilding, where he
was known as ‘the Legend.’
And he was an astute busi-
nessman who used his intel-
ligence, instincts and eternal
optimism to become a tre-
mendous financial success.
“Reg was one of a small
group of people in my life
who were always there
to support me. Whether
it was winning body-
building competitions,
starring in a new film
or becoming governor,
there was always a note
and kind words from Reg.
That pumped me up and
helped inspire me for my
next goal.
“As a young man I lived
and trained with Reg in
South Africa. There I saw
another side of him that
was impressive. That was
the loving, doting father
Photo courtesy of Jon Jon Park
to Jon Jon and Jeunesse
and the devoted husband
to Mareon, his incred-
ible wife of more than 50
years.
“I didn’t grow up in that
kind of environment, but it
really impressed me. Seeing
him so free with his hugs and
kisses and affection, I real-
ized that’s the kind of father
and husband I wanted to be.
“Reg was a dear friend, an
extraordinary mentor and a
personal hero. I will miss him
dearly.”
On the next few pages are
photos from the event.
 Arnold and Franco Columbu.

John Balik and Jerry Brainum.

Jon Jon Park and Lou Ferrigno.

Peter McGough, George Coates and Boyer Coe.

Dave Draper.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 271

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 Franco, Jon Jon, Boyer and Samir Bannout. Lonnie Teper and Arnold.

Steve Cepello and

Zabo Koszewski.

Jon Jon’s gym honors his father.

From Rick Wayne, Former Pro Bodybuilder and Journalist

The first time I talked with the great Reg Park (the secret reason I had persuaded my folks to buy me a ticket to
London way back in ’57—1957, that is, not 1857!), it cost every penny in my pocket. A lot more than I could afford
on a phone call at the time. Little did I realize that the number I had gleaned out of Reg’s magazine would connect
me to his Leeds address, way out in Yorkshire. I believe I’d been in London all of 24 hours. I may well have taken
him away from an important work engagement (after all, it was midafternoon), but you’d never have known judg-
ing by the superstar bodybuilder’s tone. I must’ve asked a hundred silly questions, including how to build arms
and pecs like his. It was only when I asked him to be my personal trainer that I realized his was not a London
number.
“There’s no need to come all the way to Leeds,” he chuckled. “There’s a great place near where you are. It’s
called Wag Bennett’s Gym. Wag’s a great bloke. Tell him Reg sent you!” To this day Wag and his wife, Dianne, con-
tinue to be counted among my very best friends. When I eventually met him in person, Park was every bit the
gentleman. Absolutely no airs. And while we were never friends in the way, say, he and Arnold were, we shared
many a bodybuilding joke, sometimes at his expense.
While working with Weider in California, I met Reg’s son, Jon Jon, who proved a chip off the old block, in ways
other than appearance. Bodybuilding as we know it today has lost a founding father. Reg was our sport’s first
monster. (Oh, but look what he inspired!) Naturally, his passing has reminded many of us of our own mortality;
reminded us too that life is to be lived to the fullest, that we never get a second chance to do so. I extend my own
family’s condolences to Mareon and the rest of the Parks. IM

272 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 RUTH SILVERMAN’S About April:
• Fitness Amateur Hour
• Hot Backstage Bods
• Eye-Catchers
• Pump-Pourri

Photography by Ruth Silverman, Roland Balik and Merv

HEART
STEALER
Yenny Polanco
FITNESS AMATEUR HOUR

missed
getting a
pro card by
one point
at the Team
Universe last
summer but
passed on
following
up at the
Nationals.
I can’t help
wondering
where we’ll
see the
former hair
salon owner—
and two-time
Golden Gloves
light-flyweight
boxing
champ—next.

IMPRESSIVE
EXPRESSIVE
Another new
face I can’t wait
CAPITOL to see more
PERFORMANCE of belongs
Amanda to Mary
Marinelli claims Stockbridge,
to be better a 4’11 1/2”
known as the former
wife of top cheerleader
masters-over- from Texas
50 bodybuilder who took fifth
Dave Marinelli, in her class at
but the Florida the Nationals.
fitness flag-
waver got
everyone’s Find great
attention at the photos,
Nationals with videos and
this routine. commentary
The NPC has throughout
scheduled three the 2008
fitness-pro season at
qualifiers instead IronMan
of two for 2008. Magazine
.com.

274 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 HOT BODIES ONSTAGE AND OFF
FLEX
APPEALING
Few would deny
that Brett Miller
has a fine future
ahead on the
posing platform.
The 5’4” nurse
from North Caro-
lina, who’s been
training since
she was 14, took
second to overall
champ Kristy
Hawkins at the
Nationals—and IN THE WINGS Though she stumbled with an 11th-place fin-
she’s still in her ish at the ’07 USA—following a sensational sixth-place debut
early 20s. at the ’06 Nationals, light heavyweight Casey Dougherty
looks like the bouncy type—as in ready to bounce back into
the top callouts.

B A C K S TA G E S M I L E S
2
1) Holly Powell, hot hardbody
and mom, hits a classic pose at
the Figure Nationals. She came
close to snagging a pro card
in September, in the masters
division at the North Americans.
Look out, 2008!
2) Michelle Mayberry waves
good-bye to the amateurs at the
Team U. She made her fitness-
pro debut a month later at the
Europa Super Show. 1
3) It’s the end of an era for
boybuilding backstage duo
Karen Choat and Jennifer Sedia
after Sedia won the overall at the 3
USA. She’ll be making new pump-
room buddies at the next level
from now on.
4) Speaking of hot backstage
presences, on the one hand, Ra-
chel Carraway is just another tall
drink of water trying to get noticed
in the figure F class. On the other
hand, mission accomplished.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 275

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 GAMS
GOING
GALS TO KEEP YOUR EYE ON HORSE OF A BYE-BYE
DIFFERENT Leg men
COLOR everywhere
Another will be
lass who’s sorry to
stepping out hear that
from the this pair is
shadows of out of com-
a bodybuild- mission,
ing rela- at least
tive is Kyla in terms
McGrath, a of the
Newfound- bodybuild-
lander who’s ing stage.
done quite Ironically,
well at the Vicki Nixon
Canadian cites knee
Figure Cham- problems
pionships. as the rea-
The sister son she’s

Bradford
of IFBB pro retiring
Frank Mc- from the
Grath (of flex-for-pay
ferocious arena.
Animal Pak–
ads fame), SPEAKING
Kyle comes OF MAKING
across as a A SPLASH
whole differ- Tenessee
ent species, Figure
wouldn’t you champ
say? Brandi
Binkley
took her
class at the
NAC in only
her second
show.

Are you
thinkin’
what I’m
thinkin’
about the
former
Naval
rescue
QUICK STUDY “Acting swimmer’s
was always a dream, but chances for
I never pursued it,” re- success in
vealed Nancy Hirsch, who ’08?
nevertheless snagged a
role as a sexy scrub nurse
on the popular FX series
“Nip/Tuck.” The former
California Figure champ,
who left the pro circuit
after only a year, was
obviously ready for her
close-up—no nips or tucks
required.
“THE ART OF FIGURE” Who
knew it was an art? Anyone
who’s seen Meriza DeGuzman
present onstage—or in her hot
guest posing with Pete Ciccone
at the ’07 Junior Cal—knows the
San Diego fitness trainer and
nutrition store owner has got it
down. For the details on “The
Art of Figure” and all things
Meriza, go to Meriza
Figure.com.

Free download from imbodybuilding.com

 Soaring Into ’08

NEWSMAKERS
FINAL FOUR Fitness represented like
gangbusters on the new “American Gladi-
ators.” Of the four women who made the
semifinals, three were NPC fitness ath- OR SHOULD I SAY, HURLING?
letes, including Virginia’s Siene Silva. Canadian fitness pro Sandra Wickham and
her longtime sweetie, Ross Webb, plan to
marry in Las Vegas on February 14 “in a
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

helicopter flying over the Strip at night,”

according to Sandy, who took time from
planning her nuptials, her annual amateur
show and the ’08 CFBB Fitness and Figure
Championships—which she and Ross are
promoting in August—to write. You wacky
WHAT’S kids—the We’ve Only Just Begun Wedding
UP, DOC? Chapel wasn’t good enough for you?
Also
among the
Gladiatrix TESTOSTERONE CORNER
fab four,
So Cal’s
Venus
Ramos,
M.D.
(pictured)
and
Atlanta’s
Shanay
Norvell.

MEETING OF THE MINDS? Roland Balik caught this

off-the-record confab at the Olympia expo (no, the
mike was not secretly on). Not long after the shot
went online, the person here who is not a blond fit-
ness icon embarked on an arm-training program.
BACK BURNER BOIL-OVER?
Ronnie Coleman went through more changes
in 2007 than a gal doing fitness and figure in
the same show. In addition to cultivating and
shedding the above thatch, he lost his rebid to PUMP & CIRC QUOTES OF THE YEAR
reclaim his crown, retired (presumably) and got During the hijinks that took place at the Mr.
married to a lady he’s known since 1998. As she O press conference, England’s Eddie Abbew,
was not the young woman generally perceived a hairdresser by trade, declared, “This is my
to be his girlfriend in recent years, tongues and first Olympia, but I didn’t know it was so
keyboards wagged overtime when the news bitchy.” He was topped by Melvin Anthony,
broke. Here’s hoping the eight-time Mr. O has who responded in a British accent, “As a
found what he’s looking for—and that he and the matter of fact, I have to pee,” then left the
former Rouaida Christine Achkar find happiness stage. Now, ladies, why can’t you do fun
under the Texas skies. stuff like that at your P.C.?
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 277
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 Danielle
Hollenshade
swears she’s
PUMP-POURRI—LAST CALL FOR FACES OF 2007 saving the
cookie for
after the
Figure O
finals.

In case you
were worried
that the peek
of Debbie
Kruck on page
277 was all you
were going to
get, you can
relax.
Left: Bob Cicherillo,
Timea Majorova and
Charles Glass star in
“Touched by a Guru.”
Below: Jim Rockell and
Lucy Wilson (left, with Amy Neal) is lov- Art Bedway guard the
ing her first Nationals. It takes interpret- results in Pittsburgh.
ing the callouts to a whole new level.

A familiar be-
hind-the-scenes
face at some
of the biggest
shows, Mark
Rupp is a ver-
satile guy. He
takes photos
and puts out
fires.

Photography by Ruth Silverman

Above right: ’95 National champ

Chris Bongiovanni, serving on the
backstage crew, helps a reporter
with those tough interpretations.
Below: Doesn’t Theresa
Hendricks look as if she should
be holding a smart cocktail?

Marika Johanneson
and Kris Gethin Physique Athlete 101: Meet
were married not the photographers. Jennifer
long after this Cowan, a couple of weeks be-
unusual pump-up fore her debut in bodybuild-
room activity took ing at the T.U., makes the
place. And they acquaintance of Brian Moss.
say bodybuilders’ Junior National champ Michael Lockett enjoys the perks
muscles aren’t useful of budding physique stardom, courtesy of Amanda
muscles. Savell.

You can contact Ruth Silverman, fitness, figure and women’s bodybuilding reporter and Pump & Circumstance scribe, in
care of IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033; or via e-mail at ironwman@aol.com.
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 IRON MAN Hardbody

284 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 IRON MAN Hardbody

Lone Star
Stunner
Former NFL Cheerleader Jamie Eason

Compiled by Jonathan Lawson

Photography by Michael Neveux
Hair and Makeup by Alex Almond

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 285

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 IRON MAN Hardbody

286 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 IRON MAN Hardbody

Height: 5’2”
Age: 31
Weight: 108
Hometown: Houston,
Texas
Current residence:
Austin, Texas
Occupation: Spokesmo-
del for Bodybuilding.com;
writer
Marital status: Single
Sample bodypart
workout (hamstrings,
glutes and calves):
Seated leg curls, 1 x 20
(light), 3 x 15 (drop set on
last set); Smith-machine
squats (wide stance), 3
x 15 (last set to failure);
leg presses (feet high on
platform), 3 x 15 (last set
to failure); stiff-legged
deadlifts, 3 x 15 (last set to
failure); seated calf raises,
3 x 10 (pause at the top)
supersetted with leg press
calf raises, 3 x 20; cardio,
one-mile run.
Factoid: “I have a degree
in speech communication
and organization, and I’m
a former NFL cheerleader
for the Houston Texans.”
Future plans: “I hope to
retire before I’m 40 and
live on the lake in Austin.”
Web site: www.MySpace.
com/JamieEason.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 287

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 IRON MAN Hardbody

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 IRON MAN Hardbody

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 Only the Strong Shall Survive

298 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 Speed
Freak
Faster
Run Faster With
Weight Training
by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux
O
ne of the most important
attributes in any sport
is speed. Football, base-
ball, basketball, tennis
and lacrosse coaches drool over any
athlete who displays blazing speed,
and for good reason. Being very fast
is a tremendous advantage in athlet-
ics. It enables a beaten cornerback
to recover in time to make a play, an
outfielder to run down a drive to the
wall, a lacrosse midfielder to cre-
ate a sizable gap between him and
a defender so he can get an open
shot on goal and a basketball player
to outdistance his opponent for a
slam dunk. Used correctly, speed is
always an asset, and everyone wants
it. It’s like money or good sense. You
can never have too much.
For a happy few being fast comes
naturally. We’ve all come across
those who were able to fly across the
ground or court effortlessly. Speed
was in their genes, and all they ever
had to do was use it. They, of course,
are the exceptions. The vast major-
Model: Kiyoshi Moody
ity who participate in competitive
activities have to work in order to
gain any speed.
The good news is that it can be
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
done. Anyone who’s willing to put
in the effort can improve running
speed—in some cases quite a bit.
While you may never be as fast as
someone with innate speed ability,
you can come close and in the pro-
cess change from being a marginal
performer to an outstanding one.
Becoming faster isn’t a complicat-
ed process, but it entails a great deal
of serious hard work in the weight
room, as well as time practicing the
skill itself. Generally, coaches over-
look the latter point in sports that
require a lot of running. They simply
instruct their athletes to run a cer-
tain distance or do so many sprints
with absolutely no regard for tech-
nique. Seldom do they consider the
fact that knowing how to run cor-
rectly is as critical to gaining speed
as how far they run. It’s like telling
an athlete to tackle a running back
several times without bothering to
show him how it should be done.
More about that later.
Even if you don’t have perfect
running form, you can become
faster by applying yourself in the
weight room and getting consider-
ably stronger. Strength and speed
are closely linked. Make the muscle
groups and corresponding attach-
ments involved in the act of running
50 percent stronger, and you’ll move
faster.
I know that’s true because of
the many studies that have been
done on the subject and because
of personal experience. I’ve seen it
happen countless times with ath-
letes from every sport that included
running. All you need are desire and
determination.
The most outstanding example
I can give you is Billy Newsome
of the Baltimore Colts. In the late
1960s I was hired by the owner’s
son, Steve Rosenbloom, who was
put in charge of the team. He had
some history with weight training
and thought it could help the team.
The coaches, however, were either
skeptical or openly hostile toward
the idea. Strength training wasn’t
mandatory—that seems downright
absurd now—but that was fine with
me. I preferred working with those
who wanted to train, not a bunch
who were forced to. Billy, a defen-
sive lineman who wanted to pack
more muscle on his 235-pound
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 299
 Only the Strong Shall Survive
Everyone can
lunge, and I
encourage
athletes to
start doing
lunges after
they’ve built a
solid base and
mastered the
form on back
squats
body, came to the gym consistently
and did the program I gave him
with enthusiasm. Like all the rest
he was an exceptional athlete and
made impressive gains in a rather
short period of time—from March
to mid-July, when training camp
started. At his last session before
camp he benched 360, squatted 585
and power-cleaned 300. He’d also
moved his bodyweight up to a rock-
hard 270.
When the coaches saw him, they
were stunned, and not in a good
300 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
way. They voiced the opinion that
he was way too heavy and most like-
ly muscle-bound, a common belief
about strength training back then.
Then he ran a 4.6 40-yard dash, a
quarter second faster than his pre-
vious best, when he’d weighed 55
pounds less. That opened the eyes
of a number of teams in the NFL. I
was offered a position on two other
teams, and it didn’t take long for all
the other teams in the league to hire
strength coaches.
Football coaches may not know
much about strength,
but they understand
the value of speed. So
if lifting weights could
make their players
faster, they wanted in
on the deal.
It needs to be
noted that Billy’s
faster time in the
40 was due to his
new strength and
nothing else. No
one taught him
running technique,
and he hadn’t done
any actual running
other than some short
sprint sessions prior
to going to camp.
For a program to
bring the desired
results, however, it
has to have two attri-
butes. It must contain
core exercises for the
muscles directly re-
sponsible for the act
of running, and the
exercises have to be
attacked, not done
with token pound-
ages. You’re not going
to gain the type of
strength you’re seek-
ing unless you see the
White Buffalo on a
regular basis. You’re
going to get out of a
program only what
you invest in it.
The most important
muscle groups, obvi-
Model: Steven Segers
ously, are in the hips
and legs, but they’re
not the only ones that
take part in the act of
running. The back and
upper body also play
key roles. There’s a saying among
serious runners that “running starts
in the hands,” meaning that your
hands and arms are very much a
part of it. For the power generated
by the powerful lower body to be
transferred into the arms, it has to
pass through the back. So the back
muscles have to be proportionately
as strong as the hips and legs. A
strong back benefits in another way
as well. To run fast, you must stay
erect, and that’s possible only if your

back is quite strong, especially your
lower back.
In other words, to move faster,
you must strengthen not only your
hips and legs but also your entire
body, from your feet to your hands.
The running I’m referring to here
is short bursts, not marathons, 10-
Ks or even quarter-miles. Athletes,
except for those in track, seldom
sprint more than 30 or 40 yards,
and usually it’s much less than that.
Even soccer, which is a game of run-
ning, rarely entails a dash of more
than 30 yards. That’s not to imply
that strength training doesn’t ben-
efit distance runners. It most cer-
tainly does, although the approach
is somewhat different.
Nor do I concern myself with
fast- and slow-twitch muscles. Even
if I knew exactly what percentage of
each type you possessed, I wouldn’t
alter your program. My goal for
everyone is exactly the same—to get
the athlete as strong as possible. If
the strength gains are significant,
you’ll move faster regardless of your
genetic makeup.
I’ll begin with the power source—
the hips and legs. Three exercises
strengthen them: full back squats,
front squats and lunges. I start ev-
eryone on the back squat and em-
phasize the necessity of going very
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
To move faster, you must strengthen not only your hips and
legs but also your entire body from your feet to your hands.
The running I’m referring to is short bursts—30 to 40 yards,
which is what most athletes do—not marathons.
low. Some lack flexibility
in their lower legs, and it
takes them longer to as-
sume the desired position.
Yet it will come over time and plenty
of repetitions. You must go low if
you want to improve your running
speed for two reasons. First, when
you do a deep squat, you bring
many more muscles and their cor-
responding attachments into play
than when you do a partial move-
ment. Second, going low achieves
balanced strength in the various
groups that form the upper leg:
quads, leg biceps, adductors and
abductors.
When you go low, all the groups
get equal attention—problem
solved. That’s why I like front squats;
you have to go low. Try to cut them
off, and they’re much more difficult.
Many lack the flexibility in their
shoulders to rack a weight correctly
for the front squat, however, so not
everyone can do them. That’s all
right, just as long as you hit rock
bottom on the back squats.
Everyone can lunge, and I en-
courage athletes to start doing lung-
es after they’ve built a solid base and
mastered the form on back squats.
I like them because they force a
weaker leg to work harder. One leg
is always more flexibile and stronger
than the other, which is evident at
the first lunging session. The dispar-
ity doesn’t show up when you squat
because the stronger leg takes up
the slack, but when you lunge, each
leg stands on its own. Forcing the
weaker leg to do more, as in adding
extra reps for that leg, will bring it
up to equal strength—usually in a
short period unless the difference is
severe.
You have to work all three leg
exercises hard and heavy and do
one or the other three times a week.
Some athletes like to do all three
during a week, while most prefer to
alternate lunges with front squats
on their light days and stick with
back squats at the other two work-
outs. As soon as you’re confident
that you’re using good technique,
start moving the work weights
higher and higher. It doesn’t mat-
ter which leg exercise you select,
so long as you really lean on it. I’ll
come back to the lower legs later.
Your entire back needs to be
worked for the same reason your
upper legs do: to ensure a balanced
strength. Should any one area lag
way behind—whether the lower,
middle or upper back—the transfer
of power from the hips and legs
won’t be as efficient.
The power clean is the ideal exer-
cise for improving strength in every
part of your back and is especially
useful for anyone just starting on
a strength program. While it’s a
high-skill exercise, the power clean
is easy to learn, and since it’s a dy-
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 301
 Only the Strong Shall Survive

If you want to run namic lift, it activates the muscles

in a manner different from more
faster, you absolutely static movements. The power clean
must have strong was the only back exercise that the
Colts players did, but most athletes
calves. They initiate like more variety, and there’s plenty
the start of the sprint for the back—good mornings and
almost-straight-legged deadlifts for
and help stabilize the lower back, bent-over rows for
the middle and shrugs for the upper.
the ankles during the For single exercises that overload
movement. the entire back in an explosive
fashion, try clean and snatch-grip
high pulls. If you know how to do
full cleans and snatches, you’re way
ahead of the game because they’re
two of the very best for building
strength in the muscle groups used
in running.
While you need to strengthen
all three segments of the back, the
lower back needs special attention
since the lumbars help you remain
upright while you run. Relatively
weak lumbars will cause you to lean,
which you don’t want to do because
it affects your technique and there-
fore your speed. So you should do
some additional lower-back work
from the very beginning in the
form of hyperextensions and/or
reverse hypers. They’re not tax-
ing, and you can do them as part
of the warmup and at the con-
clusion of a session.
Along the same lines, you must
work your abs diligently. They also
play a role in keeping your trunk
erect. Situps done as part of the
warmup and leg raises at the end
of the workout will get the job done
without any duress.
The lower back needs For your shoulder girdle, or
special attention since upper body, choose from flat-bench
the lumbars help you presses, inclines, overhead presses
remain upright while or dips. Many are content to stay
you run. with just one exercise and work it
hard, while others like to build vari-
ety into their routines. Of the three
major groups, the shoulder girdle is
the least important for running, but
you still have to keep it strong.
How about the arms? If you’ve in-
cluded one or more dynamic pulling
exercises in your routine, you really
don’t need to do anything specific
for your biceps; they’re already get-
Model: Moe El Moussawi

ting plenty of work. In fact, when

you high-pull 300 pounds, you’re
using the entire biceps to a much
greater degree than you ever could
by curling. Power cleans, clean and

302 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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When you do a deep squat,

• The 10 rules for super energy.
The secrets to melting away bodyfat as you
you bring many more muscles build lean, ripped muscle
are all packed in this IRONMAN
and their corresponding bulletin—eating plans,
Magazine’
s
Model: Alex Azarian

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MUSCLE
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2
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an
snatch-grip high pulls, shrugs, full ily maintain them by doing two or on more as you burn Includes carb
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and the 10 kouts and supplements
Rules for Sup
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chialis and brachioradialis, which
are the prime movers of the upper
arms, quite thoroughly. Doing more
adds nothing to the strength level.
Same goes for the triceps. They’re
taxed on all the various pressing
movements, so extra work is op-
tional. If you want to do something
to shape your deltoids, triceps or
biceps, that’s fine. It won’t help you
run faster, but you may like to look
good in motion.
The small muscle groups that do
deserve more time in the weight
room are the calves and adduc-
tors. Even though the adductors
get worked when you’re squatting,
lunging and doing heavy pulls, they
have a tendency to lag behind the
quads and abductors. You can eas-
tors machines twice a week.
If you want to run faster, you
absolutely must have strong calves.
They initiate the start of the sprint
and help stabilize the ankles during
the movement. When your calves
give out, you’re through running.
To get them strong, you have to
hammer them. I’ve discussed train-
ing the calves and improving your
leaping ability in this space before
and won’t go over it again. A couple
of key points, however: Work your
calves at least twice a week, do high
reps—30s—for three or four sets.
The first set is a warmup. Then
load up the resistance. When you
reach rep 20, your calves should be
screaming. Grind out 10 more reps.
Be sure to stretch after each set,
in record time!
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 303

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 Only the Strong Shall Survive

and don’t plan

on doing any
sprinting after
you’ve ex-
hausted them.
That’s an invita-
tion to a pulled
calf, and, trust
me, you don’t
want that. If
at all possible,
do both seated
and standing
calf raises. The
seated ver-
sion hits the
soleus and the
standing the
gastrocnemius.
Both need to be Power cleans,
equally strong
to stabilize the
clean and snatch-
lower leg. Many grip high pulls,
like to work
their calves on
shrugs, full cleans
a separate day and snatches work
so they can give
them their full
the brachialis and
attention and brachioradialis,
energy.
That seems which are the
like a lot of stuff prime movers of
to cram into
a week’s pro- the upper arms.
gram. Not real-
ly, because you
don’t have to do
every one of the
exercises. Start
off with the
basics, the Big
Three: bench,
power clean
and squat. Do
Model: Tomm Voss

them for five

sets of five
while you’re
perfecting your
technique.
Add the ab and
lower-back
work before mornings, almost-straight-legged diligently, and you will get stronger.
and at the end of the workouts, plus deadlifts, high pulls, shrugs and Then you will have to learn how to
calves and adductors twice a week, bent-over rows for power cleans. use your new strength in an efficient
and you’re good to go. You’ll know when you’re ready to manner. Just getting stronger isn’t
After six or eight weeks you can increase your workload when you’re enough to make you extremely fast.
build variety into your routine, able to fully recover from your work- Running is a physical skill that can
doing inclines, overhead presses outs. As you add to your volume, be improved by following certain
and dips in conjunction with the flat run the intensity up frequently by techniques, as I mentioned. Since
benches. Likewise, you can alternate doing triples, doubles and singles we’ve been running all our lives,
lunges and front squats with back instead of fives. though, we take it for granted that
squats. You can also substitute good Be consistent and apply yourself we’re doing it right. The truth is, few

304 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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 Only the Strong Shall Survive
Abs must be worked diligently since they play a role in
keeping your trunk erect. Situps as part of the warmup
and leg raises at the end of the workout will get the job
done without any duress.
athletes run correctly. I know that
I’m not an expert on running tech-
nique, but I’ve been around sports
programs for a long time, and I can
tell when someone—that includes
about 90 percent of all athletes—is
running with crappy form. That’s
why I encouraged sports coaches
at the universities where I worked
to find an expert on the subject to
teach the athletes the finer points
of the skill. None took my advice.
They, like so many, believe running
to be a natural process. It is, but
that doesn’t mean everyone does it
properly.
So I’m suggesting that if you’re
really serious about increasing
your speed appreciably, seek out a
person who can teach you how to
run better. It might be a high school
track coach or a collegiate runner.
Or you may be able to find a camp
where running is part of the agenda.
They’re in abundance on the East
Coast and West Coast and most
likely in other parts of the country
as well. Even a one day-clinic can
be beneficial. If nothing else, find
a video on the subject. The point
is, anything you can do to improve
your running technique is going to
have a positive effect on your speed.
Increase your overall strength and
hone your technique, and you’ll
306 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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move faster, guaranteed.
Let me back up a bit. Before you
get into a serious running routine,
be sure to allow sufficient time for
your strength program, at least two
months. If you attempt to move
your lifts up and do a lot of run-
ning, you’re going to tap into your
energy level too much, and that will
adversely affect your strength gains.
Once you have established a solid
strength base and are able to recover
from the workload, though, you can
begin to do running drills with no ill
effect. That simple fact is generally
overlooked by sports coaches. At the
start of the off-season conditioning
program, they insist that their ath-
letes run distances right off the bat.
I have to plead with them to wait
for a couple of months. Running in
January isn’t going to be of any use
to them when summer camp comes
around, but getting considerably
stronger will. The added strength
will later benefit running. Running
too soon will have a negative effect
on the strength program.
Quite a few training devices on
the market can to help improve
speed. The one I like best is the
small parachute. Once the canopy
fills with air, you really have to work
to maintain your speed. I persuaded
the lacrosse coach at Johns Hopkins,
Tony Seaman, to
purchase several of
them, and every athlete who
used them cut his 40-yard
time significantly. It produc-
es results, and athletes can
do them unassisted, which
gives them lots of leeway as
to when they practice the
drill.
Model: Alex Azarian
You can improve your
speed in a couple of simple
ways; you don’t need any
assistance. They were a part
of the sprinters’ program
at the University of Hawaii.
A few football players took
advantage of them as well:
running up very steep hills
and running down slight de-
clines. The higher the grade
on the hills, the better, be-
cause it forces you to use
all your running muscles to
the fullest. If no hills are available,
run stadium steps. By contrast, you
need to do the downward runs on
a slant that is only a few degrees
higher than a flat track. The purpose
of running down the decline is to
condition your muscles and attach-
ments and learn how to modify your
technique when you’re moving at
a faster-than-normal speed. If the
downward slope is too great, your
mechanics won’t be revelant to run-
ning horizontally.
Keep in mind that all movement
depends on strength, from the tod-
dler learning to walk to the person
getting back his sea legs after a long
illness to the aspiring athlete trying
to improve his speed. Get consider-
ably stronger, refine your running
skills, and then practice, practice,
practice. It’s a formula that always
works.
Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a
strength and conditioning coach
at Johns Hopkins University from
1989 to 2000. He’s the author of The
Strongest Shall Survive—Strength
Training for Football, which is avail-
able for $20 plus shipping
from Home Gym Warehouse. Call
(800) 447-0008, or visit www.Home-
Gym.com. IM
MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/BODY MIND/WB
MIND/BODY

Mind/Body
BOMBER BLAST
Questioning One’s Sanity
H
ow crazy can we get? Pretty crazy! Consider my habit slide on the hardwood surface beneath me as I control the
of eating smaller meals throughout the day as I go pace and resistance with my body’s positioning. I stretch the
about my tasks at home. The frequent-eating events, calves and hamstrings, I labor the thighs, and soon my triceps
though of substantial nutritional worth, don’t earn a place at and shoulders are aching. I lean, I push, I thrust, I persist.
the dining table with an attractive place setting and glowing The Buick goes nowhere, wheels still, engine silent. No
candles. Instead, I take in the fare of tuna, water and cottage sweat, no pain, no burden—just invigorating motion, vitalizing
cheese while standing at the kitchen counter conversing with action.
Mugsy (world-famous cat) or the redwoods outside the win- Give it a break, Bomber! You’ve been at this madness
dow, whichever will listen. too long. Have you considered shock therapy, a lobotomy, a
Neither does, not for very long. pitcher of margaritas? You’re exhibiting scary signs of kettle-
Alas, eating alone can be lonely, and the neutral stance is bells for brains.
conspicuously tiresome and unproductive. However, neutral You mock, but weirdness sometimes pays off. The diver-
becomes quite engaging when thrown into low gear, a groan- sion is effective and eases stiffness, soothes aches, acceler-
ing four-wheel-drive workhorse. Thus I nourish and labor ates healing, stretches, oxygenates, encourages, pacifies and,
co-operatively. last but not least, wards off evil spirits. And it’s free.
A bite of food, and I’m in slow motion. Standing four to five I entered the gym earlier today and promptly immersed
feet away from the waist-high counter, I lean forward with my myself in crunches and leg raises. The only way outta the gym
palms on its edge and commence pushing—as if trying to is through it. Go, go—not quickly, not hurriedly, not elsewhere,
jump-start a stalled ’56 Buick Roadmaster. My stocking feet but here and now, thoughtfully and deliberately, like a locomo-
tive changing
cars in a freight
yard, a crane
loading and
unloading cargo
at the docks.
I noted at
the outset how
comfortable I felt
just lying on the
bench, stretch-
ing, flexing and
contorting in
preparation for
the workout.
Mugs indulges
in a similar rep-
ertoire regularly
and purrs. The
muscles and
Neveux \ Model: Brent Kutlesa

joints responded
blissfully to the
tensing and
reaching and
arching. If only
they knew what

308 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
 I had in store for
them, a merciless
pounding, beating Relationships
and thumping into
shape.
I decided for the
Start Putting Out
first time in my train-

S
o
ing history to ever-
you
so-slowly simmer the
want
concoction of mus-
to get into
cles and bodyparts
your gal’s,
before bringing them
um, good
to a full boil. Why
graces?
not? I’m the head
Try phi-
chef, after all, and
lanthropy.
preparing nutritious
It’s not a
gourmet specialties
big word
to tantalize discern-
Neveux \ Model: Brent Kutlesa

for the act

ing palates is my art
of buying
form. I’m not running
diamonds,
a fast food joint,
although it
Bub. Feed them right
does have
and they come back
to do with putting out some cash—as in giving. According
for more—that’s
to scientists at the University of Oregon, benevolent deeds
what I always say.
increased the activity in female subjects’ brains associated
I grabbed a pair of darling 10-pound dumbbells and lay flat
with enjoying food and sex. So feed your gal a good meal,
on a bench, the cutesy weights straight overhead. With arms
and then have her watch you write a check to your favorite
straight and palms forward, I extended the dumbbells behind
charity. It may increase giving in a number of ways.
me, simulating a stiff-arm pullover movement. Thoughtfully
—Becky Holman
and slowly I established a one-two-three-four count from the
www.X-tremeLean.com
starting position to the return and retained it through the entire
slow six-rep set.
If you don’t try this stuff, Mr. and Mrs. Stuck-in-the-mud
Conformist, you’ll never know what you’re missing. So there!
I savored the good feelings within the lats, the grip and bi’s
Destress
and tri’s, the pecs and about the shoulders. The abs were not
without stabilizing contraction, and the buttocks and thighs Nap Time
hugged the bench for support. We don’t often notice that

A
six-year study with
favorable multiplicity of activity or appreciate it or tally it as a
more than 20,000
valuable part of our muscle-building experience or progress.
This style of training was proving to be a lesson in muscle people, average age 53, found that a 30-minute
engagement, extension and contraction, action and response, nap in the middle of
and exercise groove, while revisiting pump and burn with a the day at least three
side trip to in-depth focus. days a week reduced
Shame on us: We grab, go and power through; we chase stress. In fact, it re-
the sets, reps and action away, rather than pursue them; we duced it so much that
endure the pain, we suffer the burn, we groan with exhaustion those who napped
as the iron crashes to the floor. Great set... let’s do it again. were 37 percent less
Listen, Bizzy Lizzy and Murray-in-a-Hurry: Be encouraged. likely to die of heart
Don’t stop, but learn to observe and be aware along the way. disease. Now, it may
It is a learning process. And it is very have nothing to do
colorful, amusing and profitable. with sleeping and more
—Dave Draper to do with relaxing, so
if you can’t actually
Editor’s note: For more from Dave snooze, try a quick
Draper, visit www.DaveDraper meditation break.
Neveux \ Model: Cara Doll

.com and sign up for his free newslet- —Becky Holman

ter. You can also check out his amazing
www.X-tremeLean
Top Squat training tool, classic photos,
.com
workout Q&A and forum.

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 309

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 MIND/BODY BodySpace Physique of the Month MIND/BODY

Jason Phillips
J
ust 23 years old, Jason Phillips has already suc-
ceeded in overcoming adversity. A chance meeting
with an Abercrombie & Fitch representative who
made a modeling offer sent 18-year-old Jason into an
anorexic tailspin. In an effort to get abs, he totally disrupted
his life. A big meal was one whole egg or two rice cakes.
He wouldn’t go out with friends so he wouldn’t be around
food. He lost jobs, had no energy and just wanted to sleep
all day.
He ended up at a Gold’s Gym working the front desk,
and that’s when this 5’10” kid weighing 123 pounds first
saw a bodybuilder. Shortly thereafter he saw his first body-

Photography by Ian Sitren \ SecondFocus

building show, the Body Rock in Virginia. He met a body-
builder who told him he needed to eat 4,000
calories every day.
Today Jason is a golf pro who toured for
more than a year and a half. It was Tiger
Woods who said to him, “You need to be
strong to muscle the shots.” That reinforced his
efforts in the gym. He also wanted to fulfill his
interest in lifting, however, so he stopped play-
ing for a while. He’s planning to do a couple of
bodybuilding shows in 2008, and he hopes to
earn his way back into pro golf again in 2009.
You can find more on Jason at BodyBuilding
.com’s BodySpace: JPhillips17.com.
—Ian Sitren

Editor’s note: For more BodySpace bod-

ies and info, visit www.Bodybuilding.com.

310 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

Free download from imbodybuilding.com
MIND/BODY Performance
Multitasking = Multimistakes?

Y
ou’ve heard the buzzword multitasking. It means doing more than
one thing at once, and, according to an article in the January ’08
Reader’s Digest, it means doing one of those things poorly.
According to Edward W. Hallowell, M.D., author of CrazyBusy, “Human
beings can handle two simple, low-level cognitive tasks at once, like filing
and listening to the radio.” Tasks that
require a bit more brain power, however,
need focus. Adding even a
simple activity to a higher- If she’s try-
ing to learn
level task diminishes com- French as she
prehension. works out, one
Does that mean you of those tasks
can’t chew gum and work will suffer.
out at the same time? No,
those are low-level activities (for most
of us), but maybe you should refrain
from telling your detailed weekend party
stories during your training—or sending
e-mail via your BlackBerry—unless you
like not making optimal gains and pos-
sibly getting injured.
—Becky Holman

New Stuff
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L
abrada Nutrition has just released its Charge! SuperShot Energy
Drink, which provides energy-releasing B-vitamins plus more than
2,450 milligrams of fruit-based antioxidants to support your body’s
natural defenses against cell-damaging oxidative
stress. It has just the right amount of caffeine to
leave you refreshed and ready to take on the
world. The natural antioxidants and bioflavonoids
in Charge! smooth out the stimulating effect of
the caffeine so you can enjoy longer-lasting
energy without jitters or a crash.
Labrada Nutrition CEO and IFBB Pro
Bodybuilding Hall of Famer Lee Labrada
says, “The new Charge! SuperShot tastes
great and gives you a natural lift unlike sug-
ary energy drinks. At just two ounces, it’s
perfect—convenient to use. Just add to your
bottle of spring water to turn it into a delicious
fruit-flavored drink, or drink it straight up as a
shot. Either way you get healthful, sustained
energy without the jitters or crash. Perfect for
any time of the day when you need a pick-
me-up.”
For more information,
visit www.Labrada.com.

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 MIND/BODY New Stuff
Legally insane
Arson fat incineration
A
rson is an unbridled, body-
altering fat burner, scientifi-
cally formulated to force your
bodyfat into a state of meltdown.
Chemically engineered with fat-burn-
ing agents and blood-boiling reactive
substances to torch fat, Arson repre-
sents a new breed of fat burner. After
your very first dose, a premeditated
thermogenic fire is set, cutting you
deeper and sharper for frightening
striations and crazy conditioning. Here
are its powerful ingredients:
• Green tea extract. Research
has shown that this is an effective
thermogenic aid and can control
weight loss in humans. Participants in
a study using ingredients in Arson had
greater energy expenditure than those
who were using a placebo.1, 2
• Cissus quadrangularis. In
India this plant extract is traditionally
used as an aid for promoting bone-
fracture healing. New clinical research,
however, has revealed its incredible
weight-loss power. In fact, the aver-
age weight loss of subjects taking the
extract over eight weeks was approxi-
mately 15 pounds, while subjects tak-
ing a placebo lost only five pounds.3
Phytochemical analyses of Cissus
quadrangularis showed high contents
of ascorbic acid, carotene, naturally
occurring keto-steroidal substances
and calcium.
• Yohimbine HCI. This re-
search-supported compound is a
selective alpha-2-adrenergic receptor
antagonist that can improve thermo-
genic response and vasodilation via
an alpha-2-adrenoceptor blockade.
Fused with Arson’s proprietary ingre-
dient blend, yohimbine can facilitate
blood flow for increased fat burning.
Other ingredients in Arson scientifi-
cally shown to accelerate fat loss and
push thermogenesis to the max in-
clude caffeine anhydrous, white willow
bark and Theobroma cacao extract.
• L-leucine. Playing a critical role
in protein synthesis signaling, L-leu-
cine is included in Arson to support
the synthesis of lean, metabolically
active tissue to enhance energy ex-
penditure.
• Gamma butryobetaine. Pre-
liminary research indicates that GBB,
which is non-arginine based, induces
endothelium- and nitric oxide–depen-
dent vasodilatation via the muscarinic
receptor.4, 5 That helps drive key ingre-
dients to the right physiological sys-
Free download from imbodybuilding.com
MIND/BODY
MIND/
tems, initiating a fat-burning response.
• Xanthinol nicotinate. A po-
tent form of niacin, it’s been studied
for its vasoactive and blood-flow-
enhancing properties. It can help
improve blood flow and uptake of
key ingredients, enhancing the overall
effectiveness of Arson’s thermogenic
formula.
Other ingredients in Arson that
work synergistically to spike maximum
vasodilation and accelerate nutrient
delivery: Uridine-5’-monophosphoric
acid disodium and Epsilon-polylysine.
Driving the extremely powerful
fat-burning Arson formula is state-of-
the-art Wave Pulse technology, which
is designed to dramatically enhance
micronutrient transport, delivery and
uptake, and is the power behind
Arson’s ability to obliterate fat.
References
1 Dulloo, A.G., et al. (1999). Efficacy
of a green tea extract rich in catechin
polyphenols and caffeine in increasing
24-hour energy expenditure and fat
oxidation in humans. Am J Clin Nutr.
70(6):1040-1045.
2 Dulloo, A.G., et al. (2000). Green
tea and thermogenesis: Interactions
between catechin-polyphenols, caf-
feine and sympathetic activity. Int J
Obes Relat Metab Disord. 24(2):252-
258.
3 Oben, J., et al. (2006). The use of
a Cissus quadrangularis formulation in
the management of weight loss and
metabolic syndrome. Lipids in Health
and Dis. 5:24-40.
4 Sjakste, N., et al. (2004). Endo-
thelium- and nitric oxide–dependent
vasorelaxing activities of gamma-
butyrobetaine esters. Eur J Pharma.
495:67-73.
5 Sjakste, N. (2004). Changes of
concentration of nitric oxide in tissues
under action of different pharmaco-
logical agents. Summary of doctoral
thesis. Riga.
 MIND/BODY Review MIND/BODY

“Larger Than Life”

The Story of Jon Pall Sigmarsson,
the Icelandic Viking

A
ll sports have their heroes.
Boxing has a list that in-
cludes the great Muhammad
Ali, who transcended the boxing realm
to become a national icon; the martial
arts have Bruce Lee, who became
an international symbol of the martial
arts world; and bodybuilding has the
legendary Arnold, the representative of
not only physical presentation but also
success in the land of opportunity. In
strongman competition a giant from
the land of fire and ice has ascended
to the realm of legend.
The DVD “Larger Than Life” is more
than just a titillating title; it’s an ex-
amination of the life led by one of the
world’s most extraordinary strongmen,
Jon Pall Sigmarsson. Jon Pall became
a living icon during his short life and a
legend after his death. He was more
than just a symbol of strength in the
strongman arena; he was the embodi-
ment of the Viking culture of Iceland.
To the world he was the symbol
of Iceland. Tall, blond and massive in
size and strength, Jon Pall triumphed
in both bodybuilding and strongman
competitions—winning the World’s
Strongest Man four times.
The documentary has film footage
from Jon Pall’s childhood, television
interviews and various competitions,
giving us
an inside
look
at the
life of a
champion
who was
known for his good nature and extraor-
dinary abilities. It pulls no punches,
however: There is the steroid use
scandal, the gossip about his love life
and the secret he kept to himself that
would eventually cause his death.
I recommend “Larger Than Life”
to anyone who’s dreamed of being
more than just a participant in a gym.
It illustrates what it takes to be a
champion and the determination it
takes to become something more.
The documentary alone is worth the
price of admission; the interviews with
Odd Haugen, Geoff Capes and the
great Bill Kazmaier—the only man to
give Jon Pall a run for his money—and
many others are icing on the cake.
After watching it, you’ll be primed to
train harder than ever and reach new
personal bests.
Editor’s note: “Larger Than Life”
is available from Karl Gillingham’s
JackalsGym.com and IronMind.com.
—Larry Eklund

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Strength, endurance
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CI*FIT has introduced S.E.R.5, a premier
strength-, endurance- and recovery-enhanc-
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combination of very powerful ingredients, includ-
ing the potent strength-inducing trio of patented
Kre-Alkalyn and the carnosine precursors beta-
alanine and L-histadine. To enhance its explosive
nitric oxide effects, a high dose of citrulline malate
is included, plus the powerful cell-volumizing anti-
oxidant R-ALA. S.E.R.5 is a strength, endurance
and recovery formulation that’s generations ahead
of its time. If you had to choose just one product
to take, this would be it.

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 M IN D/BODY I R O N M A N R isin g S t a r s

Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

Sara Hurrle
Age: 32
Height: 5’5”
Weight: 118 contest; 138 off-
season
Residence: Denver, Colorado
Contest Highlights: ’07 NPC
Colorado Pro-Am, Overall winner

316 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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M IND/BODY I R O N M A N R isi n g S t a r s

Roger Ferrer
Age: 38
Height: 5’6”
Weight: 176 contest; 200 off-
season
Residence: Sunny Isles, Florida
Contest highlights: ’07 NPC
Arnold, middleweight, 1st;
’07 NPC Junior Nationals,
middleweight, 1st
Roland Balik

www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2008 317

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Readers Write
April 2008

Cory Encore Supersaturation

What a great thing: Cory Everson on the cover of IRON Rejuvenation
MAN at age 50 [February ’08]. She looks incredible, the
photos accompanying the article were nothing short of I want to thank you for the feature on heavy/light train-
amazing, and the interview showed us the real Cory—sen- ing [Supersaturation for Serious Size,” February ’08]. It re-
sitive, compassionate and a total class act. Love it all. En- juvenated my workouts. I was going all out all the time and
core! burning out fast. Going heavy with low reps at one workout
Bill Bradford followed by lighter pump-style workouts has motivated me,
Cory Everson. via Internet and I’m already seeing new size. Drop sets are part of the
reason. What a pump and burn.
I was delighted Serge Blanchette
to see the cover via Internet
story on Cory.
Thank you so Editor’s note: For more programs based on the heavy/
much for run- light concept, see the e-book X-traordinary Muscle-Build-
ning it. She is an ing Workouts—10 Complete Print-and-Go Size and Strength
amazing woman Programs, available at www.X-Workouts.com.
in many ways, a
terrific role model
for the women
and young girls
NO to Grow
of today’s society. I’m always skeptical when a new type of supplement
As a long-term comes out. Needless to say, when all of these nitric oxide–
iron pusher, Cory support compounds starting hitting the market, I shook
needs to stay in my head. Taking a pill just to get a bigger pump in the gym
the public eye. made no sense to me. Thanks to Jerry Brainum’s article in
Neveux

Steve Jolkes
Rio Rancho, NM
Editor’s note: She’s quite a lady, all right—and what
genetics. She no longer trains to build a Ms. Olympia phy-
sique, but she still looks like that, and at 50 no less. Whew!
the January ’08 issue [“Just Say Yes to NO”], I understand
their relevance and how they can help me get bigger and
leaner. Thanks, Mr. Brainum, for clearing away the fog and
helping me see the light. The NO supplements work.
John Brownstone
via Internet

Errata: Cory Everson won the Ms. Olympia six times, not
Old-Guy Gusto seven as we wrote in “Cory at 50” in the February ’08 issue.
Also in that feature, the woman in the photo below with
Thank you for the great article on Clarence Bass in the Cameo and Cory is their mother, Christa, not the author.
Feburary ’08 IRON MAN [“Still Ripped After All These
Years”]. Bass and his writings have helped me a great deal
in getting and staying lean and strong. I began at 53, and
I’m now 61, so it’s good to see that Clarence is still going
strong and that there’s hope for the rest of us old guys.
Mike Harris
via Internet
Clarence “Ripped” Bass is
the true personification of the
pure bodybuilding lifestyle.
Not massive but impressive
nonetheless with his stream-
lined physique and super
health at age 70. There’s a les-
son there for aging boomers.
Let’s hope they get a clue.
Sylvio Martinez
via Internet Vol. 67, No. 4: IRON MAN (ISSN #0047-1496) is published monthly by IRON MAN Pub-
lishing, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Periodical Mail is paid at Oxnard, CA, and at
additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives
Editor’s note: Dedicated, Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Please allow six to eight weeks for change to take effect. Subscrip-
persistent and knowledge- tion rates—U.S. and its possessions: new 12-issue subscription, $29.97. Canada, Mexico and
able—that’s Clarence Bass. other foreign subscriptions: 12 issues, $49.97 sent Second Class. Foreign orders must be in
Laszlo Bencze

We’re proud to feature body- U.S. dollars. Send subscriptions to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Or call
builders with his style and 1-800-570-4766. Copyright © 2008. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.
class. Clarence Bass, age 70.
320 APRIL 2008 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com
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