Arnold: Think

ARNOLD EXCLUSIVE • FAT-TO-MUSCLE COMPOUND • BIG ARMS
SEPTEMBER 2007 / IRON MAN MAGAZINE—WE KNOW TRAINING™
Exclusive Feature
ARNOLD
THINK
Critical
Success
Strategies
of Bodybuilding Icon
and California Governor
SHOULDER
SHOCK
With Overload Drops
and Power X Reps
CORE
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How It’s Really Built
ARNOLD THINK / GET RIPPED
GET RIPPED
A Commonsense Approach
SEPTEMBER 2007
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www.ironmanmagazine.com \ APRIL 2006 261

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150 DECEMBER 2009 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

September 2007 Vol. 66, No. 9
Get Ripped,
page 214
We Know Training ™
FEATURES
FEATURES
64 TRAIN, EAT, GROW 95
The TEG men discuss what they’ve learned about building
muscle—plus exercise tweaks for better physiques.
92 ARNOLDTHINK
Bill Dobbins probes the California governor’s psychology
of success, the thought processes that have led to his rise
to the top.
104 SHOULDER SHOCK

William Litz gives you a compact lateral attack for dense
delts that look like cannonballs.
116 A BODYBUILDER IS BORN 26

Ron Harris helps prepare his young protégé for competi-
tion—mentally and physically.
130 POWER/REP RANGE/ ARNOLD EXCLUSIVE • FAT-TO-MUSCLE COMPOUND • BIG ARMS
SHOCK Q&A Exclusive Feature

™
Steve Holman hits Eric Broser with ARNOLD THINK

Critical
questions on Boser’s P/RR/S mass- Success

Strategies
of Bodybuilding Icon
and California Governor
building protocol and variations that SHOULDER
can create more size and striations. SHOCK With Overload Drops
and Power X Reps
CORE
STRENGTH
154 L-CARNITINE How It’s Really Built
GET RIPPED
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Jerry Brainum explores the research $5.98

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nutrient. C1_SK03SEPT07-011_F.indd 1 7/2/07 1:28:16 PM
Sagi Kalev and Heather

Tindell appear on this
180 VICTOR MARTINEZ month’s cover. Hair
L-Carnitine, How the new Arnold Classic and makeup Yvonne
page 154 Ouellette. Photo by
champion did it—his training, Michael Neveux.
nutrition and a few secret weapons.
198 HEAVY DUTY

John Little analyzes Mike Mentzer’s statement, “As the
body changes, training requirements change.”
214 GET RIPPED!

From the Bodybuilding.com archive, Myron Mielke
discusses a commonsense approach to etching in
muscularity.
Shoulder Shock,
page 104 230 LEGENDS OF BODYBUILDING
Rod Labbe talks to Kevin Levrone about his bodybuilding
career, the current state of the sport and Levrone’s latest
foray into the movie biz.
256 HARDBODY
Shocker Mom—Gina Ostarly strips down and pumps up
for Michael Neveux’s camera. Very nice!
282 ONLY THE STRONG SHALL SURVIVE

Bill Starr’s take on developing your core—for more strength,
solid size and fewer injuries.

Victor Martinez, DEPARTMENTS
page 180
28 TRAIN TO GAIN
Joe Horrigan’s Sportsmedicine: Why Does My Shoulder
Hurt? Plus, stretching, strength and size.
42 SMART TRAINING
Coach Charles Poliquin’s tips on getting bigger and
stronger fast.
48 EAT TO GROW
Stubborn-fat busters, new beta-alanine research and
natural sources of arginine.
82 CRITICAL MASS
Steve Holman maps out how to get wide bi’s and tri’s.
Also, his complete, quick 3D back workout.
86 NATURALLY HUGE
John Hansen fends off a leg-training barrage and then
outlines a size-building supplement program.
224 BODYBUILDING PHARMACOLOGY

Kevin Jerry Brainum looks at thyroid drugs and busting diet
Levrone, plateaus through chemistry.
page 230 Hardbody,
page 256
244 MUSCLE “IN” SITES
Eric Broser reports from the Web on sites by Dennis
Wolf and Mary Lado. In his Net Results Q&A section he
discusses triceps training and nutrition tips for mass.
248 NEWS & VIEWS

Lonnie Teper’s gold mine of good stuff on the competi-
tive-bodybuilding scene. Also, look for IM’s photo fea-
turette of the Muscle Beach Venice Memorial
Day Bash on page 254.
272 PUMP & CIRCUMSTANCE

Ruth Silverman’s inside look at the women’s body
sports. (Pretty pictures too.)
Pump & Circumstance, News & Views,
page 272 page 248 292 MIND/BODY CONNECTION
Randall Strossen, Ph.D., explains cumulative consequenc-
es, while Dave Draper says, It’s all in the mind, Smiley.
304 READERS WRITE

Arnold, the Great; creatine cred; just say “know”; and
HIT me again.
In the next IRON MAN

Next month it’s our first-ever longevity issue:
how to train, eat and supplement to live longer
stronger—and more muscular too. We have a
blockbuster interview with former Mr. America
Jim Morris, who is now in his 70s—with current
physique shots (you won’t believe your eyes!).
Plus, we’ve got Jerry Brainum’s list of top longev-
ity supplements, insights into growth hormone and
testosterone and a look at drug-free chest training
with an over-40 drug-free pro. Watch for the age-
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John Balik’s
Founders
Publisher’s Letter 1936-1986:
Peary & Mabel Rader
Publisher/Editorial Director: John Balik
Associate Publisher: Warren Wanderer
Design Director: Michael Neveux
Critical Mass 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
Most IRON MAN readers know Bill Designer: Emerson Miranda
IRON MAN Staff:
Dobbins as an innovative and passion- Mary Gasca, Vuthy Keo, Mervin Petralba,
ate photographer of fit and muscular Contributing Authors:
women, but as “ArnoldThink,” his re- Jerry Brainum, Eric Broser, David Chapman,
vealing portrait of Arnold Schwarzeneg- Teagan Clive, Lorenzo Cornacchia, Daniel Curtis,
Dave Draper, Michael Gündill, Rosemary Hallum,
ger, shows, he’s also an accomplished Ph.D., John Hansen, Ron Harris, Ori Hofmekler,
writer. If you’ve read my editorials over Rod Labbe, Skip La Cour, Jack LaLanne, Butch
the years, you know I come back time Lebowitz, John Little, Stuart McRobert, Gene
Mozée, Charles Poliquin, Larry Scott, Jim
and time again to Arnold’s wisdom. In Shiebler, Roger Schwab, Pete Siegel, C.S. Sloan,
last month’s editorial, which was part Bill Starr, Bradley Steiner, Eric Sternlicht, Ph.D.,
of our 60th-birthday salute to the Gov- Randall Strossen, Ph.D., Richard Winett, Ph.D.,
and David Young
ernor, I discussed a day I had recently
Contributing Artists:
spent with him and commented that I’d gotten a 12-hour crash Steve Cepello, Larry Eklund, Ron Dunn,
course in effective management. Jake Jones
In “ArnoldThink,” which begins on page 92, Bill draws on his Contributing Photographers:
own 30-year working relationship with Arnold to highlight the Jim Amentler, Ron Avidan, Reg Bradford, Jimmy
Caruso, Bill Dobbins, Jerry Fredrick, Irvin Gelb,
unique combination of attributes that have marked his success. Isaac Hinds, Dave Liberman, J.M. Manion, Gene
While I’ve made my own observations about that subject, Dob- Mozée, Mitsuru Okabe, Rob Sims, Leo Stern
bins’ piece gave me new insight into the way Arnold uses reality Director of Marketing:
and self-criticism. In Bill’s description of the process, I’m remind- Helen Yu, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
ed of the world’s greatest golfer, Tiger Woods. Tiger’s approach to Accounting: Dolores Waterman
Subscriptions Manager:
self-criticism—that you be critical of your performance but not
Sonia Melendez, 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 2
destructively so—is a huge learning advantage. As one of Tiger’s E-mail: [email protected]
coaches replied when asked how a certain poorly played round Advertising Director: Warren Wanderer
would affect Tiger’s game: Tiger sees every experience as a learn- 1-800-570-IRON, ext. 1
ing experience. (518) 743-1696; FAX: (518) 743-1697
Advertising Coordinator:
Arnold’s realistic view of the world, which lacks the destruc-
Jonathan Lawson, (805) 385-3500, ext. 320
tive aspects that usually accompany self-criticism, is one of his Newsstand Consultant:
greatest strengths—maybe even his greatest. An objective, con- Angelo Gandino, (516) 796-9848
structive analysis of the situation gives both Arnold and Tiger an
We reserve the right to reject any advertising at our
incredibly clear picture of what they need to do to accomplish discretion without explanation. All manuscripts, art
the goal at hand. That’s the reason they’re both at the top of their or other submissions must be accompanied by a self-
addressed, stamped envelope. Send submissions to
game—because they live in the present and know how to keep IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Avenue, Oxnard, CA 93033.
reality in focus. We are not responsible for unsolicited material.
Writers and photographers should send for our
I’ve known Arnold since 1969, and I can see that the attributes Guidelines outlining specifications for submissions.
Bill talks about were present in his approach to life even back IRON MAN is an open forum. We also reserve the
right to edit any letter or manuscript as we see
then. If you’re interested in what makes Arnold tick, I believe that fit, and photos submitted have an implied waiver
this is the best single analysis of the traits that have informed of copyright. Please consult a physician before
beginning any diet or exercise program. Use the
much of his success. It could be a daily read to help inspire you to information published in IRON MAN at your own
reach your goals and get the most out of your life. risk.
How did Arnold “learn” all of this? Did he learn it at all, or was it
IRON MAN Internet Addresses:
simply innate? My next step is to sit down with the Governor and Web Site: www.ironmanmagazine.com
ask those very questions. John Balik, Publisher: [email protected]
Speaking of thought processes, look for my new blog at Steve Holman, Editor in Chief: [email protected]
Ruth Silverman, Senior Editor: [email protected]
IronManMagazine.com. Click Blogs in the top navigation bar to T.S. Bratcher, Art Director: [email protected]
find my entries as well as the contribution of a host of IRON MAN Helen Yu, Director of Marketing: [email protected]
bloggers. IM Jonathan Lawson, Ad Coordinator: [email protected]
Sonia Melendez, Subscriptions: [email protected]
26 SEPTEMBER 2007 \ www.ironmanmagazine.com

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SPORTSMEDICINE
Why Does My Shoulder Hurt?

Weight training is a fantastic shrugs and dumbbell rows. The
form of exercise. It’s changed lives problem here is that trainees some-
and bodies dramatically. Even so, times relax at the end of a rep or
it can produce a laundry list of may try to get an extra stretch.
injuries. One of the most commonly When they relax the muscles dur-
injured areas is the shoulder. Why? ing an exercise, though, the liga-
The shoulder is capable of a ments take the burden, and the
tremendous variety of motions and overstretch can cause pain and
has great flexibility—from 100- further problems.
mile-per-hour pitches in baseball Imagine you’re overstretching
to the butterfly stroke in swimming the ligaments in the front of your
competition, nearly unbelievable shoulder as well as stressing the
movements in gymnastics, heavy cartilage ring during the bench
weights being pulled overhead in press, incline press and flyes. Then
one movement in the snatch and you add upright rows plus laterals
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers
extraordinary performances in performed with your hands posi-

dozens of other sports we all know tioned as if you’re pouring water
and love. That incredible range is out of a pitcher, finally relaxing your
permitted by the shoulder’s unique shoulder during shrugs and cable
anatomy. rows. You now have shoulder pain
The shoulder is a shallow ball- and don’t understand why. After
and-socket joint. Only a small all, aren’t you following the advice
portion of the ball is in contact with of the magazines, personal trainers
the socket at any time, and the joint is surrounded by and your training partners and mentors in the gym?
ligaments that attach bone to bone. The ligaments can The clinical biomechanics just don’t make sense.
be stressed and overstretched by some weight-training Modify your technique. Don’t go for the extra stretch on
movements. The socket is surrounded by a cartilage ring dumbbell flyes, do touch the bar lower on your chest
known as the glenoid labrum, and the same movements during bench presses, do eliminate upright rows entirely,
that stress ligaments can also stretch and tear the carti- don’t tip the fronts of the dumbbells downward on later-
lage ring. als, and don’t relax at the bottom of shrugs or seated
Shoulder-stressing movements include the bench cable rows.
press, incline press, dumbbell flye, cable crossover and The shoulder is such a hot topic that I’m going to con-
pec deck flye. They make the ball slide naturally forward tinue to talk about it—common mistakes, modifications
in the socket, and that can stress the cartilage ring and and new clinical information. Interest in the shoulder led
the ligaments in the front of the shoulder. me to cowrite The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution, which
The ball-and-socket joint is covered by a roof made gave me much more space to address shoulder-related
of bone and a ligament. Some movements can drive the anatomical, biomechanical, clinical and training issues.
ball upward into that roof, causing the rotator cuff tendon, —Joseph M. Horrigan
biceps tendon and a fluid-filled sac called a bursa to be
compressed, or impinged. The impingement produces Editor’s note: Visit www.softtissuecenter.com for
tendinitis and bursitis. The movement culprits are exer- reprints of Horrigan’s past Sportsmedicine columns that
cises with internal rotation and elevation of the shoul- have appeared in IRON MAN. You can order the books,
der—like upright rows and lateral raises with the front of Strength, Conditioning and Injury Prevention for Hockey
the dumbbell turned down. by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and E.J. “Doc” Kreis, D.A.,
The ligaments in the upper and rear of the shoulder and The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solution by Horrigan and
joint can be overstretched as well. Exercises that can Jerry Robinson from Home Gym Warehouse, (800) 447-
contribute to the problem include seated cable rows, 0008, or at www.Home-Gym.com.

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TRAIN TO GAIN X-FILES MASS MOVES
Calf-Raising Details Squat or Not?

Q: I’ve been using Squats are by far the most
the 3D POF calf productive exercise for the lower
workout [from the body. Because of the muscle mass
e-book 3D Muscle involved, they also provide great
Building], but my overall stimulation. But they’re not
calves have gotten without their problems, and one
only a small growth relates to depth.
spurt. I train them
“The danger in a full squat, a low
hard to failure and
with end-of-set X-
squat,” Arthur Jones said, “is not
Rep paritals. Should a result of the position of your legs
I add more sets? By in relation to your torso. The dan-
the way, I’m a skinny ger is a result of the direction from
hardgainer type, but which the force is imposed.” The
I’ve added lots of force is trying to bend the bones of
muscle lately with your lower leg and pull your knee
POF—just not on my apart—the same as a leg extension.
calves. Although the direction of force is
A: You’re probably too worse in a leg extension, the amount
familiar with the genetic of force is greater in a squat. Results
barriers when it comes are about the same.
to building calves, so Nevertheless, Jones had trainees
we won’t go there. Let’s and bodybuilders perform squats to
concentrate on a few a level where their thighs, in photo-
things you can do to get graphs, were below parallel to the
your lower legs grow- floor. According to Ellington Darden,
ing, despite your genetic
Ph.D., who worked for Jones,
shortcomings.
First, what kind of
“Squats should be carried to a point
shoes are you wearing where the thighs first start to con-
when you train calves? tact the backs of the calves. At that
We’ve seen guys in the point the squat should be stopped
Thick-soled shoes can hamper calf
gym wearing army boots by muscular action instead of by
training and reduce results.
and basketball shoes bouncing the thighs off the calves.
with thick, padded soles, Performed in the correct manner,
which is not good for calf stimulation. You’ve got our e-book 3D Muscle Building; go to there is no danger to the knees. On
page 20. There we talk about the extensor reflex—the reason legendary trainer Vince the contrary, squats can do more to
Gironda used to yell at people in his Hollywood gym to train their calves without shoes
prevent knee injuries than any other
on. Training calves barefoot causes the muscle to contract better due to pressure on the
soles of the feet. That’s the extensor reflex.
barbell exercise.”
We don’t suggest you train calves without shoes—some calf blocks are mighty —Gary Bannister
sharp—but we do suggest you get some of the new minimalist running shoes, like Nike In Arthur’s Shadow—Daily
Free. They have thin soles, so it’s almost like training barefoot (the company’s catch- Musings on Exercise: A Tribute to
phrase for the shoes is, “It’s like running barefoot”). Two of the most important parts of Arthur Jones
the stroke on calf exercises are the stretch and semistretch positions at the bottom.
Thick-soled shoes help you cheat with too much rebound. Thin-soled shoes force your
calves to work harder down low.
One other thing you should do: For your contracted-position exercise, don’t use the
standing calf machine. You say you’re a skinny hardgainer, so you probably have low
neuromuscular efficiency—less-than-stellar nerve-to-muscle connections. Some uni-
lateral free-weight work will therefore help you realize more size. Try one-leg calf raises.
They make you concentrate on one calf at a time to fire more fibers.
Stand on a high calf block near an upright you can hold on to for balance (we use
one end of the cable crossover machine). Hold a dumbbell in your hand on the same
side as the calf you’re working, keep a slight bend at your knee, and try to drive up with
the big-toe side of your foot. Do two sets of about 15 controlled reps for each leg—and
Neveux \ Model: Tamer Elshahat
don’t forget the X-Rep partials on the last set for each leg. Do those pulses down low—
to force your calves to grow.
Try one-leg calf raises—with the right shoes—for a few weeks, and you’ll be showing
more calf flare as well as vascularity. You may even start wearing shorts to church!
—Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson
www.3DMuscleBuilding.com

YOU CAN BENCH BIG
Add 20 Pounds to Your Bench Press Almost Overnight!
How would you like a surge in
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workouts? Sure, adding 20 pounds
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been stuck in neutral for a while.
But nine times out of 10 this stall is
due to an easily correctible muscle
weakness—not in the pecs, delts
or triceps but in a group of muscles
known as the rotator cuff.
The rotator cuff muscles stabilize

the shoulder joint. During the bench
press and almost all other upper-
body movements these muscles
protect the shoulder joint and
prevent ball-and-socket slippage. If
these muscles are underdeveloped,
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TRAIN TO GAIN MATURE MUSCLE
Reasons to Lift The top ways weight training can improve your life
Q: Why do you their aerobics-trained

believe that lift- counterparts. Weight
ing weights is the training increases
most important muscle size, burns
form of fitness? bodyfat and reshapes
A: Weight train- the body. People
ing increases bone who do aerobics only
density, provided you have bodies that are
take extra calcium generally less muscu-
from supplements lar and tend to hold
or eat calcium-rich more bodyfat. In fact,
foods. Weight train- if you weight train
ing has an anti-aging moderately heavy
effect because, as a and fast, you prob-
weight-bearing exer- ably don’t even need
cise, it gives the body to do aerobics.
a reason to absorb Because a properly
more calcium. As weight-trained body
many double-blind is healthier and more
studies have demon- aesthetically pleasing,
strated, if you don’t weight training builds
do weight-bearing self-confidence.
exercises, your body By merely taking
won’t absorb any
Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin

up weight train-
of the calcium you ing and its healthful
take in. It may end lifestyle, many have
up in your kidneys turned their lives
in the form of kidney around. I know that
stones. can happen because
Aging and death it happened to me.
are part of life; how-
Weight training keeps your joints strong and hormone
Having left home
ever, there are many levels higher for an improved quality of life as you age. at a young age for
ways of slowing the financial reasons, I had
aging process. One of the most important biological mark- to take life by the horns. By 19, I was in the United States
ers of aging is muscle loss. Weight training can slow that Air Force, and my life was very different from the lives of
to a crawl, and it can help the body produce more growth crime so common among the peers I’d left behind. Lifting
hormone, which in and of itself helps preserve muscle, as weights was a big reason. I never would have accomplished
well as heal injuries, improve skin tone, revitalize sex drive so much or become the person I am today without it. The
and beef up tendons and ligaments. dedication, discipline and self-esteem that weight training
Essentially, weight training improves the quality of life. can produce can help every man, woman and teenager go
Most people who train moderately with weights will have forward. —Paul Burke
nearly pain-free joints their entire lives. (That’s also a reason
not to train with weights that are too heavy.) Editor’s note: To contact
Training with weights gives you a sense of well-being Paul Burke, write to him via e-mail
because it encourages the release of endorphins from the at [email protected]. Burke has
hypothalamus, the brain’s control central. That feeling of a master’s degree in Integrated
well-being can last for up to eight hours after training. In Studies from Cambridge College in
fact, studies have shown that weight training is far more Cambridge, Massachusetts. He’s
effective than many serotonin reuptake inhibitors in generat- been a champion bodybuilder and
ing it. arm wrestler, and he’s considered
Training with weights is twice as effective at burning fat a leader in the field of over-40
as doing aerobics. No, that’s not a typo. The simple fact fitness training. You can purchase
is that the more muscle mass you carry on your body, the his book Burke’s Law—a New
more fat you’ll burn—even at rest. Muscle stokes the me- Fitness Paradigm for the Mature
tabolism long after training is over. The most you can expect Male, from Home Gym Warehouse.
from doing aerobics only is to burn off blood glucose first Call (800) 447-0008, or visit www.
and then some stored fat. Home-Gym.com. His “Burke’s Law” training DVD is also
In most cases, weight-trained bodies look better than now available.

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TRAIN TO GAIN EXERCISE SCIENCE
Stretching, Strength and Size

A major law of affects hormones.
exercise physiolo- Animal studies, mainly
gy is the specifici- with mice and rabbits,
ty-of-exercise rule: show that stretch-
To get stronger, ing specifically
you overload the increases the re-
muscles with pro- lease in muscle of
gressively heavier insulinlike growth
weights. To build factor 1. IGF-1 is
endurance, you considered the
do aerobic exer- primary anabolic
cise that raises mechanism for
your heart rate to releasing growth
a certain range. To hormone and is
increase flexibility, essential for mus-
Neveux \ Model: Ron Harris

you stretch—but cular growth and
when? repair following
Many coaches exercise. In ad-
have their athletes dition, stretching
engage in exten- is the primary
sive preactivity stimulus to the
stretch routines intramuscular
with the goal of preventing injuries. The theory: Stretching production of a variant of IGF-1 called mechano-
warms up and loosens the muscles, as tight muscles are growth factor, which may be the most anabolic
more prone to injury. muscle hormone factor of all. MGF helps activate satel-
Yet under the objective eye of cold science that long-held lite cells, which are required for muscle repair and growth.
notion doesn’t hold up. In fact, there’s little or no scientific evi- Doing a prestretch before every rep is a good way to take
dence to prove that stretching before exercise prevents injury. advantage of the benefits of stretching. It not only increases
The confusion stems from a failure to distinguish a warmup the strength of the contraction of the muscle trained but also
from a stretch routine. Extensive evidence confirms that activates the stretch response that promotes release of the in-
warmups prevent injuries. In a typical bodybuilding workout an tramuscular hormonal factors. Stretching in this manner won’t
effective warmup consists of one or two light sets of an exer- weaken muscles but will strengthen them.
cise. The objective is to increase intramuscular temperature, On the other hand, the common practice of stretch-
which in turn decreases muscle viscosity, making for more ing a muscle between sets is not a good idea,
fluid movement when you move on to a heavier weight. based on existing research. Bodybuilders who think
Stretching, however, can be counterproductive. Several they’re helping the muscle recover between sets are in fact
recent studies have indicted pretraining stretching as a cause weakening it and even setting themselves up for injury. The
of muscle-strength loss, notably a loss of strength vary- best time to perform a stretch routine would be
ing from 4.5 percent to 28 percent when stretching independent from a weight workout or following a
is done before heavy weight training. The strength workout.
loss is most often attributed to a drop in muscle tension. There’s even debate about the best way to stretch. The
Strength requires a certain level of tension within muscle, and type of stretching most often recommended is static. You get
stretching can deactivate some of that. into a stretch position and hold it for 10 to 30 seconds. The
Other studies show that stretching decreases motor unit usual advice is to avoid ballistic stretching, in which you do
activation. In simple terms, stretching interferes with short, bouncy movements in a stretch position, but bouncy
the neural control of muscles, leading to a weaker movements activate the muscle sense organs and thus
contraction. One experiment looking at that issue found a shorten the muscle—the opposite of what you want stretching
28 percent drop in maximum voluntary muscle contraction, to accomplish.
which remained depressed by 9 percent an hour after the Still, ballistic stretching can be useful for increasing tendon
stretching ended. Stretching may interfere with the muscle flexibility, according to recent research. It may be useful for
neural response by activating receptors in muscles, such as activities that involve an intense stretch-shortening cycle,
the Golgi tendon organs, which respond to muscle tension. which most often places stress on tendons. Apparently, bal-
Stretching decreases the viscosity of tendons, letting listic stretching conditions tendons for that kind of activity,
muscle fibers slide with less resistance. In plain English, that increasing tendon flexibility and preventing injuries resulting
means a weaker muscle contraction. On a molecular level, from sudden force.
stretching activates a muscle protein called titin that’s respon- —Jerry Brainum
sible for muscular elasticity.
While stretching may be counterproductive to increasing Witvrouw, E., et al. (2007). The role of stretching in tendon
muscle size and strength, other factors make it beneficial injuries. Br J Sports Med. 41:224-26.
when you do it at the right time. For example, stretching

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TRAIN TO GAIN HARDGAINER
Do You Know Your Exercise Categorization?

The leg There’s another pair of labels that are sometimes used for
extension is
the two categories: muscle builders and muscle refiners. The
a single-joint
exercise for the multijoint exercises are said to be the builders and the single-
quads, whereas joint exercises the refiners. Ah, but that, too, is a simplifica-
the leg press tion. Both groups of exercises are potential builders, although
and squats a multijoint exercise typically works more mass than a single-
are multijoint, joint exercise. That means the former has more potential to
or compound, build overall muscle than the latter. Still, depending on the
movements. exercises being compared, a given multijoint exercise may
not build as much muscle as a single-joint exercise in the
particular muscle(s) that both train. The work of the former is
dispersed, but that of the latter is focused.
A multijoint exercise works multiple muscles simultaneously
by spreading the load over them, and they share the load
and benefits. The body can be trained using only a handful
Neveux \ Model: David Dorsey of compound movements. That has particular value if you’re
pressed for time or limited on equipment. Beyond the begin-
ner stage, though, there are times when you want to give
exclusive or nearly exclusive priority to multijoint exercises.
Trainees interested in competitive lifting must use multijoint
exercises.
Even so, only single-joint exercises can provide meaning-
ful work for some muscles. They’re sometimes es-
sential for direct, specific and controlled exercise
of a particular muscle or muscle group when
highly controlled, safe work is needed, such
as in rehabilitation. It’s impractical, how-
ever, to train the entire body using single-
joint exercises only. Imagine the number
of exercises that you’d have to do.
Generally, multijoint exercises are
more demanding than single-joint ones,
and hard work on multijoint exercises
Exercises come in two produces a lot of growth stimulation
basic types: multijoint move- as well as anabolic hormone output for
ments, which are often called both the muscles directly involved in the
compound exercises, and exercises and, to a degree, those indirectly
single-joint ones, which are often involved. Most single-joint exercises don’t have
called isolation exercises. The squat, much indirect effect. Done in excess, however, they
for instance, involves movement at more than rob the recuperative system of its reserves, thus restrain-
one joint and thus affects a lot of muscles—primarily those ing, perhaps preventing, progress in all exercises. Too many
of the thighs, buttocks and lower back. The leg extension— multijoint exercises would have the same negative effect. The
straightening your knee against resistance at the ankles while key is to avoid an excess of exercise in total.
seated—is a single-joint exercise because it involves only the Treat both groups seriously. Regardless of the category
knee. The leg extension primarily targets the quadriceps, or an exercise belongs to, perform it properly. Use correct tech-
thigh muscles. Compound exercises are often called big, or nique, control and discipline and—once you’re beyond your
core, movements, whereas single-joint exercises are labeled first six months or so of training—effort.
small, auxiliary movements. A prudent mixture of both usually —Stuart McRobert
gives you balanced development. www.Hardgainer.com
That’s a simplification, of course. Some single-joint exer-
cises work much larger areas of musculature than others, Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s
and it’s not accurate to call all of them “small.” Further, some first byline in IRON MAN appeared in
of the big exercises aren’t so big, and single-joint exercises 1981. He’s the author of a new 638-
rarely involve only a single joint, as other joints and bodyparts page opus on bodybuilding, Build
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TRAIN TO GAIN TRAINING AIDS
Steroids: Maybe They Really Can Kill You

The sport of bodybuilding has been losing athletes to
heart disease lately at what seems to be a frightening rate. In
recent years Don Youngblood, Don Ross, Derrick Whitsett,
Charles Durr and Curtis Leffler have all died of heart attacks
at surprisingly young ages. In a sport that is supposed to be
about health and fitness, this trend is disturbing. Just this past
summer a friend of mine, Anthony D’Arezzo, died of a heart
attack in his hotel room mere hours before he was to take the
stage at the NPC Masters Nationals, his first contest in nine
years, which was supposed to be a triumphant comeback.
The autopsy revealed that his heart was three times the size of
a normal adult male heart.
For years I’ve come down on those who tried to scare
bodybuilders away from steroids by making such alarming
statements as “Steroids will kill you!” I’m not pro-steroids, but
I am pro-truth, so my rebuttal to that was always this: “So
where are all the bodies?”
Now it appears that the bodies are piling up, and I can no
longer pretend that steroids are the relatively innocuous train-
ing aids I once imagined them to be.
All bodybuilders experience some degree of heart enlarge-
ment, but steroids appear to magnify the effect. There’s evi-
Neveux \ Model: Anthony D’Arezzo

dence that steroids are pro-atherogenic. That is, they increase
triglycerides and LDL, the bad cholesterol, while at the same
time reducing levels of HDL, the good cholesterol. Further-
more, being overweight increases the risk of heart disease,
and bodybuilders have been neglecting the fact that even
when the extra weight they carry is all lean muscle tissue, the
heart and other organs are overly stressed. Human beings
weren’t meant to be 5’10” and weigh 300 pounds, but thanks
to steroids, we now have a few thousand men who have moderation? I believe they could, but the dosages that top-
achieved that dubious distinction. level bodybuilders use are extreme—so extreme that no doc-
Could steroids be used safely under a doctor’s care, in tor would feel comfortable with a patient’s undertaking such
a drastic regi-
LEGENDS men. Add such
other com-
monly used
Push/Pull Bull? drugs as GH,
insulin, thyroid
and asthma
A story about Mr. Olympia Lee Haney medications
drives home a point about minimal and diuretics,
Neveux \ Model: Lee Haney
overlap in a training split. Haney used to and I fear the

follow the push/pull split that was popular wave of death
in his day. He would train for three days and serious
on/one off. health prob-
lems coming to
our sport has
Day 1: Chest, shoulders, triceps
only begun.
Day 2: Legs Drug testing isn’t the answer,
Day 3: Back, biceps Instead of smoking all the pushing as bodybuilders, like all high-level
muscles on one day and the pulling ones athletes, will always find a way
The gains weren’t great, and Mr. O’s on the other, all were getting heavy days to beat the tests. The only solu-
shoulders were hurting, thanks to the and light days, an essential element tion is for bodybuilders to wake
triple assault on that vulnerable joint on in continuous progress. His shoulders up to the dangers of what they
day 1. Haney was confident enough healed, and the scale needle and ex- may be doing and ask themselves
to admit that he did not have all the ercise poundages started climbing up whether the risks are worth the
rewards. I have a feeling that if
answers. Someone suggested that he again.
any of the deceased could answer
switch to this arrangement: —Pavel
that question, most of them would
Beyond Bodybuilding have been far more cautious and
Day 1: Chest, biceps, triceps
put a higher value on their health
Day 2: Legs
and longevity.
Day 3: Shoulders, back —Ron Harris

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Charles Poliquin’s
Smart Training
As for leg extensions, here goes:
The choice of machine is impor-
Extension tant. The best brands are David,
Atlantis, Flex and Avenger because
they best match the strength curve.
Contention The angle of the seat is im-

portant. Research shows that 90
degrees is optimal. Other angles—
such as 100 or 110 degrees—de-
Q: You seem to be very much crease quadriceps recruitment.
against leg extensions. Why? I Foot position affects quadriceps
think it’s a great exercise and has recruitment—as measured by
a place in leg training for body- magnetic resonance and integrated
builders. EMG, a nerve-function metric. The
more the toes are turned in, the
A: Anyone who’s attended my semi- more the vastus lateralis is recruit-
nars knows I’m not a huge fan of leg ed, the more the toes are turned

extensions. The main reason is that I out, the more the vastus medialis is
believe in the-most-bang-for-your- recruited.
buck exercises. Throughout my career You should do leg extensions
I’ve had, on average, only 11 weeks to using hypertrophy or strength-
work with an athlete—the amount of endurance protocols and do them
time that NHL players have to get in in a postexhaustion fashion. So
shape for the season. place them last in any quadriceps
routine.
Research has shown that leg ex-
tensions are an oddity. Most exercises stimu-
late enhanced motor unit recruitment if done
unilaterally, but not leg extensions. They bring
greatest activation when both legs are worked
simultaneously, or bilaterally.
Leg extensions are not a great exercise for
athletes who are pressed for time, but they
can be a valuable addition for athletes who
need greater hypertrophy, like bodybuilders,
or more local strength endurance, like speed
skaters.
Compared to full squats, though, leg exten-
sions rank very poorly in workout efficiency.
Large quadriceps are built significantly faster
with full squats than with the fanciest leg
extension machine you can find.
Q: I’m a drug-free bodybuilder. How
can I maximize by recovery between
workouts?
A: Recovery is the forgotten element in
most sports training. Pro teams such as the
Chelsea Football Club and the Leicester Tigers
Rugby Club in the UK and the Chicago Bears
here have finally begun to hire sports nutri-
Neveux \ Model: Cara Basso
tionists to develop recovery programs for their

players.
Attention to your recovery processes will
enable you to train intensely more frequently.
Here are five important tips for maximizing
growth.
1) Four to five times weekly, stretch your
Stretching can enhance the

hypertrophy process—but do it
after your workout or at a separate
session.

COST OF REDEMPTION
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This 3-plus-hour DVD is a

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Whatever You Need—Wherever You Train™

Smart Training
muscles thoroughly. Besides the well-known injury preven- muscle gains by:
tion and increased flexibility benefits, regular stretching • Inhibiting the enzymes that product energy for your
maximizes hypertrophy by elongating the fascia, making workouts.
room for the muscle to grow. After a very brief cardiovas- • Messing up your sleep patterns. The reduced quantity
and quality of sleep will
minimize your recovery
If you need more than eight for the following workout.
hours of sleep a night, it An evening partying on
may be a sign that you’re not a Friday will foul up your
eating often enough. sleep until the following
Tuesday.
• Decreasing your
natural testosterone pro-
duction. A study done in
Finland found that the
occasional alcohol binge
decreases your natural tes-
tosterone production for
as many as three days.
5) Pay attention to your
sleep patterns, record-
ing quantity and quality
in your training diary. If
you have problems fall-
ing asleep, your training
Neveux \ Model: Joe DeAngelis

intensity may be too high,
and if you feel you can
never sleep enough, your
volume may be too high.
Many self-hypnosis re-
cordings are available. Try
them before falling asleep.
A number of athletes have
reported enhanced sleep
cular warmup (two to five minutes, just enough to make quality and diminished sleeping needs after using them.
you break a sweat) stretch the targeted muscle group with Nutrients such as phosphatidylcholine, phosphatidylserine
proprioceptive neuromuscular facilitation, a.k.a. PNF and magnesium improve the quality of your sleep.
stretching. (For details consult a physiotherapist or a coach If you follow these guidelines, you can achieve lean
certified by me. You can locate a certified coach near you bodyweight gains in record time.
at my Web site.) Finish off with four to six 15-second static
Q: I haven’t been able to train for a while because
stretches. The combination of those two stretching meth-
of a nasty divorce. I’ve lost a lot of strength and
ods is more effective than using one method alone. Static
mass. What’s the quickest way to restore muscle?
stretching makes permanent the rapid gains made with
PNF. A: People are forced to temporarily stop training be-
2) Deep massage of the connective tissue is probably cause of various uncontrollable factors—death of a close
the best recovery-boosting method. In my practice as a relative, high-
strength consultant with various national teams, I’ve rou- stress situ-
tinely observed strength gains of 2 to 10 percent 24 hours ations such
after such treatments, though why elite athletes experience as divorce or
such a strength gain I don’t really know. Bear in mind that tremendous
deep massage has quite a few names—such as Rolfing and work commit-
neuromuscular reeducation massage. Warning: NRM is ments—and
painful, about as much fun as getting the inside of your get discour-
nostrils scraped with a mentholyptus-coated potato peeler. aged once
The rewards, however, are worth it. If your strength doesn’t they return
increase at the following workout, seek a better therapist. to the gym.
3) Don’t sleep more than eight hours in a row. If you Both training
need more sleep, you’re not eating often enough. If your and nutri-
schedule can afford it, have an afternoon nap ending 90 tional tricks,
minutes before your workout. It will give you half an hour however, can
to eat your preworkout meal and an hour to digest before restore mus-
starting your session. cle. First let’s Alcohol can disrupt sleep patterns and
4) Abstain from alcohol. Alcohol will slow down your look at how lower testosterone.

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Smart Training
Heavy negative, or eccentric, exercise can
help you regain strength quickly after a layoff.
Nutrition is important. Use the four following

nutrients:
Vinpocetine—10 milligrams twice a day. Vinpo-
cetine, extracted from a kind of periwinkle, is an ex-
cellent vasodilator and cerebral metabolic enhancer
and even seems to retard vascular-based cognitive
dysfunction. I find it very beneficial at restoring
muscle memory. I love it as part of any brain stack,
as it’s known as the gate opener and helps other
brain nutraceuticals to do their job. It will magnify
the effects of any stimulant. Dr. Ken Proefrock, a
professor at the Southwest College of Naturopathic
Medicine, considers it a compound far superior to
hydergine.
Bacopa—100 milligrams twice a day. Bacopa is
a botanical used in Ayurvedic medicine with well-
demonstrated antianxiety, antifatigue and memory-
strengthening effects.
L-carnitine—six grams per day. It significantly
reduces pain, tenderness and release of creatine
kinase, usually called CK, following eccentric effort.
That’s because of its vasodilatation property, which
both improves energetic metabolism of the dam-
aged muscle and enhances washout of metabolites
that create pain.
Some people report difficulty sleeping when
Neveux \ Model: Idrise Ward-El
using L-carnitine after 4 p.m. Make sure you spread

out your dosages, and take at least two grams post-
workout. I like a product called Panthetine Synergy,
which contains both B5 pantethine and L-carnitine.
A precursor of the mother hormone pregnenolone,
pantethine does wonders to restore the adrenal
glands. To buy Pantethine Synergy, contact Judith@
CharlesPoliquin.com.
you should arrange your training. Eccentric training will If you combine the nutritional approach and the train-
restore past levels of strength faster. Alternating between ing strategies, you should return to your best ever training
two protocols for about six weeks is all it should take to get poundages in record time.
your strength back.
Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one
Protocol 1: At the end of a conventional concentric of the world’s most successful strength coaches, having
four-to-six-rep set at 80 to 82 percent of your one-rep coached Olympic medalists in 12 different sports, includ-
maximum, add 25 to 30 percent more weight to the barbell ing the U.S. women’s
and perform additional eccentric-only repetitions. Another track-and-field team
option: Have a training partner manually apply resis- for the 2000 Olym-
tance—for example, push down on the bar—for the eccen- pics. He’s spent years
tric portion. The negative repetitions will exhaust eccentric researching Euro-
strength and help get the contractile proteins to return to pean journals (he’s
their previous training size. Do eight total sets per body- fluent in English,
part, and be sure to rest four minutes between sets—or two French and Ger-
minutes between antagonistic pairs. Each eccentric lower- man) and speaking
ing should last between four to six seconds. with other coaches
Note: It’s vital to control the descent of the resistance to and scientists in his
avoid injury. quest to optimize
training methods.
Protocol 2: Using 120 to 130 percent of your one-rep- For more on his
max load, do two to three reps for 10 sets, resting four books, seminars and
to five minutes between sets. Take eight to 10 seconds methods, visit www
Bradford
for each lowering. On that day, do only one exercise per .CharlesPoliquin
bodypart. That will help you tap into the high-threshold .net. Also, see his ad
motor units that were responsible for your big poundages. on page 171. IM Charles Poliquin
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Whatever You Need—Wherever Youwww.ironmanmagazine.com

Train ™ \ JULY 2006 181
EAT TO
GOOD FAT
What’s Your Poison?

Pet owners were recently horrified to
they contained not just pro-hormones
Are some foods toxic?
would boost thyroid hormone produc-
learn that many commercial pet foods
but full-fledged hormones, including tion, thus helping burn excess bodyfat
were contaminated. While it’s still not
anabolic-steroid drugs. As the products and increase overall muscularity. Some
clear precisely what the toxin in the
were synthetic, the drugs had to be bodybuilders took 30 to 50 kelp tablets
food was, it was found in wheat gluten,
added. every day.
a protein. Many unfortunate animals The good news is that nobody died What the bodybuilders didn’t real-
that ate the contaminated food died
from tainted supplements, although ize, however, was that iodine worked in
from kidney failure. athletes may have failed drug tests. what statisticians call a bell curve. Sim-
You might think that scenario is
Other supplements may contain ingre- ply put, while a certain amount
unlikely to occur in human food, but
dients that can lead to serious health of iodine is indeed required for
you’d be dangerously naive. In recent
problems. thyroid hormone synthesis, too
years several food supplements, mainly
Take, for example, a reported case much of the trace mineral leads
aimed at the bodybuilding market,of arsenic poisoning in a 54-year-old to a slowing of thyroid function,
woman who took kelp tablets.1 Kelp
have contained ingredients that weren’t or hypothyroidism. That’s been
is a rich source of trace minerals, es-
listed on the labels. Analyses of several observed in cultures where forms of
pro-hormone products showed that pecially iodine. Two-thirds of thyroid kelp are a food staple, such as in China
hormone, which and Japan. Fortunately, even though
Some bodybuilding supplements have controls basal taking in large amounts of iodine shuts
been found to be tainted; now certain metabolic rate, the thyroid down, the condition is re-
foods show traces of arsenic. is iodine. The versible when people stop getting so
other third is much iodine.2
the amino acid The 54-year-old woman with arse-
tyrosine. nic poisoning complained of hair loss,
In the ’60s memory loss and fatigue. Doctors
and ’70s kelp initially attributed her symptoms to
was a popular menopause and adjusted her hormone
supplement supplements. The woman took various
among body- supplements to treat the symptoms,
builders. They including kelp tablets, fish oil, ginkgo
had few choices biloba and grapeseed extract, but the
when it came only supplement she used consistently
to fat-burning was the kelp.
supplements, She began with two kelp tablets
and the theory daily, then gradually increased the dose
was that a daily to four a day. In due course she devel-
dose of kelp oped additional symptoms, including

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Nutrition With a Get-Big Mission
diarrhea, nausea and vomiting and
had pressure headaches, feeling as
if there was a band around her head.
Weakness and fatigue followed, re-
quiring additional sleep. Within a few
compound called Roxarsone is mixed
into the diet of about 70 percent of the
9 billion chickens produced annually in
the United States.3 The intent is to
promote growth, kill parasites
showed detectable levels of
arsenic, but only one-third of
samples from certified organic
and premium farms had detect-
able levels. Chickens from Tyson
months she noticed a skin rash on her that cause diarrhea and im- and Foster Farms, which had both
legs. Her toenails began falling out. prove the pigmentation of the stopped adding Roxarsone to chicken
Her doctor realized that her symp- chicken meat. While relatively feed, had no arsenic. The doctor who
toms indicated toxicity, and a spot benign, Roxarsone converts in released the report commented, “As a
urine test showed an elevated arsenic the chick- physician, I find it ludicrous that
level. Analysis of her food supple- en’s body we continue feeding arsenic
ments revealed that the kelp tablets to inorganic to chickens now that we know
were rich in arsenic. As soon as she arsenic. Ac- it increases our cancer risk
quit taking them, her symptoms abat- cording to the and is unnecessary for raising
ed, and eventually the arsenic disap- Environmental chickens.”
peared from her body. Protection The National Chicken Coun-
Arsenic is a poison that’s found Agency, long- cil responded by saying that
naturally in the environment and as a term exposure the report wasn’t “scientific”
result of industrial contamination. Soils to inorganic and that there was no reason
rich in arsenic can yield foods with arsenic can cause bladder, lung, skin, to fear the use of arsenic-based feed
higher content of the toxin. Because kidney and colon cancers and ad- additives. Chickenspeak translation:
of the high concentration of arsenic versely affects immune function, the “Pluck you!” —Jerry Brainum
in algae and microorganisms eaten nervous system and hormone release.
by fish, seafood averages four to five Low-level exposure is linked to paraly-
parts per million compared to the sis and diabetes. References
0.02 PPM found in grains and cereals, A 2004 report from the United
which is below toxic levels. States Department of Agriculture 1 Amster, E., et al. (2007). Case
The authors of the kelp case study showed that most people eat 1.3 to report: Potential arsenic toxicosis
purchased nine samples of kelp 5.2 micrograms per day of inorganic secondary to herbal kelp supplement.
supplements from health food stores. arsenic from chicken alone. Those Environ Health Perspect. 115:606-
Arsenic was detected in eight of who eat large amounts of chicken 608.
them, and the concentration in seven (such as bodybuilders) consume 21 2 Kasagi, K., et al. (2003). Effect of
exceeded the Food and Drug Admin- to 31 micrograms daily. An analysis of iodine restriction on thyroid function in
istration’s tolerance level of 2 PPM. 151 samples of raw chicken obtained patients with primary hypothyroidism.
As it happens, kelp isn’t that popular from markets in Minnesota and Cali- Thyroid.
among bodybuilders these days; just fornia revealed that 55 percent con- 3 Hileman, B. (2007). Arsenic in
remember that a dose of the kelp is tained inorganic arsenic ranging from chicken production. Chem Engin
not something you want. 1.6 to 21.2 PPM. Three-fourths News. 85:34-35.
Then again, that may not help if you of the samples taken from
eat chicken. It seems that an arsenic conventional poultry farms
www.ironmanmagazine.com \ SEPTEMBER 2007 49

LIFT BIG TO GET BIG
Build Incredible Pressing Power and Bulletproof Shoulders
Unfortunately, shoulder injury

is one of the major reasons
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Eat to Grow
NUTRITION NOTES
Food Facts
That can affect your
workouts, weight and wellness
Coca-Cola is
high in sugar—one
can has about nine
teaspoons—as you
probably know. But
did you know that
many of the new
flavored bottled wa-
ters contain almost
as much sugar as a
Coke? Check the label of your chosen
Neveux \ Model: Lee Apperson

brand. It may be one
reason you’re not get-
ting lean.
B-vitamins are im-
portant, especially when
you are dieting. Vitamin
B1, a.k.a. thiamine,
WARRIOR NUTRITION AND EXERCISE helps your body convert
carbs, amino acids and
fats to energy—rather than storing
Stubborn-Fat Busters them as fat. Niacin, or B3, helps in
that regard, and B6 promotes tissue
rebuilding. B12 also helps rebuild, and
Citrus bioflavonoids contain natural properties that may block estrogen. it supports the nervous system. If
They are abundant in the white, spongy layer of the peel. your calories are low, try a B-complex
Soy flavones have mild estrogenic properties. They bind to estrogen re- supplement for more muscle, less fat
ceptors in the tissues and block them from estrodiol, the most potent estro- and increased energy.
Broccoli is
gen hormone. Estrodiol is called the bad estrogen because of its occasionally
fulll of disease-
powerful effects on the body, such as bloating, water retention, fat gain, fighting vitamins
feminization of men (such as “bitch tits”), fat under the skin and stubborn fat and antioxi-
gain around the chest and the belly. dants, but boil-
Experiments in Italy have shown that ing or steaming
it can reduce
combining citrus bioflavonoids with soy
that content by
flavones resulted in a powerful, natural at least 25 per-
way to block the estrogenic effect on cent. It’s better
the body. Adding citrus bioflavonoids to to microwave it,
soy flavones created a more powerful which preserves
more than 90 percent of the broccoli’s
defense against estrogen than taking soy
nutrients.
flavones alone. Vitamin D deficiency is implicated
—Ori Hofmekler in many cancers. Your body makes
vitamin D from sunlight, but you can
Editor’s note: Ori Hofmekler is the also get it from some types of fish,
along with good omega fats. For
author of the books
example,
The Warrior Diet and Maximum Muscle & Minimum Fat, one
published by Dragon Door Publications (www 3 1/2-
.dragondoor.com). For more information or for a con- ounce
sultation, contact him at [email protected], www serving of
salmon
.warriordiet.com or by phone at (866) WAR-DIET.
contains
almost 90 percent of the recommend-
ed daily intake of D. —Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com

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The Best of Bodybuilding in the 20th Century
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Eat to Grow
SUPPLEMENT SCIENCE
New Beta-Alanine Research

Studies continue to confirm the ergogenic benefits of In the new study one group of
supplemental beta-alanine for those engaged in exercise and cyclists, average age 20, received a
sports. The latest study, pre- supplement con-
sented at the 2007 meeting of taining 1.6 grams of
the American College of Sports beta-alanine, 5.25
Medicine, examined the use of grams of creatine
beta-alanine in elite cyclists, who and one gram of
also engaged in weight training. taurine, which they
Various studies have shown took three times
that chronic training alone ap- daily. The other
pears to double muscle carno- group received the
sine in the body. That makes same supplement
sense, since carnosine, a dipep- minus the beta-alanine. The subjects per-
tide, or bond, of two amino acids formed endurance (five hours a day, six days
(histidine and beta-alanine), is a a week)—as well as weight training done
major intramuscular buffer re- three times a week.
quired to douse the flames of the After 12 weeks both groups showed an
heightened muscle acidity you increase in the thickness of type 2 muscle
get from intense exercise. Acid- fibers. Muscle carnosine remained the same
Neveux \ Model: Skip La Cour

ity inhibits enzymes involved in in those who didn’t take the beta-alanine, but
energy production, which in turn it rose by 46 percent in those who did take it,
leads to muscular fatigue. as did their taurine levels. Those in the beta-
The results of studies examin- alanine group also experienced significant im-
ing the relationship of training to provements in various exercise metrics, such
increased muscle carnosine have as ventilatory threshold, time to exhaustion
been largely ambiguous. Some and total work done, which the other group
have shown no increase, and did not. The improvements were attributed to
others have shown a doubling following eight to 16 weeks of increased muscle-buffering capacity because of the enhanced
training. Still others show a 60 percent increase. carnosine. —Jerry Brainum
H E A LT H F O O D S X-TREME LEAN
Coffee Grinds Disease Fat-Burning Foods

According You may have
to Joe Vinson, heard the phrase, “A
Ph.D., “An eight- calorie is not a calo-
ounce cup of rie.” When it comes
caffeinated or to the macronutri-
decaffeinated ents—protein, fat and
coffee contains carbohydrate—that’s
more disease- absolutely true. One
fighting anti- hundred calories of
oxidants than a each induces a different thermic response—meaning the
typical serving number of calories your body spends to digest it:
of fresh blueber-
ries or oranges.” Carbs: 100 calories = 5-calorie thermic response
In an article
published in the Fat: 100 calories = 10-calorie thermic response
June ’07 issue of Bottom Line/Health, Vinson explains that
Protein: 100 calories = 18-calorie thermic response
those who drink about three cups a day appear to have a
lower risk of heart disease, diabetes and age-related mental That’s another reason low-carb diets tend to work for
decline. So no need to feel guilty about that cup of joe you most people—eating more protein produces more of a
chug before you hit the gym. It gets your engine revved and thermic response because of the energy required to break
your immune system functioning. —Becky Holman it down and assimilate it. —Becky Holman
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Eat to Grow
ANABOLIC DRIVE
The Thrilla in Manila Whey vs. casein

If you’re an old fight fan like me, you probably remember
the three epic boxing matches between Joe Frazier and Mu-
hammad Ali. Ali squeezed out a victory (he won two out of the
three fights with Smokin’ Joe) and nailed his reputation as the
greatest boxer of all time. When it comes to the battle of pro-
teins in the research literature, it seems that the Ali vs. Frazier
equivalent is whey vs. casein.
The initial study compared the effects of whey vs. casein
during the seven-hour period after a meal. Researchers found
that net leucine balance, a measure of possible gains in mus-
cle protein, was more positive with casein than with whey.1
But that was a short-term study. What happens when you
take the stuff for weeks changes the story a bit.
We know that different proteins affect whole-body protein
Neveux \ Model: Berry Kabov

anabolism and accretion. So scientists looked at whey vs.
casein supplementation during a 10-week supervised resis-
tance-training program. In a double-blind protocol, 13 male
recreational bodybuilders supplemented their normal diet with
whey isolate or casein (1.5 grams per kilogram of bodyweight,
which equals 136 grams of protein for a 200-pound individual)
for the duration of the program. Strength was assessed by
one-rep maximums in three exercises: barbell bench press, hours. Immensely more important is to see what they do over
squat and cable pulldown. Body composition was measured weeks and months. If you use whey or casein only, whey is
by dual energy X-ray absorptiometry. Plasma glutamine was clearly a great choice—but you can’t go wrong with casein
also determined. All assessments were made in the week either. A so-called slow protein, it’s ideally used before bed or
before and the week after 10 weeks of training. in combination with whey.
Results: Plasma glutamine did not change in either group. I suggest you take a combination of whey and casein post-
However, the whey-isolate group gained more lean mass than workout—say, 80
the casein group (5.0 vs. 0.8 kilograms) and experienced a percent whey, 20
more significant decrease in fat mass than the casein group percent casein).
(-1.5 kilograms vs. +0.2 kilograms). To top it off, the whey-iso- One hour before
late group also got significantly stronger on all measures.2 you go to bed,
It’s one thing to compare how proteins “work” over seven take an opposite
mix—80 percent
CARDIO casein, 20 percent
whey.
—Jose Antonio,
Breathless Burn Ph.D.
Editor’s note: You can listen to Dr. Jose Antonio and

You know how important it is Carla Sanchez on their radio show Performance Nutrition,
to breathe correctly during your Web and podcast at www.performancenutritionshow.com.
weight-training workouts—inhale on Dr. Antonio is the CEO of the International Society of Sports
the negative stroke, exhale on the Nutrition—www
positive. But how you breathe dur- .TheISSN.org. His other Web sites include
ing cardio is also important—and www.SupplementCoach.com, www.Javafit.com, www
a sign of what fuel you’re using. If .PerformanceNutritionShow.com and www.JoseAntonioPhD
you can carry on a conversation .com.
during cardio, you’re more apt to
be tapping into bodyfat for fuel. If
you’re breathing hard—sucking References
air—and your pulse rate is very high, you’re past the lac-
tate threshold and tapping into muscle glycogen. Interval 1 Boirie, Y., et al. (1997). Slow and fast dietary proteins
cardio, such as sprinting the straightaways and walking differently modulate postprandial protein accretion. Proc Natl
the curves on a track, burns both fat and glycogen, with Acad Sci U.S.A. 94:14930-5.
even more fat used postworkout during muscle repair, but 2 Cribb, P.J., et al. (2006). The effect of whey isolate and
it’s very similar to a weight workout for your legs. If you resistance training on strength, body composition, and plasma
use interval cardio sessions, be sure to cut back on your glutamine. Int J Sport Nutr Exerc Metab. 16:494-509.
lower-body resistance workouts.
—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com

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Eat to Grow
PUMP IT UP
Want Arginine? Try watermelon
Arginine has always been a popular nutrient among body- trulline, another
builders. Along with its metabolite ornithine, it’s long been amino acid that
touted as stimulating growth hormone. More recently, various is a precursor
supplements that feature forms of arginine have been proof arginine.
moted as nitric oxide precursors. NO performs numerous vital Because argi-
functions in the human body. It dilates blood vessels, lowering nine is a basic
blood pressure while increasing blood flow, and the increased amino acid, it
blood flow is thought to increase the flow of nutrients and competes with
oxygen into muscle. other aminos
Besides being the direct precursor of NO synthesis, arginine for uptake
acts as a substrate for the synthesis of proline, the major amino into the body.
acid found in collagen, which is the primary protein of connec- Citrulline is a
tive tissue. Arginine is also a primary precursor of creatine. neutral amino
Some studies show that arginine may encourage fat and acid, which means that it doesn’t compete with other aminos.
glucose oxidation because of its link to NO. NO, in turn, in- Nor does it have to be made with hydrochloric acid, which
creases the signaling effects of a nucleotide called GMP, which reduces gut problems. In its conversion to arginine, citrulline
is directly involved in fat burning and penile erection (drugs also uses up ammonia, which is good since excess ammonia is
such as Viagra also work by raising cyclic GMP). related to fatigue.
While arginine offers heady health benefits, there are prob- So where do you get citrulline? It turns out that watermelon
lems with supplementing it. In solution it’s strongly alkaline, is a superior source.1 There are 0.7 to 3.6 milligrams of citrul-
and it has to be compounded with hydrochloric acid to create line per gram of watermelon. Eating two pounds of watermelon
a supplemental form. Supposedly that prevents acid-base daily would supply enough to provide 40 percent of the aver-
problems when you take a concentrated dose, but taking more age daily arginine intake of 3.6 grams. In the new study, sub-
than nine grams a day often leads to nausea, gastrointestinal jects who drank a lot of watermelon juice (0.52 kilograms with
discomfort and diarrhea. The side effects may be due to 1) the each of three meals) had higher plasma arginine levels than a
rapid conversion of arginine to NO in the gut coupled with 2) control group. Fasting plasma arginine increased 12 percent
impaired intestinal absorption of other amino acids, such as after three weeks of lower-dose watermelon intake and 22
lysine and histidine. percent after high intake. Those in the high-intake group also
Looking for more options about now? You could take L-ci- showed an 18 percent rise in plasma ornithine.
None of the subjects who drank watermelon juice showed
any interference with the uptake of other amino acids, so amino
ENERGY acid balance wasn’t upset. Those who drank large amounts of
the juice—amounting to six cups daily—produced two grams
The Caffeine Scene of citrulline. Studies show that 40 percent of dietary arginine is
degraded by the intestinal tissues of adult humans during initial
entry into the gut. In contrast, citrulline (which converts into
Considering all the news regarding the health benefits arginine in the kidneys) undergoes little breakdown. The liver
of coffee, decaffeinated coffee and green and black tea, it’s absorbs 10 to 15 percent of ingested arginine, which is then
a good idea to get some in your diet. Unfortunately, cof- broken down by the enzyme arginase. Citrulline bypasses the
fee is too strong for many people, souring stomachs and
liver and acts as a nutrient precursor of arginine synthesis in the
producing
kidneys. From 5 to 15 percent of arginine produced in the body
jitters. Decaf
is made that way. Another source is glutamine, which small-
is short on
intestine cells also convert into citrulline that bypasses the liver
taste, and
tea is too and travels directly to the kidneys—where it’s converted into
watery. The arginine.2
solution may So those who want to get the considerable nutritional ben-
be a popular efits of arginine without the side effects should consider adding
variety by some watermelon to their diets. It tastes pretty good, too.
Celestial —Jerry Brainum
Seasonings
called Morning Thunder. It has 40 milligrams of caffeine in References
a serving—just enough to get most people going without 1 Collins, J.K., et al. (2007). Watermelon consumption in-
overdoing it. Some coffees have as much as 100 mil-
creases plasma arginine concentrations in adults. Nutrition.
ligrams of caffeine. Morning Thunder tastes more like a
mild coffee than tea, and it contains yerba maté, a South 23:261-66.
2 Curis, E., et al. (2005). Almost all about citrulline in mam-
American plant rich in antioxidants. According to the label,
it contains more antioxidants than orange juice, broccoli or mals. Amino Acids. 29:177-205.
tomato juice per serving. —Daniel Curtis, R.D.

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©2009 Home-Gym.com

Train, Eat,
GROW Muscle-Training Program 95
From the IRON MAN Training & Research Center
by Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson • Photography by Michael Neveux
W e’re deep into our ripping

phase, and we’re moti-
vated and making good
progress. Power/Rep Range/Shock
has held our interest and pushed
cles through the meat grinder
with supersets, drop sets and so
on. Reps for most muscles stay in
the eight-to-10 range, but extend-
ed-set techniques are a must.
completely recover, preparing it for
another bout of all-out sessions.
Why not just space out the work-
outs so you get more recovery time
and never need a back-off phase?
our gains forward, but now it’s time Because stress is cumulative. If
to do something that’s very difficult In previous installments we’ve you’re training hard, you will even-
at this stage: back off for supercom- suggested that this system has tually hit a wall, which could send
pensation—but in a different way built-in supercompensation. For you into an overtraining downward
from what we generally prescribe. example, Steve doesn’t respond spiral. In our experience, it’s much
Before we get into that, here’s a much to the Power phase, as he’s an better to build up and overshoot
quick review of P/RR/S: ectomorphic type who gains bet- somewhat, then back off with a low-
ter with longer tension times. That intensity supercompensation phase.
Power. Train every exercise with means the Power phase would act There’s also a discrepancy be-
straight sets—no supersets, tri- as a back-off for him. We recently tween recovery factors. Steve’s book
sets or drop sets—and keep your bastardized the phases, however, Train, Eat, Grow discusses the dif-
reps in the four-to-six zone. We and included some longer-ten- ference between nervous-system
recommend slightly higher reps sion-time sets in the Power phase. recovery and muscle recovery and
on endurance-oriented muscles In other words, we were no longer how that can affect gains. If you
like calves, abs and forearms. doing pure low-rep training. So we space out the workouts enough so
decided to create our own phase, that the nervous system completely
Rep Range. For the first exercise calling it supercompensation. recovers, the muscles get too much
you pick a weight that lets you get rest and regress. (There’s a more
seven to nine reps. For the second Supercompensation detailed explanation in the book.)
exercise you do 10 to 12 reps. On We may seem to have a lot of
the third exercise you move the We’ve also referred to the pro- this stuff figured out—and we have
rep range up to the high end of gram as adjusted as phase training: on a lot of levels—but we readily
fast-twitch recruitment—13 to 15 four to six weeks of all-out work- admit that we often stick with our
reps. outs followed by at least a week of intensity phases much too long, like
subfailure workouts. The less-in- eight to 12 weeks, without throwing
Shock. Here you put your mus- tense workouts permit the body to in a back-off phase. As we said, it’s

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The bigger and stronger a muscle gets,
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©2009 Home-Gym.com

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training tips, analysis and size tactics are jam-packed free at www.X-
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w w w. I ro n M a n M a g a z i n e . c o m
Train, Eat, GROW Program 95
very, very difficult to back off when

gains are flowing nicely. We’re find-
ing it especially difficult this time
around, as our gains have come
more quickly—streaking vascular-
ity appeared well before summer
started. So to remedy the problems
caused by our overzealousness, we
decided to bastardize the super-
compensation phase too.
Lower Volume/Less Stress

When you have an intensity
mind-set, it can be difficult to just
shut it off for a week. It’s easier if
you’re really feeling overtrained,
but even then you may think that
you just need to train through it
(that’s usually not true). If you real-
ize you’re on the brink of overtrain-
ing, the downshift is a breather you
welcome. But with P/RR/S, you’re
always switching protocols, so you
hardly ever feel burned out. Our
solution: Keep things intense but
We decided ratchet down the volume—and
maintain that for two to three
to try our weeks instead of just one. Here are
the adjustments we made to the
undergrip program for our bastardized super-
compensation phase:
pulling
1) Delete the drop set from the
movement on first exercise. We were using the
two-set/drop method, explained
the chinning in our e-book X-traordinary
Muscle-Building Workouts, on the
bar, and what midrange exercises; now we’re
doing two straight sets.
a difference!
2) Remove traumatic stretch-
We can sure position exercises. Stretch
movements, like incline curls
feel our lats a for biceps and overhead exten-
sions for triceps, tend to damage
lot more. muscle fibers. We did keep them
in the program for legs, however,
as we only train lower body once
every seven days.
3) Tone down the intensity tech-

niques. We did X Reps for only
one set of an exercise and didn’t
do any X-hybrid techniques, like
Double-X Overload.
So most bodyparts got a volume

reduction of one to three sets. We
used only the best hypertrophic
Undergrip Chins rep range—nine to 12 for most
exercises. We did, however, keep a

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IRON MAN Training & Research Center

Muscle-Training Program 95
Workout 1 (Supercompensation): Workout 2 (Supercompensation):
Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Smith-machine incline presses (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Seated laterals/upright rows (X Reps) 3 x 9-12
High-low cable flyes (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(6) Forward-lean laterals raises (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(6)
Wide-grip dips 1 x 9-12 Smith-machine presses (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Superset Seated dumbbell presses (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Wide-grip dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Pushups (X Reps) 1 x 7-9 Bent-over rows (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Low/middle cable flyes (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(6) Bent-arm bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Chins (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Superset
Undergrip chins (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Dumbbell shrugs (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Superset High rows (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Machine pullovers (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Preacher curls 1 x 9-12
Rope rows (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Cable curls (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Rope rows (Stage) 1 x 8-10 Concentration curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Decline extensions (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 One-arm spider curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Superset Superset
Kickbacks or pushouts (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Incline hammer curls (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Bench dips (X Reps) 2 x 8-10 Rope hammer curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Incline kneeups (drop; X Reps) 2 x 12-15, 12(7) Superset
Tri-set Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 10-12
Ab Bench crunches (X Reps) 1 x 10-12 Forearm Bar reverse wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Twisting crunches (X Reps) 1 x 10-15 Superset (20-second rest)
End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Dumbbell wrist curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10-12
Forearm Bar wrist curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Legs (Supercompensation): Rockers 1 x 20-30
Quads, Calves, Hamstrings
Leg extensions (drop; X Reps) 2 x 9-12(7) Add to Friday Workout: Soleus
Squats 2 x 10-12 Seated calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 10-12, 15-20
Superset
Leg presses 1 x 7-9
Sissy squats (X Reps) 1 x 7-9 Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tues-
Feet-forward Smith-machine front squats 1 x 9-12 day; that is, legs are worked only once a week—seven
Leg curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(6) full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on
Leg curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body mus-
Stiff-legged deadlifts 2 x 9-12 cles get four to five days of recovery.
Hyperextensions (X Reps) 1 x 9-12
Knee-extension leg press calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 15-20 Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
Superset set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
Standing calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 15-20 an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond X-
Hack-machine calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-15 Rep Muscle Building. See the X-Blog at www.X-Rep.com
One-leg calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 12-15 for more workout details.
Machine donkey calf raises (X Reps) 1 x 10-15
Lower-back machine (X Reps) 1 x 8-10

We’ve been
experimenting
with the angle
on forward-
lean laterals.
A lower incline
may appear
ineffective,
but check out
the pump and
burn you get
in your lateral-
delt heads
before passing
Forward-Lean Lateral Raises judgment.
few drop sets in the mix to ensure a The Smith machine makes us lock Unilateral calf
full pump and higher tension times. in on our upper pecs and maintain work can ignite
As we write this, we just finished the proper arm position. We may a burst of new
the first week of our bastardized su- eventually try incline presses with a lower-leg growth.
percompensation phase, and we’re barbell, but for our supercompen-
feeling good and filling out. We’ll sation phase the Smith machine is
continue with it for another couple ideal.
of weeks and report how it goes next Pushups. We were using
month. flat-bench barbell presses and
wide-grip dips for our middle-
Technique Tweaks and-lower-pec midrange exercises.
Steve has a lot of problems feeling
We’ve made a few adjustments bench presses in his pecs, even
to certain exercises and flat out when he sets up properly—shoul-
switched some because of neuro- ders down and back, chest high.
muscular-efficiency problems. Last Jonathan is better at it, but he has
month we discussed how we moved very strong front delts, so it’s easy
to free weights for our midrange ex- for him to lose form and pec feel.
ercises, like bent-over barbell rows We remembered that pushups
for midback and incline dumbbell were much better for both of us
presses for chest. Some of those in the pec-pounding department.
changes worked well; others didn’t. We now superset our second set
Smith-machine incline of wide-grip dips with pushups. At
presses. We went back to the Smith the moment we’re doing them on
machine because both of us were the floor, but we’re getting a pair of
having problems feeling our upper Perfect Pushup stands to increase
pecs work when we did incline our range of motion somewhat.
dumbbell presses. Part of the prob- Undergrip chins. We were
lem is that we both start relying on doing undergrip pulldowns, but we
our front delts instead of our pecs. were staying too upright and using
The instability that comes with our biceps instead of our lats. We
trying to push dumbbells up on an
incline complicated the problem.
decided to try doing our undergrip
pulling movement on the chinning
One-leg Calf Raises
Push-ups
Model: Jonathan Lawson

We were supersetting wide-grip dips with bench presses, but we needed a change on the second exercise. The
answer was pushups. The Shark stands or Perfect Pushup stands that rotate allow for more range of motion.
ITRC Program 95, Home-Gym Routine

Workout 1 (Supercompensation): Workout 2 (Supercompensation):
Chest, Lats, Triceps, Abs Delts, Midback, Biceps, Forearms
Incline presses (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Dumbell upright rows (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Incline flyes (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6) Seated laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Bench presses (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Dumbbell presses (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Flat-bench flyes (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6) Bent-over laterals (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Chins (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Bent-over barbell rows (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Undergrip rows (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 Bent-arm bent-over laterals
Decline extensions (X Reps) 2 x 9-12 (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Superset Dumbbell shrugs (drop; X Reps) 1 x 10-12(6)
Kickbacks (X Reps) 1 x 9-12 Barbell curls 2 x 9-12
Dips or bench dips (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 Concentration curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Incline kneeups (drop; X Reps) 2 x 10, 8(7) Incline hammer curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6)
Superset Dumbbell reverse wrist curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)
Weighted full-range crunches or Dumbbell wrist curls (double drop; X Reps) 1 x 12(8)
Ab Bench crunches (drop; X Reps) 1 x 8-10(8) Rockers 1 x 20-30
End-of-bench kneeups (X Reps) 1 x 8-10
Add to Friday Workout: Soleus
Legs (Supercompensation): Seated calf raises (X Reps) 2 x 12, 20
Quads, Calves, Hamstrings Note: The leg workout is always performed on Tues-
Squats or front squats day; that is, legs get worked only once a week—seven
(nonlock; X Reps) 2 x 9-12 full days of recovery. Workouts 1 and 2 alternate on
Leg extensions or old-style Monday, Wednesday and Friday, so upper-body mus-
hack squats (drop; X Reps) 2 x 9-12(6) cles get four to five days of recovery.
Squats or front squats (nonlock; X Reps) 2 x 8-10 Note: Where X-Reps are designated, usually only one
Lunges 1 x 8-10 set or phase of a drop set is performed with X Reps or
Leg curls (drop; X Reps) 1 x 9-12(6) an X-Rep hybrid technique from the e-book Beyond
Leg curls (X Reps) 1 x 8-10 X-Rep Muscle Building.
Stiff-legged deadlifts (X Reps) 2 x 9-12
Knee-extension donkey calf raises Note: For drop sets it’s best to have a selectorized dumbbell set,
(X Reps) 2 x 15-20 such as the PowerBlock, if you don’t have a rack of fixed dumb-
One-leg calf raises (drop; X Reps) 2 x 12(7) bells of various weights. If you don’t have a leg extension ma-
chine, do old-style hacks, nonlock style. Use partner resistance,
towel around the ankles, if you don’t have a leg curl machine.

Rockers
Forearm rockers: Curl your hands up and in to hit

the flexors, lower, and then curl them up and out
to hit the extensors. Rock in and out. We’ve start-
ed doing these with very high reps—20 to 30.
What an incredible burn to finish off our forearms.
sore right on the inner head where

the gastrocs flare. We’re convinced
that what Arthur Jones said is true—
one-leg calf raises are one of the
most perfect exercises for maximum
fiber recruitment.
Forward-lean lateral raises.
We were doing these facing back-
ward on a seated bench that’s used
for presses. It has a slight incline—
but the incline wasn’t enough, as
Jonathan, with his strong upper
back, was pulling his elbows to the
rear instead of up. He was almost
doing a row instead of a lateral raise.
We remembered a few years ago
doing laterals facedown on the Ab
Bench, which has a much lower in-
cline. In fact, when we get into posi-
tion, it almost feels as if we’re going
to do bent-over laterals. But when
we start to lift the dumbbells, our
torsos raise up slightly and put us
into the perfect position to blast the
medial-delt heads. The first time we
bar, and what a difference! We’ll together. That should deemphasize did them, our delts got sore, which
stick with those for a while and see our inner thighs and put more stress is unheard of. We believe the new
if our lats improve. We can sure feel on the outer sweeps. twist on an old favorite is going to
them a lot more. One-leg calf raises. We decided give our delts some new roundness.
Squats. We’re still getting results to work these into our routine after Smith-machine presses. We
from free-bar squats; however, reading some studies on unilateral were doing these behind our heads
our adductors were getting sore. exercise. For many muscles it can and after dumbbell presses, as the
Because of that we decided to do force more fiber activation. Doing second phase of a drop set. Now
our sets with our feet fairly close only one set has made our calves we’re doing them in front of our

faces (military-press style) and start- ears, elbows high. You’ll feel your tion workouts are listed on page 68.
ing with them. We do these toward upper traps contract hard, with help For all of our workouts in printable
the end of out delt routine, so the from your delts. It’s a great finisher form, see Chapter 7—X-Rep Reload
medial heads are pretty fried. That on delt-and-back day. in our latest e-book, X-traordinary
makes it somewhat hard to balance Rockers. We’ve explained this Muscle-Building Workouts, available
dumbbells. Now we’re doing one very efficient forearm move, which at www.X-Rep.com. It also
set of Smith-machine presses and trains both the flexors (undersides) contains analysis and printable
one set of dumbbell presses, and we and extensors (tops), several times. templates for the Volume/Intensity
keep the dumbbell weight manage- Hold a dumbbell in each hand at Fusion Program, the 3D Power
able, driving them up and out in arm’s length next to your outer Pyramid Program, the 20-Rep Squat
W-press style. They provide more thighs. Curl your hands up and in to routine, Time-Bomb Training and
continuous tension and really sear hit the flexors, lower, and then curl many others—10 print-and-grow
all delt heads. them up and out to hit the exten- workouts, most of which have been
High rows. If you want to feel sors. Rock in and out. We’ve started tested and perfected in the IRON
your upper traps and even delts doing these with very high reps—20 MAN Training & Research Center
contract in a unique way, try high to 30. Wow! What an incredible burn over the past decade.
rows. Hook a double-rope attach- to finish off our forearms. Editor’s note: For the latest on
ment to a high pulley machine— Experiment with some of the X Reps, including X Q&As, X Files
same idea as the pulldown station. above. That’s what this muscle- (past e-zines), before and after
Grab an end of the rope with each building thing is all about—trying photos and the X-Blog training and
hand and stand erect, but lean new exercises and/or unique tweaks supplement journals, visit www
back slightly, away from the ma- to discover what gives you the best .X-Rep.com. To order the Posi-
chine—we like to wedge our knees gains. tions-of-Flexion training manual
against the seat on the pulldown. Till next month, keep training Train, Eat, Grow, call (800) 447-0008,
Now row, pulling your hands back to hard. visit www.Home-Gym.com, or see
the sides of your head, above your Note: Our latest Supercompensa- the ad below. IM

Steve Holman’s
Critical Mass
Wide Bi’s
extensions, and/or you can make a point to hit your lateral-
triceps heads on pressing movements by doing your first
set to full lockout—including bench presses and dumbbell
presses. Locking out on pressing movements brings in the
lateral-triceps head to a great degree, especially on over-
and Tri’s head pressing.

How about biceps? They’re more visible from the front,
but the inner head, closest to your torso, provides the most
illusion of width. To beef up that head, do a wide-grip
curling movement. I’ve written in the past that a closer
grip—inside shoulder width—affects both biceps heads,
Q: Your Positions-of-Flexion method is great and according to MRI studies, but you may want to specialize
has helped me add lots of mass. My question is on the inner head for a few sets by using an exercise like
about arms. Mine look good from the side, with a wide-grip preacher curls as your first movement. Take a
nice triceps sweep, but from straight on they look grip that’s slightly wider than shoulder width, with your
skinny. Is it a genetic thing, or can I train to make elbows inside your grip width.
them look bigger from the front? So if you’re using a 3D POF biceps routine, you’d do
A: What you need is to enhance the illusion of arm wide-grip preachers (midrange), concentration curls (con-
width. How do you create that? A few ways. First, you need tracted) and incline curls (stretch). Note that the preachers
to add some mass to your lateral-triceps head. That’s the focus on the inner-biceps head, the concentration curls on
only one that’s visible from the front, and it comes into play the outer head. The incline curls hit both, as you’re curling
near lockout on many triceps exercises. with your hands in line with your upper arms.
For example, on cable pushouts, which you do facing Here’s a good rule to remember: in for out and out for in.
away from a high cable, your torso parallel to the floor, you In other words, hands in to work the outer head and hands
should go to lockout or very close to hit the lateral heads. out to work the inner heads. That’s why concentration curls
I also suggest you do an X Fade on at least one set. That is, are best for the outer head, which is what creates biceps
when you reach exhaustion, do X Reps at the top position peak—the movement mimics a close, or in, grip. A wide-
first, where the lateral-triceps head is most engaged, then grip preacher, on the other hand, is an out movement, so it
do X Reps near the bottom of the stroke to end the set. If hits the inner heads more.
you can’t manage the second round of X Reps, near the bot- Incidentally, that may be the reason Larry Scott was re-
tom, just do a Static X instead, squeezing the triceps hard nowned for his full softball-size biceps—major inner-head
down low. development from wide-grip preachers. To create more
Want your arms to look bigger from the front? Focus

on the lateral-triceps heads and the inner-biceps
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson
heads to create an enhanced illusion of size and

width.
Neveux \ Model: Will Harris
Overhead extensions hit the

lateral heads as well, but there
isn’t any resistance at the top,
so they’re not quite as effective
for lateral-head action as cable
pushouts.
Let’s say you’re doing an
abbreviated program, like the
two-sets-per-bodypart Time-
Bomb Training routine in our
e-book X-traordinary Muscle-
Building Workouts, which
has you do only one triceps
exercise. You could substitute
cable pushouts for the sug-
gested triceps exercise, decline

Chest-
supported
peak, concentration curls—an Arnold favorite—would’ve
dumbbell
enhanced that. Arnold’s biceps were peaked beyond
rows provide
belief!
midback
Q: Your 3D mass-building concept [Positions midrange-,
of Flexion as described in the e-book 3D Muscle stretch- and
Building] is exciting and makes total sense. It’s contracted-
really motivated me. My problem is that I seem to position
overtrain easily, so I can’t use full 3D POF routines action. Add
for every bodypart [usually three exercises for the dumbbell
target muscle]. I feel too drained. Should I just shrugs for the
stick to one big, basic exercise for each bodypart, upper traps,
like one of the programs in the e-book The Ulti- and you have a
mate Mass Workout? very efficient,
effective
A: Don’t give up on 3D POF just yet. There are a lot of
midback
ways to get the full mass-building effects of 3D POF using
attack.
a more abbreviated approach. Once you learn the con-
cepts involved and how the muscles function, you’ll be
Neveux \ Model: Jonathan Lawson

able to construct faster, more efficient 3D bodypart rou- You may
tines—often two or even one exercise per muscle is all you also want to
need (there are lots of samples in that e-book). try the Split-
For example, in the back-training section, Chapter 6, in Positions
3D Muscle Building, notice that chest-supported dumbbell approach,
rows provide muscle synergy, or teamwork, muscle elonga- doing a big,
tion (stretch in the midback muscles at the bottom, when midrange
the dumbbells come together) and complete contraction exercise and
(at the top when you move the dumbbells out wide and a stretch-
your shoulder blades retract). In other words, a properly position exercise at one workout and the same midrange
performed set of chest-supported dumbbell rows cov- exercise with a contracted-position movement at the next
ers all three Positions of Flexion—midrange, stretch and workout for that bodypart.
contracted. What a great exercise! Follow that with one or An example of Split-Positions biceps training would be
two sets of dumbbell shrugs for the upper section of your barbell curls and incline curls (stretch) at the first workout
midback—the traps—and you have an incredibly efficient and barbell curls and
3D midback attack. concentration curls
How about lats? You get to the midrange position for (contracted) at the
your lats when you pull your arms into your sides from next.
overhead—a lateral-pulling action. Chins or pulldowns That not only short-
done with a slightly wider-than-shoulder-width grip hit ens your workouts but
that position. After two sets of chins, do one or two sets of also varies the stress
undergrip pulldowns, hands just inside shoulder width. on the muscle each
The “curl” grip lets you hit the lats’ contracted position (at time you train it. You
the bottom, when you’re driving your upper arms back) can easily construct
and also achieve a pretty good stretch (at the top). that type of workout
So here’s the complete shorter 3D POF back routine: from the 3D POF
bodypart routines in
Chest-supported dumbbell rows 2 x 9-12
3D Muscle Building or
Dumbbell shrugs 1 x 9-12
my Train, Eat, Grow
Wide-grip chins 2 x 9-12
book.
Undergrip pulldowns 1 x 9-12
Those are quick bodypart hits, but you still train the Editor’s note: Steve Hol-
three Positions of Flexion for the midback and lats. To man is the author of many
make the chest-supported dumbbell rows and chins even bodybuilding best-sellers,
more effective, try the two-set/drop method. Do the first including Train, Eat, Grow:
set for about 10 reps, adding end-of-set X-Rep partials. Rest The Positions-of-Flexion
for two to three minutes, and then do your second set, but Muscle-Training Manual (see
at exhaustion quickly reduce the weight and continue rep- page 75). For information on
ping out (drop set), adding X-Rep partials at the end of the the POF videos and Size Surge
reduced-poundage set. programs, see the ad sections
We include the two-set/drop method in a few of the beginning on page 228 and
complete programs in our new e-book, X-traordinary 278, respectively. Also visit
Neveux
Muscle-Building Workouts, because it’s so effective—and www.X-Rep.com. IM

efficient—for triggering max force, semistretch-point over-
Steve Holman
load and extended-tension time in two (okay, really three)
[email protected]
sets.

Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Naturally Huge
Leg-Training ers using flat shoes and still others squatting with
plates under their feet. What’s the best footwear,
or does it make a difference? How do you achieve
squatting to parallel or below? I struggle in that
Barrage area. How much do I lose or gain with three-quarter

squats? On leg extensions, is it really helpful to turn
toes in and out to emphasize different areas of the
quads? How about moving the seat forward or back-
ward on leg extensions? Does that work different
areas of the quads? Also, is there any advantage to
Q: I noticed in your “Real Muscle” DVD that you training calves barefoot? How about turning toes in
wear boots on leg day. What’s the proper footwear or out—does that emphasize different areas of the
for squats and/or leg presses? I’ve seen photos of calves? How about hamstrings—are there exercises
Arnold squatting in his bare feet. I’ve noticed oth- that cover upper or lower hamstrings, assuming
they can be separated?
Angling your feet in or A: Those are great questions. I know a
out does make a differ- lot about training legs because that was the
ence in the way your most difficult bodypart for me to develop
quads develop. when I began bodybuilding. We usually
become experts on training a bodypart that
doesn’t respond quickly because we have
to discover every little secret possible to get
that muscle group to grow.
I wear work boots when I train legs be-
cause I find that they give me a lot more
support, and I seem to feel stronger when
I’m doing leg presses, squats and hack
squats. A good friend and a very impressive
bodybuilder in her own right, Mona Rob-
erts, recommended wearing work boots,
and it made a big difference the first time I
did it. I would strongly suggest you give it
a try.
I honestly don’t know how Arnold did
heavy squats and leg presses in his bare
feet. I would think that would be extremely
difficult and uncomfortable, but it sure did
work for the Austrian Oak. For those of us
who aren’t in Arnold’s legendary category, I
recommend heavy footwear for leg training.
Some lifters wear flat shoes, but that’s
usually for heavy deadlifts rather than
squats. Placing small plates under the heels
is a trick used by bodybuilders who lack
ankle flexibility and have difficulty squat-
ting below parallel without bending over
and using too much lower back. By placing
a 2 1/2- or five-pound plate under each
heel, they get better balance. Raising the
heels also places more stress on the vastus
medialis, the teardrop-shaped muscle lo-
cated on the lower-inner thigh by the knee-
cap, so it helps develop the lower thighs.
As for squatting below parallel, many
individuals with long legs have problems
doing that without bending over and using
Neveux \ Model: Jose Raymond
their lower back more than their legs. One

trick that I often(continued
used was to
ontake
pagea102)
wider
stance with my feet slightly pointed out.
When I squatted, my knees would go in the
same direction as my feet, and it was easier
for my hips to drop in between my legs
while I kept my upper body straight.

If you keep your feet closer together, with your knees tension on my hams for three sets of eight to 10 reps. Then
going forward more than slightly out to the side, it’s more I do seated leg curls for three sets of six to 10 reps and fin-
difficult to keep your upper body straight. Those who are ish with two to three sets of dumbbell stiff-legged deadlifts
taller than average or who for eight to 10 reps.
have long legs will be better Q: I’m 36 years
suited to a wider foot stance old and have been
in order to keep the upper working out with
body as upright as possible the goal of body-
when squatting deep. sculpting for the
If you squat only to paral- past 14 weeks with
lel, you’ll mostly develop very good results.
your quadriceps. The deeper I’ve always been a
you go, the more you hit the stocky guy in decent
glutes and hamstrings. From shape—until I hit
parallel to rock bottom is my 30s. I’m 5’9”, 195
mostly glutes and hamstrings. pounds right now.
I always try to squat slightly I still need to lose a
below parallel to three-quar- few more pounds,
ters of the way down to hit as my bodyfat is
the hams and glutes as well as around 20 percent.
quads. I do 30 minutes
With leg extensions you can of cardio after my
hit the outer or inner part of weight workout, al-
the lower thighs by pointing ternating treadmill
your feet in or out; however, walking and sprint-
you have to be careful not ing on an incline.
to use weights that are too I take a number of
heavy because that tends to supplements and
put more stress on the knees. I wondered if you
keep my feet pointed straight would give me your
when I do leg extensions, but opinion on what I’m
if you notice that your inner or taking and my diet:
outer lower quads are lack- Try training your 1) 8 a.m. (on empty
ing in development, you can hamstrings first stomach an hour
point your toes in to hit the at every other leg before training):
outer quads, out to hit the workout. 1500 milligrams L-
inner quads. arginine, 200 milli-
I try to set the seat slightly grams pycnogenol,
back on the leg extension machine so that when I’m in the 1,000 milligrams green tea extract
bottom position, I can feel a stretch in my upper quads. If
2) 8:30 a.m. (30 minutes before training): NO
I have the seat closer, I feel the exercise more in my lower
Xplode
quads at the top of the movement.
Now for calves: Some people prefer to train barefoot be- 3) 10:30 a.m. (postworkout): IDS whey protein (2
cause they can feel the exercise more in their calves. I use scoops in water—about 46 grams protein), five
standard gym shoes because it’s more comfortable for me. I grams creatine monohydrate, 1,000 milligrams
think you can get a great calf workout either way. ALA
Pointing your toes in or out does affect different areas of 4) 11 a.m.: 3 poached eggs, 1 cup oatmeal, 1,000
the calf muscle. If you point your toes in, you’ll build the milligrams green tea extract, 500 milligrams CLA
outer portions of the calves more because the pressure will 5) 2 p.m.: 6 ounces chicken, 6 ounces baked red
go to the outsides of your feet. The opposite is also true. If potatoes; optional: I might have a snack, like
you point your toes out, the pressure will go to the balls of a Met-Rx Protein Plus Bar (32 grams protein, 9
your feet, which will build the inner calves. grams fat, 3 grams sugar), but not every day
As for hamstrings, I don’t try to separate exercises for the
upper and lower sections. I do separate hamstring exer- 6) 5 p.m.: 6 ounces chicken, fish or lean steak;
cises into leg curls and stiff-legged deadlifts. I do at least broccoli or asparagus; brown rice; 1,000 milli-
one curl exercise and one stiff-legged deadlift exercise at grams green tea extract; 500 milligrams CLA
each leg workout. 7) 8 p.m.: IDS whey protein (2 scoops in skim milk)
I typically have two leg routines that I alternate from 8) 1,500 milligrams L-arginine, 200 milligrams
week to week. For the first, I start with quadriceps and fin- pycnogenol
ish off with hamstrings. I do machine leg curls for four sets
of 12, 10, eight, eight reps and barbell stiff-legged deadlifts I may not be eating enough. Should I eat a pre-
for three sets. workout breakfast or just add a protein drink with
At my next leg workout I do hamstrings first. I start with skim milk before I take the NO Xplode? Are there
dumbbell leg curls on a decline bench to keep constant any other supplements I should be taking? I’ve read

Mr. Natural Olympia John Hansen’s
Naturally Huge
that a testosterone booster may be beneficial also. trying to lose bodyfat, I suggest cutting out the complex
carbs at dinner. If you’re lean and trying to put on more
A: You’ve put a lot of thought into your diet, but I think I size, you could include a serving of brown rice, whole-
can improve it. wheat pasta or a potato.
I’d never go to the gym on an empty stomach. You abso- At 8 p.m. you could eat another meal. Depending on
lutely need the calories, carbs and protein in your system your goals, you should have a complete-protein food, such
before you train. If you don’t, you won’t have the energy for as egg whites or chicken, along with a complex carb, such
an effective workout. as oatmeal, oat bran or pasta. Again, if you’re looking to
If you’re training at 9 a.m., I recommend that you eat a lose bodyfat, skip the carbs and just take in the protein
good breakfast at 7:30, about 90 minutes before your work- along with some fats, such as a teaspoon of peanut butter.
out—one to two whole eggs with six egg whites for your For your final meal of the day have another protein
protein source. Because you haven’t eaten during the night, drink along with another tablespoon of flaxseed oil. You
your muscles need to be fed the amino acids from the could have this protein drink about 2 1/2 to three hours
after your last meal or right before you go to bed.
Here’s a summary of the nutrition program I just out-
lined:
7:30 a.m.: 1-2 whole eggs, 6 egg whites, 1 cup oatmeal
8:30 a.m. (preworkout drink): 1 serving whey protein
or 1 serving of nitric oxide, 1 serving creatine
9 a.m.: workout
10:30 a.m. (postworkout drink): 40 grams whey pro-
Neveux \ Model: John Hansen
tein, 60 grams quickly digesting carbohydrates, 1 serving

creatine
11 a.m.: chicken, red potatoes, broccoli
2 p.m. (protein drink): 2 scoops protein powder, 1
tablespoon flaxseed oil
5 p.m.: fish, chicken or steak; green beans, asparagus or
It’s critical to have a postworkout drink that consists of broccoli; 1 serving rice, pasta or potatoes (if you’re trying
fast protein and fast carbs. to gain size)
8 p.m.: 6-7 egg whites or chicken, turkey or tuna fish; 1
tablespoon natural peanut butter or a complex carb like
protein as soon as you get up. oatmeal or oat bran (if you are trying to gain weight)
You also need carbohydrates to fuel your high-intensity
10:30 p.m.: protein drink—2 scoops protein powder, 1
aerobics session. One of the best sources of complex carbs
tablespoon flaxseed oil
is oatmeal. One cup of oatmeal contains 300 calories and
54 grams of complex carbs. Editor’s note: John Hansen has won the Natural Mr.
About 30 minutes before you train, have your prework- Olympia and is a two-time Natural Mr. Universe winner.
out drink—one scoop of whey protein powder along with Visit his Web site at www.NaturalOlympia.com. You can
one serving of creatine. Or you could have your nitric oxide write to him at P.O. Box 3003, Darien, IL 60561, or call
precursor along with some creatine. toll-free (800) 900-UNIV (8648). Look for his new DVD,
For your postworkout drink, the whey protein gets the “The Natural
amino acids quickly into the muscle cells; however, I also Bodybuild-
think you need some carbohydrates along with it. I recom- ing Seminar,”
mend Muscle-Link’s RecoverX, a powder you mix in water along with his
that contains 40 grams of whey protein and 60 grams of book, “Natural
quickly digesting carbohydrates. That’s the perfect post- Bodybuild-
workout blend. You can also include another serving of ing,” and his-
creatine. training DVD,
When you get home from the gym, have the chicken and “Real Muscle,”
potatoes along with a fibrous vegetable, such as broccoli or at www.
asparagus. That meal contains a complete protein source Natural Olym-
(chicken), a complex carbohydrate (red potatoes) and pia.com. Also
more fiber (vegetable). That’s your 11 a.m. meal. available from
At 2 p.m. instead of the protein bar, have a protein drink Home Gym
made from a combination of egg, whey and casein pro- Warehouse,
teins. You could include a tablespoon of flaxseed oil in the (800) 447-0008
drink. That will give you the protein you need along with or www
Neveux
essential fatty acids from the flaxseed oil. .Home-Gym.

At 5 p.m. have your dinner. The chicken, fish or steak are com. IM
all good choices for your protein along with a high-fiber John Hansen
vegetable like broccoli, green beans or asparagus. If you’re [email protected]

ArnoldThink
Inside the Mind of the Greatest Bodybuilder of All
Time—and the Current Governor of California
by Bill Dobbins
Photography by John Balik
T
hroughout his spectacular career—in body-
building, movies and now as governor of Cali-
fornia—Arnold Schwarzenegger has succeeded
in part because of his ability to accurately assess situa-
tions and then outsmart and out-think his opponents.
Sometimes it seemed as if he were a grown-up in a
world of children, a Great Dane in a pack of poodles.
How was he able to do that? How exactly does Ar-
nold’s mind work? I’ve known him since 1975, and we
worked on three book projects together. So I’ve had
ample time to observe how he deals with the world.
Arnold’s approach to life is valuable not only when it
comes to achieving a variety of life goals but also be-
cause it’s the basis of the work ethic that brought him
maximum results in bodybuilding.

ArnoldThink
Arnold is an outer-directed
individual. A key factor in un-
derstanding Arnold is that he isn’t
somebody who lives primarily in-
side his head. He isn’t particularly
introspective or consciously ana-
lytical. That doesn’t mean he isn’t
intelligent; far from it. His mind is
working all the time, but he’s not
interested in examining his own
thought processes in detail. Rather,
Arnold focuses on the outside
world, on what’s going on around
him—who people are, what they’re
thinking and feeling and how that’s
going to influence what happens in
any given situation.
Arnold has a strong sense of
reality. There are different ways of
perceiving reality. An introspective,
inner-directed individual might well
be most concerned with reality on
the philosophical level or with ques-
tions of what might be, should be or
could be. Arnold’s approach is much
more practical. He wants to know
what makes things happen, what
will make a difference to the out-
come of a situation or what won’t,
what’s important and what isn’t.
Arnold doesn’t waste time
on unessentials. He only cares Arnold focuses on the outside world, on what’s going on around
about what works. That has made him—who people are, what they’re thinking and feeling.

ArnoldThink
him a success in bodybuilding and as clearly as possible and then take

in the movies and has earned him a whatever steps are necessary to
reputation as an astute and honest make the best use of those qualities.
businessman. In business, Arnold Arnold is goal-oriented. Life,
negotiates hard but always sticks by to Arnold, is a series of goals. In
his agreements. Otherwise, he has Arnold’s Encyclopedia of Bodybuild-
observed, you just make trouble for ing, he compares having a specific
yourself—and Arnold is too clever goal in mind to being the captain of
for that.
Arnold can be both
self-critical and self-
confident. Watching him
preparing for a bodybuild-
ing competition, I was al-
ways struck by how honest
he could be about his own
physique. He’d look in the
mirror and see exactly what
his weak points were. Yet he
could do that without any
lessening of his overall self-
confidence.
Whether by instinct or
experience, Arnold came to
understand that self-confi-
dence based on ignorance
of your weaknesses is no
path to success. Instead, the
successful man of action
is ideally somebody who is
not overly self-conscious
or introspective (as Arnold
isn’t), who has a healthy if
not tenacious grasp of what
counts and what doesn’t
count (as Arnold does), who
accepts that nobody’s per-
fect and that you have to do
the best with whatever you
have, who can assess his
strengths and weaknesses

ArnoldThink
a ship. A ship’s master California First Lady Maria Shriver created a wall of photos dedicated to honor-
would never leave port, ing her predecessors.
he points out, with no
destination in mind,
intending to simply sail
aimlessly around in
the ocean. He’d have a
definite destination and
charts to show him how
to get there.
Arnold believes that
life should involve the
same kind of planning.
He admits that all the
while he was winning
bodybuilding contests
he was intending at
some point to become
a movie star. And there’s
no doubt that when he
was a movie star, he was
thinking about running
for governor.
Arnold has the
ability to focus. When
Arnold was winning
one Mr. Olympia title
after another, he was
also making a lot of
money in real estate
and engaged in a vari- Arnold’s office, where he is surrounded by personal memorabilia and art he cares
ety of other activities. about.
ArnoldThink
How did he do that without harming
his competitive career? By using his
ability to compartmentalize his life
and concentrate on each aspect of
it in turn.
When Arnold trained, he trained.
His mind and his attention were
on his workouts. Once he left the
gym, he left the training behind and
turned his attention to business,
real estate, collecting art, social
activities or whatever else he was
involved with. Too many body-
builders aren’t able to do that. They
don’t concentrate. They think about
what’s happening in the rest of their
lives when they’re in the middle of
a workout and let their minds dwell
on bodybuilding when they’re sup-
posed to be doing something else.
Arnold is methodical and
well-organized. Whenever I vis-
ited Arnold’s house, I noticed how
neat everything was. A place for
everything and everything in its
place. It always looked as if the maid
had just left. I realized that the abil-
ity to keep his life well-organized
played a part in Arnold’s success in
bodybuilding.
For example, he told me that he
used to sit down at the beginning of
each month and write out a training
program for the next 30 days. At the
end of the month he’d evaluate how
well the program had worked for
him, make whatever adjustments he
felt would be beneficial and incor-
porate them into the next month’s
program.
He kept careful track of each
workout, as well. In fact, in his early
years in the sport, Arnold used to
keep track of every set he did in the
gym. Of course, when I first watched
him training back in 1975, there was
no evidence of that kind of careful
planning. His workouts seemed un-
planned and spontaneous—but that
was deceptive. He was able to train
that way only because of the expe-
rience he’d gained after years and
years of developing a master plan
that reflected the kind of training
that worked best for his physique.
Arnold is not a creature of
appetite. I’ve eaten many meals
with Arnold over the years, but I can
rarely remember a time when he ate
more than I did. Arnold is not indif-
ferent to food, but he’s not ruled
by his appetite. He drinks, but he

isn’t a drinker. He Harley-Davidsons is because they acquiring possessions are not that
loves to ski, but are so American!”), but while he important to him. They are a by-
during his competi- was a competitive bodybuilder, he product of success, not the standard
tive bodybuilding stayed away from them. The plea- by which success itself is measured.
career, when the sure of riding wasn’t worth the risk Arnold has nice clothes, but he
simplest skiing of an injury that could have slowed doesn’t dress extravagantly. He likes
accident could down or even ended his bodybuild- exciting cars and buys some inter-
have cost him the ing career. esting and expensive ones from time
Mr. Olympia title, Arnold is not ruled by his pos- to time. Most of the time he drives a
Arnold kept off the sessions. Arnold has always been fashionable Hummer, often an eco-
slopes. The same is good at making money. He likes to friendly hydrogen-powered model.
true of motorcycles. live well, to have the wherewithal to He owns an expensive airplane but
He enjoys riding his live as he likes, buy what he wants charters it out when he’s not using it
Harley nowadays and travel as he pleases. Yet, at the to pay for its upkeep. The last thing
(“The reason I like same time, making money and Arnold would be likely to do is to try
One of Arnold’s
key philosophies:
Don’t let moment-
to-moment difficul-
ties keep you from
having a funda-
mental enthusiasm
for living.
to impress you with what he wears
or what he drives.
Arnold knows how to enjoy
life. Arnold’s self-confidence and
ability to thrive on success came
about in large part because he
knows and seems always to have
known how to enjoy life. He’s proof
that you can be serious without act-
ing serious all the time.
Sometimes, life isn’t a lot of fun.
Sometimes it brings hard work or
heartbreak, problems and chal-
lenges. Even so, you shouldn’t let
the moment-to-moment difficulties
keep you from having a fundamen-
tal enthusiasm for living and a sense
of your own existence. That’s where
the deepest enjoyment of living
comes, and if you’re in touch with
those kinds of feelings, as Arnold
could tell you, you usually end up
having a lot of fun as well. IM

Photo: Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin

Mountainous Muscle Growth With
Overload Drop Sets
by William Litz Photography by Michael Neveux
I love drop sets. I’ve used them more than any other intensity
technique, except maybe rest/pause. Lately, though, I’ve been
doing a different form of drops.
For the uninitiated, here’s how you do a drop set: Take a weight
with which you can get six to eight reps; then once you reach fail-
ure, grab a lighter weight and get four to six more reps. You can do
double or triple drops with that method. I don’t suggest doing more
than three, as it seems to be counterproductive. It’s better to do two
rounds of triple drops than one huge six-set drop.
That’s the basic technique. For a number of clients, however, I’ve
found it very effective to have them do the first set with extremely
heavy weights and very low reps. I’ve discovered that the best
growth response occurs when trainees go superheavy on exercises
on which they don’t normally use heavy weights. That gives the
muscle a fantastic shock, as it has to work against a force it’s never
encountered before—truly a grow-or-die situation.

Dumbbell
Press
Start
Photo: Neveux \ Model: Dave Goodin

Overhead presses come after
heavy laterals, so you may want
to use a machine instead of
trying to balance free weights. Finish
Before I go any further, I want to
caution you: Please use common
I had him strap onto
sense with this technique, as you a chin bar and hang
can get injured. Warm up first, and
don’t try to do lateral raises with for 60 seconds to
your deadlift weight. stretch out his scapula,
After a comprehensive warmup,
pick a weight that will let you get lats and delts. Sixty-
only two to three reps. Reduce the
weight and immediately rep out to second hang chins
failure, which should occur in the are harder than they
eight-to-10 range. The first phase is
the heavy-weight shock-value set, sound. Hanging
while the second phase provides the Chins
much needed time under tension is essential to complete the classic
that muscles require for growth. V-taper, a.k.a. X-frame. Overload
You need both—it’s not an either/ drop sets got the job done. Here’s
or scenario. You can see the differ- how he used them.
ence between a bodybuilder who
has trained with heavy singles and Warmup Time your hands
one who has only pumped with light apart at the
weights. Arnold understood that He warmed up on flat-bench top of the
and often flirted with maximum presses with the empty bar for 20 motion, really
reps to build raw power, but he also reps. Then he did front presses with target the rota-
used lighter weights to get a pump. the bar for another 20. Following tors and are a great
One client of mine was a former that he did two sets of band face rehab movement as well. (For more
powerlifter. He had more than pulls and band upright rows to info on using the bands, see Dick
enough mass, but he lacked polish. warm up his shoulder girdle and in Hartzell’s Web site, www.Jump
In particular, his delts had no caps particular his rotator cuffs. Stretch.com.)
on the side heads. He lacked that Band upright rows performed After that I had him grab 20-
cannonball, or coconut, shape that with a jump-stretch band, pulling pound (continued on page 110)

Shoulder SHOCKER Lateral Start
Raises
(continued from page 106) dumbbells
and do one set of laterals for 15 reps.
Without rest he went to 30-pound-
ers and did 10 more. After that he
usually felt sufficiently warm, but
on some days he’d do another set of
laterals or light dumbbell presses.
It’s better to take an extra few min-
utes of warmup to be safe. I always
say five minutes of prehab beats five
months of rehab any day. Use your
head and take your time.
Bombing and Blitzing

As I said, my powerlifter client
was a big boy, and he had the right
mind-set for this type of work—as
well as the right strength base. He
normally uses 50-to-60-pound
dumbbells for lateral raises, so I told
him to grab the 95-pounders. He
Finish

Shoulder SHOCKER
gave me a worried glance side-delt head. And don’t keep your
that said, “You know you’ll arm locked straight; allow a natural
be paying my chiropractic bend at the elbow, but don’t turn the
Shoulder-Shock Workout bills, right?” But he grabbed movement into a dumbbell upright
One-arm lateral raises one of the 95s anyway. row either.
When someone’s going Get two reps minimum and
(overload drop sets; that heavy, I suggest train- three to four reps maximum. If you
X Reps on drop) 2 x 2-4(8-10) ing one arm at a time. Hold can get more than four, add some
Lateral raises 1 x 12 on to an upright of some weight at your next workout.
Machine presses sort—power rack or Smith After your low-rep set, put down
machine, for example—to that dumbbell, shake off the burn
(X Reps) 2-4 x 6-10 balance and stabilize your and grab a lighter weight. This train-
body. Now get that sucka ee grabbed a 45-pounder. After nine
up! It may not be pretty, full reps he continued with four
Note: Use this workout once but try your hardest to bottom-position X-Rep partials in
a week. If you train your delts keep your form about 80 the semistretch position to increase
twice a week, use a lighter work- percent strict. Use some the time under tension. After a brief
out with more exercises at the body thrust, as Dave Draper rest he hit the other delt. Then he
second session. would call it, but try your got some water and came back for
best to throw all that heavy- his last overload drop set. This time
ass resistance onto your he started with an 85-pounder—10
Smith-Machine Press
Start
Model: Steve Kummer
Finish
pounds less than the first round—
and his drop weight moved down to
40. He got three solid overload reps
and then 10 reps with the 40-pound
dumbbell.
After completing the second
round with his other arm, he did
a set of regular lateral raises for 12
reps. To finish off his delts, he did
machine overhead presses. I like
to use the machine at this point
because the delts are toast—there’s
no reason to risk injury trying to
balance a barbell. Two to four sets of

Shoulder SHOCKER
Start Hold on to an
upright of some
sort—power rack or
One-Arm Smith machine, for
Lateral
example—to balance
Raises
and stabilize your
body. Now get that
sucka up!
Model: Michael Ergas

Go heavy on one-arm laterals, two to four
reps, then reduce the weight and immediately
do eight to 10 more. Finish
six to 10 reps plus bottom-position workout. cable laterals, overhead dumbbell
X-Rep pulses finish the job nicely. After four weeks on the above presses, dumbbell upright rows and
(Note: In my standard bodypart shoulder routine my powerlifter shrugs.
schedule trainees work rear delts buddy’s delts, which for years had This type of training is brutal, and
after back.) no shape at all, began to round out. the heavy workload can be hard on
Combine these moves with a lot of joints if you do it for too long. If you
Stretch It Out wide-grip chins and lat stretches, use it once a week for two to four
and your narrow shoulders will soon weeks, however, this blast can really
After the weight work I had the be a thing of the past. give you an uptick in muscle size
powerlifter strap onto a chin bar and density. So use your head: Don’t
and hang for 60 seconds to stretch Want Some More? go overboard on overloads. Use it
out his scapula, lats and delts for wisely, and your delts will grow awe-
added width. Sixty-second hang The routine described above is some.
chins are harder than they sound. short but hard. You can do it twice Editor’s note: Will Litz is the
If 60 seconds is easy for you, add a week, but I find once a week is founder of T3 Training. He also runs
weight. This powerlifter pushes usually plenty. If I do two overload Adrenaline Supplements with Dar-
the scales to 310 pounds, so I was sessions, my delts and joints start ren Mehling, a personal trainer and
shocked to see him hang for 10 to ache, so if I train delts again superheavyweight bodybuilding
seconds. But he’s a hardcore trainee during the week, I usually lighten champion. For more info visit www
and wouldn’t be beaten by his own the weight and do more reps, say .T3-Warriors.com and www
bodyweight. He stayed up there 10 to 12. I also do a greater variety .TeamGOTS.com. For more on X
for the whole minute at his second of movements—laterals, one-arm Reps, visit www.X-Rep.com. IM

Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com \ Model: Kai Greene

A Chain Is Only as Strong as
Its Weakest Link
by Ron Harris Episode 26
s I write this, I’m four weeks out from the NPC

Massachusetts State/New Hampshire State/
Northeast Tournament of Champions, which
takes place in Manchester, New Hampshire. You
geography whizzes may have caught something
odd there—you have to go to New Hampshire to
win the Massachusetts state title. It’s almost as bad
as going to Canada to win the Mr. America, but
at least you don’t have to go through Customs and
Immigration. This is the third time since Randy’s
been training with me that he’s watched me diet
down into contest condition. Actually, that may not
be accurate. Last year I did the show in New

The top pros, like Ronnie
Coleman and Jay Cutler,
constantly hone their
physiques to bring up
Comstock
weak areas. (What weak
areas?)
Hampshire without dieting too and compare favorably with other NPC New England, about seven
long or doing my usual amount of regional-level bodybuilders in the months away. That might sound
cardio, as an experiment to see if I NPC. Perhaps if we lived in a state like plenty of time, but if it does,
could stay bigger and fuller. The an- like Florida or California, where you aren’t a bodybuilder. Seven
swer was yes, but I also stayed fat- there are a lot more contests, he months gives us just enough time
ter. Still, I realized a couple of weeks might have taken home a trophy in to improve his muscle size and
ago that I couldn’t keep Randy from a novice class. But the New England proportions as best we can before
competing any longer. area doesn’t have many contests, he starts dieting down at three
Understand that I have not been and rarely do they feature novice months out. Actually, bodybuild-
holding Randy back the way Cin- divisions. That means all the good ers never talk about shows in terms
derella’s wicked stepmother tried to bodybuilders come out to battle of months; they talk in terms of
keep her from going to the big royal only a couple times a year. If you weeks. Diets typically range from
ball. Nor am I punishing the young don’t belong in a show like that, as short as eight weeks to as long as
guy or attempting to keep him hid- you know it right away, and it’s a 20, depending on how much fat the
den from the world lest he reveal humbling experience to say the individual needs to lose. It’s a good
a physique much greater than my least—kind of like being the poor thing we don’t apply that concept
own. (There are plenty of those out guy at the ritzy country club. I didn’t to everything, or else I’d be 1,820
there, so hiding just one wouldn’t want Randy to get his ass handed to weeks old on my next birthday.
do me much good.) Believe it or him and be turned off of competing The first step was to take a good
not, I’m looking out for Randy. forever. look at Randy and decide what
As I mentioned in a previous As I worked through my contest needed work. That happened
article in this series, when it comes prep, however, it became obvious: after our last workout, which was
to the right time for a bodybuilder It would no longer be possible to shoulders and hamstrings. Randy
to start competing, I embrace the contain Randy’s desire to compete. is about 5’9 1/2” and 200 pounds
wisdom expressed by the late Orson If he didn’t do a show within the now, with abs. I estimate he will
Welles in his TV commercials for next year, he was gonna burst—lit- only have to come down to between
Paul Masson wine: “We will sell no erally—and I ain’t cleaning up that 180 and 185 to be in proper contest
wine before its time.” Randy sim- mess. condition. If this were the ’70s, long
ply was not ready to step onstage The contest he picked was the before anyone worried about stri-

Less-massive
competitors ated glutes and Christmas-tree
must depend backs, he could come in closer
on shape, to 190. But thanks to progressive
proportion and standards, any man carrying more
than 5 percent bodyfat onstage is
definition to
considered a fat bastard now. Even
put them in the
when they’re covered up in sweats
winner’s circle. backstage, you know who’s in shape
by the sunken eyes and gaunt,
angular cheekbones and jaw lines.
If it weren’t for the big muscles, you
would swear those guys were in the
third week of a hunger strike or had
just been released from some POW
camp.
No doubt, Randy had made ex-
cellent progress in the two years
and a month we’d been training
together. When we started, he
was about 170 pounds, though
he hadn’t been training or eating
properly at that point. The early
and mid-20s are often fantastic
years for making gains. You still
have the supercharged hormones
of adolescence coursing through
your veins—although they’re just
about to start dwindling—yet your
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com \ Model: Darrem Charles
metabolism has begun to slow
down, which allows many former
hardgainers to pack on some solid
muscular pounds at last.
“Well?” Randy asked, huffing and
puffing as he finished a few poses
in the locker-room mirror. An old
man who was dusting his feet and
his private parts with Gold Bond
powder nearby looked at us as if
we were crazy. Yeah, you’re the one
blowing powder up your wazoo,
and we’re the weirdos.
“Another five pounds of muscle
No matter how well you in the right places is what you
know your body, hitting need,” I commented.
peak condition will usually “Which places are those?”
be a hit-or-miss proposition. “Your arms, your calves and your
upper chest. Right now they are all
weak compared to the rest of your
physique. And a chain is only as
strong as its weakest link, right?” As
I predicted, he immediately be-
came defensive, trying to flex those
areas extra hard to convince me
they weren’t that bad.
“Let’s be real here for a minute,
Randy,” I began. “Like me, you are
no mass monster on the level of a
Ronnie, a Jay or even Jay when he
was 20 years old and already 250
pounds. As such, you have to get by
on your overall shape and balance
more than overwhelming amounts
Merv
of thick muscle. There are guys in


the pro ranks today—like Darrem
Charles, Rich Jones and others—
who aren’t the biggest guys onstage
but have such incredible shape and
symmetry that they’re able to beat
most of the giants.”
“I’m not that small, am I?” Now
his self-esteem was starting to slip
away. Time to back-pedal just a few
steps before it went down the drain.
“I never said you were small.
Look, you have a lot of things going
for you. Your shoulders are wide
and your waist and hips are narrow,
which gives you a great V-taper.
Your quads and hams are about
even, which is a rare thing. And
your back has some good width and
thickness to it. But if you are to be
as good as you can be, you need to
Neveux \ Model: Robert Hatch

bring up those weaker areas so they
aren’t distractions. Otherwise, the
judges will be drawn to them, and
Machines can help sculpt they’ll have an excuse to place you
muscular detail. farther down the lineup. But if your
physique is evenly developed and
flows together, the opposite will
happen. Some bigger guys may not
Free weights have that overall balance. They may
are the choice have a great upper body and weak
of most legs or be missing something like
bodybuilders triceps or calves. Wouldn’t it be nice
for packing on to blow past some of your compe-
mass. tition, especially when there will
probably be light heavies who are
three or four inches shorter than
you and about 15 pounds heavier?”
A dreamy smile spread on his
face.
“Yeah, that would be wicked
cool.” Quick lesson in Bostonian
for the rest of the country: Wicked
equals very, as in “Dunkin’ Donuts
has a wicked good new iced latte.”
Randy was sold and was putting
his faith in me. That was not easy
to deal with when I was on low
carbs and not my usual articulate,
energetic self. In fact, lately I’d
communicated more in grunts than
complete sentences. Needing a bit
of posing practice myself, I decided
to hit a few shots before packing up
my gym bag. Randy watched, and
a mischievous light came over his
eyes.
Neveux \ Model: Omar Deckard
“You know, you really could use a

little more triceps yourself,” he said,
barely containing a laugh.
“Ah, who asked you?” I spat back.
“They’re not that bad.” IM

Eric Broser Answers Questions
About His Stellar Strategy for
Building Size and Strength
by Steve Holman • Photography by Michael Neveux
You may recognize Eric Brosers name from his countless articles, columns and items that have
appeared in IRON MAN. Or you may have seen his handle, BodyFX2, attached to message-board posts
and features on the Internet. The man is everywhere, primarily because hes in such high demand.
Thats because his Power/Rep Range/Shock strategy is helping so many bodybuilders grow without
plateaus—and grow fast.

“The reason why most trainees stagnate is not because
they’ve reached their genetic potential but because
Model: Eric Broser

they are no longer challenging their muscles and
nervous and endocrine systems with their workouts.”
In case you haven’t been reading year now (see TEG on page 64), and stagnation are, in general, all inter-
IM lately or visiting key bodybuild- though we’ve had success with it, we related.
ing Web sites, here’s a brief explana- have questions. If you’ve been using I like to call the human body
tion of P/RR/S: it, you may have some too. Let’s get an adaptive machine. I’ve often
some answers from the P/RR/S guru talked about just how brilliant it is at
Power. Train every exercise with himself. adapting to a given stimulus. Early
straight sets—no supersets, tri- on in one’s training career just the
sets or drop sets—and reps in the IM: We made incredible act of lifting weights consistently is
four-to-six zone. strength gains with P/RR/S over a novel enough stimulus to force the
the first nine weeks—three body to add muscle and increase its
Rep Range. For the first exercise cycles. Is that normal, and what strength. Over time, however, the
you pick a weight that lets you get do you think is the reason? central nervous system and muscles
seven to nine reps. On the second EB: Yes, that’s normal, although become more and more proficient
exercise you do 10 to 12 reps. On by no means am I calling you nor- and will no longer respond the way
the third you move the rep range mal, my friend! [Laughs] Interest- they once did to the same type of
up to the high-end of fast-twitch ingly enough, when I first developed training.
recruitment—13 to 15. the principles behind P/RR/S In other words, the reason most
training, increasing strength was trainees stagnate is not because
Shock. Here you hammer your not a top priority of mine. Rather, they’ve reached their genetic poten-
muscles with supersets, drop sets I was looking to find other ways, tial but because they are no longer
and so on. Reps for most muscles aside from strength increases, to challenging their muscles and ner-
stay in the eight-to-10 range, but stimulate gains in muscle mass. vous and endocrine systems with
extended-set techniques are a However, once more and more their workouts. My P/RR/S program
must. trainees started using my system, I addresses that particular problem
began receiving consistent feedback in a very specific manner, allowing
It sounds simple enough, but regarding the breaking of both size everyone to start gaining size and
my partner, Jonathan Lawson, and and strength plateaus. That led me strength again and to continue to do
I have been using it for almost a to realize that the factors that lead to so on a consistent basis.

One of the primary reasons that
“There are those out there P/RR/S training works so well is the
who respond best to low-rep miniperiodization that is inherent
training due to a unique fiber in the program. Each week we look
makeup, and/or the ability to to stimulate a specific and unique
fire off a tremendous number growth pathway, which not only
of motor units with each rep. creates a powerful multifaceted at-
Skip La Cour falls into that tack on the muscles but also keeps
category.” the body off-balance so that it can’t
overadapt to any one form of train-
ing.
That said, I would not generally
recommend a back-off or drop set
during Power week, as I feel it could
compromise the long-term strategy
behind the program. It’s best to let
the specific goal of each week stand
on its own, especially for those new
to the P/RR/S protocol.
IM: When you tax the muscles

with heavy weights and low
reps during Power workouts,
then reduce the weights for Rep
Range workouts the following
week, aren’t you reducing the
stress on the muscles because
you’re using less weight instead
of more? Wouldn’t that cause a
regression in stimulation in-
stead of progressively increas-
Model: Skip La Cour
ing the stress on the muscles?

EB: If increasing the stress on a
muscle through constant progres-
(continued on page 138)
IM: Doing all sets in the four-

to-six range, as in Power week,
produces little, if any, muscle
burn. Since muscle burn—
caused by lactic acid—is direct-
ly linked to anabolic hormone
release, do you think the low-
rep Power week should include
some type of back-off set or
drop set? Or would that reduce
the effectiveness of using pure
Power rep ranges?
EB: Muscle burn has been di-
rectly linked to the release of natural
growth hormone, but many studies
have shown that increased testos-
terone output occurs when you per-
form multijoint exercises at about
85 to 90 percent of one-rep max,
which is the basic premise behind
Power week. Additionally, by han-
dling near maximum poundages on “One of the reasons P/RR/S
Model: Eric Broser
compound movements, we are also works so well is the

stimulating the highest-threshold miniperiodization that is
motor units—the other central goal inherent in the system.”
of Power week.

(continued from page 134) sion
in the amount of weight lifted
“Hypertrophy is
for low reps were the singular
a multifaceted
phenomenon factor in the mechanics of
and occurs muscle growth, powerlifters
through a would be the most muscularly
number of massive athletes of all those
physiological involved in the iron sports.
pathways, each However, that’s not the case.
of which is Hypertrophy is a multifaceted
stimulated by phenomenon and occurs
specific training through a number of physi-
methods.” ological pathways, each of
which is stimulated by spe-
cific training methods. You’ve
noted that fact in your writ-
ings as well.
Human muscle is made up
of two basic fiber types, fast
and slow twitch; however,
there are a few subtypes that
lie along the continuum. In
order to stimulate and affect
growth in all of those fibers,
we need to perform work to
failure in several different
ranges of repetitions. It is my
firm belief that one of the rea-
sons most people reach pla-
teaus in growth (and strength)
is that they fall into a comfort
zone whereby they tend to
stick to a specific number of
repetitions per set throughout
their training career. In doing
so, they are failing to attain
growth in all of their muscle
fibers, limiting their potential
Model: Omar Deckard
for gains as well as causing

stagnation due to overadapta-
tion of the muscles and cen-
tral nervous system.
IM: Of the three proto-

cols, it appears the Rep
Range week has the best
potential for developing
the most fiber types and
growth pathways—exer-
cise one, seven to nine
reps; exercise two, 10 to 12
reps; exercise three, 13 to
15 reps. If someone is in-
terested in building mus-
cle, why not just use that
continually and perhaps
vary exercises?
EB: I agree. If I were forced
to choose just one of the
Model: Eric Broser
three weekly protocols, with

the main goal of increasing
muscle size, I would definitely
choose Rep Range. Using that

particular training method week in
and week out would in and of itself
“Gains in size occur be more effective than the way most
through not only simple people set up their training in gen-
fiber hypertrophy but also eral. However, I’m not interested in
increases in mitochondrial what is more effective but, rather,
enzymes, stored glycogen, most effective. And what is most
triglyceride, ATP and effective is a training program that
phosphocreatine, from the attacks muscle growth from every
laying down of additional conceivable angle.
capillary beds. I believe As I’ve mentioned in previous
hyperplasia is real, as well.” articles, gains in size occur through
not only simple fiber hypertrophy
but also other physiological adap-
tations such as increases in mito-
chondrial enzymes, stored glycogen,
triglyceride, ATP and phospho-
creatine, from the laying down of
additional capillary beds. I believe
hyperplasia, or fiber splitting, is real
as well. In addition, through the use
of varying rep tempos, rest between
sets, intensity techniques, repetition
ranges and exercise combinations,
we can tap into myriad hormones
produced locally—meaning within
muscle—and systemically that are
responsible for increasing muscle
mass.
It seems that every day scientists
are discovering new chemicals with-
in the human body that affect the
rate at which we can put on muscle,
both directly and indirectly. P/RR/S
was designed in an attempt to ad-
dress all of those growth pathways
and will continue to evolve as we
learn more, both anecdotally and in
the laboratory.
IM: As I said earlier, we gained

a lot of strength with P/RR/S,
but size seems to be more elu-
sive. I think it could be from
a lack of stimulation to the
endurance components of the
muscle fibers, like mitochon-
drial and capillary bed devel-
opment, which is lacking with
low-rep-only Power workouts. It
may just be a hardgainer aber-
ration. Is there anything you
recommend for us hardgainer
types who don’t respond well to
low-rep Power sets?
EB: I’ve seen this a few times
but not very often. Leave it to you
to make my job more difficult.
[Laughs] Seriously, while I find that
most trainees respond extremely
Model: Eric Broser
well to the basic P/RR/S layout,

there are those who need some
minor variation of the program to

realize their full potential. It’s easiest haust more muscle fibers. Normally, Rep Range and/or Shock week so
for me to troubleshoot a problem I recommend about eight to 10 sets that the structure is P/RR/RR/S or
when I’m working one-on-one with for large bodyparts and five to seven P/RR/S/RR, for example.
a client, but let me give you some for smaller ones. But for hardgainers Also, another general recommen-
examples of how I might vary the I sometimes find that 10 to 12 and dation I make to most bodybuilders
routine for someone not gaining eight to 10 sets, respectively, work is to train each bodypart just once
muscle as fast as I’d like. better. per week, but there are some with
One solution is to increase the Another way I’ve found to in- superior recovery abilities who need
volume slightly on Power week so crease size gains for some individu- more frequent stimulation in order
that you have the opportunity to ex- als is to increase the frequency of to make the most efficient gains.

“Normally, I recommend
about eight to 10 sets for
large bodyparts and five to
seven for smaller ones for
someone who’s not gaining
as fast as I’d like on Power
week.”
For those types I might step up their there are those out there who
training split so that they hit each respond best to low-rep training
bodypart twice every eight or nine due to a unique fiber makeup
days. and/or the ability to fire off a
Since we are on the subject, I tremendous number of motor
should also mention that I’ve had units with each rep. Skip La Cour
some clients make more rapid falls into that category. He gener-
gains in size by using more Power- ally trains in the range of four to
week work rather than Rep Range six reps to failure just about every
or Shock. You must remember that week—and nobody could argue

Model: Eric Broser
week—and nobody could argue category, while I’m more of a someone use that style before
with his results. hardgainer type who responds going back to standard P/RR/S?
In addition, there are many well- to longer tension times. That EB: Yes, hybrid P/RR/S training
known strength coaches who feel makes our workout structure es- is a protocol I started experiment-
that the more years one has been pecially challenging. On the sub- ing with a couple of years ago. I only
consistently training, the fewer reps ject of challenging workouts, in recommend that people use it after
per set it takes for him or her to a recent article you mentioned they have consistently worked with
stimulate hypertrophy. creating hybrid P/RR/S work- the basic P/RR/S outline for at least
outs in which you combine all of a year or two, and for only short pe-
IM: I can attest to some the protocols in every bodypart riods—like four weeks or so. It’s just
trainees’ responding better to routine. Can you give me an ex- another way to provide a unique
lower reps. Jonathan is in that ample? Also, how long should stimulus to your muscles, endocrine

as well as your mind. target muscle, which we
An example of how you might both know is a trigger for
employ a hybrid P/RR/S workout for natural growth hormone “Without a doubt it’s more
chest is as follows: release. And if you’re in-
terested in big muscles, mentally and emotionally
Bench presses 3 x 4-6 then you’re interested in
Incline dumbbell increasing your GH out- exhausting to perform an
presses 3 x 13-15, 10-12, 7-9 put.
Seated flye machine Second, the high vol- all-out set of 20 reps than a set
(with end-of-set X-Rep ume of blood forced
partials) 2 x 8-10 through the vascular of four to six or eight to 10.”
system by high reps will
Another variation could look carry with it valuable
something like this: nutrients to nourish the
muscles and surrounding
Bench tissues. In addition, it has
presses 3 x 7-9, 10-12, 13-15 been shown that high-
Incline dumbbell presses 3 x 4-6 rep weight training can
Seated machine flyes enhance capillary density,
(drop sets) 2 x 8-10(4-6) increase the diameter
of existing blood vessels
I like to get very creative when and help to stimulate the
I embark on my short periods of creation of new blood
hybrid P/RR/S workouts. By the vessels. All of that will
way, one of the most effective Shock directly impact the overall
techniques I’ve ever used in con- size and volume of your
junction with my P/RR/S program is muscles. Good stuff!
X Reps. They are an amazing trigger One other thing I would
for new muscle growth. also like to address is the
psychological aspect of
IM: Thanks for the positive high-rep training. Without
feedback on our X-Rep concept. a doubt it’s more mentally
I noticed that you often include and emotionally exhaust-
a very high-rep range during ing to perform an all-out
Rep Range week—16 to 20. Why set of 20 reps than a set
do you feel it’s necessary to go of four to six or eight to
that high? Isn’t that tapping 10. It takes far more com-
more into the low-threshold mitment to deal with the
motor units and fatiguing the pain and burn associated
muscle before much fast-twitch with high reps and a lot
recruitment happens? more concentration and
EB: I don’t think necessary is the focus to deal with a set
right word—beneficial is better. First of that length; however,
of all, I do not feel that 16 to 20 reps I believe that this form
is an absurd number to perform, of training will over time
especially for only two or three sets increase your pain thresh-
in a given workout. There are some old, enhance your ability
training methods that call for 50 to to concentrate harder and
100 reps in a single set, which also longer, and push your
has its place every once in a while. mind/muscle connec-
So, while I don’t feel that people tion to a higher level. All
should build their entire workout of those things will filter
around such high-rep sets, I do feel down into all of your other
that they should be included in workouts and allow your
small but consistent doses. training and overall prog-
There are several crucial benefits ress to reach new heights.
to performing high-rep sets. Re- IM: When a trainee
member earlier when I mentioned does pure negatives,
that muscles get larger through mul- the lowering part of
tiple types of physiological adapta- the stroke only, with a
tions? Well, with sets of 16 to 20 reps heavier-than-normal
you bring a tremendous amount poundage, it causes a
of blood and lactic acid into the lot of fiber damage. If

“Multirep rest/pause fits
in quite nicely during the
Model: Eric Broser

Shock week of P/RR/S.
a lot of fiber damage. If train- from, along with my own P/RR/S four cycles—nine to 12 weeks—of
ees want to do pure negatives, training. P/RR/S, he or she should take off
should they do them during As for his specific multirep rest/ one full week. If trainees are uncom-
Power, Rep Range or Shock pause technique, it’s something fortable with the idea of completely
workouts? that can often fit in quite nicely staying out of the gym, they should
EB: Even though I consider pure during the Shock week of P/RR/S. at the very least follow every three to
negatives a shock technique, I’d use four P/RR/S cycles with one to two
them during Power week in place of, IM: Do you use forced reps, weeks of low-intensity training.
or in conjunction with, the normal and if so, where—Power, Rep
protocol. And because of the tre- Range or Shock? IM: Interesting. Thanks for
mendous amount of fiber damage EB: I do not use forced reps at the thought-provoking in-
and central nervous system exhaus- every workout, but when I do, it terview. I’ll have additional
tion that pure-negative training will usually occurs during Power week. questions for you after we ex-
cause, I would reserve it only for I should mention that most often periment more with P/RR/S.
very advanced trainees on a quite I train alone, but I’d perhaps use EB: I’m ready when you are. By
limited basis. forced reps a bit more often if I had the way, I want to thank you for
a steady workout partner. Quite included P/RR/S in some of your
IM: How about D.C., Dante’s honestly though, I’m at a point workouts in your latest e-book [X-
multirep rest/pause—three sets now where I’ve learned to focus traordinary Muscle-Building Work-
done with the same weight and so intensely on every rep that by outs, available at X-Rep.com]. What
a 20-second rest after each? the time I reach positive failure, I a tremendous resource of printable
Does that fall into Power, Rep believe I have fired off just about mass-building programs!
Range or Shock? every available muscle fiber!
EB: First, let me mention that IM: Thanks for the plug. When
Dante is a friend of mine and some- IM: Do you ever recommend we find something that works,
one I have the highest respect for, a layoff, and if so, after how we want other bodybuilders to
both as a training theorist and as a many cycles of P/RR/S? try it. Which is why we included
person. His D.C. method has helped EB: Yes, I do recommend P/RR/S in our X-Rep Reload rou-
thousands of people gain new size scheduled layoffs from the gym. tines. We’ve tried it, and we like
and strength, and it’s a program that For the average natural trainee I it. It’s a great system. IM
many people switch back and forth believe that after every three or

to
L-Carnitine Can Help Burn Bodyfat and Increase Anabolic Receptors

by Jerry Brainum
Y
ou wouldn’t say that Recognition of carnitine’s role in two sources: food and what’s pro-
L-carnitine had an aus- fat oxidation eventually led to its use duced in the body. Meats contain
picious start in nutrition in food supplements as a so-called the highest amount of carnitine,
science. Discovered in fat burner. Theoretically, it should: while fruits and vegetables contain
1905 by Russian scientists inves- low amounts. Most diets have an
tigating a meat extract, carnitine 1) Enhance fat oxidation average daily intake of 20 to 200 mil-
didn’t arouse much interest in the ligrams of carnitine. While vegetar-
scientific world. In 1952, studies 2) Increase muscle glycogen ians have lower blood carnitine than
proved it to be an essential nutri- stores through enhanced use of meat eaters, they rarely show any
ent—for the species Tenebrio moli- fat as a fuel signs of carnitine deficiency. That’s
tor, more commonly known as the because the body, which contains
mealworm. The apparent necessity 3) Increase use of glucose as a fuel about 20 grams of carnitine, synthe-
of carnitine for the worm led to its sizes it efficiently. Losses are rapidly
designation as vitamin BT. Soon, 4) Lower acetyl coenzyme-A con- replaced.
however, carnitine morphed into tent in cells, which in turn acti- Only those with certain inherited
the Rodney Dangerfield of nutri- vates another enzyme, pyruvate conditions have outright carnitine
ents, when it lost its designation as a dehydrogenase, leading to more deficiencies, usually involving
vitamin. Carnitine didn’t seem to be glucose use and less lactate. The mutations in the cellular carnitine
essential in human nutrition. scenario favors decreased muscu- transporter. People who have the
Further studies in 1958 found that lar fatigue. deficiency have trouble absorbing
carnitine was indeed vital. Scien- carnitine in the intestines and lose
tists determined that carnitine, a While those effects all seem more of it than normal through
name derived from carnos, meaning perfectly plausible, most studies kidney elimination. Primary carni-
“meat,” was essential to the process examining the effects of carnitine tine deficiency is serious, resulting
of fat oxidation in cells. as either an ergogenic aid or a fat in heart problems, musculoskeletal
Fat oxidation occurs in a portion oxidation agent have come up short. disease, low blood sugar and other
of the cell called the mitochondria, One reason is that taking carnitine ills. The treatment requires large
where energy is produced in the supplements increases plasma doses of carnitine, or the outcome
form of ATP. You need carnitine to levels of it but not muscle levels. is death.
shuttle long-chain fatty acids into On the other hand, recent evidence Such deficiencies, however, are
the mitochondria, where it and two shows that there is a way to substan- rare. Most people can easily pro-
enzymes mix it up to burn fat. With- tially increase muscle carnitine. duce sufficient carnitine provided
out carnitine, that can’t happen. Your body gets carnitine from they take in (continued on page 158

Carnitine appears to help
muscles use glucose as fuel,
and it also improves muscle
recovery.
Neveux \ Model: Steve Namat

Megadoses of L-
carnitine may have
you smelling like
dead fish.
(continued from page 155) the raw evidence indicates that a particular
materials, including the amino acids form of carnitine, called acetyl L-
lysine and methionine, iron, vitamin carnitine, which offers some protec-
C, vitamin B6 and niacin. The more tive benefits in the brain, can enter
carnitine your food contains, the the brain much more easily than
less you absorb. Regular meat eat- L-carnitine can.
ers absorb less carnitine than veg- One problem with taking car-
etarians. A high-fat, low-carb diet nitine orally is that what isn’t ab-
increases blood carnitine after six sorbed into the blood is degraded
days but also leads to greater excre- by intestinal bacteria into trimeth-
tion of it. Most obese people have ylamine. The same thing happens
higher blood carnitine than leaner with excess choline, and you end
people do. up smelling like a dead fish. Taking
Oral carnitine supplements have riboflavin, a B-complex vitamin,
a systemic bioavailibility of 5 to 15 seems to prevent that effect, as does
percent. The largest absorbable avoiding megadoses of either carni-
oral dose is 2,000 milligrams. Any tine or choline.
more than that is rapidly excreted Studies suggesting the benefits of
through the kidneys. Muscle is es- supplemental carnitine for athletic
pecially stubborn in regard to carni- purposes are equivocal at best. A
tine absorption, since its carnitine few show that athletes who take it
stores turn over more slowly. Some experience (continued on page 164
Researchers gave three

grams a day of carnitine
in divided doses to
healthy adults who had
no genetic carnitine
deficiency, and the
subjects experienced an
increase in carnitine-
induced long-chain fat
oxidation.

(continued from page 159) im- eating more than 90 grams of simple
proved oxygen uptake and de-
One study found that sugars, but if you do that prior to
creased plasma lactate. Again, the taking L-carnitine training, you negate use of fat as
problem is that while oral carnitine a fuel source during the workout.
supplements increase its plasma increased exercise time That appears to cancel the whole
levels, muscle levels don’t seem to point of taking carnitine orally.
change. to exhaustion by 14 Many scientists suggest that the
Another issue is quality control percent in sedentary limiting factor in how rapidly the
in the manufacture of the supple- body burns fat isn’t L-carni-
ments. One study analyzed 12 over- rats and 30.3 percent tine but rather the enzyme
the-counter carnitine products.1 that works with it, namely
The actual carnitine content in trained rats. CPT-1. The primary brake
averaged only 52 percent of on the enzyme is malonyl
label value. Five of the 12 coenzyme-A—which is produced
products tested didn’t dissolve by carbohydrate intake. That’s one
or break down properly. reason taking in carbs while training
Recent studies have discovered prevents the use of fat as fuel.
a method of improving carnitine Some studies, however, show that
uptake into muscle.2 Increasing you can increase the activity of CPT-
insulin secretion by eating simple 1 in the liver if you take L-carnitine
sugar ups muscle carnitine by 15 and genistein, a substance found
percent within five hours. If that in soy. Isolated fat cells exposed to
sounds familiar, it’s because other L-carnitine increased the activity of
studies showed that using the same genes linked to fat oxidation while
technique increases muscle uptake suppressing genes associated with
of creatine. Elevated insulin acti- Even so, certain obvious prob- fat synthesis.4 The bad gene, called
vates the transport proteins for both lems emerge. The body has to re- PPAR-gamma, recently made the
creatine and carnitine in muscle. lease a lot of insulin.3 That requires news when scientists gave rats a
Energy is produced in
the form of ATP in the
mitochondria of the cells.
You need carnitine to
shuttle long-chain fatty
acids into the mitochondria,
where it and two enzymes
mix it up to burn fat.
164 SEPTEMBER 2007 www.ironmanmagazine.com

to
drug that prevents its activity. The One recent study found that 21 days of taking carnitine
rats could not gain fat, no matter increased the number of androgen receptors in
how much or what they ate. muscle, which interact with testosterone.8 Carnitine is
Other rat-based studies show that involved in the pituitary and testicular production of
carnitine may work better for those testosterone, and it works with testosterone in treating
with more exercise experience. For male sexual dysfunction.9 In the testes, carnitine is
example, one found that taking L- needed to transport fat for use as an energy source
carnitine increased exercise time to for testosterone synthesis. Rats exposed to the stress
exhaustion by 14 percent in seden- of cold-water swimming showed lower testosterone
tary rats and 30.3 percent in trained levels—except when they ate carnitine.
rats.5 Experimenters observed
greater activity of carnitine in the
soleus muscle, which is primarily
composed of type 1 muscle fibers,
the fibers that have a greater capac-
ity to burn fat.
While many studies show that
carnitine has little effect on fat oxi-
dation, others indicate otherwise.
Researchers gave three grams a
day of carnitine in divided doses
to healthy adults who had no ge-
netic carnitine deficiency, and the
subjects experienced an increase
in carnitine-induced long-chain
fat oxidation.6 Another study used
tracers to track the use of fat in 12
subjects who took three grams of
carnitine supplements a day for 10
days. They experienced a significant
increase in fat oxidation, with no
loss of body protein.7
Why the discrepancies? One
reason is the failure to consider
the uptake time associated with
taking carnitine orally. Taking it 60
to 90 minutes before exercise isn’t
enough time for it to leave your
stomach, get absorbed in your small
intestine and then be transported
in the blood into muscle. A study
that traced the route of orally taken
carnitine found that five hours later
only 22.5 percent of the dose had
been absorbed into muscle; 48.8
percent was still in the intestine.
While the debate on the fat-burn-
ing merits of carnitine continues,
a few other exercise effects have
emerged. Several studies show that
taking two grams of carnitine after a
workout prevents excessive muscle
soreness and improves exercise
recovery. Carnitine enhances the
function of the endothelial lining
of the blood vessels, thus enhanc-
ing blood flow within muscle and
providing oxygen to cells. Carnitine
appears to act as a vasodilator,
meaning that it opens blood vessels,
improving circulation. Experiments
have dem- (continued on page 170

to
(continued from page 166) onstrated threshold

that exercisers who take carnitine exists for the
orally experience only limited dam- stimulatory
age to muscle fibers caused by effect of insu-
eccentric, or negative, muscle con- lin on plasma
tractions. L-carnitine
Carnitine may also interact with clearance in
anabolic hormones, which further humans. J
aids recovery after intense training. Appl Physiol.
One recent study found that taking 292:E637-
carnitine for 21 days increased the E641.
number of androgen receptors in 4 Shin, E.S.,
muscle, which interact with testos- et al. (2006).

terone.8 Carnitine is involved in the Positive
pituitary and testicular production regulation of
of testosterone, and it works with hepatic carni-
testosterone in treating male sexual tine palmitoyl
dysfunction.9 In the testes, carnitine transferase
is needed to transport fat for use 1A (CPT1A)
as an energy source for testoster- activities by
one synthesis. Rats subjected to soy isofla-
the stress of cold-water swimming vones and
showed lower testosterone levels— L-carnitine.
except when they ate carnitine. Eur J Nut.
Carnitine may also blunt the 45(3):159-164.
effects of an overactive thyroid or 5 Bacurau,
prevent side effects in those who R.P., et al.

use thyroid drugs10 by inhibiting the (2003). Does
Neveux \ Model: Greg Smyers

entry of active thyroid hormone, T3, exercise
into cells. In addition, excess thyroid training in-
use rapidly depletes carnitine in the terfere with
body, which may account for some the effects of
of the muscle loss you see in people L-carnitine
who have taken large doses of thy- supplementa-
roid drugs. tion? Nutri-
The side effects of carnitine tion.19:337-341. Carnitine enhances
have to do mainly with taking too 6 Muller, D.M., et al. (2002). Effects
much—mild gastrointestinal symp- of oral L-carnitine supplementa- the function of the

toms, such as nausea, vomiting and tion on in vivo long-chain fatty acid
abdominal cramps, diarrhea and oxidation in healthy adults. Metabo- endothelial lining of
rashes. Early carnitine supplements lism. 51:1389-1391.
also contained a mixture of D and 7 Wutzke, K.D., et al. (2004). The the blood vessels,
L isomers. The body uses only the L effect of L-carnitine on fat oxida-
form, and the D form can displace tion, protein turnover, and body thus enhancing
it, thus leading to what appears to composition in slightly overweight
be a carnitine deficiency, as evi- subjects. Metabolism. 53:1002-1006. blood flow within
denced by muscle weakness and 8 Kraemer, W.J., et al. (2006). An-
fatigue. Most supplements today drogenic responses to resistance

muscle and
don’t contain the useless D form. exercise: Effects of feeding and
L-carnitine. Med Sci Sports Exer.
providing oxygen
References 38:1288-1296.
9 Cavallini, G., et al. (2004). Carni-
to cells. Carnitine
1 Millington, D.S., et al. (1993).
Dietary supplement L-carnitine:
tine versus androgen administration
in the treatment of sexual dysfunc-
appears to act as a
Analysis of different brands to de- tion, depressed mood, and fatigue vasodilator, meaning
termine bioavailability and content. associated with male aging. Urology.
Clin Res Reg Affairs.10:71-80.
2 Stephens, F.B., et al. (2006).
63:641-46.
10 Benvenga, S. (2005). Effects of
that it opens blood
Carbohydrate ingestion augments L-carnitine on thyroid metabolism vessels, improving
L-carnitine retention in humans. J and on physical exercise tolerance.
App Physiol. 102(3):1065-70. Horm Metab Res. 3:566-71. IM circulation.
3 Stephens, F.B., et al. (2007). A

Olympia Bound
With His ’07 Arnold Classic
Victory, Victor Martinez’s
Star Is Rising
by Ilir Gatollari
S S
ome people thought
Victor Martinez had
the greatest unreal-
ized potential in
bodybuilding since
Chris Cormier. Then
on March 3, 2007,
Victor finally did what the physique
world had been waiting for him to
do since he won the ’03 Night of
Champions: He nailed the Arnold
Classic title over two-time defend-
ing champ Dexter Jackson. It wasn’t
easy.
Victor is a competitor who pos-
sesses unimaginable genetic gifts.
His potential is so extreme that
eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie
Coleman has publicly stated that
Victor will be Mr. O.
While most victories are a boon
for competitors, the ’03 NOC had
become Martinez’s albatross. It was
the benchmark by which the rest of
his pro career was judged, and the
judging was tough on him.
By all informed accounts, he
simply couldn’t repeat his previous
condition. While he came out strong
in the ’04 season, winning the GNC
This photo and all training photos courtesy of MHP
Show of Strength over Darrem

Charles and Gustavo Badel, he was
far from his ’03 NOC mark. His sub-
sequent dismal and disappointing
ninth-place finish at the ’04 Olym-
pia set the stage for a series of blows
that would call into question Victor’s

competitive future.
The ensuing ’05 contest season
saw him struggle with seventh at
the Arnold Classic, third at the New
York Pro, fifth at the San Francisco
Pro and fifth at the Olympia, after
which he dragged his body home
looking at his shoes. What was he
going to do now? With perhaps the
greatest potential in the sport, he
just couldn’t seem to get it together.
Martinez himself wondered if he
ever could.
Then he showed up at the ’06
Arnold Classic looking like the old
Victor—only bigger and more im-
posing—kindling hope that things
were turning around. News of his
controversial third-place finish sent
a shock wave through the sport.
At the ’06 Olympia he looked
even better, weighing more than 260
pounds. He blew everyone away.
His image in silhouette behind the
screen at the finals made the hair
on the back of people’s necks stand
up. He was amazing—only a frac-
tion from pushing the great Ronnie
Coleman into third place instead of
second behind Jay Cutler.
Victor Martinez wasn’t just back;
he’d brought out a whole new Vic-
tor—and one who was freakin’ dan-
gerous.
Victory at Last
The ’07 Arnold Classic would
finally find Martinez the last man
standing in one of the toughest and
deepest bodybuilding fields the
world has ever seen. His win was
not only undisputed but a glorious
crowning achievement.
So it’s looking as if Victor could
very likely fulfill Ronnie Coleman’s
prophecy. The only problem is
Victor could very likely that Ronnie wasn’t counting on it
happening before he retired. What
fulfill Ronnie Coleman’s helped Victor make an improve-
ment so profound and encompass-
ing that it would pluck him from a
prophecy. The only problem downward spiral and elevate him to
a spot in front of the best of the best
is that Ronnie wasn’t pro bodybuilders in the world?
Victor trained at the same gym,
counting on it happening with the same trainer, ate the same
food and pulled the same tricks out
before he retired. of the same bag that he’d used in the
past. It was obvious, though, that
this time he’d had some help. What

made the dramatic difference? Two
very important notes are relevant
here.
First, some time in 2001, Victor
purchased several hundred dol-
lars’ worth of a heavily marketed
and supposedly effective brand of
supplements (a brand you probably
know very well). They did nothing.
So he swore off supplements and
didn’t touch them for more than
four years.
Today, however, Victor is virtually
the only high-profile pro who has
endorsed just one supplement com-
pany. You can’t blame athletes for

chasing a bigger paycheck, but with
each new company they represent,
the worth of their endorsement
goes down proportionately. How
can so-and-so say that ABC brand
of supplements gave him a winning

Victor’s Secret Weapons edge when he was endorsing XYZ
brand last year?
Cyclin-GF was the first test product that Martinez used with great Victor Martinez has endorsed
success. Here’s how it works: Within your body are millions of inactive MHP products only. His association
muscle cells—or as the medical researchers call them muscle precur- with that company and its products
sor cells. MPCs expire unless they’re kick-started, but was the only difference he made in
once they’re activated, they begin dividing and forming his bodybuilding career between
pools of myoblast cells that are programmed to become the end of his dismal ’05 season and
muscle fibers—but only under ideal anabolic condi- the ’07 Arnold Classic. That makes
tions. Victor’s endorsement of MHP
When MHP researchers examined what needed to products the most rock solid in the
occur in order to activate and develop MPCs into fully entire sports-supplement industry,
grown muscle cells, they found that the greatest win- bar none.
dow of opportunity occurred at night. They found a Why MHP? Short answer: Gerard
relationship between sleep quantity and quality and the Dente, former competitive body-
cascade of hormones needed for growing new muscle. builder and owner of MHP. Victor
MHP’s Cyclin-GF is a multiacting nighttime formula that promotes signed on at the end of the ’05
quality sleep and stimulates a cascade of anabolic hormone production. season, and that’s when his com-
Cyclin-GF helps get you into the deep-sleep and REM stages faster and petitive edge sharpened. Gerard
remain in REM sleep longer. The formula employs an advanced full- crafted an advanced supplement
phase technology to induce the production of critical hormones needed program for Victor that included
for muscle fiber development and growth. Additionally, anti-arrestor in- MHP’s Probolic-SR timed-release
gredients neutralize and reduce the levels of damaging arrestors that limit protein, along with TRAC Extreme,
muscle growth. With Cyclin-GF, peak MPC activation occurs, followed by the industry gold standard in ad-
elevated muscle fiber growth and regeneration, increasing the overall rate vanced nitric oxide, creatine and
of muscle growth and size. energy delivery, and Glutamine-SR,
Along with Cyclin-GF, Victor used MHP’s selective a patented glutamine with superior
androgen receptor modulators, or SARMs. Over the bioavailability. That was Victor’s
past 10 years leading scientists and biochemists have core supplement program.
been developing a new class of anabolic-steroidlike Then, knowing firsthand the
compounds and have perfected what could be the unique physical demands put on a
muscle-building breakthrough of the century. bodybuilder, Gerard worked hand
Steroids work by binding to androgen receptors on in hand with key medical experts
muscle tissue, where they enter the cell nucleus and to formulate a pair of breakthrough
stimulate protein synthesis. Androgen receptors don’t products that were in the prerelease
only exist on muscle tissue, however; they’re found phase—Cyclin-GF and a compound
throughout the body on other tissues and such organs known by the acronym SARMS. Re-
as the prostate, heart and liver. The binding of androgens to the various member, Martinez hadn’t touched
receptors is nonselective because a supplement in more than four
they target all androgen receptors years; he was the proverbial clean
and not just those in muscle. Non- slate.
selectivity results in lower potency Those two supplements did
and may lead to undesirable side much for his contest prep (for more
effects. on them, see “Victor’s Secret Weap-
With the advent of SARM tech- ons” at left). His off-season training
nology MHP researchers developed was more intense than it had ever
SARM-X, a supplement designed been.
to work as a selective androgen
receptor modulator. SARM-X is
specifically engineered to deliver a Overload Training
full dose directly to muscle tissue
and stimulate more rapid muscle “The most important elements
growth. Its superior selectivity trig- of any successful training program
gers the greatest possible muscle- are intensity and consistency,” he
building reaction yet presents less says. “In other words, train like an
risk of side effects, making SARM-X animal with 100 percent effort and
the most advanced over-the-coun- keep at it—but don’t expect results
ter compound available. overnight.”
One look at Victor and there’s no Victor’s current program is the
question MHP’s secret formulas result of 15 years of fine-tuning and
worked. tweaking. It’s a high-volume pro-
gram with few (continued on page 190)
186
Shape, proportion,
mass, detail—Victor presses 4 x 20, 15, 10, 6-10
has it all. Hack squats 3 x 20, 15, 15
Squats 4 x 15, 10, 10
Lunges (barbell or
Smith machine) 3 x 10
Leg extensions 3 x 20, 15, 10
Day 2, p.m.
No workout
Day 3, a.m.
Pullups 3 x max
Seated rows 3 x 15, 12, 10
One-arm dumbbell
rows 3 x 10, 8, 6
Bent-over rows or
T-bar rows 3 x 10, 10, 8-10
Deadlifts (tap and go) 3 x 6-10
Day 3, p.m.
Lying one-arm extensions 3 x 8-10
Pushdowns 3 x 15, 12, 10
Close-grip bench presses
or bench dips 3 x 8-10
Seated calf raises 3 x 25-30
Leg press calf raises 2 x 25-30
Hanging leg raises 3 x 25-30
Crunches 3 x 25
Day 4
Off
Day 5, a.m.
Incline dumbbell
presses 4 x 12, 10, 8, 6
Incline barbell presses 3 x 10, 8, 6
Dumbbell bench
presses 3 x 10, 8, 6
Decline barbell presses
or flyes 3 x 10-15
(continued from page 186) rest days. Day 1, a.m.
“It’s what my body responds best Lying leg curls 4 x 15, 12, 10, 8 Day 5, p.m.
to,” he explains. Single-leg leg curls Barbell curls 3 x 15, 12, 10
Martinez has devised an odd but (standing) 3 x 12, 10, 8 Seated alternate
extremely effective rotation that Stiff-legged deadlifts 3 x 10, 10, 10 dumbbell curls 3 x 10-12
hits all bodyparts in four workouts Standing calf raises 3 x 25, 20, 15 Concentration curls 3 x 10-12
over five days using a split routine. Seated calf raises 3 x 25, 20, 15 Hammer curls
He trains three days on/one day off, (sometimes instead of
and picks up on the next workout Day 1, p.m. concentration curls) 3 x 6-8
scheduled. He trains abs and calves Seated barbell front
at every other workout. presses 4 x 10, 8, 8, 6 Day 6
Superset Cycle repeats, starting with ham-
Lateral raises 3 x 10-12 strings, calves and shoulders,
Day 1 a.m.: hamstrings, calves; Dumbbell presses 3 x 8-10 and continues on a three-days-
p.m.: shoulders Superset on/one-day-off schedule.
Day 2 a.m.: quads; p.m.: no work- Upright rows 3 x 8-10
out Bent-over laterals 3 x 10-12
Day 3 a.m.: back; p.m.: triceps Hanging leg raises 3 x 25-30 Editor’s note: For more on Vic-
Day 4 Off Cable crunches 3 x 20 tor Martinez, visit IFBBPro
Day 5 a.m.: chest; p.m.: biceps VictorMartinez.com or Maximum
Day 6 Cycle begins again Day 2, a.m. HumanPerformance.com. IM
Incline leg


Physique Metamorphosis
by John Little
n the six years since To begin with, everybody is not we’ll all grow faster when each of
Joanne Sharkey different. As Mike accurately poin- us trains more intensely. If you’re
ted out years ago: not gaining fast now or if you’re not
asked me to do “We aren’t all that different phy- gaining at all, you’ll gain faster when
phone consulta- siologically. We’re all unique as you train more intensely. Anybody
tions for her on individuals, but when a young man will gain more rapidly when he
Mike Mentzer’s or a young woman goes to medical trains more intensely. He may not
school and studies muscle physio- gain as rapidly as me. Then again,
Heavy Duty training logy, whose physiology is he or she he might gain more rapidly than I
system, the most common studying? Everybody’s. do because of innate adaptability.
question we’ve received “We all have the same muscle We all have different innate adap-
is, What did Mike mean physiology. The biochemical chang- tabilities to exercise—age, physical
es leading to muscle growth in Mike condition, motivation, a lot of diffe-
when he said, “As the body Mentzer are the same as the ones rent factors. The underlying muscle
changes, training require- leading to muscle growth in you. It physiology, however, is the same.
ments change”? Does it follows that the specific stimulus “The people who say we all have
required to induce the biochemical different training requirements are
mean that everybody’s dif- changes leading to muscle growth in entirely wrong. They’re ignorant
ferent? Does it mean that you and me is the same. What is that of the basic facts regarding muscle
there could be a time when stimulus? High-intensity muscular physiology. If we all had different
someone could (or should) contraction!” physiologies, medical science could
That’s why nobody ever put an not exist. A doctor would have to
perform more volume—or inch on an arm as a result of wash- study each individual as a separate
even high volume—in ing dishes—the intensity of mus- physiological entity and then learn
one’s training? The answer cular contraction involved in that all the intricacies of that physiology
to the last two questions is activity is far too low. As Mike also and devise medicine around them.
pointed out: The very fact that the basic princip-
no. The answer to the first “We all grow at different rates of les of physiology apply to the whole
is what we’re talking about speed. I might grow faster as a re- human race is what makes medical
in this installment. sult of high-intensity training, but science a viable discipline.”

As for the issue of whether high-
volume training makes sense, the
answer is that a high volume of train-
ing and a high intensity of training
are mutually exclusive. The body
requires high-intensity muscular
contractions to produce the bioche-
mical reactions that result in muscle
growth. Low-intensity contractions,
which let you carry on a particular
activity for a longer period of time,
do very little to stimulate much, if
any, growth at all. Again, try wash-
ing dishes for a couple of hours and
let me know when you’ve put two
inches on your arm. Let’s hear from
Mike Mentzer on the issue:
“Does anybody here think that
growth comes easily? Has anybody
grown ‘too fast’ this year? No, we
all know that growth doesn’t come
easily. You literally have to force
growth. Now, tell me how you can
force growth with light weights, mild
exertion, easy workouts. You can’t.
The harder you train, the faster you
grow. The harder you train, the less
time you can spend training, just as
the faster you run, the less distance
you can run.”
As an Given the above facts, we are
individual’s brought back to square one. So what
muscles grow did Mike mean when he said that as
bigger, they also the body changes, training require-
grow stronger. ments change? Simply this: That as
an individual’s muscles grow bigger,
they also grow stronger. Consequent-
ly, the energy expended in one’s
workout from a given muscle group
Bigger, stronger
muscles expend
more energy, so
the larger you
become, the
more quickly
you become
exhausted.

The bigger and
stronger you
are, the more
stress you can
impose on your
body in any
given set.
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Model: Steve McLeod
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That causes you to grow ex- becomes progressively greater and Power of IntraPro AAC7™
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manner. The harder the effort, ming a warmup set of squats com- We Make Products That Work!
the more quickly exhaustion in- pared to what happens during the
tervenes; when your gas tank has actual work set to failure. On the
been emptied, in other words, the heavier work set you immediately
workout is over. Your gas tank gets recognize the much greater stress
emptied very quickly when you on the bones than you get on the
are exerting yourself to the max. As warmup set. The same goes for the
you expend more energy in lifting much greater demands on the car-
heavier weights—300 pounds for diorespiratory system and so forth.
15 repetitions in the squat vs. only “Now simply extrapolate that
120 pounds for 10 repetitions in the over time, as you lift progressively
squat—it takes the body longer to more weight from workout to wor-
replenish a greater energy debt than kout. As the stresses grow progres- www.gasparinutrition.com
it does a lesser one. Or, as Mike put sively greater, they’ll eventually add Available at health and vitamin stores,
it: up to overtraining. The first symp- gyms and select retailers nationwide.
“As you grow stronger—that is, tom will be a slowdown in progress,
as the weights grow progressively and if you continue with the same

Within two to
three weeks of
embarking on a
high-intensity-
training
program, you
should begin
inserting an
extra rest day
or even two into
your schedule.
volume and frequency, the stresses rest day or even two at random units of possible progress will be
will cause complete cessation of so that you’re giving yourself suf- realized. Once the individual is
progress. That’s typically referred to ficient time to recover from your training once every seven days, I
as a ‘sticking point.’ You need never workouts. Do that with increasing suggest a reduction in the volume
experience a slowdown in progress, regularity until you’re training once of training, as outlined in my
let alone a sticking point, if you every seven days or so. According books, along the lines of the Con-
bear in mind all the while that you to Mike: solidation Program. [Editor’s note:
must compensate for them.” “The implication here is that Please see The Wisdom of Mike
Within two to three weeks if the individual trains again be- Mentzer or High Intensity Trai-
of embarking on a Heavy Duty, fore the body’s growth production ning The Mike Mentzer Way for a
high-intensity training program, process is completed, it will be detailed presentation of Mentzer’s
you should begin adding an extra short-circuited and less than 100 Consolidation Program.]

If you train
before recovery
is complete, you
short-circuit the
growth process.
“With a consolidation routine,

there’s a decided shift in emphasis
to predominately compound exer-
cises—that is, ones that involve
multiple muscle groups, such as
squats, dips and deadlifts. A work-
out consisting of compound exer-
cises still works all of the major
muscle groups but with fewer
total sets, making for minimum
inroads into recovery ability.
“Following the above advice,

Compound
exercises are
best for efficient
mass-building
workouts.
you’ll never hit a sticking point. You’ll missions to the gym here on earth. performing more reps—you’ve in-
experience unbreached progress Building bigger muscles should be creased the stress on your body. You
with your training. As I’ve written a cakewalk compared to a moon must account for that both in the
before, if scientists can send a man walk.” length (or volume) of your workouts
to the moon and bring him back In other words, anytime you and in the extra time that will be
safely each time, we should be able increase the intensity of a work- required between workouts in order
to succeed with every one of our out—by lifting heavier weights, for you to fully recover and adapt

Multijoint moves
that train the
largest muscles
stimulate the
metabolism
and anabolic
hormones.
Model: Jose Raymond

from the training.
More-isolated Editor’s note: For a complete
finishing presentation of Mike Mentzer’s
exercises Heavy Duty training system, consult
should be used his books Heavy Duty II, High
infrequently. Intensity Training the Mike Mentzer
Way and the newest book, The
Wisdom of Mike Mentzer, all of which
are available from Mentzer’s official
Web site, www.MikeMentzer.com.
John Little is available for phone
consultation on Mike Mentzer’s
Heavy Duty training system. For
rates and information, contact
Joanne Sharkey at (310) 316-4519 or
at www.MikeMentzer.com, or see
the ad on the opposite page.
Article copyright © 2007, John
Little. All rights reserved. Mike
Mentzer quotations provided
courtesy of Joanne Sharkey and are
used with permission. IM

A Commonsense
Approach
by Myron Mielke - Photography by Michael Neveux
f you’ve tried but repeatedly failed

to reveal your six-pack abs, I’ve got
the perfect plan for you. Many of the
countless articles over the years on
weight loss and shedding bodyfat
offer sound advice and can produce
incredible results. Even so, they always
seem to miss the bridge between no diet
and dieting.
That in itself makes some plans difficult,
perhaps impossible, to follow. Whatever
Model: Hidetada Yamagishi
results a plan might be capable of

producing, if the average person can’t
follow it, it isn’t going to be effective.
Don’t Go Cold Turkey Cardio: Double-Duty Fat Burning
Let’s say you follow a somewhat
typical off-season bodybuilding diet. According to most exercise physiology textbooks, the longer you do aerobic
You try to eat four to six times per exercise, the more fat you burn. During the first 30 minutes of aerobics you
day and try to eat protein with each burn an equal mixture of fat and carbohydrate. Then, as the carbs are de-
meal. You drink one or two protein pleted with extended exercise time, the fuel shifts mostly to fat. Two or more
shakes a day, and you lift three to five hours of consecutive aerobic exercise can burn about 90 percent fat.
days per week. If you’re like most people, though, the notion of doing two straight hours of
You don’t count carbs, and you aerobics is about as attractive as watching Rosie O’Donnell dancing the tango
don’t limit desserts and high-fat nude with Louie Anderson in Macy’s. There’s got to be an easier way—and ac-
foods. Pizza and burgers are part of cording to recent research, there is. A recent study compared doing one long
your mass-building diet. Your ab- to two short sessions of aerobic exercise.
dominal muscles are not visible, but The study involved seven men, who engaged in three trials:
if you pull down on your stomach 1) A single bout of 60 minutes of aerobics
skin, you can sort of see one row of
abs peeking through. By summer 2) Two bouts of 30 minutes each of aerobics, separated by a 20-minute rest
(June or July) you’d like to see a six-
3) Rest, or control, group
pack.
I’ve seen people start diets at the The exercise was done on a stationary cycle, using 60 percent of maximum
beginning of January. They know oxygen intake, a moderate level of exercise intensity.
they’ve added a few pounds of pure The stimulus for fat burning during aerobics is a combination of increased
fat during the holiday season, and catecholamines (epinephrine and norepinephrine) and lowered insulin. The
they’re fired up to get rid of it. Mon- catecholamines directly stimulate enzymes that cause the release of free fatty
day morning comes around, and acids into the blood. Insulin blocks that process, which is why you wouldn’t
they make up their own diet. One want to eat simple carbs prior to an exercise session targeted for fat burning.
grapefruit and a bowl of raisin bran Past studies show that when you do two aerobic sessions on the same day,
for breakfast are a good start, espe- levels of fat-releasing hormones, such as the catecholamines and growth
cially since Friday’s breakfast was an hormone, are higher during the second session than the first. Insulin is lower
Egg McMuffin, hashbrowns and a during the second workout, while interleukin-6, a cytokine related to in-
pastry. creased fat oxidation during exercise, is higher.
Lunch consists of a hardboiled In the study described here, various processes related to fat release in-
egg, two slices of melba toast, carrot creased during the second 30-minute session while blood glucose levels
sticks and a diet soda. Dinner is a declined, which further increased the use of fat as fuel. Even an hour after the
huge salad with about one-half cup workouts, levels of fat and ketones (indicative of increased liver fat oxidation)
of ranch dressing. A bedtime snack is were higher when the workout was divided into two sessions.
a few celery sticks. Day two ends up The researchers noticed that free fatty acids increased markedly during the
being much the same. By day three 20-minute rest interval between the 30-minute sessions. Fat use peaked in
many are ready to cave in. McDon- the final 15 minutes of the second session. Catecholamines rose significantly,
Model: Eric Domer

ald’s drive-through is just too hard to while insulin and glucose levels dropped. That indicates maximal fat use.
resist for both breakfast and lunch. Levels of growth hormone didn’t differ between the single or divided sessions.
The person I just described was This information isn’t new to many pro bodybuilders. A common precon-
making up a diet based on what he test practice is to divide aerobic work
thought a diet should be like. What into two daily 30-to-45-minute sessions,
about the person who reads about evidently because the fat-loss payoff
someone’s incredible 12-week trans- is bigger with two shorter sessions.
formation? An even more effective strategy may
That transformer, who eats an be interval training, characterized by
astonishing six to seven times per alternating high and low intensity as
day, writes about his very own secret determined by heart rate. That type of
recipes. After trying the transformer’s training is also associated with a consid-
secret recipe for frozen oatmeal-and- erably higher fat loss than conservative
sucralose Popsicles, the would-be aerobic sessions.
dieter throws in the towel again, and —Jerry Brainum
McDonald’s drive-through awaits
with open arms. Goto, K., et al. (2007). Enhancement
The moral of the two stories: of fat metabolism by repeated bouts of
Gradually adjust your diet by making moderate endurance exercise. J Appl
small changes. Don’t go from eating Physiol. 102(6):2158-2164.
Snickers to carrot sticks (or frozen
oatmeal Popsicles). That’s really hard
to do. Most people fail when they try
such an abrupt switch.

Fast-food emporiums can lure dieters, derailing a lot of hard
work. Beware of Egg McMuffins (and Ronald McDonald).
Starting Off are fine in the salad; just leave off

the croutons, cheese and high-cal-
on the Right Foot orie dressing. Eat a grilled chicken
A typical get-ripped diet lasts 12 breast with the salad.
to 16 weeks. That gives you plenty
of time to slowly ease into your diet Week 5: Introduce cardio. In-
without abruptly changing any- corporate three to four 30-minute
thing. It’s much easier to make a few cardio sessions into your weekly
small changes at a time. schedule. It doesn’t matter what
kind of cardio you do. Find some-
Week 1: Make sure you eat five thing you like. I prefer walking,
to six meals with high-quality pro- running or biking outside.
tein. Stick with the high-protein
meals throughout the whole plan. Do the cardio exercise four
Next, eliminate one junk food from hours before or four hours after
your diet. If you eat chocolate or your weight workout. That will
drink regular soda, stop. Drink diet keep your strength up. Doing car-
soda instead. That’s it for week one. dio immediately before you hit the
Simple, huh? weights can sap your energy.
Week 2: Eliminate all burgers

and pizza. If you eat at a fast-food Over the Hump
restaurant, order a grilled-chicken By week six you could have lost
sandwich and a small side salad between five and 10 pounds while
with low-cal dressing instead of the maintaining your muscle mass.
fries. You shouldn’t be feeling too de-
pleted either. To keep the progress
Week 3: Stop eating desserts. going, however, you’ll need to step
Many people love to finish dinner it up a little more. You’ll need to
with a tasty dessert. You’ll need to start monitoring your carbs more
eliminate desserts six days per week. closely.
Have a dessert or two on Sunday— Along with your five or six high-
as a treat and reward. protein feedings, eat only three
servings of complex carbs per day.
Week 4: Salad time. Replace one Oatmeal for breakfast. Rice for
meal per day with a large lettuce lunch. A yam at 3 p.m. Now that
salad. I’d recommend dinner, since you’ve eliminated various foods
a lower carb intake later in the day over the previous five weeks, here’s
helps burn bodyfat. Any vegetables what you should be eating:

By week nine you should be 10
to 15 pounds lighter. During week
nine you might want to introduce a
fat burner. Follow the directions on
the label.
For weeks 11 and 12 you’ll be
doing some carb cycling. Basically,
you eliminate carbs for two to three
days and then eat more carbs for a
day or two and then repeat the cycle.
Keep protein high, and eat a few
nuts or peanut butter on your low-
carb days to keep your calories from
dipping too low. Increase cardio to
six days per week.
After week 12 you need to review
your situation. If you need to lose
more, keep going, but you might
want to take a cheat day or two and
eat some forbidden foods and then
start right up again. It’ll be mentally
refreshing when you cheat for a day
or two.
Training
Contrary to what many personal
trainers would have you believe,
your weight training for getting
Vegetables and lean beef or chicken make a great choice, but be ripped doesn’t have to be any differ-
careful what you wrap them in. ent from when you’re building mass.
Breakfast
Six egg whites with one yolk
(scrambled)
One bowl oatmeal with Nutra-
Sweet or Splenda
Sugar-free Tang or iced tea
Midmorning
Whey protein drink or
Tuna salad with vegetables
Lunch
Lean steak
1 cup rice (white or brown)
Vegetables
Midafternoon
Whey protein drink
1 yam
Dinner
Large salad
Chicken breast
Before Bed
Cottage cheese
Vegetables
Go for cruciferous vegetables, like broccoli and cauliflower.
Follow the same plan for weeks They’re high in potassium and fiber. Add chicken for protein.
seven through eight.

Nuts can help
you keep your
calories high
enough on low-
carb days—but
no candy bars,
even if they
contain nuts.

Train as heavy as you
can for six to eight
reps per set. You may
lose some strength
as you diet down, but
that’s no reason to
Model: Sagi Kalev
do high reps, which

don’t support muscle
growth.

A cheat meal can revitalize your metabolism.
Train as heavy as you can for six to eight

reps. You’ll lose some strength when you diet You win the
down, but don’t feel that you have to increase fat-loss war by
your reps to 15 to 20 (or 100) to burn fat just making gradual
because you’re dieting. Keep your workouts changes over
intense, heavy and brief. You do cardio to help many weeks.
burn the fat. You lift weights to build muscle.
Keep it simple.
Once you’ve completed the plan, you’ll
have a better understanding of how to get
ripped. At some point you’ll probably again
add a few pounds in your bulking phase.
When that happens, however, you’ll know that
you’re in control, and you’ll be able to lose the
weight when you need to—gradually.
Editor’s note: Myron

Mielke has been competitive
in the sport of bodybuild-
ing, a personal trainer and a
gym owner. He is currently
employed at a daily newspa-
per in Lancaster, California,
in the graphics department.
For more of his articles, visit
Bodybuilding.com. IM

Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
Thyroid about 30 pills. The pills turned

out to be Armour thyroid,
which the pro told me would
promptly end my problem. He
Void and was right, and I reached my fat

loss goal shortly afterward.
Bodybuilders have used
Busting Diet thyroid drugs for years as a

means of lowering bodyfat.
The thyroid gland controls the
resting metabolic rate. Located
Plateaus in the neck, it works on a feed-

back mechanism and stops
producing thyroid hormones
when their blood levels opti-
Years ago, after several weeks on a nearly mize. There are two primary
zero-carb diet to lose bodyfat, I abruptly hormones, thyroxine (T4) and
stopped losing both weight and fat. I triiodothyronine (T3); the
couldn’t figure out why. I knew that my diet numbers tell you how many
was tight, and although I didn’t do any aero- iodine molecules the hormones
bic exercise (few bodybuilders did in those days), I’d been have. T3 is four to five times more active than T4, which is
losing considerable bodyfat prior to encountering the sud- considered more of a pro-hormone.
denly insurmountable diet plateau. The thyroid hormone cycle begins when the hypo-
Luckily for me, my next-door neighbor at the time was a thalamus secretes thyroid-releasing hormone. TRH travels
world-renowned professional bodybuilder who in the near to the pituitary gland, where it stimulates the release of
future would win several Mr. Olympia titles. I told him thyroid-stimulating hormone, which travels in the blood
my problem, and he handed me an envelope containing to the thyroid gland and triggers the synthesis of (mainly)
T4. At that point, enzymes
activated by zinc and sele-
Thyroid drugs are popular with nium convert T4 into T3 in
bodybuilders for speeding the liver and elsewhere in
fat loss and preventing diet the body.
plateaus. Not taking in enough
calories or eating fewer than
40 grams of carbohydrates
daily leads to the produc-
tion of an inactive form of
thyroid hormone called
reverse T3, which usu-
ally kicks in after a loss of a
certain amount of bodyfat
or muscle. If you eat too few
calories, your body tries to
protect itself from break-
down because the brain and
central nervous system have
started getting the glucose
that fuels them from body
tissue (mostly muscle) in-
stead of the blood. The net
effect is a decline in resting
metabolic rate, popularly
called a dieting plateau.
As most bodybuilders
drastically reduce calorie
intake for fat-loss purposes,
using thyroid drugs is a
popular method of maxi-
mizing fat loss and prevent-
ing a plateau. The top three
thyroid drugs are Cytomel
(T3), Synthroid (T4) and
Armour. Armour is derived

from pig thyroid and contains both T3 and T4.
Most bodybuilders prefer Cytomel, as it acts the fastest.
Synthroid takes about a week to interact with enzymes
and convert into T3 in the body. If you were diagnosed
with a low thyroid output, most doctors would prescribe
Synthroid. Its slower conversion rate produces less chance
of side effects, especially cardiovascular problems.
Many people produce enough T4 but don’t convert it
efficiently into the active T3. The frequent treatment is to
give the patient both T4 and T3. Still, studies of patients
Neveux \ Models: Brenda Kelly and Kat Myers

with low thyroid function show that although the combi-
nation mimics the production of natural thyroid hormone,
it doesn’t benefit them any more than giving them T4
alone. The syndrome is far more common in women than
men, and up to 40 percent of women produce antibodies
that destroy active thyroid before it can interact with cel-
lular receptors. Blood tests for those women show normal
thyroid function, as their bodies produce normal levels of
T4. That makes Armour a good treatment for the problem.
Among the side effects of thyroid-drug overdose (al-
most always involving T3) are elevated and/or irregular Up to 40 percent of women produce antibodies
heart rate, congestive heart failure and muscle loss. That’s that destroy active thyroid before it can interact
why the drugs are rarely used in isolation but are more
with cellular receptors.
often taken with other drugs, such as anabolic steroids,
growth hormone and others. Using the anabolic drugs
likely offsets loss of muscle caused by T3 drug use. detects the drug immediately and reduces thyroid output
In fact, thyroid hormone has synergy with other accordingly. The maximum dose is more than the body
hormones. One example is insulinlike growth-factor 1. ever makes naturally, which means that if you use that
Indeed, without a sufficient level of thyroid hormone, dose, you’re looking at hyperthyroidism, or overactive
IGF-1 simply won’t work. During the initial use of GH, a thyroid. On the other hand, smaller doses would just lead
temporary suppression of thyroid-stimulating hormone to a cessation of normal thyroid output without much
also occurs, usually lasting a few weeks, that makes GH boost in metabolism, unless you experience the reverse T3
worthless. So bodybuilders also use T3 drugs to counter shutdown effect.
the effect. Thyroid even works in conjunction with ana- Several studies have shown that much smaller daily
bolic steroids, increasing the anabolic effect under normal doses of T3—no more than one tablet, or 25 micrograms—
levels, though too much T3 blunts that. will help you overcome dieting plateaus from too little
The usual method for taking Cytomel and similar T3 calorie or carb intake. People with heart disease, however,
drugs is to start with one 25-microgram pill, then gradu- just shouldn’t go there. You can probably get the same ef-
ally increase the daily dose to a maximum of 100 micro- fect from such nutritional products as gugglesterone, olive
grams. Women should use about half that dose. The body leaf extract, 7-keto DHEA and phosphate supplements.
For a while, several over-the-counter thyroid drugs were
sold as thyroid pro-hormones. Among them were Triacana
Competitive and T2. Triacana, a metabolite of T3, is often touted as a
mild form of thyroid, but several reports involving body-
bodybuilders often builders who experienced adverse cardiovascular effects
and suppression of thyroid function from using Triacana
combine T3 drugs and led to its being removed from the market. T2, a pro-hor-
mone intermediary between T4 and T3, has generated
clenbuterol to achieve potent fat-burning effects in animals but human evidence
is scarce or nonexistent. One much-vaunted advantage of
bodyfat loss significant T2 was that it worked mainly in muscle and didn’t cause
muscle loss. Even so, most forms of T2 disappeared from
enough to produce the market soon after Triacana did. One company is still
selling a form of it.
the much sought-after Competitive bodybuilders often combine T3 drugs and
clenbuterol to achieve bodyfat loss significant enough to
thin-skinned, highly produce the much sought-after thin-skinned, highly de-
fined muscularity you see in today’s competitions. What
defined muscularity you don’t much hear is that it also involves large doses,
which stimulate the heart and could result in serious car-
you see in today’s diovascular complications.
Several years ago a top pro bodybuilder called me in
competitions. distress, complaining about extremely rapid pulse, exces-

Jerry Brainum’s
Bodybuilding Pharmacology
By-products of oxygen metabolism that are
destructive throughout the body, free radicals are
linked to most degenerative diseases, including
cardiovascular disease and cancer.
sive sweating and an inability to relax cant amounts of dietary antioxidants, and water retention after a contest. A
or fall asleep. It turned out that he such as vitamin E and selenium. female figure competitor a few years
was taking an oral T3 drug and using Selenium is absolutely essential ago, who was rumored to have taken
a T3-based topical thyroid product, to thyroid metabolism; it activates large doses of T3 to lose bodyfat, won
plus a large dose of clenbuterol on the enzymes that convert T4 into the her contest but ballooned up so much
a day-on/day-off schedule. A local more active T3. On the other hand, within two months afterward that
emergency room diagnosed thyroid studies show that too much sele- she was unrecognizable. It ended her
storm, or excessive thyroid output, nium slows down thyroid hormone competitive career.
which could easily have resulted synthesis. The same holds true for In the works are experimental
in cardiovascular collapse. Drug iodine. While two-thirds of thyroid thyroid drugs that are far more selec-
therapy blocked the effect of adrenal hormone is composed of iodine, tive toward bodyfat reduction. One,
hormones on his heart and offset his getting too much of it blunts thyroid code named GC-1, doesn’t affect the
elevated thyroid hormone level. He hormone output. The other third of heart or promote muscle loss, but
survived, though for other reasons he thyroid hormone is the amino acid it does promote bodyfat loss.3 It’s
didn’t win his contest. tyrosine, which explains its presence intended to distinguish between the
Using T3 drugs will elevate the in many supplements aimed at boost- two thyroid cellular receptors, TR-a
production of reactive oxygen spe- ing thyroid function. In fact, however, and TR-b. Most side effects linked to
cies, usually called free radicals.1 tyrosine is not the limiting factor in thyroid drug use occur when the TR-a
By-products of oxygen metabolism thyroid synthesis, and taking large receptor is activated. The new drug
that are destructive throughout the doses of it will do nothing to boost selectively activates TR-b. Basically a
body, free radicals are linked to most thyroid activity. tamed form of T3, it dramatically low-
degenerative diseases, including Many bodybuilding photographers ers blood cholesterol, helping convert
cardiovascular disease and can attest to the common phenom- excess cholesterol into bile, which is
cancer. Thyroid drugs enon of bodybuilders who appear then excreted from the body.
raise ripped, devoid of Primate studies show that GC-1
any superfluous leads to a 4 percent drop in body-
Selenium is absolutely bodyfat or water re- weight—all fat, zero muscle—after
essential to thyroid tention. When they only one week. It sounds great, but
metabolism, as it show up for a photo like other thyroid drugs, this new drug
activates the enzymes shoot as little as two does suppress thyroid-stimulating
that convert T4 thyroid weeks after the con- hormone by 40 to 45 percent. In addi-
hormone into the test, they frequently tion, it hasn’t been tested in humans,
more active T3. appear smooth and so its possible toxicity isn’t known. If
bloated. What hap- the drug passes muster, it could prove
pened? the most effective and safest form of
One study provides a possible thyroid drug ever. Time will tell.
cause—besides pigging out on junk
food after the show.2 The study, which
involved rats and isolated cells ex- References
posed to large doses of T3, found
that the gene expression of nearly 1 Duntas, L., et al. (2005). Oxidants,
every enzyme in the body known to antioxidants in physical exercise and
produce bodyfat was rapidly up- relation to thyroid function. Horm
me- regulated. That didn’t happen with Metab Res. 37:572-576.
tabo- smaller doses of T3, which seems to 2 Zabrocka, I., et al. (2006). Phar-
lism by have downregulated the same genes. macological doses of triiodothyronine
upgrad- The dose the rats received was about upregulate lipogenic enzyme gene
ing the the equivalent of the maximum dose expression in rat white adipose tissue.
production of uncoupling of T3 suggested to bodybuilders for Horm Metab Res. 38:63-68.
proteins in the cellular mitochondria, fat-loss purposes. 3 Baxter, J.D., et al. (2004). Selec-
also the site of the greatest free-radi- It is reasonable to assume a similar tive activation of thyroid hormone
cal havoc. Taking dinitrophenol, or scenario with humans. The rats in signaling pathways by GC-1: A new
DNP, a toxic chemical often used for the study didn’t all react to the high approach to controlling cholesterol
fat loss, exacerbates the uncoupling T3 with excess fat gains, just as some and body weight. Trends in Endocrin
effect. If you’re thinking about using humans might not. It could, however, Metab. 15:150-157. IM
thyroid drugs, be sure you get signifi- explain the sudden rush of bodyfat

’96 Arnold Classic,
1st Place.

LEGENDS OF BODYBUILDING
Kevin Levrone
The Process of Becoming
by Rod Labbe
T
here are interviews… for a different spin.
and then there are Feel like experi-
interviews that define menting?
what it means to be a KL: Yeah, I do, but
journalist. Such was we gotta be 100 percent
my experience with honest. That’s the only
Kevin Levrone. way I can work nowa-
We all know his story, or at least days—with honesty
what’s been committed to paper: and heart. Everything
the Arnold Classic triumphs and out on the table. Just
spectacular Olympia showings, that don’t ask me how much
crazy action-figure physique, his I can bench, okay?
insatiable need for creative expres- [Laughs]
sion. Weider quickly signed him. RL: You got it. Up-
Fans mobbed every contest and per- date us on Kevin
sonal appearance. Magazines ran Levrone’s life. What’s
cover shots, training articles, photo shakin’?
spreads, profiles galore. KL: I’m evolving—in
Yes, indeed. As a competitive the process of becom-
bodybuilder, Kevin seemed guided ing. Every morning I
by preternatural force. At one point thank God for the new
I approached the Maryland Muscle day—it’s another learn-
Machine, but Weider’s ironclad ing experience, another
contract kept rival publications and piece added to our
writers at bay. Disappointed, I put human puzzle.
aside notions of an exclusive and RL: The process of
concentrated on other projects. becoming? Sounds
Years fell away, and Kevin’s situa- labor intensive.
tion changed dramatically. Released KL: It is, and I prob-
from Weider, he’d moved to Califor- ably won’t ever find out
nia for “Backlash,” an action-film who I am. Who’s Kevin
assignment. It seemed like a match Levrone? He’s a mys-
made in P.R. heaven. Late last year tery, a phantom. I’ve
the impossible came to be. spent years ridding my-
Good interviews can be tricky; self of excess baggage,
they often rise or fall on whim. In peeling away layers to A lighter, lean Levrone
the case of my interview with Mr. find the real Kevin. has honed his physique
Photo courtesy of Kevin Levrone
Levrone, something cosmic oc- RL: How long have for movie roles.
curred: Light flooded a darkened you been on this
room, and I began to understand journey toward self?
this very complicated man. KL: Since child-
RL: You’ve done dozens of hood. I hated school
Neveux
these gigs, I know—so let’s try and didn’t like people.

“Anybody can be great.
There are degrees, but
you don’t have to be a
world shaker. You can
make a difference on a
more intimate level—by
being a good soul,
doing what’s right, Arnold Classic 1996
1st Place.
holding to your
own code.”
Balik

Kevin Levrone
I wanted to be left alone. In solitude
I could figure out things for myself.
Sometimes I’d find answers—but
behind them, there were always
more questions.
RL: The passing of your fa-
ther proved a cataclysmic early
event.
KL: I was only seven years old
when that happened. I’d gotten up
for school, and my mother told me
to run and find my uncle because
daddy had a pain in his back. Thirty
days later we lost him, and our lives
changed forever.
RL: An unexpected death can
be surreal. Almost like a dream.
KL: Surreal is a good word. I
didn’t want anyone to see me cry. ’95 Mr. Olympia,
I couldn’t vocalize my pain. I with- 2nd place.
drew, shut myself off.
RL: Childhood experiences
often dictate the kind of adult
we become. Your loss produced
a great champion, someone
born from pain.
KL: I’ve always had a burning
desire for victory, understand what
I’m saying? I couldn’t control the
things around me, so I stopped
wishing and crying and made things
happen.
RL: Were there lessons
learned along the way?
KL: A harsh one: Never depend
on anyone to be there for you.
“Kevin,” people would say, “you’ve
got to grow up and take responsibil-
ity.” And I did, at a young age. What-
ever I created was mine. No one else
would snatch it away. That’s why I KL: Not merely solitary but per- be a world shaker. You can make
understood bodybuilding so well. sonal. Bodybuilding kept me going a difference on a more intimate
RL: Because bodybuilding’s a and going, and I turned it into a liv- level—by being a good soul, doing
solitary sport? ing. I created a character, a muscle what’s right, holding to your own
guy, my twin—the other side of code. I was motivated by the death
me. I never smiled much as a child. of my parents. It shook me up and
Even now, I don’t like to smile. I’m a brought out a greatness I didn’t real-
closed, lonely individual. ize existed.
RL: Has life cheated you? RL: When did your mother
KL: Not in the sense that every- pass?
body might think, because I lost KL: In 1989. She never saw her
my folks and had a hard time grow- little boy succeed.
ing up. I absolutely like who I am RL: Is that why you began
today. Look at Benjamin Franklin. dabbling in vegetarianism? For
I’m not comparing myself to him or survival?
anything, but look at how he perse- KL: For simple survival, yeah.
vered. There was something inside When they died, I started watching
of him, an innate greatness. what I ate. I hung out at the gym all
RL: True, but is greatness the time. As a teenager, I’d say, “I’m
born or made? goin’ to work,” but I’d lift instead.
KL: Anybody can be great. There RL: Team sports weren’t your
are degrees, but you don’t have to thing, either.
Balik

Kevin Levrone
KL: Team sports, like football? to bodybuilding maga- ized there are no limita-
Nah. zines and explained train- tions, just insecurities.
RL: What led you to the iron? ing methods and proper RL: Then along
KL: My brothers worked out, and nutrition. I paid attention came the Mr. AAU

I followed their lead. Never thought very carefully and learned Colossus, and you
of bodybuilding or doing a contest as much as I could. After decided to test your-
or anything, but I became the stron- much trial and error, I was self.
gest kid around. It was all about doing things right. KL: Not as a body-
strength back then. RL: Didn’t Arnold builder though. I
RL: And size? Was that a pri- have a hand in all this? wanted to compete in
mary goal too? KL: Arnold will always the powerlifting com-
KL: Well, I naturally got bigger as be the man. “Conan” rocked. Bro, petition.
I weight-trained, but I had a wake- I sat in that movie theater and RL: Which you won.
up call when my cousin came home watched him kick ass and couldn’t KL: Yeah, 465 bench at 189
from the Marine Corps. The guy believe my eyes. How could a pounds, natural. Afterward, a buddy
was larger than life, a real mountain human being be so massive? Yet, of mine said, “Why not try the body-
of muscle—6’4” and built like the there he was, alive and breathing. building show?” Huh? Bodybuild-
Incredible Hulk. He introduced me Through Arnold’s example, I real- ing? Didn’t have a clue, but since
“Through Arnold’s
example, I realized
there are no
’97 Mr. Olympia,
limitations, just
4th place. insecurities.”
Balik

Kevin Levrone
I like challenges, I bought bikini RL: School and construction. way could I handle the public. I just
underwear, shaved my body and Tough juggling act. wanted to lift.
jumped onstage. And I won that too. KL: Here’s the funny part: After RL: She must’ve caught on
Everybody was like, Who is that guy? graduation I spent more time work- eventually.
He came out of nowhere. ing out than working. I’d go to KL: Once my checks stopped
RL: With dedication, you construction sites and see the build- coming in. [Laughs] Every day I’d
could wreak havoc. ers in their fancy cars and think, be at the gym from 6 or 7 a.m. until
KL: Those first wins motivated “There’s gotta be something better 11 at night, trudge home with work
me, no doubt about it. than breakin’ my back.” Lolita [Kev- clothes on, stretch and say, “Gee,
RL: Had you graduated from in’s wife] was my girlfriend then, what a long day.”
high school yet? and I’d borrow her car and scrounge RL: Didn’t you start your own
KL: Nope. I trained between pennies to buy gas. She wanted me business?
school and working construction. to get a job at the 7-Eleven, but no KL: I had to—being broke is a big
Kevin Levrone’s Contest History

1991 • IFBB San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st
• NPC Junior Nationals, Heavyweight, 2nd
• NPC Nationals, 1st Heavyweight and Overall 1997
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 8th
1992 • IFBB Grand Prix Czech Republic, 1st
• IFBB Chicago Pro Invitational, 3rd • IFBB Grand Prix England, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 2nd • IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 1st • IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 1st
• IFBB Night of Champions, 1st • IFBB Grand Prix Hungary, 1st
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 2nd • IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 1st
1993 • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 4th
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 3rd
• IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 2nd 1998
• IFBB Grand Prix France, 5th • IFBB Grand Prix Finland, 2nd
Balik
Neveux
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 1st • IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 3rd • IFBB Night of Champions, 2nd Mr. Olympia 1997
’92 Night of Champions.
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 5th • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 4th
• IFBB San Francisco Pro Invitational, 1st
1994 • IFBB Toronto Pro Invitational, 2nd
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 2nd 1999
• IFBB Grand Prix France, 1st • IFBB Arnold Classic, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 2nd • IFBB Grand Prix England, 3rd
• IFBB Grand Prix Italy, 1st • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 4th
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 2nd • IFBB World Pro Championships, 3rd
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 3rd
• San Jose Pro Invitational, 1st 2000
• IFBB Arnold Classic, 3rd
1995 • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 2nd
Neveux
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 2nd

• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 1st 2001 Arnold Classic 1999
• IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 1st • IFBB Grand Prix England, 1st
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 1st • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 3rd
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 2nd
2002
Balik
1996 • IFBB Arnold Classic, 5th

• IFBB Arnold Classic, 1st ’95 Mr. Olympia.
• IFBB Grand Prix Australia, 4th
• IFBB Grand Prix England, 4th • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Czech Republic, 2nd
• IFBB Grand Prix Germany, 3rd 2003
• IFBB Grand Prix Russia, 5th • IFBB Arnold Classic, 5th
Neveux
• IFBB Grand Prix Spain, 4th • IFBB Mr. Olympia, 6th

• IFBB Grand Prix Switzerland, 3rd • IFBB Show of Strength, 3rd Mr. Olympia 1999
• IFBB Mr. Olympia, 3rd

Kevin Levrone
incentive. I clocked some crazy
time working for my uncle, bought
a dump truck, and became an
independent contractor. No more
punching a card five to six days a
week, and I could go to the gym
whenever I felt like it.
RL: You also gave up being a
vegetarian.
KL: Oh, dude, that’s no way to
live. I chowed at Mickey Dee’s and
still won the Maryland Champion-
ships.
RL: What was driving you? A
need for order? Or perfection
in an imperfect world?
KL: All that and more. I used
bodybuilding to better myself on
several levels, but I wanted soli-
tude to figure out this existence
in my mind and heart. If a mom
smacks her kid across the face, it
affects me. If people are nasty and
hurtful, it affects me. As human
beings, we should respect one an-
other, care for one another. These
are the important things. I’m
seeking wisdom, a way to under-
stand. If you’re open, it grows with
experience. More than anything
throughout my career, I wanted to
learn and walk away a wiser man.
RL: And have you?
KL: Yes. I’ve learned; I’ve grown.
And I’m still growing. Ever since
I was a kid, I’ve possessed an in-
stinctive urge for expanding my
potential. I went after what I was
feeling at age 12 and focused in on
being the best.
RL: Almost from the get-go,
you were a lightning rod for
controversy.
KL: Man, every time I opened
my mouth, it started a ruckus.
[Laughs] Bottom line, I did my
own thing and rejected confor-
mity. Who cares what others think?
Be ready to take responsibility
for who you really are, as a pure
human being. Stand up for your-
self—my life philosophy, in the
nutshell.
RL: What about hype? It’s
easy to believe and not always
positive.
KL: Hype, good or bad, is really
designed to tear you down. Ignore
it. Go with your gut feeling and
operate from there.
RL: The ’92 Olympia—were
you going with your gut?

KL: Of course. We spent some
I trained for time talking. A
three short fascinating per-
months, not the son, charismatic
usual eight, like and so sharp. All
most guys, and bodybuilders,
took second including myself,
place on my first owe him a huge
Olympia try. debt of gratitude.
Why? Because I RL: Now that
trusted this [pats your competi-
stomach]. Hasn’t tive career’s
let me down yet. behind you,
RL: Gut or was it a satisfy-
no gut, you ing ride?
got hit with a KL: The best.

near-disas- Nothing more
trous setback can be said. I
in 1993. enjoyed myself
KL: Damn. 100 percent.
Yeah. In Febru- RL: What’s
ary of ’93 I tore your spin on
my pectoralis today’s mon-
major and minor—ripped it off the strous physiques?
bone. Had to wear a partial body KL: Today’s bodybuilders are
cast, and my weight plummeted training hard and takin’ care of busi-
from 260 to 220. Forty pounds lost. ness. Even if the world doesn’t agree,
Phew. Tires me out thinking about they’re being true to themselves.
it. RL: There’ll be a day when the
RL: How long were you laid Weider era will pass into his-
up? tory. Any reflections on their
KL: About five months, till June. legacies?
And they told me, “We expect you to KL: Look, I can’t predict where
compete in the next Olympia.” With this sport will be a year from now,
six weeks left to train. [Shakes head] let alone 10 years from now, but I’d
Unreal. like to see the dreams of Joe and Ben
RL: The IFBB said that to you? become realities. The Weider broth-
KL: Flat out. Or else my contract ers are pioneers. When they’re gone,
would be affected. It was a way for it’ll be a new ball game and not
me to see the sport’s political side. necessarily a better one.
Not a healthy situation. I felt less RL: Have you taken anything
than a man, bouncing at the end of worthwhile from bodybuilding
somebody’s string. It was degrading that applies to Kev Levrone?
as hell, but again, I had a responsi- KL: One: the will to survive, no
bility, so I came back and placed a matter the emotional cost. At heart,
decent fifth. I’m a bodybuilder; I’ve traveled that
RL: Considering those in- road, and it’s not for anyone else to
juries, I’m shocked you could understand. The sport has given me
even move, let alone train. integrity. I like who I am right now,
KL: It’s a state of mind: If you and if it weren’t for bodybuilding, I
think you’re beaten, you are. Re- wouldn’t be in California.
member, the stronger or faster man RL: Problem is, public per-
doesn’t always win. Stay determined ception pigeonholes you. To the
and focused, never let anyone steal public, a massive bodybuilder
your dreams, and you’ll reach that seems almost alien.
finish line ahead of any challenger. KL: The average person doesn’t
RL: The ’94 Arnold Classic saw understand bodybuilding. They dis-
Kevin Levrone back on track. miss us as morons. How I think and
Did winning feel good? feel and the boy who died when he
KL: My friend, winning always was seven—none of that matters to
feels good. Did you know Arnold them. Forget stereotyping. Let’s read
Neveux
himself invited me to compete? about how Lee Labrada feels, how

“From the tiniest
speck to a gorgeous
sunset. Life is
an ever-growing
process, ever
renewing, meant
to be enjoyed and
savored, like a fine
wine.”
’02 Mr. Olympia,

2nd place.

Kevin Levrone
Kevin Levrone feels on the inside, as
human beings. Those are elements
Photos courtesy of Kevin Levrone

of a great interview. Without them,
you have mediocrity.
RL: Artistry is often born from
pain. There’s never legitimate
growth without struggle.
KL: It goes back to what I said
about greatness. When I started
elementary school, Kevin’s
I was isolated and man-of-
action movie
afraid and would persona.
cry, and I mean every
day. The principal’s shooter, is that and my second hitman. Think “Fast
office would call my an outgrowth and the Furious”—billionaires who
sister Tammy, and of pain? put high stakes on exotic-car racing.
she’d walk me to my KL: For me I started it two months after finish-
class. I felt protected it is. I choose ing “Backlash,” and we recently
around her. my words care- wrapped.
Man, I’ll never forget fully. There’s a RL: My spies tell me you had a
this one teacher, a re- lot for me to few steamy scenes.
ally scary lady, complete express, and KL: Very steamy. But they’ll prob-
with black umbrella, hat I love doing ably be cut in order to keep the rat-
and scarf. She’d yank kids it through ing. When I’m in front of a camera, I
hard by their ears, just to words, gotta take off my clothes just to feel
hear them yell. I was so poems, song comfortable. [Laughs] Guess we can
sketched, I’d run home as lyrics. Posing too. blame bodybuilding for that.
soon as the last bell rang. RL: Now you’ve got your first RL: First Arnold shoots up the
RL: She ever pull your ear? film, “Backlash,” to use as an- screen as an action star, and
KL: No, I escaped. But in the other form of expression. now Levrone’s in the house.
eighth grade, my teacher, Miss Jen- KL: Acting is a whole new venue. What’s next? Comedy? Drama? A
kins, told me, “Levrone, you’ll never By adding those experiences to a sci-fi/horror film?
amount to anything unless you character, I can show what’s going KL: Bro, all I can say is, stay
do your homework.” I said, “Know on behind his eyes—inside, without tuned.
what, Miss Jenkins? Most self-made explaining, without telling. An actor RL: Speaking of tunes, you’re
millionaires don’t even have a high is the sum total of all he is: his highs, very much into making sweet
school diploma. I’ll make it, without his lows and everything in between. music.
getting good grades in your class.” RL: You’re melding the real KL: Music’s my passion, what
Well, she thought I had a sassy Levrone with your on-screen keeps me going. I like Motown. Soft
mouth. Wonder what she’d say now. character, essentially? songs, love songs, passionate stuff.
I’m the CEO of a company and KL: Hmm—yes. And I’m ready. When I sing “Three Times a Lady,”
don’t have any formal training, but Let me emphasize: Not only ready, I’m reminded of my mother. I feel
I’ve hired attorneys and put food but someone who’s harmonizing the the music. I started writing things
on their table. In life, experience is duality of business and art with a down, and they became poems,
always more valuable. successful appropriate unity. How’s then lyrics. When you’re hurting,
RL: Think about it: You’re that for a mouthful? [Laughs] music can be a real friend.
actually a classic American RL: Heavy. What’s your role in RL: Dug your first album,
success story. You weren’t born “Backlash”? “Mirage.” Aren’t you working on
to wealth or position, but the KL: Turk, a former military guy a second CD?
world still knows your name. specializing in assassinations. There KL: We are. Another labor-in-
KL: Damn, I love to hear you talk. are other facets to him as well; he tensive project, moving slowly but
[Laughs] Seriously, I understood my has this thing with God and women surely. I don’t like placing time con-
strengths at a young age and went and a problem with the political straints on creativity. That’s a piece
on from there. side of things, the way our world is. of advice I’d give anyone. Don’t wait
RL: What role did determina- RL: You dropped some weight for others to validate your worth. If
tion play in defining Kevin Lev- for the part. you have something good enough,
rone’s bodybuilding career? KL: Had to. Turk’s lean and mean, let everybody see it. Let it find you.
KL: It underscored everything. and I like that look. It’s edgy. I’m acting, and later on down the
Without determination—and RL: And what’s this I hear road, I’ll try directing and produc-
pain—I’d still be working construc- about “Redline”? Another ac- ing. And if I fail, so what? At least I’ll
tion. tion picture? give it my best shot. We’re so used
RL: And being a straight KL: “Redline” is my latest film, to conditioning and programming.

Kevin Levrone
Believe in your own abili-
ties, your own talents.
RL: You’re older now.
Have you reached a
level of happiness?
KL: No, I wouldn’t say
happiness. Satisfaction,
maybe. Yeah, I’m satisfied
with life, at this point.
I’m in a very good place.
Happiness isn’t lasting; it
passes through and then
is gone.
RL: But to be
happy—isn’t that our
ultimate goal?
KL: Happiness is a
word open to interpreta-
tion. I honestly like the
feeling of sadness better.
I’m not one who smiles a
lot, and people say I’m an
unhappy guy. Happy, to
me, is being quiet, being
alone, going through
transitions of sad and
finding a peace there. If I
was smiling all the time,
people would ask, What’s
wrong with him?
RL: And by finding
peace, you feel and ex-
perience everything.
’03 Mr. Olympia, KL: From the tini-
6th place. est speck to a gorgeous
sunset. Life is an ever-
growing process, ever
renewing, meant to be
enjoyed and savored,
like a fine wine. We’re
created to feel, as long
as we can adapt to our
surroundings and envi-
ronment.
RL: Are you after
truth and beauty? The
whole enchilada?
KL: Truth is hard to
find. When you find truth
in someone or some-
thing, cling to it and don’t
let go.
RL: One more ques-
tion: Would you ever
consider competing
again?
KL: Good question.
And here’s my answer: no.
Editor’s note: Check
out Kevin Levrone’s
Web site at
Neveux
www.kevinlevrone.net. IM

Eric Broser’s
If you find something on the Web that IM readers should know about, send the URL to Eric at [email protected].
>www.Dennis-Wolf.de
The moment I first saw a photograph of this Ger-
man giant, shortly after he turned pro via the World
Championships, I said to myself, “Here lies the future.”
In a sport that seems to have spawned two separate
camps—the super freaks vs. the super shaped—I could
see right away that Dennis Wolf was a true hybrid. He is
massive, aesthetically pleasing and highly conditioned.
And now that Dennis has placed third in the IFBB New
York Pro and was victorious at the Keystone Classic, his
first pro win, it looks as if Lonnie Teper and I have more
in common than just our good looks. That’s right, I have
a crystal ball of my own. While much of Dennis’ site is in
German and there’s not much to look at just yet, I men-
tion it because it’s something you should keep your eye
on. There are already several awesome photographs in
his gallery, which takes you from 2000 to 2007, as well
as a few mind-blowing off-season shots. His improve-
ments from year to year are astonishing, and he’s managed to add more size in all the right places while keeping his
waist small, tight and shredded. Pictures from the New York Pro reveal a physique reminiscent of Lee Haney’s hey-
day but with far better legs and even wider shoulders. Trust me when I say that Dennis could very well be a future
Mr. Olympia. I predict top-six this year (whaddaya say, L.T.?). If you’re interested in how he trains, there is a short
section that shows his weekly schedule; however, he’s about to release a new training DVD called “The Beginning.”
Now that Wolf is achieving real success in the IFBB pro ranks, I’m sure he’ll begin to expand what appears to be a
relatively new site. He is definitely a major bodybuilding star on the rise.

>www.MaryLado.com
Okay, I admit it—I think Mary Lado is hot. She has this
haunting girl-next-door beauty but at the same time is both
extremely classy and unstoppably sexy. And those lips. Yes,
readers, I believe I have a small crush, but I digress. Mary
was born on September 16, 1978, in New Orleans and has
been an athlete since the age of nine, participating in such
sports as volleyball, basketball, track, soccer and softball.
In fact, she earned an athletic scholarship to Chipola Ju-
nior College in Florida to play fast-pitch softball and also
obtained an associate of arts in physical education. Hmm,
smart, athletic, sexy—will you marry me, Mary (focus, Eric,
focus)? Later she
moved on to finish
her studies at Georgia
Southwestern State
University, complet-
ing her bachelor’s in
sociology. She had always admired the look of toned athletes and became hooked
on the idea of competing in 2002, when she saw her first figure contest. After just
two years of hard training she won her pro card at the NPC National Figure Cham-
pionships and debuted on the IFBB stage in 2005 at the Figure International, where
she placed an impressive third. Amazingly, she followed that with victories at both
the Pittsburgh and the California pro shows and then took a hard-fought fifth at the
Ms. Olympia. Needless to say, Mary’s first year as a pro was an auspicious one. After
making some adjustments in her diet and training regimen, she won the Figure In-
ternational in 2006 and successfully defended her title this year. She certainly must
now be considered a serious threat for this year’s Olympia title. Mary’s site is rather
basic, offering viewers a short biography, contest history, a few sexy pics and a store
that sells a couple of her photos. If you want to shell out a few bucks, however, you
can join Mary’s fan club, which will give you access to her personal portfolio, where
you can see photographs unavailable anywhere else. That in and of itself is reason
enough to pull out your credit card. Additionally, as a site member, you can contact
her personally, view a special Q&A section and receive tips and advice from the
Merv
beauty herself. Now, where did I put my Visa card?
>http://contests.ironmanmagazine.com/vbp/forums/index.php
The Internet is full of bodybuilding discussion
boards, but how many of you realize that IRON
MAN, your monthly training bible, has a pretty
cool little board of its own? Well, it does, and it’s
a nifty place to hang out and talk bodybuilding,
fitness, figure and more. Regular posts come from
nutrition and supplement guru Jerry Brainum and
competition-emcee extraordinaire Lonnie Teper.
There’s a ton of news and gossip, as well a fun
“guess who” photo section. It’s new, so it’s not
as active as some of the larger boards out there,
but there are some very knowledgeable members,
and industry insiders discuss unique topics. I’m a
member myself (user name: Eric P/RR/S Broser)
and would love to see more readers log in and
participate in the forums. So when you get a min-
ute, please register and join the fun.

Eric Broser’s
In addition, make
>Net Results Q&A sure you keep your
The Power/Rep Range/Shock innovator answers your elbows in, close to
questions on training and nutrition. your torso, during
each rep. That will
Q: I’m looking to build thick triceps, and I force the triceps
know basics are the key. My training partner to do more work
loves close-grip bench presses, but I have trou- than if you let your
ble feeling them, even though I use good form elbows flare out to
and push pretty decent weight. Is there a trick the sides (which
to the exercise? I want to be a bodybuilder, not would shift empha-
Neveux \ Model: Joe DeAngelis

a powerlifter. sis to the chest).
Finally, you may
want to try the
exercise on a Smith
machine with the
safeties set so that
you can perform
only the top two-thirds. Start each repetition from a
dead stop on the safeties and focus on exploding to
Model: Omar Deckard
the top with pure triceps power. I guarantee you will

brutalize your tri’s this way.
Enjoy the pain—and the tight sleeves!
Q: Any quick nutrition secrets, aside from the

A: I believe that you should follow basic form cues ordinary recommendations, for putting on some
for each exercise in order to get the most muscle- new muscle?
building benefit. For instance, when training back, it’s
important to get a full stretch; then, as you contract, A: A few quick secrets, huh?
you slightly arch your lower back, stick out your chest Okay, I’m game. Here are a
and squeeze your scapulae together. When doing most few things you can do to boost
chest exercises, you better recruit the pectorals by your muscle growth without
keeping your shoulders rolled down and back and your getting too fancy.
rib cage held high throughout the set. • During every workout
But sometimes, even when these “rules” are fol- sip a drink containing five to
lowed, a trainee still has trouble feeling an exercise. 10 grams of all the essential
That’s when experience and self-awareness come amino acids, glutamine and
into play. Because each of us has a somewhat unique about 30 to 40 grams of simple
structure, muscle attachments and flexibility, we must carbs, like dextrose or waxy
find nuances for each exercise—beyond just basic maize starch.
proper form—that will enable us to target the muscle • After every workout drink
we’re going after. a shake of whey isolate and
For example, you may see two guys with incredible dextrose in a 1-to-2 gram ratio
shoulder development who perform the same exercis- (for example, 40 grams whey to 80 grams dextrose).
es—in almost totally different manners. That’s because One hour later drink another shake made of casein, egg
over time they have experimented with slightly different white and whey isolate, and eat a complex carb like
positions, angles, grips and so forth until they were get- oatmeal (this time in a 1-to-1 gram ratio).
ting exactly what they wanted out of each movement. • Wake up in the middle of the night (every night) and
And that’s what you must do as well. drink a protein shake of casein, egg white, whey protein
That said, I think I can throw a good tip your way that and flaxseed oil. It should contain 30 to 50 grams of
helped me turn close-grip bench presses from a decent protein and five to 10 grams of fat.
triceps exercise into my absolute favorite exercise for • Take in five grams of branched-chain amino acids
arms. When most people perform the movement, they and glutamine about an hour before every meal of the
press and lower the weight in a straight line up and day.
down. I’ve found that I get far more triceps recruitment • One day per week try doubling your daily protein
when I press the weight slightly away from me rather intake. The following week pick one day to double your
than straight up. In fact, I perform this exercise almost normal carb intake. Switch back and forth from week to
exclusively on a Smith machine, so that I can push week.
away aggressively without fear of losing control of the Now, don’t get mad at me when you need a new
bar. That small change in the exercise makes it feel wardrobe. IM
completely different for me and for most people I train.

Lonnie Teper’s
NEWS & ViEWS Dennis

Midseason IFBB Contest Thoughts Wolf.
Greener Pastures
Will these guys make a dent in the
Mr. O rankings?
So, what did the midseason pro shows bring us? An upset win
in New York, a big, bad Wolf in Pennsylvania and Greener pas-
tures in Colorado. What they didn’t bring, though, was a top-six
Mr. Olympia threat—at least not for this season’s showdown,
which is scheduled for the last weekend in September in Las
Vegas. More on that later.
Branch Warren, who was pretty much forgotten as a title
threat after he ended the 2006 season with a thud at the Olympia
and opened 2007 with a seventh-place landing at the Arnold
Schwarzenegger Classic, surprised many with a victory at the
New York Pro. It put him back in the category of contender—until
Roland Balik
Roland Balik
the next two contests put him back where he started (see below). Branch
Dennis Wolf, a guy I felt was really overlooked at last year’s Warren.
Europa, where he finished seventh, opened the new season on
a powerful note, nabbing third in New York and then moving up,
Darrem
into the winner’s circle two weeks later at the Keystone Classic in Penn- Charles.
sylvania. Warren dropped to fourth in that one.
Then, there was oh, my, Kai, as in Kai Greene. The flashy two-time
Colorado Pro photography by Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

Team Universe champ, who didn’t even make the cut at the ’06 IRON
MAN Pro, brought a vastly improved version of his physique to 2007 and
promptly turned into the top contender for Comeback Bodybuilder of the
Year honors with a highly disputed sixth-place finish in New York, a third-
place landing at the Keystone and, finally, his first win on the pro circuit
at the Shawn Ray Colorado Pro a week later. And in addition to the 25
grand handed out in Denver, Greene picked up another 5K for winning
Best Presentation honors.
On the downside, Warren slid all the way back to seventh in Colorado,
completely losing the steam he’d picked up with the win in New York.
Word has it Branch will sit out the Olympia—a good move. He should
rest, recoup and begin his 2008 redemption campaign at the IRON MAN Silvio
Samuel.
Pro.
I wasn’t in Colorado, but Isaac Hinds, on hand to cover the event
for this magazine and www.IronManMagazine.com, said Greene was the
clear winner. Which is what it looked like to me when I viewed the photos. David
Which is why I was very confused by commentators on another contest Henry.
site who didn’t even have him in the top three after the prejudging.
“Greene definitely deserved to win,” said Hinds. “He was in great con-
dition and presented himself very well.” Isaac did, however, have some
questions about some of the other top-five placings (Darrem Charles
in second, Silvio Samuel in third, Ronny Rockel in fourth and David
Henry in fifth). “I would have had Rockel second,” Hinds said. “I’d say
Silvio was a deserving third; I would have had Charles in fourth and agree
that Henry should have placed fifth.” Ronnie
Will any of the above-mentioned guys make a dent in the top six at Rockel.
the Olympia? I say no. Unless they displace my picks for top seven (in no
particular order at this point): Jay Cutler, Ronnie Coleman, Dexter
Jackson, Victor Martinez, Toney Freeman, Melvin Anthony

BEER BELLY CONTEST PRIEST
Could these PREP UNFROCKED
possibly be Check your Has Lee’s
L.T.’s abs? oil, Ma’am? suspension
Page 250 Page 252 left him
exhausted?
Page 253
Kai
Greene.
and Gustavo Badell. And that’s leaving out Phil Heath, who might be
passing on the show for the second year in a row in hopes of making ’08
his real breakout year.
ADD HINDS—It wasn’t an easy task getting Isaac to talk about the
Denver show. He had been down—way down—after three off-base pre-
dictions forced me to reconsider using him in future installments of “The
Experts.”
It started back in March, when Hinds, joining yours truly and Ron
“Yogi” Avidan in the Arnold Classic predictions, tabbed Phil Heath
to win it all in his A.C. debut. As we know, the Gift landed in fifth at that
show. Vowing to rebound and regain his authority status, Isaac went with
rookie Desmond Miller to win in New York. As we know, Miller finished
fourth. Hinds went with Darrem Charles to win the Keystone; as we
know, Charles finished out of the money, in sixth.
Denver was going to be Hinds’ saving grace. That’s where LiftStudio
resides, so what better place to show he still belongs among the game’s
elite prognosticators. Sadly, though, he suffered another defeat. He went
with Dennis James for that one, but Dennis fell all the way to eighth.
Isaac felt disgraced. Especially after I picked Kai Greene on the
IronManMagazine.com forum to win the show. At least I did in one of my
three forecasts.
After much thought I’ve given Isaac a chance to redeem himself. I
didn’t have much choice; I was already considering Yogi for the chopping
block because he picked Darrem to win in New York when Darrem had
never said he was competing there. So Hinds will again be onboard when
“The Experts” make their USA predictions in July. In mid-June the poor
guy was headed for his optometrist’s office to get new glasses. “Maybe it
will help me with my picks,” he said.
Shawn L.T. queries Isaac about his How could anyone unload someone
Liberman
Ray and not-so-expert predictions. who’s that humble?

Silvio.
NPC Events
MAD MAX BEYOND LONE
STAR—After being forced to miss
my annual gig as emcee of Prince
Harrison’s Lone Star Classic in
2006 because the Junior Cal was on
the same day, I headed back to the
podium in Plano the first weekend
in June for the ’07 edition. About 140 competitors hit the stage at the
Stars Plano Convention Center, with the usual number of outstanding phy-
of the siques walking away with top honors. Kudos to Mad Max Fairchild,
Lone Star
a 6’, 220-pounder out of Dallas who took the heavyweight and overall
(clockwise
from crowns. Fairchild, who trains at Energy Fitness in Dallas, has a lot of
left): Beni potential and will cause some damage at higher-level contests when he
Lopez, adds another 10 to 15 pounds of muscle to his frame.
Max Maria “Salsa” Davis, who I met at the Ronnie Coleman Classic
Teper
Fairchild, six weeks earlier, took the lightweight and overall titles in women’s body-
Maria building. Stephanie Irick, a cute-as-a-bug 5’2”, 110-pounder from
Davis and Pilot Point, was sharp at the wheel with her victory in fitness and her
Stephanie third-place showing in an extremely strong division A in figure.
Irick.
The winner of the A class, Beni Lopez, beat Brandi Akers in a
tiebreaker and went on to capture the overall. The 39-year-old Lopez has
quite a story. A former bodybuilder, she was married at 15 and has three
children, 23, 13 and 12. The 4’11” Beni was coming off a 16th-place
landing at the ’05 Junior Nationals, which is quite a leap.
After the show at Texas Land and Cattle, the scene of the postcontest
eat down, I, uh, coerced Lopez into donning her two-piece one more time
and included Mark Dugdale in the shot. I tried to get Mark to at least
take off the shirt, but it was no go. Mark’s wife, Christina, and Mattie,
the oldest of the three Dugdale daughters, were nice enough to go along
with the creative photo-op.
Akers is another one to keep an eye on. Okay,
her boyfriend, Quincy Taylor, ain’t no oil painting, Quincy
but Brandi is a looker. She just Taylor.
needs to tone down her lower
body, and she should be on
her way.
In case you don’t know, I’m
Quincy’s former teacher, and
as he says, “You’re old, so I Mark
can’t choke you,” so I can get Dug-
away with such comments dale
(about his lack of beauty).
with
Beni
Seriously, Quincy was carrying Lopez.
345 pounds and was looking
very good for that size about
With Brandi Akers. With Christina and Mattie.
10 weeks out from the Europa.
He looked terrific at the Ed and Betty Pariso–produced show last
year—finishing second to Toney Freeman—and if he can come in
that condition but a bit fuller, the Europa is his in ’07, I say.
Another highlight of the Lone Star was getting to see, up close
and personal, Dave Goodin actually compete instead of just look-
ing at his pictures in IRON MAN. Dave had a copy of the August Hans Somez and
issue with him, and we had people making guesses prior to the Dave Jacobs.
contest as to who owned the shredded abs that
were featured on the cover. For those who selected
me, I thank you—and I’ll pass along the number of
Isaac’s eye doctor as soon as possible. Yup, it was
the Texas Shredder himself who supplied the six-
pack. Dave was Good-in the contest too, winning
the masters 40-plus and the middleweight class in
the open competition. L.T.
Dugdale, two weeks away from beginning his and the
Mr. O prep, guest-posed along with Chad Ray Texas
Mike George
Martin, who was two weeks out from the Junior Shred-
Cecil and der.
Nationals. Chad, who was featured recently in this
Samantha
magazine, looked really good and should have a
Ballard.
great shot of winning his class in Chicago.
A dance group, led by Downtown Sheila Brown Bob and
and featuring pro bodybuilding ace Kim Perez, also Laura
performed. When Sheila saw some of my moves at the Johnson.
podium, she invited me to join the group. After some
serious thought, I had to turn her down—keeping Hinds
and Avidan in tow is more than enough work.
ADD LONE STAR—With Texas State Chairman

Photography by Lonnie Teper
Lee Thompson in Denver to judge the Colorado Pro,

Vice-Chairs Cecil Ballard and Hans Somez did a
good job of running the judges’ table. Judge Prince
Fontenot proudly showed off the poster for his June
30 event in San Antonio between scoring rounds, and
Tony Douglas took some time off from making decisions about who’s
Tony Douglas, June
first, who’s not with a visit to his favorite toy pinscher, Katie Munroe, Munroe and Katie,
who was at her usual post with mommy June at the Flexstar booth. and Harli Bruno.

Debi
and Ray. Amy Peters, coming off a sixth-place finish at the Pittsburgh Pro
Figure a month earlier, was also in the house.
Photo courtesy of Debi Lee Stern

The Johnson Team—Bob, Laura and Josh—displayed the
latest issue of their magazine Posedown, which covers the phy-
sique industry and features local athletes. Hardworking, passion-
ate folks, these Texans.
MORE LONE STAR—It was great seeing Debi Lee Stern,

who was holding up the best she could after the unexpected
death of her husband about three months back (see Gene Mozée’s trib-
ute to Ray Stern in the August issue).
Debi and I had a long talk, and she discussed the
events that led to Ray’s passing. It’s a long story,
obviously, but, briefly, he went in for heart bypass
surgery in January after a diagnosis of two blocked
arteries. Five days after the surgery Debi noticed
Ray was not well, and he was taken back to the
hospital. Everything seemed okay, but his condition
was rapidly deteriorating.
After miraculously surviving the night, Ray was di-
Debi agnosed with a staph infection and sepsis, a deadly
Lee blood infection that destroys vital organs. “Ray was
Stern. so strong that he seemed to have gotten through
that and was improving each day,” said Debi. “Then
Merv
another crash, where the infection would build up,

Merv
and again he was near death.”

That went on five times, she said. The up-and-
down battle continued for five weeks. “He was hooked up to all of
these machines,” Debi related, tearing up with each word. “He had
told me in the past that if he was ever unable to live life fully or was
dependent on machines for life, he would rather leave this earth.
“I called his closest friends, and each one went in to see Ray for
the last time. He told them that he loved
them all and said, ‘Now, I want you to
get back to work and move on.’ They
left and I stayed with Ray. He said, ‘This
is my big day…it’s show time. And I
want you to go. I love you dearly.’ About
48 hours after they unplugged the ma-
chines, Ray died in my arms peacefully.”
David Macias
Debi made special mention of Jim

Lorimer, saying the Arnold Sports
Festival promoter had phoned every
Cal champs shine. Top
row: Jim Juge and single night checking on Ray’s progress.
Pete Ciccone. Middle “Jim was a great source of strength for
row: Kevin Reeves, me during these tough times,” Debi said.
front and back, and “I thank him for helping me through all
Rene Chavez. Below: of this.”
Keisuke Yoshida, Debi, 45, is in great shape and has
David Macias
Lorenzo Reynaga and taken up cycling. She’s putting in 50-

Noel Frias. mile practice sessions in preparation for
Merv
a 60-mile ride in the near future. “Ray

would be thrilled, as he followed Lance
Armstrong during the Tour de France,” she said.
”My new path and life revolve around the bike! I know
Ray is smiling…approving of my choices.”
Superman Rocks the Cal

A week before the Lone Star, Superman flew in to
Culver City and soared out with the heavyweight and
overall crowns. Now, I know Kevin Reeves’ buds
refer to him as “Swole,” but I’m officially changing the
Merv
Merv
Merv

moniker to Superman, in honor of the late, great George Reeves,
who kept many of us riveted to the tube as the Man of Steel did his
thing on our black-and-white televisions. Hell, a lot of people call me
Swole too, but I think it’s meant in a different vein. As in not having
any.
Anyway, back to the modern-day Reeves. I was very impressed
with Kevin when I first saw him win the heavyweight class at the ’05
Cal; I thought he was vastly overlooked when he followed that up
with a 10th-place finish at the USA two months later.
A 36-year-old out of Riverside, California, Reeves does not lack
for aesthetics—or confidence. “I see where you are picking A.D.
Cherry to win the USA,” the 5’10”, 225-pounder said in June.
“Well, I can see how he is one of the favorites, because he has a
small waist, just like I do. But I have more muscle. I have the best
back in the NPC—I have the best physique in the NPC! I have size, Dennis
shape and symmetry, like Melvin Anthony, Flex Wheeler and Newman.
Troy Alves. I plan on winning the show.” So throw Mr. Reeves
into the mix of those who will battle for a pro card, folks. How can
both the Swami and Superman be wrong? Robert Hatch and Jerome
Ferguson, who were both interested spectators at the Cal, think we are,
for sure, so this will be very interesting.
Congrats to the other winners at the Memorial Day–weekend event:
superheavyweight champ Jim Juge, who also took the 40-plus class,
light-heavyweight winner Pistol Pete Ciccone, middleweight titlist
Lorenzo Reynaga, welterweight champion Keisuke “I Do Every Show
Except the Junior Cal” Yoshida, lightweight winner Rene Chavez and
bantamweight front man Noel Frias. Check out Ruthless Ruth’s Pump
and Circumstance column for more doings on the Jon Lindsay produc-
tion.
Late-breaking news: For 2008 the California Championships will be P.D. Devers and
growing grander than ever. Lindsay
Maria Rogers.
says he’ll be opening the competi-
Ron Avidan
tion to any United States resident. Flex
Lewis and
friend.
ADD CAL—After the prejudg-
ing I ran into Dennis ”No Pain, No
Gain” Newman, who told me he’s
going through a divorce, has moved
back home to Salinas, California,
and said his personal-training busi-
ness is going great. Newman, 37,
also said he has no plans of return-
ing to the stage.
Then I saw P.D. Devers, who Bob Cicherillo
Ron Avidan
said he’s going to compete at the and Milos

USA—but not before helping figure Sarcev.
competitor Maria Rogers, ah, get
her oil on just right, especially in the pec region. Flex
Lewis and his new lady were in the house as well
and said they are relocating to Reno, Nevada.
Bob Cicherillo and Milos Sarcev were heavy
into conversation; I don’t know if they were continu-
ing their argument about the true story surrounding
Silvio Samuel’s leaving the Sarcev camp or laying
out their plan of attack regarding Milos’ one-year sus-
pension from the IFBB, effective December 8, 2006.
Ron Avidan
Apparently, Milos wasn’t exactly thrilled with a

couple of placings at the ’06 Asian Games, held in
Doha, Qatar, on December 8 and 9. Milos was on the Robert Hatch and Jerome
scene as a coach of Malaysian athletes Sazali Abd Ferguson.
Samad, and Tiaw Leong, who finished second
and fourth, respectively, and he let his feelings be Shawn Ray and Richard
known about their placings. In various interviews, according to an official Hatch.
press release from the IFBB Professional League dated May 29, 2007,

Mo Monsen. Milos stated that he felt top official Paul
Chua had fixed the placings and that
Walter van den Branden of the Neth-
erlands had received money to “manipu-
late” the results.
The release went on to say that Sar-
cev had no factual evidence to support
Isaac Hinds \ www.LiftStudios.com

his case, that he refused to withdraw his
statements and would not apologize to
Chua or van den Branden. Under Pro Rule
9.3 (Suspension Conditions), while under
suspension, Sarcev cannot compete, give
exhibitions or seminars, judge, officiate or
Top Internet retailers: Ryan, Russ and otherwise participate in an official capacity
Jeremy DeLuca of Bodybuilding.com. at any IFBB Pro League competition.
Shawn Ray told me that Bob, in his
role as the athletes’ rep, was looking into defending Milos on the mat-
ter. Now, that is a strange twist of fate—if true—considering the recent
battles Shawn and Bob had with Milos over what I’ll just refer to as the
Samuel rule. Enough has been written on the subject on the Internet
boards and magazines already, so I won’t rehash it, but stay tuned for
future developments.
TEPER’S TALES: In an interview given on “Pro Bodybuilding

Weekly” on June 12, Lee Priest told hosts Dan Solomon and Bob
Cicherillo he would like to return to the IFBB. Priest, who turned 35 in
July, said he hoped to get a special invite to compete at the Mr. Olym-
pia, but if he didn’t, he would try and requalify at the Atlantic City Pro on
Lee Priest. September 15. Interestingly enough, that contest takes place one day
prior to the end of Lee’s one-year suspension. So, fans,
what should the IFBB do in this situation? Thumbs-up or
thumb-down? I think I already know your answer.… More
bad-health news for bodybuilding; according to reports
posted at GetBig.com and discussed on “Pro Bodybuilding
Weekly,” Kris Dim suffered what appeared to be an aortic
dissection (the same thing that killed actor John Ritter) at
his training studio in Northern California. If the reports are
accurate, Dim underwent open-heart surgery and suffered
multiple strokes during the procedure and at one point
was only given a 10 percent chance of surviving. But Dim
is a fighter and appeared to be on the road to recovery a
few days later.… More honors for Bodybuilding.com. The
Boise, Idaho–based company was ranked 152 overall and
number six in the Health and Beauty category of Internet
Retailer’s recently released 2007 Top 500 Guide. It was the
number-one sports nutrition site.
In 2006 Bodybuilding.com was
Vince Galanti. ranked 163 overall.… Richard
Jones, once hailed as “the next
Shawn Ray,” apparently does have things in
common with Sugar Shawn. Rumors abound on
Kris Dim. the Internet that Jones has officially retired from
competition. But, Magic, I won’t hold you to
Neveux
it.… Forty-year-old Vinnie Galanti was look-

ing good in recent pictures, and I say he
Mr. O photo- has a great shot at winning his pro card To contact Lonnie
op. Jay Cut- at the Masters Nationals in July. I also like Teper about material
ler greets possibly pertinent to
Jon B. Celis,
Mo “Dream Tan” Monsen’s chances;
the guy hasn’t competed since 1992 but News & Views, write
winner of a
to 1613 Chelsea
natty com- looked great at the Cal, eight weeks out
petition in Road, #266, San
from the event. And don’t ever discount Marino, CA 91108;
Long Beach,
California,
Mike Horn in any discussion of that fax to (626) 289-7949;
at a Max competition. IM or send e-mail to
Muscle store [email protected].
event in Or-
ange County
in May.
MUSCLE BEACH 2007 MEMORIAL DAY BASH
Photography by Jerry Fredrick and Merv
7
8
10
11
13
14
15 16
12
1) IFBB pro Emery Miller presents the Tuff Stuff 17

posing award to overall winner Carl Mathews.
2) Mark Grant (far left) and Brigadier General
Ellen Pawlikowski (third from left) with U.S. Ma-
rine and Army representatives.
3) Joe Wheatley and John Balik induct Tony Pear-
son into the Muscle Beach Venice Hall of Fame.
4) The parade of athletes.
5) A C-17 Globemaster flyover—from March Air
Force Base.
6) Teen competitors Christopher Barajas, Greg 18
Ferrer and Dan Corder.
7) Toney Freeman representing HeadBlade.
8) Chris Lacascia and Timea Majorova.
9) Two beefy dudes in sunglasses mug it up.
10) Dennis Quaid and Richard Gere—um, rather
IRON MAN’s Mark Missioreck and Bodybuilding
.com’s Russ DeLuca. 19
11) Roland Kickinger, Major Ken Goode, Kent
Keuhn, Tony Pearson and Dennis Tinerino.
12) Erin Lutz, overall figure winner, and Mathews.
13) Wheatley and Balik—proud of the show.
14) A beauty in the audience (there were lots!).
15) Emanuel Delcour—capes are in this year!
16) Gunter Schlierkamp greets an enthusiastic
competitor.
17) Rado Pagac’s flying V.
18) Wheatley and Cheryl Stoneham.
19) Gary Strydom looking large. 20 21
20) Jackie Wager hits a pretty pose.
21) The Marine booth—give me 20!
IronMan Hardbody
Shocker
Mom
Gina Ostarly’s Physique Electrifies—at 40
and With Three Children!
Photography by Michael Neveux
Hair and makeup by Alexandra Almand
Height: 5’4”
Age: 40
Weight: 125 off-season; 118 contest
Hometown: New Orleans, Louisiana
Current residence: South Florida
Occupation: Gym owner, personal trainer, fitness and swimsuit model, makeup
artist
Marital status: Married (to Walt Ostarly for 21 years)
Workout schedule: “I try to be flexible with my workout schedule. I train five
days a week, a different bodypart at each workout, and I change exercises often.”
Sample bodypart workout (abs): Hanging knee raises, 3 x 30; flutter kicks, 3 x
one minute; weighted crunches, 3 x 30; seated medicine ball twists, 3 x 20
Favorite foods: Healthful, chicken and sweet potatoes. Less healthful, Krispy
Kreme doughnuts
Factoid: Mother of three children, ages 20, 18 and 15, and just started taking
saxophone lessons
Web site: www.GinaOstarly.com

IronMan Hardbody

IronMan Hardbody

IronMan Hardbody

IronMan Hardbody

IronMan Hardbody

IronMan Hardbody

PROS SHOWS
As the steamy summer of
Getting You Up to Speed figure continues
There have been hunt for an Olympia
three IFBB pro figure qualification.
competitions since The results showed
the last installment exactly that: Adcock
of this column—in earned the biggest check
Southern California, with a perfect score,
Denver and West- while just four points
chester County, New separated runner-up
York—bringing the Cooke and ’06 USA class
potential Figure O winner Felicia Roma-
lineup up to 22 and no, who snagged the last
counting. Good thing Olympia-qualifying slot in
the Orleans Arena her pro debut.
has a b-i-i-g stage. It was one of those
First up, the Cal: contests where the judg-
The California Pro es line them up in the first
Figure Championship, callout exactly as they’re
held in conjunction going to place them. So
with the NPC Califor- it was hardly a surprise
nia Bodybuilding and when Cheri Lewis and
Figure Champion- Chastity Sloan, also
ships, filled its regular Camaraderie at the Cal (from left): Kristi Tauti, Sonia Adcock, Mary Jo just a few points apart,
slot in the schedule Cooke, Kristin Gomes and Felicia Romano await their fate before the rounded out the top five.
finals.
on May 26, the Satur- Even so, that don’t get
day before Memorial you money or a ticket to
Day, with the action going down at the Veterans Memorial the O in the rough old game of figure, at least at this competi-
Auditorium in Culver City. It didn’t take a crystal ball to figure tion, which suggests that we’ll be hearing more from Cheri
that Sonia Adcock, fresh off her victory at the Pittsburgh and Chas as the fig seas (read: figure season) rolls along.
three weeks earlier, would pick up an easy win. Or that Mary For complete results and photos from the NPC and IFBB
Jo Cooke, based on previous showings, would be in the California events, go to www.IronManMagazine.com.
MORE FIGURE
Mile-High Honeys
Val rakes in the Rocky Mountain love
A week after the Southern California figure fest discussed in the item above,
24 pairs of clear-plastic ultra-high-heel slides slid across the stage of the Colora-
do Convention Center at the Shawn Ray Colorado Pro. It was another unani-
mous win—this time for Valerie Waugaman, the defending champ, who had
an easier time of it than she did at the ’06 Colorado, where her one-point margin
over Jenny Lynn set tongues a’waggin’.
Second place for the second week running went to a consistent Mary Jo
Cooke. Third went to Britain’s Nicole Pitcher-Scott, who gets my award for
the most improved bodybuilder of the spring shows. Her photos in the Colorado
Pro gallery at IronManMagazine.com indicate that the physique I saw in Pitts-
burgh a month earlier was merely a work in progress.
The close-but-no-cigar slots went to Elisha Archibold, fourth, and Felicia
Romero, fifth.
Waugaman heats up the stage in Denver. If all goes as planned, she’ll

marry longtime sweetie Sam Eells on August 18.
MUSINGS
Reporter’s Notebook Energy Cycle

With 21 competitors, the
Cal Pro Figure
was a little more
manageable
than last year’s
lineup of 30
women strong.
I arrived at the
venue for the
finals with plenty
of time to hang
out and take a
few pictures.
Thanks to the
Pittsburgh show,
which I’d covered
three weeks ear-
lier, I was becom-
st, I mu st, ing more familiar
If I mu
Makeup shot? with the many
rri s.
says Leslie Mo women who were Old school
.
making their debuts at the late-spring ka Valle Dela Lian Physique vets Dina
ie . Wal es a (left) an
ia nt ro ok st Sa rc ev figure d Milamar
contests. Backstage at the Veterans even more names Rad nors for be they have
ta kes top ho each othe n’t se
and faces to be put together would be waiting—not wait- ener gy. r fo r al most 10 ye en
backstage ars.
ing for me, mind you, but for their turn to go onstage. another realization
Now, the Cal is a big show, what with all the amateur hit me. Though it had not been that long since my
divisions, and the ladies have a long wait till their first entrance. friend traded the world of rock-hard physiques for a world of
Promoter Jon Lindsay puts aside a separate dressing room rocks, probably not one of those newbies had been around
for the pros—a nice improvement over the backstage situ- long enough to have been in one of her
ation at other such events, especially for someone photo shoots. Now, that’s fast turnover.
who’s trying to get to know everyone, but it’s not a Before I could ruminate further, all
huge area. I arrived about a quarter way into the la- eyes turned toward the door, where Mr.
dies’ long wait and found a dozen or so lying around Lindsay was strolling in. A sigh of relief
in sweats who were at least a half hour from even from me. New energy in the room.
thinking about pumping up. Except for the occasional More competitors arrived, including
eye glancing at the monitor, where a close-circuit feed some familiar faces, and the vibe
from the stage indicated that the Masters Over 60
guys were being introduced, nothing in that room was
moving as I picked my way among the bodies looking
for somewhere to sit down.
Photography by Ruth Silverman
“Hey, Ruth,” someone called, and, r ex-

Zhana Rota
ues
suddenly, a dozen or so pairs of eyes tols the virt .
riveted in my direction. The immediate of Bikini Bite
Th ou gh she’s
rush of panic (“Is my hair really that bad?”) a
headed for
gave way to epiphany—new energy in mid-top-10
a
the room—which gave way to momentary finish, Zhan
r-
panic. What to do next? It was clearly too is not discou
r
early for cute dressing room shots. aged. “Afte
placing 18th
Snagging a spot next to where Rosa- last year, I fe
el
Maria great.”
Backstage P.S. Romero began to build.
had set up, I started to sit, Sweats started
when another voice called out, coming come
“Cool bracelet!” off and makeup
Cool indeed. So I told them checks abounded.
about the bracelet, with its Out came the
numerous gemstone beads, camera. It was
that was made by my friend time for me and
The bracelet: precious topaz, who used to run the cre- my bracelet to go
garnets, rubies, onyx and ative department at another to work.
amethysts on silver. Original bodybuilding magazine. As I
design by Lori Sandler,
www.DragonhorseStudio.com. spelled out the Web address, Hands on. Masae Tagami smooths out her tan.

TALENT
J A N TA N A
Another
Return of a Classic Beautiful bod to keep your eye on
Meanwhile, just a continent away Based
Ines on her
Three weeks after the Jiminez. photos
model-pose down in Colo- from
rado a familiar name made the ’06
Cal and
its reentry to the IFBB Europa
schedule. The Jan Tana compe-
Classic, a longtime stop on titions,
the tour staged in various where
Ines
cities south of the Mason-
Jiminez
Dixon line, mysteriously lan-
disappeared after the ’03 guished
season (well, maybe not so in 18th,

the
mysteriously). On June 23 former
it was back with a bang in Costa
a new location up north, in Rican
Westchester County, New cham-
pion had
York, where the skin-care- to have
Stephanie Kessler goes wild on learning she products queen produced been the
won the heavyweights—and a ticket to the O—in
her comeback Classics in most
her pro debut. Queen Jan (left) brought back the
women’s pro bodybuilding under-
show after four years.
appre-
and figure in conjunction ciated
with an NPC show promoted by bodybuilder King Kamali. com-
Both pro contests attracted small lineups—14 in the figure show and only 10 petitor
female flexers. Talk about your mysteries. at every
show
The figure bottom line was perhaps easier to understand: With the New York she en-
Pro going down in Manhattan less than a month later, ladies in a New York state tered on
of mind had multiple opportunities to get onstage. Regarding the bodybuilders, the pro level. Then suddenly, at the ’07
however, one has to wonder, What were they thinking? With only four open con- Colorado convention of quarter-turners,
she leaped to the forefront of the panel’s
tests all season, you’d imagine that at least the East Coast–based flexers would attention—all the way up to sixth, miss-
have flocked to the Classic. They must all be waiting for Betty Pariso’s bread ing a spot in the winner’s circle by one
pudding at the Europa on August 10 in Texas. little point. About time.
FLEXERS
More Tana Talk

The lack of marquee names set the stage for a number of firsts to take place in the J.T.
Women’s Bodybuilding Classic. In the lightweights, Sarah Dunlap trimmed down to under
135 pounds to make her first appearance as a lightweight in her first contest since the ’05
Charlotte Pro and scored her first pro win, taking class and overall honors. In the heavies a
radiant Stephanie Kessler, the ’06 Team Universe champ, earned her first trip to the O
in her first pro competition. It was a fabulous development for both those excellent athletes.
Dunlap’s decision to come in a bit smaller delivered her best-ever package, according
to those in attendance, and Kessler, who managed a fourth-place finish at the tough IFBB
World Amateur Championships last summer, looked great. Since Jan decided to have
weight classes, only two Ms. Olympia berths were at stake, a matter of concern for some
people. The low turnout—only four in the lightweights—caused some online grumbling that
promoters should be able to change their mind about having weight classes if they don’t
attract sufficient players. I’ve got a better idea: The judges can simply decide which of the
Bradford
runners-up gets the third Olympia qualification, and every show becomes a “top-three quali-
fier.”
Had that been the case in New York, I’m guessing that the honor would have gone to
Snap. Sarah Dunlap dialed down
to lightweight to snag her first lightweight second-placer Dena Westerfield. Said one enthusiastic observer, “The best
pro win. four women in a lightweight class I’ve seen—Dunlap, Westerfield, [Maria] Lehtonen,
[Vicky] Nixon were all superb.” Now, that particular friend is prone to exaggeration on the
subject of women’s bodybuilding (plus he was not present in ’01, when Juliette Bergmann beat Andrulla Blanchette be-
fore taking the overall, over Iris Kyle, at the Olympia). For the record, Sarah won her class by a 42-point margin. Online photos
suggest, however, that my buddy was right about the lightweights being the tougher competition—for all that it was a little short.
The heavyweight class was loaded with largely unknown European competitors. Kessler’s more-than-respectable margin of
victory was 26 points. Second went to Maryse Manios of France, with Kim Buck of the USA, Irene Anderson of Swe-
den, Jana Linke-Sippi of Germany and Sarah Bridges of the United Kingdom, in order, rounding out the lineup.
ADVANCEMENTS JAN TANA FIGURE
Blog On Felicia Forges to the Fore Speaking of hot rookies

Silver girl
Felicia Romero seems to have
taken a shortcut to the judges’
attention in her rookie season.
At the Cal, where the ’06 USA
class winner from Arizona
picked up a top-three finish
plus an Olympia invite, she
said she’d spent her time in
the gym since last summer
doing a little work on her legs
Fredrick
and shoulders. She reminded

me of another rookie with a
Presenting a new way to enjoy pretty face and softer presen-
some of your favorite IRON MAN tation, Elisha Archibold, who
contributors, including me and L.T. got fourth in Pittsburgh and
Check out our blogs at IronMan
Magazine.com—there’s no telling also looked like someone to
what we’ll say (or do). Here I am keep an eye on.
looking bloggish, chatting up the
fit and famous at the Muscle Beach Romero dropped to fifth in

Venice Memorial Day contest. That’s
former IM cover model Katarina Van
Colorado, but that was just the
Derham on the left. lull before her cross-country
sprint to the finish line in New
York, where she was definitely
displaying a bit of shoulder
NPC CAL CHAMPS cap.
Top tro-
phies in the The judges at the Tana seemed Houston (July 21) Pro Figure shows
women’s
ranks went
to delight in putting first-timers in the at IronManMagazine.com. The latter
to Tammy winner’s circle, and that carried over event is being hyped in some circles
Jackson in to the figure competition, where Fe- as a battle between, in alphabetical
bodybuild- licia Romero was anointed queen order, Monica Brant, Adela Gar-
ing and
Jessica for a day. cia and Valerie Waugaman. Yeah,
Troha in Amy Fry, who’s now two for two right. Like we don’t know who doesn’t
figure. in nabbing Olympia-qualifying spots, stand a
For more
on that finished eight points behind Felicia in chance
sword second, while Jeanette Freed, who com-
Jess is just keeps looking better onstage, ing out
holding,
see page became the newest addition to the on top
276. Figure O lineup by taking third. in that
Tammy Jane Awad looked to be in fine threeway.
Jackson.
condition but missed her ticket to the
Merv
O by a single point, while Kristal

Jessica
Richardson landed a few points
behind her to round out the top five. Another
Troha.
We’re three weeks out from the panel
pleaser:
next string of shows as I write this, so Jea-
look for results and photos from the nette
New York (City) (July 13 and 14) and Freed.
For results and massive media

coverage from all the hot figure
shows—not to mention bodybuilding
and fitness—keep your browser set for
www.IronManMagazine.com.
Merv

MORE TALENT
Ms. Tanya Returns Meanwhile, back at the Cal

I was perus- interesting moments. In the intervening years Merryman en-
ing the figure joyed a respectable run as a fitness champ—model, trainer,
judging at the choreographer and TV host for fitness competitions being
NPC California a few of the slots on her résumé. The last time I saw her, in
Champion- fact, was in 2000. It was backstage at a show, and she had
ships when a mike in her hand. I heard that she’d left her husband and
IRON MAN moved to the Los Angeles area but not much after that.
Hot Shots king Till now. At the Cal. Wow.
Jerry Fred- That night we had a little reunion before the finals, and
rick came up Tanya recalled that it was this reporter who first noted her
to rave about resemblance to McLish, the original Ms. Olympia. Tanya
a competitor in had remarried her husband, moved back up north and had
one of the taller another baby, Hunter, who’s almost a year old. After that
classes who, she got a hankering to get back onstage. “I don’t know what
he said, looked it is about having babies that makes me want to compete,”
just like Ra- she said with a grin, recalling our first conversation almost
chel McLish. a decade before. Some girls just need that incentive to lose
Onstage, the the baby fat, eh, Tanya?
E-class held its Despite earning an elite placing
breath while the at the USA Sport Aerobic Nationals
judges called in 2001, she hadn’t really been on-
out the lucky la- stage since ’99, she said. A couple
dies who would of injuries suffered while training
probably make for fitness suggested that she
the top three. should make her comeback in the
The more the Merryman. Tanya takes
to the stage once again.
“There she less taxing land of figure. She took
is!” exclaimed the plunge at the ’07 NPC Contra
Jerry. I saw the one he meant right away, and my eyes Costa, finishing third, before earning
went wide. Could it be that Tanya Merryman, one-time a similar placing at the Cal.
top diva in a certain “other fitness organization,” was mak- “I know I’m starting at the bottom
ing her long-unanticipated appearance in the NPC? Nine again,” said the lady with the legs to
years ago, right after her son Joshua was born, the 5’6” die for. It’ll be interesting to see just
brunette ball of talent from San Jose hit the fitness world how quickly she gets out of there.
Okaabe
with a bang, winning the top title at that other organiza-
tion, but not before she gave some friends of mine some In championship form in 1998.
STILL MORE TALES FROM CULVER CITY

rcia
t an award, Adela Ga
On hand to presen how to
hand Jaime Garza
teaches backstage t the
t. Did I mention tha
go for the money sho Cal are huge swords?
the
overall trophies at
Chas Sloan and

her hubby recently
launched a new busi-
ness, HealthyFamily
.WorldVentures.com,
You can contact
a full-service online Ruth Silverman,
travel site advertis- fitness reporter
ing the “best rates”
for all your travel and Pump & Cir-
Neveux
needs, including cumstance scribe,

flights, hotels, cars,
has found in care of
arne of Brazil
Juliana Malac rough to navig
ate. family vacations and
the fig ure wa te rs
says, honeymoons. With IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave.,
try ing to ge t smaller, she the contest season in Oxnard, CA 93033; or via e-mail at
She’s ts, it’s
Given her asse
but even so.… the sailing could
full swing, there’s no
[email protected].
pr ed ict th at reason not to check
easy to g.
before too lon
get smoother it out.

Supercharge Your Power Center
by Bill Starr • Photography by Michael Neveux
ou see as many TV The core is the center of power in the body—at

commercials for fitness least it should be. I’ve noticed a trend, however,
that shifts attention away from the core groups to a
products and exercise routine made up almost entirely of upper-body exer-
routines as you do for cars and cises. Some trainees ignore the back and lower body
trucks. Well, almost. Turbo almost completely, while others add token work that
does little for strength or size gains. Their programs
Jam, Red X, Bean, Hip Hop Abs (my consist of lots and lots of bench presses, followed by
personal favorite), along with a variety inclines and flyes, along with plenty of triceps, biceps
of abdominal machines, all emphasize and deltoid work.
What happens, in the event they succeed in their
how well they develop core strength— quest for huge chests and arms, is that they look silly.
which I find rather comical. How in Even in the close network of bodybuilders, they aren’t
the world do you strengthen the core admired. A pleasing physique is balanced, propor-
tional and aesthetic, not top-heavy with puny legs
muscles by sitting on a well-padded and flat glutes. An award-winning physique starts
bench and exercising your abs? with a solid strength base, and you accomplish that
On the other hand, I applaud only by working the core groups hard and heavy.
If a strong core is important to bodybuilders, it’s
their attention to the core muscles. absolutely essential to strength athletes. Without a
Long before core strength became strong center, strength athletes will never be able to
a catchword in fitness circles, handle the poundages necessary for them to com-
pete at a high level in any sport. And that includes
bodybuilders, strength athletes and non-contact ones such as tennis, swimming, track
conscious coaches were striving to and certainly all the field events.
enhance and maintain strength in Those who have my book The Strongest Shall Sur-
vive are familiar with the drawing of a figure high
the core, or center of the body. Any on his toes, his arms reaching up over his head as
Model: Daniele Seccarecci
strength or bodybuilding program that concentric circles radiate out from the center of his
produced results always focused on the body. The circles are more concentrated at the hips
and are weaker by the time they reach the ankles and
muscle groups that made up the core: wrists. I got that from the great Olympic lifter Tommy
abs, lumbars, hips and glutes. Kono, and it’s become the logo not only for my book

hips and legs. You can, however,
work the abs and lower back more
frequently. I encourage all my ath-
letes to start every lifting session
with one exercise each for their abs
and lower back and then finish the
workout with another lumbar and
ab exercise. That helps in two ways.
First, the two midsection move-
ments help warm up the core, which
in turn enables you to get more out
of the first exercise of your routine.
Second, by splitting up the work for
your abs and lower back, you get
less bored or annoyed, and the reps
all add nicely to your total workload
for those groups.
As athletes get more advanced, I
have them expand their warmups to
include all parts of the abs: upper,
lower and sides. An excellent rou-
tine that I used during my heavy
training period was as follows: one
set of back hyperextensions, 50 reps;
one set of situps, 200 reps; 200 twists
using a stick to hit the tranverse ab-
dominals; and finish by holding the
stick overhead while leaning as far
as possible to one side, then doing
the same for the other side, for at
Without a strong center, athletes will be at a disadvantage, least 100 reps. That hit the obliques
no matter what the sport. Core strength will help almost any without thickening them.
athlete compete at a higher level. Many trainees use dumbbells to
work their obliques, leaning from
side to side, and that does strength-
but for all the programs I present and arms. Sure, some strength en the target muscles. Trouble is, the
in this space. It clearly portrays the moves upward, but you’re not resistance tends to make them grow
idea that the seat of strength in the achieving maximum productivity. as well, and you’ll appear chubby
body is the hips and glutes. The That’s often the case with throwers because it’s difficult to tell the dif-
further away from the center, the in field events. They pay close atten- ference between muscle and fat.
weaker the muscles, attachments tion to their leg strength but fail to But you can get the same results by
and joints. keep their lumbars equally strong. using a stick and running the reps
Once you accept that fact, design- By equal, I mean in proportion; you way, way up. The obliques will get
ing a program is much easier. You can’t handle the same amount of stronger and stay trim. Two-for-one
should give the core groups priority weight on a lower-back exercise that deal.
in a routine, and you must work the you can on any type of squat. We’ll After you finish your workout, do
exercises diligently. Token weights get back to the ratio between leg a set of reverse hyperextensions for
and staying in the comfortable and lumbar strength later. 50 reps and a set of leg raises for 200
range just don’t get the job done. It You need proportionate strength reps. By the time you leave the gym,
would be nice if they did, but the between core and upper body too. you’ve covered all the bases. Keep in
rewards are worth the extra effort. Bringing upper-body strength down mind that the midsection is not two
The main reason you need to through the core into the lower separate planes made up of a front
spend time strengthening the core body is part of almost every athletic and a back but rather a continuous
groups is that they must be very endeavor. If any muscle groups in girdle. That means your lower back
strong if they’re going to transfer the core are lacking in strength, the won’t get any stronger unless you
power up and down your body. For process will be diminished, along make a big effort to keep the various
example, you might be a strong with the results. parts of your abs proportionately as
squatter but haven’t bothered to In order to build and maintain a strong.
work your lower back with a specific strong core, you must pay attention Apart from the strength factor, all
exercise. So it’s fallen behind, and to all groups involved. Some, like that ab work will make you look a lot
the strength you have in your hips the abs and to a lesser degree the better in a swimsuit. Before we get
and legs can’t efficiently be trans- lumbars, can’t be worked the same to specific exercises for the lumbars,
ferred up into your back, shoulders way you work the larger-muscle though, let’s focus on the very best

squats in their routines. Sometimes,
of course, that isn’t possible, and they
have to stick with back squats—fine,
so long as they set the bar high on
their backs and go extremely deep.
Full squats, done from front or
back, work all the groups that make
up the core: lumbars, hips, quadri-
ceps, adductors, abductors, glutes
and hamstrings. How, you may be
thinking, are all the various groups
that form the upper leg involved with
the core? They’re certainly not in the
center of the body. They are, however,
all attached to the hips and so are very
much part of the core. Grouped to-
gether, they are potentially the body’s
strongest set of muscles and attach-
ments, so it’s only logical that they
need to be worked the hardest. Until
you’ve established a firm foundation
in that area, you need to give squats
priority at every weight-room session.
That means putting squats first in
your routine three days a week. At
Johns Hopkins, I told other coaches
that any of their athletes who entered
the weight room and, after warming
up, went directly to the squat rack
would become considerably stronger
than those who opted to bench or
incline first. I was always right, not just
because of the value of the full squat
but also because of the mind-set:
Athletes who choose to do the hard-
est exercise in their routine first are
challenging the weights, and that’s an
important step in winning the battle.
As most readers know, I like to
use five sets of five for back squats
when trainees are in the formative
stage, along with the heavy, light and
medium system. When the numbers
Model: Jose Raymond
start climbing and form is mastered, I

The seat of strength in the body is the hips and recommend the following set-and-rep
glutes. The further away from the center, the sequence:
weaker the muscles, attachments and joints.
• Heavy day: 5x5 plus one back-off
set of eight to 10 reps.
• Light day: 5x5, staying approxi-
exercise for developing and main- The plus for front squats is that they
mately 50 pounds under what you
taining core strength: full squats. force you to go deep and stay very
did on your final set on the heavy
By full, I mean going deep, way erect, thus making the core muscles
day; no back-off.
below parallel. The deeper you go, work harder.
• Medium day: three sets of five reps
the more muscles and correspond- The problem with front squats for
followed by two heavy sets of three.
ing attachments you involve in the many is being able to rack the bar
The final set should be five or 10
exercise, resulting in greater gains. properly. Those who lack flexibility
more pounds than your last set on
You can do squats with the barbell in their shoulders and elbows—older
the heavy day. Add a back-off set of
in front of or behind your head. athletes, for example—often have
eight to 10 reps.
Both positions are useful, and once trouble maintaining a secure rack. In
• On your next heavy day do five
my athletes have established a solid some cases, spending time building
reps with the weight you tripled on
base, I put them both in their pro- a greater range of motion enables
your previous medium day.
gram. The advantage of back squats them to eventually rack the bar
is that you can handle more weight. solidly, and they can include front I stay with lower reps for front

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Magazine’
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Rules for Sup plements
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for the lumbars. Not only must you then you can use them as a primary in record time!
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light weights are used. Numerous straight-legged deadlifts. Of the two,
copy to: .....................................................
athletes from a wide range of sports I believe good mornings produce
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have contacted me complaining greater results. When the poundage Enclose check or money order for $9.95 plus $6.50
of lower-back pain or, just as fre- gets really heavy on almost-straight- shipping payable to: Home GYM Warehouse,
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quently, problems with one or both legged deadlifts, there’s a tendency Credit card orders call TOLL FREE
of their hips. I ask them what they’re to lower the hips, which shifts the 1-800-447-0008, offer ITS
doing for their lumbars. Invariably stress from the lower back to other CA residents add 8.25% sales tax. Foreign orders
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they say, “Nothing. I figure I’m giv- groups. Good mornings, on the U.S. dollars drawn on U.S. banks only.
ing them plenty of work with all my other hand, require more precise

technique. Any attempt to cheat only good mornings in small increments
I’ve noticed a trend makes them tougher. Plus, I always as your squat improves.
got very sore after a session with There is, however, a limitation on
that shifts attention good mornings, as did 100 percent the 50-percent rule. When I was edit-
of my athletes—not the case with ing Strength & Health, a pen pal in
away from the core almost-straight-legged deadlifts. Sore Moscow traded me Soviet training
is good in strength training. information for copies of the maga-
groups to a routine Good mornings are never easy, but zine. One thing I learned was that the
you can make them at least palatable. Russian Olympic lifters never went
made up almost Insert them into your program early over 100 kilos (220 pounds) on their
on, before your squat gets into high good mornings. I asked why, and
entirely of upper-body numbers. What you want to achieve he replied that the coaches felt that
is the right balance between your using more weight than that forced
exercises. A pleasing good mornings and back squats. My the lifter to alter his mechanics in
rule of thumb: Your good mornings order to counterbalance the weights.
physique is balanced, should be 50 percent of what you’re It changed the focal point of the
squatting for 10 reps. Let’s say you exercise and didn’t isolate the lum-
proportional and wait until you’re squatting 350 be- bars nearly as much. Although I’ve
fore adding good mornings to your made exceptions with powerlifters
aesthetic, not top- program. In order to strike the right and other athletes who want to dead-
balance, you’d have to handle 175x10 lift heavy weights, that, for the most
heavy with puny legs on them. That’s not terribly difficult, part, is what I teach as well. For those
yet it would be much easier if you’d who are squatting in the mid-500s or
and flat glutes. started doing the good mornings higher, I add extra sets of good morn-
when you got to 250 in the squat. ings at 225 to keep their lumbars
You’d only have to deal with 125x10. proportionately as strong as the other
Once you’ve got your balance right, groups in the core. That works well.
it’s a simple matter of increasing the Good mornings not only strength-
Model: Mike Morris

Model: Toney Freeman
The plus for front squats is that they force a lifter to go deep
and stay very erect, thus making the core muscles work harder.

en the lumbars, but they also work
the hamstrings and glutes very
directly—more good stuff for the
core. In fact, the majority of my
athletes have told me that it’s their
hamstrings or glutes, much more
than their lumbars, that reminded
them why they called the exercise
“tomorrow mornings.” The weakest
group will be the one that reports
in the next day. That’s what you’re
after—finding and strengthening
the weaker muscles.
There are three ways to do good
mornings: flat back, rounded
back and while seated. I’ve been
criticized in Internet chat rooms
for advocating rounded-back good
mornings on the grounds that
rounding the back places the disks
between the vertebrae under ex-
Model: Allen Sarkiszadeh

treme pressure and can cause them
to impinge on the spinal nerves.
Well, the spine—hello?—was
designed to act as an arch and be
rounded. It was only about four
million years ago that our ancestors
began to move in an upright posi- I encourage all my athletes to do one exercise for their abs and
tion, though you’ve probably seen lower back before they start their lifting program for that day
a few examples at the supermarket and then finish the session with another lumbar and ab move.
who looked as if they’d joined our
species 50 years ago. The curvature
in your lower back can handle bend- out to do 225x10
ing forward. What it can’t tolerate is on the first day
bending backward, as in pressing back—without
a weight with an extreme layback. mentioning his
If rounding the back while moving plan to me. At
heavy poundage caused back injury, 195, he pulled
all powerlifters in the world would a lumbar on
be in traction; they all round with the right side,
their max deadlifts. and it took him
The reason powerlifters don’t get three months to
hurt and the reason rounded-back fully recover. It
good mornings aren’t dangerous is wasn’t the fault
that the athletes slowly work up to of the exercise
the heavy weights and in the process or the way he
condition their muscles to handle performed it but
the increased stress. To be sure, if rather his eager-
you tried to lift a weight far beyond ness to regain his
your capabilities, you’d run the risk former strength
of hurting your back. But that’s true without going
of any lift. In the course of teaching through the nec-
good mornings to thousands of ath- essary process of
letes at Johns Hopkins University, reestablishing a
I saw only one athlete—a football base. Establish-
player—injure his lower back doing ing a base is a
the exercise. Reason: He did way law of nature that
too much too soon. On the first day you break at your
of the off-season strength program peril, no matter
he decided that he was going to how determined
match his best good morning from you might be.
the previous year. He hadn’t trained Having said
seriously since midsummer yet set that, I don’t take

Model: Daryl Gee
On squats go deep, below parallel. The deeper you go, the
more muscles you involve. More muscles, plus corresponding
attachments results in greater gains.
chances either. Whenever someone though the weight used on the

tells me that the rounded-back ver- eight-rep week is a bit higher, the
sion hurts him—and I don’t mean load is lighter, and those small
the exertion of doing the lift itself bumps help my lifters elevate the
but some other kind of pain—I have numbers to keep their strength
him switch to the flat-back style. ratio to 50 percent of their back
In fact, I encourage everyone to try squats. It’s just enough of a varia-
both styles and decide which one tion to promote growth and build
provides the most feedback the variety into the program.
following day. It’s really a matter of Next time I’ll go over several
selecting the type of good morning other excellent exercises that help
that feels right and gives the greater strengthen the core and discuss
results. in detail the correct form to use
I also have my athletes do seated on the lifts I recommend. I’ll also
good mornings occasionally, about suggest how to incorporate them
every five or six weeks. Unless you all into a functional routine. In the
have some sort of injury that limits meantime start going deep in your
you to doing only the seated variety, squats and find out which version
you shouldn’t do them more often of good mornings suits you best.
because they’re easier than the
standing styles. Editor’s note: Bill Starr was a
I alternate the sets and reps every strength and conditioning coach
other week. While the difference at Johns Hopkins University from
between A and B weeks is slight, 1989 to 2000. He’s the author of
it’s enough to elicit a change in the The Strongest Shall Survive—
response of your body. Week A: four Strength Training for Football,
sets of 10; week B: five sets of eight. which is available for $20 plus
The total number of reps is identi- shipping from Home Gym Ware-
cal, but I move the final set a bit house. Call (800) 447-0008, or visit
higher on the eight-rep week, such www.Home-Gym.com. IM
as 220x10 followed by 225x8. Even

Mind
MIND/BODY
How to stay on
Cumulative Consequences the big-gain train
IRONMIND
M
aybe you remember the fable about the ant and grass- might sound, the wise part of that equation is the easy part; it’s
hopper. While the ant toiled steadily, the grasshopper diligence that makes or breaks people.
played. Days, weeks and months went by, and when Slow and steady is the sure path to victory. Meticulously
winter came, there was a huge difference in how each was planned training cycles and the use of microplates reflect the
prepared to face the coming cold. Consider how those ap- common belief in doing what you can to keep moving forward.
proaches work in the gym—as well as out of it—and whether The most important point, however, is to show up, day in and
you’re running your life in a way that will help you reach your day out, because small differences day by day add up to huge
goals. differences. That’s why devotion to duty leads to such rich
For just about everyone the first day in the gym is terrific: dividends over the long haul. Even better, conscientious effort
Attitude is great, effort is there, enthusiasm is bubbling over, carries an extremely valuable fringe benefit—whatever you’re
and plans to conquer the world abound. A week later things doing becomes habit-forming. By training steadily, you’ll not
still look good, but a month down the road attrition is showing. only reap the direct benefits of consistent effort, but you’ll also
Three months later a lot of people are back on the couch, the find that it’s easier to get into the gym when you’re supposed
remote within easy reach, and since they no longer go to the to. The process works in the other direction as well: Each time
gym, they have a few extra hours each week for their favorite you skip a workout, it becomes easier to skip the next one.
Internet activities. Though lifting weights is always going to be more work than
Meanwhile, the people who are plugging away in the gym staying in bed, there are things you can do to make it more like-
are starting to morph. Stomachs are shrinking and getting ly that you’ll hit the gym armed for progress rather than while
harder, chests are swelling, and weights that used to stay away your life on the couch.
glued to the floor are magically light. The real magic, though, If you’re surrounded by achievement-oriented role mod-
seems to be going on under their skin—there’s simply some- els, chances are you’ll have learned the attitudes, skills and
thing about the way they walk. Whatever that thing is, it’s posi- behavior to make headway yourself. If you aren’t surrounded
tive, and they seem to apply it to by successful role models, focus
whatever they do—things related your efforts on 1) realizing how you
to lifting and things not. control your situation, and 2) trying
What’s happened, basically, to identify and surround yourself
is that those who continued to with the people, images and activi-
train learned the skills necessary ties that are most likely to produce
for succeeding, while those who success. For example, if your family
quit learned the skills that make doesn’t model the most appropri-
failure likely. ate attitudes, skills and behavior
Unless you’re Paul Anderson, for success, don’t let that limit you.
you don’t just walk into the gym Establish a different set of reference
on the first day and bang out points for yourself. Identify people
honest squats with 400 pounds. who demonstrate what it takes to
Throw four 45s on each end get ahead, and learn how they do
of the bar, put the average guy things. Mentally surround yourself
under it, and watch 405 pounds with images that will take you for-
drop him like a blow from a ward. Every gym has a group that
sledgehammer. On the other never misses training and another
Neveux \ Model: Ken Yasuda
hand, virtually any guy lucky group that’s always at half-throttle

enough to be born within the when it comes to commitment.
wide range considered “normal” You know which group you should
can look forward to repping out identify with. With the help of your
with that same weight if he trains reference group and positive imag-
wisely and diligently. As odd as it es, day by day you march steadily

Body
toward your goals.
Try to keep the process enjoyable, and use goals to mo-
tivate you and sustain you through the tough times. If you’re
struggling to boost your squat weight, think about each
five- or 10-pound jump along the way; think of how much
Mood
Neuronutrient Uppers
more impressive the bar looks each time you slap on another
Y
our body uses spe-
pair of 25s; and keep in mind that every time another pair of
45s goes on the bar, you’ve reached a major milestone. Pat cific neuronutrients to
yourself on the back each time you reach one of your goals, make mood-enhanc-
and then set your sights on your next one. ing neurotransmitters in the
To make goal setting even more effective, keep your goals brain. One key neuronutrient is
in context and dynamic. Context means you know why you
L-tyrosine, which helps make
aspire to a particular goal so it has some value beyond your
Neveux \ Model: Sebastian Siegel
being able to say, “I squatted with 315 for 20 reps today.” dopamine, norepinephrine and
Maybe, for instance, you take particular pride in the fact that epinephrine. Try 500 milligrams
315 means you had three 45s on each side of the bar, and on an empty stomach—per-
when you started, just one was enough to make your knees haps when you first get out of
shake. Or maybe you made a deal with yourself that when
bed—to get happier.
you hit 315x20, you’d buy a pair of real weightlifting shoes.
Perhaps 315x20 means you’d reached a size or strength —Becky Holman
point you wanted, for example, to play football. Use context www.X-tremeLean.com
to add flesh to your goals, and that will help you use your
goals to motivate each workout.
Keeping your goals dynamic can help you stay on course.
Let’s say that you have a goal to power-clean 225 pounds,
but you injure your wrist, so you can’t do power cleans at the
moment. You can head for the sidelines, or you can modify Herbs
your plan. Maybe you can do clean pulls or good mornings
and a lot of squats. The point is, some people quit as soon
as they get a hangnail, and other people find a way to train
Mind the Mint
even when they’re in a cast. You can guess who makes
A
progress and who doesn’t. recent study at Wheel-
Progress, in all walks of life, is a wonderful thing. What’s ing Jesuit Univer-
especially nice is that when you work hard, you have a pro- sity shows that certain
nounced tendency to go forward, which means you control scents can heighten brain and
your destiny. Small, steady steps will take you where you body responses, according
want to go, because where you end up is a consequence of
to the June ’07 Prevention.
your cumulative actions.
—Randall Strossen, Ph.D. Athletes felt more invigorated
postexercise after inhaling pep-
Editor’s note: Randall Strossen, Ph.D., edits the quar- permint aroma during exercise than subjects who weren’t
terly magazine MILO. He’s the author of IronMind: Stronger exposed to the minty smell. Other studies have shown
Minds, Stronger Bodies; Super Squats: How to Gain 30 that peppermint can actually increase strength. Try chew-
Pounds of Muscle in 6 Weeks and Paul Anderson: The ing a stick of peppermint sugarless gum during your
Mightiest Minister. For more information call IronMind
workout. Your training partner may benefit too—and stop
Enterprises Inc. at (530) 265-6725 or Home Gym Warehouse
at (800) 447-0008, ext. 1. Visit the IronMind Web site at calling you Protein Breath. —Becky Holman
www.IronMind.com. www.X-tremeLean.com

Bomber Blast MIND/BODY
It’s All in the Mind, Smiley

I
t’s gonna be a long day. I splashed coffee as I poured my morn- nessing personal
ing cup, and the subsequent splatter formed an unmistakable insight into my
Neveux \ Models: Clark and Anita Bartram

smiley face—one with a turned-down mouth. No biggie. I reg- weightlifting and
istered the mishap and went about my business. Within the hour I muscle building?
poured a second sloppy cup, repeating the splash sequence, and Could it be I’ve
formed another unhappy face, this one almost mean in expres- been too involved
sion. Getting careless, I observed, yet the coincidence did not for too many
escape my attention. years with too few
A third cup, not for me but for Laree, was poured with extra diversions, and I
care and not a drop dared go astray. I added a dash of milk, and was devolving?
the cup held its contents heroically. Emboldened, I grasped the The first grim
mug assertively, Men Rule inscribed on its side, and it spat a rebel- face, a sign of
lious arc of steamy java from its thick lip. A sneering droopy face, mental fatigue—world-weariness; the second droopy kisser, an
number three, formed on the tabletop. I froze. It’s gonna be a long, image of physical fatigue—listlessness; the third sorrowful counte-
long day. nance, an indication of spiritual fatigue—faithlessness.
I was scheduled for a major blast at the blasting site, the It’s better to be clairvoyant than a weak-willed person given to
Weight Room Santa Cruz, and now this. I’m not a superstitious superstition. Obviously I’ve been gifted with the power to read cof-
person, yet some things in life cannot be explained. That’s one of fee beans and associated splatters. There’s money to be gained
them. I’m hesitant to dismiss three consecutive scowling faces here somewhere. I’ll place a blinking neon sign in my window:
revealed by errant coffee spatterings in a single morning. Rats! PSYCHIC—Coffee Bean Readings—OPEN.
Ruffled but undaunted—45 years under the iron tends to quash We must learn to separate ourselves from our pressurized gym
doubt and despair—I completed my morning tasks and prepared environs, those heavy-duty workshops where muscle and might
for my two-hour bout of metal against might. We read too much battle for superiority. The gym must be reserved for our train-
into daily coincidence. ing only, and our time beyond the gym walls should be reserved
Seldom do I approach my workouts without scrutiny, psyching- for our duties and entertainments, family and friends apart from
up and a touch of anxiety. When I was younger, this prepping ritual the deeds of the gym. Further, our dietary needs, which grant us
was extensive and demanding, and I often found myself emotion- immeasurable strength, health and clarity, ought to be greeted
ally and psychologically spent by time I stood before the racks and with appreciation, not spoiled, weak-willed protest. We can get
benches. It was as if the deed had already been done twice over; so wrapped up in our fitness pursuits that we exceed our capac-
I was exhausted, on the verge of overtraining, in need of oxygen ity to savor and enjoy them, and, thus, we inhibit and destroy
and a change of view. Hmmm, I wondered, was that the crafts- them. Oversaturation is not uncommon and leads to self-destruc-
man of the three grim faces I imagined staring my way from the tion—implosion.
countertop during my morning breaks? Am I so utterly consumed We need balance. We must learn to compartmentalize. We
with weight training and muscle building outside the gym that I should go with the flow and lighten up as conditions permit.
face weariness and discontent inside? Gauging ourselves without compromising our training enthusi-
These were my thoughts as I traveled Highway 1 toward the asm and dedication is the key. We sometimes think that commit-
Weight Room. The safe and familiar confines of my vehicle make a ment to a worthy and tough goal requires fanatical devotion. Do or
welcome think tank for unraveling my daily dilemmas. Am I wit- die; all or nothing; now or never. I frequently say “blast it” to make
a point: that is, train hard, consistently and joyfully. Working out
hard and eating smart are good things till they approach obses-
sion; then they become weird and extreme, and we burn out. We
Mental Health lose.
Wine for the Mind What do we do? There’s so much to know. How hard, how
often and when should we exercise? What works for you? Will it
work for me?
S
cientists at Litwin-Zuck-
er Research Center for When I’m stumped, or bored, or uninspired, unmotivated, un-
the Study of Alzheimer’s interested or uncaring, defeated or in doubt, I say, “Be strong; this
Disease and Memory in New too will pass.” And I work out with what reserve and resources I
York found that the resveratrol have at hand. The obstructions are tough to overcome, yet over-
in red wine curbs the forma- coming them provides skill, savvy and practice for like obstacles
tion of the beta-amyloid pro- in the future. Any road worthy of pursuit is strewn with frustrating
tein that’s linked to Alzheimer’s and bone-breaking challenges, each presenting critical instruction,
disease. Because it also low- and rejoicing, in eventual conquest. Throttle
ers blood cholesterol levels, forward. —Dave Draper
red wine appears to improve
circulation to the brain, which Editor’s note: For more from Dave
also improves memory. Draper, visit www.DaveDraper.com and sign
up for his free newsletter. You can also check
—Becky Holman out his amazing Top Squat training tool, clas-
www.X-tremeLean.com sic photos, workout Q&A and forum.

New Stuff
MenScience Androceuticals
I
t’s an interesting new company. MenScience Androceuticals provides a full
line of grooming, skin-care and nutritional products scientifically developed
for the unique needs and characteristics of men. MenScience is committed
to developing products based on professional and dermatological-grade ingre-
dients that deliver tangible
benefits. Its undivided focus
is on effectiveness and
visible results, and it avoids
distractions such as fancy
packaging and marketing
fluff.
MenScience’s custom-
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and nutritional products. MenScience believes in informed consumers and
provides reliable content to complement its products’ effectiveness and pro-
mote better health overall.
For more on MenScience and MenScience products, visit the company’s
Web site at www.MenScience.com.
New Stuff
Chad Nicholls reveals Nxlabs’
Betasine newest breakthrough
C
ontest prep guru Chad Nicholls recently let a few industry insiders
in on NxLabs’ hottest creation yet. “I barely had a chance to catch
my breath after working with the guys at NxLabs to formulate
Plasmavol—also found in the Pump System—before
they were asking for my input on Betasine,” he said.
“Those guys just don’t stop, and neither does this stuff.
It’s a combo of beta-alanine and carnosine, which
adds up to a serious weapon for busting through
any training plateau. The best part is that you know
it works because it gives you a tingling sensation all
over your body almost right away.”
The researchers at NxLabs tell us that new Beta-
sine is bodybuilding’s first beta-alanine-plus-carno-
sine muscle-building formula that delivers clinically
proven, advanced ingredients that can jack up your
bench by 18.6 percent fast. It’s also been shown to
supercharge muscle power by 14.5 percent. NxLabs
promises superior bioavailability and delivery through
nanoparticulated and ethylated beta-alanine and
carnosine, which is immediately released via Hyper-
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For a free bottle of Betasine and your chance to experience explosive
strength, muscle growth and intensity, call (800) 511-1229 (while supplies
last). For more information visit www.NxLabs.com. Available exclusively at
GNC.

Gallery of Ironmen MIND/BODY
MIND/BODY
Abner S. Brady
T
he history of early American thing about
weight training is sketchy at these
best. A few figures have been pictures,
well publicized, but the vast majority however,
of those athletic pioneers have been is that they
forgotten. One amazing but little- are some
known figure in the history of sport of the
was Abner S. Brady. Unfortunately, earliest ex-
there’s almost no information on him amples of
or his contributions. A few facts can physique
be pieced together, and they prove photog-
that he was a weight trainer who was raphy in
decades ahead of most of his con- the United
temporaries. States. Photographer Alexander
Brady was born around 1835, Gardner took the accompanying
probably in New York, and he almost pictures in February 1865, and their
certainly enlisted in the Army and purpose was clearly to show off
became a gymnastics instructor. In the man’s musculature and physi-
1861 he opened Brady’s Seventh cal prowess. A few days after the
photos were taken, Brady
participated in a gala gymnas-
tics demonstration at Ford’s
Theatre featuring some of his
star students and a special
performance by the renowned
Hanlon Brothers acrobats.
President Lincoln was present
for the festivities that evening.
All students of American
history know that Lincoln
returned to the theater a few
weeks later and was assassi-
nated by John Wilkes Booth,
but only a few recall that the
The interior of Abner S. Brady’s Great Emancipator enjoyed
Washington, D.C., gymnasium, 1865. an athletic display prior to his
date with the ages.
Abner S. Brady remained
Regiment Gymnasium in New York at the head of his gymnasium until
City, and soon it boasted nearly a he disappeared from history. The last
thousand clients. Since the United known reference to the pioneer gym
States was embroiled in its bloody owner is in May 1866.
Civil War at this time, Brady concen- —David Chapman
trated on getting fighting men up to
snuff or keeping veterans in good
physical condition.
Sometime before 1865 Brady
moved to the nation’s capital, where
he opened a larger and more richly
appointed gymnasium on Louisiana
Avenue, within sight of the U.S.
Capitol. Brady’s Washington Gymna-
sium was a massive structure featur-
Photos courtesy of the David Chapman collection
ing all the latest exercise equipment.

An engraving from a contemporary
broadside shows men working out
with weights and climbing ladders,
boxing and performing various other
physical exercises.
Some rare photos of the gym
owner have also survived, and they
show that he was a healthy speci-
men of manliness. The most amazing

MIND/BODY
Sex Supplements MIND/BODY
Keep the Drive Alive
B
odybuilders are taking nitric ginseng and
oxide precursors to enhance vitamin C to
the pump in the gym, but a increase her
pump can be enhanced elsewhere energy—in and
too. A recent double-blind study out of the bed-
found that L-arginine, a potent nitric room.
oxide precursor, helped improve sex- —Becky Holman
ual dysfunction in women when it was www.X-tremeLean
combined with a ginkgo-and-ginseng .com
product. Also, vitamin C helps. Men,
tell your gal to take L-arginine, ginkgo,
Neveux \ Models: Amy Lynn and Adrian Janicke

www.Home-Gym.com Best Sellers
2) 10-Week Size Surge by IRON
MAN Publishing
3) The 7-Minute Rotator Cuff Solu-
tion by Joseph Horrigan, D.C., and
Jerry Robinson
4) Ronnie Coleman’s Hardcore
5) The Precontest Bible by Larry
Pepe
Top E-book:
X-traordinary Muscle-Building Work-
DVDs/Videos:
outs—10 Complete Print-and-Go
1) “Jay Cutler—One Step Closer” Size and
2) “Ronnie Coleman: Relentless” Strength
3) “2006 Mr. Olympia” Programs
by Steve
4) “IRON MAN’s Swimsuit Spectacu- Holman
lar #9” and Jon-
5) “2007 IRON MAN Pro” athan
Lawson
(available at
Books:
www
1) Train, Eat, Grow—The Positions- .X-Rep
of-Flexion Muscle-Training Manual by .com.
Steve Holman

Women MIND/BODY
In Praise of Female Muscle

P
umping Iron author Charles Gaines calls the emer- physique is viewed. Women athletes have worked hard in
gence of women who develop their muscles for aes- the weight room and have the bodies to show for it. Ac-
thetic reasons “a new archetype.” He points out that tresses, models and other women concerned about their
history is full of examples of men being admired for their appearance routinely work out in gyms, hire personal train-
muscular bodies—from the ancient Greeks to Michelangelo ers and strive to build hardbodies to a degree that would
to the highly sculpted physiques of modern athletes. No have been rare or even unheard of decades ago.
matter how hard you look, though, you’ll see no similar For the most part, the most sexually desirable women in
examples involving women. What you see on the stages our culture have generally been young. Every season a new
of female bodybuilding, figure and fitness competitions is crop of barely legal bikini-clad beauty contestants arrives
indeed something new under the sun. on the scene to supplant those who arrived a year or two
No matter earlier. It is not that
how strenuously unusual for models
the federations in the fashion world
and contest to start as early as
judges try to 14 and be out of the
deny it, those business by their late
women are all 20s. Traditionally, as
bodybuilders. those girls turned
The difference into women, they
is in degree, not found themselves
in kind. less in demand. Re-
Some “phy- member the premise
sique women” of the movie “The
arouse much First Wives Club”:
less controversy Successful men
Dobbins \ www.bildobbins.com \ Mdels: Yaxeni Oriquen, Iris Kyle and Heather Policky
than those in often trade in their
the bodybuild- wives as they age for
ing world. WWE younger trophies.
wrestler China That’s changing,
is bigger than however. By using
many female training and diet
bodybuilders strategies derived
yet was twice from bodybuilding,
featured in Play- women can become
boy. Next to the more attractive and
vast majority of have better bodies
women phy- as they get older. It’s
sique competi- rare to see women
tors tennis star in the upper levels of
Serena Williams physique competi-
is a giant. But tion who are not at
you won’t find least 30 years old
attacks on her or close to it. The
gender identity hardbody is a mature
or sexuality in physique, not that of
Sports Illustrat- an adolescent girl.
ed. Check out the muscularity on the top female sprinters Youth may fade, but the hardbody can keep improving for
in the world. They all look as if they were about to enter a decades.
bodybuilding competition. The fact that women—and men—can build and maintain
Unfortunately, the problem seems to be a reluctance to fit and attractive bodies that actually improve with age is
accept the idea of bodybuilding itself. Developing muscle itself a cultural (and medical) revolution. Hardbodies not
for the purpose of improving athletic performance is ac- only look better and stay looking good for a longer time,
ceptable; building muscle for primarily aesthetic purposes but they are also healthier and age at a much slower rate.
is suspect. So it isn’t the muscle that bothers people—it’s There’s no doubt that modern Homo sapiens live much
the context. longer than in the past. How nice that there are training and
Because the whole idea of females building beautiful diet techniques available, developed over 60 years of com-
muscular bodies is so new and revolutionary, it shouldn’t petitive bodybuilding, that give us the opportunity to stay
surprise you that these women have encountered cultural fit, strong, healthy—and sexy—throughout an increasingly
opposition to their efforts. But rather than dwelling on the extended life span.
attacks, try instead to focus on their successes. Since the —Bill Dobbins
early 1980s there’s been a sea-change in how the fit female www.BillDobbins.com

IRON MAN’s Rising Stars / IronManMagazine.com
Photography by Issac Hines
Huong Arcinas
Age: 26
Height: 4’11”
Weight: 91 contest, 96–98
off-season
Residence: San Jose, California
Occupation: Personal trainer
Contest Highlights: ’07 Junior USA,
class A, 1st; ’05 Figure Nationals,
class A, 3rd
Factoid: Married with children, five
years and nine months!
Contact address:
gofi[email protected]

Readers Write
Arnold, the Great Just Say “Know”

ARNOLD PHOTO SPECTACULAR: Incredible Full-Page Pullouts
I appreciate your articles on pro bodybuilders’ training,
but as far as I’m concerned, they don’t know jack when it
comes to drug-free training. Twenty sets per bodypart, zero-
carb diets—it’s all irrelevant to the majority of us who don’t
use drugs and have average genetics.
™
Kelly Sinclair
Rare, Vintage Portland, OR
Full-Page Pics of
Editor’s note: We look at IRON MAN as a training jour-
ARNOLD
A 60th-Birthday Celebration
nal first and foremost, so we include pro training as well as
the workouts of drug-free bodybuilders. We agree that the
pros’ routines are somewhat irrelevant to the majority, but
GIANT ARMS
Ammunition to Get
they’re still interesting, and sometimes you can pick up a tip
or two that you can apply to your own training.
Q&A Your Guns Growing
IM PRO WINNER
TONEY HIT Me Again
FREEMAN It was good to hear from Ellington Darden again [“HIT
Redux,” July ’07]. I’ve been a fan of his since High-Intensity
His X-Man Training
Program and Diet Training and Super High-Intensity Training. He’s inspiring,
and his stories about Arthur Jones, Nautilus and the old
3D BACK BLASTS bodybuilding and lifting stars are priceless. Thanks for put-
Positions-of-Flexion Workouts ting the interview in IM. Oh, his new book is one of his best,
AUGUST 2007
$5.98 $7.98 in Canada by the way.
0 8>
PLUS: Kevin McGowen
•Ellington Darden’s High-Intensity Training
0 70992 37390 1
•Getting Started With Mr. Natural Olympia via Internet
Please display until 8/6/07 •Vitamin E—New Findings You Need to Know
Editor’s
C1_GATEFldAUG07_F.indd 1 6/1/07 12:50:52 PM note: Darden’s
new book, The
The August IRON MAN cover was magnificent! I don’t New Bodybuild-
recall ever seeing that shot of Arnold. It rivals your last cover ing for Old-
that featured him on the beach. I’ve read comments from School Results,
people saying that Arnold lacked leg development, but I is one of our
think that’s what a bodybuilder’s legs should look like—well favorites of
muscled but still appearing capable of athletic feats. Pro his tomes. We
bodybuilders today have adductors that rub all the way highly recom-
down to their knees. That must create one helluva rash, not mend it.
to mention jostling the jewels
(wait, anabolics reduce the jew-
Dave Goodin.
els to raisins, so I guess that’s not
a problem).
Iron Inspiration
Cal Stephenson [Drug-free bodybuilder] Dave
Seattle, WA Goodin is one inspirational guy
[“Arms & Shoulders Shredder Style,”
Editor’s note: That cover July ’07]. It’s still hard to believe he’s
shot was a vintage Gene Mozée 48. I just turned 40, and his ripped
photo of Arnold. We’re not sure physique is what’s driving me to hit
it’s ever been published. There the gym hard lately. If he can do it
were a few more of Gene’s rare pushing 50, I can do it too. Thanks.
shots in the photo feature that Samuel Turner
were amazing. Our thanks to via Internet
Gene. As for your jewels-to-rai-
sins comment, we never thought Editor’s note: Dave’s new col-
of that, but now you’ve killed our taste for Raisin Bran. umn, Shtredded Muscle, starts next
month in IRON MAN.
Creatine Cred Vol. 66, No. 9: 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
Thanks to Jerry Brainum for his informative article on additional mailing offices. POSTMASTER: Send address changes to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives
creatine [“Creatine Fact vs. Fiction,” June ’07]. The anti- Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Please allow six to eight weeks for change to take effect. Subscrip-
aging effects and ability to enhance growth hormone re- tion rates—U.S. and its possessions: new 12-issue subscription, $29.97. Canada, Mexico and
lease got my attention, as I’m 52. other foreign subscriptions: 12 issues, $49.97 sent Second Class. Foreign orders must be in
U.S. dollars. Send subscriptions to IRON MAN, 1701 Ives Ave., Oxnard, CA 93033. Or call
Mike Margolis 1-800-570-4766. Copyright © 2007. All rights reserved. No part of this magazine may be
via Internet reproduced in any manner without written permission from the publisher. Printed in the USA.


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ARNOLD EXCLUSIVE • FAT-TO-MUSCLE COMPOUND • BIG ARMS

SEPTEMBER 2007 / IRON MAN MAGAZINE—WE KNOW TRAINING™

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304 READERS WRITE

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