Olympia feedback…The Parrillo 100-Rep Five Phase Giant Set Redux…Cookie Construction…Smart Bombing is Smart!

Dear Stupid,

How can you put stone-age dudes like Bill Pearl, John Grimek and Reg Park on your all time top ten list and leave off modern greats like Jay Cutler??!! I have zero idea who Reg Park is. Bill Pearl couldn’t take 100^th place in the 2009 Mr. Los Angeles. What’s up with this stupid idea of placing old timers with lousy physiques ahead of the modern greats?  Time for you to retire

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The Vitamin E Story

Do you get confused by news on vitamins and nutrition? One day you hear that a certain vitamin is good for you; the next day, it’s bad. Take vitamin E, for example.

A study published in 2007 in the Archives of Internal Medicine supposedly discovered that vitamin E and other antioxidants were of no real health benefit. The news was splashed all over the media. But what wasn’t reported was that most of the people in the study did not consistently take their vitamins.

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Tips and Tidbits – October 2009

Training Tip of the month:

The order of exercises in your routine should vary from workout to workout. Every third or fourth workout, start by training a minor muscle group, such as biceps, triceps, calves or abs. Small muscle groups often get shortchanged on intensity when continually worked last in a training session. Giving them priority every several workouts leads to fuller, more proportional development.

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Think Trace Nutrients For Health

Minerals may not be the most glamorous sports nutrition supplement, but they are very important and frequently ignored – particularly in the bodybuilding diet. The typical bodybuilding diet, for example, focuses on egg whites, oatmeal, chicken breast, rice, vegetables (sound familiar?) I knew one bodybuilder who ate nothing but tuna and brown rice (even for breakfast). I pleaded with him to take a mineral supplement, but he didn’t think it was important. Mineral supplements cost a few cents a day and can provide valuable insurance against some major problems you really don’t want, like osteoporosis and anemia.

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The Magical Combination

By Andre Newcomb

Branched-Chain Amino Acids are currently used clinically to aid in the recovery of burn victims. Because the metabolic breakdown is accelerated when an individual is afflicted with a wasting disease such as cancer, AIDS, or end-stage kidney failure, BCAAs, along with glutamine and medium-chain triglycerides are often used by progressive surgeons as intravenous support for their critically ill patients.

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A Bodybuilder Is Born: Generations Episode 31: You must find your own path

Summer was rapidly coming to an end, and so was my contest diet. As Labor Day was just around the corner, I had three weeks left before I got up on stage again all oiled up in little posing trunks – truly a manly sport! This was the ‘home stretch’ of the diet process, but it was by no means a time to coast. Carbohydrates had been lowered and replaced with CapTri® to keep up energy levels, but that didn’t stop the inevitable fatigue that became my constant companion.

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Lindsay Knight – Seeking New Ways to Become a Better Bodybuilder

A true bodybuilder is on an eternal quest for two things: the construction of new muscle and a concurrent reduction of body fat. If you have lots of muscle – but also have a thick layer of body fat covering those magnificent muscles, you cannot in good conscience call yourself a bodybuilder. Conversely if you have low body fat percentile and no muscle to speak of, you are just another thin/emaciated individual and cannot be considered to be a real bodybuilder.

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Aerobic Alternatives…Cookie Pig…Shoulder Stagnation …Fear & Loathing on the 4th of July

Vic,

It seems like the Mixed Martial Artists have devised a new way of doing aerobic exercise. I was wondering if you think it has applicability for bodybuilders and regular fitness types. I watch shows like “The Ultimate Fighter” that spotlight a lot of the training that the UFC Cage fighters are doing. I see that those guys are doing a lot of extended, intense cardio activity: pounding on giant rubber tires with a heavy sledgehammer for minutes at a time; grabbing a 35-pound plate and twisting it all around their body for extended periods; pushing a wheelbarrow loaded with barbell plates up steep inclines; dragging weighted sleds; carrying training partners for long distances…this type of aerobic
activity is super intense and super difficult – would it work for us mortals seeking to strip off body fat?

Tom, Forth Worth

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Calories: Watch Them Go Up!

Most people hate counting calories because it generally equates with food deprivation to lose weight. If you follow the Parrillo Nutrition Program, do you have to bother counting calories if you get enough quality protein and carbohydrates and keep your fat intake low?

The answer is unequivocal and absolute: yes, you need to count calories. But unlike conventional diets, I want you to gradually increase your calories from quality foods. This builds your metabolism, and as long as you’re training hard, increasing calories decreases your body fat.

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Tips and Tidbits September, 2009

Nutrition Tip

of the month:

A successful approach to losing body fat involves alternating one month on a weight gain cycle and one month on a fat loss cycle. The first month you would gain a pound each week (4 lbs.) and 75% of it is muscle. In the second month you lose a pound a week (4 lbs. total) and 75% of that loss in fat. At the end of the two-month cycle you will have gained 2 lbs. of muscle and lost 2 lbs. of fat. Extend that to a year and you’re looking at 12 lbs of muscle gained and 12 lbs. of fat lost. You’re constantly making progress and your metabolism never gets the chance to slow down. These goals are quite realistic and very easily attainable for anyone, particularly easy for bodybuilders who are giving 100% effort to their training and nutrition program.

Training Tip

of the month:

Which is more effective for losing fat, weight training or aerobics?

Both aerobics and weight training can be very effective at promoting fat loss. Aerobics burns fat during the session and the harder the aerobic workout, the more fat you burn during your aerobic session. Weight lifting, on the other hand, burns less fat during the workout, but your metabolism will stay elevated as your body recovers from an intense workout, which burns fat between workouts. It’s best to include both hard aerobics and intense weight training if you want to be both lean and muscular.

Question

of the month:

Losing Weight May Lower Cholesterol, Boost Immunity

Question: Why aren’t fruit or dairy products in Parrillo’s nutrition diet plan? Aren’t they part of a balanced diet?

Answer: Fruit contains a simple sugar known as fructose, which is easily converted to fat in the liver. Although fresh fruit and low fat dairy products are healthy, nutritious foods, they contain a lot of natural sugars which are easily converted into body fat. So if you’re striving for ultimate leanness and a high energy level, avoid the consumption of sugary foods, including fruit and
dairy products.

It’s true that fruit is high in vitamins, minerals, and fiber – but so are natural, complex carbohydrates. If you want to get leaner and more muscular – and build your recuperative powers by re-stocking glycogen more efficiently – avoid fruit. Choose starchy and fibrous carbohydrates instead.

Breaking News

Fitness & Nutrition

Scientists funded by the Agricultural Research Service found that volunteers with high cholesterol and/or triglycerides–who followed both a low-fat and low-calorie diet–not only lost weight, but also significantly enhanced their immune response. The volunteers consumed different diets during four distinct test phases lasting more than one month each. The first three phases were designed to maintain body weight, and the last phase was not. The researchers tested the volunteers’ immune functions through blood tests and skin-patch tests geared to measure immune response at the end of each phase.

Cholesterol levels were significantly reduced during all phases, compared to the baseline-diet phase. But during skin-patch tests after the last phase, the volunteers showed significantly better immune responses than after any of the other three phases of the study. Blood tests also indicated enhanced cellular immune response. The study’s authors concluded that high-cholesterol individuals who follow recommended low-fat diets are unlikely to erode their immune systems, and they may well improve their immune response if they lose weight at the same time. The researchers now are planning more studies to gauge the effects of caloric restriction on health status and immune response in larger groups of volunteers.

- Rosalie Marion Bliss, September 2003, ARS, USDA

Quick Tip

of the month:

Keep multiples of kitchen tools you use often for cooking, things like measuring cups & spoons, bowls, spatulas, large spoons, etc., in your kitchen cabinets. This way, you’ll always have what you need, ready to use, even if you haven’t had a chance to do the dishes.

Dominique’s

Time Cruncher

ÚHave a food processor on hand in the kitchen! Keep it ready to go on your counter top, so it’s convenient to use. You can slice, dice, shred, or chop your vegetables with a food processor, which will save you so much prep time when cooking your meals!

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