Protein and stagnation…Fake Food Frauds… Ham-challenged

Pizza!

Hey Vic,

I could use some help. I have been reading about the Parrillo approach to protein consumption and think that maybe I should dramatically increase my protein intake in order to add lean muscle mass. In a nutshell, I have been at pretty much the same level for quite a while. I am not a competitive bodybuilder. I have a good physique. I am tall (6-4) and thin (190) with good abs. Some people think I look ‘ripped’ but I think I look skinny and scrawny. From what I read in the PPP, it seems that the best bodybuilders are taking in a lot more protein than I am.

I don’t count grams and I am not as regimented as I should be. I would estimate that I might eat 100 grams of protein per day; mostly chicken and canned tuna. Everyone says that they’d kill to have my lean look, but frankly I am sick of looking and staying the same. I weight train and hit cardio four times a week. I feel that everything I do, all the training and cardio is just maintaining what I’ve already built. That sucks! I want some muscle! Any ideas would be appreciated.

Stuck in San Jose

I think you are onto something with the protein angle. One tried-and-proven method to bust out of a stagnation rut is to dramatically increase protein intake and combine the increased amino acid consumption with what I call power training. For decades, dating back to the primal days of Marvin Eder, Bill Pearl and John Grimek, both bodybuilders and strength athletes have broken through stagnant periods by drastically upping their protein intake. I’m not talking about adding an extra can of tuna a day, I am talking like tripling the amount of protein you currently are consuming: push it from 100 grams a day to 300 grams per day. In addition, you will need to drastically alter your weight training routine: drop the reps, stick to the basic compound multi-joint prime movers and don’t ditch the aerobics; cardio keeps weight gain lean muscle gain without fat gain. Too many trainees dump the cardio when they look to add mass and that is a terrible idea; cardio keeps the metabolism revved and the appetite kicking. The Parrillo approach towards protein intake is pretty radical and extremely effective. John advises those in need of a jolt to take in a minimum of 1.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight per day, each and every day. Do so for a protracted period of time and really concentrate on the hard and heavy training. The combination of power training and massive protein intake is the tried-and-proven ticket to spectacular muscle gains.

The key is consistency: most times stagnant trainees get all fired up and take in that critical gram and a half of protein – for a few days. Then they lose focus and for the next couple days the protein intake drops way off. Then they get back on the protein bandwagon. This creates a Yo-Yo pattern: eat right for a day or two, fall off the wagon for a day or two, get back in the saddle…back and forth…back and forth…this inconsistent pattern isn’t consistent enough to gain any real traction. The first order of business is to commit to consistency: consume at least a gram and a half of protein per pound of
bodyweight each and every day without fail. In your particular case we’re talking about consuming 300 grams of protein per day every day come hell or high-water. Make sure that the protein is lean protein: if you eat 300 grams of protein per day and along with it eat 200 grams of saturated fat, you will be in big trouble. Lean protein means fish and shellfish, flank steak, skirt steak, skinless chicken, turkey breast, canned tuna and definitely a lot of egg whites. No fatty cuts of beef, no burgers, a minimum of egg yolks and certainly no pork or pork products. Obviously Parrillo nutritional supplements, particularly Parrillo protein powders, i.e., Hi-Protein^™, All-Protein^™, Optimized Whey^™ and 50/50 Plus^™ are all highly recommended. These fabled protein products have been used by elite bodybuilders for decades. Supplemental protein enables athletes to hit their daily protein goals without having to cook and chew every single bite. Some people get a bit confused trying to figure out which of the Parrillo protein products to purchase and how best to use them. Here is a handy usage guide that will clear up any confusion…

In addition to these classic Parrillo protein powders, don’t forget the fantastic Parrillo food products…Instant Hi-Protein/Low Carb Pudding^™, Hi-Protein Pancake and Muffin Mix^™, Hi-Protein Cake and Cupcake Mix^™, Protein Frosting Mix^™ and Contest Cookie Mix^™. Don’t forget the different Parrillo Bar formulations…The Parrillo Bar^™, Energy Bar^™, Protein Bar^™, Hi-Protein Bar^™ and Protein Chew Bar^™. My suggestion to you would be to eat a serious portion of egg whites at breakfast, consume lots of canned tuna or chicken breast at lunch, how about fish, shellfish or lean beef at dinner? Upon arising in the morning consume an All-Protein^™ shake before early morning cardio. Mid-morning and mid afternoon drink a Hi-Protein^™ or Optimized Whey^™shake. After weight training drink a serving (or two) of 50/50 Plus^™. In the evening have one of the delicious Parrillo high protein food products, maybe some Contest Cookies^™ or a Parrillo Cake or Cupcake^™; how about a serving of Parrillo Pudding^™? During the day eat a Parrillo bar or two. Above all, stay consistent. Hold this course for 6 to 8 weeks. Keep a running protein tally in the form of a food log; each and every day, consume at least 250 to 300 grams of protein. You will slap on 10-15 pounds of lean muscle mass within a matter of months if you up your protein intake dramatically and combine increased protein consumption with intense weight training and continual cardio. Protein and power training was, is and forever shall be, the ultimate mass-building strategy.

Vic,

What’s your opinion of these mega-corporations that sell pre-packaged ‘diet’ foods on TV? One outfit caters to women and the other uses sport stars to attract men. The foods these systems say are ‘acceptable’ are incredible: pizza, chocolate cake, hamburger on a bun…one ‘system’ claims to have discovered a ‘breakthrough glycemic index’ approach that allows people to eat these crappy foods and still lose weight. I have several friends, guys that I know, that ask me about these TV ‘miracle nutritional systems.’ I have a feeling that it’s all one huge scam and wondered if you had any insights. This stuff is too good to be true – which usually means it is – how do they get away with this blatantly false advertizing?

Ralph, Mount Alto

I have ranted about these ‘systems’ before. These outfits deserve some periodic bitch-slapping and I’m just the guy to do it. Every single time a “celebrity endorser” comes on TV to whore these garbage products I want to gag. I feel my blood pressure ratchet upward into the danger zone. I will be mindlessly watching football or the UFC, when here comes Big Dan or some ditzy blonde, telling us, and I paraphrase, “I lost 50 pounds eating this trash.” In actuality these celebra-tards didn’t lose the weight eating this garbage, they have personal chefs and hire big dollar personal trainers that help them lose the weight so they can secure these million dollar endorsement deals. There is no ‘scientific system’ that allows you to eat a mountain of chocolate cake or copious cheeseburgers and still lose weight. There are no ‘glycemic breakthroughs’ that magically enable you to live on trans-fat drenched pizza and still lose fat. The actual foods delivered by UPS or FedEx look nothing like the savory, seductive foods they show on TV.  On the tube they show a gorgeous table chock full of luscious looking sin food, food that looks like it was prepared in a restaurant run by an Iron Chef. The message is deceitful: buy our products and we’ll deliver you pizza that tastes like Wolfgang Puck just removed it from the wood-burning oven at Spago. Buy our products and we’ll deliver you double chocolate muffins that taste better than those made at a French bakery – and because we have teams of scientists devising miracle recipes, none of it makes you fat! In reality, the prepackaged foods show up packed in a UPS box and taste about the same as the cardboard box that the foods came delivered in.

This jive charade would be laughable if it wasn’t so expensive: do you realize that these outfits charge $400 for 28 days worth of food? How’s that grab you?! That luscious looking hamburger you see on TV is, in reality, about on a par with those horrific microwave cheeseburgers we used to purchase out of a vending machine back in the 1980s. The burgers are made from the same ‘mystery meat’ you purchase at the fast food super store. All these shipped foods are loaded with trans-fats and taste grotesque. Part of the reason you lose weight is that the foods taste so bad you can hardly choke them down. The strategy these outfits use (in actuality) is not some glycemic miracle, it’s portion control: each ‘meal’ contains roughly 500 to 800 calories. If you eat what they sell you, no doubt you will lose weight. Despite the fact that these foods are chemical nightmares, despite the fact that they intentionally mislead buyers, despite the fact that they flat out lie; despite the fact that in reality these foods look nothing like what you see on TV – these products sell millions of units. The celebrity endorsees should be ashamed for their part in tricking the public into buying these pathetic products. If you are considering buying into one of these 28 day programs, do yourself a huge favor: redirect the money towards quality food purchased from the grocery store and please purchase potent Parrillo Products.

Iron Vic,

Any ideas on how to build hamstrings? Mine are nonexistent. I am sick of lying leg curls. I can handle 150 pounds for reps, yet my hams are smooth and indistinct. Do you have some new and different thigh bicep exercises?

Ham-less, Detroit

Indistinct hamstrings are in actuality a diet issue; you have too much body fat. Everyone has ripped hamstrings if their body fat percentile is low enough. For now let’s confine our conversation to exercise: if you are a regular guy and are handling 150 pounds for reps in the lying leg curl, you likely are doing them incorrectly. Let’s first talk about how to perform a proper lying leg curl and then we can talk about some hamstring exercise alternatives. First off, don’t jerk the weight at the start in order to get the poundage moving. It is easy to generate tremendous momentum in the initial pull phase of a lying leg curl. Most trainees jerk the poundage at the start and create a lot of momentum. They heave the weight upward then let it fall back down. They allow the poundage to bounce at the bottom. If you jerk to start the rep, if you don’t complete the leg curl, if you bounce out of the bottom – you can use a hell of a lot of weight – and barely contract the hamstrings. A proper leg curl uses a purposefully slow start: you start to pull the weight upward in a purposefully slow and controlled fashion. Simultaneously drive the hips into the bench. By allowing the butt to rise up as you pull on a leg curl, you make the pull easier. We need to avoid this as we don’t want to make leg curls easier; we want to make them harder. Use a slow start. Apply continual upward pressure; pull all the way to the butt. Lower with control and do not bounce at the bottom in order to create rebound momentum for the next rep. Drive the hips into the bench as you curl upward.

Dorian Yates’  favorite hamstring exercise is the stiff-leg deadlift. The stiff-leg deadlift is a tremendous hamstring builder, yet 99% of all trainees do them incorrectly. Here’s the proper procedure: load a light barbell and place it at your feet. Pull the first rep to the completed position as you would a regular deadlift. Now lower the poundage slowly while shoving the glutes rearward. The knees are slightly bent; allow the bar to break away from your body and lower until the plates lightly touch the floor. Now slowly reverse and rise back up using the hamstrings and the hamstrings alone to power the torso to the erect position. No need to come fully erect as that releases the tension on the thigh biceps. Come three-quarters erect and descend again: this is a continual tension exercise and when done correctly you feel the hamstrings contract in real time. 2 to 3 sets of 8 reps using reasonable poundage and perfect technique and you will set your hamstrings on fire in a way unobtainable with lying leg curls.