Parrillo Fascial Stretching for Your Chest – Video

Extreme Training Camp Approved for NASM CEU’s

The Extreme Training Camp is now approved for NASM CEU’s.

Parrillo Fascial Stretching Videos

Parrillo Energy Bar Comparison Chart

Iron Vic,

What’s your opinion of doing interval cardio as opposed to cruising along at a steady pace on an exercise bike? I have been trying an intense aerobic approach called Tabata. It’s Japanese and claims to burn off more fat in four minutes a day (done three times weekly) faster and better than regular aerobics. I have been riding my exercise bike five times a week before work for around 40 minutes. I break a pretty good sweat but I have to admit, it gets kind of boring. If Tabata is a better and faster way to burn off fat, I would love to switch over completely. If you can burn as much fat in 4 minutes a day (twelve minutes total per week!) as I do in 40 minutes per day and 200 minutes per week, I’m there! So what’s the deal? Is this real? Or are Tabata claims too good to be true?

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Tips and Tidbits – October, 2010

nutrition Tip of the month:

Gaining size the right way: Provided your protein requirement is being satisfied, the most potent supplements for gaining weight are probably Pro-Carb Powder^™ and CapTri^®. A couple scoops of Pro-Carb^® taken with or between meals will in itself be enough to help most people pack on several pounds of lean muscle. If you find that you’re putting on fat, consider using CapTri^® instead. It supplies calories in a way which is almost impossible for your body to convert to fat. And if you don’t tolerate carbs too well, CapTri^® can give you the added calories and help maintain a more favorable glucagon/insulin ratio. As you continue to gain lean mass, your metabolic rate will increase, so you’ll have to gradually increase your caloric intake to support further weight gain. Just don’t increase the calories too fast, or you’ll gain a lot of fat along with the muscle.

Training Tip of the month:

The Essential Elements of Good Form,

A Five Part Series

Element #4: Use Full Range of Motion on All Exercises

Many bodybuilders like to incorporate partial reps and limited range lifts into their routines. The problem with these techniques is that a lot of muscle goes unworked. To get the most from every rep, use full range of motion each time – but without resting between each rep. By using full range of motion, you also work your synergistic muscles (those muscles which assist or stabilize the muscle producing the primary action).

News & Discoveries

In Fitness & Nutrition

Researchers Study Benefits of White Button Mushrooms

Mushrooms are among the many foods thought to play an important role in keeping the immune system healthy. Now, Agricultural Research Service-funded scientists have conducted an animal-model and cell-culture study showing that white button mushrooms enhanced the activity of critical cells in the body’s immune system. In the United States, white button mushrooms represent 90 percent of the total mushrooms consumed. The study was conducted at the Jean Mayer USDA Human Nutrition Research Center on Aging (HNRCA) at Tufts University by center director Simin Meydani, colleague Dayong Wu, and others. The results suggest that white button mushrooms may promote immune function by increasing production of antiviral and other proteins that are released by cells while seeking to protect and repair tissue.

Wu and co-investigators are with the HNRCA Nutritional Immunology Laboratory in Boston, Mass. The study’s cell-culture phase showed that white button mushrooms enhanced the maturity of immune system cells called “dendritic cells,” from bone marrow. Dendritic cells can make T cells-important white blood cells that can recognize and eventually deactivate or destroy antigens on invading microbes. When immune system cells are exposed to disease-causing pathogens, such as bacteria, the body begins to increase the number and function of immune system cells, according to Meydani. People need an adequate supply of nutrients to produce an adequate defense against the pathogen. The key is to prevent deficiencies that can compromise the immune system.

- By Rosalie Marion Bliss, July 2010, Agricultural Research Service, USDA

Question of the month:

Question: I’ve gone a few weeks now without making any progress in the gym. I was seeing consistent improvement and now, nothing! What can I do?

Answer: A lot of people stick with the same training program for months (or even years) without seeing any real change. Don’t stick to a program that’s not giving you good results! You need to have some specific, objective goals and keep records to determine if you’re making progress toward achieving them. Start keeping a training journal and record your performance on basic lifts like squats, deadlifts, bench presses, etc. Then set yourself a goal to get to a personal best in one of these lifts. This way you have something to work towards and you can monitor your progress along the way. You also need to measure your body composition on a regular basis, using the Body Stat Kit, in order to stay on track and modify your program when necessary, to keep making progress toward your goals.

Quick Tip of the month:

Did you know you can make a quick Parrillo cupcake in the microwave? It’s easy, just take a small round microwavable container, stir together 1 scoop of your favorite Hi-Protien Cake & Cupcake Mix™, 1 teaspoon CapTri^®, and enough water to make a batter. Then microwave for 1 min. and let cool. Frost with your favorite Protein Frosting Mix™ and it’s ready to eat! You can view our step-by-step online video showing how to make these on parrilloperformance.com, in the Videos section.

Parrillo Pump Principles

If you’re a bodybuilder, or at least someone who enjoys weight training, you know that one way to check your progress toward muscular development is to pump up. The “pump” is that tight feeling in your muscles when they’re swelled up with blood and fluids. When your muscles are “pumped,” you can see the results of your hard training.

There are numerous other advantages to achieving that pump – beyond just appearance. For one thing, a pump means you’re increasing blood flow to your muscles. Blood is the body’s chief transport system; it delivers all the nutrients required for energy and muscle growth, while removing metabolic toxins such as lactic acid that fatigue the muscles. Getting a pump is thus an important key to triggering and maximizing muscle growth.

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The Gainer’s Menu

If you’re like most exercisers and athletes, one of your goals is to gain muscle. The more muscle you have the stronger you are, the better you perform, and the less prone you are to athletic injuries. And of course, muscle helps you burn body fat more efficiently, as well as keep that fat off. The Parrillo Nutrition Program, with its multiple meals and supplementation approach, works beautifully for people who want to gain muscle.

Barry E., 44, is a good example. He is what you would call a classic “ectomorph,” tall, lean, but not too muscular.

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Ebb and Flow

AS a bodybuilder, regardless if you compete or not, at any point in time you should be focusing all of your efforts towards one of two distinctly different goals: either add lean muscle mass or strip off excess body fat. Typically, the usual length of time dedicated to adding lean muscle mass or dedicated to reducing excess body fat lasts between eight and twelve weeks. Many elite competitive bodybuilders are trending towards taking longer “cycles” that last upwards of sixteen weeks in length.

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There is no “off-season”

I was in high spirits as summer vacation was in its final days and my kids would soon be back in school. Having put my son in day camp for most of the summer had saved me from hearing him moan about how bored he was, but my daughter was sixteen and at the peak of her need to be driven around all damn day and night. She had her learner’s permit but was still nowhere near getting her driver’s license. Knowing how weary I was of chauffeuring her bratty butt to her job, various friends’ homes and the mall, she dangled her ability to drive like a carrot before me in an attempted extortion plot to buy her a car.

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