Iron Vic Steele – December, 2011

Iron Vic,

I saw an interview with a doctor on TV during which he indicated that exercise can naturally increase testosterone – does that ring true with you? I am starting to get serious: I recently let my health club membership lapse and joined a hardcore training facility. I am 40 and want to improve. I joined a health club about five years ago with all the best intentions of getting into shape, but honestly, the environment was not very good for triggering gains. I ended up spending a lot of my available time in the steam room and the sauna and at the club café eating sandwiches and drinking beer. It was all very fun but I realized I was NOT making any gains in the country club-like environment. So I quit and joined a hardcore, no frills gym. The owner turned me onto you and Parrillo. I am redirecting all the dough I saved dropping out of the spa towards Parrillo supplements. I am ready to roll and any advice would be gratefully accepted.

Boston Rob, Boston

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Tremendous Triceps

In the October Parrillo Press we explained the bicep muscle and how to get the most from your bicep workouts. So of course we have to do the same with the triceps so you can sport a pair of the best arms in your gym even if you train at Dylan Armbrust’s Pro Gym. That’s where Phil Heath (2011 Mr. Olympia) trains. OK, maybe the 2nd best pair of arms in your gym. But Phil better stay on top of his game because you will be knocking on the “best arm” door.

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How Bad are Carbs Really?

Carbs are your body’s main source of energy. You need them to fuel your muscles, and your brain needs 130 grams of carbs a day just to function properly. A carbohydrate-free diet, or a diet that’s too low in carbs, can be both harmful and low in nutrients.

Some carbohydrates enhance your health while others drag it down. Too many of the bad carbohydrates raise your triglycerides and make your blood thicker, putting you at risk for heart disease. They also contribute to carbohydrate cravings and diabetes. The trick is to eat enough good carbs and very few bad ones. It’s a balancing act, but not too difficult once you understand how the Parrillo Nutrition Program works. So just which carbs are good and which are bad? And why? Let’s look at the whole picture here.

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Tips and Tidbits December, 2011

Training Tip of the month:

Narrow Grip Skin-the-Cat

Start: To stretch the delts, skin-the-cats should be performed with a narrow grip. Take an overhand grip on the pull-up bar. Bend your knees and pull yourself up.

Stretch: Next, invert your body, pulling your feet in through the opening created by your hands. Then rotate around to a hanging position, as illustrated. On your way down, tuck your knees to your chest. At the completion of the movement, point your toes and try to touch the floor. Remember to perform the movement slowly, with complete muscular control.

nutrition Tip of the month:

Three ways to use CapTri® in your diet.

 

1.  To decrease body fat just replace some of your starch calories with CapTri® to dampen your meal’s insulin response.

2.  To increase muscle just add CapTri® to your meals for the added quality calories needed to grow new muscle.

3.  If you are an endurance athlete use CapTri® for and easily available energy source that your body will burn even preferentially to glucose.

 

Question of the month:

Question: What is a “complete” protein?

Answer: A “complete” protein is a protein source which supplies all of the amino acids, including the ones which cannot be manufactured by the body. These are the so-called “essential” amino acids. Complete proteins supply all of the amino acids you need to build new muscle tissue, making them the best protein choices for bodybuilders. Examples of good low-fat protein sources are egg whites, chicken and turkey breast, and many types of fish. These should form the basis of your protein choices.

 

News & Discoveries In Fitness & Nutrition

Omega-3 fatty acids shown to prevent or slow progression of osteoarthritis

New research has shown for the first time that omega-3 in fish oil could “substantially and significantly” reduce the signs and symptoms of osteoarthritis. According to the University of Bristol study, funded by Arthritis Research UK and published in the journal Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, omega-3-rich diets fed to guinea pigs, which naturally develop osteoarthritis, reduced disease by 50 percent compared to a standard diet. The research is a major step forward in showing that omega-3 fatty acids, either sourced from fish oil or flax oil, may help to slow down the progression of osteoarthritis, or even prevent it occurring, confirming anecdotal reports and “old wives’ tales” about the benefits of fish oil for joint health.

Lead researcher Dr John Tarlton, from the Matrix Biology Research group at the University of Bristol’s School of Veterinary Sciences, said classic early signs of the condition, such as the degradation of collagen in cartilage and the loss of molecules that give it shock-absorbing properties, were both reduced with omega-3. “Furthermore, there was strong evidence that omega-3 influences the biochemistry of the disease, and therefore not only helps prevent disease, but also slows its progression, potentially controlling established osteoarthritis,” he said.

- University of Bristol Press Release, Oct. 17, 2011 (edited for length)

Quick Tip of the month:

Parrillo Frosting™ & Contest Cookies™

Try this for an easy dessert: Make a batch of Parrillo Contest Cookies™ in your favorite flavor and let them cool. While cookies are cooling, make a batch of your favorite Parrillo Protein Frosting™. Then, make cookie sandwiches using the frosting as the filling and enjoy!

Dominique’s Time Cruncher

Getting a workout or cardio session in on your lunch break is a great way to free up some time for things you need to get done before or after work. Even just spending your lunch break taking a brisk walk is a good way to fit more exercise time into your busy day.

 

A Look at Powerlifting Duo Steve Bake and Katie Conley

If you’re a reader of the weekly Parrillo E-mail Newsletter, you’ll remember that powerlifting couple and Parrillo enthusiasts Steve Bake and Katie Conley both won state powerlifting records this past summer at the The Son Light Power Samson Gym Open Bench Press/Deadlift Championship held at Samson Gym in Hamilton, Ohio.

Steve received the Best Lifter award and an Ohio state record with a 750 pull in the open/275 pound class.

In the women’s deadlift event Katie broke the state record at junior/123 with her personal best 270.

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Parrillo Extreme Training Camp

^{INTENSITY &
MENTAL ACUITY}

^{Recognizing that the big gains lie within “the pain zone”}

^{By Duke Nukem}

Then being introduced to the Parrillo approach, two Parrillo concepts are most often cited as defining the Parrillo philosophy: the complex sophistication of the Parrillo Nutrition Program and the intenseness of Parrillo-style training, both in resistance training and aerobic training. The Parrillo nutritional approach is detailed and specific and has been refined and honed to perfection during its 40 years of existence. Parrillo-style training is all about extending the athlete’s current limits and capacities. No matter how adept, no matter how strong and fit, regardless if you can run a Marathon in under three hours or bench press 500 for 8 reps, when you train under John Parrillo’s direct supervision he is going to find your threshold limits in strength and endurance and then very systematically, very precisely and very painfully take you past those limits into new territory. “The big gains occur when the body is taken past capacity – only then are muscles forced to grow and only then is the body forced to burn its stored body fat.” John Parrillo is the absolute master at forcing muscles to grow and forcing the body to give up its body fat.

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Episode 57: An Attitude of Gratitude

“Stop looking at what you ain’t got and start being thankful for what you do got” – Rihanna featuring T.I, ‘Livin’ my life.’

Thanksgiving is still exactly a month away as I write this, but here I am counting my blessings anyway. Tomorrow marks four weeks since the surgery to repair my torn right triceps, and it also happens to be the day of my second and hopefully last procedure for many years, on my left shoulder. I’m having what’s called a ‘decompression,’ which involves scooping out some of the acromion, or the underside of the shoulder socket, to free up more room. Thanks to an MRI, I learned that I had worn away nearly all of the ligaments in there over the course of a quarter-century plus of heavy training. Read more

Richard and Jessica Wasserman

Husband and Wife Bodybuilders

“The bodybuilding lifestyle brings us closer together.”

Richard and Jessica Wasserman exemplify the “bodybuilding lifestyle.” Richard and Jessica are a successful husband and wife competitive bodybuilding duo that “fit fitness in.” Despite being busy beyond belief, despite all the time constraints and complications of modern life, the Wassermans not only fit fitness in, they excel at it. Richard began his bodybuilding career in 2010 (at the ripe old age of 45) and since then he has entered no less than eight bodybuilding competitions,

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