By JOHN PARRILLO

Prebiotics. Ever heard of them? Read on.

Prebiotics are foods or supplements that encourage the growth of friendly bacteria in the gut. They have therapeutic value for all-too-common health conditions like aging, obesity, gastrointestinal disorders, yeast infections, diabetes, heart disease, high blood pressure, immune system slumps, and maybe even colon cancer risk.

Prebiotics were discovered in 1995, and defined as a group of functional fibers that selectively stimulate this friendly bacteria by increasing their number. Prebiotics occur naturally in a range of food products, such as fruits, vegetables and grains. Some specific examples include: bananas, peaches, leeks, garlic, onions and artichokes. Scientists have even found over 150 prebiotic compounds in human breast milk. There are also commercial prebiotics. Both types pass through the small intestine undigested, then move on to the large intestine. Here, they

Parrillo Protein Ice Cream

are fermentable and they fuel the good bacteria to perform better and multiply. Bad, disease-causing bacteria, however, can’t utilize them.

To learn how prebiotics work, it’s important to also understand the function of probiotics, better known as friendly bacteria. Vital to your health is a balance between the friendly and “bad” bacteria in the gut. When the bad bacteria outnumber the good, digestive problems, including diarrhea, constipation, gas, bad breath, and nausea, can occur. Probiotics such as yogurt, kefir, and probiotic supplements can be used to restore balance of bacteria in the gut. To help probiotics multiply, they need to be fed with prebiotics. When you properly supply your body with probiotics and prebiotics, there are numerous health benefits.

For example:

• Resolve constipation. Constipation puts carcinogenic bacteria in contact with colon walls, increasing the risk of colon cancer. As a soluble fiber, prebiotics increase stool weight, decrease stool transit time, enhance elimination and, therefore, decrease cancer risk.

• Fight yeast. Yeast infections result from the overgrowth of Candida albicans and can result in fatigue, joint and muscle pain, sleep problems, vaginal discharge, abdominal discomfort, and other symptoms. Prebiotics help friendly bacteria multiply and prevent these problems.

• Reduce bad cholesterol. As soluble fiber, prebiotics help lower cholesterol levels. They also keep triglyceride levels in check. In addition, prebiotics may decrease high blood pressure.

• Attack obesity. A mound of research has been conducted on animal models with regard to weight reduction. Researchers have found that prebiotics increase anti-hunger peptides in the colon. These peptides, when secreted, are thought to directly suppress the appetite and help the body use insulin more normally. Other research has found that prebiotics may decrease fattening of the liver and the formation of fat tissue.

As for results in humans, a study published in The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition, studied 48 overweight but healthy people. They took either a placebo or a prebiotic for 12 weeks. Without making any lifestyle changes, those taking the prebiotic lost an average of 2.27 pounds while those on the placebo gained nearly 1 pound. (That might not seem like a lot but these people didn’t make any changes to their diet or do any type of exercise.) Taking the prebiotic also reduced hunger and improved blood sugar and insulin function.

It’s tough to get beneficial amounts of prebiotics through diet alone. Between 4 to 15 grams of prebiotics per day in powder or capsule form (alone or in combination with probiotics) is considered beneficial, and up to 25 grams per day is considered safe.

One way to supplement with prebiotics is to try our new Hi-Fiber Chocolate Syrup Mix™. It is high in prebiotic fiber – 12 grams. Plus it’s low in calories – only 20 calories a serving. It has no fat or sugar, either. Our High Fiber Chocolate Syrup™ is so easy to make: For 4 servings, just add 1 tablespoon of water to 2 level scoops of High Fiber Chocolate Syrup Mix™ and stir until smooth. For an extra special treat, how about this: a Contest Brownie™ or slice of Hi-Protein Cake™, topped with a scoop of Parrillo Protein Ice Kreem™ and drizzled with Chocolate Syrup.

Prebiotics like our High Fiber Chocolate Syrup Mix™ are food sources preferentially chosen by beneficial bacteria. The result can be enhanced intestinal health, and a balance between beneficial and harmful bacteria.

Cardiovascular exercise is critical for bodybuilding success. This is now considered common knowledge and every competitive bodybuilder at the regional, national and international level includes aerobics as a regular part of their bodybuilding regimen. What few know is that John Parrillo was the first bodybuilding expert to insist aerobics need be included in any bodybuilding strategy. Before Parrillo’s cardio-trained bodybuilders started showing up, lean, shredded and HUGE, cardio, for bodybuilding purposes, was considered counterproductive. “Everyone knows aerobics destroys muscle!” This was the smug criticism leveled by the cardio haters back in the days when John first began having his athletes perform aerobics. The look of smugness was soon replaced with disbelief and then awe when the first wave of aerobic-performing Parrillo bodybuilders began showing up at competitions weighing in excess of 240 while sporting 5% body fat percentiles. This “1st Wave” of Parrillo athletes swept away all the smack talk and soon cardio became standard operating procedure for elite bodybuilders worldwide.

Pre-cardio bodybuilders fell into one of two types: they were either large and smooth or ripped and tiny. Parrillo’s 1st Wave bodybuilders were both gigantic and ripped and as the old saying goes, “Build a better mousetrap and the world will beat a path to your door.” Soon all the vanquished bodybuilders began including cardio in their training and the naysayer experts that derided aerobics changed their tune faster than you can say flip-flop. They say that “imitation is the sincerest form of flattery” and if that is true Mr. Parrillo must feel like one of the most flattered men on the face of the planet. Nowadays the self same experts that dissed cardio as counterproductive and muscle-destroying resort to revisionist history and claim that they were for cardio all along and not only were they for aerobic inclusion, but it was they that were the first to suggest it to begin with. How utterly predictable and pathetic: we know the truth of the matter and the historical record speaks for itself. Oddly, even today, most experts and bodybuilders still don’t understand the entire truth about cardio and its relationship to bodybuilding. While bodybuilders routinely and universally perform aerobics, very few do it the right way, the Parrillo way.

Aerobics and bodybuilding: Why should an aspiring bodybuilder, even one without any designs on competing, go to the time and trouble to include routine cardio exercise into their bodybuilding training regimen? Isn’t lifting weights intensely and dieting strictly enough to ensure bodybuilding success? The quick and simple answer is no, it is not enough, and here is why: the cornerstone of the Parrillo approach to bodybuilding is the idea that the metabolism, our rate of caloric expenditure, can and should be increased or more accurately, accelerated. The Parrillo phrase for this is “building the metabolism” and building the metabolism requires that three diverse disciplines be used in coordination: lifting weights, nutrition and supplementation and aerobic exercise. When all three elements are in place and practiced diligently, the combined effect stimulates the metabolism and stimulates it repeatedly. Repetition is the key. If repeated metabolic stimulation is achieved and then repeated through diligent practice for protracted periods of time, the metabolic thermostat is elevated and will continue to stay elevated for as long as the procedures are practiced. Over time the bodybuilder morphs his metabolic burn rate upward. At some juncture the continually elevated metabolism stays elevated on a permanent basis. There are three interlocking disciplines needed to build the metabolism…

• Intense weight training elevates the metabolism
• Intense aerobic training elevates the metabolism
• Consuming lean protein and fibrous carbohydrates elevates the metabolism

Intensity: John Parrillo insists that those bodybuilders training under his supervision and those following his training program not only perform aerobic exercise but perform aerobics with great intensity. “Intensity in cardio refers to the pace at which we move while performing aerobic exercise: quick pace is key and critical.” The Master Blaster relates and expands, “Moderate-paced cardio, the type used by ‘normal’ individuals in the vast majority of instances, is not sufficient to trigger the results we seek. Those that tool along at a steady and even pace, perhaps reading a magazine or watching TV as they perform cardiovascular exercise, might burn a few calories; but there will be little if any post-workout metabolic elevation, much less any sustained increase in the metabolic rate. Only hard cardio, the type that causes the exerciser to breathe hard and breathe heavy, will produce the long-lasting results we seek.” Those results include the number of calories burned during the session and the number of calories burned post-workout. A normal sized individual tooling along moderately riding a stationary bike might burn 200 calories in a 30 minute session, about the same amount of calories contained in a single small order of French fries from a fast food joint. The Parrillo bodybuilder goes HARD, all out, just below the level of exertion that would force them to quit: no magazine reading for the Parrillo trainee: drenched in sweat at session end, this degree of exercise intensity doubles or triples the number of calories oxidized in the same amount of time as a mild aerobic session. The metabolism remains elevated for hours after the end of a torrid, Parrillo-style cardio session.

Mitochondria and aerobics: It is a scientific fact that intense aerobic exercise done over a protracted period of time will create new mitochondria within the muscle fiber worked by the prolonged and protracted cardio exercise. The more mitochondria the better: Parrillo bodybuilders literally reconfigure their muscle tissue as a direct result of intense exercise. Unless the exercise is intense, prolonged and done often, the body will not be forced to construct new cellular blasts furnaces. More Mito means more energy production capacity; more Mito means far more calories can be consumed without getting fat; more Mito means a fitter, more capable athlete, an athlete capable of performing longer sessions and more difficult and demanding sessions. Adding mitochondrial “density” is a key element in the Parrillo approach. Fast, hard, sweaty and often could be the Parrillo cardio mantra. This type of cardio pacing results in a larger, leaner and far fitter bodybuilder. Since mitochondrial density only occurs in muscles worked during aerobic exercise, John recommends the bodybuilder use a wide variety of aerobic machines and modes. “Don’t fall in love with one mode or machine,” John warns. “Not only does doing the same type of aerobic activity too often run the risk of incurring repetitive motion-related injuries (literally wearing out body parts) but those that use machines that only use legs to create cardio effect will only build mitochondria in the legs. Don’t neglect the arms and torso: mix it up; I will often have bodybuilders go ‘balls-out’ on one machine, for say ten minutes, before switching to another machine that incorporates different body parts. Optimally we want an even distribution of mitochondria spread throughout the limbs and torso.”

Timing: Another of John’s strategies (he has a million of them) specifies the ideal time to perform cardiovascular exercise. Most bodybuilders are unaware that timing and preconditions can radically improve results obtained from an aerobic session. Preconditions are important in aerobic exercise if the goal is to burn off body fat. Bodybuilders are not primarily concerned about building endurance and bettering health; bodybuilders perform aerobics for one reason and one reason alone: proper cardio burns off body fat – sure they want to improve their endurance (this allows for longer, harder workouts) and sure bodybuilders want to be healthy, however their prime motivation for doing aerobic exercise, their main motivation for doing aerobic exercise, is to melt away body fat. Glycogen is the key. Glycogen is the form in which carbohydrates are stored in the body. Parrillo pointed out that upon awaking the cardio athlete has not eaten for 6-9 hours (the length of the sleep session) and because of this glycogen stores will be low. If glycogen is present, the human body will preferentially burn it; Parrillo’s revolutionary idea was to hit a morning cardio session while glycogen stores are at their lowest, coming off the sleep cycle. By training with the requisite intensity early the body will burn through any residual glycogen and at that juncture the body is forced to use stored body fat for energy. By waking up and not consuming carbs, by hitting a hard cardio session, fat burning is optimized. This tactic, first espoused by John Parrillo, has become standardized in elite bodybuilder circles. Every major bodybuilding competitor uses aerobic exercise to melt fat and an overwhelming percentage perform cardio first thing in the morning before eating to take advantage of this metabolic anomaly and accelerate fat burning.

More is better: A Parrillo bodybuilder performs morning cardio 5-7 times per week and often will add a second aerobic session later in the day to further amplify fat burning. The Parrillo athlete will typically start off his or her day with an intense aerobic session lasting from 30 to 60 minutes. Often, if the bodybuilder is competitive and has a show coming up, a second cardio session is performed later in the day. Ideally this second session is after the last carbohydrate ingestion of the day. This strategy has a method behind its madness: if after the last carb meal of the day an aerobic session is performed, the carb/glycogen in the body will be dramatically reduced. Keep in mind that protein does not contribute to glycogen, ergo, eating pure protein will not disturb the low glycogen status we are seeking to establish. If, by way of example, the bodybuilder eats their last carb meal at 5 pm and performs an intense aerobic session at 6 pm, the bodybuilder can still eat protein later that evening. The late evening cardio session ensures further depletion of glycogen before the next morning’s cardio session; thereby ensuring even more fat-burning in the following morning’s aerobic session. Copious cardio, intense cardio, is critical in the Parrillo strategy. As long as the athlete is properly nourished, aerobics will not negatively impact muscle gain; properly handled, cardio will, over time, create a much larger, much more muscular and far fitter bodybuilder. The oft-cited “bodybuilding lifestyle” is the amalgamation of expert weight training combined with expert aerobics and underpinned with the legendary Parrillo nutritional template.

Aerobic supplementation:

CapTri® is an MCT, a medium-chain triglyceride, a fat – but a beneficial fat as opposed to detrimental LCT long-chain fat. For a bodybuilder seeking to utilize cardio to become maximally lean, CapTri® is a key supplement. The benefits are innumerable and the drawbacks are zero: CapTri® calories, 120 calories per tablespoon, are impossible to end up as body fat. MCTs go to the front of the oxidation line and when consumed MCT calories are burned ahead of protein and even ahead of carbs. MCTs are burnt before carbs whereas LCTs cannot be burned until all carbs are burned. This means that CapTri® can be used liberally and will never ever interfere with fat-burning. Another outstanding characteristic of MCTs is that MCTs actually amp up the metabolism. A slew of scientific studies have shown that if MCTs are taken consistently, the metabolism spikes in response to ingesting them. CapTri® provides energy and is used by elite bodybuilders to offset energy loss associated with a dramatic reduction in starchy carbs prior to a competition. If you are serious about leaning out, you need to begin supplementing with CapTri®. The other critical supplement for those that continually and consistently engage in copious cardio is Max Endurance Formula™. John Parrillo designed this amazing product specifically to amplify results obtained from high intensity aerobic activity. Ammonia is produced by the body in response to intense cardio: if your sweat smells of ammonia during or after cardio then you need to supplement with Max Endurance Formula™! Potassium and magnesium aspartate clears ammonia and other waste products that, left untouched, quickly deplete your energy levels. By taking a handful of Max Endurance Formula™ capsules before engaging in intense, sweaty aerobic activity, the bodybuilder eliminates endurance-robbing, result-stifling ammonia buildup.

Aerobic perfection: To recapitulate, in order to make aerobic exercise maximally effective we need to follow these key Parrillo performance points…

1. Aerobics need to be intense: pace is everything; breathe hard for max results
2. Ideally cardio is done before breakfast: burn through glycogen then burn fat
3. Cardio needs to be done often: first thing in the morning and perhaps a 2nd session
4. Nutrition is critical: the finest cardio can be undone by poor
5. eating 5. Supplement with CapTri®: these calories cannot end up as fat and provide energy
6. Supplement with Max Endurance Formula™: sweat hard and clear ammonia

Follow these rules, procedures and protocols and melt off body fat faster than you can possibly imagine. Utilize the entire Parrillo protocol; no picking and choosing; this is not some sort of fitness cafeteria wherein we select the aspects of the Parrillo system we like and ignore those aspects that we don’t – the Parrillo Performance bodybuilding system is an integrated system where one element amplifies results obtained by the other elements. If you tinker with the system you will negate the results. Remember the Parrillo cardio mantra: go hard, go long, go often and use nutrition and weight training to amp the metabolism. Do so and obtain stunning results in the shortest possible timeframe. Let’s get going out there – and don’t forget the CapTri® and Max Endurance Formula™. Let us not lose sight of the goal: build the metabolism!

I have vowed in my columns to bring you the latest cutting-edge information on nutrition, supplements, and exercise, and so this month, I want to bring to your attention some recently published information on medium chain triglycerides available in our CapTri®.

A new study, “Medium-chain fatty acids: functional lipids for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome,” has been published in the journal Pharmacological Research. (1) This review explores the physiological functions and molecular actions of medium-chain triglycerides (MCTs) in helping prevent metabolic syndrome, a cluster of metabolic disorders, such as abdominal obesity, dyslipidemia, hypertension and impaired fasting glucose that contribute to the increased risk of heart disease.

Experimental studies have demonstrated that dietary MCTs suppress fat deposition through enhanced thermogenesis and fat-burning in animal and human subjects. The researchers also concluded that MCTs offer the therapeutic advantage of preserving insulin sensitivity in people with type 2 diabetes – which means that supplementing with MCTs helps the body use insulin properly and more effectively.

I bring up this study because it shows how effective MCTs are in fighting fat, even around the abdominal area – and in helping to prevent metabolic syndrome, which can be a forerunner to diabetes and heart disease.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has predicted that rates of heart disease and diabetes will rise as more Americans develop metabolic syndrome. In addition to supplementing with MCTs, nutrition helps prevent and even reverse metabolic syndrome – particularly a diet high in vegetables, whole grains, olive oil, and lean proteins. Other preventive measures include:

● Losing weight if you are overweight.

● Avoiding simple carbs – foods made with refined flour, sugars and hydrogenated saturated fats.

● Eating only lean protein, such as poultry and fish and low-fat dairy products, in moderation.

● Staying active. Regular workouts are essential in keeping blood sugar, insulin sensitivity and fat metabolism functioning at healthy levels.

Getting Started on CapTri®

For background, MCTs are a special class of fatty acids; our MCT oil is CapTri®. Normal fats and oils contain long-chain fatty acids (LCTs). Compared to these fatty acids, MCTs are much shorter in length. Therefore, they resemble carbohydrates, and act like them in the body, more than fat. As a result, CapTri® is more easily absorbed, digested, and utilized as energy than conventional fats. This structure accounts for the ability of CapTri® to stimulate metabolism and increase body temperature.

Medium-chain triglycerides are found naturally in coconut oil. Supplemental MCT oil is obtained through lipid fractionation, the process in which MCTs are separated from other components of coconut oil. Medium-chain triglycerides were originally formulated in the 1950s as an alternative food source for patients who are too ill to properly digest normal fats.

The long chains of LCTs require a lot of bile acids and many digestive steps to be broken down into smaller units that can be absorbed into the bloodstream. Once in the bloodstream, they are absorbed by fat cells and stored as body fat. In contrast, MCTs are more water-soluble and are able to enter the bloodstream quicker because of their shorter lengths. Once in the bloodstream, they are transported directly into the liver. Thus, MCTs are an immediately available source of energy and not stored as body fat.

Since CapTri® is transported to the liver (instead of fat cells) and burned for energy, it’s no surprise that it contributes less to body fat accumulation than conventional fats do. The amazing thing is that CapTri® contributes less to body fat stores than carbohydrates (3, 4). Even though we’ve just started our discussion of how CapTri® works, we’ve already hit on the central reason why so many bodybuilders are using it today: CapTri® is extremely calorically dense, but due to the way it is metabolized, it has very little tendency to be stored as body fat. It’s the ideal supplement for bodybuilders, a concentrated source of calories that won’t make you fat. The calories from CapTri® represent an energy source which can be used to fuel activity or support weight gain.

Substituting moderate amounts of medium-chain triglycerides for other fats in a weight-loss program has been shown in many studies to produce enhanced weight loss and a greater reduction in fat mass.

Case in point: In a 16-week study, 31 overweight patients consumed 10 grams a day of either olive oil or medium-chain triglyceride (MCT) oil in muffins. Women in the study also consumed another 8 grams a day of their assigned oil and the men consumed an additional 14 grams a day. All of the subjects participated in dietitian-led weekly group weight-loss counseling sessions that stressed consumption of a low-energy-intensity diet, encouraged healthy eating patterns, and set a target energy intake of 1,500 calories a day for the women and 1,800 calories a day for the men. The study oils accounted for roughly 12 percent of participants’ weight-loss energy prescription.

At 16 weeks, the MCT group had lost significantly more weight: an average of 7 pounds, or 3.8 percent of their baseline body weight, compared with 1.7 percent in the olive oil group. The MCT group also had a reduction in trunk fat mass in intra-abdominal adipose tissue. (2)

Supplementing with CapTri®

I suggest that you take one tablespoon with each meal; up to six tablespoons per day. Consult the Parrillo CapTri® Manual for more detailed usage guidelines.

One good way to use CapTri® is as a substitute for other oils in salad dressing–just add vinegar, herbs and spices. MCTs emulsify (go into and stay in solution) easier than many other lipids, so they’re a bit more versatile than regular oil in that you can mix them successfully in other Parrillo supplements such as Pro-Carb™.

CapTri® should not completely replace all dietary fats, as this would result in a deficiency of other fatty acids—essential fatty acids —that the human body needs from food sources. To avoid essential fatty acid deficiencies, a person should also include omega-3 and acids in their diets. Good sources of essential fatty acids include fish, Parrillo Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200™, and Parrillo Evening Primrose Oil 1000™.

We want everyone who uses our products, including CapTri®, to be on the proper diet. After the foundation is laid with the proper foods, supplements can be used to further increase nutrient levels beyond what can be obtained from foods alone.

References

1. Nagao, K. and Yanagita, T. 2010. Medium-chain fatty acids: functional lipids for the prevention and treatment of the metabolic syndrome. Pharmacological Research 61:208-212.

2. St-Onge M.P., et al. 2008. Medium chain triglyceride oil consumption as part of a weight loss diet does not lead to an adverse metabolic profile when compared to olive oil. Journal of the American College of Nutrition

27:547-52.

When it comes to nutrition, mainstream medical and fitness “experts” are playing checkers while John Parrillo is playing three-dimensional chess. Parrillo’s nutritional approach is multi-dimensional, multifaceted and imaginative. Mainstream medicine, science and governmental agencies offer nutritional strategies that are unimaginative and ineffective. Parrillo offers up hundreds of transformed students as proof of the effectiveness of his methods; mainstream medicine and the Ivory Tower health professionals offer nothing other than big promises and failed ideas. The health aristocracy is dismissive and hostile towards any alternate strategies – despite the obvious fact that their ideas about health, wellness, fitness, diet and nutrition are utter and complete disasters. One sacred cow of mainstream nutrition is the Energy Balance Equation. The premise of the Energy Balance Equation is that caloric intake should be less than caloric expenditure in order to lose body weight.

The one-dimensional rationale goes as follows: if you burn 2,000 calories per day and eat 2,500 calories you will gain weight: to lose weight you need to eat 2,000 or 1,500 calories per day. The EBE rationale is problematic on a multitude of levels. First off, how is someone supposed to accurately measure how many calories they actually burn in a 24 hour period? The mainstream fitness elite offer up a “method” of guessing based on an ultra-simplistic formula that calculates estimated caloric expenditure: this kindergarten formula is wildly inaccurate. There is no way to come within a country mile of real accuracy using a ‘one-size-fits-all’ simplistic formula. If you cannot realistically pinpoint caloric expenditure, how can you calculate how many calories you need to consume?

Metabolic assessment formulas are simplistic in the extreme; they fail to take into account a multitude of variables, or recognize the sheer number of contributing metabolic factors. Every one of us has our metabolism set at a slightly different burn rate: how many calories does your body burn at rest or in repose? How much gasoline does your automobile burn while idling? Everyone has their metabolic thermostat (the rate at which an individual burns calories while at rest) set at a different level. The metabolic burn rate is individual and partially determined by genetics, partially by current physical condition, partially by the environment and partially by type and degree of physical activity. There are a variety of factors that contribute to determining how high or low our bodily thermostat is set. John Parrillo devised a system for elevating our metabolic thermostat setting, regardless of its current setting: an accelerated metabolism is coveted; an accelerated metabolism burns calories at an accelerated rate; an accelerated metabolism (in conjunction with the Parrillo Nutrition Program) causes body fat to be mobilized and burned for energy on a consistent basis. A major factor in the Parrillo build-the-metabolism approach is food selection. In the Parrillo method certain foods are included and certain foods are excluded. The contrast between foods recommended by mainstream medical and governmental health agencies and the foods recommended in the Parrillo nutritional guidelines could not be greater. Please take a look at the foodstuffs recommended in the United States Department of Agriculture’s Food Pyramid: the Food Pyramid recommends we eat foods that defy nutritional sanity. Behold!

The food pyramid allows the eater to consume eleven servings of pasta per day?! Amazing! Following the pyramid, I am allowed to eat bread and insulin-spiking baked goods. Why should we believe medical professionals that tell us with a straight face that it is okay to eat pasta primavera with white pizza three times a day? That would only be using up six of our eleven allotted daily servings of bread, cereal, rice or pasta. When we bring up that John Parrillo has elite bodybuilders consuming 6,000 to 10,000 calories a day, way in excess of their energy expenditure and in complete defiance of the EBE – and these men, who according to the EBE should be getting fat, are not getting fat. Health experts that champion the EBE and the USDA Food Pyramid tell us that Parrillo’s approach is “impossible” or “unhealthy” or “weird!” Elite bodybuilders following Parrillo precepts are eating massive amounts of “clean food” when preparing for a contest. They will “cut back” to “only” eating 3,000 to 4,000 calories per day in the months and weeks leading up to the show and get absolutely ripped eating way in excess of their daily energy expenditures. The elite bodybuilder’s metabolism burns like a red-hot blast furnace, making it easy for these muscular giants to get ripped to shreds “only” eating six, 500 to 700 calorie meals per day. Elite bodybuilders routinely attain 2-4% body fat percentiles eating 3,000+ calories each and every day. “Impossible!” The educated, credentialed experts sputter and huff. Factually this “metabolic miracle” is commonplace for Parrillo adherents. Over the past forty years John Parrillo has hatched, honed and perfected his system of “building the metabolism.” The whole concept of vast metabolic differences, person to person, escapes the one-dimensional mainstream elite: activity must burn off more calories than we consume! They intone, like the lock-step robots they are. If not – cut calories! Their battle cry has been used for decades with stunningly poor results.

A Parrillo bodybuilder can burn upwards of 4,000 calories a day in activity; he will burn it off in intense training and he will burn calories moving around and being active and living his life. How is it that this man can consume 1,000 calories per meal five or six times a day and add copious amounts of new muscle without adding any body fat? How is this possible if the EBE holds true for everyone? If the EBE were real scientific fact, then there would be some sort of accounting for the Parrillo athletes that can eat twice as many calories as they burn and not get fat. The mainstream medical and nutritional experts refuse to reexamine any of their treasured views or sacred orthodoxies. Their ideas, strategies and remedies have ruled the mainstream for several decades now and the American public is the worse for it: obviously the mainstream health power elite have failed the American public. Yet any criticism is met with howls of protest, a chorus of “How dare you question the validity of our methods!” When you point out the pitiful results of their approach, this is considered impolite or rude. “How dare you throw actual results in our face? How rude!” The mainstream are not a very curious bunch: if they ventured to any local bodybuilding contest held at a local high school, they would see a dozen men sporting sub-10% body fat percentiles, yet still eating 2,000 to 5,000 calories per day. Off-season bodybuilders eat five to eight times a day and use the thermal effect of certain (beneficial) foods to spike their metabolism. You’d think the nutritional establishment would be beating down the Parrillo’s doors, trying to discover and discern his fat-burning, metabolism-building strategies, so that they could expropriate them and use Parrillo tactics to up their own game. In reality, the mainstream health professionals are not interested in upping their game or trying anything new or different; they are quite happy keeping things just they way that they are. Boat rockers, heretics, iconoclasts and people with new and different ideas are NOT welcome!

Bodybuilders that follow Parrillo Principles understand the concept of Thermogenesis – the idea that certain hard-to-digest foods (coincidentally the most beneficial of all foods) cause the body to ‘heat up.’ Eating beneficial, hard-to-digest foods awakens the metabolism. A competitive bodybuilder will eat hard-to-digest foods 5 to 8 times per day; that means a metabolic jolt occurs 5 to 8 times per day, just by eating meals comprised of certain beneficial foods. Now we add super intense, Parrillo-style weight training and cardio and each workout causes a gigantic metabolic jolt – an earthquake. Training really hard amps up the metabolism and the metabolic jolt associated with intense exercise causes the metabolism to remain accelerated long after the cessation of the exercise session. There seems to be a direct correlation between the degree of intensity exhibited in the workout and the length of time the metabolism remains elevated afterwards. John Parrillo’s genius was to meld the metabolism-amping attributes of consuming certain foods with the metabolism-amping attributes of performing intense exercise. Skillfully combine nutrition and exercise and “build the metabolism.” Meanwhile the medical and nutritional mainstream scoff and sneer when they should be studying the Parrillo methodology to see how its effective results might be implemented and replicated and passed along to the general public.

So how does one go about “Building the Metabolism?” First and foremost: square up your nutrition. Convert to a multiple meal plan if you haven’t already. The choice of foods is critical. Lean protein and fibrous carbohydrates form the backbone of the Parrillo nutritional approach; five to eight times daily the Parrillo follower consumes a portion of lean protein and a portion of fiber – starch carb intake is radically altered, depending on the season (in season/out of season) and goal (mass-building cycle/getting ripped-and-shredded cycle.) Lean protein and fiber are fabulous foods for building muscle and staying lean. Protein provides supplemental amino acids, muscle building blocks needed to construct new muscle; fiber in the form of green vegetables, can be eaten in unlimited amounts and has tremendous value as both a source of vital nutrients and as a bowel-cleanser. When a person is eating a lot of protein, lots of natural fiber pushes sludge and gunk associated with heavy protein intake through the human plumbing. Protein and fiber are a natural and beneficial compliment to one another: eating goodly amounts of protein and goodly amounts of vegetable fiber amps up the metabolism. Indeed, the digestive machinery has to gear up to digest these hard-to-digest foods, and the more lean protein and fiber a person eats the more the metabolism must jack-up in order to process the food. Over time, the body becomes very adept at handling (i.e. digesting) protein and fiber: a Parrillo adherent gives the body one hell-of-a-lot of practice; six meals per day equates to 42 meals per week, 190 meals per month. That’s a lot of digestive practice!

CapTri® is a Parrillo nutritional supplement, MCT oil, a medium-chain triglyceride, a fat – but a good fat not a bad fat. CapTri® is loaded with calories: 120 calories per tablespoon. MCTs have a unique molecular structure that causes them to be digested, not as a dietary fat, but as a carbohydrate: this is profound. Whereas long-chain standard dietary fat cannot be digested by the body if any dietary carbs are present and needing to be burned, CapTri® (MCT oil made from coconuts) actually goes to the front of the oxidation line. CapTri® is preferentially burned by the human body. If you take enough CapTri® the MCTs will have a thermogenic effect. The Parrillo bodybuilder institutes a multiple-meal eating schedule and each meal includes a portion of lean protein and fibrous carbs; starch carbs are increased or decreased depending on your current goal. The metabolic bump associated with a protein/fiber carb meal can be further amped by sprinkling a tablespoon (or two) of CapTri® over the food meals. Butter-flavored CapTri® is a huge seller because it imparts real butter flavor in the form of a healthy lipid. Further jolt the metabolism by engaging in 3-6 high intensity weight training sessions per week and 4-7 high intensity cardio workouts per week. When you add up all the food-related metabolic bumps and all the CapTri®-related bumps, when you add in all the weekly metabolic jolts caused by torrid cardio and high-intensity Parrillo-style weight training – the body is receiving 50+ metabolic jolts per week! It all fuses together to create a lifestyle, the bodybuilding lifestyle, and all those daily, weekly and monthly metabolic bumps and jolts, over time results in a permanently elevated metabolism.

One of the best analogies ever used to describe an amped-up metabolism is the “bonfire analogy.” Here it is. Building the metabolism is akin to building a bonfire. First you start off with small kindling; tiny amounts of dry twigs, sticks, branches and underbrush. To build the metabolism the first step is to clean up our eating habits; cut out the nasty detrimental foods; begin eating small amounts of clean food in multiple meals spread throughout the day. Once the kindling catches fire, the best procedure is to add some light branches – it’s too early for logs. Once we establish the multiple-meal eating schedule and clean up our food selections, we need to heavily bias our food selections towards lean protein and fiber – and not much else. Once the twigs and the light branches catch fire, we add some larger branches; now the fire is burning hot and ripping through the wood fuel. Nutritionally, the Parrillo follower does the metaphorical equivalent by eating more food, adding more food/fuel at each meal to create a larger metabolic fire. We take in more CapTri® and simultaneously increase the intensity of our training sessions. Now both the metaphoric and metabolic fires are ready for logs; we now morph from campfire into bonfire.

We turn the modest campfire into a bonfire by tossing big logs onto a raging fire: raging fires burn fuel fast, so we will need a lot of big logs and we will need them on a continual basis. We will need to have a lot of food/fuel on hand and ready to throw onto the metabolic bonfire. The Parrillo bodybuilder increases yet again the size of the individual meals. CapTri® is critical: adding a tablespoon or two or three over food at each multiple meal can add 1,000 to 2,000 additional clean calories to the daily tally. Consuming CapTri® is the equivalent of throwing gasoline onto a raging bonfire. Expropriate the nutritional template the Bodybuilding Pros use and apply their strategies to your situation to obtain extraordinary results. Let us create our own metabolic bonfire by eating right, eating often, eating clean, by using CapTri® and engaging in high-intensity Parrillo-style training sessions. If you are smart enough and motivated enough and disciplined enough and dedicated enough, you can build your metabolism; you can create a metabolic bonfire. A raging metabolism burns stored body fat at an accelerated rate. CapTri® calories are burned preferentially, making it the perfect supplement for transforming a sluggish snail-like metabolism into a raging bonfire metabolism. The next time you see one of the establishment health industry-types on TV telling us how stupid we are – and how anyone that doesn’t agree with them is retarded – remember that these same medical establishment types are the geniuses that champion the USDA Food Pyramid. We need new ideas and new strategies to combat age-old fitness and health problems. If you want to change your physique dramatically, then institute a full-on Parrillo-style metabolism building regimen. Buy some CapTri® and throw some supplemental gasoline onto your metabolic bonfire!

The triceps muscle consists of three heads, the long (or middle) head, the lateral (or external, or outer) head and the medial (or internal, or deep) head. The long head crosses two joints, the elbow and the shoulder joint. The lateral and the medial head only cross the elbow joint. Looking at the anatomy of the triceps muscle is not as straight forward as the anatomy of the biceps muscle as to how to grow and shape it. So rather than go through all kinds of complicated explanations about origin and insertion points and what effects the exercises have on the development of the triceps muscle, I will give you the Cliff Notes version of triceps development.

Here’s where the complicated gets simple. We will break triceps development down to two types. Size (think power lifter type or mass) and shape (think bodybuilder type or development). The power lifter’s triceps looks like a ham hock. It has a lot of size but not much shape. The bodybuilder’s triceps has that coveted “horseshoe” shape but is often lacking in size. So, what can we learn from the power lifters and bodybuilders about our own triceps development?

If you watch a bodybuilder working triceps, he will use “strict” form. His elbows will always stay in the same place and the bar will arc as it goes through its range of motion. The power lifter on the other hand will push the bar in a straight line and his elbows will move to compensate for the straight line of motion of the bar. The bodybuilder will do “lying triceps extensions” where the power lifter will do “skull crushers”. When it comes to push downs, the bodybuilder will hold his elbows still and arc the bar as he pushes the bar down where the power lifter will push the bar down in a straight line while his elbows push out to the side. Power lifters are big believers in heavy close grip bench presses which use this same straight line movement of the weight.

So if you want to add shape-think horseshoe to your triceps, train them like a bodybuilder and use “strict” form, always holding your elbows static and arcing the bar through its range of motion. If you want to add serious ham hock size to your triceps, train them like a power lifter and screw the form-use as much weight as you can and just push like heck. It ain’t pretty but it builds size. You’re not doing those sissy lying triceps extensions anymore, you’re doing SKULL CRUSHERS. Then you’ll want to get a bench shirt-oh never mind.

Remember, the easiest way to super size your arms is not only train the heck out of them but make sure you take in enough quality calories and nutrients. Don’t worry, I’ve never seen anyone over train when they were gaining weight. They just added a lot of muscle.

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.

The human body can store roughly 400 grams of glycogen, which is the storage form of carbohydrates. This amounts to about 1,600 calories and is not enough energy to last most of us even one day. Since we can’t store very much, it is critical to maintain an adequate supply of carbohydrates. The optimal carbohydrate intake varies from person to person, depending on athletic goals, body size and training pattern. Endurance athletes burn the most fuel and thus have the highest carbohydrate requirements. Bodybuilders who follow our Parrillo prescription of high intensity aerobics and weight training should consume a diet fairly high in carbohydrates. During the growth season, while the emphasis is on gaining lean muscle, a diet relatively higher in carbohydrates will help support weight gain. During pre-contest dieting, when the goal is fat loss, a reduction in carbohydrates works better. Carbohydrates are almost exclusively derived from plant sources. Meat is a very poor source of carbohydrates. I divide carbohydrates into several categories.

The first two are simple sugars and refined carbohydrates. Simple sugars include sugar and honey as well as fruit and fruit juice. Fruit is sweet because it contains the sugars glucose and fructose. It is advisable to avoid simple sugars and refined carbohydrates because they readily promote fat storage. To some extent they are converted into fat, but more importantly they cause a big insulin release from the pancreas and this blocks the use of fat as fuel. If you don’t burn any fat as fuel then it slowly accumulates. Fructose is found primarily in fruit but also in artificial sweeteners like high fructose corn syrup – which is especially bad since it is preferentially converted to fat in the liver. Examples of refined carbohydrates include bread, pasta and anything made with flour. That would include muffins and cookies, cake, crackers, pretzels and so on. Chips, even the low fat kind, will fall into this category since their carbohydrates are refined. During refining the grain which supplies the carbohydrate is pulverized and the fiber is removed. The carbohydrates are ground into a fine powder and this increases its surface area-to-mass ratio. These factors, taken together, result in certain carbohydrates being digested, entering the bloodstream very rapidly and triggering a powerful release of insulin. Refined carbohydrates behave in the body much like simple sugars and we recommend that athletes trying to get in shape avoid all simple sugars and refined carbohydrates, including sugar, fruit, fruit juice, bread and pasta. Milk is not a good bodybuilding food since it is rich in the simple sugar lactose. A glass of milk actually contains more sugar than protein, something a lot of people don’t realize. Starches and fibrous vegetables are “good” carbohydrate sources and we encourage our athletes to eat these. Starch is a long chain of glucose. Glucose is sugar released into the bloodstream and a primary fuel for muscles. Glucose is the storage form of carbohydrates in plants. Glycogen is very similar to starch and is the storage form of carbohydrates in animals. The difference between starch and glycogen has to do with the branching pattern and starch is a good energy source that is digested slowly compared to refined carbohydrates. This results in a more favorable insulin profile for starch. Starch is the best food source of carbohydrate for athletes. Good examples of starchy carbs include oatmeal, corn, peas, rice, beans, potatoes, sweet potatoes, lentils, legumes, and whole grains.

Fibrous vegetables don’t supply many calories but are the prime sources of fiber, a critical nutrient for bodybuilders. Fiber slows the rate of release of glucose into the bloodstream thus helping to moderate insulin levels. Good fibrous vegetables are lettuce, spinach, asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, beans (not canned), lentils, peas, turnip greens, squash, zucchini, okra, oatmeal, oat bran, cabbage, celery, peppers, sweet potatoes, eggplant, cucumbers, onions and whole grain brown rice. Generally any other vegetable is acceptable. I would stay away from avocados, olives and nuts, as they are high in fat.

It is important to combine foods properly when you prepare a meal. We call this “meal structuring.” Each meal should contain a protein source, a starchy carbohydrate and a fibrous vegetable. By combining protein and fiber with your starch, and by avoiding simple sugars and refined carbohydrate, the rate of release of glucose into the bloodstream is greatly reduced. This helps keep insulin levels low which permits the continued use of fat as fuel. This style of eating encourages ingested nutrients to be stored as muscle or glycogen rather than compartmentalized in fat storage.

How many good carbohydrates should you eat in a day? This varies from person to person, so I can’t give you some magic number, but I can teach you how to figure it out for yourself. The first thing to consider is your daily caloric requirement. If you don’t already know what that is, start weighing your food and use a calorie chart to calculate how many calories you are consuming each day. The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual comes with a food scale and diet trac sheets along with detailed instructions. Next, construct your diet so that fat is limited to 5-10% of calories consumed and eat one to two grams of clean (low fat) protein per pound of body weight each day. If you’re lean and are trying to gain weight add more carbohydrates. If you are trying to strip off fat try eating two grams of protein per pound of body weight each day and cut back on your carb intake. Establish your daily intake of calories from fat and protein and derive the rest from quality carbohydrates and CapTri®. Include starchy and fibrous carbs at each meal, avoiding the other carb sources. Parrillo’s Pro-Carb Powder™ and 50/50 Plus™ are both excellent sources of slow-release carbohydrates and ideal for both improving exercise performance and providing post-workout glycogen replacement. In terms of convenience it’s impossible to beat Parrillo Bars™. Keep some in your gym bag and have one when you finish your workout to start replenishing glycogen right away. Try and get a handle on the different types of carbohydrates. Eliminate the refined carbs and those that contain sugar. Manipulate your starch and fiber intake to achieve your desired results. Keep tabs on your carbs and how much you ingest. You will be well on your way to achieving the physical goals to which you aspire.

REFERENCES

1. Flatt JP. Dietary fat, carbohydrate balance, and weight maintenance: effects of exercise. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 45: 296-306, 1987.

2. Flatt JP. Use and storage of carbohydrate and fat. Am. J. Clin. Nutr. 61: 952s-959s, 1995.

3. Acheson KJ, Flatt JP, and Jequier E. Glycogen synthesis versus lipogenesis after a 500 gram carbohydrate meal in man. Metabolism 31: 1234-1240, 1982.

4. Liebman M and Wilkinson JG. Carbohydrate metabolism and exercise. Chapter 2 from Nutrition in Exercise and Sport, edited by Wolinsky I and Hickson JF, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1994.

5. Miller GD. Carbohydrates in ultra-endurance exercise and athletic performance. Chapter 3 from Nutrition in Exercise and Sport, edited by Wolinsky I and Hickson JF, CRC Press, Boca Raton, 1994.

6. Hargreaves M. Skeletal muscle carbohydrate metabolism during exercise. Chapter 2 fromExercise Metabolism, edited by Hargreaves M, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, IL, 1995.

7. Coggan AR and Williams BD. Metabolic adaptations to endurance training: substrate metabolism during exercise. Chapter 6 from Exercise Metabolism, edited by Hargreaves M, Human Kinetics Publishers, Champaign, IL, 1995.

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.

We wanted to know more about the training and nutrition behind their powerlifting success, so we asked Steve to fill us in…

“As far as our training schedule goes, Monday is chest and shoulders and ten 100 yard sprints with a 45 second break between each. Tuesday is back with deadlifts. Wednesday is our conditioning day which we do a circuit workout. We always change it up every week. Kettlebells, box jumps, tire flips, sleds, plyometrics, stuff like that. Thursday is arm day. Friday mostly is our leg day or sometimes Saturday

depending on how sore we are. Also on leg day we do ten 40 yard sprints with a 1 minute break in between for power. We always try and go heavy but I’m a big believer in also being conditioned. We currently train at Powerstation gym in Middletown, Ohio.” Powerstation Gym is owned by Performance Press featured athlete Mike Ferguson.

Steve and Katie also took part in a Parrillo leg training session this past summer at the Parrillo Gym in Fairfield, Ohio. For this intense training, they used the special equipment at the gym for training legs, like the Parrillo Belt Squat.

We asked Steve and Katie which Parrillo products they use in their nutrition program: “We both use the Chocolate Ice Kreem Mix™ and CapTri®, and she loves the Graham Cracker Energy Bars™ and the Chocolate High Protein – Low Carb Pudding™. I use a lot of the Chocolate Hi-Protein™ and Liver Aminos™, and I’ve started using the Essential Vitamin™ and Mineral Electrolyte™. I recently purchased the Parrillo

Total Performance Package and have already learned a lot from it.”

Steve spoke about what it’s like being a part of a powerlifting couple: “Being training partners that are also in love is great, it’s how we motivate each other. That’s how we actually met, in the gym.”

Thanks to both Steve and Katie for sharing your training routines and letting us know which Parrillo supplements have helped you reach your nutritional goals. Keep up the great work!

To prevent packing on the holiday pounds, go on the offensive with the Parrillo Pre-Diet Program. It will help you start trimming off a few pounds of fat before the holidays get in full swing. Pre-dieting has been shown in clinical trials to offset holiday weight gain. Obesity researchers in Sweden studied the effect of eating during the Christmas holidays on 46 obese patients in a weight-maintenance program. Those dieters who had lost more than 6.6 lb by pre-dieting during the six months prior to Christmas gained less weight (from 0.4 lb to 4.8 lb) between Christmas and Epiphany (a religious festival celebrated on January 6) than those who didn’t pre-diet. By contrast, the patients who gained more than 6.6 lb during the six months prior to Christmas put on an additional 5 lb on average during the holidays. The message is clear: Pre-dieting clearly keeps the holiday pounds from piling on.

My Pre-Diet Program lasts 5 weeks, so start it prior to your first tempting holiday, whether that’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or New Years – or all of the above. This program will take a serious commitment and hard work, but if you have the motivation and the determination, I can show you how to do it.

This program is about how to gain muscle and lose body fat at the same time. It’s designed for people who want to get in shape as fast as possible. It is completely realistic to plan to lose 5 to 10 pounds of fat and gain a few pounds of lean muscle in 5 weeks.

Fundamentally, this is a fat-loss program. A by-product is often a gain of a few pounds of lean muscle, although this is not a mass-building program. I have seen a lot of people get extremely good results in a short time from making a few changes in their diet and training routines. Overall, this program involves a diet moderate in calories, low in fat, high in protein and moderate in carbohydrates. The exercise component involves a serious commitment to both weight training and aerobics. You will work very hard, but you can expect rapid and dramatic results. I will walk you through the design of this program step-by-step. This will allow you to understand the rationale behind it and also will help you learn how to design routines for yourself as your goals and level of development changes.

Since your primary goal is fat loss, then you will need to sustain a net fat deficit. This means that more fat is expended as fuel than is consumed or converted from food. This is a thermodynamic requirement for net loss of body fat. Each pound of body fat contains roughly 3,500 calories. Therefore, to lose two pounds of fat each week, we need a weekly calorie deficit of 7,000 calories, or 1,000 calories each day. Generally, I would encourage you to limit fat loss to two pounds per week. More rapid weight loss than that usually, but not always, is accompanied by loss of some muscle tissue.

The best way to achieve a deficit of 1,000 calories per day of fat loss is through a combination of reduced fat intake and increased energy expenditure. I would suggest reducing calories by about 500 per day compared to how much you usually eat. Then, perform 500 calories of extra aerobic exercise per day over what you usually do. This will result in a combined energy deficit of 1,000 calories per day, which will promote the loss of two pounds of fat per week.

Essentially, this diet is high in protein, moderate in carbs, and low in fat. You want to take in one to two grams of protein per pound of body weight each day. Obtain the rest of your calories from carbohydrates (or CapTri®) while minimizing fat intake. This usually works out to around 40 to 50 percent protein, 40 to 50 percent carbs, and five to 10 percent fat. Reducing carbohydrates seems to help promote fat loss by reducing insulin levels and reducing caloric intake. I feel it prudent to limit fat intake even while on areduced calorie diet.

You will eat mostly fibrous vegetables and salads, while limiting starches. Starches are higher in calories than fibrous carbohydrates and occupy less space in your stomach. While starches usually form a major portion of our diet, for this 5 week program we will limit them to one or two servings a day.

Divide your protein and calories evenly over five or six meals. Most people get better results if they keep food selections relatively simple for this program. You will get good results using egg whites, skinless chicken breast, white meat turkey, and low-fat tuna for protein sources. Have generous portions of vegetables and salad at each meal. You can have essentially all the vegetables and salad you want. It’s very difficult to eat too many calories from vegetables. I’m talking about things like broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, spinach, green beans, and so on. Refer to the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual for a more extensive list, as well as the nutrient breakdown. Starches are foods like potatoes, oatmeal, corn, peas, beans and rice. Treat yourself to a cup of oatmeal in the morning and maybe one other starch during the day. By supplying most of your carbs as vegetables and salad instead of starch, you will find it easier to limit calories. The bulk will help fill you up, the volume of food will be more satisfying and the vegetables will produce a smaller insulin response.

Some typical meals might go like this:

• Meal #1: ten egg whites and one cup oatmeal
• Meal #2: chicken breast and vegetables
• Meal #3: tuna and salad
• Meal #4: chicken breast, small baked potato and salad
• Meal #5: ten egg whites & vegetables

What about supplements? There are four supplements that really help on the Pre-Diet Program. First are the Essential Vitamin™ and Mineral-Electrolyte™ formulas. Since we are avoiding fruit and milk, you will need a vitamin and mineral supplement. It is especially difficult to supply your body’s requirement for calcium without using a lot of dairy products, unless you use a supplement. Next is creatine, which is in a class by itself in terms of supplements. You cannot be your most muscular and lean without using creatine. No matter how good you look, you’ll be better if you add creatine. Last is Optimized Whey Protein™. We started with the finest quality whey protein and then fine tuned the amino acid profile by adding extra glycine, glutamine and branched chain amino acids. I would consider this a “must have” supplement while dieting strictly. The high levels of glutamine and BCAAs act to protect muscle tissue during energy restricted diets. You can also use CapTri® since it is not stored as body fat.

Now, about exercise. This intense shape-up program demands a serious commitment to exercise. To get optimal results you will need to lift weights 45 to 60 minutes a day four or five days a week. Plus, you will need to do 60 minutes or more of aerobics everyday. I didn’t say this was easy. I just said you could get very fast results. On this program I would recommend a three day split, which means you train all muscle groups in three workouts. After this, you take one day off from lifting, then start over. This way, each muscle group is trained every four days and you’re lifting five days a week usually. I would aim for about 25 total sets per 60 minute workout. That’s a fairly brisk pace. Spend most of your time on free weights, although a few machine exercises are OK. Stick to the basics like squats, bench press and shoulder press.

The aerobic component of this program is very important. Although there are a few people who can get in good shape without aerobics, most of us need it. You will need to do at least 500 calories per day of aerobics, and more is fine. Many of the exercise machines these days will tell you how many calories you’re burning, which makes it easy to keep track. You must exercise at an intensity level where you are breathing hard and sweating. Moderate to high intensity aerobics will promote fat loss much faster than low intensity activities. Running on the treadmill is probably the best; stairclimbers are also good. If your equipment doesn’t display calories burned, plan on one hour of fairly intense aerobics per day.

This Pre-Diet Program works best if you are able to monitor your change in body composition. Following overall body weight just isn’t enough. If you don’t already have a way to measure body composition, you might consider the Parrillo BodyStat Kit.

Trouble-shooting: If you’re not losing fat on this program at the rate of two pounds a week, you have probably overestimated your maintenance energy requirement at the beginning. Decrease calorie intake by reducing starches by another 300 calories per day. If things are going extremely well and you are gaining muscle while losing fat, keep doing what you’re doing. Generally speaking, if you want to speed up your progress you are usually better off by doing more exercise rather than further reducing calories. The lower you go in calories the more important it becomes that those calories are extremely nutrient dense, and that the protein source is very high quality.

References

• Andersson, I. et. al. “The Christmas factor in obesity therapy” International Journal of Obesity and Related Metabolic Disorders (1992) 16: 1013-1015.
• Baker, R.C., et al. “Weight control during the holidays: Highly consistence self-monitoring as a potentially useful coping mechanism” Health Psychology (1998) 17: 367-370.