Ranking The Parrillo Training System
May 5, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
There are all kinds of bodybuilding systems out there. How does yours compare to the others?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Today, it seems that so many athletes are searching for a miracle supplement or a miracle training technique that will transform their physiques overnight. What they don’t realize is that they must take a comprehensive
approach to bodybuilding. At Parrillo Performance, we teach you the basics- a set of interrelated programs that are “synergistic;” that is, they all work together to produce the best results. There are five interdependent components involved: proper nutrition, supplementation, training, stretching, and aerobics. These work synergistically to produce results. I’ll briefly explain each one:
1. Proper nutrition: This involves training your metabolism to partition food more effectively, so it can be used to burn fat and build muscle. A diet that achieves this is a high-calorie one (between 2,000 and 10,000 calories a day or more) with five or more meals spread throughout the day and spaced two to three hours apart. The meals in this diet should include the proper combination of lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates. This combination of foods slows your digestion for consistent energy levels and increased endurance throughout the day and provides a constant supply of nutrients for muscular growth and repair.
2. Supplementation: Vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, amino acids, medium chain fatty acids, aspartates, lipotropics, and other supplements increase the nutrient density in body cells, activating your body chemistry for growth. Supplements, however, will never replace proper nutrition. Once you’re eating correctly, supplements can be added to your diet to maximize the results.
3. Workouts: The optimum training routine employs heavy/low rep sets to build mass and thickness and high rep sets to build shape and “cardiovascular density.” By cardiovascular density, I mean the size and number of blood vessels. When this circulatory network is increased, more nutrients are carried to the muscles while performance-inhibiting toxins are effectively transported away. All of this results in muscular growth. In other words, the greater your cardiovascular density, the bigger you can become.
4. Fascial Stretching: This is an advanced and specialized method of stretching which I developed just for bodybuilders and athletes. It involves stretching between each exercise set when the muscle is fully pumped and utilizes some very aggressive self and partner-assisted stretches. Fascial stretching stretches the fascial sheath that covers the muscle and leads to greater mass, muscularity, and muscular separations. 5. Aerobic Training: This is absolutely critical for three reasons. First, aerobic exercise enhances recovery. Second, it builds cardiovascular density; and third, it accelerates fat-burning. Aerobics should be performed at certain times during the day: at night after your last meal and in the morning before breakfast, especially if you are trying to lose body fat. In the morning, your body draws upon fatty acids for energy in the absence of muscle glycogen. As a result, more body fat is burned. The key point to remember is that these components work together. The most intense training system in the world, for example, will yield only marginal results unless you’re fueling yourself with proper nutrition. Used together, however, each of these components will help you achieve your physique and performance goals.
Question:
Even though I’m a competitive bodybuilder, I never know exactly how to eat in the off-season to get good results. What’s your off-season nutrition prescription?
Answer:
Many bodybuilders use the off-season to go off their diets, eating everything in sight and paying very little attention to nutrition. For competitive bodybuilders, the off-season is the ideal time to put on muscle, while staying relatively lean. That way, you don’t have to diet as hard as your contest approaches. In the off-season, you must eat enough to increase your body weight and still stay strict on your nutrition program. Eat the right foods (lean protein, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates) in the right combinations and in multiple meals (five, six, or more a day). In addition, use CapTri, supplements such as ProCarb, Hi-Protein Powder, or any of our Supplement Bars to increase your daily caloric intake. (For more information on off-season nutrition, consult the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual. Ordering information is on page 14. ) Be as consistent with your nutrition during the off-season as you are during the competitive season, and you’ll emerge ready for your contests bigger and more defined.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Fruit Makes You Fat
May 5, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
Why do you exclude fruit and fruit juices from your Nutrition Program?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
I am frequently asked to explain why fruit and fruit juices are not included in my Nutrition Program. The answer has to do with a little-understood simple sugar found in fruit: fructose. Fructose came into favor years ago because of its low glycemic index. Unlike other simple sugars, it triggers neither a surge in insulin nor a
corresponding drop in blood sugar an hour or more after eating it. But there’s more to the fructose story. After you work out, your body moves from an energy-using mode (catabolism) to an energy-storing and rebuilding mode (anabolism). During the transition, dietary carbohydrate is broken down into glucose and fructose to be used for “glycogenesis,” the manufacture of glycogen to restock the muscles and liver. Fructose is used primarily to restore liver glycogen; it’s really not a good re-supplier of muscle glycogen. Glucose, on the other hand, bypasses the liver and is carried by the bloodstream straight to the muscles you just worked, where the glycogen-making process begins.
Any muscle emptied of glycogen due to exercise is first on the list to get its quota of glucose. Clearly, one of the keys to effectively restoring glycogen is the type of carbohydrate you eat. Natural, complex carbohydrates such as potatoes, yams, whole grains, corn, legumes or maltodextrin-based drinks like our Pro-CarbTM Formula do a better job at this than simple sugars do. In one study, a diet high in starchy carbohydrates restocked more glycogen in the muscles 48 hours after exercise than simple sugars did. If you eat simple sugars like fructose, you’re not going to be able to store as much glycogen. What implications does this have for you as an athlete or bodybuilder? First, you won’t be able to train as hard or as long during your next workout because you will be glycogen-deficient.
Second, you’ll notice less of a pump while working out, also due to lower glycogen stores in the muscle. If you can’t get a good pump, it’s difficult to fully stretch the fascia tissue surrounding the muscle when you stretch between sets. This limits your growth potential. Third, fructose is easily converted to body fat. Because of fructose’s molecular structure, the liver readily converts it into a long-chain triglyceride (a fat). Therefore, a majority of the fruit you eat can end up as body fat on your physique. People on our program notice incredible differences when they eliminate fruits and juices from their diets. If you want to get leaner and more muscular — and build your recuperative powers by restocking glycogen more efficiently — avoid fruit altogether and choose starchy and fibrous carbohydrates instead, as our Nutrition Manual recommends.
Question:
I’ve heard that doing aerobic exercise is a good way to burn body fat, but won’t it cause me to lose muscle mass?
Answer:
Never underestimate the power of aerobics in your training program. It has numerous benefits, from fat-burning to cardiovascular health to improved recovery mechanisms. Many bodybuilders, however, typically shy away from aerobic exercise, particularly in the growth season, fearing that it will cause a loss of muscle mass. This loss, however, has less to do with aerobics and more to do with improper diet. A bodybuilder who loses muscle during a period of aerobic training is simply not eating enough to compensate for the calories spent by the aerobic activity. Take in enough quality calories, and you’ll preserve muscle mass while your body fat drops. Aerobics forces oxygen through your body, increasing the number and size of your blood vessels. Blood vessels are the “supply routes” that transport oxygen and nutrients to body tissues, including muscles, and carry waste products away for muscular growth, repair and recovery. the expansion of this circulatory network is called “cardiovascular density.” Your ability to build additional muscle is limited by your degree of cardiovascular density. Without aerobics in your total bodybuilding program, your body can’t create any new supply routes for your newly developed muscles.
The more blood vessels you have and the bigger they are, the longer and more intense your workouts can be. In other words, the better your cardiovascular density, the greater potential you have for building bigger muscles. Do your aerobics in the morning for 45 to 60 minutes – before breakfast. By exercising before your first meal, you begin burning fatty acids for energy in the absence of glycogen. You become leaner as a result. Then later, the carbohydrates you eat are efficiently re-supplied to muscles, without being turned into body fat. Plus, your metabolism is activated for the entire day. Most people don’t understand the importance of “aerobic intensity.” For a long time now you’ve probably been urged to achieve your “target heart rate” during aerobic activity. This is the elevation of the pulse to approximately 60 to 80 percent of your maximum heart rate (220 minus your age).
Reaching target heart rate and keeping it there for at least 20 minutes is supposed to boost general cardiovascular conditioning. Also, it’s always been assumed that if you exercise at your target heart rate long enough, you burn more fat. Optimal cardiovascular is not achieved by just raising your heart rate, but is rather optimally achieved by increasing “oxygen uptake” or VO2max. This represents your body’s maximum capability to deliver oxygen to the working muscles. So how do you boost your VO2max? By exercising so intensely that 
you’re breathing hard. The harder you breathe the more energy you expend, and the more fat your burn. Granted, less of a percentage of fat is being burned compared to total calories, but more fat is being burned because more work is being performed. Train consistently like this, and some important metabolic changes take place inside the body. First, the mitochondria (cellular furnaces where fat and other nutrients are burned) increase in size and total number inside muscle fibers. Second, muscle fibers build up more aerobic enzymes – special chemicals involved in fat-burning.
Third, Aerobic exercise appears to increase levels of myoglobin, a muscle compound that accelerates the transfer of oxygen from the bloodstream into the muscle fibers. Remember to eat more protein so that you don’t develop sports anemia. Larger mitochondria and more of them, greater levels of aerobic enzymes, and increased blood flow – these factors all boost the fat-burning capability of muscle fibers. The more aerobically fit you become and the harder you train, the more your body learns to burn fat for energy. So you can see why intense aerobic is so important for leaning out. Endurance athletes have known these things all along. That’s why bodybuilders can learn a lot from the training regimens of endurance athletes. They train regularly and at long duration at or near their VO2max, and as a result their muscles are conditioned to rely more heavily on fat for energy and less on stored carbohydrate (glycogen). To approach the training level of an endurance athlete, perform aerobics several times a week, at my recommended duration. But don’t “coast.” Work out hard, so that you’re breathing hard. The harder you breathe, the more fat you burn.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
How to Keep Energy Levels High
May 4, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
I’m an active person who works out, either aerobically or with weights, about six times a week. My problem is that I always feel like I’m out of energy. What can I do to keep energy levels high without gaining body fat?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
How do you get health and vitality? In a word, calories. You’ve got to eat more of the right kinds of foods to build health. Unfortunately, some people still think that “less is more;” that is, the fewer calories they eat the more body fat they’ll lose. They start subsisting on diets in the 600 to 1000 calories range, most often while trying to follow rigorous aerobics and weight training schedules. These sub-calorie regimens don’t provide enough food to fuel their energy requirements. Their bodies go into a breakdown mode, in which muscle tissue (including heart muscle tissue) is lost. Not only that, vital nutrients are pulled from tissues to fuel the body, depleting nutritional reservoirs.
The consequence is exactly the opposite of what is desired: poor health, sickness, injury. Sub-calorie diets also slow the metabolism, the body’s food-to-fuel process, making it easier for the body to store fat. Nor can muscle be built if the metabolism isn’t running up to speed. The answer to getting lean, muscular, and healthy is increasing calories. On the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program, you gradually increase calories to lose body fat and gain muscle. Depending on your sex, size, activity level and present metabolic state, you eat between 2,000 and 10,000 a day, sometimes more. When people first hear that my Nutrition Program allows up to 10,000 calories a day or more, they are amazed. But not all of those calories come from food. A certain proportion comes from nutritional supplements.
If you’re eating 10,000 calories a day, for example, about 4,000 of those calories are usually obtained from food supplements such as medium chain fatty acids like CapTri® and from protein and carbohydrate supplements like Hi-Protein PowderTM and Pro-CarbTM. Nutritional supplements play a key role in metabolism and nutrition. Used in conjunction with the proper foods, they assist in decreasing body fat supporting muscle growth, extending endurance and promoting better recovery and repair after training. Food selection is critical. My program includes lean proteins (fish, white meat poultry, and egg whites), starchy carbohydrates (potatoes, yams, brown rice, legumes and whole grain cereals) and fibrous carbohydrates (salad vegetables, green beans, cauliflower, broccoli and others).
Each meal should be structured to include a lean protein or two starchy carbohydrates and one or two fibrous carbohydrates. This combination of foods has two important benefits: First, the protein and fiber slow the
digestion of carbohydrates – and consequently the release of glucose – to provide consistent energy levels and sustained endurance throughout the day. Second, this combination provides a constant supply of nutrients so that your body can maintain its energy, growth and repair status. Also, you should eat five to six meals a day or more, spaced two to three hours apart. This pattern of eating is metabolically beneficial – for three reasons. First, it helps naturally elevate your body’s level of insulin, a hormone with powerful anabolic (growth-producing) effects. One of its chief roles in the body is to make amino acids available to muscle tissue for growth and recovery. Insulin’s release is triggered by the conversion of carbohydrate into glucose by the liver.
When glucose is introduced into the bloodstream, the pancreas releases insulin in response. For growth to occur, insulin must be constantly present in the body so that amino acids and glucose can move into the muscle tissue. Following a meal, amino acids remain available for protein synthesis for only about three hours. By eating meals of protein and carbohydrate two to three hours apart, you assure that your system is releasing adequate amounts of insulin, which, in turn, can exert its growth-producing action. The second reason frequent meals are beneficial involves “thermogenesis” – the production of body heat from the burning of food for energy. Following a meal your metabolic rate is elevated as a result of thermogenesis. Consequently, the more meals you eat, the higher your metabolic rate stays throughout the day. Third, with a constant nutrient supply, you are never forced into a “starvation mode,” a state induced by repeated cycles of low-calorie dieting in which the body prepares itself for famine. Because meals are coming at shorter, regular intervals, your body learns to process food more efficiently, and your metabolism is accelerated as a result.
Question:
I’ve heard so many things about how much protein is enough and how much is too much. Can you clear up some of this confusion about protein and amino acids.
Answer:
We’ve been getting a barrage of calls and questions lately about protein. “Can’t the body only digest 50 grams
of protein a day? Isn’t too much protein bad for you? Can too many amino acids be harmful?” To address these questions, let’s take a look at what science says. The amount of protein actually required by bodybuilders is as hotly debated as the entire subject of nutrition. The National Research Council sets the recommended daily allowance (RDA) at 0.8 grams per kilograms of body weight a day – the equivalent of 0.36 grams per pound of body weight a day. Based on the RDA, a 200-pound bodybuilder would require 73 grams of protein a day.
Unfortunately the RDA was established with average people in mind – not athletes. Protein supplies nutrients called amino acids which are required for every metabolic process. All muscles and organs, in fact, are made from amino acids. Like most athletes, bodybuilders have higher requirements for protein than the average person. Without enough protein, you cannot build muscle, repair its breakdown after training, or drive your metabolism. Various studies indicate that weight training athletes need greater amounts of protein. In one study, for example, ten weight lifters trained intensely and consumed 0.9 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day. Four of these athletes were found to be in negative nitrogen balance.
In another study, weight lifters who increased their protein intake from 1.0 to 1.6 grams per pound of body weight a day were able to increase both strength and lean mass. Serious bodybuilders train aerobically as well, and this places some particular demands on the protein needs of the body. Prolonged aerobic exercise, for example, can burn amino acids, after the body uses up its stored carbohydrate for energy, thus elevating protein requirements. Aerobic training in a protein-deficient state can lead to a condition called “sports anemia,” in which red blood cells and serum iron levels are reduced. During training muscle fibers are damaged and must be repaired following the exercise period. If your protein intake is low, the body draws on red blood cells, hemoglobin, and plasma proteins as a source of protein for muscular repair. When this happens, little protein is left to rebuild red blood cells at the normal rate, and sports anemia can be the result. Clearly, bodybuilders must include ample protein in their diets to promote muscular fitness. Individual protein needs vary and depend on a number of factors, including a bodybuilder’s training intensity and level of conditioning. I have seen many bodybuilders improve their physiques by increasing their protein intake to as high as 2.5 grams per pound of body weight a day – nearly seven times the RDA.
Based on our experience at Parrillo Performance, hard training bodybuilders can achieve excellent results by consuming 1.25 to 1.5 grams of protein per pound of body weight a day. On our program, one gram of your protein intake per pound of body weight should come from lean protein sources such as lean white meat poultry, fish, and egg whites; The other . 25 to .5 per pound of body weight should come from vegetables, particularly beans, corn and legumes. Avoid red meats and egg yolks. These are high in fat which easily converts to body fat. Now about amino acids. These provide another way to take in additional protein. Amino acid formulations are especially beneficial during periods of intense training and strict dieting. To protect lean body mass, many competitive bodybuilders increase their usage several months before competition. Thebranched chain amino acids leucine, isoleucine and valine are directly involved in building muscle tissue.
By carrying nitrogen, they assist the muscles in synthesizing other amino acids to promote growth and repair. People consuming a high-protein diet should be sure to drink plenty of water and to get enough calcium. Protein metabolism generates ammonia, which is converted to urea and excreted in the urine and sweat. Drinking plenty of water aids the kidneys in removing this nitrogenous waste and dilutes calcium salts which could form kidney stones. Notably, there is no evidence suggesting that strength athletes consuming a high-protein diet have an increased incidence of kidney disease. The data suggesting that a high-protein diet contributes to the progressive nature of disease come from people with pre-existing kidney problems. Many studies have demonstrated a positive correlation between protein intake and urinary calcium excretion. Results are equivocal regarding protein intake and calcium absorption. Some studies show that protein improves calcium absorption while others show the opposite. Calcium balance can be maintained during high protein diets by assuring adequate calcium and phosphorus intake (at least the RDA, 800-1200 mg/day) from both diet and supplementation.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Off-Season Nutrition
May 4, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
There are all kinds of bodybuilding systems out there. How does yours compare to the others?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Today, it seems that so many athletes are searching for a miracle supplement or a miracle training technique that will transform their physiques overnight. What they don’t realize is that they must take a comprehensiveapproach to bodybuilding. At Parrillo Performance, we teach you the basics- a set of interrelated programs that are “synergistic;” that is, they all work together to produce the best results. There are five interdependent components involved: proper nutrition, supplementation, training, stretching, and aerobics. These work synergistically to produce results. I’ll briefly explain each one:
1. Proper nutrition: This involves training your metabolism to partition food more effectively, so it can be used to burn fat and build muscle. A diet that achieves this is a high-calorie one (between 2,000 and 10,000 calories a day or more) with five or more meals spread throughout the day and spaced two to three hours apart. The meals in this diet should include the proper combination of lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates. This combination of foods slows your digestion for consistent energy levels and increased endurance throughout the day and provides a constant supply of nutrients for muscular growth and repair.
2. Supplementation: Vitamins, minerals and electrolytes, amino acids, medium chain fatty acids, aspartates, lipotropics, and other supplements increase the nutrient density in body cells, activating your body chemistry for growth. Supplements, however, will never replace proper nutrition. Once you’re eating correctly, supplements can be added to your diet to maximize the results.
3. Workouts: The optimum training routine employs heavy/low rep sets to build mass and thickness and high rep sets to build shape and “cardiovascular density.” By cardiovascular density, I mean the size and number of blood vessels. When this circulatory network is increased, more nutrients are carried to the muscles while performance-inhibiting toxins are effectively transported away. All of this results in muscular growth. In other words, the greater your cardiovascular density, the bigger you can become.
4. Fascial Stretching: This is an advanced and specialized method of stretching which I developed just for bodybuilders and athletes. It involves stretching between each exercise set when the muscle is fully pumped and utilizes some very aggressive self and partner-assisted stretches. Fascial stretching stretches the fascial sheath that covers the muscle and leads to greater mass, muscularity, and muscular separations. 5. Aerobic Training: This is absolutely critical for three reasons. First, aerobic exercise enhances recovery. Second, it builds cardiovascular density; and third, it accelerates fat-burning. Aerobics should be performed at certain times during the day: at night after your last meal and in the morning before breakfast, especially if you are trying to lose body fat. In the morning, your body draws upon fatty acids for energy in the absence of muscle glycogen. As a result, more body fat is burned. The key point to remember is that these components work together. The most intense training system in the world, for example, will yield only marginal results unless you’re fueling yourself with proper nutrition. Used together, however, each of these components will help you achieve your physique and performance goals.
Question:
Even though I’m a competitive bodybuilder, I never know exactly how to eat in the off-season to get good results. What’s your off-season nutrition prescription?
Answer:
Many bodybuilders use the off-season to go off their diets, eating everything in sight and paying very little attention to nutrition. For competitive bodybuilders, the off-season is the ideal time to put on muscle, while staying relatively lean. That way, you don’t have to diet as hard as your contest approaches. In the off-season, you must eat enough to increase your body weight and still stay strict on your nutrition program. Eat the right foods (lean protein, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates) in the right combinations and in multiple meals (five, six, or more a day). In addition, use CapTri, supplements such as ProCarb, Hi-Protein Powder, or any of our Supplement Bars to increase your daily caloric intake. (For more information on off-season nutrition, consult the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual. Ordering information is on page 14. ) Be as consistent with your nutrition during the off-season as you are during the competitive season, and you’ll emerge ready for your contests bigger and more defined.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Pushing Past Plateaus
May 4, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
I’ve been dieting to lose body fat for 12 weeks now, and I seem to have reached a plateau. What should I do?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
It sounds like you’ve been in a caloric-deficient state for too long. Your body has adjusted to that caloric level, and as a result, it stops burning body fat. When denied enough food, the body begins to feed on the protein in the muscles. Because muscle is the body’s most metabolically active tissue, depleting it interferes with your ability to burn calories. Plus, staying in a caloric-deficient state lowers your metabolic rate, making it harder for your body to burn fat. To break your plateau, move into a caloric-surplus state. This will help recharge your metabolism.
For a period of two to four weeks, gradually increase your calories – even to the point of gaining weight at the rate of a pound per week per 100 pounds of body weight. That way, you can increase your muscle, which in turn boosts your metabolism so you can burn fat much faster. Look at it this way: If you gain a pound a week for four weeks and lose a pound a week for four weeks, you’ll gain more mass and be much leaner than if you tried to lose first and gain later. So try to put on weight for several weeks. You will be amazed at how much bigger – and leaner – you will get. Depending on your sex, size, activity level, and present metabolic state, you should eat enough calories a day to gain at the desired rate.
Additionally, make sure you are increasing calories with the proper foods – foods that will help you construct new muscle and stay lean. Not all foods do this. The same number of calories from different foods has different effects on your body weight. This is very easy to prove. Just try replacing 1,000 calories of potatoes and brown rice with 1,000 calories of candy and ice cream in your diet, and see what happens to your body fat levels. Conventional dietary fat and food containing it (including fatty cuts of meat) tend to be easily stored as body fat. The reason is the chemical composition of dietary fat is similar to that of body fat, so very little energy is needed to turn dietary fat into body fat. By contrast, protein and carbohydrate must be chemically converted to fat before they can be stored as fat. This conversion process uses up a portion of the calories contained in the protein and carbohydrate food, and this expenditure reduces the tendency of these foods to be converted to body fat. Simple sugars are easily converted to body fat too, although to a lesser extent than conventional fat. When simple sugars are released into the bloodstream faster than the body can use them to replenish glycogen stores or meet energy requirements, an over-production of the hormone insulin occurs. This insulin response causes fat cells to take up the excess sugar and turn it into body fat. Insulin is important in the process of protein synthesis for muscle growth; yet, paradoxically, too much stimulates fat production.
Question:
I’ve read a lot about high fat diets. What is your view on this type of dietary regimen?
Answer:
Diets high in conventional fat (otherwise known as long chain triglycerides or LCTs) have been around for a long time and now appear to be making a comeback. There are, however, a number of problems associated with these diets. While being high in fat, they are also low in carbohydrates, the body’s preferred source of fuel. Low carbohydrate diets upset the body’s electrolyte balance, namely the sodium/potassium ratio. Along with glycogen stores, this may be the reason for the weight gain experienced when carbohydrates are added back into the diet. This weight gain may not be muscle The fats typically used in high fat diets come from processed 
sources, often containing high levels of bacteria, which impairs the function of the Reticuloendothelial System (RES). The RES plays two important roles in the body. First, it clears harmful bacteria in the system. And second, it is involved in lipid clearance. (Guyton’s Textbook of Physiology, 368-369) After a person goes on one or two cycles of a high fat diet, certain cells in the RES that produce antibodies become loaded with fat droplets, and their ability to clear bacteria from circulation is reduced. Bacteria goes undigested, is not processed in the liver and can end up in the lungs. This action can cause inflammation and possible organ failure. In addition, high fat diets have been linked to cancer, possibly due to the role in fat suppressing the immune system. (Food Technology, 1991) These health consequences do not occur with diet supplemented with medium chain fatty acids (MCFAs), however. In fact, a five-year study by the American Health Foundation demonstrated that MCFAs are a non-tumor promoting fat. Other research has shown the MCFAs and other structured lipids like omega-3 fatty acids do not hinder the function of the RES. (Food Technology, 1991) If you follow the Parrillo Nutrition Program, you know that we recommend supplementing the diet with the lipid CapTri, our MCFA. CapTri can be used to supply additional calories to support muscular growth and energy needs – without being stored as body fat. For a detailed explanation of how this supplement works, consult the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual. Where conventional fats are concerned, we recommend that you eat up to one tablespoon a day or more of safflower, linseed, canola or flaxseed oils to prevent an essential fatty acid (EFA) deficiency.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
How to Eat Five to Six Meals a Day
May 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
Like most people these days, I have a busy schedule. Often it’s hard to get my five to six meals every day. Got any suggestions?
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Answer:
Sticking to a multiple-meals nutrition program is easier and more convenient than most people realize. Here 
are several tips that will help you get all your meals in. First, cook several meals ahead of time each day and pack them in plastic containers until you’re ready to eat them. That way, your food is ready for microwaving. Second, incorporate meal supplements such as the Parrillo Supplement BarTM, ProCarbTM, or Hi-Protein PowderTM into your daily nutrition program. An example of an eat-anywhere meal is a Supplement Bar, several rice cakes, a can of tuna, and some fibrous carbs such as raw broccoli or cauliflower. This works well if you can’t prepare a full meal. Another good idea is to put a couple of scoops of ProCarbTM and/or Hi-Protein PowderTM in your water bottle.
When you’re ready to eat, fill it with water, and drink it, along with some chicken, tuna, or rice cakes, and some raw fibrous carbs. I’m glad that you recognize the importance of eating five, six, or more meals a day. This pattern of eating is metabolically beneficial in three ways. To begin with, multiple meals that include starchy 
carbohydrates help keep insulin constantly present in the body. This powerful, growth-producing hormone helps make amino acids available to muscle tissue for growth and recovery. Insulin’s release is triggered by the conversion of carbohydrate into glucose by the liver. Frequent meals also increase “thermogenesis,” the production of body heat from the burning of food for energy. Following a meal, your metabolic rate is elevated as a result of thermogenesis.
So the more meals you eat, the higher your metabolism stays throughout the day for fat burning and muscle building. Finally, with a constant nutrient supply, you are never forced into a starvation mode. With meals coming at regular intervals, your body learns to process food more efficiently, and your metabolism is accelerated as a result. John Parrillo is the creator of the high-calorie approach to losing body fat and burning muscle. In fact, a leading muscle magazine has called him “an exercise and nutrition genius who knows more maximizing muscle mass and losing body fat than anyone else in the world.” John is the author of the new book HIGH PERFORMANCE BODYBUILDING and his best selling manuals, The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Manual
(800) 344-3404
Weight Training to Lose Body Fat
May 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
Question:
Does weight training have any direct effect on fat-burning?
Answer:
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Definitely. And the reason has to do with the muscle fibers, the basic element of the muscle. Muscle fibers are divided into three types: slow-twitch (also called slow-oxidative (SO) or Type I), fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic (FOG or Type IIa) and pure fast-twitch (FT or Type IIb). The slow-twitch fibers contract slowly. But they can 
sustain their contractions for long periods without fatiguing. These fibers are used more in endurance activities such as long-distance running or swimming.
Genetically, athletes with a predominance of slow-twitch fibers perform well in endurance competition. Slow-twitch fibers get most of their energy from burning fat, a process that requires oxygen. This is further kindled by the fibers’ ample supply of blood vessels, mitochondria (cellular furnaces where fat and other nutrients are burned) and glycogen and blood fats inside their cells. The pure fast-twitch fibers are different. They contract rapidly but fatigue more easily. Their energy comes from burning glycogen. There are fewer mitochondria in the cellular make-up of fast-twitch fibers. Athletes who excel in speed or power events such as sprinting or weight lifting appear to have a higher percentage of fast-twitch fibers. Fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic fibers contract quickly too, but they do not fatigue as fast. This may be because they have more mitochondria than the pure fast-twitch type but less than the slow-twitch fibers. But like the slow-twitch variety, fat can be burned by the fast-twitch oxidative-glycolytic variety for energy. Interestingly, you can change pure fast-twitch fibers into fast-twitch oxidative fibers by high-volume training such as long duration aerobics or intense high-intensity training.
Furthermore, this type of training actually increases the number of mitochondria in fast-twitch fibers to levels higher than those found in slow-twitch fibers. With more mitochondria in muscle cells, the fast-twitch muscle fibers burn more fat. Through high-volume training your body literally becomes as fat-burning machine. If you want to burn more body fat, I suggest that you do high-rep work using heavy poundages. Work out intensely – so that you are breathing hard each time you finish a set. Increase the frequency and duration of your aerobics too. This regimen is precisely how competitive bodybuilders train to lose fat before a contest. It’s an all-out approach that verges on over-training. But that’s what you have to do to change the fat-burning capacity of your muscle fibers. Remember too that you must follow a high-calorie, nutrient-dense nutrition program (food and supplements) as outlined in the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program to fuel this level of intensity.
Question:
Is there such thing as the “Perfect Supplement” and what is it?
Answer:
As bodybuilders and athletes, we’re continually on the trail of the perfect nutritional supplement. What is the “perfect supplement” and does it exist on the market? The answer to both of these questions is YES! To begin with, it’s formulated to build mass and burn bodyfat. It provides all the essential and protective nutrients your body needs for peak health, including protein, carbohydrates, essential fatty acids, vitamins, minerals and antioxidants. The perfect supplement is a slow-release energy source, one that builds and re-builds glycogen stores for endurance and stamina as well as for repair and recovery. It also has the ability to increase your metabolism. And, it contains fiber to keep your digestive system in good working order. This supplement also contains amino acids, including the branched chain aminos, to help synthesize protein for muscular growth. What’s more, it helps prevent sports anemia, electrolyte imbalances, and other conditions associated with hard training. Is there such a supplement…one that does it all…one that will transform your physique and boost your performance to never-dreamed of levels? You bet. And it’s called “FOOD.”
Think about it. Food really does all these things. It is the “perfect supplement.” For starters, it does build mass and keep you lean — as long as you choose foods that partition to muscle and energy stores and not to fat depots. Your food should come from lean proteins, starchy carbs and fibrous carbs. In the growth-season you need at least one gram of protein from a lean protein source, such as white meat chicken or turkey or fish, per 
pound of bodyweight. You should obtain an additional .25 to .5 gram of protein per pound of bodyweight from carbohydrates. Protein supplies amino acids for growth and are the building blocks for every cell in the body.
Starchy carbohydrates include such foods as potatoes, sweet potatoes, corn, rice, oatmeal, and other unrefined cereals, beans and legumes. In addition to supplying vitamins, minerals and antioxidants, these foods give you energy to train and the ability to recover quickly. Fibrous carbs include asparagus, broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, spinach, salad vegetables, and other high fiber, low calorie vegetables. Besides providing fiber, these foods also supply an abundant amount of vitamins, minerals, electrolytes and antioxidants. During pre-contest dieting, you can adjust your intake of starchy carbs and fibrous carbs to help burn more bodyfat. Next on the list of food “musts” are fats. Each day, take one teaspoon to one tablespoon of unsaturated oil. Safflower, sunflower, linseed, flaxseed or Hain All-Blend are excellent choices. These supply vital nutrients called Essential Fatty Acids (EFAs) which are involved in many biological functions.
It’s one thing to select the right foods and yet another to know how to properly combine them to build metabolism. Each meal should include one lean protein source, one or two starchy carbs and one or two fibrous carbs. This combination of foods is critical. The protein and fiber slow the digestion of starchy carbohydrates, giving you consistent energy levels throughout the day. You should structure your meals so that you eat five, six or more meals a day, spaced two to three hours apart. By eating multiple meals in this manner you give yourself a constant supply of nutrients so your body can grow and get big. Your meals should total between 2,000 and 10,000 calories or more a day. Your individual requirements will vary, depending on your sex, age, size, level of conditioning, metabolic status and proximity to your next contest. Do not jump in at the highest caloric level, however! You must gradually increase your daily calories. If you plateau and are not making gains, gradually add in between 300 to 500 calories to keep putting on weight. The point is, food is the foundation. There’s no supplement that has ever come close to providing everything you get from food. That’s not to say that you don’t get results from supplements — you do. But you have to start with food first. When you add the right supplements to the proper nutritional foundation, you’ll be bowled over by the progress you can make.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
Usage of Powdered Supplements as Meal Replacements
May 3, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
(800) 344-3404
Question:
I’ve read a lot about using powdered supplements as meal replacements, either to lose body fat or put on mass. Are they effective or is this just hype?
Answer:
To get the results you want, food will always work the most effectively. In years of working with bodybuilders and athletes, we have found that food is superior to all-supplement diets. Food provides something that all-supplement diets do not: the raw materials your body needs for growth or for stimulating chemical processes involved in the breakdown, absorption, and assimilation of nutrients. The digestive process, for example, requires “real” food – complete with its balance of nutrients and fiber – to do the job for which it was designed. The presence of food, acids, and enzymes in the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine) and the jejunum (the second section of the small intestine) stimulates the production of hormones required for the absorption of nutrients. Without food, these processes are interrupted, and the proper assimilation of nutrients is hindered.
Other important issues are involved as well. Foods such as legumes and other starchy carbohydrates contain special complex sugars called “oligosaccharides.” These sugars exert a healthful effect on the growth ofbeneficial bacteria in the gastro-intestinal (gi) tract. One family of these bacteria is called bifidobacterium. Because of the oligosaccharides’ effect on this type of bacteria, the sugars have been called “bifidus factors.” When bifidobacterium and other helpful bacteria are present in the gi tract, they prevent dangerous and sometimes deadly bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli from colonizing. Human milk is another food that contains oligosaccharides, and it is well known that breast-fed infants quickly develop a protective population of bifidobacteria.
Oligosaccharides have also been shown to protect cells from the invasion of the bacteria responsible for certain types of pneumonia, influenza, and other serious respiratory tract infections. The bacterial population of the gi tract obviously plays an important role in nutrition and health. Scientists are now exploring the use of oligosaccharides in the treatment of digestive disorders, elevated blood fats, and other health problems. The ability of oligosaccharides to promote healthy bacterial growth underlines the importance of food as the source for these protective factors. In other words, you cannot obtain such factors from supplements. In the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program, we state that “food is the cornerstone of nutrition.” If you do not eat the proper foods –lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates, nothing else matters. No supplement can ever provide all the benefits that food supplies.
We were built to process food , proteins, carbohydrates, and fats – not powdered or liquid supplements alone. That’s not to say certain types of supplements are not effective. They are – but only when taken with food and at the proper time and in the proper combinations. The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program tells you exactly how to do this. If you want to make the best possible progress with your physique, I suggest that you forget the hype (and that’s what it is) surrounding all-supplement diets or meal replacement programs and get back to basics. And that means food.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
The Benefits of Protein
May 1, 2009 by admin · Leave a Comment
(800) 344-3404
Question:
I’ve read a lot about using powdered supplements as meal replacements, either to lose body fat or put on mass. Are they effective or is this just hype?
Answer:
To get the results you want, food will always work the most effectively. In years of working with bodybuilders and athletes, we have found that food is superior to all-supplement diets. Food provides something that all-supplement diets do not: the raw materials your body needs for growth or for stimulating chemical processes involved in the breakdown, absorption, and assimilation of nutrients. The digestive process, for example, requires “real” food – complete with its balance of nutrients and fiber – to do the job for which it was designed. The presence of food, acids, and enzymes in the duodenum (the first section of the small intestine) and the jejunum (the second section of the small intestine) stimulates the production of hormones required for the absorption of nutrients. Without food, these processes are interrupted, and the proper assimilation of nutrients is hindered.
Other important issues are involved as well. Foods such as legumes and other starchy carbohydrates contain special complex sugars called “oligosaccharides.” These sugars exert a healthful effect on the growth ofbeneficial bacteria in the gastro-intestinal (gi) tract. One family of these bacteria is called bifidobacterium. Because of the oligosaccharides’ effect on this type of bacteria, the sugars have been called “bifidus factors.” When bifidobacterium and other helpful bacteria are present in the gi tract, they prevent dangerous and sometimes deadly bacteria such as salmonella and E.coli from colonizing. Human milk is another food that contains oligosaccharides, and it is well known that breast-fed infants quickly develop a protective population of bifidobacteria.
Oligosaccharides have also been shown to protect cells from the invasion of the bacteria responsible for certain types of pneumonia, influenza, and other serious respiratory tract infections. The bacterial population of the gi tract obviously plays an important role in nutrition and health. Scientists are now exploring the use of oligosaccharides in the treatment of digestive disorders, elevated blood fats, and other health problems. The ability of oligosaccharides to promote healthy bacterial growth underlines the importance of food as the source for these protective factors. In other words, you cannot obtain such factors from supplements. In the Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program, we state that “food is the cornerstone of nutrition.” If you do not eat the proper foods –lean proteins, starchy carbohydrates, and fibrous carbohydrates, nothing else matters. No supplement can ever provide all the benefits that food supplies.
We were built to process food , proteins, carbohydrates, and fats – not powdered or liquid supplements alone. That’s not to say certain types of supplements are not effective. They are – but only when taken with food and at the proper time and in the proper combinations. The Parrillo Performance Nutrition Program tells you exactly how to do this. If you want to make the best possible progress with your physique, I suggest that you forget the hype (and that’s what it is) surrounding all-supplement diets or meal replacement programs and get back to basics. And that means food.
Parrillo Performance Products
(800) 344-3404
