Iron Vic,

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

Read more

You go Girl! Want a big bench? Square up your nutrition… Bored to tears…Football fundamentals…Building a bigger gas tank

Vic Steele,

I am going to get back into fitness – not that I was ever really into it. My husband is a big fan of yours and he is fit and lean. I am fat and overweight. I want to do this on my own. I hate training with my husband. I find him overbearing and too critical. I tried the local fat girl facility, but while my husband expects too much, the trainers at this sissy spa expect too little so I never make any gains – there is a lot of talk about ‘self esteem’ and ‘being alright with being overweight’ and ‘positive self image’ at the sissy spa. I AM NOT alright with being 50 pounds overweight. BTW my husband has a whole cabinet full of Parrillo supplements and we have a full gym in our two car garage.

Linda, Flagstaff

Read more

Crazed exercises taught by incompetent personal trainers… Protein differences…why big biceps equate to lousy lats!

Vic,

You mentioned that you periodically train at commercial gyms – you must go crazy watching these no-nothing personal trainers put regular folks through their paces. I myself get a kick out of watching the blind leading the blind. Is it me or has the art of personal training gone backwards over the past few years? Some of the stuff I see taught absolutely defies logic. It seems to me the PTs I see either baby their clients or try and kill them.

Ron, Reno

Read more

Building the metabolism…Turning popguns into howitzers…Rampage as Mr. T

Mr. Steele,

How is it possible to “build the metabolism?”  I understand that this is one of the premier Parrillo precepts but I don’t get it – my father is a doctor and he says the idea that you can manipulate the metabolism to any significant degree is ridiculous. He is a podiatrist and not a sports physician and I admit that he is quite a bit overweight and smokes; still, he’s a medical expert and I would like a scientific explanation. You got to admit the idea seems whacky.

Don, San Diego

Read more

Time Compressed training…Sag Man…Protein assimilation myths…Machines versus free weights…Mitochondria & cardio

Free Weights

Vic Steele,

I am a ‘house husband.’ I work from home and watch our two kids while my wife does the corporate thing and makes the real money. I put in a lot of long hours between transporting kids all over the place and working as an accountant.  My available training time is extremely limited. Realistically I can squeeze in no more than 30 minutes of training, four to five times a week.

Read more

BodyStat for acquiring lean mass… Want to build a monster bench press? Consult Coan! The UFC is in tumult – and that’s a good thing!

Vic,

I want to go on a 10-week mass-building regimen. How would you lay out the supplement part of a mass-building nutritional program? I am coming off a terrific summer season. I got super lean and attained my lowest bodyweight of the year, 188 pounds. I currently weigh 195. I would like to push my weight up to 205 or 210 and bench press 380. Then I want to cut back to 195 (or thereabouts) for a bodybuilding show next spring. I’m lightly muscled compared to my competitors.

Read more

Olympia feedback…The Parrillo 100-Rep Five Phase Giant Set Redux…Cookie Construction…Smart Bombing is Smart!

Dear Stupid,

How can you put stone-age dudes like Bill Pearl, John Grimek and Reg Park on your all time top ten list and leave off modern greats like Jay Cutler??!! I have zero idea who Reg Park is. Bill Pearl couldn’t take 100^th place in the 2009 Mr. Los Angeles. What’s up with this stupid idea of placing old timers with lousy physiques ahead of the modern greats?  Time for you to retire

Read more

10 sets of 10 reps and more protein…One legged-bar bar brawler…New Parrillo Products…CapTri® cooking for Dummies

Vic Steele,

Here’s my problem: I am stuck at a bodyweight of around 165 and cannot add weight to save my life. I am 5-9 and very, very lean. I have entered the Hawaiian Iron Man Triathlon in years gone by and currently have a 7.5% body fat percentile. I know this for a fact because I had myself tested at the University of Kentucky Sports Laboratory a month ago. This was an underwater dunk test and I registered a 7.44% body fat percentile. I lift four times a week using a basic Parrillo split routine. I recently read an old column of John’s and was thinking about trying his “10 sets of 10 reps routine.” My goal is to add ten pounds of muscle without blowing my leanness…is that possible? Perhaps you could lay out a routine and supplement schedule. Currently I take 50/50 Plus™ after my workouts and every morning I take Max Endurance Formula™ (I do 45 minutes of intense cardio every single day) plus I take Bio-C™ and Natural E-Plus™. I was thinking about adding Muscle Amino Formula™ and Evening Primrose Oil™. Thanks again and keep up the no-bull advice…

Randy, Lexington

Read more

Sweets and fat intake…Strong, Fit and FAT!…Athletic idiosyncrasies: absolute and sustained strength

Vic,

Any tips for a bodybuilder with a severe sweet tooth? I have been a competitive bodybuilder for a lot of years and while I don’t really crave sweets most of the time, when I swing into my pre-competition diet, I get intense sweet cravings. The deeper into my 12 week, low-fat pre-competition diet I get, the worse my sweet tooth gets! I had thought that at some point in my career I would outgrow these weird pre-competition sugar cravings – but it seems to be getting worse not better. Is my dilemma common among competitive bodybuilders? Am I a head case? Do I need to get hypnotized? Like a compulsive drinker, gambler or smoker? Seriously, I would do it if you thought it would help. I binged two weeks prior to a competition last year and it turned into a bad scene. I broke down and ate almost an entire cheesecake at a friend’s party – my system was so pure that I suffered sugar shock, fell down and almost went into a coma. No sh-t it was scary. I want to prepare for another show in August – but I am scared I will do something stupid. Have you ever heard of anything like this before?

Read more

The quality goes in before the name goes on…

Quality Supplements

Tin Head,

You always talk about how Parrillo products are the best. So what makes Parrillo products any better than any other products? Looking through the muscle magazines, your stuff looks pretty damned dated – with all the new breakthroughs out there in supplements, how come you folks are still championing stuff like beef liver tabs and caseinate protein powder?! That stuff went out of style back in the seventies! Are you the company for aging baby boomers and has-beens?

                      Ross, Atlanta  

Breakthroughs!? Name me a single new supplement that has been introduced and gained widespread traction since the introduction of creatine monohydrate back in 1993? That’s sixteen years and counting….while plenty of ‘breakthrough supplements’ have been introduced, none have changed the supplement landscape one iota. None of the new ‘breakthrough’ products comes within a country mile of producing the results they claim! Meanwhile, as PT Barnum once observed, “there is a new sucker born every minute.”

Read more

Next Page »