As this is being written, the 91st annual meeting of the Endocrine society is underway in Washington, D.C. For those of you not familiar with the term “endocrine,” this refers to hormones, and physicians who specialize in the study of hormones are endocrinologists. Among the many studies presented at this meeting of hormone doctors, a few show particular significance for those engaged in bodybuilding and physical activity. For example, one study compared eating the usual 55% carbohydrate diet to a lower intake of carbs, 43% to be exact. The lower carb diet contained more fat (39% versus 27%)  than the conventional higher carb diet. The protein intake was identical on both diets, comprising 18% of total calories. While the study authors suggest that his level of protein intake helps to increase feeling of satiety, in truth, most low-carb diets contain over twice that level of protein. Consuming higher protein intakes while on low-carb diets helps to preserve lean tissue, as well as decrease appetite. The results after four weeks showed that eating a lower carb diet led to lower insulin and lower blood glucose levels after a meal. More importantly, those eating the lower carb intake reported far greater feelings of fullness, which would translate into greater dieting compliance.

Another study at the meeting presented evidence that a form of the protein, ghrelin, may offer potent anticatabolic effects in muscle. Ghrelin is a potent appetite stimulant, especially for dietary fat intake, but it also promotes growth hormone release. Italian researchers found that a form of ghrelin called des-acyl ghrelin, when provided to mice potently protected the rodents against induced muscle atrophy. How it does this isn’t yet known, but  the effect doesn’t work through stimulating other anabolic hormones, such as IGF-1 or testosterone.

Myostatin is a protein that works to inhibit muscle growth. Animals lacking genes for myostatin show huge muscles and a lack of bodyfat, an ideal scenario for bodybuilding purposes. A study presented at the meeting had mice genetically altered to produce a high rate of atherosclerosis breed with other mice also altered to lack the myostatin gene. After 10 generations, they wound up with mice that had both characteristics. Control mice in the study had the genetic predisposition to atherosclerosis, but lacked the myostatin deletion gene. All the mice consumed a high fat diet for 12 weeks. Compared with the control mice, the specially-bred mice showed much less bodyfat, 30% lower fasting blood glucose levels, and 80% lower fasting insulin levels. They also showed 50% lower levels of low density lipoprotein cholesterol, the type most linked to cardiovascular disease, along with 30-60% lower levels of total cholesterol and  blood triglycerides. This is a healthy cardiovascular profile that would prevent the onset of cardiovascular disease. One of the study authors commented that he doubts that the supplemental myostatin blockers sold to bodybuilders would have any effect at all.

Not long ago, I wrote a two-part article on the benefits of green tea for Ironman. I’ve used green tea (GT) myself for quite some time. It contains some of the most potent natural antioxidants yet discovered, which explains why it offers a myriad of health benefits. While leafing through a magazine that touts itself as being the “premier” bodybuilding science magazine, I noticed an item with the heading “Green tea lowers testosterone.” The way the short item was written appeared to offer convincing evidence that using green tea supplements, or drinking the tea itself, would lower testosterone levels. The item ended by suggesting that perhaps bodybuilders should avoid anything with green tea. Such a suggestion is problematic, because most “fat-loss” supplements sold today contain green tea as a primary active ingredient. On the other hand, attempting to produce any appreciable gains in muscle mass while also consuming a substance that lowers testosterone amounts to working against yourself. You simply cannot build muscle without a certain amount of testosterone. This is an established fact. So what to do about the green tea problem?

I mentioned in my Ironman green tea article how some rat studies in which the rodents were given large doses of green tea antioxidants via intravenous route did appear to lower testosterone in the animals. It also lowered other hormones, including estrogen. But the study showed that when provided orally, green tea had no effect on the hormones.In addition, the rats in the study lost a considerable amount of weight, and it was conjectured that the weight loss, rather than the green tea exposure, is what led to the lowered hormone levels. Losing large amounts of weight rapidly produces similar effects in humans due to a high stress effect.   In addition, other studies with mice and rats show that green tea appears to boost testosterone levels. One mechanism may be an inhibition of the aromatase enzyme that converts androgens, such as testosterone, into estrogen. Test tube studies of rodent cells show that green tea may also inhibit 5-alpha-reductase, the enzyme that converts testosterone into its metabolite, dihydrotestosterone (DHT). The latter causes male pattern baldness, acne, and prostate gland problems.

To  examine the  question of whether new information does suggest an anti-testosterone mechanism associated with green tea , I looked at the actual study, which was published in the Asian Journal of Andrology. This was the same journal that first published articles about an African herb called Fadogia, which was soon followed by some people attempting to peddle fadogia as a potent testosterone producer. My reaction to that was that the evidence for the efficacy of fadogia consisted of folk tales from Nigeria, along with one–count em’– one study of rats. A follow up study by the same researchers found that long-term use of the herb could cause testicular toxicity, which is not exactly amenable to higher testosterone production. Of course, the purveyors of fadogia never mentioned that later study. But back to green tea and testosterone.

The article in the bodybuilding magazine indicated that the study used intact rats. First, what happens in rats doesn’t necessarily also happen in humans. But the study didn’t involve live rats. Instead, it examined isolated Leydig cells obtained from rats. The Leydig cells are the portion of the testes where testosterone is synthesized. The cells were incubated with the active antioxidant constituents of green tea for three hours, along with the testosterone precursor, androstenedione. Some may recall that andro was one of the first prohormones released, and gained fame when baseball slugger, Mark McGwire admitted using it. Of course, now we know what McGwire really used, and it wasn’t an over-the-counter prohormone! The study showed that exposing isolated cells to large amounts of green tea interfered with several pathways of testosterone synthesis. But this involved doses far larger than would be obtained by an oral intake of green tea. In addition, humans can only absorb a small percentage of ingested green tea polyphenols (antioxidants). So in effect, this study was similar to the one that I described in my green tea article. To suggest that consuming green tea in supplement form would produce the same effect is a huge leap of scientific logic. If this were true, most bodybuilders who use green tea supplements in any form would have low testosterone levels, and that is simply not the case. Also, consider that in Asian countries, the average intake of green tea is 10 cups a day. Again, if this were lowering testosterone levels, China would be a vast, uninhabited wasteland. Ditto for Japan. The level of Leydig cell exposure to green tea polyphenols that occurred in the study would never happen in the human body.

So much for the “premier science” bodybuilding rag, er, I mean mag.

While I strongly advise eating plenty of fruits and vegetables, there is one notable problem with such foods. Many are laced with various pesticides. These pesticides are linked to everything from cancer to interference with hormone activity in the body. Below you’ll find the fruits and vegetables containing both the highest level of pesticides, along with the lowest. You should still eat the “tainted” fruits and veggies, since many of these contain valuable phytochemicals and antioxidants that help to prevent a myriad of diseases, including cardiovascular disease and cancer. Some, such as broccoli, can even lower active levels of estrogen in both men and women. This prevents estrogen-related cancers in women, and lower estrogen in men helps to maximize the effects of testosterone in the body. Just ensure that you thoroughly rinse the “dirty” ones before eating them.  Here’s the list:

Highest in pesticide content:

1. Peaches

2. Apples

3. Bell peppers

4. Celery

5. Nectarines

6. Strawberries

7. Cherries

8. Kale

9. Lettuce

10. Imported grapes

11. Carrots

12. Pears

13. Broccoli

14. Tomatoes

15. Sweet potatoes

Lowest pesticide levels

1.Onions

2. Avocados

3. Sweet corn

4. Pineapple

5. Mango

6. Asparagus

7. Sweet peas

8. Kiwi

9. Cabbage

10. Eggplant

11. Papaya

12. Watermelon

Although I’ve written over 3,000 published articles during the last 30 years, I have not, until now, ventured into the world of book writing. But recently, with the encouragement of Ironman editor-in-chief, Steve Holman, and publisher John Balik, I’ve finally decided to make the leap  to the book world. To be precise, my first book is an E-book, which of course stands for electronic book. The title of the book is Natural Anabolics, and it covers in concise fashion most of the more popular ergogenic aid sports supplements available on the market. What sets this book apart from others, however, is the total lack of commercial nonsense and outright lies too often seen on books on nutrition that are supposed to be objective. This book answers many of the common questions that people have asked me over the years, such as are there any supplements that actually boost testosterone levels, and others. This is not my first venture into the world of total truth. About a decade ago, Ironman published a newsletter that I wrote called Applied Metabolics. I was originally supposed to write this with a medical doctor and a well-known exercise physiologist. The medical doctor backed out of the project after signing a contract with a supplement company. The physiologist had recently begun working for another magazine, and backed out of participating in the newsletter because of fear of repercussions from the publisher of the magazine. So I wrote the whole thing myself. This was the type of publication that supposedly would appeal to a wide range of intelligent readers, since it contained no advertising, and I had no limits in regard to writing the whole truth and nothing but. That is also true of the new e-book, I think it will serve as a handy antidote to the crap that is regularly published in some magazines, and is rampant in ads pertaining to various supplements. Somebody had to step up to the plate about this flood of B.S falling on the public, and I was happy to take the bat. Those who’ve read my work over the years know that it is devoid of lies and commercial ties. I usually avoid writing about studies that push particular products, knowing how easy it is to manipulate studies, and also because I refuse to be an unpaid shill for supplement companies. If you want to know the truth about the most popular sports supplements and sports nutrition, check out jerrybrainum.com for info on my e-book.

The FDA announced today the recall of a dietary supplement touted for fat loss called Hydroxycut. This is a heavily advertised and popular supplement among bodybuilders and others. I received two e-mails shortly after the FDA announcement about the Hydroxycut recall. Here was my response:

In the most recent study, a case study is presented about a 28-year-old man who showed symptoms indicative of severe liver toxicity. He had ingested Hydroxycut according to product directions, ingesting 2 tablets, 2-3 times daily for 3 months prior to the onset of his symptoms. He also ingested Tylenol and aspirin to treat his “sore muscles.” The man also admitted to drinking an average of 2-3 beers a week, which was described by the study authors as “heavy drinking.”  The man showed a high copper level in his urine, which could be indicative of a genetic disease called Wilson’s disease that is characterized by high copper levels. But this was ruled out by the finding of normal serum copper and ceruloplasmin (the protein carrier of copper in the blood) levels. So why did Hydroxycut cause his liver problem? The UCLA physicians who submitted this case study suggest that it may be related to some of the ingredients in the product. This was the third case of liver toxicity linked to Hydroxycut reported in the medical literature. As with this case, the other “victims” also ingested the recommended dose. Three of the ingredients of Hydroxycut, namely Garcinia cambogia, Gymnema sylvestre, and green tea, have all been associated with severe liver toxicity. In one case reported last year, a man used two fat-loss products containing these ingredients (one was Hydroxycut) for only a week, then died of fulminent liver failure. Complicating the case was the fact that he was also ingesting a type of drug called a leukotriene antagonist (used to treat asthma, I take one myself). The theory is that the combination of the drug and the supplement ingredients resulted in rapid liver failure. Green tea extract has been shown to cause liver problems, but it’s difficult to explain why, since the active polypheonols in green tea aren’t absorbed too well, and you would have to ingest far more than is contained in any type of fat-loss supplement. There is the possibility, however, of an idiosyncratic reaction limited to only certain people. The fact that the man was also ingesting Tylenol may have played a role, since the primary ingredient of Tylenol (acetaminophen) is extremely toxic to the liver. Just ingesting 12 tablets at once could alone cause liver failure, and consuming it with alcohol makes it toxic even at lower doses. Since this man admitted a fondness for beer, I suspect that his case of liver failure wasn’t related to the Hydroxycut, but rather to the likelihood that he ingested a large dose of Tylenol with alcohol, which would definitely cause his symptoms. I view this report as alarming, since it reminds me of the previous Ephedrine scare, which was just a conspiracy involving the FDA in collusion with pharmaceutical companies to remove an effective weight-loss product,i.e., ephedrine, that was proven superior in several published studies to existing drugs prescribed to treat obesity. I  don’t think the existing medical literature (which I am quite familiar with) justifies pointing an accusatory finger at Hydroxycut or any other existing fat-loss supplement

Studies examining how green tea may be toxic to liver function found the the effect emanates from a parodoxical action of green tea that also exists for other nutrient antioxidants. This involves the fact that large amounts of green tea can act like a pro-oxidant, instead of imparting its usual antioxidant activity. In the liver, the oxidation activity of green tea depletes the primary antioxidant/detoxifyer in the liver, namely glutathione. This suggests that if a person who uses supplements that contain green tea also ingests other nutrients known to increase the liver production of glutathione, such as N-acetylcysteine and milk thistle, the side effects linked to green tea could be blocked.

According to a study just presented at the annual Experimental Biology 2009 conference in New Orleans, women who use oral contraceptives, better known as birth control pills, may experienced hampered muscle gains when they lift weights. The study consisted of 73 healthy women, ages 18 to 31, who were assigned to either a birth control pill group (BCP), or a non-birth control group (NBCG). All the women participated in a 10-week weight-training program, training 3 days a week under the supervision of physiologists. They did both standard upper and lower body exercises, all for 3 sets of 6-10 reps, using weights equal to 75% of their maximum one-rep lift. Body composition in the women was measured by hydrostatic weighing. In addition, blood samples were obtained prior to, and after the training to measure various hormones, including DHEA, DHEA-S,  and IGF-1.

The results showed that those not taking BCP gained 60% more lean mass compared to those taking the pills. On the other hand, strength gains and arm and leg circumferences were similar between the groups. The levels of the anabolic hormones, DHEA and IGF-1, were significantly lower in the women on the pill, while levels of the catabolic hormone, cortisol were higher in the pill users. The OCP also showed decreased levels of DHEA at the end of the study. In contrast, no change occurred in DHEA levels in the non-pill users.

The researchers who conducted this study were at a loss to explain the results, other than suggesting that BCP can impede muscle gains in women. On the other hand, while the pill users gained 60% less lean mass compared to their non-pill peers, both groups gained similar levels of strength and size in the legs and arms. This, of course, is a quite contradictory finding, and makes you wonder if much of the lean mass gains experienced by the non-pill users consisted of water. Curiously, testosterone wasn’t measured in the study, which would have somewhat clarified the results. Instead, only DHEA levels were measured. DHEA, however, is an adrenal androgen that tends to convert into testosterone in women far more readily that it does in men. But recent studies also show that DHEA doesn’t appear to promote muscle gains in exercising women. Since the women trained under supervision, we have to assume that they trained with an equal level of intensity, which would have influenced muscle gains. The elevated cortisol levels in the pill users likely played a major role in why they gained less lean mass, since the non-pill users didn’t show such elevations. The women were told to ingest at least 0.5 grams of protein per pound of bodyweight. Normally, a high protein intake would offset much of the muscle catabolic effects linked to higher cortisol levels, but this level of protein may not have been enough to overcome the catabolic effects probably induced by the OC.

This new information does not apply to women using anabolic steroid drugs, which would make any effects of OC on muscle growth negligible. As the study authors suggest, there may be other, as yet unidentified mechanisms as work here, too. In the meantime, I doubt that many women would be willing to toss those birth control pills as a means of promoting muscle gains. Becoming pregnant when you don’t want to is a far more serious proposition than sacrificing some muscle gains in rational women.

February 12 marked the bicentennial of the birth of Abraham Lincoln, the 16th and greatest president of the United States.  Most people know that on the night of April 14, 1865, Lincoln was assassinated by John Wilkes Booth while viewing a play at Ford’s theatre in Washington. Shortly after being shot by Booth, Lincoln was attended to by two young physicians, one of whom had graduated from medical school just a month earlier. The doctors did what they could for Lincoln, but the medical techniques available at the time could do little to save the president. The question arises: could modern medical techniques have made a difference in Lincoln’s prognosis?

I recently found an article that featured comments from Thomas A Scalea, M.D., who is associated with the nation’s oldest trauma center, the R.Adams Cowley Shock Trauma Center in Baltimore. In the article, the precise nature of Lincoln’s wounds are described, along with how he would be treated today. Booth’s bullet entered the left side of Lincoln’s skull, and the two attending physicians soon probed the open wound with their fingers, which certainly isn’t advisable due to possible exposure to sepsis. They noted that at age 56, Lincoln still had the “chest and arms of an athlete.” Lincoln’s robust physique led the doctors to believe that if he hadn’t been in such strong condition, he would have died in 10 minutes. The force of the bullet caused Lincoln to have an intracerebral hemorrhage and a subdural hematoma (blood clot) in the brain. If it happened today, Lincoln would have been rushed to a local trauma center, where he would have immediately been intubated to assist his breathing. The treatment would next have focused on relieving Lincoln’s intracranial pressure. This would involve providing a blood expansion effect by administering hypertonic saline (salt solution), along with modest hyperventilation. He would be given a chest X-ray, along with a CT scan of his head to observe the full extent of his injury. To relieve the blood clot in his brain, Lincoln would have undergone surgery within 15 minutes of his arrival at the trauma center. The main thrust of Lincoln’s treatment would have involved relieving his elevated intracranial pressure. After the surgery, Lincoln would have been given antibiotics to prevent infection, along with a drug to prevent post-operative seizures. Since brain injury is a highly catabolic event, Lincoln would have also been provided with parenteral nutrition or “tube feeding.” To prevent deep vein thrombosis, he would have been given blood thinners. Lincoln’s injury would have resulted in some permanent deficits. He would have been paralyzed on his right side, suffer partial blindness, and would have been unable to read, write, or speak. But since the frontal lobe of his brain was uninjured, he would have retained his intellectual capacity. In short, he may have survived Booth’s bullet, but his quality of life would have been quite low. Several other physicians have remarked that even if he had not been shot by Booth, Lincoln would not have lived long anyway. Based on Lincoln’s body structure, some doctors have suggested that Lincoln suffered from Marfan’s disease, which often results in a premature death from heart failure. Another physician, Dr.John G.Sotes, a cardiologist who has studied the health of American presidents, published a book last year based on years of research into the state of Lincoln’s health. In his book, The Physical Lincoln, Sotes says that Lincoln  had a rare (one person in a million) genetic disorder called multiple endocrine neoplasia, type 2B. Having this genetic defect results in cancers of endocrine organs, especially the thyroid and adrenal glands. Sotes suggests that Lincoln already showed signs of advanced cancer at the time of his death, and wouldn’t have survived much longer, since there was no treatment of cancer at the time.

Watching the Oscar de La Hoya-Manny “Pac-man” Pacquiao fight was of special interest to me. While I’m a boxing fan anyway, I also have worked for several professional boxers as a nutritional advisor. In this capacity, I worked with Oscar De La Hoya for 10 fights, beginning with his bout with legendary Mexican champion, Julio Cesar Chavez, in 1996, and ending with his bout with Oba Carr in 1999. I was part of a conditioning team that including Jon-Jon Park, the son of the great bodybuilder, Reg Park. Oscar never came close to losing a fight when we worked with him, although he was loath to give us any public credit for helping him to win. In fact, he had an exasperating habit of declaring himself in the best condition of his life prior to his bouts, only to say that he “wasn’t at his best,” immediately after the fight, despite winning such fights clearly.

When we initially approached Oscar in 1996, we had to convince him and his trainer that lifting weights wouldn’t hamper his main offensive weapon–his speed.

From a nutritional standpoint, Oscar’s diet was nothing short of atrocious. He had mostly junk foods, with a low protein, high processed carb diet. The fact that he was already a world champion said more about his innate skills than anything he was doing in his preparation for the fights.

I put Oscar on a high protein, moderate carb diet, and provided a host of supplements, several of which had never been used by any champion athlete. Within three months, the changes in Oscar became noticeable. His skin looked better, and he was showing far more muscle than he had previously.

We worked on rehabilitating his prior injuries and biomechanical defects, involving shoulder and lower back problems. I still recall Oscar telling me that the new program had “increased my speed about 20%.” And this was from an already fast boxer.

For the first 2 years, Oscar proved to be a man who took his celebrity status in stride. Besides being his nutrition advisor, I also doubled as a bodyguard whenever Oscar made his public appearances, since he was always mobbed by fans of all ages, particularly Latino women. These women would pass me notes to give to Oscar. I recall one that said,” Oscar, I will have your baby and you won’t have to pay for it!” Oscar always got big laugh out of such sentiments. On another occasion, Oscar gave the okay to have three gorgeous women let into his posh suite at the Caesar’s Palace hotel in Las Vegas. I sat next to Oscar and proceeded to tell the women how Oscar literally puts his life on the line every time he steps into the ring. The women left soon afterward, however, since Oscar’s then fiance was on the way in. He never married that particular woman, who appeared to have a single digit IQ, although she was quite the looker.

The third year working with Oscar, I noticed a change. He seemed increasingly arrogant and suspicious. The quiet, relaxed guy now turned into a tense guy who seemed angry about something. What I didn’t know at the time was that Oscar was in the process of firing his business manager. When he did this in 1999, he got rid of everyone, including his conditioning team. The only survivors to the purge were his brother and his boxing trainer, who himself lasted only one more fight.

Since we stopped working with him, Oscar has apparently returned to the same ancient training methods and diets that got him into physical trouble when we first met him. Rather than do the interval aerobic training that we had him on, which simulated the 3-minute rounds of actual boxing, or the weight-training exercises that likewise simulated boxing movements, Oscar returned to chopping wood and running long distances.

When he showed up to fight Pacquiao, he looked grossly over trained and catabolic. The muscle we had helped him build was only a distant memory. He looked, in bodybuilding parlance, “smooth and small.” Indeed, the much smaller Pac Man outweighed Oscar on the night of the fight, despite Pacquiao having a smaller frame, and being five inches shorter. Could we have helped Oscar win that night? Perhaps, when you consider that Oscar didn’t lose a fight until he stopped working with us. In fact, the first fight he had after us, to Felix Trinidad, he lost.

Pacquiao is without doubt a great and extremely aggressive fighter, and I think Oscar could have used all the strength and power, as well as speed, he had shown in the past. I believe that Oscar’s poor conditioning played an equal role to Pacquiao’s boxing skills in explaining Oscar’s devastating loss. Oscar looked both slow and weak in the ring. This is something I had never seen when he worked with us, and I don’t think it can be just written off to age. Had Oscar been properly conditioned, and provided some new supplements that I know about (all legal, no drugs), the outcome may have been different. Oscar lost not only to Pacquiao’s crisp and accurate punches, but also to his own arrogance and stupidity.

Paul Larocco of the Press-Enterprise featured a loving tribute to Ray Routledge.  

By PAUL LAROCCO

The Press-Enterprise

When coroner’s officials found Ray Routledge on Wednesday, there was no one to claim him and nothing but his subsidized senior apartment in San Bernardino.

But by the time a son surfaced in Colorado on Friday afternoon, there was a rich story to be told of the 77-year-old who once took the world’s biggest muscleman titles in the same year.

He was a young airman who flew from a base in Germany to win Mr. America in 1961. He was a pitchman and actor who once appeared in “The Incredible 2-Headed Transplant” alongside Oscar-nominee Bruce Dern. He owned a gym and even found time to become a prison guard and travel the United States — alone — for 17 years.

“Everyone I ever met, I always made mention of Ray Routledge,” said Dan Watson, a 68-year-old Moreno Valley resident who served with him at Rhein-Main Air Force base outside Frankfurt in the early 1960s. “So many times, nobody knew who he was and it was very hard for me to deal with.

“And to learn that he was just up the road,” Watson continued, a choke in his voice. “If I would have known he was there, you betcha I would have gone there.”

Watson spotted Routledge while he bench pressed at the base gym, just before he became Mr. America and amateur Mr. Universe. He said the gentlemanly bodybuilder wanted to be even stronger to compensate for the half-point he was docked in a prior competition for his tattoo.

Years earlier, Jim Simmons met Routledge at Air Base Defense School in Northern California. In 1953, Routledge was already eating protein pills “by the handful,” and getting all the stares from women as they walked the beaches, Simmons said.

“Ray was our guy for disagreements,” Simmons, now 73 and living in Yucca Valley, said with a laugh.

“The other (unit’s) guys picked this giant, he had to be 240-pounds. But Ray lifted him right up and threw him against the barracks, and boom, everything was over!”

In the 1960s, Routledge appeared on the cover of no less than eight muscle magazines. By the early 1970s he owned the San Bernardino Health Club at 10th and D streets.

That’s where Tim Goddard met him. Routledge took the teen under his wing for several regional youth competitions. They kept in touch through the years of Routledge’s marriage, move to Running Springs, divorce, sale of the gym, corrections job and decision to travel the country.

“He really loved it,” Goddard said.

“It’s kind of a sad ending, him coming back here and being in the place he was at.”

When Routledge returned, he had no more money, Goddard said, and no longer talked to his sons. But he’d still visit the 48-year-old Goddard, and sit for dinner — with dessert of a quarter of an apple pie and almost a half-gallon of ice cream.

Routledge gave Goddard all his prized bodybuilding trophies, medals and film reels. In 2003, the Old Fire burned Goddard’s home and took the irreplaceable items with it.

“He was very, very saddened but his words were, ‘You know, they’re only possessions,’” Goddard said, his words halted by tears.

“He said, ‘Your health is the main thing.’”

Reach Paul LaRocco at 909-806-3064 or plarocco@PE.com

This week, the new movie Death Race opened. This film is based on an earlier film called Death Race 2000, that starred David Carridine. I haven’t seen the new version, but the older version was filmed in 1975. Why am I discussing this seemingly irrelevant blood bath film? For one, I had a bit part in the ‘75 original version. Here’s how that came about.

A call came into the gym requesting three bodybuilders for a bit part in a film being shot in an art museum in Pasadena. In those days, bit parts payed about $100 a day, which could provide a bodybuilder like me with about four months of liver tablets. I answered the call, and showed up on the set in Pasadena. Also showing up was a well-known bodybuilder at the time, Don Peters, and one other guy who I don’t recall. Peters was in great shape, since he was preparing to compete in a major contest. I knew Don from my days at Vince’s Gym, and I was glad to see him. He was always a nice guy. We were herded into a small room near the set, after being told that a “closed set” scene was being shot involving a love scene between Carridine and the female lead. it seemed that hours passed while we patiently waited in that room, and the lack of available food (movie sets are usually replete with food, but this was a low-budget cheapie) added to our collective discomfort. Finally, I rose and said, “I’m going to find out how much this gig is paying, because I’m getting tired of all this sitting around.” I was told that our pay was only $25.”That’s it, I’m out of here,” I told Peters. He then suggested that we first find out exactly what the job entailed. “You guys are going to play masseurs, giving massages to the female actresses,” said an assistant director. I then decided that since it wasn’t a training day, I had some time to kill. But my biggest surprise was yet to come.

Within a short time, the private scene ended, and David Carridine emerged from a back room. I had heard that he, too, trained at Vince’s gym, although you could never discern that from his physique. Wearing a black elastic costume when I first encountered him on the set, he appeared tall and skinny, with no evidence of any muscle on his lanky frame. I made some brief conversation with him to kill some time (anyone who has ever worked in movies knows that most of the time, you’re sitting around, waiting). I then noticed that there was another guy on the set, who, having seen Peters now wearing his costume of a tank top and shorts, was walking around with his lats flexed, sneaking an occasional furtive glance at Peter’s impressive muscularity. In case you’re wondering, I was not the object of any attention, since I was in what was politely called in those days, a “bulking phase,” meaning I had about the same level of muscle definition as the Michelin man, although I did have fewer rolls in my abs. The “lat man” looked pathetic, since he was clearly intimidated by Peters. I attempted to talk to lats, and quickly noticed that he seemed to have a speech impediment, since one side of his mouth seemed paralyzed. He provided terse answers to my questions about his previous acting work, and I took an immediate dislike to the guy.  Later, he unsuccessfully tried to pick up the actress I was massaging (between takes, of course). She seemed to be as put off to this guy as I was. Eventually, we were called to the set to commence filming our scene. At that point, several actresses appeared, wearing bathrobes. I assumed that they were wearing bathing suits underneath. But when the bell rang for the scene to begin, and the director yelled,”Action!”, the women doffed their robes to reveal that they were wearing… nothing. All the other guys now had nude women lying on their massage benches, with the exception of me. “You’re massaging the female lead, she’ll be out in a minute.” Sure enough, the female lead did show up, and promptly lay on my table, nude. She was gorgeous, and I could feel my face heat up as I deftly applied my version of Swedish massage. One of the other actors in the film, a local radio personality named “the real” Don Steele, later told me that he got a kick on the expression on my face when I first realized that our message subjects would be nude. It was tough work, but it had to be done. The actress I massaged that day, Simone Griffith, went on to do a TV series with a then unknown actor named Tom Hanks. David Carridine later gained some weight and played the title role in Kill Bill, parts one and two. Don Peters did well in his contest, but regrettably passed away a few years ago. When I saw him many years later, I reminded him of our mutual acting gig, and he jokingly told me to keep it down, since his wife was nearby. Oh, and that obnoxious actor who flexed his non-existent lats around the set? Around a year later, I was reading about a movie in production that starred this guy, and I was astounded that anyone would even hire him. His name was Sylvester Stallone, and the film was called Rocky.