A: Generally, at least among drug-free genetically typical bodybuilders, the body will allow only a small degree of disproportionate muscular development. For each extra muscular inch, you will usually have to build about 10 to 15 pounds of muscle throughout your physique. And to build substantial mass throughout your physique, you must train your legs effectively.

By “legs” I’m referring to the thighs—fronts and backs—but in common parlance “leg” usually refers to the thigh and the calf.

Not only do you need to work your thighs effectively in order to help build your arms, but you also need to work your back and glutes effectively. Your thigh-hip-and-back structure  alone makes up about two-thirds of your body’s total muscle mass.

What’s more, you don’t need just any training for that primary structure. You need a major mass-building approach—squats or parallel-grip deadlifts rather than leg extensions, for example. When done properly, squats and parallel-grip deadlifts work the entire thigh-and-glute structure hard, and they also work the back to a degree, whereas leg extensions work just the quads. Even so, the squats and the parallel-grip deadlifts will do much more for your quads than leg extensions will.

While it’s true that the big-name bodybuilders have done lots of leg extensions, that isn’t how they built their thigh mass. Leg extensions contributed to refining their mass, but they did very little to build it.

When you know you have leg extensions to do after squats or parallel-grip deadlifts, you’ll consciously or subconsciously save something from the big exercise for the little exercise; and if you do leg extensions first, it will undermine your ability to train hard on the big exercise. Unless you give your all to squats or parallel-grip deadlifts, however, you’re unlikely to get much, if any, growth stimulation from them.

Focus mostly on the big exercises—and just a limited number of them. Keep your training abbreviated.

Of course, you want to train your arms too—but in an abbreviated way. As your overall physique grows, so will your body’s ability to grow bigger arms, but hammering away at lots of arm work and not doing full justice to the rest of your physique is unlikely to have much effect.

—Stuart McRobert
www.Hardgainer.com

Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s first byline in IRON MAN appeared in 1981. He’s the author of the new 638-page opus on bodybuilding Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great, available from Home Gym Warehouse (800) 447-0008 or www.Home-Gym.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

As a freelance photographer I mostly submitted photos to Iron Man; however, Bob not only bought the photos but also called me to ask about the details of the shoot. He was very interested in how I’d taken the pictures, as he had never seen 35-millimeter film create prints like the one I’d sent him. I had been experimenting with special black-and-white film that created the texture of medium-format photography. Bob was intrigued, and that is how our friendship started.

Read the rest of the entry at John’s Blog

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Vitamin C improves your immune system, but it can also help you burn fat. Your body uses vitamin C to make L-carnitine, which helps convert bodyfat to energy. That’s the reason fatigue is a symptom of vitamin C deficiency—you get sluggish from energy inefficiencies.

“Cocoa Compounds Boost Blood Flow to Muscles.” That was a headline in the July/August ’10 Well Being Journal. The article described using a cocoa beverage two hours before a workout and how it led to vasodilation. So having some dark chocolate before you hit the gym could enhance your pump.

Alcohol can be good for you—in moderation only. According to the Harvard Heart Letter, “For coronary artery disease and death from it, any amount of alcohol—from just under one-half drink per day on up—reduced heart disease risk by about 25 percent. But this was offset by stroke risk: at four drinks per day, the risk of having a stroke was 62 percent higher than it was with no alcohol use, and the risk of dying from a stroke was 44 percent higher. The lowest risk for any cause of death was at one drink per day.”

—Becky Holman
www.X-tremeLean.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Weight: 110 contest; 126 off-season

Height: 5’2”

Hometown: St. Maurice, Indiana

Current residence: Venice, California

Occupation: Animal trainer specializing in horses and dogs

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, figure, B-class, 1st; masters figure 35 and over, 2nd; ’08 NPC Orange County Muscle Classic, figure, B-class, 1st

Factoids: She grew up on a 150-acre farm and has a degree in equine science. In addition, everyone in her family except her mom owns and rides motorcycles.

Contact: fitfox13@yahoo.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

To install this desktop background on your computer:

PC:

Click on the photo, wait for the photo to load and then right click on the photo and set as wallpaper/background.

Mac:

Click on the photo. Save the photo to your hard drive. In your Desktop Pictures control panel, click “Select Picture” and choose this image. Click “Set Desktop.”

Natasha Yi, NatashaYi, photos of modeling, photos for actress, poses for modeling

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A: Yes, I do tend to use comparatively low overall training volume compared to most pros. I believe training is about quality over quantity—especially for natural athletes. That said, I’m certainly not a disciple of Mike Mentzer by any means, although his ideas definitely had an influence on my own training theories.

When it comes to periods of the year when I am “cutting,” I do not make any alterations to my style of training. I continue to employ my P/RR/S and FD/FS training protocols; however, I usually do up my volume just a bit in an effort to enhance calorie expenditure and my overall metabolic rate. I find that doing a few extra sets—and reps—during my workouts encourages bodyfat loss better for me than spending extra time on a piece of cardio equipment.

Now, that does not mean I completely forego cardio when looking to reach low, single-digit bodyfat levels—just that my additional weight training enables me to do a bit less. The major upsides to using this approach to contest prep (and/or photo shoots) are that first, I despise cardio and love weight training, and second, I retain a lot more muscle mass when I hit the stage or jump in front of the camera.

For clarification, here is a comparison of the sets I normally do for each bodypart vs. what I do during a cutting phase (in parentheses): quads: 9 (12); lats: 9 (12); chest: 8 (10); shoulders: 8 (10); hamstrings: 7 (9); triceps: 7 (8); biceps: 6 (7); traps: 4 (6); lower back: 4 (6); calves: 4 (6), twice per week; abs: 4 (6), twice per week.

Q. I’ve heard that you suffered a serious back injury in 2005. I recently hurt my lower back pretty badly, and my doctor said I may never be able to push really heavy weights again. How did you deal with that and still continue to improve your physique to this day—especially your back and legs?

A: When I injured my lower back, it was the result of cumulative damage over 15-plus years of hard training rather than a particular incident. Still, it was serious enough to keep me in bed for more than six months, only getting out to undergo intense and painful therapy three to four times per week.

When it first happened I saw several so-called specialists, who assured me that my bodybuilding career was done and that I “needed” surgery to fix the damage. Every time another doctor told me that, my fire to return to my feet and back to the gym would burn hotter and hotter. I flat out refused surgery and did not stop until I found a physician who had the skills to rehabilitate me without going under the knife. So right there you have the answer to the first part of your question—I vehemently rejected the notion that I could not be healed enough to continue serious bodybuilding, and I did relentless research in order to find someone who truly knew how to deal with an injury of this nature, rather than recommend the cookie-cutter solution of surgery.

As to what adjustments I made to my training once I was out of bed and back on my feet, I will leave that for my next column so that I can give you a more complete answer. To be continued!

Editor’s note: Eric Broser’s new DVD “Power/Rep Range/Shock Max-Mass Training System” is available at Home-Gym.com. His e-books, Power/Rep Range/Shock Workout and The FD/FS Mass-Shock Workout, which include complete printable workout templates and Q&A sections, are available at

X-Workouts.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A: The bodybuilding magazines of the ’70s and ’80s frequently included workouts that were seemingly impossible. Twenty sets per bodypart, hours upon hours of heavy weights, taking nearly every set to failure and often collapsing to the floor in exhaustion. Amazing! The truth is, however, that those workouts were often made up to embellish the story, to make the subject of the article seem larger than life.

That said, a system of planned overtraining can be very effective for blasting through strength or size barriers, but I usually give workouts like these to elite trainees or to athletes with competent coaches who can drive them to complete the sessions. Why? Because the program is so difficult that it’s extremely tempting to quit. With that warning, let me tell you how to do it right.

I’ve used this method, which I call the super accumulation program, with the athletes of the Canadian national speed-skating team for years, and they’ve won a record number of medals. Twelve members of the Canadian national luge team also used my program. In 1991 I prescribed the workout to the luge athletes and then had to leave for three weeks; when I came back, I found that four of the athletes, including André Benoit, were physical and mental wrecks. They had obviously overtrained. One athlete said in all seriousness that he thought he was developing Parkinson’s disease! The eight others obviously had made some compromises to make the workout easier, as they did not display signs of exhaustion.

The kicker is that after a five-day layoff, the four athletes who did the program as prescribed showed significantly greater increases in strength than those who did not. How much stronger? Benoit ended up being able to perform wide-grip pullups with 123 pounds, an accomplishment that earned him the nickname “The Flying Squirrel.” In fact, the following year at the Albertville Olympics, Benoit and his partner Bob Gasper broke the Olympic record for the fastest start in the luge.

This program focuses on reaching a higher stage of resistance by creating deeper inroads into recovery ability. Think about a coiled spring. The more you compress it, the more powerfully it will recoil when released. The trick is to ensure that you provide enough rest after that inroad is created.

When most trainees get weaker, they stop. On this program that’s a mistake. You have to go until you get much weaker. You must shoot for a drop of 20 percent in strength. So if the weight you use for a certain exercise is 100 pounds for sets of eight, then at the end of the two weeks you should have a hard time doing sets of eight with 80 pounds. If you lose more than 20 percent, that’s even better. I’ve seen guys lose as much as 40 percent. Genetically skinny guys, ectomorphs, may lose more. Mesomorphs may lose less.

Try this type of training if your main goal is hypertrophy. You’ll be training nine times a week for two weeks on this schedule:

Monday, Wednesday and Friday: Train twice per day

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday mornings: Train once per day

Sunday: Off

Monday, Wednesday, Friday

Morning Workout

A1: Back squats, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/X/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A2: Leg curls, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/X/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B1: Lean-away chinups, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/1/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B2: Dips, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/1/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

Evening Workout

A: Snatch deadlifts on platform, 10 x 6, 5/0/1/0 tempo, rest 3 minutes between sets

B1: Seated dumbbell presses, palms facing each other (semi-supinated), 5 x 6-8, 4/0/1/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B2: One-arm dumbbell rows, 5 x 6-8, 2/0/1/1 tempo, rest 100 seconds

Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday Mornings

A1: Front squats, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/X/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

A2: Kneeling leg curls, 5 x 4-6, 4/0/X/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B1: Close-grip pronated pullups, 5 x 6-8, 3/0/1/1 tempo, rest 100 seconds

B2: Incline dumbbell presses, 5 x 6-8, 3/1/1/0 tempo, rest 100 seconds

After you train to near death for two weeks and then take five days off, now what? Go to the gym and do your Monday morning workout from the loading phase. Take a day off. Then do Tuesday’s workout. Your goal here is to evaluate your progress. Prepare yourself to see some major gains. After that you can start the cycle all over again if you choose.

You will find that this type of program is extremely difficult, but it helps to keep your eyes on the prize. If you can get through the two weeks of loading and then properly execute the five-day recovery period, you will exceed your previous strength and muscle-building goals.

Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most suc-cessful strength coaches, having coached Olympic med-alists in 12 different sports, including the U.S. women’s track-and-field team for the 2000 Olympics. He’s spent years researching European journals (he’s fluent in English, French and German) and speaking with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. For more on his books, seminars and methods, visit www.CharlesPoliquin.com.  IM

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Weight: 100 contest; 110 off-season

Height: 5’1”

Hometown: Lingayen Pangasinan, Philippines

Current residence: Temecula, California

Occupation: Hairstylist; also a cocktail waitress at Harrah’s Rincon resort in San Diego

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, bikini, A-class, 2nd; ’11 NPC California Championships, bikini, A-class, 3rd; ’11 NPC Orange County Muscle Classic, bikini, A-class, 1st

Factoids: Born in the Philippines, she came to the United States at the age of 11. She’s the mother of seven-year-old Luke and has only been training since November 2010.

Contact: girlieviray79@gmail.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Abstract:

Previous studies have indicated that exercise-induced muscle damage might be attenuated by coingestion of protein and carbohydrate supplement. The purpose of this study was to compare the effect of three various ratios of carbohydrate-protein (CHO+PRO) supplements on resistance exercise-induced muscle damage indices.

METHODS:

Twenty-eight untrained male students voluntarily participated in this study and were randomly assigned to one of the four groups: 1) CHO+PRO 2:1 ratio, N.=7; 2) CHO+PRO 3:1 ratio, N.=8; 3) CHO+PRO 4:1 ratio, N.=7; 4) placebo group, N.=6. They performed a single bout of resistance exercise (whole body: 3 set×8-10 reps with 70-75% 1RM), with eccentric concentration. Every group consumed prepared CHO/PRO beverages (9% concentration, 10 mL/kg/bw-1 at different ratios) or the same amount of placebo beverage before and in 15 min intervals during exercise. Blood samples were taken before the exercise bout and also at 1 and 24 h post-exercise. In addition, muscle soreness scores were recorded before and 1, 24, and 48 h postexercise. Repeated measures ANOVA (between-within design) and Bonferroni post hoc test were used to analyze dependent measures (α=0.05).

RESULTS:

Serum creatine kinase (CK) and myoglobin (Mb) increased in all groups compared with pre-exercise but the significant difference among groups was observed in 24 h postexercise, in a way that both CK and Mb levels were higher in placebo group. Muscle soreness increased for all groups from pre to postexercise, but there was not any significant difference among groups at any time point.

CONCLUSION:

Findings of this study showed that CHO+PRO decreased serum CK and Mb at 24 h post exercise, but did not affect muscle soreness at any time points after exercise. Moreover, there were no significant differences between various ratios of CHO-PRO supplementation.

More info:
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22525650

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A: If you were to see Phil in the flesh, you’d be blown away even more. Photography is one thing, reality is something else.

My obsession with bodybuilding started when I was 14, and lasted many years. Phil bowled you over just as Arnold, Sergio Oliva, Frank Zane and some others of the 1970s bowled me over when I was a teenager. The same desire you have for building a great physique is what I had when I was a kid—and for many years thereafter. I used to ask the same question that you asked, but the answer is the same today as it was back then.

Some of the exercises that built Phil’s muscles are the same ones that can build your muscles; but because of his exceptional responsiveness to training and his freaky potential for growth, he progressed on some exercises that won’t help you.

Although his training routines worked for him, that doesn’t mean they will work for you. You could try his routines, the way I tried Arnold’s and Sergio’s and Frank’s. But unless you have an exceptional genetic gift for bodybuilding or are into steroids—which I most certainly don’t recommend—you won’t respond well to Phil’s routines; just as I didn’t respond well to champ programs. I didn’t have their genetic advantages for bodybuilding. I could have gotten into drugs to try to compensate, but I had the sense not to. It’s madness.

If you follow the guidelines I promote in this column, you’ll give yourself the best chance of finding routines appropriate for you. How far they will take you will depend on your level of dedication and your genetic potential for bodybuilding.

—Stuart McRobert
www.Hardgainer.com

Editor’s note: Stuart McRobert’s first byline in IRON MAN appeared in 1981. He’s the author of the new 638-page opus on bodybuilding Build Muscle, Lose Fat, Look Great, available from Home Gym Warehouse (800) 447-0008 or www.Home-Gym.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

For example, one of the first chapters is on the overcommercialization of fitness and how that has spawned various scams, from cellulite fat-loss creams to infomercial exercise contraptions.

There’s history in these pages too. The authors discuss old-time strongmen, the evolution of bodybuilding and the Muscle Beach era. That all leads to chapters on “ornamental masculinity” (there’s an interesting title), the benefits of exercise and a social psychology of the iron game.

The book is not all academia oriented though. Brignole provides plenty of personal insights, including why he became a bodybuilder, his foray into the gym business, fitness controversies—such as weightlifting for women and kids, steroids, cellulite—and even tips on burning fat.

This is a book you can read from cover to cover or skip around to various chapters of interest, as most are stand-alone features.

It’s a great book—very interesting and a true contribution to our industry.

Editor’s note: Million Dollar Muscle is available at Amazon: Million Dollar Muscle: A Historical and Sociological Perspective of the Fitness Industry

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

It makes perfect sense: Better digestion equals improved protein optimization. Still, there’s more to this supplement than probiotics and whey protein. It contains a six-stage protein blend that features whey protein concentrate, brown rice protein concentrate, whey protein isolate, milk protein isolate, egg albumin and fast-acting whey protein hydrolysate—a power-packed protein array, plus you get nine grams of essential amino acids in every serving.

Back to the probiotic: It’s GanedenBC³⁰ (Bacillus coagulans GBI-30, 6086), a patented advanced probiotic strong enough to survive stomach acids and deliver beneficial bacteria to your digestive system.

Try MyoFusion Probiotic Series for more muscle size—and for the health of it too. Find more info at GaspariNutrition.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Tuna Walnut Salad

2 cans low-sodium tuna

1/3 cup fat-free mayo

1⁄4 cup chopped green onions

1⁄4 cup chopped walnuts

2 tablespoons lemon juice

2 teaspoons Dijon mustard

Pepper and garlic to taste

Rinse and strain the tuna. Combine  the tuna with the rest of the ingredients. Mix well. Refrigerate for 10 minutes. Serves four.

Each serving: calories, 158; fat, 2 grams; carbs, 0 grams; protein, 27 grams

For a great appetizer:

6 hard-boiled eggs

6 whole-wheat crackers

Slice the eggs lengthwise and remove the yolks. Fill center of the egg whites with the tuna mixture, place on whole-wheat crackers, and serve.

Editor’s note: Taylor Matheny is an Oklahoma–based fitness trainer and chef. She studied sports nutrition while learning culinary techniques and is certified in personal training and sports nutrition. Finding herself in the bodybuilding industry—she’s also an IFBB pro bikini competitor—she honed her cooking skills on contest diets. Currently, she works as a personal chef and is a spokesmodel for Myogenix.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

1) had been given to him or her.

2) The person was just really lucky.

3) He or she had achieved success through some sort of lying, cheating or stealing.

The concept that most successful people simply had clear goals and worked hard to make them a reality did not occur to me. A good friend of mine, Rob Fleischman, who is a graduate of MIT and a successful inventor, shared his own formula for success, and it’s something that we all need to take a look at.

“Success is hard work, plus risk taking, plus luck, plus intelligence.”

Break it down:

Hard work. Lots of people work hard. Lots! If you don’t do it, you will never ever be successful. That alone is not enough, however. I hear complaints all the time from folks who “work hard” and are not doing well.

Risk taking. You have to go where you have the chance to win large, but take risk after risk and you eventually lose. That’s why casinos are profitable.

Luck. You need luck, no question; however, luck alone will doom you. There are plenty of studies showing how most lottery winners, after some number of years, are eventually screwed. You say, “That won’t happen to me.”  Baloney! If all you have is luck, your success will be quite temporary. People don’t believe that though. They are wrong.

Intelligence. This is the big one. There are tons of people who have taken moderate success and with intelligence turned it into big success. In fact, the vast majority of the wealthy got that way—by “being smart.”  Sure, you hear about the oddballs, but the unsung wealthy are the smart ones who through  planning, investing, career moves, business moves and growth turn small successes into big ones.

To get to the next level in whatever area you desire, use the combination of hard work, intelligence, risk taking and luck—lots of hard work, a good amount of smarts, some planned risk taking and a little luck. If you look at most successful people, that analysis will ring true. Funny how the vast majority think the way my family thought—and that thinking will prevent them from ever achieving any level of success. Is that ironic, or just sad?

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A: Towels and pads will push the barbell backward on your shoulders, which in turn will decrease your stability on the exercise. Athletes who use such padded devices often compensate by rolling their shoulders forward, displacing the spine from optimal alignment—a problem that is compounded because the padding increases the distance from the bar to the hips and so increases the stress on the lower back. They may also increase the risk of neck injury, as the head moves out of normal alignment, upping the chance that the barbell will slide off their back.

Beginners commonly find it uncomfortable to hold a barbell on their shoulders because they were never properly instructed on how to perform the exercise. If trainees find that the bar digs painfully into their shoulders, using a closer grip with the elbows pointing down—not back—often resolves the problem.

For those who find it uncomfortable to hold a barbell on their shoulders, one option is the Manta Ray, which distributes the pressure from the bar over a larger area. Also, rather than shifting the bar backward, it simply lifts it upward.

Competitive weightlifters and powerlifters prefer not to use supportive devices because they reduce the feel of the bar on their shoulders. In fact, in the case of powerlifting barbells, the bars have center knurling that settles into the neck for a more secure feel. [Note: The Manta Ray is available at www.Home-Gym.com.]

Editor’s note: Charles Poliquin is recognized as one of the world’s most suc-cessful strength coaches, having coached Olympic med-alists in 12 different sports, including the U.S. women’s track-and-field team for the 2000 Olympics. He’s spent years researching European journals (he’s fluent in English, French and German) and speaking with other coaches and scientists in his quest to optimize training methods. For more on his books, seminars and methods, visit www.CharlesPoliquin.com.  IM

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

==========================================
TRY THIS AT YOUR NEXT WORKOUT
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Scrawny-to-Brawny Mass Workout: Get the Bodybuilder Look

Q: Out of all of your workout programs, which one is best for hardgainers? I train heavy to failure, but I don’t look like a bodybuilder at all.

A: That’s a great question, but a lot depends on your training experience, age, recovery capacity, stress levels etc. Let’s start by assuming you’re an average intermediate hardgainer…

Keep in mind that hardgainers tend to overproduce the muscle-eating stress hormone cortisol, so they should limit heavy work most of the time; also, hardgainers tend to respond better to muscle-endurance sarcoplasmic-expansion work as opposed to heavy-weight myofibrillar training–when it comes to building size…

That makes sense, as hardgainers’ muscles are more endurance oriented. If they develop the sarcoplasm, the energy fluid in the muscles, they will get fuller, rounder muscles and attain the look of a bodybuilder faster. If, on the other hand, they train heavy with low reps only, they get stronger and build the myofibrils, which don’t contribute all that much to their size potential–and there’s the cortisol problem…

Nevertheless, they should strive to build both "sides" of the muscle to achieve their biggest size, so the best hardgainer program would have to be one with SOME heavy pyramid sets PLUS moderate-weight 4X.

A good place to start would be the Basic Power-Density Mass Workout in the Power-Density e-book. That has you do a basic exercise with a pyramid (9, 7); then you do a 4X sequence: Pick a weight with which you can get 15 reps, but you only do 10; rest 35 seconds, then do it again–and so on, going all out on your fourth set. That moderate-weight, high-fatigue method expands the sarcoplasm and also builds some myofibrillar size…

Basic Power-Density Triceps
Decline extensions
(pyramid), 2 x 9, 7
(4x), 4 x 10

It’s flexible. For example, instead of doing one exercise with both styles, you could divide it into two moves…

Close-grip bench presses (pyramid), 2 x 9, 7
Decline extensions (4X), 4 x 10

Or

Decline extensions (pyramid), 2 x 9, 7
Pushdowns (4X), 4 x 10

You would eventually graduate to the full-range Positions-of-Flexion Power-Density Mass Workout in that e-book, which includes pyramids, 4X AND drop sets, another great method for hardgainers–two or three back-to-back sets with weight reductions does great things for both "sides" of the muscle fibers.

If you’re older and have put away heavy training, go ALL 4X with 3-way Positions of Flexion on every bodypart–or even a bit more volume for lagging muscles. It’s all about sufficiently stressing both "sides" of the muscle fibers, getting enough recovery to grow and NOT triggering too much cortisol, which eats away your muscle gains. That’s how you get the bodybuilder look…

Till next time, train hard–and smart–for BIG results.

Note: The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout and The 4X Mass Workout are only $19.99 each, available at the X-Workouts.com.

–Steve Holman and Jonathan Lawson

www.X-Rep.com

LIMITED-TIME $19.99 BEST-SELLERS: We’re offering each of these at their lowest price ever to get you big and ripped by spring. Click on the title you’re interested in for more info…

1) The 4X Mass Workout–fast, simplified supersaturation training for X-treme size

2) The X-traordinary X-Rep Workout–the latest update to our original X e-book

3) The X-centric Mass Workout–the negative-accentuated training manual

4) The Ultimate Fat-to-Muscle Workout–total body transformation training

5) X-traordinary Muscle-Building Workouts–10 complete mass programs

6) X-traordinary Arms–includes the 3D HIT workout system with big-arms routines

7) 3D Muscle Building–the original Positions-of-Flexion mass-training manual

8) X-treme Lean—Fat-Burning and Nutrition Guide (with training too)

9) The Ultimate Power-Density Mass Workout

10) The X-traordinary Size Surge Workout

11) The Ultimate 10×10 Mass Workout

12) Eric Broser’s FD/FS Mass-Shock Workout

Latest release: The 4X Mass Workout—Fast Simplified Supersaturation Training for X-treme Muscle Size. It’s how many pro bodybuilders get big AND ripped as fast as possible for contests and photo shoots. You can use it for a blast of new mass in only a few weeks–and the workouts are quick. Guaranteed or your money back. Limited-time discount offer HERE.

MASS-BUILDING E-BOOKS…

X-SHOP: Find our original X-Rep e-book, as well as X Updates and Positions-of-Flexion mass-training guides…

X-WORKOUTS: Find specialized e-workout programs, including Power-Density, 10×10 and Eric Broser’s Power/Rep Range/Shock….

NEW: The X-traordinary SIZE SURGE Workout, Jonathan Lawson’s legendary two-phase mass program that packed 20 pounds of muscle on his frame in only 10 weeks. See all the changes he made to the original workouts, transcribed from his training journal. In printable templates so you can duplicate his incredible gains. You also get his eat-to-grow diet and streamlined no-frills supplement schedule, anabolic acceleration methods and loads of tips and tricks. Plus, an interview with a top-level bodybuilder who trains Size Surge style for incredible growth.

Newbies: If you’re a beginning bodybuilder, coming back from a layoff or a trainer who trains beginners, our new e-book, Quick-Start Muscle-Building Guide, is for you.

To follow the ITRC training program in “Train, Eat, Grow,” get a copy of the latest issue of IRON MAN.

——————————————————————–

This Special Report was submitted by Jonathan Lawson and Steve Holman.
The IRON MAN Training & Research Team

www.ironmanmagazine.com

The ITRC Training Newsletter is not intended as training advice for everyone. You must consult your physician before beginning any diet or training program. You may forward this email to as many friends as you want, but do not photocopy or reprint this report in any format without the written permission of the copyright holder.

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All Content (c) Copyright 2012 IRON MAN Magazine
All Rights Reserved

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Most nutritional lipotropics work by donating a methyl group, which is the base for the production of many vital body substances, such as creatine. The primary nutrient lipotropics are lecithin and phosphatidylcholine, choline and betaine, which is produced from choline. Choline and inositol were sold as “lipotropic supplements” 40 years ago, and bodybuilders referred to them as “fat burners.” While they were not actually directly involved in fat oxidation, they played important roles in the liver synthesis of lipoproteins, which helped to transport fatlike substances in the blood. A lack of choline and other methyl donors led to a drop in the production of lipoproteins, causing a backup of fat in the liver. So you can see how the thinking went: Because choline helped the liver rid itself of excess fat deposits, using choline would do the same for excessive fat elsewhere in the body.

Besides helping the liver control fat storage, choline plays a number of other important roles in the body. Choline and other methyl donors, such as S-adenyl methionine, a.k.a. SAMi, help the body to break down homocysteine, a by-product of the metabolism of the essential amino acid methionine. Homocysteine is toxic in large quantities, however, and is linked to cardiovascular problems and other diseases.

Choline and lecithin also are vital for the maintenance of cellular membranes—a lack of choline leads to cellular death. Choline plays important roles in brain health as well, not only in relation to cellular membrane repair and production but also because it’s the precursor of acetylcholine, a brain neurotransmitter. Acetylcholine is low in someone who has a degenerative brain disease, such as Alzheimer’s. In fact, Alzheimer’s disease seems to target neurons that produce acetylcholine. The lack of acetylcholine is responsible for the typical memory and learning problems of those who have degenerative brain diseases.

In addition, acetylcholine is the primary neurotransmitter at the motor neuron, meaning that it’s required to transmit messages from the central nervous system to your muscles, enabling them to contract. Some studies show that exhaustive exercise can deplete the body’s choline, leading to deficits in muscular function. More recently, several studies have shown that betaine, which is a by-product of choline metabolism, helps to maintain exercise intensity. Betaine is also efficient at helping to convert excess homocysteine back into methionine.

Until 1998 choline wasn’t officially considered an essential nutrient, but based on a review of ongoing research, the Institute of Medicine recognized it as being essential in human nutrition that year. The reason choline was overlooked for so many years was that scientists believed that it could be synthesized in the body in sufficient amounts from SAMi, but that turned out to be highly inefficient, most likely because of the many other functions related to SAMi. One study of healthy adults deprived of choline found that 77 percent of men and 80 percent of women developed clear signs of choline deficiency, including fatty liver and muscle damage. Another 10 percent still showed deficiency symptoms even when they got the recommended daily intake, which indicates that the requirement for choline may differ widely due to genetic factors. The current suggested intake for adults aged 19 and over is 425 milligrams a day for women and 550 milligrams for men.

Most choline that we take in is converted in the body into lecithin, which, in turn, is the predominant phospholipid in cell membranes. It makes up more than 50 percent of the content of such membranes, which also contain cholesterol.

More recent studies show that subjects who got the most choline and betaine also had the lowest levels of several inflammatory markers. That’s important because out-of-control inflammation is now known to be the underlying cause of most degenerative diseases, including cardiovascular disease, cancer and brain disease. Inflammation tends to increase with age, and choline and other methyl donors may help to offset the effects of what’s been called “inflamaging.”

Cancer is linked to cellular mutations caused by damage to DNA, which is needed for orderly cell replication. Full DNA repair processes require sufficient methyl donors—the implication being that without sufficient methyl donors such as choline available, the risk of cancer increases. Indeed, several preliminary studies suggest that a high choline intake is associated with lower rates of breast cancer.

Rich food sources of choline include liver, eggs and wheat germ. Egg yolks are probably the best source, containing an average of 125 milligrams per yolk. Yet the practice of discarding egg yolks in favor of eating only egg whites continues to be popular among bodybuilders. The thought is that the yolk contains all the fat and cholesterol found, while the white is nearly pure protein. The problem with that theory: Besides containing choline, the yolk also contains all the other nutrients found in eggs—including half the protein. Studies show that the fat contained in eggs has no harmful effects on human health, and even the cholesterol content is overplayed. For most people, eating whole eggs doesn’t adversely affect blood cholesterol. In fact, cholesterol is actually good for building muscle, as it’s not only a constituent of cell membranes but also the precursor of testosterone synthesis in the body.

As with other nutrients, it is possible to get too much choline. Doses of 7.5 grams have produced nausea, diarrhea and a drop in blood pressure in some people. Doses of up to three grams a day are considered safe. Some people lack an enzyme that causes the buildup of a choline metabolite called trimethylamine in the body. More specifically, gut bacteria convert choline into trimethylamine, then the enzyme (which is lacking in about 1 percent of the population) converts trimethylamine into trimethylamine-N-oxide. Without the enzyme, trimethylamine builds up in the body and is excreted in urine, sweat and breath; however, the increased amounts cause a disgusting odor akin to rotting fish. Having certain types of viral hepatitis can also lead to the buildup of trimethylamine in the body. Cases are on record of marriages ending because one spouse smelled like rotten fish, which was traced to the buildup of trimethylamine from normal choline intake.

More recently, a far more serious effect related to trimethylamine has been reported.¹ Researchers found that depending on the content of intestinal bacteria, or flora, some people produce excessive amounts of trimethylamine-N-oxide from lecithin and choline. When fed to mice, lecithin and choline promoted an increase in foam cells, which are cells laden with fat and cholesterol. An increase in such cells is considered the first stage in the development of atherosclerosis, the buildup of plaque in arteries that leads to cardiovascular disease. Betaine was also found to be involved in the process. Based on those preliminary findings, the authors question the wisdom of taking supplemental betaine, choline or lecithin. They note that “excessive” amounts of those nutrients could lead to cardiovascular disease though the activity of gut bacteria.

That raises a number of questions. How do we know who has the precise balance of gut bacteria that would produce the negative effect? Also, since many people, including bodybuilders, avoid eating egg yolks, the primary food source of lecithin and choline, what will happen if they don’t use choline or lecithin supplements? As noted above, one such effect could be fatty liver.

While the main cause of fatty liver used to be excessive alcohol intake, more recently cases in which alcohol wasn’t a factor have shown up. That type of fatty liver is linked to insulin resistance and the metabolic syndrome, itself a precursor of cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Since choline is needed to clear the liver of excessive fat, not getting it in some form would make a bad situation even worse. Taking a special type of probiotic supplement could restore the balance of intestinal bacteria, preventing the cardiovascular side effects of taking choline or lecithin.

Perhaps the most prudent thing you can do in the meantime is to stop discarding egg yolks. They won’t blunt any fat-loss efforts, but they may help protect your long-term health.

—Jerry Brainum

Editor’s note: Have you been ripped off by supplement makers whose products don’t work as advertised? Want to know the truth about them? Check out Natural Anabolics, available at JerryBrainum.com.

¹ Wang, Z., et al. (2011). Gut flora metabolism of phosphatidycholine promotes cardiovascular disease. Nature. 472.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Like six-time Mr. Olympia Dorian Yates, many feel that since the body has been deprived of surplus calories for so long while dieting, you should immediately return to heavy training and eating in order to take advantage of a brief window of opportunity to gain new muscle mass. Dorian has stated that he believes he made his best gains of the year in the six to eight weeks that followed each competition.

Then there’s eight-time Mr. Olympia Ronnie Coleman, who was known to take off a full three months from training after each win. Since Ronnie and Dorian both grew larger over the course of their Mr. Olympia reigns, one can’t point to either method as being superior. Who’s to say that Ronnie’s extended breaks didn’t do as much to prime his body for new gains as Dorian’s jumping right back into the gym?

The best strategy may actually be somewhere in the middle, as practiced by four-time Mr. Olympia Jay Cutler. Jay stumbled on this method out of necessity. Traveling for guest-posing appearances every weekend for nearly three months after the Olympia each year, he found it impossible to maintain his usual regimen of training and eating. Instead of stressing out and trying to do the best he could, Cutler settled on simply doing a couple of full-body circuits with lighter weights two or three times a week, an hour of cardio a day for heart and lung health and drastically reducing his food intake.

When I ran into him in Miami at the NPC Nationals more than two months after the ’11 Mr. Olympia, his weight had dropped from his typical off-season 290 to somewhere in the low 260s. Far from looking small, Jay appeared lean, healthy and reinvigorated. The time away from superheavy weights and stuffing himself with upward of eight meals a day had done him a world of good. Though he was still undecided about whether he would return to competition at the ’12 Olympia to try and wrest his title back from Phil Heath, the “cruising” period was definitely giving his mind and body the time to recuperate fully. It would put him in an ideal position to make another intense run at the Mr. Olympia this year, if that’s the direction he decides to take.

It may seem pointless to talk about three multiple Mr. Olympia champions when mapping out a training year for the average IM reader, who is drug-free and genetically average and does not compete. But is it? Each of us needs to decide whether to take breaks from heavy training, how long the breaks should be, and what type of training, if any, we should do during them. For those who love training too much to ever completely stop, it makes sense to include periods of higher-rep training. Rather than doing that for months at a time, however, it’s more practical to work them in for a week or two after four to six weeks of heavy training.

Training heavy all the time doesn’t seem to work out well for anybody in the long term, as our joints and connective tissues can take a beating for only so long before something has to give. Dorian seemed to have just one gear, and many feel that’s the reason he retired somewhat prematurely and with multiple injuries after only eight seasons as a pro. As of this writing, Jay Cutler is looking at his 16th season in the IFBB. Coincidence? Maybe, but probably not. There is a lesson here, and the gist of it is simple: You must turn down the intensity and heavy loads every so often if you want to reap the benefits of bodybuilding for life.

Editor’s note: Ron Harris is the author of Real Bodybuilding—Muscle Truth from 25 Years In the Trenches, available at www.RonHarrisMuscle.com.

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

Weight: 215 contest; 230 off-season

Height: 6’3”

Hometown: Los Angeles

Residence: Alta Loma, California

Occupation: Full-time student; personal trainer

Contest highlights: ’11 NPC  USA Championships, men’s physique, C-class, 9th; ’11 NPC West Coast Classic, men’s physique, B-class, 2nd

Factoids: A student at La Verne University, he’s studied martial arts since he was four and earned red and black belts in tae kwon do at nine. He wrestled in high school, and his disciplines include boxing, muay Thai, jiujitsu and Israeli close-combat krav maga.

Contact: h.ruiz.romo@gmail.com

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com

A: Starting a workout with deadlifts  or squats, as in the phase 1 Size Surge program. Here’s that split:

Monday: Quads, hams, chest, back, delts

Wednesday: Deadlifts, calves, arms, abs

Friday: Quads, hams, calves, chest, back, delts

You get a testosterone burst when you do a big exercise first. Here is what researchers Jacob Wilson, Ph.D., and Gabriel Wilson, Ph.D., discovered in a recent study in which subjects trained arms alone or arms after legs:

“As predicted, the arms trained with legs achieved an increase in the part of the biceps with the largest cross-sectional area—the biceps peak—while no changes occurred in the arms trained alone. The arms trained with legs also had greater relative improvement in biceps curl strength than the arms trained alone as well as other favorable muscle adaptations.”

Conclusion: Anabolic testosterone jacked up by a big exercise first can have significant anabolic impact on the muscles trained after. That’s an exciting muscle-building discovery. In the case of the study, arm girth and strength surged significantly.

I believe that’s a big reason the Size Surge program works so well at building mass—you get a first T burst at all three workouts.

Note: For more on the Size Surge program and the results attained with it, visit www.SizeSurgeWorkout.com.

Editor’s note: Steve Holman is the author of many bodybuilding best-sellers and the creator of Positions-of-Flexion muscle training. For information on the POF DVD and Size Surge programs, see the ad sections it this issue. Also visit www.X-Rep.com and
X-Workouts.com for info on X-Rep, 4X and 3D POF methods and e-books.  IM

Source: www.ironmanmagazine.com