Responsibility

Scott Gerst . All rights reserved

Is it just me or is someone else also getting annoyed at the inherent lack of responsibility during this crisis? I am not calling to bring the guillotine back, but it is obvious that a large number of people (politicians, regulators, bankers, brokers) slept on their watch, and yet it seems that this meltdown just happened. It would be nice if some people actually delivered a mea culpa (and a strategy going forward).

What does this have to do with bodybuilding? Well, the way Citigroup should accept their flaws and toxic assets, you need to shoulder the burden when it comes to your body. When I look back on last years shows, it becomes clear that my not-so-good placings weren't the results of bad calls from the judges but it was my fault not to bring a better physique to the stage. The camera and an honest friend are your best tools, if you are serious about your physique.

The truth hurts but it is the only way to improve. As you can see from the attached picture I do not intend to make the same mistake twice. Spring 2010......

Happy Easter- eat the whole egg!!

What better day than Easter Sunday to talk about eggs. Eggs are one of the best bodybuilding foods, full of protein, minerals and vitamins. It has become a custom, however, to consume only the egg whites.  The logic behind it is that all the fat is hidden in the yolk and all the protein in the egg white.

This is simply not a good idea since the majority of vitamins are found in the yolk. Furthermore, half the protein is in the yolk as well thereby consuming only the egg white leaves you with an incomplete protein chain which the body can not really digest.

What about cholesterol? Another old-wives tale: A study done by the University of Connecticut shows that eggs do not raise your cholesterol levels ( unless they are consumed with  butter and bacon!!) if anything they help lowering it by increasing the good (HDL) cholesterol. 

The fat contained in the yolk is needed to build the steroidal (muscle building) hormones such as testosterone, estrogen and progesterone. If that doesn't convince you to consume whole eggs I don't know what will. 

It would be best to try to find Omega 3 eggs to optimize the lipid profile.

Froehliche Ostern

Maik

Grapefruit- the great fruit?

Everybody remembers the Grapefruit Diet, it went something like this: eat only grapefruit and lose 20 lbs in as many days.

Thankfully that diet is gone but the myth of grapefruits as a fat burner is still around.

Is there any truth to it?

While it is not a good idea to rely solely on one food alone, grapefruits certainly have their merits. They contain plenty of Vitamin C, antioxidants and control insulin levels. Studies have shown that they can control the growth of cancer cells ( in vitro), help with DNA repair and fight Hepatitis C.

So that is a very impressive resume but what about my six pack? Patience, young Jedi...

Grapefruits contain naringin, a powerful anti-oxidant, that inhibits the activity of the enzyme CPY34A in the human liver. This enzyme is responsible for metabolizing caffeine, which is one of the most potent fat burners.

By consuming grapefruit, you are essentially expanding the half-life of your fat loss product (since pretty much all of them contain caffeine and/or green tea and your multiplying the effectiveness). Adding 1/2 of a grapefruit to your breakfast (no sugar!!) could really make a difference in your quest for abs.

Does cortisol make you fat?

If you have watched infomercials late at night (and who hasn't??), you have seen the ads for cortisol suppressing supplements. The sales pitch is rather simple: you are stressed out, the body releases cortisol to counter the stress, cortisol stores water and fat (especially in the abdominal region). So, if you buy our Super Cort Blocker 2000, your belly will disappear.

Sounds great but doesn't work. First, what is cortisol? Cortisol is a glandular hormone, excreted in a fight or flight situation in order to ensure the nutrient flow into your blood stream. Cortisol is the primary glucocorticoid, meaning it increases the glucose levels in the blood stream.

It is not a bad thing per se, it is needed to ensure that the body functions properly (just like any other hormone in the system).

The levels of cortisol can be elevated due to strenuous dieting, training, travel, anger, alcohol consumption etc. And while cortisol facilitates the storage of adipose fat, it can only do that when provided with extra calories. People that are overworked and/or under slept tend to eat unconsciously and overdo it which then causes the weight gain.

It would go beyond the scope of this post to evaluate all cortisol suppressing supplements, lets just say that vitamin C and glutamine have shown some promise, but the effects are nothing to write home about.

If you are serious about loosing that belly fat , you'll need to de-stress your life, organize your sleep and clean up your diet.

No pill will do that for you!

Till next time

Maik

The iron guru

Today, I want to write about one of the forgotten pioneers of bodybuilding: Vince Gironda aka the Iron Guru. Vince, born  in the Bronx, later settled in California and was one of the first trainers to the stars. His clients were : Clint Eastwood, Cher, Larry Scott, Arnold Schwarzenegger and so on. But it wasn't so much his clientele that makes him remarkable , it was the way he pushed the sport in a new direction. He was one of the first to develop a low carb approach to dieting, looked into amino acids as supplements and dismissed the then common notion of bulking for the sake of getting bigger as nonsense since it only lead to fat gain. Vince was the first man to appear "ripped" at a contest and was placed lower for being too lean ...( those judges later founded Lehman Brothers)

He also created the 8x8 routine ( the "honest workout"), the drag curl and was a big proponent of squats as a hormonal optimizer.

Most interesting though was his attitude toward bodybuilding as such. He really cared about the sport, not his financial success. Without hesitation, he would dismiss paying clients if they did not follow his routine and rather work pro bono with a talented and dedicated lifter.

His teachings are all but forgotten, yet many current bodybuilding diets and routines are based on Vince's wisdom.

Thanks Vince!

I am off to an 8x8 shoulder workout

Maik

The Dominican experiment

Last week, I ventured to the beautiful beaches of the Dominican Republic for five days. Just water, sand and clean food. Hmmm clean food...that set off a light bulb. What if I ate above maintenance (without any supplements) and lifted 3 times while there? Could it be possible to pack on muscle in that short of a time frame?
So I started at 225lbs, kept my intake high in protein, carbs, and fats ca 5000 cal daily.
As for foods, I'd stick to the staples: chicken, steak, rice, beans, avocado, fruit.
During my stay, I could actually feel my body absorbing the nutrients and utilize them for growth, upon my return I weighed in at 229lbs with only slightly higher body fat.
So it seems to be possible to go on a "clean eating binge" and gain mostly muscle, however, it looks like that after 6-7 days that process is being reversed and one stores more fat.
Too bad....it was a lot of fun
Till next time
Maik
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I simply can't build my shoulders/arms/calves...!

Everyone has these stubborn body parts that don't seem to grow, no matter what you do. But are you really doomed to have sub par arms or calves?

Well, that depends on how much you want it. While there are certain things that you just can't change such as muscle insertions, shape of the muscle and fiber composition, there is also the element of desire and will power.

If you determined enough, you can bring up any muscle.

Let's look at a real life example, an athlete ( we ll call him Jim) whose shoulders were lagging behind the rest of his body in terms of size and strength. He had torn a rotator cuff which severely limited his workouts. In addition, he works in a stressful environment, travels a lot and is past his thirties (the prime muscle building time). All in all, a less than perfect body building scenario.

So what did he do?

He prioritized his shoulders, worked them twice a week with a particular focus on the rear delt. After 12 months of hard work, his shoulders are now rounder and fuller that ever.

Way to go, Jim!

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Shaping vs. bulking exercises, what's the difference?

One of the most misunderstood  topics in bodybuilding is the belief that there are some exercises that are shaping or " defining" the muscle whereas others simply " bulk " it up. The shape or form of a muscle is genetically predetermined and can not be  altered.  

Usually the bench is seen as a bulk exercise for the chest, cable flyes as a shaping motion. While performing either exercise, however,  the pecs simply contract and relax. So where does this notion come from?

Most likely, it occurs that heavy benching is done in the off-season , when people are stronger and bigger. During the diet, especially when low on carbs, many athletes don't find the strength to perform heavy bench anymore so they resort to cable flyes for a chest workout. Since they are leaner, they conclude that the cable flyes must have done the trick , not the dramatically reduced calories and increased cardio.

So are all exercises created equal? Not quite. In my opinion, when training a muscle it necessary to perform a mid range or power movement and following with a stretch exercise. as an example , for chest, one would do incline presses followed by dumbbell flyes with an emphasis on the stretch.

by doing so , the athlete creates tissue tears which will enable further growth.

Train hard!

Maik

A word on Mike Mentzer or is there a holy grail?

During one my recent sessions, one of my clients brought up the training philosophy of the late Mike Mentzer.  Since this is one of the most interesting and controversial aspects in bodybuilding I decided this would be a good blog topic.

Mike Mentzer, Mr. America, Mr Universe (with perfect score) was an extremely talented and intelligent bodybuilder. During his early career, he followed the school of  Schwarzenegger and Weider , which was a high volume approach. Unsatisfied with his gains,he became convinced that the majority of people is over trained and drastically shortened his workouts. In conjunction with Arthur Jones, he created High Intensity Training or HIT. Basically, the trainee trained infrequently, 3-4 times every 2 weeks and did only one set beyond failure. He also added drop sets, negatives, partials etc.

Mike Mentzer became the Anti-Arnold  and spent 20 years of his life educating people about his style of training. He wrote several books on it, made training videos etc. In fact, he died in the midst of a DVD shoot in 2001 due to heart failure.

While this philosophy looks great in theory, there are several problems with it. First of, it is impossible to always train with maximum intensity . Secondly, the average person does not have sufficient neuro-muscular efficiency to reach all muscle fibers in one set. Hence, 2 or more sets are needed. Thirdly, constantly training at maximum intensity is very injury prone.

Does this mean that Mentzer was wrong? Not at all. He was the the first to point out that the majority of athletes do not sufficiently recover, restricted training to 60 minutes and he gave us negative reps.

Thanks Mike!

What keeps you motivated?

There we are again, in the midst of the New York winter ( a very cold and economically challenging one, on top of that). So the question remains: who is one supposed to stay motivated during this particular stretch of time?

Well, one way of looking at it could be trying to look like Scott G. above.....

But optics are not all of it, there is a more wholesome component to it. As the above competitor said: " Bodybuilding  allows me to grow as person, bringing mind and body together."

Think of bodybuilding not so much as a sport , but more as something that influences you as a person. The ability to constantly better your body will transform into real life confidence. After all, if you can shape yourself the way you want there is no reason that you shouldn't have control over other aspect of your life ( which might even help in the current downturn). 

So stick with it!

Maik