the parrillo performance training center · the giant photos of old school bodybuilding greats of...

A BODYBUILDER IS BORN5 reasons to attend one of the big shows

IRON VIC SPEAKS!Want delts? Don't depend on machines

BY JOHN PARRILLOMineral magic

THE PARRILLO PRINCINPLESThe biggest mistakes in bench pressing

MUSCLE MEETS MEDICINEHow to kill food cravings

The Parrillo Performance Training Center

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PublisherJohn Parrillo

Editor At LargeMarty Gallagher

Design DirectorMarcus McCuiston

ContributingWritersJohn ParrilloMarty GallagherRon HarrisJeremy GirmannDuke NukemIron Vic SteeleScott Canatsey

Contributing PhotographersJohn ParrilloDominique ParrilloMarcus McCuiston

John Parrillo’s Performance Press is published monthly. The subscription rate of one year (12) issues is $29.95 ©2017 by John Parrillo. All Rights Reserved. For information, Please contact Parrillo Performance at (513) 874-3305 or e-mail to [email protected]

PARRILLO TRAINING CENTER MUSCLE MEETS MEDICINE

A BODYBUILDER IS BORN

IRON VIC SPEAKS!

MINERAL MAGIC

January 2017

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PERFORMANCE PRESSJOHN PARRILLO’S

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THE PARRILLO PRINCIPLES

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January 2017January 20174 51-800-344-3404 www.parrilloperformance.com

The Parrillo Performance Training Center

the parrillo performance training center

pay $10 and start doing curls; access to this fitness paradise is by appointment only. Those that train here use Parrillo modes and methods. The gym is a bodybuilding laboratory where theory is tested and results logged. Progress is our most important product. Those that adhere tightly to the entirety of the Parrillo precepts invariably experience dramatic results. If you were doing all that is asked, it would be physiologically impossible not to make gains. This is not to say that the Parrillo Performance Training Center is strictly for elite bodybuilders or world champion athletes, most of the trainees are regular people leading regular lives. However, these individuals, many of whom are competitors are committed, serious and “all in” for living the bodybuilding lifestyle.

John had someone in mind to be the training center’s onsite orchestrator and administrator, a Parrillo certified trainer who is able to supervise and drive training sessions, provide ongoing counselling, to log results and make intelligent course corrections, and to hold clients accountable. Scott Canatsey was Parrillo’s handpicked trainer of choice to manage the facility. John has wanted to work with Scott for a long time because he sees in Scott the perfect combination of empirical experience, competitive experience, theory and a genuine lifetime love for bodybuilding and fitness. Scott has a personality that John felt would be perfect for dealing with the public in a measured and intelligent way. Scott finally became available in the spring of 2016 and he and John hatched a plan of attack. Scott hit the ground running: his knowledge, enthusiasm and expertise created a veritable stampede of new business. Everyone that works with Scott is first interviewed for the purpose of establishing realistic goals.

The goals are set into a defined timeframe and weekly mini-goals are established; the trainee is held accountable, both in and out of the gym. Everyone is routinely and regularly assessed using BodyStat. BodyStat measuring determines body composition and takes all the subjectivity out of bodybuilding. A BodyStat baseline is initially established and each week a nine-point skinfold pinch test procedure reveals if the trainee has improved, regressed or stayed the same. This is invaluable information. When you compile BodyStat data, making logical and appropriate changes to

training and diet becomes far more precise and effective. Adjustments and corrections are made to “fine tune” the individual’s diet to suit their personal physiological needs to meet the specified goal targeted.

Everyone who works with Scott learns quickly about fascia stretching: the idea is to loosen tight fascia and elongate muscles compacted during intense weight training. Everyone experiences fascia stretching and everyone performs sweaty, high intensity cardio. Scott routinely implements forced reps, drops sets, Parrillo

parrillo training center

The Parrillo Performance Training Center, located

in suburban Fairfield, Ohio is considered The Mecca of the Midwest by many in the fitness industry. The 5,500 square foot training floor, lit by daytime sunshine that pours in through the massive front windows illuminates the giant photos of old school bodybuilding greats of the Arnold Era which adorn the inside east and rear wall. Any knowledgeable newcomer would immediately be struck by the variety and uniqueness of exercise machines that cover every square foot of the giant room. Custom designed and hand built, this is a vast armada of machines, devices, tools, racks, weights, bars and cardio devices. It is overwhelming and futuristic. John Parrillo is an expert equipment designer who designed and/or hand built many of the progressive resistance tools or devices in the expansive facility.

In decades gone by, John created innovative flat benches, arched, thereby forcing the bencher to use optimal pec-isolating technique. John’s latest creation is a revolutionary take on a classic progressive resistance-training device: the leg press. Parrillo built a Mad-Max version of the leg press that incorporates inertia dampening through hydraulic force as well as being able to adjust the force and mass independently. The Parrillo leg press provides the leg presser with an entirely new take on an old exercise. As one leg presser noted after using John’s device, “The difference between John’s leg press machine and a standard leg press machine is the difference between a 600-horsepower Corvette and a horse drawn wagon.” Amen.

The Parrillo Performance Training Center is a facility with a philosophy. You don’t just walk in off the street,

The Parrillo Performance Training CenterBy Scott Canatsey & Marty Gallagher

John has wanted to work with Scott for a long time because he sees in Scott the perfect combination of empirical experience, competitive experience, theory and a genuine lifetime love for bodybuilding and fitness.


parrillo training center john parrillo’s performance press

“extended sets” and the dreaded Parrillo 100-rep belt squat. Scott writes diet and supplement plans, monitors results and can tell in a New York minute if you are not adhering to the proper nutrition and supplementation outside of the gym. Everyone is expected to improve, and as we mentioned earlier, it is factually an impossibility not to improve if you are weight training like a berserker, sweating and panting during daily fasted cardio and staying dead on the diet and supplementation with precision. The facility churns out transformed physiques as a matter of course. At the Parrillo Performance Training Center a multidimensional and uniform methodology is practiced exclusively and because there is a uniformity of method there is a uniformity of results, i.e. everyone gets results, results are the norm.

The typical trainee new to the

Parrillo system that starts working with Scott is in for the shock of their lives followed by the best physical gains of their life. Scott never fails to hear from new clients that they thought they knew a lot about weight training, but have never done the exercise this way which leads to uniqueness on how the muscles feel. The Parrillo Performance philosophy addresses the art and science of bodybuilding on a variety of levels: there is a highly specific plan of attack for weight training, aerobic training and nutrition and supplementation. All the plans interlock to form the Parrillo matrix. With so many moving parts, the process (at first) can seem confusing, particularly in those first weeks when everything must be launched simultaneously. It is a considerable amount of new information. The Parrillo approach can seem counterintuitive for someone coming from the world of

mainstream fitness. The common question Scott hears from new clients is, “How am I supposed to eat all of this food?” Scott quickly reiterates, “You must eat more to lose fat. Perform intense cardio, and keep your weight training extreme.” It is the counterintuitive nature of the Parrillo approach that makes it so effective and result producing. Above all things, the Parrillo philosophy is about education. John Parrillo and Scott are teachers at heart. They want you to learn the craft of bodybuilding. The Parrillo approach is the guiding light for you to take the craft to the highest level, if you desire.

There are a few new things on the horizon at Parrillo Performance. With the addition of mirrors around the training center, plans are being made for posing clinics and training camps in the near future, for all levels of competition. With years of instruction from John Parrillo and the last 3 years working with Samir Bannout, Mr. Olympia 1983, Scott has come into his own as a “classic physique” posing instructor as well as a master of confirmation and mandatory posing for bodybuilding competition. The female competitors generally work with Scott’s “taller half”, Carrie Rapp, who as an outstanding eye for figure and women’s physique presentation.

Another unexpected addition to the Training Center is Dr. Jeremy Girmann. The name should be familiar, as Dr. Girmann currently writes the Muscle Meets Medicine column in the Performance Press. He is opening an office here in the training center very soon which is currently under construction. Dr. Girmann will be working with athletes and non athletes alike, who have training injuries or issues stemming from training that are impeding the fitness lifestyle of the patient. Dr. Girmann is also an

amazing sounding board for Scott in a myriad of areas when he runs into odd cases with his training clientele. Just another way that Parrillo Performance is a cut above.

The Parrillo Performance Training Center is also being featured in the online version of the Performance Press. Just click on “training center” on the home page or go to www.parrilloperformance.com/category/training-center/. The blog will be highlighting the Parrillo adherents who train with Scott at Parrillo Performance. Not all compete, but all are on a mission to transform themselves physically and psychologically. It is very helpful for others with the same intentions to follow along as it happens. You will learn the Parrillo way.

There is more than physical change that occurs when one chooses the Parrillo path. When a person trains as Parrillo prescribes, the level of mental acuity rises to meet the challenges presented week after week as the body transforms from the work and diet strategy. Each person has a unique story and path, and many readers will resonate with the people featured bi weekly that have stories similar to their own on the path to lead a fit life. This will allow the readers to follow the progress of the Parrillo trainee’s, as weekly updates on the progress will be posted. Those who follow can try the strategies themselves and learn to live the Parrillo lifestyle.

It is unusual to see a successful and actual “old school” training facility pushing forward in this milieu of instant results and 28 Day Challenges”. Patience is in short supply in today’s technology driven world, but The Parrillo system, as espoused by Scott and taught at PP training center, is alive and well, thriving and looks to have a very bright future.

Parrillo built a Mad-Max version of the leg press that incorporates inertia dampening through hydraulic force as well as being able to adjust the force and mass independently.


Nothing can derail a diet like an intense food craving. I get

them, you get them, we all get them.I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Here are some strategies that I use and commonly recommend to help squelch the cravings:

Use a hunger scaleOften people eat just to eat. They’re stressed, or bored, or both and they end up rummaging through the refrigerator when they aren’t actually hungry. Before you head to the kitchen or to the nearest vending machine, assess your hunger and determine if you’re really just seeking a distraction. Whether you eat according to a particular meal plan or a certain hunger level, eat intentionally.

Distract yourself I tend to snack most often when I’m at home. Food is easily accessible and the cupboards have plenty to offer. At work I find myself eating far less because my mind is distracted with the events of the day. When you feel the desire to eat, engage your brain for 20 minutes and see whether the hunger persists. Often it will subside. Similarly, once you finish a meal, give your body some time to tell your brain that you’re full. While you’re waiting, clear the leftovers from the table. If they’re allowed to remain in front of you, you’ll likely find that they end up in your stomach.

muscle meets medicine

By Dr. Jeremy Girmann

how to kill food cravings

How to kill food cravingsEat multiple small mealsThere is ongoing debate in the worlds of sports nutrition and weight loss medicine regarding the value of less vs. more frequent meals. I prefer to eat multiple small meals throughout the day. While there are several reasons for this, one big reason is that if I don’t eat for many hours, my hunger will build to an insatiable level and I will eat anything and everything in sight. Eating every so often keeps my hunger at bay and allows me to make smarter food selections.

Get activeOnce a craving begins to set in, engage in some type of physical activity. You can go for a walk, do a few jumping jacks, or perform some wall squats. For whatever reason, I find it particularly helpful to do a few pushups. When you exercise, blood is diverted to the working muscles and away from the GI tract. The brain shifts focus from the feeling of hunger to the activity at hand.On the topic of physical activity, it is also worth noting that once you do eat a meal, it’s a good idea to go for a light walk after the meal is finished. This can assist the digestive process and even blunt the sharp insulin response to the meal.

Drink waterOften thirst is mistaken for hunger. I find this to be particularly true during cravings for sweets and I suspect that the brain has established this association due to the fact that many fruits have high water content.

Drinking water can also be helpful when cravings set in because it can initiate feelings of fullness as the stomach’s volume is increased.

Brush your teeth or chew gumThis works like a charm for me. Chewing gum gives your mouth something to do and the minty fresh feeling that comes from chewing gum or brushing your teeth can be a deterrent to snacking or eating more than you should once a meal is finished.

Smart swapIf you’re craving salty foods, try veggies with hummus. Craving sweets? Try some fruit, a chocolate protein shake, or flavored drinks. If the craving involves a specific food, usually you can make a healthier option that will offer more nutrients and be lower in calories. If you do choose to make your own version of a food, usually the more involved preparation will prevent you from eating as much as you otherwise might have if you made your way through a drive-thru.

Don’t deprive yourself Following a healthy diet doesn’t mean that you can never eat pizza or indulge in some chocolate cake. There is nothing wrong with treating yourself to your favorite food every once in a while. In fact, it can be socially, psychologically, and even metabolically advantageous to do so. Plan for it. If you decide that every Saturday you are going to eat any dinner of your choice, do so and don’t allow yourself to feel guilty about it. This way, you will be able to

large volume of food that was both nutrient-dense and low in calories. This will make you less likely to binge on the bad stuff.

Eat proteinIt has been known for some time that protein-rich foods are typically more satiating than their carbohydrate-rich counterparts. The reasons for this were largely unknown until 2012 when a study was published which shed some light on one of the major mechanisms involved. It was discovered that digested proteins modulate mu-opioid receptors (MORs) on nerves found in the walls of blood vessels that drain the GI tract. When the peptides stimulate these receptors, a sort of circuit is triggered which travels to the brain and back to the gut, ultimately stimulating the intestinal production of glucose which suppresses the desire to eat.

Avoid triggers and hot spots Ever heard of Pavlov’s dogs? In the 1890s, Russian physiologist Ivan Pavlov was studying salivation in dogs in response to being fed. In one of his studies he would ring a bell whenever food was presented to the dogs. Naturally the dogs would salivate in anticipation of eating the food. He also noted, however, that after some time the dogs would begin to salivate each time the bell

was rung even in the absence of food. In his seminal studies, Pavlov was able to demonstrate the learning procedure which later become known as classical conditioning.

Identify your triggers. Do you crave cookies every time you go to grandma’s house because she always has some waiting for you? (Let’s try another example. I’m not hoping to convince you to stop visiting grandma.) Do you think about pretzels every time you walk down a certain hallway at work because you routinely stop at a nearby vending machine? Try taking a different route.

Don’t shop on an empty stomach. We’ve been warned before and yet many of us still do it. The grocery store is the ultimate hot spot for triggering various cravings. The beautifully packaged foods and the sweet smells wafting from the bakery trigger many of us to buy more and ultimately eat more. On the topic of smells, the food court at shopping malls can also pose particular danger to our diets. Interestingly, the power of aromas is so great that many food vendors heavily leverage it. Several vendors, for example, will intentionally place their storefronts far from the food court so that the smell of their food will be unchallenged by other food vendors as shoppers stroll by,

satisfy whatever your greatest food craving might have been during the week. It gives you something to look forward to and I even find that once Saturday rolls around, many times the original craving has subsided. Also, reframe your mindset so that instead of thinking that you are depriving yourself of foods that you cannot eat, think of all that you can eat – foods that will make you feel great and function better.

Eat imaginary foodThis might sound a bit crazy but it works. The next time that you get a craving, imagine eating that food. Imagine the taste, the smell, the first bite and the last. Then imagine being full and get on with the next thing. Sometimes this allows you to leverage willpower just enough to avoid eating the actual cookie or candy bar. Often trying not to think about a craving actually emboldens it and makes it much worse.

Sleep or take a napMultiple studies have shown that with sleep deprivation comes weight gain. Much of this is related to the fact that simply being awake for longer periods of time increases the likelihood that you might find yourself in the kitchen more frequently. (If you eat at night while sleepwalking, we have an entirely different problem…) It has also been shown that sleep deprivation disrupts the hormonal balance that normally keeps appetite in check.

Veggies firstThere are many mechanisms that control feelings of hunger but one simple mechanism is related to the stretch receptors in the stomach. If you fill up with vegetables at the beginning of a meal, the stomach will fill and the stretch receptors will begin to send signals to the brain telling it that you are full. The net result is you will have eaten a

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therefore successfully triggering a craving for their particular product.

Light a scented candleWhile certain aromas do trigger cravings and greatly intensify hunger, the nose can become desensitized to smells over time. Immersing yourself in a particular scent by working near a scented candle or by using essential oils might decrease how significantly you are influenced by the smell of food. In fact, Christmas Dinner Syndrome has been used to describe the common situation in which the person who has been cooking doesn’t eat as much as their guests because they’ve smelled dinner all day.

Know that your taste and preferences will changeIt can be helpful to know that cravings for certain foods will not always be so intense. When you begin to eat a healthier diet, your taste and preferences will change over time. As bizarre as it might sound, I find that when my diet is optimized, my cravings for cookies and potato chips shift to apples and whole wheat bread. You begin

to appreciate more subtle flavors.

Tap your forehead Researchers at Mount Sinai St. Luke’s Hospital in New York City found that tapping your forehead for 30 seconds can minimize the intensity of a craving and blur the image of the food you crave. Don’t tap too hard…

Use a blue plateResearch has found that the color blue can be a natural appetite suppressant. Since blue is almost never found in natural foods, our bodies have no appetite response to the color. Red, orange, and yellow, on the other hand, have been shown to increase your appetite and make you eat more.

Be your own motivational speakerAs lame as it sounds to suggest adopting a “can-do” attitude, it’s critically important. The alternative? People surrender to the idea that they do not have the willpower or self-discipline to overcome cravings so they cave. Once they give in to the craving, they become overwhelmed with a sense of “told you so”. The mindset and behavior represent a self-fulfilling prophecy and the vicious cycle persists. Tell yourself with certainty that you can

overcome the craving and believe it; really believe it.Also, ask yourself whether giving in to the craving is really worth the results of indulging. Consider this perspective: I ate junk yesterday. Am I still benefitting from it today? Unless you treated yourself to a supreme pizza with some super pungent garlic and onions, the taste of the food is probably long gone. You may also be less energized today because the junk food that you ate yesterday didn’t serve as appropriate fuel. I always say that except in the case of a rare DeLorean, you can’t expect the system to function optimally if the fuel that you provide is junk. Pleasure is temporary. Recognize that the enjoyment is short-lived. Many give in to temporary pleasure when what they really crave is long-term satisfaction. This is the type of fulfillment that someone might feel when they lose weight or cure their diabetes by successfully making lifestyle changes and adhering to a healthier diet.

Lastly, recognize that we experience real-time change. You are not going to lose weight or get healthier only at some special time in the future. It is happening right now with each decision you make and every food that you eat. Remind yourself of this when you choose to eat or not eat a certain food.

Do you have strategies to beat food cravings? If so, share them with me by e-mailing me at:

[email protected]

Research has found that the color blue can be a natural appetite suppressant.

muscle meets medicine


Episode 118: “5 Reasons to attend one of the big shows”

I attended my first Mr. Olympia in 1991, and my first Arnold

Classic in 1995. In those days, there was merely a smattering of booths and tables at the Mr. O (which was held in a different date and city apart from the Ms. Olympia), and the Arnold Classic ‘expo’ was roughly 40 booth spaces in the basement of the old Veteran’s Memorial in Columbus, Ohio. You could easily check them all out in an hour or two at most. Today, both of these expos have grown exponentially, with the Arnold Expo now filling the cavernous Greater Columbus Convention Center with over 1,000 booths slated for 2017 and attracting 200,000 visitors every first weekend in March. The Arnold Classic started out as purely a men’s pro bodybuilding event, but now encompasses more sports and athletes than the Olympic Games. The Olympia Weekend in Las Vegas isn’t quite as large, but it’s not too far behind. And you have every pro division’s Olympia title being contested: The Mr. Olympia, 212, Figure, Fitness, Bikini, Men’s Physique, and Women’s Physique. As many of both of these mega events I have been to, I never cease to be overwhelmed and overcome with the size and scope of them. I also realize that as many bodybuilding

a bodybuilder is born 5 reasons to attend one of the big shows

A

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3. Free samples Who among us doesn’t love free stuff? The expos feature hundreds of booths, most of which are giving out free samples to try out. Even if you are loyal to the quality Parrillo Performance line, there’s nothing wrong with grabbing sample packets of other products while you’re there. Things like drink samples in Dixie cups and chopped up protein bar samples can even save you from starving when you find yourself shuffling along on the packed expo floor for hours and way behind on your meals.

4. Make friends and network When you get literally thousands and thousands of like-minded individuals together from all over who share the same interests, they are bound to make connections and strike up friendships. Not only is this valuable in terms of camaraderie and support, but also information and idea exchange. On top of that, ‘who you know’ is a powerful factor in any industry, and the fitness industry is no exception. Someone you know always knows someone who can help you, or needs your help. If you are involved in either competing or coaching, a wide network of contacts is priceless. And if nothing else, you will make new friends to talk to and keep in touch with who share your passion for bodybuilding and fitness.

5. Go home supercharged with motivation Even today, with over 33 years of training under my belt, motivation is rarely a problem with me. Even so, it never fails that I enjoy some of the best workouts of the year. I

am pumped! After seeing the absolute best bodies in the world on display right before your very eyes, how can you not be? You may even have fresh new goals that you can’t wait to get started on, whether they be personal ones like putting an inch on your arms, or more competitive, like winning your local show or even placing top five at a national event. I guarantee you there is no way you will come back from one of the big shows and expos without a whole new boost of motivation and enthusiasm for improving your physique.

So what are you waiting for? If you can manage it, I wholeheartedly recommend that you take a trip out to the Arnold Classic, the Olympia Weekend, or both. For those of us who live this crazy and fulfilling bodybuilding lifestyle, there’s just nothing else quite like it.

you’re eating out of Tupperware®. For many of you, this might be the first time you finally feel like you ‘belong.’ I have to say, that aspect of the trips alone is pretty damn cool.

2. Inspiration everywhere you look Another part of these big contests and expos that can’t be understated is the inspiration factor. If you’re a bodybuilder, this is where you can watch the very best in the world compete, men like Phil Heath, Dexter Jackson, Kai Greene, Big Ramy, and so many more. Seeing their photos or watching them on your computer is one thing, but being there in the audience and watching them pose in real life is quite another. These men have taken muscular development to the greatest extreme possible, looking like living Marvel Comics superheroes. At the expo, the booths are staffed by virtually every top pro and amateur bodybuilder in the USA and beyond, and you also have the chance to meet legends of the past as well. But that’s just the tip of the iceberg. Walking around the expo just like you are so many men and women with truly outstanding physiques that you may have never even heard of. Every time you think you just saw the best-built guy or girl ever, you turn a corner and there’s someone else that looks even better. It can be a little intimidating the first time, until you learn to use those incredible yet unknown physiques as inspiration, just like the Pros on stage. And who knows? You might be inspiring other people there too!

and fitness athletes and fans attend, there must still be many, many more out there in the USA and around the world who have never been. If you’re one of those, and especially if you’ve been on the fence and considered making a trip out to one of the two biggest shows in the fitness industry, let me convince you why you owe it to yourself to get to either Columbus or Las Vegas next year.

1. Meet your fitness family For many of us, there aren’t a whole lot of other men and women around who share our high level of enthusiasm and dedication when it comes to training hard, eating right, and constantly working to improve our physiques. Depending on where you live, you might even be the only one around, or at least at your gym. It can make you feel like a bit of an outcast at times when you live a lifestyle so very different from everyone else around you, and have goals that they can’t and don’t understand. Why would you want to get any bigger? Why would you want to get so lean you can see all those gross veins popping out? Why do you need to eat all the time, drink all those shakes, and take all those pills? Guess what? If you go to the Arnold or the Olympia, you will be surrounded by thousands of people just like you who live the bodybuilding lifestyle and totally ‘get it.’ The host hotel restaurants even have special bodybuilder menus for the weekend to accommodate your need for clean meals. You won’t be an oddball or a misfit here. You will fit right in with the rest of your extended iron family! It’s actually pretty comforting to be among ‘your own’ this way. No one looks at you like a weirdo because you have muscles, or

If you go to the Arnold or the Olympia, you will be surrounded by thousands of people just like you who live the bodybuilding lifestyle and totally ‘get it.’


pause, then push to full and compete lockout on every single rep.

Machines are as good as free weights: It would be nice if results were equal, regardless the tool selected. In the world of bench pressing, we have an incredible array, a veritable galaxy of bench press machines and devices. Padded, ball-bearing smooth, arm push devices are the Mercedes Benz of exercise machines and can easily cost in excess of $10,000. The inconvenient truth is that when it comes to bodybuilding results, more muscle built, machines are inferior to the free-weight barbell and dumbbell exercises that they mimic. Machine makers would have you believe that machine pressing is just as productive as dumbbell benching – and that is a myth. The very thing that makes machines fun to use, their ball-bearing smoothness and frozen motor pathway (plus that plush padded seat!) dilutes results: for muscle building purposes you do not want to make progressive resistance training easier. With a bench press machine or device, all you do is push or pull. With free-weights you have to control and contain side-to-side movement; free-weights stimulate muscle stabilizers in a way that machines cannot.

Solution: think of free-weight bench pressing as the meat and potatoes, the entrée; think of machine benching as dessert; always eat the entrée first, then dessert.

Ignoring the negative: really good bench pressers stress the negative portion of the bench rep; really bad bench pressers ignore the negative portion of the bench press rep. If you were to observe a world-record level bench presser working out, you would notice how controlled and deliberate, how careful and precise the negative, the

of the elbows while barbell bench pressing dates back to the 1960s. Theoretically the flared elbows isolate the pecs to a greater degree. The problem is this technique compromises poundage and stresses the rotator cuffs to an unacceptable degree. This is injurious and the poundage used is drastically reduced, diminishing muscle-building benefits. Benchers will lift their butt off the bench in order to turn a flat bench into a decline bench press. The butt has to stay on the bench at all times – no exceptions. Many bench pressers have become experts at bouncing the barbell off their chest on each rep. The bounce creates momentum and makes the bench press way easier. Way easier is bad for building chest and arm muscles. One favorite trick is to combine partial reps with a bounce and a butt raise.

Solution: don’t flare the elbows, don’t lift your butt off the bench and don’t bounce reps off your chest.

Touch-and-go all the time: 90% of all bench pressers use the “touch-and-go” bench press

precision used lowering the barbell or dumbbells to the chest. Really good benchers lower slowly and explode the push phase; really bad benchers lower quickly and struggle and contort on the push phase. The pros know that by lowering with tremendous muscle tension, tremendous muscular benefit is accumulated: lats and triceps are heavily activated; these are the “braking muscles.” Great bench pressers have great lats and triceps because these muscles resist the negative. John Parrillo has a phrase, “PULL the bar down, exert resisting tension – don’t just relax your muscles allowing gravity to do the work. Don’t throw away the muscle-building attributes associated with a proper negative bench press rep.”

Solution: as the barbell, dumbbells or machine handles are being lowered, exert tension; pull the weight down, the closer to the chest, the slower the bar speed. Obvious technical flaws: do not flare the elbows, raise the butt off the bench or bounce reps off the chest. The purposeful flaring

The Ten Biggest Mistakes in Bench PressingAvoid these pitfalls and watch your bench press (and chest muscles) explode!

The bench press (and all its variations) is without doubt

the single most popular progressive resistance exercise. Only the biceps curl, and all its variants, could come close to rivalling the bench press in popularity. Why is the bench press so popular? There are many factors but likely the biggest single reason is that bench presses are comfortable. You lie down on a padded bench and raise and lower the arms; compare this to the horrific squat where

parrillo principles the biggest mistakes in bench pressing

By Duke Nukem

you have a barbell draped around your neck as you fight for balance or the equally horrific deadlift where you pull your guts out. By comparison bench presses are downright comfortable and as close to fun as there is in progressive resistance exercise. Resistance training is, when you think about it, all about struggle and resistance. It is, by comparison, so much more enjoyable to perform resistance exercises sitting down and the only thing better than sitting down is lying down. Unfortunately for 90% of the bench-pressing populace, results are decidedly inferior. Why? We can think of ten common bench

press mistakes right off the top of our head. Identifying the flaws illuminates the proper opposite.

Partial reps: walk into any busy commercial gym and observe the bench pressers: the single most common bench press sin is the partial repetition. A proper bench press is lowered all the way down and touches the inflated chest on each and every rep. A proper bench press is locked out fully and completely on every single rep. The seductive lure of partial reps is that when you perform a partial rep the bench presser can handle a lot more poundage. Using strict form, a man that has a current maximum of 185 for 8 reps, using proper form, i.e., lowering and touching the chest and pushing to full and complete lockout – that same man can handle 225 for 8 if he cheats, if he doesn’t bring the barbell all the way down and never fully locks out. The macho gym lifter intent on impressing the other gym lifters loves partial reps. from a muscle-building standpoint partial reps are decidedly inferior; partials stress tendons and ligaments far more than pec and front delt muscles. Without a hard lockout there is no triceps stimulation. Partial reps yield partial results.

Solution: lower the bar until it touches the chest, pause or don’t

With free-weights you have to control and contain side-to-side movement; free-weights stimulate muscle stabilizers in a way that machines cannot.


briefest of instants on the maximally expanded chest, then explode the bar upward.

Solution: learn how to pause bench press. No need for long pauses as long pauses destroy poundage-handling ability. Pause – then explode! Do not Avoid dumbbell bench presses: A strong case could be made that dumbbell bench pressing is the most effective and result producing of all bench press types. Dumbbell-benching forces each arm to push (and lower) its fair share. Both delt muscles, each pec, both triceps have to handle their fair share of the work. Dumbbells allow the bench presser to lower further, increasing the “pre-stretch.” A deep stretch increases the muscle-building effectiveness. Dumbbells free the arms to rotate as they push and lower; the barbell locks the hands and wrists into a fixed position. Dumbbell bench presses are narrow-grip presses, ergo they spread the muscular effort, more or less equally between pecs, front

delts and triceps. The lats get a terrific workout from a controlled, tensed lowering. The only real downside to dumbbell bench pressing is that it can be awkward getting the dumbbells into position to start the lift and being done with them at the sets conclusion. All the techniques outlined for barbell benching apply to dumbbell bench pressing. For someone that has been using barbells or machines exclusively, a dose of dumbbell bench pressing will most certainly break you through to the next level of chest development.

Solution: lower bells all the way to the chest, feel the stretch, pause, push to full lockout. Six weeks of dumbbell benching will blow up pecs, delts and triceps.

Sticking with the same bench routine too long: don’t turn a favored bench press routine into a religion. Bodybuilders are creatures of habit and when they find a particular routine, one that generates results, they tend to stick with it long after

technique exclusively. They lower the bar, not resisting the negative, allowing gravity to do the work; while they don’t bounce they also don’t pause, they touch the chest and immediately begin the upward push phase. This is yet another technique designed to make bench-pressing easier. A bench presser capable of 185 for 8 strict reps, touch-and-go style, would be hard pressed to handle 155 for 8 if he purposefully paused the barbell on the chest, even for a split second. Periodically change the bench routine to keep training fresh. By altering bench techniques, benching remains interesting, fresh and keeps the body guessing. The polar opposite of touch-and-go is pausing on the chest. Most bench pressers avoid pausing because of how dramatically it affects poundage-handling ability. The trade-off is muscle building: pausing makes the push off the chest maximally difficult, which is precisely what we want for maximum chest building. Do not use ridiculously long pauses: pause just for an instant. Lower with precision and control, pause for the

the results have dried up. This is not to say that at some point this same routine will, once again be effective. However, the human body, given time will neutralize the positive effects of the most sophisticated of training routines. Nowhere is this more true than in bench pressing. Bodybuilders will use a favored bench routine for years! Why? Because they like it! It is comfortable, fun, familiar and they are pretty good at it. Unfortunately doing the same exercises using the exercises in the same order, using the same reps and the same techniques – and pretty much the same poundage will not produce results. The body needs to be shocked, challenged, thrown off balance and stressed and traumatized. That is a fact of bodybuilding life. The elite bodybuilder changes routines on a regularly reoccurring basis. Routines are rotated and this keeps the body guessing. On average, a bench press training routine should be changed every 6-8 weeks.

Solution: develop a collection of bench press routines that can be periodically rotated. Make sure the new routine differs significantly from the current stale one.

No bench press preplanning: One sure fire way for a serious bodybuilder to “bring up” his pecs, front delts, triceps and lats, to a significant degree is to get a significantly bigger bench press. A man with a strict 225-pound maximum single-rep paused bench press will develop significantly bigger pecs/delts/tris/lats if he finds a way to push his strict bench to 280 or 300-pounds. Breakthroughs in strength and power always result in breakthroughs in muscle size. Want bigger muscles? Get way stronger! It really is that simple. Competitive bench pressers increase their bench

press by having a plan. They have a bench press goal, the lifter sets the goal into a timeframe and generates a week-by-week plan of attack. Most bodybuilders don’t have any pre-planned ideas about their bench press workout, they just show up at the gym and bench the way they like, doing what seems appropriate for that day. A lifter is systematic: if their bench press max is 225, a small 5-pound per week increase results in a 300-pound bench press after 15 weeks. Small weekly poundage increases yield huge results over a protracted period of time.

Solution: think like a lifter. Seek to, over time, dramatically increase your bench press. A way bigger bench equates to way bigger muscles.

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For someone that has been using barbells or machines exclusively, a dose of dumbbell bench pressing will most certainly break you through to the next level of chest development.


Barley Cakes200 g. egg whites1/2 cup barley flour1/2 tsp. cinnamon100g. grated carrots1 tbsp. CapTri®

Beat egg whites until liquid. Combine other ingredients, and stir in with egg whites. Cook in a moderately hot skillet which has been lightly sprayed with PAM. Make the pancakes small.

To make a dinner variation of barley cakes, substitute onion, zucchini and garlic for the cinnamon. Best served with chicken.

RecipeRecipeSpotlight

of the monthTips & TidbitsTips & Tidbits

wFoodFoodof the month

Question &Answer SupplementSupplement

of the month

Kale• Choose kale with smaller-sized leaves since these will be more

tender and have a more mild flavor than those with larger leaves.

• Rinse kale leaves under cold running water. Chop leaf portion into 1/2" slices and the stems into 1/4" lengths for quick and even cooking.

• Braise chopped kale and apples. Before serving, sprinkle with balsamic vinegar and chopped walnuts.

Nutritional Information for: Kale, cooked, 1.00 cup (130.00 grams).

Calories: 36.40Protein: 2.47gFat: 0.52gTotal Carbs: 7.32g

Fiber: 2.60gSodium: 29.90mgPhosphorous: 36.40mgCalcium: 93.60mg

Iron: 1.17mgVitamin A: 17707.3 IUPotassium: 296.40mg

More and more studies confirm that sitting is bad for our health, increasing the likelihood of developing cardiovascular disease and other lifestyle-related illnesses such as diabetes. Some studies have estimated that being sedentary kills as many people as smoking.

The average adult in the Western world sits between 9 and 11 hours a day, a number that only increases as we age. In fact, in a study in older adults just published in Mayo Clinic Proceedings, researchers from the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU) found that the least sedentary third of their study participants still spent between 12 and 13 hours in sedentary behavior, while the most sedentary of the elders in the study were sedentary for up to 15 hours a day.

But how does being fit affect the health risk associated with a sedentary lifestyle, especially in older adults, who are the most likely to be sedentary? The NTNU researchers found that older women and men in the most sedentary group were correspondingly 83% and 63% more likely to have risk factors for cardiovascular disease compared to women and men who were least sedentary.

But when the researchers took fitness into account, they found that having high age-specific fitness (in this case, being among the fittest 40%) reduced the likelihood of having cardiovascular risks factors posed by extended time spent being sedentary. However, no such effect was found in those who were physically active without being fit.

"Our Western lifestyles necessarily involve a lot of sitting, and we spend more and more time sitting on average as we age," said Silvana Sandbakk, first author of the study. "But our findings show that being fit plays an important part in successful aging and may lend protection against the negative health effects of being sedentary."

In search of healthy aging

The NTNU research was conducted as a part of a larger study called Generation 100, a five-year-long randomized controlled clinical trial that began in 2012 to see whether exercise leads to longevity and more active and healthy years in the elderly.

For the current study, Sandbakk and colleagues used baseline information collected when the Generation 100 project began and looked at a subset of participants who did not have known cardiovascular disease.

The researchers will follow this subset of study participants to see if improving fitness in the most sedentary individuals could prevent or delay lifestyle-related disease and prolong life.

High fitness is highly important

The researchers took accelerometer measurements over a week (as an objective measure of activity) for the 874 participants who were included in their study.

When they compared different levels of activity to fitness levels and cardiovascular risk factor clusters, they found that seniors who had the highest fitness levels, defined as the most fit 40 percent of the study group, had the lowest risk of having a cardiovascular risk factor cluster.

Question: I dread doing my aerobics, it’s so boring! Any tips on how to make it more interesting?

Answer: Try taking a “cross-training” approach to your aerobics. Combine several different types of aerobic training into a single session. For example, start with 5-10 minutes on a stair climbing machine, working up a good sweat by pumping your legs as hard as you can. Then switch to an upper body aerobic exercise for another 5-10 minutes. Get on a rowing machine and really push hard through the exercise. Rowing machines are excellent for building specific cardiovascular fitness in the back, helping to alleviate back development problems. For the next 5-10 minutes, hop on a stationary bike. To intensify this part of your aerobics, use dumbbells in each hand. Pump your arms as you pump your legs. This works the muscles even harder. Finish off with another 10 minutes on a ski machine. Really get into it. By the end of the aerobics training session, you’ll wonder where the time went!

News & DiscoveriesNews & DiscoveriesIn Fitness & Nutrition

Does it matter how long you sit, if you are fit?

This held true even though the most fit participants were relatively sedentary, with between 12 and 13 hours per day on average of sedentary behavior.

A cardiovascular risk factor cluster was defined as the presence of three of five risk factors for cardiovascular disease, including elevated waist circumference; elevated blood triglycerides or reduced "good" cholesterol levels or being treated for these; elevated blood pressure or treatment for hypertension; and elevated fasting blood sugar levels (or being treated for diabetes). These symptoms combined are commonly referred to as metabolic syndrome.

What was most surprising, however, was that this finding held true even if the most fit elders in the study did not meet current recommendations for moderate to vigorous physical activity.

Conversely, meeting physical activity guidelines on its own did not seem to be enough to eliminate the cardiovascular risk associated with sedentary behavior if people didn't have a certain level of cardiorespiratory fitness, the researchers found.

Nevertheless, there is little doubt about the benefits of regular physical activity, even amounts below public recommendations, Sandbakk said.

"However, it seems that fitness makes a difference for this age group and while we wait for more evidence, some physical activity in elders that improves fitness will go a long way," Sandbakk said.

Norwegian University of Science and Technology. "Does it matter how long you sit, if you are fit? Fitness is important in offsetting the negative effects of being sedentary." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 19 October 2016. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/10/161019104445.htm>.

Question &Answer

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Parrillo Performance sought and obtained the finest quality Creatine available and rather than cut the powder with filler (common practice in the industry) Parrillo offers pure, undiluted, uncut Creatine. To optimize the Creatine effect, we recommend the athlete take one 5g scoop four times a day for a week to “load” Creatine Monohydrate into the system and then drop back to a scoop twice a day thereafter to commence the “maintenance phase”. Gaining ten-pounds of lean mass is commonplace and this supplement has carved a permanent place on the shelf of every serious bodybuilder. A “must have” supplement for all serious weight trainers! Contains 100% Creatine Monohydrate.


Manganese• Assists in muscle growth.• Involved in the metabolism of

carbohydrates and fat.• Fortifies bone.• Serves as an antioxidant.• Improves joint function

Potassium• One of the chief electrolytes

that helps maintain fluid within muscles. That way, your muscles stay hydrated, which keeps them in an anabolic state.

• Involved in metabolism.• Important in cardiovascular health.

Chloride• Another electrolyte that helps

maintain a balance of fluids.• Involved in metabolism.

• Required for glycogen breakdown, fat oxidation, protein synthesis, and energy synthesis.

• Improves both aerobic and anaerobic exercise performance.

• Prevents muscle cramping.• Improves cardiovascular health.• Assists in proper digestion

and excretion.

Selenium• Critical for muscle strength.• Helps maintain thyroid

hormone levels.• Boosts immune function.• May help reduce the risk of some

types of cancer.• Improves cardiovascular health.• Promotes normal liver function.

Copper• Functions as an antioxidant, crucial

for strength athletes who tax their systems with heavy workouts.

• Facilitates the transport and absorption of iron.

• Plays an important role in bone growth and integrity, as well as blood-cell, brain and nervous-system development.

• Vital for healthy connective tissue.

Chromium• Amplifies the action of insulin,

the strongest anabolic hormone, for better muscle growth. More specifically, insulin increases the transport of amino acids into muscle cells and stimulates the production of those amino acids into muscle protein. The net result is an increase in lean body mass.

• Increases energy by assisting insulin in transporting glucose from the blood and into the muscle cell.

• May improve body composition (the ratio of muscle to body fat).

• Spares muscle that might otherwise be lost through overtraining.

The unsung heroes in bodybuilding nutrition are

minerals. Many otherwise healthy individuals are deficient in these vital nutrients and don’t even realize it. Why take a chance when you can obtain the optimal amount of minerals in supplement form? Every tablet of our Parrillo Mineral Electrolyte Formula™ contains a pretty impressive lineup of minerals. Here’s an overview of each one, with an at-a-glance look at how it contributes to bodybuilding and athletic nutrition.

Calcium• The most abundant mineral in

the body.• Necessary for normal body function.• Involved in the normal contraction

of muscle fibers.• Vital for the formation of the

internal skeletal matrix that gives bones their strength.

• May assist in fat-burning.

Phosphorus• The second most abundant

mineral in the body.• Important in human metabolism.• Assists in many B-vitamin

functions, which are involved with intracellular energy.

Zinc• Involved in the manufacture

of testosterone, necessary for muscular growth.

• Boosts immunity.

Iodine• Feeds the thyroid, the “master”

gland that has a huge impact on calorie-burning and metabolism.

• Keeps that gland healthy, for a strong immune system, which is particularly important during pre-contest dieting and hard-training phases.

• Plays a role in maintaining the energy level of your body and in helping the skin, teeth, nails and hair to be strong and healthy.

Iron• Essential for women athletes, who

usually get too little iron, leading to anemia.

• Helps deliver oxygen to red blood cells for greater nutrient absorption and energy.

• Helps prevent fatigue and a weak appetite.

• Improves recovery.

Magnesium• Plays a role in more than 300

enzymatic reactions in which food is broken down for use by the body.

Boron• Helps keep testosterone free in

the blood for better absorption by muscle fibers.

• Essential for healthy bones.

Other NutrientsOur Parrillo Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ also contains glutamic acid, a glutamine precursor useful for building muscle and recovery; and betaine, involved in joint-building and liver-protective reactions.

How to SupplementSo you see: each one of these minerals plays a pretty direct role in exercise performance and bodybuilding. Yes, you can obtain minerals from foods such as proteins and starchy carbs. But supplements are important too,

by john parrillo mineral magic

MINERAL MAGIC

By John Parrillo

since soil depletion over time has caused much of our plant foods to be low in necessary minerals. By supplementing with minerals, you can help maximize muscle growth, accelerate fat loss, and enhance your overall well-being.

Taken with each meal, Mineral-Electrolyte Formula™ is an excellent source of essential nutrients for metabolic functions and costs less than ten cents a day. It’s a must for any hard-training athlete or exerciser.

Other Ingredients: Di-calcium Phosphate, Stearic Acid,Cellulose and Magnesium Stearate.

Supplement FactsServing Size 1 Tablet

† Daily Value not established.

Calcium (as amino acid chelate)

Magnesium (as amino acid chelate)

Phosphorus (as phosphate)

Potassium (phosphate/potassium chloride)Potassium phosphate

Selenium (as amino acid chelate)

Manganese (as amino acid chelate)

Boron (as citrate, aspartate and glysinate)

Zinc (as picolinate)

Chromium (as picolinate)

Iron (as amino acid chelate)

Copper (as amino acid chelate)

Iodine (as kelp)

Betaine Hydrochloride

Chloride

Glutamic Acid (as hydrochloride) 50 mg

26 mg

50 mg

75 mcg

500 mcg

15 mg

25 mcg

11 mg

500 mcg

10 mg

50 mcg

99 mg250 mg

192 mg

250 mg

250 mg 25

76

25

††

†

†

28

25

50

7371

50021

1

3

Amount Per Serving

% Daily Value

January 2017 23www.parrilloperformance.com

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"Health" and the caloric conundrum

Fasted cardio tricks of the tradeWant delts? Don't depend on machines

MMA recovery

Soy lover finds me despicable

iron vic speaks

The decline bench press works the entire chest. Incorporate all points of proper bench press form into this exercise. Keep your shoulders down, your sternum high and your elbows back. Lower the barbell until it touches your lower pecs. Press back up to the starting position, staying tight throughout the full range of motion.

Use correct bench press form throughout the exercise.

Keep your sternum high.

Stay tight.

PERFORMANCE POINTS

With the Parrillo Training Manual™ you will learn specific exercises that have proven effective for some of the nation’s top competitive athletes. It will help you determine the optimum rep/set scheme you need to maximize muscular density, cardiovascular density and muscular endurance. The manual is designed to help you increase your mental acuity, perfect your form and intensify your workouts. It also contains individual chapters for each muscle group, featuring sample workouts used by John Parrillo with some of the top professional and amateur bodybuilders in the world. Each chapter has illustrated movements to show you the proper form for that particular exercise. The Parrillo Training Manual™ also gives you information on the importance of aerobic training and how it can help improve your physique. In addition to this, there are chapters on fascial stretching, a revolutionary way to stretch your muscles for maximum growth and a chapter on proper posing. Including all of the mandatory poses for most bodybuilding organizations.

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Decline bench press

BY IRON VIC STEELE

Hello,

Do you have any health concerns eating so many calories? Even if the calories are ‘clean’ calories, is it healthy to eat 3-4,000 calories a day? I suppose if you are intent on becoming a competitive bodybuilder than perhaps this type of eating would be appropriate – how could eating that much food be healthy? How can you eat as much as Parrillo recommends and stay healthy?

Janet, Washington DC

You are taking Parrillo nutrition out of context. You are assuming the eating exists in a vacuum: the Parrillo nutritional approach always requires an exercise component – an intense exercise component. You make the mistake at looking at Parrillo nutrition all by itself. Factually, you have to earn the right to eat lots and lots of clean calories. Without the intense physical training, there is no need or reason to practice the Parrillo high-calorie/high-protein nutritional strategy. The severity of the training dictates the amount of calories consumed. The harder you train, the more protein and clean calories you need to recover and grow. John has a saying, “Eat to your activity level.”

The severity of the training dictates the amount of calories consumed. The harder you train, the more protein and clean calories you need to recover and grow.


iron vic speaks john parrillo’s performance press

If you are crushing it in the gym, if you consistently engage in sweaty cardio for 30 to 45-minutes every morning, if you weight train 4-5 times a week, lifting heavy and seeking to exceed limits, you will require a lot of calories and a lot of protein. We are not recommending a sedentary librarian looking to lose 20-pounds without exercising eat 4,000 calories a day. On the other hand, if a fit 200-pound bodybuilder is training 10-12 times a week in combined cardio and lifting, 4,000 calories might not be enough! Clean calories are difficult to turn into body fat. That’s why we eat them. Keep in mind that the hard training athlete can take in upwards of 1,000 calories a day drinking shakes and supplementing with CapTri®. The calories consumed need to be sufficient for the athlete/bodybuilder to recover, session to session. If they “under-eat” they will feel dragged out and exhausted when the next training session rolls around. Don’t make the rookie mistake of examining the vaunted Parrillo high protein/high calories

diet in a vacuum – you cannot isolate Parrillo eating from Parrillo training. Without the training there is no reason to implement this sophisticated nutritional program.

Hello Sir!

I was hoping you might be able to help. I am a young MMA fighter with professional ambitions. I went from being a part-time fighter to fulltime MMA six months ago. The training is intense and never-ending and it is wearing me down. I do fine in the training and everyone thinks I have a great future, but recovering session to session is becoming increasingly tough. After training, I feel as if I am walking through mud. I am tired all the time. The adrenaline kicks in during training, but the instant the session is done, I am ready to sleep for 18 hours. I am a light guy, 5-10 and 145. I am fit and lean. I train every day. I can’t blow up physically as I want to stay in this weight division.

Don, Dallas

I would advise you start supplementing with Pro-Carb™ and Parrillo Liver Amino Formula™. It seems that supplemental carbohydrates are out of favour, which is a shame because used right, the right kind of carbs taken at the right time and in the right amount can dramatically improve training recovery. Pro-Carb™ provides a slow sustained release of glycogen-restoring carbohydrates. Refined carbs, starch carbs and carbs that contain sugar will spike insulin. Pro-Carb™ does not. Start by taking two Pro-Carb™ shakes daily: drink the first shake mid-way through the morning practice session. Take the second shake midway through the day’s afternoon training session. I would also suggest supplementing with Parrillo Liver Amino Formula™: each tablet is loaded with blood-enriching heme iron and many hard-training athletes unknowingly suffer from iron deficiency anaemia. IDA is “tired blood,” or perhaps more accurately, polluted blood. Take 5-8 Liver Amino™ tablets 4-6 times a day. This combination of supplements should help immensely. Pro-Carb™ will replenish glycogen stores you repeatedly deplete as a result of intense training. Liver Amino™ tablets will cleanse your blood. In addition, each liver tab contains 1.5 grams of potent protein. Question: does your sweat reek of ammonia after an intense training session? If so, you need to start taking Max Endurance Formula™. This unique blend of aspirates is specifically designed to counteract ammonia build-up related to intense cardio effort. Take 4-8 Max Endurance™ capsules 30 minutes before training and eliminate toxic, performance-diminishing ammonia.

Vic Steele,

I have some questions about ‘fasted cardio.’ If I understand the rationale,

the idea is to force the body to use body fat as fuel. This is done by a combination of coming off the ‘sleep fast’ and then, before eating or drinking any carbs, engaging in a Parrillo-style high intensity cardio session. Once all the glycogen is burned away completely, though the combination of fasted-cardio and aerobics, the body is forced to use body fat to power activity. I strongly suspect this approach works because I see the best bodybuilders at my gym in the gym every morning in the lead up to a bodybuilder competition. Glycogen is digested carbohydrate and glycogen would be low coming off 5-8 hours of sleeping because you can’t eat carbs while you are sleeping. So here is my question – what if when you woke up you ate pure protein? Would that mess up the low glycogen status? I have a hard time jumping into a cardio session with nothing in me. I am not a coffee drinker and I always have something to eat when I get up. I have been using Parrillo’s All-Protein Powder™ to make a shake of pure protein. I drink the shake when I wake up and before my ‘fasted cardio’ – this has made a huge difference! I am getting a terrific jolt of protein and a nice energy boost. Is this acceptable? Am I screwing up fasted cardio by drinking pure protein and ruining the results?

Terry, Silver Spring

This is actually very clever: the short answer is your solution works. Taking in 30 grams of carb-free, sugar-free protein will not ruin your low-glycogen status. Here is another trick of the trade: in order to make the fast deeper, stopping eating carbs at 3 or 4 pm the previous afternoon. Cutting off carbs at 4 pm lessens the amount of glycogen to dissolve during the sleep fast. Conversely, about the worst thing you can do is to eat a bunch of carbs or sugar right before bed. Of course the ultimate trick of the trade,

and the one used by competitive bodybuilders is to do two cardio sessions a day. The timing of the two sessions is critical: the first session is the morning fasted cardio; you really need to get after it in the AM cardio session. The fat-burning conditions are ideal so make the most of it. Parrillo cardio is all about sweating and panting and working as hard as humanly possible. The second cardio session is done after the last carb meal of the day, eaten at 3 or 4 pm. The second session will burn off a lot of the day’s carb accumulation and provide a nice jump-start for the next morning’s session. So yes, All-Protein™ coming off the sleep-fast it is a great idea. All-Protein™, mixed perfectly, has the delicious texture and taste of whole milk.

Mr. Steele,

Can you recommend a good shoulder routine? All my shoulder exercises are done on machines. I use machines for overhead pressing and for lateral raises. I have been using machines

for shoulders for a long time and I am not really seeing much in the way of results. Perhaps you can advise me on some free-weight exercises. I am ready for some changes. I have two days a week available to train shoulders. I bench a couple times and week and do arms. I am an intermediate level dude.

Randy, Cali

You need a good dose of barbells and dumbbell shoulder work. Pressing machines are wonderful and please use them by all means; however muscle stabilizers are stimulated to a far greater degree by pressing a barbell than using a machine. The maximum stimulation of deltoids occurs using dumbbells: muscle stabilizers go crazy during a set of dumbbell presses when each individual arm is forced to carry 50% of the total poundage. Overhead dumbbell pressing allows each arm to rotate on the ascent and descent of the dumbbell press. All of which makes dumbbell pressing the King of deltoid exercises. The front

...used right, the right kind of carbs taken at the right time and in the right amount can dramatically improve training recovery.

...you really need to get after it in the AM cardio session. The fat-burning conditions are ideal so make the most of it.

January 201726 1-800-344-3404

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Delicious with the Parrillo Cakes and CupcakesMake Protein Ice Kreem™ in your ice cream maker

Try this on Parrillo Ice Kreem™ or Brownies!

32 oz32 oz150 capsules150 capsules150 capsules90 tablets90 tablets90 capsules400 tablets150 tablets150 capsules150 capsules150 tablets300 grams150 capsules90 gelcaps90 gelcaps35 oz

32 oz

20 pouches

28 oz

28 oz

20 pouches

32 oz

32 oz

12 / box

12 / box

12 / box

12 / box

16 oz16 oz

24 oz

24 oz

21.2 oz

32 oz

25.4 oz

22.3 oz16 oz

$40.00$40.00$32.00$38.00$30.00$19.95$9.95$8.95$42.00$14.00$34.00$36.00$18.00$29.00$15.95$24.95$16.95$25.00

$42.95

$48.95

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$47.95

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$38.00

$49.95

$32.00

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$32.00

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$26.50

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$49.95

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$9.95

$29.95

iron vic speaks

barbell press, seated or standing, is also a top tier exercise. The press-behind-the-neck, for those that can do it without pain, is the favorite shoulder movement of many elite powerlifters and bodybuilders. PBNs are best done seated and with a spotter. Don’t lower the barbell below the ear lobes as you rep in the PBN. Let’s also use dumbbells for lateral raises. I would set up a two-day shoulder split like this….

Day 1 Seated dumbbell press• four sets of 10, 8, 6 and 5 reps,

pyramiding upward • Then two more sets DB presses, 8

reps, do these super strictMachine presses• two sets of 6-8, if possible finish

with 2-3 forced repsSeated dumbbell lateral raises• 4 sets of 8-12 strict reps, raise

bells to ear level Day 2Barbell front press, standing orPBN seated• four sets 10, 8,6,5 pyramid• Then two more sets of 8 reps,

super strict Smith Machine front press• two sets of 8, if possible finish with

2-3 forced repsFront, side and rear lateral raises• 2 sets each, 6 sets total 8-12 strict

reps

Sir,

Why are you always pushing protein? It seems every third word out of your mouth is ‘protein.’ Your emphasis on protein is ridiculous – how can you recommend people take in excessive protein when you know humans can only digest 30 grams of protein at any one time – the rest is excreted in the urine. I use SOY protein. Soy is just as good and far healthier than taking the gross protein you recommend. I suppose the ‘more is better’ protein obsession is also better for your sales.

Pillow, Big Sur

The idea that all humans, regardless of size or degree of fitness, have an identical 30-gram cap on protein assimilation is ridiculous. Do you

really think a 100-pound hippie girl from Big Sur and a 300-pound monstrous powerlifter would have the same capacity to assimilate protein? Ludicrous, your love of SOY is also ludicrous; even a superficial, cursory examination of the science shows that SOY SUCKS! Plant protein, like hybrid cars, is a good idea (in the minds of their advocates) but in reality soy is worse than worthless: not only is soy an incomplete and fractured protein, soy spikes estrogen. I suppose if you do nothing more strenuous than perform some gentle yoga and stare at a computer screen the rest of the day, supplemental protein is not really necessary. You might get by with 30 grams of protein for the entire day. However, if you are lifting weights in a serious way and performing hard cardio often, supplemental protein keeps your body from breaking down. You will not recover unless you have sufficient protein and sufficient calories. Results are the report card and results only occur when the perfect combination of weight training, cardio and disciplined nutrition (highlighted by a high intake of lean, fat-free protein) is achieved and sustained. High protein intake is the key to accelerating recovery and fuelling new muscle growth. Bodybuilders to your way of thinking are over-dosing on the wrong kind of protein – yet bodybuilders are lean and strong; they possess tremendous endurance and have vitality and health. For those that adhere tightly to the bodybuilding lifestyle supplemental protein is a necessity.

Do you really think a 100-pound hippie girl from Big Sur and a 300-pound monstrous powerlifter would have the same capacity to assimilate protein?

Jen ParhamDecember 2016 Feature Athlete

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