Answers by Iron Vic Steele Keeping it simple gets results · all else, she successfully came to...

Kristina ReillyKristina ReillyHer inspirational journey continues

GET YOUR CHOCOLATE FIX THIS MONTH

12-WEEK SIZE AND STRENGTH BLITZKRIEGDifferent than anything you've

ever tried

TRAINING CYCLE FOR BIG LEGSWith Parrillo Lead Trainer Scott Canatsey

HOW TO CREATE AN ANABOLIC BURST

Answers by Iron Vic Steele

THE BASICS NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE

Keeping it simple gets results

MUSCLE MEETS MEDICINELiving limitless

photo by Doug Jantz

10 – MUSCLE MEETS MEDICINE

STAFF

PublisherJohn Parrillo

Design DirectorMarcus McCuiston

Editor At LargeMarty Gallagher

John Parrillo’s Performance Press is published monthly. The subscription rate of one year (12) issues is $29.95 ©2018 by John Parrillo. All Rights Reserved. For information, Please contact Parrillo Performance at (513) 874-3305 or e-mail to [email protected]

8 - THE TRAINER'S PAGE

14 - THE PARRILLO PRINCIPLES

February 2019

Health and Vitality through Exercise and Nutrition

PERFORMANCE PRESSJOHN PARRILLO’S

13 – THE BASICS NEVER GO OUT OF STYLE

18 -TIPS & TIDBITS

20 – GET YOUR CHOCOLATE FIX THIS MONTH

23 – IRON VIC SPEAKS!

ContributingWritersJohn ParrilloMarty GallagherDr. Jeremy GirmannScott CanatseyAndre NewcombIron Vic SteeleRon Harris

Contributing PhotographersDoug JantzAmir MarandiCD PhotographyJohn ParrilloDominique ParrilloMarcus McCuiston

Often our limitations are only what we make of them. Are you struggling to push past a barrier?

Do you want big legs? Try this training cycle Scott Canatsey has come up with based on decades of experience.

Follow Tim and his Parrillo Certified Trainer Jonas as they transform Tim's Physique in only 12 weeks!

A healthy Parrillo recipe as well a a few other tips and tidbits to help you achieve your fitness goals.

February means Valentine's Day and chocolate. We have plenty of options to have your chocolate without blowing your diet.

If it works then why overcomplicate things? When it comes to getting results, what worked in 1940 will work in 2040.

Taking a break from the gym can help in the long run. Iron Vic explains how and why in this month's edition of Iron Vic Speaks!

4 – KRISTINA REILLY

FLAVORS AVAILABLE:

VANILLACHOCOLATESTRAWBERRYPEACHBANANA

• Supplies supplemental protein for muscle growth• Allows dieters to retain hard-earned muscle• Makes eating on the run quick and easy

FEBRUARY 2019FEBRUARY 20194 51-800-344-3404 www.parrilloperformance.com

Kristina Reilly is one of our favorite Parrillo success stories.

What is inspirational about Kristina is how dramatically she changed her physique and how late in life these dramatic changes occurred. What makes her physical transformation all the more impressive is that she had no athletic background whatsoever. It is one thing to regain some of what was once had; a former athlete can get back into serious training after a long absence and reawaken long dormant muscle memory. Kristina had no muscle memory to reawaken; she had no prior training or sports experience to draw on. She was a classic midwestern mom, fully formed and mature, yet somehow found a way to reinvent herself at an age when people begin to decline, not improve. Her story shows just how powerful and potent Parrillo methodology is, when done right and done consistently. Mrs. Reilly had the incredibly good fortune to cross paths with a legendary Parrillo personal trainer at just the right time: Henry Lovelace has been renovating humans of all types and kinds for decades. Henry happens to own a facility in Kristina’s neighborhood. She had another unlikely event occur when, at the advanced age of 48, she fell in love with a sport (tennis) that she’d never played. She immersed herself in the bodybuilding lifestyle and she immersed herself in her newfound passion for tennis. She somehow made time to fit all this fitness in: the tennis, the weight training, the daily cardio, the food prep for the coming week, all this while raising four children and nursing her husband back from a near-fatal heart attack. Her fitness journey really begins with a series of health catastrophes. Kristina Reilly got a fitness wakeup call when Bob, her husband of 28 years and father of her four children, had a heart attack in 2014. Bob was told that he needed to lose a lot of bodyweight. Regardless how big or how heavy a person is, their

John Parrillo's Performance Press

inactive to active, from bad eating to clean eating, the Reilly’s’ were getting traction in their quest to get lean and healthy.

Things really came together for the Reilly’s when they crossed paths with midwestern bodybuilding legend Henry Lovelace. Kristina explained, “Things really took off when we joined Wild Horse gym. We could not have picked a better facility or a better bodybuilding and fitness guide than Henry.” Mr. Lovelace has guided countless competitive bodybuilders, athletes and regular people on their individualized quest for physical improvement. Being a total professional, Henry is equally at ease helping an elite bodybuilder prepare for an important show or helping out-of-shape normal people lose 100-pounds of body fat. Kristina took to Henry’s hardcore approach. “Henry set us on exactly the right path. He showed us how to exercise hard enough to get results yet taught us how to stay safe. Henry educated

us on nutrition and introduced us to Parrillo supplements.” John Parrillo and Henry Lovelace have known each other for decades. Henry uses and recommends Parrillo Products to all Wild Horse members. Henry agrees with John’s methods all up and down the line; Henry uses his own variation of the Parrillo approach towards weight training, fascia stretching, high-intensity aerobic exercise and the targeted use of potent (Parrillo) nutritional supplements. In addition to her regular training sessions at Wild Horse, Kristina immersed herself in tennis. The disciplined eating, the high intensity exercise, the potent Parrillo supplementation, plus Henry’s weekly input and adjustments, it all combined and suddenly the body fat was melting off. The Reilly’s made gains past everyone’s wildest expectations. Fast forward to 2019 and Kristina now weighs 135-pounds and has competed in two bodybuilding competitions. From 100-pounds overweight to successfully competing in physique competitions – all in just four short

photo by Doug Jantz

By Marty Gallagher

heart muscle is approximately the size of their clenched fist. Bob Reilly was driving a 5,000-pound Cadillac body around with a 40-horsepower Volkswagen engine. Bob’s heart attack was a wake-up call on a variety of levels: not only was it psychologically damaging for Kristina and the family, it was a call to action for Kristina, “I too was 100-pounds overweight. I too was a candidate for some type of obesity-related health crisis.” Bob Reilly had to get thin and Kristina decided to get on board with this new direction. It necessitated a radically new and different approach towards life and required a new relationship with food and exercise, something she knew nothing about. She would have to be a part of the remedial equation. Kristina began practicing an entry-level version of the bodybuilder lifestyle. In around this same time, the non-athlete fell in love with a sport. “I was never ever athletic. Then in 2014 I happened to take a tennis lesson. I fell in love with playing tennis. Tennis was actually the start of my fitness quest.” From

Her inspirational journey continues


John Parrillo's Performance PressKristina Reilly - Her inspirational journey continues

years. This is the very definition of sensational progress.

Kristina is a 51-year old homemaker that lives in Chesterfield, Missouri, a suburb of St. Louis. “I married my high school sweetheart, Bob, 28 years ago. We have four children, two boys and two girls. Andrew is 26, a tax CPA. Kelly is 24, a labor and delivery nurse. Megan, 22, a graphic designer. Jason is 17, a junior in high school and a baseball player. I spend my free time at the gym, playing tennis, or volunteering at my son’s high school.” Kristina is the prototypical American mom. What magic did she find or discover that enabled her to progress so rapidly? It was a combination of the expert advice she got from Henry (and his constant monitoring) combined with her sudden and complete immersion in tennis. She went from no physical activity to lots and lots of high intensity physical activity. Above all else, she successfully came to grips with nutrition and supplementation. All the hard exercise and good advice can be easily undermined with poor nutrition. She uses Parrillo Products on a daily basis. “I use Parrillo Hi-Protein powder™, CapTri® C8 MCT, Parrillo Soft Chew bars™, Parrillo Protein bars™ and Liver Amino Formula™ tablets.” Kristina takes no less than twelve tablespoons of CapTri® C8 MCT per day and consumes 30 Liver Amino™ tablets, spread out over the day. Liver is loaded with blood-enriching heme iron and has been shown to work wonders combating iron deficiency anemia, a terrible and widespread problem for modern women.

Her rapid improvement was also attributable to her commitment to exercise. “I try and start my day with 45-minutes of cardio exercise. I try to do Parrillo-style fasted cardio first thing in the morning; but that is not always possible. Regardless, I will get an aerobic session in sometime during the day. My usual aerobic device is the Stair Mill. Some days I will spend

the first 30-minutes on the Stair Mill and immediately switch to an Elliptical Machine.” If all that weren’t enough, she lifts weights using Henry take-no-prisoner training protocols. Last but not least, “I play tennis 13 to 19 hours every week: league matches, lessons, practicing and drills.” Is this not a mind-blowing amount of exercise for a former non-athlete, non-exerciser? Equally interesting was the adherence to bodybuilding nutrition. When you look at her daily meal schedule, the foods selected, the supplements used, it is “pure Parrillo,” a perfect balanced between regular food and sophisticated supplementation. Because of the totality of her commitment, Kristina made progress at an astounding rate. So much so that as 2017 wound down, the former sedentary mom began considering competing in a bodybuilding show. “In December of 2017, I decided to compete. I was very happy with the progress I had made - but I wanted new goals, I wanted to strive for more. In January 2018 I decided to prepare for a state competition in July.”

With six months to prepare, and Henry Lovelace in her corner, Kristina took all aspects of the preparation process to the next level. “My youngest daughter and I did the show together; we prepared together. It was so fun and so rewarding and we got so much better that after we competed in July, we decided to just keep going and prepped for another show in October.” Nothing generates enthusiasm like real progress. Initially her dream was just to lose fat and get healthy. Once that was attained it was time for new and loftier goals. “Prior to the article about me in the Performance Press (this time last year) my goals had all been geared towards losing weight and getting healthy. My husband and I had a wake-up call when he had a heart attack in February of 2014. At that time, I was still 100-pounds overweight and I knew we needed to make changes. We needed a healthier lifestyle. Luckily, we met Henry Lovelace in about this time. His guidance and support appeared at a critical point. Henry has been a huge motivator. Up until 2014, I never in a million years

2017 2018

Training Split

Day 1 Chest and BicepsDay 2 ArmsDay 3 LegsDay 4 Back and TricepsDay 5 Shoulders Day 6 LegsDay 7 Repeat Day 1. I don’t have a rest day.

Daily Meal Schedule

Meal 1 Parrillo Hi-Protein™ shake with almond milk, egg whites and oatsMeal 2 Parrillo Protein bar™ Meal 3 Chicken, brown rice, green beans Meal 4 Parrillo Soft Chew bar™ Meal 5 Chicken and broccoli Meal 6 Egg whites and PBT Fit mixed with CapTri® C8 MCT

I take 12 tablespoons of CapTri® C8 MCT and 30 Parrillo Liver Amino™ tablets each and every day.

thought I would be someone who goes to the gym every day. That was so not me up to that point in my life.”

To show how much of a personality shift Kristina underwent, she noted that, “It used to be that every so often I would take a stab at getting fit; these ‘fitness efforts’ always involved walking outside and never resulted in anything of any significance. Now, to show how much my mindset has changed, I now feel it a necessity to train. Exercising is a necessity for me to feel my day is complete. I have come to enjoy training, I love exercising. I love playing tennis. I enjoy every second when I am in the gym or on the court.” Kristina Reilly changed her entire life four short years ago and has a brand-new streamlined body to show for her considerable efforts. “It is super motivating to feel strong. It is super motivating to push up to, and then past your current limits. It is motivating to see your hard work in the gym pay off in positive, visible physical changes. I love my new lifestyle. One I can share with my kids.” You go girl! photo by Doug Jantz

photo by Doug Jantz


SWING SQUATHACK SQUAT

In the world of fitness, the biggest challenge many of

us face is developing balanced and full Legs. Those that are gifted in this department do not give it much thought, but that is certainly the minority. For most of us, it is a bitter reality. We must train legs with ferocious intensity and some moderately heavy weight to get the response our “gifted” contemporaries seem to get. This has been my most constant and hardest battle. The quest for quality and balanced legs has evaded me since my knee reconstruction 35 years ago. I want to share with you what has worked well

The Trainer's Page

The Trainer's Page: Try this training cycle if you want really big legs

The Trainer's PageBy Scott Canatsey – Lead trainer at the Parrillo Performance training facility

TRY THIS TRAINING CYCLE IF YOU WANT REALLY BIG LEGS

and what has not. Every Sunday Vic Simms, Dale Plunkett and I come in at 1 PM for our weekly “Leg Destruction”. We have been at this steadily for over a year. Prior to Vic and Dale joining in, I had been at it for 2 solid years on Sunday, with different partners, seeking the best methods to spark growth in my Legs. This long period of investigation and research yielded a much needed protocol trial to see what worked best over a 3 month period. I used a variety of methods. I tried using mostly high reps with moderate weight (20 plus reps per set. Up to

100 reps.) performing 12-15 total sets, using 3 exercises. I got great endurance and detail in my legs but no significant growth. And I was eating strong. Pushing in around 4500 to 5000 calories daily of quality food and CapTri®, C8 MCT. I tried training my Legs with heavy weight, squatting most weeks, and going with considerably lower reps. I keep the reps slow and feel the muscle work. This built my strength curve, and did yield a half inch of muscle gain over 3 months. Not bad. My Legs were certainly fuller but lacked the detail I had previously achieved. I was on to something here. Heavier weight yielded muscle gain. My next thought was to combine the two. I was ready to try moderately heavy weight with reps in the 12-20 range. This seemed like the logical course to take. And I needed to up my calories to match this increased work. I went up 500 calories daily. The added calories were mostly coming from carbs and CapTri® C8 MCT. This put me at a solid 5000-5500 calories daily. I was ready to take on a heavier workload. This program felt better right away. I was sore after that first training session with the new program. I took squats out of the equation, as my hips seemed to be getting most of the stress and my glutes were doing a lot of the work when I performed squats. My butt is big enough. I need quads and hams! I was not the one that made the observation. My new training buddy, Canadian Bodybuilding champion, Eric Tapp, drew from the more intuitive side of the Bodybuilding realm. He was great at observing a person work, and then seeing what they are working and where the stress in occurring. He saw directly that squats were not what I needed to make my Legs grow. That insight was a game changer. As I worked with Eric week after week, he was teaching me what I consider,

the “mystical” side of Bodybuilding. Really getting in touch with my muscle and how it operates. Feeling the flow of the movement and getting every last drop out of every rep. He would tell me, “If you can do it with less sets, you will save the calories you need to grow. Or eat more food!” That made a lot of sense. Increase the intensity and concentration on every rep, and not as many reps and sets are necessary. It was another moment of realization for me. Let us add this to the mix. The formula was constructed with all of these new and known variables mixed into a single training session. I chose to warm up with Leg extensions and Leg Curls. 2 sets each. 20-50 reps. Here is the training protocol:

3 Sets Hack Squat on the Parrillo Performance Genetic Equalizer Hack Squat. Set 1: Moderately heavy, 15-20 reps Set 2: Double the weight. 12-15 reps. (20 if you are feeling it.) Set 3: Add another 50% to the weight.

This is the “All Out” set. Failure and then 10 reps, rest for 3 seconds then whatever you can squeeze out with your spotters help. You will likely collapse. Be careful.

3 sets Swing Squat. Set 1: Moderately heavy, 15-20 reps Set 2: Double the weight. 12-15 reps (20 if you are feeling it) Set 3: Add another 50% to the weight. This is the “All Out” set. Failure and then 10 reps, rest for 3 seconds then whatever you can squeeze out with your spotters help.

Parrillo Performance Leg Press with Hydraulic Resistance (0 added inertial mass) Set 1: Moderately heavy, 15-20 reps Set 2: Double the weight. 12-15 reps. (20 if you are feeling it.) Set 3: Add another 50% to the weight. This is the “All Out” set. Failure and then 10 reps, rest for 3 seconds then whatever you can squeeze out with your spotters help.

This is the program that I was just beginning to use, when Vic and Dale began with me about a year ago. We have all made such marked gains from this protocol that we just mix up the exercise order and do the work. We will on occasion add squats on the end and focus on using Legs and not hips and glutes so much. This little added variety helps us feel how our Legs are responding with different movements. This is the most successful Leg program that I have ever undertaken. I am convinced that the cornerstone of the work is the 3 “ALL-OUT” sets, performed at the end of each exercise. This push into the “beyond your limits” zone, is what forces the body to respond by adapting. If you are always pushing beyond, with enough nutrition, you will experience muscular gain consistently. John Parrillo has insisted upon this as a reality for four decades. Let us finally listen. Until next month

HACK SQUAT SWING SQUAT


Fortunately, the RAS can be trained and is subject to our beliefs. It cannot distinguish between what is real and what is synthetic. As a result, as long as we entirely believe something, the RAS will filter to our consciousness only information that supports and is in alignment with that belief. Have you ever heard that you attract the things that you think about the most? Successful people believe in great success, wealthy people think of themselves as wealthy, healthy people focus on good health, and people who set records on the bench press envision the achievement of that record. They believe completely in the goal, which sets into motion innumerable processes that facilitate that goal coming to fruition. It’s almost as if the universe gets entirely out of our way when we so clearly see the path that we intend to take.

This phenomenon is central to the Parrillo Performance philosophy. Helping others to clearly define goals and instill self-belief was the catalyst for the creation of Parrillo Performance and remains the principal mission that benefits so many athletes.

Whenever you seem to encounter a barrier, rethink the possibilities, redefine your potential, and realize that limitations are often only what we make of them.

In a previous question submission, Performance Press

reader, James, reported that he was stuck at a particular weight on the bench press and that he could not, despite repeated attempts and great effort, push any more weight. He stopped progressing and wants to know how he can break through his plateau.

I could begin by describing various training techniques that are likely to facilitate a bigger bench, however these are fairly difficult to articulate with brevity through text and often necessitate significant individualization.

If you have read the Performance Press since the start of my column, you’re likely to have developed the impression that I like to provide answers that are perhaps less intuitive and that have far-reaching application.

My last column focused largely on the importance of the mind-muscle connection and this month’s question provides an excellent opportunity to expand on the importance of the mind and psychological influence.

I often hear people claim that they could never accomplish a particular feat because they have never been

By Dr. Jeremy Girmann

MEETS

MEDICINE

Muscle Meets Medicine: Living Limitless

Follow Dr. Girmann on [email protected]

Eating Contest. This was double the previous record of 25 hot dogs and far greater than what most imagined was even possible. Following Kobayahi’s remarkable demonstration, eating 50 hot dogs became routine for many competitive eaters. The accomplishment was no longer a feat of fantasy.

In cases such as these, the act of witnessing a specific accomplishment was enough to expand the realm of possibility for many. It made the accomplishment more tangible, more practical. As for those who are the first to set the records, they believe beyond the shadow of a doubt that perceived limitations are artificial, irrelevant, and without meaning.

Interestingly, one area of the brain in particular is heavily involved in this process of perceiving our limitations. It’s an area where nuclei connect to form a modulatory system known as the reticular activating system (RAS). This system is responsible for wakefulness and sleep-wake transition. It also serves as a sort of filter between the conscious and unconscious mind. Have you ever been among a group of people with multiple conversations taking place in the background? Most of it is just noise. The content of the conversations hardly registers in your mind until you hear your name. Whether or not the person was referring to you, your brain immediately recognizes the name despite the fact that you were not consciously listening to any other part of the conversation.

Imagine a similar situation occurring when parents of an infant child fall asleep with the radio playing nearby. They will remain asleep despite the music but will wake as soon as they hear their infant make even the slightest noise. The RAS helps the brain to decide what information to focus on and what information to ignore.

able to do so in the past, or perhaps because nobody has ever been able to accomplish that feat.

Whether considering a personal best bench press, a world record squat, the creation of a new, innovative company, or inventing a revolutionary technology, many people surrender to perceived limitations. They create an artificial barrier that imposes real restrictions that remain until someone redefines the possibilities. We can find examples of this concept throughout history.

Consider Bob Kennedy, the great American distance runner from Westerville, Ohio. Bob became the first American to break the 13-minute barrier for 5,000 meters. After he set this record it stood unsurpassed for 13 years. The accomplishment seemed too grand. Many in America imagined that it would stand for eternity. That is until Dathan Ritzenheim smashed the record by nearly 2 seconds. Shortly thereafter, even more distance runners successfully beat Bob’s record.

Consider also the story of Takeru Kobayashi, a competitive eater who ate 50 hot dogs in 12 minutes during his rookie appearance at the Nathan’s Coney Island Hot Dog

Living Limitless

It’s almost as if the universe gets entirely out of our way when we so clearly see the path that we intend to take.

Helping others to clearly define goals and instill self-belief was the catalyst for the creation of Parrillo Performance and remains the principal mission that benefits so many athletes.


of your workouts should still be good old-fashioned straight sets to failure. Until you’ve built a substantial base of size and strength, you should be exclusively doing straight sets. Get under or over the weight and crank put some reps with good form.

Progressive resistanceIt’s fun to try new ways to get a pump, but never forget that the goal should always be to gradually add some weight to the bar or move on to the next heaviest set of dumbbells. A pair of legs that went from squatting 135 for 10 reps to burying 405 for 10 will be a much thicker pair of legs. There will come a day for all of you when your strength is maxed out and you will need to explore other avenues to stimulate the muscle, but at least 90% of you will never get there. When you do, you will have been training for at least a decade and you’ll be twice as big and strong as you were when you started.

Eat for gainsI had to throw this in, because diet and nutrition has become more complex and scientific, yet I don’t see any more big, muscular people as a result. If anything, I see less! Eat a lot of fresh, quality food every 2-3 hours, and supplement that with a reputable supplement line like Parrillo Performance.

That’s it – work hard on the basics, get stronger, and eat! It worked in 1940, and it will still work in 2040.

years will always be effective. Forget all the hype and crazy ‘innovations.’ Here’s what you can count on to still work when your grandchildren get into lifting.

Basic exercisesForget about balancing on a ball or hanging from the rafters while you try to do curls or squats with one leg while swinging a kettle bell with the opposite arm. Work hard on tried and true basic movements: squats, bench presses, incline presses, deadlifts, barbell and dumbbell rows, overhead presses with a barbell or dumbbells, chins, dips, barbell curls, and skull crushers. They may not seem as exciting or high-tech as something crazy a trainer came up with one night when he or she was high to keep their clients interested, but they are guaranteed to transform your body over time.

Straight setsIntensity techniques are a nice change of pace, and you can really go to town thinking up wacky supersets. The core

Training has gotten tremendously fancier and complicated over the last few years, or at least that’s what you would believe if you were going by what was posted on Instagram and YouTube. Since it’s all about likes, views, and followers on those platforms, we’ve seen an explosion of men and women, most of whom are self-proclaimed training experts, coming up with the most bizarre and outrageous variations on exercises imaginable. Practically every woman who has competed in Bikini wants to sell you her secret ‘booty building’ program that involves hijacking every piece of equipment in the gym, whether it’s designed to work the lats, pecs, or delts, and use it to work the glutes. Men are no better, coming up with crazy supersets and ‘finishing’ moves that typically involve light weight and crazy angles. All this flash is meant to entice and intrigue us into thinking they have discovered exercises and methods that make everything bodybuilders have been doing for the last 75 years obsolete. Ha! What has been putting loads of thick muscle onto people for all these

THE BASICS NEVER GO OUT OF STYLEBy Ron Harris

Facebook: Ron Harris WriterTwitter: @RonHarrisMuscleInstagram: ronharrismuscleYouTube: RonHarrisMuscle

EXERCISE SPOTLIGHT

The Parrillo Training Manual is designed to help you:• Learn specific exercises that have proven effective for some of the nation’s top

competitive athletes.• Determine the optimum rep/set scheme you need to maximize muscular density,

cardiovascular density and muscular endurance.• Increase your mental acuity, perfect your form and intensify your workouts.

Information included:• 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.• Illustrated movements to show you the proper form for that particular exercise.• The importance of aerobic training and how it can help improve your physique.• Chapters on fascial stretching, a revolutionary way to stretch your muscles for

maximum growth.• A chapter on proper posing. Including all of the mandatory poses for most

bodybuilding organizations.

DUMBBELL FLYES

PERFORMANCE POINTS

• Keep your shoulders pressed back into the bench.

• Bring your elbows together at the top.

• Push your sternum out at the top, also.

order today!

$49.95

EXERCISE SPOTLIGHT

13www.parrilloperformance.com FEBRUARY 2019

With dumbbell flyes, it is important to keep your shoulders pressed into the bench throughout the entire movement. To get full isolation of the pecs, bring your elbows together at the top of the movement. Then push your sternum out at the top. The same technique should be used when performing cable crossovers.


The 12-week Size & Strength Blitzkrieg

The Parrillo approach is different than anything you’ve ever done or tried

Tim decided it was time to get serious about bodybuilding. He

had lifted weights in high school as part of sport training for football and baseball, but as a quarterback and pitcher he was hardly a serious lifter. He had lifted weights because it was required and with no enthusiasm or real interest. Now it was ten years down the road and things were different. Tall and painfully thin, Tim had the emaciated physique of a man that had just escaped from a prison camp. He had always been a picky eater with no real passion for food. He was a man with a lot of food allergies. Tim did not cook and unless someone else made a meal he would eat something out of a can or a box or head to a fast food joint or eat nothing at all. He skipped meals all the time. When a new Gold’s Gym opened in his neighborhood, he joined up. The top personal trainer operating out of Gold’s was an ex-professional bodybuilder named Jonas. The muscled-up Samoan had won a major NPC show a decade earlier and was a card-carrying IFBB professional bodybuilder. Though he retired from the competitive circuit,

fiber vegetables.” Tim nodded. He felt helpless in the kitchen. He was going to make it happen. He was a socially inactive bachelor with a well-equipped and underused, kitchen. He wanted to be a swinging bachelor with muscles and dates. Jonas outlined the workout schedule. “Even though you are looking to add muscle, you still need to do cardio. Aerobic exercise done right, often and hard, will ensure any weight gain is lean muscle and not marbled with fat. You have a Nordic Track aerobic machine at home, right?” Tim nodded. Tim continued, “Every morning begin your day with a ‘fasted cardio’ session.” Jonas explained, “Fasted cardio burns fat at an accelerated rate. I need you to really get after it: work hard, sweat, try to outdo your previous session best. Exert as hard as you can for a long as you can. Seven days a week you start off your day with an intense cardio session. Cardio not only burns body fat, cardio makes you fitter and amps up the metabolism for hours after the session is over. Eat your first meal of the day when done.”

Jonas weight trained four days a week and essentially made Tim a training partner. All the lifts and techniques Jonas used in his training routine, Tim used. He “ghosted” Jonas, only with far less poundage. The training split was classic: Monday was heavy legs, Tuesday, chest and arms. On Wednesday they took off from lifting. Thursday was back and calf day, while Friday was reserved for shoulders and more arm work. They took off from lifting on Saturday and Sunday. The workouts took an hour to complete and after every lifting session Tim felt shattered in the best, most beneficial way. After each heavy set, Jonas would perform a patented Parrillo fascia stretch and have Tim follow suit. The procedure was to pump the targeted muscle, then stretch that same muscle to loosen tight fascia. Once the targeted muscle has been maximally pumped and maximally stretched, the same

muscle was repeatedly flexed. The repeated flexing sent muscle tissue into the newly loosened fascia. Done consistently, fascia stretching not only increases muscle size, the stretching improves flexibility, which makes the bodybuilder supple, limber and less susceptible to injury. Fascia stretching is highly beneficial on a multitude of levels. After Jonas and Tim finished a workout, they would drink a double serving of Parrillo 50-50 Plus™ along with a handful of Muscle Amino™ capsules and Liver Amino™ tabs.

Tim found that he loved to train arms. Jonas’ favorite tricep exercise was the heavy weighted dip. “I do them a certain way and I want you to copy my style. I only dip down until the upper arms are parallel to the floor. Any lower and the pecs are activated. Low dips can wreak havoc on rotator cuffs. A lot of guys do dips deep as

The Parrillo Principles: The 12-week size and strength blitzkrieg

By Andre Newcomb

a pec exercise – that is a mistake as there are a lot of better pec exercises than dips taken low. But there is no better triceps exercise than weighted dips – assuming you only dip down to parallel and finish each rep with a hard lockout. The lockout is the whole game insofar as building triceps. The lion’s share of contractions happens at the tiptop of the dip rep stroke. Make sure to use an ultra-hard lockout on every single rep.” Jonas was able to perform eight reps to parallel with a 100-pound plate strapped onto the dip belt. Instead of forced reps, when he would hit positive failure on rep 8, he quickly stripped off the dip belt and proceeded to rep out with no weight. He made 22 no-weight reps before conking out. Tim strapped on a 25-pound plate and got six good dip reps. He followed Jonas’ lead and dropped the dip belt and made 9 no-weight reps. Heavy weighted dips

Jonas was never out of shape. The two men struck up a conversation and hit it off. Jonas, a Parrillo Certified Personal Trainer, saw potential in Tim and told him as much. “You’ve got natural leanness and a naturally low bodyfat percentile; you have paper-thin skin, you already have what everyone else seeks. You just need to add muscle – and that is easy.” It was easy for Jonas and those that followed his Parrillo-inspired tactics.

The two men sat in Jonas’ office and laid out a plan. Jonas set the

priorities. “First and foremost, we have got to square up your nutrition. You need to come to grips with cooking: you need some simple food prep techniques. You are going on an all-out Parrillo nutritional mass-building regimen and certain key foods are eaten repeatedly. It is easy to scramble eggs. How hard is it to turn an oven to 350 and grill a chicken? We’ll teach you how to sauté chicken fingers in CapTri® C8 MCT. Do you know how easy it is to make rice or bake potatoes? Anyone can learn how to steam shrimp or prepare

“First and foremost, we have got to square up your nutrition. You need to come to grips with cooking..."

"...dip down until the upper arms are parallel to the floor. Any lower and the pecs are activated."


were super-setted (alternated) with heavy cheat curls using the barbell. Jonas explained the technique. “The cheat curl was Arnold’s numero uno bicep exercise. I would call his curl technique ‘barely cheating’ cheat curls. He used some heave to get the poundage moving and some slight layback at the top of each curl rep. This particular technique enabled him to ‘overload’ his biceps, it forced his biceps to handle more than they were capable of.”

Jonas showed Tim how to properly administer forced reps on cheat curls, “Not too little help, not too much help, just the right amount of help.” Weighted dips and cheat curls were followed by tricep and bicep fascia stretches: the tricep stretch was a forward lean where all the weight of the body was used to stretch the triceps. The bicep fascia stretch was to let a pair of dumbbells hang down, palms up, on relaxed straight arms draped over a preacher bench. The men took turns working through four successive supersets of cheat curls and dips. This was followed by close-grip bench presses and seated dumbbell curls with the 90-degree pad in place to make the curls more difficult. The stretches were shifted: for triceps, the bottom-position of a dip was assumed and relaxed into. Jonas showed Tim how to assume the final position of the skin-the-cat without actually performing the flip over. Next on the arm training menu were tricep pushdowns done with the rope handle. These were super-setted with continuous tension, low-angle cable curls using an EZ-curl bar attachment. Each man provided forced reps for the other after they reached positive failure. On the 3rd super-set the poundage was dropped, drop set style. The final fascial stretches were held extra-long. Done blasting arms, they down a handful of Parrillo’s branched-chain Muscle Amino Formula™ capsules with their 50-50 Plus™.

The Parrillo Principles: The 12-week size and strength blitzkrieg

After a quick shower, the two men would walk to a seafood buffet in a restaurant a block from the gym. They would proceed to stuff themselves on shrimp, flounder, oysters and sea bass. The men headed to their respective homes for well-deserved naps. After twelve weeks of solid adherence to the fasted cardio, after twelve weeks of weekly training sessions under the Jonas’ take-no-prisoners supervision, after twelve weeks of strict adherence to Parrillo-style high calorie, high protein, low LCT fat nutrition, Tim had added fifteen pounds of pure muscle. The visual improvement was astounding. He looked like a different man and in many ways he was. The difference between a gaunt Tim and a muscled-up Tim was mind-blowing. The additional muscle changed Tim’s outlook on life; he went from frail to empowered in three short months. His nutritional supplementation was critical: he used Parrillo Optimized Whey™ when he needed a quick protein infusion and Parrillo Hi-Protein powder™ when he wanted a sustained release of high BV protein. 50-50 Plus™ was taken after every weight training session. Tim’s “Parrillo pills”

included Max Endurance Formula™ and Liver Amino Formula™. He took Liver Amino™ tabs throughout the day. For a treat, Tim discovered that he loved Parrillo Pudding mix™, Parrillo Contest Brownie mix™, and above all, Tim loved Parrillo Spice Cake/Cupcake mix™. He could not believe that he could eat Parrillo spice cake till it came out of his ears and this was not only allowable but beneficial.

By the end of the first month, Tim had added five pounds of lean muscle while his body fat percentile dipped from 11% to 9%. Jonas administered weekly BodyStat 9-point skinfold caliper tests to determine changes in body composition. Throughout the three-month process, Tim added muscle while simultaneously losing body fat. This happened despite incrementally doubling his caloric intake. His strength skyrocketed. Most of his new muscle appeared to settle in his chest and arms. His chest increased three inches and his arms grew from 14.5 to 16. His coworkers started calling him “Guns.” Jonas was matter of fact about it all. As a

longtime Parrillo Certified Personal Trainer, this type of improvement was commonplace for his students, assuming the trainee adhered to all the aspects of the Parrillo approach. Tim began contemplating competing in one of the new bodybuilding divisions. His new goal was to gain even more muscle, to weigh a full 200-pounds while maintaining his current degree of leanness. Jonas knew how to stoke Tim’s ego and fire up his enthusiasm. “You know Tim at a full 200-pounds you will likely have 17-inch arms.” Tim’s eyes bugged out of his head. “Oh man, building 17-inch arms would be the greatest accomplishment of my life!” Jonas stifled a laugh. “Well we got the game plan whenever you’re ready to kick it off.” Jonas thought of a Parrillo arm specialization program he’d used in the past with great success that would be perfect for Tim. Nothing stokes a bodybuilder’s enthusiasm like dramatic physical results and a full-on Parrillo training and nutritional regimen never fails to deliver results; results that are always proportional to the degree of adherence.


What's your story?

Are you a...

• Bodybuilder?

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• Personal Trainer?

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• An Avid Parrillo Product User?

Or maybe you...

• Have an amazing transformation story.

• Would like to inspire others.

• Want to show everyone what you've accomplished.

Then we want to hear from you!

All you need is to:

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why you should be featured.

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Contact:[email protected]

to get started!

...he used Parrillo Optimized Whey™ when he needed a quick protein infusion and Parrillo Hi-Protein powder™ when he wanted a sustained release of high BV protein.


Whey is one of the most rapidly digested of all supplemental proteins. Its amino acids are so rapidly absorbed so that the processes of muscle repair and growth are accelerated. Another mass-gaining benefit of whey protein is its potential to stimulate IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1) production. IGF-1 is structurally and functionally similar to insulin. It enhances protein synthesis and increases muscle growth. In addition, whey is loaded with various health-building nutrients, including B-complex vitamins, selenium, calcium, and iodine.

Casein is digested and very slowly and powerfully stimulates protein synthesis. It can also increase muscle size by limiting the loss of amino acids.

With a protein powder that contains both whey and casein, you’re getting a dynamic duo of benefits. Studies indicate that combining fast-digesting whey and slow-digesting casein leads to a longer anabolic (growth-inducing) effect and thus greater muscle growth.

Calories: 35.00Protein: 3.29gFat: 0.14gTotal Carbs: 7.23g

Fiber: 3.67gSodium: 313.25mgPotassium: 960.75mgCalcium: 101.50mg

Iron: 3.96mgPhosphorous: 57.75mgVitamin A: 10717.00 IUVitamin C: 31.50mg

Weightlifting is good for your heart and it doesn't take much

Lifting weights for less than an hour a week may reduce your risk for a heart attack or stroke by 40 to 70 percent, according to a new Iowa State University study. Spending more than an hour in the weight room did not yield any additional benefit, the researchers found.

"People may think they need to spend a lot of time lifting weights, but just two sets of bench presses that take less than 5 minutes could be effective," said DC (Duck-chul) Lee, associate professor of kinesiology.

The results -- some of the first to look at resistance exercise and cardiovascular disease -- show benefits of strength training are independent of running, walking or other aerobic activity. In other words, you do not have to meet the recommended guidelines for aerobic physical activity to lower your risk; weight training alone is enough. The study is published in Medicine and Science in Sports and Exercise.

Lee and his colleagues analyzed data of nearly 13,000 adults in the Aerobics Center Longitudinal Study. They measured three health outcomes: cardiovascular events such as heart attack and stroke that did not result in death, all cardiovascular events including death and any type of death. Lee says resistance exercise reduced the risk for all three.

"The results are encouraging, but will people make weightlifting part of their lifestyle? Will they do it and stick with it? That's the million-dollar question," Lee said.

Question: Would it be ok to slack off a bit on my diet when I don't have a competition coming up?

Answer: Follow the Nutrition Program year round. So many bodybuilders falsely assume that getting fat in the off-season, then rigorously dieting to get ripped for their next contest are the best ways to achieve the ultimate physique. In reality, this practice results in very little gain in muscle. Instead, it simply increases body fat. Not only is this unhealthy, but it also hinders the metabolism. That's because body fat burns much fewer calories than muscle burns. When you start cutting down, those fat cells stay, making it harder to displace the body fat that has formed. And as I mentioned earlier, cutting back on calories only causes the body to lose hard-earned muscle.

Chocolate Fix Protein Powder™

Recipe Spotlight

Question & Answer

Food of the Month

News & Discoveries in Fitness and NutritionTips &Tidbits

Supplement of the Month

Whipped Cream • 1 cup boiling water• 3 (three) 1/4 oz. pkgs. nonflavored gelatin• 8 tbsp. CapTri®• 100 g. egg whites• 1 to 1 1/2 tsp. pure vanilla or almond extract• ice cubes• 1/2 oz to 1 oz. Pro-Carb Formula™ (to sweeten to taste)

Pour water into blender and slowly add gelatin while blending on low. Add CapTri®., egg whites, Pro-Carb™ and flavoring as blender rnixes. Add ice cubes one at a time until mixture gels.

Makes about 26 oz. You can refrigerate whipped cream if you don’t use it all after making, or halve the recipe to make a lesser amount.

CapTri® whipped cream has absolutely no fat in it!

Barriers to resistance training

The researchers recognize that unlike aerobic activity, resistance exercise is not as easy to incorporate into our daily routine. Lee says people can move more by walking or biking to the office or taking the steps, but there are few natural activities associated with lifting. And while people may have a treadmill or stationary bike at home, they likely do not have access to a variety of weight machines.

For these reasons, Lee says a gym membership may be beneficial. Not only does it offer more options for resistance exercise, but in a previous study Lee found people with a gym membership exercised more. While this latest study looked specifically at use of free weights and weight machines, Lee says people will still benefit from other resistance exercises or any muscle-strengthening activities.

"Lifting any weight that increases resistance on your muscles is the key," Lee said. "My muscle doesn't know the difference if I'm digging in the yard, carrying heavy shopping bags or lifting a dumbbell."

edited for length

Iowa State University. "Weightlifting is good for your heart and it doesn't take much." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 13 November 2018. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/11/181113115430.htm>.

Swiss Chard• Recent research has shown that Swiss chard is

especially good at moving minerals from the soil up into its leaves, providing us with remarkable mineral benefits when we enjoy the large leafy portions of this vegetable.

• Choose chard that is held in a chilled display as this will help to ensure that it has a crunchier texture and sweeter taste. Look for leaves that are vivid green in color and that do not display any browning or yellowing.

• Add zest to omelets and frittatas by adding some boiled Swiss chard.

Nutritional Information for: Swiss Chard, Chopped, Boiled, 1.00 cup (175.00g).


This month, Valentine’s Day is a time for love, hearts, flowers -

and chocolate.

Yes, you heard that right…chocolate. I know what you’re thinking: Is chocolate on the Parrillo Nutrition Program? Yes – but as long as you make good chocolate choices, and that’s what this column is about.

But before I get into that, let me emphasize something you’ve probably heard: chocolate is good for your health and it’s even good for your training. Cocoa (and, therefore, chocolate) is packed with flavonoids, which are phytochemicals that act as strong antioxidants to help fight cancer, support heart health, decrease LDL (bad) cholesterol levels, and improve your circulation.

As for exercise performance, listen to this one: A study published in 2017 in the Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness examined the effect of cocoa consumption on the markers of muscle damage, oxidative stress and physical fitness in professional soccer players. In other words, the study wanted to see if cocoa had any benefits on exercise recovery.

Turns out, it did. Cocoa repaired muscle damage more rapidly than without it. It increased antioxidants in the body – which have a protective effect against cell damage and illness.

Get Your Chocolate Fix This Month

GET YOUR CHOCOLATE FIX THIS MONTH

By John Parrillo

Plus, it increased the athletes’ exercise performance.

This is all great news if you’re a soccer player, but what about bodybuilders?Harvard Medical School researchers have reported that cocoa can boost nitric oxide (NO) levels. NO is involved in numerous bodily processes, one of the most important being blood vessel dilation. Supplements that boost NO production are a popular component of preworkout nutrition because they boost blood flow to working muscles. This helps to deliver more nutrients, hormones and oxygen to muscles, which in turn results in a more intense pump and greater growth. So yes – cocoa is great for strength athletes.

I’m by no means suggesting that you

make a steady diet of milk chocolate candy bars or pig out on a box of chocolates with your sweetie this Valentine’s Day. That stuff is processed food, full of sugar and bad fat and practically devoid of flavonoids.

What you can do, however, is look into a number of chocolate-flavored Parrillo products. We make them with totally defatted cocoa – which is the ingredient most responsible for chocolate’s health benefits.

Like chocolate ice cream? We’ve got you covered with our chocolate Ice Kreem Mix™. How about brownies, cake, or cookies? No problem – we have chocolate mixes for each one. The same goes for pudding and even chocolate syrup.

So yes, you can have chocolate even if you’re on a strict diet! With products like these, you won’t blow your diet – you will enhance it because these items are loaded with protein, have no fat or sugar, and provide all the benefits of cocoa.

Besides the nutritional treats mentioned above, we also have traditional bodybuilding products such as bars and proteins powders – all flavored with totally defatted cocoa – that you use to accentuate your training and diet strategies. A good example is Chocolate Fix™, a protein powder that serves up the famous flavor combo of milk chocolate, almond and coconut, reminiscent of one of your favorite candy bars. We also have a brand new flavor: chocolate cherry cordial. But more than that, Chocolate Fix™ is formulated with the two best protein-powder choices for muscle growth: whey and casein.

Whey is one of the most rapidly digested of all supplemental proteins. Its amino acids are so rapidly absorbed so that the processes of muscle repair and growth are accelerated. Another mass-gaining benefit of whey protein is its potential to stimulate IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1) production. IGF-1 is structurally and functionally similar to insulin. It enhances protein synthesis and increases muscle growth.

In addition, whey is loaded with various health-building nutrients, including B-complex vitamins, selenium, calcium, and iodine.

Casein is digested and very slowly and powerfully stimulates protein synthesis. It can also increase muscle size by limiting the loss of amino acids.

With a protein powder that contains both whey and casein, you’re getting a dynamic duo of benefits. Studies

indicate that combining fast-digesting whey and slow-digesting casein leads to a longer anabolic (growth-inducing) effect and thus greater muscle growth.

As with most protein powders, the suggested usage is one or more servings (2 scoops mixed with 8 ounces or ¼ liter of water or beverage) taken as needed with or between meals, and taken before, during, and after workouts.

We have at least five different types of protein bars, too, that are chocolate flavored. These are the protein bars that shouldn’t even exist. No one should be able to get this kind of chocolatey taste with so much protein and so little sugar and LCT fat. Bite into these, and you’ll swear you’re cheating with flavors like Fudge Brownie, Chocolate Almond Coconut, Chocolate Cherry Cordial, Chocolate Graham Cracker, and regular

Chocolate. Any one of these bars can be a dessert!

So get your chocolate fix from Parrillo Performance…instead of gnawing on a high-fat, sugar-laced chocolate bar…and see a remarkable transformation in your body and your health in a relatively short time.

References

Fisher, N.D., et al. 2003. Flavanol-rich cocoa induces nitric-oxide-dependent vasodilation in healthy humans. Journal of Hypertension 21: 2281-2286.

Gonzalex-Garrido, J.A., et al. 2017. An association of cocoa consumption with improved physical fitness and decreased muscle damage and oxidative stress in athletes. Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fitness 57: 441-447.

Chocolate Fix™ is formulated with the two best protein-powder choices for muscle growth: whey and casein.


Vacation from bodybuilding?

How to create an anabolic burst

Building eagle-claw grip strength

Eat more in Manhattan

MMA training is tough but incomplete

BY IRON VIC STEELE

Hello!

I am burnt out on bodybuilding. I am coming off peaking for a contest and I am in the best shape of my life coming off the best training year of my life. In large part due to the great advice I got from you. I had been using halfway measures for years. I was halfway committing to the process, I never committed with the totality needed that John Parrillo insists on. After reading one of your posts, I got onto a serious Parrillo mass-building program. I began last January and ran with it for almost four months. I then swung into a Parrillo ‘lean-out’ phase and was able to whittle down to a 7% body fat percentile (BodyStat-checked) while weighing a shapely 175. I did a best-body-on-the-beach thing last week. I am too light and bordering on not healthy. I have gone as far as I can go. I am burned out and worn down. Any ideas?

Jimmy, St. Louis

Take some time off from training. Enjoy the beach! Take a well-deserved vacation. Stop all training of any kind for two full weeks. Give your overworked body a complete rest. Be smart and when not training keep the nutrition under control. The smart athlete will reduce caloric intake

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You will be amazed and how much fresher and more enthused you are about training and bodybuilding after an enforced layoff.


during the two-week layoff from training. A few weeks of complete nothingness ‘detunes’ the body and makes it far more susceptible to the ‘the training effect.’ It is easier to trigger hypertrophy from weight training and fat loss from cardio when coming off a layoff. When it comes time to recommence, reintroduce aerobic training with “fasted cardio.” Early morning pre-breakfast aerobic exercise will kick start the bodybuilding process. Reignite the weight training with three sessions (no more) per week, limiting session length to 40-minutes. A layoff will do you a world of good. Just don’t break yourself jumping back in after the layoff too fast, too heavy and too hard. Athletes coming off a peak, be it a competition or a show, need a rest and recovery period. When refreshed,

a bodybuilder is so much stronger and stronger converts into better workouts and increased muscle gain. You will be amazed of how much fresher and more enthused you are about training and bodybuilding after an enforced layoff. Listen to the body and give it a well-deserved break. You will come back online revitalized and fired up. Pick a new goal, establish a timeline and start to chip away at it; work towards the new goal one methodical week at a time.

Victor,

What is an ‘anabolic burst?’ I have heard the phrase but never quite understood what it is or what it meant. It sounds cool – is this anything worth sharing - or doing? I am always up for your (often) unusual

Iron Vic Speaks!

tips and strategies.

Rampage, Detroit

Depleted bodybuilders coming off competitions discovered that 3-7 days after a show they looked better and felt better than they did at the show. They were mystified at this predictable phenomenon. The dramatic infusion of calories the bodybuilders ate after the show blew up their depleted bodies and became known as the “anabolic burst.” For a few short days, the competitive bodybuilder could eat like a pig and become fuller, thicker, more muscular - and just as shredded as they were at the competition. What happened? What caused this? An anabolic burst only works if the athlete is depleted. This is the prerequisite: unless you are starved, overworked and underfed, there can be no burst. The depleted bodybuilder then floods his starved body with loads of calories and for a miraculous (and short) period of time, no calories are converted to fat. The depleted bodybuilder’s body has “forgotten” how to make body fat. For a few days immediately after a competition, 10 to 20 pound gains in bodyweight are routinely experienced. This while retaining the same body fat percentile they presented at the competition. Because of this ‘fat-creating amnesia,’ calories can be consumed at a tremendous rate with zero chance these calories can be partitioned to creating body fat. “Spillover” occurs when the body relearns or remembers how to create body fat. How long does the anabolic burst last before spillover occurs? 3-5 days seems to be the limit. Once the burst subsides, body fat production is normalized. The next time you find yourself starved and overworked, remember to burst – but bail at spillover.

Iron Vic,

I am a rock climber. I have scaled El Capitan and Mt. McKinley. I am a


serious guy and my grip strength, finger and hand strength, is really important. I notice that in the old days the bodybuilders did a lot of forearm work. Nowadays you don’t see a lot of ‘lower arm’ work or grip strengthening. Do you have any tips for building an ‘eagle-claw’ grip?

J.W. Butte

In the old days, men like Bill Pearl and Arnold would train forearms 2-3 times a week for upwards of 45-minutes per session, using wrist curls, reverse wrist curls, reverse curls, wrist rollers and hand grippers. A typical mid-seventies bodybuilder would perform over 40-sets per week of direct forearm work. Bodybuilders work their forearms to increase the size and shape of the lower arm. Grip strength is entirely different than forearm work, though the two are often intertwined. For developing a powerhouse grip, I would suggest a radically different approach. Powerlifters have to hang onto 800-pound deadlifts (talk about grip strength!) and will use some unusual exercises to build grip strength. One particular exercise that might be applicable for your type of grip strength is the double overhand shrug done to failure. Shrug with a relatively light poundage (a man capable of a 300-pound deadlift would use 150) for high reps. Shrug to failure and beyond. This is a grip-builder, not a trap builder - though the traps get a hell of a pump! The idea is to keep shrugging until the barbell starts to open your hands. You don’t quit, you keep shrugging and holding on – even when the barbell is on the tips of the fingers. The lifter fights to hang onto the bar and keep shrugging until the barbell opens the hands and falls off the fingertips. Most lifters do this exercise in a power rack, or atop a pair of boxes; when the bar falls out of the fatigued fingers, it only drops a few inches onto the rack pins or the boxes. 15-rep sets are a minimum; this type of training builds incredible finger strength.

Hello!

I love the Parrillo quote, ‘there is no such thing as over-training – only under-eating’ and it hit home with me. I don’t eat much food and I train hard. I am NOT a competitive bodybuilder or really even an amateur bodybuilder; however, I am in the gym five mornings a week doing hard cardio, this starts my every session and is followed by 45-minutes of weight training. I have been in this groove for two years and don’t have a lot to show for it. I am a little more muscular and have maintained my natural leanness; I just haven’t experienced the muscle gains I expected. I am healthier – but not much stronger. I train hard (as I can) so perhaps my ‘under-eating’ is holding me back. I don’t cook and I live in Manhattan. I eat my one meal at night. What would you suggest? (Though I think I know the answer already!)

Lando, NYC

Nutrition, nutrition, nutrition…You are correct in your assessment: if you are doing consistent cardio, if you are weight training hard and regularly and not progressing, then the only thing left to hone in on nutrition. You are positioned nicely to make some spectacular gains. You are doing so many things right already: you are a hard, consistent trainer and you are in shape. You are (relatively) lean already. Fit and lean, you under-eat. By kicking up the clean calories the logjam becomes unstuck. You have to be willing to add some bodyweight: a sizeable percentage of bodybuilders are under the mistaken belief that they can muscle-up to a significant degree - yet stay the same bodyweight. Size gains require weight gain: get your head wrapped around this inconvenient truth. If you're ready to add some lean muscle mass, it should be relatively easy. You need to take in more calories, a lot more calories – however the calories need to be “clean” calories. Just by

photo by Doug Jantz

Depleted bodybuilders coming off competitions discovered that 3-7 days after a show they looked better and felt better than they did at the show. They were mystified at this predictable phenomenon.

One particular exercise that might be applicable for your type of grip strength is the double overhand shrug done to failure.

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adding breakfast and lunch and taking some Parrillo supplements during the day (and continuing your nighttime eating habits) you can expect to add 10-pounds of lean muscle mass in the next 8-10 weeks.

You need to make a commitment to start your day with a powerhouse breakfast. Eggs and oatmeal. Learn to use CapTri® C8 MCT with all your food meals. Augment all day long with potent Parrillo supplements. Upon awaking and before the gym, drink a Parrillo Optimized Whey™ shake. Take some Max Endurance Formula™ capsules before you begin training. After finishing the weight training portion of the workout, drink a 50-50 Plus™ replenishment shake. Mid-morning eat a Parrillo Energy bar™ and drink a ProCarb™ shake. Go out for lunch, some protein along with a salad. Mid-afternoon eat a Parrillo Soft Chew bar™. Eat a good dinner. By ingesting clean calories every 2-3 waling hours and combining this with hard training, you sir, are in for the gains of your life! Get ready to blow some minds, starting with your own. And all you have to do is eat more delicious foods and take in more equally delicious supplements.

Vic,

How would you train an MMA fighter? There are a lot of different strategies and schools of thought on how best to train a fighter. I know you are a fight fan – you must have some thoughts on how best to get a fighter ready to fight, using the rounds format.

Ronnie, New Orleans

There is a lot I really like about MMA training – however I feel there is huge bias within the MMA world that creates a blind spot that is glaring and obvious. What I like about MMA training is their emphasis on hardcore cardio: these guys don’t play! The MMA protocol is to mix muscular effort with aerobic exercise, this to

replicate stresses encountered in cage fighting. The MMA pros train to avoid “gassing out.” When a fighter gasses out, they exhaust their capacity to continue. To increase cardio capacity, fighters engage in intense and exhaustive drills. For example, the fighter might “stack” five exercises, versa-climber, shadow boxing with hand-weights, aerodyne stationary bike sprint, kettlebell snatch and carrying a 100-pound heavy bag around the circumference of the gym. This 5-exercise sequence might be repeated five times with a one-minute break between each 5-station sequence. The goal of this type of training is “to build a bigger gas tank.” Regardless if the gas tank is 10-gallons or 20-gallons, when it is gone, exhausted, the athlete’s blood sugar plummets and they are weakened to a point they can hardly raise their arms to defend themselves. My suggestion is to compliment the quest for a bigger gas tank with

Iron Vic Speaks!


some ‘real’ strength training. Size and strength are the reason weight classes are needed. There are weight classes because size and strength disparities cannot be overcome. A good really big man beats a good little man every time. I would add some serious strength training – but no more than 90-minutes per week.

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Answers by Iron Vic Steele Keeping it simple gets results · all else, she successfully came to...

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