John Parrillo’s · Back and Biceps Training by Lorelie Carvey Torture Your Triceps Shocking The...

John Parrillo’sPERFORMANCE

PRESSPUBLISHER

John Parrillo

EDITOR AT LARGE

Marty Gallagher

ART DIRECTOR

Jim Reckley

CONTRIBUTINGWRITERS

Marty GallagherMaggie Greenwood-RobinsonRon HarrisSteve HamptonArt Roberson,PhD, MD

CONTRIBUTINGPHOTOGRAPHERS

Mike NevauxJohn ParrilloJames ReckleyMichael Meken

is published monthly. Thesubscription rate of oneyear (12) issues is $19.95($29.95 in Canada andMexico and $49.95 in allother countries). ©1999by John Parrillo. All RightsReserved. For advertising place-ment information, pleasecontact Parrillo Perfor-mance at (513) 531-1311or by e-mail [email protected]. Imagesetting and print-ing by Gardner Graphics,(513) 527-8940. ContactScott Clifton for serviceinformation.

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Features

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2001 A Fitness OdysseyThe Evolution of John Parrilloby Marty Gallagher

Intensity Trumps EverythingIt’s Not So Much What You Do, But How Hard You Do It!by Marty Gallagher

The Wonder Supplement: CapTri®Parrillo Performance Technical Bulletin: Fat Metabolismby John Parrillo

Back and Biceps Trainingby Lorelie Carvey

Torture Your TricepsShocking The Musclesby Ron Harris

John

Par

rill

o’s

John Parrillo’s

PERFORMANCE PRESS

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Columns

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January 2000

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‘Tis the Season For LipotropicsMobilization of Holiday Fatsby John Parrillo

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33333Editorial: Blast Into the New MillenniumThanks and Directionby John Parrillo

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Next Month .......

King Kamali: 1999 NPC HeavyweightNationals Champion and Crowd Favorite.

Real Food v.s. Supplements, Behind theScenes Players In Fat Loss and Supple-ment Safeguards During the Holidays.

Part of me thinks that all the hoopla surrounding theMillenium is over-hyped, just like everything else in our soci-ety. Part of me also recognizes that two thousand-year anni-versaries don’t occur every day of the week and perhapssome serious reflection and projection is in order. I believethat to avoid the mistakes of the past we need to study his-tory and in order to shape the future we need to call upon ourrelevant experiences and plot a course. It is the proven for-mula for success in the art & science of bodybuilding. Modern physical culture, bodybuilding, (which I have al-ways thought should more aptly be named physique renova-tion) has been in existence for less than 100-years. Modernbodybuilding, the type we recognize and practice, has onlybeen around since the 1960’s. Not long at all. Bodybuildingis the basis for many other related areas all designed to im-prove the human body in order to improve athletic perfor-mance. Think about it. Weight training is used by athletes toimprove performance in virtually every sport and the role ofdiet in athletics is on the increase as coaches and trainersrealize that stronger and leaner makes for a better athlete,regardless the sport or level of proficiency. The way to be-come stronger and leaner is to lift weights and diet: regularly,judiciously, seriously. They can call it whatever they wantbut this is bodybuilding pure and simple. Coaches and ath-letes shy away from the term, uncomfortable at being associ-ated with competitive bodybuilders. But whatever you chooseto call it, when you diet, supplement, weight train and doaerobics with precision and diligence, you have performed allthe component parts of bodybuilding! What difference if thefinal product is for sport instead of competitive bodybuild-ing? The process for both, that series of procedures thatmade the athlete bigger, stronger and leaner - is based onbodybuilding. Bodybuilding is the greatest system of life extension everdevised. No other discipline maintains health, function,strength, flexibility and muscle tone deep into the GoldenYears with the effectiveness of bodybuilding. You need lookno further than our elder bodybuilders of both sexes to provethis bold contention beyond the slightest doubt. Comparemaster bodybuilders to master athletes in other sports andthere is no comparison: as a group, oldster bodybuilders areeasily the most physically impressive athletes on the face ofthe planet! The art and science of bodybuilding has grownlight-years in the last half of this century and this phenom-enal rate of progress promises to continue far into the fore-seeable future as science continually uncovers new avenuesof progress. Our eternal quest at Parrillo is to discover newand better nutritional supplements, find superior trainingmethods to utilize, devise new diet strategies to strip fat fasterand uncover new avenues of progress. At Parrillo Perfor-mance we use science on the front end and feedback from ourathletes on the backend to craft new methods for coaxingprogress from the human body. This had been our method

for two decades and the database we have assembled, theempirical experience we have collected is deep and wide. Our Mission Statement has always been the same: provideways and means for our clients and customers to make physi-cal progress. Progress is our most important product. Thisrelentless search for progress is an ongoing process - not anevent. To trigger improvement you need to continually searchfor new and better methods. We spend millions each year inresearch and development - though we could make a niceliving by simply selling that which we have already boughtinto the marketplace. Why do go through all the aggravationand expense of high dollar R&D? For one thing, as a person,I have a curious nature. The search for progress is incrediblyexciting. New avenues of progress are just waiting to be dis-covered and we at Parrillo Performance realize that search isexciting and extremely satisfying. Do you know how incred-ibly fulfilling it is to change a person’s body for the better andin doing so give that person a whole new attitude and outlookon life? It is tremendously gratifying and makes you want toshare with others the powerful transformation methodologywe’ve discovered. We look back on the early bodybuilding pioneers and theirmethods and note how primitive their ways and means nowseem. Yet, in another decade our current cutting-edge strate-gies, methods and equipment will mostly seem like horse-and-buggy technology. Most everything current will likely beswept away by new and better methods and products, that isthe natural order of evolution. If you rest on past accomplish-ments you risk being drowned by never-ceasing riptide ofchange, relentless as ocean surf. Unlike so many who aredrowned in the cold, high waves of unceasing change, atParrillo we pride ourselves on being expert surfers on theviolent ocean of change. And so I am excited as we cross thechronological demarcation called the Millenium. And soshould you. After all, those of us who follow the bodybuild-ing lifestyle look forward to the future, instead of the vastmajority of the populace that grow old and fat, lose musclefunction and tone simply because they don’t train and eatcorrectly. We want to thank those of you who follow the bodybuild-ing lifestyle (regardless of what you call it) and more specifi-cally those of you who know and use our products and phi-losophies. You enable us to continue the quest, extend thesearch, and surf the treacherous oceans of unrelenting, un-forgiving change. In return, we promise to kick over everystone and seek new paths of physical progress. Call it acompact: you continue to support our efforts and productsand we’ll promise to keep you on the cutting edge. It’s a gooddeal all the way around, wouldn’t you agree?

EDITORIAL:BLAST INTO THE NEW MILLENIUM

John Parrillo

4 John Parrillo’s Performance Press • January 2000 Orderline: 1•800•344•3404

by Marty Gallagher

2001 A Fitness OdysseyThe Evolution Of John Parrillo

The boys at headquarters werebrainstorming on a recent rainyafternoon. The topic of discus-sion was who would be in theupcoming January, 2000 issue ofthe Parrillo Performance Press.“Shouldn’t the 2000 issue of theParrillo Performance press besomething special? Who are wegonna feature in the Milleniumissue?” Steve Hampton queried.“There are so many athletes de-serving of being in the issue, allof whom have used Parrillo meth-ods and products. So many haverisen to the top of their field,whether it is bodybuilding, pow-erlifting, pro football, baseball orbasketball. It’s difficult to pick.” “ . . . And don’t forget the Ex-treme Game and X-Game ath-letes, the master and teen ath-letes.” added art director Jim Reckley.These two guys work so long and hardtogether that they can finish eachother’s thoughts and sentences, and doso on a regular basis. Hampton contin-ued, “How about the individuals who haveovercome devastating disease, crip-pling injuries, car crashes, lost limbs,come back from heart attacks? Whatabout the fantastic handicapped ath-letes, all who use Parrillo Products andtraining methods? How do you select?”Hampton was into it, gesturing in an ani-mated fashion. “Yeah – well here’s a thought – willpeople get upset if we don’t pick themand give the nod to someone else.”Steve screwed-up his face in anticipa-tion of the selection. Jim looked equallymortified. “You boys are gonna worry your-selves sick; plus you are totally forget-ting one logical choice.” Iron Vic Steel sat cleaning his finger-nails with a flick-action Indonesian but-

terfly knife, feet up on the walnut desk.He had been silent, listening half-heartedly up until this point. He foldedthe knife with a dramatic practiced flareand replaced it into his jeans and lethis Ostrich skin Tony Lama boots dropto the floor with a thud. “You boys cast your net too wide.Let me ask you this: what does everysingle individual you’ve named havein common?” Vic leaned back and stretched his 19-inch guns overhead: he is what NavySEAL’s affectionately refer to as a MeatEater. The boys were blank so Iron Vicgave them a commonality hint: “The problem is you boys want topick some sort of Parrillo all-star teamand I think you have overlooked some-one.” “WHO!” Jim and Steve said simulta-neously. “John Parrillo of course, you numb-skulls.” Hampton and Jim looked puzzled thenlights bulbs went off over their heads.

“Brilliant!” Said Hampton. “Perfect!” Jim nodded in affir-mation. Iron Vic, per usual, had nailedit. Who better to be featured inthe Parrillo Performance Press,the first issue of the newMillenium, than the Man himself!Parrillo had influenced every in-dividual mentioned; he is thecommon link between one and all.It was to be the start of a fierceinternal corporate battle: JohnParrillo did not like the idea onelittle bit. He did not want an ar-ticle on himself, feeling that thatspace should be given to prod-uct users not product inventors.He needed some serious con-vincing but Iron Vic laid out thebill of particulars in an irrefutablylogical fashion (like a powerlift-

ing version of Johnny Cochran) andJohn eventually relented. He had an en-dearing discomfort with the whole idea

Knowledge is power and whether at tradeshows (above) or in the gym (below)

John is always available toshed light on the mysteriesof fitness.

Info-Line: 513•531•1311 John Parrillo’s Performance Press • January 2000 5

2001 A Fitness Odyssey

of having an article on him in the cov-eted Millenium issue. The staff sworethat the tone would be deferential, notreverential, honest not inflated, factualnot hyperbolic. Plus the reasons werenot rooted in cultish veneration ratherit was a logical choice: the staff reallyfelt that in Parrillo World, where theafflicted and the athletic come to im-prove themselves physically, John isthe Main Man and deserves specialrecognition. At so in the end John be-grudgingly agreed. Parrillo’s ability to transform people,regardless of their level, is legendaryand his contributions to the art andscience of bodybuilding loom huge.John Parrillo is an innovative thinker, aunique and important theoreticianwithin the wide world of health and fit-ness. John initially made his bones asa trainer of champion bodybuilders,but his horizons broadened quickly asathletes from every conceivable sportsuddenly sought Parrillo’s council. Hisarea of expertise was improving the hu-man body in every (and any) measur-able and quantifiable way. For regard-less your degree (or lack) of condition-ing, Parrillo had the reputation amongstthe elite as the guy who could bustyou up to the next level, provided youhad the fortitude and gumption to stickto his no-BS regimen. As an athletictrainer Parrillo proved adept at stimu-

lating gains in Olympia winners whomhe has trained, rank novices, and everydegree and gradation in between. Parrillo is first and foremost a thinkerboth innovative and creative. His ap-proach to physical self-improvement ispure genius. For the past two decadeshe has preached a multi-dimensionaltraining philosophy that breaks the questfor physical perfectiondown into five activities:weight training, aerobics,fascial stretching, nutritionand recuperation. Thesefive activities each stimu-late physical change in aparticular portion of thephysical equation andwhen done together theycreate a synergistic mo-mentum in which the rateof progress is exponen-tially multiplied. To experi-ence this synergistic burst,all five activities need bedone simultaneously. Bal-ance is a very importantconcept within the Parrillolexicon. Parrillo prescribesdiligence, consistency andthe balanced application ofall five activities. Improve-ment comes as surely assunlight warms the coldearth to those who follow

the blazed path.• Parrillo pioneered the use of aero-

bics to compliment high intensityweight training. Parrillo was amongthe first to champion the use of car-diovascular training as a critical ad-junct to high-intensity weight train-ing. He understood the relation-ship between metabolic accelera-tion and cardio training long beforethe rest of the bodybuilding worldwoke up to the fact. Aerobics, donecorrectly not only decreasebodyfat, but increase muscle mass!

• Parrillo recommends a weight train-ing regimen that balances low-torque powerlifting type move-ments, that use low reps forstrength and mass, with high rep-etition sets (up to 100-reps) usingthe same exercise in the same ses-sion. His use of high and low repsets in the same workout ensure allbases are covered and spur musclegrowth.

• His revolutionary “fascial stretch-ing” was and is ahead of its time.This revolutionary technique isnow being recognized as a break-through method for inducingmuscle growth. Iron Curtain stretchexperts like Spetsnaz Commando

Parrillo in the gym: Top bodybuilder seek out the “Princeof Pain” for his no-nonsense approach.

John and Lisa Marie Varon under abanner that says it all: The Champi-ons choice for nutrition and training.Meeting individual needs.


trainer Pavel Tsatsouline havevalidated Parrillo’s contentionthat proper stretching actuallybuilds muscle tissue. Specificstretches for every lift are donebetween sets for maximum ef-fect.

• Parrillo is a performance nutri-tion expert. His philosophiesand products are unique andeffective. His “Target Nutri-tion” diet strategy, sophisti-cated and widely used, insiststhat the hard training athleteneeds to eat ample portions ofnutritious food. Balancedmeals are interspersedthroughout the day. If we trainbig, says Parrillo, we need toeat big in order to “support”growth and help stimulate work-out recovery.

• His approach to recuperationis multi-leveled. Parrillo feels youmust obtain deep and restful sleepdaily and keep a continual supplyof high quality nutrients in thebloodstream. Restive, regenerativesleep, and continually saturatingthe bloodstream with healing nu-trients dramatically reduces the timerequired to heal and grow and re-cover between workouts. Thequicker we recover, the quicker wegrow.

• When all the preceding activitiesare done simultaneously, a physi-cal synergy occurs and the rate andspeed of physical progress is mul-tiplied exponentially. We progressquicker as hard training, perfect eat-ing and ample rest all combine tospeed-up progress to a rate unob-tainable when any one element isleft out or ignored.Parrillo asks, why not have it all?

Size, definition, strength, endurance,athletically functional muscle, agility,grace, power and vitality. Be all thatyou can be – to steal the US Army’sadvertising cliché. John is a hard task-master and demands the most and thebest from those who train under his di-rect supervision. Physical renovationis not a walk in Central Park with a Su-per Model. Substantive change is hardand arduous. While every other Guru is

telling you how easy physical transfor-mation can be assuming you buy theirproduct and use their “revolutionary”methods, Parrillo stands quietly apart,informing the serious minded among usthat, to the contrary, real physicalchange is hard as hell. But there is away for those with enough spunk to gofor it! A path has been blazed!

The public naturally gravitates tothe easy-does-it hucksters but thechampions naturally gravitate to Par-rillo. They know from their own experi-ence that Parrillo’s hard core prescrip-tions are right on the money, verified bytheir own training experiences. Theword spread among the athletic elite andsoon John’s phone was ringing off thehook. A well-thought out philosophylies behind every Parrillo precept andproduct.

Parrillo has an army of long-termadherents; his clients and customersuse his training ideas and love his prod-ucts. People are hooked on the uniformpotency of his products, the clean nu-tritional construction, the superb tasteand user-friendliness. Parrillo reverse-engineered his products. He designedperformance products to meet the needsof competitive athletes. As coach andtrainer to a multitude of national andinternational athletes, Parrillo grew toknow what common obstacles top-flight

athletes encountered. Slow andinadequate recovery from trainingoften was the result of insufficientnutrients. Infrequent eating slowsthe metabolism making for ineffi-cient use of food-fuel. Trainingenergy suffered as a result. Johnset about eliminating these nutri-tional roadblocks one at a time.Growth and recovery could bestimulated through the correct useand timing of natural nutritionalsupplements.

His products grew from spe-cific athletic needs, not as the re-sult of some slick marketing ploydesigned to rook the public. Par-rillo produced performance prod-ucts for serious athletes and theword spread. Parrillo Products gowith high intensity training asnaturally as beer at the companypicnic on a hot August afternoon.

Parrillo prefers to let the results do thetalking. Bombast and drug talk seem tobe the fastest way to attract an audi-ence in our de-sensitized era, yet Johnhas consistently refused to sink to thislowest common denominator. To give aquick example: Androstenedione was ahuge moneymaker. Fortunes were madeovernight and the pressure was great onParrillo to come out with an Andro prod-uct, except for one slight detail, Parrilloflat refused. “Androstenedione is a hor-rible substance and anyone who did theslightest amount of research would real-ize this. Andro aromatizes in the bodyand produces estrogen, exactly the op-posite of the intention. Someday thewhole craze will be looked back on as lu-nacy.” This type of integrity is rare in theworld of nutritional supplementationwhere unscrupulous marketers searchhigh and low for products that will sell –at any cost. If the public is lucky, thesefocus-group style products will simplybe a rip-off. If unlucky the ineffective prod-ucts will prove harmful, like andro.

All in all, John Parrillo has been apositive motivating factor within all ourlives and no greater tribute could bepaid to him. Let us hope his next twentyyears will be as creative, productive andprolific as his last twenty!

2001 A Fitness Odyssey

Top bodybuilding trainers likeTodd Swinney seek his counseland use his products.


I am preparing for the Muscle Mania physique contest that will beheld in Redondo Beach, California late this year. I have outlined my “inseason”, pre-contest weight training routine. It is basic and effective.My off-season and in-season are pretty much the same as far as nutri-tion: I eat pretty much the same foods year round but eat more calories inthe off-season. I cut calories back a little in-season – but not too much.I am a big believer in changing workouts to keep training fresh. I will alterthe sets, reps, exercise selection, poundage and pace. With all thesevariables to manipulate, it is easy to keep training challenging. I do backand biceps on the same day and this routine takes about an hour tocomplete. I will stretch the target muscle between each and every setwith the stretch becoming more extreme as I do the successive sets. I willfollow this workout with a 45-minute aerobic session. I drink a post-workout Optimized Whey Protein™ shake to replenish nutrients and speed-up the recovery process. I hope you will try this particular routine andhopefully you will obtain the same outstanding results from it that I have.

Dumbbell Curls 3 sets x 12, 10, 6 – I work up to 25’sScott Bench D.B. Curl 3 sets x 12, 8, 6 – Done slow and controlled with feelBarbell Curls 3 sets x 12, 8, 6 – Sometimes I will use drop sets

by Lorelie Carvey

Back & Biceps Training

Remember to stretch as you workout, trying to elongate the targetmuscle. This type of stretching will aid in recuperation and also have theadded benefit of allowing you to better zero in on the muscle for betterisolation and performance. Good luck!

Back

Biceps

Pullups 3 sets x 6 - 10 reps – Often I use forced reps and negativesSeated Rows 4 sets x 12, 10, 8, 6 reps – Up to 140 poundsDumbbell Row 3 sets x 12, 8, 6 - Palms up. Hold at the top for a second

Back & Biceps TrainingP

hotos by Michael M

eken


by Marty Gallagher

Intensity Trumps EverythingIt’s Not So Much What You Do As How Hard You Do It!

Did you ever wonder how somepeople make great progress on seem-ingly the worst training program everdevised while others, more knowl-edgeable, fail to progress using so-phisticated training regimens? In thesame vein; have you ever seen a manextract great gains with exercise formso bad as to border on inju-rious while others makezero gains utilizing preci-sion exercise techniquethat would make RonnieColeman or Ed Coan jeal-ous? The answer to allthese wonders and mys-teries can be summed upin a single word, a wordsimple to grasp and hardto implement - Intensity!The concept of trainingintensely is continuallymisunderstood and mis-applied by weight train-ers everywhere. The mis-application of the con-cept of intensity is, in thisman’s opinion, the singlebiggest reason whysome succeed and othersfail. Intensity is the ful-crum on which we pressdown to leverage changefrom the stubborn humanbody. Exercise withoutintensity is worthless as-suming quantifiable gainis the goal. Coming togrips with intensity is ap-parently the hardest thingthere is to do in weight train-ing. It seems, based on decades ofempirical data, that intensity trumpseverything. No single factor impacts progressmore than the amount of intensity thetrainee can bring to bear in a weighttraining session. With sufficient in-

tensity, poor programs, bad tech-nique, and even inconsistent traininghabits can be overcome and measur-able gains extracted that defy bothlogic and common sense. Often, thebountiful payoff of maximally appliedintensity is confused with genetics.It is far easier to assign a person’s

otherworldly progress to genetic giftsrather than it is to identify the realreason, that the other fellow worksharder within the confines of the clas-sical weight training set. In the endwhat it really comes down to, is howyou handle yourself under limit strain.

Some, at the first hint of discomfort,fold up like a cheap card table that a100-pound plate has been sat on. Oth-ers take on more pain than seems hu-manly possible – and dig it. EvenForrest Gump could tell you whomakes the gains. After all the intri-cate preplanning is complete and all

the exotic exercises havebeen selected, after allthe verbal bluster andback-slapping are con-cluded, weight trainingcan be boiled down toan irreducible coreevent: the few secondsof stress in a heavy,limit set. How the individualreacts when the bar isloaded to the maximum,regardless the exerciseand rep ranges se-lected, determines thedegree of muscle gain.To spark the miracle ofhypertrophy a muscleis purposefullystressed past its currentcapacity in order to trig-ger the adaptation prin-ciple. The muscle cellswill grow in response tothis self-inducedtrauma. Sub-maximalweight training isworthless when thegoal is to trigger the

adaptation principle.There are a million ways

to stress the muscle withinthe confines of the set and unlesssome form of stress is invoked thebody remains within its comfort zoneand no growth occurs. Using sub-maximal poundage may improve tech-nical skills; motor-pathways clarifiedare fine-tuned, but no adaptive pro-

Without intensity, weight trainingdegenerates into play time.


Intensity Trumps Everything

cedures are triggered. On the otherhand the crazed nut who is able tointuitively and instinctively divedeep into the pain barrier, reppingpast discomfort, past ordinary pain,past excruciating, searing musclepain, can make astounding progressin short order – assuming they don’tdestroy themselves in the process. Those Samurai weight trainers whocan conjure up madman intensity aseasily as you or I flick a light switchare psychologically predisposed tobecome NFL linebackers, Brahma Bullrodeo riders or Navy SEALS.They are also predisposedto suffer serious injuryif they throw cautionto the wind. It goeswith the psychologicalterritory they havestaked out. Intensity isa mental trait that in-volves the ability towill yourself into aphysically painful situ-ation and then endurethe pain long enoughto reap the adaptivebenefit. The problemis that when you are inthe act of exceedingyour limit it is easy toincur an injury, par-ticularly in weighttraining. So how doyou strike the balanceand rev yourself upmentally yet remain incontrol enough toavoid muscle-rippingbone breaking injury?Practice, practice,practice. Intensity canbe increased and im-proved if you make it apoint to push a lit t leharder each time you bump upagainst your limit. A savvy and seri-ous weight trainer, intent on maximiz-ing muscle gains, will improve in theability to push a bit longer beforequiting. A successful set dependson having the fortitude to push rightup to the body’s momentary capac-ity in the exercise.

Ideally, we want to increase thepoundage or the reps every time wetouch a weight, but for a whole litanyof physiological reasons, that’s im-possible. What is possible (and desir-able) is that you work up to your mo-mentary capacity in a particular exer-cise. You need to realistically assesswhere you are at in order to get a feelfor poundage and rep range; somedays this will be higher and some dayslower, again dependent on a wholehost of physiological reasons. Regard-less of the varying daily circumstance

we need to muster enough mental in-tensity to find our limit, within what-ever poundage and rep parameters weestablish and then have the gumptionto push or pull until you cannot doanother rep. Do you need to fail be-fore you quit? Do you need to doforced reps? No, not necessarily,

though both are valid tactics, but anhonest man with a healthy pain toler-ance can push until he knows he cannot possibly make another rep with-out necessarily going to failure. Af-ter a few years of training, you areable to tell when another rep is im-possible. Make sure to go to failureoccasionally (and safely) in order toverify that you are not unconsciouslysand bagging it. If we do all that wecan do, then that’s all we can do. Take a hard look at yourself and do alittle psychological self-examination to

determine if you are training withthe requisite intensity. I trained

with six-time world powerlift-ing champion KirkKarwoski for a decade andthis man could psyche-him-self up to an intensity levelthat bordered onpsychotic.He had 32-inchthighs and could squat1000 pounds for two reps.Kirk could push his bodyso hard that while squat-ting his nose membraneswould routinely explode,projectile spraying blood allover his tee-shirt in a finemist during the set. Hewould be on the second orthird squat rep with someungodly weight, like 900x5,when his left nostril wouldsquirt blood spray, likesome miniature scarlet ver-sion of Old Faithful. Doyou have to bleed whenyou train in order to gener-ate the requisite intensity?Absolutely not – unlessyou want to become aworld champion. However

it is illustrative of the level ofintensity the elite bring to bear in

their training. So the next time youfeel a little lactic acid build-up and yourgut reaction is to rack the weight, thinkof Karwoski and squeeze out anotherrep. Get a little primordial, invoke thathard-wired “flight or fight” genetic en-coding and watch the muscles sprout.Comfort training is ineffective and re-duces weight training to playtime.

Make no mistake about it; Inten-sity is brutal yet effective.


New

s an

d V

iew

sby John Parrillo

‘Tis The SeasonFor Lipotropics

Start the New Year off right by notgaining a bunch of excess fat duringthe coming holidays. To achieve thatgoal stick to metabolism-building nu-trition as outlined in the Parrillo Nu-trition Manual. It is not as complicatedas it sounds and you will be happyand grateful come the New Year wheninstead of having packed on a lot ofunhealthy, unsightly holiday lard youroar into the New Year lean and mus-cular. Also, maintain your regular in-tensity of exercise in both weighttraining and aerobics. In fact, you maywant to increase your aerobic inten-sity, frequency, and duration thismonth to ward off any unwanted fatgain. As for supplements, make sureyou are using our Advanced Lipotro-pic Formula™. It contains fat-mobi-lizing nutrients your body needs toefficiently metabolize fat.

Choline Present in all living cells, Cholinehas some very important roles in the

body. Choline is synthesized from twoamino acids, methionine and serine,with help from vitamin B12 (which iswhy we include 200 mcg of vitaminB12 in our Advanced Lipotropic For-mula™). Choline helps prevent fat frombuilding up in the liver and works toshuttle fat into cells to be burned forenergy. In the brain, Choline convertsto acetylcholine, a neurotransmitterthat sends messages from nerves tomuscles. When muscles tire out duringexercise this transmission system getsblocked. No messages are sent andmuscular work slows down or ceasestemporarily. Research with runners hasdetermined that Choline levels dropduring races. It is believed that Cholineis used up during exercise to produceacetylcholine. Once Choline is depletedthere’s a corresponding drop in acetyl-choline production. When productiondips so does muscular work. Theoreti-cally, by supplementing with extra Cho-line, you can work out harder and burnmore fat as a result.(1) Choline clearlyhas some multiple benefits. Each cap-sule in our Advanced Lipotropic For-mula™ contains 200 mg of Choline.

Inositol Working together with Choline, inosi-tol helps prevent build-ups of fat in thearteries and keeps the liver, heart, andkidneys healthy. Each capsule in ourformulation contains 200 mg of inositol.

Biotin This B-complex vitamin is required toactivate specific enzymes involved inmetabolism. Without it, your body can’tproperly burn fats. Biotin also influencesthe body’s ability to properly metabo-lize blood sugar (and helps avoid low-energy periods).

Vitamin B6 This nutrient helps keep the body’swater balance in check, plus B6 helpsregulate blood sugar so you don’t getswings in blood sugar and the resultantcravings they cause. Restrictive dietscan deplete the body’s supply of vita-min B6 and supplementation is extra in-surance against a deficiency. Each cap-sule contains 20 mg of vitamin B6.

Methionine This amino acid has been linked toweight control. In combination with an-other amino acid - phenylalanine - Me-thionine apparently assists in the break-down of fat.(2) Our Max Endurance

Help counteract holidaybinging with Parrillo’sAdvanced LipotropicFormula™.


‘Tis The Season For Lipotropics

Formula™ contains 200 mg of DL-phe-nylalanine, and each capsule of our Ad-vanced Lipotropic Formula™ con-tains 200 mg of Methionine.

Carnitine This nutrient shovels fat into cellu-lar mitochondria (cellular furnaces) tobe burned for energy. Carnitine alsocleanses the mitochondria by remov-ing cellular waste products. Thus, car-nitine is absolutely vital to metabolism.When combined with chromiumpicolinate, carnitine appears toboost fat loss - potentially up totwo or more pounds a week. Inone study, 30 obese women and10 obese men were placed on di-ets (1,200 calories a day for womenand 1,600 calories a day for men)while receiving either dailysupplements of l-carnitine (200mg) and chromium picolinate (200mcg) or a placebo for eight weeks.On average, the supplementedgroup lost 15 pounds, comparedto no weight loss in the placebogroup. What’s more, the supple-mented group lost an average of3.5 percent body fat, while theother group gained .6 percentbody fat.(3) According to otherresearch studies, supplementationwith carnitine causes more fattyacids to enter cells to be used asenergy.(4) The more fat availablefor energy the better your staminaand performance. Each capsule ofAdvanced Lipotropic Formula™contains 25 mg of carnitine.

Chromium Picolinate Chromium helps turn carbohy-drates into blood sugar, the fuelburned by cells for energy. Chromiumalso helps regulate and produce thehormone insulin. Manufactured by thepancreas, insulin helps control hunger,regulates fat storage and aids musclebuilding. Chromium Picolinate assiststhe body in utilizing cholesterol prop-erly. While chromium has a good repu-tation as a fat burner, it also may stimu-late the growth of lean muscle if you liftweights. In one study, 10 college menattending a strength-training classtwice a week took either chromium

supplements (200 mcg a day), or a pla-cebo. After 40 days, the chromiumsupplementers gained an average of 4.84pounds of muscle, without gaining anyfat. The placebo group did not fare aswell. They gained barely a pound ofmuscle, on average, and their body fatincreased by 1.1 percent.(5) Per capsule,Advanced Lipotropic Formula™ con-tains 50 mcg of chromium picolinate, thebest known form of chromium, chromiumpicolinate, or picolinic acid. Picolinateenhances the absorption of chromium.

Enzymes Advanced Lipotropic Formula™ con-tains two important enzymes: pancreatinand betaine HCL. Enzymes such asthese help ensure that our bodies prop-erly break down the foods we consumeso that they can be properly utilized bythe body for growth and repair. Pancre-atin, for example, helps the body digestfats, and is also believed to have strongfat-dissolving properties Betaine HCLhelps activate the protein-digesting en-zyme, pepsin. For these reasons, en-

zymes are often recommended as diges-tive aids.

Supplementing with AdvancedLipotropic Formula™

We recommended that you take onecapsule with each meal - which meansfour to six capsules daily, dependingon how many meals you consume. Thatway your body receives a continuingsupply of important fat-mobilizing nu-trients throughout the day.Lipotropic supplements, however, do

not take the place of a proper dietand regular exercise. If you are cur-rently overweight and the onlychange you make in your lifestyleis to supplement with Lipotropics,most likely nothing will happen.Nor do lipotropic supplementsburn fat. Rather, they provide a pre-cise combination of nutrients yourbody needs to metabolize fat atthe maximum rate - assuming youare following a low-fat, high-nu-trient diet and are exercising in-tensely.

References1. Kanter, M.M. 1994. Antioxi-dants and other popular ergo-genic aids. From the proceedingsof Nutritional Ergogenic Aids, No-vember 11-12, Chicago, Illinois.

2. Taylor, D.S. 1989. Amino acidsaid in weight control. Better Nutri-tion, May, 10-12.

3. Kaats G.R., Wide J.A., Blum K.,et al. 1992. The short-term thera-peutic efficacy of treating obesitywith a plan of improved nutritionand moderate caloric restriction.

Current Therapeutic Research 51: 261-274.

4. Dragan, G.I., Vasiliu, A., Georgescu,E., and N. Eremia. 1989. Studies con-cerning chronic and acute effects of l-carnitina in elite athletes. Physiologie26:111-129.

5. Trent, L.K., and D. Thielding-Cancel. 1995.Effects of chromium picolinate on body com-position. Journal of Sports Medicine andPhysical Fitness 35: 273-280.

Maximize fat loss with lipotro-pic agents like those found in ourAdvanced Lipotropic Formula™.

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TTTTTortureortureortureortureorture YYYYYour Tour Tour Tour Tour Tricepsricepsricepsricepsriceps Although biceps get all the glory in the world ofupper arms, triceps comprise most of the actualupper arm mass. Well-developed triceps give thearms a meaty fullness that is apparent even whenthey are hanging relaxed at your sides. Big tricepsinstantly tell the world you are a bodybuilder. Thinkof the great arms on men like Bill Pearl, ArnoldSchwarzenegger, Robbie Robertson, Sergio Olivaand Ronnie Coleman. All ofthem had (or have) enor-mous triceps to go alongwith their incredible biceps.Yet for many trainers terrifictriceps are tough to comeby. They do set after set ofcable pushdowns anddumbbell kickbacks yetnever seem to develop hamhock triceps. It could be thatif they allotted their tricepsthe same amount of train-ing time that they gave totheir biceps they would ac-quire the titanic triceps theyseek. It might be time to trysome new exercises and jazzup your triceps training.Shocking the muscles withsomething new is usuallythe key to triggering dra-matic improvements. Trysome of these tortuous tri-ceps blasters the next time youtrain. A change of pace will forcetriceps out of their lethargic state.

Weighted Dips Dips are mainly thought of as a chest exercisebut by keeping the elbows tucked into your bodywhile maintaining an upright torso dips become anexcellent triceps exercise. Be sure to descend atleast until your upper arms are parallel (or lower) tothe ground, then drive up to a full lockout andsqueeze forcefully. Hold at the top and squeezethe lockout for a few seconds before slowly lower-ing for the next rep. I like to imagine my triceps aresopping wet sponges and with every rep I attemptto squeeze out every last drop of water. I practicethis technique, which facilitates a powerful peak

contraction, on all my triceps exercises. Never,never, never bounce out of the bottom part of adip. That’s a great way to rip or tear your deltoids.Lower yourself slowly on the way down and pushexplosively on the way up.

Overhead E-Z Bar Triceps Extensions Have you ever done ‘skull crushers’? Lie on a

flat bench, or even a declinebench, and have a partnerhand you a loaded E-Z curlbar. Keep the upper arms rocksteady, perpendicular to thefloor and lower your forearmsuntil the bar touches yourhead, hence the name. Pushup keeping your upper armsfrozen. For a change of pacetry performing them sittingupright on a low seatedbench. You can do overheadtriceps extensions on an in-cline bench, just make sureto keep your elbows as closein to your head as possible.You may want to have a train-ing partner hold your elbowsto get a totally isolated blastright in the triceps. For a killersuperset, follow the exten-sions with close-grip over-head presses. Your shoul-

ders will be fresh and will haveenough strength left to drive

your poor tri’s into the ground with searing pain.No pain, no gain - more pain, more gain!

Close-grip Decline Presses Have you done close-grip bench presses for thetriceps? The problem with doing them on a flatbench is that this angle is brutally painful on mostpeople’s wrists. Quite by accident I discovered thatby performing this exercise with a decline benchangle, all the wrist pain seemed to disappear. Theodd angle makes balancing with a close grip ratherdifficult so a Smith machine is recommended. Trylowering the bar down until it touches the top rowof your abs. Watch how much weight you’ll beable to power up! This exercise ranks right up

John Parrillo’s Performance Press • January 2000 Orderline: 1•800•344•340412

Torture Your Triceps

there with weighted dips as the best all-around massbuilder for the triceps.

Cable Kickbacks Kickbacks are a great exercise but not when youuse dumbbells. Free weights have the inherent limi-tation of being pulled straight down in the verticalplane by gravity. That’s fine for an exercise likesquats, where you want to gostraight up and down butkickbacks are meant to travelin an upward arc. Dumbbellsare ineffective: for the firstthird of the motion there iszero resistance and thistranslates to zero growth.For resistance throughoutthe complete range-of-mo-tion, simply clip a rope at-tachment to a low cable pul-ley, face it, bend over andkick back and up one arm ata time. Now you can pumpup your triceps with a supe-rior form of kickbacks. Makesure you stay bent over withyour torso nearly parallel tothe ground and keep theworking elbow up high andstationary. As always pauseat the top before lowering forthe next rep. Flex hard at lock-out as this makes a huge dif-ference in the results. Mosttrainees make the mistake of neverreally locking the weight out, they get in a rhythm,toss the weight to near lockout but never lock andhold, the real secret to stupendous triceps.

Reverse-grip Cable Pushdowns I have probably done enough cable pushdownsto pump the Pacific Ocean dry if I had been pump-ing a well handle instead. People who do a lot ofpushdowns end up immune to them. The tricepsadapt to the stress and all progress ceases. Timefor a change: for a minor change that can translateinto new growth, simply flip your hand over to anunderhand grip. Since the bar will now be harder tohold onto feel free to use straps to anchor your hand.

It feels odd at first so start off ultra-light, don’t let theelbows drift forward and up, and build the poundageup over time. If you’ve never used this particulargrip, get ready for a cramping pump that will haveyour triceps’s swelling to mythic proportions.

Rope Extensions Another variation on the standard pushdown is

to use the rope attachment. Therope allows you to flare your

hands apart throughoutthe repetition. This makesit considerably tougherand you use less weightbut the isolative effects areamazing. Rope extensionscan be done standing,bent over, overhead whilelooking and leaning awayfrom the weight stack; thevarieties are endless. Thelast variation was a favor-ite of NPC National Cham-pion Paul DeMayo, whowas known as Quadzilladue to his huge thigh de-velopment, but in additionhad some of the best,thickest triceps in all ofbodybuilding. Variation on a theme: Fora fantastic way in which topush your triceps past fail-ure try this: when you have

done all the “flared” rope ex-tensions you can continue the set by simply plac-ing your flared hands together and doing morepushdowns. All of a sudden it becomes much easierand you can grind out extra growth producing reps.This extended set will make you scream in agony,but the soreness you feel the next day will tell youthat a whole new set of muscle fibers were acti-vated. Do you want more meat hanging off your tri-ceps? How about a lot more, you say. Give all ofthese triceps blasters a serious test-drive. Donediligently and correctly any one of them is guaran-teed to upgrade your current pip-squeak guns tolarge caliber weapons.



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The Wonder Supplement: CapTri®

Parrillo Performance Technical Bulletin: Fat Metabolism

Sometimes we tend to forget aboutthe old reliable nutritional supplementsas we become caught up in the designand release of our latest cutting-edgedconcoction. CapTri® is a truly revolu-tionary nutritional supplement and de-spite it being a decade old, it is as rel-evant and timeless as the day it wasintroduced. Call it a blast from the past,a golden oldie, or an oldie but a goodie,call it what you will, CapTri® belongs inthe nutritional arsenal of every seriousbodybuilder, strength athlete or fitnessenthusiast. What can you say about amulti-use product that can be used togain lean mass, or alternately, allowsyou to keep your existing muscle massduring the rigors of serious dieting? PlusCapTri® is a cooking agent withoutpeer: a bottle of CapTri® belongs in thekitchen of every bodybuilder. Thesavvy athlete uses CapTri® to enjoy thepleasure of fried food while remainingtrue to the tenants of low fat dieting. All in all, CapTri® is as close to amiracle supplement as any ever de-vised. We felt it would be appropriateto reintroduce to our readership theresearch that went into theconceptualization and design ofCapTri®. John Parrillo made a mas-sive study of fats (lipids) back in the80’s and his revolutionary conclu-sions resulted in the creation ofCapTri®. The science behind thesupplement is as relevant and perti-nent today as the day it was released.Take a read on this Parrillo techni-cal report and we guarantee youwill know more after reading it thanbefore. *The first 100 readers to call head-quarters and order two bottles ofCapTri® will receive a free copy ofour famed CapTri® Cookbook. Whosays low-fat dieting needs to be cu-linary drudgery?

Nomenclature of Fats

Fats, or lipids, are found in all cellsand perform a variety of functions es-sential for life. These include their rolesin energy storage, membrane structure,and incorporation in vitamins, hor-mones, and prostaglandins (Zubay,1983). Fats are used to cushion and in-sulate the body and function as electri-cal insulation in the nervous system.Triglycerides are the most common formof fat found in foods and stored in bodyfat depots. Triglycerides are comprisedof three fatty acids (figure 1) esterifiedto a glycerol backbone . Most naturallyoccuring triglycerides contain fatty ac-ids 16-20 carbon atoms in length. Suchfatty acids are called “long chain fattyacids” (LCFAs), and their correspond-ing triglycerides are called “long chaintriglycerides” (LCTs). Medium chaintriglycerides (MCTs) are comprised ofmedium chain fatty acids (MCFAs),which are 6-12 carbons in length. Al-though the carboxylic acid part of fattyacids is soluble in water, the hydrocar-bon chain is not. Thus, LCFAs are notwater soluble. Since the hydrocarbonchains of MCFAs are shorter, MCFAsare more water soluble than LCFAs. Like-

wise, MCTs are also relatively soluble inwater, due to ionization of the carboxylicacid groups and the small size of the hy-drocarbon chains. Their small molecularsize and greater water solubility causeMCTs to undergo a different metabolicpath than that experienced by LCTs (Bachand Babayan, 1982).Occurrence and Purification of MCTs Medium chain triglycerides occurnaturally in small quantities in a varietyof foods, and are present naturally inthe blood of the human fetus and inhuman milk (Bach and Babayan, 1982;Souci, Fachmann, Kraut, 1989/90). Incow’s milk, C6-C14 fatty acids togetheraccount for 20% of the total fatty acidcomposition (Christensen et al, 1989).Commercially, medium chain fatty acidsare prepared by the hydrolysis of coco-nut oil (an abundant source) and arefractionated by steam distillation. TheMCFAs so obtained consist of predomi-nantly C8:0, with lesser amounts ofC10:0, and minute amounts of C6:0 andC12:0. The fractionated MCFAs are re-esterified with glycerol to generateMCTs (Bach and Babayan, 1982). MCToil softens or splits certain plastics such

Fatty acids and glycerol - the building blocks of triglycerides.


The Wonder Supplement:CapTri®

as polyethylene and polystyrene, butnot polypropylene. It is recommendedthat MCT oil be stored in metal, glass,or ceramic containers (Sucher, 1986).MCT oil has a caloric density of 8.3 calo-ries per gram; one tablespoon equals 14grams and contains 115 calories. MCTsare not drugs and have no pharmaco-logical effects (Bach and Babayan,1982).

Historical Uses of MCTs Since their introduction in 1950 for thetreatment of fat malabsorption prob-lems, medium chain triglycerides haveenjoyed wide application in enteral andparenteral nutrition regimens (Bach andBabayan, 1982). Fat emulsions can beused to provide up to 60% of nonpro-tein calories. Before the availability oflipid emulsions suitable for intravenoususe, glucose was used as the only non-protein source of calories (Mascioli etal, 1987). Not only did this result in es-sential fatty acid deficiencies, but it wasalso undesirable because it increasedhepatic lipogenesis and respiratorywork. Although inclusion of LCTs in in-travenous feedings represented an im-provement, problems remained withslow clearance of LCTs from the blood-stream and interference with the REScomponent of the immune system.When medium chain triglycerides orstructured lipids (triglycerides contain-ing both MCFAs and LCFAs) are addedto the regimen, calories are provided ina more readily oxidizable form (Schmidl,Massaro, and Labuza; 1988), and lessinterference with the RES is observed(Mascioli et al, 1987). In one case, MCTwas fed as the exclusive source of fat(along with a small amount of LCT toprovide essential fatty acids) to a pa-tient with chyluria (a fat malabsorptiondisease) for over 15 years without pro-ducing side effects (Geliebter et al, 1983).

Sports Nutrition Although MCTs have been used inhospital environments for years, theiruse by healthy individuals is relativelynew. Recently, athletes have begun touse MCTs to increase caloric consump-tion, thereby providing energy and fa-cilitating weight gain. Their low food ef-ficiency, due to the thermogenic effect,means that MCTs have very little ten-dency to be converted to body fat. The

calories from MCTs represent an addi-tional energy source which (in contrastto conventional fats) can be used con-currently with glucose.

II. MetabolismDigestion and Absorption of Fats

Since LCTs are not very soluble in wa-ter, the body has to go through an elabo-rate digestive process in order to ab-sorb these nutrients. Bile salts are se-creted by the gall bladder to help dis-solve the LCTs. Upon ingestion, LCTsinteract with bile in the duodenum (up-per small intestine) and are incorporatedinto mixed micelles (Record et al, 1986).Enzymes called lipases (pancreatic li-pase and phospholipase A2) remove thefatty acid molecule from the glycerolbackbone. The mixed micelles are pas-sively absorbed into the intestinal mu-cosa where the free fatty acids are re-esterified with glycerol. The intestinalmucosa synthesizes a lipoprotein car-rier called a chylomicron to transport thereformed triglyceride. Chylomicrons aresecreted into the lymph and are releasedinto the venous circulation via the tho-racic duct. In the bloodstream, lipopro-tein lipase again breaks down the trig-lycerides into two free fatty acids and amonoglyceride. The monoglycerides goto the liver to be further degraded, whilemany of the circulating free fatty acidsare taken up and stored by adipocytes(fat cells). When carbohydrates are con-sumed insulin is released, and insulinstimulates adipocytes to re-esterify thefatty acids into triglycerides and storethem as body fat. In general, body fatstores are not mobilized and used forenergy to any significant extent in thepresence of insulin. In contrast, since MCFAs are more wa-ter soluble they are more easily ab-sorbed and do not require this compli-cated digestive process. MCTs can beabsorbed intact and do not require theaction of pancreatic lipase or incorpo-ration into chylomicrons. Instead, a li-pase within the intestinal cell degradesthe MCT into free MCFAs and glycerol.The MCFAs are bound to albumin, re-leased into the bloodstream, and trans-ported directly to the liver by the portalvein. The vast majority of MCFAs areretained by the liver where they are rap-idly and extensively oxidized. Whereas

conventional fats are largely depositedin fat cells, MCTs are transported di-rectly to the liver and used for energy.Very little of the MCFAs ever escapethe liver to reach the general circulation(Bach and Babayan, 1982). Only 1-2%of MCTs are incorporated into depot fat(Geliebter et al, 1983; Baba, Bracco, andHashim, 1982). Medium chain triglycer-ides are digested and absorbed muchfaster than conventional fats (in fact, asrapidly as glucose) and are immediatelyavailable for energy.References1. Baba, Bracco, and Hashim, Enhancedthermogenesis and diminished depositionof fat in response to overfeeding with dietcontaining medium chain triglyceride. Am.J. Clin. Nutr. 35: 678-682 (1982).2. Bach and Babayan, Medium chain trig-lycerides: an update. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.36:950-962 (1982).3. Christensen, Hagve, Gronn, andChristophersen, Beta-oxidation of mediumchain (C8-C14) fatty acids studied in iso-lated liver cells. Biochem. et Biophys. Acta1004: 187-195 (1989).4. Geliebter, Torbay, Bracco, Hashim, andVan Itallie, Overfeeding with mediumchain triglyceride diet results in dimin-ished deposition of fat. Am. J. Clin. Nutr.37: 1-4 (1983).5. Mascioli, Bistrian, Babayan, andBlackburn, Medium chain triglycerides andstructured lipids as unique nonglucose en-ergy sources in hyperalimentation. Lipids22: 421-423 (1987).6. Record, Kolpek, and Rapp, Long chainversus medium chain length triglycerides- a review of metabolism and clinical use.Nutr. Clin. Prac. 1:129-135 (1986).7. Schmidl, Massaro, and Labuza,Parenteral and enteral food systems. FoodTech. 77-87 (July, 1988).8. Souci, Fachmann, and Kraut, FoodComposition and Nutrition Tables 1989/90. Published by WissenschaftlicheVerlagsgesellschaft (1989).9. Sucher, Medium chain triglycerides: areview of their enteral use in clinical nu-trition. Nutr. Clin. Prac. 44: 146-150 (1986).10. Zubay, Biochemistry, chapter 13: “Me-tabolism of Fatty Acids andTriacylglycerols,” by Denis E. Vance. Pub-lished by Addison-Wesley PublishingCompany (1983).

John

Parr

illo’

s

5143 Kennedy Avenue Cincinnati, Ohio 45213

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PAIDCINCINNATI, OHPERMIT NO. 855

John Parrillo’s · Back and Biceps Training by Lorelie Carvey Torture Your Triceps Shocking The...

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