I remember the days when I was a kid, looking at the magazines and reading all the articles.

The author would mention that you really need to take in enough quality protein to grow.

And that, a good quality protein powder would really help.

Good advice.

But there was a problem with it.

First, I was just a kid who had no idea what a good protein powder was.

And second unlike today where you can go to one of the more popular bodybuilding sites and ask for help, there was no one around to ask.

So today I am going lay out one brand of protein that I have used and still use to this day.

And this is Optimum Nutrition’s 100% Whey Gold Standard protein powder.

Now, right up front I want to point out a few things.

First, I am not being paid by Optimum to say this, I just feel their protein is of good quality and is priced right.

Are there other places that I buy from, sure?

As I stated just recently, I love Dave Drapers Bomber Blend.

However, the one thing about Optimum is that they are available just about anywhere.

Second, you get what you pay for.

Third, they have tons of flavors, for me personally I like the double rich chocolate flavor and surprisingly I like this one better than their milk chocolate flavor, because I am usually a milk chocolate kind of guy.

CONCLUSION

I know this is a short post today, but I just wanted to give the young man or woman who has just started out on their bodybuilding journey a reliable source of protein.

Some will say that I left out various companies.

And I will admit that I have.

But again, I am trying to give the beginner a good quality brand that they can trust.

Once they become familiar with the bodybuilding landscape, they can decide for themselves when/if they want to try a different brand for their protein powder.

UNTIL NEXT TIME

KEEP FIT

With Friday comes another random thoughts of the week post, where I am going to cover what has gone on this past week in bodybuilding.

Enjoy!

Up first I want to go back to something I touched on before, Dennis Wolf at the just past Mr. Olympia.

Reason being, is that, there is a big thread on what happened to Dennis at the Olympia, on one of the more popular bodybuilding sites on the web.

A Lot of people are saying that he should dump Chad Nicholas and switch to someone else.

Personally, I was not aware of all the people Chad has trained, but after reading the posts, I agree, I think he should get rid of Chad and try Pit Trenz or Charles Glass.

But again this is just my opinion.

Another thing that was pointed out on the thread was words to the effect that since he placed so low he will have less pressure, I agree with this, he can go back home, get his head together and just train and grow.

However, one point that Dennis needs to deal with now is qualifying for the Mr. O, as last year he was already in based on him placing in the top ten.

This means he will have to do at least one show, but maybe more, to qualify for the O.

But, in fairness to Dennis, this could be EXACLTY what he needs, because if something happens at the first show he enters, say he comes in flat, he can learn for this mistake and try and fix it for his next show.

Which can help him come prep time for the O.

I touched on this before, but Dennis has, according to what I’ve read, an extremely fast metabolism, so this can be a factor in why he just can’t get is condition spot on.

Another factor with Dennis, could be that his metabolism while still fast, it has started to slow, and since it was always very fast, he did not know how to deal with this.

Dennis is still young, as noted in a prior post I believe he is still in his twenties or just thirty, so he has plenty of time.

With another year of solid training under his belt Dennis can come back next year and really surprise a lot of people.

HANEY OR CUTLER

I saw this poll question and wanted to comment on it.

They are asking who has the better physique, Lee Haney or Jay Cutler

For those who don’t know Lee started his run of eight consecutive Olympia’s in nineteen eighty four.

To me it is no contest, Lee Haney all the way.

Better shape, small waist, to me he just looks better.

I realize Jay Cutler is big than Lee, but to me, again Lee just looks better.

O.K.

That’s all for this week.

HOPE YOUR WEEKEND GOES GREAT.

Until Next Week

WORK SMART

Just recently, I’ve been reading about high intensity training—well actually I have read about it for years, but seeing as how I just read about it again, I figured I’d give you my opinion on it.

High intensity training, the way I understand it, involves doing a couple of progressively heavier warm-up sets and then one all-out work set.

Yes, you actually only do one work set, but the set is taken to failure.

The high intensity style of training is brutal, but it works, however, there are many problems with it.

The fact that it is brutally hard, now there is nothing wrong with hard work, to the contrary you must work hard if you want to succeed in anything not just bodybuilding.

However, to me there is just too much of a chance for burn-out.

Every time you go workout, it has to be all out—how long is this going to last, a week maybe two.

Of course, I can hear people saying, well then you could just take a week off every couple of weeks to help your body recover.

Bingo.

Great concept, except for one thing.

You still go back to the same all-out training style and for my money; mentally this is going to get old really quick.

Sure every four to six weeks you COULD switch over to a more traditional bodybuilding style routine, where you do eight to twelve reps per set for multiple sets, all the while leaving something in the hole—meaning you don’t go to failure.

Sounds good right?

Wrong.

The way the high intensity people lay-it-out, (at least in my opinion) high intensity training is really the only way to make gains.

Wrong.

Tons of muscle has been built over the years using every single idea around.

Some professional bodybuilders have used high intensity training successfully—but to me this just compounds the problem.

Most professional bodybuilders have genetics that are so far ahead of most people it isn’t even funny.

They can use the above high intensity training and grow, because they have the genetics for it.

SOME COMMENTS

So where does that leave someone with average genetics, or even below average genetics—are you sunk?

No.

High intensity training works, as does every-other form of training, but only for a few weeks.

So if you want to give high intensity training a shot, do so but only for a few weeks, and keep a VERY close eye on how you are feeling.

So if you start feeling burned out, ie; loss of appetite, no desire to train, and lifts start falling off, stop using high intensity and take a week off of all training.

If this happens to you only after a week or so, then I would advise you to take a close look at everything, your sleep habits, your eating habits, everything.

If you are doing everything right and are still not going good on high intensity training, then simply stop it, and know that you gave it a shot and it just did not work out for you.

On-the-other-hand, if you are still feeling good after four weeks of high intensity training—stop it and go back to your regular bodybuilding style workouts, knowing that you can come back to high intensity training a few times a year, when you want to change things up.

SOMEMORE COMMENTS

If you decide to try high intensity training, there are three things that you MUST do.

First, warm up very well before your all out set.
And second, make sure you are getting at least six hours of sleep per night; however, eight would be better.

Plus, make sure your eating is spot on, no missing meals.

Make sure you are taking in plenty of protein to help with muscle growth and repair.

CONCLUSION

High intensity training, to me, is just like any other method, it works, but only for so long, and then you need to make a change.

If you’re up for a challenge give high intensity training a go.

Just don’t fall into the trap of believing it is the only way to train.

Until Next Time

KEEP MOTIVATED

Picked up the latest issue of Muscular Development Magazine and went through the interview that Ron Harris did with Mark Alvisi and wanted to comment on it.

First congratulations to Mark as this is a major accomplishment because of course, while you want to do damage in the pro ranks—you have to get there first, and this win got Mark his pro card.

Second, despite the fact that most people were saying that Mark was sure thing to turn pro, I’ve been following this sport for a LONG time, and have seen guys that were sure-to-turn-pro, get second and then third, and then second, and well you know the story, they just never got over-the-hump.

Third, it seems like Mark has a good head on his shoulders and knows what he needs to do to improve—and obviously he did the job from last year because he got his pro card.

My opinion of his physique is that while he has wonderful shoulders, he needs bring up his chest a bit, and add some more to his legs, especially the inner thighs.

Also, and this is just from the pictures I’ve seen in the magazines, Mark needs to keep an eye on his waist so that it does not get bigger.

But as stated above, I think Mark has a good head on his shoulders and knows what needs to be done—and will do it.

Plus, I feel he his doing it the right way, take some time off to put on some size and then compete.

To me competing just for the sake of it is not really worth it.

SOME COMMENTS

You must congratulate Steve Blechman the publisher and editor-in-chief or Muscular Development Magazine as he has put together a fine collection of young bodybuilders that can be battling-it-out for top honors at shows for years-to-come.

With Mark Alvisi, Evan Centopani, Erik Fankhouser, and probable soon-to-be pro Branden Ray.

Not-to-mention Dennis Wolf.

All of the above young men are just that, young, and will be around this sport for years to come.

Also, to be honest, Muscular Development Magazine has tons of great info in it every month, for guys like me, and I’m sure thousands of other young and not so young men, who simply love training, and want to learn everything they can to improve them selves, but have no desire to compete.

CONCLUSION

Congrats, again to Mark Alvisi on his overall win at the 2009 USA Championships and to Steve Blechman for putting together one heck of a magazine.

Until Next Time

NEVER STOP DREAMING

Just like well developed shoulders, I feel that one reason a well developed set of upper pecs is so impressive is that, well you really do not see too many people that have upper pecs that are well developed.

To me this can be attributed to one thing, the flat bench press.

While it is true that some genetically gifted bodybuilders can develop very balanced (meaning all areas of the chest, from lower to inner to outer to upper to all areas in between) chest development from just doing flat benches, most of us, myself included, see more in the way of middle and lower pec development from doing flat benches.

Of course, some people see very little growth at all in their pecs from benching, with most of the growth coming in the form of well developed triceps and front delts—and while muscle growth is muscle growth, most people want chest growth for their benching efforts, not growth in the aforementioned body parts.

ENTER THE INCLINE PRESS

Do you know what exercise was the number one choice for most people looking to build up their upper bodies’ back-in-the-day? (the 50’s and 60’s)

If you guessed the flat bench press—you must step to the back of the line.

However, if you guessed the over head press with a barbell—go to the front of the class you are correct.

O.K.

You might be thinking, what does the over head press have to do with building a massive chest, after all I thought it was primarily a shoulder exercise.

You are correct, it is, however, just like the over head press fell out of favor, another exercise, that never quite reached a high level of use—ranks as a better over-all upper body—and chest builder than the flat bench.

The exercise I am referring to is the incline press done with a barbell or dumbbells.

Why?

Truthfully it comes down to a number of things: First, unlike the flat bench, the incline press requires stricter form which helps prevent injuries. Second, it works those all important upper pecs, which ranks up there with the most neglected of body parts. Third, the incline press carries over far greater on the athletic field than does the flat bench press.

SOME POINTS

The incline press done with either a barbell or dumbbells is a great way to build your upper chest—however please don’t be overly concerned with how much weight you can lift, especially if you haven’t tried this exercise before.

Always remember, your goal as a bodybuilder is to work your muscles (in this case the upper pecs) hard enough so that they must grow—NOT to see how much weight you can get from point A to point B.

Also, if you have any shoulder discomfort from using a barbell, try giving dumbbells a go.

THE ROUTINE

In the beginning stick with the tried-and-true 5 x 5 program (that’s five sets of five reps per set, for a total of twenty five reps) and really learn or re learn how to do the lift properly.

After you’ve got the form down—then you can worry about changing rep schemes and adding weight.

One point, the incline press requires stricter form that the flat bench, so you might have to swallow your ego a bit and go down in weight more than you’d like—but remember your muscles don’t know how much weight is on the bar.

A TIP

Lower the barbell or dumbbells slowly to your chest and then pause for a couple of seconds before pressing the bar or dumbbells back up.

You want your upper chest taking the brunt of the work, not other muscles.

NUTRITION BASICS

As good as the incline barbell or dumbbell press is for building the upper pecs not much will come from all your hard work if you are not eating correctly.

If you are looking to gain mass—combine the above exercise with other big lifts like squats, dead lifts, and bent over rows, etc.—make sure your are getting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight (so if you weigh one hundred and fifty pounds you would take in one hundred and fifty grams of protein) from sources like, lean beef, chicken, turkey, and eggs.

Up next are plenty of high quality carbs like oatmeal (preferably steel cut oats) brown rice, yams, and a wide variety of fruits and vegetables.

Along with this take in good fats from fatty fish like sardines, nuts, seeds and a good quality fish oil supplement.

A WORD ON POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

You see ads all over the magazines touting amazing sounding products.

However, lets cut the baloney, while some of those products are great, tons of quality muscle has been built over the years with nothing but good old fashioned hard work and good quality food.

No secret ingredients, no hype.

So please if you can’t afford those expensive post-workout (or any supplements for that matter) supplements don’t worry about it, just take in a good quality meal like white meat chicken and white rice after your workout (as you don’t want to much fat and fiber in your post workout meal as this will slow absorption) and you will be fine.

CONCLUSION

Honestly, I know if you give the incline barbell or dumbbell press an honest try, not only will you be well on your way to building another part of your X Frame Physique—

You might have to buy new shirts to make room for all of your new chest size!

Until Next Time

NEVER QUIT

For my money the best thing you can be when you go out to drop your hard earned money on something is—educated.

And that is EXACTLY what you will be—if you buy Bodybuilding Revealed—the next time you go out to drop big bucks on a supplement.

Why?

Simple.

In Bodybuilding Revealed Will Brink lays out everything you need to know about supplements—everything from Whey Protein to HMB.

Plus if you have a question all you have to do is visit Will’s private members only forum—which you get access to when you purchase Bodybuilding Revealed—and ask a question and either Will himself or one of his very educated moderators will answer your question.

And you know what—this feature alone will save you hundreds if not thousands of dollars per year on supplements because you’ll KNOW which ones are worth the money and which ones are pure garbage.

Honesty, if Will only provided this feature the book would be worth its weight in gold, but no, Will covers training with just as much zest and zeal as he did supplements.

Will hits it straight on covering everything from whole body programs to the classic three day split to four day splits as well.

Honestly, there is one section during the training chapter that I am glad Will talks about and this is—keeping detailed records—doing so is vital and really can make a difference in your progress.

Another thing that separates Bodybuilding Revealed from the amateur books out there written by so-called experts is the way Will put Bodybuilding Revealed together.

I’ve read hundreds of e-books and I can’t remember very many that were set up the way Will’s book is.

The side bar on the left gives you quick one click access to any chapter of the book—want to re-read that section on nutrition—simply click—saves you time by putting the information you want right at your finger tips.

Plus throughout the book there are links to Will’s forum—so for example if you are reading about whey protein ( Will’s information on whey protein is excellent I might add) you can simply click the link provided and it will take you directly to the members area so you can discuss this topic with other members of Will’s forum—or ask a question.

Again, this is just another little extra that sets Will’s book apart from the rest.

Will Brink’s Bodybuilding Revealed is a soup to nuts affair—everything and anything YOU need to improve your body is here.

From nutrition to cardio—Will covers everything you need to not only make informed buying decisions but, to also make informed choices about how to train and eat to make your body the best it can be.

Bodybuilding Revealed gets my highest recommendation for anyone who wants to learn how to burn fat, build muscle, and totally reshape their body using the power of solid nutrition, training and good honest supplements.

Note: Please if you do nothing else if you know anyone (but young men and women in particular) who want to start bodybuilding please buy them a copy of this book—so they can get started the right way—

Before they get brainwashed by all of the fancy ads and goofball information that is out there.

I wish I had access to this when I started training over twenty years ago!

Great job Will!

For more information on Will’s

Fantastic book—CLICK HERE.

In the last post we talked about building wide shoulders, by building up the side delt head using the overhead press, either done with a barbell or dumbbells.

To reiterate what I said in the last post—to me wide shoulders—tell the world I am strong and in shape—and yes building up your shoulders is a terrific way to start building YOUR X Frame physique.

YOUR SECOND EXERCISE

While I truly believe that anyone can build cannon ball sized delts with the overhead press alone I also know that I would be cheating you out of growth if I did not include this next exercise.

LEAN AWAY LATERALS

Lean away laterals are a fantastic exercise for adding plenty of meat to your side delt head (the one that will truly make you look like you won’t be able to fit through a doorway).

To do them grab a moderately heavy dumbbell and with your free hand grab hold of something sturdy and lean until your body is at approximately a forty-five degree angle.

Raise the dumbbell until it is just about at head height.

The reason this exercise is so good at packing muscle on the side head of the delts is because a greater load is placed on the side delt at the top of the movement.

SOME POINTS

To get the most out of the above movements I would hit the overhead press hard using the tried and true 5×5 program (that’s five sets of five reps per set for a total of 25 reps).

Gradually trying to increase the amount of weight you use on this exercise.

For the lean-away-laterals I would not go as heavy (relatively speaking of course) and aim for a more traditional 3-4 sets of 8-12 reps per set.

Of course, the above are just guides and should not be thought of as the only way to do these exercises—once you get comfortable with them feel free to shake-it-up as you see fit.

DON’T FORGET QUALITY NUTRITION

Lots of people blast it at the gym and then wonder, why they are not seeing the results they want.

Plenty of times it is because of their nutrition or I should say lack of nutrition.

The above exercises are fantastic but to make optimal progress you need to treat your eating habits just like you treat your workouts—to important to miss.

Focus on eating every two to three hours and make sure you are getting one gram of protein per pound of bodyweight, so for example if you weigh two hundred pounds then you would need to shoot for two hundred grams of protein per day divided up into six meals.

Protein should come from lean beef, chicken, turkey, fatty fish, whole eggs, etc.

Carbs sources should be things like oatmeal (preferably steel cut oats) whole wheat breads (the kind that have at least five grams of fiber per slice), yams, sweet potatoes, and all kinds of fruits and vegetables.

Fats should come from fatty fish like sardines and salmon (for the omega 3 fatty acids) natural peanut butter (read labels to make sure the peanut butter you choose does not include extra sugar) and all kinds of nuts and seeds.

And yes, if you are young and your metabolism is running along, a couple of trips (every now-and-then) to your favorite fast food place won’t hurt.

A WORD ON POST WORKOUT NUTRITION

A lot has been made lately of post workout nutrition, but don’t let it be the determining factor in whether or not you make gains.

By this I mean, if you have the money and can afford a good post workout product or just a high quality whey product shake for that matter, great.

If not, just eat a high quality, highly nutritious meal after your workout—although you don’t want too much fat or fiber in this meal, so something like white meat chicken and white rice would be good.

Trust me on this point, plenty of world class gains have been made, on nothing but good quality food and hard work, so don’t let your lack of fancy supplements hold you back.

CONCLUSION

Overhead presses and lean away laterals give you the perfect one-two punch for building massive and wide shoulders.

Always remember to warm up first, and then hit it hard, but sensibly.

If you do this, maybe one day, someone will mistake your shoulders for boulders!

Until Next Time

WORK HARD BUT SMART

A few interesting things happened at this years (2009) U.S. Open Tennis Championships.

First was Serena Williams (the younger of the two Williams Sisters) outburst over a foot fault call—which finished her tournament.

And Roger (the five time defending champion) Federer losing his cool over a late challenge being allowed.

Considering that both Serena Williams and Roger Federer were the defending champs—to me it brings up the issue of confidence, with then brings up the issue of mental toughness.

Wouldn’t you be confident if you were Mr. Federer—knowing that you basically OWN the court at the U.S. Open.

Same goes for Serena Williams—as she was the defending champion.

You might be asking yourself, how exactly this relates to bodybuilding.

To me it relates perfectly.

First, while I am all for switching routines, I think to many people get ants-in-their-pants syndrome and lose confidence in their current routine, so they keep switching routines in hopes of finding that magic one.

Second, it applies to supplements; people drop hundreds of dollars a month on the latest wonder supplement, only to drop serious coin the next month when the newest hot thing comes out.

They never give the first supplement a chance to work (not that it would as most supplements are hype).

AN EXAMPLE

I know a gentleman that committed to a business years ago, now the business was not flashy, but the way he related it to me was, once he committed to it, that was it, no wavering or changing plans—he did his research and he KNEW that what he was doing was solid.

Honestly, I know something about the business he went into and it is a high effort affair, hours and hours per day need to be spent working the business.

And you cannot really take any time off, because you need to do it daily.

However, he committed to it and now enjoys the rewards.

Same goes for the bodybuilder who commits to a course of action, say getting stronger on the basics—he did his research—found a solid routine—so he sticks with it—and over time builds an impressive level of strength.

Which, will, chances are, translate into more muscle when/if he switches back to a more traditional routine?

CONCLUSION

I know that the grass-is-always greener on the other side, but the next time you start a new routine—give it time to work.

Yes, it will be hard, but remember it is not where you start but where you finish.

Until Next Time

STAY FOCUSED

Before I get into my review of Beverly International Nutrition’s Ultimate Muscle Protein I would just like to give you a little background info on them.

First, Beverly has been around since 1967 which certainly makes them a forerunner in my book in the world of sports nutrition.

Second, to me the name Beverly International Nutrition means quality—pure and simple.

O.k.

On to the review.

Right up front I will say that this review is based on the chocolate flavor of Ultimate Muscle Protein—as I am not a vanilla guy—any and everything chocolate.

SMELL:

The first thing I noticed when I opened up the can was the smell—Ultimate Muscle Protein smells great , to me it smelled like freshly baked brownies—to some I know this might not mean much, but hey first impressions do count.

EASE OF MIXING:

Again, I will be upfront here, I am a cup-and-spoon guy, and to be honest Ultimate Muscle Protein does not excel here.

I got it to mix up O.K. but it took me a little while to do it with only a spoon.

Next I tried my trusty shaker—a little better here but still not great.

So if you are into easy mixing shakes, this one might not be your cup-of-tea.

I love pudding (yes chocolate) so I took out one of my handy plastic food containers and tried mixing Ultimate Muscle Protein into a pudding.

Bingo!

Works great—mixes up into a good pudding consistency.

My ratings would fall like this:

In a cup—5/10 doable—but does take a bit of time

Shaker—7/10 better than in a cup but still not great.

Plastic food container—10/10 works great as a pudding.

TASTE:

Ultimate Muscle Protein tastes great even in the glass and shaker bottle despite not mixing all that well.

It has a pleasant taste, not to heavy or strong and not too weak tasting.

As a pudding it is great.

One point that I would like to make is this, I only used water for mixing and I would assume if you used milk especially for mixing it into a pudding Ultimate Muscle Protein would taste even better.

Of course, what you use would depend on where you were at, meaning if you were trying to lean out either for the beach or a contest, water would be the way to go.

However, if you were bulking—mixing it with milk would probably be the way to go.

NUTRITION BREAKDOWN:

Ultimate Muscle Protein per one scoop of the chocolate flavor has:

120 calories

3.5 grams of fat

20 grams of protein

4 grams of carbs

COST:

Ultimate Muscle Protein is not cheap, I know this turns off a lot of people, but you have to understand that Beverly uses only the highest quality ingredients for all of their products and of course, this costs more.

This is one area where only you can make the decision—to me it is worth putting out the extra cash for high quality products such as Beverly—but again this is just me.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

Beverly International Nutrition has a fine line of products—and Ultimate Muscle Protein is no exception.

In truth, I wish it mixed better in a cup with just a spoon—but this really is not a big thing.

The can I used for this review I picked up from bodybuilding.com—they have good prices and super fast shipping—which is really great.

That’s it for today

TAKE CARE.

Below is my review of Gaspari Nutrition’s MyoFusion Protein Powder.

When I first started seeing ads for MyoFusion I must admit to being excited because like many who have been bodybuilding for a while and remember the days of terrible shakes—and companies that we just did not trust—I trust Gaspari Nutrition and believed that this product would be top quality.

And I was not mistaken, although when I went to my local nutrition store to pick up a can of MyoFusion (the two pound can), I was a little concerned because I had hoped to pick up the milk chocolate flavor—but all they had was the Double Chocolate.

TASTE:

Very drinkable, goes down easy and even though I am only about half way through the can, I can see myself not getting tired of this flavor—which is very good, not too heavy on the chocolate, but enough so that you can taste it.

MIXABLITY:

Takes a little longer to mix in my over sized cup (using only a spoon) than some of the protein powders that I have used, but to me this is not a big deal.

NUTRITION PROFILE:

With twenty-five grams of high quality protein per scoop, only three grams of fat, and five carbs (for the double rich chocolate variety) it works out very nicely.

I was also happy that they did not add-in a full spectrum vitamin and mineral blend, as I already take a high quality multi, however, if this is something that you are looking for in your powder you should take this into account before purchasing a can.

OVERALL THOUGHTS:

I consider protein powder to be essential to every serious bodybuilder because of today’s hectic lifestyles—who has time to sit down to prepare a healthy meal.

And as I stated at the beginning of this review, I trust Gaspari Nutrition and would recommend this protein to anyone who is looking to try something new.

However to be totally one hundred percent honest, I am not a fan of all their products, so please do not take this review to mean that I endorse everything that they make—because that is not the case.

STAY FOCUSED ON YOUR GOALS!