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FINALLY did it, 1st place!!

Getting back into the game and lifting big again...Feels great!

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by on two, super-intense lifting ses-sions each week.”

Optimally Chuck would love the opportunity to train more, “but that is not my reality; I simply don’t have the time.” They say neces-sity is the mother of invention and his two-day-per-week minimalistic strength-training program has prov-en extremely effective. Indeed, he is currently producing the biggest

lifts of his career at an age when most athletes have long since been retired. Miller is a lifelong athlete and has been lifting weights seri-ously since age 12. “I started lifting weights in junior high school and have been a competitive lifter for the past 22 years. My chosen strength sport is powerlifting – squat, bench press and deadlift – and as luck would have it, powerlifting is one of the few sports where a man can

Photos by Greg Strope

Photo by Muoki Musau

By Marty Gallagher

�www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013

Chuck Miller is a 43-year-old national champion pow-erlifter who has used Par-rillo products for 15 years. Chuck recently shattered the 600-pound raw squat barrier weighing a rock hard 215 pounds. In doing so, Chuck established yet another national record. He competes in the strength sport of powerlifting where the squat, bench press and deadlift are contested and the ag-gregate total of the best three lifts determine the winner. Chuck has five national championships to his credit and has set a dozen national records. Best of all, at age 43, he is in the best shape of his life and poised to take his strength to the next level. Chuck Miller is a multi-dimensional individual. He lives in rural Hagerstown, Maryland and is an attorney and an executive fund-raiser for a non-profit organization dedicated to helping the handi-capped. He has heavy responsibili-ties and like the rest of us, time is his most precious commodity. He described how he was able to work long hours, yet still compete at an international level. “I discovered a two day a week training template that requires I lift weights twice a week for 70-90 minutes – that’s it. I am able to maximize and increase my raw strength and power getting

Chuck recently achieved a lifelong goal when he squatted 600 pounds, raw, no knee wraps, squat suit

or MonoLift, just a lifting belt.

MillerCharles “Chuck”

Parrillo Powered Powerlifter sets national records

�

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make steady progress late in life, on into their 50s. I am much, much stronger in 2013 than I was in my twenties. I don’t think, I know my best competitive years are ahead of me.” Chuck recently achieved a lifelong goal when he squatted 600 pounds, raw, no knee wraps, squat suit or MonoLift, just a lifting belt. His 600-pound squat was taken well below parallel, unlike the sky-high squats routinely passed in “geared” federations.

His 600-pound effort shattered the previous Raw United national squat record by 35 pounds. “Mak-ing a 600-pound raw squat was the fulfillment of a strength quest; 600 had been my Golden Fleece; it was fantastic to finally nail that goal.” Even more encouraging was the fact that when he dunked 600 he weighed a mere 215 pounds. “I can easily add ten pounds of lean muscle mass and still compete as a 220 pound lifter. Adding ten pounds of lean muscle would make all my lifts soar. I intend to dou-ble-down on my intake of Parrillo supplements to add more muscle.” Chuck has used Parrillo Perfor-mance Products for 15 years. “Oh I cannot say enough good things

about Parrillo products; I love the Optimized Whey™, Hi-Protein™ and I routinely run through a bottle of 500 Liver Amino Formula™ tab-lets in two weeks! I love beef liver tabs and feel they speed up my re-covery from the bone-crushing lift-ing sessions I routinely engage in.” Chuck has a 400-pound raw bench press and a 650-pound raw deadlift to compliment that 600-pound raw squat.

“All my lifts have gone up as I’ve aged; I think the reason is smart training and staying within my reasonable limits. Despite training very heavy – I cannot remember the last time I missed a rep in train-ing.” This speaks to his accurate and egoless self-assessment. By not being wishful or overly enthusias-tic, by being a technical perfection-ist and training within his limits, (always with an eye towards ex-tending those limits) he has stayed injury free – in powerlifting. Foot-ball is a different story: Chuck played semiprofessional football until he was 38 years old. He ran a 4.7 forty yard dash, had a 30-inch vertical leap and was a hard-hitting defensive starter on a semipro-team with many players young enough to be his son. On Thanksgiving Day four years ago he was hit with a crack-back block on his left leg that shattered the knee so badly it had to be repaired with five screws and reconstructive surgery. “Well that ended my football playing career. I think it somewhat interesting that all my lifetime best lifts were done

after the injury and after a lengthy recovery.” Indeed, there is some logic to the idea that he had been splitting his athletic gifts between two sports and taking one away had a positive impact on the other.

He had a nine-month period of re-covery where he was unable to use the leg at all. “The shattered knee definitely made me more creative in terms of my workouts; I had to figure out ways to train around the injury and this included doing crazy exercises like single-leg leg presses, single leg curls and single leg calf raises. Oddly my deadlift suffered more than my squat. At least I was able to work one leg; it was impos-sible to work the lower back, hips and upper thighs when you cannot stand and pull anything upward.” Post-injury he made up for lost time – within two years of the injury he had posted a 550-pound raw squat in the 198-pound class and had won two AAU national drug-free power-lifting titles. He set 11 national re-cords in the AAU before beginning to lift with the Raw United Fed-eration. “The founder of the Raw United Federation, Spero Tshonki-nitas, is an ex-army Ranger, a Ph.D. and an old friend; Spero used to live in my area. What attracted me to Spero’s federation was the super-strict judging – no shallow squats, bench presses must be paused, deadlifts locked out fully and com-pletely and above all else, no sup-portive gear. Spero runs a thinking man’s power federation.” Chuck is no slouch in the academic depart-ment: he has a degree in business, a degree in journalism and a legal degree. He passed the bar years ago and has had over 30 articles on strength training published in vari-ous strength publications including Hard Gainer and Milo. “When a strength subject or topic moves me, I will write it up and submit it for

publication. I like to write. I would even-tually like to write a book on training.”

His strength phi-losophy is decid-edly Old School and throwback: no bands or chains, no bench shirts, no monolifts, no whippy deadlift bars. He is so incred-ibly busy with work that he trains just twice weekly. “The wonderful thing about pure strength training is that though it is intense work and extremely taxing and demanding, it need not be done often. I train twice a week with each session lasting about 90 min-utes. Basically I squat, bench press and do bench assistance and triceps on day one; on day two I will dead-lift, hit some upper back assistance work, then perform some sort of heavy over-head pressing before finishing with biceps. For a time-pressed in-dividual like myself, this twice-a-week training template is ideal. They say the proof is in the results and using this system has allowed me to make steady progress since my knee surgery.” Those read-ers that find it impossible to train might want to take a close look at how Miller trains minimally yet re-ceive maximal results. Chuck also defies the common perception that powerlifters are fat. Quite the con-

trary, Miller maintains a 10% body fat percentile and he attributes this to three factors. “I pay attention to what I eat and I eat a lot; I use Par-rillo products and I cannot imag-ine being able to recover from the pounding I routinely subject myself to without Parrillo supplements. The third reason I am lean is I am a

Photo by Greg Strope



JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESS

“All my lifts have gone up as I’ve aged; I think the reason is smart training and staying within my reasonable limits.”

“For a time-pressed individual like myself, this twice-a-week training template is ideal. They say the proof is in the results and using this system

has allowed me to make steady progress since my knee surgery.”

Charles “Chuck” Miller

8 November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com �www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013

full-blown diabetic.” Indeed, since 2008 Chuck has been on insulin. “I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic at age 40. In my case my diabetes was genetic and inherited; it was not aggravated by food or drink or lifestyle.” In a classic case of turn-ing lemons into lemonade, Miller used the dietary strictness required by his condition to harden up physi-cally. “It is funny, sort of, in that my diabetes nudged me even fur-ther into the Parrillo approach towards nutrition: I live primarily on protein and fiber carbs; starch carbs are minimal – does this not resemble the Parrillo nutritional approach in the weeks leading up to a bodybuilding competition?”

Chuck, being a powerlifter, al-lows himself a bit more saturated fat than Parrillo would allow his competitive bodybuilders; Chuck uses the insulin-dampening ef-fects of saturated fat to dampen the insulin response normally associated with starch consump-tion. “As John Parrillo points out, combine foods to control insulin. I am also a big fan of CapTri® and

think that supplemental MCTs are beneficial for diabetes. I also read with great interest the relationship between MCTs and Alzheimer’s disease. I try and take 3-4 table-spoons per day for both athletic per-formance and health.” On a related note: Charles is known for his culi-nary capacity: if he takes a liking to a particular food, he goes at it like a

plague of locusts, devouring everything in his path until it is gone. He routinely puts away two 16-ounce steaks or an entire whole roast chick-en at a sitting. As far as fu-ture plans for this elite lifter, he foresees competing far into the foreseeable future while improving continu-ally. “I honestly believe my best lifting days are ahead of me, not behind me, and that is a hell of a cool thing for a 43 year old to be able to say in any sport. Unlike say ten-nis, basketball or baseball that depend on agility, re-action time and foot speed, competitive powerlifting depends on none of these

athletic attributes. Again, a cham-pion lifter can continue to improve on into their 50s – if they they train smart and stay realistic.”

Chuck foresees some big numbers in the not too distant future. “My numerical lifting goals are all pred-icated on pushing my lean body-weight up to 225, while carrying as

good if not better body fat percen-tile that I carried when I squatted 600 weighing 215. I can weigh as much as 225 and still lift (dehydrate prior to weigh-in, rehydrate imme-diately afterward) in the 220-pound class. At a full 225, the obvious goal is to squat 650. I would like to add to that a 425 bench press and a 700-pound deadlift. Eventually, before I retire, I would like to squat 700 raw. I might have to push my lean bodyweight up to 235 to do that.” We suspect the methodic Mr. Mill-er will be able to hit every goal he’s outlined – he is a pro’s pro and his attaining these astronomical num-bers seems almost preordained.

6 am: small breakfast steak, six eggs, grilled onions, Optimized Whey™ shake9 am: Parrillo Protein Bar™, dou-ble serving of Parrillo Hi-Protein™Noon: one whole chicken, large salad3 pm: Parrillo Hi-Protein Choco-late Cake™, Parrillo Soft Chew Bar™, Parrillo Optimized Whey™ shake6 pm: 16-24 ounces of grilled salmon, large mixed green salad, roast potatoes9 pm: lean beef patty, Parrillo Hi-Protein™ shake

Parrillo supplements: “Every day I take 2-3 Parrillo shakes; usually 1.5 servings per shake. A serving and a half of Optimized Whey Pro-tein™ comes to 50 grams of protein, which makes it very easy to calcu-late. Every day I have at least one Parrillo Protein Bar™ and two of the super-delicious Soft Chew Bars™; Pecan Praline flavor is addictive. Keep in mind that each Soft Chew Bar™ contains 17 grams of fiber; by

eating two a day I intake 34 grams of fiber right there. As I mentioned, I run through 500 Liver Amino™ tabs every few weeks. I take them with every meal. Before a workout I take 5 Muscle Amino Formula™ capsules; these are branch-chain amino acids and they ‘spare’ mus-cle about to be brutalized in a work-out. After every workout I drink a double serving of 50/50 Plus™.”

Monday: no lifting: 40 minutes of morning cardio upon arising; sta-tionary bikeTuesday: no lifting: 40 minutes of morning cardio upon arising; sta-tionary bikeWednesday: deadlift, power clean, row – dumbbell presses, curlsThursday: no lifting: 40 minutes of morning cardio upon arising; stationary bike Friday: no lifting: 40 minutes of morning cardio upon arising; sta-tionary bikeSaturday: squat, leg curl, bench press, board press, tricep work

Sunday: no lifting: 40 minutes of morning cardio upon arising; sta-tionary bike

Training notes: “I use periodiza-tion (lifting preplanning) and al-ways have a target number in mind when I lift in a session. I have a predetermined poundage, set and rep goal for every single lift. On Wednesday I will work up to a top set of deadlifts hitting whatever set and rep combination is called for. I will then hit one back ‘assistance’ exercise…it could be heavy rows, power cleans, weighted chins…I mix it up. I will then work up to a heavy set or two in some type of overhead press. On Saturday I use the same strategy for squatting. I will then perform some sort of ham-string movement. My calves are 20 inches so I do work them. I swing into competitive bench pressing. I will work up to an all out ‘top set’ then perform some wide-grip and board benches. I finish every bench workout by blasting tricep, usu-ally two exercises in the 6-10 rep range. It takes me 70-90 minutes to complete a session.”

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Power Eating Daily Meal Template

“Eventually, before I retire, I would like to squat 700 raw.”

Weekly Training Split

Charles “Chuck” Miller

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A BODYBUILDER IS BORN: GenerationsJOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESS

11www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 201310 November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com

One thing I am asked of-ten is, what would I have changed or done differ-ently if I could go back in time 30 years to when I first started training? I assume they are talking about the actual weight training. Otherwise, I could rattle off a list of 80’s fashion disasters like zebra-print spandex tights, string tank tops in neon colors bright enough to illuminate a cave, and an ugly main-stay around my waist well into the 90’s - the dreaded fanny pack! But I know these aren’t the errors and regrets they are looking to hear about.

There are quite a few things I would do differ-ently, but the one that re-ally stands out to me is that I would not have gone as heavy as I did all the time. For many years, I considered anything over ten to be ‘high reps,’ and I would estimate about half my sets were in the 7-10 rep range, with the other half being 3-6. As far as I was concerned, getting stronger was the key to gaining more muscle mass. For the most

part, that was actually pretty ac-curate in the first ten years of my training, as I would estimate it is and should be for most people.

You need heavier loads to continue forcing adaptations in the muscle. Otherwise, you’re only going to build muscle endurance, which won’t help you get bigger or stron-

ger. It’s why the bench press is su-perior to push-ups. With push-ups, you are limited to your own body-weight, unless you start having

people lay on top of you (with the right person, this could be fun). You could eventually get to the point where you could do 200 consecutive push-ups, but you wouldn’t be any bigger than when you could do 20, 50, or 100. Contrast that with the bench press. If you start out doing 45 pounds (the bar) for 10 reps, and a few years later you can bench 300 for 10, trust me - your chest, shoulders, and tri-ceps are all going to be much thicker and more massive.

I became steadily stron-ger and continued to gain weight too, since I was eating out of control in my twenties. To augment my multiple feedings of eggs, chicken, tuna, po-tatoes, and rice drizzled

with CapTri® for more good calo-ries, I drank the mega high-calo-rie weight gain shakes that were in vogue at the time. I was gaining fat along with the muscle, but I could

live with that. In my late twenties is when I really should have start-ed incorporating some higher reps, as I was beginning to really beat the crap out of my joints and con-nective tissues (tendons and liga-ments). My lower back had already been injured many times by then, and I was already starting to develop chronic elbow and shoulder pain from insisting on doing everything heavy, heavy, heavy.

My motto was: “Light days? What’s that, some kinda tampon?”

What I should have done is one of two things: either taken a couple weeks to train lighter after every six to eight weeks of heavy training, or mixed up my rep ranges more so that my tendons and the disks of my spine weren’t constantly strained by mega heavy loads. There have always been debates about which way is best, and there is no consensus. Inciden-tally, whether you realize this or not, science still does not fully un-derstand the mechanism of muscle growth and what causes it. That’s right. We put men on the moon, and cured various deadly diseases,

but we still don’t know exactly how to best stimulate muscle growth!

I do feel that neither high reps nor low reps on their own is the opti-mal solution for optimal gains. In-

stead, a mix of both is best, either in the same workout or at different workouts. Getting stronger and us-ing heavy weights is one pathway to growth, but so is getting the best possible pump in the muscle. Why the pump is key to growth isn’t fully understood. Could it be

that stretching the muscle fascia from inside is responsible, or are there signals sent to the muscle from higher reps? Or do higher reps and/or shorter rest periods be-tween sets stimulate different mus-

cle fibers that lower reps don’t? No one really has these an-swers. If they did, there would be one way to train that we could all follow and be confident that we were using the most productive method. Regard-less of what anyone tries to claim about their way of train-ing, at present such a system has not been discovered and proven.

Higher reps are also needed for legs. I can’t tell you how many guys have complained to me that their legs wouldn’t grow, only to learn their sets were all in the 3-6 rep range! They were dumb-founded that they could squat 400-500 pounds and

had so little thigh mass to show for it. Once they bumped up their reps to 10-20 on my suggestion, imme-diately their legs began to grow. John Parrillo has been famous for many years for putting bodybuild-ers through brutal 100-rep sets of ‘belt squats,’ a life-changing

“High reps will give you a killer pump.”

“Low reps are great for building power.”


Ron Harris

is the author of

www.ronharrismuscle.com

Real Bodybuilding, available at

Why Parrillo insists on high caloric intake: If you are a serious bodybuilder, cal-ories can and should be eaten often in meals or snacks that are consumed 4 to 8 times per day, every single day. The calories must be of the right type and kind. We call a proper, body-building-appropriate calorie a “clean” calorie. Clean calories eaten in ample amounts boosts the metabolism and supports the hardcore weight train-ing and the copious cardio John Par-rillo insists we do if we are to fulfill our genetic potential as bodybuilders. We need lots of calories to promote healing and growth. A Parrillo Pro bodybuilder has large, shapely, pro-portional muscles because of what he eats, when he eats and how much he eats; the Parrillo Pro bodybuilder is able to accomplish the most difficult feat in all of bodybuilding: adding muscle size without adding body fat. Anyone can grow muscle; the trick is build muscle without adding an unac-ceptable amount of body fat.

The basic mass-building formula has been known for decades: eat tons of calories on an indiscriminate basis while simultaneously engag-ing in hardcore power training; use super heavy, very basic exercises; train heavy, eat everything that’s not nailed down and be sure and sleep a lot. Using this strategy, anyone with a pulse can grow muscle – and just as surely add body fat. Powerlifters have used this approach for eons: eat big, lift big, rest big, grow big and in the vast majority of cases, grow fat! This “see food” diet is unacceptable to the Parrillo bodybuilder. The amount of body fat accumulation is unaccept-able. Besides, John Parrillo has de-vised a devilishly clever way in which to add muscle size without adding an unacceptable amount of body fat. He bases his approach on the expert use of regular food and amplifies a clean-

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experience for those of us who have had the privilege. If your legs don’t usually get sore, believe me when I tell you that doing 100 reps with a weight you were perfectly happy to be done with at 50 will have you virtually crippled for the better part of a week.

Another reason high-er reps can be a great addition to anyone’s program is that cer-tain exercises are virtually worthless if you do them heavy. Take dumbbell later-al raises, for example. Despite what anyone claims, heaving up a pair of 75’s for six sloppy reps isn’t do-ing a damn thing for their side delts, just as cheat curls with 200 pounds aren’t giving anyone giant biceps. If instead you took a lighter weight and did one of these rep schemes, I guar-antee you would feel the exercise in the target muscle and get an insane pump:

Here are some protocols you can try using higher reps (all these us-ing the same weight.)TORQ: 30 reps to failure, rest 30 seconds, 20 reps, rest 30 seconds, 15 reps.

4X: 10 reps with a weight you can get 15 reps with, rest 30 seconds, 10 reps, rest 30 seconds, 10 reps, rest again, try for 10. If you can

do all 10 on the last set, increase slightly next time.

FST-7: 8-15 reps with same weight for 7 sets, 20-30 seconds rest between.

Standard high reps: 4 sets

of 20-25 reps per exercise, no more than 60-90 second rest between sets.

These can be done in place of heavier training as a break from it, or in conjunction with it. I am firm-ly convinced now that rep ranges are a lot like the free weights vs. machines debate. Why would you ever have to utilize just one? The best results in the long term for

anyone would combine both.

It’s too late for me to turn back the clock and prevent all the chronic in-juries and tendon pain I have now, but for many of you reading this it’s not. It’s also too late for me to make the best gains I can, because

even though I am still training hard, my prime growing years are behind me now as I have been training so long and just turned 44 years old. But again, not for a lot of you read-ing this! So don’t make the mistake I did and shun higher reps. They can be a very valuable tool in your muscle-build-ing arsenal and will also help keep your joints and connec-tive tissues healthier so you can train for many more years with minimal pain to get in the way.“Doing both high and low

reps gives you the best overall results.”

1� November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com 1�www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013

Bodybuilders will often roll their eyes skyward when someone asks John Parrillo a question at a seminar and (true to form) the first words out of his mouth are, “The answer to your question lies in your nutrition…” Nutrition defines bodybuilding and nutrition permeates every aspect of bodybuilding, including the quest for accelerated recovery. Assuming the bodybuilder engages in a high-intensity, result-pro-ducing workout, most par-ticularly if the bodybuilder uses Parrillo techniques such as forced reps, drop sets, high rep sets, etc., what you eat or drink after the work-out is as important as what you did during the workout. Make no mistake about it: the workout is critical – what difference does it make if you eat smart after a subpar workout? The post-workout “smart bomb” (the sound-bite name for a recovery shake) only becomes a factor (and then it becomes a huge factor) if the actual workout was of sufficient intensity to trigger hy-pertrophy, muscle growth. If the workout, the manner in which you performed your sets and reps in the various exercises, was insufficient to trigger muscle growth, what you do after the workout is of no im-portance whatsoever. Those true

bodybuilders that engage in body-crushing, body-shattering Par-rillo-style weight training sessions understand the need to replenish immediately after training. Once the supposition is accepted, i.e. that after a result-producing lifting ses-sion it is imperative to replenish. This acceptance of the replenish-ment premise raises a logical series of subsequent questions…

When is the ideal time to re-plenish? It is pretty much settled science that a “window of oppor-tunity” opens at the end of a suf-ficiently intense weight workout. If, while the “window is open,” the athlete ingests a proper amount of quality nutrients, these nutri-ents are processed and distribut-

ed 300 times faster than normal. Further, the muscles, starved and traumatized by the workout, will intake healing, regenerative nutri-ents at such an amplified rate that muscle growth and strength gains are greater than what they would have been had the identical work-out been done without post-work-out supplementation. Now that is an incredible statement: by going

to the trouble to eat a food meal or drink a smart-bomb shake, results are dramati-cally better. Knowing this, why would any intelligent bodybuilder not eat a recov-ery meal, or drink a nutrient-dense recovery shake, after a shattering workout?

How long is the ‘window of opportunity’ open for? There is quite a bit of debate on this topic. Most current science and our own empiri-cal observation suggest that the length of time the win-dow of opportunity is open varies individual to individ-

ual. Further variations spring from how long, tough and demanding the workout was, in terms of du-ration and intensity. Many experts feel the window stays open for up to two hours; most elite bodybuild-ers look to refuel/replenish within 30 minutes of the end of the ses-sion. John Parrillo recommends

his elite athletes actually consume their 50/50 Plus™ shake before the end of the actual workout. His thinking is, per usual, logical and sensible. “Ever notice how the fi-nal exercise done at the end of a long tough workout always seems to suffer in terms of poundage and reps? Some of this is attributable to exhaustion and fatigue and can be partially avoided by ingesting qual-ity nutrients 2/3rd of the way through the workout.” Don’t wait until the session is done. Start sipping early.

What is the ideal nutri-ent breakdown of the ide-al replenishment meal? Again, opinions are numer-ous and varied, John Parrillo has very specific ideas. “The ideal replenishment post-work-out meal, feeding, or smart-bomb shake should consist of a roughly 50/50 balance between protein and carbohydrate; the purer and more potent the pro-tein/carb nutrients the better the results. Optimally, the pro-tein source should have a high BV value, devoid of saturated fat. The carbohydrate source should be a slow-release carb so as to avoid radical insulin spikes.” Be on guard against the widely used commercial “post-workout” drinks sold at almost every gym. These products are loaded with sugar or high-fruc-tose corn syrup to improve their taste. Avoid these products as if they were landmines. The only thing worse than not eating a re-covery meal (or drinking a recov-ery shake) is to consume a chemi-cal cesspool of sugar and chemicals that actually screws up the metabo-lism and ruins results.

Is there a benefit to real food or a liquid shake for post-

1�www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 20131� November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com

Post Workout Replenishment

• When is the ideal time to replenish?• What is, and how long is the ‘window of

opportunity’ open for?• What is the ideal nutrient breakdown for

the ideal replenishment meal?• Is there a benefit to solid food or liquid?• Should post-workout supplementation be

adjusted for bodyweight?• Why is 50/50 Plus™ the ideal post-workout

supplement?• Are there other Parrillo supplements that

speed recovery?• What about a second ‘recovery meal?’• Do we need to smart-bomb after cardio?

Post Workout Replenishment

If you train as hard as you are supposed to, what you do after a workout is as important as what you do during the workout

By Duke Nukem

50/50 Plus™: the ideal post-workout

supplement

the biggest myths in all of fitness is the notion that the human body can only digest 30 grams of protein at one time and ingesting any more than that is wasted. In this scenar-io a 100-pound gymnast and a 300-pound professional football player would both have the same “30 gram” protein ceiling? We think not: would not a 300-pound man, literally triple the size of the gym-

nast, require triple the amount of post-workout nourishment? To insist that both these athletes have the same digestive capaci-ties is ludicrous – the idea that every person alive on the planet has the same post-workout re-plenishment requirements does not hold up to the most timid of examinations. How much post-workout protein/carb amounts you need in order to assist re-covery and growth depends on how big or small you are, and how hard you train.

Why is 50/50 Plus™ the ideal post-workout sup-plement? John Parrillo was the first bodybuilding expert to sense the need for a nutri-tional supplement specifically designed to enhance and ac-celerate recovery. Once John determined the ideal ratio of protein-to-carbohydrate, he set about constructing a powder

that could be activated with water and provide the athlete with a deli-cious, quality shake that could be carried in a gym bag and consumed as the workout wound down. The delicious liquid shake would pro-vide 20 grams of high BV protein and 17 grams of slow-release carbs in every serving. Big men could double or triple the serving size, depending on the severity of the workout. Place a serving or two (or three) of dry 50/50 Plus™ pow-der in a Tupperware container with

workout replenishment? A bodybuilder-style “Parrillo Meal” consists of a portion of lean, fat-free protein, a starch carb, rice or potato, and a portion of fiber, broccoli or a green vegetable. This magical combination can make for a fantastic recovery meal; however take into account the “digestive lead time.” We don’t want to wait too long to eat a food meal; if we

bump up against the outer limit of the window of opportunity, by the time the nutrients are digested and distributed, it could be too late, the post-workout window will have snapped shut. A liquid post-work-out shake has one big advantage in that it is predigested. The question we need to ask is, are the nutrients potent and pure?

Should post-workout supple-mentation be adjusted for bodyweight? Absolutely. One of


a screw-on top. When the workout is winding down, retrieve the con-tainer from the gym bag, walk to the water fountain, fill with cold water and shake to mix. This po-tent, regenerative shake is sugar free and contains no high fructose corn syrup or chemicals that cause blood sugar to act inappropriately.

Are there other Parrillo Prod-ucts that can accelerate post-workout recovery? One trick most elite Parrillo bodybuilders use is to take 2-5 Muscle Amino Formula™ capsules about 30 min-utes before a workout. This is done to “spare muscle” by loading up on branch-chain amino acids ahead of time. Muscle is made of amino ac-ids and by purposefully loading up on supplemental amino acids; the catabolic effect of the workout is lessened. A second trick is to con-sume another handful of Muscle Amino Formula™ capsules when they drink their 50/50 Plus™ shake: they load up on BCAAs going into the workout and load up on BCAAs exiting the workout. Another fan-tastic Parrillo Product perfect for post-workout replenishment is the Parrillo Protein Bar™; this fabu-lous product contains 20 grams of protein, 30 grams of slow-release carbohydrate equating to a propor-tional ideal of 40% protein to 60% carb. The protein heals blasted and shattered muscle while the carbs replace depleted glycogen stores. Eating a Parrillo Protein Bar™ (or two) post-workout would provide you with an excellent post-workout recovery meal.

What about a second recov-ery meal? Assuming the second recovery meal consists of quality nutrients, sure, why not? Let’s say you workout at 9am on Saturday and are done by 10:30. You drink your double serving of 50/50 Plus™

shake at 10:15 to forestall the usual end-of-workout energy nosedive. You throw down a handful of Mus-cle Amino Formula™ capsules when you drink your shake and head home. Now recall that most scien-tists feel the window of opportuni-ty stays open for two to three hours after the end of the workout. If the bodybuilder is on a Parrillo mul-tiple-meal eating schedule, he is likely due to eat a ‘real food meal’ within the 2-3 hour timeframe any-

way. So why not just make sure that that food meal falls within the time period, while the window is open. How hard is that? If you are eating 5-6 times a day, just make sure that you get a food meal in before the window snaps shut. Here is another reason to go with the idea of a sec-ond recovery meal; food, particu-larly lean protein and fiber cause the digestive system to elevate in a way that liquefied shakes do not. A lot of bodybuilders complain that after tough workouts they re-ally don’t feel like eating a big meal of solid food – if you are one of these folks, why not make the second recovery meal a “supple-ment meal” consisting of a Parrillo Protein bar (230 calories) with an Optimized Whey Protein™ shake (130 calories,) throw in a handful of Liver Amino™ tablets…you will

have taken in close to 400 calories and 50 grams of protein. You could make the second recovery meal a supplement meal, if you are unable or unwilling to construct and eat a food meal.

Do we need to Smart Bomb after cardio? Yes and no: cardio is stressful on the body but the stress is of a different type and variety. Parrillo professional bodybuilders normally perform cardio exercise first thing in the morning, on an empty stomach, to take advantage of the accelerated fat-burning that takes place when an athlete per-forms intense cardio when glycogen stores are low. How do we define intense cardio? Sweating, breath-ing hard, rolling along at just below the oxygen debt threshold. Parrillo cardio is not moderate or modest, it is intense and demanding. The Par-rillo Pro bodybuilders were having a collective cardio problem: when they tooled along as hard and in-tensely as they need to in order to mobilize and oxidize body fat, they created uric acid. When glycogen is exhausted the athlete will burn ketones. The problem is ketogen-esis can create urea and ammonia; when the ammonia appears the fat-burning ceases. You can literally smell the ammonia in the sweat of a Parrillo Pro bodybuilder. The solution is to ‘cardio smart bomb’ by taking 4-6 Max Endurance For-mula™ capsules 30 minutes before a cardio session. Max Endurance Formula™ prevents ammonia build-up and thereby allows the athlete to continue to sweat and burn ke-tones and burn off body fat with-out urea or ammonia ruining the process. Most bodybuilders (being bodybuilders) will wash their Max Endurance™ capsules down with an Optimized Whey Protein™ shake – why not?

1�1� November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com

Vince Wood and

Mike GrantPerformance Press featured athlete (Oct. ‘08) Vince Wood shared these photos of him and fellow featured athlete (Apr. ‘13) Mike Grant competing this year in Barbados.

“Mike Grant & Vince Wood...two Parrillo Proteges competing together at the 2013 WNBF Pro Mr. Universe Contest in Barbados. We actually meant each other 10 years ago through the Parrillo Press and we have been friends ever since. We are both Parrillo advocates all the way! Thank you very much for the Press and all your great products.”

– Vince Wood

www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013


If you are eating 5-6 times a day, just make sure that you get a food meal in before the window snaps shut.

18 November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com 1�www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013

Calories 127Protein 20.5g Fat 4.4gTotal Carbs 0g

Fiber 0g Calcium 7mgPhosphorus 261mg

Iron .38mg Sodium 75mgPotassium 366mgVitamin A 117 IU

Try this delicious recipe idea to go with your salmon:• Tartar Sauce

Nutritional Information for 100g, raw:

Training Tip of the month:

tipsof the month

tidbits&RECIPE

spotlight

18

Questionof the month:

News & Discoveries In Fitness & Nutrition

InterestingArticle Fact:

Inside muscle cells, creatine helps produce and circulate ade-nosine triphospate (ATP), the molecular fuel that powers mus-cular contractions. Read more in John’s article on page 20.

Quick Tip of the month:

?

19

“Don’t Wash Your Chicken!” Video Vignettes Make Cooking Safer

Start: Like most of these stretches, this one will feel painful at first. The pain merely indicates that your quads are very tight. Many of the bodybuilders I stretch can barely get their knees off the floor. After a few workouts, however, I can lift their quads up 45 degrees or more. Lie on your stomach. Then bend your elbows and rest your head on your forearms. Bend your left leg up so that your heel touches your glutes.Stretch: Your partner presses down on your left ankle while pulling your bent leg upward with his right hand, as illustrated. This position is held for ten seconds. You should feel an intense stretch in your quad. Repeat with the opposite leg.

Variation: To stretch a higher portion of your quad, have your partner place his knee at your glute/hamstring tie-in. He pulls your knee up and then pushes your heel down to your glute.

- Drexel University, August 19, 2013 (edited for length)

FooD of the month:

Your body needs certain special fats just like it needs vita-mins and minerals. These special fats are called Essential Fatty Acids. People who diet hard and long and try to go fat-free often suffer nasty side effects from EFA deficiency: itchy, flaky skin, hair loss, stiff and sore joints, and short-term memory loss. The Parrillo solution is Evening Primrose Oil™, a concen-trated source of EFAs. EFAs keep joints lubricated, hair and skin healthy, and brain neurons firing correctly.

• Provides critical Essential Fatty Acids• Reduces and reverses negative side effects of

severe dieting• Reduces joint pain resulting from heavy training

and EFA deficiency

Quad Stretch (Partner-Assisted) Nutrition Tip of the month:

Importance of Healthy Fatty Acids:Are you getting enough healthy fatty acids?

The body is unable to manufacture healthy fatty acids itself, they must be obtained from the diet. Normally people don’t have to worry about a deficiency in this country because the typi-cal diet contains so much fat. Furthermore, healthy fatty acids can be stored in body fat so a dietary deficiency won’t show up for a long time. Extremely lean athletes, however, who follow a low-fat diet for a prolonged time are definitely at increased risk for fatty acid deficiency. Have I ever actually seen any bodybuilders with the clinical symptoms of fatty acid deficiency? You bet. Did their symptoms resolve af-ter fatty acid supplementation? Yes - rapidly and dra-matically. Parrillo’s Evening Primrose Oil™ and Fish Oil DHA 800 EPA 200™ provide healthy fatty acids with-out excess non-essential fats, letting you maintain a low-fat diet.

Salmon• High in protein, omega-3 fatty acids and vitamin D • Can be grilled, baked, broiled, steamed or pan-seared• You can also make salmon burgers or cakes

Supplementof the month:

Beat egg whites in blender on low speed. Add lemon juice and dry mustard. Continue to blend and slowly drizzle in CapTri®. Continue blending until smooth. Keep refrigerated!

CapTri® mayonnaise has 78 calories per tablespoon (14 g.) used!

CapTri® Mayo

Evening Primrose Oil 1000™

70 g. egg whites2 tbsp. lemon juice1 cup CapTri®1 tsp. dry mustard

Question: I’m looking to put on lean muscle mass, but not gain a lot of bodyfat in the off-season? What would be the best way to go about my goal?

Answer: Don’t become an off-season binger! Intelligent bodybuilders always maintain a good off-season diet. They utilize these months to add lean muscle mass and minimize bodyfat. They eat basically the same foods as they would on a pre-contest, but in larger quantities and slightly different protein/fat/carbohydrate ratios. When it is time to start a pre-contest diet they have less bodyfat and more muscle mass. For the first two to three weeks, put on one-and-a-half pounds per 100 pounds of body weight each week. During the remainder of the off-season, gain an average of one-half pound of muscle mass per 100 pounds of body weight each week. (As you gain weight, have your bodyfat tested about once a week to be sure you are gaining lean mass and not bodyfat.) Look to the Parrillo Training Manual for more information about off-season training and nutrition.

Not a fan of pungent raw onions on your home-made salads? Try this tip! After slicing your on-ions, soak them in a bowl of cold water for about 10 minutes. The water rinses away much of the bit-terness, leaving you with sweeter, more mellow on-ion slices! This technique is especially great for red onions, which can have a tendency to be overpow-ering when eaten raw.

Peanut Butter Chocolate Sandwich CookiesBake a batch of Chocolate Contest Cookies™ and let cool. Make Peanut Butter flavor Protein Frosting, put frosting on the bottoms of half the cookies, then top with the remaining cookies. Try other combinations like Lemon Contest Cookies™ with Vanilla Protein Frosting filling, or Butter Contest Cookies™ with Chocolate Pro-tein Frosting™ in the middle, or use Chocolate cookies for a double chocolate treat!

Mix all ingredients with fork until well blended. Allow to sit while preparing fish.

1/2 cup CapTri® Mayo (see Recipe spotlight)1 to 2 tbsp. green onion or fresh chives1 tsp. lemon juice

1 tsp. dried tarragon OR 1 tbsp. fresh tarragon, scissors snipped1 tsp. dried dill weed OR 1 tbsp. fresh dillweed

“Don’t wash your chicken!” This dramatic exclamation punctu-ated with a sound of shattering glass punctuates each of four short video stories released by food safety researchers. The sound signifies the shattering of the commonly held illusion that wash-ing raw chicken prior to cooking is safe, or even prevents food-borne illness. In fact, the opposite is true, according to food safety researcher Dr. Jennifer Quinlan, an associate professor at Drexel University, who helped develop the “Don’t Wash Your Chicken” campaign – available online at drexel.edu/dontwashyourchicken.

In each of the campaign’s mini-drama videos, a knowing family member explains to a well-intentioned home cook that the com-mon practice of rinsing raw poultry before cooking is actually un-safe. An animated “Germ-Vision” graphic then shows that wash-ing chicken only risks splattering and spreading bacteria that then can cross-contaminate other foods and kitchen surfaces. “You should assume that if you have chicken, you have either Salmo-nella or Campylobacter bacteria on it, if not both,” said Quinlan. These two bacteria, she noted, are the leading causes of food-borne illness. “If you wash it, you’re more likely to spray bacteria all over the kitchen and yourself.” Rinse water is not hot enough to kill bacteria anyway.

Quinlan wants to spread the word about the website and the “Don’t Wash Your Chicken” message far and wide, but she ex-pects it to be a slow conversion process before people change their behavior. People are very attached to the idea of washing raw poultry, she noted, for a variety of reasons found in the focus group study: “Some think they’re cleaning off germs. Some just want to get slime off or feel like it’s dirty,” she said. “There are a range of reasons, including just feeling like they should do it – ‘It’s raw, I should clean it.’” Learning that washing is actually a prob-lem is an essential first step.

Quick DessertsIdea Corner


A lot of bodybuilders and weight trainers I talk to would rather ditch car-dio in favor of lifting iron only. To those of you who fall in that category, I’m sure you look great – great biceps, striated tris, and popping pecs. But maybe, just maybe, you’ve got a little too much pudge obscuring your bel-ly, thighs, hips, or elsewhere. Or maybe you’re huffing and puff-ing a little more than you should, like when you’re going up a flight of stairs or trying to chase your toddler around.

Better get back in a cardio groove, folks! Walking, jogging, running, biking, treadmilling – any activ-ity that counts as aerobics is vital to health, control of body fat, car-dio and pulmonary conditioning, circulatory health – so many as-pects of your body and wellness. It can also be fun, if you choose the right cardio activity.

To give you some extra motiva-tion, I’m going to talk to you about creatine and how it can help you in a cardio program. There are definitely some aerobic benefits to supplementing with creatine.

But first, a review: Creatine is

produced naturally in the liver, kidneys, and pancreas – at the rate of about 1 to 2 grams a day – from the amino acids arginine, glycine, and methionine. Most of your body’s creatine is delivered to the muscles, heart, and other body

cells. Inside muscle cells, creatine helps produce and circulate ad-enosine triphosphate (ATP), the molecular fuel that powers mus-cular contractions. Creatine is also found naturally in red meat. About 2 ½ pounds of raw steak yields roughly the equivalent of a single 5-gram dose of creatine.

Creatine is available from Parrillo Performance as Parrillo Creatine Monohydrate™. Through supple-mentation, you can build the vol-ume of creatine in your muscle cells. There, creatine increases levels of a high-energy com-pound called creatine phosphate, which serves as a tiny fuel sup-ply, enough for several seconds of action.

Creatine phosphate also allows more rapid production of ATP. The more ATP that is available to muscle cells, the longer, hard-er, and more powerfully you can work out. Thus, creatine monohy-drate can indirectly help you lose body fat, since longer, more in-tense workouts help incinerate fat and build lean muscle. The more muscle you have, the more effi-cient your body is at using energy and burning fat.

So we know for sure that creatine is effective for muscle building and has a hand in fat burning. Now we’re learning that it can indeed assist in extending endur-ance, and that it is valuable in cardio.

This makes sense when you re-member that creatine boosts the production of ATP, an energy

molecule. ATP is not only good for supplying the quick bursts of energy you need for muscular contractions with weightlifting, it is also helpful in supplying en-ergy for endurance moves, which also require muscular contrac-tions that are also fueled by ATP.

Some studies are starting to prove creatine’s benefit in cardio. Take the sport of professional rowing, for example (a very aerobic sport). The rowers supple-mented with creatine for one week; another group of rowers took a placebo. Only the creatine supplementers increased their endurance. There was a similar study done with women softball players at the college level. Supplementing with cre-atine boosted the women’s muscle endurance during leg extensions.

We also know that creatine has the power to dramati-cally boost glycogen in mus-cles. Glycogen, of course, is pure muscle energy, stored in muscles ready to be used as fuel for both weightlifting AND cardio activity. How does supple-menting with creatine work with taking a carb supplement? Some British researchers looked into this. They studied 14 men; the men who added creatine to their supplement routine experienced greater glycogen levels in their muscles (the researchers took muscle biopsies) than the subjects who did not supplement with cre-atine. It looks like creatine might

give you additional fuel power for cardio, allowing your muscles to work longer and harder.

To boost your endurance for car-dio, try this: Take 3 to 5 grams of creatine prior to your cardio workout. Mix it into 1 serving of our Pro-Carb™. This will maxi-mally tank your glycogen reserves so that your cardio will feel less taxing.

Are there any medical concerns with taking creatine? Creatine is nontoxic even when taken in huge doses. The only known side effect is stomach upset if you take too much at once. Five to ten grams shouldn’t bother you. If you take 30 grams at once you might feel stomach cramps or nausea, but usually not. Excess creatine is converted into creatinine (note the similar spelling) and excreted in the urine. If you take too much

21www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 201320 November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com

JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESS CREATINE AND CARDIO

To boost your endurance for cardio, try this: Take 3 to 5 grams of creatine prior to your cardio workout. Mix it

into 1 serving of our Pro-Carb™.

creatine, you’ll just lose the ex-cess in your urine. If you have any blood work done you might find that creatine elevates your creati-nine level. Doctors use the creati-nine level in the blood as an index of kidney function. If your doctor notices an increase in your cre-atinine level and expresses some concern about your kidneys, tell him or her that you’re using cre-atine. Creatine does not damage

the kidneys in any way, but is contraindicated if you have pre-existing severe kidney disease (for example, renal dialysis or kidney transplant patients). People with severe kidney disease have trouble eliminating creatinine, and creatine supplementation would increase creatinine levels further.

ReferencesAyoama, R., et al. 2003. Ef-fects of creatine loading on muscular strength and endur-ance of female softball play-ers. The Journal of Sports Medicine and Physical Fit-ness 43:481-487.

Bemben, M.G., et al. 2005. Creatine supplementation and exercise per-formance: recent findings. Sports Medicine 35:107-125.

Chwalbiñska-Moneta, J. 2003. Ef-fect of creatine supplementation on aerobic performance and an-aerobic capacity in elite rowers in the course of endurance training. International Journal of Sport Nu-trition and Exercise Metabolism 13:173-183.

Extend Endurance with Creatine: Through supplementation, you can build the volume of creatine in your muscle cells. There, creatine increases levels of a high-energy compound called creatine phosphate, which serves as a tiny fuel supply, enough for several seconds of action.


IRON VIC SPEAKS By IRON VIC STEELE

23www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 2013

Hey Vic!Big Fan. I have heard it said in more than one place that John Parrillo is a ‘bicep training mas-ter’ – what makes his arm ap-proach different? How hard can it be to do a curl? If he does have some twist or angle that is unique – please lay it on me. I have been doing curls diligently and don’t have much to show for it. I was told by a local bodybuilder (that trained me for years) that I had ‘bad arm genetics’ and that is why I never added any arm size during my tenure training with him. Still, I’d love to hear of any wrinkles or twists or innovations that Parrillo has for building Big Biceps cause I could use some bigger guns! Lou P., Detroit

First off, the bodybuilding per-sonal trainer that told you that you had bad arm genetics is a com-plete flaming idiot and tell him that I said so. This arm-genetics

BS is a bit like that other verbal trick personal trainers use (the bad ones – not the Parrillo Certi-fied Personal Trainers) when they tell clients (usually gullible over-

weight women) that the reason they haven’t lost any bodyweight over the last fifteen weeks (at $100 per session) is that the client is ‘ex-changing muscle for fat.’ There is no such thing as bad arm genetics: no matter how big or how small your arms are currently, if you use Parrillo modes and methods prop-erly you can and will bring up any set of arms, dramatically, in six weeks. First off: blast biceps hard twice a week. Use a variety of ex-ercises and a variety of poundage and rep ranges; heavy, light, low rep, high rep, a Parrillo arm work-out uses them all. If you were to see John at one of his seminars and the topic turned to arms, Parrillo would first explain how he wanted you to perform curls; this before he told you which ones. “On every

Chocolate™Mix

HIGH FIBER

To order, call Parrillo at 1-800-344-3404Order online at www.parrillo.com

Yes, you can have Chocolate Syrup even if you’re on a strict diet! With Parrillo’s High Fiber Chocolate Syrup Mix, you won’t blow your diet because one serving is only 20 Calories, has no fat or sugar, plus you’ll be getting 12g of prebiotic fiber. It’s deli-cious on Parrillo Ice Kreem, Cakes, and Brownies! For an extra spe-cial treat, how about this: a Con-test Brownie or slice of Hi-Protein Cake, topped with a scoop of Par-rillo Protein Ice Kreem and driz-zled with Chocolate Syrup! Now that’s the way to diet.

• Only 20 Calories• 0g Fat and Sugar• 12g of Prebiotic Fiber

Just add water!

Chocolate syrup on a strict diet? That’s right!

John Parrillo: bicep training master! Olympic weightlifting & bodybuilding? Reassessing All-Protein™…Weak and pathetic

protein…Paleo & Parrillo?...Power Bodybuilders

Blast biceps hard twice a week. Use a

variety of exercises and a variety of poundage and rep ranges; heavy, light, low rep, high rep, a Parrillo arm workout

uses them all.


curl we want to completely open the joint-angle then completely close the joint-angle. Partial rep curls deliver partial results. Also – be sure and ‘feel’ the bicep con-tract all through the concentric and the eccentric portion of the rep.” Even on the negative por-tion, the lowering portion of a curl rep, Parrillo would have you pull the weight downward, using tricep tension, rather than just letting the weight free-fall. John would show you how to ‘muscle target’ either the inner or outer bicep. Parrillo currently favors stringing together a series of high-rep bicep exer-cises; do them one after anoth-er without pause. For example he might perform preacher curls, machine curls, cable curls and barbell curls, one after another, using 12-20 rep sets and repeating the entire 4-exercise sequence 2-3 times. Don’t forget the patented Par-rillo procedure of performing a set of bicep fascia stretches immediately after complet-ing a set of curls. The Parrillo procedure goes: perform the set of curls, fascia stretch the biceps, flex the biceps hard and repeatedly. Parrillo loves the ‘skin-the-cat’ stretch for biceps. Fascia stretching loos-ens the constricting, sausage-like casing that surrounds the biceps. Use perfect technique on every set of curls; then stretch them hard and flex them harder. To build big arms we need to get serious and start training biceps hard, heavy and often. Use high reps, low reps; drop sets and lots of forced reps. Learn to make that all-important mind/bicep connection. This is just a smattering of Parrillo’s bi-cep knowledge.

Vic,Any need for a bodybuilder to do any Olympic weightlifting? We had some O-lift guys come through our gym – these dudes were lean athletes. They looked like soccer players and talked about every-thing in kilos. They did snatches and clean and jerks. The one boy weighed about 180 and worked up to a 270 snatch and a 350 clean and jerk – which was pretty damn impressive to watch. Anyway, de-spite being skinny they had really great traps, erectors and thighs – three weak areas for me – should I

try O-lifting? I am 28 and in good shape. I could use some of what those boys had – though I got to say, their arms and chest sucked and I would not want to be built like them.

Peter, San Francisco

I love Olympic weightlifting and I love to watch it – but I cannot recommend it. Competent O-lift coaches are scarce and I would not recommend trying to learn how

to squat clean and jerk or snatch without expert coaching. In O-lift-ing the lifter learns how to gener-ate momentum then leap under the barbell as it moves upward. Having said that, there are two outstand-ing exercises used by weightlifters that I would expropriate: the pow-er clean and the front squat. If you want to grow outrageous traps and erectors, develop a killer power clean. If you want real thigh mass, get real damned good at heavy front squats. The power clean blows shrugs into the weeds when it comes to building traps. The

key to the power clean is to pull the weight high enough and fast enough so that you can snap the wrists over and catch the weight on the shoul-ders in the quarter squat posi-tion. You don’t jerk a power clean off the floor at the start of each rep – you ‘slow pull’ it off the floor, stepping on the accelerator with increas-ing velocity as the barbell ris-es. A power clean rep should be graceful and athletic. Do power cleans wrong and they will hurt you – no joke.

Front squats force the athlete to sit upright and maintain an upright posture while arising

from a deep squat. This technique makes front squatting all about leg power. The difference between the bodybuilding squat and the way an Olympic weightlifter would do his front squats would come down to depth – the O-lifter takes his train-ing front squats all the way down to the basement – because if he is a quick and agile squat cleaner, he is going to get trapped with pound-age in the deepest squat clean po-sition and he must somehow stand erect with the staggering pound-

age. He must have deep squat leg power. The bodybuilder might go down to parallel. This is why the great Olympic lifters, past and present, all possessed mighty legs and thick backs. So by all means, add some proper power cleans and front squatting to round out your physique. It is highly recom-mended to any bodybuilder look-ing to take his low and upper back and thigh development to the next level, start doing power cleans, one time per week, on back day. Make PCs the leadoff back exercise. Ditto front squats: hit them one time a week on leg day and do them first. On both exercises, work up to 1-3 top sets of 3-5 reps. Start light, nail the techniques, boost the training poundage each suc-cessive week.

Hello Mr. Vic!I never see much print about Parrillo All-Protein Powder™ – what is it and what are its intended uses?

Don, Maryland

You know, you’re right. All-Pro-tein™ powder does not get the press it deserves. All-Protein™ has a bunch of uses and for some individuals All-Protein™ should be their supplemental protein of choice. For the out-of-shape nov-ice looking to use Parrillo prod-ucts and methods, All-Protein™ offers the carb-a-holic a great way to obtain the requisite “one gram of protein per-pound-of-body-

weight-per-day” without any insu-lin-spiking carbs. Some individu-als need to reduce carbohydrates (starch and sugar – not fibrous) to near zero in order to purge them-selves of the massive amounts of estrogen they have accumulated over the years. These folks need to purge and detox and the way to do that is to eat lean protein and lots

of fiber – and not much else. Fiber and protein go together superbly: the protein provides powerhouse nutrients while the fiber cleanses the walls of intestines as it pass-es through. Bile-buildup is a real health hazard for those that eat lots of protein. For the person try-ing to clean up and detox, All-Pro is perfect. John Parrillo explained his favorite use for All-Protein™. “I really liked milk at the begin-ning of my powerlifting career. If

you mix milk-flavored All-Pro-tein™ with a perfect amount of wa-ter, you can replicate the taste and texture of milk – skim milk – per-fectly. You can create an absolute-ly dead-bang perfect recreation of milk - milk without any saturated fat or insulin-spiking lactose sug-ar.” All-Protein™ provides all the taste deliciousness of milk without

any of the nutritional drawback. So there you go, two superb reasons to order a can-ister of All-Protein™ and add “dairy” back into your diet.

Vic,I had cause to visit a brother bodybuilder and stay with him for five days. He was us-ing a protein powder supplement he pur-chases from a big box nutrition store. I had to use his protein pow-der and it sucked! The jug was huge! Suppos-edly it had 40 grams of protein per serving – the labeling on the jug was incredible – steroid monsters and bikini babes – all in photographic techno-

color. The actual protein powder tasted like sawdust and had to be mixed in a blender. I told him I bet it was made by a bunch of Chi-nese slave-labor camp convicts. I am sure that if this protein were tested in a lab it would turn out to be a pile of impotent crap. I said all this to my pal who shrugged his shoulders: he loved the price (cheap) and the huge amount he got for the price. He wanted to believe that it contained what it

2�www.parrillo.com 1-800-3��-3�0� Performance Press / November 20132� November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com

JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESS IRON VIC SPEAKS By IRON VIC STEELE

Miss the Taste of Milk?

All-Protein™ has the great taste of milk without any saturated fat or insulin-spiking lactose sugar. Keep some on hand in the refrigerator!

Learn to make that all-important

mind/bicep connection.


claimed. People WANT to believe what they print on labels. Art, NYC

You are preaching to the choir. Your observations are so right on; your pal clings, despite obtaining ZERO results, to worthless gar-bage that they don’t even go to the trouble to flavor or make mixable. Throw a bunch of cheap filler in a fancy jug down in Mexico or China in filthy conditions and use all the money to cre-ate the container; it needs to be eye-catching and the label hi-tech, detailed and sexy. Make up fairy tale claims and make up statis-tics that top every competi-tor. The disappointing part, as you point out, is that even after alerting friends and training partners, they still want to believe. The prom-ise is too seductive and real-ity too harsh.

Hello,What about the Paleo Diet? A lot of meat, seafood, fruits and vegetables! From a Parrillo perspective, what is not to like about the paleo approach to food? Pruitt, Galveston

First off, a Paleo Diet follower is not entering a bodybuilding com-petition: our goals are way differ-ent. I haven’t read the Paleo Diet, so I cannot comment on the specifics, what I can say is that our diet plan was an outgrowth of John Parril-lo’s work with competitive body-builders back in the 1980s. John was the first dietary expert to dis-cover that, “It is not so much how much you eat as it is what you eat.”

Parrillo discovered that his body-builders could eat huge amounts of food if those foods were of a certain type: lean protein, fibrous carbs – and fat. Here is where Par-rillo puts a finer point on fats and said, “Not just any fat, we insist on replacing LCT saturated fat with MCT saturated fat. LCT, long-chain triglycerides, is bad news for the competitive bodybuilder. MCT fat, medium-chain triglyc-

erides, are as beneficial as LCTs are bad for you. The Paleo diet tightens up the food selections, however the Parrillo approach is all about using food (nutrition) to sculpt the body. Parrillo competi-tive bodybuilders routinely attain sub-8% body fat percentiles, even at local shows. Our approach is about lowering body fat and us-ing nutrition to improve recovery, growth and performance. I am not sure what the goal of the Paleo diet is – I like the name.

Mr. Victor,Have you ever heard the phrase

‘power bodybuilder?’ I see this phrase used a lot in the muscle mags and wonder what it means?

Terrence, Toronto

Power bodybuilder was a phrase originally coined to describe big bodybuilders. It used to be that men like Frank Zane and Chris Dick-erson would defeat large, ripped bodybuilders in competition. The

judging standards were so whacky back then that guys like Bertil Fox, a 250-pound ball of solid muscle (and ev-ery bit as ripped as Zane) would lose to a lightweight like Zane! Nowadays female pro bodybuilders pack more muscle than Frank. (Arnold once described Zane as ‘a chicken with 17-inch arms’) The idea of Zane beating Fox nowadays would be viewed as hilarious and ludicrous. Early ‘power bodybuild-ers’ included Marvin Eder, Roy Hilligen, Reg Park, Bill Pearl, Franco and Arnold. Nowadays guys built like Frank don’t make it onto the pro stage. He was best

known for his symmetry but there are plenty of men nowadays every bit as symmetrical as Frank on his best day. The difference is these modern symmetrical bodybuild-ers pack 50 more pounds of pure muscle than the 175-pound Zane. Parrillo proved that you can have it all: you can become symmetri-cal, shredded – and pack eye-pop-ping size! Don’t buy into this idea that a bodybuilder is either mas-sive and disproportional or small and ripped and symmetrical: the modern pro-level bodybuilder has to be both big and perfect.

2� November 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-3��-3�0� www.parrillo.com


The Parrillo approach is all about using food (nutrition) to sculpt the body, so how does the Paleo diet compare?

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PaiDCinCinnaTi, oHPeRmiT no. 855

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