Muscle Media 2000 was a muscle magazine that fancied itself, appropriately, as an industry outsider with more genuine intentions.  It courageously and brazenly covered topics considered taboo and untouchable by other publishers of the time (and even today).  Anabolic steroids were not only acknowledged in competitive (and recreational) bodybuilding, powerlifting, etc., but they were covered rather extensively for the purpose of educating existing or upcoming users on how to incorporate performance-enhancing drugs (PEDs) into one’s regimen in the safest and most sane fashion.  There were even articles on how to obtain them legally even though they were (and still are) classified as Schedule III controlled substances under the Controlled Substances Act.  The authors were careful not to encourage their use, but suspended moral and ethical judgments in order to achieve the publication’s overarching objective of leading information and education in all aspects of bodybuilding and strength training.  Make no mistake, MM2K wasn’t just a magazine about anabolic steroids, it covered a broad range of topics of interest to bodybuilders, powerlifters and strength athletes of all disciplines.  In this way, the magazine quickly gained a legion of loyal subscribers who knew that they’d finally entrusted a “no-bullshit” source for industry leading information on a broad range of topics spanning training, nutrition, dietary supplementation and, yes, PED use (in which I never partook). 

As the publication grew, the number of respected industry experts on the editorial panel did as well.  Nobody can forget Dan Duchaine, whose eccentric but often brilliant guidance for bodybuilders and strength athletes is still referenced today, with as much relevance as 15 years ago.  Tragically, Dan died in January 2000 from polycystic kidney disease, with which he was diagnosed just several years before his death.  With his passing, the industry lost one of its greatest and most creative ”gurus,” and Muscle Media 2000′s Dan Duchaine column, ”Ask the Guru,” became that much more iconic.  I still refer back to those columns today, as there is such an incredible wealth of information available in those archives.  Other notable industry experts included legendary Bill Phillips (of MET-Rx, EAS and Body-for-Life fame) as founder and Executive Editor, his brother Shawn Phillips (EAS, Absolution, Strength-for-Life), Tc Luoma (T-Nation, Atomic Dog – The Testosterone Principles), Stuart McRobert (Brawn), Will Brink (BrinkZone.com), Anthony Almada (founder of EAS, pioneer of creatine monohydrate), Dr. Scott Connelly (MET-Rx founder), among many others. 

Love or hate the cast, to varying degrees they were instrumental in reinventing the scene at that time.  Today’s most popular sports supplements trace back to this era and many of those individuals.  MET-Rx, the promotion of which was later exposed as the most shady and dishonest of MM2K’s objectives (it has since been claimed that Bill Phillips was an original MET-Rx investor who gained handsomely from extensive promotion of the product in MM2K and his free Natural Supplement Review, both of which were supposed to be independent), spawned an entire category of nutritional supplements that are still extremely popular today in the broad fitness industry, the Meal Replacement Powder (MRP).  Potentially shady marketing aside, this truly was a groundbreaking product that delivered quality protein and a plethora of other nutrients in a good tasting, single-serving shake that was LOW CALORIE.  Prior to its popularity, the bodybuilding staple was a high-calorie, low quality weight gain powder that required a shovel to scoop from the 20-gallon canister and Rocky Balboa-like discipline to choke down.  MET-Rx, and MM2K in its promotion of it, demonstrated that bodybuilding nutrition was more about nutrients and less about calories, and ultimately redefined “fast food.”  A good tasting shake could be whipped up and consumed in a matter of minutes for approximately the economic sacrifice of raiding the value menu at McDonald’s.  

The other groundbreaking supplement for bodybuilders first popularized by MM2K was creatine monohydrate.  Calling it “Phosphagen,” EAS (which Bill Phillips would later acquire) marketed creatine largely through MM2K, and almost overnight, the industry for perhaps the most effective bodybuilding/strength supplement of all time was born.  I remember, at 16, taking Phosphagen brand creatine for the first time and gaining 10 pounds of lean body mass in a week!  A skinny kid at that time, those 10 lbs. were huge, and I kept them on.  In fact, they seemed to ignite an avalanche of progress.  Over the next couple years, with sound training, diet and (occasional) dietary supplementation, I ended up gaining another 50 lbs. of quality muscle and adding hundreds of pounds to my powerlifts.

As mentioned, MM2K wasn’t without its borderline “scandals.”  MET-Rx was plugged endlessly as a nutrient repartitioning marvel while supply was limited and targeted to a niche market to keep prices relatively inflated.  It was also given the highest rating in Phillips’ Natural Supplement Review, while under the guise of an unbiased review.  Profiting from sales of the supplement hardly constitutes a relationship free from conflict of interest, and the tactic was clearly carefully planned and equally deceptive.  In fact, there are claims that MM2K was actually founded for the purpose of promoting MET-Rx, which is not an unreasonable conclusion.

What happened to MM2K?  Well, ultimately it became simply “Muscle Media,” given a broader fitness makeover to the detriment of substance and depth, and ultimately made Mens Health seem sharp and cutting-edge by comparison.  Bill Phillips sold most of his interest in EAS in 1999 to a private equity firm, and with it, creative control of Muscle Media.  With that its fate was sealed.  Actually, years earlier when Tc Luoma was replaced as Editor-in-Chief, its ominous fate was set in motion.  Luoma WAS MM2K in many ways, and thankfully he still writes intelligent, witty and insightful columns at tnation.com.

Regardless of its decline in later years and (occasionally) questionable product promotion, the fact remains that MM2K in the early to mid-nineties was a very rare gem in an otherwise murky landscape of bodybuilding and strength training education, an outlier true to its claims.  Its legacy, which I wanted to highlight with this post, is hinged in its integrity, candid coverage of previously taboo topics, scientifically-slanted and respected editorial staff, and true innovation.  Bill Phillips, regardless of what you think of him today, was a visionary of enviable proportion who I believe had pure intentions and was mostly quite honest and sincere about underlying profit motives.  His publication, like his supplement companies, was cutting-edge, honest and offered a level of value rarely seen in the industry to that point and since.  It has been, to a very large extent, an inspiration to me and what this blog is about:  No-bullshit education on “how it’s done and how you can do it” in and outside the weight room.  Props to MM2K for being an authentic American icon of bodybuilding and strength training education.

As a quick recap, Pillars 1-4 are:

1. Graze frequently
2. Eat plenty of protein
3. Eat quality protein
4. Use carbs wisely

Now, to continue on…

5.  Don’t Underestimate the Importance of Dietary Fats

When I first started training 17 years ago, at age 16, the prevailing wisdom (even in the bodybuilding world) stated that if you wanted to be RIPPED, you had to adhere to a low-fat diet.  Almost all the muscle mags (which were mostly shit…and come to think of it, still are) ran articles on the current Mr. Olympia and his pre-contest diet providing only 5% of daily calories from dietary fat.  This exceptional discipline, one was expected to believe, enabled this 300-lb. circus freak and the dozens like him to achieve 1.5% body fat on contest day.  Nevermind the kamikaze cocktail of anabolic steroids, HGH, clenbuterol, and long list of other pharmacological agents combining to completely revamp normal metabolism in favor of (superhuman) muscle gain and fat loss.  Nope, instead, it was the low-fat protocol that did it, along with the Weider Principles and 15 sets, twice a day, of moderate-intensity spider curls.

Thankfully, bullshit, being what it is, is often eventually overturned in favor of something less offensive.  In the case of the low-fat myth, it eventually became accepted that dietary fat and body fat do not necessarily relate causally.  Energy from any macronutrient (protein, carbohyrate or fat) can be converted to lipids and stored in fat cells if the nutrient partitioning should go awry, not just calories derived from dietary fat.  That myth has been properly dispelled.

Now, on to some of the remarkable benefits of dietary fats (first saturated, then unsaturated):

Saturated Fat:

•  Increases Free Testosterone - Free testosterone, which contributes to muscle growth, recovery from training, immune system health and sexual function, tends to be higher in those who consume a diet rich in saturated fats.  Additionally, higher-fat diets support lower Sex Hormone-Binding Globulin (SHGB), which is a protein that binds to testosterone, reducing free testosterone, or testosterone that is available to the body for the above noted functions. (SHGB increases when on low-fat diets).
• Improves Omega-3 Retention and Increases its Utilization - The benefits of Omega-3 fatty acids are widely accepted, and we’ve all heard of them:  Improved joint health by controlling the inflammatory response to training, cardiovascular benefits of lowering LDL (“bad” cholesterol) and increasing HDL (“good” cholesterol), improved immune system functioning, improved brain function (increased memory, enhanced reasoning, etc.), and even mood elevation and treatment of mental disorders.  Now, recent studies are indicating that diets rich in saturated fats increase your tissues’ retention of omega-3 fatty acids, reducing the mountain of Fish oil capsules (which have been a bodybuilding staple for decades) needed to achieve the same benefits as higher doses.  Also, just as significant for those who get their omega-3′s from plant sources (such as flax seed oil), saturated fats increase the conversion of alpha-linolenic acid to the body’s usable form, DHA.  Since only 10-15% of plant-derived omega-3′s convert to DHA otherwise (making such sources 1/6 as effective as others like wild salmon), this benefit of saturated fats is quite substantial. 
• Enhances Immune Function - When in doubt, look to mothers’ breastmilk to reveal potential nutrient must-haves for adults. One such revelation is lauric acid.  Lauric acid is a medium-chain saturated fat noted for its ability to strengthen immune function (and exhibit strong anti-microbial properties), which is why babies fed breast milk often have stronger immune systems than those raised on formula.  A rich source of lauric acid is coconut oil or coconut milk. 
•  Increases Fat-Soluble Nutrient Absorption - Fat-soluble vitamins include A, D, E and K.  They are fat-soluble because they are absorbed through the intestinal tract with the help of fats.  As animal sources of saturated fats include respectable amounts of fat-soluble vitamins, it’s important to include these food choices in your diet.  For the same reason, I don’t toss out egg yolks when preparing an omelet for breakfast (or sometimes dinner ).  Yolks contain a healthy serving of vitamins A and D, and the saturated fat to help absorb them.  They also contain 50% of an egg’s total protein, so shouldn’t be discarded.  Contrary to conventional wisdom, the yolk is actually the healthiest component of the egg.
• Support Healthy HDL Levels - While it is true that low-fat diets will lower cholesterol, they lower BOTH LDL (low-density lipoprotein, or “bad” cholesterol) and HDL (high-density lipoprotein, ”good” cholesterol).  Low HDL is not a good scenario, as it correlates with a significantly increased risk of cardiovascular disease.

Unsaturated Fat:

•  Lose Fat - Contrary to the aforementioned myth directly correlating dietary fat intake and body fat, scientific literature in recent years has shown some of the most promising compounds for fat loss to be CLA and EPA/DHA, which of course are all unsaturated fats!  In the case of CLA (conjugated linoleic acid), found mostly in meat and dairy foods, a dose of 3g per day appears to be the sweet spot for producing statistically significant enhancements in body composition, including BOTH a reduction in body fat and increase in lean body mass.  Now, before you rush out and stock pile the stuff thinking it’ll turn Conan O’Brien into Conan the Barbarian, “statistically significant” means the results cannot be attributed to the placebo effect and therefore the stuff works regardless of the power of expectation, but it doesn’t mean it’s Deca Durabolin.  CLA has been shown to produce modest changes in body composition compared to bodybuilding standards, but remarkably, it does so even in the absence of sound diet and exercise.  Combined with an overall intelligent strategy, and it will improve your results.  EPA and DHA, as noted above, are omega-3 essential polyunsaturated fatty acids derived from fish that are linked to many health benefits.  In recent years, fat loss has been added to the already impressive list of benefits.  In the last 10 years, at least half a dozen human studies and more than two dozen animal studies have concluded that these omega-3 fatty acids may help you lose more fat when on a hypoenergetic (i.e. calorie restricted) diet than a similar diet sans the omega-3′s.  While again I’ll caution that the results are far from miraculous, they’re significant nonetheless and one would be wise to include these fats as part of his fat loss strategy.
• Joint Health - Recent studies show that omega-3′s (again) help with inflammatory disorders including osteoarthritis. Several laboratory studies of cartilage-containing cells (in-vitro) have shown that omega-3′s help reduce inflammation and decrease activity of enzymes that break down cartilage.  Recent research performed at Brigham and Women’s Hospital in Boston found that omega-3′s can convert to compounds that are thousands of times more potent than the original fatty acids themselves.  Such compounds include resolvins, which serve to reduce cellular inflammation. While inflammation is a natural immune response seeking to repair damage and protect the body from infection, in arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, an overactive immune response leads to tissue destruction. In such cases, it has been shown that omega-3′s convert into these more powerful compounds, abating the active (inflammatory) process leading to such destruction.
• Anti-Aging - In the growing area of anti-aging research, scientists have recently begun using a technique for measuring the rate at which people age biologically, which is by measuring telomere length.  Telomeres are a cluster of DNA that ”cap” the end of your chromosome, the function of which is to protect important parts of the chromosome from degradation. Due to the mechanics of routine chromosomal replication, each replication causes your telomeres to shorten until the telomores eventually disappear, at which point the actual chromosomes begin degrading and your cell dies. Other factors such as oxidative stress and inflammation can accelerate telomere shortening and, thus, aging. A very recent study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association found that over a five-year period, people with the lowest levels of EPA and DHA in their blood had the fastest rate of telomere shortening. Conversely, those with the highest levels in their blood had experienced the slowest rate of telomere shortening, suggesting that ingesting omega-3′s fats slows the rate of aging in humans.
• Cancer Prevention/Treatment - Just a few highlights:  A meta-analysis of more than 6,000 men over 30 years found that consuming omega-3′s as part of one’s diet had the potential to reduce prostate cancer risk by 2 or 3 times.  In a 2009 study published in the journal Clinical Cancer Research, scientists evaluated the diets of 466 men diagnosed with aggressive prostate cancer and compared them with the diets of 478 men without the disease. Those who ate fish containing the highest amounts of omega-3 fatty acids 1 to 3 times a month had a 36 percent lower chance of developing aggressive prostate cancer than those who ate it less frequently, while those who ate fish once a week or more had a 63 percent lower risk.  A recent study in the American Journal of Epidemiology shows that Omega- 3 fats have the ability to reduce precancerous growths in those prone to bowel cancer. The study’s authors examined the relationship between omega-3 consumption and colon cancer, concluding that increased ingestion of omega-3′s is associated with a signifiantly reduced risk of the disease.
• Cardiovascular Health – Above, I addressed some of the cardiovascular benefits connected to omega-3′s (specifically by lowering LDL and increaseing HDL).  Well, the same benefits have been associated with monounsaturated fats as well.  These fats, found in such common foods as olive oil, red meat (which is about half monounsaturated fat), avocados, and macadamia nuts (which have more monounsaturated fat than any other nut), are deemed the apex of heart-healthy fats, and the key ingredient to the highly regarded Mediterranean diet.  Like omega-3′s, these fats are strongly correlated with a reduction in LDL and increase in HDL cholesterol, and as a side benefit, have also been shown to reduce age-related cognitive degradation.

6.  Don’t Subscribe to the Calories-In Vs Calories-Out Myth

Notice I’m not saying “don’t count calories.”  There are circumstances in which total calories consumed isn’t an irrelevant metric.  However, MOST of the time, counting calories in order to lose or gain weight is counterproductive.  Why?  Because by focusing more on total calories than on the composition of those calories, you’re ignoring a much more fundamental element of nutrition strategy:  Feeding your body what it needs when it needs it.  I’d already said it, but it bore repeating.  What we’re eating and when is much more significant than how much we’re eating.  This is common sense but so many miss it in practice.  Intuitively, virtually everyone knows that an apple (approx 100 calories) is much healthier than a “100 Calorie Pack” of Twix bars (which actually exists).  Yet the same guys listen to the Calorie Camp (the prevailing wisdom) who still posit that a calorie is a calorie when it comes to the silly ”Calories consumed – Calories expended = Change in body mass” equation.  We know intuitively that this can’t be the case…and it’s not.  Nutrient partitioning, which in the simplest sense can be thought of as the directing of nutrients either into muscle or fat, is not reducible to an infantile algebraic equation.  It is best influenced by macronutrient profile (protein, carbohydrates and fat), meal patterning and frequency, which we’ve already discussed.  Suffice it to say, eating a diet consisting of food sources that fueled our Paleo ancestors ensures that we’ve cracked most of the puzzle.  Total calories are irrelevant without first achieving that feat, to which any of the Fatties at the local Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig office can (often unknowingly) attest.

7.  Dietary Fiber Isn’t Just For Grandma’s Regularity

Dietary fiber is a remarkably overlooked nutrient in too many nutrition strategies.  The inclusion of more fiber into your daily diet (at least 30 grams but ideally twice that) can have a significant impact on your physique and performance goals.  Fiber, which is the non- or partially-digestible component of plants, fruits, nuts, vegetables and (ugh) grains, can lay claim to the following benefits:

• Stabilizes blood sugar
• Curbs appetite
• Accelerates the removal of fats and cholesterol from the body
• Improves protein metabolism
• Lowers heart disease risk
• Improves blood pressure
• Reduces the risk of developing certain cancers
• Reduces insulin resistance
• Helps block the absorption of cholesterol during digestion

8.  Use Vitamin and Mineral Supplements

The mainstay of our micronutrient (and carbohydrate) sources should unquestionably be fresh fruits and vegetables.  However, most of us are not going to eat enough servings of them each day to optimize our ingestion of vital antioxidants, phytochemicals, etc.  And although you may think that you’re OK in this regard because you pop a Centrum every day which provides 100% of the RDA values for a laundry list of vitamins and minerals, I’ve got news for you…The RDA recommendations are 100% nonsense for strength athletes.  They represent the minimum amounts the US government once believed were required, using early-20th century technology, to basically keep healthy individuals from getting ill via nutrient deficiency.  More simply, they can be thought of as loose guidelines for not getting sick from malnutrition. 

Those of us who wish to optimize our health and performance need to supplement important vitamins and minerals in order to achieve levels much higher than can be obtained from whole foods and ordinary Centrum-like supplements alone.  Health stores like GNC have respectable multi-vitamin/multi-mineral supplements that go a long way in this regard, and even wholesale suppliers and certainly online supplement stores offer respectable products as well.  The specific supplement isn’t as important as making sure you’ve got at least the fundamentals covered.  Additional (above and beyond Centrum) Vitamin C, D and E are absolutely a must.  While not a vit/min supplement, fish oil, for omega-3 EFAs, is also a must (read 5 above if there are any doubts about this).  A compelling case can be made for many others as well.

I think it would be a stretch to say that you need to nail the micronutrient profile of your diet in order to add muscle, lose fat and get stronger…Quantifying the impact of that is just too difficult.  I can confidently say, however, that ensuring you’re not deficient in key nutrients will support gains in muscle and strength, as well as fat loss, by providing the optimal biological landscape for such changes in body composition and strength to occur.

Wrap Up

So, there you have it.  I could have made Parts 1 and 2 of this post more marketable by putting together the typical “Top 10″ list, but that would have been a bit disingenuine, since the 8 I’ve listed here are the most fundamental “pillars” to which I could earnestly reduce a sound nutrition plan.  No need for fluff – let others churn bullshit so that it’s palatable.  In fact, I’ll take pride in my Top 8

Future posts will of course expound on these tenets, but with the above, you have the foundation of an intelligent nutrition strategy outlined for manipulation in any fashion you like…as long as you respect the Pillars, you almost can’t go wrong.

In the scientific community, humans are believed to be about 2.5 million years old.  Modern humans (“homo sapiens” according to the taxonomy) date back approximately 500,000 years.  The era beginning 2.5 million years ago, at the dawn of the Homo genus and continuing until just 10,000 years ago, is referred to as the Paleolithic period, a prehistoric era characterized by the development of the most primitive stone tools.  Why is this relevant to your interest in a lean and muscular physique?  Well, because it’s important to have a basic understanding of our Paleolithic ancestors’ eating habits and food sources, which over the course of human evolution has had the greatest impact on modern human metabolism.  By understanding metabolism and how to work with it, not against it, you’ll overcome the biggest hurdle standing between you and your body composition goals.

It was only around 10,000 years ago that the food supply shifted dramatically, virtually overnight, with the advent of agriculture.  The significance of this, of taking control of the food supply for the first time rather than being controlled by it, is startling: According to the accepted timeline, 99.6% of human existence occurred during an era dominated by hunting and gathering (which predominantly yielded rich sources of protein and dietary fats), while the balance of just 0.4% can be traced to the very different macronutrient profile of an agricultural diet (i.e. a much greater share of the zero-sum equation coming from complex carbohydrates, particularly starch).  From an evolutionary perspective, 10,000 years is a mere drop in the bucket, and there simply hasn’t been enough time for ”selection pressure” to adapt our metabolism to the remarkable change in eating habits.  This has created an ominous disconnect between what our body needs and what we feed it. 

In essence, we still have the metabolic machinery of cavemen but we eat like farmers.  It’s akin to pouring Kool Aid in the gas tank of your car to fuel its combustion engine and wondering why it performs like shit before ultimately breaking down.  Given this mismatch, it’s no wonder that many find themselves stuck in fat storage mode, even on calorie restricted diets, unable to gain anything except fat mass.  Contrary to mainstream belief, the fat loss/muscle gain equation isn’t simply an arithmetic analysis of calories in vs. calories out (i.e. daily calorie intake minus calorie requirement equals weight gain or loss), but involves a more careful approach in which food quality and the timing of ingestion are also considered.  In other words, the takeaway from this, and the underpinning of the advice to follow, is that in order to be muscular and lean, you absolutely need to align your food choices with your metabolic design so that the right nutrients are delivered to the body in suitable amounts at the right times.

So, how do we do this?  By incorporating the following pillars of any sound diet (by diet I mean eating behavior, not “dieting” as it is known in popular context):

1.  Graze Frequently Rather Than Gorge Infrequently

The traditional American 3 squares a day is, in many ways, a significant part of why Americans have long been losing the battle against obesity.  Until the mid-70′s, the typical American was sufficiently active to overcome some of the ill effects of this eating pattern (light breakfast, moderate lunch, and huge dinner – exactly the opposite of common sense).  Few, large meals or meal patterning that pushes the bulk of daily calories to the end of the day is exactly the opposite of what makes sense from a metabolic standpoint.  As a general rule, frequent small meals is much better patterning because it supplies steady, digestible meals throughout the day, improving the assimilation of nutrients and metabolic rate.  Also, and very important, small frequent meals will tend to keep insulin in check rather than causing the massive surges after the ingestion of large, carbohydrate rich meals.  Six meals a day has been the holy grail for bodybuilders for decades, and for good reason:  it works.  I’ll say five to seven is the ideal range.

2.  Eat Plenty of Protein

What constitutes plenty?  Well, the answer varies by “expert” and circumstance.  But I’m going to toss out another general rule:  At least 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight.  In fact, I believe that rule to be a bit light, and wouldn’t be offended by, depending on your goals, metabolic rate and energy expenditure, individuals consuming as much as 2-3 times that.  Now, lest I be deemed insensitive to kidney function, this level of protein intake is not inconsistent with that consumed by certain of our Paleolithic ancestors who derived as much as 40-60% of their daily calories from protein!  Think about it.  They hunted game, large and small, which yielded a diet very rich in protein.  Without much else available to them to meet substantial calorie requirements, protein and fat intake HAD to be tremendous… They didn’t have the highly coveted carbohydrate selection that we have today (in which to drown themselves as in modern culture). 

Also, as we all know but it’s worth repeating, protein is composed of amino acids which are used, among other things, to provide the raw material for prized protein synthesis.  A steady supply of adequate protein every 3 hours is the cardinal rule, and once again for good reason.  It helps tip the scales of protein turnover in favor of synthesis vs. breakdown, accruing more muscle over time.  It also drives the metabolism, resulting in better regulation of insulin and other partitioning factors than low protein diets, requires more calories to metabolize than carbohydrates or fats, and produces more total calories burned (other things constant).  For serious athletes, high-protein diets aren’t optional – they’re essential.

3.  Eat Quality Protein.  Vegetarians Need Not Apply

There are many ways to evaluate the quality of a particular protein fraction or formula (aside from buying into the hype of supplement companies reviewing their own products!).  Some of the more common among them are:

• Biological Value (BV) – Measures the efficiency with which your body assimilates the protein ingested by comparing the amount of nitrogen (which can only be derived from dietary protein) incorporated into body tissues against the amount absorbed from the protein consumed.  Higher BV means greater protein utilization and thus higher quality.  The primary drawback to this method is that, as dietary protein intake approaches your body’s protein requirement, BV will lose accuracy in expressing the true level of protein utilization. Why?  Because your body will most efficiently use dietary protein when its protein needs have not yet been met (a case not often found in those who follow Pillar 2 above), and this is not necessarily representative of a protein’s inherent quality.
• Protein Efficiency Ratio (PER) – Measures the amount of weight a rat gains when you feed it the protein under study. It represents the ratio of grams of weight gained to grams of protein fed. The benchmark used to assess other proteins is casein, which has a PER value of 2.7.  According to the authors of a September 2004 study published in the Journal of Sports Science and Medicine, any protein with a PER greater than 2.7 qualifies as an excellent source of protein.  Egg protein, with a PER of approximately 4.4, has the highest PER value of all food proteins. The primary criticism of this method of evaluating protein quality is obviously the lack of correlation between rat growth and human growth.
• Protein Digestibility-Corrected Amino Acid Score (PDCAAS) – Measures protein quality by comparing the amount of the limiting amino acid – that is, the essential amino acid least prevalent in a protein – to the prevalence of that same amino acid in a reference protein, and then correcting for digestibility of the protein.  Yikes.  The World Health Organization (WHO) considers PDCAAS the preferred method for measuring protein quality in human nutrition. However, as in other cases involving the WHO, there is reason to suspect that they’re wrong.  in an article published in the July 2000 issue of the Journal of Nutrition, the author raises doubts about this method of determining a protein’s quality by first pointing out that the PDCAAS reference protein amino acid profile is based on the dietary needs of preschool-age children, which may not accurately represent the protein needs of other populations (particularly strength athletes).  Subsequently, the author questions whether the current method of evaluating a protein’s digestibility is the most valid.

Take the above for what it is… Imperfect attempts to objectively evaluate protein quality.  For our purposes, what constitutes protein quality?  Well, first, disregard incomplete proteins entirely, which are proteins whose amino acid profile do not include all essential – those which must be obtained through diet because the body can’t produce them - amino acids.  Plant proteins are incomplete proteins, which is why I say that vegetarians have no place in serious strength training (unless they’re supplementing with quality protein formulas).  Sure, you can combine various vegetarian sources to “complete” the amino acid profile, but is this salad cocktail truly producing a high quality protein product?  Absolutely not.  Plants most definitely have their place in a strength athlete’s nutrition strategy, but not as a protein source. 

Animal sources of protein, which our ancestors relied on, are complete proteins.  Also, dairy proteins (whey and casein) are excellent protein fractions that should be incorporated into your arsenal.  Personally, most of my protein comes from these sources, as I believe a whey/casein mix to be the best foundational protein for a strength athlete or bodybuilder.  Whey is rapidly absorbed after ingestion and thus provides amino acids to thirsting muscles quickly and effectively, while casein is absorbed more slowly over a period of up to 7 or 8 hours, which naturally provides for a sustained release of amino acids throughout the day to achieve the much touted “anti-catabolic” effect it has been made famous for.

4.  Use Carbohydrates Wisely 

Just as carbohydrates shouldn’t be consumed by the truckload as the silly food pyramid would suggest, they shouldn’t be ignored either.  Carbohydrates are very important for optimal health and athletic performance, and your strength will absolutely suffer in the gym when deprived of necessary glycogen (the body’s storage form of carbohydrate in muscle and the liver).  The key with nutrition in general, but especially carbs in particular, is timing.  There are certain windows of opportunity when carbs can and should be consumed without worrying about their conversion to fat, and the key factor to consider is how we want to manage insulin. 

Insulin, for those whose endocrinology is a little shaky, is a hormone produced in the pancreas in response to any of several factors (mostly a rise in blood glucose due to carbohydrate ingestion) that is the central regulator of carbohydrate and fat metabolism in the body.  It is an anabolic hormone, and so a key concern for strength athletes, charged chiefly with regulating glucose levels in the blood because, aside from the need to manage glucose as an energy source, the sustenance of glucose at high levels in the blood is toxic (which is why diabetes can be such a harmful disease).  Insulin transports glucose from the blood either to the cells in muscle, liver or fat tissue.  Thus, insulin should be of grave concern to us because we want to influence its actions to drive glucose into muscle cells while keeping it out of adipose (fat) tissue!  It is also important to understand that while insulin is present, the use fat as an energy source to fuel exercise is virtually switched off because it inhibits the release of glucagon, a key regulator of fat breakdown.  So, we need sufficient insulin at certain times of the day to take advantage of its anabolic effects, while minimizing it at other times to avoid fat storage and enable existing fat stores to be used as fuel.  We achieve this balance first by the careful timing of our carbohydrate intake, and second by being selective about carbohydrate quality.

Optimal times for carbohydrate intake:

• Breakfast – In the morning, our metabolic rate is the highest it’ll be all day (at rest), and insulin sensitivity (the efficiency with which it does its job) is the also the highest, so this is a key time to take in some carbs.  The best choices of carbs are those our ancestors ate: fruits and vegetables.  You can toss some broccoli or asparagus in your omelet, or simply toss down a piece of fruit or two.  If fat loss is your primary nutrition goal, then I’d suggest limiting the starch, even the “whole grain” choices that food manufacturers and their lobbyists would like us to believe are the staple of health.  They are not.  So screw the wheat toast if you’re looking to reduce body fat.
• Pre- and/or Post-Workout – Ingesting carbs around workout time makes sense.  If fat loss is your main goal, then skip the pre-workout carbs because, as noted above, it’ll cause the release of insulin which will prevent the use of fat for fuel during the workout.  I routinely toss down a whey or whey/casein protein powder, sans carbs, about 15-30 minutes prior to a workout to minimize the level of protein breakdown (muscle catabolism) during training.  Post-workout, I cannot stress enough, is the ideal time to ingest serious, high-glycemic carbs.  High-glycemic carbs are those that produce the greatest insulin spike in response to the intake, and this is important because at this time, when glycogen stores are depleted from the exercise, insulin will preferentially drive glucose and other nutrients into muscle cells, which are primed for the occasion.  Do not be shy during this critical window (immediately following exercise and continuing for approx. 90 minutes).  I generally consume about 50-75 grams of high-glycemic carbs at this time, combined with fast-acting protein (whey) to deliver the right goods at the right time.

Optimal carbohydrate choices:

• High fiber, lower-fructose fruits: Berries, apples, citrus fruits, etc.
• Fibrous vegetables: Broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, brussel sprouts, spinach…the list is virtually endless.
• Fiber One or All Bran breakfast cereals (if you’re into this sort of thing…)

OK…So that rounds out Part 1 of this 2-Part series.  Had this post not carried on beyond originally planned, I wouldn’t have split the Pillars into 2 segments (preferring to have it all outlined in a single article), but I’d rather break this foundational education into digestible parts than cleave and dumb it down so significantly that it loses its value and insults your intelligence.  The truth is, the blogosphere is ripe with that sort of ”Weight management 101″ fluff, and while there is a (big) market for that, I’ve assumed my more discerning readers don’t wish for me to add to it.  Search engines put those posts right at your fingertips.  So stay with me for the upcoming Part 2!

Recently, every time I had a bench workout, I could feel an acute “pinch” in my right shoulder when pressing any considerable load, akin to a spike being driven into it through the anterior deltoid.  This discomfort, over the course of several weeks, progressively became measurable pain and, with that, weakness.  The tell tale sign of such weakness, no doubt recognizable to many weightlifters, was when the bar raised awkwardly and unevenly while benching so that rather than being parallel to the floor, the left-to-right downward slope of the bar resembled something that could be construed as a profile view of Charlie Sheen’s crack pipe dangling from his mouth at “Sober Valley Lodge,” as my right arm lagged pathetically behind my left.  With that, I knew it was time for a visit to my ART provider for a soft tissue tune-up.  After just one session (!), my shoulder pain was gone and my strength restored. 

Years earlier, after as many as 10 years with nearly debilitating shoulder pain and corresponding weakness in my LEFT shoulder (any many visits to various Orthopedic specialists), I’d decided to give ART a try as a last ditch effort before surgery.  The results?  Unbelievable to me then, and still amazed by it today, it CURED my left shoulder in a matter of a couple short months.  The pain, which had infiltrated and set up shop in my day-to-day life, was completely gone, and my pressing strength had shortly thereafter returned.  A through-and-through cynic, I hadn’t had much hope when I scheduled my first appointment based on a series of very positive reviews I’d read from professional athletes and weightlifters, but after my first session, I knew I’d stumbled upon something different than ordinary physical therapy.  I could literally feel improvement after just one (brutal) session, and thankfully decided to stay the course.  I am fully convinced that this treatment is, unequivocally, a therapeutic gem for serious strength (and other) athletes.  So I’ve decided to introduce it to my readers who’ve never heard of it or are undecided as to whether it is right for them.  Let’s face it, as strength athletes, injuries are inevitable, so we need to evaluate all our options for recovery and rehabilitation.

So, what is ART?

• Shoulder pain
• Back pain
• Sciatica
• Knee problems
• Tennis elbow
• Carpal tunnel syndrome
• Shin splints
• Plantar fasciitis
• Headaches

Note the first half of the above list… Remind you of any weightlifting injuries you’ve experienced lately?  They are extremely common injuries we all famously attribute to “the gym,” and rightfully so.  ART specialists tell us those conditions ”all have one important thing in common: they are often a result of overused muscles.”  Exactly.  Overused muscles, in a way, define who we are and what we do in the gym.  Continuously pushing ourselves beyond previous limits is a tenet of our training, a precondition to building muscle and getting stronger.  It’s at the heart of what we consider a workout.  Inevitably, then, we will experience injury as overuse produces the following changes in the soft and connective tissues (i.e. muscles, tendons, ligaments, fascia and nerves):

1. Acute conditions (pulls, tears, collisions, etc)
2. Accumulation of small tears (micro-trauma)
3. Insufficient oxygen (hypoxia)

The above 3 soft tissue changes cause your body to develop dense scar tissue in affected areas, which impairs the tissues’ ability to function properly (and certainly not optimally, which is obviously important to strength athletes).  As scar tissue accrues over time, muscles shorten and become weaker, tension on tendons causes tendonitis, and nerves can be compressed. This cocktail of dysfunction often ultimately results in reduced range of motion, noticeable loss of strength, and significant, sometimes debilitating pain. Compressed nerves are also likely to produce tingling, numbness, and further weakness, symptoms to which anyone who’s ever had sciatica can attest (such as yours truly).

Let me wrap up by saying a few things about my own experiences with ART treatments.  First, they effing hurt.  Particularly when being treated for shoulder injuries.  As noted above, ART is a movement-based massage technique, and true to that description, the patient needs to participate in the treatment.  In my experience, when being treated for shoulder injuries, the patient involvement in the therapy can be excruciating, as one’s doctor is digging deep into the soft tissue while the patient is moving against the doctor’s manipulation.  The day after, there will often be substantial bruising and soreness in the areas treated (though it is a welcome pain and one that signals important changes, corrections, in the tissue, treating the problem rather than merely the symptoms).  I recall my doctor’s saying during my first ever ART session (relating to the aforementioned left shoulder), “most of my patients never return after the first session.”  Some of that discontinuity may be associated with the fact that ART can often produce results in only a single session, but more likely, and to his point, it is often because the treatments can hurt so damn much.  But we’re weightlifters, so we can handle it…

Also, you should understand that for long-standing, very significant injuries, the soft tissue has accrued so much scar tissue, and mind-muscle memory/movement patterns have been so significantly skewed over an extended period of time, that a multi-pronged approach is best to fully and permanently heal the tissue.  With respect to my left shoulder, which had been described by a number of prominent orthopedic surgeons as an injury that could only be improved through invasive surgery, my doctor had prescribed a number of rehabilitative shoulder exercises to perform in the gym with very light weights to re-establish normal movement and retrain the mind-muscle connection to default to normal movement patterns.  This is important for long-run effectiveness, and something not to be ignored when undergoing therapy.

So, how do you find a local ART provider?  There is a locator here into which you simply type your address to find the nearest provider. 

I encourage any of you who have been suffering training injuries for some time, and have perhaps tried many options for rehab, including surgery, to give ART a try and let the W8Room community know about your results.  Please also comment on this post if you’ve already tried ART and would like to share results!

8 Ways to (Immediately) Improve Your Deadlift:

1.  Ditch the Cross Training or Running Shoes.  All Hail Chuck Taylor.

While many lifters in the gym today wear cross training or even running shoes, training the squat or deadlift sans sneakers or with flat-soled Chuck Taylors will increase performance.  Why?  There are a couple of compelling reasons.  First, and most important, training barefoot or with flat soles will maximize power transmission between your feet and hips by eliminating what would otherwise be lost to cushioned midsoles.  This may seem like minutiae, but the first time you take off those cardio instructor Asics and deadlift with bare feet, you’ll notice the difference.  It’s not subtle.  Second, cushioned midsoles reduce ankle dorsiflexion.  The reduced range of motion will eventually lead to knee, hip and low back pain.  And finally, training barefoot or with Chucks (or more expensive powerlifting shoes) will increase ankle stability strength over time.  Clearly, Rocky Balboa knew what he was doing when he laced up his dirty black Chucks for the legendary training montages we’re all familiar with. 

2.  Use Chalk

This is simple.  Chalk improves grip, which is essential to successful dealifting.  All the explosive strength you can muster will amount to little if you can’t hold onto the bar long enough to complete the exercise.  Grip and squeeze the bar as tightly as possible, and chalk up before doing so.  If your gym happens to frown upon its use, or even bans it as many of the contemporary “fitness” centers are doing today, then get a new gym.  Gym floors are supposed to look like gym floors (i.e. randomly dusted with powdered chalk), not the marble tiled lobby of the Four Seasons.

3.  Do Not Use Straps

As mentioned above, grip strength is essential to heavy deadlifting.  Using straps will reduce the development of your grip strength (and forearm hypertrophy), which the deadlift is otherwise extremely effective in producing.  In fact, there are no circumstances in which training with straps is advantageous in the long run.  If the weak link in your training (including the barbell row, weighted pull up, etc.) is grip, then improve your grip strength.  Don’t default to using straps and perpetuate the issue.

4.  Use an Alternate Grip

An alternate grip is one in which the palm of one hand is facing in (toward your body), and the palm of the other is facing out (away from your body).  Gripping the bar in this way, whether its in the conventional or sumo deadlift, will improve stability during heavy deadlifts, which ultimately translates to higher PRs.

5.  Keep the Bar Close to Your Shins

In the last post, I noted that during the setup for a deadlift, you should ensure that the bar is over the middle of the foot (i.e. “cuts it in half”).  This is to align the bar with the portion of the foot where the force acts against the ground.  In order to do this, the bar from a standing position should only be about an inch away from your shins.  Pulling from this position will maximize lifting efficiency and improve your performance.

6.  Activate the Glutes for Lockout

A common mistake in the deadlift is to pull back rather than use the glutes in order to lockout the weight.  Not only is this a less effective approach, but the hyperextension of the spine places a dangerous level of compression on the intervertebral discs, which they are poorly designed to accomodate.  Squeeze the glutes, and you’ll notice the difference.  You’ll also sculpt an ass worthy of attention in an otherwise unremarkable, gluteless society.

7.  Brace Your Abs

A tight, strong core is absolutely essential for lifting heavy weights.  This applies especially to multi-joint movements that heavily involve the posterior chain.  Eventually, as weights progress, an indestructible core is also necessary to stave off injury.  Thus, squeezing your abs after a deep inhale to build and maintain intra-abdominal pressure is a vital technique for improving deadlift (and squat) performance, while protecting your spine from the evils of excessive compression and torque.

8.  Maintain Neutral Spine

Perhaps the most common mistake in the deadlift is rounding the lower back during the pull (flexion), with the aforementioned (#6 above) hyperextension clocking in at a close second.  In either case, lifting efficiency is lost because of poor mechanics and the likelihood of injury greatly increased.  In order to setup for maximum leverage and minimal risk of injury, a neutral spine (slightly extended) must be achieved.  Whether or not you’re maintaining neutral spine can be ascertained by a profile view of your lift, so if you’re not absolutely confident that you’ve mastered this element of the technique, then my recommendation is to have a training partner evaluate your deadlift profile during a typical lift and report the findings.  Or, if you don’t train with a partner, you can always setup the video recorder a la an amateur porn shoot (don’t tell me you haven’t done this), and record your deadlift for later analysis.

1. Like the squat, the deadlift also trains the entire body
2. Unlike the squat, the deadlift begins with the concentric portion of the lift
3. Unlike the squat, there is no stretch reflex with the deadlift

Before we delve into HOW to deadlift, let’s first examine WHY the deadlift is so critical by taking a little closer look at the 3 items above.

1. The Deadlift Trains the Entire Body

This is a no-brainer.  Lift a very heavy object off the floor, and then tell me what doesn’t hurt the next morning.  Exactly.  It ALL hurts.  Your quads, glutes, low back, upper back, biceps, shoulders, traps, etc.  Why?  The answer is because it takes the coordination of all major muscle groups to lift a heavy object at rest, for reasons identified by Newton in his first law of motion: An object that is at rest will stay at rest unless an unbalanced force acts upon it.  In the case of lifting a heavy object off the floor, you are the unbalanced force.  More specifically, the simultaneous activation of your major muscle groups generates the force that moves the object previously at rest.  That activation, and the heavy load it places in motion, provides the training stimulus that makes the deadlift so effective for building whole body size and strength.

2. The Deadlift Begins with the Concentric Portion of the Lift

The concentric phase of a lift is the raising portion, while the eccentric phase is the lowering portion.  Due to the fact that, in the deadlift, the weight is resting on the floor (i.e. it’s dead weight), the lift begins with the concentric portion of the movement, requiring the contraction of multiple muscle groups to generate enough force to lift the weight from the floor to full lockout.  By contrast, with respect to the squat and bench press, the other primary compound exercises, the movement begins by lowering the weight, which provides two significant advantages from a lifting perspective: 1) It builds confidence because eccentric strength is always substantially greater than concentric, so the lifter perceives the weight as manageable or even light, and 2) It provides for the stretch reflex, which is a reflexive contraction of the muscle in response to stretching of the related tendon or muscle itself (to be described in more detail below).  Thus, a unique benefit of the deadlift is its unparalleled ability to train functional, explosive power.  It’s the ultimate functional strength builder in that there are very few cases in real life in which a strength challenge will begin eccentrically.  Think about it…

3. The Deadlift Does Not Involve a Stretch Reflex

 As mentioned above, there is no stretch reflex with the deadlift, since there is no lowering of the weight prior to the lift to potentiate this advantageous contractile rebound.  Without this, the lifter must learn to lift explosively using numerous muscle groups in concert with one another.  In so doing, the central nervous system (CNS) is trained to recruit high treshold type II muscle fibers, which are the primary muscle cells involved in muscle growth and explosive power.

Ok, now that we’ve examined why the deadlift is the king of strength training exercises, let’s focus on how it’s done properly.  Before I begin, I should note that there two pervasive deadlifting styles, both of which are accepted in powerlifting competition:  Conventional and Sumo.  Sumo is basically a conventional deadlift with a wider stance and narrower grip, so in describing how to perform each, it’ll suffice to describe the conventional and then simply highlight the alterations made to stance and grip to execute a sumo deadlift.  The sumo deadlift (which I personally prefer over conventional), to its credit, merits a subsequent post to truly highlight advantages and disadvantages as compared to conventional…and so it’ll be a standalone topic for another day.

Deadlift

Mastering the deadlift technique is a function of dialing in the setup, after which it is a very simple exercise to perform.  Think of the end-to-end deadlift technique as consisting of 5 easy steps:

1. Assume proper stance and foot position relative to bar
2. Without lowering hips, grip the bar
3. Drop the hips
4. Raise chest and head
5. Pull!

It’s truly that simple.  Now, let me expound on these basic steps for the beginners, and then, for Part 2 of this post, I’ll offer some tips for existing deadlifters who’ve mastered technique and are interested solely in adding plates.  Stay with me.

1. Assume Proper Stance and Foot Position

Your stance for a conventional deadlift should be approximately equal to your stance in the vertical jump.  This is generally the position from which you can generate the most force, which of course is what we want.  Toes should be pointed slightly outward.  Once you’ve assumed proper stance, it’s very important to position your feet such that the bar “cuts them in half.”  This simply means that half of each foot should be in front of the bar, and half behind it.  Keep in mind that it won’t look as though they are cut in half as you’re looking down at them.  Instead, the bar will look closer to your chins because of the perspective from which you’re observing.  The first couple times you deadlift, it’s helpful to have a training partner give assurance from a profile view that your feet are indeed cut in half by the bar, as again this is the position that will yield the greatest force. 

Sumo modification: You still want to have your feet “cut in half” by the bar for a sumo lift.  However, your stance will be significantly wider, and toes will likely be pointed more outward than for a conventional lift.  While stance width should vary depending on your preference, it is not uncommon for your toes to be only 4-6 inches from the plates.  The major advantage of this, from a powerlifting standpoint, is that it significantly reduces the range of motion (i.e. the distance the bar needs to travel before lockout).  In my experience, due to the wide stance, sumo deadlifts train legs and the posterior chain (low back, glutes and hamstrings) remarkably well, better than conventional deadlifts.  In fact, I’d argue that they’re nearly as effective as squats in this regard (certainly with respect to the posterior chain).

2. Without Lowering Your Hips, Reach Down and Grip the Bar

This is as easy as it sounds.  Once you’re in proper position, reach down without lower your hips (i.e. ass in the air), and grip the bar.  You will grip it such that your arms are on the outside of your knees, and so your hands will be farther apart than your feet. 

Sumo modification: The only modification here will be where you grip the bar.  For a sumo lift, you’ll grip the bar between your knees rather than on the outside.  For me, and many lifters, your outer arms will just graze the inside of your legs when gripping in this fashion.

3. Drop Your Hips

Again, there is no nuance to this.  Bend the knees and lower your ass until your shoulder blades are directly above the bar when viewed from the profile perspective.  This may not be intuitive at first, but will become so with practice.  Your hips should NOT be as low as they are during a parallel squat – they will be significantly higher.

4. Raise Your Chest and Head

For safety, as well as function, this is critically important.  After lowering your hips to the position described above, you’ll need to raise your chest and head in order to straighten your lower back so that it is neutral or slightly arched.  Many lifters, from beginners to advanced, place their spinal discs at unnecessary risk by lifting with a rounded lower back.  The compressive force on spinal discs is EIGHT TIMES GREATER during flexion (rounded lower back), which becomes very significant as your deadlift poundage increases.  So raise your chest and look straight ahead before your pull.

5. Pull!

After setting up by doing 1-4 above, you’re ready to pull!  Many lifters pull with their lower back, which is both dangerous and ineffective.  What you want to do instead is activate multiple muscle groups concurrently in order to generate maximum force.  So, rip the weight off the floor by primarily contracting your glutes, quads and back, and keep the weight on your heels. Pull until you lockout your knees, then lower back to the floor.  Another common mistake is to unnaturally lean back in an exaggerated fashion because there is a misconception that this will aid the pull.  It won’t.  What it will do is hyperextend the spine, which will place additional compression on the discs and increse the likelihood for injury.

Wrap Up

That’s it! Now you’re ready to pull.  For Part 2 of this post, I’m going to compile a list of tips that will unequivocally add weight to your current 1RM in the deadlift.  I’d originally planned to append it to this post, but realized it’s a post all its own… So check back very soon (or sign up for RSS or email updates for an instant feed of the post)!

“Training” Vs “Working Out”

Working out is aimless.  It’s what middle-aged soccer moms do with 2 lb. dumbbells in tandem with choreographed workout videos. While the videos provide structure to exercise sessions that would probably otherwise be entirely without direction, their workouts, nevertheless, are not designed or calculated to produce a specific outcome.  The purpose, presumably, is simply and exclusively to ”burn calories.”  The same calories, undoubtedly, that they’ll shortly thereafter replace with a blueberry muffin or breakfast sandwich.  But that’s tangential.  The point is, such workouts aren’t aiming at specific goals, but are instead undertaken for the sake simply of “working out,” perhaps in the pursuit of some general concept of fitness and health if not wholly to burn calories.  While exercise of any kind is not a meaningless endeavor, if one is to achieve concrete, measurable results from his efforts in the gym, he needs to train. 

Training, unlike working out, implies that one has a specific goal and overarching objective towards which he is driving.  It implies purpose.  Whether the goal is a 500 lb squat, an increase in dynamic strength, the improvement of a specific weakness, a single-digit body fat percentage, etc., we train in pursuit of a specific result, which often represents a rung in the ladder of a larger, broader objective that we regard as our long-term goal (e.g. a 2,000 lb powerlifting total, etc.).  For this reason, we need to be precise in our language to reinforce our understanding of why we enter the weight room each and every workout.  Save “working out” for the soccer moms, neo-lifters (who is a neo-lifter? … Read my About page) and anyone who partakes in P90X.  Those of us who are serious about specific accomplishments train.