POWER
BODYBUILDINGRx
POWER
BODYBUILDINGRx
By Justin Harris, B.A.
www.musculardevelopment.com June 2009
310 MD
Can you build muscle size with doing sets of single reps, or do you need more reps for hypertro- phy?
Training with ‘singles’ will primar- ily result in increased neural efficien- cy, but not much hypertrophy (sar- comeric or sarcoplasmic). As such, I would only do singles sparingly in a hypertrophy-oriented training plan. Some lower-rep sets (2-3 reps) every now and then would be a good idea, because the increased neural effi- ciency and strength will carry over to your higher-rep sets.
What is your stance on the recent articles posted about Waxy Maize not being a ‘fast’ carb and not being more beneficial than other carb sources like dextrose?
Waxy Maize is a high-molecular weight carbohydrate, which isn’t the case for dextrose and many other carbohydrate sources available as supplements. The benefit is that high- molecular weight carbohydrates have a low osmolality; they will not ‘pool’ in the stomach like isotonic solutions. Therefore, they get to the small intestine quicker and into the bloodstream quicker.
There are studies showing higher
glycogen storage with HMW carbs over glucose solutions both 2-hours and 4-hours post-ingestion. With any- thing, you can find just about any tweak to justify your argument. There are plenty of past research studies showing that steroids don’t work. There are studies claiming results of some level for both sides of any issue. There was even a study claiming Mike was good-looking.
If you ever read a research arti- cle, you’ll see (aside from self- indulgent 19-letter words) +/- next to any number given. They’ll give you their error range right from the start.
There are also various levels of uncertainty that can’t be accounted for. Human error is a subjective uncer- tainty. Digestion is a complicated process that can’t be considered ‘absolute’ for anyone in any situation. If exact timing happens to be involved, the uncertainty can go through hundreds of layers of varia- tions... all the way down to human timing, when a set of normally myeli- nated nerves transfers electrical sig- nals up to 270 m/s— but age and dis- ease can vary that number drastically.
I’m going way overboard on all of this because that is what people do.
HMW carbs have a low osmolality; they should reach your small intestine and your bloodstream faster and that should mean faster glycogen storage. I’ve seen a few people mention that they aren’t supporters of Waxy Maize, by claiming there are no scientific studies on the product named “Waxy Maize.”
There are numerous studies on the efficacy of high-molecular weight car- bohydrates and their resultant low osmolality. Waxy Maize IS a high-mol- ecular weight carbohydrate. If you want to claim that it isn’t a high-mole- cular weight carbohydrate, then ask for lab assays, because there are stud- ies showing the efficacy of high-mole- cular weight carbs. Claiming there are no scientific studies is similar to say- ing that kosher salt doesn’t cause osmosis, or that non-iodine-contain- ing salt doesn’t cause osmosis, because studies are done with a sodi- um ion, or a sodium chloride mole- cule. The osmosis is caused by the sodium— not what the sodium is named.
It’s like saying my MacBook isn’t a computer, because there have been no studies showing it uses binary code.
At the end of the day, there are
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KEVIN HOR T ON PHO T O
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things like training hard, eating good, and resting that play much bigger roles in a person’s progress. Of course, people rarely fret about miss- ing a meal and often skip training ses- sions when they don’t feel like train- ing and often have shitty training sessions where they jack-jaw with their buddy more than they train. You don’t see many people freaking out over those things, though.
Insulin is even more misunder- stood than the other aspects. Insulin is produced in response to blood sugar levels. If the 100 grams of carbs enters the bloodstream all at once, there will be a larger spike of insulin than if the carbs enter over a period of time. The total insulin secretion will be roughly the same.
Waxy Maize enters the blood- stream sooner than other sources. By the time another source will have reached the small intestine and be entering the bloodstream, Waxy Maize will have been absorbed and taken up to the muscles for a period of time.
People seem to think insulin was ‘invented’ in the 1990s as something for bodybuilders to get bigger. It’s as if people think the human body devel- oped insulin production for no other reason than to help bodybuilders grow muscles bigger sometime in the very distant future.
Insulin is a central nervous system depressant; it increases GFR and is therefore a mild diuretic. It increases sodium reabsorption at the distal tubule (sodium is necessary for glyco- gen storage, so this could actually be a benefit to its actions).
I was reading an article that said the more fat you carry on your legs, the more testosterone is converted to estrogen. Will yohimbine help? Are there side effects?
Yohimbine can help. A lot of peo- ple don’t really ‘feel’ good on yohim- bine, though. So, check your tolerance as you build up your dosage. A cou- ple of cool things about yohimbine are that it was kind of the original Viagra— it’s an alpha-antagonist, which causes vasodilation of the peripheries— i.e., your ding-dong is a periphery and the yohimbine makes your main vein bigger.
Two ying-yang receptors in the
body are beta and alpha. Beta-ago- nists are things like ephedrine. They stimulate the beta-receptors. Alpha- antagonists (yohimbine) slow down the alpha-receptors.
Alpha are the ‘sleepy-sleepy’ component to the ‘wakey-wakey’ beta-receptors. So, yohimbine is a ‘back-end’ stimulant... although it doesn’t really provide any major stimulant effect.
Another cool thing about yohim- bine is that it has a tryptamine back- bone... For those who don’t know what that means... most psychoac- tive drugs have either a tryptamine structure or a phenylethylamine structure. The phenylethylamines are the stimulant hallucination drugs (think ecstasy).
The tryptamines are the “WTF? The-walls-are-melting” hallucinogen- ics (think LSD).
However...
yohimbine has no psy- choactive properties. If you look at the chemical structure, you can see that it should— but there isn’t. Too bad— that would be one hell of a Viagra!
I’m having a hard time getting the inside of my calves to grow; the outside grows fine. Any sug- gestions?
I’m not aware of any way to bring up a specific part of the calf, other than the gastrocnemius vs. the soleus. The gastroc is the ‘show’ part of the calf muscle— the meat that you see when you think of ‘calves.’ The soleus lies under the gastroc, and is visible more from the side— think of a side chest pose, and how the flexed calf looks in that pose. All calf raises (seated, standing, etc.) work both the gastroc and the soleus, but seated versions (with the knees bent) minimize the involvement of the gas- troc and make the soleus bear the brunt of the load.
As for inner vs. outer foot position- ing, some think that a ‘toes out’ stance (think of making a ‘V’ with your feet) will hit the inner head more than the outer. In my experience, the gen- eral shape of your calves has much more to do with genetics than how you train them or what stance you use. I always use a shoulder-width, feet-forward stance, and focus on pro- gressive resistance to bring up the entire calf, rather than focusing on any sort of specialization to bring up a certain part of the calf.■
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E
ven if abdominal work is not your favorite thing in the world to do, you know you still have to do it. If you’re like the average bodybuilder, you would rather work chest or arms than your abs. Most guys will tack a set or two of sit-ups or maybe a set of crunches at the end of the occasional workout, just to ease their conscience.However, that is not the complete answer for pro- ducing razor-sharp abs— which is really essential if you want people to notice your arms or chest, rather than a soft or bulging waistline.
The solution is perhaps obvious and relatively simple: base your bodybuilding on the quest for obtaining maximal muscle mass and training, by using outrageous intensity. Then even sitting at your computer, larger muscles will burn more calories chronically and continuously than small muscles. You also need to control your calorie input and choose abdominal exercises that short- en and therefore tighten the fibers in this area, rather than exercises that excessively stretch the abdominal fibers. Flying crunches provide a full range of abdomen action, but do not overstretch the fibers in the anterior abdominal wall; there- fore this exercise delivers intense and focused abdominal activation for quick results.