Five bodybuilding supplements that benefit more than your gym efforts

By Elizabeth R. Carey

You’ve been taking supplements such as arginine, carnitine, creatine, glutamine and 5-HTP for years. They’ve helped you get into fighting shape—a lean physique with powerful muscle and athletic prowess. But did you know that some of your favorite nutrition basics have better health implications too? Here’s what science is saying about what you’re probably taking already.

The supplement: Arginine
You take it now because:

more info

Recovery is important, without it your muscles are fatigued and don’t function optimally which effects your performance in the gym. A 2006 Journal of Nutrition study found that when arginine was combined with glutamine—specifically 6.6 - 7.2 grams of this combination daily for 30 days—training efficiency was improved because muscle integrity and the oxygen capacity of blood carried to the muscle increased.

But it also:
Prevents heart disease. As you already know, l-arginine helps make nitric oxide (NO) in the body, which is one of the reasons that it is able to help with muscle recovery as it increases blood flow. This action also helps keep your circulatory system healthy as it reduces blood vessel stiffness and improves blood vessel functioning, as shown by a French study in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

Improves performance in the bedroom. This is where nitric oxide really comes into (er…) play. NO relaxes the muscles surrounding the vessels that supply blood to your penis and as a result, your member’s blood vessels dilate, increase blood flow and, hello, he’s at attention.

Supports immune function. According to University of Pittsburgh researchers, arginine may help stimulate the body’s defense system; specifically, T-helper cells and cytokines that fight off disease. What’s more: low levels of arginine in the body have been documented in causes of trauma and cancer, which means not having enough in the body can help disease fester.

The supplement: Carnitine
You take it now because:

more info

That super-hard workout that made you feel oh-so good and taxed your body sent it into a cycle of stress and muscle damage. Granted, you need a bit of both to gain some muscle mass—just not too much. Recently, University of Connecticut (Storrs) researchers found that taking 1-2 grams of L-carnitine L-tartrate after exercise eases the stress and the muscle damage that occurs after exercise so you get just enough to sculpt a killer physique and not get a killer cold. In addition to helping with recovery, carnitine delivers fat to the mitochrondria—the workhorse of our body’s cells—and help the body use it as energy.

But it also:
Improves blood vessel function. Boston University researchers found that alpha lipoic acid and L-carnitine improve blood vessel function and blood pressure. In a double-blind crossover study, the scientists examined the effects of combined alpha-lipoic acid/acetyl-L-carnitine treatment and placebo (8 weeks per treatment) on blood vessel function and blood pressure in 36 subjects with coronary artery disease. The carnitine combination increased the diameter of arteries by 2.3 percent and decreased systolic blood pressure. While more studies like this one need to be done, it appears that carnitine does the heart good.

Beats fatigue. Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread pain, troubled sleep, disturbed mood, and fatigue. It has been recently suggested that FMS may be associated with metabolic alterations including a deficit of carnitine. In a clinical trial of 102 subjects, Italian researchers found that acetyl l-carnitine (LAC) did help alleviate the symptoms of FMS.

Their subjects took either of two capsules/day of 500 mg LAC or placebo plus one intramuscular injection of either 500 mg LAC or placebo for 2 weeks. Then, for the following eight weeks, subjects took three capsules daily containing either 500 mg LAC or placebo. Subjects were then tested four weeks after the study ended. What they found is that acetyl l-carnitine decreased pain as well as eased other general and mental health issues in the fibromyalgia patients.

Increases fertility. Leave it to the Italians to find a way to help sluggish sperm swim. In the journal of Fertility and Sterility, University of Padova researchers report that carnitine supplements might help rev up sperm movement. In a small clinical trial, 30 men who had been diagnosed with decreased sperm motility took 2 grams of L-carnitine supplements daily for three months. Then for another three months, the men didn’t take anything.

Researchers found that sperm motility improved while the carnitine supplements were being taken. Also, this improvement was temporary. Three months after treatment ended, sperm motility was still a bit better than before the study, but not by much. In addition, those who experienced the greatest improvement from the supplement had the sharpest drop in sperm motility after the treatment ended.

Regulates metabolism. Carnitine is a molecule that plays a unique role in cell energy metabolism; specifically, the major process by which fatty acids are oxidized. This function is ubiquitously dependent on carnitine, as the molecule adapts it to fulfill the needs of different tissues. In skeletal muscle, the importance of carnitine’s function to control and to regulate fuel not only relates to the metabolism of fatty acids and the capacity for fatty acid utilization, but also to fat balance and insulin resistance. Carnitine is a determinant in insulin regulation of fat and metabolic rate of glucose in skeletal muscle. As a result, it’s critical in determining body composition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, according to a 2003 report in Acta Diabetologie.

The supplement: Creatine
You take it now because:

more info

If you’re a low-carb devotee, creatine is a quick form of energy that is stored in your muscles. More specifically, creatine turns into ATP, which you need for your muscles to contract. Creatine supplementation also helps you get the muscular, lean physique you’re working so hard toward. According to a 2001 study published in the journal Metabolism, creatine may raise resting metabolic rate by more than 100 calories a day.

But it also:
Increases heat tolerance. Yes, we know that this is somewhat sports-related, but if you live in hot climates (and with global warming, don’t we all?), this use shouldn’t be overlooked. University of Glasgow researchers examined the effects of combined creatine and glycerol supplementation on responses to exercising in the heat. Subjects were given either 11.4 grams of creatine or 11.4 grams of glucose mixed with water and one gram of glycerol per kilogram of bodyweight. The results indicated that a combination of creatine and glycerol is an effective method of hyperhydration which reduces the body’s thermal and cardiovascular responses to exercising in the heat. This means that your workouts won’t feel as hard and your body won’t overheat as quickly as if you weren’t supplementing with the duo.

Prevents Sacropenia. Part of getting older is losing muscle mass, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Also known as sacropenia, the contributing factors of this loss are physical inactivity and under-nutrition. You can continue to strength train into your golden years and beyond; however, muscle loss is still observed in older adults who perform weight-bearing exercise, say Canadian researchers. As we already know, creatine supplementation has the potential to increase muscle accretion and hydration to cells, and to facilitate the up-regulation of muscle-specific genes such as myosin-heavy chains, possibly leading to muscle hypertrophy. For these reasons, creatine — in addition to continued weight workouts — may help prevent age-related muscle loss.

Fights Muscle Disorders. Progressive muscle weakness is a main symptom of most hereditary muscle diseases. Creatine might be helpful for treating them. German researchers evaluated the efficacy of oral creatine supplementation in muscle diseases by searching the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Register in May 2004 for randomized trials using the supplement. After reviewing 12 clinical trials, researchers found that short- and medium-term creatine use improves muscle strength in people with muscular dystrophies and is well-tolerated, but that it did not significantly improve muscle strength in those suffering from metabolic muscle diseases.

Develops Nervous System. As we develop in the womb, creatine plays an important role in developing our spinal cord during weeks 5 to 11.5, say Swedish researchers in the journal Brain Research. Specifically, they found that chronic creatine exposure resulted in significantly higher densities of immunoreactive neurons in the cultures suggesting a differentiation inducing mechanism of creatine supplementation.

Keeps Brain Healthy. When it comes to creatine’s influence on the brain, there are not many studies showing the supplement’s ability to improve its functioning. One recent study in the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology examined creatine supplementation’s effects on the brain. What the Yale researchers found is that a healthy human brain is malleable and shifts with seven days of supplementation, with the regions of initially low levels of creatine showing the largest changes. Overall, supplementation appears to improve cellular turnover in healthy brains.

The supplement: Glutamine

more info

You take it now because: It converts glucose into energy when your body needs to get through a tough workout.  And since it is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid, it aids in recovery and release of growth hormone. This means more muscle growth.

But it also:
Strengthens immunity. Glutamine boosts levels of glutathione by prodding your liver to synthesize the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione keeps oxidized fats in foods (think trans fats) from passing through your GI tract thus protecting your body from free radicals. This action makes glutamine an awesome immunity agent that cuts illness short and hastens recovery. That’s why you should take large doses of the amino acid during times of stress and illness. Many experts recommended taking 2,000 to 8,000 milligrams daily.

Heals wounds. When it comes to the relationship between nutrition and wound healing, there is no doubt that adequate carbohydrate, fat and protein intake needs to occur for proper curing. Research has suggested that other specific nutritional interventions can have beneficial effects on healing wounds; more specifically, glutamine.

The supplement: 5-HTP

more info

You take it now because: It stops carb cravings by regulating the brain chemical serotonin that tends to drop when you are dieting.

But it also:
Treats depression. 5 Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is considered a natural alternative to traditional antidepressants, used to treat depression. When Australian research wanted to see whether science backed this claim, they consulted databases looking for clinical trials. Only two of 108 trials met their criteria and suggested that it was better than placebo at alleviating depression.

Five bodybuilding supplements that benefit more than your gym efforts
By Elizabeth R. Carey

You’ve been taking supplements such as arginine, carnitine, creatine, glutamine and 5-HTP for years. They’ve helped you get into fighting shape—a lean physique with powerful muscle and athletic prowess. But did you know that some of your favorite nutrition basics have better health implications too? Here’s what science is saying about what you’re probably taking already.

The supplement: Arginine
You take it now because:

more info

Recovery is important, without it your muscles are fatigued and don’t function optimally which effects your performance in the gym. A 2006 Journal of Nutrition study found that when arginine was combined with glutamine—specifically 6.6 - 7.2 grams of this combination daily for 30 days—training efficiency was improved because muscle integrity and the oxygen capacity of blood carried to the muscle increased.

But it also:
Prevents heart disease. As you already know, l-arginine helps make nitric oxide (NO) in the body, which is one of the reasons that it is able to help with muscle recovery as it increases blood flow. This action also helps keep your circulatory system healthy as it reduces blood vessel stiffness and improves blood vessel functioning, as shown by a French study in the June 2007 issue of the Journal of Nutrition.

Improves performance in the bedroom. This is where nitric oxide really comes into (er…) play. NO relaxes the muscles surrounding the vessels that supply blood to your penis and as a result, your member’s blood vessels dilate, increase blood flow and, hello, he’s at attention.

Supports immune function. According to University of Pittsburgh researchers, arginine may help stimulate the body’s defense system; specifically, T-helper cells and cytokines that fight off disease. What’s more: low levels of arginine in the body have been documented in causes of trauma and cancer, which means not having enough in the body can help disease fester.

The supplement: Carnitine
You take it now because:

more info

That super-hard workout that made you feel oh-so good and taxed your body sent it into a cycle of stress and muscle damage. Granted, you need a bit of both to gain some muscle mass—just not too much. Recently, University of Connecticut (Storrs) researchers found that taking 1-2 grams of L-carnitine L-tartrate after exercise eases the stress and the muscle damage that occurs after exercise so you get just enough to sculpt a killer physique and not get a killer cold. In addition to helping with recovery, carnitine delivers fat to the mitochrondria—the workhorse of our body’s cells—and help the body use it as energy.

But it also:
Improves blood vessel function. Boston University researchers found that alpha lipoic acid and L-carnitine improve blood vessel function and blood pressure. In a double-blind crossover study, the scientists examined the effects of combined alpha-lipoic acid/acetyl-L-carnitine treatment and placebo (8 weeks per treatment) on blood vessel function and blood pressure in 36 subjects with coronary artery disease. The carnitine combination increased the diameter of arteries by 2.3 percent and decreased systolic blood pressure. While more studies like this one need to be done, it appears that carnitine does the heart good.

Beats fatigue. Fibromyalgia (FMS) is a chronic syndrome characterized by widespread pain, troubled sleep, disturbed mood, and fatigue. It has been recently suggested that FMS may be associated with metabolic alterations including a deficit of carnitine. In a clinical trial of 102 subjects, Italian researchers found that acetyl l-carnitine (LAC) did help alleviate the symptoms of FMS.

Their subjects took either of two capsules/day of 500 mg LAC or placebo plus one intramuscular injection of either 500 mg LAC or placebo for 2 weeks. Then, for the following eight weeks, subjects took three capsules daily containing either 500 mg LAC or placebo. Subjects were then tested four weeks after the study ended. What they found is that acetyl l-carnitine decreased pain as well as eased other general and mental health issues in the fibromyalgia patients.

Increases fertility. Leave it to the Italians to find a way to help sluggish sperm swim. In the journal of Fertility and Sterility, University of Padova researchers report that carnitine supplements might help rev up sperm movement. In a small clinical trial, 30 men who had been diagnosed with decreased sperm motility took 2 grams of L-carnitine supplements daily for three months. Then for another three months, the men didn’t take anything.

Researchers found that sperm motility improved while the carnitine supplements were being taken. Also, this improvement was temporary. Three months after treatment ended, sperm motility was still a bit better than before the study, but not by much. In addition, those who experienced the greatest improvement from the supplement had the sharpest drop in sperm motility after the treatment ended.

Regulates metabolism. Carnitine is a molecule that plays a unique role in cell energy metabolism; specifically, the major process by which fatty acids are oxidized. This function is ubiquitously dependent on carnitine, as the molecule adapts it to fulfill the needs of different tissues. In skeletal muscle, the importance of carnitine’s function to control and to regulate fuel not only relates to the metabolism of fatty acids and the capacity for fatty acid utilization, but also to fat balance and insulin resistance. Carnitine is a determinant in insulin regulation of fat and metabolic rate of glucose in skeletal muscle. As a result, it’s critical in determining body composition and risk factors for cardiovascular disease, obesity, hypertension, and type 2 diabetes, according to a 2003 report in Acta Diabetologie.

The supplement: Creatine
You take it now because:

more info

If you’re a low-carb devotee, creatine is a quick form of energy that is stored in your muscles. More specifically, creatine turns into ATP, which you need for your muscles to contract. Creatine supplementation also helps you get the muscular, lean physique you’re working so hard toward. According to a 2001 study published in the journal Metabolism, creatine may raise resting metabolic rate by more than 100 calories a day.

But it also:
Increases heat tolerance. Yes, we know that this is somewhat sports-related, but if you live in hot climates (and with global warming, don’t we all?), this use shouldn’t be overlooked. University of Glasgow researchers examined the effects of combined creatine and glycerol supplementation on responses to exercising in the heat. Subjects were given either 11.4 grams of creatine or 11.4 grams of glucose mixed with water and one gram of glycerol per kilogram of bodyweight. The results indicated that a combination of creatine and glycerol is an effective method of hyperhydration which reduces the body’s thermal and cardiovascular responses to exercising in the heat. This means that your workouts won’t feel as hard and your body won’t overheat as quickly as if you weren’t supplementing with the duo.

Prevents Sacropenia. Part of getting older is losing muscle mass, but it doesn’t have to be that way. Also known as sacropenia, the contributing factors of this loss are physical inactivity and under-nutrition. You can continue to strength train into your golden years and beyond; however, muscle loss is still observed in older adults who perform weight-bearing exercise, say Canadian researchers. As we already know, creatine supplementation has the potential to increase muscle accretion and hydration to cells, and to facilitate the up-regulation of muscle-specific genes such as myosin-heavy chains, possibly leading to muscle hypertrophy. For these reasons, creatine — in addition to continued weight workouts — may help prevent age-related muscle loss.

Fights Muscle Disorders. Progressive muscle weakness is a main symptom of most hereditary muscle diseases. Creatine might be helpful for treating them. German researchers evaluated the efficacy of oral creatine supplementation in muscle diseases by searching the Cochrane Neuromuscular Disease Group Register in May 2004 for randomized trials using the supplement. After reviewing 12 clinical trials, researchers found that short- and medium-term creatine use improves muscle strength in people with muscular dystrophies and is well-tolerated, but that it did not significantly improve muscle strength in those suffering from metabolic muscle diseases.

Develops Nervous System. As we develop in the womb, creatine plays an important role in developing our spinal cord during weeks 5 to 11.5, say Swedish researchers in the journal Brain Research. Specifically, they found that chronic creatine exposure resulted in significantly higher densities of immunoreactive neurons in the cultures suggesting a differentiation inducing mechanism of creatine supplementation.

Keeps Brain Healthy. When it comes to creatine’s influence on the brain, there are not many studies showing the supplement’s ability to improve its functioning. One recent study in the American Journal of Physiology: Regulatory, Integrative and Comparative Physiology examined creatine supplementation’s effects on the brain. What the Yale researchers found is that a healthy human brain is malleable and shifts with seven days of supplementation, with the regions of initially low levels of creatine showing the largest changes. Overall, supplementation appears to improve cellular turnover in healthy brains.

The supplement: Glutamine

more info

You take it now because: It converts glucose into energy when your body needs to get through a tough workout. And since it is involved in more metabolic processes than any other amino acid, it aids in recovery and release of growth hormone. This means more muscle growth.

But it also:
Strengthens immunity. Glutamine boosts levels of glutathione by prodding your liver to synthesize the antioxidant glutathione. Glutathione keeps oxidized fats in foods (think trans fats) from passing through your GI tract thus protecting your body from free radicals. This action makes glutamine an awesome immunity agent that cuts illness short and hastens recovery. That’s why you should take large doses of the amino acid during times of stress and illness. Many experts recommended taking 2,000 to 8,000 milligrams daily.

Heals wounds. When it comes to the relationship between nutrition and wound healing, there is no doubt that adequate carbohydrate, fat and protein intake needs to occur for proper curing. Research has suggested that other specific nutritional interventions can have beneficial effects on healing wounds; more specifically, glutamine.

The supplement: 5-HTP

more info

You take it now because: It stops carb cravings by regulating the brain chemical serotonin that tends to drop when you are dieting.

But it also:
Treats depression. 5 Hydroxytryptophan (5-HTP) is considered a natural alternative to traditional antidepressants, used to treat depression. When Australian research wanted to see whether science backed this claim, they consulted databases looking for clinical trials. Only two of 108 trials met their criteria and suggested that it was better than placebo at alleviating depression.

Being a writer/photographer for several publications and websites, I find myself checking into so many hotels that I mix up my room numbers from one place to the next. As a competitive bodybuilder this not only puts stress onto the training regime but also onto the dietary needs of an athlete. Training all the body parts through a three days a split weight training cycle is attainable on most occasions, but eating six times a day can be a hard push. From years of trial, error, starvation and unforeseen fat gain from spending a lot of time on the road, I have come up with some handy ways to keep on my dietary track even if I am away from my home turf.

What not to take
A couple of days before you leave for the airport; you should have a list of foods that you regularly eat. Raw foods such as fruits are out of the question and will more than likely lead to confiscation at the airport security check-in. Fluids are also on the banned substance list for air flight, so, those ever so convenient RTDs will have to stay at home if want to save yourself the bloat of having to chug down 120gms of protein in order to grant yourself security approval.

Preparation
Option one

Spending several hours in the kitchen the day before you fly is an option that will guarantee a successful trip whilst staying on your bodybuilder’s nutrition regime. A cool bag with plenty of icepacks will suffice and keep your food fresh until you get to your hotel room where you should already have a fridge booked and waiting for you. A little trick I have learned when booking a hotel’s fridge is to mention that you are a diabetic and require the fridge for your insulin medication. The hotel is more than happy to agree on most occasions but try to book it prior to your departure in case they have a shortage of refrigerators (which is very likely if you happen to be in the host hotel for a bodybuilding or sporting event). Cook an adequate amount of protein and carbohydrates and then freeze it for the duration of your stay. The food needed for your journey will be OK if kept in a refrigerator. I recommend that you keep this food in a small cool bag that is of adequate size for a standard-sized lunch box containing enough food for your journey from your home to hotel. Please note that plastic spoons and forks would be much lighter to carry and will cause much less hassle at the security check.

Option 2
This option proves to be a little easier in preparation and is more convenient for those who do not want to prepare cooked foods and are only away for a short time. Tuna sachets make a great food source and handy emergency meal. This is much like tinned tuna but comes in handy hard-foil sachets that are easy and light to pack and are extremely convenient for that emergency protein fix. Protein powders and a good shaker bottle are also a good idea. A couple of scoops of powder mixed with some water is a meal that can drive as much muscle building protein into your body as required and has more nutritional benefits than most food stores along the way will offer. Protein bars are another great commodity but please pack them in a cool bag as they do often melt on flights. The Supreme Protein bar has 30gm of real, usable protein (mostly whey isolate!), AND it the best tasting bar on the market.  In terms of carbohydrate, I normally pack a small tub of Uncle Bens Quick Oats. Most of the time, a microwave oven or a cooking stove is nowhere to be seen, so in a hotel room a normal procedure on my journey is to add some quick oats to my protein powder in my shaker bottle and drink it uncooked. Its harmless, painless, surprisingly filling and gives you the nutritional value that you would get on your strict diet that you follow at home.  If you find that you aren’t hardcore enough for this, you can boil up some water with your hotel room kettle (presuming there is one) and add it to the quick oats. Let it sit for a while to expand and cook before adding the protein powder. Also, if the thought of raw oats mixed with your protein shake sounds as appetizing as eating a scabby cat, packing some rice cakes might be a little more palatable. To get a slower release of carbohydrate, a brown rice option is now available and tastes great when dipping them into my protein pudding. Protein pudding is an awesome treat that is made by a couple of companies including Instone. It has the thick creamy texture of a regular pudding but is made with plenty of muscle-maintaining protein.  Due to it being premixed, I would recommend that you have it packed into your checked-in luggage so it doesn’t get confiscated due to its fluid content.

Beef Jerky is a food that is also commonplace in my suitcase. Again, it is very convenient and provides an adequate amount of protein that is low in carbohydrates (though it can be high in sodium if you happen to be watching your salt intake). These packets come in large and snack-size portions and have been consumed by yours truly in plenty of taxi rides from airports and hotels.

With the options I have outlined above, there are no reasons why being on the road should complicate your dietary needs. If you find that your time away from home is for a further extended period, most of the above commodities can be found at the local supermarket or health food store.

Ready to win the battle against body fat and improve your cardio fitness? This step-by-step plan will help you run stronger and longer — and get you leaner in the process — in one month.

Is your exercise form so bad it’s criminal? We lay down the law on how to correct 12 of the most common errors perpetrated in the gym.

Listen up — we have some crimes to report, and everyone in the weight room is a suspect. You’ve seen it for sure, and likely you’re at least a little guilty yourself. Stopping short on your squat. Swinging your arms like pendulums on your curls. Cheating a bit too much on your bench press to lift more weight than you can safely handle. Those are just a few examples, but there’s more.
The problem is, by breaking proper form, the only person you’re robbing is yourself — you’re not getting the utmost benefits out of each rep, and thus each workout is less productive than it can be.
The good news is, it’s never too late to turn away from a life of lifting transgressions. Here, we’ll identify the most common form errors on popular exercises, tell you why they’re detrimental, and render the verdict on how to fix them to maximize your mass-building results. Ready to lock up new muscle gains?

1) Barbell Squat
Crime: Stopping before your thighs reach a point parallel with the floor
It’s a hard pill for some to swallow — you’re able to load enough plates on a leg press to stock an Italian kitchen cabinet, yet on the squat, just a few 45s a side leaves you weak kneed. To compensate, those who can’t stand the thought of lifting lighter have adopted a shorter range of motion, and thus are able to move more weight than if they used the correct thighs-parallel-to-the-floor position. While the totals may look more impressive in your logbook, incomplete reps will cheat you out of benefits. In fact, going to parallel is not only safer on your knee joints, it engages more muscle fibers in your quadriceps, hamstrings and glutes than quarter reps ever could. Don’t worry about poundage — go light and get the form down, and once you do, the impressive weights will follow naturally over time.

2) Leg Press
Crime: Letting your lower back lift off the pad at the bottom of the repetition
Bringing your knees down to your chest on the leg press can constitute a nice, full-range-of-motion repetition. But there’s a catch — if you’re not limber enough, your glutes and lower back will curl off the seat, instantly putting plenty of undue strain on that very fragile area of your body. The hundreds of pounds of weight bearing down on you can tweak your lower back, and before you know it, you have serious pain to contend with. On the leg press, always keep your glutes firmly against the pad, stopping each rep at the point right before they would begin to lift off. If you work on your flexibility over time, you’ll be able to do a nice, deep rep, without compromising your lower back — a win-win situation on leg day.

3) Lunge
Crime: Letting the knee of your front leg extend past your toes in the bottom position
When stepping down into a lunge, a lot of people make this sometimes hard-to-detect yet critical error. By letting their front knee track out past their toes, they put it under shearing forces and strain. To rectify this, make sure you step out deeply enough and that you keep your hips shifted back (as leaning forward will force that knee out). At the bottom of a lunge, your front knee should be in a 90-degree angle, and your back knee should be elevated an inch or two off of the floor. Also keep in mind, this is a mistake you don’t want to make on squats — shift your hips back and make sure your knees don’t extend past your toes on the descent.

4) Bent-Over Dumbbell Row
Crime: Relying on your biceps to lift most of the load

Think about the action of your back muscles on a row. You may believe it’s obvious, but for plenty of lifters who do the majority of their rowing with their arms, it’s really not. You see, if you bring the dumbbell up to your flank by simply bending your elbow, you’re basically calling on your biceps to do the majority of the work. Now, think about what happens to your back muscles when you shift your shoulders and shoulder blades backward — they contract. Whether you’re rowing with a barbell, dumbbell or on a machine, this is a key concept: To engage your back in the exercise, you need to make sure your shoulder is moving along with your elbows. Forge this important mind-muscle connection by visualizing your back muscles engaging on each repetition of a row, and soon you’ll be making incredible strides in the weight you can handle and the size of your lats, rhomboids and teres major and minor muscles.

5) Seated Cable Row
Crime: Leaning excessively forward and backward
This crime is so common you’ll catch otherwise competent certified personal trainers teaching it incorrectly. During a seated cable row, you’ll see people leaning as far forward as they can, then leaning excessively back the other way as they pull the handle toward their abdomen. What results is an inefficient lower-back exercise in place of a movement to hit the intended body part, the upper back. To fix this, you want to control the movement, staying upright throughout. As you bring the handle toward you, flex your upper back (which will pull back your shoulders, as described in #4). As you lower the weight, don’t allow your upper body to follow the handle forward, just let your shoulder blades shift outward and your elbows straighten. You should feel the difference immediately, and see the difference in the coming weeks in the form of new muscle mass.

6) Back Extension
Crime: Hyperextending your back at the top of the rep
This exercise was often referred to as “hyperextensions” for years — no wonder so many gym goers still do it wrong, excessively overarching their back at the top. Instead of benefiting the lower back muscles, this extra extension only serves to put undue pressure on your spinal cord. To perform the extension right, you should stop the rep when your body reaches a flat “plank” position, squeeze your lower back, and then lower your upper body back to the start.

7) Shrug
Crime: Rolling your shoulders

This misdeed goes to show, we can even screw up even the simplest of exercises. There may be no movement more basic than the barbell or dumbbell shrug — doing it correctly consists of flexing your trapezius to lift your shoulders up toward your ears, then relaxing to drop them back down. Somewhere along the way, someone tried to get fancy by adding a shoulder roll to the mix, bringing the shoulders back, up, forward and down on each repetition in the false logic that it would more thoroughly work the traps. It doesn’t, so stick to the original: Straight up and straight down equals straightforward muscle gains.

Seated Barbell Press
Crime: Sliding forward so your back isn’t in contact with the pad
Those who have stronger pectorals that tend to overpower their delts often resort to this trick — a slight shift forward of your glutes and lower back makes the military press a bit more like an incline press, thus recruiting more upper pecs. Two problems result, however: Your lower back is put at risk for strain, and you lessen the overall work done by your shoulders, thus always relegating them to be weaker link in your upper body. Stay attuned to doing the press correctly, and sitting upright throughout.

9) Dumbbell Lateral Raise
Crime: Bringing the dumbbells all the way down in front of your hips at the bottom
Lateral raises are meant to work what is a relatively small area — the middle deltoid head. In general, you don’t have enough muscle there to lift a lot of weight. So if you are hoisting 45-pound dumbbells and beyond and you’re not built to the gills with muscle mass, chances are you’re cheating on your raises. To test yourself, try this: Hold a dumbbell about six inches away from your side, and then, without swaying or moving your body to help, lift the dumbbell out and up, only using your deltoid muscle to power the move. How much weight could you handle? The same as you use normally? Bringing the dumbbells all the way down to your sides between each repetition allows your muscles to rest at the bottom. If you go the extra step of bringing the dumbbells down in front of your hips until they touch one another, you are essentially extending the range of motion down in this “dead zone” where the middle delt isn’t activated, and you’re probably even shifting your hips forward on the ascent to add some momentum to your raise. From now on, get more out of your laterals by choosing a more realistic weight and bringing the dumbbells down to your sides — but not quite all the way down.

10) Barbell Bench Press
Crime: Arching your lower back off of the bench

incline shown

With a grunt of intense effort, your feet planted into the floor, the barbell across your chest, you push the barbell as hard as you can. Unfortunately, all too often when that bar doesn’t head upward as quickly as hoped, your glutes pop off the bench and your back curls up like a lock of Carrot Top’s hair in an effort to prod the weight along, and all of a sudden an innocent bench press turns into a dangerous activity. No matter how often it has been preached in gyms across the country by those who know better, bench pressers all-too-often resort to lifting their butt and lower back off the bench to complete their reps and handle more weight. Don’t give into this temptation — keep your rear down and, in due time, by following good form your bench totals will go up.

11) Standing Barbell Curl
Crime: Leaning back and shifting your elbows directly underneath the bar on the ascent

Watch others perform barbell curls and you’ll often spot all sorts of mistakes. Guys especially, who are usually after a larger lift total at all costs, will shift their hips forward to get the bar started on its ascent, then bend backwards in an effort to shift their elbows underneath the bar and get it up to their shoulders. From there, they’ll let the bar fall gracelessly back to the start and do it again. After a few sets of this, they may feel as if everything in their body but their biceps has been activated. Checking your ego at the door is the surest way to get your biceps on track; adjust your form on barbell curls by keeping your hips stationary and your elbows firmly entrenched at your sides — it may help you to picture a steel rod running through your torso, holding your elbows in place. At the top of the rep, stop just before your elbows shift directly underneath the bar. Otherwise, you’re giving your bi’s a chance to rest at the apex of each rep, taking valuable tension off of them. Taking these lessons to heart will help you engage your biceps thoroughly throughout each and every set, the surest way to achieve maximum growth.

12) Standing Calf Raise
Crime: Keeping your knees bent during the repetition
While on most exercises, you’d never get the advice to completely lock out your joint, on standing calf raises, you do in fact want to do exactly that. Keeping your knees absolutely straight targets the meaty gastrocnemius muscle on the back of your lower leg. Bend your knees and you’re calling on the much smaller soleus (the same muscle you’re hitting on seated calf raises). One caveat: Straight does not mean hyperextending at the knee, so be careful to not go to that extreme.

Summer is over and many of you may be feeling the effects of too many hot dogs and cold barley-based beverages. If you are part of the aesthetically conscious cohort, then you most likely came into the summer in phenomenal shape, and you may or may not have maintained this condition. Regardless of your current condition, the following information will come in handy for the months to come. The following article is intended to give you the basic science behind the newest key ingredients that should be included in a good fat burning/diet aid supplement.

Appetite Suppressants: Making dieting easy on the body and mind

Slimaluma Extract (Caralluma Fimbriata)
Currently the most innovative appetite-suppressing compound is a proprietary extract of the herb caralluma fimbriata, a substance Gencore Pacific Inc. trademarked Slimaluma. It has been through two clinical trials and was introduced recently into the market. According to Gencore, caralluma fimbriata is a succulent cactus used for centuries by locals in India for appetite suppression. In fact, it is essentially a vegetable of daily use in tribal India. Indian tribes chew chunks of caralluma fimbriata to suppress hunger when on a day’s hunt and it is used among the labor classes in South India to suppress appetite and enhance endurance. The clinical efficacy of Slimaluma has been tested in recent placebo controlled double blind trials published in the journal Appetite. In this investigation the effect of caralluma extract was tested in overweight men and women. Fifty adult men and women were randomly assigned to an experimental or placebo group, where the former received 1g of Caralluma extract per day for 60 days. The authors concluded that caralluma fimbriata ingestion was a potent appetite suppressant and its ingestion led to dramatic decreases in waist circumference (Kuriyan et al., 2007).

Mucuna Pruriens
Mucuna pruriens, which originates from the velvet bean, is an ancient Indian herb that contains a large amount of bioavailable L-dopa (the precursor to dopamine). Remarkable benefits have been noted with Mucuna pruriens ingestion in patients with Parkinson’s disease, a disorder that involves a declining production of dopamine (Katzenschlager et al., 2004). Dopamine is a fundamental neurotransmitter that signals areas of the brain that give you the sense of well being, alertness, motivation, and focus. It also is a key player in the signaling cascade for growth hormone (GH) release. Fundamentally, dopamine has been shown to inhibit hypothalamic somatostatin secretion, which then allows for a greater stimulatory effect of growth hormone releasing hormone (GHRH) which leads to greater release of GH by the pituitary gland. That being said, with Mucuna pruriens supplementation you will notice greater energy and focus and the benefits of augmented GH (increases in lean mass, strength, and decreased fat mass). In addition, the L-dopa in Mucuna pruriens has been shown to balance norepinephrine and serotonin in the brain, as well as exhibit potent antioxidant properties. These effects will augment your sense of well being, help to control food cravings, and stabilize mood.

Lipolytic and Thermogenic Agents: making dieting more effective

Green Tea Extract (Camillia Sinesis)
A good fat-burning formulation should contain caffeine and green tea extract (standardized for high levels of catechins and EGCG), as the research is plentiful and conclusive regarding the positive effects of caffeine and green tea extracts on lipolysis and thermogenesis. Recently, it was concluded that caffeine and green tea catechins taken together cause significant increases in metabolism throughout the entire day and night (Acheson et al., 2004). For years scientists attributed the thermogenic benefits of green tea to its caffeine content alone; however this was not entirely correct. Biochemically, its effects are due to the interaction between its high catechin-polyphenol content and caffeine and their synergistic impact on sympathetically released norepinephrine (NE) (Dulloo et al., 2000). The synergistic action of these compounds inhibits the break-down of NE, a key player in fat mobilization, lipolysis, and appetite suppression. Applied evidence that supports the biochemistry comes from a number of clinically based studies. For example, in a recent investigation it was concluded that the combination of regular moderate treadmill exercise and green tea extract supplementation stimulates increased whole body fat utilization; an effect that is sustained long after the completion of exercise. Green tea extract has been shown to cause direct increases of lipolysis in the liver and in skeletal muscle (Shimotoyodome et al., 2005). More recent and supporting evidence illustrated that long-term intake of “catechin-rich” green tea extract combined with habitual aerobic exercise increases exercise endurance because of its positive impact on fat metabolism (Murase et al., 2006). Of note, be certain that your green tea product is standardized with high levels of polyphenols, catechins, and epigallocatchin-3-P-gallate.

Raspberry Ketone (4-(4-hydroxyphenyl) butan-2-one)
Raspberry ketone has been recently implicated as the newest “player” in the fat burning supplement scene. Morimoto et al. was the first to report the anti-obesity characteristics of raspberry ketone supplementation in male Wistar rats. After thorough biochemical and histochemical analysis they concluded that raspberry ketones impart substantial impact on the accumulation of fat. It was reported that its effects on lipolysis are manifested via stimulated metabolism of adipose tissue and inhibited small intestine absorption of dietary fat (by suppressing pancreatic lipase activity). They further concluded that raspberry ketone supplementation was effective in preventing sugar and fat induced fat accumulation (Morimoto et al., 2005).

Green Coffee Extract
Green coffee extract is another innovative and interesting compound just breaking into the fat burning supplement scene. We all know that coffee contains relatively high amounts of caffeine, but have you heard of coffee’s other main constituent—chlorogenic acid? This intriguing substance is almost completely lost during the coffee roasting process, but is highly bioavailable in green, unroasted coffee beans. Current research has shown that green coffee extract significantly elevates fat metabolism in the liver (as a result of chlorogenic acid) and the caffeine component suppresses fat absorption. As a result, green coffee extract suppresses body weight gain and visceral fat accumulation (Shimoda et al., 2006).

Imagine a supplement that incorporates a combination of these aforementioned science backed compounds into a single formulation. Well, fortunately the scientists at BioQuest have done there homework to stay on top of the game. Tetrazene Extreme is a novel and innovative fat loss product that battles fat accumulation and hunger while aiding in fat loss from all angles. As always they use standardized extracts to deliver the highest potency, while maintaining consistency between doses. Furthermore, their scientific team has added vinpocetine and huperzine A to Tetrazene Extreme, which ensures dieting sanity and makes it the most robust formula available to date. With Tetrazene Extreme you will eat less and make better food choices, and you will turn up metabolism to burn fat more effectively.

References
Acheson KJ, Gremaud G, Meirim I, Montigon F, Krebs Y, Fay LB, Gay LJ, Schneiter P, Schindler C, & Tappy L (2004). Metabolic effects of caffeine in humans: lipid oxidation or futile cycling? Am J Clin Nutr 79, 40-46.
Katzenschlager R, Evans A, Manson A, Patsalos PN, Ratnaraj N, Watt H, Timmermann L, Van der GR, & Lees AJ (2004). Mucuna pruriens in Parkinson’s disease: a double blind clinical and pharmacological study. J Neurol Neurosurg Psychiatry 75, 1672-1677.
Kuriyan R, Raj T, Srinivas SK, Vaz M, Rajendran R, & Kurpad AV (2007). Effect of Caralluma Fimbriata extract on appetite, food intake and anthropometry in adult Indian men and women. Appetite 48, 338-344.
Morimoto C, Satoh Y, Hara M, Inoue S, Tsujita T, & Okuda H (2005). Anti-obese action of raspberry ketone. Life Sci 77, 194-204.
Murase T, Haramizu S, Shimotoyodome A, Tokimitsu I, & Hase T (2006). Green tea extract improves running endurance in mice by stimulating lipid utilization during exercise. Am J Physiol Regul Integr Comp Physiol 290, R1550-R1556.
Shimoda H, Seki E, & Aitani M (2006). Inhibitory effect of green coffee bean extract on fat accumulation and body weight gain in mice. BMC Complement Altern Med 6, 9.
Shimotoyodome A, Haramizu S, Inaba M, Murase T, & Tokimitsu I (2005). Exercise and green tea extract stimulate fat oxidation and prevent obesity in mice. Med Sci Sports Exerc 37, 1884-1892.

• Bill is back! (09/21)
  Bill Wilmore’s bodybuilding triumph came last year when he stepped upon the IFBB stage and finished within the top 5 of his first two professional shows. Although this was a significant milestone, people have since written him off as a flash in the pan and a fly by night of the pro league. In 2007 Wilmore kicked sand in the critic’s faces by coming back at the Europa Super Show, taking names and a third place finish which guaranteed him an Olympia placing, and some lost respect of his peers.

  “I’m feeling good after the Europa and I am confident with my Olympia preparation. Hany Rhambod (Bill’s nutritionist) has everything mapped out for me who takes off a tremendous amount of pressure and makes the whole scenario a lot easier to deal with,” said Bill.

  Now the critics have failed to demise Wilmore’s good will, they will more than likely come out and dismiss his Olympia appearance as a fluke. Let’s hope he comes out with those massive guns blazing to shoot down anyone who attempts to play down his game face.

• German Invasion (09/21)
  As we went to press, four athletes representing Germany have qualified for the 2007 Mr. Olympia.

  Dennis James who has finished as high as the top 5th on this stage in the past qualified by taking second to Branch Warren at the New York Pro and will be looking to redeem his disappointing 7th place at the Colorado Pro several weeks later.

  Finishing one place behind Dennis James at the New York Pro was Dennis Wolf. Wolf went onto the Keystone Classic one week later to claim his first win of his professional career and in doing do has inflicted a turn of direction that the bodybuilding world could be well received. 28 year old Wolf’s good looks, small waist, flaring shoulders and fantastic symmetry could be a promotional poster for the outside world.

  The German giant Markus Ruhl will be creaking the Olympia stage once again when he steps up to stand shoulder to shoulder with the mass monsters. The thorn in his side will be his lack of condition through his back, hamstrings and glutes that has yet to adequately sliced for Olympia company. His recent pec tear will also be something that can pose a problem if he wants to “Ruhl” this world.

  Ronny Rockel, much like Wolf has nice flowing lines balanced upon a muscular frame that is structured well for his height. His overall muscle balance is even better than Wolfs who lacks the calve, hamstring and back thickness that the rest of his body posses, but Rockel pretty much has it all. His back could use a shallow more thickness but other than that this guy has all the tools to crack the top ten given the right judiciary treatment.

• Coleman Vs Cutler (09/21)
  Have you ever noticed that the people who cry about everyone’s conception of the 2007 Mr. Olympia as being a two man show is the…………other competitors. Some say it is boring but the media are having a field day with it. It is like a show in itself and I for one, speaking on behalf of a fans perspective see nothing wrong with it at all. After all, we are speaking of the two largest Olympian athletes, one a former Mr. Olympia, the other our current champion.
  As much as this dual is physical, it is also mental. Fear has the universal advantage of making one fight or flee. On September 29th we will find out which of these universal out comes match up with Cutler and Coleman.

  Last year Ronnie was clearly holding a huge amount of water where as Cutler wasn’t. The notion of that small mishap could be enough to give Coleman the motivation to take back what he feels is rightfully his, but I am sure Jay will have something to say about that. Cutler is now the new champ and feels very comfortable where he is sitting and has done everything he could this past year to prevent any retaliation to second position where he has found himself standing on many occasions.

  The dual between these two titans will be a battle that you wont want to miss and will go down as one of the most supreme in bodybuilding history.

• Eddie Ready to Obliterate (09/21)
  Eddie Abbew is bigger than ever. At four weeks out from his Olympia debut he was weighing in at 290Ibs, looking full, healthy and very hard. “My goal is to use the same formula that I followed this year which got me my podium finish at the Ironman,” the Englishman told Prosource.

  A third place ranking at the Ironman Pro Show secured Eddie his Olympia invite which he has been vying for since joining the pro ranks 10 years ago. He sought the assistance of fellow IFBB Pro – Ernie Taylor which gave him the tools to come in absolutely peeled when he walked onstage earlier this year.

  Eddie is a registered nurse in his native England and hopes that there will be many wounded at the 2007 Olympia following the torment and thrashing he will implement on his competition.

• Cormier CAN’T comeback (09/21)
  As I reported last week in the gossip column titled “Can Comier Comeback,” I asked if Chris Cormier could in fact fill out and sharpen up from his fourth placing at Montreal in time for the Atlantic City Pro which was held the following week. The answer was no………for this year at least. Chris missed out on his Olympia qualification for 2007 and was relegated back to 7th place in a field that was much more competitive than the week prior. Melvin Anthony, David Henry and Craig Richardson all entered the fray with the contestants of last week to justify Cormier’s placing. The size that Chris is holding at this moment of his career isn’t nearly enough to mix with the big boys and I fear that father time has a different path to take than a successful and rejuvenated Pro career.

  Cormier has been a formidable force in bodybuilding and I have learnt never to count him out even with his chips down but with his setbacks as of late I fear we have seen the best of this bodybuilding legend.

• Johnnie Reverses his Role (09/21)
  One of the bridesmaids of last weeks Montreal Pro became the bride in Atlantic City and stole the show from a hugely competitive field all wanting to catch the bouquet.

  Johnnie Jackson, who finished third behind Darrem Charles and Quincy Taylor in Canada last week managed to tighten up considerably and pulled on the reigns to bring the Atlantic City Pro title within striking distance. He was much fuller and considerably more shredded than seven days prior which was enough to surpass the monster of mass – Quincy Taylor and the king of condition – Darrem Charles.

  This is Jackson’s second pro win of his career which is a huge contrast the earlier segment of the 07 season where he finished eighth at the Keystone Classic and ninth at the Colorado Pro following a lengthily layoff. This result will surely provide him with the much needed confidence to crack the top eight at the Mr. Olympia which is now less than two weeks away.

• Melvin loses his Momentum (09/21)
  Although Melvin Anthony had already qualified for the 2007 Mr. Olympia, he decided to enter the pre show fray by entering the Atlantic City Pro to take home some pocket change along the way. That literally did turn out to be pocket change as he was relegated out of the top three which has devastated the momentum of his fifth place finish at that was carrying him as a favorite challenger to climb mount Olympia.

  Several inside experts such as Bob Cicherello and Allan Donelly of FLEX magazine warned that Melvin had much more to lose than to gain by taking this show in his stride. Now, Melvin will have to contend with Darrem Charles, Johnnie Jackson and David Henry, who all beat him over the weekend, before he can get his teeth sunk into his previous Olympia threats.

• Taylor trips up (09/21)
  “There is no way I will compete in the Olympia without a win, I will get my ass handed to me without a victory under my belt”. These are the words that Quincy Taylor spoke going into the Europa Super Show in Texas this year where he was favorite to snatch his first win. As we all know by now things didn’t go as planned for the big Q.T., and a disappointing fourth place in Texas forced Taylor to sharpen his game plan and vie for his win in Montreal two weeks later. Darrem Charles showed up and spoiled the party by relegating Quincy to second and then a week later his hopes were destroyed when he finished a lowly 6th place behind Craig Richardson at Atlantic City over the weekend.

  So the question remains, will Taylor stick to his first gun and pull out of the Olympia due to his vacant victory, or will he battle for supremacy within the top 10 in Vegas where he believes he so rightfully belongs. Stay tuned to Prosource to find out.

The History of Mr. Olympia Joe Weider, co-founder of the International Federation of BodyBuilders (IFBB) created the Mr. Olympia Contest, first held on September 18, 1965 at the Brooklyn Academy of Music. Larry Scott, already holding the title for Mr. America, Mr. World and Mr. Universe, took the title for Mr. Olympia in 1965 and again in 1966. In 1966, at 28, Larry announced his retirement from competition. From 1967-1969 Sergio "The Myth" Oliva, held the undefeated title. In 1969, he was challenged by a new and upcoming bodybuilder from Austria named Arnold Schwarzenegger. It was a tough decision, but Sergio held his title. However, in 1970, Arnold took over the title, holding on to it for the next 5 years until announcing his retirement. With Arnold now out of the show Franco Columbo was crowned the new Mr. Olympia in 1976 then like Arnold announced his retirement from competition. From 1977-1979, Frank Zane held the spot finally losing his title in 1980 where Arnold made his history making comeback by winning the title for the seventh and last time before retiring for good. 1981 saw the comeback of former Mr. Olympia champion Franco Columbo who won for the second time then officially retired. With the new title up for grabs in 1982 Chris Dickerson became the oldest man to win the title. 1983 was the year of the "Lion of Lebanon" Samir Bannout who put it all together to be the 6th man to have the title. 1984 started the streaked of the "Totalee Awesome"Lee Haney who made his mark on history by winning the Mr. Olympia a record 8 consecutive times. In 1992 with Lee Haney officially retired Dorian Yates captured the title and held it for 6 years until hanging up his posing trunks. In 1998 the bodybuilding world was taken by storm with the arrival of Ronnie Coleman. Ronnie has since tied Lee Haney’s record for consecutive wins holding the title for 8 years until 2006, when his winning streak was broken by Jay Cutler. In the 42 years since the first Mr. Olympia Contest there has been a total of 11 pro bodybuilders who have held the title of "Mr. Olympia."

• The Gladiators are back! (9/11)

  The hit T.V. show that graced our screens over a decade ago is about to grace our screens one again. The American Gladiators, which puts the average American up against the fierce force of the super athlete, has been running casting and fitness tests around Gold’s gym in Venice. The producers of the original Gladiators show have been casting bodybuilders such as Gary Strydom, Marika Johansson and David Hughes amongst others which will be very exciting for the world wide audience and even better for the bodybuilding world. It has been said that the recording of the entire eight weeks series will be filmed in as little as four days. Contenders are will have their fitness test casting this coming weekend at the Venice Golds Gym .

• 2008 Will Be Ronnie’s Swan Song (9/11)

  Get your tickets for the 2008 Mr. Olympia pronto if you want your chance to see the former eight times (and possibly nine times) champion for the last time because this will be the last occasion that Ronnie Coleman will stand upon the bodybuilding stage. “Win or lose I will not be competing at the Olympia anymore,” Coleman said this week.

  1997 was the year that Coleman upset the bodybuilding world and snatched the first of eight Olympia victories only to lose for the first time last year. Again, people are predicting that Ronnie is the underdog to the current champion – Jay Cutler which could spell trouble for the people in Vegas who get bitten by the betting bug. A wounded Ronnie is a dangerous one and at the end of this month we will know if those fears will push him to fight or flee.

• Darrem Dominates Again! (9/11)

  The consistent veteran Darrem Charles took home the spoils once again in 2007 which seems to be an annual occasion for the balanced bruiser who is originally from Trinidad. Charles as of late has had some small issues trying to bring his back up to the ripped condition of his anterior body parts but in Montreal he seemed to find the formula to a winning combination of sliced and diced muscle all round. Most agreed that this was the best condition that Darrem had brought to date which kept up a winning streak that he has managed to uphold for the past six years. This is Darrems eight pro win to date and not expected to be the last. He goes into the Atlantic City Pro show this coming weekend in an attempt to take that record to nine.

• Can Cormier Comeback? (9/11)
  

  Without a doubt, Cormier’s 4th place at the Montreal Pro is nothing to be frowned upon. Only last year he was bed bound for weeks with a major spinal injury and was left with a dark cloud hanging over his career as a competitive bodybuilder. However, finishing out of the top three for Cormier caliber is somewhat of a let down and possibly a loss considering that he has still been hyped as the one guy who has the potential to take an Olympia title back to his LA residence. Chris showed up slightly smaller all round, most noticeably in his legs and his back and appears that he has completely torn off the left tricep which obviously hinders the symmetry that he has been known for and what he has fallen back on when his condition has let him down. The people who finished above him, Darrem Charles, Quincy Taylor and Johnnie Jackson in the past wouldn’t have posed a threat to Cormier but his rise back onto the competition stage may have been a little premature.

  Chris will compete in this weeks Atlantic City show to hopefully qualify for this months Mr. Olympia and to redeem himself, which I’m sure he can if he manages to dry out and fill up from his Montreal form.

• Tokyo troubles (9/10)
  I don’t normally write a feature that includes me but on this occasion I feel the necessity is convenient. I have just returned from a tour of Asia where I played role of a physique model for a famous celebrity photographer named Peter Svenson, and also as his assistant for the photographic seminars he was holding in each country.

  Upon the arrival to our hotel in Tokyo I decided to locate a decent gym for a much needed hardcore chest workout. When I entered the conveniently equipped gym I was shocked to be told that I couldn’t train in their facility and was promptly asked to leave. When I questioned why the rejection, I was told it was because I bared tattoos on my arms. After several other gym staff and the floor manager backed up this claim I told them that I would return with a long sleeve top to cover my apparently unsightly art. “No, we already know they are there and that is forbidden in this country” I was told.

  I left with my tail between my legs and was reduced to an hour of plyometrics in my hotel gym which had as much helpful equipment as what was unfortunately exposed to me by the lady boys in Thailand.

  I later found out that the only people in Tokyo that bare body art are those associated with the Mafia. Tattooed tourist beware.

• Robinson back with Weider (9/10)
  Not quite, but he is about to grace the pages of the very magazine empire he spent years in court battling over money and principles.

  The famous bust which shows Joe Weider standing proud with his arms crossed looks very impressive from all angles, rightfully so when you consider that those arms belonged to the “Black Prince”, Robby Robinson. Robby posed for the bust as it was sculpted but was later left with a bitter taste in his mouth when he saw that Uncle Joe had put his own head on top of Robinsons beautifully proportioned physique. That ended up in a court confrontation, and Weider stopped putting any pictures of Robby in their magazines over fear of further legalities.

  Fast forward to September, 2007 and Robby is back with a feature that is sure to stand the bodybuilding world to attention. Robby had a shoot for FLEX magazine last week training with his protégé Chris Cormier whom he is helping to prepare for the Atlantic City Pro and then hopefully onto the Olympia. At 61 years old, Robby was as ripped as Cormier which goes to show that bodybuilders can age like wine given proper supplementation, nutrition and training attention and all those very commodities are found on this very site.

• Naturaly clean comeback (9/10)
  The former Arnold Classic champion and bodybuilding legend Flex Wheeler is on the verge of another comeback to the bodybuilding stage as a complete natural in an attempt to make statement of his unbelievable and superior genetic potential.

  Several years ago, Flex was forced into retirement following kidney failure in which he needed a transplant to save his life. A donor from his church kindly stepped forward and Flex stepped back from bodybuilding as a competitor but moved on as a successful photo and editorial journalist. “I want to see what I can bring to the table as a drug free bodybuilder. The only thing that is holding me back is knowing there would be people relishing the chance to gloat if they beat me, which is bound to happen with my handicap,” said a healthy appearing Wheeler.

  Various people, including his former trainer Charles Glass, have been quick to point out that Flex shouldn’t burn his candle at both ends and keep his legendary status where it is – in the past, and his health for the future

• Muscle Beach on Fire (9/10)
  Labor Day weekend at bodybuilding’s Mecca – Muscle Beach was hot with a buzz as was the weather. The sweltering heat didn’t burn out the spirits and enthusiasm of the crowd as a sporting Icon – Jack Lalanne was entered into the Bodybuilding Hall of Fame. Jack had been the recipient of the Lifetime achievement award at the Arnold Classic this year and continues to deserve his accolades for his contribution to the sport of health, fitness and bodybuilding. “If man doesn’t make it, don’t eat it”, he shouted to the huge Californian crowd. Former Mr. America and Pumping Iron icon – Bill Grant was also inducted and looked at least 20 years his 60 year junior as he flexed his biceps for the camera’s.

  Local resident Joe Tong took the overall trophy for the Labor Day amateur bodybuilding event.

This was originally posted on ProSource.net.