PumptheIron – Body Building Blog

Read this….all of it!!

The pro’s at AnimalPak have a very soulful philosophy about training and bodybuilding. I think every serious bodybuilder, be it amateur or pro, can identify with what these guys have to say. Here is one article that I thought to be very poetic and inspirational to all bodybuilders. Don’t forget to look through the AnimalPak website for more great reads like this, as well as stay up to date with the various animal paks offered from Universal Nutrition.

(Click on the picture and it will enlarge into another window)

Enjoy,

PumptheIron

Here are a few pages out of the MD Research section of the June issue of Muscular Development that touch on several interesting topics.

(Just click on the article you want to read and it will open in a new window, then click on the image to magnify it to reading level).

Article out of Muscular Development examining what truly is Natural Bodybuilding.

Click Here: for the enlarged article:

Here is an interesting article out of the June issue of Muscular Development about some research that was conducted pertaining to a possible negative side effect that steroids may have on the heart. I would like to stress that the term the article uses is long term steroid abuse and not just steroid use.

Link to larger version of the article:

I have never ordered from A1Supplements so I am not making any recommendations one way or the other, but should you decide to place an order with this company, I would like to share this coupon for $5.00 off your total order.

Here is the link for the full size image just in case you would like to see what the coupon looks like and some popular supplements to order. Note that just like in BodyBuilding.com’s top 50 supplements (which I posted an article on previously), Muscle Milk, Animal Pack, Syntha-6, and NO-XPLODE are all listed. Told ya they were some of the best! Now you have some confirmation.

Type in the following coupon code during checkout:

A1SAVE5

Here is an article out of June’s Muscular Development magazine that talks about research showing the importance of cholesterol in relation to building muscle mass. I decided to post this article to shed some light on the notion a lot of people have (especially bodybuilders that only eat the egg whites for fear of cholesterol), that you should avoid cholesterol intake as much as possible.

This article’s research states that, "researchers found that cholesterol-but not protein-was associated with changes in lean muscle mass……although dietary protein was correlated with dietary cholesterol, protein by itself was not significantly correlated with change in lean mass". But what does it mean? Basically, the presence of protein along with cholesterol and not just protein alone is what is needed to build muscle mass.

Are you skeptical about that last statement? Allow me to put this in bodybuilding terms. Go back and check the ingredients (& amounts) on your last can of Muscle Milk. Oh what did you find included???? Looks like a significant amount of cholesterol!!! Looks like Cytosport may have heard the same rumor that cholesterol must be present for protein synthesis to occur.

It is all making sense now. Cytosport didn’t forget to take out the cholesterol, they added it along with the protein to make it that much more of an anabolic compound.

And just for all of you worry warts out there that swear that eating five eggs for breakfast will give you a stroke by Christmas next year, check out what Dr. Franco Columbu (yes he is a doctor of kinesiology and is also a Chiropractor and Mr Olympia) says about the relationship between eating eggs and cholesterol intake; "Eggs are one of the richest sources of choline, yet many people are afraid to eat them, believing the cholesterol they contain will lead to clogged arteries. Yet the cholesterol found in eggs is accompanied by lecithin, a waxy substance that not only nullifies the harmful substances in cholesterol but my also play an important role in lowering any risk of clogged arteries and heart attacks".

Sounds like eggs are actually beneficial to lowering heart problems to me. And just a note from Franco Columbu for all of the egg eaters, "Larger eggs are usually a better buy per ounce, but smaller ones often have a better flavor". 

Columbu, Dr. Franco. The BodyBuilder’s Nutrition Book. Chicago, Illinois: Contemporary Books, 1985.

Durand, Robbie. "Nutrition Performance: Dietary Cholesterol and Statins Increase Muscle Mass." Muscular Development May-June 2008: 180-184.

What is the best time to take your vitamins? Good question with a common sense answer that people don’t always follow.

Well, what time is best? Meal time!! Before, during, or following a meal.

Taking vitamins at a meal time will help to avoid digestive upset and nausea that may be experienced if vitamins are taken on an empty stomach (especially if you are taking a potent multi like Animal Pak).

In doing so, an additional benefit is gained: the nutrients in the supplements integrate with those in the food, making for a faster rate of absorption into the bloodstream.

Remember, there are two types of vitamins: Fat and Water Soluble; both have different absorption pathways and rates.

Two Kinds of Vitamins:

FAT SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Once absorbed into the circulation these vitamins are carried to the liver where they are stored.

Vitamins A, D, E and K make up the fat soluble vitamins. Vitamins A, D and K are stored in the liver and vitamin E is distributed throughout the body’s fatty tissues.

WATER SOLUBLE VITAMINS

Water-soluble vitamins, such as Vitamin C and the B vitamins are stored in the body for only a brief period of time and are then excreted by the kidneys. The one exception to this is vitamin B12, which is stored in the liver. Water-soluble vitamins need to be taken daily.

Vitamin C (ascorbic acid) and the B complex group make up the nine water soluble vitamins. The B complex group comprises of vitamins:

• B6 (pyridoxine)
• B1 (thiamine)
• B2 (riboflavin)
• B12 (niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, folic acid and cobalamin)

When choosing your multi vitamin it is beneficial to get time released tablets. Point being that, “since the body has little capacity to store water soluble vitamins, only the amount needed is absorbed by the body; the remainder is excreted in the urine within a few hours”.

Vitamins like Universals Animal Pak are time released so there is a longer constant absorption period offered to the body. Animal Pak also comes with enzymes that aide digestion of the vitamins.

Columbu, Dr. Franco. The BodyBuilder’s Nutrition Book. Chicago, Illinois: Contemporary Books, 1985.

MassNutrition.com

This company is an online supplement store.

GOOD THINGS-

More often than not, you will find the lowest price for your supplements here.

An additional bonus to low pricing is the weekly discounts that MassNutrition has. If you sign up for email notification (located at the bottom right of the Home page), which is free, you will receive weekly supplement sale notification. Often these are 48 hour sales only, so it is very beneficial to have email notification. Mass Nutrition is very good about having these sales on supplements that people actually like to buy (unlike SupplementWarehouse), such as all BSN products (this includes NO-XPLODE and SYNTHA-6) or on Cytosport’s MUSCLE MILK. A big thumbs up in the pricing department. A good idea is to price match your supplements with MassNutrition and DiscountAnabolics.

BAD THING-

If your product is out of stock and gets back ordered, be prepared to wait….a while! Usually, your supplements will arrive in 2-3 days; this is true for high stock products like Muscle Milk, NO-Xplode and Syntha-6. I personally have experienced both the good shipping and the bad shipping (took almost 4 weeks) from MassNutrition.

The other negative to this company is the shipping prices. Anything you order is going to be 15 bucks hands down, and the price only goes up from there. The only redemption being that orders over $199.00 are shipped free. Now that seems like a lot of money, but when you think of what a order could look like (example):

2 (60 serving) NO-Xplode

3 Jugs of Muscle Milk

2 Animal Pak Multivitamins

Then you may be hitting up that target price for free shipping, then the low prices from this site really become beneficial. Yes that is a large order, but if you order products that are foundational supplements to your training, then you can order in bulk because you know that you will eventually need more anyway. The down side being you have to drop 200 bucks in one order. Another idea is to combine your order with someone else (like your training partner) and reaching a $200 order will be easier.

One more downer for MassNutrition is their customer service. What customer service????? Check out the policy:

For inquiries about existing orders or to check on the status of an order, please email us at the address below. We will respond within 24 hours. support@massnutrition.com

24 hours my ass!! I don’t even know if they read any emails. Obviously I sent them a few choice worded emails about my order that took 3.5 weeks to come in. They only responded to my final email when I added that they had long since charged my credit card and that if I didn’t here back from any customer service representative in one more day, then I was going to call Visa and report a false charge to my card and have this reported to the Better Business Bureau. Needless to say, they called me the next day…What I thought you guys only corresponded by email!! What a surprise! Yes they have a phone # 1-866-577-MASS (6277), which I called by the way, only to get hung up on and told that the phone number was only for making orders and for customer support, to email them. I know one other person that this has happened to as well.

I must say that I have made multiple orders from MassNutrition and have made them since the bad shipping incident as well and have received everything else very promptly.

If ordering here, stick to the popular products that should be in stock, and try to get that free shipping.

DiscountAnabolics.com is a online supplement store.

The Highlights of this website and good prices, and depending on what product-the cheapest, and the best shipping rate that I have found for online supplement stores. DiscountAnabolics charges a flat rate of $5.95 for packages under 7lbs and $0.85 for each additional pound.

So if your ordering two jugs of

muscle milk or a little bottle of

vpx redline,

you will still pay $5.95 for shipping. Now that may sound like a rip off to you to pay the same amount for two drastically different sized products, but if you go ordering from another online company like MassNutrition, SupplementWarehouse, or A1Supplements, then you will be paying more along the lines of $12.00 to $15.00 (and maybe even more) for shipping, regardless the size of the product.

So to sum things up, if you are price matching your products amongst the recommended sites, make sure you investigate the price of shipping as well as the price of the product. Once again, DiscountAnabolics has the lowest shipping rate that I have seen online. Take it all into consideration before making that purchase.

Officially titled, “ARNOLD SCHWARZENEGGER THE NEW ENCYCLOPEDIA OF MODERN BODYBUILDING” aka The Bible of BodyBuilding.

Simply said, this book is a must have of over 800 pages of body building wealth of knowledge. If you search Amazon.com you can purchase this book for very cheap, especially considering the amount of knowledge you will possess once you own this book. I conducted a simple search and got a quote of $17.82, not bad ehh!?

The book has been revised so be careful to get the latest version which looks like this:

The Encyclopedia is divided into 5 “books” with individual chapters within each book. Each book covers a broad topic then the chapters address more specific topics. Within each chapter, more sub topics are outlined and covered.

Here is the break down of the BodyBuilding Encyclopedia:

BOOK 1 INTRODUCTION OT BODYBUILDING

CHAPTER 1: EVOLUTION AND HISTORY

CHAPTER 2: THE ABC’S OF BODYBUILDING

CHAPTER 3: THE TRAINING EXPERIENCE

CHAPTER 4: THE GYM

CHAPTER 5: GETTING STARTED

BOOK 2 TRAINING PROGRAMS

CHAPTER 1: BASIC TRAINING PRINCIPALS

CHAPTER 2: LEARNING YOUR BODY TYPE

CHAPTER 3: THE BASIC TRAINING PROGRAM

CHAPTER 4: ADVANCED TRAINING PRINCIPLES

CHAPTER 5: BUILDING A QUALITY PHYSIQUE: THE ADVANCED TRAINING PROGRAM

CHAPTER 6: COMPETITION TRAINING PROGRAM

CHAPTER 7: MIND OVER MATTER: MIND, THE MOST POWERFUL TOOL

BOOK 3 BODY PART EXERCISES (NO CHAPTERS LISTED, ONLY SUBJECTS)

THE SHOULDERS

THE CHEST

THE BACK

THE ARMS

BICEPS TRAINING

TRICEPS TRAINING

FOREARM TRAINING

THE THIGHS

THE CALVES

THE ABDOMEN

BOOK 4 COMPETITION

CHAPTER 1: POSING

CHAPTER 2: TOTAL PREPARATION

CHAPTER 3: COMPETITION STRATEGY AND TACTICS

BOOK 5 HEALTH, NUTRITION, AND DIET

CHAPTER 1: NUTRITION AND DIET

CHAPTER 2: WEIGHT CONTROL: GAINING MUSCLE, LOSING FAT

CHAPTER 3: CONTEST DIET STRATEGIES

CHAPTER 4: INJURIES AND HOW TO TREAT THEM

It is worth mentioning that just the sheer number of awesome photographs in the book make it a piece of historic bodybuilding art all in itself.