Words of Wisdom
Anne and I are entertained by something Dave Palumbo often says in his Q&A thread on the forum. Recently a questioner was complaining that, while on Dave's diet, he would wake up in the middle of the night starved and frustrated that he couldn't eat. He wanted to know what his options were, and we knew what was coming:
Dave's answer contained the magic phrase "Deal with it!" Tough love handed out to dieters, Dave Palumbo-style. Nobody said it was easy, and Dave always says it like it is.
Stuff I Read
Interesting to see the supplement industry getting exposure on the cover of Sports Illustrated magazine. The old adage "bad publicity is better than no publicity" may or may not apply here; time will tell. But a cover line of "Special Report: Supplements - The Dangerous Obsession with Improved Performance" didn't thrill me.
Sports Illustrated has a track record of being pretty much anti-steroid, HGH and performance-enhancing drug use. ESPN The Mag, on the other hand, has often been even-handed and more outspoken on the realistic side of the issue. This 9-page feature in SI (May 18, 2009 issue) runs the gamut from condemnation of the ease with which retailers can purchase raw powders and compounds and then put this product on a retailers shelf to a decent understanding of how some companies create, test and market their own supplements. Most of the ire of the authors is aimed at "energy" and "fat loss" products, and steroid and stimulant contamination of other supplements. Clearly, in the professional sports world, trace elements of steroids or other related compounds in over-the-counter products raises red flags. Let's not also forget the huge amounts of money at stake.
Dr. Scott Connelly probably comes across the best of any of the industry leaders interviewed or profiled. His history with MET-Rx is discussed in depth, and he is given high marks for the studies he commissioned on Progenex SRG before bringing it to market. Connelly is always the voice of reason. At one point he says "Consumers are completely confused", and later in the article he states, "The truth is that nonsense sells really well."
Jack Owoc of VPX gave SI inside access, and his company gets a great deal of exposure. The authors characterize Owoc as "...now to the sports-supplement industry what Willy Wonka was to the candy biz: eccentric, bursting with energy, and in command of a factory full of less-musical Oompa-Loompas who make reality of his imaginative nutritional notions." I think that's a compliment!
GNC stores come in for a bit of pounding, as the spiff system is revealed (salespeople making extra commission on certain companies' products). However, to my eye, this is the reality of the retail world and shouldn't surprise anyone.
Whatever your point of view, this feature is fascinating reading.
Great Stuff I Read
Raising the Bar by Dave Tate
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All of us know who the hell big Dave Tate is. He is one of the baddest competitive powerlifters and coaches in the field. Tate worked with Louie Simmons and Westside Barbell for many years, he's one of the all-time top Elite lifters in the Superheavyweight class, and Elite Fitness Systems is his baby. John Berardi helped him famously transform his body from that of a huge powerlifter to that of a stunning, 220+ pound rippling strength athlete (I can't bring myself to characterize Tate as a bodybuilder).
Dave Tate has a new book out. Raising the Bar sure sounds like a hell-fire approach to lifting more weight in the squat, deadlift and bench press, doesn't it? Who doesn't want to learn how to be a better powerlifter from someone as respected as Tate?
Imagine my surprise when Raising the Bar turns out to be inspirational; one of the most honestly written books I've read in my life. This isn't Dave Tate explaining workout theory, or why Bulgarian lifters train three times per day and we all should too. This is raw, unbridled passion and truth about life, and how it all works to help us raise our own bar.
Tate is brutally open about himself and the challenges he faced and continues to deal with. This isn't about how difficult it is to squat more than 900 pounds. The lessons he learned in life AND in the gym are related to all personal relationships, training and life. One of the breakthroughs Tate found was when he realized that "...training was a necessary and fundamental part of my life that made me who I was, who I am. All of the discipline and character-building I'd endured and mastered in the weight room were all I needed to get through anything I might ever have to face."
Balance in life is another vital area Tate goes into. He's clear about how he had little or no balance for many years, and now how a clear look at priorities have given him new direction. He asks, "Are you really the person you think you are? Are you willing to develop the strength to be the person you want to be?"
Dave ends Raising the Bar with a short chapter concerning one of my favorite words and feelings-- passion. Whether talking about sports or relationships, the competition platform, or an emotional situation with a loved one, passion fuels everything we feel and do and is critical to success.
I defy any of you to read Raising the Bar and not be more engaged for the better in your life. This is an amazing book from a most thoughtful giant of a man.
Elite Fitness Systems, eliteftsn.com, $14.95,
Stuff For A Shaker
Unflavored Protein From BiPro
Sometimes unflavored whey protein sounds like a great idea. After weeks of alternating between vanilla and chocolate flavored whey protein, I stare at my banana-flavored Carbolyze and wish I had a plain, non-flavored, whey so that I can taste the frozen strawberries I'm going to add.
BiPro sells an unflavored whey isolate called "The Original." Their protein has no sugar, fat or carbs, is lactose free, and they claim it's "100% natural." In my shaker, BiPro blends easily without lumping. Alone, it tastes as it should-- plain! I don't like it in oatmeal because I'm expecting and desire flavor. In a blender with a banana, strawberries, and a tablespoon of natural peanut butter, it's just fine.
I've met people in the gym, and had clients, who can't handle flavored protein powder for one reason or another, but when they try BiPro, they're fine. If unflavored whey is what it takes to get people to consume enough protein, so be it. ($29.99 / 2 lb. Jug)
BiPro's other product, "BioZzz", is even more interesting. They call this their "instant Alpha-lactalbumin supplement," but I think of it as "whey protein that helps me sleep!" A single serving of 20 grams contains 18 grams of whey, 1 gram of tryptophan, and 16 grams of alpha-lactalbumin (and zero carbs). In a nutshell, it's a before-bed protein slated to assist with improving your sleep and morning alertness, and overall mood. Their ad copy suggests BioZzz helps with cognitive performance under stress as well, but I can't tell one way or another from personal use.
I do sleep nicely with a scoop of this in me pre-bedtime shake (I take fish oil capsules with it as well). I'm usually a guy who usually doesn't sleep well or for long enough. This product is ideal for the bodybuilding world. ($49.99 / 1 lb. Jug)
www.BioZzz.com and www.BiProUSA.com
Can We Rant? No Wonder Everybody's So Fat!
This is written on behalf of both my wife Anne and myself. She recently attended a two-day professional conference, and of course carried a bag with a shaker, some PureFit bars, and a bunch of Shawn Phillips' "Full Strength" MRP packets. Planning ahead to supplement the provided meals is a good thing, right? What if it turns out the meals are so bad and nutritionally worthless her bars and MRP packets are ALL she can eat for two days? Yeah, it was that scary.
Mind you, this is a large conference drawing management and corporate employees from a two-state area. The hours of mandatory events were so long that meals in restaurants were impossible; everyone was a nutritional hostage.
Breakfast one day was coffee cake. That's right, just coffee cake, in a couple of different varieties. Empty pastry. Lunch was a croissant with deli meat of some kind, a slice of processed cheese and iceberg lettuce; bag of potato chips; an apple, and a cookie! But wait, it gets better. Mid-afternoon snack was a brownie! Surely dinner would provide some protein and fiber, but surprise, it was dried-out, roasted chicken, mashed potatoes (the industrial type), deep fried onions, and mixed vegetables in butter. Pitchers of Coke, tap water and bad coffee were always available.
Day two was a big improvement, of course. Croissants for breakfast; most likely left over from lunch the day before. Lunch was another inedible sandwich with more mystery-deli meat, and the same bagged chips, apple, and cookie. Happily, Anne was out of there and on the road before another dinner had to be endured.
She had NO OPPORTUNITY FOR HEALTHY CHOICES for two days!
One afternoon she threw her empty PureFit wrapper onto the middle of the table, where the other people's empty meal containers were. A rather chunky woman picked it up, read the label, and said to others at the table while nodding at Anne, "That's why she looks the way she does!" Yeah, with veins in her biceps, capped delts, and nice six-pack abs. Damn right that's why (well, her amazing workouts may have something to do with it, as well). She says she was easily the fittest person in a room of 300-400 people.
Another woman asked Anne "Are you a health food nut?" She relied, "No, but I don't eat empty carbs." So the woman said she thought Anne was "naturally skinny." That fat woman doesn't have any idea what an insult that is to a bodybuilder.
Of course, in the evenings many attendees hit the bar for drinks; Anne searched out the exercise room and got in workouts on the StepMill and weights for two days.
The big issue here is how can corporate America wonder about their skyrocketing employee health care costs when they do nothing to help? What an absurd situation.
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