Obesity and Fast Food Restaurants
Obesity in our society, and the escalating health problems associated with it, are a constant topic on Heavy Muscle Radio, SuperHuman Radio, and throughout the forums of Rxmuscle. Eating disorders may be common in the bodybuilding world, but most of our body-identity issues are subtle compared to what is seen on any walk through your local Wal-Mart. One excuse has long been that restaurant chains, notably fast-food vendors, don't display nutritional data for their customers. Well, that lame-duck argument is disappearing, as a new national law is in the works that will require restaurant chains with at least 20 locations to post calorie counts on their menus. Included are the following stipulations:
The agreement also requires the disclosure of calories per food items on vending machines owned by individuals operating 20 or more vending machines. This bipartisan compromise will not require individually owned restaurants or "mom and pop" operations to disclose nutritional information.
(http://harkin.senate.gov/pr/p.cfm?i=314244)
Dan John's "Never Let Go" Coming To DVD
Filmmaker George Pradel tells me he's filmed the companion feature to Dan John's "Never Let Go" (reviewed in this column last week). Laree Draper from On Target Publications (publisher of the print book) is compiling the footage as you read this. Much of the DVD will be taken from a seminar John gave in San Diego, replete with chains hanging from bench presses and squat racks. As soon as the DVD is available, you'll read about it here.
Lift Heavy and Look Great
From Dave Tate and EliteFitness comes the EFS Block Squat t-shirt. I have the graphite, and have to tell you it's pretty sharp. Frankly, I think I look stronger in this shirt than some of those throw-away-freebie supplement shirts. This features the brand-new Elite Fitness Systems logo, by the way. Available in graphite, white and black, the Block Squat shirt costs only $14.95.
While you're on the Elite Fitness site, subscribe to their great email newsletter.
Cooking Eggs and Stuff
GreenPan brings their Thermolon non-stick technology to your stovetop with their Todd English collection of frying pans. I don't know much about English, other than he's a celebrated TV chef, and he may have no more to do with the performance of this pan than a professional bodybuilder does with the supplement he or 
she shills for. However, I adore this 11" pan he's put his name to.
Go as hot as you wish on your stove, as this baby will take up to 850 degrees without sticking, breaking down or wearing out. I've prepared six egg omelets (sorry, Dave, I know you eat 8 at a time, but I'm not in your league) with olives, spinach, feta cheese and asparagus, no spray or macadamia nut oil, and had no sticking issues whatsoever. Warming up chicken breasts is a snap, as is browning ground sirloin or lean turkey. In fact, I got caught up in that amazing car / truck / crane/ firetruck chase scene in Terminator 3 and let a pound of sirloin cook too long, and the meat didn't burn, and the pan showed no ill effects. No sprays, no Pam, no butter, no oils. The dishwasher doesn't harm GreenPan at all, so stick it in there when you're done.
As the name GreenPan suggests, this pan appeals to those incorporating green products into their lives and cutting down on weird chemicals in the kitchen. PTFE-free. Found in Target stores and at HSN.com.
Help in the Squat Rack
Tommy Kono is one of the true legends of Olympic weightlifting. From a gold medal in the 1952 Olympics, 
until his silver at the 1960 Olympic Games, he was undefeated in international competition. And get this, he won the Mr. World bodybuilding show in 1954 and Mr. Universe in 1955, 1957 and '61! Kono wasn't done with the sport, and continued to coach weightlifting for Mexico, Germany and the U.S. into the late ‘80s.
However, his lasting heritage may lie in his neoprene knee and elbow bands. He began producing small runs of wraps and bands for competitive lifting friends in the 1960s, and soon they were highly sought after. Ever since, he's had various lifting accessories in production, and has built an entire company from these beginnings, always with quality at the forefront.
There have always been two schools of thought about knee wraps and protection in the gym, as opposed to on the competitive platform. Many bodybuilders, powerlifters and strongmen use wraps needlessly during training, notably wrapping too tightly for high-reps than is healthy or necessary.
Kono's knee bands work beautifully both when competing, and training, without cutting off circulation and turning your legs into stumps in-between sets. Frankly, they're comfortable, though they do compress your tendons effectively. When you wear them, you can feel the protection afforded your knees. After training with them, slide them off and your knees will feel warm, lubricated, sweaty and somehow healthier than they did before your deadlifts or squats. I know, sounds crazy, doesn't it?
I lent my Kono Knee Bands to my buddy Chad Kurian, a young up-and-coming competitive strongman, and he likes them so much he won't return ‘em! Chad wears them for all his squat, deadlift and strongman workouts, as well as competitions, and swears by them. Some of his other training partners use competing brands, but he won't switch. The unusual combination of comfort and performance is a Tommy Kono hallmark.
Kono's small Knee Band fits up to 130 lb. bodyweight; medium from 130 to 250 lb., and large over 250 pounds. Mediums cost $39.95 and large $42.95. Highly recommended.
(www.tommykonocom or 800-669-6316)
Common-Sense Advice
Comprehensive Performance Nutrition (Quick Reference Q&A Guide) by Justin Harris
Justin Harris is sneaking up on the bodybuilding and powerlifting scene, and could end up being the next "guru". His radio interviews are interesting, his training advice always makes sense, and he knows the ins-and-outs of carb-cycling.
Comprehensive Performance Nutrition is a digest-sized paperback book, set up in question-and-answer format. I don't know where the questions came from; let's assume from various internet forums and seminars. For all I know Harris may have written some of them just for the opportunity to deliver proper information, as well.
Here are some examples of why I love the way Justin Harris thinks:
"I don't buy into the need to change exercises all the time."
"If my body becomes ‘used" to squatting... I'm not going to be convinced that switching to leg extensions is going to increase my leg size."
"I see lots of guys using the pec deck... I see lots of guys doing hyperextensions and pulldowns. I see very few doing deadlifts and squats, but those are the guy I would rather look like."
"I hear hundreds of little guys talking about taking ‘ a scoop of whey, glutamine and some BCAA's' before cardio so they don't lose muscle... Or worrying about doing cardio too intensely so they don't lose muscle... Or worrying about training too hard so they don't get overtrained."
"While they're taking in 70 grams of protein before a short little walk on the treadmill in the morning, Ronnie Coleman is doing two hours a day on the stepmill at 300 lbs. Coleman trains 6x a week, each bodypart 2x weekly, HEAVY weights, two hours of cardio pre-contest. Johnny 185-lb at the gym stops after 6 sets, and is scared of cardio."
"The reason some people look like bodybuilders, some look huge, some small, and some never grow, is food."
Throughout the course of this book's 178 pages Harris debunks common myths, answers scores of questions about training and eating to train, and details nutrition plans. He shines a needed-light on many of the simple, proper, necessary workout and nutrition protocols that have been simply overlooked or forgotten by athletes taken in by shady supplement companies, misleading advertisements and ill-informed internet geniuses hiding behind their keyboards.
Available from www.elitefts.com for $24.95
Talk to John Koenig at [email protected]
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