admin

The Great Genetic Debate

December 8, 2014December 8, 2014
11 min read

arnold-bodybuilding

by Mike Arnold

There is no sport in the world in which the subject of genetics is given as much time and attention as it is in bodybuilding. Although genetic ability is equally important in many athletic endeavors, it is rarely regarded as the be-all, end-all of competitive success, with factors such as mental disposition and strength of will generally considered the more important of the two. From a young age, most athletes have been instilled with a sense of personal responsibility for their own success. Whether they showcase their talents in the arena, out on the field, or in the ring, they are taught that hard work and dedication are paramount to the achievement of their goals.

November 14, 2014
6 min read

arnold-schwarzenegger

by Anders JP Eskilsson

Many of us who once started with weight training or bodybuilding dreamed that one day to be able to be on stage competing with other bodybuilders. For many of us the interest for bodybuilding began already in a young age. I think one of my first meetings with bodybuilding or anatomy was when I got my first He-Man action figures when I was maybe 5-6 years old. I was impressed with the plastic figures because they looked so muscular and powerful. In addition, when I got older, the Hollywood movies came along with actors such as Sylvester Stallone and Arnold Schwarzenegger.

November 10, 2014June 14, 2017
11 min read

by Mike Arnold

No longer considered a novelty item, the pre-workout category of supplementation has evolved dramatically over the last 10 years, with the one-dimensional products of yesteryear being replaced by more holistic formulas. In the beginning, these products relied almost solely on stimulants as their claim to fame, as popular opinion declared that the more jacked you got, the better the product was. With effectiveness based almost entirely around this stimulatory effect, we saw competing companies start dumping stims in by the handful, regardless of whether such a practice was actually beneficial for muscle growth, let alone healthy. The excessive stimulant content of some of these preparations left them nearly unusable by the majority of the population, and if you were unfortunate enough to have purchased one of these, the following crash was often enough to make you think twice before taking another dose.

October 17, 2014June 19, 2017
15 min read

ADVANCED-CYCLE-SUPPORT

by Mike Arnold

As this series draws to a close, I thought it would be appropriate to conclude by posting a list of clinical trials detailing Milk Thistle’s effectiveness as a liver protectant. As science continues to learn more about this herb, I believe its status as the premiere liver protectant will continue to grow. See below for clinical trials.

Fast Metabolism, or Poor Appetite?

October 17, 2014October 18, 2014
6 min read

bodybuilder

by Geoff Roberts

The list of misused or exaggerated terms in bodybuilding and fitness stretches far out of sight. Of the hundreds of misused terms in our industry, two interesting terms that are often incorrectly used, but seem to fly under the radar are “metabolism” and “appetite”. It seems that every athlete in our sport claims to have either a rapid fire metabolism, or the metabolic rate of a three toed sloth. Why is it that athletes rarely if ever claim an “average” metabolism? This question is especially interesting when one considers that the word average implies to something that pertains to the majority. So what could conceivably explain this phenomenon?

Faster Negatives for Superior Muscle Growth?

October 16, 2014October 18, 2014
10 min read

Chest-workout-rock-body-fitness

by Mike Arnold

The most basic component of every workout is the repetition. Although small, it forms the foundation of everything we do. In fact, the entire training experience, when broken down into its most fundamental essence, is comprised of nothing but reps. Perform several reps in succession and we have a set. Perform several sets and we have a workout. All are derived from and revolve around the concept of the rep. In addition to this distinction, the manner in which we perform our reps is also of considerable importance. Although seemingly trivial on the surface, rep performance plays a crucial role in determining the type of results we get from our training. Is strength your main focus? How about muscle growth? Are you training for explosiveness, or are you trying to build up your muscular endurance? If you look closely at the training styles of various athletes, you will see a significant difference in the way that they perform their reps.

Maximizing Growth & Recovery

September 8, 2014October 18, 2014
47 min read

arnold-schwarzenegger

by Mike Arnold

There has been a lot of talk in the bodybuilding community over the last few years regarding the role of workout-based insulin and for good reason–it is the single best time one can use the drug to promote recovery & growth, but what exactly makes it so effective…and more importantly, how can we maximize our results with this approach? Of all the subjects I have touched on over the years, nothing else has even come close to generating such a large amount of interest from so many people. With this in mind, I have decided to address some of these unanswered questions not only to validate this particular method of administration, but to clear up any misconceptions which arose as a result of my former writings on the topic.

A Step by Step Guide to Getting Big

June 22, 2014October 18, 2014
26 min read

huge-bodybuilder

by Mike Arnold

To the typical American, the pursuit of bodybuilding is often perceived as a simplistic affair requiring little intelligence or insight. To them, success is determined by little more than grunting in the gym and eating an abundance of protein. While this has caused many to label its adherents with less than flattering stereotypes, those who have seen the sport from the inside know differently.

Now, it is true that no single aspect of bodybuilding is overly complicated, but the foundational sciences of which the sport is comprised can be enormously complex, requiring doctorates and beyond before one is officially recognized as possessing an advanced level of learning in any single branch. Even then, it only scratches the surface of the total amount of knowledge contained therein.

Understanding Post-Cycle Therapy

June 21, 2014May 17, 2017
13 min read

As the greatest development in the area of adjunctive performance enhancement in the last 20 years, post-cycle therapy offers undeniable benefits to the cycling steroid user. The ability to maintain long-term endogenous testosterone production, preserve muscle mass between cycles, reduce off time from AAS, and protect fertility are usually the most appreciated. With so much confusion on the subject, let’s take a few minutes to discuss the various PCT drugs and their role in maintaining our hormonal landscape. Although differences in financial status, goals, and degree of suppression prevent a single program from meeting the needs of all, there are some basic guidelines that any effective PCT program should adhere to.

March 1, 2014October 17, 2014
6 min read

1-Andro-Rx

Month of weight training with prohormone 3-beta-hydroxy-5-alpha-androst-1-en-17-one: four lean kgs’ gain
A couple of years after the American government banned the highly effective designer steroids 1-testosterone and 1-androstenedione in 2004, the biochemist Pat Arnold introduced 3-beta-hydroxy-5-alpha-androst-1-en-17-one [structural formula on the right] under the name 1-DHEA. And 3-beta-hydroxy-5-alpha-androst-1-en-17-one was pretty effective too, write sports scientists at West Texas A&M University in an article that’ll appear soon in the Journal of Applied Physiology.