by Josh Hodnik

Bonds, Clemens, and Armstrong have become synonymous with steroid use in sports. Any time a high profile athlete is accused of using any performance enhancing drug, the story is plastered across the news and social media. The reason the media puts an emphasized focus on these stories is because people enjoy reading about scandals, and more importantly, they thrive on seeing an athlete fail that has succeeded in areas where most never will. Let’s face it, being a great athlete is viewed as being a pretty big deal these days. Professional athletes earn a salary and live a lifestyle that can be envied by most.

by Matt Weik

Let’s be honest, you have no desire to ever be on stage. That’s fine, it’s your choice. So why are you going through life as if you’re training to be the next Mr. Olympia? You pull yourself away from social gatherings with friends to go hit the gym. You find yourself eating chicken breast or tilapia while everyone around you is having a slice of pizza or ice cream. Why? Live your life!

by Josh Hodnik

Americans consume more prescription drugs than anyone else in the world, by a pretty large margin. Coincidentally, Americans also surpass everyone else in illicit drug use. This gives reason to believe that a reliance on prescription medications to treat certain ailments can lead to dependence. Maybe this is what Big Pharma has wanted to achieve. $2 trillion a year is spent on health care in the United States. Much of that is shuttled through the pharmaceutical industry.

by Blane Morton

From the dawn of bodybuilding, bodybuilders have been trying to find the right recipe for peaking at a contest. For decades, bodybuilders appeared close to contest shape on a year-round basis. Then, out of the gloomy streets of Birmingham, England a “Shadow” appeared. A monster named Yates would reinvent the game of bodybuilding. In fact, he helped coin the phrase, “size game,” as a new generation would try to play catch up to Dorian and his new level of size and density never seen before on a bodybuilding stage. With this new development of mass monster came the rise of the guru and along with that came a myriad of strategies to arriving not only peaked, but massive to boot.

by Josh Hodnik

Dihydrotestosterone (DHT) is commonly viewed as the evil androgen responsible for hair loss and prostate issues. DHT does serve any purposes in the body, and reducing or eliminating this hormone may be the wrong thing to do for most people.

by Geoff Roberts

The main reasons for pursuing a given game or sport, range from essentially being forced since childhood, to discovering a rare talent much later in life. Of all these catalysts, the two that take precedence over all others tend to be chasing fame/fortune, and the simple love of the sport. When it comes to bodybuilding, it is very important to understand that partaking in this difficult endeavor should always be fueled by a love and passion for it. As opposed to the desire to be a top professional, earn large paychecks, or even to place top five a national level show. What this really means when it comes right down to it, is that a bodybuilder can either partake in this sport because he or she wants to become elite, professional and famous, or because he or she simply loves the bodybuilding process. The latter attitude will result in a much more fulfilling and successful bodybuilding journey than the former, nearly 100% of the time.

by Mike Arnold

When analyzing the bodybuilding diet, there is one common denominator which takes priority above all else. Regardless of individual goals or variances in metabolism, its role remains central, around which everything else revolves. I am talking about protein—the basic building blocks of life. An indispensible macronutrient, it is responsible for the construction and maintenance of every tissue in our body, enabling us to build an awe-inspiring physique and perform super-human feats of strength. As the initiator of muscle growth, ensuring adequate quantities of this nutrient within our diet is of paramount importance, lest we inadvertently short-change ourselves of the results we could be getting.

by Chris Marzarella

DUP essentially dictates that the sets, reps, intensity and volume will change throughout the week to quicken the strength and hypertrophy gains. There have been several human tests done on this protocol and they all have similar results; that linear periodization (LP) is less superior (1). Linear Periodization is when a certain number of reps are met, the weight then moves up linearly or in a stair climbing fashion. Again, the studies have shown that between the two, LP is less superior than that of DUP. Now, I will introduce to another form of training called Weekly Undulating Periodization (WUP).