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In this week\'s Elite Fitness News, we\'ve got three amazing articles. The first is on a new recovery drink that blows the traditional maltodextrin based drinks away. The second article is on bodybuilding for developing a classical V shaped physique -- after all, that\'s what we\'re all after anyway aren\'t we? Then there is an article on finally getting rid of those last remaining fat pockets. You know the ones I\'m talking about -- usually the love handles on guys and the butt on women. And finally, my friend Tom Venuto let me publish his inspirational photos from his modeling shoots and competitions. Tom is a guru who really puts his money where his mouth is and let\'s you take a close look at his classic V-shaped, award-winning physique. Enjoy!
2. Symmetry: How To Develop A Classical Body Shape
4. The Tom Venuto Gallery - Inspirational Pictures of my friend Tom Venuto - modeling and competing.
5. The First and Only Guide for the Advanced Steroid User!
Torque is Proteinfactory.com\'s first formula dedicated to the hard-core training athlete. Proteinfactory.com feels that the sports drink companies are producing and supplying low quality performance drinks and pushing them as high quality. Take a look at the liquid or powdered sports drinks that are available. They ALL contain either maltodextrin or dextrose disguised as some fancy high tech carbohydrate. Meanwhile, it is an outdated performance carbohydrate. Think about it. When was the last time a company came out with a formula geared towards sports, and high intensity training, whether it be for football, baseball, swimming, skiing, running, endurance, and/or bodybuilding. Long time huh? Well, Proteinfactory.com has finally delivered a formula that destroys the competition right out of the water! Forget the maltodextrin, dextrose, glucose, or amylopectin starches
This new powder is a low osmolar rice-based patented formula with oral electrolytes. Its benefits are as follows:
1)Digests 30% faster than dextrose of maltodextrin because it is enzymatically hydrolyzed.
2)Carries nutrients like amino acids, creatine, and electrolytes into the blood stream quicker and more efficiently than dextrose and maltodextrin.
3)Reduces fluid loss thus preventing catabolism.
4)Rehydrates better than any carbohydrate on the market today.
 | Product Description: 5% Super Bovine TASTE: 10 out of 10 |
What does this mean for everyone trying to increase their performance and intensity? 1)Because there is a direct correlation between the rate at which amino acids enter the blood stream and muscle growth, HRS theoretically will result in greater muscle growth than dextrose or maltodextrin. Several studies show that the faster amino acids and creatine enter the muscle cell, the greater the muscle growth. 2)Muscle glycogen is massively depleted during your workouts. By using the HRS mid and post workout you will be combating fatigue, better than dextrose and maltodextrin can do. Not only that but HRS contains electrolytes. This in turn will give you the energy to perform better and train harder.
The supplement industry is all about hype. For example, nitric oxide. About 4 months ago everyone was going crazy trying to get their hands on NO2 supplements. Knock offs were coming out like crazy. Phone calls of people asking us for our opinion on Nitric Oxide. But this craze was not started by actual research and scientific studies. It was started by magazines and marketing hype. To this day there is not one published study on the effect of AKG on Nitric Oxide levels in the body and its ability to grow muscle, increase blood volume, give you a "pump" or whatever else the supplement companies that carry NO2 products are claiming. Hyped-supplements if they don\'t work usually die about within a year (for example methoxy-isoflavone) and are never heard from again and supplements that do work (creatine) are here to stay. This brings me to the topic of this article.
During the past year I have been trying to find a carbohydrate that has different rates of absorption. Something that has a different glycemic index rating than maltodextrin and dextrose. Thus by doing that you could formulate a carb that does NOT have such a direct impact on your insulin level thus leading to body fat accumulation. Dextrose and maltodextrin are made up of a single chain molecule that dumps into the system all at once, thus greatly impacting the body. Maltodextrin and dextrose are great for post workouts and mass formulas but the insulin effect they have can lead to body fat accumulation. Which of course unless you\'re an offensive lineman is NOT good.
Well I\'m here to say that we are now offering a new carb powder that not only is made up of long and short chain molecules, but it was invented by researchers and scientists and the prestigious Johns Hopkins University and currently in the middle of a clinic study that WILL be published.
This new powder is a low osmolar rice-based patented formula with oral electrolytes. Its benefits are as follows.
1) Digests 30% faster than dextrose of maltodextrin because it is enzymatically hydrolyzed.
2) Carries nutrients like amino acids, creatine, and electrolytes into the blood stream quicker and more efficiently than dextrose and maltodextrin.
3) Reduces fluid loss thus preventing catabolism.
4) Rehydrates better than any carbohydrate on the market today.
What does this mean for guys trying to grow some muscle?
1) Because there is a direct correlation between the rate at which amino acids enter the blood stream and muscle growth, HRS theoretically will result in greater muscle growth than dextrose or maltodextrin. Several studies show that the faster amino acids and creatine enter the muscle cell, the greater the muscle growth.
2) Muscle glycogen is massively depleted during your workouts. By using the HRS mid and post workout you will be combating fatigue, better than dextrose and maltodextrin can do. Not only that but HRS contains electrolytes.
3) Prevents the body from converting amino acids into glycogen. Thus preventing catabolism.
Proteinfactory.com has created a new formula using the HRS.
We are calling the new formula TORQUE. This product is our first formula dedicated to the hard training athlete.
5% Super Bovine
5% Hydrolyzed 360
20% CFM whey isolate
70% HRS.
TORQUE is an incredible formula for any bodybuilder or athlete that trains very hard. For the hard-core, hard pounding, balls to the wall, maniac, that gives everything he has to the sport. By using TORQUE you can reward yourself with a powder that will replenish your body with amino acids and carbs keep you going and stay out of catabolic condition.
Up until the invention of TORQUE, bodybuilders had nothing to drink during their workouts besides, "GAT**ADE". But nobody wants to chug that down after a set of squats. Why? Because you would probably puke because the glucose found in the common sports drink takes so long to digest. TORQUE digests much faster than sports drinks, it even rehydrates better than water.
TORQUE is unlike anything ever made. It has the potential to the new staple in mid and post workout drinks. Also, HRS in TORQUE can be used by anyone who just wants a carb drink.
P.S. For those of you who hate hangovers, the HRS is the best remedy for this side effect of alcohol. Drink a serving of HRS or TORQUE before going to bed, (if you\'re not too drunk) or drink a serving of HRS when you wake up in the morning and you will combat the "hangover". Give Torque a try!
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Symmetry: How To Develop A Classical Body Shape
By Tom Venuto
How does a man five feet six inches in height appear six feet tall standing alone at a distance? How does he look like he weighs 215 muscular pounds when he barely tips the scale at 176 pounds? Why does his waist look 28 inches, when its actual measurement is 32 inches? How does he step onstage at a bodybuilding competition and blow away competitors who outweigh him by 20, 30 even 50 pounds or more? Why does this man\'s body look like a beautiful piece of classical sculpture, while much larger men look misshapen and blocky? The answer - in a word - is symmetry.
The late Vince Gironda, trainer of champion bodybuilders and movie stars, was the true pioneer and master at the art of creating symmetry. He called it "cosmetic bodybuilding" or "creating an illusion" Vince believed that adding muscle mass did not always improve the physique. "Size without shape is grotesque and the overall appearance is positively revolting" said Vince. However, when new muscle is added in a manner that enhances your symmetry, the result can take your breath away.
What is symmetry? Symmetry refers to the qualities of balance, proportion, shape and classical aesthetics. It was first described by the Greek philosopher Pythagoras, who explained it in terms of mathematical relationships (which were also used to construct Greek temples). Leonardo DaVinci later expanded on and explained these concepts by way of his "Canon of Proportions" (also known as the "Vitruvian Man"). This illustration depicted a man standing with his arms outstretched within a circle and a square. The perfectly symmetrical physique is often described as the "X" shape. |
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The top of the X represents broad shoulders, the "V" in the top half of the X represents a wide upper back, narrowing into a small waist with small hips; and the bottom half of the X represents long legs with a flowing outer quad sweep, full calves and upper thigh muscles that seem to connect directly into the waist.
When you think of those who have achieved such classical proportions, they are few in number and include such elite company as Steve Reeves, Frank Zane, Bob Paris, Francis Benfatto, and Lee Labrada.
Genetics and symmetry
Many people suggest that you must be born with a genetic gift in order to attain such a physique, and there\'s a lot of truth in that statement. Three time Mr. Olympia Frank Zane was once asked, "You are particularly famous for your body symmetry. Is there a special way that you train which gives you such great proportions?" Frank replied, "Blame it all on my parents. I guess I was just fortunate to have inherited good bone structure in the first instance."
If you didn\'t "choose" the right parents, what then? Don\'t worry. There are specific qualities that create "the illusion" which are obtainable by all. Although not everyone is capable of developing the symmetry of Reeves, Zane or Labrada, every person can improve their muscle shape and symmetry above and beyond where it is today.
Some of the left-brained scientific types throw a tantrum the minute a bodybuilder mentions "muscle shaping" It may be true that you can\'t change your bone structure, muscle insertions or other genetic factors, but you can certainly change your overall body shape and improve your symmetry if you know how. In fact, that IS the very essence of what bodybuilding should be.
Let\'s now take a look at some of the specific strategies that can literally sculpt your body into a work of art.
Balanced development Almost everyone has a favorite body part or a body part that grows very easily. But favoritism in physique development can quickly destroy your shape. Frank Zane said, "The whole point is not to fall in love with one particular body part and throw everything else out" Many people believe that symmetry is the perfectly balanced development of every muscle in the body, but that\'s only one aspect of symmetry. Having a huge upper body with toothpick legs makes you unsymmetrical, but there\'s more to it than that. Symmetry doesn\'t always mean adding muscle evenly everywhere. Sometimes it means developing certain muscle groups to their absolute maximum, while minimizing others. Low Body fat One characteristic that will destroy anyone\'s symmetry is excess body fat. It doesn\'t matter how shapely your muscles are if they\'re covered with a layer of squishy lard. Body fat adds width and circumference in the hips and waistline, which is one of the quickest ways to destroy your symmetry. Even if you\'re not one of the "genetically blessed" with favorable bone structure and muscle insertions, reducing your waist size by losing body fat is a guaranteed way to improve your symmetry. |
Tiny waist
The smaller your waist, the more of an "illusion" of symmetry you create. This is achieved mostly by fat reduction through nutrition and cardio. However, certain exercises can broaden the waist. Anything that builds the lateral obliques like dumbbell side bends, should be avoided. Certain athletes may use side bends for sports training purposes, but if symmetry is your goal, stay away from them.
Heavy squats can increase your hip and waist size too. This is especially true when performing the squat powerlifting style. If you are naturally thick waisted and wide in the hips with large glutes, avoid the back squat if you want to improve your symmetry.
Broad shoulders
Broadening your shoulders creates the optical illusion of a smaller waist, even if your waist size doesn\'t change. To see just how much of a difference this makes, take a sock or a ball of tissue, and stuff it inside your shirt on each side of your shoulders. Then look in the mirror. Even a small increase in width completely transforms your appearance.
The portion of the shoulders you want to emphasize is the lateral head of the deltoid. Most people overwork their front deltoids. They emphasize too many shoulder presses, front raises, and bench presses and not enough lateral raises.
I have never seen an exercise performed improperly more often than lateral raises. The most common error is to let the thumbs come up high and the elbows fall too low. The proper way to do lateral raises is to lead with the elbows and keep the palms facing down. To activate the side deltoid even more, you can use the "pour the water" technique, whereby you internally rotate your arm slightly so your little finger is higher than your thumb. Larry Scott, the first Mr. Olympia, used this technique to help him build some of the greatest shoulders ever, even though he wasn\'t genetically gifted in the broad clavicles department.
Another terrific width builder is the medium or wide grip upright row. Most people perform this exercise with a narrow grip, which lets your trapezius hog all the glory. If you\'re naturally narrow in the shoulders and you want to maximize your symmetry and V shape, avoid direct trap work in favor of side delt work.
Wide, tapering back
Lat width gives you a "V-Taper," making your waist look smaller. Lat width is NOT easy to develop for most people and takes intense training and higher volume than other body parts. It also requires the proper selection of exercises.
All chin up and pulldown variations are great for lat width. It\'s a myth that a wide grip makes your back wider. It\'s not the grip width that affects fiber recruitment; it\'s the angle of pull relative to your body position. Medium and close grip chin ups and pulldowns are equally if not more effective for developing the V shape as a wide grip.
Here\'s five more tips on lat width: (1) To activate the Teres Major, which lies directly below your rear deltoids and also improves width, emphasize the stretch position on your pulldowns so you are leaning forward with your head dropped between your arms. (2) Perform a lot of seated rowing work with a medium overhand (pronated grip), pulling a short straight bar to your low pec line. (3) To work the Teres, get a full stretch and do not arch your back in the contracted position; to hit the mid back and lat belly, arch and get peak contraction. (4) If you have an adjustable height low pulley machine, set the height to 16" off the floor or seat level for your cable rows. (5)To put a real whooping on your lats, perform a maximum stretch exercise such as pullovers immediately after your pulldowns or chin ups in superset fashion.
Rows also help with width, but since they work the lat fibers that attach to the mid and upper spine, they are considered "thickness" exercises more than width exercises. A fully developed back has width and thickness, but to specialize on symmetry, do the majority of your exercises for width until you achieve the proportions you desire.
Slab like pectorals, developed top to bottom with a sharply defined, lower pec line
The chest is often one of the easiest muscles to bulk up. Compounded with the fixation most bodybuilders have on the bench press, this contributes to over development of the pecs relative to the rest of the body. Part of symmetry is balance, and overdeveloping an easy to grow muscle group throws your physique out of balance.
What\'s even worse is when the lower pectoral muscles become overdeveloped and body fat creeps up even slightly. This results in the appearance of "bunched up, droopy" pectorals (guys, it\'s pecs you want, not boobs!)
The ideal pectoral development is not a hanging bulbous mass, but a muscle that is slab like in appearance and fully developed from top to bottom. The slab runs all the way up to the clavicle. The lower pecs must developed well; combined with low body fat, a sharp, flaring lower pec line clearly delineates the lower-outer pec border. Exercise physiologists always freak out and say there is no inner and outer pec, but if you look in any anatomy book, you will see that the pectorals are fan-shaped, and the "lower" and "outer" fibers are one in the same.
To hit the "lower and outer" pecs, lay off the flat bench presses for a while and focus on dips on the wide end (32") of a V-bar. To hit the pecs with dips, you should keep your feet underneath or in front of you, flare your elbows out, round your back and look down with your chin on your chest. Another exercise that will help you achieve a nice pec line is the decline cable fly performed with the handles meeting above the groin (not over the chest).
(NOTE: If you\'re female, all the tips in this article apply to you as well, except the previous advice about pec development. It\'s the upper, clavicular portion of your pecs you\'ll want to emphasize because that\'s the portion of the muscle that is most visible. Incline bench work will do the trick nicely).
Small hips and glutes
Squats may be the best leg size builder, but performed improperly or excessively, they can throw off your symmetry. Powerlifters squat with the bar low on the upper back, with the butt sticking out and the upper body leaning forward. They do this because more weight can be lifted by recruiting your hips, butt and low back. That\'s great for powerlifting and power sports, but terrible for symmetry.
The bodybuilding squat is much more vertical: it\'s called a high bar squat, where the bar is high on the traps/shoulders, the torso more vertical and the stance narrower. This hits the butt and hips less and throws more stress "lower down" on the quads. Better still, you could use more front squats and hack squats, which isolate the quads and reduce hip and glute involvement.
Appearance of long legs
Why are high fashion models always tall with very long legs? Simple answer: Visual aesthetics! Some people were born with long legs, while others have short, thick, "stubby legs" Fortunately, if you were not born with long legs, you can create an "illusion" of the long legged look through training.
First, you want to develop the entire thigh from top to bottom. Many bodybuilders suffer from what Vince Gironda called "turnip" thighs, overdeveloped in the middle and upper portion (with a big butt) and no lower quad. Vince said that a perfectly developed thigh would nearly as wide in circumference at the mid portion as the bottom portion.
Powerlifting squats and heavy partial range leg presses overdevelop the upper thigh, hips and butt. The lower quad (vastus medialis, or teardrop near the knee) can be developed with a narrower stance and emphasis on the bottom range of motion on any squatting movement, avoiding lockout at the top. Three quarter hack squats and front squats are particularly effective, and so are one and a quarters: squat down full, come up one quarter, go back down to full, then come up just short of lockout; that\'s one rep. Try a few weeks of those and see what happens to your "teardrop"
If your knees can take it, the sissy squat is a superb thigh "shaper" because it\'s one of the few exercises that hit the rectus femoris all the way up into the hips, creating an illusion of long legs. The rectus is the muscle visible in the upper thigh, which when fully developed, makes your legs appear longer.
Some closing words of symmetry wisdom:
If you\'re a bodybuilder, there\'s nothing wrong with wanting to get big; that\'s part of what bodybuilding is about. But never go after size at the expense of symmetry. Remember, there\'s a difference between being big and looking big. Listen to what Vince said:
"All beginning bodybuilders, I find, are too interested in the scale and the tape as yardsticks of progress. They seem to think if they weigh or measure a certain amount, that this automatically produces a perfect build. Nothing could be further from the truth. What they don\'t seem to remember is that they do not weigh or measure you on the physique stage; they determine the best build by shape, size, and symmetry"
You might be thinking, "Well, I\'m not a bodybuilder and you wouldn\'t catch me dead onstage in one of those teeny "Speedo" bikinis, so why should I care about being symmetrical?" Here\'s why: Bodybuilder or not, a physique with "classical" symmetry is beautiful by anyone\'s standards (including the opposite sex).
If you\'re male and you only work on the "T-shirt muscles" (big arms and chest), you might look good in the gym in your T-shirt, but hit the beach in a pair of shorts and everyone will see the full, unsymmetrical picture. If you\'re female and all you work on is your butt, hips and thighs, then when YOU hit the beach in a swimsuit or put on a sleeveless and or low cut dress, your lack of shoulder width and a svelte V-tapered, small-waisted torso will be right there for all eyes to see (not to mention the "grandmother arms" tricep flab that flaps in the breeze).
Lesson: Work on symmetry and balanced development of all body parts, whether you\'re male, female, young, old, bodybuilder, non-bodybuilder or anything in between.
One last word of caution: Anabolic drugs are more likely to ruin your symmetry than improve it. Many pro bodybuilders today are massive but look terrible. For those who don\'t consciously focus on improving symmetry, the drug use simply blows them further and further out of proportion. No matter how big they get, they don\'t look any better. As Lee Labrada likes to say, strive for "mass with class" not just mass.
Apply the tips you\'ve learned in this article, and you\'ll be surprised and extremely pleased with how radically you change your body shape. And just think of how much fun it will be when people start comparing your body to a Greek sculpture!
Check out Tom\'s own Greek sculpture physique below -- and be sure to read more about his amazing fat burning system. Read more...
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Have You seen Tom Venuto\'s new Fat Burning System yet? It\'s called "BURN THE FAT, FEED THE MUSCLE" I\'ve read the whole thing (all 337 pages) and there\'s some great information in there about how to lose fat quickly and easily without drugs, supplements or any kind of gimmicks. I highly recommend it - it\'s very honest and straightforward without all the hype and b.s. you see in the magazines these days. Please visit the website where you can get more information.
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