People I Admire
Shawn Phillips was a wonderful guest on Heavy Muscle Radio last week. His stories about the founding 
days of EAS, the supplement biz of the ‘90s, "Muscle Media 2000" magazine, the personalities involved, and his philosophies of fitness and nutrition were entertaining and answered many questions I've had for years. It was riveting to hear the behind-the-scenes story of the sale of EAS, how the brand became so deeply involved with the NFL, and how EAS operated.
Several times during the interview, Phillips turned his questions around and, instead, asked John and Dave their opinion. This was fascinating, and clearly not a tactic. He clearly questions and thinks about life and people.
Here are a couple of examples of Shawn Phillips' nutritional philosophies:
"In marketing, ‘energy' is the sexy word used in place of CARBS, CARBS... carbs for sale. And while carbs do provide cellular energy, at the rate most bring them in they turn you into a fat storage tank."
Eating more carbs doesn't give you more energy any more than adding 5 gallons of water to a 1 gallon bucket will give it more water."
Phillips remains active in the industry, with a blog, web site and line of meal replacement shakes called Full Strength. Look for a write-up on his innovative, self-described "highest quality food supplements" in a future column. (www.atime4strength.com)
Dr. Scott Connelly tells me he will be launching a new whey-fortified food line prior to the release of his 
next book. In the final formulation stage are several breakfast items, including three cereals that are 50% whey protein and contain no monosaccharide sugars.
What do you think of a protein-fortified facsimile of cinnamon toast crunch, honey nut cheerios and coco puffs? Yeah, I think that sounds pretty cool, too. If Dr. Connelly produces them, I'm confident they'll taste great and truly be healthy. Stay tuned for more details. (www.progenexsrg.com)
Randy Roach, author of Muscle, Smoke & Mirrors (see rave review in last week's column), has provided some details of the forthcoming volumes of his incredible history of bodybuilding. He now realizes there is too much information for him to present in just one more volume, so there will be two more!
Volume 2 will cover the 1970s and ‘80s, subtitled "The Glory Years of Modern Bodybuilding... and the Great Challenge to it's Nutritional Legacy." Roach is documenting the politics of bodybuilding and the power transfers that took place, stories that haven't been told before. There will be lots about Arnold in this book, he says. Publication date for Volume 2 is early next year. Sometime later, the third book in the series will come out, covering "The Fall of Modern Bodybuilding and the Decline of the Global Dietary." Randy Roach may be the hardest-working historian in the history of this field. (www.randyroach.ca)
Matt Lisk corrects my contact information for his Burrito Diet e-book (last week's column). His book is found at www.burritodiet.com.
Macadamia Nut Oil is now in stock and available through Species Nutrition. Stop searching fruitlessly at your local Whole Foods or other health food stores; one-stop-shopping at www.speciesnutrition.com ($19.99)
Stuff I Watch
Layne Norton Unleashed: No-Nonsense Natural Bodybuilding DVD
Layne Norton loves to talk. He loves to train. Fortunately for all of us, he's educated in nutrition (a graduate student studying muscle protein metabolism). His new DVD makes all kinds of sense and will entertain and help most bodybuilders, natural or not.
Unlike many "day in the life" DVDs, most of which are boring and oddly similar, Norton's workout sequences are quick cuts interspersed with voice-overs detailing his philosophies of training and nutrition. I find it interesting to watch real-world training sessions by a guy who isn't a monster. For most of us, Layne Norton is someone we can relate to.
The biggest value of Unleashed lies in his clear explanations of why he develops workout protocols, what they mean and how to interpret them for your own use. At the same time, he's constantly talking about food, supplements, nutritional plans, and how it all works together.
Layne Norton Unleashed is a different style of DVD; from my experience, so is Layne Norton, the man. After a couple of viewings, I found myself a fan of his sense of reality and perspective, not just about competitive bodybuilding, but about life and fitting bodybuilding into it. Isn't that the real important message? $34.99.
Stuff I Can't Live Without
Fiberlyze (Fiber replacement drink, Species Nutrition)
Everybody who's spent any time listening to Dave Palumbo on the radio the last couple of years, or reading his massive Q&A threads on the forums, knows how valuable he feels fiber is to our diets. Intelligent nutritionists hammer at this point constantly. Most people consume so much junk and fast food deprived of both nutrition and fiber that they're setting themselves up for all manner of long-term health problems, not to mention short-term digestive tract issues. Do a bit of research into why quality fiber is critical to our diets; this isn't something to be taken lightly or ignored.
Dave Palumbo comes to the rescue with Fiberlyze, a proud member of the Species Nutrition line. Each scoop contains 9 grams of both soluble and insoluble fiber. Compared to grocery store fiber products, Fiberlyze is the gold standard. This product contains no sugar, no fat and no aspartame.
Palumbo has explained many times how the inclusion of soluble fiber from psyllium dramatically reduces the risk of heart disease by suppressing cholesterol synthesis in the liver, and reduces LDL cholesterol and triglycerides. How does that affect us? Less LDL cholesterol means less plaque in the blood vessels.
But the benefits of Fiberlyze continue! Are you aware that soluble fiber is a great assist in any weight-loss program by helping burn fat? It seems the beneficial bacteria of the colon can ferment soluble fiber. This liberates short-chain fatty acids, which travel to the liver where they decrease the output of glucose in the liver. Those of us who spend lots of time reading long nutritional threads on the forums know that less circulating glucose results in less insulin being released, and thus less fat is stored.
Like an old infomercial, "wait, there's more!" Insoluble fiber promotes regular bowel movements, removes toxic wastes from the colon, and prevents colon cancer by maintaining optimal pH levels in the intestines. When the colon is healthy and toxins are efficiently removed from the body, muscle can be synthesized and repaired at maximal rates.
OK, so Fiberlyze is important, but what is it like to consume, you ask? Happily, it mixes easily and tastes great, especially the Fruit Punch flavor. I drink it straight with a glass of water, or mixed with protein in water, with Chain'd Out in water, and I often stir it right into my oatmeal. Fiberlyze has made its way into my blender quite often, mixed with oatmeal, protein, BCAA powder, bananas, peanut butter and whatever else gets in there.
I don't leave home without Fiberlyze. The very thought of attending the Arnold Classic Expo for three days without Fiberlyze in my hotel room makes my colon shudder! Use a scoop one or two times per day. ($25.99)
Blogs I Like
My Google home page opens to these blogs and web sites every time I click on Firefox. I consider them all to be important or entertaining. What are your favorites?
Shawn Phillips - Strength For Life www.atime4life.com (great mix of science, philosophy and lifestyle)
Amy Dungan - Healthy Low-Carb Living www.lovinglowcarblife.blogspot (non-athletic bodybuilding point of view; real life on low carbs)
www.Sorebuttcheecks.blogspot (steroid news from around the world)
www.getbig.com/headlines (just keeping up with the other sites; little here that doesn't appear on Rxmuscle first)
Anthony Roberts - www.robertsblog.com and www.blog.anthonyrobertsonline (self-absorbed yet fascinating; hugely opinionated with a healthy ego; much news appears here first; essential reading)
John Berardi - www.precisionnutrition.com (one of the nicest and smartest nutrition people in the world of sport and exercise)
Will Brink - www.brinkzone.com/blog (Brink knows a great deal about nutrition and science, real-world supplement use, and isn't afraid to offer strong opinions)
Lyle McDonald - www.bodyrecomposition.com (great article about the Romanian deadlift this week; McDonald is an Internet legend going back to the misc.fitness.weights days. Certainly one of the early bodyfat-loss gurus)
Mesomorphosis - www.mesomorphosis.com (one of the oldest clearinghouse sites)
William Llewellyn - Body of Science (www.bodyofscience.com) (Fascinating man, author of the Anabolics series of books, provides incredible research and current market information)
RX Muscle Mag - www.rxmuscle.com (where else?)
That's it for this week. Next week I'll have more weight-training equipment, at least one very cool book, the results of my Mitrotropin and ProgenexSRG trials, and the beginnings of a couple more supplement tests.
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