Performance Press / July 2013 - Parrillo Performance

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Mark Beattie: 

Age-Defying Bodybuilder 

This lifelong athlete/soldier/bodybuilder relates 

the simple truths of fitness and aging 

By Marty Gallagher 

People know there is something 

missing from their ineffectual 

fitness and their fervent 

hope is that when they find this 

missing element they can purchase 

it. This thing, device, method, mode 

or guru will enable them to achieve 

the fitness they seek. This thing will 

give them the body they seek – but 

without having to engage in depravation, 

discipline or exert any excruciating 

physical effort. There is 

no magical method, miracle diet or 

fitness guru that can provide people 

the shortcut they desperately seek. 

The real secret to transforming the 

body is the skillful combining of 

the classical basics: weight training, 

aerobics and nutrition. This is the 

very definition of the bodybuilding 

lifestyle. Mark Beattie personifies 

the bodybuilding lifestyle: he stays 

lean as a steel post year round and 

his physique is positively age-defying. 

Mark was career military, 

now retired. Mark was a star high 

school football player and went on 

to play Division I football for Missouri. 

He was an undersized 210 

pound lineman whose team played 

in a televised bowl game. Mark 

entered the military in 1975. “I retired 

an Army Lieutenant Colonel. 

I served in light infantry, air assault 

Mark Beattie with Fred Rowlett at Fred’s gym, 

Laser Sharp Fitness, in Leawood, Kansas 

 

July 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-344-3404 www.parrillo.com www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013 

 

Photos by Matthew Shepley

JOHN PARRILLO’S PERFORMANCE PRESS 

Mark Beattie 

Mark Beattie working out with his trainer Abu Shabazz 

at Laser Sharp Fitness 

infantry and Special Forces, joint, 

and worked with multinational special 

operations forces. My Army 

experiences included three years in 

the 3rd Battalion, 5th Infantry, 193rd 

Infantry Brigade. I was stationed in 

the Panama Canal Zone as a light 

infantry platoon leader and later a 

scout platoon leader. I was assigned 

to the 101st Air Assault Division 

for three years, commanding two 

different companies: a light infantry 

company and a Headquarters 

Company. I served later as a Special 

Forces A-Team detachment commander 

and a Special Forces Battalion 

Operations officer in the 7th 

Special Forces Group (Airborne).” 

After a 28 year career, most of it in 

worldwide Spec Ops, Mark retired. 

Mark has accumulated his fair share 

of injuries, as you might imagine 

from a man with his elite athletic 

and military resume. The body you 

see in these pictures was constructed 

after he underwent a right hip 

replacement in 2005. “I viewed the 

hip replacement as yet another challenge. 

I discovered that I respond 

best when I set goals or challenges 

for myself. I then set about rising to, 

or overcoming these challenges and 

obstacles.” There is a popular fitness 

cliché that goes, “40 is the new 

20,” referring to how certain superfit 

individuals are able to possess 

the body and functionality of people 

half their age. Mr. Beattie could coin 

his own cliché. “60 is the new 40.” 

Mark is 63 years young; he stands 

5-10 and weighs a super lean 170 

pounds carrying a shredded 5.5% 

body fat percentile. He is never out 

of shape. This Kansas City resident 

was originally from Pittsfield, Illinois 

and grew up on a farm. Mark 

Beattie celebrated his 50th year of 

progressive resistance training in 

2011. “I began lifting weight at age 

11 in 1961 and really got serious 

at age 15. Originally I was a very 

strong, overweight farm boy. Being 

fat really bothered me and motivated 

me to do something about it, even 

as a preteen.” Mark combined his 

farm boy base strength with some 

damned fine genetics and discovered 

he had an excellent work ethic. 

He quickly morphed from fat boy 

into star athlete. He played baseball, 

basketball, football and ran track. 

Mark attended the University of 

Missouri on an NCAA full scholarship 

for football. He was a member 

of the University of Missouri’s 

1970 Orange Bowl team. Later in 

life Mark took up Korean Tae Kwon 

Do and achieved 3rd degree black 

belt status to which he also added a 

1st degree black belt in Korean Hap 

Kido. 

After obtaining his college degree, 

Mark eventually ended up enlisting 

in the army in 1975 with designs on 

being an infantry rifleman. Mark 

eventually decided to put his degree 

to use and by 1977 he was a second 

lieutenant. We asked Mark how 

long he served and he responded 

instantly, “28 years, one month and 

23 days, to be exact. I traveled the 

world; Europe, Central America, 

Photo by Matthew Shepley 

“I feel that too many people my age 

have bought into this ‘sensible’ idea 

that with age a person should 

reduce the amount and intensity 

of their efforts.” 

the Far East…My career field was 

Army Special Forces, Ranger qualified. 

I was a master parachutist and 

proud that I started off in infantry 

and really worked over the years at 

improving.” As mentioned earlier, 

it might be expected that this lifelong 

athlete and elite career soldier 

has incurred a lot of injuries over 

the years. In each instance, Mark 

redoubled his recuperative efforts 

and used willpower and discipline 

to get back into “the game.” At any 

point along the way he could have 

“acted his age” and taken the injury 

as a warning sign to “slow down” 

and to start “behaving,” to be age 

appropriate; perhaps take up golf or 

bowling, something less stressful, 

taxing, demanding and dangerous. 

And of course the instant the individual 

buys into the “act your age” 

mentality is precisely when old age 

first sinks its claws into a person and 

creates the snowball effect leading 

to premature enfeeblement. 

When asked how he attained and 

maintained such a high degree of 

fitness at such an advanced age, this 

despite such a long list of injuries 

requiring surgery, Mark didn’t cite 

a diet or a workout, his answer had 

nothing to do with anything 

external, his first 

response was about 

perception and mindset 

regarding age and 

aging. “I feel that too 

many people my age 

have bought into this 

‘sensible’ idea that with 

age a person should reduce 

the amount and 

intensity of their efforts. 

I think this is a 

mistake.” He qualifies 

his statement. “True, 

we don’t have the capabilities 

or capacities we 

had in our 20s and 30s 

or 40s – and we certainly 

recover slower 

– but though our maximum 

capacities might 

be diminished there is 

no reason we cannot 

work up to, or past, the 

limits of our current 

capacities. People my 

age are afraid to push 

themselves, to challenge 

themselves, to 

stretch the envelope, to 

fly close to the edge of 

our physical capacities 

because guess what? That is where 

the gains lie and you can make 

gains regardless of your age.” This 

is a point amplified often by John 

Parrillo in his seminars, “The characteristics 

that we associate with 

age and aging, loss of mobility, loss 

of muscle tone, frailty, osteoporosis, 

all are held at bay by resistance training, 

aerobics and nutrition: in short, 

the bodybuilding lifestyle. Age is a 

state-of-being and those that have 

been physical in their youth and 

carry this physicality on as they 

age forestall all of the debilitations 

“People my age are afraid to push themselves, to 

challenge themselves, to stretch the envelope, to 

fly close to the edge of our physical capacities 

because guess what? That is where the gains lie 

and you can make gains regardless of your age.” 

July 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-344-3404 www.parrillo.com www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013


Mark Beattie 

Mark, far right, at the December 2011 Extreme Training Camp 

at Parrillo Headquarters, led by John Parrillo and Dr. Mike Feulner. 

associated with age and aging.” 

Mark used his injuries as motivators, 

“I used bodybuilding to facilitate 

rehabilitation from a detached 

left biceps in 1996. In 2005 I had a 

total right hip replacement. I underwent 

arthroscopic surgery in 2009 

on my left knee and most recently I 

had bi-lateral surgery to repair two 

hernias, one in 2008 and a second in 

2010.” In each instance Mark redoubled 

his efforts after each surgery in 

a determined attempt to “get back 

to normal; then exceed normal.” 

His iron will has served him well. 

In each instance he has used determined 

effort to bounce back from 

serious injuries. The hip replacement 

in 2005 at age 55 would have 

caused most people to conclude, 

“Well that’s it for me…intense 

physical activity is over and done 

with.” Mark would classify that 

type of thinking as an excuse to do 

less; to buy into the orthodox thinking 

about age and aging. Mark overcame 

a hip replacement to achieve 

the condition he possesses today. A 

big change for Mark occurred when 

he crossed paths with Midwestern 

bodybuilding guru Fred Rowlett. 

Mark related, “I seem to perform 

best when I create a challenge. I decided 

that an appropriate challenge 

would be for me to compete in a 

bodybuilding competition.” Mark 

had actually competed as a bodybuilder 

once before – in 1974. In 

2012 Mark enlisted Fred Rowlett’s 

services, along with one of Fred’s 

super-trainers, Abu Shabazz. “I 

started training twice weekly with 

Abu and I began using the Abu/Fred 

diet plan – which is a Parrillo-based 

diet strategy.” 

Mark knows all about John Parrillo 

and Parrillo Performance Products. 

“I was introduced to Parrillo products 

and to Parrillo bodybuilding 

ideas and strategies about training 

and cardio through Fred and Abu. I 

wanted to learn more so I attended a 

Parrillo two-day training workshop 

a few years back. I got a chance to 

experience the Parrillo approach in 

a very intense environment. The 

100-rep belt squats and the use of 

exercise machines to create an aerobic 

workout were incredibly tough.” 

Under Fred and Abu’s expert direction, 

Mark took his already superb 

body to the next level of development. 

“I went from not competing 

to competing four times a year. At 

this point, I just stay in shape year 

round. The foods that Abu recommends 

are rotated and alternated 

often, and I find Abu’s brand of ‘dieting’ 

is not really all that difficult. 

I actually enjoy it.” Which makes 

adherence a breeze – and we all 

know the key to dietary success is 

adherence. By the end of 2013 Mark 

will have appeared in twelve bodybuilding 

shows in three years – talk 

about making up for lost time! “Obviously 

I like to compete. I really 

enjoy how having a show coming up 

makes the hard training and strict 

dieting so easy.” Mark also has to 

love the results: this man is packed 

with muscle and his low body fat is 

a tribute to the skillful combining 

of lifting, aerobics, nutrition and 

supplementation. 

Mark is married to Ann and they 

have five children. Mark is in the 

defense contracting industry in 

support of the US Army’s operations 

in Iraq and Afghanistan. His 

competitive bodybuilding goal is 

a worthy one. “I would like to establish 

myself as a top national 

“Obviously I like to compete. 

I really enjoy how having a show 

coming up makes the hard training 

and strict dieting so easy.” 

master’s body builder and qualify for 

a NANBF pro card.” This is a tough 

assignment in that Mark must win 

a major show against much younger 

competitors. “The lack of over 60 

physique competitors is disappointing. 

I think I personally have a lot 

of room for improvement.” Mark 

wants to also pursue academics. “I 

want to obtain my PhD in an area 

related to exercise physiology.” This 

is a man looking to better his body, 

expand his mind and improve mentally 

and physically at an age where 

his chronologic contemporaries 

are riding carts at Wal-Mart and 

90% are prematurely aged by poor 

diet and lack of exercise. Mark is a 

role model for anyone interested in 

maintaining quality of life late into 

life. As the great Irish philosopher 

Mae West once quipped when asked 

her age, “Honey, it ain’t the age – it’s 

the mileage.” Obviously Mark Beattie’s 

physique is analogous to a ‘57 

Corvette fuelie with 18,000 original 

miles. 

Mark Beattie’s 

Daily Meal Schedule 

• Meal 1 pre-workout: Hi-Protein 

shake, one green apple 

• Meal 2 post-workout: Hi-Protein 

shake, banana 

• Meal 3: egg whites, spinach 

• Meal 4: tilapia fish, sweet potatoes, 

vegetables 

• Meal 5: ground turkey, quinoa, 

vegetables 

• Meal 6: tilapia, salad 

• “I use a lot of Parrillo supplements 

including Enhanced GH Formula , 

Ultimate Amino Formula , Mineral 

Electrolyte Formula , Evening 

Primrose Oil and lots of Parrillo 

Hi-Protein powder. John’s supplements 

are powerful 

and the Hi-Protein 

powder makes a delicious 

shake.” Mark 

uses a very sophisticated 

approach towards 

training and 

nutrition that was 

devised by Fred and 

Abu. His diet plan 

gives sophistication 

a new meaning: he 

uses three different 

diet plans based 

on what particular 

body part he is 

training on a particular 

day: a different 

food selection for 

leg day; chest, biceps 

and back day; 

shoulders, triceps 

and back (again) day. For illustrative 

purposes we have spotlighted 

his leg day eating schedule. 

Mark Beattie’s 

Weekly Training Split 

• Monday: chest, biceps, pose, 

cardio, abs 

• Tuesday morning: calves, 

pose, cardio, abs 

• Tuesday evening: legs – using 

forced reps 

• Wednesday: back, pose, cardio, 

stretch, abs 

• Thursday: shoulders, triceps 

- using forced reps 

• Friday: back, pose, stretch, abs 

• Saturday: pose, cardio, stretch, 

abs 

• Sunday: off 

• Mark trains with Abu twice weekly 

and those sessions are the very 

definition of intensity and stretching 

the limits of “the envelope.” 

“I would like to establish myself as a top national 

master’s body builder and qualify for 

a NANBF pro card.” 

July 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-344-3404 www.parrillo.com www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013


A BODYBUILDER IS BORN: Generations 

od grant me the 

“G serenity to accept the 

things I cannot change; 

courage to change the things 

I can; and wisdom 

to know the 

difference.” 

- Serenity prayer, 

Reinhold Niebuhr 

Anyone who has 

had any experience 

with Alcoholics 

Anonymous will 

recognize the above 

mantra. It’s actually 

amazingly useful 

for putting things 

into their proper 

perspective in many 

situations in life - 

even physique competition. 

As you prepare for 

a bodybuilding contest, 

you must have a 

firm grasp of which 

things are under 

your control, and 

which are not. First 

and foremost, understand 

that you have no control 

over who else you will be competing 

with and how they will look. 

Many of us have wasted untold 

amounts of mental energy worrying 

about our competition, both 

real and imagined. Now that we 

have social media and it’s easy to 

“Don’t worry about things you 

have no control over.” 

study/stalk your fellow competitors 

via the photos they post, this 

is easier than ever. Yet it’s utterly 

pointless, as it serves no possible 

productive purpose. All you can 

and should focus on is yourself. 

They are going to look the way 

they will look, and you will look 

the way you look. 

No amount of worrying 

or stress 

on your part will 

make them look 

any worse, or you 

look any better. 

With that understood, 

we next 

move on to which 

aspects you are in 

control of. How 

you present yourself 

is something 

anyone can improve 

through posing 

practice. Some 

of us have a natural 

knack for it, others 

may need to find 

someone to help 

coach them. If you 

know your presentation 

is a weak 

point, work on it! 

What about your 

actual physique? 

I like to give credit where it’s 

due, and this topic was originally 

something I heard Dave Palumbo 

discuss in a seminar in New 

Hampshire around ten years ago. 

Dave said that as you start your 

prep, your physique ‘is what it is’ 

in terms of size and shape. You’re 

not going to be getting any bigger 

as you diet, and your structure, 

muscle shapes, and proportions at 

this point are not going to change. 

The first two are 

entirely genetic 

anyway. When you 

get down to it, the 

only thing 100% 

in your control 

now is your condition. 

Will you 

be ripped, or off 

your mark? And 

as Dave stressed, 

since all you really 

have control 

over is your condition, 

why on 

earth would you 

not make sure you 

come in at your 

best? 

It is my belief that 

anyone can get 

shredded. Many 

will instantly argue 

that you can’t 

get truly ripped 

without drugs. 

Pardon my French, 

but BULLS**T. 

I’ve been to many 

drug-tested contests 

in various federations, some 

of which have very strict random 

testing procedures in place. At all 

the events, there were always at 

least a couple men whose condition 

was right up there with anything 

I’ve seen on a pro stage, right 

down to the dry, grainy striated 

glutes and hams. Granted, these 

natural athletes were a fraction of 

the size of their pro bodybuilder 

counterparts, but they definitely 

matched their level of leanness. 

They probably had to diet longer 

“Worrying about your fellow 

competitors is pointless.” 

and stricter, do more cardio, and 

unfortunately sacrifice a certain 

amount of muscle size and fullness 

to achieve that condition, 

but inevitably they were rewarded 

with a win. Condition is often 

king on contest day, and that 

seems to be even more true in the 

natural federations where nobody 

is a mass monster anyway. 

Now that I have 

been competing at 

the national level 

in pro qualifiers 

only since 2009, I 

am up against the 

genetic cream of 

the crop. I know 

my strengths and 

When 2012 Mr. Olympia Showdown 

(under 212 lbs.) Flex Lewis 

was in town recently, he briefly 

asked me what 

show I was getting 

ready for. I 

told him, then he 

asked, “So are 

you going to be 

in condition?” I 

almost laughed, 

because that’s a 

foregone conclusion. 

weaknesses intimately. 

I have 

some good size, 

but I will never be 

the biggest guy up 

there. My shape 

is decent, but I 

will never have 

the best shape up 

there either. What 

does that leave? You got it, condition. 

That’s the one aspect I am 

in control of. Others may match 

my condition, but it’s up to me to 

make sure no one beats it. I know 

10 July 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-344-3404 www.parrillo.com www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013 

11


from experience that 

it’s one way I can get 

past a lot of guys who 

otherwise I would 

have no prayer of 

beating. They blow 

me away on size, 

shape, or sometimes 

even both - but for 

whatever reason they 

just don’t show up in 

shape. Too bad for 

them, but great for 

me! 

What’s always puzzled 

me is seeing 

some guys show up 

off their mark not 

once, but over and 

over again. If you 

don’t place as well 

as you wanted to and 

you know you should 

have been leaner, 

why would you keep 

repeating the same 

mistake? I can only 

guess the reasons. 

Some of them might 

have only ‘yes men’ 

and cheerleaders 

around them who tell 

them they are shredded 

when they still have a good 

amount of fat to lose. Or those 

well-meaning types around them 

simply have no idea what level of 

leanness is expected and get impressed 

once they see abs. Others 

are delusional and think the 

bodyfat they haven’t lost is only 

water, and they will be ripped to 

shreds as soon as they lose that 

water over the final day or two. 

“Focus on YOU and what you can 

control to be your best!” 

They typically go nuts on diuretics 

and show up still smooth, but 

now also flat as a pancake. Still 

others rely on extreme last-minute 

manipulations of carbs, water, 

and sodium that usually backfire 

more often than they improve a 

physique’s appearance. Finally, 

there are those who simply can’t 

deal with losing any more size/ 

bodyweight after a certain point, 

Ron 

Harris 

is the 

author of 

and essentially halt 

the fat-loss process 

when they should 

keep pushing forward. 

In any case, I have 

my work cut out 

for me. I will be up 

against some incredible 

competitors, and 

my only chance to 

do well is to nail my 

condition - and so I 

shall! And to the rest 

of you either competing 

soon or thinking 

about it, just remember 

to be selective in 

what you choose to 

spend your mental 

and emotional energies 

on. If it’s in 

your power, focus on 

it. If it’s out of your 

hands, let it go! 

Real Bodybuilding, 

available at 

www.ronharrismuscle.com 

12 July 2013 / Performance Press 1-800-344-3404 www.parrillo.com 

www.parrillo.com 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013 

13

Building the Metabolism 

Here we are in the year 2013 

and one of the best selling 

diet books in the United 

States is called The Fast Metabolism 

Diet written by a nice looking young 

lady named Haylie Pomroy. Ms. 

Pomroy bills herself as “a celebrity 

nutritionist and wellness consultant.” 

Her main qualification is that she has 

a list of celebrity clients that include 

Jennifer Lopez, Cher, Reese Witherspoon 

and Robert Downey Jr. As 

the book title suggests, Ms. Pomroy’s 

“revolutionary” diet is based on the 

idea that the dieter needs to eat more 

food in order to lose bodyweight, 

specifically body fat. Where have we 

heard that before? In many passages 

of her best selling diet book (I bought 

my copy at Sam’s Club) Ms. Pomroy 

sounds as if she is channeling John 

Parrillo. She is impassioned as she 

sings of the benefits obtained when 

one successfully creates an ampedup 

metabolism. “Fire up the metabolism 

and you’ll burn everything you 

eat like {dry logs} thrown onto a bonfire, 

even if you eat a lot.” That’s pure 

Parrillo speak. She goes on, “Long 

term chronic dieting dampens your 

metabolism, your inner fire, turning 

it slowly, year by year, into a pile of 

wet logs. The less you eat, the more 

your metabolism cools. This is precisely 

the reason some people can’t 

lose weight even though they don’t 

Parrillo Principles: 

Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery – yet again! 

eat very much. Their metabolic flame 

has died out and they can’t get it lit 

again; their logs are wet and the whole 

{metabolic} process had become dysfunctional.” 

Now does that not sound like John 

Parrillo talking to a roomful of bodybuilders? 

They say imitation is the 

sincerest form of flattery and if that 

is the case, John Parrillo should feel 

more flattered than a Playboy Pet 

visiting a Marine base camp. There 

is no mention of Mr. Parrillo in Ms. 

Pomroy’s book and we will assume 

she has never heard of, come across, 

or is aware of any of John’s groundbreaking 

work in metabolic acceleration 

via nutrition and exercise. 

We assume she came to her conclusions 

completely independent of John 

– which makes the similarities all the 

more amazing. Many of the phrases 

in The Fast Metabolism diet sound 

as if they had emanated from John 

Parrillo’s mouth. “All you have to do 

is eat food – good food, delicious real 

food – in the specific order and way 

that I tell you to eat it. Give me four 

weeks and I will set your metabolism 

on fire.” Well amen sister. Welcome 

to the party, late as you might be. By 

the way, John Parrillo has been on 

a one man march when it comes to 

metabolic manipulation since 1980. 

Anyone that uses nutrition to amp the 

By Duke Nukem 

metabolism should thank John Parrillo 

for blazing the path. He has done 

ground-breaking work in this area 

for the last quarter century and only 

now is science beginning to catch up 

to the conclusions Parrillo reached 

long ago. 

Ms. Pomroy’s book sales are through 

the roof and she is making money by 

the wheelbarrow full. Meanwhile the 

Godfather of the amped-up metabolism 

is largely ignored by the general 

public. Ms. Pomroy is a “Registered 

Wellness Consultant specializing in 

holistic health, nutrition, and exercise 

and stress management.” She 

has a college background in animal 

sciences and seems earnest and passionate. 

Ms. Pomroy makes continual 

use of the “bonfire parable” – relating 

in metaphorical terms the idea 

that a healthy metabolism is akin to 

a raging bonfire. Parrillo first used 

this comparison in seminars back in 

the 1980s. An old pro bodybuilder 

related the classic, Parrillo-inspired 

bonfire, clean fuel/dry log analogy a 

year or so ago in the Parrillo Performance 

Press. He was quite eloquent. 

“Through the skillful blending of 

rigid eating and intense exercise, we 

can ‘build’ an accelerated metabolism. 

You should think of the optimal 

human metabolism as a bonfire. By 

combining high calorie multiplemeal 

eating with target nutritional 

supplementation, by adding intense 

resistance training and intense aerobic 

training, in very short order we 

can transform a sluggish metabolism 

into a raging metabolism.” Haylie 

instructs her readers, “I need you to 

eat no less than 35 meals per week!” 

The whole idea behind amping the 

metabolism is rooted in the idea of 

eating more food to lose weight. This 

contention seems so counterintuitive, 

so backwards, so wrong – how could 

you eat more and lose body fat? That 

is impossible! The eat-more-to-loseweight 

idea has been dismissed by the 

nutritional establishment for years 

as “crazy.” 

• The Energy Balance Equation is the 

Sacred Cow of modern conventional 

nutrition. The EBE is premised on 

the idea that if you need 2,000 calories 

a day to “cover the caloric cost” 

of your combined daily activities, and 

if you want to lose bodyweight, you 

need to eat less than 2,000 calories 

per day or create an “energy deficit” 

via exercise or a combination of diet 

and exercise. Period. End of story 

and end of discussion. No healthy 

exchange of ideas wanted, needed 

or required. The idea that a person 

can eat well in excess of their daily 

caloric requirements and lose bodyweight 

was (and is) deemed lunacy by 

the orthodox medical and nutrition 

establishment. To this day the EBE 

is considered gospel – this despite the 

thousands of bodybuilders that defy 

the EBE yet attain sub-10% body fat 

percentiles on a routine basis. 

Parrillo bristled and rebelled at the 

unchallenged “wisdom” of the EBE. 

He had a fleet of bodybuilders eating 

5,000, 7,000, up to 10,000 calories 

per day and adding mounds of muscle 

while not getting fat! These same men 

were reducing caloric intake down to 

3,500 calories (still in excess of their 

Parrillo Principles: Building the Metabolism 

caloric breakeven) in the weeks leading 

up to a competition and getting 

ripped to shreds – imagine attaining 

a 3% body fat percentile while eating 

far in excess of your EBE caloric ceiling! 

The bonfire analogy was perfect 

for explaining the nutritional procedures 

needed to build a blast-furnace 

metabolism, one akin to that of a pro 

bodybuilder. “How does the elite 

bodybuilder acquire or create an accelerated 

metabolism? The answer is 

we need to approach ‘building the metabolism’ 

in the same identical manner 

in which we would when building 

a raging bonfire from scratch. To 

Clean food, in Parrillo bodybuilding 

terminology, refers to lean, fat-free 

protein, fibrous carbohydrates and 

some natural starch carbs. 

build a bonfire we must first start off 

igniting small amounts of kindling, 

dry and highly combustible small 

twigs and branches. Clean food is dry 

and combustible. At routine intervals 

we must refuel the fire.” 

Thermogenesis is a process whereby 

heat is created and released during 

the digestion of nutrients. Clean 

food, in Parrillo bodybuilding terminology, 

refers to lean, fat-free protein, 

fibrous carbohydrates and some 

natural starch carbs. These particular 

nutrients are highly combustible and 

once digested release high amounts of 

heat; high thermic foods amp up the 

metabolism. Low thermic foods are 

sugar-laden, chemically-drenched, 

estrogen-inducing artificial foods 

that depress the metabolism; these 

industrial foods are the equivalent 

of wet logs and preferentially used 

to create body fat. We start off building 

our metabolic bonfire with small 

amounts of clean food, food eaten 

without fail every 2-3 waking hours. 

We start the bonfire off with small 

amounts of dry, highly combustible 

twigs, branches and sticks. We add 

slightly larger branches as the fire 

builds; ultimately the fire burns so 

hot we can use logs. Small sparks 

turn into small flames and to start the 

metabolic kindling all the wood has 

to be dry and combustible. No wet 

logs allowed. The metabolic bonfire 

is built by establishing a rock-solid 

multiple-meal eating schedule. Initially 

the meals are small and always 

“clean.” Over time, just as larger logs 

are thrown onto a fire to morph it 

into a bonfire, ever larger amounts of 

clean food/fuel are consumed. Over 

time, the bodybuilder creates a raging 

blast furnace metabolism through 

the combination of nutrition and 

exercise. 

Once the metabolism is “built” as 

long as dry logs (the proper food 

fuel) are thrown onto the bonfire metabolism 

at the appointed times, the 

inferno will continue to rage. Haylie 

Pomroy came to her conclusions 

about accelerating the metabolism 

through her schooling in agricultural 

science. She mentored under autistic 

genius Temple Grandin and was 

schooled in animal production. Haylie 

was introduced to the art and science 

of livestock feeding and animal 

nutrition and she writes in her book, 

“We pump ourselves full of sugar 

and artificial sweeteners, hormoneridden 

protein and dairy products, 

and foods like wheat and corn and 

soy that are so genetically modified 


15


that it’s a wonder we can even digest 

them.” This could be right out of a 

Parrillo Nutrition Manual. Here’s 

another good quote of hers, “When 

your body produces too much RT3, it 

begins to store fat instead of burn it 

– even when you already have plenty 

of body fat stored onboard. RT3 acts 

like a goalie in front of a T3 receptor 

site, blocking the ball, which is T3, 

your brain detects the presence of 

plenty of thyroid hormones, no matter 

what kind are circulating, so it steps 

down thyroid hormone production 

across the board. Your metabolism 

slows down in response and you 

begin to store everything you eat as 

body fat, even healthful food.” That 

is really good stuff. 

Let us not give the impression that 

Pomroy and Parrillo are in lockstep 

all up and down the line – that 

would be factually inaccurate. Pomroy 

is far more lenient in terms of 

allowable foods than Parrillo. John 

would forbid many of the foods that 

Pomroy recommends. Most egregiously, 

Pomroy misses the proverbial 

boat by jumping on the mindless 

Low Fat nutritional bandwagon 

and not recognizing the nutritional 

shortcomings of a low-fat diet. The 

trick is to be a little sophisticated and 

understand there are beneficial fats 

we need to consume. The trick is to 

switch out your fats – substitute lost 

saturated fat calories derived from 

long-chain triglycerides with healthy, 

medium-chain triglycerides. MCTs 

always go to the head of the oxidation 

line, no matter what is in the body at 

the time they are digested. MCTs are 

preferentially oxidized, just as LCT 

fat is preferentially partitioned into 

fat storage. Parrillo would say that 

Ms. Pomroy is making a big mistake 

to pull all fat of all types out of the dieter’s 

diet – fat is really beneficial if it 

is benign. Fat has magnificent caloric 

density – 9 calories per gram – more 

than twice as nutrient-dense as protein 

or carbohydrate. The trick is using 

MCTs for our fat source. Once we 

do so, we now have all the benefits of 

fat intake (high density recuperative 

calories) without the body fat drawbacks 

associated with LCTs. 

CapTri ® is an MCT oil and the cornerstone 

supplement of Parrillo-inspired 

nutrition. MCTs have thermic 

value that is off the charts and there is 

Build and maintain metabolic 

bonfires with the driest, 

biggest and most thermogenic 

of all logs, MCT Oil! 

much science to suggest a continual 

intake of MCTs aids in the creation 

of a blast-furnace metabolism. Cap- 

Tri ® is the metabolic bonfire builder’s 

best friend. Since CapTri ® is a MCT, 

we can consume it in a variety of 

ways. CapTri ® is a liquid lipid derived 

from coconut oil. Elite bodybuilders 

will most often sprinkle one to three 

tablespoons of CapTri ® atop each 

of their multiple meals. CapTri ® is 

highly thermogenic and its continual 

consumption is akin to throwing gasoline 

onto our raging metabolic bonfire. 

Bodybuilders will use CapTri ® 

as a substitute for olive oil and sauté 

proteins and vegetables guilt-free. An 

intense exerciser needs fat to accelerate 

healing and recovery. If you can’t 

recover in time for the next training 

session, your efforts are stymied. Fat 

calories weigh in at 9 calories per 

gram and 120 per tablespoon. If we 

are all about building and maintaining 

metabolic bonfires – why do we 

deny ourselves the driest, biggest and 

most thermogenic of all logs, a 9-calorie 

per gram, head-of-the-oxidationline, 

recovery-speeding MCT fat! 

Ms. Pomroy also needs to emphasize 

physical activity to a far greater degree. 

She makes passing reference 

to the need to perform resistance 

training at a certain juncture or engage 

in a cardio session, but details 

are non-existent. Parrillo, being 

equally adept and accomplished as 

an exercise expert further accelerates 

his follower’s metabolisms 

with daily doses of intense exercise. 

The Parrillo approach towards 

resistance training could be summarized 

as ‘hard, heavy and often.’ 

The cardio motto would be ‘every 

single day and twice a day in the 

month leading up to the bodybuilding 

competition.’ We think it’s encouraging 

that a book championing 

a dietary idea that John Parrillo has 

been espousing for decades is gaining 

traction among the general public. 

Victor Hugo once said, “An army 

can be resisted but not an idea whose 

time has come.” Perhaps the idea that 

the Energy Balance Equation is passé 

has arrived; perhaps the public is 

ready to at least consider the idea that 

there might be a new (actually a very 

old) way in which to combat the eternal 

battle of body fat. Pomroy’s best 

selling book will introduce a wide 

swath of people to the idea of eating 

more in order to lose body fat. If your 

metabolism is underfed and sluggish, 

let this article serve as your wake up 

call. Purchase a copy of the Parrillo 

Nutrition Manual and let’s wake up 

your sluggish metabolism by eating 

more to lean out! 

On May 4, 2013, Pamela Adams, 

one of our past Parrillo Performance 

Press featured athletes, placed 2nd in 

her IFPA Bikini Professional Debut in 

Richmond, Virginia. She was also the 

winner of the Best Bikini Presentation 

award at the show. Congratulations 

Pam, what an awesome job!! 

Parrillo Update: 

Pamela 

Adams 

Photos by Matthew Shepley 



17 

17

tips 

RECIPE 

spotlight 

Ginger Sauce For Vegetables 

2 tbsp. CapTri ® 

200 g. chopped onions 

1 clove garlic‐minced 

1 tsp. grated fresh ginger OR 1/2 tsp. dried ginger 

2 tsp. lemon juice 

Simmer onions and garlic in CapTri ® until soft. Stir 

in ginger and lemon juice. Simmer 5 minutes more 

to give flavors time to expand. Makes about 2/3 cup 

that can be refrigerated for later use. 

Especially good over carrots or zucchini! Ginger 

sauce also makes broiled fish tastier! 

Training Tip 

of the month: 

Twisting Stretch (Partner-Assisted) 

Start: Sit on the floor with your legs extended and 

together. Rotate your body slightly to the right. Facing 

you, your partner straddles your body just at your 

thighs. He then places his 

left hand and left knee 

under your shoulder. He 

also loops his right hand 

under your right shoulder 

and grasps the inside 

of his right knee with his 

right hand. 

Stretch: Straightening 

his right leg and bending 

his left leg, your partner 

then pulls up your torso, twisting your body to the 

right. This position is held for ten seconds. Repeat 

the stretch for the left side of your body. 

Variation: To also stretch your rib cage, your partner 

lifts your arm up and back. 

& tidbits 

Nutritional Information for 100g, cooked: 

Calories 33 

Protein 3.83g 

Fat .52g 

Total Carbs 3.12g 

of the month 

Food 

of the month: 

Broccoli Rabé 

• Also known as broccoli raab and rapini 

• Great source of vitamin A, vitamin C, potassium, 

and calcium 

• Has a nutty, more bitter taste than broccoli 

• Can be steamed, sauteed, stir-fried, or braised 

Fiber 2.8g 

Calcium 118mg 

Phosphorus 82mg 

Iron 1.27mg 

Sodium 56mg 

Potassium 343mg 

Vitamin A 4533 IU 

Try this great recipe idea using broccoli rabé: 

• Sauteed Broccoli Rabé and Garlic 

Wash 1 bunch broccoli rabé and remove tough stems. 

Blanch broccoli rabé in salted, boiling water for 1 minute 

and plunge into bowl of ice water, remove from 

bowl and dry well. Heat 1 TBS CapTri ® in skillet at medium 

heat, add 2 cloves garlic minced and a pinch of 

crushed red pepper, sauté until garlic is golden. Add 

broccoli rabé, toss to coat, and saute for 2-3 min., 

then season to taste with No-Salt and pepper. 

nutrition Tip 

of the month: 

It’s not who diets the hardest, it’s who 

diets the smartest! Pre-contest dieting 

is not time for starvation. You should eat enough 

and do plenty of aerobics to build your metabolism. 

Lose bodyfat gradually by dieting in stages. Monitor 

your body composition every week so you know 

if you are losing bodyfat or lean body mass. Finally, 

keep precise records of everything you do the week 

before your contest. Analyze the results so you can 

look even better the next time. As we continue to 

work with top bodybuilders, we realize more and 

more that the human body is truly the ultimate anabolic. 

Train it properly, give it the nutrients it needs, 

and it will do amazing things. 

News & Discoveries 

In Fitness & Nutrition 

Don’t judge the nutrient content of white 

vegetables by color alone 

Potatoes and other white vegetables are just as important 

to a healthy diet as their colorful cousins in the produce 

aisle, according to the authors of a scientific supplement 

published in Advances in Nutrition. Although green, red 

and orange veggies are often promoted as top nutrient 

sources, white vegetables are nutrient powerhouses 

in their own right and deserve a place on your plate. 

“It’s recommended that the variety of fruits and vegetables 

consumed daily should include dark green and 

orange vegetables, but no such recommendation exists 

for white vegetables, even though they are rich in fiber, 

potassium and magnesium,” says the supplement’s editor 

Connie Weaver, PhD, distinguished professor of nutrition 

science at Purdue University. “Overall, Americans 

are not eating enough vegetables, and promoting white 

vegetables, some of which are common and affordable, 

may be a pathway to increasing vegetable consumption 

in general.” 

The supplement authors identify a substantial body of 

evidence that demonstrates how the inclusion of white 

vegetables, such as potatoes, can increase intake of 

shortfall nutrients, notably fiber, potassium and magnesium, 

as well as help increase overall vegetable consumption 

among children, teens and adults in the U.S. 

In addition, the papers detail the current and emerging 

science about key health benefits associated with 

consumption of potatoes and other white vegetables 

such as cauliflower, onions, mushrooms, turnips and 

kohlrabi. 

- Julie Larson Bricher, May 15, 2013, McLean, Virginia 

Interesting 

Article Fact: 

Glucose not used right away is stored in the liver and 

muscles as glycogen, which provides an additional reservoir 

for energy. Read more in John’s article found 

on page 20. 

Dominique’s 

Time Cruncher 

Question 

of the month: 

Quick Tip 

of the month: 

Use your ice cream maker to make delicious Protein Ice 

To store salad greens and keep them fresh, loosely Kreem, all you need to add is water. You can also make a 

wrap small bunches of washed and dried greens in frosty shake using a blender, or just add the mix to water for 

a quick protein shake. Try the Protein Ice Kreem with a slice 

paper towels and place in resealable plastic bags, letting 

air out of the bags before sealing. Store the bags summer treat loaded with protein. 

of Parrillo Hi-Protein Cake or Contest Brownie for a sweet 


in www.parrillo.com the crisper drawer of the refrigerator. 1-800-344-3404 Performance Press / July 2013 

19 

18 

19 

? 

Question: I’d like to know more about growth hormone 

and what I can do to increase its release in my 

body as I age. 

Answer: Growth hormone is the mightiest of all hormonal 

secretions as it increases mass and decreases 

bodyfat simultaneously, and aids in joint repair. 

The primary factor in determining overall 

GH secretion is undoubtedly age. Growth 

hormone levels are highest during childhood. 

Gradually GH levels decrease to about 

25 percent of the inital level in the elderly. 

The second major GH factor is body composition. 

Excessive bodyfat seems to decrease 

GH levels. GH is normally released in 

pulsatile (pulsation) fashion: the biggest spike occurs 

about two hours after deep sleep. So this means sleep 

is a stimulus for GH release. Other factors which increase 

GH release include exercise, excitement, stress, 

malnutrition and some specific nutrients. The amino 

acids Arginine Pyroglutamate and Lysine Monohydrochloride, 

when taken on a regular basis, have been 

shown to promote the secretion of growth hormone 

in the body. Parrillo has grouped this amino acid duo 

in it’s Enhanced GH Formula. 

As tomato season comes into full swing, be sure to 

store your tomatoes outside of the refrigerator for 

the best texture and flavor. On the other hand, summer 

favorites zucchini, summer squash and sweet 

corn do best stored in the refrigerator. 

Supplement 

of the month: 

Strawberry Flavor Parrillo 

Protein Ice Kreem Mix 

• Packed with 42 grams of protein per serving 

• 0 grams of fat, 0 grams of sugar 

• Only 2 grams Net Carbs per serving 

• 3 ways to enjoy!


WRITTEN IN STONE: MY TEN COMMANDMENTS OF NUTRITION 

No. 1: You shall increase 

calories. 

Unlike conventional diets 

recommend, I want you to gradually 

increase your calories from 

quality foods. This builds your 

metabolism, and as long as you’re 

training hard, increasing calories 

decreases your body fat. Food has 

an anabolic effect and underfed exercisers, 

athletes, and bodybuilders 

often make great gains when they 

wise up and eat a little more. Weight 

training is the stimulus that causes 

muscle growth and the raw material 

to build new tissue comes from 

food. If you’re eating barely enough 

to sustain your present bodyweight 

and activity level you’ll have very 

little left over to build new tissue. 

No. 2: You shall consume lean 

protein. 

Muscle is made of protein, so if 

you want to develop lean, defined 

muscle, you’ve got to eat protein. 

Protein is to your body what a wood 

frame is to your house, or steel is to 

a bridge. Nutritionally, it the basic, 

most important building material in 

your body, essential to high-level 

health because of its role in growth 

and maintenance. Your body breaks 

down protein from food into nutrient 

fragments called amino acids 

and reshuffles them into new protein 

to build and rebuild tissue, including 

body-firming muscle. Protein 

also keeps your immune system 

functioning up to par, helps carry 

nutrients throughout the body, has 

a hand in forming hormones, and is 

involved in important enzyme reactions 

such as digestion. 

At Parrillo Performance, I’ve seen 

major gains in people who increase 

their protein to 2.5 or more 

grams of protein per pound of body 

Don’t skip the carbs! 

Sweet potatoes are a great 

carbohydrate option. 

weight. If you have trouble getting 

in that much, turn to our Parrillo 

Optimized Whey Protein Powder 

or our Parrillo 50/50 Plus Protein 

Powder . Our Parrillo bars and Hi- 

Protein powder will help you too. 

Proteins found in the Parrillo Nutrition 

Program include fish, white 

meat poultry, egg whites, and of 

course, our line of protein powders 

and bars. 

No. 3: You shall eat carbs. 

Carbohydrates are energy foods. 

During digestion, they are changed 

into glucose (blood sugar), which 

circulates in your blood and is used 

as energy for the red blood cells and 

your central nervous system. Glucose 

not used right away is stored 

in the liver and muscles as glycogen, 

which provides an additional 

reservoir for energy. 

The allowable carbs on the Parrillo 

Nutrition Program are called 

starchy carbs: potatoes, sweet potatoes, 

yams, brown rice, oatmeal, 

and legumes. 

No. 4: You shall not eat fruit or 

fructose. 

Eating too much fructose of any 

type is problematic because fructose 

is metabolized differently from 

glucose. Fructose is converted to 

fat in the liver and can be readily 

stored as body fat. That’s why fruit 

and processed foods are not recommended 

in the Parrillo Nutrition 

Program. Of course, fruit is generally 

healthy, containing vitamins, 

minerals and fiber. But the Parrillo 

Program is based on achieving the 

best possible results. To that end, 

vegetables are a source of these nutrients 

because most vegetables do 

not contain fructose. Fructose can 

do three things in the body: First, it 

can be converted to fat in the liver; 

it preferentially fills liver glycogen 

stores so that even good complex 

carbs are more prone to spill over 

into fat; and it cannot be used by the 

muscles to recover glycogen. 

Fructose is the worst carb source 

for exercisers you can imagine. If 

you wanted to design a supplement 

to ruin your physique, it would be 

a fructose-based energy bar. Unfortunately, 

the vast majority of the 

bars out there rely on fructose as 

their major carb source, because it’s 

cheap. 

No. 5: You shall supplement your 

diet with good fats. 

Dietary fat is an essential nutrient, 

required to help form the structures 

of cell membranes, regulate 

metabolism, and provide 

a source of energy for exercise 

and activity. Along with carbohydrates, 

fat is a vital fuel source 

for your body. Allowable fats on 

the Parrillo Nutrition Program 

include flaxseed oil and evening 

primrose oil for their essential 

fatty acid content, and vegetable 

oils high in EFAs, and our specially 

engineered fat, CapTri ® . 

This fat has a unique molecular 

structure which causes it to follow 

a different metabolic route 

than regular fats. It behaves 

more like a carbohydrate in the 

body, except that it doesn’t increase 

insulin levels. This means you can 

use CapTri ® in place of carbs to 

decrease insulin levels and shift 

your metabolism into a fat-burning 

mode. This is very similar to the 

strategy of the high fat diets except 

without relying on conventional fat 

as an energy source. In short, Cap- 

Tri ® lets you reap the benefits of the 

high fat approach without the problems 

that go along with conventional 

dietary fat. 

No. 6: You shall eat your fibrous 

veggies. 

The veggies on the Parrillo Nutrition 

Program supply everything 

from antioxidants to phytochemicals. 

But the veggies also contain 

an amazing fat-fighting nutrient 

– fiber, the non-digestible remnant 

of plant foods. A growing body of 

research shows that high-fiber eating 

helps peel off pounds and banish 

them for good. 

How exactly does fiber work this 

weight-loss magic? When eaten 

with other nutrients like protein, 

fiber slows the rate of digestion 

too, stabilizing your blood sugar 

between meals so that it is not converted 

to fat stores. So eat your 

fibrous vegetables! They include 

Say No to Fruit and Fructose! 

Fructose is converted to fat in 

the liver and can be readily 

stored as body fat. 

broccoli, cauliflower, green beans, 

spinach and other greens, zucchini, 

summer squash, tomatoes, and 

salad vegetables. 

No. 7: You shall eat frequent 

meals. 

I have long recommended eating 

frequent meals throughout the day 

to build muscle and rev up metabolism. 

My preferred meal pattern is 

three main meals, punctuated by 

quick-fix meals of protein and carbs, 

or one of our Protein Powders made 

into a shake and/or a Parrillo bar. 

Usually, this pattern turns out to 

include 6 meals a day. This strategy 

works effectively for people, 

and is an excellent muscle-building 

method. 

No. 8: You shall supplement your 

diet. 

If your goal is to pack on mass, 

you can’t just take supplements. 

You have to follow a clean nutrition 

program that increases good calories 

and train with intensity. Once 

you’ve done all that, then you can 

add supplements, which will increase 

the nutrient density of your 

food. And once you’ve built a solid 

foundation of good food and hard 

training, the supplements I discuss 

here will give you the extra 

oomph for putting on mass, plus 

a powerful nutritional base. 

• Multivitamins: Multivitamins 

fill in gaps in today’s nutrient-depleted 

food, and provides 

nutritional insurance that 

we’re getting the vitamins we 

need for great health. Parrillo 

Performance’s Essential Vitamin 

Formula starts with a 500 

mg base of Vitamin C and adds 

in vitamin A, B-1, B-2, B-6, and 

B-12, plus a jolt of folic acid, and 

for the Grand Finale, 5,000 IU of 

beta-carotene, the mightiest of antioxidants. 

This perfect combination 

of vitamins and minerals will help 

keep you going by supplying your 

body with much needed vitamin insurance. 

Suggested usage: One tablet 

with each meal. 

• Multiminerals: Many trace minerals 

play key roles in energy metabolism. 

During intense exercise, 

the rate of energy turnover in skeletal 

muscle may be increased up 

to 20 to 100 times the resting rate. 

Although an adequate vitamin and 

mineral status is essential for normal 

health, marginal deficiency 


21

WRITTEN IN STONE: MY TEN COMMANDMENTS OF NUTRITION 


states may occur when the metabolic 

rate is high. 

Per pill, Parrillo Mineral Electrolyte 

contains 250 mg of calcium; 5 

mg of iron; 250 mg of phosphorus; 

75 mcg of iodine in the form of kelp; 

250 mg of magnesium; 11 mg of 

zinc; 50 mcg of selenium; 500 mcg 

of copper; 10 mg of manganese; 25 

mcg of chromium picolinate; 45 mg 

of potassium; 500 mcg of boron; 

along with other nutrients. I recommend 

that you take one tablet with 

each meal during the day for improved 

metabolism and well-being. 

• Creatine Monohydrate: Typically, 

hard-training bodybuilders 

can expect an increase of 4 to 14 

pounds of lean mass during the 

first month of use. The more muscle 

mass you have, the more creatine 

you can assimilate leading 

to greater weight gains. I’ve seen 

athletes experience a 5 to 15 percent 

increase in strength on their 

maximum lifts and an increase 

of about 2 reps per set with their 

working weight during the first 

month. This increase in intensity 

allows you to put a greater load 

on the muscle, which will indeed 

increase your gains in muscle 

mass over time. 

The way to use creatine is to start 

with a loading phase, which usually 

is 20 grams a day for five to seven 

days. To do this, take five grams 

(one teaspoon) four times a day, for 

five to seven days. This is followed 

by the maintenance phase, which is 

five to ten grams a day. After only 

one month, you should see a noticeable 

increase in size and strength. 

Parrillo Creatine Monohydrate is 

the highest purity creatine supplement 

available. And a word of caution: 

don’t be fooled into buying 

creatine phosphate supplements; 

this form of creatine phosphate is 

not absorbed from the intestines. 

• Protein Powders: Our protein 

supplements give you a variety of 

protein types, from whey to casein. 

Our suggested usage is one 

or more servings (2 scoops mixed 

with 8 ounces or ¼ liter of water or 

beverage) taken as needed with or 

between meals, and taken before, 

during, and after workouts. 

• CapTri ® : A great way to enhance 

endurance and muscle-building is to 

put a tablespoon or two of CapTri ® 

in your whey protein powder shake, 

Photo by Jan Willem Geertsma 

If you miss the taste of milk 

on your oatmeal or in your 

coffee, try our Milk Flavor 

All-Protein or our 50/50 Plus 

Milk Flavor Protein Powder 

along with some creatine. You can 

also add CapTri ® to your meals; try 

drizzling some Butter Flavor Cap- 

Tri ® onto your veggies. 

• Fish Oil: Fish oil contains omega- 

3 fatty acids, which are essential 

fats that your body needs to function 

properly but does not make. Humans 

must eat them through food, 

which means eating seafood, such 

as salmon, tuna, sardines, mackerel 

or shellfish. Among the most potent 

omega-3s fatty acids are eicosapentaenoic 

acid (EPA) and docosahexaenoic 

acid (DHA). 

Each 3 capsules of Parrillo Fish Oil 

DHA 800 EPA 200 contains 1100 

milligrams of omega-3 fatty acids; 

this includes 800 milligrams of 

DHA and 200 milligrams of EPA. I 

suggest supplementing with 1 capsule 

daily, taken with meals. 

No. 9: You shall avoid dairy 

foods. 

Dairy foods like milk and cheese 

contain lactose, a sugar, and lots 

of fat, both of which can hurt your 

physique development. Sure, dairy 

foods are high in calcium, but you 

can also get calcium from many 

green vegetables such as broccoli 

and kale. If you miss the 

taste of milk on your oatmeal, try 

our Milk Flavor All-Protein or 

our 50/50 Plus Milk Flavor Protein 

Powder . It is a post-workout 

“smart bomb” that provides a 

perfect blend of high BV protein 

and slow release carbohydrates 

- exactly what your body craves 

after the slaughterhouse of high 

intensity training. The result is a 

fabulous tasting drink in powder 

form that when mixed with water 

provides 20 grams of protein, 

17 grams of carbs, and no fat or 

sugars per serving. Milk-flavored 

50/50 Plus powder allows you 

to recreate a perfect milk substitute 

with as much calcium but without 

the lactose or sugar of real milk. 

No. 10: You Shall Drink Plenty of 

Water. 

Drink at least eight to 10 glasses (12 

ounces each) of water a day. Water 

helps flush excess sodium and impurities 

from your system to better 

regulate your metabolism. Avoid 

sodas at all costs, and even watch 

diet sodas, which have been implicated 

in fat gain. 

Why we insist on intense cardio exercise…traps and neck 

development after age 40? No problem! Desert Island 

supplement? Who was Pat Casey? Best legs ever?? 

Hello, 

I read where John Parrillo wants 

his bodybuilders to perform cardio 

to a point ‘where they are breathing 

hard.’ What does that mean? 

Why?! I ride my exercise bike everyday 

as soon as I get up and I am 

able to tool along at an astoundingly 

fast pace without breathing hard 

– that is a sign of my fitness – are 

your trainees so unfit that they have 

to breathe hard during exercise?? 

Perhaps you people should stick to 

lifting weights and leave cardio to 

the lean and fit! 

Jay, Egg Harbor 

My oh my! Someone is having 

a hissy fit. Jay from Egg Harbor 

– you sound like an effete sissy that 

probably shot off his uncontrollably 

snide mouth around a real man once 

upon a time and likely got spanked 

Hard cardio burns the 

most calories in the 

shortest time, hard 

amps the metabolism 

maximally. 

in public. If you were within arms 

length I’d certainly consider spanking 

you in front of your little crew 

of boat club type friends. “You 

people” – isn’t that racial code used 

by skinny, sickly academic runner 

types as they sneer at anyone that 

dares have an arm in excess of 14 

inches or has served in the military? 

This type of sneering, man-to-man, 

with an over-muscled hard-breather 

could get you punched in the face 

Jay. Just saying. Actually in your 

snide, dismissive way, you bring 

up a good point; a subtle point, a 

point that illustrates the Parrillo 

cardio approach. The idea is this: 

the best cardio is when we go 

hard! Hard cardio burns the most 

calories in the shortest time, hard 

amps the metabolism maximally. 

Sir – do you really think you are 

too fit to breathe hard? You just refuse 

to push yourself hard enough 

to breathe hard. No doubt you have 

some super expensive, smooth-as- 



23


IRON VIC SPEAKS By IRON VIC STEELE 

glass stationary bike that is so efficient 

that it makes it hard to break 

a decent sweat, much less actually 

breathe hard. 

Anyone that extends their effort 

enough can enter into the zone of 

real cardio effort. The ideal pace 

lies just below oxygen debt threshold; 

when an athlete crosses the 

oxygen debt threshold they need to 

slow or stop the activity to recover 

their breath. By operating slightly 

below the threshold, the Parrillo 

bodybuilder can tool along, breathing 

hard, burning calories at a 

maximum rate while amping the 

metabolism and actually reconfiguring 

cells. When operating 

right at the brink 

of the oxygen debt threshold, 

characterized by hard 

breathing, a remarkable 

physiological event occurs: 

mitochondria, cellular 

blast furnaces, are constructed 

(over time) within 

the working muscle. So not 

only does breathing hard 

and operating at just below 

the oxygen debt threshold 

burn the maximum number 

of calories, this intense 

cardio also causes the construction 

of new mitochondria. The 

more mitochondria we have, the 

leaner we become. It’s as simple as 

that. You Jay, will never experience 

any of these amazing benefits because 

you refuse to push yourself 

past proficiency and on into intensity, 

which is where the gains lie. 

Perhaps “your kind” should stick 

to swindling pension funds and 

embezzling assets from stockholders 

and leave real fitness and real 

manhood to “my kind.” 

Vic, 

Any chance of building traps and 

neck passed age 40? Mine are nonexistent 

and it is costing me big 

time at the local physique competitions 

I enter. I have a 15 inch neck 

and no traps to speak of. My upper 

body is actually quite good. I have 

wide shoulders, a genuine 18 inch 

arm and a 33 inch waist weighing 

180 at 5-8. For whatever reason, I 

have NO neck or trap development 

– this despite doing shrugs in every 

back workout for the last 10 years. 

Help! Tell me there is a trap/neck 

fix, even after age 40. 

James, San Fran 

Don’t let anyone tell you that just because 

you are on the wrong side of 40 that you 

are unable to build trap muscle. 

Well that’s a stunning testament 

to how worthless a trap exercise 

shrugs are. If you want Man traps 

you got to do Man exercises, like 

power cleans, high pulls and deadlifts. 

The traps (and erectors) are 

powerful back muscles that need 

to be stimulated by super heavy 

poundage – however that heavy 

poundage needs to be moved for a 

far greater distance than shrugging 

in order to maximally stimulate the 

traps and neck. You’ll never see an 

outstanding set of traps without an 

equally outstanding neck: build 

mountainous traps and the neck 

will build itself of its own accord. 

Here is a real man back routine that 

will add slabs of muscle to trap/ 

neck/erectors; this routine need 

only be done once a week… 

• Power clean - 4-5 sets of 3 reps: 

start light, add weight each set, pull 

high, whip elbows 

• High pull - 2-3 sets of 3 reps: 

continue where PCs left off, pull to 

belt buckle height 

• Deadlift - 3-5 sets of 3 reps: add 

weight each set, work up 

to one, all-out triple 

Each week for 10 consecutive 

weeks add 5-10 

pounds per lift per week – 

start off below capacity in 

each lift. Drill technique 

and position. Done wrong, 

these lifts will hurt you! 

Remember to fire down 

lots of recuperative calories, 

Parrillo-style. Drink 

a 50/50 Plus shake after 

this back-killer workout 

without fail. Parrillo pro 

bodybuilders will eat a handful of 

Muscle Amino Formula capsules 

30 minutes prior to a workout in order 

to “spare” protein that is about 

to be decimated in a workout. After 

the session, these same pros will 

gobble a second handful of Muscle 

Amino Formula capsules to replenish 

battered muscles and start 

the recovery process. Don’t let anyone 

tell you that just because you are 

on the wrong side of 40 that you are 

unable to build trap muscle. Here is 

the good news: because you haven’t 

done any REAL trap work (shrugs 

don’t count as real trap work) by 

suddenly commencing this Parrillo 

program of PCs, hi-pulls and deadlifts, 

and because you are going to 

fire down calories and douse your 

body with 50/50 Plus and Muscle 

Amino Formula before, during, 

and after every workout – your 

traps, neck and erectors are going 

to explode with growth as they are 

shock-blasted. Age has nothing to 

do with it. 

Hello Mr. Steele, 

What is the first supplement you 

would put a hard-training teenage 

boy on – a kid on a limited 

budget? 

Bill, Jacksonville 

I would say without hesitation Parrillo 

Hi-Protein powder. This is 

the original and there is a reason 

that this supplement has stayed in 

production for over 30 years: real 

results delivered consistently! The 

proprietary blend of proteins in Hi- 

Protein offers a sustained release 

of high quality protein over a protracted 

time period; protein is the 

key nutrient for building muscle 

and supplemental protein means 

the athlete does not have to cook 

and chew every gram of protein 

needed to hit minimum daily protein 

standards as outlined in the 

Parrillo nutritional manual. High 

protein intake is the single most 

important nutritional aspect of the 

Parrillo approach. John recommends 

that everyone engaged in 

hard training ingest 1 gram per 

pound of bodyweight per day. A 

200 pound man would look to ingest 

200 grams of protein. He wants 

his athletes and competitive bodybuilders 

to ingest 1.5 grams of protein 

per pound of bodyweight – or 

more! Now the bodybuilder could 

certainly eat nothing but chicken 

breast and tuna and lean beef to 

make his 200 grams per day; however, 

Parrillo Pro bodybuilders will 

start their morning with a Hi-Protein 

shake and end their day with 

Parrillo’s Hi-Protein Powder: 

There’s a reason this supplement 

has stayed in production for 

over 30 years: real results 

delivered consistently! 

a second of these delicious concoctions. 

Right there they have consumed 

62 grams of protein – and 

that goes a long way towards 200 

grams – particularly if you are also 

supplementing with 50/50 Plus (17 

grams of protein per serving) after 

a workout and eating a Parrillo bar 

of some type or kind during the 

day (15 grams.) Suddenly without 

even realizing it, you are consuming 

100 grams of protein per day 

purely through Parrillo supplementation. 

Did we mention that Parrillo 

Hi-Protein is, was, and remains, 

the finest tasting protein powder 

on the planet? Potency and taste 

leave very little doubt as to why 

Parrillo Hi-Protein powder, an 

oldie and a goodie, remains my top 

choice as the cornerstone Parrillo 

supplement. 

Old Man, 

What was the scoop on a powerlifting 

dude named Pat Casey – I 

know he was the first guy to bench 

press 600 pounds – I read in some 

old Strength & Health training 

magazines that he was a training 

maniac and used to train at Bill 

Pearl’s gym in the 1960s. How did 

these guys get so strong back then? 

Nowadays there a quite a few 1000 

pound bench pressers – why are the 

modern guys so much stronger? 

Ralph C., Maryland 

Take away the modern bench press 

“shirt” and there are no 1000 pound 

bench pressers! Imagine a shirt 

made of canvas specially made for 

bench pressing that is so restrictive 

it adds 300 pounds or more to what 

a man can bench press. The fellow 

that holds the 165 pound world record 

bench press of 700 wearing a 

bench shirt bragged in a magazine 

that when he made his 700 bench, 

his best “raw” no shirt, regular 

bench press was 405. Hell, Ric Weil 

bench pressed 551 weighing 178 

in 1984 in a T-shirt – what could 

he have benched wearing one of 

these ridiculous bench shirts?? Pat 

Casey was the first man to bench 

press 600 in 1968. Pat weighed 330, 

stood 6-2 and could seated front 

press 405, incline dumbbell press a 

pair of 220 bells for reps and once 

performed a dip with 380 pounds 


25


strapped to his 300 pound body. 

Men back then trained a lot more 

and would often squat, bench press, 

deadlift and overhead press three 

times a week, heavy! They didn’t 

have the drugs, supplements, food 

or advantage we have in 2013; yet 

strip away all our shirts and squat 

suits and monolifts and knee wraps 

and all the other poundage inflators 

and guess what?? The modern 

strongman is WEAKER than the 

‘unequipped’ ancients. 

Hello, 

I am trying to alter my physique 

to a significant degree on my summer 

vacation – I am a teacher with 

the summer off and I want to get 

back into top shape. My problem 

is since starting up my four times 

weekly weight training and my six 

times weekly cardio I am dragging 

butt! My training started off really 

well but by the middle of the 2nd 

week I was not able to recover at 

all! Help! I hate the idea of cutting 

back, but I might have bitten off 

more than I can chew. 

Arn, Falls Church 

Classic, classic, classic...you didn’t 

kick up your (clean) calories to “support” 

the huge upswing in physical 

activity and now you have created 

a catabolic environment where you 

are breaking yourself down instead 

of building yourself up. No, don’t 

cut back on what is likely some really 

effective training – instead, 

increase your calories dramatically 

and watch as the earmarks of “overtraining” 

disappear. Yes, there really 

is such a condition as being overtrained: 

too much intense physical 

activity in relation to the number 

of calories you consume will tear 

the body down. John Parrillo once 

said, “Those individuals that train 

hard and heavy and often and feel 

dragged out afterwards can correct 

this condition by increasing calories 

– calories are anabolic and stimulate 

recovery and growth. Those 

that insist on under-eating in the 

face of intense and prolonged training 

are doomed to fail as at some 

point the body breaks down; take 

Where do you rate in 

the quest for Best Leg 

Development? 

advantage of the anabolic (healing, 

recovery, growth) properties of 

regular food.” Parrillo nutritional 

supplements are mighty allies in 

the fight against true over-training. 

Back in the 80s when the idea of 

over-training became widespread 

and was a hot topic of discussion, 

the mantle of “I don’t want to end 

up over-trained” became an excuse 

for laziness. At a time when overtraining 

was the hot buzz phrase, 

John Parrillo famously replied, “In 

my opinion there is no such thing 

as over-training – only under-eating.” 

Those extra calories should 

not be derived from pizza, beer 

and ice cream. Instead, try a massive 

increase in your consumption 

of lean protein. Add in some potent 

Parrillo supplements and see if this 

infusion of nutrients doesn’t allow 

you to overcome the over-training 

morass you find yourself mired in. 

Greetings, 

Who has the best legs you ever 

saw? 

Bob, Columbia 

I assume by “legs” you mean thighs, 

calves and hamstrings. If it were 

thighs only I would say Tom Platz 

circa 1983. His thigh development 

is still the best ever, thirty years 

down the road. Platz built his legs 

with his exemplary ass-on-heels 

upright squatting. A former powerlifter, 

Tom could rep 650 wearing 

just a belt and once squatted 315 for 

30 straight minutes. For overall leg 

development I would give the nod 

to Dorian Yates. The Diesel’s legs 

at his 3rd Olympia win were the 

best overall legs I have ever seen: 

from front, back, or side view. 

That particular year his leg size 

was astounding and he was ripped 

to shreds to boot. His calves were 

the best we’ve ever seen in bodybuilding, 

his hamstrings were like 

bowstrings and his thighs, while 

not quite in Platz’s class, were still 

incredible. For whatever reason, 

Yates never quite attained that 

combination of freaky size, overall 

thigh/ham/calf development and 

crisp, fat-free condition he did that 

one year. Platz for thighs; Dorian 

for legs. 



27

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Performance Press / July 2013 - Parrillo Performance

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