The MuscleTalker - Issue 51 (July 2006)

If you're keen to learn and absorb information check out articles, reports and interviews at www.muscletalk.co.uk/articles.aspx, plus there is more great information in back issues of the newsletter.

Some of you will have read my monthly column in the popular magazine Muscle & Fitness (UK Version) It's all in the Genes. So if you're down the newsagents get your copy and check it out. If you have any questions for me to answer in the column, please email me them to me. See www.muscle-fitness.co.uk

*** All the best from James and The MuscleTalk team! ***

See you at www.MuscleTalk.co.uk

*** Dealing with Online Companies ***
By Steve Blades (aka ToxicToffee) and James Collier - MuscleTalk Moderators

In the modern world of the internet, many of us enjoy shopping online, where we can reap the benefits from discount prices and a fast service straight to your door. Buying nutritional supplements online is a growing industry, and most of the MuscleTalk sponsors offer such a service, which is possibly why people use the MT forums to chase their orders! However before doing this, please consider that there could be very legitimate reasons for a short delay.

Dealing online is speedy, convenient but often takes the 'personal' aspect out of buying and communication, and hence it does not always have the reliability of a face to face shop purchase; so please bear this in mind when doing your online shopping. Most of the online companies will use reliable couriers, which adds another component into the mix when getting your products from a business to a customer. Please make provisions for this, and if you haven't received the item in a reasonable period of time please follow the guidelines below:

1. Contact the company via email, being pleasant and polite, and expressing your concern(s) clearly and concisely.

2. Allow a reasonable amount of time for a reply. Two working days to receive a response seems a reasonable amount of time - don't email on a Saturday and expect a reply by Sunday morning!

3. If after a reasonable period no contact has been made, try phoning the company; most of the online services are UK based and supply landline numbers - look at their 'contact us' section.

4. If there no response, leave a message and possibly follow up with a second email

5. If there is still no response is received and you are aware that a representative of the company in question either sponsors MuscleTalk, or frequents the forums then structure a positive post simply stating the facts on the forum and ask if anyone can help (please don't simply rubbish the company in public). If the company doesn't respond a MT Moderator will do their best to help.

Posting negative comments on the forum before carrying out the above process is unfair on the company in question; it may also cause others to base their buying decisions on issues that could be easily resolved by a simple email or phone call. Often parcels are held up by couriers (they may not put a 'Sorry you were out…' card through your door) without the supplement company's knowledge. Please bear this in mind and make suitable provisions.

If after a reasonable amount of time, no contact has been made by the company, a simple post stating facts, rather than opinion would be deemed acceptable in the relevant forum of MuscleTalk. Hopefully the matter will then be brought to the attention of the parties concerned and the issue can be dealt with in private. Only when trends appear should people begin to question the service of a particular company and MT moderators will do their best to help for the good of the MT Community.

We have some great sponsors on MuscleTalk who allow you membership to be free; so please acknowledge their value to us. Their reputation shouldn't be questioned over minor issues that could be sorted out by simple communication.

*** Five Days, 20 Minutes Compound Routine ***
By Steve Blades aka ToxicToffee MuscleTalk Moderator and Personal Trainer

This is the most basic form of training, taking everything back to basics and relying on compound movements to ensure the body is hit in five evenly structured days. The plan was designed for those with limited time on their hands and who want to be in and out of the weights room in 20 minutes. There are many benefits of shorter training sessions and the protocol above is a fine example of how to build or maintain a physique with minimal time spent in the gym. I have always been one to believe nutrition and rest is the most important aspects of a quality physique and this is no exception.

Rep and Sets Structure:
As time and exercises are limited there will be a specific plan to follow:

So, it's two exercises of five reps pyramiding down to the final set of the five which in effect is a drop set. There is no requirement to go to failure on each set previously, although a weight that takes you near top end is recommended.

Saturday and Sundays are taken of for recovery and the plan can be run for 12 weeks as a different approach to your usual training. All exercises can be found below www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html

*** MT Powerlifting Totals Competition ***
By Jonnywildboar - MuscleTalk Pro-Member
See: www.muscletalk.co.uk/fb.aspx?m=1083082

It's been a steady month in the world of MT powerlifting. The poorly attended Manchester meet up did provide some great videos and BencherRdg got a couple of personal bests and invaluable squatting tips from fatpete and tokar; it's always good to meet fellow MT lifters. Next time its double figure attendance please!

DEL scored an amazing total of 1000kg in the BPC British including a British record of 435kg in the squat, LittleLee finally broke the 500lb barrier for the bench - a 227.5kg bench press earned him a bronze medal in the BPC British championships (videos up for viewing), Justin Hurley won gold at 82.5kg. Well done boys!

Plenty more lifters joined the fun and added their lifts to the totals - mishima supplied some great squat videos for inclusion, keep watching for the Lancs and district videos which should be up soon.

Recipe - Low Carb Strawberry Protein Bars ***
Recipe by wiffers - MuscleTalk ProMember

** Ingredients
500g quark
10 scoops unflavoured whey
200g desiccated coconut
200g ground almonds
2 sachets sugar free strawberry jelly
2.5 cups oats

** Method
Put all ingredients apart from oats in a bowl, mix up with wooden spoon, then add the oats and mix further by hand. Put in fridge to set.

** Information
Make 16 bars. Per bar: 305kcal, 26g protein, 12g carbs, 17g fats). Cost is around UK£0.36 per bar (ingredients from a major supermarket)

More great bodybuilding recipes can be found in the eBooks 'Muscle Menus', 'Muscle Menus 2', 'Muscle Menus Vegetarian' and Muscle Menus Shakes, Bars and Smoothies eBooks:

*** DVD Review - Battle for the Olympia 2005 ***
Review by Big Les MuscleTalk Moderator

The latest in the Battle for… series, this is the biggest and longest one to date, spanning 3 DVDs and over 9 hours of film - value for money certainly isn't in question. For those of you not familiar with the Battle…format, it's very simple, Mits goes round the athletes qualified for the Olympia starting around three to four weeks out and films a workout, gets a little bit of posing and maybe a bit of an interview as well. I am a fan of the series because you get to see what poundages are actually being lifted in the run up to the big show. Unlike a training video where they will often push the biggest weights they can and often using the form they say they use, at this point in time you get the 'real deal' as far as you ever will on film. You also get to see some interesting variations on traditional exercises that you can try out.

This years installment starts with Lee Priest and his Battle for the Olympia buffet - as he didn't compete, it a nice touch to see Lee training his legs even though he decided not to show. Next up is Gustavo Badell, looking huge and vascular as he does arms - one guy who is definitely very impressive close up. Darrem Charles is Mr Laid Back as ever but demonstrates good form as he does the perennial favorite chest. Big Victor Martinez opts for chest, and looks very sharp as he hits some poses, and obviously much closer to show condition for the Olympia than he was earlier in 2005, and he is obviously serious. Craig Richardson does legs - and shows us some very non text book form, and possibly why he has been criticized for his wheels. His intensity is second to none and his is a genuinely nice guy which shines through.

After Craig, we have one of the highlights of this Battle for… DVD, Johnnie Jackson and Branch Warren doing chest. Both hit the weights with real intensity and enthusiasm, Branch is so thick and densely muscled he reminds you of Dorian in his prime, and Johnnie Jackson defies human anatomy by having his joints intact. The Texas posse continues with Ronnie. Ronnie is simply huge, cut, vascular and a whole bunch of other superlatives. Honestly he usually looks better in the Battle… than he does at the Olympia and this is another contender to be one of those years. Sure the weights aren't the super human numbers of Unbelievable or Redemption but he is still on planet Ronnie compared to what mortals can do! The final Texas resident is the ever affable and very tall Quincy Taylor, he is a mountain of muscle and make no mistake and he doesn't slack in the gym - like Jackson, Branch and Coleman, Quincy is a regular at the famed Metroflex Gym in Arlington - where it's certainly hardcore or go home!

Finally we move back to the west and Jay Cutler doing arms with his usual slow burn intensity. It's great to see Jay before the Olympia doing a workout, as too often we saw him in 2nd place mode after. The guy has certainly got guns and is in tip top condition. On to Los Angeles and the famed Gold's gym which brings up Günter - and as usual his workout is stunningly uninspiring, he never seems to have the monster poundages, grit, or determination of the front runners when doing the Battle for… workouts. Still back with Chad Nicholls and Charles Glass this is arguably the best Günter ever. Kris Dim does back - Kris is 100% heart and if you got placings on that he would never be out the top 6, unfortunately it's a physique contest and Kris is fighting against his small stature and bringing his body up to his jaw dropping arms. Melvin Anthony, always a sleeper is Melvin, a hard worker with a classical physique that is also decently thick with a wicked V-taper. His workout is hard, and shows that you can be human between sets - much like Ronnie Melvin focused entirely on the job in hand. It also shows that a classical shape physique isn't built any differently than the thick freakiness of a Branch Warren. If you want muscle you gotta lift.

At Milos Sarcev's gym we see Mr Bodybuilding Dennis James. If you got trophies for looking awesome three weeks out - he would be unbeatable. This year is no different, huge, dense and simply outrageously muscular - Dennis has the whole amoury and one day he will still have it on show day. Alexander Federov follows Dennis and the contrast could not be more striking. Alex is off; he looks off, and knows he is off. This is a 101 lesson in what a defeated competitor looks like on the way in to the show. Next up is another of the highlights, Chris Cormier, mainly because we get to see casa Del Cormier in Las Vegas but also because we get to see what Chris looked like just before his lowest ever Olympia placing. No disrespect, but he was off and looked it, also something about the whole segment smacks of a distracted man. As it turns out he was very distracted embroiled in a custody battle over his son - who cameos on the 2004 rendition.

Just before the Olympia brings up Ronny Rockel doing chest and back - a great competitor, conditioning is there, great flow to his physique - and certainly looks to have been overlooked a little, as 2006 shows - he is a legitimate top tier bodybuilder.

This year we get the Olympia prejudging, this is a strange arrangement. The official tape of the show has the press conference and the Battle… gets prejudging. Personally I preferred the press conference and behind the scenes footage of 2004 to the 2005 segment - it was far more in keeping with the theme of the DVD and you got real feel of the atmosphere which is sadly lacking in the prejudging segment.

The final two workouts are George Farah and David Henry, both shot after the show. Post Olympia workouts are often lack luster with tired bodybuilders who are a little unhappy with their placing. George and David are different, both are more than pleased with the results of the show and how they looked and give us a good look at their physiques which are both worthy of emulating.

As you can tell, you get a lot of workout for you money, however unlike 2004 which I would recommend to anyone, the 2005 has a couple of gripes. Firstly is the prejudging segment that just no work that has already been mentioned, secondly Mits puts the footage together with traveling to scenes. This has been a good touch rather than just a simple fade - and it nice to see where the bodybuilders train and live from the outside. This year a few of these are just that little bit too long. However neither of these can compare with 1) the sound, the interview segments are considerably quieter than the workouts, so you turn it up to hear them and nearly get deafened when the workout starts - if you have thin walls your neighbours will give you funny looks if you play workouts loudly; and 2) each DVD starts with an intro sequence you cannot skip and drops you into the first segment before you can get a menu. This is simply annoying because it is the sort of DVD you dip into as there is no way you are going to watch three hours straight of workouts very often or at all - I hope this is fixed for next year.

Overall, I still like the Battle for… 2005, even with the niggles. Although 2004 is a better made piece of work. For the casual bodybuilder 9 hours plus might be a bit much, but if you were to invest in one battle DVD it would have to be this one simply because of the number of bodybuilders you get to see. I can't help but recommend it because the Battle for… concept is so sound and the result is just so informative and can be mightily inspirational. For me a bodybuilder who is serious needs only three DVDs in their collection, Ronnie Coleman - Unbelievable, Mark Dugdale - Driven, and Battle for the Olympia 2005.

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