Friday, July 09, 2010

Lab Rat Redux


We have a new supplement guy here at Beachbody. His name is Dr. Bill Wheeler and he’s got a lengthy and impressive resume and will take our game to a new level. We’re working on improving most of our current supplements and adding a ton of new ones, as well as obtaining state-of-the-art certifications for everything we make. But we’ve got to keep our work conversations focused because when we get together we seem to drift off into what the latest research is showing and then theorizing about how this could lead to breakthroughs in diet and supplementation. This is often way beyond the scope of what we’re going to provide our customers in the near future but for me, as a human lab rat, it gets my brain spinning over possibilities.

Currently, however, I’m doing sort of the opposite. Along with the WFH I’ve begun a retro supplementation regime. Over time “de rigueur” supps come and go but, occasionally, things that work well fall off the radar for no good reason. Back in 1990 I was experimenting with a line of supps from the company in the pic. These guys had some fringe stuff and ended up getting closed down when some of their biggest sellers went onto the banned list. I’d become a test pilot for them during a period where I made tremendous fitness gains. I didn’t associate much of this to these supps but I’ve decided, given I’m in the business and all, that I should give these another run around the block.

The only supplement I’d used from these guys that got banned with GhB, which became a popular party drug and ended up killing a few celebrities who OD’d on it. I used it for recovery as well as to help me get to sleep. In 1990 I was trying to revamp me body from one of a lower body power athlete to an upper body endurance athlete. I was simultaneously catabolizing leg muscle while building up climbing muscle (back, shoulders, arms) which meant I was doing some wild training and eating a very low calorie diet. When you’re doing this it’s hard to sleep because you’re amped at night like Louden Swain in the 80s film Vision Quest, but that’s another chapter in the Workout From Hell saga.

Today I’m just announcing that I’m experimenting with Arginine/Pyroglutamate/Lysine and what they called Mesobolin. There's probably a reason they've never gotten popular but I’ll let you know how it goes. Now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got some studies to read on the difference between "fast" and "slow" proteinsm something on the fringe I just learned about from Dr. Bill.

7 comments:

bob banks said...

Awesome video. Makes me want to start training hard for something. Like Carla...

"This is kooz! You wanna be a kooz doctor in outer space?"

Brian Chute said...

Or Chute:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4BiC3OUNFqE&feature=related

Matt said...

I just did my first workout from hell session last night after getting home from a day out climbing. It is very true what you say, i feel great until i get to about 18 or 19 then it gets hard. Today I definately feel sore but motivated for another day of it!

Seeing the clip from vision quest really motivated me, ive ben training and climbing pretty hard the last years then seeing this clip reminded me that when i wrestled in highschool i was training ten times harder than I have ever trained for climbing. If i can apply that kind of training to climbing and my fitness now i should see a bit improvement in my climbing.

Steve Edwards said...

Matt,

Moved your comment into a more appropriate post so it will get cataloged under WFH.

We used to watch Vision Quest whenever we felt like we were getting soft and needed to start a new program (or simply stop eating to lose weight, which is about the best climbing training when you get right down to it).

It's not about the six minutes, kid. It's what happens in those six minutes.

InsaneXer said...

Largo is indeed smart but nuts, the pain is beyond imaginable. I tried to not rest between sets and by set 6 I was burned out. You need to rest at least 30 seconds or you can burn out very quick. Today's chest and back was good, but I had to decrease the sets (less time available to train). Still never incorporate pull ups as the back exercise for phase 1, By the time you get to them, 30 is an insane number.

Still pretty good program, Most fun I ever had when training.

Just train for the hell of it and then train some more :)

Steve Edwards said...

I was resting for one minute between sets, mas o menos but close. It may seem long early in the workout but it seems like nothing near the end. I think trying for 30 seconds is too short. Getting good sets is more important than short rests at this point. I do assisted pull-ups with a chair. No way to do 30 (ha, that's about all I can do max when fit). I do push-ups from my knees, too, and use super light weight. I'm still using these assists in block two (though not for all the reps)!

Steve Edwards said...

But it's good pain, no? I love it!