43 replies to this topic

[zoolander]

there is one thing for sure. Duke you are a motivated committed individual.

[brizzadizza]

Hey Duke,
a few quick questions
Were you always commited to fitness?
What martial art do you practice?
You've stated before that you started the software company that produced Duke Nukem, did you find it a challenge to be active with what would seem to be a sedentary job (computer programming/sales)?
Just curious
Brandon

[the_eternal]

Duke,

The reason that bodybuilders go 3-6 times a week is because they have to do the isolation exercises to maximise growth in the specific muscles, most bodybuilders give their muscles at least 3 days to recover before they retrain them. In addition to this, building muscle size requires more reps than building strength. Ronnie Coleman for example (8x Mr Olympia) trains a specific muscle group then give it 3 days off before he trains it again. In a way they're doing what you're doing, the just have to target more muscles specifically to get them to grow, thats why they have to be in the gym more.

DVD of Ronnie Coleman's training

[DukeNukem]

Brizza, I've been taking supplements pretty seriously since about 1998, and have continued to improve my program since. I only dove into serious fitness about 3.5 years ago, because my job in front of a computer had taken it's toll, and my bodyfat had grown to close to 30%, and I was at 196 pounds, at 5'7". I had just had a painful kidney stone, which was a real wake-up call for me. I was eating way too much tex-mex! I currently take Tae Kwon Do (have a black belt in this style, plus Tang Soo Do, which I earned as a teenager in the 70's). It's actually not too difficult to get and remain fit with a desk job. It just takes a ton of self-education, and dedication.

Eternal, you've hit upon one of the myths of bodybuilding (which is overcome by those whom take steroids): Training one body part, such as legs, does not mean that you're rested for an arms workout on the following day. When any large muscle group is put through an intense workout, the entire body is stressed. In fact, studies show that people who just exercise their legs, for example, see growth in all muscles, such as biceps. This is why no one needs to exercise their finger muscles, yet they don't stay skinny for bodybuilders. Your body will not let your overall muscular mass become too imbalanced, and so all muscles benefit from localized exercising. The bigger muscles, of course, generate the most beneficial full-body growth effect, but likewise, the bigger muscles mean the entire body must recover from the stress. So again, you can not rotate body-part workouts, resting one group (i.e. the back, or the chest), while another group is worked. This alone may be the biggest misconception in the bodybuilding world, and holding strength builders from better gains.

The bottom-line is that if you're not taking steroids, it's a fallacy to believe that you can do what the genetically gifted, and steroid-taking pros, like Coleman, do. (People can be genetically gifted in multiple ways, such as the length of the muscle belly -- longer is better, as it gives a higher bulge under contraction. Also, the mix of muscle fiber varies in people, and the winning pros tend to have a higher percentage of fast twitch fibers. Plus other genetic factors.)

Here's the truth though: even the juiced-up pros can benefit from better training methods, and Mentzer proved this with outstanding results in training Dorian Yates, who under Mentzer's highly-intense, greatly reduced work-out program won seven Mr. Olympia's, and to this day is a proponent of Mentzer's high intensity philosophy. Other bodybuilders, had they not been raised (brainwashed, really) on the more-is-better training approach, would benefit from the less-is-more, high intensity approach too. But, they'll never buy into it, because it's counter-intuitive.
http://dorianyates.n...hievements.html

BTW, is physiological impossible that strength and muscle size are not correlated -- another ongoing myth. One can only come with the other.

[the_eternal]

Just trying to give you the info I had, I'm not a bodybuilder by the way, I'm a competitive rugby player, so I'm training for strength and endurance anyway.

Cheers for the links though, I'll do some reading.

The IFBB (International Federation of Bodybuilding and Fitness) is a signatory to the WADA rules on banned substances. I understand that people still manage to get away with drugs, but not all of the top bodybuilders could get away with it could they? Also, as far as I can tell the IFBB runs all international bodybuilding competition.

Having said that, I don't like being in the gym 6 days a week, there's a lot of other things I'd rather be doing so HIT sounds like a good plan.

Edited by the_eternal, 28 March 2006 - 08:18 AM.

[Pablo M]

Duke, you've made a few statements like "I eat a cup of berries" or lots of veggies or a handful of nuts, but what does the rest of your diet look like. I assume you eat no dairy, and you mentioned the China Study which means lots of meat is a no-no. So is the rest of your diet made up of beans and veggies? Thanks.

[FunkOdyssey]

I'm going to venture a guess that he eats a paleo-ish diet of mainly lean meats, vegetables, fish, nuts, and fruit. That's basically the way I eat, with the addition of oats and quinoa as grains and subtraction of seafood because I have an irrational aversion to it since childhood.

I'm a Paleo diet fan. Check it out.

[scottl]

I'm going to venture a guess that he eats a paleo-ish diet of mainly lean meats, vegetables, fish, nuts, and fruit.  That's basically the way I eat, with the addition of oats and quinoa as grains and subtraction of seafood because I have an irrational aversion to it since childhood.

I'm a Paleo diet fan.  Check it out.

Does anyone know the glycemic index of quinona?

[FunkOdyssey]

Yes, its only 35 (according to this source) It has a favorable score because of its high protein and fiber content.

[Shepard]

He posted his basic daily diet plan a while back somewhere on the forums.

[Shepard]

My only real comment dealing with the strength-training posts....

"BTW, is physiological impossible that strength and muscle size are not correlated -- another ongoing myth. One can only come with the other. "

Not completely true, since strength requires both muscle and various neural factors. If one improves, strength will improve. Increased strength doesn't necessarily mean increased muscle size...although, as a natural, if you aren't getting stronger, you aren't getting bigger.

[DukeNukem]

Dante,

I eta a LOT of lean, organic turkey as my primary meat, and I eat chicken breast if I eat out. For extra protein, I use whey and egg protein powders from www.jayrobb.com, who uses organic sources. I also eat a lot of vegetables, including beans (mostly black beans and white beans). Also a handful of mixed nuts each days. I try to get around 1 gram of protein per pound of body weight (167lbs currently - 5'7" - 12% bodyfat). Only rarely will I eat red meat, a few times a month, and most often as a lean fillet mignon from a upscale steakhouse. Sadly, I do not like fish -- wish I did.

The China Study was merely a small part of the puzzle that convinced me that dairy, in particular, is not generally healthy. Unprocessed raw milk I wouldn't have much of a problem with, but you cannot get that in Texas easily.

I recently tightened up my diet to further restrict starchy foods, not that I was much of a starch eater before, but last week I decided to clamp down hard on starch usage, even from whole food sources, like brown rice and whole grain breads. I'm making up for the loss of energy starches provide by using MCT supplementation, specifically CapTri (a few teaspoons per day):
http://www.parrillo....detail.asp?id=1

[Pablo M]

I did the Paleo thing for a while. Cordain's claims of weight loss are easy to believe-- eating a Paleo diet, I couldn't put on weight no matter what!! It's definitely a lot better than Atkins, as you avoid dairy and saturated fat, you can eat unlimited veggies and reasonable amounts of fruit, and he stresses the importance of omega-3s. I would add: don't eat charred meat. Cordain includes green tea along with such vice beverages as soda, and this is ludicrous in my opinion. I drank lots of green tea on Paleo.

[ameldedic2]

My plan to staying healthy and slowing aging:

1. Nutrition: As most of you mentinoed already, I avoid trans fat, saturated fats, obtain carbohydrates from fresh colorful fruits and veg., I receive my protein from non-cooked, fresh sliced turkey, ham, beef with whole wheat bread. My lipids I obtain from fish (the smaller fish size, the better for health due to magnesium in tuna). I also eat nuts for another fat source and drink omega 3-6-9, olive oil, etc.
(healthy fats: http://www.nhlbi.nih...heet-satfat.htm )

2. Excercise: I'm currently in Karate 2-3/ week. Duke, if done right, 1-2 hours of intensive karate is like circuit training. It's quite a workout when done right. In addition to Karate, I run and participate in areobic activities such as running for 45 mins during days I have time (2/week). Since I'm quite busy with academics, I mainly workout for cardiovascular and health purposes. I don't care how I look, how much muscle I have (waist of time), but I'm more considered about function of internal organs, health blood pressure, cholestrol, etc. We will perhaps one day no even require muscles and replace it with more efficient and effective machinary. Overall, my main point is that one should focus more on avoiding virus, diseases, receiving adequate amount of chemicals (biochemistry) in bloodstream, promote healthy celluar growth, avoid mutation and DNA damage, improve cardiovasculor and lung capacity, etc. and focus less on developing muscles. It's good to be sufficiently strong, but if one is overweight, it's a good idea to eat healthy, and excercise weekly with increase intensity (if needed). In the long run, say 3-6 months, one will notice improvements. I can't emphasize enough how important knowledge about biochemistry, cellular biology, molecular chemistry, and health fitness in the human body to fully understand how to live healthier and longer.

3. Supplements: I pay $100-150/2month for supplements, vitamins, minerals. I looked around health books, this website, Ray Kurzweil plan, etc. and consume the most commen supplements everyone uses for heart disease, health, enzymes, anti-oxin, etc.

4. Updates, research, education: I stay updated to research publications and news reports regarding supplements, health, workouts. I also read an large amount of biochemistry textbooks to understand the human mechanism and evaluate drugs that are healthy according to professionals.

Edited by ameldedic2, 02 November 2006 - 08:36 PM.