Nutritional Supplements Blah, Blah, Blah

The New York Times has a snoozer of a story on “muscles in a bottle” in today’s editions.

But I think it’s worth commenting on for several reasons:

1. The story quotes physician and drug-testing expert Linn Goldberg, as well as attorney Rick Collins, both of whom I interviewed at length for a feature in the March issue of Men’s Fitness.

Since my story is about steroids in sports, and the Times story is about nutritional supplements you can buy at your local GNC, and in theory there’s little crossover between the two subjects, I wonder why we ended up interviewing the same people.

Weird.

2. The story makes yet another reference to Mark McGwire and androstenedione.

I’m beginning to think the discovery of a bottle of andro in McGwire’s locker may have been a real stroke of luck for him. As long as his name is linked to a useless prohormone — as opposed to the high-powered steroids we now know were taken by guys like Barry Bonds, Jason Giambi, and Gary Sheffield — he’s going to slide into the Hall of Fame with his reputation mostly intact.

3. The opening paragraphs of the story are a little strange:

They describe a “martial arts practitioner and bodybuilder who can bench-press 215 pounds.” This guy is “5-foot-10 and weighs 190 pounds, but he wants to be bigger.” (You sense some editorial condemnation there, don’t you? I know I do.)

“He takes whey, a protein derived from milk, to bolster his daily caloric intake; branched-chain amino acids, said to help muscles recover from workouts; and creatine, a compound promoted as boosting energy levels and increasing the intensity of workouts.”

The story says he’s “been taking them on and off for five years.”

With me so far?

Okay, here’s the strange thing:

You have a guy who’s basically my size, has been lifting at least 5 years, and using protein and creatine supplements during much of that time.

And he still can bench just 215?

That’s an issue. Bad form, a bad overall training program, lingering injuries, something. I mean, back when I weighed 175, before I had ever taken a protein supplement or even heard of creatine, I could bench 215. And that was in my mid-30s.

With protein and creatine supplements, with a serious and well-designed training program (courtesy of Craig Ballantyne), I got my bench up to 255 at a body weight of about 185. That was in my mid-40s.

This guy, whoever he is, needs to make some adjustments. That level of strength, at his age, weight, and level of experience and dedication, is just not right.

Tags: Tags: strength