“All of the top achievers I know are life-long learners... looking for new skills, insights and ideas. If they’re not learning, they’re not growing... not moving toward excellence.”
Denis Waitley

Dear Mike,

My training partner supplements with magnesium every day and says it plays a pivotal role in energy production and is quite beneficial in supporting fat loss. Don’t people get enough magnesium from their diet? Can people that train regularly really benefit by taking extra magnesium daily?

Most people can benefit my taking extra magnesium and a deficiency in magnesium can contribute to excess weight gain. In fact, new research suggests that even small shortfalls in magnesium intake can seriously impair athletic performance. Magnesium is the fourth most abundant mineral in the body and influences many enzymes needed to produce cellular energy and nerve and muscle message transmission. It also affects the muscular, nervous and cardiovascular systems and activates enzyme systems such as the ones involved in energy production and protein digestion.

Generations ago, our hunter ancestors typically received well over 1,000mg of magnesium daily from their native diet. Experts tell us that these days most people would be lucky if they received just 20% of that. In addition to weight gain, a deficiency in magnesium can also result in increased fatigue, anxiety, irritability, tight muscles and difficulty sleeping. Studies show that a deficiency in magnesium can also trigger carbohydrate cravings in women. Over time, excessively low levels in your blood can even lead to neuromuscular disorders, kidney diseases, menopausal bone problems, asthma, diabetes, heart disease, heart attack and high blood pressure.

Restoring magnesium levels can help the body in many ways, including in staying lean. Magnesium can actually be more effective than chromium when it comes to breaking down insulin resistance. As we looked at in past columns, insulin triggers the body to store fat while low insulin levels reduces inflammation and helps the body to utilise body fat for energy. To boost magnesium levels follow the Venice Diet, which includes the top magnesium-rich foods such as yoghurt, dark green leafy vegetables, nuts, seeds and other foods outlined below.

Best Sources Of Magnesium

Pumpkin and squash seed kernels, roasted, 1oz=151mg

Brazil nuts, 1oz=107mg

Quinoa, dry, 1/4 cup=89mg

Spinach, 1/2 cup=81mg

Almonds, 1oz=78mg

Nuts, Mixed, dry roasted, 1oz=65mg

Black beans, cooked, 1/2 cup=60mg

Oat bran, raw, 1/4 cup=55mg

Tuna, cooked, 3oz=54mg

Lima beans, baby, cooked from frozen, 1/2 cup=50mg

Beet greens, cooked, 1/2 cup=49mg

Navy beans, cooked, 1/2 cup=48mg

Yoghurt, plain, skim milk, 8 fluid ounces=45mg

Great northern beans, cooked, 1/2 cup=44mg

Oat bran, cooked, 1/2 cup=44mg

Buckwheat groats, roasted, cooked, 1/2 cup=43mg

Brown rice, cooked, 1/2 cup=42mg

Suggested supplemental dose: Take at least one 400mg capsule of elemental magnesium each day with a heavy meal. Some people benefit by taking more magnesium, with the only side effect being diarrhoea.

Magnesium plays a prime role in keeping both blood sugar and insulin in check.

Hi Mike,

I’ve been training for almost two years with weights at a local gym here and have added almost 20 pounds of solid muscle to my frame. I follow a good diet and incorporate many of the diet principles you suggest. I average five or six meals a day. I have protein at each meal and my carbs are mainly low glycemic. My protein is mainly from turkey, chicken and wild caught, cold-water fish like salmon and tuna.

However, I realize that eating the right foods can only get me so far and I want to now add second-generation supplements to my program to increase my gains. I’ve been consistent with my workouts and have paid my dues in the kitchen. What is the best bodybuilding stack that you use for off-season mass building? How does your off-season mass-building supplement program break down specifically?

It’s good to hear that you are disciplined in your training and diet and are doing what is necessary. Eating five or six meals a day and getting protein into each meal from these good sources puts you ahead of most. And yes, I believe you are correct in your belief that good nutrition will only take you so far. Enhancing muscle growth with “targeted” second-generation absorption-enhanced supplements is how many people are able to take their strength and muscle gains to the next level given their ability to increase the utilisation of nutrients, especially protein.

The following list outlines both the name and function of the products I’m currently taking. If you would like to give the following program a try, you’ll want to keep in mind that both the way you take these products and the time at which you take them can make a big difference in the degree of results you can get. As you’ll see, there are definite ways to further enhance the strength of second-generation products.

Off-Season Mass Building Ergogenic Program

1) Primestrin+: An anabolic/growth hormone formula (combined); Primestrin+ contains two separate formulas in one. The first is a potent hGH booster (ProStat hGH) and the second is a testosterone stimulant. Testosterone and human growth hormone are hormones that control several physiological functions not the least of which is muscle growth. Manipulating these two in the proper sequence, while simultaneously blunting cortisol levels daily, will have a direct impact on the level of results you can realize from your training.

I take Primestrin+ not once, but twice a day. The first is 30 minutes before training and the second is always just before bed in the evening. Primestrin+ is especially effective before bed since it allows you to tap into the significantly higher amounts of growth hormone being produced in the first 90 minutes of the sleep cycle. By taking Primestrin+ at both these times, the overall hormone release is dramatically enhanced, causing an enormous amount of growth hormone to be safely dumped into the bloodstream.

2) ADL3: A cortisol antagonist. I take ADL3 approximately an hour after rising when cortisol levels are highest, and the second key time is shortly after training. Cortisol is usually the variable that many novice athletes forget about and it can literally topple the entire apple cart. Cortisol, if left unchecked, can virtually short circuit the rise of GH and it’s related muscle-building potential.

Remember, weight training and dieting in and of themselves are interpreted as a physical stress to the body. The body responds to it by secreting cortisol, which breaks down muscle tissue (catabolism). Studies clearly identify how GH levels become blunted whenever cortisol levels rise. On the other hand, weight training causes the body to secrete testosterone, which builds muscle tissue (anabolism). The best way to increase the results of your workouts is to increase the release of the testosterone and GH with Primestrin+ while simultaneously inhibiting the release of cortisol with ADL3 and AGF MAX.

3) Vio-Cel: An absorption-enhanced creatine with next generation creatine performance and technology like creatine ethyl ester (no sugar or dextrose needed, which means no fat gain, no water retention and no bloating). Vio-Cel provides the power and quickness of Supra speed release absorption-enhanced technology. Repeated documented effects of the ingredients in Vio-Cel are showing increases of fast and slow twitch muscle functions as well as increases in muscle density.

4) UDA Protein: A nutrient dense, highly undenatured anabolic protein that is especially rich in GMP’s and fragments that help aid in a bodybuilders recovery (by up to 200%). It’s the most ideally suited protein for bodybuilders.

UDA utilizes the best method for purification of true whey proteins. This method allows for maximum absorption of nitrogen into the muscles for stimulation of protein synthesis. It also holds one of the highest P.E.R. ratios as a protein source. In addition, it provides the best source for amino acids, which also plays a key role in preventing catabolism. UDA has also been shown to retain high amounts of peptides, protein fragments, electrolytes and minerals at levels not found in other forms of protein. Again, Venice Beach Nutritional/Muscle Research is the only company I’m aware of that sells pure form UDA whey protein.

5) AGF MAX: A potent glutamine based anti-catabolic, muscle preservation formula which acts to both increase the production of protein for faster muscle gains while reducing protein degradation and resulting muscle breakdown. AGF Max comes in a great tasting vanilla nut flavour. I like to combine one scoop each of AGF MAX and UDA Protein with water and consume it before and after my workout. During the pre-contest phase, I’ll start to increase my dosage of AGF MAX to ensure muscle preservation.

6) VMA: A MEGA vitamin, mineral and antioxidant formula that is bioavailability enhanced.

In addition to the above, I use Fats Out Rx and Carbs Out Rx before my Sunday cheat meals and I take magnesium with dinner.

So that is what I am on. How well does this off-season, mass building supplement program work? I can say that I have consistently made my best gains when using this program. I have no doubt that you can increase your gains by incorporating some of these same strategies into your program as well. For more information on any of these items check out Venice Beach at www.olympus-sport.com

“Winning is not everything, but the effort to win is.”
Zig Ziglar