Archive for July, 2010

2010 Bill Grant Bodybuilding & Figure Classic Recap
By Bill Grant

The 2010 NPC Bill Grant Bodybuilding & Figure Classic was a phenomenal show in the great tradition of old Muscle Beach contests. In the scenic confines of Cedar Beach Park, the Allentown Sportsfest bodybuilders and figure athletes did battle in the hot and humid weather. Enthusiastic spectators of all ages cheered them on. The stage was full of well-conditioned physiques and physical beauty. Bill Grant is to be commended for providing a flash to the past with his outdoor show.

The show opened with Jaquetta Perry singing the National Anthem accompanied by her communication signer Raven Griffan. Jaquetta is a rising star in the world of children’s and inspirational music. She is a Speech-Language Specialist for over 10 years, consultant, speaker and vocalist. Her new CD entitled “It’s Time to Communicate” is filled with fun songs, positive affirmations and relaxation techniques produced by Darrin Whittington, nationally known as the “The Piano man.”
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Combo Weight Loss Pill Fights Cravings and Appetite
Will Contrave Be the Next Big Weight Loss Pill?
By Denise Mann
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

July 29, 2010 — An experimental obesity drug that combines the antidepressant bupropion and the addiction drug naltrexone reduces body weight by 5% or more after one year when combined with healthy diet and regular exercise, according to a new report published online in The Lancet.

If approved, the new drug may be the right choice for dieters who get waylaid by their food cravings because it taps into the brain’s craving and reward system in addition to curbing appetite. An FDA advisory panel is slated to review the drug, called Contrave, on Dec. 7. Manufacturer Orexigen Therapeutics, Inc. funded the new study.

In the 56-week study, participants received a high dose of the combination pill, a low dose, or a placebo twice a day. They were also advised to eat a low-calorie diet and engage in regular exercise. Those who took the higher dose of the new pill lost 6.1% of their body weight, while those who received the lower dose shed 5% of their body weight. By contrast, those people in the placebo group lost 1.3% of their body weight.
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Species Nutrition Update
?by Anthony Roberts

Species Nutrition is in flux right now, either planning to reformulate their current line, or to phase the brand out altogether. I’m hearing that Bactolac (the company who previously handled their product manufacturing) is hesitant to continue working with Species and owner, Dave Palumbo, as they’ve been named in the recent lawsuit against Species Nutrition. From my understanding, Dave has been contacting other production facilities. However, I would also guess that his source for usnic acid is unlikely to continue furnishing it for him, as they too have been named in the current lawsuit, as has Bodybuilding.com, who will likely not carry the Species Nutrition brand after the lawsuit is finished.
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Why Fad Diets Work Well for Some, but Not Others

ScienceDaily – Ever notice some people seem to eat anything they want and never gain a pound, while others seem to gain weight just by looking at fattening foods? You may be seeing things correctly after all. According to research published in the July 2010 issue of Genetics, this may have a biological cause. Using fruit flies, researchers have found that genes interacting with diet, rather than diet alone, are the main cause of variation in metabolic traits, such as body weight. This helps explain why some diets work better for some people than others, and suggests that future diets should be tailored to an individual’s genes rather than to physical appearance.
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NPC USA Bodybuilding, Figure & Bikini Championships
(IFBB Pro Qualifier)

July 30 & 31, 2010 Las Vegas, Nevada

Pro Cards a Plenty!
Men (7 wt groups) 4 men will turn professional.
Women (4 wt groups) 2 women bodybuilders will turn professional.
Figure (6 height groups) Class winners will turn professional.
Bikini (6 height groups) Class winners will turn professional.

General Information
Event Location: Artemus W. Ham Concert Hall on the Campus of UNLV
4505 Maryland Parkway, Las Vegas, NV 89154
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Afghans Pay The Price For Flexing Their Muscles
By Hamid Shalizi

KABUL (Reuters Life!) – Arif Sakhi preened and posed his well-oiled muscles to win the “Mr Afghanistan” crown earlier this year, but behind that perfectly sculpted physique his vital organs were breaking down under the strain of steroid abuse.

Sakhi’s death last month at the age of 26 has shaken Afghanistan’s body building community and shown it is not beyond the reach of the shady billion-dollar business in legal and illegal supplements.

“Unfortunately using illegal supplements has been seen among our young body builders, but we have no resources to stop it,” said Ustaad Bawar Hotak, the head of Afghanistan’s Bodybuilding Federation.
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MusclePharm Supplement Company Bleeding Money
by Anthony Roberts

Perhaps one of the most ambitious nutritional supplement companies to hit the market in the past few years is MusclePharm. Right out of the gates they signed Paul Dillett, Louis Simmons, and a bunch of MMA fighters to endorse the product line. Getting Paul was a huge coup because he is the president of a decent-sized bodybuilding federation (the World Bodybuilding & Fitness Federation, or WBFF), as was getting Louie Simmons, who is a legend in the powerlifting scene. They also signed some NFL players, and have Dr. Eric Serrano on the team. Paul and Louie are still huge in their respective fields, and the NFL and MMA guys in their stable are certainly up-and-comers (Xyience tried going the MMA-Sponsorship route a few years ago, and it didn’t seem to work – while EAS did the NFL-player thing and it worked extremely well).
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Controversial supplement to come off shelves
Product FDA called ‘unapproved drug’ is popular in autism cases
By Trine Tsouderos, Tribune reporter

OSR#1, marketed as a dietary supplement, is popular with parents of children with autism. After the Food and Drug Administration called it an unapproved new drug, the company that makes the supplement told several pharmacists it will no longer be available after July 29. (Antonio Perez, Chicago Tribune / January 7, 2010)

Pharmacies are halting sales of OSR#1, a compound marketed as a dietary supplement to parents of children with autism, six weeks after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration called the product an unapproved new drug.

Several pharmacists told the Tribune they received an e-mail last week from Boyd Haley, president of the company that makes the product, informing them that OSR#1 would not be available after Thursday.
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HBO Real Sports Takes Easy Route with Female Bodybuilding Feature
by Isaac Hinds

Bryant Gumbel introduces his HBO Real Sports feature on women’s bodybuilding with, “we move onto the wild, weird and relatively unknown world of women’s bodybuilding. If you’re like most Americans what little exposure to bodybuilding you’ve had, has probably been limited to to brief glimpses of scantily clad competitors posing in a magazine.” You can already assume which direction the feature will go.

Gumbel draws attention to nothing but the negative things associated with women’s bodybuilding. If there was anything positive in the piece, I missed it. Focusing on the negative aspects is the easy route and been done a number of times.
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2010 EUROPA BATTLE OF CHAMPIONS FINAL RESULTS

What an incredible contest. Lonnie Teper predicted that Ed Nunn would rule the day in Hartford, and he did, winning the Men’s Open Class over Troy Alves and Ben White. In the Mens 202lbs and Under, Jose Raymond beat an incredible looking David Henry. Also, congratulations to Dianna Dahlgreen and Candice Keene for winning in pro bikini and pro figure.

Here are the scorecard results of the five IFBB contests held in Hartford, Connecticut on July 24th.

MEN’S OPEN BODYBUILDING RESULTS

1. Edward Nunn
2. Troy Alves
3. Ben White
4. Michael Kefalianos
5. Leo Ingram Jr.
6. Johnnie Jackson
7. George Farah
8. Michael Liberatore
9. Darrem Charles
10. Constantinos Demetriou
11. Erik Frankhouser
12. Oscar Dexter
13. Jeffrey Long
14. Greg Ulysses
15. Alexandre Nataf
16. Serdar Aktolga
16. Damaso Chacon
16. Oleg Emelyanov
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Cholesterol Study: Low HDL May Not Be So Bad
Very Low LDL ‘Bad’ Cholesterol May Cut Heart Risk Even if HDL ‘Good’ Cholesterol Is Also Low
By Kathleen Doheny
WebMD Health News
Reviewed by Laura J. Martin, MD

Patients on statin drugs who reduce their LDL ”bad” cholesterol to very low levels may not need to be so concerned about boosting their HDL ”good” cholesterol levels for protection against cardiovascular disease, according to a new study.

”Once we get the levels of LDL down to very low levels, it becomes unclear whether HDL is an important determinant of [cardiovascular] risk,” says researcher Paul Ridker, MD, director of the Center for Cardiovascular Disease Prevention at Brigham & Women’s Hospital, and professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School, Boston.
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Lab test allegedly shows USPLabs product doesn’t meet label claims
by Anthony Roberts

A spirited discussion on Bodybuilding.com has been been taking place over alleged lab tests suggesting USPLabs OxyELITE Pro doesn’t meet label claims. USPLabs has been alerted to the existence of the supposed lab tests, and have thus far failed to issue an official statement on Bodybuilding.com. Currently OxyELITE Pro is the best selling fatburner on Bodybuilding.com, and appears to be doing reasonably well in GNC also.
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The Herb Ruta Chalepensis & Testosterone
by Anthony Roberts

Admittedly, Ruta Chalapensis is not one of the herbs that I stumbled onto while researching testosterone boosters. The first time I’d ever heard about the stuff is when William Llewellyn wrote about it in his annual blog post, introducing it as an ingredient for his new test booster. I had honestly never even come close to finding any of this research, and I can’t remember anyone mentioning that they’d heard about it previously. So William certainly scores one for originality.

And since William is a noted author on the subject of anabolic steroids, any testosterone booster that he releases is sure to turn some heads. I’m sure Test force will do very well on the supplement market.
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2010 IFBB Europa Battle of Champions competitor lists

The IFBB Tampa Pro show brought quite a few surprises in terms of competitors and placings, but on the heels of Tampa, comes another 5 IFBB Pro Contests. Here is the tentative pro lineup (not final lists) for the 2010 Europa Battle of Champions, set for July 23-24, in Hartford, Connecticut.
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Diet supplement Slim 30 recalled for undeclared drug ingredient
by Leigh Goessl

A voluntary recall has been issued for Slim-30 Herb Supplement by the distributor, J & H Besta Corporation of Hickville, New York on July 16, 2010. The herbal supplement is marketed as a natural herb to help individuals promote weight loss.

Slim-30 Herb Supplement is packaged in plastic bottles of 30 capsules and has the UPC code of 8 31457 005009 2. The affected lot/code being recalled is 032009. Consumers should not consume this product.

The reason for the recall is because during a U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) lab analysis, the government agency discovered an undeclared drug presence in its ingredients. The drug, N-Desmethyl Sibutramine, has not been approved by the FDA, and the effectiveness and safety of the drug is not known at this time. There were also traces of a drug called Sibutramine, which is an FDA approved drug for weight loss, but has not been approved for this product.
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