Parrillo Cardio
Intense Cardio, Mitochondria & Max Endurance Formula™!
By Andre Newcomb
Pretend Aerobics: See if this sounds familiar: you are riding along in your car on a busy highway and here comes a jogger trotting towards you alongside the roadway heading in the opposite direction. The runner runs a few feet away from oncoming automobiles, like a matador, inches away from being run over by some spaced-out, drunk or high-on-meth motorist. You see these “highway runners” all the time and until recently I used to ponder why these people insisted on running alongside the busy highway, sucking in filthy carbon monoxide fumes while literally risking death.
A block away from the busy highway in either direction might be wonderful tree-lined side-streets – yet the highway runners insist on running alongside busy thoroughfares – what’s up with that! Then one day it hit me: these lunatics are attention starved! They need to have motorists see them as they engage in fitness. “Hey! Look at me! I’m jogging! I’m a fitness enthusiast! Don’t you think I look great!
Don’t you think I’m noble and dedicated?” They crave the attention and wouldn’t think about using the quiet side streets because no one would see them and this type needs to be seen. The highway runner needs the ego bump that only occurs when they are seen by others. Another identifiable type is the “walking women.” Always in pairs, these women walk on sidewalks around your neighborhood and when you see them they are pumping their chubby elbows (the elbow pump is how you know they’re exercising) while talking a mile a minute. Factually their jaws are getting more exercise than their legs. Both the highway runner and the walking/talking housewives are examples of ineffectual vanity cardio: pretend cardio that is the complete op-posite of the intense, effective, solitary cardio done by a hardcore Parrillo adherent. Parrillo-style cardio is all about sustained intensity that has a specific physiological purpose. Building Mitochondria: There is a very real reason why John Parrillo insists that his legion of followers perform aerobic exercise with tremendous intensity. Every muscle contains cellular blast furnaces known as mitochondria. These are small, cellular structures (or organelles) found in the cytoplasm of eukaryotic cells; cells with a nucleus. Mitochondria are responsible for converting nutrients into the energy-yielding molecule adenosine triphosphate. ATP fuels the cell’s activities.
This function, known as aerobic respiration, is the reason mitochondria are frequently referred to as the “powerhouse” of the cell. Mitochondria are unusual organelles in that they contain deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA), typically found in the cell’s nucleus, and ribosomes, protein-producing organelles abundant in the cytoplasm. Within the mitochondria, the DNA directs the ribosomes to produce proteins, many of which function as enzymes, or biological catalysts in ATP production. The number of mitochondria in a cell depends on the cell’s function. Cells with particularly heavy energy demands, such as muscle cells called upon to power intense cardio exercise, will develop more mitochondria than other cells. The chief function of the mitochondria is to create energy for cellular activity by the process of aerobic respiration. In this process, glucose is broken down in the cell’s cytoplasm to form pyruvic acid: which is then transported into the mitochondrion. In a series of reactions, part of which is called the Krebs cycle, pyruvic acid reacts with water to produce carbon dioxide and ten hydrogen atoms. These hydrogen atoms are transported on special carrier molecules called coenzymes to the cristae, where they are donated to the electron transport chain. Many years ago John Parrillo came across research that indicated that when a muscle was subjected to intense exercise for a protracted period, additional mitochondria would be constructed in response. Parrillo reasoned that if cardiovascular exercise was done intensely, the result would be the creation of additional mitochondria. Additional mitochondria would be a very good thing indeed. The more Mitochondria the better: When it comes to building a better body, more mitochondria is better. Let’s create an illustrative example: take two twins the same height and weight. If one twin has more mito-chondria than the other twin, the twin with more mitochondrial density will be able to grow more muscle, grow larger muscles and do so without getting fat. The greater the density of cellular blast furnaces, the greater the ability to effectively use nutrients. To use another appropriate analogy: imagine two identical au-tomobiles that weigh the same.
One car has a 400-horsepower V-12 engine (lots of blast furnaces) while the other car has a 200-horsepower six cylinder engine. Which auto will burn the most gasoline traveling the same speed and the same distance over the same road? The V-12 will use more gasoline just as the twin with superior mitochondrial density will burn more calories. Remember this: when it comes to creating a lean physique we seek caloric inefficiency. The sedentary obese individual is calorically efficient and the slightest caloric excess is converted into body fat. The Parrillo-style bodybuilder has “built their metabolism” and taught the body how to burn 5,000 to 10,000 calories per day – yet not add body fat. The obese person has very few nutrient processing centers and because of this paucity of mitochondria, they create body fat easily. The elite bodybuilder, a person who performs intense cardio on a regular basis, has far more nutrient processing centers than the obese individual. Olympic gold medalist Michael Phelps has built a body that is loaded with mitochondria. He spent 36 hours per week performing intense cardio – swimming – as a result Phelps could eat 12,000 calories per day and remain ripped. He had constructed so many cellular blast furnaces that he was able to eat anything and everything and not get fat. Intense aerobic exercise builds mitochondrial density. Bodybuilders seeking to stay lean and fat-free need to perform intense aerobic exercise in order to create more mitochondria. The Parrillo mitochondria-building aerobic session: Regardless the cardio mode selected, in order to build mitochondria the cardio effort must be intense and prolonged. This brings up a seeming contradiction: how can you go intensely without running out of gas quickly? The answer is that you build up to it over time.
A person starting out, regardless the aerobic mode selected, should power along in an intense fashion. Off they go: on day one in session one, let us assume they are able to blast along intensely for perhaps 12 minutes before they have to quit. The next day the cardio goal should be to go just as intensely – but today they will seek to extend the intense session to 15 minutes before quitting. On day three they might seek to push the duration up to 18 minutes…the Parrillo trainee seeks to maintain the intensity while extending the session duration over time. After a few weeks or a month the trai-nee is now able to power along for 30 to 60 minutes maintaining mitochondria-building intensity. Take into account that if you select an aerobic mode that uses legs and legs alone, say stationary biking or stair-stepper, mitochondria will only be built in the working leg muscles. A stationary bike is exclusively powered by the thighs, with some minor muscular contribution by the hamstrings and calves. Leg-only cardio will only create mitochondria in the thighs. From a mitochondrial-building standpoint, a stationary bike with push pull handles trumps a stationary bike without handles. Michael Phelps practiced six different types of swim strokes and this multiplicity of movements insured mitochondria were spread throughout his limbs and torso. John Parrillo has long championed rotating through various cardio machines, often within the same workout. A classic, Parril-lo-style, mitochondria-building all-machine aerobic session might consist of 5 to 10 minutes going all out on the stationary bike. Immediately follow this with 5 to 10 minutes using the arm rower. Then switch to 5 to 10 minutes on the Aerodyne bike with push-pull handles. You may go both forward and backwards on the Aero-dyne bike.
John might suggest ending the session with 5 to 10 minutes using the land rower before finishing with 5-10 minutes on a Nordic Trac device that uses arms and legs. Mixed Martial Artists like longtime Parril-lo-user and UFC Hall-of-Fame legend Mark Coleman, seek to build mitochondria-infusing sustained strength. MMA fighters might repeatedly flip over a 600 pound tire then immediately start pounding on the tire with a heavy sledgehammer for hundreds of reps. They might run up a steep hill carrying a 100-pound boxing heavy bag or push a wheelbarrow loaded with barbell plates up a steep incline. MMA fighters drag heavy sleds and use all kinds of weighted implements to build sustained strength and infuse muscles with mitochondria. Before intense cardio take Max Endurance Formula™: So what have we learned? The best cardiovascular exercise is cardio exercise that builds mitochondria. In order to build mitochondria, aerobic exercise must be intense: the trainee must operate at a threshold just below the exhaustion point. This type of intense aerobic activity is established in short initial sessions and these sessions are extended over a protracted period of time. Optimally the intense aerobic sessions should last 30 to 60 minutes and be performed 5-6 times a week. Elite bodybuilders will often perform cardio twice a day. There are some dangers associated with intense aerobics: if fat and carbohydrate are exhausted before or during intense cardio, the body will cannibalize muscle tissue to fuel the aerobic effort. John Parrillo invented a nutritional supplement, Max Endurance Formula™, in order to prevent muscle cannibalism associated with intense cardio exercise.
Five Max Endurance Formula™ capsules contain 1000 milligrams of magnesium and potassium aspirate that clear ammonia associated with waste product buildup in the bloodstream. In addition, Max Endurance™ contains 750 mgs of inosine. Inosine has demonstratively been proven to improve oxygen utilization during exercise-induced stress. 1000 mgs of DL-Phenylalanine increases mental acuity and extends pain tolerance. The Max Endurance Formulation™ is designed specifically for use during aerobic activity and provides nutrients used by the body to detoxify the waste products associated with protein catabolism. Max Endurance™ filters waste products that the body ge-nerates during intense, mitochondria-building cardio exercise and assists and accelerates the elimination of toxic waste products. Ammonia is a real problem during intense exercise. When ammonia is produced it stops energy production within the cells. Max Endurance Formula™ is designed to neutralize ammonia production as soon as it forms. It is recommended that the athlete take between 5 and 10 Max Endurance™ capsules before each cardio session. Go hard, go often, go long and sweat profusely! If you are performing aerobic activity you need to break a sweat. If you aren’t sweating then your results will be minimal at best. Optimally you want to operate just be-low the fatigue level for a protracted period of time. A Parrillo trainee is wringing with sweat at the conclusion of every aerobic session. If you smell ammonia in your sweat then you need Max Endurance Formula™ to stifle the production of ammonia: if you are producing ammonia then you may rest assured that your cellular blast furnaces have been shut down.
This can be avoided by taking 5 to 10 capsules of Max Endurance Formula™ 20 minutes prior to the start of the aerobic session. In order to become more efficient at nutrient assimilation, increased mitochondrial density is highly sought after. Engaging in intense cardio exercise (the kind we suggest) carried out just below the exhaustion threshold and using a wide range of muscles has been shown to increase mitochondrial density. Alter and vary aerobic modes in order to infuse a wide range of muscles with additional mitochondria. Using aerobic modes that depend entirely upon the legs to generate the elevated heart rate will increase mitochondrial density in the legs alone. Alter modes day to day or alter modes within the workout; increased mode variety results in mitochondrial density throughout the body. Intense cardio exercise is critically important for building the ultimate physique. Your nutrition and your weight training are equally critical and equally important. In the Parrillo System, all the elements are combined in a balanced and nuanced fashion. Supplement with Max Endurance Formula™ before engaging in intense cardio. Put it all together and boost the metabolism while increasing nutrient assimilation capacity. Intense cardio improves muscularity, accelerates the metabolism and builds incredible endurance. Improved endurance allows you to engage in longer more intense aerobic and weight training sessions. Round and round it goes.
The more you put into your aerobic effort the leaner and more muscular you become. Purchase a bottle (or two) of Max Endurance Formula™ and let’s get started! If you have had trouble losing weight in the past, the reason may reside in two nutritional factors: your food balance and your food choices. “Balance” involves the relative proportion of carbohydrates, protein, and fat in your diet; and “choice” involves the type of food you eat (yes, some foods really do have fat-burning poten-tial!). Scientists have only recently begun to unlock the highly complex processes by which our bodies burn fat, and one of the recently “solved mysteries” has to do with these two vital issues of nutrition. Over the past several years, many popular diets have suggested that increasing or decreasing a single nutrient in your diet can dramatically affect your weight loss. Some diets have focused on carbohydrates, others on protein, still others on fat. Unfortunately though, highlighting one nutrient to the exclusion of others misses the boat. Weight loss depends upon on a carefully designed balance of all of these nutrients and on the spe-cific types of food in which those nutrients are found. Why is this true? Both factors positively influence the action of your hormones – chemical messengers that regulate a world of functions in your body. They also influence your metabolism, your body’s food-to-fuel processes.
Thus, the interplay of food balance and food choices can greatly accentuate your ability to burn fat. It is this approach to weight loss that has the backing of medical science. A simplified explanation of these is-sues is provided below. Protein as a Fat-Burner When provided in your diet at higher levels, protein can clearly be nicknamed a “fat burner” – for two impor-tant reasons. First, your body requires ample protein to develop and maintain body-firming muscle. If you don’t get enough protein, your body can start breaking down muscle tissue for the provision of energy. Consequently, you’ll lose metabolically active muscle, and this will sabotage your fat-loss efforts. Second, protein boosts your metabolism, and it does this by stepping up the action of your thyroid gland. (One of the main duties of the thy¬roid is to regulate metabolism.) Based on this important knowledge, the Parrillo Nutrition Program provides the right balance of protein daily, and this will result in fat loss and will aid in the development of lean muscle. The Carbohydrate Difference Carbohydrates also play a role in fat-burning, as long as you choose the right types of carbohydrates. This is where food choice becomes all-important to your weight-loss success.
For a very long time, carbohydrates have been classified as either simple or complex. Simple sugars are found in candies, syrups, many fruits and fruit juices, and processed foods, and complex carbohydrates are found in whole grains, beans, and vegetables. After you eat carbohydrate foods, your body breaks them down into glucose. Some carbohydrates (simple sugars) are dismantled more quickly than others, and this causes a huge spike in your blood glucose. Other carbohydrates (like starchy carbs on the Parrillo Nutrition Program) take longer to break down, and conse-quently, blood glucose stays relatively even during the digestion process. When glucose shoots upward in response to sugar, so does the hormone insulin. The problem with an overload of insulin in your system is that it activates fat cell enzymes. These enzymes move fat from the bloodstream into fat cells for storage and trigger your body to create more fat cells. Sugary foods thus create conditions in your body that are conducive to gaining fat. What all of this tells us is very simple: Simple sugars promote fat storage; starchy carbs do not. Choosing star-chy carbs makes it possible to lose weight more easily. The Fat Factor For decades, we were taught that in order to lose weight, we had to slash the amount of dietary fat in our di-ets. Since the 1980s, Americans did reduce their fat consumption, but at the same time, they got fatter. More than 60 percent of our population is now considered overweight or obese. Cutting the fat from our diets was clearly not the “magic answer” to weight loss. Scientists studying this alarming trend probed the reasons.
What could explain this confusing phenomenon? After much research, they discovered that people had been replacing the fat in their diets with too many sim-ple sugars. This was the impetus – the main common denominator – behind the expanding waistlines of the American public, along with the fact
Hi-Protein Cake
that Americans are becoming increasingly inactive. So from a nutritional standpoint, simple sugars are among the prime culprits in weight gain, and dietary fat shoulders far less of the blame. What this means to you is that you do not have to worry about slashing dietary fat to unrealistic levels while on the Parrillo Nutrition Program. Just make sure you have up to 2 tablespoons of essential fat each day. Oils such as safflower, sunflower, corn, soybean, fish oils, and evening primrose oil found in Parrillo Evening Pri-mrose Oil 1000™ are “essential fatty acids.” A Final Point The foods allowed for you to eat on the Parrillo Nutrition Program provide what has been scientifically proven to be an effective combination of specific types of protein, carbohydrate, and fat. This combination of easily available and delicious foods, in the right proportions, stimulates increased body fat metabolism, while sup-plying nutrients required to support muscle development.