The Sport of Kings Has a Gray Area in Doping

By Leigh Penman

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine”.

Leave it to New York’s ‘Daily News’ to come up with yet another juicy steroid story (no pun intended!). This time around, tired with the world of baseball, they turned to the world of horse racing. In a recent report they ‘discovered’ that drug use is rampant in horse racing in America, although England, France, all of Europe, Japan, South Africa, Dubai and Australia banned the use of steroids years ago.

The article quoted Dr. George Maylin, the Director of the New York State Racing and Wagering Board Drug Testing and Research program (now that’s a job title for you!) as saying, “ North American racing has come to realize there is a problem with drug use and they must do something about it. Anabolic steroids are just the tip of the iceberg.”

I guess this means that the $35 million a year that is spent on keeping the racing game clean is still not having the desired effect. However, Alex Waldrop, President and Chief Executive Officer of the National Thoroughbred Racing Association would beg to differ claiming, “There is testing using urine and blood and we are increasingly moving towards plasma testing. One thing we have discussed with Congress is that we believe our testing methods are superior to testing of humans.”

The difference between the use of anabolic steroids in horse racing and their use in other competitive sports is that four anabolic steroids have actually been recommended by the Racing Medication and Testing Consortium to be used for therapeutic treatment on horses – boldenone, nandralone, stanozolol and testosterone. However, the fact that they are technically given the “okay” is leading to their abuse. Continue Reading »

Manny Kirby Uses Car Accident as Inspiration for Bodybuilding

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

Many kids dream about being as big as the Incredible Hulk, but few actually live it. A young Manny Kirby used to confide to his father about that, and he ended up morphing into Bruce Banner’s alter ego following an incident that was more catastrophic than gamma rays.

12 years ago, the 41 year-old Kirby was involved in a serious automobile accident that left him with a cracked sternum and four cracked ribs (two each in the front and back). Doctors told him that he wouldn’t be able to do anything such involving constant movement such as dancing due to his heart being bruised by his injured ribs.

While some people would have wallowed in their misery, Kirby found a new way while convalescing for over two months. He started reading the writings of Bruce Lee and Mike Mentzer. “Lee’s mental focus on the body astounded me,” recalled Kirby, “and spoke about the mind and spirit.

“Mentzer had the same mental focus, but was more about the mind and pushing beyond your limits,” continued Kirby. “I combined the two and, lo and behold, stepped forth into a gym.” Continue Reading »

Personal Trainers will Incorporate Many Different Styles into Programs; It’s Your Job to Find the Right One

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

There are many ways to improve one’s physique and fitness level. One example of this is kettle bell training. Under the guidance of a properly trained professional this can be a highly effective and safe manner of training. As many physical therapists and professional personal trainers will tell you, training of this type with an unqualified trainer can be dangerous. They can say this because they’ve probably seen people after they’ve recieved this training.

There are very few exercises that are “wrong.” With the right form and instruction, you can get in phenomenal shape with many different types of training. Someone who specializes in a type of training such as kettle bells is exactly what you need when training with such type of training. Continue Reading »

A Personal Trainer’s Agenda SHould Be An Entire Personal Program

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

Recognizing the connection between body, mind and spirit is important in the quest for optimum health. All must be in harmony and balance to be at one’s best. As a personal trainer I do my best to help my clients in every way. Creating a healthy existence starts with an effective workout program, continues with solid nutrition and carries on thru with a good understanding of one’s self and what makes you happy.

I do my best to set a good example to the people around me by living a healthy lifestyle and trying to do what’s right whenever I can. We’re all far from perfect. I think acceptance and tolerance of people’s weaknesses and shortcoming and helping them work thru and overcome them is what you should be doing in all parts of your life, not just personal training. Judging and putting people down isn’t the job of a personal trainer, or even a good person for that matter. Continue Reading »

What it Means and Why Uniqueness is a Quality Trait

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

The new buzz word and fitness trend is functional training. But what exactly is this? It can be different things to different people. What is the function you want to perform? If you’re a basketball player and want to jump higher, that’s the function you’re training for. Jump squats and other forms of explosive exercises are what would help you. If you’re an 85 year-old woman with a hip replacement, the function you want is to walk without pain and correct your imbalances, which would of course call for something different than jump squats.

Everyone is looking for something different in their functional training. This is why my philosophy on training someone is that everyone is different and everyone requires a different fitness program to get where they want to be. Continue Reading »

Four-Time Amateur Female Champion Off to the Races

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

Perhaps is is just good karma to finish in the top spot the first time someone does something, especially when it’s a bodybuilding contest that takes months to prepare for. Back in 2005, a newcomer entered the NABBA Junior Nationals and walked away with the trophy that all the other competitors had their eyes on.

Monica M. of Doylestown, Pennsylvania may have begun weight training to prepare for high school cross country and sprint meets, but at the young age of 25, she has become an accomplished natural bodybuilder. She went on to win two more contests in each of the following years and has already qualified for professional status. Continue Reading »

Share Some of That Knowledge in the Gym

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

As with anything in life, the more you put into it, the more you get out of it. It should go without saying the more quality training time you put in and the tighter you keep your nutrition, the better results you’ll get. But what happens when you get to the level of fitness you want or are happy with? You don’t need to train as much or as hard to maintain as you do to get there. So what do you do with that extra time and energy?

It’s been my experience that it’s very rewarding to help someone else get there. There’s plenty of kids running around the gyms doing all the wrong things we, as seasoned weight lifters, did when we were young. How about giving them some guidance? If your workouts used to last 2 hours of gut-busting, crazy all-out effort, and now you’re down to an hour, why not take some time while you’re in the gym to help out a beginner? Continue Reading »

Being a Student is No Excuse to be Lazy!

By Alex Truman

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

This article based on informing high school athletes, parents, coaches, and teachers on what could make high school athletes even better at what they do.
High schools bring up many hardships for the inspiring athletes within their walls. An athlete needs to worry about his training and diet, but being a high school student gives athletes more to deal with. Classes, homework, and projects all become obstacles that a student has to overcome. Athletes need to overcome the stress and hassle of being a student, and they need to excel at sports at the same time. The pressure put on high school athletes is incredible, but that is what makes athletes who they are.

Having a good diet and training regimen will separate the athletes from those who just take up space on the team. Athletes need to train and eat like machines. Having 6-8 meals a day, weight training 4-6 times a week, and doing cardio 3-7 days a week will not only make the athlete bigger, stronger, and faster, but it will help to keep their immune systems healthy. Continue Reading »

Elite Personal Training Does More Than Show You the Way

By Matthew Sgro

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

The job, I believe, of a Professional Personal Trainer is to educate, motivate and inspire their clients to improve their lives by helping them reach a higher level of fitness. This is accomplished in many ways, one of them being resistance training. Whether it be with free weights, bands or machines, strengthening the muscles makes them leaner and stronger. Holding more muscle pushes the body to burn more fat. While you’re training, especially in a circuit training style, you WILL burn calories. This article is about training, so I won’t delve into nutrition, but it does play a major factor and any quality personal trainer should address it. Continue Reading »

Barbie Garrido, Female Bodybuilder, Wears Many Hats to Success

This is part of a continuing series provided exclusively by MuscleSport Mag entitled, “This is Your Magazine,” where we profile the every-day athlete. If you would like to see yourself profiled here, please send us your story and photo to superbas@optonline.net.

And you think that you have had a tough time meeting your goals. Down in Miami, Florida, Barbie Garrido had to take care of her four children while going to college to become a Registered Nurse. That would have been a lot of anyone’s plate, but Barbie is not just anyone.

After deciding to do personal training “on the side,” as she put it, she met her current husband, who gave her the support she needed to take it to the next level – competitive bodybuilding, something Garrido, 39, has had a passion for since her early days at Brodie’s Gym. “It was a hardcore gym full of sweaty men,” she remembered. “I saw no women so I questioned that for a while until I came across a picture of Juliette Berman and Rachel McLish and I wanted to be like them.” Continue Reading »