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Will Brink is someone I have followed for a while now. His articles were always pretty interesting and he seemed like someone who enjoyed telling things as he saw them. I am so SOO tired of writer (loose term) who quote everyone they read and try to sound like they 'know' what the other 'experts' know. It's boring. So in a world of boredom, Will Brink came along and saved the day. I have read his stuff in several periodicals but most remembered his MuscleMag International work. Bob Kennedy was kind enough to print him and now ol' Will has a few books of his own. I haven't read them but I haven't read an industry or competitive book in a good 6 years. I will however pick up a copy of his first thing now that my new 300 pager is finally complete. That took forever it seemed. A month I think. Just kidding. Anyhow, this guy is quite brilliant. Read on Bat fans. Here's Will Brink. The man. The myth. The interviewee.
DON:
What is your age, weight, height, body fat percentage:
Now, at it's best, at it's worst: And what were your
last two training sessions like as well as your last
couple days of eating if you wouldn't mind.
WILL: I am 33 years old (soon to be 34.. yuk), a tad
under 5'7", and I have not checked my body weight in
years. I would guess around 170 lbs. The best I have
ever been was around 205 lbs at 9% body fat. Ahhh, the
good old days... my last two training sessions was shoulders,
arms, and calves and legs a few days before that. My
workouts are pretty much designed for maintaining.
DON:
I suggest not having two large carb meals in a row unless
they are the first two meals of the day and to sandwich
'later in the day' carb feedings in between protein
feedings. In other words, if you don't have time for
a follow up protein meal later, don't do the carbs.
Follow these rules but act on instinct. Let me ask you,
what is a good pre and post workout meal plan?
WILL: I am not a big fan of food combining theory as
a rule but if fat loss is the goal, I find it's best
to eat the majority of carbs early in the day with the
final carb meal following the workout, no later than
say 5-6 pm. Later meals would be protein and vegetables.
DON:
Habits I would assume come into play. How long after
a session should you wait to eat? How long prior to
the workout do you eat then? It's funny because physiologically,
exercise on a full gut (i.e. swimming) isn't sensible.
But then a lot of people workout immediately following
their meals and they are just RIPPED.
WILL: Taking in some type of carb and protein immediately
following the workout makes sense for many reasons,
including some data which supports the idea that the
anabolic window starts to close rapidly after an hour
or so. Eating before seems to be fairly individual,
but as a rule, an hour or more before working out, is
as close as I would recommend.
DON:
If there was one thing you could change about mainstream
fitness, what would it be and what ARE you trying to
'revelate'?
WILL: I would change a LOT of things. The black and
white view that aerobics "burns" fat and weight training
only builds muscle. The idea that all fats make you
fat and should be avoided. I can think of a million
incorrect and/or unproven myths connected to mainstream
fitness that has lead to a country of fat confused people.
DON:
I hated needing to put ANY scientific info into my books
at all but it was demanded. I limited it to the basics
as most folk wouldn't understand it anyhow. What kills
me are the people who ask for 'documentation' yet didn't
need it before when they tried their last program and
FAILED. Have you ever tried any of the fads? Zone, Atkin's
etc.? What is your take?
WILL: That's a tough question to answer quickly so I
wont even try.
DON:
Tell me, what do you feel are the most essential supplements?
The best for weight gain w/o getting fat and the ones
for fat loss while preserving muscle?
WILL: The big three: whey, creatine, and flax oil. I
tend to like supplements that improve health or at the
very least, don't degrade it. Those three have decent
data behind them, have many uses to any athlete, and
have no problems with safety in my view. Of course a
good multi vitamin and many other products can be used
and recommended: additional anti oxidants, certain herbs,
etc.
DON:
Do you suggest to eat food instead of meal replacements
or do you suggest meal replacements ARE food? Whose
do you use?
WILL: It depends on the person and their goals and schedule.
It's easy to make your own meal replacement type drink
at home but most people are not at home all day. In
that case throwing an MRP in a blender becomes the only
option for some and is certainly better than not eating.
It just depends on the individual. As for taste, I find
the Lean Body by Labrada Nutrition in Dutch chocolate
tastes the best to me.
DON:
I recently tried the **** or whatever it is called.
Was real let down. The ads and ****, the man behind
the stuff all lied. It's so sugary I bloated like a
balloon in moments. And so did everyone else who I gave
the rest of the packets to. Everybody binges or has
one food or meal that does them in EVERY TIME. There
is also a part of their body they hate or even an exercise
they despise and either still do, or avoid like the
plague.
WILL: I have never tried that product so I can't comment.
I do find however that many of the MRPs on the market
bloat me up also, due to the types and amounts of thickening
agents rather than the sugar content. They seem to think
people want thick cake batter tasting MRPs. I like mine
thin and easy to drink.
DON:
How do you split your body up and what is your idea
of rest and recovery session to session.
WILL: I do a basic three day split myself. Either mon,
wed, Friday or tue, thurs, sat, type breakdown. Chest
and back on Monday, legs on Wed., shoulders and arms
on Friday, type break down but I change it around every
few months.
DON:
What progress has this split brought you or are you
simply maintaining these days?
WILL: My workouts are designed more for maintaining
these days but people can certainly make progress on
a three day split if they put in the effort. I have
the type of metabolism that unless I am eating a ton
of food, training intensely and heavy, and sleeping
9 hours plus, I lose weight. I am just too buy for that
so I have to be satisfied with maintaining and training/eating
on the run often in bad hotel gyms.
DON:
I limit my aerobics. I mean I do 12 minutes after each
session with weights to flush my body of exercise debris,
but what do you suggest?
WILL: I have you beat. I do exactly three minutes on
the stationary bike on leg day only! I hate aerobics
and consider it far overrated for fat loss and overall
health. It's not that it's bad per se, but the love
of aerobics in this country over resistance training
is a joke. People are very busy today. In a perfect
world, weight training with some aerobics is great,
but I tell people if you only have a few days to hit
the gym, always do the weight training first. If you
have some time left over, do the aerobics. It also depends
on the person. I often see some skinny kid with a fast
metabolism complaining he cant gain any weight or muscle
while he is on his second hour of treadmill! It makes
me wanna slap them.
DON:
What do you suggest to eat the day of a bodybuilding
show or a photo shoot to look pumped and great but not
flat and deflated? How about the pump up backstage?
What about that?
WILL: Too complicated to get into
DON:
What were the keys to your success?
WILL: Ask me in ten years.
DON:
Have you had any professional consultation with a top
level athletes or butted heads with anyone we would
know by name? What was it about?
WILL: I have consulted to many athletes. We only butt
heads when they allow their neurosis to make decisions
for them which is often. Dan Duchaine likes to say the
three most used words when training athletes is
"don't do that." He is 100% correct and it's why I do
so little training anymore.
DON:
Is there anything you think we haven't touched upon
here yet you'd like to?
WILL: There is always something.
DON:
Here's a question. What was the last movie you saw and
last album or compact disc or audio cassette you
bought?
WILL: I saw the Matrix which I really liked. I also
saw Shakespeare In Love which I thought was the most
over blown over acted thing I have ever seen. That is
beat Private Ryan for Best picture is the biggest joke
I have ever seen and total proof how biased and out
of touch the academy is. Best set design and costumes
perhaps, but best picture? Please. I just picked up
three new CD s the other day as I am a big music buff.
I purchased The Cardigans new CD, which FYI is one of
the best CDs I have heard in years and sounds nothing
like their last album. I also purchased the new CD by
Ben Folds Five and a compilation of Mozart concertos.
DON:
What is your educational background?
WILL: I graduated from Harvard University with a concentration
in the natural sciences, which means it was basically
a liberal arts degree that focused primarily on science
courses. I chose that because it allowed me much greater
flexibility to take science courses in many different
areas of interest for me rather than focusing
only on one topic which does not jibe well to my personality.
DON:
As a lecturer, what do you find are the most frequent
interventions to your beliefs and respects?
WILL: Not exactly sure what you mean by this question.
Can you rephrase another way?
DON:
No. I was curious what was your most frequently asked
question. Is soy protein safer for men to use if mixed
with whey? Estrogen and all.
WILL: Oh, lately it's all about protein or creatine.
Not safer per se but may have some advantages mixing
them. The issue of soy is complicated. Every time
you find a study that makes soy look good for athletes,
you find another that leads you to think it should be
avoided. For example, the issue of soy phytoestrogens
is interesting. Studies I have seen suggest the estrogenic
effects are tissue specific. That is, the phyto estrogens
in soy act as an estrogen in certain tissues but not
others. The studies I have seen showed no negative effects
in male monkeys. On the other hand, people like Pat
Arnold claim there is research showing soy estrogens
can reduce gonadotropin production, though I have never
seen that research. Other recent research seriously
questions the health benefits of soy and some studies
actually point to soy as possibly shrinking the brain
as well as having other downfalls. Proponents of soy
tend to ignore the studies that show it is not all that
great and ignore the fact that the supposed positive
benefits for soy rest on some very weak correlational
studies. I think soy may have its uses however. People
interested in that topic can read the article at my
site WWW.BrinkZone.com
DON:
What changes are Muscle Mag trying to make surrounding
the fitness industry this year? I know the IFBB and
NPC are calling for a softer fitness look. Has Muscle
Mag tried to change anything for the better?
WILL: I really don't know Don. I honestly do not. I
don't have a clue what MMI is focusing on. I just fax
in my columns and occasional article.
DON:
I saw John did your logo at your site. He did mine too.
Heck of a guy.
WILL: He is the man.
DON:
Have you seen his Musclehedz Training Journal? What
a riot!
WILL: I find a lot of his stuff is very funny, including
the Training Journal. The picture he did of Dan Duchaine
as the Guru makes me laugh every time I see it.
DON:
I find anything about Dan Duchaine humorous. My clients
have been continuing to make great progress during contest
dieting saving aerobics until the last ten days. Without
aerobics in the routine, are carbs still as important
after a session of weights?
WILL: Probably, though it may be possible to take in
less carbs.
DON:
Mixing proteins. Do you think it makes sense to have
an egg or two per meal when eating a steak, or fish,
or chicken to compliment?
WILL: Not really. I don't see any reason to compliment
an already complete protein. Not that it would do any
harm per se, but I don't know of any reason for it or
any research that would suggest adding and egg to a
steak would increase anabolism. Now in the case of an
incomplete protein like beans, it makes sense to compliment
this incomplete protein with rice as most vegetarians
will do.
DON:
What are your fees for seminars?
WILL: It depends really on how far away it is, how much
of a seminar they want, and what will be covered. Depends
on the group also.
DON:
Like Muslims as opposed to 7th graders, huh? Just kidding.
Your new fat loss book. Give me one hard selling point
for my readers.
WILL: Like all my stuff, it will be concise, easy to
read, unbiased, and useful information on the most common
weight loss nutrients currently on the market. I find
that although there is plenty of whiz bang new products
coming out, most people still don't have a good understanding
of what is already out there and are wasting a lot of
money. I cover the top 20 or so most popular products
and a few most people will not have heard of before.
What's good, what's not and what is a total waste of
money. I pull no punches in this book. I think that
is the type of information people want today.
DON:
Priming the Anabolic Environment then. Your other book.
The same? One hard selling point so my readers will
say "WOW" and head to your site for more info.
WILL: Hmmm, I don't know what to say to get anyone to
say "Wow" short of taking off my clothes. Priming
the Anabolic Environment has been around for a few years
now. Most people seem to really like it. It's getting
a tad dated in spots, but for a solid introduction to
the right nutrition, training, and supplements, for
gaining muscle and losing fat, I still think it's the
best book of its kind. Some one once called it a "nuts
and bolts" book on bodybuilding and I think that's a
good description. What a lot of people don't realize
is that book introduced certain concepts and information
people now take for granted and don't realize where
it came from.
DON:
What did you think I was going to ask?
WILL: I figured "Can you date my ugly sister?" was going
to be your next question. Sorry, I am married.
DON:
My sister isn't ugly. She is Grace Grimes.
WILL: Oh. Laughs.
DON:
Sad about Dan Duchaine. He was your friend and my nemesis.
R.I.P.
WILL: Was a dear friend and yes, may he rest in peace
or smile down on us and allow us to remember all his
good works.
Visit Will Online At: www.brinkzone.com
Don Lemmon's Nutritional and Exercise Know How