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Parrillo Performance
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The Parrillo Principles: Stop Continually Playing to Your Strengths

By Andre Newcomb

One of the hardest bodybuilding lessons to learn is that to move past a certain level of physical development, it is critically important to prioritize physical weak points and to stop continually working on physical strong points. Prioritizing weak points requires altering deep-seated psychological habits; we need to change our current ways of thinking and doing things. Human nature is predicable: when it comes to training (and diet) we are all creatures of habit.  We love doing things we enjoy while we seek to avoid things we perceive as dreadful or distasteful. Unfortunately, in the world of fitness and bodybuilding, continually performing the same enjoyable training exercises using the same protocols in the same way, over and over, eventually creates physical imbalances. Anyone who trains at a commercial gym has seen obvious examples of physical imbalance created by one-dimensional training. Perhaps you have a version of “The Curl Club” at your training facility. To belong to the Curl Club you must do curls all the time. Men seek out other men who love doing curls and together they gather to do curls of all types and kinds. The group always does their curling first and when they do their curls they curl with passion and gusto. The men arm curl as if their very lives depended on the outcome. When members of the Curl Club gather together, they curl each in turn. While they curl they exhort one another loudly and profanely. After umpteen sets of say preacher curls, the casual observer might think, “Wow! That was one hell of a lot of preacher curls! What an arm workout! That was a lot of work!” The Curl Club would just be getting warmed up: they might move on to seated dumbbell curls followed by standing barbell curls. They might end with endless sets of cable curls or machine curls - or both! It’s nothing for the Curl Club to spend an hour or more training two tiny little arm muscles. Over time, Curl Club members become physically imbalanced.

It is ludicrous to allot so much valuable training time towards working a tiny pair of muscles that might amount to 5% of a person’s total body mass. Yet the Curl Club will allot 50% (or more) of their total available training time towards working their “guns.” Later in the week, a sharp observer might observe individual members of the Curl Club training legs or back. That same casual observer might note an astounding contrast: Curl Club members will have a decided lack of enthusiasm when it comes to training the back muscles or the leg muscles. A typical back workout for a full fledged and fanatical member of the Curl Club might consist of three sets of lat pulldowns followed by two or three sets of seated cable rows. That’s it. If you were to ask them why they do so much arm work and so little leg or back work, the favored excuse is predictable and practiced, “I don’t want to become over-trained.” Apparently it is a physiologic impossibility to over-train the biceps. Back muscles and leg muscles, according to Curl Club credo, are particularly susceptible to over-training. Curl Club members love to sit down or lie down when they curl and this carries over when they train other body parts. Note that Club members never gather to train back or legs. No Leg Club or Back Club. No fevered encouragement, no frantic, profane exhortations on leg day or back day…no group dynamic, no screaming, no yelling, no posing in the mirror between sets. This proportional purposeful neglect is shortsighted; the muscles of the back and legs account for approximately 70% of total muscle mass. Do you allot 70% of your training times to legs and back?  On leg training day individual members of the Curl Club might do a few half-ass sets of leg extensions before dejectedly finishing their boring workout with a few sets of lying leg curls. They might (or might not) finish with a set or two of seated calf raises. That’s it: the idea is to avoid overtraining the legs and back at all costs. Yawn!

Apparently the goal for leg and back training is not triggering hypertrophy; rather the goal is to avoid at all costs over-training the leg and back muscles. Curl Club members always favor exercises that can be done sitting down; or better yet, while lying down. Curl Club members muster about as much enthusiasm for leg or back training as they do for taking a shower or brushing their teeth. Curl Club members will typically allot roughly 10% of their total weekly training time to working the monstrous back/leg muscle groups. Curl Club members usually hold dual or joint memberships in other muscle fan clubs. Most Curl Club members also belong to the “Pec Club.” They might hold memberships in the “Shoulders Club” and the “Tricep Club.” Fan Club muscle training types love to train what are collectively known as “the beach muscles.” The beach muscles are the muscles situated above the waist (Beach Muscle trainees always wear pants) that can be seen in the mirror while training or posing.  The Beach Muscles include the arms, chest, shoulders and abs. Radical members of the Beach Muscle Club will include the upper lats in the BM exercise pantheon. Beach muscles are allotted 90% of weekly training time. Is it any wonder that beach muscle devotees have disproportionally deformed physiques? The Curl Club hardcore develops outsized biceps that contrasts dramatically with bird-thin legs. This never fails to draw muffled snickers and laughter when Club members actually go to the beach and strip down to their Speedos. Beach Club leaders display outlandishly developed pec muscles that look positively weird when juxtaposed against scrawny, muscle-less backs; backs devoid of muscle, with razor-sharp shoulder blades. When viewed from behind, Beach Club members look like concentration camps survivors: skinny, chicken necks atop nonexistent traps supported by rail-thin legs. From behind they appear to be famine victims yet when they turn sideways or face you, the underdeveloped muscles contrast weirdly with inflated pecs, inflated shoulders, inflated arms and inflated egos.

To make the imbalance worse, these guys are preening peacocks and maximally flex their beach muscles as they strut around, much to the amusement of bemused onlookers. Continually training body parts we love to train - while neglecting other body parts we don’t like to train - eventually results in physique deformity. Are you a member of the Curl Club or the Beach Muscle Club?  If so, consider resigning your club membership. Continued membership is physically detrimental. When embarking on a comprehensive Parrillo resistance training program, identify and prioritize physical weak points. Suppose you were to call ahead and arrange for a consultation and training session with the real Master Blaster, John Parrillo. How do you suppose that initial meeting and subsequent workout might unfold? After you met and he gathered some background information, likely he would walk you next door to the Parrillo Performance gym and put you through a workout. The workout would be aimed at one (or more) of your physical weak points. John would have long since zeroed in on your single most glaring muscular weak point, and if you are a bodybuilder, regardless your level, by the time you had finished shaking hands with John Parrillo, he would have sized you up and to such a degree that by the time you two walked into the weight room, John would have identified your lagging body parts and devised a remedial specialization exercise sequence in his head. At Parrillo Performance the prioritization of physical weak points is stressed over and over because that is where the quick progress resides.  If you have been training for a number of years, your physical strong points are likely already at 60% to 90% of their ultimate genetic potential. Likely your weak points are stuck at 10% to 60% of their ultimate genetic potential. The quick and dramatic gains are realized by blasting away at those bird-thin thighs or that pathetic back - not by redoubling training efforts on some tiny-ass beach muscles already at 77% of their ultimate potential! A symmetrical, balanced and proportional physique requires specialization. If John identified your central back region as underdeveloped, he would devise a back specialization routine and likely start you off with a brutal and ancient exercise, one you’ve heard of but probably never use, the conventional deadlift. After demonstrating the proper technique, John would have you perform four to five sets of 6 to 8 repetitions, increasing the poundage on each succeeding set, all the while insisting you use perfect pulling technique. The deadlift is a back blaster without peer: erectors, traps, upper and even lower lats are blasted into complete muscular submission. Backbreaking poundage builds huge muscles.

For the next back exercise JP might select another neglected exercise, another lift that you’ve never practiced: the power clean. The proper power clean calls for the lifter to pull a loaded barbell from the floor to the shoulders in one uninterrupted upward motion. The barbell is pulled straight up. The bodybuilder dips his knees to catch and “rack” the weight on his shoulders. The bar is then lowered to the floor on each and every rep; three sets of eight reps in the power clean, even with relatively light poundage, and erectors, traps, rhomboids, and lats are shock-blasted. The power clean blows shrugs into the weeds when it comes to building mountainous traps. The power clean and deadlift builds mounds of muscles in the central back region. The next Parrillo back exercise would likely be the barbell row, only the Parrillo version is done super strict: the torso is held parallel to the floor; no jerking or heaving is allowed at the start of rep to get the bar moving. The lats and rhomboids are used to pull the bar up and into the stationary torso. John would have you pull straight up until the barbell impacts the torso and elbows are behind the torso. After the deadlift, after the power clean, after the row (3-4 sets of 6-8 reps), your back will be fried and you will be completely exhausted. John would have you then stretch the spine upward with 3-4 sets of chin-ups or lat pulldowns. He might finish up this back slaughter-fest with 3-4 sets of strict seated cable rows. Decimated, you would find it difficult to move. He would insist you immediately drink a double or triple serving of 50/50 Plus^TM. This should be done immediately after the workout. Especially upon completion of such a brutal back workout. The harder you train, the more you need 50/50 Plus^TM. Consuming a perfect blend of high BV protein and low GI carbs actually increases results from the workout.

A post-workout Smart Bomb is an absolute necessity for trainers that train as hard as Parrillo demands. Each two scoop serving of 50/50 Plus^TM delivers 21 grams of protein and 17 grams of slow-release carbohydrate. Science has shown that a body shattered by a high intensity workout (the kind Parrillo had just put you through) absorbs and distributes nutrients four times faster than the normal rate of assimilation. 50/50 Plus^TMTM has been consumed. Big men will triple the recommended serving size, creating a post-workout Hydrogen Smart-Bomb. A triple serving contains a whopping 65 grams of pure protein and 50+ grams of glycogen-replenishing, low glycemic carb powder. Specialization work is brutally hard work and requires determination, grit and perseverance. To make a tough training regimen even tougher, in each succeeding weekly specialization session, John would insist you to “up” either the poundage or increase the reps on the final top sets of each and every exercise. They call weight training “progressive resistance” for a reason: each week you are expected to progressively increase the resistance: you must either add poundage and/or increase the repetitions. Muscular stress levels must be exceeded and extended over time. Unless stress is adequate, no hypertrophy occurs. Handling the identical poundage for the identical number of repetitions is worthless; this is “static resistance” and static resistance results in static gains. provides traumatized muscle tissue exactly what is needed to accelerate healing and promote muscle growth in the post-workout environment. To heal decimated muscles, to grow new muscle, first blast the target muscle into oblivion then feed that targeted muscle ample amounts of growth fuel. The workout is not complete until 50/50 Plus

The good news is this type of killer specialization routine need only be done once a week. The idea is to blast the back or the legs in these extended training sessions each successive week for 8 to 12 consecutive weeks. By the end of this extended time period, the muscles of the back or legs will be approximately 40% stronger than when you commenced. As all Parrillo Pros know, increased muscle strength always increases muscle size. The best way to increase the sheer size of a muscle is to make that muscle significantly stronger. 20 to 30 pound gains in muscle mass are quite common for hardcore Parrillo adherents. After successfully completing a prolonged Parrillo specialization program, you will have added mounds of muscle to whatever part had been lagging. Now turn your sights towards another lagging body part - perhaps start with a back specialization regimen before spinning off into a leg specialization program. Parrillo Pros continually pound away at their weak points and are not satisfied until all the muscle groups are brought into relative symmetrical balance. The Parrillo Principle is simple yet profound: the weakest muscle and most deficient body part can be improved the quickest. Take a tip from the Parrillo Pros and prioritize weak body parts. It is difficult to do exercises that we don’t particularly like. It is so much easier to continually train the muscles we love to train, using exercises we love to perform. Prioritize, specialize and realize that the biggest gains lie in doing the things we’d prefer not to do! Resign from the Curl Club and the Beach Muscle Club before it’s too late. I urge you to join the Lagging Body-part Specialization Club: at the LBSC you’ll find the caliber of members far more lucid and engaging.
Summer workout programs, bodybuilding supplements, bodybuilding products, plans and programs
Parrillo Performance
p.  (800) 344-3404