Dave Draper’s Musclebuilding Q&A

I am 46, an intermediate bodybuilder, 6 feet tall, at 207 lbs, constantly striving for lower body fat while maintaining and gaining muscle mass. The one stubborn area I struggle with are abs. I do HIIT cardio daily, sometimes twice a day- incorporating things from the “300” cardio routine, sometimes wind sprints, kettle bell and the like — for about 20 minutes on an empty stomach- using only Nitric Oxide upon wake up.

The regular supplements I use are: Bulgarian Tribulus, Nitric Oxide 2, Creatine, L-Glutamine, protein shakes with water only, ZMA at Bedtime, DHEA, Multivitamin,  EFAs in the form of Olive Oil.  I eat a high protein, low in simple carbs, moderate in complex carbs.

You’re definitely on the right track.

There is little more you can do than train hard and persevere in mind and spirit. Not everyone can or will develop six-pack abs, and you might need to settle for a tight and strong midsection.

Seeking a six-pack can be frustrating, time- and energy-consuming and derail the musclebuilding process.

Precautions: Train to build muscle and might. Forget the Nitric Oxide and stick to the basics. Exotic supps and training tricks often lead to burn out. Unload the excess baggage — lighten up and fly right.

You might view our forum… or join in... a smart and friendly bunch.

Train hard and always… God’s Might… Dave

Thank you for the words of encouragement on my Brother Iron and Body Revival books. I need to lose 45-50 lbs (6-0 and 250lbs at age 52) and would like your opinion on the benefits of creatine while losing weight. Also, along with Bomber Blend and Super Spectrum, will the Ageless Growth help with recuperation? What other supplements do you recommend? I have small tears in both rotator cuffs, with full range of movement, and tendinitis in one elbow. I am hoping these supplements will help my strength and recuperation and to avoid surgery.

Thanks for your support. I believe in both books (you will find redundancy in the exercise info — books written for different audiences); both are valuable resources and I expect they’ll answer a lot of you questions.

Creatine is good (choose a superior quality to avoid possible contamination in manufacturing) and aids training, yet it tends to cause intracellular water retention. This is okay and good, but not necessarily appreciated by those on mission to lose weight. If you intend to weight train hard, swell. If not, forget it.

Ageless Growth is a favorite product, but I suggest you settle into your training regimen before bringing it into play.

Consider Body Ammo (glucosamine, chondroitan and MSM) for your joints and tendons.

Carry on the good fight… Godspeed… Dave

My 18-year-old son is 5′11″ tall and weighs 130 pounds. He is in good health and has good energy, but cannot gain weight. I recently ordered your protein powder as I just found your web site googling around. Is there any advice you can give to get his weight and body fat up? He will be leaving home in the fall for college and I would like for him to have a successful protocol he can follow on his own.

Adding Bomber Blend to your son’s menu is a good start. He can use it for breakfast, midday supplemental feedings, when on the run, before and after exercise — worthy and costly ingredients for musclebuilding and health.

If I were in your boy’s situation, I’d add red meat to my diet regularly, more milk products (cottage cheese, yogurt, 2-percent milk) and other animal proteins. Nuts, fresh fruit, and various fresh cut vegetables every day. More complex carbs of value and good fats (essential fatty acids, olive oil, flax), and avoid sugar and grease. Supplement with a good vitamin-mineral (I like Super Spectrim, have for 35 years) and EFAs (Omega 3 fish oil).

Encourage him to work out with the weights for 30-45 minutes, three or four days a week… sensible pressing, curling, squatting, and deadlifting… chins and dips and push-ups and midsection… 2 or 3 sets of each of the basics… a routine will emerge.

These basics work if applied consistently, persistently and with mission purpose in mind. Not obsession, but determination; not affliction, but discipline. Too many give up too easily. Don’t miss a meal plus don’t miss a workout equals success extraordinaire.

If you haven’t already, please sign up for our free weekly newsletter for valuable tips, hints and encouragement…a non-commercial companion to your or his daily workouts.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I have a few questions about old-school supplements. For 10 years I’ve been using Gironda’s line, NSP Research Nutrition. What are your thoughts on the 92% milk & egg protein compared to yours? Do you feel Beverly International has a better liver supplement than NSP? You had awesome results with Blair’s milk & egg protein; why didn’t you try and formulate it again only with lower lactose and improved digestibility? How does it compare to your Bomber Blend? Do you still use “old school” supplements such as brewers yeast, kelp, choline, wheat germ oils, glandulars, like Vince and Rheo advocated?

I’ll tell you the truth, iron man.

NSP was created and owned and operated by Ray Raridon, now deceased. Not Vince.

NSP products are excellent and the protein is just as described, quality milk and egg. I appreciate both NSP and Beverly International products and have confidence in the owner-operators, Ron Kosloff and Roger and Sandy Riedinger, respectively.

Bomber Blend was developed by me and a staff of experts: chemist, preventive medicine sport doctor, supplement lab owner and protein research expert. It’s the best vitamin-mineral fortified and balanced protein money can buy. It was formulated to be the best with no regard to cost. Taste and mixability is super.

I took Rheo’s protein randomly, a week here and a week there, when it was given to me over a few month’s period. Rheo gave samples to the guys out of generosity, research and to drum up business. I appreciate Rheo and his nutritional pioneering, but do not contribute any of my musclebuilding advancement to his products.

If I thought the Blair concoction was better, I would have simulated it with modifications.

I suspect it’s hard to improve on my food and supplement intake, as it’s been followed and refined over a 25-year period with no swerving. The basics work best.

We need to relax. Walking a tightrope is dangerous and purebreds are susceptible to injury and disease.

Go… Godspeed… Dave Draper

I have a 13 year old son who is a competitive athlete. Keeping him on a good diet is not always easy, and I’ve considered getting a protein/vitamin supplement for his meals on the run. I’m curious whether your Bomber Blend has been used with youths before? Is it safe and healthy for a 13-year-old?

Bomber Blend is an excellent food for the whole family. Got tykes? Nothing but the finest and best ingredients for health, muscle repair and natural energy. No added nonsense to conform with marketing hype. I custom made it with aid from medical experts and chemists for Laree and me regardless of cost … it became Bomber Blend for everyone.

Your boy (you all) will benefit greatly from the Blend consumption at key times during the day: pre- and post-workouts or work, breakfast, and those busy times when meals are neglected or replaced by junk.

Taste is popular with nearly all consumers, although of course some people prefer sweeter or less sweet shakes.

Bomber Blend goes from us to you without you paying advertising costs (large) or distributorship. I count on it; it plays a key role in my training operations.

Go… Godspeed… Dave

I am not a big food fan. I don’t really have any food cravings. To be honest it is a pain in the butt to sit down and eat a meal. If I could take a pill like in the ’50s sci-fi movies to get all my nutrients I would. So my question is can I survive and continue to progress in my lifting if I just took the right amount supplements to give me the nutrients I need?

Eat right, train hard and grow.

We need substance to build substance, common sense tells me. Our complex system of ingestion, digestion and absorption is designed to process whole and living food and, though I’m not a scientist, I believe the system is most fulfilled when we accommodate its natural design.

Liquids and powders and pills, I suspect, will not stimulate the system (enzymes, hormones) sufficiently and, thus, will not be assimilated sufficiently. Lost in the stream of activities, these non-solids will fail to provide the tangible and vital ingredients in the proper setting to develop and sustain the body.

One might adapt and live a middling life, but total health and productivity would be compromised.

Get three square meals a day — okay… two if you’re gonna’ scream — and supplement wisely for the remainder of your nutrient needs. Bomber Blend and Super Spectrim and Anabol Naturals are my honorable choices for your added ingredients. Oh, yeah, and get your daily fish oil.

Got teeth… chew… Godspeed… Dave

I want to try your protein blend, but am hesitant because I can buy other proteins cheaper. Can you give me some reasons why I should make the switch? Also, I know you recommend the products you guys sell, but is there comparable evidence done by an independent party in regard to the high quality of Bomber Blend, Super Spectrim and Anabol Naturals?

About the Bomber Blend, my primary reason is the cold processing. Most protein powders are processed with heat or chemicals, which damage the proteins to some degree, and oxidize whatever cholesterol is in the powder. You can be certain that’s not the case with our cold-processed protein.

That should be reason enough, but there’s more. There’s the taste and mixability the consumers commend; there are very high percentages of the B-complex needed for utilization and tissue growth, substantial antioxidants, expensive addition of BCAAs for tissue repair, essential enzymes for digestion (absorbability and assimilation), some fiber and colostrum factors.

Whey, a short-chain molecule for quicker assimilation for muscle energy, and casein, a long-chain molecule for slower absorption for muscle rebuilding, combine ideally for the weightlifter’s and musclebuilder’s needs.

We, Laree and I, have no overhead. No staff, no distributor, no advertising, no storage = no added costs. We pick up the product from the lab and ship it to the customers.

The Bomber Blend was made for me personally after a comprehensive round-table discussion with two protein research experts, a tri-athlete internist and the manufacturing laboratory’s chemist and the owner. The goal: the best protein for my musclebuilding needs without the restraints of cost. Bomber Blend was the result.

Big companies have huge costs and begin to compromise product ingredient and production cost to realize a good bottom line. When it’s priced right for the consumer, it’s cheap to make. I believe that’s indisputable.

Quality above cost of protein is first. With the Bomber Blend you get both. Laree and I are not able to gouge.

Users rave about confidence, results, flavor… there you have it…

I understand your need for credible evidence that our supplement offerings are better than others, the best in fact. There is so much competition and hype and deception in the marketplace that the truth is seldom available and certainly hard to find. Who can you trust?

Before hunting down an independent study-group’s opinion on the food supplements we offer, I have come to trust my own vigorous efforts and needs to attain the best ingredients in the best combinations for muscle growth and energy and endurance.

Even study groups are tainted or vague or unreliable. Again, who can you trust?

I’ve been taking Super Spectrim and Anabol Naturals for over 33 years for the same reasons. They work for me, I’m not alone in recognizing their quality and they — the forever designers and owners — are as honest as the sunrise.

We receive nothing but praise for Bomber Blend, Super Spectrim and Anabol Naturals from weight lifters and athletes who seek strength and health and happy lives.

Consider the source… I ask you to trust us… why not?

Go… Godspeed… Dave

Currently, I am about 6′3″ and in the 235-lb neighborhood, with a 43″ waist when measured at the widest circumference. I have body fat, but am pretty muscular. I am looking to get leaner and show the ab muscles, and will observe the weekday no fun-food rule. I am a lover of anything gourmet, so I am sure I will use my weekends for food indulgence. I am considered by others to have strong will power and I love routine. How would you recommend Bomber Blend in this strategy, and should I stick with grape juice in my post-workout consumption?

You’re on the right track to achieving your goals of fat loss and muscle growth. Your disciplines and training will intensify agreeably over time as your goals are realized. Your continued attention to details will have you trying various training techniques and refining what works for you.

Stick to the basics, don’t listen to the hype and promises from loud mouths and charlatans and the greedy; don’t ignore red meat (muscle builder), build that lower back and beware of struggling for heavy weight in the bench press (potential for injury).

Bomber Blend is an inexpensive, well-planned, efficient protein-musclebuilder. No magic pill, but a good tasting pre- and post- workout drink for recovery and repair and satisfaction. Works well for breakfast and a meal replacement when running late. Mix it with your grape juice fix, or water or low-fat milk. Super high in B-complex (muscle tissue growth and energy), BCAAs, colostrum, smart mix of short-chain and long-chain amino acids from whey and casein for absorption — again, muscle tissue growth and energy.

Having no advertising or middle-man, these costs are saved by you, the healthy, wealthy, happy and wise consumer. I use 2-4 scoops a couple times a day in various mixes and for various purposes. Inexpensive, convenient yet efficacious meal.

The IOL forum members have collected a number of protein shake recipes, here.

The lack of discipline and self-care in the ordinary man or woman is disappointing, frightening and often loathsome.

Carry on the hard work. God’s speed… Dave

I’m 45. I have purchased the Ageless Growth product. Is this a better substitute for Somatropin, i.e. HGH? When is the best time to take Ageless Growth? Will 5-6 capsules provide enough to sustain lean body mass. Would you recommend any supplement(s) to lean out?

I take six caps of Ageless Growth before each workout with two scoops of protein powder (Bomber Blend) and water and a teaspoon of creatine. This is my favorite pre-workout concoction since the millennium. Love it.

Your reference to HGH suggests hormone replacement therapy (HRT), of which I am not a source of reliable information. The internet offers tons of legitimate info… hello google. Beware of steroid hype.

Compared to drug use, Ageless Growth is a sufficient and safe avenue to travel. Happy journey…You be the judge firsthand.

Go… God’s Strength… Dave

I wouldn’t be surprised if you covered this before, but what are your thoughts on the use of creatine? A guy at work in his 60s with arms like tree trunks swears by it.

Though it’s been demonized unfairly, it is a vital ingredient in our energy cycle and being used constantly. We don’t store it and must replenish it regularly. It’s Good stuff. Buy quality

Helps get the last rep, causes agreeable intracellular water retention and promotes pump. You will not build arms like tree trunks necessarily. But you can try!

I love Anabol Naturals creatine. Don’t worry about loading or cycling — take two teaspoons a day, AM and PM.

Looking for more input? Here’s a page I wrote on creatine a few years ago, nothing’s changed.

Go… Godspeed… Dave