IronAge.us has assembled a "virtual posedown" comparing champion bodybuilders from different decades. It's a little lean on the earlier champions (apart from a shot of Larry Scott's famous arm, there's not much from anybody prior to Sergio Oliva and Arnold Schwarzenegger), but otherwise an interesting page: http://www.ironage.us/virtual/index.html

Elzi "Elzinator" Volk is amassing a growing collection of pictures of the men of MFW wearing kilts. Check out her collection (and the latest additions at): http://www.moleculegirl.com/mfw_kilts.htm

The dietary supplement creatine can also boost memory and intelligence, researchers claim: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/3145223.stm

Steve Freides has created a "site devoted to exercising with kettlebells, including a "Getting Started with Kettlebells" FAQ at http://www.kbnj.com

Steven Powell shot some pictures at the Calgary meet and was good enough to get some shots of me.

After reviewing the pictures I must say I'm much happier. My lifting may not have set new standards for me, but my grimace and tomatoe face have reached new heights of ugliness and colour, respectively. This is good stuff.

Be warned - not for the weak of heart, small children or pregant women.

http://photos.yahoo.com/khobman800 to see Keith in all his tomato-faced glory.

Mike Mentzer, 49, was found dead of a heart attack in the apartment he shared with his brother Ray on June 10th, 2001. His brother Raymond, 47, was found dead in their apartment the following morning. Their family had a history of heart disease and Ray suffered from a genetic blood clotting disorder and kidney disease.

Mikementzer.Com has more details on the deaths of the two brothers.

Patrick Arnold, the man who's been pulling the prohormone bandwagon since coming up with Androstenedione, has announced a new supplement, claiming high oral activity and a low degree of conversion to estrogen.

Rather than testosterone precursor, 5alpha-androst-1-en-3,17-dione (1-AD, for short), is used by the body to generate an isomer of testosterone with the double bond in the first position rather than the fourth (as is the case with testosterone). According to Pat, this reduces degradation by the liver and reduces or eliminates the aromatization into estrogens of either 1-AD or its metabolites, while retaining its potential muscle-building benefits. You can read Pat's article in Muscle Monthly on 1-AD at [ http://musclemonthly.com/articles/010222-arnold-ergopharm.htm ]

France's Food Safety Agency (AFSSA) issued a report Wednesday (2001.01.24) claiming that the potential risks associated with taking creatine were "currently insufficiently evaluated" particularly in the long term, and a "potential carcinogenic risk" might be discovered at any moment.

How long is "long-term"? Apparently, "long term" is some as-yet-undetermined period that's longer than any of the studies performed so far, none of which have shown that creatine supplementation increases the risk of cancer.

The AFSSA's position is that, even if creatine is arguably the most extensively-studied athletic supplement out there, the possibility that some future study might eventually come out suggesting a link to cancer hasn't been completely eliminated.

There are, however, two indirect lines of evidence which they may be relying on to suggest that someone might come up with a correlation in the future:

1) long-term studies have shown a diet high in red meat and low in vegetables is linked to a somewhat greater risk of cancer, particularly cancer of the colon, than a vegetarian diet; most people would suspect that this had more to do with the amount of fiber and anti-oxidant vitamins in the diet, but the former group does consume more creatine too.

2) one of the products which can be produced via the metabolism of creatine, whether synthesized in the body, consumed in food, or taken as a supplement, is methylamine. Metabolism of methylamine, in turn, can produce formaldehyde. (Keep in mind that we're talking about trace amounts here and that small amounts of formaldehyde are produced by the body all the time.) The idea, then, since exposure to large quantities of formaldehyde is unhealthy, and trace amounts are produced in creatine metabolism (just as in many other metabolic processes), then creatine might also be unhealthy.

These particular lines of reasoning are sufficiently broad that they could apply equally well to most other substances, animal, vegetable, and mineral--and so the AFSSA could just make a standard form letter calling for the banning of "          " and then fill in the blank with a different supplement every time they wanted some media attention.

Once again, we're into the new year and the world still hasn't ended--which means that just about everybody's suddenly looking to shed that holiday flab and pack on ten or twenty pounds of rock-hard muscle, preferably by three that afternoon.

After the complaints I got last year for my "lose twenty pounds in under a minute with the new Live Tiger Diet" idea, I may not be able to help as much on the "lose the holiday flab without diet or exercise" part, but if you want massive, bulging arms in under a minute, check out the new Beanie Biceps [ http://www.trygve.com/beanie_biceps.html ] plan!

Pssst: If you haven't checked out Magnus "the Gym Rat" Branzen's webblogg [ http://www.bk-sportsmag.se/webblogg/index.htm ], you should--collected tidbits of news, events, trivia, and occasionally just weirdness relevant to bodybuilding, weightlifting, and athletes in general, updated daily (or more).

the MFW FAQ

The MFW FAQ

Dictionary of Weightlifting, Bodybuilding, and Exercise Terms and Techniques

Hypertrophically hyperlinked, for your clicking pleasure!

[Misc.Fitness.Weights] Pointer to FAQs and Resources

The mfw "pointer FAQ" in hypertext form

Getting started

Advice, information, references, and resources aimed at those new to strength training.

equipment

on-line guides to weightlifting equipment and accessories, and how to use them

exercises

So, is there, like, something other than curls to do with a barbell?

nutrition

nutrition for the athlete: what to eat and why

supplements

supplements 101 and maybe a little of 102; you know how your body looks from the outside and at least a little of what happens on the inside; how do the molecules that make up those bulging biceps do it?

competition

MFW competition and competitors; what events are coming up, which events have MFW regulars won or placed in, and what advice do they have for other competitors

archives

Past articles to MFW that have been especially informative or just seemed worth keeping around after they would have expired from the news spool

gallery

Picture albums of MFW participants, bodybuilders, and other athletes; hints and tips for taking your own muscle pics too.

regulars

A field guide to those weirdos you're conversing with on the group; who are they, what is their quest, and what's their favorite color?

recipes

You are what you eat. Or, maybe, to look like a bodybuilder, it helps to cook like one--but what do you do after the third month of living entirely on lean grilled chichen breasts?

sources

Places on the net to get stuff: mail-order supplements, weight equipment, accessories, and athlete-friendly attire.

links

More places to go, people to see; if you hate this website, chances are that you'll hate these too.

humor

Hey, these ironheads do make jokes in between sets; sometimes even during them, though that's discouraged. You can find some past zingers here.