Inside the Mind of Deserusan

In the wake of Operation Raw Deal and the public’s growing criticism towards athletes who use performance enhancing drugs, IFBB professional Hidetada Yamagisha was arrested on 12/20/2007  for possession of a controlled substance. Apparently Hidetada was taken into custody at Los Angeles International  Airport while going through airport security according to various ramblings across the net.

On the surface I’m pretty sure most of you are thinking it was steroids, but with a bail set at $180,000 and the charge being a felony, I think the rumours that he was transporting an elicit narcotic such as heroin appear to be more realistic. Hopefully there will be more information made available pending the hearing on January 8, 2008. What a great way to spend the holidays right?

I guess I’d be pretty pissed of if I was portrayed on national TV as a homosexual. Then again, I get called a "***" all the time and it doesn’t phase me so who knows. Regardless, this is just another example of how our tax money is being spent wisely in the judicial system.

Is being compared to Clay Aiken really that bad? No offense, but this case has disaster written ALL over it and is for sure going to be fodder on the Daily Show. Anyway, If I was compared to Clay I wouldn’t be too upset. He’s a man too, a man’s man.

“Bodybuilder Drops Heavy Lawsuit on NBC’s Conan O’Brien Over Clay Aiken Joke

Posted by Eriq Gardner

Conan O’Brien shouldn’t mess with bodybuilders. NBC Universal was sued yesterday after the “Late Night” host used a picture of champion bodybuilder Dennis “The Menace” James to tell a joke nearly two years ago.

According to the complaint, filed by attorney Steven Sokoloff in Los Angeles Superior Court, O’Brien “showed a Christmas Card which featured the face of 2003 American Idol runner-up, Clay Aiken, smiling on the right side of the card, and the phrase ‘All I want this year is a White Christmas’ on a fold out flap on the left side of the card. O’Brien then opened the left side of the card to reveal the punch line, ‘…And a Black Body Builder,’ above which was a photograph of Plaintiff posing at the 2004 IFBB Mr. Olympia Competition.”

James helpfully attaches several photos of himself to the complaint, as well as the offending prop from “Late Night.” The photocopy job is pretty grainy, but they’re worth checking out. He’s seeking general, special, and punitive damages on claims of misappropriation of image and likeness, misappropriation of right of publicity, unjust enrichment, and quantum meruit.

The case reminds us of a great NY Times story detailing how NBC lawyers quickly jumped into action to register the domain name www.hornymanatee.com after O’Brien mentioned it as an ad lib on the show. The fear was that someone could register it surreptitiously, put inappropriate content there, and NBC could be liable. Now the network sells Horny Manatee t-shirts on the site.

Interestingly, one of the most famous misappropriation cases involved another late night talk show host. In the early 1980s, Johnny Carson successfully sued a toilet maker called Here’s Johnny Portable Toilets Inc. for taking his show’s signature catchphrase."

Box Squats: 405lbs x 8 x 3

superset w/

Modified SLDL (swing at negative): 95lbs x 8 x 3

Single Leg Hack Squats: 180lbs x 8/8 x 3

Front Squats: 245lbs x 8 x 3

Leg Extensions (3 second contraction hold): 250lbs x failure x 3

Laying Leg Curls (elevated): 180lbs x 10 x 3

 Decline Sit-ups: BW x 30 x 4

I’ve incorporated box squats into my routine to build up some strength at my sticking point in squats. I did rehash a knee injury not to long ago so my range of motion has been a bit compromised. Hopefully, the box squats will be up some power coming from the eccentric portion of the motion.

Chest Training

Flat Barbell Bench: 315lbs x 8 x 3

superset w/

Reverse Pullover Dumbbell Flyes: 30lb’ers x 10 x 3

Incline Dumbbell Bench Presses: 130lb’ers x 8  x 3

superset w/

Flat Bar Incline Bench (neutral grip 8 second neg) 65lbs x 10 x 3

Tricep Training

If you skip through to some of my training sessions you’ll see giant sets thrown in every once in while. I just blasted my triceps tonight doing the following for three cycles all ten exercises supersetted:

Widegrip Extensions x10
Overhead Rope Extensions x 10
Upright Rope Extensions x 10
Close Grip Extensions x 10
Underhand Extensions x 10
Overhead Dual Arm Dumbbell Extensions x 10
Dual Triceps Kickback x 10
Overhand grip French press (to chin) x 10
Overhand gripFfrench press (to back of head) x 10
Close Grip Bench x 10

Keep in mind, all the while I was drinking a high osmolarity carb/free form BCAA cocktail. I was shaking by the end of this workout and have certainly learned what true exercise induced pain is from this training. It’s not for everyone, but if you do it right and use it in a manner which coalesces with your own training success, it works quite well. It takes discipline in form and tempo which isn’t just hefting light weights for a bunch of reps. If you haven’t learned how to truly take hold of the mind/muscle connection this most certainly isn’t for you.

Personally, I feel products should stand on their own merit but in reality people want to be given shiny boxes with ridiculous marketing claims. GNC has taught me that and so has this forum albeit the cultural differences are vast.

Now expounding on the "when in Rome" approach a bit more I will say there is a moral way of doing things. If you know Roman history you know they were a great society with some rather questionable social practices. So "when in Rome" you could enjoy gladiator fight at the Coloseum, go to the Baths of Caracalla, and be a part of aristocracy openly debating the best interest of the Republic. Your personal time could be spent studying the sciences, political theory, enjoying the arts, and being a family man. You found meaning in elevating both the Republic and yourself to reach a form self-actualized duality with your people.

On the other hand, you could be the type of leader who was part of the aristocracy but preferred to not serve the best interest of the Republic but rather your own. Most likely you had numerous whores on the side, your time in baths was spent getting blow jobs from adolescant boys, and your gluttony revealed itself in your need for wealth and power. Most likely you left a wake of destruction and despair behind you and often died for some injustice which someone just couldn’t let go.

Here in the supplement world we have our leaders who choose what path to take "when in Rome." We all want to make money, whether we are inherently good or bad which some here on outside looking often overlook. However, it’s the manner in which we do so which often goes overlooked as well and is the crux of this dilemma which is elevating those who choose to whore themselves out as opposed to contributing to the just cause.

"When in Rome" I choose to elevate both Gaspari Nutrition and our customers by broadening the context of my moral prejudices a bit, but never letting losing site of their origins. Also, part of my philosophy now is that I will not tread lightly among enemies either who take advantage of consumers using despicable marketing, dangerous compounds, etc because I owe to that to the consumer as well. Rome is a tough place so at times you need to get tough back.

This is what these people who I liken to gluttonous pigs don’t get. They can’t find a way to elevate both themselves and their potential consumers in an honest manner. "When in Rome" they must take advantage of weaknesses based on what the naive will most likely base their purchasing decisions on. To them its a short cited "get rich" no matter what morally reprehensible tactic they employ. They could give two shits about the consumer or "When in Rome" the good of Rebuplic.

For Designer, you have a very talented crew and quite honestly, Matt’s a genius. However, I don’t think Matt spends a lot of time in "Rome" so to speak which would certainly help things a bit. Patrick Arnold seems to enjoy Rome a lot as do I and while we all have our talents, mine not even 1/100 of either of yours, however I do seem to handle myself quite well "When in Rome" and in part, this is why Gaspari is now a top ten company.

I’ve learned that "When in Rome" you can be ethical and still do well. However, never forget that you are indeed in Rome and that you must accept the smell of the sewers in the streets while being prepared to draw your sword at anytime.

This is response to this thread from the forums: http://www.forum.bodybuilding.com/showthread.php?t=6063041

Leg Press (low foot placement): 900lbs x 10 x 4

Single Leg Hack Squats: 180lbs x 8/8 x 4

Walking Barbell Lunges: 135lbs x 20 paces superset w/

Leg Extensions: 300lbs x failure x 3

This was the first time I’ve tried single leg hack squats and I must say they are a great movement for quads. It really doesn’t take a lot of weight to get good stimulation in the various heads of the quadriceps and I get the notion this will be great for accentuating separation as well.

Back Training

Underhand Wide Grip Pull Downs: 250lbs x 8, 250lbs x 8

Hammer Strength Rows: 270lbs x 8, 270lbs x 8 superset w/

Hammer Strength Pull Downs: 270lbs x 8, 270lbs x 8

Seated Cable Rows: 250lbs x 8, 250lbs x 8 superset w/

Dumbbell Pullovers: 100lbs x 8, 100lbs x 8

Bicep Giant Set Shock Training

 Cambered Bar Curls: 95lbs x 10 superset w/

Reverse Cambered Bar Curls: 95lbs x 10 superset w/

Standing Dumbbell Curls: 35lb’ers x 10 superset w/

Standing Hammer Curls: 35lb’ers x 10 superset w/

Machine Preacher Curls: 95lbs x 10 superset w/

Spider Curls: 50lbs x 10

This was obviously a high volume workout. I must admit I did fail going through my second giant set of bicep training. Basically, my arms were to pumped and I couldn’t flex them anymore. Trust me when I say I tried. Oh well, shit happens.

I lead a double lifestyle being a mild mannered software engineer by day and sharp-tongued supplement crusader by night. Unfortunately, I’m not Superman and like everyone else, must battle fatigue and everyday nuances to find time to train. I’ll be honest in saying so far the Wisconsin weather hasn’t made this journey any easier considering the amount of blistering freezing rain and snow we have been assaulted with not to mention the never ending winds afforded by living between two large lakes.

Fortunately, I was able to receive an advanced sample of the final version of Gaspari PlasmaJet just recently. I decided I would put this through the paces with a grueling leg workout that focused on one of my weak points: hamstrings. If this stuff “works” as well as it’s been portrayed as then hopefully it would reflect itself in muscle group I’m lagging in.

Per the directions of “Mr. Wizard” I took PlasmaJet two hours before training. An hour and a half before training I had my typical two cups of brown rice and 8oz of cooked chicken. My diet is about as exciting as watching paint dry but that’s beside the point. Luckily I live four blocks from my gym and I didn’t feel like digging out my car AGAIN so I hit the pavement for a brisk walk praying I didn’t bust my ass on some hidden ice.

After arriving I hit the locker room and changed into my workout clothes and immediately noticed I had full vascularity in my shoulders and arms. Seriously, I‘m not the most vascular guy so I was a bit surprised to see this. I grabbed my belt, turned on my iPOD, and then proceeded to warm up.

After ten minutes on the cross trainer I could you not, I was full blown from top to bottom. Being somewhat jaded I thought to myself, “thank g-d this stuff works after two years of development.” I’ll be real with you, I’ve been hearing about this product FOREVER even before I started working for Gaspari and at times had serious doubts about it coming to fruition.

My good friend whom I will call Shylock Holmes aka the Hebrew Hater has been hyping this for a few years now and he’s a squirrelly dude with some crazy approaches to formulation. However, after set back after set back, PlasmaJet just seemed like an unattainable dream project. Fortunately that dream has become reality and again Rich Gaspari has put his name a product which will shake up the supplement industry, deliver the results consumers deserve, and IS the end all be all of nitric oxide products.

Like my friend Shylock Holmes, I go off on tangents so let me get back to my workout. Here’s how it went:

My energy throughout this session was AMAZING. I’m not talking about being stimmed up like some crackhead but I mean it took some serious effort to get fatigued here. This is what will set PlasmaJet apart from the pack is because it’s HIGHLY functional. It’s not just a few “me too” ingredients thrown together people. Gaspari formulators did their research on this one and then some. It was well worth the wait!
What was funny is that my legs were so engorged with blood my friend Lauren came up to me and said “Why are you walking around like you have a stick up your ass.” I just gave her the evil eye but thought to myself, “There is no way a stick could fit in my ass because even my glutes are pumped.” Thank g-d I wasn’t thinking out loud, but I am sharing this with you guys now so whatever.

So here I am now again the mild mannered software engineer slacking off at work and screwing around on Bodybuilding.com. What’s funny is that my legs are still pretty pumped up and feel “pressurized” like they have been inflated. Also, my hamstring are already sore which means I did something right with my training. I’ll be training back later on so will report back with my results. So far this gets a solid two thumbs up with a shit eating grin.