Congrats on your recent third place finish at the 2002 NPC USA. I saw pictures of you on a few websites and I am amazed at the incredible conditioning you have onstage. How do you do it?            We are all given a physique by God and thus, have to work with the unique genetics we are given. I never had the best genetic “structure” and therefore, I had to overcompensate with tons of hard, grainy-looking muscle.  The only thing we can truly control on stage is our conditioning. Anyone who doesn’t have striations on top of striations on stage is, in my eyes, just pure lazy (or they just do not have the knowledge of how to properly diet). Let’s face it, we all use the same drugs. There are no magic potions you or anyone else does not know about.   

I religiously read your monthly articles in MD. I am 30 years old, 205 pounds, six feet tall and four percent body fat. For the last three years, I have desperately devoted myself to building a better physique. I am always researching articles on different programs. I have four to five very intense workouts (to build mass) per week. I try my very best to consume the right amount of protein and carbohydrates daily. It’s frustrating to strain my tail off, day in and day out, pumping iron at the gym, only to see some guy working half as hard as me, half as much as me, and growing twice as fast as me. What anabolic supplement should I be looking for? Will GH give me the results I’m looking for?              

There are two very apparent problems with the “growth” program you have set up for yourself. First off, you do not mention that you eat fat in your diet.  You must realize that fat is a necessary component in the synthesis of all steroidal hormones in the body (eg., testosterone, DHEA and aldosterone).  Dietary fat is also necessary to help repair muscle cell membranes (which ultimately speeds up and aids muscle recovery). Finally, there are “essential fatty acids” (EFAs) that are necessary to consume (daily), or else your body will find itself in a fat starvation-like mode (not a good state to be in if your want to stay lean).              Secondly, you keep stressing how you are working your “tail” off in the gym and all the other “guys” are doing less than you, and yet they are getting more massive. Have you ever stopped and thought that perhaps you are over-training and thus, not allowing your body to recover from these brutal workouts you are doing? My advice to you would be to cut back your training volume and   increase your ingestion of dietary fat (go to McDonalds) and then assess your muscular gains.                        

I hear you teach a personal training certification course. I think all the current courses out there (A.C.S.M., A.C.E., I.S.S.A.) are outdated and irrelevant in today’s times. I don’t want to be a molecular biologist; I want to be a personal trainer. What’s the deal with your course?

About four years ago, I noticed that there was a definite lack of good personal trainers in the gyms across America and I realized the reason was that no one was teaching these trainers the proper way to be true “teachers.”  Most of the certification courses out there were essentially money-making scams that gave just about “anyone” a diploma as long as they paid for it.  S.M.A.R.T. Training came about as a response to my frustration with all the existing courses on the market. Not one single course has been significantly updated in the last eight years. Not one course even bothers to address the new thinking on high-protein diets and performance enhancing supplements. S.M.A.R.T tackles all these issues, as well as having the most extensive hands-on “in-gym” teaching available anywhere (taught exclusively by top national-level bodybuilders). S.M.A.R.T also happens to be the only personal training certification course that’s actually accredited by an American college, Dowling College (Oakdale, NY). For more information, check out the link on my website (www.davepalumbo.com) for S.M.A.R.T. Training, or call Dowling College at (631)244-3420.

What’s the deal with mixing bacterostatic water, as opposed to sterile water, with the Serostim Growth Hormone kits?  Do you really need the bacteriostatic water to increase the shelf life of the vials (to four days) or is the water it comes with just as good?

I say stick with the water they give you. Obviously, they have assayed the use of the Serostim GH with various waters and found that sterile water works most effectively. The amount of bacteria that can grow in a few days is negligible, assuming your immune system is intact (obviously AIDS patients should be concerned).  The manufacturer, Serona, has a use-patent for GH that is exclusive for “immunocompromised AIDS patients.” This is why the enclosed pamphlet recommends using each reconstituted vial within 24 hours.  However, normal people can take up to six days to use each bottle with no ill effects or loss of potency. Think about it, would it really cost that much more to include bacteriostatic water with the Serostim GH? Of course not! Use the included water.  Questions for Dave can be directed to his e-mail at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it .