Interview By Julianne Van Valkenburg
Jules Jewels Member Spotlight
|
"So years later and I still
think TC Luoma is one of the greatest writers out there. I
had a woman the other day tell me that while he may be great,
he is certainly a misogynist. Look, read between the lines.
I get it and I get him. There is something comforting in knowing
that TC is out there amongst us telling it like it is, writing
down what a lot of us are afraid to say out loud.
A century from now I hope my
great-great grandchildren are referring to him as I do to
Hemingway, or Salinger. Did you buy his book yet? Get over
yourself and get this book! To quote my last article- "If
you are living in a cave and have not read "ATOMIC DOG
-THE TESTOSTERONE PRINCIPALS" then wake up already.
|
 |
Seriously, if you are a father, brother,
boy about to become a man- get this book. If you are a mother; sister;
girlfriend; mistress, wife-get this book. Whoever you are, there
is something to be said about a book jacket that really does allow
you to judge a book by it's cover." Go buy it . Now :
http://www.t-nation.com/readArticle.do?id=1437166
And listen, if you find yourself in the mall, check out the Victoria
Secret. If you see TC in there at the panty bins tell him I said
hi! "
JULES-
ok, here it is about 5 years later. Is T-NATION where you thought
it would be and on any given day how many members are showing up?
TC-While
Testosterone Muscle (T-Nation constitutes our members while Testosterone
Muscle is the site itself) is doing well. At just about any given
moment of any given weekday Madness That being said, we're hardly
content. We have dozens of big, big plans in various stages of production,
ranging from new supplements, new site features, new ways of training,
and new video features using very high production values. It's really
quite daunting and quite exhilarating at the same time.
At any given moment, Tim Patterson
can call me up and say, "Let's start working on this." It's gotten
so I'm afraid to answer the phone.
Jules- what else have you been doing
? Are you getting into the whole FACEBOOK, TWITTER thing?
TC-No, but only because I believe T-Muscle
is going to trump both of them as far as being social networking
systems. We've got this new system about to kick off that should
eliminate any need or desire I have for using Face Book or Twitter.
JULES-
Tell me about your sessions in the gym as of late- kicking ass or
getting your ass kicked?
TC-I'm
in this mode where I find it awfully difficult to just do one conventional
set and rest, say, 45 to 60 seconds. It's not satisfying. I need
to feel pain. As such, I employ various mechanisms to extend sets
to the point where the targeted muscle is on fire. Then I feel like
I've done a good set.
For instance, if I do a set of curls,
I may start with reverse-grip dumbbell curls done to failure, immediately,
without resting, switch to "regular" grip dumbbell curls done to
failure, and then switch to a hammer grip and rep out to failure.
Likewise, and I just wrote about this
on the T-Muscle site, I'm employing Charles Poliquin's German Volume
Training on just two exercises: deadlifts and squats (done on two
separate days).
In case you're not familiar with GVT,
it's essentially doing 10 sets of 10 with approximately 60% of your
1RM. I think of adding these two movements, done GVT-style, is total
body growth. Doing this can turn any lackluster, no-effects program
into an effective one, and a good one into a great one.
Jules- Let's talk about BIOTEST- what
is the hottest new thing out there and who is buying it and why?
TC-Well, the hottest thing supplements that few people
are going to be able to buy! What I mean by that is we're very,
very close to releasing a few supplements that we designed and manufactured
without any regard to cost. In other words, we built them for professional
athletes, or maybe rich dudes who train like professional athletes.
That means we used the best, most
expensive ingredients and compounds that exist.
This is stuff that will mostly be
use para workout, i.e., the time period immediately before, during,
and after a workout. I think we already own the market in that area
with our Surge line of supplements, but these new products should
take it to a new level.
You may or may not be familiar with
our "3rd Law of Muscle." This is a theory that says, essentially,
that to guarantee the greatest gains from training, consume the
precise compounds required to fully fuel, protect, and reload muscle
< which can only be done immediately prior to, during, and immediately
after training.
Our point is this: if you follow the
third law (in conjunction with laws one and two, which consist of
a good program and allowing adequate rest), you can blow almost
everything else and still make good gains. That means that if you
follow the three rules, you can pretty much do everything else wrong
during the day and still make gains. It's a bold statement, but
we firmly believe it, and I think these supplements will support
it.
Beyond that, Flameout, Superfood,
Receptor Max, and L-Leucine are doing very, very well, as is Metabolic
Drive, our award-winning protein.
Jules- and what are you buying? Any new toys? Still driving
a fast car for fast women?
TC-This will probably disappoint you, but I hardly buy
anything. I'm trying to simplify. Besides, I'm too busy to enjoy
anything I might buy.
Take my car, for instance. It's 6
years old. I have to admit, though, that I really like the looks
of that new Dodge Challenger. Nowadays, it takes a little gall to
buy a car that has 425 horsepower and only gets about 12 miles per
gallon. Of course, gall is something I have plenty of.
Jules- In the past 5 years have you seen any new faces
on the scene that you think will really leave a mark on this industry?
My money is on your man Nate Green...
TC-Yes, I predict Nate will leave a mark on the industry,
but I'm afraid that the mark may be a semen stain. Boy's too good-looking
for this business. I'm afraid his penis may lead him astray. The
one instruction we gave him when we hired him was, "Don't have sex
with any customers." I think it's the biggest challenge he's ever
faced. Vio con dios, Nate, vio con dios!
Jules- ok, So it's baseball time again.
I am sure you are still glued to the game. Who do you think is going
to win the Series this year?
TC-While I love baseball, I never make any predictions.
Baseball is the living game embodiment of chaos theory to make any
predictions. Of course, on paper, the Yankees should win every year,
including this one, unfortunately.
Jules- Tell me something good to read, something you
may have read in the past year or so that really made you say "WOW"!
TC-Well, I'm reading "Team of Rivals" by Doris Kearns
Goodwin. It's about Lincoln, who, by my estimation, was one of the
most "complete" human beings that ever lived. His ambitions seem
innocent, i.e., he truly wanted to leave a mark on mankind, but
not to feed his ego.
Other than that, not too much has
blown me away. One of the bad things about being an Editor of any
kind is that you have to read so much stuff that relates directly
to the field you're working in. Also, in my constant pursuit of
applicable knowledge, I often turn into a skimmer who searches hungrily
for information I can use. I often don't have the luxury of reading
slowly and pausing to reflect on something I read.
I need to change that.
Jules- The economy is a mess. Politics are changing.
I have often said you would make a great politician. Any aspirations
there or 5 years from now will we be doing this interview again?
TC-Politics? Are you kidding? If I ran for something,
all they'd have to do is link to one of my nastier articles and
my campaign would dry up drier than George Bush Senior's prostate.
I would love to be a political speechwriter,
though. That would be hugely fun.
Jules- Finally, thanks again TC for doing this for me.
Let me know after all this time out there, that by far what was
the greatest column (in your opinion) that you wrote for TNATION
and I will link it here:
TC-The odd thing is that I tend to forget my columns
as soon as they're posted. I'm generally trying to think of the
next one and there's no time. That's the trouble with being on deadlines;
you hardly have any time to reflect. I think I'd have trouble listing
my Top 20 columns, let alone my "greatest."
I will say, though, that I'm usually
proudest of the "funny" ones, or at least the ones I think are funny.
They're the hardest to write. Verbal comedy is easy because you
can adjust tone, facial expressions, tempo, and convey emotion a
helluva' lot easier than in a written piece. And if that fails,
you can pull out a rubber chicken. You can't do that stuff in a
written piece.
That being said, I don't know how
much people like the comedy pieces. If you read something funny,
you're less compelled to post a note saying you enjoyed it. However,
when you write an inspirational piece or a strictly informative
piece or an informational piece, it usually draws a lot more response
in the form of questions or affirmations.
But back to the funny stuff; I tell
you, it pisses me off that Dennis Leary's book, "Why You Suck,"
is on the New York Times best-selling list. Maybe I'm full of it,
but I think my book is funnier by a factor of five. However, publicity's
everything. I guess I'm mired to work in relative obscurity....
*note: I had asked TC for a favorite- these are like babies to him
I am guessing, so how could he? Since he could not pick one I thought
I would share my own favorites, "leave the cave" and "crisis
of faith" which you can find here:
http://www.t-nation.com/ALSAuthor.do?p=TC&pageNo=1
---
To read more of Julianne VanValkenburgs
interviews with members,and others in the industry please visit
the interview section of Team
Staley forum.
|
