Getting big with a lot of muscle is still the name of the game for bodybuilders. Sergio Oliva, 3- time winner of the IFBB Mr. Olympia, perhaps said it best, "There's only one way to get bigger, eat more!" Now that's elegant in its simplicity.

I graduated from high school weighing a scrawny 126-pounds. at 5'10". When I started training, twotime Mr. Olympia, Franco Columbu, (the Sardinian Samson), was often pictured with his thick chest distinguished by the deep separation between his upper and lower pectoral fibers. I remember feeling a bit of pride because I had a similar groove of delineation in my chest. Looking back, I now realize that it was not separation of various muscle groups but simply my ribs showing.

IN MY DAY...
For those with a turbo-charged fast metabolism, adding even a pound of weight is a struggle. My early college years were the late eighties (an era marked by bad music and even worse nutritional supplements).The most popular weight gain products of this time were sugar-packed, lowquality, foul - tasting sludge with small quantities of low-quality protein added in almost as an afterthought.

My ultimate solution was the "then classic approach" to weight gain — gallon of the white stuff – milk! For a period of three years, I consumed at least a gallon of whole milk a day in addition to at least four to five meals. These were huge meals. It was not unusual for me to eat a half a pan of lasagna or a pound and a half of hamburger at a sitting, topped off with six yogurts or a quart of kefir (a yogurt-like beverage with active cultures that assist in health of the digestive tract). To top it off, I added a half-gallon of chocolate ice cream before bed.

Needless to say, consuming all that sugar and lactose gave me world-class flatulence.