Designed to be fit!

I realized/remembered recently that this blog is named evolutionary training and yet I almost never talk about evolutionary theory. One might think: What the hell does evolutionary science have to do with this CrossFit wannabe blog? Well turns out the stuff that progressive non-repeating body weight, gymnastics workouts do is emulate our natural history. Not to mention that working out is science, an experiment on yourself and evolutionary science is the best of all sciences! Let me expound upon my thoughts.

The Natural History of a Workout Program

Our ancestors, at least our recent ancestors (circa 10,000 - 250,000 years ago) were likely some sort of hunter gatherer or farmer or combo of both practices (although recent human evolution in the last 10,000 years has exploded us into vastly different evolutionary landscapes). In both cases they had to work their asses off. Imagine the skills, strength, musculature, and endurance necessary to be a hunter, gatherer, or first generation farmer with out power tools.... Or, simply look to nature for examples of what we once were. You rarely see overweight, obese, out of shape animals. You know why? They get eaten. They fail to acquire enough resources to sustain bodily functions. They die in hibernation because they did not have the fitness to properly fatten up. They don't get selected as mating partners. The list goes on, but you'd be hard-pressed to find an out of shape (defined by species specific traits) wild-type (i.e. wild living) animal. They tend to get selected against, or as we might say weeded out!

The Hunter:

In order to be an efficient hunter you need a number of skills, not the least of which are navigation, shooting skills, tracking abilities, etc., but these are not the topics I wish to discuss here. Here I wish to discuss the fitness aspects of a hunter. In order to hunt, in an ancestral way you would have had to track animals for miles. If you found a pack of some ungulate you might want to eat, you would most likely have to construct a blind by carrying logs, and branches from far away. You'd have to have control over your body so that you could lay still in wait for hours. You might even have to climb a tree for an angle. If you get close enough to make the kill shot you'd likely have to heave a spear at the animal(s). So what fitness skills might be involved in these needed abilities?  Tracking prey for hours, or even days, over long distances would require a high level of metabolic conditioning. A hunter has to be able to move past the pain of lactate build-up in his muscles in order to keep on going. Bodily control while sitting and waiting. Not making a move or sound might require a strong core. Think plank! Climbing = pull-ups. Enough said. Spearing again would require core strength to toss the spear with accuracy and power enough to pierce the flesh of the prey animal.

The Gatherer:

You might think gathering would require less fitness abilities than hunting because inherently gathering is a proximal behavior; i.e. you do it close to where you live. However, gathering requires a number of behaviors that would tap your fitness. Gathering itself requires a bit of local movement. You need to move around in order to discover the ripest of items to gather. Digging and pulling would be required to get up tubors and other ground based veggies and you might also have to reach and pull a fruit or nut from a tree. Think axe movement: up and down and up and down with resistance at both ends. Finally, carrying the collected items (which would likely have some weight, imagine a bail of potatoes) back to your home. This could be several meters. Think carrying or running with a sandbag; this could occur via carrying in front of your body, on your head, on a backpack-ish device, etc. All good means of carrying stuff and adding weight to your transit. Like wearing a weight vest.

The Farmer:

OK, I am not going to belabor this point, but farmers too have a lot of fitness advantages. They have to man-handle livestock. They have to move bails of hay, feed, etc. A farmer has to perform many of the same behaviors discussed for gatherers as well, but only the distance of gathering would be localized to the, well the farm.

So, our ancestors who were able to conduct these behaviors, our ancestors who possessed the random genetic mutations that lent them to success at these behaviors, were those ancestors that left descendants (us!). We have been designed to be fit and the number one reason we have an obesity epidemic is because of this one single true fact. We are NOT designed to eat loads of sugar, sit in front of TV, sit around and order pizzas, eat drive-thru and take out, and so forth. Our bodies are revolting! I am not the first to say this, in fact this is a pretty well-known idea. In evolutionary psychology would generally refer to this as a mismatch between current industrialized conditions (modern day) and the type of environment we were "designed" to live in. Now that's not to say that everything we have, all our industry is not part of our evolutionary history. In fact it is. Those of us who are better equipped to deal with industrialized "stuff" are going to leave more descendants that have the "deal with technology better" genes. It's just plain simple science. The main issue is that the speed of technological change is extremely rapid, exponentially faster than biological change. And one final thought: the direction of technological change is random. That is, technology emerges from memetic evolution that has no basis in genetics and the phenotypes those genes create. So get your ass to the gym! The only thing you can do is maintain your fitness so you can deal with the rapid directionless change that awaits us all...

Flattery goes a long, long, way, so be nice for goodness sake!

Compliments are a wonderful thing. If they are delivered in earnest then they convey such a nice message and if received without doubt they can lift a mood as high as high can go. Furthermore, giving a compliment, that is being nice, can also make the giver feel better. Producing a smile in another person feels good. It's, well, contagious if you will...

Just the other day, I was complimented (rare as that is) twice in one day. Yes, I said twice as in two times in one day! The thing I noticed about a compliment is that they are highly valued when they come from no where. Wholly unexpected wondrous love (loosely defined) from another individual. Your dog does it everyday, I am sure. Right? When you sit down to pet, orient toward, or yell "Fido, let's go for a walk" - s/he wags the tail. Hell, that's a great compliment. That's like the dog saying - YOU FUCKING RULE DAD! YOUR PETTING IS THE BEST THING IN MY DAY!!! OH WAIT, THERE'S A SQUIRREL! Humans do not have such ostensible fixed action patterns (FAPs) for telling you how they feel about you (well, maybe, but more on that in another post). Rather humans have to use language to persuade you that 1) they are being an honest conveyor of a message and 2) that the message they are conveying means something to the receiver. Sometimes, these conditions are not met, like when a graduate students says to their major professor: "You are the smartest scientist I have ever met!" With exception of my case, for which my PhD supervisor, Prof. Gordon Gallup Jr., is the smartest person I've ever met, most PhD students are full of shit! They are being dishonest to the person, and more importantly to themselves. It takes a lot of work to deceive, try to deceive, etc. They don't call it the simple truth for nothing! The other way that a compliment can go awry is when the message, even if being delivered honestly, means little or nothing to the receiver. For example, is someone says to you "Whoa you got mad typing skillz" and you don't give a rat's ass about how fast people type, let alone your own lightning fast phalange flexing ... then the compliment falls short of having any effect.

OK, so I was complimented the other day by two people, one of whom I have known for about a year or so and the other I have never met.  In the first instance a student of mine said that he really likes reading my blog. That's twice in a 10 day period someone asked me about my blog. I hadn't thought anyone actually read the damn thing, it started as a means to communicate with my pals in England about our workout regimen, but special thanks to my two readers! The student went on to say that he really liked reading it. It was a great compliment, it made me feel like whoa - I entertained a person. Ha! So cool, someone commented about my fitness-based blog. Actually another person did, as well. About 10 days ago another student said she tried my Bear Attack Defense workout and it was really hard, but a great workout. Glad to help. So This got me thinking, if (2) people read it, why not get back to it! Not to mention it's really quite fun to get your thoughts down...

The second compliment, not unrelated to the fitness and blogging, came from someone I never met, talked to, or had ever even seen. I was riding the elevator with a student. We were discussing the workings of Al Einstein's brain and a paper that we are writing on the topic. This other person rushes to get into the elevator (don't fret, I typically never take the elevator for all the expected reasons, but the student had a suitcase with her). So this person comes in, interrupts our conversation about ol' "relativity Al" boy's cortex and says to me: "Hey, you look like the 300 guy". OK, at first I was like, I look like 300 guys, so much for the adorable unique sleek look I was going for, just teasing. In all seriousness I was thinking to myself, ok... self. 300 guy. Does she mean the 300 guy that appeared in the movie (see Image 1) or the aftermath of his fame in which he turned into a toad (see Image 2)? She clarified very quickly by saying, but have you seen how he's let himself go to shit? This is the second time I received this compliment, probably because of the goattee, but whatever, I will take it and believe it's because of the muscles!

Image 1

Image 2

Compliments are wonderful. This tiny little series of statements had made my week! Energized me. Excited me (in the non explicit way, of course!) It's amazing what a nice gesture can do. I am far from the first person to write about this. And further from the person to be expected writing about this as my typical catch phrase is "I got enough friends!" I only have about 2.

So my charge to anyone out there reading this (all 2 of you) is to be nice. And be nice to someone about their fitness. If you see someone in the gym working really hard, let them know. If you see someone push a weight that is amazing, let them know. The other day a young man in my gym hang power cleaned 225 pounds with perfect form and I let know it was fucking impressive! He smiled. If you see someone who's toned up, tightened up, bulked up, or simply shaped up, let them know! Don't be perverted about it. Just let them know that since the last time you saw them, they look really good and that the workouts are obviously helping. This happens to my wife quite frequently.  Encouragement can go a long way and for someone trying to lose weight, tighten up, or get big, a few words of encouragement from a complete, or relative, stranger could be just the trick to keep them going. See we all go home and expect wife, husband, mate, partner, girlfriend, boyfriend, rover, felix, mom, or dad to say good things about us. Those compliments are great too, dont get me wrong, but a compliment from a stranger or acquaintance holds more weight. See they dont have to say a damn thing. They could just keep their mouth shut (and most of the time we hope they do that, right?) BUt for someone to purposefully go out of their way to say "Way to go kiddo!" - now that's just good humanity!

So go out there and be good to your fellow workerouters for goodness sake!

Me, Myself, Versus I

Homo sapiens, like every other critter that dons this wonderful planet Earth has had a long history of competition - with themselves. Let me try to explain. We are all here - that is, we as a species are all here because somehow, some way, via some processes that are not entirely worked out, our species' ancestors did things that allowed them to 1) live and 2) most importantly, reproduce. The biologist in me calls this natural selection. I hesitate to use the term here while discussing exercise in order to not disuade individuals not privy or interested in evolutionary science from my idea. Instead I choose competition as my proxy for this discussion. Think about our ancestors: they had to survive in grasslands that housed a number of predatory types (e.g., lions and tigers and bears, don't say it don't say it, oh my!). Not only did they have to evade predation, but they also had to provide for themselves and if they were "lucky" they also had to provide for their families. (I use quotes for the word lucky purposefully. It would have been a superbly easier ancestral life if we hadn't had to go out and hunt, gather, or farm our own food. We could just sit back in our stone recliner, drink our homemade fruit brew and watch the other dufuses try to catch food for a large family of 2, 3, or 4 other humans. So lucky is not really all that lucky, except in the game of evolution reproduction is like a touchdown, a goal, a hole in one (pun intended).) That is, in the game of evolution reproduction is what makes winners. So one would be lucky to have survived to reproductive age, to acquire a consensual mate and proceed to procreate. Voila! Wham bam... enough!

This is probably the reason our species has the drive that we do. Probably the reason all species have the drives they do. However, as we all know, certain individuals lack a drive, lack the motivation to "get ahead", advance, develop themselves. In fact, some people look like our ancestral lazy boy (sans the stone recliner). So what is happening in these individuals? They are fat bastards. Actually, they are a variant in the existence of our species that chooses or is designed to not be driven. Seriously, they most likely anchor the high end of our species BMI and fat to muscle mass ratio due to low exertion to ingestion ratio. They lack the urge to compete: with themselves. They lack the drive to consider their own body an experiment and a challenge. The lack the drive to be the best they can be as a Homo sapien. They do not compete with themselves! This can come in all areas of one's life. For example, I have friends, colleagues in academia who have kicked up their heels after getting their PhD, or for some it's after they get granted tenure. For them, they've done it. They are done. Accomplished their goal. For others, it comes in the form of exertion. A very good friend on mine used to say "I walk to work, so I don't need my gym membership". OK, don't get me wrong, walking is great. In fact, walking is fucking absolutely brilliant. It's one of those cool things that makes humans, well human! But walking is far from the type of anaerobic exertion needed to produce optimal fitness, as evidenced by the fact that my friend was rather out of shape. For example, if I had asked him to run to work, he'd have laughed at me. "That's 3 miles!" I think I've made my point. So....

What does it mean to compete with yourself? Go ahead try arm wrestling yourself, it don't work does it. So that's not what I mean is it? No. In short, what I mean is work against yourself. It'd be better to work against a real opponent, but we do not all have that luxury, and thus are forced to work against ourself. Many individuals who workout do this, somewhat. You've seen them in the gym. They carry a notebook around and they record how many reps of what weight they did this and make an attempt to track their progress over time. Laudatory, no? No. Actually, in the time they spend writing down that they bench-pressed 2.5 lbs more this time than the last 10 times they could've really competed with themself. They could have run 100 m. Then do it again, and try to do it faster. See, this is more what I am talking about. We need to push ourselves to the limit. The gym, our workouts are not supposed to be leisurely activities where we read the latest Dan Brown novel while trickling on the elliptical, treadmill, or reclined bike. Rather we need to focus our cognitive energy on creating competition with ourself. We need to have fast, hard, strength and power based training regimens that tap our humanly limits. Then we need to track the global speed and effort exerted over time. I tried to explain this in words to a fella at my local Gold's Gym, but it was difficult because I am shy. Instead I said try this, it's a CrossFit workout: Clean and Jerk/Press 135 lbs 30 times as fast as you can. He responded "As fast as you can?" Yes, I said, as fast as you can. That means go buy a stopwatch ($4 at wally world, right?) Then in try to do something to increase your speed the next time. That's the essence of fitness to me. This is very much in line with the CrossFit mentality, and that's because THEY ARE DOING IT RIGHT!

So, go have a fight with yourself all Fight Club parking lot style. No don't do that, you might get sent to the psychiatric hospital and I ain't bailing your ass out. Instead set up a few big exercises that you do for time. Say, do 100 repetitions of a 65 pound snatch. As fast as you can. Get the stop watch out. Yes! But that;s not it. You will also have to closely monitor your exercise. If you need to rest, you need to rest - this is not a recipe in suicide. But those rest periods should be as short as possible. And they should decrease over time. Another avenue to do this type of self-competitive exercise is to try and do a certain number of reps in a limited amount of time. Do as many burpees as you can in 5 minutes! Fuck me, right? And then try to do more the next time you do that workout.

Go for it!

Dead Legs

OK so this was posted as a workout on the crossfit main page and it was bloody killer so I thought I would post it again here (probably against all types of rules) as well as what else I did.

I call this Dead Legs, because it's been 3 days and my walking is slowly deteriorating!

Repeat three times, for time:

50 meters walking lunge

100 meters broad jump (some people call this a frog leap, same thing basically)

200 meter spring

I added to this some upper body that goes little something like this:

7 rounds of:

- Hold Handstand against wall for 30 seconds (but on each successive round try to increase the hold for 15 seconds so that on round two you hold for 45 seconds, round 3 = 60 seconds and so forth so that round 7 = 2 minutes and 15 seconds

- as many handstand pushups that you can do

Repeat for 7 rounds.

When you are done that do 100 repetitions of BICEP to REVERSE GRIP OVERHEAD PRESS as quickly as you can. I used 65#, but use what you think you can complete. This looks and feels strange. You curl the barbell normally so that your overhead press is reverse handed. This should fire up your anterior deltoids and biceps. This video demonstrates it nicely: http://revver.com/video/1620697/barbell-curl-and-press-hybrid-exercise-combo/

Good luck!

B-CUP

Do this workout for time starting with 21 reps for all four exercises, than in the second round decrease it to 15 reps, and then on the last round decrease to 9 reps.

======
21-15-9 reps

Burpees
95# Clean & Press or Clean & Jerk
double Unders (jumping rope where the rope goes around twice on each jump)
Pull-ups.

My new breakfast (of champions, of course!)

So, I've changed my diet a touch. Not too drastically, because I hate drastic changes, but a little bit. I happened upon some good resources on Paleo diet eating. Mostly, I typically think of fad diets as, well just that - fad diets. Take for example the Atkins diet - I hated that shite! I am not Enui and therefore I should not eat just whale meat. Sorry, but it's not in my genes. The Paleo diet, on the other hand is, after a little reading, quite interesting to think about.

In short, and I am by no means an expert, the Paleo Diet assumes the principle of mismatch between what (us) evolutionary psychologist call the environment of evolutionary adaptedness (the EEA) and our modern, industrialized world. The mismatch principle suggests (and I might note is supported by loads of psychological, biological, and anthropological data) that we are currently living in a world that was designed by us, but NOT designed for us. In fact, in strict EEA terms, our bodies are designed (by EVOLUTION) to be more like hunter gatherer tribes people.

Here are some straight up facts: Evolution is slow. It can take thousands, 10's of thousands, 100's of thousands, even millions of years for evolution to craft a change in an organism. We call this natural selection. In our ancestry, in fact in every organisms ancestry environments (that is landscape, food availability, predator risk, etc) tend to change fairly slowly. There are of course exceptions, but often in the event of exception many many individuals die. Take as an example, say, an ice age in the Northern parts of the world. Only those individuals who had evolved a mechanism to store large quantities of fat (for warmth) under our skin survived. The rest froze to death for a modern day anthropologist to dig up and become famous for ;-)  In stark contrast, Industrialization is fast. Once our ancestors invented a means to pass information from one member to another within generation - memetically - industry could grow exponentially. Once our ancestors invented a means for printing and mass distributing the information, thus preserving valuable neural resources from reinventing the same old "wheel" technology could, and quite literally has, grown at rates that approach light speed.

The figure above theoretically plots the difference between evolutionary and industrial change over n generations. The magnitude of change at any given generation can be thought of as the magnitude of mismatch.

Taking the above theoretically-derived data to the notion of eating. Imagine that we are the product of evolutionary change (a biological organism) existing in a world of industrial change. Thus, this very existence has wreaked havoc on our bodies, probably being one of the main drivers of food allergies, mental illness, among other things. When it comes to food, because we started this post with a discussion of food and the Paleo Diet, assume that our biology has evolved to digest properly, extract nutrients from, and process foods that we encountered n generations ago (think thousands to 100's of thousands of years ago). But now, we have evolved the brain power for agriculture: now we artificially grow animals, instead of hunting them. Now we harvest milk, while our ancestors would have most certainly not done so without getting kicked in the face by a bison, and most likely would not have sucked on the utter of a dead cow when they could be pigging out on bone marrow or organ meats. Now we grow grains and in order to utilize the grains they need to be artificially processed, mulled, hulled, and goodness knows what else. Our ancestors most likely harvested wild fruits, berries, nuts, tubors, roots, and root vegetables. Occasionally, a lucky ancestor may have happened upon a great protein resource - eggs. Eaten raw, gross by our standards, and mine included - I like Paleo, but would have a hard time thinking about going Raw Paleo. So in short, and by short I mean we've just scratched the surface, this is the heart of the Paleolithic diet. Eat like a caveman because that is what nature has in mind for you to eat.

Now back to my breakfast of champions. I used to eat one of either a very large bowl of cereal with cow milk (artificially harvested grains and dairy milk) or cereal and fruit topped with cottage cheese (same things here). So how does one make the swap to a Paleo breakfast but keep the breakfast-y foods they like to eat. It is so freaking simple. Here is my recipe for a dynamite tasting and healthy breakfast (and what's pictured at the start of this post).

Pecan waffles and Southwest Omelette

Here's how you make it - takes about 5-10 minutes prep (depending on how tired you are, last night my dog woke me up barking at 5 am, so it took a while this morning). Takes about 10-15 (MAX) to cook.

In an omelette pan start sautéing some vegetables - i use anything from broccoli, asparagus, spinach, okra, squash/zucchini, eggplant, onion, parsnips, carrots (you get the idea). Season to your liking. I use a cajun seasoning made of crushed red pepper, sea salt, pepper, and garlic powder (it's quite spicy and nice).

While the veggies are cooking prepare your 'waffle batter' and begin to heat up your waffle iron.
Waffle batter:  Combine 1/4 cup pecan meal + 1 whole large egg + 1/4 cup coconut milk (I use reduced fat, lite cocount milk, cuts about 66% calories from regular coconut milk). Whip together using a kitchen whisk. I sometimes also add a 1/3 smashed banana (really good) or some type of berry (blue, black, straw, etc).

By now your veggies are probably about ready to get egged. So pour 2 servings of Egg whites (I buy the 100% egg whites from the market, but you could easily make your own with real eggs).

Pour waffle batter into waffle iron and spread evenly. I usually wait just about 1 minute before closing the lid so that the bottom of this unusual mixture begins to cook a little.

Flip the omelette when ready.
The waffle iron will let you know when the waffle has been cooked, but with my waffle iron I need to let it cook another 2-3 minute so that I can pluck it out without the waffle falling to pieces.

And while all that was cooking, I chopped up a piece of red onion, a quarter of a tomato, and cilantro to make a fresh pico de gallo for a topping. Top the waffle with pure maple syrup or raw honey. Both are excellent toppings, although you do get more bang for the caloric buck using honey.

Enjoy.

I have found two major things associated with my change in diet:

1) i have loads of energy. That plus I sleep deeper. So when I wake up, I am usually not groggy, unless Bruno (my dog) has woken me up for no good reason at 5am and I have energy all day.

2) my knee joints no longer hurt. i had read about dairy related arthritic like pains, but never believed it. I can now do deep squats, one-legged squats, cleans, etc without pain.

Progress report

So in education we are often times required to submit "progress reports". These inform the student that, "Oh Shite" I am failing psychology 101. I had better study, work hard, put my nose to the grindstone; ah, F-it I will just ask the professor for extra credit. Progress, however you choose to achieve it, is something that pervades all of our existence. From lower organisms to humans, progress is something animals strive for. As humans, we attempt to get ahead, a better education, more money, nicer house, hotter wife... whatever. Animals strive for moving up dominance ladders, more mates, more food, being eaten "less often" or preferably, not at all. Evolution, of course does not work this way, does it? No. Evolution is not progress but change. And yet all of evolution's organisms somehow work toward progress - not at the species level, but at the individual level. At any rate, in fitness this also applies. So I thought I would provide a bit of an update on my fitness progress.

About 6-8 months ago I stopped using free weights for progressive overload resistance training in place of a program designed around gymnastics, martial arts, and mostly body weight maneuvers. About 8 months later I am leaner than I have ever been in my life, and I have maintained my strength. For shits and giggles, the other day I decided to drop into the weight room - to see, not surprisingly - that nothing has changed much in the average weight area of the gyms. Plopped my ass on the bench and did a few warm-up reps; about 50 reps with just the bar. NO this is not my max out weight HA! So I went for it - "Am I still as strong as I was when I doing weights, even though for the past 8 months I have not touched a weight, except maybe to use it to prop my L-seat or planche?"  225lbs - 4 sets 8-10 reps. Shit, at 34, going quickly onto 35 5 yrs old I am happy. That is as much, actually more than I was able to do when I was weight training. 

This little self-experiment, which many of my friends know full and well is my life. Yes, I use myself as a research subject all the time asking rather boring questions like: Will someone you call a friend kick your ass if you decide one drunken night to bend his wife over your knee and lay into her with a good spanking? Apparently, not...phew! This experiment - that lacks all kinds of controls and is completely riddled with confounding variables - asked the question: does my new exercise regimen work? My experiment was not without ridicule and putting myself at risk of laughs, jeers, giggles and flat out questions about the program. Yes, on more than one occasion I got the "what in the hell are you doing dude/mate?" So I explained... whatever. Here's the data m-f-ers - it works. Yeah, easy enough for me to say. But check this whack ass shit out - P90X. Yeah so just about everything I do is apparently listed in this new program. What the F?! I could have made millions? Huh? At any rate, the shite works! Try it!

The Turd Posts again!

So I've been a complete turd about posting to my blog. A lot has been happening in my life: I became Chief Editor of the scientific journal, adopted a dog, any various other things, which are not the subject of this post.

Actually, I've been working hard on my body weight workouts and as evidence that they do work, I thought I might share a few things that have happened to me in the gym. First, I am stronger than ever. I can do the handstand, the handstand pushup with wall - easily pumping out 3-5 sets of 6-8 reps. I've continued adopting, with the help of the trainer at the Gold's Gym, new moves with my suspension trainer. Second, I have become "known" around the gym. Not by name, but rather by what I do. One fella said to me he's never seen anything like my workout, but "it's apparently working." Another guy mentioned that he talks about "the guy in the gym who does no resistance training or work to hypertrophy, but is really cut up." Third, my wife' trainer who is a beast of a woman and I mean that in the most flattering way possible; she is trong as an oxe and ripped. She was a pro body builder and now is a cert personal trainer and is totally awesome. She regularly whips people into shape. Well she said in a conversation that I am the fittest guy in the gym and don't use half of the equipment; that compliment meant loads to me.

Now onto some new moves, progress updates, etc.

New move 1: Hanging L-seat to hanging planche. Hang your suspension trainer, ropes low to the ground for this one because if you fall, and you will the first time, it will hurt. Take my word for it on this one. So about a foot off the ground grab the handles and enter L-seat. This is hard as you try to maintain straight legs, tight core and no swinging. Then move legs thru into hanging planche. I have attained it once, it is absolutely killer. I got so excited it caused me to fall. Ouch!

New move 2: Split squats to dumbbell snatch. Place a pair of dumbbells out in front o you about 36 inches or so. Lunge toward the dumbbells and when you go down, pick the dumbbells up. Actually, just grab the handles. Instead of lunging back, or forward, jump as you would during a split squat (that is your lunge position changes from (e.g.) left foot forward to back foot forward) while simultaneously snatching the dumbbells over your head. While in the lunge position, slowly lower the dumbbells and then lunge back to standing. A variation on this, place a series of dumbbells that increase in weight along a court/floor. Then lunge forward and walk. I have not tried that one.

Anyhow, I guess I am back, re-motivated to write about working out for a while.

What of Overweight Personal Trainers

So last night I was fortunate enough to score tickets to a local professional Ice Hockey team, and while I found it really difficult (as if I was murdering a family member) cheering for the home team and not the Philadelphia Flyers (who were not even playing), I did just that. However, in between periods and even during periods when play was slow (read as: no one was getting slammed against a hard wood board!) my wife and I began an conversation with a fella behind us. Primarily because this guy made it abundantly clear that this was his first hockey game, that he was taken here by someone he was training, and that his profession was a personal trainer. Obviously without halt my wife and I turned so quickly we probably caused permanent brain damage. An interesting thing about our turning so quickly. It's a psychological effect known as "Attentional attunement." You can do a few neat little studies to test this effect. For example, if you are a teacher or a tutor, then do this right before a big exam. Ask them to remember a list of words, say 50 or so. 30 of those words should be randomly selected words, the others should be related to tests, test anxiety, etc (e.g., words like: test, mark, grade, question, etc). Chances are if you students play along with this little experiment (and care about their grades) they will be much better at remembering these test-related words. The same is true with just about anything. Alcoholic 'hear' and remember more words that deal with, well ethanol injected liquids. Similar effects can be shown in people addicted to drugs and sex. It even occurs in relation to race perceptions, but that's for another post. When it comes to fitness (addicts) we are not immune. Put a group of people who care about losing weight into a lab and ask them to remember a set of words that include words such as fat, skinny, weight, calories, etc. Guess what words they remember best?  

So in the few minutes it took for my wife and I to recover from our minor head turning concussion, our eyes began to re-focus and what we saw was 1) amazing, but 2) not uncommon. There, sitting behind us was one of the largest men (& I dont mean muscular) I've ever laid my eyes on. He must have easily been 350, maybe more, pounds.  This couldn't be the guy pitching himself as the Personal Trainer, could it? Yes, it was. This is now the third time I've met a personal trainer that, well, is fat! This seems completely inane to me and makes me wonder how this guy could even get a client, let alone be allowed to graduates PT school. I mean, it's tantamount to being a Cracker Barrel regular who's profession is nutritionist - makes not fucking sense. I wonder about these people: why did they get into this profession? Where they once thin? Are they trying to battle their own issues with being overweight? Do they think they represent the epitome of fitness and thus people will be lining up around the corner to sign up for a PT session with them? Well I could never, in good conscious do such. I pay for my wife's PT sessions and we agree that we would not pay over $100/month to someone who did not "look the part" - you could be educated until you are blue in the face, but damn it, if you cannot practice what you preach then how I can I pay you? I couldn't. Not sure how anyone else feels... Could you pa your hard earned $$ to an overweight PT? Why? How? 

Mixed martial arts - it's good for ya!

Tonight, finally, after being in the Atlanta metro region for about 5 weeks, I was able to get myself out to a local dojo to take part in a mixed martial arts class. Actually it was a Muay Thai (Thai Kickboxing) class. I had taken about 4 Muay Thai classes when I lived in England and while the workout and techniques virtually killed me, the benefits to my fitness were profound. I noticed when I was did these couple of sessions prior to my Las Vegas wedding that I was tight! I lost about 8-10 lbs of body fat (was hanging around 12% body fat, which for me is outstanding!).  Then I moved back and I stopped. I still train very very hard and work hard on functional muscle strength and circuits. Tonight reawakened me to the benefits associated with martial arts training. Let me explain:

To start we warmed up. This consisted of 3 sets of 5 exercises, each performed for 1 complete minute and moving to the next exercise without rest. After completion of each of the 5 exercises then you got 1 minute rest. So this is what constituted the 1st 18 minutes of the session.

Set 1 (each exercise performed continuously for 1 minute): Pushups - Squats - Burpies - Frog Leaps - Side twist pushups

1 minute rest

Set 2: pushups (either clap pushups, or a variant where you lift your entire body, legs and feet too, off the ground - toe grab squats - leg lifts - frog puhups - hindu pushups

1 minute rest

Set 3: kick with right leg out straight to hand - repeat with left leg - right kick to side with hip twist to hand - repeat with left leg - alternating knees to elbows

Die. No, seriously, stretch.

After this "warm up" we did some drills. We started with alternating 1 minute continuous Thai kicks to pads. Then we did push, or jab kicks to the pads.

OK that took about 25-35 minutes.

Now we did the "cool down" which consisted of 100 Thai push-ups, which entails doing a push up and then clap your partners hand at the top of the movement. We followed this with 100 Thai situps. Here your partner sits on your quadriceps, when you are in the down position of the sit-up a third person smacks your belly with a kick pad. Ugh!!!!

Absolutely grueling, but worth it.

Functional training: Moving weight

These guys are athletes in the World's Strongest Man competition - they are truly beasts. Their burden - to move stuff! Quite literally, to move really fucking heavy stuff a long way. See here on the left pulling a train locomotive and to the right pulling a truck! I love watching these competition - mainly because of the gross display of testosterone that remind me of two bucks or ram butting heads in the wild... ah animal nature, but lately I have been thinking about this type of exercise - this functional training as it were. Functional because in everyday life we have to move stuff. Bench press does not help you move anything, except of course a long bar with plates on the end of your chest. So I guess if you find yourself pinned to the ground by a tree the benchpress might help, but chances are if you are in that predicament you are a goner anyhow! 

Lately, I've been modifying my rope/suspension trainer to train like a "world's strongest man" - seriously. Although, I am not really that strong. Here's what I do. I wrap my rope around my car, just teasing, actually in the gym I wrap my rope around a few plates. Then I combine step lunges, or just walking, with chest press or back pull. Yeah you can step backwards and pull the weights to you. It's not exactly like pulling a truck or train, but if it doesn't get your heart rate up then something is wrong with you.

Good Circuit to Elevate Heart Rate

OK, so today was supposed to be a "light day" at the gym. So I did 20 minutes of cardio and got really really bored of watching news about the economy and the debate tonight, and for some odd reason the music at the gym today completely sucked ass: Britney Spears, Maroon 5, I mean come on, how am I supposed to run, bike, etc to that. 

I decided I would do a little circuit to get my heart rate up and work on some explosive power at the same time, here's how you do it. It's a super set of two exercises to be done consecutively with 1 minute of active rest (walking around room) between sets: 

Grab a medicine ball (~8-12 lbs). Squeeze it tight to your chest like you are giving it a big hug. Now slowly squat down so that your upper leg is about parallel to the floor and jump as high as you can and bring your knees up in front as if you are trying to touch them to the medicine ball. Repeat for 10-12 reps. 

Immediately move to exercise two, which is a lunge push with rope. Wrap a rope, or suspension trainer around 2 45lb (20Kg) plates. Grab a handle in each hand. Now lunge forward so that your arms are bent at the elbow and back near your lats. Push the ropes out as if you were doing a pushup or bench press. Try to push the weight in an explosive fashion as if you were trying to push the weights past you or punch something in front of you. Repeat lunging with other leg. Go to one end of a room/basketball half court (~4-8 steps per leg), turn around pull the weights to you and go back to the other end of the room. Try to get to the other end as quickly as you can without sacrificing form, without losing your balance, etc. 

Take 45 - 60 seconds active rest. By active rest I mean walk around, dont just stand there. You could up the intensity by jumping rope or hopping, or you could just walk quickly around the gym.

It certainly got my heart rate pumping. It also gave me a pretty good leg and chest workout. 

Fitness addiction is, what? Bad?

The first step is admitting that you are an addict. That is what I hear is stated at AA, NA, etc type meetings when confronting yourself with an addiction. Such addictions as alcohol, drugs, sex, etc are all seen as relatively negative, but why? Well aside from the damage that can accrue to one's body, the resulting outcome is typically an inability to function outside of the addicted substance/context. For example, the alcoholic might not be able to get out of bed and go to work with out that shot of whiskey in his coffee. The pot head might not be able to get through lunch without that one toke of the bong. The sex addict may not.. well actually sexual addiction sounds just fine and dandy to me, but apparently it can lead to disruption of relationships. Like, for example, when the sex addict decides to cheat incessantly on her husband with other men, women and children.

 

What about our dear old friend - fitness? Well some recent (or not so recent, depending on how you read the literature) findings suggest that fitness has the qualities necessary to create an addiction: it demands attention, a specific context or specific set of tools, and it can produce feelings of pleasure, euphoria and excitement. But being addicted to fitness - that can't be bad, can it? 

Well listed below are some of the common warning signs associated with fitness addiction. They are essentially the same as those listed for drug, sex, and alcohol addiction, but tailored to the fitness context.  

Some warning signs include:

• Turning down dates/social events/family events in order to work out
• Avoiding social situations for fear of eating foods that may interfere with training progress (similar to orthorexia)
• Social isolation
• A feeling of general worthlessness if you have not completed your workout for the day
• Only allowing yourself to eat after you have exercised
• Feelings of depression/irritability when cannot exercise or when you don't have a "good" workout
• Reduced drive to engage in activities formerly enjoyed
• Exercising for extended periods on a daily basis or several times a day
• Feeling anxious if a workout is missed
• Scheduling your day’s events around your workout session
• A fear of becoming injured and having to miss a workout
• Exercising in spite of injury, weather, or other factors
• Taking multiple exercise classes and then working out again at home
• Overexercising and then getting feelings of euphoria after a workout; needing increasingly more working out to reach your high

OK, so there it is - yes I am addicted to fitness/exercise. These symptoms can escalate into a full-blown bout of depression either through feelings of worthlessness built up because you cannot reach that next goal or through withdraw from not being able to get enough of the euphoric sensation associated with exercise. There are some differences with fitness addicts and alcohol, drug and/or sex addicts. Fitness addicts typically want people to know that they are fitness addicts. It's cool and accepted to be addicted to fitness. "Hey I had a great run this morning and later I will be hitting the gym to pump some iron", says meathead. "Oh my god, you are like, so fit, and your arms are so big", says ditsy waitress who becomes sex partner to meathead. But what about it? I don't mind. I like being addicted to fitness, as most addicts like being addicted to what they are addicted to. The difference - mine helps me stay fit. 

In all seriousness, it's a dangerous line to walk. The addiction can become so overwhelming that it affects families, lifestyle, even god forbid -YOUR SEX LIFE! And for fuck's sake isn't that why many people work out? OK, I am a perv, but in reality, I have read stories where fitness addiction has actually caused mothers to blow off activities with their children, husbands to forget anniversaries, etc. This addiction can really impact the way your life goes - positively and negatively. 

How do we get ahold of this addiction? How do we wrangle it up and wrestle to the ground? Well, if you are like me, you probably won't. But if you are like me, then you are just mildly addicted. See I only check off a few of the above warning signs:

1.Turning down dates/social events/family events in order to work out. This seems perfectly logical to me because most of my social events involve drinking heavily. Thus, it is a win-win situation - I dont drink and I get a good workout in.  I typically wont (cant) turn away from family events to workout, but will make plans for alternative ways to workout when away at family houses or gatherings. Most of my friends and family now just know I am going to be up and out running early, before most of them even wake up. 

2. Feelings of depression/irritability when cannot exercise or when you don't have a "good" workout. Probably more irritability than depression, but shite, this is how I respond to everything when I dont feel I have done "good." When I write a paper for a journal and it's rejected I get irritated. When I design and experiment that does not work - I get irritated. You get the point. Another issue, I think is just plain personality. 

3.Feeling anxious if a workout is missed. OK, this is a little neurotic, I admit that. Mainly I just get anxious when I don't know when my next workout will occur. So when traveling, if I have a plan for getting back to the gym upon arrival home, I am usually fine. However, when I get home and my toilet is flooded, my house has burned down, or my gym has closed down, taken my money and gone away - then I get pretty anxious. 

4.Scheduling your day’s events around your workout session. Well, not really. But damnit, ever tried working out after 9-5 work hour day - you can barely get in the gym let alone on a piece of equipment! So yeah, I try to schedule some things around my workout, mainly for convenience. Boy I am really making excuses here, eh? 

Well that about sums it up, the extent of my addiction. It's not yet debilitating, but well on its way, I am sure. I don't know that I am going to lose sleep over this, just yet. I like to workout. I married a gal who likes to workout. We are active and like it. I mean yes it does impede our social life once in a while - mainly because we don't want to diminish the results of our workouts. We like looking fit for each other, for ourselves. It's cool. If you are going to be addicted to something, why not make it be fitness right? Well to some extent this is correct or 'right' for us. However, I sometimes have to remind myself (& my wife): we are not professional athletes. We do not collect a paycheck for working out, as bad as that sucks, it's the truth. In fact, we give a large sum of our paychecks to be able to workout! Most of us will never be in the position of having a job where working out is part of your everyday duties. I don't make my living hitting home runs, throwing touchdown passes, scoring slapshots, or punching other blokes in the face. I am ok with that. And that is why I don't exercise more. At the end of the day its about balance. Everything in moderation. 

Anyone out there feel they might have fitness/exercise addiction? Anyone have any thoughts on whether they think it is an actual issue/disorder/debilitation? How does your addiction impede your life?

Now, if it's time, go feed your addiction and do a few extra reps just to say "up yours" addiction!

One-arm negative dyno combo pushup

OK, this is a new move that I sort of created while away at a wedding. After running a bit, I decided i was going to do some standard dyno pushups, you know the kind where you pushup and your hands leave the ground. OK, easy enough right. I figured, I would be eating a ton of shit and drinking like a fish so I had better up the ante and make this an actual workout, so I did. Here's how you do it (again I would post pics, but my f-ing phone is on the shit again! - advice - do not under any circumstances ever waste money on the new palm 800 - it blows! work gives it to me for free, otherwise i'd have an iPhone already). Ok the move:

Get in standard pushup position (medium grip) with legs fairly wide apart (at least should width, if not more). Now, slowly lower yourself. Pause for 1-3 seconds at the bottom and explode out of the move so that your hands are lifted off of the ground. Now while in the air move one hand to the center (to land on) and the other either behind your back or tight into your abdomen. Now land on one hand and slowly (as slowly as you can) lower yourself to the bottom pushup position. While in the bottom position, place your other hand on the floor and explode up. Repeat the process, but alternate which hand you land on. I could not do many, but am working to do about 3 sets of 8-12 reps.

Photo credit: 1

Travel Workouts: Take trainers, Clothes, and, food?

So this week/weekend I am traveling for a wedding up north and to complete my move to the Atlanta Georgia USA region. My wife and I are desperate not to allow these types of excursions to derail our exercise programs. So, every time we travel - be it for pleasure, work, or family affairs - we are certain to take our trainers and workout clothes. Seeing my workout shorts and favorite tank top in the suitcase invokes a sort of exercise guilt (probably unhealthy mentally, but...) and I grab them and will do something. Sometimes we just go for run - like yesterday. We ran about 3 miles, she then did some pushups and situps. She rules! I moved boxes... LOL!

However, in our recent excursion we added something else to our traveling gym attire - food. Yes food. We brought (and or bough when we arrived) the foods we have been eating at home. Now, don't get me wrong, we are not in the orthorexic stage of things where we have to eat everything raw, or know every detail of what goes into my food or even eat all organic - shit we can't afford that! But we are actively trying not to derail our diets and exercise progress while on holiday. To this end, we brought things like high fibre muffins, purchased cottage cheese (low fat, of course), and the like. This allows us to bypass what many family member keep on stock that is high in sugar, fat, etc. It allows us to maintain some semblance of control over what goes in our bodies.

I have obviously become accustomed to odd looks. I still garner a few when I pull out my rope suspension trainer (which I (in)conveniently forgot this trip). Now I get strange looks, when I open my suitcase shortly after arriving to put food items in the refrigerator. The looks are probably in distates - people feeling like "what my/our food is not good enough?" that is not the case. Rather, it's just we watch closely what we eat. It helps us to allow ourselves to drink beer and wine at the wedding without that guilty orthorexic feeling.

At any rate, my advice if you are trying hard to keep on track - when travelling, bring food. See if you buy food at the airport, like we used too, well you are in for a caloric treat (read nightmare!) the food items at the airport are loaded with calories, sugar, sodium, all that stuff you have been trying to avoid. The problem is not so much that these things are all that bad for you in moderation. No, in fact you need all of these things for survival. The bad thing is that sugar and sodium actually have addictive qualities. Thus, by allowing yourself to eat that plate of salty chips washed down by the milkshake - because you are on holiday - is like falling off the wagon and in some cases (my own included) this can spur a downward spiral of poor eating. I can remember getting to the airport and eating like this, then on the plane scarfing the nuts/pretzels or whatever they give you and the meal, then landing and well you get the picture. I would just keep eating. I was feeding my addiction, and it can get out of control while on holiday because even if you are going to the house of a family member, you are often times encouraged to overeat. Be careful. This can be the downfall. The start of something bad. Now, I am not saying you should watch what you eat at thanksgiving, christmas, etc - damn you should eat - just watch what you eat. And if you are travelling take some snacks - trail mix, fruit, cottage cheese, etc. That the things that you keep in your kitchen and ask if you can place them somewhere that you can easily get to them. Seeing those items you eat regularly at home will cue your brain - hey, I should be eating that cottage cheese - yes I do see the plate of donuts, but the cottage chees is already here, i would not want to waste my money, etc. So I, personally am more inclined to grab what I brought.

So, i gotta run to finish packing boxes before the rehearsal dinner where I will pigout royally, but wanted to impart this little tidbit of advice that is working for Aussy and I - when travelling, bring food!

What's up with your fat?

OK, so I have been writing on this blog now for over 1 month and not only am I having a blast (even though no one reads the damn thing), but also learning loads. Most interestingly, as I learn and investigate more and more about fitness and health I find my research interests veering in this direction (really I am a evolutionary cognitive neuroscientist, 1, 2). This stuff is becoming really interesting both at a personal and academic level. In fact, I am very close to co-authoring my first peer-reviewed paper on the topic of obesity. Thus, I thought it might be appropriate for me to discuss fat, or adipose, here. 

So, what's up with your fat? I think most people think fat is bad. That fat causes a plethora of metabolic disease, the most prominent being diabetes. I agree, I think fat is bad, but I also know that fat has gotten a bum wrap. Our culture has inundated us with 'fat free' this and 'low-fat' that, that many of us fall victim to the idea that eating any fat is horrible for us. Some people I know delude themselves (probably using self-deception) into thinking that the fat goes directly to their thighs within minutes after eating something fattening (e.g., and ice cream sundae... mm, that sounds really really good right now, but instead I will go make a bag of SmartPop = 100 calories and very filling, and NOT fat free). 

Fat is really not all that bad for you. In fact, if you are not supplied with fat in utero and during development your nervous system is severely negatively affected. Primarily the casing that protects the axon of neurons (the part that allows neurons, or brain cells, to talk to one another) does not develop properly and children born to "fat free" fanatical moms can experience a number of psychological, neurological, and neuropsychiatric disorders. In fact, the extent of that relationship is well under investigated and I would hypothesize it is partly involved in the sudden appearance of many "new" disorders (think AD/HD, for example). 

Fat also helps us old farts (I say at the ripe old age of 34, ouch!). Fat can actually help you lose weight. Fattening foods are more full-filling then low fat substitutes, which generally work to try and dupe your nervous system into thinking you are full, only to be back munching in an hour or so. If you are like me then fattening foods also make you "feeeeeel" good, too. Like, how do you feel after you down that cod and chips, ice cream sundae (there I go again), or hot wings.... mmmMMM. I feel psychologically wonderful after eating these foods. That is, until the guilt about eating all that fattening food set in and I realize how much fucking exercise I need to do to burn off all the calories (yes I have mental illness related to eating and working out too). 

But, there is hope. You can be fat and healthy. Seriously. A recent study (3) suggests that it is not how fat you are that matters in terms of developing obesity related illnesses, but how you utilize that fat. Take or example, the Sumo wrestler pictured above. Fat bastard, right? Wrong! Well wrong in our colloquial use of the term fat bastard. Yes he is fatter than the average  middle American. He is one big mother fucker. However, He utilizes his fat in a fundamentally different manner. Sumo wrestlers through rigorous eating regimes and exercise regimes (yes they exercise, about 8 hours per day! They eat the rest of the day), they actually assist their body to store fat subcutaneously (under the skin). This keeps the fat away from the vital organs - heart, lungs, liver, pancreas, etc - which are involved in obesity-related disorders. Neat eh? 

Now chances are you won't have this luck as Sumo's start their training very young and thus their body actually develops like this. This recent study suggests that for each of us, we have a fat "set point". Yes this is a new take on an old idea. The old idea, that everyone has a set point weight and if you go too far above (or below ) this individual set point you can get sick. The new idea relates the weight directly to the storage of adipose (fat) tissue. It states, succinctly, that each individual has a fat set point, or what might be called a "metabolic" set point. This is the point at which you effectively utilize fat stored in our body. Too little and you can develop diseases. Too much and you can develop diseases. The latter, the authors suggest, is related to a storage issue. Think if it this way: you have a determined amount of fat your body can store with little effect on your health. If you exceed this limit then the fat stores (of which you might be continuing to ingest) need to go somewhere. The hypothesis suggests that this extra fat, since it has no place to go in the individuals normal storage places, starts to find and store itself on major organ systems. Think of it like pouring yourself a drink. You set out a glass. The volume of the glass is your fat store limit. Now your pour a little liquid in, let's say beer for shits and giggles (and because it's about my favorite liquid beverage on the planet). If you pour that brewski down the center chancing are you will get a large head on your beer. If you keep pouring into that glass eventually that head needs to go somewhere. First it slowly moves upward toward the top of the glass (i.e. the top of your fat limit). Keep pouring and what happens? The head and maybe some beer spill over the top of the glass and onto the countertop, into your hand, etc. That is how I think of the fat spilling out over your fat store limit and the countertop or your hand is the rest of your body, the major organ systems. 

Now when this happens and people get sick (i.e. the beer is all over the countertop) we get all worked up and decide that this person needs to lose all the weight. This is where the idea of a metabolic set point comes into play. See, if we adopt the position that there are normal limits of fat store (under the skin) that vary individually then we can begin to design weight loss programs to target the set point instead of the ideal. That is, we can wipe the counter enough so that there's no beer visible (it might still be sticky, but shit we've got beer to drink and who has time to clean up that mess?) So rather than forcing people into weight loss programs that hold for them the ideal portrait of healthiness and fitness (e.g., a supermodel, or men's health magazine cover model) we hold for them an ideal that is personally tailored to their individual set point. This is the point at which, while still over weight in appearance, is actually a healthy point at which the major organ systems are not impacted by the fat. At this point the weight loss program may be further tailored to a longer term (as opposed to an acute - lose weight now or die) program. The authors suggest that this could increase the efficacy of such weight loss programs because psychologically you are giving patients 1) realistic goals to reach and 2) using individually tailored data.

So, can you determine what your fat/metabolic set point is? Well, not exactly. This is where more science is needed. See to determine your metabolic set point scientists need to understand the genetic mechanisms involved (currently underway in mice) as well as the individualistic, developmental experiences of that individual. So in the end, more science is needed and the likelihood of a "take this pill" to get think approach is not going to be as effective for long-term health. 

Thoughts welcome....

Photo credits (1)

Iron cross progression

Today I worked again toward the suspended iron cross using my suspension rope. Here's how I did it: 

I first tightened the ropes up so that they were above shoulder height. I then kneeled on a swiss ball. Grabbing the ropes now and balancing on the Swiss ball, my arms are out at my side slightly higher than my shoulders. Then I push down into the cross - only the tips of my knees touching the Swiss ball. I held that for about 20 - 20 seconds, then I finished off with a press down of my arms so that I raised myself up. I was now suspended with the ropes and my arms at my body's side. I then let myself down slowly. I repeated this sequence for about 3 sets of between 6 -12 reps. 

It's a very unusual feeling to be suspended with arms out straight. It is also really hard. Even with the Swiss ball, you find yourself not concentrating and losing focus. I found that in order to maintain focus and strength I had to maintain a very strong core. I think I am getting close... Slowly but surely. I will try to post some pictures or a video to demonstrate the progression.

Fitness fads or new trends in exercise?

Like everything else in life, fitness is subject to faddish developments in the hopes of making money. In fact, because millions of people are looking for the get fit quick fix device, fitness may be more susceptible to such fads than many other disciplines.  So how is one supposed to separate the good from the bad; what works from what does not; what you might SQUANDER your hard earned money on and what you SHOULD spend your hard earned money on? Well I don't know if I have the answers, but I will try to think it out, out loud, so to speak here.

First up: Diet.There are about a hundred different diet regimes on the market these days from the "juice only diet" to nutri system to weight watchers to the Atkins and Zone diets. Shit, there is even a diet called the South Beach diet! Do any of these work? Do any of them make physiological sense? Well, when I ask such question, almost invariably the answer leads me to what our physiology has been selected to do by evolution. That is, what our ancestors ate is probably what we should be eating. See, our ancestors did not have McDonalds, Burger King, Steak & Shake, etc. They also did not have sweets - candy bars, chocolate, and refined sugar. Guess what? Our ancestors weren't fat either! If they were than they would not be able to do a number of important things for their survival: evade predators, catch prey, maintain respiratory health to effectively collect tubors, roots, etc, and most importantly they would be unable to attract a mate. So what did our ancestors eat? Well that is an archeological and anthropological mystery that will never really be solved without that good old invention - the time machine. But science has uncovered a few clues about what our ancestors most likely ate by excavating archaic site of residence. It appears that our ancestors were a combination of hunters and gathers. We, our ancestors that is, most likely ate ground roots, leaves, and other 'wild' crops. We also probably hunted, at least small mammals, the occasional bird and most interestingly we also appear to have been meat scavengers. See, without nasty claws, teeth and the means to fend off other predators, our ancestors may have been left to ravage what was left by those big predators (think tigers, lions and bears (OH MY!)) Some evidence suggests that our ancestors learned (i.e. big brains are useful for something) to crack bones open using rocks to dig out the protein rich bone marrow. 

So, the point of this little archeological excursion - our ancetor ate a variety of foods - not just protein, not just fruit and veg, but a healthy (albeit availability might have also played a role) mix. I think that's what makes a healthy modern diet.  A good mix of fat, protein and yes carbohydrates! Carbs are good! They fuel you. The key is to not eat bad carbs - you know sugar and such. Instead replace with high-grain, multi grain and high fibre low sugar carbs. My wife and I recently found Thomas' English muffins that are actually fortified with extra fibre - they are fantastic in taste and the fibre is great for us. In fact, fibre is one of those things that is hard for your body to digest so you actually burn calories while digesting it. So high fibre and high protein is what I would recommend.

OK so all that sounds pretty good, but there is a down side: food that is good for you usually costs much much much more! Bite the bullet and buy it; it is worth it!

Second: Cardiovascular training.

The list of cardio machines that are in existence and that have been marketed for quick fix fitness is innumerable and far too great to list hear. Instead of listing all those crazy machines I will just impart a few recommendations that have worked for me:

1) Get your heart rate up to where it feels like your heart is going to explode and/or pop out of your body, then slightly decrease the intensity until you can catch your breath. Once you have caught your breath increase that intensity again to the heart exploding feeling. Yeah that's it. The whole 50-80% max heart rate - throw that lousy advice out with your Turbo Track and get that heart pumping (advice: if you have heart probs, then don't follow my advice). The key is really to get your hear moving. It increases your cardiovascular endurance and strength and your respiratory ability; i.e. your ability to utilize oxygen effectively. Here I turn to my martial arts training (which can hardly be called training at all, actually). In martial arts you have to withstand 3-5 minutes of pounding and being pounded. So not only are you jumping around and increasing your heart rate, but you are being beaten on and delivering it back (hopefully!) The thing is when you are fit like a proper martial artist you are fit as a fiddle! One of my students back in Liverpool is an amateur mixed martial artist who had been training for about 12 years. One day, literally, one morning he decided he was going to run a half marathon. I think it was to impress a gal, but that might also be rumor. At any rate, he showed up, paid the late regist

ration fee and ran the entire thing. The reason I know this. He showed up after the race to train; i.e. to train martial arts as if he had taken a drive for 13 some fucking miles. If that does not convince you of the interval training, high tempo, kill your heart rate training, then go fuck yourself and be fat! It sold me, mind you I am not going to rush out and run for 13 miles ANYWHERE!

Third: resistance training.

Need I really say more. Again, from my rather academic evolutionary perspective the thing you want out of a resistance training program, I would hope, is the ability to actually use your muscles. Pretty mirror muscles have no purposes, they have no place in today's day and age. So yeah there are loads of faddish machines from bow flex (which seems to be pretty good actually) to the Total gym, another one I kind of liked. However, at the end of the day, I think you want to use what works for you. Our ancestors did not have weights. Sure they carried around a club to beat you with, and they probably did scoop up women like in the cartoon. They might also have carried stones and animal carcasses. Note any similarity in all of these activities? They all seem to incorporate some very large muscles and a lot of total body strength (think dead lift, squat, etc). 

Now stop reading and go eat and train like a caveman!

Photo credit: 1)http://www.d.umn.edu/cla/faculty/troufs/anth1602/images/homo_habilis_img5.jpg

2) http://www.red-spirit-energy-healing.com/images/caveman-diet.gif

3) http://www.cartoonstock.com/newscartoons/cartoonists/jlv/lowres/jlvn337l.jpg

Mirror muscles, from the wast up, that is....

This afternoon at the gym I saw a dude working out. OK, I was riding the bike and could only see his top half. And he was admirable in size - one huge mother fucker. He was solid, ripped, just a giant. Then he walked out from behind a machine and started to calf raises. Well it must have been his first day doing calf raises, but no, it looked like today was "legs day." Must have been that one day this year. My wife said he looked like a caricature of a man, a cartoon picture - Jonny Bravo style. All big up top, little bird legs below.

Why does this happen? Well the number 1 reason this probably happens is because training legs is hard and not done by these guys for fear of not being able to train those damn biceps, pecs, or triceps. The other reason I think this happens is because females, chick, girls, don't did legs on a man. Women, correct me if I am wrong. But I can count, on one mangled hand the number of times I have heard a girl look at a guy and say, damn, he has nice legs. On the others hand, I don't know if I can count high enough to indicate how many times I have heard: he has such great arms, huge chest, v-shape, etc. Quite frankly, it's an insult to the term "fitness training." I don't see these guys as being fit at all. Granted, they do look good. But that is not what fitness is supposed to be about. Maybe it demands another term - I know body building is the term, but that does not quite capture it, does it? I mean, my definition of fitness (outside of my evolutionary one, which means to reproduce) is to be physically fit. That means being able to do some athletic stuff. Maybe we should call it: Flirtness. I mean that is kind of what their training is for - to flirt.

So a little rant, but it irritates me because these guys walk around like they own the gym. It irritates me that other people look to them for fitness advice. They actually ask these dudes questions like: How'd you get so big? What's your training program? Etc. I mean, don't get me wrong I don't want anyone asking me about my training regime although I'd be glad to let them know. It just seems plain wrong.

So what about not training legs. I cannot even imagine not training legs. Here's a good link about leg training, which I summarize here. Legs are the very essence of your existence, assuming you walk on two legs and are not wheelchair bound. They stabilize everything from your movement to your bench press. Your legs are your roots. Imagine a tree with no roots. Now imagine trying to kick or push that tree over. It'd be pretty easy right. Now imagine your typical tree, with roots. Go try and push over a tree. If you succeed, I bow down to you, however, chances are you were unsuccessful. Tree roots are powerful. They are the essence of the existence of trees. Like your legs. I am not saying that I could have walked over and pushed over Flirtness Trainer mirror muscle max, but I bet I could have come pretty darn close if not for the sheer fact that he was top heavy.

Trees are hard!

<object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/JJAR1vjgJAU&hl=en&fs=1"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/JJAR1vjgJAU&hl=en&fs=1" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object>