Everything you need to know, right here
I posted this as a comment response elsewhere but I think it bears mentioning here too. Folks are always asking me, “I want to do X but also Y and Z and it’s not working and I’m getting discouraged.”
Here’s my answer: Throw all that shit out.
“Gain muscle” and “lose X lbs” and “run a marathon” and “do a million pullups” are all great goals but if you’re an average person who just wants to feel, look, and perform a bit better, it doesn’t fucking matter because you need to get into better overall shape and eat better, period. I guarantee it.
Throw all that detail shit out. Stop reading the goddamned interwebs and magazines. (Except me.) Stop distracting yourself with crap.
Then focus on this ONE goal…
Why Do You Lift? The Snow Day Edition
I lift to deal with life. I lift to deal with the fact that I have to go out and shovel a big pile of white shit in the cold without my spine going sproing or my arteries going gloop. I lift because I can care for others — my back is powerful enough to clear the snow for myself, and for my two elderly neighbours.
I lift because it reduces my chances of being trapped or falling. I lift because it girds my bones and my mind for battle.
But I don’t lift because of fear, or because the world is a mean place — I lift because of joy and the way it makes my body thrum with an achey aliveness.
And should the heavens see fit to vomit meteorological bullshit all over me, as they are doing today, I can clamp a figurative cigar in my mandible and snort, Is that the best ya got?
The Six BJJ Supplements that Really Work
Stephan Kesting of Grapplearts asked my opinion on what sports supplements are helpful for grapplers. Here’s my response. I also loved his caveats: in large part, supplements will not boost your athletic game. If you want to get better at grappling — or any sport — practice. Nothing replaces hard work and smart training. Yep, it’s a boring reality, but it’s true.
By the way, in case you’re concerned about vitamin D toxicity, in adults, toxicity results from supplementing something like 50,000 IU/day for several months. Possible in theory, but takes effort. 🙂
Also, to get doses of fish oil (not fish LIVER oil) that high, take liquid. No, it doesn’t taste that bad. Stop being a baby! We’ve given that dose to literally thousands of clients at PN, completely safely and with lots of positive effects. Butch up and get out that spoon.
Cassandra Forsythe on exercise and pregnancy
The lovely and talented Cassandra Forsythe has been running a series of articles on fitness during pregnancy. A PhD in Exercise Science and Nutrition who taught boot camps with a belly… now that is advice worth listening to!
Shaky man’s holiday message
A holiday update from Shaky Man. (Scroll down to Dec 2010.) Intense exercise wins again.
Strength training app for testing
Calling all techie (and non-techie) lifters to try out a PL app — StrengthLogs.com. Developed by an acquaintance of mine who’s looking for testers, it’s a web-based application for anyone who strength trains. It allows users to have a way to keep track of the most important aspects of their training, including day-to-day logging of every exercise performed, every meal consumed, and every measurement taken.
Give it a go and see if you can break it! Find the bugs! Enjoy!
BMI in NJEM – orly?
A new metastudy in the NJEM, which pooled data from 19 long-term studies looking at deaths from any cause found that a body mass index (BMI) between 20.0 and 24.9 is associated with the lowest risk of death in healthy non-smoking adults.
Previous studies weren’t able to predict specific health risks from being overweight/obese; this new study provides precise estimates of the increased risk of death among people who are overweight and obese, and exactly how much one’s risk appears to increase depending on BMI.
Currently, two-thirds of U.S. adults are overweight or obese. 17 percent of women are severely obese.
Healthy women who had never smoked and who were overweight were 13 percent more likely to die during the study follow-up period than those with a BMI between 22.5 and 24.9. Women categorized as obese or severely obese had a dramatically higher risk of death.
One thing to note here is that one needn’t be skinny/lean/Ms Sixpack-Abs to see improved health.
You can easily and dramatically improve your health outcomes simply by getting BMI in the “normal” or even slightly overweight ballpark as a result of good nutrition and regular activity. If you’re fit and your BMI is in a decent range, you can rest easy. If you’re unfit and that BMI is creeping up… you take your chances.
Over-90 and kicking ass
Olga Kotelko is considered one of the world’s greatest athletes, holding 23 world records, 17 in her current age category, 90 to 95.
Female athletes – the big picture
I’ve put up this famous SI for Women photo shoot before, but thanks to reader Tara, now you can enjoy the separate photographs as one long mural-style epic inspiration and reality check!
Why don’t you sit in this nice rocking chair, dear?
Oh, you poor middle-class menopausal thing! How weak and feeble you must be! How weary and arthritic your joints; how delicate your spine; how tremulous your grip. Here, have some gentle aquacise and Tai Chi. Don’t touch those heavy weights. Don’t challenge yourself. You’ll just hurt your spleen.
What exercises are best for menopausal women? The mainstream media weighs in. Bitches, please. My osteoporotic 85-year-old grandmother, whose crumbling spine has shrunk her to a 0.8 KU (Krista Unit; 1 KU = 5 feet), is out there dispensing justice to her garden with extreme prejudice and walking in bear country 90 minutes a day. She laughs at your stupid advice. If she had a squat cage she’d be busting out the buttprints on the floor, too, but she’s too busy smashing bears in the face with a shovel.
Sure, you probably shouldn’t be running marathons if your knees are jello, but c’mon. Oddly enough, this article appeared the day before. Run nun run!
