Rant 53 November 2009: Swhiner baby
Hey! Apparently there is this thing called swine flu! And we are all going to die horribly from it! Instead of the Four Horsemen, the apocalypse will be wrought upon us by the Four Pigmen, who will arrive in a burst of porcine glory astride their mighty oinking and snuffling steeds!
Which Squat Helps Your Beatdown More?
From Stephan Kesting’s Grapplearts newsletter (no URL, so I’ve reprinted):
Re: the five most useful weight training exercises to develop a killer kneebar: “It’s no coincidence that the very first of those exercises is the barbell squat. If you can only do one weightlifting exercise then it should probably be the squat – it’s a great exercise for your legs, and the legs are so very important in jiu-jitsu and grappling….” [clicky to read more]
Toronto Olympic weightlifting workshop Nov 1
Ever wanted to learn the Olympic lifts? Then come check out the Sunday Nov 1 workshop at Bang Fitness!
Cleans!
Jerks!
Snatches!
Other things that sound dirty but aren’t!
Hosted by the guy who taught me how to hoist the bar when I was but a wee weakling. (I’m still wee but at least I’m less of a weakling.)
For more information and registration go to BangFitness.ca
I don’t know what this Twit thing is but the kids are crazy about it
Continuing my habit of being on the trailing cusp, I’ve finally joined Twitter. Find me at @stumptuous. I am only grateful that I beat my dad to this. (I’ve distracted him temporarily with the challenge of downloading a PDF file.)
Bodybuilding Professors Outmuscle the Stereotype
As an assistant professor of philosophy at Washington and Lee University and a professional bodybuilder, Melina Bell is used to people judging her body of workâand her body.
Guess which form of scrutiny gives her the sweats.
“When I’m standing up there all tanned and flexed, I am free of anxiety,” she says. “It’s when I’m presenting a paper that I start to feel exposed.”
Yeah, somehow excruciating physical effort STILL sucks less than a university job interview.
Full article, with photos and interviews with heavyweights Anne Bolin, Leslie Heywood, and Jan Todd
The Vegetarian Myth
Conscious eaters ask themselves how to eat ethically. Or how to live in good health. Or how to care for the environment. Lierre Keith has tackled all of these questions throughout her life. Like many people, she assumed that being vegan was a good way to implement her desire to care for her health, animals, and the environment. She diligently followed a vegan lifestyle for two decades. Then, she writes, her body gave out. Wracked with pain from a degenerative spinal condition; with insulin whiplash; with depression and cognitive problems; and with plain old hunger — all of which, she says, were caused by twenty years of self-imposed malnutrtition in the name of ethical eating — she knew she had to change.
Anti-obesity ad shocks New Yorkers
Hard to imagine New Yorkers can be shocked by anything, but whatever. A glass of thick, yellow human fat, marbled with blood vessels, is the latest weapon in America’s war on obesity…
Flu shots and danishes
Great little “WTF” post by KB queen Pamela McElree. Mandatory flu shot, mandatory sugar menu.
Why crystal meth lattes are bad for you
An important piece from Mike Mahler below, about stimulant use.
He confirms my own longstanding concerns about stimulant use in the fitness/nutrition population. (Thus he must be right. Ha ha!) It seems like every “serious” fitness type is jacked up on something, all the time. In the past I’ve used ephedrine and allowed my caffeine intake to drift up to something like 300 mg daily. DO NOT RECOMMEND.
‘Cause here’s the thing about stimulants. They do not “give” you energy. They BORROW energy from the future. Energy doesn’t come from nowhere. (Cf. Laws of Thermodynamics.) (Clicky to read more…)
Scooped again: NYT on Vitamin D
As usual the New York Times steals my ideas. (Hee!)
This one is particularly interesting for youse guys as site readers because it discusses the role of Vit D in athletic performance.
One of the important things to remember is that athletes typically need more nutrients than the average couch sloth. Thus, an intake that would be entirely adequate to prevent malnutrition in Jane Sixpack (the beer, not the abs) would be INadequate in Jane Sixpack (the abs, not the beer). Indeed, we don’t just want to prevent malnutrition; we want the body running at optimal condition.
So, if you’re active regularly, you may indeed need to supplement your diet even if you are already eating well.