Tuesday, November 20, 2007

I didn't want to...

but I did it anyway. Finished work today at 7pm and as I was about to walk out the door I realized I hadn't done my training today. So I manned up and got to it. DS again, doing 10 min work sessions with 5 min rests. Today is the actual start of 4 wks on DS.
A1: High Pull ,24kg - 4/4, 4/4 , 4/4, 4/4 = 16/ 16 reps
A2: Split squat, 50# - 4/4, 4/4, 4/4, 4/4 = 16/ 16 reps

B1: Ring pullups, bw - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 = 24 reps
B2: Double MP, 2 x 16kg - 4, 4, 4, 4, 4, 4 = 24 reps

I plan on getting some pics tomorrow to chart my progress with my training program.

I just watched Batman - Dead End, this is a mini-film starring Clark Bartram as Batman, Clark was the model for Beyond Bodybuilding by Pavel. Pretty cool short.

I've been taking Calcium Lactate , cataplex A-C and cataplex F, this is the immune triad. Ionizable calcium in the blood creates a calcium wave which triggers phagocytes to attack bacteria. the F helps ionize the calcium and then C acts to boost the immune system. There are numerous medical studies which relate hypocalcemia to increased illness, yet since they can't sell you a calcium drug they don't see the relevance. This program and some Echinacea in the past has prevented me from getting sick. - side note, if your echinacea doesn't make your tongue tingle, it is lacking the active ingredient. I've been sick in Oct for the past few years. This year I have had the stress of working long hours getting into the new office, plus traveling to seminars and lastly camping out in 30 degree weather. Thus far my body has stayed strong in spite of all the stressors. I attribute it to the immune boosting triad.
Cataplex C is the whole C complex from whole food sources, not ascorbic acid. The ascorbic acid makes up less than 5% of the C complex. It's antioxidant properties are only to protect the actual components of the vitamin. It is not the vitamin itself. Below is a picture of the vitamin C molecule. It is the P , K and J factors which prevent scurvy. Ascorbic acid will not cure scurvy which is a vit. C deficiency.

Friday, November 16, 2007

DS II

Now that my schedule is getting back to normal and I have a gym set up at the office I am giving the Dreadfully Strong routine another go. I didn't stick with it that faithfully the first time. Today started out with an abbreviated version.
A1 - high pull 24kg , 3/3 x 4
A2 - split squat 50#, 3/3 x 4
this was done in EDT fashion alternating R A1 with R A2, then A1 L / A2 L for 7 min.
5 min rest
B1 - pullup bw +10#, 3 x 6
B2 - double MP , 16kg kb's , 3 x 5
again 7 min time period

Yesterday while my office manager was doing swings on a :15 on/ :45 off cycle I decided to follow along with pullups and chinups, alternating grips between sets. 5 reps the first 2 sets, 4 the next 3, a set of ring pushups, 3 reps the next 2 sets and another set of pushups.
Later did bottoms up C & P with 16kg, 2/2 x 2
I could feel all those pullups by the time I finished todays training

Sunday, November 11, 2007

I'm in love with Col. Wilma Deering

I started watching some episodes of Buck Rogers in the 25th Century today. I had the biggest crush on Erin Gray. Now I remember why. She was smokin' hot, as were several of the ladies that made guest appearances. They just don't make women like that anymore.
On another note, I am amazed at how effective "the party" methods of training are. For those who don't know I'm referring to the information put out by Pavel and the folks associated with DragonDoor. I have done very little training recently yet I am still able to press double 24kg bells and do pistols with a 20# bell. And yesterday I decided to attempt to power clean a BB that was 135# (a lift I've never really tried with a BB). Actually a bit to my surprise I did it. The form wasn't the best and if I were to practice that lift I would use a much lower weight to become proficient. But it went up and I didn't hurt myself. So thank you Comrades Pavel and RKC instructors for your informative products and a superior training style. Imagine what would be possible if I was consistently consistent with my training.

Wednesday, November 7, 2007

Fun fact

Growth Hormone, GH is a fat burning hormone which also stimulates muscle growth and supposedly has anti-aging properties. It's release is stimulated by short intense exercise , such as kettlebell training, and also by deep sleep. Several of you probably know this already. But what is new to me and maybe to you is that sugar, as little as is in 3 oz. of juice, consumed either before a workout or before bed can suppress the release of GH. This is sugar in any form, either the fructose in juice or the glucose in candy, sports drinks, etc, or lactose in milk. So if you want to get the most GH release then avoid carbs an hour before your training session and an hour before bed.

Today I played around with a little training, split squats, 50# (25 + 25) , 5/5 x 2, though the break was really long. Renegade row , 24kg kb x 5/5 , medicine ball slams , 12# ball.

Monday, November 5, 2007

Your Supplements are killing you

I just returned from a nutritional symposium this weekend which really changed the way I view nutrition. To illustrated just how monumental this was I'll use a couple examples. The year is 1490 and you and your sailor buddies are sitting in the pub enjoying some ales when someone says, "you really need to hear what this Chris fellow is saying, he claims he can sail around the world and not fall off the edge". Or it's 161o and you are going to your astronomy class and your classmate says "come to this off campus lecture, some Galileo fellow is teaching that the earth revolves around the sun". Are these bold statements, Yes! . Did they violate conventional wisdom, again, Yes. Were they correct and observe the physical laws which govern this planet, You bet.
Now you are probably wondering what I'm talking about. Well let me start by asking a question. What is the most important nutrient? The one we can't even live 10 mins without? Oxygen you say, well you are correct. So how does it make sense that an anti-oxidant promotes health. Antioxidants push oxygen out of the tissues causing your cells to suffocate. Free-radical pathology has never been demonstrated as a valid scientific theory. It got it's start out of X-ray radiation studies in the '60's. In fact, oxidation is the method by which our immune system destroys pathogens and cancer cells. Studies demonstrate that antioxidants reduce our ability to kill cancer cells. And here is the real kicker. A meta-analysis (a study of studies) published in JAMA, Feb. 2007 , comprised of 68 studies and over 200,000 participants showed that the groups that took antioxidants had an increase in "All-cause" mortality. For those in Rio Linda, this means that the ones taking supplements died sooner and more frequently from everything, heart disease, cancer, etc. Most of these studies were done by folks trying to prove the benefits of antioxidants. Anyone interested can contact me for a nice long list of double-blind, placebo controlled studies published in peer-reviewed journal.
The antioxidant protects the vitamin, it is NOT the vitamin. It's like going to the bank and thinking the guard or the alarm system is of value, not the money and gold locked in the vault.
I've believed for several years this idea that antioxidants only made a small portion of a vitamin but only now do I actually believe that large doses of fractionated nutrients can actually cause damage. I could go on and on about how most of this misinformation comes out of rat studies where ascorbic acid is actually vitamin C to a rat but that in humans ascorbic acid won't cure scurvy which is a C deficiency. Or about B1 not working without B4 to correct heart murmurs or nerve damage. Haven't heard about B4? that's because they can't synthesize it in a lab. I'll cut that short though because it would take up too much space.
So am I saying you don't need supplements? No, we all need them because they just aren't in food anymore and even if they were, we are exposed to increased levels of stress and toxins which deplete our bodies. What you do need is a supplement that is based on whole food concentrates that haven't been isolated and have been raised in nutrient rich soil and processed at low temps to preserve the nutrients and enzymes. One such company is Standard Process.
I am now convinced that 95% of the nutrition products and their advertising is pure junk and that almost no one knows what they are talking about when it comes to nutrition and diet. So whatever super miracle pill of the month you are taking is probably not only a waste of your money but it is potentially shortening your life and no matter how healthy you think you are eating you are probably mislead by some fancy marketing ploy. If you want to know about real nutrition read the works of Royal Lee or Francis Pottenger or Weston Price, or if you want something a little newer, but still the same old info that was discovered by the aforementioned folks, check out William Wolcott or Sally Fallon or Jordan Rubin.
Have I made some bold statements, yes. Has what I said follow the laws of physiology and biochemistry, yes. Has it been demonstrated in study after study, yes.
So do yourself a favor and throw out all your supplements, it might just save your life.