The road to weakness is paved with good intentions

Despite the best intentions I only trained on Monday last week. So yesterday I was back at it and feeling the lay off.

Toe touch, leg lowering, thoracic rotation with arm sweep.

Get-ups - 46.5# globe BB, singles for 5/5 total. Didn't do these for time. This thicker bar and long bar really fries my grip.

Pullups - bw x 2 reps per :30 x 10 ; last set was only 1 good rep and a partial. 19.5 reps total

Arm bar - 16kg x 1/1 x 3

Lessons from Rocky IV

Sitting here watching Rocky on Christmas day and observed a few good tips from his training in Russia.
Thick-bar training both on pullups and presses using a wagon.
Rotational training - chopping wood and a chop/twist pulling a bag of rocks.
Sled dragging
And though they didn't show him drinking raw milk, they showed a cow being milked so you can guess he was drinking this high quality beverage.

A new experiment

Over the weekend I came across something called "oil pulling", which involves swishing oil in your mouth sorta like a mouthwash. It's an old practice and numerous,"miraculous" results have been attributed to it and some unlikely mechanisms explained. But Bruce Fife has a more believable explanation, that the oil removes bacteria from the mouth. Research on root canals find that bacteria from the mouth can find their way into other parts of the body and cause dis-ease. So I figured I'd give it a try and see if it improves my health. It sure can hurt anything and it's basically free. Swish 1 TBS oil in your mouth for 15-20 mins. Dr. Fife recommends coconut oil because of it's other health properties. More traditional approaches recommend sunflower or sesame oil. I'm using coconut, because that's what I have. I'm on day 3. The oil is worked around the mouth, tongue and squished through the teeth. Then spit out, so as to expel the bacteria it has gathered. Further details found here as well as links to an interview with Dr. Fife.

Fine Dining

Today's training.
leg lowering and toe touch, thoracic rotation and R-phase
Swings: 24kg , on the minute for 10 minutes. 6 reps/min

Bent Press: 46.5# 1/1 x 5

came home and made a delicious dinner.
Pasture-fed beef tenderloin seered to perfection, oven-roasted asparagus with a balsalmic butter sauce, washed down with a frosty Boddington's pub ale and topped off with some dark chocolate truffle. It doesn't get better than this.

juggling act

Finally got 3 days of training in this week.
Today was get-ups and pullups again so I decided to add some variety by way of intensity and endurance.

Get-ups : 16kg 3/3 x 2 , focused on good form with crisp movements and trying not to let hip flexors take over.

Pullups : 5 singles with bw + 16kg

that's it because I had to go see my new niece.

Gotta stop slacking

I've only been training 2 days/wk. Time to get back on track with 3 days.
Today-
get-ups: 46.5# x 4/4 in 6 mins - added a total of 1.5 and it made a big different. I was really feeling it.

pullups: 2 every :30 for 5 mins, total 20

working on 1/2 deck of cards

Good Calories, Bad Calories

The above is the title of a book by Gary Taubes. I just recently learned about this book and haven't had the opportunity to read it yet. I understand it is quite lengthy and goes into great detail and contains 200+ pages of references. The premise is what I've been saying for a couple years. Weight loss has very little to do with calories in vs. calories out. Watch his presentation on the material and decide for yourself in this hour long video. I would love to hear what you think about this. For additional info along these lines check out "7 Principles of Fat Burning" by Eric Berg, any book by Diane Schwarzbien, or even ole Doc Atkins himself. It's about using food and the proper exercise to manipulate the hormones that regulate fat storage and fat burning.

Another nutty fact

Got back from spending the weekend learning about vitamin complexes from Dr. Michael Dobbins. He did a great job explaining the history of vitamin discoveries and how we have ended up with the misinformation we have in the field now, and really delved into the biochemistry of it all. I can't wait for his presentation on the minerals.
So here's your nut fact of the day. 4-5 Brazil nuts per week will supply all your selenium needs.
Now on to the training. warm up of toe touch/ ball squeeze and thoracic rotation.
Get-ups with globe bar 45# , 6 mins, alternating total of 5 per side
pullups - bw on rings, 5 mins, 20 total ; sets of 3's and 2's
BB finger rolls x 15 and 10 superset with wrist extension 15 and 10. My forearms felt like they were going to pop.

Crispy Nuts

No, this is not the story of Jack jumping over the candlestick. It's a recipe.
Nuts... delicious and nutritious. Nuts are a great source of minerals and fats. Pecans and almonds are higher in the stable monounsaturated fats. Though these compact snacks are great to eat on the go, they also contain a variety of enzyme inhibitors. If you eat a couple here or there it's not a big deal but if you eat them daily it can become more of an issue.
So what do we do, we soak our nuts in salt water. Ah, nothing like a nice swim in the ocean. Oh, sorry. back to our recipe. If you eat nuts frequently such as people on the Warrior diet or a Paleo diet this makes them more digestible and releases additional nutrients. Soak a cup or two of your favorite nut in a jar of water and a TBS or 2 of sea salt overnight. Then drain, rinse and blot dry on some paper towels. Put them in a dehydrator for 12-24 hours ( or an oven set no higher than 150 degrees). My dehydrator is an American Harvest from Walmart and takes about 16 hours.
You are left with a crunchy and healthier version of an old favorite.
This is also great for making nut butter. Almond is one of my favorites, even better than PB. Add nuts and some salt to a food processor and grind into dust. Add a TBS or two of coconut oil and blend until creamy. This could take 3-5 mins.
If you are using almonds, a skinless version is even healthier.

Enjoy!!

Another quiet night in the gym...

Just me, Pandora and some metal.
Swings - 16kg x 8 on the minute x 10 mins. This was plenty of recovery time, will do 10 reps next time.
Bent Press - 45# in the globe bell. 1/1 x 5
this barbell is a totally different animal than a kb or an Oly. bar. much more challenging.
Leverage block plate curls x 5/5 x 3

New month, new program

get-ups - warm up 8kg 3/3 focus on form, up lunge style, down overhead squat style.
5 min with globe barbell loaded to 45# alternating left and right, 4/4 total. Hope to get some pics of the barbell this week, it's sweet.

pullups - bodyweight on the rings, 5 mins - total 18

barbell finger rolls 95# x 15; x 10 , superset with wrist extension sets of 10.