I've been thinking more about glutes after some chats with Colin and also while reading Tim Ferris's new Four Hour Body book. I am realising more and more that under activated glutes are a big issue for me and lead to a bit of back pain.
A couple of good resources on this in addition to those I've pointed to previously:
Stuart McGill calls this inability to use the glutes "gluteal amnesia". The brain has literally lost touch with the glutes, so to speak. It could be that the psoas are "tight" and so it is a case of reciprocal inhibition. Or, the glutes are weak and so the psoas are tight. Heres the thing: It doesn't matter. Turn on the glues and solve the problem.
While part of me agrees with Rant that the social damage done by booze is way worse than that from cigarettes, smoking is still stupid.
This abstract caught my eye, noting that even at the level of mitochondria (the fascinating parts of cells responsible for energy production) smoking messes up your response to exercise.
More from Drew (whom I interviewed here) I like the quotes around 25:00. Marketing bullshit to make money is the standard thing in much of the fitness industry.
....... I described some of the things I’ve discovered by self-experimentation. Then I tried to say why it had been successful — why I had managed to discover such useful stuff. My conclusion is that my success came from the combination of four things: 1. Self-experimentation. Much faster, more flexible than ordinary research. 2. The Stone Age = good idea. I used the idea that our bodies were shaped to work well under Stone-Age conditions to choose what experiments to do. 3. Subject-matter knowledge. My knowledge of psychology, experimental design, and data analysis helped a lot. My weight-control theory, for example, was based on ideas from animal learning. 4. Freedom. I could do and say what I wanted. Most scientists cannot. They fear career damage. The combination of these four things is why my work was effective.
After my talk, a few people asked: Were you serious?
I think I have quite a bit in common with Anthony.
When I was 21 I was deep into Ayn Rand. I'd worked my way through The Fountainhead and then Atlas Shrugged, marking the passages that I found particularly inspiring....John Galt's long speech. I'd got there via Mike Mentzer - who had mentioned Rand in his interview with John Little. Also I had been quite into Rush and their songs Anthem ("Live for yourself -- there's no one else more worth living for.") , Closer to the Heart and the suite 2112 were inspired by Rand.
Well that was 22 yeas ago.....I'm still fascinated by exercise and philosophy although it is a while since I opened the Fountainhead.
Who is Anthony?
Anthony is the man behind the 21 Convention - a men's convention which while oringinally focussed on "pick up" has expanded into general self development. Last year, he had as speakers:
Doug McGuff MD
Mark Sisson
Drew Baye
Bill DeSimone
If you have been around this blog for a while you will recognise that I am also a great fan of each of those people. I have interviewed Doug, Drew and Bill while Mark has been a great inspiration. Anthony has great taste!
Each is a high quality presentation of about an hour in which the speaker goes into great detail about their subject .
Each does it with great clarity.
I've read Doug McGuff's book several times and also interviewed him but sitting through his talk here I really began to connect the dots and really "get" some of this more deeply than before.
Anthony has gathered together some of the greatest minds in exercise today. Each knows their stuff and - in their way - each stands against much conventional wisdom with some unique persepctive and integrity.
While I've been reading Art DeVany for years, I think that I have only just started to "get it" in some ways. His book has helped - I thought initially that it was too dumbed down but there is some real wisdom in there.
Doug McGuff has also been important especially the talk from the 21 Convention that has been made available from Anthony. I've posted it below. This talk is vital stuff. Take the time to watch it and think the implications through.
Anyway, I've been thinking back to my university courses in Economics. One of the key things that they tried to teach us in microeconomics was the idea that PRICES ARE SIGNALS. It is all abotu information. The market reacts to signals and prices are one of those signals. It is all about information and the signals that are being received.
This is something that comes through very much in Art DeVany and Doug McGuff. Your body reacts to signals. Everything you do provides information to your body:
how you move
how you eat
how you sleep
It is all about signals, information being given to which your body reacts, adapts.
What signals are you sending by how you eat or move? It isn't a workout...it is information you are providing, a signal to which your body will respond.
Another possible mechanism: the loss of beneficial compounds produced by gut flora feeding on plant foods.
With less fiber in the diet, there is less butyrate production - butyrate is beneficial. Apparently the high-protein low-carb low-fiber diet causes gut flora to shift to protein metabolism which causes release of toxic nitrogen compounds. Overall gut flora may become more pathogenic, less commensal.
Interesting.
In the last few months I have started eating more carbs. Sweet potatoes, potatoes and some tapioca. NO WHEAT, no beer, no bread. I have started to feel better - the grain free bit has sorted out my IBS - and am getting leaner.
Here are a couple of other apps for the iPhone that I've been playing with. Both are free:
The Gymboss Interval Timer - simple, flexible interval timer. There are some programmed intervals and also the option to set up your own. Basic, straightforward and it works.
IF Timer - a very simple timer that you can set up to time your fasting. Click when you finish your last meal and choose how long you will be fasting. It tells you how long you have left and how long the fast has lasted. Basic....you could use your watch.....but it was free! Perfect for Eat Stop Eat style fasts.
The designer of this one contacted me and offered me a copy of this app to review. Work has been really busy recently so I've not had the chance to, but I have soem time this afternoon, so I'll give you some notes.
With a neat interface, this little app provides a set of programs for you to play with in your training:
Strength Exercises
Basic Run Tracker
Push Up Counter
Weight Tracker
Custom Trackers
Unit Convertor
Interval Timer
White Noises
Blood Alcohol
BMI Calculator and Tracker
Stopwatch
For the money - £1.19 is nothing - you get some nice little toys to play with. My favourites are:
The interval timer - a basic set of intervals. Not very flexible but OK
The Pushup Counter - a simple one, but fun - stick the iphone under your face and as you do your pushup when your nose touches the screen it counts a repetition.
The blood alcohol calculator - works out how pissed you are!
The index of exercises is quite good too - nothing revolutionary, but a nice little reference.
It has been fasciting and inspiring over the last couple of weeks to read Jamie's updates from New Zealand. He has been living through the massive earthquake in Christchurch and the subsequent aftermath.
I wanted to highlight something he wrote today:
....that said however, as I reflect on the events of that and subsequent days, I can see a degree of capacity there that many didn't have. There was a lot of sprinting, lifting, and digging going on. I truly believe, that had I been anywhere in town that had required me to move objects, climb, jump, run, dodge, or weave, to get out alive, I would have backed myself to the hilt to give it the best go I could, simply because the training I do gives me that capacity. Several buildings had their stairwells separate from the building itself (some catastrophically). Could I have got myself down a couple of floors if I had to? Yes I think I could. I can jump gaps, lift objects getting on for twice my own mass, fit into tight gaps, crawl, climb... To me, that is stacking the deck in one's favour. I might not get out of every situation, but I would sure as hell try and wouldn't go down passively without a fight.
The base of all of this? Strength. At no point throughout the initial aftermath, and in the days after, did the ability to function at a high level of my maximum aerobic output have any use whatsoever. Strength formed the basis of everything I did. And it gave me a degree of confidence in everything I did.
Two important ideas there:
Skill - movnat style.Erwan talks about learning skills that will allow you to survive - run for your life, crawl etc. You won't survive on the basis of your elliptical trainer ability
Strength - is fundamental to all skills
This stuff - and all Jamie's writings - should give you pause for thought
This is an interesting one from the perspective of much of what I put up here: Sprints are more fun than endurance running. Too many people give up on exercise because it is boring
Abstract
The aim of this study was to objectively quantify ratings of perceived enjoyment using the Physical Activity Enjoyment Scale following high-intensity interval running versus moderate-intensity continuous running. Eight recreationally active men performed two running protocols consisting of high-intensity interval running (6×3 min at 90% VO(2max) interspersed with 6×3 min active recovery at 50% VO(2max) with a 7-min warm-up and cool down at 70% VO(2max)) or 50 min moderate-intensity continuous running at 70% VO(2max). Ratings of perceived enjoyment after exercise were higher (P < 0.05) following interval running compared with continuous running (88 ± 6 vs. 61 ± 12) despite higher (P < 0.05) ratings of perceived exertion (14 ± 1 vs. 13 ± 1). There was no difference (P < 0.05) in average heart rate (88 ± 3 vs. 87 ± 3% maximum heart rate), average VO(2) (71 ± 6 vs. 73 ± 4%VO(2max)), total VO(2) (162 ± 16 vs. 166 ± 27 L) or energy expenditure (811 ± 83 vs. 832 ± 136 kcal) between protocols. The greater enjoyment associated with high-intensity interval running may be relevant for improving exercise adherence, since running is a low-cost exercise intervention requiring no exercise equipment and similar relative exercise intensities have previously induced health benefits in patient populations.
As part of the Hillfit thoughts series one of the things I am thinking about is the problems we all get from sitting too much. This is an excellent video and approach from Kelly Starrett.
I'll be doing something about combatting the problems we all get from sitting.
I love Kelly's basic phlosophy:
Every human being should be able to perform basic maintenance on themselves. You know what to eat, how to train, and what to do if you have a cut; you should also know how to fix your tight hips, painful knees, and stiff shoulders, and how to make yourself faster and more powerful. It's too much to mobilize everything, all the time, everyday. Start somewhere.
