It's been a few days since my last post. I was in NH with my family for a few days of snowboarding. For New England, the conditions were awesome: plenty of snow coverage, hardly any ice, and in the low 30's. Anyway, I'm going to the bullet point format for this post. Get excited.
- I didn't ask Santa for anything this year, but my parents got me some grilling equipment and an anatomy/exercise book. Yes, I'm that cool. They were thinking about getting me a pair of Vibrams, but I told them to wait until the spring. Along with Vibrams, I'm hoping to buy a new pair of flip-flops and a pair of Fat Gripz in the spring. I'm an admitted cheap bastard, but these are a few investments that are reasonable.
I'm not a "runner," but I plan to run in the spring and summer. I doubt I'll be running for training, but "Born to Run" and some of Matt Metzgar's post have inspired me to try running. Running has come under some heat from the HIT crowd as well as trainers like Mike Boyle for different reasons, but running is what humans have evolved to do and was crucial to our survival.
The Fat Gripz are, duh, for my grip. My grip is strong already, but it's one of those things where there's never too much. In wrestling, fatigue hits your grip and biceps first. I imagine high rep one arm dumbbell rows with the Fat Gripz are killer.
- After reading some articles from Leangains and Theory to Practice I decided to give a fasted workout a try. I've done 16-18 hourfasts before, but I would break the fast before physical activity. Today wasn't a "true" fasted workout, though; I had a scoop of whey 5 minutes before my workout. I went in not knowing what to expect, but the experience surprised me. I'm not sure if I felt better, but I didn't feel bad considering I hadn't eaten in 13 hours Here's my workout:
Weight jump squats 12's (12lb dumbbells in each hand) 5x5
Dynamic effort front squats 105 6x3
Front squat 175 1x2 - I felt I could have gone much heavier, but my form felt poor. I was feeling it too much in my lower/middle back and hardly at all in my legs.
Hip Thrusts 355 1x5, 375 1x5, 405 1x5, 425 1x5, 445 1x4, 215 1x20 - I've started using this exercise these last few weeks. I stole it from Bret Contreras' article on TMuscle and I'm still finding my limits with it.
Jason Ferruggia's barbell complex x2 - This was my first time trying it, so I used a 45 pound bar. I'll try to add more sets next time before weight. Warning: trying to do overhead squats is a bitch when you're gassed.
I walked home and proceeded to feast on a smoothie and a sweet potato with all the fixings. Good times.
After trying a fasted workout, here are my unscientific thoughts on fasted training. If you want scientific explanations, go to Leangains. Martin Berkhan >>> me. So why would fasted training be superior to regular training? Ignoring the detailed scientific answer, I would guess a fast of adequate (but not absurd) length tells the body "get food or die" and peaks certain "things" in the body in order to improve performance, allowing the body to survive. This logic seems to make sense, but it contrasts conventional wisdom and the growing focus on optimal pre-workout nutrition. This is a topic I expect to touch on more in the future, so I'll leave it at this for today.
- I just finished up "The Four Hour Workweek" after following Tim Ferriss for so long. The man is one hell of a self-promoter. As a 17 y/o, I'm not his target demographic for his book, but I still found it a worthwhile read. Some of his claims seem far-fetched, but applying his core principles could produce benefits; batching and the 80/20 principle are solid concepts I've read about before and have applied to my own life to varying degrees. It's also comforting to know that there's an alternative to working 40 straight years. I recommended it to my parents because they would have a better perspective on the book because it's message is intended for them. I'm also looking into some of the testimonials.
- I just started "Spark," the book about exercise, its in the brain, and its effect on well-being. So far, so good. The author came to my school two months ago and I've been wanting to read his book since. Chris has covered it a little on his blog, too.
- Maybe some more book reviews coming in the near future.
That's all for today. I'll be spending the rest of my Sunday like a true American: on my ass watching football.
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