Great advice for things that will keep you training long and productively. One more that I’d add is don’t waste time on anything that doesn’t make you stronger. Principles to Change Your Life
The “Program Minimum” he refers to is basically getups and swings. Less is more sometimes. That is something that is very hard for people to get into their heads when deviating from the commercial “recreational exerciser” mindset into the strength and conditioning mindset that is required for really improving performance. Minimal Program for Fighters
I’m glad that Mark addressed this. The issue of fasting and thyroid comes up frequently. Fasting and Thyroid
Poor insulin-sensitivity and high blood sugars affect all hormone levels downstream. No surprise here that it would reduce testosterone levels. High Blood Sugar = Low T
Video of The Week: Anyone want to geek out on back stuff? Here’s your guy.
Sometimes the answer is simply asking yourself what is going to make you the happiest right now and tomorrow. Do less sometimes, but not so much that it causes more stress in the future. Do Less
Here’s something interesting about artificial sweeteners. We all know we’d be better off without them, but maybe they aren’t the worst thing either. Artificial Sweeteners
You’ll note that many of these vetted training methods look a lot like IKSC sessions. That’s partly because I’ve stumbled on to some of these methods through trial and error over a lot of years, and also because I’ve geeked out exercise physiology and training literature quite a bit and use that information in programming. Well-Proven Training Methods
American Diabetes Association CEO goes low-carb. Full. Stop.
Finally…about time these guys got with the rest of the world. I can’t think of how many times I had to argue with a client whose Dr. (or even the Dr. themselves) about the merits of ditching most carbs for someone fighting pre-diabetes or diabetes in the past 10 or so years. ADA CEO Goes Low-Carb
Good stuff to keep in mind. Not all these are set in stone. Things to unlearn
Pretty interesting stuff about the psoas muscle related to emotional state. Think about it: It’s the muscle that prevents movement when you are “frozen” like when you are afraid of heights and are getting ready to jump off a diving board or something. Psoas Muscle
Anyone who’s attended my nutrition courses should have most of these answers. It’s not that hard. 30 Keto Questions
I take about 500-1000mg after training and at night. Vitamin C supposedly reduces cortisol levels. Vitamin C
Video of the Week: Why we crawl the way we do. We are trying to restore and reinforce good movement.
For those of you working the 8×8 program, and reasons why this rep scheme shows up so frequently on the daily workout board as a general full body workout. It works. It has worked for a long time, and will predictably work in the future. I use it myself about once a year. 8X8 Training
This supplement combo does work, and you’ll find it in lots of preworkout drinks and energy drinks. Note that the amounts they used is ridiculously high. Caffeine and Carnitine
More on red light…from The Man himself, Robb Wolf. Red Light Therapy
Video of The Week: Train from fingertips to toes. These stretches might be good if you are forced to wear shoes or boots that aren’t friendly for work or if you’ve spent lots of years beating your feet up.
Thanks for everyone’s patience last week when I was away. The Original Strength cert I went to was pretty high-level. I was gratified to see that what I’ve been teaching was largely inline with what they taught. University strength and conditioning coaches, a neurologist, a few physical therapists, acupuncturists, and a bunch of other health and strength professionals were there. I was lucky to get in and I will be the only one in Idaho certified in that system. Like a lot of stuff we do at IKSC, we are ahead of the curve for the Boise area.
Kettlebell training, ancestral health and nutrition, and neurologically correct movement patterns have been baked into our training for years. Generally, we are about five years ahead of what goes on locally.
The eyes should lead all movement. Think in terms of proper human movement, not in “exercise land” where things are based on doing some gym exercise and not something that reinforces a proper human movement and proprioceptive response. This is essential for sports performance, injury prevention and strong movement patterns. The Eyes Lead
Until just recently, it was impossible for humans to exist without consuming animal proteins. It is only through global shipping and micronutrient supplements that people now have that option. Looks like Weston A. Price found the closest thing to a native vegan culture, though: Cannibals. No Vegans, Just Cannibals
The less carb-dependent you are, the longer stretches you can go between eating. Having to eat frequently is a sign something is very wrong. It’s not the way we are designed to operate. We are apex predators, not grazing animals. Low-Carb Makes Fasting Easy
Video of the Week:
Consistent with one of my philosophies of training. “Work the body from the tips of the toes to the fingertips.” This is what Gichin Funakoshi said of Karate training. Ask me about specific wrist and forearm mobilization exercises, if you want to add them in to your repertoire. My toes won’t do some of the things he shows here, due to destroying a few of them over the years in martial art.
Here’s a glimpse of the certification I’m attending this weekend up in Seattle. I hope to bring back some great tools to add value to what I offer to everyone at IKSC. Original Strength
Low-testosterone and a low-fat diet are linked, yet again. Don’t think that not getting enough animal fats aren’t a problem for everyone. Women don’t have as much testosterone as men, but they still have it, and not having enough creates its own set of problems. We need fats, especially good monounsaturated fats and saturated fats. Low Testosterone
I found this article pretty interesting. I noticed when I went full-on carnivore I’d have cravings for fermented things like kimchee and sauerkraut. Looks like there is a biological reason for this. A friend of mine that is an expert in nutrition initially told me that was normal. She was right. Fermented Food and Meat
More on soybean oil. Old news, really, but it is always good to reinforce. The more we learn about man-made foods, the more harm we learn that comes from them. More and more compounding evidence that ancestral nutrition is the way to go. Soybean Oil
Focus on making your last rep just as strong as your first, and train to be successful, not end in failure. This has always been a strategy for building strength. Looks like it works for building muscle size, too. The goal is to stimulate new growth, not annihilate yourself. Training to Failure
To burn more fat/fuel, build a bigger engine (muscle). You don’t necessarily need a bigger chassis to put a bigger engine in a car. Most of us won’t naturally get appreciably larger with increased muscle mass, but we’ll move a lot better with a bigger powerhouse and an efficient fuel system. Fat Loss Training
I don’t make blanket recommendations on probiotics. There is a lot we don’t know about the gut biome, and much of it is completely individual, based on genetics, medications, stress, sleep, life experiences, diet, disease history, etc., etc…. We just don’t know what we don’t know. You have to experiment with what makes you look, feel and perform better. That won’t be an overnight project. Probiotics
Video of The Week: Worth re-watching for some of you that may have seen this before. Perhaps even more relevant during these months of little sunlight. I’ve actually taken his advice recently and hit up a combination tanning and red light therapy bed for a few minutes about once a week. Placebo or not, I think it helps my mood and motivation.
Exercise and Brain Health: I suggest that it’s not just the complexity of the exercise, but the level of force exerted that affects how much brain matter you use during an exercise. Increased force production comes from greater motor-unit recruitment, faster motor-unit firing rates, and more motor-unit synchronicity. Meaning, the more force you produce, the more muscles and nerves your brain has to fire to operate the system. Your Brain Needs Exercise
You can include crawling movements in with the exercise described, but note they are often programmed in Level I versions of many of our sessions. I wouldn’t waste your time with them if I thought they weren’t beneficial. Bird Dogs
More on fat loss and lifting weights. Doing “cardio” for the sake of burning calories is pretty much useless. Fat Loss
You are not a slave to your genetics in most cases. Your genes might load the gun, but you decide whether to pull the trigger. Genetics and Health
You have to move in ways your body was designed to move if you want to train hard without injury. Everything we do at IKSC is designed to reinforce strong movements outside the gym in sport or daily life. Damaging Training
Tons of research has been done showing the potential harm of endurance sports and excessive cardio. It’s not just an anomaly when we hear of a youngish triathlete or marathon runner collapsing of a heart attack. Cardio Kills
Think about this next time you see someone pushing garbage fake meat. Fake Meat
Things you can learn from an exclusively carnivorous diet, brought to you with a little common sense from Mark Sisson. I vary from 90% carnivore to 100%. I still eat starchy tubers about once a week, and something I notice is I want more fermented things like kimchee, or saurkraut now and then, but one thing is for sure, it won’t hurt you to try this. I experimented with this first back in about May of 2018, after learning more about who Shawn Baker was and some of the superhuman things he could do. I think one of the main reasons people report feeling so good eating this way is because they were waaaaayy low on protein to start with and if all you eat is meat, fish, and eggs, you’ll get enough protein. https://www.marksdailyapple.com/8-things-we-can-learn-from-the-carnivore-movement/
