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.
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
I’ll be doing a special class on Tuesday January 14that 7 p.m. on “Fighting Sugar Cravings.” I’ve done this one in the past and had good results. Free to members, but $15 drop in for guests. I am limiting this class to a max of 10 people, so let me know if you’re coming. Here’s a link for guests to sign up:
Some of you may have seen this article floating around about fake meats and hormones. Soy is a hormone disruptor. It’s not a simple process by which that happens, but it does have an estrogenic effect. Estrogen Burgers
Here’s an interesting article on getups:https:Old Time Getups
To study nutrition, you have to be able to read past mainstream news headlines and read up on the studies those news stories come from. One thing you’ll find is that the reliability in nutrition studies is all over the place, sometimes just about worthless, and people that try to point out some of the flawed and biased information (i.e. fat is bad) are fighting quite a battle. This article points out an example of that. Nutrition Studies
Training is like medicine, and that means “the dose makes the poison.” Don’t give enough, and nothing happens; give too much and it doesn’t help much either. How Much Exercise Needed?
A lot of what Dan John has done in training is close or almost exactly what we do at IKSC. Trust me, it is more overlap than me copying what he does. I’ve never read one of his books, but have listened to a few interviews and read some of his articles. I’m glad I’m on the same page in many cases, as he is very respected. Dan John is Antidote to CrossFit
Video of the Week: This is exactly my strategy, as anyone who has attended my nutrition classes will acknowledge. Additionally, note that most of the nutritional interventions that have become popular in recent years have come from ancestral health and nutrition models refined for the masses.
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
It seems that the exercise and nutrition world looks like a battle of the studies at times. This is a good breakdown of how to look at studies for yourself, rather than just reading the headline. Reading Scientific Studies
“Super Accumulation Training” is pretty much what we do during things like the December Getup Challenge, and many of the programs we use. Basically, what we do is build the workload up to the point it is not sustainable long-term and then back off for a while and then repeat. Super Accumulation Training
This book is worth reading. Don’t be afraid of salt, especially if you are limiting carbs. Salt Fix Book Review
Note the doc featured in the article. Prof. Stuart McGill. FYI: He’s a huge fan of loaded carries. When I read articles like these, I can’t help but think that the fitness system they are largely looking for resembles IKSC programming. McGill on Crossfit
Video of the Week: Cutting through some of the “cardio” nonsense. Most of the workouts we do build mitochondrial density. It is an area that is just starting to have scientific support, but it has been used for a long time. I started taking advantage of this concept over 10 years ago because it just seemed to work.
The next lifestyle/nutrition class will be November 4th at 7p.m. I’ll be doing this class and it will focus on preventing holiday weight gain. I’ve done this one in the past and it’s always been one of the most productive ones.
This is an interesting new study that came out about military personnel stationed at different latitudes, their vitamin D levels, and depression. We don’t get enough natural sunlight in Idaho to absorb it naturally. I take 5,000iu all the time, and 10,000iu in the colder months. https://jissn.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s12970-019-0308-5
I haven’t tried this exact deadlift program. I’ve done similar ones and they’ve worked. It looks to be a very doable program without much that can go wrong as long as you are patient with it and don’t overestimate your starting points. https://www.t-nation.com/training/simple-deadlift-program
Here’s a good article unpacking the reasons why avoiding red meat is not advised.
Main points:
1) Evidence linking red meat eating and poor health is weak, conflicted, and/or non-existent.
2) Meat is the most nutrient dense thing you can eat.
3) Avoiding meat sets humans up for a variety of nutritional deficiencies. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/10408398.2019.1657063?
You will hear me harp on magnesium, vitamin D and zinc as being three things you should supplement with. We just don’t get enough from foods we eat and in the case of vitamin D, we just don’t live in a part of the world where we get enough sunlight. A good way to get these is by supplementing with 5-10,000iu of vitamin D3 per day, and then taking a product called “ZMA” which has zinc and magnesium. https://www.ergo-log.com/magnesium-rich-diet-reduces-mortality-risk.html
I don’t know who “noom” is, but this graphic is great. Please give them props for it. I would add that the trend chart should be for months or even years, and not just a matter of weeks:
This article is brings up the use of a paleo diet for MS, but understand that it also seems to help with other autoimmune conditions, such as eczema, thyroid conditions, lupus, rheumatoid arthritis, etc.
Years ago I started recommending this nutritional strategy for body comp and strength -which it works great for- but people with some of these problems told me about improvements in these conditions, so I didn’t argue with them. Good to see the idea is now widely accepted.
Here’s a good article on one of the programs a few of you are on for the squat and deadlift (including me). We modify it a little, and put a few IKSC touches on it, but here is the basic outline of 5/3/1. https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/531-how-to-build-pure-strength
Video of The Week:
Another one by Dave Feldman. I was lucky to be there for this lecture. Takeaway point is that your cholesterol readings can change daily, so your reading from a blood draw every several months may not tell you as much as your doctor says it does.
Video of the week. This is a few years old, but it one of the best breakdowns of what goes on when you switch from using carbs for fuel and transition to using fat, or “go keto” as everyone likes to say now. It is also a reason why using things like urine strips are not that reliable. With all the faddish ketogenic diet stuff out there now, I try to think those of you at IKSC are at a little higher level of understanding on this topic. This is worth taking the time to sit down and watch.
Got some good links and a video that will really get your brain engaged.
Remember, I’m doing a nutrition class at 7p.m. Monday the 20th. Bring a guest if you want.
IKSC Weekly Link Blast May 16, 2019
It is not if, but WHEN, a diet that is not in keeping with our ancestry will produce negative health consequences (sometime between 30-50 years old for most of us, depending on how lucky you are). We can adapt to a modern, agricultural diet for many years, depending on how lucky you are, but at some point we lose that ability to adapt and issues crop up. Here’s a lecture worth your time:
Exercise science is very imperfect. Many times what is found is simply confirming what people have been doing via “Broscience” for decades. This study is no different, and the reason you don’t see “isolation” training very often at IKSC and even then, after using a big, compound movement. Example: We don’t do many bicep curls, but when they are programmed, it is after a bigger movement like pullups, ring rows, bent rows, or carries, which also involve the bicep. The adage “don’t major in minor things” comes to mind. According to this study, single-joint exercises might not even be worth the trouble at all. http://www.ergo-log.com/anabolic-steroids-single-joint-exercises-training-routine.html
Vegetables are a good thing, right? Like anything, you can get too much. The topic of oxalates is almost never discussed. This is another reason not to “juice” your foods. https://jevohealth.com/journal/vol2/iss3/4/
