I hope everyone is enjoying their holiday weekend. There’s no Q&A today, but here’s what’s on this week’s agenda:
PR Friday: Post your training updates and PR’s to the comments.
Thanksgiving Weight Gain Challenge: Post your videos to the comments. Everyone else start rating them on a scale of 1 to 10.
Movember Fundraising: The fundraising effort hasn’t raised much money in the last week (we’re at $3,701 total). There are literally 36 team members who haven’t raised any money whatsoever. What the hell is that? C’mon people, ask around and raise a little money.
Today’s Thanksgiving is an American holiday that is associated with a large feast, football festivities, and generally being thankful. The original holiday didn’t exactly work out like that, and the puritans didn’t dress like Gordons all the time, but it’s too boring to discuss. Instead, let’s talk about the Third Annual 70′s Big Thanksgiving Weight Gain Challenge.
Before we discuss the rules, I want to point out that anybody who is aiming to eat clean today is a boner-faced gremlin. If you’re the type of person that makes everyone switch restaurants because a spatula may have gluten on it, then you need to go play in traffic keep your trap shut before one of us puts our foot in it. Unless you have celiac…in which case you shouldn’t eat bad stuff because nobody wants you splatter pooping all over their bathroom.
Rules:
1. Weigh-ins must be recorded on video with a valid time source. Since you may not have a scale to use at a relative’s house, there is no time restriction on when the weigh-in needs to occur.
2. The same scale must be used in both weigh-ins with the same attire or clothing. Don’t get naked; we don’t want to see your hairy dong.
3. Be concise, but try to be funny. Don’t make us sit through 3 minutes of labored breathing.
4. Upload videos to YouTube with a title of “70′s Big Thanksgiving – (Name)” with (Name) being your name.
5. Link the video to the PR Friday comments. Entries close when Sunday ends.
Failure to comply with any of these rules will result in disqualification from the contest and awarding of the Expert Shoveller’s Badge. To get an idea of what to do, review last year’s entries. Categories are “Absolute Weight Gained” and “Percentage of Body Weight Gained”. There may be a “Funniest Video Award” if someone is actually funny (this means you criedthefox).
Edit: This weight gain challenge is supposed to be accomplished by eating a Thanksgiving meal.
70’s Big wishes you and yours a wonderful Thanksgiving.
Tomorrow will be the 70’s Big Thanksgiving Weight Gain Challenge. To clarify, submissions will consist of pre/post weigh-ins (on film) and extra points will be awarded to funny stuff. Be sure to check tomorrow’s post before filming (it’ll post at midnight).
Meanwhile, the friends at 70’s Big are all training well. Chris and Mike are getting ready for another strongman competition and AC is pressing his wang off. The fourth video are outtakes from USAPL Nationals and was fair at best amusing.
AC presses 270×2:
Mike squats 600 for the first time (decides not to double it after starting the second rep):
Chris continental cleans and push-presses 310 and 320:
I’m here to lift you up, overhead in a pressing movement, to protect you from harm. And that harm comes from a formidable opponent. One that will belligerently scoff and argue with you until the end of time. That opponent is yourself.
Allow me to explain! Your sense of womanly propriety is going to kill your squat! No, I don’t mean putting a strap on your boobs (link is unbelievably safe for work) or wearing makeup — I mean crossing your legs and wearing high heels!
I once coached a girl who could barely squat or bend down without her knees touching each other. She had learned to keep her legs together because it’s the “womanly thing to do” when wearing a skirt or dress. After all, a womanly woman doesn’t want to have a Britney Spears-like-hooha incident. The unfortunate result is that her muscles adapted to this chronic application of poor mechanics to the point of having non-existant external hip rotators, shortened groin muscles, a lack of hamstring musculature, and a lack of quad development. I’ve seen women who literally push their knees together as a brace for standing up in the same way that your grandparents use a cane.
These examples represent the extreme, but chronically sitting cross-legged or with the legs together will probably create some muscular limitations. For example, one of the regular female 70’s Big readers once lamented how her lack of mobility in her internal hip rotators (the groin area) was inhibiting her split position in the jerk; I could see this being caused by “womanly sitting”. Merely standing up with the knees close together can also contribute to shortened internal rotators. The motion typically involves the knees pushed in and forward while the woman cantilevers her torso to push herself into a standing position with her knees; this completely removes the hamstrings and hips from the standing up motion. As a result, new clients or trainees may have a bit of trouble with exercises like squatting and will need to open their hips before training.
Combine dress-wearing etiquette with the likelihood of wearing high heels, and we have a situation that would make Kelly Starrett’s head explode. The raised heel severely alters the mechanics of the entire lower body; the ankle is placed in severe plantar flexion to change the force application on the foot, and force easily reverberates up into the knees, hip, and back. Woman know this is occurring because high heels are uncomfortable, yet they wear them anyway.
If the discomfort of wearing high-heel shoes were not enough, try this on for size: The point of a spike heel worn by the average-sized woman is subjected to nearly 2,000 pounds of pressure per square inch with every step she takes. The force is shot into the heel and reverberates up the entire body. When air travel was in its infancy, women wearing high heels were actually prohibited from boarding airplanes because the heels of their shoes might pierce the thin metal floors.
Yikes. Not only do high heels put a lot of force on structures that weren’t adapted to handle the stress in that manner, but they also shorten the calves — an area that is almost always in need of “opening” for improved mechanics in lifting and athletics. Whether you’re planning on squatting, running/sprinting, snatching, cleaning, or jerking, making the calves tight will only be counter-productive.
What’s a girl to do?
Am I suggesting that you not wear skirts or heels? Absolutely not! What I’m actually saying is this: TAKE YO SHOES OFF AND SPREAD YO LEGS — WHOOOOOOOOOOWEEEEEEEEEEE!
Man, I really wanted to end the post right there. But I need to clarify my advice so that all of you don’t take it literally and emulate Paula Broadwell. ZING!
Okay…c’mon guys…focus.
No, I’m not saying that you shouldn’t wear dresses or heels. But, when you do wear skirts or heels, know that you’ll have some extra mobility work to do on the structures you shorten. You can also help yourself by avoiding this attire on days when you are plan to squat or Olympic lift, especially if you’re going heavy. While wearing a dress isn’t a big deal — especially if you’re diligent with mobility work — it’d be a good idea to limit the frequency of wearing heels in a week. Those gals who change from tennis shoes to heels as they arrive at the office have already figured that heels are inherently bad. You could even save the heels for a special occasion, like those times when you want to seduce a four star general.
Crossing legs and wearing heels won’t destroy your training, but doing so regularly without extra mobility attention will result in chronically tight structures. The result could be injurious, but it will most likely result in inefficient lifting technique. Figure out what’s more important: training or looking good at work. And if it’s the latter, then get working on that mobility like you’re working on a rousing biography.
The 70’s Big Movember Network (including other countries) has raised $3,263 at the time of this writing. That’s purdy good, but we’re right after the halfway point in the month, and the goal this year was to raise $8,000. The approach this year was to ask as many of you to join the team as possible, and get as many donations as possible. It seems obvious, but there are about 30 members on the team who haven’t raised any money at all. Just ask your family and friends to donate $1 — literally one doll hair. If you accumulate $10 total, that will be neat. Especially if you other guys reading this join the team and raise your own $10. This cancer stuff can effect all of us; an old friend recently caught some early stages of cancer. Raising this money isn’t self serving; it’ll help people like him. Thank you for your time or effort in this fundraising.
I replied/answered to a few posts from last week’s Q&A.
Not a single fuck was given. (Pictured: Donovan Ford. Thanks to Brian for pic)
Q&A
Connor on November 4, 2012 at 12:22 pm said:
Justin, I thought this might make an odd, yet informative question/post. It seems that I’ve run into a problem that every man runs into: the roids…not the steroids, but the hemorrhoids. I have them and they’re really fucking up my workout schedule man. I really don’t know what to do about them, so I guess I’m going to go see Dr. Jelly Fingers in a couple of days to see what he says because this shit is unbearable (pardon the pun).
So these are my questions:
Does squatting and heavy lifting cause hemorrhoids? That’s what everyone keeps telling me and I deny it, but I really can’t attribute it to anything else. How should I go about my training until it gets healed? Squatting is pretty much out of the question when it gets irritated. Thanks for reading this man. I know it’s kind of a funny topic or whatever, but it’s serious man. I can’t, and won’t stop strength training, which is what I’m 90% sure the doctor will tell me to do. So what is your knowledge and experience on what to do in this situation?
Dear Connor,
Interesting yet probably relevant topic, indeed. Let me preface this with the fact that my hemorrhoids knowledge is limited; I haven’t had them more than half my life nor have I coached anyone that has had them. I did find this article and will point out a few things along with adding some other information.
Hemorrhoids are an enlarged vein in the anus, and they can distend outside of the body. Dealing with existing hemorrhoids includes:
– avoiding putting pressure into the lower abdomen when lifting (thereby pushing it in the bully or up into the closed throat)
– stay hydrated, eat healthy fats to soften the stool (to avoid irritating the hemorrhoids)
– don’t strain when pooping
– take a sitz bath
– don’t take over the counter anti-inflammatories
The article above points out that it’s still possible to train with hemorrhoids, but you obviously want to take care to not make them worse. In order to prevent hemorrhoids, I think the best thing you can do is progress into heavy lifting when you aren’t adapted to it. Irritating the blood vessels around the anus is the result of two possible things: a) putting excessive pressure in that region when lifting or b) increasing general blood pressure when you’re not adapted to it. To avoid putting pressure towards the B-hole, take a big breath, and then try to expel it through your throat and mouth, but close the epiglottis so that no air can move through your throat. When you do this, you’ll probably feel your abdominal muscles contract and pressure in your upper body increase. If you’re not used to this, be careful using it when you are actually lifting; it’s a bit different than merely taking a big breath and holding it.
Keep in mind that the adaptation to pressure increases will probably dictate forming or irritating hemorrhoids. The guy in the article above can squat and deadlift over 700 pounds without symptoms, but you may need to work to adapt to a work load near or at your max. Oh, and obviously don’t put large pressure stresses on them when they are flaring up.
QUESTION: During weighted chins I’m noticing that my right shoulder/chest touches the bar considerably earlier than my left side. I’m only doing barbell excercises – no dumbbell or other one-sided lifting work – and always check that I’m in the middle of the bar. What does it mean and how do I counter this problem? Is it muscle
imbalance or is my posture screwed up?
Dear patrick87,
I can’t say for certain what the issue is without seeing it. The likely culprits are a lack of mobility or poor posture. You could also have some strength or musculature imbalances. I’d try and figure out which of these you think it is and deal with it appropriately. In the mean time, try to touch both shoulders at the same time (you may have to cue the opposite side to lead the way).
First rugby game ever last night. We won, absolutely dominating what has long been considered the best team in the league. And the coach declared me “man of the match.” I haven’t felt so proud in a long time.
QUESTION: I have heard that NSAIDs can cause damage to the intestinal lining and tax the liver, but let’s be real now, after the beating I took last night, fish oil and mobbing aren’t going to cut it for getting me back into playing condition within a week, and definitely not enough to get me ready to squat on Monday. I know from past experience that NSAIDs have helped me get rid of problems in two days that fish oil and mobbing hadn’t solved in weeks. Is there anything wrong with taking ibuprofen for a day or two for a quick fix? If not, what are my options for getting myself healed quickly?
Note: I eat (mostly) paleo (I include dairy and potatoes fairly regularly) and take tons of fish oil and vitamins, and drink lots of water. The areas that are most hurt right now are my right shoulder and both of my quads. Last time I had tissue bruised this badly it took two weeks to feel better. I don’t have that kind of time anymore. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.
Dear newgetelqueso,
A few things. First, let’s look at pseudodan’s response to you last week. He alluded to the fact that strength training “wasn’t paleo” and such. This is referring to the “paleo lifestyle” bullshit that people talk about (which pseudodan is against; I just wanted to rant about this). Paleo is just the nutrition thing, because anybody that is not brushing their teeth or squatting to shit (at home) is an idiot. Trying to avoid the “Neolithic lifestyle” is not only stupid as shit, but it’s hypocritical unless they are out in the woods and they’d still be using their neolithic knowledge they picked up before trying to devolve.
All that being said, potatoes are fine when following Paleo nutrition (I’ll talk more about stuff like this soon). pseudodan mentioned you should be weary of increasing fish oil, and I agree if you’re already taking 4 or 5 grams of it. Otherwise you could increase it to that. I agree with pseudodan that acute intakes of ibuprofen and such is okay. But, now that you’re a real athlete who is getting his body smashed, you need to start looking into advanced recovery techniques, particularly methods to reduce swelling as fast as possible like compression, elevation, ice (“Should you use ice?” and “How should we ice, then?“), contrast baths (they pulse the lymphatics system as a whole), and some basic movement with compression (depending on the advancement of the injury).
I have a question maybe for next weeks Q&A maybe its an easy reply. I have been rehabbing from back surgery with The diesel crew back rehab protocol, easy way to sum it up is lots of bird dog, planks, bridges, dumbell RDLs, band good mornings, anti latteral flexion and rotation work, along with hip and thorasic mobility.I have been doing good working out 7 days a week for a few weeks, 5 days a week for a few weeksand now I’m nearing the last few weeks of the program at 3 days a week before going back to regular barbell training 3 days a week. I’m excited to have come this farbut I’m still dealing with a good amount of back soreness. I understand that what I am doing is going to cause soreness since I am trying to over come the last year of my back being a mess and doing nothing physical for it, but I am wondering if there is any strategy to improving tissue quality in my low back to help speed this up. I have had sucess in other funky areas using foam rollers, soft balls, lacrosse ballsand other tricks but I’m unsure of safe ways to do the same in the low back. I don’t have 1 spot injury pain, just a general soreness and tightness that you would get from working out. I am overweight and have already gotten my diet and supplements under control, I’m sure that will help greatly as time goes on. I also take no pain medications. Any recovery advice for this area would be greatly appreciated.
Dear Shawn Zep,
I think that your active approach to rehab is good, and don’t be afraid to continue it. If it doesn’t accomplish anything for a few weeks, then you will want to reconsider the approach. In general, I recommend that you stay active — especially because you say you’re overweight. If you aren’t walking daily, then I recommend that. In FIT, I talk about speed walking for 15 minutes several times a week, and this sounds like a good idea for you in addition to whatever rehab or lifting you may be doing (walking is also good rehab for the back).
I’m a big fan of rotational exercises and lateral spine stuff, and it sounds like that is present in your routine. It may be a bit early to lift, so try to incorporate some basic calisthenics if you can (squatting, lunging, push-ups, pull-ups, etc.). When you do start lifting, start with very light weight (the bar) and keep your normal rehab stuff in. Standard rehab advice is: do a little, see how it responds, then do just slightly more next time if everything is fine.
