There have been some posts on what music readers like to listen to when lifting, but this one is the only one worth reading. As I’m typing this, I’m listening to Alice Cooper’s “Welcome To My Nightmare” — go ahead and click it if you want the full effect of reading this post (if you don’t like YouTube, go to Playlist.com and search it).

Music can help act as a catalyst for the release of adrenaline, but it can also have a calming effect. It’s incredibly useful to inject a mood when emotion and intensity are low. However, I do believe that music can be a crutch. It denies the necessity to learn how to get psyched up without it, and it also neglects learning how to get relaxed without it. Nevertheless, it’s very useful when training and drinking.



Personally, I’m not impressed with the majority of music. I hate most mainstream music and most types of music. I prefer obvious displays of artistic ability, and that isn’t found within pop, emo, U2, or Creed. Additionally, lifters stereotypically prefer metal that has a guy screaming with a horrible guttural noise that is sorta like, but not necessarily the noise I make when I vomit. Again, I’m unimpressed. That doesn’t mean I don’t like metal or any other type of music; you can go ahead and assume that I not only am unimpressed with your favorite bands or songs, but that I hate them.

Hell, who gives a shit what I think? This post isn’t about what I do or don’t like, it’s about what you like. Detail what your favorite type of training music is, and then what specific type of music or songs you prefer on your heavy or intense sets. To me, “training music” would be something that I would enjoy having on in the background during warm-ups or assistance exercises. That is a category that is different than what I consider “squat songs”, or songs that I listen to specifically for squatting really heavy. Post your favorites to the comments. Don’t hesitate to make fun of each other (it’s all in good fun).
(You can post YouTube links if you want, but remember that you can get better quality on other music sites like playlist.com)

I’ll go first:
Lately I’ve been in a gym that doesn’t have music playing at all, and I don’t use a music device. I psyche up without music, but last night I psyched up thinking about Led Zeppelin’s Achille’s Last Stand, which is an awesome ten minute tune with some intense guitar and drum pieces (and is one of my favorite songs overall). I’ve squatted to When the Levee Breaks by Zeppelin, I’m a Man by Chicago (the first album is solid, down hill after the early days), and most songs from Guns N’ Roses Appetite for Destruction album, namely Welcome to the Jungle, Nighttrain, and especially Out Ta Get Me. With the exception of Sweet Child O’ Mine, that whole album is solid. Most Led Zeppelin is, but I don’t enjoy their stuff that is overplayed on the radio and opt for the more bluesy stuff like Since I’ve Been Loving You, but it’s more for laid back training. Also, I really like Billy Idol for lifting heavy. I shit you not, Rebel Yell and White Wedding get me amped. Other than that, I like most upbeat classic and 80’s rock to have in the background of training. I haven’t heard much metal outside of 80’s metal, but I enjoy Metallica’s early stuff and Motorhead.

This weekend I watched Rio Bravo, starring John Wayne. The first memory I had of Wayne was at the movie ride in MGM Studios. The ride’s boat rounds a corner, and a mechanized John Wayne is sitting on a horse talking some kind of smack (Side note: I can’t remember if this was before or after the Lieutenant Ripley scene where she was against the wall, panting quickly when one of the aliens bursts out of the wall and scared the living shit out of me at six years old). I really hadn’t seen any of his movies either; they were before my time.

John Wayne injected the world with masculinity. His gritty determination and “take no shit” attitude embody what 70’s Big stands for. Whether dealing with sassy women or no-good, dirty criminals, Wayne is stern, gruff and righteous. If John Wayne was before your time, I suggest checking out one of his movies. Here is a preview for Rio Bravo. More on Rio Bravo:

A small-town sheriff in the American West enlists the help of a cripple, a drunk, and a young gunfighter in his efforts to hold in jail the brother of the local bad guy.

That description fails to mention a good lookin’ Angie Dickinson in her prime.

John Wayne was an icon because of his distinctive voice, walk, and size; he was bigger than most actors and in his movies he often dwarfs his supporting cast (especially when he’s busy hitting them in the face with the barrel of his rifle). His leathery face may not be pretty, but John Wayne is definitely a hard-ass.

What other historical figures embody 70’s Big?

Well, it’s the end of the week. And we were having so much fun! It’s PR Friday, so post your personal records, training updates, or whatever else to the comments.
Here’s a little round up.

1. Choosing not to do things that are optimal for strength, when strength is the goal, is an admission of not wanting to be strong. It also gives me the willies.

2. Alice Cooper is pretty awesome.

3. A lot of people got pretty butt hurt about something having to do with Paleo. It’s funny though, in my carb post, the word paleo was present only once, and it was in a quote where I asked Pendlay if his lifters “ate paleo”. I also don’t remember saying that carb sources should be unhealthy or superfluous. Oh, I know — I don’t remember because it wasn’t fucking there.

4. This website is not a place to maliciously bash other websites or people, specifically CrossFit. I realize that the stereotypical CFer is extremely irritating for many reasons (don’t worry, I agree). However, there are a lot of people involved in CF that are good people. I’ve met most of my good friends through CF, and have been to a lot of places around the country that don’t totally suck. Every now and then I’ll poke fun at the stereotypical crowd, and I don’t mind if you do. Just avoid the malicious bashing so that we stay judicious about it. Maybe this analogy will work: CF may be a culture that is weird to you, but it’s the “radical CFers” that give you the bad taste in your mouth. Don’t lay judgment on all of them because there are a few crazy ones.

5. Personally, I’m pretty weirded out at nutritional zealotry. Actually, I’m weirded out about any zealotry, but that’s neither here nor there. There are plenty of people who survived beyond 90 years old, and even into their 100s, who did not have “optimal diets” (which is a debatable phrase, but we aren’t going there). There are also plenty more people who die much younger and as a direct result of being unhealthy and fat. There are also people who are riddled with cancer without bringing it on themselves (no smoking, no over-fatness, etc.). We could debate these issues all day, but in truth nobody has a comprehensive knowledge to have a good say on the matter over another person (e.g. the bio-chemist lacks the perspective of the evolutionary biologist).

Here is a simple, yet descriptive exercise. Look at what the American government has recommended regarding nutrition over the past 50 years (quick search found this). Next look at the trend of obesity rate in that same time period (the graph on this page alarmed me as a teenager). It can be assumed that a) the increased carbohydrate recommendations, b) the availability of refined sugars, c) hypothetical laziness, d) lack of knowledge of what is actually healthy, and e) a decrease in physical activity of America (did a quick search on data for this, feel free to find it and post in comments) resulted in a really fat country. As a 15 year old, I was shocked at how Americans could be identified at Disney World because of how fat they were. In any case, shifting carbohydrates away from 60 to 75% of the diet to something that has all three macronutrients providing a similar share of the calories is a significant change to the government recommendations. I’ll point out that in my carb post, I suggested eating about the same amount of carbs as the protein.

I’ve been infatuated with asking older adults (more than 60 years old) who are in good health what they’ve done in their life to result in their healthy disposition. You know what the common denominator is? They have all been active throughout their lives. One simply cited cardio, another likes to climb mountains (big ones around the world), some lifted weights, and others were cyclists. I asked the mountain climber, “Was there ever a point in your life in which you weren’t active?” He didn’t hesitate to say no. He also didn’t go on and on about how his diet made him healthy. Nobody did. They are all folks who are in shape and have never allowed their bodies to be out of shape. The point is that they adopted an active lifestyle that was engaging enough to do it for years.

Since I was about 14 years old, I wanted to be a living testament that physical activity, not getting fat, and a moderately healthy diet would stimulate longevity. Staying strong and able into older age will be dependent on the vigor of an individual. What’s the common denominator among healthy 70 and 80 year olds? They still get around. They are still active, and have the strength to get on the go.

Strength alone isn’t enough, but if it’s compounded with invigorating activity and a decent diet over the years, most problems are eliminated. Yes, this website in particular doesn’t cater skinny guys who weigh 150 pounds. Their usefulness, self-esteem, and athletic prowess can increase with significant strength and muscle increases. Yes, instead of drawing out that process to a 3 year ordeal, it can be accomplished in six months of intense non-healthy eating. Again, I will (take the painstaking patience) to point out that I’ve never suggested someone eat brownies and ice cream every day for the rest of their life. Yes, when someone has significantly higher lean body mass, their nutrition demands to not only maintain that mass, but to also recover from hard training, will be different than someone who isn’t. Furthermore, the demands of a 170 pound guy to a 210 pound guy will be different (this example assumes both have low body fat). Lastly, if that 210+ pound guy doesn’t eat a similar amount of carbs to his protein intake, then he will not lift optimally (among other things, but they digress).

Once a guy wants to level out his body weight, he can begin the process of improving his body composition by cleaning up his diet. We say this on the site all the time. It’s just that compared to other websites, we rejoice in having more strength and muscle.

The body responds to stress — or a lack of stress — that is imparted on it. If you don’t exercise/train for years at a time, your body becomes soft and unadapted. Your neuroendocrine system adapts to a state of “not a lot going on”. Instead, regular exercise and training keeps the structures adapted and keeps all of that chemical and hormone stuff optimal. Nowadays, people want to over complicate everything. Just keep it simple. If you feel unhealthy, then figure out why and do something about it.

People say that being a competitive lifter/athlete and healthy are mutually exclusive. That’s not my belief. A competitive athlete has much higher phyiscal demands, thus they’ll have much higher fuel demands. I have this funny feeling that Dean Karnazes and Michael Phelps won’t be dropping dead at a young age.

Train hard, stay active, eat decently, and have fun. Or just shut up and squat.

70′s Big TSC

A lot of you need to sack up and compete in something soon. f you’re still on the fence, you are invited required to participate in the Tactical Strength Challenge this April.
Results will be submitted between March 25 and will end Sunday night, April 17 (there will be a sticky post up).

The events are simple.

1. Max deadlift. You get three attempts to find your max pull. Do it meet-style. If you make an “AC-jump” between your first and second attempt, there is no going back.

2. Max pullups. Dead hangs. No chinning (palms must face away), and absolutely no kipping. Kippers will be shot, killed, and then banned from posting here.

3. 5 min Kettlebell snatch test. You may set the weight down or switch hands as necessary. If you absolutely can’t find a kettlebell, use an equivalent dumbbell and mention that in your results.

The 3 major divisions are as follows:
Men’s Elite: 10kg weighted pullups, 32kg kettlebell (70lb DB)
Men’s Open: BW pullups, 24kg kettlebell (55lb DB)
You must make a minimum of one deadlift, pullup and snatch or you score 0 in the above divisions.
Women’s Open: BW pullups, 16kg kettlebell (35lb DB)

It’s worth noting that in the heaviest division, strong adult males have a significant advantage because pullup and snatch reps will be lower, thus deadlift contributes more of the final score. Everyone is encouraged to enter the hardest division they can complete. Novice and masters divisions are also available. Full rules and scoring are here.

Perform the 3 events in one session, and rest at least 15 minutes between each, even more if you have time. Perform the TSC and post your results by April 17 on the results sticky which will be up by the end of March. Get your friends that lift to complete the TSC with you and post their results with yours. If you don’t have kettlebells, dumbbells or cool friends there is a list of locations around the world that might be hosting a TSC on April 9. If one’s near you make sure to contact them ahead of time to confirm they’re still on for spring. They’re required to be free and this is a great way to meet lifters in your area and test the waters of competition.

For more info on the TSC, go here.
For past 70’s Big TSC results go here.
For kettlebell snatch instruction go here. (video was made private on youtube)

Thanks to Antigen for setting this post up.

Newsflash: insulin is the most anabolic hormone in the body. Anabolism is the process where smaller units are made into molecules. For our purposes in training, it means growth and recovery. You can not — repeat, NOT — get optimally strong without it.

When food is eaten, particularly carbohydrates, insulin will release to induce the cellular uptake of substances, particularly glucose (sugar) and amino acids (various effects on metabolism, but most importantly are building blocks of protein). The domino effect of insulin being released induces an anabolic state that is necessary for recovery. During training, muscles are damaged. The stress/adaptation process will not only repair the muscles, but repair them so that they have a higher threshold. The higher threshold culminates in increased strength (when on a proper program). Anabolism is an environment that is necessary for recovery to occur; if the body is wasting away in catabolism (the opposite of anabolism), it can’t help build the structures back up for recovery.

Neglecting carbohydrates dampens the anabolic effect of insulin. Since insulin is such a significant contributor to building the body, its volitional neglect is a decision that says, “I would prefer not to get big and strong right now.” And that’s just fucking weird, folks.

Carbohydrates aren’t the necessity for strength and muscular growth; protein and fat play significant roles in recovery. The point is that you need all three. Neglecting carbs has been a savvy thing to do lately. It’s a result of the demonizing on insulin. Well, guess what? If you aren’t lifting hard — training to get stronger and bigger muscles with compound movements like the squat, bench, press, and deadlift — then insulin is less critical. If you are sedentary or primarily do conditioning workouts — a training emphasis that induces adaptations in the cardiovascular/respiratory systems — then insulin probably should be avoided since it isn’t required for an environment of growth. Let me be clear: training only to get conditioned, by definition, isn’t stressing the body to grow and get stronger. However, someone who wants to get strong (with or without conditioning) will not only benefit from a growth environment, but will need it if they are going to be efficient with their time. It’s the intelligent thing to do.

I’m not suggesting you have giant carb meals to create an insulin response. People forget that exercise, particularly exercise that induces a state of growth (like lifting) will increase insulin sensitivity. Fish oil also increases insulin sensitivity, and most people that read this site are taking it. You won’t need crazy amounts of carbohydrates to induce a solid insulin response — unless you’re a Skinny-pain-in-the-ass-Guy. I do want to point out that “crazy amounts of carbs” is a relative thing since a lot of people are eating melons, berries, and pine tree bark as their daily carb source (it’s what Lucy ate, after all). Unless you’re a fat person — and you know if you’re fat or not — aim for a similar amount of carbs and protein. You should be eating significant protein compared to your sedentary friends (at least 1g of protein per pound of body weight, and guys need much more than that). Some research would indicate that it really doesn’t matter when you have that protein during the day, but you’ll feel better if eat it throughout the day. However many protein grams you’re eating, eat an equal amount of carbs. For the hard training lifter, that really won’t be a lot. But it is a fuck-ton more than what most of you are eating because you’ve been told carbs and insulin are evil like the Alice Cooper.

Of course you’ll be adding on plentiful amounts of fat along with that diet. Glenn Pendlay told our chat room last Tuesday that he considered fat (with plenty of cholesterol) to be more important than protein (his lifters are obviously getting significant protein — I’d assume well over 1g of protein per pound of body weight). It’s the Grandma Principle in action. The Grandma Principle states that you should eat meals that your grandma would have cooked; whole meals with legit foods like cooked dead animal, vegetables, and potatoes. For more on Granda, go HERE.

On a similar note, I Socratically asked Pendlay, “Do any of your lifters eat paleo?” I knew what the answer was, and he said something like, “Are you fucking serious?” to which I replied, “Fuck no, but that’s the point.” Nobody is going to get strong — and I mean fucking above average strong, not deadlifting 400 — by eating tree bark.

Insulin is the most anabolic hormone. By choosing not to utilize it throughout the day in at least two or three meals is a decision that says, “I don’t want to be as strong as I could be.” It’s analogous to wearing Vibram Fucking Five Fingers in the gym or choosing to squat with the bar on top of your head — it isn’t fucking optimal. And folks, people who make a blatant decision to not be strong give me the willies.