Movember 2013

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Boy and girls, its Movember time again.

Hey friends, Mark here. The calendar has once again rolled around to that time of year where we all come together to kick cancer in the balls. Throughout the last couple years on this site a good part of its population has gone and volunteered their hard earned strength and dollhairs to help earn money for cancer research. Year round we lift for ourselves. We lift because we want to be stronger, perform better in our sport, whatever. The squat rack is our sanctuary, our zen, or solace. However you describe it, for almost all of us lifting is for us and no one else. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but for one month a year, I think it’s reasonable to ask that we lift for another reason.

2 years ago when this site started participating in Movember, one brave reader had the idea of accepting donations for Movember, and in return a feat of strength would be performed in the name of the donor. The idea is akin to sponsoring someone for a charity run, and I personally feel it is a fantastic way to motivate those around you to help work towards putting an end to cancer.

You don’t need to tell Justin about Movember

You don’t need to tell Justin about Movember

 

Over the past years, our fearless has done 300lb Jerks for every 10 dollhairs raised, Mr. Sousa did tire flips, I did 225lb presses, and to many others to list have run similar systems. So this year, I’m asking once again that we come together as a community and use the strength we’ve worked so hard to attain for a noble cause. Set up a donation page and join the 70’s Big team, pick a member and donate a couple of your dollhairs if you can afford to do so, or even both.

Last year the site earned over $3000 dollhairs, if memory serves, and I see no reason why we can’t top that this year. Let’s get out there, grow some facial, and kick the shit out of cancer.

Team 70’s Big Movember page: http://us.movember.com/team/1369717

PR Friday — 1 Nov ’13

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Quick Tip #2
Lots of ideas and little time means you will get a quick tip with each PR Friday post.

Set 9 hours aside in your schedule solely for sleep. Everybody knows sleep is important, but it’s usually the recovery component that lifters willingly sacrifice. The irony is that it’s arguably the most important aspect of getting stronger.

Getting at least 8 hours of actual sleep spurns hormonal processes that aid recovery and create an efficient body. It not only helps your last recovery session, but it’s preparing you to perform optimally in the next session. As I explain in “Importance of Sleep“, you can’t just oversleep in a single night to make up for several nights of poor sleep. Get it in your head that “recovery components” like macro nutrient intake, hydration, mobility, and sleep need to be implemented chronically to reap their true benefit. Start this weekend by fully resting, and when your school or work week starts, manage your time to have nyyyyyyne hours of pillow time.

Here, two puppies demonstrate how to sleep.

Here, two puppies demonstrate how to sleep.

Discuss your training week and highlight your recent PR’s in the comments.

Throwback Thursday

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Hope everyone’s week is going well. There’s a wealth of information that’s been posted here on the site in past years, so I thought it might be good to highlight some of the finer articles from the past. Some of these posts are very informative, while others are both humorous and informative. Here’s a video that falls into the latter category from a few years ago, Gant shows us how to properly load your bowl at a Mongolian BBQ restaurant.

 

70’s Big Radio – Episode 12

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70sBig.com

Topics:

11:00 – Strongman
16:35 – Chronic wrist pain
19:00 – Pokemon
20:50 – Blood
22:12 – Knee pain from/when squatting
27:30 – Auxiliary lift to assist snatch/clean and jerk
29:20 – Hip mobility drills
33:00 – ACL reconstruction and squatting
43:25 – Squatting with femoral acetabular impingement
XX:XX – Programming – grappling focus
XX:XX -Programming – oly lifting, grappling/rugby, s&c – lifting focus
53:45 – TM: when to change Intensity Day rotations

Search “70′s Big” on iTunes or listen/download HERE.

Discuss the show and make interview or guest appearance requests in the comments.

Hit Your Macros

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Here’s a quick note amidst a busy week. I typically see hard training lifters or athletes breaking down when faced with a decision of what to eat. They’ll often pick an unhealthy choice because it tastes better. If you have to eat out during the week, then focus on hitting your macros instead of getting the tastiest item on the menu. 

Macronutrients are protein, carbs, and fat. You should have an understanding of how many you need to eat in a day. If you don’t have a clue, search the 70’s Big site history. If you want my comprehensive methodology, check out Paleo for Lifters. The premise is eating enough protein to maintain or build lean body mass (i.e. muscle), enough carbs to fuel your activity level, and enough fat to recover. There’s some discrepancy or ambiguity on how much of a given macro that a type of athlete will need, but I’ve covered that on the site and in the book.

In any case, hit your macros consistently. The chronic intake is more important than the daily timing, and actually  hitting the requirements is more important to recovery than it is to have a tasty, yet not as healthy meal. Does that mean you should pass on a brisket meal with a baked potato? No, but your goals will make that decision.

This doesn’t mean you should be eating bland meals, because “healthy” or “paleo-ish” meals can be very tasty if you use your brain and put some effort into them. We’ll talk more about this in the near future.

Train hard and get big.