Paleo for Lifters (sneak peak)

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This is a slightly edited version of the introduction to my new book, “Paleo for Lifters”. It will be available very soon. 

I just spent way too long trying to find a pic for this post, and finally chose this one.

The history of nutrition and strength training has roots in hearty caloric-dense meals – with good reason. Strength training places a toll on the body that requires adequate amounts of protein, carbohydrates, and fat. There are stories from strength training legends that talk about how young, hard training men would go to the local diner for cheese burgers and milk shakes to recover from training. Other stories detail the amount of eggs, milk, cream, ice cream, and protein powder that they would throw into their shakes. This is what was necessary to get bigger and stronger, so that’s what you should do too. Right?

The old school nutritional paradigm is based on the misconception that dirty foods are the only foods that can help someone gain muscle and get stronger. The mindset probably evolved from the stories told in powerlifting magazines of super heavyweights. After all, the heaviest guys are the strongest guys, so their dietary habits are naturally highlighted. While a lifter like Lamar Gant is impressive, his 688lb deadlift at 132lbs pales in comparison to Bill Kazmeir’s 886.7lb raw deadlift at a body weight of over 300lbs. Furthermore, the impressive eating stories printed in strength training literature typically highlight young men during pubescent training. Teenagers and young adults have fiery metabolisms due to their high testosterone levels and are able to convert massive amounts of calories into solid muscular gain.

Every adult in Western society soon finds out that their teenage eating habits will result in fat accumulation through each aging decade. When people get old, their metabolisms slow and their body adapts to stress slower. “Body fat is 90% diet,” is a common phrase that has risen from trainees that are disappointed with their body composition despite hard training in the gym. Lean, athletic physiques require a lot of effort and will power.

Quality food doesn’t just yield a lean physique; it plays a role in how efficiently the body works. There will always be new fad diets that claim to lose weight quickly and easily – nutrition is a habit that is extremely difficult to change and capitalizing on laziness funnels money to pseudo-nutritionists. There have been huge nutritional advances in the last two decades that are yet to permeate mainstream nutritional and fitness knowledge. It’s possible to combine the lessons from unconventional nutrition knowledge with strength and conditioning to have an efficient dietary approach that will provide enough calories for recovery and gaining muscle without superfluous fat gain. Paleo for Lifters — a new book I have been working on that will be out very soon — will show how to do this in a variety of scenarios with guidelines.

Please voice any concerns or questions you have about trainees, athletes, and lifters using the Paleo diet as a nutritional foundation to achieve their goals.

Women Allowed In Combat Arms

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For a long time Mondays were dedicated to female training topics, and recently this topic was requested (by females). 

Image from SOFREP.com

Recently Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, signed an order that opens combat arms jobs to women. Previously, women were barred from jobs that were tasked with combat involvement, though they could serve in support units that often found themselves in combat (mostly in the Iraq war).

It’s a little known fact that women have not only been fighting, but dying in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. Of the 6,600+ service members that have died, 152 have been women (not including non-lethal casualties). Now they will have the opportunity to qualify for combat arms jobs.

Allow me to point out that I don’t think I’m fully qualified to have an opinion on this topic since I am neither an active duty service member or a combat veteran. Take that into context when reading my opinion.

Personally I don’t have a problem with women serving in combat roles, so long as they can meet the standard — a standard that has not been lowered for their benefit. It would be a disservice to both women and men in a combat unit if a woman was pushed through training without having to meet the same minimum standards of everyone else, regardless of sex. It would put the woman and her teammates in jeopardy. Pentagon officials agree and have repeatedly expressed that standards will not be lowered to facilitate female prospects.

In truth, I think most or all women would agree with that sentiment (and the military women I know have echoed this). Women make up 14% of the 1.4 million active duty force. Of the available women, there is probably only a small percentage of them that would physically qualify for a combat arms job. But what does “qualify” actually mean? Right now it means passing the course (e.g. infantry school) while passing the official physical assessments in the course. But the Pentagon is asking the services to define what the actual physical requirements of each job are (e.g. infantry may require pulling a 300 pound load x distance in y time — turning these expectations into actual graded events). I interpret that as solidifying what “the standard” is so that a woman (or man) knows exactly what is expected of them and if they do not perform up to that standard, they will not pass the course. It will prevent law suits (that have previously occurred) from women arguing they were removed from training simply because they are female — quite an ambiguous and difficult argument for either side. Women can find a Pennsylvanian employment lawyer to protect your employment rights.

It’s useful to obtain the opinion of women who have served in combat, especially women who have worked in a job where combat was more prevalent than a support element getting ambushed. I read an article the other day where a female NCO who has been in combat said something along the lines of, “I hope that women will join combat arms because they truly want to instead of doing it just because they can.” (My apologies, I know this is shitty reporting to not cite my source, but I couldn’t find the article). It’s a fair point — do it because it’s what you desire, not because you want to make a point about gender issues.

The most poignant female opinion I’ve seen on this topic was from an interview with a woman serving on a Cultural Support Team (CST) on SOFREP.com — men are at times barred from interacting with women and children in Afghanistan, so a CST woman is attached to a special operations team to do so. She was attached to a 3rd Group SF team and was trained for and saw combat during her deployment. She dispels the typical reasons men bring up about women in combat roles (protecting women, cleanliness, sex, etc.) and talks about her experience.

But the most important thing she stresses — more than once — is that standards should be equal for men and women. The women aren’t stupid and know that this is important, and it seems that the DoD is following suit.

To make this quasi-relevant to training, there are obviously different demands between combat arms and desk jobs. Women who aim to perform to standard will need to be strong and emphasize proper technique to make the most out of their likely smaller statures and lack of absolute strength (with respect to a strong male). In other words, if she needs to put things overhead, she’ll need to know how to push-press it. If she is going to drag equipment or a teammate, she’ll need to know to use leverage by dropping her hips low. This strength foundation should be built with compound barbell movements like the squat, press, deadlift, pull-ups/chin-ups, and push-press. Strength and technique will be critical for these women.

Personally I know women who could successfully meet these standards, but the reality is that muscular women who are strong and can ruck all day are not common. A skinny, weak male can get through infantry training by virtue of sucking it up, but a female may need to sharpen her physical attributes to be effective. Nevertheless, I’m sure there will be many good female role models when the changes officially occur.

The change will be slow, but this will be a transitional era for the U.S. military. They will join many other countries in allowing women in combat roles despite being late to the party. It seems like Leon Panetta has the right idea in fairly implementing this policy by saying, “Not everyone is going to be able to be a combat soldier, but everyone is entitled to a chance.”

Mental Workout, PR Friday 25 JAN 2013

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PR Friday: Post your training PR’s and updates to comments. This gives you chance to communicate with like-minded readers, get encouragement or tips, and to be a part of our community.

Mental Workout

I am a firm believer in holistic training throughout life. Developing the body is why we are all here, but improving mental and emotional strength is just as important. We know that mental and emotional aptitude can be a corollary to quality physical training, yet to reach full potential we need dedicated time to develop them — just like strength, conditioning, speed, or agility.

In this pursuit of holistic wellness, CBD flower emerges as a promising tool for promoting mental and emotional balance. As one of nature’s best remedies, CBD offers a natural and non-intoxicating option for managing stress, anxiety, and other emotional challenges. Incorporating CBD into a comprehensive training regimen can complement physical efforts by fostering relaxation, clarity, and resilience. With its potential to enhance overall well-being, CBD flower represents not only a supplement but a valuable asset in the pursuit of holistic health and peak performance.

Today we’re focusing on mental capacity. True, some of you may require a level of intellect to conduct your job or deal with your life, but that is akin to believing you can get stronger just by shoveling some dirt and going to work. So let’s take some time out of our day or week to better our minds.

Some of you are already shaking your heads. “I have a wife, kids, work, and training. How can I possibly add anything else to my day?” I’ve always had the mentality that you can dedicate one fifteen minute period of your day to something. There are 96 periods of 15 minutes in a day (4 fifteen minute periods in an hour x 24 hours in a day = 96 fifteen minute periods). You can certainly spend one of those 96 periods — hell, you can spend five dedicated minutes to mental training. So make the time.

You should aim to stimulate your mind with critical thinking activities such as mental math, playing chess involving the queen’s gambit, solving puzzles, and playing board games or even billiards. However, when it comes to playing billiards, you may be curious about how much room you need for a pool table. To ensure that you have enough space to play comfortably, it is important to consider the ideal minimum room size for each standard table dimension, which depends on the cue that you use. Our room-size pool table guide provides this information, so be sure to have a look and determine how much room do you need for a pool table before making your purchase. You may also check out the best billiard cues here.

There are many mental math apps available on the iPhone or Droid OS. The one I have gives you two minutes to solve as many simple math problems (addition, subtraction, multiplication, and division) as you can. The difficulty increases with your prowess. For some people, 737/67 might result in an instantaneous solution, but others whose math skills have grown dusty will need a moment of strained thought.

When I first moved to Texas — and before I became friends with Brent and Chris — I would sit in my house at night and do physics problems until one or two in the morning. They weren’t terribly hard (usually simple alegbra), but I felt it would keep or make me sharp. At least it passed the time when I didn’t have any friends in Texas (Debbie Downer music).

Playing chess is a fantastic and stimulating activity. I have seen studies that say there isn’t a correlation between IQ and chess ability, but we’re not intending to use chess as a means to a higher IQ. We’re using it to stimulate the critical thinking areas of our mind. I’m an inexperienced chess player, but when I play I have to consider the implications of my move and subsequent possible actions in my opponent. I take entirely too long to make a move, so I suspect that playing with a clock will force me to speed the analyzing process up and take higher risks in the match. I believe that doing this regularly, and under pressure, will only help develop this “analyze, plan, and act” process in other areas of my life.

Arnold Schwarzenegger’s father would force him and his brother to do math problems when they were boys. And throughout his life Arnold would play chess — even on the plane while serving as the Governor of California. Mental strength is a necessary tool for success, so let’s keep our skills sharp by spending a few minutes of dedicated training each day.

Questions: What mental training techniques have you used in the past? What do you currently use? What are other good ways to train the mind?

Announcements

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Consultations

For those of you who have inquired about consultations, they were on a hiatus through the holidays. They are resuming and I’m pleased to introduce Chris Riley to the consultation team. You can read his profile here, and you can currently contact the consultation team at Consultations@70sbig.com for information. Note that there may be a waiting list and it may take time to get to your e-mail. 

New Writers

I’m pleased to welcome several writers to 70sBig.com. You have heard me talk about them or have seen their posts in the past, and I’m glad to call all of them good friends. They will be assigned to a specific sport and will report news as well as provide their analysis or opinion on the sport. The new writers and their duties are:

Jacob Cloud — Powerlifting, Editor
Mike Battaglino — Strongman
Jacob Tsypkin — Olympic Weightlifting
Brian Smith — General sports

I feel that designating people to cover a sport will provide 70’s Big readers with a more comprehensive look at that sport. This will only encourage readers to be fans of the sport and will help grow the sport, but it will also help motivate readers to also compete. All three of the sport specific writers love the sport they are following and regularly coach or compete in it. They have the freedom to report news, interview athletes, or profile a athletes — whatever they see fit. Expect to see more content on each sport since having a person dedicated to each will be infinitely better than me trying to cover them all at once. Each writer will soon have their own 70’s Big e-mail address to accept related content pertinent to their sport or interests.

Reader Submissions

When I started this site I intended it to be driven by reader submitted content. That has been partially true as I often create posts based on inquiries or material sent to me. However, for the first time I am formally opening 70’s Big to reader submitted articles. This doesn’t mean anything and everything will be accepted. Your submission must:

– Not exceed 1,000 words in length, and preferably be closer to 500.
– Include a visual aid (either an image that is under 500×500 pixels or a YouTube video) and cite where this visual came from.
– Be concise with good grammar and punctuation.
– Include a short, one paragraph summary (like an abstract) at the beginning of the e-mail to explain what the submission is about.
– Send submissions to Submissions@70sBig.com

If any of the rules above are not followed, then the submission will be deleted. Jacob Cloud is also now an editor and will oversee reader submissions with my help. If a submission is poor in quality, irrelevant, pointless, or not interesting or funny, we reserve the right to not use the submission. It’s okay to submit things that are in conflict with my objective and subjective training methodology or opinions, but you will need to make a compelling argument for doing so (this sentence is here to show you that we won’t be denying conflicting pieces just because they disagree with us). Time is a valuable thing; do not waste ours with poor articles. If you are worried about wasting your own time, it would be acceptable to send an e-mail asking if we’re interested in your topic.

Any or all of the above rules could change the more Jacob and I discuss it or sift through submissions. Have fun with it. Most of the people that read 70’s Big are great people who love to train and are really funny, so if you choose to write something, direct it at such an audience.

 

Agility Ladders

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The majority of people in what I call “the online training communities” are general strength and conditioning trainees. That means they are lifting, doing high intensity conditioning, but not much else. They may be competing in powerlifting, Olympic weightlifting or CrossFit, but those sports or competitions feature testing movements that are repeated over and over in training, albeit in different variations. Unfortunately some athletic elements are neglected, no matter how much CrossFit wants to claim athletic supremacy or strength trainees want to claim magical athletic prowess just because they are stronger.

(Here’s a completely inarticulate video about agility ladders. Watch Chris on the ladder — he’s very deft for a 310 pound guy)

General strength and conditioning training doesn’t include many dynamic movements that require re-positioning the body in space. Or any activities that require reaction to visual or other sensory stimulus. And there especially aren’t any rotation or lateral shear stresses on the spine, though we won’t be getting into that today. Instead, we’re focusing on those important athletic skills under the umbrella of “mobility” like agility, speed, balance, and overall kinesthetic coordination. These skills aren’t present in most general types of training, but are prevalent in high school, collegiate, and professional sport training programs. And I think it’s something everyone should utilize.

Agility, or foot work, drills are the easiest activity to add to your training. They aren’t significantly stressful, they can be done in a short amount of time, and can be done as part of your warm-up. Agility drills will also be a safe way for your lower leg structures to adapt to actual activity — stuff other than walking around and squatting. The drills will develop overall coordination, improve balance, and do so dynamically. It’s one thing to think, “I have good balance” when your feet are planted firmly under your shoulders, but it’s another thing entirely to move quickly and need to change direction without losing your balance. At the very least this is useful in a worst case scenario (dodging a moving car, fighting someone, etc.).

Agility ladder drills are a great way to perform foot drills and can be performed as part of the warm-up. I suggest doing your mobility work first, then go ahead and start on the ladder. Drills can be done for 5 to 10 minutes as a general warm-up before moving to your lifting schedule. Whatever drills you perform won’t be debilitating to your lifting, and if it is you are probably out of shape and need to do some conditioning work anyway. If you were going to lift maximally, then I would excuse you from agility work, but if you don’t compete in a strength sport I would have you do agility ladder drills as part of your warm-up every day. Especially for team sport athletes and soldiers.

I’m not going to get into the drills here — this is more of a post to teach the utility in doing agility ladder work — but some of the good ones include one foot in every hole (forward and lateral), one foot in every other hole (forward or lateral), single Ickey shuffle, double Ickey shuffle, and hop scotch. Running through each of those seven drills once will only take a few minutes. You can do two reps of each drill to get some more work in. The best drills are the single and double Ickey shuffles with the single version being the best. It’s excellent at teaching a person how to shift their weight laterally, how to maintain balance while changing directions, and improves foot speed. These drills can also be used as high intensity conditioning work, and you could even time your rest periods. If you aimed to use ladder drills as conditioning, then it would be okay to do them at the end of your training session (though your skill and agility development will be inhibited when you are fatigued).

Briefly, a point of emphasis in all agility work, including ladder drills, is to keep the feet under the hips. If the feet extend out in front, behind, or to the sides of the hips, then the base of support diminishes. Change of direction is dependent on having your feet under your center of mass to quickly apply force to stop or start, so keep the feet under the hips. To use the single Ickey shuffle as an example (which is what Chris and I do in the video above), must people will step too far lateral with their outside foot preventing a good base to push off that foot to move in the opposite direction — Chris does this a little bit. Keeping the feet under the hips is the key to agility and lateral speed. It’s also useful to burst into a ten yard sprint after completing the last segment of the ladder drill — it will teach the transition from agility or lateral movement to linear speed.

You can find cheap ladders on Amazon or sport stores, but I am partial to ladder segments that don’t slide up and down the straps. It can be quite annoying setting up a ladder with segments pushed around in a big bungle fuck. Most ladders are about 10 yards long, and that’s all you would need for training (we used a longer one in the above video).

If you want a new, interesting, method to warm-up and develop important athletic skills, then try out an agility ladder. When I played football I prided myself on my foot work and lateral speed, but that was probably due to the fact that I was linearly slow. Throw it in as a regular warm-up, or put it at the end of your workout for conditioning (doing agility work when tired is better than no agility work at all). Focus on a good, athletic body position (knees/hips bent, slight forward lean) with the feet under the hips. You’ll improve your coordination, perform conditioning that isn’t laborious, and ultimately improve your athletic ability with regular work.