General fitness

[Jan Libourel]

Lookin' good, Dropbear. You look like you could easily whip a dropbear if dropbears dropped...or really existed!

 

[Rambo]

that's a handsome man in short shorts

 

[Jan Libourel]

Just set a new personal best in my Indian Mace and Sledgehammer workout. I start out with about 12 minutes of Indian club swinging and then do sequences of 50 "360s" with an Indian mace followed by 100 tire slams with the sledgehammer. Today I completed 500 tire slams and 300 360s with the mace. Admittedly, I was just using my 12-pound sledge and 10-pound mace. Should I ever be able to duplicate this with my 16-pound hammer and 15-pound mace it will be proud day for me! I do think I am going to segue to the 15-pound mace shortly. Anyway, I'll keep pitting the elemental forces of strength and sinew against the inexorable processes of old age, decrepitude and death.

 

[Rambo]

Just set a new personal best in my Indian Mace and Sledgehammer workout. I start out with about 12 minutes of Indian club swinging and then do sequences of 50 "360s" with an Indian mace followed by 100 tire slams with the sledgehammer. Today I completed 500 tire slams and 300 360s with the mace. Admittedly, I was just using my 12-pound sledge and 10-pound mace. Should I ever be able to duplicate this with my 16-pound hammer and 15-pound mace it will be proud day for me! I do think I am going to segue to the 15-pound mace shortly. Anyway, I'll keep pitting the elemental forces of strength and sinew against the inexorable processes of old age, decrepitude and death.

you're doing pretty fucking good jan. certainly better than any of us young fucks. hell i can barely open a jar these days.

 

[Jan Libourel]

^Don't feel too bad about the jars. There are some that give me a helluva time. For whatever reason, jars of sauerkraut seem to be by far the worst in this regard.
Had a good kettlebell workout this morning--21 sets in 28 minutes. Back when I started with the kettlebells almost three years ago, it would take me 45 minutes to complete 15 sets, with much lighter weights. Now that my left arm seems largely cured of the tendonopathy that had been afflicting it, I am almost back to my old peak workout poundages.

 

[doghouse]

Anyway, I’m doing this Keto thing full-on now.

I usually steer people who are on keto, are vegan, or other generally idiotic "diets" to the book The Endurance Diet by Matt Fitzgerald. It gives some of the best legitimate information available about human historic dietary trends and the actual science with added empirical evidence.

It isn't a diet, as in a plan ala South Beach, Paleo, keto or whatever, but diet in the sense of what people subsist on. It was borne of a wide ranging project to log the diets of a huge sample of the worlds most elite endurance athletes.

You will get much leaner on a carb heavy diet than anything else. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron.

 

[The Shooman]

I usually steer people who are on keto, are vegan, or other generally idiotic "diets" to the book The Endurance Diet by Matt Fitzgerald. It gives some of the best legitimate information available about human historic dietary trends and the actual science with added empirical evidence.

It isn't a diet, as in a plan ala South Beach, Paleo, keto or whatever, but diet in the sense of what people subsist on. It was borne of a wide ranging project to log the diets of a huge sample of the worlds most elite endurance athletes.

You will get much leaner on a carb heavy diet than anything else. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron.

The key is to find the diet which works for you. Some people do better on high fat and protein where-as others do better on high carb low fat, while others do better on more meat where-as others do better on vegan. Some people get very heavy on high carb and high fruit diets such as myself. For me I do better on higher fat high protein plant foods.

 

[doghouse]

Some people get very heavy on high carb and high fruit diets such as myself

Unless you have a legitimate medical condition, this is just from a lack of adequate exercise and poor carbohydrate choice.

 

[The Shooman]

Unless you have a legitimate medical condition, this is just from a lack of adequate exercise and poor carbohydrate choice.

This too is highly questionable. What about all those apparently healthy people on the 100% raw vegan 80/10/10 diet eating mainly fruit (most calories from fruit) who exercise like crazy getting fat on the diet?

The point is that there are always going to be dietary exceptions. To state things in black and white is to assume everyone is the same. My 28 years of experience in studying diet has shown me that when we make definite conclusions about people and diet we usually aren't looking at the full picture because we fail to look the exceptions to the rules and why they are exceptions. So many people want to make definite statements on diet because it makes things sound so much more simple, but l am all for customizing bespoke diets with specific macronutrients needs for the individual....when we fail to take these things into account history has shown that things can often go wrong. Many books generalize and assume everyone is the same, but my experience with people shows it is the opposite.

Many people can write books and state huge samples, but what about clinical experience and working with people one on one??? When you work with people one on one, THIS is where the reality strays from theory and empirical studies. Studies don't always reflect the reality because exceptions will always be present. I've read all types of diet books stating all types of conclusions from studies, yet so many books conflict each other, and it is likely because conclusions can't be stated as easily as people often think they can. I've now got to the point in my life where l stand back and realize that things are often not as simple as what books and people state they are, and l know that people often don't know as much as they think they do, AND l know that l am an expert in anything, so l am not going to accept anything as fact because someone says so. I am a real truth seeker, so l never assume l have arrived and know everything.

I've said my bit Doghouse. I am sure you may disagree, but that's o.k. I don't feel the need to change your mind. I just thought l would give my opinion and insights. It's amazing how we may think we are right, but we may not always be....this happens to everyone, and l have done it many times. So these days l try to stop stating things in black and white like they are law, because experience proves that is often a slippery slope.

 

[doghouse]

I've said my bit Doghouse. I am sure you may disagree, but that's o.k. I don't feel the need to change your mind. I just thought l would give my opinion and insights. It's amazing how we may think we are right, but we may not always be....this happens to everyone, and l have done it many times. So these days l try to stop stating things in black and white like they are law, because experience proves that is often a slippery slope.

The entire point I'm making is black and white diets are bad.

 

[The Shooman]

The entire point I'm making is black and white diets are bad.

Yes, it is dangerous to follow such narrow minded advice. People are not black and white text book cases, people are humans, so they need to find a diet that works for them and not blindly follow dietary theories.

I used to buy into heavy vegan dogma for decades, but l was forced to realise that most people fail on the diet, and for good reason. Even the theory to say we are plant eating animals is highly flawed for many many reasons. The fact is that humans can live on and eat many different things, humans are much more than a mere animal,and they can't be compared with animals. Humans can eat cooked food, humans can smoke and drink heavily and some can still live long, but can animals? HUmans may have a plant eating anatomy, but it doesn't mean he is a plant eater. Why? Because most humans have trouble living on 100% plants despite having a vegan anatomy. In theory all this vegan stuff should make sense, but the reality is far from the theories, and things are completely different from the theories for many many many MANY reasons. I could write a book on this stuff, and it's possible one day that l might. Things are not what people think they are when it comes to diet. The logic should make certain conclusions a definite thing, but it is not like that before higher factors come into play. Remember, why are some people on low calories diets, yet they sustain very well. Why are others on deficient diets yet sustain very well. See...things are not how we think they are. One day l would like to talk about these things in public, but now is not the time...we are still full of too much dogma. We need to clean out the junk between our ears and be humble before we can talk about these things. When we realise we don't know much we can have a conversation because we won't feel threatened by other view points and being wrong. I am at the point where l am not afraid of being proven wrong anymore...I try to reduce the ego day by day and don't need to save face. I am a truth seeker, l am here to learn, l am not here to be right, l am here to have a conversation and share insights. I don't want to fight anymore, l just want to share and discuss and be peaceful.

 

[doghouse]

I used to buy into heavy vegan dogma for decades,

I remember it well my friend

 

[The Shooman]

I remember it well my friend

I used to look down on anyone who cooked their food and wasn't vegan. Cooking is seen as the ultimate sin in the raw vegan world.

Raw vegan has always been good to me, but the problem is that such a lifestyle is time consuming and requires a 100% commitment everyday, and it means that one exists almost solely for food. It is NOT a balanced lifestyle. It is too extreme. Anything that goes to extremes is not healthy. The mind needs to be balanced and NOT obsessed. I was obsessed...obsessed with shoos, obsessed with not cooking my dinner blah blah blah. That is not healthy. I went to great extremes to avoid cooking my dinner.

Doing high quality meditation allowed me to balance myself properly and see things through a rational and balanced mind. Now l see a higher picture...a much more real picture of life. It's easy to get too extreme, but it's a trap, and it's not healthy.

 

[doghouse]

It's easy to get too extreme, but it's a trap, and it's not healthy.

Indeed! Exactly what I'm saying. Emphasis on the healthy part.

 

[QuandoDio]

The key is to find the diet which works for you. Some people do better on high fat and protein where-as others do better on high carb low fat, while others do better on more meat where-as others do better on vegan. Some people get very heavy on high carb and high fruit diets such as myself. For me I do better on higher fat high protein plant foods.

Pretty much this. I have been on a Keto before it became mainstream well over a decade ago. I left it because I miss fruits et al so much. Generally. I am usually on some form of low-carb and Intermittent fasting ( again, we are talking decades here). My health markers are consistently excellent and I have maintained the same weight in over a decade give or take five pounds.

There is no 'one size fits all' approach and one should be wary of any diet evangelists and fanatics ( keto/ low-cardb/ high-carb/ Atkins/Vegan/ Veggie etc). Statements like ''You will get much leaner on a carb heavy diet than anything else. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron.'' are as inaccurate as they are helpful.

One thing though, veganism is a bad and unsustainable idea. Some could say moronic.

 

[doghouse]

Statements like ''You will get much leaner on a carb heavy diet than anything else. Anyone who tells you otherwise is a moron.'' are as inaccurate as they are helpful

It's not, but do whatever makes you feel good.

Again, like I told Shooey, I'm arguing again black and white rules and declarative quasi religions, not for.

Unless there is a medical condition, the human body is designed to eat everything. This is what the actual real science says. Everyone from Kenyan marathoners to the 100 year old residents of the worlds blue zones have basically the same macro composition in their diets. The only exception? Affluent westerners with utterly perverted relationships with food and end up on Atkins or keto or paleo ..

 

[Jan Libourel]

On March 7, I said I would be proud to have completed 500 tire slams with my 16-pound sledgehammer. Well, yesterday I did just that. I am doing more work with the 15-pound mace but still a long way from doing 300 360s! On the down side, I feel I have more or less reached a plateau with my kettlebell work. Ditto for the Indian clubs.

 

[sirloin]

 

[Dropbear]

Mrs Dropbear just got the results of her annual and her cholesterol has shot-up. We may cut back on the whole keto thing and just aim for a lower carb intake. Maybe the MCT oil and the additional saturated fats did it?

 

[Jan Libourel]

Mace Update: At the end of last year, I made a lengthy post about my newly acquired Indian maces. At that time, I thought I would have a similar trajectory to what I had experienced with kettlebells. When I started, a full workout with a 36-pound kettlebell would leave me wiped out. Within a month, I had progressed to a 45 pounder. That lasted for another month until I got a 53-pounder. This held me for three months until I graduated to 62 pounds. A 75-pounder followed some months later. Since then I have vacillated between the two heavy weights for two-handed exercises. I can do them with the 75-pounder, but it tends to aggravate the tendinopathy lurking in my left forearm.

Anyway, I thought I would use the 10-pound mace to familiarize myself with the exercises, quickly advance to the 15 pounder, graduate to a 20-pounder around this time and then a 25-pounder by the end of the year. That definitely is not happening. I am gradually increasing the number of reps with the 15-pounder, but I still doing most of my mace exercising with the 10 pounder, and I am not sure I will ever advance to a 20-pounder.

I derive some consolation from the fact that one Leo Urquides (aka Leo "Savage"), a major online exponent of mace training says he does 95% of his mace training with his 10 and 15-pound maces.

 

[Jan Libourel]

Slamball: Just got a new fitness "toy" in the form of a 40-pound slamball--my wife's Xmas present to me. I had flirted with the idea of getting a 45-pounder, but I'm glad I got the lighter weight. In fact a 35-pounder might have been more sensible in hindsight. Anyway, I had my first workout with it this morning. What a brutal, dynamic, demanding exercise tool! Within a very few minutes I was panting, and I was a little dizzy by the end of the workout. I love it! It will be ideal when I want to get in a tough, total body workout in a short time. I have really enjoyed exploring "alternative fitness" gear in the past four years. Free weights were getting pretty stale after more than a half-century.

 

[sirloin]

Spend most of the summer and fall running every other day. But as usual, as soon as I start getting into a reasonable form where I want start pushing myself, I'm starting to getting injuries. Stopped before it got too bad though.
So have been going to the gym again for little over a month instead. Going every other day too. Feels pretty good doing basic weightlifting exercises again.

 

[Jan Libourel]

Just sprung for a 20-pound mace. I'll let you know how that goes.

 

[sirloin]

Today:
Power cleans. Felt good. Added a few kg. Got tired in the end, am missing power above the knee.
Front Squat. Very good. Added 5 kg.
Pendly rows. Ugh.. bad form. As in other exercises, maintaining a straight back is a challenge.

 

[Jan Libourel]

I had never heard of Pendlay rows until now. As far as I can see, it's a strict-form bent-over row in which the plates go to the floor with each rep. I note that Pendlay plates are recommended, although I'm not sure how these differ from ordinary rubber bumper plates...or why even rubber bumper plates would be necessary for this exercise.

 

[sirloin]

Yep. A bent over row, with plates touching the floor on each rep, thus taking the momentum out, and making it more strict. Makes sense for me to do them right now, as I'm working on proper form.

Pendley-brand plates are the same size as any standard 450 mm plate. I also see no reason, why you should not be able to perform them with metal plates. Most exercises could, as long as the bar is not dropped.

 

[Jan Libourel]

I mentioned a few weeks ago that I had ordered a 20-pound mace. In the past, I have commented that I thought the classic mace exercises--the 360s and 10-2s--were beneficial but that most of the other mace exercises seemed sort of makeshift and not very challenging. This was based on my experience trying them with my 15-pounder. The 20-pounder made a difference--a big difference. Exercises like "grave diggers," "uppercuts," "jousts," etc., suddenly became challenging, fun and obviously beneficial. On Monday, I got a 25 pounder. Now that is a real brute! The same exercises with it became tough, arduous and brutal--the way exercise should be, I think. I now can get in a thorough and demanding total body workout with my four maces. In fact, the mace is now my favorite piece of exercise equipment--certainly a far cry from the lack of eagerness for them I expressed in this thread a couple of years ago.

 

[sirloin]

Was out with a cold for a couple of weeks. Now my gym is closed down due to the Covid-19 situation. So I have taken up running again instead. Going for 5-6 km every other day, in a not straining pace. Nice way to get out of the house and get a workout done - as long as instructions permit.