couple thoughts

Haven't been training for the past few days. Work has left me quite spent... I tried to oly lift the other day at CFSP, but mentally wasn't there. Didn't get past 185 for snatch, and my 185 c&j was painfully difficult. Day off tomorrow; I am going to try to get in the gym. May go swimming later tonight.

Daily report

• Body: A little 'off'/sore... but overall okay.
• Sleep: Lots.
• Nutrition: Could be better.
• Notes: Not much training, lots of reading.
• Random Thoughts:

•  Squatting -- Straight forward or toed out?:
• This debate originates from Kelly Starrett's Mobility Wod, which has put out several compelling videos detailing why squatting with toes as straight forward as possible is a better position than toes pointing outwards. Personally, I have always accepted (and coached) that squatting with toes slightly outward is the correct position.
• I have been playing around with toes forward and while it is uncomfortable at first, I am going to practice towards making this the default position for squat and oly lifts. Starrett really is on to something -- not only can you more easily maintain a stronger arch which means a more stable relationship between the floor and the load, but when you push your knees outwards you can more effectively generate torque.
• I find it interesting that the theme of external rotation plays true for both upper and lower body limbs. The cues "Active Shoulders" and "armpits forward" put the shoulder into external rotation. This is analogous to "knees out" and "spread the floor" for your hips.

 

• HSPU support -- Kick up or face the wall?
• Another debate that has struck some interest at CFSP is whether to kick up into a HSPU wall-support or to face the wall. Again, I have always been taught that the easiest way to get into a HSPU position is to kick up onto the wall. What Carl Paoli says is that while this may be quick and easy, it is not the best way to perform if one is seeking progression into an unassisted HSPU.
• I have played around with this one as well, and it is still much easier to kick up against the wall and knock them out. While this may be effective for a met con, this is not effective for building up to a freestanding HSPU. I am going to begin practicing wall-facing support and see if I can't knock one out before the end of the summer.

CFJ - Fixing the Hand Stand Push Up with Carl Paoli with Jason Khalipa from Mike Jackson on Vimeo.
 

•  Fuck Spongebob Squarepants
• An eccentric argument, sure, but I am convinced that one of, if not the worst problems with childhood obesity is exposure to mass media. To understand this, one must have a change of prospective... not looking into these programming networks, rather outwards to the audience. How does Nickelodeon and the Disney channel see the American youth? As far as I can tell, they see them as nothing more than a dollar sign to feed their wide wallets and those of their investors.
• For example, Spongebob Squarepants has grown itself into an $8 billion franchise. With that kind of money on the line, they are not just in this for the laughs -- they're in it to make a killing. One thing that I have noticed in watching several episodes is that the show plays into the one of the most fundamental phenomenons in the universe; tension and resolution. Why does a person find enjoyment in music? Tension and resolution. Laughter? Tension and resolution. Sex? Tension and resolution. What happens several times in each episode is tension of some sort building around Spongebob.... often times tied with bodily functions such as being taken over by a gigantic fungus. This creates discomfort and stimulus in children watching, almost to the point of scratching and gnawing on fingers. Once at it's peak, the tension is broken............ how? With product.  a krabby patty,"Kelp" cereal, ice cream... propagating consumption of their investor's poison.
• This evokes a DEEP and POWERFUL connection in children at a subconcious level. It is no surprise that at commercial breaks we find ads for McDonalds and Fruity Pebbles cereal. The next time a child is feeling anxious on the car ride from school, there is no question that Mom will pass the golden arches. Tantrum insues, mom gives in, tension resolved until bed time when they brush their teeth with insulin-attack inducing Spongebob toothpaste and curl up next to their Spongebob pillow to get some sleep only to wake up and eat Spongebob endorsed cereal infront of a daily dose of feedback-loop-inducing Spongebob television. Holy fuck people.
• This leaves our youth completely bereft from anything meaningful. Children's programming networks instill torpor in the mind of their audience. This is a detriment to their development. Big media wins at the cost of depressed and inattentive kids...
• I challenge you to go to your closest television and turn the station to either Nickelodeon or Disney. It doesn't matter if it is SpongeBob or iCarley or whatever... they ALL sell whatever that quality is to investors and it must be fought like the plague. What happened to the emotional appeal of quality rhetoric? Unrehearsed and creative and moving... PBS?

• Paleo or ... not paleo?
• I found this article fascinating. Don has done 14 year of paleo dieting, only to now say farewell to this lifestyle. That said, I would certainly classify the approach he has taken in lieu if of paleo dieting as still a flavor of paleo, but you can judge for yourself.

• As a result of these experiences I have abandoned “paleo” dieting as popularly conceived, and realized that all my difficulties were predicted by Chinese medical nutrition theory, which has a few thousand years head start on recent "paleo" diet theory.  I have returned to eating a whole food, high-starch, gluten-free, low-fat (≤20% energy as fat) plant-based diet with much smaller amounts of animal products, primarily fish and shellfish.   Although this accords with both traditional Chinese medical knowledge and modern Western nutrition research, it does not fit with the claim that “paleo diet” consists of a meat-dominated, low-to-moderate carbohydrate, grain-free diet. 
  

  
  

  Although I now believe that reverse engineering from presently observable human biochemistry and physiology suggests that modern humans are adapted to a high-carbohydrate, low-fat diet with relatively low or intermittent intake of animal foods (by current Western and especially "paleo diet" standards), mostly of fish and shellfish,  I doubt that my input will change the now entrenched idea that human evolutionary “paleo” diets were meat- and fat- rich and plant-food poor.   Therefore, I will not even attempt to call what I do or advocate a “paleo” or “primal” diet, although I think it appropriate to do so.