The title of this post is actually a quote from the irascible Mike Tyson. Now, Iron Mike may no doubt be as crazy as a shit house mouse, but there’s a hell of a lot of wisdom in that “punched in the face” statement. And I don’t even care if the original saying can be… [More…]
Of Feral Pigs and Epigenetics
“Example is not the main thing in influencing others. It is the only thing. – Albert Schweitzer Quiz time. The above is (A) Keith’s response to “the coffee bar is now closed”, (B) Keith’s response to seeing no cleans, chins, dips or sprints in your last week’s programming, (C) a feisty Tasmanian devil, or (D)… [More…]
Modality Dictates the Mindset — More on Periodization
“It takes courage to grow up and become who you really are.” – E.E. Cummings photo via USA Today Sports It still (still!) shocks me when people assume that to be a great athlete, one has to go 100% balls-to-the-wall puke-fest each and every workout. A notion, of course, that is absolutely ludicrous. It… [More…]
A Typical Workout Span in the Life of a Wolverine
“What we’ve got here is, failure to communicate. Some men you just can’t reach. So you get what we had here last week, which is the way he wants it. Well, he gets it. I don’t like it any more than you men…..” Captain, Road Prison 36; Cool Hand Luke Ahhh, one of my all-time… [More…]
An Isometric Finisher, and Chewing the Fat with Erwan
“What we see depends mainly on what we look for.” – John Lubbock Last Monday afternoon I decided to squeeze in a heavy behind-the-neck push-press session prior to our weekly Efficient Exercise “training the trainer” meeting. Little did I know that Skyler had in mind to use me as a crash test dummy for his… [More…]
A few of Last Week’s Workouts to Consider
“We shall not cease from exploration, and the end of all our exploring will be to arrive where we started and know the place for the first time.” – T.S. Eliot What follows are a few of my workouts for the past week. For contrast, I’ve also included a recent client workout. What’s the difference… [More…]
The University of Texas’ Stark Center, Anchor for PFX12
“The greatest challenge to any thinker is stating the problem in a way that will allow a solution.” – Bertrand Russell OK, so it’s been a while since I documented a run of workouts, so what better time to take a snapshot of things than Thanksgiving week? Actually, this turned out to be a fairly… [More…]
Nutrient Timing
A great truth is a truth whose opposite is also a truth. Thomas Mann I know, I know; the idea of nutrient timing is not exactly Paleo in the most strict sense of the term, and certainly not part of the DeVany-esq, Evolutionary Fitness schema. If you’re a performance-driven athlete, however (or just an average Joe/Jane… [More…]
A Quick Study in Contrasts
Since I have no specific athletic or body composition goal in mind — other than chasing the fullest, most well-rounded expression of my phenotype — I’m at liberty to explore, to the widest extent, the speed-strength continuum and the force-velocity curve. In English? I get to dabble with my workouts, mix it up; have fun and… [More…]
The Hypertrophy Response — Stimulus or Fuel Dependent?
“We do not rise to the level of our expectations, we fall to the level of our training.” – Archilochus A spot-on observation of human nature, I think. Even so, within those of us who think more highly of ourselves, that it should be otherwise. So much so a true observation, in fact, that I… [More…]