Then I went to do some lateral jumps with Tabata-esque interval timing and intensity. For those unfamiliar, Tabata intervals are when you do front squats as fast as you can for 20 seconds at a time, with 10 second rests in between, for 4 minutes. The goal is to get your heart rate way up and then give it inadequate time to come back to normal before making it work all over again. It's an awesomely crushing 2 minutes and 40 seconds of actual work, even when applied to other exercises. I put 5 supports under one of those 80's-style ladies step aerobics things and stood on one side of it, and started up my interval timer. I got halfway through the 4th 20-second work interval when I had to call it quits. And I was truly pushing myself. I can't wait to work up to a full Tabata protocol and finish the 4 minutes.
Next, I decided to fulfill the Tabata protocol on the rowing machine. I had a few intervals where I was having a hard time really pushing myself because my Vibram fivefingers shoes tend to loosen the straps and I was coming undone. In any case, I broke a hard sweat and finished the 4 minutes.
Then, in place of the swimming, I decided to do some more interval work by running. The location I was at today has a 1/28th mile track. It's tiny. I did ten laps at a full sprint with ten laps at a jog separating them. More high intensity interval work.
So I'm going to consider where I'm at today the starting point. I'm still doing some of my heavy lifts (squats, hang cleans, glute-hamstring raises), but those are a control anyway. We'll see how my "primal" workout compares to the other stuff I normally do.
Mark Sisson over at Mark's Daily Apple recently posted a "What I read" list. It got me thinking about a few things. One was doing a "What I read" list of my own. The other is "Why do I exist if all this good stuff is already out there?"
First, the list. These are the things I check out on a near daily basis:
Hyperlipid - I admit that I don't understand a lot of it, but what I muddle through very much informs me on matters of diet and saturated fat vs. carbohydrate intake)
Conditioning Research - This is a great blog on its own, but also a source where I find myself following a ton of links
Free The Animal - Even after toning down the seething vernacular, Richard Nikoley is proving that he can still effectively debunk conventional wisdom. Here's an awesome example
Mark's Daily Apple - Already mentioned. Sisson is one of the gods of the primal lifestyle movement.
So, the next question is this: If all this information is out there, why am I necessary? Well, in a nutshell, I'm not. I started this blog for some friends, family, and acquaintances who were always asking me to "write down my diet" and then "come up with a workout program" and "explain why you eat butter but not bread." This blog isn't supposed to be about me, although I obviously can't write from any other viewpoint with any kind of legitimacy.
In other words, I know there are only a handful of people out there reading my blog on a regular basis. I've made it clear the kind of subjects and issues I want to write about. I need feedback on what people want to know about, or know my thoughts about, so I can keep this thing going. I can easily post links to interesting and pertinent information every day or two, but it would make more sense for everyone to just click through the "What I read" list above. I eagerly await the feedback...
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