Training Continues

Busy training for another fight. No low and slow cardio. Occasionaly high intensity intervals (calves are aching from doing HIIT on the treadmill in my Vibram FiveFingers classics)... along with tons of training, which is an active form of play where you can control how hard you push yourself, so it fits right in with Mark Sisson's primal law about play.

I've actually been eating very few vegetables, but I'm planning to try to fill up on spinach and other low-sugar greens to fill my plate up and help me consume less. I'm walking around at about 4-5 pounds over fight weight without depriving myself of any calories or anything, just eating gobs of butter and chunks of cheese, mountains of meats, you get the idea. So tossing a bed of arugula underneath everything might help on a subconscious level, if not a physiological one, to limit how much I eat at each sitting. Of course, I'm intermittently fasting (with great ease at this point. 20 hours plus goes by without a single pang of hunger, feeling of weakness, sense of longing, etc...)

Enough rambling for today.

You're welcome

I received a Thank You card today from my vegetarian-leaning grandmother today for a copy of Lierre Keith's brilliant opus "The Vegetarian Myth" that I sent her. Then I was playing around on Conditioning Research again and I saw this thinly veiled anti-vegetarian argument from a formerly meatless blogger.

Also found a few new sources for raw, grass-fed cheese. It's almost time to stock up for winter, as these items are only available during the sunnier months. Anybody know how long cheese stays good in the freezer?

Also, today is a huge day because Robb Wolff and Dr. Cordain's book comes out. I can't wait for my copy.

Last week's deadlift

I've often said that the deadlift is the single best full-body exercise around. I like to combine them with muscle-ups and call it a day after about 20 minutes. Of course, like all my big lifts, I like to go heavy and low rep.

Last week, I decided to try to break the 2.5x body weight barrier for a single rep. I would go so far as to say that the best measure of strength to weight ratio is deadlift/b.w., so I really wanted to get that 2.5 done.

Got on the scale and calculated the weight I'd need to lift: 332 pounds. Well, I'm at a gym with 2.5 pound plates at the minimum. Got warmed up with 5 easy reps at 225, then a tough 3-rep set at 315. Added 10 pounds and successfully got a 325 lift. Decided to go straight to 335, which I think was the right choice. Got the weight off the ground and even above my knees, but couldn't fully straighten my legs. 2.5x will have to wait for another day.

It got me thinking though. I know everyone out there isn't doing muscle-ups (or even pull-ups) and 36 inch box jumps. But I do think everybody should be doing deadlifts, whether it's with a straight bar and weight plates or a sand bag in the back yard. Google some YouTube videos and get to work!

Back into the blogosphere

So, I took some time off from blogging to prepare for my first amateur MMA title fight. This isn't a blog about my fight career, but I made the weight easily (weighed in at 133.3) eating 2 big, fat-filled meals a day, limiting my "cardio" (not including training jiu jitsu) to HIITs, and doing an occasional carb re-feed using sweet potatoes, bananas, and other gluten free sources of starch. The fight went the full 3 rounds, and my conditioning was certainly not an issue. (Oh yeah, I won a unanimous decision, for anyone who's wondering).

Training for another fight at a lower weight class. Obviously I will be utilizing the same strategy that I was successful with last time for making the weight and getting myself in shape. I have just less than a month and about 6 pounds to go, so I'm planning on a smooth transition to Super Featherweight.

As far as food, I'm still trying to eat less conventional dairy. I have been eating pemmican from U.S. Wellness meats and I plan to place an order for some meats from them soon, just making a bit more freezer space.

Questions and comments are always welcome. Apologies for the sabbatical between posts. It won't happen again any time soon.

Link

This is in response to a question I received from a co-worker. Since I'm not one to repeat work that's already been done (especially when it's been done better than I could do it myself), I will defer to Mark Sisson for a change. The question was about blood type-based diets, and here's the Mark's Daily Apple post on this and metabolic typing diets.

Work

Been unable to post due to time constraints. Here's a quick link that you may or may not be able to understand. I think I got most of it.

And because I rarely ever post links to Mark's Daily Apple, here's his post with recipes for different condiments you might like to put on your meatza or bunless cheeseburgers while eating real food.

My wish list these days is pretty short. I would like more time for sleeping inside and playing outside and sleeping outside and playing inside. I am in a bit of a transitional period working out how this is going to come into my life, so I can't promise regular posts or even coherent thought at the moment. Your forgiveness is appreciated in advance.

Links and re-statement

Okay, so today's post is just to provide a few links (some of which have been requested), including a few "get started" links from better bloggers than me.

The first is in response to a question about why I use stainless steel water bottles. One again,  Mark Sisson already covered the issue here.

The second is for people who might be new to some part of what I promote. I can't decide whether it's better to suggest you get Mark Sisson's new poster or whether you check out Kurt Harris's 12 steps. I'd actually lean toward the latter for the true beginner, but you definitely can't go wrong in either case.