KBs

KBs

Sunday, February 24, 2013

Throw

Human beings are meant to throw. Anything. Everything. For fun. For hunting. For sport. Early man threw rocks and spears to kill food. He had to be strong and accurate to hit his target. If he missed, the food might get away or, even worse, charge and attack. Life or death depending on throwing.

Today, we rarely find a need to throw well. Unless we are a throwing athlete like a quarterback, a shot-puter or a professional dart player, we don't rely on throwing in our daily lives. But the potential benefits from adding throwing to our routines are numerous.

Any type of throwing requires a complex interaction of brain, body and hand. Throws start at the feet and energy is transferred up through the body and released into the object being thrown. This action takes mental and physical coordination. To throw things further or more accurately requires a higher level of coordination and strength. One could argue that elite level throwing is the pinnacle of athletic skill.

So how can we incorporate throwing into our training routine? Here are a few ideas:

- Throw for Power - You can throw anything with some weight; a kettle bell, a sledge hammer, a rock, a sandbag, etc. Start with a wide, athletic base. Alternate throwing from both sides of your body as well as underhand (granny), overhand (soccer style) or shot put style. See how far you can throw your chosen item. You can also try to hit a target. Think Braveheart.

- Play throwing games - Think about how many games involve throwing. Baseball, basketball, football, darts, horseshoes, shot put, discus, javelin, . . .hand grenades? Any one of these (probably not hand grenades) can be a fun way to improve your throwing skill. You can play catch with your kids. You can throw a ball for your dog (or cat named Obie).

Here is our workout from yesterday. It was heavy on the throwing.
-We started by carrying a kettle bell to the park, about a mile away. This served as a warm up.
-Once there, we did five rounds of the following;
     -walk up the hill with your KB
     -throw the KB 15 times any way
     -walk back down the hill with the KB held overhead.
     *after each throw, don't just walk. Each round, we travelled to the KB in a different way.
      Round 1 - bear crawl. Round 2 - one legged hop, right leg. Round 3 - one legged hop, left leg.
      Round 4 - standing broad jump. Round 5 - run backwards.
-After five rounds, we carried our KBs back home. This workout was fun and challenging. We did get some funny looks. I guess throwing heavy things in the park isn't an every day occurrence.

Go throw things.

Jack

PS - Throwing a kettle bell or anything else in public should always be done with caution. I did this workout with my girlfriend and we were extra careful to not throw anywhere near each other, strangers, animals or anything else besides soft dirt or grass. Wouldn't want to squash anything by accident.

Sunday, February 17, 2013

What's up with Paleo?

Diet fads come and go. One day fat is the devil, the next day carbs are killing us. South beach was big for a while, now it seems paleo is the new thing. So what are we to make of all this? How is someone supposed to pick the right diet?

Here is my take: anything and everything we eat constitutes our diet. The idea of "being on a diet" is absurd. You can change eating habits, but making drastic changes that last for a few weeks or months before falling off the wagon can be unhealthy. A healthy diet is based around moderation and finding what food habits work for you. My diet fits my lifestyle and probably isn't the right fit for everyone else.


The paleo diet is based on the idea that cavemen (who lived in the paleolithic era) did not eat certain things, like grains, sugars, dairy products or anything processed. Cavemen had not yet domesticated cows or grains, so these things didn't exist in their world, thus they didn't have that choice. The idea is that throughout most of human history, our bodies never processed dairy or grain or lots of sugar and now that we have all those things in abundance we are having all sorts of health problems (see: heart disease, chronic inflammation, obesity, diabetes, etc).

The people I know who adhere to some form of the paleo diet are all very fit people. The diet fuels better athletic performance; speeds recovery and keeps your brain sharp. It can also take some getting used to. It, like any other diet, can and should be tweaked to suit the individual's needs. I follow paleo about 80% of the time. I find that this level of adherence keeps me healthy and burning clean while allowing for the occasional cheat that helps maintain sanity (I swear they put some addictive chemicals in the smell of movie theater popcorn). But it is up to each person how much effort they want to put into their diet.

Here are a few links to good paleo related sites:

-This article is about a guy who has spent 20 years tweaking his diet and exercise program with great results. http://www.archevore.com/panu-weblog/2009/12/25/panu-eating-and-high-intensity-training.html

-This blog is dedicated solely to eating paleo. I use lots of her delicious recipes. http://paleomg.com/

-Another collection of paleo recipes and other paleo info: http://realfoodforager.com/

Just a reminder: I am not a doctor or a dietitian. I'm just a dude who likes to eat bacon and I build my diet around that. Just kidding. But seriously. . .

Jack

PS - Yesterday's workout - 800 meter repeats. We went to the park and walked off 100 meters. Then we proceeded to run 800 meters (back and forth four times). Rested two minutes and then ran another 800m, then 2 min rest, and one final 800m. I tried to hit the same time for each 800m (~2:25) This can be done anywhere with minimal gear. Disclaimer: These are not fun. Enjoy.

Tuesday, February 12, 2013

Balance

We are masters of balance. The simple act of walking on two legs is a complicated balancing act that we perform effortlessly every day. Think about a baby taking it's first steps. Not exactly graceful. By the time we are adults, walking is second nature. But then again, think about those people out there who perform ridiculous acts of balance; tight rope walkers, gymnasts on the beam, surfers on a board on a wave. These people have practised balancing above and beyond any normal human level, doing things most of us can not imagine.

So why should we work on improving our balance? Even if we are not striving to be a professional circus performer, having good balance is something that benefits us all. Balance requires core strength, extremity control and a strong brain-body connection (proprioception). Good balance helps prevent injury and will improve your athletic ability across the board.

Here are a few ways to practice and improve your balance:

Tree Pose - This is a Yoga pose that is heavy on balance and proprioception. Begin by standing on one leg and pressing the other foot into your standing calf or thigh. Find something in front of you to focus on (Drishti point). This will help keep you stable. Arms can be by your side, at chest level or overhead. Hold this pose for ten or so breaths and then switch sides. This can be done either alone or as a recovery part of workout.
 

Plank Balance - Start in Plank (top of a push up). Lift one foot off the ground and hold for 5 seconds. Switch legs. Then put both feet down and raise one arm, then the other. Focus on keeping a strong core throughout.

Urban Tightrope - This can be done anywhere anytime you are walking. If you are walking on the sidewalk, walk along the curb as if it were a tightrope. If you are walking in a parking lot, walk along those things in the front of parking spaces. Anything else you can find to balance on, do that too. Make balancing something you seek out instead of just something you do passively.

One of the first things to go with age is balance and athletic ability. These diminish through lack of use. You don't need to be a tightrope walker or an extreme athlete, but everyone should incorporate balance into their life.

Jack

Sunday, February 3, 2013

Breathing Ladder

As I've said before, I am a big fan of the kettle bell. They are versatile and challenging and they form the core of my home gym. Here is an easy kettle bell workout we did this morning.

Kettle bell breathing ladder
 
Step One:
Pick a kettle bell and an exercise; today I used a 50lb KB and did American (overhead) KB swings.
 
Step Two:
Decide how high you want your ladder to go. A breathing ladder goes like this; do one repetition (ie; one KB swing) and then put the weight down and take one controlled breath in and out. Then do two reps and take two breaths, then three and three, etc. Our ladder this morning went one to ten and back down to one, then back to ten and back down to one again. It looked like this:
1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1-2-3-4-5-6-7-8-9-10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
 
You could also go 1-20-1 or any other variation of the ladder. The idea is to maintain controlled breathing (in through the nose and out through the mouth) throughout the rest periods. You can breath however you want during the work periods.
 
Step Three:
Work hard
 
Try it out. Enjoy.
 
Jack
 
PS - No Gameday games today as we will be at a Super Bowl party, and chili and alcohol don't go well with exercise. Instead we did the breathing ladder in the a.m. With the season ending, I'm not sure which sport will replace football for Gameday games, but I'm sure I'll figure something out. . .