Personal trainer / competitive powerlifter Thomas Phillips has a great article on the Elite Fitness site regarding many of the commonly used deadlift techniques. I'm not referring to the sumo vs conventional debate here; the techniques include things such as squatting or straight-legged starts, head up or head down, and rounding the upper back.
Good stuff.
Before heading back down to warmer climes I decided to try a few of the beers which rarely make it as far as Australian shelves (there'd be a fair bit of competition if they did). Tonight I came across the unusually named Riggwelter.
Riggwelter is a strong (5.7% alcohol by volume) ale from Yorkshire's Black Sheep brewery. It's an excellent drop. As for the name - which was the thing which caught my eye in the first place - it's from the Old Norse words rygg (back) and velte (to overturn). When a sheep is on its back and cannot get up without assistance, it is said to be rigged or riggwelted in the local dialect.
After a few of those I can testify to knowing exactly what they mean.
The results of a study by a joint team of RAND, University College, London and University of London researchers has just been published in the Journal of the American Association (JAMA). The study looked at the differences in health (based on the appearance of medical conditions ranging from diabetes to various forms of cancer), especially how their health varies with major socioeconomic factors, and discovered that US citizens aged 55-64 were significantly less healthy than English citizens of the same age. Incidence of diabetes, for example, was twice as high in the US sample.
What makes this interesting is that the usual areas which seem to attract blame (obesity, alcohol consumption, wealth, healthcare etc) have all been ruled out as likely causes for this difference. In fact in some areas (notably alcohol consumption) the English actually lead by a significant margin.
The cause of this difference then? Researchers are currently uncertain. Opinions?
This one's definitely targeted toward the bodybuilders out there. AMP (Awesome Muscles Podcasts) is a series of interviews hosted by nutritionist Daniel Gastelu. The latest interview (with Jay Cutler) touches on a few interesting points :
The AMP series is available through iTunes.
NB : An earlier interview (#2) with Dr Fred 'Dr Squat' Hatfield is also a great listen.
Muscle Ventures is a project started by Bud Gibson and Nancy Arnold, which is following their bodybuilding progress through various training regimes and competitions. To coincide with Nancy's latest competition, a series of video podcasts has been compiled; looking at everything from her diet to posing practice for the big event.
These podcasts (currently consisting of 15 brief interviews with Nancy, her coach and dietician) present an interesting insight into the world of female bodybuilding. Subscription (free) is available either from the site or within iTunes (a quick search for 'muscle' will track them down).
Heather Lee is a bodybuilder, powerlifter and fitness model. You'll also see her occasionally performing in Strongman (Strongwoman?) competitions.
Aside from the usual range of photos that seem to go hand-in-hand with the sites of most fitness models, her training journal contains some interesting tidbits.
Most people are aware that the drinking of plenty of water is advisable, and anecdotal evidence suggests that more = better (up to a point). However, where did the current guideline of '8 cups per day' come from?
According to Valtin (i) the origin is probably the 1945 recommendation made by the Food and Nutrition Board of the US National Research Council. This stated :
A suitable allowance of water for adults is 2.5 liters daily in most instances. An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food. Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods.
The 2.5 litres was changed to 8 × 8 fluid ounce cups in later recommendations, but is otherwise unchanged.
A couple of things are worth noting about this information (which hasn't really changed in over 60 years). The first is the line 'An ordinary standard for diverse persons is 1 milliliter for each calorie of food'. This seems much more reasonable to me - tying water consumption to caloric intake - than simply drinking 2.5 litres of water. It would seem sensible that an athlete consuming 4,000 kCals per day would require a greater water consumption than one getting through 1,500 (for health reasons - we're not talking about preparing for bodybuilding competions here).
The second is the part of the guideline which seems to have been overlooked in later versions - 'Most of this quantity is contained in prepared foods'. I wonder just how much diets have changed in 60 years.
Saturday is rapidly becoming blog-finding day. In the midst of a bit of photo sorting (otherwise known as testing out the latest version of Capture One), I stumbled across A Tigers Time in the Gym (courtesy of comments on John's site).
Time to update the feeds.
Just came across Mostly Trivial - a site devoted to Ken's Kettlebell and Martial Art training.
Definitely worth a look.
Last week I came across this site, which documents the initial move of THR reporter Kevin Gleason to the Powerlifting scene. The lifting bug has clearly bitten, and from recent correspondence it seems that Kevin is still spending a good deal of time at the gym (though not with a particular competition in mind).
As seems customary, the blogging side of the equation has a tendency to slip away after a while; this might be a good time to head over there and leave a good word or two.
