Sunday, 07.25.10: Daily WOD

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Rest Day

Vitor Belfort & John Welbourn: LA County Sheriffs - Los Angeles, CA

Adventures in Evolution - NY Times

Alcohol, Fat loss and muscle growth - Lean Gains

Post thoughts to comments. 

16 Comments:

1. While you guys are reading up on John's articles, I'm also curious what you guys think for this lecture:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jYuQOijliac
The coach (Mike Boyle) basically states that the back squat is limited by lower back strength. He advocates the Split Squat over the back squat. Again, just curious what you guys think.
Comment by IanT — July 24, 2010 at 9:35pm
2. Alcohol and fat loss...man I knew I felt lean today after those 30 buds yesterday! Ha! Someone at CFFB must have read my smartass post.

I trained with Boyle in college for a short time and the one summer I did single leg squats (pistols) with him--along with heavy back squats and front squats--I came to camp with my strongest back squat, dropped 2 tenths off my 40 time (5.1 to 4.9 at 268), and had much improved balance.
He still back squats with his players, I believe he's offering that there's more efficiency in the single leg bench squats.
He's a good guy.
Thanks for the vid Ian.
Comment by CBOS — July 24, 2010 at 11:05pm
3. @Ian. I completely agree. A weak core will hold you back from doing a lot of weight in a lot of exercises. But I'll answer your question with a question. Instead of doing an exercise that works around that weakness, why not identify that as something that needs work and work on improving that? Your core (i.e. lower back/abs/hip flexors) is the most important things to strengthen. I guarantee that when your core gets stronger you'll see the rest of your lifts go up as well. I absolutely love pistols and believe that they have their own place in fitness, but I do not believe that they should be used as a substitute for back squat because you can't do as much weight as you think you should. The idea is to get all of your muscles to the point where they're on the same level. If that means you have to spend extra time on your core to get it to where your legs are, then that's what has to happen. Don't work around it. Just because you can dead lift more weight with wrist wraps than you can without doesn't justify wrist wraps. If your hands can't hold the weight, then your body can't hold the weight. Same goes wit squat. Strengthen that core, and the rest of your lifts will soar. Completely did not mean for that to rhyme. Good luck, bro.

"If you're not bleeding or throwing up, you're not working out!"
Comment by McQ — July 25, 2010 at 6:02am
4. IanT. Not to disrespect Mike at all, but this video was short on evidence on why the back squat is limited by lower back strength. Although it may seem like I disagree with what's being said, here's my 2 cents (or 1$) from experience that in some way agree with the premise (but not really the video, it kinda looks like a rant to me).

So, after high school when I was fairly strong in the lower body for my age and weight due to ski racing and other athletics. Due to constraints in University I drastically reduced my volume and training die to work constraints (that's a little background). I started playing rugby as I really like the sport and about 1.5 years in I blew out my back (partially torn disc, I couldn't walk for a few days and needed about a month of physio to finally be able to stand erect). So, naturally, when I started weight training more seriously about year later, I shied away from heavy deadlifts because I thought it would affect my back. I also noticed that my squat wasn't doing too well but I figured that was more due to rust, lack of frequency in training and the back injury more then anything else (note I was about 21 here, a few years out of highschool and I wasn't putting up any numbers that were nearly as close as when I was 18 even when taking into account the lack of ski racing). So when I decided to switch program to an oly lift program with little deadlifts, I noticed that my knees were often buckling inwards when I did 1-3RM squats (front and back) and retrospectively I attribute that to the lack of back strength to keep my torso upright and my hips properly aligned. Why do I say that? Well once I was done my first rotation of my oly lift program I decided to try CFFB to get into better shape for rugby and I decided to go all out with the deadlifts to improve my back strength. What happened? All my other lifts consequentially went up (and most back pain disappeared magically) and I felt much more explosive. I don't think that its just a fluke from going into the CFFB programming but more related to the added back work.

Again, just my thoughts, what does this have to do with the video? Nothing. What does it have to do with the title; I think a lot.
Comment by IanT — July 25, 2010 at 6:12am
5. Hey guys some of you have been talking about working out with your mouth pieces in. a couple of years ago our trainging division ordered about 75 of these, they send you a mold kit for your impression, you send it back and they send you one bad ass mouth piece, we use them and can teach class with it in, and wont effectt your wod at all, it takes 2 hands to actually get the thing out of your mouth, they are bad ass, just wish i knew of them sooner, www.custmgaurds.com ask to speek to Bobby.
Comment by JayBird — July 25, 2010 at 10:27am
6. Regarding split squats and squats. My 40 also dropped .2 seconds when I replaced squats with split squats.
What I have been doing lately is... If the SWOD calls for squats; I replace them with split squats. If the DWOD calls for squats; then I do squats. It has been working well for me.
Comment by Lopez — July 25, 2010 at 11:52am
7. Interesting Boyle video. Bulgarian Squats have been around for some time, and I'm sure have their place in training. I don't doubt they could be worked with successfully in this program. However, I need WAY more evidence to throw out the back squat. In other words, I need to know that the Bulgarian Squat is a total replacement.
I may be jumping the gun, but I suspect it is not. Notedly absent re: Boyle are the indirect benefits of traditional squatting: a endogenous neuroendocrine response and increased testosterone and HGH. With less muscle recruitment in the Bulgarian, will these be missed?
Comment by One_ill_KevinJ — July 25, 2010 at 12:40pm
8. The alcohol article was great. Health benefits aside, I always wonder why athletes (particularly weekend warriors like many of us) avoid alcohol. What is better than hoisting a few drinks with the guys/girls after or during an event? Why miss that social aspect over concern for a few calories or a tenth of a second in a sport that's really just a hobby? That was part of the draw to highland games for me, I watched my first one and one of the guys says "hold my beer, I'm up"....awesome.

And the living longer data is interesting too. Who will live longer, Freddy C or C.Lake??
Comment by Josh 39/6'4/250 — July 25, 2010 at 3:14pm
9. @JayBird - did you mean www.customguards.com?
Comment by Rich S. — July 25, 2010 at 7:56pm
10. Rich, you got it. ask Bobby about the ones we use at FLETC. I use them in WODS all the time mainly cause i grind my teeth on alot of lifts and it wont effect your breathing at all. But also use it for boxing and jui jitsu all the time. If it comes out of your mouth, youve got alot more to worry about than your mouthpiece.
Comment by JayBird — July 25, 2010 at 8:52pm
11. For Mondays lift portion..

What kind of press are they talking about?

Push or what?

Thanks!
Comment by LFCdb30 — July 25, 2010 at 9:58pm
12. LFC, check the FAQ under exercises. You will find your answer there.
Comment by C. Lake — July 25, 2010 at 10:09pm
13. Oh and Josh, I am going to have to go with Freddy C. I binge a bit too hard on the weekends. Don't touch the stuff during the week, but come Fri. Sat., different story.
Comment by C. Lake — July 25, 2010 at 10:13pm
14. Got it.. Thanks!
Comment by LFCdb30 — July 25, 2010 at 10:14pm
15. Thanks for linking that alcohol article, it was great. That dude's blog is pretty damn good too, everyone should go check it out.
Comment by JohnN — July 26, 2010 at 1:23am
16. RE: Alcohol article. While he makes some good points, many of them arent backed up with more info. In one example he states: "Another explanation is that regular alcohol consumption affects nutrient partitioning favorably via improvements in insulin sensitivity." ....and then doesnt say why, where he got that info from etc. Also, Id say that a 7% decrease in testosterone is significant. Just like a 7% decrease (or increase) in any lift is significant. There are also a few to many "may"s and "assume"s in there, that with his writing style sound like fact. Lastly, his recommendations on "what to eat": I tried eating like that for years. Cut most of the fat out of my diet, eat lots of lean protein, and veggies. I didn't lose the fat...and my performance lagged. If I tried eating like that now I would crash and burn. There isn't enough energy sources there from carbs and fat to support what I do. Bottom line, this guy found what works best for him so that he can drink more alcohol. What about grassfed beef or milk? A lot of the research no is showing that a lower carb higher (natural) fat diet can do the same thing while improving health (See Robb Wolf's page for more details and the appropriate scientific reference s). Don't get me wrong, I love a beer or scotch every now and then, but since I cleaned up my diet I simply can't anymore. Not for any reason lik e"it makes me fat" or "it's bad for me"...nope, it just makes me feel like crap WHILE I'm drinking it! Headache mostly. Go figure. There is nothing wrong at all with a few (or a lot) of beers, but there are consequences, just the same as training too much, or not eating enough. Every once in a while, no big deal but not every day. My opinion is: It's different for everyone.
Comment by DL — July 26, 2010 at 10:31am

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