Random Thoughts

First off, I'd like to congratulate my beautiful girlfriend Kelsi on running an amazing race this past weekend. She crushed her PR time by about 2 minutes and ran a 1:26.21 at the Boston Run To Remember and came in 4th overall. She worked her ass off for that time and I'm really proud of her! Great job, babe!

The topics for blog posts come to me at pretty random times of the day; my mind is always going and I'm always thinking of things I'd like to write about. Sometimes I remember and it becomes a post, sometimes there's not enough to write about and sometimes I just plain forget. Today I'll just throw out some quick blurbs about random shit that I have been thinking about.

#pleasestopdoingit

I'm a lifting snob. There, I admitted it. I've been lifting long enough and tried enough things that I am certainly a snob about it; I'm not very judgmental, I just have a way that I think things should be done and want everyone to do them the same way. Example #1: I'm a squat snob now. I'm no longer impressed when I see someone squat with a low-bar position to powerlifting depth; high bar back squats taken to the basement are what really impress me now. Don't get me wrong, a huge squat is a huge squat, but I'm more impressed by depth. The volume of this weightlifting program I've been doing has also left me unimpressed by most traditional strength programs.

I've written about it before, but one of the most important things to have if you want to get better physically is a really good training group. At this point I've been training with Dan and Justin for almost 2 years. I've been training with Luis for about a year and a half, and Brooks joined us in training within the last year. We train as a group as least once a week, and are in contact about all of our lifts every day. We are a training group and friends, which is important when it's time to call someone out on their bullshit. We are all coaches too, which is good, because you always get direct feedback about your lift. We aren't there to coddle or motivate each other, but when someone has a big lift the group gets behind them. We are all well aware of each others strengths and weakness and know when to get on someone and when to back off. If you want to see some of the best gains you've ever made, find some really good lifting partners. Thanks guys.

The group at Risto Sports with Ivan Rojas

The New Balance Minimus 20v3 is a really sick shoe. It's nice and flat, super light and has a really good Vibram outsole. It's lighter than the old cross trainers, flatter than the old trails and has a better sole than their old walking shoes. It's flat enough that you wouldn't mind deadlifting in them, and they certainly feel good when you wear them for several hours while coaching. Definitely give them a shot.

I thought of this one during a conversation I had while lifting with Tony Gentilcore: diversify the types of protein that you eat. Everyone eats different kinds of veggies every night: kale, spinach, broccoli, chard, carrots, potatoes, etc. So why shouldn't we do the same with our protein? There is a plethora of delicious animals that we can choose from besides your old staple of chicken and beef. Seafood is always a good idea, but given the state of the oceans nowadays, limiting your intake a little is a decent idea. Other tasty animals you can eat are duck, venison, boar, bison, lamb and elk. Not only are these animals full of good protein, but they are not conventionally farmed animals. This means that they don't get bred, raised, slaughtered like our normal cattle do. They are most often grass-fed, free-range animals  which means that their fat is full of Omega-3's, CLA and Vitamin E; all things that we don't get from conventionally raised livestock. These meats aren't cheap, but also aren't exorbitant if you shop in the right place. Even better; if you know a hunter, pay him for some of the game they bring home. Eat more animals and taste the rainbow!

Also, check this out. There are 3 different types of eggs here: one is a store bought commercial egg, one is a store bought free-range organic egg and the last is farm fresh that I bought locally. There are some noticeable differences in the yolks, any guesses as to which is which?

That's it for today, I hope you enjoyed the post! Have a great day and go lift some heavy shit!