“I’m coming home Thursday,” she said.
She was excited, and so was I. I’d been waiting five weeks for Galya to return to me from her extended trip back to Bulgaria, and Thursday couldn’t get here fast enough.
Here in California, everything was perfectly planned out for her Thursday night return, which for me meant, obviously, a Wednesday night spent cleaning. I didn’t dare clean earlier, lest I have to clean again. Some might call it ‘last minute,’ but I prefer Just in Time Cleaning or even Clean on Demand.
Anyhow, tonight (Tuesday), I’m busy working late, then I’ve plans to spend one last night with my butt on the couch watching Battlestar Galactica practicing for my Restorative Exercise ™ Specialist Certification and writing a poignant blog post about egg yolks, how treadmills lead to impotence, or how much I sneer at people who think foods made from nut flours and honey are somehow fine to eat everyday since they aren’t made from wheat and white sugar.
Sounds like a fun last night.
Imagine my surprise when I cracked open her eticket, which clearly says WEDNESDAY ARRIVAL.
Crap.
So, because I have to clean tonight, not tomorrow night, I no longer have the time to be brilliant. I barely have time to copy/paste, pretty it up, and hit publish, but I’ll do it for you. I’ll do it for you.
Our friend Katy Bowman is on the Balanced Bites Podcast with Liz Wolfe
Katy and Liz talk walking, treadmills, and more walking. It’s worth a listen. …while you’re walking of course.
We all have a pelvic floor, and Katy talks about it. Remember earlier when I said ‘impotent?’ listen up, and stop with the treadmill, and you might not be. I kid. …or do I?
Balanced Bites Podcast #106 – Liz Wolfe & Katy Bowman
Oh, do you pee when you do crossfit? That the pelvic floor, right there, not working for you.
Listen up.
How Do I Get Bigger and More Muscular?
I know it’s not for everyone, but I always talk about how to get smaller, so cool! I actually got several questions about this recently, which is rare, but it does happen. Lucky for me, both were from younger guys who love the gym. This makes the answer pretty easy.
There are eight elements to a good bulking plan.
Training
1. Lift, primarily using compound movement (squats, deadlifts, presses, pulls/rows, etc.).
2. It’s okay to do curls, raises, etc., but remember that they are extra. Save them for the end, when you’re out of energy to do more squats, rows, and presses.
3. Put in the time. My friend Lou Schuler recently wrote this little article on using some longer sets (lasting 20-30 seconds) to help with growth. Read it here (Go Long to Get Big), but my advice is to throw this technique in on the last set of the day, on the body parts that you really want to grow. If it’s biceps, do 1-2 sets of curls with enough reps that each set lasts at least 20 seconds. That’s going to mean dropping the weight and going for the pump, but you know that’s part of the fun, anyway.
To save time, try supersets like the following at the end of your program:
Monday (20-25 reps): Hammer Curls, Standing Calf Raise, Hammer Curls, Standing Calf Raise
Wednesday (20-25 reps): Triceps Pressdowns, Goblet Squats, Triceps Pressdowns, Goblet Squats
Friday (20-25 reps): Glute Bridge, DB Alternating Overhead Press, Glute Bridge, DB alternating Overhead Press
That’s just an example, choose your exercises according to your goals.
Nutrition
4. Eat like you mean it. Most of the guys that ask me why it’s so hard to gain weight don’t eat all that much. Oh, they think they do, but they don’t. One friend eats less that I do when I’m dieting down, and he wonders why his weight isn’t going up.
5. If you fill up on food too fast, it’s okay to supplement with liquid food (protein powder, smoothies, etc.), which are digested faster and more easily (which is one reason I almost never recommend them to most people trying to lose weight).
6. Eat healthy, but if you’re eating mostly chicken breasts, broccoli, and egg whites, you’re making it hard on yourself. You don’t have to eat junk food, but you need to eat food with real calories to grow!
Rest
7. Sleep as much as possible and get a lot of rest. Growth is happening during recovery, so make sure you give yourself time to recover.
8. There really is no eighth element.
Egg whites get all the attention
What ever happened to all the yolk talk? Nowadays it’s all ‘egg whites are the best.’ and ‘would you like egg whites with that?” Jeez.
Not a week goes by that a client, family member, or friend doesn’t talk about egg whites like they’re good or tell me that they are limiting their eggs because they are bad.
It’s getting old, people. Eat your eggs. Eat your yolks.
Many of you have ‘metabolic issues’ and don’t know it (or don’t want to face it). When you do decide to do something about it, it’s often the wrong thing, which is to go low fat, high carb, and eat breakfast foods featuring styrofoam egg whites.
Look at this study in the Journal of Clinical Lipidology, people. This study doesn’t get enough attention. In it, egg yolks are show to actually HELP people with metabolic syndrome, while egg whites did nothing to help.
These results demonstrate that on a moderate carbohydrate background diet, accompanied by weight loss, the inclusion of whole eggs improves inflammation to a greater extent than yolk-free egg substitute in those with MetS.
Eat your eggs. Eat your yolks. Why are you doubting? Seriously! Share.
Oh, mad scramble! Later…
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