Monday 3/6

1. Erg. 4km warm-up. 1000m in 2:51.0. Rate 40. 1km warm-down.  *This felt a little strange as I don’t think I’ve rated above  20 since the end of March and the sweet touch of lactic acid was becoming more a fond memory than regular occurrence.

2. Weights. Squat 150kg x 2, 160 x 2, 170 x 0 (leg capacity a little diminished – needed to refocus and channel the power of Odin), 170 x 1, 140 x 12, 100 x 32.  Bench pull 90kg x 3, 100 x 2, 110 x 2, 120 x 1, 90 x 13.

Tuesday 4/6

1. Erg. 8km @ 1:52.5. Rate 20. 30 minutes.

Wednesday 5/6

1. Weights. Deadlift 140kg x 3, 160 x 2, 180 x 2, 200 x 1, 220 x 1, 230 x 1, 235 x 1. Leg press. 200kg x 26, 250 x 20, 300 x 12, 350 x 5, 375 x 3, 400 x 2. Incline Bench Press 60 x 5, 70 x 3, 80 x 2, 90 x 2, 100 x 2.

Thursday 6/6

1.  Erg 5 x 5km w/ 2 minutes rest @ 1:53.8.  Rate 20.  95 minutes.

2.  Erg 8km, 6km, 4km, 2km w/ 2 minutes rest @ 1:53.8.  Rate 20.  75 minutes.

3.  Erg 5km, 4km, 3km, 2km, 1km w/ 1 minute rest @ 1:53.6. Rate 20.  57 minutes.

4.  Erg 4 x 3.5km w/ 1 minute rest @ 1:53.6.  Rate 20. 53 minutes.

5.  Erg 10k @ 1:53.2.  Rate 20.  38 minutes.

*What a fun way to spend a Thursday.

Friday 7/6

Nothing

Saturday 8/6

Nothing

Sunday 9/6

1. Erg. 8km @ 1:52.5.  Rate 20.  30 minutes.

Friday and Saturday weren’t really nothing.  There just wasn’t anything that would constitute “training”.  Most days usually include a walk of 20-60 minutes and some mobility exercises.  The objective for the coming week will be to have a a couple of sessions on the erg, some stretching type stuff and staring deep in Matty’s eyes to harness our collective chi.

Matt and I have finished what will likely be our peak volume week leading up to this 24 hour shebang.  I’m still awaiting the official directive pertaining to the fundraising component of this jugganaut, but the training does not wait.

30/5

1. Erg 20km @ 1:49.6. Rate 20. 73 minutes. *This was a relatively ‘light’ day.

31/5

1. Erg 3km, 4km, 5km, 4km, 4km – all with 2 minutes rest.  20km @ 1:54.2 ave/500m. 76 minutes. Rate 19.

2. Weights. Deadlift and Incline Bench Press superset. 180kg (DL) and 90kg (IBP). 5 sets of 2 reps for both.  Isometric wall sit. 90 seconds, 30 seconds rest x 4.  *Was a little bit tired for this session.  The objective was to get a bit of a central nervous system stimulus and to slow down my gradual regression into a weakling.

3. Erg 4 x 5km with 2 minutes rest. 20km @ 1:52.2. 75 minutes. Rate 20.

1/6

1. Erg 4 x 6km with 3 minutes rest. 24km @ 1:53.1. 90 minutes. Rate 20.

2. Erg 1km, 2km, 3km, 4km, 5km, 6km, 5km, 4km, 3km, 2km, 1km.  With rest 1 min, 2 min, 3 min, 4 min, 5 min, 6 min, 5 min, 4 min, 3 min, 2 min. 36km @ 1:53.1. 135 minutes. Rate 20.

Total kilometres for the week were 240 and mi amigo Matty compiled 241.03km.  There are still some big sessions to be had, but there will be a taper of sorts from here on in.

A little while ago I suggested to my hombre and long-time teammate Matt Ryan that without the burden of any international rowing commitments this winter that we should pick a fun activity to aim our youthful energy towards that could potentially render us both invalids and raise some money for charity.  The lovely people at Concept 2 (if you don’t know what Concept 2 is, fine, but I’m not sure why you’re here – look it up) have done a wonderful job in curating numerous records over varying distances utilising a highly efficient, macabre, torture device known as the ergometer, erg or ergo.

Matty. Family man. Isn’t he exotic and durable?

Despite my title as the reigning and undisputed champion of the Australian Junior 500m record, I felt it would be prudent for Matt and myself to challenge ourselves over a slightly more expanded distance and are now engaged in preparations for an assault on the World, tandem (two man) 24 hour record.  We will be be attempting to shatter the mark for the 20-29 year-old category, which is also the overall record.  The current record, held by Stefan Verhoeven and Matthias Auer of Germany, is 366, 836 meters.  This equates to (using the most typical measurement of speed on an erg) an average 500m split of 1:57.7.  Yes, this seems pretty moderate and achievable, but given the reality that an erg that lasts more than about 30 minutes is an exercise in unpleasantness, I predict that it will not be a walk in the park.

We have a prospective target of averaging 1:55/500m splits, which will, if achieved, accrue a total of 375, 652 meters.  It is has become abundantly apparent as we’ve progressed though some of the training for this thing that we really have no idea if this is highly optimistic or not, but we’re going to find out.  Specific event details are to come, but June 15th in Melbourne are the date and place.  We are hoping to raise some much needed funds for The Leukaemia Foundation (www.leukaemia.org.au) and we’ll eventually provide information on how that part is going to work.  Not only will donating make you feel good about yourself, but you’ll go into contention for some legitimate prizes.  Your donations will only increase the etent to which we hurt ourselves, so if that’s where you satisfy your sick fancies, have at it.

All Drop the Hammer material until June 15th will be 24 erg related as I cannot be stuffed writing anything else, but I will make it more regular.  I will provide a training log a couple of times a week and more info about how to donate and all related material about how Matt and I are going to attempt to have our spines fall through our assholes.

Monday 27/5

1. Weights. Superset front squats and bench pulls.  10 sets of 125kg x 2 (FS) and 107.5kg x 2 (BP). 2 sets of squats and chin ups. Squat 160kg x 2, 20 chin ups.  #Although lifting anything other than an erg handle may seem counterintuitive to our 24 hour ambitions, I believe no man ought to be weak and I’m expressing my right to pick up heavy things and put them down.

2. Erg. 5 x 6km with 2 minutes rest.  Total distance – 30km. Average split – 1:53.4.  Total work time – 123 minutes.  Rate 20.

Tuesday 28/5

1. Erg 2km, 4km, 6km, 8km, 10km, 12km. All with 2 minutes rest.  Total distance – 42km. Average split – 1:52.5.  Total work time – 157 minutes. Rate 20. # Was going to be 2,4,6,8,10,8,6,4,2 but something funny happened with the computer after the 10km interval and instead of setting it back up for 8,6,4,2 I punched out 12km and called it a day.

Wednesday 29/5

1

2

3

All that being said, it would be prudent to explain just what IF is for those that don’t know or have only heard the phrase peripherally.  IF is basically a pattern of food consumption that encourages structured periods of fasting with confined periods of eating.  What does such a pattern look like? Well, the options aren’t limitless but they are numerous.  24 hours fasts (popularized by Brad Pilion in the E-book Eat-Stop-Eat) involve the cessation of eating at a specific time and not eating for the following 24 hours.  For example, on a Tuesday you may have your last meal at 3pm, fast 24 hours and then recommence eating at 3pm on Wednesday.  “16/8” (known as Leangains) is a method developed by a fully shredded unit named Martin Berkhan (for more information than I will ever provide on IF, visit http://www.leangains.com/).  This, as the numbers may suggest, involves a daily fasting period of 16 hours followed by an 8 hour eating window.  This is a method I currently employ and structures my fasting window from 9pm until 1pm the following day and an 8-hour feeding window from 1pm to 9pm or thereabouts.  Other methods include Alternate Day Fasting, which is just as described – you eat every other day.  The “5/2” method is amongst the most popular IF methods (popular as in regular citizens are aware of and use this).  “5/2” is technically not actually IF as there’s little actual fasting involved, but rather 2 days a week of caloric restriction.  “5/2”, although not IF, is actually not a bad practice as it still employs the tactics of occasional calorie restriction.  In a world where extraneous fat mass abounds, any method that encourages periods of nutritional restraint and an apparently high rate of compliance is a winner in my eyes.

The sticking point for many when contemplating a change in meal timing is that IF contravenes conventional patterns of eating that involves 3 square meals a day, eating every 2-3 hours and other practices that encourage pummeling your fat face with cream-puffs 24 hours a day.  Now, the big question and the one you’ve all been thinking is why would someone do this?  Isn’t breakfast the most crucial meal of the day?  Don’t numerous regular meals stoke the metabolic fire?  No.

Although I was, like many of you, aware and compliant with these popular misconceptions; I am here to tell you that it is all bullshit.  Please observe this, the most comprehensive review of various studies on meal frequency and energy balance.  It has been abundantly demonstrated that “although some short-term studies suggest that the thermic effect of feeding is higher when an isoenergetic test load is divided into multiple small meals, other studies refute this, and most are neutral.” What does this mean?  It means that if you divide 3000 kcals into 6 meals of 500 kcals or into 2 meals of 1500 kcals it will have no effect on your metabolic rate.

Another ill-concieved pitfall of IF is that the fasting periods would encourage “starvation mode” and a responding decrease in metabolic rate.  It has been demonstrated in clinical studies that only after a 60 hour period of fasting was there an 8% in resting metabolic rate (RMR) and that paradoxically there was an increase in RMR of 3.6% – 10% after 36-48 hours.  Fasting does not decrease metabolic rate.

How about the misconception that breakfast is the most important meal of the day?  This belief is based around studies that indicate that people that skip breakfast have, relative to the general population, higher bodyweights compared to those that don’t.  The problem with this deduction, which has been reveled by deeper investigation, is that breakfast eaters are also more likely to be conscientious with their eating in general and are thus less likely to be overweight because they are more aware of what’s going into their pie-hole as compared to the typically oblivious breakfast-skipping glutton.  This is a typical confusion of correlation for causation and you, if you are reading this, are more attentive than most and therefore shouldn’t be trapped by the tendencies of the weak-willed masses.

How about the myth that more numerous smaller meals are better at keeping the appetite at bay?  There are studies that indicate that this is horse crap and fewer, larger meals are actually more satiating, but take it from me; when I’m in the habit of eating in a smaller window I am typically far less hungry and far more satiated than I am if I able to eat across the day, regardless of amount.  I’ve read extensively on IF and would see numerous anecdotal reports that once people became settled in their new manner of eating, it became increasingly regular for them to unintentionally increase their fasting window because they forgot to eat or didn’t feel like it.  I thought this was absolute nonsense because I had seldom existed for more than about 18 seconds at a time without wondering where my next caloric infusion was coming from.  Reducing my eating window has a dramatic effect on my appetite and has allowed more time to roam earth as something other than a ravenous, anxiety-riddled freak.

So, there are some of the reasons for why one should feel that fasting will not be to their detriment, but what are the reasons for IF? Beyond appetite control (which is less of an issue for some than others), IF allows for less portion control when one does actually eat.  At times a small meal will suffice, but I find that 6 itty-bitty meals a day leaves me wanting.  At this point is should be said that for some people, with angel blessed metabolisms, are under pressure to keep their weight up and aren’t concerned with portion control.  Congratulations! That’s fantastic.  Good for you.  That is only very rarely my situation and more atypical than not for the general population (even athletes).  The point being, if you have to pay any attention to reducing you meal size because your appetite outweighs your body’s caloric need, then IF may be your friend.

Another and one of my favourite benefits of IF is that it’s way better at preserving muscle mass whilst reducing weight than more traditional eating templates.  Occasional or daily periods of fasting allow for the required catabolic process that will reduce your superfluous fat, whilst the eating periods allow for the preservation and potential increase of muscle mass.  A real perk of IF is that it allows you to leverage the same amount of calories you may eat otherwise for far greater results.  Let’s say you typically train in the afternoon.  If you fasted all night and most of the day (this is a deficit window), had a small meal, trained and then ate the majority of your calories post-training this would channel all the goodies your food provides into the restorative processes of repair and growth as opposed to storage.  This, of course, for those of you still paying attention, would compel you to eat more protein than the typically suggested 30g at a time.  This suggestion is, as expected, nonsense.  Studies blah blah blah – it’s not true, especially for athletes with an increased need for cellular repair.  I often eat 100g + at a time, so suck it.

What about those training twice a day?  Surely one of those sessions would have to be completed fasted?  Yes and this is something I’ve negotiated for awhile.  The best-case scenario is that your key sessions are performed during the eating window so that appropriate pre and post-workout nutrition can be observed and that less intense sessions are performed in the fasted state.  This is the typical preference.  We also need to get some space between ourselves and the belief that we cannot possibly operate on an empty stomach or in a fasted state.  I used to be one of those people that would start feeling light headed if I attempted to do anything without the requisite injection of kcals (walking, for example).  This was only because I’d habituated my body with its reliance on consumed nutrients for energy.  What happens if you’re accustomed to training fasted?  Your body uses that belt of stored energy that sits around your midsection, your gut.  Train fasted – use fat – repair with food.

What about the instances when one unavoidably has an intense, glycogen depleting, ball tearing session that falls into the fasted window?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  If your fasted window is in the morning, you have a more than ample opportunity the night prior to consume the necessary nutrients to fuel you the following morning.  If your IF method compels you to observe 1-2 (the recommended) 24 hours fast per week, you have the option to schedule those on days you do not have key or prolonged intense sessions.  However, studies have actually indicated that even after fasting for 3.5 days, strength and low-intensity aerobic performance are not compromised.

In the instances it is unavoidable, intensive training while fasted has demonstrated an increased post-exercise hormonal response as compared to fed training of the same intensity.  That is to say that when intense training is completed fasted there is an elevated growth hormone response during and a greater anabolic response to the eventual post-exercise nutrition.  Try it.  Some people may be affected differently while training fasted than others.  An allowance for an adaption period before making an assessment is probably for the best.  If you’ve always done it one way, a drastic change is always going to have an affect.  There’s always the chance that fasted training may have a slight, temporary, reduction in performance but this may also potentiate an increased adaptive response and improvement in subsequent capacity.  Very intense fasted training should, ideally, be performed on occasions with the majority of these types of sessions being completed in the afternoon or whenever abundant nutrition can be accommodated.   Plenty of athletes don’t have these issues if their nutrition is adequate over the longer term -how many people do you know that compete on an empty stomach and perform fine?

I would suggest against regularly fasting prior to an extended training session (over 2-3 hours).  There’s a whole whack of calories burned in a session of that length, if the intensity is adequate, and performance and concentration may dip significantly at a certain threshold (again, individual).  Though, this is another training stress that has an adaptive response.  If you are the sort of athlete that engages in sessions of this nature then you are probably the type of athlete that competes in an event of extended duration.  This likelihood would also prompt the idea that having the ability to perform when depleted could be a strength.  This would increase their eventual output under race conditions with unrestricted caloric intake and prepare them for instances when this is not the case.

Another positive response to workouts of this type is the demonstrable increase in fat utilization for energy.  Workouts of this nature have shown to stimulate this adaption by generating the production of an immune compound called interluken-6.  The muscle releases this chemical as a response to diminishing glycogen levels and triggers an increase in fat utilization at that time and in subsequent sessions.   This is one of the reasons that elite athletes have increased fat utilization at higher intensities compared to athletes who have not gone through more instances of increased depletion.  These types of sessions should be completed with lower expectations of performance (for that day) and should not be completed when others are going to be negatively impacted by your diminished capacity.  Examples of this would be a group run, ride or rowing in a crew boat.  If your power rapidly fades when you’re by yourself, no harm, you’ll just end up feeling become increasingly concerned with how you’ll transport your ragged carcass home.  Do not do this when others are going to have to wait for you.  If you are competent enough that your depleted performance will stand up ok compared to others in your group, this is different.  Figure it out.  If you are with someone that has stuffed this up and underdone the fueling process, at the wrong time, forge on without them – it’ll be a learning experience.

As I’ve hopefully explained, sessions like this are not the norm and your energy needs should be more than covered if what you eat is appropriate.  We’ll have to get into what to eat some other time as this is, in my opinion, more important than when.  In the meantime, experiment.  Check out www.leangains.com,  (I agree with almost all of it) and keep an open mind.  I’ve trialed 16/8, regular 24 hours fasts, irregular 36 hour fasts, one 3 day fast and all have provided a learning experience.  Perhaps the biggest affect in all of these and of IF in general is a renewed connection with food.  When I eat at liberty I find that many of my meals are ingested without much cognition of the actual process.  I’ll really enjoy the meals I love, but regular foods can end up just shoveled in.  With IF I tend to pay better attention more often.  This could well be because I’m starving or whatever, but try it out for yourself.  If you’re convinced that the regularity with which you eat is perfect and you’re not filling to change, then I have no idea why you’ve read this far.  Peace be the journey.

I have no idea what your motivation is but you sure as shit should.  It should be crystal clear to you.  Your “why” is your primary motivation.  The ‘why’ is the backbone of your justification for doing anything.  Sometimes the ‘why’ might be “because this cheeseburger tastes good” and other times it might be “in order to win an Olympic Gold Medal”.  The ‘why’ may not always have the same breadth and magnitude, but connecting to your real motivation for doing something is going to make it easier when it ain’t so easy.

Asking yourself ‘why’ is going to ensure that your reasons are good enough to justify your investment.  ’Why’ is the reason erging for an hour is more palatable to some than it is to others.  Some people are more acutely aware of what they want to accomplish and why.  If part of their motivational paradigm is erging for an hour, so be it.  Connecting to the ‘why’ provides the motivation for some, that for others is simply not there.

Case in point – all you pussies that don’t have your protein shake because you don’t like the taste, get in touch with why you’re having that shake in the first place.  It is likely for some larger goal and unlikely in order to have a delicious beverage.  Understanding this mentality on a small scale will make it a lot easier to do many things that others may find unfathomable.  The “why” is what transforms a bunch of crap you’d rather not do into something that’s relatively enjoyable.   If you can intimately understand the benefit of an activity and how it directly relates with bringing you closer to your goal, then whether or not that activity is enjoyable as its own entity becomes largely irrelevant – knowing that something, anything, will bring you closer to that which your heart desires will dramatically increase your pleasure in doing that thing.  Framing any activity as such is why it really is a lot easier for some than others.  In reality, this presents itself as someone appearing “motivated”.  Motivated is “to provide with incentive” and motivated people are more acutely aware of what their incentive is.

In some instances the ‘why’ may be contained in the activity itself -running a marathon for instance.  People have many reasons for running a marathon. One such reason could be for the individual to prove to themselves or others that they could do it or do it in a certain time.  This is a good ‘why’.  This is a different ‘why’ from an elite marathoner who is running the race in order to win/break a record/earn some money/provide for their family.  Different underlying motivations can still spur individuals on, even if the activity is the same, as long as the ‘why’ is genuine. In this sense a person is able to enjoy something that would be otherwise unpleasant, but be acutely aware that nobody is running a marathon because they thought it would be enjoyable in the same way a bubble bath is.

Be cognisant of your deepest why.  If you insist on bullshitting yourself, your ‘why’ will collapse and your motivation will disappear like a fart in the wind.  If you’re in the gym because you want a good body to impress the ladies or the fellas, first question whether or not that is something that either party is actually impressed by and then be honest about it and do it wholeheartedly.

Your ‘why’ and your reasons for doing anything are yours and yours alone, but make sure they’re for real.  They are all good enough if they mean something to you.  Anytime you have to do something unpleasant for the sake of a greater goal make sure you are connected to your ‘why’.  My ‘why’ is the only reason I’ve eaten any vegetable in the last decade.  There has not been a single solitary instance in which I’ve eaten broccoli, spinach or any other veggie because I’ve wanted to enjoy the taste. For those of you that do enjoy the taste, I’m happy for you. I really am.  To me they taste like dirt and yet I’ll shove them down my gullet ad nauseum because, as part of my larger concept of “why”, I want to

Think about it like this.  The ‘why’ is the reason anybody has ever ridden a bike in the rain.  The ‘why’ may be the need to get home, it may be that riding in the rain is part of being a professional cyclist, it may be that riding a bike in the rain whilst under the influence of LSD is fun or it may be 1000 intricate variations thereof, but if you aren’t aware ‘why’, then you, my friend, are just an idiot on a bike, in the rain.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Whilst reading one of the numerous powerlifting/strongman/olympic lifting/bodybuilding blogs I regularly peruse I was presented with an interesting discussion on the various opinions regarding the concept of “ideal” technique as it relates to lifting very heavy objects. The author’s perspective can be summarised by the following -

“The problem with many people is they have this pre-conceived idea of “perfect form” in their head that is just not a reality. They are taking what they have seen of a deadlift at 135lbs and they expect a deadlift at 900lbs to look the exact same way. Just like there is no such thing as a perfect body, a perfect life, or a perfect pizza because opinions of perfect are so subjective, there is no such thing as “perfect form” because literally every body is built differently, and will alter the lifts to conform to their body type.”

This, I feel, is very interesting.  As an athlete in a sport that has an “ideal” body type and as an athlete that does not possess such a body type, I am acutely aware that there are different technical requirements of me than there are of some of my lankier peers.  No shit.  James possessed what many would consider to be an “ideal” rowing stroke.

Click here to view the video on YouTube.

Skip to 15:10 for a good example. Thanks Drew for the video.

The problem with this ideal is that it isn’t necessarily ideal for everyone.  Don’t get me wrong, there are certain tenants of the rowing stroke or any technical endeavour that are 100% indisputable -a tennis player is unlikely to decide to return serve with his face, but there are many aspects that are/should be up for discussion.  There are many aspects of the way that James rowed that are highly highly favourable when trying to create and maintain boat speed (the whole point of racing), but that isn’t to say there aren’t other ways of doing it.  Even aspects of James’ rowing are disputed by some as ideal. James had a quirk of feathering the blade with both the inside and outside hands.  For my non-rowing audience; feathering is the action of rotating the face of the blade from a position perpendicular to the water to a parallel position at the release of the propulsion phase of the stroke – it is considered bad technique to feather with the outside hand and not with the inside hand exclusively.  James also squared his blade quite late in the recovery and some would say that he left too much of his body rock until to late in the recovery.  So, was this bad technique?  I don’t think so.  None of those slow a boat down if you do some of the surrounding technical components right.  You can square late, for example, if you’re still accurate with the catch. And yet if you consulted a textbook on rowing you’d find that all of these traits would be deemed incorrect.

Even the little yellow man on the cover of this book, which I’ve read, has disputable technique.

The problem when assessing rowing technique is that all too often we focus on what is wrong and not nearly enough on what is right.  If you assessed James’ rowing only by way of the things he did “wrong” you would obviously miss all the stuff he did really well.  Because of James success he is afforded his due credit and anointed more often as having perfect technique  -his flaunting of the technical model are merely the quirks of a rowing enigma rather than wrong.

It does make you question many of the assumptions we’ve made about ideal technique for anything.  Some of these techniques in numerous endeavours are held aloft as the holy grail, but are nothing more than the established tradition – relics of a bygone era by men who I imagine had mustashes and smoked pipes (and you know I don’t have a problem with pipes and mustaches).  The point of great angst for me is when we assume that just because a manner of doing things a certain way has produced some success that it is the best and only way. And we all know that to ass-u-me is to make an ass of u and me.

]]> http://www.dropthehammer.com/?feed=rss2&p=696 0 http://www.dropthehammer.com/?p=691&utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=single-leg-smash http://www.dropthehammer.com/?p=691#comments Mon, 18 Mar 2013 13:08:05 +0000 Sam http://www.dropthehammer.com/?p=691 It’s time for you to Drop the Hammer on your wheels.  Your quadricep cross-section is your responsibility.  No excuses.  To make sure you are fully capable of allowing your quads and hams opportunities for destruction and eventual growth, I will provide you with a couple of exercises that involve no equipment whatsoever.  These can be used in lieu of conventional strength training with actual weights and stuff, but when it comes to leg training more is generally more, so just do this stuff on top where possible.  These also engage the booty quite a bit more than a lot of gym exercises and thus are more applicable to functional movement in a sporting environment.  Big and bountiful gluteals are going to give you more power than any quad development ever will and these will do the trick with regards to that.

This is the start and finish position for both exercises. 

The Hockey Squat (Other people will call it something else, but that is their business)

Hockey squat bottom position. Aim to keep chest up and lower the knee of your rear leg to the ground

Hockey squat bottom position from the front. Keep the eyes up.

The Pistol Squat (Not my name)

Pistol squat bottom position. Sit back and then down.

Pistol bottom position from the front.

I’m not going to give you too much in the way of reps, sets etc.  Many of you might find doing even one rep properly a challenge and your attention should be primarily be focused on doing these with the best form possible.  Lowering yourself into a position that is a challenge to get out of and repeating – eventually increasing that range over time – is enough to begin with. If you can do these with good depth, balance and without giving yourself a hernia, then increase the reps, increase the sets or decrease the rest or all three.  These re standard forms of progression and will yield results.  You can also increase or decrease your speed and add resistance in the form of a vest or by holding any sort of weight.  You can experiment by going right leg, left leg.  A coupla on the left, a coupla on the right.  Hockey squat, pistol squat.  Set of hockey squats, sets of pistols.  You are your own boss and you will improve your leg hypertrophy, power and strength as long as there is a progression in range, reps, sets, rest, speed or weight.  A few final pointers – keep your chest up, use your arms for balance, but don’t flail (hammer droppers do not flail under any circumstances).  Stretch your hips after – you’re probably going to be sore and this may help (might not too).

A few housekeeping matters now.  A few of you have requested a Drop the Hammer facebook page.  One now exists. Search for Drop the Hammer, I’m sure you’ll find it.  If not, you are not very resourceful.  There is apparently a band called Drop the Hammer that is also on facebook and they look pretty cool, so that’s good.  I’ll be appearing at the Sydney Spectacular International Celebration Regatta Festival of Oarsmanship, Friends, Family and Fun in the next couple of a days and will have free Drop the Hammer merchandise (stickers) to give away.  You should feel welcome to come and ask for a sticker or several if you see me.  I’m fully aware this may start a frenzy the likes of which Penrith has never seen, but (and this part is important) if you see me and I do not a have a backpack, a briefcase, a carryall, a duffel, a handbag, a haversack, a knapsack,  a purse, a rucksack, a saddlebag, a satchel, a suitcase, a tote or a hobo sack on my person, then I do not have a sticker on me and you are most likely unwelcome.  Unwelcome might be a bit strong,  Not welcome?  Use your powers of deduction.  If I’m in a rowing suit and engaged in rowing related activities then I don’t have any stickers.  If not, then by all means.

For those of you that do not know, the Paleolithic or “Paleo” diet is based on the presumed ancient diet of what the various hominid species habitually consumed during the paleolithic era. The paleolithic era pertains to a period of about 2.5 million years which ended around 10,000 years ago with the development of agriculture and the increased prevalence of grain-based diets. The Paleo diet is often referred to as “The Caveman Diet” and some other such idioms in the popular press.

The Paleo Diet excludes the ingestions of all grains, legumes (peas, beans, lentils, peanuts), dairy, potatoes, refined sugar, refined salt and processed oils.  What does that leave? Meat, eggs, veggies, fruit, fungi and nuts.  The main belief system behind the Paleo Diet is that our bodies have not evolved since the Palaeolithic era and are thus not suited for the consumption of the previously stated forbotten foods.  The thing is, they may be right! Then again, they may not be.  A lot of this is theoretical and as I’ve previously stated, I try not to pass judgement on something I am merely theoretically familiar with.  I have had periods of time where I ate exclusively Paleo and 90% of the foods I eat today would be Paleo compliant.  However, there are some glaring issues with the Paleo diet that I cannot get away from. The life expectancy of Paleolithic man is commonly determined as about 35 – not exactly a big tick for the longevity health box.  Many advocates of the Paleo diet will shout from the rafters that life was a lot more dangerous as compared to today’s plush environment and that abrupt death by way of violence or disease was the cause of the shortened lifespan.  That well may be the case, but life extension is not my priority and thus the point is moot.

What is my priority?  Physical capacity?  That’s part of it and I’d be pretty confident to take my forever chaffing thighs and line them up against any paleolithic bum in a foot race. As far as strength goes I’d be pretty confident that I could grab one of these  cave men by his unwashed mane and bash him to death with a Nintendo Wii.  Why do I think these things?  Well, for one thing, the average height and weight of paleolithic man was 166cm to 179cm and 62kg to 67kg.  Paleo man was a dweeb and he didn’t have creatine.  Or whey protein.  Or any number of other goodies that have allowed modern man to well surpass the size and ability of all ancient men.  Resistance training anyone?

Robb Wolf. Perhaps the most prominent name in the Paleo community. Looks ferocious.

The problem is that most paleo advocates compare the health of their clan versus the health of John Average Citizen, but as we all know JA Citizen is typically a disgusting fat-body.  When compared to this, all comparable diets and lifestyles look alright.  For  the average person that needs to make a shift in health and body composition, a paleo lifestyle would probably help.  Any diet that excludes a whole bunch of potentially hand-brake foods will be an improvement, but it probably won’t be sustainable.  Oh, you think it might be sustainable?  Let me set the record straight – if you are the sort of person that has employed an unadulterated paleo diet and plans on doing so for the rest of your life, then you are not a person I want to spend any length of time with.  Don’t misunderstand me, I enjoy a plethora of weird and extraneous dietary restrictions at various times, but I’d honestly rather hit myself in the face with an axe than not ever have pizza again.  Oh, but on your paleo diet you occasionally have pizza or ice cream or beer?  Guess what -that is not the paleo diet.  That’s just you making healthy decisions regarding the majority of your food choices which, in turn, allows for the sporadic enjoyment of foods that may be less meritorious nutritionally, but which greatly enrich life.

Dan Noonan. Olympic Bronze medal in the 4x. From what I can tell, he exists on an almost exclusive diet of grains and dairy in the form of Weet-Bix, milk, barely and hops.

People, this is called not eating like a stupid person.  I implore you to eat healthily and the basic tenants of the paleo diet aren’t bad , but if your diet says that I can’t expend a monumental amount of energy in the form of exercise and occasionally reward myself with a burger,  then I am not interested.  As I wrote earlier, there is a time and a place to get creepy with your diet if your aspirations warrant it, but this is not standard operations.  Nobody should want to live like this full-time and I doubt anyone does.

Which brings me to perhaps my biggest gripe of all – the fat paleo person.  What is your deal?  Not only are you crippling your life and making everyone around you despise your existence, but you aren’t even giving us something reasonable to look at.  How dare you.  Do you really think your diet is working? Are you sneaking cupcakes in on the side?  Just be honest.  If you are going to be paleo, your ribs better visible or you are a failure.

If you are tubby, yes, the basic concepts of eat meat, veggies and fruit and less grains and sugar will undoubtably help, but don’t sweat the small stuff and don’t fret about whether legumes are good or bad.  Eat less crap.  Eat more protein.  Don’t complicate things, stop surfing the web, eat some bok choy and go for a run.

Before any of you paleo freaks think to bother me with how so and so is really cool and full-time paleo etc. so on and so forth – it’s not that I don’t care, it’s just that I am no longer interested in the paleo opinion.  Remember that for any one example of a person that does well with the paleo diet, I can present 20 genetic freaks in the NFL that primarily exist on McDonald’s.  Does this make fast food the best possible choice? No, but there are always examples to demonstrate the success or failure of any nutritional protocol – paleo included.  The basic concerns will always and forever apply – figure out what works for you, what you enjoy, what you can maintain and what is taking you closer to your goal.  Always remember this modern cavemen and woman -I get chocolate thickshakes and you don’t.

Big Pump

dropthehammer1@gmail.com

The comments portion of the site is so riddled with spam that I now consider it a sprawling heap of crap that must be incinerated.  If you have attempted at some point in time to comment without success, I apologise, but I have neither the time nor the technical inclination to sift through the endless dross.  There are also ways and means of checking how many hits and page views I get, but that doesn’t really do it for me.  It’s too esoteric and convoluted.

I am now channeling a new way forward – participate if you wish.  Anyone that misses the little gems of inspiration I spew forth should email me at dropthehammer1@gmail.com .  This is the new feedback station.  Tell me what you like or what you don’t.  Tell me if you are the only person you know that visits it or if you’re in a boat club or school where DTH has a fan base.  Feel free to ask questions and if they’re interesting I’ll address them in future posts.

We’re at a crossroads here people.  My Drop The Hammer existence has continued and will never ever stop, but the extension of that, in this forum, is in your hands.  If you or someone you know are interested in sponsoring the site, let me know – it could only help.

Thursday

5:15pm Concept 2 Erg. 12km @ 1:51.9/500m @ average HR 148.  Stroke rate – 19.  44mins 47secs

6:05pm Abs. V-sits 8 x 20.

6:15pm Stretching 10mins. 1L water.

6:45pm 185g roasted turkey.  70g cheddar cheese.  100g salami.  ½ big cucumber.  Green tea.

8:00pm 1L water.

10:30pm Sleep.

My trusty new/old Repco arm/leg bike.

Friday

6:00am Wake up

6:05am Weight – 91.30kg

6:15am  2 shots espresso, 1L water

8:30am Arm/leg bike 42mins @ 141bpm

9:30am Green tea, Weight – 90.9kg

9:40am 1 handful “Big Pump Mega-Mix” (raw almonds, raw macadamias, goji berries). 1L water.

9:45am Green tea, 1 tablespoon coconut oil. 1 tablespoon natural peanut butter.

10:00am Stretch 5-10mins.

11:30am Run – Half Marathon (21.1km) in 1hour 31mins 25seconds. Average speed 4:20/km. Average HR 156.

1:10pm Weight – 88.90kg

1:15pm 1 x pack of Allen’s “Party Mix”.  1/2 pack of Tim Tams. 1 x can of Solo.

1:30pm 20 jump squats, 20 push-ups (both with 10kg weighted vest) x 6.

2:00pm Protein thickshake (500g full-fat ice cream, 500ml skim milk, 30g whey protein), 1/2 pack of Tim Tams. 1 x can of Solo. 6 x 1 slice of rindless bacon, 1 poached egg on 1/2 an english muffin (oh which I had 4, because my body was ceasing to enjoy sudden influx of calories and sugar).

Protein Thickshake.

It cut me really deep to not finish this. Bonnie got the remainder. Good for her.

3:00pm Green tea.  1L water.  1 can of Coke Zero.

6:00pm Salad with baby spinach, iceberg lettuce, cucumber, celery with additional croutons, bacon bits, olive oil, cheese cubes.  5-6 small slices of bread with butter.  100g (at best) of fried calamari.  500g grass-fed sirloin steak with chips.  2 x 375ml beers (always lager).

Steak was good. Fries were ok.

7:00pm Choc-top ice cream.  Large slurpee (cola, raspberry flavours). 250g Cadbury Milk Chocolate.

9:00pm 1L water.

10:30pm Sleep

Saturday

6:00am Wake up.

6:10am Weight – 93.5. Green tea. 1 x espresso. 1L water.

7:00am Walk 60mins

12:00pm 1 x handful “Big Pump Mega-Mix”. 1 can of Coke Zero. 300g Baby spinach.

2:00pm Green tea.  1 tablespoon coconut oil.  30g whey protein in 500ml of water.

4:00pm Green tea.  1 can of Coke Zero.  1 small can of Tuna.  1 tablespoon of natural peanut butter.

5:00pm 60mins arm/leg bike 60mins @ average HR 134.

So, what did I learn?  You can do quite a bit with not very much.  Food can be a crutch.  Food can also be delicious and make you feel sleepy.