Gymnastic Week 1 W/O2

Last night's Lau Gar rinsed me of energy so I am factoring in that as my second workout of the week. The opening routine (see below) is a killer and was followed by much hurt courtesy of 'low walks' and deep horse riding stance.
Warm Up (5 minutes)
Handstands.

The workout was a classic 'Escalator'/'Fugue' model where each exercise is undertaken for a fixed period of say, 20s, followed by a rest of 20s.  But in each subsequent round an additional exercise is added. There is no rest between rounds other than the allotted 20s as shown. Don't worry about reps, just quality.

More Than Tiger's Penis.

I've always wanted to come up with a cryptic blog post title.  Job done.

It seems that Chinese Medicine offers more than woo and tiger's penis.  New Scientist reports on a Tibetan shrub that can trick cells into thinking they are starving causing them to blocks immune reactions that can cause disease via an active ingredient called halofuginone which 'mimics such a shortage by blocking an enzyme that feeds one amino acid to the protein-making machinery':

• [This] triggers a chemical cascade that responds to amino acid scarcity, called AAR. This inhibits the growth of malaria parasites, stops blood cells from making proteins that cause inflammation, and stops the development of specific white blood cells that trigger conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and multiple sclerosis.
  
  This could make the drug effective against autoimmune disease. But as halofuginone mimics nutrient deprivation, there is another possible use. Animals that receive only just adequate nutrition are known to live longer, partly because diseases which involve inflammation are prevented. That, says Keller, means halofuginone might possibly work as an anti-aging drug.

I do wonder if simple IF wouldn't be at least as beneficial...

Gymnastic Week 1 W/O1

After a weekend of Mastodon and a LOT of beer, I've returned home to training.  Mastodon verily did rock the University of East Anglia, and along with the social nature of the weekend (catching up with a few good friends), things should have been topped off with action in the Six Nations.

After scraping past a valiant Italian team, England managed to escape with their reputations intact.  Just!  The France vs Ireland game should have been THE game of the weekend.  Sadly it looks like the French couldn't empty piss out of a wellington if the instructions were written on the heel.  There is no excuse for cancelling a game so late.

Back to the session.  After a week off, this week is deloaded.

Warm Up (5 minutes)
Main (30 minutes).
1. Stairgators (1)
2. Barefoot Sprinting (1x10s)
3. Planche Variations (25s)
4ai. Rope Climb (2)
4aii. MU to Ring Routine (2).
5. Scissor Splits (1x '2L, 2R, 2C')
6. Barefoot Kill Carry (1)
7. 321

Slacklining

Captain Kid, Flash and I spent last summer down the local park with my slackline.  Slacklining is great fun - and a source of frustration!  But with practice comes skill.  We've definitley got a way to go before we can challenge these guys below!

As with all pursuits, it is good to see 'the edge' being pushed back.

Housekeeping

Yet another theme that has been circulating in the paleosphere for several years (see last comment here, and Conditiong Research), and which has no pricked wider public consciousness, cellular autophagy!

The New York Times has a great article 'Exercise as Housecleaning for the Body':

• "It’s long been known that cells accumulate flotsam from the wear and tear of everyday living. Broken or misshapen proteins, shreds of cellular membranes, invasive viruses or bacteria, and worn-out, broken-down cellular components, like aged mitochondria, the tiny organelles within cells that produce energy, form a kind of trash heap inside the cell.In most instances, cells diligently sweep away this debris. They even recycle it for fuel. Through a process with the expressive name of autophagy, or “self-eating,” cells create specialized membranes that engulf junk in the cell’s cytoplasm and carry it to a part of the cell known as the lysosome, where the trash is broken apart and then burned by the cell for energy.Without this efficient system, cells could become choked with trash and malfunction or die."

 Pretty awesome eh?  This is something that is missed in the basic CICO model. The system can eat itself - so how do you work out the CI from autophagy?

Two triggers were identified that lead to autophagy,

• "In petri dishes, the rate of autophagy increases when cells are starved or otherwise placed under physiological stress."

Certainly the former is something that ADV has been talking about for years (yet again he is ahead of the curve), but more generally, these fit the paleo paradigm.  Hunger triggers a intense exertion in the form of a hunt. 

The benefits of cellular autophagy are available to us RIGHT NOW,
"Still, it’s possible that at some point, autophagy-prompting drugs or specialized exercise programs might help everyone to fully benefit from exercise."

Skip a meal here and there (IF), exercise in short sharp burst (power law)....or wait for the pill!  ;)

The Lard is Risen!

It's not often that I agree with theists but...



Hat tip to Jerry Coyne at 'Why Evolution is True'.

Volume Week 4 W/O3

I'm looking to repeat last weeks intensity, and no more.

Warm Up (5 minutes)
Main (30 minutes).
1. Handstand work (10 mins)
2a. Chin Variations (Two Arm + 25kg x 8, +40kg x 4, Slow One-Arm Eccentric 1 x each arm)
2bi. Headstand RLLs (6, 6)
2bii. Deadlift (single 150kg)
2c. Manna Progression (three rounds for time)
2di. Wall Walk (3, 3)
2dii. Backbridge 15s
3. Two-Way DB Rotator Cuff (12 x external and internal shoulder rotations)
4. Wrist Push Ups from the Knee (12)
5.  321 (8/8L, 8/8L, 8/8M)