Last night was a CNS-tapping, high volume workout that was made harder by my actions of the previous day.

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A few years ago, Val and I were looking into a technique of running called POSE, which advocates running on the balls of your feet and keeping your knees bent instead of the locked-out knees and heel striking that virtually all but  truly elite runners use.

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Who is more accurate at hitting their target, NFL quarterback Drew Brees or an Olympic archer? It wasn’t even close. Perfect technique and the science behind it. This is from the tv show “Sport Science” .

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When I finish a high volume or high intensity workout, the next thing I think about is what kind of salad I am going to have for dinner. Yeah, right. Could I get some extra endive please? Ok, so remove the sarcasm and you know I am not a vegan or a vegetarian, but I do enjoy eating the types of things they eat, just make sure there is some meat or fish on my plate. What do you expect from me? Can a barbarian also be a vegetarian? I can’t imagine it! How about you? Carnivore, herbivore or omnivore?

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Getting Ready for the Gym

You come home from work after a long and hectic day and decide to take a “load off” and sit on the sofa for a few minutes and flip on the tv before you get ready to head out to the gym. That sofa is pretty damn comfy and soon you are sitting in it, as it engulfs your body, making it harder and harder to get out of it, (except of course to go get some snacks from the kitchen).

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Each year, many of us spend hundreds of dollars on vitamin supplements in the quest for better health, an athletic advantage or as a silver bullet to “scare off” disease and hold aging at bay. Could it be possible we are wasting our money and doing more harm than good in the process?

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Sore muscles, beat-up joints, tennis elbow, low back pain happen to just about everyone and it is a fact of life for people who train hard with or without weights. The remedy of choice for many, including myself has been ibuprofen in the form of Advil and Motrin. They work and work well for most of the aches and pains but there is a non-pharmaceutical alternative that is available in Europe.

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Each morning, I wake up to the sound of the coffee maker grinding an aromatic dark brew from some remote corner of the globe. That is good enough at least for starters to get me out of the rack and begin the process of “unfolding” myself and stretching out to my proper height. I am still feeling the effects of previous training sessions, so I shuffle off to another room where the computer is also awakened from “sleep” and I peruse through the emails that accumulated while I snored. I admit to being pampered as Val brings up a cup of coffee to speed along the process of getting the day underway. We all have our morning rituals, don’t we?

Sometimes I need an extra caffeine kick, so I get it from a “Spike Shooter”.

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A couple of months ago, I had the unexpected pleasure of meeting life extension/enhancement scientist, Durk Pearson and of course the topic turned to supplements that are important for athletes and those of us who just train hard.

He began talking of a new product they are bringing to market called potassium bicarbonate. (You have heard of sodium bicarbonate, right? Baking soda).

Most Americans get plenty of sodium (Na) and not enough potassium (K) in their diet but here is what you get when you do get enough potassium:

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When it comes to lifting weights and training, people either do not warm-up enough or fatigue themselves by spending too much time doing it.

When I trained with Ori Hofmekler with his Controlled Fatigue Training, (CFT), there was no pre-training warm-up session because he said the hungry lion on the African savanna wouldn’t wait for me to finish stretching and neither would the thief at the ATM. I always thought that was what adrenaline is for-a free pass to by-pass the warm-up in order to save your ass!

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