By now you all know that I LOVE butter, well this one caught my eye the other day.
Cultured butter from the Vermont Cheese company.
Growing up in Europe I've had my share of good quality butter, and I still seek it out today. Well let me tell you that this butter is truly truly the BEST I've had in a very very long time.
I sauteed some mushrooms and asparagus the other day, and it tasted decadent, thanks to this wonderful little product. Give it a try some time and let me know what you think.
Breakfast;The other day I slow grilled some grass fed ground beef. In a large non-metallic bowl, mix the beef with plenty of garlic, cilantro,onion, smoked paprika and a dash of cumin.
Great for quick meals or to toss with salads. Just add 2 strawberries and you've got a nice little morning snack.
Pictures are not so great, as I took them with my video camera.
Fitness Update
Andy asked me in a comment how my training is coming along. Do you all read Andy's blog? His wife makes him some yummy meals for sure. Take a look if you have a minute.
Well my 5k is around the corner, Oct. 8th. I'm still not completely happy with my 3rd mile, but patience is a virtue right? Key for me will be not getting caught up in the excitement come race day, and blast of the line with the real runners and end up running a 6:50 first mile. If I do that, I will close with a 10 minute third mile ;-) and I don't want that. My Nike Free's are holding up well, and I'm not suffering from any pains, aches or soreness, why I just wrote that is beyond me ;-)
Bar-Barron
For an explanation on this one, read the post.
Man did I set a lofty goal here! This is one tough SOB challenge.
The good news....I'm slowly making progress! I've managed to STRUGGLE my way to 2 muscle ups. The second one is REAL ugly, includes some swearing usually and a grimace or two ;-)
But, I get up.
The 40 dips are now a regular occurrence. I'm convinced that the weighted dips got me there. Dips with 50 pounds for 4-8 reps x 4-6 sets.
Same goes for the pull ups, but something is interesting there. I really get stuck around 17-18. I'm practicing for quickness with sets of 2, I'm practicing with weighted pull-ups, but I can't seem to bust through the 18 in a row mark. Any advice guys and gals?
The 50 push ups are not bad anymore. I've been loving pushups lately. I do all sorts of them and I'm convinced that this is truly one of the best exercises ever thought of. If you can do 30 quality controlled push-ups, start switching it up. Elevate those legs, switch height of your arm positions etc etc. The possibilities are endless. One of my favorites (go ahead make fun of me for using a Bosu) is using a large stability ball and a bosu ball, put your toes on the stability ball and hands on the wobbly bosu. Now put one leg up in the air, balance.....do 10 push ups, switch legs and do 10 more. That's one set. Do 3-5 sets.
Ok, that's it for now, move your body today, don't give in to those non paleo cravings and.....SMILE.
Posts
8 comments:
Marc,
You're definitely leaving me in the dust on the calisthenics. One thing you might have success with on your pullups is greasing the groove. If you have access to a pullup bar 3-5 times throughout the day, simply do a quick set of 1/2 your max (9-10 reps in your case). The idea here is to avoid fatigue while increasing volume, to get stronger by reinforcing the neurological pathways instead of by making the muscle bigger.
Lots of great stuff written on this topic by Pavel Tsatsouline. I've also blogged about it here:
http://tinyurl.com/ye6ob53
It works very well for bodyweight movements like pistols, muscle ups, etc, where the goal is perfecting a skill instead of getting bigger stronger muscle.
I should do more GTG myself. Keep up the great work!
Glad you are not experiencing any pains, aches, or soreness from your Nike Free's, may I ask however, why you wouldn't be running in your VFF's?? ;-)
Can't wait to hear how your race goes!
In regard to all your other workouts - the bar-barron craziness ;-), it makes me tired just thinking about what you are accomplishing! Great job!
Marc,
Great work on the muscle-ups, pushups, etal! I've got to start hitting the dips again...only so many things I can focus on at one time though (September seems to have been my own personal National Burpee Month).
I'll be cheering for you on October 8th and looking forward to your post on October 9...train hard and nail the 5k!
ps. thanks for the info on the Vermont cultured butter, I love the products from Vermont Cheese Co.
later, MikeZ
Bryce,
That is great advice. THANK YOU! Exactly why I love our litle community! I learned the "ladder" from Pavel, what a great little tool for getting good at pull ups. I will educate myself more on GTG.
Now I just have to install a pull up bar in my office...most al ready think I'm weird....this should seal the deal. ;-)
Anonymous,
I humbly say thank you ;-)
The reason I don't run in my VFF's yet, is that I just got back to running and was too worried about hurting my feet. I sprint in them on the beach though. After this 5K, I will ditch the sneaks and start running with my VFF's.
Smoke,
I hate friggin burpees ;-)
Thanks for the support on the 8th. Like I said my pace is key as i still struggle with that 3rd mile.
Well i guess I should try some more of their products. The butter is unreal.
Marc
Cultured butter is sooo good, and under-appreciated here in the USA.
That beef sounds SUPER DELICIOUS!!!
Ladders certainly are effective for strength training, again focusing on neurological activation rather than hypertrophy for increased size. They work on the same principles as GTG: increasing volume while decreasing fatigue.
I wouldn't expect to gain the metabolic adaptations or the hormonal stimulus, however, associated with intense resistance training - there is some value to infrequently taxing and exhausting your musculature.
That being said, GTG and Ladders both serve to increase the percentage of muscle fibers you can activate at any one time. Like our brains, we rarely activate more than 30-50% of our muscle fibers in a given contraction. This is a protective mechanism that prevents you from hurting yourself orfrom leaving your body in an overly taxed state, incapable of moving. However, through training, you can increase the number of muscle fibers you can contract at once.
As Pavel would say "Your body already has the strength to lift a car . . . it just doesn't know it yet."
Pull up pyramids are an outstanding way to get better.
Try this:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
10
9
8
7
6
5
4
3
2
1
I saw great improvement by doing this twice a week or so.
Dan
Marc,
Thanks for the shout out. BTW, I do about 90% of the cooking. :)
Keep up with the running and start planning your schedule for the week before the race. I'd suggest taking an extra day off that week.
You're also right not to get too amped for the race. This is tough, I know. Looking forward to seeing the results!
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