Wandering Weights
Our Epic Journey Through All Things Heavy, Issue # 279

I heard something from an expert on pandemics on the news this weekend and I think it makes sense. Basically, he said that it is always a good idea to feel like you “overreact” to a situation.
 
It’s a basic tenet of coaching, I think. I say it different, but here are my three key coaching principles. Now, these are the “big view:”
 
1. Invest wisely in asymmetrical risks (Ask “what’s the worst that can happen?”)
2. Embrace the Obvious
3. Trust the process and the results will take care of themselves.
 
So, if you feel that an organization “overreacted” to this outbreak, remind yourself that in 1918 someone decided to ignore this good advice to cancel an event. The Spanish Flu swept through this crowd and lead to huge numbers of death in Philadelphia. Parents thought the school I was at “overreacted” when a boy was running around the school yard with a rifle. The next day, in another country, a boy killed a dozen people in a school yard.
 
Like Doctor Henry told me two decades ago: if it only affects one percent of people, but that one percent is YOU…then that’s 100% of you.
 
Great life advice about a lot of things.
 
In case you are breathless to understand the next layer of my coaching, let’s add what I have printed since 1996:
 
1. Show up
2. Don’t Quit
3. Ask questions.
 
These two “lists of three” can get you far in life.
 
So, of course, certainly:
 
Be appropriate about social gatherings. Be kind and cautious with your personal hygiene. Avoid what you might think is risky. Get appropriate supplies but remember to not hoard.
 
I hope we can all remember that not everyone has perfect immune systems and we need to think outside of ourselves (as we should always) for a bit.
 
This week on danjohnuniversity.com:
 
We’ve posted episode 30 of the podcast here. Episode 31 was an extra episode this week that also came out as well.
 
Thanks for all the feedback from my last email. We’ll keep trying to make the site as useful as possible. Within the next week or two, you’ll see a forum button on the navigation bar. This took some work to implement, but we wanted to have a place for members to discuss programs, Dan’s writing, and to have discussions with people going through this process together. More updates soon!
 
I’ve also been doing a lot of video editing for the upcoming course. The content is amazing. It’ll be worth your time to get it.
 
Have a great week!

Brian
 
I had a lot of podcasts this week. I think you will enjoy my new “high tech” coaching idea from my discussion with Pat.
 
I spoke with Mimi Chan again and we went through The Sword in the Stone again.
 
This interview with Neil Anderson might turn into a weekly, too. 
 
Let me share some upcoming workshops with you.
 
I have a workshop in Sweden coming up and quite a few others in Europe. Over the next few weeks, I will share the details with you.
 
In July, I will be back in England. 
 
If you want a discount, here you go, from the people running the clinic:
 
“We’ve sorted you a personal discount code which you can send out to your network. They can use code DAN10 at checkout for 10% off the current listed price. The pre-sale rate elapses at the end of February, so be good to get this out into the ether before it expires.”

Someone tried to use the checkout code and told me it didn’t work, but IFBA convinced me that it is working.
 
Here is the link to another event In England, where people can now buy tickets.
 
Let’s look around the internet a bit.

We had a great discussion with Pat Flynn about my trainer, “Sarge,” and his idea to work out AFTER his evening meal and then fasting for 15 hours. This is from Art Devany, who can often offer good advice. As always, I struggle believing that we really know everything that goes on in the human body and we can tweak it.

Quoting:

What’s a diet strategy that can boost renewal?

I eat only twice a day. I do breakfast and dinner because I want a long interval between meals.. You don’t have to cut calories. It’s just the timing. It’s the intervals between meals where you have low insulin signaling, high autophagy to clear the old, damaged proteins. Autophagy peaks four to six hours after exercise. All these guys who guzzle right after their workout, they’re killing their adaptive process. Without proper autophagy, your muscles degenerate.
 
My theory is this, that ancient humans had to overeat in order to survive. In a random world, you overeat during periods when food is available to store nutrients for the times of scarcity. You also over-proliferate making new proteins. When nutrients are available, the process turns on in a burst. That is what’s killing us today—we’re overeating. And making too many proteins that get misfolded and damaged, there’s no room for them. The architecture of the cell is stretched.
 
What’s your default breakfast?

A giant smoked turkey leg. They’re very inexpensive and they’re fun to eat. I eat that and maybe a third of a melon. Then I will work out at 11:00am for 15 to 20 minutes. I won’t eat until four hours after.

End quote
 
Here is a simpler answer to this question.

Quoting:

Fasted Training
 
Basically, workout when you’re hungry. First thing in the morning? A great time to train!
 
Fasted weight lifting (or other exercise) burns fat, and also trains you not to rely on dietary sugar for your fuel. This will help you break the sugar-crash-sugar-crash cycle of eating that I see in so many people.
 
Also, there’s some preliminary evidence that working out in a fasted state puts more strain on your body and, hence, forces it to work harder to adapt after the workout. Martin Berkhan at LeanGains.com advocates working out in a fasted state too, which helps him stay lean and build muscle.

End quote
 
Lou does a great job reviewing the issues of paleo here.

Quoting:

Maybe that’s why the paleo movement has gone off in some strange directions, chasing fads like super-high-fat diets fueled by coconut oil (which De Vany has called “an evolutionary non-sequitur”). Or maybe it was inevitable that the movement’s early adapters would grow bored with Paleo 1.0 and search for new ways to make themselves uncomfortable. And market forces being what they are, it was just a matter of time before entrepreneurs would look at paleo’s popularity and see a market hungry (literally hungry) for everything from supplements to desserts to bacon-based baby food, for some reason.
 
There’s also an astounding amount of technology in the conversation. Greenfield, for example, showed pictures of himself wired up with electrodes (and in one case, a nasal probe) as he described experiments in esoteric brain-enhancing tech like transcranial direct stimulation and photobiomodulation, which he calls “Viagra for your entire body.”
 
It was entertaining as hell, but I found myself returning to the same question I’d asked about all the paleo-branded flours and bars on sale at the event: If the idea is to emulate our pre-agricultural ancestors, what’s with all the electrodes?
 
De Vany, for one, isn’t having any of it. “I don’t measure anything,” he told me. “I go by how I look and how I feel. I’m the unquantified self.”

End quote
 
Jim Wendler does it again with this great new piece: Krypteia Redux: Training for Size, Strength and Athletic Dominance
 
Quoting:
 
Monday
 
Warm-up/Jumps
 
Main Lift: Squat (sets/reps are up to the coach)
 
 Circuit:
 
     Squat – FSL x 3-10 reps
    Press – 10-20 reps
    Kirk Rows with Trap Bar – 10-20 reps
 
Wednesday
 
 Warm-up/Jumps
 
 Main Lift: Bench Press (sets/reps are up to the coach)
 
 Circuit:
 
     Bench Press – FSL x 3-10 reps
    DB Squat – 10-20 reps
    DB Incline Row – 10-20 reps
 
 Friday
 
 Warm-up/Jumps
 
 Main Lift: Deadlift (sets/reps are up to the coach)
 
 Circuit:
 
     Deadlift – FSL x 3-5 reps
    DB Incline Press – 10-20 reps
    Curls – 10-20 reps
 
Each circuit is done so that each movement is done five times. The reps on the supplemental work (FSL) are based on your programming. This is up to the coach.

End quote
 
That should get you through the week with some new ideas and directions. Until next time, keep on lifting and learning.

Dan
DanJohn.net

For your quick access link, here’s Dan’s full OTP page, including all of his articles, books, lectures and videos, all in one place.

The Sword in the Stone, Part 132

Quoting:
 
“What is it, Pellinore?” shouted Sir Ector.
 
“Oh, come quick!” cried the King, and, turning round distracted, he vanished again into the forest.
 
“Is he all right,” inquired Sir Ector, “do you suppose?”
 
“Excitable character,” said Sir Grummore. “Very.”
 
“Better follow up and see what he’s doin’.”
 
The procession moved off sedately in King Pellinore’s direction, following his erratic course by the fresh tracks in the snow.
 
The spectacle which they came across was one for which they were not prepared. In the middle of a dead gorse bush King Pellinore was sitting, with the tears streaming down his face. In his lap there was an enormous snake’s head, which he was patting. At the other end of the snake’s head there was a long, lean, yellow body with spots on it. At the end of the body there were some lion’s legs which ended in the slots of a hart.
 
“There, there,” the King was saying. “I did not mean to leave you altogether. It was only because I wanted to sleep in a feather bed, just for a bit. I was coming back, honestly I was. Oh please don’t die, Beast, and leave me without any fewmets!”
 
When he saw Sir Ector, the King took command of the situation. Desperation had given him authority.
 
“Now, then, Ector,” he exclaimed. “Don’t stand there like a ninny. Fetch that barrel of wine along at once.”
 
They brought the barrel and poured out a generous tot for the Questing Beast.
 
“Poor creature,” said King Pellinore indignantly. “It has pined away, positively pined away, just because there was nobody to take an interest in it. How I could have stayed all that while with Sir Grummore and never given my old Beast a thought I really don’t know. Look at its ribs, I ask you. Like the hoops of a barrel. And lying out in the snow all by itself, almost without the will to live. Come on, Beast, you see if you can’t get down another gulp of this. It will do you good.
 
“Mollocking about in a feather bed,” added the remorseful monarch, glaring at Sir Grummore, “like a—like a kidney!”
 
“But how did you—how did you find it?” faltered Sir Grummore.
 
“I happened on it. And small thanks to you. Running about like a lot of nincompoops and smacking each other with swords. I happened on it in this gorse bush here, with snow all over its poor back and tears in its eyes and nobody to care for it in the wide world. It’s what comes of not leading a regular life. Before, it was all right. We got up at the same time, and quested for regular hours, and went to bed at half past ten. Now look at it. It has gone to pieces altogether, and it will be your fault if it dies. You and your bed.”
 
“But, Pellinore!” said Sir Grummore….
 
“Shut your mouth,” replied the King at once. “Don’t stand there bleating like a fool, man. Do something. Fetch another pole so that we can carry old Glatisant home. Now, then, Ector, haven’t you got any sense? We must just carry him home and put him in front of the kitchen fire. Send somebody on to make some bread and milk. And you, Twyti, or whatever you choose to call yourself, stop fiddling with that trumpet of yours and run ahead to get some blankets warmed.

End quote
 
I want to come back to this reading again. Simply, I want to point something out:
 
The Beast, without someone to chase it, began to die, fade away, whither.
 
Without a reason for being, we whither.
 
Chew on that for a bit.

DanWandering Weights is published each Wednesday by On Target Publications