Here’s another round of links that you may have missed, from places a little further afield. Let’s just say that they’re not all from your favourite strength and conditioning blogs…
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- Seth Roberts notes that “we evolved to like sour foods, foods with complex flavors, and umami foods… so that we would eat more bacteria-laden food.” Seth asks “why do we need to eat such food?” And he answers “perhaps to get enough Vitamin K2.” Find out more here.
- Some news sources are reporting that High Fructose Corn Syrup causes pancreatic cancer and some sources are reporting that it does not. You can read about the disagreements here. The comments on this post are interesting, too, and full of good links to other articles and studies.
- I was fascinated by this study linked to by Conditioning Research that suggested that social rejection could trigger diseases linked to inflammation, or, as Chris puts it, “stress can make you sore”. Read more here.
- Time Magazine reports that carrying fat around your abdomen is bad for you no matter how much you weigh, noting that “in a seven-year follow-up of more than 100,000 Americans aged 50 or older, the most rotund men and women were at roughly twice the risk of death as the slimmest. Waist circumference was a significant predictor of mortality even for people who were not overweight as measured by their body mass index.”
- What are the ethics involved in genetically engineering athletes to compete at the world level? Practical ethics investigates.
- Thomas Jane has been spotted wearing Vibram Five Fingers. I guess they are about to become a fashion then…
- 180 Degree Health has some interesting views that diet and obesity can be explained by the Pleasure Centre Activation Theory. It’s a bit of a rambling, meandering article and I can’t find a decent bit of it to quote that summarises the point but essentially I think the theory is that the body releases dopamine when it is confronted with calorie dense foods and this makes people more likely to overeat these foods.
- Freakonomics reports that obesity continues to plague the USA, with nine states now reporting that more than 30% of their population is obese. 30%!
- Will Gadd is a well-known ice-climber who has (literally) written the book on how to train for winter climbing. So he is quite strong and very accomplished. He is also a credible and little-known proponent of training for his sport using CrossFit. Is he one of the only people on the planet who could be used as an example of this training technique being used at an elite sporting level? Anyway, here is Will writing two articles at the same time, one about calves and one about the definition of fitness. Tease them apart if you can: they are both brilliant.
- Theory to Practice makes the great point that there is no such thing as “strong enough”. Provided you don’t break and your strength-to-weight ratio isn’t going down, keep strength training…
- The Guardian newspaper has run an open letter from Tam Fry, the spokesman for the national obesity forum (no, it’s not a joke) to head-teachers in the UK. He makes a solid case for keeping kids away from fast food outlets and programming more physical education. To o bad no-one will pay any attention.
- Modern Paleo reviews two chocolate bars: Endangered Species 88% and Lindt 85%. Unfortunately, they weren’t able to review Lindt 90% as well, as in my opinion that is the best of the three. Anyway, it’s great to see someone championing dark chocolate.
- Another great climber (and a great blog) is Dave MacLeod. In this article, he’s talking about stress and the nature of stress in the modern age. Dave often has great insights into strength training and sport-specific training that transcend just training for climbing and his blog is well worth checking out if you have time.
- Martin King at the independent is trying a new technology in order to get healthy, it’s a Ki Fit, a device that measures body temperature and activity levels, providing instant feedback on how many calories are being burned and how healthy you are. Just don’t wear it visibly, as it apparently looks like you’ve been “tagged” by the authorities and are out on day release…
- The BBC reports on the news that have recommended that fast food outlets give out statins with their fast food, perhaps because they believe that (a) statins will somehow be useful in combating the damage that the fast food does to a person, and (b) they believe that the side effects of said statins are bearable. Since I am not convinced by either of those statements, I do wonder whether they are barking up the wrong tree. NephroPal has some similar thoughts.
- Time Magazine reports that it is possible to build muscle with higher repetitions, so long as muscular failure is reached. Interesting scientific support for DC training.
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