1. A few weeks ago, I touched on the topic of Vitamin D and how I feel it’s going to be the next “big thing” as far as supplements is concerned. In short, just about everyone (even people in Texas) are deficient in Vitamin D. Vitamin D plays a key role in many things such as:
-Helps maintain calcium homeostasis, along with bone and muscle health
-Plays a role in helping to regulate blood pressure and improves cardiovascular health
-May have an integral part in helping to prevent autoimmune disease, as well as helping to prevent cancer
-Supplementing with Vitamin D has been shown to improve one’s sense of well-being (AKA: helps with depression)
My friend Jen Heath actually wrote a fairly detailed summary on the importance of Vitamin D (scroll down to #3), so I’ll just let her do the talking.
2. I’m off to Upstate NY this weekend for a family reunion. Vegas has me at 2-1 odds that I end up wanting to shoot myself in the face with a taser gun. Hahaha, just kidding. No, but seriously, toss me that 22.
3. Eric and I made an executive decision yesterday at CP. No more skipping drills with our new athletes (high knee skips, reverse skips w/external rotation, etc). Most of the kids totally butcher the skipping anyways and Eric made mention that having our guys perform skipping drills instead of sprinting is like handing them a calculator and teaching them how to turn it on. Everyone knows how to use a calculator, just like “most” people know how to sprint. Why waste time skipping, when we could be sprinting instead?
Addendum: Conversely, I do feel that skipping drills (as well as other low-level movement training protocols) are an important component for really de-conditioned athletes and/or “computer guys” who do nothing but sit in front of a desk all day. If these guys even make it to the gym, most do nothing but jog, which locks up their hips even more since they’re using a very limited range of motion (virtually no hip flexion/extension what-so-ever). That being said, adding in some easy skipping drills allows them to move around a bit and loosen up the hips, which is cool in my book. Plus lets be honest, it can be quite entertaining to see someone who hasn’t skipped since 6th grade try to do it again.
Addendum #2: Effective Immediately- any trainer seen advocating sprinting to their 40 lb overweight client is subject to random acts of torture which include, but not limited to:
* Being forced to listen to every 17 year year old kid who weighs 150 lbs and has watched Fight Club tell you how he wants abs like Brad Pitt.
* Attending my family reunion
4. Speaking of CP, we always like to inspire our clients with various quotes of the day. This week’s installment:
5. New favorite exercise= speed pulls against chains. I’ve always been slow off the floor with my deadlifts, so I implemented three weeks worth of speed pulls against chains in my last cycle and saw my deadlift go up ten lbs in that time span. Chicks totally want to hang out with me now. Ladies? Anyone? Those ham sandwiches aren’t just going to make themselves now are they? Hello?
UPDATE: Thank you to Gregg T for being the bestest Grammar Nazi this side of polygamous marriages. Gregg lives in Utah, which is pretty much the coolest State EVER. Unfortunately, I was away from my computer all day traveling and basically came across as a nimrod for using affective instead of effective above. I’m never going to get laid. Dammit!
