It’s been a few weeks since I’ve written one of my miscellaneous posts, so I figured this would be the perfect way to start what I hope will be a full week of blogging.
1. It’s no secret that I heart movies. I’ve always joked that if I were ever independently wealthy, all I would do is train, finance my own gourmet omelet restaurant/bowling center, and hang out with Matt Damon and give each other high-fives while we watch movies – like, all the time.
There are only a few shows on television that I like to watch: The Daily Show, the Red Sox (when it’s baseball season), Top Chef, and House Hunters. Namely, with regards to the latter, Lisa and I just like to have fake arguments with the couple’s that are on the show.
I mean, how asinine is it that someone walks into a room, and can’t look past the color of paint on the walls?
Anyways, I don’t watch a lot of tv, and would much rather walk down to the theater and catch a movie.
In the past few weeks alone, we’ve seen Mission Impossible: Ghost Protocol (awesome), The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo (I read the books AND watched the original foreign films, too, but the American version was like whoa); Sherlock Holmes (first one was better); A Dangerous Method (Keira Knightely shows her boobies); Melancholia (Kirsten Dunst also shows her boobies, but it was the worst movie I’ve ever seen); The Descendants (good, but overrated); and lastly, Haywire, which Lisa and I saw yesterday.
I’ve been anxiously waiting for this movie to come out since I first saw the trailer back in November. Directed by one of my favs, Steven Soderbergh – of Erin Brockovich and Ocean’s 11,12,&13 fame – and starring Gina Carano – of MMA, she can totally kick your ass fame – Haywire, in simplest terms, is basically the female equivalent of the Jason Bourne films.
While Carano won’t be winning any Best Actress awards anytime soon, she more than held her own, and it was clear, from the start, that the film was all about showcasing her fighting skills.
What I liked best was that the movie wasn’t enhanced with silly sound effects or over-the-top music during the fight scenes. Instead, it was raw, unadulterated, awesomeness.
What was interesting, and this was something that Lisa brought up on our walk back home, was that Carano’s physique was covered up. There was no doubt that the film makers showcased Carano’s, um, assets. But you couldn’t help but think that they were purposely holding back and blatantly covering up her pecs, shoulders, and upper back throughout. Possibly to make her seem more feminine?
Either way, like I said, it was great to see a (believable) female character kick some ass. I get so tired of watching female characters who weigh like 87 lbs toss around dudes three times their size like a paperweights. Conversely, Carano looks the part. And she ain’t too shabby on the eyes either.
All in all, when you combine the action, writing, directing, as well as the supporting cast (Michael Fassbender, Michael Douglass, Antonio Banderas, Obi Wan Kenobi Ewan McGregor), it was definitely worth seeing.
I gave the movie a solid B.
2. Speaking of strong female characters, HERE is an awesome interview done with MariAnne Kane from the Girls Gone Strong crew.
I LOVE what these women are doing for the industry. Guys have always had the likes of Arnold, Ronnie Coleman, Dave Tate, and numerous others to look up to. Now, thanks to Girls Gone Strong, women have someone to look up to for inspiration. And it’s a beautiful thing.
3. Here’s a question that I received in the mail the other day:
Q: Tony is it ok to switch from doing regular deadlifts and do deficit deadlifts as a different variation for training deadlifts? What are the benefits of doing deficit deadlifts… do they still work the same muscle groups ?
A: It’s definitely okay to switch from “regular” deadlifts to deficit deadlifts. While there are a few benefits, the main one to consider is that deficit deadlifts help to increase the ROM, which for those who are slow off the ground, can bode in their favor.
In short, when you return back to standard height, the weight should feel lighter.
The key thing to remember, though, is that you DO NOT need a huge deficit to perform these. Anything from 1-4 inches is plenty. Placing a plate underneath each foot should suffice for most.
Additionally, and maybe even more important, is that deficit deadlifts aren’t something you’ll want to include in your programming for a prolonged period of time – ESPECIALLY if your technique isn’t up to par.
As noted previously, you’re going to increase the ROM of the movement which by default, will make it more challenging. And hence, maybe more deleterious to the spine (if done incorrectly).
Having said that, even if you’re technique is flawless, I’d still be reluctant to do this for more than 3-4 weeks at a time. Honestly, four weeks is pushing it in my eyes.
To that end, deficit deadlifts are a worthwhile variation to include in your programming – I just wouldn’t use them exclusively for a long period of time.
4. On January 2nd my girlfriend, Lisa, started a little experiment on herself. She’s always been interested in nutrition and the effects that certain foods can have on the body. After doing a little research and talking to a few people, she picked up The Paleo Diet.
It really resonated with her (she read the entire book in a day), and so, she decided she’d give it a try for 60 days.
Now, I understand that there are a lot of detractors out there who will chime in and say something along the lines of “Tony, Tony, Tony…..you do realize that we have no idea what our Paleolithic ancestors ate, and it’s all based on speculation and not fact, right?”
Indeed, I do. Who cares!?! I also realize they didn’t eat Dunkin Donuts for breakfast. To each his own.
Nonetheless, it’s not like Lisa cowers into the fetal position every time she encounters a carb. She has her allotted “off” meals on the weekends. But all told, she’s been following the diet verbatim, focusing her efforts on lean meats (beef, buffalo, chicken, ground turkey,etc), tons of greens and various fruits, and limiting her salt and sugar intake.
After three weeks, she feels amazing! She’s more energetic and it takes her waaaaaaay longer to get pissed off whenever I leave dirty clothes on the couch. It’s a win-win if you ask me.
Being the supportive boyfriend that I am, I’m doing a Paleo’ish type diet, too. Albeit, I’m still allowing myself more wiggle room like oatmeal, sweet potatoes, yogurt, Ezekiel bread, and grass fed dragon.
So far, I really like it, and it definitely supports my lifestyle. I can’t say for sure whether or not I’ll follow it long-term, but for now, it seems to be working.
I’ll keep everyone posted.
5. And lastly, sitting sucks. Read THIS article if you don’t believe me.
