Push ups everywhere even in the air!
So the Man Bicep Mom and my sister, Drew, sent me some wonderful push up pictures.
They did some primal push ups while hiking…
Drew doing a push up onto a log
The Man Bicep Mom busting out a push up on a log
And Drew took some more while she was rock climbing!
Thank you Man Bicep Mom and Drew!!!
Now…Where else can we bust out some push ups?
Top 10 – Famous women who lift?
So this post today WAS going to be about the top 10 hot famous women that lift. But so far…Candy and I haven’t been very successful.
First we tried searching for hot muscled actresses. Most actresses don’t look very muscled (except when the train for a movie like Million Dollar Baby). The only actress I really found who looked halfway decent was Cameron Diaz. Of course she is getting all sorts of criticism for being too muscled. I personally think she looks pretty awesome and gnarly here!
We then decided to try searching for hot muscled singers. We found Madonna…no one else…but Madonna.
Of course, there is much debate about whether or not she is also too muscled. Of course the “too muscled” pictures of both Cameron Diaz and Madonna look more like “too skinny” than “too muscled” to me. But hey…whatever…
Yea I mean she looks pretty freaking anorexic to me...Not muscled.
I finally got so fed up trying to find actresses or singers or famous women in general that I just typed in “women with muscle.” I got bodybuilders and some links to inappropriate sites. No famous women with nice toned, muscled physiques.
I then asked Brian if he knew of any famous women with muscle. The only one he could come up with was Jillian Michaels. Candy and I decided that she didn’t really count since she is a famous fitness TRAINER! But then again at least she has muscle unlike half of the celebrity and famous trainers out there!
Anyway, if you can think of any famous, popular women with muscle (who aren’t involved in the fitness industry like trainers or fitness models), please let me know. We seem to be at a loss here.
Man Bicep on Mark’s Daily Apple!
Check out our Primal Fitness video – Primal on the Playground on Mark’s Daily Apple! Once voting starts, vote for our video!!!!
How’s that working out for you?
Maybe it’s just that I have a mean streak, but don’t you ever just want to ask someone “How’s that working out for you?”
Like don’t you just want to ask when someone (who is clearly out of shape) orders a non-fat skinny soy chi tea latte with 7 pumps, thinking they are being extremely healthy? I must admit, even if you don’t want to…I DO!
I want to ask people who all the time.
Like when a man with a beer belly walks into the gym to sign up. And I ask, “Would you like to set up one of your complimentary training sessions today? And he says, “No. I already have a program. I’m all set.”
I just want to look down at his belly and ask, “How’s that working out for you?”
How do these people think that what they are doing is working? How do they not see that they aren’t getting results?
My theory is that they just BELIEVE what they are doing SHOULD be working. Conventional wisdom – magazines, TV, radio, internet – have all told them that it should work. Low-fat diets are SUPPOSED to lower your cholesterol and make you healthier. Non-fat milk is SUPPOSED to be better for you (I mean it has fewer calories right!?!).
People ignore the obvious fact that they still haven’t reached their goals because they are doing what is SUPPOSED to work.
These people really should be taking a look at themselves and asking, “How is this working out for me?” I bet you a lot of them would want to reassess their diet and exercise programs afterwards.
So if you aren’t seeing the results you want, stop assuming that because the magazine or some celebrity said the diet works that it works. Because it probably doesn’t.
For example…the workouts in Muscle and Fitness. Those workouts, with some huge guy posing next to them, only work for that guy because he is taking STEROIDS. Just like in Muscle and Fitness most of the popular diet out there have some hidden stipulation that you probably aren’t doing.
Do some research. Experiment. Try different things and let the results speak for themselves.
Please don’t be that person walking down the street following the newest diet trend that makes me want to ask, “How’s that working out for you?”!!!!
Personal Records
We all constantly compare ourselves to others. I know I definitely do it.
And it is good to have people who you compete with. Working out with Candy means I always push myself. It has helped me reach two personal records this week!
On Monday, we deadlifted. And we decided to try 275lbs, which would be a new personal best for each of us. I was going to attempt the weight first. Of course, I wanted to do it since it would be a new PR, but I also wanted to do it because what if Candy picked up the weight after me!?! I couldn’t let her lift more, could I!?! 😉
No I couldn’t! So that extra incentive motivated me to push to lift that 275lbs. It pushed me again to bench 120lbs on Tuesday (and I think it helped Candy hit a new PR of 130 in bench as well).
Competition can be good. And it can push you. But comparing yourself too much to others can hinder your development and make you very, very unhappy!
If you constantly compare yourself to others, you can start to focus less on success and more on not failing…which may sound like the same things, but entails two totally different attitudes. If you are always trying not to fail, you have a negative outlook. You are too worried about “winning” and not focused enough on development. Working toward success on the other hand is positive. It means you enjoy working toward a goal as well as accomplishing it.
Also, everyone is TOTALLY DIFFERENT! You simply can’t compare yourself to anyone else and their successes because they have different strengths and weaknesses than you do!
So let competition motivate you, but don’t let it consume you! Set your own personal records and work your butt off to achieve them!
Oh NUTS!
Candy and I love nuts – almonds, cashews, pistachios, macadamia nuts…
We are nut addicts. We probably don’t even go one day without devouring at least a handful of nuts.
And I’d always thought this was fine. I mean nuts have good fats and they aren’t super high in carbs. They seemed to fit perfectly with the Paleo/Primal diet. AND they are an easy snack to grab whenever I need something quick.
But are all these nuts really good for me?
Unfortunately, I’ve discovered the answer is probably…no. 😦
I started eating more nuts when I cut out grains and legumes because of the food toxins they were supposed to contain. I figured they were a healthier substitute. BUT nuts still contain phytic acid, which is one of the main reasons you aren’t supposed to eat grains and legumes. And nuts may contain as much if not more phytic acid than grains and legumes do.
Here’s why phytic acid is bad:
1. Phytic acid inhibits mineral absorption especially iron and zinc.
2. Phytic acid interferes with the enzymes that breakdown protein.
A diet high in phytic acid can cause mineral deficiencies which can lead to disease!
Check out this article about why nuts may not be that good for you. I found it on Mark’s Daily Apple!
Is eating well expensive?
Nope.
Don’t make up excuses as to why you have to buy chips and soda instead of fruits and vegetables. Eating healthily isn’t expensive.
Of course, companies would like you to think that their processed crap is the only thing you can afford – they would love to make you believe that buying whole, healthy foods will break the bank.
BUT IT WON’T!!! For $75 Ryan and I bought over a week’s worth of food at Trader Joe’s AND NONE OF IT WAS PROCESSED! We even splurged on all ORGANIC vegetables and grass-fed beef!
AND we are two people that eat A LOT! We can easily each eat over a pound of meat for dinner. We got somewhere around 10lbs of meat (grass-fed ground beef, steaks, pork, nitrate free bacon, an organic whole chicken…), organic vegetables to last throughout the week (lettuce, spinach, bell peppers, onions, mushrooms, diced tomatoes..), kefir, some diet soda (not perfectly healthy but hey a small cheat!), organic salsas, nuts and a couple of other things I can’t remember right now…
So you can easily afford to eat healthily! Don’t be fooled by articles like the one written by Sheila Steffen that question whether or not you can live on $30 a week. You can and you can eat well while you are doing it!
Don’t believe me? Try it! Next time you shop for the week only buy whole foods and see how far your dollar goes!
Oh Conventional Wisdom – How I hate you
Every day I hear the lies of conventional wisdom perpetuated and sometimes I just want to scream. Here are some things that I’ve heard recently that go along with conventional wisdom that are complete and utter BULLSHIT.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: Women shouldn’t lift weights because heavy lifting will make them bulky.
Conversation (about six months ago):
Me: So what diet, or how much protein, do you think someone needs to add more muscle if they are lifting heavy?
Nutritionist: Why are you lifting heavy?
Me: Because I want more muscle and I want to be stronger. (I think I had an expression of “That is such a dumb question! DUH to get strong and add more muscle!”
Nutritionist: But you don’t want to get bulky do you? If you lift too heavy, you may get bulky especially if you are taking in a ton of protein.
Me: Uhmm…I still have chicken legs and I eat a ton of protein and have been lifting heavy for a while. I want to get rid of my chicken legs…
Nutritionist: Well I wouldn’t lift heavy as a woman. I do lots of cardio.
Me: (I left the room.) End of conversation.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Let’s get one thing straight right now…LIFTING HEAVY WON’T MAKE YOU BULKY! If you can’t accept this…you are on the wrong website. I’m not even going to take the time to list all the reasons why this is incorrect. If you need me to refute this piece of conventional wisdom just read about any other post on this blog. Or just take a look at this picture…Is this a big bulky woman? I’d hope your answer is no….
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: You need to eat breakfast and you should eat 3-5 small meals a day. And you definitely can’t work out on an empty stomach.
Conversation:
I tried intermittent fasting a few months ago and really liked it. I told people about it. The common reaction I got was: “You won’t be able to lift as much on an empty stomach or you will run out of gas. Your workouts will be hurt because you haven’t eaten.”
Lots of people also said there was no way they could do it. They said they NEED breakfast. They DON’T NEED breakfast. They are just conditioned to want it.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: To date, I’ve had some of my best lifting days and workouts on days when I’ve fasted till after I workout. If you want more proof that intermittent fasting works, visit LeanGains.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: 45-65% of your daily calories should come from carbs.
Conversation (When people find out that the only carbs I eat on occasion other than cheat days are fruits, vegetables, and potatoes.)
Person: I could never give up bread! And I need carbs to get through my workouts and to refuel afterwards.
Me: But on most diets you have to give up something. With other diets you’ve managed to give up “bad” foods like fatty meats. If simple carbs, like white bread, is bad and bacon isn’t, why can’t you just switch what you give up.
Person: But you need carbs to function. The food pyramid has carbs on it.
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Ok for one, most people aren’t working out hard enough to really NEED carbs. And if you are doing crossfit intensity workouts, add in potatoes and such and you will be more than fine.
For two, it is never easy living life the healthy way. Of course there are outside temptations, but really you’d rather eat bread than butter and bacon? I don’t know…butter and bacon for bread seems like a pretty good trade-off to me…Plus, doing something that will make you healthier makes sacrificing bread seem very worthwhile.
If you want more information about letting go of carbs and why you DON’T need them, visit Mark’s Daily Apple.
Piece of Conventional Wisdom: Bacon and butter are not good for you. High fat diets will raise your cholesterol higher and that is bad. Use vegetable oil or low-fat substitutes instead.
Conversation: There have been too many conversations about this with everyone around me. But the usual I hear is: “Dude all that saturated fat is so bad for you.” “You know that is going to raise your cholesterol? You really should use margarine instead.” “You cook with duck fat? You should use vegetable oil instead.”
REASONS THIS IS BULLSHIT: Usually when I hear these things, I become speechless because I don’t even know where to begin explaining how wrong they are.
I would just love for one of these people who say this to me to provide me with a study proving I’m wrong (a study that I can’t prove wrong). Of course they never do yet they question me (and I’ve actually done the research not to mention discussed the research with other people, such as Ryan, who’ve done even more research).
I mean I challenge anyone to bring me a study that definitively proves that fat is bad for you and that processed crap like vegetable oil, margarine and low-fat substitutes are better.
Here is my proof that fat is good and all that other CRAP is bad:
Mark’s Daily Apple
Good Calories, Bad Calories
Paleo Diet
Protein Power
Robb Wolff
For a full list of evidence, visit the UCLA Ancestral Health Symposium.
Oh and something that really pissed me off today….Denmark has put a tax on foods with saturated fat. This list of taxed items even includes olive oil. Does anyone else think there is something wrong with this? Check out the Time Magazine article on it.
Man Bicep 