The minimum effective dose

To make this work, you just need to press it once...then wait.

Pedestrian crossings…amazing things.  I’m pretty sure we’re all familiar with how they work.  You walk up, press the button, wait for the lights to cycle, then you walk across the road unscathed.  Almost too easy.

Today, however, I watched someone walk up to a pedestrian crossing and proceed to press the button, maybe…oh I don’t know, 70 or 80 times?  Incidentally, the lights didn’t change any faster.  In fact (as most normal people know), pressing the button just once is sufficient to get the desired result.

It’s the Minimum Effective Dose.

The above story is a stupidly obvious example of the MED.  Apart from being annoying and stupid, anything over and above the MED is basically pointless.  Worse still, it could be sending you backwards.  This can be particularly true regarding fitness training.

Don’t overdo it!  The MED is nice.

That is all.  :)

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Orange is not a skin colour

Sorry ladies (and you metro men) but its not.  And you’re not fooling anyone… just looking bad in the process.

In fact, if anything, research indicates that anything other than a “natural” colour points to you suffering from an actual disease.

Example – using fake tan, with its distinctive orange tinge, makes you look more like you have Jaundice or Carotenosis rather than like you’ve just recently been to Bali.

Did you know that you actually resemble an Oompa Loompa?  See below:

Do you really want to look like a dwarf with Jaundice?

Don’t be dumb AND ugly.  Just embrace whiteness or get outdoors some more.  Please lay off the fake, orange paint.

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Now, using my brain, does this make sense?

Certain things just don’t make sense to me. Take Snuggies for example. I mean, I get thatit’s a blanket with sleeves – but is that really necessary? Is a regular blanket such a ‘fail’ because it doesn’t have sleeves? Do your arms really get that cold? Do you really need to be using your arms that badly when you’re trying to rug up? And yes, you do look stupid wearing it.

Ever since reading the musings of Robb Wolf, Mark Sisson and Art De Vany I really enjoy trying to verify claims made by other ‘professionals’ within the context of our evolution.

It provides a really effective sanity check of most things you do in your life. For example, chocolate bars easily fail this sanity check. So does a sedentary lifestyle, bicep curls, the Pec Dec, sugar and grains. The corollary of this is why deadlifts, sprinting and eating meat make sense.

Last weekend, I was blessed enough to be able to bring a 9-week old puppy into my (and my girlfriends) life. Naturally, this week has been a big learning experience for me and him (little Harry).

Harry does what comes naturally to him. He wants to chew on things, run, play, touch, sniff, poop, wee, scratch, jump, sleep, bark and cry (to name just a few).

It made sense, at least to me, to evaluate whether or not things might be suitable for Harry based on what he’d be facing in his natural environment. For example, he should play as much as he can until he is so tired he just wants to sleep. This involves running him around at the park. Feeding is another example. What do you think Harry should eat? Something that resembles real food? Like meat? Possibly some bones?

Well, apparently, both of the decisions we made are incorrect. According to the Vet we visited today, Harry should be eating 90% ‘dog food’ and is forbidden to play at the park.

Their suggestion?  Keep him inside and feed him cooked chicken and rice.

Does that sound reasonable for an animal that is a direct descendant of a wolf? Sounds like silly B.S. to me.

How would a wolf (or a dog) cook anything? More importantly, how does a dog get food if it’s locked up indoors?

The Vet prescription sounds like a surefire recipe for a sick and incapable pup.

I’m going to compile some more data/research and see what I come up with on this issue. Stay tuned for a follow up, with what I anticipate to be a pretty compelling case for why you shouldn’t feed your dog shit food.

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How I won the ovarian lottery and why I have no excuses

When I first read Warren Buffet’s Philanthropic Pledge I was amazed.  What a guy!

Firstly, lets get a couple of things straight.  I’m not a billionaire and I certainly have no reliable gifts when it comes to picking stock market winners.  Nor do I particularly aspire to being or doing either of those two things.

Money is great – up to a point.  I mean, how much do you really need to live a life you enjoy?  Its probably less than you think.  Tim Ferriss is great at reframing your perspective on these matters.  You’ll likely find its your lack of imagination rather than money that is limiting your enjoyment of life and what you’ve chosen to fill it with.

But the real point that slaps me in the face when reading Warren’s pledge is this concept of winning the ‘ovarian lottery’.

In short, fate’s distribution of long straws is wildly capricious.

Like Warren, I’m also lucky enough to have been born in a free country, one that is prosperous and safe.  My parents loved, supported and cared for me.  I’m educated and have always been in good health.  I’ve never gone hungry nor has a really true need ever gone unfulfilled.

Given all this, by the hand of fate, what excuse do I have for not making something of myself?

Being lazy, fearful, apathetic or uninspired is an insult to all those who were not afforded the gifts that I was.  The privilege that I’ve received bears with it a responsibility to better myself and the world in the process.

Its very likely that if you’re reading this post (i.e. you can read, have access to electricity, a computer and the Internet) you’ve won the lottery too.

Don’t insult the world.  Make something of yourself.  Because your life isn’t as tough as you think it is.

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Footwear for CrossFitters – What you need and why it matters

As someone who has been involved with CrossFit for about 2 years now, I’ve come to understand the importance of choosing appropriate footwear for CrossFit WOD’s, as well as for life outside of the gym.  Paying attention to the role of the feet in exercise has opened my eyes how important it is to try and let them do what they’re supposed to, with as little interference as possible.  This has been particularly obvious to me during my experience with learning to run barefoot.

This article is aimed at providing you with a resource to make some smart decisions about what footwear you choose for your workouts and why it matters.

Converse Chuck Taylor All Stars- Your WOD Staple: this is your jack-of-all-trade shoe that is suitable for any and every workout you do, along with being fashionable enough to be a pair of casual shoes for every day living.  I recommend getting a pair of these as soon as you can.

Reasons you want this shoe:

  • Good value for money – if you buy them from the US, they run around the US$35 mark, meaning even for Aussies its cheaper to buy 2-3 pairs from the US and get them shipped over (they cost around AU$90 ea. otherwise).
  • Hardwearing – which is great because you tend to trash your shoes during CrossFit workouts, if you pick up 2-3 pairs you can cycle them and get longer lives for each pair.
  • A flat, non-compressible sole – important for power transmission to the floor, meaning you’re not wasting your efforts during olympic or weightlifting movements and, ideally, they’ll encourage you to run correctly i.e. landing on the forefoot
  • Non-tapered sole (i.e. same heigh at heel as at toe) so you’re not compromising your movement by putting your feet in a mechanically disadvantageous position,
  • Its basically a minimalist shoe – so its lightweight and is about the ‘least amount of shoe’ you can get away with – which is ideally what we want to let your feet do what they were designed to.

A pair of high-quality weightlifting shoes, such as Do-Win’s or Adidas Ironwork II’s – your standard choice for Olympic lifting and strength training. While these are not technically ‘essential’, they are amazingly useful and very worthwhile if you can afford a pair.  You will seriously know the difference these can make to your training once you’ve done a heavy squat session in a pair – you’ll never want to go back to anything else.

Reasons why you want this shoe:

  • Complete heel stability – weightlifting shoes typically have a 3/4 inch solid wooden heel, which for all intents and purposes is completely incompressible.  This is terrific for weightlifting movements as it means all the force you apply through your feet winds up shifting the weight you’re trying to move, rather than being wasted in compressing the material in the heel of the shoe.  Additionally, it increases the stability of your feet during the fast lifts (snatch, clean, jerk) and improves your chances of sticking them.
  • A slightly raised heel – while not absolutely necessary, they can allow a better setup and receiving position to be achieved in your cleans and snatches.  This is  due (largely) to the fact that slightly raising the heel allows us to overcome some ankle flexibility issues that may restrict you in the bottom position.  Still, you should be working on this rather than avoiding the problem with your shoes…
  • They look badass – even if you can’t lift like a champion, at least you’ll look like one lifting in a pair of these :)

Vibram Fivefinger KSO’s – your ‘barefoot’ choice: these are about as minimal as you can get.  Basically a sock with a rubber sole on the bottom of it, they look like gloves for your feet.  Having a pair of these on lets you get on with things ‘as nature intended.’

Reasons you want this shoe:

  • Simply, it lets your foot be your foot, and protects your sole from the ruggedness of most surfaces.  Letting your foot do its thing is what we’re after and these are perfect for that.  Your feet have been fine-tuned over millions of years of evolution and are an engineering marvel.  Don’t interfere – your feet know best!

Some extra notes, in no particular order or priority:

  • This is by no means an all inclusive list, but it does give you the basics and the rationale behind your footwear choices.
  • When choosing footwear, aim for as ‘little shoe as possible’ so that your foot function is not impeded.
  • In general, less cushioning is better – your calves and quads are designed to be shock absorbers if you run correctly.
  • Any shoe with a non-compressible sole is appropriate for weightlifting.
  • While weightlifting shoes are nice to use, here are two caveats – 1) don’t use them as a permanent means of avoiding mobility restrictions and 2) don’t use them every time you weightlift; add some variance and train in shoes with flat soles or barefoot.

If nothing else, remember the golden rule: not much shoe = good for you. I know its probably counterintuitive to what you’ve heard most of your life, but trust me, the sooner you let your foot fend for itself, the better off you’ll be.

I hope you find the above guide useful in making some footwear decisions.  If you have any questions or queries, feel free to post them to the comments or email me directly.

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