Jesse Marunde, a great American Strongman, has died at the early age of 28.  He died on July 25th of a heart attack after a workout. He leaves behind a Wife and children.

No one yet knows what complications existed in his case that led to his death. Unlike so many Strongman competitors, he was fairly lean, and was very fit. Periodically in the world of sports, an athlete dies because of a previously undiagnosed heart condition or other ailment. Only time will tell what happened to Jesse.   An  autopsy  is  scheduled, but it will take potentially months to get the results.  I’ll keep you posted.

I wish his family the best.

Rest in Peace.

Below is aYoutube Tribute to Jesse:

A somewhat surprising find by the researchers at the UCLA Medical School was that Marijuana not only doesn’t increase cancer risk, but may in fact reduce it.

Tashkin’s group at the David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA had hypothesized that marijuana would raise the risk of cancer on the basis of earlier small human studies, lab studies of animals and the fact that marijuana users inhale more deeply and generally hold smoke in their lungs longer than tobacco smokers — exposing them to the dangerous chemicals for a longer time. In addition, Tashkin said, previous studies found that marijuana tar has 50 percent higher concentrations of chemicals linked to cancer than tobacco cigarette tar.

And yet they found that in spite of all of that, marijuana didn’t increase cancer risk.

Earlier work established that marijuana does contain cancer-causing chemicals as potentially harmful as those in tobacco, he said. However, marijuana also contains the chemical THC, which he said may kill aging cells and keep them from becoming cancerous.

I suspect that the fact that cigarettes also contain a myriad of other chemicals and agents other than tobacco adds to their negative effect.  Marijuana by contrast is generally smoked “pure”.

As an athletic coach, I would have a hard time advocating the use of marijuana, primarily because of its’ estrogen promoting effects.  But, if it’s between that and cigarettes (or Printers):  Marijuana wins.

I’m not joking.  Laser Printers are on par with Cigarettes.

Are you too old to exercise?  Are you too old to go back to school?  Are you too old to think?  To move?  To live?

Phyllis Turner is a 94 year old Great-Great Grandmother.  And she just received her Masters Degree in Medical Science.   She didn’t get her undergraduate degree until she was 70.

The reality is that you are never to old to start anything new.   I’ve seen Septigenarian powerlifters, and just last term I sat in a 600 level mathematics courses with a 90 year old man who could barely hear.  But he got it.

Starting a new exercise routine is hard for everybody.  Especially if it’s been a while since you’ve done any physical activity.   But, it’s more than worth it.

No matter how old you are, it’s never too late to start working out.

I stole this little workout from Dan John who in turn stole it from Sergey Litvinov, the Soviet Hammer Thrower from the 1980′s.  Sergey had some of the most impressive thighs I’ve ever seen.  He made most Bodybuilders look like marathon runners.

I particularly like it because of it’s simplicity, and it’s brutality.  There is a Crossfit-esque quality to the workout, hence my title.

Like to hear it?  Here it go:

Front Squat:  8 reps

Sprint:  400 meters.

Rest for a few minutes, then do it 2 more times!   Prepare for a lot of pain the next morning.

By the way, Litvinov used 405 lbs for the 8 rep front squat.  He only weighed 198.

This is why I advise people to use free Weights and NOT machines.

I don’t know what to make of this one:

Data gathered in large cohort studies suggested that current smokers had a 77% lower risk for Parkinson’s disease compared with never smokers, the investigators wrote in the July issue of the Archives of Neurology.

The protective effect of smoking increased with pack-years smoked, and decreased with years since quitting.

“Our data support a dose-dependent reduction of Parkinson’s disease risk associated with cigarette smoking and potentially with other types of tobacco use, they wrote. “Importantly, effects seemed not to be influenced by sex or education.”

I wouldn’t advise that you start smoking, considering the other effects it has (ones that are FAR more common than Parkinson’s).  But, the data is interesting.  And it makes one wonder what exactly it is in cigarettes that IS aiding in the battle against Parkinson’s, and can we extract it so that the harmful effects of smoking can be avoided?

(hat tip:  Andrew Sullivan)

What happens when you are pressed for time, you can’t get to a gym, but you NEED to workout? It’s happens to all of us. Maybe you were on vacation, a business trip, or were just overbooked. And next thing you knew, you were missing workouts left and right, whittling the time you spent every week in the gym down from 4 or 5 days to 2, or worse.

Never fear. Burpees are here! Now you will always have a way to workout, even when facilities, time, and resources are scarce.

But, what is a Burpee? A Burpee is something military types do. It basically goes like this:

• Squat down,
• place hands on floor,
• (keeping hands in place) jump your legs back so that your body is in the Push up position,
• then do a push up,
• jump back into a squat position with hands still on floor,
• jump up as high as possible.
• Land.
• That’s ONE rep.

Here’s a link to a demo vid. The dude doing them (Ross Enamait) is seriously hard core. And has written about the benefits of Burpees quite extensively himself.

The coach I trained under to get certified had us do these every-time we didn’t yell, “Yea Burpees!” in response to his meantioning of the word, “burpees”, regardless of how quiet he said them, or how subtly he snuck them into a sentence. Needless to say, I got SORE.

The beauty of Burpees is that they are a whole body exercise that you can do anywhere, anytime. And that is the point. When you are pressed for time, and don’t have access to a gym, you need tools in your arsenal that allow you to get a solid workout in regardless. The Burpee is just such a tool.

A workout that I have done, that is quite brutal, is the following done in Ladder fashion:

do 1 rep, rest a minute
do 2 reps, rest
do 3, rest
do 4, ….
all the way to 10 reps. Then go back DOWN. 10, rest, 9, rest, …, 2, rest, 1, done!

All total that’s how many? After this you should be thoroughly wiped out. You could also devise other rep schemes such as 5 sets of 5 reps, or 2 sets of 20, or more. There are endless options. Get creative. What I like about the above ladder method is that you end up doing more volume (reps) than you think you have, since the low rep sets (especially in the beginning) are not all that hard, but do get added into the overall volume calculus. AKA, more earnin’ for the burnin’.

Now you’ll have no worry when you are heading out of town. You’ll come back looking better than ever, yelling, “Yea Burpees!” at poor passers by who will forgive you only in deference to your well earned physique. Or something like that.

The tingle makes us feel like we’re doing something good for the wound, but it doesn’t work.

One of the struggles for those who haven’t worked out in a long time (and don’t have a history of working out) face is that most workout routines (like many posted here) are far to advanced for them. How does one start when one doesn’t know what a front squat is, or what a clean is, or how to properly perform a push-up?

Well, you start here. This is the first week I put most clients on when they come to see me and haven’t the faintest idea where to start. It’s hard, but it’s not hard to put into practice. it’s 6 days a week, but each session is only about 30 min’s.

MONDAY

Warm up: Back extensions 1×20 (1 set of 20 reps), and squats with no weight (the point here is to practice good squat form so that later on we can add weighted squats to the routine. Basically You want to have your feet shoulder width apart, stay on your heels, and “squat” down as low as you can maintaining an upright back position).

Now for the workout

A: Step ups: 3×12

B: Push ups: 3×12 (you can do wall push ups or knee pushups to start)

C: Chin Ups: 3×12 (use an assisted machine or lat pulldowns to start)

stretching

TUESDAY

Interval training.

Pick a machine and do a 5 min. warm up, relatively easy. Then do 3 rounds of the following:

1 min at a fast/hard pace. really work hard on this.

2 min’s at a walking pace

after you’ve done that round 3 times (total of 9 minutes), then do a 5 min cool down. Get off, stretch a bit, and that’s it! You don’t need to spend hours in the gym to get a good workout.

WEDNESDAY

Warm up with Back extensions 1×20. Then do some squats with no weight, working on form.

A: Step ups: 3×15
B: Push ups: 3×10
C: Chin ups: 3×10

Stretch

THURSDAY
Same as tuesday

FRIDAY
Same warm up: Back ext: 1×20, squats

A: Step ups: 3×20

B: Push ups: 3×8

C: Chin ups: 3×8

stretch

SATURDAY
Intervals: same as Tuesday

This is a great introduction to a workout program. Each day is short, and it’s fun!

It’s only the first week, but it primes you for the more complex stuff to come. Truth is, many clients can do this for a good 2 or 3 weeks, then take a week off, and start a much more involved routine after that.

Try it out, and good luck. There are many ways to get yourself started on a workout program. The main point is, get yourself started on a workout program. Your body will thank you.