There seems to be a running theme of me writing this in hotel rooms on Thursday evenings! In fact it’s pretty late right now because I had to write up some slides for work first, already an hour past my bedtime, so apologies if this is a short list this week. However, there’s been so much to read while I was on holiday last week. Here’s a pick of the best (that I’ve managed to read so far).
- While away on holiday I had some dreadful trouble with the soft tissue in my shoulders thanks to the work I did before I went away and then carrying a rucksack and walking uphill with walking poles for much of the week. Thankfully Chris designed a portable soft tissue rolling kit which we took with us. He’s done a really helpful article about the rolling kit we took and what we used it for, so rather than reinventing the wheel I thought I would share it here.
- Speaking of shoulder pain, apparently restricted shoulder movement is a common problem following treatment for breast cancer. However a recent review has shown that exercise soon after surgery (rather than the extended rest previously recommended) can significantly improve the range of motion and reduce the pain.
- Thanks to Dr Briffa for bringing to people’s attention that food companies that put trans fats in food may be breaking the law. At least, they may be doing so in some jurisdictions.
- Something humorous to read this week. TC does an Atomic Dog article on Testosterone Nation about off-topic things (sex, women, hormones…). He did a good one recently about cortisol levels in men rising when they see beautiful women. Perhaps men who want to keep their cortisol levels lower should lock themselves away and avoid all images of stunning women? Alternatively, if you’re into sabotage, here’s some inspiration for all my female readers to get themselves into perfect shape!
- I really enjoy cycling at night. Some of my best memories are from night rides with bats bombing me while they try to catch the insects flying in the beam of my headtorch or a barn owl flying silently and low along the road just in front of me, using the beam of my lamps to see the road and prey. Ben Thomas has written a short but beautiful thought-piece for the Guardian Bike Blog celebrating the pleasures of night-riding. Somehow he manages to capture some of the magic of it.
- I did an article on squatting the other week and on squat form. For another person’s view, Stuart McRobert wrote a two part series about squatting for IronMan Magazine last month. Check out both part one and two for some interesting (and sometimes contradictory to my own views) points.
- If you love bacon, try making a bacone! It seems a bit fiddly, but if you’re into those sorts of things then you could make one and fill it with egg mayo or scrambled egg or mushroom or… Oh dear – I’m really hungry now and all there is in my hotel room is a pack of chocolate biscuits!
- Joseph Horrigan wrote a good article for IronMan Magazine which is entitled “Shoulder Blade Placement” but in reality the key point it seems to cover is that you shouldn’t try to change the way your body recruits certain muscles if what they are currently doing makes you an expert in your field. Even if an expert disagrees with your particular muscle recruitment form. It’s a bit controversial but links in with things like a recent article by Gubernatrix considering whether we sometimes get too tied up with perfecting squat technique (I think we can, but I’m also aware that you can get a good balance by working on technique alongside adding weight at every workout, as I’ve been doing for the last few months), or the idea that swapping directly to full-time barefoot running from running in shoes is likely to cause an injury because it’s not what your body is used to.
- Mark Sisson did a Q&A on all sorts of Primal and Paleo (and totally random) subjects a few weeks back. Have a quick look and see if he’s answered any of those niggling questions that you have (or perhaps hadn’t even realised were there).
- Gubernatrix went to the World’s Strongest Man experience at the NEC in Birmingham and did a write up of the day. If I’d only known it was going on – the NEC is only an hour away! Though I would clearly have missed Gary Taylor – I suspect I’m a few years too late to see him at such an event!
- Finally, it seems Cassandra Forsythe had a problem with incontinence following having her baby a little while ago. She’s found out that the problem is potentially not insufficient kegel exercises but instead her glutes. This is a revelation for me with the problems that I’ve had with incontinence in the past and definitely warrants more detailed investigation.
As Tour de France is kicking off now (and, being English, I have no interest in the World Cup anymore, although I didn’t before we got knocked out either) I’ve found an interview with Lance Armstrong talking about his chances of winning the yellow jersey. Unfortunately I can’t find out how to embed it, so you’ll have to follow the link to the Outside Blog to watch it.
Now it’s definitely past my bedtime and a program about super-strong weightlifting people has come onto the TV. I don’t have a TV at home so I might just crawl into bed and watch this before I go to sleep. There’s a circus teenager and her father who trains her and a three year old girl. Apparently they started training them at 5 days old by attaching bags of rice to their arms and legs and increasing the size of them as they grew. As the kids move about, they train without even really noticing it.
They’re also doing a section about Flex Lewis, a British (well, actually Welsh) Bodybuilding Champion. Here’s a video of him:
For those of you in the US, enjoy the Independence Day celebrations. For everyone else, have a great weekend!
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