The dude (in the black) in the vid is Blair Morrison, who placed 7th last year at the 2009 CF Games, and placed 1st overall at this year's European Regionals An acquaintance of mine, Bob, pointed me to Blair's blog, Anywherefit; here's a guy who is studying overseas, yet still seems to find the time to train (and ultimately and completely crush all of Europe). While I don't think Blair is cut from the same stone as us mere mortals, I really like the idea of his blog, and this sandbag chipper.
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Damn Straight.
Red and Processed Meat Consumption and Risk of Incident Coronary Heart Disease, Stroke, and Diabetes Mellitus. A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis
Renata Micha RD, PhD*,Background—Meat consumption is inconsistently associated with development of coronary heart disease (CHD), stroke, and diabetes mellitus, limiting quantitative recommendations for consumption levels. Effects of meat intake on these different outcomes, as well as of red versus processed meat, may also vary.
Methods and Results—We performed a systematic review and meta-analysis of evidence for relationships of red (unprocessed), processed, and total meat consumption with incident CHD, stroke, and diabetes mellitus. We searched for any cohort study, case-control study, or randomized trial that assessed these exposures and outcomes in generally healthy adults. Of 1598 identified abstracts, 20 studies met inclusion criteria, including 17 prospective cohorts and 3 case-control studies. All data were abstracted independently in duplicate. Random-effects generalized least squares models for trend estimation were used to derive pooled dose-response estimates. The 20 studies included 1 218 380 individuals and 23 889 CHD, 2280 stroke, and 10 797 diabetes mellitus cases. Red meat intake was not associated with CHD (n=4 studies; relative risk per 100-g serving per day=1.00; 95% confidence interval, 0.81 to 1.23; P for heterogeneity=0.36) or diabetes mellitus (n=5; relative risk=1.16; 95% confidence interval, 0.92 to 1.46; P=0.25). Conversely, processed meat intake was associated with 42% higher risk of CHD (n=5; relative risk per 50-g serving per day=1.42; 95% confidence interval, 1.07 to 1.89; P=0.04) and 19% higher risk of diabetes mellitus (n=7; relative risk=1.19; 95% confidence interval, 1.11 to 1.27; P<0.001). Associations were intermediate for total meat intake. Consumption of red and processed meat were not associated with stroke, but only 3 studies evaluated these relationships.
Conclusions—Consumption of processed meats, but not red meats, is associated with higher incidence of CHD and diabetes mellitus. These results highlight the need for better understanding of potential mechanisms of effects and for particular focus on processed meats for dietary and policy recommendations.
--->My Thoughts: A lot of folks might be going "Well, no shit, Mike"; processed meats, in some cases, are so far from the food chain they're barely food. This is pretty much common sense. Plus, sodium nitrite, and it's oxidized analogue, nitrosamine, is pretty nasty stuff. But what I *DID* like about this meta-analysis is that it pretty much wipes the slate clean for red meat. There's some seriously ingrained dogma in society in regards to red meat being unhealthy, which is just plain wrong---but source and processing matter.
At the end of the day, it's all about quality. Grass fed, organic, free range > conventional, feed lot, grain fed. While there's been studies demonstrating the nutritional superiority of grass fed, I'm still waiting for the long term, large scale, well controlled study of grass vs grain.
Oh, wait---that's the one that's been going on for 2 MILLION YEARS. Results pending. :)
J Strength Cond Res. 2010 May;24(5):1215-22.
Citrulline malate enhances athletic anaerobic performance and relieves muscle soreness.
Department of Medicine, University of Córdoba, Córdoba, Spain. pv1peguj@uco.es
Abstract
The purpose of the present study was to determine the effects of a single dose of citrulline malate (CM) on the performance of flat barbell bench presses as an anaerobic exercise and in terms of decreasing muscle soreness after exercise. Forty-one men performed 2 consecutive pectoral training session protocols (16 sets). The study was performed as a randomized, double-blind, 2-period crossover design. Eight grams of CM was used in 1 of the 2 training sessions, and a placebo was used in the other. The subjects' resistance was tested using the repetitions to fatigue test, at 80% of their predetermined 1 repetition maximum (RM), in the 8 sets of flat barbell bench presses during the pectoral training session (S1-4 and S1'-4'). The p-value was 0.05. The number of repetitions showed a significant increase from placebo treatment to CM treatment from the third set evaluated (p <0.0001). This increase was positively correlated with the number of sets, achieving 52.92% more repetitions and the 100% of response in the last set (S4'). A significant decrease of 40% in muscle soreness at 24 hours and 48 hours after the pectoral training session and a higher percentage response than 90% was achieved with CM supplementation. The only side effect reported was a feeling of stomach discomfort in 14.63% of the subjects. We conclude that the use of CM might be useful to increase athletic performance in high-intensity anaerobic exercises with short rest times and to relieve postexercise muscle soreness. Thus, athletes undergoing intensive preparation involving a high level of training or in competitive events might profit from CM.PMID: 20386132 [PubMed - in process]
--->My Thoughts: While citrulline malate has been around for years, and seems to be thrown into every kitchen sink supplement (you know, the ones with 48 different ingredients, none of the quantities listed because it's the "proprietary blend"); in the past the only significant study of citrulline malate was in regards to finger flexion strength, and, well, that's not very significant.
While far from perfect, I think this study has merit, especially for folks interested in increasing anaerobic endurance. Citrulline is a non-essential amino acid, and the malate is the malic acid salt it's bound to. It's involved in the Kreb's cycle, and as far as the results of this study and it's potential use as an athletic supplement, probably helps recycle lactate and clear or buffer excess H+ (acid). As far as the reduction in DOMS, I can only speculate. I've never tried citrulline malate, so I have no personal input of it's efficacy (or lack thereof)
Random WODS
May 14th, 2PM, Lethbridge Coulees
Mountain bike, singletrack, 1.5hr, approx 18km
May 16th, CFLA, 11:30AM
Yoga
May 17th, CFLA, 1PM
Snatch Tech Work
65# x10, 85#x5, 105#x5, 115#x5
125#x a few singles. Huge goat. HUGE. After July, this will be a priority. I don't hate this movement, it's just damn hard.
4 Rounds For Time
7 DL (225#)
14 Box Jumps (20")
28 Situps (anchored, w/ Abmat)
7:23. DLs and jumps were easy, situps were slooooow.
May 18th, CFLA, 1PM
OHP
65#x10, 95#x5, 105#x5, 115#x5, 120#x3. Bah.
Push Press
135#x5, 140#x4...huh? Thought I felt good today. Weaker than last week, damnit. Maybe the snatch work drained me. Who knows.
Strict Pullups
15xBW
5x12kg(26.5#)
5x16kg(35.3#)
5x24kg(52.9#)
2x32kg(70.4#)
8PM, Letbridge Coulees
Mountain Bike x2 hrs, approx 22km
Very, VERY tired after this. I was weaving like a drunken sailor trying to climb the last, long singletrack hill.
May 19th
Split Jerk, 5RM
Wasn't going to do this, but couldn't help myself. Got to 175# (well, 4.66 reps, lol, but that's another story). Weight felt light at 175# for the first few, really fast split. Fatigued huge by the last rep. Thought about trying a 1RM, and then thought wisely not to try. 225# 1RM by the end of the year, mark my words.
May 20th
3 Rounds of
AMRAP 1 minute Chest to Deck Push UpsAMRAP 1 minute GHD Sit Ups
AMRAP 1 minute KBS 53#
AMRAP 1 minute Sledge Hammer Swings 12lbs
AMRAP 1 minute Double Unders
Rest 1min between rounds.
Scored 415, which I'm pretty happy about. I really should have taken a FULL rest day, especially since some lovely idiopathic insomnia hit me over the last two days, but for numerous variables and reasons (It's David and Coach Fyfe's fault, ha!) I decided to do this--crazy fun WOD. Yay for overreaching.
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