January 2012
3 posts
5 tags
Read It Later Button
It’s no secret that I’m a verbose writer. I try to keep my articles under a 4000 word cut-off, but that’s still a chunk of text to digest on a computer screen. As much as I love to read, even I don’t have the patience to sit staring at the window for 10-20 minutes to process an article of that length.
Recently I jumped on the Future Train and got myself an Android...
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A Systems View of Exercise
This article began to take shape after reading another well-intended internet complaint about how mock-quote “science” has no relevance to practical get-in-the-gym exercise.
As pro-science as I am, I have to admit there’s a lot of truth to that point of view. You don’t have to look much further than the papers passed around the strength and fitness blogs and Facebook...
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Brain States & Willpower
Now that we’ve officially flipped into another new year, activity at the gym — and in the kitchen — is about to boil over into that first-quarter frenzy of new goals, new resolutions, and the hard determination that only the buzz of the holiday season can kindle. For the starry-eyed masses recently-committed to laying down the cigarettes and twinkies and getting some exercise,...
December 2011
4 posts
2 tags
My Favorite Books from 2011
I read a lot. Have I mentioned that? This year I managed to put back more than a few books, and now that we’re winding up 2011 I want to give a nod to those that really stuck out to me (a list which, in the interest of brevity, only covers books published in 2011) as an informal sequel to my recent post about learning new things.
As I say on my Goodreads profile, I only tend to read books...
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Outside Context Problem
I rank Iain M. Banks as one of my favorite authors. Banks’ Culture series was one of my first exposures to so-called “literary science fiction”, which uses the backdrop of science and technology but also focuses on interesting characters and quality prose not always associated with “sci-fi”.
The Culture books deal with the eponymous anarchistic super-civilization, run by intelligent machines...
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Knowing Stuff [How to Learn a New Subject]
A question I’ve been asked a lot, and never really sat down to answer, is how I go about learning new things.
Before going there, I want to tackle the whole “smart” matter. I think that, firstly, “smart” — or “knowing lots of stuff” — has more to do with the amount of time you’re willing to spend grappling with difficult concepts than...
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Brogram Design 101
The last few months, during my yearly layoff from hard training (I’d rather spend my free time at the pub during New Zealand’s nice summer weather, and “yearly layoff” sounds nicer than “lazy slug”), I’ve been gravitating towards less demanding, more fun kinds of lifting.
Regular readers will know of my love for autoregulated daily training, but I’ve discovered that I really only care for this...
November 2011
2 posts
7 tags
Research of Interest [28 Nov 2011]
Since I get Pubmed updates every Sunday, I usually find one or two papers that catch my eye. I figure it’s worth having a look at them, what they mean, and why they’re interesting to me.
First up, here’s a new one from Stu Phillips’s team up at McMaster University.
Associations of exercise-induced hormone profiles and gains in strength and hypertrophy in a large cohort...
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A Fresh Start
Back in early 2007, when I first decided to start a website, I had a mission in mind: to parody, satirize, and criticize the Fitness Industry. For those of you that aren’t aware, even the “Amped Training” brand name was meant as a riff on the hype-filled ad-copy used to sell supplements and diets and workout programs. Long-time readers will undoubtedly notice that the site has...
September 2011
1 post
5 tags
What is Genius?
We throw around the words smart and intelligent and genius casually, and I’m not sure that really applies to someone who writes articles about pumping biceps or how to eat Paleo. I don’t think there’s any such thing as genius in strength & conditioning.
When I think genius, I’m thinking names like Isaac Newton, Bernhard Riemann, Srinivasa Ramanujan, Ludwig...
August 2011
1 post
5 tags
Complex Nonlinear Systems [Videos]
Two videos:
Chaos and Reductionism
Emergence and Complexity
Robert Sapolsky lectures on chaos theory and nonlinear complex systems.
Update your ideas on biology and exercise science accordingly.
Original Article
July 2011
4 posts
5 tags
Adrenal Fatigue Revisited [Recovery]
Several years ago, I wrote a post on the subject of adrenal fatigue. I don’t recall exactly what prompted the rant, but I’m sure it had something to do with a personal trainer or MD-turned-author trying to make a quick buck by pushing supplements. It really annoyed me (still does, really) that people who should know better would jump on bandwagons built on almost insultingly simplistic...
7 tags
Death by Monotony [Staleness]
Do you ever get bored in training? Do you ever get stuck and wonder why it’s so hard to get any stronger?
Sometimes it comes down to repetition. You do the same things over and over, to the point that the monotony alone brings on staleness.
You get stuck because you aren’t doing enough to stimulate your body into new development. Here’s a few ideas to shake you out of your...
6 tags
Dispel the Dogma and Find the Gems
A few days ago, my buddy Bret Contreras wrote up a summary of John Broz’s training methods over on T-Nation. I’ve been following Broz and his athletes closely for the last year and a half, and he’s never failed to impress. Whether you agree with his methods or not, you can’t argue with his results.
My own experimentation with daily training started when Broz’s...
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John Broz: A Response
by Jim Wendler - 07/06/2011 →
I couldn’t say it better.
June 2011
5 posts
6 tags
I Am Not a Geared Powerlifter [Context Matters]
A few years ago, I posted a squat video on Youtube. Not the best source of intelligent commentary on good days, several comments stuck out to me. These users, with the best of intentions I’m sure, gave me what I can best describe as “internet powerlifter squat advice”, which I found confusing.
I’m not a geared powerlifter. I don’t train in suits or briefs. I can...
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Pretend it's bad, feel more full. →
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Conscious and Unconscious: Moral Culpability
Jesse Bering:
In other words, sexsomniacs are basically lascivious zombies. There’s presently no way to determine with absolute certainty if the phenomenon, when invoked as a defense, was really the cause or just a really convenient alibi. Still, certain criteria (detailed sleep pattern data from a nocturnal polysomnography, or PSG; sleepwalking and sleep-related sex in the past; known trigger...
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How To Tap the Power of Your Mind: Four Surprising... →
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Assorted Links on Cognition and Neuroscience
Links of interest:
The Belief Engine by James Alcock — A nice look at the confabulation powers of the brain which lead to bias and irrationality.
Inducing Disbelief in Free Will Alters Brain Correlates of Preconscious Motor Preparation — Your belief in free will influences voluntary control over movement. More evidence that abstract beliefs and psychological framing have a real...
May 2011
9 posts
3 tags
The Belief That’s Sabotaging Your Life →
A timely addendum to yesterday’s article.
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Muscular Hypertrophy and Changes in Cytokine... →
An interesting outcome…
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The Language of Failure [Neuropsych]
In the 1930s, linguists Edward Sapir and Benjamin Whorf argued that language shapes thought. Language, wrote Sapir, can be considered “the mold of thought.” Languages doesn’t simply latch on to pre-existing concepts. The words themselves define the concepts available to us and provide the raw building material for our thoughts. There can be no thoughts without the words to define...
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Mental Training as a Tool in the Neuroscientific... →
More on mindfulness training and changes in brain structure. Calmness through attentional focus is key for keeping stress levels down if you want to train daily.
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Stress, depression, and cardiovascular... →
Must be cortisol.
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Neuroendocrine and Immune Contributors to Fatigue →
Adrenal fatigue, must be it.
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The Training Methods of Bob Peoples
Since I’ve been back on a daily-squatting kick, I thought this would be appropriate an appropriate read to get some discussion going. For reasons that will become clear, Bob Peoples has been a huge motivator in the “just go lift” scheme of things. You see that he wasn’t shy of trying new and different methods to see where it took him, and yet he always wound up back at...
5 tags
Squatting Like a Maniac [Hell Yeah]
This is going to be another short clip-show post.
The John Broz Q&A Thread - an older thread from BB.com, chock full of golden wisdom from Broz himself. The first 5-6 pages are mandatory reading if you want to squat to a max every day.
Speaking of squats and maxes, Max Aita gives his input on frequent squatting over on Glenn’s board. And congrats to Max for finally hitting that...
1 tag
Max Aita Interview - Jon North →
April 2011
7 posts
6 tags
Does it help me? [Stop Nitpicking]
The first chapter of Switch: How to Change When Change is Hard by Chip & Dan Heath (link to my review) tells the story of Jerry Sternin, who came to Vietnam in the 1999 with a big mission and a small budget. Sternin had the task of fighting child malnutrition in poor villages, without government support and only limited resources of his own.
Most of us can relate to feelings of despair that...
5 tags
Dealing with Uncertainty in Training [Program...
What is the ‘perfect program’? Could any of us, educated and experienced, define perfection? What does ‘perfect’ mean in the first place?
The thinkers among us might be able to cobble together a definition based on abstract concepts, maybe a little handwaving about goals and efficiency and other assorted trinkets of philosophical pontifications. In the concrete world of...
3 tags
Powerlifting 3^3 →
Bryce Lane’s powerlifting system
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Just Strong →
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Back to Overtraining
I’m a bit short on time (read: behind) this week, so this won’t be a big update.
I highly suggest a look at The Death of Heavy Days: How To Do More Work with Less Obsession by Nick Horton of PDX Weightlifting.
I’ve recently become aware of Nick through Glenn Pendlay’s forum, and we are very much in agreement on the mindfulness or — pardon the somewhat overused...
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The Value of Restraint in Training Weights...
We like fast progress. All of us do. I like it. When poundages aren’t going up on the regular, I start second guessing. I wonder where I’m screwing it up. I need that regular feedback. I know it doesn’t work that way. I know in the sense that I’m aware of the facts. As we realize now, knowing is only part of the issue.
I know that muscle tissue can only synthesize so fast...
2 tags
March 2011
28 posts
5 tags
How much can the CNS handle? [Stress]
Awhile back, when I was talking about heavy daily training, I wrote a post about inflammation and how this contributes to the common feeling of ‘overtraining’ (which is probably better termed ‘staleness’). There’s a lot to be said about this topic. I’ve said a lot already, and there’s still plenty more to go.
Overtraining, overreaching, and the...
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What the Circus Can Teach Us About Sports Injuries →
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“In the “good old days” we maxed out on everything all the time – and loved it....”
– John McKean
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Bulgarian-style Training for Strength &... →
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11 Goal Hacks: How to Achieve Anything →
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The Loosening Deadlift - Tommy Kono →
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Break a Perfectionism and Procrastination... →
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Why goals do more harm than good [Goal-setting]
Sports are highly competitive. I know, I get the Nobel Prize for Obvious Statements, but we take it on faith that we must push to be the best. And why not? Why go into a sport, or any activity, if you don’t plan to win? Winning is the whole point, no?
I’m being sensationalist with the title, as I don’t think goals are intrinsically harmful. With no goals, we’d have...
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The Right Kind of Visualization →
Is what you see, really what you get?
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Fast Food Solutions for Fast Food Problems
“The significant problems we face cannot be solved at the same level of thinking we were at when we created them.” -Albert Einstein*
Every time I go to a store with a large parking lot, I always see cars hovering around the front waiting for a space near to open up. Meanwhile, there’s plenty of spots to be had just a few rows back. By taking the far spot and making the...
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The What-the-Hell Effect →
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