Talk about putting your body to the test... As chronicled in his two part piece One Mile to Ripped (here's Part II), Warren Scott Smith tests his theory that intense intervals are great for fat loss by running sprints wearing TWO weighted vests (to simulate the near-death agony that workouts induced back when he weighted 297 pounds). Funny and interesting, but this paragraph in particular struck me:

...I've discovered the biggest difference between those of us in the weight training game and those who are in endurance sports: endurance athletes equate getting better based on how much easier it is to do more work. We associate getting stronger with a willingness to make work even more difficult. I believe this is the root cause of the average Joe's failed attempts at fat loss.

I hope this joints forgive him for the pounding.

After watching this poor guy's YouTube video I certainly won't be using Paypal to sell anything. Worth watching and forwarding along. « via Sixfoot6 »

First, a few links on chocolate:

• Chocolate Milk as a Post-Exercise Recovery Aid (study, PDF, paid for in part by the dairy industry)
• Dark Chocolate Is Healthy Chocolate (and other Google Scholar references)

That leads me to Tom Furman's chocolate concoction for those evening hunger pangs. I tried it this evening, and it's pretty good. Not delicious like something full of sugar and fat in addition to the cocoa, but it does indeed seem to satiate my sweet tooth. If you're wondering about the Splenda, I've posted a bit on it before.

I believe I've linked to one of acrobat Dominic Lacasse's videos in the past, but his home page has a whole slew of them (scroll down to "MES VIDEOS SUR METACAFE.COM"). Awesome. « via Crossfit »

A few guides to good, free, online games have cropped up. Probably because nobody gets anything done between Christmas and New Years:

• Casual Gameplay 2006 Nominees
• Jason Kottke's list
• Good Experience Games
• Finally, some offline action at Metafilter: Ink and Paper: Instant Party.

Post your favorite of the ones you try.

Wow, good link day. Drop what you're doing and read these three:

• The Year I Did Everything Right
• Physical Strategies: Don't Be A Sissy
• Why Pull-ups? by Ed Thompson

Three interesting recent pieces at T-Nation over the past couple weeks or so...

• Periodization Nuts and Bolts. A taste:

  Western periodization yielded what any new training approach, particularly one with weights on non-weight trained subjects, will yield: big initial progress. This progress in the weightroom led to some wise observations (such as high volume builds connective tissue as well as muscle), but also to some very wrong conclusions amongst coaches.

  For example, very quickly, “hypertrophy” became three sets of 8-12. “Strength” became 5 sets of 5, and “power” became 3 sets of 3. Finally, “peaking” became 3 sets of 1-2 reps. Again, while any kind of training is better than nothing, Western or linear periodization isn’t optimal for the needs of high level athletes, targets one area of strength at a time and then ignores it for the rest of the season or cycle, has no back-offs built in, and doesn’t address the individual weaknesses of individual athletes.

• Interesting Art DeVany Interview transcript. Be sure to check the comments for John Berardi's input as well.
• Finally, Beta Alanine sounds like a promising supplement (although the extent of my supplement dabbling begins and ends with a creatine experiment, so I'm hardly an expert).

Daily Monster gets into the holiday spirit with its Christmas Eve and Christmas Day monsters.

I came up with a workout, heavily inspired by Ross Enamait's Work Capacity 101 (but easier), that takes advantage of all the equipment new equipment I've mentioned recently (my hanging pullup bar, my new jump rope and tire (the latter for sledgehammer training), and my horse stall mat as a nice burpee surface):

• 5 pullups
• 10 burpees
• 20 sledgehammer swings (10/arm)
• 40 high-knees, sprinting rope skips (if you miss, do them over until you get 40 in a row)
• Rest 1 minute
• Repeat 10 times

Well, my plan was 10 circuits, but the kids came home after the fifth. I say that like I blame them for cutting my workout short, but in reality I was grateful for the excuse. My forearms in particular were on fire, and I thought I was going to fling myself from the bar as I kipped at the bottom of the pullups, and my grip on the sledgehammer was so tenuous by the end that I feared for our car's safety (I workout in the garage). I would hate to have to explain a sledgehammer-sized dent in the door.

If that's too easy for you, you could switch up the sledge and the burpees like so:

• 5 pullups
• 10 sledgehammer swings per arm
• 20 burpees
• 40 high-knees, sprinting rope skips (if you miss, do them over until you get 40 in a row)
• Rest 1 minute
• Repeat 10 times

Better you than me. :-)

At Pinnacle Fitness, The effect of NSAIDs such as aspirin, ibuprofen, and acetaminophen on muscle growth:

A group in 2001, however, using eccentric contractions in human subjects to induce muscle damage, showed that post-exercise NSAID use drastically reduced the increase in protein synthesis normally seen in response to muscle damage. This study is relevant to real workouts because the researchers used a model for muscle damage that is very similar to what what happens during a normal weight training workout and the doses of NSAIDs used in the study were normal therapeutic doses, not unlike those that most people would take for a headache or after a tough workout for soreness

Also read the piece at Again Faster, via which I found the link above.

I can’t vouch for it myself as I’ve never tried it, but

I’ve heard great things about Dr. John Berardi’s Precision Nutrition. He recently put up a Gourmet Nutrition Desserts booklet, available free through the holidays!

Introducing the Gourmet Nutrition Desserts, a 44 page dessert cookbook complete with delicious "Precision Nutrition approved" dessert recipes, beautiful photography, and hints on how to eat the foods you love without the gaining the fat you hate.

I'm going to have to try a couple of those this Christmas.

Found on the Crossfit forums (which was reposted from the RossTraining forums): interesting program for developing a "model" one-arm pushup. Very tough. To get an idea of what you're up against, assume a pushup position with good form: body straight as a board, feet together. Now take away one arm, but keep your body straight and don't let your hips or shoulders rotate from their original position. Now do a pushup, keeping this body position. That's what they mean by a model one-arm pushup.

UPDATE: I've since read those instructions another couple times since posting, and I'd encourage you to do the same if you just skimmed the first time (like I did). A few of the exercises are completely different (and harder) from my first impressions.