nicknack

I used to exclusively run, and still enjoy it though I don't do it very often, and when I do it's often with my kids, which means stop and go, slower pace. I've done a half marathon, and 30km race. Our family did the Memorial Day run at Boys Town this year, and I rarely run more than 5-6 miles, as I don't have the time, and attention span, to run distance anymore. I've come around to the view that focusing on intensity provides a better results in less time. For me a least, a few months with barbells have had a greater impact my body composition (and strength) than years of running ever did, in much shorter workouts. Regarding free weights as "man land" -- for what it's worth, my Olympic lifting class at CF 402 last week was coached by a woman, and the men in the class were outnumbered 5 to 3. http://www.fitocracy.com/profile/knickknack/

Hey, I'm a husband and father in Omaha, so I thought I'd say hi. Our family has been going to Prairie Life Fitness for a few years, but I just finished my first month at CrossFit 402, and have been liking it a lot. The coaching and group dynamic is something that is new to me.

Yes reenzo. Great story. Someone should start a thread in which people describe the circuitous paths that people follow to end up where they are.

In just wanted to offer some advice. I did my B.A., M.A, and Ph.D. in psychology, with a focus on music perception and cognition, and after some postdoctoral work, I now run a research lab that studies auditory development in infants. My advice is to step back and consider your existing skills not in only in terms of their original intended goal, but how they might be part of something else. Here's a music tech example: I run practically all my studies using Max/MSP/Jitter, which was then only "Max", and only handled MIDI. I first learned to use it as an undergrad in an electroacoustic composition course in the school of music. It's not really intended as a research tool, but it is if you think broadly about its potential, and it has allowed me to do many things that wouldn't have been possible otherwise. Similarly, some of the best collaborations come from two people, one with methods and one with questions, meeting each other. You have technical abilities. I think that you're much better off focussing your energy on discovering a new, and perhaps surprising, context in which to apply your strength and interests, rather that start from scratch with something else. Unfortunately, this process is intimidating and awkward because it means contacting people out of the blue, in different area that you may know little about, in order to find out what they do, and what they're interested in. Informational interviews. Don't think too much about doing this as a hunt for a job (because people might dismiss you more quickly), but rather a hunt for possibilities that you wouldn't have otherwise considered. My two cents. Hope it helps.

For what it's worth, regarding Vitamin D and paleo, in Robb Wolf's book he recommends two supplements, Vitamin D and fish oil, in that order of importance, in larger than "typical" doses. I'm trying to come up with some funny quip about being more paleo/Catholic than Robb Wolf/the Pope, but am failing. Just know that the intention was there.

This is a very worthwhile thing to read.

I do own some individual stocks, but I have to say that for most people buying individual stocks is not necessary, or even wise. I'm big fan of index funds, sold as mutual funds, or exchange traded funds (ETFs). Their advantage is that they invest in the market a whole, proportional to each stock's capitalization, and can do so very cheaply. For example compare the expense ratios for a Vanguard index fund (e.g., maybe 0.17%) to an actively managed fund in which you essentially pay the fund manager to actively pick and choose individual stocks. On average, 75% of actively managed funds fail to beat the market (i.e, justify the additional expense with increased returns). My feeling is that mutual funds or ETFs should be the *core* of your portfolio, with individual stocks as a smaller *explore* components. Short-selling and options trading can be dangerous if you don't know what you're doing. With basic stock purchases, your loss can't be more than 100% of your investment. With options, your options your losses are potentially unlimited. BTW, I'm a huge fan of John Bogle, and Vanguard.

The first time I did this was the longest 10 minutes of my life, but I felt amazing afterwards. Highly recommend the mobilitywod .

Thanks everyone. I will avoid the assisted pulls up, and I will focus on increasing my total volume, breaking it up into sets that are smaller than my max. Thanks for the detailed answer Nuke. The Ladder scheme makes sense to me. A follow up question: With rest between sets, I can probably do, 9/6/3/1/1/1.... Is it important to back-up and start with the reps from workout 1, or could I start at, say, workout 10, if I can manage it? I'm currently at a dead end, so backing up may be wise and reasonable thing to do. Thanks.

I've been trying to do more than 8 or 10 pull-ups in a set for over a year now, but have been making no progress. I've been following the Starting Strength program for about 5 month, and have seen great increases in my squats, deadlifts, bench press etc... but pull-ups are stuck. Should I try adding a bit of weight, then see if I can do a greater number of just body weight pull ups? Or should I try greater number of a assisted pull-ups, then taper off the resistance? Should practice dead hangs to increase my grip endurance? Any recommendations would be appreciated, particularly if based on experience passing this road block.

Actually, we've just put together a workout program for him, as part of his Boy Scout personal fitness merit badge requirements. I used the Angry Birds workout for inspiration. He's really interested in doing plyometrics, which I took as an excuse to buy a Rogue games box. It also arrived yesterday, and I put it together this morning. It's a box, but a pretty awesome box.

...my new NF t-shirt arrived in the mail. My 11-year-old son has claimed it as his own. I feel a mixture of emotions. Part of me thinks it's great that he likes the shirt, and hope that he adopts the ideals that it represents. And part of me wants my shirt back.

Following too.

I second what weirdquark said. NROL for Abs has some really great ideas with nice progressions so that you can scale things up or down. Some of the movements have a social anxiety factor -- I've never seen anyone else at my gym do alligator drags, which are a great dynamic stabilization movement.

I've been using Sennheiser CX380 Sport Series II Noise Isolating Earbuds ($43 on amazon) for more than a year, and they're great. They're water/sweat resistant, and have a little clip to secure the slack cord to your shirt. I wear glasses, which interfere with the around the ear types.