63 year old fitness test - results

I performed a fitness test on my 63rd birthday - August 14th.

Results:

Pull Ups - 15 reps

Push Ups - 63 reps

1 Mile Run - 7:35 

I was surprised that I was able to perform 15 pull ups, the first 10 were pretty easy, last 5 were a bit of a grind.  Body weight 173 pounds.  The push ups were a real surprise, ever since I started barbell training I stopped doing push ups.  I had a goal of 50, then I just pushed through to 63 and the last one was a all out grind.  The 1 mile run test was just a whim, I decided to just do it.  Goal was to break 9 minutes.  I was shocked I hit 7:35!  

The good news is this is one year after my cancer treatment, at this time last summer I weighed 153 pounds and was just starting to come back.  I started training seriously January, and took some time off in late April, early May for travel.  I am back at the training again and I am pleased with my progress so far, I still have a long way to go.

Stay Strong - Al

I got into FASTING and disappeared

Fasting -

On March 3rd I started a 96 hour fast.  I started weighing 179.4 and after 96 hours I weighed 168.9.

I only drank Snake Juice during my feeding window 5-6pm - Snake Juice is Evian water with one tsp of sodium chloride (Pink Himalayan Salt) and 1 tsp of potassium chloride (No-Salt).

I quit all caffeine so I experience some withdrawals, mainly in the form of slight headache.  On Tuesday I was feeling some kindly pain as I was going through detox, but it went away.  I was pretty active during the first two days, the last two days I basically relaxed and read and took naps.

The experience was amazing.  I was testing my urine with keto strips and I reach a deep level of ketosis around 40 hours into the fast.  I dry fasted during the day, until my feeding window I then drank the Snake Juice to get in the electrolytes and minerals.

This started my journey.  My re-feeds are once per day, I fast 23 hours and feed for 1 hour.  I keep my diet very low on carbohydrates, taken primarily through vegetables, I eat meat or fish, eggs, butter, some cheese and nuts, and pickles. I introduced berries as a treat.  My body weight continued to drop during my feedings.  Initially after my fast I gained about 4 pounds, then it quickly stabilized around 169.

I do a 48 hour fast from Sunday evening through Tuesday evening, then go to one feeding a day.

I feel great, my strength is sold and the fat has melted off.

This is the leanest I have been since high school.  It's crazy.

Fasting Focused Lifestyle is my new norm.  Get lean as possible through FASTING, then adjust based upon your goals.  I am looking for performance, energy and clarity.

Fasting also cleared up my skin issues and makes me sleep like a champ.

Fasting is FREE and you get results.

Check out YouTube channel called the SNAKE Diet, Dr Jason Fung or Dr Berg.

Cole Robinson on the Snake Diet is very motivating and really knows his stuff through self experimentation, the two Doctors are very knowledgable and milder in their approach.  Different styles but same results.

23 days after I started this journey I am leaner and stronger and my current weight is 168.

Since last spring when I started intermittent fasting and eating clean ketogenic one meal a day routine I have reduced my body weight and composition from 196 to 168, jean size from 36 to 32.  I feel great.

Alcohol 2.0 is the same

High priced bourbon, craft beer and wine - ah the elixir of the elite. ALCOHOL 2.0

Stan is starting to feel a pain in his upper right side, he is a bit over weight due to his "great" holiday season - Christmas and New Years.  He makes a New Years resolution to finally lose some weight (again) and to slow down his drinking.  He vows to do a "sober" January.  He wakes up on January 1 with a nice hangover, after all since he is going to stop drinking in January he decided to have a few extra's on New Years Eve, what could it hurt.

The first few days are a bit rough, by 5 o'clock on January 1st, his brain is screaming for a drink of alcohol since that is about when the anesthetic effect of the previous nights drinks are starting to wear off, on top of that he feels that dull ache in his right side.  He fights through the urge to drink and even pours the last two craft beers he hid away in the back of the fridge down the kitchen sink as a testament to his resolve.

The next two days are rough and he seems on edge at work.  The pain is still there and he is having a bit of trouble sleeping, he wakes up exhausted each morning but soldiers on, he dusts off the treadmill he bought many New Years ago and decides he is going to start walking daily along with a new calorie restricted diet.  He drags himself to walk for 10 minutes the first two days.  Damn, 10 minutes never felt so long before and 500 calories a day sucks.

The pain in his side is still there.  He decides to go in for a yearly physical with his general doctor and gets on the schedule for mid next week.  The weekend comes and there are some football games to watch.    He struggles through the first game, drink free, since it was a habit of his to always have a "few" while enjoying the game on his 55 inch HD TV.  His favorite beer commercial comes on and his brain screams "Son of a Bitch - I need a drink."   He remembers his doctors appointment is coming up so he abstains from drinking and turns off the TV and decides to go to bed early.

The next few days are foggy, his mind is racing and he can't seem to concentrate.  He still is struggling with sleep and his treadmill is collecting dust again.  Tomorrow is the doctor visit.

He visits the doctor, and they also schedule him for blood work at the local lab.  The doctor warns him about his weight gain over the past year and asks him all the standard questions, he doesn't mention the dull ache in his right side since it seems to have settled down a bit.  He goes to the lab and they draw his blood and inform him they will send the results over to his doctor for review.

He is on day 7 of his "sober" January and he seems "out of sorts."  The good news is he is starting to sleep better but still feels exhausted, the daily walks on the treadmill are now an after thought as he finds them too boring.  He sticks to the calorie restricted diet to help him lose some weight, and checking the scale daily he is already down 5 pounds!  Around noon time he receives a phone call from his doctors office and they want to schedule a follow up from his recent blood work.  He is scheduled for tomorrow evening.

Doctor - "I reviewed the results of your blood work and have some concerns about your liver enzyme count, it is out of the normal range, actually it's a bit on the high side, how many drinks are you having a week?"

Stan - "well Doc, you know the normal amount on the weekend"

Doctor - "what's the normal amount?"

Stan - "well I drink the good stuff Doc, high priced Bourbon and craft IPA's, you know a few, maybe 3-4 drinks, but I have decided to quit drinking for the month of January, and I started a new diet and I've already lost 5 pounds"

Doctor - "That's great.  I was really concerned you were drinking the rot gut whiskey and light beer, you know that cheap stuff that will damage your liver and kill you, are you experiencing any discomfort on your upper right side?"

Stan - "now that you mention it I was feeling a bit of pain high up under my right rib cage but it seems to be OK now"

Doctor - "that's probably just some local inflammation in your liver based upon your blood work, I'll give you a 'script - use it for the next week and if the pain doesn't go away call me and well send you in for some further tests"

Stan - "thanks Doc"

Doctor - "keep up the diet and we'll see you next year"

Stan gets the 'script filled, take the pills for 5 days then another weekend of football comes, and he goes back to drinking the "good stuff" and the pain in his side goes away and he feels good again.

The vicious cycle goes on -  Stan can't imagine living life without Alcohol 2.0, it's his reward for being alive.

my new product would never get through Shark Tank

I developed a new product - here are the product claims (the perceived benefits):

Using my new consumable product

• makes you happy
• makes you fun to be around 
• makes you feel brave and confident
• makes you sexy
• makes you outgoing in social situations
• relieves stress
• relieves boredom
• helps you celebrate good times
• helps you forget bad times
• enhances a meal
• enhances your social status

This is great product and 80% of the population will use it - most will claim to use it socially, primarily on weekends, some on special occasions, and some will eventually become daily users.

To produce the product is low cost, it's basically decaying vegetable matter, or cooked and distilled cheap grain products and carries a very high profit margin per volume.  

THE SHARKS - "wow, that product sounds fantastic surely there has to be some downside, we need to know the risks before we decide"

Well now that you mentioned it there are a few things but we don't talk about them much because the claims (the perceived benefits) are socially accepted as the truth, and if you do not use the product you will be in the minority and be judged as having a problem, not using the product carries a social stigma.

These are just minor problems (side effects) of using the product:

• it has no nutritional value and could make you obese
• it is a registered poison in it's pure chemical form
• it is highly addictive 
• it causes dehydration even though it is in liquid form
• it cause cancer
• it is an anesthetic and can make you comatose if too much is consumed 
• it is a depressant
• it causes birth defects in the unborn if used while pregnant 
• it destroys internal organs and destroys brain cells
• it causes premature aging
• it will reduce your life expectancy
• it tastes terrible in it's native chemical form
• it effects your judgement and motor skills
• it can cause immediate illness, including violent vomiting 
• it can cause immediate death if too much is consumed too quickly

Please note: The highly addictive and dehydration problems are great benefits to the product if you are selling it to the consumer.  The poison and bad taste are easily overcome by diluting the product to low percentages by volume and adding in other taste enhancers to mask the terrible taste. In fact we have a whole line of products called mixers that we sell to go along with our new consumable, and we opened up a school to teach people how to mix up the product so that the consumer will pay extra for the opportunity to get the perceived benefits.

This is a no lose product.  While we can't substantiate any of the claims or perceived benefits we can advertise and use social proof as our marketing strategy.  Also the government doesn't require any warning labels on the product or packaging so we do not need to inform the consumer of the side effects of using the product.

THE SHARKS - "well what is the product"

ALCOHOL 2.0 

drinking the poison Alcohol is an expensive addiction

Want a shock - track the cost of your social drinking, regular drinking, habitual drinking and occasional drinking for one month.  I did this.  Killing yourself slowly with an alcohol addiction is very expensive.

I am going to take some averages, then add in some extra's.

On average I consumed 6-8 craft beers a day.  A 6 pack of craft beer cost $12.00 or $2 a bottle at the beer store.  So I'll say I was drinking on average 210 beers a month.  $420 a month, cha-ching.

I would occasionally go out for a "few" with a friend during the month, say about two times.  A "few" was usually 5, I know drunk math.  Craft beer at the place we would go was $7 a pint, so a "few" cost me $40 including tip.  $80 a month, cha-ching.

So on average I was spending $500 a month pouring a taxi poison down my throat seeking illusional benefits.  $6000 a year......but wait there is more....vacations.

I usually go on vacation 3-4 times a year.  This entails eating out at fancy restaurants and going to bars, playing golf and various other activities, that some how always included alcohol.  I'm going to be conservative and say each of these vacations cost me an additional $400 in alcohol, or $1600 per year.  Don't believe me, we proudly spent $225 for the "large" bottle of silver oak red wine (twice) while on vacation because after all we only drink the good stuff with our meal, aren't we special.

My yearly drinking total is now at $7600! or over $625 per month!  Yikes.

This doesn't count the times I would "buy" and my alcohol tab would include others doses of the poison.  Or sporting event, were the price of a container of alcohol is 5-6x what you can buy at the store. So this total might be a bit understated.

Now grant it, in the end I was a very high tolerance addict - it took me a very high dose of the drug alcohol to "feel" it.  The problem with that is.....keeping on the blog theme.........once I felt "it" I shot right through to being passed out or extremely tired and I want to go to bed to sleep.  What fun!

I noticed the cost of alcohol addiction has been increasing every year, not only are the stores raising the price, taxes are also being raised on the "elixir" of life in most counties and cities.  Alcohol is a serious source of tax revenue, no wonder they promote drinking alcohol as part of the fabric of the city.  "we proudly proclaim that we have 30 craft breweries within our metro area" - states one local city.  My personal cost of alcohol increased every year as I got deeper and deeper into the addiction.

I'll make it easy for myself - I spent about $10,000 per year drinking alcohol.

So I will say - I just hit the lottery.  I figure I have about 25 years left on this planet.  $250,000!
paid out in an annuity of $10,000 per year over the next 25 years!

Time to celebrate - I think I'll have a drink.  Just kidding.

I finished 10,0000 kettlebell swings in 30 days what do I do next?

10,0000 kettlebell swings in 30 days

I started this challenge on January 14 and finished this morning February 11 so I really finished in 28 days - I took three days off - right in the middle of the challenge.  So I actually did the 10,000 swings in 25 sessions.

All 10,000 swings were one arm kettlebell swings (1ASW) using a 16kg 'bell and a 20kg 'bell.
The max reps in one day was 500 and the minimum was 200 on the last day.  Sets of 25, 50, 75 and 100 swings performed in the early AM hours in a completely fasted state was my routine.

I have done this challenge a few times and I always enjoy the journey.  The break I took in the middle of the 30 days was needed and when I started back up I was refreshed and well rested. 

I strived for a perfect one arm swing on each rep.  I avoided sloppy reps at all cost so this took a bunch of concentration on my part as I did occasionally got to 100 reps in one set.  50 reps was my sweet spot as I could aggressively perform the set "hard style" with great form. 

Now the question is what do I do next? 

I was thinking about doing kettlebell snatches in high rep sets.  I was also thinking about doing the Viking Warrior Conditioning routine, which I was able to complete back in my younger days.  Kettlebell Muscle also makes me nervous as it is one of the hardest protocols I have ever completed, once with dual 20kg 'bells and once with dual 16kg 'bells.

I was thinking about getting back into deadlifting again in my life long quest to pull 405.  I know I am running out of time and I would have to really change my routine to even sniff that goal.  I was pulling singles with 295# pretty easily before I left for 3 weeks in the south.  My bench press was also going up nicely 195# for singles was going up smoothly.

It's been one year since I started intermittent fasting and Ketogenic nutrition - my body weight has stabilized at 180#'s but I feel the best around 175# with lower body fat.  Typically I was hovering in the 190-195# range over the past 5 years, and felt I needed a change - thus the IF/Keto plan.

Push ups, pull ups and body weight Bulgarian split squats were my go to movements over this past summer and I felt pretty strong. 

I need something to get me motivated, a new goal, a new challenge -

As I return home - I will think about this over the next three weeks as I continue my swings and Turkish get up routine.  I plan on getting back into the dead lift and bench press during this time also.

One thing for certain - I will never give up strength training. 

you chose to drink a highly addictive poison for fun

Alcohol - is a highly addictive poison. Our society drinks this poison for fun.  Social proof leads you to believe that the drinking this poison in a diluted form has many benefits, that is until you flip from the "normal drinker" to the feared and stigmatized dreaded "alcoholic."  You know, that other kind of drinker, the one you are never going to be, because you "can take it or leave it."  You know, the drinker in control, the moderation drinker, not that genetic disease carrying freak that has the "addictive personality." Your not the bum laying on the sidewalk in Las Vegas with a bottle in a paper bag begging for money as tourists walk by with colorful alcohol drinks in their hands.  In fact you may be the drinking tourist and smugly thinking - "what a drunken bum" get a job then you can party like me and enjoy the night life as a respectable drinker having "fun."  All depends on how you look at it.

90% of the adult population drinks alcohol.  90% of those people are addicted to the drug, 90% of those people will never admit they are addicted.  It is a socially acceptable drug addiction.  After all the government says it is legal - until you blow a .08 BAC while operating a vehicle - then your drug use is frowned upon as law breaking, and they court order you into the dreaded 12 step "program."  Thank God for Uber, it is much more classy to take Uber, only drunks take a yellow taxi home after a night of drug indulgence.

Here is an experiment - write down your reasons for drinking alcohol - 

I'll check in later to give you my list. 

Beer, wine, spirits, a cocktail, adult beverages -

Don't be fooled by the name.  It's a powerful poison and will shorten your life considerably.  It is also highly addictive, will debilitate your immune system and impede your concentration. It is a known cacogenic chemical.  It will systematically destroy your nervous system, your confidence, your courage and your ability to relax.  By the way in it's native chemical form it tastes awful and if too much is ingested will kill you and will cost you about $400,000 over your drinking lifetime if you are a moderate to heavy drinker. 

What does it do for you?  Here are the perceived benefits.

Helps me relax when I'm stressed
Helps me socially fit in
It tastes good, quenches your thirst
Is part of the celebration of holidays, birthdays, anniversaries, and special occasions
Makes me loosen up and have better sex
Gives me confidence and courage
Helps me get over a unhappy event in my life
Makes me happy
Helps me fall asleep
Relieves my boredom
Rewards me for working hard at my job each day

Easy trade off - you drink an addictive drug and you get benefits.  You become a drug addict because it is socially acceptable and provides pleasure and relieves pain.

People get upset when I call alcohol a drug - they really get a red ass when I tell them it is highly addictive - they get downright nasty when I compare the addiction to alcohol to the addiction of other hard drugs. 

Here is the difference - alcohol addiction is a slow miserable death - opioid addiction is a fast usually painless death.  Both are drug addictions.

Cheers.

Alcohol is a socially acceptable drug

Drinking alcohol (ethanol) is a socially acceptable drug in Western society, especially here in the good old USA.  Yes, ethanol is a drug, highly addictive, highly toxic and taken in a large enough quantity to quickly it will cause death.  People get pissed when you call it a drug.

Recent news story - fraternity hazing party - freshman pledge drinks 18 shots of alcohol and falls down stairwell, passes out - his drunk frat "brothers" put him to bed - next morning he is dead.  Some brotherly love.

But I thought drinking alcohol was going to provide a "good" time?  I know - he was stupid, he drank too much too quickly, became drunk and unable to walk, falls down stairs hits his head, passes out and dies - it was the "hitting his head" that killed him we are told.  As unfortunate as this scenario is, it get's a bit of news worthy press and then is quickly forgotten.  Our society is in love with alcohol and has "it only happens to someone else" syndrome.

Not once do we here a politician rant about our "alcohol" epidemic which kills way more people than todays modern "opioid" epidemic.  We accept the deaths of alcohol as "one of them" as this doesn't happen to normal drinkers.  You know the "normal" drinker. 

One of the greatest things about being a non-drinker is the entertainment factor of being around "normal" drinkers.  I recently attended a sporting event where normal drinkers were on exhibit.  It's absolutely hilarious to see what goes on, some of the behavior is outright reality TV material, some of the behavior is scary.

But our society accepts this as part of the sports culture.  Here's good news for you drinkers - they only charge $12 for a 24oz Miller Lite at this sporting event.  And the local establishment only charged $7 for a pint of draft beer.  Figuring light beer is 95-98% water, that is some expensive fuel.

Our society accepts these outrageous prices because - it wouldn't be American at a sporting event without alcohol disguised as beer in this case.

How did we get to this point as a society? 

we are led to believe that alcohol is the "elixir of life"

I remember my first drink - I stole a stubby bottle of Iron City beer from my visiting aunt's stash in our fridge.  I called up a friend of mine that I smoked cigarettes with and we took the bottle into the woods and split it - it tasted foul.  I was in the 5th grade. I didn't understand the allure of beer, it tasted terrible.

I remember the first time I felt the effects of drinking alcohol - I was in 8th grade and I split a bottle of Boones Farm Apple Hill wine with 2 class mates, it tasted funny, like nasty juice but at that point "peer" pressure had already started to sink in, we passed the bottle back and for an took swigs, I was in the middle.  I felt my first buzz, the effects of the alcohol on my young brain. That started my drinking career. That summer I drank an entire bottle of cheap wine and puked my guts out, passed out and woke up the next morning not remembering anything and feeling very ill.  Drinking was supposed to be fun?  I had my first major hangover.

I was told I just needed to learn how to drink - that's all I needed to hear.

As youngsters we learn to observe - we see adults drinking beer, wine, liquor and they go from being reserved to laughing, loud and having a good time.  It looks like they are having a "good" time.  We walk by the neighborhood bars in the summer, the door is open and it is crowded with music and laughter. What's the attraction, we wonder. 

Alcohol is all around us, it is the most heavily marketed product in the world.  It used to be cigarettes, but society has put the stigma on that addiction and banned TV ads.  More money is spent on alcohol advertisement than any other product.  Dilly-dilly.

What are they selling?  well they are not selling the highly toxic, highly addictive and terrible tasting fuel ingredient ethanol.  No they are selling - fun, happiness, friendship, romance, man hood, relaxation, reward, status, courage and a good time.  They are selling the product's, product's, product.

Taste's great - Less filling!  Let me clue you in - observe the average Miller Lite drinker - they are usually overweight, out of shape middle aged men, or fat women.  Sort of like the diet soft drink people - they believe in the "calorie" theory.  Let me clue you in - reduce the alcohol by volume (ABV) percentage from 5% to 4.2% and the caloric factor in the same 12oz bottle drops, but it still tastes like old dishwater.  Miller Brewing hit on a genius product and marketed the hell out of it during the mid 70's eat less calories exercise more weight loss era, this produced generations of Lite drinkers.  I know one fan of Lite that can drink 18 Lite's in a day, but he can't run 25 yards.

Alcohol is marketed as the "elixir of life" - everything will be better with a little alcohol, the day, the event, the occasion. Hell when you're feeling bad - alcohol, when you're celebrating - alcohol, when you're bored - alcohol.

It's a trap - and it doesn't change.  We are unconsciously brainwashed that alcohol is a drink that will make us happy and will enhance any occasion.  Consciously we may have experienced some of the side effects of over indulgence in an "adult beverage'' but unconsciously we only remember the good times allure or the good times we had when drinking alcohol.  That is what I call selective memory and unconscious brainwashing.

Thus we continue drinking the "elixir of life" chasing the good times.  This elixir is highly addictive, it's the nature of the nasty tasting chemical ethanol.  As we "acquire a taste" for it our bodies miraculously build up a tolerance to the drug protecting us from the lethal effects.  The fan of Miller Lite that can drink 18 cans of beer, built up to that volume over time.  Now that is the standard for him, anything less he doesn't feel "right" anything more and he starts acting "strange", the I only smoke when I drink syndrome.

I remember when I was completely satisfied drinking 3 beers when I was in high school, if I drank more than that I either got sick or started speaking a weird version of Korean or acting strange.  By the end of high school I graduated to a 6 pack, and on rare occasion I would go big and drink Colt 45 Malt liquor, which had a higher ABV than Stroh's.  I usually got drunk or could not finish the 6 pack, but I had a good time, until I did something stupid or puked.

In the beginning we relate alcohol to pleasure, fun, having a good time.  It's also a social status - in my town drinking was a way of life.  It was considered a reward for working hard all day. 

I know a drinker that flat out states "drinking is my reward" for busting my ass all day at my job.  His job consists of driving around and visiting jobsites and working on a computer.  In my work career drinking was a staple at every networking event, the pre dinner cocktail hour, the lunch time drinks, the out of town trade shows that became nothing more than a reason to drink.

Drinking was the "elixir of life".  It made the cowards have courage, the homely into beautiful people and the shy person into a comedian.

Ah the good old days - normal drinking.  Drinking to be happy.

You are not one of them - you are a normal drinker enjoying the "elixir of life."

e·lix·ir

[əˈliksər]

NOUN

elixirs (plural noun)

1. a magical or medicinal potion.

   "an elixir guaranteed to induce love"

   synonyms:

   potion · concoction · brew · philter · decoction · medicine · tincture ·
   

   tonic · draft · potation

   • a preparation supposedly able to change metals into gold, sought by alchemists.
   • a preparation supposedly able to prolong life indefinitely.
     "at one point during the festivities, the river is said to turn into the elixir of life"
2. a particular type of medicinal solution.

   "a cough elixir"

   synonyms:

   mixture · solution · potion · tincture · extract · essence · concentrate

very few people want to talk about Alcohol

Let's talk about Alcohol.

Ohhhh - a dirty subject.  Yeah - beer, wine, hard liquor and the consumption of the beverage carrying the alcohol (ethanol).

Ethanol, also called alcohol, ethyl alcohol, grain alcohol, and drinking alcohol, is a chemical compound, a simple alcohol with the chemical formula C 2 H 5 OH. Its formula can be also written as CH 3 − CH 2 − OH or C 2 H 5 − OH (an ethyl group linked to a hydroxyl group), and is often abbreviated as EtOH.  Ethanol is a volatile, flammable, colorless liquid with a slight characteristic odor.

Yeah - it's the same thing they add to the gasoline your put into your vehicle.  Imagine that, you are actually drinking a fuel additive.

So why am I talking about this chemical - well I just quit drinking it.  Stigma?  nope.

Ethanol is a highly toxic, addictive substance.  It is also deadly, drink too much of it in pure form and you will die, and it will not be a social and fun event.

We drink it as beer, wine and hard liquor and various other named cocktails.  But regardless of the delivery name we are drinking ethanol.  Without it you probably wouldn't drink the malt, grape or corn juice.

We are so brainwashed and delusional when it comes to ingesting this liquid that close to 85% of all adults drink alcohol laced beverages at some time. Hell - some actually believe the number one killing drug in Western society is "healthy" for you - drink two glasses of red wine it's good for your heart.  So when you have a heart attack, the first thing they do is serve you a glass of Merlot?

Let me state fact - alcohol is addictive. Period end of story.  You will build a tolerance to the drug like you will build a tolerance to any addictive drug (i.e. nicotine, cocaine, opioids etc.). What this means is over time you will need more of the drugs to achieve the same physical effect.   The "buzz" you received from 2 alcohol laced drinks will now be achieved with 3 alcohol drinks.  Addictive drugs and your body just work that way - it's your bodies defense mechanism against the toxic chemical and it's immediate effects.

My alcohol beverage of choice was beer - craft beer, although if needed I would pretty much drink any alcohol laced beverage (the "needed" will be explained later).  I could pretty much consume 8-10 craft beers before I would just lay down and pass out - great fun, huh?  Initially I would drink 2-3 very quickly (mini-binge drinking), then start "normal" drinking.  Hahahaha - what is "normal drinking?"  the pat answer is - it all depends. Normal drinking for me was 6-7 more beers over the drinking episode.  Sick huh?  Addicted - yes!

Quitting alcohol is believed to be "hard". And if you quit you may and probably will end up with the societal stigma of he's "one of them". You know, them - "the alcoholic."  The modern day leper.  Drink for a while then quit and people - your friends, family and acquaintances will look at you like you have a "disease" that could be contagious. 

I love being a Non-Drinker.

Let's talk about Alcohol - the next series of blog posts will do just that and explain my current alcohol free journey.

they lied, there is no global warming - it's COLD!

Al Gore the king of global warming - well he flies around in a private jet, nice mode of transportation for a life long politician.

Well it's cold outside - damn cold.  I fondly recall golfing in 65 degree and sunny weather a half decade ago, I played golf on Thanksgiving Day back when global warming was real.

Oh, they want to call it "climate change" today - duh?  The climate is always changing.

I don't get the mentality that the earth is under attack by human beings.

It is just a banal narrative of future government control or a tax.

But right now, we could use a little global warming here in Western Pennsylvania - it's too damn early for temperatures in the teens.

Al Gore is a liar!

all Bourbon tastes the same, but not all Bourbon costs the same

Spent two wonderful nights in Louisville, Kentucky.  If you ever get in that area and need a place to stay - pick the Brown Hotel.   Highly recommend this old property and the location is great.

Back to Bourbon.   This town has it, invented it and sells it by the barrel full.  Bourbon has to be made of 51% corn, after that the chemist can pretty much mix in whatever he wants.  Bourbon

This area of Kentucky is home to the biggest, greatest Bourbon distillers on the planet.   Louisville is the major city in the area.

When you first taste Bourbon you will probably think - "this is what gasoline tastes like if I was stupid enough to drink it"  yet, there was actually a "pour" of Bourbon on the bar menu for $250.00.

I'm going to guess a normal bar "pour" is 1.5 oz.  So that particular aged Bourbon was $21,333.00 a gallon.  What's the difference between that and W.L. Weller?

Cost.

Bourbon is good - it's alcohol.  I love Manhattans and I had one at the Lobby Bar in the Brown Hotel and it was excellent.  Bourbon makes the best cocktails in my opinion.

So it really comes down to cost.  Bourbon tastes the same but costs differently.

Bourbon "neat" is all the hip.  I personally prefer mine with one cube of solid crystal clear ice.  Neat - burns, and you'll get all the supposed flavors.

Here is my observation - a Mint Julep with any Bourbon will taste good if properly made and mixed.

If you want to enter the "neat" trail - order Bourbon flights and work your way down the line.  Be careful.  I had a flight of Four Roses at the BBC Brewery Restaurant and it kicked my ass.

All Bourbon tastes the same, and it sure doesn't cost the same.  Acquired taste has no price tag.

Education goes a long way.

the American dream is dead!

Living the dream?  The American Dream?  What a joke - we've been sold a joke and a scam.

Want proof - look at the state of our politics and rule of law in their once great Republic.  Socialism is for the people, not the Socialist.   The political elite that preach socialism are never going to live that lifestyle or ideology, they just want you to live it, yeah you the American Dream chaser.  The tax payer and law abiding citizen.

sometimes you just don't give a fuck, I'm GAF

Interesting day for me - I purposely slept in.  Brand new experience for me.  I never purposely slept in for 60 years.  It was a perfect Western PA fall morning, cold, damp no rising sun, no where to go, nothing to do (except my pull ups), fuck it - I laid in bed. Got up at 0712.

I don't give a fuck anymore.  I'm focused, laser.  On my life - I really don't care about anyone anymore.  I'm 100% selfish, at this age can you blame me?

I love my existence and I feel I can out live anyone that was born in 1958, a worth while challenge.  Becoming a Social Security millionaire is a worthy goal.  Being the oldest in my high school graduating class seems like a winning proposition.

The best thing about being GAF is you get very simplistic in your basic American needs very quickly.

food
clothing
shelter
transportation (if needed)

How much food can you live on each day? What is the cost of that necessity?

Do you have nothing that you do not wear?

Shelter is a human necessity, is yours adequate?

What type of transportation in necessary to provide your lifestyle?

GAF is an attitude and is easily achieved when you give in, give up and say - I've had enough and I am not taking it anymore.

Why do we keep listening to the lies of America?

Voting

Today is Voting day here in the good old USA.  You have two selections to make - Democrat or Republican.  Our country is run by the political elite class. Executive branch, Legislative branch and Judicial branch, 546 total people.  Executive branch (2 people) is elected by the states electoral college, Legislative branch is made up of the Senate (100 Senators) and the House of Representatives (435 Representatives) and are elected by the citizens of each state, the Judicial branch (9 Justices) is nominated by the executive branch and confirmed by the legislative branch.

It is not a perfect system and is ripe with corruption and collusion.  Most politicians are lawyers and produce absolutely nothing in their lives.  When it comes right down to it, 3-5 people run this country.  Most legislative branch members vote straight party line once they get to Washington DC. If they do not, then the faucet of money will be shut off for their next campaign and they will most likely lose their coveted position.  We only have term limits on the executive branch.

I've been following politics my entire life. I started to get interested in 1968 as I watched riots and the escalation of the Vietnam War.   I was in 5th grade at the time and I remember an announcement of a brother of one of the kids in our grade school was killed in the Vietnam War, that shocked me and I started reading the daily newspaper and watching the nightly news.  We were told that the war was to fight against the spread of communism, the domino theory - hmmm.

50 years later we have one of the major political parties advocating a form of government that we fought a war against.  Crazy times.

The Democrat political party is advocating Socialism.  The Republican party is not to far off either, they support socialist programs also.  The difference is the Democrats look at Socialism through the individuals eyes and the Republicans look at Socialism through the eyes of big corporate interests.  Both are Socialism - and Socialism leads to Communisms.  Both political ideologies are seriously flawed experiments over the past 100 plus years.

The United States is not a Democracy - it is a Republic and has a written charter or Constitution which specify the rules.  Here is the rub - the 546 people (3-5 important people) we have running the country do not follow the rules.  They also seem to be above the law.

Does your vote really count?  it is hard to tell now a days.

My war is this - I will vote, not for something but against something, I do not vote for a man (humans are flawed in so many ways).  I AM VOTING AGAINST SOCIALISM/COMMUNISM.

Final thought - Socialism is for the people, not the Socialists.

Intermittent Fasting has Changed My Life

In my last entry I talked about IF and the Ketogenic diet and my experience - I promised an update.  This is my 6 month update on the overall effects that IF and Keto have had on my life.

Results:  I reduced by body weight from 194 pounds to 174 pounds, my Levis jean size went from 36x32 to 32x32.  I lost a lot of body fat over the last 6 months though the mid section and hips.  Losing body weight was never my goal, health was my primary goal.

My feeding protocol morphed into one meal a day (OMAD) Monday through Friday and two meals a day on Saturday and Sunday.  I started OMAD in April and continued through the summer months.

I did one 72 hour fast in mid September to see how it felt after I came off a week of vacation, but I primarily stuck to the 23:1 protocol.  23 hour fast, 1 hour feeding window during the week and 20:4 protocol on weekends. I ate LCHFMP - low carb, high fat, moderate protein. I did drink beer at times, so my abstinence from alcohol ended on April 23, it was a 6 month abstinence window.

I walked as my primary aerobic exercise with 2-3 mile walks each morning, slow steady leisurely pace.  Strength training migrated to body weight movements like push ups, single leg Bulgarian split squats, and dead hang pull ups.  I stopped all barbell training in mid summer.

I went to OMAD slowly and didn't push to hard on my training.  What I found is pushing through the hunger was primarily mental and once I got into ketosis and burning fat for energy fuel my hunger subsided rapidly.

Observations:

• Educating yourself on the benefits of IF and Keto eating is easily done through You Tube and reading.
• Reading two amazing books by Dr. Jason Fung, The Obesity Code and the Diabetes Code really opened my mind.
• Our government/food industry has been lying to the people for over 50 years and the proof is the epidemic of obesity in this country.
• Learning to prepare and cook some great tasting LCHFMP meals was fun.
• On my 60th birthday I performed 38 strict push ups and 15 dead hang pull ups at a body weight of 177 pounds.
• Alcohol in the form of craft beer was consumed as the summer progressed and I noticed a huge difference in how I felt after the consumption.  I cut way back on drinking alcohol.
• On rare occasions I ate cheat meals, I really felt the effects for a few days afterwords.
• Performing a 72 hour fast was not as difficult, breaking that fast was a bit rough.
• The sweet spot for me is fasting for 18-23 hours daily.
• You do not need carbohydrates, once you flip over to fat burning (ketosis).
• When I do not feel well the solution is fasting.
• Fasting costs absolutely nothing - eating OMAD saves you a lot of money.
• Preparing and cooking food at home is way better than going to any restaurant. 
• Abstinence from alcohol has great benefits and I will continue to practice periods of abstinence.
• Sleep is way better when you eliminate sugar and refined carbohydrates from your diet.
• Fructose (fruit sugar) is not as good for you as you might think and I cut way back on fruit consumption.
• Read your labels, there is a lot of hidden sugar and chemicals in packaged and prepared foods.
• Raised energy levels and mental clarity is a great benefit from IF and Ketogenic eating.
• Feeling better and health was my primary goal in this experiment.

I will update this as I progress through the next year. 

If you have not tried intermittent fasting or ketogenic eating I highly recommend you give it a go.  The word of caution is you have been brainwashed to believe the opposite of this lifestyle protocol.

Stay strong, stay hungry, stay disease free.

I am practicing IF and Keto and so far liking the results

At my age and level of boredom prevention I am constantly looking to expand my wisdom when it comes to living the rest of my years on this planet as healthy and happy as possible.  In my recent observations I have noticed that aging looks like a very bad path to the end.  It really doesn't look all that fun to me, especially that last year or months of ones life.  Most older people experience one of the following chronic illnesses before their death - heart problems, cancer, diabetes, strokes.

Why?  Getting older also gives you an excuse for acting like a child - you get to ask a lot of questions and besides being annoying at times you get a pass by most people.  Using the power of the inter-webs my research led me to intermittent fasting and the ketogenic diet.

Using my stoic philosophy of trust but verify, I ventured into the practice of intermittent fasting.  This is such a simple lifestyle concept I really had no excuse or obstacle in the way starting and documenting this journey.

The IF premise: completely fast from any food for 16 hours and then only eat during the 8 hour eating window.  So you stop eating at 8PM and then your next meal is at 12 noon.  Your eating window is 8 hours, from 12 noon to 8PM. So simple.

This became my daily routine.  I would arise at 5AM have my morning coffee, attend to business, exercise and then once 12 noon came I would prep and eat my first meal of the day.  I would usually have a mid afternoon snack and then eat dinner around 630PM and have one more before bedtime snack.  Initially I found this pretty easy to do and it made the most sense to me.  After sleeping for 8-9 hours I really wasn't that hungry in the morning and I wanted to do my exercise in a fasted state in order to burn more fat stores.  That was the initial premise and it seemed to suit my personal lifestyle just fine.  I started this practice about 5 years ago after reading the Warrior Diet.  I would just eat breakfast around the lunch hour, afternoon snack, eat dinner, bedtime snack.  The problem with that is - my diet sucked.  I was eating the standard american diet.  As I started to age I started to accumulate FAT and slowly but surely lose strength. Hmm, what the hell was going on?

In 2013 I tried my first Whole30 - nutrition reset and experienced great results. Of course after these great results I went back to my previous eating lifestyle.  Basically what I found was my "pill", my drug so to speak - as soon as I started to feel run down, burnt out, fat and losing strength I would do a Whole30 and reset my system.  I did seven Whole30's over the next 5 years.  Each of them was different in their own way but they always followed the same pattern. Eat well for 30 days, go back to my previous lifestyle - I was on a Whole30 roller coaster.  I really wasn't fixing the problem.  I also noticed that the subsequent Whole30's didn't yield the same amazing results that the initial Whole30's produced.   I started to analyze this phenomenon and what I found myself doing was grinding through the Whole30 then binging on the forbidden fruits until I felt the need to do the next Whole30.  The binges were the underlying problem.

During these binges I still practiced IF and didn't have my first meal until 12 noon, the issue came what I ate during m feeding window.  I ate the standard American diet.  High carb, low-medium fat, moderate protein, and sugar related items.  I also drank alcohol during this time, craft beers.  While the IF may have slowed the process I really wasn't addressing the cause.  In fact I was descending into the abyss.

At first I quit alcohol thinking if I get that out of my system the craving for the refined carbs and sugars would subside.  The opposite occurred - I turned into a cookie monster!  I still did IF, but my meals and snacks were loaded with refined carbs and sugar.  I felt better not drinking alcohol, but I started to accumulate a lot of FAT.  knowing that it is impossible to out train (exercise) a bad diet, I planted a flag and decided to go on a Whole30 but stretch it out to 40 days - my religious practice has 40 days appropriately called the great fast so it worked.  About half way through this great fast I decided to up the game and extend my fasting window to 18-20 hours.  My first meal would now come at 2PM or 4PM.  I immediately noticed some differences.  I started losing some FAT around the mid-section.  I was strict on the Whole30 with the elimination of grains, diary, legumes and sugar, but I also stretched the carbs and protein a little and I didn't monitor the hidden sugars as tightly as prescribed.   When I felt "off" I would eat fruit.

As the great fast came to a close I stretched my fasting to 20 hours daily, in fact one day I did a complete 24 hour fast without any difficulty at all.  During this time I also started researching the Ketogenic diet.  I've heard of ketosis before, remember the Scarsdale Diet from the '70's?  It basically was designed to put your body in ketosis.  Atkins is another form of a popular ketosis diet.   The Whole30 is a form of a Paleo diet with no restrictions on the amount of food and doesn't necessarily drive you into ketosis.

Researching Ketogenic diet was interesting, there is a lot of information available.  I like watching YouTube videos and came across some fabulous short videos explaining the diet and benefits.  I started studying the information and my eyes opened to a new possibility for me, what if I did IF and switched my diet to Keto eating?  what results would I experience?

I am into my second week.  I will document the process and write a full report at the end of four weeks.  So far I am liking the results.

The Value of Easy Strength Training

Easy Strength training is a method/routine where you train every day.  The key is the programming and alternating two workouts. The programming is simple: push, pull, hinge, squat and carry.

Here are the workouts I am currently doing:
  
WO A
Turkish Get Up - doing heavy partials - prone to elbow, prone to post
One Arm Swings - heavy 'bell
Hex Bar Dead Lifts
Bench Press
Inverted Blast Strap Rows

WO B
Turkish Get Ups - doing moderate partials - prone to post, prone to kneeling
Two Arm Swings - heavy 'bell
Goblet Squat - heavy 'bell
Double KB Military Press - moderate 'bell
Seated DB Curls
Squeeze Push UPs - YWT's

All exercises are performed for 2 sets of 5 reps.  You increase the load as needed and do not miss a rep.  Start at a comfortable weight and make sure you are progressing slowly.  The goal is to perform this routine for 40 consecutive days if possible.

I've done EZ Strength training in the past and have made fantastic gains using this simple but effective method.  The value of this training is constant and steady strength gains, overall body movement under load and the real sense of accomplishment.

If you couple this method with a strict nutrition program like the Whole30 then you will experience a transformation in body composition.

Some thoughts:  at the start this seems pretty easy compared to some other methods/routines, around day 7-8 things get interesting and you might start feeling a little burnt out as your body gets used to the program, you must push through the urge to take a rest day.  Mid way through the program the magic starts happening and your system gets stronger and recovery is much more rapid.  Do not increase the volume, just increase the load as needed, making sure your do not miss any reps.  The goal is to train with sub-maximal weight.  

September Body Weight Only Training

When I returned from Colorado Springs on September 2nd, I had just completed a month long journey with the kettlebell snatch, although I didn't hit my goal number of 5000 snatches with a 20kg bell (only did 4000), I did learn a valuable lesson and I did feel like a vagina.

I decided my next training journey would consist of body weight only training and something brand new to me, "crawling."  I followed the 100 Push Up Program set and rep scheme.  Performing Push-Ups, Squats and AbMat Sit-Ups.  I would also train the Pull-up to a lower intensity.  My plan was to train body weight Monday, Wednesday, Friday, and on Tuesday, Thursday, Saturday do some active rest in the form of Crawling and a specific upper back program by Joe Defranco.  

I have read a lot about crawling and how it would help your body hit a reset in the way of physical and mental health.  This primitive movement pattern was difficult for me initially.  It had been so long since I crawled.  The movement pattern felt so foreign to me.

I had to "think" before moving, and I was crawling very slow at first.  On top of the physical/mental pattern challenge, crawling was damn exhausting.  I crawled for the first two weeks of my body weight training, and it made a huge difference.  The upper back program just seemed interesting to me and was a way to balance out the high volume push-ups.  Well I got through the month, hit all 12 training sessions and was able to maintain my sanity. 

 Here is a summary.

When I tested my initial push-up, squat and sit-up max reps I was shocked on how low they were.

Deep full (below parallel) high volume body weight squats expose a lot of hip mobility issues.

Not a fan of the traditional sit-up, so I used an AbMat and it worked very well for me.

The body weight training session averaged about 45 minutes in length, I took my time and made sure I did strict repetitions.

Over the 4 weeks I performed 1710 push-ups, 2302 squats, and 2565 AbMat sit-ups.

The longest crawling session was 4 x 100 yards, that was after starting with 2 x 50 yards.

Although I didn't specifically set out to train the Pull-Up, my form and strength in this movement improved.

Body weight stayed the same the entire month, even though my eating plan was anything but stellar.

Did not have a training day where I didn't feel like doing the session, I didn't feel "burnt" out.

The crawling sessions gave me a new perspective on the value of primitive human movement patterns, especially as we age.

I am going to take a few days and do some active rest training and then figure out my next challenge and journey.  I am thinking about another kettlebell swing challenge intermixed with barbell training.

And always remember.

Body weight only training is a good break from traditional weight training anyone can do the movements, you don't need a gym or any equipment, so you really have no excuse not to get stronger.

Stay Strong(er).  Al

5000 Kettlebell snatches in August.

After the month of July and and 11,000 one arm kettlebell swings,  I didn’t think I could look at a kettlebell again for a long time.  Then something possessed me on the morning of July 30, I decided that August would be a good month to do 5000 one arm snatches with a 20kg kettlebell.  

In the month of August I was taking a 12 day road trip from Western PA to Colorado Springs and back, I was driving through 12 states in 12 days.  Easy enough, bring along the kettlebell, it travels well.  You can do snatches along the roadside and at the hotel.  I also knew my month would be cut short since I was traveling back to Colorado Springs the last three days of the month.  I could have put the 20kg kettlebell in a bowling ball bag and checked it as luggage (paid for the extra bag) and taken it along.  I decided against that move as this was parents weekend at the Air Force Academy and the trip was meant to visit our son Cadet Viktor Rymniak. My wife Tanya may have had me committed to a mental institution plus I really needed the rest/recovery.

My sons room never looked like this when he lived at home

Proud Parents

Nothing is more motivating than a Parade 

The goal of 5000 KB snatches didn't seem that overwhelming.  Going in I figured I would need at least 6 complete rest days, so I had 25 training days ahead of me, so the average would have to be 200 snatches per training day.  Easy enough, right?  Well, easy but not simple.  This was a maiden voyage for me attempting this type of kettlebell snatch volume. One snatch at a time, became my new motto. Away we go.

The Snatch Statue, Buffalo Thunder, Santa Fe NM

Building up the volume.  The first 15 days of the month I was on the road and my intention was to build up the volume., slow and steady.  I missed too many training days during this time.  When I did snatch the ‘bell I hit decent numbers but I was still building up the volume and conditioning. So the overall total suffered.

On the road in the middle of America

Some of the places I did snatches were:

 

The parking lot of the Hampton Inn in Hays, KS, think Wizard of Oz. 8/3

The parking lot of a Laundry Mat in Colorado Springs, CO, interesting place. 8/7

The parking lot of a Cracker Barrel in Van Buren, Arkansas, got a lot of strange looks. 8/10

The gas pumps at a nasty gas station in Forest City, Arkansas, my wife had to go? 8/10

My room in the Hotel Peabody in Memphis, TN, ah, air conditioning. 8/11

A Love’s truck stop southwest of Nashville, TN, every trucker should have a KB. 8/12

A Love’s truck stop south of Elizabeth, Kentucky, interesting talk with a guy smoking cigarettes.  8/12

My friends drive way in Loveland, OH, felt almost like home.  8/14

Falcon Stadium, Colorado Springs Co

I snatched when I could and when I felt like it during the trip.  I had some interesting conversations with people along the way that approached me when I was doing the snatches.  Not sure if I converted anyone to the lifestyle of kettlebells, but it was fun.

Cadillac Ranch, Amarillo TX

I got back home on the 14^th woefully behind schedule on hitting the 5000.   I was at 1085. At first I was going to abort the mission, instead I stepped on the gas for the next few days hitting 300 reps. I tapered off to the 250 and came into the finish line on August 28 with 100 reps.

August 1 through 14 performed 1085 reps, majority were sets of 10/10, with rest.

August 15 through 28 performed 2915 reps, started doing sets of 15/15 and 25/25.

That is 90 tons snatched over 28 days.

I missed too many days while I was traveling and when I did the reps I didn’t hit the numbers I needed too at the time.  I did 4000 reps in 19 training sessions an average of 210 reps. I learned many training lessons on the way.  I wasted some training days early in the month while I was travelling.  Looking back I could have toughened up and did more reps on the road.  The trip was fantastic though.  I missed the last few days of the month, again travelling.  I am certain I could have hit the 5000 with a little less travel and slightly more discipline.

Here is a recap of the month:

The snatch takes a lot more out of me than the one arm swing.  For me the snatch is 2 times as taxing on my body as the one arm swing with the 20kg bell.  The first consecutive days that I did 300 snatches I was beat up needed a complete rest day to recover properly.  I was behind and might have pushed it a little too hard when I got back home.

My hands and grip took a beating.  There really isn’t anything you can do but condition your hands and strengthen your grip by snatching.  When I was traveling one of the main reasons why I didn’t do more snatches was my hands were not conditioned enough.  They were sore and I didn’t want to tear open my calluses.  Once I got back home I started using Anti-Monkey Butt powder and cut off socks to protect my hands on high volume days.

Once you get in the volume your technique starts to get sharper.  I always went for that perfect rep, one snatch at a time.  The 20kg bell is my RKC test bell.  That bell is pretty light for me so I was able to keep up the volume once I got going.  My hip drive and lock out became smooth.  The movement seemed to flow.

On the 25^th I did the RKC snatch test. Results: 100 reps in 4:08 without setting the ‘bell down, this was a PR and this was the first time I did the 100 reps straight through.  I felt good about that time, no world record but respectable.

The carry over effect to my golf game was outrageous.  I am now re-thinking the best movement to increase shot distance and control is the kettlebell snatch versus the kettlebell swing.  I am hitting the golf ball so much further with less effort.  My body control, balance, stability, and power have all increased from the snatch volume.

I also did 9 Easy Strength sessions during this journey.  The snatches helped my overall strength.  My dead lift and bench press numbers went up slightly.  My double kettlebell military press went up I am now using 28kg bells.  Dead Hang Pull Ups became easier for me.

My diet wasn’t all that strict during the month of August, travelling, anniversary, birthday and just general over all indulgence.  One thing that I found was doing high volume snatches seemed to suppress my appetite.   I’m not sure if it is the met-con effect or after you get done you just do not feel like eating anything for a while.  The downside was I discovered a taste for Memphis BBQ and a great Manhattan.

Memphis BBQ

Spencer Penrose Manhattan, The Broadmoor

The KB snatch is the Czar of the KB movements.  Mobility, Stability, Balance/Body Awareness, Strength, and Power, the KB Snatch builds them all.

Although I fell short of my volume goal, the journey was well worth the effort.

Cadet Viktor Rymniak, Acceptance Day 8/6/13

I will do this again, it was a challenge and I felt better for taking it on.

I LOVE the SNATCH!

On to the next challenge.  Stay Strong(er),

Al  al@ironsolid.com  724-456-7503 (mobile)