I am in the middle of trying to eat fewer carbs and focus on more high-intensity exercises -- just like the title suggests. So, there may be a great diI am in the middle of trying to eat fewer carbs and focus on more high-intensity exercises -- just like the title suggests. So, there may be a great diet/exercise plan hidden in here. I'd be open to hearing it stated as: "This worked for me and it may be worth a try for you."
But I'm frankly turned off by this author's pose (ooh, I'm a contrarian hipster! if you disagree with my contrarianism, you're part of the evil establishment!) Nor am I convinced by the claimed science (we can dismiss all the studies that disagree with me, because they are either observational studies or loosely-cobbled-together biology factoids! ...although so are all the studies that agree with me...)
I guess it's another one of those books (like 4-Hour Body) that wasn't meant to be read all at once. You can hear the contradictions being shouted in your face:
"DUDE DON'T EAT CARBS THEY ARE EVIL YOU SHOULD EAT FAT AND PROTEIN INSTEAD. WAIT WAIT DON'T EAT ALL FATS SOME OF THEM ARE EVIL TOO. AND WAIT DON'T OVEREAT PROTEIN IT'LL MAKE YOU FAT TOO. JUST I DUNNO JUST DON'T EAT CARBS."
"DON'T TRUST THE SCIENTIFIC ESTABLISHMENT THEY JUST LIE ABOUT LOW-FAT DIETS. BY THE WAY COCONUT OIL WILL CURE CANCER AND ALZHEIMERS WE KNOW BECAUSE SCIENCE PROVED IT."
"EAT AS MUCH FAT AS YOU LIKE JUST GO AHEAD AND GORGE. BUT LIMIT YOURSELF TO A SMALL HANDFUL OF NUTS A DAY SO YOU DON'T EAT TOO MUCH FAT."
"THE ONLY USEFUL WAY TO EXERCISE IS TO STRENGTH TRAIN SUPER DUPER SLOWLY. SO LIKE SPRINTS ARE A REALLY GOOD EXERCISE."
"WE SHOULD EAT SIMPLY LIKE CAVEMEN DID AND NOT COUNT CALORIES AND JUST AVOID ALL THIS MODERN PROCESSED FOOD AND TECHNOLOGY. SO THE BEST WAY TO BE A CAVEMAN IS TO SPLURGE ON EXPENSIVE BLOOD-TESTING KITS AND TRACK YOUR NUMBERS DAILY."
Plus, the recipes sound gross and call for buying a ton of ingredients I don't have: Stevia, xylitol, coconut flakes (unsweetened of course)... Also, he talks about foods to eat and foods to avoid, but completely omits some common foods like milk or beans -- where do they fall?...more
Sounds like sensible advice: make your cardio intense enough to get strength training benefits out of it too, with things like no-rest circuits or sprSounds like sensible advice: make your cardio intense enough to get strength training benefits out of it too, with things like no-rest circuits or sprint exercises.
But the book needs better proof-reading / editing: * Many typos and even some repeated sections (the 30:60 and 30:90 text are identical except for 60 vs 90). * Some exercise routines aren't fully explained (he never *tells* you how to choose number of reps per set for Density Training, just *mentions* that he did 8 reps/set in an anecdote somewhere else). * Photos of the exercises are great, but a few have no photo and just a confusing description. Why not just give photos for all of them?
Finally, I am *not* tempted by the author's recommended supplement! "It is necessary to spread out your intake of beta-alanine, as it has been reported in scientific studies and anecdotally to cause parenthesis (a 'pins and needles' sensation on your skin) when taken in larger quantities. This side effect is completely harmless, but nevertheless annoying..." Aaaaagh. Just say no, kids, to taking drugs that make your skin crawl.
Notes to self: * p.46: Complexes: circuits of 3 sets x 10 reps x ? exercises, with no break between exercises, only a 2 minute break between sets. Keep moving and try to go reasonably fast. Bodyweight: pullups, squat jumps, plyometric pushups, leg raises.
* p.108: Density Training: go for 15 minutes with no (planned) breaks, and try to do as many sets of 5-exercise circuits as you can (aim for 3 sets, i.e. 1 minute per exercise-set). 5 exercises, each weighted to your 10 or 12 rep max, but only do 8 reps. Bodyweight: with rings low, do: jump squats, pistols, dips, one-arm rows, windmills. Or with rings high, replace dips & rows with raised-feet pushups & chinups.
* p.192: Tabatas: go at full intensity for 8 sets of [20 seconds on, 10 seconds rest], for a total of 4 minutes. Just pick one or two exercises, such as: burpees, squat jumps, or plyo pushups.
* p.202: Sprint and agility workouts: sprint hard for a set distance, then rest for 2x or 4x as long as the sprint took (longer proportional rest for shorter distances). 10-15 reps. For agility, include changes of direction in the sprints.
* p.220: Nutrition: "6 pillars" -- basically limit sugars and processed crap, eat veggies and fruits and lean protein, drink water, and "save starch-containing foods until after a workout or for breakfast." Also drink your protein shake *before* the workout to feel better....more
A very thought-provoking, useful read for anyone working in a cross-cultural setting, not just health care. The assumptions that a Westerner takes forA very thought-provoking, useful read for anyone working in a cross-cultural setting, not just health care. The assumptions that a Westerner takes for granted (e.g. your doctor knows what medications to prescribe, and you endanger yourself if you don't take the full dose) may be quite contrary to other peoples' beliefs (e.g. a Hmong parent is making an eminently reasonable compromise by giving their child a little of the Western medications and a little of their own spiritual healing, instead of the inflexible Westerner doctor's insistence on doing it all one way).
Fadiman's writing is very engaging, with vivid and heartbreaking quotes from the many interviews she conducted. She alternates personal chapters, about the story of the young epileptic girl Lia Lee and her family and her doctors, with chapters about the history of the Hmong and how so many ended up as refugees in the USA.
I had never heard the story of the Hmong, nor for that matter much about the war in Laos. The Hmong fought fiercely for the Americans against the communists in Southeast Asia. When the war was a loss and they had to evacuate... they ended up in awful refugee camps in Thailand for a while, and only slowly got relocated to the USA, where instead of being treated as war heroes, they were put on welfare but not given any chance to maintain their mountain farming lifestyle. (There were some parallels to my own Polish homeland's history.)
Notes to self: * p.47-48: Seems like there's a need for better pill-taking-instructions/technology, especially for illiterate patients. There were other reasons for Lia's parents' non-compliance with the prescribed pill regimen... but surely a much simpler regimen and clear instructions would have helped. * p.53: One of Lia's doctors: "[Lia's parents] seemed to accept things that to me were major catastrophes as part of the normal flow of life. For them, the crisis was the treatment, not the epilepsy. I felt a tremendous responsibility to stop the seizures and to make sure another one never happened again, and they felt more like these things happen, you know, not everything is in our control, and not everything is in your control." * p.165: A Hmong refugee, re: a remark about cohesiveness of Hmong society: "Yes, if a person outside the community see a Hmong person, they look that way. But inside they have guilt. Many feelings of guilt. You go from the north of Laos and then you go across the Mekong, and when the Pathet Lao soldiers fire, you do not think about your family, just yourself only. When you are on the other side, you will not be like what you were before you get through the Mekong. On the other side you cannot say to your wife, I love you more than my life. She saw! You cannot say that anymore! And when you try to restick this thing together it is like putting glue on broken glass." * p.183: The Hmong were mountain farmers for centuries, so they hoped to get such farmland here in the US. The government said it would be too expensive and unfair to other immigrants to just give them land... but Fadiman wonders if it wouldn't have been much cheaper (and healthier) than resettling them into unfamiliar urban areas and putting them on welfare for decades. * p.260: Arthur Kleinman's eight questions, "designed to elicit a patient's 'explanatory model'": http://www.donnathomson.com/2012/11/e... http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/62... I wonder if there's some equivalent of this for education, when a teacher/professor and students run into cross-cultural difficulties. Also, I love Kleinman's suggestion to "First, get rid of the term 'compliance.' It's a lousy term. It implies moral hegemony. You don't want a command from a general, you want a colloquy." * p.271: "After fourteen months, the grant for the program expired, and, as far as I know, that was the first and last penile exorcism to be sponsored by the Department of Health and Human Services." * p.274: There's an article "Doctors Have Feelings Too" which tells doctors, in precise medical terms, how to recognize when they are having a feeling: "Anxiety may be associated with a tightness of the abdomen or excessive diaphoresis..." I can't tell if it's a joke or not. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/33... * p.277: Discussion between physician Bill and psychotherapist Sukey, both Americans who work with the Hmong: "You have to act on behalf of the most vulnerable person in the situation," said Bill, "and that's the child. The child's welfare is more important than the parents' beliefs. You have to do what's best for the child, even if the parents oppose it, because if the child dies, she won't get the chance to decide twenty years down the road if she wants to accept her parents' beliefs or if she wants to reject them. She's going to be dead." "Well," said Sukey tartly, "that's the job you have taken on in your profession." "I'd feel the same way if I weren't a doctor," said Bill. "I would feel I am my brother's keeper." "That's tyranny," said Sukey. "What if you have a family who rejects surgery because they believe an illness has a spiritual cause? What if they see a definite possibility of eternal damnation for their child if she dies from the surgery? Next to that, death might not seem so important. What's more important, the life or the soul?" "I make no apology," said Bill. "The life comes first." "The soul," said Sukey. * p.285: "[The shaman] tossed the polished halves of a water-buffalo horn on the floor to divine whether the spirits had heard him. When both horns landed flat side up, the answer was no; when one horn landed flat side up and one horn landed flat side down, the answer was ambiguous; finally, when both horns landed flat side down, he knew that his spirits had all heard their master's call." How many times should the shaman expect to toss the horns before all the spirits say yes? Maybe I'll give this as a stats exercise for my students :)...more
I've never taken an Alexander technique class, but this book makes me curious to try. The approach seems reasonable: Take time instead of rushing everI've never taken an Alexander technique class, but this book makes me curious to try. The approach seems reasonable: Take time instead of rushing everywhere, be mindful rather than mindless, etc.
My favorite takeaways: * Standard chairs in school classrooms are *not* designed to be ergonomic for children -- they are designed to be easily stackable. That means the seat slopes back, which makes it impossible to sit naturally, so years of sitting in such chairs may well be a major cause of poor posture and back pain. * Great explanation of some common misconceptions about where important joints are in the body: the neck meets the head not near the shoulders, but at the level of the ears; the hip-leg socket is much lower than we often think; etc. We try to bend from the wrong point and end up bending the spine, which is meant to rotate rather than bend -- another cause of problems. (This reminds me of "folk physics," people's common but wrong assumptions about how physics works.) * Standing straight and rigid is unnatural -- standing with good posture doesn't mean keeping one fixed stance, but involves some swaying and flexibility. I wonder if the researchers who try to build bipedal robots have ever tried programming the Alexander approach into their machines :)...more
Two stars instead of one, because it was so amazingly bad I just couldn't stop reading. Reader's digest version:
"I'm Tim Ferris. Last week I tracked thTwo stars instead of one, because it was so amazingly bad I just couldn't stop reading. Reader's digest version:
"I'm Tim Ferris. Last week I tracked the weather for five days and noticed that it rained on the four days when I didn't carry an umbrella. But on the day when I did bring an umbrella, it stayed dry out. So obviously, carrying an umbrella prevents rain. Now, some scientists may scoff and say that this flies in the face of known science and conventional wisdom, or that at least they'd need more data in order to be convinced. But I have no problem writing a whole book insisting to readers, through a stream-of-consciousness narrative told in OCD-level detail, that my umbrella-carrying behavior is what controls my weather. Of course, if you want to really track the weather around you, you'll have to be willing to pay hundreds of dollars a week on expensive and time-consuming diagnostic tests to keep tracking your weather in minute detail, so that you can adjust your umbrella-carrying behavior in case the weather starts getting out of hand. Also, I, Tim Ferris, am constantly having sex with models and partying with rockstars, as my 8 billion Twitter followers can avow. The book will continually remind you, just so you don't forget this even for a second. In the introduction I'll tell you to be skeptical, to cover my ass; but I'll fill the rest of the book with overenthusiastic claims and dismissal of skepticism."
He does have a few decent tips, especially in the interviews with professional athletic trainers who actually get many people to do a program over time and see their results. I do admire the focus on doing the minimal workout to get results, rather than overdoing it unnecessarily. (...although every chapter's advice contradicts itself: Work your muscles to failure every time. No, lift lighter weights for just a few reps, and workout right before eating every meal. No, eat breakfast as soon as you get up, before working out, and make sure it's all protein. No, avoid too much protein and have a glass of grapefruit juice with breakfast. No, avoid all fruits like the plague... I guess that's why the introduction tells you to read one segment at a time, not the whole book from start to finish. Oops.)
And I agree that obsessively-recorded self-experimentation might lead to changed habits that are right *for you*, individually. But the anecdote ("a few times I've had great sex after eating some almonds") does not translate into the general recommendation ("according to my in-depth research, guys should always eat almonds a few hours before sex"). I was not surprised to see a chapter here by Seth Roberts, who specializes in exaggerating the power & generality of claims he makes based on his own self-experimentation. They may be true claims for him, and they may be worth trying by others -- but he claims that if something works on him, that's enough evidence to trumpet it as reliable advice for everyone else, and I have no patience for that. I'm also not convinced by his tracking of nutrient levels through tests that are both ridiculously expensive and unreliable from reading to reading.
I'm most impressed that Ferriss put two chapters about identifying quack medicine right before the description of his own bullshit "study." Oh, your diet program has a 100% success rate? But the participants were self-selected volunteers from your rabid Twitter followers, not a random sample of the population. And you dropped the people who didn't complete the diet -- you don't know how many tried it and failed without bothering to report their failure on your survey. And the 200 reports were those who "responded to all questions" -- so it sounds like you dropped out the failures who skipped a question or two. And you break it up by subgroups that would be too small to compare even if the study design *were* statistically sound. The diet may happen to be perfectly good, but the report here simply provides no evidence, whether in favor or against.
Dear Mr Ferriss, you do a far better job with the inspirational writing in the closing thoughts: "Most of us have resigned ourselves to a partial completeness... The beauty is, almost all of it can be changed... Your body is almost always within your control... take an inventory of all the things in the physical realm that you've resigned yourself to being poor at. Now ask: if I couldn't fail, what would I want to be exceptional at?" Lovely. Stick to that, please.
PS -- the author's bio says he is "a tango world record holder." I'm not sure what about tango you can measure and hold records in... but if that's your approach to a dance of emotional connection, then dude, you're doing it wrong....more
After a year of doing the main exercises regularly (2-3 times a week) (except the power clean which I've only started recently), I'm not exactly a bufAfter a year of doing the main exercises regularly (2-3 times a week) (except the power clean which I've only started recently), I'm not exactly a buff ripped machine... but I'm definitely much stronger than when I started, and you can see muscles in my arms where there were never any before, so that's pretty sweet. It's great to go help a friend move and not feel winded at all by the boxes and sofas that leave the friend panting (nor do I worry about my back, after a year of doing squats & deadlifts with good form).
The book's explanations aren't always super clear -- you definitely want an experienced friend/trainer around to correct your form when you're starting -- but the science seems solid and bullshit-free.
The approach of doing the same 5 core exercises every week works well for me: I don't get bored with the routine, but rather I enjoy being able to see my progress clearly over time, whereas I just get confused by those programs with 20 different random exercises each time....more
I was happy with the weighted chin-ups and heavy presses & squats I already do, so I figured these workouts wouldn't be too bad. Wrong. Ouch. The wideI was happy with the weighted chin-ups and heavy presses & squats I already do, so I figured these workouts wouldn't be too bad. Wrong. Ouch. The wide-arm pullups, dive bombers, and scores of ab exercises are another beast entirely. Intervals are great too. I'll keep using this book's exercise sets to round out my usual workouts from Starting Strength: Basic Barbell Training....more
It's basically the South Beach Diet, plus exercise, which seems perfectly reasonable. You won't become ripped with six-pack abs in six weeks, despite It's basically the South Beach Diet, plus exercise, which seems perfectly reasonable. You won't become ripped with six-pack abs in six weeks, despite what the final-page picture suggests, but it's better than the usual American diet.
It's a bit repetitive to read all the way through -- it could have been shortened by a third at least. And the focus on superfoods is a bit of a stretch, listing a slew of those studies that have maybe twenty subjects and suggest (but don't prove) that the ones that ate seaweed or grapeseed oil had lower blood pressure or more testosterone or whatever. But the focus on smoothies sounds kinda fun, and there are a few nice sections explaining the science of high blood pressure, diabetes, glycemic load, etc....more
As with Jacobs' other books, there is a breadth of laughs and aha moments, and less so on the depth. You won't learn the full ins and outs of every heAs with Jacobs' other books, there is a breadth of laughs and aha moments, and less so on the depth. You won't learn the full ins and outs of every health fad, but it's good entertainment, and at least this book comes with appendices summarizing the health tips he really thought were worth keeping.
The sections with his grandfather are touching, and Jacobs' sons are friggin' adorable. Their logic puzzles are great:
The trick is, instead of offering three or four items, Lucas gives only two options. He'll ask me, "Which one of these doesn't belong: the chair or the tomato?" "Chair?" I'll say. "No, tomato." It's more challenging than a Zen koan.
Also, Nike's "Just Do It!" slogan came from the final words of a murderer about to be exectured. I can't find it quite as motivating anymore.
I still need to watch the Steven Pinker talk on cursing that he mentions: maybe this one?
The tips I really liked: * portion control through smaller plates, more chewing, putting down the fork between bites, and eating an apple 15 minutes before a meal * make healthy food more appetizing by making it crunchy (i.e. put sunflower seeds on salads); and start the day with protein, not carbs * treadmill desks not only help you lose weight but can make you more productive and clear-minded once you get used to one * rubbing your own shoulders reduces levels of cortisol (stress-related hormone) * reading on the toilet (and generally sitting there a long time) causes swelling of veins in certain places where you do not want swelling * after brushing and flossing, the next best tooth-care tip is to chew sugar-free gum after meals * it's possible to sharpen your sense of smell, for example by trying to identify the bottles in your spice rack without looking (I'd love to try this!) * scents can be relaxing but, despite aromatherapy's generalizations, it's very personal for everyone and often linked to memories; find a smell that relaxes you and carry it around (Jacobs carries around a little almond oil vial)...more
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