Episode 204: The Big Announcement

A big announcement and a mailbag full of questions about squatting, fish oil, and more!

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Mailbag
Hey guys, long time listener here from Florida. I am 19, male, 5’11”, 185 pounds, and ~12% bf. I have been trying to gain strength and size recently, and I have a question about SQUATS. I love squats, but have had some trouble form wise after getting back into the rack. Firstly, I have bad hip flexibility I believe and have had some trouble getting down all the way to parallel. To remedy this I have started trying DeFranco’s agile eight, if you haven’t heard of it it consists of foam rolling, stretching etc for the hips. Also I have noticed that when I squat and really try to get down to parallel with good form, I feel like I am about to fall backwards once I am at my lowest point. I asked someone in the gym for advice and he suggested putting my heels on 2.5 lb plates for stability. And lastly, and I what gives me the most trouble is my wrists. Today, I was doing box squats and I did 185X20. After racking the bar I felt a familiar “decompression” feeling in my wrists and general pain in them. I know this shouldn’t happen, and I am wondering what to do?

So in summary:
How to increase hip flexibility to get me squatting ass to grass?
What can I do differently to not feel unstable at the bottom of a rep/ is the heel plate idea solid advice?
What is the most likely problem with my wrists and what can I do to remedy the situation?

Thanks in advance, anything you’ve got I’m sure will be of help. -Hunter

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Hi Kevin, Leigh and John. Love the show, and have been listening for years. My questions is one that relates to doing what your boss tells you vs. doing what you believe is right.

I work at a Crossfit affiliate, and I wholeheartedly agree with pretty much everything that you guys say about Crossfit. I believe it can be ridiculously unsafe and dangerous. Fortunately I have a working brain and focus on giving our clients exercises in which they can perform safely. Unfortunately this often clashes with my boss (the owner of the gyms) ideas. They constantly program movements that most of our clients have no business even attempting.

I’m talking lots of unilateral work, as well as typical advanced skills for people who are far from advanced. Now I do my best to modify these movements for the clients that shouldn’t be doing them, but I cannot teach every class and I have gotten in trouble for straying from the programming in the past. I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place.

On one hand I have the clients safety, which to me is paramount. And on the other hand, I have my job which I love. How should I handle this situation? Do I talk to my boss?

Thank you,
RC
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Hi Guys,
Thanks for doing such a great job with your podcast. I wonder if you could give me some advise on the use of fish oils. I’ve been working out for about 2 years, I’m 37, 6’5 and currently weigh 200lbs. I’m looking to gain about 20lbs of lean muscle mass. I eat a healthy diet of roughly 3,500-4000 calories a day. How much fish oil would you suggest I supplement my diet with? I currently take two capsules of Carlson’s omega 3 fish oil per day. I have tried to find an answer to my question online etc but the advise ranges from 15 capsulates a day to 3 a day.
Thanks very much! -Patrick
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Seriously Kev, are you too old to take up Kung Fu? Do you even shave yet?
At 38 I took up muay thai, brazilian jiu-jitsu. Both of these are way tougher than Kung Fu (I’m not bashing it) in the sense of impact on joints, cardio, strength …
I’m still at, in my early 40s and my only regret is that I didn’t take it up earlier. The stress release and improvements in coordination are way beyond anything I got from any form of strength training (again not bashing).

It’s never too late! -Jason
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Good morning FitCast!

First off, here is the link to the video I’m talking about:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4o-RM6ebuis

I am a new fitness professional, and while researching Crossfit, I stumbled across this video. It features a couple doing a Crossfit workout. As the video begins, the coach’s voice is heard in the background and they begin their set. As the video progresses to the end of the reel (especially at marker 1:30 and beyond), their form becomes sloppy, and in my opinion, dangerous.

There are a number of things that I admire about the Crossfit program, but this lack of attention to form is downright disturbing. As far as I know, training a faulty movement pattern in more likely to instill a faulty movement pattern. Training a faulty movement pattern under heavy loads is a high-risk scenario leading to possible injury.

To me, a weight-bearing exercise has utterly lost its effectiveness once the client’s limbs look like macaroni… they are swinging these weights around like bags of potatoes toward the end and the coach is saying, “BEAUTIFUL!” And I’m thinking, “I can’t believe what I’m watching.”

The comments at the bottom of the page say things like,”These people know what they are doing. Crossfit is badass.” Ok, whatever, but in my opinion, these people barely know what they’re doing. Not to mention that if you have to be coached/cued/corrected movement by movement (under heavy load, WITH NO SPOTTER) then something is out of order.

This video has over 375,000 hits and is one of the first that pops up on YouTube when you type “CrossFit Workout.”

I would really like to hear input from the cast on this video. I dread to think how many of the 375,000 people took this video to heart after they watched it. Something like this makes it very hard to recommend the Crossfit program to anyone in good conscience and I would love to hear your thoughts.

Thank you for your show, I am very addicted,

Janette Tank
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Hey,

I wanted to mention something about 4HB that you guys didn’t discuss.

In the early chapters, “subtracting fat” and “adding muscle”, he had
some pretty dramatic results. He attributes it to kettlebell swings
and Brazil nuts and some other shit.

THEN, in the “reversing injuries” chapter, he takes all of the
following (for his injuries, of course):

-Deca
-Cytomel
-HGH
-IGF-1
-Androgel
-Delatestryl
-Depo-Testosterone
-Sustanon 250

I am sure his changes in body composition are mostly due to the Brazil
nuts though.

–Erica