december 31, 2007
end of 07
it's new year's eve, and like many others around the country, i have a health-related new year resolution. the holiday season has absolutely destroyed my eating, so i'm resolving to never break my eating rules next year - unless it would be discourteous to do so (i.e. i risk offending someone for turning down their food-in-violation).
i kicked off this resolution with a metcon session today around 2PM. for those of you who are unfamiliar with metcon (or may have heard me talk about it in a very vague sense), metcon is short for metabolic conditioning - any set of exercises that combines muscular and aerobic training in order to completely tax your energy systems. at the end of a metcon session you should be panting like a madman and feel like a blob of jelly, but metcon burns fat like nothing else by increasing your rate of metabolism.
for today's metcon, i did an exercise called a "burpee". you start in a squat, get into a push-up position, do a push-up, jump back into a squat (heels on the ground), then jump as high as you can. that completes one rep. i did burpees in what are called "tabata intervals", which means i do burpees non-stop for 45 seconds, rest 15 seconds, and repeat 3 more times. alternatively, tabata intervals can be done with 8 sets of 20 seconds on followed by 10 seconds rest. altogether, it's a rather brutal 4 minutes of intensity, but i only do metcon 1-4 times a month. coupled with decent eating habits, it's all you need to maintain a fair level of leanness.
if you still don't understand, here's a video of my metcon session. i use a metronome to count the seconds (9.8 MB).
if you think it looks easy, i invite you to give it a try yourself. if you still find it easy, there are tougher variations i like to do such as jumping up to a pull-up bar and doing a muscle-up or a pull-up. anyways, i got 9, 9, 9, and 8 reps for the four rounds.
and.. i found pictures of the five ten parkour/free-run shoes (stolen from the outside blog).
the BA5IC and the.. DAESECT?
for the record, stealth rubber (five ten's proprietary rubber), is the end-all of rubbers. i had a pair of running shoes resoled in the stuff, and i couldn't have asked for any more grip. supposedly the stealth rubber used on the BA5IC doesn't streak either. still no word of a release date, but needless to say, my first big purchase of 2008 will be a pair of parkour shoes.
lastly, i am making big improvements in my flute-playing abilities. i found out that i need to get a bunch of the pads replaced because they don't seal properly anymore. that should make certain notes a bit easier to play. also, i came across another solo transcription website here: transcriptions pool.
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december 27, 2007
new habitat
i've officially moved home! back at my apartment in watertown i had a bedroom, a computer room, and an exercise/practice room. at home i've managed to combine the computer and practice room, and now i sleep upstairs in my old bedroom. i've enjoyed not living out of my bedroom because 1) i don't sleep in as much and 2) my bedroom stays cleaner (since i only use it for sleeping). the only problem i've run into so far is increased difficulty waking up because i can't see the sunrise and because my bedroom is much more comfortable than the apartment attic, which is where i used to sleep.
i've also come across a couple interesting things that are new to me. first is the term "physical culture". this is basically the term for all those "strength" things that i'm interested in. i've always been uncomfortable categorizing things like handstands, planches, and one-arm feats as strength feats because they all require much more than just strength - they require a lot flexibility, coordination and mental and neural conditioning too. anyways, i'm glad that i now have a term that i can use to label my interests - even though it will probably require explanation if i ever decide to bring it up in a conversation (but it's not like i haven't gotten plenty of practice with that whenever i bring up parkour).
the second item is a website that was brought to my attention by way of beast skills. it's called the lost art of handbalancing, and it's got some great resources and articles on physical culture. i've added the website under my strength links and will probably buy one of their books in the near future.
i've also been making good progress on my eating article, hopefully that will be up before school starts (jan 22). i'm also thinking about whipping up a nunchaku article. happy new years to all my faithful (and occasional) readers!
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december 17, 2007
almost there
i realize i haven't updated this blog in awhile, so i figured i would take the chance to do so, now that my biggest finals are out of the way. all that remains is a conducting final tomorrow, and private lesson and harmony finals on wednesday. shortly after, i will begin moving back home.
for now, i will leave you with my review of inov-8's f-lite 320 pk parkour shoe.
comfort - the 320's do pretty well in this area. i bought my 320's in size 8.5 and the fit is perfect. they were a little difficult to put on at first, but once they were on my feet i couldn't have asked for any more or less room in any area of the shoe. my one minor complaint about the comfort is that the upper feels very spartan compared to cushioning underfoot.
shock absorption - nothing exceptional here, but they do well enough. i remember reading somewhere (i think american parkour) that forefoot cushioning was emphasized on this shoe, and i have to agree that it certainly beats out other shoes by a fair margin in this way.
durability - these lasted 3 months before the midsole got completely compressed. such a disappointment for an otherwise great shoe. the upper and outsole are still in working condition.
grip - the grip on these shoes is pretty average, maybe a little bit above average compared to most running shoes. while the rubber may slip easily on some surfaces (like metal), the construction of the shoe seems to actually aid in balancing (i.e. rail balancing was great with these shoes even though they barely stick to metal).
weight - no complaints here, it's supposed to weigh 320 grams (11.3 oz) which is really good for a running shoe.
sometimes it's hard to review a product because you have no complaints about it, and it just seems to do everything well enough. the 320 pk is one of those products. running, jumping, landing, vaulting - they're all comfortable to do in this shoe. that is, until it wears out. if you don't train too often this is shoe is a good buy; otherwise it's a really poor value because you'd have to burn $100 every 3 months.
so what's next? well, inov-8 has two other pk models (the 301 and 305 gtx). they look identical to the 320, but they're lighter by 19 and 15 grams respectively (the 305 is also waterproofed by gore-tex). however, i think i'll pass on those for now.
k-swiss' ariake has been out for awhile and i just might have to give that a go (even though i swore never to buy shoes with CMEVA midsoles again). it also happens to be used by sebastien foucan (casino royale) and the tribe.
five ten is back to work on a parkour shoe of their own (don't even talk to me about the savant =P). it's going to be called the BA5IC, and there used to be a photo of it on this old post from the goat.
by the way, starting in 2008, i will begin archiving every month separately so that you (and i) don't have to load an entire years worth of posts to find some tiny detail.
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november 18, 2007
some updates
just going to share some random goings-on in this post. first up is a podcast i made for my "multimedia for the educator" class. it's a 6-minute podcast about how to play some basic latin percussion rhythms.
(you might want to download it to disk and watch it in itunes at full resolution because there are some detailed diagrams)
moving onto some links..
test your vocab and earn rice for the united nations world food program at freerice.com.
and another i came across recently (possibly the impulse buyer's worst nightmare): steepandcheap.com - clearance outdoor gear at least 50% off.
and finally, a couple things to look forward to:
- my inov-8 pk shoes are practically dead, so expect a review soon
- i've been working on the eating article and have most of the content done. just need to come up with a good way to present it
and let me know what music course you would have liked to take in high school. i'll try to check the comments often but you can also tell me via aim, phone, email, in person, etc.
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november 5, 2007
what the heck
you might be wondering why my blog hasn't been updated until now. the reason is - my powerbook died. rip mavon (that's its name).
all of my website files were on mavon, and while i could have downloaded them from the web onto sepeur (my macbook pro), i was hoping that i would get my powerbook back in working order. what i wasn't too pleased about was that the repair shop never called me back after recovering my data, but on top of that, they didn't copy over my website files! and on top of that, i got charged $100 for the whole thing! while i'm sure the repair guy tried many things i hadn't (i saw evidence of the case being opened), it's just disheartening to pay so much and get so little in return.
i guess i should at least be glad that i have 99% of my music back now.
you may remember in my previous post i had two resolutions: to eat 100% healthy, and to always be working out of a jazz improvisation book. well the first one failed miserably. it's just too hard when the culture you live in surrounds you with things you shouldn't eat. however, i have been able to keep it to an average of 2 unhealthy days per week. hopefully this number will be lower once i calculate monthly expenses and cringe at the amount i spent on food.
on the other hand, the jazz improv resolution has been going well. i'm currently working out of aebersold volume 69, "bird goes latin", and i can definitely hear myself improving.
in parkour news, i have started a training journal: http://www.americanparkour.com/smf/index.php?topic=6349.0
(hanging leg raise pull-ups)
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september 6, 2007
end of summer, beginning of school
this is going to be a long post, but i may not have much spare time after monday (when school starts).
first up is a game review/recommendation. i finished off my summer with tomb raider anniversary - a remake of the original tomb raider from 10 years ago. it follows the story of lara croft as she discovers the key to atlantis while traveling through exotic locales such as the mountains of peru, the crypts of egypt, and the ruins of greece. the game pits you against numerous puzzles and vicious animals as you make your way to atlantis.
the gameplay is like most other third-person action games - think prince of persia: sands of time (quite possibly my favorite game). besides the usual climbing, jumping, and pole-swinging, lara also has other versatile moves such as perching on top of thin poles, and a grappling hook that allows her to swing around a la spider-man.
the fighting system incorporates a cool feature called "adrenaline dodge" (pictured above) that allows for instant kills. as you shoot more bullets at an enemy, it becomes enraged and will charge you. when this charge happens, the game goes into slow motion and two crosshairs will circle in on the enemy's head. fire a shot when the crosshairs align, and you get an instant kill.
the game's system requirements are pretty low, yet it delivers very nice visuals. the water effects fit very well into the environments. there's a heat wave effect in the deserts of egypt. lara's shirt even turns a darker shade of blue when you exit the water and her skin takes on a glossy sheen. the visual details in this game are top notch.
with four major sections (and a boss at the end of each), a lengthy tutorial level, and tons of unlockable extras and secrets, i'm glad i finished this game before school started or else this semester could've turned out very badly.
i came across this ridiculous cg movie over at cgsociety (link to original thread). watch it and then check out the rest of the stuff at the creator's website.
another great link i came across this week was dogentricks.com. his articles (read them!) were very inspirational for me because they made me realize even though i think i "eat healthy", i'm not eating as well as i possibly can.
and yes it's true, i've definitely cheated a lot on my diet this summer. but, i'm resolving to go 100% healthy for this entire semester. if that means going out to eat and not ordering anything, then that's what i'll do. if it means steering clear of the free breakfast table, then i'll do that too. i haven't seen any dramatic health changes since i went from slob to two weeks of straight paleolithic. let's see what four months of unadultered, truly healthy eating will do to me.
this new mindset has made me feel a bit guilty about writing my own dieting article. in my eyes, the dogen articles are practically perfect, and i feel my not-so-hardcore article for the rest of you would almost be misinformation. i'll probably get over it, but for now it's hard for me to advocate something watered down while practicing the real thing.
one more resolution i'm making for the semester involves my schoolwork/music practice. i will focus on improvising in one key every day and always have an improvisation book checked out from the library to work on (and work from it daily). i've already written in a key for every day of the semester in my calendar (going by circle of fourths), and today i signed out shelton berg's "jazz improvisation: the goal-note method". when i finish this book i'll check out another immediately after.
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august 22, 2007
decent consumption
it's not quite TICS level, but i'm appalled by the way a lot of people eat on a regular basis. i tolerate (but obviously disapprove of) poor diets because i used to have one myself and can sympathize with the difficulties of changing.
in light of this, and also because i often get asked about how i eat, i'm in the process of creating an article about how to eat well. in it, i will try to systematize the activity of eating into its three basic components: pace, content, and quantity. i'll also share my views on the purpose of food, but if you want to know the basic idea, it is this: food is food - you need it to live.
in the meantime, check out two new links i've put under the health section. the tricks tutorials link has good common sense articles about eating - infused with a touch of sarcasm. the world's healthiest foods is simply that, a list of the world's healthiest foods.
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august 17, 2007
double shoe review: custom mizuno wave creation 7 and merrell landpro ultra-sport
these are the second and third pair of shoes i'll be reviewing for parkour. if you missed the first one i have a link here. first up are the mizuno's.
comfort - mizuno sizes their shoes well for parkour. the 8.5 i got was basically perfect width and length-wise. the lack of a toe bumper made some moves uncomfortable if my feet slid forward in the shoe.
shock absorption - the shock absorption of the creation 7's are about as minimal as it can comfortably get in a running shoe. the cushioning was very well designed and i never felt my ankle was in danger of rolling.
durability - the heel cushioning was the first part to give out on these shoes. after 4 months i could feel each of the individual spacers in the heel digging into my foot. the x10 rubber in the heel held up decently. must be a similar formua to asics AHAR. the stealth rubber gave out shortly after the heel cushioning. after it got worn down to a certain point, it took on this shiny sheen and lost some of it's sticky properties.
grip - this is where the custom part comes in. the stock rubber on these shoes is terrible so i had the creation's resoled with stealth rubber (original post here. the stealth rubber was top-notch and i don't think you'll find a stock shoe with rubber that can rival it. at times it was even too sticky - picking up small pebbles as i walked along the sidewalk and such.
weight - these things are like a feather. i can't imagine wearing anything lighter than the creation 7s.
and now the merrell's.
comfort - when i bought the merrell's i didn't know how to size shoes for parkour, so these have more toe room than i'd prefer. other than that, they are kind of like slippers with a thick outsole, but thin midsole. at first i could feel the pattern of outsole through my socks and the midsole.
shock absorption - kind of firm, but i would say it's practically non-existent. basically, i can't stand landing in these.
durability - these have lasted for a year and are still going strong. high marks here.
grip - slightlty above average on some surfaces, horrendous on other surfaces. vibram rubber seems to be very good for use in more natural settings.
weight - due to the materials used in construction, the shoe is slightly heavier than your average running shoe.
in the end, i would recommend neither of these shoes for parkour. (unless you go the custom route like i did, but ultimately it was not a good value.) k-swiss has finally released their freerunning shoe, the ariake, so i'm going to wait until those show up in retail stores in order to try them out. for my next purchase i'll either get those if they feel good, or i'll try one of inov-8's pk models.
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august 4, 2007
TICS: workout equipment ads
one tidbit about myself that's come up a lot this summer is the fact that i refuse to watch the harry potter movies and read the books. this inspired me to start a series of posts called "TICS" or "things i can't stand". i'm kicking off TICS with another thing i noticed a lot of this summer: tv advertisements for gym equipment.
the only equipment necessary for a gym is.. nothing really. nobody needs equipment to get a good strength workout, but sometimes it's convenient to have equipment to use as assistance for certain exercises. with that said, i believe that the only two pieces of equipment needed for a gym are a pull-up bar and some form of parallel bars.
below is a short video of myself working on the planche progression and l-sit holds on my homemade floor bars. i know i forgot to point my toes in the tuck planche and my arms weren't straight. however, my form has improved since i took this video, and you can see that in the second video at the end of this post (it also features one of my best hold times and the most "untuck" i've ever achieved).
i think most americans buy into the effectiveness of exercise machines because the ad models have these lines between their abs that resemble the grand canyon. the truth is, everyone has a six-pack. all you need to do is practice one-arm push-ups (to tighten up the muscles) and follow a fat-burning diet (to reveal the muscle beneath). the stricter the diet, the more pronounced your musculature will be. ancient greek olympians didn't have bowflex machines, and we don't need them either.
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july 21, 2007
1 down..
handstands: achieved!. i've been working on this skill for way too long. and now that i know how to do it, i realize that it hardly fits the category of strength. handstands require little strength and more coordination and body awareness. thanks to three helpful tips from two helpful people, i was able to confidentally nail any handstand attemps today or know exactly what i was doing wrong if i messed up any.
sorry i have no videos to share, i can only get about a 1-2 second hold on average. but ask me in person to see my handstand and i'll be happy to oblige. here are the three tips that led me to success:
- everything lines up over the hands (from your vision to your toes)
- go into handstands in a light and relaxed manner, no overly tense arms/shoulders
- overbalance in order to maintain the hold (tip your feet a little past your head)
i hope this helps anyone else who might be trying to achieve a handstand. i've read and re-read so many tutorials, watched and re-watched so many movies (of both others and myself), and i think my story goes to show that nothing beats a real live teacher.
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july 5, 2007
success!
i had been planning a big parkour day well in advance for july 4th. i had made a list of techniques that i wanted to learn and would be willing to dedicate an afternoon of drilling to achieve. the short, but ambitious, list consisted of: the dash vault, the palm spin, running precision jumps, the thief (slide monkey) vault, and a kong vault to cat grab.
happily, i can report that i got the thief vault and the dash vault down. below are examples of both vaults, and then a video of myself performing them.
as is expected of a beginner, i can not dash that high or perform a slide monkey that smoothly, but that's nothing consistent practice can't fix, now that i have the basic technical concepts down.
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july 3, 2007
resurrection
after filming some recent pk training, i've decided to resurrect my parkour video project - but with a different focus this time around. instead of trying to create a showy demo reel, i'm going to try to show how the simplest and smallest moves in parkour progress into something more extravagant and impressive through diligent practice.
this way, i can just set up a camera and train as usual instead of having to do many staged takes and injure myself through reptitive impacts (which is what happened last time to my wrist).
here's the footage i came up with that inspired this:
i've also added a few things to my strength training regimen.
you'll notice a new link to the right called drills and skills. it's a gymnastics website with pretty good tutorials. i'm trying to create a stretching routine for myself based on the different muscle groups emphasized in gymnastics.
i've added in some planche-specific exercise from presstohandstand.com. specifically, the straight arm straddle lean-forwards with chairs. i know that's quite a mouthful, but if you go to video - guide -> planche straddle -> planche with support, you can watch a video of what i practice.
and lastly, i got my first "gorilla chin-up" this past weekend. a gorilla chin-up is a towel chin-up at 10 fist lengths. if you don't know what a towel chin-up is, read this article, and scroll down towards the bottom where they talk about uneven chin-ups. the article, by the way, is a very in-depth one-arm chinning guide. i just noticed that one of the authors specifically mentions to use a towel and not rope, because it's harder to grip. honestly i don't think a towel is much harder to grip than the thin rope that i use, so i still count these as legit gorilla chins.
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june 21, 2007
ves 50 and how i eat, part ii
lately i've been struggling to come up with suitable material for my blog. what i'm posting today is just something i thought was pretty interesting concerning movies and visual effects. the ves 50 is the visual effects society's list of the 50 most influential visual effects films. the ves panel that selected the films is composed of six industry legends:
- john dykstra (star wars, spider-man 1 and 2)
- douglas trumbull (2001, blade runner)
- richard edlund (star wars, battlestar galactica)
- john knoll (co-creator of photoshop, pirates of the caribbean)
- dennis muren (jurassic park, terminator 2)
- ken ralston (cast away, MiB 2)
and without further ado, here is the ves 50:
1. Star Wars (1977)
2. Blade Runner (1982)
3. 2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)
3. The Matrix (1999)
5. Jurassic Park (1993)
6. Tron (1982)
7. King Kong (1933)
8. Close Encounters of the Third Kind (1977)
9. Alien (1979)
10. The Abyss (1989)
11. The Empire Strikes Back (1980)
12. Metropolis (1927)
13. A Trip to the Moon (1902)
14. Terminator 2: Judgment Day (1991)
15. The Wizard of Oz (1939)
16. Who Framed Roger Rabbit (1988)
17. Raiders of the Lost Ark (1981)
18. Titanic (1997)
19. Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring (2001)
20. Jason and the Argonauts (1963)
20. E.T. the Extraterrestrial (1982)
22. Toy Story (1995)
23. Pirates of the Caribbean: Dead Man's Chest (2006)
24. The Ten Commandments (1956)
25. The War of the Worlds (1953)
25. Forrest Gump (1994)
25. Citizen Kane (1941)
25 The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad (1958)
25. 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea (1954)
30. The Terminator (1984)
31. Aliens (1986)
32. Mary Poppins (1964)
33. Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King (2003)
34. Forbidden Planet (1956)
35. Babe (1995)
36. The Day the Earth Stood Still (1951)
36. Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers (2002)
38. King Kong (2005)
39. Planet of the Apes (1968)
40. Fantastic Voyage (1966)
41. Jaws (1975)
41. Ghostbusters (1984)
43. Sin City (2005)
44. Superman: The Movie (1978)
45. Snow White and the Seven Dwarfs (1937)
46. The Lost World (1925)
46. Return of the Jedi (1983)
48. What Dreams May Come (1998)
49. An American Werewolf in London (1981)
50. Darby OĠGill and the Little People (1958)
50. The Fifth Element (1997)
how i eat, part ii
if you recall, "how i eat" was going to be a photo gallery of paleolithic meals. since i no longer follow the paleolithic diet, "how i eat 2" is obviously about the warrior diet. i've considered photographing my "warrior meals" in the past, but was never able to capture the size of it by showing just one plate (i could've put it on three plates, but then i'd have to do more dishes). today i finally wisened up and photographed my meal in what i cooked it in.
i would say the three defining characteristics of a warrior meal are:
- it's size: about 2-3 times larger than a "typical" meal
- it's variety of tastes and textures: warrior meals try to touch on every possible taste and texture to guarantee satiety by the end of the meal
- it's lack of agressive artificial flavors: warrior meals are very natural and healthy with a minimum of chemicals that throw your body's systems out of balance
i don't usually keep track of quantities, but this meal is composed of 5 small heads of bok choy, 8-10 full length sticks of celery, 1 cup? of beef, a handful of spicy radish and a "doong ti" (rice, beans, chinese sausage, pork).
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may 14, 2007
in review: paleolithic diet
after 5 months, my paleolithic diet run is over. for those of you in the dark, the paleolithic diet involves eating only meat, vegetables, fruits and nuts - and only eating when you're hungry. grains, beans, potatoes, and their derivatives are a no-no.
what i liked about it: for starters, i lost all my mid-section fat two weeks into the diet. up until that point in my life, i've never had a definitive six-pack. the other benefits i had were a steadier supply of energy throughout the day (no afternoon crashing), and a taste for subtler foods. these were due to the lack of "heavy" carbs and abundance of natural vegetables in the diet, respectively.
what i didn't like about it: my main gripe with the paleolithic diet was that it was hard to have balanced meals. i had to eat a very high ratio of vegetables to meat in order to digest properly. the restrictions of the diet also opened up the door for nutritional deficiencies. the only other problem i had with the diet was that it was difficult to schedule multiple meals during the school day.
so where am i going now? you may know that i am a big fan of pavel tsatsouline and dragon door (i based my strength training routine off of pavel's book naked warrior), so when i found out that pavel endorsed the warrior diet, i knew i had to give it a shot.
this "warrior" diet is named so because it is based on the lifestyle of ancient greek and roman warriors. the basic premise of the warrior diet is to do a controlled fast during the daytime (water and an occasional fruit or vegetable are permissible). once it is evening, practitioners of the warrior diet can sit down and enjoy a cooked meal of anything and everything they desire (minus artificial foods).
the main feature of the diet is to keep you alert and energetic throughout the day by maintaining uptime of the sympathetic nervous system. there are also elements of daily healing, fat-burning, and detoxification. the fasting period does all of this by taking advantage of hormone manipulation and other natural processes that would take me awhile to explain in detail. however, it's all in the book which you can borrow from me if you want.
if you're still curious, i've provided two links related to the warrior diet under the health category. if you follow the dragon door link, look for ori hofmekler's articles. and here's an interview with ori where he describes the warrior diet in much greater detail than i just did.
to close, i've uploaded a video (20.8 MB) with some highlights of today's exercise session. included are one-legged squats, one-legged squats on a rail, my very first cat balance steps on a rounded rail (you have no idea how hard this is until you try it), and a couple one-arm chin-up comedowns. if you're wondering what happened at the end, my camera was balanced on a rounded rail.
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april 24, 2007
shoe review: asics gel enduro
this is the first in my series of shoe reviews as i endeavor to find the "perfect" parkour shoe. of course, everything will be reviewed from a parkour perspective. the things I'll be taking into account are comfort, shock absorption, durability, grip and weight.
comfort - i took a risk picking these out in 8.5 because i wanted a snug fit length-wise, but 8.5 was a little tight for width. fortunately the upper was able to stretch out enough. the general fit of these shoes was very comfortable.
shock absorption - i had very few qualms with the shock absorption of this shoe. brand new, the gel cushioning system works wonders in high impact situations. my one major complaint is that the cushioning design seemed to force my ankle to roll outwards on landings. on bigger jumps, this led to the edge of the heel counter digging into my ankle bone.
durability - this is the area that disappointed me the most. after a few months of hard training, midsole breakdown was very evident. the shoes just weren't giving me those feathery-soft landings anymore. in contrast, the upper and outsole showed no noticeable signs of wear (the toe rubber started to peel off but it didn't seem to affect performance). big durability points for the AHAR (asics high-abrasion resistant) rubber outsole. in the past, i've had to throw out previous shoes because of worn down outsoles, but this time it was because of midsole breakdown. by the way, the midsole material was compressed EVA.
grip - nothing exceptional here. sticks decently to more abrasive surfaces like brick or rough concrete but does poorly on slicker things like flat concrete, painted surfaces and tree bark. i would give it an overall score of average minus a hair.
weight - size 9 is advertised as 12.5 ounces. this is a fairly light shoe, and the weight certainly didn't impede me at all. good scores here.
for my next shoe purchase, i'm definitely going to buy size 8.5 again. if i can find 8.5 wide that would be pretty nice - otherwise i'll have to hope that the upper can stretch to fit. shoe manufacturers seem to like to make their shoes long, and extra toe space is no good in a parkour shoe. i would have liked to know if the gel cushioning system deteriorated over time, but i know for sure that i'll be staying away from compressed EVA midsoles from now on.
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april 10, 2007
stealth-ed
stealth rubber - quite possibly the stickiest, highest friction rubber in the world. it's the stuff used by the highly regarded rock climbing shoe company five ten and it's featured on the prototype adidas parkour shoe (and urban freeflow seems to like it a lot).
unfortunately, if you weren't lucky enough to win UF's competition, the only other parkour-specific shoe out on the market (the five ten savant) is garbage (well it might make a half-decent hiking boot). so what is one to do when it comes to picking shoes for parkour? trail runners have mediocre grip and poor cushioning and midsole durability, running shoes have great cushioning but poor grip, and cross-trainers have decent grip, mediocre cushioning but a bit too much weight.
here is my answer to the parkour shoe problem: running shoes with stealth rubber. of the two elements - grip and cushioning - running shoes offer the best cushioning and stealth rubber offers the best grip. it just so happens that john ramuta of ramuta's resoles does the type of resole work that i was looking for. i shipped my shoes out to montana, got them back, (two weeks turnaround time! amazing!) and i had a chance to do some light stress-testing today. here are pics and a short video to get started.
nothing looks out of the ordinary in this picture, right?
but turn 'em over and it's.. five ten dot rubber!
excellent toe coverage. the workmanship is absolutely top-notch with the beveled edges and all that. don't want to take up too much screenspace, so one more picture can be found here
and click the picture above for a quick video of my stealthed shoes in action.
so how does the stealth rubber perform? one word: amazing. this stuff does not slip on all the things that my old shoe was slipping on (like the tree bark in the video above). when it contacts a surface it feels completely solid and my tacs and wall climbs are a lot more silent now. was it worth the $50-ish i spent? that'll depend on how long this stuff lasts. however, stealth rubber is notorious for it's durability - so i have a feeling i won't regret this expenditure.
if you're wondering what's going on in the world of parkour shoes:
- five ten has one called the savant, but it's more hiking boot than running shoe
- the british company inov-8 is putting their f-lite 320pk through stress tests
- adidas has a prototype shoe in the works being tested by urban freeflow
- k-swiss has announced the 'ariake' model intended for parkour but there's no other information
- reebok has chosen testers for their prototype parkour shoe
- ecko has announced that they are going to make a parkour shoe
on a completely unrelated note, playing flute is mad fun.
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april 3, 2007
how i eat
awhile back, i posted about my change in diet to the paleolithic diet (there's even a link with more info on the right side under health). some of you may be wondering what this actually looks like in real life. exactly what meats, vegetables and fruits am i eating? doesn't the diet get boring?
in order to answer these questions and also just to keep track of what i'm eating for myself, i'm starting a photo album on my facebook profile entitled "how i eat". i'll begin the album with the breakdown of my diet and then from time to time i'll add pictures of my meals - specifying how everything was cooked, nutritional benefits and all that jazz.
i also got my powerbook screen fixed. behold the power of triple monitors!
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march 12, 2007
ow: days 1 and 2
i started filming for the parkour video this weekend and i must say it's a lot of work. i spent a couple hours yesterday and the day before filming scenes over and over again. after editing them down in imovie, they come out to about a few seconds worth of action. i have a feeling that the timetable for this project will extend well into the summer.
i titled this post "ow" because i had a pretty bad accident (my worst actually) after messing up a landing after jumping off an 8' box on day 1 of filming. i also destroyed my wrists and palms doing a million landings and cat grabs on day 2.
those red marks are not paint.
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march 8, 2007
silly ideas
parkour and bodyweight strength training are all about pushing the limits of the human body. i'm about to share with you a video of myself doing just that.
in the video below, you'll see me attempting clapping finger-tip push-ups. i thought regular finger-tip push-ups were boring (and yes, the new PR is now posted in the gallery), so i decided to spice it up a bit by adding a clapping element.
as you can see, i obviously can't do them. (go frame-by-frame and you'll catch single frames where i attempt to land on my finger-tips but they just collapse.) anyways, the point i want to make is this: if you find that your training is getting a little mundane, add some variation to make it a little more tougher/interesting. but, don't take such a huge step that you end up hurting yourself.
and always remember to warm-up properly (i didn't and my pinkies were killing after that).
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march 3, 2007
getting the ball rolling
march: the end of winter and beginning of a new parkour season. march is also synonymous with spring break (for college students at least) and one year ago during spring break was when i first set out to learn parkour.
in honor of this landmark date, i'm making a parkour video with the aim of documenting where and how i've trained for the past year. the plan is to make a video every year so i can look back and see how i've progressed in my skills.
today i'm going to plan out as many as the lexington and watertown shots as possible, finish those up tomorrow or next weekend, and then shoot the following weekend. a week after that i plan to go up to rochester and film at all my old training spots there.
i have two cameramen and a scoring artist lined up already but if anyone wants to help out with editing then give me a shout.
for your viewing pleasure, i've put up a video of myself performing an elbow lever
i plan to do a finger-tip push-up PR either tonite or tomorrow. i pulled a muscle today and am not feeling at the top of my form at the moment. i'll be doing PRs every two months from now on.
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february 25, 2007
anodize this!
that "anodizing in the near future" that i mentioned in my previous post actually did end up happening! here's what i have to show for it: a rainbow-fied arc-angel. i'm not too happy with the outcome (a bit fruity for my tastes), but it was fun experimenting with higher voltages for the first time.
i made sure to document the process in order to create a new article on how to anodize titanium. there is also an accompanying video in the video gallery. i hope you find this helpful.
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february 20, 2007
old news, keeping time
happy chinese new years everyone (i know i'm a bit late). i got $60 so far.
awhile back, i anodized my arc-angel and never posted pictures of it. the reason was mostly because anodized titanium is so difficult to photograph. today i finally got a decent picture of it so i've updated the bali collection page accordingly and i've also posted the picture below.
i plan to do more anodizing (with even higher voltages) in the near future - so stay tuned!
i also want to bring your attention to some great music websites that i never really announced that i put up in the side links.
jazztrumpetsolos.com: nearly 100 transcribed jazz trumpet solos of great artists (miles davis, ryan kisor, lee morgan, randy brecker to name a few). amazing resource if you wanna learn some jazz vocab.
metronome online: it's exactly what it says it is. an online metronome. really handy if you forgot your metronome but do have an online computer.
songtrellis: a library of chord progressions for over 1200 tunes. mostly jazz standards. good resource if you have or can transcribe the melody of a tune but don't know the changes.
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february 15, 2007
a trio of new activities
as the title of the post indicates, i've introduced three new activities into my life: drum practice, hand/thumb push-ups, and company of heroes.
last weekend i went out and bought a drum practice pad and a pair of sticks. i guess you could call this my first step towards learning the drum set. the practice pad is pretty cool, it's got two different densities of rubber on it so the reaction is different depending on which side of the pad you hit. i picked out some "light and fast" sticks meant for jazz work and i'm liking the feel of them (but honestly, i don't know squat about sticks).
perhaps i wasn't too clear in my last post about why i'm seeking to become a multi-instrumentalist. a high school music teacher (or any music teacher for that matter), should have basic knowledge of how to play every instrument - otherwise how can they instruct students on how to play correctly? berklee's music ed program does have multi-instrumentalist requirements but i'd like to get a head-start and go beyond what they require.
in regards to my strength training, i can't do unassisted one-arm push-ups yet, but i'm also working on fingertip push-ups. working two pushing goals is very slow and taxing so.. i decided to combine them! here's a poor picture of me doing a hand and thumb push-up.
feet are positioned for one-arm push-ups (shoulder-width apart), one hand is palm down on the floor and one thumb is placed on the floor for easier weight distribution. hand and thumb placement on the floor is as close to the center of your chest as possible.
and the last item: company of heroes
this game is pretty ridiculous, rts of the year on basically every major game site. gameplay focuses on tactical maneuvering/micro-managing and map control. it has a very intense and fast-paced style of play and the sounds and visuals are amazing. here are some screenshots to pique your insterest (i really wish i could play with the settings maxed). click for a larger view.
my forces get rocked..
..as we zoom in..
..to the front lines.
CoH should be pretty easy to find on bt (or you could buy it), but you should get the game so you can play with me and other friends on weekends!
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february 6, 2007
refining my routine
i have been "greasing the groove" with pull-ups for the past month - meaning i've been practicing pull-ups regularly, but never more than 5 in a single go (i do a set of 1-5 pull-ups every time i leave the apartment). last sunday i decided to test myself to see how my strength endurance for pull-ups was progressing.
so how did i do? i got 11 pull-ups. not too shabby, but i was expecting a bit more than that. keep in mind that these are full-arm extension. the previous day i did a PR (personal record) test but only went as far down as head below the bar. that time i got 18 pull-ups.
so for the month of february i'm going to continue GTG-ing pull-ups and do another PR test the first weekend of march. i'm trying to figure out a way to incorporate one-arm push-up exercises but i'm having trouble finding a good time to do them. in addition to the one-arm push-up exercises, i'm going to resume finger strength training (it kinda dropped off over the past months) and i'll do a PR test for finger-tip push-ups around the same time as my pull-up test. if i've developed a one-arm push-up by then (unlikely, but we'll see), then i'll test those as well.
i've added my pull-up PR video to the gallery and will replace it with the latest PR vid if i manage to beat my record.
another bodyweight trick i'm trying to learn is the back lever. above, you can see my closest attempt at it. the goal of the back lever is to hold your body horizontal while holding onto a bar behind your back. beast skills considers this to be one of the easiest bodyweight tricks but i discovered it's not that easy. anyways, i'm adding it to my ambitions list and you'll see a video of it (from a better angle of course) when i achieve it.
tomorrow i'll be turning in my declaration of major form, so i'll officially be a music education major. in relation to this, i'm adding a few musical ambitions to the list which should be beneficial to my musical studies. i have a goal to learn the basic mechanics of how to play at least one instrument from every family of instruments. so, i'm going to begin with saxophone, flute and drum set. let me know if you have a spare flute or know anyone with one.
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january 28, 2007
desktop 2
here's my second attempt at creating a desktop picture. i made it mostly as an experiment with a specific color palette. hope you enjoy it. comes in regular (1280 x 1024) and widescreen (1440 x 900) flavors.
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january 23, 2007
lesson 2
i've put my first balisong tutorial back online by request and inspired by the fact that people (or one person at least) want to see my videos, i created another tutorial! head over to the video gallery to check them out and learn a new trick or two.
as a follow-up to my previous post, the gel-o shooting with deeper gel-o was really not all that exciting. well, the results certainly weren't as dramatic as before. here are the two best pictures i got and i'll leave it at that.
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january 8, 2007
gel-o shots, a sneak preview
here's a sneak preview about a special feature that my roommate john and i have coined "gel-o shots". credit for the name goes to one of my roommate's friends.
gel-o shots is a fun project that attempts to mimic ballistics tests at home using an airsoft pistol and jell-o brand gelatin - instead of real firearms and real ballistics gel.
last nite we made a few batches of orange jell-o and i decided we should wait until the next day before we shot BBs into them. john, being the impatient one, discovered that our thinnest batch of gel-o had already cooled and we ended up doing some premature shooting. here are some eye-opening shots of what happened. more shooting pics to come later (and possibly videos). and for the record, jell-o is food. gel-o is jell-o to be used as ballistics gel.
1. our target setup with a couple BBs already fired into it
2. the aftermath
3. close-up of the surface
4. close-up of the results. every shot looked similar to this: a dimple where the BB struck, a thin circular ring around it and an air pocket beneath the ring. odd, no?
5. dents in the pan
we have more targets lined up including a deep bowl, a bottle and a plastic cup - all filled with gel-o of course. i'm particularly excited to see how much penetration we'll get with the deeper containers.
you may have noticed that the december posts are gone. but don't worry, they're all archived under previous posts at the right side of this page.
i'm also slightly changing my requirements for my stretching ambition. instead of sixty consecutive days of stretching, i'm changing it to regular stretching after all exercise for sixty days. i was following the previous rules for at least a month and i still ended up pulling muscles lightly.
i can also check off one item on the list now - floor bars. a couple trips to home depot and these were finished pretty quickly.
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december 31, 2006
winter warmth and function
having trouble staying warm this winter? well i have a couple of tips (maybe you know them already) as well as two product reviews.
first, dress in layers. thicker does not always mean warmer. the mechanics of keepeing your body warm are just like keeping a room warm - it's in the air. when you put on multiple t-shirts, it adds additional air pockets in between each shirt - which results in more total insulated air.
i find this to be very applicable for sports and fitness situations where you don't want to lose mobility by wearing bulky clothing but still need to stay warm. throw on two t-shirts, one long sleeve t-shirt and a thin jacket instead of that heavy coat. don't forget to tuck in the t-shirts or it might get drafty.
the first product i'm going to review are the sealskinz waterproof gloves.
i bought a pair of these last year and i've decided that that was the last winter glove purchase i'll ever make (until i have to replace them). these gloves are like plastic surgical gloves warm enough for winter weather. they're practically skintight and you can do just about everything with them. i can tie my shoes with them and right now i'm actually typing with one of the gloves on.
the grippy dots work well (they definitly come in handy for driving) and i've probably only lost a couple of them from climbing rough surfaces. i've played in the snow with these a bit and run them under the faucet - they are indeed waterproof. the gloves go down to the wrists so they can be covered up by a jacket sleeve for a better seal.
since the gloves are like surgical gloves, you have to put them on and take them off finger by finger. that's a very minor complaint i have and it really doesn't hold any salt against the plusses of the gloves. if you have short fingers (like me), you'll have to pull the fingers down a little more but that's not really a big problem and it certainly doesn't detract from tne utility of the gloves.
if your hands sweat from wearing gloves for awhile, this pair isn't going to solve your problems, but it becomes tolerable like any other pair of gloves.
as far as styling goes.. they're black, the right glove has a blue sealskinz logo at the wrist, and the grip dots are gray. they're a pretty non-descript pair of gloves in general (bonus points in my book).
you can pick up a pair of these at rei (item link provided) for about $35. if you have a chance to check these out in person, don't be fooled by the thickness of the gloves. they are thick (and high tech) enough to provide enough warmth and thin enough to provide adequate dexterity. don't be afraid to get them wet but you might want to consider other gloves if you're doing rougher activities like climbing or snowboarding.
the second product up for review is the turtle tube.
yes, it's basically a tube made out of fleece. a very soft fleece mind you - so soft that it almost feels like velvet. i consider this product to be the scarf for people who don't like scarves but it's also so much more.
for example, you can wear it like a scarf around your neck,
pull it up to your nose so it's more of a mask,
or just wear it on your head like a hat or bandana.
combine this thing with a beanie, and you've basically got a balaclava (possibly the best winter headgear?) but without the terrorist or psycho killer image.
i took this out today when i went out for a bit of exercise and it kept my neck adequately warm without overheating it. when i wore it as a mask it provided plenty of warmth for my nose and lips. i found myself alternating between neck-only and mask coverage because breathing into the turtle tube will heat your mouth up very quickly.
if you've tried other masks before, you might be wondering about how the turtle tube deals with moisture from breathing. i had this on for about an hour using it as a mask only when my nose was getting cold and it was barely starting to get a little moist. whatever the turtle tube is made of, it dries extremely quickly. if you do manage to get it wet from breathing and still need it as a mask, you can just rotate it and breathe into a different area.
the turtle tube is 15 inches long and 10 inches wide when laid flat. it's stretchy so it can go over your head and is quite possibly the most secure hat you'll ever wear (but still not uncomfortably tight). it's tight enough to stay over your nose, but loose enough that it doesn't start to creep up to your eyes. you can get one for $15 at rei (item link provided). comes in gray and black apparently, but i only saw black when i went to the store in reading.
make sure to cut off the annoying washing instructions tag on the inside.
so this winter be sure to wear multiple thin layers, grab a pair of the most dextrous winter gloves and rock out with the multi-functional turtle tube.
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december 24, 2006
a season of some sort
with the new year around the corner, the holiday season is definitely coming to a close. that also means normal life will be resuming again soon.
i really haven't felt much of any "holiday spirit" until today. maybe it's because there's no snow on the ground or because the whole family isn't at home this winter or because we didn't set up the christmas tree. whatever the reason, up until today i thought it was way too early to be hearing the usual christmas-related songs and i have hardly considered giving anyone a tangible gift.
still, i think it's a good time for a bit of reflection on the past year. one of the things that i can't give enough thanks for is the support i've gotten from my parents. after a couple years of independent living at college i think it really helps to have a bit of wise parental advice when you're feeling a bit lost about things.
2006 was a defining year for me - i solidified my future plans (well, career goals at least), really began to develop my eclectic interests and hobbies, and i feel a tad more confident about living independently and responsibly. i guess that begs the question, what does it mean for 2007?
i'll begin with a bunch of concrete things (i.e. items to add to the ambitions list). here're some of the things i wish to achieve, or at least get closer to achieving, in 2007.
- develop a planche (ok, this isn't gonna happen for a long time, but i'm putting it up anyways. fyi, this is almost a planche. the kid on top just has to put his legs together and he's got it)
- build floor bars/paralettes (to work on a planche. they're like parallel bars but shorter and lower to the ground)
- build a cmoy headphone amp
- one-arm pull-ups
- a freestanding handstand
- rework my typhork handles
otherwise, i believe 2007 will be a test for me. is the 2006 ben the same ben that will emerge from 2007? i'll have to see if i can still dedicate adequate time to my parkour and strength training with the addition of schoolwork. i'll be taking steps towards my career and my responsibility will be tested by life in our new apartment.
in the picture below, you can see my presents to the left of my tree. i've guesstimated the total cash but i think i went a little overboard with my credit card use anyways. we'll see how it turns out when i open my gifts tomorrow and my credit card bill comes in next month. a merry christmas and happy new year to all my readers.
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december 18, 2006
product? review, part 3
(image taken from christopher sommer's article, "building an olympic body through bodyweight conditioning")
for length and organization purposes, i've decided to split the review up into 3 parts.
now, onto bodyweight strength training. what is it?
it's strength training without using any weights except for the weight of yourself.
what's it good for?
getting strong without getting big. it also requires hardly any time commitment and is a million times more fun than conventional weightlifting! with bodyweight training your progress will be measured by a feat and not by a boring number of pounds that most people won't be able to relate to. after all, isn't it more impressive when you can say "i do handstand pushups for breakfast" than "i can bench ___ pounds"?
ok, so now you're convinced bodyweight strength training is the thing for you! how should you get started?
first you should understand the training method called greasing the groove. i think this excerpt from pavel tsatsouline's article, "grease the groove for strength", illustrates what greasing the groove really is. read the full article for more details (like why it works).
"I had put my father-in-law Roger Antonson, incidentally an ex-Marine, on a program which required him to do an easy five chins every time he went down to his basement. Each day he would total between twenty-five and a hundred chin-ups hardly breaking a sweat. Every month or so Roger would take a few days off and then test himself. Before you knew it, the old leatherneck could knock off twenty consecutive chins, more than he could do forty years ago during his service with the few good men!"
basically, greasing the groove is picking an exercise and doing it a few times throughout the day. so you might want to know how i grease the groove? well here's my real-life example:
whenever i use the microwave, i'll do exercises on this corner of the kitchen counter.
what kind of exercises you might be asking? well, i can actually do quite a variety of exercises with this kitchen counter. for example:
in order of appearance: dips and dip holds, L seat dips and holds, iron cross development and assisted one arm pushups.
so you might be asking, what exercise should i start GTG with?
that's entirely up to you. whatever you think is fun and enjoyable or want to achieve. i recommend taking a look through the beast skills tutorials and picking something that looks fun from there.
so how does the paleolithic diet tie into bodyweight strength training and vice versa?
basically, they both have a common goal of turning your body into a ridiculously efficient muscular machine. on the paleo diet, you lean down by removing excess fat and providing sufficient protein for muscle development. bodyweight strength training increases your absolute strength as well as strength-to-weight ratio without increasing your bulk. combine the two and you've got a killer package of lightweight but brutal strength.
and now the moment you've all been waiting for: the unveiling (of sorts) of the ambitions list! under the ambitions list you will find categorized goals that i hope to achieve. i will try to record my progress when possible and post updates with related pictures or videos.
first to go on the list: regular stretching. i've neglected stretching lately and have been suffering from cramped muscles after parkour. time to instill some discipline in myself and do minimum one-minute holds on every stretch for 60 days in a row.
next up: fingertip L seats. i think this goal is fairly self-explanatory, L seats on my fingertips. i will definitely post pictures or videos when i achieve this.
third item to go on the list: beat halo 1 on legendary (on computer). i've got the pillar of autumn, the silent cartographer and assault on the control room down. seven more to go.
sorry for the length of my posts, i hope it was at least stimulating or interesting reading. i wouldn't expect too many of my future posts to be this long.
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december 18, 2006
product? review, part 2
continuing my review. sorry for any lack of introduction, but i'm just gonna dive in. i woke up less than an hour ago really wanting to finish this up.
so perhaps by now you're convinced that the paleolithic diet is the way to eat. how should you begin? start with breakfast. try having eggs and fruit or meat. eat as much as you need to. this isn't one of those calorie-counting diets to make you lose weight - it's simply a healthy set of guidelines to follow when it comes to eating. for lunch, maybe try meat and something else that's on the list of ok foods. for dinner: meat or fish, and vegetables. it really doesn't matter what you eat and when, just make sure you're getting tons of protein (your energy source, i.e. meat) and sufficient vitamins and minerals (from fruits and vegetables). if you're ever hungry between meals, grab some nuts or a bit of meat as a snack. in summary, your diet should consist of lots of meats and vegatables (and fish when possible), less fruits and berries and a little bit of nuts.
what should you drink?
i'm not really sure, but i drink water. i think staying away from sugary drinks is in accordance with the spirit of the paleo diet as it will help control your blood sugar levels. this is also why you should be eating mostly meats and vegetables and not compose an entire meal out of fruit - that would be a sugar overload.
how about milk and dairy?
i'm not entirely clear about dairy products and paleo, but i think a little bit should be all right. in nature, only animals that are nursing ever drink milk - there are no adult animals that do. the reason is because milk is rich in nutrients we don't need once we're grown up. a general rule to follow when it comes to dairy (and just about everything else you eat) is to choose the more natural option, i.e. real butter over processed margarine.
on a related note, don't be afraid to eat animal fat. as long as it's not combined with the starches of carb-heavy food it will not clog up your arteries and instead will be a primary source of energy.
what should you watch out for?
detractors of the paleo diet claim that it is low in calcium and vitamin d. however, this shouldn't be a problem if you buy certain foods. check out the wikis for calcium and vitamin d. they both list foods that will provide sufficient amounts of those nutrients. on a side note (this is also my personal view), don't take supplements! taking supplements is essentially admitting that your diet is weak in certain areas. eat some real food instead of popping pills.
one other argument that naysayers will bring up is that paleolithic man did not live past about the age of 25. therefore, the effectiveness of the diet past this age is unproven. well i started on december 6, 2006 and i'll let you know when it stops working for me. after maybe 3? days on the paleo diet (definitely under a week), i practically removed all excess fat from my midsection and have never felt tired during the day.
for more information on the paleo diet, check out this article by dr. ben balzer or read the wiki. the paleolithic diet is also endorsed by crossfit.
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december 18, 2006
product? review, part 1
before i start my post, i'd like to let everyone know that i redid the picture history of aphtyr article in a nifty css hover gallery format. i've also added an rss feed, permalinks can now be found at the bottom of every post and i've moved the 'A' back to the homepage to the upper left corner.
originally i was gonna start this post off as a rant about the state of health and fitness in america and then segue into my "product review". however, i honestly don't care about the state of health and fitness in america so i've decided to skip that part. JP asked for more product reviews, so i hope this works as one. i'll tell you from the start that unlike most of my other reviews, this one will be biased. =D
so what exactly am i reviewing?
well it's not exactly a product - it's the paleolithic diet and bodyweight strength training. i prescribe to both and i think they go hand in hand, which is why i'm bundling them as one "product".
what is the paleolithic diet?
"paleolithic" means stone age, so it's the stone age diet. it was the diet of hunter-gatherers in the pre-agricultural/pre-farming age.
what is it composed of?
in a nutshell, it's a diet that includes all things edible in their raw state. of course you can cook the foods for health and safety reasons, but eating things raw when possible is the healthier option. the short list of what can be eaten is: meat, eggs, seafood, vegetables, fruit, nuts and berries. the short list of what you can't eat: grains (yes, that includes rice unfortunately), beans and potatoes. believe it or not, eating any of those raw will make you sick because they contain toxins that the human body can't handle.
why is it worth switching to the paleolithic diet?
the two reasons why i think you should switch to the paleo diet are the two results that i've experienced. a stable energy source and a lean body. (the earth360 link provided in the health category has a third reason concerning natural toxins that also makes the paleo diet a good choice over today's conventional diet).
the foods in the "do not eat" list are generally high in carbohydrates which gives them a high glycemic index. a high GI results in a greater short term effect on blood sugar levels - basically giving you a sugar spike. you'll have a lot of energy for a short time but after it wears off you'll feel lethargic. foods in the paleo diet generally have a low GI, meaning they disperse sugar into your body at a slower and steadier rate as they are digested. this results in no ups and downs in your energy level.
how does this get you lean?
ever heard of ketosis? maybe not, but basically it's a bodily state where your body is burning fats and proteins for energy instead of glycogen (which comes from carbohydrates). you probably already figured out that burning fat is the key to being lean. so to get your body into a state of ketosis, all you have to do is have low carbohydrate intake. this will ensure that your body will have very little glycogen to burn (it's first choice of energy source), and after it quickly burns through the glycogen it will go for the fat. and what do you know, the paleo diet is low in carbohydrates!
now don't get me wrong about carbohydrates. they're not evil or anything like that. in fact, you can use the high GI of carb-heavy foods to your advantage - among athletes that follow a ketogenic diet, this is called a carb-up. if race/game day is coming up, or you're planning on a more intense parkour session and you want that extra boost of energy - do a carb-up! eat those noodles and bread and rice that you were normally avoiding and time it so that when they are digested and the sugar starts to enter your bloodstream, you are just starting your intense exercise. (higher-faster-sports endorses this).
i need to sleep so i will continue this in my next post. topics covered will be adjustments and warnings, dairy and other questionable products, and i will also introduce my ambitions list and get into the strength training part of this review.
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december 12, 2006
speedrunning and life
as promised, i will explain why the site is subtitled "exploration". to be honest, the meaning is not very deep, but it's called exploration because the creation of this site involved exploring into areas and topics i was not very familiar with.
for instance, this is the first time i've completely abandoned tables for layout. instead, i scrounged the web for lessons and tutorials on css layout (which seems to be the way to lay out webpages nowadays). another area i had to explore was the world of photoshop. i've never been able to create anything "cool" from scratch in photoshop, and when you look at the work that other people have done, it can seem like a daunting task. however, after following a few tutorials, i discovered how simple the creation of amazingly complex photoshop works can be. i recommend anyone who aspires to work with photoshop to check out tutorialman.com and try out one of the more complex-looking tuts. it can be an eye-opening experience. (they have a lot of dead links but there's still plenty of information there).
after a bit of reflection, i realized this theme of exploration expands into my life as well. since i'm at a sort of new beginning in my life (new school and residence soon), i'll have to explore these new realms that i'm exposed to.
and now, the title of today's post: speedrunning and life. at the bottom of the wiki entry for speedrunning (completing a video game as fast as possible by using creative routes and glitches), they reference parkour as having a similar philosophy. and it's true - parkour utilizes creative and unorthodox paths to reach a destination.
many websites claim parkour is a way of life. however i've never been able to understand it as such. i've always seen it as a way of transportation/moving. i don't think using parkour wherever you go necessarily makes it a way of life. a person's mindset in how they approach everything (and not just moving) defines their way of life.
if these traceurs really want to integrate parkour into their lives, i would recommend them to follow the philosophy of speedrunning - achieving a goal through creative and efficient means. in this way, you can achieve your goal (reach your destination) by using creative movement (parkour). i'm sure this philosophy of speedrunning can be applied to just about anything. after all, it's basically thinking outside the box, but applied to video games.
on a completely unrelated note, here's the latest from my fork project. if you don't know what my fork project is, i basically took a duplicate of the blade shown below and turned it into the fork you see there. i'll get an article page up detailing the process eventually.
i'm also trying to lay down some rules on what categories i'll tag my posts with. give me any suggestions if you got 'em.
(click for larger view)
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december 11, 2006
a sigh of relief.. and uncertainty
welcome to aphtyr v.9, the latest incarnation of my website. the style has taken a turn down the road of blogdom - after all, aphtyr v.8 was practically turning into a blog. this post is titled as it is because i'm relieved that my 5 days of furious learning and working have finally paid off. however, i'm uncertain as to whether the goals i have for the site will be met.
i envision this website as a forum for sharing thoughts and ideas. in the past my websites have all been pretty one-sided conversations. because of this, i've implemented a comment system powered by haloscan.com. forgive me for the ads in the comment window - i would have made my own comment system if i were able to. otherwise, feel free to post comments liberally in order to make this site work. i will try to do my part by sharing posts that are more thought-provoking and insightful than just a few random links and images or a short sentence regarding my progress with bodyweight feats and parkour. =P
a couple notes on how the site is organized:
- if you're not on the main page, click the A with the golden ring to return here. you can usually find it at the bottom.
- those letters in circles under the blog post title are what categories the post deals with. there is a key on the right that details what letter stands for what. the only category you won't find there is the "aphtyr" category (red A on a golden ring). posts with the aphtyr category deal with this website and you'll probably only see it again if i do some sort of major overhaul on the site. hopefully all the categories will be self-explanatory.
i'd like to give credit to a few individuals who helped immensely with the design of the site:
- girish, for organization and other over-arching concepts
- dan hung, i based my layout on your blog
- yorb, for photoshop tips and css debugging. check out his website at yorb.net
- chris hsu and emily hou, for visual design
i'll end this post by making the aphtyr v.9 desktop wallpaper (1280 x 1024) available for download:
and feel free to rock the aphtyr v.9 aim icon:
if there're any videos from the old site that you would like to see, just ask and i'll put them up in the brand new video gallery!
in my next post, i will explain the theme "exploration" and possibly other things! i hope i'm starting this blog off on the right foot
-ben
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