More Bad Stuff about Corn Syrup

I have been against Corn Syrup and the overuse of corn in general for a long time. Here is more good news! I am happy that Stevia has been approved for use, but real sugar is not as bad as this stuff. I highly encourage everyone to watch King Corn. It makes you think about what is in the food.

From Foxnews
Reuters
Study Finds High-Fructose Corn Syrup Contains Mercury
Wednesday, January 28, 2009


WASHINGTON — Many common foods made using commercial high fructose corn syrup contain mercury, researchers reported on Tuesday, while another study suggested the corn syrup itself is contaminated.

Food processors and the corn syrup industry group attacked the findings as flawed and outdated, but the researchers said it was important for people to know about any potential sources of the toxic metal in their food.
In one study, published in the journal Environmental Health, former Food and Drug Administration scientist Renee Dufault and colleagues tested 20 samples of high fructose corn syrup and found detectable mercury in nine of the 20 samples.
Dufault said in a statement that she told the FDA about her findings but the agency did not follow up.

Dr. David Wallinga, a food safety researcher and activist at the nonprofit Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy, said he followed up on the report to find mercury in actual food.
"When I learned of that work, I said that is interesting but we don't just go out and eat a spoonful of high fructose corn syrup," Wallinga said in a telephone interview.

"We went and looked at supermarket samples where high fructose corn syrup was the first or second ingredient on the label," he said. These 55 different foods included barbecue sauce, jam, yogurt and chocolate syrup. "We found about one out of three had mercury above the detection limit," Wallinga said. The Corn Refiners Association challenged the findings. "This study appears to be based on outdated information of dubious significance," the group said in a statement.
Wallinga and colleagues said they believed the mercury got into the food during manufacture, at plants that use mercury-grade caustic soda produced in industrial chlorine plants, although his team was unable to show this.

"Our industry has used mercury-free versions of the two reagents mentioned in the study, hydrochloric acid and caustic soda, for several years," Audrae Erickson, president of the Corn Refiners Association, said in a statement.
Wallinga said the studies were based on samples taken in 2005, the most recent available.
Many studies have shown that fish can be high in mercury. Wallinga said consumers should know about other potential sources so they can limit how much they eat. "The best mercury exposure is no exposure at all," he said.

"Even at low levels methylmercury can harm the developing brain. The last thing we should intentionally do is add to it," Wallinga added.
He said his team did not test foods that did not contain corn syrup to see if they were also high in mercury.

Weather and Workouts

It has been an interesting week. I pretty much got so busy last week that I did not workout at all. I ran about 6 classes a day of Amazing Athletes and then ended up sick at the end of the week. I ran the group workout and started 5 sets of the workout. It went pretty well. There was a lot of huffing and puffing and people acted tired. The next workout will be a practice session and we will add some Resilient tools.

I hit the garage tonight for about 1 minute to train. I wimped out since the heater was out of fuel and moved the KB's into the house. I decided to change up the program for the next few weeks and hit a 5 pillar plan. I hit 3 sets of each exercise using the 32's:

hand to hand swing x 10
double squats x 5
windmills x 3
rows x 5
clean and press x 3

I felt pretty strong tonight even after running all of my classes today. I have decided to stay around 3 reps for my military press. i can easily hit 5, but that is my week area. I figure to keep the reps low and power through to more weight. I have found that the more classes I run, the less sets and reps I can get away with. It is all about finding the happy median of effective training versus over training.

Impressive Pull up strength

These guys have been around for a long time. This is a great example of strength and control. It is an obvious example of Pavel's teachings that strength is a skill that must be practiced.

I have not worked out this week and my sleep and diet have been off. I have been a little under the weather. I look at the past week as a down week and will hit it hard next week.

Incredible Strength!

great Kettlebell Gym in Frisco

I was recently able to stop by B.J. Bliffert's gym, Full Throttle Athletics, in Frisco. It is a great place train and B.J. and Kori have the credentials to teach kettlebells. They have the place that I would love to have. It is spacious and well equipped with kettlebells, tires, pullup bars and other tools of torture. B.J. is squared away and really knows his stuff. If you live anywhere near Frisco, you would do yourself a favor and get in touch with him. here is clip from one of their programs:



We had the group workout this morning. We ran the same program, but added 1 set to the mix. I worked out afterward and changed mine usual program up as I did not want to spend a lot of time in the garage this morning. I did 5 sets of 3 reps of Renegade Manmaker. I should have taped it and probably will this week. It is a renegade row to double clean to double military press. I used the 32kgs this morning as it was my medium day. I might be able to get doubles with the 40kg, might see next week.

I hit the VO2 Max last night and hit 40 sets of 8. I will move up the sets next week.

Was a wimp tonight

I figured that I would start out with a really important point... Don't buy cheap crap! If you are going to train, get the good stuff or build it right. I have a lot of homemade equipment, but I made sure that it was built to be safe. This bar looks like wood, a definite no go.

I wussed out tonight and skipped the workout. I will still get all of them in for the week, but felt like calling it a night a little early. The temperature made the call a little easier... I think that people get so caught up in schedules and important things that have to be done, that they get burned out that much faster, so it does not hurt to listen to your body.

In the old days, Pre-Pavel, I ran full tilt at all times. Cycling, isn't that what Lance Armstrong does? I do not push as hard all of the time now. I have learned to relax and take a day off when needed. It seems to always lead to better results and a happier life down the road. I am in this for the long haul anyway so there is no real hurry.

There was an older bodybuilder, Pax Beale, that bragged about never missing a workout. How much of life passed him by while he was at the gym. He actually worked out at the World Gym that I trained at in San Fransisco in the late 80's. I was there a lot being in the Army, young and driven to be big, but he was always there no matter what time of day. Looking back now, I feel kind of sorry for him. There is more to life than training. Heck it is like being stuck in a rut or a "goofy loop". You train all of the time to have a healthy life, but it goes to waste because you have to train and it goes on and on.

A little meandering tonight, but have a life outside of the gym, dojo or garage. Train and move on to living a real life. I can say that now, but you could have hit me in the head with a 2 x 4 that said "Relax" on it and I would not have known what you were talking about or cared to have listened.

Life gets in the way of writing

I have been really busy and have not had a lot of time to put anything down the last week or so. I would rather hang out with the kids and family than write something on the blog. It is late and everyone is asleep now so there is no guilt.

Workouts have been really good the last week. I am really suprised as I have had the crud going around. I do not feel bad, just can't breath really well. Last week I hit 40 sets of 8 for my VO2 Max. The next day I hit 5 x1 clean and press, 3 x 3 for pullups w/ 32kg and 3 x5 for squats w/40kg. Last night was VO2 Max and I hit 40 sets of 8 again. I guess it is time to push towards 50 sets now. I hit 3x3 for clean and press, pullups and squats tonight with the 24 kg. It was a light night and I did not want to push it to hard.

The group workout was pretty fun this weekend. I introduced the 5 pillars. The pillars are 5 exercises to hit ballistics, legs, core, press and pulls. The goal is to hit 5 sets of 5 for the grinds and 5 sets of 10 for the ballistics. we are currently on 3 sets. This was my main workout philosophy for a long time. I think that it is effective for all around fitness and strength. I really liked it for Law Enforcement as it is well rounded. We will be working this platform for a little while in an attempt to build some lean muscle mass to increase metabolism.

The workout was:

Swings 3 x 10
Squats 3 x 5

Windmill 3 x 2

Clean and Press 3 x 5
Row 3 x5

We alternated exercises i.e. swings then squats, with a 1 minute break between sets and exercises.

Good Times

Fitness does not have to be so hard or complicated. I was talking to someone recently that appeared to be in okay shape. That was before I heard about their workouts. Two hours a day training at least 5 days a week This is the time they spend at the gym. they were not getting their money's worth in my opinion. I would expect to look like Arnold with that type of time expenditure.

How many sets do you think you would need for shoulders? I might do 5 total, but this person was doing 20 sets. They got the workout from a muscle magazine which explains the results I guess. the person could not press a 32kg kettlebell for 1 rep. Guess they were worn out. They did one body part per day with up to 30 sets per body part. That is not to mention that they did not know anything about periodization. they went full tilt until injured and forced to rest. I could not convince them of the great results from less exercises and sets. They looked at me like I was crazy when told about my strength days of 3 sets of 3-5 or even singles. When they are old and beat up, maybe they will drink the kool-aid and follow sane workouts.

Tonight's workout was a light day.

Clean and Press 3 x 5 l/r with 24kg
double front squat 3 x 5 w/ 24's
pullups 3 x 3 w/24kg
janda 3 x 5

I rested about a minute between sets. I finished with relax into stretch.

Finally!

I think I have figured out how to post videos now. i will be adding more in the future(Thursday)

Happy New Year!!!

New Year's Day is always a big day at my house. It is the fresh start on the year as well as my Wedding Anniversary. My wife and I have been married for 5 years today. I am so glad to have her in my life. She is a great person and my best friend. She puts up with a lot of a stuff. She never bats an eye with the new creation from slosh pipe to gada. She also lets me workout on New Year's Day. I like to always try and have a good workout on the 1st, it sets the tone for the year. Today was a VO2 Max day. I hit 30 sets of 8 and 10 sets of 7. I backed off because I felt my form was slipping a little bit and wanted to reset it. It was a great day, about 74 degrees and sunny. The VO2 Max is a great workout and I am going to play with it a lot this year.

The kettlebell in the picture was powder coated by a friend of mine. I love it! it is a nice change from black. It is not as slick as a Russian Red, but it glides well in my hand. I am probably going to have a 24kg and a 32kg coated also. I just have to decide what color next.