A UBC letter to Duncan

Duncan,

I am just finishing up the 4^th week of classes and I just wanted to let you know how great these last 4 weeks have been. I love the intensity, the energy, and most of all the support the instructors give.

Rhea is a little dynamo, I have fondly knick-named her “Satan”.  She seems like such a nice woman before class starts, but she must stay up nights dreaming of ways to punish our muscles…but I wouldn’t change her classes one bit. She really is an amazing.

Adam is also fantastic. He has a certain knack of pushing you past your comfort zone, but in such an encouraging manner, that you don’t even realize that you are doing something you didn’t think you could do. He is very knowledgeable and always willing to listen and help.

I am looking forward to seeing the progress I am making next week.

Thanks,

Ellen

Yoga Mat for Sale- $1 Bellevue

This is the most hilarious thing I've read in a long time. It's was a craigslist ad for a "Yoga Mat for Sale- $1." Unfortunately, the link has already been flagged for removal. Fortunately, I was able to retrieve it in my cache, and paste it here.

Something else that is unfortunate, is that the author for this ad get's no credit since his name is not listed anywhere. Ah well... enjoy!

****

Yoga mat for sale. Used once. - $1 (Bellevue)

Yoga mat for sale. Used once at lunch hour class in December 2009. Usage timeline as follows:

11:45a
Register for hot yoga class. Infinite wisdom tells me to commit to 5 class package and purchase a yoga mat. I pay $89.74. Money well spent, I smugly confirm to myself.

11:55a
Open door to yoga room. A gush of hot dry air rushes through and past me. It smells of breath, sweat and hot. Take spot on floor in back of room next to cute blonde. We will date.

11:57a
I feel the need to be as near to naked as possible. This is a problem because of the hot blonde to my left and our pending courtship. She will not be pleased to learn that I need to lose 30 pounds before I propose to her.

11:58a
The shirt and sweats have to come off. I throw caution to the wind and decide to rely on my wit and conditioning to overcome any weight issues my fiancée may take issue with. This will take a lot of wit and conditioning.

11:59a
Begin small talk with my bride to be. She pretends to ignore me but I know how she can be. I allow her to concentrate and stare straight ahead and continue to pretend that I don't exist. As we finish sharing our special moment, I am suddenly aware of a sweat moustache that has formed below my nose. This must be from the all the whispering between us.

12:00p
Instructor enters the room and ascends her special podium at the front of the room. She is a slight, agitated Chinese woman. She introduces me to the class and everyone turns around to greet me just as I decide to aggressively adjust my penis and testes packed in my Under Armor. My bride is notably unfazed.

12:02p
Since I do have experience with Hot Yoga (4 sessions just 5 short years ago) I fully consider that I may be so outstanding and skilled that my instructor may call me out and ask me to guide the class. My wife will look on with a sparkle in her eye. We will make love after class.

12:10p
It is now up to 95 degrees in the room. We have been practicing deep breathing exercises for the last 8 minutes. This would not be a problem if we were all breathing actual, you know, oxygen. Instead, we are breathing each other's body odor, expelled carbon dioxide and other unmentionables. (Don't worry, I'll mention them later.)

12:26p
It is now 100 degrees and I take notice of the humidity, which is hovering at about 90%. I feel the familiar adorning stare of my bride and decide to look back at her. She appears to be nauseated. I then realize that I forgot to brush my teeth prior to attending this class. We bond.

12:33p
It is now 110 degrees and 95% humidity. I am now balancing on one leg with the other leg crossed over the other. My arms are intertwined and I am squatting. The last time I was in this position was 44 years ago in the womb, but I'm in this for the long haul. My wife looks slightly weathered dripping sweat and her eyeliner is streaming down her face. Well, "for better or worse" is what we committed to so we press on.

12:40p
The overweight Hispanic man two spots over has sweat running down his legs. At least I think its sweat. He is holding every position and has not had a sip of water since we walked in. He is making me look bad and I hate him.

12:44p
I consider that if anyone in this room farted that we would all certainly perish.

12:52p
It is now 140 degrees and 100% humidity. I am covered from head to toe in sweat. There is not a square millimeter on my body that is not slippery and sweaty. I am so slimy that I feel like a sea lion or a maybe sea eel. Not even a bear trap could hold me. The sweat is stinging my eyeballs and I can no longer see.

12:55p
This room stinks of asparagus, cloves, tuna and tacos. There is no food in the room. I realize that this is an amalgamation of the body odors of 30 people in a 140 degree room for the last 55 minutes. Seriously, enough with the asparagus, ok?

1:01p
140 degrees and 130% humidity. Look, bitch, I need my space here so don't get all pissy with me if I accidentally sprayed you with sweat as I flipped over. Seriously, is that where this relationship is going? Get over yourself. We need counseling and she needs to be medicated. Stat!

1:09p
150 degrees and cloudy. And hot. I can no longer move my limbs on my own. I have given up on attempting any of the commands this Chinese chick is yelling out at us. I will lay sedentary until the aid unit arrives. I will buy this building and then have it destroyed.
I lose consciousness.

1:15p
I have a headache and my wife is being a selfish bitch. I can't really breathe. All I can think about is holding a cup worth of hot sand in my mouth. I cannot remember what an ice cube is and cannot remember what snow looks like. I consider that my only escape might be a crab walk across 15 bodies and then out of the room. I am paralyzed, and may never walk again so the whole crab walk thing is pretty much out.

1:17p
I cannot move at all and cannot reach my water. Is breathing voluntary or involuntary? If it's voluntary, I am screwed. I stopped participating in the class 20 minutes ago. Hey, lady! I paid for this frickin class, ok?! You work for me! Stop yelling at everyone and just tell us a story or something. It's like juice and cracker time, ok?

1:20p
It is now 165 degrees and moisture is dripping from the ceiling. The towel that I am laying on is no longer providing any wicking or drying properties. It is actually placing additional sweat on me as I touch it. My towel reeks. I cannot identify the smell but no way can it be from me. Did someone spray some stank on my towel or something?

1:30p
Torture session is over. I wish hateful things upon the instructor. She graciously allows us to stay and 'cool down' in the room. It is 175 degrees. Who cools down in 175 degrees? A Komodo Dragon? My wife has left the room. Probably to throw up.

1:34p
My opportunity to escape has arrived. I roll over to my stomach and press up to my knees. It is warmer as I rise up from ground level - probably by 15 degrees. So let's conservatively say it's 190. I muster my final energy and slowly rise. One foot in front of the other. One foot in front of the other. Towards the door. Towards the door.

1:37p
The temperature in the lobby is 72 degrees. Both nipples stiffen to diamond strength and my penis begins to retract into my abdomen from the 100 degree temp swing. I can once again breathe though so I am pleased. I spot my future ex wife in the lobby. We had such a good thing going but I know that no measure of counseling will be able to unravel the day's turmoil and mental scaring.

1:47p
Arrive at Emerald City Smoothie and proceed to order a 32 oz beverage. 402 calories, 0 fat and 14 grams of protein -- effectively negating any caloric burn or benefit from the last 90 minutes. I finish it in 3 minutes and spend the next 2 hours writing this memoir.

3:47p
Create Craigslist ad while burning final 2 grams of protein from Smoothie and before the "shakes" consume my body.

4:29p
Note to self - check car for missing wet yoga towel in am.

Does eating organic reduce your risk of cancer?

Somebody asked me the other day, "Duncan... I haven't seen a blog post from you lately. Is everything okay?" Well, not exactly, but I'll be okay. When two loved ones are fighting cancer simultaneously it can take a major emotional toll on the body.

Within 3 months I've learned more about glioblastoma multiforma & adenocarcinoma than anyone should ever have to know. My feeling is, if you're learning about it, you've either got it or know someone who does.

I am going to apologize in advance for oversimplifying a topic that is highly complex. In fact, I'm going to challenge everyone to educate themselves on one of the biggest things you can do to protect yourself against cancer. That "thing" is what you eat and what you drink.

Too long have we accepted the ideology that, "If it is sold in a store, it must be okay to eat." We trust that someone is watching after us. Hmmm... doesn't it seem odd that the United States now has the highest cancer rate. Does it seem odd that 1 in 4 people, in the United States, will die from cancer. DIE from cancer! Do you understand what that statistic means? It doesn't mean 1 and 4 will get cancer. It means that within the 3 that live, it's because they either won't get cancer or they will get cancer, but will win the battle and die from something else.

Do you ever wonder why or how a seed that was genetically modified to resist Round Up was deemed safe. It's an ingenious invention, actually. Simply plant your corn or soybeans, don't do any traditional tilling or weeding, then douse the crops with Round Up and everything dies except the plant. In the meanwhile, you've got crops that have been soaked in Round Up. Corn in the cob anyone? Must be safe right?

Do enough research for yourself, and you'll discover that many of the things we put into our mouth have multi-billion dollar companies standing behind them. But, the government looks out for us, right? I am not a conspiracy theorist, but I do enjoy listening to them on Facebook while they rally their like minded enthusiasts. The truth is, the government consists of everyday individuals. Some of them have integrity, and some lack it like the Sahara does rain. What I'm saying is, a multi-billion dollar company can find many ways, using the right channels, to get their product to the end consumer.

There are literally hundreds of things that we do, blindly, that have been proven to cause cancer. The defense that most companies use is that there is not enough of this substance to cause cancer. In other words, the results are negligible. At what point does something no longer become negligible? And, what if we add up all the things we consume in a day that are "negligible", now we definitely have something that is no longer negligible, but now circumstantial.

Here are a dozen everyday items that you may expose to your body without ever considering the long term effects due to the ingredients that would be considered "negligible":

Chlorine in water

Mercury in teeth

Charred barbequed burgers

Raspberries

Soymilk

Salad

Eggs

Chicken

"Moderate" air quality

Refined sugar

Deodorant

Lotion

These items either contain carcinogens, pesticides, harmful chemicals, or the animal in which you are consuming was loaded with antibiotics, growth hormones, and put on a diet that actually gives the animal health problems.

Again, I encourage everyone to do their own research so that you can become equally disgusted and invoke change for yourself, your loved ones, and everyone around you.

The change does not come from trying to regulate companies, and what they put in products. That's about as effective as printing out, and marking up a "Terms and Conditions" agreement from Google and sending it back for them to consider revising it. The most powerful way to make a difference is simply to support companies that use "Natural Farming" techniques or are labeled "Organic."

What sucks right now is that naturally grown or organic product is expensive. To switch over, you will spend 1.5 to 2x more on grocery shopping. This is why we're in this mess. Foods have been created to sit on store shelves for a long time. Farming techniques have been modified to pay less workers. Pastures are too small for the number of cows in the field, which leads to infection (thus leading to more antibiotics). Forget having any grass for the cows to graze on when their standing in 6 inches of their own fecal matter and mud, therefore they are fed a genetically engineered product. The same goes for the chickens!

The more people buy natural and organic products, the more these companies will become competitive and will be able to offer a better price. For the sake of our lives, our children's lives, and our grandchildren's lives, make the decision to support the right companies. Once these companies become more supported, they too will become competitive and their prices will go down.

In fact, it's already starting to happen. Mega giants like Wal-Mart and Costco are selling tons of organic products. Products you had to pay out the nose for at organic grocery stores. Believe me, these companies didn't decide on their own that selling natural and organic product that was more expensive was a brilliant idea. They did it because they are listening, and responding to the momentum that is being started by people like you and me!

Respectfully,

Duncan Richardson

Vice President of Bodies in Motion

Chief Master Instructor of The Academy of World Taekwondo

Ph: 208.381.0587

http://www.BodiesInMotionIdaho.com

http://www.facebook.com/bodiesinmotion

http://www.facebook.com/academyofworldtaekwondo

Losing Muscle Mass?

Every weigh in for the UBC always brings in mixed emotions and sometimes confusion. I wrote a blog post a while back to explain what the different weight losses mean. I also offer an explanation as to why you feel better, look better, and clothes fit better, but then the scale says the same thing. Check it out- http://ultimatebodychallenge.blogspot.com/2009/02/i-havent-lost-any-weight.html

In that blog post I talk about the loss of muscle mass. So far, everyone in the past who lost muscle mass was a direct result of not getting enough protein to support muscle growth. In this UBC, I have two people who were adamant about getting enough protein, but still saw a decrease in muscle mass. At the same time, they saw outstanding decreases in fat: 10 lbs and 15 lbs. And, we're not talking about overweight people to begin with either.

First, let me explain how the skin fold calipers work. If you weigh exactly the same amount after 10 weeks, but your skin fold measurement was less, then you replaced 100% of your fat loss with muscle mass. Make sense?

Now, let's say that you weigh less and your skin fold is also less. We don't know anything until we know just how much less and how much less the skin fold is. The caliper method uses a formula to determine the percent body fat. Then, the remaining portion is your skeleton, organs, and muscle. Since the skeleton and organs are non-variables, with regard to weight over 10 weeks, we simply refer to this remaining weight at "muscle mass." Any decrease or increase will be the difference in muscle mass.

Here is the Excel formula for you nerds- =IF(B5="male",(0.27784*((C7+D7+E7)/3+(C8+D8+E8)/3+(C9+D9+E9)/3+(C10+D10+E10)/3+(C11+D11+E11)/3)-(0.00053*((C7+D7+E7)/3+(C8+D8+E8)/3+(C9+D9+E9)/3+(C10+D10+E10)/3+(C11+D11+E11)/3)^2)+0.12437*C5-3.28791),(0.41563*((C7+D7+E7)/3+(C8+D8+E8)/3+(C9+D9+E9)/3+(C10+D10+E10)/3+(C11+D11+E11)/3)-0.00112*((C7+D7+E7)/3+(C8+D8+E8)/3+(C9+D9+E9)/3+(C10+D10+E10)/3+(C11+D11+E11)/3)^2+0.03661*C5+4.03653))

So, how do we lose muscle mass when we eat enough protein, and more importantly- get stronger? Because, the body is absolute amazing piece of work. Unlike an inefficient car, our body learns how to adapt to become more efficient. Athletes, especially ectomorphs, such as myself, experience this all the time.

When I fought competitively, I would be at least 40% more powerful with my kicks at competition time, than non-competing times. My 3 rep max on squats and bench press were higher, but I weighed the same. So, it is possible to condition muscles for strength without experiencing hypertrophy.

Okay, what about losing muscle mass. I still think it's possible to condition muscles for strength, and have your muscle mass decrease. I think it's rare, but possible. Think of professional boxers Manny Pacquiao or Oscar De La Hoya. These are boxers that are skinny little things, but pack a punch hard enough to put you flat on your back.

How do these boxers keep from losing muscle mass while training? They supplement their protein intake. I can't speak for these individuals regarding their method, but I can tell you what I did. I decided that I could not stay at the weight that I was at when I was competitive because I was at the bottom of my weight division (heavy weight). It was already difficult for me to gain more muscle mass, no matter how intense I made my weight training routine when it was coupled with endurance training.

For the 1999 Us Open Taekwondo Championship, I was able to increase my muscle mass by 9 pounds from the year before. I did it by increasing my protein to almost that of a body builder. I was eating 1 1/2 times my muscle mass in protein (bodybuilders are often 2 times their muscle mass). For me, it was roughly 255 grams of protein a day. I ate 5 meals a day PLUS protein shakes after workouts and at night. There was no way I could've physically eaten more protein. Instead, I had to drink it.

So, the moral of the story is... If you're getting stronger, feeling better, losing bodyfat, but experiencing a few pounds of muscle mass decrease, who cares. The workouts in the UBC are not necessarily designed to build muscle mass. They're intense and require you to endure it for an hour. I would say they are similar to my competitive Taekwondo workouts where there is such a high calorie expenditure. This is when your body performs that amazing feat of adapting to become more efficient.

Cheers!

Duncan Richardson
http://www.bodiesinmotionidaho.com/body_challenge.html