Becoming Minimalist Blog

I'm featured on Becoming Minimalist today. Cool. Thanks Josh for sharing my story.

A Case Against News

I opened CNN this morning to see the public's insight on the Deepwater Horizon incident vs. what I know internally. These are the headlines, word for word pasted here. Take note of the buzz words.

How will Greek tragedy play out?
UK's Brown apologizes for 'bigot' gaffe
* Thai police, protesters clash
* Markets fall amid Greek debt crisis
* Myanmar leaders resign ahead of vote
* Iraq PM denies secret prison torture
* Pilot blamed for Kenya Airways crash
* Gulf oil slick may be burned off
* U.N. eyes tribunals for pirates
* Car bomb attack kills 4 Pakistani police
* China praised for repealing AIDS ban
* U.S.-born cleric in al Qaeda video
* Danish restaurant named world's best
* Mourinho hits out at Barca 'obsession'
* Kuwait comic publisher lauded

Nearly every one has a negative, fear-inducing connotation. Sometimes we even need to limit our media consumption because of reasons such as this. It's not in order to make ourselves ignorant, but to limit the negative effect it has on our thinking and actions. They choose topics and brandish them with words to instill a response from us to be careful or have some resentment toward a particular party. It makes us cautious, less likely to travel and to live in a state of walking on eggshells.

Take Fox News as another example. The people who work there are very gifted at choosing stories that seem mundane, but are spun in a way to project a right-wing bias. Whenever I watch it (it’s set on default here at an oil/gas company go figure), I notice how they can spin any story toward the political right. What does housewife Jane think watching all this? Hate the Dems more, impeach Obama, guns good, capitalism good. It pushes so much drivel into her brain at warp speed that she’s unable to make any opinions for herself. This isn’t to say any extreme left-wing programs don’t do the same.

According to news websites, the world will always be in a state of chaos – that will never change. When is the last time a news article made you check something? Bearish market news – check your investments to make sure they’re ok. We’ve all done it. We do things in reaction to news more often than we like to think.

Sprint Intervals

MS150 was good fun, but I'm hanging up the bike for a few months to gain some weight back. My cardio will now only be sprint intervals 1x-2x/week.

Today I did some barefoot sprints. There's nothing like running without shoes.. didn't even put the Vibrams on. Barefoot all the way.

100 meter sprint, 5 push-up burpees, repeat. 30 seconds rest. Repeat. 1 minute rest after 3 sets.
Do this for 15-20 minutes or until you start seeing spots on the horizon. Killer. Dodger usually keeps up with me chasing after me when I sprint but he couldn't hang today... chump.

Inspiration for Joe and Jane

http://rosstraining.com/blog/category/the-blog/inspirational/

If these stories and videos don't motivate you or inspire you, check your pulse. Turn off the TV, get off your ass, get on a bike, go for a sprint, lift something heavy, eat something wholesome.

“So many people spend their health gaining wealth, and then have to spend their wealth to regain their health.” ~ A.J.Materi

MS150 Training VO2 Max Results

Back in January I volunteered for a study to see how 9 weeks of MS150 training improved fitness. They strapped me into one of these machines to test max heart rate, lactate threshold, max aerobic pedaling wattage and finally VO2 Max, which is the max oxygen consumption the body can use and transport during exercise.. basically reflecting physical fitness.

Over 9 weeks, the researcher said I increased the most out of his test subjects and even asked me to be honest and tell him if I was doping or taking something. lol.

• My Vo2 max went from 53 mL/kg/min to 64 mL/kg/min.
• HR Max went from 183 beats per minute to 194 beats per minute. (+11)
• Lactate Threshold went from 83% to 86%. (% of HRMax before the body starts making more lactic acid than what it can get rid of)
• Max Aerobic Wattage stayed steady at 350+ watts... at which point I was nearly dead from exhaustion.

He said the average male in my age group is in the upper 30's to low 40's Vo2 Max range so I'm far ahead of the game... but to put it into perspective, Lance Armstrong is around 83 mL/kg/min, Lactate Threshold of lower 90% , HR max of 201 BPM and max aerobic cycling wattage around 600... what a freak.

This is the most fit and lean I've ever been and now I know if a group of us ever gets chased by a bear, I won't be the one who gets caught first :)

Einstein's Riddle - Brainteaser

Albert Einstein wrote this riddle early in the 19th century, claiming 98% of the world population would not be able to solve it, but I don't agree just have patience. There are no tricks, just pure logic, so good luck and don't give up. There's only one answer.

1. In a street there are five houses, painted five different colors.
2. In each house lives a person of different nationality
3. These five homeowners each drink a different kind of beverage, smoke different brand of cigar and keep a different pet.

THE QUESTION: WHO OWNS THE FISH?

HINTS

1. The Brit lives in a red house.
2. The Swede keeps dogs as pets.
3. The Dane drinks tea.
4. The Green house is next to, and on the left of the White house.
5. The owner of the Green house drinks coffee.
6. The person who smokes Pall Mall rears birds.
7. The owner of the Yellow house smokes Dunhill.
8. The man living in the center house drinks milk.
9. The Norwegian lives in the first house.
10. The man who smokes Blends lives next to the one who keeps cats.
11. The man who keeps horses lives next to the man who smokes Dunhill.
12. The man who smokes Blue Master drinks beer.
13. The German smokes Prince.
14. The Norwegian lives next to the blue house.
15. The man who smokes Blends has a neighbor who drinks water.