Swim Report – January 22, 2009 – Ice Caverns
A few days of above-freezing weather not only thawed out our swim area, but it also created some amazing ice formations. Here are the shots from yesterday:
Ice caverns
Stealth diver
Gene Expression and Muscle Composition
The concepts of gene expression and muscle composition are central to Power Law training and to the whole idea of primal fitness. Let’s take a look at them individually.
Gene expression is simply the idea that, while we are born with a specific and unique genetic code, this “blueprint” is not necessarily static. In fact, our genes are modulated (i.e. “switched on” or “switched off”) by specific stimuli or stressors. For example, certain environmental factors such as insults to the skin can lead to the modulation of genes that regulate specific biological pathways. This in turn can lead to physiological responses like inflammation, cell proliferation, and cell differentiation.
(click to enlarge)
There are a number of questions with regards to gene expression that scientists are still trying to definitively answer. Essentially, we know that genes are continually being “switched on” or “switched off” by a multitude of environmental factors. However, the key question for our purposes seems to be this:
Are there any environmental factors that optimize gene expression?
I think there is strong evidence that certain environmental factors do indeed optimize gene expression. And I also believe that this optimal gene expression is hardwired into our DNA and is simply a factor of millions of years of human interaction with and adaptation to our environment (i.e. evolution). Which leads to my next point:
Muscle composition is simply the result of gene expression. And activities that trigger optimal gene expression will yield optimal muscle composition.
2009 ushered in the typical “resolution crowd” at my gym, and I couldn’t help noticing the throngs of people waiting in line to use the treadmills and StairMasters. I also couldn’t help noticing the inordinate amount of “down time” that transpired during many of the gym goers’ weight training activities.
The bottom line is that these activities do not trigger optimal gene expression because they do not mimic the paleolithic activity patterns that are hardwired into our genetic structures.
So instead of developing the optimal balance of slow twitch (ST), fast twitch A (FT-A), and fast twitch B (FT-B) muscle tissue, most gym goers trigger gene expressions that are ineffective at best or deleterious at worst.
Remember, your DNA is the product of millions of years of evolution, and it is designed to respond positively to environmental factors that are very different from the “conventional wisdom” of the fitness industrial complex.
And waiting in line to run for 60 minutes on a treadmill certainly doesn’t cut it with Mother Nature…
The Obesity Argument: A Matter of Priorities
There’s an interesting piece in the Wall Street Journal that challenges the recent projections published last month in the Obesity research journal. The WSJ provides this graphic which illustrates the forecasts in question:
According to the WSJ:
In 40 years, every single American could be overweight, according to a recent study. Employing that same logic, 13 out of every 10 adult Americans by then won’t have landlines. The phone forecast is impossible, of course, but it’s arguably no less solidly grounded than the obesity forecast. The weight projection uses three data points spread out over nearly three decades to estimate a linear trend — then brazenly draws that line into the future.
I agree, but the focus of the article should not be a polemic on the merits (or lack thereof) of statistical forecasting. Instead, the article should express alarm at the current high rate of obesity which is expected to grow in any case.
I have this strange image of a roomful of pale, doughy-fleshed analysts arguing vociferously over numbers while they graze on pizza and soda…
Human Marbling
Take a look at these images:
The USDA assigns grades to cuts of meat based upon the degree of what’s known as marbling. The cut on the lower right is considered to have “slight” marbling, while the one on the upper left has “moderately abundant” marbling. And the higher the marbling, the higher the grade of meat.
The key point to note here is that marbling is simply intramuscular fat that has built up as a result of the accumulation of unexpended triacylglycerols. And the most effective way to produce marbling (intramuscular fat) in livestock is to feed them high amounts of cereal grains such as corn or barley, and to limit their total energy turnover (physical activity).
So if you’re consuming a grain-based diet with limited physical activity, you are essentially “marbling” your own muscle tissue.
Swim Report – January 1, 2009 – Happy New Year!
Chris, Dave, and I scoped out Ladder #1 hoping to get a swim in at our favorite swimming hole. Unfortunately, the area around Ladder #1 was caked over with ice with virtually no open areas of water. Instead, we walked over to North Avenue Beach where the television film crews were already setting up for the “polar bear” swimmers who were scheduled to make an appearance in a few hours.
We opted to get a quick swim in before the crowds arrived, so we suited up and waded out into the lake. The water temperature was holding steady at the 32F/33F mark, and we managed to put in a quarter mile in the open water just on the inside of the wooden pylons. Ice began to crystallize on our gloves and diver’s hoods after the first ten minutes or so, and a slight breeze brought more cap ice into the swim area towards the tail end of our swim. While this proved to be somewhat of a nuisance, our cold water gear held together pretty well. Overall it was a great swim – and a great way to start off 2009!
Frozen swim area
