During the Primal Blueprint 30-Day Challenge I’m encouraging people to join forces, forge support groups and get Primal en masse. This is why this month’s Workouts of the Week (WOWs) will be all about playful (and sometimes competitive) workouts you can do with a partner or a group.
So grab a friend or spouse, try out this week’s WOW and then report back with your results.
And if you have your own ideas for a Challenge WOW submit it here for a chance to win a Primal prize. Grok on!

8 cycles for time:
50 Meter Sprint

50 Meter Carry

Max Burpees (with Pushups and Jumps)*

This workout is designed to be done with a partner. See the “How-to” section below for instructions.

How-to:
Warmup: A couple rotations of the Grok Squat and a few 50 meter runs at moderate effort.
WOW: Dash, Lug and Burp: Stand 50 meters from your partner. Sprint to your partner, pick […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The Prize:
Hold your fist-pumps of glee until the end, because I’m giving away an arsenal of equipment for this one…
A Spear. That’s right, an actual spear you can spear things with. You’ve seen Grok jumping with one. Now you can. The technical name is an Assegai Spear, and it comes courtesy of Cold Steel (with a leather sheath included). Cold Steel makes a wide variety of brutal weapons tools, like those crazy war clubs from the Last of the Mohicans. If you’re in the SoCal area, they’ve got their own Challenge going on later this month.
A Mace. Just as deadly useful as a spear, the winner will receive a plate loadable mace, courtesy of Stronger Grip. BONUS: Enter the code “MDA20″ when ordering from StrongerGrip.com for a 20% discount. And for those of you who aren’t into winning or buying stuff, the owner of Stronger Grip also runs a […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

This post will include a few random goodies: high protein recipes, the best tasting casein powders, a new BCAA recommendation and a review of Jack3d.
I’m a sucker for puddings and chocolate pudding with milk was probably one of the main contributors for my fatassitude when growing up. I could eat it all day. Still can. But it’s not a great strategy for maintaining low body fat.
Fortunately, it’s easy to make pudding like treats with the right protein powder. And in my search for the best pudding-friendly protein powder, I went through several brands to find the best ones. Only a few made the cut.

Yes…I’ve been working my way through tub after tub looking for that perfect protein pudding powder.
Protein pudding basicsShould be a casein powder. Some milk protein isolates also work. Whey doesn’t work at all. Mix powder and water (or milk) in a 1:1.25-1.5 ratio, meaning for each scoop […]

Original post by noreply@blogger.com (Martin Berkhan)

Three days ago I asked you to email me your meal pics. I only gave you a day. Only 24 hours. And in that time I received over 600 pictures of meals. And not just pics. Many people included recipes, some even included ste- by-step photos, starting with the chicken laying the egg they’d later omeletify. A big thank you to everyone who sent in a photo. I’m truly amazed by the participation level for this contest, and I hope it keeps up for the rest of the challenge.
A big congrats to the winner Michael who cooked himself a rib eye smothered in peppers and onions, and a sweet potato with coconut oil, cinnamon and an avocado.

There won’t be any Weekend Link Love this month. I’m reserving Sundays for reader-created content, starting with 200 of the meal submissions (didn’t have time to upload all 600!). Enjoy…
[…]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Prize:
Fat is good. And it comes in many forms. Today you can win two delicious types, coconut oil and ghee.
What’s ghee? It’s rendered butter with the milk proteins and solids removed, and Pure Indian Foods makes the good stuff. They’ve been featured in the NY Times. Their ghee is organic, grass fed and today’s winner gets two 14oz jars of it plus a 6-jar sample pack of herbal and spiced varieties.
BONUS: If you use the code “marksdailyapple” when ordering from Pure Indian Foods online, you will receive a 5% discount.

But wait, the fat just keeps on coming. I”ve got five jars of Barlean’s Coconut Oil at my office right now. That’s 80 oz. or roughly two thirds of a gallon of coconut oil. I’ve got to mail this prize off as fast as possible, because I’m not sure my Worker Bees can hold out another week without cracking them open […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

<p>The basis of Tabata Training is 4 minutes of intense interval training/circuit training. What you are doing is taking an exercise we'll use sprints as an example here.</p>
<p>Sprint as hard as you can for <strong>20 seconds</strong></p>
<p>Walk for <strong>10 seconds</strong></p>
<p>Repeat 7 more times for a total of <strong>8 sets</strong>.</p>
<p>So what you have is a total of <strong>4 minutes of workout time</strong>.</p>
<p>Tabata Training can be done with a number of different exercises the idea is to use an exercise that gets the whole body involved or at least the major muscle groups.Tabata Training can be done with Barbells, Dumbells, Kettlebells or just Bodyweight exercises. I'll give you some other exercises and routines to try in a minute but first let me give you some background and how Tabatas work.</p>
<p>Tabata Training was developed by Izumi Tabata (imagine that) at the National Institute of Fitness and Sports in Tokyo, Japan. They did a study […]

Original post by WP-AutoBlog Import

Crisp and caramelized on the outside, but never burnt. A first bite that melts in your mouth as the savory, perfectly seasoned flavor of beef hits your palate. The rich, smoky aroma of animal fat dripping onto an open fire.
That, my friends, is a perfect steak. You don’t have to make reservations at an expensive steakhouse to reach this sort of steak nirvana. It can be yours any night of week in your own kitchen by following a few simple and painless steps.

Navigating the Meat Case
First things first – you’ve got to buy the steak. To understand the meat case at a butcher shop, you must first understand your cuts of meat. Close your eyes and visualize standing in a field while looking at the side of a cow or steer. The first cut of meat behind the head is the shoulder, known in butchery terms as the chuck. Although […]

Original post by Worker Bee

The Prize:
A Primal Library. A collection of handy books to fill out the shelf of any newcomer or Primal veteran. Included are:

The Primal Blueprint – A pastoral drama that explores the tension and frustration of unrequited love between a farm hand and an aristocrat during times of… just kidding. It’s my book!
The Primal Blueprint Cookbook – And so is this one!
Good Calories, Bad Calories – Gary Taubes seminal work on the take down of the old “calories in, calories out” approach to health.
The Garden of Eating – Presents a practical plan for obtaining the health-building benefits of an alkaline, produce-dominated diet that includes pastured-animal products. Includes 250 delicious, family-friendly, grain- and dairy-free recipes.
Sugar Shock – The ultimate handbook for yanking out the sweet tooth. And if you’re looking for some serious schooling on curing your sugar addiction, check out Connie Bennett’s 6 Week Online Course.
The Gluten Free […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The first step in having an awesome body is determining your goals.
This is much harder then it sounds, but in order to OWN YOUR GOALS (a key part of being awesome) you have to know what they are first.
And here’s the trick. You have to pretend that they are all MUTUALLY EXCLUSIVE.
Here’s an example.
Having a great bench press and having a massive chest CAN NOT be the same goal.
Neither can being healthy and having 6 pack abs,
(Now, In reality, they may in fact be related, but for the purpose of defining what is awesome for you….you need to decide.)
For instance:
If I told you that the incline fly was the world’s best exercise for building a thick, muscular chest, but it would DESTROY your bench press…You’d need to be able to decide which one is the most important to you.
If research came out tomorrow saying that for every month you […]

Original post by Brad Pilon