A new mice-with-an-engineered-human-genetic-deficiency study is out that promises to shed light on why humans are so darn diabetic and obese – and the cause is an evolutionary “mistake.” A deficiency that apparently slipped through the cracks without somehow leading to our species’ demise. You see, we’re missing a genetic component shared by pretty much all other mammals besides ourselves. While mammals generally produce two types of sialic acids, N-acetylneuraminic acid (Neu5Ac) and N-glycolylneuraminic acid (Neu5Gc), thanks to a mutation in a gene called CMAH, humans produce only the former. We don’t have the enzyme necessary to convert Neu5Ac to Neu5Gc. Why is this important? Sialic acids act as “contact points” for our cells to interact with the environment and other cells, and the latest research indicates that mice with the humanesque CMAH mutation are more prone to diabetes, especially when they’re overweight.

Both mice with the genetic mutation and without grew […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Here’s something to consider when you read all of those infrequent training success stories where people gained large amounts of muscle while only training once every 10-15 days.
People on steroids who are NOT training have the ability to gain more muscle weight and muscle size then those who are not on steroids but who ARE training.
In other words, by being on steroids you can gain more by sitting on the couch playing playstation than your buddy can by busting his ass in the gym.
If you take that into account while reading HIT reviews, it illustrates that steroids MAY (note: I’m not saying are) be a confounder.

In this bar graph the people on the left were not working out. First bar is placebo. Second bar is people taking testosterone.
The people on the right were working out. First bar is placebo, second bar was taking testosterone.
Notice the Testosterone no exercise bar is […]

Original post by Brad Pilon

Today I’d like to share two different theoretical approaches to losing body fat and getting shredded. So not just lean, but really lean..borderline contest ready (just without the water depletion) Let’s say around 5-6% body fat for men, 12% ish body fat for Women (That’s really low).
In order to share these two theories with you, I need to start with the assumptions we’re going to be working with today.
Assumption One:  There is a finite ‘rate’ for which each body fat cell can supply free fatty acids. Kind of like a speed limit… X number of free fatty acids per hour (FFA/Hr)
Assumption Two: Any Lean Body Mass / Volume that is lost during dieting is transient. It’s not ‘gone for ever’ and can be built back up.
Now that we have our assumptions down…here are the two theories.
Approach One: THE HARE – STRIP, Then Build […]

Original post by Brad Pilon

The best way to celebrate your 29th birthday is with some good old cheesecake mastery. I know it, you know it, everyone knows it.

The official Leangains Cheesecake (TM) weighing in at a respectable 7 lbs.

This one was au naturele. No cherries, no blueberries, no raspberries, no nothing. A no bullshit cheesecake. I actually prefer it that way because I want to be able to add whatever I damn please. Whipping cream, peanut butter, more whipping cream, etc.

I tried it with protein fluff this time around. Fits perfect. The protein fluff above is made with blackberries by the way. I should probably do a protein fluff special some time. Making perfect fluff is an art and my techniques have evolved by leaps and bounds.

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

Conventional Wisdom always gets an eyebrow raise from me. I can’t help it. Eventually, I take an honest look at whatever the experts are saying, but skepticism gets first dibs. I’d call it an instinct if it weren’t learned behavior from years of being burned. For example, I once took to task the most pervasive “truth” around: that everyone needs to drink eight glasses of water a day or risk kidney failure, toxin buildup, bladder cancer, and debilitating constipation. It was pretty easy to do.
But it’s not all BS. Smoking is bad for you, for example. See? I can admit when they’re right!

I wonder about the CW position on sleep, though. We generally agree on the recommended duration of sleep. “About eight solid hours” is what you’ll see everywhere, from official governmental health guides to paleo nutrition blogs (I’m sure there’s some niche community out there claiming to have “transcended” […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Last week, my post on the “Myriad Benefits of Intermittent Fasting” opened up a can of worms. In it I discussed how fasting can have a positive impact on human longevity, blood lipids, diet compliance and neurological health to name just a few of the potential health benefits. Naturally, many readers wondered if they’ve been missing the boat on IFing, and whether they should start skipping breakfast, lunch and dinner ASAP. In fact, who needs food anymore when you have IF! Not so fast.
Fasting can be an effective lifestyle hack, but is it right for everyone?
Not exactly. Not always. In other words, no. Let’s take a closer look.
Intermittent fasting is a tool that can be used – or misused – in the pursuit of health. As Keith Norris might put it, it’s something to add to the quiver. A tool to be drawn upon when the time is right. You know […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

There is a simple reason why John Barban and I say you can eat anything you wish and still lose weight. And that reason is this ==> We don’t think you are an idiot. In fact, we kinda think you’re smart.
Funny, but true.
Our belief is that you’re goal is to lose weight and to be healthy.
So while some people like to use the logical fallacy of Reductio Ad Absurdum and state that since we say you can eat anything you wish and lose  weight, what we are really saying is that you SHOULD eat nothing but candy and chocolate for the rest of your life….nothing could be farther from the truth.
But as silly as it sounds, I guess that’s what other health professionals think you will do.
That’s why they give you complicated rules, because if they didn’t you’d obviously think that sitting down to eat your way through a […]

Original post by Brad Pilon

Today’s edition of Monday Musings is a quick account of two recent studies that highlight actual, literal threats to the fruitfulness and productivity of the human male loin. For years, the average male sperm count has been decreasing, especially in Western industrialized nations, by about 1% to 2% per year. Globally, of course, populations have been increasing, so sperm is successful by playing the numbers game, but we’re worried about the individual. We’re concerned with per capita sperm count. And it’s been dropping.
But why?

For candidate number one, let’s look to the bones. Bones, as you know, are active, living organs rather than passive inert structures. They grow (in response to a complex soup of hormonal messaging), they densify (in response to weight-bearing activity), they even atrophy (in response to a lack of weight-bearing activity and/or gravity). The primary regulators of bone growth and function are the sexual organs, which manufacture […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Complete 4 cycles of:
25 Meter Log Flip
25 Meter Backward Log Drag

How-to:
Warmup: 30 second Grok Squat, three light sprints at 70%.
It was the unholy confluence of corporate ethics lapses and shortsightedness, governmental/corporate collusion, and personal irresponsibility that set the stage for the “Flip That House” phenomenon, and we’ve seen what damage it wrought. As a nation, we’re still reeling from the effects. This week’s WOW, dubbed “Flip That Log,” also requires a triumvirate of preconditions – strength, speed, and a heavy log (or log analog) – for successful implementation, and it too will cause great microtrauma, only this time to your musculature. And the effects will only be felt for a day or two, rather than years. And it will all be beneficial.
“Flip That Log” is simple: flip a log end over end (using explosive hip extension to get the log up to chest height, then drive it up and over […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Some people don’t like to eat game because it’s too, well, gamey. Others prize wild meat for exactly this quality. Lack of gaminess, one might argue, is lack of any real flavor in meat. When we bought venison this week, we found tons of recipes that claimed to mask the gamey flavor, but this seemed to defeat the whole purpose of eating venison. Isn’t trying to take the gaminess out of venison like trying to take the beefiness out of beef?
Meat from grass-fed animals has more flavor than meat from animals fed only grain, so it just makes sense that meat from animals feasting in the wild on everything from ragweed to wild clover to dandelions has the most flavor of all. In venison, this flavor comes across as slightly sweet and very rich, with a bit of a grassy, herbal quality to it. Truly wild venison has a stronger, […]

Original post by Worker Bee