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

Eric Daye of Tru Body Fitness proving that to get lean, you have to get light (162 in the first, 143 in the second)

Getting Lean is weird for guys.
We wanna be lean – 6% body fat lean, but we don’t want to be light.
Call it social pressure or whatever, it makes for an interesting conundrum.
But here’s the truth.
Most of the time to get lean you are going to have to be lighter than you probably think is acceptable.
I’ll use myself as an example:
I’m 5′10″
I have about 150-ish pounds of LBM, for sake of arguement lets say 155 pounds
Right now I have a fasted weight of around 172 pounds and around 10% body fat.
Now here’s the reality:
If I want to be 6% body fat, I’m going to have to weigh less then I do now (obvious).
In fact, I’ll probably have to weigh 165 pounds.
For me and my personal biases there’s something..weird… […]

Original post by Brad Pilon

We interrupt our regularly scheduled Friday Success Story to bring you a timely and critical look at this week’s Hottest Health Headline. And who better to tackle the research in question than expert study-dismantler Denise Minger? You may remember Denise from the recent article she wrote for MDA in which she went toe-to-toe with a study linking a high fat diet with breast cancer. Today she takes on our nemesis, our foe, our mortal enemy – the Whole Grain. And now, Denise…
A headline-grabbing study just hit the press, and on the surface, it looks like a home run for team Healthy Whole Grain. This chunk of research – officially titled “Dietary Fiber Intake and Mortality in the NIH-AARP Diet and Health Study” – followed a pool of over half a million adults and found that, across the board, the folks eating the most fiber had lower rates of death from […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

I’ve wanted to do an exercise and diabetes post for a long time now. I am by no means an expert on diabetes, but I wanted to research and put up a post on this important subject. More importantly, I would like people to comment and hopefully point to more resources about diabetes and exercise.

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Original post by admin

As promised in last week’s Hunter-Gatherer Fitness post, I’m stirring up the (apparently much awaited) subject of sex – specifically the benefits for physical and mental well-being. Uh, you mean coitus? Yup. Thanks to everyone who responded to the announcement with rousing enthusiasm as well as comments and questions.
What could be more Primal than sex, many of you have suggested. Absolutely right. It was probably one of Grok’s most valued pleasures. (Are people today much different?) For our part, however, we have new freedoms in a manner of speaking. Although we might honor the evolutionary imperative behind our primal appetites with eventual procreation, we’re not beholden to the natural odds with every tryst. As I’ve said many a time, I love studying and learning from the example of Grok and his kin. Nonetheless, I’m a happily modern man in this instance as much as any.

I’m not just talking hedonistic indulgence […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

Calorie restriction is all the rage in anti-aging circles. A few mice and worm studies seem to show that drastic reductions in food intake over a long period of time have the effect of prolonging life – although I’m not sure I’d call it living. For one, these animals are actually restricted. There’s no ad libitum access to food. They’d prefer to eat more, but are prevented from doing so. I guarantee you they’re unhappy and, if they could put (cartoonish high-pitched) voice to physiological state, would say they’re starving.

Anyway, humans have picked up on this calorie restriction stuff. You might have seen one or two CR gurus giving TED talks; the exposed rib cages, gaunt faces, and complete lack of lean muscle mass are dead giveaways. Okay – that’s a bit unfair. CR is a legitimate way to improve many health markers. I’m just not convinced actively restricting your […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

I’ve been on a bit of an alternative sweetener kick these past few weeks, for good reason: people want and need to know about this stuff. While a purist shudders at the prospect of any non- or hypo-caloric sugar substitute gracing his or her tongue, I’m a realist. People are going to partake and it’s important to understand what’s entering your body and what, if any, effects it will have. Whether it’s diet soda, artificial sweeteners, stevia, or the mysterious sugar alcohols, people want the sweet without worrying about a big physiological effect – an insulin surge, a blood glucose dip, even a migraine. So I’ve been covering the various types and have tried to be comprehensive about it. As a whole, it all seems fairly safe. Alternative sweeteners might mess with some folks’ adherence to a low-sugar diet, and they might induce or fortify cravings, but the research doesn’t […]

Original post by Mark Sisson

The Q:  

Hi Brad,
Please be honest!
I am thinking of buying your book eat stop eat but I am really scared of betrayal. I have purchased so many items via clickbank through recommendations of existing purchase. Claiming how each of their diet is different and not a diet yet every single one has been the same allowable foods ie protein carbohydrates. Your claim is however different as it revolves around fasting but are your promises right which say you can eat any food you like?
My A:
For weight loss yes – You can eat any food you like to eat, just not too much of it. For overall long term Health I’m a fan of variety, and the motto I adopted when I first wrote Eat Stop Eat:
Eat less, while enjoying the foods you eat. Eat lots of fruits and vegetables, and lots of herbs and spices. And […]

Original post by Brad Pilon