What I Listen To

I had an extremely odd and interesting experience recently.  Des Paroz, who produces the Applied Karate Show Podcast, interviewed me for an episode that should be released any day now.

First of all, please don't hold it against Des or his show that he interviewed me - he normally has very interesting guests and he's a super great guy, and the show is almost always really, really interesting.  I think he needed a show to lower expectations - so many of his shows have been so good and so informative that he probably felt a little anxiety over having to always top himself.  Now he can relax, knowing that almost any interview done in the future is bound to beat this one!

I'm sure I said a ton of stupid things, but you might find the show entertaining regardless.  I'll post the link when it's out.

I listen to a lot of podcasts.  I have a long-ish commute to work and I tend to do a significant amount of long distance driving, and I'm not much of a music person.  I'd rather listen to a lecture on the subtle effects of varying degrees of insulin resistance across different tissue types on metabolic disorders than a bunch of songs (I know, I'm weird).  So here's a rough idea of what I listen to, and by association, what I think you should be listening to also:

Best martial arts related podcasts:


Applied Karate Show:  Des interviews people from all over the karate world.  Very un-sensationalized, informative interviews with some greats (and some not so greats!) High in both knowledge and entertainment value.

Martial Secrets:  Kris Wilder and Lawrence Kane talk martial arts, security, and tell funny stories about things that happen at the dojo.  High on entertainment and medium on knowledge value.

Karate Cafe:  Just a couple of regular guys talking about martial arts.  Medium on information, medium-high on entertainment.

Pro MMA Radio:  Larry Pepe does an awesome covering MMA like a journalist, not a drunken fanboy.  Thoughtful analysis of the fights, the future of the sport, and great interviews with the fighters, managers, and executives.  It's the kind of high quality journalism we take for granted in more established sports.

Best nutrition podcasts:

Paleo Solution Podcast:  From Robb Wolf, author of The Paleo Solution (a book I highly recommend as an introduction to the whole paleo diet concept), weekly answers user questions about what to eat, how to train, and how his thinking has evolved over the years.  Very high in both knowledge and entertainment value.

The Healthy Skeptic (now Chris Kresser):  Kresser is a very smart guy who talks about nutrition, primarily.  Comes from a paleo-ish corner of the spectrum.  High on information, only medium in entertainment - he's a bit dry as a speaker.

Body Rx Show:  Dr. Scott Connelly (inventor of MetRx), in a show produced by Carl Lenore of Superhuman Radio, weekly discusses issues related to gaining muscle, losing fat, and proper nutrition for long term health.  Very high in knowledge and quite low on entertainment - Connelly is as dry a speaker as you'll ever hear, and the guests tend to stick to that tone, but there's a lot of in-depth information.  Shows will often go into specific metabolic and hormonal pathways, which is more depth than most sources like this.

Best strength and conditioning podcasts:


Strength Coach Podcast: Interviews with top strength coaches, mostly from around the US, including weekly Q&A's with Mike Boyle.  Anthony Renna, the host, is a great interviewer, and the show scores highly on knowledge and not bad on entertainment value.

Iron Radio Podcast:  A bodybuilder, a powerlifter, and a strength athlete sit around and talk about lifting heavy things and interview other people who lift heavy things.  Absolutely wonderful way to get insight into the mindset of fairly high level athletes and what they are willing/required to do to get strong.  Medium high on knowledge and high on entertainment.

Special mention:


Superhuman Radio:  This show is wonderful - 2 hours of Carl Lenore talking to everyone he can find about every obscure and cutting edge topic in nutrition, training, drug therapy, personal improvement, and anti-aging. Lots of ads and he's a little supplement happy, but overall quite entertaining and lots of good information.  The only downside is that he puts out on the order of 9 hours a week of shows, so it's hard to keep up, but it's hard to argue with someone who wants to supply you with a surplus of free information.


I probably left something out, but that's life.  I listen to a couple of other shows, but these are the best of the bunch.  You can learn something from each of them.  Enjoy.

Osu!

Some More Link Love

I've never been one to publish lists of links for you to follow; given my readership numbers, I'm more of a destination blog than a gateway blog.  Still, every once in a while I feel the urge to do some re-directing:

I picked up new sparring gear from my regular supplier, Karate Depot.  You too can buy a set and save on sparring gear for martial arts.  (Disclaimer:  I really did buy from Karate Depot, as I usually do, but I hope to get a free t-shirt for posting this link here).  I got the Warrior Sparring Gear set - it's very nice stuff for what it is, which is designed for point style or semi-contact sparring, not the kind of construction you'd need for real kickboxing or full contact work.  I like Karate Depot - low shipping, reasonably fast service, and a nice selection.  I get all my equipment either from them or from www.fightingarts.com.

Check out this week's paleo rodeo.  As usual, the best of this week's paleo posts from a wide variety of blogs.  The Paleo Rodeo is always worth looking through, and is actually responsible for a fairly high percentage of my readership.

Next, don't tell my wife or my mistress, but I've fallen in love with the author of this blog.  Why, you ask?  I don't know - but it may have something to do with the pizza recipes or the picture of her hitting a heavy bag.  She's an engineer who loves boxing and eating!  If she weren't married...  Seriously, though, check out the most comprehensive list of paleo friendly pizza recipes I've ever seen.

I've added a new(ish) podcast to my regular rotation:  The Body Rx Show with Dr. Scott Connelly.  In case you don't remember, Dr. C is the guy who founded MetRx (which, if you don't remember, was a truly groundbreaking supplement for athletes when it was released) and was the brain behind ProGenix back when it was useful.  He's an expert in all things protein and insulin related, both in terms of general health and athletic performance.  His style is a bit... dry, you could say, kind of like sitting through a mediocre college lecture, but the information he shares is phenomenally detailed and fascinating.  At least to me.  The show is hosted by Carl Lenore, host of Superhuman Radio, a show I love, but Carl's role on Body Rx Show is more introducing Dr. C then getting out of the way.

I'm not a fan of most protein bars - they tend to be full of questionable ingredients and low quality protein.  One exception - both tasty and made of high quality, paleo or near-paleo ingredients, are Quest Protein Bars.  If you go to the Superhuman Radio home page you can get 2 free bars for free - not even paying for shipping - which is a pretty good deal.  Both flavors are yummy.  Are they as good for you as real food?  Of course not.  But they're yummy, easy to prepare (unwrap and eat) and transportable.   If you're traveling, especially if your companions aren't paleo-eaters, or taking a long flight, and getting tired of jerky and dried fruit, these might be a nice addition to your repertoire.  And I'm not getting anything for this endorsement, fyi.

That's all for now.  I plan to post some video on one arm pushups soon, along with a long post on karate in comic books and manga.  Keep training!

Osu.