GearFlogger

Free expert advice on weight training and nutrition

I know all you GearFloggers out there treat your body as a temple. A tequila-sponging, beer-chasing, donut-swilling, bad-taco-eating, projectile-vomiting temple. And it is because of that attitude that I am pleased to bring you this public service announcement courtesy of the American College of Sports Medicine.

As we vainly try to make up for our errant ways by training harder, there is so much junk science out there that (un)informs opinion on exercise and nutrition it's always a pleasant surprise to find gems of theory and evidence. Enter the ACSM official position statements, two of which were recently updated earlier this year in their publication Medicine & Science in Sports & Exercise.

The two papers are Nutrition and Athletic Performance and Progression Models in Resistance Training for Health Adults (that's weight training for all us mouth-breathers). Both are chock full of good advice backed by sound science. Each paper does the additional service of classifying the nature of the evidence from Excellent (double-blind randomized clinical trials involving genetic twins separated at birth) to Downright Shitty (my cousin Dave works out every day in prison and he says...). Free. Expert. Sold.

Download ACSM position stands

Suunto T6c heart rate monitor

Normally I rely on the SheFlogger to tell me how out of shape I am. No longer. I unpacked the Suunto t6c heart rate monitor, a scary, glossy malevolent presence in my cardio-free home. I stared at it, and it stared back. "You fat fuck," I heard it say. After an hour of affirmational self-talk I fired it up and entered my vital stats. I had solid base data from a waterboarding session at Seattle Performance Medicine and I entered it in.

The chest belt is soft, not like some HRM straps that feel like a giant watch band around your nipples. It synced with the wrist unit seamlessly and I was off the couch. I won't bore you with all the spec details; the t6c does everything any other HRM does, and a whole lotta more. You can get a feel for it by downloading some of the training guides, the quantity and quality of which set Suunto head and shoulders above the competition. This document goes into the t6c's specialty, how it measures EPOC - excess post exercise oxygen consumption - and how to maximize training effect. The t6c utilizes your VO2max and lactate threshold numbers as well, so it's a party.

The t6c also has a built-in altimeter, something most other HRMs lack. Mountaineers, ski randoneers and tri-freaks will appreciate the ability to track vert until the cows come home. You can even strap it on and let it run all day to give you a baseline caloric burn guide, it's got the memory to hold it. And there's a women's version. Suunto has "pods" for every conceivable use, including a chest strap that can record data without the wrist unit for events where watches are not allowed. For teams there is all kind of functionality that lets a coach track multiple athletes simultaneously, seriously kick-ass. The software is a bit geekish, but with manual in hand you'll get it wired. Bottom line: the t6c is hands-down the best HRM for backcountry athletes serious about taking their game to the next level.

$399.00 at Backcountry

Gibbon 15m Slackline

A Gibbon is some kind of monkey-ape-chimp creature. To be more specific, Wikipedia it yourself. Me I don't have that kind of time, I'm too busy getting in touch with my Altered States self in the backyard on a Gibbon slackline. I tell myself I'm training to justify not going to work.

Every since the SheFlogger cleaned my clock in air hockey I've been searching for a game to reclaim my manliness, such as it existed prior to the aforementioned cleaning of the clock. So I stole into the dark of night and fortified with the last of my Thanksgiving stash of IPA I set up a 15 meter Gibbon slackline. This took a good five minutes, it's that simple: find two stout trees about fifty feet apart and ratchet the thing taut, making sure to keep it flat.

Then the fun begins, if your idea of fun is falling off a 2 inch wide piece of webbing into the snow until you're so powdered you look like Amy Winehouse sneezed on you. It really is addictive, in the same way bouldering is addictive as you repeatedly fail to solve the same problem over and over again. For some real fun whip this thing out at your next party. You can't ignore it, and it quickly becomes a competition to see who can run the gantlet first. Inexpensive, fun and so simple even a climber can set it up. You can't go wrong.

$79.90 at Gibbon Slacklines

Bowflex Series 7 Treadmill

Once again, you all know how I feel about running. And about treadmills. And yet, having tested my heart rate with the Garmin Forerunner I have, to my great disappointment, hard data showing that running delivers the most consistent high-heart-rate workout to increase my stunningly anemic aerobic capacity. How anemic? Let's just say in a foot race between me, Michael Moore and Rush Limbaugh, I'm sucking two asses and coming in third.

Luckily, if there's one thing I know how to do it's cheat. And what looks a lot like running? Walking! So if you can't get outdoors but you don't want to miss a workout, I've found the Bowflex Series 7 treadmill is a sweet compromise. The Series 7 cranks up to a 12 degree incline, has a nice long track and a 3hp motor that will speed you along at up to 11mph while displaying heart rate and all that other crapola.

I fire up the Bowflex and walk at 4mph for 30 minutes, starting at 4 degrees and quickly moving up to 12. That gets my heart rate up to an acceptable training level and yet - wait for the magic - I'm NOT RUNNING! Yes! Best of all, the steep incline works your mountaineering muscles, and you can always strap on a pack to truly suffer. The Bowflex has been very simple, reliable and is relatively quiet for a treadmill, although relatively is the key word there. The fan is weak, but a trip to Wal-Mart will fix that. Fanatic runners - you know who you are, get help - might prefer a bigger 'spensiver model, but for the rest of us the Bowflex Series 7 is as good as it gets for a reasonable price point.

$1,499.99 at Sports Authority

Finis Zoomers training fins

Does anyone else wonder why synchronized swimming is an Olympic sport? I know its athletically difficult, but it still doesn't make any sense: how about synchronized bowling? And what if one swimmer in a pair drowns; does the other one have to drown too?

You all know what I think about running. Swimming is much the same, with the added bonus that if you stop you might die. Yet it has cardio and strength training advantages for us climbers and won't kill your knees like running. You'll just get genetically damaged from all the chlorine and grow another set of testicles. But hey, who couldn't use that? Anyway, if you're like me and swim as well as you run - i.e. barely - you'll need some mechanical assistance. That's where the Finis Zoomers come in. The Zoomers are training fins, a lot smaller than diving fins and even smaller than some other training fins.

Despite their small size they're a popular choice among masochists and triathletes: wait, that was redundant. Zoomers allow you to make forward progress enough to work on your stroke. They come in blue, for fitness and distance training, and in red, for advanced, competitive swimmers. You'll notice I put a picture of the red ones up to look cool, but I use the blue ones for reasons that should be obvious at this point. They work as advertised; after a few sessions in the pool with Zoomers on they have noticably helped me to improve my freestyle. Now I just have to get rid of the yellow ducky floats on my arms and start eating 12,000 calories a day - oh, I already do that - and I can be the next Phelps.

$29.99 at Amazon

Ultimate Direction Strider women's waist pack

After discarding a few other LOTR-themed fantasy names like "Gollum" the folks at Ultimate Direction settled on Strider for their runner's waist pack. This itsy-bitsy women-specific belt pack tips the scales at just over 7oz, so the SheFlogger will no longer be able to blame the man for keepin' her down.

The Strider is stocked with coolness, starting with the bottle: the FDA-approved polyethylene is an easy squeezer, the rigid finger loop gives you full control for pulling it out or sticking it in, and the very clever off-center valve is 100% mouth-operated. Sounds like a Japanese sex robot, but this one is top-rack safe in the dishwasher. Try that with Aibo.

There are three pockets on the pack: a forward-canted mesh bottle pocket, a zippered pouch with key hook for phones/keys/wallets/etc., and a middle open pocket perfect for gel or energy bars. The Strider even has reflective piping and an antimicrobial finish. What really pushed my gimmick button: the elastic strap keepers. A quick twist with one finger and the excess strappage is wired tight. It's difficult to explain, just look at it carefully when you buy it to see how it's done. We've seen a lot of strap keeper solutions over the years, and we want these on all our monster packs now!

$31.00 at REI

Garmin Forerunner 305 GPS and HRM

Electronics of all kinds have been giving me a serious case of the ass lately. I could fill up my own landfill with the junk they send me. I saw Garmin's Forerunner 305 combination watch, GPS and heart rate monitor on sale at REI and even though I've always wanted one of each I looked for reasons not to buy it.

Finally I took the plunge, and after a couple weeks of using the 305 I am surprised to report... it works! Not only does it work, it works well. As an added bonus the "quick start" manual is exactly that, and I was up and running - well, not literally, you know what I think about running - within minutes after charging was complete.

The 305 let me put in my own five heart rate zones that had been tortured out of me by the thugs at Seattle Performance Medicine. I strapped on the included wireless heart rate chest strap, which synced immediately and stays connected within at least fifteen feet so you can leave the wrist unit on a shelf while you lift weights, for example. I stepped outside and it acquired satellites very quickly. I hopped on my mountain bike and knocked out twenty miles, ogling the beta throughout. For the truly sick you can even get add-on kits to measure pedal strokes and foot strikes.

Back at Flogger Central I installed the software on a PC and plugged the watch into the USB port; the cable also plugs into a wall adapter for charging. No need to RTFM, I found the "retrieve data" button and bingo, there was my workout graphed however I pleased, with a crude but readable route map to boot. The software tracks how much time you spend in each heart rate zone, speed, distance, you name it. The only downside is that the unit, while small for a GPS, is largish for a wrist watch. I ordered a kit that will let me swap out the rubber wristband for a more flexible strap that will also allow me to hot-swap it between bike and body. There's a lot left to learn about this unit, but I'm here to report the out-of-box experience is sweet!

$299.00 at REI

Seattle Performance Medicine

You all know how I feel about running so you can imagine how excited I was to take a treadmill test at Seattle Performance Medicine. Yet I am unable to resist anything that lets me quantify either gear or performance, and SPM will give me numbers that I can add to my vast repertoire of excuses for poor climbing performance: "Oh, I could have redpointed that 5.13d if only my VO2 max wasn't acting up."

The tests involve walking and running (or biking if you're into that) on a treadmill until you tell the sadistic bastards you can't do it anymore. While running you're wearing a mask and they throw things at you and call you names like "sweaty, milk-fed, sandwich-eating bitch." OK, not really. The staff is extremely professional and you even get a real doctor to go over your results with you.

I can now compare myself to my peers. I'll use Ed Viesturs. You may have heard of him. He certainly has never heard of me, but screw him, he doesn't get out much, he's too busy rolling around naked in piles of money and free gear. My VO2 max = 43, Ed = 66. I know, it's scary they're so close. On the relative scale I rate as "very good" and Ed is "competitive ultra-endurance." Same-same.

My lactate threshold - no, I don't actually lactate, that's just what they call it = 88% of VO2 max, which is pretty high and probably explains why altitude doesn't seem to affect me too adversely. Where VO2 max is about how well you burn oxygen for energy, LT is about generating energy without oxygen. In another measure my heart rate dropped 50 beats in 2 minutes from my max HR of 195, which is a pretty good recovery time.

The biggest surprise for me was finding out that my resting metobolic rate was 1,632 calories per day, 25.7% of which was from burning protein. My recommended intake was 2,150 calories, with under 17% protein burning; these numbers show I'm burning lean muscle mass because I'm not eating nearly enough. These numbers don't include exercise calories either. SPM gives you a customized training recommentation with heart rate target zones, calories burned at each and a lot of general sports nutrition tips. All in all, great service and great information.

$425 at Seattle Performance Medicine

Metolius Mega Pack climbing holds

Winter will be here soon, when young climbers thoughts turn to frozen waterfalls and alpine ascents. Rock climbers, however, will be screwed. That is, unless they have access to an indoor climbing wall, which is where Metolius Mega Pack climbing holds come into the picture.

When I went looking for lots of holds with which to populate the inside of my garage this was exactly what I had in mind: a great diversity of quality holds, including both screw-on minis and T-nutted monsters.

Metolius goes a step further by providing a great booklet with solid step-by-step advice on wall construction for dummies. Also available in 20- and 30-hold packages, but who are you fooling: go big or go home.

$129.00 at REI