21 Convention, Strength Training, and Richard Nikoley

This past weekend I presented at the 21 Convention. The title of my discussion was “Strength Training and the Biomarkers of Aging,” in which I attempted to show that strength training, as far as an exercise stimulus, was superior to just about anything. I attempted to demonstrate this from gene to organism, which as you might expect makes for a very science-driven talk. I also attempted to keep things funny with a peppering of memes and photos, like this one:

Or how I likened Keith to Duke Nukem:

The feedback has been quite positive and I think I can enhance the talk further for a future event. AHS 2013, perhaps?

We also debuted the newest ARX Omni to the world, putting Keith through a hellacious pulldown workout. Afterward we crowded around the microphone EETV-Style to answer questions and address concerns. We’re basically the Manny, Mo, and Jack of the strength world.

That evening we had dinner with all of the speakers and I was able to shoot the shit with Dave Asprey, who has taken the biohacking thing to a level I’d never dreamed of and Tim Ferriss won’t be able to until his next book advance. I learned a lot and maybe even got Dave to consider that olive oil isn’t a delicate flower when it comes to heat:

The next day I had the opportunity to put Eric Daniels, his fiance` Rachael, Doug McGuff, and Richard Nikolay through a workout at my studio. Eric and Rachael work out at Doug’s Ultimate Exercise in Seneca, South Carolina, so they had an idea of how hard they were going to work. Doug was coming off a 1 month break from strength training with a hyper-sensitive physiology to react to whatever I threw at him. They all busted ass and we had a lot of fun.

Richard, who in case you don’t know is a misogynist, was a damn hard worker. I didn’t tell him what I was going to do to everyone else, understanding that Richard is very perceptive and detail oriented in his observations. I explained just enough get him to understand what I was attempting to get everyone to do: maintain a conscious, voluntary effort from the start of a set to the finish while letting me narrate the subtle nuances of the set. If you’re going to get all that can be earned from their protocol, you have to be able to put yourself in someone’s hands. Your focus is on controlled effort; let me (or the trainer) narrate the set, anticipate where you might stumble, and guide you to fatigue. This is no “ra-ra” trainer bullshit: I am a benevolent dictator, aware of your inability to do this on your own, and I will drag you kicking and screaming to a level of physiological stimulation you’ve never experienced. If your goal is once every 5-7 days per workout, this is the only way it’s going to work.

Afterwards Richard, Doug, Keith, and Michelle came over to our home for a dinner of sous vide chuck roast, caramelized butternut squash, and a chocolate gateau (all paleo). Everyone talked for hours and had a great time. The depth of Doug’s knowledge astonishes me every time I talk with him, as does the depth of his care. Richard, for all of the internet bullhorn truth-telling persona is so friendly, engaging, and curious that it’s no surprise he can distill all of this paleo stuff into posts that motivate people to take the leap. I can learn a thing or two about how to do that on this blog. That and our wives get along great, having slogged through the public education shit storm that we’re currently engaged in.

Great weekend, great friends, great times. I’m so pleased and grateful to be able to call you all friends.