Pavel Tsatsouline on Diet and Nutrition

the Joe Rogan experience when you see gems you know when you see Jim's like mine that have all this equipment all these different things do you look at that as like that's excessive or unnecessary enjoy that defense that old defense in the circumstances we're talking about CrossFit generally like we talked about CrossFit CrossFit early I think CrossFit gyms I love CrossFit gyms I mean they have a few things I think are not necessary but not so many but they have a lot of great stuff high pull-up bars and platforms and so on and so forth

those are essentials but then beyond that is just whatever you add for yourself and without knowing your training needs your bag you're on I don't really I can't evaluate your gym right but I can tell you that most people have too much stuff and that becomes a problem of choices so you come in you have this and this and that so what are you gonna do bra you're just confused what does it's called the paradox of choice or something like that yes yes now what about injuries how often do you get injured from this kind

of exercising I've had a number of readers in my life older contact injuries like you know fractures and things like that and they're not from they're not from lifting from lifting things were all tweaks all of them were tweaks mmm but you know tearing ligaments by falling and things like that no so you've never had issues with tendonitis or a pedal the some of that yeah some of that doing training pull-ups Javian things like this happen what do you do to combat that that's exactly what I got mine from sure yeah well first of all

provide it in the absence of medical restrictions you just work around things so you find things to do that work the area without aggravating it that's that's you know this kind of the age-old prescription for what you want to do and but I'm telling you that a lot of things we do are allowing a lot of people to get back in the game people have been really injured before and I can tell you that the techniques we use a strong first gettable techniques and some other techniques we have supporters amongst top health care professionals people

like professor Stewart McGill who is uh top spine by McKenna's in the world and who works with the elite of the elite of athletes and also the most broken down people Greg cook who's a top physical therapist people like that so we have a very good track record of keeping people healthy I like this old expression from George the Russian line Hackenschmidt strength cannot be divorced from health mmm I think that's a great line that's a great line yeah that's a great line I specifically have something with my bicep tendon I think I got it

from two things I got it from training doing a lot of chin-ups but also from archery because in archery you're extending as you're drawing back at the same time and this particular muscle gets overworked because well have dr. mark Chang I know you know doc check you out yeah yeah yeah I'll talk to him um what about your diet I'm an enemy of nutrition I didn't know anything about my trician it's such a confusing thing I'm telling you in training it's really kind of funny about training in training like I do my thing you do

your thing he does here thing but it's cool right right in nutrition is like it's the only way right and there are so many different variables that it's very hard to keep track of ins so I just feel sorry for people in that field I really it's enough you have to constantly be reading papers you have to constantly be studying and it's still hopeless yes it's just really hopeless it's such a you know the body is a complex system but I think this particular this particular silo is worse than others you're just so nonlinear and

it's just so difficult to figure this out biological variability is so confusing to with one person the diet would be optimal the other person it would be terrible you know I think what we should do is focus whether it's in diet or in training we should try to focus on things that are more universal so for example in terms of longevity dr. Nick Lane who is a mitochondrial researcher he made a very interesting point he said right now Falange evety so many efforts are directed at the genetic engineering manipulate and whatever fooling around trying to

make this really really customized and he said you know it's really interesting why don't we try to focus on something that's been known to work not just for any individual works for practice much pretty much every species which is mitochondrial health and he says that if we find a way of extending though I've spent 130 years old he's pretty sure it's gonna come from mitochondrial health and the stimuli for mitochondrial health are pretty much well known well there may be some more down the road but now we do know so for example in terms of

nutrition that's that's fasting in terms of exercise it is both I robic steady-state exercise and that type of work for fast fibers that I told you about anti glycolytic training and [Music] there's cold so those are the stimuli the primary stimuli for the mitochondria so probably for nutrition the same thing they should look for more things that work for everybody and then and kind of on the margins try to fool around with customization what about you personally what kind of diet you fall back some years ago I met a very interesting gent or a half

McClure and he introduced me to his so-called warrior diet and I was not interested in any kind of a diet any kind of a body cam changes I'm just not into that kind of thing but what I tracked him is efficiency he said two-seat once a day and I thought sure I'll try and this was long before the current intermittent fasting craze has begun so I don't think or he's getting quite the credit he deserves so I pretty much as he'd eat a large dinner and don't worry about it do you snack it all during

the day anything nothing it kills me man really yeah and this has always been the case you know snack he kills you or as you get older yes no since I started this this way of eating so your body's acclimated to this one large meal it did it did and I just feel great when I do that you got a slam a lot of calories down in one meal though right yeah what do you eat steak mostly of course no chicken just say no to chicken say no to chickens I know why what's wrong with

chicken I just lame I don't like it what do you like about the taste or what it stands for it's a weak bird so it is a weak bird yeah can't even fly just just just say no to chicken really yeah Wow what up what about fish well my wife makes me I'll you didn't not not out of choice but mostly meat yeah but you understand what I'm telling is just personal choices and of course not fashionable recommendations I understand totally out of my house but what about vegetables ah vegetable is just kind of a

necessary evil you I do eat them what's necessary about them you know this is an interesting point same doc Nick Lane did some research and summarized some other research like why our fruit and vegetables good for you and the party line is the antioxidants and they all most convincingly concluded that's not the case because if you just try to isolate antioxidants just give it to people they don't have the same effect so the current theory is quite you know and it's very likely it's true is the plant toxins pretty much promote hormesis hormesis pretty much

resistance against stuff so it's pretty much mild doses of poison that you take to make yourself stronger so that's most likely what these things are good for but anytime you hear about antioxidants this antioxidants that it's unless are prescribed by dr. to particular patients a patient antioxidant supplementation might even cost cancer so there's no reason that yeah that's just not something to shotgun or go to the pharmacy buy all this stuff know you should know exactly what you're taking them for and should be as that should be you should gather recommendation prescription from your doctor

that is correct have you ever do you know anybody that follows a carnivore diet what's the Cairo diet carnivore diets very recent within the last few years people are eating only animal products okay and the great benefit that some people have had is people with autoimmune issues like skin conditions eczema things along those lines it seems to cure it up people with severe arthritis it's I mean by cutting out all plant foods completely some people with autoimmune issues have found great results some people found great results with depression but it's extremely controversial and you know

it's also ideologically troubling for some people some people don't want you to eat meat at all so if you're eating only meat this is terrible you're sending a bad message okay which sounds like a fun diet man sounds awesome but I'm completely unqualified to comment on right would you be interested in trying it would I be interested in trying it I when I see some more research in that I might not that I'm a fan of vegetables or anything so I'm you know I would consider it you say vegetables with disdain you say vegetables like

you understand it's a necessary evil you understand certain things just like your foam roller job you know you just do it it's not you don't enjoy it that thing next to you the Tim Tam that's what I use instead of a phone roller that jackhammer right underneath the tripod okay that's uh that was invented by MMA coach Raza hobby okay cool more effective so that's better than quick - better than vegetables I don't know better than foam roller I think so but but that's what I'm saying like a for a guy like you that talks

about vegetables with such disdain I would think it's a necessary evil this is the thing I'm based on the current not involved the docs will tell you all this stuff about fiber and this and that that's supposedly good and again that's that's not my specialty but this other point about hormesis which is again building up your resistance yes resilience to things so it's very possible vegetables are evil and the small doses of this evil make us stronger doses well well tiny like a quarter of your plate yeah should be more probably probably I don't know

it's just a funny subject with you you have an interesting right oh gee I'm an enemy of nutrition I hate it I just really hate it I have a sympathy deep sympathy for people who are in that line of work now do you supplement with multi vitamins or creatine or anything along those lines no I don't and you know creatine is definitely supplementation is done by specialty either but I can tell you carotene is one of those supplements that definitely has been tested extensively and while not for everybody it does work yes it's also build

a lot of people it's also been proven as a nootropic which i think it's fascinating so it's very much enhances cognitive performance again out of my I don't have cognitive performance so you don't have any kind of I'm not not my thing so what about vitamins you take any vitamin no there's there's there's no evidence and again if if you would get a prescription from your doctor you're shorting this mm-hmm then you should this is essentially not your wheelhouse absolutely not [Applause]