Shoulder Stability & Learning the Snatch – Episode 141

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Topics:

1. [3:38] Where is living Paleo easiest?
2. [8:18] Gulf Seafood Safety
3. [11:10] Acid Reflux During A Low Carb Paleo Diet
4. [15:31] Probiotics Surviving Stomach Acid
5. [17:52] Chewing Your Food
6. [21:16] Eating Contest Preparation
7. [26:58] Ab Exercises
8. [29:34] Snatch Grip and Shoulder Stability
9. [39:31] Learning To Snatch

Questions:

1. Where is Paleo the easiest?

Corrie says:
Hello Robb and Greg!

Living in a valley in NW Montana, where winter seems to be a season that lasts half the year (Nov.-Apr.), I find myself daydreaming about moving to the tropics.  All things Robb Wolf Paleo considered (info. from “Lights Out,” food availability, etc.), where would you live in this world to make living a perfect Paleo lifestyle easy and enjoyable?

Thank you!

 

2. Gulf seafood?

Michael says:
Hi Robb,

I bought my wife your book for Christmas. We both read it and loved it, and we (including our 2 kids) have been eating Paleo since the new year. We feel better than ever.

Even before, we cared a lot about food quality, eating only grass-fed/pastured meat and sustainable seafood, so the main change for us has been cutting out grains.

So my question is about food quality:

We live in Florida near the Gulf Coast, and we have easy access to fresh Gulf seafood: shrimp, oysters, grouper, etc.

After the BP spill, though, we’re not sure whether it’s safe to eat. Of course, the FDA says, “Yes”:

http://www.fda.gov/Food/FoodSafety/Product-SpecificInformation/Seafood/ucm252467.htm

The NRDC says, “Unclear”:

http://switchboard.nrdc.org/blogs/mrotkinellman/bp_oil_disaster_two_years_late.html

The Surfrider Foundation seems to agree with the NRDC:

http://www.surfrider.org/coastal-blog/entry/surfrider-taking-action-on-toxic-dispersants

How concerned do you think we should be about the contamination of seafood by (a) oil from the spill and (b) the dispersants used after the fact? Do these contaminants affect shellfish differently from fish?

3. Acid Reflux – Already eat super clean paleo

Ben says:
Hi Robb, Love your work.

I have been eating paleo for about 1 and a half years.  The benefits for my IBS and overall health (energy, body composition etc) have been fantastic.

BUT.

I have, over the last 2 weeks, developed severe GERD / acid reflux.  I had terrible chest pains and ended up in the emergency department at hospital.

The doctors tell me it is acid reflux, which may have been brought on by stress (I’m currently doing my masters rresearch degree, am travelling a lot to collect data and have been applying for jobs and phds and have had interviews).

On the other hand, acid reflux runs in my family (mother, uncle, grandparents have all got it).

The doctor has prescribed me 300mg of ranitidine per day for 2 weeks, and hopes it will go away.  If not, he says I could be develoing it the same as my family.

Chris Kresser suggests low carb paleo for acid reflux treament.  I already do this!  I think fats ( and coffee) may be a trigger, but I live off fats for my energy!

Do you have any suggestions as to what I can do for my diet if this is long term?  My understanding is that its caused by a loose valve at the top of the stomach, so I don’t think there is much I can do to fix that, and I guess it will need to be dietry changes.

If it help: I’m male, 24, 5’8″ 72kg, and about 10% BF.  I crossfit 4 times per week.

Many thanks in advance

4. Do probiotics survive the highly acidic stomach?

Stephanie says:
Hi Greg, Hi Robb!  Ya’ll are awesome, thanks for the podcast, thanks for your wittiness, patience, and general awesomeness.

This is something I have always wondered.  Do the live bacteria in probiotics, in the form of fermented food or in pill form, really survive the trip through the highly acidic stomach to the gut to help re-populate the gut microbiota?  That always seemed pretty hard core to me for those bacteria to be able to survive such a range of PH’s, but maybe bacteria are just less wimpy than people.

 

5. Chewing Your Food

Reid says:
My Grandma always told me to eat slower and chew my food “15 times per bite”.  I know slowing down your eating and chewing your food lots lowers gas, and I have to believe chewing your food also helps with nutrient absorption, but how important is it to eat s-l-o-w-l-y and chew food thoroughly?

6. EATING CONTEST PREP

Charles says:
Clearly you have helped a lot of people improve performance through solid eating habits, but what about improving performance of eating?  Specifically an all you can eat type contest?

One of the main selling points for a low-carb Paleo approach is that for a normal person it is just very hard to overeat protein and fat compared to processed carbohydrates.  However what would you do to take on the challenge of eating a 72 oz steak?  Would you tackle this in a relatively fasted state?  Or perhaps some starch a few hours before?  Extra salt?  Liberal amounts of water similar to the hot dog eating contests?
Also while on the topic of eating contests.  Many of the competitive eaters are quiet slim.  Any pseudo-scientific theories here on an ideal build for a competitive eater?  Or do you think this is like most sports where hunger and determination play just as large a role as the physical part.  I have heard about John Broz asking his lifters what Naim Süleymano?lu would do in their bodies as a way of emphasizing just how important the mental game is.  I try to do the same with Joey Chestnut.

 

7. Ab Exercises

MagicMike says:
Are ab exercises needed for six pack abs? GO

8. Snatch Grip/Shoulder Stability Question

Aaron say:
Hey guys,

First of all, wanted to thank you both for keeping me awake on my drives to work.

I’ll drive straight into it, and this is a question for both of you.

The sad truth is…I cannot Snatch. I’ve always had weak/loose shoulders (subluxation, usually), resulting in a right labrum repair (2/3rds torn) a few years back.  The left is getting really rough now, as well, and I’m afraid I’ll have to get it fixed before long.

Male, 165 lbs, 21 years old. 255 C&J, 365 ATG BS, 425 DL, 125 Snatch. See my problem?  Anything over 125 and catching the weight overhead while in the hole essentially just pops my shoulder straight out of socket.  I’ve tried all the cues and strengthening exercises I can find, and while it has helped everything else, nothing can stabilize this shoulder in a true snatch grip.

Could I narrow the grip and make the snatch more stable overhead?  I have good hip/t-spine mobility, so I would still be able to keep an upright torso in the hole.

Even beyond that, I’m sure Greg has experienced aspiring weightlifters who essentially have a humerus attached to the torso by a rubber band. What has worked for them?

Long live ZORG…
http://beastmodaldomains.com/2012/06/06/advice-for-new-crossfit-affiliate-owners/

9. I have a stick and want a snatch… no, I don’t want a sex change

Susie says:
Hi Robb and Greg –

I am a huge fan of the podcast, and cannot thank you enough for all of the free, critical advice you give the general population. Also, I very much appreciate Greg’s commentary on grammar. Thank you, Greg, for all you do to advance the correct usage of wary, weary, and leery. I’m sure you are weary.

Here is my attempt at brevity in my backstory: after a few months of Crossfitting I became enamored with your podcast, decided Crossfit may not be the best idea, and took up independently lifting instead. I used six Wendler cycles to hone in my technique in those four big lifts. (I also had help from some Olympic lifters at my gym. Ironically, their willingness to critique my squat technique was positively correlated to the shortness of my shorts, but I digress.) I am now starting to miss the conditioning aspect of my previous training. I like the Crossfit Football programming, and have started following the SWODs and DWODs to the best of my somewhat-more-fit-than-the-average-female ability. My goal is to be strong, lean, powerful and have fun, as training is something I do purely for my health and enjoyment. The CFFB DWODs are similar to my few favorite WODs from the Crossfit days; short, intense, and lacking in fear of destroying my joints.

Here is my problem: I want to follow the programming as designed, but it calls for snatches and cleans. I am not very comfortable with either of these movements, particularly the snatch.

(In case you were wondering… yes. Your worst fear is true. I HAVE done “Isabel” with no idea what the hell I was doing. *Shudder*.)

With a technical movement like the snatch, I know I can’t take the same, more independent approach I took with squats and deads. Sadly for both parties, I have moved away from my O-lifting buddies. I really don’t want to screw up my body or develop bad habits by trying to tackle this move alone, so I am saving up for some private sessions with a professional weight lifting coach. Unfortunately, private sessions are pretty damn expensive. So in the meantime, I bought a PVC pipe. Any suggestions on work I can do with the stick until I have enough money to work with a coach? Any good articles, books, videos, etc. I can look into to begin practicing the various pulls? For the strength portion of CFFB, is there a less technical exercise I can sub that will help my snatches when I can get the proper coaching? Am I going totally overboard here?

I really am trying to do the right, smart, safe thing, but I may be way off in my approach. If so, a point in the right direction is greatly appreciated.

At the risk of going all Swimfan on your asses, I think it’s safe to say that I love you guys. Thanks for everything you do.

Greg Everett

Greg Everett is co-host of The Paleo Solution podcast. He is the owner of Catalyst Athletics and co-founder of The Performance Menu. He was a competitive weightlifter under renowned coach Mike Burgener, and is the author of "the best book available on Olympic weightlifting": Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches and Olympic Weightlifting for Sports