5 Things That Make Life Better
Hops, yo.
1. Pale Ales, IPAs and Double IPAs.
For those of you who don't care about beer and think Budweiser "tastes good" then I must note that you probably won't like most Pale Ales or India Pale Ales (IPAs). Most are hoppy (bitter), abrasive (fairly high alcohol content), and thick (malty).
And that's just the way I like them.
My favorites (in no particular order):
Rogue Double Dead Guy Ale
Flying Dog Double Dog Pale Ale
Stone IPA
Sierra Nevada (the old standby)
Dogfish Head 60 Minute and 90 Minute IPAs. (The 120 will knock you on your ass!)
2. Ramping the weight from set to set for every exercise and learning how to auto-regulate your training.
This has been huge for me in my last couple of workouts. Don't know what I'm talking about? Check it.
3. Chicken Skewers from the Gourmet Nutrition Cookbook
Just another reason why I love Precision Nutrition.
Materials:
Bamboo skewer sticks (99 cents for 100ct)
2 Boneless, skinless chicken breasts
Can of pineapple chunks
Apple (cut into chunks)
Red pepper (cut into squares)
Onion (cut into squares)
1 tbsp Butter (melted)
1/2 tsp Ginger
1/4 tsp Salt
1/4 tsp Chili Powder
Instructions:
Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Slide ingredients onto stick. (That's what she said.) Combine melted butter, ginger, salt, and chili powder in a small bowl. Place the skewers on a baking tray and brush with the butter mixture on all sides. Place skewers in oven and bake until chicken is cooked through (12-15 minutes). Eat!
4. AJ Jacobs
I just finished his latest book, The Guinea Pig Diaries, and it reaffirmed what I've always thought: Jacobs is a bad-ass writer.
Part Malcolm Gladwell and part Bill Bryson, Jacobs (who's also an editor at Esquire magazine) is a very consistent and hilarious author. I've enjoyed all three of his books and his articles in Esquire. I highly suggest you pick them up.
5. E-mails from guys and girls I've helped
A lot of e-mails run together, but a few times per week I get one from someone who has really taken my advice and put it into action.
I've received notes from guys who've quit their jobs, got new ones, found the girl of their dreams, put on 20 pounds of muscle, started new blogs, and traveled to different countries.
I appreciate the kind words and am glad I could help.
So what 5 things are making your life better? Let me know in the comments!
Comments for This Entry
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1) Vicodin
2) Ice packs
3) Crutches
4) Automatic transmission
5) Nearly unlimited amount of sick days from work -
1. Circumin to blunt the pain in my nose.
2. Bleach to take the blood out of my white shirt, and off of my shorts.
[Both attributed my unofficial boxing match on Sunday =).]
3. Being a second year instead of a first year in college.
4. Having my shit put together and all my meals prepared for the week
5. Doing a kettlebell workout on the grass, in the sun, and overlooking Monterey Bay: http://tinyurl.com/m4eqn6 -
Rancilio Silvia Espresso Machine with Counter Culture Espresso Forza
iPod touch
James Perse v-necks
Kicking Mule Workshop 1980 Jeans
The World Atlas of Wine 6th edition -
1) Brewed Beverages. (Coffee, Tea, Yerba Mate, Beer. . . ) Couldn't live without 'em.
2) Olympic Lifts.
3) Good friends, laughs, and memories
4) Travel. Anywhere, anytime.
5) Hot Florida weather and mini-skirts. -
1. this iPhone
2. good coffee, not that 7-11 BS
3. good beer~>I havent tried several of those varieties but I too love a Sierra Nevada on draft and I love Sam Adams as well.
4. No Xplode
5. fast super intense workouts-I'm really busy. -
1. God
2. Coffee
3. Changing workout routines and trying new exercises
4. Studying to become a personal trainer
5. A day off after working 6 13 hour days making pizzas -
1. The Internet- for access to unlimited information (oh yeah, and free porn!)
2. Consciousness- for the ability evolve and bring a deeper awareness and understanding to our ultimate reality, and thus the power to influence it.
3. Natural and Organic Foods- for the healthy nutrients they provide without all of the crap that conventional foods possess and have been poisoning us with
4. Technology- for providing new toys and solutions to new and existing problems
5. Women- for making being a man extremely more enjoyable and for the motivation, love, and compassion they provide (well some of them anyway!)
Good article on Thib and training. Great points!
Brandon -
1.) Weight lifting- Just keeps me focused
2.) Books- No particular kind just like reading
3.) Coffee shops
4.) Itunes- I can jam out to music for hours
5.) Sporting events- Just a fun weekend experience, plus you get to travel sometimes. -
There's nothing I could write here that wouldn't make me sound like a hormonal 16 year old kid ...
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1) Coffee
2) A great trainer
3) Running
4) Glucosamine Chondroitin
5) My MacBook Pro -
1. A good sleep.
2. Watching a brand new episode of "How I Met Your Mother", "The Big Bang Theory", and/or "Departures" (a phenomenal travel show made by Canadians. Check out www.departuresentertainment.com. It's great for its music, adventures, stories, photography, cinematography, travels, and exposures to various cultures.)
3. Reading blogs on my bloglines.com account; it's like my own version of newspaper.
4. Fun times with friends, which is too rarely unfortunately.
5. Travel, with fantastic music ready to go.
And, if I could add #6, then it would be reading or watching stories about a person's journey in life. -
1) Football- Born and raised in Texas; for me its part religion. It would be blasphemy to say anything less.
2) Bumper Plates-I have no idea how I used metal plates for the Olympic Lifts in high school nor how the old timers used metal plates but I cannot imagine doing jerks with 155kg out of the rack with metal plates.
3) Liberal Democracy-Does anyone care for some "Individual freedom and popular sovereignty."
4) Emerson/Thoreau (I know that is two.)-Two of the greatest American writers of all time.
5) Thank God for Patrick Tillman-For doing everything in the face of great odds, to living your life without rules. Ubermensch... -
Much of what has been touched on above but I'll add five to the list
1) Good friends (real friends are hard to come by, so take care of the ones you have)
2) Family (they won't be around forever....don't neglect them today)
3) Learning (never stop)
4) Sports (the REAL reality TV)
5) A job I enjoy (had one I hated and life was miserable) -
I was on the hunt for a Dogfish head 90 (or 120) minute IPA, no luck. I did try another of their beers. You should give this one a try if you can find it.
I have two items that make my life better:
1.) New Guitars
2.) Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 program -
1] My new wife
2] Insurance
3] College football season is here
4] Learning new things everyday (both at work and elsewhere)
5] The realization that saving now will result in large gains later -
1. good coffee
2. resistance training
3. good food
4. rest, naps, leisure time
5. reading, studying and learning -
Nate, if you like your pale ales then you should really try some good Australian varieties. May i suggest Coopers Pale Ale, Coopers Sparkling Ale and Little Creatures Pale Ale just to get you started........
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1. God
2. Family and Friends
3. Lifting and Soccer
4. iPod
5. Guinness and Cigars
Nate, I love that T-Nation glass. Are they going to sell those or is it just an employee perk? -
1. everybody has said coffee so far, and i agree. i'll say Panera's underrated dark roast
2. bill simmons and chuck klosterman
3. madden 10 on a giant LCD tv
4. any combination of chocolate/peanut butter...preferably in shake form
5. beats by dre headphones -
Thanks for all your comments, guys. Some very cool stuff here.
@Christopher
What beer were you saying I should try?
@ Collin
My friend Trevor actually made that for me. Check it out:
http://www.bluedragonllc.com/Drinkware.html
-Nate -
Sorry Nate, I guess my anchor tag was eaten up. here's the link:
http://www.mendobrew.com/brews/spring_bock.html -
Nate and other beer lovers...
If you like hops, try Heavy Seas Loose Cannon
it's one of my fav's and I love IPAs. -
haha, N.o. explode?! I guess to each their own...
1. the perfect song coming on when you most need it in the middle of a tough set
2. proving people wrong
3. the yard house- happy hour. (nate if you haven't been there, you gotta go! http://www.yardhouse.com/aboutus.asp)
4. meeting people who will help change your life
5. whiteboards -
1. Getting Married in 1 month (exactly)
2. Having a job I love
3. Being halfway done with school
4. Books, books, and more books
5. Finding some free time in my schedule to squeeze in some gaming with my long distance friends -
1. My Wife
2. My Kids
3. Lifting and Running
4. Good Food
5. Good Drink
By the way I tried the Double Dog IPA. The 11.5% apv was a welcome surprise. -
1. Going to look like a shmuck and also go with craft brews.
2. Lifting something heavy and then putting it back where I got it
3. Professors who know/care what they are teaching
4. NPR
5. Clothes that fit correctly
(I'm going to throw in spell-check as an honorable mention)
I know you've gotten a number of recommendations already, but I'm going to toss my hat in the ring with Weyerbacher Double Simcoe IPA -
1) Finally etting out of my home town.
2) Having a job that lets me have lazy days and a life of fun.
3) Lifting heavy things
4) a Good drink (I love to drink elephant beer by Carlsberg which is hard to find even where I live).
5) Nurofen plus (I have just had a car accident and these over the counter pain killers are really helping me get through the day sometimes)
If I could add some more I would add
6) My ipod.
7) Reading.
8) My girlfriend. -
Hey Nate have you heard of Beeradvocate.com? How are the local breweries/ beers in Montana? If you ever come to Texas you have to try some of our local brews. Shiner Bock is a nice one, its no IPA but boy its good beer.
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If you ever get the chance, try Alpha King from Three Floyds brewery in Indiana. One of the best pale ales around. Also the Dreadnaught Imperial IPA is darn good.
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Good article. number 1 I agree with!
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Dave 9:57am Sep 22, 2009