It’s now the week after Christmas and I’m still reeling from all the shopping we did on Black Friday. I just wanted to share some of the stuff that we picked up especially since I plan on doing more in depth reviews on a few of these items in the future.
I’m not a big shopper. In fact I really don’t enjoy shopping and don’t buy many things.
Usually when I want to buy something like a supplement or health gadget or BJJ DVD I would just go ahead and buy it.
I don’t have the patience to wait until the next holiday sale to save a few bucks.
This drives the BJJ Cavewife crazy. She won’t allow herself to purchase something unless she knows she’s getting the best possible price.
She is a veritable sultana of sales. A baroness of bargains. A duchess of deals. She will ferret away those 20% Bed Bath and Beyond coupons and carry them on her at all times because you never know when you will need buy some linens or curtains or other domestic goods.
She knows which grocery stores have the best prices and will go to 3 different markets to get the best deal. I on the other hand will go to the nearest one and buy everything at once regardless of the price.
Welp, I finally came around the the BJJ Cavewife’s way of thinking during Black Friday of last year. My e-mail inbox was flooded with ads for promotional discounts and since our supplement stocks were running low, I went ahead and ordered a 6 month to 1 year supply of them. It actually worked out really well last year, despite an overcrowded supplement cabinet. This not only saved money, but it also saved time spent having to re-order supplements every couple of months.
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Here’s what we bought this year:
Avmacol Broccoli Sprout Extract
This is the product mentioned by Dr. Fahey, the John’s Hopkins professor that Rhonda Patrick interviewed. Dr. Fahey said that there are a lot of suspect companies putting out suspect products, but this is actually a legitimate product from a reputable company. This contains both glucoraphanin and myrosinase and this specific product has already been tested in 4 clinical trials. Some examples of clinical trials are here and here.
My preference is still to get my sulforaphane directly from broccoli sprouts and now that I have my sprouting technique dialed in we should have a regular source of fresh sprouts at home.
However when we’re on the road carrying around a bag of sprouts that need to be refrigerated is a pain, so taking these pills definitely is way more convenient.
Amazon sells this for $29.72 per bottle.
Alternatively, you can get it for $29.95 from the manufacturer website at Nutramaxstore.com where they offer a 10% off discount if you order 6 or more bottles.
We ordered 8 bottles which should last us 6 months to a year.
Laird Superfood Turmeric Creamer
I first heard about this from one of Tim Ferriss’ 5 bullet Friday e-mails. I really believe in the benefits of turmeric and its active ingredient curcumin which is a powerful anti-inflammatory and shown to be beneficial in treating tendon injuries as well as osteoarthritis. This is especially helpful for me given the heavy loads my joints face with regular BJJ training.
I haven’t had any significant injuries in the past 2 years and I attribute part of that to my supplement regimen.
I like to put two scoops of this along with two scoops of Great Lakes Collagen in my morning coffee before I head out the door. The creamer has a slightly sweet taste which isn’t overwhelming.
Amazon sells this for $20.35 per lb.
You can also get it from the Laird Superfood site for $16.95 with free shipping on orders over $40. On Black Friday they offered an additional 20% off so I stocked up on 6 of these.
We were pleasantly surprised to see that they threw in a free trucker hat.
Thorne Supplements
Thorne Research ran a 15% Black Friday discount so I made sure to stock up. When there isn’t a holiday discount I’ve found that Amazon usually has the best prices.
Amazon is my usual source for Pure Encapsulations products since they never runs promotions.
Perfusia SR – L-Arginine supplement which plays an important role in nitric oxide pathways. The nitric oxide system is something I’ve been reading about and wanting to experiment with since it can have powerful effects on recovery and performance.
Perfusia Plus – L-Arginine with added vitamin C, folate, green tea, R-lipoic acid, and resveratrol. I wanted to see if I could detect any difference between this and L-Arginine alone.
Nitric Oxide Ultra – L-Citrulline is the precursor to L-Arginine and can also help to stimulate nitric oxide production.
Pycnogenol – An antioxidant derived from pine bark that stimulates the enzyme nitric oxide synthase to help produce more nitric oxide.
Q Best 100 – CoQ 10 which is a powerful antioxidant.
Meriva 500 SF – This is perhaps the most regular staple of my supplement regimen and is my preferred source of curcumin. I like to take 1000 mg per day.
Super EPA Pro – Pure fish oil.
Athletic Greens
Athletic Greens is one of the other major staples in my supplement regimen. This is my go to source for vitamins, minerals, and other antioxidants. Here’s the review I wrote a few years back which I still agree with.
The benefit is that they now come in single serving packets which makes it convenient for me to bring to work. Now I throw a couple of packets into my work bag at the beginning of the week and have enough to make a cup for myself every afternoon. I get to stretch my legs, chit chat by the water cooler, and enjoy a regular dose of greens.
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Sleep Remedy
Unfortunately Doc Parlsey didn’t have any Black Friday promotions so the only discount available was the 10% off from using the code: bjjcaveman.
This is still our favorite sleep supplement which we use to get over jet lag and for the evenings we need to ensure a good nights sleep. Of course because of the steep price we use it sparingly so a box will last us 3-4 months.
They released a new flavor, Lemon & Lime, as well as a capsule formulation so we wanted to try them out. Having this in capsule form would really minimize the risk of drinking too much liquid and having to pee in the middle of the night.
Natural Calm
This is my favorite source of magnesium. It consists of magnesium citrate which is the most absorbable form of magnesium. I like to drink 2-3 tsp of this on days I train to prevent cramping and enhance recovery.
Sometimes we use this to help us sleep when we aren’t quite willing to open a packet of Sleep Remedy since these are much more affordable. They only go for $45.29 for 2 canisters on Amazon which lasts us 6-9 months!
Here’s some of the non-supplement stuff we bought:
Diamond MMA Groin Cup and Virus Compression Shorts
MMAWarehouse had some great deals so I picked up a second Diamond MMA groin cup for $59.95 which normally retails for $89.95 on Amazon and a pair of Hypnotix X Virus Compression Shorts for $25.99 which normally retails for $32.99 on Amazon.
To top if off I was able to apply a coupon code for an additional 15% off!
The Diamond MMA groin cup is the most comfortable cup I’ve ever used. In fact I don’t even realize I have it on 95% of the time. The 5% of the time I know it’s on are when my training partners throw an inadvertent knee or foot into my groin, and instead of the expected paralyzing pain from a direct shot to the family jewels all I hear is a muffled thunk. I feel a wave of relief and then we keep on sparring.
I now refuse to train without it. I don’t care how good you or your training partner are, getting hit in the ‘nads is not a question of IF it’s a question of WHEN.
Do yourself a favor and protect your important bits.
Dr. Tung’s Smart Floss
Ever since I’ve started paying more attention to my oral hygiene since periodontal disease can be related to Alzheimer’s, cholesterol, and overall inflammation, I’ve become very particular about flossing. I’ve tried the Glide, Reach, Satin, and many other types of floss and Dr. Tung’s is my favorite. It’s a little pricey since a pack of 6 goes for $19.18 on Amazon and there weren’t any sales, but I just love how it expands in the spaces between my teeth and removes more plaque than all the other types.
Just a word of warning, if the spaces between your teeth are really tight this might not work for you since it’s on the thicker side.
The BJJ Cavewife has really tight interdental spaces and whenever she tries to use this it’s a struggle and leaves her gums feeling sore. She actually prefers the Glide.
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Reebok Crossfit Nano 7
These were on sale on Amazon for $71.00 (a quick check shows that they’re still on sale for that price). The Nano 6’s are my favorite zero drop sneaker of all time for Crossfit, lifting, walking, and everything in between. Unfortunately the tread is starting to wear out so when I saw the 7’s on sale I snatched them up.
I still haven’t tried these out yet since I’m having a hard time emotionally letting go of my 6’s…
PixStar 10.4 in Digital Frame
We were looking for a way to display our photos and this frame received a lot of great reviews. Unfortunately there weren’t any deals on this and it’s a little pricey running for $159.99 on Amazon.
There are wifi and cloud capabilities but we opted to simply load up an SD card and plug it in. After a few days we can say with a high degree of certainty that this singular purchase has probably brought the most day to day joy in our lives of everything we’ve bought on Black Friday.
We placed it in a highly trafficked area in our kitchen and every time a new photo comes up it spurs fond memories and happy discussions. We always end up staring at it for the next few minutes with big smiles on our faces.