What Stronglifts 5×5 Failure Looks Like

Posted on March 21, 2014October 9, 2014 by BJJ Caveman

Mehdi, the guy behind the Stronglifts 5×5 program that I’ve been using shared this video of what it looked like when he failed his squat sets.

I know the feeling. As I’ve gotten higher and higher in weight with the various movements, I’ve encountered failure more and more. It only makes sense, because the body’s capacity to deal with progressive increases in weight is finite.

The Stronglifts 5×5 protocol for dealing with failure is to try again with the same weight during the next session. If you fail again, you still try one more time the following session. … Read More

Ketonix Review

Posted on March 15, 2014June 25, 2015 by BJJ Caveman

Ketonix Review

I picked up the Ketonix Acetone Breathalyzer a little over a month ago and have been playing with it ever since. I wanted to know how accurate it was in detecting ketosis compared to the current gold standard, which are blood levels of beta-hydroxybutyrate (BHBA). I purchased this device directly from the source at www.ketonix.com based out of Sweden. The system I use to test my blood levels of BHOB is the Precision Xtra Blood Glucose and Ketone Meter (if you want to find out where to pick up strips for this you can check out this post).… Read More

Review: Ketonix Acetone Breathalyzer – Initial Impressions

Posted on March 1, 2014May 31, 2015 by BJJ Caveman

Review: Ketonix Acetone Breathalyzer – Initial Impressions

Just added a new tool to my arsenal. This new toy was the reason I started looking into the whole ketosis and false positive on alcohol breathalyzer things in the first place.

I first came across this as I was wandering around the reddit/keto page where some folks were discussing this contraption.

The general idea behind why the ketonix would be helpful is this:

When entering ketosis, we are encouraging the body to utilize fat as fuel rather than carbohydrate (glycogen and glucose)
Fat is broken down into three main ketone bodies which the body then uses for energy
- Beta-hydroxybutyrate: This is what is detected with blood ketone strips
- Acetoacetate – This is what is detected with the urine ketone strips
- Acetone – A break down product of acetoacetate which the body gets rid of via exhalation.

WARNING: Ketosis Can Trigger False Positives On Breathalyzers

Posted on February 25, 2014October 9, 2014 by BJJ Caveman

Apparently the ketones generated while being in ketosis and the acetone being exhaled via the mouth can trigger a false positive on breathalyzer tests!

Came across a few websites discussings this (here, here, here, here, and here).

I wish someone had made this clear to me before I started experimenting with ketosis, especially since I’m often in Los Angeles where they have surprise driving under the infuence stops.

Despite the fact that I very rarely drink alcohol now (because it can screw up fat burning), if I were ever randomly stopped and the officer were so inclined to have me take a breathalyzer test… having a false positive that I didn’t expect would create a whole host of problems.… Read More

Review: Stronglifts 5×5 – Initial Impressions

Posted on February 19, 2014October 9, 2014 by BJJ Caveman

Stronglifts 5×5 – Initial Impressions

In my travels throughout the interwebs I’ve come across various methods purported to increase strength. One of these is Body by Science, which many people who follow the Bulletproof Exec Dave Asprey report success with. One of the main benefits is that you only need to train for 12 minutes, once a week.

This is definitely something I want to experiment with in the future… but not quite yet.

Since one of the requirements of my next experiment, Carb Back-Loading, requires resistance training multiple times per week I needed to find something else.… Read More

What Have I Been Eating?

Posted on February 17, 2014October 9, 2014 by BJJ Caveman

For a few brief moments during my almost 3 week trip to Argentina and Antarctica I had the idea that I could still try to eat paleo/primal AND low carb while experiencing all the culture and different sorts of foods… this turned out to be a somewhat foolish idea which lasted all fo 5 seconds.

While I did manage to get some meals in that fit my ideal criteria, i.e. with the bar-b-que pork you see above, there was just too much good food to eat!… Read More