1. For the past 2-3 years I've been enjoying better pancakes than anyone else on the planet. It's about time I share them with you, no? They are buckwheat pancakes, and, even thought they look like poop, they taste incredible and are extremely versatile. Buckwheat is impressive for many reasons: it's a complete protein, high in fiber, has a low impact on blood sugar, and is gluten-free. As such, you don't have to feel quite as guilty if you consume buckwheat pancakes compared to your usual buttermilk cakes.
To give you an idea of how excellent these things are, I first began eating them with a good buddy of mine in college. Due to our schedules, the best time to do this was at 6:30AM on Friday mornings. As more of our friends discovered this, our little duo on Friday mornings quickly morphed into an event that we (oh-so-cleverly) dubbed "Pancake Friday." On the average, we'd have 7-10 guys in attendance, with an upwards of 15-20 as it grew in popularity. We always ate outside (yes, even in December...I didn't say we were the smartest of human beings), on a large wooden picnic table we had in the yard.
The fact that 8-20 college guys would wake up before 6:30AM on Friday mornings to partake in the awesomeness of these pancakes is, I believe, quite a case for how good these things are.
My two favorite fillings to use are chocolate chips (Ghirardelli is where it's at), and blueberries. While chocolate chips are obviously the less-healthy option, I've found them perfect for a weekend treat, especially after lower body training on Sundays.
I particularly love them with a thin coat of Organic Valley pasture butter, along with peanut butter and Agave Nectar on top. If you're a "skinny-guy" looking to gain some weight, be very liberal with your use of peanut butter and number of pancakes you consume. If fat-loss is your goal, I'd stick with blueberries for the filling and eat just a few of the pancakes with a side of eggs and/or veggies. Either way they're freakin' amazing.
Oh. It's a MUST that you use the Bob's Red Mill Buckwheat mix. I've tried nearly every buckwheat mix on the block and I can say that Bob's Red Mill takes the cake on this one (pun intended).
2. I recently received an email from a female reader of our blog, Juliet. She keeps an GREAT blog over at HeyJoob, and I encourage everyone to check it out; especially the females in the audience.
Anyway, she wrote me to let me know that she was reading our website and stumbled across a post I wrote (Animal Crawl Variations), and was inspired to give them a shot for herself. She filmed the session and I thought it was incredible:
- She was training outside, and I've written about the superb benefits of training outside HERE.
- She has absolutely no shame in posting a video of herself doing something "abnormal."
- It's always refreshing to see a female that "gets it" and tries something besides the elliptical for a change. It was cool to see Juliet getting in an aerobic training session utilizing a slightly unconventional modality. And trust me, these things are way harder than they look.
You can see the video below:
3.Squatmageddon. Tony Gentilcore recently wrote an incredible (and entertaining) response to the fact that some gyms (that shall remain unnamed) up in NYC have BANNED squat racks in their facilities!! WHAT?!?!?!
It's a HUGE shame to see this, and is, unfortunately, an indicator of the current state and mindset a shockingly-large percent of the fitness industry. I highly encourage you to check it out, as I'm sure you'll find it entertaining as well.
You can read about it HERE.