I'm obsessed with grip strength.

While I won't be walking into Grip Strength Anonymous anytime soon, know that my obsession comes from a good - but embarrassing - place. As late as last year, whenever I shook someone's hand my wrist and hand would pop.  I know it doesn't sound like a big deal - until you're on the receiving end of that handshake.

I spent yesterday afternoon giggling and nodding in agreement as I reread my Myers-Briggs personality result.  What's the Myers-Briggs personality test?  It's a self-report questionnaire designed to indicate how people perceive the world and make decisions.  Or as I like to call it, the "get out of my head!" test.

While I've known my result for a while - an INTJ - I like to read the description every few years as it's a humbling and affirming tool.  For example, INTJ's tend to challenge traditional ways of thinking and have very high self-confidence (would it be too ironic to say that I agree?).  On the flip side, INTJ's can also be seen as arrogant and judgmental.

Why is that important?  Because you may believe I'm all four qualities after reading my thoughts below on Crossfit.

When I first heard the phrase "curse of knowledge" I knew exactly what it meant.  For one, I thought of past teachers that couldn't understand why I failed to grasp their subject (looking at you, my 9th grade math teacher).  For another, I thought of my previous life as a social marketer, when I had a boss keen on telling me that what I "should've done" only after it had been completed.

In both cases, someone forgot what it's like to be without the knowledge that they take for granted. I'll be the first one to say that I get plagued by the curse of knowledge all the time. I try to hide it well - the curse, that is, hopefully not the knowledge - but it still leaks out.

Nutrition can be summed up by five words: round and round we go.  At least that's the prevailing thought for many of my fellow Americans. And for good reason.  

The past few weeks have been a great example of flip-flopping nutrition headlines.  We learned three weeks ago that processed meats cause cancer and red meat probably does too.  Last week we also learned that "junk food" doesn't cause obesity, only the amount we consume (which is complete BS, but I'll bite my tongue until later).

Which begs the question: if we ditch our Italian subs for Big Macs, are we better off? Of course not.  But I can't blame you for thinking that way.

It's easy to get lost in nutrition with it's ever-changing status.  In fact, if the field of nutrition were a 2016 Presidential nominee I'm pretty sure it would say "I was for and against saturated fats before I was for them again." (<---a joke only a cynical, political science major would make)

The title of this post is more than paying homage to one of my favorite books,  In Defense of Food - it's a defense of a much maligned science. And that's unfortunate because we've known the staples of a healthy diet for several decades: fruits and vegetables, minimally processed carbohydrates, lean proteins and plenty of unsaturated fats (olive oils, nuts, fish, etc.) What's been confusing isn't the science, it's the failure to properly communicate it.

You can't be surprised by the title.  

If you've spent at least 8 minutes with me, you know I'm a deadlift guy.  But my love for deadlifts transcends the unmatched, primal feeling of picking something heavy off the floor.  It's rooted in science.  And as I mentioned to someone earlier this week, deadlifting serves a greater purpose.

Squatting is a different beast. I've mentioned before that any type of squat is my own dose of humble pie.  One time I even said that my legs and torso were so long that I "wasn't built to squat."  As a strength coach, I'm ashamed I let those words come out of my mouth. :)

But a few years ago I realized I wasn't alone.  Most people struggle to squat correctly - for years - but can usually conquer deadlifts after a few weeks.  I had to find out why and only recently found the answer.