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Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

nytimes.com

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Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#111

Post by hueving »

notacoward wrote: post #101
hueving wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biking, swimming, and rowing are all better on the joints than the impact from running. >P.S. Instead of getting your friends to downvote, how about suggesting an actually-healthy alternative? Don't complain about downvotes, it makes for boring conversation.

Good thing that's not all I wrote, then. Kudos for ignoring most of the rest to focus on that. As for the other part of your comment, when I mentioned swimming etc. in the context of overall benefit, not harm to joints. I've yet to see evidence that cycling is easier on the joints, and I've seen plenty that it's slightly below running in terms of aerobic benefit. Sure, an elite cyclist probably has a higher VO2max th…

VO2max has nothing to do with joints. Your post is all over the place.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#112

Post by naasking »

mannykannot wrote: post #50
hueving wrote: post #42

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since forever. The human body is very efficient. You have to run about 1 mile to burn 100 calories. Skipping a 1000 calorie lunch is the equivalent of running 10 miles when it comes to weight loss. Put another way, without a diet change, you would have to run about 35 miles to lose just 1 pound of fat. Running is good for the heart and lungs. For weight loss, not so much.

I think running reduces my appetite.

Ditto.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#113

Post by VA3FXP »

monkmartinez wrote: post #55
hueving wrote: post #40

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Biking, swimming, and rowing are all better on the joints than the impact from running. >P.S. Instead of getting your friends to downvote, how about suggesting an actually-healthy alternative? Don't complain about downvotes, it makes for boring conversation.

I had 2 herniated discs (L4-L5, L5-S1) in 2014 due to swinging an axe over my head for an extended period of time on a large structure fire. I say that to say this; running is way better for my back than cycling. My left leg, mostly my foot, still haven't completely recovered from the nerve impingement, but I am running 30 to 40 miles a week with no problems (lots of trail running too, check my Strava :) ) I can't cy…

I beg you to consider recumbent bikes. I am an avid cyclist. I ride daily to work. (less so now that the roads are icy) I have had back surgery (L4/L5 is now fused).

I went on a bike tour where I rode for 13+hrs a day for a month. At the end of the day the only thing sore was my muscles.

I weigh almost 300lbs.

A recumbent bike is a complete life changing, world altering, paradigm shifting, bundle of awesome. I beg you to look into it, or send me a PM if you have any questions.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#114

Post by devilsavocado »

I'm curious if the effects on the brain from running are the same as from meditation [0]. Any long distance runner will tell you that you can definitely get into a meditative-like state. Personally, I've noticed similarities in my mental state from meditation and running for 30+ minutes.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/inspired-life/wp/2015/05...

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#115

Post by dahart »

tempestn wrote: post #82
dahart wrote: post #69

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Here's a couple of citations for you. Both are generally exercise vs calorie control, not specific to running. Of course, running lands in the exercise category. https://youtu.be/ztiHRiFXtoc https://youtu.be/eXTiiz99p9o My personal experience of a lifetime of moderate amounts of running has been that it didn't help me lose weight at all, it increased my strength and endurance. But when I run and when I exercise, I ea…

Presumably this varies a lot person to person. I find it much easier to lose weight with a combination of exercise and calorie restriction than with the latter alone. Yes, I get a bit hungrier when I exercise, but that just helps with focusing on eating when I'm hungry. It also allows me to eat somewhat more, thereby enjoying the experience of eating healthy food more, so it lessens the perceived hardship of calorie…

I actually haven't tried counting calories without exercising, but I'm absolutely certain you're right that this varies from person to person.

Exercising does afford me the opportunity to eat a little more after a workout, and I get to reward myself with a treat sometimes. I suspect that makes counting calories a lot easier.

Fully agree on it being motivational, and I'd go further about the benefits. Exercise is mandatory for me personally, it is a higher priority than most things, including weight loss.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#116

Post by notacoward »

hueving wrote: post #111
notacoward wrote: post #101

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Good thing that's not all I wrote, then. Kudos for ignoring most of the rest to focus on that. As for the other part of your comment, when I mentioned swimming etc. in the context of overall benefit, not harm to joints. I've yet to see evidence that cycling is easier on the joints, and I've seen plenty that it's slightly below running in terms of aerobic benefit. Sure, an elite cyclist probably has a higher VO2max th…

VO2max has nothing to do with joints. Your post is all over the place.

No, my post is not all over the place. You're just not very good at reading. Effect on joints was the OP's point 1. Effect on fitness was point 3. Must I address those points in separate replies, even though they were made in one? That's absurd. Also, they're not completely unrelated and I've even drawn the lines between them. Talk of running's negatives should be balanced by consideration of its positives. Even if running is harmful to the joints, and already cited evidence suggests otherwise, that might still be outweighed by the aerobic benefits. More people die of heart attacks than of sore knees. I don't think it's unreasonable to counter unremittingly negative commentary with some mention of positives.

Next time, try reading what others write, instead of cherry-picking one piece out of context to address in support of your biases.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#117

Post by revelation »

njs12345 wrote: post #92
brianwawok wrote: post #38

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As a sometimes fat runner, I cite myself. Weight is won or lost in the kitchen. Full stop. A 1 hour run might burn 500 calories. If you go and eat till you are not hungry, you can easily eat 800 or 900 calories. You are not going to lose much weight at the method.

A 1 hour run for me burns 1000+ calories: https://www.strava.com/activities/800853045 Of course it's possible to eat 1000 calories' worth of food in one sitting, especially if you're eating something with tons of carbs in. But if you keep your diet roughly the same and go on a 1 hour run three times a week, you'll definitely start losing weight..

You are not burning 1200 calories in a hour run at 10min/mile. At an average 25% efficiency that is the equivalent of producing 350W on an ergo for a whole hour, which is well beyond the genetic ability of the vast majority of the population.

(The idea that sport can't help you lose weight is still ridiculous of course, even if you are only burning 600 calories per hour. Bad habits make you overweight and establishing good habits (like exercise) is the key to get out of that.)

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#118

Post by Humdeee »

WalterBright wrote: post #62
eutectic wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There are plenty of compelling arguments against excessive running: 1) It is destructive to your joints and tendons. Injury rates are very high among runners. 2) It is stressful, resulting in chronically elevated cortisol levels. 3) It is time consuming and boring (of course this is subjective), and very inefficient at improving fitness.

> It is time consuming and boring Not for me. Mentally, it's the most productive part of my day. I "zone out" and work on problems that I haven't solved yet. Most design issues I work out while running, I write papers while running, I put together presentations while running. Many, many perplexing bugs I've solved while out for a run. Of course, I've been running for decades. When I started out, it was time consuming…

I will never argue it's not time-consuming. Last year, I trained for 4 marathons and logged over 2000km of mileage. I don't want to think of the time that went into it, but I had a great time. The lonely "boring" runs I interpret for myself as a way to disconnect from the world and just zone out. Running with a group or with music curbs this greatly.

All sports have a bit of injuries, but those who last are those who take care. Changing shoes every 500km or so, foam-rolling muscles and joints, not running through pain, etc. Proper nutrition (during longer runs AND as a lifestyle) also helps immensely. Slowly optimizing your gait, cadence, and varying your weekly training so you have those back-off weeks for recovery. These are what keep you on your feet.

Here's my kicker that throws people off. I would rather watch a marathon on TV with full commentary than any other sporting event. I love it and follow the scene pretty closely. And this is coming from a guy who played professional soccer in his early 20's.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#119

Post by notacoward »

hueving wrote: post #110
dajohnson89 wrote: post #49

Earlier quoted context omitted.

A beer is, say, 150 calories. A mile of running burns about 100 calories. When I ran, cruising speed was 7 minutes per mile. So a light 6 mile (10k) run would be about 45 minutes, 600 calories, or 6 miles.

I wouldn't call 150 calories of beer heavy drinking. A pint of something like Guinness is a little over 200 calories. "SAMHSA defines heavy drinking as drinking 5 or more drinks on the same occasion" So you're right that heavy drinking of beer could be undone with running, but it's going to take a 10-11 mile run every day.

Why can't you just admit you were wrong? You said no amount without specifying how much eating/drinking you were talking about. That's a pretty absolute statement, refuted by the facts others have provided.

Re: Running as a Thinking Person’s Sport

#120

Post by Humdeee »

brianwawok wrote: post #38
naasking wrote: post #34

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Running is not great for losing weight Since when? I'd like a citation on that.

As a sometimes fat runner, I cite myself. Weight is won or lost in the kitchen. Full stop. A 1 hour run might burn 500 calories. If you go and eat till you are not hungry, you can easily eat 800 or 900 calories. You are not going to lose much weight at the method.

It's a bit more complex than the commonly spouted calories in/calories out argument.

There is still a lot that we don't know with regards to metabolism. I am usually a higher mileage runner during spring to fall months (70-90km / week) and although I scale my eating to offset my calories burned, I will still lose weight. I will not provide a citation but it's quite widely known that metabolism increases as the body normalizes into a training period or regimen. And increasing with diminutive returns as the training increases. Recovery also burns more calories even while sedentary (as you should be when recovering).

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