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Looks pretty good. Two points that I'd not follow. Diet: Eating grains. Gluten is pretty much evil for everyone, including non-Celiacs. Google for "paleo diet" or "gluten autoimmune" to get a sense of gluten's impact. Also check out the "Save my Life" HN thread for more info about gluten-free/paleo. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1399450 Exercise: Cardio, long slow distance is pretty much useless. High intensity…
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Dunno if this is really a useful line of thinking for a beginner. I wholeheartedly agree with the advice of not overdoing it from the article. Particularly squats. Nothing better to wreck your knees or back than squats done with too much weight and/or poor technique. Excercise causes muscle damage which rest heals up (and results in stronger muscles). Aside from the obvious over- or understimulation, you do have some…
I assumed people would understand anyone who does this is not a beginner.
> Doing full squats with your bodyweight on the barbell 15 times (3 sets of 5) is like screaming at your body to get in shape and it will respond.
I do not think (very-)high-resistance training is a good approach for people wanting to be "in shape" but, then, I make a distinction between that and bodybuilding.
Looks pretty good. Two points that I'd not follow. Diet: Eating grains. Gluten is pretty much evil for everyone, including non-Celiacs. Google for "paleo diet" or "gluten autoimmune" to get a sense of gluten's impact. Also check out the "Save my Life" HN thread for more info about gluten-free/paleo. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=1399450 Exercise: Cardio, long slow distance is pretty much useless. High intensity…
Those two points seem to me like fringe advice. I'm sure if I googled "gluten autoimmune" and "tabata intervals" I'd find a bunch of people agreeing with you, but no more than I'd find with any number of other fad diets or exercise regimes. It'd take a helluva lot of evidence to persuade me that eating grains is bad, because... heck, grains are tasty, and the vast majority of humans who have lived over the last five…
Well, sugar, ice cream, cola - they are all tasty too.
Anyway, if you're interested in looking into ill effects of grain-based diets, there's a couple of links with some evidence.
http://wholehealthsource.blogspot.com/2009/03/paleopathology...
http://www.environnement.ens.fr/perso/claessen/agriculture/m...
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I assumed people would understand anyone who does this is not a beginner.
Possible, sorry if I lumped you with what warpwoof said above: > Doing full squats with your bodyweight on the barbell 15 times (3 sets of 5) is like screaming at your body to get in shape and it will respond. I do not think (very-)high-resistance training is a good approach for people wanting to be "in shape" but, then, I make a distinction between that and bodybuilding.
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I understand your viewpoint and opinion, as I've run into it before. I'm going to disagree that gluten has had "no obvious ill effects" because I've seen the changes in my clients lives, experienced it my self (gluten-intolerant) and my mother (Celiac). And your argument that eating grains is not bad because they taste good is preposterous. As for LSD, can you tell what appeals to you about the physique of a marathon…
I've seen the changes in my clients lives Ah, so you're someone who makes a living by selling diet plans? I'm afraid that if you're a professional x salesman that makes me somewhat less likely to trust your testimony on the advantages of x . experienced it my self (gluten-intolerant) and my mother (Celiac) Well obviously if you're gluten-intolerant then gluten is bad for you. And your argument that eating grains is n…
Certainly not. You just stop eating them. I stopped about half a year ago and never looked back. Well, my health was reasonably good so I can't say it improved dramatically since. However, I had some digestion issues before, these have been eliminated. This alone is enough for me to justify dropping grains, as digestion issues may become annoying and embarrassing at times. :)
I can swear by this - I've lost almost forty pounds since New Year's by cutting out the danishes, making my own lunches, and going to the gym regularly for weight lifting and cardio. The only thing I'd add - working out is time-consuming, and getting started at a gym is both hard and intimidating. Gyms themselves are counting on you to stop going - that's how they make their money. If you're having trouble getting st…
If personal willpower isn't getting it done, I'd suggest team sports. I got into rowing a few years ago, and it's been great. Basketball, soccer/football, tennis can be great sports for consistent quality workouts.
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I think speaking to others at the gym is somewhat cultural. In lower middle class neighborhoods of Jersey City (JSQ), you can talk to others. Ask for a spot or advice on form, tell them "bad form, watch out", whatever. In Manhattan gyms (at least the 2 or 3 I've used), no one talks to anyone else. Ever.
You might be onto something. In my old city I used to go to an older gym with mainly people who wanted to workout and get strong. The bars had rust on them and the crowd was all very friendly, not big family friendly but they would all say hey when you showed up. My new gym is a big box gym. It's super nice, and I keep telling a friend of mine that really it's too nice. The people aren't very friendly, but I think th…
Great article, agree with pretty much everything. The one advantage of machines over free weights is that the machine will enforce your form. If you are able to maintain form with free weights, the effort exerted to do so is an added bonus, but if you aren't, it's not good. I started with machines, and every couple workouts replaced a machine exercise with a free weight exercise. This helped me get started, and let m…
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Things like yoga will stimulate the body and build strength to a degree, but that is a much less efficient way to get in shape, in my opinion. One of the reasons compound lifts moving heavy weight are so important is the effect they have on your entire body. Doing heavy squats recruits nearly every muscle in your body. But it doesn't just stimulate those muscles, it also stimulates your central nervous system. Doing…
Yoga is perfectly good for "getting into shape" and there are several varieties with emphasis on strength, especially static strength. (Of course, "in shape" means different things to different people. I prefer endurance/cardio, many others think more in terms of strength/musculature.) As a gross oversimplification of the body types attained, yoga == Bruce Lee, weights == Arnold Schwarzenegger.
Edit: IIRC, Lee described running as the best exercise.
This is a great article, makes me want to get off my bum and do some exercise :) One thing I'd like to know is, for women, yoga and pilates and all that seems to be quite fashionable these days, but they don't tend to be either cardio or weightlifting -- what sort of effect do they have on the body?