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Do we always need additional/external weights, or are there any body weight exercises that can target your bones? Perhaps leg bones are easier since the body weight goes through them. How about upper body (like shoulder area) and the spine?
You can do a lot with just bodyweight, but even the r/bodyweight folks recommend using a barbell for squats and deadlifts.
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"...dropped about 40 pounds without ever worrying about the diet side of things" "... [I made] an effort to avoid sugared soda, fruit juice (has a ton of sugar), junk food, etc." Important contradiction to point out there. I'd say you did worry about the diet side of things given the effort to avoid sugar and junk. It's a common and widely accepted saying that "abs are made in the kitchen." That's to say, if you want…
Might be unclear wording on my part. I was thinking about the fitness and nutritional sites, forums, etc. you find when you Google on this topic. A lot of them try to persuade you to follow some pretty complicated or restrictive dietary plans, or expect you to monitor every last thing you eat. When it comes to diet, I am an unashamedly lazy man. Lifting the weights is tough enough as it is. I'm not going to live on o…
Indoor climbing/bouldering is a nice alternative for ppl who find lifting boring. Despite mostly engaging upper body, it really gives you a good workout with the added problem solving challenge, balance and flexibility training.
- blends power and subtlety
- blends static and dynamic
- involves almost all limb chains
And on actual rock, having to judge a grabbing surface on the fly is beautiful to me, like playing violin.
Since I bet the overwhelming majority of our 300,000 years worth of homo sapiens ancestors and countless more years of prior ancestors exercised in these ways as a matter of course, I would instead title it "How sedentary lifestyles and lack of strength training degrade your body and mind."
All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream.
Since I bet the overwhelming majority of our 300,000 years worth of homo sapiens ancestors and countless more years of prior ancestors exercised in these ways as a matter of course, I would instead title it "How sedentary lifestyles and lack of strength training degrade your body and mind."
Not sure if I made that comment already on HN. But I was watching a documentary on some amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe. All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream.
"The average American flat-out loathes strength training. While about half of people do the recommended amount of aerobic activity each week, only 20% also do the muscle-strengthening moves that work major muscle groups." That definitely sums up myself. I am a cyclist. My totals for this week are 147.1 miles with 15,497 feet of climbing (I do nothing but mountains, flat is boring!), but if you ask me to do 10 push up…
You'd probably see nice returns in your cycling if you started doing heavy barbell squats too.
The obvious exception to this is track and road sprinters who benefit considerably from doing weight work. Everyone else serious about riding should just ride.
Since I bet the overwhelming majority of our 300,000 years worth of homo sapiens ancestors and countless more years of prior ancestors exercised in these ways as a matter of course, I would instead title it "How sedentary lifestyles and lack of strength training degrade your body and mind."
Not sure if I made that comment already on HN. But I was watching a documentary on some amazonian hunter-gatherer tribe. All the men from teens to elders looked like gym models. It never struck me until I was in my 30's - but really I have the body of a sick individual and the guy on the gym adverts is actually what the human body looks by design, not some sort of aspirational dream.
I've seen comments like this before, and they're valid, but I've also seen evolutionary biologists and/or anthropologists point out too that many if not most people who are wounded or sick die. So you're also seeing selection bias, where the healthy thrive and you don't see the unhealthy because they're dead.
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A related question would be: why doesn't my body dump all the fat, since I'm eating a surplus of calories anyway?
Presumably because carrying surplus fat has minimal cost relative to the evolutionary likelihood of famine. This is more obvious than the muscle scenario. For muscle, prior to the famine you get to do cool things like punch your neighbor and do pull ups. During a famine, you could consume your muscles as calories. Where is the cost?
Do we always need additional/external weights, or are there any body weight exercises that can target your bones? Perhaps leg bones are easier since the body weight goes through them. How about upper body (like shoulder area) and the spine?
The difference is absolutely incredible, I thought it was supposed to take weeks to see changes and then I tried that and it was nearly instantaneous.
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You can do a lot with just bodyweight, but even the r/bodyweight folks recommend using a barbell for squats and deadlifts.
You can get pretty far with kettlebells too. And they're easier to deal with for a home gym.
I'm familiar with kettlebells from Crossfit, but I know CF catches a lot of flak for how they use them.