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How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

nytimes.com

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Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#41

Post by BeatLeJuce »

01100011 wrote: post #35
leet_thow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."

Thank you for saying this, as I was about to post something similar. I came to the valley about 8 months ago, and switched from hiking to lifting because of time constraints. Since getting big, I've felt more and more out of place. I even caught one of my bosses referring to me as a 'bro' when he didn't realize I had dialed in to a meeting. Now, granted, the current crop of engineers I work with are some of the most…

Maybe you feel out of place because you're thinking in terms of "alphas" etc., which to me sounds like a totally douche/"bro" thing to do. Most people I know that don't lift don't care about body shapes etc., otherwise they would lift.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#42

Post by triceratops »

m463 wrote: post #11

We've already figured out that aerobic exercise increases our cognitive abilities https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aerobic_exercise#Neurobiologic... Even though weight training isn't aerobic, couldn't it still increase our state of fitness?

> Even though weight training isn't aerobic

It's never been clear to me what "aerobic" really means. Heavy or many-repped squat or deadlift sets will raise your heart rate plenty, and get you out of breath.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#43

Post by 01100011 »

BeatLeJuce wrote: post #41
01100011 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thank you for saying this, as I was about to post something similar. I came to the valley about 8 months ago, and switched from hiking to lifting because of time constraints. Since getting big, I've felt more and more out of place. I even caught one of my bosses referring to me as a 'bro' when he didn't realize I had dialed in to a meeting. Now, granted, the current crop of engineers I work with are some of the most…

Maybe you feel out of place because you're thinking in terms of "alphas" etc., which to me sounds like a totally douche/"bro" thing to do. Most people I know that don't lift don't care about body shapes etc., otherwise they would lift.

Heh, ya no. I use the term because it seems to be the closest word in common usage to what I'm trying to describe. I'm not going to spend 45 minutes typing a dissertation so I can avoid a sensitive term.

There was also a time when I was a fat nerd, about 22 years ago when I emerged from college, and for a while would have made many assumptions about the intelligence of someone who was fit and especially someone who was 'buff'(can I use that word? does it make me sound like I 'bro'? I don't know...).

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#44

Post by jplayer01 »

hueving wrote: post #27
fortran77 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure. Even though I don't want to admit it, I'm sure I, along with many others, would have more confidence in a fit, muscular person than an out-of-shape slovenly one.

I'm the opposite for hardcore engineers. An in-shape, muscular person looks like they have dedicated a non-trivial amount of time to not software. I presume most people that look like that just see writing software as "a job" and won't be as capable of fully owning anything more complex than small portions of a complex application.

Hitting the gym doesn't require significantly more time than any other hobby which one might take seriously. And I'd surmise it's possible to be a great engineer while also maintaining hobbies other than spending every waking second writing code.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#46

Post by mevile »

I recognize the value of these studies but I don't think they're worth the pain and distress inflicted on these animals.

I can't put myself in the place of these researchers and see myself injecting things that cause harm to the rats without feeling really shitty about the situation. Are they just numb to what they're doing?

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#47

Post by opportune »

dirtyid wrote: post #34
leet_thow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."

That comment is more directed towards the increase in eating disorders, body dysmorphia and negative thinking when comparing progress online. Particularly in men. 5 years ago, 5plate is a solid deadlift, now junior women are pulling that. And it's causing very brittle minded people grief and others to push too hard ruinously when it's clearly not in their cards. Not to mention predatory fake natties schilling nutriti…

Are there any specific eating disorders that these men you are describing are more inclined to be victims of? I feel like this whole intermittent fasting trend is a little eating-disorder-ish but it doesn't seem that bad overall.

I do agree the dysmorphia is getting bad. I wouldn't be surprised at all to learn that anabolic steroid use is growing rapidly. I think it's really analogous to how in certain sports, athletes feel like they need to use anabolic steroids to even compete; now because of instagram (and even just more people in real life... I've seen a few people at my shitty gym who almost definitely are juicing) it feels like these huge juiced up guys are everywhere and it threatens regular people's masculinity

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#48

Post by jplayer01 »

boringusername wrote: post #13
Kpourdeilami wrote: post #3

for me personally the biggest benefit of weight training has been the discipline it gives me. Once I stick to my gym plan, everything else in my day falls to its place. Knowing I have to be in the gym every other night from 10 to 11:30, gets me to get my chores done quickly before 10 and not waste time on Reddit/Netflix all night. I also listen to audio books between sets to make a better use of my down time For anyo…

That program is basically a rip-off of Mark Rippetoe’s work in Starting Strength which I also recommend.

It's not a rip-off. That doesn't even make any sense in an environment where you see people taking programs and basically remixing them or improving on them all the time. Taking inspiration, maybe. The weaknesses of SS are generally well-known (such as criminally low amount of volume), which is why people recommend programs like StrongLifts, GZCLP or 531 for beginners instead.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#49

Post by dvfjsdhgfv »

hueving wrote: post #27
fortran77 wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not sure. Even though I don't want to admit it, I'm sure I, along with many others, would have more confidence in a fit, muscular person than an out-of-shape slovenly one.

I'm the opposite for hardcore engineers. An in-shape, muscular person looks like they have dedicated a non-trivial amount of time to not software. I presume most people that look like that just see writing software as "a job" and won't be as capable of fully owning anything more complex than small portions of a complex application.

That's a strange view. Goof programmers are supposed to be smart people than can focus not only on little implementation details, but also the overall vision. Part of your overall vision as a human being is a healthy lifestyle, so I can see being fit only as an advantage, especially for a programmer.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#50

Post by bartread »

dirtyid wrote: post #34
leet_thow wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

On the social comparison note, I don't regret 8 years of constant training in the least, however I do suspect that if you do add a lot of musculature to a tall frame it can be a bit intimidating in engineering cultures where most men are out of shape and view the activity as "meatheadish."

That comment is more directed towards the increase in eating disorders, body dysmorphia and negative thinking when comparing progress online. Particularly in men. 5 years ago, 5plate is a solid deadlift, now junior women are pulling that. And it's causing very brittle minded people grief and others to push too hard ruinously when it's clearly not in their cards. Not to mention predatory fake natties schilling nutriti…

I'm not exactly sure what you mean by 5 plate, but if you're talking about 5 x 20kg plates on either end of an olympic bar (which is another 20kg), that's a 220kg/495lb deadlift and is still very much a solid deadlift.

For an 85kg man (average in UK is 83.6kg) that's as near as makes no odds 2.6x body weight.

For a 70kg woman (average in UK in 70.2kg) it's more than 3x body weight.

Generally anything more than 2x body weight is considered a solid deadlift for both men and women. Sure, not in powerlifting, but powerlifting is still pretty niche even amongst people who lift regularly.

(For comparison, I weigh 97kg (14-15% body fat) and would be over the moon with a 220kg deadlift. I'm heading in the right direction but a couple of unrelated skiing injuries have prevented me from getting there... and of course, I'm getting older, so who knows.)

EDIT: Corrected with ONS figures for average weights in UK.

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