Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie • Hacker News Board

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#121

Post by adolph » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:33 PM UTC

yummyfajitas wrote: post #101

wil2k wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Don't eat what your grandmother wouldn't recognize". is how I've heard it being summarized. :)

So no Indian/Chinese/Japanese/Mexican food? No avocados? No seafood, unless your grandparents are from the coast? (Food diversity sucket in our grandparent's era. )

I think that one of the weaknesses of Pollan's saying is how it can be interpreted by people who haven't read his other stuff. Taken literally, someone much younger than Pollan might think that Pollan advocates for broccoli to be boiled and smothered in Velveeta.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#122

Post by jcampbell1 » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:33 PM UTC

not hacker news.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#123

Post by sandGorgon » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:38 PM UTC

dualogy wrote: post #81

I swear by bodyweight-only resistance / circular strength training. Currently doing TacFit -- despite their ridiculous hard-sell marketing which is uselessly and pointlessly "spec ops" and warrior-themed (I won't link as I'm not affiliated other than a legit happy user). But there are more body-weight approaches than that one. Google circular strength training / CST and much cheaper than buying the TacFit videos woul…

do you know how it compare to Insanity - I'm especially interested in the Tabata interval angle.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#124

Post by poppysan » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:41 PM UTC

reason wrote: post #100

NickPollard wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to argue that what you describe isn't good, but 'nature intended us to' isn't a particularly solid argument. You could argue that nature intended us to die from Malaria by the age of 30, I'm very glad that for most of the world that's no longer the case.

Us not readily acquiring the malaria virus is not due to evolution of our genes; we just don't live in the areas where the vector thrives. If you and I were bit by an infected mosquito, there's a very good chance either of us would die in a relatively short period of time. Although, there are some in Africa who do have fewer chances of acquiring it due to them being heterozygotes for sickle cell anemia. Anyway, I'm n…

I think the point is that we don't fight it "natually", we fight it with medicine and vaccines. We also have access to clean water which, if we did get malaria, would prevent us from dying from rapid dehydration(which in my understanding is the primary cause of death from malaria.) This is the argument against the caveman diets...

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#125

Post by scotty79 » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:44 PM UTC

jules wrote: post #60

[citation needed] Here's another anecdote: No lifting weights, only running & cycling and lately swimming. Pretty much the opposite of what the article is arguing. Since I started this I'm doing I'm doing fairly well, six pack included. I went to the gym once, and saw bulked up guys getting 5 pull ups. So I tried that and could easily do 30. Lifting weights may make you look like a bodybuilder, but are you really fit…

When I was going to the gym (old school) three times a week I couldn't do a single pull up. Once I quit in two weeks or so I could do my usual slack ass five pull ups.

Funny thing is that I still could only do 10-20 pushups but they were effortless, completely different then at the time I was slacking.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#126

Post by scotty79 » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:48 PM UTC

xiaoma wrote: post #117

The author clearly equates fitness with strength, and some of his claims are way off. Here's one: "...maintaining cardiovascular fitness doesn’t really take much more than breathing uncomfortably hard for about 20 minutes, three times a week" As a former competitive runner, I've read hundreds of studies and abstracts about improving various cardio-vasuclar metrics. 20 minutes, three times a week is barely enough to g…

You don't feel fit if you can run 5k but you struggle to move a fridge or feel strain while lifting up you kid or your woman.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#127

Post by jimmyk » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:56 PM UTC

pge wrote: post #119

would you take coding advice from someone that couldn't write "hello world" in C? Then don't take fitness advice from someone that, by his own admission, could only squat 40 lbs before he wrote the article...

For your analogy, he couldn't write "hello world" in C before writing the article. Before finishing the article, he was able to write software better than the vast majority of developers. While writing the article, he received training and advice from the person who trained the best developers. I'd sure pay attention.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#128

Post by dalore » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:59 PM UTC

reason wrote: post #100

NickPollard wrote: post #70

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not going to argue that what you describe isn't good, but 'nature intended us to' isn't a particularly solid argument. You could argue that nature intended us to die from Malaria by the age of 30, I'm very glad that for most of the world that's no longer the case.

Us not readily acquiring the malaria virus is not due to evolution of our genes; we just don't live in the areas where the vector thrives. If you and I were bit by an infected mosquito, there's a very good chance either of us would die in a relatively short period of time. Although, there are some in Africa who do have fewer chances of acquiring it due to them being heterozygotes for sickle cell anemia. Anyway, I'm n…

I disagree with your statement about dying in a short period of time if you catch malaria. I grew up in a country with a high malaria rate (Papua New Guinea). I caught malaria several times and didn't die. Malaria is a curable disease, all though it is evolving against the current cures.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#129

Post by mkr-hn » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 2:59 PM UTC

yummyfajitas wrote: post #101

wil2k wrote: post #86

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"Don't eat what your grandmother wouldn't recognize". is how I've heard it being summarized. :)

So no Indian/Chinese/Japanese/Mexican food? No avocados? No seafood, unless your grandparents are from the coast? (Food diversity sucket in our grandparent's era. )

My grandmother fed me homemade butter biscuits and sausage with eggs any time I visited. The southeast is full of terror and deliciousness.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#130

Post by indrekj » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:06 PM UTC

I started going to gym 3 years ago. My weight was 55kg (122lbs) and height was 182cm (~6ft). Very underweight. I knew nothing about training. So I paid for a personal trainer. He made me program where almost all exercises were on the machines. At least he put squat and bench press there too. I trained when I had time, 2-4 times a week.

Last summer I did some arm wrestling with my friend. I lost. I thought what's wrong. I weighed less than my friend, but he didn't do any weight training. So I started looking how to get more strength.

I started doing core strength (Squat, bench press, dead lift, press, power clean, pull-ups). No more machines, biceps curls, calf raises, wrist curls, etc. Also, I started eating much more. With last 2 months I've gained 4kg (8-9lbs). My squat is currently 102.5kg (226lbs), that is ~1.4x of my body weight. I've gained more strength and weight with 2 months than I usually did in a year. And what's most important, now I beat my friend :).