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

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#151

Post by reason » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:46 PM UTC

dalore wrote: post #128

reason wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

It's definitely curable. My hypothetical was based on the assumption that treatment was not given to show that we actually have not evolved defenses against the virus.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#152

Post by tlear » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:47 PM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #43

This is a one sided view of fitness. e.g. there is zero focus on cardio. Would be interesting to see one of these guys do a light 5 mile run. Look into real world training: running, hard hiking with a pack, mountain biking, swimming/surfing. These types of exercise have been the most rewarding for me in terms of skeletal, muscle and cardio fitness. The only thing I agree with in the article is that cardio machines in…

If he added running about 50k a week at least I would agree with him. Running is one of those base things that anyone can do, and it is almost free.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#153

Post by mcdowall » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:48 PM UTC

jasonkester wrote: post #66

tfh wrote: post #64

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> But put me on the beach in Thailand for 5 months and holy crap, what a difference. That's my dream right there.

Best stop dreaming and start saving then. Book your flight for the end of November. Round trip to Bangkok before the peak will run you $600-$800 from the west coast. Make your way to Tonsai and negotiate yourself a good monthly rate for a bungalow. If you show up before the main tourist season and plan to stay until March, you can usually get them down to around $200/month. Even with all the Beer Chang and Massuman G…

Having travelled both Indonesia and Thailand I am surprised you mentioned Thailand as a good spot for Surfing. I just found a lot more surfers in Bali and on the Gili Islands.

Food was probably comparable in price, but a Bintang being slightly more expensive than an 80Baht Chang :)

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#154

Post by ilovecomputers » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:51 PM UTC

NickPollard wrote: post #70

ilovecomputers wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, don't eat boxed foods or foods that went through multiple stages of processing. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan spells it out very well, but I'll just give you my simple definition: Eating healthy is as close to eating dirt without actually eating dirt. Produce, grain, cheese, 1/2 pound to a pound of meat a week[1], and whatever else Marion Nestle recommends[1.5]. Just imagine what primitive man would eat.…

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.

I'm not arguing what "nature intended us to" do (the human body is more adaptable than what the advocates of the Paleo diet take into consideration). I'm referring more to certain people with health problems who eat mainly fast food or food from the box and barely eat an apple a week. I know a few people who are like this and they end up stressing themselves by sticking to some draconian diet to get healthy.

I'm saying there's no need to stick to some strict diet, just eat a wide variety of foods instead of just one subset. The whole "think like a primitive man thing" is just a helpful starting point to point you towards what kinds of food to look for, but I'm not advocating some strict following. I had three In and Out dinners this past week since I'm too short on time to hunt down a pigeon or pluck mysterious fruits from trees all day.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#155

Post by ghshephard » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:51 PM UTC

bmelton wrote: post #98

ilovecomputers wrote: post #46

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Also, don't eat boxed foods or foods that went through multiple stages of processing. In Defense of Food by Michael Pollan spells it out very well, but I'll just give you my simple definition: Eating healthy is as close to eating dirt without actually eating dirt. Produce, grain, cheese, 1/2 pound to a pound of meat a week[1], and whatever else Marion Nestle recommends[1.5]. Just imagine what primitive man would eat.…

The flip side to the caveman diet is that 1) it wasn't particularly planned. They eat what they could, when they could, and 2) There was a pretty major exercise component that went along with it, in that if they didn't hunt / fish / forage, they died of starvation. The main issue with obesity is that people can easily afford to be obese and not too significantly impact their lives (aside from all health and social ma…

Numerous studies (See the first chapter of "Why we get Fat, by Taubes) have shown that Obesity is a disease of poverty. The food that keeps you lean (protein/fats) is expensive. Carbs are cheap. Poor people eat carbs. Rich people eat steak, chicken, fish. There is no significant research that shows adding exercise to an overweight person's lifestyle will significantly reduce their weight - typically just increases their appetite.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#156

Post by jobu » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:53 PM UTC

mmaunder wrote: post #90

jrockway wrote: post #65

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The only thing I agree with in the article is that cardio machines in the gym are a waste of time. Not sure this is really true or that it matters. A 5 mile run on the treadmill at an x minute pace is the same as a 5 mile run outside at an x minute pace. Advantages of the treadmill include being able to keep a given pace without making any particular mental effort. Advantages of being outside is that it's not boring.

5 mile run on the treadmill at an x minute pace is the same as a 5 mile run outside at an x minute pace. LOL. Go run outside. You have no idea what you're talking about.

Depends on where you live. A hilly area can kick your ass a lot harder than a treadmill, but my current neighborhood is flat and it compares pretty evenly to a treadmill run.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#157

Post by patio11 » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:53 PM UTC

poppysan wrote: post #124

reason wrote: post #100

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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...

The primary reason we don't die from malaria is none of the above: it is mosquito abatement via intentional habitat destruction and copious use of effective pesticides. Large portions of the US used to be malaria country: not a spe mof it is now, and if there was a malaria outbreak in a US suburb we would wring our hands about the consequences for about five minutes and then dump enough chemicals on that subdivision to save an African country.

Ditto Europe, by the way.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#158

Post by grobolom » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

I hate articles like this. Not because they don't highlight what a steaming pile the actual fitness and training industry is, but because they're way too slow. Proper training articles have existed for a long time, in easily reachable spots. For all the stupidity at BodyBuilding.com, their forums biggest stickies are those about the 'Starting Strength' workouts - the ones where you deadlift, squat, and bench. T-Nation, another big one, has never advocated anything else for a starting athlete.

I just hate when someone posts something like this and goes 'Everything You Know Is A Lie!" No, it's not. I just happen to have read this shit eight years ago, and that was late already.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#159

Post by grobolom » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

I hate articles like this. Not because they don't highlight what a steaming pile the actual fitness and training industry is, but because they're way too slow. Proper training articles have existed for a long time, in easily reachable spots. For all the stupidity at BodyBuilding.com, their forums biggest stickies are those about the 'Starting Strength' workouts - the ones where you deadlift, squat, and bench. T-Nation, another big one, has never advocated anything else for a starting athlete.

I just hate when someone posts something like this and goes 'Everything You Know Is A Lie!" No, it's not. I just happen to have read this shit eight years ago, and that was late already.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#160

Post by Splines » Fri, Mar 04, 2011, 3:56 PM UTC

baddox wrote: post #5

These links to auto-printing pages are unacceptable. Link me to the normal display article in these cases. I'll take it from there.

Browsers should just not have auto-printing. How much time is saved by not having to press CTRL+P? Likewise, how much time is wasted because of unintentional print dialogs (like this one) and how much time is wasted in developing and maintaining such a feature?

I say cut it, nobody is going to miss it.