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Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

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Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#191

Post by rarrrrrr »

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...

Medicine is a fine way to treat things like infectious disease, but our western use of it is particularly useless (and often harmful) at treating long term "lifestyle diseases" -- stuff like diabetes, heart disease, and cancer. Prevention is far more effective, and diets that consist mostly of "food as grown" with minimal processing and alteration are good prevention.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#192

Post by nerfhammer »

patio11 wrote: post #157
poppysan wrote: post #124

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I believe the strains of malaria that existed in North American and Europe were far weaker than the African varieties, though

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#193

Post by yummyfajitas »

ebiester wrote: post #173
yummyfajitas wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just go to that dark corner. I'm a skinny guy (less skinny now), I was intimidated by that corner as well. My observation: the vast majority of those "mostly-large-males" are extremely nice, even if they do sometimes make scary faces while lifting and look like Danny Trejo. If you pick the right gym (typically in lower class neighborhoods), they might even critique your form, which is incredibly valuable.

It's a lot different being a woman. Pick the wrong gym, and there's a lot of harassment that can happen, unfortunately.

I'd strongly suggest not letting the fear of possible harassment deter you. Wait until it actually happens. Worst case, you complain to the front desk and homeboy gets out of his yearly contract 11 months early. (They usually have cameras everywhere, so it wouldn't even be a "he said, she said" issue.)

Most of the very large men have no need to harass random women - all they usually need to do is walk into a bar and say "hello". And I've never met a guy at the gym who would even be tolerant of such harassment, let alone participate.

tl;dr Fitness is too important to let a one-in-a-million bad event deter you. Statistically speaking, your biggest worries are poor fitness > harming yourself due to poor form/bad luck > getting harassed at the gym.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#194

Post by jasonkester »

[deleted] wrote: post #187
jasonkester wrote: post #170

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The author talks about his experience or getting fit by going to a gym and lifting free weights. I countered with my approach, which revolves around setting your life up so that fitness is merely a side effect. I'm not contradicting anything that he says. I used to lift weights in much the manner that he describes, and it'd be difficult to deny that it works. The thing that he misses is motivation. Most people simply…

[deleted]

Same thing I recommended above and in my initial comment:

Find something fun to do that just happens to get you in shape.

I suspect they have basketball hoops, raquetball courts, swimming pools and Ironic Kickball leagues in your home town (and probably a climbing gym too). Go have some fun!

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#195

Post by Nrsolis »

ebiester wrote: post #173
yummyfajitas wrote: post #110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Just go to that dark corner. I'm a skinny guy (less skinny now), I was intimidated by that corner as well. My observation: the vast majority of those "mostly-large-males" are extremely nice, even if they do sometimes make scary faces while lifting and look like Danny Trejo. If you pick the right gym (typically in lower class neighborhoods), they might even critique your form, which is incredibly valuable.

It's a lot different being a woman. Pick the wrong gym, and there's a lot of harassment that can happen, unfortunately.

So don't go back. You could make the same argument about a lot of restaurants/bars/public places, etc.

Honestly, I know a lot of VERY big guys who lift a heck of a lot of weight. Without exception, every single one of them is the nicest, most even-tempered, welcoming fellow you could imagine. The stereotype of a angry, musclebound meathead is just that, a stereotype.

If you're really too scared, go find yourself the most convenient Crossfit gym and drop by for a free workout. You'll find that MOST Crossfit gyms are well over 60% female and that there are several women there that are leading a lot of the men in weightlifting and overall athleticism. I'm a guy and I've most definitely been shown up by a lot of the women at my particular box and I'm not alone.

Believe it or not, weightlifting/getting fit is going to make you VERY uncomfortable for non-trivial periods of time. You might as well get used to it. Seeing a whole cadre of women lifting heavy and doing it fearlessly might really do you a lot of good from a psychological perspective.

Greg Glassman always said that the biggest adaptation a Crossfitter experiences is between their ears.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#196

Post by [deleted] »

jasonkester wrote: post #194
[deleted] wrote: post #187

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[deleted]

Same thing I recommended above and in my initial comment: Find something fun to do that just happens to get you in shape. I suspect they have basketball hoops, raquetball courts, swimming pools and Ironic Kickball leagues in your home town (and probably a climbing gym too). Go have some fun!

[deleted]

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#197

Post by joebadmo »

pge wrote: post #183
jimmyk wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I have to disagree - your assessment would suggest that at the end he was more fit than the vast majority of people that try to be fit, and that his teacher was the best in the world. My point was simply that he did not have a frame of reference to evaluate the quality of the fitness program he took on relative to other programs with competent instructors (since his lack of fitness demonstrated that he had never had…

I think you have to consider the intended audience, though. Seemed to me he was addressing people who had idly dabbled in working out, but quit because they weren't seeing results or were intimidated, and people who chase fad exercises and spend ineffective time in modern gyms.

So, in the analogy, I guess it would be for people who have tried to learn to code but couldn't get past basic syntax , and coders who are always chasing the latest language/platform but never really learned the fundamentals...? The analogy might be starting to fail at this point.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#198

Post by dasil003 »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #176
ghshephard wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 th…

If obesity is a disease of poverty, then how come truly poor people (e.g., the poor in India or China) are skinny? Lack of money for food is not a cause of obesity. If your goal is to obtain 2500 calories (assuming that is what you need to maintain a healthy weight) for a little money as possible, you will consume 2500 calories of carbs. You will not become obese. If you instead consume 3500 calories and become obese…

> If obesity is a disease of poverty, then how come truly poor people (e.g., the poor in India or China) are skinny?

Because they're not eating extremely processed foods based on subsidized grains that make them cheaper than real food... yet.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#199

Post by keiferski »

yummyfajitas wrote: post #176
ghshephard wrote: post #155

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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 th…

If obesity is a disease of poverty, then how come truly poor people (e.g., the poor in India or China) are skinny? Lack of money for food is not a cause of obesity. If your goal is to obtain 2500 calories (assuming that is what you need to maintain a healthy weight) for a little money as possible, you will consume 2500 calories of carbs. You will not become obese. If you instead consume 3500 calories and become obese…

If obesity is a disease of poverty, then how come truly poor people (e.g., the poor in India or China) are skinny?

Corn subsidy in the U.S.. Not much else to say.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie

#200

Post by [deleted] »

bane wrote: post #190
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.…

Just imagine what primitive man would eat. He would spend most of his days eating what grew from the ground and when they finally hunted down meat, they would eat their catch as a group Ugh, I hate this concept. Primitive man also died in their 20s and 30s. No thanks.

[deleted]
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