231–240 of 556 posts
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2 hours a day is a ridiculous amount
Why is two hours ridiculous? I find most people who devote themselves like this enjoy the process. If they enjoy it, it objectively improves their body, and they have the time - why not?
Happiest and most productive Ive been was when I was skating, riding a bike, dancing etc for hours every day.
It's also absolutely amazing for mental health. It's a shame it isn't considered a first line of treatment for mental health because it's super effective (and free).
Instead, people try to fix it with antidepressants, benzodiazepines or something else. It feels a bit like the US approach to pain management – instead of massages or physical therapy, some opioid pill is cheaper to prescribe.
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Define substantial. I find that incredible. EDIT: Now that I've seen the replies, I realize that this is from a very low baseline. I'm personally going to the gym four to five days a week already and my own cardiovascular fitness has not seen much of an improvement in many months.
Not a source, but it tracks for me. Walk, jog, or run daily and you will have massive CV improvement from baseline in 3 months. people can and do go from being exhausted walking to their car to being capable running many miles in an incredibly short time. The typical human body is very responsive when pushed.
The relationship isn't linear, you can see in https://bjsm.bmj.com/content/54/20/1195#sec-16 that above 2200 MET-minutes/week there is increased cancer risk which outweighs the cardiovascular benefits. Now admittedly it is a very weak correlation, and MET measurement is imprecise, but I think it is safe to say that there are risks associated with over-exercising and while being in shape is good, being a ultra-maratho…
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indeed, a lot has changed from when we lived on rural farms doing manual labor. People aren't going back to the farms, so we need to adopt new behaviors and norms around self control. There is simply no viable alternative.
I would suggest that in the next 5 years or so if ozempic and others don't turn out to be cancer causing or have more than awful side effects that we'll see a large drop in obesity, as obesity isn't an easy thing to change. Likely other competitors will come along and use a similar mechanism and Novo won't be able to charge $1000 a month for it any longer allowing 80-85% of those who are overweight to give it a shot.
Over the past 11 months, I've lost 122lbs, from 330lbs to 208lbs. (May 30, 2023 - Today) For the first 2 months, cardio was not part of it. Really focusing on diet, reintroducing myself to portions of Whole Foods to hit macro goals. Really focusing on vegetables and protein, large quantities of low calorie foods that digest relatively slowly to keep me satiated for long periods. They're also quick to digest. I was al…
Congrats on the progress! > It's also a myth, perpetuated by highly trained athletes that you cannot gain muscle and do cardio, or that you cannot do these things while in a caloric deficit. I think it's more accurate to describe this in terms of definitions: "gains muscle while in caloric deficit" is possible for the untrained/beginners. > For the first 2 months, cardio was not part of it. It's really easy for bad d…
Anything is better than nothing, and many of the benefits are going to persist in some form for quite some time. I did lose some strength, but I'm still on the order of 1.5-2x as strong as I was before I did any work at all. Never mind the confidence strength training gives you when it comes to just doing basic stuff and knowing you aren't going to hurt yourself.
I think it's valuable to turn things into regular habits, but it's also worth noting for those who have this idea that it's a waste (because they'd rather be doing something else, and they don't want to work out for the rest of their life) - 6 months of basic (but hard, proper) workouts will pay dividends for probably forever.
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Instead, people try to fix it with antidepressants, benzodiazepines or something else. It feels a bit like the US approach to pain management – instead of massages or physical therapy, some opioid pill is cheaper to prescribe.
Exercise (and sunlight!) are proven treatments for mild to moderate depression. It's probably not all you need, but it's a very good start. Exercise does nothing for severe depression.
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It can take months to go from obese to not obese through calorie restriction
Of course. I was responding to the time spent (out of ones day), opposed to calendar days of not eating. That said, people can make pretty rapid weight loss without eating. skip eating 1 day a week and that is 30 lbs a year for an average obese man. skip 2 days/week and that is 60 lbs/year.
> people can make pretty rapid weight loss without eating
It's also absolutely amazing for mental health. It's a shame it isn't considered a first line of treatment for mental health because it's super effective (and free).
I struggle with anxiety and have below average HRV and VO2max. I started jogging a month or so ago and have definitely seen an improvement in my mental health.
I am disappointed by how poor primary care is in the developed world. It could easily be made better by including a VO2Max test and a DEXA scan every few years. On my own dime, I took both (cost was ~ $150 total from a private provider) and the DEXA scan revealed I carried too much visceral fat and my cardiovascular fitness was only average, things that never came up in my yearly physical. The same applies for basic…
For better or worse (worse), people don't go to the doctor for lifestyle analysis and rarely take lifestyle advice from their doctors. They go to their doctors to know when to start medical interventions. Even simple waist-to-hip ratio assessement would be a big win for identifying lifestyle concerns, but neither that nor the far more involved VO2Max and DEXA rests are going to become standard unless they becoming a…