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Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

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Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#181

Post by MaybiusStrip »

elptacek wrote: post #132

Well, actually... Daniel the author neglected to tell Nicole the illustrator that the thumbs on the squatter (first graphic) are in the wrong position -- according to Rippetoe, not me. :-) Humor aside, lifting heavy works for women, to. Women are afraid to get bulky. I got over the idea that lifting heavy wouldn't _make_ me bulky. This is just the way I am. Might as well make the best of what my DNA doled out. As for…

Weightlifter here. The squat described in that graphic is high-bar (bar between traps and delts) as opposed to the low-bar form championed by Rippetoe (and powerlifters in general). The back is more upright, so you can't really "trap" the bar just by resting your hands on it and pushing your elbows back, you have to wrap your thumbs around. You should still keep your wrists as straight as possible.

Speaking of women lifting heavy things, my Coach's wife Jo-Ann Aita just set a world record in raw powerlifting last month, and she is far from bulky! See for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7c5KoyaLI

Congrats on your heavy lift! 250lbs is no joke.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#182

Post by kevinnk »

jpatokal wrote: post #143
brianmwang wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"...how much more it makes you tax your own body. When you're at the gym, you don't push yourself." Says who? This seems like a false premise to me.

Personal experience (his and mine). Same basic principle explains why people work together in offices instead of at home: peer pressure prevents you from slacking. And personal trainers take this up yet another level, because it's a lot harder to give up when somebody's in your face telling you that he knows you can do one more rep. And yes, of course there are people who can put in supremely productive 9-to-5 days a…

A really good way to counter this, at least for me, is to keep track of your progress in a notebook or on your phone. It helps a lot to be able to say "oh, I was able to do 2 more reps than average this time" or "Hmm, I've been on this weight for a couple of months, maybe I should go up." Plus it's a good motivator -- it's a lot easier to go the the gym when you can see how much progress you've made.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#184

Post by smsm42 »

davidtyleryork wrote: post #15

At Betable, four of us do CrossFit. It's not sadistic as the title says, though I'm sure that can depend on the gym. The one in SOMA is pretty supportive and accommodating, probably because they deal with a lot of startup engineers :) Anyway, was struck me about CrossFit and really any group exercise routine is how much more it makes you tax your own body. When you're at the gym, you don't push yourself. You run comf…

I'm doing Crossfit for about 1.5 years and sometimes it's pretty tough. E.g., last week there was a workout that I was 100% sure I won't be able to finish, though eventually I did even though it took me 20 mins more than more fit people, and I had to scale down couple of parts from prescribed. But thinking back about it, I constantly realize there's no way I'd push myself so hard if I weren't on Crossfit program. And that's probably why previous years of "exercising" here and there did very little for me, but with Crossfit I am feeling real progress. I am still very far from where I want to be, but at least I am feeling some movement towards the goal. And while Crossfit can be very tough sometimes, right on the border of "are you kidding me? you want me to do what how many times?", it usually works out pretty well.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#185

Post by constatino »

subsystem wrote: post #36
IgorPartola wrote: post #30

I went to a "big box" type gym in January 2012 and hired a staff trainer. I told her that I wanted to lose about 20 lb, get stronger, and start running in mud runs. She started me off with basic body circuit training, working with her once a week and doing 3-5 more workouts the rest of the days. During this period I also watched my calorie intake. By May, I reached my goal on all three accounts, so she switched me to…

Sounds great. The only unsolicited advice I would offer is that if it ever gets boring, I would look into doing some sport half of the time. It will give you social, technical and mental elements that weight training just can't.

Sports are great but don't offer the easy progression in fitness that weight/fitness training offers.

For example you can make yourself steadily stronger by gradually increasing the amount you're squatting each week or by running longer distances. You don't have this level of control when playing competitive sports.

That said I agree with the social elements. Sports are great fun and joining a team sport would be worth it for the camaraderie alone.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#186

Post by akurilin »

hcurtiss wrote: post #164
akurilin wrote: post #151

For a very affordably monthly fee you can sign up to be remotely coached by fantastic power lifting / bodybuilding / MMA trainers with decades of experience bringing up truly strong and powerful athletes. They'll find out exactly where you're at, help you figure out the optimal diet for your goals, help you with your form and regimen and will continuously work with you to make sure you're on track. The only variable…

Sounds interesting. Links?

Check out http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/ . I trained under both the founder (he passed away, very unfortunately) and his successor. Couldn't recommend Mr. Pinder any higher, but if he doesn't have openings right now, I'm sure he'll be able to recommend someone else excellent.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#187

Post by akurilin »

oh_sigh wrote: post #163
akurilin wrote: post #151

For a very affordably monthly fee you can sign up to be remotely coached by fantastic power lifting / bodybuilding / MMA trainers with decades of experience bringing up truly strong and powerful athletes. They'll find out exactly where you're at, help you figure out the optimal diet for your goals, help you with your form and regimen and will continuously work with you to make sure you're on track. The only variable…

What service are you talking about?

See my response in the other question I got asked.

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#188

Post by [deleted] »

subsection1h wrote: post #177
Xcelerate wrote: post #26

I was all ready to come on here and trash this article. The headline and the first few paragraphs had me rolling my eyes. But I kept reading and changed my mind. I've now bookmarked this article. People seem eager to find some magic, half-hearted shortcut to reaching certain goals. There really aren't any. The best advice is often the kind you don't want to hear. To really improve, look at the people who are the best…

Women generally stick to cardio machines. The skinny guys trying to get strong are all on the weight machines, and the big guys are all using free weights. I'm more interested in what exercises decagenarians performed.

[deleted]

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#189

Post by eru »

hedgehog wrote: post #78
magicalist wrote: post #73

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For most people, that doesn't really account for the travel time, fueling time, cooling off, and general gym fooling around, which there inevitably will be. I still agree with his point that it's one of the best ways to spend that extra time, but I think it's important to acknowledge it and plan for it. The commitment of a one hour workout is quite different than one that's twice as long because you have to deal with…

If you have running shoes and a weight bench that's really enough. In the city you can live close to the gym and that keeps the time down, for example I can leave my apartment, return, shower, and dress in under 1:15.

What do you need the bench for? If you only get one piece of equipment, make it a barbell (with some weights).

(Next you buy a squat rack. Or skipping rope, or pull up bars, or olympic rings. If you feel you need to use your triceps, buy olympic rings and do dips on them.)

Re: Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

#190

Post by lglide »

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