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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)

#201

Post by eru »

dredmorbius wrote: post #200
eru wrote: post #195

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> A jump rope or kettlebell can provide ample and safe workouts for most. Or just the floor (burpees). Or sprinting up stairs.

I'm assuming someone who's pretty out of shape. I was a bit hesitant to put a jump rope in there, but (given coordination) it should be fairly safe. KB swings are surprisingly aerobic and very low impact.

Yes, skipping rope is only trivial if you already learned how to do it earlier.

Walking / running up stairs is an easy way to get in intense exercise without much stress on your joints.

KB swings are fine. Just need equipment.

If one is fairly out of shape, than one can benefit from very simplified burpees: just lie on the floor, get up, lie down again. With speed. Add jumping, once you are fitter. Then add negatives of push ups. And full push ups later.

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

#202

Post by raverbashing »

magicproudfeet wrote: post #141
raverbashing wrote: post #4

Yes The fitness "industry" like several industries out there is 80% "Fitness 101 that doesn't solve a thing" Physicians, trainers, the 'food pyramid', Fitness magazines, etc, they're all in on this crap. Not to mention most sports are more damaging (or just plain stressful) to the body than lifting weights. Tour de France is only humanly possible because of the large amount of doping used.

Don't trash all physicians. We're not "in on it," we just have to target populations rather than individuals. It's a completely different ballgame. Plus we have limited training (or none) on these kinds of topics. I break the mold all the time, but only when I think a patient is mature enough and enlightened enough to handle it. Otherwise it's completely pointless (and will fail to meet the "standard of care" in most…

Oh I understand, especially the 'standard of care' issues

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

#203

Post by raverbashing »

mgkimsal wrote: post #62
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…

You really only devoted 5 hours per week?

What's the surprise?

Most people would be surprised at "how little" bodybuilders work out. Sure, they work out much more compared to the average person, but less than let's say your olympic swimmer, volleyball player, etc

It's still a "full time job" but training is not a lot of time compared to other activities (mainly eating)

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

#204

Post by scorpioxy »

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…

Try convincing the women with that. I have no idea where they came up with the belief that lifting weights would make them bulky while it would take a man, on supplements, years and a lot of effort to develop a meaningful amount of muscle to be considered "bulky". They seem to be happy to walk for a half-hour on the treadmill and then run towards the scale as if that half-hour would actually do anything.

It's really difficult to explain to unfit people (who always complain) that the solution is not a pill or some crazy diet you do for a week. It just takes a bit of effort and common sense.

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

#206

Post by pirateking »

grima wrote: post #91

Amateur marathoner here. Those lying side leg raises with toes pointed down are THE BOMB! Here's a great vid by Strength Running that illustrates that exercise and several more: http://strengthrunning.com/2011/02/the-itb-rehab-routine-vid...

Cannot upvote these leg raises enough. Especially useful for any back pain associated with sitting too long.

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

#207

Post by pirateking »

Kiro wrote: post #205

Why is this #1? What happened to pizza, Jolt cola and Unix beards?

Mainstream delivery pizza has reached an all time low on all fronts. The glorious Jolt cola has shown the way to a plethora of marketing dollars, leaving once fringe energy conscious beverage consumers disillusioned. And it is yet to be determined whether the Unix beard is the cause or the effect of godly low level programming ability.

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

#208

Post by scrrr »

subwindow wrote: post #66

I read this article around the time it was first published, and it has changed my life. I know it sounds corny and cliched, but it's true. This article was the first seed in my head that I needed to change the way I was doing things. It took me about 18 months after reading it to actually buckle down and start lifting, but it's no doubt that the journey started here. I ended up reading "Starting Strength" and started…

Congrats and I concur. I wasted 2 years at the gym before I stumbled over "Starting Strength". I just decided to go for it, because I had the feeling that most people, including me, are just messing around wasting time at the gym.

And here's why. _Proper_ squats and deadlifts are hard. You breathe heavily, your whole body (as opposed to just certain muscles) exhausts itself in just a few movements. In the beginning you go to bed with every muscle sore. But I figured: It's pointless to go to the gym and avoid strain and exhaustion. So I might just as well aim for it.

And I did the Ripptoe program, and my life changed for the better.

My posture, ruined by years of computer programming, was fixed in less than two months. People started asking me if I've grown recently. I was just standing and walking properly.

My mood nowadays is good 99% of the time. It's just hard to be depressed or care about the little annoyances (or the whining of some people) when your body is strong. I don't know why exactly, but the mood improvement is significant, lasting and one of the best benefits of weightlifting. I can still enjoy every good thing that happens, but I don't sweat the bad stuff as much. I just shrug it off. A wonderful feeling to be able to do that consistently.

People react differently to me. Women, as you would expect, initiate flirting and so forth, but also I get the feeling that other men, children and the elderly, just look at me in a kinder way. Perhaps increasing strength also makes one seem more reliable. Or maybe they think I am used to hard work. Well, I guess they are right. Building strength is hard work.

There's one downside to all that.

When I started to follow the Ripptoe program, the barbell area at my gym was mostly deserted. After a year or so it's almost always busy. Perhaps I inspired the others or it's a general fitness trend of "less BS" and "back to the fundamentals". But if they don't expand that barbell area and install a few more chin-up bars this year, I'll have to find a new gym where I don't have to wait up to 30 minutes to start lifting.

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

#209

Post by dredmorbius »

subsystem wrote: post #129
dredmorbius wrote: post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Please read the article. I've swum for several decades. It's a good form of cardiovascular training. It's also very much a skill sport that's difficult to pick up in later life -- your entire workout distance is a small portion of my warm-up routine (workouts run 3k - 6k meters). The specific part of the article you want to pay attention to is the training goal matrix ( http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploa…

I would say it fits with point number four in the article. I found swimming especially good for avoiding normal "office injuries" in the back and hips. I also think it's great mental training as most of the difference for a novice to go from say 10% to 60% in swimming ability is just relaxing and "finding" decent technique.

Strengthening your back and hips, with posterior-chain exercises (squats, deadlifts, chin-ups, rows, kettlebell swings) will do a lot more for back/hip issues than swimming will.

Though swimming does give you a modest amount of lats and trunk stimulus.

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

#210

Post by Scotchy »

r00fus wrote: post #173
subsystem wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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. Just make sure you stretch beforehand and only play with folks who take safety seriously - it can suck to lose a skiing season because your basketball teammate caused you to roll your ankle.

you mean warm up, not stretch, right ?

Stretching happens after if ever, not before :)

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