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Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

nytimes.com

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Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#31

Post by omegaham »

lotsofmangos wrote: post #17
Meowseth wrote: post #9

When a man sees an ideal male, he aspires to be that man, like James Bond When a woman sees an ideal woman, she makes a tumblr about how that ideal is not real, or not what men want, or a crazy obsessed person who hates themselves, etc. Men climb the mountain to reach the top. Women complain that there is a mountain top, and declare wherever they are to be the new mountain top

James Bond is an utter tosspot though. Emulating him in real life is unlikely to end up with much other than liver cirrhosis and repeatedly being punched in the face.

And herpes. Lots of herpes.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#32

Post by raverbashing »

shin_lao wrote: post #6
Mithaldu wrote: post #3

> It looks exhausting. It's meant to be exhausting. What does the author think working out is about? > It also looks fruitless. Why not join a roofing > crew for a few hours instead? The author is fairly disconnected from reality, and has also failed to do the very basic research to answer her own title. People do high weight, low rep workouts because they take little time and provide high value. (Also for a segment…

I'm also disappointed by this article. High intensity workouts are actually the golden way toward strength building. Of course like any sport you need a certain degree of supervision to prevent injuries. Where's the author getting at?

This

Most exercise is an exercise (pun intended) in futility. Sure, running/swimming will burn calories and increase muscle mass (in the case of swimming)

Do you know what else burns calories? Muscle mass

But of course they buy the common mindset of this being dangerous, etc. I'd risk to say the risk of injuries in lifting weights is much less than in other sports (maybe except swimming).

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#33

Post by JanezStupar »

Anderkent wrote: post #23
shin_lao wrote: post #6

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm also disappointed by this article. High intensity workouts are actually the golden way toward strength building. Of course like any sport you need a certain degree of supervision to prevent injuries. Where's the author getting at?

> Where's the author getting at? > High intensity workouts are actually the golden way toward strength building. Well, this. Why is strength building considered worthwhile?

Why do we build foundations for the structures that we build?

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#34

Post by adwf »

I think it's a lot simpler than the author is trying to make out:

Traditional gym exercises are boring and hard.

Cardio is boring. 60 minutes on a treadmill, 5 times a week is really boring after a while. All that racking up weights and unracking is tedious. Bicep curls? Tedious. Situps? Tedious.

The reason why people are constantly thinking up new ways to exercise is simply to add a bit of variety and encourage people to keep working out. You can probably get similar results to a sledgehammer drill by doing a combo of situps, pullups and squats, but a lot of people would find that kinda dull and give up after a while.

When you add in the possibility that by doing these "new" exercises they might be getting fitter or stronger in less time than a traditional exercise, it's really quite motivating. It's not necessarily true (I've seen a lot of fads come and go), but if it gets them to keep on exercising, then it's probably worth it.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#35

Post by Keats »

anthony_d wrote: post #21
Keats wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Classes are either not long enough or not enough intensity (look up HIIT) for good benefits (you will get some initially but will quickly stall).

I think that's the mindset the author has an issue with. You said "you will get some (benefits) initially but will quickly stall" like it's a bad thing. Fitness doesn't improve forever with any program, you're still going to die. If you view fitness as a means to an end (health/long life) then you've got to realize there are diminishing returns. There have been many studies showing the diminishing returns kick in ver…

That depends on your goals.

If the only reason you exercise is to be healthy in a long term, then a short workout a few times a week is enough.

If you want to be stronger/better at sports X/run marathons etc then no, aerobic classes are not enough.

It's not even aiming for 'elite athlete', just aiming to be fit (you won't be fit in my definition if you only do 3x40min of aerobic classes a week).

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#36

Post by mtrimpe »

spodek wrote: post #20

To answer why people would push to get so fit, you have to explain the emotion and motivation behind it. Simply saying it's healthy or makes you strong only extends the question. Partly they do it because of the emotional reward from exhaustion, progressing overcoming challenges, feeling stronger or more capable, approaching an ideal appearance, comparing themselves to others, and maybe a couple others. I believe all…

FWIW When I, as a European, went to a US high school almost 20 years ago one of the big differences that struck me was that people tended to be either overweight at best or morbidly obese at worst or super skinny and super healthy.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#37

Post by Thriptic »

ovi256 wrote: post #18
Mithaldu wrote: post #3

> It looks exhausting. It's meant to be exhausting. What does the author think working out is about? > It also looks fruitless. Why not join a roofing > crew for a few hours instead? The author is fairly disconnected from reality, and has also failed to do the very basic research to answer her own title. People do high weight, low rep workouts because they take little time and provide high value. (Also for a segment…

People do high weight, low rep workouts indeed, but that's bodybuilding or olympic weightlifting. Crossfit is more a middle weight / middle rep style, looking to develop power more than force. Even endurance is emphasised more than force. This style of workout is aerobically exhausting (it leaves you breathless), like jogging, and I think this is what the author calls exhausting.

> People do high weight, low rep workouts indeed, but that's bodybuilding or olympic weightlifting

That's powerlifting or olympic lifting* Bodybuilding employs higher rep and lower weight hypertrophy workouts.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#38

Post by omegaham »

High intensity work is nothing new. Anyone who played sports in high school will tell you that practices are all about doing as much volume as you can in the limited time you have after school.

If it works for high school athletes, it works for people who are ten years older, too.

Personally, I look at results. If you can be motivated by Richard Simmons, go for it - the guy is 15 years older than my dad and is still in damn good shape. If you can be motivated by Crossfit, go for it, as long as you aren't getting scoliosis for time. If you can be motivated by the standard bro-split, that's great. Everyone is different.

All I can say is that when I show up to the gym, I'm lifting heavy, and I'm lifting to get freaking tired. It's worked for me. If flouncing on the elliptical for half an hour and doing 3 reps of 10 to success isn't doing anything, you might want to consider changing it up.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#39

Post by Thriptic »

As a powerlifter, I still don't really understand the allure of crossfit. You don't develop strength nearly as efficiently as when following powerlifting or olympic lifting routines, you expend exceedingly more effort than traditional routines, and the strength gained isn't nearly as translational (there are few situations where such a blend of strength and endurance would actually be necessary).

Instead of doing crossfit, why not just lift and do HIIT?

Perhaps an element of it is the daily novelty. Maybe people dislike going in and doing the big 3 or olympic lifts every session? I don't really know.

Re: Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness?

#40

Post by aikah »

codygman wrote: post #27
Meowseth wrote: post #9

When a man sees an ideal male, he aspires to be that man, like James Bond When a woman sees an ideal woman, she makes a tumblr about how that ideal is not real, or not what men want, or a crazy obsessed person who hates themselves, etc. Men climb the mountain to reach the top. Women complain that there is a mountain top, and declare wherever they are to be the new mountain top

My you are sexist. Ideal is relative. Generalizations are generally not useful.

This whole thread is a generalizations.All americans are not "fascinated" with extreme fitness.
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