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How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

nytimes.com

121–130 of 177 posts

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#121

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>everyone of your friends would be on it No. Why are you talking in absolutes after spending so much time on the internet? There are always exceptions. Muscular body requires a ton of energy and protein to maintain. Not trying to get on a soapbox here, but I am personally trying to minimize my impact on the environment. This includes eating the minimum amount of protein required to stay healthy. I definitely won't wa…

we are already talking about magic pill, why should you assume it required any more energy than you consume now? >useless muscles (which are absolutely useless for a desk job), which will not even be visible under the baggy shirts I prefer to wear. This is cope if I've ever seen some. You can rationalize it anyway you want, but deep down you know that if you at this instant could have rock hard abs with perfectly scu…

This thing always comes up whenever non-fit people talk about fit people, and I believe the core of it is just a hint of envy. Fitness is the one thing you can't cheat at or take shortcuts, and no amount of money can compensate for not doing the work.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#123

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Problem is one of discipline Not discipline - priorities. I'm lean and fairly fit, and while I would like to be a little bit more muscular I'd rather spend the time at the piano or with my family

>I'm lean and fairly fit Judging this is real hard since fairly fit means such different things for different people, but spending 5 hours a week at the gym isn't a big time investment. It obviously won't be getting you Mr. Olympia body, but it will make you bigger and stronger than most people. Part of discipline is also fighting against excuses. Excuses like I don't have time to work out. I don't have time to prep…

If it's not your priority then it's not a matter of discipline. Discipline is what you need in order to live according to your values and long term priorities instead of short term desires. But people can genuinely value other things, which will take up all their available time, over being bigger and stronger.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#124
post #59

Earlier quoted context omitted.

~500lb is very much an aspiration life time goal for most trained men, even revised army fitness standard full score doesn't ask for more than 340lbs. Minimum is 140lbs. I think NASA / astronauts prescriptions is also a very low sub bodyweight multiplier for reps to prevent atrophy AND MITIGATE INJURY RISK in space which is key. That is probably what the general population should shoot for. On social media, the gold…

Hmm, maybe people doing lifting should focus less on some pathetic instagrams and facebooks and more on real life, real people and real interactions

An unspoken truth about lifting, imo, is that a big chunk of the group is a bit lonely & seeking social validation & attention. It's part of why they lift.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#125

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Problem is one of discipline Not discipline - priorities. I'm lean and fairly fit, and while I would like to be a little bit more muscular I'd rather spend the time at the piano or with my family

>I'm lean and fairly fit Judging this is real hard since fairly fit means such different things for different people, but spending 5 hours a week at the gym isn't a big time investment. It obviously won't be getting you Mr. Olympia body, but it will make you bigger and stronger than most people. Part of discipline is also fighting against excuses. Excuses like I don't have time to work out. I don't have time to prep…

> but spending 5 hours a week at the gym isn't a big time investment.

That's a sizeable investment when you have kids. Which is fine -- but you definitely have to stop doing something else in order to do it. If like me (and perhaps parent comment) you _already_ don't passively consume media, go to bed early, etc, you really do have to trade something for it. And (again, perhaps like OP) if you are already healthy and fit (ex: I can play soccer for 2 hours) there's even less benefit (relative to your other pursuits). Which is all actually to say -- there are many people for whom discipline is certainly _not_ the issue.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#126
post #108

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I don't feel bad and don't feel like a victim, I'm just stating an observation. I'm on those forums because I've become fascinated by social and evolutionary psychology and they provide a lot of insight into people's thinking.

Be careful with that "fascinated by psychology" justification for hanging out in toxic places. I've heard that kind of statement from people before, that they're "not really" in a subculture, they just find it "anthropologically interesting". 99% of the time it's at least partly BS, a mental self-excuse to distance themselves from something they find actually quite intriguing. If you frequent such places, you will in…

Fair warning, but yes I am aware of meme exposure, have very solid critical thinking foundations and don't limit myself to observing extreme perspectives.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#127
post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I beleive it's all in your head. I used to feel very self conscious in my CS classes about looking like a meathead, but I can't point to in instance during schooling or career where that feeling was confirmed by someone's actions/words.

Before I trained an engineering manager literally said offhand a candidate was "to big," during my training I had a small framed junior engineer do a 180 and become adversarial after I talked about my training and goals at a group lunch and in interviews I've sensed discomfort from men with small frames as well. It really is instinctual. In the manosphere subculture it is called getting "mogged" as in Alpha Male Othe…

I guess I'm kinda curious what your #'s are. Are you getting mogged for DLing 140kg, or 300kg?

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#128

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Is there a reason why there is a decline in testosterone? Except for the ongoing war against boys? I'm fully aware that girls has faced problems as well, probably more than men, but the solution to that shouldn't be to punish young boys today for the sins of their grandparents. Edit: I'm serious. I'm as much against sexism as anyone, but IMO the solution isn't to make all boys behave more like girls but to make boy…

chemicals and a sedentary lifestyle seem more plausible than a war against boys that doesn't exist

> chemicals and a sedentary lifestyle

As for the theory about chemicals I think that can be a good explanation for parts of the problem.

One observation that strengthens this theory is that dogs are affected as well.

> a war against boys that doesn't exist

The war part is a way of speech, or hyperbole, I give you that.

But how about you explain:

- the majority of prison populations being men. Is society failing them like we say about every other group who is overrepresented in prisons or are men more evil? If men are more evil - explain why they are different from other groups overrepresented in prisons.

- why do boys on average score significantly better when tests are anonymous compared to when the tests are named and graded by their teacher?[0][1]

- Related to the first: Why are judges more lenient towards women? [2]

- etc

[0]: http://sciencenordic.com/why-boys-get-poor-grades

[1]: I'm well aware that the opposite happens as well. A good friend of me told me how he (who always got good grades) and a female student who always got average grades swapped their hand ins and found that the teacher had still graded his top notch and hers as average, so yes, this happens as well but seems to be less common at least around here.

[2]: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1177/155708511143021...

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#129

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> Problem is one of discipline Not discipline - priorities. I'm lean and fairly fit, and while I would like to be a little bit more muscular I'd rather spend the time at the piano or with my family

>I'm lean and fairly fit Judging this is real hard since fairly fit means such different things for different people, but spending 5 hours a week at the gym isn't a big time investment. It obviously won't be getting you Mr. Olympia body, but it will make you bigger and stronger than most people. Part of discipline is also fighting against excuses. Excuses like I don't have time to work out. I don't have time to prep…

I'd say I'm fairly fit for my age (and particularly given my health bullshit) and my time commitment is about 6hrs a week, sufficient to cycle 400 miles a month.

I've been fitter and I've been way unfit (in my 20s I was a gym rat), early thirties I ballooned to 245lbs and these days I sit around 185lbs (because of health reasons I struggle to eat enough to keep weight on) having lost 60lbs a few years ago via diet and exercise.

For someone approaching 40 I look decent physically (which is actually a problem since I have multiple serious health problems).

For me the cycling is important, it's both a fuck you to illness and a pressure valve - as a friend said once "it's impossible to be remain angry on a bike" as you just exert yourself harder.

Added to that is calisthenics every other day (planks, pressups, sit-ups and pull-ups) as I'm focussed on maintaining functional strength as much as I can.

Re: How Weight Training Might Change the Brain

#130

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think you are likely on to something with this and your comment below. Testosterone has been decreasing steadily in men over the years and sitting in front of a machine all day probably doesn't help. And yes, the "jocks vs nerds" meme likely contributes to the mentality we are sensing.

> And yes, the "jocks vs nerds" meme likely contributes to the mentality we are sensing. Well, bullying was a thing, and it wasn't the nerds bullying the jocks

Sure, but to bring that mentality to adulthood seems ridiculous.
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