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Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

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Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#21

Post by bmitc »

ashtonbaker wrote: post #17
bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

I grew up playing soccer but have gravitated more toward cycling, hiking, and trail running as an adult and I was kind of ready to argue with you, but I realized I pretty much agree if you narrow the statement to triathletes specifically. But in general I find endurance fitness is a broadly applicable skill that can take you to a lot of interesting places, geographically and psychologically. I find a lot of rich tria…

Haha. There are bound to be exceptions to any generalization, particularly one made off of a running hunch.

Like I also alluded to and someone else mentioned, certainly the more skill/team/ball sports can take their toll over the years. I myself have transitioned to taekwondo, which you can sort of manage to be more or less "impactful". There is also a personal bias in my generalization in that I personally simply get bored when taking walks, running, etc. Hiking can be okay depending on the destination. I simply enjoy the beauty of dynamic movement, which is why I have become rather drawn to taekwondo.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#22

Post by redis_mlc »

bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

> they actually don't know how to play other sports.

I think there's truth to that.

I was a high school athlete in medium distance events. About the only thing I learned was how to stretch, though I was recruited for the soccer team as a "role model" since the soccer coach saw me running laps. :)

I tell people that running or going to the gym for years on end is largely a waste of time because you don't learn a skill, like karate. (However, if you're in shape from running or lifting, it can help with karate.)

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#23

Post by nradov »

bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

That's fair. I lack the coordination to ever be good at ball sports. But I can be decent at triathlon just by grinding away. I actually enjoy most of the training and don't get bored, except for pool swimming. There's usually something interesting to look at and if you're following a structured workout you're changing targets every few minutes.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#24

Post by jmopp »

bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

Growing up as a kid I hated sports because I had zero hand-eye coordination. I also didn't like competing against people. Nowadays I enjoy hiking, cycling, and roadwalking. I love the fact that none of the three sports require much in the way of skill, and you can pretty much just compete against yourself. The thing that I like the most about them is the exploratory aspect. I love discovering a place on foot, or not knowing where I am until I make a corner and suddenly see somewhere familiar. It's like filling out the blank spaces on a map in an RTS game.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#25

Post by nradov »

sien wrote: post #18
bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

This is a really interesting take. I know a number of very successful people who were not at all sporty in their youth but have taken up endurance sports as adults. Playing team sports subjects you often to losing and it's also often pretty hard to improve objectively. Also if you haven't played a fair bit of sport in your youth it's probably hard to get good at them. Team sports are also hard in that training and ga…

Endurance athletes also have a pretty high injury rate from overuse, poor techniques, and falls or crashes. My local triathlon club email list is full of requests for physiotherapist recommendations and advice about injury rehab. I crashed my bike a few weeks ago and got a nice collection of road rash. Overall it's healthier than being sedentary but injury risk comes with the territory.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#26

Post by bmitc »

jmopp wrote: post #24
bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

Growing up as a kid I hated sports because I had zero hand-eye coordination. I also didn't like competing against people. Nowadays I enjoy hiking, cycling, and roadwalking. I love the fact that none of the three sports require much in the way of skill, and you can pretty much just compete against yourself. The thing that I like the most about them is the exploratory aspect. I love discovering a place on foot, or not…

That's a great take on another perspective. Thanks! :)

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#27

Post by randycupertino »

nradov wrote: post #25
sien wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is a really interesting take. I know a number of very successful people who were not at all sporty in their youth but have taken up endurance sports as adults. Playing team sports subjects you often to losing and it's also often pretty hard to improve objectively. Also if you haven't played a fair bit of sport in your youth it's probably hard to get good at them. Team sports are also hard in that training and ga…

Endurance athletes also have a pretty high injury rate from overuse, poor techniques, and falls or crashes. My local triathlon club email list is full of requests for physiotherapist recommendations and advice about injury rehab. I crashed my bike a few weeks ago and got a nice collection of road rash. Overall it's healthier than being sedentary but injury risk comes with the territory.

So many people in my tri club kept getting run over or crashing on road rides that I actually got a mountain bike and started mainly riding on fire roads because it seemed safer. At least if I fall off the trail it will be my own damn fault unlike getting mowed down by some teenager texting.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#28

Post by randycupertino »

nradov wrote: post #23
bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

That's fair. I lack the coordination to ever be good at ball sports. But I can be decent at triathlon just by grinding away. I actually enjoy most of the training and don't get bored, except for pool swimming. There's usually something interesting to look at and if you're following a structured workout you're changing targets every few minutes.

Have you tried waterproof ipod while you're swimming? I have one from underwater audio and I love it. Total gamechanger for pool workouts.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#29

Post by bmitc »

nradov wrote: post #23
bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

That's fair. I lack the coordination to ever be good at ball sports. But I can be decent at triathlon just by grinding away. I actually enjoy most of the training and don't get bored, except for pool swimming. There's usually something interesting to look at and if you're following a structured workout you're changing targets every few minutes.

Just to be clear, I didn't mean anything as in one way is better or superior than the other. I was only seeking to explain why I think these certain sports may be popular amongst adults, but I also meddled my own opinion in there too in that I personally find certain sports to be boring, which is a quirk of my personality.

Re: Why Do Rich People Love Endurance Sports?

#30

Post by kovac »

bmitc wrote: post #14

I've played sports my whole life, and there's nothing I dislike more than endurance sports. Doing anything repetitive for a long length of time is just incredibly boring to me, and I highly prefer learning and mastering a set of skills that can then be combined in various ways, usually in real-time, like one sees in basketball, taekwondo, racket sports, etc. I have a running theory that many become interested in endu…

I grew up playing sports too mostly full contact sports and ball games like football. Haring the endurance part really resonates with me too. I absolutely hated the endurance training in those sports. It's really the skills I learnt and the competition in the pitch that kept me in them.
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