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Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

derekthompson.org

211–220 of 260 posts

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#211
post #164
post #103

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Actually, that's not how steroids work. It's a common misconception that one can take "roids" and just sit on the sofa while munching on potato chips and get shredded and pack on muscle but in reality what the steroids do are to move ones natural limitations further away thus enabling larger muscle mass than naturally. But this still requires one to put in the work, i.e. the stimulus to trigger the muscle growth and…

They do work that way. Lots of studies show gains in muscle mass even with no excercise when people are on steroids. Consider average men who never excercise vs average women who never excercise. The men will have more muscle. That's what testosterone does, among other things. That's part of why steroids were and sometimes still are used medically for people with cancer and other wasting diseases. It makes them eat m…

One completely random study result[0] supporting that couch + testosterone leads to bigger muscles. Maybe it is some puritanical thing, but not sure why this myth persists. Exercise + juice results in even bigger gains, but it is possible to increase muscle mass without hard work.

  ...The men in the testosterone groups had significant increases in the cross-sectional areas of the triceps and the quadriceps (Table 4); the group assigned to testosterone without exercise had a significantly greater increase in the cross-sectional area of the quadriceps than the placebo-alone group
[0] https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJM199607043350101

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#212
If you ever struggle to exercise consider: for thousands of years humans needed to walk and hunt and cook and run from predators just to survive. It’s sedentary lifestyles that are the anomaly.

Not exercising is a miracle NOT drug! Exercise is what your body is engineered for by nature and thousands of years of evolution. So exercising is the more normal thing, not sitting around :)

Get out there and have fun with it! Even walking you’ll get to see the sky, sunset, sunrise, and all the big houses in your neighborhood.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#213
post #148

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Walking is definitely better than sitting down all day, but that shouldn't be the goal. Weight training and more intense cardio are more important.

I walk every morning and hit 80-80% of my max heart rate for parts of it. Walking can be quite good exercise, unless you live somewhere very flat. My V02 max continues to climb steadily 0.1/week like clockwork, and no running yet. Granted, it's got a ways to go, it's just barely above average, but still, walking is working.

If you’re walking at that intensity you are more accurately hiking.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#214
post #169
post #143

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The word "faith" is sufficient to describe the discordance here. A person cannot be reasoned out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

I believe you are misunderstanding empathy. Putting yourself in the shoe of the other and feeling his pain does not necessarily leads to guilt.

I don't recall suggesting that it must.

(I do recall saying suggesting that people will not be swayed from whatever they believe on this matter, though.)

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#215
post #97

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My wife's a podiatrist. I can conjure what I've heard her tell a thousand people over the years: invest in arch supports. Shoot for the ones that run about $50 and are rigid. Don't start with the $500 custom ones, and skip the $10 soft ones you see at the pharmacy. Go to REI or a running shop or a sporting goods store and get those instead. My knees freaking killed me when I was running. I started using the supports…

Better yet, get stability/motion control shoes. Don't skimp on running shoes and be prepared to try a few different types for extended periods of time before you settle on one. I found that there is only one type of shoe on the market that prevents me from getting injured (Asics Gel-Kayano). Everything else - low drop, high drop, HOKA, Brooks, Nike, even Asics' own GT-2000s - is a quick route to knee injury for me. A…

Absolutely. And what works best is incredibly personal. My wife tends to run in Nikes because others don’t fit and move just right for her. Meanwhile, I’ve never found a pair of Nikes I could stand, but Brooks Adrenaline give me superpowers.

Don’t ever get what someone else likes instead of what you prefer. Your feet aren’t theirs.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#216

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My wife's a podiatrist. I can conjure what I've heard her tell a thousand people over the years: invest in arch supports. Shoot for the ones that run about $50 and are rigid. Don't start with the $500 custom ones, and skip the $10 soft ones you see at the pharmacy. Go to REI or a running shop or a sporting goods store and get those instead. My knees freaking killed me when I was running. I started using the supports…

What the brand of arch support are you using?

Sole Supports work for me, but it’s different for everyone.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Counterpoint: I am personally skeptical about the long term value of arch supports. The reason is that while they can undoubtably help with short term pain, they also inhibit strength development and introduce an unnecessary dependency (kind of like a software library). I am not disagreeing with your experience or discouraging people from using supports to deal with injuries. I am just questioning making yourself rel…

How the hell do you find time for eight miles of walking a day ? I mean, that's just shy of a third of a marathon! I can only assume you're independently wealthy, retired, or have no kids. (Beleaguered parent of a toddler here struggling to find ANY workout time, or the energy for it! It's killing me, literally and figuratively)

I see you! Don’t worry, you’ll have time again. Micro workouts (like literally, a single set of something during a break at work) help some, but mainly I try to console myself with all the lifting of kids and playtime involving physical activity. You’ll have time to yourself again soon, though, as they get bigger!

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#218
post #161
post #95

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Cycling is really good as it doesn't strain joints, merely gently lubricates it. I broke my knee and was put on the bike real quick, as soon as I had enough mobility to make a full round, for rehabilitation.

Yup, +1 for cycling! For me, it's some ankle cartridge destruction from an old fracture that finally put a halt to my formerly extensive trail & XC running & recreational racing. But cycling is coming back to the core of my exercise program (Mountain/trails: really miss road biking but traffic & drivers' attitudes seem to hazardous now). And not expensive either - plenty of bikes on Craigslist good enough to not give…

I really feel for people who have never experienced a good trail ride. It’s possibly one of the most exhilarating things I’ve ever experienced. Even an ordinary trail ride puts a smile on my face.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#219
For a long time I tried to start an exercise habit, but it didn't stick. I could jog 15 minutes every day for a month and instantly be sick of it a few days after.

I was only able to gain an exercise habit by addressing my mood and anxiety first. First, with my mental improvements I became actively motivated to exercise and didn't hate it anymore. I kept at it for several weeks, only stopping every so often due to fatigue. Eventually I did earn the habit of exercise. This wasn't intuitive to me, but the typical causality was backwards. Exercise was not what directly made me healthier, but being healthier (mentally) from the start allowed me to initiate and keep exercising, from which I earned even more health benefits.

A mental deficit in being able to form habits is arguably even worse than a lack of exercise, since you would try to apply the "exercise cure" advice and just burn out after a while like I did. It's not like you didn't exercise, but you could not internalize what all those people typically say must be the case if you just exercise a lot.

Even as my mood fluctuates I am now able to still go for a jog once in a while. These days I understand that if I had started off exercising in a state of low mood, I would have no chance of making it stick. The habit carried over from when I persisted at it in my limited window of improved mood.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#220
post #152
post #69

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Any recommendations on a rowing machine?

The C2 machine is fine, I use it regularly in a nearby studio besides other training and it's perfect for training. If the studio wouldn't be easily available I would buy a C2. And, by the way, my wife too started to be an avid rower after giving the machine a try. I was rowing on real boats during my school and university days, but sadly never found the time afterwards to get join a club and row in teams. Rowing mac…

I think you might be underselling the C2. I only ever row occasionally, but it is my understanding that it is the BIFL model. The type most gyms will buy - way more utilization hours than you will ever hit at home.
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