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Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

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Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#41

Post by tyweir »

hugh3 wrote: post #35
tyweir wrote: post #26

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I understand your viewpoint and opinion, as I've run into it before. I'm going to disagree that gluten has had "no obvious ill effects" because I've seen the changes in my clients lives, experienced it my self (gluten-intolerant) and my mother (Celiac). And your argument that eating grains is not bad because they taste good is preposterous. As for LSD, can you tell what appeals to you about the physique of a marathon…

I've seen the changes in my clients lives Ah, so you're someone who makes a living by selling diet plans? I'm afraid that if you're a professional x salesman that makes me somewhat less likely to trust your testimony on the advantages of x . experienced it my self (gluten-intolerant) and my mother (Celiac) Well obviously if you're gluten-intolerant then gluten is bad for you. And your argument that eating grains is n…

I run a CrossFit gym in Toronto. I get no money/compensation for anything regarding nutrition. We get people to try paleo for a month, book-ended by body composition tests and benchmark workouts. If life gets better and they stick with it, great, if they want to quit, they quit.

"Y'see now you're sounding like a salesman."

You didn't answer the question, you just accused me of something that's not true.

I think the best thing to do is end this conversation. We disagree on all the points up for discussion, and I'm guessing that nothing I type will convince you, and I'm certain that nothing you type will convince me.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#42

Post by unexpected »

KirinDave wrote: post #27
hugh3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Anything up to 2 lb per week is a reasonably healthy rate of weight loss, especially if you're quite overweight to start with. Losing 40 lb in six months is both perfectly healthy and a damn good achievement.

I'm not saying it's not great, but it's not a sustainable rate of weight loss if your goal is to lose a lot of weight. When I cut soda from my diet I lost 10lbs in a month. In a month! And then it tailed off and I was depressed because I couldn't sustain it, I had unreasonable expectations. And if you're losing 2lbs a week for a very long period of time, it can be an indicator of underlying medical issues.

2 lbs is totally sustainable. I lost 80 lbs this way and have kept it off for two years.

I would say 10 lbs a month is about average for someone who is motivated and losing weight.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#43

Post by warpwoof »

hugh3 wrote: post #38
warpwoof wrote: post #31

Earlier quoted context omitted.

People have different tolerances to the amount of grains they can eat, but, if you want optimal health, you'd stop eating grains. Grains are not a nutritional necessity. There's nothing in grains that you can't get in meat, vegetables, fruit, or seeds/nuts. This article is a pretty good treatment of specific problems with grains: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/definitive-guide-grains/ Again, some people can be in goo…

Again, some people can be in good shape and eat grains. But if you want to be as healthy as possible they need to be avoided. Find me a professional athlete on a grain-free diet. Maybe they're out there somewhere, but I'm pretty sure if you find me one I'll find you a better professional athlete who eats grains. With so much effort put into finding optimal diets for athletes nowadays, if cutting out grains would impr…

I see where you're coming from, but I think we have a different definition of "health." Athletes are not necessarily the definition of "healthy" to me. They have usually specialized in one aspect of performance. In fact a lot of what they put their bodies through can be detrimental in the long run.

For the normal person who works out a few times a week and then sits at a desk 40 hours, I think removing grains would be very helpful.

A professional marathoner is a different story. Grains might make sense because of their carb density.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#44

Post by thompo »

matwood wrote: post #36
gfunk911 wrote: post #2

Great article, agree with pretty much everything. The one advantage of machines over free weights is that the machine will enforce your form. If you are able to maintain form with free weights, the effort exerted to do so is an added bonus, but if you aren't, it's not good. I started with machines, and every couple workouts replaced a machine exercise with a free weight exercise. This helped me get started, and let m…

The problem with machines and that most enforce 'bad' form. Every person has their own natural motion that a machine simply cannot match. The best way to learn a free weight exercise is to simply start doing it without any weight. Start squatting and dead lifting with just your body weight (use a broom handle to simulate the bar). Once you get that down start adding weight. There is a very little that a machine will…

Another thing I'd like to add to this:

TAKE VIDEOS. If you're hesitant to bring a point and shoot to the gym, go later at night or before noon when the gym is relatively empty. Share your videos on any of the big lifting forums and ask for opinions. Sure, you can ask a trainer, but if you're lifting at any of the major chain gyms I wouldn't trust a lot of those guys to critique a squat as far as I can throw them.

If you're doing a lift with improper form, you might as well not do it at all. The point of maintaining proper form is to not only remain injury free, but to also point out any strength imbalances you might have (weak quads in a deadlift, weak lower lumbar in a squat, etc etc).

(example vid, i switched to sumo-stance for deadlifts and wanted to make sure i was doing it right before moving back up in weight -- http://www.imperial.org/~jd/deads275.wmv )

I can respect -anybody- that posts videos and asks for help on form. The amount of weight you're moving is trivial - the fact that you want to focus on your form and perform the lift correctly speaks volumes. I respect the guy squatting 95lbs correctly infinitely more than the guy squatting 405lbs to 25% depth any day of the week.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#45

Post by greyboy »

KirinDave wrote: post #27
hugh3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Anything up to 2 lb per week is a reasonably healthy rate of weight loss, especially if you're quite overweight to start with. Losing 40 lb in six months is both perfectly healthy and a damn good achievement.

I'm not saying it's not great, but it's not a sustainable rate of weight loss if your goal is to lose a lot of weight. When I cut soda from my diet I lost 10lbs in a month. In a month! And then it tailed off and I was depressed because I couldn't sustain it, I had unreasonable expectations. And if you're losing 2lbs a week for a very long period of time, it can be an indicator of underlying medical issues.

I have to disagree. Most doctors will agree that losing up to two pounds per week for a healthy adult is acceptable and normal during the course of intensive exercise.

Much like matwood, I was ~205 at 6' with an athletic build. I wasn't overly fat, but hefty (ok, kinda fat). Running and working out six mornings/week and basketball in the evenings allowed me to drop 2 lbs/week, to a much leaner 165. Coincidentally, I had a doctor visit or two during that time and the doctors never expressed any concern over it.

Fortunately, and I believe this generally for healthy adults, you will reach a plateau. I did so at 165 and never fell below that, even when I increased my running, lifting and other recreational activity.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#46

Post by jnorthrop »

matwood wrote: post #37
yesimahuman wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is why you go slow and use easy weights when starting a new free weight workout. Having bad form can be dangerous (for example, the deadlift), but in general I find that it's just not as effective and that bothers me enough to make my form better.

Ah, the dead lift. The single most effective exercise ever invented. I don't remember where I read it, but the quote goes like this: "A kid walked up to me in the gym while I was dead lifting and asked 'what muscle does that work.' I responded by asking the kid 'have you ever watched a football player run across the field and tackle the player with the ball?' The kid responded 'sure.' To that I said 'that muscle.'"

I love that quote -- I think that's a quote from Mike Boyle.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#47

Post by jules »

KirinDave wrote: post #27
hugh3 wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I disagree. Anything up to 2 lb per week is a reasonably healthy rate of weight loss, especially if you're quite overweight to start with. Losing 40 lb in six months is both perfectly healthy and a damn good achievement.

I'm not saying it's not great, but it's not a sustainable rate of weight loss if your goal is to lose a lot of weight. When I cut soda from my diet I lost 10lbs in a month. In a month! And then it tailed off and I was depressed because I couldn't sustain it, I had unreasonable expectations. And if you're losing 2lbs a week for a very long period of time, it can be an indicator of underlying medical issues.

You can't sustain any weight loss no matter how little for the simple mathematical reason that body weight is nonnegative. I do agree that 2 lbs/week which is about 8000 calories, or about 3-4 days worth of calories, is a lot. For an average weight person. If you weigh a lot then it may be ok because you naturally burn more calories per day so 8000 calories may only be 2-3 days worth. You shouldn't look at the lbs/week figure but at how many percent fewer calories you're consuming than you need to sustain body weight.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#48

Post by billswift »

tyweir wrote: post #41
hugh3 wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've seen the changes in my clients lives Ah, so you're someone who makes a living by selling diet plans? I'm afraid that if you're a professional x salesman that makes me somewhat less likely to trust your testimony on the advantages of x . experienced it my self (gluten-intolerant) and my mother (Celiac) Well obviously if you're gluten-intolerant then gluten is bad for you. And your argument that eating grains is n…

I run a CrossFit gym in Toronto. I get no money/compensation for anything regarding nutrition. We get people to try paleo for a month, book-ended by body composition tests and benchmark workouts. If life gets better and they stick with it, great, if they want to quit, they quit. "Y'see now you're sounding like a salesman." You didn't answer the question, you just accused me of something that's not true. I think the b…

>I'm certain that nothing you type will convince me.

Well, at least you realize you are irrational.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#49

Post by matwood »

thompo wrote: post #44
matwood wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

The problem with machines and that most enforce 'bad' form. Every person has their own natural motion that a machine simply cannot match. The best way to learn a free weight exercise is to simply start doing it without any weight. Start squatting and dead lifting with just your body weight (use a broom handle to simulate the bar). Once you get that down start adding weight. There is a very little that a machine will…

Another thing I'd like to add to this: TAKE VIDEOS. If you're hesitant to bring a point and shoot to the gym, go later at night or before noon when the gym is relatively empty. Share your videos on any of the big lifting forums and ask for opinions. Sure, you can ask a trainer, but if you're lifting at any of the major chain gyms I wouldn't trust a lot of those guys to critique a squat as far as I can throw them. If…

Great advice! The 2 angles you generally want for a video are the front or back and the direct side angle.

Luckily I haven't had to post and vids because I have a trainer friend who is very good at form and correction. He just adjusted a few things in my DLs and I'm closing in on 500lb DL again.

I've tried sumos off and on, but I don't they are right for my body type. I have long arms and legs and I just get so much more leverage with the traditional DL. I do sumo holds though as accessory work to keep my glutes firing properly.

And yea, the guy quarter squatting is generally a dumb ass. There are times to quarter squat, but for most people they should never need to.

Re: Beginner's Health and Fitness Guide

#50

Post by matwood »

gyardley wrote: post #40
matwood wrote: post #30

Earlier quoted context omitted.

First off, great job! Working out really doesn't take that long. Most studies have shown that a typical non-steroid using weight training session only needs to last 45 minutes to an hour. After that time period, unless you consuming calories during the session the results you can get drop off dramatically from diminishing returns. I agree that the biggest hurdle with people going to a gym is the intimidation factor.…

Your advice here is good. You might want to quietly watch a few trainers in action, if you can do so unobtrusively - I did, and it helped. I picked a female trainer over a male trainer because I saw a few of the male trainers at my gym barking drill-sergeant-style, and I knew I'd react poorly to that. As for the complements to a stranger, I did have a couple of random people at the gym say 'you've been working your a…

You picked a trainer the right way. If you know what you need to be pushed and motivated then look for that in a trainer. They each have their own styles and personalities just like anyone else.

When it comes to random complements it's really me projecting my anti-social tendency while at the gym. I'm there for one reason and it's to work out. I put headphones and generally don't talk or interact with anyone the entire time I'm there. I guess if the opportunity presents itself I'll try and offer a complement in a non-creep way :)

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