Lifestyle physical health/fitness thread

Stallion

Tree Young
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Running uphills, cycling uphills, walking uphill? Sorry but I never found a gym-based exercise that builds good calves - even Arnie had calf implants and I think that says it all!

So, as an update on me - I had a race yesterday, a 11 kilometre trail race with over 200m of elevation. And it was bloody hot in the UK yesterday, hottest day of the year they're saying. My foot was all taped up because of a blood blister on the sole of my foot I developed a few days previous which led me to go into it with a sorta 'ehhhh lets just see how it goes' attitude but when I hit the start line I just thought fuck it, I may as well go for it.

So I rocket off, looking to call some bluffs, hoping the competition will think 'fuck, he's fast, I best just let him go.' My first km over difficult terrain was 3.30 minutes, my third kilometre, the majority of which was straight up a mountain, was barely 5 minutes. That's fast. The danger with such an approach is that if anybody hangs with me I'll very likely be too exhausted to hold them off. So at about 4km I'm utterly fucked, my heart rate monitor is saying 199 beats per minute which is pretty traumatic but I'm out in the lead. I finally see the opportunity to have a sneaky peek over my shoulder (first rule of running, don't let the guy behind you see you're worried about him)...and...shit, there's a dude about 30 metres behind me. I don't think I'll be able to hold him off if he challenges me. The next 7km was a blur of heat-exhaustion, more climbing and sheer gutsiness, but I finally crossed the line in first place by just under a minute, before proceeding to down a pint of water and then pouring a second pint over my head, drank some questionable complementary recovery shake and scooped up the humble but much appreciated £50 prize money (presented by Chrissie Wellington, 4 time IronMan world champion and current world record holder!).
Here's some snaps!

With my nieces at the finish line.

Getting a hug from Chrissie Wellington. ^_^

My reaction to the aforementioned 'questionable shake.'

Action shot


That's all for now, looking to build from this and learn from this for my next race in mid-June.
Big ups and inspiring stuff. Way to go beast mode Lee.

Except the comment about the weather, Google said it was 24 degrees, you Brits are pussies xD. Earlier this year, I played a basketball game at 6pm and it was 37 degrees. 37 in the early evening.
 

Lee

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Fucking 24 degrees!!! 27 is the hottest I've ever experienced in the UK! We're not all Aussies!

ps. wanna try a winter hill session with me? Gales, blizzards, freezing temperatures, I'll show you pussy. xD
 

Stallion

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Fucking 24 degrees!!! 27 is the hottest I've ever experienced in the UK! We're not all Aussies!
See my edit. This summer we had a string of 4 40+ degree days and my capital city is one of the colder ones on average haha. 27 for me is a nice spring day, I couldn't stop laughing when I saw all the heat warning articles :-P
 

Lee

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See my edit. I usually don't even put on a top with sleeves until it hits minus temperatures...our physiology is just a bit different!
 

Stallion

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In regards to your edit, nah I don't do cardio.....don't wanna lose all my gains.

In all seriousness it's funny how that is hey? I wonder if training in a climate our body isn't used to would improve our overall fitness? You could train down here and vice versa!
 

Lee

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Yeah, I'd definitely expect something to be gained from training in an extreme climate on the opposite end of the spectrum from what we're used to.

Although as to whether it'd improve overall 'fitness,' I guess that depends on your definition of the word...that's an interesting discussion actually; how do you define fitness? It's traditionally been defined by the combination of the '3 S's' - Strength, Speed and Stamina but I always felt out that left out way too many attributes...flexibility, balance, agility, power, suppleness, resilience etc. I've discussed this with some fellow athletes and thrashed out a loose definition of 'your ability to adapt to and overcome the widest possible variety of physically challenging situations and conditions' or something to that effect. Could be polished but ticks most of my boxes...what would you say?
 
I'm curious how you guys feel about running shoes, I've been reading "Born to Run" and it slams them a lot. The basic idea makes some decent sense; that our race when it still had to hunt probably wasn't sitting around in the wild nursing runner's knee or w/e when it had to survive while nowadays the majority of runners who go out every year end up on the shelf (about 70% of them). It shows some research and anecdotes where the more cushioned and even spring-loaded the shoe is, the more pain and impact forces they bring. More cushion means less natural running position (and it would make sense that the human body is calibrated very well at taking the forces without shoes) and not any shock absorption. The author by mid book goes from overweight guy injuring himself routinely to running above 50 miles a week with thinner shoes as part of the fix.

There are many other nice points in that book that are definitely true- standard American diet is SAD and pushing your body hard in forms other than running helps it become as resilient as possible, but I wanna know your experiences with running shoes.
 

Lee

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Had crippling knee problems, was told I'd never run again. Started running in the barefoot style, no more pain and winning races. Go figure.

I say 'barefoot style' because that's the key bit. It's the style/form that counts, not the shoe. It's perfectly possible to run well in 'traditional' shoes, just like it's possible to run badly whilst barefoot. My gf has the big clunky style of shoe criticised by Born to Run but her form is still excellent.

Born to Run is a good read, enjoy it.
 
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Imanalt

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I'm the reverse, I can't run at all without shoes (or even walk much), because of the fact i have both flat feet, and joint issues. Without the support of some sort of orthotic for my feet they very quickly hurt, and without the padding of a shoe my joints get bad. I think its definitely a case where different people have very different needs in terms of shoes, some people are fine without shoes and even do better do to things like less weight etc, but other people need them.

I also want to just go on a slight rant that so much of things like what you're describing of that book (I haven't read it, so I'm not sure if it actually fits this mold), have a tendency to glorify some prehistoric state that never really existed. Hunter/Gatherers didn't go out running every day for an hour, and a lot of people did get hurt, they just died. The race as a whole lived in much worse conditions, so I'm not really sure why we want to move back to that? I suppose I view a lot of that type of thing sort of like the broscience discussed earlier.
 
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I'm the reverse, I can't run at all without shoes (or even walk much), because of the fact i have both flat feet, and joint issues. Without the support of some sort of orthotic for my feet they very quickly hurt, and without the padding of a shoe my joints get bad. I think its definitely a case where different people have very different needs in terms of shoes, some people are fine without shoes and even do better do to things like less weight etc, but other people need them.

I also want to just go on a slight rant that so much of things like what you're describing of that book (I haven't read it, so I'm not sure if it actually fits this mold), have a tendency to glorify some prehistoric state that never really existed. Hunter/Gatherers didn't go out running every day for an hour, and a lot of people did get hurt, they just died. The race as a whole lived in much worse conditions, so I'm not really sure why we want to move back to that? I suppose I view a lot of that type of thing sort of like the broscience discussed earlier.
The idea is not to strictly emulate prehistoric conditions. Basically, you're supposed to just work with evolution(according to this mindset). We evolved in a way that encourages physical activity to maintain longevity for example, whereas a sloth would not see nearly as many benefits from exercise. The idea is that if we were doing it in prehistoric times, then our body had adapted to work with those things. Likewise,
However, logically you would also assume that nature is now selecting for people that are the best at sitting in offices anyway.
Idk though I think there is definitely more merit to the paleo train of thought than just "broscience."
 

Lee

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The premise of the theory is based on the now widely accepted Endurance Hunting hypothesis; the idea that, for nearly 2 million years, we hunted game by running them down. While humans aren't the fastest animals in the kingdom, we do have a number of adaptations that make us the ultimate endurance athletes on Earth and, although in some cases it may have taken all day, a pack of humans could chase an antelope/gazelle etc until it collapsed from sheer exhaustion.

So with virtually no equipment the human race, for 2,000,000 years, was the dominant running force on the planet Earth but now we have Nike telling us we need their latest Air Cushion technology with added swoosh and physiotherapist/doctor's surgeries bills have been going through the roof ever since. Funny thing is, the guy who designed the first Nike running shoes, shoes that defined the next 50 years of running footwear, had virtually no experience of running or running biomechanics. Heavily cushioned heels encourage you to land on your heels. Landing on your heels channels the majority of the impact through your knees. Run with no shoes (or non-cushioned shoes) however, and you'll land on your forefoot. Landing on your forefoot channels the impact through your ankles. While it may seem a 'pick your poision' sort of deal, it must be noted that the knee is a terrible absorber of force while the ankle is basically the best force-absorber in our body.

My advice; run on your forefoot. If you're landing on your heels then you're a terrible runner and an injury waiting to happen. It is possible to land on your forefoot whilst wearing Nikes but it's not as easy. Nikes want you to land on your heels; odds are if you've been wearing cushioned running shoes all your life then you're already a heel striker. Cushioned running shoes becoming the norm is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to my sport.
 
My advice; run on your forefoot. If you're landing on your heels then you're a terrible runner and an injury waiting to happen. It is possible to land on your forefoot whilst wearing Nikes but it's not as easy. Nikes want you to land on your heels; odds are if you've been wearing cushioned running shoes all your life then you're already a heel striker. Cushioned running shoes becoming the norm is probably the worst thing that has ever happened to my sport.
Holy shit I've been running this way forever and I thought I was running poorly. Sweet!
 
I've run for probably 8 years now, competing in high school and college. I definitely don't run at the level Lee does, but I've had good coaching throughout my time running and I can reiterate that form > equipment for any sport, running included.

I've always had this hypothesis that equipment can be detrimental to health in sports but there isn't any real way to test it. Think about all the ACL tears you see in basketball and football. Would those injuries be possible for barefoot humans? I feel like having cleats allows an athlete to make harsh cuts past defenders (a frequent cause of knee injury) where the same athlete wouldn't have the ridiculous gripping power with bare feet and would slip out instead. Similarly, basketball shoes basically stick to the court and allow the same kinds of cuts.
Maybe I'm completely wrong here, but I think it's reasonable. Anyone else notice this type of injury/equipment correlation?
 
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Stratos

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Running barefoot feels amazing—but remember that our ancestors also didn't have concrete. Only run barefoot on places with natural padding, like dirt or grass, or it will be way worse than wearing shoes.

Seconding the point about form being the important part. Heel striking not only injures you, it makes you so much SLOWER and makes running less enjoyable. It took me a long time to develop good form but distance runs (12-13 miles, i'm not lee) feel so great now. Nothing like the sharpness of a long, hard run.

As for myself i'm not a builder but I am a runner. My mile PR is 5:00. There is no worse feeling in the world.

Edit: absolutely agree cprime
 

Lee

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Pwnemon - I'm not one of those hipsters who's going to tell anybody to run literally barefoot but as for the concrete thing; we didn't invent rocky surfaces. Humans have been running in mountains and canyons etc for thousands of years. Also notable is the Ethiopian soldier (his name escapes me) who won the Gold medal at the 1960 Olympics by running the Marathon through the cobbled stone streets of Rome absolutely barefoot. I've never tried literal barefoot running myself but there is precedent to suggest it is compatible with concrete. Just watch out for glass and dog poo!

Agree 100% with everything else in your post though, particularly the 'slower' bit. Next time you watch a competitive race pay attention to the front-runners; I'd put money on them not being heel-strikers.
 

DHR-107

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I've run for probably 8 years now, competing in high school and college. I definitely don't run at the level Lee does, but I've had good coaching throughout my time running and I can reiterate that form > equipment for any sport, running included.

I've always had this hypothesis that equipment can be detrimental to health in sports but there isn't any real way to test it. Think about all the ACL tears you see in basketball and football. Would those injuries be possible for barefoot humans? I feel like having cleats allows an athlete to make harsh cuts past defenders (a frequent cause of knee injury) where the same athlete wouldn't have the ridiculous gripping power with bare feet and would slip out instead. Similarly, basketball shoes basically stick to the court and allow the same kinds of cuts.
Maybe I'm completely wrong here, but I think it's reasonable. Anyone else notice this type of injury/equipment correlation?
"Bladed" football boots/rugby boots were banned from our school due to people seriously hurting their knees when the shoe gave more grip that your body can contain. Playing Ultimate Frisbee I've seen those injuries happen too. I've always worn "slippy" shoes for sports like that, if in doubt I've always but my hands down for more grip. Twisting your knee in that direction just doesn't work, and theres only so much the ankle can contain...
 
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shade

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ive seen so many lads slip awkwardly in rugby trainings when they've not been wearing studded boots, one lad even broke his arm. i suppose its 6 of one and half a dozen of the other, but i would never consider not wearing studded boots when playing or training for rugby on grass.
 
Can't believe I didn't find this thread sooner -- or at least look a little deeper than a mention to the word "broscience" when DHR-107 linked it in OI IRC.

ANyway, glad to see there is a section of smogon dedicated to some of the more challenging aspects of life!

Today marks a year since I made a life-changing decision to really apply myself to living healthy/exercise and better choices when it comes to food! I was never fat but always carrying a little extra I didn't need to. However, i'm still 18kg lighter, got down to a total loss of 38cm off my entire body, currently I think i'm about 25 off, but i've put 13 on across my chest, legs and arms. So it's an increase but i've found it being driven by the increased amount of weights training i've been doing

Unfortunately, i've been complacent over the past month due to stress at work, exhaustion and I guess, a bit of laziness. On top of that, over the past week i've been fighting off a mildly sprained rib and an intercostal strain/tear on my left side so that meant another week of no training.

Went back to the gym this morning and felt great -- wasn't the most intense session as i'm still sorting out what works without causing too much pain and is inline with the stretches/exercise the Dr prescribed. So no deadlifts or squats probably for another week or so -- don't want to risk damaging it further or get half way through a squat and be unable to finish it! My best (12 reps) was 150kg squat, 120kg dead lift and 95 bench, only managed 60kg bench today but its an improvement to struggling to do a push up from pain earlier in the week.

Although I've been unable to train much, it's allowed time for me to plan some goals, ensure i'm getting in to great eating habits, etc in the lead up to a 14km fun-run (it's quite a big event in Australia, the City2Surf run) and then registered for a 60km ride along the east coast from Sydney in November. It will be the first time attempting such a long distance on bike but we'll see how it goes -- I prefer running/rowing and gym-related activities rather than bike but there's a first for everything.

I've got a question though; does anyone have some good/quick and healthy meal recipes to share? I'm starting to get over my long-time favourite lunch of chicken, quinoa, kale, broccoli and sweet potato (steamed). I shake it up every now and then and go with salad, walnuts, etc over steamed vegies -- or some lean steak. But kinda interested to see what others do?

Generally, i stay away from crap oils (saturated fats, non-nut based), bread and overly processed foods -- I try and make sure that my staple-meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner) cover off nutritional needs and requirements.

Winter is always a hard time to hold it all together...but also a great time to put in the hard work for the summer months!
 

Stallion

Tree Young
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Can't believe I didn't find this thread sooner -- or at least look a little deeper than a mention to the word "broscience" when DHR-107 linked it in OI IRC.

ANyway, glad to see there is a section of smogon dedicated to some of the more challenging aspects of life!

Today marks a year since I made a life-changing decision to really apply myself to living healthy/exercise and better choices when it comes to food! I was never fat but always carrying a little extra I didn't need to. However, i'm still 18kg lighter, got down to a total loss of 38cm off my entire body, currently I think i'm about 25 off, but i've put 13 on across my chest, legs and arms. So it's an increase but i've found it being driven by the increased amount of weights training i've been doing

Unfortunately, i've been complacent over the past month due to stress at work, exhaustion and I guess, a bit of laziness. On top of that, over the past week i've been fighting off a mildly sprained rib and an intercostal strain/tear on my left side so that meant another week of no training.

Went back to the gym this morning and felt great -- wasn't the most intense session as i'm still sorting out what works without causing too much pain and is inline with the stretches/exercise the Dr prescribed. So no deadlifts or squats probably for another week or so -- don't want to risk damaging it further or get half way through a squat and be unable to finish it! My best (12 reps) was 150kg squat, 120kg dead lift and 95 bench, only managed 60kg bench today but its an improvement to struggling to do a push up from pain earlier in the week.

Although I've been unable to train much, it's allowed time for me to plan some goals, ensure i'm getting in to great eating habits, etc in the lead up to a 14km fun-run (it's quite a big event in Australia, the City2Surf run) and then registered for a 60km ride along the east coast from Sydney in November. It will be the first time attempting such a long distance on bike but we'll see how it goes -- I prefer running/rowing and gym-related activities rather than bike but there's a first for everything.

I've got a question though; does anyone have some good/quick and healthy meal recipes to share? I'm starting to get over my long-time favourite lunch of chicken, quinoa, kale, broccoli and sweet potato (steamed). I shake it up every now and then and go with salad, walnuts, etc over steamed vegies -- or some lean steak. But kinda interested to see what others do?

Generally, i stay away from crap oils (saturated fats, non-nut based), bread and overly processed foods -- I try and make sure that my staple-meals (breakfast/lunch/dinner) cover off nutritional needs and requirements.

Winter is always a hard time to hold it all together...but also a great time to put in the hard work for the summer months!
Don't avoid saturated fats too much. I'm currently prepping for a physique modelling comp and my trainer has made coconut oil a staple part of my diet and it's where I get the majority of my dietary fat from. It's predominantly saturated fat too, it's just that an excess of Saturated fats can have health issues.

My best advice for making food less bland: low calorie sauces and spices. They make a ridiculous difference to a meal. I just ate Tuna and Brown Rice for example, but with Garlic, Tuscan seasoning and African spices. Highly recommended.

Good to see a fellow Aussie here. I'll be up in Sydney for the June long weekend for Armin only so give me a yell if you wanna do a gym sesh together while I'm up there!
 
Don't avoid saturated fats too much. I'm currently prepping for a physique modelling comp and my trainer has made coconut oil a staple part of my diet and it's where I get the majority of my dietary fat from. It's predominantly saturated fat too, it's just that an excess of Saturated fats can have health issues.
Sorry, poor use of terminology on my part -- I have coconut oil quite a bit. I like food so when I do cook (mainly meat dishes, asian, thai, roast, etc) I like to use more natural ingredients. Nearly anything that requires butter I use coconut oil as a substitute. Considering I don't eat sat fat from anywhere else I don't mind it coming from a healthier oil -- thats not to say I smother everything in oil but I try to have the philosophy of if you're planning to use something either choose the healthiest option or limit the intake.

My best advice for making food less bland: low calorie sauces and spices. They make a ridiculous difference to a meal. I just ate Tuna and Brown Rice for example, but with Garlic, Tuscan seasoning and African spices. Highly recommended.
I do use these very sparingly, generally just a little bit on some chicken breast makes it not as dry as it can sometimes be. I love Harissa (not sure of its historical origins, but i call it african tomato sauce), having always suffered from GORD/GERD whatever it's called. I tend to be cautious of spices and things that are overly strong as I find it can sometimes either trigger my reflux to play up so generally try and limit it. Having the steamed vegetables helps to add moisture!

Good to see a fellow Aussie here. I'll be up in Sydney for the June long weekend for Armin only so give me a yell if you wanna do a gym sesh together while I'm up there!
Yeah, there's a few of us around here :P Re: training, perhaps. Not sure what my plans are that weekend although I was hoping to get up to QLD. A friend is training for a triathlon so figured i'd head up for a break and try out their training plan -- all depends on how the healing goes from my injury.
 
Alright, well, I have no idea what I'm doing, and you guys appear to have an idea, so.

I've started running as a way to lose a little weight and get into shape. My goal as of now is to finish a 5k run without stopping to walk (my stamina is shit atm). I'm using this app every day as a training tool to slowly build up my stamina, but I'm wondering if anyone has any advice / tips for a new runner.

So far I really enjoy running, it's nice to get active without feeling pressured by competition. I originally played soccer, hockey, and a bit of basketball, but I never really picked up the finer skills to be able to keep up with all the guys who really loved the sport. Even now, at a house league level, I really can't keep up as far as technical skill goes, and I'm not interested in the uphill battle it'd take to get good at a sport I really don't enjoy that much. Running is just so much more relaxed, there's no pressure for you to be better than the other guy, no letting down your team if you can't keep up. It's pretty awesome :)
 
I'm not an elite runner like Lee, but as a guy who went from 7:47 to ~6:10 for a mile and then 26:something to 19:23 for 5km in the course of a few months, I can honestly say that if you keep running every 2 or 3 days, maybe just 1 mile on those days, you will gradually improve quite a bit. For Personal Fitness class, we were allowed to do our own thing after warm-ups and I would often do something small like a lap every day, and then a mile on Monday/Thursday. Try to keep a pattern as to when you run.

I'd say the most important thing is to let yourself rest on days in-between. If you run a mile every day, you'll probably burn out and crash to dust.

Have fun!
 
I'm not an elite runner like Lee, but as a guy who went from 7:47 to ~6:10 for a mile and then 26:something to 19:23 for 5km in the course of a few months, I can honestly say that if you keep running every 2 or 3 days, maybe just 1 mile on those days, you will gradually improve quite a bit. For Personal Fitness class, we were allowed to do our own thing after warm-ups and I would often do something small like a lap every day, and then a mile on Monday/Thursday. Try to keep a pattern as to when you run.

I'd say the most important thing is to let yourself rest on days in-between. If you run a mile every day, you'll probably burn out and crash to dust.

Have fun!
BlackLight - just keep with it, keep setting goals (achievable, but challenging) and monitor your progress. I use a heart-rate monitor w/ GPS (garmin is one of many brands) that actually maps up your entire run, distance, average speed, intensity and gives you an effectiveness rating of the activity. I'd recommend checking it out -- the strap/belt that goes around your chest isn't too intrusive but feels odd the first few times.

Like most things, it comes down to working on and improving. I've enjoyed running over the past 9 months but only really started to take it serious about 8 weeks ago and decided to register for my first event. Just be mindful with running, although you may not feel as sore as having just finished up a weights session, stretching is just as important. So resting, stretching and feeding your body the right types of foods is very important -- I find a foam roller to be a god-send after a long run and you can almost cover off all your major muscle groups. Also, consider looking at your diet and ensure that you are offsetting it (with good food) when you do additional exercise. There is nothing worse than running a decent distance either low on energy/starving, or running after having eaten too much.

Also -- you cannot go past the right music!
 
MikeAU Perfect Cell Thanks guys, appreciate the support. :D

So far I've been feeling pretty good with going out once a day, though seeing as I'm not running the whole way just yet I suppose that'll change pretty soon. I've been making some efforts to improve my diet, like going to Subway over Pizza Pizza when I eat out and eating until I'm full instead of until I hate myself, lol.

I'll look into one of the heart rate / GPS things, it'd be nice to figure out how far I'm actually going instead of how long I'm out there.
 

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