Exercise & Fitness IV

[TheLoneliestMonk]

do crossfit gilgamesh.

[Mudguard]

Thanks guys!

Zollo, I thought about getting into the debate again, but then decided to exercise some self-restraint and just post what I've been doing. That said, I will say this about our 9 person group :) One guy clearly worked out a lot. He had huge arms, big pecs, was pretty ripped and was a big guy overall, and looked to be in great shape. He'd been hiking with this group for a while and had done many of the major hikes, like Cactus to Clouds. But he bailed after 9 peaks. I don't want to belittle his achievement though. 9 peaks is still a big accomplishment. It was pretty brutal out there. Out of the 3 who finished, 2 of us were on the leaner/skinnier side, but the group leader, who was by far the fastest and in the best shape, worked out and had a good amount of muscle. That said, he was thinking about dropping 20 or 30 pounds because he said the added muscle was slowing him down on these hikes. For some endurance activities, like marathon running or endurance hikes, weightlifting probably isn't going to help much. It's not to say that you can't do both, because the hike leader did both at a pretty high level. But there's a tradeoff. I might pick up rock climbing after I hike Mt. Whitney, so I'll probably add some strength training later. And because I do want to engage in other activities, being well-rounded strengthwise will certainly be useful. Just not now.

Kat, I had wanted to move up to the Bay area until I started hiking the mountains. I can get to the San Gabriel, San Bernadino, or San Jacinto Mt. ranges in under an hour and a half. In the winter, I can snowboard, and the rest of the time I can go hiking. How long does it take for you to get to the Sierra Nevada? I'm thinking that if I do end up moving up, I could just drive out on Friday night and car camp or something. I can only do these long hikes on the weekend anyway.

Edited to change "but" to "and." That makes more sense.

[Stego]

One guy clearly worked out a lot. He had huge arms, big pecs, was pretty ripped and was a big guy overall, but looked to be in great shape.

Why the but?

[Gilgamesh]

do crossfit gilgamesh.

Do what lol?

@Stego: Lol! I think, P4P, Bruce Lee was immensely strong- one fingered press ups and all that crap. Lesnar, meh, if he wants to do the nutritional side of it (ie all the protein required) that's up to him, but it's not the most adaptable physique.

If you're making aspersions about me be weak and skinny, I don't mind. I ain't, but whenever I used to see guys trying to show off in the gym I always thought it was a bit pathetic. But, I've got to reiterate, if people want to do it, that's up to them. Personally I don't think it's a fighter's physique, and it's certainly no good for climbing hills on a bike.

@Liffguard: I don't think they won't - the point I was trying express was about the obsession of power-lifters who want to get the highest one-rep total possible. Deadlifts, in and of themselves, are fine, great. But the form of strength pursued by powerlifters is to me purposeless.

This is the kind of stuff I like, generally:

[Mudguard]

Why the but?

Yeah, you're right. I changed the "but" to "and."

[Stego]

"Pound-for-pound" is a term made up by little men to compare themselves to big men.

[Stego]

Yeah, you're right. I changed the "but" to "and."

Cool beans, then. Sorry if I'm defensive today.

[zollo]

"Pound-for-pound" is a term made up by little men to compare themselves to big men.

You dropped a dumbell on your foot or something? How about we get "excercise yay! you can do it" - Stego back? That was more fun.

:P

[Liffguard]

Do what lol?

Crossfit. A somewhat controversial but IMO quite successful program to achieve all-round general fitness. Actually quite similar to RossTraining in many respects.

@Liffguard: I don't think they won't - the point I was trying express was about the obsession of power-lifters who want to get the highest one-rep total possible. Deadlifts, in and of themselves, are fine, great. But the form of strength pursued by powerlifters is to me purposeless.

This is the kind of stuff I like, generally:

What do you mean by the "form of strength" that powerlifters pursue? Strength is strength. I'm not saying you have to lift with the same intensity and frequency that powerlifters do. That would be crazy for anyone whose sport isn't powerlifting. My point is that weightlifting is an essential addition to any athlete's training. Not a replacement, an addition. I'm not saying to do weightlifting instead of RossTraining, I'm saying to do it as well.

I know that there's an issue of time management and priorities. I train for a sport that requires a lot of the characteristics you have claimed are your priorities. I don't just weightlift, not by a long shot. But the benefits of lifting three times a week are immense and perfectly complement the type of training you have posted.

"Pound-for-pound" is a term made up by little men to compare themselves to big men.

Pound-for-pound is just another way of saying strength-to-weight-ratio. At 170cm with quite a compact frame, I accept I'm never going to be as strong as someone with the frame of Brock Lesnar. I simply cannot fit that much meat onto my skeleton. I also know several people who lift less than me but lift a significantly higher proportion of their bodyweight. A 60kg man who can deadlift 150kg is more impressive to me than a 100kg man who can deadlift 200kg.

So yeah, it is a term to compare little men to big men. But some men are going to be smaller no matter how hard they train. You can't control genetics.

[Mudguard]

Nice one, Mudguard! Sounds like a great hike (I hope you did that whilst doing squats otherwise Stego might not approve :P ). Took any photos?

Just did 3.5 km in 15 minutes (at an average height asl of 14-17m ... I looked it up), which is not bad at all, more so as I have not done much for months due to barely being home and / or working at crazy times (no such thing as 8 hour work days in the wildlife business). Pleased with that, though I will be feeling that one tomorrow.

Yeah, I have a bunch of photos, and I'll post a link once I figure out which photos are taken from which peak. The photos are time stamped, so I can match them up with my gps track, which is also time stamped.

[Mudguard]

Cool beans, then. Sorry if I'm defensive today.

No worries. I have a thick skin, and I generally don't take things over the internet personally anyway :)

I think it's great that you and others are so dedicated to weightlifting and all the other exercises that you all do. We've got the weightlifting group, the Yoga queen, the runners and hikers, etc. To me, after spending a long period of time being inactive, doing any form of exercise is great. So if someone posts that they are engaging in some sort of physical acivity that they are enjoying, I think that's great. At least for me, and I imagine it's the same with most people, it's so much easier to stick with an activity when you enjoy doing it. Also, the more I hear how awesome you're feeling after your exercises, like you weightlifting stuff, the more I want to give it a try. So keep it up guys!

[TheLoneliestMonk]

Liffguard beat me to it on the link, but the basic idea of crossfit is there is a wide variety of exercises done switching each day. the goal is functional fitness, working on strength, endurance, and dexterity in many muscle groups every time you work out. I think it is controvertial because it is dangerous or some nonsense. id say it's worth the risk, and once I ditch the wife and step kids I will probably start going to one of their over priced gyms. I wish I could do it at my free gym, but it's just not practical there.

ETA the saturday Crossfit workout

Walking lunge 100 ft.

21 Pull-ups

21 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.

18 Pull-ups

18 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.

15 Pull-ups

15 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.

12 Pull-ups

12 Sit-ups

Walking lunge 100 ft.

9 Pull-ups

9 Sit-ups

Walking Lunge 100 ft.

6 Pull-ups

6 Sit-ups

hardcore right?

[Stego]

You dropped a dumbell on your foot or something? How about we get "excercise yay! you can do it" - Stego back? That was more fun.

:P

I'd love to be that way. I simply reply to what is written, Joris.

[Kat]

Kat, I had wanted to move up to the Bay area until I started hiking the mountains. I can get to the San Gabriel, San Bernadino, or San Jacinto Mt. ranges in under an hour and a half. In the winter, I can snowboard, and the rest of the time I can go hiking. How long does it take for you to get to the Sierra Nevada? I'm thinking that if I do end up moving up, I could just drive out on Friday night and car camp or something. I can only do these long hikes on the weekend anyway.

Edited to change "but" to "and." That makes more sense.

Depends on where you want to go in the Sierra...Tahoe is about 4 hours, less if you live in the east bay. Yosemite is about the same. If you just like to go up tall peaks that are fairly easily accessible, though, I still think SoCal is better for that. (The native N. Californian within me is screaming right now, because I otherwise love the Bay Area. :P) There's a shorter season without excessive amounts of snow here, for one.

[cjfshaw]

But he bailed after 9 peaks. I don't want to belittle his achievement though. 9 peaks is still a big accomplishment. It was pretty brutal out there.

Sir, I think 1 peak is an accomplishment. Did you guys go down and up for every mountain or go to one then just keep going up and up? Either way it is impressive to me.

@Gilgamesh: I'm a bit confused, it seems like you are downplaying the strength/growth effects that lifting heavy weights in the gym and yet in the video you showed us the guy was doing a deadlift, and using weights for things like presses.

I totally get what you are saying about the bodyweight exercises though. It really feels great to accomplish something with your own body, like handwalking or rock climbing. But, like it has been said on here many times in the short time that I've been watching this thread, different goals for different people.

That being said...

@Stego: What you said about people doing bodyweight exercises, were you just trying to get people mad at you? Bodyweight exercises are a completely legitimate way to build strength and size, just like weightlifting. You won't become massive without adding extra weight but that isn't everyone's goal, obviously.

Do you think these guys are little men who are embarrassed to workout in front of others?

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uLEMqN-Za_U...player_embedded

I think what liffguard said is really spot on though, and probably the best thing I've read on this rather heated page yet.

[Mudguard]

Sir, I think 1 peak is an accomplishment. Did you guys go down and up for every mountain or go to one then just keep going up and up? Either way it is impressive to me.

About half of the elevation gain for the whole trip came from climbing up the first mountain. We started at about 6000 ft elevation and hiked up Dobbs Peak at 10,469'. From here, we would descend from the peak along a ridge that connected with the next mountain on the list. The climb up to the next peak would range between about 300' to 1000'. So we would always descend a little bit on the ridge, and then hike up the next peak on the list. The entire ridge was above 10,000', so we didn't have to descend all the way down between peaks. This ridge is the only way to bag so many peaks in one day.

[Stego]

@Stego: What you said about people doing bodyweight exercises, were you just trying to get people mad at you? Bodyweight exercises are a completely legitimate way to build strength and size, just like weightlifting. You won't become massive without adding extra weight but that isn't everyone's goal, obviously.

When did I attack body weight exercises? I have been the biggest proponent of the pull up around. I do body weight exercises every workout. I do not, however, do only body weight exercises.

And you won't become massive without steroids and/or eating like a horse. (But, we may have differing definitions of massive.)

[cjfshaw]

Lean strength would be something like Bruce Lee, right? And 'useless bulk' would be Brock Lesnar?

Gilgamesh, I've found that skinny, weak guys do body exercises because they are afraid of doing weight exercises in front of men who are not weak. And those 5% body fat, 5% muscle milquetoasts also make comments about how muscular guys are fat, what with their 12% body fat and all. It's common around here, and it's getting old.

[Stego]

Your lack of reading comprehension does not make anything so.

Would it help if I stated "Weak guys do ONLY body weight exercises because they are afraid of doing weight exercises in front of men who are not weak?"

I'll spell it out for you. The reason for this is that tiny guys think they're doing a pull up is the exact same thing as a big guy doing a pull up. When in fact, pulling up 125lbs is not the same thing as pulling up 225lbs. This should be self-explanatory, but it isn't. These tiny guys come into the gym, do bicep curls, pull ups, and abs. And they think that is a workout regimen. AND they talk about how 'jacked' they are.

And when intimidated by strong men, they always, always, always resort to calling them fat.

[cjfshaw]

Your lack of reading comprehension does not make anything so.

Would it help if I stated "Weak guys do ONLY body weight exercises because they are afraid of doing weight exercises in front of men who are not weak?"

I'll spell it out for you. The reason for this is that tiny guys think they're doing a pull up is the exact same thing as a big guy doing a pull up. When in fact, pulling up 125lbs is not the same thing as pulling up 225lbs. This should be self-explanatory, but it isn't. These tiny guys come into the gym, do bicep curls, pull ups, and abs. And they think that is a workout regimen. AND they talk about how 'jacked' they are.

And when intimidated by strong men, they always, always, always resort to calling them fat.

I think your perception is just very skewed, and I am going to end it at that because this is pointless.