FitnessBore - 2018 edition

[WrikaWrek]

Yeah. Avatar didn't win the Oscar.

[brawndolicious]

I feel like one of those RPG characters who's lost all of his power in between saving the world and the start of the sequel.

Interesting article on artificial vs natural sweeteners:
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704706304575107560929031460.html

The Corn Refiners Association has been running television ads that try to counter the perception that the syrup is inferior. On its Web site, www.sweetsurprise.com, the association says high fructose corn syrup "is simply a kind of corn sugar. It has the same number of calories as sugar and is handled similarly by the body."

fud?

Well it isn't handled the exact same way.  It's in some ways better and in other ways worse since they each put strain on different parts of the metabolic system but health-wise, there's no real consensus that one is significantly better than the other for the general population.  I don't know if that even matters though because the article points out that some consumers are preferring sucrose over corn syrup just because it seems more natural, which is just the worst logic to use when talking about food science.

Since artificial sweeteners like splenda are cheaper and don't hurt your health like corn syrup/sucrose, then I think it might actually make sense to give a tax incentive to companies that don't use anything "natural".  Would probably help cut down on diabetes in the long-run.

[Mupepe]

I don't know why people argue about the HFC and refined sugar shit.  Both are absolutely terrible.  I hear people at work buying the Pepsi throwback shit and acting like they're doing their bodies a big favor.  SMFH

[demi]

I don't know why people argue about the HFC and refined sugar shit.  Both are absolutely terrible.  I hear people at work buying the Pepsi throwback shit and acting like they're doing their bodies a big favor.  SMFH

Not to mention Throwback tastes like its been left out too long from the start. Blech. Give me chemicals any day

[Mupepe]

Never tasted throwback.  I love the processed taste of Pepsi.  The fact that it taste so manufactured is what I love.

[demi]

Mmm fatties.

[Mr. Gundam]

I gave up pop for Lent. Don't miss it one bit.

edit: I have 5 or 6 12-packs of Mountain Dew Throwback in the basement, though.

[Mr. Gundam]

I missed it the first couple days something fierce, but I'm ok now.

[WrikaWrek]

Bought some Purple K creatine. Wanna see what this can do.

[Mupepe]

Well after all my good days I guess I was due for a bad one. 

I had to step down from 205 to 195 because I couldn't manage full sets on 205 or 200.  I felt like I was going to die after squats and after deadlift.  Dips were shit.

Imma take a two day rest and make sure I eat well and come back good on Saturday to kick 205 in its fucking ass.

[Rman]

I'm back on cross fit WODs after gaining some strength on Rippetoe.  Boy my WOD performance sucks.  You were right, Cormac, about not mixing strength and metcon work.

I caught this on my Twitter Feed on cross fit and the paleo diet movement.

[youtube=560,345]4tiyacMQ1j8[/youtube]

[Cormacaroni]

I'm pretty scared to do a WOD now, even more scared than usual! Even doing bodyweight stuff in my warm-up seems incredibly hard. In theory, it should come back in a few weeks, or a month at most, and then I'll be better than ever thanks to the extra strength but it's gonna be tough getting back into it. The extra bodyweight alone makes it harder to run, do pull-ups etc. I feel so sluggish and heavy right now.

I've shifted to doing triples and singles this week in an attempt to milk out a few more lbs on the heavy lifts, and mixing in some running and bodyweight stuff. Nothing too intense yet though. All of this just reinforces what I knew all along: specialization isn't for me. My goal is to be doing nothing but Crossfit again inside the month. Now I just need to get my training buddy to sign up for the pain!

[Cormacaroni]

Some good stuff up on mefi today about Rippetoe's methods:

http://www.metafilter.com/89973/The-Novice-Effect

[duckman2000]

Decided to tackle the previously impossible version of the calisthenics program that I was on before getting into lifting weights, and it was surprisingly painless. Air squats and squat posting still get me, though.

I caught this on my Twitter Feed on cross fit and the paleo diet movement.

[youtube=560,345]4tiyacMQ1j8[/youtube]

If they also hunted and grew their own food with sparse tools, they probably wouldn't need the workout in the first place! The fact that the dude chosen for the piece is a lawyer made me chuckle.

[Rman]

I'm pretty scared to do a WOD now, even more scared than usual! Even doing bodyweight stuff in my warm-up seems incredibly hard. In theory, it should come back in a few weeks, or a month at most, and then I'll be better than ever thanks to the extra strength but it's gonna be tough getting back into it. The extra bodyweight alone makes it harder to run, do pull-ups etc. I feel so sluggish and heavy right now.

I've shifted to doing triples and singles this week in an attempt to milk out a few more lbs on the heavy lifts, and mixing in some running and bodyweight stuff. Nothing too intense yet though. All of this just reinforces what I knew all along: specialization isn't for me. My goal is to be doing nothing but Crossfit again inside the month. Now I just need to get my training buddy to sign up for the pain!

Yeah. I got nauseous after my first WOD in months.  Gotta love crossfit!

[Mupepe]

So I think it's actually my caffeine withdrawals that's making me feel this way.  I feel achey and irritable.  I have for a few days.  But last night was really bad and I even had some shakes.  I thought I might be getting sick.

That was until I came in this morning and saw a pitcher of tea in the break room and my entire body got warm and I thought "holy shit that would be so fucking delicious."

I stopped drinking tea on Monday and didn't even think about it.

[duckman2000]

I don't care how unhealthy it is, I'm not dropping coffee. Over the past 5 years I've completely dropped booze, cigarettes, various drugs, soda and I barely eat candy. Coffee stays.

[Mupepe]

I only dropped tea because I started taking the creatine.  People say it's easier to get dehydrated when you are drinking tea instead of water so I switched.  Fuck.  I feel like shit.

[Mupepe]

Aren't you taking a pre-workout supplement too?  That's likely full of caffeine.  This is all in your mind. 

I was.  But I stopped taking it as well when I started taking the creatine.  Didn't want to mix them.

[Draft]

Rippetoe destroyed Lyle. That dude looks like a real jackass.

[duckman2000]

I only dropped tea because I started taking the creatine.  People say it's easier to get dehydrated when you are drinking tea instead of water so I switched.  Fuck.  I feel like shit.

Then stop taking creatine. Do you really need it? Anything with caffeine is going to dehydrate you to some degree, but it feels pretty overblown. But then I'm biased so hey.

[Cormacaroni]

Rippetoe destroyed Lyle. That dude looks like a real jackass.

Must have missed this. Link?

[Rman]

Rippetoe destroyed Lyle. That dude looks like a real jackass.

A lot of distinguished mentally-challenged fellows in that MF thread.  Did you read the comments?

[Cormacaroni]

I did, but didn't see anything directly from Rip in there. I did see some nonsense from someone claiming to be a doctor though - he got debunked pretty thoroughly, I thought.

Although I have to say, i think the Church of Big is a little misguided. Bigger is not automatically better in all situations, for all purposes. I feel stronger now, but I don't necessarily feel better. I feel stiff and sluggish and fat. I can't imagine pushing my weight to 200+lbs and feeling remotely as good as when I was Crossfitting intensely at 160lbs. And btw, I've LOST 10lbs off my deadlift vs then. I'm only stronger in squat and press.

[The Fake Shemp]

Why is my writing and whackin' it arm not as strong as my left arm?

[Cormacaroni]

Why is my writing and whackin' it arm not as strong as my left arm?

[Ganhyun]

decent pic of me (not a full body of course or anything) in the pics thread. Just remember guys I've lost a bunch of weight. 

[The Fake Shemp]

My right arm is noticeably weaker than me left. It's a pretty significant difference. That kind of goes against all the rules.

[Ganhyun]

did u hurt it at some point prior to now?
such as:


break it?
tear any tendons/ligaments?
hurt that shoulder?
etc?

[The Fake Shemp]

I don't think I fractured or broke it. I probably fucked it up as a kid, because I was a running accident during my youth.

[Cormacaroni]

My right arm is noticeably weaker than me left. It's a pretty significant difference. That kind of goes against all the rules.

We can theorize as to the reasons but ultimately...so what. It shouldn't affect the way you train. Both of your arms need to get stronger.

[The Fake Shemp]

BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHY, THAT'S WHY MISTER DOESN'T KNOW.

[Kestastrophe]

Thanks for posting that link to Rip, Cormac. After watching the video of that kid squatting in the link, I tried out his technique of spotting the floor instead of looking forward. It felt much more natural, and my squat was actually easier.

When Rip is saying "middle of the foot", what is he referring to?

[WrikaWrek]

Did 4.3 kms yesterday, and i'm less tired today than i was yesterday at the same time. Diet has been working really well, i'm already starting to see results after 2 weeks, i think things are looking rosy for June.

Only junk food i eat is sometimes i eat a couple of cookies, but aside from that...pretty much perfect, have no bad habits.

Basically only drink water, milk in the morning, and Protein Shake at night. No sodas.

[Cormacaroni]

BECAUSE I WANT TO KNOW WHY, THAT'S WHY MISTER DOESN'T KNOW.

Because your body, as we've previously established from your magical weight gains, is a freak of nature! Possibly you are a whole new genus, even a new species! Future generations of biologists will probably curse my name for shutting off this potentially bounteous avenues of inquiries, I admit.

[Cormacaroni]

Thanks for posting that link to Rip, Cormac. After watching the video of that kid squatting in the link, I tried out his technique of spotting the floor instead of looking forward. It felt much more natural, and my squat was actually easier.

When Rip is saying "middle of the foot", what is he referring to?

It's basically just another way of saying "not on your toes". People often cue the squat (and other lifts) by saying "weight on the heels", but really it should be distributed evenly across the foot for maximum stability of course. Asking people to put it on their heels is just to force them to correct the problem by exaggerating it. If you tell people from the outset that their weight should be on the middle of their foot, most people will go "no duh" then continue to lean forward on their toes.

Getting my head position correct was a surprisingly big step forward for me as well. My gym has mirrors in front of the squat rack, so the tendency is to look at yourself the whole way down and up. That messes up your chest position of course, and weakens the whole movement. Do you have a copy of Starting Strength? There are lots of useful diagrams in there. Only $25, and it'll help keep Rip in steaks.

[Draft]

Rippetoe destroyed Lyle. That dude looks like a real jackass.

Must have missed this. Link?

Oh, I thought you knew. It's sort of addressed in the link you posted.

http://startingstrength.com/resources/forum/showthread.php?t=15386

Lyle MacDonald of body recomposition fame called the Zach update bullshit. Said there was no way he gained as much LBM as Rip said, said there was no way he put that much weight on his squat while maintaining good form. Rip posted videos of Zach doing 320x5x5, ATG with basically perfect form. Lyle MacDonald locked the thread on his forum discussing Zach, then cancelled a trip to one of Rip's certs, then posted a petulant whine including private emails between him and Rip. Dude came off like a real douchebag through this whole thing, and Rippetoe looks like the GOMAD King.

[Mupepe]

I only dropped tea because I started taking the creatine.  People say it's easier to get dehydrated when you are drinking tea instead of water so I switched.  Fuck.  I feel like shit.

Then stop taking creatine. Do you really need it? Anything with caffeine is going to dehydrate you to some degree, but it feels pretty overblown. But then I'm biased so hey.

Eh.  I feel a lot better today.  I'm glad I got it out of my system.  I only really drink tea for the taste.  I don't like the idea of being addicted to anything so I'm happy it's done.

[Kestastrophe]

Thanks for posting that link to Rip, Cormac. After watching the video of that kid squatting in the link, I tried out his technique of spotting the floor instead of looking forward. It felt much more natural, and my squat was actually easier.

When Rip is saying "middle of the foot", what is he referring to?

It's basically just another way of saying "not on your toes". People often cue the squat (and other lifts) by saying "weight on the heels", but really it should be distributed evenly across the foot for maximum stability of course. Asking people to put it on their heels is just to force them to correct the problem by exaggerating it. If you tell people from the outset that their weight should be on the middle of their foot, most people will go "no duh" then continue to lean forward on their toes.

Getting my head position correct was a surprisingly big step forward for me as well. My gym has mirrors in front of the squat rack, so the tendency is to look at yourself the whole way down and up. That messes up your chest position of course, and weakens the whole movement. Do you have a copy of Starting Strength? There are lots of useful diagrams in there. Only $25, and it'll help keep Rip in steaks.

I don't have it, but I will get it now that I've taken several tips from his videos. Also, its hard to believe that adjusting the direction you look during squat can have that much effect, but in fact it did. My gym is the same way, with mirrors right in front, so I would watch myself. Going on feel was much, along with the floor as a visual cue, was much better

[WrikaWrek]

I've only been sleeping 5 hours and some for 4 days, it has definitely come back to kick me in the ass today. I was so tired, i felt my eyes were tired, burning.

This weekend is for resting with some lighter home work, 15 min deals. Your body needs rest people, another good advice from the Wreckage

[Cormacaroni]

Kestastrophe - The book will explain, in considerable anatomic detail, why these tweaks make a difference.

I noticed a fairly substantial psychological effect as well. I go down into the squat much faster when I'm not looking at myself, because I'm not using the mirror as a gauge of squat depth, consciously or not. Also, it helps shift your mental focus from the bar (which you can't help looking at if there's a mirror there) to your feet and ass (which is where the weight should be distributed, and what moves the weight, respectively).

Draft - Didn't hear about the Lyle McDonald flap. I read his posts occasionally but he's a little bit too hardcore technical with his diet for me, to be honest. I'm just not ready for that level of detail. Robb Wolf is more my speed (and that guy can LIFT too). Even then it's too much information.

[Draft]

I still think Lyle is a valuable resource and I'll keep reading his articles. I just think it's funny how he seems utterly convinced that Rippetoe's lying about this kid's gains.

[Cormacaroni]

Yeah. How anyone could think Rip was letting this kid cheat on his squat depth is just

[Mr. Gundam]

I'm down to 158 pounds.

Running rocks.

[Cormacaroni]

so dcharlie keeps telling me

[WrikaWrek]

I'm down to 158 pounds.

Running rocks.

How tall are you? Because that sounds extremely thin.

[Mr. Gundam]

I'm down to 158 pounds.

Running rocks.

How tall are you? Because that sounds extremely thin.

I'm 5 foot, 11 inches tall. I've got a little bit of a gut that I'm trying to get rid of.

[duckman2000]

Not to turn this into a food thread, but something about fish for those who want to eat it for the health benefits but don't like fish: marinated and well grilled or sauteed (good) salmon has just about no fish taste whatsoever. Even my wife who is a fish hater liked today's dish, a stir fry with sauteed salmon.

[WrikaWrek]

I'm down to 158 pounds.

Running rocks.

How tall are you? Because that sounds extremely thin.

I'm 5 foot, 11 inches tall. I've got a little bit of a gut that I'm trying to get rid of.

Holy shit, you are 1.80mt, weight 71 kg and are trying to lose more weight? Damn. I'm 1.83, and i'm weighting in at 77 kg, and look kinda thin. Last summer i was weighting in at 74kg and people thought i was getting too skinny, can only imagine what 70 kg would do.

[Mr. Gundam]

It's not really about losing weight, it's more about being healthy and feeling better. Plus, I have a gut and mini love handles that I'm not a big fan of.

Since I started running, I have more energy, my sex drive has improved and I don't feel sluggish anymore.

[Mr. Gundam]

28

[Groogrux]

More power to you, I say.   

I just weighed in and got surprised.  I've lost almost two pounds this week, and I've not hardly been exercising lately.  The most I've done in the past week is got out and walked 4 miles one day.  My diet has been mostly healthy but we've been strapped for cash so I haven't been able to buy some of the nicer foods that won't kill me with calories. 

I'm off work till next weekend, so I plan on jumping back into that saddle big time!

[WrikaWrek]

Wind speed is gonna be up to 11 miles in the northern region. orange alert

[Mupepe]

Woke up at 5am with the Mrs. yesterday and we hit the gym.  Doing deadlift at 5:30am is no fucking picnic.  Goddamn!

[duckman2000]

Started building up to decent weight on the deadlifts again after going pure calisthenics for a while, and it's rough. Also, and this may just be the quitter in me talking, but I think I'm starting to be content with my strength, so I may drop the weight again and add many more reps instead.

[Cormacaroni]

Took a shot at a 1RM on the squat to try to gauge my progress on Starting Strength. Last Nov., it was 115kg or 253lbs; today I did 135kg/ 297lbs

I failed 137.5kg after that but I think it may just have been a bad lift (sat down too quickly and couldn't recover) rather than there being too much weight on the bar. Will take another run at in a week or two when I try a Crossfit Total (1RM for squat, deadlift and shoulder press). If I do well, I may just draw a line under this thing. Regular Crossfit has PLENTY of max effort lifting so while I may not gain strength as fast, I'm unlikely to lose it with sensible programming.

[Rman]

Today''s WOD at the crossfit.com was brutal, boy.  I had to scale that baby down it still kicked my ass.

[Cormacaroni]

Murph? Yeah, that's insane. I've only ever done a 'Half Murph' - 800m, 50 pull-ups, 100 push-ups, 150 squats, 800m. Still murderous. I do the middle section like 'Cindy' - in blocks of 5 pull-ups, 10 push-ups, 15 squats. 

Jamie from Crossfit Asia drew 'Murph' as his very first Crossfit WOD - did the whole thing in an armored vest without partitioning, nearly died.

[Rman]

My God!

[Fresh Prince]

Holy shit, you are 1.80mt, weight 71 kg and are trying to lose more weight? Damn. I'm 1.83, and i'm weighting in at 77 kg, and look kinda thin. Last summer i was weighting in at 74kg and people thought i was getting too skinny, can only imagine what 70 kg would do.

God I'm the same height but I weigh around 83kg. Mr. Gundam should think about cycling.