10 ms·

My first thought was, "oh, reminds me of the SEAL's 40% rule... so if they're trained to ignore that limit, why don't they get hurt?" Then, in first google resu

My first thought was, "oh, reminds me of the SEAL's 40% rule... so if they're trained to ignore that limit, why don't they get hurt?" Then, in first google result [1], I read this: “I first met “SEAL” at a 100-mile run in San Diego and I was running this race as part of a six-person relay team with friends and he was running the entire race by himself,” Itzler said. “Who is this guy? I’ve never seen anything like it. And during the race, I kept an eye on him and around mile 70 — he weighed probably 260 pounds, which is quite large for an ultra runner — he had broken all the small bones in both of his feet and had kidney damage and he finished the race.” So... yeah, this makes Me think maybe I'll try harder at listening to my body (fwiw, I've screwed up arms/hands twice in past decade by pushing through fatigue). [1] http://thehustle.co/40-percent-rule-navy-seal-secret-mental-toughness http://thehustle.co/40-percent-rule-navy-seal-secret-mental-...

ArkyBeagle 10y ago
Where does this come from in the larger culture? I can see why people who are soldiers or ... athletes at the varsity or pro level might be interested in it but why would anyone want to basically injure themselves as a ... hobby? I've worked with runners who had serious injury, soccer players who came in with bruises that you'd associate with a severe beating... I'm thinking "geez, it's gonna suck when you're 62." Because when you lose some amount of basic mobility, you lose a lot of the ability to stay healthy when you're older. Is this because of Mountain Dew commercials and 1980s GI Joe body image stuff?
- lj3 10y ago
  > soccer players who came in with bruises that you'd associate with a severe beating I was a lacrosse goalie in high school and didn't have the sense to wear shin pads. If you run your fingers along my shin, you'll feel divots where the bone never regenerated. I too used to walk around with bruises on my legs that you'd associate with a severe beating. > Is this because of Mountain Dew commercials and 1980s GI Joe body image stuff? It's considerably more primal than that. Sports are the modern equivalent to tribal rites of passage. We're not allowed to kill our rivals anymore, so we settle for beating them in a physical sport in order to establish our physical dominance. It's empowering in a way that few things are, especially as a teenager and extra especially if you were bullied throughout elementary school.
  - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
    I was 120 lbs soaking wet when I was 17. The school gently guided me away from sports. Good thing, too. Best coach I ever had. I graduated high school close to 1980. Sure, there were guys finishing the big game on a broken bone but it seems like there's a lot more emphasis on this now, and it seems more dangerous and higher risk. I have nephews and kids of friends who are electing out of organized sports. FWIW, I feel lucky - we had basically one bully and he didn't last. Expelled. I remember in "Brian's Song" where Alex Karrass' character sold cars in the pro football off season. I dunno; I saw "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" and it gave me pause.
    - lj3 10y ago
      When I was 16, I was 130. That's after I spent three years in the weight room every day putting on muscle. I played every sport my school offered at least once, but I played football for 8 years. I never regretted it and I encourage everyone, especially the indoor geeky types, to try out for sports. Any sport. Even historical sword fighting. ;) It's an important experience that fewer kids are getting exposed to in this day and age thanks to helicopter parenting. Not to mention the life long social and health benefits
      - saiya-jin 10y ago
        there are sports which will cripple your health in long run, almost guaranteed. many contact sports, it football comes to mind. some of my high school classmates are semi-cripples because of it (they can walk around, and that's about it). depression can be seen in their eyes - once you know what having a healthy and strong body means, and then losing it forever. I've done my share of team/contact sports in my youth. nothing horrible happened apart from few broken fingers, but stuff I do now makes those sports look super boring/borderline idiotic when looking back (ie coach yelling at you like a little girl, running you around 'to break you to unlock your potential'). What I mean - trekking, skiing, climbing, via ferratas, cycling on unpaved roads, a bit of easy ski alpinism and mountaineering. but I agree that any activity/sport is endlessly better than none, that's for sure
- rorykoehler 10y ago
  From a personal perspective I can say it's just routine. I get used to training every day and I like training with intensity (more sprint than endurance) but alas after years of repetitive strain injuries I have toned down the training load. It was unhelpful in the long run anyway as I would train for 9 months then need to sit out for 3-6 months and be back at square one (usually shin splints). My body (knees especially) aren't thanking me for it but it's nothing that can't be fixed without a good chiropractor and lots of cross training (mainly cycling and weights but yoga/pilates, running and swimming too). I learnt a lot from how a buddy who is/was a world class 24 hour mountain bike racer trains. His view is long term, building up fitness slowly over years. I do admit I find it much harder to maintain routine now that I have pulled back the training load.
- mrexroad 10y ago
  Forgive the lack of depth in explanation, and I know it may not make sense, but for me: my children.
- forgetsusername 10y ago
  >but why would anyone want to basically injure themselves as a ... hobby? Some people enjoy testing personal limits, physical and mental.
- CuriouslyC 10y ago
  As someone who has injured himself for a "hobby" a number of times: My "hobby" is a means for me to challenge myself, to push myself to my limits, to see what I am capable of and take my measure as a human being. It is a means for me to learn how to overcome fear, pain and doubt. It provides an objective haven when the subjective world is upside down.
  - ArkyBeagle 10y ago
    Thank you for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense. I use things other than athletic performance for that, but I've come to realize that I was nudged that way a lot by adults when I was younger.
mathattack 10y ago
Interesting. I've trained with many Seals - they have ungodly cardio. I've never seen any that big, as the extra muscle kills their cardio.
- uola 10y ago
  Something seems fishy about that story. Not only are special forces people usually smaller, but getting hurt is a big no no. It will stop your training and severely jeopardize any mission you're on. Most special forces teaches the opposite of "if it's not hard we don't do it" i.e. to use your tactical advantage. That said, getting in to US special forces probably isn't that selective these days with having had to fill a lot of "seats" for various wars.
  - digi_owl 10y ago
    Especially as the Vietnam War made drafts unpalatable.
  - coredog64 10y ago
    Anyone in any branch would be subject to charges for negligently incurring injury. I've heard a story about some guys in the Air Force who were written up for getting terrible sunburn while boating.
  - natdempk 10y ago
    The story wasn't told well in that post, but it is legit. I've heard him speak in person before. The way he tells it, he had three years of non-deployable time so it was the quickest way for him to accomplish his goal of getting into the Badwater ultramarathon to raise money for charity. Not ideal, but he knew that he would have time to fully recover from it.
  - mathattack 10y ago
    Digging in with Google, the writer is much less than a billionaire (though perhaps with more arrogance than one) and the seal was much less than 260 pounds. I have my suspicions about breaking every small bone in his feet and kidney failure too. And even if that story is true - how much glory is running until one gets kidney failure?
misja111 10y ago
Yes I had to think of that article as well. It was on HN a while ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10711731 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10711731 The 40% rule is useful if you're in combat and your life is on the line. But then again, in such a situation the adrenaline would make you ignore any pain or fatigue anyway. In normal life this 40% rule seems just stupid.
sitkack 10y ago
Never realized that I code like a navy seal. Algorthims, Devops, Emacs, every fix is hot.

ArkyBeagle 10y ago

Where does this come from in the larger culture? I can see why people who are soldiers or ... athletes at the varsity or pro level might be interested in it but why would anyone want to basically injure themselves as a ... hobby? I've worked with runners who had serious injury, soccer players who came in with bruises that you'd associate with a severe beating... I'm thinking "geez, it's gonna suck when you're 62." Because when you lose some amount of basic mobility, you lose a lot of the ability to stay healthy when you're older. Is this because of Mountain Dew commercials and 1980s GI Joe body image stuff?

lj3 10y ago
> soccer players who came in with bruises that you'd associate with a severe beating I was a lacrosse goalie in high school and didn't have the sense to wear shin pads. If you run your fingers along my shin, you'll feel divots where the bone never regenerated. I too used to walk around with bruises on my legs that you'd associate with a severe beating. > Is this because of Mountain Dew commercials and 1980s GI Joe body image stuff? It's considerably more primal than that. Sports are the modern equivalent to tribal rites of passage. We're not allowed to kill our rivals anymore, so we settle for beating them in a physical sport in order to establish our physical dominance. It's empowering in a way that few things are, especially as a teenager and extra especially if you were bullied throughout elementary school.
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  I was 120 lbs soaking wet when I was 17. The school gently guided me away from sports. Good thing, too. Best coach I ever had. I graduated high school close to 1980. Sure, there were guys finishing the big game on a broken bone but it seems like there's a lot more emphasis on this now, and it seems more dangerous and higher risk. I have nephews and kids of friends who are electing out of organized sports. FWIW, I feel lucky - we had basically one bully and he didn't last. Expelled. I remember in "Brian's Song" where Alex Karrass' character sold cars in the pro football off season. I dunno; I saw "Bigger, Stronger, Faster" and it gave me pause.
  - lj3 10y ago
    When I was 16, I was 130. That's after I spent three years in the weight room every day putting on muscle. I played every sport my school offered at least once, but I played football for 8 years. I never regretted it and I encourage everyone, especially the indoor geeky types, to try out for sports. Any sport. Even historical sword fighting. ;) It's an important experience that fewer kids are getting exposed to in this day and age thanks to helicopter parenting. Not to mention the life long social and health benefits
    - saiya-jin 10y ago
      there are sports which will cripple your health in long run, almost guaranteed. many contact sports, it football comes to mind. some of my high school classmates are semi-cripples because of it (they can walk around, and that's about it). depression can be seen in their eyes - once you know what having a healthy and strong body means, and then losing it forever. I've done my share of team/contact sports in my youth. nothing horrible happened apart from few broken fingers, but stuff I do now makes those sports look super boring/borderline idiotic when looking back (ie coach yelling at you like a little girl, running you around 'to break you to unlock your potential'). What I mean - trekking, skiing, climbing, via ferratas, cycling on unpaved roads, a bit of easy ski alpinism and mountaineering. but I agree that any activity/sport is endlessly better than none, that's for sure
rorykoehler 10y ago
From a personal perspective I can say it's just routine. I get used to training every day and I like training with intensity (more sprint than endurance) but alas after years of repetitive strain injuries I have toned down the training load. It was unhelpful in the long run anyway as I would train for 9 months then need to sit out for 3-6 months and be back at square one (usually shin splints). My body (knees especially) aren't thanking me for it but it's nothing that can't be fixed without a good chiropractor and lots of cross training (mainly cycling and weights but yoga/pilates, running and swimming too). I learnt a lot from how a buddy who is/was a world class 24 hour mountain bike racer trains. His view is long term, building up fitness slowly over years. I do admit I find it much harder to maintain routine now that I have pulled back the training load.
mrexroad 10y ago
Forgive the lack of depth in explanation, and I know it may not make sense, but for me: my children.
forgetsusername 10y ago
>but why would anyone want to basically injure themselves as a ... hobby? Some people enjoy testing personal limits, physical and mental.
CuriouslyC 10y ago
As someone who has injured himself for a "hobby" a number of times: My "hobby" is a means for me to challenge myself, to push myself to my limits, to see what I am capable of and take my measure as a human being. It is a means for me to learn how to overcome fear, pain and doubt. It provides an objective haven when the subjective world is upside down.
- ArkyBeagle 10y ago
  Thank you for the explanation. That makes a lot of sense. I use things other than athletic performance for that, but I've come to realize that I was nudged that way a lot by adults when I was younger.

mathattack 10y ago

Interesting. I've trained with many Seals - they have ungodly cardio. I've never seen any that big, as the extra muscle kills their cardio.

uola 10y ago
Something seems fishy about that story. Not only are special forces people usually smaller, but getting hurt is a big no no. It will stop your training and severely jeopardize any mission you're on. Most special forces teaches the opposite of "if it's not hard we don't do it" i.e. to use your tactical advantage. That said, getting in to US special forces probably isn't that selective these days with having had to fill a lot of "seats" for various wars.
- digi_owl 10y ago
  Especially as the Vietnam War made drafts unpalatable.
- coredog64 10y ago
  Anyone in any branch would be subject to charges for negligently incurring injury. I've heard a story about some guys in the Air Force who were written up for getting terrible sunburn while boating.
- natdempk 10y ago
  The story wasn't told well in that post, but it is legit. I've heard him speak in person before. The way he tells it, he had three years of non-deployable time so it was the quickest way for him to accomplish his goal of getting into the Badwater ultramarathon to raise money for charity. Not ideal, but he knew that he would have time to fully recover from it.
- mathattack 10y ago
  Digging in with Google, the writer is much less than a billionaire (though perhaps with more arrogance than one) and the seal was much less than 260 pounds. I have my suspicions about breaking every small bone in his feet and kidney failure too. And even if that story is true - how much glory is running until one gets kidney failure?

misja111 10y ago

Yes I had to think of that article as well. It was on HN a while ago: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10711731 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=10711731 The 40% rule is useful if you're in combat and your life is on the line. But then again, in such a situation the adrenaline would make you ignore any pain or fatigue anyway. In normal life this 40% rule seems just stupid.

sitkack 10y ago

Never realized that I code like a navy seal. Algorthims, Devops, Emacs, every fix is hot.