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Outliers (or, are they?) like this guy make me question my beliefs about nutrition and fitness. Two days back, my uncle (who is pushing 93) was telling my mom t

Outliers (or, are they?) like this guy make me question my beliefs about nutrition and fitness. Two days back, my uncle (who is pushing 93) was telling my mom that he's NOW finding it a tad difficult to do his daily cycle rides of 10 kms. All his life he's smoked a cigar everyday, had a couple of glasses of Scotch and basically eaten whatever he's wished. And here I am, struggling with early metabolic syndrome despite eating low-carb, doing a fair bit of HIIT + lifting and feeling guilty every time I have a drink. Go Figure!

gkya 10y ago
Where's your uncle? Our elderly relatives in countryside always outlive us the city-dwellers. I live in a very lucky part of my city where I'm both between two sizable forests and close to all means of commute, thus I breathe in the best air of the city. Most city-dwellers world-wide though, breathe in shit air. There's no London fog anymore, yes, but instead millions of cars, and tens of millions of people together. I think that plays an important role, to have good air around.
- roystonvassey 10y ago
  He lives in a fairly traffic-dense urban locality. He did spend a large amount (~10-15 years) of his life living in the hills when he was in the civil services.
andygates 10y ago
Cycling takes a long time, so it burns a lot of calories. It's no coincidence that a common club ride destination will be a nice cake shop and that half the riders will be skinny older guys. Get on a bike, son! :)
- roystonvassey 10y ago
  I do have one and I enjoy my daily commutes on it :) But, given the negligible effect it's had on my health, I want to refine my original comment to make it clear that I don't imply causation between cycling and burning calories. Clearly, I need to make additional changes.
  - rounce 10y ago
    Join a cycling club, it's not just about the Sunday rides. You'll find a few people you click with more and your schedules match nice enough for you to get in miles of your choosing. If you're doing HIIT-type stuff, I'd recommend finding a serious lung-buster of a hilly loop near you and playing cat and mouse with your mates. One person at the bottom, give a head start of a certain distance (based on your respective abilities) to the rest of the group, and then hit the climb. The leaders need to get to the top of the hill without being caught by the chasers (not beaten to the top, just caught). The caught leaders join the chasers for the next hill and so on, until you can go no more. Kinda helps to break the monotony of riding the same (albeit convenient) routes over and over and helps everyone push each other forward.

gkya 10y ago

Where's your uncle? Our elderly relatives in countryside always outlive us the city-dwellers. I live in a very lucky part of my city where I'm both between two sizable forests and close to all means of commute, thus I breathe in the best air of the city. Most city-dwellers world-wide though, breathe in shit air. There's no London fog anymore, yes, but instead millions of cars, and tens of millions of people together. I think that plays an important role, to have good air around.

roystonvassey 10y ago
He lives in a fairly traffic-dense urban locality. He did spend a large amount (~10-15 years) of his life living in the hills when he was in the civil services.

andygates 10y ago

Cycling takes a long time, so it burns a lot of calories. It's no coincidence that a common club ride destination will be a nice cake shop and that half the riders will be skinny older guys. Get on a bike, son! :)

roystonvassey 10y ago
I do have one and I enjoy my daily commutes on it :) But, given the negligible effect it's had on my health, I want to refine my original comment to make it clear that I don't imply causation between cycling and burning calories. Clearly, I need to make additional changes.
- rounce 10y ago
  Join a cycling club, it's not just about the Sunday rides. You'll find a few people you click with more and your schedules match nice enough for you to get in miles of your choosing. If you're doing HIIT-type stuff, I'd recommend finding a serious lung-buster of a hilly loop near you and playing cat and mouse with your mates. One person at the bottom, give a head start of a certain distance (based on your respective abilities) to the rest of the group, and then hit the climb. The leaders need to get to the top of the hill without being caught by the chasers (not beaten to the top, just caught). The caught leaders join the chasers for the next hill and so on, until you can go no more. Kinda helps to break the monotony of riding the same (albeit convenient) routes over and over and helps everyone push each other forward.