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How does talent have almost no influence? There are many genetic factors that would impact how strong a runner is. You mention football and basketball, which

How does talent have almost no influence? There are many genetic factors that would impact how strong a runner is. You mention football and basketball, which are essentially a series of short sprints. Sprints are _much_ healthier for people than 100-mile marathons that will essentially bathe your body in cortisol. http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-evidence-continues-to-mount-against-chronic-cardio/ http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-evidence-continues-to-mou...

mmmpop 9y ago
As fairly average athlete myself, I think he's implying running is one of those sports that pure grit and determination can get you further ahead of the pack compared to many other sports. I'm just a skinny punk but I sure pass a lot of really buff guys when I run 5K races. Probably comes from a lifetime of running my mouth :)
- TheAlchemist 9y ago
  Not exactly. In football / basketball, so much depends on chance, your team, your opponents, the referee etc. You can work more / better and still end up with worse results. Or vice versa. In running, you mostly compete against yourself (unless you are a top athlete, but that's another story). You set your goals, you work to achieve them and it depends only on you. So yeah, grit , determination or however you call it, will make you progress, and you can measure it with an easy objective function (your time vs your past times, distance).
the_gastropod 9y ago
It seems like the more paleo/crossfit "celebrities" contradict popular nutrition/exercise science, the more popular they get. I don't get it. The most influential figure in this space was probably Dr. Robert Atkins, who suffered multiple heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. Why are people espousing the same junk science to be seen as credible sources?
- Danihan 9y ago
  Yes, obviously we should keep living on mostly grains, the same thing used to fatten up cattle for slaughter. I wonder why it hasn't worked yet to make everyone healthy.

mmmpop 9y ago

As fairly average athlete myself, I think he's implying running is one of those sports that pure grit and determination can get you further ahead of the pack compared to many other sports. I'm just a skinny punk but I sure pass a lot of really buff guys when I run 5K races. Probably comes from a lifetime of running my mouth :)

TheAlchemist 9y ago
Not exactly. In football / basketball, so much depends on chance, your team, your opponents, the referee etc. You can work more / better and still end up with worse results. Or vice versa. In running, you mostly compete against yourself (unless you are a top athlete, but that's another story). You set your goals, you work to achieve them and it depends only on you. So yeah, grit , determination or however you call it, will make you progress, and you can measure it with an easy objective function (your time vs your past times, distance).

the_gastropod 9y ago

It seems like the more paleo/crossfit "celebrities" contradict popular nutrition/exercise science, the more popular they get. I don't get it. The most influential figure in this space was probably Dr. Robert Atkins, who suffered multiple heart attacks, congestive heart failure, and hypertension. Why are people espousing the same junk science to be seen as credible sources?

Danihan 9y ago
Yes, obviously we should keep living on mostly grains, the same thing used to fatten up cattle for slaughter. I wonder why it hasn't worked yet to make everyone healthy.