4 ms·
Between this and http://myticker.com http://myticker.com (posted recently), I want to share a theory of mine: 1) the internet is mostly made up of spaces where
by trjordan 11mo ago
Between this and http://myticker.com http://myticker.com (posted recently), I want to share a theory of mine:
1) the internet is mostly made up of spaces where the median opinion is vanishingly rare among actual humans.
2) the median internet opinion is that of a person who is deep into the topic they're writing about.
The net result is that for most topics, you will feel moderate to severe anxiety about being "behind" about what you shuld be doing.
I'm 40, and I'm active. I ran a half marathon last weekend. I spent 5 hours climbing with my kids this weekend. My reaction to these articles, emotionally, was "I'm probably going to die of heart disease," because my cholesterol is a bit high and my BMI is 30. When I was biking 90 miles a week, my VO2 max was "sub-standard."
Let's assume this information is true. That's OK. It's all dialed up to 11, and you don't have to do anything about it right now.
- jaggederest 11mo agoDon't feel bad about your VO2 max, the baseline and ceiling are largely genetic. Most people can only bump VO2 max by about 10-15% even with absurd training regimens. Same goes with many of the markers people track - you can control them to an extent, but some people just have high blood pressure or poor lipid profiles and thus need intervention.
- trjordan 11mo agoAppreciate it. The Apple-Watch-measured version came up to 44 since I’ve started running. I’ve been pleased. None of my markers are high enough to trigger a doctor to care.
- jaggederest 11mo ago44 is nothing to sneeze at, that's a solid upper end of average range.
- port11 11mo agoThanks for saying that. Even when I ran every day — with the occasional VO2max sprint day —, my Apple Watch never placed me anywhere but Below Average for VO2max. It was disheartening. Some of these metrics actually put you off training.
- wotmatetherow 11mo agoObesity is an independent risk factor, even if otherwise active/healthy. It's worth getting under control for lifespan and healthspan.
- rootusrootus 11mo agoAcross the population as a whole, BMI 30 is basically negligible increase in all-cause mortality. For someone otherwise reasonably active I wouldn't stress about the number. Ideal is somewhere around 27.
- wotmatetherow 11mo agoWhere are you getting this number? Over 27% body fat is a health risk. For an active but not muscular individual, 30 BMI is at least 33% body fat, likely higher.
- rootusrootus 11mo agoFrom the multitude of studies, in particular the relatively recent huge multi-study analysis of all-cause mortality vs BMI.
- nradov 11mo agoBMI is useful for screening purposes but on an individual basis it's meaningless as a predictor of all-cause mortality. What really matters is body composition, or more specifically amount of visceral fat (subcutaneous fat doesn't matter nearly as much). https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24147-visceral-fat https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/diseases/24147-viscera...
- andsoitis 11mo agoBMI over 25 is overweight. Obese is 30 or higher.
- lucyjojo 11mo agobmi doesn't mean much though. size, body composition, ethnicity will give very different meanings to the same bmi.
- paulmooreparks 11mo agoBMI isn't a great predictor of health. Waist-to-hip ratio and body-fat percentage are probably somewhat better indicators. https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/why-you-shouldnt-rely-on-bmi-alone https://www.yalemedicine.org/news/why-you-shouldnt-rely-on-b...