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Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011)

• tomasien 14y ago
  This is a solid article, but the title is just wrong. "Free weights are better than machines" is not a "little known" fact, it's a well known fact by anyone who has cared to read the internet re:fitness since 2009. So is "lifting weights is much more efficient than cardio". I say this only so that you don't read this and think these are some kind of fringe theories. They're widely, WIDELY known and 100% true.
  • vacri 14y ago
    Thanks for the crux of it. The first page was so much intro filler that I gave up. Free weights as better than machines was fairly well known at least as far back as the early 90s. "Machines don't work your stabiliser muscles" was the phrase I generally heard.
    • dhimes 14y ago
      Depends what you are trying to do and your situation. Machines are safer, so if this is a concern for some reason (injury rehab, age, etc.), then machines in some cases can be better for lifting heavy weights.
      • tomasien 14y ago
        There's nothing wrong with machines, except being less effective than free weights. They're still solid though, I got in the best shape of my life one time only on weights because I worked really really hard at it. But I accomplish 80% now with 40% of the time with free weights and compound exercises.
        • dhimes 14y ago
          I do something similar. Two days/week: heavy weights, primarily machines (+cardio). Two days/week: free weights, compound+core exercises. Much lighter weights- still a grueling work out.
        • commandar 14y ago
          One of the big criticisms Rippetoe makes of machines in the book Starting Strength mentioned in the article is that because they can cause unbalanced muscle development and increase the chances of injury over the long run.
      • eru 14y ago
        Machine are only "safer" for very specific definitions of that word. They force you into a specific path.
        • dhimes 14y ago
          very specific definitions Ha! Hard to argue with that because you pluralized 'definition.' But what I mean is, (1) If I'm doing a chest exercise, for example, with 270+ pounds, and I fail on a machine, I can get out of it. With free weights, I need a spotter and it's much trickier. (2) Perhaps more important: If I'm doing heavy legs (450 lbs, for example), with free weights I have to load a lot of weight on my back for a squat. This is dangerous even for younger men (I'm 50 years old) because slight distraction and they can hurt their backs in a way that is really hard to get over. Load up a weight machine and I don't have to worry about it. I hit the stabilizer muscles doing light weight squats on a bosu ball. So, yeah, in a perfect world I'd be 25 years old and doing all free weights. But I've adapted to my circumstances in what I believe to be a reasonable way.
          • eru 14y ago
            Yes. It's just that being hit by the weights is actually not the failure mode you should be worried about most. It's having the wrong stress on your joints for longer times. It's a bit like barefoot running vs shod running. Shoes protect your feet, so they are ostensibly safer. But they also make it easy to have bad technique and wreck your joints, especially your knees. > (1) If I'm doing a chest exercise, for example, with 270+ pounds, and I fail on a machine, I can get out of it. With free weights, I need a spotter and it's much trickier. Depends on what you are doing, and how you are doing it. The only real need for a spotter is for barbell bench pressing. There you can bench press in a squat rack with the safeties set to the right level. But there are lots of other exercises that provide a similar benefit without trapping you. E.g. (weighted) dips (on rings), push up variations, hand stand push ups, standing overhead presses.
            • dhimes 14y ago
              * It's having the wrong stress on your joints for longer times* Yes, that was my point #2. The only real need for a spotter is for barbell bench pressing I was specifically thinking about the bench-press-like machine press, but also true for the dumbell fly exercise. I do the free-weight lifts, just not with heavy weight. When I want to seriously stress my muscles I go to the machines. I just started with the bosu-ball stuff last year and I have to say I like it. It hits stabilizers the squat doesn't begin to touch. I'm a sailor- just got back from a week-long bareboat charter in pretty choppy seas, and I really like the results. I'm not sure I can articulate it though- while it helped my balance, it also helped my strength while maintaining balance. For example, the task of picking up a mooring ball with the boat bouncing seemed easier. But that may just be a distorted perception.
    • sliverstorm 14y ago
      I find machines are also more permissive of terrible form.
      • nikster 14y ago
        Well I knew that machines are extremely ineffective. I also knew they have them there for their impressive looks. What I did not realize is the second reason gyms like machines: Liability.
  • bcowcher 14y ago
    While those of us who know how to wield the Internet wisely will have arrived at this conclusion, I still meet many people on a regular basis (especially women) that will try to challenge those ideas. I don't blame them for thinking that way, the fitness industry has conditioned an entire generation into thinking cardio is the way to go and that high rep work with pink dumbbells is how you 'tone'. The more articles there are like this, the more likely we will see a shift in how everyone tries to get fit.
  • notJim 14y ago
    I came here to say this. I read about all this stuff years ago on SomethingAwful of all places. If you've ever bothered to do any research rather than just believing whatever your gym tells you, you know all of this. For life in general, or at least the things that matter in life, it's always a good idea to do your own research. Otherwise you end up going through life believing the half-baked stories people make up so they don't have to think, and the bullshit people tell you to sell you stuff.
  • malbs 14y ago
    Actually I think you'll find that they're not widely known. (Sweeping generalisation) Most women avoid free weights because they don't want to put on muscle and look like a body builder. Doesn't happen. Hell, some men have that same attitude because "hey I don't want to get bulky". My comment is "well if you discover that secret, you should market it because millions of people will buy it"
  • ajscherer 14y ago
    2009 and the internet? This has been the dominant conventional wisdom in all fitness media for at least a decade. If you open any fitness or "men's" magazine in any given month you will find at least one article telling you that: strength training is better than cardio, free weights are better than machines, and lifts that use multiple major muscle groups in coordination are best. The funny thing is that every one of these articles acts like it is the first time any of this has ever been written down. It's the exact same way with articles advocating diets relatively higher in protein and fat. An assertion of novelty seems to be a mandatory element of any attempt to market anything fitness related.
    • krschultz 14y ago
      Agree, but you know who hasn't gotten on board? The people that design/fit out gyms. It's still all machines in the middle and a couple benches near the edges. I'd love to walk into a gym that is all or nearly all free weights.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    That all depends on where you are in your information-gathering phase. And for many, many, many inexperienced lifters, as well as materials and recommendations promoting fitness and strength training will still recommend machines over freeweights. Both have their place, though I put a heavy emphasis on freeweights.
  • mindcrime 14y ago
    it's a well known fact by anyone who has cared to read the internet re:fitness since 2009 Or anybody who picked up an issue of IronMan magazine, dating back to at least the late 80's or early 90's.
  • bjourne 14y ago
    > "lifting weights is much more efficient than cardio" That's news to me. Not saying it is wrong, but if it is a fact, it's one even reasonably informed people doesn't know. Studies (http://jap.physiology.org/content/102/4/1439.long http://jap.physiology.org/content/102/4/1439.long and http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.htm http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100311123639.ht...) suggest that High-intensity interval training is an incredibly time efficient way to get in shape.
• jeffehobbs 14y ago
  If you don't feel like clicking through 6 paginated pages, the single-page link works well: http://archive.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie/print/ http://archive.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fit...
• raverbashing 14y ago
  Yes The fitness "industry" like several industries out there is 80% "Fitness 101 that doesn't solve a thing" Physicians, trainers, the 'food pyramid', Fitness magazines, etc, they're all in on this crap. Not to mention most sports are more damaging (or just plain stressful) to the body than lifting weights. Tour de France is only humanly possible because of the large amount of doping used.
  • muhuk 14y ago
    As a person who has been lifting weights for more than 10 years I completely agree. Bigger, Stronger, Faster lifts the veil of lies just a little: http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1151309/ http://m.imdb.com/title/tt1151309/
    • raverbashing 14y ago
      That's a great movie
  • magicproudfeet 14y ago
    Don't trash all physicians. We're not "in on it," we just have to target populations rather than individuals. It's a completely different ballgame. Plus we have limited training (or none) on these kinds of topics. I break the mold all the time, but only when I think a patient is mature enough and enlightened enough to handle it. Otherwise it's completely pointless (and will fail to meet the "standard of care" in most cases).
    • raverbashing 14y ago
      Oh I understand, especially the 'standard of care' issues
• dave1619 14y ago
  This is a great article especially because it: 1. explains the supercompensation period and how to time your workouts. 2. champions free weights and resistance exercise. 3. explains injuries and gives some practical exercises to strengthen the rotator cuff (frequent injury among bodybuilders) However, I'm not sure if I agree with the "Fundamental Four" and him saying muscular endurance (low weights, high reps) "is great for endurance sports but tends to undermine the first three, shrinking your strength, power, and muscle size." There's a recent paper refuting this theory, http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/h2012-022 http://www.nrcresearchpress.com/doi/pdf/10.1139/h2012-022 . It basically says that low weights, high rep actually builds as much muscle mass as high weights, low reps... but both need to be done to the points of exhaustion, and that's they key. Edit: Just wanted to give some more background on my thoughts on low weight, high rep. I became interested in this after I visited a trainer who suggested high reps (ie., 50+) with low weights. He demonstrated on me and made me do 25 reps of low weight bench press. At around 20 reps I couldn't do any more but helped me barely finish the remaining 5. His point was that you can do low weights, high reps but you need to work past what your mind is capable (and thus he suggests a personal trainer to push those limits). He also said with lower weights, high reps I could gain muscle mass and it's healthier (ie., less injuries) but if I wanted to be huge like a bodybuilder that lower reps, higher weights is better. So, I've been trying this out on myself recently - doing low weights (30-40% of usual) and high reps (25-50), and doing each rep until the point of exhaustion (not able to lift any more). And then I take a short break (15-30 seconds) and do it again. Break, repeat, etc... until I do about 10 sets. Each set is to the point of exhaustion and I can't lift any more. The results is I'm super sore and it feels great. Prior I tried the StrongLifts 5x5 program (5 reps, 5 set) and also the typical 6-12 reps per set. But with heavier weights, I'm more scared of injury and it's harder to go to the point of exhaustion by myself. With lower weights, I don't fear injury as much. I'm not trying to become a bodybuilder- rather just trying to bulk up a bit, lose fat and get fit.
  • raverbashing 14y ago
    "It basically says that low weights, high rep actually builds as much muscle mass as high weights, low reps.." Interesting. But I would still be skeptical because of one thing: bone/tendon resistance Not sure small weights/high reps can create the kind of bone changes (and tendon resistance) that bigger weights do. And this may be critical in some situations.
• slovette 14y ago
  TL;DR Bunch of already known facts strewn together in one article that will get lost in the millions of other articles about how to stay in shape. People, it's easy, eat natural and stay as primally (free weights, free running) active as possible. Done.
• xweb 14y ago
  ...including this. Start with body weight training. Convict Conditioning is a great no-BS book & program, for instance.
  • sliverstorm 14y ago
    IMO, body weight training has a big hole- it's very difficult to progress when you don't have a minimum level of strength to perform a given movement. With weights, you can just use lower weight, and can thus freely work your muscles to exhaustion. With body weight movements, you can try negatives, but again- much more difficult.
    • yummyfajitas 14y ago
      While I generally think progression is more straightforward with weights, this claim isn't true. With bodyweight exercises, one typically progresses by making it more difficult via leverage. See this diagram for example: http://www.operatorchan.org/pt/src/135399773193.jpg http://www.operatorchan.org/pt/src/135399773193.jpg The book recommended by xweb explains in more detail how to fill the holes between these exercises.
      • huherto 14y ago
        Interesting. But the bridges sound like a bad idea for your back.
        • deleted 14y ago
          [deleted]
      • xweb 14y ago
        Thanks, yummyfajitas - exactly what I would have said. If you can't do a pushup, then can you do a pushup against a wall? When you can do that with good form, then you lower the angle so you're pushing more of your bodyweight. The logic works the other way, too, for increasing difficulty. Can you do 3 sets of a hundred one-armed pushups? Well, start climbing your feet up the wall! If you can do free-standing one-hand vertical pushups without strain, I've got nothing for ya. Go ahead and start vert pressing 600 pounds. Also, try out for the Olympic weightlifting team--the gold medal should be easy!
• 31reasons 14y ago
  If you are interested in free weights, Starting Strength is the best book out there. In free weights you have to be extremely careful about your form otherwise you could seriously injure yourself. This book goes deep in the human anatomy and mechanics to teach you how to approach free weights. http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp/0982522738 http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp...
  • kerno 14y ago
    This article and this DVD really set my fitness regime over the last two years. The DVD is a great guide to the six or so major movements in weightlifting and I found it was much easier to visualise what I was meant to be doing. I got serious in May '11 and by Jan '12 my personal bests were a massive improvement over where I had started, and I found that I was really enjoying tracking my progress and getting strong and fit. I'd gone from benching 80 kgs to a 1 rep max of 120kg, and squatting 90kg a 1 rep max of 160kg. I found the major contributor to my improvement was - consistency (3 times a week, every week), and - focussing on getting the biggest impact for your time in the gym. Even if you just squat and deadlift, I believe you're doing much more for yourself than by focussing on what most people do - tricep pulldowns and bicep curls.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    And SS is mentioned (along with Practical Programming) in the essential fitness library graphic from the article: http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/picture-72.jpg http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/picture-72...
• davidtyleryork 14y ago
  At Betable, four of us do CrossFit. It's not sadistic as the title says, though I'm sure that can depend on the gym. The one in SOMA is pretty supportive and accommodating, probably because they deal with a lot of startup engineers :) Anyway, was struck me about CrossFit and really any group exercise routine is how much more it makes you tax your own body. When you're at the gym, you don't push yourself. You run comfortably fast on the treadmill, lift a comfortable amount of weight, and do it at a comfortable pace. Group exercise is great for breaking you out of that habit and making you push your limits. It's too easy to pretend that 45 minutes at the gym, 15 of which is "cardio" and 15 of which is "cooldown", is going to change anything.
  • hndude 14y ago
    A roommate of mine (former D1 track athlete) loved to do CrossFit solely because the group atmosphere forced him way beyond his boundaries. The first 4 times in a row that he went, he pushed himself so hard that he threw up. He could not stop raving about how it got him back into such relatively good shape so fast.
  • brianmwang 14y ago
    "...how much more it makes you tax your own body. When you're at the gym, you don't push yourself." Says who? This seems like a false premise to me.
    • charlieflowers 14y ago
      I think he meant that, if you're not careful, you'll lapse into going through the motions without pushing yourself. In other words, you need to push yourself. And he says being in a group will help you actually push yourself.
    • jpatokal 14y ago
      Personal experience (his and mine). Same basic principle explains why people work together in offices instead of at home: peer pressure prevents you from slacking. And personal trainers take this up yet another level, because it's a lot harder to give up when somebody's in your face telling you that he knows you can do one more rep. And yes, of course there are people who can put in supremely productive 9-to-5 days at the home office and/or whip themselves mercilessly in solo workouts. But they're a minority.
• mhp 14y ago
  So what do you do if your gym only has a smith machine and dumbbells? It's dangerous and hard to bench without spotter.
  • dave1619 14y ago
    You might want to try out low weights but lots of reps. See my reply above about trying out low weights, high reps to the point of exhaustion.
  • cathustler 14y ago
    If your gym only has a smith machine it certainly isn't dangerous to bench; dumbells also offer many exercises, you can even bench with dumbells. Needless to say though, if that's all your gym has, change gyms.
  • icey 14y ago
    Benching with dumbbells is fine, and potentially a better workout than a barbell bench anyways.
  • andrewingram 14y ago
    You can bench without a spotter pretty safely up to about 75kg, at which point the roll of shame starts getting challenging. It's different for women though, because rolling a large amount of weight over breasts is apparently quite painful.
  • cncool 14y ago
    Benching without spotting is easy if you aren't going to one rep maxes. If you are doing sets of 5, then don't do rep N if rep N-1 was too hard that you think you will fail the rep. Also, if you stop before the 5th rep, you should be doing sets at a lighter weight.
    • ErikAugust 14y ago
      I would always suggest at least doing one set to failure. It's not hard to find someone to spot for 10 seconds.
  • 14y ago
• ianstallings 14y ago
  Apparently everything I know about X is a lie. And here are 10 reasons why..
• cryptoz 14y ago
  Everything I know is a lie? So, eating huge amounts of fat and sugar, and never exercising is not less healthy than eating some vegetables and going for a run? I doubt it. So can we please stop with such ridiculous headlines?!
  • muratmutlu 14y ago
    Did you read the article? What do you think of the contents of it other than the headline?
    • deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    • cryptoz 14y ago
      Yes, I have read it now. It was a nice article. I did not find out that everything I know about fitness was a lie. I found out that I don't know much, but what I did know was correct (and I learned a number of new things). No reason to hide a nice article behind a rude, condescending and incorrect headline.
      • deleted 14y ago
        [deleted]
      • bcoates 14y ago
        The word "You" in a headline is an idiom and not literally a personal communication to the reader. "Lie" is used similarly.
    • magicproudfeet 14y ago
      > a miasma of lies and misinformation that we mistake for common sense, and that makes most of our gym time a complete waste Well, it started off with complete bullshit like this. If we could get 10% of people to the gym (instead of their usual home-bound sugar-feast), it would be fucking wonderful. My gym time was never a waste, regardless of my form or which equipment I was using. The rest of the article, however, I'm pretty in line with with. But it's preaching to the choir for the most part. We could make this article mandatory reading and it wouldn't make a goddamn difference. And that's the problem. Got a solution? You'd get the Nobel Prize in EVERYTHING if you could figure out an effective way to get masses of people to effect these kinds of changes in their lives. That kind of science spans the realms of pyschology, sociology, medicine, biology, physics, and wizardry.
• mhp 14y ago
  So what do you do if your gym only has a smith machine and dumbbells? It's dangerous and hard to bench without spotter.
• Xcelerate 14y ago
  I was all ready to come on here and trash this article. The headline and the first few paragraphs had me rolling my eyes. But I kept reading and changed my mind. I've now bookmarked this article. People seem eager to find some magic, half-hearted shortcut to reaching certain goals. There really aren't any. The best advice is often the kind you don't want to hear. To really improve, look at the people who are the best in their field and mimic them. Why would you blindly trust a magazine written by someone trying to sell you a product? Look at any college gym to see how well the article's conclusion is supported. Women generally stick to cardio machines. The skinny guys trying to get strong are all on the weight machines, and the big guys are all using free weights. Having recently switched from distance running to weight-lifting because of an injury, I've had a rapid improvement in a few months. The exercises recommended to me from a guy that benches 400 lbs (180 kg) include: squats, deadlifts, bench press, dips, chin-ups, flys, and ab-crunch machine (only machine he mentioned). Dips and chin-ups should have weight added when body-weight becomes too easy. Also, since I've very paranoid about injuries now, I've been watching and reading as much as I can on proper lifting form. In this case, I would recommend against copying the strongest guys. I see some very strong people with bad form. All that means is that they've been lucky so far.
  • subsection1h 14y ago
    Women generally stick to cardio machines. The skinny guys trying to get strong are all on the weight machines, and the big guys are all using free weights. I'm more interested in what exercises decagenarians performed.
    • deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
    • poloniculmov 14y ago
      Probably bodyweight exercises if they had done any training, but I guess they've just done more manual labor and walked around a lot.
  • eru 14y ago
    You might want to check out http://reddit.com/r/fitness http://reddit.com/r/fitness
• IgorPartola 14y ago
  I went to a "big box" type gym in January 2012 and hired a staff trainer. I told her that I wanted to lose about 20 lb, get stronger, and start running in mud runs. She started me off with basic body circuit training, working with her once a week and doing 3-5 more workouts the rest of the days. During this period I also watched my calorie intake. By May, I reached my goal on all three accounts, so she switched me to a routine more focused on free weights. Around October, she signed me up with a "specialist": a USAW certified coach that worked outside the "big box" gym, to do some Olympic weightlifting. This was a great experience. Not only did I get a lot stronger, leaner and got a lot more endurance, but I also learned a lot. The best part for me was that I did not have to focus on any one type of exercise: I did not gain 50 lb of muscle and lose all my flexibility, and I did not lose all my muscle mass by focusing solely on cardio. I learned the proper form for doing back squats, clean & jerks, and snatches, and as of a month ago, I can run a 6 minute mile. My point with all that is that a traditional gym and a staff trainer can work, provided the trainer knows what she is doing. Everybody is different. I have no particular athletic talent; my only advantage is that I am relatively young. However, what I have is time. There are 168 hours in a week. Devoting 5 of them to fitness is not a big deal. For me, finally getting a professional to train me was what I needed. This may work for others as well. Edit: by the way, getting a trainer to work with you once a week is fairly expensive. I got a raise at the beginning of 2012 and thought that getting a trainer would be a wise way to spend that money. I do not regret a penny I spent. Looking back, the alternatives I considered (getting a loan on a new car, a new computer, etc.) would not have made me as happy as getting more fit than I ever was in my life up to this point.
  • hndude 14y ago
    Re: your last paragraph(the edit), I agree completely. I can think of few things that make me feel as good about myself as when I have a few-month-long streak going of consistently spending time doing physical activities. Gives me such a natural rush of happiness and confidence all day everyday.
  • subsystem 14y ago
    Sounds great. The only unsolicited advice I would offer is that if it ever gets boring, I would look into doing some sport half of the time. It will give you social, technical and mental elements that weight training just can't.
• aadilr 14y ago
  I love the way this article dispels misconceptions and ends with practical solutions. Does anyone know of an article that does the same for becoming a great developer rather than continuing to wade in the novice waters of programming?
  • aidenn0 14y ago
    I'm not sure anyone knows the answer to that question. My best first approximation is to just jump into an open-source project and try to fix bugs. It gets you to both read code by those who are (presumably) more experienced, while also working your problem-solving skills. Classical CS education is also important; I went to a school with a fairly math-heavy CS program so that's how I learned it. Our algorithms text was pretty good, but it's on my shelf at home, so I can't recommend it by name. The lecture notes for CS 182 are reasonably good for the really basic stuff: http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/raof/cs182-f12/schedule.shtml http://www.cs.purdue.edu/homes/raof/cs182-f12/schedule.shtml [edit] Not quite as complete as they used to be; it was previously all taught from lecture notes, but they now have 2 textbooks they use as well
  • mylittlepony 14y ago
    I don't know about an article, but tell me what you've learned so far and I can try telling you what to do next.
  • nikster 14y ago
    Read the pragmatic programmer. For starters.
  • jimbokun 14y ago
    http://norvig.com/21-days.html http://norvig.com/21-days.html
  • ynniv 14y ago
    It is said that Milo of Croton lifted a calf every day, growing stronger as it grew heavier. Perhaps it isn't very insightful, but I learned to program by trying to accomplish increasingly ambitious tasks. You'll succeed at some and fail at others. The failures are the price of your education, so it helps to choose tasks for which the price of failure is low. It also helps to choose tasks for which the reward of success is high, and to revisit your failures when you're ready to succeed. I always thought Steve Jobs' best talent was picking the right tasks to fail at, and learning to not fail at them the next time.
• digeridoo 14y ago
  I never quite understood fitness. I bought some weights 2 years back and found a light exercise routine I like enough to do it daily. Works like a charm.
• rayiner 14y ago
  Working with free weights is amazing. After college I decided to get in shape and spent some time doing this: http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-program http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-tra.... It's just one of many perfectly good programs you can find on the internet, it just has the advantage of being free and pretty simple to follow. What's really shocking about lifting free weights is how little time it takes to stay "acceptably fit" (not "ripped like Jesus" fit, but "looks pretty good in clothes" fit). It just doesn't take a long workout to work all your muscles to exhaustion, and since it's often counter-productive to work the same muscle group on consecutive days, you don't need to go to the gym every day.
  • analog 14y ago
    Absolutely. It's amazing how time-efficient resistance training is. Strength training in particular where you're using the higher weights and lower reps.
    • ErikAugust 14y ago
      Agreed. I have found a total of 10 reps (divided by 2 or 3 sets) or less for each lift is enough to see gains. The point is to keep setting a slightly higher max and go to failure.
      • eru 14y ago
        That depends heavily on your traning status. As a beginner you will see gains with almost any routine. If you progress enough, you will eventually need more complicated programming. Going to failure is not a good idea in general. You do not want to train your body to fail. Going for slightly higher maxes each time is excellent advice for beginners, though.
  • kristianp 14y ago
    That "5x5" reminds me of this old article from Tim Ferriss' blog. I followed that back then and certainly improved my strength. http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-powerlifting-and-how-to-add-110-pounds-to-your-lifts/ http://www.fourhourworkweek.com/blog/2008/12/18/pavel-8020-p...
• cwilson 14y ago
  An amazing free ebook called Brain Over Brawn is one of the best things I've ever read on this subject, and continues to include all the big conclusions articles like these come to: http://brainoverbrawn.com/get-the-book/ http://brainoverbrawn.com/get-the-book/ I highly suggest giving it a a read or scan. It's very well written (fun to read, he's a great writer), short, and very to the point. He applies the 80/20 rule to working out, your body, your diet, and so forth. My favorite section is how to build what he calls an "engineer bag", which costs a total of around $10 and replacing pretty much all gym equipment.
  • udzinari 14y ago
    Thank you for this link, I started reading and can't stop, indeed a very fun read! and brutally honest too.
• robomartin 14y ago
  While some are able to extract valuable benefit from gyms the vast majority are wasting time and money. In addition to that, most of these articles are very thin on reproducible facts and true research-based data. This is, by far, the most interesting and useful resource I have found when it comes to fitness: http://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Program-Results/dp/0071597174 http://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Program-Results/... The author covers cellular biology and debunks ideas such as "cardio workouts", treadmill bunnies, jogging and walking around your neighborhood to loose weight with plain-old science. Here you'll learn about the cellular metabolic process, Krebs cycle, Insulin resistance, fatty acid synthesis, glycolitic cycle, Cori cycle, Bohr effect, glycogenolysis, amplification cascade and whole host of other topics that are important, relevant and reasonably well understood. What's more important is that everything that is proposed in this book is backed by science and scientific studies. It's like open-source software. If you care to dive deeper into why something works the way it does the scientific references are provided. The book has over 25 pages of listed references (about 10% of the book is reference data). Anyhow, one of the claims of the book is "12 minutes a week" every seven to ten days. In other words, that's the actual time under load you need every seven to ten days to affect significant changes in your body. This does not include time walking around, watching TV or resting. Time under load. I have to say that it works pretty much exactly as advertised. After reading the book I tried it and had a friend try it. We'd spend about fifteen minutes under load at the gym once a week. For me it changed to fifteen minutes every 9 to 12 days (you track your data in order to determine frequency). I got stronger with every passing week. Something that I was not able to do without a ton more effort in the past. If you are interested in learning about this, start with Dr McGuff's (the author) videos: http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=2 http://www.bodybyscience.net/home.html/?page_id=2
  • akurilin 14y ago
    I wish there would be more studies done to support McGuff's theories. I find his ideas (including the ultra-high resistance machines) fascinating, and do hope they turn out to be correct, but I'm also really skeptical of anything that's not been proven by time.
    • 14y ago
• dbecker 14y ago
  This article is largely rehashing what everyone I know already thinks. BUT, if you are going to claim to contradict widespread views, you should appeal to evidence. If I disagreed with anything in this article, there is nothing here that would make me change my mind. The author cites how bad he felt that some trainer calling him "little girl weak" as a reason we should lift heavy weights? Honestly, I couldn't care less about the author's insecurities.
  • analog 14y ago
    Being 'little-girl weak' after some time following a regime at a commercial gym sort of is evidence. And squatting 40lbs definitely is little-girl weak.
    • dbecker 14y ago
      His claim at that point is that raw strength is more useful for general fitness and injury prevention than what he was doing before (which was stability ball training). While his poor squat performance shows that his stability ball workout wasn't building raw strength, it's quite possible that doing squats wouldn't improve his balance. So which has the biggest benefits for injury prevention? The article presents no evidence one way or the other. You (and I) may think raw strength is more important. But then we are agreeing with the author only because he's saying things we already thought. So the article promises to show us why our beliefs are wrong. But we have no reason to accept the author's claims, except that they reinforce our current beliefs.
      • analog 14y ago
        "he had a gift for building the injury-proof athlete and for reconstructing bodies badly broken on the field of play" And the article then goes on to mention several elite athletes that have been able to return to competition at the highest levels after using strength training to rebuild their bodies. Seems pretty solid to me.
      • vidarh 14y ago
        The people who are inclined to follow up references to evidence supporting these claims wouldn't be holding these misconceptions in the first place - the research is readily available for those who cares enough to be prepared to look.
• goronbjorn 14y ago
  > I signed a 10-page membership contract at a corporate-franchise gym, hired my first personal trainer, and became yet another sucker for all the half-baked, largely spurious non-advice cobbled together from doctors, newspapers, magazines, infomercials, websites, government health agencies, and, especially, from the organs of our wonderful $19 billion fitness industry, whose real knack lies in helping us to lose weight around the middle of our wallets. If that's not a CTA for startups, I don't know what is.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    CTA?
    • cdcarter 14y ago
      Call to action.
    • deleted 14y ago
      [deleted]
  • tomjen3 14y ago
    The real CTA would be for them to find a way to make guys like me _want_ to exercise (or find a way to get the benefits of exercise without exercise, which would be the real solution).
    • henrikschroder 14y ago
      Gamify it! Make an app! (Oh, right, there's already a ton of those...)
      • tomjen3 14y ago
        Yeah, that is clearly a non-solution.
• malbs 14y ago
  This is one of the best fitness articles I've read. Of course, that's me suffering from confirmation bias, because in 3 years of being on a health kick, I came to the same conclusions after talking to various people with a similar interest. My progression went:- Cycling -> Running -> Machines -> Body Weight Exercises -> Discovering Rippetoe/SS -> Barbell (Power Rack) The barbell is the king, and the great thing is in my gym it's always (95%) free. Everyone is on the cable machines. Now I try and get all my friends and family doing some sort of 3x5/SS program because it. just. works. I even have my daughters doing it!
  • joshschreuder 14y ago
    That's good to hear. I've only recently started working out, and started on free weights with a Power Rack and Barbell (doing Stronglifts). Glad I'm not partially wasting my time, and going onto the good stuff!
    • malbs 14y ago
      I use google docs to track everything, I have 3 years of daily weight measurements, keep a track of my lifts, keep notes on everything.. http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/weekly_weight_2010.png http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/weekly_weight_2010.png http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/weekly_weight_2011.png http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/weekly_weight_2011.png http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/chart_latest.png http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/chart_latest.png Large gain of 5+ kilos this year - trying to get squat past 140kg, hah. Playing rugby next year. The biggest key is keeping a record. Doesn't really matter what you do, as long as you log it. Good luck!
      • joshschreuder 14y ago
        Great stuff! I have a wireless scale from Withings that logs my weight for me, and I try to stand on it every day or two. I think I should get a tape measure and start tracking that too.
    • malbs 14y ago
      Last comments! What I really regret not doing, was taking a daily photo.. I do have a couple of photos (by luck, not by planning), Also, get a tape measure! starting point, began cycling to work about 2 weeks after this photo was taken (~118 kg, ouch) http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/2009-09-15.jpg http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/2009-09-15.jpg 6 months later with riding every day and body weight exercises (~97kg) http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/2010-03-22.jpg http://www.arcturus.com.au/sean/2010-03-22.jpg I would highly recommend taking some photos, because you don't notice changes yourself, everyone else does. :)
• ciupicri 14y ago
  Discussion from 2011 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213
  • GFischer 14y ago
    Thanks for pointing that out :) . I read that and STILL don't work out, the refresher is definitely very welcome. The timing is also very good with New Year's resolutions and in particular for me as I'm finishing my studies and will actually have time to exercise.
• patrickgzill 14y ago
  I have found kettlebells to be very useful also. There is a sub-reddit on them: http://reddit.com/r/kettlebell http://reddit.com/r/kettlebell . I will have to look into the Starting Strength book, I always had problems when trying to do squats before - perhaps bad technique.
• gbog 14y ago
  This article is currently top1 of HN home. It relates with some male's obsessions with their bodies, but has nothing to feed to one's intellectual curiosity. Flagged.
  • vertr 14y ago
    What to Submit On-Topic: Anything that good hackers would find interesting. That includes more than hacking and startups. If you had to reduce it to a sentence, the answer might be: anything that gratifies one's intellectual curiosity. The fact that it is on top demonstrates that it is doing the trick.
    • gbog 14y ago
      > The fact that it is on top demonstrates that it is doing the trick. Demonstrate? Really? What about the other possibilities? - An uncatched click-ring pulled it up. - The HN crowd has been tricked to upvote something that do not "gratifies one's intellectual curiosity" (would not be the first time). - This "intellectual curiosity" is misunderstood. I remember a friend's friend who had a big collection of porn. He told us blantly that he did watch them only out of curiosity and interest... Yes. But, you know, I also feel mildly titillated when checking gossips about some topic I am interested in, eg. Mr Facebook wedding pics, and could easily mistake this for "intellectual curiosity gratification", but it is not, or anything is and the filter becomes useless.
      • vertr 14y ago
        Perhaps you should read the article. Your snap judgement about it is incorrect. Whining about why an article is on top of an internet news site is pathetic either way.
  • rimantas 14y ago
    Something to read about which could provide some food for your intellectual curiosity: does exercise/body health influence mental performance.
• cliftonk 14y ago
  For the last 5 years, I've gone to the gym once or twice a week (usually just once). I do powerclean or snatch -> squats or deadlift -> bench and then I leave in around 45 minutes. When I explain my routine to friends and coworkers, they dismiss my results, believing they are due to genetics. Thanks for posting the article. I definitely recommend reading Starting Strength if you haven't had any formal weight training instruction.
  • ErikAugust 14y ago
    People are shocked that it's not about time.
• web_church_dev 14y ago
  I like how every general fitness article refrences "brad pitt in fightclub"...brad pitt in fight club was a little under 160 lbs so beyond aesthetics,I doubta 156 lb male had any real functional strength.
  • weeksie 14y ago
    There are a lot of middleweight boxers that would probably disagree with that assessment.
    • nikster 14y ago
      Its in fact a ridiculously dumb statement. I live in SE Asia and one of my workers here is about Bruce Lee sized but he can lift more, and for longer, than anybody I know. No wonder as he has been doing hard manual labor since he was a child. You think youre going to be stronger if you go to the gym 3 times a week?
  • davidtanner 14y ago
    Well those 160lb Olympic weightlifters sure manage to fling around a lot of weight for people with no real functional strength. World record lifters in that class can get around 400-430lbs overhead in the C+J. But who knows how strong Brad Pitt was
  • rimantas 14y ago
    Bruce Lee was about the same weight. Look up what he was capable to do.
• subwindow 14y ago
  I read this article around the time it was first published, and it has changed my life. I know it sounds corny and cliched, but it's true. This article was the first seed in my head that I needed to change the way I was doing things. It took me about 18 months after reading it to actually buckle down and start lifting, but it's no doubt that the journey started here. I ended up reading "Starting Strength" and started up on the program. It's been about 6 months now and I'm stronger than I've ever been in my entire life- by a significant margin. I've gained 40 pounds of muscle. I feel confident, capable, and strong. The only downside is that I cannot fit into regular clothes anymore- I have to buy clothes made for fat people and just deal with the extra room in the midsection. I also eat an incredible amount of food, which can get tiring and expensive (I eat $40 a week in steak alone). Overall, though, I'm thoroughly satisfied with the path that I'm on, and wish I had started years earlier.
  • vertr 14y ago
    Try getting your clothes tailored if you can afford it.
  • analog 14y ago
    I've no doubt at all that you're significantly stronger, but not all of that 40 extra pounds is going to be muscle. You might want to reduce the amount you're eating now so that you don't have to eat at a deficit for so long later.
    • subwindow 14y ago
      It's 40 pounds of muscle, give or take (at most) a couple of pounds of increased bone mass. I take weekly caliper-based readings of body fat percentage, which has fallen by over 10% in the last 6 months. Overall I've gained 20 pounds while losing 20 pounds of fat.
      • BlackJack 14y ago
        I'm sorry, but caliper readings are pretty inaccurate. Losing 20 pounds in 6 months is solid and believable, but it's hard to believe that you put on 20 lbs of muscle in 6 months. Generally accepted advice is that you can gain about 0.5 lb muscle/week, so I could see you putting on 12-15 lbs tops. It's also very difficult to lose fat and gain muscle at the same time, especially if you're not a teenager anymore. Still, congrats on your progress!
• spudlyo 14y ago
  Cardio machines are innocent enough, as they won’t actually make you any less fit, but maintaining cardiovascular fitness doesn’t really take much more than breathing uncomfortably hard for about 20 minutes, three times a week. And we all know that swimming, hoops, bike riding, and even Ultimate Frisbee can get the job done, and that treadmills or elliptical trainers are a pale substitute. I think the author is overlooking one of the great benefits of elliptical trainers. They get the job done and they're very safe. If you're an obese out of shape person you're unlikely to get hurt getting your cardio in on an elliptical, whereas activities like hoops, bike riding, and Ultimate Frisbee can really fuck you up. If you wear a heart monitor and keep your HR in the appropriate zones the elliptical can be a safe, effective cardio workout. I spent three years doing hour long cardio sessions 3-5 days a week, with around 60% of that hour spent in the high end of the aerobic zone. At the end of it I had lost a considerable amount of weight, and I had a resting HR of 38.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    There are alternatives to cardio machines that are far less expensive. A jump rope or kettlebell can provide ample and safe workouts for most. The advantage of activities (basketball, cycling, Ultimate) is that they're engaging, getting past the "but it's sooooo boring" issue of just grinding out your 20 minutes. And at the high end of the out-of-shape scale, just getting out of the house and walking would be a great start.
    • spudlyo 14y ago
      I agree that walking is a great start, but your body will quickly adapt and unless you're walking up hills you're unlikely to get to aerobic HR levels.
      • dredmorbius 14y ago
        There are plenty of progressions available for walking.
    • eru 14y ago
      > A jump rope or kettlebell can provide ample and safe workouts for most. Or just the floor (burpees). Or sprinting up stairs.
• dools 14y ago
  Previous discussion: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213
• deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
• nikster 14y ago
  Well thanks for confirming the impression I got from my one and only ever experience at a gym: Not only is it boring but its also a huge waste of time. I remember it took me 2 hours until I felt like I had done something - and the best machine seemed to be the chin-up bar. I dont need a gym for that?! I think for general body health, any exercise is better than none but some are more effective than others. Top to bottom: - Yoga ( ermm... The serious kind. Lots of bs out there) - Strength exercises like in the article - Competitive sports. (I used to fight Tae Kwon Do tournaments) - Casual sports - Biking to work - The Gym I know some Yogis and they're overall the healthiest, best-shape people I know. Little wonder as Yoga was developed over thousands of years and specifically to heal the body. Maximizing the - amazing - self healing powers of your body. Those basic strength exercises are IMO just the western version of it, a slightly less advanced form. And it'll work better for some, no doubt.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    A good gym is a godsend. But what you're looking for isn't going to be one of the plastic-and-chrome palaces but something that's got tons of weights, power cages, chinning bars, adjustable benches, dumbbells in a wide range of weights (200# is a good upper limit, higher isn't bad though you can usually manage with a barbell and landmine), bumper plates and platforms, chalk, glute-ham raise, kettlebells, ergs, foam and PVC rollers. If you see prowlers, ropes, and chains, you're in heaven. Yoga has its place, however asanas are only a small part of total fitness. "Western fitness" is based on empirical results and studies, while much traditional yoga is founded on mystical explanations (and don't even get me started on Auyurveda). If you explore deeper, I think you'll find that Western fitness has in fact examined and adopted those parts of yoga which are shown to be useful and effective.
    • yukoncornelius 14y ago
      The problem is very few gyms have bumper plates and platforms. Further, many gyms frown upon the use of chalk.
      • dredmorbius 14y ago
• grima 14y ago
  Amateur marathoner here. Those lying side leg raises with toes pointed down are THE BOMB! Here's a great vid by Strength Running that illustrates that exercise and several more: http://strengthrunning.com/2011/02/the-itb-rehab-routine-video-demonstration/ http://strengthrunning.com/2011/02/the-itb-rehab-routine-vid...
  • gammarator 14y ago
    Random slow person here: I had knee pain from running and cycling: physical therapy involved doing the exercises shown in the video, so +1 anecdata.
  • pirateking 14y ago
    Cannot upvote these leg raises enough. Especially useful for any back pain associated with sitting too long.
• dredmorbius 14y ago
  This is a great article (even as a repeat), and well-timed for the annual influx of "resolutionists" at the gym come January 1. If you haven't lifted or trained seriously before, and have been looking for a solid guide and starting point, you could well do worse. If you're looking for further reading, the suggested library (Rippetoe's Starting Strength and Practical Programming, Zatsiorsky's Science and Practice of Strength Training, Schmitz's Olympic-Style Weightlifting and Gambetta's Athletic Development: The Art & Science of Functional Sports Conditioning) is solid. I'd add Schuler & Cosgrove's The New Rules of Lifting* more for its fitness and nutritional background than its training program, though that too is good. For community, Reddit's /r/fitness, /r/advancedfitness, and /r/weightroom are good. The one significant omission from Duane's "Men's Journal" article is of HIIT (high intensity interval training) and Tabata intervals (http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/tabataintervals.html http://www.rosstraining.com/articles/tabataintervals.html). As with strength work, it's amazing how little a time investment can provide returns. Your work sets for both lifting and high-intensity cardio training can be completed in a very few minutes. The other key point is that consistency over time, rather than instantaneous effort, is what pays dividends. Lift for a week and you'll be sore. Lift for a month and you'll start feeling things. Lift for a year and you'll see results. Lift for 5 years, and it will be obvious to even the most oblivious. And you can look forward to benefits throughout most of your life, not just your 20s and 30s.
• jimbokun 14y ago
  Anyone swim? My kids joined a swim team, so I decided to try it as a work out (already had a membership at a gym with a pool). I never swam as a workout before. I could barely do 500 meters when I started, switching up strokes (mostly free with my sad approximations of breast, fly, and back), having to stop and catch my breath often. Now I'm at 600, have to stop much less often, and see some upper body development. I feel like swimming fits into the "muscle endurance" column from the article. I had just recently told someone swimming is like "upper body cardio". So I'm curious if anyone else reading this swims and how you think it compares to other exercise regimens.
  • dredmorbius 14y ago
    Please read the article. I've swum for several decades. It's a good form of cardiovascular training. It's also very much a skill sport that's difficult to pick up in later life -- your entire workout distance is a small portion of my warm-up routine (workouts run 3k - 6k meters). The specific part of the article you want to pay attention to is the training goal matrix (http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/picture-211.jpg http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-content/uploads/picture-21...). Swimming does not load your muscles at 40-60% of your maximum. For an utterly untrained individual you'll see some development as the result of doing virtually anything, however that progress will max out very quickly. Any serious competitive swimmer (national / international / Olympic level) is doing a considerable amount of strength training in addition to their pool work. The same goes for athletes in any other field. While there may be adaptations to limit total mass gains for some (long-distance marathoners and cyclists tend to have low bodyweights), there absolutely is strength training. If you want to gain muscle, lift. If you want to get better at swimming, invest in a stroke clinic and join a masters team.
    • JoshTriplett 14y ago
      I agree: swimming will make you more fit, and works great as general aerobic or anaerobic exercise, but won't necessarily build up muscles beyond a reasonable baseline. However, I'd argue that it works far better than walking or running if you want general calorie burning. On a different note, though: swimming works very well for building lung capacity, which cross-trains very well with other exercises.
• maak 14y ago
  This exact article has been posted and well received before on HN.
  • maak 14y ago
    In fact, this article has been submitted to HN 7 times in the last year!
• lispm 14y ago
  That's a very limited view on fitness.
• xbryanx 14y ago
  One of the best things about free weights and the stationary exercises is the limited comute and equipment cost. Wanna work out? Head downstairs. Wanna increase your weights? Buy a new $15 set. Or, ya know...buy a sledgehammer - http://www.shovelglove.com/ http://www.shovelglove.com/
• elptacek 14y ago
  Well, actually... Daniel the author neglected to tell Nicole the illustrator that the thumbs on the squatter (first graphic) are in the wrong position -- according to Rippetoe, not me. :-) Humor aside, lifting heavy works for women, to. Women are afraid to get bulky. I got over the idea that lifting heavy wouldn't _make_ me bulky. This is just the way I am. Might as well make the best of what my DNA doled out. As for gyms, I've been harassed at my gym by a trainer for dropping 250lbs a bit too hard (it ripped the callus on my left hand and fell less than a foot, and gym doesn't allow chalk) when I routinely see/hear male lifters throw 100+ dumbbells to the floor. Can't wait to get a cage in my basement so I can spend less time in that place. I'll be trying Brown's movements to see if they help with the pain in my knees from derby drills. Thanks for posting this!
  • MaybiusStrip 14y ago
    Weightlifter here. The squat described in that graphic is high-bar (bar between traps and delts) as opposed to the low-bar form championed by Rippetoe (and powerlifters in general). The back is more upright, so you can't really "trap" the bar just by resting your hands on it and pushing your elbows back, you have to wrap your thumbs around. You should still keep your wrists as straight as possible. Speaking of women lifting heavy things, my Coach's wife Jo-Ann Aita just set a world record in raw powerlifting last month, and she is far from bulky! See for yourself http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7c5KoyaLI http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5n7c5KoyaLI Congrats on your heavy lift! 250lbs is no joke.
    • elptacek 14y ago
      Ah, that explains it. I do low bar and had forgotten there was such a thing as high bar. Do you suppose low bar works better if you have broad shoulders? Low bar certainly alleviates the sore neck problem. JoAnn definitely not bulky. And cripes would I love to be able to bench 165! Sometimes I resent stumbling on this type of training in my 40s instead of my 20s. Nia Shanks is something like 122lbs and (last I saw) could deadlift 315lbs. She is not bulky or "'roided out." It is because of her that I've set my goal at 315lbs. I've had two kids by c-section, though. Dunno if I'll get there or not. Sometimes stuff hurts. Daniel makes this point in his article, in a way: goals are important. From what I understand, there are three goals: get strong, get lean or look good naked. All three are perfectly respectable goals in my book. Approach a random person in the gym and ask them what they are training for, "To lose weight." This is a meaningless statement we believe has meaning. So far, the best response I've heard is, "Retirement." I forget who said it, though.
• mindcruzer 14y ago
  Lift a weight so heavy you can lift it only once, you’re building strength (and, oddly, not much mass); lift a weight you can move six to 12 times, you’re building mass (and, oddly, a little less pure strength); It's interesting how many people don't know that size does not necessarily mean strength. When I was in university, a gym friend, who happened to be a trainer, was an accomplished amateur bodybuilder, and was fairly close to getting his pro card (he might have it now, I'm not sure). This guy was easily twice my size, but to my surprise, I could lift quite a bit more than him. Now, I'm quite sure that I look like I'm in good shape, but I don't think anyone would guess that I'm 195 pounds, and can oly squat 2x my lean body weight. It's been more than once that I've seen someone at the the gym who looks merely "lean" at first glance, but turns out to be quite impressively strong. Just goes to show that it's hard to judge how strong people are just by looking at them, until you see them lift.
• akurilin 14y ago
  For a very affordably monthly fee you can sign up to be remotely coached by fantastic power lifting / bodybuilding / MMA trainers with decades of experience bringing up truly strong and powerful athletes. They'll find out exactly where you're at, help you figure out the optimal diet for your goals, help you with your form and regimen and will continuously work with you to make sure you're on track. The only variable in the equation is going to be your own personal willingness to stick to your own program. For the cost, I can't recommend it enough.
  • oh_sigh 14y ago
    What service are you talking about?
    • akurilin 14y ago
      See my response in the other question I got asked.
  • hcurtiss 14y ago
    Sounds interesting. Links?
    • akurilin 14y ago
      Check out http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/ http://www.ironaddicts.com/forums/ . I trained under both the founder (he passed away, very unfortunately) and his successor. Couldn't recommend Mr. Pinder any higher, but if he doesn't have openings right now, I'm sure he'll be able to recommend someone else excellent.
• timgluz 14y ago
  I recommend to read or least checkout Georg Hackenschmidt's book "The way to live" from 1908. It's free and accessible on url: http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Hackenschmidt/wtl/wtl-intro.htm http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Hackenschmidt/wtl/wt... As semi-pro strongman and powerlifter, i've to say that Hackenschmidt's book has been most helpful for me, because it's give good tips about diet, mental preparedness and encouraged to do other sports than just Gym.
• discountgenius 14y ago
  "Yet multiple studies of pre-workout stretching demonstrate that it actually raises your likelihood of injury and lowers your subsequent performance." This was the only claim that surprised me and the only one that didn't provide much of a source. Time to dust of the old search engine, I guess.
• mckain 14y ago
  I bought a treadmill machine 1 year ago, and I barely use it :/ .
• gadders 14y ago
  And here is a good recent article about why most "cardio" is a waste of time from Mark Rippetoe: http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/conditioning_is_a_sham http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/cond...
  • bazzargh 14y ago
    I actually found that article a bit ridiculous. "[lifting] longer, but it prepares you for the task of loading the hay, and it has the much more important benefit of preparing you for any other work-related task you might encounter, not just the hay." How many of us work lifting hay here? Or indeed any other physical labour? "A resting heart rate of 48 BPM is very cool, but it's not nearly as useful as a 405-pound deadlift." Useful? To WHOM? I run and cycle hills when I'm training because I'm training for running and cycling hills. I don't give two hoots about lifting 405 pounds. (and yes I've been down to 50bpm, but that's not a training goal. Having fun is the goal) He talks about this being about generic training versus specific training, but all his 'generic' examples are specifically about lifting heavy objects.
    • gadders 14y ago
      I train to better prepare me for my life. As a husband and father, I find myself required to lift heavy stuff more often than I am required to run 5km. YMMV.
• xugle 14y ago
  tl;dr : Dude... do you even lift ?
• acconrad 14y ago
  I'm in a unique position because I'm an avid programmer/HNer, but I'm also a competitive powerlifter in my spare time. I was very skeptical based on the article title, but it is actually well done and honest. If you're new to the gym/fitness, I would back up what was said in this article as sage advice.
• jordinl 14y ago
  Does anyone have any recommendations about dieting? I don't think that when it comes to strength eating paleo cuts it. Most of the powerlifters don't seem to care about being lean and only care about strength, so they eat a lot. I've got a lot stronger since I started training strength, but haven't got any leaner. Is there a way to have both or is it impossible?
  • majelix 14y ago
    It's possible, but difficult. Like many other extraordinary feats like doubling your bench press in a month, it's most often seen in people just starting out. In general, gaining strength means a caloric surplus, and in general, losing weight means a caloric deficit. There are programs like leangains that try to do both. There's a reason the "pros" have separate cutting & bulking phases, although that's maybe needless and arguably dangerous for mere mortals. I suck at dieting, so I won't give specific advice other than perhaps troll r/fitness & co.
  • malbs 14y ago
    Take a look at leangains.com .. The guy there suggests a form of intermittent fasting that works for him and others.
  • pdubs 14y ago
    Both at once is a difficult feat. Fitness is a long play though. Get stronger, then get leaner (caloric deficit), then get stronger, then get leaner... It works pretty well over time.
• jordinl 14y ago
  It'd be cool to know where are people in SF working out. Created a post: http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4972681 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4972681
• lglide 14y ago
  I am the co-founder of Wello (www.wello.co). A site that enables you to workout with a personal trainer over live, interactive video. All you need is a laptop, webcam and internet connection. The bottom line is that personal training works and we make personal training accessible to everyone in the privacy of their home at a fraction of the price. Check it out and book a personal training workout today.
  • lglide 14y ago
    www.wello.co
• Kiro 14y ago
  Why is this #1? What happened to pizza, Jolt cola and Unix beards?
  • pirateking 14y ago
    Mainstream delivery pizza has reached an all time low on all fronts. The glorious Jolt cola has shown the way to a plethora of marketing dollars, leaving once fringe energy conscious beverage consumers disillusioned. And it is yet to be determined whether the Unix beard is the cause or the effect of godly low level programming ability.
• stef25 14y ago
  Great article! After reading it, it seems like stronglifts 5X5 is the thing to do. I followed it for a while until some guy at the gym said I was doing squats wrong (he was wrong), I ended up injuring my (already weak) back and never properly recovered. Now I'm not sure if I should try pick it up again. Free weights get a bit scary as from a certain weight, you really need a buddy.
  • jdhopeunique 14y ago
    Could you elaborate on how you injured your back so that we can learn what to avoid?
    • weston 14y ago
      When doing Squats and Deadlifts, make sure you lift if your legs and not your back. Don't be afraid to hire a (credible) personal trainer who knows how to do barbell lifts to coach you on correct form. It may take several weeks to get the form exactly right, but it's worth it so you don't get injured.
• edwardunknown 14y ago
  I would just add that machines aren't the devil; Depending on where you live the douchebag level may be intolerable in the free weights area which can be a huge demotivator, machines can help blunt that a little. And no matter what any one tells you squats are great but there is a 100% chance of injury with them, it's just a question of when. The leg press machine works just fine and can prevent chronic back and neck problems.
  • debacle 14y ago
    > squats are great but there is a 100% chance of injury with them What? Machines are terrible for you. They are to deadlifts what the treadmill is to a marathon.
• jongold 14y ago
  Starting Strength is the way to go. Reddit, 4chan and SomethingAwful all have fantastic weightlifting communities; has really helped me cut through the BS you get fed by Men's Health etc.
• liongo 14y ago
  sound great
• crikli 14y ago
  OT: Anyone know what these men's magazines have against Crossfit? There was a ridiculously ill-informed article in Men's Health magazine this year and this article slanders Crossfit as "sadistic" then doesn't bother to validate the claim. But then he goes to a trainer who calls him "fucking little girl weak" and then goes on to essentially describe the Crossfit ethos as I've experienced it, minus the bullshit insults.
• 4rgento 14y ago
  I've found this site extremely useful for fitness: http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html
• enraged_camel 14y ago
  My own research on the subject, and my several years of experience applying said research, taught me this: fitness as an overall goal is actually very, very simple. It gets complicated only when you try to optimize and fine-tune your workouts and diets, which most people do not actually need to do unless they are professional bodybuilders or powerlifters. Regardless of your goals, it comes down to three things: eat well, sleep as much as your body actually needs, and lift weights. The problem is that the fitness industry, in order to justify its own existence, feeds people so many little details and tricks and drivel that it intimidates those who want to start, and quickly overwhelms those who actually do start. Furthermore, when someone fails to see results, they attribute it to some little detail that they must have missed, which perpetuates the existence of all those fitness magazines and websites. Combine this with people's natural tendency to look for quick fixes, and you got yourself a huge mess. What I tell people who want to become fit is this: your current body is the result of years and years of certain habits you followed. You can't undo that in a month. For those who are reading this and want to become healthier, my advice is as follows. 1. If you want to lose weight, then you need to eat below maintenance, do a mix of cardio and weightlifting, and sleep eight hours a day. 2. If you want to build muscle, then you need to eat a LOT of food with tons of protein, do mostly weightlifting, and sleep eight hours a day. 3. If you want to get "toned", that actually equates to losing body fat to make underlying muscles more visible, so follow 1. 4. If you want to build cardiovascular endurance (e.g. for sports), then focus mainly on cardio, with some weightlifting to build the muscles used in those sports. From there, it's a matter of figuring out the basics and sticking with them.
  • jonstjohn 14y ago
    This is my feeling exactly. People seem to over analyze various approaches to fitness and diet to the point that it becomes un-productive. There is not a magic bullet workout or diet - in fact lots of different workouts and diets will have a positive effect if you stick with them. We are so obsessed with micro-optimizing that we miss the big picture. I would add some general principles with regards to diet that could benefit most people. Reducing or eliminating processed foods and sugar, for example, can benefit anybody. Maintaining a reasonable proportion of fats, protein and carbohydrates is another.
• peterwwillis 14y ago
  There is no secret to getting fit! You can't be "sold" fitness. It doesn't come in a barbell or a bosu ball or on the track or in the pool. It's not in your food and it's not in the mind of a trainer. It's definitely not a recipe, WOD, set, game, trail, or pitch. Want to get fit? Get off your goddamn ass three times a week, eat healthy, proportional meals, and get your doctor to evaluate you. That's it. I have nothing else to say because that is fitness. -- That being said, this whole article is fucking ridiculous as it purports to tell you that lifting a ton makes you "fit". For me personally, I know i'm "fit" when I can do real-world exercise without getting exhausted. Running a mile in 7 minutes, hiking a medium-to-hard trail, pulling myself up over a ledge/fence, climbing a tree, or sparring for three minutes without falling over. Those are my fitness tests. Those are my fitness tests, though, not yours. Make fitness personal and work towards your own goals - not something Men's Journal tells you is right for you.
• malachismith 14y ago
  OK, as a former professional athlete this piece is, as usual, half-smart and largely uninformed (and hugely frustrating). Important points: 1 - Don't confuse a "health club" with a gym. 2 - Don't confuse a "personal fitness trainer" with an athletic trainer. 3 - Most of all.... Don't confuse Performance and Results. If you actually really care about Performance and training - I would suggest you start by learning the fundamentals of training. You MUST own your own training. And to do that you need to be informed. The author obviously didn't do any of this work as he just ran from "expert" to "expert" rather than taking personal responsibility. A simple rule of thumb.... if you're not talking about periodization, you're working with the wrong person (and doing it wrong). Kevin Brown was one of the best PTs on the west coast and I'm incredibly fortunate to have worked with him. He was a huge loss to the community, and to his friends and family. But he wasn't the sort of 'holy man' that is implied in this piece. Unlike everyone else who the author worked with throughout his efforts, Kevin was just a highly skilled, highly trained, athletic performance professional. These people exist throughout the athletic world - including working as trainers. So make the effort. 1 - Educate yourself on performance and athletic training principles. 2 - Fine a serious professional and work with them. If you're not up for the above - then accept that you're not going to get the "magical" results you dream of. That's life. Oh... and a fundamental flaw throughout this piece is the idea that there is some sort of "shortcut" to high performing physical fitness and athletic performance. Other than using PEDs there is no shortcut. And even PEDs are only effective if you ALSO take no shortcuts in your training.
  • abhijat 14y ago
    You are a former professional athlete so I assume you would know better than me, an amateur with only a few months in the gym. However > A simple rule of thumb.... if you're not talking about periodization, you're working with the wrong person (and doing it wrong). From everything I have understood so far, a novice is better served with a linear progression program for as long as they can steadily increase the weights. Why would they think of periodization? I thought before you moved to periodic programs you needed to have built a strength base of 1x bench press, 1.5x squat and 2x deadlift. Is my understanding incorrect? Or are you targeting experienced lifters with your advice?
• JonathanFields 14y ago
  I used to own a boutique, 5,000 square foot personal training facility a few years back. Sadly, this article is on the money. We hired strength coaches with degrees in exercise physiology or athletic training and were fanatical about form and outcomes. We wanted clients to re-up not because they'd become best friends with a trainer or been entertained, but because they were experiencing measurable changes in whatever metrics were relevant to them (which we tested on a regular basis). We were very much the exception to the rule in a world where places like Crossfit didn't even exist yet. The commentary on big-box fitness clubs is also dead on. It's all about maximizing revenue / sq ft, not changing lives. That leads to a 40% industry attrition-rate, because the offerings and environment are so broken, off-putting and ineffective. What other industry survives when you need to regenerate 40% of your client base every year just to stay at zero-growth? Insanity. Last stat, for more than 30 years, the fitness industry has been trying to attract what's perceived as the holy grail, sedentary adults. But, no matter how much marketing they throw at the market, 85% of US adults refuse to join or stay members of clubs, even though more than 90% say exercise is mission-critical to their ability to live the lives they want to live. I sold my last facility 4 years ago, but just writing this is reminding me how ripe this space still is for mass-disruption. Crossfit is doing a great job, but there's still so more that can and should be done.
• mathattack 14y ago
  I've got to say that I never expected folks to be comparing Bench Press results on Hacker News. The story starts with a known truth, "Health Clubs are RipOffs" and then gets a little off track. Barbells aren't the only thing. They're important, but great athletes mix in other types of training - low impact cardio to reduce the resting heart rate, short and long intervals, outdoor exercise, etc. IMHO - The best gyms are tailored around an activity one enjoyes: Rock Climbing, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Rowing, etc. Supplement that as needed.
  • abhijat 14y ago
    > Barbells aren't the only thing. They're important, but great athletes mix in other types of training I think it mostly boils down to what you expect out of your workout. If you want to get stronger the big three lifts (all barbell based) with eating big is the best way to go.
• krzyk 14y ago
  The article misses (maybe on purpose, so one has to figure it out by himself) what plan is he on. What I understand he is doing n number of set of 5 reps (the last set being 100% weight he can do with 5 repetitions): - squat - dead lift - bench press In the article (in other sources) I read that doing squat and dead lift on the same day is not a good idea (back is working in both cases) should we throw out also this common wisdom? I'm planning to buy "Starting Strength" but could someone correct me if I'm wrong?
• tlear 14y ago
  It is a good article, too bad he sortof skipped the cardio fitness which to me is probably the most useful every day kindof fitness
• vermasque 14y ago
  Thanks for posting this article! I was actually in the middle of getting back into lifting to 1) improve my health and 2) gain some confidence by accomplishing something in my personal life. I e-mailed a personal training studio a few weeks ago, and they never responded even though they recommended that means to get in touch with them. My next step was going to be to enroll in a "big box" gym to take advantage of year-end deals and start personal training sessions there. This article gave me the thought that I should consider some more self-education first. I may enroll in a gym anyway as they have the gear and the space for working out, but I should consider self-training. Will check out the Starting Strength book.