Younger Next Year After Six Months

[haha]

When I read Body by Science, on the other hand, I was impressed that a number of the studies cited involved test groups assigned to differing regimens of exercise (multiple days, different styles, etc) and the results were based on objective measures. The type of studies your article says we should look toward. And, of course, the evidence presented points toward an approach to fitness that better aligns with my bias against unnecessary work, so I have embraced it fully. I am of an open mind and if evidence is presented that makes clear that the BS regimen is BS, I may reluctantly change my ways.

It seems to me that people who write books are trying to appeal to people who buy, and presumably read, books. Which means there must be a story that is at least somewhat simple and easily digested and made into rules of thumb or guidelines. But unfortunately very often the underlying sciece is just not that clear.

What bothered me about Body By Science is how they made tenuous extensions of evidence. ie., if lifting weights once per week seemed to make people as strong as more frequent lifting, they generalised that to the required frequency of workouts for other goals, such as metabolic fitness. I don't think it is likely to generalize, and there is evidence coming out of Wm Krause's group at Duke that flatly contradicts it.

Aerobic exercise bests resistance training at burning belly fat

They also recently published a study that shows longer duration, moderate, more frequent aerobic exercise is much better at improving lipid profiles than other exercise. And Dr. Krause fully understands and uses the more complete characterization of lipid chemistry provided by newer assay methods.

Exercise training, lipid regulation,... [Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009] - PubMed - NCBI

Ha

 

[TromboneAl]

You'd think science would have figured all this stuff out by now. The first article says "The combination of aerobic with resistance training achieved results similar to aerobic training alone." so I guess that's the way to hedge your bets.

 

[nphx]

inspiring - orderd the book tonight.

 

[donheff]

It seems to me that people who write books are trying to appeal to people who buy, and presumably read, books. Which means there must be a story that is at least somewhat simple and easily digested and made into rules of thumb or guidelines. But unfortunately very often the underlying sciece is just not that clear.

What bothered me about Body By Science is how they made tenuous extensions of evidence. ie., if lifting weights once per week seemed to make people as strong as more frequent lifting, they generalised that to the required frequency of workouts for other goals, such as metabolic fitness. I don't think it is likely to generalize, and there is evidence coming out of Wm Krause's group at Duke that flatly contradicts it.

Aerobic exercise bests resistance training at burning belly fat

They also recently published a study that shows longer duration, moderate, more frequent aerobic exercise is much better at improving lipid profiles than other exercise. And Dr. Krause fully understands and uses the more complete characterization of lipid chemistry provided by newer assay methods.

Exercise training, lipid regulation,... [Obesity (Silver Spring). 2009] - PubMed - NCBI

Ha

Aha, Ha. If they are correct T-Al and I have it covered since we do BBS's lifts once a week but crank out the miles on the bike the rest of the week.

 

[TromboneAl]

It's interesting that for the last week and a half, I've been doing high-intensity training every day, namely, splitting firewood. I have a deadline for getting all the wood that my neighbor has donated to me, so each day I split one truckload, and it feels very much like weight lifting or Bowflex.

How does it feel? Good. IOW, I don't feel like I'm not getting enough recovery time.

But after five more days, I should be done and back to the old routine.

It's interesting, though, that different researchers can have such polar opposite views on whether cardio is good for you.

 

[HFWR]

Aha, Ha.

Haha...

The problem with blanket statements regarding exercise and nutrition is that, short of sequestering study subjects for months or years, there are many variables not accounted for in self-answered questionaires or short-term studies.

 

[W2R]

I'm enjoying my strength training, and still making progress. I find that I get some cardio even in weight lifting, since I don't rest any longer between sets than it took me to do the set to begin with. I like this type of workout, and it works for me.

I am convinced that for most of us the best routine is one that we like and will work the hardest at for the longest time, the most often. The average person in modern times is so sedentary that everything helps.

 

[haha]

Believe me, when I post something like this it is not intended to critique anyone's program. Strictly FYI.

I suspect that answers do exist, that they may be different for various
genotypes, and that scientists have not yet delineated much of it.

Ha

 

[nun]

There's no science to my exercise; I just ride lots of miles on my bike and go on a long tour in the summer. This year it was Iceland.........

 

[Chuckanut]

I have to admit that one good reason to retire early is to have the time to exercise. Works soaks up a huge amount of my waking hours and I get home exhausted, stressed, and often with more work to do in the evening. Not so good.

 

[haha]

I have to admit that one good reason to retire early is to have the time to exercise. Works soaks up a huge amount of my waking hours and I get home exhausted, stressed, and often with more work to do in the evening. Not so good.

True enough- but gyms are full of young people, fewer retirement age folks. I think most people on this board have the discipline to do daily workouts, but many retired people clearly do not.

Ha

 

[Chuckanut]

What discourages me from joing a gym, besides lack of time and ridiculous contracts, are the photos of young studs, in their mid 30's as the most, with rippling abs.


I would be more impressed by what they could do with a more worn body running on 50% of the hormones these young studs have.

 

[W2R]

You two should join MY gym! Although some members are young, I'd guess the median age at my gym is about 70.

I like that - - the staff plays oldies for the background music, and I feel very young and strong in comparison with the other gym members.

When I was working, I really couldn't get to the gym as easily because I had to fight rush hour traffic after work to get there. Now that we are retired, we go in the middle of the day and we get a big discount on membership if we limit our hours from 9-4 (so we do).

 

[Lisa99]

What discourages me from joing a gym, besides lack of time and ridiculous contracts, are the photos of young studs, in their mid 30's as the most, with rippling abs.

I would be more impressed by what they could do with a more worn body running on 50% of the hormones these young studs have.

The photos are just marketing/advertising.

Even here in Vegas the gym isn't filled with young hot bods. Our gym is the biggest in the city and the exercisers mirror the population...young, old, big, small and everything in between.

 

[HFWR]

What discourages me from joing a gym, besides lack of time and ridiculous contracts, are the photos of young studs, in their mid 30's as the most, with rippling abs.


I would be more impressed by what they could do with a more worn body running on 50% of the hormones these young studs have.

I'm a member of a municipal rec center. Cost is $11/mo.; all the usual aerobic devices, weight machines, indoor track, basketball and racketball courts, indoor pool...

Don't care who else is there, or what they look like. Well, don't mind some pleasant "scenery"...

 

[Nords]

I have to admit that one good reason to retire early is to have the time to exercise. Works soaks up a huge amount of my waking hours and I get home exhausted, stressed, and often with more work to do in the evening. Not so good.

What discourages me from joing a gym, besides lack of time and ridiculous contracts, are the photos of young studs, in their mid 30's as the most, with rippling abs.
I would be more impressed by what they could do with a more worn body running on 50% of the hormones these young studs have.

If you were doing this in a military unit, then the workout would be part of your day (or your very early morning, or your late evening) and you'd make it all fit. You'd make it all fit because your chain of command would make it fit. In fact, the ones in charge of "making it fit" are usually the worn-out bodies in their 30s with 50% of the young-stud hormones.

As you know, working harder isn't the answer. Working more efficiently would help if you could get out of the energy deficit you're currently trapped in. But you'd have to devote at least 20 minutes a day to at least walking, even if you're not doing Crossfit P90X extreme workouts.

So if you're on your own, you'd have to develop some sort of personal support system to find a level of exercise that makes you feel better while enabling you to get your work done.

Studies have shown that some people have the same problem with retirement-- they're not able to be responsible for their own entertainment. The way you solve this exercise/time-management issue now will pay big dividends when you're ready to ER and trying to figure out what you'll do all day.

 

[GregLee]

Studies have shown that some people have the same problem with retirement-- they're not able to be responsible for their own entertainment.

It's just lucky for me that I find myself endlessly entertaining.

 

[MichaelB]

It's just lucky for me that I find myself endlessly entertaining.

I guess this helps keep your entertainment budget low

 

[W2R]

Studies have shown that some people have the same problem with retirement-- they're not able to be responsible for their own entertainment.

When I was a little girl, I found out quickly what would happen if I wouldn't take on that responsibility. If I told my mother I was bored, I would end up doing endless housework.

 

[Chuckanut]

To modify a quote by Oscar Wilde "The ability to self entertain in the beginning a life long carnival"

 

[eytonxav]

Studies have shown that some people have the same problem with retirement-- they're not able to be responsible for their own entertainment. The way you solve this exercise/time-management issue now will pay big dividends when you're ready to ER and trying to figure out what you'll do all day.

Good advice Nords. My motto is "doing things today that others won't, to do things tomorrow that others can't". My only regret is that I didn't start to live that motto until I was 59

 

[haha]

Aha, Ha. If they are correct T-Al and I have it covered since we do BBS's lifts once a week but crank out the miles on the bike the rest of the week.

Yes, this is likely a very good program. I think these two forms of exercise target quite different body processes.

Here is news release (I don't have the study) that suggests that even very short dropoffs in daily output have meaningful metabolic costs. Weekend Warrioring just does not cut it.

“We now have evidence that physical activity is an important part of the daily maintenance of glucose levels,” Thyfault said. “Even in the short term, reducing daily activity and ceasing regular exercise causes acute changes in the body associated with diabetes that can occur before weight gain and the development of obesity.”

MU News Bureau | MU News Bureau

Similarly, the 2002 Krause study cited above shows best metabolic improvement in the moderate >=18 miles/week joggers. No way to know for certain, but to get this amount of activity likely would require regular exercise, not just bursts of high activity.

I can see why it might take a long time to delineate these things experimentally, even with a very competent investigator interested in it.

Ha

 

[TromboneAl]

From that study:

As the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to grow, researchers are focusing on discovering why the prevalence of the disease is increasing. John Thyfault, an assistant professor in MU’s departments of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and Internal Medicine, has found that ceasing regular physical activity impairs glycemic control (control of blood sugar levels), suggesting that inactivity may play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

​

It's interesting, but not too surprising, that cutting down on exercise affects blood sugar control, but it doesn't say anything about why the prevalence of the disease is increasing, unless you can show that people are cutting down on exercising these days.

 

[ohyes]

90% of the people in a gym are trying to look like the other 10% of the folks there. (hope that has not already been posted and I missed it). I read that years ago and loved it.

A nice gym in our town recently started offering $9.99/mo basic memberships. ($10.71 with tax). I joined and started exercising again after several months of very little exercise. It's hot and humid in AR and I didn't enjoy my DH and DS walking through the room while I was making an attempt.

What a difference in the way I feel. While there has been NO weight loss , about once a week somebody asks me how much weight have I lost.

And, the energy level is so much better. After retirement (July 2012), I can go in the mornings and it is even better nicer then...much smaller crowd.

 

[haha]

From that study:

As the number of people diagnosed with diabetes continues to grow, researchers are focusing on discovering why the prevalence of the disease is increasing. John Thyfault, an assistant professor in MU’s departments of Nutrition and Exercise Physiology and Internal Medicine, has found that ceasing regular physical activity impairs glycemic control (control of blood sugar levels), suggesting that inactivity may play a key role in the development of type 2 diabetes.

​

It's interesting, but not too surprising, that cutting down on exercise affects blood sugar control, but it doesn't say anything about why the prevalence of the disease is increasing, unless you can show that people are cutting down on exercising these days.

I don't think he was trying to say why diabetes is increasing. This type of introduction to a paper is always there, it justifies why NIH or ADA or AHA or whomever should fund the guy's next study.

Anyway, there are many good reasons to exercise and never stop. Today I went out to U District to enjoy the short shorts. After a meal at a great Arab kebab place I was walking down the Ave. Some young woman coming up the street got in my path and when I stopped she said to me "Lose the Birkenstocks and no one coud tell you were old."

I wish! But still, it meant something (if only no immediate neeeds to call the undertaker) and I thanked her.

In all ways, today was a glorious late summer day.

Ha