
Everything You Know About Fitness is a Lie (2011) - dave1619
http://archive.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-lie/
======
IgorPartola
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.

~~~
mgkimsal
You really only devoted 5 hours per week?

~~~
magicalist
For most people, that doesn't really account for the travel time, fueling
time, cooling off, and general gym fooling around, which there inevitably will
be.

I still agree with his point that it's one of the best ways to spend that
extra time, but I think it's important to acknowledge it and plan for it. The
commitment of a one hour workout is quite different than one that's twice as
long because you have to deal with after-work traffic. There's also the matter
of _which_ 5 hours, as not all hours are equal in value.

~~~
hedgehog
If you have running shoes and a weight bench that's really enough. In the city
you can live close to the gym and that keeps the time down, for example I can
leave my apartment, return, shower, and dress in under 1:15.

~~~
eru
What do you need the bench for? If you only get one piece of equipment, make
it a barbell (with some weights).

(Next you buy a squat rack. Or skipping rope, or pull up bars, or olympic
rings. If you feel you need to use your triceps, buy olympic rings and do dips
on them.)

~~~
rimantas
For a bench press?

~~~
eru
Just don't bother with bench pressing, if you don't have a spotter or no
bench. You can work on your pressing muscles in different, non-scary ways.

------
dave1619
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> . 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.

~~~
tedunangst
Note that the paper you cited measured protein byproducts, not strength.
Running six miles a day will not radically improve your 100m dash time. Low
intensity, high rep walking 15 miles a day isn't likely to help either.

If you want to get better at something, do the something you want to get
better at.

~~~
kyllo
Exactly this. What most people fail to understand about fitness is that over
time, your body adapts to whatever you make it do. Whatever you want to get
better at, just do that thing over and over, and you will get better at it.
There is no shortcut or "hack," it's just practice and adaptation over time.

------
subwindow
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.

~~~
scrrr
Congrats and I concur. I wasted 2 years at the gym before I stumbled over
"Starting Strength". I just decided to go for it, because I had the feeling
that most people, including me, are just messing around wasting time at the
gym.

And here's why. _Proper_ squats and deadlifts are hard. You breathe heavily,
your whole body (as opposed to just certain muscles) exhausts itself in just a
few movements. In the beginning you go to bed with every muscle sore. But I
figured: It's pointless to go to the gym and avoid strain and exhaustion. So I
might just as well aim for it.

And I did the Ripptoe program, and my life changed for the better.

My posture, ruined by years of computer programming, was fixed in less than
two months. People started asking me if I've grown recently. I was just
standing and walking properly.

My mood nowadays is good 99% of the time. It's just hard to be depressed or
care about the little annoyances (or the whining of some people) when your
body is strong. I don't know why exactly, but the mood improvement is
significant, lasting and one of the best benefits of weightlifting. I can
still enjoy every good thing that happens, but I don't sweat the bad stuff as
much. I just shrug it off. A wonderful feeling to be able to do that
consistently.

People react differently to me. Women, as you would expect, initiate flirting
and so forth, but also I get the feeling that other men, children and the
elderly, just look at me in a kinder way. Perhaps increasing strength also
makes one seem more reliable. Or maybe they think I am used to hard work.
Well, I guess they are right. Building strength is hard work.

There's one downside to all that.

When I started to follow the Ripptoe program, the barbell area at my gym was
mostly deserted. After a year or so it's almost always busy. Perhaps I
inspired the others or it's a general fitness trend of "less BS" and "back to
the fundamentals". But if they don't expand that barbell area and install a
few more chin-up bars this year, I'll have to find a new gym where I don't
have to wait up to 30 minutes to start lifting.

~~~
CrankyPants
"My posture, ruined by years of computer programming, was fixed in less than
two months."

Would you mind sharing the 80/20 gist of what aspect mainly contributed to
that? I'm sure the best method would be to follow the program totally, but if
one wanted just to see gains in that area with the least possible investment,
what would you recommend?

~~~
dredmorbius
Posterior chain exercise. Between general posture, sitting, slouching, and the
tendency for many people to emphasize "mirror / beach muscles" -- chest and
biceps, as well as age-related sarcopenia (muscle loss at the rate of about
0.5 lb/year past your mid/late 20s), most people are losing muscle, including
the "posterior chain" (calves, hamstrings, glutes, spinal erectors, traps,
lats, rhomboids) which support the body and spine.

You strengthen the posterior chain by training it: squats, deadlifts, rows,
chins, power cleans.

The best way to get the gains you're looking for with the least possible
investment is _to do the program_. Get the book. Do the program. Three
workouts per week. Squats, deads, bench, press, power cleans, chins. Six to
nine months will change your life.

<http://startingstrength.com/>

As for your questions, I'd strongly recommend looking over the Wit and Wisdom
of Mark Rippetoe page as well, I believe you'd benefit from it, particularly
the entry beginning "Responding to someone who wanted the book".

[http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Wit_and_Wisdom_of_Mar...](http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Wit_and_Wisdom_of_Mark_Rippetoe)

~~~
CrankyPants
Thanks, I appreciate it.

------
Xcelerate
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

        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.

~~~
poloniculmov
Probably bodyweight exercises if they had done any training, but I guess
they've just done more manual labor and walked around a lot.

------
tomasien
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
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
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
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.

~~~
commandar
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.

------
rayiner
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-
tra...](http://stronglifts.com/stronglifts-5x5-beginner-strength-training-
program). 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
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
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
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.

------
spudlyo
_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
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
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
There are plenty of progressions available for walking.

------
jeffehobbs
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-
fit...](http://archive.mensjournal.com/everything-you-know-about-fitness-is-a-
lie/print/)

------
enraged_camel
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
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.

------
elptacek
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
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>

Congrats on your heavy lift! 250lbs is no joke.

~~~
elptacek
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.

------
31reasons
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...](http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-
Rippetoe/dp/0982522738)

~~~
kerno
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.

------
cwilson
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/>

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
Thank you for this link, I started reading and can't stop, indeed a very fun
read! and brutally honest too.

------
davidtyleryork
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.

~~~
mattdeboard
I was a crossfitter for about 2 years at the South Bay Crossfit gym (Jason
Khalipa's).

My big takeaway from that was that olympic lifting is much more fun and
rewarding than CF for me. (Note to HN pedants: _for me_.) The only problem is
that it's hard to find a big box with a barbell, let alone two or three.

This article has fired me up again.

~~~
psycr
Huh, that's interesting. I go to a CrossFit affiliate that actually focusses
pretty intently on olympic lifts. Each one hour session includes 20 minutes of
practicing a specific lift. The two - olympic lifting and CrossFit - have
become so intertwined in my mind that it's difficult to imagine one without
the other.

~~~
Bostwick
I've been doing Crossfit for about five years, at multiple facilities. The
really good CF facilities, including Crossfit Southie in Boston where I
currently go, place a huge emphasis on powerlifting and olympic movements.
Take a look at the Crossfit Games workouts (<http://games.crossfit.com/>), and
you'll see snatches and deadlifts everywhere.

The problem with Crossfit is that it is an affiliated brand. Every CF facility
pays about $5,000 per year to use the Crossfit brand, but each facility is
independently owned and operated, and so the programming at each facility is
usually unique. There exist a number of questionable facilities, especially
out in California where the concentration of gyms is much higher.

The Crossfit affiliates need to start doing some quality control. As I've
watch the program expand over the past half-decade, I've been excited at how
many people the gyms have helped, but dismayed at how the trainers at some
facilities don't share the same love or ability for the basic lifts.

------
cryptoz
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
Did you read the article? What do you think of the contents of it other than
the headline?

~~~
cryptoz
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.

~~~
bcoates
The word "You" in a headline is an idiom and not literally a personal
communication to the reader. "Lie" is used similarly.

------
robomartin
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/...](http://www.amazon.com/Body-Science-Research-Program-
Results/dp/0071597174)

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>

~~~
akurilin
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.

~~~
robomartin
I can't find any holes in it. My wife is a doctor and she couldn't either.
Just two data points.

------
JonathanFields
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.

------
goronbjorn
> 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
CTA?

~~~
cdcarter
Call to action.

------
acconrad
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.

------
grima
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-vid...](http://strengthrunning.com/2011/02/the-itb-rehab-routine-
video-demonstration/)

~~~
gammarator
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.

------
jimbokun
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
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-21...](http://archive.mensjournal.com/wp-
content/uploads/picture-211.jpg)). 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
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.

~~~
marknutter
I can attest to the final point. I had to give up running for a month to heal
from shin splints and I started swimming and biking to train in the meantime.
My previous 5k personal best was 24:00 and when I ran it again after that
month of swimming/biking I ran it in 21:52 with relative ease. I attribute it
to the swimming which kicked my ass.

------
dredmorbius
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>). 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.

------
mindcruzer
_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.

------
patrickgzill
I have found kettlebells to be very useful also. There is a sub-reddit on
them: <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.

------
xweb
...including this. Start with body weight training. Convict Conditioning is a
great no-BS book & program, for instance.

~~~
sliverstorm
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
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>

The book recommended by xweb explains in more detail how to fill the holes
between these exercises.

~~~
huherto
Interesting. But the bridges sound like a bad idea for your back.

------
malbs
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!

~~~
frooxie
I've never tried a barbell, partly because people seem to have someone helping
out when they use it. Would you recommend using one alone, or should I stick
to dumbbells to avoid possible injuries?

~~~
malbs
I would recommend using one alone, because I do it all the time. Survivor
bias! ;)

With SS/Stronglifts/Whatever, you begin with an empty bar, (or no bar if you
can't squat at all), so the weight doesn't start out being something you need
any genuine assistance with. With the power rack you have the safety pins. You
adjust the safety pins to be at a point where if you are in the bottom of the
squat, and you can't return to standing position, you just drop the bar off
your back onto the pins (or lower it onto the pins)

With the bench press it's the same thing - you set the pins so they're below
your lowest point in the bench press (bar touching sternum), but slightly
above your neck level (I'm lucky in terms of bench / safety pin positioning,
it's perfect for me) - when I fail a bench press, or can't push it off, I just
let it hit the pins and slide out from underneath the bar.

Youtube example of what I'm talking about:
<http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pCOo3RtKu1E#t=59s>

If you don't have access to a power rack with safety pins I would not
recommend doing the bench press without a spotter unless you back the weight
off to something you will always confidently re-rack safely.

However a spotter with the squat is a recipe for ruin, best to just rely on
the pins. Supposedly designed to handle 200kg+ dropped on them from 4+ft.
Hopefully your gym hasn't bought a cheap shitty rack!

The thing I've come close to injuring myself the most with is the press. I was
arching my back too much and putting a lot of pressure on my lower back -
trick is to keep stomach tight when doing the press. Something I wasn't doing.

------
ianstallings
Apparently everything I know about X is a lie. And here are 10 reasons why..

------
akurilin
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
What service are you talking about?

~~~
akurilin
See my response in the other question I got asked.

------
jordinl
It'd be cool to know where are people in SF working out. Created a post:
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4972681>

------
jongold
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.

------
timgluz
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/wt...](http://www.sandowplus.co.uk/Competition/Hackenschmidt/wtl/wtl-
intro.htm)

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.

------
ciupicri
Discussion from 2011 <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213>

~~~
GFischer
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.

------
nikster
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
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
The problem is very few gyms have bumper plates and platforms. Further, many
gyms frown upon the use of chalk.

~~~
dredmorbius
They exist. Finding them may take work.

Many gyms will allow chalk if you're reasonably discrete and neat about it. A
rock-climber's chalk bag and sock can usually pass. If not that, there's
always liquid chalk.

------
peterwwillis
_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.

------
mhp
So what do you do if your gym only has a smith machine and dumbbells? It's
dangerous and hard to bench without spotter.

~~~
vidarh
I bench 120kg+ without a spotter (at 95kg body weight). If I were to fail
disastrously, I might have a broken rib, but without collars on the bar the
chance of a severe failure that cause me to drop the fully loaded bar on my
chest is pretty much 0. I've put it down on my chest and rolled it off more
than once, and it only causes a light bruise that's gone in a few hours. I
probably wouldn't do much more than 1.5 times body weight without a spotter,
but I'm assuming you're not there yet, as I suspect you wouldn't be asking
those questions if you were.

And use the dumbbells. You can bench with them. Do sumo deadlifts (legs flared
much wider than usual, and lift the weight between your legs - you can start
with one dumbbell, and increase to two). Learn to clean the dumbbells for
overhead presses and front squats. Back squats are tricky with dumbbells, so
there you'll have to resort to the Smith machine, thouhg it is considered
somewhat evil amongst many lifters (it is easy to end up lifting with bad form
and an unnatural movement, and very easy to fool yourself by leaning into the
bar), but it is better than nothing.

Frankly, until you start getting to dumbbells that add up to more than your
body weight on every main exercise, there's not much reason why the lack of a
proper bar should impede you, and dumbbell exercises have much to be said for
them for stability.

~~~
gadders
I'd agree with this. I've been pinned under 80-90kg weights a few times.

The first thing is, unless you're not concentrating, you don't really drop it.
For me, it's normally not being able to lift the weight back up when I've
brought it down to my chest. Without collars, you can just tip the weight to
the side, the plates fall off, and the bar (fairly rapidly) pings upright.
Makes a bit of a noise, and you feel like a fool, but that's all :-)

~~~
cage433
I've had my bodyweight (110 KG) stuck on my chest with no ill effects other
than embarrassment. As the parents say, simply slide the weights off, or ask
anyone nearby for a hand.

One thing that is extremely dangerous is using the 'suicide grip' when
benching - i.e. having the thumb and fingers on the same side of the bar and
simply resting the bar on the palms. It's stupid, but a surprisingly large
number of lifters use it.

------
raverbashing
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.

~~~
magicproudfeet
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
Oh I understand, especially the 'standard of care' issues

------
vermasque
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.

------
mathattack
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
> 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
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?

------
Kiro
Why is this #1? What happened to pizza, Jolt cola and Unix beards?

~~~
pirateking
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.

------
cliftonk
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
People are shocked that it's not about time.

------
dbecker
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
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
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.

~~~
vidarh
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.

------
lglide
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
www.wello.co

------
crikli
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.

------
dools
Previous discussion: <http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213>

------
stef25
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
Could you elaborate on how you injured your back so that we can learn what to
avoid?

~~~
weston
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.

------
jordinl
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
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.

------
discountgenius
"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.

------
xbryanx
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/>

------
malachismith
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
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?

------
slovette
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.

------
gadders
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/cond...](http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/conditioning_is_a_sham)

~~~
bazzargh
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
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.

------
aadilr
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
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>

[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

------
maak
This exact article has been posted and well received before on HN.

~~~
maak
In fact, this article has been submitted to HN 7 times in the last year!

------
4rgento
I've found this site extremely useful for fitness:

<http://www.exrx.net/Lists/Directory.html>

------
tlear
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

------
mckain
I bought a treadmill machine 1 year ago, and I barely use it :/ .

------
web_church_dev
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
There are a lot of middleweight boxers that would probably disagree with that
assessment.

~~~
nikster
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?

------
digeridoo
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.

------
lispm
That's a very limited view on fitness.

------
liongo
sound great

------
edwardunknown
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
> 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.

------
gbog
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
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
> 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
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.

