
Why Are Americans So Fascinated with Extreme Fitness? - 001sky
http://www.nytimes.com/2014/10/19/magazine/why-are-americans-so-fascinated-with-extreme-fitness.html  
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Mithaldu

      > It looks exhausting.
    

It's meant to be exhausting. What does the author think working out is about?

    
    
      > It also looks fruitless. Why not join a roofing
      > crew for a few hours instead?
    

The author is fairly disconnected from reality, and has also failed to do the
very basic research to answer her own title.

People do high weight, low rep workouts because they take little time and
provide high value. (Also for a segment of people the body releases
endorphines in response to strenous activity.)

The author also manages to completely fail to build a logical connection
between two things they wrote themselves:

    
    
      > more than a little dangerous. (What if a sledgehammer slips
      > paying .... watchful eye of a demanding authority figure
    

The authority figure's job is to make sure the former doesn't happen.

-

If the author wasn't so earnestly clueless i'd think this is a troll article
meant to engender annoyance in anyone with a little clue.

-

That said, Crossfit could stand to lose some of its cult trappings.

~~~
ovi256
People do high weight, low rep workouts indeed, but that's bodybuilding or
olympic weightlifting. Crossfit is more a middle weight / middle rep style,
looking to develop power more than force. Even endurance is emphasised more
than force.

This style of workout is aerobically exhausting (it leaves you breathless),
like jogging, and I think this is what the author calls exhausting.

~~~
eyeJam
Low-weight high-rep exercises, like they do in Crossfit, will do very little
to develop "power" (which I'm assuming you mean to refer to being able to
apply a large amount of force across a distance in a very short amount of
time, i.e: explosiveness).

Power comes from fast-twitch type 2b muscle fibers, and the amount you have
varies based on your genetic makeup [2]. Its possible to recruit the other
types of muscle fibers to become fast-twitch type 2b but that requires
continuous retraining of fibers through plyometrics; as soon as you stop your
body will regress to its natural ratio of muscle fiber types. Fast twitch type
2b muscle fiber tires extremely quickly (I remember reading ~10s but I can't
find a source) and is not something that can be trained using high-rep
exercises [1].

Doing hang-cleans (never do these [3]), sloppy squats, "chin-ups" and other
Crossfit staples for time in rapid succession and in high volume will only
really help you lose weight and slip a disc in your back, but it will do very
little to develop "power". If you want real power and explosiveness train like
an Olympic sprinter: high-weight low-rep complex exercises and low-rep
plyometrics [1].

Sources:

[1]
[http://smscsqlx.sasktelwebhosting.com/services/exphys/wts%26...](http://smscsqlx.sasktelwebhosting.com/services/exphys/wts%26plyos.pdf)

[2] Arabatzi, F, and K Eleftherios. “Olympic weightlifting training causes
different knee muscle-coactivation adaptations compared with traditional
weight training.” Journal of Strength and Conditioning Research. 26.8 (2012):
2192-2201.

[3]
[http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Art...](http://www.poliquingroup.com/ArticlesMultimedia/Articles/Article/852/Hang_Clean_vs_Power_Clean.aspx)

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dewarrn1
Earlier comments are already critiquing the author for suggesting that
exercise is a bad thing or that particular exercises don't work, but that
perspective misses the point. The author isn't criticizing exercise itself,
but she is instead observing the almost religious focus on suffering that
happens to be embodied by approaches such as Crossfit. I admit to being
puzzled as well.

I am perplexed by the degree of what I might call fitness elitism that exists
in a nation as fundamentally unfit as the US (I'm American, BTW). I'm seeing a
lot of comments about how simple exercise isn't effective and HIT is a
necessity, etc. HIT is great, but it's a pretense to suggest that running,
biking, or aerobics that raise your heart rate without being tortuous are not
also effective exercises that can drastically improve one's health. I feel
that there is an unnecessary focus on very intense exercise programs when
simple cardiovascular conditioning that nearly anyone can do has the potential
to drastically improve the health of so many.

~~~
parag_c_mehta
I am not a proponent of Extreme fitness but HIIT is several times more
effective then plain running or biking or other activities when you compare it
with the time you give.

20 Mins of HIIT = 60 minutes of Jogging.

It's all about maximizing results...

~~~
jchrisa
Maybe the root cause (of interest in HIIT) is the standard American hurry. If
we all slowed down we'd probably be more healthy as a people.

Also, there's a difference (and some overlap) between being healthy, and
looking ripped. Eg you can be one without the other. One of the reasons I
enjoy visiting countries that don't view a rushed and punishing car-commute as
normal, is that everyone looks so happy and healthy.

~~~
TeMPOraL
> _Maybe the root cause (of interest in HIIT) is the standard American hurry._

I agree, I think that's the root cause. There are more things we'd like to do
than time available, so people optimize.

> _If we all slowed down we 'd probably be more healthy as a people._

Probably true, but unfortunately we don't have much choice. We slave away most
of our lives to keep the economy going, so it's hard to slow down. The problem
isn't people having too much time for their hobbies.

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spodek
To answer why people would push to get so fit, you have to explain the emotion
and motivation behind it. Simply saying it's healthy or makes you strong only
extends the question.

Partly they do it because of the emotional reward from exhaustion, progressing
overcoming challenges, feeling stronger or more capable, approaching an ideal
appearance, comparing themselves to others, and maybe a couple others. I
believe all of those things make people feel good and want to continue.

You also have to explain why now compared to a few decades ago, though, which
the above doesn't explain.

I think the main reason is that the American environments surround us with
gluttonous and unhealthy food and behaviors that, if we didn't work to make
ourselves healthy, we could too easily slide down a slippery slope and become.
The more junk food and labor-saving devices around us, the greater the
temptation, therefore the greater need to resist, therefore the greater
enthusiasm to work.

In principle you could test this hypothesis. It suggests that in communities
with healthy food and active lifestyles, you'd find less extreme fitness and
more regular fitness. In communities with unhealthy food and sedentary
lifestyles, you'd find the people who pursued fitness would pursue it more
extremely.

~~~
mtrimpe
FWIW When I, as a European, went to a US high school almost 20 years ago one
of the big differences that struck me was that people tended to be _either_
overweight at best or morbidly obese at worst _or_ super skinny and super
healthy.

~~~
wanderingstan
This was my impression too, as an American studying in Europe. I was amazed
that everyone seemed to be in "okay" shape, but few people focussed on
exercise as in America. They went for walks after meals out of habit, biked
places out of convenience, and ate moderately sized meals as normal.

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jeffwass
I believe this is the first time I've seen an article complaining about
Americans doing too MUCH exercise.

~~~
danieltillett
Like lot of things 5% do do much and 95% do too little. The problem is the
middle - sorry I couldn’t help myself with that pun :)

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adwf
I think it's a lot simpler than the author is trying to make out:

Traditional gym exercises are boring and hard.

Cardio is boring. 60 minutes on a treadmill, 5 times a week is really boring
after a while. All that racking up weights and unracking is tedious. Bicep
curls? Tedious. Situps? Tedious.

The reason why people are constantly thinking up new ways to exercise is
simply to add a bit of variety and encourage people to keep working out. You
can probably get similar results to a sledgehammer drill by doing a combo of
situps, pullups and squats, but a lot of people would find that kinda dull and
give up after a while.

When you add in the possibility that by doing these "new" exercises they might
be getting fitter or stronger in less time than a traditional exercise, it's
really quite motivating. It's not necessarily true (I've seen a lot of fads
come and go), but if it gets them to keep on exercising, then it's probably
worth it.

~~~
Jtsummers
> Cardio is boring. 60 minutes on a treadmill, 5 times a week is really boring
> after a while.

This is why I don't run or cycle inside. The only reason I took to indoor
cycling was because of a back injury that made riding a bike
difficult/painful, it's healed up now. For running, the last few months have
been fantastic on my usual trail. I've gotten to see flowers bloom and fade,
grass go from brown (hot summer) to green again as the temperatures dropped
and soon I'll get to see the leaves turn and fall.

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hessenwolf
What is the name for the rhetorical device where somebody manufactures a fake
thing just to attack it? I think it is a special case of straw man.

First to be proved:

1\. Americans are fascinated with extreme fitness.

2\. That is either internationally or historically unusual and therefore
noteworthy.

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moltar
The author is a dink. He doesn't even answer the "why" question. I'll tell ya
why: because it works. Your stupid aerobics class does barely anything for
your health. Strength and conditioning work out on the other hand, does what
your body is meant to do. Yes it's tiring, but that's the point.

Said that, there are some people that take it to extremes, but that is just
like in any other industry/sport.

~~~
TheSpiceIsLife
I was under the impression aerobic exercise has benefits for the heart, lungs,
and circulation, at least? Can you elaborate on the "barely anything" bit?

~~~
Keats
Classes are either not long enough or not enough intensity (look up HIIT) for
good benefits (you will get some initially but will quickly stall).

~~~
anthony_d
I think that's the mindset the author has an issue with. You said "you will
get some (benefits) initially but will quickly stall" like it's a bad thing.
Fitness doesn't improve forever with any program, you're still going to die.

If you view fitness as a means to an end (health/long life) then you've got to
realize there are diminishing returns. There have been many studies showing
the diminishing returns kick in very quickly
([http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/running-
just-5-minu...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2014/07/30/running-
just-5-minutes-a-day-has-long-lasting-benefits/)).

If you want to be an elite athlete that's fine, but you should at least
acknowledge it's its own reward and not claim it's about health.

~~~
Keats
That depends on your goals.

If the only reason you exercise is to be healthy in a long term, then a short
workout a few times a week is enough.

If you want to be stronger/better at sports X/run marathons etc then no,
aerobic classes are not enough.

It's not even aiming for 'elite athlete', just aiming to be fit (you won't be
fit in my definition if you only do 3x40min of aerobic classes a week).

~~~
Jtsummers
So what is your minimum definition of fit?

------
Swizec
I posted this as an answer to a comment, but I think it merits existing as an
answer to the OP question.

Why do americans push for extreme fitness? I don't know, I don't even know
that they push for _extreme_ fitness, most of them look very fat to me (a lot
of us Europeans are following suit extremely quickly) so it's hard to say that
a significant amount of the population is pushing towards anything in
particular in regards to fitness.

BUT I think fitness is important. I work out multiple times a day and
generally spend terrible amounts of time and mental energy towards fitness.

The best explanation, other than "it feels good", I've found about this is an
old post by The Art of Manliness - every man (and woman) should be able to
save their own life, possibly the lives of their loved ones:
[http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/09/15/every-man-should-
be...](http://www.artofmanliness.com/2009/09/15/every-man-should-be-able-to-
save-his-own-life-5-fitness-benchmarks-a-man-must-master/)

Why? Because one day you might have to and how are you going to feel if you
aren't able to?

------
omegaham
High intensity work is nothing new. Anyone who played sports in high school
will tell you that practices are all about doing as much volume as you can in
the limited time you have after school.

If it works for high school athletes, it works for people who are ten years
older, too.

Personally, I look at results. If you can be motivated by Richard Simmons, go
for it - the guy is 15 years older than my dad and is still in damn good
shape. If you can be motivated by Crossfit, go for it, as long as you aren't
getting scoliosis for time. If you can be motivated by the standard bro-split,
that's great. Everyone is different.

All I can say is that when I show up to the gym, I'm lifting heavy, and I'm
lifting to get freaking tired. It's worked for me. If flouncing on the
elliptical for half an hour and doing 3 reps of 10 to success isn't doing
anything, you might want to consider changing it up.

~~~
Imerso
Yeah it's basically just conditioning work rebranded. Nothing new that boxers,
rugby players, an so on, didn't do before. It's a little bit a "response" to
the strength and size centered lifting, or simple endurance cardio.

I think the problem and criticism is that many of those programs aren't
programs at all, and they aren't based on anything, not even personal
experience. If you look at any elite crossfitter his training is more likely
to look like traditional strength training with proper form lifting, plus
maybe WOD for the conditioning part, than pure crossfit WOD centered training.
Centering the training in whatever weaknesses he may have, and so on. And of
course whatever exercise they are planning to compete on.

Of course if your trainer is a good trainer you are going to get that, in a
normal gym or in a crossfit gym. The problem is that as a program the base
crossfit program doesn't offer much to a novice, except for the community and
the encouragement that comes with it to pursue high intensity training. But
outside of that the program itself won't offer any proper guiding unless you
have a trainer that provides that guiding outside the program.

------
Thriptic
As a powerlifter, I still don't really understand the allure of crossfit. You
don't develop strength nearly as efficiently as when following powerlifting or
olympic lifting routines, you expend exceedingly more effort than traditional
routines, and the strength gained isn't nearly as translational (there are few
situations where such a blend of strength and endurance would actually be
necessary).

Instead of doing crossfit, why not just lift and do HIIT?

Perhaps an element of it is the daily novelty. Maybe people dislike going in
and doing the big 3 or olympic lifts every session? I don't really know.

~~~
IkmoIkmo
I think the allure is in the barriers to entry.

I see a lot of heavy lifters who start out solo, or lift in groups of 2 or
maybe 3. They use their time efficiently and get a lot done, they don't spend
the whole day in the gym and besides the casual chat with other people in the
gym, they don't form a huge group. The heavy lifters do routines that seem
impossible to start with. Nobody looks at a powerlifter and says 'sure, I'll
do that'. You have to start small, and then good form is really important.
Frankly it may even be a bit scary to step into the weight room and start with
light weights, unsure of your form.

Then there's cross-fit. It's mostly done in huge groups by people of various
levels of fitness. It's very vocal, it's very collective/team based. While
exercises are done individually, they're done within a group, often with some
form of coaching. Anyone can start, form isn't a priority and from what I've
seen, form is adjusted to finish the exercise, meaning you can take shortcuts
and use bigger weights and do more reps easier, without actually training as
hard as when you'd have used 'proper' form.

It's inviting with low-barriers to entry.

The thing that surprises me is this, once you're doing cross-fit for a few
months, get into it, do your reading on diet, resting and exercises, how the
hell you can continue doing cross-fit is beyond me.

That having been said, a guy above this post said 'do whatever works for you'.
And I really agree with that. Somehow some people really dig cross-fit and
it's the only thing that gets them excited about exercise. If that's true,
then great. I applaud cross fit for that reason alone. As long as they don't
lift really heavy with bad form like I've seen some do, cause that can give
you injuries you'll feel every day for the next 20 years. It's that bad.

------
bluedino
A crossfit gym also gives people a sense of being, a sense of purpose, and a
'family'. They don't get this at a traditional gym, even an 'accommodating'
one like Planet Fitness.

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jiggy2011
Maybe it's time constraints, as everyone works more hours they don't have time
for steady low-intensity exercise so they must pack it into shorter more
intense sessions.

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bikamonki
B/c it's a fad and americans fascinate with any fad....

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josefresco
Anyone seen any data points in the article to backup the claims about the
"fascination"?

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marknutter
Perhaps it correlates with Americans' obsession with youth? Everyone wants to
stay young and working out is the most obvious and effective way of doing
that.

------
Meowseth
When a man sees an ideal male, he aspires to be that man, like James Bond

When a woman sees an ideal woman, she makes a tumblr about how that ideal is
not real, or not what men want, or a crazy obsessed person who hates
themselves, etc.

Men climb the mountain to reach the top.

Women complain that there is a mountain top, and declare wherever they are to
be the new mountain top

~~~
lotsofmangos
James Bond is an utter tosspot though. Emulating him in real life is unlikely
to end up with much other than liver cirrhosis and repeatedly being punched in
the face.

~~~
Anderkent
He does end up punched a lot in the movies too, doesn't he.

