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The [Fitness] thread asks the hard question: Cardio vs Strength
Which is your preferred workout if forced to pick one?
The [Fitness] thread asks the hard question: Cardio vs Strength 49 votes
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This is the Sophie's choice of fitness.
This is without any speedwork cause I'm honestly "lazy" about running and just get out and run whatever feels comfortable that day.
This was spurred because my runs after my December marathon gave felt really good. Running slightly faster than I normally would. I think this means that my training for that marathon really was on point, so hoping to carry over that progress into a sub 3:40 marathon by the end of the year.
Also signed up for my first trail run! It'll be marathon #8.
I have significantly cut back on my mileage though. I started teaching in the fall on top of my normal job and on top of other things I do in the community so I've just lost a huge amount of free time.
I took basically all of December off because I was so exhausted, mentally and physically, and I'm just now starting to get back into it. Slow at first and my dang Garmin tells me I'm "strained" no matter what I do. That's ok though, I'll get back to where I was eventually.
but my gut feeling is that I could probably more easily get myself faster on my mile time using a barbell than I could get myself to safely deadlift three hundred pounds with a treadmill
my trainer has been throwing more reps at the same weight at me rather than same reps at higher weight and it's kicking my ass (in a good way, not a bad/painful way), is a big part of why I say that
If you are a lifter having better cardio will build work capacity and recovery. More reps, more sets, less time between, more sessions etc means more gains. But only to a point, and beyond that it is detrimental
I very much doubt improving my cardio would make me a better boulderer or lifter and even if it did, it's very marginal and time consuming and I don't want to do it, because it's not for me personally. Which is fine, it's all about what you enjoy at the end of the day.
I currently cannot find any time to exercise at all, other than shooting my recurve bow a few hours a month.
I think my appearance would improve greatly with some beefier arms
as i walk on my underdesk treadmill at 2MPH for low impact cardio...
I don't know if y'all watched the old Strength Wars series on Youtube but I think this episode is a neat example of the difference actually being strong makes. Both of these guys are ripped and look crazy strong but the strength focused guy is more successful, where the calisthenics focused guy struggles.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gx45nUETmIA
Yeah, that's pretty much it for me. Like running for me is fun, I enjoy being out and even during most of my marathon training I always enjoy the run.
Strength training just feels like work and something I have to do. That's why stuff like yoga and climbing is more fun to me than just lifting.
It's more like a lot of different things tied into one.
I think all exercise is work, you just need to find the kind of exercise that fits you best.
Yeah I don't sit well with that. It isn't that I need cardio, I just like it. Cycling is my jam, I would love to just sit on the saddle all day in the mountains out here. Running holds me over through the winter until cycling weather picks back up.
I do strength so I can keep doing cardio in a healthy way. Squats or whatever, it's just not the thing I would like to do. I only do because I have to.
Join us! It's physical problem solving and sets you up for a crippling addiction to climbing gear and a weird obsession with the pink one in the corner. You'll also stare at various rocks cliffs and start trying to figure out how to climb it.
As for cardio, the closest I come through being to stand long cardio distance is zwift+smartbike.
I was joking really, although I do believe that strength training helps with most cardio exercises! But I also think that one should do what they enjoy, it's not like any of us are pro athletes
So far in January I’m on pace for my second best month of running in terms of total volume (I’m on pace for 374 kilometres), and I’m matching my best month in terms of speed (averaging 5:19 per km, with just one fast run a week). This is despite winter running conditions and while at a 750 to 900 calorie per day deficit. Plus the problem that a day of leg exercises makes running the next day an interesting proposition.
I also predict people will just use the much bigger jogging/running track and I can't really even blame them.
(Running/Jogging track is three lanes and longer. 0.15 mile per lap as opposed to the walking's .10.)
The workout areas (one for free weights and one for machines) are way super nice though. So it's a trade-off.
I still try to do some weight training, but most weeks it's pretty well just jogging
So now I’m going to be very aware of my pre workout food, and my hydration through the workout, and probably need to consider more cooldown than walking home in freezing weather
Clean pull, hip clean, hang clean complex, and a push press, split jerk complex. Followed by front squats, rdls, v-ups and tricep work
Great morning session and so much fun! And it's left my pulling muscles nice and fresh for an afternoon bouldering session on the Kilter Board, fingerboarding etc
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
I'm not getting much exercise atm but I understand I may need to eat more if/when that changes.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LekBg-o9Cp0
fwiw I enjoy a lot of this guy's meal prep videos; i'm the same way in that I have to make sure I have stuff already prepped for meals otherwise I will eat like crap, so that helps a lot for me personally.
We hit before freezing temps recently and yesterday I decided to go for a run. I gotten pretty good and knowing what I should wear for temperatures and since I over heat easily I know I don't need to wear tons of layers.
6 miles of misery. Realized I need to get some good gloves for running cause that was the second worst part. The worst part was my asthma killing me since my insurance has yet to approve my usual prescription.
I then went climbing and the gyms heat was off. 53 degrees is not the best sending temp.
I swear my body temp dropped so much that I was shivering in my car with the heater at full blast..
I'm a big fan of these running gloves from Decathlon. They work well enough for me down to about -10º C (14º F), and they're super-cheap.
When I got back I had to have one of my teammates to open my locker because I couldn't get my hands to operate the combination lock.
Stupid dumb "tough" things teenagers do
This is a challenging thing to answer, because there are a lot of levels that it can be answered on.
At one basic level, most people's caloric needs are going to be within about 10% of the numbers suggested by a Total Daily Energy Expenditure (TDEE) calculator, assuming that they're accurate with the inputs. That can still leave some variance - for example, a person with an estimated 2,500 calories out per day could easily be actually burning 2,750 or 2,250, but it's a good place to start. You figure that out, you count calories on the nutritional labels or by looking stuff up, you tally up the calories in, compare it to the predicted calories out, you do that for two to four weeks, and then you compare your weight on the scale to your expected weight. You then adjust the calories in as needed, and repeat the process every few weeks, since as you lose or gain weight your TDEE changes.
But there's also the even more basic way of looking at things and going "avoid ultra-processed foods" (basically, foods that come wrapped in plastic and contain ingredients easily not found on supermarket shelves), and follow the Michael Pollan quote "Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants."
Or you can add a bit more complexity and figure out what macronutrients best satiate you, and build your routine around those. You could, for example, find a chilli recipe you like, a Thai chicken recipe you like, and a Parmesan chicken recipe you like, with protein and fibre to match your targets, prepare them in large batches, and then freeze them in appropriately sized and weighed portions. Then each day you just pop open your fridge and get a meal you made the previous week and reheat it.