2018 Health and Fitness Thread

As for the bcaa’s, I see a slight improvement in endurance and recovery, but it’s not major. That said, that’s more than I’ve ever been able to say for creatine. Despite all the studies, I’ve never gotten any discernible benefit from taking it. I’m either a nonresponder or I just don’t notice what it’s supposedly doing.

I think it’s important to note context here, in regards to expectations with results. You’re at a considerably lower bf% than me and seem to be working toward improving where you’re already at. I’m trying to get back to where I’ve gotten the past couple summers. Just not sure why it seems harder to push things forward this time around.
 
jrock645- Yeah, I`m in a somewhat different place when it comes to my goals and fortunately it fits in with my tendency to take the long view.

On the creatine, isn`t it funny how experiences differ?!? I`m a genuine poster child for what Creatine can do, my results were simply amazing.

Heh heh...noting your "non-responder" status with that...when I was a kid everybody from my MD to..well, everybody...told me I was an *exercise* non-responder who just wasn`t destined for physical fitness! Heh heh HEH..there`s a little satisfaction right there, amusing to run into folks who haven`t seen me for a long time. People literally don`t recognize me ;)

Hey, something I did find beneficial that I didn`t expect- polyphenol supplementation. I`d thought it was almost certainly a generally good thing, but was shocked to find that after a few months I just had a vague, but undeniable, sense of being healthier. Still can`t really describe what I`m getting out of it, I just *FEEL BETTER* and that`s the variable that I credit. Basically the in-a-capsule equivalent of eating tons of blueberries/etc. every day. Never woulda thunk it...but OK.
 
FWIW - I lost 2-3 lbs per week on a time restricted Ketogenic diet with minimal exercise. (So ate keto but only from 11AM-6PM - not counting the morning Bulletproof coffee which should not cause insulin spike.) Once you become fat adapted, actually pretty easy to do. "Accidentally" lost 10 lbs recently that I really wasn`t trying to. Down to a BMI below 22 and 12%-ish BF.

Am experimenting now with true intermittent fasting (as compared with keto which is basically carb fasting) - more for anti-aging and health benefits rather than weight-loss.

I do my exercise in a fasted state early in the AM and still do not eat until lunch.
 
mjlinane- I do my cardio pre-bfast, but I can`t lift worth a [crap] that way or even do my more demanding chores.

I`ve read about the supposed benefits of Intermittent Fasting (Mercola is really big on it).. you planning to go on to longer-term water fasting or somesuch?

You get much metabolic slowdown while fasting? You able to do strenuous work in that state?

Heh heh, I`m so sensitive to caloric restriction that you can practically tell by looking at me if I`m a little late for a meal :o
 
Thinking about Fueling the Workout...I don`t think I`ve *EVER* had a mediocre (let alone bad) or unproductive workout after a Denny`s bfast. Probably the least healthy meal I ever have, but !oh man! does it get that specific job done. It`s the same way with [other types of training] too, I always perform to spec after I eat that [crap..(which is what it is)].
 
Yes, I am targeting a block fast (I didn`t make that one up) at some point but think it wise to build up to it. Next week I am targeting 3 consecutive 24-hour Bulletproof Water Fasts (I did make that up - coffee in the AM and water the rest of the day). Then, a few months from now depending on how much that sucks, go for straight water fast of 3-5 days.

What I am finding/hearing about fasting is that it is very different physically than calorie restriction - as weird as that reads. In the absence of food, the body actually boosts HGH and other hormones to give you MORE energy, clearer thought and to preserve muscle/rebuild faster when protein is reintroduced.

For me, I don`t notice a big difference in my workout - not a "normal" one - but I am very fat adapted. I am getting stronger and leaner. My FitBit says my resting heart rate is dropping and cardio fitness (VO2 Max) is improving way into the Excellent region (for someone my age). My weekly Kettlebell HIIT is now up to 15 min although I really should move up to a heavier bell. No other cardio exercises although I believe there is a significant cardio benefit to the sauna time.

Granted fasting isn`t the only thing I am doing but it has happened at the same time I introduced it.
 
I tried the IR sauna yesterday and it was interesting. Was in for an hour and felt like I could’ve stayed in all day. I sweat a lot but it wasn’t at all hot like a normal sauna. Normal sauna gets so hot it gets difficult to breathe. I have a resting HR of 50bpm, can do elliptical at a decent clip with my HR at 120 and not needing to breathe through my mouth, but a sauna can get my HR up to 130ish. The IR sauna didn’t get my hr above 100. Found that odd since it played to the “cardio” benefit.

Is some of this fasting you’re doing at all related to the warrior diet?

The fasting sounds crazy to most, but my appetite is pretty low most of the time in keto I think I could handle it. Just not sold on it, to be honest. But I’m getting frustrated that the scale won’t move.
 
I`m glad you guys are finding approaches that work for you, but I gotta say that if that stuff *doesn`t* work for you I`d drop it like a bad habit.

Heh heh, just regular food and brief, infrequent, but hard workouts for me.
 
The Warrior Diet is a time restricted eating/intermittent fasting diet. Also known as OMAD (One Meal A Day). Lots of different names for the same idea. I first heard about it by that name when I first got into kettlebells many years ago.

2016 Nobel prize was handed out for autophagy research which is the basis for one of the reasons to explore fasting... should you.

That is another good thing about fasting: it doesn’t cost anything to try and you can quit when you want. Accumulator is correct- if you don’t feel good with it, try something else.
 
Oh yeah, cellular turnover is important to me too.

My approach to autophagy is the (extremely) hard training, which also presumably encourages that. So I *am* on that particular bandwagon along with you, just playing a different tune...

I am curious about how people do OK on the intermittent/OMAD/etc. approach though...How do you metabolize a few thousand calories` worth of food in one meal? Heh heh, I`d feel awful if I ate that much in one sitting! (And I`m fine with eating BIG meals..just not *that* big.) Does it affect your regularity? No, no...I`m not challenging the approach or otherwise being critical (eh, I already know it`s not for me), I`m just *curious* about something that`s so wrong for me but works OK for others.

Heh heh, I sure don`t *like* the hassle of eating small meals all day, but I do like my results.
 
The wife signed our family up to our YMCA a couple of weeks ago. It`s been enjoyable....instead of sitting around after work we`ve all been heading to the Y and getting some kind of physical activity in most nights of the week. My wife has always struggled with "mom guilt" and didn`t take the time to take care of herself because she didn`t want to miss out on spending time with our munchkins after work all day. So far it`s working out really well. We`re getting back in shape and the kids love the different activities they have there.....they actually get pretty bummed out when it`s time to go. Hopefully this will get us back to being healthy and instill in our kids the importance of staying active and healthy
 
Hehe.....I`ve been getting more and more active the last couple months. Wife and I have continued our Sunday night volleyball league through the winter, been playing basketball on Tuesday nights for about the last 6 weeks, and been getting about 3 nights/week of strength training in the last couple weeks.

I am starting to feel my waistline in my work pants shrink a bit and I`m getting close to dipping under 200 pounds, which is incredibly exciting. Biggest thing I`ve actually noticed is my stamina at Basketball is getting noticeably better each week

Sent from my Pixel 2 XL using Tapatalk
 
House of Wax- Gee, that`s great! Thinking back to when when we first started posting about this stuff you`ve come a long way. And I also think it`s great that you`re getting your kids used to the whole "active lifestyles and exercise are good" mindset.
 
House of Wax - great start!

The premise of the Warrior Diet IIRC is that the ancient warriors of Rome, Sparta, Troy, etc. only ate one large meal a day in the evening. This made tactical sense in that you`d meet your enemy on the field of battle, delay the actual battle until the other side was hungry/energy down and then engage with troops more adapted to not eating.

Accumulator is again correct: it is hard to eat that many calories in one sitting - if you continue to eat your regular healthy food. (I think that is part of the Warrior Diet`s cunning plan ;) ) But, if you play with the composition of your meals, it is doable. Consider 1g protein = 1g carb = 4 calories. 1g fat = 9 calories. So you`d have to eat less than half as much fat to achieve the same number of calories. And if you (wisely) chose to substitute (healthy) fats for (unhealthy) carbs, you would arrive at a OMAD ketogenic diet. Basically, invert the "Food Pyramid". (Now, if you really want to know a totally @#$%`d up/bad science study, the one behind the "Food Pyramid" takes the cake. No pun intended. I could - and have - rant about that for hours.)

This is why my pattern is the 16:8, as it is referred to - 16 hours not eating, 8 eating. I eat typically 3 meals in that 8 hours.

Accumulator - I really think you & I could kick back with adult beverages for hours and try to convert/educate each other. Between sets of kettlebell snatches, of course. ;) Goes back to goals. For me, fasting is an anti-aging strategy. If my 6-pack/intercostals reveal themselves more, so much the better. The keto or intermittent fasting strategy is good for folks who have a lot of weight to lose or a little (getting over the plateau of the "last 10" lbs) and is superior for the endurance athlete. The only semi-body builder type that I`ve run across who advocates it is Thomas DeLauer. (Pavel T, the father of Kettlebells in the US, did like the Warrior Diet but was a "normal" sized guy.) A more carb-based diet would seem to be better suited for the explosive athlete (sprinter, weight lifter, etc.). A more carb-based diet generally has more frequent meals.

jrock645 - what kind of IR sauna? (Near, mid, far, full spectrum, single frequency). Near and single frequency don`t get "hot" and are more for skin or shallow tissue stimulation. Mid is for pain relief. Far is sweating/detox. Full spectrum is a less specific version for all 3. First blush is that 1) you are in really good cardiovascular shape (& probably a fair bit younger than Accumulator and myself) and 2) it wasn`t hot enough. I set my far at 135F and 30 min is quite enough, thank you.
 
mjlinane said:
House of Wax - great start!

The premise of the Warrior Diet IIRC is that the ancient warriors of Rome, Sparta, Troy, etc. only ate one large meal a day in the evening. This made tactical sense in that you`d meet your enemy on the field of battle, delay the actual battle until the other side was hungry/energy down and then engage with troops more adapted to not eating.

Accumulator is again correct: it is hard to eat that many calories in one sitting - if you continue to eat your regular healthy food. (I think that is part of the Warrior Diet`s cunning plan ;) ) But, if you play with the composition of your meals, it is doable. Consider 1g protein = 1g carb = 4 calories. 1g fat = 9 calories. So you`d have to eat less than half as much fat to achieve the same number of calories. And if you (wisely) chose to substitute (healthy) fats for (unhealthy) carbs, you would arrive at a OMAD ketogenic diet. Basically, invert the "Food Pyramid". (Now, if you really want to know a totally @#$%`d up/bad science study, the one behind the "Food Pyramid" takes the cake. No pun intended. I could - and have - rant about that for hours.)

This is why my pattern is the 16:8, as it is referred to - 16 hours not eating, 8 eating. I eat typically 3 meals in that 8 hours.

Accumulator - I really think you & I could kick back with adult beverages for hours and try to convert/educate each other. Between sets of kettlebell snatches, of course. ;) Goes back to goals. For me, fasting is an anti-aging strategy. If my 6-pack/intercostals reveal themselves more, so much the better. The keto or intermittent fasting strategy is good for folks who have a lot of weight to lose or a little (getting over the plateau of the "last 10" lbs) and is superior for the endurance athlete. The only semi-body builder type that I`ve run across who advocates it is Thomas DeLauer. (Pavel T, the father of Kettlebells in the US, did like the Warrior Diet but was a "normal" sized guy.) A more carb-based diet would seem to be better suited for the explosive athlete (sprinter, weight lifter, etc.). A more carb-based diet generally has more frequent meals.

jrock645 - what kind of IR sauna? (Near, mid, far, full spectrum, single frequency). Near and single frequency don`t get "hot" and are more for skin or shallow tissue stimulation. Mid is for pain relief. Far is sweating/detox. Full spectrum is a less specific version for all 3. First blush is that 1) you are in really good cardiovascular shape (& probably a fair bit younger than Accumulator and myself) and 2) it wasn`t hot enough. I set my far at 135F and 30 min is quite enough, thank you.
Click to expand...

It was far infrared, and it got up to 142. And yes, I’m a natural endurance athlete, pick up cardio shape so effortlessly it’s dumb. Can’t gain muscle to save my life.
 
jrock645 said:
It was far infrared, and it got up to 142. And yes, I’m a natural endurance athlete, pick up cardio shape so effortlessly it’s dumb. Can’t gain muscle to save my life.
Click to expand...

Are you trying to gain muscle? If so, see if you can find Tim Ferriss`s book "The 4 Hour Body". He, among other really impressive things, is one of the fathers of biohacking and is naturally muscle resistant. The title is based on one of his famous n=1 experiments on himself where he gained 34 lb of muscle and went from 12% to 8% BF in 2 months (I think) with a total of 4 hours spent in the gym. I have not explored that particular experiment and there are supplements/drugs involved (not steroids). It contains other experiments (fat loss, injury proofing, better sex - explicit, if that bothers you, and more).

I found my copy at a Half Price Books. Hint: it is kinda pricey.
 
jrock645- Excepting those odd cases where the subject is simply a genetic anomaly (as they tried to say *I* was to cover their cluelessness), if somebody`s not building muscle, it`s gotta be one of the following:

-Insufficient stimulus (not enough to potentiate gains)
-Insufficient recovery (often compounded by overtraining)
-Inadequate nutritional support
-Already hit genetic protential

Don`t think I missed anything, can`t think of any other reasons why progress wouldn`t happen.

mjlinane- Heh heh, yeah... except that I`d never do more than one set of those kettlebell snatches or anything else :D Actually, my wife`s the one who does kettlebells, zero interest in them myself.

Actually, mine`s *all* about healthy aging too, I`m just going about it differently. I only care about being able to keep doing stuff for a long lifetime...the rest of it is just a nice bonus.

Ah yeah, Pavel...I think we have all his books and we even bought his Ab-Palvelizer or whatever it`s called. No, it didn`t stay in rotation, nor did much (any?) of the stuff from his books. I respect the [heck] out of the guy, but...eh, no thanks...he`s a great salesman though.

That was enlightening about the Keto being best for an *Endurance* Athlete! I`m about as far from that as you can get, and my minor bodyfat tweaking really doesn`t require much in the way of dietary changes. Overall, I guess I`m basically following a "cheat version of the Zone Diet", though I really just eat a ton of what I like and fortunately that`s mostly decent stuff (hard for me to like something that I know isn`t a good idea).

Your expression "the last 10 pounds" really brought it home that I`m just at a different place. Back when I dropped by bodyfat from 11% to 6% in the early `90s that was about 8.5lbs of fat and I took months to do that.

How`s Ferriss doing these days? His !oh-so-quick! transformation was very impressive, I just wondered how is he later, as in day-in-day-out condition; is what he does sustainable?

That "sustainability" thing gets to wag to dog whether we like it or not...nothing works if you don`t do it and people are/aren`t gonna do what they are/aren`t gonna do.
 
I have read that book. Been a long time but i had trouble taking it seriously. It all seemed so theoretical.

I think my fat mass would balance fine if i could put on some discernible muscle. With the limitations from my back injury, thats hard to do. Free weights are mostly out. The Arthur Jones/Mike Mentzer approach is difficult because you have to be in a certain kind of shape to be able to train to failure with 1 set max output. Muscular/CNS connection has to be well trained. Not something a lightly trained newbie can properly do.

Ill take a look at tht book again. All i really remember is saying to take boatloads of cissus and baths in ice water, since thats so practical.
 
Best I can tell, very well. He has a large YouTube presence in his “spare” time. (His day job is Bay Area CEO and angel investor.)

jrock645 - in addition to Accumulator’s advice, concentrate on recovery. Post workout sauna and red light therapy would be useful. Also move your vitamin C and other anti-inflammatory supplements to non-workout days or 12 hours away from the workout.

I have to opposite body type from you. I used to joke that I could put on 10 lbs of muscle from just looking at barbells. Can’t offer a lot of firsthand advice. Sorry.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top