In article <[email hidden]>,
shinypenny said:Doug Freese said:No disrepect to the weights folks but I think Rosa is a pure muscle head
and can't see the forest for the trees with his biased atttitude. Each
activity has it's individual benefits be it percent of fat or whatever.
To say one is superior is simply immature and biased. Pick the activity
that best fits your preference and have at it be it weights, running,
swimming, walking or a bloody pogo stick.
Better yet, combine BOTH running and weight lifting. Fitness is a
triangle, and you need all three: cardio, weights, and stretching to
maintain flexibility.
The whole 'cardio' theory of fitness has very little, if any, scientific
evidence. By 'cardio' I refer to the concept of maintaining an elevated
heart rate for a certain period of time. The heart adapts to demands
much like any other muscle. If your goal is to adapt to long, slow runs
(ie. 'cardio'😉 than train long and slow. But your heart won't be in any
better shape than a dedicated 200m sprinter who does intervals. Or a
dedicated kettlebell enthusiast who does 600 swings every day with
little rest between sets, for that matter.
I play rugby and train wrestlers. I also compete in powerlifting and
olympic weightlifting, play ball and the esoteric sport of 'curling'
(DON'T ASK!!). When I train wrestlers or myslef we never do long runs as
part of our training. And I have run marathons as well as other
distances - quite a few races. I often do 400m sprints with 60 seconds
rest between and work up to 12 or so. While weighing 210 lbs or slightly
less I can still do a 5K (at age 50) in under 21 minutes with no special
training. I realize that isn't fast, but when I was training
specifically for running a 10K my best time in the 5K was slightly under
20 minutes. I'm not really built for distance, but I am a Canadian
masters champion in powerlifting and provincial record holder in olympic
weightlifting.
Fitness can be thought of as a combination of speed, strength and
endurance within functional motor skills. Flexibility is far less
important than good joint health and range of motion about joints. This
can be accomplished without ever doing static stretching or what most
people think of as 'stretching'.
There is so much dogmatic thought about 'fitness' in North America that
has more to do with marketing than actual science. Marketing books,
marketing exercise machines, marketing gyms, shoes, clothing, drinks,
energy bars, etc. And marketing personal training.
Having said all that, if you enjoy running, weights and stretching, than
by all means do it. I happen to enjoy all three, although my stretching
program might dismay you. I have to agree with Doug's comment. Pick the
activites you enjoy and have at it.
But don't make the mistake of thinking your own concept of 'fitness' is
the best for all people for all time. It isn't. Different people have
different requirements as well as different preferences. It is very
possible to have excellent fitness by doing nothing, but calisthentics.
And in fact I suspect in terms of joint health is probably preferable to
the combination of running, weights and stretching.
--
Keith