What is the healthiest thing one can do?

[Pedaling Fool]

Seems like everyone has been doing too much sitting, bitching about thru-hikers. That's fine, the bitching part, but the excess sitting is not so good.

Do a little test. Stand up with feet about shoulder width apart and bend down (squat) until your hamstrings contact your calves and then stand up.

How many times can you do that?
Can you even squat down all the way?
Does it cause pain when you squat down all the way?

[Traveler]

Throw in patting your head whilst rubbing a counter clockwise circle on your stomach and you'd have a real test...

[kythruhiker]

I just tried this. Fell and sprained something, now I need a doctor. Thanks.

Seems like everyone has been doing too much sitting, bitching about thru-hikers. That's fine, the bitching part, but the excess sitting is not so good.

Do a little test. Stand up with feet about shoulder width apart and bend down (squat) until your hamstrings contact your calves and then stand up.

How many times can you do that?
Can you even squat down all the way?
Does it cause pain when you squat down all the way?

[Pedaling Fool]

Throw in patting your head whilst rubbing a counter clockwise circle on your stomach and you'd have a real test...

I'll take that as, "No f*****ing way can I squat all the way down".

Maybe you should get out more often

[Pedaling Fool]

Do any of these thoughts run thru your head when you think of Exercise:
1. Dread thought of exercise
2. Feel pressure to pick the right exercises
3. Find that motivation fades quickly

Those are the questions Dr. Michelle Segar has found to be very common and it's probably why so many make jokes of people who exercise regularly, i.e. it's a defense mechanism to make themselves feel better. She wrote a book http://michellesegar.com/the-wrong-why/


And here's a good article on that, that references her book and other research by Dr. Segar http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2015/0...ds/?ref=health

[egilbe]

Seems like everyone has been doing too much sitting, bitching about thru-hikers. That's fine, the bitching part, but the excess sitting is not so good.

Do a little test. Stand up with feet about shoulder width apart and bend down (squat) until your hamstrings contact your calves and then stand up.

How many times can you do that?
Can you even squat down all the way?
Does it cause pain when you squat down all the way?

I can do it as long as I don't keep my heals on the floor. damn old, broken ankles

[Traveler]

I'll take that as, "No f*****ing way can I squat all the way down".

Maybe you should get out more often

Ahh, but you are incorrect, Squattingbreath! Adding the head patting and tummy rubbing while doing the full bend squats separates the wheat from the chaff and the aged from the aging

[WingedMonkey]

Do a little test. Stand up with feet about shoulder width apart and bend down (squat) until your hamstrings contact your calves and then stand up.

I just came in the house from squatting......planting more pigeon peas in the food forest.

All day yesterday I was squatting while pulling weeds.

Almost every Friday, I'm at the grocery store squatting for the cheap brands hiding on the very bottom shelves (or stretching for the cheap brands on the very top).

Every morning, sometimes twice I squat to take a dump outside so I can compost it.

Seems I spend half my days squatting.

And then I throw in 20 miles five days a week on the bike.

Hell I can still squat with a pack on.........although getting back up is more difficult.

[moytoy]

I just did 10 of your squats Pedaling Fool. So now we know us Fl boys can squat but can we still climb a mountain? That's the big question for me. It's been two years since I was on top of Old Smoky.

[Pedaling Fool]

Then repeat and repeat and repeat... http://www.realclearscience.com/vide...or_health.html

[Pedaling Fool]

Those that W/O for 30-minutes per day did not show significant improvement in heart health. Why?

Because they plateaued. Working out for 30-minutes per day/ X-times per week in not exercise. Exercise is when you challenge you cardio system. Getting into a routine is NOT exercise, other than an exercise in futility.

And don't get me started on walking as an exercise regimen...




https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-theyre-doing/


Excerpt:
"If you're among of the millions of Americans who dutifully carve out 30 minutes a day for the moderate-intensity exercise recommended by experts based on the idea that you're doing all you can for your heart, you're in for some disappointing news.

A new analysis published Monday in the journal Circulation finds that that amount of activity may not be good enough.

For the paper, researchers reviewed 12 studies involving 370,460 men and women with varying levels of physical activity. Over a mean follow-up time of 15 years, this group experienced 20,203 heart failure events. Each of the participants self-reported their daily activities, allowing the team to estimate the amount of exercise they were doing.

[Scientists: Why running makes you so happy]

They found that those following the 30-minutes-a-day guidelines issued by the American Heart Association had “modest reductions” in heart failure risk compared to those who did not work out at all.

But those who exercised twice and four times as much had “a substantial risk reduction" of 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

The findings challenge the notion of a 30-minutes-a-day magic number for exercise. Instead, research found that physical activity and heart failure may be what they called "dose dependent," meaning that higher levels of physical activity appeared to be linked to a lower risk of heart failure. That association appeared to hold across age groups, gender and race."

[Sarcasm the elf]

Those that W/O for 30-minutes per day did not show significant improvement in heart health. Why?

Because they plateaued. Working out for 30-minutes per day/ X-times per week in not exercise. Exercise is when you challenge you cardio system. Getting into a routine is NOT exercise, other than an exercise in futility.

And don't get me started on walking as an exercise regimen...




https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/...-theyre-doing/


Excerpt:
"If you're among of the millions of Americans who dutifully carve out 30 minutes a day for the moderate-intensity exercise recommended by experts based on the idea that you're doing all you can for your heart, you're in for some disappointing news.

A new analysis published Monday in the journal Circulation finds that that amount of activity may not be good enough.

For the paper, researchers reviewed 12 studies involving 370,460 men and women with varying levels of physical activity. Over a mean follow-up time of 15 years, this group experienced 20,203 heart failure events. Each of the participants self-reported their daily activities, allowing the team to estimate the amount of exercise they were doing.

[Scientists: Why running makes you so happy]

They found that those following the 30-minutes-a-day guidelines issued by the American Heart Association had “modest reductions” in heart failure risk compared to those who did not work out at all.

But those who exercised twice and four times as much had “a substantial risk reduction" of 20 percent and 35 percent, respectively.

The findings challenge the notion of a 30-minutes-a-day magic number for exercise. Instead, research found that physical activity and heart failure may be what they called "dose dependent," meaning that higher levels of physical activity appeared to be linked to a lower risk of heart failure. That association appeared to hold across age groups, gender and race."

Personally I am quite skeptical of results coming from a 15 year long exercise study that depended on self reporting.

[Traveler]

Hard to disagree that more physical activity benefits heart health more than less activity would. The way I see this statistic, the work out should reach into the high range of heart rate for a time for this percentage to be true. What isn't clear is how this scale can be applied. Is this an "all in one period of time" scale, or is it cumulative throughout the day? Certainly there would be some benefit to short bursts of activity, like taking four stories of stairs periodically during the day to that would drive up the heart rate and can add up to 60 minutes of work out time across the course of the day. This, of course, presumes the heart rate is the center of the issue relative to the benefit projections.

[Stubby]

Healthy is such a multi-faceted thing, means different things to different people.

I think of it as:
1) Being fit enough to enjoy doing the activities I want to do.
2) Not having anything more than mild activity- and/or age-related aches and pains. Including not having any conditions that require me to take medicine to feel better or prevent serious illness

Breaking it down:
1) if I want to enjoy car camping and trout fishing, that requires a different level of fitness than if I want to be competitive in triathlons. So this is a personalized answer. Most of us here want to enjoy long-distance hiking, among a wide variety of other things. Doing the things it takes to be physically ready hike - mostly, a fair number of easier hikes before hard hikes, and listening to your body and slowing down when needed. For everyone, a combination of aerobic activity and strength training, as much as required for the difficulty of activities planned.
2) This is partly taking care of yourself - avoiding injuries best you can, staying fit, getting sleep... and partly about preparing your body - see #1 above.
Some of this is luck of the draw - genetics, freak accidents, or the nasty germs or conditions we can get through no fault of our own. If that is you, you have my condolences.
And some of this is lifestyle choices.
Don't smoke.
Don't use tobacco.
Don't use recreational drugs.
Drink only in moderation; if moderation is difficult, then none is better.
Get your 8 hours of sleep.
Reduce stress. Find ways to deal with stress (ie meditate, yoga, running, etc).
Eat well - more veggies, more whole grain, less processed food, less junk food
Watch your cholesterol, blood sugar, blood pressure and weight - if any of them go up, increase your exercise and improve your diet and reduce your stress. If it still goes up, take the meds.

My goal is to live actively until I'm 96. I think that will give me enough time to finish the AT

[Lnj]

This is coming from an out-of-shape fat lady.... I have been small and I have been big(currently) and I have been in decent shape (as a 20 something year old) though I would not go so far as to claim to have ever been truly "Fit". I am a big boned lady. 5'10" tall. Think Amazon. But most of my life I was a thin amazon and the only reason I was, even as a teen, was because I found an accidental exercise. See, I hate exercising for exercising's sake. It's the most torturous, bring thing I can think of. That was even true as a child for me. But... as a kid, I ran everywhere I went, because I was probably being chased in some sort of game, and I rode my bicycle all day long because it was fun, and I climbed trees, only to jump out on a trampoline, and I roller skated, etc. etc. This is what I call accidental exercise. It was great for me, but that's not why I was doing it. As we get older and outgrow some of those playing practices, it becomes harder and harder to exercise and stay in shape if you truly hate exercising like me. This is where hiking has come into play for me. I am now 42 years old and a hot mess of unhealthy fatness, but I just discovered almost a year ago that I really love to hike. I have been doing it every chance I get, though that hasn't been very often, but I already feel so so much better, and as much mentally and emotionally as physically because I am not forcing myself to do something I utterly despise. This is why I am planning my first sectional hike on the AT in May. Not because of the exercise, though God knows I need I truly love it. In answer to the OP, I think the healthiest thing any person can ever do for themselves is to find their own personal accidental exercise and do it as often as possible. And that's all I have to say about that.

[Pedaling Fool]

This is coming from an out-of-shape fat lady.... I have been small and I have been big(currently) and I have been in decent shape (as a 20 something year old) though I would not go so far as to claim to have ever been truly "Fit". I am a big boned lady. 5'10" tall. Think Amazon. But most of my life I was a thin amazon and the only reason I was, even as a teen, was because I found an accidental exercise. See, I hate exercising for exercising's sake. It's the most torturous, bring thing I can think of. That was even true as a child for me. But... as a kid, I ran everywhere I went, because I was probably being chased in some sort of game, and I rode my bicycle all day long because it was fun, and I climbed trees, only to jump out on a trampoline, and I roller skated, etc. etc. This is what I call accidental exercise. It was great for me, but that's not why I was doing it. As we get older and outgrow some of those playing practices, it becomes harder and harder to exercise and stay in shape if you truly hate exercising like me. This is where hiking has come into play for me. I am now 42 years old and a hot mess of unhealthy fatness, but I just discovered almost a year ago that I really love to hike. I have been doing it every chance I get, though that hasn't been very often, but I already feel so so much better, and as much mentally and emotionally as physically because I am not forcing myself to do something I utterly despise. This is why I am planning my first sectional hike on the AT in May. Not because of the exercise, though God knows I need I truly love it. In answer to the OP, I think the healthiest thing any person can ever do for themselves is to find their own personal accidental exercise and do it as often as possible. And that's all I have to say about that.

It sounds like I had the same childhood as you and I also grew out of those things and probably would have become a very sedentary person...who knows, but interesting to ponder...

However, I guess you could call me lucky, because when I was in the navy my ship went into the dry docks, in this case it was across the St Johns river, to get there I could either drive a ridiculous distance toward the west to find a bridge, then drive north, only to head back east to get the the dry docks I could practically see from my house...that was a crazy proposition. The second choice was to drive my car onto the St Johns river ferry cross the ferry and be basically there, very short commute, but there was one hitch... a $1.50 fee per crossing. However, I noticed on the price chart that pedestrians and bicyclists were able to cross for 10 cents. That was the answer!

I remember when I first started riding, I hadn't been on a bike in years, but I loved it and it wasn't just a short one-time nostalgic feel, I got hooked, so much so that I continued cycling after my ship returned to home port. Then I found myself taking leave so I could do long tours up and down the east coast...and now 30 years later I dare say I may just be addicted to riding. It is my primary form of transportation. Dogwood mentions how sugar can change one's brain chemistry, but I think cycling has changed my brain chemistry. I'll never stop.

So I kind of get your point about accidental exercise. Although, nowadays I've found that there are some elements of exercise that can't be all accidental. For instance, there are times to really hit it hard, i.e. go deep into the red (anaerobic), you can't really get the benefits of exercise without this, I found this relatively late in life, but since starting it, it has improved my health immensely; so much so that when I'm taking it easy I can go so much longer and my easy pace is so much faster than it use to be. When you first go into the red it hurts and it's something you don't want to do again, but over time it does become enjoyable, in a strange way. Now I have to force myself on some days not to do it too much, it's almost like a drug...dare I say that anaerobic training has changed my brain chemistry

[Lnj]

It sounds like I had the same childhood as you and I also grew out of those things and probably would have become a very sedentary person...who knows, but interesting to ponder...

However, I guess you could call me lucky, because when I was in the navy my ship went into the dry docks, in this case it was across the St Johns river, to get there I could either drive a ridiculous distance toward the west to find a bridge, then drive north, only to head back east to get the the dry docks I could practically see from my house...that was a crazy proposition. The second choice was to drive my car onto the St Johns river ferry cross the ferry and be basically there, very short commute, but there was one hitch... a $1.50 fee per crossing. However, I noticed on the price chart that pedestrians and bicyclists were able to cross for 10 cents. That was the answer!

I remember when I first started riding, I hadn't been on a bike in years, but I loved it and it wasn't just a short one-time nostalgic feel, I got hooked, so much so that I continued cycling after my ship returned to home port. Then I found myself taking leave so I could do long tours up and down the east coast...and now 30 years later I dare say I may just be addicted to riding. It is my primary form of transportation. Dogwood mentions how sugar can change one's brain chemistry, but I think cycling has changed my brain chemistry. I'll never stop.

So I kind of get your point about accidental exercise. Although, nowadays I've found that there are some elements of exercise that can't be all accidental. For instance, there are times to really hit it hard, i.e. go deep into the red (anaerobic), you can't really get the benefits of exercise without this, I found this relatively late in life, but since starting it, it has improved my health immensely; so much so that when I'm taking it easy I can go so much longer and my easy pace is so much faster than it use to be. When you first go into the red it hurts and it's something you don't want to do again, but over time it does become enjoyable, in a strange way. Now I have to force myself on some days not to do it too much, it's almost like a drug...dare I say that anaerobic training has changed my brain chemistry

I kind of do that with hiking I think. My husband says I don't know my limitations. He gets concerned I will hurt myself because I always want to go just a little bit farther, even though I can barely breathe! I say, I have no limitations to how far I can go, only how long it will take me to do it. I do have to stop a lot on the climbs, just to get my breath and rally myself, and it hurts sometimes... badly and I get the occasional nauseous feeling, but when I stop a minute and the worst of it passes, I want to go again. I never want to stop. I am finding it is taking me longer to get to that pukey stage than it did when I started. That must be the red zone you are referring to. Still, for me its accidental exercise. After all, I'm really just trying to walk up this mountain, not exercise. So what if it takes me an hour and my breath escapes me? Just gimme a minute and I'll make it.

[RockDoc]

Crossfit is basically workouts for sport. It works for a lot of people. If it doesn't work for you, get over it. No need to bash Crossfit. I don't like golf, but I don't worry about writing posts against golf, because I know that nobody cares what I think about golf, and they are right not to care.

See marksdailyapple.com for some well considered articles about effective exercise.

[Pedaling Fool]

This is just another way to look at the common meme spouted that makes the claim that running is bad for our knees. https://www.sciencenews.org/blog/gro...-when-they-run

While watching the video of small kids running you do get the sense that our bodies evolved this way, this is not something you learn, it's an innate behavior that naturally comes out as you grow.

We all probably remember learning how to ride a bike, I definitely remember my first ride without training wheels and having to be supported by my parents. But no one taught me how to run.

When it comes to keeping the body healthy, it's hard to think of anything more natural than running.


Excerpt from above article:

"My 2-year-old daughter loves to run, and I love to watch her. She propels her little body forward with gusto, creating a hilarious vision of bobbly legs swinging out, head bouncing high and a jiggly smile. Her wild movements definitely get her from place to place, but they don’t yet resemble the smooth, controlled gait of an adult runner.

It turns out that there’s a reason for her wild running, and it’s not that she’s still learning how to do it, says locomotion researcher Jim Usherwood, coauthor of a study in the SeptemberJournal of Experimental Biology that measured how children and adults run.

Short legs mean a short stride, and that means that toddlers’ legs simply don’t have the time they need to bound up into the air like adult legs do. Kids’ feet stay earthbound for much of their trot. “Even when they think they’re running, they’re barely getting off the ground,” Usherwood says. Instead of being “bad” runners, children are simply working with what they got."

[Pedaling Fool]

This is a very good article that addresses the issue of Aerobic vs. Anaerobic exercise and the importance, not only to performance, but also health. What's interesting is that this is a running magazine and you'll notice that many runners are not exactly fans of sprinting, i.e. going Anaerobic, so you can imagine how much of a foreign concept this is to most people, especially with the fitness industry telling us that we need to only focus on our Target Heart Rate Zone

However, you really do want to be careful when starting an anaerobic training program by starting slowly...very good way to injure yourself in the beginning.

Some runners have funny ideas about the meaning of the word “anaerobic.” It’s not their fault, though, because even many exercise physiologists harbor an outdated understanding of aerobic and anaerobic metabolism. Often I hear athletes talk about “going anaerobic” when their running intensity exceeds the anaerobic or lactate threshold, which is a moderately high but not extremely high intensity—one that most fit individuals can sustain for a full hour. This expression—“going anaerobic”—reflects an incorrect belief that the working muscles get their energy either entirely aerobically or entirely anaerobically, whereas in fact they almost always get their energy from both systems simultaneously, with the balance shifting gradually from aerobic toward anaerobic as exercise intensity increases. And indeed, exercise intensity must increase far above the lactate threshold before the muscles even get a majority of their energy anaerobically. If you were to run as far as you could in two minutes (in other words, as hard as you could for two minutes), your muscles would get about half of their energy aerobically during that effort.

This much is understood by most exercise scientists. But what all too many of these professionals don’t know is that most of what is classified as anaerobic metabolism is actually just incomplete aerobic metabolism. Research has shown that roughly 75 percent of the lactate that is produced through the anaerobic breakdown of glucose is further broken down aerobically within the muscles cells to release energy. The rest is shuttled to other organs and tissues, where it is either broken down aerobically to supply energy or converted back into glucose for future aerobic breakdown.

If anaerobic glycolysis is reclassified as incomplete aerobic glycolysis, as it should be, then virtually the only truly anaerobic metabolism that occurs in the muscles is the breakdown of high-energy phosphates. This type of metabolism becomes predominant only at the very highest exercise intensities, such as during 100-meter sprints.

While true anaerobic metabolism has only a tiny place in running, anaerobic fitness—or speed and power—is critical to distance running performance. The average runner thinks of factors such as VO2max, fat-burning capacity and running economy as being the keys to running performance and tends to forget about pure speed. But if you set aside your prejudices and look at the speed of world-class distance runners, you will see that pure speed is at least as important as the other performance keys. Most 2:11 marathoners are capable of running a sub-50-second 400m. Folks, that is flying!



Read more at http://running.competitor.com/2015/1...mJasZzzdH5r.99

P.S. Towards the end of the article it does dispel the myth of only lifting light weights at high reps; that's important, but equally important is going very heavy for a few reps.





.