Where should my priorities be to improve my health? | Barbell Medicine
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Where should my priorities be to improve my health?
- Thread starter VonMeister
- Start date
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Good stuff. Feeds my confirmation bias that I'm generally doing the right thing. Average well over 300 minutes of aerobic exercise a week and that's when I'm not able to get in the water and getting between 150 and 200 grams of protein a day. Most of the metrics they recommend - although, damn, no alcohol within 4 to 6 hours of sleep? That's a tough one, although I generally don't drink during the week and alcohol is limited to the wife saying, "Is that your last drink?" 
Surprised they didn't say anything about resting heart rate. Obviously not a be-all end-all but when it's in the low to mid 40s for me, I have found that's a good barometer that I am in relatively decent shape.
Surprised they didn't say anything about resting heart rate. Obviously not a be-all end-all but when it's in the low to mid 40s for me, I have found that's a good barometer that I am in relatively decent shape.
Running?
At least for those who have cardiac issues.
In barbell medicine Dr. Sullivan reluctantly concedes that for cardiac health running (or LSD-long slow distance as he calls it) is the best. But he obviously has a bias against it, warning about "dying of boredom." Every time it comes up he makes some remark about it being boring. He also repeats that "no one needs to run 20 miles."
I'm always running at the beach or in the mountains and definitely don't get bored. In some ways I love it more than surfing, because crowds aren't an issue. Surfing is so compromised by overcrowding. If running was to get boring I would stop doing it. Also the longer thevdistance the greater the challenge and so that whole "overcoming difficulty" thing kicks in big time. The marathon is torture the last few mile , but again at that point it's the mental test that engages.
When I retire I think I'll be doing the National Parks Half Marathon series. And I won't be trying to do a 7:45 mile pace.
Also, I was happy to hear that Dr. Sullivan describes the deadlift as the back medicine "par excellence." Since that's the only one I can do (no room for squat rack at my homestead) at least my back will be protected.
At least for those who have cardiac issues.
In barbell medicine Dr. Sullivan reluctantly concedes that for cardiac health running (or LSD-long slow distance as he calls it) is the best. But he obviously has a bias against it, warning about "dying of boredom." Every time it comes up he makes some remark about it being boring. He also repeats that "no one needs to run 20 miles."
I'm always running at the beach or in the mountains and definitely don't get bored. In some ways I love it more than surfing, because crowds aren't an issue. Surfing is so compromised by overcrowding. If running was to get boring I would stop doing it. Also the longer thevdistance the greater the challenge and so that whole "overcoming difficulty" thing kicks in big time. The marathon is torture the last few mile , but again at that point it's the mental test that engages.
When I retire I think I'll be doing the National Parks Half Marathon series. And I won't be trying to do a 7:45 mile pace.
Also, I was happy to hear that Dr. Sullivan describes the deadlift as the back medicine "par excellence." Since that's the only one I can do (no room for squat rack at my homestead) at least my back will be protected.
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Don Redondo said, many decades ago- "Mid riff bulges are the waterman's worst enemy."
We recommend a proper measurement of waist circumference as a quick and easy way to determine if you may be carrying excess body fat.(Ross 2020) Note that your waist size from a pair of pants is NOT the same, and is NOT sufficient here.
We recommend a proper measurement of waist circumference as a quick and easy way to determine if you may be carrying excess body fat.(Ross 2020) Note that your waist size from a pair of pants is NOT the same, and is NOT sufficient here.
Try Scott Abel's MET: metabolic enhancement training. You get cardio, muscular, and metabolic benefits without dying of boredom. I've been doing it for 4 months and am back down to college levels of bodyfat while up 10 pounds.
I think the research confirming LSD is largely an artifact of funding (confirmation bias) and bad statistics (p-values).
Scott Abel is against the "quantization syndrome" found throughout Rippetoe's/Sullivan's writings. For my own part, I did not find that a 500 lb deadlift made me more muscular, athletic, or fit than other training methodologies, particularly Abel's.
I don't think any good strength coach would recommend a 500lb deadlift for health benefits and certainly not for any other benefit than deadlifting 500 lbs or a stop on the road more. There isn't anything particularly unhealthy about it but it's a very specific task that consumes a tremendous amount of time and resources to achieve. Even I know this and I have no idea what quantization syndrome is. I do know that for health benefits a bodybuilder wouldn't be my first choice for advice.
Whet is metabolic enhancement training? While it may be principally sound, it sounds hokey.....like all the other catch phrase "it sounds important and medical" names people give their training programs.
Whet is metabolic enhancement training? While it may be principally sound, it sounds hokey.....like all the other catch phrase "it sounds important and medical" names people give their training programs.
I've been following Rip et al for a long time. John Sullivan used to write articles for Starting Strength. Not sure if he still does. "Quantization syndrome" roughly means "Stronger is better" which is what Rip promotes. He's said it many times in numerous articles and even said our Olympic weightlifting team would be better if they got stronger in the big lifts like the DL. Glenn Pendlay actually tried this with his lifters and found it not to be true. My experience agrees with Glenn's. Getting to 500 is not a time-consuming task depending on your age: use the Texas Method after Starting Strength 3x5 and you'll be there shortly in 3 days a week of training at moderate volume.
Abel is very critical of fitness industry marketing. At the same time, it's what most customers respond to. I was reporting my experience which was overwhelmingly positive. While I'm not against Rip's methods for a new lifter, I wish I'd found Abel 10 years ago. Abel also coaches athletes, including pro athletes. Of the other advice I've tried from coaches who coach athletes such as Jeff Cavaliere, Abel is far better. Try it; don't try it - makes no difference to me. But you did ask for advice.
Wow, low 40's? My DR. just tried to put me on some meds because my resting heartrate is usually around 50. I explained to him how active I am and he reconsidered but 40's seems really low.
Stronger is better in the context Rip and Sully use it.
The Texas Method is brutal and time consuming and a very small percentage of the population are able to do it. A 500 pound deadlift took me over two years and I am fairly sensitive to training stress. It was an almost constant cycle of stress recovery stress recovery. There were no good days in between. Even when cycling the active phases were still resource consuming. I think you greatly underestimate what a 500 pound deadlift is.
Of course olympic weightlifters would be better if they were stronger. The squat and the deadlift are constantly programmed by olympic coaches. Again. time resources are hard to come by when you are at the higher levels of anything so I'm assuming this was probably a discussion on strength vs technique training and how to split it.
I didn't ask you for advice....I'm just curious what metabolic enhancement training is. I'm guessing it's something every good trainer is coaching and programming....just under a different name.
The Texas Method is brutal and time consuming and a very small percentage of the population are able to do it. A 500 pound deadlift took me over two years and I am fairly sensitive to training stress. It was an almost constant cycle of stress recovery stress recovery. There were no good days in between. Even when cycling the active phases were still resource consuming. I think you greatly underestimate what a 500 pound deadlift is.
Of course olympic weightlifters would be better if they were stronger. The squat and the deadlift are constantly programmed by olympic coaches. Again. time resources are hard to come by when you are at the higher levels of anything so I'm assuming this was probably a discussion on strength vs technique training and how to split it.
I didn't ask you for advice....I'm just curious what metabolic enhancement training is. I'm guessing it's something every good trainer is coaching and programming....just under a different name.
Explain.
Yeah, that's about how long it takes. This is not a big weekly time commitment in the gym compared to bodybuilding though. Volume day for the squat is wrapped-up in about 70-90 minutes counting warm-up sets. Most people can't do it simply because they can't take the monotony of the programming.
Glenn said on Facebook that new PRs in the squat and DL did NOT result in any new PRs in the snatch or clean and jerk in any of his athletes. This was in response to Rip's claim that he'd make his Olympic athletes hit PRs by getting them brutally strong in the squat and DL. The squat is programmed but the lifts are HIGHLY technical. People film them then replay them in slow mo to correct form faults. Most of the PRs are coming from technical improvements while doing the actual Olympic lifts, not raw strength.
I'm just responding to the thread title.
that all seems like basic common sense, no?Where should my priorities be to improve my health? | Barbell Medicine
So I hear. I've gotten several double-takes from nurses when they've taken my pulse. EKGs for work physicals are a nightmare because the computer program registers me as having a heart attack. Obviously absurd. Similarly, they've made same comments with me re: it being low despite being physically active. Personal record is 38 but that was brief, not an average rate.
That's not about how long it takes. Everyone is different. I know people that left the novice phase with squats and deadlift both under 300 pounds that are now hitting singles above 600 for both. You can't change a persons sensitivity to training stress so some are going to have to take smaller incremental improvements than others. This doesn't even take into account individual metabolism and sleep ability. Going from novice to 500 pounds in two years is way up on the higher end of normal.
The Texas method takes about three plus hours of physical and mental full commitment every training day. It's a fucking mental and physical grind that very few people are going to benefit from. There's better programs to get your lifts up.
Bodybuilding doesn't consume the physical resources that strength training does....not even close. Bodybuilding show prep would be a bigger pain in the ass to me. I'll take constant exhaustion and fatigue over diet specificity any day.
Yea the reason i bring it up is because there are days when I get up too fast and get dizzy, and some rare days it happens pretty much every time I stand up. They blame the low heart rate.
I monitor EKGs in real time, generally we don't blink twice at resting heart rates in sinus rhythm in the 50s for active people in generally good health and resting heart rates in the 40s are not so unusual for young, athletically active people.
Personally when in good shape I run in the 30s while sleeping, anywhere from the 50s to low 60s while awake.
Miguel Indurain was said to have a resting HR of 28 BPM, I find this somewhat hard to believe but whatevs.
my fitbit is saying low 40's while sleeping. first time ive looked in there but yea im in good health accordin g to the docs so I guess it makes sense. just got to figure out why I get dizzy so easily when standing up. only happens when coming off the couch, bending down to clean a littlerbox, etc.
Has anyone done orthostatic blood pressure readings on you?
Have you seen a cardiologist?
I had similar experiences getting up. I also found that I was a bit out of breath going up two flights of stairs (home office for 20 years and it became apparent I had some kind of issue).
My Scripps Cardiologist had all kinds of tests run (EKG MRI etc). I ended up with 2 stents, a year later another stent and a pacemaker (Very cool gadget, I put a modem like device over the pacemaker 1-2 times a year and it sends all data to some computer which analyzes the data and send the report electronically to the dr same day). All’s good now, still work out every morning for about an hour and take a couple of heart pills.
My general DR prescribed some medicine a week ago which I havent gotten yet and said to see how that goes before getting a cardiologist involved. Its very intermittent and maybe just a case of standing up to fast..most days its not a thing and I dont get out of breath or anything like that, like the dude above was experiencing. I only mentioned it to him because I was there for my checkup. Able to do An hour of running/jogging uphill at 10-15 degree incline with not much trouble which I do every other day, and then weights the inbetween days.