Small Rant

DavidMartinez2

Is anyone else getting tired of the weightlifters on MFP constantly being dismissive of endurance athletes? Probably 90% of the time I see someone asking a question about weight loss/ calorie burn the runners will recommend that people add in strength training as well but if someone suggest prolonged cardio or that running burns a lot of calories the muscleheads loose their minds.

And now that I have set this fire I am going to bed :P

Zekela

Yeah... I really hate the fact that someone would say, "you are gonna lose muscle" yadda yadda yadda. Really??? I'm rather lean and muscular without doing weights! In your face bro science...

glin23

It doesn't help that people associate "fit" with the bulkier look. But it also bears in mind that people like Usain Bolt or Alyson Felix are much more well known to the general public than Meb, Ryan Hall, Geofffrey Mutai, Kara Goucher, etc... Even people who have some actual fitness knowledge often criticize me for being too skinny, emaciated, etc...

ZenInTexas

Yes. Which is why when I have a question about anything I prefer to ask it here rather than in the main forums. I'm afraid of getting ripped apart by the weight lifters. I guess it just depends on what your definition of "fit" is. In my mind fit means cardiovascular fitness, not how many pounds can you bench press. What is going to be more beneficial in the long run? A healthy heart and lungs or big muscles? And it depends on your goals. If my goal is to run a marathon then spending 3 days a week pumping iron isn't going to get me there.

Ke22yB

I guess people know thy self I have my goals and dreams and if someone offers advice that I think is helpful to me I certainly am interested. If someone tries to tell me that what I am doing isn't working when I finish laughing I move on. My primary weight loss/fitness method is running I do a fitness class 3x a week with 10 pound hand weights which probably don't qualify as lifting anything. I only lose about 2 or 3 pounds a month now and I am more interested in improving my min/mile and distance than my lifts squats etc.
Can't we all just get along you do what is good for you and I will do the same. People ask me what I do and that's what I tell them its what I do not necessarily what you should do

WebbyShoo

Yay finally someone said it. I'm going to chime in in with my mini rant added to this. I read threads on the forums but I don't post in them, too much trolling and it makes my OCD itchy wasting time on there. It irks me to no end how much time these people have on their hands to banter back and forth as though they are "fitness saviours" here on MFP. -.- That's the first part of my rant...

The second is when women start threads stating that "heavy lifting didn't make me bulky". Their right, heavy lifting didn't make them bulky. A large majority of them have higher levels of body fat, 25%+ normally and that's perfectly fine, they are stronger and probably healthy for it, but I find it kind of weird to brag about only "lifting heavy" and then not even look like you lift...

I used to be part of the larger fitness community on FB, had my own fairly large fitness related group, Alan Aragon was in it, most of the internet youtube bb'ers were in it. Most of them in general are great people (some of them are sociopathic trolls though) but are just trying to help one another with body composition goals. There is a large amount of hypocrisy in the fitness community. In the community looking a part, rather than just being generally fit, is respected more, no one really cares how much you run, lift, etc, if you don't look like it. As a woman in that community, it can be destructive to us psychologically trying to prove ourselves for aesthetic reasons, constantly bulking trying to gain muscle and then cutting to maintain a lean "figure" like physique. I never stopped running while I was doing so and knew there was some judgement for it. I gained muscle even while running often still, because I was eating 2700-3200 calories per day for months on end. Now eating that much food on a day to day basis to maintain or gain weight, quite frankly isn't all it's cut out to be, it makes you bloated, your water retention issues are much more severe and most of your bras/tshirts don't fit quite right.

Now to the point. They are right, being chronically underfed and doing endurance training isn't healthy, especially for us women. You do lose lean mass to a certain degree (when not eating properly) and I'm not talking the "bulky" bodybuilder lean mass, but the normal amount of lean mass you accumulate in your youth that keeps your metabolism running optimally, which allows you the freedom of eating more, as well as supports your joint/bone health. It's important to remember that any type of caloric deficit to lose fat, you will lose lean mass with it, it's just a fact. If you're not providing an anabolic stimulus to keep the muscle you will lose it at a much higher rate. Endurance training is catabolic with a very high training volume and large deficits.

It doesn't matter if you're seeking a runners build or a bodybuilders build, being lean in itself and dieting for extended periods of time, training hard either through strength training or endurance training, those deficits and being leaner than your natural set point can create metabolic burn out (ex female athletes triad). It's easier to create that metabolic damage through endurance training, because it is easier to create larger deficits and be chronically underfed. They aren't wrong about that. They just have this misconception that everyone wants to and should look like them and refuse to accept that people actually enjoy themselves being skinnier smaller physiqued endurance junkies.

Anyways sorry about the coffee ramble, I too get tired of people judging others on their goals, whether it's for a certain look or function. I used to be much more muscular last year than I am now, however it wasn't functional for running, my last "fulk" (fat bulk, very little muscle was gained), made running less fun, it made me realize I wanted to stop gaining muscle and maintain what I had gained while gaining endurance again. Now I'm finally in a happy place. I've decided that aesthetics aren't my end goal, being "strong" with bragging rights doesn't do anything for me either. It's running that makes me happy and life is short, so I'm not wasting my time, I'm getting old damnit. LOL.

WebbyShoo

Yeah... I really hate the fact that someone would say, "you are gonna lose muscle" yadda yadda yadda. Really??? I'm rather lean and muscular without doing weights! In your face bro science...

I'm jelly of your genetics, you look great, to maintain a physique like yours while endurance training and doing no weights is something most men can't even do though.

DavidMartinez2

I'm glad I was able to get that off my chest without a huge flame spray coming out. I have no problem with people who just want to lift I just get frustrated when they start telling people what they are doing is wrong.

WebbyShoo

I'm glad I was able to get that off my chest without a huge flame spray coming out. I have no problem with people who just want to lift I just get frustrated when they start telling people what they are doing is wrong.

Yep, totally agree, the "fitness" community is too black and white for me, so I removed myself from it almost entirely.

GiddyupTim

I cannot believe I am going to defend these MFP endurance-activities bashers because they are my pet peeve. Many is the time I have picked a fight with them. It makes me so mad how smug they are.
But, i think we need to realize that many people on here are fairly new to regular exercise and they are excited about what they are doing. When you are new like that, and enthusiastic, it is easy to feel like praise for other types of activity threatens yours.
Let them have their enthusiasms. It is great they have found something they feel so strongly about. It is no skin off our noses. And, lastly, we know the pendulum will swing around. Lift, and lift heavy, has become the fashion right now; but it will change. Fashion always does.
Now, please do not jump all over me for this. And, when you see me in the other threads, going after those guys who try to dismiss running, and endurance training in general, please back me up. Pretty please?

GiddyupTim

BTW, you know how they are always claiming that weight lifting is superior because it ramps up your metabolism, which then continues to expend a greater number of calories for the rest of the day?
Well, according to Azdak, who probably knows everything and is always extremely helpful, that "enhanced" calorie burn is equal to, more or less, 5-6 calories an hour.
Holy SMOKES! If that keeps up for 10 hours you are going to burn a Whopping 50 extra calories.

SonicDeathMonkey80

I believe cardio and an aerobic base is more "universal" to life than being able to lift abnormally heavy stuff. However, I also go to the gym 3 days per week - primarily for my fitness goals (triathlons) followed by injury prevention, and vanity. The lifters I partner up with get their "cardio" in, but it consists of running a mile as fast as they can to "warm up." They also skip leg days and have bird legs to show for it

mjpTennis

This is a great read. Running has been what has worked for me. I have never been so fit for day to day life and any physical activities. Ultimately, I would rather be able to walk with my wife, play soccer with my kids, and climb stairs instead of taking the elevator. In the rare occurrence that I need to lift a car off someone, that would be nice to do, but I will take the cardio benefits first. Thanks Tufel for the other perspective. I think that is fair. When someone finds success and expands so much energy to make it work, it is not an easy thing to hear someone question what you are doing. So certainly, do something everyone.

dorianaldyn

Yeah, I generally don't post fitness questions on the general boards anymore because I'll get chastised for all of my steady state cardio. Having said that, I also know that I should probably incorporate more weight work into my routines, but honestly I'm a bit nervous to do so in the midst of training for this next marathon. After this marathon, I will have a break before my next training cycle officially begins, so I may try to mix things up a little then.