holothuroidea Member

Even if your feet remain flat on the floor during the lift, the weight can move forward at the bottom of the squat and you will end up pushing up with the weight over your toes instead of your heels. This can happen if you have mobility issues, especially in the thoracic spine, or if your core strength/stability isn't up…

+1 on the fact that 40% of protein is excessive. Personal trainers (assuming that's what you mean by PT) are not qualified to give you nutrition advice. I mean, neither are we, but you have access to google right? 35% makes sense in certain circumstances, like a woman with a relatively low TDEE who is nursing and trying to…

I love this thread. There is hope! I practice for pull ups every time I'm at the gym. I alternate various things. Assisted pull ups, lat pull downs, awkward attempts at negatives, hanging on the bar for as long as possible, etc. Thank you ladies for all the useful info!

I don't feel like a runner, I'm just a person who runs. I know runners. They run for fun, they run to relax, they run because it feels good to get to their goal. Running is none of those things for me. It is the most challenging and difficult activity I engage in, and I don't feel like I've reaped much reward for the…

Ok now I think you're kind of a jerk. We're not your own personal google research group. Unless you are willing to pay us?

I don't think you're a jerk. Lots of people claim to see actual doctors but they're really talking about naturopaths or chiropractors or what have you. Those guys aren't jerks either, but they're not doctors. I hope your friends find the relief they're looking for. I'm mostly here because the title of this thread just gave…

Every gym day is leg day over here, friend. I like toast and peanut butter with soy milk before I go. That burrito is like a whole day's worth of calories for me, you lucky fellow.

I failed on my last rep while bench pressing today. I laid there and laughed and was like, hey guys help please. That doesn't really sound like something to be proud of but maintaining a good attitude during fails and mishaps is a big deal for me. A couple of years ago things like that would derail me.

The most important thing you can do to eat healthy is to eat a wide variety of whole foods. Make a serious effort to include the fruits and veggies you do like into your meals every day, then slowly expand the variety of fruits and vegetables you eat. Also, sometimes people overestimate how large a serving of vegetables or…

That's totally normal baby behavior! I lived in a carrier in those days. If you're an experienced treadmill user then walking with the baby is probably fine, but get outside if you can.

Personally, I find it super annoying that someone like Freelee the racist-classist and compassionate-to-humans-only-rarely banana girl gets ownership of the word vegan because she eats 100% bananas or whatever but someone like me who is ethically vegan but also acknowledges and tries to incorporate more than one level of…

Both of types of exercise have merit and will improve your cardiovascular fitness, it depends on what you like to do. The HR you describe is definitely in the high intensity interval range. If you like to work out that way then that's great! Just make sure to get adequate rest between intervals. I would do it all on the…

I've been running for a few years but I don't think I can call myself a runner yet. I've only ever done 5k's (6 of them). I'm still no good at them. My PR is 38 minutes. It is a sad state of affairs. My cardio is pretty good. I can hike up and down mountains all day, I can cycle for 30 miles no problem and those things are…

It depends on the intensity of the routine. Back in the day when I had all the time in the world I would go through my lifts very leisurely. In that case, I didn't think my HR was elevated high enough for long enough to warrant a calorie count. Now I go to the gym with a time limit and I have to crank everything out…

If your goal is weight loss then your priority should be eating a calorie deficit. Firstly, on a positive note, the great thing about your gym routine is that you have one. That is a great accomplishment! It sounds to me like your gym experience is kind of... all over the place. Have you tried doing any of the cardio…

There are a lot of practicing scientists who are scientifically illiterate. Scientific literacy is a specific analytical skill, and a lot of jobs in science don't require it. I remember there was a thing going around on Facebook a while ago, a letter a parent sent to a teacher. The parent had a masters in engineering and…

It depends on your starting point. The more fat you have to lose, the lower a percentage 2lbs is from your total fat and the easier it will be to lose. If you're already starting at a fairly low BF% it could be difficult to lose just fat at 2lbs/wk. If you've got the time to do it slower, it's generally the better choice.…

Speed walking and "getting fast" are admirable goals, but speed can only be built on a solid foundation of distance. It is better to have a distance goal first and aim to finish than to try to complete any distance in a certain amount of time. There are plenty of 26 mile opportunities that don't have a time limit.

Excellent advice so far. It sounds like you've got a good balance going on. If you start to find yourself burning out or not recovering well from your workouts, I'd cut cardio a bit (intensity or time) before sacrificing the weights.

I did c25k and it worked for me. I was starting from scratch, like literally the couch. There were a couple of weeks I had to repeat but I got it done. I've run a lot of 5k's since then. So I'll second the recommendation for that one. When you first start out, run for time. When you've spent enough time running you can…

I know walking is "easy" but please do follow some sort of program that increases mileage slowly. Hiking is my favorite form of exercise, and I can tell you from experience that you are just as likely to encounter an injury hiking too far too fast as you would if you were running. (Hello, stress fractures!) Muscle fatigue…

Please slow down! Find a work out that keeps you in your target heart rate and work up to more intense exercise over time. Jillian Michaels can shut it, seriously don't listen to her she is the worst.

Please don't let the semantics discourage you. Every time you choose a meal without animal products you are having a positive impact on your planet and your health no matter what you chose to eat yesterday. :)

My observation as a science educator is that most people lack scientific literacy and critical reading skills due to a large-scale lack of public interest and political will in the public education system. That's my short answer. :)

Please take care of your callouses. Not just for aesthetics, but because eventually they will tear and that is super unpleasant for you, and the person who has to use the bar after you. Pumice stones and files work well for regular maintenance. If you've let them get to the point that your mom is on your case about it, you…

It does burn fewer calories, but not enough to matter. Treadmills are a poor analog to actual running in a lot of ways. Once you take yourself off the trail and get on a treadmill the damage has already been done. I don't think holding on to the hand rails or not really makes a huge difference. That having been said, I…

Calcium- The problem with calcium for vegans is getting it in volume. Try making a habit of choosing calcium rich options, like almonds instead of cashews and dried figs instead of bananas. Drink plant milks, and make sure they're fortified with calcium. This is important because they are usually also fortified with iron…

My dinners are typically around 400 calories, and the bulk of my veggies are in there so it's probably the largest volume meal I eat. By the end of the day I don't usually have a lot of calories left for snacking, but if I do I like chips, cookies, popcorn. I almost always have a beer at the end of the day. I think I would…

All the math works out, that should be a healthy deficit. Are there other things going on in your life? Sometimes just adding one more stressor (and eating a deficit is a stressor, so is new exercise) to an already stressful life will have a serious impact on your energy. I always know to expect some serious fatigue and…

Strength gains are possible when cutting, but it's not the ideal situation based on my research and experience. Everyone is different. Just know that for some people it is difficult to do both at once. You might not be one of them, but just be mentally prepared to choose if you have to. As long as you do some kind of…