Stupid Questions Thread

[dw]

So the inference from the half-marathon guys and the office workers having similar TDEE is that the office workers are expending additional energy in other ways (e.g. fidgeting) whereas the other population is likely resting when they don't need to do their labors?

[AlanMackey]

So the inference from the half-marathon guys and the office workers having similar TDEE is that the office workers are expending additional energy in other ways (e.g. fidgeting) whereas the other population is likely resting when they don't need to do their labors?

This is worth a read:

[5hout]

So the inference from the half-marathon guys and the office workers having similar TDEE is that the office workers are expending additional energy in other ways (e.g. fidgeting) whereas the other population is likely resting when they don't need to do their labors?

My understanding/recollection was that it was more about the body having the ability to become insanely efficient at repetitive activities. You go from not running to running a 5k each lunch you burn crazy energy for a few weeks, and then it drops down. There was also some question about compensatory laziness, with (iirc) the weight of evidence somewhat disfavoring this idea. Essentially, maybe to some extent more active people move/fidget less, but that most of the difference was body efficiency.

This also ties in with the Amish/farmer high caloric burn, which is they don't have what I'll term an "ultra-efficient" bodytype (i.e. starving marvin) and their labor is less easily subjected to metabolic optimization + food availability.

[alek]

So the inference from the half-marathon guys and the office workers having similar TDEE is that the office workers are expending additional energy in other ways (e.g. fidgeting) whereas the other population is likely resting when they don't need to do their labors?

From what I recall from the podcast and book is that no, it's not that they fidget more, but it's that sedentary folks' bodies are using the calories, that aren't stored as fat, to do systemic stuff like increase inflammation, raise blood pressure, and other stuff. I think Pontzer's newest work is about figuring out what are those systemic processes that happen.

Whereas with half-marathon guys, also similar to what 5hout is saying, is that after the initial shock to the system of doing half marathons and training for them, the body goes, "Oh, we're doing this on the regular? Well I'm just going to save up calories, robbing them from unnecessary systemic tasks, so that we have the energy to do your running." A couple papers are referenced in the podcast and book about how people did X amount of exercise for a long time, like months or years, eating at maintenance (sorry, not maintenance... at a constant amount over the length of the study), and they saw no to very little weightloss after the end of the studies.

Anyway, here's the BBM podcast with Pontzer



And read his book, Burn. It's worth the read.

[asdf]

I can't find the image I'm thinking of from his book, but the one that depicts physical activity, non-essential bodily functions, and essential bodily functions

Maybe this?

https://journals.physiology.org/cms/10. ... 10001.jpeg

...definition of overtraining--whereby you do so much physical activity that you not only rob your body of calories for non-essential functions, but you start to rob calories from essential functions like reproductive stuff.

Losing morning wood is one of the sure signs that I'm overtraining.

[asdf]

[Exercised by Daniel Lieberman] is worth a read

I agree. That's where I first heard about Pontzer's work. (Lieberman was Pontzer's thesis advisor at Harvard.)

[alek]

I can't find the image I'm thinking of from his book, but the one that depicts physical activity, non-essential bodily functions, and essential bodily functions

Maybe this?

https://journals.physiology.org/cms/10. ... 10001.jpeg

Yes, something just like that.

...definition of overtraining--whereby you do so much physical activity that you not only rob your body of calories for non-essential functions, but you start to rob calories from essential functions like reproductive stuff.

Losing morning wood is one of the sure signs that I'm overtraining.

Well, at least it's an easy, objective measure to track...

[Philbert]

Client of mine had kidney stones and his doctor insisted they were the result of using protein powder. I’ve never found anything to support that position but also never have been able to get it out of the back of my head, and so am (probably very stupidly) judicious with how much I ingest.

Individuals with defects in urea metabolism may form kidney stones with high overall protein consumption, for that it does not matter if the protein is gluten or whey isolate. Another potential contributor to kidney stones is the DNA in meat.
Doc may have been correct in the specific case (if your friend's powder usage was pushing him over his body's ability to process nitrogen safely) but certainly incorrect in the general case I have never seen someone with kidney stones from protein, I have seen kidney problems attributable to green vegetables.

[Renascent]

Individuals with defects in urea metabolism...

Congenital? Or some acquired condition?

[dw]

Have any of you tried to add weight to the weight stack of a commercial gym machine?

I want to add about 50 pounds to the back extension machine at the gym I use. I can slip in a few of the 5 pound increments from the pulley machine but not enough.

I'm thinking of wrapping a thin chain around some of the slabs of the weight stack and hanging two rubberized 25 pound plates from it. It will be a while before I can try this...in my mind it makes sense but I have a feeling it won't work.

Are there some small dense weights I can just slip on top of the stack?


ETA...maybe this? https://www.kingofthegym.com/gym-pin-review/

[Philbert]

Individuals with defects in urea metabolism...

Congenital? Or some acquired condition?

Congenital. There is also the alteration in calcium metabolism with very excessive protein consumption which I had forgotten, leading to increased calcium excretion in urine which can contribute to kidney stone formation as well.

[Renascent]

Individuals with defects in urea metabolism...

Congenital? Or some acquired condition?

Congenital. There is also the alteration in calcium metabolism with very excessive protein consumption which I had forgotten, leading to increased calcium excretion in urine which can contribute to kidney stone formation as well.

Interesting.

I was recently told by an LNP that protein powders contain "a lotta triglycerides" and I just looked at her like she was fucking crazy.

Based on some of the studies I've come across from a cursory search, seems like an increased potential for developing stones of some sort (uric acid or calcium) is what she was likely getting at.

Passing stones through the peehole doesn't sound like much fun at all.

[DCR]

Passing stones through the peehole doesn't sound like much fun at all.

Right. Avoiding this outcome is perhaps the one thing to which my desire for bigger biceps comes second.

[ChasingCurls69]

Have any of you tried to add weight to the weight stack of a commercial gym machine?

I want to add about 50 pounds to the back extension machine at the gym I use. I can slip in a few of the 5 pound increments from the pulley machine but not enough.

I'm thinking of wrapping a thin chain around some of the slabs of the weight stack and hanging two rubberized 25 pound plates from it. It will be a while before I can try this...in my mind it makes sense but I have a feeling it won't work.

Are there some small dense weights I can just slip on top of the stack?


ETA...maybe this? https://www.kingofthegym.com/gym-pin-review/

That usually ends up breaking the machine, although I'm not sure how heavy/how many reps you have to do over time before it breaks.

[EggMcMuffin]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

I think that the best course of action would be to improve your time management skills. And then go train. How much time does lifting really take ? 1 hour a day ?

[mouse]

Being that I have no time/suck at managing my time, what would be the best course of action if I planned to not really lift for a few months but didn't want to completely detrain/turn into a disgusting blob?

I think that the best course of action would be to improve your time management skills. And then go train. How much time does lifting really take ? 1 hour a day ?

Seconded, time management has been a big(ger) part of life for me lately.

Admittedly I've de-prioritized training recently but if I can find time to work 10 hour days, 5-7 hours of OT every week, fill my remaining daylight hours with construction work, be a full time dad to 3 boys, and still find an hour 3 times a week to get some training in... you should be alright my dude.

[EggMcMuffin]

I've been really all over the place lately. Super irregular bedtimes, and getting fired from my last shitty retail job and having another shittier one that now doesn't give me a set schedule (close 11PM, come in next day at 6AM) on top of taking a pretty heavy courseload (Mechanics and Diff Eq + Intermediate Java are easy shit, but I am a moron). It used to feel easy to train at least one hour a day when I still had an outside gym membership but I don't know what happened to me between now and then that I seem to have lost that ability. I used to have to drive from school to the gym too, which ate up 30mins.

I'd honestly prefer to just do one type of lift per session. I hate doing upper/lower on the same day. That's usually what drags things out.

[CheekiBreekiFitness]

I've been really all over the place lately. Super irregular bedtimes, and getting fired from my last shitty retail job and having another shittier one that now doesn't give me a set schedule (close 11PM, come in next day at 6AM) on top of taking a pretty heavy courseload (Mechanics and Diff Eq + Intermediate Java are easy shit, but I am a moron). It used to feel easy to train at least one hour a day when I still had an outside gym membership but I don't know what happened to me between now and then that I seem to have lost that ability. I used to have to drive from school to the gym too, which ate up 30mins.

I'd honestly prefer to just do one type of lift per session. I hate doing upper/lower on the same day. That's usually what drags things out.

Do you have a homegym ?

[EggMcMuffin]

"You can only delete posts that have not been replied to"



Anyway, yeah. I find it hard to be at home for a variety of reasons, so I honestly have grown to dislike training in it. It's also a pretty cramped space.