Family Problems, but think I'll rejoice...

wow is all i can say! if any of the guys don't think they get their bodies back, well........carbonblob

Hi CB,

If people can replace that food intake (addiction) with a lot of water, fiber and low carb stuff, then exercise right, ultra fitness is not more than a year away.

I'm regularly on line with runners in the UK. One is even an MD with a sports related specialization. And his immediate reaction was, "Welll...you see your muscles are only superficial...mmm...a martial artist for example could lift more than you and run faster than you." My response was basically, "What a load of sh***t!" I see athletes of all kinds here. How many can do 15 stiff legged hanging leglifts or 15 reps on the ab wheel? Maybe the elite level athletes, but no one else.

Of course, he's trying to coach people how to move properly while running and therein avoid injury, but...

Where do they get this idea that people who lift are weak?

Best Wishes,

Dave

yeah, my reply to him would be, blow me. how do you think you get superficial muscles anyway? by being strong, that's how. it all goes back to one of the biggest myths in all of lifting. that is, if i lift i'll look like arnold and i don't want to look like that! i got news for you. you won't even look like his wife. lifting is an athletic endevour. period. an olympic lifter has faster twitch muscles and responses than the most gifted athletes in the world. the speed needed to hoist for a clean and jerk far surpass anything a top notch athlete will ever do. and this was an MD? in what? mattel dolls? carbonblob

It's not so easily achieved, is it? And you're absolutely right, it is VERY athletic.

Where do these stories come from? I'm always hearing stories about body builders who are huge, but unable to perform some everyday lifting task. I wonder if it's the guys who haven't lifted wisely and have injured their shoulders or backs, but continue lifting around their injuries?

I always tell these people about my carrying Japanese refrigerators around.

Yep, it was an M.D. I think he's a minimalist/ naturalist and I'm not sure if lifting has actually caught on there like it has in the US.

Certainly hasn't caught on here in Japan. I think I found one of my coworkers here who lifts once a week. Too much social pressure to work funny hours and live in trendy places in spite of a long commute.

very different culture. i guess it's their image of a sumo that signifies strength. speaking of which i saw a national geo program about them. these guys are the real deal. strong with the right kind of fat. and fast! the top guy in the world was running along the beach and outran a much smaller guy. these guys can really move.

so in japan do they do aerobic classes or anything trendy like that instead? i guess with their diet they don't really get that fat. well, i know all our fast food is out there but basically they don't eat like we do. so do you see an oppertunity to open a gym out there? or would you sit there and watch your life savings go down the drain? i know there's been some japaneese body builders in the past. must be rare. i think martial arts are probably what gyms are to us out there. a ton of dojo's out there huh? carbonblob

You know, the images we get on TV in Japan are often deceiving, because there are so many people concentrated in such a small area in the big cities of Tokyo and Osaka. This is where most (not all, but most) of the excellence is concentrated. So being in a medium sized city, I don't often come across these people. I've never seen a pro level bodybuilder here or an elite martial artist.

There are aerobics classes, but I've only met a few people that have continued for more than a few months. There's always high turnover in anything like that.

Any Sumo wrestler on TV would be an elite athlete, able to beat thousands of others, so not your typical person mentally or physically.

Rent is so high, that individual enterprise in high capital endeavors is almost unheard of. Big corporations will always be able to pay top dollar for a prime location and will undercut the little guy on (membership for example) costs.

Gyms and dojo require a lot of space in prime real estate areas, near subway lines and require parking lots. So private ones are practically unheard of. Some taichi teachers teach in parks or teach 4-5 people in a home with a little extra floor space.

The average person doesn't do any of the above. My coworkers look thin, but have a high ratio of body fat and little capacity for exercise. I couldn't find anyone for example, even the guys who weigh 40 lbs less than me, who could do one complete rep on the ab wheel (I do three sets of 12 reps).

So in a nutshell, the handful of people who participate in sports or exercise are just a tiny percentage of the population, a much smaller percentage than in the US.

However, calorie intake is low. This is why they enjoy relatively long life spans taking A LOT fewer medications. I don't know of anyone who takes statins, for example.

Notdave. Freak.      That's just disgusting... (ahem.. and I'm so jealous.. LOL) Seriously.. awesome man... what an example of what could be!   Umm.. What's an ab wheel? Later, Dale

Hi Dale,

Yeah, it's such a waste. Gives my wife a thrill, though which should be worth something.

Here's the ab wheel. You kneel with one hand on each side, then stretch arms all the way out until your chest and belly touch the floor (no bending of the back allowed):

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9drX2Ut0HDM

Best Wishes,

Dave