Our Physical Fitness

[Scribe]

I think a lot of the fitness youtube stuff is WAY outside the realm of realistic, 'supplement aided' or not.

People in that 1% type look, its a lifestyle, and its not something most young men are going to be able to attain in any way.

I'm blessed to be able to afford whatever I like for supplements, I work from home so can be in whatever state of pain I desire, as long as I have my fingers to type.

It's still a challenge to find the time to eat properly, sleep properly, work, and train.

 

[Mannahnin]

That's one of the reasons I like the folks I like. They are realistic about gear and HRT, talk openly about them and their downsides. Talk about how most supplements apart from protein and creatine are junk and snake oil, talk about how genetics is a big component and most influencers have fortunate genetics combined with lighting and editing to sell a look, so you shouldn't compare yourself to them. About how sleep, recovery, basic nutrition, effort and consistency are your core building blocks which will get at least 80% of your possible results. Talk about strict technique to maximize results and minimize injuries, etc.

 

[TiQuinn]

Huh. The only thing I think I've seen him be a little bit out there on is some techno-utopian kind of stuff about medical science and about AI. I've only seen a couple of clips of him with Attia and it was really straightforward nutrition and exercise stuff. His video on lifting at different ages, what to expect and what to prioritize, I found really inspirational and have shared with a few folks.

Yeah, I watched the whole three hour podcast/video.

The first hour was really straightforward stuff, as you said. Then he started talking about his own steroid use and metrics, which I think Attia was kind of shocked by, but for me...I'm not out here trying to be a competitive bodybuilder or anything, so it's more just interesting hearing this stuff. The last 45 minutes though goes into some Ray Kurtzweil "Singularity isn't just Near, it's happening in 10 years" stuff that is just...I don't know. I have a hard time reconciling all of the info he puts out there when he's maybe got a bit of blinders on about his own health and steroid use (again, that's his call, his life, his experience), and then some real belief that we're uploading our brains to the cloud in the next decade to decade in a half.

 

[TiQuinn]

That's one of the reasons I like the folks I like. They are realistic about gear and HRT, talk openly about them and their downsides. Talk about how most supplements apart from protein and creatine are junk and snake oil, talk about how genetics is a big component and most influencers have fortunate genetics combined with lighting and editing to sell a look, so you shouldn't compare yourself to them. About how sleep, recovery, basic nutrition, effort and consistency are your core building blocks which will get at least 80% of your possible results. Talk about strict technique to maximize results and minimize injuries, etc.

I think the problem is that YT and Instagram requires the steady stream of content, and at the end of the day, a lot of fitness comes down to:

1) Genetics - not much you can do about it.
2) Effective training - what exercises you're doing, what level of effort.
3) Nutrition - From my standpoint, not as big a deal as people make it out to be, but I don't buy into the carnivore, keto, seed oils are the devil stuff.
4) Consistency.

If someone starts up a new channel, they really have to talk about #2 and #3, but at some point, they're going to run out of content unless they start turning to the outrage content or the comedy content. Because once you've #2 and #3 mostly locked in, the rest is all about consistency.

 

[OB1]

Got off the couch about 10 years ago to run an Olympic triathlon. Took me 1.5 years to get there, but did it. Since then, I’ve tried to keep the routine even if I don’t run the race. One 5k and one 10k run per week, 1 hour elliptical and 1 40k bike ride per week, 1 1.6k and 1 3.2k swim per week. Has kept me in the 170lb range (down from 230 when I started) for a decade.

 

[schneeland]

I've only seen a couple of clips of him with Attia and it was really straightforward nutrition and exercise stuff. His video on lifting at different ages, what to expect and what to prioritize, I found really inspirational and have shared with a few folks.

I know nothing of this person (basically, my only English language sources for fitness content are Stronger by Science and sometimes Squat University), but the video itself seems solid (if a bit repetitive).
It also aligns well with my personal experience - when I started training again mid 30s, it was not that different from training in my 20s; but in my two efforts to restart again with 40+, it was unpleasantly tedious to even build up a basic level of fitness (which is part of the problem - the positive feedback loop didn't really kick in and also my tendons were quite easy to upset).

 

[Guest 85555]

I think a lot of the fitness youtube stuff is WAY outside the realm of realistic, 'supplement aided' or not.

I would agree. I think it is also largely people who are making money doing it so they can make fitness their full time job concern. When I was young I worked at a martial arts school and I don't think I have ever been in better shape or condition, simply because I could pretty much make it my entire focus

People in that 1% type look, its a lifestyle, and its not something most young men are going to be able to attain in any way.

A lot of it too is simple body fat percentage. So they are probably on very restricted diets. If someone's muscles are popping out, if they have six pack abs, that is usually more to do with body fat percentage

I'm blessed to be able to afford whatever I like for supplements, I work from home so can be in whatever state of pain I desire, as long as I have my fingers to type.

All I do is a couple of protein shakes, a multivitamin for men over 40, and vitamin D and B spray (I have crohns disease and celiac disease so I need to make sure my B vitamins and D don't get low)

It's still a challenge to find the time to eat properly, sleep properly, work, and train.

I think wedging in exercise and good eating, between daily adult responsibilities is always a challenge. That is why I take a very low stress approach. I always do weights in the morning for at least 3-5 sets of different exercises (this only takes like 20 minutes, sometimes 30). That is something I can always do no matter how I am feeling or what my schedule is. And then whatever I can stack on top of that is a bonus. Some mornings I do a much more complete weight routine and some indoor shadow boxing. Usually what happens is as the weather warms up my routine gets more intense and I start including running and other outdoor activities. I give myself one day to just rest my body.

When I was younger I would push myself much harder, but as I got older I found that more difficult to maintain (it started to turn into binging exercise for a few months, then taking two weeks to break because I was feeling run down)

 

[Guest 85555]

That's one of the reasons I like the folks I like. They are realistic about gear and HRT, talk openly about them and their downsides. Talk about how most supplements apart from protein and creatine are junk and snake oil, talk about how genetics is a big component and most influencers have fortunate genetics combined with lighting and editing to sell a look, so you shouldn't compare yourself to them. About how sleep, recovery, basic nutrition, effort and consistency are your core building blocks which will get at least 80% of your possible results. Talk about strict technique to maximize results and minimize injuries, etc.

Genetics really is something I came to understand much younger. I was what they called a hard gainer. And it wasn't until I started eating right before weight training that I saw more gains. But ironically when I hit my late forties, the opposite happened: I had to cut back on eating and protein to avoid getting a gut

I try to avoid anything supplementary that isn't a vitamin or protein powder (I don't even do creatine anymore). When I was younger I did those pre-workout drinks and I think they did a number on my body (there were so many in GNC in the early 2000s I recall taking). You got kind of addicted to the sugar rush or something (not even sure what was in them). These days I won't even have coffee before a work out

 

[Scribe]

A lot of it too is simple body fat percentage. So they are probably on very restricted diets. If someone's muscles are popping out, if they have six pack abs, that is usually more to do with body fat percentage

Yeah, and this is the challenge. If its not ones job/life, thats the hardest part.

All I do is a couple of protein shakes, a multivitamin for men over 40, and vitamin D and B spray (I have crohns disease and celiac disease so I need to make sure my B vitamins and D don't get low)

Protein Bar
Protein Shake
Creatine
Quercetin (this is a life saver for me)
Joint/Anti-Inflammation Supplement
Collagen Supplement
Multi-Vitamin Powder
Recovery Drink (More Anti-Inflammation)
Energy Drinks (the problem....)
Vitamin D drops.

A few other random things (Silver, etc) that are more general health focused on an as needed basis.

Add that one top of a solid high protein dinner, and I'm not even really sore in terms of my muscle, its just these bloody joint issues.

It also aligns well with my personal experience - when I started training again mid 30s, it was not that different from training in my 20s; but in my two efforts to restart again with 40+, it was unpleasantly tedious to even build up a basic level of fitness (which is part of the problem - the positive feedback loop didn't really kick in and also my tendons were quite easy to upset).

When I started again, I had some sessions (if we can call them that) of about 20 minutes as my arms just gave out. It is absolutely the worst part of the process when starting, just getting to a point where one even CAN work out.

 

[darjr]

Gear scares the living crap out of me. I have a family history of heart issues and last thing I need is more worries about that.

I definitely appreciate folks being honest about it.