Re:Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
by Ma8ee on Friday April 10, 2015 @01:18PM
(#9355745)
Are you confusing SS with something else? It's not at all high-intensity like cross-fit and similar. It is just as heavy weights you can manage (with good technique) for 3 sets of 5 reps for most excercises.
Re:Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
by nether on Friday April 10, 2015 @02:29PM
(#9356202)
No, I mean SS. I own 2nd and 3rd editions of the book and followed the program for 14 months. I remember the copious warmup sets. It's not the constantly high, frenetic workout like Xfit, but the blow-out effort for the 1x5 deadlifts where your face turns beet red is as far from endurance training as you can get. 10 minutes of warmup sets capped by a few high-intensity sets isn't endurance, 2 hours of running with light breathing is. You see this in comparing the physiques of elite strength vs endurance athletes.
Re:Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
by Ma8ee on Friday April 10, 2015 @04:50PM
(#9357035)
Of course it is very far from endurance training. I just didn't recognize your description of the program.
I'm trying to do both. I lift 3 days a week and run 3. I'm well aware that the lifting is suboptimal if I want to be a good runner and the running inhibits my gains from lifting, but I'm very happy about the general physique I'm building this way. (If I just could stop eating so much!)
Re:Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
by tghw on Friday April 10, 2015 @03:33PM
(#9356611)
I'm not finding the article I want to reference, but this[0] is along the similar lines. In short, research is starting to find similar adaptations to short, high intensity training as long endurance training, including increased VO2 max and measures of endurance.
> People may have different fitness goals, but for someone who is untrained by far the best thing they can do is a strength program for 3-5 months before training more specifically for their goals
I mostly agree with this, though if endurance is your long term goal you'll need to train very differently after the 3-5 months base period. SS is high-intensity activity with eye-popping heart rates, for a few hours a week. Endurance is long hours of low-intensity activity, marathons and the like. I train for mountaineering/alpinism and the weightlifting component is very different: 7-10 reps per set at low weight and minimizing mass accumulation while maximizing recruitment of existing muscle. You can very well have too much mass while climbing.