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I know this thread is prob dead, However I thought I would offer another workout that is in the area and is FREE.
F3 is a network of free, participant-led boot camp workouts for men that take place outdoors in the early morning, rain or shine, heat or cold.
Workouts can be found throughout the Triangle area. Check F3Nation.com for more information and a schedule of local workouts.
I just joined the new Fuquay-Varina workout at Action Park (609 Wake Chapel Road, Fuquay-Varina, NC 27526). We workout every Wednesday morning from 5:45-6:30am. We currently only have the one workout in Fuquay-Varina. We plan on expanding with more workouts in Fuquay-Varina if more guys come workout with us. No need to contact anyone beforehand or bring special equipment. Just come dressed to workout.
I haven't been to the other workouts in the area, but from what I here they are well established and always looking for new guys to join in the workout.
Buy a pallet of stone, or a few yards of clay soil and move them around the yard for an hour every other day. Real world exercise trumps all imo. Maybe I should start a contractor fantasy camp, members get an awesome workout and I can get free labor lol.
Actually there have been a number of studies comparing overall health and longevity of life between folks who had physically demanding jobs versus non-physically demanding jobs that worked out regularly in a controlled environment (gym equipment, etc) and the gym rats won hands down in every case I've seen. I think a lot of that is because yard work and so forth has a greater chance of requiring you to do something that is outside the threshold of good form (results in injuries), or you focus on getting the job at hand done rather than monitor your heart rate and pay attention to maximizing the fitness benefit. I can name half a dozen friends who lost a relative to heart failure while doing yard work, that doesn't even take into consideration skin cancer from being in the sun, etc.
Just because something is difficult, makes you sweat or makes you sore the next day does not mean it is good for your body. This is one reason I'm skeptical of things like "spiderman crawling". I understand it's difficult and will definitely test your ability to push yourself, but every yutz and his seven brothers wants to come up with a uniquely difficult exercise or contraption to sell as innovation, and it does not guarantee that the exercise is actually good for the human body.
I can name half a dozen friends who lost a relative to heart failure while doing yard work,
And I know of at least a dozen cases of people who lost a relative to heart failure while working out in the gym...not to mention all the injuries in a gym setting. I can only hope to die an old man doing what I love so much...working hard in the yard
And I know of at least a dozen cases of people who lost a relative to heart failure while working out in the gym...not to mention all the injuries in a gym setting. I can only hope to die an old man doing what I love so much...working hard in the yard
There's no doubt something to be said for doing what you love. I enjoy it too, to a certain extent.
But regardless of how you do it, very few people monitor their heart rate or keep track of progressive reps and such when doing manual labor, yardwork, etc. They also often find themselves moving joints and muscles in a way that is not good form.
Statistics and every credible research article ever published on this subject align with what I've said here. You're free to disagree of course, just realize it's your opinion versus an entire industry that knows better than you and I put together.
Statistics and every credible research article ever published on this subject align with what I've said here. You're free to disagree of course, just realize it's your opinion versus an entire industry that knows better than you and I put together.
Industry studies come with a bias. I'm not here to argue that exercise is bad, nor am I going to take up the debate of "work" vs "working out". What I will say is that ANY study has to accommodate for a lot of relevant factors. For instance, I don't know but I would guess that there are some socio-economic factors effecting health of those who work for a living (blue collar) vs those who have expendable income and time to go to the gym.
All to say that that you can't just compare the two. Bottom line is an active lifestyle is (almost) always better than an inactive one. If working in the yard motivates you, then do it. If going to the gym motivates you, and you have the resources, then do that. But mostly, when you are sitting in the comfort of your sofa, in the heat of summer, watching reruns of the winter curling championship, get up off your butt and do SOMETHING. (when I had TV, I had a personal rule that for my first hour of TV in any given day, I had to do something during each commercial break. 25 pushups, 35 situps, stretches, etc.) That gets you about six sets in that first hour, so it was SOMETHING. Then and now, I'd much rather be out on my bike, or mowing the yard, or going for a walk clearing the cobwebs out of my head.
Oh, and nobody mentioned it, but I have a strong vote for getting a person of the opposite gender, about 10-15 years younger than you (assuming you are at least 30-40 years old), and exercising like that. I don't know the stats on how many people die each year, but I'd much rather end my enjoying THAT activity, rather than hauling mulch OR curling deadweights... just saying.
Industry studies come with a bias. I'm not here to argue that exercise is bad, nor am I going to take up the debate of "work" vs "working out". What I will say is that ANY study has to accommodate for a lot of relevant factors. For instance, I don't know but I would guess that there are some socio-economic factors effecting health of those who work for a living (blue collar) vs those who have expendable income and time to go to the gym.
All to say that that you can't just compare the two. Bottom line is an active lifestyle is (almost) always better than an inactive one. If working in the yard motivates you, then do it. If going to the gym motivates you, and you have the resources, then do that. But mostly, when you are sitting in the comfort of your sofa, in the heat of summer, watching reruns of the winter curling championship, get up off your butt and do SOMETHING. (when I had TV, I had a personal rule that for my first hour of TV in any given day, I had to do something during each commercial break. 25 pushups, 35 situps, stretches, etc.) That gets you about six sets in that first hour, so it was SOMETHING. Then and now, I'd much rather be out on my bike, or mowing the yard, or going for a walk clearing the cobwebs out of my head.
Oh, and nobody mentioned it, but I have a strong vote for getting a person of the opposite gender, about 10-15 years younger than you (assuming you are at least 30-40 years old), and exercising like that. I don't know the stats on how many people die each year, but I'd much rather end my enjoying THAT activity, rather than hauling mulch OR curling deadweights... just saying.
No doubt, any activity is better than none (well within limits of course), I wasn't trying to dissuade anyone from doing yard work. I was trying to point out that if you only have an hour a day to allocate for exercise, and want to maximize the fitness benefit (assuming fitness is your goal rather than a cure for boredom or whatever), it is better to work out in a controlled environment where your progress can easily be monitored and controlled than it is to just take up some other strenuous activity and assume it's good for you.
As far as "industry study bias", over the years I've seen lots of impartial medical and academic research studies that support the ideas I've put forth here, I'm not talking about some exercise machine vendor trying to talk you out of mowing your lawn or anything. There have been many studies comparing the long-term effects of having a manual-labor profession versus a sedentary job with after-work exercise, and from any valid source I've seen, there is no comparison in the results, the manual-labor folks have more health problems, injuries and shorter lives.
It does not mean I'm going to stop doing yard work or around the house tasks. It just means I'm not going to be naieve enough to assume that just because I worked up a sweat, or because I'm sore the next day, that whatever I just did was "good for me".
"No pain no gain" is not the same as "pain=gain" unless badly translated in a foreign tongue
No doubt, any activity is better than none (well within limits of course), I wasn't trying to dissuade anyone from doing yard work. I was trying to point out that if you only have an hour a day to allocate for exercise, and want to maximize the fitness benefit (assuming fitness is your goal rather than a cure for boredom or whatever), it is better to work out in a controlled environment where your progress can easily be monitored and controlled than it is to just take up some other strenuous activity and assume it's good for you.
As far as "industry study bias", over the years I've seen lots of impartial medical and academic research studies that support the ideas I've put forth here, I'm not talking about some exercise machine vendor trying to talk you out of mowing your lawn or anything. There have been many studies comparing the long-term effects of having a manual-labor profession versus a sedentary job with after-work exercise, and from any valid source I've seen, there is no comparison in the results, the manual-labor folks have more health problems, injuries and shorter lives.
It does not mean I'm going to stop doing yard work or around the house tasks. It just means I'm not going to be naieve enough to assume that just because I worked up a sweat, or because I'm sore the next day, that whatever I just did was "good for me".
"No pain no gain" is not the same as "pain=gain" unless badly translated in a foreign tongue
While I agree to a certain extent (I enjoy going to the gym and working out myself), it has been my personal experience that (in general) people with manual labor jobs tend to have other bad habits that may contribute to a shorter life. I suspect a higher percentage of them are smokers, heavy drinkers, don't eat healthy, etc. They are probably are susceptible to over use injuries, doing things the wrong way, etc. Unless the study takes this into account, one can't automatically assume that the results are correct.
In terms of longevity, for the most part its in the genes! One can do everything right and still not live long! My grandfather smoked heavily unit the age of 85, ate things that would give many people immediate heart failure (lard was a staple) and did a lot of manual labor. Was very active and lived on his own till he was 99!
While I agree to a certain extent (I enjoy going to the gym and working out myself), it has been my personal experience that (in general) people with manual labor jobs tend to have other bad habits that may contribute to a shorter life. I suspect a higher percentage of them are smokers, heavy drinkers, don't eat healthy, etc. They are probably are susceptible to over use injuries, doing things the wrong way, etc. Unless the study takes this into account, one can't automatically assume that the results are correct.
In terms of longevity, for the most part its in the genes! One can do everything right and still not live long! My grandfather smoked heavily unit the age of 85, ate things that would give many people immediate heart failure (lard was a staple) and did a lot of manual labor. Was very active and lived on his own till he was 99!
I agree that no single study is perfect, but when you see a consistent theme emerging from multiple studies over a period decades published in scientific and medical publications, you have to believe there is something to be said for the consistency of results. Just as any doctor office immediately asks a patient if they are a smoker or alcohol abuser, and many insurance companies test for signs of such, I have to believe that at least a reasonable number of these studies were conducted by professionals who know how to properly compare test groups without overlooking obvious and relatively easily verifiable differences.
At the same time you may be onto something about the overall lifestyle of manual laborers, and yes it is the over use injuries and bad form that I believe contributes to the overall poorer health associated with manual labor. Can you imagine a construction worker saying "sorry boss, I gotta bail for the day even though I'm half done, I've already exceeded 20 reps at 80% of max, sustained a heart rate of 170 way longer than I should for my age due to the heat, and I need to take tomorrow off to prevent burnout for my muscles and tendons". Ain't gonna happen.
At least in a gym environment, folks are more likely to listen to their body regarding when to take it easy, and the equipment in a gym lends itself to mechanical motions that are within good form, rather than just carrying and lifting stuff all day. I'm just as guilty of pushing myself too hard or being oblivious to my limits sometimes, especially when I'm doing something like a typical homeowner task, one reason I wouldn't take it as a primary exercise activity over going to the gym.
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