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Ok, these posts make sense now. Because you are avid hikers/endurance trainers, you could also enter strong man competitions, do atlas stone work, pull semi's, etc. Walk into a gym, squat 400lbs, etc.
Like I said, different people train for different goals. Just because one person lifts for strength, and you train for endurance, it doesn't necessarily make one "tough" and not the other.
You can't excel 100% at both, you can be average at both, or excel at one or the other, but being top for both doesn't exist.
I can promise you, you would fail at one of my workouts trying to lift my weights, just as much as I would fail doing one of your workouts.. It goes both ways.. The key is to understand the difference, which you guys seem to be struggling with.
You completely missed my point. First, I started championing balance in a total fitness regime. At no point did I say there is no merrit in someone who "specializes" in a certain type of fitness. I am simply saying that style of fitness has it's limits.
I train for balance. I can do endurance. I can do heavy lifting. I will never be the strongest man in the gym, the fastest runner on the trail, or the toughest most rugged ironman competitor. But I can hold my own in all of those
venues. When you say "you can't excel at both" you don't know my limits or lack thereof. Maybe you can't, but that's a limit you place on yourself. I don't do that to myself.
Also, excelling is relative. That's why wrestlers and competitors have weight classes. If you weigh 200 pounds and bench 3 plates, great. I would consider a 170 pound man doing ~250 just as impressive as it is a similar weight percentage relative to weight.
Can I sling as much steel as you? Probably not. Can I scale it to my weight and "pass one of your workouts?" Without a doubt. Just because you put limits on yourself doesn't mean we all do.
The key for you to understand is balance is more important to some of us than specializing. I don't fault you for specializing (I challenge you to find where I have) but I consider it limited. This is a simple idea and easy to understand. I'm not sure why it is so difficult for you.
The difference is I know perfectly well that doing more cardio would be good for my health and every day life overall, unfortunately at sake of my muscle mass. I have no problem admitting it. There is certainly benefits to both, and as I age, like I mentioned, I will probably get more into triathlon type of training, and less strength training. For now, for me personally, and my goals, I stick to weightlifting. In terms of overall fitness and healthwise, I would never say that weightlifting is all that should be done. I will say it's the most ideal to build muscle (how someone can argue yoga builds muscle as well is baffling) and I'll also say that more muscle mass will burn more calories, but it's far from being the "end-all" for exercise. Even pro bodybuilders, Ronnie Coleman, Jay Cutler, etc. ALL do cardio during their cutting stages. Granted it's low intensity steady state cardio, they still do around an hour per day. Just as you competing your hikes, it's rewarding for me when I accidentally grab the 120lb dumbbells instead of 100s and put them up for the same amount of reps I was aiming for with the 100s..
I was just using my hiking experience as a way to illustrate a point. Hiking or backpacking is inherently NOT a sport and not something you can particularly excel at or win awards for. If you ever did go on a trek with me it wouldn't be about you trying to keep up or me showing you up. It would be about both of us being safe, respectful and enjoying it. So let's get past that as a point of comparison… I promise I will never be in your gym seeking out a weightlifting contest with you and I rarely ever backpack anymore anyways so we're not likely to meet up in that context either. Incidentally, I don't focus much on 'excelling' at much of anything these days except for maybe being a Dad if that's possible.
It's good that you feel rewarded in the gym. You're obviously enjoying it so stick with it. You just need to stop comparing yourself to others and realize that 'toughness', 'strength', 'stamina' or whatever else you want to call it comes in many forms.
I run & run & run and I love all forms of cardio & bodyweight exercises and the calories burn quickly, but they come right back when I eat.
But it's been years and I need to up my game, the body cannnot progress when doing the same things over & over.
Increased muscle = increased calorie burn 24/7.
I find Weightlifting intimidating however because of all the grunting, gawking guys back in that area of the gym. But strictly physiologically speaking, is weightlifting the way to go? I even studied weightlifting for six months at a PT school last year, though I filtered out much of what he taught us simply because it didn't appeal to me. Still I learned enough to realize that there are some merits to weight training. So maybe I should go there.
Any petite women reading this who have crossed over to the manly side of the gym? Tips to get over the intimidation and the "I hate this, I'd rather be out in the sunshine" factor?
When you say "you can't excel at both" you don't know my limits or lack thereof. Maybe you can't, but that's a limit you place on yourself. I don't do that to myself.
By excel I was referring to it being at a professional level or at least highly competitive. Certainly someone can be "balanced" in all aspects, but a person couldn't score highly at a powerlifting meet, and then place highly in a marathon, all in the same week.
It's not about placing limits on yourself, it's basic knowledge. There are people who specialize in certain aspects of fitness, you simply cannot compete with these people if you also plan to compete in other VERY different fields of fitness.
Like I said, powerlifting and marathon running, they simply do not coincide to be successful at both. Now, if one were to say, running a marathon, and then also doing a road biking race, one could be competitive in both because they are closely related.
Fair enough on your definition of "excel," Dan. Using "pros" as the standard is certainly not wrong. And while I see the value in your method, I define "excel" a little differently than you because professional athletes are not the only ones who excel at fitness.
Just so you know where I am coming from, I derived my definition from a series of metrics developed by outlets ranging from Men's Health Magazine to the National College of Sports Medicine, to Marine Corps height and weight standards and fitness requirements. It's still a pretty exclusive series of standards if you research it; however, it is not impossible to excel across the spectrum of fitness by these metrics.
Fair enough on your definition of "excel," Dan. Using "pros" as the standard is certainly not wrong. And while I see the value in your method, I define "excel" a little differently than you because professional athletes are not the only ones who excel at fitness.
What I find interesting in threads like this is that most people in the gym or out on the running trails are not professional athletes. The OP certainly is not, and she's getting all kinds of advice that she has to amp up her workouts and go balls to the wall, why? Why can't she do the workouts that interest her, even if they're not the most hard core?
What I find interesting in threads like this is that most people in the gym or out on the running trails are not professional athletes. The OP certainly is not, and she's getting all kinds of advice that she has to amp up her workouts and go balls to the wall, why? Why can't she do the workouts that interest her, even if they're not the most hard core?
She asked a question and I think she has received a wide range of answers. Some good, others not so much. I am big on doing what you like because you will stick with it. But if someone gets locked into a fitness schedule that excludes a major aspect of fitness, it is reasonable to expect only limite results. Especially in the OP's case because she is excluding a very important ingredient to her stated fitness goals.
I do not suggest she head down to the local GNC outlet and load up with a bunch of expensive supplements and emerge from the gym looking like a female Jay Cutler. But I do recommend she give weight training a fair try as an augment (not a replacement) for what she is already doing. I think this would result in improvements she is seeking and help her derive a more balanced fitness regime.
Ultimately I hope she enjoys what she is doing. But she may find she enjoys weight training if she gives it a fair shot. And if that's the case, more power to her and her fitness goals!
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