[quote]BobParr wrote:
[quote]HiFiBoy wrote:
[quote]AccipiterQ wrote:
People may ask why we carry excess muscle, but it serves a purpose. Excess fat is basically just sitting there killing you.
[/quote]
I’ve been thinking about this recently. What purpose exactly does excess muscle serve? Beyond aesthetics and self esteem, I can’t really think of much other than delusional reasons to satisfy the fact that it is more than just vanity. I’m not knocking it as I pursue it myself, I’m just interested in what you think?
My friend once tried to justify 5 years in the gym by saying he moved a heavy couch on his own, this all he could come up with. He could also make his pecs dance.
[/quote]
I’ll bet you’re under 30. Once you pass that mark, your perspective may change. For one thing, statistics show that for each decade past age 20, the average person loses at least 5% of their lean mass. That’s APART from the typical weight gain that comes with age. In other words, you could watch your diet and weigh the same on the scale at 50 as you weighed at 25 - but have much more fat and less muscle on your frame.
Beyond aesthetics, why should you care if that’s the case? For one thing, the more lean mass you have the longer (and healthier) your life will be. You know what the dividing line often is between people who succumb to a prolonged illness and those who recover from it? The amount of lean mass they had before they became ill.
You know all those elderly people who slip on some ice or trip over a rug and break their hip and nine months later they’re dead? Usually they have little ability to generate power (force x acceleration). Research shows that power is the first thing that declines as untrained people age - it diminishes even quicker than lean mass. Guess how you can halt or even reverse this loss of power: lifting weights, especially if you lift them fast.
Have you heard about how most of the chronic diseases of civilized societies, the ones that kill 95% of people (heart disease, stroke, cancer, diabetes) are essentially caused by chronic inflammation? And are you aware that another, albeit non-deadly problem that plagues older people - osteoarthritis - is also an inflammatory condition? Excess bodyfat isn’t just ugly dead weight- it’s a portable factory that churns out inflammatory chemicals 24/7. If you want to keep bodyfat to a minimum, you basically have two options - either eat progressively fewer calories as you age or make sure you carry excess muscle.
Finally, have you heard how depression is epidemic in older people? Or that, as they age, men gradually become more feminized (lower testosterone and increased estrogen - think moobs, erectile dysfunction, and prostate problems)? Guess what a great way to make sure your hormonal profile stays in a healthy balance and your mood stays positive? Oh, I suppose you can support the pharmaceutical companies instead: they sell all sorts of products to address these issues, including two of their bestsellers - antidepressants and Viagra.
So follow the crowd and you will start becoming decrepit somewhere around 25. Or, as Charles Staley says, you can look at what most people around you are doing and do the opposite.
Wait till you’re over 40 and you find yourself having to actually talk yourself out of training again because you’re bursting with energy but you’ve already trained four times this week. Wait till you’re over 40 and you find yourself running up stairs two at time when people much younger than you opt to take the elevator. Wait till you’re over 40 and wake up under a tent every morning as Poliquin puts it, and you feel just as horny and damn near as invincible as you did when you were 17.
Oh yeah, and you can move heavy couches.
When you get there, and I hope you do, you will understand.[/quote]
Great post. I like knowing that barring some horrible accident/disease I’m setting myself up to be happy & healthier longer. I also know that money I dump into medicare & SSI is going to be going to pay for medical bills from someone who couldn’t put the fucking fork down and go run a lap.
[quote]wigsa wrote:
I agree with the OP,and it really annoys me when people defend obese people.They are responsible for the poverty and starvation in the world.Their over consumption and greed causes so many problems that people either don’t or won’t see.
I hate the way people,when trying to defend starvation in the third world,say,we as a planet cannot sustain everyone.They genuinely believe this.All you have to do is look at any Western country where you will find that adult and child obesity levels are at an all time high and are continuing to rise.It’s a cop out to claim the world is not sustainable.
What also pisses me off are the champions of the fat,people like Oprah or any other daytime tv presenter,among so many others,who say that the media puts pressure on women to look skinny and unhealthy.Anorexia is singled out as a major problem among young people SO much more often that obesity.Even though the number of anorexics is only a fraction of the obese in the Western world.It makes me fucking sick.
If celebrities are putting the public under pressure to look skinny,they’re doing a pretty SHIT fucking job if the number of fat people keeps multiplying.[/quote]
A-fuckin-men. I’m shocked the number of people here who are saying ‘why do you care?’. I care because my money is going to be going to pay their medical bills. I care because the more fat people are accepted the harder it is going to be for me to help my own kids stay healthy. I care because 90% of the people that I see that are obese constantly make excuses for it, even if the topic isn’t brought up, so obviously they know they’re full of shit.