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Thread: Exercise, Government-Style

  1. #1
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    Default Exercise, Government-Style

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    by Mark Rippetoe

    “The National Institute for Health operates a subdivision they call the National Institute on Aging, apparently charged with, among other very important things, the task of amusing us with their ideas about exercise for older people.”

    Article

  2. #2
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    I'm glad this article was written, the word must be spread that a much better life quality can be achieved by old people, than most people think, the government included.

    But if the S&C profession is full of BS, what can you expect from a government initiative in this regard?

  3. #3
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    Unfortunately, an excellent point.

  4. #4
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    That seated overhead can press looked pretty functional too me. I wonder how they would suggest incrementally loading it, since they're instructing to use a heavier weight as they progress. This was painful to watch: https://go4life.nia.nih.gov/exercise...head-arm-raise

  5. #5
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    Coach,

    I can only imagine how grating it must be for a professional coach to be confronted with this extreme form of silly BS. It seems dangerous, silly, expensive, silly, and condescending.

    To me, it's also funny, sad and maddening at the same time. The pictures alone, oh my fair god, the pictures...

    I hope writing this article made you feel at least a little better
    If it doesn't change a thing, well, at least it is amusing for us...

    Quote Originally Posted by MarkRippetoe
    Finally, leadership. Previously we were all just standing around, waiting.


    (And now we can sit around and entertain us with wiggling our arms, legs and/or neck.)

    Quote Originally Posted by Aaron Montgomery View Post
    OmG...

    This exercise sure "should make lifting and carrying your grandchildren easier"...

    Quote Originally Posted by NIA
    •Don’t hold your breath during strength exercises. Holding your breath while straining can cause changes in blood pressure. Breathe in slowly through your nose and breathe out slowly through your mouth.

    •Talk with your doctor if you are unsure about doing a particular exercise, especially if you’ve had hip or back surgery.
    It seems like they exist to prevent healthy aging, and, like Rip said, to amuse us...

    Sometimes it's easy to forget what preconceptions most people have about strength and strength training.
    I try to do my little part and recommend SS and The Barbell Prescription to basically everyone.

  6. #6
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    When I tell my folks I'm off to the gym to squat, they tell me to be careful about my knees. I respond that I learned in A&P class that the most important thing to do to maintain healthy, stable joints is to have large, strong muscles surrounding them. That's true, isn't it?

  7. #7
    Brodie Butland is offline Starting Strength Coach
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    Quote Originally Posted by BenzoSt View Post
    When I tell my folks I'm off to the gym to squat, they tell me to be careful about my knees. I respond that I learned in A&P class that the most important thing to do to maintain healthy, stable joints is to have large, strong muscles surrounding them. That's true, isn't it?
    Amazingly, no one gives this warning when people go for runs, even though running has 105 times the injury rate than recreational weight training. (Yes, that's a real number...0.37 injures/100 participation hours for cross country, .0035 injuries/100 participation hours for weightlifting.)

    But yes, strong muscles surrounding joints is very helpful. And a properly performed squat places very little stress on the knee...Rip explained why in the book, and multiples studies measuring forces on the knee joint while squatting have shown the same thing.

  8. #8
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    Default Rules 1 through 5 - don't do anything that could get you sued

    Quote Originally Posted by Krypto View Post
    It seems like they exist to prevent healthy aging, and, like Rip said, to amuse us...

    Sometimes it's easy to forget what preconceptions most people have about strength and strength training.
    I try to do my little part and recommend SS and The Barbell Prescription to basically everyone.
    I'm pretty sure that all activities recommended by the gubmint OR "health care professionals" to be done in the presence of some "trainer", "helper", or other person who will be watching you do it, are designed first and foremost to insure that you can NOT do anything that would let you hurt yourself and therefore sue somebody working with you. If you want to go ride a bike into a tree, that's on you. But they are NOT going to tell you to bend over if there is ANY chance you'll be able to fall over and claim it's somebody else's fault. Likewise, they're not going to tell you to lift any weight that could hurt you if you drop it on yourself or somebody else, or fail to keep it balanced but don't let go of it as it falls.

    When I had my heart attack ~3 years ago at age 70 the "rehab" I was assigned to included stationary bicycles (including "pedaling" an arm bicycle - THAT was a treat), treadmills, and walking in circles around carpeted connected hallways through the offices. The little dumbells went all the way up to 5 pounds, and the only 4-sided resistance machine was always broken. (Plus, you had to watch a 45 minute vegetarian lifestyle video before you could even start the walking-around stage. Yuk.) It always felt like a waste of 90 minutes, but of course I was guaranteed not to do anything that could hurt. I found Starting Strength through a comment on Instapundit, found a trainer at the local YMCA who has been a lifter for ~30 years, and checked myself out of rehab. Although my primary care physician and cardiologist were initially horrified, after a couple of years my knees still work fine, my back has never hurt, I had to get bigger suits to fit my shoulders into, and I haven't fallen over once. Like Krypto, I recommend strength training to most of the people I meet who don't obviously engage in some strenuous activity.

    Similarly, when my mother went into a retirement home and started using a walker about 3 years ago I was appalled to see her walking hunched over the handles, so using my handy Swiss Army Knife I adjusted things to let her walk upright with it. I was reamed a new one by the staff when they saw my handiwork the next day - and promptly set the handles back to stoop mode - because they are "concerned" about residents falling over backward. They will happily turn everybody in that facility into a hunchback if they have to start using a walker, but at least the the owners are less likely to be sued by somebody falling over backwards. When I mentioned to the staff that they might consider working residents up to using more than 1 pound dumbells during their "exercise" sessions they just looked at me crosseyed. It's not on their list of approved activities, so nobody is even going to think about it.

  9. #9
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    The article was hilarious, but the way most of the fitness industry treats older people is no joke. I must be nuts, but I'm thinking of purchasing a gym franchise. Silver Sneakers, a Medicare based program is the cash cow to milk. Get this old folks to walk the zero incline treadmills at 1.3 mph once in a while. Many of them seldom show up, but Uncle Sam's paying most of the bill, so they don't care. I must be nuts and stupid to be looking at Starting Strength. What kind of idiot would base a plan around requiring real effort supported by real coaching? The thing is that the baby boomers are a huge demographic, , but their health sucks. Modern medicine can often give people a long lifespan, and a poor healthspan at the same time. It is sad to live the last ten to twenty years of life disabled for no good reason.

  10. #10
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    starting strength coach development program
    Here in the UK, doctors can actually prescribe free gym sessions to old people with long term health conditions. Having slight asthma - so slight I wouldn't notice unless I come into contact with rats (it's a long story, so I won't bore you with the details) - I qualify. I'm still involved in the wonderful world of work, train at home, but checked it out nonetheless.

    The following activities are available: Stretch and relax classes (I can already attain Olympic standards of relaxation. If you need someone to relax for England, feel free to call.), easy salsa classes (No. Just no.), recycled teenager classes (I have as much idea WTF they are as you do.), health walks (As opposed to what? Sickness walks?), back support classes (Deadlifts? Unlikely. They probably combine it with the relaxation, and get you to sit in a special chair or something. Start with a couple of minutes of sitting comfortably, and progressively work up to half an hour or so.) So far, so useless, but what's this? Supported gym sessions! Sounds promising, but I suspect it involves pink dumbbells. "Supported" probably means they lift them for you.

    Anyhow, if i ever actually get to retire and find time on my hands, I'll go along and check out the latter. You never know. There may be another geezer there, and we can head over to the oh so dangerous iron section, get competitive with each other, and make fools of ourselves trying to impress the old ladies.

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