Grunch:
Until i really started getting into lifting recently i never realized how many people are on gear/peds (and yes TRT counts as PEDs).
The fitness influencer space is really bad because you have people claiming natty shilling you products/programs to get you to look like them meanwhile they are on gear. Sets completely unrealistic expectations for whats possible for someone whos not taking peds.
Just out of pure curiosity, what kinda stuff are people taking today? Has it changed much in the last 10+ years? I remember taking creatine for 6 months in my early 20’s, is that still a thing?
yes creatine is still great and a recommended daily supplement.
i am not super well versed in the way of PEDs but The Anabolic Steroid Family Tree - Simplifying How Different Steroids Work shows a lot of the peds. TRT is generally the low hanging fruit as most doctors will pretty happily script it for most guys (basically for people that have low t, but instead of fixing underlying issues they just script that instead).
Growth hormone + testosterone + various other things that enhance test like DECA.
btw melky just to dig into this a little more (longer vs shorter strides), there are imo two main reasons that having epic pogo steps isn’t actually faster, (1) that you waste too much energy launching yourself up the purely vertical axis, and (2) (as you say) that the extra impact forces eventually injure you.
to flip the quoted bit around, actually in endurance running I think injury avoidance / consistent training is ultimately the single best way to increase speed. If we looked all the hyperelite runners from say 5K to marathon, one thing they’d all have in common is a body that was freakishly able to adapt to an unholy amount of work without chronic injury. There are plenty of other runners who in many ways are as equally talented as the very best, but when these lesser runners try to squeeze out every last diminishing return—primarily through (insane, preposterous) weekly mileages of well over 100/week—they simply break down. And since they can’t do these mileages, they never get to level all the way up to the absolute pinnacle. It’s like an outrageously talented poker player whose one weakness is tilt—their bottom line will almost never reflect their raw horsepower. So idk the physiology of it, but all elite 5K to marathon runners seem to settle into a stride rate of 180-190 per minute (and they are also super careful when they do fast downhill workouts because of impact forces, and they stretch/ice/massage/sleep for every non-running minute of their lives, all just to dodge injuries, i.e. the supreme end boss of running).
@Rusemandingo if I was getting back into running after a break and wanted to see what I could do at the mile, then tbh I’d probably first do a cycle training for a 5K, and then do a cycle for the mile. The training wouldn’t be that different (long runs, easy runs, tempo runs, VO2 runs, hill runs, blah blah blah) but the mile is going to have more training time devoted to speedy 100-400m stride repeats in order to get more efficient and feel more relaxed even while you’re hauling ass. It’s maybe just me (and fwiw my background is less running, more soccer) but if I’m even 10lbs overweight then plyo stuff and sprinty stuff starts to feel a little soggy & risky, so I always want to lose the deadweight before going full pedal to the metal. But whatever, I guess we’ve gotta balance being sensible just with happiness & life & memento mori too. And it sucks but bodyweight unfortunately does become a decisive thing with faster running; a major reason I never really said fuck it and tried to see how fast I could get a marathon or whatever is because I would’ve had to drop weight to an eerie place, working backwards from the idea that the perfect runner = two ripped legs + two giant lungs + one eyeball + no brain. Good for split times! Bad for flirting
(Btw I really really don’t want to give the wrong impression there: being some super sleek land missile is not necessary to making running a fun/sustainable part of a fitness plan for anyone! Eh probably shouldn’t say this but my favorite ppl to see out there running are honestly like eighty lbs overweight, they’re out there doing their own thing, just trying to feel better, as are we all. I’ve talked to a bunch of these folks and I know that when they’re running many of them are also totally in their heads feeling silly about how slow they’re going or how their clothes look and all the other insecure things that we all also sometimes think. Often I’m running and I see somebody newer and maybe they’re struggling and now I’m passing them and I dunno I wish there were some universally accepted non-patronizing signal we could give each other that just meant like “fuck yeah, doing great, go get em!” If there were a signal like this then I would be saying it to someone pretty much daily in golden gate park. But there’s no way to do that, so I just keep my mouth shut and my eyes forward and mind my own business. But in my peripheral vision I’m seeing people and saying fuck yeah a lot.)
Anyone else here have a Peloton? We just got ours delivered yesterday. I took my first beginner class this morning. Fun stuff!
I find a nice little ass-pat on my way past people signals my approval and also motivates them to run faster!
Ha thanks, so many acronyms to google!
I’m not interested in taking anything either, but I knew people who were big into it 12 or 13 years ago, so I was just kinda curious what the changes were in that timeframe as I don’t follow the scene whatsoever
We got a peloton bike in February and the tread earlier this month. I’m a huge evangelist and could talk about peloton for hours.
We got one in November I think. I’m still only on beginner/easy rides, and I find it to be OK. I love the lack of sound coming from the mechanical part of the bike, and I’m less enthused about the music and coaching part.
I’m two rides in and like it so far. I need the coaching/talking to take my mind off what I’m doing. My ass hurts like crazy because I’m not used to the seat yet. Also it’s quite the challenge to get the shoes out of the holders the first couple times.
How does it work exactly. So you pay upfront for the bike. Then you have to pay a regular subscription as well?
Pro tip: If you’re the only one using it, just leave the shoes clipped in.
There’s an adjustment screw on the pedals to set the tension.
Went climbing for the first time since Vegas / COVID… yikes man. My strength is gone. Crazy how fast it goes away after 3+ weeks.
There are 2 ways to go:
You can get an official Peloton Bike (or Bike+), which you pay for either upfront or with a 0% monthly payment. If you have a Peloton bike, you then pay a $39.99/month subscription fee to have access to all of the classes. This includes cycling, strength, running, stretching, yoga. So even before I got the physical bike, I was able to do outdoor runs with downloaded running classes. This monthly subscription enables multiples users within your family.
You can get a non-Peloton bike and sign up for a $12.99/month subscription. This gets the same set of classes, but you don’t get the on-screen information that you would with a Peloton bike and, more importantly, you’re limited to just a single user account.
Both my wife and I use the bike regularly, and the monthly subscription is super worth it. I’m not sure what it would be like on a non-Peloton bike. I think I’d subscribe to the cheaper option if I already had a bike or tread that I was happy with. But both the bike and the tread are well built.
I have a non Peloton and do the classes with a cadence sensor and heart rate monitor and estimate the resistance. Works fine imo.
I’ve learned a few good stretches I never have seen before doing the warmup/cooldown stretch classes too.
Ran my first organized race today: a 10K in Central Park.
It was extra cold this morning (21F and slightly windy) so I wore an extra layer and heavier gloves compared to my normal winter running gear. Unofficial results say I got 53:19 with an average pace of 8:35. I was hoping to do 8:30 or better, but I think it’s still pretty good for my first 10K race effort.
I’ll have to look at the splits when the official results come out. I think I may have had a slight pacing problem because I had enough left for a decent kick at the end. The course also has a few major hills, which makes pacing a little trickier.