Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

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Jean
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Joined: Fri Dec 13, 2013 8:49 am
Location: Switzterland

Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by Jean »

About children, nature, nurture.
I occasionaly do a job that involves helping kids to climb into an elastic fabric.
Some three years ils do it with close to no help, some t'en years old Can hardly do it with help.

They look handicaped. I don't think that thé gêne pool changed a lot. So i'm pretty convinced that those children lack something very important for their dévelopmebtnt. Playing outside climbing on stuff, chasing or hiding, surely provides it.
Now, school need to hier psychomotricians, whose job is to provide exercises that fill those gap for those kid that have trouble using their bodies. Going down stairs isn't supposed to bé challenging for a 5 yo.
I was the nerdiest kid in school, but compared to those kid, i was an athlete. Maybe because i spent a lot of Time playing in the Forest.

What i Wonder is how much my relative fitness (i climbed some mountain with relative rase recently) despite no significant physical activity in month is due to, nature, daily routine that contrains unoticed activity, lot of activity as a child.

Sorry for thé lack of structure, Hope, you still get thé usefull perspective i tries to concert.

white belt
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Joined: Sat May 21, 2011 12:15 am

Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by white belt »

@7Wannabe5

I must say you do make some interesting points. However, I am going to disagree for a few reasons.

First off, your example is referring to a man staying muscular, which is easier and will take less time than gaining muscle. I would say an intermediate lifter could retain his muscle in as little as 3-5 hours a week (spread over 2-5 sessions depending on individual preference), provided his training plan follows basic principles of periodization, he is eating adequate protein, sleeping well, effectively coping with daily stress, and eating a caloric balance. Note that an enhanced man (on Testosterone Replacement Therapy perhaps?) will be able to retain muscle with even less time spent training than that, which you may very well encounter in your dating environment since it has become quite fashionable with middle-aged and older men in recent times. Some TRT doses can actually push testosterone levels into superphysiological territory.

Now regarding 30 hours a week of challenging reading/writing/thinking, that will of course depend on other commitments outside of work and athletics. Even so, I think some jobs do require intellectual rigor and thus may satisfy some erudition standards, especially if that job involves research or complex problem solving. I think for a productive ERE disciple who has given up passive entertainment in his free time, it may be possible to meet those requirements even with a relatively mindless job.

Example: Joe Lentil works as an IT Systems Engineer. Although his typical workday includes some mindless activities, administrata, etc, a chunk of his day is spent researching solutions and troubleshooting complex problems (lets conservatively say 3 hours). Joe works 9 to 5 and then hits the gym for an hour after work, before settling in at home for his various activities in alignment with his web of goals (1 hour of which is spent reading/writing/thinking). Each weekend he commits another ~10 hours to such deep thinking. This is certainly a doable schedule, but will depend on external obligations, individual temperament, etc.

Edit: I have encountered many folks similar to Joe Lentil in my career, but likely that is because the military values physical fitness in combination with critical thinking necessary for certain jobs. In many cases these individuals have families as well, although they may prefer to exercise prior to work in the morning if that is the case.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@white belt:

When I was in my 40s, the online dating essay I most frequently posted stated that the traits I was seeking in a man were the three "I"s : intelligence, initiative, and...what was the third one?..oh, yes...bIceps. So, it's not the case that I believe buff and brains in combination is that hard to find. OTOH, I think there are very few jobs that would truly provide 3 hours/day towards erudition. That's as if I claimed that the almost constant physical activity involved in teaching kindergarten should give me 15 hours/week towards the 20 hours/week I would need to self-describe as athletic, and certainly the 5 hours I spend wandering around nature trails dressed in boots and a Dora the Explorer hat would put me right over the top. I mean, even humans who work jack-hammers for $$ aren't athletes in training, although they certainly might average more buff than accountants.

Also, and I admit this might be simply my own perspective/experience, it seems to me that for many people, there is a fairly strict dichotomy between preference for active vs. reflective activities. So, maybe what I am speaking to is more the dichotomy between jock/nerd vs. physically fit-buff/intelligent or maybe I am also semi-consciously throwing "artsy" into the mix. For instance, it's more difficult to find somebody who is buff and prefers experimental theater over stupid, boring baseball game ;) OTOH, I did date a bass player who also played semi-pro baseball, but he thought he could win at craps, and I am at least a wee bit pragmatic, even though it is pretty difficult to find somebody who can lift you right up over his head if you are 5'9" size Large (sigh.)

Anyways, if I had the choice, I would rather age like Catherine Deneuve than Jane Fonda, so limited upside for me personally to be found in this realm.

enigmaT120
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Location: Falls City, OR

Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by enigmaT120 »

7wannabe5 wrote: Of course, some people also associate large breasts with lack of intelligence, but, obviously, since breasts are mostly composed of fat, they do not require the maintenance hours necessary for bulging guns*, so less rational prejudice.

*I even like just typing it!

I want to meet you some day.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

@enigmaT120:

That would be fun! Maybe I will be in your neck of the woods sometime next year.

7Wannabe5
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Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by 7Wannabe5 »

Well, the goddess has seen fit to punish me for the silly argumentation I exhibited on this thread.

Yesterday, I was hiking at a relatively new to me location, and the trail ended at a creek in a ravine. I could clearly see the trail continuing on the other side of the ravine, but the only way across was a two plank wide “bridge” with no side rails, only a long thick dangling rope attached to a chain wrapped around two trees on either side. I estimated that the drop was maybe 14 ft max.

Anyways, my thought was that I wasn’t athletic enough to properly calculate the risk. So, not being athletic enough limited my access to something I wanted.

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Alphaville
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Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by Alphaville »

counterpoints:

1. the risk was well calculated because anyone could suffer greatly from that fall, but a non-athletic person of unknown bone density much more likely so

2. what cruel goddess would deem zenyatta “silly”? pantheon needs expanding! :D

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Alphaville
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Re: Are you an athlete? How do I become an athlete?

Post by Alphaville »

i cannot delete (accidentally duplicated) posts in this forum

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