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RockDoc
04-24-2017, 13:34
Not sure where to post this question/answer about hiking as exercise by Primal advocate Mark Sisson.

"..hikers are the biggest consumers of junk food around."

"...excellent activity, but it’s a breeze."

Makes some good points, although with quite a bit of sarcasm, as in "don't give up your real workout".

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/dear-mark-hiking-and-body-composition-hiding-liver-unconventional-testosterone-boosters-cookedcooledreheated-potatoes-and-sirtuins/#comments

Uncle Joe
04-24-2017, 13:58
Toning and getting into shape are two different things. Toning involves isolating specific muscle groups. As for junk food, if you're thru-hiking junk food is irrelevant given the daily needs he/she will have hiking everyday. Overall he probably has a point about hiking as a routine.

kestral
04-24-2017, 14:30
You all stopped reading too soon. The best part of the article for me came a little later:

"My favorite unconventional way to increase testosterone is solar irradiation of the scrotum. I swear I read this in an old journal years ago but can no longer find the reference. Can anyone help? It’s plausible, seeing as how taking vitamin D (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/vitamin-d-sun-exposure-supplementation-and-doses/) to correct a deficiency can increase testosterone levels (https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/21154195). There’s no better way to get vitamin D to your testes than with the application of direct sunlight."

two thoughts:

1) be aware of timing or you may end up with fried Rocky Mountain Oysters

2) when will this be used by the defense for a flasher charge?

i really love reading about new things :p

TX Aggie
04-24-2017, 14:33
I'm not sure he's making a distinction between walking/hiking vs backpacking with a load. Even a 10% body weight backpack taxes your body and CV more than just walking.
Also, as Mark mentioned, a lot of people think just getting out and walking 2 miles is great exercise. But if you don't increase your pace so your heart rate increases significantly, > 90 bpm for most, then you're getting practically zero cardiovascular benefit.

The article leaves more unanswered than he actually answered.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

Puddlefish
04-24-2017, 15:38
Pfft, when your options are sitting in a dark room in front of a computer screen, or walking up the local hill to get some fresh air. I've done both in my life, and I'll taking that wimpy little hike any day.

I don't understand the burning desire to be absolutely efficient about every aspect of your exercise routine. Well, unless you're attempting to profit by selling that more efficient routine, then I understand it all too well.

Uncle Joe
04-24-2017, 15:56
Yeah and the comment about "snacking" was a little curious. So those who go to the gym are welcomed to snack? I think in the end it's what constitutes exercise. Relative to sitting around, as noted above, walking is better than nothing. Studies have shown if you do nothing but walk you still get huge increases in benefits. Ultimately, what is your goal? You're not going to get toned but you are going to be more fit relative to doing nothing.

DownEaster
04-24-2017, 21:01
So those who go to the gym are welcomed to snack?
I guess you haven't gone to hoity-toity gyms. The snack/juice bar is a major profit center. You're not just welcome to snack, you're encouraged to do so.

Dogwood
04-24-2017, 23:25
Just opinions given in context of an individual's perspectives that reflect his own definitions of exercise, training, hiking/backpacking/day hiking/walking the dog to the corner(which he's making no distinction), where he's at in regard to fitness, what his exercising goals are, diet, etc.

Mr Sisson was a decently ranked triathlete most of whom I've met or know about are wildly eccentric and fanatical about many things with diet right at the top of the list. Mark's ancestral diet - Primal Blueprint Diet which he also wrote books about, - takes much from the Paleo Diet, but allowing some dairy, with some authors and promoters using Paleo and Primal interchangeably although Mr Sisson likes to point out differences. He currently advocates training in shorter bursts not sustained activities like LD backpacking which he questionably might know little to nothing. Mr Sisson being influenced by Paleo Diet adherents and "ancestral food paradigms" was witnessed when he said, "Make raw liver smoothies. I find a few ounces of incredibly fresh liver in some fresh squeezed orange juice to be not just tolerable, but downright tasty." :rolleyes:

Mark is correct in stating there are quite a few hikers eating "junk food." However, it's more complex recognizing the causes of why SOME hikers or athletes or those involved in fitness eat "junk food" than he maintains though. First, many walkers/hikers don't recognize or ignore their activity being athletic in nature or having a physical component until the hiking/walking become more strenuous. Some don't readily admit their ability to physically, emotionally, and mentally enjoy walking/hiking is impacted by diet...again, that is until that big climb. Then, some even knowing this still attempt to ignore it or act indifferently or even become food defensive about it. Second, those involved in hiking aren't the only ones noshing "junk food." Some professional athletes can really pack down the "junk food." Third, hikers find rewards aplenty without it having to be food! A food reward is not at the top of every hikers most desired list! Snacking as one hikes, especially when of longer durations, does not have to mean one is specifically eating "junk food" or eating or drinking based on receiving an earned reward much like Triathletes don't nosh during a race necessarily on "junk food" or as a reward. It can often be simply about energy and nutritional desires. Attend a Triathlon or Marathon observing the amount of snacking - solid AND LIQUID - that occurs! It's not a "bad thing." Hiking/backpacking is, for some, simply a different much longer term sustained exercising/training activity where additional nutrition is required than what he's currently accustomed for his exercising/training paradigms. Expecting to narrowly apply the topic of nutrition and diet as depicted in the oodles of exercising/fitness mags and books and by the on line "fitness experts" that cover pre and post workout needs of shorter term - 1.5 hrs at the gym, etc scenarios to many hrs of hiking, all day hiking, and, distinctly different, overnight backpacking and LD hiking is going to be dubious.

I appreciate and share many of Mr Sisson's beliefs but I winced when he said, "don’t think of hiking or walking as exercise", not because I'm defending these personally enjoyed activities but because there are some just starting exercising programs where walking has been an excellent place to start getting them more invloved in exercising. NO, not everyone training and exercising is at they stage where they have competed in professional Triathlons or at advanced levels of fitness. This statement can turn some off to exercising.

Dogwood
04-24-2017, 23:32
"(walking/hiking)...excellent activity, but it’s a breeze."

Maybe for one as fit as Mr Sisson but telling this to those who are severely over weight, recovering from stroke or heart surgery, diabetics, etc is really not being sensitive to those who are in the earlier phases of adapting new exercising regimens.

Dogwood
04-25-2017, 00:35
Actually, if we read Mr Sisson's embedded link benefits of walking (http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-definitive-guide-to-walking/), we'll see he's big on the benefits of walking.

Where he could have expounded on answering the question posed to him "is there anything I can do to up the toning factor of my walks, besides seeking out hills? he fails quite miserably at though. PERHAPS, that's because he's not very personally experienced incorporating other fitness techniques into walking/hiking as a significant part of a training/dieting/fitness regimen? His training has centered around training for competitive running and Triathlon events. WHY is someone asking something of someone else who has been training to run that doesn't know or personally engage in advancing training while walking/hiking/backpacking? WHAT does one expect to hear from someone who has been an avid runner like Mr Sisson? Remember, Mr Sisson is responding to the question:
"I’d like to see an article on the benefits of walking/hiking daily. I live in Colorado and average about 25 miles a week of walking. I know that it’s doing good things for my mind and body, but I don’t see any noticeable changes in my physique. Is there anything I can do to up the toning factor of my walks, besides seeking out hills?Thanks!"

I'd say to this questioner you sure can do ALOT to up the toning other than just hiking hills while walking/hiking! How about practicing lunges, toe step ups to work calves, interval training, pull-ups on a branch for example, walking with a load on your back(uhh it's called backpacking which is different than just walking the dog in LA!), standing ab crunches done as one hikes, tightening/releasing muscle groups repeatedly(this is great with leg, gluteal and back muscles), stretching, Pilates(Pilates certainly does add tone!, as one walks), combining walking with resistance training by walking in water such as along a shallow sandy beach, long walking on the soft sand beach(it's hard wearing a loaded backpack!, it's what I've know a few professional volleyball players and a bunch of pro surfers to do and we know what bodies they can have), walk with snow shoes or in the snow(it was good for Rocky's training!), add ankle wts, use trekking poles with intention pushing off and swinging arms, do trekking poles raises or hold trekking poles(stick works too) over head as one hikes(good enough for the military!), alternate using......

Really, there is so much that can be incorporated to increasing tone when walking/hiking it's only limited by one's imagination.

Perhaps, Mr Sisson is better off giving advice regarding running or Triathlons or perhaps swimming or road cycling than walking, hiking, or, certainly, backpacking?

egilbe
04-25-2017, 06:37
One of my co-workers who routinely trains for marathons, 50k's and centuries says I walk more in a week while I'm hiking on vacation, than he does running, and I'm carrying all my food with me, up and down some pretty rough hills. He's impressed.

Traveler
04-25-2017, 19:04
I'm not sure someone who advocates and walks around with sunburned anatomy that is better left covered should be taken too seriously. Hiking is great exercise, its a good workout in a complex environment that provides a significant amount of benefit to not only muscles but ocular and mental acuity. To discount hiking in favor of non-complex environments with repetitious motion machinery seems a reach, even for the testosterone challenged.

Dogwood
04-25-2017, 19:22
Mr Sisson also stated walking is great exercise. Read his link. He's big on walking. He had some things to add though that is what some of us are at odds. If my guess is right I'd bet Mark would say something like, "I hadn't thought of that; thank you for bringing this to the discussion" or "let me add some context to what I was saying."

MuddyWaters
04-25-2017, 21:17
As im too ornery to use google,

Who is mark sisson, and why the hell should i care about anything he says?

Harvey_birdman
04-26-2017, 02:56
He's apparently someone who thinks worshipping the sun with his penis will improve his virility. He's an idiot.

Mr. Bumpy
04-26-2017, 06:56
Watch. This thread is going to get deleted in a second.