It's closed at the moment from the storm, but Land's End has a really beautiful trail, connecting 32nd Ave to Sutro Baths. There's a tiny beach you can hike down to, too.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/56303913/
https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/2357223948/
It's easy to tie in the Legion of Honor into this, too. Go there, walk the trail, then have a beer at Park Chalet. (If you're into beer, let me know. I'm literally a professional.) EDIT: Actually: here's pretty much that walk: https://www.flickr.com/photos/troymccluresf/sets/72157604221361358/

There're also some lesser-known trails in Golden Gate Park that offer some quiet and privacy, marked in gray on Google Maps. There's a big rock pile I always thought was fun to climb right inside the park at 25th Ave in the Richmond; I'd go from there and up to the lake.

Mountain Lake Park is neat- when my mom worked swing on the Golden Gate Bridge, my dad would drop her off then drop me & the dog off at 8th & Lake. There's a dog run in there we'd hang out at for a while, then take the trails back behind the lake and over to the PHSH, which used to be a lot more interesting. From there we'd either go up through the Presidio, maybe to Baker Beach and out to 25th Ave. Or, I'd take the "trails" inside Park Presidio through to Geary or maybe Golden Gate Park and head back toward 25th through there. (EDIT: Hit Little Vietnam for bahn mi beforehand- 6th at Clement.)

(Why yes, I did grow up in the Richmond, how did you know?)

Buena Vista Park is cool, plus it connects to so much- Corona Heights, the Haight, Castro… I'd say only if you have a bit of street smarts, though- plenty of burned out hippies living in there. Not actually dangerous, I wouldn't think, but I'd pay more attention in there.

You can get pretty close to the base of Sutro Tower, too. Can't really do much when you're there, but it's neat to see up close, at least. Just get to Dellbrook Ave & La Avanzada St. Here's a fun way to get there from UCSF (probably can't get quite that close to the tower, though).

Glen Canyon is pretty cool, plus it's (one of?) the only place in SF with the natural waterway still intact.

Left field at AT&T Park is open on non-game days during the season.

Go to Green Apple's local book section and pick up a couple books like this. (And then go to Mountain Lake Park.)

Go walk down this hill.

All I can think of at the moment. Feel free to ask for more, or PM me. I love showing off my hometown to people!

EDIT: Come to think of it, Green Apple itself is worth exploring on its own, as is Amoeba Records on Haight.

EDIT AGAIN: How could I forget Treasure Island? There's a couple of baseball fields, as well as a couple wineries. Treasure Island Bar & Grill (Called "Ti-BAG" by the locals) is a small-town bar that was super friendly to me when I ducked in during a horrendous night of traffic on the Bridge. You can also wander Yerba Buena Island a bit, including access to roads directly above each end of the YBI tunnel.

EDIT AGAIN AGAIN: Tank Hill! You can pretty much drive right up to this one, so it's a good place to like, bring a burrito to eat and watch sunset reflect off of downtown. It's like a junior Twin Peaks. Also, all this could be said of Kite Hill, as well.

There's also Turtle Hill ("Grand View Park") in the Sunset, which has a view west.

That's cool! Thanks for writing back. I'll write a little more based on my personal experience.

Weightlifting - for increasing flexibility and avoiding injuries it was awful. Worse than doing nothing. If I already had flexibility etc then it would be useful for gaining muscle, but I feel one still needs to do a 2nd activity along with it that has you moving your whole body around to balance out the weightlifting. In my limited experience and talking to friends, just lifting weights makes your body strong in some places and weirdly weak in others. Yoga is often recommended.

Physical Therapy - like anything it's largely dependent on getting someone who's good. But by far this has been the most beneficial to me.

Pilates (with a reformer machine) - was useful for building up muscles that were not activating (another muscle was compensating to do it's job), or internal muscles that were super weak.

Yoga - great if your muscles activate, and are strong enough to be used at least once with bodyweight, and you want to get them stronger or maintain flexibility. In my opinion this is what you would do as a lifelong habit to maintain flexibility. Because it relies on bodyweight, it as a little lacking in helping with muscles that were not activating or were super super weak to begin with.

----------------------------------------------------

Here's some other suggestions fyi.

The bodyweight fitness recommended routine has a warmup section as well:
https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommended_routine

The routine looks pretty good to.

This book on core strength for cycling was super helpful to me personally, especially the beginner base level stuff for fixing posture. I combined it with going for an hour walk every day (wearing flexible non-constricting workout clothing): http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Danielsons-Core-Advantage-Strength/dp/193403097X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463335010&sr=8-1&keywords=core+advantage

Not saying anyone needs to do all of that, just some ideas. A physical therapist would be where I would start if your insurance covers it as that's their job to figure this stuff out.

Starting a home practice is a little awkward at first, and you probably won't know exactly what to do, but I guarantee you will grow into it. Just keep it consistent and learn to listen to your body. The cool thing about a home practice is that it is tailored to YOU! I love going to class and get a lot out of having an instructor guide me in alignment and offer new and exciting sequences, but my home practice has become sacred.

A few tips to start:

• Pay attention to the tips your instructors give about form and alignment. While you're holding poses, try to bring these tips to mind in order to refine them.
  
• Sun salutations are always a good warmup.
  
• If you can remember any sequences from class, even if you can only remember part of it, do it! It will help you fill up the time at first and maybe give you a bit of direction about what to do next.
  
• If you can't think of what to do, holding poses and really trying to refine them as you hold them is always a good option.
  
• Develop a pose or maybe a few poses that you want to focus on (maybe crow or bridge/wheel, for example) and do poses that will open up the parts of your body that you need open for those poses. As an example, when I want to do bird of paradise, I make sure I do a lot of standing splits and other poses to open up my super tight hamstrings.
  
• Don't get discouraged if it doesn't flow smoothly at first. It will eventually. You'll find sequences that you love and sequences that don't do much for you. And it's all ok.
  
  I hope some of this helps. Also, I just started reading this book, Yoga Sequencing by Mark Stephens for my teacher training, and it is a huge help. It explains the principles of sequencing but also provides a lot of sequences for all levels. More than worth the cost.
  
  Starting a home practice can be scary, but I'm so grateful for my self practice. It's made me more aware of and grateful for my body. It's your time to explore. I think you'll find that mixing in a studio practice and a home practice will help you to balance and refine your own practice. The two will inspire and inform each other.
  
  Edit: I apologize about the awful formatting. I tried really hard to get the bullet points to actually be bullet points, but I can't figure it out.

I would just like to add something. Here is a copy paste of a comment I made before:

============
The book/course for you depends on what side of meditation you are coming from, but if you really want to take meditation seriously and are determined to go by a systematic course, then I can give you the absolute best book to get: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya. This book is by far the best course/instructions/information on yoga. There is nothing it does not cover. You can get a hundred different books on various yoga paths, such as raja yoga, bhakti yoga, hatha yoga, etc etc, but everything you can find right here. It will cover the Buddhism as well. You will learn everything you need to know, and it slowly but surely teaches everything in a precise order, little by little, gradually introducing more advance meditation techniques, including Kriya yoga. But yoga isn't just about meditation of course, it's about how to lead a balanced, fulfilling life.

The book is basically compiled with the intention that the teacher is right in front of you. You can go through one lesson a week, or one lesson biweekly or monthly; it's up to you.

And don't be put off by a couple strange things that seem so strange to westerners. For example, the very first lesson teaches Jala neti, a good preparation for meditation that involves cleaning the nostrils with water. Be your own judge; if you don't want to do something it says, don't. (Though I would personally recommend jala neti as it has amazing effects).

Hopefully this has been of some help to you and others. Take care.

Oh, and don't be put off by the price. The book has so much information that it really is all you need. If it is really what you are looking for, it's the best long-term investment you can make. There are two in my house just in case something happens to one of them =)
===============

Of course, as the author himself states, nothing can replace a live guru that can teach you. However, he (a realized disciple of the realized master Swami Sivananda) has specifically made this book and practice available because he says the time has come for it; the demand Kriya yoga is high, and not everyone is able to get it straight from a guru.

This book should only be an option for you if you are very serious into getting into Yoga and on the path to self-realization; it cannot be a half-hearted attempt. I know others who have gone through much of it and the results are great.

Good luck!

I've been in the same boat as you. Here's the deal: its an uphill battle and the name of the game is consistency. It's not impossible to gain weight, but it will require daily sacrifice. My freshman year of college I gained 20 lbs of solid muscle, going from 145 to 165 lbs. Since then I've edged it up to 173...I'm 6'1 so I'm still pretty lean. But I've learned some things on gaining weight with a revved up metabolism:

1. Nutrition. You need to plan out your meals for the next day (and week). High protein, low fat, and plenty of fruits and vegetables. Count your calories using a utility like DailyBurn, and try to hit your target # of calories and in the percentages for each category (protein, fat, and carbs). This is KEY. Calories in must be greater than calories out. And if you're active that might mean consistently eating like a horse.
   
   
2. Your workout routine. This is something you can't half ass. Look up a good 12-week weight training plan and STICK TO IT. Every day, rain or shine, execute your routine using the correct technique. Load your ipod with new workout mixes to keep the motivation up. The lifting routine should be full-body and consist of compound muscle lifts like squats, deadlifts, cleans, bench press, etc. Buy a book like this and stick to the 12-week plans that they outline.
   
   
3. Consider supplements to your nutrition that may increase progress. Don't believe the negative hype about Creatine: it works, and its not bad for you. Whey Protein is a great help in meeting your daily protein goal of at least 1g per pound of your desired body weight. Don't lift on an empty stomach, and don't leave your stomach empty immediately after lifting. Your body is a machine and needs fuel!
   
   Gaining weight is a huge pain in the ass. The gains are hard to maintain. But if you learn to truly enjoy eating big nutritious meals and challenging your body you will gain muscle.

Hey, I just read a whole book on interval training: One Minute Workout by Martin Gibala. It's a kitschy name, but he's a leading scientist of high intensity interval training (HIIT) and the book is all about the difference between HIIT and "traditional" cardio. It stimulates your body in really different ways for a number of reasons, but basically, interval training is a much more efficient way of stimulating your body towards cardiorespiratory fitness. All cardio training triggers adaptations that will make you fitter--you'll produce more mitochondria (which makes your muscles more able to burn sugars and fats), your body will be better able to regulate sugars, your Vo2Max will increase and your endurance will be improved. Here's a short interview about that on NPR.

Intervals are a much more EFFICIENT way to make that happen. Imagine you're running low on gas after driving for 8 hours. Not surprising (if you drive my car, anyway!), right? It makes sense. Fuel decreases over time. Imagine you fill up and 20 minutes later, your gas gauge drops dramatically. You're going to make adaptations really quickly to adjust to this new reality where you're running out of gas super fast. Either way, you're making changes, it's just a matter of how much time and effort you put in.


Anyway, the book was really interesting and I think the science is sound. Despite the clickbait title, he's actually above all a proponent of getting fit in the ways that work for YOU. So, I'd think if you really enjoy the longer-duration running, then do that! You're losing a certain amount of efficiency, but if you're gaining other benefits with the trade, then you're the best judge of whether that's worth it.

I agree with incster. I recommend Brad Hudson's Run Faster book. It might work for you as someone who likes to set his own training regimen... but within limits.


I'm 37, 6'3" and 185lbs, run ~6 days and 40mpw, and started this year with a 21:54 5k. I run one fast 5k, 3-4 aerobic (not super easy but not threshold) 7.x milers, and one 10-13mi long run per week. Once a month or so I'll add a 1mi fitness test to see if I'm making any speed progress.

January 1st I ran 21:54 in a 5k and my 1mi best was about 6:36. I set a new mile PR a couple weeks ago at 5:47, a 10k PR last week at 44:20, and a 5k PR today at 20:00. What has made absolutely the most difference for me over the past two months is 1) actively differentiating between easy/recovery runs and runs where I was trying to make some active progress, and 2) heart rate training. I wear a Garmin and run by heart rate effort almost all the time. It has helped me keep my pace in a reasonable range on my easy days, which themselves make my faster days faster. I think this would suit you pretty well. :)

Saint Louis born and raised! I'll give you everything I've got. Sorry if I repeat what has already been said.

I grew up in the Saint Louis metropolitan area myself. (As a matter of fact, lived in Ferguson until I was 18!) As a young child, my fondest memories were visiting the [Zoo] (http://www.stlzoo.org/), [Science Center] (http://www.slsc.org/), [Art Museum] (http://www.slam.org/), [Lone Elk Park] (http://www.stlouisco.com/ParksandRecreation/ParkPages/LoneElk), all of which boast free admission. Saint Louis also has fairs, celebrations and events of some sort or other almost constantly (see [here] (http://explorestlouis.com/visit-explore/events/events-calendar/) for St Louis general events calendar.) The [Missouri Botanical Garden] (http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/) hosts a showcase every year about sustainable living, which might be relevant to you and your family. There are also 10+ local farmers' markets, including the famous and longstanding [Soulard Farmer's Market] (http://www.soulardmarket.com/). As yet, the Farmer's Markets are relatively small compared to what I've seen in other cities. But they are growing every year.

A classmate at WU who has lived in several large metropolis areas around the US reported that Saint Louis is by far the best place for him and his family of wife and 2 small children. He cited the numerous green spaces, free museums and parks, kid-friendly events, and low cost of living as the main reasons.

I'll tell you the same thing I tell friends that visit and new transplants: Saint Louis has a lot to offer, but it is not going to hit you over the head with it the way a large city like LA or NYC will. You have to go out and explore. Case in point, just yesterday I was walking through my own neighborhood and stumbled across a 2 acre quaint Seminary campus that I had no idea existed but was filled with beautiful architecture and green space.

Some great places to go hiking are [Castlewood] (http://mostateparks.com/park/castlewood-state-park) [Babler] (http://mostateparks.com/park/dr-edmund-babler-memorial-state-park), and [Shaw Nature Reserve] (http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/visit/family-of-attractions/shaw-nature-reserve.aspx), to start. These and many other hiking spots can be found within a 60 minute drive from metropolitan St. Louis. For a more extensive hiking/outdoor destinations I recommend the book [60 Hikes Within 60 Miles of St. Louis] (http://www.amazon.com/Hikes-Within-Miles-Including-Farmington/dp/0897328833).

As far as the organic living goes, there is room for development in that arena. We are not Portland or Oakland, so to imagine something like that would be setting your expectations too high. However, we have 2 Whole Foods with another one on the way, which indicates to me that there is interest in patronizing 'holistic' and sustainable agriculture. I learned from a cashier at the Brentwood Whole Foods that the traffic at the Brentwood location has blown the minds of Whole Foods executives because originally the Whole Foods execs insisted the "demographics of the city are wrong, the store will fail in Saint Louis." It is now one of the best performing stores in the midwest. That says something about where this city is going, I think (I hope).

If you want to be active with other children in the community, I would tentatively suggest looking into Clayton. Very good schools, many families with young children, very safe area. Just last night I attended the Shaw Park Food Truck Sunday (in Clayton), and almost every family in attendance had a child between the ages of 1 and 12. The city is one of the most walkable in Saint Louis, has biking trails/bike friendly streets, and is very close to Forest Park and other downtown area attractions.

Good luck in your quest! I hope you find your dream town, wherever it might be.

Chubb Trail is good for hiking or biking. Nowhere close to the amount of traffic you see at Castlewood. In fact, I was there last Saturday - with pitch perfect weather and only three other people in about 2 hours of hiking.

Here's a good map of the area (and yes it is for trail riders):

https://gorctrails.com/sites/default/files/media/Media%20Root/chubb_0.pdf

I like to park where Allen Rd ends at the train tracks, this gives you easy access to either the southern part of the trail (hilly, rocky trail) and the northern part of the trail, which follows along the Meramec river. The northern part can be muddy and overgrown with poison ivy, but it wasn't too bad last weekend.

I recommend this book to anyone interested in hiking near the St. Louis area:

https://www.amazon.com/Hikes-Within-Miles-Including-Farmington/dp/0897328833

Great information and gives you a list to explore when you get tired of hitting the same locations. I've probably done about 75% of the hikes in the book and like to note the ones I've completed and who went with me.

Shaw Nature Reserve (near Six Flags) has many great hiking trails, but is a bit farther out and usually has a bigger draw than Chubb, with lots of public events planned. Still a nice option if you like to see lots of native, wild flora.

Let me know if you have any other questions and I'll try to answer as best I can.

I'm not a practicing Hindu, but I am working towards a doctorate in the history and philosophy of (among other things South Asia) Hinduism. What I can tell you for certain (well, certain to me at this point) is this:

Yoga as we see it today - we call it 'modern postural yoga' - is essentially a post-colonial phenomenon, whose postures are probably most clearly derived from earlier practices of Hatha yoga (which, as the yoga of 'force,' uses various postures to attempt to control the ebb and flow of life energies for health, longevity, and mental acquiescence). You'll be able to note if you look at Patanjali's Yoga Sutras - typically held up as the central text of Yoga philosophy - that there really isn't much about various postures (asanas) beyond a sitting meditation pose. The kind of stretching that Yoga now employs just isn't prominent at the supposed origins of yoga.

So what gives? Well, this doesn't mean that yoga wasn't a thing throughout much of the history of Hinduism, but rather that yoga has meant many, many things to the peoples of the subcontinent. This is likely a bit controversial - I can only point to Mark Singleton's excellent book Yoga Body on the subject.

If there is a through-line to all the transformations of what yoga is, I would say that it lies in the meaning of the word. Yoga derives from the verbal root *yuj, which means to yoke, as in yoking oxen to a plow, a horse to a chariot, or more simply, to join anything to anything else. This would include more spiritual notions like yoking yourself to the action of god (as in the Bhagavad Gita), yoking your mind to a pure contemplation of the self (as in Samkhya yoga), yoking and thereby controlling prana (as in Hatha yoga), etc.

The take-home (from my perspective) is this: the postures of modern yoga aren't in themselves spiritual. We 'yoke' ourselves through the yoga of attention to all kinds of things throughout every single day - reddit, work, etc. Right now I'm in the asana of the lazy couch cushion ;). But this isn't to trivialize it. When we yoke ourselves to an awareness of our own thought processes, or perhaps better to the silence within ourselves, we can quickly begin to see benefits in our daily lives, wherein we yoke ourselves to 'less noble' pursuits. We might be more patient with others, more calm in stressful situations, more open to loving interactions, or maybe just more aware of how giving something our time and attention can shape our existence. Finally, add to this that Hinduism is, or at least has been for the majority of its historical presence, essentially syncretistic. The many gods that have been brought under the umbrella of Hinduism are not so jealous. We should expect them to little mind when we 'yoke' ourselves without invoking their names.

Interesting the raising of yoga in the sub the last few days..

Jung had a complex view on it, he applied some form of it (I don't know the form he used or where he learned it) in his personal life, particularly when going through the process that generated the Red Book (and I can't recall right now where I've read this, but possibly via Sonu Shamdasani speaking in the Red Book footnotes or elsewhere, or, as others have mentioned it is recorded in MDR).

He didn't, afaik, recommend it to his patients though (correct me if I'm wrong), was cautious about its application in a Western context or for Westerners.

Here is a snippet (there's more) of what he says about it, as Sonu Shamdasani writes in the intro to The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga:

>Throughout his writings on Eastern thought, while Jung promoted and endorsed their study he cautioned against their practice by Westerners: “There are many different kinds of yoga and Europeans often become hypnotized by it, but it is essentially Eastern, no European has the necessary patience and it is not right for him. . . . The more we study yoga, the more we realize how far it is from us; a European can only imitate it and what he acquires by this is of no real interest.” For Jung the danger was one of mimetic madness: “The European who practices yoga does not know what he is doing. It has a bad effect upon him, sooner or later he gets afraid and sometimes it even leads him over the edge of madness.” This led him to conclude that “in the course of the centuries the West will produce its own yoga, and it will be on the basis laid down by Christianity.”

C.G. Jung, The Psychology of Kundalini Yoga., xxix-xxx. (Sonu Shamdasani)

But the world en masse, in terms of cross cultural infusion of philosophies, traditions and methods, has exploded since Jung's time and when he delivered the seminars from which the book transcription is taken (the early 1930's), so, and perhaps more significantly, the collective psyche of the world has shifted. In what ways and how is too densely complex to unpack easily or clearly in this moment, but maybe the issues that informed Jung's caution are different now?

It is a helpful discipline, is immensely powerful in reuniting disconnects of mindbody, emotion and spirit. But, if you've got a lot of 'stuff', brokenness and trauma rattling around inside it really needs to be coupled with therapy, imo. Integrating complexes and dealing with what the unconscious can bring up is precarious and delicate.

In terms of a recommendation, and to provide some context to my pov;

I was a "yogi" - I was called this by my teacher - for six disciplined and studious years under a single and singular teacher when a younger man, this guy (Edit: worth a watch OP, though long. Mark discusses some of the history of how yoga came to the West in the context of his own journey and learning it, and speaks of the opposites - albeit not through a Jungian frame. Near the end he recommends people picking up a practice on their own out of their bedrooms or lounges..).
For various reasons I don't practice it any longer.

So, after that preamble, the key text recommended when I was engaged in this practice and way was The Heart of Yoga. It's very good, and includes a translation of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali. You can also use it to develop a deep personal practice, there are diagrams and discussion in it that elaborate on this.

Nothing beats learning one on one with a teacher, classes give you something to start with, and so does a good comprehensive book, as the above is, but its like working with Jung's psychology and model; he conducted and developed his method out of a relational dialogical context. Yoga is the same.

Ultimately we have to take up the injunction and do this stuff ourselves. Sometimes that is best alone, dedicated, sweating it out, day in day out, literally stretching and pushing ourselves to grow, to breathe into and form roots and links. At other points it requires the/an other 🙏

I grew up in the St. Louis area and spent my youth backpacking in the Missouri Ozarks. While I will say i am quite glad I moved away from the flatlands, there is some good hiking to be had in the Ozarks. Hawn State Park has a nice 10 mi loop that was probably my most done weekend backpack. The Ozark Tail (different than the OHT) is becoming more and more completed every year. I especially like the sections around Taum Sauk Mountain. The Berryman Trail is about 25 miles and makes a nice backpack if you don't mind mountain bikers lapping you all the time.

The last two are just day hikes less than a couple miles, but worth mentioning. The Devil's Rock Pile (officially Hughes Mountain) is a super cool area. And The Gulf pic 2 is the single coolest place in missouri...if you can find it...hahaha. Good luck with that.

This book has most of the hikes I recommended in it as well as others. I've heard good things about the Hiking Missouri book also.

I don't usually recommend anything by Men's Health, but this book and program has a ton of options and I loved it. It's a great mix of explosive lifting, good core workouts, balance movements, and has some stuff that will also be good for flexibility. I felt much faster, stronger, and explosive after doing the programs for about a year way back when. It helped me get to what was the highest physical peak I've achieved so far. The author is/was a strength and conditioning coach for lower division college athletes that specialized in taking them to the next level.
Book: http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Power-Training-Performance-based/dp/1594865841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1427379062&sr=8-1&keywords=power+lifting+mens+health

This is somewhat unrelated to what I was referring to, which was specifically mass vs strength gains.

Your conclusion is moderately sound from the layperson's perspective, but incorrect. Improving strength alone has massive improvements on power output. If you still want to improve power on top of that, then power-based resistance exercises (AKA Olympic lifts, such as the snatch, clean and jerk, and others) will work towards that goal. If you have a sport-specific motion in mind, like charging off a starting block, then you can do resistance power exercises that work those core groups.

A single resistance technique can train either strength, power, or endurance depending on a few factors. Here's a short summary:



  | Strength | Endurance | Power
---|----|----|----
Weight (%1RM) | 60-90 | 30-70 | 50-70

of reps in a set | 8-12 | 14+ | 1-2

Speed of motion | Slow/controlled | Slow/controlled | Fast/explosive
Rest between sets | 1-2 min | 30-60 sec | 30-60 sec

Note the most important part in the table above: 1-2 reps in a set with rest between sets for power training. Power training is also performed with lower resistance than normal strength training (to avoid injury to the weight-bearing joints). Note that this mainly applies to lower extremity exercises; upper extremity power exercises should be performed with caution to avoid damage to the rotator cuff. (If you're looking for advice regarding the starting blocks or vertical jump specifically, the clean and jerk has shown to significantly improve performance in those motions.)

Sources and further reading

Baechle, T. R., & Earle, R. W. (2008). Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning (3rd ed., pp. 400-401). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. http://amzn.com/0736058036 (Note that the fourth edition has come out, but I haven't had the chance to read the difference summary.)

Kenney, W. L., Wilmore, J. H., & Costill, D. L. (2011). Physiology of Sport and Exercise (5th ed., pp. 272-273). Champaign, IL: Human Kinetics. http://amzn.com/0736094091

> I dont really care a whole lot about fat.

For long term health - this is the most important macro you should care about. Inflammation, hormones, fat oxidisation (aerobic fitness capacity) etc. etc. - all comes from fats.

As Nightshade originally said, there is no one fit for all diet. I can however tell you with great conviction from years of research that the HFLC diet is the best for health. In my opinion, this should be the base and then you should experiment with how many carbs you need to 'feel ok', because everyone's carb tolerance is different.

Here's an article where Chris Froome (last years Tour de France winner) dropped carbs significantly and went on to win that year: http://uk.businessinsider.com/chris-froome-weight-loss-tour-de-france-2016-7?r=US&IR=T

I highly suggest you grab this book (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Big-Book-Endurance-Training-Racing/dp/1616080655) and read through the chapters on nutrition and how the macros relate to sport. I think you can get it for free now - if you want it, message me and I can provide it to you.

You did say you were vegan, which has another set of challenges with perfecting a diet for long term health and sport. But to be honest, I know there are a lot of branches of vegan and Im not sure what food groups you're restricting exactly so I can't comment on this further.

I’m 34 weeks. LOVED this book for nutrition (I’m a dietitian, but don’t specialize in pregnancy so I loved all the research she did). https://www.amazon.com/Real-Food-Pregnancy-Prenatal-Nutrition/dp/0986295043/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1542323316&sr=8-1&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=real+food+for+pregnancy&dpPl=1&dpID=61omKYMMOOL&ref=plSrch she also has a book for gestational diabetes that I’ve heard is also good.

Lululemon align leggings have been a comfort godsend. Very stretchy. Only pants that stay comfortably on the bump for me. And rumor has it that they will fit just as well when you are back to your prepregnancy bod. Only complaints are that they didn’t seem super breathable when the weather was hot, but now that it’s getting cooler I haven’t had any sweat issues.

>Hi Reddit! I’m Martin Gibala, PhD, professor and chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. I conduct research on the physiological and health benefits of interval training and how this time-efficient exercise method compares to traditional endurance training.
>
>In my decades of study in this field, I’ve conducted extensive research on the science of ultralow-volume exercise and time-efficient workouts. Inspired by my own struggle to fit regular exercise into a busy schedule, I set out to find the most effective protocols that take up the smallest amount of time, while still offering the benefits of a traditional session at the gym. It became clear that short, intense bursts of exercise are the most potent form of workout available. One of my recent studies, published in [PLOS One] (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075), found that sedentary people derived the benefits of 50 minutes of traditional continuous exercise with a 10-minute interval workout that involved just one minute of hard exercise. Study participants who trained three times per week for twelve weeks experience the same improvements in key markers of health and fitness, despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment in the interval group.
>
>My new book, [The One-Minute Workout] (https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Workout-Science-Smarter-Shorter/dp/0399183663/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485795674&sr=1-1&keywords=the+one-minute+workout), distills complex science into practical tips and strategies that people can incorporate in their everyday lives. It includes twelve interval workouts, all based on scientific studies, that can be applied to a wide range of individuals and starting fitness levels. From elderly and deconditioned people who are just beginning an exercise regimen to athletes and weekend warriors, there is an interval training protocol that can boost health and performance in a time-efficient manner.
>
>
>I will be back at 3 pm Et to answer your questions, Ask me anything about the science of exercise and in particular how to incorporate time-efficient training strategies into your day.

>Hi Reddit! I’m Martin Gibala, PhD, professor and chair of the kinesiology department at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. I conduct research on the physiological and health benefits of interval training and how this time-efficient exercise method compares to traditional endurance training.
>
>In my decades of study in this field, I’ve conducted extensive research on the science of ultralow-volume exercise and time-efficient workouts. Inspired by my own struggle to fit regular exercise into a busy schedule, I set out to find the most effective protocols that take up the smallest amount of time, while still offering the benefits of a traditional session at the gym. It became clear that short, intense bursts of exercise are the most potent form of workout available. One of my recent studies, published in [PLOS One] (http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0154075), found that sedentary people derived the benefits of 50 minutes of traditional continuous exercise with a 10-minute interval workout that involved just one minute of hard exercise. Study participants who trained three times per week for twelve weeks experience the same improvements in key markers of health and fitness, despite a five-fold lower exercise volume and time commitment in the interval group.
>
>My new book, [The One-Minute Workout] (https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Workout-Science-Smarter-Shorter/dp/0399183663/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1485795674&sr=1-1&keywords=the+one-minute+workout), distills complex science into practical tips and strategies that people can incorporate in their everyday lives. It includes twelve interval workouts, all based on scientific studies, that can be applied to a wide range of individuals and starting fitness levels. From elderly and deconditioned people who are just beginning an exercise regimen to athletes and weekend warriors, there is an interval training protocol that can boost health and performance in a time-efficient manner.
>
>
>I will be back at 3 pm Et to answer your questions, Ask me anything about the science of exercise and in particular how to incorporate time-efficient training strategies into your day.

> ego still flares up when deciding what weight to put on the bar.

Since you devour books, I'd recommend Wendler's 5/3/1 second edition.

It's an easy read - Could get it done in an afternoon or two pretty easily.

Don't even worry about whether or not you want to do that program or 5x5. Even if you like 5x5 and think it's the ultimate program for you, you will understand strength training much better having read what Wendler has to say. The important thing in this book is his philosophy on how to program and how to lift. The first half of the book is essentially about how he thinks about lifting. I agree with probably 90% of it.

Even if you don't want to end up doing 5/3/1, it will enhance your understanding of what you're trying to do. This reading will help your ego understand why you need to use the weights you need to use.

Lots of guys just download an app and do what the app says. There's usually a reason behind why things are/aren't included, or a way to understand the program that isn't readily apparent just by plugging numbers into the app. Getting stronger isn't wrecking yourself with near maximal weights all the time.

Prioritizing your end goals with regards to cycling and lifting can help you figure balance:

• Training to race, or more riding for fun or pure Strava Q/KOM?
  
  
• Lifting to support cycling, or for general strength, or to train for competition?
  
  
• How much time do you want to dedicate to training, on AND off the bike?
  
  
• What kind of cycling discipline you prefer (long distance/endurance, criterium, cycloross, mountain, track, sprint, etc)
  
  Searching through /r/velo, /r/velodrome and /r/bicycling may help you more.
  
  I just bought Wendler 5/3/1/ after doing some Googling for a 2-day program to allow for more recovery time between the gym and training rides.
  
  You can find said options listed from the book here: https://www.t-nation.com/training/effective-training-for-busy-men. I can't say if this is optimal for you our anyone else, but information is free.
  
  I also ordered a copy of The Time Crunched Cyclist because training for six intense hours a week sounds great.
  
  Alternatively, look into track cycling if you want to focus on gym performance. http://upupup.aboc.com.au
  
  Make sure you eat and sleep enough!! That is paramount.

I believe in his book Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing Maffetone is pretty adamant that you cannot run anaerobically at all during this period. He does say that you can throw strides in occasionally, but these are 20ish second bursts, not full runs outside of the aerobic zone. He also calculates these efforts by using his 180 formula.

I think the impact on improvement will more depend on you individually as each person is so different. For me I feel the Maffetone method helped by allowing me to increase my volume with little stress on the body, but did not help me equally in all distances. With this training being completely focused on low intensity, I never developed the speed to improve in shorter races. For example, I ran CC in grade school for one season yet I still haven't been able to beat my best times even though I was doing three or four times the volume.

To get back to your main question, if this is a way for you to add more miles and keep running enjoyable I wouldn't stress over whether it's going to be as beneficial or not. I think there is a lot of sound advice in his method, but there's more than just the angle he is preaching that matters.

Sure! I create my own custom training plans, based on research and mostly the book: Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon: How to Be Your Own Best Coach

The 12 week plan I followed had three main workouts per week. 1 long run, 1 run with high intensity work, 1 run with more threshold / race pace type stuff. Each of these had vert/mileage implemented as necessary to hit my weekly goals. Any other runs were EASY, but could also include vertical gain. I was lucky enough to get all my runs in on singletrack trail this time, but usually I have to hit the treadmill due to life circumstances. When that happens I do my best to make sure the three main workouts per week are not on the treadmill though. Weeks 5-7 are going to be the toughest, 9-11 are going to be working towards more vertical volume, and not too much very fast stuff. I added long mountain climbs on weeks 7-10 which were similar to what I would be doing in the race.

All that said, 12 weeks is not enough time, unless you are coming in with a solid base and your mileage is already near your target peak levels.

Totally reasonable goals and it helps when you're already have a good base built. For me, and I think for most people, it's mostly about managing expectations because the improvements come so fast at first that it is easy to expect to continue to see gains from using the same methods, but that's not how it works generally. We all been in a rut before. What made the biggest difference for me was reading Brad Hudson's Run Faster from the 5K to the Marathon, which preaches adaptive training and a lot of diversity in the runs you do and plan. I've certainly thought I was at a peak before and then found new levels after pushing a little harder when it felt right. The next week, my cruising pace is magically a few seconds faster. The secret is doing a little bit of everything and knowing when to really go for it and when to not and just get your miles in for the day.

So, the reason I ask about the 5k time is because it is a reliable predictor for times moving up distances. Try putting in some times into the McMillan Running Calculator and you'll see what I'm talking about. It certainly doesn't take into account drive, desire and heart, but it makes it slightly easier to visualize.

27M here (3:00 target for Boston 2020):

• I've run two marathons. The first one, I was targeting 3:05 but ran low mileage, blew up, and finished in 3:22. My second marathon was 1 year later and I hit 2:53:54.
  
• The biggest thing that I did was run more milage. My first cycle, I peaked at 45 MPW. For my second marathon, I started training at 50 MPW and peaked at 85 MPW. Granted, I could not have hit that mileage my first year without injuring myself, so remember that it takes time to build up to higher mileage.
  
• I read Run Faster by Brad Hudson and planned my own training for the second marathon. This, coupled with advice from the many experience marathoners in my running club proved to be better than any boilerplate training plan.
  
• Remember that you will have to make adjustments day-to-day and week-to-week to accommodate little injuries that pop up, life events, work, illness, etc. Being able to make informed adjustments is key to having a successful training cycle.
  
• No single workout will make/break your training, but there are some that are great confidence boosters. I did a 17 mile run with 14 miles at Goal Marathon Pace and felt so strong. It was good confirmation that I was on track to have a successful marathon.

I got into body weight fitness after reading "Convict Conditioning" by Paul Wade.

The text is kind of gimmicky, but if you strip that away it has a good progression for moving through the 6 body weight exercises. You don't get the same type of satisfaction as from lifting weights. Also, I suspect you wouldn't get as big with body weight (no proof here, just guessing). However, body weight is still a great workout. It mixes in a good amount of flexibility. And, when you reach the higher tier workouts, it turns heads. Seeing some guy do handstand pushups or one arm push ups is impressive.

Hatha yoga (yoga based on physicality; postures, kriya, mudra) isn't actually based on Patanjalic yoga. It started as reaction against that high-minded asceticism. Have you read the Hatha Yoga Pradipika? Maybe you would find more agreement with the aims stated there.

Futhermore, the modern regime that you are no doubt doing is a melange of the few sitting asansa as described in the Hathapradipika, Harmonial and Scandinavian gymnastics, British military calisthenics, and 20th century Indian body building and wrestling techniques.

In other words, yoga (as we know it now) is already a cherry-picked form of many influences, east and west, spiritual and physical. Don't worry about those sutras, they are tangential at best.

I had similar hang-ups a few years ago after 4 or so years of practice. A lot of teachers and practitioners are ignorant of the true origins of our practice and will try to cram all manner of hooey down your throat. Ignore them.

I would also recommend Yoga Body: The Origins of Modern Posture Practice (http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Body-Origins-Posture-Practice/dp/0195395344). Its a bit dry and academic, but I think it would be right up your alley and help you to answer some of your questions. It was certainly revelatory to me, as someone who loved the forms, discipline and breath-work, but wasn't so keen on some of the dogma.

Yes, we all pick and choose, even if we don't realize it. Enjoy your practice, its a beautiful thing!

The first overall source I'd look to for Ex-Sci is a textbook from Mcardle Katch & Katch it's a bit more user friendly for getting into the field.

Another good source for info is the American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), and they have an Intro to Exercise Science as well. They're a bit more Science and Research Heavy, so they can be good or bad depending on the reader.

To get a good starter for musculature a very helpful one is Strength Training Anatomy This one is only a very colorful and visual source of where the different muscles are and how they're involved with different movements.

Supertraining was mentioned earlier in the thread, and is an Amazing source for how different training variables and methods affect the body.

I've found Exercise Metabolism very helpful in how the body uses different macro-nutrients in various intensities of physical activity.

One of my favorite books is also the Essentials of Strength and Conditioning from the National Strength and Conditioning Association (NSCA). It's more geared toward programming for athletic pursuits rather than overall physical fitness, but it still does give a great understanding of training variables and the body's adaptations to them.

EDIT: The subject of Kinesiology is touched on in most resources, but you may also want to get a standalone resource for this if you want to really understand the construction and functionality of the musculoskeletal system. The courses I've taken and research I've done have used a lot of different resources, so I don't have a single one personally to include here.

Gift cards are great, but might I recommend a couple books on exploring San Francisco? The city is very walkable and has a rich history; my enjoyment of SF grew exponentially when I started planning these day adventures around the city. I've personally used Stairway Walks in San Francisco and Cool Grey City of Love, but there are quite a few similar books on Amazon.

Focus on general fitness and then integrate your shooting skills.

Good on you though, fitness is a huge part of shooting and a huge factor in self defense, but you see so many fatties at the range trying to recreate youtube videos it is disgusting.

/r/running is a great resource, as is /r/fitness. If you really want to get into it for both shooting and fitness, check out Sentinel and T.A.P.S..

I would also recommend this book and reading around [Rob Shaul's new site] (http://strongswiftdurable.com/), formerly it was Military Athlete and Mountain Athlete.

And now to cool down before I carry on too much.

TL;DR: Good job, don't be lazy or fat, fitness is survival and only enhances skill at arms.

Following up...

There are awesome things to see everywhere in San Francisco (depending on your definition of "awesome"). If you're planning on visiting Alcatraz, get tickets as soon as possible. They sell out far in advance.

If you like awesome scenery, the walk at Land's End is nice, especially if it's not too foggy.

Get a copy of the Stairway Walks in San Francisco if you like that sort of thing.

The free SF City Guide walks are great and give you lots of different views of the city.

You might be interested in checking out Squat every day. It talks precisely about overtraining, adaptation to stress, and how you could program daily squats precisely TO make progress. He says overtraining in the sports science sense (lack of motivation to train, changes in biological stress markers, reduced performance) is basically limited to athletes at the highest levels, and in particular endurance athletes with crazy weekly workloads. This kind of overtraining can sideline an athlete for months. But for strength athletes, he mentions a study showing that you can still train very frequently, feel tired, increase your stress levels, yet still hit PRs. So if your performance doesn't suffer a blow, then you aren't "overtrained" in any way that you need to be worried about. As long as your body can adapt to the stress, you'll make progress.

On an anecdotal level, I've started to squat at least 4x a week, Mon-Tue and Thu-Fri. I don't go all out, and in that sense it's like the frequent pull-up guy. I haven't failed a rep since I started. But if I feel I'm having a good day, I'll go heavier. If not, I'll do volume. So far, it's been going well (though I've only been doing this for a month or two). I have some constant low-grade soreness, but I think I actually have MORE motivation and I feel like I'm making progress faster than when I was squatting 2x per week. Of course, there are other factors to consider, but yeah, definitely worth thinking about how much stress is good and how much is too much.

If you need the live tracking with your iphone you'll need to spend more than $100. I have the Garmin FR620 and couldn't be more happy. If you are serious about heart rate training read this. The book goes into A LOT of detail but the training is based solely on heart rate training.

Essentially you take your age and subtract is from 180. This number, +/- a few outher things is the heart rate you should be running at FOR EVERY RUN. It's very challenging to run this slow, but the idea is over time you will be able to run with a fast pace but with a lower heart rate than everyone else running the same pace.

I use books, really.

BKS Iyengar has a section of sequencing in Light on Yoga (basically the Sanskrit listed out, in order)

And then there's this book (fairly thick too) with just images of the yoga poses.

And I like the Home Practice section on Yoga Journal!

edit: but my general skeleton of a class is something like this

• 5-10 minutes of breathing/centering
  
• 5-10 of gentle stretching
  
• then some slow flow (like sun salutation c) or easy standing balance
  
• then like the sun salutation a's with standing poses, planks, balances mixed in b/n
  
• then deeper flexibility poses that we hold or standing postures that we hold (hopefully I've warmed them up properly so they can do this safely)
  
• then back/belly work or floor work (like reverse plank, locust, bridge pose, shoulderstand type things)
  
• deeper seated stretching, if time or reclining twists/stretches
  
• savasana!

An important thing to note though about bikram: the classic "84" postures is a misnomer and not at all accurate. If there is anything classic about it, it is that it has not incorporated as many moves from British naval exercise and gymnastics training that they brought to the indian subcontinent in the 19th century.

I agree doing some bikram yoga is a good way to get people to realize that yoga can be seriously challenging, even without a lot of vinyasa flowing.

Bikram yoga is very much still a western invention, as the entire method was developed to appeal to the Japanese and Americans when he started exporting a more vigorous form of postural yoga in the 60s and 70s.

Also, none of this stuff comes out of the yoga sutras of patanjali, it doesn't even really come out of the hatha yoga tradition or tantric traditions. Tantra is the overarching philosophical grouping that hatha grew out of, with heavy emphasis on the world being real and some sects believing that you could develop a perfect, or diamond, body on this world and thereby become enlightened while still alive and live forever on this plane of existence. The yoga sutras are so incredibly different from any aspect of hatha yoga, and hatha came from a completely different tradition, modern postural yoga in the west is even farther removed from these traditions. It doesn't make it any less beneficial physically, it's just that modern postural yoga it is not a special indian tradition going back thousands of years in india. For further reading check out Marking Singleton's book on all of this kind of stuff.

Source: I did Bikram yoga for 2 years prior to doing my teacher training and certification with what was once his primary disciple, Jimmy Barkan, and then taught yoga for 4 years through the end of college and grad school to pay them bills.
Also, I was the TA for Hindu Philosophy at Rutgers University for a couple of years, along with classes on the Bhagavad Gita, Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, the Vedanta Sutras, etc. And I did a fair bit of research into a bunch of yoga related areas.
Plus, my ex-girlfriend is getting a PhD in religious studies specializing in Americanist Yoga traditions and how they have evolved.

Bro split as in doing one body part per day? (thats what I think of it as)

You could do Vertical pushing/pulling, horizontal pushing/pulling, hammies, quads, and core as 7 different workouts easily to train every day and have minimal overlap between bodyparts.

The point is, yes, I wouldn't want to train my whole body 7 days a week, but you can easily lift every day as a natty as long as you're smart about how you're lifting... just need to divide up body parts. PPL, as I said, is already 6 days per week but you could just as easily throw a core day in there. For some people that can only afford a half hour a day or so to lifting, hitting the weights every day is definitely a good option.

​

Edit: just some more info

PPL https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/comments/37ylk5/a_linear_progression_based_ppl_program_for/

on overtraining: https://www.amazon.com/Squat-Every-Day-Thoughts-Overtraining-ebook/dp/B00CE5BCFG

smolov: https://stronglifts.com/smolov/

I didn’t do OTF during my last pregnancy but I did do a boot camp class with similar exercises all the way into the third trimester. A good friend that I was working out with is an athletic trainer that had experience with pregnant athletes. She helped me modify. During the second trimester, I started modifying anything that required laying on my stomach like Supermans and back extensions with bird dogs and y-raises. Around 20 weeks, I started modifying planks. When my belly got really big, I started doing ab exercises on a Bosu ball or wedge.
As far as running goes, I just listened to my body and walked when I needed to. Totally up to you but I would skip the all outs. I highly recommend investing in a belly support band to hold everything in place.
A couple books that also helped with modifications are The Pregnant Athlete and Exercising through Your Pregnancy

I'm only 7 weeks, but I'm still crossfitting and I plan to continue all the way through. I've attached a book. I got it from my local library and it told me everything I needed to know about scaling and the benefits that moderate/high intensity workouts can have for the baby. It's also by a pair of doctor/researchers who provide a lot of valid data which they collected themselves. As a researcher, their methods looked awesome and I trust it. You should snag a copy somewhere :)
Exercising Through Your Pregnancy

Hey, I know other people have mentioned similar things, but I wanted to offer some additional advice. Before any gear/fitment changes, it's important to assess your own core strength. My brother is a pro road cyclist, and this book is referenced among his team/peers all of the time. He recommended it to me when I was getting more serious into enduro riding. I'm a bigger guy (6'4/200lb), and back issues were always a problem when hunched over a bike for long periods of time. However, supplementing cardio training with a serious core workout regimen made a dramatic difference over a short period of time.

Bike fit is one thing, and yes I agree that it's important. However, you should be able to be either stretched out or more relaxed/upright without incurring any muscular/skeletal pain. Often times in competitive cycling, your bike setup will have your body in different positions depending on the event. You will find that core strength is the key to finding comfort on your bike.

> I'll ignore her most likely cause I think it's so rude to not text someone back at all when they ask a question like that.

Be careful with this type of thinking. It's great to have standards and to hold people to them, but it's bad to get upset about having to do so. Be as quick as you like when giving a girl the soft next, but don't be butthurt about it. Remember, you can never let the bullshit antics girls pull get you emotional.

>I am having little success and I suspect a major reason is my fitness level.

Fix what's broken homie. 45 minutes, three times a week. You can make it work. Check out Stronglifts 5x5 if you have access to a gym. Otherwise, you can try out Convict Conditioning.

Also, clothes are important. What's important is that they are clean, fit properly, and aren't horrendously out of style (no acid washed jeans or Bill Cosby sweaters). You can find cheap clothes at a store like Marshalls or TJ Maxx, or if you really need to pinch pennies, the Salvation Army.

0 minutes a day is perfectly adequate for weight loss. A 4 minute Tabata Session everyday would easily put most people in the 75th percentile for VO2 max because the average person is so incredibly weak and slow. You have no idea what you're talking about regarding the matter. Try 4 minutes of tabata squats and tell me how you feel after. Here's the related video, and here is the relevant wiki article.

If you are poor however, you are much more likely to suffer from a variety of health problems because of it. Did you know that? You know one of the great equalizers in regards to health when accounting for socioeconomic differences? It's called exercise. Exercise and proper nutrition is likely more important for you if you're poor than if you're not.

You don't need money to exercise. There's hundreds of exercises you can do without equipment. Most plyometrics routines only require a pull up bar. It costs no money to do Tabata squat sessions. This is a popular body weight book, and so is this. Did you know how much a pull up bar costs? Last I checked you could get one for $10 at Winners. There's also this other completely free and really neat exercise called running, maybe you've heard of it?

> I'm betting the high energy guy that works out and such probably doesn't engage in intellectual or creative pursuits.

Yeah, that's probably because you're a moron. This guy is a pharmacist and world record holding powerlifter (and also a bodybuilder, strongman, and former cross country runner), physicist and mod of r/askscience, lawyer, engineer and dietician, university professor and mod of r/fitness, developer of arch linux and r/fitness mod, military officer and computer scientist, former professor, dietician and mod of r/fitness, works at Intel as a programmer and a junior national record holder. I myself am going to med school and play both the bass and drums (both terribly) and am a former high school cross country runner.

Relevant scientific research.

----

But keep making excuses, it's entertaining.

"Thigh clean" isn't a thing. Whoever was coaching you probably doesn't know what they're talking about.

I recommend getting Greg Everett's book. He does a good job explaining the principals of weightlifting technique and making sense of the lifts. Trust me, it is well worth the $40.

Afterward, get a coach. The content in the book should help you determine whether or not a coach has a clue of what they're talking about. If you coach seems to be thoughtful and informed about what they're having you do, then stick with that coach.

I have lifted weights eight sessions per week before after reading the book Squat Everyday by Matt Perryman. Doing that program I made some of the best progress of my life. The reason I stopped doing that program is because I felt like all I was doing with my life was lifting weights, my social life was suffering. I was completely healthy throughout the whole regimen.

I'm rather new to this subreddit but I saw it mentioned that an emphasis is placed on recovery here. That is good and all but I believe that recovery can be trained and improved (so does Matt Perryman, Mike Tuchscherer and the Norwegians)

But I must note that high of frequency training should not be taken lightly. It is not for beginners and you should work to increase frequency over the course of months. I took about 4 months to increase frequency to seven times per week. One last thing the frequency for every lift cannot be the same, deadlifting 7 times per week will burn you out. But benching and squatting 7 times per week and deadlifting twice per week is manageable.

It's kind of difficult to answer that question with a simple answer as there are many forms of yoga.
I think the first thing to do is to get a good idea of what yoga is and isn't. The vast majority of today's forms of yoga were plain and simply born in the 19th and 20th century. That doesn't discard them as being real yogas as the word "yoga" was in fact used across centuries to characterize a vast variety of practices.
To better understand what yoga is and isn't I strongly recommend reading those two books which are based on thorough and recent research :
https://www.amazon.fr/Roots-Yoga-Sir-James-Mallinson/dp/0241253047

https://www.amazon.fr/Yoga-Body-Origins-Posture-Practice/dp/0195395344
Beware, you might end up having to completely change your understanding of yoga !

For Ashtanga, I agree, David Swenson's book is indeed excellent !
All the other forms of "physical yoga" are modern innovations which, without saying they have no use, could be effectively replaced with western physical therapy practices.

For pranayama this book is as precise and step by step as TMI :
https://www.amazon.fr/Pranayama-Breath-Yoga-Gregor-Maehle/dp/0977512622

If you're more interested into the energetic side of yoga you should find a ton of precise ressources and a great community at https://www.aypsite.org/
Some of the practices found in the site are very powerful and you should be pay attention as to how those influence your TMI practice.

I think the misconception here is that since "as much as possible as quickly as possible" is what most people posting online are looking for, it can seem like that's mainly what those programs are all for.

But to seriously bulk up or go from "" to "powerlifter" is a years-long endeavor.
SL 5x5 is a great program. Personally I love Wendler 5/3/1 . I have nothing bad to say about ICF but IMHO it's basically SL 5x5 plus more accessories to get those beach muscles.

Based on your description of your buddy, I'm assuming he's pretty novice. Sounds like he needs a program that's simple, that you just follow as prescribed. And something that hits some large compound movements. Those kinds of exercises will help with strength + posture. Lethargy too, although diet + weight loss (not sure, no stats) will also help.

Also, on the pain: is cardio = running? Or even lower impact cardio like elliptical/biking? Just trying to get an idea. All 3 of the programs I listed feature squatting heavy, which can help strengthen the legs, could also hurt knees (especially with bad form). I highly encourage it, it's helped me with my legs, but you do want to be cautious about form.

I'm totally find with baby taking what baby needs and leaving me with the leftovers! My doctor increased me from 88 mcg to 100 mcg - I hope that's enough for now. I keep having to remind myself of this quote Real Food for Pregnancy by Lily Nichols.

>Simply put, humans are wired to reproduce successfully. Even when conditions aren’t optimal, your body will do everything in its power to follow the blueprints and carry your precious baby to term. If that weren’t the case, there would be no way we’d have so many humans on the planet despite all sorts of common interferences, like malnutrition and toxin exposure.

I'm officially done googling and will just take it one day at a time! Thank you for responding!

You haven't messed up. You are doing great. Try to relax and remind yourself of how far you've come and of all the awesome work you've put in to improve your body.

Now, it sounds (and looks, from your photo) as though the next step for you should be to build some muscle to make your body look the way you want it to (not to mention, it's great for your physical and mental health). If you don't want to go to a gym--and I understand that--I'd recommend bodyweight exercises at home. You can do a a lot that way. I've heard lots of people sing the praises of Convict Conditioning, which is a book about the ways in which prisoners use their own bodies and furniture to build amazing muscle. It's pricey, but it might be just the thing to get you started.

http://www.amazon.com/Convict-Conditioning-Weakness-Using-Survival-ebook/dp/B004XIZN5M

You have done a great thing for yourself. Keep it up, and remember that this is the result of your hard work, and that hard work will continue to pay off for you.

There are at least 2 dozen Micro Breweries you could consider worth a visit. Nearly all offer food which sets us apart from other Micro Brewery cities like Portland or Austin.

Running in the city can be excellent. The street grid and historic neighborhoods/parks provided endless things to checkout as you run. We love it.

The southern part of the state is quite pretty (Ozark Foothills/Mountains). Lots of state parks for hiking. Check out this book: 60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: St. Louis: Including Sullivan, Potosi, and Farmington https://www.amazon.com/dp/0897328833/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_KJhBDbBEPHJC5

What part of Canada are you coming from? The Wife and I moved here from Alberta 12yrs ago. Day to day life is mostly the same, the social/political situation is the biggest difference. It's generally a great country to be a top income earner.

Missouri is VERY conservative. Look up abortion for an idea of how things are here. The government is secular in theory but not in practice. Very unfortunate. That said, the cities are much less so.

Violence is much more common in American life. The idea is that you should inact your 2nd amendment rights and protect yourself that way. Personal choice is emphasized. Rather than the Crown providing solutions, you find them for yourself. Healthcare is a great example. Hearing gunfire in urban areas is perhaps the saddest example of this approach. It will feel odd at first but eventually you'll adapt. American's just do things differently. You'll love it or hate it.

All in all we have LOVED IT.

Check out "Tom Danielson's Core Advantage: Core Strength for Cycling's Winning Edge"

http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Danielsons-Core-Advantage-Strength/dp/193403097X

Its a fantastic book with a process of making your core strong.

> Swim is still my weak point so hoping to work on that a lot this winter in the pool

If you have not had formal swim training, consider getting a swim coach/instructor. When I started I found out that I didnt know how to swim, I knew how to not drown. I started going to masters swims and the coach kicked me out. Told me to get swim classes. I sucked up my pride and took swim lessons at a swim school. It was fantastic to start with the basics and build from there.

I second The Heart of Yoga, but the author is not T. Krishnamacharya (one of the greatest yogis of the modern era, who lived to be over 100 years old) but one of his sons, who is still alive.

I would also recommend the books by Ramaswami, who studied with Krishnamacharya for 30+ years:

• The Complete Book of Vinyasa Yoga
  
• Yoga for the Three Stages of Life

You're asking for a lot of details...

General consensus: 3-5 reps for power, 5-8 for pure strength, 8-10 for hypertrophy, 12+ for endurance. Recent research has partially debunked these ideas but general knowledge is alright.

Do some homework this summer if you REALLY want to understand strength training (cheap and effective): Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning.

I recommend to read books from Jim Wendler because Jim is a guy who tells you the truth about training and considers busy people with a time consuming life and don't want you to put the really important part of your life, like your job and kids, aside to train.

I recommend to read his books, he released 3. I would start with the first one (https://www.amazon.com/Simplest-Effective-Training-System-Strength/dp/B00686OYGQ/ref=pd_lpo_sbs_14_t_0?_encoding=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=8PEBANK0SB4N9DS0SA4N) and if you are interested in it and want to read more I would recommend the last one he published (https://jimwendler.com/products/5-3-1-forever-book). The second book is more of a add on to the first one with some new stuff and training plans but nothing major, still worth the read. Since you have time you can read the book at work and get some basic knowledge how to attack the training.

The hardest part is to learn the lifts correctly but you can do that for sure on your own, Jim tells you how to do these lifts in the first book but a book that could help with that topic is Starting Strength (https://www.amazon.de/Starting-Strength-Basic-Barbell-Training/dp/0982522738)

Edit: The most important part about training is consistency and you only achieve consistency by doing those things the way you can manage them. If you go Saturday and monday one week and then friday and monday is not that important.

Now you're talking my Jam!

You can do what I do on the stationary bike. It works the same if it's on a treadmill or a bicycle. What I do was developed by McMaster university and is the equivalent of 50 minutes of moderate intensity exercise.

It's called the one minute workout. (It really takes 10 minutes)

The intervals are.

2 minute warm up.

20 second sprint

2 minute rest

20 second sprint

2 minute rest

20 second sprint

3 minute cool down

Now for the sprints you have to really sprint. It's a full blow 100% max output. Imagine you need to outrun a falling building. That kind of sprint. In the rest period you're not just standing resting, but you're doing very low intensity walking.

You can get more info from the book:

https://www.amazon.ca/One-Minute-Workout-Science-Smarter-Shorter/dp/0399183663

If those intervals are too easy, you can start to reduce rest time and increase sprint time.

Edit: I created my own interval timer app for this sort of stuff. I'll message you the url if you're interested. But there are other apps available that are good for timing.

We're talking about Western teachers, right? I mean I haven't gone to the East to learn yoga, but I'd be surprised if they approached it in the same way we do in the West. I think the "bizarre guru cultism and Hollywood style glitz," sensationalizes yoga in unnecessary New Age glitter, which has been the primary lack of attraction I've had in paying for or even attending many classes. My brother bought me an introductory book to yoga which addressed the practice in a totally different light than it has been illuminated to me in the States. Some classes seem to ignore what I interpret as rather essential to good yoga practice.

Some teachers are great. Some are horrible. On this side of the world, I think you're more likely to find great variation in the quality and type, but perhaps it is the same over seas?

Also, I love skepticism and an outside scientific look, but it's even better if they're able to approach this from both sides; sometimes people are too much one thing.

"Our body fat is a perfectly fine source of fuel to use" -- well, depending on what you're doing. Alex Hutchinson covers this exact topic in Endure, his new book, in a chapter on food, fueling, LCHF diets, etc. He talks about Eskimos, polar explorers, and others who have a LCHF diet, and yes, the body can be sustained for a long time that way. But with a study of Olympic-level race-walkers, their "easy" performance was unaffected, but they lost top-end speed, so "more efficient than carbs" is not true in that situation.


Also, worth noting in this context, this scholarly article points out that the traditional Kenyan and Ethiopian diets are 77% and 64% carbs, respectively! I'm no nutritionist, but I've heard those folks are pretty good at running. ;-)


CC: u/thebowerbird

The Maffetone Method is the single best program I’ve ever used for increasing endurance and stamina. It involves moving slower (at first) to build efficiency, which will translate to moving faster with less effort. The best part is that it’s specifically designed to be paired with a ketogenic diet!

The Big Book of Endurance Training and Racing is a fantastic resource, or you can use the MAF website I linked previously.

This method does require a heart rate monitor, but that’s a small investment for a program that pays off in huge dividends!

I read this book last year, I gave it a try to train with this method and I felt a positive difference in my season.

The book is all about training with a low heart rate (or your maximum aerobic function) and you will be able to go farther or faster with less effort. I really liked it because at the beginning you have to run or ride keeping your heart rate at certain beats and you feel that you're going very slow but at the end of the workout you feel fine and not super tired, of course as you train your times get better but you never feel exhausted.

I made it through one session of prenatal yoga. It would have been less but I couldn't think of a graceful exit other than jumping up and running when she said "let's begin with 5 minutes of silent meditation." Since then I've been sticking with Pilates, light weights/circuit training, and very occasional lap swimming. Was curious about water aerobics as well but haven't found the time. With regard to worrying about going to the gym and taking it easy, I've found this book http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/1936374331 to be very reassuring (short version: slow down when you feel you need it, but moderate to even intense exercise has tons of benefits and very little risk.)

I had the same problem with the saddle hitting the wrong place, but a better saddle, bike fit, and "core" work solved it.

I bought this saddle:

WTB Pure V Pro
http://freewheelbike.com/product/wtb-pure-v-pro-217541-1.htm

For being able to avoid putting pressure on your hands, I did Pilates and even hired a physical therapist for a few one-on-one sessions, but that gets expensive. I've seen other people recommend this book for $15 on improving core strength for biking:
http://www.amazon.com/dp/193403097X/

I definitely think you need a better saddle, that would help a lot more than padded shorts. There are $40 and $60 versions of that saddle I linked to above as well - I haven't used them though. And saddle fit varies by body type.

Here's the $40 version:
http://freewheelbike.com/product/wtb-pure-v-comp-217544-1.htm

I would definitely start with a new saddle. Your butt-to-seat connection sounds horrific. I personally have plenty of padding on my but, and I do not even wear any padding in shorts (though I've tried them before) and it's fine - if your saddle is good. There's no way in hell you should ever be getting sores, it's normal to have a sore but for the first 2-3 rides of the season, but give it a little rest and after that your butt should not be sore when riding any more.

The book Real Food for Pregnancy: The Science and Wisdom of Optimal Prenatal Nutrition https://www.amazon.com/dp/0986295043/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_Gma6CbCK8ZJZ4

This really explains all the nutrients that are so important for your growing babe and why. It was easier for me to eat healthy after reading how important real foods nutrients were.

That's fine, just make sure you go slow and do the preparatory practices first. Otherwise you'll just be met with extreme pain and agony as the energy forces itself and burns through any blockages or impurities in your nervous system. I use this book It's a complete course on pretty much everything to do with meditation, yoga, etc. You're supposed to do each chapter for a month before moving on to the next one. I've had great results so far and don't have any negative effects.

*: I found a pdf of the book. It's pretty expensive on amazon. I got mine for around $35.

LINKS FOR CONVENIENCE

• The Heart of Yoga; developing a personal practice by T.K.V. Desikachar.
  
  
• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Yoga: A Practical Guide to Healing Body, Mind, and Spirit by Deepak Chopra
  
  and in case you meant this too (but I don't think so)
  
  
• The Seven Spiritual Laws of Success: A Practical Guide to the Fulfillment of Your Dreams by Deepak Chopra

This book is quite necessary if you aim to learn more about the ins and outs of periodization nutrition, etc. Another book I'd highly recommend is this book by the legend, Zatsiorsky, which is focused mainly on periodization and important principles on strength training.



Getting both of these either new or in good condition via amazon is cheaper than what you'd pay for this RTS classroom thing, which is either 100 or 135 bucks per month, which is not worth it when there's cheaper literature by the folks who run the game.

If you want an awesome workout that you can do anywhere without wieghts or a gym and gets you ripped then you should check out Convict Conditioning. Book is awesome and workout is practical and useful.

I definitely agree. I look at it more as a base fitness/mobility/injury prevention type of thing. I have a separate cardio program that I base off the book Run Faster which I highly recommend.

Ive also been doing this routine from the "hotshot fitness" website as a little experiment, but it also seems a little lacking so far.

All in all the best thing to do is all of the things.

NSCA 4th edition essentials of strength and conditioning is probably what you're looking for. Pretty nice survey of the basics of exercise science and applications. Each chapter is thorough with its citations which is a good indication of credibility.

https://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Strength-Training-Conditioning-Resource/dp/149250162X

Depends on your goal. There are a number of great lifting routines. No one routine is perfect. You might also buy book. I personally love power training. It was released by men's health.
http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Power-Training-Performance-based/dp/1594865841

I read Exercising Through Your Pregnancy finally and have been feeling really inspired to keep up my workouts!

My runs are starting to feel better again! I am at 24 weeks now. It was great until about 20 weeks, then I had a phase where the round ligament pain made me want to cry during runs. Now I'm back to running 3 miles without pain, and I ran 3 times this week.

I also played tennis twice, went to barre once, and prenatal yoga once.

My goal next week is to run 3 times (3 miles), play tennis 3 times, and hit prenatal yoga twice.

> What accessory work should I do?

>If you haven't read the 531 books, please check them out.
https://jimwendler.com/products/5-3-1-forever-hard-copy
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Simple-Training-Extraordinary-Results/dp/1467580309
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00686OYGQ/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GCACDSQM3VNCMC5TD7QX
This can be customized to suit your own needs, but as a rank beginner you should follow the prescribed suggestions. Plenty of pulling movement should be added to counter the heavy pressing work and ensure your back keeps up. The following exercises are recommended for various body parts:
Back: Pullups/chin-ups, barbell rows, lat pulldowns and other row variations, face pulls
Biceps: any curl variations you desire
Triceps: Close grip bench, floor press, lying tricep extensions, or any other variations you enjoy.
Shoulders: Dumbbell Presses, Lateral raises, reverse flies, face pulls
Abs: Leg raises, ab wheel rollouts, planks, etc..
Legs: Hack squats, Leg Press, Romanian deadlifts, Lunges, whatever you desire/need.
Chest: Incline press, cable chest Flies, chest dips, etc...
Accessory check thread is here https://www.reddit.com/r/nSuns/comments/6bakp9/official_accessory_check_thread_10/

Accessory work isn't necessary because it is just "accessory work" but it will help you building muscle, a bigger muscle = more potential to be stronger.

If you're struggling on time you can superset a lot of accessories with T1 & T2 movements

Covered extensively in my new book - http://www.amazon.com/Olympic-Weightlifting-Complete-Athletes-Coaches/dp/0990798542/

Short version is you need to be learning and practicing the lifts with very light weight for an initial period; during this time, you need to be covering any GPP needs and working on fundamental strength movements. When you reach a basic level of technical proficiency, you begin training the competition lifts along with the strength lifts.

One basic "starter" program here for someone who knows how to snatch and CJ well enough and wants to transition into more dedicated WL programming - http://www.catalystathletics.com/article/131/Starter-Program-for-Catalyst-Athletics-Online-Workouts/

The best place to learn about 5/3/1 is in Jim Windler's book 5/3/1: The Simplest and Most Effective Training System for Raw Strength (2nd Edition)

Here is a link to a book I've been using for the last 6 months. I'm at the gym 3 days a week. It has routines that take me about an hour in the gym. All compound lifts, no isolation lifts. It basically has 8 different lifts: a knee dominant lift (every runner should be doing these (squats, lunges, etc.)), a hip dominant lift (every runner should be doing these (deadlifts, good mornings, etc.)), a vertical push lift, a vertical pull lift (pullups, chinups, lat pull downs, etc.), a horizontal push lift (ie. bench press and variations), a horizontal pull lift (rows and variations), a rotational lift (every runner should be doing these), and an explosive lift (every runner should be doing these, (cleans, jerks, box jumps, jump shrugs, etc.)). It finishes all workouts with planks and its variations.

https://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Power-Training-Performance-based/dp/1594865841/ref=sr_1_2?crid=37TB731GTF7QF&keywords=power+training&qid=1573258707&s=books&sprefix=power+training%2Caps%2C216&sr=1-2

(Don't worry, the picture on the cover is misleading. You won't end up looking like him.)

I would suggest doing the knee dominant, hip dominant, rotational, and explosive lifts 2-3 times per week, and the vertical and horizontal pushes and pulls 1-3 times a week.

After 6 months of this lifting plan, I am still relatively thin, but I have some definition in my arms and chest, and I can do quite a few pullups. I am a recreational 42M runner (about 40 mpw) that just does 5ks and consistently finishes 1-3 in my age group.

But that book is the best book I have found that has the lifts that runners actually need. I've used "Bigger, Leaner, Stronger", "Starting Strength", "Strong Lifts", "New Rules of Lifting".

I tried it while my thumb/shoulder was injured. Botched the numbers (supposed to take a a percent of your max and then put that number into the program) and wound up doing it all with too much weight. After three weeks, I had a severely strained hip flexor and couldn't squat anymore, which took a couple months to recover from, plus the thumb and shoulder issues. If I hadn't messed up the numbers I think it would have been great!

I think it's better to try and find a 1RM for the day, everyday. That method worked a lot better for me, especially while doing the double day squat program from Catalyst. That was my favorite and let me progress the most as well as get accustomed to moving 90% or more on multiple lifts in every session.
Also this is a good book: http://www.amazon.com/Squat-Every-Day-Matt-Perryman-ebook/dp/B00CE5BCFG/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1412823349&sr=8-1&keywords=squat+every+day

Where is it, just behind your hip bone area tender? Sounds like IT band/weak hip abductors. Stretching will help that but not unless you are doing some strength training and core work too. Riders tend to be quad dominate and tight quads and hamstrings mixed with weak glutes will mess your hips up. I spent 4 months last year trying to get rid of it.

Hip raises, side leg raises, clam shell exercises with resistance bands are kinda the go to remedy. The stronger that stuff got the less tightness I had all around.

​

This book helps if you stick to the routine and goes into the reasons why.

Good info here too: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NYtrdeGDlWs

i'm amused at her reaction. Please have her read Mark Singleton's book yoga body and get back to you with what yoga really is. here's a link:
http://www.amazon.com/Yoga-Body-Origins-Posture-Practice/dp/0195395344

short answer: what we call yoga in the west, and modern hatha yoga in general is as much descended from homeless dudes doing contortions for spare change as it is from the YMCA's 19th century fitness programs as it is from the western yogis cultural imperialism.

I also find is somewhat interesting that a western yoga teacher is negatively judging a cultural tradition that she's currently engaged in ripping off.

Love those steps.
This is a pretty good book to have if you find yourself with some time on your hands in SF... Stairway Walks http://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Walks-Francisco-Adah-Bakalinsky/dp/0899976379

You might want to check out Brad Hudson's book. It is pretty straightforward, with 3 main types of training: aerobic, strength, and race-specific. It has pre-made training plans, but it focuses on how to put together your own customized training plan, and how to alter it as you go in order to address your specific needs as they arise.

I thought it was really useful, especially in understanding how to create interval progressions to target specific performance goals.

Combining sequencing is fine as long as you do everything in an order that "makes sense." There's certain things to stay away from, like never go from an extreme back bend directly into a deep forward fold and vice versa. And then there are some things that are recommended, like you should open your hips before your do deep back bends. If you really get into it, I would recommend this book on yoga sequencing

An interesting book on the topic.

> Singleton's surprising - and surely controversial - thesis is that yoga as it is popularly practiced today owes a greater debt to modern Indian nationalism and, even more surprisingly, to the spiritual aspirations of European bodybuilding and early 20th-century women's gymnastic movements of Europe and America, than it does to any ancient Indian yoga tradition.

A sprint isn't 1 mile, a sprint is 150 feet, and then you have to walk at least another 150 feet before you can run a single step more. I bring this up because you really need to sprint for HIIT- which I will explain in a minute.


There is a huge amount of debate which is better, but the most reasonable consensus is that people should do some of both. High Intesnisty Interval Training (HIIT) is effective if you practice twice a week for twenty minutes at a time. There are even studies showing that just one minute at a time of intense training makes changes in muscle that can be detected a week later Low Intensity Steady State (LISS) takes more of a time commitment, but it is less difficult to recover from. Proper HIIT hurts.

If you really want to jump into the science, they use completely different energy sytems which explains why no one is great at both sprinting and marathons.

All good suggestions in this thread. I've been giving this book as a gift a lot lately and it's nice to have when deciding where to drive the next day:

Well done brother! I can only advise that keep things small to begin with. Even if you just do 20m of pranayama per day to start, it’s better than trying to do an hour per day and giving up at Day 4.

If you really want to get deep into I would recommend reading this (no affiliation, promise) - Yoga and Kriya: A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques: 1 https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/8185787085

Check the other sellers of the book as you can buy it for 1/3 the prime price

Essentials of Strength Training & Conditioning - National Strength and Conditioning Association

Designing Resistance Training Programs

Science and Practice of Strength Training

Periodization Training for Sports

I recommend this book: The Heart of Yoga By T. K. V. Desikachar

​

It covers what you're after and teaches Yoga as a spiritual practice. It also includes a copy of the Yoga Sutras of Patanjali, which I would say is essential if you wish to understand the purpose of Yoga.

very similar process to Power Training I think athletic training should be a better term, but not important. What's important imo though is the order in which the different sections are done. Not sure what the impact of weights vs. bodyweight. For weighted exercises, the general rule is: start off with the biggest muscle group and move on down, so first Legs, then horizontal, followed by vertical and finish off with rotational core and stabilizers. Idea being that the largest muscles groups should get first dibs on your energy capacity before it diminishes as you progress through the day's workout. I'd like to hear other's thoughts on this line of thinking.

Great book on this very topic: https://www.amazon.com/Endure-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-Performance/dp/0062499866

Short answer: a great deal.

This one is what I currently started with :) good luck!

We are in the St. Louis area!
My favorite book at the moment
60 Hikes Within 60 Miles: St. Louis: Including Sullivan, Potosi, and Farmington - (https://www.amazon.com/dp/0897328833/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_4v4xxbMWRGZKB)

Hope that helps ya some!

Wow so much misinformation on here. First if you want more information and back up studies then please read this book:

https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Workout-Science-Smarter-Shorter/dp/0399183663

Now the title is a bit misleading. It's not one minute - each interval is less than a minute (as little as 15 seconds) and the rest can be up to 4 minutes. You might do 4 or 5 intervals and and up spending 20-30 minutes - almost all of which is spent resting between intervals.

Maintaining a high heart rate over the entire workout is not important.

The "High" part of HIIT is the intensity of the interval not the intensity of the overall workout.

Also Tabata != HIIT

Going sub-40 requires interval training and solid weekly mileage. There are no shortcuts or secrets. It will take time. You first have to get sub-44, then sub-43, then sub-42, and so on. Pick up one of the major training guides like Pfitzinger ,
Daniels, or Hudson. You can get any of these used for a few dollars, or new for not much more. While there are endless debates about which plan is best, you're just trying to get under 40:00, not qualify for the Olympics, an any of these will help you do that.

Also - Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness-Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength https://www.amazon.com/dp/B004XIZN5M/ref=cm_sw_r_other_apa_8bo0xbCXRWFZQ

Edit: Written by Paul Wade

I just started doing this one. I can't even do a regular push up and this book starts with wall push ups. Convict Conditioning: How to Bust Free of All Weakness-Using the Lost Secrets of Supreme Survival Strength by Paul Wade (Author). http://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/B004XIZN5M/ref=dp-kindle-redirect?ie=UTF8&btkr=1

The two best options corresponding to the two most prestigious organizations that certify personal trainers:

ACSM's Resources for the Personal Trainer

NSCA's Essentials of Strength and Conditioning

If you've been fit then its probably not an issue, it was just a thought. Core strength will definitely help you though. It could help every cyclist. And with perfect timing, Tom Danielson (and his physio who wrote all but maybe 3 pages of the thing) released a book on the subject.

Hundreds of stairways traverse San Francisco’s 42 hills, exposing incredible vistas while connecting colorful, unique neighborhoods, and veteran guide Adah Bakalinsky loves them all. Her updated Stairway Walks in San Francisco explores clandestine corridors from Lands End to Bernal Heights while sharing captivating architectural, historical, pop culture, and horticultural notes along the way. Long-term locals and tourists alike have used the book for over 25 years to adventurously uncover San Francisco’s unexpected details. This revised and expanded edition has been thoroughly updated and includes three additional walks, new maps, and new color photographs. A comprehensive appendix lists every one of the city's 600-plus public stairways.

https://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Walks-Francisco-Adah-Bakalinsky/dp/0899976379

Program calculator

http://jimwendler.com/

The book

Today is my 2nd day on 5/3/1 (BBB) so it's too soon for me to tell you my personal success but I've loved the first couple of workouts.

I'm only a newbie myself, but I would HIGHLY recommend Starting Strength by Rippetoe. I know it's more of a powerlifting book, but he covers Power Cleans & Power Snatches, as well as Deadlifts & Squats. He has tons of cues and coaching tips for all of the movements. I also have Olympic Weightlifting by Everett that I will be reading next.

Catalyst Athletics

Oleksiy TOROKHTIY

Coach Zach Telander

Coach Max Aita has some stuff out there in youtube, but not his own channel. He does the Training Make podcast with ZT, and does coaching/programming with JTS (has a few things on their channel).

I'm pretty new too (about 4 months), but this is what I found so far. But I would really make finding a good coach in your area a priority. They will correct problems as they see them, which is really important for beginning weightlifters. Also, if you can, find a WL team you can train with. I would also buy Everett's Olympic Weightlifting book, and use it as a reference (he's the guy that runs Catalyst above).

I teach power yoga so I use a lot of Baptiste Journey into Power. For more general hatha styles, Mark Stephens has a really good book on basic principals of sequencing, with lots of variations for beginners, intermediate, advanced, different health conditions, pregnant students, elderly students, etc. Really good resource!

I love the book Real Food for Pregnancy. While it is geared specifically towards those who are already pregnant it would also be great as fertility/pregnancy prep advice. She walks through all the nutrients needed for pregnancy (and probably also for fertility) and goes through real food sources of how to get them in your diet. It's written by a wonderful nutritionist/blogger who you can find here. She's paleo/low carb inspired, but is very practical.

The book Yoga Sequencing: Designing Transformative Yoga Classes is an amazing book with many sequences provided. It also goes over the theory of sequencing so you will be able to build your own. I think it was originally intended for teachers, but will work solo just fine. Well worth the investment.

Step 0: Grow beard

Step 1: Purchase/ download this book

http://www.amazon.com/Simplest-Effective-Training-Strength-Edition/dp/B00686OYGQ/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409870490&sr=8-1&keywords=531

Step 2: Follow one of the templates in it for 12 months minimum

Step 3: Enjoy new gains

Alt-Step 3: If after 12 months you haven't hit a significant bench pr I personally will come deliver you some ballet shoes as strength sports aren't for you.

I listened to it on tape during my long runs, highly recommended. The author is a former elite runner and talks about his own breakthrough race in a helpful way:

https://www.amazon.com/Endure-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-Performance/dp/0062499866

​

Have fun with your training and racing!

I just realized that when you here people talk about lifting without knowing about lifting, you probably have no idea that they're talking about lifting. Take the beginning of the sidebar:

>What is the 531 LP?
The 5/3/1 Linear Progression program is a program written by /u/n-Suns, condensing the usual four-week 5/3/1 progression into a single week and adding a second set of T2 movement in a five-day program. Six-day and four-day versions are also available. The five-day version allowed its creator to progress from a 905 to 1200+ powerlifting total in just a few months. What makes these programs so good? Who is n-Suns? Is this good for Aesthetics?
Really – nine sets?!
It may be a shock to someone used to low-volume, low-results beginner programs like Stronglifts 5x5, but yes, nine sets. You can do it, don’t worry.
What accessory work should I do?
If you haven't read the 531 books, please check them out.
https://jimwendler.com/products/5-3-1-forever-hard-copy
https://www.amazon.com/Beyond-Simple-Training-Extraordinary-Results/dp/1467580309
https://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B00686OYGQ/ref=pd_aw_sim_14_1?ie=UTF8&psc=1&refRID=GCACDSQM3VNCMC5TD7QX
This can be customized to suit your own needs, but as a rank beginner you should follow the prescribed suggestions.

To this point it sounds like obscure computer stuff...

If you want to get better at lifting heavy things in awkward positions, you should mix in some implement training, something akin to strongman training. Supplement that with some basic barbell work in an alternating fashion. And then do something for your cardio that's both specific and general to the task that you need to be good at. I can't tell because you really aren't giving clear details on what that needs to be.

Here's a handout that the national strength and conditioning association created to prepare people for special forces selection that has both a general and specific approach to their training needs that follows this same methodology. Here's a book that takes the same approach (an occupational approach) but covers the principles better so you can make a version for yourself.

Here's a book that's even more general, that mostly goes towards the way of athletes but is much more cohesive. This is kind've supplemental/additional to either of the previously mentioned books.

TB isn't that good of a book imo. It doesn't teach you how to problem solve and fabricate on your own.

Sounds like a shift away from Vinyasa flow and towards traditional Hatha (or at least Hatha-like).

Mark Edwards has written a good book that you might find helpful here.

Running and bodyweight exercises (got it from Convict Conditioning) This way I burn calories and stay fit plus build strength without building big muscles like lifting would do.

60 Hikes within 60 Miles of St. Louis is great for exploring parks and beautiful daytime views around STL, especially since it won't get super cold for a month or more.

https://www.amazon.com/Hikes-Within-Miles-Including-Farmington/dp/0897328833

Ah, I see.

Satyananda Saraswati - A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya


Satyananda Saraswati - Asana Pranayama Mudra Bandha

Mukunda Stiles - Ayurvedic Yoga Therapy

KS Joshi - Yogic Pranayama

David Frawley - Ayurveda and the Mind

Satyananda Saraswati - Kundalini Tantra


Good luck and all the best. I recommend all books for a rounded introduction. I'd also recommend a more technical book on Chakras by Harish Johari, but I'd start with the above books.

Strength work should be low repetition (1-6 reps). Recovery period will be 3-5 minutes between sets.
Hypertrophy (ie size) work should be medium repetition (8-12 reps). Recovery period will be shorter, 1-3 minutes.
For hypertrophy, lifting to failure is not necessarily bad. For strength, you don't want to miss reps really.
The above points aren't really debated among educated fitness professionals.
Source: any kinesiology textbook anywhere. But here's a good one
http://www.amazon.com/Essentials-Strength-Training-Conditioning-Edition/dp/0736058036

There's an interesting, fun to read book that recently came out that discusses human endurance and the mind-body relationship. One thing the author says is that few actually meet or achieve the fullest physiological potential that our body can do - we usually have a little more to give. When Im doing something physically taxing - OTF or otherwise - I remember that.

Amazon link to book: Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance

220-Age is a gross estimation of Heart Rate max (HRmax). It is used in a sense that BMI is used to quickly evaluates body composition. I think there is a disconnection between HRmax and Exercise Intentisty that needs to be made. HRmax % is only a part of the equation of VO2 (volume of oxygen consumption in the human body). HRmax is used in exercise prescription because, without laboratory equipment you can't measure the other parts of VO2. Is HRmax the true absolute beats per minute a heart can achieve? Most likely no, but prolonged activity at the rate will lead to MVO2 (heart oxygen consumption) not being able to keep up with demand (ischemia).

The second part and edit of your question has to deal with what your targeting to exercise. Exercise intensity can come from volume, time, mode, and strain of activity (aka intensity). I would argue if you can go for 30mins at 90% of HRmax that is not your true maximum. Your ie. training question deals with which energy system you want to target.

A more accurate measure in calculating your HRmax/VO2max would be a Bruce Protocol along with a measure of HR and blood pressure at each stage.

Paraphrased Sources:

Therapeutic Exercise: Moving Towards Function

Exercise Physiology: Nutrition, Energy, and Human Performance

Cardiovascular and Pulmonary Physical Therapy: Evidence to Practice

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - 3rd Edition

I don't feel like I'm qualified to give advice so here are some great resources to check out until you get a coach:

Snatch tutorial from Juggernaut

Clean tutorial from Juggernaut

Jerk tutorial from Juggernaut

Catalyst Athletics excercise library (The rest of the website is also a complete treasure trove)

Olympic Weightlifting: A Complete Guide for Athletes & Coaches by Greg Everett (the owner of Catalyst Athletics)

EDIT: Oh, and if you live in the US you can find nearby USA Weightlifting affiliated clubs on this site.

Get Greg Everett's Book and do the Weight Gain Program

High Calorie snacks: whole milk, nuts / nut butters, jerky, cheese, full fat yogurt, avocado. great now im hungry and im supposed to be dropping weight

All of this.

My OB-GYN still believed in the you must never get your heart rate above 130 claptrap, which has clearly been disproven, but always pushed me to lift weights, even though I was not lifting at the time. He was a proponent of light weights, high reps, though.

This book might be worth checking out. I had an older edition and it mostly focused on cardio, but there should at least be a chapter on weights. You can usually find it at your local public library or bookstore.

I really like Phil Maffetone's The Big Book of Endurance Training. I almost purchased the training bible, but I felt it was too technical for me right now (training for my first sprint). I purchased the 12 Week Triathlete instead. Very easy to read and understand. I am using the training plan (intermediate sprint) in the book for my first sprint.

Brad Hudson's book is pretty good too:

http://www.amazon.com/Run-Faster-5K-Marathon-Coach/dp/0767928229

Sidenote: Matt Perryman's Squat Every Day is one of the best resources on "fatigue" and recovery available for laymen. It's worth a few bucks and will change the way you train.

http://www.amazon.com/Squat-Every-Day-Matt-Perryman-ebook/dp/B00CE5BCFG

You DEFINITELY need proper coaching for the Oly lifts, but this would be a good *supplement.*

While I don't follow this advice, since I'm pretty sure it's been out of date for almost 20 years, I did notice something interesting. My running has naturally slowed since I've gotten pregnant. A few times, in the middle of a run, I've stopped to take my pulse, just out of curiosity. Every time, it's between 140 and 150. It's almost as though my body is slowing to a pace where my heart only needs to hit that particular rate. So maybe there's something to the idea that your heartrate shouldn't exceed 140 in pregnancy, but at least for me it seems as though my body is preventing it without my input.

If you want some evidence, particularly for cardio, read James Clapp's Exercising Through Your Pregnancy

Why not just invest in a good text book that the course would be based around. 16hrs isn't enough, its enough to give you a piece of paper. I highly recommend these two txts books:

https://www.amazon.ca/s/ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_16?url=search-alias%3Daps&field-keywords=becoming+a+supple+leopard+2nd+edition&sprefix=becoming+a+suppl%2Caps%2C152

https://www.amazon.ca/Essentials-Strength-Training-Conditioning-Resource/dp/149250162X/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1458166563&sr=8-1&keywords=nsca+strength+and+conditioning

I mainly stretch on the days I ride, and then only after I finish a ride. I'll hit the quads, hamstrings and hip flexors. I'll also throw in a foam roll session to target the sorest parts of the body. On non-riding days the most I might do is an easy foam roll.

Also not sure if this really qualifies, but I've been trying to do Tom Danielson's core workouts 3-4 times a week. I'm finding this to be just as beneficial, if not more, than regular stretching.

Catalyst Athletics makes a great book. I use it and it’s available on Amazon. Has a everything from programming, exercise selection, tchinqje, nutrition, and much more. Here’s a link https://www.amazon.com/Olympic-Weightlifting-Complete-Athletes-Coaches/dp/0990798542/ref=sr_1_3?keywords=Catalyst+athletics&qid=1573231159&sr=8-3

Well keep in mind some people also squat every day with good results. But 1-3 times a week is what most people do and it works just fine.

If you're interested in high frequency training, I'd recommend the book Squat Every Day.

TL;DR, keep the volume reasonable and it isn't really a problem.

The Anatomy of Yoga is good for teaching beginners outside of the actual asana time. Focus muscles are highlighted in chart-like photos and diagrams.


Also this one

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/8185787085/ref=oh_aui_detailpage_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

has a lot of ancillary kriya that can help many people if you can teach it.

When it comes to squats, more often is always better, in my experience.

You may be interested in having a look at this book, which is where the OP's program is taken from.

They have tried it before under very special conditions, conditions so favorable that the time wouldn't even be official, and even in those circumstances they weren't able to do it.


There is a nice documentary here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=V2ZLG-Fij_4


Also, I suggest reading the book "Endure" by Alex Hutchinson, in which he explores the limits of the human body in such depth that it's astonishing, and makes special emphasis on the Sub-2 Marathon. The conclusion is that it's quite unlikely, but not impossible.


Here's the book in case you want to give it a read, as a runner and in-progress triathlete, I found it so interesting that I went over it twice: https://www.amazon.com/Endure-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-Performance/dp/0062499866

I literally gave you an ancient practice to generate the warmth of love and the feeling along with commentary that is suitable for a begginer. I got that from the book a systemic course in the ancient tantric techniques of yoga and kriya. https://www.amazon.com/Systematic-Course-Ancient-Tantric-Techniques/dp/8185787085

The author was one of the most respected yogis in the world, a master of multiple tantric rites and formed multiple monasteries and ashrams. But your right he probably has his head up his ass and you know the way.

I can tell you techniques they used to generate body heat (but you don't feel the warmth due to the depth of meditation) that they use to meditate in the snow for prolonged periods but you don't seem open enough and receptive to advice to use it safely, nor do you understand the metaphysical body and the deeper essences of emotions required to go that deep so it would be useless to you.

The most important thing is your desire to experience this feeling will blind you. Desire is the enemy and your ego is obviously out of balance. Maybe someone else will tell you

Why not use that time to work on your core? Tom Danielson's Core Advantage has shown great results for me

For all the people that downvoted me... There are 1,000 examples of this method working. Please read Dr. Phil Maffetone's work and the results of dozens of triathletes, winners of Ironmans, Olympic Athletes.

Here is a page: https://philmaffetone.com/180-formula/

He worked with many famous athletes and helped them improve.. along with normal middle of the pack runners.

Here is one of his books: The Big Book of Training and Endurance

My issues had a lot to do with tight hamstrings and weak hip flexors, so most of it was work around those areas, as well as core strength. The book by Allison Westfahl had a bunch of useful stuff in it. http://www.amazon.com/Tom-Danielsons-Core-Advantage-Strength/dp/193403097X/ref=tmm_pap_title_0

I don't think Tom Danielson had anything to do with it, other than some anecdotes.

The Heart of Yoga: Developing a Personal Practice by T. K. V. Desikachar

This was a great read on the topic.


Endure: Mind, Body, and the Curiously Elastic Limits of Human Performance https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062499866/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_api_i_xqBADbE9C5WH7

You've got to read Martin Gibala's book that came out a few weeks ago.[1] He is a physiology professor who has pioneered research of HIIT. The book is awesome.


[1] https://www.amazon.com/One-Minute-Workout-Science-Smarter-Shorter/dp/0399183663/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1488293990&sr=8-1&keywords=the+one+minute+workout

Get this book. Lily outlines what is safe during pregnancy in regards to carbs as well as everything else.

I train every day unless I travel, and frankly I have less fatigue/soreness and can do more volume this way. If you want science, check these books: Squat Every Day by Matt Perryman and Science of Sports Training by Thomas Kurz

​

Basically, overtraining is largely a myth. Yes, you need adequate recovery, but adequate might be less than 24 hours, depending on the load and the type of workouts.

Do you like to read? Your story reminds me of some stuff from "How Bad Do You Want It?" and "Endure" - both great books.

https://www.amazon.com/dp/1937715418/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_ns2pDbGKVMJXZ

https://www.amazon.com/dp/0062499866/ref=cm_sw_r_tw_dp_U_x_0s2pDbPW4EN5R

Science

• The Science of Running by Steve Magness, published 2014
  
• Anything by Alex Hutchinson. He has 2 books (one just came out this month) and writes/has written columns in Runner's World, Outside Online, Globe and Mail, among others. His stuff is typically more along the lines of "interesting stuff studies show" not really a global picture of how to train.
  
• Various books by Matt Fitzgerald
  
  Training
  
  
• Daniels' Running Formula by Jack Daniels. The 3rd edition is from 2013.
  
  
• Faster Road Racing: 5K to Half Marathon by Pete Pfitzinger. The 2nd edition is from 2014.
  
• Again, various books by Matt Fitzgerald.

there are dozens of books on this subject - at the moment i'm reading Endure by Alex Hutchinson (https://www.amazon.co.uk/Endure-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-Performance/dp/0062499866).

One of the questions posed is why are we able to a) sprint for a finish line despite not being able to run any faster a minute earlier, and b) why are we able to easily run around a few seconds after we supposedly 'emptied the tank'? (exactly like your scenario).

As far as can tell, the answer is 'we're still working on that one...'

I also agree with what u/Flexappeal said. Training the classic lifts without any real understanding of what you are doing will just drill bad habits. If you are going the self-learning route, Greg Everett's Olympic Weightlifting for Athletes and Coaches is a pretty comprehensive book that you can read and re-read to understand the mechanics of each lift.

Better yet. You want to know what you should be doing? Buy this book

Give this a read. The Kindle edition is cheap. It's a very good read for a beginner.

Im working on this book:

A Systematic Course in the Ancient Tantric Techniques of Yoga and Kriya

This is, in my opinion, the most complete book you will find on Yoga.

Also, I have been working on his companion book:

Kundalini Tantra

This second book covers in more detail Kundalini and Chakra work.

Both of these books are "esoteric". The Swami mentions "magick" several times and even compares Tantra with Kabbalah in several places. So it's definitely not just a bunch of poses. This guy is the real deal.

Timing doesn't matter so much so long as you're hitting your macros ([See the FAQ] (https://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/faq#wiki_how_important_is_nutrient_or_meal_timing.3F)).

That said some people will experience apetite loss during / after workout for a bit. As I understand it's due to increased blood flow in the rest of your body removing blood flow from your stomach. (Source: I beleive I read this in [Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning - 3rd Edition] (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0736058036/ref=oh_aui_search_detailpage?ie=UTF8&psc=1))

As a side note if you're interested:

Norwegian Study

Squat Everyday

High frequency training is not for beginners, or even intermediates. You need rest to grow.

I recommend the book 'Convict Conditioning' to anyone looking to master their bodyweight.

It features a "10 step" progression sequence for six major movements. By the time you reach the 10th step, the "master step", you'll be doing one-arm pushups, one-arm pullups, one-leg squats, and so on -- for reps, with strict form.

5/3/1 is explicitly for getting you stronger. It's right on the cover of the book.

Yoga Body by Mark Singleton & Sinister Yogis by David Gordon White are two books which explore this topic in greater detail

Seems like you are just starting out. If so, I can't recommend this [book enough to people] (http://www.amazon.com/Mens-Health-Power-Training-Performance-based/dp/1594865841/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1463764647&sr=8-1&keywords=mens+health+power+training). It's what got me started and gave me the foundation to build on.

Questions like these are answered here (and other places): Squat Every Day, by Matt Perryman

I only used the course book. The test was not very difficult to me. I would generally think that a lifter would focus on all of the right material to study except the big section of not letting athletes die. Lots of questions on eating disorders, hydration, heat stroke

I work in a biomechanics and motor control lab

Alex Hutchinson talks a little about this in this book. https://www.amazon.com/Endure-Curiously-Elastic-Limits-Performance/dp/0062499866

If I remember correctly, he talked about tribes who about about 70% of their caloric intake as fat. Turns out those people weren't unhealthy at all, and he went as far as to say they were healthy due to the vitamins and minerals in the fat. Also, the people he was referring to were natives, in I don't recall what country, and had grown accustom to the very high diet.

I don't claim to be an expert on this, but I think I'd rather have a balanced diet.

Have you read this? If not, you should.

I've got an acquaintance that took the test, said he was surprised by the number of questions from section 5 of the book.

Essentials of Strength Training and Conditioning. I have a bachelors/masters in Exercise Science and this is a book we used since my first semester.

Becoming a Supple Leopard I have the first edition, so I'm not sure what was added in the 2nd, but this is a great book that isn't so "sciency"

Have you ever done a Smolov cycle Greg? Would you find it comparable to the Bulgarian method?

Also any recommendations to further look into the Bulgarian method? A bit of searching around recommended this text:

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00CE5BCFG/

I'm at about a 450 squat right now and was planning on running a Smolov cycle to break the 500 squat barrier early next year.

I have this book, which is kind of fun: http://www.amazon.com/Stairway-Walks-Francisco-Adah-Bakalinsky/dp/0899976379