Why isn't physical exercise emphasized in this forum more?

[7thLetter]

Weightlifting 5 days a week, having a specific day for each muscle part. Chest day, shoulder day, leg day, etc. Saturday is full body for me so I usually include ab workouts and cardio in there. Also I bike to work mon to fri for the rat race 9-5 grind.

Most importantly, get enough calories in and your protein as well.

[outlandish]

19 hours ago, kieranperez said:

they (along with most East Africans) also have a genetic advantage so I wouldn't attribute their success just to that but as far as that example, you're on point. 

I think the culture is important too. They have a culture in a lot of these villages where everyone runs, it's *the* sport in these areas, whereas in a lot of euro/american culture running is often seen as a punishment! I think that environment makes a big difference.

Genetics must play a big role too for sure. These east africans probably have persistence hunters more direct in their ancestry than the average european does for example. 

But none of that is any good without the training 

[kieranperez]

1 hour ago, outlandish said:

I think the culture is important too. They have a culture in a lot of these villages where everyone runs, it's *the* sport in these areas, whereas in a lot of euro/american culture running is often seen as a punishment! I think that environment makes a big difference.

Genetics must play a big role too for sure. These east africans probably have persistence hunters more direct in their ancestry than the average european does for example. 

But none of that is any good without the training 

It's not even the running thing every day from and to school and all that stuff. You can take Kenyans, Ethiopians, and those from those dominant East African countries who haven't run that much in their life and start training them and they'll still develop quick enough and eventually be dominant. Happens all the time. Particularly these days since Kenya for example is slowly but surely becoming more developed. You have athletes in the US who are training INCREDIBLY hard and get great results early on in middle and high school but then are fried and always getting hurt in college and post collegiately. That's why I don't take standout high school runners that seriously anymore. 

East Africans also, very interestingly are more dominant in more "shorter long distance stuff" up to say the marathon/50K. Put them in a stacked 100 miler with 20,000+ feet of vertical gain and loss at elevation and they'll get served on a platter. It's a much more even playing field in a certain sense the longer you go. 

It's really a combination of persistence hunting for hundreds of thousands of years at elevation for thousands of generations throughout human history if we're talking about genetics. I mean, runners from there to a very shocking extent have horrendous form and mechanics. You'd NEVER see say an American woman run with the form of a runner like Mary Keitany and be even sub 2:22 in the marathon. 

It's also hard to talk about this in running circles because it's so PC because we can't call out the reality of this whole thing. We have to pretend that it's just because of hard work and make a whole inspiring marketing campaign about it and turn it into this Stage Red/Orange mentality of "I'm the best because I train harder than you. Talent doesn't exist." People don't want to acknowledge their gifts... and then they go thanking Christ and God as though Christ was some figure who died so we can all be success chasers... that's a tangent though LOL

 Same thing in spiritual circles too though with people who meditation or contemplating for hours and hours and hours and hours and it comes more naturally to them and have better concentration than most people and stuff. 

[Widdle Puppy]

I lift three times a week

Made a ton of progress this year and it feels amazing. took my squat up to 90kg from 50kg.