markc7

18 tofu hotdogs?? Buddy that is nuts! You are badass.

Hmm, I think I've forgotten to log a couple of runs the last couple of days. I was back in the gym today for the first time since I hurt my back a few weeks ago. I did some legs and abs, and spent some time on the stairclimber.

Right! Like I said there is a mentality that trickles down from the top to anyone who considers themselves a bodybuilder. Even without ever have watched or attended or participated in a bodybuidling competition, it is possible to pick up the preferences and mentality of the people at the top. To stick with the triathlon metaphor beginners sometimes buy, or at least discuss, what the best equipment is, even if they are not yet at the level where they would see a significant performance increase. My point is that, regardless of whether or not someone has any interest in participating in competitions, they can still be influenced by the nature of the sport at the pro level. I think you're kind of missing what I'm trying to say. The aim of professional bodybuilding itself seems peculiar to me. I would have thought that the aim would be to have an optimum body. The size that people get to I would not describe as optimum for humans, and as I've suggested, I doubt many wild humans would have looked like that. Instead, the aim of some bodybuilders seems to be to compete with the other really really massive bodybuilders, to see who can be biggest; nothing to do with what is actually optimum, and I don't think people think about what would be optimum for a human. The physiques of really massive bodybuilders is seen as desirable, just like supermodels' physiques, but I think that both are very extreme - and it is peculiar that people compare themselves to those extremes, rather than a more natural / optimum human body We're in complete agreement. I get what you're saying and I'm not arguing with your opinion that the really super huge bodybuilders are unnatural or not optimal. I think it would be awesome to have a BB culture that focused less on pure size. If you look at the people who do compare themselves to the super massive bodybuilders, I suspect that you would find very few who are not involved in the BB subculture in some way. If you asked a regular person on the street, they would choose a typical body from Men's Health over one from Muscle and Fitness. It certainly is strange, though, that some of the people who would compare themselves to bodies in M&F are those who bodybuild without any desire or intent to compete, especially when as you say this is not optimal in a physical sense.

Right! Like I said there is a mentality that trickles down from the top to anyone who considers themselves a bodybuilder. Even without ever have watched or attended or participated in a bodybuidling competition, it is possible to pick up the preferences and mentality of the people at the top. To stick with the triathlon metaphor beginners sometimes buy, or at least discuss, what the best equipment is, even if they are not yet at the level where they would see a significant performance increase. My point is that, regardless of whether or not someone has any interest in participating in competitions, they can still be influenced by the nature of the sport at the pro level.

Correct me if I'm wrong. But in a bodybuilding competition, all else being equal, the larger of two competitors will win, right? So in terms of competing it's always better to be bigger (unless it comes at the cost of some other physical attribute). As long as that's the way competitions work, then there's going to be that pressure "from the top" that will trickle down to all levels of the sub-culture. It seems like this is equivalent to saying that triathletes spend too much on their bikes (many of them do spend alot), but as long as the races are being won by the person who goes the fastest that's not going to change.

Welcome!

It was a pretty good fight, too. Mac is amazingly skilled. In case you missed it: http://vids.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=vids.individual&videoid=23619060

I don't think it's offensive to say what you prefer or what you tend to find sexy or attractive. I agree with you. Yesterday I watch the new Spice Girls video and the only one I found attractive was the one who wasn't uber thin and ripped. Nothing wrong watching the spice girls What spice girl was that? Umm.... (reaching ten years back into my memory) I think she was called Baby Spice. I know they all have real names but honestly I can't remember them anymore. The blond one. Geri, Mel C, Mel B, Victoria, and Emma. I was a semi fan back in the days!! I didn't have their high shoes or anything hahah ! Acutally I had the ones Mel B had on in one of her interviews. I was really cool back then Yeah, Emma, that's her! I wasn't a fan back in the day, but since they've come back there music has been played more and I realized that they have some good songs. Weird videos though; what were they huffing when they made "Viva Forever"?

I don't think it's offensive to say what you prefer or what you tend to find sexy or attractive. I agree with you. Yesterday I watch the new Spice Girls video and the only one I found attractive was the one who wasn't uber thin and ripped. Nothing wrong watching the spice girls What spice girl was that? Umm.... (reaching ten years back into my memory) I think she was called Baby Spice. I know they all have real names but honestly I can't remember them anymore. The blond one.

I don't think it's offensive to say what you prefer or what you tend to find sexy or attractive. I agree with you. Yesterday I watch the new Spice Girls video and the only one I found attractive was the one who wasn't uber thin and ripped.

There is no magic amount or volume of training that qualifies as overtraining. Everyone recovers differently based on their body and their past training. When I run with marathoners they often tell me that I'm over training, because I run over 60km/weekend in the spring. But I know exactly how much I can do and for how long, and I back off whenever I get the first inkling of being overtrained. If you're feeling fine, then you're probably alright. Just pay attention to any changes in your soreness, fatigue, sleep, and heart rate.

It really is a shame that robert would be the target of other vegan's criticism, because it's obvious that he does so much for the community and for veganism. Hugo Weaving said this week that one of the problems in the AR movement is that they use celebrities to get the message out, but that those celebrities then become easy targets. If any of us were interviewed every week and followed around by paparazzi, I'm sure that they would uncover some information that other vegans could criticize us for (OMG, markc7 wears five year old leather shoes that he bought years before becoming vegan!). When I think about the people who were most influential in me become vegan, neither of them are "perfect" by the standards of many vegans. The first was my mother, who has been a lacto-ovo vegetarian for years. Her approach to vegetarianism has always been to act in accordance with her own values and to be a role model. She never got in people's faces, forced us (her kids) to eat the way she did, or belittled people who don't conform. My second biggest influence was a guy I've never met. He posts on Coolrunning.com, and for years and years his sig line contained a link that said "Portrait of a vegan runner". Although he never argued or pushed his beliefs (unless asked), having the knowledge that some normal guy out there was a successful vegan runner was instrumental in my later decision to try vegetarianism and eventually veganism. The only time that he ever posted about his veganism was when he was asked, or when threads were specifically about vegetarian or vegan issues. And he always treated people with respect, whether they were planning to go 100% vegan or whether they were asking on advice for cutting out red meat. So I don't think it's any surprise that I learnt from these role models that we can influence people and change their behaviour without being a jerk about it. Having said that, I believe that there are times that call for a more confrontational style. But they are few and far between, and we have to ensure that compassion, not confrontation, is our default setting.

Vega L-Glutamine Some kind of Soy protein shake multivitamin

Check this out for a chuckle: http://www.terre.tv/indexvod.php?case=1&ref=00151

Right on! Good work so far, keep it up.

Yeah, but the Bruins....

I ran about 7km this afternoon. It snowed alot the last couple of days, and although the sidewalks were plowed there were lots of snowbanks and puddles to jump over. It made for slow running but a good workout.

I love survival horror games! I only play them at night though. I'm about half way through RE4 right now. Silent Hill 3 is absolutely amazing, by far the best I've ever played.

Another alternative is to buy German wine. I believe that it has to be free of animal products, so no isenglass is used in the fining. Of course this doesn't work so well if you don't like reisling or Gerwurtraminer.

Just for fun next time you're in the gym, try doing five sets to failure, each with a different grip. Start at the widest possible grip palms forward, then medium grip palms forward, then close grip forward, then the "chin-pull" if you have it, then close grip palms in (chin up). I did this a couple months ago with minimal rest between sets. I think I did something like 10, 7, 5, 10, 12.

Or, if you don't want to hurt your ears, try this one. It's gets you running right away.

Well, today isn't much warmer than yesterday, but I went for a run anyways. I ran for about an hour in the snow and wind. It was quite cold running into the wind for the first 30 minutes, then it was actually fairly warm on the way back. It felt good to get back out there again.

Thanks robert. After almost two weeks of exactly zero activity (apart from walking maybe 30 minutes/day), my back is finally feeling better again. I don't know exactly what i did to it, but I'm going to be extra careful for the next little while, because this this not something that I want to experience again. I may go for a run tomorrow, but it is supposed to be very cold all day. Like, -25C with the windchill. So if I do a long run it'll probably wait until Sunday. But we'll see.

Welcome aboard!

VP has an awesome signature line!