Long Distance Running 1 mile or more....

[stuka1939]

is the TOUGHEST exercise out there....yet is gets no respect.

I ran track and cross country in high school and every practice and race was utter hell on the mind and body.....yet baseball PUSSIES get more respect than we do.

 

[HandyAndy]

Gtfo

 

[SmoothTalker]

Long distance running is not easy, but I have tried it up to about 4 miles and was not impressed. It takes a long time, and the benefits are not that good.

Now running 400 m several times at race speed, that's probably the hardest cardio ever.

 

[AKA FLEX]

is the TOUGHEST exercise out there....yet is gets no respect.

I ran track and cross country in high school and every practice and race was utter hell on the mind and body.....yet baseball PUSSIES get more respect than we do.

Distance running may be more physically demanding, but baseball requires a skill set all of its own. I wouldn't call those guys pu--ies. Besides, women dig a guy who carries a big bat

That said, distance running probably doesn't even crack the top five toughest exercises out there. Swimming, rowing, and boxing are three I can think of off the top of my head that are much more taxing on your body if done for the same amount of time, and I'm sure others can come up with more.

That isn't meant to disrespect runners. I've done three half-marathons and one full, so I know it isn't easy.

 

[jesliejamu]

Yes , i agree with you

Yes i agree with the fact that long distance runners don't get the fame other baseball players get and in athletics too the glamor is with sprint events and no one cares for us.

 

[mikeyb]

That said, distance running probably doesn't even crack the top five toughest exercises out there. Swimming, rowing, and boxing are three I can think of off the top of my head that are much more taxing on your body if done for the same amount of time, and I'm sure others can come up with more.

The toughest endurance sport has gotta be ironman triathlon.

I completely disagree that distance running is less intense than other sports. When training for a race, even recreational runners will do speedwork (e.g. hill sprints), where the intensity is much higher. And the intensity of a race is just as high in running as it is in swimming or rowing - it's just different muscles doing the work. And the effort lasts longer.

 

[wolf116]

Who cares if it's tough. It makes you look like sh!t and is bad for you!
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=861&Itemid=10029

If you like running, get into sprinting!

 

[Kerpal]

Who cares if it's tough. It makes you look like sh!t and is bad for you!
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=861&Itemid=10029

If you like running, get into sprinting!

Yup. I never understood why anyone would be interested in low intensity sports like distance running. Soooo boring IMO and horrible for your body.

 

[mikeyb]

Who cares if it's tough. It makes you look like sh!t and is bad for you!
http://www.charlespoliquin.com/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=861&Itemid=10029

If you like running, get into sprinting!

I should have stopped reading that article after the first so-called "reason". Cardio plateaus after 8 weeks ?? Somebody better tell all those professionals who run 180Ks a week that they're "plateauing" . Or at least that a personal trainer and strength coach thinks they are. Yeah. A strength coach.

He says that running makes you fat? Really? I thought people on this forum made fun of long-distance runners because they were too skinny, not too fat. But this guy's onto something, for sure...I mean those ethiopian runners have really high BF%, right? . I'm willing to believe that sprinters have lower body fat, but that's only because they have more muscle mass (or in some cases, 'roids). I'm not american, but there's one presidential candidate who lost an insane amount of weight in the last decade or so (I think it's that pastor guy, can't remember his name)...care to guess how??

Poliquin has only based his article on what he sees in the gym: 30-60 minutes of continuous cardio. Most runners' long runs are well over an hour in length (mine are about 100 minutes), and according to former US olympic team member Jeff Galloway, it takes long runs of OVER an hour to teach the body to use fat as fuel.

One more thing: most runners don't just perform slow aerobic runs. If they did that, the world 10K record would stand around 50 minutes instead of being less than 27. Speed training and anaerobic runs are a core part of any runner's training. That's out of the scope of Poliquin's article, so I won't flame him on it.

When you have a minute, go watch the finish of a triathlon and pay close attention to the veterans. They're neither unhealthy nor fat. Oh, and their younger counterparts don't look like sh!t - girls always drool over swimmers' bodies.

 

[wolf116]

Your argument is laughable and doesn't deserve a reply.

Good luck with your knees.

 

[mintxx]

I think some people might be confusing long distance running with marathon.. triathletes are not exactly skinny in my neck of the woods

 

[darkme_legendary]

is the TOUGHEST exercise out there....yet is gets no respect.

I ran track and cross country in high school and every practice and race was utter hell on the mind and body.....yet baseball PUSSIES get more respect than we do.

Why do you need their respect for doing this sport...don't you do this sport because you like it(aka. enjoying the experience) or because you are seeking indirectly other people respect/approval etc..
Is THOUGHEST exercise the same as the more attention/respect seeking exercise? Obviously not, so why you want to make them the same thing? Ask those question to yourself...if you want.

 

[Zairi]

If you like running, get into sprinting!

Even sprinters do aerobic work to maintain low bodyfat levels and to help with recovery from high intensity speed sessions.

 

[mikeyb]

Even sprinters do aerobic work to maintain low bodyfat levels and to help with recovery from high intensity speed sessions.

Don't bother, they're never gonna admit they're wrong...gym rats look down on runners because we do something we enjoy instead of pumping iron just so we have something pretty to look at in the mirror.

 

[AKA FLEX]

Don't bother, they're never gonna admit they're wrong...gym rats look down on runners because we do something we enjoy instead of pumping iron just so we have something pretty to look at in the mirror.

Who says that "gym rats" don't enjoy their sport for other reasons than vanity? I've done marathons, played baseball, and competed in powerlifting meets, and all three are awesome experiences in their own rights.

There's no one sport that is "better" than any other so there's no reason to bash each other about what we do for fun and to get our competitive juices flowing. Just do what you like for whatever reason you like and don't worry about what other people think.

 

[mikeyb]

Who says that "gym rats" don't enjoy their sport for other reasons than vanity? I've done marathons, played baseball, and competed in powerlifting meets, and all three are awesome experiences in their own rights.

There's no one sport that is "better" than any other so there's no reason to bash each other about what we do for fun and to get our competitive juices flowing. Just do what you like for whatever reason you like and don't worry about what other people think.

Couldn't agree more. I don't have anything against powerlifting, although from what I've seen it's pretty rare these days compared to "aesthetic" weight lifting. It just really ticks me off when bodybuilder wannabes come out and bash a sport they know very little about just because it isn't right for them. And yes, running has its downsides.

I hope that settles things.

 

[wolf116]

I used to win all the long distance events in high school and I represented my state at one point, yes it's hard work, but it just makes you look like cr@p and weakens you. I didn't like being weak.

I am not a bodybuilder! I do powerlifting, strength training and olympic lifting.
I've also competed in armature boxing events and trained MMA for 2 years.
I also train sprinting and I'm a surfer. I lift weights because I love it. Just because I'm trying to put on muscle dose not make me a BB, it is required if you wish to reach you genetic strength limit.

Running is being phased out in professional fighting athletes because they have found it to be counterproductive. You will be surprised at the amount of MMA fighters who never run. Once I quit low intensity aerobic work I was surprised to find an improvement I my endurance.

Sprinters get their low bodyfat from sprinting not aerobic work! I have trained with top sprinters and they never do aerobic work, they squat, powerclean and sprint.

Man was desigined to walk while hunting, sprint after the animal to catch it with a spear, then cart it home on his back. There is no use for jogging, it is harsh on the joints.

 

[Kerpal]

Even sprinters do aerobic work to maintain low bodyfat levels and to help with recovery from high intensity speed sessions.

What kind of aerobic work do they do?

I personally just find distance work sooo boring... 5 minutes into a run and I'm already thinking about quitting just because I find it boring. I'd rather throw my sandbag and sledgehammer around for a while for conditioning, and it's more effective for what I do anyway.

 

[Zairi]

What kind of aerobic work do they do?

The poster who said that sprinters never do aerobic work doesn't really know much about a sprinting regime. All top sprinters, like Asafa Powell, Usain Bolt, Maurice Greene and plenty of others, of today do aerobic work.

Now, as for your question Kerpal, they do something which is called tempo running which are runs done at 60-75% of your maximum pace. Top sprinters usually get 2200 metres of tempo running done in a day, and they do it on alternate days to help with recovery from high intensity sessions like sprinting and weightlifting - so it is a corner stone of their programs. Asafa Powell for example does 12x200m with 2 minutes of rest in between a rep. If you want to know more about tempo running, you can ask me questions, or you can alternatively do a search on "extensive tempo".

 

[wolf116]

Haha 200m is not counted as aerobic exercise, that is more like HIIT.
They rest between runs = not aerobic training. They are training the cardiovascular system, stretching the muscles and circulating blood.