Comment by acchow
20 days ago
> I get that there can be too much of a good thing etc
Similarly, people that run 45 minutes a day are in great shape. But if you run a half marathon every day, you will age quickly
You’re exactly right, too much of a good thing. And for hard strength training, you can hit that tipping point very quickly. Probably within an hour a day if you’re going hard
For strength you can do a workout within like 25~35min that is taking it slow like browsing socials during pauses.
Talking about programs like rippetoe, 5x5, 531 etc. Unless you have elite genetics or are on juice you don't really need to go beyond those programs.
This. I go beyond those programs (currently weight training 4/week with an upper/lower split) and it's still ~4 hours/week inclusive of some stretching at the end of each workout.
Vs ~40 hours/week of whatever a tradesman does.
Unless of course you’re training practical, useful strength. Which requires intense bursts of weight training, and balance between tempo runs, rucks with 35-40% of body weight, and slow run/jogs. Weightlifting is a small part of a larger picture of strength and being able to put it to use. Cardio is the single most important thing you can train because without a gas tank you’re just a fat, slow, strong slob.
You don’t need to be elite nor on juice to do this. All you need is a purpose. I do this all the time, am over 35, and not on juice. My fitness is great but no where near elite.
Rippetoe is an obnoxious jackass and you can venture to his forums (cult) to see it. He’s great at making fat, out of shape, strongmen. He’s not great at producing a fighter, tradesman, or operator. When you want to know what works look to the people actually using their fitness not morons like him who proselytize and look like the hardest thing they do all day is eat a pack of bon Bons.
Rippetoe gives good advice on lifting form and programming especially for novices but I'd look wider for diet and nutrition advice.
Strength on itself is already functional and useful. I kind of agree with you, its why i have been moving away from the strongmen stuff, more into kettlebells, calisthenics and walking during lunch and/or post dinner.
Elite distance runners are likely to be running farther than a half marathon every day. There used to be a notion that your weekly mileage ought to be triple the distance you are training for, which for a marathon is about 79 miles per week, eleven-plus miles per day. My body would not tolerate much more than 60 miles per week, and honestly I don't know what most other recreational runners did.