RRC Archives

Lurk, do you condone attempting muscle loss to improve performance? It seems you don't have to be thin and lanky to be powerful (Sharma, Nichole, Daniel Woods, Doyle).

Oh no. I do not condone or advocate weight loss that would lead to muscle loss/ atrophy. To embrace a calorie restricted diet in the face of already being thin (say 15% body fat) would be totally counter productive to any physical endevour and deleterious to one's health and runs the risk of becoming and eating disorder.
I should clarify my last post. If one has excess weight in the form of adipose tissue (fat stores) and could loose even five pounds of adipose tissue (not muscle), and loose it slowly (one pound per week) by embracing a calorie restricted diet high in protein and low in simple carbs (sugar), then I think one would find the benefits of increase strength to mass ratio. The term strength to mass ratio implies that one maximize power (muscle strength, which translate architecturally to cross sectional muscle fiber diameter) and minimizes other extraneous mass (adipose tissue).

Yes, to have this discussion is always a loaded proposition. You run the risk of folks misconstruing what it means to loose weight. Starving yourself (that is, going into prolonged periods were there is no food stuffs in the stomach/ GI tract for absorption of calories- hence the term post absorptive state) forces the metabolism into creating new glucose from the breakdown of muscle to power the brain and other organs that rely on blood glucose levels for their function -hence the term gluconeogenesis.
This is situation is what you do NOT want. Gluconeogenesis= muscle breakdown=BAD. Now, eventually the metabolism will switch to tapping adipose stores to be changed into glucose, but not before your strength gains have been impacted.

And to answer Caribe- I am not trying to loose weight. If I want to improve my strength to mass ratio, I need to add strength/ muscle mass/ just climb more. I only brought this up as an advocate for others climbing performance. Plus I really like Dave McCleod's site and what he has to say as a trainer. Check out his site.
I have considered luring him to the Red to give a talk. Any one interested?

That's a great idea lurk about having McLeod come to the Red. Definitely worth looking into and pursuing. For making a better connection between this Scot & the Red, I would bet that Ken Crockett knows him. I'll see if I can get you Crockett's contact info.

I'd be interested.... but the cost of getting him here from there seems awfully frivolous considering that the information is out there EVERYWHERE already.

I like his simple approach, but most people strong enough to care already have their beliefs....

Yeah, like 5.12 said- the cost is high. I emailed him. His fee for a day long session of lecture, cliff side tutoring, and slide show of his climbing was app $1200 plus traveling expenses. oh well. and like he said, the info is out there. Would have been nice.
I have emailed him back and told him he is out of out price range, but if he is in the neighborhood and wants to give a talk....

over two weeks now of being on the wagon ( using Campral?) no relaspes, sorry I was so boring over Roc Trip but I feel increased energy to begin losing some lbs., Hippocrite has become my Realization, didn't that take Sharma five years? its on

hey lurkist, stop using all those big words. My head hurts enough trying to understand what alana is talking about, i don't need to have to try to sift through that doctor mumbo-jumbo during my pleasure time too!

i read somewhere that they measured body fat in female models, and it was actually higher than the "average" woman because, although they were skinny, they had zero muscle mass because they did not work out (just didn't eat, because muscle mass was too bulky and heavy).

furthermore, if you exercise for longer than 10 minutes at above your target heart rate zone, you actually burn muscle mass rather than fat (if you want to know why, i will have to go back and re-read physiology notes).

i guess my point is that if you want to climb better, it really is healthier just to exercise. worry about what you eat in terms of healthy foods, but i don't think calories are as much of an issue. if you eat healthy and work out, your appetite adjusts accordingly.

only the fatties need to worry about calorie restriction. everyone else EAT!
1 lb of fat equals 3500 calories. Just cut out 500 cal from your diet per day and loose one pound of fat a week! What a deal!

I myself want to gain weight (muscle and fat), so if you all wanna just send your pounds my way, we'll both be happy.