What do most LdS do for a mission? Around here, they seem to just set upon cold approaching people in the grocery store parking lot
Better than going door to door. Its so annoying have some random person at the door - is it a scammer, a nutjob? No, just a mormon. During covid my local mormons took to writing me letters instead of going door to door. That was nice.
I’m on the BYU cross country, so I have a pretty good idea how much people worked out on their missions. I only know of one person that ran consistently on his mission. One other person ran consistently for the last third of his mission. Other than them, I can’t think of anyone that ran frequently.
During my two year mission, I averaged 0.8 miles a day. I basically ran 3-4 miles once a week for most of my mission, and it was almost always slower than 8:00 pace. I only had one companion that was willing to run with me every morning (my very first companion), and he got mad at me for running ahead and looping back for him. So I had to run slow with him to maintain the peace. Those runs were usually about 2.5 miles and we did that for about two months.
When I didn’t go running, I would have to stay in the apartment with my companion and find some way to work out. Honestly, there were a lot of times where I was too tired to work out so I would do a couple push ups, call it good enough, and move on with the rest of my day.
People don’t really believe that we, missionaries, follow all the super strict rules like always staying with our companion or following the schedule (30 minutes for exercise time), but the very large majority do. I never left my companion to go on a run by myself. That was against the rules, and I wanted to be obedient. Most of the guys on the team were very similar to me. They wanted to run, but their companion didn’t want to.
It took me about 6 months after coming home to return to my peak high school fitness. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.
I think the one thing that you guys aren't being fully appreciative of as missionaries...
And you alluded to it by talking about how you were always "tired"...
You guys put in miles of walking every day putting in time while people shut the door in your face. This helps you stay in some rudimentary condition.
It isn't like you all are telemarketers who sit in a cubicle all day long having people hang up on you.
While a mission may preclude you from being "fit"... You do not become deconditioned in the truest sense due to the exercise that you do get.
The amount of straight up lies on here is pathetic, but certainly expected for this site. But hey, it’s been a few hours since the last thread on this topic so is probably time for a new one. Here’s the real question that needs to be asked: what is driving the constant anti-Mormon hate that leads the same unregistered poster to start thread after thread after thread spreading the same lies? Who wastes their life monitoring this board waiting for the next opportunity to lie about this issue over and over again no matter how many times kits been debunked?
Runners do not train on their missions. The 30 minutes allotted does not allow time for anything substantive (this includes time spent getting ready, stretching, crapping again, or whatever else you need to do to get ready), even if you have a companion willing to go, which is almost nonexistent (these guys work incredibly hard and are exhausted - asking a non-runner to do added exercise is a non-starter almost always). The notion that you can just hop down to the local track to train while your companion watches doesn’t work in areas outside the US where there is no local track. These guys are working every minute of the day, are being fed either way too much or not nearly enough, and, if they are a distance runner, are getting significantly less exercise than they are used to. If they don’t put significant weight on, it’s probably because of some parasite that causes them to lose too much weight. A mission is not in any way, shape, or form conducive to even the slightest bit of training for a distance runner (Clinger was home 1.5 years before his 13th place finish). But that’s not why these guys give up two years of their lives. The lies have all been debunked a thousand times over in this site. Give it a rest already.
This post was edited 3 minutes after it was posted.
Conner Mantz rarely ran on his mission. He literally chronically his comeback on whatever online log he was using at the time. It was fascinating to follow along just how out of shape he was to the incredible runner he became a mere two years later at BYU. I think it took him a year to get back into shape.
Conner Mantz rarely ran on his mission. He literally chronically his comeback on whatever online log he was using at the time. It was fascinating to follow along just how out of shape he was to the incredible runner he became a mere two years later at BYU. I think it took him a year to get back into shape.
Conner Mantz rarely ran on his mission. He literally chronicled his comeback on whatever online log he was using at the time. It was fascinating to follow along just how out of shape he was to the incredible runner he became a mere two years later at BYU. I think it took him a year to get back into shape.
I served a mission in Taiwan from Jan 1981 to Dec1982. Back then, we didn't get the 30 min per day exercise time. We were booked from 6:30 am to 10:30 pm. I got up an hour early most my mission and did calisthenics by my self in the apartment. We did walk a lot and rode our bikes a couple of miles each day. That was it. Today you might be able to get a couple of miles of jogging in a day if your companion is willing but it isn't going to be more than that and most likely less than that.
yes there is 30 mins of exercise time baked in in the morning, but 95% of the time it was not used or people did a few pushups etc.
the schedule was strict. by 8am you had to be ready to study with your companion and out the door by 9 or 10am. with showering, breakfast, personal study etc, there was little wiggle time. there was no "sleeping in" in the mission either, so many used that exercise time to get an extra 30 mins of cheat sleep.
you had to within eyesight of your missionary "companion". this was strictly followed by everyone. so unless your companion (who is randomly assigned), was a good runner, you were not running. imagine getting posted to live with some random guy at the workplace...what the odds he is willing to run 5 miles at 630am every morning with you?
many areas i served in running simply didnt work. it was either a traffic filled hellhole with no place to run or deep in some rural area with 2 foot snow drifts.
I was also tired all the time. so much walking.
and this might come as a shock to many here, but I was focused nearly 100% on the missionary work, and something like running simply was not a priority (i ran track at a service academy school).
towards the end of my mission, as I was getting ready to be back in school soon (and service academy), I got some permission to take my missionary companion to run at the local track a few times a week outside the 630am time slot to get some laps in to get me ready for post mission life. I was extremely out of shape (running one mile made my lugs burn). This just helped me not be totally inept/fat.
took me several months after my mission to feel like I could "train" again. after about 6 months, I was feeling a LOT better.
yes there is 30 mins of exercise time baked in in the morning, but 95% of the time it was not used or people did a few pushups etc.
the schedule was strict. by 8am you had to be ready to study with your companion and out the door by 9 or 10am. with showering, breakfast, personal study etc, there was little wiggle time. there was no "sleeping in" in the mission either, so many used that exercise time to get an extra 30 mins of cheat sleep.
you had to within eyesight of your missionary "companion". this was strictly followed by everyone. so unless your companion (who is randomly assigned), was a good runner, you were not running. imagine getting posted to live with some random guy at the workplace...what the odds he is willing to run 5 miles at 630am every morning with you?
many areas i served in running simply didnt work. it was either a traffic filled hellhole with no place to run or deep in some rural area with 2 foot snow drifts.
I was also tired all the time. so much walking.
and this might come as a shock to many here, but I was focused nearly 100% on the missionary work, and something like running simply was not a priority (i ran track at a service academy school).
towards the end of my mission, as I was getting ready to be back in school soon (and service academy), I got some permission to take my missionary companion to run at the local track a few times a week outside the 630am time slot to get some laps in to get me ready for post mission life. I was extremely out of shape (running one mile made my lugs burn). This just helped me not be totally inept/fat.
took me several months after my mission to feel like I could "train" again. after about 6 months, I was feeling a LOT better.
sorry forgot to mention something. there was a brief 1.5 month time in my mission where I WAS assigned with another really fit guy who ran track in college. we actually did start running a bit at 630am, but it was NOT anything that would be considered quality training. Just nice 30 minute jogs at conversational pace. This last about 5 weeks, and then we got assigned to other areas and I never ran again on my mission (for last 1.5 years).
so yes, in theory a byu star could be strategically assigned to another running prodigy and they could crank out hardcore runs for 30 mins daily for 2 years, but the odds of this are less than 1%.
I’m on the BYU cross country, so I have a pretty good idea how much people worked out on their missions. I only know of one person that ran consistently on his mission. One other person ran consistently for the last third of his mission. Other than them, I can’t think of anyone that ran frequently.
During my two year mission, I averaged 0.8 miles a day. I basically ran 3-4 miles once a week for most of my mission, and it was almost always slower than 8:00 pace. I only had one companion that was willing to run with me every morning (my very first companion), and he got mad at me for running ahead and looping back for him. So I had to run slow with him to maintain the peace. Those runs were usually about 2.5 miles and we did that for about two months.
When I didn’t go running, I would have to stay in the apartment with my companion and find some way to work out. Honestly, there were a lot of times where I was too tired to work out so I would do a couple push ups, call it good enough, and move on with the rest of my day.
People don’t really believe that we, missionaries, follow all the super strict rules like always staying with our companion or following the schedule (30 minutes for exercise time), but the very large majority do. I never left my companion to go on a run by myself. That was against the rules, and I wanted to be obedient. Most of the guys on the team were very similar to me. They wanted to run, but their companion didn’t want to.
It took me about 6 months after coming home to return to my peak high school fitness. If you have any more questions, feel free to ask me.
this is the truth, as I explained above. the theory that missions help runners is absurd. the only theory that perhaps this helps byu is it allows all these kids to get some needed rest after a ton of mileage in high school/freshman year....maybe we are grinding too many kids to the bone and it would benefit some runners to simply take a year or two off.
the muscle memory was pretty quick. I surprised myself how fast I was able to feel right again after two years of very little running.
The amount of straight up lies on here is pathetic, but certainly expected for this site. But hey, it’s been a few hours since the last thread on this topic so is probably time for a new one. Here’s the real question that needs to be asked: what is driving the constant anti-Mormon hate that leads the same unregistered poster to start thread after thread after thread spreading the same lies? Who wastes their life monitoring this board waiting for the next opportunity to lie about this issue over and over again no matter how many times kits been debunked?
Runners do not train on their missions. The 30 minutes allotted does not allow time for anything substantive (this includes time spent getting ready, stretching, crapping again, or whatever else you need to do to get ready), even if you have a companion willing to go, which is almost nonexistent (these guys work incredibly hard and are exhausted - asking a non-runner to do added exercise is a non-starter almost always). The notion that you can just hop down to the local track to train while your companion watches doesn’t work in areas outside the US where there is no local track. These guys are working every minute of the day, are being fed either way too much or not nearly enough, and, if they are a distance runner, are getting significantly less exercise than they are used to. If they don’t put significant weight on, it’s probably because of some parasite that causes them to lose too much weight. A mission is not in any way, shape, or form conducive to even the slightest bit of training for a distance runner (Clinger was home 1.5 years before his 13th place finish). But that’s not why these guys give up two years of their lives. The lies have all been debunked a thousand times over in this site. Give it a rest already.
its culturally accepted by the left in this country to make fun of mormons.
can you imagine the reaction if someone tried to make a "The Quaran" musical making fun of muslims and mohammed like the book of mormon musical. people would literally be getting killed over it.
its culturally accepted by the left in this country to make fun of mormons.
can you imagine the reaction if someone tried to make a "The Quaran" musical making fun of muslims and mohammed like the book of mormon musical. people would literally be getting killed over it.
but if its mormons, who cares.
This has always baffled me. Only thing I can come up with is intersectionality. Mormons are white and affluent. Fair game.
The staying with your companion might actually be the best followed rule there is. Someone running off without a companion might get sent home for it. I'm not really sure since I never heard of it happening on my mission.
I gained 25 pounds on my mission, mostly due to being force fed in Latin America basically every day. I maybe ran maybe 10 times total. But I did play court soccer, and did some light lifting/abs/core. My biggest help I think was walking 8ish miles a day. At the end of my mission, I did a mile time trial and ran 5:45, for reference, I was a 4:1X guy. I got back into shape within 4 months of my return
Glad we got somewhere with this thread. I hope people do their research and read the replies before believing the first few posters off the top of their heads.
I don't think I can say that missions don't have any positive effect on BYU's success. I would definitely say it's a mixed bag for Eyestone, likely with more negative than positive effects.
I see no reason not to believe the people saying they didn't exercise on their mission. The more likely answer for the rapid returns to fitness is that fitness comes back fast when you're 20, especially if you're beginning with a solid foundation. I had multiple college teammates who took a year+ off from running, made really dramatic improvements in fitness in their first 6 months back, then more or less plateaued at that level in the years that followed. Small sample size obviously, but I'm sure many people here had similar experiences.
Even if you're an NXN champion, you don't take 2 years off from the sport and gain a bunch of weight and then come back and run at NCAAs for XC 4 months later. They are running. They aren't doing daily intervals and double thresholds with the boys. But they are definitely working out and running.
For reference, Casey Clinger took 2 years off and then gets 13th at NCAAs against a very good field? Casey isn't THAT kind of talent. He has been training 4 years since then and still hasn't been a champion. I call cap. He was running and getting workouts in during his mission.
I really don't think you have ever spent any time around high-level runners. These runners are so talented that they can pull off things many would deem as near-magical. Seriously, the talent gap between the guys at the top and everyone else is genuinely insurmountable.