I don’t think the students on missions “train.” However, if they stay in shape by jogging 10-15 miles/week and walking 5-10 a day, it could certainly playin their favor.
I HIGHLY doubt runners get treated differently than average joes.
There's a lot of suspicious first hand Mormon testimonials from people using words like 'ass' and 'hell', which is not consistent with a Mormon culture that not only strictly forbids swearing but even forbids using soft-shoe swear words like crap, hell, ass, etc.
Either all of you weighing in with testimonials are Jack Mormon (you're still in the church but routinely break the rules, like swearing, drinking, smoking etc), ex-Mormon, or trolling fanfic.
I don’t think the students on missions “train.” However, if they stay in shape by jogging 10-15 miles/week and walking 5-10 a day, it could certainly playin their favor.
I HIGHLY doubt runners get treated differently than average joes.
But that’s what we’re saying. They don’t run or train or whatever you want to call it. 10-15 miles a week is an impossibility for almost every runner who goes on a mission for all of the many reason people have outlined already. And not even all of them walk. Some ride bikes or buses/subways while many others drive. Even if they do walk it’s much closer to 5 miles than 10 (unless they’re assigned to big cities in which case it’s usually even less). Whatever they are doing though it’s not all at once. They are walking 100 feet, stopping to talk to someone, walking another 75, talking to more people, walking a block, sitting down in someone’s home for 30-60 minutes, walking a quarter mile, etc. How’s that going to keep these guys in shape?
The vast majority of these guys are coming back overweight and everyone is severely out of shape. And you only hear about the guys who actually make it back in shape and become competitive again. There are plenty of guys who never make it back to where they were before they left. Perhaps the greatest advantage BYU guys who end up faster post-mission have is the fact that had to work so incredibly hard to back in shape. It is by far the hardest thing these guys go through in their competitive lives. Everything else they do in their careers is easy by comparison.
The issue isn’t them training on the mission. The issue is a 25-26 year old man is most of the time going to be stronger, mentally more mature, and physically better at most everything than an 18-22 year old (normal college age)
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.
This is an very good post that gives some insight into a semi-recent mission. I served 20 years ago, and we only had 30 minutes three times a week (not counting preparation day, when we had most of the day off but still had to work in the evening, and there are plenty of non-exercise things to do on P Day) rather than 30 minutes a day.
I wasn't a runner, but I do a lot of weight training. In the first few months of my mission, I could work out once a week for maybe an hour or so. In the next six weeks, I got a new companion who just got released from being an AP, so we had a car, and he was also very fit. We had a free gym that we could go to (we were in Utah), so we woke up an hour early every day to go work out before doing our missionary work. This was the only time I was able to work out regularly. I got transferred, and my mission president banned all the gyms a week or so later because he said there were "too many distractions" there.
I lost about 20 pounds of muscle (my metabolism was so fast back then that I had almost no fat) in the next six weeks, as I lost much of my appetite and was walking everywhere during the 60+ hour work weeks (not even counting the studying time). And I was so exhausted in the last year that I don't know how much I would have exercised anyway. I came home as skinny as a rail, though it only took a couple months to put the muscle back on. But I imagine it would be a lot harder to get back into D1 running shape.
Anyway, like you said, it's theoretically possible for a D1 runner to stay in shape while on a mission, but it would require incredible luck in terms of where you're sent to go, who your mission president is and who all of your companions are. We typically got a new companion every two or three months. I don't think any of my companions ever wanted to run for exercise. They usually wanted to play basketball if they exercised at all.
Why would the mormons do a mission in Utah? The state is mostly mormon and everyone there will encounter the mormon faith without having someone proselytize to them. Its literally impossible to not encounter the Mormon faith in Utah. I'm not doubting your story, I'm just curious and kind of shocked. To me that would be like going to Las Vegas and trying to convince people to legalize casinos.
The issue isn’t them training on the mission. The issue is a 25-26 year old man is most of the time going to be stronger, mentally more mature, and physically better at most everything than an 18-22 year old (normal college age)
That is not the issue in this thread. Go read one of the billion other threads that talk about whether they have an advantage when they are older.
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.
I'm liberal and I have my own beef. I have a relative and one of their sons committed what amounted to a 25 year suicide. When he was young he got into trouble and the parents were so sure of the "true way" of the mormons that they dealt with him with "faith based" methods to rid him of "evil". It was later learned after a prison stint that he was bi polar and some other issues that require proper medications to treat, but by then he was self medicating. Over the years the yoyoing with drugs finally did him in. There was really no excuse as one of the parents was in the health care field, but they were so sure of "prayer" and reciting of "prophets" words that they were blinded by what their son needed. There have also been a couple of situations from said parents directed towards me where "the religion came first" so about the only time I may interact, with reservations, is at funerals.
Also most of my "ancestors" fell in the Methodist/Presbyterian camps and mormons were frond upon. One in fact was a contemporary of bringham young was an very open critic of the man and the beliefs he represented, we didn't like being called "Gentiles" or"laminites".
Most of the mormons I've met over the years, from birth are indoctrinated into its ways and they know no other way as peer pressure keeps it that way and if the drift or leave they are gone and become jack mormons or are excommunicated. Heck the Amish have setup that they can go out to the world and see what it is really like, but will be welcomed back if it isn't to be.
Now to the original op's thread. Talent never goes away or it was never really there. I was in the military and by the time I ran track in college, in the limited time I ran I was close to where I would of been regardless, but I decided to to put my primary physical efforts elsewhere with running supporting that. These byu kids will either get it back or they won't, it's all a matter of priorities. Unless they're trying to get a head start on "dad bods", hitf are some of you guys gaining 30-40 lbs while you only mode of transportation is walking or bike, especially in a third world country? Does your faith not teach moderation, or does it welcome gluttony? Can't you nark on your roommie for being lazy and sleeping in, when they will turn on you for trying to get in a 4 miler in the am?
Yeah, non mormons see things looking kinda strange.
The issue isn’t them training on the mission. The issue is a 25-26 year old man is most of the time going to be stronger, mentally more mature, and physically better at most everything than an 18-22 year old (normal college age)
If they went on a mission, they would only be about 2 years older and wouldn't have have trained for the two years they were off or very little if they did get some in.
This is an very good post that gives some insight into a semi-recent mission. I served 20 years ago, and we only had 30 minutes three times a week (not counting preparation day, when we had most of the day off but still had to work in the evening, and there are plenty of non-exercise things to do on P Day) rather than 30 minutes a day.
I wasn't a runner, but I do a lot of weight training. In the first few months of my mission, I could work out once a week for maybe an hour or so. In the next six weeks, I got a new companion who just got released from being an AP, so we had a car, and he was also very fit. We had a free gym that we could go to (we were in Utah), so we woke up an hour early every day to go work out before doing our missionary work. This was the only time I was able to work out regularly. I got transferred, and my mission president banned all the gyms a week or so later because he said there were "too many distractions" there.
I lost about 20 pounds of muscle (my metabolism was so fast back then that I had almost no fat) in the next six weeks, as I lost much of my appetite and was walking everywhere during the 60+ hour work weeks (not even counting the studying time). And I was so exhausted in the last year that I don't know how much I would have exercised anyway. I came home as skinny as a rail, though it only took a couple months to put the muscle back on. But I imagine it would be a lot harder to get back into D1 running shape.
Anyway, like you said, it's theoretically possible for a D1 runner to stay in shape while on a mission, but it would require incredible luck in terms of where you're sent to go, who your mission president is and who all of your companions are. We typically got a new companion every two or three months. I don't think any of my companions ever wanted to run for exercise. They usually wanted to play basketball if they exercised at all.
Why would the mormons do a mission in Utah? The state is mostly mormon and everyone there will encounter the mormon faith without having someone proselytize to them. Its literally impossible to not encounter the Mormon faith in Utah. I'm not doubting your story, I'm just curious and kind of shocked. To me that would be like going to Las Vegas and trying to convince people to legalize casinos.
There are a lot of converts in Utah to the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints
I’m sorry about your relative’s son. The LDS Church does not teach that you “pray away” mental issues or any sort of medical concern. The current leader of the Church is a world-renowned heart surgeon who has called the Covid vaccine a literal godsend. Your relative’s practice was their own choosing and they alone bear the responsibility for the outcome.
Your failure to grasp why runners lose shape while in these situations suggests you don’t quite understand what it takes to be good, as much as it does your lack of how different cultural practices in the areas these guys serve in impact their fitness. It’s not gluttony. It is literally a matter of not offending your host who sacrificed greatly to feed you.
This is an very good post that gives some insight into a semi-recent mission. I served 20 years ago, and we only had 30 minutes three times a week (not counting preparation day, when we had most of the day off but still had to work in the evening, and there are plenty of non-exercise things to do on P Day) rather than 30 minutes a day.
I wasn't a runner, but I do a lot of weight training. In the first few months of my mission, I could work out once a week for maybe an hour or so. In the next six weeks, I got a new companion who just got released from being an AP, so we had a car, and he was also very fit. We had a free gym that we could go to (we were in Utah), so we woke up an hour early every day to go work out before doing our missionary work. This was the only time I was able to work out regularly. I got transferred, and my mission president banned all the gyms a week or so later because he said there were "too many distractions" there.
I lost about 20 pounds of muscle (my metabolism was so fast back then that I had almost no fat) in the next six weeks, as I lost much of my appetite and was walking everywhere during the 60+ hour work weeks (not even counting the studying time). And I was so exhausted in the last year that I don't know how much I would have exercised anyway. I came home as skinny as a rail, though it only took a couple months to put the muscle back on. But I imagine it would be a lot harder to get back into D1 running shape.
Anyway, like you said, it's theoretically possible for a D1 runner to stay in shape while on a mission, but it would require incredible luck in terms of where you're sent to go, who your mission president is and who all of your companions are. We typically got a new companion every two or three months. I don't think any of my companions ever wanted to run for exercise. They usually wanted to play basketball if they exercised at all.
Why would the mormons do a mission in Utah? The state is mostly mormon and everyone there will encounter the mormon faith without having someone proselytize to them. Its literally impossible to not encounter the Mormon faith in Utah. I'm not doubting your story, I'm just curious and kind of shocked. To me that would be like going to Las Vegas and trying to convince people to legalize casinos.
You might be surprised. The Utah missions are very successful. My mission was No. 1 in both US and English-speaking converts. First, some parts of Utah aren't that LDS compared to other parts. Salt Lake City was something like 40% LDS when I served there.
It's true that most people are aware of the church just by living there. But that also means that most people have LDS friends and often family members. It's a lot more likely that someone with LDS friends and/or family may join the church at some point. Now, I had literally zero converts from knocking on doors, which I rarely did. Nearly everyone was a referral from a member or even a self-referral
At one point in his mission, Clinger had a companion who was also a runner:
“Most days, they wake at 6:30 in the morning, stretch quickly, and attempt to scratch out 30 minutes of running on the icy streets near their apartment.”
The article also mentions him having companions who would bike with him as he ran.
Game. Set. Match.
The best runners run.
And I bet that 30 minutes sometimes stretched to 45+.
If Mitt Romney can find a moral justification to offshore whole companies and fire the workers, I'm sure a few guys can "lose track of time" when jogging on a mission from God.
If they're truly ethical and moral then compete against similar ages and then do the mission.
They won't though because they want the advantage of a 28yo against an 18yo. Good morals huh.
You got us. The entire LDS missionary system involving 70,000+ missionaries is just a ruse to win XC titles. Oh well! It was fun while it lasted. 28? Really?
How well could someone find a job if they took two years off after graduating?
This post was edited 1 minute after it was posted.
I served in the Caribbean and came back weighing 115 lbs because of amoebas; that was a 30lb weight loss. I wasn't in resort towns or near the beach - I was in the third world. I mostly walked, but occasionally rode a bike. I ran 2-3 times during the entire two years because of a combination of being too exhausted from being out in the hot sun all day, not sleeping well the entire two years (no AC plus constant blackouts), being sick often, and not having a companion who wanted to exercise. I played soccer about once a month and remember being completely winded every time.
It was a grueling experience, but I gained an immense appreciation for everything. I also learned a foreign language and came to know a foreign culture/people. However, physically it was a huge net loss. From my experience, if you want to prioritize running, I would not go on a mission because the downside is much greater than the upside.