I am at Berlin marathon, and overheard a few obese American ladies complaining about how "tiny" Europeans are at the marathon expo, and that they feel intimidated.
But first off, if they are training for marathons and have the means to fly all the way over here for a major race, why are they obese?
If they put in just 15 MPW for about 16 weeks, they should be at least at BMI of 22 or something.
Are they drinking booze / coca cola after every training run?
Not everyone is an undeveloped skinny nerd
Sugar and crappy carb-loading.
I started a similar thread recently after returning from a local race and observing all the fat hobby joggers, and it got deleted.
Anyway, the answer is that many hobby joggers don't run all that much, and they think their little bit of jogging allows them to eat as much as they want. They think they can reward themselves for their 3 mile jog with milkshakes and cookies.
Don't be a dick. They're out there staying active, that's a good thing. Even if they don't run as much/seriously as you, they are more active and healthier than most of the lazy, fat people in this country
Because running is just a drop in the bucket compared to diet when it comes to controlling weight.
Genetics, in part. If your father was a high school football lineman with a family history of heart disease and your mother comes from a long lineage of short, wide hipped people, you will not be a 5' 6" / 105 pound ectomorph with ungodly aerobic capacity.
A lot of new runners go through it.
Losing weight by running and diet is effective, but not optimal for athletic performance.
First lose the weight, then develop the skill. You can’t effectively do both.
It also takes years to develop a decent marathon runner, but many people follow a program designed to help them finish a marathon in several months. Not everyone is interested in long term success. They just want to post their training to social media. It’s a bucket list item, not a genuine desire to maximize their athletic performance.
They devote their physical resources to earning money, then try to spend their way to better race times. They work hard and figure that they *deserve* to do better at running as a result.
They would rather BQ this year than train patiently to put up a decent time 3 years from now.
In a few more years, some of those people might realize what they are doing wrong and become better runners for it. They just don’t really understand what’s involved yet.
Diet. Also physically activity is secondary.
Seriously,, wrote:
If they put in just 15 MPW for about 16 weeks, they should be at least at BMI of 22 or something.
I was a collegiate mid-distance runner with a ~1:50 800 PR, and my BMR was never below 25. BMR is a stupid metric to use. You must be stupid.
i want to be like Seriously,, - he sounds cool wrote:
Don't be a dick. They're out there staying active, that's a good thing. Even if they don't run as much/seriously as you, they are more active and healthier than most of the lazy, fat people in this country
I would definitely agree with this. All that does is show that, at the end of the day, you think you're superior to someone because you're skinny and they're not.
The other thing I would add is that whenever this comes up, it's funny how much the lack of experience plays a factor in people talking about "fat hobbyjoggers" and why they're fat. Like what the above poster said. Unless you're running what the general population would call really high mileage, diet is a bigger component to losing weight than exercise. It's pretty simple, and probably something a lot of us will experience when we get older/metabolism slows down.
InsertNameHere wrote:
i want to be like Seriously,, - he sounds cool wrote:
Don't be a dick. They're out there staying active, that's a good thing. Even if they don't run as much/seriously as you, they are more active and healthier than most of the lazy, fat people in this country
I would definitely agree with this. All that does is show that, at the end of the day, you think you're superior to someone because you're skinny and they're not.
The other thing I would add is that whenever this comes up, it's funny how much the lack of experience plays a factor in people talking about "fat hobbyjoggers" and why they're fat. Like what the above poster said. Unless you're running what the general population would call really high mileage, diet is a bigger component to losing weight than exercise. It's pretty simple, and probably something a lot of us will experience when we get older/metabolism slows down.
OP here.
I think you pretty much proved my point that these people have a health problem by over-eating.
They should - as a step one - learn how to control their diet, and stop using "marathon training" as an excuse to stuff themselves up after every training run.
Seriously,, wrote:
If they put in just 15 MPW for about 16 weeks, they should be at least at BMI of 22 or something.
Well, it sounds like they do at least have BMRs of 22, so I guess you should be pleased.
do u know what at least means? wrote:
Seriously,, wrote:
If they put in just 15 MPW for about 16 weeks, they should be at least at BMI of 22 or something.
Well, it sounds like they do at least have BMRs of 22, so I guess you should be pleased.
Found the hobby jogger
Folks around here will excuse everything. Listen up, we Americans are more obese than any other first world nation. There is no way hiding it. If you travel a little bit outside the U.S., you quickly realize just how messed up our concept of healthy weight is. And NO, I'm not talking about super skinny, scrawly runner physiques, just average bodies... Very few people can explain it due to genetics and some hormonal imbalances...
For most of us, it is eating our crappy food. The good stuff is expensive. Plus, the culture of fast food, and our portion sizes, is why we are the way we are.
Go to any store, or supermarket, in Europe, not only it is cheaper but of better quality and variety, too. Sure, EU spends 100s of billions euros on its Common Agricultural Policy to prop up small farmers and keep food prices down but it looks like it works. Food is better and cheaper.
To offer a balanced view though, I tell you that Europeans smoke a lot more than people stateside. That may keep many people thinner, too. I will never forget the four Germans I met that couldn't wait to light up cigarettes the moment they left the finish area of the NYC marathon the last year... That was funny;)
For decades I was proud that a big part of my personal identity was tied up in distance training and running races on the hobby level. I guess I never knew what a bunch of weird, neurotic and effite weirdos runners could really be, something that sinks in fast when spending time on LR.
How is it that something so awesome tends to get reduced to sniveling and projected neuroticism around these parts?
Portland Hobby Jogger wrote:
Genetics, in part. If your father was a high school football lineman with a family history of heart disease and your mother comes from a long lineage of short, wide hipped people, you will not be a 5' 6" / 105 pound ectomorph with ungodly aerobic capacity.
That's not true. 50 years ago no one was obese.
Hey, you stole my name when I used it first!
Look up what the average American eats (aka look up the Standard American diet) and that will answer your question.
hipster doofus wrote:
Anyway, the answer is that many hobby joggers don't run all that much, and they think their little bit of jogging allows them to eat as much as they want. They think they can reward themselves for their 3 mile jog with milkshakes and cookies.
Even at 70 mpw I can't eat all I want without gaining weight.
Few people finishing marathons are obese, but many of them are overweight. It's a combination of not very much mileage, eating way too much, and a life style that involves zero physical exertion beyond a small amount of running. They drive their cars everywhere, always take the elevator instead of the stairs, etc.
That being said, overweight people chugging through marathons are probably a whole lot healthier than their overweight peers who get little or no exercise of any sort. I think about what it would be like to put on a 50-pound pack and try to run, and I have a bit of respect for these folks.