I miss the fitness threads and the fitness Doms!

[WriterDom]

@Homburg: any time that WD and I agree 100%, the subject of our agreement must be a universal truth.

Yes, we are brothers in golf. But that being said, most people don't get golf at all. And I can live with that.

 

[Homburg]

Bah, Homburg!

Golf is an intellectual sport. Millions of people play but not that many can generate the club head speed and the accuracy to make any money at it. Much like a baseball player. There aren't that many people who can throw a baseball 100 mph and actually know where it's going. If you can you have a multimillion dollar arm.

Suppose you could outdrive Tiger? Lots of big guys can but you'll never see them anywhere around the pro tour. Unlike darts, billiards, and bowling, you have the elements to deal with and no two holes in the world are the same. I don't know of any other sport that requires as much "touch." It's a lot more than knocking a ball as far as you can. And courage. It's not you and the rest of the football team or rugby team, it's you alone with a ball and 220 yards over a lake with a landing area about the size of phone booth. Do you go for it? Do you lay up? It's 4 hours of one big chess board with no mulligan. Then you have to putt. Which I agree is a little like darts except if you are the world's straightest putter you could very well be one of the world's worst putters.

Yeah, anyone can play and you can even ride around in a little cart and drink beer but at the highest level it's not a sport? You have to be kidding. Maybe if you have the genetics of Wie you can get away with not working out but what if you are Gary Player trying to keep up with Jack and Arnie? He was into fitness decades before it became popular.

You'd probably argue that weightlifting is a sport? Wouldn't you agree that a short bus kid with great genetics and a trainer could become the greatest weightlifter in the history of the world? Go pick up heavy weight now, Bubba. Remember, hold at the top until you hear the loud noise.

Dude, Mike Tyson is rock dumb, but was the world heavyweight champion. Great genetics, drive, and a great trainer is all it takes. Brains helps in sports, but it's not absolutely necessary. Is Usain Bolt a rocket scientist? I have no idea, and don't care, because he runs like a rocket, and that's all that matters in his sport.

Again, get off the "golf is hard" crap. I don't care. Heart surgery requires touch and skill, but that doesn't make it a sport.

And you prove my point for me. For most of the history of golf, the most strenuous thing even the top golfers did was walk 4-5 miles and swing a golf club a lot. Yeah, man, that's tough.

Soccer players spend an hour at a time sprinting all over a huge pitch.

Baseball players spend half of every inning chasing balls, and the other half batting and sprinting.

Football and rugby players slam into each other like freight trains and running their asses off.

Basketball players spend the game sprinting, doing rapid changes of direction on a dime, and jumping.

Golfers? They walk about a bit and whack around a ball a little bigger than the size of your eye.

....

And that's just the actual games. Look at conditioning:

Soccer players spend hundreds and hundreds of hours running, conditioning, and doing drills that leave them gasping like fish. Baseball players bat, field, run, drill, lift, etc. Football and rugby players lift like beasts, do wind sprints, run tackling drills, etc. Basketball players work their asses flat off.

Golfers walk around, and whack a ball about the size of your eye.

Yes, some golfers do more because they want that edge or they're just physical junkies to begin with, but there's plenty a pro-golfer in the history of the game with a paunch, a bad back, smoking, and unable to run two miles if needed. That's an athlete, yeah.

It's better than nothing. And I honestly respect the skill it takes. I just don't consider it a sport. Frankly, if I'm sweating on the green, it's because it's a hot day, not because the exertion is mighty.

If you can be out of shape, and still compete on a high level, it's probably not a sport. And "intellectual sport"? Really? Like I said before, I don't give a toss about Usain Bolt's brains. He's on that track to run fast. If I want to want intellectual competition, I can always watch chess. Or, hell, golf. Doesn't make either one a sport.

To add more to my list:

Hunting =/= sport
Fishing =/= sport

 

[Keroin]

Fishing =/= sport

Hey! Now them's fightin' words!



(Lake bass fishing a sport? No. Fighting a 32lb yellowtail for 45 minutes straight? Oh yeah baby!)

 

[JMohegan]

Golf is like darts with walking.

AHAHAHAHAHA!!

Greatest quote ever. Ohhh, FUCK, that's funny!

Sorry, WD and MWY, but be serious. Does Tiger Woods ever even sweat when he's playing? Aside from weather induced perspiration, of course.

 

[midwestyankee]

AHAHAHAHAHA!!

Greatest quote ever. Ohhh, FUCK, that's funny!

Sorry, WD and MWY, but be serious. Does Tiger Woods ever even sweat when he's playing? Aside from weather induced perspiration, of course.

Did Mickey Mantle ever sweat, aside from weather-induced perspiration? In fact, probably not a whole helluva lot. Baseball is played in 5 second bursts by men who are in reasonably good shape in some regards but not others. Yogi Berra and all his pitchers probably did because they were engaged nearly all the time in the defensive halves of each inning.

I contend that sweat is not a perfect means test for X = sport.

 

[JMohegan]

Did Mickey Mantle ever sweat, aside from weather-induced perspiration?

Are you kidding me? In fucking center field?

Varied by game, no doubt. Depending on how his pitcher was doing.

 

[ImOnIt]

Chessboxing exists already- victory by checkmate or knockout.

 

[BiBunny]

If horseback riding's not a sport, then golf, by default, can't be, either!

 

[JMohegan]

I contend that sweat is not a perfect means test for X = sport.

In my book, sport =

- a competition
- with clearly defined rules
- and two or more consenting opponents
- involving both physical skill and physical exertion
- with victory determined primarily by objective, rather than subjective, standards


That knocks out mentally challenging competition (such as chess) and some physical competitions that are extraordinarily challenging (such as aerial skiing).

 

[rekane]

*******

 

[midwestyankee]

Are you kidding me? In fucking center field?

Varied by game, no doubt. Depending on how his pitcher was doing.

Even in center field, each play lasts only about 5 seconds and I doubt if that's enough time to develop a real sweat. Yes, it's a burst of exertion but the distance between second base and the fence in center is well under 100 yards even in the largest ballparks ever used. It takes extended effort to bring out a real sweat. Watch footage of any 100 meter sprint and then tell me if you saw any sweat on the runners at the finish line.

 

[JMohegan]

Even in center field, each play lasts only about 5 seconds and I doubt if that's enough time to develop a real sweat. Yes, it's a burst of exertion but the distance between second base and the fence in center is well under 100 yards even in the largest ballparks ever used. It takes extended effort to bring out a real sweat. Watch footage of any 100 meter sprint and then tell me if you saw any sweat on the runners at the finish line.

Dude, you're talking to someone who actually played center field.

 

[Keroin]

I just recently joined a weight loss group and they have a LOT of message boards. Oddly enough, there are no groups or boards with bdsm leanings. Maybe bdsm just isn't PG enough.

Are there really fitness doms? If so, I think they could work wonders.

I have no idea.

My attitude toward fitness is highly vanilla and boring. In short, "Cultivate your inner dom."

If you've joined a group, that's an excellent start. People who have group support are 30% more likely to keep off the weight they lose.

What kind of physical activities do you enjoy?

 

[midwestyankee]

Dude, you're talking to someone who actually played center field.

So did I. And unless you're already overheated from the sun, it was pretty rare to work up a sweat chasing down one fly ball at a time.

Contrast the amount of time that a baseball player (apart from a pitcher or catcher, since their frequency of motion is unlike the rest of the players) is in all-out motion with any of the five players on a basketball team during a game. The center fielder might be in on one or two plays per inning, each lasting well under 10 seconds. It's very common to see sweat dripping from a basketball player's face at various points during a game but baseball players are pretty well rested most of the time.

I would include baseball as a sport but not because of sweat. There just isn't enough sweat in a typical baseball game for it to be a factor.

 

[JMohegan]

So did I. And unless you're already overheated from the sun, it was pretty rare to work up a sweat chasing down one fly ball at a time.

Contrast the amount of time that a baseball player (apart from a pitcher or catcher, since their frequency of motion is unlike the rest of the players) is in all-out motion with any of the five players on a basketball team during a game. The center fielder might be in on one or two plays per inning, each lasting well under 10 seconds. It's very common to see sweat dripping from a basketball player's face at various points during a game but baseball players are pretty well rested most of the time.

I would include baseball as a sport but not because of sweat. There just isn't enough sweat in a typical baseball game for it to be a factor.

Well all I can say is your pitchers must have been awesome, or your opposing batters sucked. Maybe both sucked, who knows.

Did you at least experience elevated heart rate or faster breathing at some point? Ever put forth effort, rounding the bases? Sliding home? Surely you wouldn't say that baseball involves no physical exertion at all.

No argument here if you want to claim that the physical exertion required for basketball exceeds that required for baseball. That's obvious.

 

[midwestyankee]

Well all I can say is your pitchers must have been awesome, or your opposing batters sucked. Maybe both sucked, who knows.

Did you at least experience elevated heart rate or faster breathing at some point? Ever put forth effort, rounding the bases? Sliding home? Surely you wouldn't say that baseball involves no physical exertion at all.

No argument here if you want to claim that the physical exertion required for basketball exceeds that required for baseball. That's obvious.

Of course, there's plenty of exertion in baseball but it happens in very short bursts. Unless a player is sadly out of shape, it should be possible to run down a fly ball or run for a triple without sweat pouring off your face unless it's also really hot out. Now remember, I played my ball in Maine and we rarely saw temps higher than 80 so perhaps that colors my experience.

When you go out for a run on a mild day, how long is it before you feel really noticeable sweat? Doesn't it take a few minutes of exertion before the sweat begins? For me, it's usually a half mile before the sweat is at all noticeable.

 

[JMohegan]

Of course, there's plenty of exertion in baseball but it happens in very short bursts. Unless a player is sadly out of shape, it should be possible to run down a fly ball or run for a triple without sweat pouring off your face unless it's also really hot out. Now remember, I played my ball in Maine and we rarely saw temps higher than 80 so perhaps that colors my experience.

When you go out for a run on a mild day, how long is it before you feel really noticeable sweat? Doesn't it take a few minutes of exertion before the sweat begins? For me, it's usually a half mile before the sweat is at all noticeable.

The bold is my point, and part of why I consider baseball a sport (per my list above.)

Depends how fast I'm running.

 

[rekane]

"Cultivate your inner dom."

I love this!

 

[WriterDom]

Depending on the quality of the teams involved, outfield can be your worse nightmare.

I saw a perfect game this year. Little league, but the guy could throw some heat. Stuck out 15 and three hit balls to the infield. The three outfields scratched their asses 22 times and spit 129 times but that was about it. Oh yeah, they had to hit but unlike golf, they didn't have to play their foul balls.

The question is can a strength and conditioning coach improve your performance? In golf, without a question. Darts and fishing? Nope.

Most NCAA golf coaches are making around 100 thousand dollars a year at the better conferences. Now if you were the coach and considering how well they play could influence your job security, would you make strength and conditioning a part of the program? Or say fuck it boys, golf is darts while walking.

 

[JMohegan]

The question is can a strength and conditioning coach improve your performance? In golf, without a question. Darts and fishing? Nope.

Okay, that's a fair question. Hmm.

Personally I think strength and conditioning improves your performance at everything - including darts and fucking.

Well, maybe not fishing. I don't really know.

 

[Keroin]

I love this!

I play roller derby, and I sweat buckets at practice. I am pretty fit, actually, but I don't look fit at all and I am just not too happy with that right now.
I should add some other activities because derby is all about the lower body.

I did a sprint triathlon a couple of years ago and had fun training for it. Maybe I should take up swimming again.

If you're fit, that's the important thing. Don't fall into that body image bullshit trap. Not everyone is a super model with 2% body fat.

Roller derby? FUN!

As for shedding lbs, what are your usual eating habits?

 

[Lizzie_Borden]

Mmmm, I'm bidding on ebay on a bike at the moment.

Now that I have a car, I can take said bike to the waterfront, or the river, and go pedalling. Yay.

(Well, provided that it fits in the car that is)

 

[Keroin]

Well, maybe not fishing. I don't really know.

Yes, for fishing too. Think arm wrestling for an hour straight.

 

[JMohegan]

Yes, for fishing too. Think arm wrestling for an hour straight.

There you go!

Nice av, btw. Makes me smile.

 

[Keroin]

There you go!

Nice av, btw. Makes me smile.

Thanks, made me smile too! I have found a new favourite sport...or game...or activity??