This doesn't bother me in the slightest.

Firstly, you know when you eat something like that that it isn't going to be the healthiest thing in the world, so you can't complain that it's bad for you.

Secondly, ammonia is a natural chemical that is necessary for human life. The amount of ammonia one would have to ingest to be harmful to a human is huge, and actually ingesting that much would be unthinkable because of the horrendous taste it would impart to the food.

Thirdly, with regards to tendons, blood, eyeballs, etc., the only reason that bothers people is because of social conditioning. Billions of people all over the world would be happy to eat those parts of an animal.

I find it so silly that people will eat something, think it tastes really good, then will stop eating it once they find out what it is. If it tasted good before you knew what it was, it tastes good after and knowing it's testicle, or horse meat, or snails, doesn't change that.

>> ^snoozedoctor:

Sorry about your plight. Long term disability is a rare thing after recovery from influenza. You obviously ran into some bad luck and I hope that turns around for you. Actually, I don't think advocating personal responsibility is an interesting or unique position for a physician in the least. Promoting health and prevention of disease is part of our oath. With 1 out of 5 Americans still smoking and 1 out of 3 obese, we are clearly losing the battle. Sorry, but it's not my responsibility to hide the Twinkies, or the Camels and drag people to the gym. If citizens want better health outcomes from their health-care system, they should do their part. The quality of what comes out is only as good as what comes in.

>> ^kceaton1:
Yep I got hit with the same thing, the one-two punch. My side, it was sickness (swine flu, no joke), ending with long-term disability (plus surgery). That cost me my 40-50k job, but luckily I have parents that are helping me try to see through this. Otherwise, I would be a bankrupt statistic and most likely dead.
BTW, @snoozedoctor I understand your beef with "PERSONAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR ONE'S OWN HEALTH", but that is a very interesting position to hold especially concerning what your oath has to say about that. I assume you're a professional in your field; perhaps you should take up that stance with doctors concerning those fields and see what you could flesh out other than: "throw'em under the bus".



Would you argue that regular check ups should be apart of your healthy life style? Perhaps a cholesterol check, yearly blood test for organ function and such?

My last blood work before insurance was over 300 dollars. Flu shot was 60 bucks at the doctor's office. Yes, people who don't insurance don't pay what they bill insurance at. Hell most of the time, the people providing these services don't know what they cost.

Now if a simple flu shot costs 60 bucks at the doctor's office, while Im there getting a check up no less. But costs 10 dollars at the drug store.......where's the disconnect?

As for exercising, Im frankly frightened that I might get hurt and it cost me more than a make in a year to get it fixed. Not to mention how long that recovery time would be and losing my job during that. At least doing stuff on the job and getting hurt means you have worker's compensation and you might be able to convince them to hold your job until you recover. But if you break your leg or pull loose a tendon while exercising you have only what you can afford to pay for. Which you don't know what it will cost until after they are done, insurance or not.

I suspect in other countries where healthcare is universal, people don't have to worry about this and they can push themselves a little. And it's in the countries best interest to make sure people exercise properly, stretch, don't over do it etc. So they probably take more care to make sure people are properly instructed on how to go about it and what they can do as they age to change up the routine and still get the needed results. You know, without having to be a professional athlete or hire a personal trainer. It's all too easy for family docs to recommend you to specialists for every last concern you have, plus they get a nice little referral kick back. It's a nice system the US has.......or not.


US workers work more hours than most countries, spend more time on the road commuting and generally have less time to live a health life as well. It's a useful thing to big businesses requiring those long hours that they provide your healthcare, because it'd be a shame if you lost your job due to not working the outrageous hours and lost that healthcare. If you untied health care from employment, people'd see how truly expensive it is and they'd be more inclined to have it reigned in and made universal. The premiums on health insurance alone would cover all of your general yearly checkups and tests and probably most of another person's for single people.

>> ^dag:

These guys are awesome. They did the mule right? I would think that the big problem with all of these robots is they need a butt load of power to operate all those servos.


They need to develop a system like the human body has that's the tendon. We charged the tendon up and release energy...that's one of the reasons we're soo good at running long distances at a good pace, better than animals. We have economy of movement on our side...so they gotta work on something like a tendon to propel it that won't take too much constant drain.

>> ^criticalthud:

Western medicine tends to be really good in one area - trauma.
guess where western medicine learned most of it's trauma skills...? yes indeed, the battlefield.
For other things such as chronic pain, western med generally sucks. Partly because you have a for-profit system that makes far more money treating than through prevention or cure.


I spent years trying to get something done for my cluster headaches. Eventually, a pain clinic helped me the most. Small amounts of long-acting narcotics for the "leftover" headache, but high-flow oxygen (12-14 L/h) kills it dead in it's tracks, assuming I stay on it for about 30 minutes or so. I requested that, not the doctors...

Otherwise, I would be playing merry-go-round with anticonvulsants, narcotics, and antidepressants. I would also be very pissed as cluster migraines hurt like nothing else. Even pulled muscles/tendons, broken bones, appendicitis, etc... got nothing on that pain level. (It can radiate as far as my lower thigh and cause me to keep my eyes closed due to the pain from light--it feels like someone is stabbing a needle through/into your eye, even with an extremely small light, like a power-button LED...)

I don't get it, take out the chicken skin, and whats not healthy about that ? its frugal and a great way to use all your chicken.

The way he describes it, tendons, bits, fat, blood,cartilage etc.. as apposed to ??? veins,muscle tissue ? ? I dislike how lines are drawn as to whats good and whats bad. Myself I would just as well make a stock out of the remainder.

@mgittle

Can't see your link without a login, but I'd like to read it. I'll make an account later. Though I'm not sure how what you said directly after the link disproves the part of my article you quoted.



Well, the author you quoted states that:

1. increased ATP = increased metabolic stress
2. metabolic stress blocks mtor activity (*This point is wrong*)
3. increased mtor activity results in increased muscle gain.

He's basically saying increased ATP use results in decreased muscle gain, hence the rational for minimizing ATP use. However, this conclusion is incorrect since the literature shows that increased metabolic stress is actually GOOD for muscle gain.

"I'm not an expert, but I've always been told/read that tendons heal more slowly than muscle."



This is correct because your tendons do not have good blood flow compared to your muscles. I'm not sure that this also applies on a microscopic level that weightlifting may cause because I don't know how long it takes for your tendons to fully recover from specifically weightlifting induced wear and tear. Again, this plays into the whole overtraining thing. The key I guess is to avoid overtraining, and personally, I've never had any tendon problems as a result of doing 1 rep max lifting.

Can't see your link without a login, but I'd like to read it. I'll make an account later. Though I'm not sure how what you said directly after the link disproves the part of my article you quoted.

As for the tendon injury thing, it's not baseless at all. Maybe they didn't cite sources for every comment... I'm not an expert, but I've always been told/read that tendons heal more slowly than muscle. Slow lengthening contractions are easier on tendons and therefore training frequency is not affected the same way.

Also, just saying 1-rep max doesn't state what method you're using, specifically. It just states a rep frequency. If you're lifting and then letting the weight down slowly I suppose that could be good. If you're doing high-jerk stuff you're just wasting ATP.

@mgittle

I looked a bit into that article, and it seems to do a pretty poor interpretation of the science available. While the article cites papers to support the relation between mTor and muscle mass gain, as well as increased resistance and activation of mtor, there was no evidence cited for the following:

"On the other side of the equation, mTOR activity is blocked by metabolic stress. This means that we want to use as little muscular ATP (an energy yielding molecule used in muscle contraction) as possible when we are doing our resistance training."



This part just has no basis whatsoever and doesn't make sense.

In fact, if you look at the literature, the exact opposite is true:
http://www.medscape.com/viewarticle/506930
Increased metabolic stress is correlated with increased levels of growth hormone, epinephrine, and an increase in muscle cross sectional area.

Similarly, look at this quote from the article you linked:

"The highest absolute power is seen when performing fast lengthening contractions with a lot of weight (high jerk), or heavy plyometric exercises. This type of exercise is very effective in activating mTOR, but unfortunately can be very bad for tendon health, and as a result can lead to injuries."



The first part of this quote states exactly why 1 rep max is so effective. However, the second part of this, which quotes increased levels of tendon injury, is again completely baseless and unsourced.

I have by no means done a comprehensive analysis of the article you suggested, but it seems to me that it uses bits and pieces of science to come up with false conclusions to support the author's personal preferred exercise methodology. The evidence brought up by this article instead seems to support the theory that 1 rep max is an effective method of strength training.

>> ^mgittle:
I'm just saying, "don't believe the hype". Despite strength training being an extremely common activity among athletes for a couple decades, emerging science is still calling into question many common and popular training practices. The following article is perfect for answering your query. I would strongly suggest anyone interested in weight training read and understand the entire article, but especially the sections about maximizing mTOR and minimizing muscle ATP usage, as well as the section about program features and tendon health. Oh...and don't forget push-pull methodology!
http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/strength-training-over
loading-increase-muscle-mass-40882

If you're doing something and it's working for you without injury, by all means go for it. Lifting weights is way better than not lifting weights. But, if you're looking to maximize your time and energy, which is always a concern for any busy person or (especially) athletes, there's always more to learn.
As for safety, training with machines is obviously safer than free weights. Machines are also ideal equipment for following the article's recommendations. When using a machine, angles are much more controlled (though you still need good form of course) and it's nearly impossible to drop anything. Any athlete would be best served by using machines since they offer the smallest chance of injury. Free weights and Olympic-style training may look flashy, but it's not an optimal way to train and has high chance of injury. Also, athletes need to spend most of their energy and time learning skills for their sport. Getting strong doesn't really take that much time in comparison to skills training.


@mgittle
Hey thanks for the link. There is definitely a lot of hype in exercises methodology and any real data is always appreciated. I'll look more in depth into this when I have the time.

I'm just saying, "don't believe the hype". Despite strength training being an extremely common activity among athletes for a couple decades, emerging science is still calling into question many common and popular training practices. The following article is perfect for answering your query. I would strongly suggest anyone interested in weight training read and understand the entire article, but especially the sections about maximizing mTOR and minimizing muscle ATP usage, as well as the section about program features and tendon health. Oh...and don't forget push-pull methodology!

http://www.pponline.co.uk/encyc/strength-training-over
loading-increase-muscle-mass-40882


If you're doing something and it's working for you without injury, by all means go for it. Lifting weights is way better than not lifting weights. But, if you're looking to maximize your time and energy, which is always a concern for any busy person or (especially) athletes, there's always more to learn.

As for safety, training with machines is obviously safer than free weights. Machines are also ideal equipment for following the article's recommendations. When using a machine, angles are much more controlled (though you still need good form of course) and it's nearly impossible to drop anything. Any athlete would be best served by using machines since they offer the smallest chance of injury. Free weights and Olympic-style training may look flashy, but it's not an optimal way to train and has high chance of injury. Also, athletes need to spend most of their energy and time learning skills for their sport. Getting strong doesn't really take that much time in comparison to skills training.

See this is why I don't do rock climbing. I have a friend who nearly lost his leg in a fall, only his insistence with doctors that he would not let them cut it off and two years of physiotherapy let him keep it. Basically the only thing keeping his ankle attached to his lower leg was skin and some muscle, every tendon and bone was broken off.

Actually I've seen some of these positions explained in english and they actually expect the guy to bend his wang far enough to point downward.

I'm not sure how that's possible unless you've had the tendon cut.

Interesting facts about Albatrosses...

- They have an acute sense of smell, which is unusual for birds.

- They drink sea water, and remove the salt via a gland near their eyes that secretes a 5% saline solution.

- Males and females bond over years, eventually for life.

- 19 of the 21 species are threatened

- They have special tendons that allow the birds to lock their shoulders, requiring no muscular effort to keep their wings open.

- Albatrosses have a glide ratio of 23:1

- They are not strong fliers, and their wing shape is poorly suited to flapping flight, but instead for efficient lift while gliding. In calm weather they are forced to rest on the surface until the wind returns .


Source:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Albatross

I recently severed my ACL and had multiple rips in the meniscus causing it to ball up under the kneecap as the result of a dirtbike accident! I had to have an ACL replacement where they filet your Groin muscle and graft/screw a part of it place of the old tendon.
After multiple surgeries and chronic pain (which I a facing without drugs), I am hoping to avoid having a knee replacement as a next step.

The whole thing makes me angry at my fate - It's very frustrating!

>> ^dystopianfuturetoday:
It won't teach you technique, touch or tone, but it's a nice primer to reading notation, staying in tempo and basic limb independence. I'd love to see Rock Band/Guitar Hero give you the option to use music notation instead of the scrolling guitar neck thing. What a great way to teach/learn sight reading and basic music notation.
If you really want to play drums, you should research technique (and maybe get a lesson or two from someone who knows what they're doing), to make sure your hands aren't too tense and moving in ways that could lead to Carpel Tunnel, Tendonitis and other RSD's.


Uh oh. I have been playing Guitar Hero World Tour for about a month and my right wrist hurts pretty bad after a good 4 hour session. (Fucking hi-hat; why do I gotta hit that thing so often?) It could be from a previous accident while masturbating for 4 hours, but I think it's the drums. Seriously though, after reading your post I may just go out and get some real lessons so I don't fuck up my hands. Damn, didn't even occur to me, I just figured I had to get used to it.

Also, is it common for drummers to have knee problems, or is that just the shitty bass drum pedal that comes with the game? Probably another technique that I'm missing out on.