Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

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reinhard
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Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by reinhard » Sat Dec 14, 2024 4:41 pm

New everyday systems podcast episode #90:

Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan -or- How to Philosophize with a Sledgehammer
Bounce back from injuries and setbacks by recasting progress as a reward
https://everydaysystems.com/podcast/episode/90/

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by NoSDoc » Sun Dec 15, 2024 6:27 pm

Dear Reinhard!

Thanks for this new episode! From my last injury I know that this approach works and is the only one that makes sense. I wish I had heard that before with all the injuries I had due to neither systematic nor moderate training... ;-)

Do I understand you right - you train 6 days a week? Also a run or SG session on Saturdays?

All the best,

Stefan

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by reinhard » Mon Dec 16, 2024 4:10 pm

So glad you enjoyed it, Stefan! We experiential learners have it hard... :-)

I do Shovelglove Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays.
Run Tuesdays, Thursdays and usually Sunday but sometimes Saturday instead.
The Shovelglove days I'm pretty religious about keeping on that cadence, the running days I'll switch around more because of weather variability.

Reinhard

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by reinhard » Mon Dec 16, 2024 4:24 pm

A couple of caveats about the episode:

1) sorry about all the ".01" etc. stuff -- I didn't realize when I was putting together my script how badly all those decimals would speak. I should have stuck with "thousandths" and "hundredths" when possible.

2) after some subsequent investigation, I feel like I may have done Zeno an injustice by claiming that mathematicians had "fully refuted" his theory. From what I gather, It sounds like we've just come to decisively prefer the convenience of empirical reality to logical purity. The math whereby infinite series "converge" to a finite number and so on is practical, but intellectually a bit of a hack...

Snippet from a conversation I had about it with ChatGPT:
So, Was Zeno Right?
In a sense, yes. He wasn’t trying to "prove" something in the way a modern scientist might. He wanted to shake us to our core, to show us that our understanding of motion, time, and space is fragile and perhaps even illusory. The fact that we’ve patched over the paradox doesn’t mean we’ve resolved it—it just means we’ve learned to live with it.

And maybe, in doing so, we’ve let go of the deeper questions Zeno wanted us to grapple with. We’ve traded philosophical unease for planes and smartphones.
Reinhard

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by NoSDoc » Thu Dec 19, 2024 7:21 pm

Hi Reinhard!

Thanks for the quick answer. To get the full picture: on Run Days: do you do stretching or some Push Ups / Pull Ups on top? I guess I want to know: how big is the "running time box"? :D
I recently started experimenting with some PushUp Snacks during the day (e.g. once or twice during the day 10 PushUps on top of the 14 Minutes Session). Have you tried something like that?

Thanks again and all the best

Stefan

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by reinhard » Mon Dec 30, 2024 3:30 am

Hi Stefan,

Yes, I do a fair amount of stretching now and warm up now, possibly most of it useless, and I do it partly out of superstition (and so if I ever have to go back to a PT again, I can say "see, I've been doing this for years!"). Some if it is straight from PT, some if it is from random stuff I found on the internet. It takes about as long as the shovelglove proper itself (still about 14 minutes).

So step one (about 15 minutes): warmup and stretches
Step 2: 2 sets of shovelglove routine of 7s.

Pushups ("degraded beast") and squats ("fertilize the fields") are integrated with the shovelglove, and I usually do an addition set of pushups after.

I used to "snack" on pushups and pullups throughout the day but don't anymore since my injury a couple years back because I want to carefully monitor progress on those fronts too (pullups were terrible for my golfers elbow and those are on indefinite hold -- maybe some day, if I'm fully satisfied with where I am with shovelglove again, I'll slowly zeno's paradox them up again).

Reinhard

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by oolala53 » Wed Feb 12, 2025 4:48 pm

That ending "progress is the handmaid of moderation" added a powerful nuance.

Even though it's not about being quite as regularly systematic, I'll mention an online influencer I've looked at more than I like to admit who was a skinny guy who I think in his thirties spent one month eating a lot of protein (for him-much less than the muscle builder folks) and working crazy hard. He put on four pounds of muscle in that one month and really changed his physique. It was more of a longevity goal than an aesthetic one, so he switched to maintenance which he has been able to do for several years with just ONE hard workout every TWO WEEKS. He adds about 25 grams of plant protein on that day and possibly the day after if he's sore. I'm pretty sure he's a fan of long walks just about every day. I add it because it seems in keeping with the concept of doing only what is needed and not getting caught up in more.

Thanks. It was fun to hear your voice again.I associate it with a great mix of humor and rationality, though I love finding out about the Greek version of the world being an illusion as exploring Eastern practices that target experiences that deliver that conclusion is a pet interest of mine.
Count plates, not calories. 11 years "during"
Age 71
BMI Jan/10-30.8
1/12-26.8 3/13-24.9 +/- 8-lb. 3 yrs
9/17 22.8 (flux) 3/18 22.2
2 yrs flux 6/20 22
12/20/24 24.1

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Re: Podcast #90: Zeno's Paradox Exercise Progress Plan

Post by reinhard » Thu Feb 13, 2025 5:22 pm

So glad you liked it, oolala53.

Yes, Zeno is surprisingly Zen, in a way.

Interesting about the impact of those very intermittent mega workouts. I do believe that much of exercise is about sending a "signal" to the body that muscle etc. is in fact needed, rather than some construction project. The body doesn't need exercise in mechanical sense -- it just needs to be convinced that it's really worth it to spend its limited resources on building calorically expensive muscles and so on. The trick with exercise/exertion is how most economically to get that signal out. Lions sleep most of the time but are far stronger than any human being -- their bodies definitely get the signal without anything resembling regular exercise.

Reinhard

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