After years of spinning wheels, like many others, I've found that gimmicky crap like this is just that - gimmicky crap. This may be more efficient than a 30 minute run and burn the same net amount of calories, but you'll offset the entire effect of this workout by eating a cookie. For overall health and lasting benefits you're going to need to get into a gym and pick something heavy off the ground.
Can I disprove one anecdote, with another? Sure, why not?
I used to go to the gym 6x a week for about 60-90/session and lifted heavy things from every possible position imaginable. I even won a fitness contest at my university (a weird combination of weight to bench press, squat, deadlift, and pull ups). I was certainly in great shape and very strong.
But life intruded. For a while I did nothing and got in much worse shape. I needed to get back in shape, but I didn't have time for the gym (at least that was my opinion). So I started just doing stuff at home. Probably 10 minutes per day. Push ups, pull ups, crunches, and biking a short distance to the bus for work.
While I'm probably not quite as strong as I was in college, I'm pretty close. I've probably gotten something like 90% of the gains with 15% of the effort.
To be a competitive athlete or bodybuilder that 10% makes a huge difference. But for most people, I think this seems like the right tradeoff.
Its great that you got in shape lifting heavy weights. Mark Rippetoe discusses why it is easier to regain old strength as opposed to building new strength in his starting strength series.
I don't really see your anecdote disproving the GP, rather, it seems it is further evidence of the GP's hypothesis that heavy lifting is required for strength gains.
The GP wasn't saying heavy lifting is required for strength gains, he was making the much stronger claim that it was necessary to be healthy. (Perhaps unintentionally; I'm not sure they actually read the bloody linked article.)
I see the distinction you were making, but this study has an interesting conclusion[0].
"Muscular strength is inversely and independently associated with death from all causes and cancer in men, even after adjusting for cardiorespiratory fitness and other potential confounders."
That's still looking at things the wrong way round. Even in your quote, it mentions the need to control for things like cardiorespiratory fitness.
The conclusion that muscular strength will always improve your health does not imply that other things are useless! (And note that the linked routines does attempt to improve muscular strength, but the whole point of it was to be something you could do without special equipment.)
Body weight (BW) exercises like push-ups and pull-ups are still moving heavy weights. At least in my case. It may not be as hardcore as serious barbell training, but it's substantial.
Indeed. I was speaking more to the possible perception that barbell training and body weight training were two different things completely. They are both resistance/weight training, and are alike in more ways than different. You are pushing/pulling with resistance, at a given angle, and that builds certain muscles and burns calories.
I think people get silly about it. Traditional dick waving stuff.
I'm a barbell partisan, but I have a few bodyweight-ish things sprinkled here and there. Pushups are an excellent assistance exercise for the overhead press and for the snatch/jerk lockout positions. Pullups or chinups are fun and develop the latismuss dorsi, a key muscle for the snatch and clean.
Can I disprove one anecdote, with another? Sure, why not?
I used to go to the gym 6x a week for about 60-90/session and lifted heavy things from every possible position imaginable. I even won a fitness contest at my university (a weird combination of weight to bench press, squat, deadlift, and pull ups). I was certainly in great shape and very strong.
But life intruded. For a while I did nothing and got in much worse shape. I needed to get back in shape, but I didn't have time for the gym (at least that was my opinion). So I started just doing stuff at home. Probably 10 minutes per day. Push ups, pull ups, crunches, and biking a short distance to the bus for work.
While I'm probably not quite as strong as I was in college, I'm pretty close. I've probably gotten something like 90% of the gains with 15% of the effort.
To be a competitive athlete or bodybuilder that 10% makes a huge difference. But for most people, I think this seems like the right tradeoff.