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So a while back we had a conversation... in this thread? I don't know. About calories, and how we burn them. I was saying a 200 pound person burns the same amount of calories walking 100 yards whether he was 100 pounds of fat, or 5 pounds of fat. Others disagreed, saying that body efficiency counts and the person who is in shape is going to burn fewer calories walking that 100 yards.

I said that moving 200 pounds required the exact same amount of energy whether or not the machine was efficient, everyone else said that "suffering counts" when you are looking at work performed.

So in the recent past I had 2 days where I swam laps for an hour. On one swim I was suffering greatly and didn't swim as far, and my swim watch said I burned almost 600 calories. On the other swim I swam a little farther but suffered not at all, and my swim watch said I burned 700 calories. As far as I know, it wasn't taking suffering into account.

Wrap your melon around that.

Unless your swim watch has a direct line into your bloodstream and the mitochondria in all the cells in your muscles, that number is just a very rough approximation based on a myriad of assumptions. My guess would be that it's probably accurate to within +/- 30% at best.

TPRJones wrote:Unless your swim watch has a direct line into your bloodstream and the mitochondria in all the cells in your muscles, that number is just a very rough approximation based on a myriad of assumptions. My guess would be that it's probably accurate to within +/- 30% at best.

This. Unless you have decent lab-grade equipment to measure your energy output and confirm, I'd not put 100% stock in your FitBit/wtfever dongle you got.

Yes, that watch is probably +/- 20-25%... At best those devices are using HR, and the Garmin Swim doesn't do that.

Your moms have a +/- 20-25% error rate.

GORDON wrote:Your moms have a +/- 20-25% error rate.

Still better than your mother-in-law.

Pick someone I care about for better effect.

GORDON wrote:Pick someone I care about for better effect.

Still better than your chickens.

Rock climbed with one arm today. Made it halfway up a 5.5 (the easiest climbing level). Not too shabby.

My left side is sore as a mofo right now. Think I may have tweeked it.

Far better today.

Mid 40's flexibility report:

Been stretching several times a week for over a year, now. I'm not very flexible and I'm not getting any more flexible. Just FYI.

I can still put a foot behind my head. I got really limber doing Tae Kwon Do years ago, and it's just kinda stuck.

Do you do active stretching, passive stretching? Before or after exercise?

I don't know the difference, and before. Just a couple basic things to wake me up in the morning before I lift... I sit flat with my legs out, and bend at the waist, touching my toes... I have a hard time making an angle less than 90 degrees, at the waist. And I do some butterflies, and some single leg stretches. I'm a little better with those. But the ones with my legs together... just terrible.

Yes, I know they new paradigm is to stretch after. I stretch before.

Yeah, you shouldn't do static stretching before lifting, especially(if ever). Google active stretching.

I always try to stretch after. Doing it before tends to lessen how well your muscles work. Some PT I knew said it has a name which escapes me at the moment.

Malcolm's correct, stretching before lifting tends to make you weaker for those lifts.

I am only stretching legs and lower back, I do almost no lifting with those, because of the nerve damage. Squat Sled is literally the last thing I do, a little more than an hour after I stretch, and I am doing fine on that.

I stretch first because the hurt helps wake me up.

I've been rock climbing with only one arm as the other recovers. It's hard.

Still cannot even top a 5.5 (easiest grade)... but I got about 2/3rds up this past Sunday. Did 3 attempts, and my arm is super sore today.

Biked 66 mile today. Probably the best I'd ever felt after such a long ride. If I weighed 25lbs less, Id be in my best biking shape ever.