Wednesday, February 16, 2011

Newborn kittens may have more muscle strength than yours truly

Yoga kicked my butt with a size large boot tonight.  Everything hurts and I feel limper than a dishrag.  I may have picked the wrong day to start lifting weights.  And if I were going to start lifting weights on yoga day, I should have done it more than an hour before class.

I think there's a good chance I won't be able to lift my arms over my head tomorrow.  But it's all for a good cause, right?

I was reading a piece about thruhiking and insulin sensitivity last night.  It proposed several reasons why hikers get fat after a thruhike.  One is that your insulin sensitivity goes way up.  So like the body of a non-civilized person, your body doesn't deal well with lots of sugars, and without the huge amounts of exercise it's used to, it just piles on weight.  Also, most of your non-leg muscle atrophies when you hike because you're not using it.  (True.  It is funny to see all the T-Rex hikers at the end.)  And you need muscle to burn energy. 

Whatever the reason, it is VERY COMMON for hikers to get fat when they're not hiking, although they don't tend to eat extravagantly when not under the duress of hike-induced calorie obsession.  I never had a clue why.  Now I have a clue.  Maybe not all the information, but a clue.

Here's the link:  Why Hikers Get Fat  Enjoy.  Or, you know, don't.  Whatever.  I'm too busy staring at the tire around my middle to care.

Also, the quivering in all my muscles is really distracting.

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