Fitocracy Blog

Fitocracy Member Spotlight: The_Doctor

This week’s Weekly Member Spotlight features The_Doctor, an incredible Canadian lady lifter with some serious numbers to back her up. As always, if you’d like to nominate someone for a Member Spotlight, contact users lexyloowho or xJenYxvx or send an email to fitocracymemberspotlight@gmail.com. 

Username and level 
The_Doctor, level 26 

How did you get started in fitness and training? 
I used to be really fat. My heaviest weight was around 230 to 250 pounds during my late teens, and I had a lot of emotional problems that were associated with my weight, probably more than I realized at the time. I was never really overweight until my mid-teens, but I never had a good self-image and I never believed that I was attractive or that anyone would have any reason to find me attractive. 

I thinned down a bit around age 20, and I guess it was about that age that I actually took the initiative to lose weight. I started a fitness log on an Internet forum and used Starting Strength and C25K to help me lose all the extra weight. I finished “losing” at about 128 pounds, but by that time I was underweight for my height and didn’t have good body composition, and I still didn’t have the self-image or sense of direction that I wanted. So I continued and completed both Starting Strength and C25k with the goal of improving my body composition. I moved on to Bill Starr’s Madcow program for intermediate weight lifters and increased my strength by a lot, I also put on about an extra ten pounds of muscle and reached a weight that’s more reasonable for my height and frame. 

Two years ago at about 230lb 
 

Aaaand now!
 
 

How did you find the site? How has it changed your work outs? 
I found Fitocracy through the Internet forum that I used initially to do my fitness logging. A lot of people were talking about it and moving over to Fitocracy because of the tracking system, and probably because it allows for a greater sense of community. Fitocracy has increased the consistency of my work-outs hugely. I’ve never been the type to miss a work-out, but Fitocracy’s tracking and points system is extremely encouraging to complete the full work-out every time, especially since you can look back and see what you did last week, or the week before. 

Do you have any long term goals or direction you plan to take your training? 
My long-term goal is to stay active and dynamic. I recently got access to one of the best equipped Olympic training gyms in Canada, and I am currently training with a coach there. I have always done the standard lifts, bench, squats, deadlift, et cetera, but I’m excited to do the snatch and the clean and jerk. I’m learning a lot already. 

What are things you’ve learned through trial and error? What areas do you hope to learn more about? 
The most important thing I’ve learned through trial and error is that you can’t cheat. You should learn to do things correctly the first time or you’re setting yourself up to waste your time or hurt yourself. This goes for lifting form and techniques, and for nutrition and diet as well. You can’t starve yourself to your ideal and you shouldn’t try. 

As for what I’d like to learn more about, I just started Olympic lifting so I’m looking forward to learning a lot there. It is a totally different world than powerlifting and I’m already learning weaknesses and working to improve. 

Currently, where would you say your weakness lies? Where do you excel? 
I would say that self-image has been a weakness for me, but at the same time it’s also a strength because I am continually working to improve. I excel in determination and consistency. I don’t like to miss workouts and I work hard while I am there. 

What motivates you? 
Other female weightlifters and athletes are a big inspiration for me. I like to see that there are women of all sizes challenging the ideas of people who have preconceived notions of what defines feminine integrity and value. I think it’s great that there are women on Fitocracy who weigh 200 pounds and lift huge weights, and there are also women who weigh 118 pounds and lift huge weights. 

Are you using any supplements or special dietary changes to achieve your goals? 
I had to change my diet completely to reach my weight goals. I stopped eating junk food and most if not all processed foods. I don’t count my calories but I do try to reach a goal of about 100-140 grams of protein a day, which I get through eating a lot of meat, eggs, dairy, and protein powder. I cook all of my own food at home unless I’m really stuck in class all day and have to grab something if I haven’t had time to pack a lunch. Other than protein, I don’t take any dietary supplements. 

If you could give advice to someone starting off, what would you tell them? 
Be consistent, don’t miss workouts. Follow a beginners program and make sure that you know exactly what your goals are, otherwise you will never feel you have achieved anything. 

What’s your ‘secret weapon’, the thing that pushes you or you feel gives you an edge? 
I think I will have to reiterate one of my other answers and say my determination. I really have no problem bouncing back. I have experienced a lot and I am well acquainted with failure, so I don’t let anything keep me down. 

What has the overall impact of Fitocracy been in your life? 
Fitocracy has had a very positive impact on my life. I’ve always loved video games and the game element of Fitocracy is an extra kick to keep me motivated when I might not otherwise feel up to doing my best. The organization of the tracking system is probably my favourite part of the site, the achievements are also great and helped me reach a lot of personal records. 

One thing I want people to take away from my story is… 
You should never stop trying. You should always be working towards a new goal, whether the goal is to improve your body composition, lift a new weight, learn a new technique, try a new program, whatever. 

Sticking points are there to help you excel and you have the rest of your life to work past them. 

Our beloved Jared on We Are NY Tech!

Our very own Jared Cocken featured on the “We Are NY Tech” blog!

http://wearenytech.com/299-jared-cocken-chief-product-officer-at-fitocracy

Fitocracy Member Spotlight: trez65

This week, we’re profiling a teacher who made a tremendous change in his body and lifestyle. He’s inspired others so much, one of his students sent us this nomination. If you’d like to nominate someone for the Weekly Member Spotlight, contact users lexyloowho or xJenYxvx. Of course, you can always send an email to fitocracymemberspotlight@gmail.com! 

Username and level 
Trez65 Level 28 

How did you get started in fitness and training Do you have any pics to share?: 

 

 

I got started January 2011. I weighed almost 300 pounds, but had been thinking about getting healthier for a while so I could be more active with my kids. One day I woke up and just decided “Today is the day”. I did some DVD workouts to start, then started running in June. By the time I went back to work teaching in September I had lost about 120 pounds! 

How did you find the site? How has it changed your work outs? 
I was reading an article online about new fitness websites and the section about Fitocracy sounded really interesting. I requested an invite, and got an email in January with my invitation. It is awesome to be part of a community of like-minded people. Also, the desire to “level up” really turns it into a game and makes it a lot more fun. I always loved playing RPGs like Final Fantasy, and the concept of me as a character is awesome! 

Do you have any long term goals or direction you plan to take your training? 
Personally, I’d like to run an official half-marathon this summer. I’ve done the distance a couple of times during my long run with a friend, but I’d like it to be “for real” so I can get the sticker for my car. But, it’s more important to me as a parent, teacher and coach to be a positive force for others. I hope that what I did can inspire others to get more healthy, and I make sure my friends, family and students know that I’m always willing to talk fitness. 

What are things you’ve learned through trial and error? What areas do you hope to learn more about? 
Figuring out how to run has been a process for me. Until I started running last year, I had always played and coached sports based on short, fast movements. When I started running distance, I had no idea how to pace myself at all. Once I figured that out, I tried to add mileage too fast and ended up hurting myself. I still probably push it too much, but I try and do a better job listening to my body. Now that I’m actually in shape in 2012, I really want to learn more about training to be a runner and improve my times. 

Currently, where would you say your weakness lies? Where do you excel? 
My biggest weakness is incorporating variety into my workouts, especially strength training. Fitocracy has been awesome for fixing that. I’ve incorporated a lot of new exercises that I learned just because they were part of a quest. My biggest strength is probably consistency. I rarely miss workouts, and when I do, I make it up ASAP. 

What motivates you? 
I want to be healthy enough to enjoy being with my kids while they are young and I want to live long enough to harass and embarrass them when I get old. 

Are you using any supplements or special dietary changes to achieve your goals? 
I tracked calories religiously while I was losing weight and throughout the first few months of maintenance. Now I still weigh and measure myself regularly, and only track calories if I notice a problem trend. The only supplements I’ve ever taken are fish oil and multivitamins. 

If you could give advice to someone starting off, what would you tell them? 
Keep at it. Ask for advice. Know that you are not alone. There are going to be days where you hurt so bad, or are so tired you want to/will cry. Keep going. It gets better! Fitocracy makes it awesome because on those rough days you can talk to other people about it! 

What’s your ‘secret weapon’, the thing that pushes you or you feel gives you an edge? 
I keep a picture of myself at my biggest, unhealthiest point. On those days where I don’t feel like doing anything, or feel like cutting back, I pull that picture out. That’s all it takes. 

What has the overall impact of Fitocracy been in your life? 
It has been great to be part of a fitness community. That’s really what this is. I have met people all over the US and the world that I can talk to, receive encouragement from, and share knowledge and experiences with. That’s an awesome resource to have! I’ve used other social networks, I’ve used other fitness websites, but putting the two experiences together is a great way to learn new things and continuously find new sources of motivation. 

One thing I want people to take away from my story is… 
You CAN do it! I was nearly 300 pounds, smoked a pack and a half of cigarettes a day, who would get winded just going up a flight of stairs in my house and was ALWAYS tired. A year later I’m 165 pounds, able to run 10 miles or more at a time, in the best shape of my life at age 33. There are lots of others like me out there. We did it, you can too! 

Join us

If you’re a talented web developer and are interested in joining us, let’s talk. The only requirements are intelligence and hustle ;)

Let’s change the world together.

The Brawny Brownie

epicureanbodybuilder:

“I’m so rumbly in my tumbly, time for something sweet to eat!”- Winnie the Pooh

Read More

Hungry today? Consider these for your fix :)

Fitocracy Member Spotlight: knifehands

This week’s Member Spotlight features knifehands, a Fitocracy legend, a former male model, and an aspiring Marine. If you have someone you’d like to nominate for a member spotlight, please contact users lexyloowho or xJenYxvx or email fitocracymemberspotlight@gmail.com. 

[Note from Brian]: knifehands holds a really special place in our hearts. He has been one of our most passionate supporters since the very beginning and has volunteered a huge amount of his time helping to manage the Fitocracy community as well as add new exercises & quests to our database. We’ve hung out with him in person a few times in the past and we consider him a brother, a friend, and honorary team member. Thank you for everything you do and keep being awesome, Alex.

knifehands 
Level 39 

How did you get started in fitness and training? Do you have any pics to share?: 
Football 2004-05 at 250 lbs. 

 
 

Current 185 

 

Modelling in 2010 at lowest weight of 175 
 

I’ve been involved with some sort of martial art or sport since I was young. I was also the fat kid so I ended up always getting picked last during recess. I never accomplished anything stellar with martial arts either, since I was too chubby and slow. I hit my peak weight of 250lbs playing high school football, which is also when I sustained all of my major injuries. I had a severe lower back pull, needed ACL reconstructive surgery, crushed my ankle, sprained both wrists 5000 times, almost dislocated both shoulders, and all sorts of other fun stuff. 

By the time college rolled around I made a concentrated effort to lose 50lbs my first year of school, and floated around 190-200lbs the remaining years. I did mostly HIIT and curlbro workouts during this time, which explains why my bench is so disproportionate. 
I cut down to 180lbs to attend Officer Candidate School for the Marines and now I’m back around 185-190lbs. I’ve only been properly lifting for the past few months so I have much room to grow in my training. Ultimately aiming to drop back down to 180lbs to be in prime shape for my military reprisal. 

How did you find the site? How has it changed your work outs? 
I found Fitocracy early 2011 via Fittit. I’ve picked up proper workout programming, fixed a ton of technique issues, and learned new movements all from interacting with the community. I’m definitely much stronger because of the knowledge I’ve gained from Fitocracy. 

Do you have any long term goals or direction you plan to take your training? 
I’m currently working to qualify for a Tier 2/3 military training program. I need to develop triathlete level running and swimming endurance, gymnast style upper body strength, and rugby style lower body strength. 

What are things you’ve learned through trial and error? What areas do you hope to learn more about? 
We’re NOT all special snowflakes, but at the same time there will be exercises that work well for you and some that don’t. Listening and understanding your body will help you train smarter and more efficiently. Don’t restrict yourself because a book told you to, sometimes it’s best to think for yourself. 
I’d love to learn more about advanced level training and the psychology behind it. Training the mind is just as important if not more important than training the body. 

Currently, where would you say your weakness lies? Where do you excel? 
My biggest weakness lies within my cardiovascular endurance and strength. I hate cardio with the deepest depths of my soul, so it’s a psychological thing that I’m actively working on overcoming. 

My strengths? I don’t have any notable lifting numbers, but I think I have pretty strong testicular fortitude. I can stay underwater in subfreezing temperatures for a decent amount of time and if you strap a 100lb pack to me I can hike until the world ends. 

What motivates you? 
I used to just not want to be fat anymore, so that was enough motivation. Nowadays my main motivators are my friends serving now, those who have served in the past, and those who I’ve lost serving. I’ve been given an incredible amount of support and positivity through my Fitocracy friends. They push me out the door when I don’t feel like running. 

Are you using any supplements or special dietary changes to achieve your goals? 
I supplement primarily with whey, some vitamins/minerals, and fish oil. On occasion I’ll use caffeine to wake me up. 
I followed IF (Intermittent Fasting) for several months with great success. During this time I learned to eat properly and dropped some body fat as well. Now I just eat according to my training schedule and whatever fits my macronutrients for the day. 

If you could give advice to someone starting off, what would you tell them? 
Be clear on your training and health goals, then set short term as well as long term objectives. It is psychologically helpful to achieve frequent short term goals and build momentum. 

Start off slow, be consistent, and remember that any sort of change will take time to produce an effect. 

What’s your ‘secret weapon’, the thing that pushes you or you feel gives you an edge? 
I always make sure my hair is done in the morning. It is the source of my power. 

What has the overall impact of Fitocracy been in your life? 
I love Fitocracy 5ever. I wouldn’t have approached Dick to help out if I didn’t truly believe in the life changing benefits Fitocracy has given other people and myself. Fitocracy has pushed me to become physically stronger and linked me up with some pretty cool people. 

One thing I want people to take away from my story is… 
Pls be safe.

Introducing Fitocracy for iPhone and a major site update!

The team is incredibly excited to announce that Fitocracy is now officially available for the iPhone and iPod Touch. And to complement the launch, the site has now got a brand new look.

Fitocracy for iPhone and iPod Touch
We took everything you love about Fitocracy and made it even better on the iPhone:

Beautiful and easy profile navigation: See your information like never before. Tap and swipe each tile to reveal all the best stuff like your achievements or quests to beat.



Blazing fast feed: The feed shows you everything your friends are doing. It only takes a couple of taps to start commenting and giving props



Intuitive workout tracking: Add exercises quicker than you’ve ever seen. Then, log everything without ever having to leave the screen.



It’s free on the App Store and you can download it right here!

And for our beloved Android users, don’t worry, we’re working on that next!

Pro tips for the app

• Tapping the date at the top of the Track screen brings up the calendar (we’ll be adding your previous workouts in there in a future build!)
• When you’re adding an exercise, swiping it to the right, rather than tapping.  It adds it to your workout without bringing up the description. Swipe it to the left to remove it.
• When you’re entering information for a given exercise, you can tap the green number on the left to return to your workout list, or, you can tap one of the other numbers to jump to that instead.

A Fresh New Look
We’ve been cooking up a few changes for the website to match the look and feel of the app. The next time you visit Fitocracy, you should notice a new version of Fitocracy that places a more visual focus on the people you follow and their activity. We’ve also made it easier to browse your achievements, quests, as well as a quick look at how many points you are away from leveling up. Come back to the site to see all the changes.

What’s Next
The new app and site have set the stage for Fitocracy’s next act. The long-awaited Player vs. Player feature will be coming out in April (Heroes will get to play with it first). Android development will begin soon. And let’s not forget about a refined quest system and attributes. These are some of the things we’re working on that we can’t wait to show you :)

So what are you waiting for? If you’re an iPhone/iPod owner, go download the app. Either way, check out the new site!

It’s time to go forth and level up your fitness!

- The Fitocracy Team

Is Eating Red Meat Bad? Fitocrat Dr. Bryan Chung weighs in

The internet was ablaze this week about a new study by Pan et. al that centered around the consumption of red meat.  The LA Times found the evidence, which links red meat to premature death, so damning that they wrote an article titled “All red meat is bad for you, new study says”.

Holy cow! (pun intended)

We frequently tell fitness newcomers to increase their protein intake, some of which, may come from red meat.  We asked Fitocracy Superhero Dr. Bryan Chung, MD/PhD who runs the blog Evidence Based Fitness, about his take on the study.

Dr. Chung:  ”I think a lot of the criticism of this study are fairly knee-jerk reactions. I also think that a lot of the negative comments are also from people who don’t understand survival analysis or multivariate analysis. It’s easy to poke apparent holes in a study, but poking holes isn’t enough. An apparent deficiency isn’t always meaningful and certain biases actually point favourably for a study. Being able to identify these limitations is like being able to see tall and short athletes; you can’t really tell if being tall or short is advantageous or not unless you know which sport they’re playing.

I agree the study isn’t perfect. There are definitely things I would have run differently in the analysis, which I will get into, but I want to address specific pieces of criticism that I don’t think actually hold water either.

1. Number of servings per day

One of the interpretations of the study is that in order to fit the risk category of “earlier death”, you’d have to eat red meat each and every day. This is not true. You’d have to eat an AVERAGE of 1 serving of red meat per day, averaged over the course of 20 some-odd years. No servings of meat on one day and 2 servings of red meat (e.g. 2 slices of bacon at breakfast and a serving of pork at dinner) averages out to 1 serving per day over 3 days. I think that’s totally feasible.

However, it’s this average that is, in fact, one of the weaknesses of large cohort-based, long-term studies. The risk factor of red meat consumption (and every other risk factor in this study) is based on a single point estimate (or, in the case of this study, the average of a series of point estimates—if I read this correctly, and it’s not actually exactly clear.) Within-interval variation is not measured, and therefore not estimable (in other words, we don’t know whether red meat intake varied from month to month). What is not reported is the variance in the individual average red meat intake (over 20ish years), which would give us a better idea of whether the risk factor being measured is reliable or not as well as an idea of the precision of that measurement.

The other thing that bothers me about this study is the reporting of the “increased risk per serving of red meat per day”. I think this is problematic because the food frequency questionnaire they used doesn’t actually measure red meat servings per day on a single unit basis. The possible answers on the “per day” side of the scale are, “1 per day”, “2-3 per day”, “4-5 per day” and “6+ per day”. While you could theoretically average out “2-3 per day” to 2.5 servings, you’re still dealing with ordinal values that are artificially being turned into continuous variables. Don’t get me wrong; I still think the trend towards earlier death is still present, it’s just harder to quantify (and thus, determine its practical importance).

2. Reliability of food intake questionnaires

Regardless of the reliability of food intake questionnaires, I think it’s important to remember that everyone got the same questionnaire and that when you’re in the hundreds of thousands of subjects, the smaller reporting inconsistencies become moot. Things smooth out a LOT once you hit the thousands and are far less influenced by single or even large groups of cohorts. I think it’s difficult to take the results from a study of 96 people that shows sicker people report higher meat consumption (also with an underwhelming correlation coefficient of 0.4) and carry that forward to the fairly narrow margin of estimation error of over 100 000 people. Additionally, the FFQ used in these two studies has been separately validated.

Even if we take the assumption that sicker people report higher meat intake, the results of the study don’t really change. I think it’s important to use more precise language in that the interpretation of the result is that self-reported meat consumption is associated with higher mortality. That means even if the proxy for “self-reported meat consumption” is “sicker”, “self-reported meat consumption” is STILL going to be a marker for earlier death. Measuring meat consumption is actually therefore, less important than just asking someone how much red meat they think they eat.

3. Not getting how the other factors are “controlled for”

I’ve seen more than a couple of critique articles that state something along the lines of, “I doubt they could have controlled for everything they said they did,” which only shows the lack of understanding of multivariate analysis.

Where I see this study’s biggest weakness is the failure to address the parallel trends of worsening BMI, physical activity, smoking, high cholesterol, and total daily caloric intake. In my eyes, this is just an incomplete analysis. I don’t think it’s incorrect as far as they’ve taken it, but the analysis isn’t over until they’ve ruled out interaction and confounding for those five variables, which they did not report. It’s hard to say whether “red meat” would stay in the model in the same capacity. The other piece of information missing from this paper is the actual risk estimates for each covariate. The model could have been published in an appendix, and would have been far more informative than a single variable report within the context of a multivariate model.

4. Correlation vs causation

I’ve seen a few links to the “silly correlations” graphic in reference to this study. I think it’s missing the point. I agree that the authors of the paper also miss the point somewhat as well, as this is a study looking at the association of averaged self-reported red meat consumption and earlier death. However, I think that it’s still probably a valid marker. If you self-identify as eating 1-2 servings of red meat a day, you should probably evaluate your lifestyle. Are you fat or obese? Are you a smoker? Do you have high cholesterol? Are you pretty sedentary? If none of these other factors apply to you, then it’s questionable as to whether the reported risk of eating 1-2 servings of red meat in this study actually even applies (or in methodology terms, is generalizable) to you. Albeit the statistics seem to state that red meat consumption is a risk factor for earlier death (than those who eat less of it), taking all of those things (and more) into consideration, but without the confounder/interaction analysis, it’s impossible to know if it is a true INDEPENDENT risk factor for earlier death.”

If you’re interested in another Fitocrat’s take, check out Dr. Yoni Freedhoff’s assessment of the study.

You can follow both Dr. Freedhoff and Dr. Chung on Fitocracy.  Not a member?  Join today with the code “MMBACON”.