Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,317
Out of curiosity, do Europeans "lift" generally? All the tourists here always seem so lean and small. If not, I'm sure this factors in as well.
Not to the same extent many Americans do. Crossfit is slowly becoming a thing here too and of course there are gyms everywhere, but I've rarely seen people squat or deadlift tbh. I built a home gym specifically because I didn't really feel comfortable lifting (by which I mean compound lifts) at a normal gym.

Another important factor is that the two biggest sports in Belgium are football (by a very big margin) and cycling. Neither of those sports require that athletes lift to the same degree that American football does for example.
 

Post Ironic

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2013
42,253
European workouts consist of lifting espresso and glasses of wine/beer to their luscious soft lips while the other hand is lightly benching a cigarette.

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Lol, you’re confusing fat with alpha and muscular
So true about Euro workouts. ::lol3::

But Trump, seriously, have you seen his beliefs on exercise?

After college, after Trump mostly gave up his personal athletic interests, he came to view time spent playing sports as time wasted. Trump believed the human body was like a battery, with a finite amount of energy, which exercise only depleted. So he didn’t work out. When he learned that John O’Donnell, one of his top casino executives, was training for an Ironman triathlon, he admonished him, “You are going to die young because of this.”
:rofl:
 

AFL_ITALIA

MAGISTERIAL
Jun 17, 2011
31,783
Not to the same extent many Americans do. Crossfit is slowly becoming a thing here too and of course there are gyms everywhere, but I've rarely seen people squat or deadlift tbh. I built a home gym specifically because I didn't really feel comfortable lifting (by which I mean compound lifts) at a normal gym.
I'm not saying many Americans aren't genuinely obese or anything, because you can see plenty all the time, especially in rural areas. But I'm sure this does have at least some sort of effect on the statistics. I have a BMI of like 31 or something ridiculous like that, but I only have like around 18-19% body fat (on the high end of normal, I know).

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In other news, Apple has become the first US-listed trillion dollar company in market value.
 

Post Ironic

Senior Member
Feb 9, 2013
42,253
Not to the same extent many Americans do. Crossfit is slowly becoming a thing here too and of course there are gyms everywhere, but I've rarely seen people squat or deadlift tbh. I built a home gym specifically because I didn't really feel comfortable lifting (by which I mean compound lifts) at a normal gym.

Another important factor is that the two biggest sports in Belgium are football (by a very big margin) and cycling. Neither of those sports require that athletes lift to the same degree that American football does for example.
Crossfit is popular in Iceland for some reason. Denmark too. I think Copenhagen has one of the world's biggest Crossfit gyms or "boxes" or whatever they call them.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,317
I'm not saying many Americans aren't genuinely obese or anything, because you can see plenty all the time, especially in rural areas. But I'm sure this does have at least some sort of effect on the statistics. I have a BMI of like 31 or something ridiculous like that, but I only have like around 18-19% body fat (on the high end of normal, I know).
True. There are lots of people who lift and are actually quite fit but still have a BMI that's too high. I think it's important to consider however that there is some research that claims that when you reach a certain weight, it is still unhealthy even if it's all muscle. I can imagine that the stress on the heart and the joints will still be too big at that point.

Something you just don't see in Belgium and that seems much more common in the US is people fanatically monitoring their diets and workouts. You have guys like Zach and of course there are obsessed bodybuilders here too, but they are few and far between. Most people don't even use protein shakes over here.

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Crossfit is popular in Iceland for some reason. Denmark too. I think Copenhagen has one of the world's biggest Crossfit gyms or "boxes" or whatever they call them.

I think, not sure, that much of it has to do with the fact that half the year it's dark during the day in Iceland. Despite what Crossfit enthusiasts may tell you, Crossfit really focuses only on one sport and that is Olympic lifting. You can easily do that in a gym with artificial light. Running is much less fun when it's dark outside though.

Anyway, I wouldn't consider Iceland part of Europe tbh.
 

AFL_ITALIA

MAGISTERIAL
Jun 17, 2011
31,783
True. There are lots of people who lift and are actually quite fit but still have a BMI that's too high. I think it's important to consider however that there is some research that claims that when you reach a certain weight, it is still unhealthy even if it's all muscle. I can imagine that the stress on the heart and the joints will still be too big at that point.

Something you just don't see in Belgium and that seems much more common in the US is people fanatically monitoring their diets and workouts. You have guys like Zach and of course there are obsessed bodybuilders here too, but they are few and far between. Most people don't even use protein shakes over here.

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I think, not sure, that much of it has to do with the fact that half the year it's dark during the day in Iceland. Despite what Crossfit enthusiasts may tell you, Crossfit really focuses only on one sport and that is Olympic lifting. You can easily do that in a gym with artificial light. Running is much less fun when it's dark outside though.

Anyway, I wouldn't consider Iceland part of Europe tbh.
Could you link me to this? I've never heard of that and would be interested to read about it.

There's also a lot of "fad dieting" here though, since people are stupid.
 

Seven

In bocca al lupo, Fabio.
Jun 25, 2003
39,317
Could you link me to this? I've never heard of that and would be interested to read about it.

There's also a lot of "fad dieting" here though, since people are stupid.

I'm going to have get back to you on that, as I don't remember where I've read it. I'll look it up. But I doubt that you're in trouble if you're slightly overweight. I think it was referring to massively sized bodybuilders, which clearly cannot be healthy.
 

AFL_ITALIA

MAGISTERIAL
Jun 17, 2011
31,783
I'm going to have get back to you on that, as I don't remember where I've read it. I'll look it up. But I doubt that you're in trouble if you're slightly overweight. I think it was referring to massively sized bodybuilders, which clearly cannot be healthy.
Thanks :tup:, no problem if you can't find it

And the things you need to take to even get to that size probably don't help either.
 

piotrr

Мodеrator
Sep 13, 2011
34,009
So an American took me to some sports bar or whatever - lots of tvs. Arsenal - Chelsea on one of them (surprisingly). We start talking about sports and he's like 'yeah i like soccer a lot! One of my favorite sports'. I tell him i wish i was in Atlanta for the Juventus game. 'Juve what??' Juventus, italian team. 'Oh, they good?' Yeah like top 3 in world. "Ohh, nice."
I tell him that Juve just bought the best player in the world. "Who dat?" Cristiano Ronaldo. "Oh he's Spanish?".
Some minutes later the MLS-Juve commercial starts airing - i show him. He was like Ohhh Jewve playing the ALL STARS they must be REALLY good that they're playing all-stars,huh??
I try explaining that it's just a pre-season game and MLS is not really that good and he responds with "Yeah i can imagine MLS is not up to their standards, Juventus plays in the world cup after all.".
Fun times.
 

Mark

The Informer
Administrator
Dec 19, 2003
97,622
So an American took me to some sports bar or whatever - lots of tvs. Arsenal - Chelsea on one of them (surprisingly). We start talking about sports and he's like 'yeah i like soccer a lot! One of my favorite sports'. I tell him i wish i was in Atlanta for the Juventus game. 'Juve what??' Juventus, italian team. 'Oh, they good?' Yeah like top 3 in world. "Ohh, nice."
I tell him that Juve just bought the best player in the world. "Who dat?" Cristiano Ronaldo. "Oh he's Spanish?".
Some minutes later the MLS-Juve commercial starts airing - i show him. He was like Ohhh Jewve playing the ALL STARS they must be REALLY good that they're playing all-stars,huh??
I try explaining that it's just a pre-season game and MLS is not really that good and he responds with "Yeah i can imagine MLS is not up to their standards, Juventus plays in the world cup after all.".
Fun times.
are you sure it wasn't a gay bar?
 

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