The number of people in this country on work visas increased by 54% last year

He is too thick skinned to butt out.. he would have been one of those annoying kids even when rejected from a group, would still tag along 

Lol at a nerd insult on the internet.  What are you typing with?  A football?

It's a free country, so run up to them and ask them. Every time you see one, do it. All of them, in an indiscriminate manner.

Disclaimer: I am not a cyclist.

I imagine the average cyclist wants to cycle up to grown men in cars and ask them, "Why you so fat?"

In Christchurch, where most people live within a few flat km of the city centre and there are many bike paths, bikes are the obvious transport option. Commuting by car would take twice as long for me as well as costing more, walking would take about 3 times as long and provide less exercise (I don't get my heart rate up walking a few km on the flat).

If the walking is reasonably taxing (pace/elevation) and you do enough of each, sure your regime works just fine. But why not combine some of it with your commute? Save time, money, carbon, parking hassle...

You probably don't have enough cardio there Zach and you pretty much need to distance run or cycle to get that and your diet is shit but pretty common among New Zealanders, those that cannot eat even lettuce or a tomato and have to pull it out of their burger always shocks me.

That's funny, I see people doing Sprints and think, 'What are you running away from'?

As a lifelong runner and cyclist (periodically) who was competitive at the regional but not national level I'd like to offer some feedback.

Long term endurance training has benefits that can't be reproduced by any other form of exercise. I could talk about reductions in brachial artery stiffness, ventricular dilatation, improvements in stroke volume and reduction in heart rate. We could talk about endurance athletes having ventricular wall stiffness in their 60's which is similar to a control group in their 40's who are non-exercisers. We can talk about slowing the reduction in VO2max which is clearly related to a reduction in quality of life as we age. We could talk about Swedish longitudinal data from army recruits that show longevity is associated with base line fitness as a young adult? Bone density improvements with running (but not cycling).

I could talk at length and do so frequently but your commentary suggests ignorance and bias. 

Disclaimer-I prefer to remain anonymous but work in the cardio-metabolic area, having tertiary quals in med science and to date have attended in excess of 20 local/International congresses which are either cardiology focused or have a sig focus on this discipline. 

All you require for fitness is some body weight exercises, mild weight lifting, sprints and walking. Oh, and a meat based diet.

You see a lot of rubbish in interest.co.nz comments, but even amongst it all, the steam and smell coming off this freshly laid comment still cuts through.

Scott Jurek is a renowned ultramarathoner, who also eats an entirely plant-based diet. In fact, I'd be surprised if you could find a single person that even finished an ultramarathon with your fitness regime, let alone was competitive. Survey the athletes in any endurance sport, and you'll not find anyone winning with this approach.

If that is the route you wish to crack down on then I would be recommending they look towards General Practitioners. Although they are a vital part of the health system and essentially the key to accessing further assessment, imaging, tests, referrals to specialists etc, they alone make the call whether to write someone an MSD medical certificate with the diagnosis for this benefit. I'm not bagging on GP's but it can be appreciated that they need to prioritise their relationship with their patients for the sake of the patients health and future health needs, and will always advocate for their patients because they care. It is far easier to write the cert and let the system look into anything dodgy than jeopardise the doctor-patient relationship by standing firm. In reality these people would get some other form of benefit regardless, however they may not need to provide medical certs for it.

Agree.  I suspect we'd both like NZ to live within its means.  Immigration as a short plug for skill shortages I understand.  But we've been at it for close to 30 years and haven't solved anything.  As you say, we'd need to change the way we operate (super/training locals/home ownership) and I'm for doing that instead of continuing immigration.

Agreed. And to think the one way to resolve this lack of core opportunity in many parts of the country is to make key changes to lower or at the very least, stabilise long-term, house prices.