Ask HN: What resources do you use to workout efficiently and without injuries? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What resources do you use to workout efficiently and without injuries?

#11

Post by rcarr » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 7:07 PM UTC

vicek22 wrote: post #5

rcarr wrote: post #2

You’re probably not going to want to hear this but it is most likely the running. It is very, very hard on the body, particularly if you are heavy (doesn’t have to be fat, could just be muscle from working out) and for most people it will take its toll on the body, particularly as you get older. If you haven’t already, go to a specialist running shop and make sure you are wearing shoes that are designed specifically…

> rowing and cycling This resonates with me, I'll buy rowing machine for a quick cardio at home. Something that I can connect with my garmin fenix watch or my phone so I can try the EXR-like app. When the weather allows it, I'm cycling on my MTB outside. > FTP training is also firmly established Would you have some resources for FTP (Functional Threshold Power)? Can I do FTP for rowing or running or is it cycling spe…

Yes, EXR has an FTP test built into it and it will calibrate the workouts you do around that.

https://exrgame.com/support/ftp

There’s generally more information out there regarding FTP and cycling/triathlon than rowing and running as it’s only relatively recently started to crossover from the cycling world into the other two. The two main authorities in that world are Joe Friel and then Hunter Allan/David Coggan who have books on Amazon. This should give you a nice overview though:

https://www.bikeradar.com/advice/fitness-and-training/what-i...

And then this is a guy who has done it for rowing but if you’re using EXR then you won’t have to do any of this faffing around because it does it for you:

https://analytics.rowsandall.com/2017/01/26/rowing-with-a-po...

Oh and if you’re going to buy a rower, just buy a Concept2. They are built like tanks and they hold their value if you ever want to sell it on. If you do any rowing events, they will all be using concept2. There’s only one other brand that comes close which I can’t remember the name of off the top of my head (would probably be able to find it if you asked on r/rowing), but it’s also two or three times more expensive and is only really used by actual outdoor rowing teams.

If you find your arse starts to go numb on the seat, Citius Remex make ergonomic pads:

https://citius-remex.com/

I also find these pads pretty handy if you’re doing yoga and you have to do a seated forward fold because they put you in more comfortable and ergonomic position.

Re: Ask HN: What resources do you use to workout efficiently and without injuries?

#12

Post by rcarr » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 7:23 PM UTC

vicek22 wrote: post #9

rcarr wrote: post #2

You’re probably not going to want to hear this but it is most likely the running. It is very, very hard on the body, particularly if you are heavy (doesn’t have to be fat, could just be muscle from working out) and for most people it will take its toll on the body, particularly as you get older. If you haven’t already, go to a specialist running shop and make sure you are wearing shoes that are designed specifically…

Re: Yoga I've been following Yoga With Adriene ( https://www.youtube.com/user/yogawithadriene ) for half a year and I was quite happy with the variety of routines. Especially the Move 30 day program ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pmlh6AHFW0E&list=PLui6Eyny-U... ). Even though the routines are great, her style didn't quite resonate with me (it's too spiritual/positive for an engineer like me). I installed Down Dog…

> Even though the routines are great, her style didn't quite resonate with me (it's too spiritual/positive for an engineer like me).

Yeh this is what I like about down dog, it’s very customisable. You can choose all kinds of things, instructor voice, how much instructing you want, different music types, body part focus, type of yoga, difficulty level and duration.

> I struggle with this, I want to get through the poses as the instructor says and moving around to stretch a bit differently is not something I remember to do unless the instructor explicitly suggests it.

Literally just listen to your body. If you’re doing a pose and you can’t feel a stretch then just start moving about a bit. You might have to twist a bit more, or straighten a limb, or straighten your hips, straighten your back, move an arm to a side, any number of things really. It helps if you have a few basic pieces of equipment: a stretching strap with loops like this https://amzn.eu/d/fAuEeio (far better than your standard plain yoga strap), a yoga bolster (essential for saddle pose if you’ve got tight quads), a crescent cushion and yoga blocks. I also recommend not using a yoga mat and instead getting a decent rubber exercise mat such as a Miramat and a yoga knee pad such as this:

https://amzn.eu/d/fP2aPQ8.

If you’re doing active yoga most of the time you want a stable surface to stand on and if you’re doing long holds in yin yoga it’s far easier to just move one of these into position under your knee or whatever than it is to deal with a yoga mat that is constantly moving about every time you change positions.

Re: Ask HN: What resources do you use to workout efficiently and without injuries?

#13

Post by rcarr » Sat, Jan 21, 2023, 7:43 PM UTC

vicek22 wrote: post #10

rcarr wrote: post #2

You’re probably not going to want to hear this but it is most likely the running. It is very, very hard on the body, particularly if you are heavy (doesn’t have to be fat, could just be muscle from working out) and for most people it will take its toll on the body, particularly as you get older. If you haven’t already, go to a specialist running shop and make sure you are wearing shoes that are designed specifically…

> HRT prescribed by a doctor is most likely healthy. This is a really interesting topic. I've heard Joe Rogan talking about it. I might have to visit private clinic to get my testosterone measured, it's not something that the public healthcare in Europe would be keen on doing without underlying medical condition. This is something I'll have to do much more research and definitely visit a doctor before taking any horm…

Yeah I can’t speak much to this I haven’t tried it so I’m not a massive authority but I can share the little I do know. I also found out about HRT through rogan and later just how widespread steroid use (estimated 1 million users in the UK according to an article in the Guardian). The reason I mention it is that there is a widely cited paper out there which basically states that testosterone is so effective that people taking extra testosterone above their base levels can do absolutely zero exercise and will still put on more muscle and gain more strength than someone taking no testosterone and training as hard as they possibly can on an optimised training plan. It’s that effective. Like I always knew it boosted performance but it wasn’t until I found out about that paper that I knew it boosted performance to quite that extent.

For steroids, Derek from More Plates, More Dates seems to be the guy everyone goes to to find out information. He has quite a bit of stuff on his site and well as his YouTube. Over the last few years there’s a class of drugs called SARMs that have emerged that seem to be generally safer than steroids as they only effect skeletal muscle tissue rather than all muscle tissue such as the heart which is what often causes many issues for steroid users. The downside is that they’re much newer so not as much research has been done on them so people don’t know yet with absolute 100% certainty that they are better in the long term but it currently looks that way.

For HRT, there is a YouTuber called Mark Lewis who is mainly an endurance athlete who speaks openly and very positively about his HRT protocol and how it helps him with his training and also helped him overcome depression. These three videos here:

https://youtu.be/U2cRVhwQP4A

https://youtu.be/hJtJOtTKuVM

https://youtu.be/qrIm9ZDBehY

It’s definitely something I will be looking into in more detail when I hit my late 30s. Like you say it’s not generally available through public health care systems and you have to go private to get it which is what Mark Lewis did, so cost is another thing that has to be taken into account. And then also the fact that once you’re on HRT, you generally have to be on it for life. With how unstable the world and supply chains are atm I’m not sure if I want to be tied down to requiring a medicine for the rest of my life unless I really have to. But thought I would mention it as something to look into as it obviously does have massive performance benefits when done properly.