Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health? • Hacker News Board

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#111

Post by danthewireman » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:38 PM UTC

oafitupa wrote: post #97

danthewireman wrote: post #84

I'm 45 and have tried a number of different things. Here's what's made the most difference for me: - Sitting desk but use TimeOut to remind myself to stand every 30 minutes. I tried standing and treadmill desks but they didn't work for me. - Paleo/keto diet. I have much more energy and my bloodwork's improved. - 5x5 Strong Lifts - 16/8 intermittent fasting - Get enough sleep. This and diet are ridiculously important.…

What's 16/8? And how can you get up at 4:30 and also "get enough sleep"?

16/8 is eating as much as you usually would, but cramming it into an 8-hour period. I generally do all my eating from 11am - 7pm. It helps a little, and I'll take all the help I can get.

As for the sleeping, I'm usually zonked out by 9:30-10.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#112

Post by jarin » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:40 PM UTC

oafitupa wrote: post #99

Kiro wrote: post #41

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Since you didn't mention muscle size once... do you think I'm a loser for lifting weights primarily for hypertrophy?

Why would you ask such a question? If anything made you a loser, it would be worrying about whether others think you are a loser.

Maybe they mean it in a Hans and Franz kind of sense?

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#113

Post by vinayan3 » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:40 PM UTC

I lift weights 3 days a week. I do one day for Back/Shoulder, Legs, Bicep/Chest. I do cardio exercises twice a week. It's either 30 - 40 min jogs or playing tennis.

The biggest change for my health has been improving what I eat. I generally try to eat salad and soup for lunch most days of the week. I eat relatively light for dinner at home. It's usually soup or a small portion of pasta with vegetables.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#114

Post by andredublin » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:41 PM UTC

Drink plenty water throughout the day.

Here's my physical routine that I go through.

Jump rope every night for about 10-15 minutes with a weighted speed rope. Jumping rope is really great and I highly recommend it, its easy on the knees and a fast way to get a good cardio workout.

Boxing on weekends, I own a heavy bag on a stand so its easy for me to do.

I have a hangboard located in my kitchen that whenever I pass under it I do a pullup or hold. I recommend Metolius hangboards.

Walk my dog 1 mile every other day or whenever she feels fit.

Mow the lawn, rake leaves, grow a garden, just make sure you break a sweat.

Yoga whenever I feel tight or knots.

Surfing in the mornings when I can for about an hour. If surfing isn't for you then swim, try to make your goal to swim 1 mile or 1600 meters in 30 or 45 minutes. Like jumping rope, swimming really easy on the body and great cardio.

The important thing is to keep moving, and keep changing it up.

This mish-mash of physically activity works for me because I can alter it around my programming time and free time with my family.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#115

Post by oafitupa » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:41 PM UTC

ihsw wrote: post #109

oafitupa wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What's 16/8? And how can you get up at 4:30 and also "get enough sleep"?

Intermittent fasting means that you limit the hours of the day that you eat -- in this case he's fasting for 16 hours of the day and allowing food intake for 8 hours. I presume this means he has two meals -- a late dinner and an early breakfast. There are other models too, for example 20/4.

And why is that good?

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#116

Post by mindcruzer » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:43 PM UTC

rickdale wrote: post #59

wdewind wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grip training is good, but I'm not sure it's necessary for someone who is untrained. You'll get a fair amount of grip training by doing deadlifts. Kettlebells are also ok, but pretty suboptimal. They are harder to incrementally load, the technique is more complicated, less of an emphasis on strength etc. Turkish get ups have absolutely no place being recommended for novices/untrained population, sorry to disagree the…

So rather than a basic gripper, you would rather have a 'untrained' person start with deadlift? Deadlifting is one of the most complex weight lifting movements there is.[0] I know its tempting to defend beliefs and I like Rippetoe as well. I have done starting strength. My point is just be open enough to listen to Pavels ideas. For Pavel its not about building muscle and adding weight, for Rippetoe it is. And there i…

Deadlift is not one of the most complex weightlifting movements. As far as weightlifting movements, it's quite simple--the only trick being keeping your spine neutral. A proper squat is harder to execute than a proper deadlift.

Also, starting people with deadlifts is fine, as long as you keep the weight low. Not to mention that if you had to choose, deadlifts would do a lot more for you than turkish get ups (which I've honestly never even heard of until now, and I've been a serious weightlifter for years).

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#117

Post by totalrobe » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:43 PM UTC

makeset wrote: post #110

gt565k wrote: post #53

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think most people will find Strong Lifts 5x5 to be a better choice than Starting Strength, as it does not require power cleans, which are usually forbidden in most gyms. They are both more or less the same though, and focus on compound lifts.

Huh? I don't disagree with your point, but of all the logic-defying chain gyms I've trained in, and I've trained in more than a few, I've never seen Power Cleans forbidden anywhere, ever.

Maybe not expressly forbidden but I've rarely seen bumper plates in these types of gyms, and some do not allow you to drop weights.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#118

Post by jclos » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

rickdale wrote: post #59

wdewind wrote: post #48

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Grip training is good, but I'm not sure it's necessary for someone who is untrained. You'll get a fair amount of grip training by doing deadlifts. Kettlebells are also ok, but pretty suboptimal. They are harder to incrementally load, the technique is more complicated, less of an emphasis on strength etc. Turkish get ups have absolutely no place being recommended for novices/untrained population, sorry to disagree the…

So rather than a basic gripper, you would rather have a 'untrained' person start with deadlift? Deadlifting is one of the most complex weight lifting movements there is.[0] I know its tempting to defend beliefs and I like Rippetoe as well. I have done starting strength. My point is just be open enough to listen to Pavels ideas. For Pavel its not about building muscle and adding weight, for Rippetoe it is. And there i…

"Deadlifting is one of the most complex weight lifting movements there is."

I don't particularly like Rip's methodology, but I don't agree. Deadlifting is pretty much the simplest movement there is - it is nothing more than picking something (which was specifically designed to be picked up) up from the floor and standing with it. It is the same basic movement pattern than the one-armed swing you advised (hip hinge) but with no ballistic component. I can't say which is safer, but anybody can pick up the correct movement in a few hours of training and it is definitely not more complicated than a kettlebell swing.

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#119

Post by jimmydddd » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:45 PM UTC

finkin1 wrote: post #104

I'm 26. I've been sitting at my computer most of the day since I was about age 10 (Ultima Online, EverQuest, etc.) and it's been my job since about age 17. Just in the last year have I really started to think about my health and have attempted to create some good habits so that it's easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle as I get older. Here's what I've been doing: 1) Going to the gym. I've been doing a 4-day split e…

2) above is the best advice in this thread (IMHO). Move to Boulder, and everything else will fall into place. :-)

Re: Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?

#120

Post by bitL » Fri, Apr 10, 2015, 3:46 PM UTC

Triple interval training, upper body (mainly chest) strength training, cycling, tennis, most of it 2-3x a week. No free sugar, limited carbs, lot of broccoli, lean meat, eating till half-full, 3-day salty-water fast once every 1-2 months. Sleeping at 10pm, waking up at 6am. Reading a lot, being creative (photo/movie/electronic music), traveling around the world.