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Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

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Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#161
I am athletic type of guy - 179cm, 85kg (according to https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ernst_Kretschmer typology).

This works to me to look ok (I mean I don't look like model or Thor and I am not fat either):

1. Walk (do not use elevator, get out of bus one stop before your destination [in Europe this is like 500-1000m distance], take your girl/wife/friend/)

2. Take any chance to move or lift up anything. (Shoping? Take basket instead of cart)

3. Do "morning snack". I did 30/30/30, nowadays (I am 38 and lazy) I do 10/10/10. It means x pushups, x squats, x situps. Doesn't matter what type of pushups/squats/abdomen exercise you do or number of repetition. What matter is that you are able to do it in the morning (even after hard party) as a very first thing at least 5 days a week.

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#163

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm curious, is there a technique to running in place? Running in place kills my ankles and calves. I used to jog and didn't really have an issue.

There are as many ways of "running in place" as there are runners. One day my SO was exercising - as she said, "running in place". It didn't look right to me b/c rather than push off upward with her toes (and consequently a little hop), she was bending her knees and, only then, pushing with the toe. The result was a very low-energy "running in place" where the hips rotate to follow the knees. This puts almost no stre…

Trying to picture how this would look. Sounds almost like using the upper leg more to lift the leg off the ground instead of pushing off the ground.

Thanks. I'll look around youtube and see if I can find anything.

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#164
Ok so I was the same way (same age-ish, actually slightly older, possibly blessed with good genetics, possibly not, my uncle's on my mom's side are all lean alcoholics and my dad was a stress eating obese person). Now I'm 40+/-2, in the best shape of my life, about 3-4 months away from a six pack (ab definition is getting nice and I'm losing body fat, rapidly).

What worked for me was the atomic habits trick. Don't be afraid for it to take years to get to where you want. Make it so easy to work out you don't not do it.

Home gym (one set of adjust dumbbells, standalone pull-up bar, a few leg weights, workout bench), workout equipment in the living room. It's all compact stuff so moving it/hiding it for when I have guests is easy.

Find a personal trainer and subscribe to whatever they suggest for a few months, then cancel (it's easy if they're actually shitty people, which mine was) then just keep doing that workout. You don't have to start with the full prescribed workout, just do what you can with the goal of getting further along, later.

Work out at least every other day (5 days a week is better), start with 15 minutes, then get to 30. Eventually you'll find yourself not minding doing 1h. If you do more than 1h you're probably doing something wrong. Don't kill yourself over missing a day, a week, or a month. Just recommit to it afterwards.

I often project YouTube on the wall while working out, as incentive, plus I tend to watch knowledge building shit while exercising (MIT Qmech lectures, mathologers, Ukraine war analysis - like perun).

Time: I used to do it very late at night, because that was the only time I remembered to do it. That's ok. Whatever gets you exercising. Now, however, I've committed to do it during the 6-7-ish timeframe and have been consistent with that. But judging from your post: I think it's important to do "whatever gives you no excuse to not do it".

Not commuting to/from work helps tremendously.

And that's it. I've recently started experimenting with t-boosting herbs (like ginseng, tongkat ali) and it could be placebo but it makes me feel better and I think it's burning fat quicker and increasing libido -- unfortunately having to think about that is a real thing for men starting in their mid 30s

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Over the years, I tried gym memberships and always go bored and stopped going after a week or two. I got a personal trainer 7 months ago, and it's been one of the best decisions I've ever made. I find having someone besides myself to feel accountable to very motivating. It's also nice to have someone walk you through all the movements, proper form, and telling you what to eat. When I started with the personal trainer…

its physically impossible to have gained 25lbs of muscle in 7 months unless you're doing steroids

I don't have the science to back this up, but I think it's plausible, if we make some assumptions. It's basically 3.5lbs/month.

- 2lbs/month is reasonable for beginner gains [citation needed, but sounds right to me].

- If you're really skinny, you'll get bigger gains.

- If you're training optimally (adequate diet, good exercise volume) you'll get better gains than the average beginner.

- Genetic lottery chances.

- Measuring body fat changes isn't perfect (and there will be changes if you're bulking), so it might not be exactly 25lbs.

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#166
I am an unabashed Peloton fanboy for reasons you describe. Most workouts are less than 30 minutes, I do them at home, lots of non bikes strength, etc.

Secondarily I just go running. If you know how to dress for weather, it’s a pretty time efficient exercise. Just change and go..

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#167

Ok so I was the same way (same age-ish, actually slightly older, possibly blessed with good genetics, possibly not, my uncle's on my mom's side are all lean alcoholics and my dad was a stress eating obese person). Now I'm 40+/-2, in the best shape of my life, about 3-4 months away from a six pack (ab definition is getting nice and I'm losing body fat, rapidly). What worked for me was the atomic habits trick. Don't be…

I found listening to audiobooks at the gym helped. I didn't mind working out and once I got fit enough enjoyed it but I got bored. Audiobooks filled that void and I started to look forward to my time at the gym.

Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?

#168
post #165

Earlier quoted context omitted.

its physically impossible to have gained 25lbs of muscle in 7 months unless you're doing steroids

I don't have the science to back this up, but I think it's plausible, if we make some assumptions. It's basically 3.5lbs/month. - 2lbs/month is reasonable for beginner gains [citation needed, but sounds right to me]. - If you're really skinny, you'll get bigger gains. - If you're training optimally (adequate diet, good exercise volume) you'll get better gains than the average beginner. - Genetic lottery chances. - Me…

2lbs a month is basically the maximum if you are perfectly optimizing everything.

3.5lbs a month is impossible.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQkRDGz1Nkw

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