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Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

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201–210 of 242 posts

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#201

Most recently, what's made me start exercising (more) is room-scale VR. Gyms are boring. Cardio in gyms is incredibly boring. Trying to beat my highscore on Holopoint whilst hologram samurai rush at me and I'm dodging missiles flying from all directions is not boring. ( And now I'm developing room-scale VR games, that goes double. I'm currently covered in sweat in the middle of a work day after spending an hour balan…

> Gyms are boring. Cardio in gyms is incredibly boring. Trying to beat my highscore on Holopoint whilst hologram samurai rush at me and I'm dodging missiles flying from all directions is not boring. There's a big benefit gap between working up a little sweat playing a video game in your living room versus doing actual weight training at a real gym. They are no substitutes.

"They are no substitutes."

What are you basing that on in terms of intended outcome?

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There's a big drawback to trying to create a big divide between those who do not exercise at all and those who devote their life to exercise. I've seen this a lot where a person who starts out doing some form of exercise immediately gets criticized for not doing more. That's not how it works. Working up a sweat playing a game is more than most people do and will already bring benefits. It's a whole lot better than no…

I used to have a small little app which tracked my sit-ups and push-ups, counting loudly in a voice you could choose. It challenged me enough to do something. Then my girlfriend made fun of me in front of others and I stopped doing this.

That's really cool. Did you ever release it publicly?

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#203

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Powerlifting is amazing, and it is amazingly safe [1]. It is the perfect complement to a programming job, because you can bang out a massive workout in the morning and recover physically the rest of the day. Take "advantage" of your sedentary opportunity! Sports Injury Rates (Hamill 1994) Sport Injuries (per 100 hours) Soccer (school age) 6.20 UK Rugby 1.92 USA Basketball 0.03 UK Cross Country 0.37 Squash 0.10 US Foo…

Make sure you use the right lifting posture and don't overdo it with weight, or you can seriously and permanently mess up your back. When I was 16 years old, I somehow twisted my spine in my lower back in a way that it wasn't meant to be twisted doing 250 lbs max rep seated leg press, and ever since then, my lower back has been alternating between bouts of sharp pain and dull pain (but never subsiding) ever side for…

iyengar yoga is great for me. I started with exercises at level 0 with a competent instructor (15+ years) ...

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#205
post #169

Complete and total lack of motivation here. The main problem for me is that my only motivation for working out would be to gain muscle for the purpose of looking more attractive to the opposite sex. I'm married and my wife is happy and during a two-year stint in my 20s when I actually took it seriously (personal trainer and everything), I ended up getting almost no visible results (gained strength but I need only eno…

Eat more. Eat 5,000 calories a day.

I really wish that would do it. As part of a request from a doctor, I kept a food diary for a month. I was supposed to eat like I typically do, but once you start writing things down, you tend to alter things slightly -- I tried really carefully to keep things "typical". I was always above 4,000 calories and some days I broke 7,000.

I didn't share much about my diet because it's embarrassing. The calories I consume are the worst kinds if current medical dogma is to be believed. I eat a lot of refined sugar/high-fructose corn syrup containing foods and otherwise love my carbs. By every measure, I should be overweight or otherwise unhealthy the way I eat. But the "big" health indicators (liver, pancreas and heart numbers) are all fine or exceptional and my weight is normal/below normal (140-145 lbs at 6')[0].

Here's a "typical" day for me:

Starts off with cereal or eggs, the former being more common due to convenience. Cereal is two large bowls (which I purchased because I love "kid cereal" and with four children, we always have some handy). Those bowls hold 3-4 servings depending on the cereal. Otherwise it's 6 hard-boiled eggs (and I often add in a bowl of cereal after that for "11sies"). The calorie count varies but over 500 isn't unusual. Lunch varies a lot, but a typical one for me is a whole frozen pizza, clocking in at 1,000 calories. I don't eat that every day but that represents the amount of food I'm used to consuming for lunch. Dinner is prepared by my wife almost every night and it's quite sensible because she cares about her diet so it's usually high protein, low/medium carb (and always tasty). Those are the meals. I mentioned four kids... we have an unlimited supply of snacks and I don't regulate myself at all with this. I've been known to kill an entire bag of Reese's Penut Butter Cups at 1,990 calories (my wife hides candy from me). I've knocked one off today and if I had another, I'd be starting into it. I drink a lot of liquid but only about half of it is water, the rest is around 900 calories of a variety of juices/sodas that I love. And that chocolate milk-shake (not included in the "liquids", it's more of a snack) clocks in at 1100 calories on its own.

I'm not certain why I don't gain weight. My parents/friends will tell you that "I'm always moving" (I have a "jimmy leg") but there's no way I'm burning enough calories that way to offset all of that. I've had so many tests done in this area to rule out a variety of physical problems but they've all come out fine. And at the end of the day, it's a good problem to have (I'd like to be less skinny, but I'm old enough that I've accepted that this is the way I am).

I've also tried a variety of other diets, including high protein (which was effectively nearly no carbs), calorie restriction, fasting and other things all as personal experiments over the last decade and a half and I've failed to change my weight in any substantial way (though I felt the most healthy on the high-protein diet and I occasionally get in a kick and do that when I can afford it).

I know the data varies, but I'm a believer that genetics has a lot to do with it. My dad ate nearly this bad and -- in his 60s -- he's in the thin range as well (though his cholesterol numbers are terrible compared to mine, so I may have to adjust at some point).

[0] And I forgot to mention I actually own* an ultrasound body fat percentage device from back when I was trying to gain muscle. Back then, prior to working out, I was on the low side. I have no idea where I am today, but moving some furniture last week was about as difficult as I'm used to.

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#206

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Make sure you use the right lifting posture and don't overdo it with weight, or you can seriously and permanently mess up your back. When I was 16 years old, I somehow twisted my spine in my lower back in a way that it wasn't meant to be twisted doing 250 lbs max rep seated leg press, and ever since then, my lower back has been alternating between bouts of sharp pain and dull pain (but never subsiding) ever side for…

In my opinion weight lifting shouldn t be done until 18yo unless you re a professional athlete. Chances are you will get injured sooner or later since your body is not fully developped for it. Also gaining muscular mass at a young age can cause metabolism issues later (after 30), gaining weight easier and such. Studies show it might also stunt your growth in height. Practicing sports only till about 18 then slowly mo…

> Also gaining muscular mass at a young age can cause metabolism issues later (after 30), gaining weight easier and such.

I've always heard the opposite. Do you have a source for this?

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#207
post #159

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I love cycling, but always end up trailing off after a while. In 2014 I decided to try to bike every street in my city. This made a huge difference. I just needed a goal, as it turns out. But now that I'm nearing the end of that project, I've been trailing off again.

Just a suggestion that goes along (slightly) with your theme. Pick up hiking and hit all the trails you couldn't with your bike?

It's gonna have to be something like that or I'll be forced to move to a new city :)

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#208
post #90

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Starting strength has you do six to eight sets for each exercise^1. And it recommends "[taking] enough time between sets so that you don’t feel any fatigue from the previous set before you start the next one. For guys squatting 185 pounds in their work sets, this is five minutes between sets."^2. If you're doing six sets, and each takes you, say, a minute, and you're waiting a few minutes between sets, that easily ad…

Starting strength is terrible. I think the most popular programs (5x5, starting strength) are popular because good marketing and not necessary because they are actually good. Both SS and 5x5 are just insane (in the bad way). They make you squat almost for every workout and I think that is terrible as it a) doesn't let enough time for the body to recover, b) for folks that body form is not ideal for squatting, c) over…

a) You recover by eating and sleeping. b) Anyone can squat. How do you think people use the toilet. c) It works the body in precisely the way our physiology is.

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#209
The problem is that people feel they need to be motivated in order to get to the gym. This is the wrong approach. How can you get motivated before you start exercising? The key is just to get yourself to the gym, don't think about motivation... just get to the gym. And as you start to warm-up and start your lifts, the motivation will just happen. This is my experience anyway.

Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?

#210

I have to exercise or I feel like shit. I think that people that don't exercise have accepted feeling like shit as the "default" and somehow don't mind it. For me, the difference in my mental and physical health, to say nothing of my alertness and mental clarity, is night and day when I'm running every day. I run 3 miles a day (been running since I was 12 years old, sometimes competitively -- at my best, I was one of…

This is a fairly boring example of the typical mind fallacy. Or, the typical body fallacy, if you wish. I exercise and it doesn't have any significant effect on "feeling like shit" for me. I sometimes lose mental clarity from exercise, feel more tired, have less energy. The benefits are absolutely not obvious in my case. Unfortunately, this fallacy seems to be present every single time this topic is brought up. It's…

If you exercise and are more tired, then you need to eat more. And stay off the sugars and carbs.
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