Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape? • Hacker News Board

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

#271

Post by screwturner68 » Thu, Feb 09, 2023, 1:10 AM UTC

voytec wrote: post #4

Home is a good place for exercising, too. Pushups, crunches, Roman/Russian twists, squats, dumbbells lifting, triceps extensions, latteral raises, a whole bunch of core exercises don't require gym. Just self-discipline. Also, go for a walk, jog or biking. Home or gym movement won't replace fresh air and some sun.

There's really very little need to go to the gym period, you can put together a nice little home gym for a few hundred dollars and craigslist. Personally I like the gym but it's not always convenient so I have a pretty decent home gym that I've put together over the years. The best exercise is a 1h walk 3-4 times a week....in the summer I'll move some of the home gym out into the yard, my wife gets grumpy but working out in the sunshine is pretty great.

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

#272

Post by the__alchemist » Thu, Feb 09, 2023, 2:05 AM UTC

Buy some equipment at home, space permitting. Eg: A few pairs of dumbbells, a mat, a pullup bar etc. Let's say you're at your computer doing nerd stuff. You take a bathroom break; do a set of something. You go to the kitchen to get a snack do a set on the way. Etc etc. Curls, squats, lat extensions, whatever.

I say this specifically as someone who hates working out, and as you pointed out, hates the overhead time involved with gyms.

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

#273

Post by anonymousnotme » Thu, Feb 09, 2023, 4:15 AM UTC

PaulKeeble wrote: post #71

In the home strength is a lot easier and cheaper than cardio. With a little bit of knowledge a set of 2m resistance bands and James Grage's videos and channel ( https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PfSoC-IZMOI for a start) will set you up for cheap and very little space muscle training in the home with really minimum friction to starting and potential for injury. A lot of people go for weights but the muscles don't care r…

I looked at that video, seems like that should work real good for resistance training fitness. If James Grage is only doing resistance band training, it would definitely seem to be able to get one quite strong as he is a rather massive guy. I also looked at other videos there, he definitely seems knowledgable and already picked up several good tips. He points out that his joints feel much better compared to when he weight lifted... Traveling with several resistance bands should be quite easy... I think for lats, one would need a pull up bar or similar. It would be nice if he had comprehensive book on the subject.

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

#274

Post by smittywerben » Thu, Feb 09, 2023, 9:19 AM UTC

First I got a treadmill, then I got a barbell, then I got a squat rack (and bench). This was over the course of a year or two. I am lucky to have a good basement floor for this. If your house can handle equipment, I say invest in equipment.

I let the equipment "marinate" for awhile (I didn't use it the first year). I guess it took awhile for me to start using it. One day I did a 10 minute walk, I didn't even change clothes. I kept doing it, and increasing duration and intensity and adding lifting days. These days, I workout 3-5 times a week, 90-120 minutes per workout. Mostly treadmill. I feel a lot better than before.

I personally couldn't be happier not going to a gross gym, or relying the weather. Probably one of the better decisions I've made for my health, but to each their own.

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

#275

Post by [deleted] » Sun, Feb 12, 2023, 4:30 PM UTC

gadders wrote: post #107

yellow_lead wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

In 30 mins you can do a pretty decent strength training workout IMO (once youve gotten accustomed to it). You can easily hit one body part (chest/shoulder/bicep/back/legs/etc) in this time, if not two.

Not when you get to heavier weights and spending 5mins+ rest periods between sets. To be clear - I'm talking about compound movements like squats, presses, deadlifts. If you're just doing bicep curls or something use a rest-pause DogCrapp-style training and have at it.

[deleted]