depression keeps me from exercising. ironically i know i am not alone in this.
Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
211–220 of 242 posts
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#212I don't do intense exercises. Just pushups.
I made a simple rule, I can't touch or untouch my bed without ten push ups.
Ever since I have had a good balance with my exercise and work. I now plan to add another exercise on top of push ups.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#213One reason I do strength training is that I'm terrified of getting old. I want to hit my 50s/60s (currently 29) with plenty of strength because:
1) I never want to be unable to get out of a chair
2) If I do get cancer (and as medicine improves it's ever more likely cancer is what will get us), I want a buffer to help stall cachexia ie muscle wastage which can lead to death.
The other reasons:
- it's fun
- the feeling of beating last week's numbers.
- As well as improving your physical attractiveness, it signals to others that you have the willpower and motivation to set goals and see them through.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#214Earlier 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.
Haters gonna hate.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#215I always felt that working out was a hassle. My parents tried forcing me to work out with a trainer multiple times and it never worked out. Then one summer I worked out with a friend a few times and that got me going to the gym a few times a week for about 2 months where I abruptly stopped. Fast forward 3 or 4 years and my parents, being worried about my health, got me to start working out with a trainer. What was different this time is that I built a friendship with the trainer, and I was paying with my own money and didn't want to waste it.
I don't care much for socializing while I work out, but knowing people there and having friends who I can workout with, discuss weightlifting with, and do competitions like warrior dash and tough mudder is what really made the difference to me. It wasn't an easy start and required a lot of self discipline to show up. But if you have the discipline and can motivate yourself to get in the routine and make friends while doing it, it becomes much more enjoyable and the chore quality goes away.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#216Hi HN'ers,
Do any of you have back problems or have had a disc prolapse?
If so, would you advise to goto gym? If yes, what kind of training should one undergo ?
Thanks for your time!
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#217For me, it was finding a purpose to exercise. Initially, it was _weight control_ (I ended up dropping 30+ lbs. This process was not just exercise - it had to be paired with proper diet (otherwise, you don't see any lasting results or you end up flattening out in your weight loss graph). After I got to my target weight, it started getting kind of boring. But then, the thing that really did it for me, was getting into…
Excellent! purpose is key!
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#218What keeps me from exercising? Right now, I have a severely sprained ankle and cannot even walk!
That said, I've had a few exercise habits in the past, I'll talk about each in turn.
Usually I like to cycle up mountains. What has stopped me from doing that is moving to crappy cities for that (Bangkok, London) or crappy parts of cities for that (Hollywood, LA). Also, sometimes having no bike after moving (historically I moved cities very often). The best features of cycling are that it doesn't depend on much equipment, anyone else, or have a high minimum time commitment. You are getting sun, better air, and if you make it to nature like I do: away from humans. I like to slot it in on the end or start of the day, my usual ride is 1.5 hours, in a flat, very steep climb, descent, flat configuration.
Another habit was sailing. That was great but it's seasonal even in a nice climate, highish buy-in, the minimum time commitment is pretty huge, storage overheads can be a ton and if you live too far from water you're screwed. If anyone's keen to have a look at this, I highly recommend http://wetamarine.com/ - great boats, very modern and fast, with apparently a decent scene in SF too.
I have tried a few times and it's better than no exercise at all but personally I can't stand gyms... they make me feel like a rat in a cage.
About the "genetics: it won't work for me" comment, although it helps I do not really think I am motivated at all to exercise by body image, but rather for overall health, mood and energy.
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#219Earlier quoted context omitted.
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.
What is wrong with carbs now?
Re: Ask HN: What keeps you from exercising?
#220Earlier quoted context omitted.
Do you see results like many have seen from SS? I've read that dumbbell workouts aren't necessarily as effective as barbells but I like the convenience of doing it from home. I've got a set of 50lb Powerblocks, an exercise ball I use as a bench, and a power tower ( https://amzn.com/B0098MAYNY ), but I'm ineffective at it as I don't have a good plan, so I've fallen back to mostly jogging. Would you mind sharing your r…
I'm happy with the results, but this is an 80/20 thing. I'm going for minimum time and money, and maximum adherence to the routine. This means do it at home, 30 sec-1 min rest between sets or superset, 8-10 reps per set since I'm not going for pure strength. I'd consider getting a small bench. They're under $50 for a small unobtrusive one on Amazon. I do 3x a week alternating routines: A) Goblet Squats 3x8-10, Dumbbe…
>You can accomplish most of the same things as SS by doing the dumbbell equivalents of the exercises.
"Most"
With 50lbs dumbbells?
After 1 year of starting strength 50lbs dumbells won't be enough.
After never working out before and eating at a calorie deficit I was able to lift these weights after a year of SS.
165 Bench 300 Deadlift 105 OHP 200 Squat 150 Rows
"Most" isn't accurate. 80/20 isn't accurate because you are simply not getting the results SS would give you.