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Why We Do Pushups

markpeterdavis.com

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Re: Why We Do Pushups

#51

Post by jseliger »

bmccormack wrote: post #28
e03179 wrote: post #27

Anyone have some links to studies that show sitting in a chair at your desk is bad for your health? Someone the other day said that he "heard" that sitting in a chair all day long for years is just as bad for your health as smoking. Not sure I get the correlation, but surely we have enough data points to have several credible studies.

Check out http://juststand.org/ . That (and talking with colleagues who stand at their desk every day) motivated me to try standing. Thanks to Fog Creek providing adjustable-height desks for every employee, this was really easy to do. I started with 2 hours each day one week, then 3 hours the next week, etc., until I'm now standing the whole day. I love it.

Question that I haven't seen addressed online: about how much do those Series 7 desks cost if one buys them individually?

Re: Why We Do Pushups

#53

Post by sixtofour »

matwood wrote: post #47
checker wrote: post #29

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Taking the stairs is such an easy way to burn a few calories. It surprises me how few people do it in my office. Although, as shown by your story, some people just aren't able to!

It always amuses me to see non-handicap people taking the elevator at the gym.

I think a lot of people unconsciously see the stairs as a fallback method to the elevator. Stairs in a commercial building are usually minimally decorated. They're "the fire escape."

Re: Why We Do Pushups

#55

Post by stanmancan »

jseliger wrote: post #50
JonLim wrote: post #39

Everyone in the comments seems to be poo-pooing either the pushups themselves or the team building abilities as noted by the author. I'm not here to defend the team building side (nyeh, it's alright for team building) but pushups are a great exercise to do. By themselves? No, of course not, but they're good by themselves anyway (full body weight exercise.) However, in the middle of a long day at your desk, it doesn't…

Agreed. I posted something similar in a comment yesterday: "BTW, a lot of these people are pretty committed athletes. If you're not, and you're looking for something that's easy and obvious, try doing some pushups throughout the day. When I'm feeling antsy, sometimes I get up, do 20 pushups, and then go back to what I'm doing. Start small: two pushups count if you're not used to them. I like to run, and if you're sta…

If you don't run much I highly suggest spending two months running _before_ running in Vibram Five-Fingers. And when you do get them, run on grass or dirt. They're the only shoes I wear running and I can do a fast paced 45 minute trail run in them and feel amazing, but even 15-20 minutes on concrete can cause pain.

Re: Why We Do Pushups

#56

Post by afterburner »

checker wrote: post #29
larsberg wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah, I found that statement funny, since the first tech company I worked for was MSFT. Out in that area (the pacific northwest), physical activity is a huge deal -- hiking, skiing, and snowboarding especially. On every team I was on, the vast majority of the people were in stunningly good shape. Even the 35+, multiple-kids crowd. I still remember one time that I almost killed an interview candidate by mistake. Ran d…

Taking the stairs is such an easy way to burn a few calories. It surprises me how few people do it in my office. Although, as shown by your story, some people just aren't able to!

Some people have knee problems. Although sometimes those knee problems are alleviated by regular stair use...

Re: Why We Do Pushups

#57

Post by afterburner »

kd0amg wrote: post #33
jmonegro wrote: post #18

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Pushups are not a "meathead" form of exercise.

What makes something a "meathead" or "nonmeathead" exercise?

Maybe because pushups sound like a standard army excercise/punishment? Anyways, many valid points being made about stereotypes.

Re: Why We Do Pushups

#60

Post by mcantelon »

>We do something called buddy pushups (something I picked up when I was a wrestler). Here’s how buddy pushups work. Everyone gets in a plank position and stays in it even when they’re not doing pushups. The leader (could be anyone on the team) does 1 pushup by themselves, then holds a plank while everyone else does 1 pushup. ... We support each other and high five at the end. While it’s exercise for the individual, it’s a team effort.

You high five at the end, eh? Let me guess... you're North Americans. Pretty ridiculous. If you want to do push ups, do push ups... it doesn't have to be some ridiculous cult-like group thing.

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