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Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

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Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#21

Post by TroyZ »

You can actually easily incorporate activities in your daily routines. Get a standing desk, do some quick stretches/body-weight exercise after 40 min of coding, march/bike in place while watching videos/TV, stroll afer meals, etc.

Getting a pedometer app also helps. If you're self-monitoring your activity level, there's a great chance you'll try to improve it (consciously or unconsciously).[1]

Allow me to advertise our app: Pacer Pedometer[2]. It comes with activity tracking, fun virtual activity challenges, healthy lifestyle lessons, guided body-weight exercise etc. We also have a corporate plan in which you can join challenges with your colleagues.

[1] Kang, Minsoo, et al. "Effect of pedometer-based physical activity interventions: a meta-analysis." Research quarterly for exercise and sport 80.3 (2009): 648-655. [2] https://apps.apple.com/us/app/pacer-pedometer-step-tracker/i...

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#22

Post by rramadass »

* A very simple but effective technique is to take a short walk immediately after eating/drinking (this is the cue) anything. Coffee break? Short Walk; Lunch? Long walk. Always Outdoors if possible.

* Loosen and relax the joints in the order Neck, Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, Waist, Knees and Ankles using rotations. In particular; rotate/loosen the Waist along all three axes regularly.

* Shake and vibrate the Arms, Legs and Waist repeatedly like you are Shivering.

That's it. This hardly takes any time/effort (you can do it in office attire easily) and the benefits are immediate (you should feel a slight warmth throughout the body). Try doing these throughout the day. This will break your Sedentary lifestyle and introduce Whole Body Motion into your everyday habits. Once this is established you can start with any heavy-duty regimen; i suggest Yoga and Martial Arts.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#25

Post by rapjr9 »

Make your living space an obstacle course, put things in your common paths that you have to stretch to get over, or walk sideways to get around (but be mindful you can get out fast in an emergency). Instead of scheduling exercise, schedule cleaning of your place, you get two benefits for the effort of one. If you work in an office walk over to ask a question instead of sending an email. Don't eat at your desk, go out. Get out of the building you work in every few hours (most businesses try to make this difficult, some will even try to prevent it saying it increases company liability, but insist, you are not a slave.) Stretch often, it feels good. Arrange things so you -must- walk to get things (put the fridge in the basement, put the printer on the other side of the house, keep a pantry far from the kitchen, store things in a shed so you have to go outside to get them.) Convenience is the bane of your health.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#26

Post by sea_mush_ball »

Standing treadmill desk for maybe an hour or two when answering emails

i have two medium weight kettle bells. i do a little bit of mobility / resistance training between tasks

i have a trx system hooked into my front door, so when i use the bathroom, i do a few reps of something

long time vegan so, more fiber, less hunger (morning cereal, salad lunch, dinner a crap shoot)

massage gun everywhere before sleep

looking pretty good for my age

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#27

Post by zriha »

I am not a dev, but I seat a lot, as you. I am retired mma fighter, and I have some military background, so my days are scheduled like military. Why I am saying this, is to help you find 30-60 minutes per day for your body.

Back then, I had 1 - 2 trainings per day, now, well, I don't. Now, I ride MTB, and as I am competitive as much as I was when I was younger (now I am 39), so I go to XCM races.

How my day looks like, I am trying always, to have between 11:00 and 12:00 time for my body, that's in my schedule, and as I work from home, being with lockdowns and everything, I have a simple setup at my home to do basic training - pull ups, squats, abs etc..

And if you are a tech guy, and I think you are, my recommendation is PS VR, I have that, and I got that Beat Sabre game, man, my Garmin watch records about 300-450 kcal in 30 minutes of intensive playing of Beat Sabre, and yeah, it keeps you really active.

So, even if you are at home for days, you can do some physical things at home. Just, put it in your schedule, made it mandatory.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#28

Post by rramadass »

rramadass wrote: post #22

* A very simple but effective technique is to take a short walk immediately after eating/drinking (this is the cue) anything. Coffee break? Short Walk; Lunch? Long walk. Always Outdoors if possible. * Loosen and relax the joints in the order Neck, Shoulder, Elbow, Wrist, Waist, Knees and Ankles using rotations. In particular; rotate/loosen the Waist along all three axes regularly. * Shake and vibrate the Arms, Legs a…

EDIT:

Third point above to be modified as;

* Shake and Vibrate the Head, Arms, Legs and Waist repeatedly like you are shivering.

The idea behind the exercises is;

1) By relaxing/loosening the joints you prevent/remove any possible stasis.

2) Shivering/Shaking/Vibration assuages any tension in the Body.

3) We are designed for Walking which is the most cost-effective Whole-Body Motion that energizes both Body and Mind. Its positive effects are well studied.

4) This allows all the circulatory systems to function normally and smoothly (often called the circulation of Prana/Chi in other Traditional Systems) which is the path to Health.

The key to knowing that you are doing everything right is to feel warmth throughout the body and even breaking out into a light sweat.

Re: Ask HN: How do you stay physically active?

#30

Post by iostream23 »

iostream23 wrote: post #29

I like to ride my bicycle, bicycle…

Stretching/yoga constantly. Keep the mat unrolled and while something builds, stretch.

Walking. A lot. As I’ve not been able to dance all night since COVID, I’ve started “dance walking” . It looks pretty ridiculous and keeps people guessing.

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