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I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

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Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#61

Post by lapcat »

The author mentions sports, and that he stopped exercising regularly after he stopped playing soccer. One of the best ways to motivate yourself to exercise is to play sports, for several reasons, a crucial one being social: if you schedule a game with other people, then there's social pressure to do it and not skip it.

I think the ideal sport for recreational exercise is tennis. It only requires 2 people, 2 racquets, a ball, and a court. The court is perhaps the biggest obstacle, but there are public tennis courts all over the place. And if you've got money, you can join a tennis club. (The article author mentioned squash, which is fine too, but I think tennis courts are much more prevalent than squash courts.)

Team sports like soccer are harder to organize for amateur adults, though there are leagues and pickup games.

In a sense, the article author turned exercise into a social sport, with monetary prizes. The details are different, but the essence is the same: competition between two people rather than solitary effort.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#62

Post by zffr »

SoftTalker wrote: post #51
Tarsul wrote: post #29

I read a HN comment a while ago wrt running that said that motivation might come from saying "I want to see this beautiful place again" (where the running leads to.) instead of saying "I need to run because I want to lose weight" (or whatever). I'd like to say it works, but actually what was even more important for me was to change my thoughts about running. If you feel like running is a chore, you will never motivat…

> Also, how your body feels after a run, is one of the best motivators to do it again. Not everyone feels like this. I hate running, and hate the way my body feels afterwards. I just want to go to bed or sit down and do absolutely nothing. It wrecks my productivity for hours. I tried to get into running a few times because of the supposed "high" that you eventually start to feel. Never once felt it, even after severa…

Maybe the problem is that your are pushing yourself too hard. I think you will feel significantly less fatigued if you cut the intensity of your running workouts in half. From here you can work on slowly increasing your speed and endurance.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#63

Post by watwut »

SoftTalker wrote: post #51
Tarsul wrote: post #29

I read a HN comment a while ago wrt running that said that motivation might come from saying "I want to see this beautiful place again" (where the running leads to.) instead of saying "I need to run because I want to lose weight" (or whatever). I'd like to say it works, but actually what was even more important for me was to change my thoughts about running. If you feel like running is a chore, you will never motivat…

> Also, how your body feels after a run, is one of the best motivators to do it again. Not everyone feels like this. I hate running, and hate the way my body feels afterwards. I just want to go to bed or sit down and do absolutely nothing. It wrecks my productivity for hours. I tried to get into running a few times because of the supposed "high" that you eventually start to feel. Never once felt it, even after severa…

Genuinely curious, why would you force yourself into daily run for months when you feel bad after it? I mean, there are many sports, chances are one of them you will like. So why forcing yourself into obe you hate?

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#65

Post by watwut »

chronogram wrote: post #53
Tarsul wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

I remember going to a talk by a cardiologist who said he told patients to take the bicycle and sometimes they'd come back with a worse heart. Then it would turn out that those patients thought an electric bicycle is good too, since it looks like a bicycle and you have to use the pedals like a bicycle. But since you don't really exert yourself it doesn't help the heart. That was maybe 10 years ago, so electric bicycle…

That is not how ebikes work. Also, the anecdote is suspect, cause whole lot of hos patients will ride literally nothing or ride super rarely regardless of what bike they have.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#66

Post by degosuke »

atarian wrote: post #16
degosuke wrote: post #14

I did a version of this to achieve the holy 6pack grail. My wife held me accountable - I just had to stick to daily limit of calories (adjusted over time) and that's it. Around 7 months work. Then when I "finished" I couldn't stabilize the habit and am still stumbling at around 19 % body fat... I guess it's time to dust off this method.

how little body fat do you need to be at to have a 6 pack?

I used a pair of calipers (3 point measure) and it was around 12-13 % body fat. But I can't be sure I don't have access to any machines (dexa as I recall). But it was totally doable, and seemed maintainable...

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#67

Post by samatman »

SoftTalker wrote: post #51
Tarsul wrote: post #29

I read a HN comment a while ago wrt running that said that motivation might come from saying "I want to see this beautiful place again" (where the running leads to.) instead of saying "I need to run because I want to lose weight" (or whatever). I'd like to say it works, but actually what was even more important for me was to change my thoughts about running. If you feel like running is a chore, you will never motivat…

> Also, how your body feels after a run, is one of the best motivators to do it again. Not everyone feels like this. I hate running, and hate the way my body feels afterwards. I just want to go to bed or sit down and do absolutely nothing. It wrecks my productivity for hours. I tried to get into running a few times because of the supposed "high" that you eventually start to feel. Never once felt it, even after severa…

I don't hate distance running or jogging in the slightest. Despite the fact that it works against all my natural talents, and would be a great way to injure myself if I did it. So I don't.

Sprinter's build is a real thing. If I ever run more than 200 meters at a stretch, I'm probably dodging bullets.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#68

Post by samvher »

SoftTalker wrote: post #51
Tarsul wrote: post #29

I read a HN comment a while ago wrt running that said that motivation might come from saying "I want to see this beautiful place again" (where the running leads to.) instead of saying "I need to run because I want to lose weight" (or whatever). I'd like to say it works, but actually what was even more important for me was to change my thoughts about running. If you feel like running is a chore, you will never motivat…

> Also, how your body feels after a run, is one of the best motivators to do it again. Not everyone feels like this. I hate running, and hate the way my body feels afterwards. I just want to go to bed or sit down and do absolutely nothing. It wrecks my productivity for hours. I tried to get into running a few times because of the supposed "high" that you eventually start to feel. Never once felt it, even after severa…

I recently started experiencing this for the first time, earlier I believed the same you do. It’s funny reading the thread here because it echoes a lot of my experiences - what made the difference was seeing it as “I’m going for a walk but will run any parts where I feel like it”. Now I’m not too tired afterwards and while I’m outside I’m able to think and observe nature around me. I tend to go around my lunch break, and have also had quite some work problems dissolving while I was out (a bit like how you sometimes come up with solutions under the shower). That’s another thing that helps me see this as useful time rather than a chore.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#69

Post by samatman »

Tarsul wrote: post #33
endisneigh wrote: post #23

I'm happy for the author, but I've always found these sort of tricks to be a chore. I bought a cargo ebike and use it for 99% of my traveling, including a 20 mile commute to work (~40 minutes each way). Now you can exercise for free, no tricking necessary. Sadly you aren't going to become super muscular riding around a bike, but I assure you, you'll be in excellent shape even with an ebike. Maybe it's because I'm laz…

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

It objectively is, yes.

The objective part being the heart rate monitor on my watch. I routinely get into the 130-145 range.

Or sometimes not! The throttle is not labor intensive. But that gets boring.

Re: I tricked myself into working out 3 times per week

#70

Post by pgwhalen »

Tarsul wrote: post #33
endisneigh wrote: post #23

I'm happy for the author, but I've always found these sort of tricks to be a chore. I bought a cargo ebike and use it for 99% of my traveling, including a 20 mile commute to work (~40 minutes each way). Now you can exercise for free, no tricking necessary. Sadly you aren't going to become super muscular riding around a bike, but I assure you, you'll be in excellent shape even with an ebike. Maybe it's because I'm laz…

but is it really exercise with an ebike? I'd like to see others chip in on that (or studies ;).

I'm surprised about the down votes, I'm similarly curious. I bike a lot, and occasionally take a bikeshare e bike, and the difference is night and day. Yes, I'm moving my legs in the bike pedaling motion, but it in a way that feels like it exclusively is just a different input mechanism for the motor.

I wonder if there is a large spectrum of power in e bikes, and that bikeshare e bikes are at one end of that spectrum.

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