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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

#131

Post by Cupertino95014 »

SoftTalker wrote: post #46
trutic wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

As someone who has an energetic dog, I'd be careful of telling people to do this. It's a lot of responsibility, and the amount of workout and training is more time than I spend working at times. Especially if you are single like myself.

Yes I would not advise anyone working full time to have a pet that needs a lot of social company and exercise. A cat might be content to be alone in the house for 8 or 10 hours while you're at work, but most dogs will get stressed out and be unhappy with that. Dogs are not just pets, they are companion animals.

You take the dog to doggie day care. Assuming you can afford it.

A good one has a private space for each dog to chill, and several periods a day of group socializing. My dog absolutely loved it.

But leaving them alone? Nope.

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

#134

Post by screye »

acdha wrote: post #52

What worked for me was not car commuting. Walking and biking everywhere is great for keeping your baseline cardio level decent without it feeling like you’re making and effort, and it is often not a noticeable time difference. When you’re used to driving everywhere, most people are prone to wildly underestimating actual door to door travel times (city bicyclists will spend a lot of time waiting on friends who drive)…

Car owners often give Google maps estimates, which ignores last minute traffic changes, finding parking and the walk from parking. On the other hand, biking estimates on maps are often too conservative and the biker goes door to door with no obstructions.

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

#135

Post by NoLinkToMe »

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 ;).

Depends on the e-bike and the riding behaviour, naturally.

If you simply use the assist to go faster but otherwise put in the same effort, then it's exercise. And if you enjoy the speed and it's convenient to travel more or even switch out car trips, it gets extra points. But if you simply take the same amount of trips, spend less time due to the extra speed, and mostly cycle on full pedal-assist (there's ebikes that are simply electric motorbikes with pedals) then no, it wouldn't be exercise.

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

#136

Post by BLKNSLVR »

perihelions wrote: post #76
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…

For a month now, I've been getting up at 5am every day to go cruising around my empty city on a skateboard, as a complete noob. It's changed my life substantially for the better. I've been very interested to figure out where I found this implausible level of... motivation? self-discipline? I'm not the sort of person to expect such from myself. Where did this unexpected success come from, and how can I attempt to cont…

I've been waiting for the end of a long, wet winter to go and explore some new places on online skates - been working on various braking and slalom techniques indoors to learn the skills needed to do outdoors more safely (for myself and others).

Need to get one of those stabilising selfie sticks for recording the adventures - holding a phone by hand results in a choppy nausea inducing clip.

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

#137

Post by barry-cotter »

JoeAltmaier wrote: post #132

Contrast this with the Israeli daycare that charged $3 for being late to pick up your child, to teach parents they needed to be on time. Late pickups grew geometrically. Because it wasn't an ethical issue any more; it was a service with a fee.

Isn’t that story from Daniel Ariely? If you can’t verify that it happened independently probably best to assume he made it up.

For more on this topic.

https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/stephaniemlee/dan-ariel...

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

#138

Post by float4 »

acdha wrote: post #55
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 ;).

Very much so. My heart rate readings are basically the same as on my road bike but I’m making the trip with ~100 pounds of kid & cargo. I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster. There’s a really key benefit which is less obvious: e-bikes remove disincentives. Everyone I know who bought one rides more because they don’t have to worry abo…

> I’ve seen a few studies supporting this in general: people ride with the same intensity but go further or get there faster.

I highly doubt this. I believe it's true for you, but in the Netherlands I always notice how e-bikers generally ride the maximum legal speed (25km/h) but at a preposterously low cadence and while sitting perfectly upright. Non e-bikers on the other hand go slower, have a higher cadence and (if there's a significant head wind) move their torso left and right in accordance with the pedal strokes. No way those intensities match.

I do believe that the area under curve can be similar, because e-bikers can indeed ride further.

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

#139

Post by khazhoux »

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.

> I did a version of this to achieve the holy 6pack grail... Around 7 months work

What was your starting point, though? Were you already lean, or maybe skinnyfat but with good muscles underneath?

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

#140

Post by eshack94 »

This is a great system. Simple, and as long as you and the other person are trustworthy and both agree on what counts as a "session" (e.g., 30 minutes of continuous moderate to strenuous physical activity), and if the economic pain point is set properly for both people, then it should work.

I'm going to bring this up to my girlfriend and see what she thinks. I think this could introduce some healthy competition to our fitness routines.

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