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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

#141

Post by hombre_fatal »

WalterBright wrote: post #94
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 me, running was a chore. I had to really make my self go running. My body simply did not want to run. But after a year of 3x a week, a funny thing happened. My body started wanting to go running. I'd look forward to it. I've been lifting for 20 years now. My body still hates it. Oh well :-/ what can you do. P.S. I never time the runs, I never push it. I just run and don't worry about it. If someone passes me runn…

> I never time the runs

I found running to be more enjoyable once I stopped using run-tracking apps like Strava.

Now I just use my phone's built-in pedometer. A run is just a way to help me hit 10k+ steps per day. During my runs I can be spontaneous without feeling like I'm going to ruin my Strava pace, and running isn't this overt start -> finish ordeal anymore.

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

#142

Post by appletrotter »

SoftTalker wrote: post #108
zffr wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I did all that. When I started I could not run more than maybe a hundred yards. So I would run a little, walk a lot, run a little more, and slowly the ratio of running to walking changed and I could run a few miles without stopping to walk. I still felt just terrible and exhausted at the end of it. I never felt a high, or any other "good" feeling from it.

> I still felt just terrible and exhausted at the end of it.

If you put in half as much effort in those times, do you think you would've felt the same?

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

#143

Post by Tarsul »

WheelsAtLarge wrote: post #127
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…

It sounds like you are relatively new to running. Have you had any problems with your knees? I have friends that want to start jogging but are hesitant to start. I've suggested walking instead.

As someone else has said: you can always start by mixing walking with jogging. The most important part is to start moving.

As for myself: I am not really new to running. However, since moving places I didnt run anymore because my only real motivation were the friends I did my runs with. I did other team sports as replacement (which I liked a lot). However, due to covid lockdowns I basically stopped all sports and gained weight. So, something had to give. I tried running (alone!) and thankfully it now works for me (as I advertised ;)). I started with a pace that was basically not really faster than people "walking". Since I have so much fun running right now, I actually have to watch out not to overdo it. I notice my knees a little but I don't really think they are the weakest part actually (losing more weight would help a lot wrt not overexerting the knees). As other posters have said: Going slowly (really slowly! If it feels like you're pushing yourself, it might be better to walk then.) is also the best thing one can do wrt avoiding injuries etc. So I can't really give a general recommendation except trying it out and see how your body feels. I think one can find out a lot by themselves simply by listening to the signals of the body.

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

#144

Post by [deleted] »

swimfar wrote: post #58
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, you don't need to run continuously. It's perfectly fine to run for a couple minutes and then walk a bit. I think people's definitions of exercise are often too strict, or constrained. Another way to get into running is to start by just going for a brisk walk and run a little bit when you feel like it. That's how I got into trail running. I was going for long hikes, and at some point I started jogging short sect…

[deleted]

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

#145

Post by dreeves »

wpietri wrote: post #26
savanaly wrote: post #15

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It was never a problem for me. Between reading their blog posts about the theory of motivation and actually experiencing their UI (and interactions with their customer support when something went wrong and I was accidentally charged) I believe they really do want you as a happy customer above all which means helping you with your goals.

I can certainly believe it has worked for you. But there's just no way I'm putting myself in that situation. Maybe they are the kind of people who are truly able to spend their lives minimizing revenue. But I'd still always have to be on my guard for that changing. And even it went well, I would then feel bad that I'm not properly supporting people from whom I've gotten a lot of value. I'm glad it works for other peo…

Hi! Beeminder cofounder here! I'm pretty excited to see all the positive comments but of course I've homed in on this negative one first. I think Beeminder is incentivized to make you fail at your goals the same way eBay sellers are incentivized to not actually send you your stuff after you pay them.

Anyway, we have a whole elaborate essay on why there's very much the opposite of a conflict of interest: https://blog.beeminder.com/defail/ (about how Beeminder revenue is proportional to induced user awesomeness)

There's a key faulty assumption that may make it seem like our incentives are more perverse than they are. Namely, it's not the case that Beeminder goals are binary things that you either succeed or fail at. They're things you make long-term graphs of, like averaging 10k steps per day or working 40 hours per week. You pay Beeminder because your overall progress is much greater with Beeminder than without it, even though the specific moments you pay are kicks in the pants when you've deviated from your commitment.

I'm definitely interested to hear if any of this is persuasive. We hear the perverse incentives thing a lot so we need to figure out how to convey our apologia much more concisely in our intro material! (And thank you for voicing it!)

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

#146

Post by chaostheory »

For myself, I play video games and lost weight and have gotten really fit. Unlike the author, everything is tracked in my case through my watch and VR headset

I play games like this

https://www.vrfitnessinsider.com/review/the-thrill-of-the-fi...

https://beatsaber.com/

https://fitxr.com/

https://untilyoufall.schellgames.com/

https://www.lesmills.com/us/fit-planet/fitness/bodycombat-vr...

I’ve lost 25 lbs so far

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

#147

Post by acdha »

float4 wrote: post #138
acdha wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I’d easily believe there’s a country bias: the Netherlands has so much more infrastructure encouraging non-enthusiast usage whereas here in the U.S. most places are still selecting for more adventurous riders.

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

#148

Post by acdha »

screye wrote: post #134
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.

Yes - I actually stopped using Google Maps for car trips after too many routes where it was like “save 30 seconds making an unprotected left against 4 lanes of traffic”. I get why people like the illusion of faster trips but I found them more stressful than accurate.

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

#149

Post by user_named »

Running is a chore. In the beginning I wanted to run for 30 minutes or longer. Couldn't do it consistently, thinking about it felt terrible. Then I read an article saying that it's enough to get heart rate up to get 80% of benefits, and a five minute run could be enough.

So I changed to running for just 5 minutes first thing when I woke up, which equaled to running around the block. Then get a shower immediately when I got home. After that I felt so much more clear mentally that I wanted to wake up next day just to run. Knowing that I would only run for five minutes it no longer was a chore.

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

#150

Post by anonporridge »

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 ;).

There's some evidence that ebike riders get more exercise than regular bike riders, https://electrek.co/2019/08/11/electric-bike-riders-more-exe...
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