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Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

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Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#21

Post by barry-cotter »

Hard_Space wrote: post #10

I am in the same situation. It has caused me such deterioration in mind and body that my relationship has been affected, and we are in counseling now. As a remote worker, I have decided to give up on walking - it takes up so much time that I conclude that is suitable exercise for rich people only. Furthermore, three months of the year here it is too hot to walk; six months, it is dark by the time I am freed enough fr…

> Furthermore, three months of the year here it is too hot to walk;

Have you tried pushing through and getting used to it? I run for half an hour in Shanghai summer weather. Over 35 degrees and humid.

> six months, it is dark by the time I am freed enough from work to go walking

That sucks. Are there parks nearby or could you use a headlamp and wear high visibility clothing?

> and trying to get a worthwhile walk in before work is too time-consuming and potentially sleep-depriving.

Ten minutes of a high intensity interval teaching training routine is no fun but it can be done every morning.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#22

Post by royletron »

I have found creating a fake commute is the only way to make it work. Basically I have a walk that I do that gets me 'to' and 'from' the office (a shed in the garden) - which adds up to just under 10k steps a day. I've actually got my colleagues on board and I regularly call into standup whilst on my 'commute'. I found early on that I wasn't very motivated to get out of bed 25 mins early so I have also started making essential chores part of the routine - getting the morning coffee or food for dinner en route. I also experimented with forfits where I would have to jog 2x the commute in the evening if I didn't do the morning, which I haven't actually had to do for some time.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#23

Post by hdjjhhvvhga »

Cycle whenever you can an a gym bike (mine cost €200, is very quite and quite comfortable). It is very comfortable to participate in all kinds of meetings unless they demand you show your camera instead of your photo,* and quite comfortable for all kinds of reading. If your work includes a lot of these, consider buying a gel seat.

(I also made a kind of top desk on my bike for other tasks that involve typing and moving the mouse, but it wasn't comfortable at all and I quickly gave up.)

* my coworkers actually don't mind seeing me on my gym bike and they enjoy it, but I heard stories about people being offended by "lack of respect" so I'd advise to be prodent

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#24

Post by Hard_Space »

adrianpthomas wrote: post #14

Hi fellow PM! Sign up for one of the training apps (e.g. Apple Fitness+, Freelytics or similar) that offers shorter training sessions (10-20mins) that you can do with a simple floor mat. Do it during lunch break before you have food. Get it all set up so there's no effort to starting and try to make it part of your daily routine.

I would say that the social benefits of leaving the house to go to a gym, even if you talk to nobody throughout the visit, outweigh trying to solve the problem in the place where you already live and work.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#25

Post by jcims »

warpech wrote: post #18

Stephen Wolfram has build himself a treadmill desk: https://content.wolfram.com/uploads/sites/43/2019/02/05-trea... Source: https://writings.stephenwolfram.com/2019/02/seeking-the-prod...

I think those are great but would suggest not walking on it while you're on camera in a video conference. Recently worked with a guy that did that and it was remarkably annoying.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#26

Post by _hao »

Hard_Space wrote: post #19
_hao wrote: post #12

Wake up earlier in the morning and exercise BEFORE starting work. The moment you're out of bed do 30-60 minutes of running/HIIT/calisthenics and add some stretching at the end for a couple of minutes. It's good idea to do some light stretching throughout the day anyways especially if you're that sedentiary. Humans weren't built to sit on their ass for so long.

I think that this is robbing Peter to pay Paul, as a possible road to sleep deprivation, which isn't going to help the situation either.

OP has stated he has ~50 free minutes a day (which I find doubtful anyways, no one is that busy). So he does have the time even if he doesn't do it early in the morning. I suggested early in the morning since that's where people actually can get free time usually.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#29

Post by Hard_Space »

rjh29 wrote: post #17
Hard_Space wrote: post #10

I am in the same situation. It has caused me such deterioration in mind and body that my relationship has been affected, and we are in counseling now. As a remote worker, I have decided to give up on walking - it takes up so much time that I conclude that is suitable exercise for rich people only. Furthermore, three months of the year here it is too hot to walk; six months, it is dark by the time I am freed enough fr…

I walked to work for 1 hour a day and it was hugely beneficial for my mental health, put a nice break between work and home, was able to do podcasts or study foreign languages. After going full remote I had to force myself to replace that hour, it is psychologically a lot harder especially when the walk has no purpose. That said, you are a remote worker, so you ought to have at least 1 hour of (formerly commute) time…

I am going the gym route, though I would either do it in the morning or the evening. As a writer, I have max 4-5 hours of useful work in me today before my frontal lobe gives up, but once I am started on a writing session, it is hard to have it interrupted.

Re: Ask HN: Stay fit as a time-poor remote worker

#30

Post by ako »

beardyw wrote: post #5
mytailorisrich wrote: post #3

You need to ring-fence a lunch break. I go running during my lunch breaks (1 hour split into ~40min running, ~20min shower and recovery), something I didn't do when I worked in an office full time and as a result I am fitter since WFH.

Agreed. I would do a two mile walk in 30 mins without fail (a little aged for running - but no need for a shower!)

Same here, block 60 minutes for lunch. Either 30 minutes lunch and 30 minutes walk, or just bring some sandwiches to eat during walk. If i'm lucky i can take 120 minutes lunch, will go surfing for 60 minutes.
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