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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

#51

Post by trabant00 »

Start by doing light home workouts - body-weight or yoga, first thing in the morning, Start very light and simple, especially if you don't have experience with working out. 10 minutes of just pushups and squats are perfectly fine to begin with. This way you won't get injured, over-trained or scared. You can progress with time towards a "real workout", but first you need to get used to a regular schedule and gather information.

For information I would start with https://exrx.net/ - It has a section for beginners.

Most importantly: just start tomorrow. Procrastinating in searching for the perfect start is real. Just do 10 pushups, create a habit.

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

#54

Post by royletron »

dietcar wrote: post #48
royletron wrote: post #22

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…

I did something similar for walks and replaced the evening commute back with cycling on Zwift. I finish work then jump on the bike in my office, and it allows me to break up the work day and the start of my evening. It's been very effective for my health over the past two years.

I did try doing more stuff at home, but I also crave that 'decompression' between work mode and home mode. After doing a 'commute' outside the house I was so much less inclined to check if I had any more emails etc.

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

#55

Post by swah »

yawnxyz wrote: post #15

I have 30 minutes in the minute for a "warm up circuit" kind of workout in the bedroom or living room before I start working. I also have intermittent stretching / mobility peppered in during the day (thanks to my Apple Watch's "stand" thing) I end up practicing things like head stands, hand stands, etc. whenever it's "time to stand". After 5pm I go lift or do whatever classes (from yoga to boxing) are available for…

Cool - I think this is the way - to be flexible. Curious: do you remove the Apple watch to perform the handstand?

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

#56

Post by swah »

Pepe1vo wrote: post #35

What worked for me is signing up for a crossfit gym and try going there at least 3 times a week before work, at my gym they have classes at 7:00 which means I'll be home at 8:15 which is plenty of time to get ready for my first meeting at 9:00. The beauty with crossfit is, that it offers a nice balance between strength training and HIIT. Also, if you're of weak mental resolve like me then Crossfit is doubly great bec…

I'm on the same boat - its so easy to attend to those classes - they happen every hour.

Otoh, I feel like beating my body too much (I'm almost 40). If it had a "group classes format" and was near to my place, I would like to try a regular gym, or calisthenics, or yoga. I did try swimming, because I used to love that - but found it super boring. I also tried BJJ but didn't really enjoy the class format.

If I lived next to the ocean, I'd probably try to pickup surfing as a nice trade-off between exercising and relaxing.

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

#57

Post by theshrike79 »

HIIT[0] home workouts, you need zero to minimal equipment and room enough to wave all your limbs without hitting anything + room to lie down.

A co-worker has a walking mat (not a treadmill) they use during meetings and sometimes while working. Electric desk to stand-position and walk for the 30-50 minutes a meeting takes.

I personally got physiotherapist-recommended stretches for my joints I can do standing up while still just about keeping my head looking at the webcam if needed. For all other exercise needs I have a dog, he _has_ to go out during regular intervals or I'm either cleaning up stuff I don't want to or I need to replace broken furniture =)

Even playing with the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit Adventure[1] is surprisingly effective in short bursts - and the kids like watching me play it. You won't get 500lb deadlift swole from it, but it'll keep you in aerobic shape.

[0] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/High-intensity_interval_traini... [1] https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/ring-fit-adventure-s...

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

#59

Post by John23832 »

barry-cotter wrote: post #50
John23832 wrote: post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s not the type of movement that will keep you healthy though. Proper biomechanics requires that you move, a lot. Lifting weights while not actually moving around enough actually puts you at risk for injury and imbalances because your body isn’t progressing through proper range of motion enough.

Starting Strength uses compound lifts that go through the full range of motion for that reason. It takes ~3 hours a week. I’m sure doing cardio a lot would be better again but you can get a big improvement going from sedentary to three hours of vigorous exercise a week.

I get it. I’m a fan of starting strength (though not really of mark riptoe). But the background context of the book is a precovid world where “sedentary” had a much different connotation than it does today.
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