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This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

theatlantic.com

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Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#71

Post by OpenAmazing »

GBKS wrote: post #56

I think those theories are missing the main point. Going to the gym is not fun, because gyms have a crappy user experience. So let's say you join a gym, but don't know very much about working out. You walk into a room with hundreds of machines, and are expected to know how to structure a work-out, how each machine works, be familiar with all the muscle groups and exercises, and also really care about planning out and…

There is no reason for the gym to make it fun.

As the article points out, the gym wants you to come once (not have fun) and then not come back - but continue to pay the monthly membership fee.

If the gym was fun, and every member came in regularly, the gym would go out of business. Their goal is to make the gym seem like something you should have a membership for (lots of high-tech looking machines and posters about health and attractive staff), but actually not fun enough for you to come more than a few times a month.

This is why there is a rise in the small group-focused workout clubs (that emphasize fun).

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#72

Post by Evgeny »

According to the theory of decision fatigue, the simple act of making any decision depletes us of a limited store of willpower.

I'm a bit worried about this theory becoming a self-fulfilling prophecy. Ever since first reading about it, my thoughts sometimes go along these lines:

- I should do X now.

- But wait, I've already done A, B, and D. Man, I feel like I have depleted my willpower on those three tasks! So, I'm leaving it till tomorrow.

And so I'm confused because I suspect I would be better off if I never found out about the theory, but there's no way to 'unread' it and make myself a control for checking the limits of my own willpower.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#73

Post by draggnar »

nasmorn wrote: post #48
brudgers wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Two hours a day is a lot of family time to lose for many parents, and more than an old bum knee may take.

I do convict conditioning for 4 months now. It takes me approx. 30 min every other day although I switched to more like 20min 6 times a week now. The results are spectacular. The important thing in exercising is not to overresearch, eg. you can find all kinds of people on the internets telling you that convict conditioning sucks and you should rather do X. Lots of these people have a point but usually it only holds u…

I do this also. I have no idea why people go to the gym. You naturally increase your strength by moving your body around. No excuses for not having time to go to the gym because you can fit it in any time. Also, the important thing Convict Conditioning emphasizes is that it is a way of life and not just a quick get strong program. You can't just get strong in a few months and expect to stay that way forever. If you progressively work your way up from simple exercises with the mindset that you'll be doing this forever, regardless of moving or changing gyms or spending more time at the office or whatever, you will get strong.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#74

Post by Evgeny »

sliverstorm wrote: post #70
brandall10 wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Hmm, with the exception of the tiny mom and pop gyms just about every gym I've been to over the years has pushed an initial free personal trainer session with the hope you sign up for more. Working out is, well, work. If you're out of shape it's not fun and if you don't have the motivation to get in shape it's not going to work. To be perfectly honest, I think that's what a good (read: effective) trainer does more th…

Working out is, well, work. If you're out of shape it's not fun and if you don't have the motivation to get in shape it's not going to work. Amen. It has little to do with user experience. Even when I was in shape and going regularly, there were days it was hard to get myself there- you are constantly, slowly adding weight, so it is always hard. Driving out of a deep squat is always the hardest part for me. I find it…

Driving out of a deep squat is always the hardest part for me. I find it just requires so much more willpower than a press or the like.

It probably also requires recruiting more muscles at the same time and coordinating them all, and more effort to keep your balance (recruiting even more small muscles), which adds to the complexity of the exercise.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#75

Post by billswift »

Detrus wrote: post #69
boofar wrote: post #31

I'm about to leave soon, so I'll make it quick: In a previous post I already lauded the book "The Happiness Advantage: The Seven Principles of Positive Psychology That Fuel Success and Performance at Work"[1]. The book is based on scientific results. In the chapter "The 20 second rule" the author talks about the "activation energy" required to start a task and recommends reducing it as much as possible. Every 20 seco…

I bought a weight set. It also stares at me every day. And I work out almost every day. I don't have serious motivational problems. I could go to a gym in theory, but it's at least 20 minutes away, there would be a whole ritual to dress up, go there, workout, cool off, come back. It would take an extra hour and I imagine many gym goers are paying extra in time to work out. It wears on your motivation. I know I'd skip…

>Standard barbells can't handle more than 230 lbs safely.

Did you get a hollow bar or something? I regularly deadlift 350# on my 6 foot standard bar with no problems. And I haven't seen any claims about safety issues elsewhere. If you actually look at the bars, the central section when the maximum loading is is the same diameter on standard and Olympic bars.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#76

Post by maalox »

sliverstorm wrote: post #67
jdietrich wrote: post #60

Earlier quoted context omitted.

My own utterly unscientific data suggests that this is a form of hyperbolically discounted loss-aversion - the 'loss' of the discount on additional units is felt more acutely than the more real loss of units purchased but never used. Combining this principle with a time-limited offer can be staggeringly effective, I imagine by enhancing the sense of impending loss. I've seen orders-of-magnitude difference in revenue…

I love the retailers who try to tap in to this with the time-limited offers that never seem to expire!

Dreamhost suckered me that way. A few years ago they offered a limited time special anniversary discount (only 11 days left!!), however, the anniversary sale was still on months later and there were only 11 days left!!

I will never, ever use them again for doing that to me.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#77

Post by mhartl »

WHY CAN'T PEOPLE KEEP THEIR GYM PROMISES? FOR THE SAME REASON CONGRESS CAN'T PASS DEFICIT REDUCTION.

Congress doesn't have the proper incentives to reduce the deficit. People do have good incentives to go to the gym. (Coincidentally, I just got back from the gym. It feels really good.)

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#78

Post by jmduke »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #10

One of the articles the author links to is a lot more helpful and concrete [1]. The meat of it: "Shaul’s guys out in Wyoming get massively strong and powerful on precisely three gym sessions a week, each lasting an hour and no more. Louie Simmons, the single biggest name in gorilla-style competitive power lifting, will tell you that 45 minutes is the max length of any smart training session. But you can’t spend the f…

That 'supercompensation peak' is pure soft science, but the overall message is dead on: if you're at the gym, act like it. It boggles the mind to see people my age baffled at their inability to lose weight when their cardio involves reading a magazine while on a stationary bike and their weightlifting involves bicep curls.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#79

Post by jmduke »

Samuel_Michon wrote: post #10

One of the articles the author links to is a lot more helpful and concrete [1]. The meat of it: "Shaul’s guys out in Wyoming get massively strong and powerful on precisely three gym sessions a week, each lasting an hour and no more. Louie Simmons, the single biggest name in gorilla-style competitive power lifting, will tell you that 45 minutes is the max length of any smart training session. But you can’t spend the f…

That 'supercompensation peak' is pure soft science, but the overall message is dead on: if you're at the gym, act like it. It boggles the mind to see people my age baffled at their inability to lose weight when their cardio involves reading a magazine while on a stationary bike and their weightlifting involves bicep curls.

Re: This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym

#80

Post by hkmurakami »

llimllib wrote: post #50
hkmurakami wrote: post #23

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That's the program I follow as well, and the article conveniently refers to it. I knew most everything in the article, but I thought it would be an excellent piece to show any of my gym "fuckaround-itis" friends.

my friends and I at the gym say that the guys who do that are on the "barbershop workout" plan. All talk, no work :)

I love the "barbershop workout" analogy!

The original "Fuckarounditis" article on Leangains: http://www.leangains.com/2011/09/fuckarounditis.html

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