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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

#81

Post by hkmurakami »

llimllib wrote: post #25
ebiester wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you are serious about it, there's a book by Mark Rippetoe called Starting Strength that explains this in more detail.

And a (somewhat disorganized) wiki about the book, with enough info to learn the lifts and do the program, here: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wik... Using this program and nothing else, between November 1 and December 23 of this year, my squat went from 180 to 270, my deadlift from 180 to 305, and my bench press from 120 to 165. You do not need to be an expert, or know how to lift to do th…

Definitely agree that working out should be a habit, must like most other productive (but initially unattractive) activities in our lives. Congrats on your awesome progress!

You are much like myself in that we both seem to have strong lower bodies and relatively weaker upper bodies :P

>You do not need to be an expert, or know how to lift to do the program.

You don't have to be an expert, but it's crucial to have regular form checks on the lifts. Nothing is more depressing than being sidelined for several weeks because of bad squat form leading to an injury!

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

#83

Post by rquantz »

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 article was posted here last spring, I believe (forgive me, but I'm on my iPhone at the moment and too lazy to look up a link to the discussion). Reading that article planted the seeds that led me to start barbell lifting three months ago. I've always been scrawny, so it's been amazing to watch my body transform. I've gained 25 pounds and my squat strength has doubled.

I've tried gym memberships in the past, so it's hard for me to put my finger on exactly why I've been able to stay motivated this time around. Having hard, quantifiable gains may be the biggest factor, and perhaps even more than that, having quantifiable losses when I skip a workout. When I missed a week at the beginning of november (I was out of town), I had to knock 10 pounds off my squats in order to get through them. That is not a good feeling. Definitely worse than being charged five dollars.

Edit: ok, I looked it up -- http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287213

I'd also like to add, reading Rippetoe and Kilgore flipped a switch for me. If you can write 60 pages about how to do a squat, then weightlifting can be a geeky activity.

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

#84

Post by llimllib »

hkmurakami wrote: post #81
llimllib wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

And a (somewhat disorganized) wiki about the book, with enough info to learn the lifts and do the program, here: http://startingstrength.wikia.com/wiki/Starting_Strength_Wik... Using this program and nothing else, between November 1 and December 23 of this year, my squat went from 180 to 270, my deadlift from 180 to 305, and my bench press from 120 to 165. You do not need to be an expert, or know how to lift to do th…

Definitely agree that working out should be a habit, must like most other productive (but initially unattractive) activities in our lives. Congrats on your awesome progress! You are much like myself in that we both seem to have strong lower bodies and relatively weaker upper bodies :P > You do not need to be an expert, or know how to lift to do the program. You don't have to be an expert, but it's crucial to have reg…

> You don't have to be an expert, but it's crucial to have regular form checks on the lifts. Nothing is more depressing than being sidelined for several weeks because of bad squat form leading to an injury!

I just mean to say that I used to think you couldn't do these sorts of lifts without some sort of trainer that could teach me how to do them, and that since I didn't know one, I couldn't.

Rather, these days, you can read starting strength, watch videos online, film your own lifts and get people to help you pretty easily.

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

#85

Post by impendia »

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…

A lot of gyms have classes you can take. Yoga, pilates, martial arts, spinning, kickboxing, various sports, the list goes on and on.

I can never bring myself to just "go to the gym" for the reasons you suggest. But give me something organized, and I'm hooked.

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

#86

Post by guard-of-terra »

There seems to be an elephant in the room: gym is boring, pointless and offers too few bang for the trouble.

It's inherently boring. Walking is fun. Hiking is fun. Chopping lumber is fun. Swimming in rivers and lakes is fun (pools - less so). You see new things and move yourself around.

In gym, nothing really changes, you just do some repetitive things in a big room without windows. Sitting in cubicle is probably more fun because you've got web access at least.

I don't know if the problem is inherently solvable or not.

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

#88

Post by jrmg »

pors wrote: post #9

> Recently, a couple of Harvard graduates launched a program called Gym Pact based on the simple principle that if skipping the gym is a broken contract with ourselves, we ought to pay a penalty for slacking. Hmm, this site does this for many years already: http://www.stickk.com/ Tried it once with some friends and it worked perfect, even without a financial penalty.

http://www.stickk.com/ is a great site. I think learned about it a while ago here on HN. I use it to motivate myself to go out running in the mornings. If I don't go running at least four days a week, $10 goes to a climate change denial charity (this was chosen by me, not a reflection of the sites politics).

It certainly works - there has been many a cold, rainy morning this winter that it's been the deciding factor in getting me out the door...

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

#89

Post by rubashov »

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…

> wants to start working out but doesn't know anything yet?

What's there to really know? The average person just looking to be healthy doesn't need a gym or any instruction. Buy a $3 jump rope. Jump over it 4,000 times every couple days. Do some pushups, pullups, and situps on the other days. 20 minutes (at most) and done.

"The Gym" as used by most people is a way to create the illusion of effort. "Hey, I'm spending six hours a week there and using big expensive machines, so I must be getting something done." It's just a waste for most people, who'd be better served by a jump rope in their driveway.

I use a gym because I lift and have no space, but if I had a garage I'd set up my own power-rack. All the machines at "the gym" are idiotic. You only need a barbell, a bench, and a rack.

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

#90

Post by nosequel »

guard-of-terra wrote: post #86

There seems to be an elephant in the room: gym is boring, pointless and offers too few bang for the trouble. It's inherently boring. Walking is fun. Hiking is fun. Chopping lumber is fun. Swimming in rivers and lakes is fun (pools - less so). You see new things and move yourself around. In gym, nothing really changes, you just do some repetitive things in a big room without windows. Sitting in cubicle is probably mor…

Find a gym that isn't boring. They exist. Flip tires, pull a sled, climb a rope, throw a heavy ball...

Doing a bodybuilding routine is incredibly boring, but finding something you like at the gym can be very rewarding. Like anything else though, you have to work a bit to find out the good stuff amongst the crap.

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