This Is Why You Don't Go to the Gym • Hacker News Board

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

#101

Post by euroclydon » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 2:49 AM UTC

maalox wrote: post #76

sliverstorm wrote: post #67

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Oh come on. They're a hosting company. How was their service? Didn't you know what you were getting for the money? Would you have waited for hosting until a special offer came along?

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

#102

Post by fragsworth » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 4:02 AM UTC

euroclydon wrote: post #101

maalox wrote: post #76

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Oh come on. They're a hosting company. How was their service? Didn't you know what you were getting for the money? Would you have waited for hosting until a special offer came along?

Customers tend to get pissed off when they realize they've been lied to. I think his anger is justified.

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

#103

Post by fragsworth » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 4:07 AM UTC

llimllib wrote: post #55

mynameishere wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

two hours every evening Bodybuilders don't work out that much, you know.

Bodybuilding takes a particularly long time because you need super high reps to encourage muscular hypertrophy. Just getting strong or fit can be done in much less time, though it may leave you without the beach muscles, if that's what you're after.

All the literature I've read for bodybuilding says your reps should be in the 8 to 12 range, and higher reps leads to more muscle endurance without much muscle growth.

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

#104

Post by artpop » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 4:13 AM UTC

drumdance wrote: post #94

I've found that classes are best for me. A few years ago I started going to an aerobics class that emphasized strength. Then I did a boot camp. In 2010 I started doing Crossfit and hope to do it the rest of my life. They push me well out of my comfort zone, and the group aspect makes it both competitive and collegial. Last year I decided two times a week was good enough for me and it's worked. I'm in fantastic shape.

I started doing crossfit about 3 months ago and absolutely love it.

Being a global and pretty standardised thing there are gyms all around the world you can attend. Despite the language barrier you still know what to do. For instance I am in Tokyo currently and about to go here: http://chikaracrossfit.com/ If I were in Denmark then I’d love to drop in here: http://butcherslab.dk/

Just as being a developer allows you to network globally, crossfit does too.

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

#105

Post by jsskate » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 4:34 AM UTC

We can boil it down to incentives. Are the incentives (we recognize) strong enough to get us to pay for a membership and go to the gym? Maybe yes. Maybe no. Maybe maybe. The "maybe Maybe" wins the day in most cases. It's no surprise that the gyms are winning out here. Their goal is sales not necessarily our fitness. If they make good coin and facilitate people getting fit then good show. If they make good coin and the customers fail well such is life. Free will is after all free will.

So what can we say for the minority that pay the 30(+) silver pieces and actually make it happen? I say good show! To those who pay and drop off I say keep on; don't give up, go back and try again! Tomorrow is another day. Don't Judas yourself.

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

#106

Post by roryokane » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 5:48 AM UTC

I found a link to the Harvard graduates’ Gym Pact program: http://www.gym-pact.com/. It’s an iPhone app, and it purports to actually pay you the money paid by those who didn’t go to the gym if you really do go to the gym. Another similar program is the free online service Beeminder at https://www.beeminder.com/. It lets you track anything numeric, such as visits to the gym, and if you fall below the goal you set for yourself a week ago, you get charged money.

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

#107

Post by gbog » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 6:51 AM UTC

My god, the least interesting post in years... When will we have a How to loose weight by eating three burgers a day?

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

#108

Post by Swizec » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 8:30 AM UTC

fragsworth wrote: post #103

llimllib wrote: post #55

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Bodybuilding takes a particularly long time because you need super high reps to encourage muscular hypertrophy. Just getting strong or fit can be done in much less time, though it may leave you without the beach muscles, if that's what you're after.

All the literature I've read for bodybuilding says your reps should be in the 8 to 12 range, and higher reps leads to more muscle endurance without much muscle growth.

Yes, 4 sets of 8 to 12 reps. Takes, say, 1.5min to do the reps. 1 minute of pause in between. Four exercises per muscle group. Two muscle groups per training session.

So you're looking at (4x1.5+4x1)x4x2 = 80 minutes == 1 hour 20 minutes minimum. Without counting the time to move from one exercise to another, without changing your clothes, without falling into a conversation with a fellow gym member, without waiting for anyone to free up a machine/weight-set/whatever.

Face it, if you're bodybuilding you're spending 2 hours a day at the gym.

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

#109

Post by sliverstorm » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 8:59 AM UTC

nosequel wrote: post #90

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.

Yea, you can always trade off some optimality for interesting if you need. Weight lifting isn't the only way to get in shape, it's just the most methodical & straight-forward.

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

#110

Post by donnawarellp » Sun, Jan 15, 2012, 9:18 AM UTC

I have watched this phenomenon for years now as a devote gym rat. I always thought that a virtual gym would be perfect for those people who join the gym but never show up. They could simple go to a web site, join, pay $10/mo have a membership and never feel guilty about not going since there is actually no physical gym to go to.