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Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

danshipper.com

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Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#21

Post by highace »

chubs wrote: post #6
Peteris wrote: post #2

I agree with the general principle. Interestingly though, for fitness, the opposite worked for me. I threw myself into P90X, which is on 7 days a week, sometimes even two workouts a day. I've been exercising with similar or higher intensity ever since. The integrity of the program and the trust you can have knowing you will get better if you stick to it makes it hard to quit. If you start slow, you'll just lose time.…

I've got a couple friends doing p90x as well, and i'm concerned that it'll simply make them look like endurance runners, eg skinny as rakes, unless you're on steroids. What's your thoughts on that? I'm personally trying the reg park system (pre steroids style powerlifting, through stronglifts.com) because i'm aiming for a bit of bulk (i have no illusions of becoming mahoosive).

Depends on their calorie intake mostly. If there's a calorie deficit (they burn more calories than they eat) they'll lose weight and look like rakes. If they eat more than they burn, they'll get bigger and usually stronger.

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#23

Post by TheSOB88 »

hnacc wrote: post #15

Regarding body workout: No no no no no. If you are bodybuilding newbie, DO NOT start bodybuilding by reading articles from the web. Create your workout plan with your instructor, your gym should have one. Stay healthy.

When did he say to do that? The point was that building habits is easier with a low-stress, laid-back approach.

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#25

Post by jcfrei »

Swizec wrote: post #4

Best fitness advice I ever got: 1. Find a sport you like and enjoy 2. Have fun [often]

well... If you wanna stay healthy and maybe lose some weight endurance sports are the way to go. swimming is great, as well as bicycling (running as well, though might damage your joints when you get older). frankly anything that gets your cardiovascular system going for a long time. humans, in contrast to a lot of other mammals, have an excellent endurance. it's one of the physical conditions that made us superior hunterers a long time ago, when we would simply chase an antilope thru the desert, until it was exhausted. capitalize on that and always do some endurance sports if you are serious about your health.

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#26

Post by Swizec »

jcfrei wrote: post #25
Swizec wrote: post #4

Best fitness advice I ever got: 1. Find a sport you like and enjoy 2. Have fun [often]

well... If you wanna stay healthy and maybe lose some weight endurance sports are the way to go. swimming is great, as well as bicycling (running as well, though might damage your joints when you get older). frankly anything that gets your cardiovascular system going for a long time. humans, in contrast to a lot of other mammals, have an excellent endurance. it's one of the physical conditions that made us superior h…

I picked up boxing a while ago (two years almost, wow) and it's the single best exercise I have ever done.

Enduring 1.5 hours of an intense power exercise ... it's practically the worst of both worlds put together into something magnificent and fun.

Plus there's nothing like venting your frustrations on an unsuspecting punching bag or a very suspecting sparring partner.

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#27

Post by Swizec »

plf wrote: post #13
Swizec wrote: post #4

Best fitness advice I ever got: 1. Find a sport you like and enjoy 2. Have fun [often]

I've considered this for the summer. I'm still deciding between swimming, climbing or thaiboxing. Do you know any other fun ones that might make you grow muscle?

Rowing is also a good way to grow muscle.

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#28

Post by jugglinmike »

"Showing up every day is very interesting because it’s the least visible indicator of success. No successful person tallies how much they show up every day. Well except maybe this guy."

I really expected this link to point to Jerry Seinfeld's productivity secret. The story has made the rounds at this point, but in case anyone missed it:

http://lifehacker.com/281626/jerry-seinfelds-productivity-se...

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#29

Post by gabraille »

hnacc wrote: post #15

Regarding body workout: No no no no no. If you are bodybuilding newbie, DO NOT start bodybuilding by reading articles from the web. Create your workout plan with your instructor, your gym should have one. Stay healthy.

Surely the optimum strategy to both hire an instructor and to read articles.

One can then ask better questions and be less vulnerable to the instructor's misconceptions (due to parochialism or inherited from his instructor, etc).

I guess this applies any field where a large component of inexplicit knowledge is combined with safety considerations, e.g. driving lessons, piano lessons, rock-climbing

Re: Stop Taking Yourself So Seriously

#30

Post by jmitcheson »

"I become a workout-planning god. I research routines, buy supplements, construct a schedule and pick a start date. Then I go to the gym every day.

By the end of week two I invariably give up."

Does this remind anyone else of developers who constantly start too many projects?

"I became a software-planning god. I research scalable server stacks, buy a subscription to Mixergy, construct a release plan and pick a launch date. Then I code every day.

By the end of week two I invariably give up."

Incidentally creatine (which is mentioned in Shipper's post) is a great mental performance enhancer[1]. It gives endurance to muscles but also has a similar effect on mental endurance. Especially helpful for the problem of having no energy to do any work after your day job.

[1] http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0168010202...

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