How little exercise can you get away with? • Hacker News Board

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#41

Post by marcosdumay » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:18 PM UTC

kubelsmieci wrote: post #25

gensym wrote: post #7

What a weird question. The amount depends on what you hope to accomplish. Want to be able to get on the floor and play with your grandkids? That's going to require a certain amount of mobility work. Want to be able to hike up Mount Whitney? You'll need regular cardio. I also hate the phrasing that exercise is something to "get away with". Most people who exercise regularly enjoy it. Moving your body is fun, especiall…

> Most people who exercise regularly enjoy it. And because the most people don't exercise, it's easy to conclude, that the most people don't enjoy it. One can even conclude reverse, that only people who enjoy exercising, are doing it.

I doubt it.

People have all kinds of self-defeating behavior, and those behaviors seem to be on the rise since smartphones became popular. It's likely that people enjoy it and won't do it anyway.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#42

Post by moscoe » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:18 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #19

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

Some people have disabilities or physical limitations.

All the more reason to be more active. Everyone struggles.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#43

Post by filoleg » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:18 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #19

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

Some people have disabilities or physical limitations.

For those people, any kind of a generalized take on "how much you can get away with in terms of fitness" wouldn't be helpful either. They will need a way more specific advice tailored to their individual needs and physical limitations.

It is pretty obvious the grandparent comment was just attempting to give a generalized advice, without claiming that it would comprehensively apply to every single niche condition out there (and it would be rather silly to expect it to).

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#44

Post by delis-thumbs-7e » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:20 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #19

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

Some people have disabilities or physical limitations.

There’s even Paralympics in this world. People with disabilities do sports, although obviously it complicates things.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#45

Post by benoau » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:20 PM UTC

ransom1538 wrote: post #34

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

"but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I" People will eventually realize it causes cancer. Weight training literally generates inflammation.

I've read before that tall people get more cancer than short people, if it's relative to how many cells you have then an extra 30 kilograms of muscle might make a difference too!

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#46

Post by hnav » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:20 PM UTC

elictronic wrote: post #35

algoth1 wrote: post #18

It may sound crazy, but a properly installed pull up bar on your room doorway is a fun way to apply Pavel Tsatsouline ‘grease the groove’ principle. And it’s both easy and fun. You can do pull ups, and train your abdomen several times a day without getting psychological resistance (from google overview: "Grease the Groove" (GtG) is a strength training method popularized by fitness expert Pavel Tsatsouline. It involve…

Less than 5% of the population can do a pull-up. I can after having climbed for a bit and worked towards doing it, but you might be surprised to learn how few this would actually benefit.

if it's sturdy/you're light then doing eccentrics (jump up, come down unassisted) is a good way of working up to full pull ups.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#47

Post by shaewest » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #19

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

Some people have disabilities or physical limitations.

And those limitations don't mean people can't exercise as a whole. As the list they provided explains, the goal is to find something you can do relatively consistently that gets you active. Walking even 5 minutes more than normal is an improvement for many, and you can even reach the level of sports like wheelchair rugby.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#48

Post by sublinear » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:21 PM UTC

Lift weights. Do it multiple times a day and chase that pump. Do it for stress relief. Do it to help you fall asleep. Do it to wake up.

It's not all about cardio. Your muscles are such a significant part of your metabolism and far too many people avoid strength training. A ton of problems that arise while aging are ultimately hormonal. Even your skin improves. Cardiovascular health begins here. People are literally running before they can walk.

That's the realistic answer for most people under 65 trying to make it to at least 80 with a decent quality of life.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#49

Post by Legend2440 » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:22 PM UTC

JohnMakin wrote: post #19

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

Some people have disabilities or physical limitations.

If you are in this situation, you should see a physical therapist.

Exercise is even more important if you have a disability, because your muscles will atrophy from disuse and cause even greater disability.

E.g. if you stop moving your leg because you have a bad knee, you will now have a bad knee and a weak leg. If you go to PT and do exercises to strengthen the muscles around the knee, it can take load off the joint and improve function.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#50

Post by shaewest » Mon, Jul 06, 2026, 11:25 PM UTC

ransom1538 wrote: post #34

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #11

How about you instead of trying to “get away with” as little exercise as possible you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? One should not optimise away sleep, nutrition and exercise. Yes we live in a ridiculous fitness and gym boom, but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I love having to psych myself to lift big amounts of steel, I’m ok with bit of pain etc. - mostly p…

"but weight training might not actually be a good fit to most people. I" People will eventually realize it causes cancer. Weight training literally generates inflammation.

The studies I've seen point to a reduce risk & mortality of diseases inclusive of cancer, not sure what you've been reading from.