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How little exercise can you get away with?

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Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#91

Post by maleldil »

gensym wrote: post #61
orangecat wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Most people who exercise regularly enjoy it. There's a huge selection effect here.

Gotta fuckin love hn, where you can't say the simplest thing without getting thrown into a well, actually. I wasn't claiming to have run a damned study. Just making an observation. The thing is, people who don't enjoy exercising but start exercising anyway tend to find they enjoy it after a while. Saying people enjoy exercise is only slightly more controversial than saying "ice cream tastes good". There's a bit of ac…

> Saying people enjoy exercise is only slightly more controversial than saying "ice cream tastes good".

You might be in a bubble. I know many people who exercise regularly, and I'd say most of them only do it because it's healthy. If they found a way to stay healthy without exercise, they'd drop it in a heartbeat.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#92

Post by dingaling »

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…

> you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy?

All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion. That's not ever going to be enjoyable. Tolerable, perhaps, given focus on the goal, but few people would be willing to tolerate it.

Maybe it's a surprise to you but most people's reaction to doing exercise is "when will this end?" rather than "yayy pain and breathlessness!"

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#93

Post by dingaling »

sublinear wrote: post #48

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 r…

> far too many people avoid strength training.

Yes, because it hurts.

Lifting weights is sore and exhausting. You're never going to persuade rhe plurality of people to improve their physical condition by enduring pain, it needs to be engaging and appealing.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#94

Post by strken »

delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #88
strken wrote: post #75

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Have you ever heard of the motivational technique where, instead of telling themselves "I'm going for a run", people will say "I'm going to put my shoes on and see how I feel, no commitment and no pressure", and they end up nearly always going for a run anyway plus they do it more often and have more fun? Also, have you read Dynomight's blog post[0] about how the biggest barrier to starting exercise isn't improving t…

Yes. I ran a half-marathon few years back when I used to box actively (didn’t compete, but sparred competitors). I woke up early 3 times a week to do 5km run no matter the weather. These days I just lift heavy weights. I think I know every motivational technique there is at this point. What matters is that you move, consistently, every week, for years, for rest of your life. I’m kinda person who wants to just lay on…

Good for you, but that is entirely you describing your life and doesn't address the point.

Which was that, if "what matters is that you move, consistently, every week", then it's motivational to tell sedentary people that pretty much any amount of exercise will do. Once you get over the initial activation energy then exercise is easier.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#95

Post by mapotofu »

dingaling wrote: post #92
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…

> you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion. That's not ever going to be enjoyable. Tolerable, perhaps, given focus on the goal, but few people would be willing to tolerate it. Maybe it's a surprise to you but most people's reaction to doing exercise is "when will this end?" rather than "yayy pain and breathlessness!"

That’s why it helps to reframe the gym as training for life by making one stronger at tolerating discomfort. Showing up, consistently, even when you don’t want to, and battling through discomfort, are transferable skills throughout life and progressive training is exactly that.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#96

Post by bitshiftfaced »

I looked into the return on investment of exercise in terms of hours spent exercising and expected hours of waking life you gain. In short, it's a good investment, especially if you do vigorous exercise (both cardio and resistance training). It's an even better time investment if you can do it at home and cut out the commute time to the gym. You don't actually need more than maybe a couple hundred dollars worth of equipment.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#97

Post by edanm »

dingaling wrote: post #92
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…

> you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion. That's not ever going to be enjoyable. Tolerable, perhaps, given focus on the goal, but few people would be willing to tolerate it. Maybe it's a surprise to you but most people's reaction to doing exercise is "when will this end?" rather than "yayy pain and breathlessness!"

> That's not ever going to be enjoyable. Tolerable, perhaps, given focus on the goal, but few people would be willing to tolerate it.

This is wrong in multiple ways.

For one thing, lots of people enjoy pain and discomfort caused by exercise. Some people even enjoy pain directly! There's ample evidence of this. You're painting with way too broad a brush given that there's enormous variance between people.

Secondly, there's clear evidence that many people do enjoy exercising, because gyms/parks/basketball courts/whateverl are often very busy. Are all these people just waiting for it to end? They're there voluntarily.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#98

Post by mrgoldenbrown »

dingaling wrote: post #92
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…

> you found a way to move your body that you genuinely enjoy? All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion. That's not ever going to be enjoyable. Tolerable, perhaps, given focus on the goal, but few people would be willing to tolerate it. Maybe it's a surprise to you but most people's reaction to doing exercise is "when will this end?" rather than "yayy pain and breathlessness!"

Exertion does not actually imply discomfort for everyone (maybe it does for you , I'm not in your body). I would argue most people dancing in a club are doing it because it's fun, not painful. Same with kids splashing in a pool, or anyone playing DDR or beat saber, etc. People have voluntarily exercised throughout history. Certainly it was easier when I was younger, and the endorphins overpowered any pain. I have to be more deliberate now in my old age but there are still plenty of non painful ways to move my body.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#99

Post by delis-thumbs-7e »

strken wrote: post #94
delis-thumbs-7e wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yes. I ran a half-marathon few years back when I used to box actively (didn’t compete, but sparred competitors). I woke up early 3 times a week to do 5km run no matter the weather. These days I just lift heavy weights. I think I know every motivational technique there is at this point. What matters is that you move, consistently, every week, for years, for rest of your life. I’m kinda person who wants to just lay on…

Good for you, but that is entirely you describing your life and doesn't address the point. Which was that, if "what matters is that you move, consistently, every week", then it's motivational to tell sedentary people that pretty much any amount of exercise will do. Once you get over the initial activation energy then exercise is easier.

It addresses the point exactly. I doscuss my experience to show I quote know what I am talking about. Any amount of exercise is pnly good for long run if you do it consistently, with enough intensity and for long time. Your 5min ab workout that you manage to keep up for two weeks is basically meaningless. 5000 steps, 15min workouts, 30min jogs, there has been plenty of this fads and no, they do not get people moving in the long term. Forcing yourself to put on running shoes every morning works up to a point when it doesn’t - you get injured, ill, meet someone, Christmas, summer vacation abroad, new job, anything. And you won’t go back, because you hated running in the first place.

What does, is getting a hobby where you move. It might be chasing butterflies or Freestyle Wrestling, doesn’t matter as long as you think it is fun.

I don’t know why you argue when I’m basically giving a cheat code how to start enjoying sports and exercising. If you enjoy something you do it more, what is here to argue?

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#100

Post by sublinear »

dingaling wrote: post #93
sublinear wrote: post #48

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 r…

> far too many people avoid strength training. Yes, because it hurts. Lifting weights is sore and exhausting. You're never going to persuade rhe plurality of people to improve their physical condition by enduring pain, it needs to be engaging and appealing.

I'll respond anyway, but please don't do this here.

Unless you have an injury or disability, there's always a weight you can lift that doesn't hurt for a decent amount of reps.

You already lift your own weight all the time. You can always add more and keep going at your own pace from there. The whole point of strength training is to be comfortable lifting increasing amounts of weight over time.

For all the reasons I already listed in other comments, it's the simplest and fastest known way to not feeling like shit all the time. This is a form of exercise that can be done effectively with minimal sweating indoors. It doesn't get any simpler than this. Consider that all forms of exercise involve weight. If even this "hurts", you might have an injury you weren't aware of.

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