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How little exercise can you get away with?

economist.com

101–110 of 117 posts

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#101

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!"

> All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion.

This is just ridiculous. If this is actually true to ypu, please seek medical care immediately. You might not have long left.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#102

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!"

>All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort, otherwise it isn't exertion.

Not really, it causes pain and discomfort only when you have fucked up your body to the point where even a small amount of exertion is over the limit. Children seek physical exertion and will do it even against orders. A 6 y.o. is running around not because he is overcoming pain for the future health benefits, he is doing it because it's enjoyable for a body that has not degraded through decades of bad habits. People spend thousands a year on running shoes or bikes or tennis rackets and club membership are not doing that to enhance their pain and suffering either.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#103
post #4

Median age of 61… 4.4 minutes of “vigorous” activity. Hard to interpret this as anything else that if you remain being able to be somehow active in your later years you will be better off. I find all of the studies of “how little exercise” is needed sad. Instead we should be focusing on how to restructure modern lifestyle to allow everybody to achieve the minimum of cardiovascular and strength exercises.

Completely restructuring society seems so simple to some people.

It took us centuries to screw everything so I don’t claim any of this is simple. But we will need to start actually fixing stuff eventually, rather than adding patches.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#104
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily PT is cheap and affordable and available under most us insurance plans.

I assume this is sarcasm? In the US, getting a medical plan to pay for physical therapy is an uphill battle akin to hiking Mt.Everest. Observed this both with my partner and parent. It's nearly impossible to achieve.

Wait, seriously?

I broke my arm late last year in NYC pretty badly, ended up having to get a surgery for carpal tunnel release + a titanium plate implanted.

Doctor told me I needed to do physical therapy for a few months after the surgery (which made perfect sense, because I could barely move/rotate my wrist, no finger/grip strength, and my mobility range was abysmal).

I searched for a reputable PT place nearby that was accepting new patients and that was a member of the American Society of Hand Therapists (per my doctor's recommendation), scheduled an appointment for the week after, gave them my employer's insurance info, and that was it. I never had to interact with the insurance company throughout the entire process, and they covered it just fine.

I know it is anecdotal, but out of my friends who deal with PT way more often than me (typically those who are seriously into competitive team sports), I am yet to hear of a differing experience either.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#105
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Luckily PT is cheap and affordable and available under most us insurance plans.

I assume this is sarcasm? In the US, getting a medical plan to pay for physical therapy is an uphill battle akin to hiking Mt.Everest. Observed this both with my partner and parent. It's nearly impossible to achieve.

If you need prolonged therapy under most health plans I have had, costs can well exceed $100 a week in copays. and thats assuming you can get a good one and it is covered.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#106
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume this is sarcasm? In the US, getting a medical plan to pay for physical therapy is an uphill battle akin to hiking Mt.Everest. Observed this both with my partner and parent. It's nearly impossible to achieve.

Wait, seriously? I broke my arm late last year in NYC pretty badly, ended up having to get a surgery for carpal tunnel release + a titanium plate implanted. Doctor told me I needed to do physical therapy for a few months after the surgery (which made perfect sense, because I could barely move/rotate my wrist, no finger/grip strength, and my mobility range was abysmal). I searched for a reputable PT place nearby that…

your experience is not everyone’s.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#107
post #85

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I assume this is sarcasm? In the US, getting a medical plan to pay for physical therapy is an uphill battle akin to hiking Mt.Everest. Observed this both with my partner and parent. It's nearly impossible to achieve.

Wait, seriously? I broke my arm late last year in NYC pretty badly, ended up having to get a surgery for carpal tunnel release + a titanium plate implanted. Doctor told me I needed to do physical therapy for a few months after the surgery (which made perfect sense, because I could barely move/rotate my wrist, no finger/grip strength, and my mobility range was abysmal). I searched for a reputable PT place nearby that…

For my partner it was something like (about ten years ago so don't recall exact numbers) doctor said: you need physical theraphy every other day for three months.

Insurance said: you get four sessions total. But you can pay the rest out of pocket.

For my parent it was a bit better, they covered all the sessions but only max of 30 minutes per day. My parent at the time was in mid 80s so could not rush through it so quick, needed like an hour. Therapist was forced to leave after 30 min and leave some instructions to do the other half alone.

But hey, insurance company CxOs got some nice fat bonuses, so that's all that matters!

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#108

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!"

> All physical exertion causes pain and discomfort,

Dance. Sex. Climbing things. Playing a sport you enjoy.

Demonstrably wrong.

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Wait, seriously? I broke my arm late last year in NYC pretty badly, ended up having to get a surgery for carpal tunnel release + a titanium plate implanted. Doctor told me I needed to do physical therapy for a few months after the surgery (which made perfect sense, because I could barely move/rotate my wrist, no finger/grip strength, and my mobility range was abysmal). I searched for a reputable PT place nearby that…

your experience is not everyone’s.

Well aware, thanks, hence the "I know it is anecdotal".

Re: How little exercise can you get away with?

#110

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I do not understand this type of objection. What is the point of shooting down a reasonable recommendation (in this case exercise and having fun doing so) with a handwavy moral plight such as yours? It truly is a bizarre spin on whataboutism.

What objection is there? Talk about “handwavy” comments there. This framing is ableist, whether intentional or not, and I was pointing out not everyone is in a situation where this is the case: > 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. Answer: because exerci…

God your comments are soo horrible and toxic.
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