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What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

deanproxy.com

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Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#111

Post by ramblerman »

Amadou wrote: post #20

I once knew a guy who thought he could eat as much junk food as he wanted as long as he made up for it with "super-foods" (moringa MLM scam actually). Regular workouts don't decrease death risk if you're also a couch potato -- http://www.nbcnews.com/id/38385104/ns/health-fitness/ People who sit for most of the day are 54 percent more likely to die of heart attacks -- http://health.yahoo.net/experts/menshealth/most-da…

regarding the first link:

"When combined with a lack of physical activity, the association was even stronger. Women and men who both sat more and were less physically active were 94 percent and 48 percent more likely to die during the study period"

Compared to 37% and 18% when they did workout.

I would call that a pretty significant improvement, and a stupid conclusion. Did you read the article?

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#112

Post by mironathetin »

I agree that software development as a job works only, if you exercise regularly. During the last 15 years, I swim regularly, twice a week, usually 2km freestyle. And I run once a week, 12 km. I do this with my wife and we do it before work. We always insisted to get the time in the morning. In summer, when the outdoor pools are open, we swim outside, although the pools open only at 9 am. We aren't at our desk before 10:30 in that case (once or twice a week). I won't accept a work that doesn't give me this freedom.

In the evening, the kids are at home and we cannot leave. And all the lazy office guys drift in the pool and this is annoying, if you want to swim.

I am 48 now and have zero health issues. No back problems, no blood pressure problems, not an ounce overweight. Same with my wife.

I can only whole-heartedly encourage everyone to do the same. It sets a standard for software developers and life is so much more enjoyable.

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#113

Post by astral303 »

jacquesm wrote: post #19
deanproxy wrote: post #9

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I wouldn't call what I did or even what I do as "extreme". Far from it. Taking steroids and growth hormone is extreme. Lifting weights and enjoying it to the point where you want to better yourself at it? I don't see it as extreme. I also do not go several months without working out often. I did it during a shoulder surgery recovery and again earlier this year. I agree that is not a good idea, but life does get in th…

> Lifting weights and enjoying it to the point where you want to better yourself at it? I don't see it as extreme. I do. It is moving for the sake of moving rather than to achieve some productive effect. To me exercise is riding my to a place where I need to go rather than going by car if the distance is about right and the weather on the way out not too brutal. Walking, playing with the kids and so on. Lifting weigh…

Lifting weights doesn't burn that many calories, compared to walking, running, etc. You can also have substantial strength gains by doing it just 2-3 times a week.

"Resistance training" gives you muscle mass so you can live longer. It gives you strength so you can do more in your daily life--lift a heavy object and without injuring yourself, for example. Having good leg strength can help prevent knee injury when you're out hiking with your kids.

Are you chopping and stacking wood at home? Lifting anything heavy (as trite as that sounds) at work? Or anything physically challenging that requires strength throughout the week? Chances are, like many of us geeks, the answer is no or very little. Lifting weights is a way to fix that. If you were working a physically demanding job, you wouldn't need to lift weights.

And anyway, don't interpret lifting weights too literally! Don't buy weights, use your body: pushups, pullups, etc. You can do pullups off the edge of a desk. Dips off the edge of a chair. Lunges and squats and "jumpy" versions thereof will give you plenty of leg and hip strength without any weights.

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#114

Post by sergiosgc »

awjr wrote: post #50

I would strongly suggest anyone looking at this and saying they don't have the time to invest in this to also consider the mental benefits that exercise brings. I don't feel I have time (which I know is wrong) and I particularly do not like gyms, but I cycle to work (2 miles) and on the way home I'll take a detour and add an extra 5-10 miles to my trip home. It clears the cobwebs. Cycling can be very meditative as we…

If we're trading exercise experiences, I'll vouch for regular tennis. It's easy enough to learn as an adult, you do not have to coordinate a full team to play a match, the aerobic load is entirely dependent on the level of your sparring partner and, for me, it has the social aspect that guarantees I keep practising. Even when I don't feel like going, there is someone calling and challenging for a match.

The usual warnings apply: It is asymmetrical and, for God's sake, buy a good racket or you will get tennis elbow (good dampening of vibrations virtually eliminated tennis elbow, but only the good material does it right)

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#115

Post by daliusd »

stinos wrote: post #75
dtf wrote: post #34

My winter workout: pomodoro technique + no heating + pull-up bar. Work 25 minutes. Now you're so cold your fingers are about to drop off. Do push-ups until warm again. Work another 25 minutes. Now do pull-ups. Repeat..

Not sure if you're serious, but having spent the last winter without central heating due to rather unfortunate renovation works timing, I'm really not sure this is a good thing. There were several consecutive weeks where the temperature inside would never rise above 10degrees celcius as we only head a small petrol burner. At night the condensation froze on the walls (outside temperatures of -10 degrees celcius). Sure…

It is so easy to forget that HN has people from very different parts of the world. I guess that technique described above will not work in Finland's winter at all.

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#116

Post by RyanMcGreal »

seszett wrote: post #64
awjr wrote: post #50

I would strongly suggest anyone looking at this and saying they don't have the time to invest in this to also consider the mental benefits that exercise brings. I don't feel I have time (which I know is wrong) and I particularly do not like gyms, but I cycle to work (2 miles) and on the way home I'll take a detour and add an extra 5-10 miles to my trip home. It clears the cobwebs. Cycling can be very meditative as we…

I cycle to and from work, but my route essentially just goes from one side to the other of the city center, which means some narrow streets, some cobbled streets, and a lot of cars. On the contrary to my previous job where the route was mostly car-free, my current cycling doesn't clear anything and adds to stress instead of relieving it. Walking is fine, but feels so... slow, and inefficient.

I'm either a 20 minute walk or a 6 minute bike ride to work. I used to walk because I figured it meant 40 minutes of walking five days a week, but I found it wasn't enough exercise to avoid becoming overweight. Now I cycle to work and go on a hard 45-minute bike ride during my lunch hour.

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#117

Post by RyanMcGreal »

noarchy wrote: post #103
awjr wrote: post #50

I would strongly suggest anyone looking at this and saying they don't have the time to invest in this to also consider the mental benefits that exercise brings. I don't feel I have time (which I know is wrong) and I particularly do not like gyms, but I cycle to work (2 miles) and on the way home I'll take a detour and add an extra 5-10 miles to my trip home. It clears the cobwebs. Cycling can be very meditative as we…

I have to concur with the exercise-as-commute routine. I also cycle to/from work. My ride home, where I keep a brisk pace with some sprints mixed in, is actually my real workout. It is quite satisfying to arrive home having already worked out, effectively. Not to mention, it is faster than taking the bus in my case. A few catches: it does help strengthen your core, to an extent, but you aren't working your arms and u…

Where in Canada are you? I live in Southern Ontario and there are usually only a couple of days a year when the weather is too lousy to cycle.

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#118

Post by johnward »

stass wrote: post #54
jarjoura wrote: post #3

100% agree. Also a perk of living in a city (such as San Francisco) is I can walk EVERYWHERE, including work and I do. Like the OP, walking to and from work and hitting the gym most days has vastly improved my quality of life and it doesn't even take away from much of my evening. If you need something to get you motivated, grab a Fitbit tracker and/or scale and track yourself. It'll only work in the beginning, but if…

> Also a perk of living in a city (such as San Francisco) How is it related to living in a city? At least in the Bay Area you can walk/cycle pretty much everywhere if your work is close enough to your job. And cycling in suburbs is usually safer/healthier than e.g. in San Francisco. You're out of luck if your job is far from your home though. But one will have the same problem in city as well in that case.

Maybe it's more of a perk of living close enough to your workplace. I commute 60 miles one way. No way I'm biking that everyday. It would take probably 8-9 hours round trip :)

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#119

Post by mironathetin »

oyvindeh wrote: post #31

Recently, there was an article in New Scientist about this[1]. Basically, if you sit for more than 6 hours a day, one hour of exercise a day doesn't undo the damage. The solution is to get up and move around often, i.e. every ~20 minutes or so. Exercise is still good even if you stand/move around often. And standing all day also has its problems, like others have mentioned. [1] http://www.newscientist.com/article/mg2…

"The solution is to get up and move around often, i.e. every ~20 minutes or so."

I agree. One method to force you to walk twice an hour is drinking a lot of water. This will keep your brain fit, you will be much less tired in the evening, when you leave for home. And - yes - you have to run to the bathroom quite often. 2-3 liters of water will do the job nicely.

That is also what my physician recommends (But don't try that with sweet or sweetened drinks).

Re: What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise

#120

Post by oh_sigh »

ekidd wrote: post #82
awjr wrote: post #50

I would strongly suggest anyone looking at this and saying they don't have the time to invest in this to also consider the mental benefits that exercise brings. I don't feel I have time (which I know is wrong) and I particularly do not like gyms, but I cycle to work (2 miles) and on the way home I'll take a detour and add an extra 5-10 miles to my trip home. It clears the cobwebs. Cycling can be very meditative as we…

If anybody needs to optimize exercise time, also consider high-intensity interval training (HIIT) and bodyweight or dumbbell exercises. These can both be done at home, and they consistently have more effect on my overall fitness than long, medium-intensity cardio. HIIT is an old, popular technique; it's basically intervals of intense cardio separated by rest. For an introduction, see Couch-to-5K or the Zombies Run tr…

c25k isn't HIIT(high intensity interval training). It is just IT.

HIIT would be more like (sprint for 30 seconds, jog for 30 seconds) * 8

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