When I got laid off from my first job, I used the extra time to start going to the gym. Years later the habit has still stuck, and I actually think I was so incredibly lucky to get laid off. Working out has been such a massive improvement in all areas of life. Health problems went away, mental health got better, sleep quality got better, it truly is a miracle drug. It’s a shame that the habit is hard to form.
Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
121–130 of 260 posts
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#122Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Our bodies are mechanically optimized for running at every level My flat feet (and those of my mom, and those of one of her parents, ad infinitum) would beg to differ lol Also, most of the energy our bodies burn to run just turns into heat, it's all very inefficient... even if sweating itself works pretty well, and even if our heat tolerance is high assuming we have a source of fresh water
My wife's a podiatrist. I can conjure what I've heard her tell a thousand people over the years: invest in arch supports. Shoot for the ones that run about $50 and are rigid. Don't start with the $500 custom ones, and skip the $10 soft ones you see at the pharmacy. Go to REI or a running shop or a sporting goods store and get those instead. My knees freaking killed me when I was running. I started using the supports…
What the brand of arch support are you using?
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#123This article feels like a bait-and-switch. Why isn't it two articles - one on the benefits of exercise and one on US foreign aid policy?
At a minimum, I don't feel the HN post title properly reflects the full contents of the article.
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#124> That I was born in the capital of the world’s richest country is one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life—a pure accident of timing and gametes. There is no way to pay back this good fortune, and wallowing in guilt over it would do nothing, either. Why in the world does the author have to feel so bad about beibg lucky in some way? How does luck deserve the feeling of guilt? This has to be as unhealthy as exer…
I guess it is the same as taking a multiple-choice test, filling it out randomly and getting a perfect score. Yes, you are lucky. But also: you should feel guilty about it. Same with random things happening in your life and turning out well. If you don't know why they happened then who says you will be lucky the next time? Better feel a little guilty and try to understand how you can turn the odds your way (and perha…
Why is the guilt necessary?
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#125> The author Daniel Lieberman has put it well: Exercise is healthy and rewarding even though it’s something we never evolved to do. We have ostensibly spent much of our evolutionary budget on the ability to run ~indefinitely no matter what. Compared to virtually any other animal, we can vastly outperform them in the most arduous environments. Our bodies are mechanically optimized for running at every level. We have c…
> Our bodies are mechanically optimized for running at every level My flat feet (and those of my mom, and those of one of her parents, ad infinitum) would beg to differ lol Also, most of the energy our bodies burn to run just turns into heat, it's all very inefficient... even if sweating itself works pretty well, and even if our heat tolerance is high assuming we have a source of fresh water
I had flat feet most of my life, until I started a 5x per week yoga practice (ashtanga based). One day about a year into it I noticed that I had defined arches, something I hadn’t expected at all. All those one leg standing balancing poses really develops your ankles, knees, and feet.
Some years later when I started running with typical arch supporting running shoes, picked out for me at a specialty running store where they record your stride etc, I developed pretty bad plantar fasciitis as soon as I started hitting 8k on my runs. Swapped them out for zero drop Altras and I haven’t had issues since.
All that is to say our feet are pretty well designed as long as you give it the strengthening it needs. You should take care of your feet, but not coddle them, is how I’ve come to view it.
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#126> Exercise is healthy and rewarding even though it’s something we never evolved to do.
OTOH we have billions or more mechanisms (basically all of them) that assume that we exercise regularly, at least when we are healthy.
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#127> That I was born in the capital of the world’s richest country is one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life—a pure accident of timing and gametes. There is no way to pay back this good fortune, and wallowing in guilt over it would do nothing, either. Why in the world does the author have to feel so bad about beibg lucky in some way? How does luck deserve the feeling of guilt? This has to be as unhealthy as exer…
I am confused. Just in that small excerpt you quoted it reads "wallowing in guilt over it would do nothing, either", explicitly rejecting the larger part of idea you are critizing?
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#128> That I was born in the capital of the world’s richest country is one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life—a pure accident of timing and gametes. There is no way to pay back this good fortune, and wallowing in guilt over it would do nothing, either. Why in the world does the author have to feel so bad about beibg lucky in some way? How does luck deserve the feeling of guilt? This has to be as unhealthy as exer…
When you see how much suffering is allotted to those less lucky than yourself it’s natural to feel a little bad or guilty. It shows that you care about the wellbeing of others. Not helpful to beat yourself up but to shrug your shoulders and go “sucks to suck” is bad.
I've traveled to some of the poorest parts of the world. I try to donate regularly to the less fortunate. Yet, I've never felt guilt. What does guilt have to do with admitting the world is a cruel place?
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#129> That I was born in the capital of the world’s richest country is one of the greatest strokes of luck in my life—a pure accident of timing and gametes. There is no way to pay back this good fortune, and wallowing in guilt over it would do nothing, either. Why in the world does the author have to feel so bad about beibg lucky in some way? How does luck deserve the feeling of guilt? This has to be as unhealthy as exer…
> Why in the world does the author have to feel so bad about beibg lucky in some way?
For the same reason you have survivors guilt. When you see the similarity in others, ie empathy, and you see a divergent fate from yourself (either positive or negative), you can feel an incongruence when real world picks vastly different outcomes. This is deeply human, and likely goes further back to primates or even mammals.
Conversely, this is the sympathetic effect that can trick people into buying lottery tickets because if they see a ”nobody” winning big, ”they can too”, despite the odds. Or the American version: working at Walmart and seeing a billionaire on TV and thinking ”that’s me, soon”.
Recognizing the luck of birth conditions isn’t any different. I can relate because they are extremely strong predictors of welfare and success, but it’s also not something I go around and dwell on or causes me any pain. I think most people who get frustrated with others recognizing their own privilege is it can undermine their sense of identity, such as ”everything i have is a result of my individual hard work, and those who have less are lazy”. You can build a false identity on either premise.
Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug
#130Earlier quoted context omitted.
> Our bodies are mechanically optimized for running at every level My flat feet (and those of my mom, and those of one of her parents, ad infinitum) would beg to differ lol Also, most of the energy our bodies burn to run just turns into heat, it's all very inefficient... even if sweating itself works pretty well, and even if our heat tolerance is high assuming we have a source of fresh water
Nobody claimed we are intelligently designed. Evolution is not perfect. We are still better at running long distances for long stretches of time than any other animal.
Evolution is also just optimizing you to live long enough to reproduce and then help your kids get well set up. So, it is fine if your legs start to go in your 40’s. You can help chase down the antelopes ‘till then, then go weave baskets and watch the fire for a decade or so, then die in your 50’s.
Actually, it doesn’t seem like a horrible life, but I think we’re hoping to stick around a little longer.