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Resolutions for programmers (2012)

matt.might.net

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Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#131

Post by tsuraan »

mysterypie wrote: post #118
mordocai wrote: post #109

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Lifting is actually very efficient and having more muscle can help for lots of everyday tasks. I think you are just hanging out with the wrong people if all (or even most) of the people you know who lift are doing it for "girls"

> having more muscle can help for lots of everyday tasks When I've discussed the motivation with weight-lifting friends, they bring up that very point. Then I ask them to give an example of something they did with their strength today or in the last month, that I couldn't have done just as easily (I'm average strength). After long thought they come up contrived examples like, I had to lift my motorbike to change a ti…

Well, since I started working out regularly two years ago, I've definitely noticed that shoveling snow is a lot easier. I've always been able to slog through it, but I'd be sore afterwards. Now, I can clear the driveway, remove the snowplow's gift at the end, and clear the debris from my neighbor's driveway without any trouble. It's nice.

FWIW, my motivation for working out is to be better at parkour. It's helped a ton for that, but most people don't do that sort of thing regularly. Being good at shoveling snow is just great.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#132

Post by henry_vonfire »

icebraining wrote: post #124
henry_vonfire wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I haven't met anyone in a gym who is not willing to give you advices about how to lift.

Why would I trust advice from random strangers? For all I know, they're damaging themselves as well.

You don't have to trust them, but that won't change the fact that they are willing to do it. You can compare and research by yourself if you think that what someone has told you can risk your health.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#133

Post by kbutler »

mysterypie wrote: post #103
richmt wrote: post #48

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had…

> I urge everyone here to take up lifting Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it. Pr…

Happily married for 20 years. Definitely not doing it to "get girls". Health, longevity, stress reduction, facilitate physical work and recreation, etc.

Did some resistance training a few years ago - felt good, lost fat while doing it.

Shifted to cardio for a few years with an employee sponsored cardio-centric wellness program. Experienced a gradual fat gain and knee and back pain, although I was running 20-30 miles per week, using far too much time per week.

Shifting back to weights the last few months. Not being very rigorous, but doing the exercises in "Starting Strength". Back pain* and knee pain now very infrequent. Strength is increased. Some muscle definition improvement (though lots of excess fat still).

* Lower back pain actually made me very hesitant to do deadlifts. I started with the bar and the very lightest weights and gradually progressed, being VERY cautious about strain on the lower back. I'm only dead lifting ~200 lbs at this point, but my back is much happier.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#134

Post by khalilravanna »

mysterypie wrote: post #103
richmt wrote: post #48

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had…

> I urge everyone here to take up lifting Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it. Pr…

While I think there are a lot of people who do it for this reason : making themselves seem more appealing to others, I think a lot of people do it for the right reason too: to look better for oneself and to be healthier.

I personally started lifting in college because I thought it was fun and was sick of being super skinny (6' 130lbs). I wanted to be stronger and healthier because lord knows the rest of my time was spent programming, playing video games, or drinking. And I think that's the key, you should be working out for yourself not for others. Do it because you want to look better for yourself, do it because you want to be healthier.

(Anecdotally, I didn't notice that girls found me any more or less attractive after working out and putting on 20 lbs of muscle. That would be have been shitty if that was my end goal.)

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#135

Post by Yhippa »

richmt wrote: post #122
slaunchwise wrote: post #107

Earlier quoted context omitted.

If you're new to weightlifting, this is a simple, effective entry point: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ You use 5 compound exercises and work out 3 times per week. Recommendation is to start as light as possible.

I see stronglifts 5x5 recommended a lot on sites like reddit and generally disagree that beginners should start out with it. From what I've read online, the 5x5 structure often leads to quicker stalling in progression for some than doing 3x5 like starting strength has you do for squat, overhead, and bench. Also, some people really don't need to start as light as SL will have you starting on. Anecdotally, a friend of…

Do you know if Starting Strength is available in eBook form anywhere? I can't seem to find it.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#136

Post by mikestew »

k-mcgrady wrote: post #44
victorp13 wrote: post #28

13. Work on volunteer projects I set this resolution for myself last year, and have been able to work on three projects via http://socialcoder.org/ - feels very fulfilling!

Thank you for posting this. Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is and I believe I'd get much more satisfaction from doing something that helps others. Social coder looks like a great solution to this for me.

Over the last year I've been thinking about switching careers as I've noticed how unimportant what I work on is

If I might suggest an alternative way of thinking, I would argue that even if your day job is figuring out ways to entice people to click on ads, it can still be important because it allows you to make arseloads of money which you then turn around and redistribute to the charities of your choice. Me, I like my work and like to think my work makes the lives of the people that use it just a teensy bit better. But like my work or not, when the local charity says "help, we're in a crunch and need money for $GOOD_CAUSE" I can whip out the checkbook, write a $1000 check and still make the mortgage payment.

And this isn't theoretical, I've actually gone through this mental exercise with the local animal shelter. Is it better that I do a job that doesn't have quite as high a hiring bar as software, for less money, but doing "good work"? Or continue pulling down fat stacks in software, physically volunteer when I can, and write big checks? I chose the latter. As Tyler Durden said, "you are not your job." You are, however, what you do with the fruits of your job.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#137

Post by richmt »

k__ wrote: post #129
richmt wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see stronglifts 5x5 recommended a lot on sites like reddit and generally disagree that beginners should start out with it. From what I've read online, the 5x5 structure often leads to quicker stalling in progression for some than doing 3x5 like starting strength has you do for squat, overhead, and bench. Also, some people really don't need to start as light as SL will have you starting on. Anecdotally, a friend of…

How about hypertrophy? Can I simply do 5x5 with 10-12 reps per set and switch the focus from strength away?

Unfortunately I don't know much about hypertrophy training, so I may be wrong with a few of the things I'm about to say.

I think that yes, higher reps at lower weight in the 8-12 rep range will generally target hypertrophy more than strength. You wouldn't necessarily want to do a strength program with higher reps to build hypertrophy however, as things like recovery will differ at higher ranges. I want to say that there would be diminishing returns fast if you only did compound exercises at high rep ranges.

I also see many hypertrophy programs will incorporate more exercises which isolate muscles at higher rep ranges than strength programs. I'm sure that this has to do with recovery, since you'll often see split programs like PPL (push pull legs) which offer more days in the gym split up between different muscle groups.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#138

Post by wildmusings »

khgvljhkb wrote: post #32
mosburger wrote: post #20

#3 Embrace the Uncomfortable - one thing I did a few years ago that might fall into this category (as an American) is start using the 24h clock. It makes working w/ remotes a lot easier because you become good at doing the +12 math and knowing which hour it represents. :)

How wonderful would the world be if we had a base 10 clock instead of 24? Let's make a day be 86400 seconds (already a SI standard), and then you can divide that into tenths, hundreds or whatever. One thousand of a day is 84.4 seconds, which is close to a minute (which is (/ 60 (/ 24 one-day))). We have metric for measurements in space, but something as simple for day-to-day time measurement would be nice.

Revolutionary France actually tried this. Thankfully, Napoleon saved the French from themselves.

It's not a bad idea in principle, but the massive cost of switching wouldn't be worth the marginal gains.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#139

Post by richmt »

Yhippa wrote: post #135
richmt wrote: post #122

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I see stronglifts 5x5 recommended a lot on sites like reddit and generally disagree that beginners should start out with it. From what I've read online, the 5x5 structure often leads to quicker stalling in progression for some than doing 3x5 like starting strength has you do for squat, overhead, and bench. Also, some people really don't need to start as light as SL will have you starting on. Anecdotally, a friend of…

Do you know if Starting Strength is available in eBook form anywhere? I can't seem to find it.

there is a kindle version for sale on amazon.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#140

Post by richmt »

dorfsmay wrote: post #82
richmt wrote: post #48

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had…

I'm assuming you mean you are committed to do weight lifting 3 times a week, not that you have dedicated 3 entire days per week to it, right? Edit: I'm surprised by the downvotes, I was just asking for a clarification, "committing 3 days per week" could mean dedicate 3 days just to that.

Yes, I meant 3 times a week.
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