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Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

derekthompson.org

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Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#141

Post by kccqzy »

david-gpu wrote: post #96
sharkweek wrote: post #20

I can directly tie my mood to how much exercise I’ve had in a given week. It’s also easy, given how busy life feels, to let the proverbial frog boil in water when it comes to this. My partner often comments when I’ve been a little grumpier than usual by saying, “you should go on a bike ride.” It really works wonders on the soul (and the more physical heart and lungs) getting out for a spin in the fresh air.

There is something about riding a bike that lifts people's mood like nothing else. It's the closest thing to flying like a bird that most of us will ever see. It lets you experience your neighborhood in a different light.

Riding a bike lifts my mood certainly but it doesn't let me experience my neighborhood. I zoom past the neighborhood and at 15mph you can hardly experience it. You might have some vague ideas about architectural styles in the neighborhood but that's it. If the neighborhood has shops, you can't easily visit them without first parking the bike. You need to walk to really experience a neighborhood.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#142

Post by antisthenes »

fmbb wrote: post #52
pmarreck wrote: post #30

Earlier 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 not perfect. We are still better at running long distances for long stretches of time than any other animal.

Not really. We are on par with many animals, or rather they are on par with us, with some tradeoffs on both sides (e.g. humans are better in hotter weather).

Wolves, wild dogs, horses (and other fast hoofed herbivores) are all roughly on par in pure ability to run.

What made us even more successful is the ability to plan and organize (wolves have this), sweat (only humans can do full-body) and use of tools.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#143

Post by ssl-3 »

krembo wrote: post #128
only-one1701 wrote: post #84

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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?

The word "faith" is sufficient to describe the discordance here.

A person cannot be reasoned out of a position they didn't reason themselves into.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#144

Post by apwell23 »

bad_username wrote: post #76

> 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…

Its to preempt "oh you are so lucky" distraction

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#145

Post by kccqzy »

busymom0 wrote: post #107
LeftHandPath wrote: post #10

The best way to make a happy, healthy person into an unhappy, unhealthy person is to keep them lonely and keep them still. It should come as no surprise that the inverse also tends to hold true. On a tangent, I think that's part of why volunteering can be so rewarding.

> The best way to make a happy, healthy person into an unhappy, unhealthy person is to keep them lonely and keep them still. That's pretty much what was done during the pandemic unfortunately.

There were no restrictions on running or biking in the pandemic. Quite the opposite. Because indoor entertainment venues like bars weren't available, I saw way more people embracing the outdoors.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#146

Post by jon-wood »

softwaredoug wrote: post #110

If you exercise a lot, be sure to fuel your workouts. Eat a healthy calories surplus so your body doesn’t go into panic mode and sacrifice muscle and bone tissue. I’m in my 40s and have exercised my whole life. But still did intermittent fasting (skipped breakfast). I’m a standard deviation below average bone density and have lost some cartilage in my knee from underfueled long runs (I was diagnosed with RED-S). Now…

I took up climbing a couple of months ago and for the first few weeks felt really rough, it took me that long to realise there were days when between the actual climbing and walking to and from the gym I was burning an extra thousand calories. I’ve since started making an effort to track how much I’m eating and how much I’m burning and feel tons better, if slightly full on the days I get home and realise dinner should be as much as I’d eat in a typical day before I was exercising.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#147

Post by yieldcrv »

jstummbillig wrote: post #127
bad_username wrote: post #76

> 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?

Because its not preemptive, this is them reaching the right side of the guilt bell curve

For people raised to be susceptible to guilt from a young age

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#148

Post by aio2 »

datameta wrote: post #26

Walking is exercise. Never forget that. Consistency over sporadic herculean efforts always wins out.

Walking is definitely better than sitting down all day, but that shouldn't be the goal. Weight training and more intense cardio are more important.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#149

Post by david-gpu »

kccqzy wrote: post #141
david-gpu wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

There is something about riding a bike that lifts people's mood like nothing else. It's the closest thing to flying like a bird that most of us will ever see. It lets you experience your neighborhood in a different light.

Riding a bike lifts my mood certainly but it doesn't let me experience my neighborhood. I zoom past the neighborhood and at 15mph you can hardly experience it. You might have some vague ideas about architectural styles in the neighborhood but that's it. If the neighborhood has shops, you can't easily visit them without first parking the bike. You need to walk to really experience a neighborhood.

Nothing is forcing you to ride at 15mph. Walking doesn't let you go very far in a reasonable amount of time, either, and I'm one of those 10K steps a day sort of people.

Re: Why Exercise Is a Miracle Drug

#150

Post by mips_avatar »

bad_username wrote: post #76

> 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 think you might feel differently if you spent some time in sub saharan Africa. I went for the first time this year and was amazed at the warmth and generosity of the people I met. I was also shocked at how solvable most of their problems are with even just a little bit of money. Like I felt guilty, not in like a pay back way but in a "wow i can't believe how much time this lady would save if this village had can openers" kind of way.
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