What happens when you sit at a desk for 13 years and also exercise • Hacker News Board

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

#151

Post by SkyMarshal » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 3:55 PM UTC

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…

HIIT also works with strength training, not just cardio-oriented stuff. 30 min workout per day, 3 sets of the heaviest weight you can handle, highest exertion you can muster, with a couple different exercises.

Our bodies respond well to extreme variation in exertion, and HIIT strength training is another way of accomplishing that besides HIIT cardio.

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

#152

Post by kstenerud » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:12 PM UTC

peterwwillis wrote: post #136

My humble advice: Don't be an armchair health & fitness expert. Read up on it for intellectual stimulation, but don't expect to learn any magical secrets to being in shape or healthy. All the magical secrets have been known for a long time, and they're really, really boring. You should do whatever makes you happy [within reason]. You should probably not drink 10 sodas and 5 bags of chips a day. But if you feel like h…

I've been doing 1 hour of high intensity exercise 6 days a week for a year now. What's interesting is how much my eating habits changed. At first I would try to avoid junk foods entirely, but that just led to cravings and I'd binge. So I opted for allowing the odd junk food, while also stocking my shelves with healthy snacks (like raw mixed nuts, for example).

What's interesting is that now I don't have any cravings for potato chips or candy bars whatsoever. In fact, just the thought of eating something like that is mildly repulsive. I drink water all the time now because most of the juices are too sweet for me (coconut milk is ok though), and eat unprocessed foods most of the time, not for some ideological reason, but because they tend to offer a MUCH more satisfying meal. Every now and then I'll eat a pizza, but I've found I end up feeling queasy afterwards. The high salt content (at least I'm guessing it's the salt content. You can certainly taste it, there's so much of it!) in most restaurant food leaves me with hours of a constant feeling of thirstiness that won't go away no matter how much water I drink.

The thing is, it wasn't something I decided I should do because it's good for me; it's just me following my body's cravings.

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

#153

Post by enraged_camel » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:30 PM UTC

coldtea wrote: post #149

enraged_camel wrote: post #140

Earlier quoted context omitted.

>>But if you feel like having one, fuck it, life is short. Yes, life is short. Therefore you should avoid things that will make it even shorter. I always hear stuff like "whatever man, you only live once." It seems so irrational to use that to justify bad habits. If you only live once, should you not try to increase the length and quality of that life by trying to be in the best health possible?

> Yes, life is short. Therefore you should avoid things that will make it even shorter. The second doesn't derive from the first. If anything, "life is short, so don't obsess about its duration" is a better guideline. > I always hear stuff like "whatever man, you only live once." It seems so irrational to use that to justify bad habits. If you only live once, should you not try to increase the length and quality of t…

If you equate quality with pleasure, sure. If you equate quality with lack of subsequent pain and discomfort, no.

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

#154

Post by crazygringo » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:32 PM UTC

For anyone interested... if you want good posture, if you want to really be in shape, there are a million fads out there, but the best book by far is "Starting Strength" [1]. (It's also one of the best-selling on Amazon.)

It essentially focuses on just the squat, deadlift, press, bench press, and (later) power clean, devoting around forty pages to each, and explains why you really don't need much else. They're quite difficult to get right, but the incredibly in-depth explanations will especially appeal to programmers who like understanding how things work.

I say this just because the book completely changed the way I approach the gym, and it mirrors what the article author says about the exercises he used.

[1] http://www.amazon.com/Starting-Strength-3rd-Mark-Rippetoe/dp...

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

#155

Post by vidarh » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:36 PM UTC

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…

If you exercised more, you would have more energy to burn.

Few things leaves you feeling more physically exhausted than being in bad shape.

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

#156

Post by jacquesm » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:40 PM UTC

vidarh wrote: post #155

jacquesm wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

If you exercised more, you would have more energy to burn. Few things leaves you feeling more physically exhausted than being in bad shape.

For 48 I'm in excellent shape, thank you. In fact if you're over 30 I'll race you on any bike of your choosing ;)

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

#157

Post by jakebellacera » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

stiff wrote: post #93

What is missing in the discussion of this and the previous article is some reflection on physiology and why could prolonged sitting possibly be bad for you in the first place. One must know that that there are many processes in the human body that can only be executed efficiently when we move, like for example transfer of lymph or movement of digested food through the intestines (involuntary smooth muscle contraction…

> I am not so sure working standing would be better, either.

I'm curious if standing desks make taking breaks much more accessible. Like many others, I use a program that basically notifies me every 30 minutes to take a 2 minute break. Even then, I find myself "skipping" them often as I'm typically in the middle of intense focus and I honestly feel like it's too much effort to get up and walk around at times.

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

#158

Post by noarchy » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:52 PM UTC

davidjhamp wrote: post #145

noarchy wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

I have a pretty short commute(5km) and live in Halifax but with some good thermal underwear, gloves, jacket I was able to ride all winter except for about 20 days. On 23 mm slicks too but I'm getting something better this winter. Gear makes a big difference.

Ottawa-Gatineau area, in my case. The downtown areas can often be clear of snow/ice, but not if you're on the outskirts. In this case it isn't the gear so much as the tire width.

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

#159

Post by noarchy » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:54 PM UTC

RyanMcGreal wrote: post #117

noarchy wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

I'm close to Ottawa. You can get by if you are riding mostly downtown, but if you're riding a road bike, it gets treacherous elsewhere very quickly. Fatter tires surely help.

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

#160

Post by vidarh » Wed, Aug 28, 2013, 4:57 PM UTC

carter770 wrote: post #101

Amadou wrote: post #88

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've had a couple of trainers -- the kind with degrees in sports-medicine, not the kind that were selling cell-phones in the mall last week -- say that Arnie was the single worst thing to happen to modern fitness. Their complaint was that his genetics are exceptionally rare. That very few people, like 1 out of 10,000, could ever hope to come anywhere close to achieving the same physique. That by becoming a sort of fi…

That's more than unfair. Arnie sparked a massive fitness craze that benefited many people. If you get disappointed, that is ultimately your fault. Arnie (as well as every other bodybuilder since the mid 60's) were on varying degrees of steroids. This is well known. They have to deny it, but ask anyone in the sport. Arnie's body is an ideal, a loooong term goal that is probably never going to be achieved naturally. Bu…

Arnie doesn't deny he was on steroids either. He "just" says he only used them while they were still legal. Whether that is true or not... Well.

But the impressive part of Arnie's physique from a modern standpoint is the symmetry and attention to detail, not really size. We have steroid-driven monsters like Ronnie Coleman that makes Arnie seem like a starving child these days...

I think the bigger problem with bodybuilders as an ideal is that most people don't understand that Arnie didn't look like what he looks like in most of his published photos for more than a few minutes on stage every year. E.g. at his peak shape, yet cut as much as possible, dehydrated, pumped, oiled, artificially tanned, and flexing to the max.

That's not what Arnie level bodybuilders look like if you meet the on the street, or in the gym...

I like to point people to Conan, as in the actual movie rather than the posters. That was Arnie in the kind of shape that let him win Mr Olympia in 1980, yet if you look at the movie rather than the posters and pictures most people are used to seeing of Arnie, his seems big but his shape doesn't seem all that unachievable - that's the difference that competition prep makes...

People also misjudge size of bodybuilders in pictures massively, I think, and seem to believe they're huge giants mountains of muscle. Consider that Arnie at his peak was roughly 105kg, at 6', and with a 34" waist. There's tons of untrained guys larger than that - bodybuilders like Arnie just looks massive because of their shape and low body fat.

Of course most people still won't achieve Arnie's physique, especially not without steroids, but you can get "close enough" to his day to day appearance much easier than most people think.