Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds • Hacker News Board

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#181

Post by Izkata » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:18 AM UTC

Gatsky wrote: post #92

If there is one universal truth of human biology, it is that exercise is good. It is good if you do a bit or a lot, if you are young, old, male, female, trans, pregnant, trying to get pregnant, single, married, divorced, depressed, a smoker, have cancer, have heart disease, have dementia, an astronaut, a pure mathematician, a plumber, tall, short, liberal, conservative etc etc. There isn't anyone that doesn't benefit…

> More randomised studies of interventions to do that on a society level are needed. There is going to be an extraordinary number of people transitioning from (admittedly unpleasant and impoverished) more active lifestyles to sedentary work in the next 50 years.

I think Pokemon GO may have successfully pushed the problems off a bit.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#182

Post by forapurpose » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:22 AM UTC

carlosrg wrote: post #21

People that are fit tend to take care of themselves in more ways, like for example, eating healthier food consistently. So I doubt it can all be simplified to exercise like the article claims.

Does it seem possible that the distinguished, experienced scientists and doctors who conducted the research thought to control for other factors, including well-known ones such as the effect of diet?

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#183

Post by manmal » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:27 AM UTC

doombolt wrote: post #53

manmal wrote: post #10

Put bluntly, exercising creates new mitochondria in your cells. Since disease is often due to low cell energy (making cells underperform or malfunction), it makes sense that adding mitochondria (=adding ability to convert cellular energy) is very beneficial. Here is a quite technical paper on exercise and mitochondrial biogenesis: http://m.jbc.org/content/282/1/194.full

I wonder if we can have a pill to maintain high level of mitochondria in all our cells in background. It seems that modern humans have a lot of power-saving traits which are active deterrent as of now when food is abundant, since they lead to obesity, muscle loss and mitochondria problems here. Other mammals don't seem to have such problems en masse.

Co-Q10 definitely helps keep mitochondria healthy, fasting should also help. Also, avoid certain antibiotics that are known to damage them (mitochondria evolved from bacteria, so that‘s not too surprising). Avoid overtraining and stress in general, as they are very susceptible to oxidative stress.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#184

Post by Izkata » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:34 AM UTC

themagician wrote: post #114

boboh wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You sound 'young.' When you start looking 50 years of age in the eyes, your attitude will assuredly change. Like with everything in life, there's a balance. You actually need to work-out more as you age than when you were young.

Mid-30s. My attitude definitely has changed. When I was younger I thought different. I thought I would want to live forever, and figured I could if I did all the right things. The older I get the more I realize that it’s luck that determines the majority of outcomes. I’ve been surprisingly lucky, literally zero health issues in my life. But I see what happens to the people around me and it just seems like mostly luck…

> The fittest people around me seem to actually be the most miserable. [..] back problems

This caught my eye. Back in highschool I rollerbladed for fun, a couple times a week. During that period, and for years before that, I had pretty regular soreness in my lower back, for no apparent reason, which would persist for most of the day.

Then in college I stopped rollerblading and gained about 30 pounds, ticking over into the "overweight" BMI category, and the soreness completely vanished. Since then, ~10 years ago, it's only reoccurred a couple times.

Since it was still gone during breaks and back home after college, all I can figure is the extra fat added some support or padding that's stopped whatever was causing it.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#185

Post by edejong » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:35 AM UTC

sorenjan wrote: post #162

toasterlovin wrote: post #154

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Something like 50% of runners get injured in a given year. It’s insane. Do something that’s easier on your body. If you want cardio, hike or bike. I like weight lifting, personally. If you want to try weight lifting, check out Starting Strength.

> Something like 50% of runners get injured in a given year. That's because most people use bad technique and would probably benefit from strength training as well. Sitting all day and then expecting your body to run for 30-60 minutes and then sitting again will lead to high risk of injury. I see a lot of people run like they're walking with longer strides, or hunched over, or any number of bad habits. The feet shoul…

And most importantly, don’t bereft your brain from useful feedback from your foot! Use thin (unpadded) rubber soles on your shoes. If your feet are getting painful, probably they are saying something useful about your knees as well.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#186

Post by Izkata » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:48 AM UTC

grecy wrote: post #174

eloff wrote: post #81

Earlier quoted context omitted.

How can second-hand smoke be "even more harmful" than smoking? That just doesn't make any sense...

Because you inhale the smoke without a filter. https://www.healthline.com/health/secondhand-smoke-facts

This is a misunderstanding of GP's confusion, probably due to the effect being terribly named.

What caused GP to raise the question, and why I mention the effect's name, is that secondhand smoke also affects the smoker themselves. So the total effect is always going to be worse for the smoker than the people around them - they get both the filtered and unfiltered smoke.

However, your link is going for the consent angle - that the people around the smoker are being terribly affected by something they didn't choose. Note it also specifically states "nonsmokers who are exposed to secondhand smoke", not generally that secondhand smoke is worse. What's frustrating is that their reference is a dead link that redirects to an unrelated article, that doesn't include what's supposedly sourced from it, so it's hard to tell what their baseline for "25 to 30 percent greater risk" is, but I'm guessing it's nonsmokers with no exposure at all.

That said, I also remember seeing some claims that the filters actually make it worse than commonly believed, that particles or fibers break off of the filters and damage the lungs directly.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#187

Post by fphhotchips » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 6:54 AM UTC

Tharkun wrote: post #179

anovikov wrote: post #177

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Thing about exercise is that it effectively, doesn't take any time at all because one of the results is that you need to sleep less. In my experience, it at least makes up for the time you spend exercising.

Source? Exercise certainly makes me sleep more .

Me too. One of the most challenging things about establishing an exercise schedule for me is that, without fail, it makes me feel exhausted for the rest of the day. Therefore, morning sessions just don't work. In the afternoon, there's far more variability in availability and motivation.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#188

Post by Broken_Hippo » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 7:04 AM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #97

Gatsky wrote: post #92

If there is one universal truth of human biology, it is that exercise is good. It is good if you do a bit or a lot, if you are young, old, male, female, trans, pregnant, trying to get pregnant, single, married, divorced, depressed, a smoker, have cancer, have heart disease, have dementia, an astronaut, a pure mathematician, a plumber, tall, short, liberal, conservative etc etc. There isn't anyone that doesn't benefit…

I worry about my health and often I have a really good try and making a habit. But crap is it hard. It's not the money or the time. There's something else about willpower and boredom. I wish I could get on an exercise bike, stare at a brainwashing device, and "wake up" an hour later having remembered none of it.

I, too, hate exercise. For a subsection of them, they are just uncomfortable. Horribly uncomfortable. But mostly, it is so boring. So very boring. Soul-sucking boredom is very hard to overcome. I dread most of it.

However:

If my home life is stressful or bad, I enjoy walks. I don't suggest having a bad home life for this.

I enjoy walks if someone else wants me to go with them. A great way to do this is to see if a senior center or other such place has a program where you can walk with other folks that could use some company.

I don't mind walking as my primary mode of transportation. I'm quite comfortable with a half an hour walking commute both ways, though an hour seems to encourage bus use one way (at least). I walk to the grocery store a few times a week. If you can work some of this into your schedule, I highly suggest it. It is no longer exercise, but transportation.

I keep thinking that I could probably find time to ride a stationary bicycle as well. I have youtube and other such entertainment. The spouse reads while on the machine. Unfortunately, I do not have the physical space in my apartment for such a thing, since I have a small but cheap apartment with two people living in it. I also do not have access to the spouse's training facilities at work.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#189

Post by Buldak » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 7:05 AM UTC

wslh wrote: post #129

Not sure how can they claim this. As an anecdote If I see around me and including my family, relatively healthy people, mainly women, live longer even if they don't do any exercise. Beyond the anecdote this is an observation that can be checked with basic stats information. These are averages! https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_countries_by_life_ex...

I'm confused as to why you think the article you cite supports your claim.

Re: Not exercising worse than smoking, diabetes and heart disease study finds

#190

Post by twalla » Sun, Oct 21, 2018, 7:15 AM UTC

Waterluvian wrote: post #97

Gatsky wrote: post #92

If there is one universal truth of human biology, it is that exercise is good. It is good if you do a bit or a lot, if you are young, old, male, female, trans, pregnant, trying to get pregnant, single, married, divorced, depressed, a smoker, have cancer, have heart disease, have dementia, an astronaut, a pure mathematician, a plumber, tall, short, liberal, conservative etc etc. There isn't anyone that doesn't benefit…

I worry about my health and often I have a really good try and making a habit. But crap is it hard. It's not the money or the time. There's something else about willpower and boredom. I wish I could get on an exercise bike, stare at a brainwashing device, and "wake up" an hour later having remembered none of it.

Unsure how relevant this is to your situation since I primarily lift weights but I find the best way to get myself to the gym is to have small rituals that you do on autopilot as part of a larger routine. For instance, I have headphones which I only wear at the gym - for me, the act of putting the headphones on seems to signify to my brain "hey, we're engaging the 'go to the gym' routine now" and everything else just sort of happens. It could be something else comparatively simple like putting on your workout shoes or filling up a water bottle that you take with you. Also, for me at least, one of the things that helps overcome the boredom is goals/metrics, which is pretty easy with weightlifting - it's "did I lift more than last time or not?". Personally, I find the stationary bike boring, so you might want to look for something else that you enjoy.