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Resolutions for programmers (2012)

matt.might.net

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Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#211

Post by sean2 »

jazzyk wrote: post #185
jonesb6 wrote: post #171

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm in the same place, but there are a lot of people who aren't. I think the gym is incredibly intimidating to the uninitiated. Probably best to start with pushups / situps at home, cardio at your local park at a deserted hour. Then once you get that confidence start at a cardio-focused gym like 24 hour fitness. Once you get the hang of gym'ing go to one that is more focused on your style, weight-lifting, cross-fit,…

"the gym is incredibly intimidating to the uninitiated" Many people say that and I am always puzzled why. Over the past 10 years, no one has ever looked at me funny or laughed at me - and I was in my early 40s when I started. Supportive crowd, eager to help if asked (spotting, etc).

It's not so much that people think they'll be mocked, but entering that big facility with dozens of verities of machines and weights and you're the only person who doesn't know what they are doing, is incredibly intimidating.

It's not an unfounded feeling either, when I first started going, I got ejected or talked to for rules I didn't know about yet: no jeans, no open toed shoes, don't touch those machines, you don't do that with dumbbells. And that's just the formal rules, then there's the informal: how long can I occupy a machine? Can I take the dumbbells into the other room? what's "switching in"? how much is talking allowed? Can this injure me? Is that guy really advanced, or should I tell him that he's going to hurt himself?

I got started in the collage's free gym, with lots of other beginners and rule breakers. But I'd never have shelled out $150 in initiation and membership fees to try out this weird new sport I wasn't comfortable with and might not like.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#212

Post by douglance »

steinsgate wrote: post #162

The first thing programmers (or any group of people) need in order to improve their lives is a reason to improve their lives. The blog says "go analog" or "improve your health" or "learn a new programming language" etc. But why should I, or anyone for that matter, go analog, improve their health or learn a new programming language? For fun? If it's for fun, the list should have been called "Fun activities for program…

Yeah. Being happy is stupid!

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#213

Post by J_Darnley »

sarciszewski wrote: post #88
mjburgess wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I get paid to solve problems, not be happy or healthy. > that ship has long since sailed > that's for other people to enjoy. > is a thing people are capable of? You seem very unhappy.

Pretty much, but who really gives a shit?

Ha. Agreed. I'm surprised you got downvoted for your content-full post. I've made worse shitposts and been upvoted for them. You addressed each point. They may have been negative cynical but still substantive. "Please stop posting unsubstantive comments to Hacker News" was said to me recently.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#214

Post by ryanmonroe »

dpark wrote: post #208
mysterypie wrote: post #118

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

> After long thought they come up contrived examples Probably because you put them on the spot. I can give you several examples off of when additional strength would be useful to me in day-to-day: * Loading jugs of water onto the water dispenser * Loading my daughter's stroller into the back of the car (somewhat heavy, very awkward) * Carrying large/heavy boxes to/from the basement * Loading heavy items (e.g. stand m…

I'm all for people working to improve their body, and there are many good reasons to weight-lift, but the idea that an average person might rationally choose to weight-lift in order to reduce their day to day struggle with putting strollers in cars and bringing boxes up from the basement is really just absurd. If your objective is to encounter the limits of your strength less often, paying for membership to a gym and going there multiples times a week to exert maximum effort in moving objects so heavy you can only pick them up a few times at once is clearly not the thing to do.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#215

Post by dpark »

ryanmonroe wrote: post #214
dpark wrote: post #208

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> After long thought they come up contrived examples Probably because you put them on the spot. I can give you several examples off of when additional strength would be useful to me in day-to-day: * Loading jugs of water onto the water dispenser * Loading my daughter's stroller into the back of the car (somewhat heavy, very awkward) * Carrying large/heavy boxes to/from the basement * Loading heavy items (e.g. stand m…

I'm all for people working to improve their body, and there are many good reasons to weight-lift, but the idea that an average person might rationally choose to weight-lift in order to reduce their day to day struggle with putting strollers in cars and bringing boxes up from the basement is really just absurd. If your objective is to encounter the limits of your strength less often, paying for membership to a gym and…

> If your objective is to encounter the limits of your strength less often

Less often in day-to-day life. Hitting your limits in the gym means that you don't hit your limits in day-to-day life as easily, so when you need to move a loaded bookshelf, or pick up your spouse and carry them across a threshold, or whatever, it's not a problem.

It's exactly like running so that when you need to run, you can. Want to make it easier to sprint when you need to catch the bus? Sprint more in general. Want to make it easier to climb the 5 floors of stairs to your office? Climb 50 on the weekends.

It's also exactly like anything else you would ever practice for. Need to do complex math at work that you don't understand? You should probably study. Annoyed that you suck at the piano? Spend time practicing at night. Is your broken Italian not satisfactory to you? Spend time speaking Italian.

It's not absurd to spend time and effort improving an area you want to improve. We practice specifically so we can perform when we need to.

(Also, the muscle mass put on when younger has a huge impact on quality of life when older. Strong people hold up better to aging in general. You might not have trouble lifting a 45lb jug of water now. Do you want to have trouble with that when you're 65, 75, 85? Putting on additional muscle early makes it easier to retain a healthy amount of muscle later in life.)

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#216

Post by koide »

xirdstl wrote: post #105
pavel_lishin wrote: post #97

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For me it's a combination of things. 1. Convenience. If I have a gym in the building I live in, I'm about 10x more likely to use it. If it's a block down the street, I might go once a week. If it's two blocks down the street, it might as well be in Algiers. 2. Knowledge. I don't know how to lift weights, and I'm afraid I'll do it wrong and end up injuring myself. Apparently even running isn't trivial to do without po…

You've pretty much nailed it, especially the last part about the cold. I will run sometimes, but the motivation required to go run when it's freezing outside is frequently beyond my grasp.

Bodyweight only exercise, for example HIIT routines or abs, or even dumbbell based strength training can be done from the comfort of your own living room. I just need 4 square meters.

If you need help, check out http://fitnessblender.com and start at a difficulty level you can manage.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#217

Post by koide »

kbutler wrote: post #133
mysterypie wrote: post #103

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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…

What I don't get about this comment, and many others, is why do you have to choose one type or the other. I believe a varied exercise plan will be more helpful than just focusing on a single exercise type.

Run one day, lift for upper body the next day, HIIT the third day, abs and light cardio the fourth day, lower body lift the fifth, rest day and go for a bike ride on Sunday.

Sites like fitnessblender.com can help you get there. (I've been mentioning them in these threads because I love them, the changes in my body and most importantly, in what can I do with my body have been nothing short of amazing in a relatively short amount of time)

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#218

Post by kbutler »

koide wrote: post #217
kbutler wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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…

What I don't get about this comment, and many others, is why do you have to choose one type or the other. I believe a varied exercise plan will be more helpful than just focusing on a single exercise type. Run one day, lift for upper body the next day, HIIT the third day, abs and light cardio the fourth day, lower body lift the fifth, rest day and go for a bike ride on Sunday. Sites like fitnessblender.com can help y…

The Starting Strength book recommends that to maximize your strength gains, on your rest days, you really do /rest/. This facilitates recovery, and muscle growth and strength increase happen when resting, rather than when exercising.

I occasionally run/cycle/hike/shovel snow/etc. as well, but working for the three weight lifting workouts per week. I'm not faithfully "doing the program", but incorporating elements that work for me into my life.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#219

Post by koide »

kbutler wrote: post #218
koide wrote: post #217

Earlier quoted context omitted.

What I don't get about this comment, and many others, is why do you have to choose one type or the other. I believe a varied exercise plan will be more helpful than just focusing on a single exercise type. Run one day, lift for upper body the next day, HIIT the third day, abs and light cardio the fourth day, lower body lift the fifth, rest day and go for a bike ride on Sunday. Sites like fitnessblender.com can help y…

The Starting Strength book recommends that to maximize your strength gains, on your rest days, you really do /rest/. This facilitates recovery, and muscle growth and strength increase happen when resting, rather than when exercising. I occasionally run/cycle/hike/shovel snow/etc. as well, but working for the three weight lifting workouts per week. I'm not faithfully "doing the program", but incorporating elements tha…

There's probably a comma missing in my sentence, I meant, if starting the routine on Monday, rest day on Saturday and in Sunday go for a ride.

I agree rest days should be rest days. I've paid the price of not resting a couple of times too many already.

Re: Resolutions for programmers (2012)

#220

Post by voltagex_ »

dzhiurgis wrote: post #70
voltagex_ wrote: post #11

#8. I'm currently waiting to see what comes back from fsck on a 4TB drive connected to a Raspberry Pi (don't ask). Drive is 390 days old according to SMART and reporting unrecoverable read errors. Most of the stuff was in other locations but I know there was one repo I was waiting to push... waited too long, I guess.

Also backup your parents data. Holidays are almost over and new SSD/W10 install went rogue. Old HDD got somehow damaged so bad sectors appeared. Spent good part of holidays playing with Hirens boot CD, dd and other tools.

That was Christmas 2014 for me!

This year they have a Mac and everything is automagically backed up to a USB drive.

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