1. Learn to use free weight (go to a proper course - form is important to avoid injuries long term).
2. Buy a bunch of weight plates second hand.
3. Enjoy your gym free life from the comfort of your home.
Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
41–50 of 275 posts
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#42Climbing gym is a lot more fun than regular gym. The goals are much more rewarding, and there’s better reinforcement from your peers. You’ll end up going to the regular gym at the climbing gym to get better at climbing.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#43I have a weight rack in my office. I do sets in between meetings or when I need to think. It's not as beneficial as doing all of your sets at the same time, but it's enough for me.
Is that really true though? You can easily do more reps overall by spreading across the entire day, and you're even adding time for recovery. My anecdata of 1 is that it doesn't make much difference.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#44Crazy idea: Try rock climbing. Climbing is (in addition to crazy fun) a huge motivator for getting in the best shape you can. Further, the best way to train for rock climbing is rock climbing.
You'll still need to go out to a rock gym, but you won't see that as going to the gym, you"ll be going climbing.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#45How about 5BX Plan For Physical Fitness? https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Royal_Canadian_Air_Force_Exerc...
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#46I took up climbing in my mid-30’s (I’m now in my late 30’s). I find the addition of the mental problem solving component really helps the gym fatigue. It’s a good upper body, core, and cardio workout (though I do try to do pushups and bodyweight squats on days I’m not climbing in order to hit the muscle groups climbing doesn’t), and excellent grip strength has a lot of practical benefits.
This doesn’t fit your time constraint (it’s more like an hour or two a few times a week), but I find the social and mental aspects mean it’s not just “exercising” and the time investment is worth it.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#47I don't do sports, apart from occasional hiking. But what I need to do is to not over-eat and try to eat properly. What worked for me regarding diet are the following three: 1) paleo, 2) keto, 3) intermittent fasting (eat only in 8-hour window). Any one of those three helped me to stay in shape without gym, all worked for me.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#48No need to exercise at all. It's all about diet. This is something that pretty much everyone agrees on. Exercise can help weight loss, but if your diet is bad even exercise won't work. Remove all processed foods, at least all white sugar and refined oils. Eat only food that physicaly existed 200 years ago (minus sugar that rich people could afford in large quantities only). Removing white sugar and white flour and pr…
I lost about 90 pounds with this advice. Now my BMI is 22. Food intake timing is even more critical. However, it is essential to get exercise to keep the body at maximum health, not merely great health.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#49>I don't like wasting time by getting to the gym, getting from the gym, and waiting for my turn for the equipment.
If the main the thing you don't like about exercising are not related to the actual exercise - gym commuting time and waiting times for equipment - seems like the obvious answer is to make a home gym.
For myself, I had a massive change just by putting a nice TV in front of an exercise bike. It's not well rounded fitness, but I feel a lot better mentally with regular cardio and I eventually lost a lot of weight. Pro-tip: stop watching Netflix on a cliffhanger. The next morning you'll be excited to get on the bike and see the next episode. I always save the 'page turner' shows for the bike.
Re: Ask HN: I hate gym. How to stay in shape?
#50Buy your own squat rack, barbells and weights. You won't get much done in 30 mins though. Decide whether this is a priority for you or not.
30 mins a day is fine. You have to use split training instead of doing a full session with a rest day in between. That’s less beginner friendly but that’s not a big issue.