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Ask HN: What are you doing to improve your health?
205 points by junto on April 10, 2015 | hide | past | favorite | 357 comments
I guess this is aimed more at older devs and admins who have been sitting at their computers for the last 20 years like me.

I'm starting to feel my age. I get tired quicker. My health isn't what it used to be. I get the feeling that staring at a computer screen and sitting down all day in an office is not particularly healthy.

Has anyone got any tips how to improve mental and physical well-being?




Eat well, sleep enough and walk plenty.

Sleep is something which is seriously overlooked in general. From personal experience, getting enough sleep and eating well are requirements that need to be met first before exercise.

There is nothing is worse than exercising whilst you are deprived of sleep and mal-nourished.

Speaking about exercise, don't get hung up on dogmas and "this is the only way" personality that is common in the fitness industry. Pick what works for you. Just make sure you are moving on a daily basis because sitting down 8 hours everyday is not healthy at all.

Go for long walks in the park with family or friends. As silly as it sounds, it works. Walking is not only good for you physically, but also psychologically [0]. Walking is a basic human movement pattern and is one of the first things we learn how to do early in our lives.

My grandfather passed away at 94 two years ago from old age. He never went to the gym, never participated in long marathons and he was a frequent beer drinker. But he did long walks everyday on the farm in the morning and evenings, he also ate well and by 10pm he was in bed.

Morale of the story is that, go back to the basics and stick to them. You won't go wrong.

Edit: Added a reference.

[0] http://news.stanford.edu/news/2014/april/walking-vs-sitting-...


"There is nothing is worse than exercising whilst you are deprived of sleep and mal-nourished."

I agree, and so does science. Sleep deprivation will wreck your training efforts, make you weaker, more likely to store fat & break down muscle tissue while also making you hungrier.

http://www.strengtheory.com/sleep-pt-1/

http://www.strengtheory.com/poor-recovery-and-increased-musc...


The flip side of that for me, as a long-term (25+ yr) insomniac, is exercise is the only thing that has ever gotten my sleep issues under control.

So, yeah, I think it's not smart to deprive yourself of sleep and still exercise. But if you're cursed with sleep issues, consider getting started on an exercise routine even with little sleep.

You may find out in a few weeks time that the sleep issues go away.


Yeah, some habits (like exercise and sleeping well) are mutually reinforcing and it can be hard to introduce either one in isolation.

Reminds me of this attempt[0] I recently ran across to identify the central nodes of a habit network. A neat idea, and one I hadn't seen before, despite a pretty good familiarity with the literature of habit formation.

[0] https://medium.com/forte-labs/mapping-the-habit-graph-13e851...


As someone who loves to walk, loves beer, and has been going to bed early, but doesn't necessarily make a point to exercise, your post is encouraging!

...but I really should also make a better effort to exercise.


It really helps to do it in small steps. It is really hard to try to do everything at once.

My first step was to be more active. I take breaks at work and I spend my entire 1 hour lunch walking around outside. Lately, I've been doing speed-walking and a bit of running too now that weather is getting nicer.

Once I got into that habit of moving more, I started looking at my diet and changed a few things around. Started by making my meals smaller. Then I took off the extra calories in meals like cheeses and such.

Next step I hit the local rec center and be active there. Swimming is great workout and quite relaxing. They even have a small gym so I can hit the weights. Once I hit the weighs, it wasn't long until I started to see muscle composition change. At the gym, I completely ignore the cardio stuff. Cardio stuff I can do elsewhere. So I hit the machines and weights. Before hitting the gym though, I started taking pre-workout supplements like C4 Extreme, it really helps with the energy levels especially after work.

After about a year, this has grown up me in such a way that it's like a second nature to do these things and I feel weird if I do miss a day.

Your milage may vary and may not be recommended for everyone. But, the only way I was able to pull this off is by starting with small steps.

This goes for pretty much everything else in life :)


Well, there were times in my life where I was going to the gym 3x a day, biking and playing tennis and soccer on the weekends.

Now, life has gotten in the way a bit, but I try to make sure I'm still moving during the day, eating well, and getting enough sleep.


Oh, I only go to gym about 3 or 4 times a week. Things somewhat change when kids come into play :)


Oops, I meant to say "a week", not "a day".


I agree that its neccessary to make a better effort to execise, but I've seen the older you get, the more walking feels like a strenuous exercise. Especially if you don't walk plenty.

So don't sweat it. Keep on walking and enjoy life!


There is nothing is worse than exercising whilst you are deprived of sleep and mal-nourished.

Which is my personal battle. I don't want to sleep the 9 hours I seem to need, and my eating habits are insufficient, to the tune of 1k+ cal on some days. (young male, active)

My latest revelation has been a good fitness tracker that estimates the caloric cost of my various activities, and is finally forcing me to get enough calories.

It's also throwing my poor sleep patterns in my face, so we'll get to those soon...


One saving grace is that the older you get, the less sleep you need (within reason). I slept 9-10 hours a day out of sheer need in my early 20s. Now more than a decade later, I am good with 7-8.


Definately agree that walking can make a huge difference. I felt, better results than ADD meds. Of course YMMV but I was shocked the difference a 45-60 min. walk outside every day made.

I would add - eat less food. It's very easy to over eat. Your body is working hard to process all that food you eat and I like the occasional McDonalds - you can indulge more often and still maintain or lose weight so maybe think about not just what you eat but how much - especially those of us who don't like working out.


Sleep enough and well. Sleep quality is really important, too.


" From personal experience, getting enough sleep and eating well are requirements that need to be met first before exercise. "

I couldn't agree more! You must get enough sleep first, then try eat more properly. Then and only then you can start walking and excising. If those first 2 things are not done properly, exercise will actually make your health worse.


Strength training 3x a week. Why strength? Strength is the most generalized adaptation there is. Training to be strong improves every component of fitness: strength (duh), power, agility, balance, flexibility, endurance (all 3 types) and coordination. I would also make the argument that in day to day life strength is the most important attribute of fitness for someone in the western world. The ability to carry a bunch of heavy bags of groceries, to rack a computer, help a loved one in an emergency etc., almost all depend primarily on strength. It's also the primary adaptation for injury prevention and rehab (knee and back especially).

People may have different fitness goals, but for someone who is untrained by far the best thing they can do is a strength program for 3-5 months before training more specifically for their goals. I'd recommend Starting Strength, which is a simple and popular program (popular is important, because like certain programming languages it has tons of community support behind it so it's easy to ask questions and get answers). http://www.startingstrength.com/


I've been doing strength training as well. As a skinny kid during high school weighing ~116lbs or so, it was a shock when I turned 27 and was hit 150lbs. I was getting tired more easily, stairs were harder than they used to be... I decided then that it was time to do something about it.

I use Mark Lauren's You Are Your Own Gym program (book + companion app), and it's been great. The program is 10 weeks long, it's all bodyweight exercises using stuff you have around the house. There are 4 difficulty settings, and program is 10 weeks long. The app is nice because it walks you through the exercises with videos and timers. I feel like I've got a ton more energy and I'm in a more positive mood more often.

Not having to go out to a gym is a huge plus for me. I don't like gyms much, always feel out of place and like I'm competing with other people there. Plus there's the hassle of having to drive there, shower, drive back... it just adds a lot of overhead to something that needs to be as easy as possible to ensure consistency.


I also recommend YAYOG program. It's $3 now for the app and I really think it's worth that price. I think it was $7 when I got it, and it was money well spent. Timers, videos, descriptions, warm-up and cool-downs, everything is set up so you can just start working out.

Also, you can lurk http://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness and http://www.reddit.com/r/yayog. Every question has already been answered.


I agree with you completely, just adding my two cents: I've done strength training for 5 years and am just now getting into volume training(strength is basically moving high weights for low number of reptitions, volume is moving medium weights for a high number of repititions). If I could go back, I would do a mixed routine from the beginning. Strength gains are nice, but the aesthetic gains from a volume routine are amazing, and are a really nice motivating factor to keep it up.


I agree. I recently started Wendler's 5-3-1 Triumvirate program[0]. It pairs one strength lift with two volume lifts. I really like making progress in both simultaneously. It takes a little more time (45 mins-1 hour, 4 days/week) than Starting Strength, but I feel like it's worth it.

[0] https://www.t-nation.com/workouts/531-how-to-build-pure-stre... Scroll to the very bottom for the program.


Interesting. Never encountered volume training before. Seems like the benefits could go beyond aesthetics.

Is medium weights + high repetitions all there is to it, or is there some more theory here? Got any links? :)

Can only find references to German volume training - not sure if that's the same.


"Seems like the benefits could go beyond aesthetics."

They do. Volume, usually defined using tonnage (weight x reps x sets) at a certain intensity (% of your maximal strength) is the main predictor not only of hypertrophy but also of strength gains in training. That is why all of the strongest powerlifters, who are only interested in moving as much weight as possible, train in that way (medium/heavy weights). Coach/powerlifter Greg Nuckols has written two books on the topic (The Art of Lifting and the Science of Lifting) which are sort of summarizing the literature on the subject, but you can find a lot of the content for free on his blog strengtheory (for example this post: http://www.strengtheory.com/more-is-more/)

Two other web pages offering meta analysis of the literature are http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/strength/#3 (about strength) and http://www.strengthandconditioningresearch.com/hypertrophy/#... (about hypertrophy)


This is very helpful. Thank you!


I can second this from personal experience. People that spend an hour in the gym pumping away at 50% capacity with bicep curls are never going to see the kinds of gains they imagine. You will get the gains you want by pushing yourself to muscle failure within a couple of sets every single time you hit the gym. Short, powerful workouts is how you encourage testosterone production, which is exactly how you get strength (and naturally, size follows). As a side note, you must be very careful about preventing injury. It's very easy to injure yourself if you're always doing your max. It takes incredible concentration.


Hmm, didn't he just said opposite?


Yes, the person you responded to has it completely backwards. Strength training is important, but volume training is what will give you big muscles. Look for any body building routine(which is solely focused on aesthetics, and not at all focused on strength), and you will see that it has a very large volume. I lifted for strength only for 5 years and saw very little progress in aesthetics. I've seen more progress in 6 months of GVT(a volume focused training program) than I did in 5 years of heavy weight training.

Here is Kai Greenes(runner up Mr. Universe) take on the matter: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m8wZNGL4iA4 . You probably don't want to look like him, but you have to admit he knows what he's talking about.

Just google "volume vs intensity training" for a million hits on the subject.


The way I look right now is the only proof I need that lifting exactly like I described is giving me extremely good results. You don't know anything about me, let alone what I look like, and you're telling me I'm wrong. I didn't get this big curling five pound weights everyday for an hour, let me tell you. But everybody is always right these days, so you'll go to your grave thinking what you're saying is right. At the end of the day, what I described has gotten me huge in half the time any other workout routine has over the years.


Kai Greenes is saying to use a lower weight so you can manage proper form. Sacrificing form just to hit a number goal, or to impress the person beside you at the gym is only going to lower your gains.

That has nothing to do with volume training, that's just proper weightlifting in general.


Do you have any recommended sources for GVT? The ones I have found thus far are fairly suspect and light on details.


Sure, this thread is about health, which true volume training is not necessary for.


The most important part of an exercise routine is sticking with it. Doing a volume program is way, way healthier than doing nothing at all. I find that the aesthetic gains make me more motivated to go to the gym than when I was just increasing the total poundage of weight I could move in one rep.


Totally fair, I'm more interested (and thought this thread was about) figuring out the optimal ways to do things, compliance being ignored. Considering compliance changes a lot of things.


I think most people will find Strong Lifts 5x5 to be a better choice than Starting Strength, as it does not require power cleans, which are usually forbidden in most gyms. They are both more or less the same though, and focus on compound lifts.


Huh? I don't disagree with your point, but of all the logic-defying chain gyms I've trained in, and I've trained in more than a few, I've never seen Power Cleans forbidden anywhere, ever.


Maybe not expressly forbidden but I've rarely seen bumper plates in these types of gyms, and some do not allow you to drop weights.


If you're doing power cleans correctly you should not be dropping the weight. The movement isn't over until the weight is safely on the ground.

If the weight makes a noise loud enough to draw every gym goers attention, you are lifting too much and should deload. Or you just might be that guy ;)


This is 100% incorrect. In fact, there is a much higher risk of injury lowering a power clean under control, especially if you're going heavier.

That's not to say that you won't benefit from working with a weight where it is possible to control when lowering, but there's a lot to be said for power cleaning a higher amount and dropping upon completion of the rep.


The power clean movement is over when you have control of the bar on your shoulders.

Gyms are not libraries. They should be dirty and loud.


Hah! This made me laugh. It's true, though. I used to think that the big dudes were just being obnoxious until I got up to that level, and realized that it's just incredibly fucking hard to lift that much weight. It takes a lot out of you, and the noises aren't for show.


Inexperienced lifters don't realize the incredible abdominal pressure you have to create for max effort lifts, the breathing control that goes with it, and the inevitable strange noises...


I've never heard of anyone deloading because they were making too much noise. What kind of gym do you go to?


I think the point about power cleans is fair (although if you read the book they aren't really required, many reasons why you wouldn't do them), but the 5x5 progression is way too much volume way too early.


High on volume? What?!

You can be out of the gym in 30 minutes or less. It's 3 exercises 3 times per week. 15 sets total per gym session (not counting warm-up sets).

The whole point is to start with a very low weight (empty bar) and work your way up by adding 2.5lbs to each side every time you go back in. It's the fastest linear progression workout for beginners.

From my experience, Strong Lifts 5x5 is the recommended beginner's workout. You need a solid base to start off with. and 5x5 gets you there the quickest, because you are doing compound lifts. Biggest gym noob mistake is to go in there and start doing isolation exercises, when you are already lacking a base. That causes muscle imbalances which can then result in tendon and joint issues.

Edit: Just wanted to add that the 5x5 can transition into 3x5 and then 1x5 as you move up in weight and plateau. This can keep you going until you squat 400-500 pounds and deadlift 500-600.


I am not recommending a split, I'm recommending 3x5. I don't think there's a massive difference, but 3x5 will let you progress further without thinking, and 5x5 places additional stress on tendons much earlier in the process without significant advantages. More != better.

I think 30 minutes in the gym is disingenuous. Within weeks that quickly balloons to about 1.5 hours as soon as the weights get remotely challenging.

Very very very few people can continue even a 1x5 linear progression to a 400# squat or 500# deadlift.


I've been doing 5x5 for about a month now. Everything except OH Press has been tracking very nicely---a bit of challenge but I can always make it through with a focus on form and be prepared for next workout.

But I'd like to understand better your concern about volume. If I face this deficiency, what will it feel like? How should I get around it?


I had problems with the OH Press just because the minimum increase when you're starting out is so much relative to the total weight. I think I started out at 25kg so with the smallest plates at 1.25kg, the first few increases were around 10% each — tough to pull off every week.


That's a good point. I kept attributing it to missing form, which is probably not half bad to focus on, but maybe this is more of a mere "suck it up and go" sort of situation, haha


As long as the recovery aspect is on point and if you are not too time-limited, there really is no reason not to have as much volume as possible.


Stronglifts is also great because they have a very good app, which was so helpful for me in keeping consistent, which is the most important part of training I had difficulty with.


I believe Rip mentions in his book that you can switch out power cleans for bent over rows if you like.


Rip says, "Fuck Rows". Sic!

You'd be better off doing Deadlifts only and perhaps add pullups.


Why are rows so bad? I've been doing 5x5 for about a month now and find rows to be what appears to be a good complementary workout.

My gym has bumpers and people do power cleans all the time. Should I consider replacing rows?


I like that the power cleans add explosiveness to the program. All the other lifts are slow (at least when I do them) and the power cleans make the program a bit more versatile.


I do try to keep lifts explosive as I can, though I can already feel how hard that will be as weight keeps growing.

I think the olympic lifts are really cool, but I feel it'd take significant motive to go off program and include them at least until I top out on 5x5s.


I agree, but I swear he said that in starting strength.


I heard the profanity on video. (I've read the second edition of Starting Strength, and can't remember reading about rows.)


I decided to verify that I am not making things up ;)

Starting Strength, 2nd edition:

- There is a whole section on barbell rows in the "Useful Assistance Exercises" chapter. See page 263.

- Barbell row substitution is mentioned in the "Programming" chapter. Page 289, start of 5th paragraph: "People without access to bumper plates may choose to use the barbell row instead of the power clean. This is not a terrible substitution, but be aware of what you're giving up if you do..."

I guess Rip changed his mind?


Who's Rip?


Mark Rippetoe, who is one of the prophets of weightlifting (at least on reddit). http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mark_Rippetoe


He's a good resource for beginner's advice.


strength training 3x a week will with no other exercise will leave the average person with extremely poor cardiovascular fitness. if you lack the strength to carry out household tasks you would be better off with basic bodyweight exercises. the average western person is sedentary and does not exercise enough, so it makes little sense to recommend 3 hours a week of training that consists of mainly of recovering between sets.

there is also no evidence for the preventative benefits of heavy lifting. for the average person who starts lifting to feel and look better, starting strength makes no sense: it is sub optimal for increasing mass, is hard and not that enjoyable compared to less intense weightlifting routines, increases the length of workouts, interferes with training for other sports, is incompatible with serious participation in sports (outside of powerlifting), requires rapid and unhealthy weight gain for progression for many trainees...

even if you don't agree with all my points, at least ask yourself if it makes sense to recommend a highly specific sports training routine to everyone looking for basic fitness advice.


Let's go point by point:

> strength training 3x a week will with no other exercise will leave the average person with extremely poor cardiovascular fitness.

This is actually not true. I wont argue it's going to give you the same level of cardiovascular conditioning as running daily, but it absolutely gives you a baseline of cardiovascular conditioning. Since we are talking about basic fitness, I would still hold to my recommendation that strength is the most important thing for the first few months, especially for a sedentary population that is likely to hurt themselves doing high impact running. I would agree that after those first few months cardiovascular fitness should be considered, and in fact most strength programs include conditioning as well. Starting strength does not because it's not meant to be run for more than a few months before going into intermediate programs that do in fact contain conditioning.

> there is also no evidence for the preventative benefits of heavy lifting. for the average person who starts lifting to feel and look better, starting strength makes no sense

Re: evidence of preventative benefits, I'd suggest reading this article http://startingstrength.com/index.php/site/article/barbell_t... Re: looking better, this thread is not about that...so...

> it is sub optimal for increasing mass

On the contrary, given a year and body building goals I would absolutely be recommending strength based training for a great amount of that time. I suggest you read Practical Programming which goes into detail about why this is, but the short version is myofibrilar hypertrophy vs. sarcoplasmic hypertrophy is a very real difference, and the former is far more important for mass during the novice phase, and for allowing the latter to be quickly added during intermediate phases.

> requires rapid and unhealthy weight gain for progression for many trainees...

This is a pretty poor understanding of the starting strength program and its nutritional recommendations. Have you read the book or just internet forums like /r/fitness where idiots talk about it?

> even if you don't agree with all my points, at least ask yourself if it makes sense to recommend a highly specific sports training routine to everyone looking for basic fitness advice.

If you think starting strength is a sports training routine then you do not understand the basic principals of the program or the philosophy. Please respond to my initial justification, which is that strength is the basis of all fitness and provides gains in every area, as well as the fact that I explicitly recommend a short period of time for strength training.


starting strength involves perhaps 30 minutes of active exercise in a week with most time in the gym sent recovering between sets. that is simply not enough to develop any sort of cardiovascular fitness unless you have an abnormally strong response to training.

your links in support of the injury prevention and mass building benefits refer to startingstrength.com and Practical Programming. That book is health cult literature, not a reliable scientific resource. The linked article links to evidence that resistance training can aid health (in elderly subjects). This does not support the idea of high intensity barbell training as a magic injury prevention tool.

Everyone who lifts for mass does a lot more higher rep volume than Starting Strength. Lots of guys have strong physiques yet use mostly "inferior" bodyweight exercises and machines. Take a look around you in the gym next time you're there and you might be a little surprised :).

Weight gain is a problem. Most people have no health reason to gain mass rapidly (or at all), yet many trainees struggle to progress without eating a large calorific surplus. This is a pretty good reason why such a training program should not be your default recommendation!

Strength is absolutely not that basis of all fitness. Many extremely fit endurance athletes never lift any weights. Even if this rather bizarre statement was true, it does not explain why powerlifting training of this sort is ideal for everyone. I note that you didn't dispute that it will interfere with other physical activity -- one of the most compelling reasons why the average person should not do Starting Strength and why it is most definitely a powerlifting specific training regime.

You may have had a great experience with Starting Strength. But other people will often have a very different response to training and health goals. Ask yourself also how much real evidence you have for your incredibly strong and dogmatic opinions on training.


I'm doing something similar to Starting Strength and I really enjoy it, but it's not the be-all end-all. If bodyweight exercises are your thing, more power to you.

I have to disagree with you on the machines though. From what I've read, they tend to train large muscle groups but fail to build up stabilizer muscles, which can cause some nasty problems if you keep at it for a long time. A good friend of mine worked out exclusively on machines for a while and wound up having to work (as a developer) in wrist braces because the muscles in his arms were all out of whack. He thought he'd gotten carpal tunnel syndrome or something similar, but his physiotherapist did a quick exam and asked him if he worked out on machines X or Y. He answered in the affirmative, and she told him to stop immediately and start stretching and do some bodyweight stuff.

Bodyweight or barbell exercises won't lead you down that path, but machines can and do cause problems. Be careful!


> starting strength involves perhaps 30 minutes of active exercise in a week with most time in the gym sent recovering between sets.

I think you're arguing against a straw man...I've repeatedly stated that cardio is important and something that should be considered after a baseline of strength is established.

I've repeatedly stated that if mass is your goal don't do a strength program once you've established a baseline of strength.

> your links in support of the injury prevention and mass building benefits refer to startingstrength.com and Practical Programming. That book is health cult literature, not a reliable scientific resource.

Practical Programming was written by a PhD, and the article I sent is written by an MD. So...unscientific? Please do send sources for your assertions though.

> Weight gain is a problem. Most people have no health reason to gain mass rapidly (or at all), yet many trainees struggle to progress without eating a large calorific surplus.

I'm sorry this is completely ridiculous. I'm not suggesting people become powerlifters. I'm suggesting people build up a base of strength before doing other physical activity. In order to do so you do not need to put on weight.

> Everyone who lifts for mass does a lot more higher rep volume than Starting Strength.

Dude I have said over and over again that people should not be running starting strength past a few months. Rippetoe says the same. It's not a long term program meant to meet any and every goal. If your goal is mass and you are at step 0, start with strength and move to volume later. If you have a reason that is suboptimal I'd happily hear it, but you are arguing against things I'm not saying. To be 10000% clear: I'm not arguing people who are interested in mass should be doing low rep workouts forever.

> Strength is absolutely not that basis of all fitness.

Building a strength adaptation is the only way to simultaneously build an adaptation in every other type of fitness. Once again, I'm not suggesting it's the only thing to do, I'm suggesting it's the tip of the pyramid and thus the best place to start. Obviously if your goals are marathon running getting a 500# squat is not going to help you.

> Many extremely fit endurance athletes never lift any weights.

Well this is where it gets interesting. Fitness without a goal is not really a useful word. By powerlifting standards they are not fit, like a powerlifter is not fit by endurance standards. So I don't really think this is useful. In terms of day to day fitness for the general population, based on the sources above, I still assert that strength is the most useful form of fitness.

> I note that you didn't dispute that it will interfere with other physical activity

Once again, my recommendation is for people who aren't currently fit. There is no activity to interfere with because there is no current activity at all.

> Ask yourself also how much real evidence you have for your incredibly strong and dogmatic opinions on training.

I'm sorry, there are definitely people no the internet who are dogmatic about this stuff and knee jerk to starting strength and lifting. You're right. But I'm not one of them. Recommending that people with no experience in fitness start out in strength makes a lot of sense, and you've spent the entire time arguing against a straw man that I'm trying to get everyone to train as a powerlifter, which is nonsense. 3 months of training is a drop in the bucket. Try reading the sources you've dismissed so quickly. Alternatively send me some that disagree with my statements and I will happily critique the actual content of them rather than ignore them (or hey, maybe I'll have my mind changed, you never know!)


Starting strength and similar routines are great but be very careful of starting light and maintaining proper technique as getting injured can really impact your health and happiness in a lot of ways especially as we get older.

It is very easy to get injured doing squats or power cleans with any kind of sizable weight. For example the injury rates in CrossFit are estimated to be between 20-75% [1,2] of participants which means you're more likely to get hurt than to get fit. Personally I don't think this is due to the exercises being more dangerous but rather that the excellent group motivation of CrossFit working a little too well and people overreaching in their lifts.

For people starting out I highly recommend taking it slow, being patient and giving your body time to adapt. Start with a basic fitness class or trainer and work your way up to more strenuous exercises.

The fitness subreddit getting started guide [3] and FAQ [4] have a lot of excellent information and links to other resources.

[1] http://ojs.sagepub.com/content/2/4/2325967114531177.full [2] http://journals.lww.com/nsca-jscr/Abstract/publishahead/The_... [3] http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/getting_started [4] http://www.reddit.com/r/Fitness/wiki/faq


While I agree with your point (start low, build up slowly) I wish you hadn't used Crossfit as a textbook example of weight training. Weight training has one of the lowest injury rates in sports.

Reference: http://www.exrx.net/WeightTraining/Safety.html


I'm sorry if my comment came across as saying that CrossFit is exemplary of all weight training.

My intention is to just highlight the importance of taking your time. Weight training can have very low injury rates, but the rates go up when looking at power lifting[1]. Under "soreness and injury section" in Starting Strength Mark Rippetoe himself says "...everyone who trains with weights will have: soreness and injuries."

Both Starting Strength and Crossfit utilize large compound exercises like squats and power cleans that can be difficult to master and my assumption is that more people have heard of Crossfit so I thought it would be useful for comparison. Personally I am a big fan of the squat and other compound exercises for results but it is important to learn them well before advancing to higher weights, hence Starting Strength is 300+ pages for a 5 exercise routine.

[1] Table 2 - http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC3483033/


> It is very easy to get injured doing squats or power cleans with any kind of sizable weight. For example the injury rates in CrossFit are estimated to be between 20-75% [1,2] of participants which means you're more likely to get hurt than to get fit. Personally I don't think this is due to the exercises being more dangerous but rather that the excellent group motivation of CrossFit working a little too well and people overreaching in their lifts.

One of the primary reasons I recommended Starting Strength is because it's not crossfit. Crossfit != squats and power cleans, and those injuries are not for squats and power cleans. Starting strength has built in regulation so you don't need to worry about going too fast or too slow. It also tells you when and when not to use power cleans. Just read the book.


Good technique can be tough to get right without somebody on hand who really knows what they are doing. It has taken me years to get to a textbook squat.


heavy lifting is inherently risky. there is little evidence that "correct" form will protect you from potential injury. there is also no real reason to do a strength focused routine if your reason for going to the gym is to improve your health and/or body. don't listen to the starting strength cultists!


> heavy lifting is inherently risky

This is true for all exercise, but actually if you look at insurance numbers weightlifting has by far the fewest injuries of any sport out there, so I don't think this is correct. Anecdotally I don't know a single person who runs consistently without having chronic issues with their knees or feet, whereas I know many lifters who go years without significant injuries beyond minor tweaks.

> there is little evidence that "correct" form will protect you from potential injury

This is not true at all, or else there wouldn't be a concept of correct form.

I think you are confusing strength training and powerlifting, which are two different things with pretty different recommendations for intensity etc. I agree with you that powerlifting is inherently risky, but all competitive sport is. That's basically the point.


I tried Starting Strength a few years ago. I was really pumped about the program, but I had a lot of trouble with it. I read the how-to sections multiple times, watched Rippetoe videos, and even sought out a trainer at one point. No matter what, the exercises always felt awkward and I never felt like I was doing them correctly.

I tried power cleaning a few times I simply didn't get it. It made me feel like a complete doofus.

When I deadlifted, I was able to lift less than a 12 year old girl.

Squat was the worst. I got up to about 235 (not counting the bar). I know this isn't a large amount, but it totally killed me. Just so brutally tough. I had some knee pain that flared up around that point and my elbows hurt all the time. Once after finishing a set, I was drenched in sweat and I felt nauseous for about 10 minutes. Another time, I felt the left side of my face go numb for a split second... I realized then that it wasn't for me.


Squats suck. They're hard and they're uncomfortable. I was a power lifter for five years, and never once did I like doing squats.

Deadlifts are harder. I love deadlifts because they work out so much of your body at once, but they all rely on the one weakest point (which is probably your forearms). You can only hold as much as your forearms will take. Some people use straps, but I never liked them. Unlike a weight belt, straps feel like a crutch to get around having weak arms. But even if your arms are strong enough, you can only lift as much as your shoulders will pick up. You can only lift as much as your quads will push against the ground. You can only lift as much as your blood has oxygen in it. You can only lift as much as your back will straighten with that much weight in front of you.

Deadlifts are hard. They're supposed to be. It's the ultimate power lift, the one that combines almost every single other exercise and almost every single muscle group. You can't skip leg day and still deadlift. You can't neglect a single muscle group and still deadlift.

But yeah, fuck squats. I hate them so much. I generally did leg presses instead of squats. Not exactly the same exercise, but it's close enough for how much I hate squats.


You deadlifted less than a 12 year old girl but squatted 280lbs? Something doesn't add up.


A 12 year old girl weighs about, what, 80 pounds? But sort of awkward to pick up, so I think it checks out :)


Tall ones (taller than me) can get up to at least 130.


It doesn't take a lot of forearm strength to hold a bar on your shoulders. It takes a LOT of forearm strength to bring up 415 resting on your fingertips.


Avoid putting the barbell high on your shoulders or you risk back pain/injury. Put the bar on your traps and hold it place with your hands. This is what makes it a full-body exercise.


You need to go slow. It might take easily 2 years just to build your core strength, improve joints and tendons before you can do all those crazy exercises. Obviously you started too high. Just be patient, don't get distracted by remarks you are weaker than a girl, don't add more than you can handle, and it will come ;-)


280 is a massive squat. Based on what you're saying, I feel like your form must have been off and that you're have a misrepresentation of what the standards are.


> 280 is a massive squat.

It sure is. Works out to around 615lb, for those playing along in the USA.


I'm pretty sure he was saying 235lb, not kg.


How much do you weight? 280 lb squat isn't terrible - what was your bench? You should be aiming for 2x body weight for squat, 1.5x for bench


At the time, I weighed 180 and benched about the same. I was less concerned with the numbers than just how it felt like I was hitting a brick wall and at huge risk for injuring myself.

Bench and overhead press were the two exercises in SS that were very straightforward though.


I had massive exercise headaches from starting strength. It really isn't for everyone.

Now I happily do kettlebells.


i would also add that strength or at least the appearance of it is a deterrence against a lot of bad things that people do to each other, especially in dense cities which a lot of us live in.

it's the difference between being an easy mark and being someone bad people completely avoid.


Starting strength is OK, but I feel like the best start for strength training is to start by training your grip with http://www.ironmind.com/ .. And then I would get a kettlebell and do 1 handed swings, goblet squats, and turkish get ups. Specifically, do up to 5 sets of 5, with 5-10 minutes of active rest in between. Active rest meaning you can shake your muscles you just worked out in a relaxed way. I'll jump rope sometimes. Never push yourself to failure. Always leave something in the tank.

But I got all of that from Pavel Tsatsouline on a Tim Ferris podcast titled The Science of Strength. Been practicing that and so far I have had some good results. Grease the groove as Pavel says.. http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/01/15/pavel-tsatsouline/


Grip training is good, but I'm not sure it's necessary for someone who is untrained. You'll get a fair amount of grip training by doing deadlifts.

Kettlebells are also ok, but pretty suboptimal. They are harder to incrementally load, the technique is more complicated, less of an emphasis on strength etc.

Turkish get ups have absolutely no place being recommended for novices/untrained population, sorry to disagree there.

Tsatsouline is one of the better fitness gurus around, but he still gives a ton of really questionable advice. I definitely favor Rippetoe, who isn't perfect but overall his logic has way fewer holes.


So rather than a basic gripper, you would rather have a 'untrained' person start with deadlift? Deadlifting is one of the most complex weight lifting movements there is.[0]

I know its tempting to defend beliefs and I like Rippetoe as well. I have done starting strength. My point is just be open enough to listen to Pavels ideas. For Pavel its not about building muscle and adding weight, for Rippetoe it is. And there is a big difference. Pavel is talking purely about strength. Not adding to the engine, just making it run optimally.

[0] From Pavel on podcast listed in above comment.


"Deadlifting is one of the most complex weight lifting movements there is."

I don't particularly like Rip's methodology, but I don't agree. Deadlifting is pretty much the simplest movement there is - it is nothing more than picking something (which was specifically designed to be picked up) up from the floor and standing with it. It is the same basic movement pattern than the one-armed swing you advised (hip hinge) but with no ballistic component. I can't say which is safer, but anybody can pick up the correct movement in a few hours of training and it is definitely not more complicated than a kettlebell swing.


Deadlift is not one of the most complex weightlifting movements. As far as weightlifting movements, it's quite simple--the only trick being keeping your spine neutral. A proper squat is harder to execute than a proper deadlift.

Also, starting people with deadlifts is fine, as long as you keep the weight low. Not to mention that if you had to choose, deadlifts would do a lot more for you than turkish get ups (which I've honestly never even heard of until now, and I've been a serious weightlifter for years).


Turkish getups are fun, train a lot of muscles and are easy to progress with early on. They are an excellent addition to deadlifts, not a replacement.

(I often do them as a general warmup before the `main' lifts.)


Deadlift is not complex. Stand close to the bar, bend over and pick up the weight with your back flat.

Press, clean and jerk, and snatch are certainly complex, but deadlift not so much. Turkish getups are a great way for a beginner to drop a kettlebell on their head.

From my experience being a gym rat, a majority of beginners have decent deadlift form with minimal training.


I think you are underestimating how easy it is to get injured while performing the deadlift with improper technique. Naturally with little weight the technique isn't as critical, but load the bar and it's an entirely different story. I think the squat is on par in technicality, which lift is more technical I think is irrelevant.


For overall strength gains, deadlift is a key exercise. Of course proper progression is key.


No offense, but this is a ridiculous suggestion. Grip training is one of the most boring aspects of body training, and the health payoffs are absolutely minimal. Please, do not start with grip training - just jump into starting strength (with your doctors OK if necessary). The kettlebell stuff rickdale mentions are also good.

Grip training should be done when the person is already at a moderate level of fitness, and their grip is holding them back(for example, the thing that stops them from deadlifting more is their grip, or from doing more pullups).


> Why strength? Strength is the most generalized adaptation there is. Training to be strong improves every component of fitness: strength (duh), power, agility, balance, flexibility, endurance (all 3 types) and coordination

> People may have different fitness goals, but for someone who is untrained by far the best thing they can do is a strength program for 3-5 months before training more specifically for their goals

I mostly agree with this, though if endurance is your long term goal you'll need to train very differently after the 3-5 months base period. SS is high-intensity activity with eye-popping heart rates, for a few hours a week. Endurance is long hours of low-intensity activity, marathons and the like. I train for mountaineering/alpinism and the weightlifting component is very different: 7-10 reps per set at low weight and minimizing mass accumulation while maximizing recruitment of existing muscle. You can very well have too much mass while climbing.


Are you confusing SS with something else? It's not at all high-intensity like cross-fit and similar. It is just as heavy weights you can manage (with good technique) for 3 sets of 5 reps for most excercises.


No, I mean SS. I own 2nd and 3rd editions of the book and followed the program for 14 months. I remember the copious warmup sets. It's not the constantly high, frenetic workout like Xfit, but the blow-out effort for the 1x5 deadlifts where your face turns beet red is as far from endurance training as you can get. 10 minutes of warmup sets capped by a few high-intensity sets isn't endurance, 2 hours of running with light breathing is. You see this in comparing the physiques of elite strength vs endurance athletes.


Of course it is very far from endurance training. I just didn't recognize your description of the program.

I'm trying to do both. I lift 3 days a week and run 3. I'm well aware that the lifting is suboptimal if I want to be a good runner and the running inhibits my gains from lifting, but I'm very happy about the general physique I'm building this way. (If I just could stop eating so much!)


I'm not finding the article I want to reference, but this[0] is along the similar lines. In short, research is starting to find similar adaptations to short, high intensity training as long endurance training, including increased VO2 max and measures of endurance.

[0] http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22946099


Since you didn't mention muscle size once... do you think I'm a loser for lifting weights primarily for hypertrophy?


Not at all, but this was a thread about fitness not aesthetics. Overall I'd still recommend a few months of strength focused training before shifting into a more hypertrophy focused program. For a novice you're going to experience a fair amount of myofibrilar hypertrophy doing a strength based program anyway, and when you shift over to a body building focused program you'll be able to get much faster sarcoplasmic hypertrophy due to increased weight you'll be able to do for reps.


Alright, fair point!


Why would you ask such a question? If anything made you a loser, it would be worrying about whether others think you are a loser.


Maybe they mean it in a Hans and Franz kind of sense?


This, except 4x a week and doing a modified 5/3/1 (but Starting Strength is better for a beginner).


5/3/1 is a great intermediate/advanced program, but yep, agree SS for the beginner.


Would you say strength in general would be a better (more healthy in the long term) goal than just endurance/condition?

Training to be strong improves every component of fitness: ... and coordination

Do you mean eye-hand type of coordination? Anyway it sounds a bit odd to me: training coordination (as in a basketball shot, a frisbee throw, a bunnyhop with a bike) to me always seemed to be pretty much seperate from training strength/muscle volume? Sure strength would allow you to throw a ball/disc further or make you jump higher, but not necessarily with better accuracy?


I've found strength to be extremely useful in golf. Before I made a concerted effort to get stronger, I could hit a drive in the 275 yard range if I swung hard and got lucky with it not slicing too badly. Now I can take a more measured swing and I hit it just as far, but much straighter. This goes doubly for iron shots, because I'm now 1-2 clubs lower for the same distance, giving me much more control and forgiveness.

The other benefit, especially of a barbell program like Starting Strength, is stronger stabilizer muscles (both core and others), which provide a better "platform" for whatever skill you're exercising.

I'm not sure if it applies to all skills, but intuitively it makes sense to me that you can use more muscle for finesse without sacrificing power if you're stronger.


>Would you say strength in general would be a better (more healthy in the long term) goal than just endurance/condition?

I would definitely say this when speaking in general terms. Strength training normally focuses on full-body exercises, but endurance training (think cross-country running or cycling--not sprinting) does not. I was just reading an article talking about the importance of strength training for runners which emphasized that most injuries come from muscle imbalances.

Personally, I do both. My goal is to lift three times a week and then do endurance the other days. If I had to choose I would stick with lifting for health reasons.

It also depends what your goals are. Once you get to a certain point, you can't do endurance exercise and expect to hypertrophy.


I think you need both, I don't think it's an either or situation. I think strength is the most important thing for a novice, and then after that you need to add conditioning as appropriate for your goals (ie: are you just trying to be healthy or are you training for a marathon?)

> Sure strength would allow you to throw a ball/disc further or make you jump higher, but not necessarily with better accuracy?

Imagine hitting an incoming baseball pitch. Do you think it's easier to make the bat go exactly where you want it to be when the bat feels heavier or lighter?


I started out this way, and eventually got into the sport of powerlifting, which is competition in the three main strength training movements (squat, bench press, deadlift).

I train 4x/week, 1.5-2 hours each. Being a weight class athlete keeps my diet in check, and I lean down to six-pack abs for the summer months when I compete.

Pushing eye-popping weights for maximal singles will get you injured (yes, even with perfect form), but I've found that's what it takes to get me off the couch.


regarding older people and strength training, I know far more men in their 40’s—50’s who are physically fit than I do men in their 20’s.

I think Crossfit is the new mid-life buying-a-Porsche.


I am 42 and the single best advice I can give you is to invest in a treadmill desk. This WILL change your life as a software developer. You'll start blessing the day you made this as a career choice because this is one of the only jobs that'll allow you to workout while working and end up being more productive than if were not doing so. Here are the readouts for the steps that I walked just on the treadmill (not counting whatever I do while not working on the treadmill desk) Current week (so far): 22 miles 58061 steps last week : 42.24 miles 105840 steps week before : 35.26 miles 93239 steps week before : 36.7 miles 94145 steps

etc..

I can easily hit an average of 5 miles per day of walking if I am not traveling. You'll sleep much better, have tons of energy and will be much more productive at work. And the best thing is, you use absolutely no extra time. I paid $1500 for the setup I have. I'd pay $5000 without blinking a bat after spending around 6 months with the machine.


I got the same desk about a month ago. Software development is one of those jobs that require you to sit for long stretches of time. The recent studies that link sitting with decreased life expectancy are what pushed me to action. Going to the gym three times per week doesn't help much in that regard. It's the sitting that's the problem. As you get older, things like DVTs become a real concern.

I love writing code. I hope I can continue to do it for the rest of my life. These studies really had me bumming for a while. The treadmill desk completely solved it for me. I don't expect to get a great cardio workout or lose weight. I just want to be healthy doing the thing I love.

Two nits for the LifeSpan (which I think is great). The first is: they have a decent warranty but it's non-transferable. The second: the Bluetooth interface doesn't work well, at least on my unit (though I've seen others complain). I have to manually track my stats.


Luckily the BT interface works kinda okay for me - I have the app running on my macbook pro at all times while working (am walking as I am typing this right now) :)


I'm a bit curious about a treadmill desk.

How fast do you generally walk on the treadmill? You mention 5 miles easy in a day, which is 2.5 mph for 2 hrs. Do the treadmills auto-adjust speed as they detect you slowing or stopping? Do you walk much much slower for longer times, or walk at higher speed for only brief bursts?

On one hand I feel the walking would be a distraction, especially if I'd feel the need to occasionally stop and ponder over some details with more concentration.

But on the other hand I often find I 'pace' when on the phone at home (not at work where I'm more confined). And I feel that I have good conversations when walking with people, and it seems to make sense when I've heard of the walking meetings that Zuckerberg or Jobs like to do.

But I've never thought about trying to code and walk at the same time, for some reason it feels like I'd find it too distracting. Did you have that same trepidation before getting your desk?


Can you provide some details about your setup? Also, do you work remotely or onsite?


I have a lifespan fitness TR1200DT machine. Got it off Amazon. I had it in my office for the first couple months, but then moved it home.


The idea of treadmill desks has been starting to float around my office and I've been pushing for it.

Do you find that it generates much noise? Do you work with others in a typical open-office pit o' desks or in a private office?


Treadmill desks look like a great idea all the way around. I just wish there was a model that would convert back and forth between sitting and walking easily. There are certainly times when I don't want to be walking...


Get two desks?


Bike commute to and from work. It is the best "energy creator" at the beginning of the day and the best "unwinder" at the end. I get home and am in such a better mood when I walk in the door (albeit perhaps a bit stinky).

I'm pretty sure I solve some of my biggest problems while I let my mind wander on my ride home. It can be intimidating at first so I don't recommend immediately hopping on a bike and riding in traffic, but take a few weekends to get a feel for the bike of your choosing (lots of great commuter bikes out there) and then slowly get used to riding with cars zooming by you.

I've been doing this for a few years now and have never had more energy at work.


As a fellow bike commuter, it blows my mind that other people pay money (in the form of fuel+payments+insurance) to get in worse shape, while we get healthier for effectively “free”.


You are ignoring the amount of time saved from motorized travel


In Portland, Austin, and New York City, I have found it exceptionally rare when friends in a car would arrive at destinations before I would on a bicycle. That only gets flipped when the trips go suburban.


I bike twelve miles a day in Austin (from UT area to Ben White, and back in the afternoon, going along Congress most of the way). 30-40 minutes. Currently I'm borrowing my friend's motorcycle, and when I ride that instead, it's more like 15-20 minutes, taking I-35.

Judging by traffic on the other side of the highway, I'm guess it's because I'm commuting the opposite direction of most people. If you have parking, and traffic isn't terrible where/when you're going, the bicycle is usually slower.

But, on the other hand, riding a bicycle is so much more _fun_ than driving a car. Riding a motorcycle can also be fun, but still always doesn't beat a bicycle for me.


Is it really time saved if you still need to find some other activity during the day to perform to stay in shape?


Not if you only have to bike six miles and you have to park 15 minutes from your office.


Thinking on getting an e-bike. Sounds like a good compromise between getting to the office soaked in sweat and doing some exercise on my way back and forth.


I second this greatly. I have only taken it up recently and am left wondering why I did not do it MUCH earlier.

The most astonishing thing for me was the amount of energy I got from it. I used to be quite apathetic during the day, with intense sleepiness in the early afternoons, and now I feel awake during the day. I cannot overstate how beneficial this is


Seconding this since it's getting short shrift here among all the talk about Rippentoe and Getting Big.

Took a substantial pay cut in large part to avoid the soul killing commute and to be able to bicycle to work (~9 mi one way). Probably the single biggest life event in the last five years (after having kids). Used to do it daily but recently stopped after having to sort out logistics with school drop-offs, so I'm shopping for an ExtraCycle to address that, then back on the wagon!


I've started noticing this since having kids. Not got a concrete answer but try some of the following:

* Drink as much water as you can and try and eat a mixture of freshly prepared food when you can.

* Work out and pick something you enjoy - currently I go kayaking, go to the gym and do yoga during the week and try to get out at the weekend into the countryside.

* Walk when you can, get outside and breathe fresh air

* Try to sleep (or at least be in bed) for around 8 hours a day

* Try to relax doing something not involving computers or tv each day

I was starting to wonder that my parents in their 70s seemed to have more energy than me but sleep deprivation can get you down after a while. Be positive and do what you can - it can be a downward spiral otherwise!


This basically nailed it.

- Pick an activity, whether it's working out, taking a walk, running, yoga, wall climbing. It doesn't matter. Something even as doing squats and jumping jacks makes you feel more energized.

- Sleep, can't tell you how important this is. Personally, I don't get enough sleep, but I'm trying.

- Hobbies. Find something you love to do and do it. Try to learn something new. It's different for everyone, but everyone loves something.


I'd add to this list:

* Avoid all foods with artificially added or high sugar content.


Thanks for this. I've also noticed my energy level reduction since having children. I guess that is just par for the course. I guess your children are older? Mine are still young, so I wouldn't have the time to go kajaking at the moment (although I would love to)!

I think I also need to get out and do some sport. Do you find yoga helps a lot? A friend suggested this to me too.


My children are also young (two under 5). It is incredibly difficult to find time to exercise. I play soccer one or two nights a week after the kids go to bed. It can be exhausting to do after a long day of work and kids, but it's worth it. I think yoga is a great idea too.

Other ways I try to maintain my health:

- I keep a pull up bar in the bedroom. It makes it really convenient to do any sort of physical activity. Even if it's just 10 pull ups a day.

- Spend time with your friends and family with and without the kids. This is the best thing for my emotional and mental health.

- Flexibility with my job helps my energy level exponentially. Being able to work from home and minimize my commute is incredible. And the ability to help my spouse (she works part-time) with the kids throughout the day instead of cramming it all into a few hours after a long day of work when you are already exhausted.


Not older, very young. I have a 1 year old daughter and another child on the way so I thought it was a good time to set a routine. I'm lucky in that where I kayak there is reliable whitewater within 15 mins of my house. I go to the gym at lunchtime during work.

I've just restarted yoga - it has great benefits in relaxation and strength and really helps with all that time in the chair/bad posture. I did pilates previously which can be great too.


Dumb question, but how do you get home after kayaking down the river? Is it a two person operation?


Normally Yes but I have a short section of artificial rapids on the river next to my house where you can play in the waves, run the rapids, then walk back up. On wild rivers you normally drop a car at the bottom and drive back to where you started.


I'm 45 and have tried a number of different things. Here's what's made the most difference for me:

- Sitting desk but use TimeOut to remind myself to stand every 30 minutes. I tried standing and treadmill desks but they didn't work for me.

- Paleo/keto diet. I have much more energy and my bloodwork's improved.

- 5x5 Strong Lifts

- 16/8 intermittent fasting

- Get enough sleep. This and diet are ridiculously important.

- Fun hobby! I get up at 4:30am to write and I love it (most mornings).

Try things and see what works for you. Experiment. It always sucks in the beginning, but it's hugely worth the effort.


Going meta from your conclusion, cultivate the desire for new.

I'll second feeling the benefits of physical activity. The 7 minute workout is a great things to try for people that were never into sport. I was a runner for long time and never tried upper body / core training[1], and it's incredibly valuable. I really popped out of bed after that.

[1] crunches, dips, pushups, eagle, squats. Slowly but surely, especially the last two ones because they strengthened and opened hips and shoulders, and for a reason you just feel better after that.


What's 16/8?

And how can you get up at 4:30 and also "get enough sleep"?


16/8 is eating as much as you usually would, but cramming it into an 8-hour period. I generally do all my eating from 11am - 7pm. It helps a little, and I'll take all the help I can get.

As for the sleeping, I'm usually zonked out by 9:30-10.


Intermittent fasting means that you limit the hours of the day that you eat -- in this case he's fasting for 16 hours of the day and allowing food intake for 8 hours.

I presume this means he has two meals -- a late dinner and an early breakfast.

There are other models too, for example 20/4.


And why is that good?


Human growth hormone seems to be raised considerably after fasting for 16-24h which in turn supports strength training right after this period as the muscles grow naturally faster without any kind of "funny" supplements intake. Basically a body hack.


You can go to sleep earlier. I go to bed at 9pm (except Friday+Saturday) and don't set an alarm. Moving my side project work to first thing in the morning instead of late at night has more than doubled my productivity.


I strongly recommend Keto. I started Keto 4 months ago and a couple of my coworkers have joined in as well. Not a lot of research has been done, but you can find some interesting information over at http://www.reddit.com/r/ketoscience

Current research being done with the Keto diet: ALS, multiple sclerosis, Alzheimer's, and just about anything else that involves the brain like brain cancer. It's been proven to help type 1 & 2 diabetics, certain types of seizures and it's a great weight loss diet for most people.


Counterpoint: I've heard from a lot of people that ketogenic diets have made their LDL and apo B shoot through the roof. This is how you get atherosclerosis (aka clogged arteries) and eventually heart disease/heart attack/stroke. A lot of these people look great and say that they feel great.


You may be putting the cart before the horse there. Cholesterol is a complex subject, and mainstream wisdom is under threat [1]. The lipid hypothesis holds that cholesterol promotes heart disease, but cholesterol could also be something the body uses to combat atherosclerosis caused by infection say.

Regarding LDL elevation on keto diets, this is true but not necessarily a reason to abandon the diet [2]. I recall listening to a podcast interview with keto researcher Dominic D'Agostino (I can't find it anymore) in which he expressed the following opinion on this: so many biomarkers improve on these diets, so if LDL gets elevated don't sweat it, because cholesterol is so poorly understood anyway.

[1] http://wapo.st/1vh4cc3 [2] http://bit.ly/1IAPAyz


Thanks for bringing up this important point. Getting blood work done before & after is important when doing a diet change. Rob Rhinehart from soylent fame gets his blood drawn fairly regularly if I remember correctly. The community over on /r/keto is pretty good with helping out, see http://www.reddit.com/r/keto/comments/1j5yi8/help_me_rketo_h.... Due to genetics keto can be a bad idea for certain people.


LDL numbers themselves are meaningless unless you do fractioning, which your doctor doesn't do (mostly for cost purposes).


Quite a bit of research has been done, check out Phinney and Volek's "The Art and Science of Low Carbohydrate Living".


> I get up at 4:30am

Are you single by chance?


I'm not and I wake up early. More to the point plenty of people with much weirder sleeping patterns like shift work etc are in happy relationships.

In fact a lot of people in my office work 7am-3pm.


It's quite interesting hearing from people with experiences and life habits very different from mine. Thanks for sharing.


About to try intermittent 3 day fasts as the science seems promising.

http://www.cell.com/cell-stem-cell/abstract/S1934-5909(14)00...


I've tried a lot of stuff over the years, particularly focused on the physical: strength training, running, nutrition, paleo dieting, gut biology support.

Any benefits were short-lived until I started focusing on mental/emotional wellbeing, particularly relating to the subconscious mind.

I've learned that our propensity for fatigue, burnout and physical decline is heavily influenced by our subconscious perceptions of outer-world stimuli.

Two people can experience the same thing but have completely different reactions, which manifest physically as different levels of cortisol release, metabolic function, sleep quality, etc, all of which has a big impact on long-term health.

I've wound up using a few different techniques to clear unhealthy subconscious beliefs and behavioral patterns, and have seen a consistent improvement in my mental and physical wellbeing.

I still pay attention to fitness, nutrition, etc, but the payoff seems much bigger when accompanied by the emotional work.


Care to share your techniques/methods?


The technique I now use is my own fork of a technique that comes out of the chiropractic professional called Neuro Emotional Technique.

I'm a little reticent to talk much about it here, because hey everyone knows chiropractors are all charlatans right? :) Actually I kinda do too, but this technique is pretty powerful, and several very skeptical, conventionally-minded people I know have tried it out and found it very beneficial.

Things like meditation, mindfulness and hypnosis can be very effective for some people, but where they don't yield results, NET can offer answers.

If you want to know more about the science of how this stuff works, I recommend a book called The Biology of Belief by Bruce Lipton, a former Stanford researcher in cell biology who observed the way cell health responds to environmental (including emotional) stimuli.

The basis of the approach is that most of our core behavioral traits are somehow "hard-coded" into our minds at an early age - as the saying goes, "give me the child up to the age of 7, and I'll give you the man". Some of these traits may be linked to early life traumas or unhealthy value systems picked up from parents or other influential people, and some of them may lead to self-sabotaging behaviour in later life. To fundamentally change behaviour after this age is difficult, unless you can use one of these techniques to deprogram the undesirable beliefs and replace them with healthier ones.

I've also seen my rate of improvement increase since I started doing a form of yoga called kundalini. It seems to be very effective at strengthening the core and lower back, which makes a big difference to overall health.


psych-k or tapping? self-applied or done by a professional?


NET is a separate modality of its own - http://netmindbody.com. It uses muscle-testing to find the belief or trauma causing the undesirable behavior or response, then a short meditation to release it.

I understand it's similar to Psych-K, but I've not tried that - though I am interested.

I have done tapping and initially found it beneficial but soon hit diminishing returns. I've since read a few things that express the view that tapping can be harmful.

When I started out with NET I'd visit a chiropractor, but recently I've learned how to do it myself, which saves me a lot of time and money and allows me to progress much faster.


Appreciate the reply very very much. I've found psych-k and tapping both revolutionary for handling rapid onset emotional issues. I'm going to learn NET too, now.


I follow a morning routine regularly which includes:

-10 Minute Meditation

-10 Minute Writing/Journal - business quotes, ideas, etc.

-10 Minute Drawing (I'm not good, but the repetition has helped. I bought a book called "642 things to draw" which makes it very easy.)

-10 Minute Reading

-10 Minute Exercise (simple do it at home exercises)

This type of routine is discussed in books like The Miracle Morning by Hal Elrod and Level Up Your Day by S.J. Scott and Rebecca Livermore.

Once you get into the swing of things it keeps you on a good schedule for sleeping and waking up early. This gives me a lot more energy each day and stimulates my creative side.


I feel like if I tried it in that order I'd doze off during the meditation.

I like this idea though. In less than an hour you are practicing so many things that are good for your mind and body.

I might increase this to 15 minutes and do it directly after my typical morning 1 hour workout.


Just turned 40 this year and certainly had been feeling the effects of neglecting my physical well being. I knew I couldn't undertake any drastic changes as they probably wouldn't last so I decided on a couple small things that were attainable.

1) Decided to pay attention to what I ate. Not necessarily to change what I was eating but just be aware and recognize I need to eat a little less. This has meant not getting the second round at dinner and cutting out most of the snacks at night.

2) Wanted to exercise. Again going from zero I knew I had to keep the bar low, so I decided on walking 25-30 minutes 3 times a week. Also to tone my upper body I also began 5 sets of 20 push-ups twice a week. These are mostly still on my knees but I'm getting better.

The result after 3 months have been great. I've lost 18 pounds and have a much improved mental outlook.

Importantly I wanted to keep the expectations and changes small. I can always ramp up later but going from zero I needed to make it easy to be successful. Also I track all of the above in a spreadsheet which is a major motivator to get the X's all filled out for walking and push-ups.

I wish I would have done this sooner.


Wow! I dont know you, but hearing his even I am proud of the progress you've made! Keep it up :)


I built a "desk" on my treadmill. I walk 3+ hours @ 2.5 MPH pace @ 10% incline/grade 4-5 times/week while working. (I've increased the incline as it got less difficult.) To walk any faster makes it difficult to work on a computer. For the other 2-3 times/week (and over the course of 5-6 hours throughout the day), I do strength-training while working, all with "at-home" products (pull-up/chin-up bar, Perfect Pushup stands, dumbbells, ab exercise). The ab exercise I use is https://valme.io/c/health/fitness/t0qqs/my-abs-arent-steel-j..., and it still kicks my butt after almost 2 years. P90X rocks.

As to diet (which you MUST not ignore), I eat a lot of protein during the day (protein bars, protein shakes), in addition to vegetables and fruits, and try to limit myself to under 50g of sugar (only 25g daily from desserts). I also fast a few times each month for never less than 24 hours (sometimes I make it to 40). Gave up soda decades ago (which used to be the only way I could keep coding for so long). It wasn't until I started paying attention to diet that I saw enormous improvements in my abs.

I'm probably in the best shape of my life and thinner/more muscular than I was in undergrad. The hardest part was getting the routine started. Once I saw improvements after a few months, the rest was "easy."


I'm 26. I've been sitting at my computer most of the day since I was about age 10 (Ultima Online, EverQuest, etc.) and it's been my job since about age 17. Just in the last year have I really started to think about my health and have attempted to create some good habits so that it's easier to maintain a healthy lifestyle as I get older. Here's what I've been doing:

1) Going to the gym. I've been doing a 4-day split each week (Legs + Abs/Shoulders/Back + Biceps/Triceps + Chest). I recently added 15 minutes of HIIT on a bike before starting my workout.

2) Going outside. I recently moved to Boulder so this has been an easy one. Being out in the sun regularly has made me feel a lot more happy and energetic.

3) Drinking water. I try to drink 2.5-3 liters of water a day. I track it using the FitBit app. It's harder than you think - I basically have to chug a liter when I wake up if I want to succeed for the day. I haven't noticed feeling much different, but I've gotten sick less in the last year than previous years.

4) Using a standing desk. I alternate between sitting and standing. Right now I'm standing ~25% of the time, and I'd like to increase that to 50% by the end of this year.

5) Investigating hobbies. I'm learning how to fly fish. Also working on designing and building a small aquaponic system.

6) Sleeping more. I've been trying to get ~8 hours of sleep each night.


2) above is the best advice in this thread (IMHO). Move to Boulder, and everything else will fall into place. :-)


What's the tech scene like out there? I've been considering a move.


There's definitely a demand for good programmers. Check out some job boards and I'm sure you'll find something.


Increasing physical health significantly increases mental health in my experience.

Biking + Water = joy!

Fitness: Ride a bike! See the world! As you are already indoors most of the day staring at your computer screen (as I am) I highly recommend taking up an "out-the-front-door" outdoor physical activity that you can do for the rest of your life.

Biking is low impact on your body and you can get an incredible amount of fitness in a very little amount of time while taking in fresh air and sunshine. I have burned over 1,000 calories in one hour and over 10,000 calories in a day while traveling over 150 miles on a bike. It doesn't get easier, you just get faster.

As a side note: fat leaves the body through CO2 on your outbreath! WOW mind blown!

Fuel: WATER!!! Drink water & eat real whole foods. You should always have clear urine so drink water first thing in the AM and all day long, drink enough to take a piss break every hour to get you up and out of your work chair. This alone will make you feel 10x better.

Healthy fueling happens in the grocery store. Shop the edges of the store (not the aisles) and buy things that contain lots of water and are a single ingredient: vegetables, fruits, bananas, apples, carrots, dates, watermelon, etc. not items that are processed. I have a sweet tooth and after eating fresh bananas and dates I don't even touch/want the ice cream in the freezer. I swear, dates are the most amazing food on earth! Take them on your bike rides instead of processed bars. Eat as much fresh raw food as you want, your body processes it quickly and you won't feel bogged down like when you are digesting meat.


I'm in my mid-40's. I have two kids (both still under 4) and things are a lot harder all around. Wouldn't change it for the world, of course, but this was the year I stopped neglecting my health.

1. Got back on my bike. I try to do about 40-60 mi a week. Of course, I am already seeing results after 4 weeks of doing this.

2. This was unexpected, but I started using Rise.us and got a great registered dietician. My wife's been using the app since last year and has lost 40lbs. It was interesting always seeing her taking pictures of food everywhere we were. At first I didn't really get it, but now, I'm doing the same thing. It's really good for me having someone who can help me make better decisions about what I'm eating. Lots of veggies, moderate portions of meat, little fats. It's working well for me.

3. Cut out booze. Having young kids and non-stop days with something always going on; it's very easy to have a few glassed of wine a night. Now I'll maybe have two glasses a week. This helps with just feeling better all together.

4. Stand & sit at work. I try to stand 1/2 the time at work.

5. Water. I'm pretty strict about having enough water throughout the day. For my brain to work, it needs to stay hydrated.

All in all, I'm happy with where I'm going. I'm down about 5 lbs from when I started 4 weeks ago (started at 193) and my goal is 180. Maybe 175. I can't just do it biking and eating crazy and I see my Rise coach being a huge part of this.


Low carb HIGH FAT. Eating a lot of animal fat (with average portions of lean meat) and almost zero carbs has helped me a lot.

Nevertheless I touched a plateau so I went to exercise, just a little, and then I became much more lean.


Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu. It's the best full body, strength and cardio workout I've ever experienced on a regular basis. It's also very fun and mentally challenging. I've done many other martial arts over the years, and in terms of a "work out", none can compare.

Most schools are filled with very encouraging and friendly people. If you find one where that is not the case, leave and join another.


Recently picked up skateboarding because of the mental/physical challenge is unlike any sport or hobby. Even though I'll never be as good as the twenty-something year olds at the park, it's exciting when I am able to do something I've never done before. Sure I fall on my ass, but I also get myself back up & to try "riding that ramp" one more time. This may seem far fetched for someone in their late 40's, but if you have a kid or a friend who is up for something on the opposite spectrum of your day to day life, I find this new hobby of mine to keep my sanity while maintain what I can consider less of a 'regular life'. :)


OMG I just did the same thing! In my mid-40s. I thought it was just me that was crazy. Got my 12 yr old a skateboard for christmas and we're both crazy for it. Of course, he can already Ollie and I'm mostly happy not to fall off (again) but it's been truly fantastic. Great to know there's another out there!


Wheels: hard/small/soft/big -- what's your preference?

I got the idea to try skateboarding after watching SteveSi skateboarding during the original Surface intro.

I do longboarding. Got any recommendations for a beginner short skateboard?


I have a regular skateboard -- a Real lowpro with 149mm indie trucks and 56 Bones ATF wheels. I also have a hybrid (in between skate/long) board that might appeal to you. The hybrid is a "Bustin' Yoface 35". I run 65mm wheels on the yoface -- it's really like a big skateboard. I also like these for hybrids: http://cometskateboards.com/. The Shred 33 or 35...

The short deck is really fun and maneuverable, but much more limited where I can ride it. If I'm not running the ATF wheels or ("OJs"), I'm likely to fall over if I hit a little pebble. That happens, say, if I'm running bones STFs, which I know a lot of 'street' skaters use with no problem. It's a skill thing and I think a weight thing.

Also, the bones hardcore bushings are great. You can also mix in say venom downhill bushings boardside to give it a different feel. I've done this, but had to get a baseplate with a longer kingpin to fit the taller bushing. It didn't really look taller, but really small differences in size seem to matter a lot.

Obviously, the skate thing can get pretty gear-heady. Not least of which because very small tweaks can have a really big impact on how it all feels and whether it's fun. At first, I tried a bunch of stuff, but now I've settled in to 2 setups for now (the real and the yoface).

But your original question: "wheels" -- I like between 56mm and 65mm (If I can fit them on the board). Kind of the biggest I can fit on the board without wheelbite. I like softer wheels as the help with pebbles and my skills aren't such that I find them limiting yet.

I hope some of that helps -- it was pretty stream of consiousness :)

EDITED for grammar mostly


Thanks. Appreciated.


This is what I do:

- Try not to use an alarm clock - Get 8 hours of sleep a night. (I find that sometimes I need to take melatonin to avoid insomnia.) - Walk the dog every day at lunch time for about half an hour - Try to eat vegan most of the time - Limit myself to 1-2 beers / glasses of wine a day - Don't smoke tobacco

If you research what we really know about living healthy, it comes down to two things: 45 minutes of walking per day is what most people need for exercise; and modern Americans eat significantly more animal products than what our ancestors ate.

Thus, it's not very hard to stay healthy, as long as you can get over not eating a T-bone for dinner every day and aren't an alcoholic.


1. Sleep a minimum of 7-8 hours a night, and go to bed at the same time and get up at the same time.

2. Screens off after 8:30pm.

3. Stop work at 6pm and spend time with family or doing things I find fun, stimulating. After about 40 hours of work the brain isn't any more effective. This forces me to ignore social media and get stuff done during the day.

4. Exercise: run 3x per week and one additional strength training session as well as a walk etc on another day.

5. Eat sugar, bread, alcohol and pasta in very small moderate amounts.

6. Use my time thoughtfully. say no a lot. get clear on my priorities and ruthlessly get rid of things not moving me forward.

7. Go outside after lunch for at least 15 mins, ideally 30. I walk my dog but you can just go outside.


> 8:30pm How long is this before you go to sleep?


typically lights out 10-10:30 as I get up at 6:30 each day.

edit to add: during this time I:

1. walk the dog 2. read (book or kindle paperwhite which doesn't impact sleep) 3. tidy up 4. lay out clothes for the next day, pack lunches or bag as needed. 5. sit and chat with my partner (shocking!)


I walk 10,000 steps (about 5 miles) a day. If you have an iPhone, you can track your progress in the Health application, but I use a third party app called Pedometer.

In order to reach this goal, I take public transit to work, I walk for about 30 minutes during lunch, and I walk for 20-30 minutes in the evenings. It takes a bit of time out of your day, but the benefits are worth it.

I also cut out meat, chicken, and other processed foods from my diet (sweets) because of calorie concerns. This lets me load up with things like raw vegetables which don't have many calories but will make you feel full. If you're not thrilled with cutting those things out of your diet, then maybe see a dietician. Your health insurance may cover the visit.

I also make it a point to do daily weighins each morning, speak my weight into my iPhone (since I'm half asleep at the time), and periodically enter all of that data into a spreadsheet. This lets me track my weight and see how dietary or lifestyle changes I've made affect my overall weight.


I started doing P90X about 3.5 years ago. It's been a lifestyle change where I've made a commitment that I will work out 5 days a week (rest on the weekends) and I don't let anything else get in the way of this. I'm flexible as to when this happens - but I WILL work out for 1 hour every day!

Also I started Testosterone Replacement Therapy. This has been amazing! Whereas I had no energy after work and no interest in sex, it changed within a week after my testosterone went from 311 ng/dl to 1100 ng/dl. (And my wife was thrilled!) Furthermore because of the workout routine, I have gained 10 pounds of muscle and lost 5 pounds of fat - and have the DEXA scans to prove it. (This is after the first 3 years of P90X and having lost 45 pounds, so these gains in muscle and loss of fat was a bit of a pleasant surprise.) My strength is greater than it was in highschool. My energy level is higher, but not at the highschool level - but close.


> Also I started Testosterone Replacement Therapy.

I think this is a huge one especially for older men. I'm only 24 but I was recently tested just so I have a benchmark in my "prime" age going forward. I was curious as well.

For anyone interested in some further reading, HN recently had a thread about it on an article "Testosterone is the drug of the future" https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=8996003


Is easy for exercise to focus to fast/soon in goals like become stronger or lose calories.

The first goal is just "go to class". Be able to form a routine. Don't get crazy and not worry with other goals until the body is in shape (and routine) to it.

But probably because your are more concerned in the health you already know this ;)

This is a very simple one to ramp-up:

https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=scientific+work...

Eat well. I'm in Colombia, so is far easier than in the US (get raw food is just a 1min walk in most areas of the city!). I think also get crazy and do a too fast switch is wrong. Living here, we never thought "We must buy organic!, Not processed food!". Good food is what we already have. Don't worry about it until the US culture get widespread in this area.

So, also not worry too hard about calories. Get normal food, not processed, and think about it as a normal thing. From what I hear from people that live in USA the food thing is probably the hardest to pull off...

--- Use a standing desk. Not be standing all the day! I use a fatigue mat:

http://www.amazon.com/Genuine-Joe-Anti-Fatigue-Beveled-3-Fee...

(Super-durable!)

and a bar chair (to sit without move the desk). I lift the keyboard mouse on top of my speakers (they are squared) and put a pice of wood on top of it. So with ingenuity you can setup one...

Think like put a small table on top of the desk, and put everything there...


Chemotherapy. :(

Before I had cancer, I got heavily involved in weight-lifting. Honestly, the time between ages 27-29 were the best years I've ever had in my life, health-wise.

Being in shape is so much better than being out of shape. Your entire life changes for the better.


That is rough. I do hope you're reading up on the research on marijuana. Seen my father go through it and return a changed man, all the best wishes!


Thanks man. I've been following the marijuana stuff for a while, though unfortunately my state will probably be one of the last to make the switch. We don't even have it approved for medical uses yet. :(

Just finished 8.5 months of chemo, in for radiation and a stem cell transplant next.


Best of luck to you.


About 2.5 years ago I started with the Couch to 5K program to impress a girl. She turned out to be a waste of time, but now I run 3x/week, and I've never felt better. I used to have trouble sleeping, but now I sleep like a rock. I used to feel fat and gross, and now I feel clean and healthy. In the last 2.5 years, I've run 6 half marathons and hundreds of miles to train.

When I'm not training for a half marathon, I run for 30 minutes max. It's enough time to warm up, get the heart rate going, and let my mind zone out. I've worked through so many problems -- professional and personal -- while I'm in "the zone", and honestly, I've never felt better. Running isn't just a physical workout; it's mental therapy as well. The endorphins make you happier, the relief of having completed a workout makes you excited to do it again, and the results speak for themselves.

If you're not physically active at all, I highly, highly recommend the Couch to 5K program (just Google it). I used to hate running, now I love it. Give it a shot. I believe you can do ANYTHING for 6 weeks -- and this is no exception.

My next plan is to start working on strength training to build a little more muscle in my core. I'm starting with a body weight training regimen, so I don't need to go to a gym. (I hate gyms.) The upside is that a stronger core will help me run better and faster, with less chance of injury! And faster means more miles in 30 minutes. Just an all around win/win situation.

Finally, for some non-running advice, I'd say leave work at 5:30 every day and don't check your email when you get home. In my experience, there is nothing that can't wait until 8:30 tomorrow. Did you get an email at 6:15pm? They can read your reply at 9am. Did you get a bug report at 4:45pm? Unless it's critically breaking your app to the point where it's unusable, then it can wait until 10am tomorrow.

Put in your 8 hours, then go home and relax.

Good luck.


* Strength training: I focus on building strength not size (I'm already a pretty big guy, 6' 1" 220lb). Workout 4 times/wk, 5 sets/5 reps using a moderately heavy weight I could lift 8-10 times (stopping at 5).

* Cardio: I don't do as much cardio as I used to due to a knee injury, but I recently bought a standing desk and have been experimenting with cycling on a spinning bike for .5 - 1hr/day on the bike.

* Diet: I used to eat like shit, but changed by diet in January. Now I east sushi for breakfast and dinner ~5 times/wk and typically eat a black bean/chicken burrito for lunch. I get the sushi at my local supermarket so it's only ~$8/meal. Doing zero cardio (just strength training) I lost 20b in the first 2.5 months. I've since leveled off since I'm less strict, but keeping the weight off feels effortless since it was more of a lifestyle change than a diet.

* Sleep: I typically don't set an alarm unless my wife needs it, but when I do we aim for 8 hours. Sleep is crucial.

* Personal relationships: They're important. I used to not pay much attention to them (even my marriage) since I'm a solitary creature, but I try harder now. I'm even trying to make friends rather than just having acquaintances. Currently the only people I talk to regularly are my mom and my wife, my business partners are a distant third.

* Play: I spent the last few years working every minute. Now I play a video game every now and then. It let's me "relax" while still feeling like I'm accomplishing something. I don't yet know how important this is and I may stop. Relaxing isn't in my DNA, it makes me anxious and feels very uncomfortable. The closest thing I can do to relaxing is hanging out with my wife and having an interesting conversation.

* Drink water: Aside from the occasional Diet Coke I only drink water. I don't drink coffee, tea or alcohol, but I never have so this isn't a change. I used to drink flavored drinks like Crystal Light but switched back to water.


I would check that you're not getting too much mercury by eating sushi that much. Would plug in your intake numbers into the EPA mercury calculator. Tuna has lots, fyi


If you're training for strength can I ask why you're only lifting a moderately heavy weight? At 5x5 you should be lifting 80–85% of your 1RM.


I've found it to be better for strength and more sustainable. I decided to try it after listening to these episodes (HIGHLY recommended): http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/01/15/pavel-tsatsouline/

I've been doing it for about 3 months now and have had bigger strength gains than I've had in the last couple years.

The biggest benefit is that recovery is faster since it isn't as hard on my joints and my workouts are shorter.

The moderate weight for me works out to 225-255lb bench and 315lb+ squat (though sometimes down to 225lb). It felt strange stopping at the 5th rep at first, but I found that I just focus more on form, go deeper on the squat, etc.

My wife also made it clear that she thinks I'm too muscular, so I focus more on strength now than size (though as a guy I still feel like I want more size). This low rep strength-focused program really helps with that.


* weightlifting ~3 times a week. * intermittent fasting (16/8 with exceptions for weekends and social gatherings). i drink water and black coffee until 2pm and eat almost nothing before 4pm. * reduced sugar as much as possible. almost no sweets, no energy drinks - water and coffee (and the occasional beer). i cook all my meals. * reduced carbs from wheat. no bread, no flour, rarely noodles. again, exceptions for social gatherings and beer. * lots of sleep. this comes with the weightlifting and thankfully, i've got flexible time at work.


It really helped me to be employed somewhere that has a gym on-site and working out is part of the culture.

While I worked at EA, it was easy to stay in great shape because I played full-court basketball every day at lunch. They also had daily soccer matches, spin classes, personal trainers and so on. I frankly had no idea what a huge impact leaving the company would have on my fitness. I've since worked out a plan for staying in shape without it, but that workplace benefit is noteworthy to this end.


Strength training (e.g. lifting weights). I will be anecdotal and tell my own story. I started at about 30, having virtually no experience in the weight room. I was very intimidated, but took it as a challenge. That was generally unfounded and I have found people in the gym to be (while reserved) generous and non-judgmental. I still go in the morning, though, because having a crowded room throws me off.

After beginning to lift, minor pain that I was experiencing in my wrist and back disappeared. I'm now focusing on my posture a lot because I realize I'm basically too weak to sit or stand up straight all day. It has also taught me basic things like how to pick something up. I cringe every time I see some one bend over at the waist and arch their back. People can throw out their backs picking up very light objects.

I highly recommend the book The New Rules of Lifting. Supplement by watching you tube videos about particular motions. Start off slowly. If you can afford it, consider a trainer. But I am a DIY type, as I imagine many here are.

Eat right (I generally ignore weight lifting diet advice and try to follow the advice in Eat Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide, which generally advises a Mediterranean-style diet and is based on aggregating data from several of the most long-term studies of diet).

Make sure you are sleeping well.


I did an Ironman last year, but it was probably not the best use of time and money as triathlon races (especially those sponsored by Ironman) are not inexpensive and end up being more like mini-vacations than weekend races. I enjoyed doing it for the sake of trying it and having a sense of accomplish at the end of the day.

If looking healthy is your primary goal, I think strength training + cardio is much more time efficient than cardio (like triathlons) alone. Now I'm focusing on surfing in the mornings when the conditions are good and lifting (mainly bench/squat/deadlift) otherwise. If you aren't familiar with these lifts, scheduling time with a trainer helps prevent you from missing workouts while ensuring you aren't doing yourself harm. Occasionally I'll play volleyball and I'm hoping to get back in climbing as well.

Playing team sports is also a great motivator for doing cardio. Its much easier to run when you're committed to doing it with your friends and letting them down can be worse than letting yourself down.

Also never drive if you can help it. If its less than 2 miles, walk. If its less than 5 miles, ride a bike. You'll save a ton of money in the process as well.

Aside from the above, plenty of rest (9+ hours a night) and eat healthy (sort of).


> ...who have been sitting at their computers...

> ...sitting down all day...

I am 32. I noticed after years of sitting down that my back and hips began to ache and my body started feeling oldish.

So I recently (two months ago) switched to a standing desk and feel really good. Back pain went away and I feel engaged and on point all day long. I do sit down for lunch and do a couple stretch breaks to break things up but in general I am sold and dont plan to 'sit at a desk all day' for a long time.


Was it difficult to adjust to a standing desk? For some reason, I found it difficult to focus while standing up.

Also, is it something that is easily accepted in a company? Isn't it viewed as eccentric in more conservative workplaces?


Give your back a few days to adjust to the change. First days might hurt a bit. After that you'll begin to feel your back muscles strengthen. Its worth it IMHO. Possibly get a motorized sitting/standing desk so you can shift postures.

Any good company will accept whatever makes you most productive.


I walk. It is pretty easy to integrate into day to day life. I tried going to gym once or twice but didn't enjoy it. Walking in a park is much more refreshing. My grandfather (from my mother's side) is 81 and he still walks to this day. Which is why I feel that going to gym is not really sustainable. I don't think I will be able to lift weights at 81, supposing I live that long. Better to get into a habit of walking and do it as long as I live.

Reading and writing are very good mental exercises. If you combine the two it is even better. The idea is really simple. First read what you like and then write what you understood. Benjamin Franklin used to do it. If you read something good it is impossible to not think about it. Writing is just like thinking only more concrete and disciplined.

I don't know about you but my mind starts to wander easily. Writing demands from me an absolute attention to my thoughts. Which means I think more deeply and clearly when I write as compared to when I don't.

According to socrates to live the best life one must be trained in music and gymnastic. Music he refers to a poem of the soul. Something to lift the desolate spirit. Thoughtful words of wise men can become socratic music. Gymnastic he refers to physical exercise.


Live somewhere where you can safely bike to work. I bike all year around in Stockholm's climate, and that way I get at least 1h physical activity every workday.


This is one of my big things. I'm pretty into biking, so I go on longer rides during the weekends, but biking 5 miles each way between Mountain View and Palo Alto every day (for 50 miles total a week) can't be discounted.


Martial arts.

I have been practicing shaolin kung fu for 11 years, but I think most systems that incorporate a good 60 minutes of full body movement are going to do the trick. Surprised I am the first to post this as I have never found a more complete exercise system. Not to mention the internal aspects I have found to be extremely beneficial over the course of my life.

Yoga is pretty close, especially if you are doing ashtanga, brutal yoga!


Drink plenty water throughout the day.

Here's my physical routine that I go through.

Jump rope every night for about 10-15 minutes with a weighted speed rope. Jumping rope is really great and I highly recommend it, its easy on the knees and a fast way to get a good cardio workout.

Boxing on weekends, I own a heavy bag on a stand so its easy for me to do.

I have a hangboard located in my kitchen that whenever I pass under it I do a pullup or hold. I recommend Metolius hangboards.

Walk my dog 1 mile every other day or whenever she feels fit.

Mow the lawn, rake leaves, grow a garden, just make sure you break a sweat.

Yoga whenever I feel tight or knots.

Surfing in the mornings when I can for about an hour. If surfing isn't for you then swim, try to make your goal to swim 1 mile or 1600 meters in 30 or 45 minutes. Like jumping rope, swimming really easy on the body and great cardio.

The important thing is to keep moving, and keep changing it up.

This mish-mash of physically activity works for me because I can alter it around my programming time and free time with my family.


Jumping rope is easy on the knees? I guess we don't get/need much elevation but I have been avoiding it thinking it could hurt knees (if on the heavy side).


I jump rope on two yoga mats, one on top of the other. I've done it without a couple times and noticed the very next day. FYI I am just over a 100 lbs but I also jump for 30-40 minutes, depending on the show I am watching.


The best way is to do it how a boxer would on the toes one foot at a time. Eventually you build up your muscles and your bones become dense fast enough to perform more intense moves; high knees, double up etc.


Surfing in the morning .... now I feel jealous


This thread is already big enough no one will really see this but i'll add it here for my occasional trips down memory lane through my comment history:

I'm 32 and have always been pretty active. I do a lot of indoor rock climbing, 3x/week and for long sessions. I've recently been finishing up my visits with leg workouts (lunges, machine leg press).

I am probably in the best shape of my adult life. Would like to add more cardio.

I stay away from carbs, never drink sodas or coffees or really anything besides water and beer. I dont typically drink alcohol during the week.

One weird thing I do is stomach vacuums pretty much any time I think of them (sitting in the office, walking around, in the car, etc). Most men in my family are pretty thin but have bulging "beer bellies" so I'm trying to postpone that aging effect as much as possible. Hey 40 year old me, hows it looking?


For others who need to look up what a Stomach Vacuum [1] is

[1] http://www.bodybuilding.com/exercises/detail/view/name/stoma...


Except for special occasions: no vegetable oil, no wheat, less sugar.

I agree with much of the paleo, keto, weight lifting and meditation submissions on here. I would add that I think there isn't much better for you than saturated and monounsaturated fat and that there isn't much worse for you than "vegetable" (industrial seed) oils because of their high (especially omega-6) polyunsaturated fat content.

Two books I would really recommend are "Perfect Health Diet" by the Jaminets and "The Paleo Manifesto" by John Durant. "The Paleo Manifesto" is a 30,000ft view of health from an ancestral perspective. The "Perfect Health Diet" delves into the chemistry of metabolism and is very interesting in it's own right if you're into that kind of thing.


I'm a freelancer, been 100% remote for the last 3 years. I rent desk space at a coworking space that is a mile and a half from my house. My car is broken, I'm lazy about fixing it (actually, I'm just going to get rid of it) and I hate buses, so it forces me to walk.


I'm the same as you; remote and coworking space. I cycle every day back and fore.


Physical: Running, jumping jacks, pushups, squats, crunches. I'm not a huge gym fan, but I enjoy running. Also I changed my diet around, to focus more on fruits and veg, and less on proteins. I went from 250+ -> 175 about a year or two back, and have had little trouble staying there. (Do jump to 180 during heavy stress work weeks, lose it the next week fairly quickly though)

Mental: Something I am still working on, but for the moment I do video games, or comic books. Both get my mind off work, and let me do something new. I am thinking about trying meditation, but 3 cats and a dog make finding quiet alone time really difficult.


2 years ago, the feeling of slowly dying in front of my computer started too. I'm 47. By chance, two friends suggested to go for a mountain bike ride with them. I couldn't breathe and was ridiculously far behind, but I did stick to it.

It started the Wednesday a 7pm(with lamps half of the year). Then a second ride on weekends. 60-100km/week now.

I got back my 18 years' weight. And feel stronger and healthier than ever.

I tried many indoor trainings of all sorts, but felt them hard to keep with, in the long run.

MTB is fun. And put you in direct contact with nature few hours a week. You can even build your own bike, adding a tech dimension to it.


So many comments and not even one mention of joints but at least 5 mentions of 5x5.

5x5 and "Starting Strength" are pretty fucking horrible suggestions for an older guy who has been sitting at his desk for 20 years. If you're a beginner, you WILL damage your joints starting with these programs. 5 sets of 5 reps with heavy weights is very nearly the worst thing you can do. Please do not follow this advice. I learned all of these lessons the hard way, but you don't have to.

* If you want to start strength training, start with 20 reps for at least a year.

* If you can't do 20 reps, the weight is too heavy.

* If your muscles are sore for more than two days, the weights are too heavy.

* If your soreness is anything other than very mildly uncomfortable, reduce the weight, not the reps.

* By very mild soreness, I mean very, very, VERY mild.

* If you have even the slightest joint pain, reduce the weight.

* If you hear popping and snapping of your tendons as you move through an exercise, reduce the weight.

* Never go to failure.

* Never train unless you've broken a mild sweat with your warm-up first. (10 min on a bike, etc...)

* Never train unless you allow time for cool-down afterward. Mild, post workout cardio significantly reduces muscle soreness in my experience. Shoot for 15 min. minimum cool-down.

* Very slowly start increasing weight each week or month. If you have no muscle or joint soreness, it's probably safe to increase a little.

* Be very patient. Body changes over 40 take a lot of time and rushing things just leads to injury now or later.

* On non-workout days, try to stay active. Get out of your chair and get some mild exercise at least once an hour. Keep your blood flowing. This reduces soreness and aids in faster recovery.

* Don't skip workouts

* If you skip workouts and you have been increasing the weight, reduce the weight to less than whatever you were lifting in your last workout.

Have you every heard an old person complain that their muscles are not big enough? Have you every heard an old person complain that their joints are terrible? I've seen plenty of old guys with relatively big muscles that have trouble walking much less doing anything else. Don't ruin your joints with lifting heavy weights too fast. Whatever pleasure you get from strength and big muscles while you are still relatively young is not worth the joint damage you will experience later. Joints are the key to mobility and are far more important than muscles.


Great advice - and of course a lot of mobilization before the actual squat itself! Kelly Starrett has good videos for mobilization before squatting - https://www.youtube.com/user/sanfranciscocrossfit/search?que...


Walking 10,000 steps every day.

You may argue that the number 10,000 is a myth, but walking frequently and having a goal is not ;)


Also, moving throughout the day - not just 5000 steps in the morning and 5000 in the evening, but regular movement making up a significant percentage of the total.

I use a Jawbone band which buzzes me if I've been sitting still for 30 minutes, and then I try to find some excuse to walk around for a few minutes.

I don't think activity bands have really yet been designed around preventing health problems associated with sitting all day, most just count daily totals. The Up band and the Vivofit were the only two that seemed to give you here-and-now information about inactivity, and it's a bit disappointing that other companies don't seem to be doing much to improve things in that area.


Disclaimer: I work at Fitbit.

The Fitbit Surge's default watch display, "flare" shows radial lines for each minute you're active and dots for inactive minutes this hour. It's easy to see when I last got up and walked around.

A fun side effect is that when you go out to get lunch and bring it back to the office, just looking at the watch face you can count how far a walk it was in minutes and how long you stood in line.


That's interesting, thanks for the correction. I suppose it's more easier to include that kind of information when you have more space, with the larger screen.

This, to me, seems like one of the big challenges that activity monitors are coming up against - now we have all of this data, and more and more can use it to work out what the behaviours are, how do you then boil that information down to limited, simple, intuitive visual or tactile cues that people can use to alter their behaviour in ways that they want to pursue, and improve their health.

And, indeed, what is important to health - is it increasing minutes of active movement, decreasing inactive minutes, increasing aerobic exercise minutes, or is it specifically sitting which is damaging, and so on. Quite tough, but hopefully there's a lot of thought going on to tackle it behind the scenes. It also seems like something academia should be getting involved with - this is probably something which will become fundamental to human health as more and more of us are desk bound.


I have been at my computer almost exactly 20 years. Most of that time I just sat there, hacking away. Granted, I did things outside of work that necessitated staying healthy, but for the most part I avoided it when I could. These days, I meditate as often as I can (I try to daily), I run a 10k every other weekend, and most significantly, I lift weights pretty intensely. My brother has been a bodybuilder for years and years, and finally got me on the boat to getting big. I made a comment elsewhere recently that this has made me significantly more effective as a programmer. I'd venture between 15% and 25% more effective in my day job due to my lifestyle, which is and has been a daily habit for a while now. I'm not sure exactly what mechanic precisely is responsible for making me a better programmer (though I guess each activity plays its part), but it is noticeable in my commit history: More commits of higher quality since I got into the habit of working out and meditating daily. Nobody was more surprised than I.

Edit: The points here about eating a regular, healthy diet and sleeping enough each night could not be more salient to my own regimen. I have been experimenting with sleeping six hours a night with a nap immediately after I shower after the gym to some success in saving me a tiny bit of sleep while not running on fumes during the day. Regardless, you need seven, eight or nine hours to be healthy. Every night.


My anecdote: I've been eating a vegan high carb diet for the past 8 years and, even though I exercise a lot less than I used to, my health has improved dramatically in terms of not getting sick and feeling more energy. I also never had to worry about constipation or being overweight anymore.

Before changing my diet, I used to get sick at least 4 times per year (sore throat, sinus infections, headache). Now it's extremely rare. In fact, since 2008, I got sick only once, which I attributed to stress, since it happened a couple of days after I broke up from a long term relationship.

The core of my diet consists of beans (mostly black beans, Brazilian style) and brown rice. I add potatoes or sweet potatoes for certain periods of time, specially when I'm working out consistently and want more fuel. For breakfast I have either a simple smoothie (banana, peanut butter, spinach, almond milk) or oatmeal with berries.

Since I'm vegan for ethical reasons, I don't obsess over what I eat. I eat what I eat because it's convenient (my batch of black beans lasts 5 or 6 days), inexpensive and tastes good. I do eat some processed comfort foods, mostly on weekends, like vegan meats, pizza, ice-cream, veggie burgers, grilled "cheese", etc., but I don't notice any negative effect when I do.

If I'm out of town and eating on restaurants a lot, I notice that my energy levels drop and my BMs get messed up.


Beans or lentils with rice is an excellent staple meal. Easy to cook, cheap, lasts a long time, can be done in many flavorful ways. You can cook red beans in a cajun style, many sorts of lentils (dal) in an Indian style, lots and lots of different ways to do it. I used to be a vegetarian when I was younger, and I still cook something along these lines very often.


I put in months on a startup when I could set my own hours, so I stopped using an alarm clock. I'd usually get a coding burst from 9pm-1am, go to bed, get up around 8:30 the next morning.

I took a dayjob to help make ends meet for a while, and had to go back to using an alarm. It's been very, very bad for me. I need to get to bed earlier, but that's not always possible. The exhaustion and pains are coming right back.

A natural sleep schedule. That made a huge difference in my health.


For strength training listen to these podcast episodes by the strength coach Pavel Tsatsouline (interviewed by Tim Ferriss): http://fourhourworkweek.com/2015/01/15/pavel-tsatsouline/

I consider myself pretty knowledgable on fitness, but I learned more practical info in those episodes than I have in the last 5 years elsewhere.


> I guess this is aimed more at older devs and admins who have been sitting at their computers for the last 20 years like me.

I'm one of those! What I've found is key is regular physical activity outside of work -- for me, its working with a trainer about once a week, ballroom/latin/swing dance classes several times a week (including joining a competitive formation team) and social dances about once a week, and -- at least during the workweek -- daily fast walks of at least a mile, usually about two miles, sometimes as much as three.

But it started with the dancing, and at a much lower level. Its not, I think, the specific thing that matters all that much, its finding something that works for you, and that you can be motivated to keep doing. For many people, something you can do with other people that you want to be around is important, because if you spend lots of time at work and then more time doing fitness-related things, you may not have as much time for social activity that's not tied to one or the other. That's one reason dance is great for me -- I enjoy it, my wife and I can do it together, and I like the community.

Diet, hydration, and sleep all have roles, too, though I don't excessively focus on diet dogmas.


I had my blood analyzed and discovered a severe Vitamin D deficiency - so I take supplements.

I also bought a treadmill and try to watch TV only while running or at least walking on the treadmill. It's less boring that way and gives me a little less of the feeling that I'm just wasting time when watching TV. I know there's a bit of a 'treadmill desk for programming' fad right now (since Linus announced his), but I find that idea terrible.


> I had my blood analyzed and discovered a severe Vitamin D deficiency - so I take supplements.

I'm sure you've been told before, but just in case: consider exposing yourself to more sunlight if possible.

Most Vitamin D deficiencies I've seen around me are from white-collar workers not getting enough sunlight exposure. My SO had to avoid sun due to a medical condition and she developed a deficiency too. Sunbathing on weekends worked like a charm for them.

Office jobs are surprisingly bad for our health.


> I'm sure you've been told before, but just in case: consider exposing yourself to more sunlight if possible.

Yup, that was exactly the problem - and it's not easy to change habits radically to facilitate that to the point of getting from less than 1/4th of the recommended level back to normal. Since higher dosages are considered safe now, I guess it's safest to keep taking supplements (as well as trying to get out more).

I've even considered buying one of these Osram lamps for reptiles with enough ultraviolet light to help Vitamin D levels: http://osram.com/osram_com/products/lamps/specialty-lamps/ul... - but 300W is a bit much (heat, brightness, limitations of typical luminaries).


I live in an area of the country that gets some of the lowest amount of direct sunlight. I asked my doc about Vitamin D deficiency and he said it's not worth testing. I got tested anyway and it was low even with me taking 2000iu a day. I think I take 8000 now.


I'm 29 but already seeing some negative effects from sitting in an office for the last 10 years. I was recently asked to switch to being a remote employee since we are running out of office space and I have a killer commute (4-5 hours round trip). I'm taking full advantage of it. I'm currently on a keto diet and down from a high of 300lbs to around 280lbs right now. I have two cheap Ikea tables that I used for a standing desk. I stand until my feet hurt and/or just sit until my laptop is about to die. Which usually is about an hour when I'm running VMs. I'm going to the gym each morning and walking 30 minutes on an incline before lifting. I lift 4 days a week using a split routine. Then I take 20-30 minutes at lunch to do some more walking on the treadmill and catch up on The DailyShow. If the weather ever gets nice in Ohio I plan on starting to bike on the weekends and maybe takes some walks with my wife in the evenings. We used bike about 30 miles on weekends and I'd like to get back to that a little bit. I also want to get my weight below 250 and my body fat below 20%. My fitbit scale claims I'm 38% body fat and I'm not happy with that.


First off. Get sufficient sleep and eat well (this means lower the number of carbs, limit the sugar, get good amounts of protien and lots of veggies).

If those two things aren't fixed first, then no amount of working out will help.

Second, if you're interested in working out, start slow. As in, don't try to jump in and workout 5 days a week. You'll burnout and quit. If you don't workout regularly, a group workout setting like Crossfit is actually a pretty good way to go. People that cite injury rates around Crossfit tend to misunderstand the overall context. If you haven't done physical things for a while, you're going to hurt and most likely will have something feel like an injury. This is to be expected no matter what you choose to do. If you find a reputable gym with solid trainers they'll ask questions to understand your history and prescribe you the right amount of difficulty. The class aspect will push you and keep it social. Remember that if you're just starting out on something and you're new, working with someone that knows what they're doing is going to help a lot more than just trying to do something on your own and save a bit of money.


I did fitness classes and weight training on my own for years, but about six months ago I discovered indoor (gym) bouldering and have made it my own. It's awesome. If you have a bouldering/climbing gym in your area, give it a try. I think a lot of people in the HN demographic would find it appealing.

- Easy to start: Bouldering is rock climbing but you don't need certifications, training, ropes, expensive equipment or belay partners. You stay lower to the ground than in roped climbing and fall on pads. If you have chalk (cheap, can usually borrow/rent) and shoes (rentable at gyms, cheap by most sports-equipment standards), you can go climb at a gym immediately.

- Goal-oriented, novelty-seeking, flow: instead of sets and reps, every bouldering problem is a creative physical and mental challenge. Good gyms tear down and set up new routes frequently and have a variety in difficulty, and most anyone can find something at the limit of their ability. Even if you're out of shape, if you can climb a stepladder, you'll have problems within your reach at most any gym (go slow to start though!)

- Instant feedback and progress: If you fall off the wall, you jump back on. If you go at least a couple times a week you can't help but get better.

- Motivation for fitness: The problem that's always just out of your reach at the gym will continually motivate you to drop a little bit of extra weight, improve your flexibility and get stronger.

- Friendly culture: Climbers tend to be a friendly, helpful bunch. No one cares who's better than who because the wall defeats everyone, and it's almost universally agreed that the most important part of the activity is having fun.


This matches exactly with my experience with bouldering or climbing. Well explained nlawalker!


Skipping breakfast. Intermittent Fasting, start eating at 12 noon, stop eating at 8pm.


+1 for intermittent fasting. Practicing it now for more than three months - also 16/8 and its great.

- It's simple as a method

- It's simplifying my daily routine

- It's simply good for my body and mind

I also reduced carbonhydrate-based food and instead focus on more protein. Energy from CH is depleted fast while energy from proteins gives me enough energy for the 16 hours of only water.


I'm doing something similar and it's worked out very well. After 10 years of different types of eating habits, I'm starting to think "breakfast is the most important meal of the day" is a myth.


> is a myth

... perpetrated by breakfast cereal companies. That's a 43B market right there.


Interesting, I already notice that I'm way more alert and active when I don't eat late in the night and go to bed a little bit hungry. Could you go into a bit more depth? I know that your metabolism changes quite a lot with eating a breakfast or not but was always under the assumption it kinda kickstarted it.


Wait, skipping breakfast?

Also, what do you mean by 'intermittent fasting'? One day of fasting per week?

What are the purported benefits of this eating pattern?


I cant find an article I like to post here, but if you look up 16/8 interment fasting, you'll find a ton of stuff.

Def: In every 24 hour period, 16 consecutive hours is spent fasting, 8 consecutive hours is spent feeding.

Among other things, it (has been proven to?) raise testosterone levels, which helps with energy and weight loss.


When I arrived in California, I weighed a bit over 250lbs (I'm 6'3") and was grossly out of shape. I'm in my early 30s.

Things I've been doing to improve my health:

Improved my diet. This alone caused me to shed about 30lbs.

Stopped drinking alcohol. I'm a recovering alcoholic, so this was a pretty important one. Next week will mark exactly 6 months since what I hope is my last drink ever.

Started weight training 3 times a week. I've only been at this for about 6 weeks, but my strength has gone up a surprising amount. When I started, squatting 90lbs was a huge struggle, I could maybe bench press about the same amount, and I could maybe deadlift 120lbs. I could barely overhead press an empty bar. As things stand now, I can do the following in 3 sets of 5 - squat 180lbs (2x starting), benchpress 135 (1.5x), deadlift 205lbs (1.7x), and OHP 85 (2x).

The weight training has really helped with the little aches and pains that start to pile up as you get older and fatter. My weight has actually been going up slowly as I weight train (220->225) but I've lost about three inches off my waistline.


I just changed my diet in a few ways:

• stopped drinking diet soda

• started drinking coffee

• reduced calorie intake

• limited consumption to 12hrs

• shifted diet to more fresh foods and fewer sugars

I've lost some weight (about 10% so far). I see slight differences in how I feel, mostly related to the changes in body mechanics due to the lost weight.

I think these changes will be critical in avoiding serious health complications. Next change I want to phase in is some reasonable exercise regimen.


Triple interval training, upper body (mainly chest) strength training, cycling, tennis, most of it 2-3x a week. No free sugar, limited carbs, lot of broccoli, lean meat, eating till half-full, 3-day salty-water fast once every 1-2 months. Sleeping at 10pm, waking up at 6am. Reading a lot, being creative (photo/movie/electronic music), traveling around the world.


Started doing start body weight training this year inspired by these progressions [1].

The problem I found with having to do weights or going for runs is that you need to leave the house and can't just do it right away every single day with a minimum of friction. This reduces motivation and makes it less likely to keep going.

I just get up 30 minutes earlier and go through half of this every day, alternating pushes and pulls. It's really simple for me and don't have any excuse to stop doing it, unless I'm a little delicate from the night before - but I find that even that gets blasted out of the system fairly quickly.

Haven't changed my diet or lost any weight, but I'm sure my muscle to fat ratio is a lot better. Definitely feel stronger and more energised than I was before.

[1] http://www.startbodyweight.com/2014/01/basic-routine-infogra...


I'm 28 and have started to feel it as well. I've started doing a few things lately:

1) Joined a competitive mens soccer team two years ago

2) Started coaching my daughters soccer a year and a half ago

3) Following a healthier diet. Still far from perfect but much better than before

4) Started going to the gym a few times a week

5) Getting up from my desk a dozen times a day to walk around and stretch

6) Stopped trying to do so much on the side


I like to roll my shoulders back and slide my shoulder blades down my back while sitting at the computer, additionally, yoga and meditation. Most recently, I stopped drinking coffee. Generally go with the flow and listen to your body. Everyone is different! Do some A/B tests on yourself. Wishing you infinite wellness!


See if there is pickup ultimate frisbee in your town/city. It is a super-friendly sport that welcomes beginners.

If you find running / weightlifting torturous (like I do), this is a really fun way to add activity to your life. After a game, you will suddenly realize that you just ran for 1-2 hours without even thinking about it.


So everyone is talking about weight training for strength only. I've done StrongLifts and Starting Strength and while it's probably effective for building strength it is also really boring in my opinion.

Nothing beats the pump you get from doing some isolated biceps exercises. It's really addictive and makes you hunger for the gym.

I would also argue that you release more endorphins when doing hypertrophy training (nothing but anecdotal evidence to back this up though). If you work out in the morning you feel high the rest of the day. This never happened when doing heavy SL or SS.

I also like the fact that I can see myself getting bigger by each day when looking in the mirror. It's almost overwhelming to realize that you're looking at yourself. I don't understand why wanting to look good has almost become taboo. Or are muscles not fashion anymore?


I've done both for years, and I feel the opposite. Strength training is very quantifiable; hypertrophy hardly is. A bicep measurement changes very slowly over time, compared to 5 lbs. on your squat. I very much doubt that you can actually "see" yourself getting bigger, beyond the post-workout ego fodder "pump" which won't last an hour. But hey, if it keeps you going, more power to you.


> I don't understand why wanting to look good has almost become taboo.

Says who?

Also interested in your hypertrophy training. Any books/reading material you recommend?


I quit smoking roughly 3 months ago, since I missed being able to run and not desire death afterwards.

Could already feel big difference with improved sleep after just 1 week of quitting, with sense of taste and smell also noticeably improving. Lung capacity that hasn't returned as much as I wished though.


It's a (good) decision you've made for the rest of your life, so don't feel all effects have to appear quickly. It takes about five years for the body to (almost) fully recover from regular smoking. According to the CDC it takes 15 years to return to parity of risk with non-smokers. [1]

[1] http://www.cdc.gov/tobacco/data_statistics/sgr/2004/posters/...


Primarily for people in the UK, the Park Run events (www.parkrun.org.uk) are well worth a go. It's an free, organised 5km run every Saturday morning at 9am. You can track your progress online. The turnout at events across the UK is typically very good (hundreds at each event each week).


Diet -Cook most of my meals -No soda, little dairy -More Greens -Fewer carbs, more fat, more protein

Exercise -Strength Training 5x/ week -Walk ~2 miles/day

Notes on the above:

Try to make little changes in your diet vs. large ones. Pick out one or two things you would like to eat less of and actively try to reduce.

Cooking your own meals gives you a huge amount of control over what you eat (the individual ingredients) and how it tastes. I never thought I would enjoy cooking as much as I do.

If you've never done strength training before, don't be afraid to pick something that looks interesting to you and jump in. Crossfit, 5x5 lifts, whatever. Just get to a gym and start consistently doing something.

Mental well-being is still something I should work on. When I take the time to meditate, it is worth it.


Different things work for different people, and there's a LOT of anecdotal evidence on the internet about that "one routine/diet/..." that will fix your health in a month. That's not how it works and it's potentially dangerous.

If you have serious health issues, you need to see a professional. If you just want to improve your overall well-being, focus on diet, sleep and exercise and be consistent about it.

There's many books written by very smart people who have a professional background and who can back up their advice with studies/papers/etc.

Personally, I try to watch my diet, work out 2-3 times a week doing strength and cardio training and try to be in and out of bed at the same time every day.


Fitness classes.

There's been a big surge in new fitness studios recently, especially for busy professionals like ourselves. The quality of these places has increased dramatically (i.e. Barry's Bootcamp).

The classes are typically under an hour and you can do anything from spinning, to strength training to Yoga or pilates for wellbeing and flexibility.

If you're in the UK, give Fitter a go (full disclosure: I'm a founder there. I never used to do fitness classes beforehand, but now do 2-3 a week and feel great.).

https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/fitter-discover-book-your/id...


Some specific stretching routines finally helped me fix my back pain from years of sitting:

http://www.foundationtraining.com (I recommend the DVD, not the book)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBlM5in2IQA

I do some of these routines everyday and my back has remained pain-free.

Also the classic book on stretching by the Andersons is quite fun to take out now and then: http://www.amazon.com/Stretching-Anniversary-Edition-Bob-And...


Trying to quantify all the aspects of my life and improve upon them. Mostly, I want to sleep and exercise more. I've used Jerry Seinfeld's Productivity Trick [1] to keep a streak on GitHub and improve my software engineering skills.

I'm doing the same with my smartphone, a fitness tracker, and Gyrosco.pe [2] to quantifying my walking, sleeping, and step count to improve every day.

[1] http://lifehacker.com/5886128/how-seinfelds-productivity-sec...

[2] http://gyrosco.pe


Started Cross-Fit. Some of the 'good' side effects from my cross-fitting 1) I now drink more water than I used to (at least immediately after the exercise)

2) I'm forced to do more cardio work (I generally hated cardio work) and I've found I'm no longer as tired as I used to be.

3) I'm able to do more work-outs. By this, I mean - when I used to go to the gym on my own, I would quit when I got tired; at crossfit, there are folks who are encouraging me to finish the exercise

4) I can easily 'disperse' any 'frustration' from work during the workout which leaves me all refreshed and ready to handle the rest of my day.

However, I still make sure that I do the cross-fit in moderation.


Yoga for 30 minutes every morning. Cut out the sugar and bread and noodles. Been doing it for a month already and I feel great!

I also have been using a standing desk for about 2 years - which has significantly helped my back (and with the Yoga even moreso).


> Cut out the sugar and bread and noodles.

Have you stopped eating carbs totally, or are you still eating potatoes and rice?


I quit a decade of pack a day smoking last August.


Exercise. As much as you get the chance to with a proper job.

Cycle to work is my minimum (though personally I like getting into the outdoors, away from the city, takes your mind off things). Its an easy way to save money on transport and gym membership, and get exercise without even thinking about it. In many crowded European cities its the fastest way about, if you are prepared to bend the rules.

If you live too far away, what about driving to somewhere that is cycling distance and cycle from there.

I just turned 40, and started taking DHEA supplements, seems to give me a bit more energy.

And stretch.

And try to eat well.

With the exception of stretching (which I find neutral) I enjoy all of those things.


I apologize if this sounds a bit self-serving, but I use Pacifica (http://thinkpacifica.com), an app that we are building, in order to track what affects my sleep. I've struggled with insomnia for a while so understanding how things like caffeine or lack of exercise affect it has been useful. And then I'll also use our progressive muscle relaxation exercise when trying to fall asleep. The irony is not lost on me that building a company around an anxiety app is also creating additional anxiety in my life...


I'll add my own to the many already good posts.

1. Change my diet. No sugar, low-carb and high-fat. Avoid fast-food and processed food. I eat a lot of vegetables. This change alone made me feel better and I got a lot more lean. 2. Extra D-vitamin. I found it helps my mood, motivation and general energy levels especially during the winter. 3. Moderate exercise. Martial arts and some strength training on the side. I bought a TRX and I try to go to the gym, but generally I exercise at home. I also walk to school. 4. Don't skip on sleep.

Generally the best advice I could give is to eat well and do some exercise.


I run => RunKeeper. I'm terrible right now, but working on it. I'm in the shin splints phase.

I started meditating => HeadSpace. This really has the most gains for me. I don't even do it everyday and I feel like I'm looking at myself in a totally different perspective. I've started observing my fears, my emotions, etc.

I do Yoga if I can in down time. => Yoga Studio.

Consistency is key. I don't run much yet, but I'm trying to get up to 3 days a week x 3 miles. Really, the hardest part about ANYTHING is consistency. So even running 1 miles x5 is WAY better than running 5 miles x1 per week.


First time in many years I didn't get sick at all during this winter (cold Montreal, I'm 51).

Solution:

One squeezed lemon + some maple syrup to sweeten the deal + small doze of organic cayenne pepper. Daily doze.

Add gym here. 21 pullups in one shot today.


I play (American) football, lift weights, and dabble in CrossFit.

I am 25 but I think a lot about my long term health plan as I only have a few more years of football left in my system. I think the most important thing to do as you get older is strength training. I'd actually rank it over cardio for various reasons (loss of bone density and muscle mass being large concerns as you get older).

The post-football plan is to play a few years of rugby, then perhaps enter the competitive weightlifting/powerlifting scene. I really enjoy CrossFit and feel I could make that into a lifetime sport.


The bare minimum for me is: - 5 sun salutations (does wonders for your back) - 1 mile run - 5 minute meditation

This is the very basics of my MUST do. I strive for more, but I tend to get sick if I don't do at least this.


5:30 AM Spin Class Monday, Wed, Fri Calorie tracking with MyFitnessPal Fresh fruits and snacks available at work

Several months in, I have a lot of energy and am really enjoying the physical changes.


Lots of excellent advice on this thread (What I read of it).

Take breaks at work and move around. Spend as much time as you can outside. The time away will recharge you and you'll be more effective when you return.

Concentrate on your meals when you're eating, instead of eating in front of the computer or reading, for instance. You'll be more aware of how the food is affecting you and how much of it you need. If you start to notice that something adversely effects you cut it out of your diet.


Weight training and running on and off for years. But. Mostly on my own and I could never stick with it. About 8 months ago I started going to crossfit and it's been life changing. I go between 5-10 hrs/wk. I'm in the best shape of my life, my lifts are heavier than I ever imagined (501 lb deadlift) and I love it. The class and social structure is perfect and United Barbell is right at the 4th st Caltrain location so it's super convenient.


In the last 90 days I dropped 22 lbs. (227 down to 205) using the Ketogenic diet. I did no cardio and incorporated 45 minutes of compound weight lifting 3 times a week. I don't think I'll continue Keto beyond 120 days as it's quite restrictive, but it was indisputably effective for me to shed excess fat.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ketogenic_diet


It's really hard to approach fitness as yet another obligation, unless you happen to have a laid back lifestyle. My advice: find some kind of exercise that you enjoy, don't stress about whether it's the optimal program. Use the time as a mental break from your day at the computer, or to get some energy in the morning or to unwind after work. Don't focus on results at first - then, after it becomes a habit, you can optimize.


I have young kids, and I've been getting a lot of value out of kettlebells. All the advantages of strength training, but with movements that feel particularly relevant to all the carrying and manipulating and otherwise playing with children that I do. I think all first-time parents think that somehow they will naturally grow strength along with the weight of their newborn, but it totally doesn't work like that.


I lift weights 3 days a week. I do one day for Back/Shoulder, Legs, Bicep/Chest. I do cardio exercises twice a week. It's either 30 - 40 min jogs or playing tennis.

The biggest change for my health has been improving what I eat. I generally try to eat salad and soup for lunch most days of the week. I eat relatively light for dinner at home. It's usually soup or a small portion of pasta with vegetables.


Wrestling with the same sort of issues here. Middle age plus the stresses of growing a company, etc...

I've started hitting the gym a bunch (3-5 times a week) with personal training twice a week. Trying to do hot yoga once a week. Using MyFitnessPal to track food/calories/exercise.

Mixes results so far. Getting more fit, but if anything I am much more tired earlier and more often. Hopefully that bounces back eventually.


Meditation makes a huge difference for me. I've tried a number of different methods, including using biofeedback devices but the most effective for me has been http://www.headspace.com. People who tend to have difficulty turning off the noise in their heads (such as myself) do well with guided imagery training such as that.


I try to get a solid amount of sleep every night; this may vary for you, but eight hours works for me. This has been the number one thing that affects my quality of life in the last year or so.

When I don't get enough sleep, everything suffers, even though I start to feel like I /am/ getting enough sleep, if that makes sense. But when I do get enough sleep, the difference is like night and day.


I am 53 year old male. I have been working out variety of approaches but very consistently for the past 14 years.

My current routine has me lifting free weights 3 days a week (M,W,F). Squat, Deadlift, Bench Press, Military (overhead) Press, Pull-ups, Decline sit-ups, bicep curls, leg curls on a machine to hit hamstrings better. Although I strive for a full body resistance workout 3 times a week - I will sometimes go light on all the exercises except one of them and really push that focus exercise.

Jog or run intervals on treadmill set at an incline twice a week.(T,TH). I generally go about 3 miles.

Rest on the weekend.

I do a form of intermittent fasting (16/8 or sometimes 18/6. Quit eating about 8 PM - don't eat again until noon the next day or sometimes as late as 2.

Timing: I do my workouts at the end of my fast at mid-day before eating.

Diet: My meal right after working out is a giant multi-ingredient salad with a bit of protein. After that I pretty much eat what I want but make sure to get solid protein with evening meal and generally another fruit or vegetable. I do eat dessert two or three times a week. I rarely snack between meals. I drink soda maybe once a week and then only 12 oz. or less. I basically don't drink alcohol except for an occasional toast or one beer at a party. I drink lots of black coffee (no sugar or cream) I used to call this my vice and then the Harvard epidemiologists decided that black coffee and tea are both essentially health drinks - lucky me.

I feel stronger and better than ever as an adult - though I cannot run as fast as I did in my twenties. But admittedly my exercise program emphasizes strength much more than speed.

Mental well being: keep learning - that is almost a given for developers but I sometimes need to do something really different.

Relational well being: I take pretty good care of my wife of 31 years and she takes care of me. Lucky to have 4 great kids that enrich my life as well.

Spiritual well being: I actively participate in a local church which challenges me to think deeply about spirit and life. It also helps me get involved in helping others, giving to the poor and such. It also provides access to a rich circle of friends who share one or two things in common with me but are otherwise quite different.

These are the things that seem to really work for me. Hope it is helpful.


Kettlebells 4 days a week, bodyweight and/or running exercises 2 days a week, and 1 rest day. I've also taken care to eat a lot healthier this past year and watch my portion sizes.

I also use a standing desk for about 70% of the day. Even since I started doing that 3 years ago I've found my general fitness to be much higher. YMMV


I started counting calories on my mobile, to lose weight. I eat whatever I want but I record everything. Over time certain aspects of eating like frequent snacking and eating in ignorance get annoying. So you stop doing them.

Somewhere in there I remembered swimming and got a tape and learned to swim laps.

There's a silver bullet for you, diet and exercise.


Presently gym daily but only for 5-10 minutes. I've been alternating doing the weight machines (heavy, only a few reps) and walking uphill at about 6 kmh on a running machine. Modest eating - the odd omelette / burger. Seems to be going quite well - losing weight, gaining muscle, low hassle/suffering.


Here's mine FWIW. I am 54.Weekly tally. Bike to work (3-5 times) ~ 60-80 miles. Exercise routine (2x), (skips, burpees, abs). Swim 1250 yds (1-2) times. Max 6 days. One day always for rest. Sleep: 6-7 hrs per day. Eat: Salad lunch 3-4 times. Drink: 2-3 times. (Need to improve: Add 2x Yoga, Drink more water)


- Walk everywhere. probably averages out to ~60 minutes walking a day.

- Eat healthy. Not in any sort of hard core diet way or any sort regime with a name. Just cook normal food with a focus on fish, chicken and vegetables.

Just those two, neither of which actually impinge on my life or lifestyle in any meaningful way seems to do wonders.


Apart from the foundational sleep well, eat well and moving your body I combine the later with nature and certain perceptional practices (largely of my own devising, but it's nothing new). Also LEGOs. They are tangible, colorful, goal-oriented, and help in all sorts of different ways.


Basketball training 2 times/week + 1 match on the weekends. It relieves the back pain caused by the computer.

Boxing 2 times/week, It's a very demanding sport and that gets every bit of energy that I have in my body but it's totally worth.

Meditation or juggling when I'm unable to concentrate.


I agree with everything here, especially eating well, exercise, and meditation.

For a "fresh start," I can't recommend the Lazy Manifesto enough. You can hear this on Tim Ferriss' podcast or just google it. It helped reconsider how I spend my time and energy in so many ways.


Does anybody have any experience with automatic height-adjusting desks? E.g. [1]

[1] http://www.gizmag.com/stir-kinetic-desk-automatically-rises/...


I quit coffee, working on eating lots of vegetables and limiting beer and sweets.

Getting outside into the sunshine (literally) and getting my heart rate up makes a world of difference in how I feel. Pretty much every day, intense if I can. I want to do more strength training too.


- eating almost always vegetarian food - rock climbing 2x a week - commuting on a bycicle - internal martial arts - chan meditation

Most important point is starting a new habit, even if you have to try a couple of different things until you get what works for you.


I started using a standing desk (not a convertible one; I'm standing all day) a few weeks ago. It was weird at first, but now I'm enjoying it!

I've also been going for long, evening walks. It helps me relax and declutter my mind after a workday.


I think there are a few simple things that can help. Avoiding junk food, light but regular exercise (walking, cycling, swimming), stretching. At work, you can try to work on your posture at your desk, and force yourself to take short breaks.


Like everyone says, exercise.

Eliminating the friction completely is what will allow you to rise above your current state, as it did for me.

The alternative that finally allowed me to rise above my long-time regular state was at-home, short, but intense exercise. I do pushups. No need to go to the gym. There is nothing to prepare. It's literally an instantaneous start. And it takes very little time out of my schedule.

The problem most people have with exercising is that they decide to change and try it for a bit but the effort is too great and they relapse to the base state. Going to the gym takes time and planning, and if you do get there, you don't do it right. I know I didn't. Half-assed effort at the various machines to hit the major muscle groups, then go home. We all know we should take a notebook to the gym and track progress to force ourselves to push the boundaries, but how many people actually do that? I never brought a notebook to the gym in my life. For a short while, I tried an app instead. Poor design, too much hassle, no good alternatives.

Some of the great things about a pushups-only workout:

- no friction to start (eg: trip to gym, clothing, schedule)

- super short (10 to 20 minutes every other day)

- develops a great-looking upper body and abs

- works a crazy number of muscles (pushups incorporate planking)

- having a notebook to track progress is no hassle since you're at home

- keeps the abs tight, not allowing food extra room to linger in your intestines

In terms of tracking progress, I came across hundredpushups.com. No, they don't try to sell you anything. They just provide an excellent exercise schedule and the goal is to be able to crank out a hundred pushups by the end of the schedule. Sounds ambitious but it's not really. Their schedule forces you to be laser focused on one thing: cranking out some extra pushups every session. The progress that results from such intense focus is amazing. For some numbers: I used to do about 30 pushups at any given point in life before this. My latest max is 85 pushups straight. I can do 200 pushups in about 10 or 12 minutes with 60 second breaks in between. I can get behind a program that involves only 10 minutes every other day with phenomenal results!

While pushups aren't for everyone, try to figure out a workout that:

takes very little time

is intense

doesn't require travel or preparation


I think it's a great start. One thing I would recommend is supplementing the pushups with pullups or some type of exercise that would help balance out the push movement.


I exercise everyweek day, I meditate twice a day everyday, I play atleast 4 chess 5 min games. I have been doing this over a year and I think I'm healthy.

I make it a point to sleep atleast 8 hours a day, and sleep for 7.30+ hours everyday.


To get back into moving I took up team sports, specifically soccer. Two seasons in the local adult rec league each year (winter and summer) with 8 regular games + 1-3 playoff games each season. It's only once a week, but it got me started. After that I added in yoga for back health (combatting chronic sitting syndrome and then an actual back injury caused by a careless driver). After the back healed up I added in running, now 2x5k runs each week. Then for added fun and stress relief I've taken up Brazilian Jiu Jitsu (on pause due to a soccer injury acting up).

The main thing to remember: If it hurts, stop and consider why. When I started up running for real last year I was going 3 days a week. I still weighed over 200 pounds and my knees were in poor shape after the third run. I cut it down to two days and they stopped hurting entirely (beyond general soreness or the effects of age). With BJJ, I noticed my shoulder (the soccer injury) acting up. I started cutting back on certain movements, having my training partners focus on my left side instead of my right. Took a week or two off. The pain remained (actually got worse) and I went to the doctor. Got a steroid shot, resting for a couple more weeks and then I can get back to it. Rest when your body needs rest. There are folks at the gym I attend that work through their pain and injuries, and they're chronically injured (though in different places each month). A bad shoulder like mine means I'm going to do some movements wrong and may injure my hip or my leg trying to compensate for the lack of strength on my right side. I can still run and do lower body and core exercises that don't require me to use my right arm, so I will.

Routine: Routine makes a big difference. Even if I can't make my jiu jitsu class, my running is baked into me now. Tuesdays and Thursdays I get off work and hit a trail near the office. I can't imagine not doing that now (especially with this spring weather, it's fantastic).

Partners and classes: On my own I'm prone to skip, I have little motivation to do things for myself. I'm running with a friend of mine and if I don't go I feel like I'm letting him down (especially since, at this point, he needs it more than I do). Classes are similar. I don't really feel like I'm letting down my instructors or classmates, but I know I'm falling behind my peers (those that started around the time I did) by skipping. So I'm strongly motivated to make it at least 3 nights (it's offered M-F) a week. In part for the sense of competition, but also so I can be useful in practice with my classmates instead of being chronically behind.


Get a colonoscopy now. Don't wait for them to test you in your 50s.


I've been in good shape to poor shape and back again various times in my life (fat kid, started wrestling, HWT state champion, competed nationally, stopped after high school, got out of shape, study abroad in Rio de Janeiro, got ripped, returned to the US, got out of shape again but not too bad, started working professionally, years passed still in okay shape but feeling my age, started randonneuring last year, started p90x3 3 months ago).

All that said, of all the things I've done to work out and get in shape, nothing has impressed me as much as P90x3. The gains have been amazing for 3 months.

It's easy to stick to, since it's only 30 minutes and you work out in your living room (you only need 2m by 2m of space). Equipment costs are like $200 to 300 (yoga mat, pull up bar, some elastic bands, some dumbells, push up stangs, decent cross-trainer shoes). Enough variety in the videos and the dialog is reasonably entertaining, even when watching the same episodes over and over again. As soon as you're done, you're able to shower in your own home. I work out every morning before work.

I know I sound like a commercial right now, but this is a seriously well thought out exercise routine. Pretty much every one of the routines focus on core exercises and all do a great job of highlighting where you're weak and working those parts of your body. Once that part strengthens, the next time you do the same exercise, you'll find another part of your body that needs strengthening. They are always challenging and there's plenty of room to go from beginner and to growing and perfecting your form. Furthermore, many of the exercise work you out in a way that works out the areas that don't get attention as you age and these routines therefore resolve the things that make you feel old.

You can just look at some of the people in the videos (including Tony himself) and tell that he and the others have figured out what you need to do to stay feeling young. Tony Horton is 56 and Dreya Webber is 53 and both look like they are in their early 40s. Traci Morrow is 43 and has had like 6 kids. For those people to look the way they do at their age is incredible. Learning to work out this way gives me more confidence in deciding to have kids later in life, knowing that I will still have the energy to be active with them as they are growing up.

Between acquiring a bunch of home gym equipment and how easy it is to workout at home, I no longer see the appeal of a gym. When I want to work out outside I just go cycling and I might pick up another sport or two time permitting. The cost of most of the equipment is equivalent to 4-6 months of gym membership.


30 mins of barefoot walking/jogging on a Treadmill. Lift weights for around 10 mins after that to work on upper torso.

Do try the barefoot walking technique. Its really worked well for me.


I'm buying the Apple Watch!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bcYppAs6ZdI


I lost 132lb in the last 12 months. I never felt better.


low carb weight lifting

http://www.reddit.com/r/ketogains


Nothing beats going home after a long day and just going toe to toe with a set of large weights.

Pray at the Iron Church and be one with the iron.


working out(surfing, jiu jitsu and interval training), lots of sleep(had to work on getting to bed early enough and shutting down use of computers/electronics before bed), meditation and drinking more water. Also I noticed switching to a standing desk has helped open up my hips and I am generally more flexible when doing Jiu jitsu.


- Walking - Low carb, high protein - Bodyweight exercises 3-4x per week - No alcohol - Drinking lots of water


Fitness and nutrition are those kinds of topics that no one ever agrees on. Everyone thinks their way is the "right" way, as exemplified by the enormous number of unique replies to this thread. This could be attributed to the ignorance of the commenters, or that everyone just finds different things work for them. It is probably a combination of both, with an emphasis on the former.


Unique replies? Sure, there are some, but reading through them I'm seeing the following themes over and over and over: * Exercise more (mostly walking more/treadmill desk, weightlifting, and biking). * Eat better food (less sugar/carbs, more, veggies, and less red meat) * Get enough [quality] sleep. * Get an active hobby. (Wide range of suggestions, but no one saying "this is the one true hobby"--just, "find one you enjoy--I like this one.")

Not only are they repeated here again and again, they're so widely agreed upon that I think most people would have been able to accurately guess that they'd be the most common responses.

The two main benefits here that people are giving specific methods to try (we all know we should exercise, but here are people listing ways of doing so that fits their desk-job lifestyles), and they're inspiring us to try a few of these things. (e.g., I've long know I needed to improve my sleep, and people here have inspired me to put more effort into ensuring my sleep is uninterrupted.)


The original question is "what are you doing" and people are giving their personal responses. Almost none of them are saying their way is the right way for everyone. I don't think you can blame the ignorance of the commenters for anything here.


Sleeping well and doing physical activities, eg, going to gym on a regular basis makes a huge difference.


same here. try this:

http://www.marksdailyapple.com/the-primal-blueprint-21-day-c...

also work in 30 minutes periods (set a timer) and walk around for 5 (see pomodoro).


I skateboard to and from work now. It's not a huge workout, but does get me to sweat twice a day.


I've been vegan for 4 months. I feel stronger, fitter, and my joints feel looser. I turn 40 soon.


I've been vegan for over 8 years (eating mostly whole foods), and I can say that the positive effects are long-lasting. I'm approaching 40 too and I don't really feel like I'm getting old like most of my peers do.


what's "older"?

I've been sitting at computers about 20 yrs, but I'm not 40 yet...

I run, bike or swim. 1 or more of those every day. Looking into yoga, and some additional strength training (pushups, pull ups, core exercises)


Yoga and Raw food diet. Plus I live on the beach in Costa Rica. Pura Vida.


I'm reading HN, but that doesn't always help.

Meditation has helped me the most.


Gym 6 hours a week. Minimise junk food e.g. I cook 4 or 5 times a week.


Wearing the Qrble Triage band, and ensuring my vitals are in check!


Copious amounts of coffee. I read somewhere it's healthy.


yoga, meditation, walk a couple miles every day or so, carpentry, ditchdigging, eschew the junk food.

Now if I can just resist the coffee. That stuff messes with my heart.


If you're looking to loose some weight I've had this conversation with a few people. It rests on the idea that the the recommended Caloric intake of 2000 Cal/day is likely wrong for you. It might be right but for a lot of people it's probably off.

tl;dr if the above doesn't apply to you.

Annoyed by increasing workouts and limited results I took to data cataloging my metabolism to find weak points in my diet. What I found was that I burn less than 2000 Cal in one day when I'm just doing my regular day to day activities. Meaning if I eat the typical diet I gain weight steadily until my mass is actually consuming all those extra calories and I'm slightly overweight.

Procedure:

Take about 1 week of data, don't change your lifestyle for that week do what you normally would do. Your body responds in about a 1 day cycle and you need about a week to get a clear trend.

Record your weight/date-time once to twice a day at the same times, like morning and evening. Preferably without too much clothing so it doesn't throw off the numbers.

Use some app or a notebook and note every single thing you eat, and I mean everything. You eat a peanut that counts, you have coffee that counts, all of it.

Record any excess exercise you do as well, like a 20min run or biking. Things you do as extra to work out. Compute the Calories this is worth.

End of the week plot your weight and draw a trend line, the slope/day is what you want to know how many pounds per day are you gaining or loosing.

Compute the Calories per day you ate minus the calories burned on exercise, and get the Average. Hopefully you didn't eat wildly different amounts each day that can throw things off a bit.

"3500 calories equals one pound of body weight" => compute the calories from the slope (lb/day) computed earlier if it's positive subtract that from the average caloric intake, if it's negative add it.

This is you're baseline Caloric burn rate per day. Meaning if you do your day to day stuff and eat this much you will neither gain or loose weight. If you're trying to loose weight and don't have time or interest in working out you can just cut anywhere from 100-300-500 Cal from your day to day diet and it'll slowly go down. More than 500 Cal is typically difficult unless you balance it with also working out. Anything over a deficit of 1000 Cal is usually considered unsafe.

The only reason for cardio is to strengthen your heart and keep your blood vessels clear (and so you don't get winded going up stairs), but a 20+min run 2-3 times a week or even some sport activity can solve that.


I walk to and from BART most days to get exercise.


taekwondo ( or any martial art that is not aimed at neutralizing )

It gives good exercise, focusses the brain and is also good for discipline.


I've been playing Ingress. Works a charm


Triathlon. 5-10hrs of training per week.


Work/life balance.

Better food.

Exercise!


hot yoga....great counter balance to sitting in front of a screen all day.


Crossfit.


I started about 1.5 years ago and it has been great. Strength training + cardio, planned by someone else, on a schedule, guided by a coach, with peers that encourage and motivate you. It pretty much addresses all of the psychological reasons people normally quit going to the gym after a month.


Giving up alcohol.


carb cycling and weight training


Keto


After 2 years doing nothing and before that i lost 25 kg's in 6 months. Here are the most effective tips i know of. You don't have to follow them all, but if they can help you, i'm glad :). My tips are "collected/memorized" for losing weight and improving health.. ( both go hand in hand)

Just been hitting the gym since one month, have seen a awesome progress in a short amount of time. So in terms of sports, i'm currently highly motivated. So excuse me if i'm being rude as "pushing your limits". I set up my goals for now ( 1/4th marathon, ...) to know what i want to accomplish )

Fyi, i quitted "sporting" after 6 months because i had an accident with my car. I couldn't train for 2 months and my motivation ( including having pain when doing sports), was gone for a while.. Been regretting it i didn't start sooner :(

- Run in the morning after a protein shake ( most effective, so it won't break down any muscle). You could also do rope skipping. To lose weight, you need a minimum of 25 minutes of cardio ( regular speed) or a HITT workout ( when you're experienced in the sport you are doing, it requires less time)

- Sleep enough ( i only sleep 3-4 hours per day :s, that's not enough) - Sleep is really important :s

- No alcohol ( it slows down your metabolism). I like green thea ( real one, not lipton), it has multiple health benefits and improves your metabolism

- If you use the weight scale, use it on a weekly basis. Not daily. A mirror is better then a weight scale in a lot of cases. Sometimes you are building muscle => more weight on the scale

- Measuring your fat percentage gives a better accuracy about your body then bodymass index. The easiest way is electrolyse, but not always very accurate (eg. when you drink a lot of water => ah well, life ain't perfect. But this is the easiest method )

- Strength training ( more muscles = higher metabolism = more burning fat while eating the same) in the evening.

- Women don't acquire muscle that easy, it's more efficient to do more cardio when you are female..

- Some people just don't get fat. Get over it, they aren't you. If you want to build muscle, they'll be jealous though ;-) .

- Strength training with a high heart beat burns more fat (eg. 1 minute rope skipping, 2 minutes dumbells push)

- Limit your sugar intake

- "Healthy" products that are popular are probably not very healthy. ( eg. Kellog's K => way too much sugar). I have always found "something off" with it. Healthy is also a marketing term :)

- Sugar =/= sugar. You have allowable sugars ( Dextrose => found at pharmacy and fructose ( in fruit)). Those are the ones you want, if you need them

- Eat regular, but don't eat to much ( never be fullfilled and never be hungry is how i call it). I don't count kcal, because i hate that.

- The sooner the day, the more time you have to burn your carbs. The closer to the night, the more protein your food should contain ( while you sleep, you store carbs in your body)

- Have good food choices, less carbohydrates when you are nearing bedtime. Last meal approx 2 hours before going to sleep.

- If you want results, do it a minimal of 3 x / week ( cardio, strength training)

- Never be hungry!

- Read about what you do or why you do it ( eg. Tom Venuto - Burn the fat, feed the muscle)

- Workout according your capabilities, sport is 40% of losing weight. 60% is having better food choices.

- Don't start alone, but be prepared to continue it alone though ( eg. partner is not going to the gym, just go alone )

- You don't need to constantly to give it a 110%. You can have a cheat meal every 4 days as a reward ( Because of a hormone called Leptine in your body) - have a rest day ( Sunday)..

- A human can live for a month without food, it's because the body limits the energy wasting to crucial organs.. You don't want that, you want your metabolisme to be as high as possible. So don't eat to little! Food is important

- Know your bad habbits

- Do, what you can continue to do, on a regular basis.

- Have goals ( what do you want in 2 weeks, 1 month, 6 months, 1 year and 2 years) - it's for your motivation. Write them down

- You need at least one supplement ( protein shake). I use multiple ( fish oil and high vitamines ( A + B ) ) and protein bars with a minimum of sugar as a snack

- Listen to your body, if you are hitting it to hard on eg. running... Then just run less, walk or don't run for a while.. Run again when you can

I'm writing this as a 27 male. I always go extremely fast, extremely hard... If you can't handle it, no problem. Build up untill you can. Eg. for running, stretch REGULAR ( like every 2 minutes) so you won't get cramps. Find out what your recovery speed is ( eg. 8.5 km/u.) and do HITT to improve your recovery speed. HITT is hard and you should only do it when you can handle it though...

If you hit the gym for one hour, make it difficult for yourselve. It's the same amount of time as doing nothing and you'll feel a lot better. If you can read a magazine while doing "sports", you're not doing it right and i wouldn't call it sports, it's called reading.

My body type is Endomorph, so i gain weight really fast ( but also muscle). Know what your body type is :)


I've been in software development for nearly 20 years, but my disclaimer is that I've been active and fit since my late teens (team sports and gym).

Without mentioning the mental side of the health, I'd concentrate on: - What you eat, - How well you sleep, - How active you are.

I'm sure you're going to get a lot of good conventional advice on these. Rather than writing a 10-page document by trying to cover all, I'm going to try to concentrate on a single thing: How to be active during work hours.

I've been a very long-time gym goer and I've always thought that "walking" is one of the less productive ways to exercise... except if you do it instead of sitting.

Two years ago I started to work from home. When I was setting up my office, I really hesitated between buying a traditional desk and a stand-up desk. I wasn't sure enough about it, and, at the end, I opted for a traditional desk. However, until last year, I had had a walking-desk/treadmill-desk idea in a corner of my mind.

Last year I decided to go for it. I did some research and I bought a second-hand treadmill. I bought a good model, for one tenth of its original price and I was careful that its shape and design suited my plans. I built a two-level desk on its handles and controls, out of regular Home Depot material. Lower level for my wireless keyboard and trackpad and the higher level for the notepad/monitor.

I walk & work 2-3 hours every day. Two things I can't do: - Video conf: People tell me it's making them nauseous to see my head bobbing around. :) - Handwriting: I have a good handwriting, but not when I walk. It's much more practical to take digital notes.

I usually pick the best works suited to walking: - Long conf calls - Watching presentations - Reading something

I can definitely code with ease when I walk however I don't get the benefit of my multiple screens so I tend to pick the right work.

I would recommend that to everyone who'd like to be more active and burn extra calories. It's a low-intensity workout and you can optimize it as you want. You can start without incline and add incline as you get more comfortable.

Now... I know that this is easier for someone in my situation and that working from home, one has more liberty to shape his/her office. However, this doesn't have to be during work hours. My wife uses my treadmill-desk when she's talking to her mum (usually long phone calls :) ). You can watch your favorite TV show or favorite team playing while walking. You can easily go through your e-mails or daily news. Even 30 mins/day is better than nothing.

Willing to change things is usually the hardest step. Good luck with it.


I would say three things are really important in the following order:

1. Sleep.

2. Diet.

3. Acitivity.

Sleep: If there's one thing that you can change to make you feel a lot better its going to be this. Always get whatever your body needs, for me thats around 7-8 hours. (see: http://www.health.com/health/gallery/0,,20459221,00.html)

Diet: Drink lots of water and eat healthy i.e. lots of veggies and fish. Avoid sugar and junk foods as much as possible. I was skeptical about the sugar too, but I've noticed a huge boost in energy and overall alertness once killing the sugar habit (see: http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/your-brain-on-sugar) There are also specific foods that are better than others, but the main thing you want is to make sure you're getting all the essential vitamins your body needs - and not by taking a multivitamin supplement. Here's a good list of the health http://www.realsimple.com/health/nutrition-diet/healthy-eati...

Activity: This doesn't mean working out hardcore or even 3x a week or whatever. Just find a routine that works for you - make sure its regular - and do it. For instance, go swimming once a week, or take a hiking trip the first of every month. Just pick something active that interest you and make it into a habit. Also make sure you life style in general is a pretty active one. Are you watching TV every night? What if you finally started building that workshop you've always wanted instead?

Here are some other tips I've noticed that help me feel WAY better:

1. Don't sit at a computer all day long :) Find a time period that works for you and if possible work in intermittent sprints - for me I can have peek performance and concentration for between 2-3 hours after that I start fading. So just take a break then, go shopping, mow the lawn, read a book, whatever needs to be done. I realize this is hard to do if you have a 9-5 but still even a 10-15 minute break to drink tea and listen to some music can be enough to give you a boosting refresh.

2. Do everything you can to minimize stress in your life. If you have a stressful job or work environment seriously try to change that, (see: http://www.webmd.com/balance/stress-management/features/10-f...)

3. Don't live a repetitive lifestyle. Do something new at least semi-regularl. Go to a meetup for a first time then maybe give a talk, go rafting on a weekend or just read a fiction book you've been wanting to read for a while. I've noticed that doing new things can really give your mind and body a fresh start and help out with the every day grind of things.


Hey, finally I can contribute with something here...

1. Walk/Jogging: I started last year with 100m walk/100m jogging in a rout of 4.1km that`s the size of the park here (about 35-40 minutes to go). Today I`m almost 100% jogging the rout. But you need to strengh your knees and muscles to avoid injuries. About 3 times a week is ok, you need to let your body rest - don`t be a exercise maniac or you with fuck up your body. The exercise it`s addictive, you feel alive, always pushing your limit. I go 6am, run, watch the sunrise, stretch, meditate a while and think about life - it`s the best way to start the day.

2. Strength: Started this year, two times a week, now going three. Not big monster training, the main focus is knees, legs, back and belly, this will help you to keep the hours staying in front of the computer. Some stretch in the end. Also bought some hand exercise thing to make my fingers stronger and avoid repetitive strain injury. Try to get some professional help at last in the beginning, do a test to know your body and what you really need. I also started a diet now.

3. 50 rule: Work/study 50 minutes with full focus and rest 10. Do some stretch on my arms and hands, walk a little, drink something... whatever. I use the http://www.workrave.org/ to help me on this.

4. For mental health: Meditation. I do this for a while now.... started with 10 minutes a day, now I do three times a day of 10 minutes. It`s amazing. In the beginning you don`t realize that you can`t stand yourself without any distraction for 10 fucking minutes. Just be there, don`t focus on your thoughts, let them go. I`m using this book that merges cientific stuff with buddhism, but you can use only the cientific part: http://www.amazon.com/Buddhism-With-An-Attitude-Seven-Point/... ---- also watch this TED Talk. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qzR62JJCMBQ

5. This week I went to the physiotherapist and my back is crooked, my shoulders twisted, my neck is bounded like i`m reading a fucking book while i`m walking... life make you this, life get`s you crooked and you don`t even realize it until you`re old and suffering. So... I`m taking good care of posture and doing RPG, no no no, not AD&D... Global Posture Re-Education - https://sites.google.com/site/rpguk123/

6. Training to have multiple orgasm. I want to take my sexual life to another level, to be able to have and orgasm and not ejaculate, to keep going until the limits of my body. Women do this easily, but to men it`s another history, it takes a lot of trainning and effort. They say it`s possible, so I`m whilling to do it. Look for Mantak Chia books.

I think it`s it... change one thing your life and you will change everything, start walking, then jogging, then some streght training, the next day you will be avoiding eat crap, and stuff that doesn`t matter and everything in your life goes with it, no more distractions.

Don`t do everything at once or it will be overwhelming, feel your body, feel your self, specially, find yourself. I suggest reading two books: 1) The power of habit, to help you develop this new habits and 2) The way of superior man, a book that explains things to men in a way anyone does, this book changed my life in all ways, you`ll understand life, goals and women.

best wishes, I now my english sucks!


If you hate the gym like me: https://www.reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness/wiki/kb/recommend...

Outside of that- I walk everywhere when it's practical, I always take the stairs, enjoy pizza but not for every meal, cut booze out entirely.


- Stop drinking, replace it with weed if necessary.

- Run or lift weights, or both. But be careful with your back (keep it straight) and shoulders (lift the weight in front/above your head, not directly above. Same for pullups) when lifting, and your knees when running (land with your metatarsus first, not your heel).

- Sleep and eat well.


Your form on the shoulder presses sounds really awful (perhaps even dangerous) if you were to actually follow your second advice...


No, it's the correct way. Maybe I didn't describe it properly (not a native speaker). There is a reason why many shoulder press seats are slightly inclined backwards.


I was assuming you were talking about a standing shoulder press. (In general, standing is better than sitting for your exercises. If nothing else it uses more of your body and mind to stay balanced.)

If you are standing, you've got no choice but to keep your centre of gravity over your feet. Once the weight is heavy enough, the bar will largely determine your centre of gravity.

If you are sitting, then, yes, you have the option of doing an incline press. That's where you lean back a bit. A mix between a shoulder press and a bench press.


Windsurfing. I've tried many sports seriously - soccer, tennis, mountain skiing, still do bicycling. Nothing beats windsurfing however, not even close.

After sailing for two hours in rough conditions you feel like you did P90X for two hours. But it's a lot more fun.

It's not a cheap sport to start, but it's totally affordable if you're a programmer.

If you live around SF, it has some of the most consistent wind - both in the (safe) bay and out at sea.


#1: Reduce your exposure to wireless radiation. It causes severe oxidative stress load and Rapid Ageing Syndrome.

#2: Regard sleep as sacred! Switch off all wireless devices when you go to bed and avoid mains-powered clock radios etc. in your sleeping room to minimize disruption of Melatonin production in the body.

#3: Get enough anti-oxidants through your diet and/or supplements (they get rapidly depleted due to #1).

#4: Exercise moderately.

#5: Meditate.

I'm aware many will have a knee-jerk reaction to down-vote this because I dare mention wireless radiation in a negative context. Do so if you must, but honestly, #1 is the best health advice you'll get.


You would probably help your cause by supplying some scientific evidence re claim #1.


Thanks for your interest pdiddy. Thousands of scientific studies in the biological effects of low-level RF and ELF are summarized and referenced in the independent Bioinitiative Report: http://www.bioinitiative.org/table-of-contents/




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