Ask HN: What are your thoughts on fitness/exercise?

https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4545046

by stevenj • 14 years ago

9 22 14 years ago

news.ycombinator.com

I just came back from a walk outside and something caught my attention: how many overweight people there are.

Several overweight people I know care about their health, and would love to be in better shape, but aren't.

Most of them reason that losing weight is hard, and keeping it off is even harder.

I think part of the reason why it's hard is because it feels like work.

Why isn't working out fun?

A hard problem to solve, shared by millions of people...

Perhaps there's a startup idea in there somewhere?

stonemetal2• 14 years ago

1. unrealistic goals, they are never going to look like brad pit so why bother.

2. Not enough pay out. Sure they are in better shape, but they weren't an active person before so their new fitness is going to go unused anyway.

3. The reward cycle isn't fast enough. I know some people claim working out makes them feel great(endorphins and all that), but the rest of us just get tired.

4. Most workouts are just absolutely boring, lift this heavy thing 20 times, run in a circle till you drop.

So the ideal workout would be mentally engaging and provide feedback quickly. Off the top of my head blacksmith or rock climbing come to mind. Some of this is already being serviced by adventure runs(mud runs, zombie runs) etc.

enraged_camel4• 14 years ago

Most of the reasons you listed are either wrong, or easily addressed.

2. People who get in shape are more likely to want to participate in sports and activities that require being in good shape.

3. Reward cycle is not fast enough because most people measure their progress wrong. They jump on the scale, look at the number, and get demotivated by the short-term fluctuations. Whereas if they measured other things, such as how far they were able to run, how heavy they were able to lift, or how many inches were subtracted from their belly/chest/shoulder, they would be more likely to see positive results.

4. Compared to playing video games or watching TV, exercise sure is boring. But there are many ways to make it fun - listening to action-packed music, using apps like Fitocracy to track progress and earn points, etc. Having some variety in exercises also helps. If all you do is run on the treadmill for 60 minutes, you'll hate it.

stonemetal2• 14 years ago

3. We have to change the conversation for that. Look at what the original post was about, he went out side and saw fat people, not people who couldn't run a mile or do 100 pushups just fat people. This creates the impetus to not be fat. Thin and unhealthy is OK from this viewpoint, but fat-ish and healthy isn't.

4. A spoon full of sugar may help the medicine go down, but two spoon fulls of sugar and no medicine tastes better. That is to say gamification and music are fun in their own right, mixing in exercise doesn't make exercise fun it just masks the distaste.

tobylane• 14 years ago

1. If you had a body fat % of under 25 (for men, 35 for women) then you'd be more productive purely because by getting there and staying there you'd be eating better and so on. The energy this gives is immense. Think about children who eat less and less sugar as they grow up. 2. Same thing. General life satisfaction goes up, everything about moving around is easier. Healthier food tastes better, and healthy people have better taste senses. 3. A long road gives you longer to look back at, more progress made. 4. Gyms are not for 95+% of people - bikes and calisthenics (exercises without equipment, using your body's weight) are for everyone.

I bike, because I see a lot more than when I walk, I get a massive dose of energy from the extra blood flowing/etc, it's relatively smooth on my joints and its outdoors.

shortlived• 14 years ago

Another for your list, and the biggest hindrance for me:

5. never made a habit out of exercise/did make a habit out of eating shit food

As I get older, the habits become harder to change. Most healthy people don't seem to understand the huge impact this has.

AutoCorrect2• 14 years ago

#4: for guys it's easy - I just imagine something that makes me mad,and work through the reps (or work off steam from work, family, whatever). as for running, after I pass the 4 mile mark, my runs provide an endorphin high - not boring at all

enraged_camel4• 14 years ago

I've been involved in fitness for nearly ten years, mostly as an amateur bodybuilder/powerlifter, and have spoken to (and tried to help, mostly in vain) hundreds of people about the subject. It was only recently however that I realized why we as a society have not been able to tackle the obesity epidemic effectively: we insist on categorizing obesity as a physical problem, whereas it is fundamentally a psychological problem that develops physical symptoms[1]. This psychological problem is a mixture of food addiction and deeply ingrained bad habits. Most people fail at losing weight and keeping it off, because they only address the symptoms: they try to eat better, or try to exercise. Whereas where they need to start is by first accepting and internalizing that they have an addiction, and developing the internal motivation to either overcome it themselves, or seek help.

[1]This is probably because our society has a strong stigma against psychological disorders.

helen842000• 14 years ago

Working out for the sake of working out IS boring, especially if it's linked to feelings of guilt when you know you've lead an inactive lifestyle for a long time.

Even a couple of my friends who are long distance runners say sometimes they don't want to workout but they do it for the boost & feeling of achievement afterwards.

Personally going to a gym feels tedious to me as I'm watching the clock & never feel like I've done enough.

For me classes where you learn a skill (martial arts, yoga, dancing) have produced the best results. Even just running around with friends playing football - 2 hours can fly by!

Finding something you enjoy - games, sports etc that fit in with your social life is much better than x number of hours of miserable workouts on your own!

As a point, I always notice when on holiday in France the tourists seem huge compared to the locals.

hoka2• 14 years ago

diet diet diet diet diet diet diet.

diet. Abs are made in the kitchen!

The reason programs like P90X (and Starting Strength, the official internet fanboy routine, which I do support!) are so effective is because they're __comprehensive__. Most people need a program that covers all the loose ends for them, particularly the nutrition. Going on a carrots only diet doesn't really work.

When your nutrition ties directly to your fitness, assuming you're rigorous with both, you really see the benefits. I agree that 'the best workout/diet is the one you stick to' to some extent, but there's certainly wiggle room there. Weight lifting on a linear progression program is extremely rewarding and gives some of that instant gratification people want from exercise. Having taken a few friends from couch-to-starting strength, the joy on their face the first time they squat 45s on each side is always the same.

In addition to the diet, you have to overcome the "but I'm not Ahnold!" Nobody starts out like the Governator. Getting a buddy to eat that piece of humble pie and going into the gym benching only the bar can be damn near impossible.

enraged_camel4• 14 years ago

P90X is a bunch of BS. It's basically HIIT that feeds on people's ignorance by referring to pseudo-scientific stuff like "shocking the muscles".

hoka2• 14 years ago

I'm aware that it's basically HIIT. I'm saying people see results because P90X includes some diet guidelines and I would argue it's the diet moreso than the exercise that produces the results :-)

trafficlight2• 14 years ago

But if you go from sedentary to P90X, you'll see results.

seiji• 14 years ago

Yeah, but they sell like crazy: http://www.amazon.com/Best-Sellers-Sports-Outdoors-Exercise-...

SpikeDad• 14 years ago

Interesting article in NY Times: For Weight Loss, Less Exercise May Be More

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/is-30-minutes-of-da...

Most of the current research points to diet as the most important weight loss strategy, far more effective than exercise (for weight loss ONLY to be clear).

And by the way, 90% of people that lose weight gain it back. That's a higher percentage than any other additive behavior (drugs, alcohol, etc). Maybe if science started working on that area we might find it a bit easier to keep weight off.

Anyone that says - it's just eating less - has never been overweight (and is a dick to boot).

AutoCorrect2• 14 years ago

#1 cause: they don't make time for it.

Why isn't it fun?: it takes a while to get over the soreness hurdle, then, once you get past a certain fitness level, it becomes fun. But you have to make it through the pain stage first. Most people quit there.

trafficlight2• 14 years ago

I don't get sore very often anymore from weight lifting, but when I do, I know I pushed hard.

countessa• 14 years ago

I think part of the problem is that people think of as "go to gym x number of times, shed x number of pounds". It becomes a short term and very result oriented solution. If and when it doesn't work (because creating a formula that works for everyone across the population is very hard) people become demotivated and give up. If you could come up with a way of making people view movement as fun and enjoyable then they would probably have a better time of it. Not to get sentimental, but look at kids in a playground - run, jump, climb....and they just have fun playing catch or exploring a climbing frame or jumping from here to there. So there's a startup idea - playground for adults - adult sized swings, roundabouts, climbing frames and trampolines.....get the adults to play like kids. Change their motivation from "weight loss" to "have fun" and they will more likely stick with it.

dgunn• 14 years ago

Working out itself isn't fun for me. The trick is to make that time meaningful in another way. I listen to interesting radio shows/podcasts while I'm at the gym. I enjoy it immensely and this is the only time I allow myself to do it. That means when I leave the gym, I turn off the stream. This leaves me excited to pick up where I left off next time and thus, excited to go to the gym.

This of course requires some self discipline. I could easily just listen if I wanted to. But I've been doing this so long now that it's just part of my routine.

People really can make this work. I've been doing it for 3 years now and I've lost 120 lbs in the process.

AlexOrtiz201• 14 years ago

leangains.com, you'll love it guys!

Frozenlock• 14 years ago

If they exercise more they will just get more hungry. (I've been there, I know.)

The most important factor to consider if someone wants to change its weight is the diet. Not 'diet' in the sense of restraining yourself from eating, but rather what you eat.

Why we get FAT by Gary Taubes http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTUspjZG-wc

Unfortunately for you, I don't think there's a startup idea there. Or perhaps make a specialized restaurant/grocery? It's really hard to find meal ready to eat that aren't full of carbohydrates.

kevinrpope• 14 years ago

> It's really hard to find meal ready to eat that aren't full of carbohydrates.

There's your startup.

Ask HN: What are your thoughts on fitness/exercise?

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