Comment by jonaf | Hacker News Reader

Comment by jonaf | Hacker News Reader

Note that these aren't excuses. But they make it more difficult for me to exercise.

1. Kids (2 under 2). If I'm not at work, I'm playing with or taking care of them, cooking, etc. there isn't much "me time" as all of it is spent at work.

2. This may sound weird, but I haven't found a comfortable way to keep my private area in place. Most loose shorts / boxers don't work because things move around in some rather uncomfortable ways. I haven't tried any kind of briefs yet, as I find them very constructive and also uncomfortable. Suggestions welcome.

3. Finding a good exercise program that I can do at home. So far, I've had best luck with the 21 Day Fix, but this is focused on weight loss, which isn't really what I'm interested in; I don't have enough availability that I can go to a gym, and equipment isn't cheap. I have no family living nearby, so it's really tough to find someone I trust to watch my kids while I go work out, not to mention it's remarkably expensive. (My kids go to a school 2 days / week and it already costs more than rent in a 3k sq ft home.) So, let's just call this one time AND money..

I have some suggestions that have helped me:

#2. Boxer-briefs: They're the best of both worlds. Once I switched, I never looked back. There are many comfortable varieties, the best are the Under Armor kind that breathe really well and don't get swampy.

#3. I have a few simple items at home that make good workouts possible:

- A sandbag, wrapped in duct-tape that weights about 52 pounds. I use this for squats and overhead lifts.

- A pull-up bar that goes in the doorway.

- A kettlebell (mine is 35lbs, a pretty good starting weight).

- A jump rope. This is one of the athletic ones, not a toy. You can find them on Amazon.

This equipment all fits in one corner of the closet and I can do a whole lot with it. Variations of bodyweight exercises can give you varying degrees of resistance as well, eg pistol squats, diamond pushups, etc.

I hope this helps, good luck! Staying fit as a developer with kids is definitely a challenge.

Depending on what you are interested in swing by http://reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness. Their recommended routine is based around gymnastics so the higher end workouts end up with you being able to do some interesting moves. Equipment to do it at home is pretty cheap. I use a 30 dollar doorway pull up bar and a 30 dollar set of gymnastic rings, but you can get away with less or have a pretty nice setup. As far as the kids go, I get up an hour before they do to workout at home.

My kids (1 and 3) just love to help me exercise. "Bench press" the 1 year old while "kicking" my legs with the 3 year old hanging on. Be sure to turn them upside down and back. Be sure they "hit" each other. It is not a bad exercise and combines play time.

I've found that a double jogging stroller is a great investment (look for them used), go for a walk, then the kid is tired they get in and then the walk can speed up. Sometimes the kids are asleep when I get back.

I love my banana republic boxer briefs. They're the best of both worlds. After switching I've found that boxers comparatively limited my range of motion (especially when raising my legs). They're super smooth, and sexy!

[Edit]. I just read another comment below that is all of what I said and more. Do I delete this?

Re 2. I'm running for ages and once I got older so I had to care about that I started wearing briefs/boxers. This is a bad excuse, buy two 3-packs and you'll be fine.

Get yourself some compression shorts, I don't work out without them.

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