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Comment by branchless | Hacker News Reader

I think it's a question of how much you "go at it".

Unhealthy people who begin exercise take themselves to a point most people rarely do when training. How many regular runners go until they feel like being sick? It's no wonder unfit people don't maintain their routine. Frequent runners might do one session in a few where they push themselves, but even then they don't feel like obese people do when they go out and try to run hard.

People should run until they feel quite sweaty and a bit tired. If you are fat and that is 5 minutes then yes it's going to take you a long time to get fit, but better to start small and build up. Don't expect too much too soon.

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I've been training seriously for rock climbing for several years now (I've been a climber for a long time, as well as an endurance athlete--runner, cyclist), and the conventional wisdom being applied from other domains (general strength training, weight lifting) is that if you want to get strong (not necessarily bulk up, but just increase your strength), you never work to the point of feeling completely knackered. It's totally counter-productive. That said, picking up heavy stuff requires a lot of effort, but it taxes your central nervous system, and that's a whole different thing than feeling wasted after a run.

The advice I hear from coaches about losing weight generally has three parts:

1) Watch your diet

2) Get out and walk 30-60 minutes each day

3) Start doing some form of strength training, or interval training, as those burn fat and build muscle better than just running.

I started climbing, and consider it the most practical exercise:

It's less boring than regular gyms, so requires less will power - climbs are actually puzzles, hence there is an intellectual effort in technique. It also helps gauge progress wrt difficulty levels.

It also requires less willpower to push yourself, due to the innate fear of falling.

It strengthens the chest and arms, which is what most men want, cosmetically.

It's strengthens the arms and hands, so (IMHO) is more practical day-to-day, since I think humans use their hands a lot more, ever since the advent of tools.

It doesn't take too much time - you very quickly run out of strength, so there is not as much second-guessing yourself wrt how long you can continue.

It's a community sport. It's best to take rests, during which time you can watch others climb, and compete for progress.

True, but I don't think interval training (without weights) will help in building muscle.

Part of the problem here is the obesity angle. Obese people are sick, they have a serious disease, they cannot pursue fitness until they fix their underlying weight problem. Obese and overweight people need to focus on getting their diet healthy while doing very moderate exercise. Fitness only comes after you hit a healthy weight.

> it's going to take you a long time to get fit,

Not really - you'd be suprised how much energy is expended on this change of state (and the stress that accompanies it) as opposed to the paced effort of learned distance running. That's what HIIT is based on, and I'd argue that for an average unfit person it's much easier to quickly expend lots of energy than for a trained athlete.

Not my main point, my point was you can't keep wanting to feel ill 3 times a week.

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