Exercise doesn’t work. Controlling your diet is king.*
Did you see the *? It should be much bigger. The statement “(Calories in < Calories out) -> Weightloss” is BS. It’s never worked well for me.
Hundreds of years of poverty and famine has made my body just too good at storing energy reserves as fat. The hypothesized insulin related pathway I believe is the culprit. I said adios to wheat/rice flours, rice, pasta. My diet these days is mostly cruciferous vegetables and beans based. It’s taken some work to be creative, but the bottom line is I no longer have to starve myself, or exercise excessively (I do practice yoga asana lightly) and I am lighter and feel much healthier. No more afternoon crash either.
One of the most motivating factors I found for me was to read about tech while between sets and to turn on EE380 and other talks when running.
It fixes two things in one go:
1. Keeping up with tech news in general (not TechCrunch mind you, but ISSCC and EE380 type).
2. Keeping my fitness and energy levels up. I found through tracking my productivity that 7 miles and lifting gives me lowest # of bugs. Not enough time to run 7, so 6 it is.
I've started both 2 years ago (it was when Mark Zuckerberg was running 1mi/day), and successfully maintained both for the past 2 years.
I really like especially the running part, because I typically can't commit to anything on a daily basis, and even weekly when I travel I typically screw up my plans. With this arrangement, I know I that have to run 365mi in a year, and every month I do a check and correct my trajectory, including planning for a light period if I know I'm particularly busy with other things.
I was going for a perfect month this month, then I wussed out during two days of rain. But I'm back on track.
I Highly recommend !
At my company, unfortunately there are no showers, so I can't run to the office in the morning. So I'm running every other day and on the rest day I'm brining my clothes from the previous one
I generally run and lift weights in the mornings, but thats more to sharpen my focus than any physical effect.
"Long-distance running has helped our species survive and evolve. Elements of the human physique, like the Achilles tendon and the length of the human body, make our bodies primed for running. Studies show that running can ease depression and anxiety. It can reduce risk of heart disease, diabetes, and obesity."
I have seen those movies and running from the zombie is clearly a better option than wrestling it.
Running ~30 miles/week (not recommended).
Yoga/core/mobility work.
Problem: now I'm 26 miles from home and too tired to run back.
TBH my commitment level varies but when I am committed to getting in serious shape, it's now my go to thing. I agree that you definitely need to be really careful / mindful about avoiding injuries.
There are two main problems with it:
1) CrossFit is exercise. A randomized program like it doesn't provide actual training. A strength program or running program or whatever will have better results. Exercise is great for beginners or for people that would otherwise do nothing, but it's not going to get you nearly as good of results as a more specific program.
2) Which leads me into the next problem. While there are definitely CrossFit gyms that have instructors that teach proper form and know enough to help keep the people they're training safe, the quality of instructors varies wildly. All it takes to be a qualified instructor is to take a weekend class: https://training.crossfit.com/level-one
CrossFit's benefits are really only going to be realized by newbies, and newbies are the exact people that lack to ability to determine if they are getting quality instruction.
There's a reason people like Mark Rippetoe and others distanced themselves from CrossFit.
It's so strange to see hundreds of posts on social media promising to run a marathon, do some exotic exercises and follow fancy sounding fitness regimes but no one even mentions responsible and healthy diets which actually defeats the purpose.
I don’t know about a runners high. I just find long slow distance running (mostly on trails) to be very relaxing and enjoyable.
I was thinking of trying for 5000km this year, but I think that is pushing it, so instead I'll target 2k miles which is much more doable for me.
Yes, I perpetually have something sore on me.
I really don’t worry as much anymore about whether I went 7 or 9 miles. Just getting out the door regularly is my main goal now.
Strava has been awesome in many ways but also brings out the overcompetitiveness in me. I'm really trying hard to set distance and pace goals and stick to them.
If I set goals when I'm sitting down at my desk they are good, healthy, achievable goals. If I set or change them when I'm running, they tend to be destructive: I can push an extra 3k today or why not pick up the pace these last 8 km, I might be able to finish in under 2 hour.
All that adrenalin and endorphins are horrible at helping you with decision making :)