Ask HN: What’s the single most effective thing you do for exercise and health? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: What’s the single most effective thing you do for exercise and health?

12 pointsvoisin27 comments

Exercise: Walking.

Health: No sugar, almost no processed foods, low carbs, misc supplements to lower sugar, boost autophagy and HGH. Intermittent-intermittent fasting (not a typo).

>misc supplements to lower sugar

Can you expand on this? I am also into IF. Seems we share some interests but I haven’t gotten into supplementation. Do you supplement while fasting?

While fasting, or just prior to fasting, I ensure I have plenty of potassium, magnesium and Omega-3's in my system. To reduce sugar I use Berberine. [1] [2] There is so much more to this, but I would have to write a book.

[1] - https://examine.com/supplements/berberine/?PageSpeed=noscrip...

[2] - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w_Su41RIJ78

More on Berberine or more supplements worth investigating? Thanks for the tips - I’ll look into Berberine!

Also: Sleep 8 hours, on schedule, in a fully dark, cool room.

I am still unsure on fasting.

I try to get 8 hours. Challenging. My autonomic nervous system is still in repair after damage to my gut 4 years ago. I am still slowly removing and repairing scar tissue. The gut and the vagus nerve have extensive complex interaction. Repair is slow but I am slowly getting there.

Yes, I do intermittent-intermittent fasting. If I do IF every day, it spikes too much HGH and I go too far into Ketosis. That puts a heavy load on the kidneys. It took me a long time to get out of shape and I am taking it very slowly back to a nominal state.

Thanks for the info and good luck!

Unsure about its effectiveness? Check out Jason Fung’s Complete Guide to Intermittent Fasting. He’s a nephrologist that has put together a very well researched and footnoted book.

Looks like people are recommending his other book - something, something Obesity and say the one you recommended is just marketing material for some fitness coach, which I am inclined to believe.

Any sources on fasting causing autophagy in excess of what working out gets you?

The Obesity Code is a good primer on weight loss being a hormonal imbalance rather than caloric imbalance, the things that cause this imbalance and how to resolve it. Fasting is a chapter that he expands upon in The Complete Guide to Intermittent Fasting ("CGIF")

My first reaction to your statement about it being "just marketing material for some fitness coach" was "that's absurd" but then as I reflected a bit more I can see how some people may have taken it to be him trying to pitch his clinic in Toronto, but I don't think this is the right interpretation. He is a practicing nephrologist who refers in his book (like many books written by doctors) to many case studies. I didn't at any point think "Gee, I should fly to Toronto and get into this program" but rather thought the case studies lent some context to his claims.

I suggest reading the book and forming your own opinion. I was fasting before I read the book, but the book helped me understand some of the science, pitfalls, and protocols.

Thank you, I will add it to my list.

One thing that I do that I think really helps both physically and mentally is to exercise literally right after waking up. Like, my eyes are still closed but I'll roll out of bed into a push up position. It helps wake me up and also starts the day off on the right foot.

I used to do aikido. It gets a bad rap in martial arts circles, but at the time the group and style I started doing it in was a pretty good fit for me. The combination of physical and social activity, mental focus, and something of a challenge to myself were the bee's knees. I was fairly fit too. Not hugely muscular, but probably in significantly better shape than most around my age.

It kinda stopped feeling good for personal reasons, but it was great both physically and mentally while it did. Probably goes for other martial arts as well.

Tai Chi and Qi Qong (however you want to spell it, Chi Kung) are the health/fitness portions of Tai Chi. Not being a smartass, just if you want to look into in in the future. I found them lacking, but I think the problem is finding a good instructor.

Yeah, thanks. I know about those as well, although I haven't tried them except for a quick trial. I could see them as complementary to other exercise, but I don't think I could personally find the focus or motivation to do them as a primary thing.

The kind of aikido I did was actually fairly physical. While it's no MMA, and even something like wrestling or judo are intense in a pretty different way, it was both physically and mentally more than just a health workout for me. For me tai chi or qi gong don't fit the same slot, but for some others they might of course be the thing.

I just wanted to mention the martial arts thing because I found it to be good for general fitness and mental well-being. Venues and instructors, and their styles, vary a lot though, so YMMV.

For exercise, focus on turning up, at least when I'm (re-)starting out.

When I'm in a regular routine, I enjoy exercising and it feels good, and turning up isn't an issue.

At some point though I inevitably lapse. When I try to start again, I can't do what I used to do, so I push myself to try, but it doesn't feel good and it makes me less motivated to continue.

During these periods I've found it helpful to focus on turning up, rather than trying to push myself. Slowly I start to improve and start enjoying it again, and improvement follows.

“Showing Up” is probably the most important concept in health / fitness IMO. When setting a new habit I try to do it every single day, in small amounts, until it becomes my life. I did this with yoga and now after more than 300 days straight it is simply a part of my life I couldn’t imagine not doing daily.

Same here. I started running for 5 minutes a day for a week. Then I increased to 10-15 min for about a month. After that the habit was there.

Stretch. When I maintain flexibility, I can always jump back into whatever physical activity I'm interested in (running, biking, hiking/climbing, kayaking, swimming). When I've lost my flexibility it's much harder to get back into any of these activities. Also, taking the time to stretch makes me think about how to get back into these activities when I've gotten too busy to do them regularly.

Breathe. Not trolling. Deep breathing for a minute clears my head so I can prioritize the right things such as taking care of my body instead of finishing that line of code. It also reduces stress.

I have an active high energy blue healer pup. He lets me know every day when it's time for a walk in bad weather or a mtb ride in good weather.

Health: 16/8 intermittent fasting

Exercise: Yoga or walking

keep moving. Don't spend too much time sitting or laying down.

Lift. Starting strength.

Kettlebell.

Get good sleep

Go vegan

Avoid shitty fats

Walk.

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