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Comment by ehnto | Hacker News Reader

Let me preface: I've abstained from going to the gym since we went into lockdown, and even now that we are out of it here. I am looking into equipment at home, and I can at least keep my fitness, if not my strength, by going mountain biking.

That said, there are many types of training you can't do without the right equipment, so it's at least a bit more than just wanting to be with others. Strength training/powerlifting/olympic lifting all come to mind. It's often really difficult to keep a rack, barbell and hundreds of kilos of weight at home, and obviously not something people had just lying around in case of an emergency.

There is certainly a social aspect to it as well, I love training with a couple of friends, the atmosphere can't be replicated at home. But like I said, I've abstained, and I would have been hopeful others would have to.

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> That said, there are many types of training you can't do without the right equipment, so it's at least a bit more than just wanting to be with others. Strength training/powerlifting/olympic lifting all come to mind. It's often really difficult to keep a rack, barbell and hundreds of kilos of weight at home, and obviously not something people had just lying around in case of an emergency.

Yeah, this is pretty important. I used to lift and there's simply no way that I would make the investment to have all that equipment in my house. In normal times it's incredibly wasteful for each individual to stockpile their own redundant junk, rather than share a common pool with others. [0]

I switched to a more equipment-light calisthenics routine years ago with a few items I have around the house, so the current pandemic does not impact my own fitness routine - but for people looking to get really strong this is no substitute for lifting heavy.

[0] As an aside: this shouldn't only apply to gym equipment, communal resources should be way more common for economic and sustainability reasons. There's no reason at all every homeowner should have a lawnmower, for example.

> In normal times it's incredibly wasteful for each individual to stockpile their own redundant junk, rather than share a common pool with others

This has not been my experience at all. I used to have a membership to my local gym for my wife, myself, and their childcare program (basically watch your kids while you exercise for 1 hour).

I cancelled that membership and instead put that same amount of money into buying equipment at home (where I have enough space for it) and it only took me about 5-6 months to get enough equipment to replicate about 90% of my routine from the gym. Now I also don't have to wait in line or spend the time travelling to/from and I can exercise whenever I want. For me it has been way more effective.

And when I'm done using the equipment it's not going to go in the trash, I'll sell it in the local classifieds.

Wasteful on a societal level, not an individual level. If everyone did what you did, we'd all need more space, and a non-trivial amount of steel. Hard to do that if you live in a studio apartment, etc. You just can't apply your situation across the population.

Personally I can walk to my gym, and I get far greater quality and variety of equipment by not having to pay for, maintain and store it myself. There are no duplicate machines at my gym, yet it spans a whole warehouse, and I've used every machine at some point as my programme evolved.

As a renter, when I move I don't have to lug hundreds of kg of weights and equipment with me.

>Yeah, this is pretty important. I used to lift and there's simply no way that I would make the investment to have all that equipment in my house. In normal times it's incredibly wasteful for each individual to stockpile their own redundant junk, rather than share a common pool with others.

I don't see a problem with lawnmowers but I think maker spaces should be in every city. I can easily buy high quality tools for myself but I have no space in my apartment and once I'm done with a tool it feels like a waste to let it collect dust in a drawer.

There is one big problem with communal resources. Not everyone is qualified to use a tool and communal resources make it easier for unqualified people to get tools and break them.

Im an introvert, Ive abstained. Lost a ton of strength and weight. And im over it. I still have to shop groceries. I still need to lift weights.

Joined my local gym. It's packed everyday.

This is not a social injustice. I want to lift. Not chat over sweat.

Can't you do calisthenics ? There's a ton of possible exercise which uses only your body weight, or only minimal equipment like a pull-up bar. Can you do a one-legged squat? Pushup with a hand stand? Dragon flag? Many other exercises on youtube which make you sweat in minutes.

It really depends on your discipline. Powerlifting really starts at 100kg of weight on a barbell, and many need more than 200kg of weight on a bar to perform their training. You could keep healthy with a home fitness regime, but you'll lose some of your total strength, and you certainly won't be progressing.

That's all I'm trying to point out, for many disciplines there is no substitute for equipment. But so be it, these are unique times.

Body weight exercises can be great and useful in maintaining a certain level of fitness, but you're very limited in the ability to increase your muscle mass using them.

Muscle mass gain is a weird luxury anyway; what's important now is to maintain your fitness level, moreso than looking swole.

Calisthenics moves on the other hand require an enormous amount of strength and muscle control, something you can't gain from "just" lifting weights.

I see. Here our opinions diverge, because I believe muscle mass is not valuable by itself. I prefer to have a more athletic looking, performant body.

Kettlebells are doing the trick for me, you can start with just one.

post body

Where's my 405lb kettlebell for deadlifts?

he wasn't talking about deadlifts, he was talking about the Trick

Kettlebells can get you a long way for sure, but are not really suitable for the bigger lifts from disciplines like powerlifting and olympic lifting. The biggest kettlebell I can find online is 92kg, even with one in each hand that's not enough for many. Part of the benefit of plates and barbells is you load them up 20/25kg at a timel, two 92kg kettle bells would be cumbersome to get into position!

That's true. But for parent's objective of keeping their fitness and hopefully their strength, a couple of kettlebells are probably better that mountain biking, and it takes far less equipment and space than a proper rack, bar and plates.

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