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Comment by unnouinceput | Hacker News Reader

Conclusion: exercise because is good for your health.

What I wish I'll do: Take above advice.

What I will do actually: file this and never open it again.

To be clear, the study actually does not show any statistically significant effect of exercise on mortality rate compared to the control group (it shows an improvement, it's just not statistically significant).

The verbatim conclusion they present is:

"This study suggests that combined MICT and HIIT has no effect on all cause mortality compared with recommended physical activity levels. However, we observed a lower all cause mortality trend after HIIT compared with controls and MICT."

But also the control group is significantly physically active too.

And the "High impact" is only interval training.

Yep, from the article: "Control participants chose to perform more of their physical activity as HIIT than the physical activity undertaken by participants in the MICT group. This meant that the controls achieved an exercise dose at an intensity between the MICT and HIIT groups."

I don’t think you read the article... the conclusions are actually pretty nuanced, and only apply to older (70+) individuals.

Your thinking is wrong on this one. I did read it and I got those nuances just the same as you. My conclusion still stands.

10 minutes of walking every day can make a significant difference, and does not require much will power.

But it's the gateway drug to more exercise.

And, if you can't make yourself do a 10 minute walk every day, consider getting a dog, if your finances can support it. I walk an average of over an hour a day with my dog, and it's fun, because I have my dog with me. Normally, I probably wouldn't walk that much if I didn't have her.

Finances will support, space is something I lack. I do not agree to raise a dog in a limited apartment, a dog needs his own yard.

A lot of shelters and rescue groups feel the same way. But, there are a lot of dogs who will get along just fine in an apartment.

One surprising example would be greyhounds. Yes, they are racing dogs, but, they generally are only interested in running for a couple minutes a day. The rest of the time, they're gentle couch potatoes, who make ideal apartment dogs.

So, they practice HIIT ...?

Lol, kind of, I guess. :) You should see how powerful these dogs' legs are when they are in racing shape.

A dog doesn't need a yard, it needs someone to tire it out every day. A neglected dog in a yard is not significantly happier than a neglected dog in an apartment.

The dog that could be living in your apartment is currently in a cage somewhere and will be killed (we say "euthanized") soon.

I don't say this to shame you or anyone into getting an animal. My only point is to argue that living in an apartment is not really so bad for an animal. If you're avoiding an animal for your own sanity while living in an apartment, that's fine, I do not fault you for it. If you're avoiding an animal for the animals sake, then I think the animal would prefer an apartment to a cage.

That is a very good point I failed to make. Before I adopted my dog, she was sharing a small room of around 100 square feet with another dog, and I don't think she ever got to spend any off leash time outside. Now, she has 10x the space, all to herself, and we go to the park every single day that it's practical to do so. She's undoubtedly happier than she was then; it's obvious just by looking at her.

The shelter I adopted from is a no kill shelter, but, keep in mind that "no kill" really means "fixed capacity." If the no kill shelters are full, guess where all the stray animals will go?

Here are some sad statistics from a 1997 survey of 1000 animal shelters by the American Humane Society:

> In 1997, roughly 64 percent of the total number of animals that entered shelters were euthanized — approximately 2.7 million animals in just these 1,000 shelters. These animals may have been euthanized due to overcrowding, but may also have been sick, aggressive, injured or suffering from something else.

> 56 percent of dogs and 71 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are euthanized. More cats are euthanized than dogs because they are more likely to enter a shelter without any owner identification.

> Only 15.8 percent of dogs and 2 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are reunited with their owners. 25 percent of dogs and 24 percent of cats that enter animal shelters are adopted.

See http://americanhumane.org/fact-sheet/animal-shelter-euthanas...

And, as far as anecdata go, when my dog entered the shelter I adopted her from, she was pregnant with 12 puppies that were aborted. While I love puppies, I am glad they did that, for multiple reasons. Most important among them is that when we're destroying millions of animals a year, we don't need 12 more dogs in the shelter. But, secondarily, I am glad they did it, because if she had had the puppies, she would not be leaving that shelter for several weeks, which means I would have had a harder time adopting her. :)

And if you can't get a dog, play a game like Pokemon Go or Ingress.

Highly recommended. I don't go outside much, but I started pokemon go during covid-19, and it gives me a reason to head outside on a brisk walk to put a pokemon in a gym, or do a raid everyday. They doubled the distance you can reach gyms, so I can stand safely on the other side of the street from the gym and still be able to raid.

What's the next level up, because I walk 20 minutes a day but apparently my drug tolerance is high.

Start jogging, if your knees and back can take it, and try to keep the same total time (so longer distance). I fixed my distance at the start of my fitness improvement effort (5km) and walked it (40-45 minutes initially), then started running sections until they were longer, and eventually the whole distance. Got my time consistently down to 30 minutes, and for a brief period down to 23-24 minutes.

That's the gateway but the real problem is when you start to change habits, schedule and food preferences for maximum excersice effect. Now you are deep in the trench

I can't understand what kind of lifestyle doesn't allow for a 10 minutes walk. If you do housework for half an hour you probably exercise more than that.

It's not the allowance of time, it's the motivation (for me and probably 100s of millions of others??). I was walking 80 minutes a day prior to Covid lockdown, now I'm lucky to do that in a week. Principle change is motivation.

COVID basically forced me to start running (or go insane in home office), and it's been pretty great. For 4 weeks a week you are getting:

- improved mental state

- protection against covid

- free calories to spend on food or weight loss

- fresh air

- better future health outcomes

- time for podcasts

- new hobby

Overall, I highly recommend trying!

Or you can do 5 jumping jacks!

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