Ask HN: How do you exercise? | Hacker News Reader

Ask HN: How do you exercise?

46 pointsFlollop96 comments

There were several posts [1][2] related the benefits of exercise and the comments were filled with interesting discussions about different types of exercises and their benefits. I am curious to know how readers of HN exercise and how it has benefited them personally.

[1] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34515421 [2] https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34206115

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I'm 72 years old and diabetic. There are significant limits on what I can do. My wife and I will do 30 minute walks 5 to 7 days a week. We go fast enough to get my heart rate up to the lower end of the aerobic zone. I also do strength training at the YMCA 3 or 4 days a week. I use the machines rather than the free weights. I worry about getting injured using free weights. I can't do many of the exercises other people have described here, but I do what I can. My weight is in the middle of the Normal BMI range, my diabetes is reasonably well controlled, and I think my strength is good for a 72 year old.

My recommendation would be to find an exercise that you enjoy doing, do it often enough to improve your health, and take your time; don't rush it. If you injure yourself it'll set you back to the beginning.

Did you injure yourself in the past by exercising too hard?

I’m a bodybuilder.

I train 5x per week, generally around 5.30am so I can get it done before work starts. It serves as a backbone for my day and I appreciate that no matter what happens, what I do at the gym is entirely under my control and I enjoy having that to fallback on when things are messy in life.

Health wise the benefits are obvious, but I appreciate the discipline and need to create abstract goals for the future and stick to them. Bodybuilding also taught me adaptability: conditions are not always ideal and you need to make do with what you have to get the stimuli you need. It also teaches you that sometimes the best action is no action (i.e. get some rest)

Can I ask what you mean when you describe yourself as "a bodybuilder"? Does this mean that you participate in amateur/professional bodybuilding competitions?

Yeah, I compete in bodybuilding shows.

My end goal is to get a WNBF pro card by the time I’m 40. I’m 29 right now, so got plenty of shows to come :)

Wow cool. Mind sharing more info about your program / diet?

Sure, anything specific you wanna know?

== Training

I follow a periodised routine where a mesocyclo (block of training) lasts between 4-6 weeks and I take a deload week between mesocycles.

I'm a big believer in Renaissance Periodisation's [0] approach of starting a training block at the minimum effective volume (MEV) and building up volume throughout the mesocyclone till you reach your maximum recoverable volume (MRV).

By the end of a mesocycle I'm pretty close to overreaching and it's time for a deload to drop fatigue and restart the training process.

I won't share the specific details of my program since that was designed by my coach (I highly recommend getting one), but I can share the overall structure:

- Day 1: Legs

- Day 2: Pull

- Day 3: Push

- Day 4: rest day

- Day 5: Legs

- Day 6: Pull + Push

Even though I said legs, push, and pull, that's just the focus of my sessions. It doesn't mean I only train those body parts or movement patterns.

For example, today was my first pull day of the week and while my primary exercises were for the back, I also did hammer curls, calf raises, and cable crunches.

== Diet

I pretty much just stick to whole foods and reserve some of my calories for junk food. I got quite the sweet tooth so I eat some kind of chocolate/cookies pretty much every day (less often when I am dieting down though)

I'm on a massing phase (i.e., bulk) right now and I am eating at around 2700 kcal per day.

Here's what I ate today for example (I vary the foods, but the structure is the same):

-- Pre-training

One scoop of athletic greens with water

200ml of soy milk + 30g of whey or just a protein bar (generally Grenade's white chocolate flavour)

1 cup of coffee

-- Post-training ("breakfast")

20g of dark chocolate

70g blueberries

250g of skyr

1 plain bagel (I'm weird, but I really enjoy this)

1 cup of coffee

-- Mid-morning snack

60g of cocoa pops (my junk food for the day)

-- Lunch

1 flatbread wrap with: 15g mayo, 80g 97% lean beef, 1 whole tomato, red onion, pickled jalapeños, and rockets

1 banana

-- Afternoon snack

1 bagel with: 40g of peanut butter, 40g of jam, 1 banana

-- Dinner

Same as lunch

== Other stuff

I usually avoid drinking my calories, but every now and then I enjoy having a beer so I just adjust my food intake for the day to account for that. Not a big deal since I can't really handle more than a pint anyways :P

When I have some kind of social event, it's usually in the evening. If I know I won't have much control over what I eat, I tend to do a protein "fast" (mostly eat protein-rich foods) throughout the day prior to the event so I have extra calories to spend there.

I average around 12,000 steps each day. I get those steps mostly from walking to and from the gym and doing errands or walking to work. I keep track of the number of steps on a spreadsheet so I can refer to it in the future.

I also weigh myself every day and keep track of the measurements in the same spreadsheet. It's pretty handy to see what level of activity and food intake I need to reach to lose weight, for example. I can just look up what I did last time and just follow that.

[0] https://rpstrength.com/training-volume-landmarks-muscle-grow...

My grandmother, who was fit and healthy into her 90s, used to chuckle at the idea of "exercising". I now understand where she was coming from – a simple active lifestyle can be all the exercise one needs.

These days I live in a rural Australian town and mostly walk or ride a bike to get around. We don't have a TV, a dishwasher, an air-conditioner or a ride-on lawn mower. Life is great. I'm working on a small building project in my spare time and instead of using machinery to level the ground, I just used a mattock and shovel (like my grandfather would have). It took weeks instead of hours, but that's OK.

Gyms and exercising is a direct response to our bodies not getting enough movement in our modern day lifestyle.

I do think we need that balance. I'm trying out farming on a small plot of land to keep a moving lifestyle.

I walk my dog for an hour every morning; then, I will come back and do strength training in my living room. That's usually one or two exercises from a pool of bodyweight exercises like pull-ups, push-ups, jumping squats, rock presses, jumping lunges or burpees. I typically go for total count rather than sets and keep trying to improve how many I can do in a row without taking a break. I alternate exercises each day to rest muscle groups. Then I stretch and get on with my day. I do this every day unless sick or injured. I usually get this done within 5 to 10 minutes.

I've experimented with doing longer workouts at the gym 2-3 times a week, but my brain is good at using time shortages as excuses to skip workouts. Eventually, weeks go by without doing any workouts at all.

If I can get my workout done in the time it takes me to go to the toilet, I can never tell myself I don't have enough time for them. Doing it daily forces my brain to quickly normalise it as part of my routine.

Do you see improvements this way or just keeping your current fitness level?

Very minor improvements: adding an extra rep every few weeks or so.

I won't be winning any CrossFit competitions, but I feel much better than not working out at all. I would love to push myself a bit harder, but this is the only way I've managed to stay consistent over the long term.

Thanks for the follow up

I stopped going to a gym a few years ago and nowadays do everything at home. I'll try to do HIIT a few times per week, splitting that up between running and jumping rope. On top of that, my regular training integrates a lot of calisthenics - mostly handstands, pullups, pushups, etc. - and stuff with kettlebells. I have a barbell and plates, but I don't use them as much anymore because I got rid of my weight bench. Nowadays, I mostly do deadlifts and cleans with the barbell. Have screwed around with some other things like Arthur Saxon lift, etc.

As far as how training has benefited me personally, I would say that some kind of training or regular "exercise" is in order if you want to be a fulfilled, well-rounded person, especially as a man. I didn't take fitness seriously at all until my early adulthood. I was living in my car at the time and had a gym membership for the initial purpose of taking showers, but at one point I figured, "why not try out this exercise thing that people do?" so I started running on the treadmills regularly and it had an incredible impact on me at the time and also motivated me to stop smoking (because of how difficult running was with smoker's lung). Over time I started picking up more things and now it's part of my daily life.

I am 42 years old and try to focus on 2 areas: strength and aerobic performance

For strength: I basically just do the "The Bridge by Barbell Medicine" (https://liftvault.com/programs/strength/bridge-program-sprea...) around 3x a week (sometimes a 4th General Practice Day). I started like most with 5x5 Stronglift probably 8 years ago but switched to this program around 3 years ago. The nice thing is that it has some variation and doesn't take too long. It consists of the big compound lifts so I think it's great for general strength

For Cardio: I started to do to 4x Zone 2 training on an indoor bike (https://peterattiamd.com/category/exercise/aerobic-zone-2-tr...) recently because a lactate test showed that I have horrible aerobic peformance. I blame it on Covid but I guess it's because after stopping with football/soccer due to a knee injury I virtually did no aerobic exercise. The upside is that a great aerobic performance has tons of health benefits (blood preassure, cholestoral, etc).

I train always in the morning (start between 6:30 and 7:00) before work in fasted state (time restricted feeding between 12:00-20:00) for cardio and with a pre-workout shake (creatine) on the strenght days. I am not a huge morning person but I got used to getting up early and the great thing is that even if my day was super unproductive one thing was accomplished and it's also quite compatible with social life (in case I want to do something after work).

Physically I am probably now in a better shape than in my 30ies and I plan to contineu to do this as long as possible

I find my rowing machine to be a great low impact high intensity workout of most large muscle groups.

Usually I like to hike from the valley floor to the top of one of the foothills. Some trail maintenance along the way if there have been storms (gave the sak saw a workout today).

Try to get to the top in 45m or less, call out on some simplex frequencies on a radio or antenna I've been wanting to try, see who comes back.

On the way home I do some journaling by talking into my phone, usually feels really good.

At home, isometric exercises, push-ups, dips, kata, pull-ups, dancing, weights, whatever sounds interesting. Skills included, even random stuff, like I've found that tossing erasers or badminton birdies into an old peanut butter jar is a good skill exercise and my kids usually join in.

Needs: Figure out how to do wargaming on the floor without getting cramped up... Getting old. Lol

Benefits...IDK. It helped me lose like 100lbs, 36% of bodyweight or so. Nurses always ask if my resting pulse is normal since it's in the low 40s. That's been funny...

...but none of this is worth it in isolation, unless I'm excited by what I'm doing, or thinking about, etc. Has to be all around interesting. I'm always trying out new gadgets on my hikes for example.

https://twitter.com/systematikk/status/1072960631916027904?t...

So exercise improves my mood and energy level, and the effect can last anywhere from 24-48 hours. This can INDIRECTLY help you eat better as you aren't using foods (e.g. sugar, fat, caffeine) to boost you in one sense or another. I find that a mix of resistance training and cardio mostly on zone mid-high zone 3 or low zone 4 works best (high zone 4, or zone 5 seems to have a detrimental effect both in recovery and duration). This is also what the CDC recommend[0].

THAT BEING SAID: Exercise works for me, I know it works, and I feel good when I do so (both due to the above AND just a feeling of achievement). But exercise is fucking tedious/boring/brain numbing. I wish exercise games/gaming was a thing, I've tried a Quest but the headset weight caused neck/shoulder issues, and I had to stop. I've tried the gym, swimming, and nothing has really scratched my itch. Machines with videos of instructors exercising doesn't add anything of value (aside from minor eye-candy).

I'd maybe enjoy boxing but CTE/concussions put me off. The only exercise-like experience I ever really enjoyed was laser tag but that isn't really a "thing" (as in "I'm going to my morning laser tag before work"). I am actually shocked and confused that exercise-gaming isn't a massive market (and, no, I don't mean "gamification of exercise" as in Apple Watch rings or whatever, I mean actual FUN games that involve the movement of the body). Currently the Nintendo Switch is the market leader in exercise-gaming and that's just pathetic.

[0] https://www.cdc.gov/physicalactivity/basics/adults/index.htm

May I recommend Dance Dance Revolution / Stepmania.

I have yet to find a good setup in Stepmania that is fundamentally easier to approach than endless mode on DDR X on the PS2. They have the songs divided up in levels of difficulty. I can roll in level 2 at this point after getting the hang of 1/8th beat steps, this took months (*edit: off and on for years). Before that level 1 kept me in heart rate workout level whatever they call it zone 2 and I'd pop into endless level 2 if I wanted to push it into high intensity (zone 3 I think). Now it's more like level 2 hits me zone 2 and if I want to push it I go to level 3. A decent foam pad with exercise mat like things in it for support seems to run about $100, maybe a little less now that the pandemic-mania is starting to fade.

I've had a Python script started for months to parse and only allow songs in the Stepmania library that have a difficulty level relating to the DDR X endless level arrangement (*edit: grammar is difficult). Their interface leaves a bit to be desired and I find hacking around on my own Python script less daunting than hacking around in someone else's Java.

Used a DDR setup for rainy-day training when playing basketball and tennis in high school. Loved it, but kinda got bored with it after a while, because once you can do 10 footers in doubles with no bar, there's no real further challenge (RIP In The Groove with its 11 and 12 footers!). Also, the pads tend to suck unless you plonk down a few hundred for a metal pad which really takes up space.

Have you tried Ring Fit Adventure? It seems like exactly the game you're after.

Second this, and it is good for all ages with a nice variety of exercises. My daughter (17) was both entertained by the challenges, mini-games, and topping previous scores. We also have a boxing game that is beat/rhythm based called fitness boxing 2: rhythm and exercise. This can also be done with two players, so it can get competitive. The downside to these games is the overly cheery/chatty characters can grate after a while, as the dialogue can get a bit repetitive.

You mean like soccer, football, Tennis, Squash, or the myriad of other games played as sports?

Bikes! It's fun to go fast, but also a great way to just get your blood flowing, including to your brain: https://journal.dedasys.com/2015/04/20/the-bicycle-a-thinkin...

I started doing barbell strength training several months ago and the results have been dramatic, I went into some details here: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=34325900 (lots of people sharing experiences on the parent post)

In terms of weight, muscle development etc. the results have been good but what I wasn't expecting was all the other benefits - better posture, mental clarity, emotional stability, increased physical energy etc. I didn't realize what a big deal this was going to be - like previously I would make up a lot of excuses to stay home because going out seemed tiring, now it doesn't and I'm out doing basically everything more often.

I set up a small home gym consisting of a power rack, different bars for different exercises and plenty of space for calisthenics, with Olympic rings where I mostly do pullups and dips. I've used to do powerlifting but after a lower back injury I'm more into body weight exercises. I like to walk, 45-60 min a session. I know many others have said this, but it is true so I will repeat: find what you like, it's way harder forcing yourself into a physically challenging activity you dislike. When you like what you're doing, you naturally try to improve, so getting fit becomes fun and rewarding and not some bad chores.

Nothing consistent, maybe go to the climbing gym (or outside in summer) once or twice a month, biking for transport or pleasure, go to real gym few times a month, working on the car/truck can really feel like a workout and things are always breaking, dog walks and runs sometimes. Am not strong or in shape by my standards but am healthy and lean. Eating well, not drinking a lot of alcohol, and using a standup desk are more important to me working as a developer.

Edit: and protein powder once/maybe twice a day is important since vegetarian

I'm definitely no fitness expert, but this is what I do. I don't have a strict workout schedule, because I feel like that is demotivating for me.

- Under desk treadmill with standing desk - I spend a lot of time at the computer, so I have a standing desk and a treadmill that goes under it. I find that if I use it for about a half hour, 3 times a day, that gets me about 8,000-9,000 steps. Then I can get to the recommended 10,000 steps by the rest of the walking I do throughout the day.

- Adjustable Dumbbells and Bench - I own a pair of adjustable dumbbells that go up to 50 pounds in increments of 2.5 pounds. I use them to do strength training 1 to 3 times a week. This year, I had ChatGPT generate my upper body workout routine for me, and so far it's going really well. My goal is to do 100 strength training workouts this year.

- Ab routine, yoga and Maxiclimber - About once or twice a week, I try to do an ab routine, "Ab Ripper X" from the original P90X at 1.25 speed to get it over with faster. Yoga (from YogaDownload.com) to help with recovery from the strength training. Also, I picked up a Maxiclimber XL on the local classifieds for about $40.

- Other recreational fitness activities - I also try to make sure I participate in alternative fitness activities that are recreational and not just part of the workout grind. These include, biking, snowboarding, cross country skiing, snowshoeing, basketball, pickleball, hiking, frisbee, etc.

This was not my routine before I started working from home. Working from home has enabled this and I'm now probably in the best physical health I've ever been.

Any recommendations for a under desk treadmill? I’m purchasing a standing desk soon and this seems like a great addition

I bought one from Amazon, but I'm not really sure if I'd strongly recommend it. It works well, but sometimes makes weird noises. If you plan on using it a lot, I recommend considering purchasing an extended warranty.

Good to know. Thanks for taking the time to share your insight

I have a tiny home gym with a rower, barbells, and some assorted training equipment. I also live on top of a steep hill surrounded by forest and I spend an hour each morning walking up and down the hill while dropping my kids off in the morning, then go for walks through the forest whenever I need a break from the PC (I work from home).

When I was younger I used to train gymnastics - two sessions of a couple of hours each every week. Unfortunately, I had to stop due to injuries.

I run three times a week.

I used the Couch to 5K program (in my case, NHS's podcasts <https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/exercise/running-and-aerobic-ex...>), then after hitting 5K, increased the distance by 10% per week until I hit 10K. I listen to podcasts while running.

I'm a slave to my Apple Watch and closing those rings!

It's easy to get the Stand ring closed - just stand when the watch tells you to do so. I've noticed I stand a lot longer than I'm "supposed" to.

The Fitness ring is also pretty easy to close. A brisk 2.5 mile walk does the trick. Having a dog helps in that regard.

The Activity ring is harder for me to close, especially in the Winter. I've found about 30 mins of light aerobics from a YT video closes the ring.

You're still going to need to do strength training and core training. In the Marine corps they drilled into our heads not to use weights - you gain strength at the price of flexibility and the flexibility is more highly valued. You can never go wrong with body weight. Push-ups, pull-ups, tricep dips, calf dips, lunges, planks, crunches - those all build strength. Won't do much for that Activity ring though!

Final thought - run stairs. Stairs will get you into shape like nothing else. I'm talking actual stairs, not stair machines at a gym. I know people who are marathon runners yet they're winded after running a few flights of stairs. Like I said, stairs will kick your butt and get you into shape!

I have a fairly close-knit team at work and in 2022 we challenged each other to a monthly exercise. February was push-ups, March - standing squats, etc. It was just do what you can, but do it.

I started this as an evening ritual, then would shower and go to bed. I would add reps to the exercise and build on it, but each month I would continue to do the prior month's exercise and build on the routine. Before too long I had a 15-20 minute workout without owning any equipment or gym membership.

I had a few times where I just couldn't get to the routine. I noticed that I would feel worse (weaker, less rested in the morning) if I didn't get the routine in before bed.

In 2023, we don't really do that anymore for various reasons, but I still try to do the routine 3-4 times per week. If I go too long between workouts, I find its sometimes necessary to lower the number of reps and build back up.

The key for me is to just do it and be consistent about it (it really is only about 15 minutes so I find it hard to make excuses to skip it). I'm at the age where there is a lot of benefit to consistently moving your muscles and stretching...

Using the cheapest/free ways possible:

- HIIT videos on YouTube in the morning after I wake up

- walk whenever possible

- lunch-time runs (I work from home, so this is convenient)

- I haver some resistance bands under my desk for when I watch a video, and just don't want to sit

- the kids keep me busy. They're 6 and 9, so there's a lot of picking up and swinging them, light wrestling, and extracurricular activities

I don't do all of these every day, but enough to get at least an hour of exercise a day.

I try to eat less calories than I burn.

I don't own car and everywhere walk or take public transport, even to groceries with backpack on my back. Though I work from home so not much movement besides walking kid to school and ocassional grocery 2-3 times a week plus some walks on weekend. My current BMI is around 19.9.

I am trying to do my very short daily routine of various moves (like 15 pushups, 15 squats, 22 pushups against the wall, front/side leg kicks and other hand/neck exercides, etc.) without any equipment at home, but recently failing since I don't really see benefit (been exercising this way every day unless extremely unhealthy for like 2 years and haven't seen really any improvement in anything).

I've used some Android offline exercise app with short videos to get inspired about the moves, but later uninstalled it, don't remember name and don't use Play store, so can't find it, it was quite old app, but free and offline.

EDIT: found it, this is the one I can recommend

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.bodyweight...

Strength training 5-7x a week. 70mins each session. Cardio/rowing machine for 10-15 mins after. Splits usually go Push-Pull-Legs-Push-(Core,Arms,Shoulders)-Legs. I have a weak left shoulder (injured a tendon doing snatches with bad form 3 years ago) - so I avoid heavy dead lifts. But include all the major compound lifts like Squats, Benchpress, barbell rows, Romanian deadlifts. Aim to hit every muscle group atleast 8-10 sets in a week. No supplements apart from Protein powder, and caffeine pre workout.

This has worked pretty well for me - I’ve lost around 14 kgs in the last 9 months. I avoid processed foods, only eat homemade whole foods and tracked my calories for a few weeks to get a sense of my real TDEE. I recommend an app like MacroFactor to get an accurate sense of your TDEE. Most smartwatches are shit at calculating real calorie expenditure.

Edit: most importantly, I track my recovery using HRV and Resting heart rate (recommend Training Today app for this). I take it easy (not hitting more than 60% max effort) if I don’t get enough sleep (atleast 6 hours). Listen to your body and treat it well.

Just turned 50 and I try to be active as much as I can each day.

For example the little stuff like: Walk our dog nightly for 20 minutes (about 3/4 miles). Go to batting cages with my son and will hit/throw with him. Play whiffle ball with him on occasion. Park in the far spots when going to the store, etc. I am even thinking about going back to coach little league as I miss it once he aged out.

From March to Sept I also play golf. Mostly the driving range for an hour or so 3x a week as my "meditation". Get out to actually play 18 holes not as much as I used to or would like but still maybe 1-2x a month (Unfortunately not playing as much as I used to these rounds make me question afterwards why I still play this difficult game)

I also have a 24hr gym right by home that I try to stick with simple 2-step routine:

1) 2-3x a week I Treadmill speed walk at 4.2 speed (12 minute mile pace) with a 3.5 degree incline for 9-11 minutes. Then I turn up speed to 11.1 (5:25 minute mile pace) and do three sprints each lasting about 5-10 seconds.

2) 1-2x a week I do a "Body by Science" strength routine. Takes maybe 15-20 minutes.

I do a combination of Crossfit and olympic weightlifting 4-5x per week. I usually do my olympic lifts before Crossfit so that I'm not too tired for them. That means I don't have full energy for the WODs, but that's totally fine. I also do some mobility work for 15-30min each morning.

So many people seem to hate Crossfit, and while some of the criticism is valid, it has been the only thing that was easy to stick with for me, mostly due to the community. Many previous attempts of going to the gym alone regularly failed after the motivation faded a few weeks into it. For all it's flaws, I still recommend it to newcomers. The best program is the one you stick with.

I started adding more olympic weighlifting practice 1-2 years after starting Crossfit because I felt like I didn't get enough practice for the more technically difficult lifts like snatches from Crossfit alone.

I have been exercising in some way shape or form for the last 10-15 years. What I have found to be immensely beneficial is getting into a sport that you can play almost all through your life. Most sports have spurts of high intensity so that is super beneficial for dopamine rush. Then there is the psychological confidence boost that arises from just getting things right.

I started tennis lessons last week and honestly it's one of the best lifestyle decisions I have ever made. There's a lot of counterintuitive physics at play in Tennis and so it appeals to the somewhat geekier side of me. Lessons really help because the coach gives some meaningful tips totally unrelated to the sport - like having very high mental confidence when you enter a shot. This proved to be life changing for me. Like most HN readers, I do suffer from the imposter syndrome and generally it's hard to be very high on energy and self confidence (despite what one may call a very blessed life) and such tips really help in boosting your morale and confidence.

Tennis or a sport like Tennis is helpful in tiding over failures, because it's really hard to get a shot right consistently and when you do it, it's an immense morale boost coupled by the dopamine rush from the physical exertion. For someone like me, who keeps attempting at iterating on ideas and who easily gives up, such confidence boosters are proving to be super helpful.

Something similar is applicable to competitive swimming also. Lots of counter intuitive physics at play. The human body is not designed for survival in/on water by design. So you have to fight the basic design in order to move efficiently in water. So this is also very frustrating until you get it right and when you get it right, boy the feeling of elation is unparalleled. Then you continue upping your game - increase speed, distance whatever.

Playing such a sport and especially taking lessons have been more helpful to me than lifting weights in the gym. I do enjoy lifting weights and I do hit the gym because now it's a necessity to play tennis, but on a comparative scale, playing tennis is far more gratifying.

Suspension trainer (TRX). And a cycle hometrainer hooked up to an ipad and kinomap.

I have a repeating Todo to bike at least 500kcal on that blasted machine.

The TRX is just awesome and takes away every excuse. What is left is you bs, fears and frustrations. Dealing with those is just as worthy as exercising.

Need to lift weights? TRX. Core? TRX. Stamina? TRX.

Another trick I learned: make three workout routines. One for when you can hardly get out of bed. One for when you feel fine. One for when you want to storm the heavens.

You get to give yourself an A grade for doing the routine that fits you on that particular day.

All in all I went slowly but steadily from 120kg to 113kg over the pas 8 months. In combination with intermittent fasting. Especially cycling at the end of the fast seems golden.

I do some daily exercises at home, around 20 min of callisthenics (bar, handstand, sit-ups...) mostly exercises from the book "Get Strong with the Kavadlo" but without actually following their program which I recommend, it would just take more time.

Usually unless the weather it's too bad I commute to work by bike not much distance, but it makes me active in the morning, on weekends I usually walk in the forest with my girlfriend for 1 hour or two.

I always had problems to gain weight, and In general don't eat sweets or greasy food, recently after increasing my natural protein intake, basically eating more eggs no extra powder protein, I'm 1 kg down from my perfect weight.

Concept2 Rowing Machine. Row for an hour first thing in the morning, six days per week.

Rowing machines can be real instruments of torture if you want them to be. I prefer to keep my sessions long and low heart rate, about 65% of my max bpm. I'll do some more intense stuff when the weather warms up a bit.

Some people struggle with the boredom of long rowing sesisons but I'm lucky that I can cope with it, put my music on and go into a half awake half asleep state until the mins are gone.

Concept2 have a great web site, plenty of challenges and ways of tracking your progress. Machines are quite expensive but hold their value and are extremely robust, I've never had a single issue with mine.

My daily exercise goals are bite sized individual bursts of activity: 10 push ups, 10 squats, 30 jumping jacks, etc. I have a to do app on my phone (I use Productive for iOS) that is able to track to do items like x/times per day. Since each activity only takes less than a minute, it's never an inconvenience to do one or two quick exercises. None of them require any equipment beyond the pull up bar in my closet. Sure I have 10+ to do items dedicated to exercising, but each one is so small, it's never a problem to quickly bang one out. Over the course of days, weeks, it adds up.

44m and my primary for of exercise these days is cycling. I clocked aust about 4,300 miles riding last year (down from 5,000 the year before). I ride 3-5 days a week normally. Some of these are 45 minute indoor rides on a trainer in the winter, but most of them are 1 hr to 5 hr rides after work or on the weekends. It helped to join a club that has regularly scheduled rides. I do a tuesday gravel ride and a thursday road ride with the club every week during the summer. They take up most of the evening (530-730 roughly), but I feel great when I'm on this schedule.

I walk my kids to and from school most days. Then I find a local patch of bush to hike or run, far enough to tire out my cattle dog. We hit the dog park if I’m feeling lazy.

I volunteer as a firefighter, and get plenty of exercise if I get called out on a job. I get some movement in during training.

I find gyms don’t work for me. They just feel a bit pointless. Immediate term, I need to move so that my dog won’t bug me when I’m trying to work. Medium term, I want to be fit enough to perform on the fireground. Long term sure I want to live long and well, but I can’t rely on that for motivation. Too abstract.

The key for me has been finding stuff I like to do that _happens_ to be exercise as well.

Hot Yoga, Trail Running, Hiking, Skiing, Biking, etc. I climbed a LOT in my 20's. I usually can sneak in something every day.

I've also mixed in weight lifting a few times a week just because it anecdotally seems to help a lot with injuries (nothing crazy, full body sets medium weights, usually 4x8's).

In terms of how it helps, my wife says I'm more enjoyable to be around when I'm active :), I also assume it's helped me to maintain a reasonable weight.

Strength Training @ Crunch Gym, 2-3x/week, 90 min each. I walk uphill or bike to get my heart rate up, then 1 hr workout. I used to do a wide variety of physical activities: tennis, rock climbing, dancing, golf, hiking, running. They were great for socialization but I didn’t really get a balanced fitness using them as my primary workout. Especially as you age, strength training is a great base. I do it solo because I don’t like the CrossFit style energy. It’s great for energy, anti-anxiety, focus.

I do periodized strength training and hypertrophy training + multiple 90min sessions of zone 2 cardio each week. Used to compete in olympic weightlifting and powerlifting so I'm quite strong and just want to maintain that forever.

Might get back into running as well. Used to average 60-80miles a week so my aerobic base is still good.

I've also climbed for around 10 years and on paper am considered advanced, but it takes me a few months to condition for climbing season each year since I dont climb year round

I do 4 gym sessions per week, usually Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Specifically I follow nSuns 5/3/1 (https://liftvault.com/programs/powerlifting/n-suns-lifting-s...), although I've changed up some exercises to an alternative. My workout is usually between 50-70 minutes.

I also go for a 2 hour hike, once or twice per week.

Brazilian jiu jitsu. I’m small and in my late 30’s, so my goals are a little different than the young, strong wrestlers in their 20’s (and some days it feels like they’re all young, strong and in their 20’s). I like the technique and game of BJJ. I used to do a lot of trail running. I’ve tried lifting weights several times, but I always dropped out of it after a year or so. I need a game to keep me engaged, and there’s a nice community aspect to my Jiu Jitsu gym.

I am 40. I mountain bike as many times as I can (pedal up, descend on singletrack) during the weekend on cold months and during the week as well when there is still light in the evening. I live in Europe so the uphill is 80% of the times on paved road. Standard short activity is 10 to 20Km and longer rides can be up to 40 or more.

When there's too much snow to even have fun, I hike or run. I recently picked up running by doing couch to 5K with my SO.

During the week I lift weights 2 to 3 days.

I do a 45 minute yoga practice at least 5 times a week. I have a Bowflex home gym which I use 2-3 times a week and do a 10+ mile hike every weekend with a lot of elevation change. I can't even imagine how my health would be sitting at a desk the whole day and then no exercise.

I am in my 50s and have exercised regularly since I was 18 or so. The type of exercise has changed with age. Unfortunately my body can't take martial arts anymore but you just have to adapt.

I don’t own a car. That means that most of my transportation, walking and biking, is exercise as a side effect.

I also bike indoors and outdoors as intentional exercise.

Kettlebell workouts with these videos a couple of times a week https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLhu1QCKrfgPUU1z33ILva...

I'm a lot bigger than here, and I still do it with way lower weight than she does.

Also recently got back into rock climbing. I try to include a downclimbing circuit to improve my stamina.

I do judo 2hrs 3x/wk and weight lift/cardio 1.5-2hr 5x/wk with some soccer occasionally on Thursdays. Before I started (5yrs ago) I was about 115kg, I've been steady at 95kg since. There's no way I'd stick with the weights and cardio if it was just that alone. It's way too monotonous for me, I need some coordination based sport to tie it to to motivate it.

I don’t enjoy exercising. At all. What I do:

a) I walk almost everywhere

b) Electric standing desk

c) Using a body weight exercise app 3–5 times a week in the morning, doing ~20 minutes of exercises.

a) and b) are side effects, I do something else, so it doesn’t bother me. c) is harder to stick to, but it’s short enough that I can push through it.

a) Helped that I wasn’t half-dead after years without any proper exercise, b) and c) really improved my back pain.

I have 6 Kettle bells at home and I have a program designed with 4 different options by an exercise physiologist.

I also run/bike/swim and walk the dog for 30 min per day generally with a 12kg weight vest (strength and cardio at the same time). I try to so 1 triathlon a year and 1 marathon a year and I find that is good motivation to prepare for an event.

I do 75 Hard (Google it) 2-3 times a year.

Sixty eight year old female here. I start every day except Sunday with 30 situps, 30 pushups and 30 squats. I ride my (non-electric) bicycle when I go shopping (including supermarket shopping for two), and do two or three 45 minute rides a week which include sprints. One long walk, often on the beach, completes my usual weekly routine.

I walk laps around the car in my garage and if the weather is particularly nice, I'll walk outside. I try to do this for about an hour a day.

Since this is Hacker News, and might fit the demographic, I built an abacus, specifically, for this task. Every time I make a lap, I increment it accordingly. That way I have at least some idea of the speed that I'm going.

Double kettlebells. Clean/press/squat complexes. Pullup bar. Walks if you don't have much walking in your daily life. All you need.

I think people getting into fitness focus too much on endurance, neglecting strength and it's bone health and connective tissue benefits. Lifting itself + long walks will give you all the cardio you need and then some.

This lifting + "all you need is walks" meme has been making the rounds lately. Did somebody start this on a popular channel?

Walking is considered separate from anything with kettlebells mentions by Parent, right?

Not sure if they meant farmer carry type walks with the kettlebells - regardless all are good activities

Why would you consider it a meme? I thought that's the general consensus in recent literature.

Lots of of sport trainers are starting to see the light. Thai boxers traditionally ran themselves to death. Most of the top coaches and athletes are cutting back on that in favor of resistance training. Of course cardio is a pillar of fitness it's just many athletes neglect the other pillars.

I do a daily walk for ~30 minutes.

For me the key to enjoying exercise was losing weight. When you are overfat you tend to have quite strong legs from carrying the excess weight around. Even with minimal strength training losing fat will leave you quite capable of doing long walks/hikes etc.

Cycling is also great, but its easier to make weather/time excuses about it.

I am prediabetic. So I have to exercise everyday. I tried many forms of exercises like running, jogging and strength training. I could not do any of these consistently. Finally I tried the under the desk treadmill. It is a blessing. Now I am walking 6-8 miles each day while I work. And, surprisingly, it keeps me better focused in work.

I started with cardio and calisthenics/weights videos, which I found to be great to establish a baseline level of fitness. After a while it became a bit too repetitive for me. Then I combined those videos with a treadmill for some added variety. Eventually I tried a rowing trainer, and combined with the kinomap app and concept's online challenges, I found my jam. Rowing felt great to me, it did not irritate my knees, I felt as though I had used all of my body, and the rhythm of rowing was engaging and almost a zen like movement for me. Some good music, maybe a rowing video/race/challenge on the app, and 30 minutes+ just fly by. I am now considering a rowing skiff and try my hand at actual rowing or joining a rowing club. As an introvert, the latter is still in question for me.

My goal was general cardio/lung fitness, and I tracked this with my resting heart rate and weight, and during exercising I used a heart rate monitor to track training zones. Apps tracked all the rowing metrics.

Starting from day zero is really hard, and having the discipline to stick with it at first is very difficult for me. At some point it stopped feeling like punishing myself and became about proving to myself that I can do this, and it became rewarding and a bit validating.

At my peak, I was exercising from five to six times a week. I built up to this level slowly over time, as I pushed myself with various challenges. It really is a sort of personal journey.

The benefits were mostly intangible. Mood and ability to handle stressful situations improved, my energy was generally better throughout the day, and food made me less sleepy. My sleep quality improved, which had further knock-on effects to everything. I felt good about myself and being able to meet the goals of the various challenges offered, and my own. If I can do this, what other goals can I accomplish? I felt better about myself as I set a goal and could see the progress and meet it. This was a thing I did just for me, and it helped me feel good about myself. Depression could no longer gain a hold on/over me.

The tangible benefits were on the scale, and visible physical changes. I became more defined and lean, and this felt nice to see something positive in the mirror.

I had a long break last year, as a lot of life happened. I am slowly getting back into it, and whereas I still grumble a bit about not feeling like it, once I finish, I always feel better for having done so. Starting over is not fun, but the difference is that now I know I can.

What rowing app do you use?

Crossfit at the closest affiliate to me. I like showing up and having someone else plan it all out for me.

location and resources change every so often (i get bored / i find something else that excites me) but the cycle has traditionally been weightlifting at the gym -> spending a few months doing only cardio (for a long time it was just boxing, but recently acquired a quest 2 and not a session goes by where i'm not dripping sweat) -> home gym -> back to an actual gym. as far as benefits, i couldn't use enough words to describe how much it's helped with my mental state (specifically when i get into the zone and get consistent with it). it often becomes that one place/time where i can completely tune out, not have to talk to anyone, interact with anyone, think about anything, worry about anything.

Walk daily for an hour with incline, HIIT class for an hour 4x a week, on top of that various dumbbell and barbell weight based workouts (squats/deadlifts). Even with all that I am not in shape because I eat like crap. Diet is more important than exercise kids.

This is how much exercise I tell my doctor I do. I truthfully hit this goal about once per month :)

I used to do strength training, but I couldn't stick with it for more than half a year. Doing things that have a strong variety and skill-based elements to them helped a lot. For me the past year and a half it's been figure skating and rock climbing.

I share my routine here: https://wiki.nikiv.dev/fitness/exercises

It's bit aspirational but it's mostly bodyweight workouts few times a week.

Soccer.

For those in the Seattle area there are multiple adult leagues (Seattle RATS is what I play in). We play year round on turf, rain or shine. They’ve got beginners divisions and over 30s divisions. They also host a free Saturday skills clinic.

I try to walk 1-2mi in the morning

run 3mi in the afternoon

Lift or yoga at night

Ive reduced my lifting to 1 movement a day, only 15-25mins, but try to lift every day. My gym is in my garage, so i’m not losing unnecessary drive time

Pickup basketball 3x per week. Burns a ton of calories and very enjoyable.

Walk/bike by default. Car-centric lifestyles genuinely feel gross.

Go for a jog along the beach or around the local lagoon. I leave the phone at home so I simplly enjoy the fresh air and let my mind roam free.

Clearing out space in the garage to do weights on alternate days.

Bike to and from work every day is my baseline. On top of that, any errand that can be done by bike or walking.

Riding is just pleasurable, even in an urban area, plus I enjoy the sense of self sufficiency.

I don't and suffer from health problems like high blood pressure

These days, it is mostly long walks (10k+ steps) with the dog. Dogs really help get you out of the house. There is also the occasional yoga, rollerblade and bike riding too.

If you are close enough to work and can find a good route - commute by bike. Forces you to have a routine. 2x workouts a day.

I commute to work by bike and love it.

I outsource to countries where the exchange rate is favorable. I get a lot more fitness for my money and time than I could ever get otherwise.

I don't care about exercise. I'm just gonna ride my bicycle, bicycle...

During all weather. Or fucking walk when I'm too lazy to schlepp it downstairs and up again, because locking it outside seems too risky.

( Something almost identical to this!1!! https://www.ebay-kleinanzeigen.de/s-anzeige/kalkhoff-retro-g... <- klicky pictures )

Muay Thai - 5 hours a week. Great aerobic exercise; get flexible; I highly recommend that anyone (who hasn't tried it) give it a go!

every morning: heaps of pushups, stretch, and a dozen handstand pushups.

every night: more heaps of pushups

random 1-2 days per week: mess around with some freeweights

life: pursue activities like mountain biking, hiking, running, etc. Also do manual labor whenever the opportunity presents itself. Digging ditches is not below me just because I can write software for six figures...

Pure cardio(for now). With a focus on lowering my B.P. Peloton Tread thrice a week using one of their 20 min HIIT.

Hike, cross country ski, and fat bike during the winter.

Hike, bike, and canoe or kayak during the summer.

The odd pull-up and push-up here and there.

I'd love to hear from parents with 3+ kids in rural areas (i.e., no gyms).

I only have two kids (luckily), but I work out 6 days a week.

I've got a set of gym equipment I keep at the end of my garden (proper gym equipment is really robust).

I'm up at 5am to do a either 10KM or an hour on a spinning bike plus some resistance work and after the kids go to bed, I do a small amount of kettlebell work.

The principle is... before they wake-up and after they go to bed, and also to get your own kit.. Its relatively cheap also.

Tonal. Peloton. About 60 minutes a day and 5 days a week.

Yes. I exercise my brain continuously every day.

cycling for 11 years. and just recently firewood cutting

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