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Comment by cyberax | Hacker News Reader

I stopped wasting tons of time by walking several kilometers a day, and instead got a car.

I also started doing weight and resistance training for 2 hours a week.

I'm feeling much better as a result. YMMV.

I’ve been both an ultra runner and a committed weight trainer at different times in my life. For me I believe the weight training is better for overall health (as long as a minimal dose of cardio is also included), but the thing it really lacks is the time outdoors. So calisthenics outdoors might be the sweet spot!

But the minimal dose of cardio is something like 180 minutes a week of zone 2 exercise.

For sure, but when I was a runner that got me outside for more like 10-15 hours a week.

Ah. I see now.

> I stopped wasting tons of time by walking several kilometers a day, and instead got a car.

This sentence is so surreal, I feel like I'm dreaming.

What's strange about this? Depending on the start and destination, a car can either be faster or slower than other modes of transportation.

Sure, but when you're walking all the time, none of that time is wasted, because you're helping your body and brain function better. When you use a car, you really are wasting all your transportation time. To get the same benefits, you would have to drive places, and then go walking recreationally after, which would clearly take much more time to get the same utility.

Their next sentence shows they traded one form of exercise for another. That's "surreal"? There are many forms of exercise.

Because literally every single study or individual realization is about the incredible effects of merely walking every day. And the Op stopped something which is universally deemed great both for the body and the mind and traded it for using a car and sticking themselves inside a gym instead. Surreal.

He traded a walking commute for a planned, intentional workout. Why are we criticizing this? What's bad about other methods of exercise?

Merely walking is overrated, especially commute-style walking. It is much better than doing _nothing_ but as the main source of physical exercise it's not great.

I used to walk 12000 steps every day, including on a treadmill at home. My leg muscles were awesome, and my cardio health was great. But my upper body was weak, and eventually I had to start physiotherapy to strengthen some muscle groups to correct for bad sitting posture that was causing pain.

So I started doing weight and resistance training, my muscle mass went up, and I'm much healthier as a result. I'm also saving tons of time commuting by car instead of having to walk.

And I still do weekend walks/jogs around the parks and my neighborhood for fun.

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