Can we get a feature which lets you suppress sites from the HN listings if they prevent you from using adblockers? I am happy with just writing off those publications as if they don't exist, but unfortunately they still show up on HN and in Google.
This is something you can easily do using a script on your end. If you're using firefox, just write a small plugin that checks whether you're on HN and then excises HTML for links coming from any domains you don't care about.
uBlock Origin comes with extra filter lists that are disabled by default, among them is "Anti-Adblock Killer | Reek". Go to the extension settings then "3rd-party filters", when you're done click the yellow "Update now".
The fix for Wired is part of uBO itself. I don't know if there is an extra fix in Reek's list, but in any case Reek's list is meant to be used with Reek's user script.
So you should have the fix with default settings. Sometimes clearing the cookies on the site may help -- maybe the site remembers you were visiting with a blocker which did not defuse the site's anti-blocker mechanism and serves you the notice because of that. I just checked and the fix still works on my side.
We don't believe sites should make money? Some people want to forbid paywall sites, while others want to forbid sites that have ads. What sort of future economy are you proposing?
I'm fine with them showing ads, I just don't want paywalled websites on HN. It would be a bit daft if suddenly you couldn't actually read anything on HN without paying, no?
People will spend their disposable income regardless how it is redirected by advertisements. There is no indication that ad-influenced spending is better for jobs/growth/happiness.
Well, you are arguing a slippery slope fallacy here. I never suggested that sites shouldn't be able to make money.
Speaking solely on behalf of myself as a single participant in the market, a content publisher who expects me to view ads (or pay money) to view even a single piece of their general interest journalism is not a publisher I am interested in consuming content from. I view that as a fairly irrational business model, and a strongarm tactic, and when I see a publisher do that I am done with them -- Wired, Forbes, etc. are all replaceable for me, I can go read another site, or play a game, or walk the dog.
You'd better believe I pay for lots of content and/or sit through ads when it's worth it to me. I just don't see why Wired's preference for a particular business model is more important than my preference for accessing the Internet through my machine on my connection with my time. I like an Internet where you get to choose the terms by which you access things.
Now I can simply hit back if a link on HN goes to a site that forbids adblockers. We're not talking life and death here. I'm just saying it would be a nice feature to have. From a hacker's point of view I think it's remiss to say we shouldn't build technology which helps people consume the Internet the way they want because certain types of publishers need to make a buck.
If you're using uBlock you should add Anti-Adblock Killer from the 3rd party filters section in the uBlock dashboard. I'm currently scrolling through the article without any problems.
Why, in the age of cosplay, when majority choose to roleplay (intelligence in case of hipsters) instead of acquiring real abilities, there is no wonder that other people decided to cosplay fitness (by consumption of certain products and services, dressing and acting, like hipsters do).
This, by the way, probably has something to do with gang and criminal sub-cultures of role-playing of success and presumably high social status they actually lack.
Two thirds of those fitness obsessed could not even run a 10km, but spending thousands for their image of being extremely fit.
Nothing new under the moon. The social media created this new age of mass cosplay and role-governed behavior. Instead of beatniks, hippies or Elvises of old days we got this role-playing mediocrity.
I don't agree. The vast majority of fitness obsessed people could run 10km. If they're not regular runners then perhaps they will finish with a slow time and be sore the next day, but they could do it. I run several such races every year and I always see other racers who are obviously in bad shape yet still manage to finish. (And I'm not a fast runner myself.)
I agree with you: the majority of genuinely fitness-obsessed, or even fitness-interested, people could run 10K.
I wonder if parent means the people who give the appearance of being fitness-obsessed, rather than those who genuinely are fitness-obsessed.
There is a large section of the population here in the UK who dress as if they exercise regularly, but actually do very little exercise -- these people buy Nikes and yoga pants and wear them around, but never actually engage in any real exercise. They're the ones who look at you like you're insane when you ask them which gym the use, or if they're training for a 10K run.
The local university campuses have a large number of people like this attending classes dressed as if for a workout. I see a lot of them in coffee shops, and even some in pubs.
Could be worse in my view - if you're going to join a 'cult' to begin with, fitness might be the best alternative. Keep it in check, but it clearly fills a basic need we as humans seem to have.
What works for me is the exact opposite of this. I do not like anything resembling classes. I go to the gym and do weightlifting. No fixed times to show up, everybody can work on their own, it is all about you.
The main motivation comes from beating your own personal records or looking better, which happens incredibly fast in the beginning. After a while addiction and routine set in plus you develop a fear to lose your gains, which being a human bias is worse than not getting any. Sure, you want to beat others, but there are so many factors that play into this, so it is quite relaxed.
You can bring a buddy with you, but after a few months you become a regular and notice more and more people you have talked to once. Now it is more like going to a club where you can do your thing. Because of the pauses between sets and the obvious topic (everybody is thinking about how much they can lift) it is super easy to have a shallow talk to a stranger. Since you have talked to them once, in the future they will come up to you if they need a spot.
i am in the same bandwagon (free weights & treadmill, rest is done outside) and from my perspective - there are people who can enjoy any generic activity on their own. if there are in group of friends, fine, but it's not mandatory, and in fact sometimes can be annoying. I am like this, set my own speed/intensity, but my goals are not bodybuilding nor power-lifting.
then there are those who don't do almost anything alone. bike ride? only with friends, otherwise no ride. going to run in the gym? only with friend/colleague. I am not this type so cannot really comprehend the necessity of companionship at (almost) all costs. but then I am more introvertish, so it kinda makes sense
Most people "going to the gym" at one point have to come to terms with that it's to some extent a waste of time. Yes, you get more fit, but that's about it. Begin able to combine getting fit with a hobby, making friends, having an experience or other things that make up for a balanced life usually provides more value.
> Most people "going to the gym" at one point have to come to terms with that it's to some extent a waste of time.
This is precisely why I stopped going. Altogether I was spending probably 2 hours at the gym (this includes time spent commuting and showering). I wasn't seeing any substantial gains and was getting increasingly annoyed by how full the gym was and how I couldn't leisurely do my work-outs without somebody making me feel uncomfortable for occupying a certain machine.
I wouldn't mind going back to the gym, but I would definitely have to avoid peak hours for it to be worthwhile. Best thing would be for me to buy the machines outright but my apartment is small and I don't have the space.
It wasn't a waste of time in the sense that I wasn't getting anything out of it (while I didn't sense the physical/aesthetic benefit, the psychological benefit was noticeable).
Gym to me was a waste of time in the sense that it was preventing me from doing what I really needed to do (ramp up my technical skills during evenings). If I had a job that was fulfilling enough, paid good and had a reasonable pay/role progression I would definitely go to the gym. Going to the gym for 45 min and unwinding at home afterwards is fantastic.
But I don't have that sort of luxury right now at my place in life. I need to strengthen my portfolio considerably.
You get fit, you can sleep better, it calms you down, you have a good time there, you accomplish something.
Why is "going to the gym" not a hobby? There is plenty of different stuff you can do and focus on and switch to after something else becomes boring or to easy.
I wouldn't say that other activities provide more value for a balanced life, I would argue, that going to the gym makes it easier to have a balanced life (focus on food, sleep, persistence, getting relaxed, reduced stress levels etc.).
I'm comparing to other fitness activities. Sure, you can have going to the gym as a hobby, but it's generally harder than biking, swimming, climbing, martial arts, team sports or other things that offer additional value of more visible progression, social interaction, making friends, traveling to new places etc.
> Most people "going to the gym" at one point have to come to terms with that it's to some extent a waste of time.
Parent divided people into those that don't do anything alone and those who do. A similar dichotomy is between those who enjoy exercise intrinsically and those who don't (who therefore do it for another reason, such as to be fit).
Telling the first group that they are "wasting their time" makes as much sense (to them) as telling a violin player he is "wasting his time" playing the violin.
Many people think it's worth it, especially in the beginning. Fewer can come to terms with the invested time when their progression slows done because of increased fitness, getting older and/or having more commitments. If you do something that is also an experience, continue to have visible progression and/or builds/maintains relationships with people it's easier to keep doing it for a long time.
I would imagine it's the same if you play an instrument and would be far more likely to continue practicing if you're in some sort of band.
If you do free weight exercises, the first improvements you make have nothing to do with raw strength but with learning the proper technique and building a movement pattern. Your smaller stabilizing muscles learn what to do. You progress very fast. Within a few weeks you learn how to do it and you lose the shakiness.
Hi, sorry but this is false. There are no such thing as 'stabilising muscles'. Whilst you do learn the proper technique over time (and this eliminates 'shakiness') - this is due to muscle memory and improved proprioception and NOT an increase in strength in stabilising muscles. One caveat - you may improve core strength which could help with stability for some of the more dynamic lifts. Generally on the internet when people say 'stabilising muscles' they have the impression that humans have little extra muscles in the shoulder that help with keeping a bar horizontal or some such which is of course ridiculous.
Thanks for the correction. Maybe I have to rephrase a bit, it is not shakiness but outright bad form, for example when you do squats or deadlifts and your knees move inwards, it is because of a weak vastus medialis [0] (had to google that), which is a stabilizing muscle, not the main muscle involved in squats.
I started a twice a week program with a personal trainer almost 2 months ago. Looking to up it to 3x/week soon. So far so good. Still have some shakiness.
Seem to fit the purpose of a church for the modern individualistic city-dwellers. Like-minded people, a common purpose, regular worship meetings, sexy dress code, commercialism and a sense of achievement. Amen to post-workout endorphine rush.
I workout alone. I've been doing it weekly for the last 5 months now. I've tried before to get into it, and usually stopped after a couple weeks.
This time, after about 4 weeks something clicked. I would really regret skipping a workout. The regret has kept me going the last 5 months.
For computer workers who sit in a chair all day, I can't recommend enough the benefits of working out. We all spend a large amount of time learning new technologies and mental self-improvement. Working out gives you a different type of improvement and a nice break from the mental exercises.
Well, accountability is a very important motivating factor for any habit you're trying to develop. Whether it's practcing a language, an instrument, or a skill, many need the feeling of accountability in order to proceed. When you're in a class, you're not only learning from the instructor, you're accountable to them, and they to you regarding your success. In group activities like this, you're accountable to your buddies or your team.
With solo exercise or any self-improvement, the most important thing is making you accountable to yourself. It's a fine line between a healthy care and an obsessive care, but when you walk on the healthy side, it's a good things. In a completely non-professional manner, I've been the "buddy" for a lot of people looking to lose weight and get a bit healthier in general; I"m by no means in perfect shape, but I eat clean, run daily, and do light lifting. Since I travel around frequently, it's hard for me to be an eternal buddy for people, so I almost always emphasize getting them accountable to themselves. Not to make them judge and hate themselves, but more just to ask "do I really need the large popcorn at the theatre?", or "it has been a long day, but do I want to spend it on the couch watching reruns or take 20 minutes to jog a little?".
By putting a conscious effort and awareness on one's self and making them "talk to themselves" about their wants, since ultimately that's what it needs to become; not exercising because they should, or losing weight because they've been called fat, but to have people be able to be honest with themselves and figure out what it is they really want. Once you start to cut out the external noise a lot of people use to frame their identity, you stop getting ridiculous goals and ideas like "bulk up like The Rock" or "look like [super model]", and instead get more realistic and practical things like "I just wanna get up the stairs without being out of breath" or "it'd be nice to just lose a bit of this gut". The latter are what the individual wants, and that's actionable. They're accountable to themselves at that point, not to someone they see only occasionally. Actually wanting to care for yourself is probably the greatest motivator with health stuff you can have; some people just need a little push to get started.
I think most hardcore fitness people would die early. DNA telomeres can "turn over" a roughly fixed number of calories in a lifetime (2000 * 365 * 80). If you increase your rate of caloric burn, and increase your rate of caloric consumption, you burn through your telomere's ability to use the energy. And then you experience cell death that much sooner. Getting the right amount of exercise, not too much and not too little, is the best way to increase longevity.
The climbing gym is definitely cult-like, and ive chugged a tall glass of kool-aid. The very nature of climbing is social (you need a partner to belay you) and people (at least at my gym) are all super friendly. Everybody climbs differently based on their own anatomy, and you can learn alot from watching and speaking with others. Normally I prefer training alone, but this is one instance where having a climbing cult definitely helps motivate, not to mention build trust in your belayer. I highly recommend joining this particular cult, or at least giving the kool-aid a taste.
Apologies for the very basic, stoopid question, but what's up with gyms? People see them as the way to get fit, but running is uncomplicated and free. Aerobics work too. For lower intensity biking or other activities work and require minimal equipment. You don't have weights at home, but is bulking up necessary? Is it just that you can workout more comfortably no matter the weather? Sorry for the basic questions--I really don't know the answers, but assume there are good ones. Thanks.
The business model of gyms is that people sign up, then stop going after one month. So, that's how gyms stay in business.
For the minority who actually use their gym membership, lots don't like running, or have bad knees, so gyms offer a variety of cardio exercises. For example, rowing's a good cardio exercise, and a decent rowing machine is expensive enough that a gym membership can make sense. Running on a treadmill can be preferable to running outside, too. You may not have a good track anywhere close, or you may prefer being able to watch a screen while you run. Gyms offer things like group spin classes, so there's also a social dimension. Ditto the social aspect for meatheads who like to hang out together lifting big weights (no offense intended; I used to be one myself).
The other point is that when people say 'fit' they often mean 'skinny'. Unfortunately, the reality is that it's very difficult to lose weight and keep it off (unless you take up smoking, start doing drugs, or get a gastric bypass). Running, in a gym or outside, is unlikely to help. There's some evidence that regular exercise will help you maintain weight loss and it certainly has other health benefits, but this being HN, I think we can be blunt about the fact that if you aren't skinny the odds are against you ever being so in future.
> You don't have weights at home, but is bulking up necessary?
It doesn't matter if it's necessary or not; some people want to have big muscles or to be very strong, as an aesthetic choice, and they go to gyms for that reason. It's not really much less valid than wanting to be fit.
There are reasons to use weights other than "getting big", too. With muscle it's very much "use it or lose it". Older people particularly should be exercising with weights in order not to lose muscle.
Good questions, let me give my perspective. I go to the gym almost purely for strength training (lifting weights), not cardio, so I'll focus on that. Here are reasons to go to a gym to lift weights (no order, but the last reason is the most important):
1. Strength training can be a good way to get fit, as far as I know. It's probably worse than cardio in terms of developing things like your lungs and basic ability to run for an hour. But from the little I know, I'm pretty sure it's a good way to be healthy, which is many peoples' goals, and that's what most people mean when they talk about being fit.
2. Another thing lifting weights does is make you stronger. This is useful, as being strong is good for many things in life. Arguably, this is more useful in "day-to-day" life than being able to run a long time, as you're actually lifting and moving things pretty regularly. (e.g. moving furniture, if you have a child then lifting/playing with the baby, etc).
3. Strength training makes you bulkier, and therefore look better. Or at least some people think so, to some degree. As another commenter said, this is an aesthetic thing.
4. Lastly, and most importantly, people are different. Most people, IMO, don't consistently do a sport they don't like. One lesson I've learned in life is that, if you want to e.g. get fit, the best thing you can do is find something that gets you fit, and that you enjoy doing. So efficiency/cost of the sport here isn't the most important consideration, it really is enjoyment. And enojoyment is, again, a personal thing, just like some people like playing the flute, some like pianos, and some like guitars. (And some prefer to draw, which is free, or to do photography, which can costs tons in equipment).
Part of it is mental motivation. Sure I could do a lot of exercises at home and even have some equipment there. But at home there are also many distractions and it's easy to procrastinate. Whereas once i show up at the gym all I can do is exercise.
Running and biking are great, I do those, too. But they don't deliver the strength I need for other activities. If you're a typical sedentary office worker you've got to do at least some resistance or weight training to keep your muscles from wasting away.
Hardly think so. Doing exercise like riding a bike, even a cycling machine: http://www.crazysales.com.au/exercise-bikes/ is good for health and shaping a body. Doing exercise can free your mind from meaningless worries or whimsical thoughts. Afterwards, you can be more concentrated on your life or work.
60 comments
[ 3.1 ms ] story [ 120 ms ] threaduBlock Origin comes with extra filter lists that are disabled by default, among them is "Anti-Adblock Killer | Reek". Go to the extension settings then "3rd-party filters", when you're done click the yellow "Update now".
So you should have the fix with default settings. Sometimes clearing the cookies on the site may help -- maybe the site remembers you were visiting with a blocker which did not defuse the site's anti-blocker mechanism and serves you the notice because of that. I just checked and the fix still works on my side.
Speaking solely on behalf of myself as a single participant in the market, a content publisher who expects me to view ads (or pay money) to view even a single piece of their general interest journalism is not a publisher I am interested in consuming content from. I view that as a fairly irrational business model, and a strongarm tactic, and when I see a publisher do that I am done with them -- Wired, Forbes, etc. are all replaceable for me, I can go read another site, or play a game, or walk the dog.
You'd better believe I pay for lots of content and/or sit through ads when it's worth it to me. I just don't see why Wired's preference for a particular business model is more important than my preference for accessing the Internet through my machine on my connection with my time. I like an Internet where you get to choose the terms by which you access things.
Now I can simply hit back if a link on HN goes to a site that forbids adblockers. We're not talking life and death here. I'm just saying it would be a nice feature to have. From a hacker's point of view I think it's remiss to say we shouldn't build technology which helps people consume the Internet the way they want because certain types of publishers need to make a buck.
https://archive.is/tdF2L
This, by the way, probably has something to do with gang and criminal sub-cultures of role-playing of success and presumably high social status they actually lack.
Two thirds of those fitness obsessed could not even run a 10km, but spending thousands for their image of being extremely fit.
Nothing new under the moon. The social media created this new age of mass cosplay and role-governed behavior. Instead of beatniks, hippies or Elvises of old days we got this role-playing mediocrity.
I wonder if parent means the people who give the appearance of being fitness-obsessed, rather than those who genuinely are fitness-obsessed.
There is a large section of the population here in the UK who dress as if they exercise regularly, but actually do very little exercise -- these people buy Nikes and yoga pants and wear them around, but never actually engage in any real exercise. They're the ones who look at you like you're insane when you ask them which gym the use, or if they're training for a 10K run.
The local university campuses have a large number of people like this attending classes dressed as if for a workout. I see a lot of them in coffee shops, and even some in pubs.
The main motivation comes from beating your own personal records or looking better, which happens incredibly fast in the beginning. After a while addiction and routine set in plus you develop a fear to lose your gains, which being a human bias is worse than not getting any. Sure, you want to beat others, but there are so many factors that play into this, so it is quite relaxed.
You can bring a buddy with you, but after a few months you become a regular and notice more and more people you have talked to once. Now it is more like going to a club where you can do your thing. Because of the pauses between sets and the obvious topic (everybody is thinking about how much they can lift) it is super easy to have a shallow talk to a stranger. Since you have talked to them once, in the future they will come up to you if they need a spot.
then there are those who don't do almost anything alone. bike ride? only with friends, otherwise no ride. going to run in the gym? only with friend/colleague. I am not this type so cannot really comprehend the necessity of companionship at (almost) all costs. but then I am more introvertish, so it kinda makes sense
This is precisely why I stopped going. Altogether I was spending probably 2 hours at the gym (this includes time spent commuting and showering). I wasn't seeing any substantial gains and was getting increasingly annoyed by how full the gym was and how I couldn't leisurely do my work-outs without somebody making me feel uncomfortable for occupying a certain machine.
I wouldn't mind going back to the gym, but I would definitely have to avoid peak hours for it to be worthwhile. Best thing would be for me to buy the machines outright but my apartment is small and I don't have the space.
Gym to me was a waste of time in the sense that it was preventing me from doing what I really needed to do (ramp up my technical skills during evenings). If I had a job that was fulfilling enough, paid good and had a reasonable pay/role progression I would definitely go to the gym. Going to the gym for 45 min and unwinding at home afterwards is fantastic.
But I don't have that sort of luxury right now at my place in life. I need to strengthen my portfolio considerably.
Why is "going to the gym" not a hobby? There is plenty of different stuff you can do and focus on and switch to after something else becomes boring or to easy.
I wouldn't say that other activities provide more value for a balanced life, I would argue, that going to the gym makes it easier to have a balanced life (focus on food, sleep, persistence, getting relaxed, reduced stress levels etc.).
Parent divided people into those that don't do anything alone and those who do. A similar dichotomy is between those who enjoy exercise intrinsically and those who don't (who therefore do it for another reason, such as to be fit).
Telling the first group that they are "wasting their time" makes as much sense (to them) as telling a violin player he is "wasting his time" playing the violin.
People are different. To each his own.
I would imagine it's the same if you play an instrument and would be far more likely to continue practicing if you're in some sort of band.
Hey, I remember being not-44 lol
Source - college athlete.
[0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vastus_medialis
This time, after about 4 weeks something clicked. I would really regret skipping a workout. The regret has kept me going the last 5 months.
For computer workers who sit in a chair all day, I can't recommend enough the benefits of working out. We all spend a large amount of time learning new technologies and mental self-improvement. Working out gives you a different type of improvement and a nice break from the mental exercises.
With solo exercise or any self-improvement, the most important thing is making you accountable to yourself. It's a fine line between a healthy care and an obsessive care, but when you walk on the healthy side, it's a good things. In a completely non-professional manner, I've been the "buddy" for a lot of people looking to lose weight and get a bit healthier in general; I"m by no means in perfect shape, but I eat clean, run daily, and do light lifting. Since I travel around frequently, it's hard for me to be an eternal buddy for people, so I almost always emphasize getting them accountable to themselves. Not to make them judge and hate themselves, but more just to ask "do I really need the large popcorn at the theatre?", or "it has been a long day, but do I want to spend it on the couch watching reruns or take 20 minutes to jog a little?".
By putting a conscious effort and awareness on one's self and making them "talk to themselves" about their wants, since ultimately that's what it needs to become; not exercising because they should, or losing weight because they've been called fat, but to have people be able to be honest with themselves and figure out what it is they really want. Once you start to cut out the external noise a lot of people use to frame their identity, you stop getting ridiculous goals and ideas like "bulk up like The Rock" or "look like [super model]", and instead get more realistic and practical things like "I just wanna get up the stairs without being out of breath" or "it'd be nice to just lose a bit of this gut". The latter are what the individual wants, and that's actionable. They're accountable to themselves at that point, not to someone they see only occasionally. Actually wanting to care for yourself is probably the greatest motivator with health stuff you can have; some people just need a little push to get started.
The climbing gym is definitely cult-like, and ive chugged a tall glass of kool-aid. The very nature of climbing is social (you need a partner to belay you) and people (at least at my gym) are all super friendly. Everybody climbs differently based on their own anatomy, and you can learn alot from watching and speaking with others. Normally I prefer training alone, but this is one instance where having a climbing cult definitely helps motivate, not to mention build trust in your belayer. I highly recommend joining this particular cult, or at least giving the kool-aid a taste.
For the minority who actually use their gym membership, lots don't like running, or have bad knees, so gyms offer a variety of cardio exercises. For example, rowing's a good cardio exercise, and a decent rowing machine is expensive enough that a gym membership can make sense. Running on a treadmill can be preferable to running outside, too. You may not have a good track anywhere close, or you may prefer being able to watch a screen while you run. Gyms offer things like group spin classes, so there's also a social dimension. Ditto the social aspect for meatheads who like to hang out together lifting big weights (no offense intended; I used to be one myself).
The other point is that when people say 'fit' they often mean 'skinny'. Unfortunately, the reality is that it's very difficult to lose weight and keep it off (unless you take up smoking, start doing drugs, or get a gastric bypass). Running, in a gym or outside, is unlikely to help. There's some evidence that regular exercise will help you maintain weight loss and it certainly has other health benefits, but this being HN, I think we can be blunt about the fact that if you aren't skinny the odds are against you ever being so in future.
> You don't have weights at home, but is bulking up necessary?
It doesn't matter if it's necessary or not; some people want to have big muscles or to be very strong, as an aesthetic choice, and they go to gyms for that reason. It's not really much less valid than wanting to be fit.
There are reasons to use weights other than "getting big", too. With muscle it's very much "use it or lose it". Older people particularly should be exercising with weights in order not to lose muscle.
1. Strength training can be a good way to get fit, as far as I know. It's probably worse than cardio in terms of developing things like your lungs and basic ability to run for an hour. But from the little I know, I'm pretty sure it's a good way to be healthy, which is many peoples' goals, and that's what most people mean when they talk about being fit.
2. Another thing lifting weights does is make you stronger. This is useful, as being strong is good for many things in life. Arguably, this is more useful in "day-to-day" life than being able to run a long time, as you're actually lifting and moving things pretty regularly. (e.g. moving furniture, if you have a child then lifting/playing with the baby, etc).
3. Strength training makes you bulkier, and therefore look better. Or at least some people think so, to some degree. As another commenter said, this is an aesthetic thing.
4. Lastly, and most importantly, people are different. Most people, IMO, don't consistently do a sport they don't like. One lesson I've learned in life is that, if you want to e.g. get fit, the best thing you can do is find something that gets you fit, and that you enjoy doing. So efficiency/cost of the sport here isn't the most important consideration, it really is enjoyment. And enojoyment is, again, a personal thing, just like some people like playing the flute, some like pianos, and some like guitars. (And some prefer to draw, which is free, or to do photography, which can costs tons in equipment).
And weight lifting is one of the most effective ways to develop strength.
Running and biking are great, I do those, too. But they don't deliver the strength I need for other activities. If you're a typical sedentary office worker you've got to do at least some resistance or weight training to keep your muscles from wasting away.