Go for a walk at lunch time! I try and do a 1 hour walk ~6 days/week.
I've been working at home for 8 years now, and have always been doing this; but since Covid, those have been longer walks without going into shops.
It is better to ask how many times do you exercise per week. I.e. somebody who exercises 30 minutes 6 days a week is better off than someone who exercises once for 3 hours.
I exercise daily because otherwise it's too easy to start skipping. This way you know that you have to exercise and have to plan for it. (I have a home gym, which I built, lucky enough, pre-covid)
Building a home gym helped me enormously. Since I built the gym ten years ago, I've been exercising pretty regularly for 45 minutes a day, 5 days a week. I basically don't allow myself to watch TV shows except while exercising, which keeps me motivated.
I'd agree. Frequency and intensity, aerobic or strength, all matter too.
My mom walks for 30 minutes a day, while I run rather fast for the same time. I always tell her she should run a little, but she doesn't like to sweat.
Granted, 30 minutes of walking is 100x better than sitting around, and running is ~5x better. I'll give her that. Lessening returns and all.
My mental model is "easy" activity is sufficient to not die when you're 60, and more intense stuff will make you thrive into your 80s.
Can you provide a source for running being 5x better than walking? It doesn't seem that simple to me (eg. older people may suffer from joint pain or a risk of falling from more intense activity, so frequent walking may be better for them).
> somebody who exercises 30 minutes 6 days a week is better off than someone who exercises once for 3 hours.
My experience here is that it is more subtle. "Better off" depends on your goals.
For losing weight, one or two sessions of 75-90 minutes or longer per week seem to have much more effect for me than 30 minutes every day. (Borne out over years of trying different things; I'm in my 50s.) For increasing my VO2max, 25-30 minutes of aerobic exercise every single day for weeks on end worked well, but it was hard to maintain that discipline long term. (I was very surprised at the effect of every day, as opposed to, say, 4-5 days a week. It seemed like I was getting a lot more than an extra 50-75% benefit.)
I use a walking treadmill with a standing desk, and during the work week I use it 4 or 5 hours a day at 2 miles per hour.
My lug muscles are pretty insane compared to the rest of me, and I can eat what I want without gaining weight. The biggest advantage is that it keeps me more awake during mundane tasks, though if I have something mentally challenging to work on it can be a distraction.
Since COVID hit, I’ve been riding my bike to work (3 miles each way) to work — since I am cautious about mass transit. I hadn’t actually considered counting this toward my workouts, until my Watch told me it accounted for 30 minutes each day.
The Bodyweight Fitness subreddit (https://reddit.com/r/bodyweightfitness) has been a fantastic resource for me while working from home - there's so much you can do without a gym using minimal equipment, or even no equipment at all. Highly recommended if you're looking to get more active and don't know where to start.
Dedicated exercise, none at all. But I walk or bike when ever I am going somewhere, and occasionally just for the fun of it. Maybe 30-60 minutes a day. Except the last week I had to self-isolate because of a positive covid test (minimal symptoms the first days, now feeling just fine. I think the vaccines did their work)
I walk about 3-4 miles a day outside (I split it up twice a day) and do 50 push ups + 50 sit ups. I try not to skip days. I've been doing this for around 6-7 years now.
My philosophy on exercise is to keep it simple and remove any type of objections. There's no gym memberships or fancy equipment needed for this type of routine. Doing the push ups and sit ups takes a few minutes. The walks do take time but I would consider them essential. I don't consider doing any of these things as being a waste of time, I look forward to them every day.
Jiu-Jitsu 3 classes a week for 1.5 hours each.
Weight training, 3 times a week, 1 hour each time.
Running, 2 times a week, 45 minutes each run.
That's on average, total 9 hours a week. Sometimes I do more, when on vacation I don't stress too much, if there is gym, fine, otherwise it could be rest week or 200 push up and 400 squats.
I enjoy every second of being physically capable without being obsessive about fitness.
One of the few advices that I give to people I care about: never give up moving your body. I am a bit older than 40 years old, and that's the time when you see people either be fabulous or going downhill with the wheels off.
Apart from disabilities and pathologies, there is not a single reason for anyone not to exercise at least a few hours a week. It makes you feel better, be better, look better. I see friends getting married and having kids and work 5 jobs like someone says in the US especially etc. and they stop exercising, and they suddenly look older, talk older, and often going downhill real fast. That's not a good example for kids, it is a good prompt for your partner to look elsewhere.
I only go cycling. Three hours in winter, not every week, maybe 7 or 8 hours per week in summer, occasionally more than 10. I picked 3 to 6 as an average.
We moved into a new house seven years ago and turned half the basement into a home gym to combine with working from home. During the week, I'll stretch for 5–10 minutes after waking up, do ~20 minutes of light exercise at lunch, and more serious exercise after work (could be a bike ride, kettlebell/bodyweight exercises, running, etc.). After-work exercise varies depending on energy/recovery. Getting a standing desk was also a nice addition. Weekends we'll go for a longer bike ride one day and do something outside but lower intensity the other.
I've started going to a strength and conditioning gym three times a week (three hours every week). It's expensive but aside from the soreness every once in a while I feel the best I've felt in years.
I’m curious how much the results of this poll will be affected by selection bias… it’s not only going to be “hacker news” types results, but “hacker news types who open and vote on this poll” types results
I suppose there isn't really any way around it. It will probably also select for those who exercise more since they are more likely to have a stronger opinion on the subject. If you exercise a lot it likely has a strong net benefit for your life and you therefore value it to a greater extent than someone who doesn't exercise at all. By valuing it more you're more likely to engage in the subject. But that's probably true of all polls like this no matter the subject.
Unless you count walking (in order to go somewhere, since I don't drive and have stopped using public transportation since the pandemic), I do zero exercise.
Yes, I know it's wrong and unhealthy and I'll pay for this, and yes, it worries me. But all kinds of exercise bore me to tears and there's always something more interesting for me to be doing.
My story is similar to yours, except that I love trekking and volleyball but I moved to a place where there are no mountains and no volleyball teams to join
Oh, I actually like trekking and would do it if there was nice landscape where I live. But there isn't, and walking in the concrete jungle is stressful (though less so than using public transportation!).
Do you listen to audio books, podcasts, or talk radio? I listen to audio books while running, so I get an hour of running and an hour of literature for the price of one, every day. Also motivates me to go for the run because I want to hear what's happening next in the book.
> the pull of actually doing something sedentary (I have multiple hobbies) is always stronger...
You need to make it an absolute red-line in your life. You wouldn't go a day without cleaning your teeth, and you wouldn't do another hobby instead of cleaning your teeth - make exercising like that.
I exercise every day, and I think that's actually a lot easier than exercising five times a week, allowing you to pick which days you exercise or not. You can't kid with yourself that you'll exercise tomorrow if your routine is to exercise every day. Sometimes I get back from work at 11pm and I'll still drag myself out for an hour's run.
I totally understand what you're saying and completely agree with you, but...
... you know the difficulty of telling someone "don't get distracted" or "don't procrastinate"? It won't work. It's the same with me and exercise, I agree with you on an intellectual level, and I'm well aware of the dangers of my unhealthy lifestyle. But I just can't find the motivation to do it.
Like I replied elsewhere, I would definitely do trekking or biking if I lived in a place more suitable for those activities. I enjoy trekking and walking when I'm on vacation (my vacations tend to involve lots and lots of walking).
What do you think about the teeth cleaning analogy though?
Do you ever get distracted from cleaning your teeth or procrastinate or put off cleaning your teeth? I guess you don't and it's a normal effortless part of your day that you hardly think about - why is that? Can you use whatever natural habit you do to get yourself to do that to exercise?
I guess the difference with tooth brushing, showering, etc, is that they take very little time (ok: not true with me and showering: I find pleasurable to let my thoughts wander, so I take a longer time than needed). But brushing your teeth? It takes very little time commitment, you don't have the chance to get bored!
I can even think about the stuff I'm about to do while I brush my teeth. Let's compare it with doing martial arts: most teachers require you to be "in the moment", not think of something else.
I suppose this is why I think I would like trekking if I lived in a suitable location. You can walk, enjoy the scenery, and think of something else.
Have you ever tried going more than a day without cleaning your teeth? Have you ever had so little energy, motivation, or otherwise give-a-care to just not-do-it when going to bed at night?
Why do you insist on this being the baseline when you've clearly never struggled to do this?
I didn't - that's why I asked - and then qualified my advice with it applies if that's the case.
> Have you ever had so little energy, motivation, or otherwise give-a-care to just not-do-it when going to bed at night?
Obviously this advice isn't going to be appropriate for someone with serious mental-health issues. It's advice for someone who wants to do some exercise and is struggling to get going, not someone facing more complex problems as well.
For what it's worth, I didn't find your suggestions bad and I appreciate them.
I don't suffer from depression or mental health issues, I just find exorcising boring and don't have the motivation for it. There's plenty of things I'd rather be doing, it's not that I'm a coach potato watching TV all day long :)
My teeth are rotting out of my head due to poor dental hygiene from years ago. The road back up sometimes begins in a deep hole vertical-ascent, and that can feel daunting, even hopeless at times.
You wouldn't talk on the Internet unless you had experience. Everyone loves to brow-beat.
Have you looked into kettlebells? [1] has a lot of information on training with kettlebells. You need to get past the whole comrade language they use and a few other mannerisms, but there is some useful information.
The main points I think might interest you are the idea of “grease the groove” training and “program minimum” plans.
They don’t advocate for doing multi-hour gym sessions. You can get a kettlebell and a chin up bar and exercise from home. You can do a couple of sets of swings and pull-ups (or push ups or dips) before or after work if you work in an office. If you work from home, you can do a set every hour. It will take 1 minute or less and can be incorporated into your daily tasks. Since it’s not overly strenuous, you won’t break a sweat and won’t need to take a shower to interrupt your day.
Anyway, if you don’t want to do it, then enjoy your hobbies!
> But all kinds of exercise bore me to tears and there's always something more interesting for me to be doing.
Oh so this.
I try to do activeish things: walk places, stand up desk, water/snow ski, walks with wife to catch up on the day.
But I just have no staying power when it comes to repetitive motion to build up a sweat. I’ve tried swimming (I love to swim), treadmill/elliptical (I like to walk!), spinning (because I like to ride a bike), but it just does not last. I always grow to resent the time lost to doing other things, even if the “other things” are lazy pursuits.
I found out that competitive sports are great to eliminate the boredom.
I'm taking weekly tennis lessons with my girlfriend and casual basketball matches with friends and neighbors. It's good cardio while you also catch up with friends and essentially play something.
I'm sure it's not perfect, but I think the saying applies here: "imperfect action beats perfect inaction".
It sounds like you’re already active and you have a common theme in what you don’t like to do: you’re not going anywhere/changing the scenery. I’m the same way, I hate treadmills and stationary bikes but love running and biking outside.
Have you tried running or biking outdoors? I personally hate excerise where the environment does not change but love walking which made running a perfect fit for me.
I have the same feelings about exercise that seems like a grind. Sports which have some technical element like rock climbing, skiing, skating are much easier to stick with, I find.
I was thrilled about Beat Saber initially but I felt more and more depressed when after a few levels, I couldn’t pass any more levels, no matter what I did.
It got so difficult and frustrating that at one point, I stopped and never played Beat Saber again.
Edit: One major contributing factor was that I never figured out how to get Sony’s VR glasses to calibrate correctly.
+1 for Beat Saber. I played this a lot when our 1st was born since I could play it quietly during naps while keeping an ear out for him (he constantly sounded like he was dying, so we were on alert 24/7 hah).
Yes. Many years ago I did about 5 straight years of kung fu, found it fun (but a bit too hard for me), and stopped when my tsuzao stopped giving lessons. Then I found it impossible to motivate myself to start somewhere else.
This was the last time I did any kind of exercise.
I was that way with my cardio, super boring to the point where I dreaded doing it. I got an iPad and started watching Family Guy - which is something I would never do outside of cardio because I don't have the time, but watching it while doing cardio seems okay because I don't feel like I am wasting anything.
Point being, if you have a guilty pleasure - stuffing it into exercise can make exercise not so boring, and your pleasure not so guilty. Two birds with one stone.
Walking is one of the best things you can do for your health, don't underestimate it. My doc told me to do 30 minutes a day for 3-4 days a week and I feel so much better.
This is me... I live in an apartment without space to securely store a bike (bikes left in the parking have been stolen) and I really don't like running. I try to walk 10,000 steps each day - around 5km or 1 hour in total - though.
I count walking. The question didn’t specify VO2max or heartrate, etc. Deep, full-torso no-pause breathing is exercise, too, and might be a good fit for anyone bored by exercise that isn’t for travel (I feel same as you; if I’m not going somewhere I tend not to exercise unless to stretch like other mammals do), in part because it gives the body more oxygen, which I find helps me decide what to do next.
In my experience it's boring when you start but gets more rewarding as you start to see progress. But that's kind of true of everything new you try. When you suck you hate it. When you get hlgood you love it.
Something that got me back into daily running was to listen to an engrossing audiobook[1] that you only listen to while walking/running or whatever other exercise you can manage.
I couldn’t believe that I was looking forward to my run just to progress the story. Sometimes the book was getting so good I would spend an extra hour meandering around before returning home.
Worth a shot. Also, bluetooth headphones are a must (I use Jabra Elites). Accidentally karate-chopping some wired headphones out of your ears makes them insufferable during exercise.
It’s a good habit because you can also parlay it into listening to things while cooking and doing chores around the house, things I used to avoid as wastes of time until I hacked myself with audio content.
Good luck.
[1] Sci-fi by Andy Weir and Blake Crouch would be examples of the sort of fun and light-hearted listening that make sense here.
Started running daily at 5-7 am for about 10+km in the last 30 days; During the day i think i get between 50 to 100 pushups in a day, usually 15 to 25 in a set.(which regulates my breathing) and probably 50 or less squats.
You get a better pump than an energy drink for the entire day, you don't feel anxious or shitty when drinking more coffee or energy drinks during the day[this may be also because i cut very occasional smoking to 0, which realistically was probably the cause]; And most importantly you think more clearly even though you may be somewhat tired when doing mentally-intensive tasks.(I remember my best days of doing logic were the ones i did the most effort, though that was gym and not really endurance)
Consistency is the key;Hoping i will get something like a lifting desk and a treadmill but I kind of also write, doing that during running seems kind of weird, at least right now.
I'm somewhat lucky, i started doing sports & meditation more seriously alongside with cold resistance training about 3-6 months before covid hit.And the sad thing is that i felt my immunity lowering (though not completely) when the restrictions were imposed.The overall most damaging factors of staying in-doors is that mental memory & cognitive capacity is affected if you don't keep training your 'reptilian brain' to navigate the world.(this is something i was very skeptical but learned anecdotally)
My dog keeps my base activity in shape by demanding a mile walk in the morning and another 1-3 miles in the afternoon. I'm very fortunate there to work from home in a position that allows me to take extended breaks whenever I need to (bonus, walks are often a great opportunity to think on a problem, or to let long-running processes like load tests or data analysis run undisturbed).
Additionally, I rejoined my very social powerlifting gym from grad school. Having other people keeping me accountable and encouraging my progress is really effective at keeping me at the habit, so I've been maintaining a 4x a week schedule at that (1-2 hours gross each time, but lets be real it's a social gym)
With now 100% WFH I could tell I was deteriorating so I adopted a rescue dog Who Must Be Walked daily (~ 50 min) and an Apple Watch to track my exercises (at 3 x 99%, chasing 100%). It helps that I live on a hill and the park is downhill.
It was hard to find the motivation before but my four legged friend has made all the difference.
I recently bought a Fitbit to measure my workouts in FitBod (wonderful workout app btw). 1.5 hours of weights was about 650 calories, leaving me feeling rather chuffed.
Then I took my dog for a four mile walk, resulting in an additional 630 calories.
Started bike commute in late July. Solid 5h per week. I'm 40, was in very sad shape internally.. this revived me quite a lot. Also saves time and money. If you have safe bike lanes I encourage anybody to try.. (and I use a busted 90s bike bought 2nd hand for 50$).
106 comments
[ 2.9 ms ] story [ 176 ms ] threadI enjoy remote work but at least when I was going to the office I moved my body a bit more.
I exercise daily because otherwise it's too easy to start skipping. This way you know that you have to exercise and have to plan for it. (I have a home gym, which I built, lucky enough, pre-covid)
My mom walks for 30 minutes a day, while I run rather fast for the same time. I always tell her she should run a little, but she doesn't like to sweat.
Granted, 30 minutes of walking is 100x better than sitting around, and running is ~5x better. I'll give her that. Lessening returns and all.
My mental model is "easy" activity is sufficient to not die when you're 60, and more intense stuff will make you thrive into your 80s.
I.e. walking has no excuse barring disability. Running I recommend, but not as strongly.
Put another way, I will endlessly nag my parents on walking. Running or jogging I merely suggest, given various costs like you point out.
Skipping of course being an easy way to do daily exercise :D
My experience here is that it is more subtle. "Better off" depends on your goals.
For losing weight, one or two sessions of 75-90 minutes or longer per week seem to have much more effect for me than 30 minutes every day. (Borne out over years of trying different things; I'm in my 50s.) For increasing my VO2max, 25-30 minutes of aerobic exercise every single day for weeks on end worked well, but it was hard to maintain that discipline long term. (I was very surprised at the effect of every day, as opposed to, say, 4-5 days a week. It seemed like I was getting a lot more than an extra 50-75% benefit.)
My lug muscles are pretty insane compared to the rest of me, and I can eat what I want without gaining weight. The biggest advantage is that it keeps me more awake during mundane tasks, though if I have something mentally challenging to work on it can be a distraction.
My philosophy on exercise is to keep it simple and remove any type of objections. There's no gym memberships or fancy equipment needed for this type of routine. Doing the push ups and sit ups takes a few minutes. The walks do take time but I would consider them essential. I don't consider doing any of these things as being a waste of time, I look forward to them every day.
I enjoy every second of being physically capable without being obsessive about fitness.
One of the few advices that I give to people I care about: never give up moving your body. I am a bit older than 40 years old, and that's the time when you see people either be fabulous or going downhill with the wheels off. Apart from disabilities and pathologies, there is not a single reason for anyone not to exercise at least a few hours a week. It makes you feel better, be better, look better. I see friends getting married and having kids and work 5 jobs like someone says in the US especially etc. and they stop exercising, and they suddenly look older, talk older, and often going downhill real fast. That's not a good example for kids, it is a good prompt for your partner to look elsewhere.
Be bold, be in shape, be beautiful.
At 50 years old mortality rates kind of go up dramatically.
So starting in your 40s onward you probably need to be in decent shape to minimize the risk.
https://boards.4channel.org/fit/thread/17018018#p17018018
- ~4 lunch breaks a week, I'll head to the Gym and workout for 35-40 minutes.
- Saturday is Parkrun day (a 5k run / race).
- Around 3 evenings a week (when it's not my turn to put the kiddos to bed), I'll fire up Apple Fitness and do 20/30 mins yoga.
That takes me over the 6 hour mark and it never feels like I'm going far out my way to squeeze all this in.
Yes, I know it's wrong and unhealthy and I'll pay for this, and yes, it worries me. But all kinds of exercise bore me to tears and there's always something more interesting for me to be doing.
You need to make it an absolute red-line in your life. You wouldn't go a day without cleaning your teeth, and you wouldn't do another hobby instead of cleaning your teeth - make exercising like that.
I exercise every day, and I think that's actually a lot easier than exercising five times a week, allowing you to pick which days you exercise or not. You can't kid with yourself that you'll exercise tomorrow if your routine is to exercise every day. Sometimes I get back from work at 11pm and I'll still drag myself out for an hour's run.
... you know the difficulty of telling someone "don't get distracted" or "don't procrastinate"? It won't work. It's the same with me and exercise, I agree with you on an intellectual level, and I'm well aware of the dangers of my unhealthy lifestyle. But I just can't find the motivation to do it.
Like I replied elsewhere, I would definitely do trekking or biking if I lived in a place more suitable for those activities. I enjoy trekking and walking when I'm on vacation (my vacations tend to involve lots and lots of walking).
Do you ever get distracted from cleaning your teeth or procrastinate or put off cleaning your teeth? I guess you don't and it's a normal effortless part of your day that you hardly think about - why is that? Can you use whatever natural habit you do to get yourself to do that to exercise?
I can even think about the stuff I'm about to do while I brush my teeth. Let's compare it with doing martial arts: most teachers require you to be "in the moment", not think of something else.
I suppose this is why I think I would like trekking if I lived in a suitable location. You can walk, enjoy the scenery, and think of something else.
Have you ever tried going more than a day without cleaning your teeth? Have you ever had so little energy, motivation, or otherwise give-a-care to just not-do-it when going to bed at night?
Why do you insist on this being the baseline when you've clearly never struggled to do this?
I didn't - that's why I asked - and then qualified my advice with it applies if that's the case.
> Have you ever had so little energy, motivation, or otherwise give-a-care to just not-do-it when going to bed at night?
Obviously this advice isn't going to be appropriate for someone with serious mental-health issues. It's advice for someone who wants to do some exercise and is struggling to get going, not someone facing more complex problems as well.
I don't suffer from depression or mental health issues, I just find exorcising boring and don't have the motivation for it. There's plenty of things I'd rather be doing, it's not that I'm a coach potato watching TV all day long :)
My teeth are rotting out of my head due to poor dental hygiene from years ago. The road back up sometimes begins in a deep hole vertical-ascent, and that can feel daunting, even hopeless at times.
You wouldn't talk on the Internet unless you had experience. Everyone loves to brow-beat.
By the way did you know you've been hell-banned for five years? That's why almost nobody's been relying to your comments for the past half-decade.
The main points I think might interest you are the idea of “grease the groove” training and “program minimum” plans.
They don’t advocate for doing multi-hour gym sessions. You can get a kettlebell and a chin up bar and exercise from home. You can do a couple of sets of swings and pull-ups (or push ups or dips) before or after work if you work in an office. If you work from home, you can do a set every hour. It will take 1 minute or less and can be incorporated into your daily tasks. Since it’s not overly strenuous, you won’t break a sweat and won’t need to take a shower to interrupt your day.
Anyway, if you don’t want to do it, then enjoy your hobbies!
[1] https://www.strongfirst.com/
Oh so this.
I try to do activeish things: walk places, stand up desk, water/snow ski, walks with wife to catch up on the day.
But I just have no staying power when it comes to repetitive motion to build up a sweat. I’ve tried swimming (I love to swim), treadmill/elliptical (I like to walk!), spinning (because I like to ride a bike), but it just does not last. I always grow to resent the time lost to doing other things, even if the “other things” are lazy pursuits.
I'm taking weekly tennis lessons with my girlfriend and casual basketball matches with friends and neighbors. It's good cardio while you also catch up with friends and essentially play something.
I'm sure it's not perfect, but I think the saying applies here: "imperfect action beats perfect inaction".
Not only is it the Tetris of VR, it also gives you a pretty good workout if you play on Expert or higher.
Edit: One major contributing factor was that I never figured out how to get Sony’s VR glasses to calibrate correctly.
This was the last time I did any kind of exercise.
Trekking I'm 100% sure I would do. But I live in a concrete jungle :(
Point being, if you have a guilty pleasure - stuffing it into exercise can make exercise not so boring, and your pleasure not so guilty. Two birds with one stone.
In my experience it's boring when you start but gets more rewarding as you start to see progress. But that's kind of true of everything new you try. When you suck you hate it. When you get hlgood you love it.
I couldn’t believe that I was looking forward to my run just to progress the story. Sometimes the book was getting so good I would spend an extra hour meandering around before returning home.
Worth a shot. Also, bluetooth headphones are a must (I use Jabra Elites). Accidentally karate-chopping some wired headphones out of your ears makes them insufferable during exercise.
It’s a good habit because you can also parlay it into listening to things while cooking and doing chores around the house, things I used to avoid as wastes of time until I hacked myself with audio content.
Good luck.
[1] Sci-fi by Andy Weir and Blake Crouch would be examples of the sort of fun and light-hearted listening that make sense here.
You get a better pump than an energy drink for the entire day, you don't feel anxious or shitty when drinking more coffee or energy drinks during the day[this may be also because i cut very occasional smoking to 0, which realistically was probably the cause]; And most importantly you think more clearly even though you may be somewhat tired when doing mentally-intensive tasks.(I remember my best days of doing logic were the ones i did the most effort, though that was gym and not really endurance)
Consistency is the key;Hoping i will get something like a lifting desk and a treadmill but I kind of also write, doing that during running seems kind of weird, at least right now. I'm somewhat lucky, i started doing sports & meditation more seriously alongside with cold resistance training about 3-6 months before covid hit.And the sad thing is that i felt my immunity lowering (though not completely) when the restrictions were imposed.The overall most damaging factors of staying in-doors is that mental memory & cognitive capacity is affected if you don't keep training your 'reptilian brain' to navigate the world.(this is something i was very skeptical but learned anecdotally)
Additionally, I rejoined my very social powerlifting gym from grad school. Having other people keeping me accountable and encouraging my progress is really effective at keeping me at the habit, so I've been maintaining a 4x a week schedule at that (1-2 hours gross each time, but lets be real it's a social gym)
It was hard to find the motivation before but my four legged friend has made all the difference.
Then I took my dog for a four mile walk, resulting in an additional 630 calories.
I got humbled by my dog.