Ask HN: How do you exercise?

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.

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

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

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...

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

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

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.

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.

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

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.

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’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)

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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 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 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 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.

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.

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!

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 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.