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The most interesting part of the study (to me) was this: > Cardiovascular exercise was found to increase well-being and decrease psychological distress, percei

The most interesting part of the study (to me) was this: > Cardiovascular exercise was found to increase well-being and decrease psychological distress, perceived stress, and emotional exhaustion. Resistance training was noticeably effective in increasing well-being and personal accomplishment and to reduce perceived stress. and > Different types of exercise may assist employees in different ways. I've always been told that exercise improves feelings of well-being, reduces stress, etc. I've never heard about the different effects that different types of exercise can have on the psyche -- although it makes sense, for example, that improving at resistance training would lead to a sense of accomplishment. If taken to its logical conclusion, this study implies that we should be working out in different ways based on the psychological ailments we may be experiencing. That's fascinating to me.

NhanH 11y ago
> [...] although it makes sense, for example, that improving at resistance training would lead to a sense of accomplishment. It's not just a sense of accomplishment, it's an actual accomplishment: to be a stronger human being than you once was. And unlike most other accomplishment in life, you're not under anyone's whim or circumstantial luck. There were a big thread on HN just a few months ago on that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9782083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9782083
- kazinator 11y ago
  "sense of accomplishment" is a buzz phrase that covers actual accomplishment. As in, "both my career and volunteer work give me a sense of accomplishment". People rarely say they have sense of accomplishment from something where there is no actual, objective accomplishment (without going out of their way to clarify that such is the case).
- unicornporn 11y ago
  I don't get why cardiovascular training, like running, wouldn't lead to the same feeling of accomplishment. You might not get stronger (in the same obvious way), but you will most certainly be faster.
  - Swizec 11y ago
    Because most people don't use tracking apps and because improvements are less obvious. It's very easy to measure progress when you're lifting. You're putting more on, the numbers are going up. Lifting more weight leads to being able to lift more weight. The path from "lift less" to "lift more" is obvious, easy to measure, and feels a bit like building an MMORPG character. For running the gains are a lot slower and less correlated to your training. Running 2 minutes faster today than three months ago also doesn't feel as significant as squatting 50kg more than three months ago does.
    - llimllib 11y ago
      1. I prefer weight lifting to running, but 2. I think you're pretty off base. The gains for running are just as correlated to your training, and (IMO, obviously, it's unquantifiable) a 10% speed improvement feels exactly as good as a 10% weight increase. (For reference, I've been a medium good runner and lifter: at my various peaks I've run consistent sub-18 5ks and squatted 5x315lbs)
    - arcanus 11y ago
      > For running the gains are a lot slower and less correlated to your training. This is absolutely untrue, and purely personal anecdotes. Otherwise agree with your first two paragraphs.
      - kaitai 11y ago
        I guess I'd agree that it's personal anecdote but not that it's untrue. I have run inconsistently for years and just haven't gotten faster. Maybe I've cracked the code now with low-heart-rate training and sprints, but I haven't done it long enough to see the evidence yet. "Just running" did not increase my speed, even if I was consistent, so to me it seemed like my results were not correlated with my training. I could run longer distances just as slowly, and my body composition did not change for the better. Moreover, "just running" did not make me feel good. So for some people (personal anecdata again) it is fair to say that running gains may be slow and seem uncorrelated with training. I did make very very quick gains by "just lifting" and so felt very differently about it. These gains were both in strength and body composition, and within only a few months I found that I could impress people. Not at all like running: it's years and I still can't run an 8-minute mile.
- duopixel 11y ago
  "what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable" —Socrates.
  - morninj 11y ago
    Original: “Besides, it is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit. But you cannot see that, if you are careless; for it will not come of its own accord.” (http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Xen.%20Mem.%203.12 http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname...)
  - andygates 11y ago
    "strong people are harder to kill" -- Mark Rippetoe
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
amelius 11y ago
I'm wondering how much the decrease of psychological distress originates from the same effects as meditation gives. While doing cardio exercise, often the mind is forced to be focused on the body and the exercise.
- magic_beans 11y ago
  this is a very interesting idea! I do wonder how similar the effects of the two are...
cowardlydragon 11y ago
Different exercise results in different hormones and neurotransmitters. Lifting should stimulate testosterone production to some degree. Endurance exercise should trigger endorphin releases.
- _-__--- 11y ago
  habituation and potentiation related to the increased average bloodstream presence of either NT or hormone type may lead to observable behavioral changes, etc. Interesting!
mamon 11y ago
Simple explanation would be that resistance exercise makes it much easier to measure progress (by lbs you are able to lift) than cardiovascular excercise. That's the reason why it gives you more sense of accomplishment. I know that the progress may be mesured in aerobic excercise as well (by measuring time it takes to cover specific distance), but time is an abstract concept, and the bar with weights can be seen with the naked eye.
atmosx 11y ago
Endorphins[1] are produced upon exercise. Also for those who do sports like racing, skiing, etc. There's the 'adrenaline rush' which leaves you an amazing feeling (sometimes literally goosebumps) when you successfully do something dangerous. I get this feeling when racing on the track and snowboarding. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins
jjtheblunt 11y ago
Crossfit is built around that, several years ago now.

NhanH 11y ago

> [...] although it makes sense, for example, that improving at resistance training would lead to a sense of accomplishment. It's not just a sense of accomplishment, it's an actual accomplishment: to be a stronger human being than you once was. And unlike most other accomplishment in life, you're not under anyone's whim or circumstantial luck. There were a big thread on HN just a few months ago on that: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9782083 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=9782083

kazinator 11y ago
"sense of accomplishment" is a buzz phrase that covers actual accomplishment. As in, "both my career and volunteer work give me a sense of accomplishment". People rarely say they have sense of accomplishment from something where there is no actual, objective accomplishment (without going out of their way to clarify that such is the case).
unicornporn 11y ago
I don't get why cardiovascular training, like running, wouldn't lead to the same feeling of accomplishment. You might not get stronger (in the same obvious way), but you will most certainly be faster.
- Swizec 11y ago
  Because most people don't use tracking apps and because improvements are less obvious. It's very easy to measure progress when you're lifting. You're putting more on, the numbers are going up. Lifting more weight leads to being able to lift more weight. The path from "lift less" to "lift more" is obvious, easy to measure, and feels a bit like building an MMORPG character. For running the gains are a lot slower and less correlated to your training. Running 2 minutes faster today than three months ago also doesn't feel as significant as squatting 50kg more than three months ago does.
  - llimllib 11y ago
    1. I prefer weight lifting to running, but 2. I think you're pretty off base. The gains for running are just as correlated to your training, and (IMO, obviously, it's unquantifiable) a 10% speed improvement feels exactly as good as a 10% weight increase. (For reference, I've been a medium good runner and lifter: at my various peaks I've run consistent sub-18 5ks and squatted 5x315lbs)
  - arcanus 11y ago
    > For running the gains are a lot slower and less correlated to your training. This is absolutely untrue, and purely personal anecdotes. Otherwise agree with your first two paragraphs.
    - kaitai 11y ago
      I guess I'd agree that it's personal anecdote but not that it's untrue. I have run inconsistently for years and just haven't gotten faster. Maybe I've cracked the code now with low-heart-rate training and sprints, but I haven't done it long enough to see the evidence yet. "Just running" did not increase my speed, even if I was consistent, so to me it seemed like my results were not correlated with my training. I could run longer distances just as slowly, and my body composition did not change for the better. Moreover, "just running" did not make me feel good. So for some people (personal anecdata again) it is fair to say that running gains may be slow and seem uncorrelated with training. I did make very very quick gains by "just lifting" and so felt very differently about it. These gains were both in strength and body composition, and within only a few months I found that I could impress people. Not at all like running: it's years and I still can't run an 8-minute mile.
duopixel 11y ago
"what a disgrace it is for a man to grow old without ever seeing the beauty and strength of which his body is capable" —Socrates.
- morninj 11y ago
  Original: “Besides, it is a disgrace to grow old through sheer carelessness before seeing what manner of man you may become by developing your bodily strength and beauty to their highest limit. But you cannot see that, if you are careless; for it will not come of its own accord.” (http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname=GreekFeb2011&getid=1&query=Xen.%20Mem.%203.12 http://perseus.uchicago.edu/perseus-cgi/citequery3.pl?dbname...)
- andygates 11y ago
  "strong people are harder to kill" -- Mark Rippetoe

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

amelius 11y ago

I'm wondering how much the decrease of psychological distress originates from the same effects as meditation gives. While doing cardio exercise, often the mind is forced to be focused on the body and the exercise.

magic_beans 11y ago
this is a very interesting idea! I do wonder how similar the effects of the two are...

cowardlydragon 11y ago

Different exercise results in different hormones and neurotransmitters. Lifting should stimulate testosterone production to some degree. Endurance exercise should trigger endorphin releases.

_-__--- 11y ago
habituation and potentiation related to the increased average bloodstream presence of either NT or hormone type may lead to observable behavioral changes, etc. Interesting!

mamon 11y ago

Simple explanation would be that resistance exercise makes it much easier to measure progress (by lbs you are able to lift) than cardiovascular excercise. That's the reason why it gives you more sense of accomplishment. I know that the progress may be mesured in aerobic excercise as well (by measuring time it takes to cover specific distance), but time is an abstract concept, and the bar with weights can be seen with the naked eye.

atmosx 11y ago

Endorphins[1] are produced upon exercise. Also for those who do sports like racing, skiing, etc. There's the 'adrenaline rush' which leaves you an amazing feeling (sometimes literally goosebumps) when you successfully do something dangerous. I get this feeling when racing on the track and snowboarding. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Endorphins

jjtheblunt 11y ago

Crossfit is built around that, several years ago now.