6 ms·

I think (and maybe it's quite obvious) the trick is that exercise makes you feel temporarily worse. It's difficult to evaluate how you'll feel deep into a routi

by CardenB 10y ago

I think (and maybe it's quite obvious) the trick is that exercise makes you feel temporarily worse. It's difficult to evaluate how you'll feel deep into a routine before starting to build those habits.

tertius 10y ago
Depends on your definition of "feel worse". Is it bad to feel out of breath? I quite enjoy it in certain contexts.
- thret 10y ago
  It also depends on your definition of exercise, and sex as you are hinting doesn't necessarily count :)
- 0xcde4c3db 10y ago
  It's not just definitions, it's also that a lot of people experience actual adverse reactions to exercise [1]. The typical social script is to condescendingly explain to them how they must be doing it wrong, and doctors often have trouble finding a medical explanation (even when it actually is caused by a medical condition), so people often blame themselves for having problems. This is, to put it mildly, not an optimal experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_intolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_intolerance
  - cesarbs 10y ago
    Now I'm wondering if I have some degree of that. I've just commented on a sibling comment that while I love exercising, I just feel terrible right after it. I also have this funny thing where I can't build endurance. I've been doing push ups on every work out and I can't for the life of me do more than 20. But I have no trouble increasing difficulty (putting hands closer, elevating feet, etc.) or weight (for things with weights like squats).
    - jMyles 10y ago
      How old are you? Some people don't develop endurance until their 30s, 40s, or even later! (see Diana Nyad) I had pretty good endurance in my 20s, but noticed a huge boost in my early 30s.
      - cesarbs 10y ago
        Interesting! I'm 29. Looking forward to my 30s :)
        jMyles 10y ago
        One interesting data point is to look at the age of UFC champion for your weight, who is probably one of the most fit people in the world. However, you need to (sadly) keep in mind that weight-cutting is a thing and compensate for that. So, for example, if you weigh, say, 175-210 pounds, presumably you'd be in either Welterweight or Middleweight. The champions of these divisions are 34 and 37, respectively. Of course, they cut a substantial amount of weight, which favors younger fighters. It's possible they'll be at their max fitness in another 5-8 years, even though their capacity to cut weight will have diminished. There's a message in the zeitgeist that max fitness happens in early 20's, but the evidence, at least in the martial arts world, is that it's late-30's to late-40's.
    - tertius 10y ago
      How often do you do workouts? How far do you push yourself on number 20?
  - jMyles 10y ago
    Oh my, that sounds horrible. Maybe worse than not liking spicy food.
  - tertius 10y ago
    And by "a lot" you mean a minority of people... > The typical social script is to condescendingly explain to them how they must be doing it wrong This is a bad situation when the person has a problem. I have family with chronic fatigue (+chronic pain) and it's mentally hard to get how they feel, but I've learned that I cannot have the same expectations for them as others.
- geoka9 10y ago
  I think it's an acquired taste :) Certainly took me many years to learn to enjoy it.
branchless 10y ago
I think it's a question of how much you "go at it". Unhealthy people who begin exercise take themselves to a point most people rarely do when training. How many regular runners go until they feel like being sick? It's no wonder unfit people don't maintain their routine. Frequent runners might do one session in a few where they push themselves, but even then they don't feel like obese people do when they go out and try to run hard. People should run until they feel quite sweaty and a bit tired. If you are fat and that is 5 minutes then yes it's going to take you a long time to get fit, but better to start small and build up. Don't expect too much too soon.
- bmj 10y ago
  I've been training seriously for rock climbing for several years now (I've been a climber for a long time, as well as an endurance athlete--runner, cyclist), and the conventional wisdom being applied from other domains (general strength training, weight lifting) is that if you want to get strong (not necessarily bulk up, but just increase your strength), you never work to the point of feeling completely knackered. It's totally counter-productive. That said, picking up heavy stuff requires a lot of effort, but it taxes your central nervous system, and that's a whole different thing than feeling wasted after a run. The advice I hear from coaches about losing weight generally has three parts: 1) Watch your diet 2) Get out and walk 30-60 minutes each day 3) Start doing some form of strength training, or interval training, as those burn fat and build muscle better than just running.
  - geoka9 10y ago
    True, but I don't think interval training (without weights) will help in building muscle.
  - Chris2048 10y ago
    I started climbing, and consider it the most practical exercise: It's less boring than regular gyms, so requires less will power - climbs are actually puzzles, hence there is an intellectual effort in technique. It also helps gauge progress wrt difficulty levels. It also requires less willpower to push yourself, due to the innate fear of falling. It strengthens the chest and arms, which is what most men want, cosmetically. It's strengthens the arms and hands, so (IMHO) is more practical day-to-day, since I think humans use their hands a lot more, ever since the advent of tools. It doesn't take too much time - you very quickly run out of strength, so there is not as much second-guessing yourself wrt how long you can continue. It's a community sport. It's best to take rests, during which time you can watch others climb, and compete for progress.
zeamaize 10y ago
Exercise feels great. It wears you down but it makes you feel alive! Exercise is the time during the day I am most at peace and relaxed. No work bullshit, just me and my goals.
- cesarbs 10y ago
  After insisting on it for quite some time I am at a point where I love working out and hate missing a day in my routine. But I definitely DON'T feel great after exercising. I get this horrible feeling like I'm close to passing out, my whole body shakes and I just want to curl up in a corner and wait until that feeling is gone. I look forward to exercising and making progress but definitely not to how I feel right after it.
  - csydas 10y ago
    Mindless 2¢ observation, you might need to review your intensity when exercising and scale it back a little until you find a better pace. This sounds like how my evening runs are after long breaks, and that's almost always due to me being over zealous and very bad at pacing. Once I correct it my evening exercise is very pleasant sans the mosquitoes. It should be tiring you but the description you gave sounds like the intensity might be set a little too high at the moment. Scale back a little and build into it.

by CardenB 10y ago

tertius 10y ago

Depends on your definition of "feel worse". Is it bad to feel out of breath? I quite enjoy it in certain contexts.

thret 10y ago
It also depends on your definition of exercise, and sex as you are hinting doesn't necessarily count :)
0xcde4c3db 10y ago
It's not just definitions, it's also that a lot of people experience actual adverse reactions to exercise [1]. The typical social script is to condescendingly explain to them how they must be doing it wrong, and doctors often have trouble finding a medical explanation (even when it actually is caused by a medical condition), so people often blame themselves for having problems. This is, to put it mildly, not an optimal experience. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_intolerance https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exercise_intolerance
- cesarbs 10y ago
  Now I'm wondering if I have some degree of that. I've just commented on a sibling comment that while I love exercising, I just feel terrible right after it. I also have this funny thing where I can't build endurance. I've been doing push ups on every work out and I can't for the life of me do more than 20. But I have no trouble increasing difficulty (putting hands closer, elevating feet, etc.) or weight (for things with weights like squats).
  - jMyles 10y ago
    How old are you? Some people don't develop endurance until their 30s, 40s, or even later! (see Diana Nyad) I had pretty good endurance in my 20s, but noticed a huge boost in my early 30s.
    - cesarbs 10y ago
      Interesting! I'm 29. Looking forward to my 30s :)
      - jMyles 10y ago
        One interesting data point is to look at the age of UFC champion for your weight, who is probably one of the most fit people in the world. However, you need to (sadly) keep in mind that weight-cutting is a thing and compensate for that. So, for example, if you weigh, say, 175-210 pounds, presumably you'd be in either Welterweight or Middleweight. The champions of these divisions are 34 and 37, respectively. Of course, they cut a substantial amount of weight, which favors younger fighters. It's possible they'll be at their max fitness in another 5-8 years, even though their capacity to cut weight will have diminished. There's a message in the zeitgeist that max fitness happens in early 20's, but the evidence, at least in the martial arts world, is that it's late-30's to late-40's.
  - tertius 10y ago
    How often do you do workouts? How far do you push yourself on number 20?
- jMyles 10y ago
  Oh my, that sounds horrible. Maybe worse than not liking spicy food.
- tertius 10y ago
  And by "a lot" you mean a minority of people... > The typical social script is to condescendingly explain to them how they must be doing it wrong This is a bad situation when the person has a problem. I have family with chronic fatigue (+chronic pain) and it's mentally hard to get how they feel, but I've learned that I cannot have the same expectations for them as others.
geoka9 10y ago
I think it's an acquired taste :) Certainly took me many years to learn to enjoy it.

branchless 10y ago

I think it's a question of how much you "go at it". Unhealthy people who begin exercise take themselves to a point most people rarely do when training. How many regular runners go until they feel like being sick? It's no wonder unfit people don't maintain their routine. Frequent runners might do one session in a few where they push themselves, but even then they don't feel like obese people do when they go out and try to run hard. People should run until they feel quite sweaty and a bit tired. If you are fat and that is 5 minutes then yes it's going to take you a long time to get fit, but better to start small and build up. Don't expect too much too soon.

bmj 10y ago
I've been training seriously for rock climbing for several years now (I've been a climber for a long time, as well as an endurance athlete--runner, cyclist), and the conventional wisdom being applied from other domains (general strength training, weight lifting) is that if you want to get strong (not necessarily bulk up, but just increase your strength), you never work to the point of feeling completely knackered. It's totally counter-productive. That said, picking up heavy stuff requires a lot of effort, but it taxes your central nervous system, and that's a whole different thing than feeling wasted after a run. The advice I hear from coaches about losing weight generally has three parts: 1) Watch your diet 2) Get out and walk 30-60 minutes each day 3) Start doing some form of strength training, or interval training, as those burn fat and build muscle better than just running.
- geoka9 10y ago
  True, but I don't think interval training (without weights) will help in building muscle.
- Chris2048 10y ago
  I started climbing, and consider it the most practical exercise: It's less boring than regular gyms, so requires less will power - climbs are actually puzzles, hence there is an intellectual effort in technique. It also helps gauge progress wrt difficulty levels. It also requires less willpower to push yourself, due to the innate fear of falling. It strengthens the chest and arms, which is what most men want, cosmetically. It's strengthens the arms and hands, so (IMHO) is more practical day-to-day, since I think humans use their hands a lot more, ever since the advent of tools. It doesn't take too much time - you very quickly run out of strength, so there is not as much second-guessing yourself wrt how long you can continue. It's a community sport. It's best to take rests, during which time you can watch others climb, and compete for progress.

zeamaize 10y ago

Exercise feels great. It wears you down but it makes you feel alive! Exercise is the time during the day I am most at peace and relaxed. No work bullshit, just me and my goals.

cesarbs 10y ago
After insisting on it for quite some time I am at a point where I love working out and hate missing a day in my routine. But I definitely DON'T feel great after exercising. I get this horrible feeling like I'm close to passing out, my whole body shakes and I just want to curl up in a corner and wait until that feeling is gone. I look forward to exercising and making progress but definitely not to how I feel right after it.
- csydas 10y ago
  Mindless 2¢ observation, you might need to review your intensity when exercising and scale it back a little until you find a better pace. This sounds like how my evening runs are after long breaks, and that's almost always due to me being over zealous and very bad at pacing. Once I correct it my evening exercise is very pleasant sans the mosquitoes. It should be tiring you but the description you gave sounds like the intensity might be set a little too high at the moment. Scale back a little and build into it.