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I do not like repetitive motion without productivity. I understand the argument that this type of movement ("exercise") leads to enhanced capacity for mental l

I do not like repetitive motion without productivity. I understand the argument that this type of movement ("exercise") leads to enhanced capacity for mental labor, and less healthcare budget. What bothers me is not getting anything done. Riding a bike is repetitive, but you instantly see results (going somewhere). Swinging an axe into a tree over and over is repetitive, but a felled tree can be a useful resource. Rearranging all your furniture may seem repetitive, but you are creating a fresh space, simultaneously cleaning. Doing this with others further reinforces community. "Exercise" became a common term as we gradually started expecting machines to do the heavy lifting. Now we pay a "membership" fee to go somewhere safe and climate controlled so we can simulate labor (mostly iron going up and down up and down). The hydrocarbon killed creativity and fortitude?

nightski 9y ago
Wow, judgmental much? For some of us the "productivity" is the mental high you get from the workout. Honestly I just feel damn good. Lifting weights and cycling (yes even indoor) both are very enjoyable and give me a high equivalent to eating chocolate, sex, or other chemically rewarding activities. I pay for a personal trainer not because of the air conditioning, but because there is tens of thousands of dollars in equipment to help me train that I have no interest in buying myself.
- marssaxman 9y ago
  It did not sound judgemental to me - more like a personal statement about the writer's experience. Perhaps that is just because I relate to their sentiment. I understand that many people do enjoy exercise for its own sake, as you describe, but I don't experience that pleasure, and the boredom is more than I can stand.
- moneytide1 9y ago
  Today I worked some harsh terrain by hand - it is a thicket and the roots are heavily entrenched. My goal is to dig a channel away from where I'm building my house, so water can drain from the foundation. Lifting dirt is more of a lower back workout, but tugging on those roots... I feel it in my abs and triceps. The harder I tug, the larger these assets will become (as long as I supply their growth with protein). There are lots of rocks in the primary creek where gravity brings the rain. I plan on moving these rocks out to use as for a road so I can bring my truck through the mud to my building site, and ferry heavier tools and supplies. For now I am walking a half mile to the site with my pickaxe, shovel, and hedge trimmers. Sometimes I'll go into a sprint, for no reason really, until I get winded. There is usually a steady burn on my shoulders while I lug this gear. I imagine this is the sort of conditioning required of a soldier throughout the ages - to be able to carry your own weight, equipment and all, through the mud and uneven terrain. My ultimate goal is to build an off-grid home, and dam up this creek so I can use it for hydroelectric power to supplement my home-made solar panels. These panels are low cost, because I'll drive around on Saturdays and find glass on the side of the road that people apparently don't want (renovation?). This is another workout, and simultaneous recycling measure. When we use physical labor only as a means to achieve an image, we are only fooling the opposite sex. Basic sexual attraction has everything to do with physicality - it is a signal of a mates capacity for strength and endurance. It's not that working out in a gym is a waste of time, because the body does become stronger if effort is applied. But that is the very thing we become good at - iron up and down in the same spot.
  - moneytide1 9y ago
    Also, I tend to get at least a few cuts on thorns when I do this. In a way, this exercises my immune system. Sterile environments are dangerous.
gnode 9y ago
I find going running to be a good way to think. When my mind isn't occupied by the task at hand is when I think most clearly and creatively. I consider that to be getting something done. Uninteresting tasks which require thought are the boring ones.
- moneytide1 9y ago
  I enjoy running too - the runners high is quite a sensation. But I do try and run on trails, rather than pavement or treadmills. The inconsistencies of the terrain ultimately builds ankle strength. I've had some rough tumbles too while running on bike trails, and I'd like to think my ribs have become stronger for it. But I see your point with using a simple, thought-free run to jog the mind on backlogged thoughts (pun achieved).
chillacy 9y ago
If you lift weights with a decent program you should be progressing from week to week. That’s pretty good progress, as obvious as watching an axe cut into a tree. If that’s not your goal then don’t do it: life is too short to live for others.
- moneytide1 9y ago
  We try to coordinate 9-19 people to carry logs to a build site. Iron smelters need to be wide and below ground. We will bench nearly twice our normal limit. In less gravity it is different.
loudtieblahblah 9y ago
Working out (in a gym) is one of the few places I can see concrete results of my work. I mean, I get this with house projects, or chopping a tree, or wood working. I used to do construction (building house frames) as a teeanger and I found that very rewarding too. But in the gym - I can see my intended weight loss or gains. I can see performance gains on lifts or runs. As opposed to work where a business decision can cancel a project I'm working on at a moment's notice. Where "get it done now" because of some sales driven deadline means cheaping out on getting it done right, where you're told, "we'll get to that later when we have time", which means never. Or, my personal favorite, "priorities accordion" where the dev or sys teams are constantly having priorities shift so rapidly and so frequently, that nothing gets accomplished at all. I go to the gym and it's simple. I move metal. No boss. No co-workers. No having to impress the wife. No hoping that people in my home find it useful. It's quarantined into a realm of me. This is my space and no one can intrude, or fuck it up or touch it or criticize it. And when I drop 80lbs in 9 months, it makes me proud of myself. When I, at a 37 year old man, am running a 5k in under 24 and a 5mi in under 40, it makes me proud of myself. When I can bench 2-plates on each side, deadlift 300 or squat 250, it makes me proud of myself. I'm setting goals and meeting or exceeding them. And I have no area in life where I can execute that so directly.

nightski 9y ago

Wow, judgmental much? For some of us the "productivity" is the mental high you get from the workout. Honestly I just feel damn good. Lifting weights and cycling (yes even indoor) both are very enjoyable and give me a high equivalent to eating chocolate, sex, or other chemically rewarding activities. I pay for a personal trainer not because of the air conditioning, but because there is tens of thousands of dollars in equipment to help me train that I have no interest in buying myself.

marssaxman 9y ago
It did not sound judgemental to me - more like a personal statement about the writer's experience. Perhaps that is just because I relate to their sentiment. I understand that many people do enjoy exercise for its own sake, as you describe, but I don't experience that pleasure, and the boredom is more than I can stand.
moneytide1 9y ago
Today I worked some harsh terrain by hand - it is a thicket and the roots are heavily entrenched. My goal is to dig a channel away from where I'm building my house, so water can drain from the foundation. Lifting dirt is more of a lower back workout, but tugging on those roots... I feel it in my abs and triceps. The harder I tug, the larger these assets will become (as long as I supply their growth with protein). There are lots of rocks in the primary creek where gravity brings the rain. I plan on moving these rocks out to use as for a road so I can bring my truck through the mud to my building site, and ferry heavier tools and supplies. For now I am walking a half mile to the site with my pickaxe, shovel, and hedge trimmers. Sometimes I'll go into a sprint, for no reason really, until I get winded. There is usually a steady burn on my shoulders while I lug this gear. I imagine this is the sort of conditioning required of a soldier throughout the ages - to be able to carry your own weight, equipment and all, through the mud and uneven terrain. My ultimate goal is to build an off-grid home, and dam up this creek so I can use it for hydroelectric power to supplement my home-made solar panels. These panels are low cost, because I'll drive around on Saturdays and find glass on the side of the road that people apparently don't want (renovation?). This is another workout, and simultaneous recycling measure. When we use physical labor only as a means to achieve an image, we are only fooling the opposite sex. Basic sexual attraction has everything to do with physicality - it is a signal of a mates capacity for strength and endurance. It's not that working out in a gym is a waste of time, because the body does become stronger if effort is applied. But that is the very thing we become good at - iron up and down in the same spot.
- moneytide1 9y ago
  Also, I tend to get at least a few cuts on thorns when I do this. In a way, this exercises my immune system. Sterile environments are dangerous.

gnode 9y ago

I find going running to be a good way to think. When my mind isn't occupied by the task at hand is when I think most clearly and creatively. I consider that to be getting something done. Uninteresting tasks which require thought are the boring ones.

moneytide1 9y ago
I enjoy running too - the runners high is quite a sensation. But I do try and run on trails, rather than pavement or treadmills. The inconsistencies of the terrain ultimately builds ankle strength. I've had some rough tumbles too while running on bike trails, and I'd like to think my ribs have become stronger for it. But I see your point with using a simple, thought-free run to jog the mind on backlogged thoughts (pun achieved).

chillacy 9y ago

If you lift weights with a decent program you should be progressing from week to week. That’s pretty good progress, as obvious as watching an axe cut into a tree. If that’s not your goal then don’t do it: life is too short to live for others.

moneytide1 9y ago
We try to coordinate 9-19 people to carry logs to a build site. Iron smelters need to be wide and below ground. We will bench nearly twice our normal limit. In less gravity it is different.

loudtieblahblah 9y ago

Working out (in a gym) is one of the few places I can see concrete results of my work. I mean, I get this with house projects, or chopping a tree, or wood working. I used to do construction (building house frames) as a teeanger and I found that very rewarding too. But in the gym - I can see my intended weight loss or gains. I can see performance gains on lifts or runs. As opposed to work where a business decision can cancel a project I'm working on at a moment's notice. Where "get it done now" because of some sales driven deadline means cheaping out on getting it done right, where you're told, "we'll get to that later when we have time", which means never. Or, my personal favorite, "priorities accordion" where the dev or sys teams are constantly having priorities shift so rapidly and so frequently, that nothing gets accomplished at all. I go to the gym and it's simple. I move metal. No boss. No co-workers. No having to impress the wife. No hoping that people in my home find it useful. It's quarantined into a realm of me. This is my space and no one can intrude, or fuck it up or touch it or criticize it. And when I drop 80lbs in 9 months, it makes me proud of myself. When I, at a 37 year old man, am running a 5k in under 24 and a 5mi in under 40, it makes me proud of myself. When I can bench 2-plates on each side, deadlift 300 or squat 250, it makes me proud of myself. I'm setting goals and meeting or exceeding them. And I have no area in life where I can execute that so directly.