10 ms·

At the risk of sounding to newage-y, I experience the benefits of exercising as energy balancing. Solving problems, learning and building new things all day ca

At the risk of sounding to newage-y, I experience the benefits of exercising as energy balancing. Solving problems, learning and building new things all day can be very mentally exhausting. Cardio, sports, lifting; helps re-balance the physical with the mental. I am sure there are more scientific words and biological descriptions that I lack the vocabulary for. If I get too mentally focused on a project/job/problem and go days without matching it with vigorous physical activity, I end up not sleeping as well, am less tolerant, more scattered and brain fog tends to start rolling in. If I counter it with the physical exercise or physical energy expenditure the mental clarity comes back, I sleep better, and don't have hair-triggered verbal impulse control issues. Otherwise, if I let it go for too long, lethargy sets in - which I attribute to the body/physical and mind/mental trying to rebalance itself. I dont think it cares that it makes me feel like crap overall, more that it's neutral in just wanting a balance however that comes about. I often refer to exercise as me taking care of my mental health - as opposed to being physically fit. That could be seen as "exercise [being] the best cognitive exercise". Looking at it that way, exercise creates a mental-out imbalance, which causes the stored energy in the mind to be stimulated and need more output creating the mental sharpness. Obviously I have nothing to back up the claims other than decades of experiencing this to be true for me time and time again; though I do believe there are better biological explanations than energy.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
ksimukka 4y ago
Sigh. I let myself go weeks without exercising and feel terrible, both mentally and physically.
- deleted 4y ago
  [deleted]
- krallja 4y ago
  And if I would just exercise I would remember that exercise would solve the problem... but I don't have the mental foresight to do so, so I let it go for another day, and another...
  - nradov 4y ago
    You have to make it an automatic habit rather than something you remember to do.
    - ohlookabird 4y ago
      Yes, this helps a lot! For me, it also helps to have a training plan, or simply calendar events that remind me what exercise I should do at a given day. Usually this allows me to trick my mind and avoids the decision whether or not I should exercise and I will "stupidly" do what the calendar says. This made it much easier to develop a habit.
    - ButterWashed 4y ago
      I agree with this. I hate exercise so I go into the office a few days a week and I cycle to get there and back which is roughly 10 miles in total. Without that commute I'd be too tempted to do nothing by way of exercise.
    - garrickvanburen 4y ago
      Currently working through an 18month training plan - every day has some work out. This everyday-ness has been huge for installing it as an automatic habit.
      - moitessier 4y ago
        Is it a plan that requires going to the gym or more like running & home exercises? Mind sharing if it is the latter?
        garrickvanburen 4y ago
        All running. Chapter 10 in Hal Higdon's 'How to Train'. The entire book is filled with training plans I hadn't even considered before - this particular one has worked really well for me in a way other plans have not.
  - klipt 4y ago
- isthisthingon99 4y ago
  Exercise gets boring. Just like anything else. Detect this and switch up.
  - Jtsummers 4y ago
    Also some exercise may, for you, turn out to not be boring. Try different things until you find an exercise (or set of exercises) that works for you. I really enjoy running, especially outdoors, and rowing, which makes it easy for me to stick with them. But for other people those things are either dull or painful and so they stall out if they only try those exercises. I also found team sports (soccer, in particular) and martial arts (BJJ) to be stimulating in a way that they never become boring. A couple I know use dance as their primary exercise (actually how they met too). There are many ways to exercise, finding the right exercise for you is critical to longterm success.
    - brookst 4y ago
      This. Between running, tennis, climbing, hiking, biking, martial arts, swimming, weightlifting, volleyball, mountain biking, soccer, etc. . . I think there is likely a “right” exercise for everyone, in the sense that it gets to flow state and doesn’t feel boring, or like work.
      - Jtsummers 4y ago
        And if you find a sport (like I did with soccer and BJJ), other exercises become more desirable and easier to stick with because they're complementary or supportive to the actual thing you want to do. Distance running and sprinting improved my endurance for both sports and also my recovery time after a literal sprint in soccer or the BJJ equivalent of a fast moving exchange, giving me an edge against otherwise more skilled opponents but lacking my conditioning.
      - lob_it 4y ago
        Very few of those on the list can be enjoyed by octogenarians. I have enjoyed decades of golf so far with firm glutes and firm abs as an unitended benefit :) I'm always tickled when I read these stories. I'm chasing an albatross personally to complete my scorecard (got a hole-in-one the 1st decade of playing). https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/in_todays_daily_sun/95-year-old-golfer-shoots-his-first-hole-in-one/article_a2a2ab2c-59a4-11ed-a6d0-eb09d0159d5e.html https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/in_todays_daily_sun...
- hahamrfunnyguy 4y ago
  I am in better shape than I've been in a few years. My exercise is more enjoyable now, and doesn't feel like a chore to do it. This year I signed up for a half dozen mountain bike races, so they were a motivator to go out and ride. Every week my friends and I meet up and run 3.5 miles. After the run, we all hangout and have a beer at a nearby bar. The meetup spot is 6 miles away and I ride my bike hard there, and at a leisurely pace on the way back. It's nice having this activity to look forward to every week. I haven't signed up for any races since the summer, but I have it in the back of my mind that I will start again in the spring, so that helps me make time for bike rides (which I enjoy). My friends don't like to run in the dark, so I will probably join a volleyball league this winter for some weekly socialization and activity. So, I think waaaay eaiser to find stuff you will like doing or at least an activity with people you like being around. Check Facebook for group rides/runs in your area.
  - latchkey 4y ago
    Consider skipping the beer and dropping all alcohol entirely (but definitely still be social), you'd be surprised at how much it is holding you back fitness wise and how little you actually need it, beyond the thought that it is nice.
    - lob_it 4y ago
      Zero-calorie vices really are better for aging gracefully. A 30-minute brisk walk may burn 200 calories, but calorie math is easier said than done. You don't have to lose the weight/calories if you do not gain the weight/calories :)
- SoftTalker 4y ago
  I started lifting a few years ago. Everything was good until this summer when I developed knee pain while squatting that was excruciating at its worst. Got that mostly fixed with some specific exercises and focus on coorect form, and then developed low back pain that I have not resolved yet. Most recently tore a muscle in my shoulder, which I am working on rehabbing. So now pretty much all daily activities are accompanied by some amount of pain. I wake up at least twice a night from shoulder or back pain.
  - candiddevmike 4y ago
    Assuming you're not exercising, do you feel terrible mentally like this thread predicts?
    - SoftTalker 4y ago
      I am still exercising, the main thing I cannot do at all right now is bench press or other pressing movements due to the shoulder. Squats and deadlifts I am doing at lower weights than what I was up to before the injuries, and I can do focused accessories such as tricep/bicep work, leg work, etc. I am also an older lifter and probably should have backed down at the earlier indications that a problem was developing. However it honestly was never more than some soreness that went away with warmups, so I wasn't really concerned about it. On the mental effects, I can say that for me that exercise doesn't change much. I am generally in a better mood after a good workout, but with the recent injuries I have been feeling more frustrated and dejected. But these feeling are pretty much the same ones I have when I succeed or struggle with a programming task or other mental work.
      - feet 4y ago
        Shoulder girdle stabilization is super important in your lifts, the muscles even help with form on deadlifts. If you look to start a routine to work out your stabilizers on a regular basis it can help prevent future injuries and help you feel even better when lifting. Turkish getups are fantasic
- webmobdev 4y ago
  One way out of this is to not join a gym but learn exercises that you can do anywhere (e.g https://blog.paleohacks.com/how-to-work-out-with-no-equipment/ https://blog.paleohacks.com/how-to-work-out-with-no-equipmen... ). And be forgiving towards yourself too - forgot to exercise for a day or a week, fine - some days are just shitty in our life - just do one exercise today (motivation follows actions). You don't have to do the full sets of exercise, if you don't feel like it. Just focus on doing one exercise (action is the fuel required to power your motivation). Enjoy the feeling. And continue again everyday.
phkahler 4y ago
>> I experience the benefits of exercising as energy balancing. I find that a lot of fringe stuff like that can be reframed into other fringe or even more "normal" terminology. Which words or metaphors one uses are simply what clicks for them. If "energy balance" is the word that feels right to you, use it. ;-)
- Loveaway 4y ago
  I've heard there's literally some kind of electric charge going on, and your muscles play an important role in this. They might act as storage of sorts, but you need to exercise eventually so they can discharge, otherwise you get to the point where things can't function properly. Heart is supposed have crucial part in generating electrical fields too. Not much info on that topic so take it with a grain of salt.
mythhouse 4y ago
> I often refer to exercise as me taking care of my mental health - as opposed to being physically fit. Same. I don't care about my physical health all that much but my friends/family think i am some sort of health fanatic. It is the only thing that has gotten me through tough times, its my escape.
- hamreh0076 4y ago
  [dead]
- madiator 4y ago
  I don't get why you don't care about your physical health. You got one body for the rest of your life..
  - ahMath8 4y ago
  - bee_rider 4y ago
    I suspect the “all that much” is doing a lot of work here. I think I get it. Like, as long as my body is not malfunctioning or heading for a long-term catastrophe, I’m not motivated to improve it.
    - nradov 4y ago
      Malfunctions can be difficult to detect, if you're not paying close attention to your body. Our bodies have evolved to maintain homeostasis within a tight range, and can compensate for quite a lot of hidden pathology. Until you reach a threshold and decompensate, at which everything goes to hell and at that point it's too late to really fix.
  - hombre_fatal 4y ago
    They might mean it’s not a primary motivator. That’s how I felt when I was younger and had a seemingly perfect bill of health regardless of exercise. High blood pressure in my 30s changed some priorities.
theshrike79 4y ago
When I was most stressed and semi-burned out during my career I found that martial arts was the best way to decompress. I especially preferred the kinds that heavily relied on sparring with partners during the class. It's _really_ hard to ruminate on everything you didn't get done today when the person opposite you will punch/kick you if your concentration falters =) It's similarly hard to start overthinking when you're too tired to think, HIIT-style circuit training in a group worked pretty well. Nowadays I'm a bit less stressed and can manage it better - just a walk in the nature and newageyly "being in the moment" is enough, no need for the extremes of youth =)
- wiz21c 4y ago
  Same stuff here. I practice tai chi and as you may know practicioners usually work in group. Keeping in sync with the others is 100% part of the practice and is impossible to do if one is not really concentrated on its surroudings. There's no way you might think about something else while doing it :-) (and I don't even talk about the sheer amount of proprioception you have to use to do the movements correctly)
- anonymousDan 4y ago
  Which martial arts specifically do you recommend?
  - mtalantikite 4y ago
    Not OP, but I’ve taken up training Muay Thai and it’s a lot of fun. It can look pretty intimidating from the outside, but everyone I’ve met at the gyms here in Brooklyn have been super welcoming and kind. I also have had a long standing, 5x per week yoga practice which is a great way to strengthen and open the body. I’d look for a yoga school that mentions ashtanga if you’re looking for something more intensive, it’s a challenging practice.
    - djitz 4y ago
      Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met who actually knew how to fight well was very friendly and kind. Traveling and showing up at random MMA or BJJ schools is almost always a fantastic experience. Subjecting the ego to much needed reality checks makes for some nice folks.
bitexploder 4y ago
I have been kind of deep down these rabbit holes of how it works physically. It comes down to some kind of simple principles. Exercise gives your brain more blood. Lifting puts static pressure and conditions vessels and such. Many pro-brain-health hormones get released. The physical actions force a degree of indirect distraction that lets your sub-conscious work as well. These things all combine to promote brain health and problem solving. The brain uses a ton of energy so the blood flow just keeps it well fed. E: it also makes sure junk from metabolic processes are cleaned up etc.
- jdpigeon 4y ago
  There was a rather compelling pathway proposed years ago: skeletal muscle activation leads to the secretion of a protein in the blood called Irisin. This protein then crosses the blood-brain barrier and upregulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
  - puchatek 4y ago
    Yet there are always examples of extraordinary minds of people who either despise physical exercise it are even wheelchair-bound. Steven Hawkins comes to mind. Maybe those are just exceptions.
    - cgriswald 4y ago
      I see no reason to think that people don't have different cognitive baselines. It's not difficult to imagine two people having such different cognitive baselines that even if exercise improves the cognitive ability of one, it will still be lower than the cognitive ability of the other without exercise.
      - bitexploder 4y ago
        I never did turn into a super genius after a run. But I can focus for a few hours and if it was an easy run or even a hard strength training session, it is a productive few hours :)
grzes 4y ago
i have exactly the same feelings/experiences. i started to ride a bike when pandemic begun and it really improved my comfort of living and ovearll "mental" attitude. its really not about fitness but more like a therapy for a brain to reset. its best to ridea in areas where you can be close to the nature as the presence of nature also contributes
- datavirtue 4y ago
  If you are running or cycling it is VERY important to stretch extensively afterward. Perfectly "healthy" and trim cyclists and runners can end up with back problems that lead to all sorts of health problems because they have not stretched the legs and core regulalry. Ham strings tighten up like steel cords and can ruin your back...especially if you sit for significant periods of time each day. I have learned this the hard way.
ozim 4y ago
I don't really know where it came from - but there was this idea that if you are smart you neglect sports - if you are sporty you neglect smarts. There was jocks vs nerds as a general dichotomy. Last years we find it more and more to be a false dichotomy. Just think that you can find "brasilian ju jitsu nerds" or software developers that work out quite a lot. Not to mention pro-gamers who are not only practicing playing their game - but get physical workout in their training regimen to really go to the top. Being physically fit IS caring about mental health there is nothing newage-y about it. There is no mind-body separation, mind is body whether someone likes it or not. If you exercise your muscles to move in a specific way you exercise your mind as well. That is known phenomenon in strength sports - one can build up muscle mass as much as they want but they also have to adapt neural pathways for strength - which is mind.
- themitigating 4y ago
  I notice that if I perform a large amount of physical activity during the day, like playing soccer, I'm tired (obviously). However, the lack of energy applies to both physical and mental tasks.
  - nwienert 4y ago
    I’ve gone through years of working out daily to years of basically only walking and not exercising much. The honest truth is if I’m truly coding a lot, working out is a strict downgrade in my long term output holding for all other variables. Working out is good for you, but it’s a big detriment to mental energy. Perhaps working out late in the day solves this, but then again I’m most productive as a coder late at night. Days where I work out in the afternoon wreck my night time productivity.
    - Jensson 4y ago
      Yeah, math and programming contest winners are usually very thin. Do some cardio, don't be fat, but bulking up is probably not optimal.
      - 4y ago

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

ksimukka 4y ago

Sigh. I let myself go weeks without exercising and feel terrible, both mentally and physically.

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
krallja 4y ago
And if I would just exercise I would remember that exercise would solve the problem... but I don't have the mental foresight to do so, so I let it go for another day, and another...
- nradov 4y ago
  You have to make it an automatic habit rather than something you remember to do.
  - ohlookabird 4y ago
    Yes, this helps a lot! For me, it also helps to have a training plan, or simply calendar events that remind me what exercise I should do at a given day. Usually this allows me to trick my mind and avoids the decision whether or not I should exercise and I will "stupidly" do what the calendar says. This made it much easier to develop a habit.
  - ButterWashed 4y ago
    I agree with this. I hate exercise so I go into the office a few days a week and I cycle to get there and back which is roughly 10 miles in total. Without that commute I'd be too tempted to do nothing by way of exercise.
  - garrickvanburen 4y ago
    Currently working through an 18month training plan - every day has some work out. This everyday-ness has been huge for installing it as an automatic habit.
    - moitessier 4y ago
      Is it a plan that requires going to the gym or more like running & home exercises? Mind sharing if it is the latter?
      - garrickvanburen 4y ago
        All running. Chapter 10 in Hal Higdon's 'How to Train'. The entire book is filled with training plans I hadn't even considered before - this particular one has worked really well for me in a way other plans have not.
- klipt 4y ago
isthisthingon99 4y ago
Exercise gets boring. Just like anything else. Detect this and switch up.
- Jtsummers 4y ago
  Also some exercise may, for you, turn out to not be boring. Try different things until you find an exercise (or set of exercises) that works for you. I really enjoy running, especially outdoors, and rowing, which makes it easy for me to stick with them. But for other people those things are either dull or painful and so they stall out if they only try those exercises. I also found team sports (soccer, in particular) and martial arts (BJJ) to be stimulating in a way that they never become boring. A couple I know use dance as their primary exercise (actually how they met too). There are many ways to exercise, finding the right exercise for you is critical to longterm success.
  - brookst 4y ago
    This. Between running, tennis, climbing, hiking, biking, martial arts, swimming, weightlifting, volleyball, mountain biking, soccer, etc. . . I think there is likely a “right” exercise for everyone, in the sense that it gets to flow state and doesn’t feel boring, or like work.
    - Jtsummers 4y ago
      And if you find a sport (like I did with soccer and BJJ), other exercises become more desirable and easier to stick with because they're complementary or supportive to the actual thing you want to do. Distance running and sprinting improved my endurance for both sports and also my recovery time after a literal sprint in soccer or the BJJ equivalent of a fast moving exchange, giving me an edge against otherwise more skilled opponents but lacking my conditioning.
    - lob_it 4y ago
      Very few of those on the list can be enjoyed by octogenarians. I have enjoyed decades of golf so far with firm glutes and firm abs as an unitended benefit :) I'm always tickled when I read these stories. I'm chasing an albatross personally to complete my scorecard (got a hole-in-one the 1st decade of playing). https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/in_todays_daily_sun/95-year-old-golfer-shoots-his-first-hole-in-one/article_a2a2ab2c-59a4-11ed-a6d0-eb09d0159d5e.html https://www.thevillagesdailysun.com/news/in_todays_daily_sun...
hahamrfunnyguy 4y ago
I am in better shape than I've been in a few years. My exercise is more enjoyable now, and doesn't feel like a chore to do it. This year I signed up for a half dozen mountain bike races, so they were a motivator to go out and ride. Every week my friends and I meet up and run 3.5 miles. After the run, we all hangout and have a beer at a nearby bar. The meetup spot is 6 miles away and I ride my bike hard there, and at a leisurely pace on the way back. It's nice having this activity to look forward to every week. I haven't signed up for any races since the summer, but I have it in the back of my mind that I will start again in the spring, so that helps me make time for bike rides (which I enjoy). My friends don't like to run in the dark, so I will probably join a volleyball league this winter for some weekly socialization and activity. So, I think waaaay eaiser to find stuff you will like doing or at least an activity with people you like being around. Check Facebook for group rides/runs in your area.
- latchkey 4y ago
  Consider skipping the beer and dropping all alcohol entirely (but definitely still be social), you'd be surprised at how much it is holding you back fitness wise and how little you actually need it, beyond the thought that it is nice.
  - lob_it 4y ago
    Zero-calorie vices really are better for aging gracefully. A 30-minute brisk walk may burn 200 calories, but calorie math is easier said than done. You don't have to lose the weight/calories if you do not gain the weight/calories :)
SoftTalker 4y ago
I started lifting a few years ago. Everything was good until this summer when I developed knee pain while squatting that was excruciating at its worst. Got that mostly fixed with some specific exercises and focus on coorect form, and then developed low back pain that I have not resolved yet. Most recently tore a muscle in my shoulder, which I am working on rehabbing. So now pretty much all daily activities are accompanied by some amount of pain. I wake up at least twice a night from shoulder or back pain.
- candiddevmike 4y ago
  Assuming you're not exercising, do you feel terrible mentally like this thread predicts?
  - SoftTalker 4y ago
    I am still exercising, the main thing I cannot do at all right now is bench press or other pressing movements due to the shoulder. Squats and deadlifts I am doing at lower weights than what I was up to before the injuries, and I can do focused accessories such as tricep/bicep work, leg work, etc. I am also an older lifter and probably should have backed down at the earlier indications that a problem was developing. However it honestly was never more than some soreness that went away with warmups, so I wasn't really concerned about it. On the mental effects, I can say that for me that exercise doesn't change much. I am generally in a better mood after a good workout, but with the recent injuries I have been feeling more frustrated and dejected. But these feeling are pretty much the same ones I have when I succeed or struggle with a programming task or other mental work.
    - feet 4y ago
      Shoulder girdle stabilization is super important in your lifts, the muscles even help with form on deadlifts. If you look to start a routine to work out your stabilizers on a regular basis it can help prevent future injuries and help you feel even better when lifting. Turkish getups are fantasic
webmobdev 4y ago
One way out of this is to not join a gym but learn exercises that you can do anywhere (e.g https://blog.paleohacks.com/how-to-work-out-with-no-equipment/ https://blog.paleohacks.com/how-to-work-out-with-no-equipmen... ). And be forgiving towards yourself too - forgot to exercise for a day or a week, fine - some days are just shitty in our life - just do one exercise today (motivation follows actions). You don't have to do the full sets of exercise, if you don't feel like it. Just focus on doing one exercise (action is the fuel required to power your motivation). Enjoy the feeling. And continue again everyday.

phkahler 4y ago

>> I experience the benefits of exercising as energy balancing. I find that a lot of fringe stuff like that can be reframed into other fringe or even more "normal" terminology. Which words or metaphors one uses are simply what clicks for them. If "energy balance" is the word that feels right to you, use it. ;-)

Loveaway 4y ago
I've heard there's literally some kind of electric charge going on, and your muscles play an important role in this. They might act as storage of sorts, but you need to exercise eventually so they can discharge, otherwise you get to the point where things can't function properly. Heart is supposed have crucial part in generating electrical fields too. Not much info on that topic so take it with a grain of salt.

mythhouse 4y ago

> I often refer to exercise as me taking care of my mental health - as opposed to being physically fit. Same. I don't care about my physical health all that much but my friends/family think i am some sort of health fanatic. It is the only thing that has gotten me through tough times, its my escape.

hamreh0076 4y ago
[dead]
madiator 4y ago
I don't get why you don't care about your physical health. You got one body for the rest of your life..
- ahMath8 4y ago
- bee_rider 4y ago
  I suspect the “all that much” is doing a lot of work here. I think I get it. Like, as long as my body is not malfunctioning or heading for a long-term catastrophe, I’m not motivated to improve it.
  - nradov 4y ago
    Malfunctions can be difficult to detect, if you're not paying close attention to your body. Our bodies have evolved to maintain homeostasis within a tight range, and can compensate for quite a lot of hidden pathology. Until you reach a threshold and decompensate, at which everything goes to hell and at that point it's too late to really fix.
- hombre_fatal 4y ago
  They might mean it’s not a primary motivator. That’s how I felt when I was younger and had a seemingly perfect bill of health regardless of exercise. High blood pressure in my 30s changed some priorities.

theshrike79 4y ago

When I was most stressed and semi-burned out during my career I found that martial arts was the best way to decompress. I especially preferred the kinds that heavily relied on sparring with partners during the class. It's _really_ hard to ruminate on everything you didn't get done today when the person opposite you will punch/kick you if your concentration falters =) It's similarly hard to start overthinking when you're too tired to think, HIIT-style circuit training in a group worked pretty well. Nowadays I'm a bit less stressed and can manage it better - just a walk in the nature and newageyly "being in the moment" is enough, no need for the extremes of youth =)

wiz21c 4y ago
Same stuff here. I practice tai chi and as you may know practicioners usually work in group. Keeping in sync with the others is 100% part of the practice and is impossible to do if one is not really concentrated on its surroudings. There's no way you might think about something else while doing it :-) (and I don't even talk about the sheer amount of proprioception you have to use to do the movements correctly)
anonymousDan 4y ago
Which martial arts specifically do you recommend?
- mtalantikite 4y ago
  Not OP, but I’ve taken up training Muay Thai and it’s a lot of fun. It can look pretty intimidating from the outside, but everyone I’ve met at the gyms here in Brooklyn have been super welcoming and kind. I also have had a long standing, 5x per week yoga practice which is a great way to strengthen and open the body. I’d look for a yoga school that mentions ashtanga if you’re looking for something more intensive, it’s a challenging practice.
  - djitz 4y ago
    Pretty much everyone I’ve ever met who actually knew how to fight well was very friendly and kind. Traveling and showing up at random MMA or BJJ schools is almost always a fantastic experience. Subjecting the ego to much needed reality checks makes for some nice folks.

bitexploder 4y ago

I have been kind of deep down these rabbit holes of how it works physically. It comes down to some kind of simple principles. Exercise gives your brain more blood. Lifting puts static pressure and conditions vessels and such. Many pro-brain-health hormones get released. The physical actions force a degree of indirect distraction that lets your sub-conscious work as well. These things all combine to promote brain health and problem solving. The brain uses a ton of energy so the blood flow just keeps it well fed. E: it also makes sure junk from metabolic processes are cleaned up etc.

jdpigeon 4y ago
There was a rather compelling pathway proposed years ago: skeletal muscle activation leads to the secretion of a protein in the blood called Irisin. This protein then crosses the blood-brain barrier and upregulates brain-derived neurotrophic factor.
- puchatek 4y ago
  Yet there are always examples of extraordinary minds of people who either despise physical exercise it are even wheelchair-bound. Steven Hawkins comes to mind. Maybe those are just exceptions.
  - cgriswald 4y ago
    I see no reason to think that people don't have different cognitive baselines. It's not difficult to imagine two people having such different cognitive baselines that even if exercise improves the cognitive ability of one, it will still be lower than the cognitive ability of the other without exercise.
    - bitexploder 4y ago
      I never did turn into a super genius after a run. But I can focus for a few hours and if it was an easy run or even a hard strength training session, it is a productive few hours :)

grzes 4y ago

i have exactly the same feelings/experiences. i started to ride a bike when pandemic begun and it really improved my comfort of living and ovearll "mental" attitude. its really not about fitness but more like a therapy for a brain to reset. its best to ridea in areas where you can be close to the nature as the presence of nature also contributes

datavirtue 4y ago
If you are running or cycling it is VERY important to stretch extensively afterward. Perfectly "healthy" and trim cyclists and runners can end up with back problems that lead to all sorts of health problems because they have not stretched the legs and core regulalry. Ham strings tighten up like steel cords and can ruin your back...especially if you sit for significant periods of time each day. I have learned this the hard way.

ozim 4y ago

I don't really know where it came from - but there was this idea that if you are smart you neglect sports - if you are sporty you neglect smarts. There was jocks vs nerds as a general dichotomy. Last years we find it more and more to be a false dichotomy. Just think that you can find "brasilian ju jitsu nerds" or software developers that work out quite a lot. Not to mention pro-gamers who are not only practicing playing their game - but get physical workout in their training regimen to really go to the top. Being physically fit IS caring about mental health there is nothing newage-y about it. There is no mind-body separation, mind is body whether someone likes it or not. If you exercise your muscles to move in a specific way you exercise your mind as well. That is known phenomenon in strength sports - one can build up muscle mass as much as they want but they also have to adapt neural pathways for strength - which is mind.

themitigating 4y ago
I notice that if I perform a large amount of physical activity during the day, like playing soccer, I'm tired (obviously). However, the lack of energy applies to both physical and mental tasks.
- nwienert 4y ago
  I’ve gone through years of working out daily to years of basically only walking and not exercising much. The honest truth is if I’m truly coding a lot, working out is a strict downgrade in my long term output holding for all other variables. Working out is good for you, but it’s a big detriment to mental energy. Perhaps working out late in the day solves this, but then again I’m most productive as a coder late at night. Days where I work out in the afternoon wreck my night time productivity.
  - Jensson 4y ago
    Yeah, math and programming contest winners are usually very thin. Do some cardio, don't be fat, but bulking up is probably not optimal.
    - 4y ago