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Are there any scientific studies to back the common meme of "Fitness is a cornerstone of success" Does Mark Zuckerberg work out? How about John Lasseter? It h

Are there any scientific studies to back the common meme of "Fitness is a cornerstone of success" Does Mark Zuckerberg work out? How about John Lasseter? It honestly doesn't seem fitness has any relation what-so-ever to success but I'd be happy to be proven wrong with actual data rather than anecdotes.

kijin 14y ago
I don't think working out is a necessary condition for success, unless you're so unhealthy as to be physically incapable of doing the things that you need to do in order to be successful. But the kind self-control you need for fitness could also help you become successful. If so, there might indeed be some correlation between fitness and success.
- biggfoot 14y ago
  From personal experience strictly: First and foremost the exercise is something we can all use, successful or not. What working out did help me do is get into a sort of a discipline and made me eat and drink proper healthy food. A side effect of workout, indeed a good one for all us chair-dwellers, is that it fixed my posture as well - no wrist pain, no back pain, no neck pain ...
  - greggman 14y ago
    One of the fittest guys I know, works out and runs several miles every morning, has terrible wrist pain. I know 3 other similar people at my current job. I don't think your lack of pain has anything to do with your working out. More likely luck, genetics, or lack of other activities that would lead to pain.
keiferski 14y ago
Richard Branson is known for being fit. http://www.quora.com/Richard-Branson/How-does-Richard-Branson-arrive-at-the-calculation-that-working-out-adds-four-hours-of-productivity-a-day http://www.quora.com/Richard-Branson/How-does-Richard-Branso... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2003255/Sir-Richard-Branson-reveals-secrets-good-health.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2003255/Sir-Richar... http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/fit-to-fly http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/fit-to-fly
Evgeny 14y ago
Are there any scientific studies to back the common meme of "Fitness is a cornerstone of success" The ways exercise benefits the brain was discussed on HN before multiple times. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620529 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620529 How Exercise Fuels the Brain (well.blogs.nytimes.com) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3047554 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3047554 How Exercise Can Strengthen the Brain (well.blogs.nytimes.com) A search for 'exercise brain' returns many more results. Now it's up to 'is improving your brain function cornerstone to success?'
SatvikBeri 14y ago
Zuckerberg did 5000 pushups throughout the course of a week[1], which proves that he's at least moderately fit. Richard Branson's main piece of productivity advice is "work out"[2]. A strong counterexample would be Warren Buffett, who was once the world's richest man, never worked out, and ate terribly. Ultimately though it's best to look at the studies other responders to your post cited, which do show some correlation between exercise and mental performance. Edit: forgot my links [1]: http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolution-of-a-remarkable-ceo/ http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolut... [2]: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222739 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222739
- rmATinnovafy 14y ago
  Buffett was into bodybuilding as a teenager/young adult.
  - SatvikBeri 14y ago
    Source? I didn't see anything like that in his authorized biography The Snowball. And it specifically mentioned several times that Buffett always hated manual labor, always ate badly etc.
    - rmATinnovafy 14y ago
      It is in his biography where it appears. Though it is not talked about a lot.
      - SatvikBeri 14y ago
        Oh wow, totally forgot about that. It's covered in a couple of pages in section 11...good to know.
- beza1e1 14y ago
  I cannot find this "work out" advice in the article you linked [2].
rmundo 14y ago
To answer your first question, he's fit enough to finish 5000 pushups in a week. http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolution-of-a-remarkable-ceo/ http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolut...

kijin 14y ago

I don't think working out is a necessary condition for success, unless you're so unhealthy as to be physically incapable of doing the things that you need to do in order to be successful. But the kind self-control you need for fitness could also help you become successful. If so, there might indeed be some correlation between fitness and success.

biggfoot 14y ago
From personal experience strictly: First and foremost the exercise is something we can all use, successful or not. What working out did help me do is get into a sort of a discipline and made me eat and drink proper healthy food. A side effect of workout, indeed a good one for all us chair-dwellers, is that it fixed my posture as well - no wrist pain, no back pain, no neck pain ...
- greggman 14y ago
  One of the fittest guys I know, works out and runs several miles every morning, has terrible wrist pain. I know 3 other similar people at my current job. I don't think your lack of pain has anything to do with your working out. More likely luck, genetics, or lack of other activities that would lead to pain.

keiferski 14y ago

Richard Branson is known for being fit. http://www.quora.com/Richard-Branson/How-does-Richard-Branson-arrive-at-the-calculation-that-working-out-adds-four-hours-of-productivity-a-day http://www.quora.com/Richard-Branson/How-does-Richard-Branso... http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2003255/Sir-Richard-Branson-reveals-secrets-good-health.html http://www.dailymail.co.uk/health/article-2003255/Sir-Richar... http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/fit-to-fly http://www.mensfitness.com/leisure/sports/fit-to-fly

Evgeny 14y ago

Are there any scientific studies to back the common meme of "Fitness is a cornerstone of success" The ways exercise benefits the brain was discussed on HN before multiple times. http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620529 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3620529 How Exercise Fuels the Brain (well.blogs.nytimes.com) http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3047554 http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=3047554 How Exercise Can Strengthen the Brain (well.blogs.nytimes.com) A search for 'exercise brain' returns many more results. Now it's up to 'is improving your brain function cornerstone to success?'

SatvikBeri 14y ago

Zuckerberg did 5000 pushups throughout the course of a week[1], which proves that he's at least moderately fit. Richard Branson's main piece of productivity advice is "work out"[2]. A strong counterexample would be Warren Buffett, who was once the world's richest man, never worked out, and ate terribly. Ultimately though it's best to look at the studies other responders to your post cited, which do show some correlation between exercise and mental performance. Edit: forgot my links [1]: http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolution-of-a-remarkable-ceo/ http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolut... [2]: http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222739 http://www.entrepreneur.com/article/222739

rmATinnovafy 14y ago
Buffett was into bodybuilding as a teenager/young adult.
- SatvikBeri 14y ago
  Source? I didn't see anything like that in his authorized biography The Snowball. And it specifically mentioned several times that Buffett always hated manual labor, always ate badly etc.
  - rmATinnovafy 14y ago
    It is in his biography where it appears. Though it is not talked about a lot.
    - SatvikBeri 14y ago
      Oh wow, totally forgot about that. It's covered in a couple of pages in section 11...good to know.
beza1e1 14y ago
I cannot find this "work out" advice in the article you linked [2].

rmundo 14y ago

To answer your first question, he's fit enough to finish 5000 pushups in a week. http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolution-of-a-remarkable-ceo/ http://venturebeat.com/2009/10/02/mark-zuckerberg-the-evolut...