4 ms·

That’s awesome! The benefits of exercise against aging, mental illness, etc are numerous and well documented. Everybody should do it.

Mars008 9mo ago
If that was true athletes would be the youngest, mentally healthiest, and in many other ways better than average. But that's not the case if you look at them. My guess exercise is beneficial only to some level, after that it has a big toll on everything. Including IQ, mental and general health, and so on.
- galleywest200 9mo ago
  Being an athlete and doing maintenance exercises are two different levels of exertion.
- derektank 9mo ago
  >My guess exercise is beneficial only to some level, after that it has a big toll on everything. Including IQ, mental and general health, and so on. What reason do you have for thinking this? As far as I’ve read, there’s no indication that athletes perform worse than the population average on any of these metrics. Athletes outperformed non-athletes on standardized tests in a 2014 study of Texas high schoolers.[1] Professional soccer players/footballers outperform the population average on a variety of cognitive assessments.[2] Sub-4 minute mile runners have better longevity and lower risk of cardiovascular disease than average.[3] With the exception of contact sports like American Football which involve serious risks of injury, I can’t think of any example of elite athletes that are worse off on quality of life metrics than average people. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4831893/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4831893/ [2] https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2415126122 https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2415126122 [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38729629/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38729629/
- fdsf2 9mo ago
  Mike Ohearn.
- esperent 9mo ago
  It is the case, actually. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619614005199 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00256... Here's another study, although for some reason it's 95% male, it shows athletic men live an average 3.5 years longer. It also shows athletic women live 0.7 years less, but due to the low number of females in the study I wouldn't read much into that. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11979035/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11979035/
- sfn42 9mo ago
  They are. Fit people are generally just better than unfit people in almost every way. More physically capable, fewer heath issues, more energy, more attractive, more disciplined, more intelligent and so on. Some of those are probably not entirely causal, for example bad health can prevent exercise. Lower intelligence is correlated with obesity. Getting fit takes discipline but it also builds discipline. So yeah I'm pretty sure that if you compare 1000 fit people and 1000 unfit people you'll see a very clear difference in happiness, health, success in life etc. We're not made to be sedentary.
throwaway849830 9mo ago
> Everybody should do it. 34 years old male, not overweight, eating healthy. I kept reading that exercise is the best thing you can do and that everyone should do it, so I started running and cycling. Very short distances, very slowly and very gradually. It made me feel horrible. Each time it would take me a few days to recover, feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted. I thought that I was just a bit out of shape so I kept going. Big mistake. A few weeks ago I completely crashed with the dizziness and mental exhaustion staying constantly, leaving me unable to do basic things like standing for more than a few minutes at a time. Complete rest helped, after a few weeks I finally start to feel like myself again. Currently seeing doctors and doing a lot of checks, nothing obvious found so far. The only reason I kept pushing is that I was reading everywhere that exercising is this amazing thing that is good for everyone. So at the moment I feel that this messaging should be toned down a bit. PS: Long time HN user, using a throwaway as I don't want health stuff to be tied to me.
- sfn42 9mo ago
  That's not normal. I'm sure your doctor's told you that too. My first thought is that it may just be a severe case of being out of shape, I think you might be able to push through it. You didn't specify how long you kept it up but I would expect it to take at least a few weeks, maybe a few months before you really get up and running. I would suggest that you keep trying, and taking it slower. Maybe instead of running and cycling just walk/hike. I find it much more comfortable to hike. It's also useful to keep track of your pulse. There's a type of training called zone 2 training where the goal is to keep your pulse in "zone 2". That's quite low intensity training, but it's also very effective and much less taxing. Zone 2 depends on your resting and max pulse but it'll be something like 130-160. I can also recommend rock climbing, particularly bouldering is very approachable. And of course weight lifting if that's more to your liking. You don't have to do cardio, there are many ways to be active. I have had some issues with nausea while weightlifting, towards the end of a session I would get really nauseous. However that's just me being out of shape, after a week or two it subsides and it just feels good. I like the feeling of sore muscles. Also, for me, activity is essential. When I'm not active I fall into a deep depression where everything feels harder. When I'm in shape I feel like myself, I have more energy, motivation and discipline, life feels easier. I don't think it's like this for everyone but I do think everyone benefits from exercise. Even if you have to fight through some bad feelings to get going.

Mars008 9mo ago

If that was true athletes would be the youngest, mentally healthiest, and in many other ways better than average. But that's not the case if you look at them. My guess exercise is beneficial only to some level, after that it has a big toll on everything. Including IQ, mental and general health, and so on.

galleywest200 9mo ago
Being an athlete and doing maintenance exercises are two different levels of exertion.
derektank 9mo ago
>My guess exercise is beneficial only to some level, after that it has a big toll on everything. Including IQ, mental and general health, and so on. What reason do you have for thinking this? As far as I’ve read, there’s no indication that athletes perform worse than the population average on any of these metrics. Athletes outperformed non-athletes on standardized tests in a 2014 study of Texas high schoolers.[1] Professional soccer players/footballers outperform the population average on a variety of cognitive assessments.[2] Sub-4 minute mile runners have better longevity and lower risk of cardiovascular disease than average.[3] With the exception of contact sports like American Football which involve serious risks of injury, I can’t think of any example of elite athletes that are worse off on quality of life metrics than average people. [1] https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4831893/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4831893/ [2] https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2415126122 https://www.pnas.org/doi/abs/10.1073/pnas.2415126122 [3] https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38729629/ https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38729629/
fdsf2 9mo ago
Mike Ohearn.
esperent 9mo ago
It is the case, actually. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S0025619614005199 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S00256... Here's another study, although for some reason it's 95% male, it shows athletic men live an average 3.5 years longer. It also shows athletic women live 0.7 years less, but due to the low number of females in the study I wouldn't read much into that. https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11979035/ https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC11979035/
sfn42 9mo ago
They are. Fit people are generally just better than unfit people in almost every way. More physically capable, fewer heath issues, more energy, more attractive, more disciplined, more intelligent and so on. Some of those are probably not entirely causal, for example bad health can prevent exercise. Lower intelligence is correlated with obesity. Getting fit takes discipline but it also builds discipline. So yeah I'm pretty sure that if you compare 1000 fit people and 1000 unfit people you'll see a very clear difference in happiness, health, success in life etc. We're not made to be sedentary.

throwaway849830 9mo ago

> Everybody should do it. 34 years old male, not overweight, eating healthy. I kept reading that exercise is the best thing you can do and that everyone should do it, so I started running and cycling. Very short distances, very slowly and very gradually. It made me feel horrible. Each time it would take me a few days to recover, feeling dizzy and mentally exhausted. I thought that I was just a bit out of shape so I kept going. Big mistake. A few weeks ago I completely crashed with the dizziness and mental exhaustion staying constantly, leaving me unable to do basic things like standing for more than a few minutes at a time. Complete rest helped, after a few weeks I finally start to feel like myself again. Currently seeing doctors and doing a lot of checks, nothing obvious found so far. The only reason I kept pushing is that I was reading everywhere that exercising is this amazing thing that is good for everyone. So at the moment I feel that this messaging should be toned down a bit. PS: Long time HN user, using a throwaway as I don't want health stuff to be tied to me.

sfn42 9mo ago
That's not normal. I'm sure your doctor's told you that too. My first thought is that it may just be a severe case of being out of shape, I think you might be able to push through it. You didn't specify how long you kept it up but I would expect it to take at least a few weeks, maybe a few months before you really get up and running. I would suggest that you keep trying, and taking it slower. Maybe instead of running and cycling just walk/hike. I find it much more comfortable to hike. It's also useful to keep track of your pulse. There's a type of training called zone 2 training where the goal is to keep your pulse in "zone 2". That's quite low intensity training, but it's also very effective and much less taxing. Zone 2 depends on your resting and max pulse but it'll be something like 130-160. I can also recommend rock climbing, particularly bouldering is very approachable. And of course weight lifting if that's more to your liking. You don't have to do cardio, there are many ways to be active. I have had some issues with nausea while weightlifting, towards the end of a session I would get really nauseous. However that's just me being out of shape, after a week or two it subsides and it just feels good. I like the feeling of sore muscles. Also, for me, activity is essential. When I'm not active I fall into a deep depression where everything feels harder. When I'm in shape I feel like myself, I have more energy, motivation and discipline, life feels easier. I don't think it's like this for everyone but I do think everyone benefits from exercise. Even if you have to fight through some bad feelings to get going.