

Ask HN: What are your thoughts on fitness/exercise? - stevenj

I just came back from a walk outside and something caught my attention: how many overweight people there are.<p>Several overweight people I know care about their health, and would <i>love</i> to be in better shape, but aren't.<p>Most of them reason that losing weight is hard, and keeping it off is even harder.<p>I think part of the reason why it's hard is because it feels like work.<p>Why isn't working out fun?<p>A hard problem to solve, shared by millions of people...<p>Perhaps there's a startup idea in there somewhere?
======
helen842000
Working out for the sake of working out IS boring, especially if it's linked
to feelings of guilt when you know you've lead an inactive lifestyle for a
long time.

Even a couple of my friends who are long distance runners say sometimes they
don't want to workout but they do it for the boost & feeling of achievement
afterwards.

Personally going to a gym feels tedious to me as I'm watching the clock &
never feel like I've done enough.

For me classes where you learn a skill (martial arts, yoga, dancing) have
produced the best results. Even just running around with friends playing
football - 2 hours can fly by!

Finding something you enjoy - games, sports etc that fit in with your social
life is much better than x number of hours of miserable workouts on your own!

As a point, I always notice when on holiday in France the tourists seem huge
compared to the locals.

------
stonemetal
1\. unrealistic goals, they are never going to look like brad pit so why
bother.

2\. Not enough pay out. Sure they are in better shape, but they weren't an
active person before so their new fitness is going to go unused anyway.

3\. The reward cycle isn't fast enough. I know some people claim working out
makes them feel great(endorphins and all that), but the rest of us just get
tired.

4\. Most workouts are just absolutely boring, lift this heavy thing 20 times,
run in a circle till you drop.

So the ideal workout would be mentally engaging and provide feedback quickly.
Off the top of my head blacksmith or rock climbing come to mind. Some of this
is already being serviced by adventure runs(mud runs, zombie runs) etc.

~~~
enraged_camel
Most of the reasons you listed are either wrong, or easily addressed.

2\. People who get in shape are more likely to want to participate in sports
and activities that require being in good shape.

3\. Reward cycle is not fast enough because most people measure their progress
wrong. They jump on the scale, look at the number, and get demotivated by the
short-term fluctuations. Whereas if they measured other things, such as how
far they were able to run, how heavy they were able to lift, or how many
inches were subtracted from their belly/chest/shoulder, they would be more
likely to see positive results.

4\. Compared to playing video games or watching TV, exercise sure is boring.
But there are many ways to make it fun - listening to action-packed music,
using apps like Fitocracy to track progress and earn points, etc. Having some
variety in exercises also helps. If all you do is run on the treadmill for 60
minutes, you'll hate it.

~~~
stonemetal
3\. We have to change the conversation for that. Look at what the original
post was about, he went out side and saw fat people, not people who couldn't
run a mile or do 100 pushups just fat people. This creates the impetus to not
be fat. Thin and unhealthy is OK from this viewpoint, but fat-ish and healthy
isn't.

4\. A spoon full of sugar may help the medicine go down, but two spoon fulls
of sugar and no medicine tastes better. That is to say gamification and music
are fun in their own right, mixing in exercise doesn't make exercise fun it
just masks the distaste.

------
dgunn
Working out itself isn't fun for me. The trick is to make that time meaningful
in another way. I listen to interesting radio shows/podcasts while I'm at the
gym. I enjoy it immensely and this is the only time I allow myself to do it.
That means when I leave the gym, I turn off the stream. This leaves me excited
to pick up where I left off next time and thus, excited to go to the gym.

This of course requires some self discipline. I could easily just listen if I
wanted to. But I've been doing this so long now that it's just part of my
routine.

People really can make this work. I've been doing it for 3 years now and I've
lost 120 lbs in the process.

------
countessa
I think part of the problem is that people think of as "go to gym x number of
times, shed x number of pounds". It becomes a short term and very result
oriented solution. If and when it doesn't work (because creating a formula
that works for everyone across the population is very hard) people become
demotivated and give up. If you could come up with a way of making people view
movement as fun and enjoyable then they would probably have a better time of
it. Not to get sentimental, but look at kids in a playground - run, jump,
climb....and they just have fun playing catch or exploring a climbing frame or
jumping from here to there. So there's a startup idea - playground for adults
- adult sized swings, roundabouts, climbing frames and trampolines.....get the
adults to play like kids. Change their motivation from "weight loss" to "have
fun" and they will more likely stick with it.

------
SpikeDad
Interesting article in NY Times: For Weight Loss, Less Exercise May Be More

[http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/is-30-minutes-of-
da...](http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/09/19/is-30-minutes-of-daily-
exercise-a-sweet-spot-for-weight-loss/?src=me&ref=general)

Most of the current research points to diet as the most important weight loss
strategy, far more effective than exercise (for weight loss ONLY to be clear).

And by the way, 90% of people that lose weight gain it back. That's a higher
percentage than any other additive behavior (drugs, alcohol, etc). Maybe if
science started working on that area we might find it a bit easier to keep
weight off.

Anyone that says - it's just eating less - has never been overweight (and is a
dick to boot).

------
AutoCorrect
#1 cause: they don't make time for it.

Why isn't it fun?: it takes a while to get over the soreness hurdle, then,
once you get past a certain fitness level, it becomes fun. But you have to
make it through the pain stage first. Most people quit there.

~~~
trafficlight
I don't get sore very often anymore from weight lifting, but when I do, I know
I pushed hard.

------
Frozenlock
If they exercise more they will just get more hungry. (I've been there, I
know.)

The most important factor to consider if someone wants to change its weight is
the diet. Not 'diet' in the sense of restraining yourself from eating, but
rather what you eat.

Why we get FAT by Gary Taubes <http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bTUspjZG-wc>

Unfortunately for you, I don't think there's a startup idea there. Or perhaps
make a specialized restaurant/grocery? It's really hard to find meal ready to
eat that aren't full of carbohydrates.

~~~
kevinrpope
> It's really hard to find meal ready to eat that aren't full of
> carbohydrates.

There's your startup.

------
hoka
diet diet diet diet diet diet diet.

diet. Abs are made in the kitchen!

The reason programs like P90X (and Starting Strength, the official internet
fanboy routine, which I do support!) are so effective is because they're
__comprehensive__. Most people need a program that covers all the loose ends
for them, particularly the nutrition. Going on a carrots only diet doesn't
really work.

When your nutrition ties directly to your fitness, assuming you're rigorous
with both, you really see the benefits. I agree that 'the best workout/diet is
the one you stick to' to some extent, but there's certainly wiggle room there.
Weight lifting on a linear progression program is extremely rewarding and
gives some of that instant gratification people want from exercise. Having
taken a few friends from couch-to-starting strength, the joy on their face the
first time they squat 45s on each side is always the same.

In addition to the diet, you have to overcome the "but I'm not Ahnold!" Nobody
starts out like the Governator. Getting a buddy to eat that piece of humble
pie and going into the gym benching only the bar can be damn near impossible.

~~~
enraged_camel
P90X is a bunch of BS. It's basically HIIT that feeds on people's ignorance by
referring to pseudo-scientific stuff like "shocking the muscles".

~~~
trafficlight
But if you go from sedentary to P90X, you'll see results.

~~~
enraged_camel
If you go from sedentary to _anything_ you will see results. There are
programs out there that are completely free and much more effective, was my
point.

------
enraged_camel
I've been involved in fitness for nearly ten years, mostly as an amateur
bodybuilder/powerlifter, and have spoken to (and tried to help, mostly in
vain) hundreds of people about the subject. It was only recently however that
I realized why we as a society have not been able to tackle the obesity
epidemic effectively: we insist on categorizing obesity as a physical problem,
whereas it is fundamentally a _psychological_ problem that develops physical
symptoms[1]. This psychological problem is a mixture of food addiction and
deeply ingrained bad habits. Most people fail at losing weight and keeping it
off, because they only address the symptoms: they try to eat better, or try to
exercise. Whereas where they need to start is by first accepting and
internalizing that they have an addiction, and developing the internal
motivation to either overcome it themselves, or seek help.

[1]This is probably because our society has a strong stigma against
psychological disorders.

------
AlexOrtiz201
leangains.com, you'll love it guys!

