
Fitness Isn’t a Lifestyle Anymore, Sometimes It’s a Cult - DiabloD3
http://www.wired.com/2016/06/fitness-isnt-lifestyle-anymore-sometimes-cult/
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allendoerfer
What works for me is the exact opposite of this. I do not like anything
resembling classes. I go to the gym and do weightlifting. No fixed times to
show up, everybody can work on their own, it is all about you.

The main motivation comes from beating your own personal records or looking
better, which happens incredibly fast in the beginning. After a while
addiction and routine set in plus you develop a fear to lose your gains, which
being a human bias is worse than not getting any. Sure, you want to beat
others, but there are so many factors that play into this, so it is quite
relaxed.

You can bring a buddy with you, but after a few months you become a regular
and notice more and more people you have talked to once. Now it is more like
going to a club where you can do your thing. Because of the pauses between
sets and the obvious topic (everybody is thinking about how much they can
lift) it is super easy to have a shallow talk to a stranger. Since you have
talked to them once, in the future they will come up to you if they need a
spot.

~~~
saiya-jin
i am in the same bandwagon (free weights & treadmill, rest is done outside)
and from my perspective - there are people who can enjoy any generic activity
on their own. if there are in group of friends, fine, but it's not mandatory,
and in fact sometimes can be annoying. I am like this, set my own
speed/intensity, but my goals are not bodybuilding nor power-lifting.

then there are those who don't do almost anything alone. bike ride? only with
friends, otherwise no ride. going to run in the gym? only with
friend/colleague. I am not this type so cannot really comprehend the necessity
of companionship at (almost) all costs. but then I am more introvertish, so it
kinda makes sense

~~~
uola
Most people "going to the gym" at one point have to come to terms with that
it's to some extent a waste of time. Yes, you get more fit, but that's about
it. Begin able to combine getting fit with a hobby, making friends, having an
experience or other things that make up for a balanced life usually provides
more value.

~~~
w23j
> Most people "going to the gym" at one point have to come to terms with that
> it's to some extent a waste of time.

Parent divided people into those that don't do anything alone and those who
do. A similar dichotomy is between those who enjoy exercise intrinsically and
those who don't (who therefore do it for another reason, such as to be fit).

Telling the first group that they are "wasting their time" makes as much sense
(to them) as telling a violin player he is "wasting his time" playing the
violin.

People are different. To each his own.

~~~
uola
Many people think it's worth it, especially in the beginning. Fewer can come
to terms with the invested time when their progression slows done because of
increased fitness, getting older and/or having more commitments. If you do
something that is also an experience, continue to have visible progression
and/or builds/maintains relationships with people it's easier to keep doing it
for a long time.

I would imagine it's the same if you play an instrument and would be far more
likely to continue practicing if you're in some sort of band.

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return0
Seem to fit the purpose of a church for the modern individualistic city-
dwellers. Like-minded people, a common purpose, regular worship meetings, sexy
dress code, commercialism and a sense of achievement. Amen to post-workout
endorphine rush.

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haywirez
Could be worse in my view - if you're going to join a 'cult' to begin with,
fitness might be the best alternative. Keep it in check, but it clearly fills
a basic need we as humans seem to have.

~~~
droopyEyelids
Everyone looks happy and goofy in their pictures, which is a good look imo.

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brahmwg
Time to chime in with my own experience;

The climbing gym is definitely cult-like, and ive chugged a tall glass of
kool-aid. The very nature of climbing is social (you need a partner to belay
you) and people (at least at my gym) are all super friendly. Everybody climbs
differently based on their own anatomy, and you can learn alot from watching
and speaking with others. Normally I prefer training alone, but this is one
instance where having a climbing cult definitely helps motivate, not to
mention build trust in your belayer. I highly recommend joining this
particular cult, or at least giving the kool-aid a taste.

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torgoguys
Apologies for the very basic, stoopid question, but what's up with gyms?
People see them as the way to get fit, but running is uncomplicated and free.
Aerobics work too. For lower intensity biking or other activities work and
require minimal equipment. You don't have weights at home, but is bulking up
necessary? Is it just that you can workout more comfortably no matter the
weather? Sorry for the basic questions--I really don't know the answers, but
assume there are good ones. Thanks.

~~~
sevenless
The business model of gyms is that people sign up, then stop going after one
month. So, that's how gyms stay in business.

For the minority who actually use their gym membership, lots don't like
running, or have bad knees, so gyms offer a variety of cardio exercises. For
example, rowing's a good cardio exercise, and a decent rowing machine is
expensive enough that a gym membership can make sense. Running on a treadmill
can be preferable to running outside, too. You may not have a good track
anywhere close, or you may prefer being able to watch a screen while you run.
Gyms offer things like group spin classes, so there's also a social dimension.
Ditto the social aspect for meatheads who like to hang out together lifting
big weights (no offense intended; I used to be one myself).

The other point is that when people say 'fit' they often mean 'skinny'.
Unfortunately, the reality is that it's very difficult to lose weight and keep
it off (unless you take up smoking, start doing drugs, or get a gastric
bypass). Running, in a gym or outside, is unlikely to help. There's some
evidence that regular exercise will help you maintain weight loss and it
certainly has other health benefits, but this being HN, I think we can be
blunt about the fact that if you aren't skinny the odds are against you ever
being so in future.

> You don't have weights at home, but is bulking up necessary?

It doesn't matter if it's necessary or not; some people want to have big
muscles or to be very strong, as an aesthetic choice, and they go to gyms for
that reason. It's not really much less valid than wanting to be fit.

There are reasons to use weights other than "getting big", too. With muscle
it's very much "use it or lose it". Older people particularly should be
exercising with weights in order not to lose muscle.

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snarfy
I workout alone. I've been doing it weekly for the last 5 months now. I've
tried before to get into it, and usually stopped after a couple weeks.

This time, after about 4 weeks something clicked. I would really regret
skipping a workout. The regret has kept me going the last 5 months.

For computer workers who sit in a chair all day, I can't recommend enough the
benefits of working out. We all spend a large amount of time learning new
technologies and mental self-improvement. Working out gives you a different
type of improvement and a nice break from the mental exercises.

~~~
csydas
Well, accountability is a very important motivating factor for any habit
you're trying to develop. Whether it's practcing a language, an instrument, or
a skill, many need the feeling of accountability in order to proceed. When
you're in a class, you're not only learning from the instructor, you're
accountable to them, and they to you regarding your success. In group
activities like this, you're accountable to your buddies or your team.

With solo exercise or any self-improvement, the most important thing is making
you accountable to yourself. It's a fine line between a healthy care and an
obsessive care, but when you walk on the healthy side, it's a good things. In
a completely non-professional manner, I've been the "buddy" for a lot of
people looking to lose weight and get a bit healthier in general; I"m by no
means in perfect shape, but I eat clean, run daily, and do light lifting.
Since I travel around frequently, it's hard for me to be an eternal buddy for
people, so I almost always emphasize getting them accountable to themselves.
Not to make them judge and hate themselves, but more just to ask "do I really
need the large popcorn at the theatre?", or "it has been a long day, but do I
want to spend it on the couch watching reruns or take 20 minutes to jog a
little?".

By putting a conscious effort and awareness on one's self and making them
"talk to themselves" about their wants, since ultimately that's what it needs
to become; not exercising because they should, or losing weight because
they've been called fat, but to have people be able to be honest with
themselves and figure out what it is they really want. Once you start to cut
out the external noise a lot of people use to frame their identity, you stop
getting ridiculous goals and ideas like "bulk up like The Rock" or "look like
[super model]", and instead get more realistic and practical things like "I
just wanna get up the stairs without being out of breath" or "it'd be nice to
just lose a bit of this gut". The latter are what the individual wants, and
that's actionable. They're accountable to themselves at that point, not to
someone they see only occasionally. Actually wanting to care for yourself is
probably the greatest motivator with health stuff you can have; some people
just need a little push to get started.

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peter303
Several famous running fanatics like Jim Fixx, Caballo Blance and Gearge
Sheehas died early. Fitness is fine as long as you dont expect miracles.

~~~
nibs
I think most hardcore fitness people would die early. DNA telomeres can "turn
over" a roughly fixed number of calories in a lifetime (2000 * 365 * 80). If
you increase your rate of caloric burn, and increase your rate of caloric
consumption, you burn through your telomere's ability to use the energy. And
then you experience cell death that much sooner. Getting the right amount of
exercise, not too much and not too little, is the best way to increase
longevity.

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hownottowrite
Crossfit for Hufflepuff.

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apatters
Can we get a feature which lets you suppress sites from the HN listings if
they prevent you from using adblockers? I am happy with just writing off those
publications as if they don't exist, but unfortunately they still show up on
HN and in Google.

~~~
melling
We don't believe sites should make money? Some people want to forbid paywall
sites, while others want to forbid sites that have ads. What sort of future
economy are you proposing?

~~~
gambiting
I'm fine with them showing ads, I just don't want paywalled websites on HN. It
would be a bit daft if suddenly you couldn't actually read anything on HN
without paying, no?

~~~
amelius
If you don't mind the ads, just open the link in an incognito window.

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ensiferum
Sorry can't read this, wired.com is so annoying with it's ad blocker blocker.
Gotta hit that back button.

~~~
avalexandrov
If you're using uBlock you should add Anti-Adblock Killer from the 3rd party
filters section in the uBlock dashboard. I'm currently scrolling through the
article without any problems.

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analogj
For everyone using an ad-blocker, here's a working link:

[https://archive.is/tdF2L](https://archive.is/tdF2L)

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dschiptsov
Why, in the age of cosplay, when majority choose to roleplay (intelligence in
case of hipsters) instead of acquiring real abilities, there is no wonder that
other people decided to cosplay fitness (by consumption of certain products
and services, dressing and acting, like hipsters do).

This, by the way, probably has something to do with gang and criminal sub-
cultures of role-playing of success and presumably high social status they
actually lack.

Two thirds of those fitness obsessed could not even run a 10km, but spending
thousands for their image of being extremely fit.

Nothing new under the moon. The social media created this new age of mass
cosplay and role-governed behavior. Instead of beatniks, hippies or Elvises of
old days we got this role-playing mediocrity.

~~~
nradov
I don't agree. The vast majority of fitness obsessed people could run 10km. If
they're not regular runners then perhaps they will finish with a slow time and
be sore the next day, but they could do it. I run several such races every
year and I always see other racers who are obviously in bad shape yet still
manage to finish. (And I'm not a fast runner myself.)

~~~
koralatov
I agree with you: the majority of genuinely fitness-obsessed, or even fitness-
interested, people could run 10K.

I wonder if parent means the people who give the _appearance_ of being
fitness-obsessed, rather than those who genuinely are fitness-obsessed.

There is a large section of the population here in the UK who _dress_ as if
they exercise regularly, but actually do very little exercise -- these people
buy Nikes and yoga pants and wear them around, but never actually engage in
any real exercise. They're the ones who look at you like you're insane when
you ask them which gym the use, or if they're training for a 10K run.

The local university campuses have a large number of people like this
attending classes dressed as if for a workout. I see a lot of them in coffee
shops, and even some in pubs.

