
Startup Fitness: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Working Out - jasonshen
http://www.derekflanzraich.com/2011/06/start-up-fitness/
======
programminggeek
Being overweight and having lost 35 lbs this year with plenty to go(I'm still
overweight), I would say that you are more likely to work out and be active if
you lose weight. That doesn't require much if any exercise, just an
intelligent diet.

I'm not anti-exercise and I've worked out a lot in the past, but I've found
that being skinnier makes being active easier and more fun. Moving sucks if
you're carrying an extra 50-100 lbs. around. Most skinny people don't really
get this.

So, I've focused on nailing the diet and that works for me. I basically didn't
exercise more than once a week so far this year, but now that I'm down quite a
bit, I am naturally finding myself to be more active.

In the long run both exercise and eating right are incredibly important, so if
you're overweight and want to be more active, get rid of the extra weight and
you might find yourself exercising more by default.

~~~
auxbuss
Good call.

I've lost 25% of my body weight this year (I started on 4 Jan) -- 16 to 12
stone, ~100kg to 75kg. I've run marathons and climbed mountains in the past --
big Himalayan lumps and I've sumitted Denali, for example -- so I know what
fit means. Or at least my body does.

Exercise comes naturally after losing weight, It is incredibly hard when you
are overweight. At the start of the year I would sweat walking around the
supermarket. Now, I run six miles over the local hill for an hour and a half.
And it's marvellous. But it isn't easy. It requires single minded, selfish
determination.

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dkarl
I like Crossfit-style WODs (Workout Of the Day) because each workout has
measurement built in, and you work to perform as well as possible against that
measurement, which means motivation is built in, too. They're suitable for
"startup" fitness because you can do the workouts by yourself or in a small
group, and because you can adapt them to whatever equipment and facilities you
have available.

For example, a circuit training-like WOD might be to do the following in the
shortest time you can:

    
    
      21 pullups
      21 burpees
      800m run
      15 pullups
      15 burpees
      400m run
      9 pullups
      9 burpees
      200m run
    

If you don't have space to run, you can jump rope, and if you don't have
someplace to rig up a pullup bar (unlikely!) you can do rows with something
heavy.

Or you might do the following as many times as possible in 15 minutes (in
Crossfit lingo, AMRAC -- As Many Rounds As you Can):

    
    
      10 deadlifts
      20 wall balls (throwing a medicine ball against a 10' target on a wall)
      400m run
    

After the workout, you record your time or number of rounds and the weights
you used for each exercise. The numbers motivate you and allow you to measure
your progress if you repeat the same workout every couple of months. For me,
it helps a lot to have the measurement in mind while I'm working out. The
harder I work, the better the numbers I get to write down afterward.

You can do this on your own, like I said, but for some people the pressure of
performing in front of other people helps a lot. It's certainly true for me,
even though I'm completely the opposite when it comes to mental work. Having
instructors is good, too. They'll push you to pile on the weight or ease back
on the weight as appropriate. If joining CrossFit is impractical or
unaffordable, and you can't talk your friends into working out with you,
competitive sports can serve the same purpose of providing motivation and
measuring improvement.

~~~
jacques_chester
I regret sounding like _that guy_ , but Crossfit didn't invent "scaling" or
measuring your workouts. I know you're not making that claim explicitly, but
the way you framed "Crossfit includes measurement!" can be misread.

The concepts of record keeping and adjusting volume/intensity/exercise
selection to the trainee are older than dirt. I'd be surprised if there aren't
clay tablets with rep counts on them in a museum somewhere.

In its defence, Crossfit:

* Gets people off their backside to do actual hard training,

* Provides social structure to encourage consistent training, and

* Introduces people to Oly lifting, which as an Oly lifter I don't begrudge at all.

~~~
dkarl
Working out that way is synonymous with Crossfit for most people the same way
desktop computing is synonymous with Windows and OSX for most people. They
didn't invent it, but they deserve a lot of credit for making it convenient
for people to just sign up for a class and do it. Most of the people griping
about Crossfit getting too much credit weren't doing anything to make it
accessible and convenient for people until Crossfit came along and proved
there was a market for it. If I wanted to train that way before Crossfit, I
would have had to: find a suitable place to work out, buy or construct some of
the equipment, schedule sessions with a personal trainer to make sure I was
doing the exercises correctly, recruit friends to work out with me, and so on.
And there certainly would have been compromises. Most gyms aren't set up to
allow you to do a set of cleans, drop your weights, and then run 400 meters
without dodging cars or pedestrians. (Hell, most don't let you drop weights,
period. As far as I am aware, there are only two commercial gyms in my city
that have bumper plates, not including the four (at least) Crossfit locations,
and one of them is a specialized Oly training facility that costs more than
Crossfit.) With Crossfit, I just show up, pay attention, work hard, and have
fun. It's a great service.

------
zwieback
Do entrepreneurs somehow have different bodies from other humans? Fail to see
what makes this article especially relevant to entrepreneurs.

~~~
derekflanzraich
Yes. Tiger blood runs through their veins & they have fewer active nerve
endings. Don't forget the adamantamium skeleton.

~~~
zwieback
Ahh, thanks, didn't now that. Good thing there's no charge for awesomeness.

~~~
kbutler
...or attractiveness.

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thomas11
This article essentially says "practice any sport, whenever and wherever, just
keep at it". While that's not wrong, it's not very useful.

For me personally, scooby1962's videos on Youtube were really helpful. Great
advice on building muscle without doing crazy stuff, not requiring a gym and
almost no equipment.

~~~
alexwestholm
I'll second the recommendation for Scooby. He's a little strange, perhaps, but
his methods are effective and he's got a high signal/noise ratio.

<http://www.scoobysworkshop.com/>

~~~
gonzo
if you had that level of testosterone and various endorphins in your
bloodstream, you might seem a "little strange", too.

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jvandenbroeck
I love sports but I don't see why article this relates to entrepreneurs? Just
a cheap catching title to get visitors? ;(

If I want some casual health tips I wouldn't go to HN.

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phil
Attention Bay Area people!

If you are in SF: some of the best running terrain in the west is just over
the Golden Gate bridge. Hop on your bike, ride to the Marin headlands, and go
for a walk. If you're already pretty fit, go for a run. The trail network is
amazing and you can go as far as you want.

If you are on the Peninsula: you're next to some of the best road biking on
the west coast. You can make tons of loops up to Skyline Rd and they are all
awesome. For starters try starting down in Palo Alto and riding over
Arastradero to Alpine Road, work up to climbing Old La Honda.

Why go to a gym?

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arnorhs
I don't think I could go to a gym and exercise just for the sake of exercising
and I'm guessing a lot of internally-motivated startup guys/gals are the same
way, so I encourage you to pick up some sort of exercise that is also FUN.

I wake up at 5:00 am on Tuesdays and Fridays and go bouldering at Planet
Granite (In Belmont, I'm currently located in Palo Alto (well, for a short
time anyways))

For rock climbing/bouldering you need a fair bit of effort and it is also a
very enjoyable exercise (it's kind of like playing).

This also fits nicely into the rest of my schedule.

Highly recommended

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Sukotto
I got a lot of value out of the Couch to 5k jogging program. Just downloaded
the Robert Ullrey weekly podcast [1]. Then it was just a matter of putting on
my running shoes every other morning and following his coaching.

It helped to follow two rules:

1) As soon as the alarm went off I was committed to get up right away, pee,
step into my shoes, step outside, and close the door behind me. Once outside,
if I _really_ didn't want to continue, I could opt out and go back inside.

2) The following morning I do it no matter what. No more than 1 skip between
sessions.

It worked really well for me and I recommend others try it. No fancy
equipment, no custom apps. Just my music player, running shoes, and a piece of
paper with the 27 (9 weeks x 3 sessions/week)workouts for me to tick off as I
did them

I _really_ wanted to try ShovelGlove [2] but have too many kids running around
for me to feel safe.

-

[1] Looks like his blog is gone, but you can download his podcast files here:
<http://c25k.com/podcasts.htm>

[2] <http://www.shovelglove.com/>

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dminor
Another place to look if you want a structured environment is your local
community college. I recently rediscovered my love for playing soccer and was
pleasantly surprised to find I could take a twice weekly class as a non-
degree-seeking student. We spend most of the class scrimmaging.

They offer all sorts of sports like basketball, swimming, weight lifting,
martial arts, dance, etc.

~~~
count
That's a fantastic idea! I didn't realize you could take sports as a class...

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happy4crazy
I tell practically everyone I know to try Crossfit. There are two basic
difficulties with any exercise regimen, and Crossfit nails both:

1\. Figuring out what to do. 2\. Actually doing it, consistently, over the
long haul.

Crossfit will teach you how to do the old-school, badass basics of fitness--
stuff that will get you in great shape and is actually fun to do. No gimmicks,
no miracles, just stuff that will kick your ass.

Doing Crossfit also makes you a member of an incredibly friendly, supportive
community. This makes it so much easier to stick with it--every class, you'll
see people in your community, friends, going hard and making progress. You
support them and they support you. You'll work out with beginners, who you can
help, and with badasses, who can help you.

A well-run Crossfit gym is a magical place.

~~~
thisisnotmyname
Crossfit seems to be for people who are already pretty strong athletes. Is it
really something you can just jump on board with if you're fairly out of
shape?

I've spent the last few months following the "Starting Strength" plan
(<http://startingstrength.com/>) with the idea of getting in good enough shape
to do crossfit.

~~~
grammaton
Doing starting strength to get to crossfit seems a bit...backwards...to me.

~~~
thompo
It's also a bit ironic that starting strength will teach him the proper
mechanics for most compound lifts, and then Crossfit will turn around and
teach him how to work as quickly as possible with an often times alarming
disregard for form.

If anything, I'd look into barbell complexes as a way to prepare for Crossfit.

[http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_trai...](http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/sports_body_training_performance/screw_cardio_four_complexes_for_a_shredded_physique)

Check out the Cosgrove Evil 8, it's one of my all time favorites.

~~~
rgraham
Your statement about CrossFit encouraging a lack of proper form is patently
false. That is a common, and false, criticism of a great fitness program.

CrossFit encourages you to work fast because intensity is correlated with
power and results. Power -- what we want to build a capacity for -- is simply
work over time. Results come more quickly to intense training because the body
has shown to adapt faster to (relatively) intense stimuli. crossfit.com is
covered in references for the interested.

Form is a key part of these movements, but learning a proper squat or clean is
the endeavor of a lifetime. No one is perfect at significant load here.
CrossFit teaches a balance of these elements that maximizes fitness in the
athletes. Injury due to improper form or overtraining is contrary to what
CrossFit wants to achieve.

Some people take things too far. Some people not far enough. CrossFit simply
wants you to push your relative limits each time you do a WOD. That is how you
get better. You're never going to be a great race car driver taking practice
laps at 30mph.

There is more to say, but I'd challenge you to find a good affiliate and try
it out. Experience is a grand teacher.

I'm CrossFit certified.

~~~
rluhar
Off topic - but does anyone know of a Crossfit gym or a Crossfit group in
Tokyo?

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mitrick2
Server error unfortunately - this is something I'd like to see though as I
basically stopped working out completely for the past four years of my start-
up experience. I literally started running again last week, and it has already
made a difference in my overall happiness.

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jmtame
Having just moved to SF, I knew I had to get back to a gym, so I started
looking around and was shocked at how expensive the prices were. Upwards of
$100/month for anything decent, which is way out of my budget.

I just started P90X, I'm on day 5 and everything cost me $90 and I _own_ the
equipment, rather than paying a high monthly gym cost. I probably get better
results and spend less time traveling to/from the gym because I can do them
from my apartment and they're demonstrated on video. I managed to find the
following off Amazon, all for under $90: pull up bar, push up holders, 5lbs
whey protein, 300g creatine, iPhone arm band, yoga mat, resistance bands.

~~~
thompo
Another suggestion - check out Never Gymless by Ross Enamait. It's a fantastic
resource for people who either don't want to go to a gym or just those of us
who work really late some days and don't want to miss a workout.

<http://www.rosstraining.com/nevergymless.html>

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BadassFractal
Start lifting weights. As someone else suggested, Starting Strength is a good
place to begin with. Get someone to coach you so that your progress is kept
under control and you don't hurt yourself with bad form.

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jessedhillon
I've been using the BodyMedia FIT (<http://www.bodymedia.com/>) to get
detailed stats about my fitness level -- calories burned, level of physical
activity, sleep quality and duration. As a data geek, it's made all the
difference in my motivation to stay fit: I feel a level of control and
certainty about my fitness decisions, now that they are informed by data.

~~~
j_s
Scott Hanselman referenced <http://www.fitbit.com/> (hardware for $99 instead
of $150 to $250) and <http://www.loseit.com/> (tracking software currently
free in beta instead of $13/mo) in a recent blog post about continuous
improvement measurement.

[http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ProductivityAndContinuousImpro...](http://www.hanselman.com/blog/ProductivityAndContinuousImprovementMeasurementAndRescueTimeMakesItHappenBothPersonallyAndAtWork.aspx)

~~~
jessedhillon
That's cool, but the BodyMedia is in actual contact with your body. The
determinations it makes about calories burned factor in body temperature and
galvanic response. AFAIK, the FitBit is a wireless pedometer.

True, you do have to spend ~$7/mo for the subscription, unless you hack it
with Python (there is a module for interfacing with it over USB.)

------
amalag
I suggest buying Vibram shoes and start running gently. My minor back pain
went away and it feels great. Gotta ease in the calves and lower legs though.

~~~
rluhar
I second that. I had problems with shin splints and sore knees running which
seemed to go away once I switched to VFFs (Bikilas). You must take it slow and
really focus on your running form to avoid hurting yourself though. Also, in
my experience, running in VFFs will not result in you going any faster
(probably a little slower), but definitely more comfortable.

------
dualogy
I plugged TacFit here before, and I'll gladly do it again. "A martial arts
training masquerading as a fitness programme". A bit on the pricey side (1-off
cost for an impressive box-set of digital training materials), but no gym fees
or expensive equipment.

~~~
jasonshen
Can you tell us more about TacFit? What kind of results did you get going
through it? Are you still doing it now? How much of it is well packaged
information that's free online and how much is "proprietary" stuff you won't
find else where?

~~~
dualogy
Can't believe it's been 116 days already. Damn how time's flying.
<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=2287850>

------
tudorachim
A better discussion: [http://www.quora.com/What-exercise-regimens-are-best-
for-ext...](http://www.quora.com/What-exercise-regimens-are-best-for-
extremely-busy-entrepreneurs-and-programmers)

------
flocial
All fitness advice boils down to "just do it, then do it again" but intensity
makes it a whole different game. I enjoyed the article but I'd love to see
more on how competitive athletes "up the ante" in intensity.

------
riledhel
Personally, I've found <http://nerdfitness.com/> to be quite interesting, and
he's also an enterpreneur in his own way.

~~~
derekflanzraich
Totally agree. Steve Kamb is the man.

------
chunkyslink
What about cycling to and from work? By the time you get there you are
energised and at the end of the day it wakes you up too.

------
patrickgzill
5BX - do it everyday and it really the most basic you need. 11 minutes a day.

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georgieporgie
Me: generally fit, bicycled from Canada to Mexico last fall, climbed for
years, weight trained off and on for more years, did a lot of yoga from 2005 -
2008. Right now, I go to a gym every other day, (almost) no matter what.

I'm currently focusing on muscle. I've reduced my workout to simply doing
squats, bench presses, and pull-ups. I've gained 20 pounds in six months. This
is way better than any previous cycle, when I had much more intricate, varied
workouts.

Here's the thing, though: the absolute fittest and most prepared for anything
I've _ever_ felt was when I was doing yoga 3 - 5 times per week.

Yoga? Yeah, yoga. The first month is absolute hell. After that, it got better.
Over a few years I bumped up more and more until I was going five times per
week. I was more prepared for random climbing, hiking, and cycling adventures
from that than when focusing on _any_ of my other activities. Of course, a lot
of it had to do with finding teachers who consistently taught difficult
classes.

Additionally, if you're stressed, the whole yoga 'mindfulness' thing really
works. I'm not spiritual _at all_ , but it really had a terrific calming
effect on me, and was invaluable when I was having a stressful week at work.

------
maeon3
Disable the shower at your house so you have to shower every morning at the
gym. While you are there, fit in a few sets and a run on the elliptical. I've
been doing this for at least 7 years and I've got the body to show for it. (no
my shower at home isn't disabled, but it is in my mind).

