Ask HN: You're fit and you work startup hours (9+), how do you do it? - not_a_test_user
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valyats
I work 80 hours a week, and I'm happy with my social life and fitness level.
To be and to stay fit you need to eat right, exercise and... have good genes.
Nothing you can do about your genes, but here're little hacks that helped me
to not only stay in shape, but also lose 20 lb in 6 months and maintain it.
There's nothing new, it's very easy, but you need to be disciplined about
this.

1) Eat 4-5 small meals a day with plenty of veggies and protein. Exclude any
processed food and ANYTHING with corn syrup. Read the ingredients. If there
are words that you don't know - don't eat it. I never starve, never diet. But
I also don't eat more than I need. If you drink alcohol, try to stay away from
beer and cocktails. When I drink socially, I usually either have a glass of
wine, or go straight to hard liquor (cognac, tequila, vodka).

2) Work-out 3-4 times a week (every other day) for only 20-30 minutes. To be
effective you can work out with you weight: push-ups, pull-ups, sit-ups
crunches, etc. The key is to go with no breaks, and do 3 sets to maximum
repetitions, while alternating different exercises. When I'm short on time, I
do 10 pull-ups, 20 jumping push-ups, 30 jumping lunges, 40 sit-ups. And I
repeat the cycle 3 times without breaks. It takes me 15-20 minutes. Then I
shadow box, or, stretch, or lift weights, depending on my time and mood.

So, this routine works well and doesn't require much time.

P.S. And have lots of sex! It's kind of "refills" your social and exercise
points all at once. :))))

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fuj
You're telling me you work approx. 12h every SINGLE day (weekends included)
and that has no effect in your social life, mental and physical health? 3
options:

1) Your social life's definition is different from everyone's else.

2) You only sleep 2h a day

3) This is a load of bs

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dllthomas
4) definition of "work" is different than everyone else's

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fuj
Good point, missed that one.

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ljf
I cycle to work, 10 miles each way. Plus try to do 25 to 50mile rides one day
at the weekend.

I wouldn't say I was that fit though, and though my thighs are pretty rock,
I'm not muscled elsewhere. I'd love to also have the energy to swim at lunch,
but I'm too busy and tired generally.

Cycling is good as it is actually a bit quicker than the tube, and is a great
place to clear my head.

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darkmighty
I agree that cycling doesn't really make you fit as much as it seems (it's an
incredibly efficient mean of transportation!). It is _well_ worth it for me
though, for that "head clearing". Biking is pretty awesome: you sort of relate
much more to your surroundings/city than in a car, you have time to look
around and interact, it's great.

I do miss simply walking sometimes too though (it does feel painfully slow
when you get used to cycling around!), but if the distances are large (not too
large o/c) the bike can be your best transportation friend.

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gearoidoc
Ive a 30 min walk round trip to work and normally manage to get an 60/90 mins
of exercise in the gym/football about 3 times a week. I eat pretty healthily
but drink probably more than your average bear (though prob less than your
average Irishman!).

However, I think 9+ hours a day is crazy and if you think you're being
effective for 9+ hours then you're mad. However, I do think its possible in
short bursts (about 3-4 weeks absolute max).

I've worked in startups for about six years so have plenty of personal
experience in this.

Anyway, here's your latte.

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ctvo
Finding an extra hour a day isn't difficult if it's important to you.

6 am wake up, finish work out around 7, get to work by 8, get off work at 6 pm
meets all your requirements and is very reasonable.

You can squeeze that hour in by preparing food in advance 2-3 times a week to
cut down on cooking time, taking a few hours on the weekend to do cleaning /
grocery shopping so you don't need to during the week, etc. There are infinite
ways to optimize your time to squeeze an extra hour a day for a workout.

No excuses if you want it.

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jimkri
I am a student but I have classes Tuesday through Thursday, and than I work
nights on Saturday - Monday.

During the week while I am at school I usually will wake up 5 am on
Wednesdays, to run with my neighbor. I don't even have class till 5 pm but I
get up and run. It really clears my mind up and starts the day off right. I
usually will run on Saturdays or Sundays depending on my schedule, I always
try to run 3 or 4 times a week but sometimes I cant.

Sunday - Thursday I will do push ups and some core exercises, like planks and
etc to work the core. To make sure I do it, I X off that day and write the
number of pushups I did, so I can see how I am doing at the end of the week
and to check my progress.

I am now buying fruits and veggies and making salads for my lunches for each
day of the week, I usually will prepare them at the beginning of the week to
make it easy as throwing tuna into the salad and leaving for class.

It is basically the same thing a lot of people have said, at first it seems
like a hassle but now I am in the routine and its nice. I love feeling good
and eating well. The hardest part was starting though, I was out of shape and
it sucked but it has gotten a lot easier.

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juliancox
I ride to and from work and at lunchtimes every work day. I probably do at
least 30km a day with 500m climbing. Here's how...

Block out 2 hours of your calendar at lunchtime every day. That's a non-
negotiable slot for your exercise. Do something you love (for me its mountain
biking) that makes it easy to motivate yourself to get out (having a group of
similar minded friends helps too).

Work to 6pm - there's an extra hour that takes you back up to 8. For me after
that is home and family time. If I need another hour I can work 9 to 10 or 10
to 11 when the others are in bed. It's a good quiet time to get a lot done
without interruptions.

But here's the thing, I don't often need that extra hour because, having got
out and cleared my head at lunchtime my afternoon is so much more productive
that if I was stuck in the office all day.

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diafygi
It takes ~6 weeks to form a habit. So all you need to power through is 1.5
months of consistent exercise, then you will feel weird when you don't
exercise.

I've found the best way to get through the first 1.5 months is to go through
it with someone. Get a partner to go to the gym with. Find someone who also
rides their bike to work. Join a running/fitness club that meets early in the
morning several times a week. Etc. It only takes about 30-60 min to exercise
enough to be fit.

Also, keep in mind that your mental health depends on exercise. You won't burn
out nearly as quickly if you are physically active. Exercise makes the startup
life much more sustainable.

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amac
This is true. Like most human habits, once you establish routine, whatever it
is you're doing becomes natural. Running is fantastic as all you need
literally is a good pair of running shoes and you're good to go.

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jqm
There are 24 hours in a day. Assume you don't have kids.

sleep: 7-8, eat/shower/shit: 2, commute to work: 1, chores/shopping/errands:
2, work: 9 ... you still have 2-3 hours left.

That ought to give you 45 minutes or an hour 3 times a week easy. +Weekends.
You can work at your business even more (if you can manage that..but if you
aren't really working, why?) and still make the time for fitness.

The point is... fitness generally isn't a time issue. It's a time
management/motivation issue. Maybe cut out some video games or screwing around
on the internet? Oh, and watch what you eat.

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seyfulislam
Commit to work takes 1,5 * 2 hours in İstanbul. You still have 0 hours left.

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jqm
If you have a 2 hour commute time, you can't work 9+ hours a day and have time
for fitness. Or much of anything else for that matter.

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eswat
I would like to say that my business is my top priority. But it’s not. Taking
care of myself – body, mind and spirit – is. But when I take care of myself
then the other parts of running my business fall neatly into place.

Three times a week I meet my personal trainer at 7AM for strength training. I
usually dread having to wake up this early and it doesn’t come cheap either.
But I know that the money, time and effort I spend here at the gym will let me
sustain the crazy output needed to keep my startup running afterwards.

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BorisMelnik
I use myfitnesspal to track all of my calories and workouts. I work 6-12 hour
days, and usually take 1-2 days per week off. I workout 30-90 minutes 5 days a
week doing HIT training. I'm in great shape, feel great look great.

Its a pretty simple mathematical equation: if you are trying to lose weight,
just calculate your calories + energy burned, don't eat too many bad carbs,
bad fats and eat lots of protein, fresh foods, and get fresh air.

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TheAlchemist
Well, you just do it ! It's just a matter of priorities - you can always find
an extra hour every other day, or go to the gym during lunchtime (that depends
on the country you live).

Also, a very important thing to remember - staying fit is as much about eating
right as it is about physical training. And eating right takes no extra time
as compared to eating bad (but it may be a bit more expensive, again,
depending on the country you live in).

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dreamdu5t
I bike to work 1 hour each way, five days a week. (15 miles per day, 75 miles
per week) It forces me to exercise (need to commute) and keeps me awake and
fresh at work. I also eat right.

Ask yourself, do you want to get fit or get ripped for the ladies? They are
really very separate things.

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chuhnk
I go to the gym 4 times per week for an hour. I make the time for it. Healthy
body, healthy mind. There needs to be period of times which you escape
reality, as in no connection to the working world, no phones, nothing. The gym
is that time for me.

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FlopV
One word. Burpees. But seriously, you do circuit workouts similar to crossfit,
you can get away with working out for about 30-45 minutes. Just get the most
out of that time instead of having to spend all day at the gym.

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loumf
3-4 Days/week I get up at 5:15am, work out 6-7 (Crossfit), and I add in a
weekend day too (30+ minutes of endurance/cardio).

Eat lots of vegetables and lean meats, lightly processed.

I work out of my house, so I have 0 commute.

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neostim
Track caloric intake (I use myfitnesspal.com / rippedrecipes.com (shameless
plug)

Do crossfit 5 times a week... rest takes care of itself.

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funkylexoo
This hasn't been mentioned in the comments below, but I think that enjoying
your work and being deeply inspired by it makes a ton of difference. When I
love my job I find that I interact more with people, snack less, find the
energy to do more sports, more often, deal better with the stress, sleep
better, etc. When I hate my job, I snack more, move less, etc.

