

You Name It, and Exercise Helps It - robg
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/04/29/health/29brod.html?partner=rssuserland&emc=rss&pagewanted=all

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altay
This article, and the one from the other day
(<http://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=176526>) inspired a little idea: bite-
size exercise.

You subscribe to a (Twitter?) feed of simple, two-minute, quick-break-from-
your-desk exercises, like "do 20 pushups", "walk up and down a flight of
stairs 3 times", or "jog around the block." These exercises are explicitly
designed for busy folks like us who spend too much time sitting in front of a
computer.

You get a task like this every few hours. When you complete the task, you
reply to the message. You can see who did the exercise, poke friends who
haven't yet done it, encourage each other. Office-mates could make it a shared
break.

Maybe there's a "step it up" button, which increases the intensity (like on a
treadmill) -- you go from 20 pushups to 30, for example. Eventually, use
historical data to customize exercises.

Thoughts?

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nazgulnarsil
I like it a lot. I doubt it would catch on though.

A good rule of thumb is that things that encourage people to be healthier or
smarter will not be popular. The things that gain popularity are tools that
allow people to be lazier and stupider. Social networking is a way for morons
to say stupid things to one another with less effort. Google allowed idiots to
search the web without knowing anything about boolean search terms. etc.

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TrevorJ
My rule: If you do what your body was made to do, and you do it in balance
you'll feel better and be more healthy. It's a bitter pill to swallow for our
generation, but our bodies weren't meant to sit looking at a screen 12 hours a
day.

~~~
mattmaroon
Totally. Im thinking of going with a standup desk.

~~~
Xichekolas
Currently trying that myself, it's actually quite pleasant so far. I just put
my desk up on cinder blocks to raise it to elbow level. If I like it I'll find
a less ghetto solution.

~~~
kirubakaran
Ghetto tech FTW

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llimllib
Ok, I'll name it: my damn knee joints.

~~~
gcv
Try rowing or cross-country skiing instead of running. Much easier on the
knees. It'll probably help your joints.

~~~
llimllib
I'm a competitive ultimate player, and I really like my sport. I'm just
saying, excercise like everything else is not an unalloyed good. My achy knees
today after practice yesterday are evidence.

~~~
mattmaroon
The right kind of exercise helps a lot. Ultimate as a sole source of exercise
is clearly not the right kind (though it's probably much more enjoyable).

~~~
llimllib
Oh definitely! I train all the time, I try to do 4 nights a week. I'm better
at it in the offseason than I am during the season, because my body gets beat
up and it's hard to convince myself to train when I'm sore.

It's just that ultimate is so stressful to my body that it overwhelms the rest
of what I do.

I'm glad to talk your ear off about training methods, crossfit and tabatas,
but this is probably not the right place for it. DIY gyms _are_ kind of hacker
though.

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Tichy
"Randi weighs more than 300 pounds and has borderline diabetes, but she
controls her blood sugar and keeps her bright outlook on life by swimming
every day for about 45 minutes."

Something is wrong with this picture. Not denying that exercise is good, but
clearly, in this case, it is not enough.

I am confused - I have read several times that diabetes (the acquired type)
can be controlled with the right diet, so that you don't have symptoms anymore
and don't need medication (for example in Kurzweill's books, and in "The China
Study"). So why are there still people like that? I don't think they are
getting the right treatment, and they are kidding themselves with the 45
minutes exercise.

~~~
Retric
If someone weighs 300lb's then they are probably weigh 100+ pounds more than
their goal weight which works out to around 350,000+ calories. Fixing that
would take not eating for 3 months or a long term solution like 45 minutes of
exercise a day.

Chances are if she keeps that up for 1-2 years she will have lost a lot of
weight but nothing is a magic bullet at that level of weight.

~~~
Tichy
Sure there is no quick fix. I am just worried that people will lull themselves
into feeling they are doing something, while they still remain dependent on
the pharmaceutic industry. Which would be exactly what the pharmaceutic
industry would like.

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lyime
One of the most important things I got out Startup School 08 was to exercise
MORE often.

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mattmaroon
That reminds me, I didn't hit the ellpitical machine yesterday. Better do that
now.

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CapnObvious
I hate NYT for requiring me to register and login to their site. I have
created about 30 logins and I always forget them anytime I use a new browser,
or am at a new location, after a fresh install, new computer, whatever.

F you, NYT. I don't read any of your crap because of it.

~~~
dpapathanasiou
Next time that happens, just clear your browser cache (including cookies), and
reload the page; you'll see the full article without logging in.

And there is, of course, this: <http://www.bugmenot.com>

~~~
jcl
Or search for the headline in Google. NYT apparently doesn't block anonymous
users referred by Google.

[http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=You+Name+It%2C+and+...](http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=You+Name+It%2C+and+Exercise+Helps+It&btnG=Google+Search)

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sdurkin
Correlation != Causality

That said, exercise makes you feel good.

~~~
sgoraya
Are you studying for the LSAT ;)

Agreed though, my sense of well being is always greater when I exercise
regularly - Lately its been pickup basketball games and a mini routine of
pushups and situps in the morning

