9 ms·

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a stre

by richmt 11y ago

On the health note, the single most beneficial thing I did for myself this year was to start lifting. 6 months ago I started committing 3 days a week to a strength training program which I've strictly followed since. Making gains in the gym has motivated me to sleep better and eat better which both have had huge effects on every aspect of my life. Not only that, but the exercise has helped a ton with anxiety I've had throughout life and even the few gains I've made have been a huge boost in confidence. I urge everyone here to take up lifting as a hobby and stick with it.

beachstartup 11y ago
for those of you who might be thinking about this sort of thing around the new year - if you're serious about fitness don't forget to track your calories and/or clean up your diet! if you're chronically overweight, or underweight, you might be just making things up in your head about your inability to lose or gain weight - "what isn't measured can not be improved."
- donkeyd 11y ago
  While I somewhat agree with you, I'd like to add that this is not a necessity. If you don't want to be serious about fitness, because you just want to be healthier, just do the lifting. This will already be a great improvement. If you become used to it, feel better about yourself and feel like there's more room for improvement, then start watching you diet.
  - beachstartup 11y ago
    yeah well, i guess if you're not serious then by definition you should just eat whatever you feel like. do lift though. it's not just for bros! seriously though... most of us tech types here on hn start lifting only after our body starts to decline after years of abuse, in our early 30s. my productivity really took a hit. which is as good a reason as any to start.
sharps_xp 11y ago
For myself, 1 year ago, the idea of going to the gym 3 times a week was inconvenient and I just did not want to do it. I got over that obstacle by paying an uncomfortable premium on gym membership/personal trainer. The inner conflict went FROM $60 gym membership/long-term health vs going home TO $175 gym membership/long-term health vs going home. I chose the gym a lot more often then, and I am much more healthy than 1 year ago.
- rbinv 11y ago
  What's up with the all caps "FROM" and "TO"? SQL habit?
dasboth 11y ago
This is exactly what I want to do in the coming year. What was the biggest barrier for you to start, and how did you finally overcome it?
- rbinv 11y ago
  Honestly: just start (with low weights). That's what I did, anyway. Work your way up and focus on proper form.
- cabinpark 11y ago
  If you've never been to a gym before or done weights, please, please, please get a personal trainer for a session or two to show your the correct form. I see way too many people at the gym who have shit form but "lift" a lot of weight and it is ineffective and can be dangerous. Form is way more important than weight. Remember, many exercises are designed with a specific muscle to target and if you don't do it properly, you won't get any of the benefits.
  - dasboth 11y ago
    You're right, I can't imagine I could get proper form by looking at Youtube videos. There's no substitute for someone telling you where you're going wrong.
    - richmt 11y ago
      One thing me and a friend frequently do is record each other sets every now and then. I've heard some people get pretty good advice posting form check videos on reddit's fitness board, and 4chan's /fit/.
- richmt 11y ago
  I got lucky. I had a friend who had been lifting for years, so I didn't have to go alone when starting out. If I had to make a recommendation for a beginner who might feel stressed out going while being overweight or skinny, I'd suggest you do some research into a program to follow strictly first, then go with a good plan. I recommend reading through Starting Strength for your first time. Also like everyone says, no one is going to fault you for trying to get in shape. Most people are actually willing to help out if you talk to them and let them.
EdwardMSmith 11y ago
The single biggest physical improvement to my life was core strengthening. Basically 15 minutes of crunches, plank, and Russian twists every other day. No more back aches at all. I never realized just how much and how constant the back pain I had was. Even when I was sleeping - tossed and turned all night.
- branchless 11y ago
  I've been going to the gym all year and progressed. This holiday as I'm unable to go for 2 weeks I've started doing planks. Now I hurt all over! I shall persist. They seem great.
cabinpark 11y ago
I was very lucky, growing up, to be the son of a sports medicine doctor because, from birth, healthy eating and exercise and their benefits were grilled into my brain. Unfortunately I see too many people in my job (academia) who don't exercise despite the huge potential benefits to their productivity and life. So this makes me wonder: what is it about exercise that turns people off? Is it a communication issue? Is it the lack of confidence? Lack of knowledge? It seems that there are constant pushes in the media to be more healthy and exercise but it never seems to stick.
- atom-morgan 11y ago
  I think it's a lack of feedback and the overall difficulty of making anything a habit especially when you won't be shown immediate results.
- pjc50 11y ago
  A lot of people are turned off exercise by the school environment where it's mandatory, unpleasant, competitive in a bad way and unrewarding.
  - TeMPOraL 11y ago
    Speaking as a case in point. PE lessons were my nightmare. My fitness was always below class average, and never had an interest in competitive sports - I always found exercise tiring, boring, and something you are forced to do. School cemented that attitude. The lessons could have been better. For instance, starting with making one run as fast and as far as you can (and repeating that every few months) meant only that I wanted to puke my guts out. If we were following a running program of increasing difficulty instead, I might have noticed my stamina increasing and maybe would have liked it. Though our teachers probably assumed that we're doing sports after school anyway, and not e.g. sitting at home learning how to write video games. I'm older now and I see it's about feedback. If something makes you feel miserable, then without strong sense of purpose about it (encouraging it is something school universally sucks at) you're likely to avoid it and hate it even more. OTOH, if you started your PE lessons relatively fit, they were probably pleasant for you and thus the feedback loop worked in your favour.
base698 11y ago
I even more urge people taking this advice to read and go slow. It's super easy to hurt yourself if you end up with bad technique or go up in weight too fast--anything more than 5 lbs at a time is too fast. Read Starting Strength for some of the technical background and get some help from a friend who actually knows what proper technique looks like.
- cabinpark 11y ago
  I cannot emphasize this point enough. If you are new to the gym, please get a personal trainer (or someone who knows wtf they are doing) for a session or two to show you the correct form. It's more important that you are doing the exercise correctly with no weight than incorrectly with a lot.
  - JRutherford 11y ago
    This ^^ If you don't have strict, solid form, when you load a bunch of weight on the bar, you WILL get injured. It's inevitable. I recommend a relatively new book BY THE NUMBERS. Full disclosure, it was written by the former owner of my gym, but the reviews have been solid across the board.
- richmt 11y ago
  Second on starting strength. Not only does the book have great info on how to properly perform each lift, but it also has quite a bit of info behind why we do each lift, physics and moment arms, and a little bit on nutrition and accessory lifts.
dorfsmay 11y ago
I'm assuming you mean you are committed to do weight lifting 3 times a week, not that you have dedicated 3 entire days per week to it, right? Edit: I'm surprised by the downvotes, I was just asking for a clarification, "committing 3 days per week" could mean dedicate 3 days just to that.
- richmt 11y ago
  Yes, I meant 3 times a week.
aschreyer 11y ago
You don't necessarily have to only lift in order to gain health benefits. Generally I would simply recommend to pick a sport and try to become the best you can be and the rewards will follow soon, not only physically but also psychologically. Could be anything, cycling, running, tennis, martial arts - lifting works great of course. I myself switched from lifting to gymnastics strength training and couldn't be happier.
mysterypie 11y ago
> I urge everyone here to take up lifting Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it. Probably there are some fraction of women for whom this is an important factor in choosing men. Since I see many beautiful women choosing men with average physiques, I'm going to say that being highly muscled is not an important factor for most women. NOTE: I'm not questioning exercise in general, cardiovascular fitness, being healthy, being free of disease, and not being overweight. All those are very important. I'm saying that of all the efficient ways of exercising, many people seem to pick lifting because of the misguided agenda that it attracts women.
- branchless 11y ago
  Why are the women you say are beautiful "beautiful"? Because they are physically fit and have good child-bearing markers. We are hard-wired for this. That said I utterly agree with the other poster's assessment of the benefits of exercise - less stress, better sleep.
  - mysterypie 11y ago
    > [beautiful women] are physically fit Being muscular is neither a necessary or sufficient condition for being physically fit. And in fact most beautiful women are beautiful despite not lifting weights, so why should lifting weights be a factor in the attractiveness of men. (I will grant that some women do want muscular men, but I don't think it's that big a factor for most women.) > benefits of exercise - less stress, better sleep Note again: I don't dispute that exercise is very important. I'm commenting only about the motivation for lifting as the choice of exercise.
    - branchless 11y ago
      Nobody said "muscular". They are physically fit. This discussion is just silly. Most men don't like fat women and most women don't like fat men because they will get caught by predators / can't catch food. Like most men you trotted out the "beauty" bit because men never see the asymmetry in women not seeing fat men "for who they truly are" whilst wanting the babe themselves.
slaunchwise 11y ago
If you're new to weightlifting, this is a simple, effective entry point: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ You use 5 compound exercises and work out 3 times per week. Recommendation is to start as light as possible.
- richmt 11y ago
  I see stronglifts 5x5 recommended a lot on sites like reddit and generally disagree that beginners should start out with it. From what I've read online, the 5x5 structure often leads to quicker stalling in progression for some than doing 3x5 like starting strength has you do for squat, overhead, and bench. Also, some people really don't need to start as light as SL will have you starting on. Anecdotally, a friend of mine with an athletic background says when he starting weight training for college sports, he could bench over 200lbs for one rep having never seriously trained before. Starting with just the bar like SL recommends would be a big stall in his progress. On SL it'd take him about 53 weeks to bench 200 for 5x5 if starting with the bar and increasing by 2.5 pounds each bench exercise (1.5 times per week). Also, Mehdi has no proper training in the background. Someone like Rippetoe, author of starting strength, has years of experience in powerlifting and coaching. Quick article for further reading. http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/stronglifts-5x5/ http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/stronglifts-5x5/ It mostly looks at SL from a powerlifting perspective, but much of the criticism is still valid.
  - k__ 11y ago
    How about hypertrophy? Can I simply do 5x5 with 10-12 reps per set and switch the focus from strength away?
    - richmt 11y ago
      Unfortunately I don't know much about hypertrophy training, so I may be wrong with a few of the things I'm about to say. I think that yes, higher reps at lower weight in the 8-12 rep range will generally target hypertrophy more than strength. You wouldn't necessarily want to do a strength program with higher reps to build hypertrophy however, as things like recovery will differ at higher ranges. I want to say that there would be diminishing returns fast if you only did compound exercises at high rep ranges. I also see many hypertrophy programs will incorporate more exercises which isolate muscles at higher rep ranges than strength programs. I'm sure that this has to do with recovery, since you'll often see split programs like PPL (push pull legs) which offer more days in the gym split up between different muscle groups.
innocentoldguy 11y ago
I agree with you on weight training. I would also recommend taking the time to learn to lift correctly. I see a lot of people at the gym lifting in ways that can do a lot of damage, especially to one's back and knees. I would also recommend free weights over machines, since they require more balance. I think it is also worth looking at kettlebells and gymnastic rings. Here are some good exercises using gymnastic rings. They're a bit challenging at first, but worth the effort, I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFB9AV3VMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFB9AV3VMg
alfapla 11y ago
Don't want to be the negative guy, but sometimes I wonder why people would spend their physical energy on gym equipment while you may just as well learn a construction skill that leaves a tangible result and has some use in the real world - like bricklaying, plastering walls or wiring electricity. Just my 2 cents, if you enjoy your gym all the better for you. But I also think that many people give up because they find it boring.
- artmageddon 11y ago
  > bricklaying, plastering walls or wiring electricity. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that a gym is much more accessible than construction projects.
  - alfapla 11y ago
    Well, you begin by following some basic training course. I suppose a school building is just as accessible as a gym building.
- gradys 11y ago
  I think the primary difference is efficiency. You won't gain strength as quickly doing construction as you will following a strength training program. If your goal is to gain as much strength as possible with the lowest time commitment, doing exercises and using equipment specifically designed for strength training is the better move. That said, not everybody has exactly these goals, so if learning construction skills is more appealing to you than spending time in a gym, by all means.
magnetised 11y ago
From personal experience I would urge everyone to start with some form of Yoga. It's less easy to quantify your progress than with weight lifting (whose easy conversion into numeric growth I wonder isn't one of its attractions when you're a data-driven kind of person) but has further reaching benefits beyond basic physical strength. After 3 years of fairly regular yoga practise (3-4 sessions a week), even when combined with a fairly poor diet/lifestyle alongside it (way too much fun), left me feeling stronger, fitter, calmer, more centred, more energised* than I ever had before. For those of you who, like me, are put off by the more 'hippy' aspects, I'd say it's a question of finding the right teacher rather than writing off the entire practice (my teacher at the time was nicknamed 'El Sargento' for her, shall we say 'strict' approach -- she taught Iyengar yoga with is a lot about details. This didn't suit everyone but suited me down to a tee). There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoq1eeIUxQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoq1eeIUxQ
- amorphid 11y ago
  +1 for yoga. I started lifting earlier this year, and doing it properly never clicked for me. I tried yoga and really liked it. Have been going regularly for about a month now.
- JauntTrooper 11y ago
  > There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life. I bet Christian yoga will eventually become really popular in the US. I'd imagine it would keep the physical elements of yoga but infuse light Christian meditation into it, rather than the vague eastern spirituality that's currently everywhere in the industry.
  - indexerror 11y ago
    Well I can understand the difference in cultures that makes you feel that thr surrounding spirituality is vague and needs a change but there is a difference. Yoga is complemented with 'dhyaan' which is an unexplored area in the west. If you are not getting that/missing out on its importance, you are not getting the full package.
deleted 11y ago
[deleted]
yekim 11y ago
That's awesome! I think more SW engineers ought to be getting exercise for all the benefits mentioned in these comments. Me personally - I climb, bike, run, and lift. I like variety, and I usually only do one of those activities a day. I find yoga to be too slow, with little mental engagement, and thus boring. My wife, however, loves yoga. And we run and climb together when we can. It's all about finding some form(s) of exercise / physically-intense-activity that works for you. I found that I'm attracted to things that engage both my mind and body. Rock climbing is incredibly hard physically and mentally engaging; each boulder problem is like solving a puzzle. And for the progression minded, each route or climb is graded so one can measure progress and overall fitness improvement. Mountain biking is fast, furious, and mentally demanding because you have to pick the right line to stay rubber side down. I tend to ride as fast and as hard as I can, both up and down trails to keep it demanding and fun. Cross-training is important as it forces you to work different muscle groups, which promotes overall better body awareness and health. I also find that when I take breaks in the middle of the day to do these kinds of activities, I find I'm able to focus better and get more done. I've also found that when I'm stuck on a particularly thorny challenge, be it a defect or algorithm / design problem, taking a break and getting some exercise usually opens up new avenues of thought and ideas I hadn't considered previously.

by richmt 11y ago

beachstartup 11y ago

for those of you who might be thinking about this sort of thing around the new year - if you're serious about fitness don't forget to track your calories and/or clean up your diet! if you're chronically overweight, or underweight, you might be just making things up in your head about your inability to lose or gain weight - "what isn't measured can not be improved."

donkeyd 11y ago
While I somewhat agree with you, I'd like to add that this is not a necessity. If you don't want to be serious about fitness, because you just want to be healthier, just do the lifting. This will already be a great improvement. If you become used to it, feel better about yourself and feel like there's more room for improvement, then start watching you diet.
- beachstartup 11y ago
  yeah well, i guess if you're not serious then by definition you should just eat whatever you feel like. do lift though. it's not just for bros! seriously though... most of us tech types here on hn start lifting only after our body starts to decline after years of abuse, in our early 30s. my productivity really took a hit. which is as good a reason as any to start.

sharps_xp 11y ago

For myself, 1 year ago, the idea of going to the gym 3 times a week was inconvenient and I just did not want to do it. I got over that obstacle by paying an uncomfortable premium on gym membership/personal trainer. The inner conflict went FROM $60 gym membership/long-term health vs going home TO $175 gym membership/long-term health vs going home. I chose the gym a lot more often then, and I am much more healthy than 1 year ago.

rbinv 11y ago
What's up with the all caps "FROM" and "TO"? SQL habit?

dasboth 11y ago

This is exactly what I want to do in the coming year. What was the biggest barrier for you to start, and how did you finally overcome it?

rbinv 11y ago
Honestly: just start (with low weights). That's what I did, anyway. Work your way up and focus on proper form.
cabinpark 11y ago
If you've never been to a gym before or done weights, please, please, please get a personal trainer for a session or two to show your the correct form. I see way too many people at the gym who have shit form but "lift" a lot of weight and it is ineffective and can be dangerous. Form is way more important than weight. Remember, many exercises are designed with a specific muscle to target and if you don't do it properly, you won't get any of the benefits.
- dasboth 11y ago
  You're right, I can't imagine I could get proper form by looking at Youtube videos. There's no substitute for someone telling you where you're going wrong.
  - richmt 11y ago
    One thing me and a friend frequently do is record each other sets every now and then. I've heard some people get pretty good advice posting form check videos on reddit's fitness board, and 4chan's /fit/.
richmt 11y ago
I got lucky. I had a friend who had been lifting for years, so I didn't have to go alone when starting out. If I had to make a recommendation for a beginner who might feel stressed out going while being overweight or skinny, I'd suggest you do some research into a program to follow strictly first, then go with a good plan. I recommend reading through Starting Strength for your first time. Also like everyone says, no one is going to fault you for trying to get in shape. Most people are actually willing to help out if you talk to them and let them.

EdwardMSmith 11y ago

The single biggest physical improvement to my life was core strengthening. Basically 15 minutes of crunches, plank, and Russian twists every other day. No more back aches at all. I never realized just how much and how constant the back pain I had was. Even when I was sleeping - tossed and turned all night.

branchless 11y ago
I've been going to the gym all year and progressed. This holiday as I'm unable to go for 2 weeks I've started doing planks. Now I hurt all over! I shall persist. They seem great.

cabinpark 11y ago

I was very lucky, growing up, to be the son of a sports medicine doctor because, from birth, healthy eating and exercise and their benefits were grilled into my brain. Unfortunately I see too many people in my job (academia) who don't exercise despite the huge potential benefits to their productivity and life. So this makes me wonder: what is it about exercise that turns people off? Is it a communication issue? Is it the lack of confidence? Lack of knowledge? It seems that there are constant pushes in the media to be more healthy and exercise but it never seems to stick.

atom-morgan 11y ago
I think it's a lack of feedback and the overall difficulty of making anything a habit especially when you won't be shown immediate results.
pjc50 11y ago
A lot of people are turned off exercise by the school environment where it's mandatory, unpleasant, competitive in a bad way and unrewarding.
- TeMPOraL 11y ago
  Speaking as a case in point. PE lessons were my nightmare. My fitness was always below class average, and never had an interest in competitive sports - I always found exercise tiring, boring, and something you are forced to do. School cemented that attitude. The lessons could have been better. For instance, starting with making one run as fast and as far as you can (and repeating that every few months) meant only that I wanted to puke my guts out. If we were following a running program of increasing difficulty instead, I might have noticed my stamina increasing and maybe would have liked it. Though our teachers probably assumed that we're doing sports after school anyway, and not e.g. sitting at home learning how to write video games. I'm older now and I see it's about feedback. If something makes you feel miserable, then without strong sense of purpose about it (encouraging it is something school universally sucks at) you're likely to avoid it and hate it even more. OTOH, if you started your PE lessons relatively fit, they were probably pleasant for you and thus the feedback loop worked in your favour.

base698 11y ago

I even more urge people taking this advice to read and go slow. It's super easy to hurt yourself if you end up with bad technique or go up in weight too fast--anything more than 5 lbs at a time is too fast. Read Starting Strength for some of the technical background and get some help from a friend who actually knows what proper technique looks like.

cabinpark 11y ago
I cannot emphasize this point enough. If you are new to the gym, please get a personal trainer (or someone who knows wtf they are doing) for a session or two to show you the correct form. It's more important that you are doing the exercise correctly with no weight than incorrectly with a lot.
- JRutherford 11y ago
  This ^^ If you don't have strict, solid form, when you load a bunch of weight on the bar, you WILL get injured. It's inevitable. I recommend a relatively new book BY THE NUMBERS. Full disclosure, it was written by the former owner of my gym, but the reviews have been solid across the board.
richmt 11y ago
Second on starting strength. Not only does the book have great info on how to properly perform each lift, but it also has quite a bit of info behind why we do each lift, physics and moment arms, and a little bit on nutrition and accessory lifts.

dorfsmay 11y ago

I'm assuming you mean you are committed to do weight lifting 3 times a week, not that you have dedicated 3 entire days per week to it, right? Edit: I'm surprised by the downvotes, I was just asking for a clarification, "committing 3 days per week" could mean dedicate 3 days just to that.

richmt 11y ago
Yes, I meant 3 times a week.

aschreyer 11y ago

You don't necessarily have to only lift in order to gain health benefits. Generally I would simply recommend to pick a sport and try to become the best you can be and the rewards will follow soon, not only physically but also psychologically. Could be anything, cycling, running, tennis, martial arts - lifting works great of course. I myself switched from lifting to gymnastics strength training and couldn't be happier.

mysterypie 11y ago

> I urge everyone here to take up lifting Everyone I've spoken to got into lifting because they think it gets girls. They won't admit it directly or perhaps realize it themselves, but a series of questions leads to women: Of all types of exercise, why weights? -> So then why do you need to be toned? -> OK, then why do you need to look good in a T-shirt, or at bars, or in your profile pic? -> Because women like it. Probably there are some fraction of women for whom this is an important factor in choosing men. Since I see many beautiful women choosing men with average physiques, I'm going to say that being highly muscled is not an important factor for most women. NOTE: I'm not questioning exercise in general, cardiovascular fitness, being healthy, being free of disease, and not being overweight. All those are very important. I'm saying that of all the efficient ways of exercising, many people seem to pick lifting because of the misguided agenda that it attracts women.

branchless 11y ago
Why are the women you say are beautiful "beautiful"? Because they are physically fit and have good child-bearing markers. We are hard-wired for this. That said I utterly agree with the other poster's assessment of the benefits of exercise - less stress, better sleep.
- mysterypie 11y ago
  > [beautiful women] are physically fit Being muscular is neither a necessary or sufficient condition for being physically fit. And in fact most beautiful women are beautiful despite not lifting weights, so why should lifting weights be a factor in the attractiveness of men. (I will grant that some women do want muscular men, but I don't think it's that big a factor for most women.) > benefits of exercise - less stress, better sleep Note again: I don't dispute that exercise is very important. I'm commenting only about the motivation for lifting as the choice of exercise.
  - branchless 11y ago
    Nobody said "muscular". They are physically fit. This discussion is just silly. Most men don't like fat women and most women don't like fat men because they will get caught by predators / can't catch food. Like most men you trotted out the "beauty" bit because men never see the asymmetry in women not seeing fat men "for who they truly are" whilst wanting the babe themselves.

slaunchwise 11y ago

If you're new to weightlifting, this is a simple, effective entry point: http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ http://stronglifts.com/5x5/ You use 5 compound exercises and work out 3 times per week. Recommendation is to start as light as possible.

richmt 11y ago
I see stronglifts 5x5 recommended a lot on sites like reddit and generally disagree that beginners should start out with it. From what I've read online, the 5x5 structure often leads to quicker stalling in progression for some than doing 3x5 like starting strength has you do for squat, overhead, and bench. Also, some people really don't need to start as light as SL will have you starting on. Anecdotally, a friend of mine with an athletic background says when he starting weight training for college sports, he could bench over 200lbs for one rep having never seriously trained before. Starting with just the bar like SL recommends would be a big stall in his progress. On SL it'd take him about 53 weeks to bench 200 for 5x5 if starting with the bar and increasing by 2.5 pounds each bench exercise (1.5 times per week). Also, Mehdi has no proper training in the background. Someone like Rippetoe, author of starting strength, has years of experience in powerlifting and coaching. Quick article for further reading. http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/stronglifts-5x5/ http://www.powerliftingtowin.com/stronglifts-5x5/ It mostly looks at SL from a powerlifting perspective, but much of the criticism is still valid.
- k__ 11y ago
  How about hypertrophy? Can I simply do 5x5 with 10-12 reps per set and switch the focus from strength away?
  - richmt 11y ago
    Unfortunately I don't know much about hypertrophy training, so I may be wrong with a few of the things I'm about to say. I think that yes, higher reps at lower weight in the 8-12 rep range will generally target hypertrophy more than strength. You wouldn't necessarily want to do a strength program with higher reps to build hypertrophy however, as things like recovery will differ at higher ranges. I want to say that there would be diminishing returns fast if you only did compound exercises at high rep ranges. I also see many hypertrophy programs will incorporate more exercises which isolate muscles at higher rep ranges than strength programs. I'm sure that this has to do with recovery, since you'll often see split programs like PPL (push pull legs) which offer more days in the gym split up between different muscle groups.

innocentoldguy 11y ago

I agree with you on weight training. I would also recommend taking the time to learn to lift correctly. I see a lot of people at the gym lifting in ways that can do a lot of damage, especially to one's back and knees. I would also recommend free weights over machines, since they require more balance. I think it is also worth looking at kettlebells and gymnastic rings. Here are some good exercises using gymnastic rings. They're a bit challenging at first, but worth the effort, I think. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFB9AV3VMg https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrFB9AV3VMg

alfapla 11y ago

Don't want to be the negative guy, but sometimes I wonder why people would spend their physical energy on gym equipment while you may just as well learn a construction skill that leaves a tangible result and has some use in the real world - like bricklaying, plastering walls or wiring electricity. Just my 2 cents, if you enjoy your gym all the better for you. But I also think that many people give up because they find it boring.

artmageddon 11y ago
> bricklaying, plastering walls or wiring electricity. I'm going to go out on a limb and guess that a gym is much more accessible than construction projects.
- alfapla 11y ago
  Well, you begin by following some basic training course. I suppose a school building is just as accessible as a gym building.
gradys 11y ago
I think the primary difference is efficiency. You won't gain strength as quickly doing construction as you will following a strength training program. If your goal is to gain as much strength as possible with the lowest time commitment, doing exercises and using equipment specifically designed for strength training is the better move. That said, not everybody has exactly these goals, so if learning construction skills is more appealing to you than spending time in a gym, by all means.

magnetised 11y ago

From personal experience I would urge everyone to start with some form of Yoga. It's less easy to quantify your progress than with weight lifting (whose easy conversion into numeric growth I wonder isn't one of its attractions when you're a data-driven kind of person) but has further reaching benefits beyond basic physical strength. After 3 years of fairly regular yoga practise (3-4 sessions a week), even when combined with a fairly poor diet/lifestyle alongside it (way too much fun), left me feeling stronger, fitter, calmer, more centred, more energised* than I ever had before. For those of you who, like me, are put off by the more 'hippy' aspects, I'd say it's a question of finding the right teacher rather than writing off the entire practice (my teacher at the time was nicknamed 'El Sargento' for her, shall we say 'strict' approach -- she taught Iyengar yoga with is a lot about details. This didn't suit everyone but suited me down to a tee). There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life. * https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoq1eeIUxQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=laoq1eeIUxQ

amorphid 11y ago
+1 for yoga. I started lifting earlier this year, and doing it properly never clicked for me. I tried yoga and really liked it. Have been going regularly for about a month now.
JauntTrooper 11y ago
> There is an awful lot of pseudo religious bollocks that surrounds it but within that there's a really solid method for improving the quality of your life. I bet Christian yoga will eventually become really popular in the US. I'd imagine it would keep the physical elements of yoga but infuse light Christian meditation into it, rather than the vague eastern spirituality that's currently everywhere in the industry.
- indexerror 11y ago
  Well I can understand the difference in cultures that makes you feel that thr surrounding spirituality is vague and needs a change but there is a difference. Yoga is complemented with 'dhyaan' which is an unexplored area in the west. If you are not getting that/missing out on its importance, you are not getting the full package.

deleted 11y ago

[deleted]

yekim 11y ago

That's awesome! I think more SW engineers ought to be getting exercise for all the benefits mentioned in these comments. Me personally - I climb, bike, run, and lift. I like variety, and I usually only do one of those activities a day. I find yoga to be too slow, with little mental engagement, and thus boring. My wife, however, loves yoga. And we run and climb together when we can. It's all about finding some form(s) of exercise / physically-intense-activity that works for you. I found that I'm attracted to things that engage both my mind and body. Rock climbing is incredibly hard physically and mentally engaging; each boulder problem is like solving a puzzle. And for the progression minded, each route or climb is graded so one can measure progress and overall fitness improvement. Mountain biking is fast, furious, and mentally demanding because you have to pick the right line to stay rubber side down. I tend to ride as fast and as hard as I can, both up and down trails to keep it demanding and fun. Cross-training is important as it forces you to work different muscle groups, which promotes overall better body awareness and health. I also find that when I take breaks in the middle of the day to do these kinds of activities, I find I'm able to focus better and get more done. I've also found that when I'm stuck on a particularly thorny challenge, be it a defect or algorithm / design problem, taking a break and getting some exercise usually opens up new avenues of thought and ideas I hadn't considered previously.