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Erkki

Idle Workouts

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After losing ten pounds while on vacation for a month (well, two vacations: one week of vacation, one of work, one of vacation, one of work) and eating like shit and doing no exercise, I've determined that exercising is unequivocally a sham.

 

But I went back to the gym yesterday anyway. Christ working out is the most boring activity imaginable I hate it so much.

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I also thought this until I found an exercise routine that wasn't boring.

 

It's like JRPGs except there's actually a light at the end of the tunnel.

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There's no such thing!

 

Also JRPGs are fun.

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If you think that, then you don't know why JRPGs are fun.

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It's true, I don't.

 

I would suggest it's also true you don't know why exercise is fun. Maybe for the same reasons?!

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Why are you arguing with me about this?? Am I not allowed to just dislike something??

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Why are you arguing with me about this?? Am I not allowed to just dislike something??

 

I'm actually surfacing my feelings about JRPGs.

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Good news! My legs exploded.

Bad news! No candy.

More bad news! I now have to commando crawl everywhere.

Best news! Commando crawling is an excellent arm and shoulder exercise.

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After losing ten pounds while on vacation for a month (well, two vacations: one week of vacation, one of work, one of vacation, one of work) and eating like shit and doing no exercise, I've determined that exercising is unequivocally a sham.

 

But I went back to the gym yesterday anyway. Christ working out is the most boring activity imaginable I hate it so much.

 

Pretty much this. Working out is the worst and it's boring and I also hate it. My preference was just to start eating super healthy and do zero exercise and I dropped like 40 pounds in 8 months.

 

And JRPGs are definitely fun too. Way funner than exercise.

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Counterpoint: Exercise can definitely be fun and it's a matter of finding activities that you enjoy. Plus pushing yourself to the limit (and improving) is super satisfying and even if it's a grind sometimes at least you can come out of it with a hot bod. Meanwhile JRPGS are also a grind and all you get out of it is some really cliche story about a kid saving the world from a dumb ultimate evil.

I'm just kidding around about the JRPG part please don't kill me

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I've pushed myself to the limit plenty of times and it was satisfying once and then a chore every time after that.

 

It fucking sucks and it's boring and it's not fun and it doesn't matter what activity it is unless it's swimming because swimming is cool. But that's it! Literally nothing else. Running lifting whatever it's all fucking goddamn miserable and not to mention apparently impossible for me because my knee has been fucked by squatting or whatever plus it just hurts (like all of it not just the knee).

 

God it's just the worst I hope all people who work out realize this so we can all just acknowledge it's okay to be happy without making yourself unnecessarily miserable.

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If you want you can have my work out time and I'll just not exist in this universe while you do it.

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Actually I find running on a treadmill about a thousand times easier than running out in the wild, if only because I'm guaranteed even ground, and the landing is softer, and it actually keeps me running. I still hate it.

 

Although I know pacing is one of the things people against treadmills hold up as something treadmills are really bad at.

 

I have no real strong opinion either way. I'd like to be able to run without wanting to give up after five seconds, btu the reality is, it doesn't matter if it's a treadmill or a beach or a rainforest.

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I like running because it's a good way to just listen to music and think. When I try to do that while sitting around I get distracted by wanting to do things, but while I'm running, all I can do is think and keep running. 

 

That being said, I only run a few times a week so maybe it gets more boring if you're trying every day. 

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The idea hat exercise is for weight loss is pretty old fashioned now. Eating fewer calories (it doesn't matter where they are from) is what will make you lose weight.

If you find exercise boring, then don't do it. Try doing s sport, rather than just solo stuff. I don't enjoy "exercising" but I do enjoy training for a goal that isn't just looking better. That's probably the shallowest reason to exercise, which makes the whole thing tedious. I'd rather have a chocolate bar than have visible abs, but I'd rather go to the gym than be shit at my chosen sport.

Which sport is up to you, but as a counter point to something you'll probably say...I hate watching sports too. I find it to be the most boring "activity" in the world. Love playing sports though, it's completely different.

Talking of that, there's a local basketball group that my girlfriend used to play with. I'm tempted to go, but I only know the very basics of the sport and apparently they're all well into it. Don't want to look like a chump and make a million mistakes. The reason I want to join is because they're all pretty casual when it comes to commitment. I'd love the play a real sport again, like rugby, but I don't want to commit to 2 training sessions a week and 1 match day.

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The idea hat exercise is for weight loss is pretty old fashioned now.

I have never heard this, and I've talked to a lot of people about it.

 

That you can lose weight without exercising, I am aware of, but that exercising isn't also good for it sounds incorrect.

 

Also, I'm assuming it was a response to my whining, so I'll respond as such: I am not exercising primarily to lose weight. I want to be in shape so that when I have the opportunity to do something like going hiking or climbing a mountain or [insert other outdoorsy activities], I don't fall apart halfway through the trip and make the person/people I go with have to give up and help me get back. This has happened at least twice, and it's the worst. ):

 

I have traditionally overestimated my own capabilities because I used to be able to do something, but it turns out used to isn't good enough.

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I like using the elliptical a lot, mostly because I enjoy just being able to zone out and not think about anything for 45-60mins.  Elliptical time is also where I do a lot of podcast listening, to the point where the Idle Thumbs theme has got sense memory associations with the motion of the elliptical.

 

When I was in my 20s, DDR was a favorite exercise method of mine, and I'd still play now if I hadn't gained so much weight that my ability to mentally process the steps now far outpaces my body's ability to move that fast, which means it will almost certainly kill me if I try to play at that level again until I get my weight back down.

 

A friend of mine has started doing weight training within the last year and he wrote a pretty good thing about his experiences at the gym.

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A friend of mine has started doing weight training within the last year and he wrote a pretty good thing about his experiences at the gym.

That exact roller-coaster thing happened to me and is definitely one of the main reasons I want to lose weight (not just Get Fit, which I want to do for the reason I stated above). I'm also tall and broad-shouldered. That was a really annoying and sad event.

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I have never heard this, and I've talked to a lot of people about it.

 

That you can lose weight without exercising, I am aware of, but that exercising isn't also good for it sounds incorrect.

Working out is absolutely good for weight loss! It's not how you lose weight, though. Diet is much more important. In my personal experience, I'd put it at about 70/30 Diet/Exercise, but exercising is still very important to me in the whole process.

 

Weight change = Calories In - Calories Out.

 

That's it. That's how you lose weight. That's the entire thing. If your entire caloric intake is cookies but you're burning more calories, you're going to lose weight. It'll be horribly unhealthy, but effective!

 

Running 2 miles and then saying "I exercised today, SMOOTHIE TIME!" is not a winning formula. If you're doing resistance training and you're eating around your BMR in calories you're potentially going to gain weight, because you're likely going to be replacing lost fat with added muscle. Exercising without proper diet first is going to get you frustrated if the goal is losing weight, even if you are doing it properly and getting healthier. There are lots and lots of strong, fat weightlifters.

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