How Do Geeks Exercise?

An anonymous reader writes "I have always been thin but all the sitting in front of the PC is taking its toll now that I'm getting older. I have begun to get a little heavier around the waist. I don't eat a lot but the weight seems to stay on these days. Most of the time I don't have the luxury of just getting out of the house/office. And being an introvert, I'm not enamored of the idea of exercising in full view of *shudder* people. I regularly do press-ups (60 per night) and sit-ups (30 per night) and some fetching and carrying, but that is all and these days it isn't enough. I need a solid and effective routine that will tone all my muscle groups efficiently. Do any Slashdotters have a regular workout routine that can be performed in the privacy of the home to stave off those pounds?"

Bike to work

Bike to work. (Make living close enough to bike a priority.)

Re:Bike to work

Agreed. I bike 30 miles every other day and that was enough, along with a sensible diet, to get me from a peak of 180 pounds down to a more healthy 155. Now I'm steady at 155 but can still eat more than I normally could without the exercise. Plus it's good for the heart.

Maintaining weight is a matter of how many calories you consume and how many your burn. Weight training will build muscle but doesn't burn a lot of calories. Things like running, swimming, and biking are the kinds of things that burn calories.

I'm sorry you're an introvert. Make time for your health and enjoy the great outdoors. You can always get a stationary bike but, having one of those that I use in the winter, I can assure you that a real bike out in the real world is MUCH more rewarding and it will help you relax mentally as well as keep you in shape physically.

Re:Bike to work

Weight training will build muscle but doesn't burn a lot of calories. Things like running, swimming, and biking are the kinds of things that burn calories.

You'd be surprised. Not only does resistance training burn kilojoules at a sufficient rate to lose weight (depending on your eating habits), but also the increase in metabolism (due to increased muscle mass) means that your BMR will be higher than if you only engaged in aerobic training. In other words, you'll burn more kilojoules at rest.

Left foot braking

This way my left leg/foot gets more exercise when driving an automatic, otherwise a heavy clutch does the trick.

Re:Bike to work

Bike to work. (Make living close enough to bike a priority.)

I want to start doing, but I work in an office where they'd care if I came to work sweaty and stinky. What's the solution to this?

Re:Bike to work

Just bike home from work, instead?

Re:Bike to work

I bike halfway to work - in California we have these "park and ride" lots, where you can drive to a transportation hub and catch public transit the rest of the way. My long commute and lack of bike trails near home make biking all the way to work impractical, but there's a beautiful bike trail along the 56 freeway that I can take once I get to the park and ride lot.

Other than that, I stretch, do crunches, and do pushups every morning when I wake up. This is not only stay-in-shape exercise, it's also wake-me-up exercise - double benefits! On the weekents, I ride my bike to In N Out - the benefits may cancel out with the calories, but at least I'm getting exercise. :-)

To speak to your specific questions, you may want to consider pilates in the home. That gives you a pretty full body workout. You can get private pilates lessons (about $40/hour around here) to help you build a routine, and then go from there exercising at home. I tried that, but frankly I didn't like putting in half an hour to an hour per day.

Re:Bike to work

and makes you better than everyone else.

I laughed at this, but why do some cyclists have that attitude? I'm talking about the type who scream at motorists to "share the road" because "bikes have the same rights as motor vehicles," and then proceed to run the next four red lights.

/rant

Leave the car at home

Pretty much what the title says. Leave the car at home if you can. If you take public transportation, walking to the bus stop (rushing so you don't miss it =P), running down the stairs of the subway station (not using those fancy high tech automated ones! /cough), and so on, the pounds go away quite fast.

That is if you live somewhere where its possible. I've melted a lot doing that.

Get outside

Seriously. It's actually pretty nice out there, or at least it was the few times I've had to go out.

Sex

It's even more fun when you have an exercise partner.

Re:Sex

The question was:

"Do any Slashdotters have a regular workout routine that can be performed in the privacy of the home to stave off those pounds?"

Kayaking

You have to get out of the house, but to suit the introvert, you can go where most people can't. You also get to wear PFD as well as and a baggy dry suit to cover up the unsightlyness if you need it in your area.

Aerobics Necessary

You very much need aerobic exercise to supplement your muscular-oriented exercise. Aerobic exercise works the heart, lungs, and circulatory system--very critical subsystems.

I'd recommend a treadmill or a bike with a trainer hooked up to it. Have a TV in front of you. After reading a couple books about it, use a heart rate monitor to keep from pushing too hard or too easy.

Try to build up to one hour per day. Don't discontinue your calisthenics. Read about exercise.

Martial arts

They're cool enough to do in front of other people, no matter how bad you are, and you have something to show off to your friends. It's a win-win scenario.

Re:Martial arts

They're cool enough to do in front of other people, no matter how bad you are, and you have something to show off to your friends.

You've never been beatten up by a twelve year old girl, have you? Say, while testing for my yellow belt. Err, your yellow belt.

Re:Tai Chi

Tai Chi is essentially a form of Kung Fu slowed down to maximize the exercise potential and lessen the strain on your body.

Once you have learned the essential 108 movements (its all one long cycle that puts you back where you are started, but is learned as 108 or so individual moves), you have a routine that will exercise pretty much every muscle in your body, looks cool, and requires no equipment to perform in, any stretch of ground/grass/parkinglot with a roughly 15x15 ft area free would probably do.

Its been very popular in China for centuries and obviously works quite well, given the number of old people you see doing it in droves there.

All Muscle Groups

Unless you've got the luxury of a huge amount of space, the only way you're going to come close to exercising all groups is via free weights.

Multi exercise machines don't even come close (more on that later). Treadmills/stationary bikes are great for burning calories which'll do most of your weight loss goals but you're asking about all muscle groups. BOSU balls, steps, jump ropes are all more limited in application. The other great full body exercise, swimming, isn't really an option in the privacy of your own home unless you're rich enough to have a good sized pool.

The problem with free weights, and this comes from being married to a physical therapist who's also an ACE certified personal trainer, is: You're doing it wrong.

Don't feel bad. Just about everyone does. From the Navy guys I've watched prepping for their PRTs by holding a dumbell in one position and flapping their elbows like chickens to those who swing weights and let the momentum carry them through the weak spots to those who only really focus on a few core groups.

This is what a good personal trainer will do for you (and, yes, I hate the idea of paying the meathead ones too). A good one will slow you down and perfect your form: meaning you're actually building the weak points not just swinging past them. A good one will start you on machines (really good for isolating the exact form you need but lousy at exercising all of the supporting groups) and then slowly move you over to free weights (really good at exercising a lot of supporting groups, lousy at teaching you good form). A good one will also teach you a whole range of exercises so you're not just bulking your biceps with no work on your triceps, strengthening abs without matching your lats, working on your upper body with no attention to your chicken legs (yes, you, 95% of guys in gyms).

Look at it this way...

How good of a coder would you be if you never learned from other people's code and never had anyone review yours? Sure, you might be a prodigy and do some cool trick most people have never thought of. More likely, you'll write messy, inefficient code that seems like it works while leaving memory leaks everywhere.

In the same way, you might manage to learn everything about lifting from message boards and videos. More likely, you'll get a fair amount right but still be doing a few gastly things that it never occurs to you they're wrong.

This is why we suck it up, venture in to a gym, find a good trainer (being willing to fire the bad ones until we get that one we vibe with), and learn the technique first... so we can then get it right in our splendid isolation.

Exercise in front of people anyway

So you're an introvert. Big deal! Exercise in front of people anyway.

Look, no one's going to make fun of you for going to the gym; in fact, they are more likely to make fun of someone who needs exercise and doesn't go to the gym.

The gym isn't Counter-Strike. No one cares if you're an exercise n00b. In fact, in my experience if you screw up at the gym, someone who knows what they're doing will show you the proper way to exercise so you don't injure yourself.

If you can afford it, and if you really care about your fitness and attractiveness, there is no reason not to go to the gym.

Hacker Diet?

How come nobody has mentioned this one yet? I mean, come on! It has fitness tips as well as diet since you really need both to get the pounds off.

Hacker Diet [fourmilab.ch]

Thougths from an ex-overweight guy

Until the start of 2008 I was about 90 lbs overweight and morbidly obese. Throughout the year I have lost 70 lbs, and I am on my way to having a healthy BMI.

Here are my thoughts:

You don't have to go to a gym, but it really helps to have access to nice array of equipment. Get over your fear of going to the gym. No one gives a crap about you --except for when you may be using equipment they want to use. If you want to avoid socializing, wear headphones or go during off hours. If you are afraid of the locker room (that's normal it takes sometime to get used to), then don't use it.

Now on to to the technical stuff: You need to do a moderate to strenuous aerobic activity at least ~30 minutes a day 3 days a week (5 is better) for the rest of your life. I like to run, row, hike up mountains and occasionally use the elliptical machine. This is necessary for good cardiovascular health, and will help you in your later years. It will also as a side effect help you loose weight.

You need to do some basic weight training. You seem to favor body weight exercises, keep doing push ups, try increasing the reps, or difficulty by doing them on an incline. Learn to do pullups/dips also. Finally buy a few dumbbells, going up to 35-40 lbs in weight. Learn to do basic curls, and some presses. Later on read some fitness books, or go to a couple of fitness blogs to learn how to do lifts and presses that work your big muscle groups --think squats, and dead lifts. Doing this won't make you a huge muscle guy (believe me the gains are not that great) but you'll be happy with your increased strength. It will also help to keep you from looking flabby.

One more thing. The key to loosing weight is your diet. Good weight loss is slow, and steady. Cut 500-1000 calories from your diet, and you'll loose 2 lbs a week. However, you need to combine it with exercise or you'll have to keep "dieting" for the rest of your life to maintain your weight. That won't happen, so creating a nice caloric deficit through working out 3-5 times a day will help you maintain a healthy weight once you've reached it.

Well not quite, BUT...

#1 - Yourself Fitness. PC, PS2, Xbox all options for it (and the ps2 and xbox titles are both compatible with their "upgraded" counterparts).

#2 - Wii Fit. Surprisingly effective if you discipline yourself to doing it. Downside: not as organized.

And now we get to some of the better stuff.

#3 - Find a local swimming pool, strap on a pair of rollerblades, get a bicycle.

#4 - Join a sports league. Your local parks & recreation department is a good start here and can steer you to local team sports if nothing else. This will also help with your "introverted" problem.

#5 - Once you take care of the "introverted" problem... get a girlfriend and do a lot of the world's #1 calorie-burning exercise.

Re:Well not quite, BUT...

#3 - Find a local swimming pool, strap on a pair of rollerblades, get a bicycle.

I actually tried this and found I worked up a sweat very quickly. But a word of warning -- when cycling with rollerblades in a swimming pool, stay in the shallow end. The deep can be treacherous and the bike will weigh you down like you wouldn't believe.

Re:Well not quite, BUT...

#5 - Once you take care of the "introverted" problem... get a girlfriend and do a lot of the world's #1 calorie-burning exercise.

Your girlfriend makes you take her shopping too, eh? I don't care what she says -- the only thing getting thinner is my wallet.

Re:Crossfit

Just want to put another nod out there for crossfit, I'm going to a crossfit gym but if you're the introvert type and can handle being extra careful to observe good proper form on your own, doing the WOD (workout of the day - scaled to your fitness level) will give you a good all around workout over time.

I watched most of the theory vids before deciding to try it out:

http://www.crossfit.com/cf-info/excercise.html#Clips

I'd recommend starting with the video "intro to intensity"

l4h