yes, exactly

[cellio]

This Drabble strip speaks to me. (Edited to fix link.)

The issue with exercise for me isn't physical exertion; it's time. I'll grant that the net gain is likely to be higher than depicted here. That doesn't motivate me; I find my actual time now more valuable than my hypothetical time at the age of 90.

Comments

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

This excuse rings strongly for me. One possible amelioration, which I am investigating, is doing useful things while doing cardio, e.g., reading research papers. Though there is this problem where there's only so much blood to go around, and my brain gets less of it while on the bike...

[hakamadare.livejournal.com]

i believe you mean

and yes, i get that as well. what i find far more attractive are ideas about changing the way i spend my time (so that it’s healthier for me) rather than requiring me to give up more of my precious free time to make up for the unhealthy hours i spend at work, e.g. herooftheage’s decision to convert his workstation to one that he could use standing up, or my decision to consciously use the elevator less frequently.

-steve

[lyev.livejournal.com]

I don't blame you one bit. You just need to find a pastime that fits in with your busy lifestyle but also gives you exercise. Someone else wrote about this issue too:

"Galen says, in his book of rules for health, that all things have a natural desire for movement and that everyone should practice gentle and moderate exercise, such as the dances invented by the Ionians for this purpose." -Arbeau

:-)

[cellio]

I hadn't considered reading while biking. (I don't watch nearly enough TV to make any parallel processing there make sense.)

I haven't used a stationary bike (only the transportation-oriented ones); do you need to hold on to the handlebars (a) at all and (b) more than trivially? (I don't see well enough to be able to just plop the reading material down on top of the bars, so at least one hand has to be dedicated to holding it up and the other has to be available for page turns.)

[cellio]

i believe you mean

Yeah. Flubbed the URL in the email post and then couldn't fix it until I got home. Thanks.

what i find far more attractive are ideas about changing the way i spend my time

Yes. I'm willing to parallel-process; I'm not willing to give up anything I'm currently spending time on. Now, to figure out how to do that...

(I should get myself a bicycle. Riding it to work probably won't happen, but I could use it for some errands without much loss of time.)

[cellio]

Indeed. :-)

[metahacker.livejournal.com]

Modern exercise bikes are designed with this in mind. Often they have two or three sets of "handlebars", one pair near your hips, one below the console, and one wider on the console. Either of the first two are suitable for holding while reading. Some machines even have a lip at the bottom of the console to put your reading material on, or the Y near me has these clever Z-shaped racks that hook over the machine and present a shelf to rest the papers on. They're perhaps not close enough to the head to read for you, though. You can certainly peddle with no hands on the handlebars, especially on the reclining bikes (which I prefer), but if you're like me you may sweat on the books.

We used to put the home exercycle in front of the TV, but that didn't work as well.

[magid.livejournal.com]

I got myself moving more by doing a little scribbling of my own about my morning commute:
-a bit more than half a mile walking if I take the T, with two changes, about 40-45 minutes
-about 3 miles walking, with stops for traffic lights, about 55-60 minutes.
So the opportunity cost for me is 10-20 minutes for much more walking (not to mention avoidance of being crammed into a train, with the resultant temperatures).

Not going to work for everyone, of course, but perhaps there are regular errands that could change modes of transportation without too much fuss? (Not ones that involve schlepping of large quantities of stuff, obviously.)

[jducoeur]

I'm a great believer in the parallel-processing theory of exercise. At the moment I'm just watching TV while I do so (currently the rewatch of STTNG that I've been putting off for ten years), but I used to do books and courses on tape, courtesy of the iPod.

Also, don't underestimate the current benefits. I agree that benefits when I'm 90 aren't motivating, but I've got pretty clear evidence that regular exercise makes an *enormous* difference in my mood, outlook and productivity. So in terms of overall accomplishment, I suspect it's about a wash: I lose an hour, but gain in doing more with the remaining time...

[http://users.livejournal.com/merle_/]

I agree. Exercise is dull. There are better things I could do right now!

I do manage some exercise by walking or biking to work when I can. And I can justify that to myself because I'm getting some time alone with my thoughts, and it's good for the environment. But I just do not understand going to a gym.