I can't agree more. I can not imagine me doing this work without exercising. I do two workouts per week in the gym, two hours per session, very intensive. All the other days I run at home using the treadmill for 30 minutes, and do around 60 pushups in the morning, 60 in the evening.<p>So it's just 2+2 = 4 hours at gym, plus 0.5*5 = 2.5 more hours, plus the pushups that is very little time. Let's say 8 hours per week of time spent exercising, but the benefits are huge: it's easy to focus during the week staying sit down without any pain, bad feeling or alike.<p>Even after a day of doing many things I often reach home that I'm still pretty rested, and sometimes I add a few hours of work if I feel like there is some interesting problem to fix for Redis, or to write some doc, and so forth.<p>Btw in the previous years I used the treadmill as I do now, but I did not used to do the bigger workouts nor the pushups. I changed my schedule only 12 months ago adding the new stuff, and it's a totally game changer, apparently just running was not enough for me.
My comment on the article, which is still awaiting moderator approval:<p>“Get your heart rate up to your target zone and try to keep it up for 20-30 minutes. Pick a few exercises and do them in circuits with little or no rest between exercises (and a short rest between sets), at high intensity. Lean towards workouts that work large groups of muscles, for example doing push ups (or better yet, burpees) instead of bench press.”<p>There are a few problems with this advice:<p>1. The arbitrary goal of increasing your heart rate for 20-30 minutes completely ignores the most important question: what are you trying to accomplish?<p>2. Circuit training is only appropriate for particular goals. We shouldn’t be prescribing it without the proper context.<p>3. Implying that push ups or burpees are superior to the bench press, especially in the context of working large muscle groups, again ignores the question of what you are trying to accomplish. If we are talking about strength training in general, then the bench press is superior to push-ups and burpees are almost completely irrelevant. If we’re talking about calorie burning and conditioning, then burpees are superior. But again, without proper context and asking the right questions, this sort of advice isn’t particularly helpful.
> I’ve touched on why I find working out in the morning to be especially beneficial, but I would recommend working out at a time where you know you can be consistent; if you try to vary your workout daily according to your schedule you’re going to be way more likely to skip it.<p>Yes, do find a time where you know you can be consistent. I run daily and, having tried different schedules, I find that running at 11pm allows me to achieve very good consistency (I've ran 1,500 miles in the past two years and the last time I skipped a day was back in February and that was because I caught the flu.) One problem with running in the morning is that if you oversleep, you'll likely want to skip it.<p>In addition to finding the right schedule, I recommend living near a gym, as that will help you avoid making excuses to skip days. I live at a place where there's 24/7 access to the gym and that helped a lot.
People need to start viewing their body as a whole. Your body is a system and when one part of the system starts to decline it affects all other parts of your body, especially your mind.<p>Going for a jog every day doesn't cut it though, people need to change their diet as well. It's not about eating less but about eating right. Ramen every day for dinner is not good for you eat chicken with salad. Oreos for breakfast isn't good for you eat eggs or greek yogurt. Drinking soda isn't good for you drink water or milk.<p>You need to get rid of the instant pleasures to get the more lasting ones such as increased confidence, intelligence, and energy. Making the change is definitely worth it.<p>edit: You should also get a healthy amount of sleep (6-8 hours). Too many people think they can function on 5 hours when only a small percentage can work effectively with that much rest.
Over the last year or so, after gradually changing my lifestyle to include some exercise and giving some attention to what I eat, I can personally attest to the fact that productivity and efficiency has greatly increased. There is also a marked improvement psychologically in terms of the will and desire to do things. There really seems to be an increase in energy levels as compared to before, and I seem to have a clearer dialogue with my body now. Post-workout metabolism has done wonders for my previously irregular and haphazard appetite.<p>I also agree with the bit about protein consumption in the morning. It can be a simple smoothie, along with scrambled eggs & some almonds, or it could be one of those whey-enhanced protein shakes - either way, it'll keep you going in full steam till lunch time.
Interesting. I just listened to the Security Now guy (Steve Gibson) who has been going super low carb and has done a couple of geek specials on the subject. Very good information in the two podcasts he did. Here's the link to the first one:<p><a href="http://twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/124" rel="nofollow">http://twit.tv/show/twit-live-specials/124</a><p>If you have a lot of energy problems during the day -- besides exercising, going completely very low carb is a good way to even out the post-carb crashes that plague lots of people like myself.
Can't agree more. Here's a relevant talk with a Stanford lecturer talking about thethe science of "willpower". She specifically mentions exercise as being proven to increase measures of willpower (things like being able to delay gratification in the short term to fulfill long term goals).<p><a href="http://twit.tv/show/dr-kikis-science-hour/135" rel="nofollow">http://twit.tv/show/dr-kikis-science-hour/135</a><p>And who couldn't use some more willpower?<p>Interestingly, another thing she mentions as having significant benifits is meditation. I've seen that anecdotally in successful people, as well.<p>As for exercise, it's very true that finding something that works for you is very important. Just to throw another idea out there: For me, I struggle to get full benefit out of going to a standard gym. What I've found works fantastically for me is going to a Crossfit gym in the morning. They're short, high intensity, varied, interesting workouts. Having a group of supportive people around you, and a skilled trainer has been invaluable. I've had great success (and fun) with this.
I find that a consistent exercise routine helps to implement good habits in other parts of my life, such as making good food choices, sleeping well, etc. And it certainly spills over into my work, as well. I just have more confidence and improved sense of well being. One thing that keeps me going is keeping in mind the long-term benefits. Not only will it improve my day, but I have a goal of living a long life with all my capacities.<p>I've recently started swimming and love it. If you have access to a pool, I cannot recommend it enough. I'm also in the middle of the "100 Pushup Challenge."
Great advice.<p>Just remember that whatever you do, do it with drive and intensity or don't expect results. In much the same way that leaving a tab open on Codeacademy won't magically make you a better developer, loafing around in a gym won't get you the results you want. Especially if you're lifting: if you aren't sleeping enough, eating properly (moar protein!), and training hard, you won't see the progress you're capable of.
If you care about your long-term health, it is much better to get your protein (and all other nutrients, by the way) from an actual meal and not from a supplement, because of digestive issues:<p><a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein#Digestive_Issues" rel="nofollow">http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Whey_protein#Digestive_Issues</a>
A lot of say you feel great after an exercise section, but how? I always feel sweaty, my throat feels constricted and I feel I need to go drink some water.<p>And that is true, even if I only do it for 10 minutes in the morning.