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InquilineKea comments on Hi - I'm new here - some questions - Less Wrong Discussion

7 Post author: InquilineKea 14 November 2010 04:11AM

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Comment author: InquilineKea 14 November 2010 05:24:02AM 1 point [-]

Hey, I appreciate your post a lot. Yes, true, I agree on the additional motivation.

On exercise, it is true that exercising consistently might make me better at exercising consistently. But unfortunately (from all my other non-exercise habits), I know that I'm bad at maintaining a routine every day (especially in the light of lots of schoolwork) so I've figured out that I'm better off not trying for now (actually it seems that mid-life exercise is more important than early-life exercise for preventing sarcopenia/muscle wasting).

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 14 November 2010 09:37:38AM 2 points [-]

Taleb on the advantages of irregular eating and exercising.

Comment author: Nick_Roy 15 November 2010 02:17:36AM 0 points [-]

Hmmm. This does seem based on self-experimentation, unfortunately. To which research is Taleb referring to?

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 15 November 2010 03:16:39AM 0 points [-]

I don't know what his research sources are.

I find his evolutionary arguments plausible, though I think there may have been some long distance running (not at marathon pace) for transportation and/or cursorial hunting in ancestral environments.

His approach seems like a reasonable experiment-- plausible, not especially dangerous. The idea that a regular schedule for food and exercise is better seems like an unexamined fairly modern assumption.

Comment author: Nick_Roy 15 November 2010 05:15:36AM 0 points [-]

This is certainly interesting, but I'll wait for more studies before I try any of this on myself, since parts of Taleb's approach are a bit dangerous, including improper sleep duration and prolonged periods of physical inactivity. Risk-benefit analyses of fasting and infrequent intense exercise are also inconclusive at present.

Comment author: NancyLebovitz 15 November 2010 09:46:17AM *  0 points [-]

I'm not sure if he meant prolonged periods of no exercise at all, or (as I suspect) prolonged periods of nothing more intense than long leisurely walks.

Comment author: Nick_Roy 15 November 2010 06:35:07PM 0 points [-]

Hmmm. Good point. I'd still be careful with sleep duration, though.

Comment author: Nick_Roy 14 November 2010 06:21:14AM 0 points [-]

Actually, this post explains what I'm attempting to express on the subject of exercise more eloquently than I do.

Comment author: Nick_Roy 14 November 2010 05:58:05AM 0 points [-]

Ah. I understand that time management is a problem, but I wouldn't give up just yet. Try exercising one day a week, then moving on to two, etc., as opposed to starting off exercising every day without fail (of course, even with an optimal exercise routine, rest days are still important). What I mean by practicing consistent exercise is starting from the bottom, not starting from the top. As a perfectionist I find this difficult, but it's generally easier than starting with a perfect habit from scratch. Also, if you are bad at maintaining a regular routine, don't forget to tsuyoku naritai.

I'm usually bad at maintaining routines as well, but have trained myself up to engaging in aerobic exercise approximately 4-5 times a week, mostly for the anxiety and depression-reducing effects, since the improvement in mental health more than makes up for the time used in exercising. Don't forget to factor your own issues with anxiety into your aerobic exercise cost/benefit analysis. However, I currently don't have time for anaerobic exercise, which is not as important but still useful. I have time management issues, myself.

Comment author: InquilineKea 14 November 2010 07:00:12AM 0 points [-]

Oh okay, good ideas (and nice references). Yeah, I should try that sometime.