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naraburns  nihil supernum  1yr ago (text post)   2511 thread views

Wellness Wednesday for November 2, 2022

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Has anyone here actually experienced the alleged improvement in mood after exercise? How long did it take you?

Cause I'm going to the gym again (nothing serious; half an hour of cardio a day) for a couple of weeks and I'm wondering if this is a false bag of goods or if there's some threshold.

nothing serious; half an hour of cardio a day

Stop doing this shit and start lifting.

I wouldn't be so quick to dismiss cardio (and I say that as a gym-bro who much prefers lifting).

Lifting is fundamentally about vanity, whereas cardio has objective benefits for wellbeing (better mood, better sleep, improved cognitive function). I wish I had the willpower to do more cardio.

Lifting is fundamentally, for me, about doing something hard, taking a challenge and beating it. When I try to lift for vanity, which I've done dozens of times, I quit. I need a goal, and I need to work for it. This is positive for my mood over time, because it means that even if I'm getting bad grades or the deal I worked on falls apart or my wife is mad at me or the Eagles lose or [political party] wins, theres this other more or less totally decoupled yet concrete and meaningful part of my life that can be going well, progressing, and that evens me out over time.

Cardio activities like distance running or rowing can do this too, but probably not 30min elliptical workouts. My standard advice on this is that your primary workout should be something people either compete in, or aspire to master at a high level (the exceptions that fit here are things like dance and yoga).

whereas cardio has objective benefits for wellbeing (better mood, better sleep, improved cognitive function).

Lifting has these objective benefits as well and some more.

The ideal fitness regime imo should include both lifting and cardio. Purely from a maximizing wellbeing perspective, nothing else.

I wouldn't say it's true that 'lifting has the benefits as well'. Sure, you can make your resistance workout intense enough that you get indirect cardio, and therefore get (a very small amount of) the benefits of cardio. But if you're wanting to maximise growth, then a slower workout with longer rest periods is much better.

Optimising each workout for it's goal (bigger muscles or taxing the cardiovascular system) is better than doing a faster resistance session which is worse for both goals.

(better mood, better sleep, improved cognitive function).

I am specifically talking about these 3. Of which there is research to support all 3. https://old.reddit.com/r/slatestarcodex/comments/9h2jbi/you_should_probably_lift_weights/

Anecdotally, I have been lifting for almost a decade and personally experienced all 3 of these to a level I am confident is not placebo.

I inevitably hurt myself when I lift (which also inevitably leads to me quitting the gym) so I was hoping to get the habit locked via "easy" cardio and then get a trainer later on to help with form.

Suggestion: If that's your end goal, just start with extremely light weights. There exists a range of weight where you can still work out your muscle and train the mechanics of the movement without any serious risk of injury (unless you drop the weight on your head or something).

Which is pretty much the "old school" way of starting to lift. No fussing about internet forums trying to nail the perfect form and starting when the conditions are just perfect. Instead just start and perfect them along the way.

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