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Comment by TechBro8615 | Hacker News Reader

Here you go:

1. Start today by doing literally anything active.

2. Do it again tomorrow.

3. Repeat.

There is no magic. Once you’ve got a habit of showing up, you can worry about exactly which fitness routine to use. Most programs get repetitive after 6-8 weeks anyway, so you need a foundation of a stable habit to fall back on when switching routines or burning out on one.

The secret is to show up. Every day. Just keep stacking those good days.

(This applies to a lot more than just fitness, btw)

(It’s also much easier said than done)

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> The secret is to show up. Every day. Just keep stacking those good days.

This is just not true. The most popular beginner weight lifting programs are comprised of ~3 workouts a week of ~30-60 minutes each. There's a reason for that. Exercising every day sure sounds nice, but it increases the chance of injury and often is too great a commitment for people with a sedentary lifestyle.

> Most programs get repetitive after 6-8 weeks anyway

You can easily follow a beginner program for many months before linear progression stops. Switching programs after 6-8 weeks as a newbie is absolutely pointless when you do compound exercises.

> (It’s also much easier said than done)

Yeah, it is when you force yourself to work out every day. 3 days a week though? Far more manageable.

Personally I think it’s a lot harder to build a habit 3 days a week than every day.

You don’t need to do stressful exercise every day. But if you can get yourself to show up to the same location, and do anything – whether that’s stretching, or exercising, or going for a walk – you’re going to build a more sustainable habit than you would if you allowed yourself to skip it four days a week.

100%, showing up and making yourself go is the hardest part when you're starting.

I've always thought body building is one of the hardest habits to start because your body punishes you when you do it the first few times. It's hard to feel motivated after it hurts to go up or down the the stairs. If you make it over that hurdle it's easy to keep up.

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