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Comment by snakeyjake | Hacker News Reader

>1. Don’t exercise to be thin. Exercise to be strong.

I am convinced that being strong is the single most important thing any human being can do once all of their basic needs are met.

After having entered thousands of houses as a volunteer EMT and seeing people younger than my parents who on the verge of becoming incapable of self-sufficient living due to frailty, no other problems just muscle (and bone) loss, I am absolutely irrefutably convinced that every single human being on earth would benefit from pumping some iron.

I just looked it up and even patients with brittle bone disease are highly encouraged to become as strong as possible through physical therapy because of the benefits of being strong.

There is but an insignificantly vanishingly small sliver of humanity too sick to strength train, even if it is just overhead pressing some cans of chicken noodle soup while you watch tv.

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You can titrate down the strength training so even quite old people can make a start and improve their strength: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ekJOT0kn5vs

Chicken and egg. From what I see, the highly motivated and socially competitive do weights. I suspect you are trying to reverse causation by suggesting that doing weights will create motivated self-sufficient people.

Cardio matters as you pass middle age. I know some people that do weights that are simply unfit - out of breath doing hill climbing.

Anecdotally I see some physical and mental health from simpler regimes: some regular walking. Why are working people in London mostly not obese - using the tube which needs 10 to 15 minutes of walking must help. Especially so if mixing walking with social?

"Four seconds of intense intervals, repeated until they amount to a minute of total exertion, led to rapid improvements in strength and fitness in middle-aged and older adults." - https://www.nytimes.com/2020/12/30/well/move/can-4-seconds-o...

Ideally we need to look at which fitness interventions help someone who has an unhealthy lifestyle. But the selection problem remains: people that are motivated to change their lifestyles (whether weights training, walking, whatever) are a different subpopulation compared against the majority of people with bad lifestyles.

Also I'm guessing you are responding as a <50yr old man to "Don’t exercise to be thin. Exercise to be strong." - the article appears to be by Annie Macmanus. I know two female body builders and neither exercises to be thin.

> I am convinced that being strong is the single most important thing any human being can do

It's not important to be strong. It's important to feel strong. This is what keeps humans going. Despair is insurmountable without self esteem, in some regard.

https://www.goodreads.com/quotes/256992-it-is-important-in-l...

Being strong and not delusional is the least risky way to feel strong.

"being strong" is relative. I'm not sure how this is helpful advice.

eg If your limbs are disabled, being able to handle the resistance to a gentle ocean wave, is a way to feel stronger than you normally do.

Expecting that "being strong" will always mean the same thing (even within your own lifetime) is not rational.

>> I just looked it up and even patients with brittle bone disease are highly encouraged to become as strong as possible through physical therapy because of the benefits of being strong.

>> There is but an insignificantly vanishingly small sliver of humanity too sick to strength train, even if it is just overhead pressing some cans of chicken noodle soup while you watch tv.

Agree. And if you hate going to the gym then I recommend the book “Body by Science”. It shows how to get stronger every week spending less than 30 min in the gym once a week. I have followed it for years now and it works. It won’t turn you into a body builder. But it will make you stronger every week.

In the words of Rip: "Stronger people are harder to kill, and more useful in general."

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