Haven’t been in a mood to exercise for nearly a month. And I’m a reluctant exerciser even at my most motivated. I’m basically not a gym guy but am either too old or not suitably situated for the sports I used to enjoy being mediocre at (swimming, ultimate, ping pong, briefly squash).

My small apartment pool prohibits lap swimming. I can only easily swim when I travel to decent hotels or to parents home in India these days (their apartment has a decent pool)

I first realized I was getting old when I briefly tried to join an ultimate league in Rochester ~2007-08 when I was mid 30s. Just couldn’t keep up with the young people. There were a couple of super fit older people who played but most were in their 20s. That was ~17y ago.

In LA I lived right next to Griffith observatory and that hike was something I looked forward to. Here in Kirkland there’s a nice trail but it’s entirely flat so not really exercise unless I go for hours.

My theory on people who are able to exercise consistently (in non-sport ways) and even perhaps enjoy it is that they have non-narrative mindsets. Psyche strongly shaped by current state rather than memories/history.

They also tend to eschew theorizing past and future. They view past as data and future as blank canvas for planning. They don’t see the two as strong,y connected by a theorizable narrative logic.

I can only exercise consistently in particular narrative phases. Otherwise even minor things can derail me.

Blogger at ribbonfarm.com, running summerofprotocols.com, host of /gloom ☀️

Huh what does going on a walk or something feel like when you're in your non-exercise mode?

I just find it pleasant to be outside and wandering about. And I find it really unpleasant when I'm hurt or in poor enough shape to not be able to do those things (e.g. last six months I've had tendon issues which have limited walking to 5-6k steps / day so my world feels shrunken).

But I don't feel disconnected or mindless when exercising -- it's when I do a lot of my best thinking. The llm apps with really good voice mode have been game changers for this as I can brain dump a bunch while moving.

Tech entrepreneur. Founder @electricsql. Founder @gatsbyjs (acquired by Netlify). @kylemathews on Twitter

Walking isn’t really exercise on flat trails for me at the pace I walk. It’s just pleasant outdoor time

What's exercise 🤔

Do you track your heart rate? Anything above 90 or so bpm is "exercise". 90% of moving should be around 90-120 bpm or so

Yeah I glance at it occasionally and check whoop later. Whoop tends to code it an activity if you’re elevated hr for more than like 20 minutes but it calculates “strain” continuously so implicitly uses your model. But I probably suck by all definitions.

I did a lot of research the last year as it was always trivial to me to be in great shape when I was younger but it's gotten sputtery as I've gotten older.

The main thing I've learned is that consistency is the most important thing — our bodies detrain faster as we age & it's slower to get it back when we start again. So I've been working to get more systematic about things and trying to hit similar numbers each week and gradually increase them.

Beyond that — it doesn't really matter what we do for heart/lungs/metabolic health — just work up to 6-10 hours of easy movement (90-120 bpm) per week and stay there.

Then toss in two strength workouts, some strides (20-30s x 5 faster running), and yoga for mobility and we're in as good as shape as can be expected.

If walking isn't quite hard enough — you might like rucking — i.e. just wear a backpack and add enough weight until your heart rate rises enough while strolling along.