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Health Problems Related to the Geek Lifestyle
jonasj writes "A doctor and former programmer has written a good article on common geek health problems. From the article: 'If I were to go and try to run a few miles this weekend, I would not be able to easily do so. [...] However, if you take one of the these college basketball athletes, any of them would be able to run miles without even breathing heavy. However, if you made them sit down and try to learn Java for 12 hours a day, most of them would be asleep at their desk before lunch. The typical geek trains their brain to be heavily focused while multitasking day after day. Is it surprising that this same brain does not do well when forced to isolate down to one task?'"
That was actually a very interesting article, I have suffered from insomia for many years, and have frequent problems with sleeping all the way through the night. I have suffered from back pain for years, although that is more likely related to an old injury from way back. I get headaches pretty frequently but I think that is also partly due me needed to get a new pescription for my glasses. So I can relate to all those things.
I am not so sure about the poor attention sp.......oooo I wonder if I can assign that class to a pointer....oh ummmm I got to go...
GeekServ Unix Consulting Services (http://www.geekserv.com)
So get off your lazy ass and go run!
Who said running requires 'focusing on one task'.
Running often helps me solve programming problems.
I run, lift weights, eat healthy food, and take supplements.
I am also a game programmer, and a business owner. Focusing
on one task is not an issue.
Please move along at least every hour or two before you add deep vein thrombosis to your list of troubles.
Gee! reading this hurts my head
The bed should only be used for two things-sex and sleep.
Or, in the case of geeks, one thing.
Is it surprising?
No.
I mean come on everyone knows - if you don't excercise then you don't have strength and endurance.
And the computer geek lifestyle leaves little time for excercising.
Same thing with a professional basketball athlete - he does muscle and coordination training for hours daily. He does not practice abstract semantic concepts in his head while making those baskets, either.
I'm really not seeing where the story is here.
I am disrespectful to dirt! Can you see that I am serious?!
...we're stating the obvious again today.
I walk to/from work everyday (45min) and usually can't even remember that I walked it. Always thinking about other stuff like the latest hw/sw interface or bugs from the day (todo or just encountered).
So; no, not surprising. Next!
- wacco
Q: Why no one comments this post??
:P
:)
anyone feels the fingers pointing?
A: no, im tired because i ran 1 mile to get the bus at time ( and because this damn class dont compile)
I've always found it funny that 'geeks' revel in the fact that they can't be healthy. Stupid stereotypes.
Excercise is a good thing - yeah, it takes a bit of effort (and cursing) to get into it, but once you get into the habit, everything just seems to flow better - smoother thinking, better sleep and so on.
This guy is a quack.
I'm sorry, but putting up an excuse for not being physically active because your brain can't deal with only handling a single task is specious at best.
There are plenty of us programmers, geeks, and nerds who still engage in sports and athletic activities. I have my degree in Computer Science from the U of A, graduated with a > 3.5 GPA, work as a software engineer, and yet I still play soccer, go to the gym, mountain bike, snowboard and can run a mile no sweat.
Just cause this guy can't is no reason to stereotype the rest of us.
*yawn*
Slashdot effect can be hazardous to your webserver. Nursing or pregnant women should avoid the slashdot effect at all costs.
If it weren't for my intense geek lifestyle, I might never have gotten rid of that parasite I found myself host to, a terrifying creature which constantly drained my health and resources day and night.. but thanks to my intense multitasking focus and nerd powers, she eventually left me and moved back in with her folks.
Slashdot Burying Stories About Slashdot Media Owned
I'm not healthy because I spend all my spare time staring at a monitor reading /. and watching movies/tv shows. If I really wanted to, I could dedicate some of my excess spare time to exercising (as athletic people already do). It's a matter of mindset; athletic people - even if they are tied up and forced to learn java - would still go out and play sports and be in good shape and geeks don't have the drive. We're lazy.
I've never considered it a lifestyle. It's more like playing dodgeball with the sun.
I have nothing to say.
There is a *lot* about the geeky lifestyle that is bad for us. LOTS of it.
However, I do know quite a number of people (if you count IRC and forums, heh) that make a point to try to avoid some of pitfalls- exercise, proper diet, taking breaks from the computer/video game/etc.
I don't think this is as bad as the 'classic' nerd stereotype of the 1970s and 1980s, but i'm sure we've all got room to improve.
do() || do_not();
Why on Earth would I need to run miles?
I buy my groceries online.
Have a job programming? Ride your bike to work.
Seriously, do people here feel they have to be out of shape and socially awkward to be good with technology?
Then again, a couple of weeks ago I met a dancer (yes, female!) while carting home a laser printer from the street. Maybe its not fair to compare myself to other geeks.
Know what I like about atheists? I've yet to meet one that believes God is on their side.
With proper coaching that the coordination would eventually come.
The geek environment seems to value intellectual achievement so highly, that when someone's physical ability shows promising traits, its almost as if we don't recognize that ability and move along.
Jim http://www.runfatboy.net/ -- Exercise for the rest of us.
After all, geeks sleep in meetings.
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
Yes, I consider myself a tech enthusiast and know my way around most things electronic (and mechanical) pretty well. I would not be posting here if I wasn't.
But to make a blanket statement that people who are techies have poor health habits is absurd. I go run, ride the bike, and go lift very often- I have at least 40 minutes of hard physical activity a day. I ran a half-marathon in under an hour and a half and put up 235 pounds on the bench for anybody who doubts me. I also rarely eat fast food. I bet I can out-run and out-lift whatever journalist wrote that crap, as well as be able to keep my computer rid of Viagra pop-up ads.
This kind of crap sickens me like it should sicken 95% of the other tech people who are not in any worse of shape than the average non-techie desk jockies and couch potatoes.
Just "gittin-r-done," day after day.
The article was TLDR.
Becoming forgetful and posting dupe articles to /.
At one time I used to think other ppl who couldn't concentrate for 12 hrs a day were just dumb, until I learned that there are different types of intelligences (for example, athletic intelligence) that are not easily measured by our current (inadequate) objective tests. It's not that the basketball player *can't* learn Java for 12 hours a day (or in my case, do Java programming for 9-10 hours a day), but that he simply has not the willpower nor the mental disciplne. When I first started my job as a programmer, I used to get really spacey about 4 pm - my brain simply couldn't handle stuff anymore. After 6 years of professional experiece though, I can work until 10 pm, sometime midnight with no problem. I have taught myself the mental discipline necessary to make me successful in what I do. I even skip lunch many days. Not that I am bragging, but that kind of mental discipline took years to achieve. Likewise, it would likely take me years to achieve the level of physical (and other types of mental) discipline that a basketball player has (not to mention that I am waaay too short!).
Poor sleep to lack of attention span? I must have some paranormal skills for having sensed this being common among nerds before this article was posted to /..
Several years ago I finally figured out a few things.
If I do one thing at a time it gets done faster, and with better results than if I try to multitask.
If I get out for exercize - any exercize - a couple of times a week I feel better and can work more productively.
If I limit work to something like 9-5 (well, actually 10-4) I get more done, with better results.
If I have interests outside work like art, or film, or reading, or just hiking in the woods, my work improves.
Despite the Wal-Martization of work in North America, it remains true that a healthy, balanced lifestyle allows you to work faster and more productively.
Yes, the less that I work, the more that I am able to do.
Three Squirrels
Nevermind geek health-problems - what about the health problems of the poor server that cannot handle a slashdotting?
...all cock-blockery aside...
I program 8hrs/day, write another hour or two/day on my own. And I also do aikido, can run a couple of miles if my shins are cooperating, weight train, etc. It takes time, sure, but just because you don't take the time doesn't mean that it's impossible or even very difficult if you actually try it.
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Me and my geek friends have come to realize that multitasking not only leads to errors, but can make one irritable.
We have now decided that concentrating on one task as much as possible not only gets it done faster and with less errors but usually takes much less time than adding it to the multi-scheme.
We also came to realize when one multitasks we tend to forget a thing or two in the mix of multitasking.
Whacked out after just a few comments. No doubt a cardiac arrest team is applying electro-shocks to its chest this very minute, and it is regretting taking the lift every day instead of the stairs to the server room.
Seriously though, it's been a long cold winter where I am and I was starting to notice that the lack of outdoor activity, combined with too much computer time, is starting to eat in to whatever health karma I established when I was younger. Now the snow and ice has gone I've started cycling to work, and I feel so much better for it.
I'm fat because my brain can't focus on a single task? Here I thought it was all the taco bell and doritos I ate, combined with the fact that I sit on my big ass 24 hours a day. All along it's been because my brain just likes to multitask. Thank you, TFA, for giving me yet another excuse to skip that pesky personal responsibility thing and blame something else for my lard ass.
This guy is clueless and confused. He even proposes a genetic basis for the problem. First he states that "Poor Attention Span" is a problem for geeks then his argument is that they have a GOOD attention span and get bored when running... which is it?
Some of my best programming time (problem solving) happens when I am running, XC skiing, etc. You have to pay attention and multitask to perform any exercise (as well as program). If you get bored and don't pay attention while running, you'll fall over.
I don't read your sig. Why are you reading mine?
Kate Starbird: 1997 Naismith Player of the Year as the best women's collegiate basketball player, and BS in CS, 1997, Stanford University. There are lots of examples of student-athletes who are truly both, at least at those schools with academic pride.
...here's a link to the Hacker's Diet discussed on /. on on many earlier occasions. It helped me lose (40lbs) (albeit in combination with modified low-carb diet) ...maybe it'll help somebody else out of a 200lb mess.
An Indian-American Hindu committed to non-violent thought/speech/action alarmed by the global explosion of radical Islam
One of the best things that I did nearly four years ago was getting a gym membership. I normally work out two to four times a week. Even then, I'm still multitasking since I use the time on the treadmill to catch up on my reading material.
I disagree completely. I fit most of the geek stereotypes, but I typically focus on one thing to the point of complete oblivion of all else, especially when coding. I ignore the time and other things that get in the way. When forced to break my train of thought, it can take me like 5-10 minutes to get back the state I was in before where I have the complete grasp on all aspects of what I'm working on.
"Waste not one watt!" - CZ
When should we exercise? Working 9 to 9 is the rule, not the exception, in our branch. I admit, I prefer sitting on my desk to forced, arbitrary sweating, but I doubt many managers would enjoy hearing "Sorry, chief. Gonna fix that bug tomorrow, now it's time for my run."
:)
I don't think that's a way to keep your job for a long time.
Yes, it's yet another excuse to NOT run around and leave a trail of salty droplets on the road. But simply saying "gotta exercise more" isn't gonna cut it.
'sides, show me a geek that doesn't love DDR!
We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
I'm a geek. I work for IBM. I run several websites in my spare time. I play German board games. I watch anime, and in fact ran the largest anime club in the US for several years. I do a freaking podcast four nights a week.
You want to know what I did last Sunday? I climbed a mountain. Yesterday, after work, I ran 4 miles. Today, I'm going to run another 4. Last week, I biked 10. I lift weights. I play DDR.
Being a geek has NOTHING to do with being a lazy fat ass. Using that as an excuse is pathetic. A pasty, weak geek sitting in his parents' basement in front of a computer is no better off than a pasty, beer-bellied sports geek sitting in his livingroom in front of a TV.
Mind and body are both important. To exercise one at the expense of the other is unbalanced and unhealthy (severe medical problems aside). The Greeks knew this. The Romans knew this. It's nothing new.
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Late Night Radio for Geeks!
How about we use some logic here. I doubt it is the training of the brain to multitask, and then forcing it to concentrate on the one task of exercise. I think it is more the lard-ass which develops from sitting in front of a monitor all day long, which becomes too heavy to drag down the jogging path.
UNIX is truth, the Console is life. Use Evolution to send e-mail and not virii.
I have a suggestion for geeks having problems sleeping. Stop watching that DVD or playing poker, close the laptop, lie back and think about the best way to solve a tricky computer problem (maybe for work).
For example last night, I tried to work out whether it was better to generate a thread in a threaded comments system (like slashdots) mainly in the data access layer or whether to order the comments in the applications layer. Doing it in the data access layer could be neat, but then if you did it in the application layer you could quite cleanly reattach all the child/parent comments by putting them all into a hashtable and re-attaching them by iterating over the items adding child nodes by doing comment.getParent().addChild(this) Zzzzzzz
It makes perfect sense to me that if you are genetically blessed with high cardio endurance, you will be attracted to sports. By the same token, if you are not then you will be drawn to the more mentally challenging disciplines. The truly sad folks are the ones that have both strong physical and mental capacities yet they were unable to avoid a physically stagnant career. The lack of emphasis on physical fitness in corporate society is a travesty and the purveyors will reap what they sow. Enjoy your crestor prescriptions, you're gonna need em.
http://www.commodore69.com/
i for one wish i'd never seen any pr0n
then I lay down until it goes away...
Since they call you "MustardMan", do you eat mustard with that?
Bye Karma Bye
Pretentiousness comes packaged with geeks, me thinks
We cant concentrate cos geek brain is heavily focused while multitasking day .
Absolute BS.
In that case, these basket ball players (sic) should be able to concentrate fully on board meetings...
It is just that people are too lazy, other than in thier own domain.
For a person, his career yields his food. So if he is a BB player, he wouldnt concentrate on anything else, i.e. all.
Similarly if the board meeting was about a life and death decision for the geeks, he also would be really awake. No big deal.
Now on the pretentiousness -
This article, and most of the comments smacks of downgrading people who does a lot of physical activity (at least quite a bit), even though the doctor is asking us to do the same...
why does geeks* think of themselves as being above and over most of the people?
They are not.. They are just another set of average guys doing their job i.e. all.
After all, these are no scientists, working for the upliftment of mankind.
rajmohan_h@yahoo.com
TFA is down for me. Anyone got a link so I can read this? Sounds interesting.
Comment removed based on user account deletion
Run and find out!
... Standards and Practices !
PenGun
Do What Now ???
used to be a competitive athlete and computer nerd
became a full-time geek (prided myself on all-nighters and spending my ridiculous pay on expensive meals) and ballooned up; couldn't walk up a single flight of stairs without huffing and pulling the handrail at the top
lost the weight (over 80 lbs eventually), got back into my sport, struggled mightily to train (est. 20% of former capability), got pretty good (80% or more maybe)
burned out on training, took a couple of months off, got back in, found it hard (60% level), don't have the same impetus to get back to where i was in the fall...
anyone can be both geeky and buff.
let me repeat that: anyone.
give up your computer for a couple of hours a day to dress, work out, and shower; and learn what nutrition is: balance your protein, carbohydrate, and fat intake, keep a 500-calorie deficit until you hit your goal weight, avoid sugary-fatty foods (dessert is a reward, not a mandate), use a multivitamin so you don't obsess about new-age health claims, and ignore fad diets like low-carb or no-fat
it's easy to allow the alpha waves and the instant feedback of your keyboard addiction to keep you in your seat, but once you make that break a part of your lifestyle, it tends to stick
and hell...slashdot has plenty of volume...it doesn't need four more "me too" posts from you per day
I love to work I love to run I love to waterski, snowboard, jetski
Skydive, parasail, hang-glide, rollerblade, mountainbike, bungee-jump
Well I mean I'd love to do these things if I ever had the time
tasks(723) drafts(105) languages(484) examples(29106)
Everything I've gathered from this article is that these are the pitfalls of the "established geek lifestyle." I didn't see anything that led me to believe that these things cannot be counteracted by exercising and other good habits. He's saying those that don't tend to have problems. And if you lead a lifestyle of based on his stereotypes this is what you should look out for. He's not saying I, as a geek, am incapable of running a mile. He's also not saying a basketball player can't sit down and learn java for 12 hrs and stay awake. Just stating what he has noticed in the treatment of those in his area who are geeks having health issues. The issues tend to be common ones. Stop taking an article so personally.
"Frisbeetarianism is the belief that when you die, your soul goes up on the roof and gets stuck." -George Carlin
Palm caluses are a common problem but I'm assuming this was simply an oversight since they do mention a related issue, poor eyesight. Fortunately failing health generally eliminates the need before actual blindness sets in.
When he talked about not being able to run I think he was making a point about using muscles that haven't trained. "He" wouldn't be capable of running because he never does so his muscles wouldn't be able to handle it. Similarly, the atheletes haven't trained their brains and wouldn't be able to sit through a 12 hour Java discussion.
MG
Haha geeks are virgins get it lol
I've tried excercise. It doesn't work. Getting to work all sweaty and covered with bike grease is a good way to stay stuck in your position
I doubt that you really did exericise. Otherwise, you've known that gyms do have showers for a reason. Other option is to exerise after work.
They care that you're well dressed and not dripping with sweat, that you're focused and alert
It's kinda hard to be well dressed when you can't fit into your clothes anymore.
You can be in shape, or you can be a geek. You can't do both (well).
Sounds more like "I game/watch TV for 40+ hours a week but can't spare couple of hours of exercise" excuse.
1f u c4n r34d th1s u r34lly n33d t0 g37 l41d
Non-geeks in the US are pretty damn fat, too. I can't go anywhere without seeing a bunch of tubby women with tubby children. And most of them probably can't even program their VCR. This is a silly article; there are a lot of healthy geeks. There are a lot of unhealthy geeks. Obesity is a huge problem in the United states. There are also little dweeby twerpy guys who are completely lost when sitting at a computer and have an inhaler.
This article is based on the flawed assumption that somehow geeks are more likely to be unhealthy than other people. I should write an article about how we're less likely to get skin cancer because we don't bake until we're orange every year.
Insomnia and altered sleep patterns is one of the most common complaints to my office.
Insomnia and altered sleep patterns are a common complaint, period. That's why Ambien is able to sell their sleep medicine for such a ridiculous price.
Back pain is a frequent complaint in my office as well.
And I'm sure it's not at a warehouse.
This article is seriously flawed.
I'm a programmer and I run 3.5 miles 2 of every 3 evenings and 1.5 miles each following morning. During crunch times near project deadlines I'll spend 18+ hours a day behind the computer. Probably wouldn;t be able to with the exercise keeping me fit.
"God fights on the side with the best artillery." - Napoleon, Marshal of France - speaking truth to power
you can find it here:
digg.com.
There was talk of the good Doctor in the study answering questions in the comments.
From TFA: It typically starts with somebody waking up in the middle of the night and turning on the laptop or TV...
/. The laptop is required for sex to happen in the Bed
The bed should only be used for two things-sex and sleep.
This is
Don't know about other countries, but more than 50% of the US is considered obese. Not getting enough exercise, and poor health in general, hardly seems to be a problem confined to geekdom.
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It's a huge generalization to say that "geeks aren't fit" and that wasn't what the article was saying but seems to be prevalent in the comments. If I consider my workplace there is a full range of geeks in coexistence from the super-athletic to the morbidly obsese - it's a personal thing. In fact, a high percentage of the people who I would consider the most technical are also the ones that play Soccer, go mountain biking, run marathons and spend time in the company provided gym. At least where I am, being a geek != being unfit. Being a geek, however, is time consuming - trying to fit geekiness in with all these other activities in addition to reading ./ doesn't always leave a lot of time for sleep and correct posture.
Also, see the Jargon File for another generalization on geek physical activities:
http://www.outpost9.com/reference/jargon/jargon_55 .html#SEC62
Huh? That doesn't sound right at all. I could never get anything done if I kept switching tasks. I get the most done when I'm highly focused on one thing for several hours at a time. I used to talk to a friend on IM regularly. Every time I would talk to her, she would be talking to three other people and watching a movie at the same time. I could NEVER do that. And yes, you should go out and get some exercise. Trust me, you'll sleep better. In fact, for the first few weeks, you'll do nothing but sleep.
He didn't say that - this just another case of a horribly misleading summary. What he said is that someone who multitasks every day has a harder time focusing on a single task. The athlete quote is an analogy taken out of context, which caused it to loose all meaning.
For one things, geeks almost NEVER contract social diseases!
I've abandoned my search for truth; now I'm just looking for some useful delusions.
If it takes you more than two hours to learn Java, you're not a geek anyways...
Very silly article.
Even if it's just 5-15 minutes a day (see http://mattfurey.com/).
I know many very sharp sw geeks that have physical hobbies (yoga, mountain climbing, windsurfing).
Get some balance in your life.
If I were to go and try to run a few miles this weekend, I would not be able to easily do so. [...] However, if you take one of the these college basketball athletes, any of them would be able to run miles without even breathing heavy.
So now "geek" is defined as someone whose persona isn't completely defined by athletics.
Who knew something I learned in high school would actually translate to real life? And (judging by their inability to run for miles without being a little winded) that the entire television-addicted western world is composed almost entirely of geeks!? Huzzahs are in order!
geeks contribute to the world, while atheletes play games. Unless they are going to put their "running miles" towards powering turbines to provide power for my computer, i'm not very interested.
I'm trying to chronicle good sleep hacks at sleephacks.com Research on practical sleep methods based on evidence of non-acute patients are slim to none. If you're interested in trying to hack a good night's sleep please stop by & help me experiment and gather real data.
http://www.quackwatch.org/01QuackeryRelatedTopics/ eyequack.html
This isn't quite as bad as that ridiculous "See Clearly" crap that's hawked all over the airwaves (because it's free), but it's similarly useless.
Secondly, ADDers actually gain more from exercise than they do sitting around, due to naturally occuring dopamine and beta-phenethylamine (aka endogenous amphetamine) released during exercise. Both elevate dopamine levels in the prefrontal cortex for 50some odd hours, and produce better task persistance. To make the claim it's easier to focus on "multiple" things at once vs. exercise is horribly wrong.
If you're going to make a claim like this, you need scientific data to back it up. Theoretical masturbation is great, but is often wrong, such as in this case.
In summary, get off your ass and do some cardio, it's what medical research recommends, and even you can focus on it -- and in fact, focus better on everything due to it.
#1 Horrible Sleep Hygiene
:)
#2 Headaches
#4 Poor Attention Span
Yeah I think I know exactly like that...and they're in med school.
Seriously though, this is almost as stupid as this guy
Sure clinically you can relate poor attention span with lack of sleep but unless he's done some kind of study this leaves his other factor 'genetics' on shakey ground at best. How would he know that he's seeing something other than the effects of sleep dep? He doesn't. Medical Ass or Geek Ass when it's doing the talking it's still just ass.
The idea that you can train your brain to be unable to stay on task seems odd. Sure I spend the day focused on a myriad of things (sometimes just in writing a single piece of code) but by the end of the day I'm ready to relax. What do I do? I watch TV, read a book, play a game - all pretty much single task things. Even doing chores I find relaxing to a point. Likewise if I've been doing gardening all day then I find writing code relaxing. Perhaps I'm the exception but my mind seems to crave balance more than anything.
We don't even have a cafeteria on site. Or even sandwich vending machines. I get to pack my own sandwiches for lunch, which I don't mind, but it shows that some companies are a far cry from providing things like fitness facilities. Of course, we rent the office space that we're using, so that is part of the reason behind the nature of the facilities, also.
:-)
My wife works at the corporate headquarters for a fairly large company, and they have all kinds of nice things including an excercise room, but they have more employees in that one building than my employer has worldwide. That could be part of it, too.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
"Excercise is demoralizing and exhausting: you feel miserable before, during, and after you drag yourself out to a workout"
I couldn't disagree more. Ever heard of endorfins(sp)? You know, the rush you get from exercise, or wait you wouldn't know. when does the time come for us to get out of the chair and do something? Its long... overdue.
Talk to anyone who is both active and a techie, they'll tell you they love it. The best co-workers and management are also the ones who run/bike/play sports.
Seriously. I've never understood why people look at their jobs *as* their life, as opposed to simply a part of it. I make a point of leaving at 5, and never taking my work home with me unless it's absolutely necessary. Working 12 hours a day and leaving nothing for yourself is a miserable way to live, and it doesn't *have* to be that way.
Too bad you aren't smart enough to understand what the guy said. Excercise was an analogy, you can't run alot if you don't train, and you can't concentrate alot if you don't train. He didn't say you can't be physically active because you are used to multi-tasking, or even anything vaguely resembling such nonsense.
However, if you made them sit down and try to learn Java for 12 hours a day, most of them would be asleep at their desk before lunch.
That should be desks .
Hey, I am programmer and I bench press 300 pounds, it takes the same amount of persistance to do programming that to do exercise.
I'm sorry, why can't a person be both a geek and healthy? Just give up 30 minutes of WoW, 3 times a week, and go run/ride/lift/stretch/something. And cut down on the grilled stuffed burritos and mountain dew. You'll be glad to have done it the next time you have to lug your gaming rig with the dual video cards, 12 cooling fans, and a 20 pound power supply to a LAN party.
For that matter, why can't a person be both an athlete and geeky? Think of plays as functions. Your selector class reads a variable passed by the QB/coach/point guard, then picks a function and executes the steps. Coaches spend enough time pounding plays into jocks heads, so someone might as well take pride in being good at learning them quickly and executing them properly. OOP. Object Oriented Playmaking. The only drawback is when endzone_dance() gets stuck in an endless do/while loop.
I recognize some people have truly crappy jobs and spend 12 hours a day in front of a monitor, but I'd be more than willing to bet that the vast majority of geeks have time to spare for exercising and healthy cooking if they're willing to re-arrange their priorities a little.
You're right though. I'm not seeing much of a story in this. Exercising and eating right makes you healthier. Doing brain work helps intellectual acuity.
Me and a bunch of geeky friends do powerlifting competatively. Hell, I just benched 365. Other geeks I know do martial arts or bike regularly. I don't really see any difference between geeks and people doing other kinds of jobs. Now if you isolate your study to just workaholic geeks, yeah it is probably true. But that is true of any workaholic, their lives are unbalnced and they often don't have time to do physical and recreational activities. Just another dumbass sterotype.
http://www.carotids.com.nyud.net:8090/lifestyle/he alth-problems-related-to-the-geek-lifestyle/
although the original site seems too far down by now for it to work
I've always hated exercise-for-exercise's-sake (think treadmills, stationary bikes and StairMasters here) and because of my hectic work schedule and a number of non-physical hobbies, it's rare occasion that I have the time to engage in recreational exercise.
In the past two years I've been putting on weight, and I'm NOT happy about it. So I've come up with the following workaround:
1) Buy an iPod
2) Load it up with good music, audio books, learn-a-language casettes, and other engaging activities
3) Go to gym; hop on cardio machine of choice; turn iPod up
4) Zone out as you exercise. Let the audio distract you; try to forget completely about the discomfort of working out, while still concentrating on the physical side of things (are we running fast enough, is our posture correct, etc).
It works surprisingly well. It's unbelievable how quickly 45 minutes can pass while I'm learning Arabic or reading Joe Haldeman in my head. And the best thing is, I've gotten to the point where I don't strictly *need* the iPod distraction in order to enjoy a workout. I've trained myself to tolerate the mild physical discomfort (sweat, tired muscles, et al) -- though I still enjoy the iPod.
Yes, I'm a big wimp. But at least I've got mental hacks to compensate for it!
Exercising 45 minutes every other day decreases my need for sleep by 1 hour each day. [I don't normally use alarm.]
Second benefit is that it makes me more awake during day time. The end result is that with routine exercise, I can spend more time with computers than if I don't exercise, and can concentrate more on the task at hand, since with exercise I don't feel sleepy so often until there is time to sleep.
Emacs is good operating system, but it has one flaw: Its text editor could be better.
Actually after 8 hours of sitting and coding at work my main problem is a sore ass. If drinking a steady supply of diet coke is a health problem then add that to the list too.
If it wasn't for regular workout classes after work and hiking on weekends I'd probably be gasping like a fish just from walking to my car.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
I'm an older geek. I learned emacs in 1981, learned FORTRAN in 1972.
I have lived something like the typical geek lifestyle most of my life. I got fat. I got sick. My Dr. told me had to exercise... I hate gyms... Jocks bore me... I took ROTC in high school so I wouldn't have to deal with another coach. What was someone like me going to do for exercise?
I bought a stationary bike. I wore it out. I bought another one and wore it out at about the same time my Dr. told me to never ride a bike again because the damn seats pinch nerves and make you lose feeling in parts of your body you don't ever want numb... I next wore out a Nordic track machine. And then I wore out several pairs of walking shoes: all of those activities were boring as hell. It was like taking bad tasting medicine. I know it was good for me, but it was hard to make myself do it because it was so boring. At least I could listen to music and even read on the bikes.
I kept getting older and I kept fluctuating between being fat and not so fat as I overcame the boredom and exercised. I mean seriously, how many times can you walk down the same trail before it becomes so boring that it actually hurts to think about it?
Finally a friend talked me into taking a class at his Kung Fu school. The first words out of the instructors mouth were "Remember, there is no shame here." And there isn't. There are a variety of activities in each class. It is the hardest work out I ever imagined doing. The combined mental and physical challenge of learning forms is as much fun as solving a hard programming problem or learning a new system. Not to mention that I soon found that the majority of the students are geeks of some sort. Even the master of the school has a Ph.D in neuroscience. Then I started getting in to the internal side of Kung Fu, meditation and Chi Kung, and found more there than I believed was possible.
I started studying a martial art at age 50. My doctor said I was nuts but that it probably wouldn't kill me. Now he says he is amazed at the physical and mental changes he sees in me. I really believe that if you find a serious martial arts school, *not* one run by a bully show off or that is focused just on winning tournaments, you will find an activity that appeals to geeks the same way science and math appeal and for the same reasons. Even within the same style there are good schools and there are bad schools. The master makes the difference.
I never believed I would look forward to spending 2 or more hours at a time sweating so hard that puddles form around my feet when I take a break, but I do.
Stonewolf
P.S.
I am not claiming I am any good at Kung Fu. I am just saying that I love it and I am getting amazing benefits from it. Unlike some styles Kung Fu is appropriate for people of all ages.
Considering that most of us self respecting geeks masturbate frequently, one of the main problems we all experience a lot is the "electric slide". That's when the skin on your shaft becomes so loose from being streched, pulled and rubbed that you can barely feel anything anymore. How the hell do you take care of that?! That's what we really want to know!
During the day I do my 8-and-some-odd hours of programming, designing, planning, surfing, email, meetings, 2~4 IM conversations, etc. etc., so I have the multitasking requisites.
And in the evenings, I do a lot of running. Run down the hall, up the stairs, jump the ledge and pickup the rocket launcher, chase down the guy with the railgun heading for his fave camping spot, and then to the four corners of the map to frag the others. Then I was running up and down the main road of Durotar I don't know how many times, and then a lot of swimming off the coast of Desolace. And not done yet, I even ran around Paragon City- which I might add is not pedestrian-friendly!
All that running had my heart beating plenty! ^_~
Yes, we understand these tags always apply: fud, dupe, typo, slashdotted, topic name
Sorry, I'm not suicidal. :-)
I could have ridden my bike for a while while living up in the Twin Cities (very different road development and much mellower drivers), but here it really wouldn't work very well. The roads don't seemed designed for bikes or pedestrian traffic at all, and folks here are a lot more aggressive when it comes to slow objects blocking their precious traffic lanes.
Mainframe/UNIX Bit Twiddler and long time Windows/Linux Hobbyist.
The Theorem Theorem: If If, Then Then.
Bicycle commuting is not necessarily as dangerous as you think. There are conditions under which I won't ride, including dangerous traffic conditions. However, I have commuted on busy city streets and secondary highways. It is worth it to learn about safety. I don't live in a particularly bike-friendly city, although it isn't actively bike-hostile either. I recommend John Forester's book Effective Cycling. He can be a bit strident on some issues, but his advice on safety has saved me from at least two accidents.
The net will not be what we demand, but what we make it. Build it well.
Articles like these anger me because it's creating excuses for ourselves. I weighed 245 lbs my junior year of high school and not because I was unable to focus on those tasks. The fact was I was a lazy geek who preferred playing computer games and eating lots of junk food as opposed to busting my ass everyday like I do now. That was eight years ago, I weigh 155 lbs [only 5'9]and look amazing [I've been told I look like Brad Pitt by women]. It was done through a whole lot of hard work; the same sort of dedication and focus that I put in to learning the geek stuff in the first place.
Excuses are pointless, small changes over a prolonged period of time make a huge difference.
Dance games. DDR, In The Groove, you name it. I started about six months ago and have dropped 40 pounds playing a video game. Check it out, you might be surprised how much fun it is.
Your sig(k) has been stolen. There is a puff of smoke!
Please be careful with the exercise you mentioned. I once gave myself a bulging disc after I was already working out and tried that machine and thought "hey, this is easy!" and did a bunch of reps (probably while jacked up on endorphins). Two days later I was in excruciating pain with psiatic nerve pain shooting down my leg. MRI said my L5S1 was nearly busted.
Turns out that your discs have 13 layers but only the last one has nerve endings in it. The gel at the center pushed through all the rest due to lifelong bad sitting posture (jut your butt out when you sit up, don't slouch in the chair like I tended to do!!). I am a fairly prototypical geek (spend a lot of time in a sedentary position) so I highly advise anyone younger than me (34, just turned today) who hasn't had back problems yet to do the bridge exercises mentioned elsewhere in the replies here, every day or evening. 10 reps of raise, hold, one leg up/down, other leg up/down, lower. They come from yoga and help me to control the back issues greatly! (that plus mild exercise). While you're at it you should also do some situps as so-called "core strength" (torso muscles) helps a lot towards fitness.
All this I learned from my physical therapist (very good) who I got for the bulging disc.
Most non-geeks who are "naturally physically active" don't have this issue as their back muscles get strengthened naturally. Me, I have to treat exercise like "brushing my teeth" and do it out of health and a bit of vanity, not so much because it's fun or because I feel like doing it. It does feel good afterwards, however.
I used to sit at my computer at home the way I've seen many folks sit at theirs: slouched down in a low-backed chair with your back at about a 40-70 degree angle and head upright (with nothing supporting it besides my neck) looking at the screen. I spent probably six or seven years doing that on a regular basis for hours on end with no apparent problems. At work I sat correctly in an ergonomic chair with everything set up properly, keyboard and monitor at the proper height and all that jazz. During this time I also did weight training and martial arts quite regularly, and I was quite healthy and rarely sick.
Then one day I realized I had a dull pain in my back, just between my left scapula and spine, that got a little worse when I moved my head certain ways. Thinking I'd just injured myself in one of my non-sedentary hobbies, I went to a chiropractor who managed to fix me up in about three or four weeks, and I was symptom-free again. Then the pain came back, and I went back to the chiro and got re-adjusted and felt fine, the pain came back again...and so on for a few months. Eventually I started feeling pain and tingling in my fingers and hands, and severe muscle cramps in my upper back. It also spread to both sides of my back.
I finally saw a doctor who referred me to an osteopath (D.O.) who gave me almost the same therapy (the manipulations felt identical, in all the same places, even though he claimed that osteopathy and chiropractic were quite different) as the chiropractor had with some acupuncture added in. Again he'd get me fixed up, and I'd relapse, and so on for another few months.
Oddly enough, even though they both told me that proper posture was the key to feeling better, it didn't sink in exactly what I was doing wrong the entire time. I figured that since I sat properly at an ergonomically-organized workstation at the office all day and had completely given up my strenuous hobbies that I couldn't be doing anything wrong.
It took weeks of googling before I finally found a concise, lucid explanation for what was going wrong: the way I'd been sitting at home (at the PC and the TV) was putting stress on my scalene muscles, which were helping to stabilize my head and neck in that position. Those muscles in turn are connected to the first two ribs at the top of the rib cage, and the first rib was being pulled slightly out of position by the over-developed and tense scalenes. It fit with what the osteopath had told me ("Your first rib is out of place") and the treatment I'd been getting the entire time. I just kept yanking everything back out again with an hour or so of video gaming or internet chatting while slouched and relaxing.
So, now I'm pursuing treatment with my chiro again since my insurance stopped paying for the osteopath (who was being billed as a physical therapist, even though he didn't seem to operate much differently from my chiropractor). I'm just hoping I didn't wise up too late to fix my back for good. I'm now sitting up straight at home, and I can definitely tell that the postural correction is what I needed. Although my back is still a bit sore, my symptoms aren't nearly as bad as they were at their worst; practically no tingling or pain in the arms and hands, and the muscle cramps aren't as bad, nor are they getting worse.
So kids, your parents were right, sitting up straight IS important, because you can cause very serious health problems with a few years of bad habits.
This is just another case of a journalist making sweeping generalizations in order to get people to read an article. It's obviously not true: I'm both a nerd (CompSci grad student) AND an athlete (competitive swimmer for my school's varsity team). On my swim team there are several others I'd call geeks/nerds. In my lab there are several others I consider athletes. Case in point.
My chest and shoulders are actively hurting right now because of the rigorous resistance training I did yesterday as I sit here looking at a monitor display and typing on an ergonomic keyboard while I pretend to be writing java code.
;-)
I highly encourage you to get to the gym, make yourself go regularly. The health benefits are outstanding, and the girls definitely pay more attention. Most people will be impressed simply because you're a geek and a gym rat.
I'm not trying to delude anyone. You're not going to turn into Arnold Schwarzenegger if you're a scrawny fucker like me, but if you seriously commit to it the difference will surprise you and maybe even get you laid. Besides, the chicks at the gym are often hot, and they don't wear those outfits anywhere else.
Question everything
High marks for geek arrogance...
Is it surprising that this same brain does not do well when forced to isolate down to one task
Is the author trying to imply that it is his highly-developed, "multi-tasking" brain that gets bored with focusing on the task of jogging and thus prevents him from running miles? Please...it's the 12 hours a day of being stuck in front of a PC (for work or play) that has caused the rest of his body to go to waste. It's called being out of shape, and it doesn't help to dance around the fact by trying to claim it has something to do with your superior intelligence (though that seems to be the knee-jerk reaction of the geek-crowd when it's time to explain a perceived deficiency or weakness).
Personally, I enjoy waking up periodically throughout the night. I hate the feeling of going to bed at 10:30, then 'two seconds' later being woken up by my alarm at 6:30. Sleeping directly through like that doesn't help me personally feel any more rested - it makes me think I got pwned. If I can wake up and see I have four, two, even one hour left, I feel better knowing that I can indeed put my head back down and go back to sleep.
I think I just get satisfaction from the fact that I can go back to sleep and do not have to wake up just yet. This feeling got to the point that I used to set my alarm clock to interrupt me at 2:30 (before I got married, and for some reason that needed to stop).
Prove it.
I've very blind myself (20/1000, the big E is 20/400). I'm 49 years old now, been wearing bi-focals for the last 8 years. I wore contacts (-7 diopters) for 15 years before that. I've tried the weaker contact in one eye for reading, but it won't work for me because I don't have a dominant eye (most baseball shortstops do not have a dominant eye). And for real close up work, I take off my glasses.
Laser surgery is not an option as I would loose the ability to see up real close.
And yes, I lost 40 pounds 2.5 years ago with a real novel approach: each less and healthier food, nothing after 8pm, exercise (mostly treadmill at 4mph for 30 minutes). It took 9 months.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein
Been there, done... oh wait, time to inject my insulin.
- Just my $0.02, take with a grain of salt, your mileage may vary.
Get out and do something, folks.
If you live somewhere nice, start biking until you handle the distance to bike to work. I substituted a bike commute for my regular commute for three seasons of the year, and I could make the 10-mile trip in almost exactly the same time as I could in a car. Net result: 60 minutes a day of outstanding cardiovascular excercise with no impact on my schedule whatsoever.
And of course, a 30-minute run is no huge time drain, either. Do it in the morning before you shower, and there's no second-shower time penalty either.
From TFA: The bed should only be used for two things-sex and sleep. If one is awake in bed for more than 10-15 minutes, one should get up and do something non-stimulating. Listening to music or reading are excellent choices. Lying in bed and watching TV or using the laptop are the worst. These stimulate the brain to wake up even more.
So now watching TV is more stimulating than reading?!?
When the hell did that happen?
I don't know about other people, but I almost never fall asleep reading. I almost always fall asleep if all I'm doing is watching TV (as opposed to having it on the background while I read/sew buttons back on/pay bills/cook/work out/tweak the software on the laptop/play piano/do dishes/fold laundry etc.)
How can a post be modded "overrated" or "underrated" when it hasn't been rated yet?
BOO HOO, yet another shit slashdot story
glad to see sexually transmitted diseases aren't on the list.
I'll fill this in later
Since college, I have gained some weight to the point where I was not happy with myself. Not massive, but to the point where it limited some of the things I did and for how long before being completely winded or tired. My wife and I (she really exists) bought a fancy smancy scale to tell help us keep track of progress and we started a journey together. She works with Weight Watches and I have been keeping track of my progress at https://www.presidentschallenge.org/login/index.as px I know how much everyone likes Pres Bush and all, but this site is handy for keeping track of progress.
Anyways, for me it was just making time to get out and exercise. Walk your freaking dog people!! Don't have a dog; go on a walk with your girlfriend/wife. Don't have a significant other; then go out by yourself. Just exercise. Takes about 30 mins 5 times a week. Don't have to get super fit or anything, just start working on it. For me, I have been doing my exercise about 4 weeks now and have lost about 10 pounds, but the important part is that I sleep better, am more productive at work, have more energy in general and love life more. Take the challenge. Exercise consistently for a month and see if you can tell a difference in weight and energy levels in your life. If you are happy with it, then continue. If not, then see your doctor and work out a plan. We are not doomed to a life of unhealthy habits and choices.
I've worked on a computer for 11 years now and recently started playing bass guitar on a regular basis. Having poor posture over those many years has hurt quite a bit. Started out with cubital tunnel in the elbow, caused numb pinky and ring finger. Got that under control, now working down the carpal tunnel, which numbs the other fingers. Now, part of this was from sleeping all curled up on my hands, but a lot is due to my poor posture at work. Odd thing is none of this would have shown up had I not starting playing bass. PS to get rid of the various tunnels, I've worn a sports brace for the elbow, and the hand, and also changed my sleep habits and my posture at work. Lemme tell ya, sleepless nights suck when your trying to change a sleeping habit.
Don't kid yourself. It has nothing to do with "multitasking". It has everything to do with the fact that we do nothing but sit in front of computers, day in, day out.
And I really don't think any geek is better at "multitasking" then a normal person. Watch any basketball player -- they're definitely keeping track of a lot of variables. Watch any nerd -- they're dinking around in Eclipse all day long. Who's multitasking?
Physical fitness is not some mental thing. It takes hard work.
I've long considered myself both a nerd and a jock. I was glued to AD&D source books and frantically backstabbing in many a MUD at the same time that I was playing four sports in high school. In the same way that I had a deep love for a wide array of academic topics - literature and history in particular, with dashes of science thrown in for good measure - I found that playing a different sport every three months (football in the fall, wrestling in the winter and track and field in the spring) as well as a year and life long commitment to hockey all made my life a little better.
I'm proud of being a nerd and hopeful that one day we can continue the peace process [theonion.com], and one reason I don't mind being called such affectionately is that being a nerd also means you're not exactly hung up on what others think of you or of what you should be doing. Ultimately, to me, that's always meant that the things I enjoy - whether it's reading slashdot, watching college football, laughing at WoW stamina jokes even though I've never played, playing hockey, contributing to wikipedia, etc. - are not mutually exclusive even though in some quarters they might be considered so.
Does being interested in open source make me any less of an athlete? Does being able to bench press 315 pounds make me any less a nerd? Does my posing hypothetical questions in this manner affect a butterfly's ability in Rhodesia to affect weather patterns in Salem, Oregon? I think the answer to all those questions are the same, though the cheeky amongst you will probably have a different one than me.
To me being a nerd is about not placing too much importance in what others may think of you and your lifestyle, and that's always implied a highly analytical approach to life and the optimum and most efficient avenues of existence. All my best friends are nerds who can play some mean puck. One is, quite literally, a rocket scientist. Another is studying to become a vet. Those who are smart realize that physical activity is conductive to and a part of excellent mental acuity. This idea of nerds being pocket protector wearing, weak limbed, pasty faced slobs has never held a place in my world. We approach our physical health the same way we do our mental well being: efficiently, and with the question of "How best to optimize my existence so that I may continue doing the things I love?"
It just so happens that for us, exercising embiggens our ability to play hockey, to drink, to drink while playing table hockey and to think clearly about how to alleviate/avoid hangovers so we can plan our next hockey/drinking/drinking hockey escapade with the highest level of operability.
Finally, the nerds I know who exercise (and there are a lot) approach it with an almost maniacal determination to get it exactly right. They're the guys who know at what intervals they should be hitting their sets, who have graphically tracked their heart rates and their maxes and exactly what days that spinning class is offered. And they definitely don't wear some of the ridiculous outfits I've seen on some of the more "health conscious" individuals at the 24 Hour Fitness on Sunset Boulevard and Vine; the term "functional clothing" has probably never entered those people's minds.
My nerd life is healthy as can be, thank you. In fact, thanks to this nagging shoulder injury acquired from completely crushing my buddy during a pick up game of hockey, I could probably use a little more nerd and a little less jock right now. But that doesn't mean I won't pretend I'm paying attention in yoga - I've deduced it's the best way to stretch and get a great view of the female fauna so long as you're positioned optimally. Mirrors + understanding of angles of incidence and reflection = crazy delicious.
I've been a geek since early adulthood, I've probably spent a few years sitting in chairs in front of screens, but a few years ago I discovered the ultimate form of fast, effortless, human body optimization - high-energy partner dancing. I'm talking swing, lindy hop, and the new fusions of tango and blues dancing.
Think of improvisational partner dancing (from the male perspective) as a cross between a romantic simulation (think 3-minute relationship), an exploration of the physics of the female body, and an an all-out aerobic workout set to playful yet subversively naughty tunes.
No - better yet, it is like being a musican, but your instrument is the female body, and yet the dance shares all the semantics of wholesome family fun with no risky exchanges of bodily fluids. The female body is not a difficult instrument to play - think visual basic learning curve, certainly not Java or C++. And the user-interface is drop-dead elegant - there's no syntax - just Newton's Third Law of Motion.
Because of the physical exertion involved, especially with fast-tempo music, your brain will be awash in a sea of endorphins that will nuke your headaches, and all that jumping around does wonders for getting your keyboard and chair-sculpted frame back into optimal form. Spinning fast with a partner will give you an experiential understanding of the moment of inertia of a binary mass system that you won't soon forget. You'll be so exhausted when you get home that all you'll be able to think about is sleep.
So think about all of the beautiful women around the planet, who are just waiting for your finely nuanced application of rotational inertia.
Nobody mentioned those. And on my hand too.
"The White House is not an intelligence-gathering agency," -- Scott McClellan, Whitehouse spokesman.
No - you don't smoke it. You _run_ it. A 'drinking club with a running problem' is their tagline and it's a wonderful way to get exercise, meet fun people, and have a beer "on trail."
,BubbaGump, Buckafuffalo, Cheese Infection,Cock Cleaner,Condomint,Cracked Nuts, Endangered Feces,Finger Licking Good, Gigglegasm,Goes Down Hard, Mary Lou Rotten, and Photo Spread, find a local hash and run!
About, history, etc. Also take a look at the dictionary.
It's a lot of fun. I'm a member of Sir Walter's Hash House Harriers in "The Triangle" (Raleigh, Chapel Hill, Durham, NC) and you can find all past hashes here. They've even got stats : (mine) , (all).
If you'd like to hang out with people with names like Ass Clown,
E'lickser, SpongeDick NoPants, Turns'Em Gay, Ball Me, Banger Not, Better Not Suck,Big Box,Blows the Hammer,Briar Breast
It's a world-wide thing that began in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in 1938 so there's probably one near you, regardless of the continent you live on. LINKS
Faster than geocaching - and they have beer! On-On!
Would there even be an Internet if not for geeks???
http://www.carotids.com.nyud.net:8090/lifestyle/he alth-problems-related-to-the-geek-lifestyle/
It's all about your lungs and muscles. I was a track athlete at a division 1 school, where I studied computer science, and learned Java. Running doesn't even require the use of your brain (consciously) and I would often go for a run if I got "coder's-block" while I was working on my homework, and it usually helped to get me to clear my mind and refocus. Sometimes I would even have to cut my run short to get back and finish coding before I forgot my solution.
This random review agrees
This issue is a bit more complicated than you think.
If I were to go and try to run a few miles this weekend, I would not be able to easily do so. [...] However, if you take one of the these college basketball athletes, any of them would be able to run miles without even breathing heavy. However, if you made them sit down and try to learn Java for 12 hours a day, most of them would be asleep at their desk before lunch. The typical geek trains their brain to be heavily focused while multitasking day after day. Is it surprising that this same brain does not do well when forced to isolate down to one task?
So if you were to tell your basic geek to Juggle with one hand, play sudoku on their cell phone with the other AND run a mile it would be no problem. Somehow I don't think concentration has anything to do with the heavy breathing...
That's asinine. Athletes train their bodies, reflexes and "game brains" to multitask just as much as a geek. Java might be really hard to learn, but so is executing a double play; running the triangle offense; or reading coverages while deciding between the called timing route, checking down to the crossing route, or going to the outlet receiver while evading a pack of 6-foot-seven, 360 pound men in plastic armor who are freaking nimble. And some of these athletes do multiple sports. This author does a disservice to geeks (many of whom are athletic and fit) AND to jocks (many of whom are brilliant both in their sports and "conventional" measures of intelligence).
yes. that's all I'm going to say in all comments from now on.
Someone please mod me down for fucking up my tags.
It is possible to combine a geek livelihood with a healthy lifestyle.
I develop engineering software (lead programmer) and do engineering work for 8 - 10 hours a day in front of a computer. But I also ride my bike to work whenever possible (14 km each way), I do yoga twice a week, and I hold a 3rd-degree black belt (sandan) in karate -- working out intensively two times a week, 3 hours at a time. I'm 6'2" with a BMI of just over 25, which would just put me in the overweight category -- except it ain't fat, baby! Weight control is no problem with this regimen.
I'll probably drop dead from an aneurysm within the next couple of decades because my diet sucks, I'm frequently short on sleep, and my kids sometimes stress me out. But in the meantime I'm healthy, reasonably happy, and still having fun. And you can too!
Masturbation causes blindness, so that's a big problem for all geeks.
The L.A. Times just ran an article about those who mountain bike in the dark to accomodate a busy life. I ride with the featured club twice a week and even though a geek and someone who grew up with asthma, my cardio capability has increased many-fold in the two years since adopting this practice. And when I come back to work the next day after a ride, I feel more flexible and have much much less back, neck, and shoulder stiffness/pain/headaches.
So although I work for a high-pressure "full commitment"-type IT job in this company (200 desktops in five locations on both coasts and two contries and an IT staff of "me" for everything from desktop support to network to web app programming), I can jet out of work at 5pm, catch an evening ride and come back at the perfect time to do server/network or some "leave me alone and let me write code" work.
I must admit that sometimes multitasking causes me to make stu//http:www.hotnuns.compid mistakes
how many pairs of boxer shorts should you own?
That's it. Take in (a few) less calories, and burn (a few) more. No deprivation, no hardship, no math. And it works. Make your net change a whopping 250 calories a day (less than 2 cans of soda) and you'll lose 25 pounds over the course of a year. Do more, and lose faster - just don't do too much so that you feel like its a pain. And yeah, it may take a year or more (depending on your activities and how much you have to lose), but think about it - if you're heavy, a year from now wouldn't you rather be lighter? You're going to be a year older either way, so its not like it really costs you much to lose the bulk...
You're special forces then? That's great! I just love your olympics!
You can make one out of money:
http://www.kk.org/cooltools/archives/001118.php
It's kind of cool, but for me, it still fits into the 'They make what?' category.
Nerd rage is the funniest rage.
Various manufacturers make goggles with optical correction, usually available in whole and half-diopter increments. I got some reasonably close to my prescription for $20 and am quite impressed with my vision, especially underwater. They're also handy in duststorms, and when welding/grinding/drilling above my head.
Now I can navigate from the locker room to the pool without glasses, and avoid obstacles while swimming. Plus my eyes don't burn from chlorine.
Man, you really need that seminar!
heh, you can see my opinion of that here
Man, you really need that seminar!
Hehe, nice to see another U of A'er around on /.
I code for three websites, take computer engineering classes, and still find time to run from the dorm to the mall, downtown and back AND lift weights everyday.
The pudgy/to-be people are all sitting behind their comps in dark rooms playing WoW.
Do not downmod posts "overrated" simply because you disagree with them.
When I had a bicycle, and the time to ride it, I would ride along the San Gabrial River (in California) before work and think about the code I needed to write that day, or the problems I encountered the day before. I didn't always write the code in my head or resolve the problems but it made the ride less boring.
this has been the most rational thread of comments on /. evar. ...why is that ;)
I was approaching 200 pounds and resolved to reverse that trend, so I started running on the treadmill at work, got to 4 miles a day. The problem is, it's deadly dull even with music, and then I got a stress fracture in my shin and had to stop for a while.
So I bought a decent bike and started commuting 21 miles round trip a day. It's now my favorite part of the day, I get about 70 minutes a day to de-stress and to do my creative thinking that I normally only had a 5 minute shower a day to do it in.
I find I get a (perhaps perverse) sense of pleasure in riding in all kinds of weather; below-zero (F) temps, 40-MPH headwinds, rain storms, whatever. If you're well equipped (rain gear and lighting) it's great fun. The first year it's tough to keep motivated, but once I got in shape, I found that on the days that I drove, I ALWAYS wished I would have ridden instead, and I NEVER wished I'd driven when I rode in. Now I simply don't drive unless I absolutely have to.
I get to work, and back home again, feeling like superman and ready to do anything. Also as an environmentalist I like the fact that every day I ride I kick out 20 pounds less CO2 into the atmosphere.
At 42 after 2 years of riding I'm in better shape than I ever have been. I hope to continue riding daily until I'm physically unable to anymore, which could be a long time since people who keep up that level of activity often continue to ride into their 80's and 90's; regular aerobic exercise is better than anything else to make you feel great and not wind up a drooling wreck in a rest home at 70.
I got tired of the large phone books I get each year cluttering up my shelf space. Rather than throw three of them away, I stacked them atop one another, interlocking the first/last half inch or so of pages between them. Voila...an instant stepper. It's really not hard to push your chair out of the way and step for 10-30 minutes at a time - and you can really get your pulse elevated doing it. Just be wary of the occasional misstep - it's not as sturdy as a manufactured step, but used with a bit of attention, it's still very effective.
So what this article is really trying to say is that if I sit in front of a computer for 8-16 hours a day without getting exercise, I'll get back pain and probably a really fat ass?
Well what can I say, but DERRRRRRRRRRR.
I'm so glad that dude is here to tell us these things.
Many of us geeks are known for working late through the night, drinking mountain dew by the 2 litre bottle and iced coffee hopped up on sugar, and pizza... lots of pizza. So what does that get us...
Type II diabetes. And when you get it you have to keep it under control.
I so wish things were always that easy. Been a skinny geek all my life, and a relatively healthy one (although I didn't eat so well before). But after being in a MVA I'm now stuck with a half dozen bad discs/vertebraes in my cervical spine... Tried everything - over 100h of physio, a couple chiros, seen all kinds of doctors and specialists including a orthpedic surgeon, a neurologist who tried botox injections on my back muscles, also had nerve blocks done, been to two pain clinics - you name it, I've tried it. Some of it has helped and still does to some extent, but my main way to cope with pain is still morphine (120mg+ a day). It sucks (being stuck on heavy narcs/pain 24x7/the weight gain/lower self-esteem/other health problems/whatever - all of it). I've gained a lot of weight since then, even if I'm eating far healthier now (trying to get the kids to eat right and I'm single parent). Just because I can't do too much exercise, it just lowers your metabolism a lot. Basically the only thing I can do that won't increase pain too much is walking, and that's rather time consuming (again, I'm single parent).
s/nose/dick/ those split keyboards are for computer sex.
Engineering is the art of compromise.
Fencing is top of my list. You'll feel right at home with many of its practitioners, and can chat about fantasy novels, MMORPGS, or chess on the sidelines. The sport itself is so cerebral that a common saying is that once you fully understand fencing, you are too old to practice it. That, and the fact that it is primarily an individual sport make it ideal for the kind of personality that gravitates to software engineering. One can participate the sport at varying levels, from the casual social fencer who mostly chats at the local club, to the obsessed competitor flying to regional tournaments and contending for national rankings.
Climbing is a geek sport if ever there was one. With an endless array of devices and techniques to obsess over, and a huge mental component it is no wonder that most of the climbers I run into tend to be engineers. While a belayer is necessary, it is again primarily an individual sport. The overly thin build of many geeks is an ideal starting point once they cultivate a little strength. The heavier set folks can still participate at the level they are comfortable with.
Other athletic pursuits where you will find a heavy proportion of brainy types are backpacking, ultimate frisbee, and archery. There really is no incompatibility between the mindset of a developer, computer gamer and an athlete. In fact, I think of them as merely different kinds of geeks. Or, as in my case, the same kind.
You mean geeks are physically stunted, and jocks are mentally and emotionally stunted?
NOW THAT'S WHAT I CALL NEWS OF THE 21ST CENTURY!
The perfect sport for a geek is orienteering http://www.us.orienteering.org/. You need to think hard while you exercise and therefore you hardly notice the physical workout. That's a different kind of challenge for mental activity, but the typical geek can usually easily cope.
I mean come on everyone knows - if you don't excercise then you don't have strength and endurance.
My Bracers of Relentless Might (+12 Str, +12 Con) say otherwise.
If one is awake in bed for more than 10-15 minutes, one should get up and do something non-stimulating. Listening to music or reading are excellent choices.
If someone thinks "reading" or "music" are "non-stimulating", they don't understand geeks and have no business giving advice to geeks. I have probably pulled more all-nighters because of music and books than anything else.
"However, if you take one of the these college basketball athletes, any of them would be able to run miles without even breathing heavy. However, if you made them sit down and try to learn Java for 12 hours a day, most of them would be asleep at their desk before lunch"
I think that is a bit of a self flattering comment. There is a difference between programming a lanuage you know everyday and sitting learning a new one. The last time I had to sit through a three day Perl course (not that there was anything wrong with the course) I felt pretty bloody knakered by halfway through each day......
If you get off your arse and do a bit of excercise you will probably feel more motivated when you do sit down in front of the computer. (Or am I not really much of a geek?)
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Waterproof Music
Looks like they have it all covered.
Don't laugh. I've done it. It took hours for the key imprints to go away, too... :(
My first thought reading your comment was that the indenting of nested comments had already stopped, and yours was a reply to your brother post, "s/nose/dick/ those split keyboards are for computer sex." ^_^ Much more amusing, really.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
I hate the word "Geek", I always read it as "Greek!"
You make time to workout. An hour a day 4 times a week is nothing.
Patently untrue. While it is certainly possible, and it takes some re-prioritizing, it's most definitely not "nothing."
My alarm goes off at 6:00 AM. Shower, shave, dress, groom, breakfast, and I'm off to work at 7:00 AM, gets me there at 7:30 AM. I put in my 8 hours, I leave at 3:35 or 3:40, depending on who stops me to chat on my way out, and I get home around 4:10 or so. My wife doesn't get home until 5:30, so that gives me time to grab any groceries I need and get started on supper. I prefer to eat healthy, so that involves a lot of chopping and preparing of various meats and veggies.
So supper's ready at 5:30 when my wife gets home. We eat and tidy up, finish around 6:00. Then I pay any bills that came in the mail that day, maybe do some laundry, a load of dishes, chat with my family/friends on the phone, watch an hour or 2 of TV, and before you know it, it's 10:00 PM. Bedtime. Gotta get up at 6:00 AM, remember.
Now granted, I could cut back on an hour or two of TV, or talk less with friends and family, but personally, that little bit of "downtime" for TV helps me relax. And I don't particularly want to isolate myself from my friends and family (they live in another province), so I value that time. I suppose we could eat meals that take less time to prepare, but I feel that eating healthy means knowing what's in your food, and the best way to do that is to make it yourself, in my opinion.
The truth is, there is a little time to exercise in there, because I do exercise. I run 5K a couple times per week, although I've been lax over the winter (can't run outdoors: mild asthma). But my life is relatively simple. If I had children, it would be exponentially harder to find any spare time.
I'm not trying to make excuses. I believe exercise is important, and as I said, I make time in an already pretty busy schedule. I'm simply pointing out that it's not as easy as many childless, single, low-obligation folks here like to portray it.
Like woodworking? Build your own picture frames.
It's also an incredibly safe sport. I read an article in a sports mag years ago (sorry, can't remember which one) that rated sports based on injury frequency, and fencing was right next to golf.
From what I understand, most martial arts have a very low injury rate, as odd as that may sound. Part of it is that you're taught ways to avoid getting hurt (learning how to fall properly is an enormous benefit at times) but also that your opponents generally aren't trying to hurt you and are conscious of safety themselves. Supposedly, the majority of injuries in martial arts are from people who are coming back to it after some time and injure themselves trying to attain the same feats they could manage before leaving. I've been there before... your mind and your muscle reflexes say that you can kick above your head still and you can, at least until the strained groin muscles catch up to you... although the bigger problem is that you can accelerate your fist or foot as quickly as before, but you can't always stop it as well. Hello, hyper-extended joints.
This sig has absolutely no significance and serves only to take up screen space and waste the time of the reader.
I stopped working at a computer for 8 months. I realize this may be incomprehensible to those of you who are married to your computers, literally, as in "until death do us part", i.e. you don't forsee yourself ever being away from a computer for an extended period of time until you die.
Anyway, I got a programming contract, and started sitting at the computer for long hours. I'd been excersizing pretty intensely before this mind you, so I was quite fit. After a couple weeks of work, my intensitines are going nuts and I throw my neck out! I can feel the vertebrae rubbing against each other, so I'm guessing a disc slipped a bit. I contemplated the possibilty of suicide if I had to live with that pain forever. But it finally healed, and I re-learned proper posture at the desk, and I'm fine now.
Moral of this story? Going from physically healthy to sitting at a desk all day ALSO requires that your body adjust to the change.
LS
There is a fine line between being a cultivated citizen and being someone else's crop. - A. J. Patrick Liszkie
That's about the most classic case of anecdotal confirmation I've ever seen.
"Actually, depending on where you live and what specific recipe of Diet Coke is used in your region, it could be VERY bad for you."
The set up. You don't tell us aspartame right away. You list Diet Coke and keep the "mystery ingredient" secret.
"I recognize that the site presentation is a little over-the-top, but it is rooted in real science."
Where's the real science? From one of their links:
Methanol poisoning from aspartame
"Because of the high amounts of methanol in fruits/tomatoes, enough that would clearly cause chronic methanol poisoning, these foods must contain protective factors (as does alcoholic beverages). If they did not contain protective factors, we would be seeing widespread methanol poisoning for persons who ingestion fruits and tomatoes regularly."
Huh. Funny. I'd think that reasoning would apply to, oh... Diet Soda? But of course these advocates would say that we *are* seeing widespread methanol poisoning from Diet Soda, based on cases like your friend's.
" I've witnessed first hand how damaging over-consumption of Diet Coke can be. A former roommate of my sister drank large amounts of Diet Coke, on the order of 2 - 3 liters per day. She actually suffered a permanent loss of peripheral vision, to a degree severe enough that she'll never be able to obtain a driver's license again. With the damage already done, she didn't see any reason to stop, and continues to drink Diet Coke."
What you witnessed was only someone going blind. You *decided* that Diet Coke caused it, but you did not witness that. You weren't living inside her retinal cells, watching their deterioration. That doesn't even come close to being evidence.
Now I know a lot of people who drink Diet Coke and feel bad eventually stumble across sites like this and blame the Diet Coke. They swear off soda, and boom, they feel better. There are two well-documented reasons for this.
The first is the placebo effect. Anything you are told will make you feel better that you then do has a pretty high chance of making you feel better, even if something's wrong with you. If nothing's wrong with you, the chance is even higher.
The second is that over-consumption of Diet Coke does have an obvious health effect. It dehydrates you. Caffeine is a diuretic, so if you drink Diet Coke instead of water all day, every day, you end up chronically dehydrated. Dehydration makes a person feel bad. It's not killing you or giving you brain cancer, but it's exactly the kind of low feeling that sends people looking for a diagnosis. After that, any other health problem they have gets rolled into the same "syndrome", as if a person could only have one thing wrong with them at a time.
I'm not saying Diet Coke's good for you. I'm just saying it's not some secret poison that the FDA lied to cover up. There isn't enough money in sweeteners to bribe the FDA. The FDA deals with approvals for products that are *far* more profitable, and they turn them down regularly.
"The second is that over-consumption of Diet Coke does have an obvious health effect. It dehydrates you. Caffeine is a diuretic, so if you drink Diet Coke instead of water all day, every day, you end up chronically dehydrated. Dehydration makes a person feel bad."
The diuretic affects of caffeine (at least in the amounts present in drinks) is exaggerated. It doesn't dehydrate you to any important degree. The most noticeable effect is the elimination of the caffeine boost-bust cycle and the headaches that can come with it. Having your alertness constantly adjusted up then coming down makes you feel crappy in general.
It is by the juice of the coffee bean that thoughts acquire speed, the teeth acquire stains. The stains become a warning
True, I get winded after jogging 50 yards, but I also start nodding off after several hours of studying a new language or reading technical documents.
Teach ANYBODY Java for 12 hours and they will be asleep. Hey - lets lower the bar. Teach ANYBODY Java for 6 hours and they will be asleep. Lets learn something a little more interesting and productive.
Like Perl.
1 - CTS - My wrists burn inside all day everyday. I've learned that carpal tunnel is alot less a problem if you keep your wrist and hand flat parallel with eachother. 2 - Back Pain - Although now I force myself to sit completely 'proper' and since my backpain has deminished, I had been getting bad backpain for awhile. 3- Shoulder Pain (people tell me description sounds like artheritis) in the arm that I use to mouse, 12 hours of mousing everyday leads me to belive its the casue, the pain also started very shortly after i started working 10+ hours a day on the pc. 4 - Knee problems, my knees are very damaged from sitting all day everyday, i've confirmed that to be the cause from a specialist. You can see scar tissue under the skin, becuase the ligaments etc are stretching when your knees are bent, and if they are like that more then straight, the tissue scars and hardens like that.... 5 - Im whiter then the background of this text becuase I never go into the sun. :P
6- VISION PROBLEMS - Computers have DESTROYED my version, when I was little, in middle school, i had 20/20 perfect vision, after using computers for hours a day staring a monitor, I have bad vision now, and i can progressivly notice it getting worse. Eye doc confirms computer use to be cause.
People are always running, walking, biking, backpacking, mountain climbing here. Short things on the weekdays and adventures on the weekend.
I would love to bicycle to work again (it has been a while, and I would have to get back into riding shape to do it, but I think I could manage), but my current job is about 15 miles away from my house. I live on the west side of Phoenix, and my job is in Scottsdale. It isn't so much the distance, but what happens when you ride for that long of a distance: you get sweaty - especially here in Phoenix (and don't get me started about summertime - ugh).
Anyhow, how do you deal with that once you get to work? Do you ride for a long enough distance that this is a problem? Does your work have showers? Do you shower at a near-to-your-work gym, then arrive at work?
This is something that is always brought up, but generally in threads relating to bicycling vs using a car (for environmental or economic reasons). It would be interesting to find out how others who ride to work deal with this problem...
Reason is the Path to God - Anon
Period.
Sad part... Was chewed out by my boss a while back because I was "To Geeky" (work for an IT firm btw) Most of my colligues fancy themselfes to be atheleets ("I play 1 game of hockey a month, I'm cool..." bleh..)
About a month ago, I got talked into participating in an office "Wallyball" compitition. Now, I am in the typical geek shape: Never exercise, and I get winded just climing the stairs up to the third floor. So imagine my suprise when I am not only able to keep pace with these so called atheleets, but I out last most of them...
It has taken everything I have not to bring up the fact to my boss that someone who is "too geeky" was able to out last him at an 'athletic' sprot.
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Thanks, actually the fact that you've had one 18 months and it still works makes me quite interested. I used a 64MB player for a couple years and it was acceptable. I can always downsample since swimming is a noisy environment.
Man, you really need that seminar!
I usually ride my bike on the weekends, but when the weather is nice (>40 degrees F) I try to ride to work at least once a week. I ride the short 5 mile commute in and take the 15-20 mile scenic route home. Even taking the long way, I can get home in about an hour.
In the kitchen, I have a secret weapon. My wife loves to cook (yes, I am a geek *and* have a wife). She also loves to cook healthy stuff so admittedly I don't have to worry about such things. I usually just show up and eat in much appreciation.
I figured out a few years ago that with my insurance, Chiropractic care is really cheap. I pay $10 each for 12 visits a year. This allows me to do what my chiropractor calls "mantainance", which basically means coming in on a regular basis to stay in line, rather than come in less often after the pain starts. I can't even begin to tell you how much better my back, shoulders and neck are for doing this. I've been doing this for a few years now and hardly ever have pain anymore.
Another thing that helps my back is one of those memory foam theraputic pillows. It is formed to rest your neck where it should be and reduce the stress on it. I used to get stiff necks a lot and since switching to this pillow over a year ago, I have yet to have even one occurance.
I am a firmware engineer at a small startup company and sometimes there are periods of crazy business when any excercise gets thrown out the window. But for the most part, this is my normal routine. I realize that not everyone's lives and circumstances are the same as mine but this lifestyle has allowed me to keep both my geekiness and athleticism.
Look at the whole picture, not just the hole in the picture.
I had laser surgery about a year ago, and while my extremely close vision was blurry for a few months, it's now returned better than it ever has been. It's not the same in all cases, but given my terrible vision before the surgery (20/900), it's certainly something else to be able to see in the morning. You might ask if they have any improved techniques that don't impact close-up vision, or that only impact it temporarily.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.
quick question: how old are you? I had no problems seeing up close with contacts until I hit the 40 year old boundary.
If you're under 40, let me know how that works for you when you get older.
Insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. Albert Einstein
First off, that blurb is pretty meaningless. Obviously trained athletes would be better at running a few miles than some desk jockey; what does that have to do with multitasking? Furthermore, the bit about 12 hours of Java isn't a statement about multitasking, it is a statement of exactly the opposite, sustained focus and concentration. Second, I just read an article in Times (from an old issue though) explaining how people's brains are biologically incapable of being good at multitasking, and that multitasking means you are being inefficient at the various tasks, as opposed to efficiently doing them one at a time. Mostly it was a "reduce the clutter" sort of philosophy. Not saying I'm throwing in with one side or the other, just that it's an interesting coincidence that articles with opposing views on the same subject are randomly coming to my attention at the same time.
www.newarteest.com
I'm afraid you'll have to wait 14 years or so for the answer to that one. :) You certainly could be right there though, I'm no expert on the procedure by any means, just been very happy with it myself. Just thought I'd let you know my experience with it, since you seemed to be thinking about it yourself.
To fight the war on terror, stop being afraid.