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?'"

Comments

getting excercise is not that tough....

[haluness]

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.

Balance, it's all about Balance

[rueger]

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.

Multitask / one task?

[aapold]

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.

This guy needs to get out more

[Schezar]

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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[account_deleted]

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Re:Tell me when

[jtaylor00]

Maybe you should find a different job if the 'rule' is to work 9 to 9, 5 days a week, every week. Unless of course you are getting paid overtime.

My life got much more enjoyable when I realized that work is just that...work. I've got better things to do than sit in an office for 12 hours a day.

Eat your cake and burn the calories, too.

[iamlucky13]

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.

Re:Eat your cake and burn the calories, too.

[Excen]

I'm sorry, why can't a person be both a geek and healthy?

It's the American God Complex at work. Americans need to feel like a God, and therefore they spend unhealthy amounts of time at that which they are good at and nothing else. The only way the stereotypical Comic. Book. Guy. can fulfil that god complex is to specialize in an esoteric pastime, detracting from physical as well as social health. The whole ancient greek concept of the Balanced Person is lost on the American society. We are reared to be automatons, mindlessly and endlessly consuming. Any notions of self-concept and individuality are quashed from age 5 on, and therefore are lost on the culture as a whole. There were more votes cast for American Idol than American President, if that's any indication of how fucked up we as a culture actually are.

Re:lol

[arivanov]

Absobloodylutely. Seconded.

To add to this.

The bloated rolling non-sporty geek is an American phenomenon.

In all my years of working in EU I have never had more than 2-3% of these in the company. In fact the IT industry in most EU countries is generally more healthy than the remaining population.

I am one of the least sporty individuals in my company (which is a typical UK telecoms/IT shop) and I always walk for at least 20 minutes at lunch, cycle for 3 miles a day with a 4 year old on a tag-along whenever the weather allows (picking him up from the nursery is a perfect excuse for some exercise). On top of that I try to do at least 1 hour basketball or 1 hour swimming per week.

That does not prevent me from doing design work, coding and a bit of sysadmin here and there.

To summarize - geek lifestyle is whatever you make it. Being a rolling ball of fat does not make you a geek. Being a athelete does not exclude you from being a geek. At least outside US.

you can be a geek and healthy

[Thaelon]

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. ;-)

Re:This is insulting

[PCM2]

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.

And the funny thing is, for all the people here who seem to be up in arms about the article, nowhere does the author make that statement. All he says is that, in his practice, he sees recurrent themes of health problems that can be attributed to behaviors, behaviors which he thinks of as being part of "the geek lifestyle" based on his own personal experience.

Said health problems can be summed up so:

1. People who have poor sleep habits have trouble sleeping.
2. Environmental issues in the office can cause headaches, as can undiagnosed eyesight problems.
3. Poor attention to ergonomics can also cause back pain.
4. A work environment that encourages "multitasking" and constant interruptions can lead to mental fatigue and difficulty concentrating.

Nowhere does he say anything about couch potatoes, sedentary lifestyles, eating Cheez Doodles and drinking Mountain Dew, or any of the other things that people assume he's talking about because, as usual, they have not RTFA.

Re:lol

[KanSer]

[blockquote] 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.
[/blockquote]

The least surprising thing is the hilarious justification of, "We're just too darn smart to exercise'.

Geek lifestyle leaves no time for exercise? There seems to be plenty of time for jacking off and playing video games. Just get off your ass.

If you need to multi-task while you exercise because that's how your brain works, do a sport instead of just exercise. There are plenty of purely recreational leagues everywhere. (Often called beer leagues, which is just about the best part of it)

I recommend baseball for the beginner geek because it is the least stressful as a sport and offers a nice transition. It is also chock full of numbers a geek can spend his day calculating, and believe me your team will appreciate even a novice statistician.

For the intermediate geek I recommend Soccer or a racket sport(even ping pong!), but those don't offer any numbers to fuck around with.

Hockey I recommend for the geek looking move up in sports difficulty, and hockey offers the most variables. Not to mention that Ice Hockey allows you to get a decent workout without sweating. (If you go crazy nuts you'll sweat plenty, but it's very easy to keep your heart rate in its optimal zone without getting too sweaty to go to work.)

Hockey gear is expensive but you can find recreational games without more than leg pads.

It'll also help the geek tendency to be a fucking social troll and retard.

(beer league baseball/softball is by far the best way to go from zero exercise to building healthy habits. Working out is way more fun when you're drunk, just like most things.)

multitask??

[burnunit0]

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).