Physical Exercise
April 28, 2026
The two largest lifestyle changes I've made in the last year are also the largest lifestyle changes I've ever made. I'm very happy with both of them, and am really grateful to have thought to make the changes at all.
I think it's valuable to reflect on decisions you've made, regardless of if you did the correct thing. However, it's easier to flag a moment in retrospect when you make a good decision, if the counterfactual is not noticing it. Regardless, in retrospect, the main driving force behind my thinking to apply these changes to my life was hearing others recommend similar things, so here I am completing the cycle.
The first, and more impactful lifestyle change I've made is the technological restrictions I've placed on myself through my two devices: my laptop and phone. In sum, my internet use is heavily restricted, and I am all the better for it. This took many, many iterations and attempts to sink in as far as it has (I'm surely not done, yet!), but I hope that having the ability to skip the software iteration concepting would help some acclimate faster, without the nagging in the back of their head that technically, you're only x keystrokes away from returning to Youtube wireheading.
The second change is exercise - in my case, workout out my upper and lower body at the gym, and running. I used to be a pretty inactive person without much time to do much besides veg out in front of a video player. The first step was the above technical restrictions, which earned me back some free time I was able to spend.
The important idea, which I still grapple with constantly, is that it's easy to look heroic to a first order approximation - but these attempts fall short, globally. As such, the real heroic choice, that is, the one that brings sucess, is to plan for the future and act accordingly, which may be construed as timid, or weak by anyone incapable of considering more than a first order of effects (namely: your type 1 brain evaluating your effort). What this means concretely is that to really improve your running ability, you need to show up and give effort consistently - 3 times / week is great - and this just won't happen if you're going out to kill yourself every time. The best schedule is going to be one that you keep, and so starting slow and getting familiar with the structure and feeling of running is valuable, even if you might be expecting some feeling of death to prove that you're doing the right thing.
I don't have much advice beyond that: I'm no expert myself, but I don't need to be to improve my life. Both going to the gym and running are personal things, where the correct path will be defined by your goals and situation unique to yourself - the most important thing to do is actually go out and do it, even if you dont even challenge yourself at first. The moat of low status is all that's in your way.
Some throw away thoughts:
Running has a greater ROI than lifting. Though I do like having bigger arms
Exersicing makes me sleep much better and much longer - probably the biggest positive!
Exersicing makes me much hornier
I feel physically sluggish when I miss a run