ephion

Karma: 559

ephion Jan 28, 2014, 2:20 PM
0 points
in reply to: kalium’s comment on: How to become a PC?
All the sports you mention are high-impact and high-stress for the knees. If you’re not trained or adapted for these, then yes, you’ll be hurt from it.

If you increased your knee joint strength in a sensible and progressive manner (ie doing full squats with very light weight for three sets of five repetitions, and slowly increasing the weight) then your knees would become stronger, and those activities would be less stressful.

ephion Jan 27, 2014, 5:44 PM
1 point
on: How to become a PC?
I’m a pretty fit guy. I don’t consider myself to be that fit, but most of my social groups have attributed that to me. Here’s what I do:
- Lifting weights. Specifically, training for powerlifting and Olympic weightlifting. Developing maximal strength is the best way to develop a strong body, and a strong body is significantly harder to kill. Cardio is easy when you’re strong.
- Train for specific, concrete, realistic goals in short, medium, and long term. For the short term, my current goal is fat loss, as measured by either defined abs or 180lbs (whichever comes first). After that, my short term goal will be to squat 400lbs. My medium term goal is to compete in a powerlifting meet this year, where I’ll total 500kg, and a weightlifting meet, where I’ll total 200kg. My long term goal is to be strong and healthy so as to prolong my life expectancy.
- Develop habits and behavior patterns that accomplish your goals. For me, this is lifting consistently and adhering to my diet. I do not think about these things—I just do them. They’re as much a habit as brushing my teeth or taking a shower, and as such, require almost no willpower.

ephion Jan 27, 2014, 5:27 PM
0 points
in reply to: fortyeridania’s comment on: How to become a PC?
Joints are built up by (edit: sensible) exercise more than they’re worn down. People involved in heavy labor or athletics have stronger joints than sedentary people.

EDIT: I need to note that excessive, high impact, stressful exercise in individuals not trained for it will of course harm the body. The body is a complex system that, when damaged, repairs itself to be just a little bit stronger than before. Exercise is a means of ‘damaging’ the body to cause that strengthening response. Too much or too intense exercise will cause more damage than the body can repair from adequately.

For example, my last deadlift workout was 325lbs for 10 reps. This would be impossible for a beginner, and would be too easy to be worth doing for someone stronger than me.

ephion Jan 27, 2014, 5:25 PM
0 points
in reply to: Brillyant’s comment on: How to become a PC?
What did you injure that requires such a minimal training routine? I can’t help but think you might be missing out on some other options

ephion Jan 16, 2014, 6:33 PM
0 points
in reply to: jobe_smith’s comment on: AALWA: Ask any LessWronger anything
Improving skills is about deliberate practice, objective analysis (either by yourself or a teacher), and evaluating and fixing your weaknesses. I’ve been able to improve every skill I’ve tried with this method.

I consider myself exceptionally good at creating metal music (playing guitar, vocals, recording/mixing/production), and I’m getting pretty good at weight lifting. I am beginning to develop the skill of computer programming, which I expect to take to that level.

For most non-career and non-pleasure skills, I generally stop at the point of diminishing returns. I’ve learned to cook for myself better than most restaurants, but I don’t care to invest the time and energy to become a real artist with it.

ephion Jan 14, 2014, 3:06 AM
1 point
on: Group Rationality Diary, January 1-15
This is a minor optimization, but I just got an aeropress for coffee. It’ll save me some time in the morning vs my espresso machine, take less work/time to clean, and produces much, much, much better coffee. I’d highly recommend anyone that likes more intense coffee brews to check it out.

ephion Jan 14, 2014, 1:15 AM
2 points
in reply to: Calvin’s comment on: Dangers of steelmanning / principle of charity
Speaking of the Principle of Charity...

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 8:41 PM
2 points
in reply to: NancyLebovitz’s comment on: Open Thread for January 8 − 16 2014
Thank you! I’ll take those factors into account.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 8:40 PM
2 points
in reply to: Markas’s comment on: AALWA: Ask any LessWronger anything
Yes, but incompletely. I’ll track things precisely until a habit is established, at which point I stop tracking everything and check-in every once in a while to make sure I’m still on track. Some things I keep track of consistently, such as my budget, weight lifting numbers, bodyweight, etc.

The process is different for different things. I usually start with a Google Drive spreadsheet, and then experiment with other more specific apps if they’re better than spreadsheets (they rarely are). If you have any more specific questions, I’d be glad to answer them.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 4:50 PM
4 points
on: Try more things.
This is a really great list. I’ve done most of this, and it’s been extremely helpful.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 4:27 PM
2 points
in reply to: blacktrance’s comment on: Open Thread for January 8 − 16 2014
I agree tentatively. I’m working on maximizing my productivity per hour so that I can spend less hours being productive. Productivity measures are really helpful in that regard, but the temptation to take it too far is problematic.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 4:22 PM
5 points
on: Open Thread for January 8 − 16 2014
I am considering a possibly risky financial move, and not sure that it’s a good idea.

I am planning on going back to school full time next year (getting a BS Computer Science so I expect to have a big pay raise), and I am considering purchasing a 4br house and renting out two of the bedrooms to cover mortgage payment + maintenance costs. I can do this at well under-market rent pricing (ideally offered to friends or romantic partners), so I don’t feel like it’d be taking advantage of people (rent in my city is vastly overpriced and home prices are very cheap). However, I’d need to take out about $100k of debt, and I’m planning on quitting my full time job to focus on school.

I’ll be getting student loans to cover living expenses and tuition (planning on living very frugally and saving most of it to pay off when I’m done), plus I’ll have enough savings to cover expenses and my credit score is quite good. So I’m convinced that I’ll be fine financially, but I’m pretty sure that no bank will give me a mortgage without a full time job. This necessitates tricking the banks into giving me a mortgage and then quitting my job once I’m moved in.

I’m estimating that this will reduce my monthly expenditure by $300 ($7,200 spread out over two years required to get degree). That is more than the fees involved in purchasing a home, and I’ll either resell the property or continue to rent it out after I’m done.

Any thoughts on this situation?

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 4:06 PM
0 points
in reply to: Mark_Friedenbach’s comment on: I Will Pay $500 To Anyone Who Can Convince Me To Cancel My Cryonics Subscription
The copy will remember writing this, and will feel pretty strongly that it’s a continuation of you.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 3:54 PM
16 points
in reply to: Will_Newsome’s comment on: AALWA: Ask any LessWronger anything
I think this is a really cool post idea. LW has a well-above-average user base, and sharing knowledge and ideas publicly can be a great boon to the community as a whole.

ephion Jan 12, 2014, 3:46 PM
6 points
on: AALWA: Ask any LessWronger anything
I’m heavily interested in instrumental rationality—that is, optimizing my life by 1) increasing my enjoyment per moment, 2) increasing the quantity of moments, and 3) decreasing the cost per moment.

I’ve taught myself a decent amount and improved my life with: personal finance, nutrition, exercise, interpersonal communication, basic item maintenance, music recording and production, sexuality and relationships, and cooking.

If you’re interested in possible ways of improving your life, I might have direct experience to help, and I can probably point you in the right direction if not. Feel free to ask me anything!

ephion Dec 31, 2013, 7:39 PM
4 points
in reply to: Brillyant’s comment on: Critiquing Gary Taubes, Part 4: What Causes Obesity?
I agree. falenas108 is completely correct that this is an instrumental vs epistemological rationality thing. Taubes and Atkins are both epistemologically suspect because they’re salesmen, not scientists. Going too far into the specifics on why their arguments are bad seems like a waste of time to me, given that you wouldn’t expect truth seeking out of salesmen in the first place.

ephion Dec 31, 2013, 7:07 PM
2 points
in reply to: hyporational’s comment on: Open thread for December 24-31, 2013
Bodyweight squats really don’t have enough load on the hip extensors to work them adequately. Even the barbell squat mostly targets the quadriceps (full depth Olympic/front squats involves the glutes a lot, and squatting low bar powerlifting-style involves the hamstrings).

Incline pushups (ie with your feet on a box) will involve more deltoids and less pectoralis. By continually increasing the incline, you can progress the difficulty of the exercise until you’re doing handstand pushups.

The recommendation I make for folks is to buy an adjustable dumbbell set. Small cash investment, minimal space investment, and adds a bunch of exercises you can do. I’ve expanded the set with a pair of 10s and a quad of 25s, so the max weight I can put on a handle is 125lbs, and it holds up great.

ephion Dec 31, 2013, 2:01 AM
0 points
in reply to: Emile’s comment on: Open thread for December 24-31, 2013
There are five essential movements: Push (pushup), pull (pullup), squat, hip hinge (single leg deadlift), and weighted carry. If you can find some way to incorporate all of this into your training, then you’ll have a totally balanced training routine.

Alternating squats+pushups with deadlifts+pullups and walking with a weighted backpack or vest will hit almost all of the bases with minimal time and equipment.

ephion Dec 31, 2013, 1:39 AM
2 points
in reply to: hyporational’s comment on: Open thread for December 24-31, 2013
That is a solid plan, but I’d recommend adding something for hip extension, like a deadlift or back bridge. That will hit most of what you’re missing in your routine.

Three days of rest for each exercise is likely too much to be optimal. Bodyweight exercises are very easy for the body to recover from, and don’t require that much time. If you paired an upper body, lower body, and core exercise (ie squat/pushup/situps and deadlift/pullup/super man) and did that on a two day cycle, you’d probably experience just as much benefits in a shorter time frame.

ephion Dec 30, 2013, 9:00 PM
8 points
in reply to: William_Quixote’s comment on: Critiquing Gary Taubes, Part 4: What Causes Obesity?
I completely agree with this post. A big issue that I have with it is that Taubes’s (and Atkins) advice really does work for a lot of people. Evidently, Atkins and Taubes discovered something that worked, and tried to justify it with cherry picked science. They are salesmen, not scientists, so it isn’t really surprising that their claims aren’t rigorous. (EDIT: This summary of meta analyses on low carb diets backs up the efficacy of their diets)

I’d like for ChrisHallquist to have investigated why low carb diets work so well for so many people, despite the fact that the evidence isn’t all there.

As for your questions, I’d say that following Taubes’ advice won’t kill you, will very likely result in weight loss, and that his methodology is more-or-less correct but his justification is lacking.

I do plan on writing a series of posts on nutrition, exercise, and general health that are actionable with good recommendations.