The new rules of lifting

What Hacker News says

1. dredmorbiusJan 2026
   Many submissions over the years, with particularly good discussions here:

   March 10, 2014, 66 comments: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7371478>

   Dec 26, 2012, 334 comments: <https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=4971196>

   What I appreciate about this piece isn't just the fitness knowledge (more below), but the business insights:

   Here's the problem: If you're in the fitness-equipment business, free weights are a loser. The 2010 model looks too much like the 1950 model, and they both last forever. Far better to create gleaming $4,000 contraptions that can be reinvented every two years, and then hire a PR firm to promote some made-up training theory claiming that machines are the answer...

   Commercial health clubs need about 10 times as many members as their facilities can handle, so designing them for athletes, or even aspiring athletes, makes no sense....

   But the personal-training business model doesn't include teaching (or even learning) the fundamentals anyway. Trainers make a living by keeping clients coming back; fundamentals liberate clients to train themselves. So the savvy trainer tells you that these days, it's all about "functional fitness," a complex integration of balance and stability and strength....

   Shaul gave me a great gift that day, cluing me in to a little secret: True sport-specific training, for literally everybody except elite athletes, isn't sport-specific at all. It's about getting strong, durable, and relentless in simple, old-school ways that a man can train, test, and measure.

   Distilling the essential lessons:

   - Anything works, especially over nothing, initially. Further progress adds to this with progression, specificity, technique, modalities, programming, and above all, consistency.

   - Corollary: newbies often fall into the One True Religion trap, thinking that what works for them is 1) best for everyone and 2) the Best Thing Evar. There's substantial replicated science on non-newbie gains which is worth referencing.

   - Physical fitness is far more than aerobic fitness, which much of the world still seems focused on. Strength and resistance training remain under-appreciated and under-utilised many decades after first reaching public awareness.

   - Freeweights (stuff like dumbbells, barbells, kettlebells, and even cable machines) offer the biggest bang for the buck. As do compound movements (those in which multiple joints are flexed simultaneously), as opposed to isolation movements. Chin-ups are a compound movement (elbow, shoulder), arm curls are an isolation movement, both engage the biceps, but chins engage much more (forearms, lats, delts, rhomboids...).

   - Movements (the specific exercise you're doing), sets, reps, rest, progression (usually increasing resistance over time), and programming (how you vary all of the above over a training year or longer) are the basic building blocks of strength training.

   - Benefits are enormous at any age. Enjoy the easy gains in your 20s, revitalisation in your 30s and 40s, heading off metabolic diseases in your 50s and 60s, and slowing old-age demise in your 70s and beyond.

   I'm going on my third decade of strength training, with ups and downs and pauses, but what I know with certainty is that I feel far better when I have regular access to weights. And some form of cardio (which I've been doing several decades longer).

   The fundamental information is neither terribly complicated nor controversial, but clear presentation is at odds with business models, as noted at the top of this comment. I'm a fan of ExRx (<https://exrx.net>), and find the New Rules of Lifting books (Schuler, Cosgrove, et al) good introductions, though there are of course many other websites and books.

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2. dredmorbiusOct 2025
   It turns out that there's a wealth of evidence which shows that appropriate introductions of stress (cardio training, resistance training, fine-motor-control practice) do in fact lead to improvements: greater heart health, better pulmonary function, increased strength, greater bone density, improved blood sugar regulation, decreased overall stress response, and more.

   Yes, overtraining is possible (and not infrequent, particularly by those who fail to read or ignore the evidence). But an absolutely sedentary lifestyle is exceptionally fatal.

   Medications (as with exercise) come with both intended and unintended consequences, as well as costs and inconveniences. Generally the more extreme the condition you're treating, the more likely that medications will carry some of these disadvantages (e.g., chemotherapy against cancer, where the goal is often to kill the malignancy at least slightly faster than one kills the patient). Exercise operates through complex feedback cycles and mechanisms, not all of which are well-understood (as an example, why muscle grows in response to strength training being a fundamental case despite much information on how muscle responds to which specific training protocols). Medications can amplify training response (e.g., anabolic steroids for strength training athletes), but often don't by themselves substitute for it.

   This is why, in a broader sense, that the Baconian scientific method does not rely simply on a priori hypotheses, but tests these with experiment and evidence, that is, empirically. The ultimate critique of pure reason is that whilst it can be a useful guide for what you then want to test empirically, it has a phenomenal tendency to lead one to utterly fallacious and/or irrelevant conclusions.

   One of the more robust sets of evidence on both the negative effects of a zero-stress lifestyle and of the benefits of regular cardio and strength training is that accumulated through long-term space missions, largely aboard the International Space Station (ISS). Microgravity would be the ultimate low-stress environment, and it turns out to be seriously harmful. Astronauts there are tested before and after missions, with various measures of fitness loss. With time-in-space being an immensely valuable resource, astronauts also spend two hours per day engaged in physical exercise (<https://www.asc-csa.gc.ca/eng/astronauts/living-in-space/phy...>), or 1/8 of their waking schedule.

   Online, ExRx (<https://exrx.net/>) has a large library of fitness information, including a list of online journals (<https://exrx.net/Journals>) and expert talks (<https://exrx.net/Talks>). Good books on fitness will link to research substantiating recommendations (Lou Schuler's New Rules of Lifting series is a good example of this).

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3. dredmorbiusDec 2022
   Keep in mind that resistance training is one mode of exercise, and that its results, benefits, and risks are specific to the exercise done.

   Shooting for a simple measure of repetitions over time may not serve any particular fitness goal, and huge numbers of repetitions can be counterproductive, either not delivering a benefit, or contributing to, e.g., repetitive motion injuries.

   It's also strongly recommended to balance movements with assistive and complementary ones.

   Push-ups, a pushing movement, should be paired with pulling movements: rows, chin-ups, and the like.

   Push-ups, a sagittal plane movement, should be combined with frontal plane (lateral flyes, shoulder press, side lunges) and transverse plane (e.g., forward flyes). See: <https://valleysocialmag.com/three-planes-of-motion/>

   Push-ups, an upper-body movement, should be paired with lower-body exercises (leg day!) such as squats, lunges, deadlifts, and glute-ham raises.

   Push-ups, one form of core strengthening movement (holding your body prone whilst supported on your toes and hands is an effort itself, contrast with the far less stressful inversion, the bench press) should be combined with other complementary core movements and exercises.

   I'm a fan generally of the "New Rules of Lifting" model from Lou Schuler (though there are of course many, many strength-training methods which work), which identifies six key movements: push (you're doing these), pull, twist, squat, lunge, and deadlift. There are numerous variants of each, and many can be done with body-weight resistance, though others benefit from additional loading (e.g., barbells, dumbbells, kettlebells), cables, and other forms of resistance.

   The book gives the logic of lifts, how (and why and when) muscle adaptation (strength, size, endurance) happens, diet, and cardio. there are a number of titles following the same basic model. The women's book has a far larger dietary and recipe section, the "for life" books address the issues of aging: injury, prevention, recovery, and accommodation.

   <https://archive.org/details/newrulesofliftin00schu_0>

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4. dredmorbiusJul 2022
   Eat real food, not too much, mostly plants.[1]

   Figure out what you want / like to eat, and perhaps why (more on this below).

   Learn how to prepare that.

   Use that to guide your shopping.

   If you're not buying what you plan to / want to eat, you're going to have difficulty in preparing meals based on that.

   Learn basics of nutrition. There are numerous guides, I've found fitness / bodybuilding books useful as they're strongly focused on macronutrients (carbs, fats, proteins), as well as micros (vitamins & minerals). They also tend to emphasize short meal prep and economy of ingredients. Tip: books oriented at women tend to focus far more on food and recipes. I've found the New Rules of Lifting series to be quite good in this regard, and whilst both the "For Men" and "For Women" titles emphasize nutrition, the women's book covers this in much more detail. These are vastly more useful than the "food pyramid", which is mostly a marketing tool for different sectors of the US ag & food industry.

   Another element of fitness books is that they incorporate goals into meal planning. You can leverate this beyond simple fitness, keeping in mind that what you eat should serve some purpose. That purpose could be fitness, weight loss, muscle gain, or considerations such as ease of preparation, entertainment, variety, health concerns, limited storage / refrigerator / freezer space, etc.

   Learn some basic recipies and foods. They're the foundation of a diet and menu, you can use or add to these to create a vast variety of dishes. Or you may decide you've got your go-to meals and go with those. If you don't have a cookbook or set of cookbooks, invest in some (perhaps checking them out at the library first).

   If you plan on preparing your own meals, learn to cook. There are classes and courses (a great way to meet people as well), books, videos (a lot of cruft along with the good), and more. Keep in mind that there's a wide range of goals and intents behind these, from basics to social signalling (see the recent jarred garlic thread for all the social context mixed up in food: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=31943770).

   Build up a basic kitchen and set of tools. That's your basic pots and pans, bowls, cutting board, a good knife or three (Chef's, paring, bread, for starters), spoons and spatulas, and a few basic tools (graters, presses, and the like), and some food-storage containers (for batched-preparation and leftovers). It really doesn't take much, and you can build with time. Low-tech is often best, and my most treasured utensiles are a 60-year-old cast-iron skillet, a Dutch Oven, and a chef's knife. Mechanised tools can be useful but you can go a long way without them: mixers, blenders, food processors, etc. Get a whetstone for your knives and learn how to use it (not necessarily in that order).

   On tools: I've long longed for a KitchenAid stand mixer, and thought that this was essential for tasks such as bread baking. When I got into sourdough baking at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic, I found that an old ceramic bowl I'd received years ago from a friend was far more useful. What I did end up buying were a digital scale (about US$20), a dial thermometer (yeast is highly tempeature-sensitive), a bench knife (this resembles a spackling spatula, and in fact I bought and used one of those until I found a good bench knife), proofing containers, and a set of glass jars for my starter. The lessons being that 1) expensive mechanised equipment isn't necessary, 2) task-specific tools are, 3) measurement is often critical, and 4) you'll discover these over the course of your cooking/baking career. I still don't have that stand-mixer, though I'd kind of like to have one.

   And if you don't like cooking for yourself, or want to minimise time spent doing so, find out what foods maximise both pleasure and nutrition whilst minimising time. The frozen foods section has vegetables which both won't rot and are often pre-sliced, which can be easily added to recipies, along with various meals and other options (check ingredents especially for trans fats, sugar, or other ingredients of concern). There's no shame in this.

   Large-batch preparation (e.g., a stew for a few days), one-pot meals, stir-fry, learning how to make your own (sour)dough, and some basic frying, blanching, stewing, and baking skills will get you a long way. Combining fresh and prepared (frozen, shelf-stable, dried, ...) ingredients can give you a lot of flexibility.

   Plan your weekly shopping around basic staples. If you can swing by a store for fresh produce and vegetables, that's a big bonus --- you can buy small quantities as you need them for immediate use.

   And for the foods you want to eat less of: don't buy them. It's very hard to eat what's not available.

   ________________________________

   Notes:

   1. Michael Pollan, from In Defense of Food, which is a good book to add to your list, though perhaps not the best starting point.

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5. pdiddyApr 2015
   Strength training (e.g. lifting weights). I will be anecdotal and tell my own story. I started at about 30, having virtually no experience in the weight room. I was very intimidated, but took it as a challenge. That was generally unfounded and I have found people in the gym to be (while reserved) generous and non-judgmental. I still go in the morning, though, because having a crowded room throws me off.

   After beginning to lift, minor pain that I was experiencing in my wrist and back disappeared. I'm now focusing on my posture a lot because I realize I'm basically too weak to sit or stand up straight all day. It has also taught me basic things like how to pick something up. I cringe every time I see some one bend over at the waist and arch their back. People can throw out their backs picking up very light objects.

   I highly recommend the book The New Rules of Lifting. Supplement by watching you tube videos about particular motions. Start off slowly. If you can afford it, consider a trainer. But I am a DIY type, as I imagine many here are.

   Eat right (I generally ignore weight lifting diet advice and try to follow the advice in Eat Drink and Be Healthy: The Harvard Medical School Guide, which generally advises a Mediterranean-style diet and is based on aggregating data from several of the most long-term studies of diet).

   Make sure you are sleeping well.

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6. dredmorbiusAug 2014
   Straight-up spam.

   Reddit's /r/fitness, its FAQ, Starting Strength, and The New Rules of Lifting (men or women) are a damned good start.

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