I’ve been using HabitRPG for around a month now to increase the amount of exercise I do and decrease the amount of chocolate I consume. It’s caused successful habit formation—I’ve reduced the motivation needed to do unpleasant strength exercises and 3+ mile runs, even on days where I get no points for completing them. I have little success with decreasing my chocolate consumption, partly because I eat first and pay for it with the game-gold later. I’ll keep using this system.
HabitRPG may work for me because I have freakishly great self-motivation and this helps me channel it. It’s also my to-do list, though the site crashes with annoying frequency.
I’ve been using HabitRPG for a couple of months and I don’t have freakishly great self-motivation (although I do have a friend who’s in my party, so there is some peer pressure/accountability to keep me on track). So far I’ve found that it’s good for habit formation for the kinds of things that are more about remembering to do them than about negative motivation. It’s also reasonably good in a GTD sort of way, in the sense that I’ll put a big task on my to-do list, and then when it comes time to actually start on the task I break it up into much smaller subtasks to provide myself with incremental rewards towards completion.
If you don’t know, I would like to point out that you can run a server locally without almost any effort (there are detailed instructions on the site), thus avoiding crashing problems and allowing you to access it offline.
I’ve tried using HabitRPG before, but didn’t stick with it. I’ve started using Lift, working out every day following the http://7-min.com. Somehow the expectation of checking off habits for today keep me going through the motions, and the automated timer reduces friction of changing into the mental state appropriate for exercising.
Don’t do HITT with low available glucose (blood and liver); your body will eat through what’s present quickly, won’t have enough time to prepare more, and will break down skeletal muscles for energy instead. I doubt this should prove problematic, but omitting this caveat is simply irresponsible.
Thanks! The 7-minute workout sounds reasonable and I might consider adding elements of it into my 4-minute abs workout I have already. It wouldn’t replace running altogether since 1) I enjoy running, so it is not time lost and 2) I’m training for 5k cross country races.
What does the caveat mean? Should I avoid doing HITT first thing in the morning, after not having eaten? (note that I’m polyphasic at present, so unless I get some sort of fasting habit going, I may have eaten as recently as 4h prior)
The caveat mainly targets those on some low-carb dietary regimen. If you were to break a fast (can’t give a specific fast length, sorry) with exercise then maybe have a banana 15-30 minutes or so before starting, depending upon your metabolic speed.
Does this apply to you? If a highly confident no, then have at it at your own liability!
Do you have a citation for 15-30 minutes being a reasonable time for blood glucose levels changing in response to consuming a banana? I remember reading that it takes significantly longer than that, up to 150 minutes, but I can’t find a proper source at the moment. The closest I can find is the 4-hour body, and I don’t know how trustworthy it is. It also says that fructose may lower blood glucose levels.
I don’t, actually. I ran a year long informal experiment on myself, trying to measure my metabolic rate / caloric need per hour, and have a recollection of reading that ingesting a banana before a workout should provide enough glucose for an hour (I don’t think it specified for what activity; I found that the banana lasted for the first forty-five minutes of a treadmill 10k run at a pace fluctuating between ~4:30 and ~6:00 minutes per kilometre*) - both probably inform that 15-30 minute figure. Your metabolic speed will vary, and not necessarily within that range.
*By “last”, I mean a subjective sense of being energized and having enough fuel. I realise now that may not be a reliable indicator.
I’ve been using HabitRPG for around a month now to increase the amount of exercise I do and decrease the amount of chocolate I consume. It’s caused successful habit formation—I’ve reduced the motivation needed to do unpleasant strength exercises and 3+ mile runs, even on days where I get no points for completing them. I have little success with decreasing my chocolate consumption, partly because I eat first and pay for it with the game-gold later. I’ll keep using this system.
HabitRPG may work for me because I have freakishly great self-motivation and this helps me channel it. It’s also my to-do list, though the site crashes with annoying frequency.
I’ve been using HabitRPG for a couple of months and I don’t have freakishly great self-motivation (although I do have a friend who’s in my party, so there is some peer pressure/accountability to keep me on track). So far I’ve found that it’s good for habit formation for the kinds of things that are more about remembering to do them than about negative motivation. It’s also reasonably good in a GTD sort of way, in the sense that I’ll put a big task on my to-do list, and then when it comes time to actually start on the task I break it up into much smaller subtasks to provide myself with incremental rewards towards completion.
If you don’t know, I would like to point out that you can run a server locally without almost any effort (there are detailed instructions on the site), thus avoiding crashing problems and allowing you to access it offline.
I’ve tried using HabitRPG before, but didn’t stick with it. I’ve started using Lift, working out every day following the http://7-min.com. Somehow the expectation of checking off habits for today keep me going through the motions, and the automated timer reduces friction of changing into the mental state appropriate for exercising.
High Intensity Interval Training (H.I.T.T.) may have the same benefits as running and is a more efficient use of time: http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/05/09/the-scientific-7-minute-workout/
Read the linked journal article.
Don’t do HITT with low available glucose (blood and liver); your body will eat through what’s present quickly, won’t have enough time to prepare more, and will break down skeletal muscles for energy instead. I doubt this should prove problematic, but omitting this caveat is simply irresponsible.
Thanks! The 7-minute workout sounds reasonable and I might consider adding elements of it into my 4-minute abs workout I have already. It wouldn’t replace running altogether since 1) I enjoy running, so it is not time lost and 2) I’m training for 5k cross country races.
What does the caveat mean? Should I avoid doing HITT first thing in the morning, after not having eaten? (note that I’m polyphasic at present, so unless I get some sort of fasting habit going, I may have eaten as recently as 4h prior)
The caveat mainly targets those on some low-carb dietary regimen. If you were to break a fast (can’t give a specific fast length, sorry) with exercise then maybe have a banana 15-30 minutes or so before starting, depending upon your metabolic speed.
Does this apply to you? If a highly confident no, then have at it at your own liability!
Do you have a citation for 15-30 minutes being a reasonable time for blood glucose levels changing in response to consuming a banana? I remember reading that it takes significantly longer than that, up to 150 minutes, but I can’t find a proper source at the moment. The closest I can find is the 4-hour body, and I don’t know how trustworthy it is. It also says that fructose may lower blood glucose levels.
I don’t, actually. I ran a year long informal experiment on myself, trying to measure my metabolic rate / caloric need per hour, and have a recollection of reading that ingesting a banana before a workout should provide enough glucose for an hour (I don’t think it specified for what activity; I found that the banana lasted for the first forty-five minutes of a treadmill 10k run at a pace fluctuating between ~4:30 and ~6:00 minutes per kilometre*) - both probably inform that 15-30 minute figure. Your metabolic speed will vary, and not necessarily within that range.
*By “last”, I mean a subjective sense of being energized and having enough fuel. I realise now that may not be a reliable indicator.