The importance of Great Physical and Mental Health

I am going for distance (so to speak) so I try to keep my heart rate in the 145 range (I'm also almost 50 years old) for around 45 minutes

 

Just curious what pace does that translate to?

 

Well, I'm not running, it's a stationary bike so I'm not sure how to answer that question

 

There's site of "vrhealth institute" where they list energy expedinture for the games.
https://vrhealth.institute/vr-ratings/
"The thrill of the fight" title I mentioned is listed as being equivalent to rowing.
Supernatural, mentioned by zombiegorrilla, is rated even higher and is apparently equivalent to swimming.

Depending on what the game forces you to do, it can make you burn more energy compared to jogging, because, let's be honest, when you're jogging, you aren't trying to constantly punch targets while ducking from incoming projectiles. This will load your core msucles much more.

But it all depends on what you're trying to do. I.e. whether you're trying to become a better runner, burn energy, or just trying not to die from the lack of physical activity.

VR game won't load your legs the same way walking does. But it can put you out of breath much faster.

 

No way they are equal to those sports because they add weight to the equation. Both swimming and rowing are tougher than running. Your tracked controls have no weight.

 

Im going to try beatsaber for 15 minutes brb

 

Alright did a 10 minute track on expert

This is the result


30 minutes of this is offcourse good for you health if you keep going the entire 30 minutes without pause. But it can't replace running, rowing or swimming. There is no aneroboc exercise at all for example.

 

That's your opinion.

BeatSaber is light exercise and you can cheat on it by optimizing your movements so you use wrists only.

For better "exercise value", you'd need to pick up the right song. Then you can try using full arm swing with full strength for every "note".

From builtin songs you'd probbaly need to use expert and expert+, as things at lower difficulty are quite easy.

Spoiler

Which is why I recommended thrill of the fight, because it strains you much more than beatsaber.

 

I understood it wasn't meant to be an exhaustive list but neither did it feel like it was just three random entries from a list. It's one of the reasons that I mentioned it. It's every bit as important as those three and not just another entry out of many.

Speaking of which another reason for mentioning it is due to how many people mention spending what is clearly an unhealthy amount of time learning or creating games. This thread where the poster mentioned wanting to spend 16 hours a day learning comes to mind.

https://forum.unity.com/threads/how-long-every-day-should-i-learn-code.342076/

 

I managed to get exercise when learning by running my head into the wall. A good round of cussing was known to up the heart rate a well.

 

Is that bike digital? If so, the handles should have sensors that measure your heart rate while you ride

 

The question asked was about pace, not heart rate.

 

I could say pretend you are running from a bear in a forest and you gotta pedal fast as hell... That would be a hell of a workout

 

I am glad this thread is still alive. Your health is super important. Now that I'm married, maintaining my overall mental and physical health is more important than ever

 

My goal right now is todo 10km on 5:30 pace

 

I'm proud of you. I need to do the same more frequently. My wife and I go for walks and it feels great

 

I walk for miles when i get frustrated... ..or nap.

But the best thing i did was cancel my high speed internet, and bought a pre-paid phone using cards. 10 GB a month is all i get.

No more youtube binges. No more political hypertension. No more social media. No more wasting time online. If i do succumb, i often have two weeks of 2g or 3g service... Forums take minutes to load.

When i am ready to show my hand, i will, and do so properly. Until then, I am just wasting my time online, or i am making my dream come true

That and a nice chair helped greatly. I need me some monitor glasses too.. maybe ill ask for something for christmas for once, since i loathe shopping, online or otherwise.

My eyes though. I started fairly old, and a couple years later i needed reading glasses. I just devved blurry for a year thinking it would keep my eyes sharper. But once i surrendered and started wearing reading glasses... Things went way better.

 

Limiting distractions can definitely help. I've started going out more to the park with my wife and I'm hoping that doing things like playing soccer or doing motion capture will not only help with fitness, but lower my anxiety

 

Decided to bump this thread... how is everyone doing today? Myself, I am still looking focused on improving my mental health and physical health with activities such as painting, and taking more time in nature (until I get my Workstation built). This necessary break will definitely help me later in my future projects. Hope you guys are doing well.

 

Not really much different. I changed my exercise regimen to a half hour walk in the afternoon, an hour long walk at night, and 5 minutes of stretches and 10 minutes on the exercise bike every 45 minutes. As for mental health, I am happy to report I am still completely insane.

 

I really enjoy cooking, helps me stay in good health, save money, and be a bit more active with things that aren't looking at a screen. Here's a recipe you guys can try that's, filling, cheap, healthy, easy to cook and surprisingly good:

Oven Roasted Garbonzo beans:
1 can garbanzo beans, strain out liquid, pour into an oven safe pot, skillet, or pan set oven to 250 and let it cook for about an hour.

Remove from the oven, they should now have a nice crunchy exterior and be soft in the middle, if they're too soft, give 'em a bit more time, if they're too crunchy, you can always try again!

Now hit them will a bit of your oil of choice.

Add a small dash of dijon mustard and a small splash of fish sauce. Some crushed garlic and boullion if you have it, but just salt/ pepper is fine. Mix it up a bit and put it back in the oven for just a few more minutes so the seasonings can break down a little. Fresh herbs go great on them, or those squirt bottles of basil you can get at the store.
(This is the fancier version, you could just do salt or whatever flavors you want if you have a different pallet or just want to save some time)

If you're new to trying to improve your health through diet, the general rule is to cut out sugars and carbs. Indulge in fats and salts, they're not great for you, but they're better than the other stuff. Less pizza, less processed cheese and meat, less bread, less cake, if you're going to have something sweet, get something that uses a sugar substitute. Drink water and unsweetened drinks. It can be kind of daunting, but if you start developing a joy of cooking, it can actually be a lot of fun. Once you start losing pounds or getting a six pack back, you don't really miss the soft drinks and junk food so much.

Develop a few recipes and a shopping routine and you'll start being in better spirits and losing weight, the trick is finding things that are healthy but also FILLING. Salty garbanzo beans are great for this. Keep quality healthy ingredients in your pantry that don't go bad like tomato sauces, coconut milk, beans, lentils, frozen vegetables, affordable cuts of meat. It's a lot easier to stay healthy when you make it easier to stay healthy. Buy the healthy stuff you like and find exciting new recipes to keep you excited to stay healthy.

A solid diet is the core to getting in better shape, do some pushups/ situps every day and a few core routines you can find easily on youtube on top of a quality diet and you'll be surprised how much better shape you can be in in a very short period of time. More energy, and more focus time to invest in your projects... and you know, we all want a better quality of life before we snuff it.

 

Weeel...

I quit smoking a few weeks ago after a two month stint back in...

...and my dev progress has stalled greatly because of it. I really miss stepping outside, and huffing a cig while thinking about the problem. And there just is no substitute for it.

But, being a runner/hiker and smoker is weird, and after two months of smoking I felt the effects on my health all over. I was sleeping way, way less, and churning out good code 12 -14 hours a day, for the first 8 weeks of smoking, then I started to crash, and could mostly only sleep. Still at that stage now, recovering all that sleep I lost smoking. Probably now sleeping 12 -14 hours a day.

I would never seriously consider Adderall to stay competitive with any in the industry, but sometimes I wonder...

 

I'm amazed that this thread is still going. Hope everyone has an awesome day and spend much needed time with your families

 

Well... It happened...

My mom got it as a medical transcriptionist, and about a week ago, my hand started to tingle.

Giving myself a pressure test pretty much confirmed metacarpal tunnel syndrome. it seems to be the mouse mostly, especially the mousewheel that aggravates it the most.

I guess i can get myself a splint. I have tried all sorts of different positions, including a standing desk, with my arm in various positions that feel completely relaxed, but nothing helps. :/

I guess i can try to take a week off, though i really dont want to. Overall, it looks like surgery may be the only answer if i am going to continue, and i cant quit.

 

Usually rest is all you need. When my hands get sore from working at the desk, resting them usually helps. How often do you work at your desk?

 

Its not soreness. It is definitely my median nerve is getting squeezed.

And its been about 12 hours a day, 6 days a week, past 10 days, almost all shadergraph (mouse work).

I also changed my seat due to back pain a few weeks ago, and i think this change may have contributed, as I noticed (once the tingling started), that everytime i moved my mouse towards myself, my wrist was making a scooping motion, (as opposed to being mostly flat). This because i lowered my seat and posture a bit.

So, anyways, going to splint up the right and left hand my mouse for a while, was my conclusion while walking just now.

 

Good morning. It's been a while since I've posted in this thread and it's nearly the middle of 2024...we all love doing creative tasks but keeping your health up is important too. How is everyone doing? Myself, I haven't been working on anything related to 3d and game development (no computer until recently) since 2022, due to catastrophic hardware failure involving an 11 year old laptop.

However, I have been doing a lot more walking, drinking more water and making sure I keep my mind stable. I recently hit 40 years old in March and maintaining my health is extremely important. Started wearing orthotics to regain balance and looking for a bicycle. Hope you guys are going well

 

I was out for four months.
I caused osteoarthritis in my neck from poor posture, and have a pinched nerve, aka "monitor neck"

I pretty much had to lay down all day for this, so the muscles in my neck would atrophy, as they had grown too strong in the "crane neck" area, and a tiny bone spur that was growing needed to recede.

I learned that this is permanent, as cartilage can not repair after puberty, due to no blood flow in cartilage. :/. Surgery is also very risky and not recommended.

I now have a standing desk, as sitting and working, even driving, causes my hand to tingle.

So working on the game is now physically tiring as well on my back etc, after 12 hours. However, standing means I easily move and sit, take breaks etc.

I am back at it, thankfully, there was a while I thought I would never be able to code again, and that crushed me.

I was walking very long distances every day those four months, not so much that I am coding again... ...and I am quite concerned about hiking soon, as that does put lots of pressure on neck and shoulders, and a tad afraid the tingling might get really bad in the middle of nowhere without rest as an option.

 

There are equivalents for chairs now too if you want back support while standing.

https://leanchair.com/
https://healthpostures.com/product/5100-stance-angle-sit-stand-chair/

 

That said. My reading glasses, cheap blue blocker monitor glasses, have worked great. Before them, my left eye in particular would get sloppy and irritated, and my eyes would be very crusty when I would wake up in the morning. That doesnt happen anymore.

 

That is rough, man. I hope you get some form of relief soon, man. Conditions like this can change your life drastically. Glad you have the standing desk and that should improve your condition. I'm looking for a new chair to improve my posture and lessen stress on my joints. I have flat feet and my wife suggested that I get new insoles for my shoes and so far it's helping me with balance.

Next week I will be getting a physical done and working on weight loss and a proper sleep schedule. Looking to get into motion capture to stay mobile

 

I got a treadmill to walk on while I'm working or doing anything computer related. It's been great for improving focus (I don't fidget or get as easily distracted if my body is occupied), and it lets me get tons of exercise while still being productive in other ways. Now that I'm used to it, I can sometimes forget I'm walking and end up burning 500+ calories a day.

 

I was considering getting either a treadmill or an exercise bike for my wife and I, especially for weight loss, cardio, and stress relief. Did the treadmill cost much?

 

I'd recommend to walk. For an hour. 3 times per week at least.

 

We already do this. But the bike is in case we miss a day or it's too hot out

 

The biggest catch with a treadmill is that it places a higher strain on your joints. If you have any kind of problems, pains, or arthritis with the joints in your legs (especially knees) you're better off with an exercise bike.

 

I started with a cheap (maybe $150) off-brand under-desk treadmill, which was fine but the motor on it didn't last very long – maybe 8 months of using it every day. After I knew that I wanted to keep it up, I went out on a limb and bought a manual bean-shaped treadmill with tank-tread slats for about $1000. It was a bigger investment, but since it takes no maintenance or power and promises to last a long time despite constant use, I think it was worth it.

 

Very true. We ordered an exercise bike and it arrives tomorrow

 

And your heart will thank you