DIY Handlebar Bookstand Marries Your Workout With Learning

I think exercise would be even harder if I had to read a book while I run. How many people can read while run? Or is this intended for people who only walk on that machine? (sorry for the "term" but I don't know how to say it better cos english isn't my native language)

Ian Katz

I recently read (while running on my treadmill) that reading and running decreases the efficiency of the workout. They recommended music as a better alternative. Hmmmm. Maybe audio books are more in order here?

Most people do way too much cardio and not enough weights/anaerobic work. If you are trying to lose weight or get fit and doing cardio alone you are robbing yourself of your full potential.

While cardio makes your heart and lungs more efficient, and burns calories, building muscle with weights increases your body's metabolism (i.e. you burn more calories at rest) which makes you lose weight more sustainably.

Added bonus: being strong is sweet! Trust me.

To me a workout so calm that it allows focus on a book is not effective at all.

Cam Jamieson

I don't think I could read and do exercise at the same time - I'd also be concerned that I'd be straining my neck. Sometimes I'll listen to a podcast or an audio book if the routine didn't require too much concentration.

KittyKittyKitty

I've been playing mario kart lately and to reduce the guilt, I do some pushups or crunches between the races.. ends up giving me a good workout in lots of small sets.

Naah... this doesn't work for me. Only good in theory - not in practice!

Ha! You guys have me addicted to Academic Earth where I'm learning all about the Financial Markets and the Civil War. I listen to those lectures on my ipod while I walk and run around the park track. I'm addicted!!

Catch up on watching some TV that doesn't merit concentration, listen to music, whatever, but forget reading while you're trying to exercise.

Deprong Mori

For an effective cardio session, you need to significantly elevate your heartrate for an extended period of time. If you are able to read while you are exercising, you're not working out hard enough.

Here's one old-school calculation: 220 minus your age equals maximum heartrate (beats per minute). Your heart rate target should be 70-85% of your maximum rate (for a 30-yr-old, 142-161 bpm) for at least 20 minutes per session, three times a week.

And as mentioned above, resistance training should also be a significant portion of your exercise regimen. There's really no way to read while you're lifting weights, using exercise bands, etc.

Deprong Mori

@Deprong Mori: "For an effective cardio session, you need to significantly elevate your heartrate for an extended period of time."

I agree that this is required for "an effective cardio workout" but i think that most people are not looking for a cardio workout. For people who are losing weight moderate cardio and weights is probably the best way to start and eventually work into more intense circuits.

In my experience long term cardio just bores people and doesn't really get significant results.

Cam Jamieson

I watch Seinfeld or listen to music.

@Ian Katz: Your english is quite good.
I had the same thought, it's hard to do most things while you run, and trying to concentrate on fairly small text would be especially hard.

Well I setup a pc on my treadmill and read my mail, check out LH, top ten digg, look at the front page of my newspaper via newsdesigner.com (so excellent for a quick check of the day). At 0800 Democracy Now comes on automatically. Life is Good!
At first I was only able to go about 2 miles per hour while computing. I can now go upto 3 MPH with 2.5 mph and 3% grade being my speed of choice. I do some bursts up to 4 MPH. I go about 3 to 3.5 miles a day. I also do phone calls.

Just don't use it on your real bike.

I have a recumbent exercise bike. I usually either both read AND listen to music while on it, or I play video games -- racing games of course.

I actually do better while reading, because I keep slowing down for the turns...

Crashproof

@Cam Jamieson: What if we are presently fit, at a healthy weight and don't want more muscle? A good heart workout is good enough for me, when i need to move my refrigerator I'll give you a call.

MakGeek

@Cam Jamieson:

C'mon, three 30-minute sessions a week of intense cardio isn't asking for too much. I'm not asking people to devote 4-6 hours of their week on high-intensity cardio.

Also, the "effective cardio workout" is more about cardiovascular health, not about losing weight.

Deprong Mori

I usually bring my psp loaded with some TV shows while doing cardio on a stationary bike at the gym and listen to podcasts while doing weights.

krazyman

If you can talk or read while working out you need to reconsider what you call exercise.

AmeryJibman

@askj113: Because most people don't run on an exercise bike :)

Alexander Saites

@[www.stumptuous.com])

Doing weights does not make you gain muscle like crazy unless you try it. No one is saying you have to do a bodybuilder workout.

Besides, why would you not want more muscle/strength?

Cam Jamieson

@Deprong Mori: Why only strive for cardiovascular health? Make those workouts combined cardio/weights and you will make your body more resistant to injury and stronger to boot.

Even if you don't care about looks I think these two factors make weight training essential.

Cam Jamieson

@Cam Jamieson:

Please re-read my original post. I never said that people should neglect weights/resistance training in preference for cardio. Quite the contrary, I say that weight/resistance training go hand-in-hand.

Frankly, your reading comprehension sucks large rocks.

Deprong Mori

@Alexander Saites:

Most people do exercise just to "keep fit" (they will hardly get fit doing exercise as they do). I am 15 years old and I started "boxing" about 1 year ago. I don't box so much, never sparred yet, I'm doing it more for the training rather than the fight-speciality up to now... But I went to a gym for 1 month and I saw old people (65-75 y/old) using the exercise bikes while reading the newspaper which is, simply OK, cos they can't do more faster than what they were doing. But Lifehackers commenters are mostly aged between 15 and 50, and that people should, on an exercise bike, try hard and not as slow as possible SO THEY CAN READ THE NEWSPAPER while training.

Ian Katz

@AmeryJibman: Agree

Ian Katz

@Alexander Saites:
AmeryJibman:

"If you can talk or read while working out you need to reconsider what you call exercise."

He/she explained better or/and easier than myself.

Ian Katz

@FunkyMonkey:

Audio books work great for me. Though I can only listen to non-fiction. Anthony Bourdain was a great companion when I was running all the time. I read fiction before bedtime.

unknownsoldierx

I think that this would be a better idea (relatively) if there was some way to prevent your perspiration from actually splattering all over your material in the process.

But having said that, I don't think most people can actually read (read: effectively) *while* exercising.

carding

I'm a Football Manager addict, the only downside to the game is the frequent long loading times. So I started doing basic crunches, push-ups and weights exercises while waiting.

Maybe more games with long loading times would improve the general fitness of gamers?

What I really want is a cheap way to incorporate gaming into my workout though, I find I do better on rowing/cycling machines with a simple "race" game, but don't have the money to get one at home. A simple device I could attach to a normal exercise bike that bluetoothed to different games on my G1/iPhone would be perfect.

Iain Fletcher

i can't imagine getting a real workout if I am able to read while I run/cycle/whatever -- I doubt you're doing much other than "going with the flow" rather than actually getting something out of it. There are many interesting articles over on Modern Forager (a blog I would highly recommend) about modern exercising issues, and especially regarding the perception of what does and does not work.

One that might be relevant is [lifespotlight.com]

shahahnshah

@Deprong Mori: I am not talking about doing cardio then doing weights, I am talking about doing weights with such intensity that you get a cardio workout from it as well.

That way you get a very effective efficient (fast) workout that improves your health and fitness.

And secondly, ad hominem attacks are not appreciated.

Cam Jamieson

@shahahnshah: I agree, I run quite a bit on the treadmill in the winter. If I can't run around 8 mph for around 30+ min, then it's not worth it to me. I've tried reading and that is certainly out, just too much vibration. Watching TV is even a chore. The problem is two fold, your body is shaking (your eyes can compensate only so much, they are literally shaking in your head as well), plus the treadmill itself is shaking. I think anything visual is out, a text to speech reader may be the ticket.

Ryan Jester

Yuck! This is the worst idea ever. Who wants to drip sweat all over their book? And what about turning pages with sweatty hands.

ShawHaedjinn

Like DanH, I setup my laptop on my treadmill. I usually spend 2 hours a day at 2.5mph and 6 degree incline. It's not a hard cardio workout but it burns a few calories while I'm reading mail, surfing etc. It works for me.

ShabaliniMagooin

I tried the reading-while-exercising thing, but I don't think it works.

On the other hand, I do bike to work, so I am getting exercise while getting to work. Very efficient.

Since I had to give up my gym membership, I've been walking around the neighborhood for exercise again. The problem is that after 15 years I am SO BORED with all the streets around here that it's very hard to get motivated to go out.

I found that loading interesting audiobooks on my iPod helped a lot. I listen to a chapter or two while I'm out walking and that keeps the same-old-places boredom at bay.

I work out for about 2 hours a day. First, I teach an aerobics or weight-lifting class. Then, I use the elliptical trainer and/or cycle for an hour. I use my obsolete Palm Tungsten E to amuse me: I plug in my headphones and play .mp4 vids in TCPMP. The battery power of the TE is about an hour, maybe a bit more.

The screen is tiny, and it's basically useless for shows that seem to take place in the dark (like, most eps of *Supernatural*), but on the whole, it works great and it helps me keep up with my consumption of popular culture!

I convert .avi files to .mp4 with Format Factory, then push them to my Palm's 1-gig memory chip with FilePC2PDA.

thirdfury

I had a hard time reading while running on a treadmill, but reading - and computing - while on the elliptical or stationary bike helped me lose 15 pounds. Total. Win. Especially since my reading material was generally stuff for school, that I wouldn't have bothered to read if I hadn't needed something to occupy me while working out.

demac

@Cam Jamieson:

No weight training regimen replaces a full cardio workout. That's why professional athletes do both.

You don't need to put in the same amount of time as professional athletes do, but you are a fool to think that intense weight training will replace cardio.

Your reading comprehension still sucks, regardless of your appreciation for ad hominum commentary.

Deprong Mori

@Cam Jamieson:

No weight training regimen replaces a full cardio workout. That's why professional athletes do both.

You don't need to put in the same amount of time as professional athletes do, but you are a fool to think that intense weight training will replace cardio.

Your reading comprehension still sucks, regardless of your appreciation for ad hominum commentary.

Deprong Mori

@Deprong Mori:

While I understand your point entirely, please, pretty please, refrain from the put-downs.

Lifehacker is my last stop for internet sanity. Don't take that away; it's all I have left. *sob*

~dt~

@undefined: Saying that professional athletes do both is not correct. Some do some don't. A marathon runner would have little use for weights, and so would do very little weight training. An olympic weight lifter would have little use for cardio so would do mostly weights. These two athletes are considered 'fringe' athletes. They develop 2 or three areas of fitness to the detriment of other areas.

For example, a marathon runner is likely to have very little strength relative to other Olympic athletes, and the weight lifter has very little endurance.

Athletes in sports like MMA where general fitness is required can get rid of most of their cardio and replace it with things like wall-balls, Clean and jerks for time and burpees.

Cam Jamieson

naw that totally messes with your reading, doesn't work well

you can however crank audio books and podcasts. one way is foobar soundtouch dsp up to 2x speed with pitch normalized so it sounds normal. i think a study showed people understand spoken things better when sped up as well. Audio books are read to you are far below actual reading speed after all, it is rather annoyingly slow.

gomplayer and such let you time stretch on the fly if you have a pc around near your work out equipment:P

Justifan

I do flashcards on my Pocket PC with FullRecall while on the elliptical. I can't really read well while working out, but I go through backlogs of magazines and rip out articles for further reading.

The longer load times may just backfire when people use the time to make themselves sandwiches, snack on chocolate bars, etc :)

John Tan

@Ian Katz: I was just making a joke. You and askj were talking about it being difficult to read while running, which, I agree, is quite difficult. However, the exercise device in question is an exercise bike, on which one would ride, not run. I was just teasing the concept; whether or not one could get an effect workout from an exercise bike while still being able to read a paper, I do not know.

Alexander Saites

This might be a good basis for building a map holder.

Right now I have one of these:
[www.amazon.com]

but it's difficult to mount because my handlebars are crowded with other accessories.

dsevil

Remember: just because it doesn't work for YOU doesn't mean that it doesn't work.

The Hans und Franz workout purists who believe you can't have an "effective" workout while reading need to come with statistics if they want to convince anyone. This is basic thermodynamics, folks. If you perform the same amount of actual work reading and not reading, and your goal is weight loss, the workouts are identically effective. There is no agony requirement.

The sweat-splatter-phobes should be aware that dripping sweat tends to descend from where it departs the body towards the center of the earth's mass. So long as your reading material is off this path of travel, it should remain unspattered. Stay up off the handles and this is not difficult.

I read and work out (or write using an arm-mounted monitor and keyboard) on an old Stairmaster 4000 for 30 minutes at level eight nearly every morning. I find that reading something interesting takes my mind off the pain during the peak hill sections, and I look forward to the workout. It's a great way to maximize time use and it's easy to fit into a busy day without requiring a second shower, and provides a good base level of aerobic fitness to be supplemented with running and swimming as schedule permits.

Isernhagen