Viewer facing personnel and fitness

[saintlouisbagels]

Damn, this is a spicy thread.

As an obese man myself (260lbs, 5'8"), I would love to see more tech guys that look really fit like Linus, MKBHD, and Austin Evans.

... but these are definitely thoughts I've kept to myself lol.

 

I do really appreciate it whenever Luke talks about gym stuff during the WAN Show.

 

It's not all about appearance though. As long as these guys are able to walk up some flights of stairs or jog the length of a football field without feeling like death, I don't think there should be any concern. Especially none of OUR business.

 

Maybe everyone should have a chance to fight Linus the way Dennis did. This way everyone will personally know how out of shape they are.

[Caroline]

1 hour ago, saintlouisbagels said:

Maybe everyone should have a chance to fight Linus the way Dennis did. This way everyone will personally know how out of shape they are.

Nah, I'd win, don't want to humilliate my boy Linus

 

 

Or, I could lose on purpose for say... $10k, fair but he gets the upper hand at the last minute and wins, you know like in MrBeast's contests, make it 20k and he can beat me up from the start, I'll fall at least 2x, pretend I'm tired, miss punches, add in a nosebleed and everything. But we share a coffee afterwards. Biz.

[Stahlmann]

I did notice how jacked David has become recently. But I can't say that I noticed anyone who's significantly worse off than when I first saw them in videos. 

 

If you didn't have to change a lot about your life to achieve your fitness goals, then you obviously haven't had such an unhealthy life to begin with. As someone who lost 70 lbs and build a lot of muscle over the last year, I can say it's absolutely not easy. I think you dramatically underestimate how different your lifestyle is from an average nerd, who typically eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and get no exercise whatsoever. (I'm talking from personal experience here...)

 

You could say it comes down to "drink protein shakes, eat less, and exercise more", but that's a gross oversimplification. It took some drastic and permanent changes in my lifestyle, like eating habits, shedule, exercise and most importantly self discipline to get to where I am now. And even a year later, I still struggle with some of these aspects, especially with fixing my sleep and keeping myself from snacking while watching TV.

 

So far it wasn't easy, and I've reached the goal I put on myself a year ago, but I want to go on and see where it leads me. It was definetly worth it imo. I gained a lot more confidence, for the first time in my life I'm actually getting compliments about my looks and progress, and most importantly I like to look at myself in the mirror again.

 

But in the end, it's not the employers place to meddle in these things. It's a personal decision. The employer can offer fitness opportunities or healthy meals, but there shouldn't be any expectation or pressure towards the employees.

[Bitter]

I think I found where this thread came from.

 

[Zodiark1593]

40 minutes ago, Stahlmann said:

I did notice how jacked David has become recently. But I can't say that I noticed anyone who's significantly worse off than when I first saw them in videos. 

 

If you didn't have to change a lot about your life to achieve your fitness goals, then you obviously haven't had such an unhealthy life to begin with. As someone who lost 70 lbs and build a lot of muscle over the last year, I can say it's absolutely not easy. I think you dramatically underestimate how different your lifestyle is from an average nerd, who typically eat whatever they want, whenever they want, and get no exercise whatsoever. (I'm talking from personal experience here...)

 

You could say it comes down to "drink protein shakes, eat less, and exercise more", but that's a gross oversimplification. It took some drastic and permanent changes in my lifestyle, like eating habits, shedule, exercise and most importantly self discipline to get to where I am now. And even a year later, I still struggle with some of these aspects, especially with fixing my sleep and keeping myself from snacking while watching TV.

 

So far it wasn't easy, and I've reached the goal I put on myself a year ago, but I want to go on and see where it leads me. It was definetly worth it imo. I gained a lot more confidence, for the first time in my life I'm actually getting compliments about my looks and progress, and most importantly I like to look at myself in the mirror again.

 

But in the end, it's not the employers place to meddle in these things. It's a personal decision. The employer can offer fitness opportunities or healthy meals, but there shouldn't be any expectation or pressure towards the employees.

I live on the base of a pretty lengthy hill climb to start my morning 5K runs, so a bit of a special hell. Once that’s overcome though, the rest feels comparatively easy. 
 

I’d long surpassed my original goals as well, so I too continue to press forward. Though in my case, doing so has cost a relationship (as my new lifestyle greatly conflicts with what she wants in life, and likely insecurity that she’s stagnating), but I won’t be deterred. 
 

Got a half Marathon coming up myself. I run hills all the time (5K and 10K), so I’d be curious to see how this translates to more level ground. 
 

Will say too, nothing like watching a little Hajime no Ippo to spark a little motivation when feeling down. It reminds me that I’m not just chasing looks, but in the mirror, I want to see someone that puts in the work. If anyone has the inkling to get into shape, definitely one of the more inspirational (and reasonably realistic) animes. 

[Stahlmann]

13 minutes ago, Zodiark1593 said:

Though in my case, doing so has cost a relationship (as my new lifestyle greatly conflicts with what she wants in life, and likely insecurity that she’s stagnating), but I won’t be deterred. 

Sorry to hear that. But sometimes two people just grow apart due to changing priorities. And as shallow as it sounds, if one of them puts in a lot of self improvement work, and the other doesn't, that can lead to all kinds of issues like insecurity, jealousy, etc.

 

Fitness is one of these things where partners should definetly be on the same page, otherwise the relationship probably won't hold up imo.

[Zodiark1593]

1 hour ago, Stahlmann said:

Sorry to hear that. But sometimes two people just grow apart due to changing priorities. And as shallow as it sounds, if one of them puts in a lot of self improvement work, and the other doesn't, that can lead to all kinds of issues like insecurity, jealousy, etc.

 

Fitness is one of these things where partners should definetly be on the same page, otherwise the relationship probably won't hold up imo.

Tbh, there wasn’t a ton of common ground in that relationship anyway, so I wasn’t particularly sorry to close it out. 
 

As far as fitness goes though, I don’t think the way I dived into it would’ve given the opportunity for anyone to be on “the same page”. There wasn’t even really a plan, no research into it, no consultation with anyone. Just putting things together as I went. 

It be like having a heavily guarded building that I’m supposed to find some clever, easier, or sneakier way into with some detailed plan, and I instead just walked through the front door and started blasting.  Once I fixated on 1 pound = 3500 calories, it was full-send from there. So some shock factor would be understandable too. 

[cmndr]

4 hours ago, Stahlmann said:

You could say it comes down to "drink protein shakes, eat less, and exercise more", but that's a gross oversimplification. It took some drastic and permanent changes in my lifestyle, like eating habits, shedule, exercise and most importantly self discipline to get to where I am now. And even a year later, I still struggle with some of these aspects, especially with fixing my sleep and keeping myself from snacking while watching TV.

Here and now I'm pretty much at:

Drink 2-5 scoops worth of protein mix and 1-2 scoops of creatine throughout the day (usually 1 in the morning and one in the evening).

A big lunch that's 1.5-2.3lbs worth of Whole Foods cafeteria mix (disproportionately lean meats/veggies, with more carbs when I'm trying to bulk up) OR fast casual (Cava, Chipotle, etc with a little bit of effort put into thinking about macros)

Avoid sugar. If there's free donuts in the office, I can have a bite. A year ago I'd eat like 4. 

And that's about it. It's basically the lowest effort approach I can do. 


I suspect that for a lot of people "think about macros and avoid processed food/sugar bombs/donuts" and "take the stairs, jog for 5 minutes and do 5 minutes of weight lifting or resistance training 2-3x every other day" will get them to a VERY good spot. 


In my office there's literally a walking group that will discuss work while walking for 15 minutes every so often. 

None of this is a big burden but it does add up over time. 

I'd argue most people should be doing something similar solely for the physical health benefits and mental health boost.

[LogicalDrm]

13 hours ago, cmndr said:

I'd argue most people should be doing something similar solely for the physical health benefits and mental health boost.

... For themselves. Not for random people from the Internet. Any change of lifestyle should be done because person wants it themselves. Any pressure from workplace, peers or randoms is not how things get better.

[LAwLz]

32 minutes ago, LogicalDrm said:

... For themselves. Not for random people from the Internet. Any change of lifestyle should be done because person wants it themselves. Any pressure from workplace, peers or randoms is not how things get better.

Agree, but I also think that the workplace can, and should, encourage a healthy lifestyle by for example pay (or partially paying) for things like gym membership or allocating some work-time to exercising. Both voluntary of course, but it removes/lessens some of the barriers people sometimes have, like time and money. 

 

I gave some examples of how it's done on my job and my SO's job earlier in the thread. I think it's a very good system that most likely benefits everyone. The employee gets healthier and better quality of life, and the employer get healthier employees that most likely work more focused and better as well (or at the very least become sick less often). 

[cmndr]

12 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

... For themselves. Not for random people from the Internet. Any change of lifestyle should be done because person wants it themselves. Any pressure from workplace, peers or randoms is not how things get better.

I'd argue that there's a tension there. And the focus ought to be process excellence moreso than raw outcomes.

 

Intrinsic motivation is good. 
There are cases where a nudge helps. 

Imagine an extreme example. 

Bob has a drug addiction. Bob says he would prefer to quit but it requires motivation.
The motivation in the short term ends up wavering and results dither.

If Bob is placed in a setting where there's encouragement, support and just a general expectation of "success", motivation becomes less of a factor.


I'd argue that there's value in setting up the office to make being healthy VERY easy. It'd still be opt-in but it'd be EASY to opt-into. 

[LogicalDrm]

1 hour ago, cmndr said:

I'd argue that there's value in setting up the office to make being healthy VERY easy

Which is VERY different conclusion vs the reason why you posted this...

[cmndr]

10 hours ago, LogicalDrm said:

Which is VERY different conclusion vs the reason why you posted this...

First line, as a preface... 

Quote

I'll preface this with... there's a lot of trade-offs and that at some level it's not GREAT if LMG polices their employees' lives too much.

followed by...

Quote

providing healthy lunches/supplements, encouraging gym use/exercise and encouraging good sleep hygiene (episode idea - using smart home tech to improve sleep).

 

I don't see how setting up healthy snacks, setting up group ordering for a healthy lunch or a group walk or setting up people with smart light bulbs is thematically different from saying "set up the office to make being healthy easy"


All in the first post. Not edited.

 

I had all of that or "better" (Facebook, Google and LinkedIn are legendary for their healthy free food) when I worked at a FAANG. There was a gym. There were fitness groups and classes. 

[Blue4130]

23 minutes ago, cmndr said:

First line, as a preface... 

followed by...

 

I don't see how setting up healthy snacks, setting up group ordering for a healthy lunch or a group walk or setting up people with smart light bulbs is thematically different from saying "set up the office to make being healthy easy"


All in the first post. Not edited.

 

I had all of that or "better" (Facebook, Google and LinkedIn are legendary for their healthy free food) when I worked at a FAANG. There was a gym. There were fitness groups and classes. 

I think the biggest problem is you made this all about the on-screen talent, which comes off as extremely superficial. Your wording could have more tact to come off better.

[cmndr]

9 hours ago, Blue4130 said:

I think the biggest problem is you made this all about the on-screen talent, which comes off as extremely superficial. Your wording could have more tact to come off better.

That's a business justification for an expense/effort that ostensibly helps employees too. 

There's a lot of people getting offended about gym passes and veggies in the break room. 

[Blue4130]

6 hours ago, cmndr said:

That's a business justification for an expense/effort that ostensibly helps employees too. 

There's a lot of people getting offended about gym passes and veggies in the break room. 

Like I said earlier, most people are upset because you (in the initial post and topic name) want them to do this so that the hosts "look" more fit and healthy. It came across as crass and shallow, as if somehow "beautiful" people were more qualified to present tech news. If that wasn't your intention, it was not presented well.

 

If you just intended to ask if they offer healthy life choices for employees, you could have left out anything to do will "viewer facing personnel or on camera talent" and anything to do with Hollywood.

[Spindel]

On 9/8/2024 at 11:53 PM, LAwLz said:

 

With that being said, I think an employer caring for their employees' health is good. I don't necessarily agree that it's because they need to look good on-camera, but things like giving employees incientives or help staying in shape is good. It's not about making people look good, but to increase general health. My employer gives me about 400 dollars a year that I can spend on health-related things. Buying equipment is not allowed, but so far this year I've used some of it for a gym membership, a massage and a subscription to a fitness tracking app. 

My SO also gets money (although a smaller amount) but also gets 1 hour a week of paid time that they can spend working out. So once a week, they end work 1 hour early and exercise while retaining full pay.

I am all for those kinds of benefits for employees. They are voluntary and exist for the purpose of increasing well-being, which benefits both the employee and employer.

HEJJA SVERIGE OCH FRISKVÅRDSBIDRAGET! (och buuuu för att jag inte får köpa löparskor för det!)

 

In a language that everyone can understand: All this is thanks to our strong unions and (historically) strong union culture. None of this has been given by our emplyers by their own free will and kind hearts.

 

But I’ll leave it at this since a union discussion will lead nowhere on this forum.

[SpaceGhostC2C]

On 9/8/2024 at 2:08 AM, cmndr said:

In Hollywood image is everything. Actors will go to great lengths to achieve a certain look.

And that's our problem because...

 

On 9/10/2024 at 1:39 PM, cmndr said:

Here and now I'm pretty much at:
(...)

Are you also doing something to create fewer threads like this, or are you focusing 100% on the body side of self-improvement?

 

On 9/8/2024 at 4:50 PM, Middcore said:

One of the weirdest fucking posts I have ever read. 

A-f*****g-men.

[Zodiark1593]

Come to think of it, I’d love to see a Dennis vs Linus Rematch once Dennis gets a year of cardio under his belt. The training montage needs to have the song Under Stat (by Shocking Lemon) though. 

[Caroline]

Just so you know proteinslop powder is gonna obliterate your kidneys in the long term.

 

You don't need that or shots to be in shape, unless you aim for huge inflated muscles to show off.

[LAwLz]

15 hours ago, Caroline said:

Just so you know proteinslop powder is gonna obliterate your kidneys in the long term.

 

You don't need that or shots to be in shape, unless you aim for huge inflated muscles to show off.

Do you have any source on "proteionslop powder obliterating kidneys"?

 

Also, there is nothing wrong with wanting to have muscles to show off. Working out and building muscles is in my opinion one of the better vanity things people do.

 

Of course, both of these assume that it is done in moderation and that it doesn't become a destructive habit.

[ToboRobot]

<moderated comment removed>

Perhaps, but I don't think that was the intention.

There is nothing wrong with wanting people you like (even if it's a parasocial media personality relationship) to be healthy and happy.

But there is something really creepy and boundary breaking about this sort of request.

But Linus, and the team, are influencers and are role models for many people, including many youth.

I think part of the idea and spirit of LTT videos is to inform, educate, and inspire people to learn and become better humans.  Often that is just making our machines faster or better, but some of the content is making your life and world better through home renovation.  So self improvement of the physical body is a natural extention.

My mom used to tease me as a kid about being a chubby gamer, until I showed her a picture of ZeRo4 who lifted weights to be better at Quake.  And that inspired me to start exercising and eating better, and losing a bunch of weight.

Do I want other people to start to make changes to improve their health?  Yes, but it's so hard to find a way to do so without hurting their feelings and actually breaking through to change their mind.

I think some people at LMG have gotten on a program to improve their health and fitness, and that is great!  I understand why some people want to see LMG proactively influence the community to be healthier and focus more on fitness, which is a struggle for people who often have jobs and hobbies that have them sitting at a desk!

I think if these ideas for change come from within LMG that would be best, I don't think having an army of fans will help create this change, but I think they will be there to join the movement for change if it can be carefully messaged.