We all know that healthy eating and moderate exercise are key to living long, healthy lives. Unfortunately the ability to type 90 words per minutes without errors, or to sit and work in deep concentration for hours at a time, while strenuous in their own ways, don’t do much for our physical fitness. But even the busiest Linux geek can painlessly fit pleasant, healthy exercise into a daily routine; so here are my best 5 fitness tips for busy Linuxers.
I accumulate computers the way my dogs accumulate cow parts from the neighbor’s dead piles. Right now I have three desktop systems, two laptops, a half-dozen Soekris and PC Engines WRAP boards, and a pile of cases, motherboards, hard drives, and other odds and ends. The desktop systems and laptops are all functional and networked. I devised a brilliant scheme whereby each one is in a different room and dedicated to a different task. So one laptop is for my Linux Today work. One of the desktops is for writing books. A second desktop is just for email. And so on…so over the course of an ordinary working day, I rack up tens of feet of healthy walking.
This is my favorite way to get all kinds of cardiovascular benefit without ever leaving my chair. All it takes is a small dose of the standard idiotic Microsoftaganda that has completely infested both sites like an attack of giant invasive slime molds, and my pulse and respiration are up in the healthy aerobic workout zone almost immediately. I know it’s working because it used to take just a small dose and I was out of breath right away. Now I can go a full 30 minutes effortlessly.
Switch your mouse hand on a regular basis. This develops new neural pathways in your brain and makes you smarter, and develops all kinds of fine motor skills in your non-dominant hand. When you become accomplished with this and equally proficient with either hand, try using your feet. Uber elite gurus can even type with their toes.
God invented USB sticks to help us improve our health. Network file transfers are like plastering bacon grease to your arteries. Using the good old-fashioned Sneakernet protocol adds more tens of feet of healthy walking to your day.
This requires a decent office chair with wheels. Every so often push yourself around in circles, spin, and yell “WHOOOOAA WHERE ARE THE BRAKES”. This exercises those all-important leg muscles and diaphragm. When you’re ready to take it to the next level, add vigorous arm-waving. If you work in an office, it sends out a clear signal that you are not to be messed with, and you will have peace and quiet.
So there you have it, your faithful editor’s best fitness tips for busy Linux geeks. Enjoy, be well, and please feel free to report on your progress.
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