Difference between revisions of "2631: Exercise Progression"

Explain xkcd: It's 'cause you're dumb.
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==Explanation==
 
==Explanation==
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{{incomplete|Created by a SORE WHINING COMPLAINER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.}}
  
 
This graph shows how when most people start exercising, their whining and complaining slowly decreases and they increase the difficulty over time, as their bodies become accustomed to regular exercise. However, Randall is showing that his whining and complaining just increases, at a steady pace as opposed to the gentle varying slope of the "Normal" graph.
 
This graph shows how when most people start exercising, their whining and complaining slowly decreases and they increase the difficulty over time, as their bodies become accustomed to regular exercise. However, Randall is showing that his whining and complaining just increases, at a steady pace as opposed to the gentle varying slope of the "Normal" graph.

Revision as of 06:25, 11 June 2022

Exercise Progression
They said after I got into a routine, I'd enjoy getting progressively stronger and stop whining so much about how hard exercise was. Well, they were half right!
Title text: They said after I got into a routine, I'd enjoy getting progressively stronger and stop whining so much about how hard exercise was. Well, they were half right!

Explanation

Ambox notice.png This explanation may be incomplete or incorrect: Created by a SORE WHINING COMPLAINER - Please change this comment when editing this page. Do NOT delete this tag too soon.
If you can address this issue, please edit the page! Thanks.

This graph shows how when most people start exercising, their whining and complaining slowly decreases and they increase the difficulty over time, as their bodies become accustomed to regular exercise. However, Randall is showing that his whining and complaining just increases, at a steady pace as opposed to the gentle varying slope of the "Normal" graph.

This is indicative and typical of people who are aggressively uninterested in and not accustomed to exercise. The first time such a person exercises it feels particularly difficult, usually leading to intensely sore muscles the next day.

The title text refers to the common response to such whining by people who are accustomed to exercise, the reassurance that getting stronger through an exercise routine will encourage him, leading to a reduction in how much he whines. He says they were half right, this statement and the graph implies that he indeed enjoys getting stronger, but it hasn't had any effect on his whining.

Transcript

Ambox notice.png This transcript is incomplete. Please help editing it! Thanks.
[A graph with the Y-axis labelled "How much you whine and complain about doing exercise" and the X-axis labelled "Workout difficulty". There are two thick arrows plotted, both starting mid-range on the Y-axis, the first upwards at about a 40° angle, the other downward in a wavy slope]
My progression over time
Normal progression over time


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Discussion

The bot appeared to have not created the page, so I created it- apologies for any mishaps that I might've caused as a result. Wielder of the Staple Gun (talk) 02:42, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I replaced the comic image, which was the 2x size image, with the correct size image from XKCD. Ianrbibtitlht (talk) 03:07, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

"CRAPDALIZER"?

Witw is a crapdalizer? 172.70.126.221 03:42, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I would guess WotSG couldn't think of what to put there and made up a silly nonsense word. It's also an anagram of "lizard caper"... Anyway, I've changed it to something a bit more relevant. (Not sure if I should have deleted the "Please change this comment" part as well.)172.70.174.159 05:02, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
Sounds like more of the crapper syndrome we have had. It is confusing with such a comment here, when the word is removed from the explanation, so I have linked to a version of the explanation with the word in place in the incomplete reason. Also please do not add sections in the talk page... --Kynde (talk) 08:23, 11 June 2022 (UTC)
It was by an anonomous user, I tried to remove it but they reverted and it wasn't major enough to warrant an edit war Wielder of the Staple Gun (talk) 17:33, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

Surprised that there was STILL no Explanation or Transcript at 2am EST, so since I fully understand this one (I feel like I wrote this comic, LOL!) I gave it a shot. I feel like they're complete and thorough, but last time my writing was completely replaced, LOL! NiceGuy1 (talk) 06:17, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I was a nerd, but discovered exercise around 2012 and became very active. After the social media political stuff around 2013-2016, my curve shifted from the normal one to Randall's, incredibly hard to do things other than what's supported by the patterns. I don't think Randall's curve is natural, I think he was hit by the influence stuff too. 172.70.110.121 11:05, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

My solution has been that I didn't increase the difficulty. I found a level I was comfortable with and don't whine about it. Barmar (talk) 12:55, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I never heard of this "up to six months" rule of thumb. Can someone add a citation or remove it? --172.68.132.108 21:43, 11 June 2022 (UTC)

I didn't write that one, someone added it since I wrote the explanation, but I've heard this Rule Of Thumb many times. The thing is, a "Rule Of Thumb" is as opposed to "written down" :) so it might be difficult to find a citation, except maybe if somebody can find an advice article. Also, it's something that comes from personal experience, it's quite a vague amount. It might be 5 months for this person and 7 for that person, and it depends on frequency and dedication. This is basically "In my experience, in general, on average, it takes 6 months". It SHOULD stay because it's standard advice from any trainer NiceGuy1 (talk) 06:47, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
Besides which, anybody seeking for explainxkcd to be a purely and fully-cited authoriterical work (except on matters of xkcd itself, which is at least our primary role, if not entirely our accomplished one) is already over-optimistic. If I don't think that a trainer would normally mention the six-months thing (either at all or with a differing period more suited for their own purposes of boasting/milking-the-naive-client-for-as-much-as-possible), I still wouldn't argue with the mention of the principle as it stands... 172.70.91.128 12:18, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

The X axis here is confusing. It's labeled 'workout difficulty' but the arrows are labeled 'progression in time.' 162.158.62.7 13:48, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

That's because the graphs are illustrating how, over time, people move through a graph of complaint-intensity vs workout difficulty. As time goes on, people can take on increasingly more difficult workouts.172.69.70.39 14:14, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
((Repeat of above, probably, as I hit an Edit Conflict from... Someone who did not sign their addition......someone who belatedly signed it and thus ECed me again! ;) )) It's a scattergraph of whine vs difficulty, with points joined to show (in leiu of a third axis) that a progression through the plane of those two variables is timelike. (It would be possible to have a loop on those two axes with a directional (or bi-directional/reversible) transit passage whichever way up or down either value.)
Obviously, it has other interesting consequences/conclusions to it (dt is never negatively correlated with dx on that graph, which is interesting, regardless of dt/dy or dx/dy having clear sub-zero stretches on at least one of the lines/ribbons), but there's no problem with time progressing (at an unknown rate, could still be non-linear while positive) alongside the labelled horizontal incrementing. 172.70.85.177 14:15, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
I feel like this fact could be included a bit more in the explanation. I, too, had some difficulty in processing the graph because, despite the phrase "over time" appearing within the graph, the horizontal axis is not, in fact, a time axis. Perhaps a description of how the graph might look if time were plotted on the x axis, or alternatively an explanation of why the use of such an axis would be problematic. Dansiman (talk) 17:30, 13 June 2022 (UTC)
Actually, the X axis essentially IS a time axis, as stated in the arrows. Workout difficulty is being increased over time, as it traditionally does. The difference is merely that it cannot have time values ("Day 1", "Week 1", whatever) on the axis because the pace will vary from person to person. As a whiner and complainer, chances are Randall would progress slowly, while someone more devoted would raise it quicker. This isn't comparing "Me on Day 2 vs. You on Day 2", it's comparing "Me at Stage 2 vs. You at Stage 2, whenever that may be". NiceGuy1 (talk) 14:21, 14 June 2022 (UTC)

The second paragraph doesn't look right - the arrow for 'people who are aggressively uninterested in and not accustomed to exercise' would start and stop in the top left corner - i.e. they would refuse to increase the difficulty of their exercise above 'barely any', and would complain a LOT about any they had to do. 172.70.162.77 14:29, 13 June 2022 (UTC)

My point was someone lazy and disinclined to workout but tries to anyway because they know they should, which is how I believe Randall is self-identifying here. :) Someone exercising for the first time in a LONG time. NiceGuy1 (talk) 14:25, 14 June 2022 (UTC)