That's not even close to true. I can easily pop into HN for 5 minutes while taking a mental break at work, that's not an option (and would be utterly ineffective) for the gym.

If you truly only have 5 minutes of free time in your entire week, then why is it ineffective to do 5 minutes of pushups?

That’s a lot of pushups.

> If you truly only have 5 minutes of free time in your entire week,

I was responding to your claim that if you can browse HN you can go to the gym, and it's obvious with any sort of thought that they are not similar activities.

> then why is it ineffective to do 5 minutes of pushups?

What is your goal? Fitness or weight loss? Either way, that won't be effective. Sure, it can be part of a larger fitness regimen, but just 5 minutes of push-ups ain't cutting it.

It won’t be very effective, I agree. But it’s also not likely that the parent comment doesn’t have time to work out at all.

My point is that with a dash of optimism we can conquer a lot of obstacles in our life.

With a dash of optimism you can make symbolic gestures towards overcoming obstacles, yes.

You're not being a dick, just utterly unhelpful and non-contributory.

Maybe. Or maybe pointing out the obvious

Pointing out the obvious: the conversation isn't about GP and their own time allocation. It's about the empirically observable fact that we've built a civilization that turns people into lethargic, sedentary, chronically afflicted mush.