The Ongoing Fitness and Exercise Thread

[rotten42]

Originally Posted by RichieRich

… am struggling with consistency… hard to make anything happenw with only 1-2 gym days/weekly. At least am getting outside 2-3x weekly (bike commuting and the odd walk/run followed by inside stretching)

I also struggled with this for a long time. What changed for me was joining an F45 gym. I'm turning 60 soon and I have been going to the gym 5 days a week for about 1.5 years now. I like the accountability for going not just in that I reserve my class but in the people I have made friends with at the gym.

[EldrickOnIce]

I need to start something a bit later this spring. Had surgery a week ago to repair the ventral hernia from my abdominal surgery 18 months ago. Another 30 staples in my belly will take a bit of time to heal before I can get started.
I turned 60 in January and have now dropped almost 40 lbs since my high (low?) point last August. I'm happy with my weight now, and my cardio was good prior to this last surgery, so now I'm not exactly sure where or how to begin a fitness regiment for the rest of my life. Am looking at exercise/fitness to compliment, not rule, my life. Any thoughts on where/how to start would be appreciated.

[Maritime Q-Scout]

Originally Posted by EldrickOnIce

I need to start something a bit later this spring. Had surgery a week ago to repair the ventral hernia from my abdominal surgery 18 months ago. Another 30 staples in my belly will take a bit of time to heal before I can get started.
I turned 60 in January and have now dropped almost 40 lbs since my high (low?) point last August. I'm happy with my weight now, and my cardio was good prior to this last surgery, so now I'm not exactly sure where or how to begin a fitness regiment for the rest of my life. Am looking at exercise/fitness to compliment, not rule, my life. Any thoughts on where/how to start would be appreciated.

I'm the furthest thing from an expert. I started at the gym at 41. Part of me is shocked I'm still going.

Here's what I did, it may work for you, it may not.

1. I signed up for a membership. (As dumb as that sounds, it's actually huge).

2. The YMCA (where I joined) has a program called Y-Thrive. It's a session of basic introduction. The kid that took me around was half my age (later found out well under half my age). But showed me three machines, and helped me see that no one really cares who's there and everyone kinda does their own thing. It made me realize I could actually do this.

3. I worked my schedule around it. My job is bacially structured out of office work in the morning, in office work in the afternoon. I put the gym in the middle. Out of office, gym, in office. If you can structure your day that it natrually fits in somewhere, that helps. Otherwise I'd never be able to find the time.

4. Don't worry about anyone else, hell I don't even worry about a program. I ask myself what I want to do today, I mix it up, I don't worry about a plan or program or system. I'm sure I'd see more progress if I had a dedicated specialized plan, but really I'm seeing progress and something is better than nothing. I'm not getting in shape for anyone else, I'm doing it for me. And frankly the fact my kids are getting bigger but are getting easier to pick up and play with is the best result.

Just remember it takes time. People are supportive. You'll find your own little groove. If you want gym buddies, you'll make them. If you want to be friendly but keep to yourself (like me) that's cool too.

[curves2000]

I think something that hasn't been addressed too much is just general "work" around the house and not being overall just plain lazy. Lot's and I mean lot's of able bodied people who don't shovel their walk/driveway, mow their lawn, plant flowers, clean their home and more. It's always "too busy" and some weird justification why paying $300 a month to someone for that work is justifiable.

There is manual labour fit and then there is I workout hard for an hour at the gym. Keeping moving, bending, standing, moving things around and just general "work" helps out a lot.

[Wormius]

Originally Posted by curves2000

I think something that hasn't been addressed too much is just general "work" around the house and not being overall just plain lazy. Lot's and I mean lot's of able bodied people who don't shovel their walk/driveway, mow their lawn, plant flowers, clean their home and more. It's always "too busy" and some weird justification why paying $300 a month to someone for that work is justifiable.

There is manual labour fit and then there is I workout hard for an hour at the gym. Keeping moving, bending, standing, moving things around and just general "work" helps out a lot.

None of the above things you mentioned is going to make anyone fit, unless the “and more” is going for a bike ride or run or some daily activity that gets your heart pumping. Your bi-weekly lawn mowing is negligible.

[D as in David]

[Paulie Walnuts]

Originally Posted by curves2000

I think something that hasn't been addressed too much is just general "work" around the house and not being overall just plain lazy. Lot's and I mean lot's of able bodied people who don't shovel their walk/driveway, mow their lawn, plant flowers, clean their home and more. It's always "too busy" and some weird justification why paying $300 a month to someone for that work is justifiable.

There is manual labour fit and then there is I workout hard for an hour at the gym. Keeping moving, bending, standing, moving things around and just general "work" helps out a lot.

lol wtf this is a terrible take.

Doing household chores don’t make you fit. You can’t control how much it snows and when, or if the grass grows or not. You plant the flowers once.

You can try eating healthier meals, and going to a gym or even home workouts.

[curves2000]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

lol wtf this is a terrible take.

Doing household chores don’t make you fit. You can’t control how much it snows and when, or if the grass grows or not. You plant the flowers once.

You can try eating healthier meals, and going to a gym or even home workouts.

I will expand on this a little more. It's not that being busy around the house and more is going to get anybody jacked, but it does maintain some level of fitness and long term longevity for our health.

A LOT of us sit in some sort of chair 10/12/14 hours a day. A 1 hour workout is helpful without a doubt but it's not the be all.

Being busy and active helps a lot with everything. Moving, cooking, mowing the lawn, cleaning the house and general walking and doing things.

Sometimes a lot of people, myself included may overstate what a 1 hour workout may do for us if we are going to be fairly lazy the rest of the day.

Jaromir Jagr recently gave an example about how doing 1000 squats a day + a mountain of pushups was a cake walk when he was growing up. Going to the gym for an hour was easy, a lot of times you don't feel good, you take off early, cheat here and there. When he was growing up working in the fields on the farm, that was the real work. When you can't stop cause the work isn't over, that is the real workout.

I catch myself sometimes. No problem busting out a 90 minute cycle on the bike at the gym. Snowboarding for 6 hours. Walking 10 minutes to the grocery store instead of driving seems a lot more challenging for whatever reason.

A lot of people don't really cook anymore, don't shop much as everything is on Amazon or Skip. That walking, that movement, using your different muscles I think is overall important throughout the day.

[GGG]

I think mobile and fit are two different aspects of physical helps. There is some evidence though difficult to show causality that people who are generally mobile live longer.

[DoubleF]

Originally Posted by Paulie Walnuts

lol wtf this is a terrible take.

Doing household chores don’t make you fit. You can’t control how much it snows and when, or if the grass grows or not. You plant the flowers once.

You can try eating healthier meals, and going to a gym or even home workouts.

That's not the point of that post. It's not chores replaces gym. It's general mobility is helpful, and then perhaps staying in motion is something that supplements and amplifies your fitness long term when combined with other physical activity.

IMO it's also great in the sense that you aren't training your body on going from 0-100% hard acceleration constantly. There's some cruising speeds in between there too.

[Winsor_Pilates]

People in Blue Zones are usually far more active in day to day menial tasks as well. Walking to a market to get fresh produce, going up a bunch of steps, tending to a garden. These things add up over time.
Not replacement for exercise and maybe not what the thread has mostly been about, but curves isn't wrong about the value of that.
The amount of people who sit at a desk all day and then come home and sit on the sofa all evening has contributed to declining fitness in modern society.