For those who exercise. Setting exercise goals in ER ?

[Nords]

Tape your favorite TV programs, set up a treadmill behind a TV and walk while forgeting that you're even excercising since you are focused on your TV.
I do this for 17 miles each week, 2.5 most days, watching old Sienfelds, Fraser Crain or any number of "old" comedy re-runs. I've lost 45 lbs over the past years, feel better now than I did 10 years ago. I do a little upper body as well....going for a total of 300 minutes excercise per week.
Overall, if you enjoy it, you'll do it! Congrats on your weight loss......you're already doing better than most.

I've been trying to persuade my spouse that she could do this, including the bonus of connecting the treadmill to an electrical generator to power the TV and the rest of the house.

Regrettably, her thoughtful and exceedingly thorough response is not suitable for reprinting on a family discussion board.

 

[Marathoner]

I'm not retired yet, but I do find that setting goals for myself, at least in the beginning, was how I got into the habit of daily exercise. Now it's such a part of my life, and the mental and physical benefits I get from it are so great.

Even though it's now routine, I still set goals like race 10 different distances in a year, age group placing, setting PRs, doing 5,000 push ups a year, etc. I also found that marking down what I did on a calendar made a huge difference in my commitment to exercise. I didn't want to see too many blank days, and it's fun to go back and see what I did on this day last year, etc.

Of course, I am a list-type person, so this wouldn't necessarily work for everyone, but it makes it fun for me!

 

[Hud3]

Rather than specific goals, I've found that it helps me more to have friends to exercise with.

We're blessed with good weather year-round here, so I'm able to cycle with a small group three days a week. We start at sun-up and go pretty hard for an hour or two. I hike (aerobically, on wooded trails that go up and down the mountain) twice a week with another group, and play golf once a week on our Nevis Golf Association's little 12 hole pitch-and-putt course.

Exercising in a group that encourages and supports each other makes it easier to keep at it and not make excuses to take a day off. As far as goals, I just push myself as hard as I can and am happy to see small, continual improvements in my cardio capacity, endurance and weight over time.

 

[lhamo]

I have found I do much better with a goal and a structured program -- that way I am clearly working toward something and can see visible improvement, as well as having something concrete to strive for. I tried working with a trainer last year, and either he was crappy or not a good fit for me, but I made very little progress. After my sessions with him ended (he left the gym, so good excuse not to continue), I jumped into Couch to 5k and discovered I actually like running. I was getting a rut with my own goals, though, so looked for some more structured programs and found Hal Higdon's site. I just finished the 10k novice 8 week program, and discovered I don't really enjoy longer distances, so now I'm going back to the 5k intermediate program, which has enough different stuff in it to keep it interesting. I actually really enjoyed the first day of 400m sprints. I'll probably turn at least one of the weekly 3 mile runs into another interval-style run.

I notice an obvious difference in my mood and energy level when I don't excercise -- stress level goes up, mood and energy goes down. 4-6 days a week seems to be my required dose.

 

[mystang52]

I've been trying to persuade my spouse that she could do this, including the bonus of connecting the treadmill to an electrical generator to power the TV and the rest of the house.

Regrettably, her thoughtful and exceedingly thorough response is not suitable for reprinting on a family discussion board.

Nords- are you married to my wife? I could have written the identical response. However, as I posted a short while back I finally found an answer - I bought DW a new bicycle.

 

[eytonxav]

I've been trying to persuade my spouse that she could do this, including the bonus of connecting the treadmill to an electrical generator to power the TV and the rest of the house.

Regrettably, her thoughtful and exceedingly thorough response is not suitable for reprinting on a family discussion board.

Perhaps she would be more amenable to holding a solar panel over her head outdoors and following the direction of the sun for a few hours a day

 

[hankster]

I live in a rural area and am fortunate to have roads and hiking trails near the house. Treadmills, stationary bikes, stairmasters etc. just don't work for me, even with a show or movie to watch while excercising.

The problem for me is putting on the boots and getting out the door. Once I get going, I'm always glad that I did.

Winter makes it even harder to motivate myself to get out the door since it involves rounding up appropriate clothing and gear for the conditions. I just have to be consistent enough to turn excercise into a habit, which would sure be a lot easier if I was ERed