Regular Exercise, How do you do it.

[HughJass]

Lots of great advice in this thread. I FIRE’d 3 yrs ago and, depending on weather, get my exercise most days either at the gym with DW, on my bike, walking the dog, golf, or a treadmill at home. For me, these are MUSTS:
1) If it’s drudgery & you don’t look forward to it, forget it.
2) Media to avoid monotony - earphones in the gym, bluetooth speaker on the bike, iPad movies on the treadmill.
3) Set goals. # miles to walk or cycle, pounds of weight to lift, consecutive days to exercise... any goal that keeps you challenged. 1st year retired I set a goal of biking 5K miles outside and achieved it.
4) Whenever possible, have an exercise partner.
Good luck to all doing their best to keep healthy!

 

[friar1610]

Lots of great advice in this thread. I FIRE’d 3 yrs ago and, depending on weather, get my exercise most days either at the gym with DW, on my bike, walking the dog, golf, or a treadmill at home. For me, these are MUSTS:
1) If it’s drudgery & you don’t look forward to it, forget it.
2) Media to avoid monotony - earphones in the gym, bluetooth speaker on the bike, iPad movies on the treadmill.
3) Set goals. # miles to walk or cycle, pounds of weight to lift, consecutive days to exercise... any goal that keeps you challenged. 1st year retired I set a goal of biking 5K miles outside and achieved it.
4) Whenever possible, have an exercise partner.
Good luck to all doing their best to keep healthy!

Great screen name! Did you choose that before you started exercising? Or is it why you do now?

 

[Mo Money]

Usually go to the gym. But with Covid-19, I am doing a daily long walk, followed by pushups and planks. Keeping it simple for the duration.

 

[HughJass]

Great screen name! Did you choose that before you started exercising? Or is it why you do now?

Actually, I shortened it from Juan Hugh Jass. Guess I watched too many Simpsons episodes in my misspent youth!

 

[Rianne]

I miss the YMCA pool. I hope they come up with safe distancing and allow a few people at a time in the pool and locker rooms. I'll bring my own sanitizer and wipe everything down. DH/me keep wishing we put that treadmill in our house. We discussed it so many times. At least can weight lift at home, heavy food cans will do. I'm starting to dance in front of the TV.

 

[athena53]

I was diligent about working out daily at the gym. That's out now but I have a treadmill at home. I hate running but have cranked up the angle and the speed to simulate a fast uphill walk. I also got my TRX out of the closet- hadn't used it much since I bought it years ago. Now I love it for its great upper-body workouts. I may skip the upper-body exercise machines from now on after I return to the gym. Sometimes a forced change in routines results in some good substitutes!

I continue to work out because I don't want to cut back on eating, which is one of the few ways I can amuse myself now.

 

[NewEnglander]

My wife and I have been continuing to ride our bikes. We ride about 150-200 miles per week. But now neighboring states have issued executive orders for all citizens to wear face coverings while outside. Connecticut hasn't yet but they probably will in the next few days. How are runners or cyclists going to run or ride with face covering, have you ever tried it? Some people say just get a mesh material to make it look like you have a face mask on. The thing is we are in a rural area and we never get within even 10 feet of anyone especially when road riding. On last nights mountain bike ride I saw only 6-8 people but most were at least 20 feet from me. Seems like it would make sense in a city but not out here.

 

[mystang52]

My wife and I have been continuing to ride our bikes. We ride about 150-200 miles per week. But now neighboring states have issued executive orders for all citizens to wear face coverings while outside. Connecticut hasn't yet but they probably will in the next few days. How are runners or cyclists going to run or ride with face covering, have you ever tried it? Some people say just get a mesh material to make it look like you have a face mask on. The thing is we are in a rural area and we never get within even 10 feet of anyone especially when road riding. On last nights mountain bike ride I saw only 6-8 people but most were at least 20 feet from me. Seems like it would make sense in a city but not out here.

I still run outside; I wear a cloth mask my daughter made for me. It's not the most comfortable, but really not bad at all. Biggest issue is tendency of my sunglasses to fog from the exhalations. I either push the sunglasses to front of my nose or run without them. I'm a slow runner. If you ride "competitively" I can't answer how it would affect your riding; otherwise I think the adjustment will be easy. First time out, be sure you keep the straps somewhat loose until you find the right tension for you.

 

[jollystomper]

How are runners or cyclists going to run or ride with face covering, have you ever tried it?

I have hay fever and have been riding with both a N95 mask and eye googles for years during peak allergy time. It works fine for me. While I am not trying to set any speed records, I have no issues going along at a good pace. It beats having the pollen impact my eyes and sinuses. A side benefit is keeping bugs off my face.

 

[Ronstar]

^ Wow - riding and running with masks on (especially N95) is impressive. I was thinking about starting running again after a 3 month layoff. But there is no way I could run with a mask on. Maybe bike, but not run.

Several cities in northern illinois now have mask requirements while outside. I live in somewhat of a rural area so I don't expect that I'll have to wear a mask while exercising outside.

However, the police are fining runners/bikers $195 for running or riding on local trails.

 

[iloveyoga]

My favorite yoga teacher has a you tube channel with great free videos. Search for Mary McCarthy yoga. She has a good website with info about her zoom classes which do have a fee. https://www.mary-mccarthy.com

 

[MyObjectivism]

I am regular to gym in last one year but unfortunately gyms are closed because of Covid.

But so far, ensured I am doing workouts at home. Couple of things which initially helped me to get motivated and continue to do that are..

1. Found athlean-x and subscribed to that workouts which kept me motivated. Ofcourse those are effective and we can do only in gym.
2. Couple of months back, started Intermittent fasting and changed diet. It also kept me going even after gyms were closed.
3. Luckily a week before lockdown, ordered resistance bands which replaced my weights in gym and able to do workouts at home.

I am not a great cardio person so resistance bands are good enough to mimic weights to an extent at home.

Hope I will regularly do workouts (5-6 times a day) after FIRE. Will be entering into FIRE lifestyle next month. Excited about it.

 

[Dd852]

Running a daily 8k with mask (ok jogging - too slow to be called a run probably) and then a daily 8k bike ride, again with mask. And then I basically sit the rest of the day!

 

[athena53]

My problems with gyms is the incessant noise caused by TV's blasting us with loud music and commercials for everything from muscle building drinks to bank credit cards. Then the Zumba and aerobics classes start, blasting more loud music throughout the gym. Add in the grunters and groaners who drop their heavy weights with a huge BANG! Enough! I will exercise at home.

At least 1/2 the people at the gym bring their own portable music with them. Can't the gym owners take a hint?

They're income streams. Fortunately, mine doesn't have TVs blasting (you have to plug your earphones into a machine to get the sound) but there's music interspersed with commercials played through the sound system. Some songs get repeated a lot. At one point there was a commercial for downloads of workout playlists from Apple Music and the clips they played were the same as the ones we were always hering in the gym. Coincidence? I just bought a pair of Bose headphones for when I return to the gym because I've gotten used to listening to podcasts while on my home treadmill. Earbuds weren't enough to drown out the background at the gym.

My late husband once quit a gym when they started renting out space to a Jazzercise group. He called them "the stomp and shout ladies".

As an update: I finally started venturing out on my bike. I'd given up long bike rides because I didn't have anyone to pick me up if I got a flat 8 miles out (well, other than Uber), but now I stick within a shorter radius of the house, going in and out of side streets, etc. so if I have to walk the bike back it's not too long. It feels good to be out on the bike again!

 

[jollystomper]

Since my gym and golfing options were shut down, I found a couple of personal trainers who have posted enjoyable workout videos of varying lengths. They do enough different moves during the workouts to keep me from getting bored. I will pick a random set of 5/10/20/30 minute videos, with the total workout time dependent on what other physical activities I have planned for the day.

I also mounted my bike on a indoor trainer and found a use for that "it still works fine but where do we really need it?" 32 inch TV, so I can peddle and watch whatever I choose to stream at the same time.

These are definitely helping to keep my weight within my desired range, even with additional lockdown snacking (I try to eat as healthy as possible, but I am far from perfect ).

 

[Lakedog]

Most of my life have been a runner but also lifted weights fairly regularly. I have never really liked gyms for exercise. Currently, I still run a few days a week but rather than lift weights, I have gone to pushups, crunches, and other exercises that do not require any equipment at all. I am also doing more walking/hiking/kayaking of late as I finally got another pup (Tilly, 6 month old black lab) after losing my previous lab a couple of years ago.