haha
Give me a museum and I'll fill it. (Picasso) Give me a forum ...
I've seen surveys of happiness that assert that happiness is more correlated with health than anything else. More than money, marital satisfaction, etc. Also, research linking health status to fitness has me convinced that exercise can powerfully influence health. It seems that every retiree, early or not, needs some attractive and effective exercise program. And it needs to be robust, so that life's little bumps don't make it too hard to follow.
I have 2 sons, 6 years apart. For many years my main fitness program was doing stuff with them. Swimming, hiking, roller-blading, mountain biking, tennis and squash.
Then 5 years ago my youngest moved out to live with his brother, and I lost my exercise buddies. We still get together to play tennis especially, but it can't be an everyday thing anymore.
The nearest gym is too far, so I am trying to do something that will give me enough fitness, without a lot of financial or time overhead.
I ran across a Japanese idea. You wear a pedometer, and try to get in 10,000 steps a day. I'm here to tell you 10,000 steps is do-able, but won't happen without giving it some thought. At my stride length, 10,000 steps is between 8 and 9 kilometers.
I saw an interesting article on exercise and health in a recent harvard Alumni magazine. it mentions that paleontologists think that stone age men probably covered 10-20 kilometers per day, but somewhat in bunches. These scientists think that women might have gone about half that much, but steadily, not bunched. (Due to the differing food gathering roles of men and women.)
I also want to keep up some of the athletic fitness I had, so I am adding some sprinting. My Dad had a similar technique, loosely based on the training of boxers in the 30s and 40s. he would walk along a country road at a good pace, then jog a little, then run like hell until he was good and winded, then walk again, then repeat the cycle till he felt done. (Or done in.)
I used to lift heavy weights. I built a squat cage in my garage for this. But one day I missing racking the bar, and put my back out of commission for about 2 months. So I don't like to do that alone anymore.
For the weight part, I went to dumbells. My bread an butter now is to grab a 45# dumbell, swing it down between my legs, then back up overhead. I do it 15 times, then do the other hand. Then I rest a little, and do it again.
My main quest now is to figure out something not too boring to do inside, when the weather just really turns me off.
What do you guys do, on days when you don't play golf, or hike the mountains or surf the waves?
Mikey
I have 2 sons, 6 years apart. For many years my main fitness program was doing stuff with them. Swimming, hiking, roller-blading, mountain biking, tennis and squash.
Then 5 years ago my youngest moved out to live with his brother, and I lost my exercise buddies. We still get together to play tennis especially, but it can't be an everyday thing anymore.
The nearest gym is too far, so I am trying to do something that will give me enough fitness, without a lot of financial or time overhead.
I ran across a Japanese idea. You wear a pedometer, and try to get in 10,000 steps a day. I'm here to tell you 10,000 steps is do-able, but won't happen without giving it some thought. At my stride length, 10,000 steps is between 8 and 9 kilometers.
I saw an interesting article on exercise and health in a recent harvard Alumni magazine. it mentions that paleontologists think that stone age men probably covered 10-20 kilometers per day, but somewhat in bunches. These scientists think that women might have gone about half that much, but steadily, not bunched. (Due to the differing food gathering roles of men and women.)
I also want to keep up some of the athletic fitness I had, so I am adding some sprinting. My Dad had a similar technique, loosely based on the training of boxers in the 30s and 40s. he would walk along a country road at a good pace, then jog a little, then run like hell until he was good and winded, then walk again, then repeat the cycle till he felt done. (Or done in.)
I used to lift heavy weights. I built a squat cage in my garage for this. But one day I missing racking the bar, and put my back out of commission for about 2 months. So I don't like to do that alone anymore.
For the weight part, I went to dumbells. My bread an butter now is to grab a 45# dumbell, swing it down between my legs, then back up overhead. I do it 15 times, then do the other hand. Then I rest a little, and do it again.
My main quest now is to figure out something not too boring to do inside, when the weather just really turns me off.
What do you guys do, on days when you don't play golf, or hike the mountains or surf the waves?
Mikey
