So what does Exercise mean to you?

[street]

Exercise I would think means many different things to many different people. I don't belong to a club that has machines and all the fitness stations for my work outs.

My exercise routine would consist of walking about 3 miles a day and working at my ranch doing some physical work but really nothing more. In your opinion would you consider this enough exercise each day? In the spring to fall each year I get a lot more physical labor and do a lot more in the out doors then winter time.

What are your thoughts?

 

[Scuba]

I think each person defines "enough" for themselves, but it sounds like a good routine to me. A balance between aerobic/cardio and anaerobic/strength training is ideal, and it sounds like your routine provides that.

I'm pretty consistent with walking 3-4 miles almost every day, but woefully short on the strength training side. Hate gyms and can always seem to find other things to do at home rather than lift weights or do other strength training activities.

 

[easysurfer]

I used to exercise to try to look fit. Now I exercise to live longer.

 

[Nemo2]

I used to exercise to try to look fit. Now I exercise to live longer.

+1 On our recent transatlantic we saw people waiting for elevators to take them down one deck.........I'd have to be in an iron lung before I did that.

 

[street]

I think each person defines "enough" for themselves, but it sounds like a good routine to me. A balance between aerobic/cardio and anaerobic/strength training is ideal, and it sounds like your routine provides that.

I'm pretty consistent with walking 3-4 miles almost every day, but woefully short on the strength training side. Hate gyms and can always seem to find other things to do at home rather than lift weights or do other strength training activities.

Yep I just have a hard time going to a gym. I think they are great but not for me. Thanks for your opinion.

 

[Danmar]

I used to exercise to try to look fit. Now I exercise to live longer.

Likewise. I started exercising when I was 30. I am now 67. My exercise routine, which I do most days includes about 40 minutes of vigorous aerobic activity (usually elliptical or spinning bike) where I aim to get my average heart rate up to 140 for the whole period. Usually work at about 9 Mets. This will typically burn about 500-600 indicated calories. This is followed by about 30 minutes of stretching and core strength exercises. In addition, I will also try to get in 1-2 training sessions per week for strength. I have equipped most of our homes with gym equipment but also go to “gyms” at some of our places. Don’t mind going to “gyms”. Kind of fun getting out there and seeing how others do it.

I am probably in as good shape now as I was decades ago. Most people wouldn’t be able to be as “vigorous” in their exercise. But obviously anything you can do is worth it. I believe proper exercise is turning out to be the “wonder drug” of our times. For an hour 3-5 times a week your life will be greatly improved.

There is nothing worse than losing your mobility. I’ve seen it in my 92 year old mother. She is doing great, other than the fact she can’t walk.

 

[Jerry1]

What are your thoughts?

One thing you're doing right is that you're moving. My dad still walks 2 miles a day at 86 and I think it has been a very important factor in him keeping his health and mobility.

I'm not expert and I don't do well in exercising by any definition, however, in reading "Younger Next Year" and other articles, I would suggest you try to get some cardio in. In Younger Next Year, the author recommends 45 minutes of cardio every day. His definition was a more elevated heart rate than a typical walk would provide. More like a very brisk walk to a jog.

What exercise means to me? It means that I need to do more than I'm currently doing and one of the things that I hope to incorporate into my life as I retire better than I have up until now. I've done well with my diet but I need to get serious about physical activity/exercise.

 

[steveark]

Exercise

My wife and I ran an eight mile 32 degrees F run this morning at 5:20AM. We both have tennis matches this afternoon, her doubles, me a tough singles match, followed by beer! We will both play again tomorrow, generally play 4 to 7 times a week plus three run days each week. That's all I do but she does some lifting too. We are both 62. I think it's about right for us. We also hike, snow ski and bass fish for recreation.

 

[Bir48die]

Have stated workouts five to six days a week. Active every day but try and put rest periods in.

I walk outside or treadmill depending on the weather. Sometime blend in the stationary bike. Usually 3 miles. I don't run anymore as after five years of that I had two knee surgeries.

Off days (around 3 per week) I do weights and core. Lots of free weights and don't try to climb the ladder in terms of amount of weight.

I'm in good shape at 62 but for as many years as I've been doing this the repetition has taken it's toll on my joints and having shoulder issues among other things. I guess that's just getting old.

 

[MRG]

We actually do the gym 3X weekly. We recently added a short cardio session before going to the weight room.

We started lifting a couple years ago. I like how I feel and the change for DW was amazing. She only lost a few pounds of weight while lifting, but she lost 4 full sizes from it!

Depending on the weather a mile or two walk on our off days. I'm looking forward to snowshoeing some areas we didn't know about last winter. If only mother nature would cooperate.

 

[ElizabethT]

In general I consider a workout to be a minimum of 45 minutes of sustained cardio exertion at a level that makes me break into a medium sweat. If it's done while outside it does not feel like work to me, it feels like pure pleasure, truly. I look forward to it for the lengthy sense of well being it provides, and the positive impact it has on the quality of my sleep.

I try to avoid the gym at all costs because I dislike being indoors so darn much when in motion.

 

[Ronstar]

Op - IMO, walking 3 miles a day and ranch work would be enough exercise.

I've taken a month break from exercise to concentrate on some remodeling projects. But I usually walk, hike, run, bike and/or lift weights almost daily. That will start up again soon. I have to concentrate on exercising within my limits. Otherwise the weekly or twice weekly chiropractor visits will start up again.

 

[Amethyst]

What you describe was enough when I was in my 20's and early 30's, but the amount and type of exercises I need to stay limber and strong has steadily risen with age.
First I added weight training.
Then yoga.
Butt starting to droop? Add some squats. Triceps getting saggy? Add triangle push-ups. Waistline getting soft? Planks. And on and on it goes.

It's now at the point where I have a part-time job called Exercise, and cannot bring myself to add any more lest I end up with no time for anything else.

My exercise routine would consist of walking about 3 miles a day and working at my ranch doing some physical work but really nothing more. In your opinion would you consider this enough exercise each day? In the spring to fall each year I get a lot more physical labor and do a lot more in the out doors then winter time.

What are your thoughts?

 

[braumeister]

My wife and I ran an eight mile 32 degrees F run this morning at 5:20AM. We both have tennis matches this afternoon, her doubles, me a tough singles match, followed by beer!

I like the beer part.

 

[Lsbcal]

Yep I just have a hard time going to a gym. I think they are great but not for me. Thanks for your opinion.

I resisted gyms for 68 years. Just have done running for most of that time. So a decent aerobic exercise is a good idea I think.

But then last year I joined a gym. It has a lot of older folks which makes it a bit more friendly from what I understand. DW likes it for the dancing which has a high degree of aerobics. Some people like Zumba (or whatever dance workout) for the music, socializing a bit, and real workout.

For me, the gym equipment has helped me to tone the muscles and avoid minor injuries in my around-the-house activities. Plus my back has been strengthened or rather maybe the muscles that support certain back movements. I do not go for major machine weight gains, just mild exercise.

Also I need to get out a bit and see people so the gym helped in that regard. Running on trails in the park is then a complementary exercise.

 

[NoiseBoy]

I was never an athlete in school so I relied on my youth and having jobs with some degree of physical labor to keep in shape. That all changed when I switched careers and took a desk job which also included 100 minutes of daily commuting. Because of that, I started exercising at home, mostly to maintain my weight. I've done everything from P90x to running marathons.
Now, as I near the end of my working life, exercise still means weight maintenance, but it also means strength and flexibility training too. For instance, can I climb (and go back down) those narrow stairs so I can see the view from the top of Notre Dame? Can I walk on those cobble stone streets without fearing that I will fall?

If you don't have any nagging issues with back trouble (bending over?), or other strength or flexibility issues and your weight is pretty constant then I'd say that your current level of physical activity is good. Can you climb up 2 or 3 flights of stairs without getting winded? Pick up the dog/grandkid pain free? I tend to look at these kinds of everyday tasks to help guide my workouts. Other things to consider would be your family history for heart disease and diabetes. If you have some genetic skeletons in your closet you may want to do more research on ways exercise could help you reduce your risks in those areas.

 

[Philliefan33]

I prefer outdoor exercise so the activities change with the season. In no particular order: biking, hiking, whitewater kayaking, walking, cross country skiing. I stopped running a couple of years ago, but then about a month ago I felt like running again so started the Couch to 5K program to ease back into it.

I also do yoga. I’m not very flexible compared to most women but I’m better with yoga than without. During winter months I can’t always do what I want outside so I add so gym days for strength training or spin class. Then I just randomly do other things. For example, today should be a running day but yesterday’s snow has left the roads too slippery. I don’t feel like going out in the weekend traffic to get to the gym so I’ll do a HIIT workout in the basement.

Then there’s the daily activities that sorta count as exercise. Last night I went out after dark for a walk to enjoy the snow and the neighborhood Christmas decorations. After half a mile I reached a point where I could either continue my walk or head home. I chose to go home and shovel the driveway. It was another 30 minutes of activity that I won’t include on my exercise log.

I typically exercise 5-7 days per week. I relatively fit but not super thin or sculpted because I like to eat.

 

[Music Lover]

I believe that there are 3 important factors to fitness and health: cardio, strength training, and diet.

I eat healthy, do cardio 3 times a week, and strength train 3 times a week. I'm not a big fan of cardio but know it's important, but I do enjoy strength training and am far more "advanced" with my lifting than with cardio. I like being strong and see no downsides to it.

I'm convinced that my muscle mass has helped prevent back pain and other similar issues, and has helped prevent injury. Often, I'm the only guy in my bands that can carry the heavy PA speakers up and down stairs. I do this with relative ease while others carry them in pairs or leave them for me to move.

 

[Red Badger]

Another "hater" here (but if it works for you, good beans).

Hate gyms; been there - done that.
Hate hamster wheels (treadmills, ellipticals, etc); been down that road as well.
But I do love my daily brisk walks of 4-5 miles; and tolerate my (3X/week) jailhouse workouts of push ups and crunches.

 

[steveark]

Yes, I'm definitely a drinker with a tennising problem.

 

[hesperus]

fun

 

[MRG]

Strength training has given me more confidence in unexpected ways.

My cervical spine has serious issues and has caused me much pain. Every time I had an incident I would go to PT. Many of these exercises were with 5-10 pound bands. The therapist always said I needed to build up the muscles around my neck area.

Many of those are the same muscle groups I exercise today. Instead of 5-10 pounds I use 75-100. Will that help? I don't know, my guess is worse case it would make me a better surgery candidate. I do know I don't get as much nonspecific neck pain since lifting.

 

[45th Birthday]

I have exercised regularly since graduate school. When I was working, I went to the gym about three days a week.

When I decided to quit working for money, one of my main goals was to ramp up the exercise to every day, and push my limits.

That was 11 years ago. Today, I consider exercise part of my "job". I do three days of one hour of cardio (elliptical, bike) plus some core work and three days of one hour of fairly heavy weights (machines). I used to do cardio four days a week, but in the last few years started taking a day off because the knees are starting to complain.

At our winter place, we have a small gym in our (small) community clubhouse. There is also a decent gym in the club we belong to, and I joined a big chain gym as well. At the summer place, we have cardio and other equipment in the home gym, and I also belong to a small gym. Outdoor activities are on top and don't get counted as exercise.

YMMV, but I think the keys to exercise are to do something regularly, mix it up so you don't get bored, and keep increasing your goals.

 

[tmm99]

I play volleyball twice a week in leagues, and that's about all I do. I am actually beat after the games, and I may need to lower the league level, but I would like to be able to continue for another few years. One of my older friends tells me that strenuous exercises in the old age are actually bad for health, but I argue that old people ride bikes uphill all the time, and that seems to be OK. I don't know if that's a good argument. I try to slow down some when I am starting to feel drained. One thing I can say is that I am glad I don't have to wo*k 8 hours a day anymore (I do freelance work very part time now.) I couldn't play vball the way I do if I had to get up early the next morning because I use the next day to recover and relax.


I currently don't exercise for the sake of exercising for health or whatever, although I've done that in the past. I still want to exercise to increase strength, but I never seem to get to that point. My DH had meniscus surgery recently and bought a workbench to strengthen his operated knee, so I think I will use the bench to strengthen my legs and arms off-season (which is summer for me, but we tend to go for bike rides a lot then, so I'll see.) I have three weeks off from volleyball for the holidays, so I should really use the bench.

 

[PawPrint53]

When we can, my DH and I hike a lot--pretty much every day during the summer--and snowshoe in the winter. We also walk quite a bit. Last year I was in a challenge, so I walked at least 7 miles per day, sometimes more. I do TRX once a week, and take several other classes at the Y, like barre and a yoga/tai chi/pilates combo. It's a social thing, too, so I'm getting those benefits as well as exercise. It wasn't until I lost 100 lbs. a decade ago that I realized how much I enjoy moving my body and seeing muscles develop.