Older and fitter

Keep_pedalling

trailingspouse wrote: »

Welcome, February Fitties!!


The north wind doth blow - and we have got snow! At last!! Nothing here last night, so must have happened in the early hours.


Keep pedalling - it takes a special kind of crazy to still be pedalling in this weather!! I could have done with some leg warmers last night walking down to the gym - my leggings are only 3/4 length. I think my ankles went blue!! I've come to the conclusion that the reason I enjoy the gym so much is because it's indoors ...

I am quite OK with the cold. A few years back I completed a challenge to do at least one 200k ride a month for 12 consecutive months, unfortunately we had a very cold winter and I had to complete the December, Jan and Feb rides in sub zero conditions. Having the right clothes is vital, winter boots and gloves vital for keeping the extremities toasty, and layers with good wicking qualities so you do not let sweat build up otherwise you freeze as soon as you stop for a rest.

Unfortunately since then I have gained a lot of weight so would now struggle to ride 200km on a nice day, but I want to get back to that level of fitness (although I have no plans to ride those distances in the winter again)

I now have 2 grandchildren under 2 and one of my main motivations to get fit and healthy is to try and be around long enough to see them grow up. I am 65 next week and would quite like to see them get through their teenage years at least.

MallyGirl

snow started here at 9pm and is still falling now. The dogs loved their walk this morning but I will not be doing ParkRun tomorrow! I will need to do something indoor.

Kantankrus_Mare

I was persueded by fellow gym goers to get out of my comfort zone this morning and did bodycombat before yoga.

Excellent instructor and great bunch of people doing the class.

Found it hard but exhilerating at the same time. Will definitely go again now I now what to expect.

Only thing is.......I now feel like I could do with a snooze but no hope as at work at four.

Should be home by nine and a nice large glass of wine waiting for me.
My first after doing dry January. :j

supersaver1000

Hello Trailing Spouse, I've just come across your thread and thought 'that looks interesting'.

I could do with some motivation. About to enter my mid-fifties, I bought a bicycle last year and have started cycling to work (not far but it makes me feel good), I also joined a run club about a year and a half ago and tend to do the park run as well. I had a bout of plantar fascititus which was not fun, and also have to see the chiropractor regularly as I seem to get strains from not stretching enough. So I've had a few stop/starts. 5k is about my running comfort zone at the moment but I would like to get fitter and do a class or some weights so I'm mulling over joining a gym. I'm never very keen on the gym but your thread is really interesting and I think I might have to give it a go.

Hope you don't mind me tagging along.

trailingspouse

This thread is here for people like you supersaver!! You sound very motivated already - sorry to hear you having a few problems with plantar fasciitis and other aches and pains.



I have a bit of plantar fasciitis myself - I had a couple of sessions with a podiatrist (you can go direct, you don't need to go via the GP, which saves a bit of time). She gave me exercises to do (twice a day, every day, for ever), and organised insoles for me. It absolutely sorted the problem.



I think as we get older we also have to really make sure we warm up properly. And that means just that - warming up. Don't do vigorous exercise until you're warm. Stretches, on the other hand, should happen after the exercise, not before. Think of your muscles as being like blu-tak. If blu-tak is cold, and you stretch it, it will break quite quickly. But if it's warm, you can stretch it quite easily.


What I like about the gym I go to is that it only runs what you might call circuit training sessions - you can't just turn up and use the equipment, you have to go to a session. But the sessions run from 06:30 to 20:00, so there's a time to suit everyone. You don't commit to going to a particular session - you can just book online for the times you fancy.


Hope you enjoyed the wine Kantankrus - I didn't do dry January, but coming home to a glass of wine is always good!

Kantankrus_Mare

trailingspouse wrote: »

This thread is here for people like you supersaver!! You sound very motivated already - sorry to hear you having a few problems with plantar fasciitis and other aches and pains.



I have a bit of plantar fasciitis myself - I had a couple of sessions with a podiatrist (you can go direct, you don't need to go via the GP, which saves a bit of time). She gave me exercises to do (twice a day, every day, for ever), and organised insoles for me. It absolutely sorted the problem.



I think as we get older we also have to really make sure we warm up properly. And that means just that - warming up. Don't do vigorous exercise until you're warm. Stretches, on the other hand, should happen after the exercise, not before. Think of your muscles as being like blu-tak. If blu-tak is cold, and you stretch it, it will break quite quickly. But if it's warm, you can stretch it quite easily.


What I like about the gym I go to is that it only runs what you might call circuit training sessions - you can't just turn up and use the equipment, you have to go to a session. But the sessions run from 06:30 to 20:00, so there's a time to suit everyone. You don't commit to going to a particular session - you can just book online for the times you fancy.


Hope you enjoyed the wine Kantankrus - I didn't do dry January, but coming home to a glass o f wine is always good!

Wine was like nectar!!! Observations about Dry January for me personally being a woman of a certain age............I was sleeping very very well for the second half of the month. 2 large glasses of wine last night had me awake at 4 in the morning feeling rather warm and uncomfortable. Not a full on hot sweat but enough to wake me up. Not sure if this is just wine that effects me like this.......(noticed this a fair bit in the last year)...but its my drink of choice at home.

Arms really aching today with a touch of leg ache after my combat class so I know I have used muscles that I dont normally use.

Should be at my sunday step class tomorrow but I never feel like doing a class when I still ache from a previos one. See how I feel in the morning.


Supersaver...........seems like you do a fair bit already :T Ive never been or wanted to be a runner so well done.

If you are looking at joining a gym, I would recommend looking at what classes they offer and times you could do them. I rarely use the actual gym part of our gym but the classes are good and nice pool. Classes push me far more than I would do on my own in the gym.

supersaver1000

Thank you TS. I've just read through all the posts here and kept reading things that resonated with me.

In my twenties I used to be a huge team sport player and met up with friends for sports activities at least once a day - squash, netball, horse riding, swimming, tennis, gym. Now I'm almost at independence state again I'd like to make being active as normal as brushing my teeth again.

Its sooo easy to go home, put the telly on and veg. out. But I'm determined to be more active and be fitter. I would like to lose the couple of stone that seem to have come out of nowhere since turning 50. But it isn't my priority, being fit and active is my goal.

No excuses now, well maybe a few, but hopefully now I can get motivated to my goal

supersaver1000

Thank you Kantankarus Mare. Part of my indecisiveness (as well as just being lazy) is that the gym near work/home doesn't have many classes - just a circuits and aqua aerobic class. But it does have a nice pool, hot tub and sauna and a smallish gym. And its on my way home so I could cycle and go on my way to work.

There is another gym nearer to work than home - it does have more classes but the class room is really small and there isn't much room - gets very very crowded and just not great facilities. There are two others which are much nicer but they will involve a car journey and I'm not sure that once I get home, whether I will go out again.

I'm thinking maybe of joining the gym near to work. Starting swimming and gyming (is that a word)- maybe even once a week of each. And then maybe trying to find a class somewhere else.

chucknorris

EdSwippet wrote: »

Great post. I'd never set foot in a gym before I retired from full time work, but decided that on retiring I was going to focus on improving my fitness. It was never bad, just a case of dad-bod (even though I'm not a dad!), and some toning up required. Getting fitter ticks one of my major retirement boxes as being 'not goal-oriented' -- you can never be too fit!

At 58 I am now far fitter than a decade earlier. I go to my gym five days of the week (more than once on a couple of them). As well as harder-core classes I do some stretch/yoga for flexibility. Although it was not a goal, I dropped a full stone in weight over the first six months with no conscious change in diet, and am now 10st at 5ft 8in (for a male that's actually borderline underweight on some charts, but I really don't feel like I want any extra here!). Resting heart rate can be as low as 48, highest I don't know. My gym has a machine that supposedly measures your 'metabolic' age based on BMI, visceral fat, and so on. Mine is apparently 42 (or maybe the machine is broken).

I am going to try to avoid the 'over-50s' and 'seated' classes for as long as possible. So far I can mostly match those in my more energetic classes who are in their 20s and 30s, so while that persists I'll carry on.

Honestly it's one of the best things I've done for my own wellbeing, and I'm just sorry I didn't figure things out sooner. Up until I started this, sport for me was competitive, and as a bad loser (and even worse winner!) I'd shied away from team things. However, I also don't have the internal motivation to exercise alone -- I really do need a 'cheerleader' -- so going to group classes really keeps me accurate, focused, motivated, and honest. At times I'll be the only male in a class, but that doesn't bother me all that much; I've actually stopped noticing it now, for the most part.

To anyone who's a 'bit older' and wondering whether to do something similar, like you I would say go for it. I cannot imagine a life not doing what I do now.

I'm 61, and I've just measured my heart rate, it was 43-44, I had to give up gym classes (mainly body pump) due to lack of available time, although I liked them. But I have now started running again, I just didn't have the time to fit everything in, because I run, cycle, hike and weight train, and gym classes added the least benefit physically (everything else that I do covers what the gym classes were bringing to the party), and they were of course also the least flexible, because both the venue and time is fixed. Apart from parkruns which are also fixed on Saturday mornings and at various particular venues, but as I really like competition, they are the focus of my week.

I'm probably going to do my first half marathon this Summer, I'm hoping to do it in less than 2 hours. At the moment my personal best in the park runs is 23.57 (so sub 2 hours should easily be achievable with training for the distance), but I have only done 26, so I think that I can do better.

Kantankrus_Mare

Wow Chuck norris!! Thats some serious fitness!! :beer: I'm impressed.

I have to admit to bailing on my step class this morning. Body is still aching somewhat from my first body combat class and I dont want to over do it and put myself off. Thats my excuse anyway :rotfl:

Will be back to my other step class tomorrow night though.

Keep up the good work everyone. I have to say.......getting more use out of my gym membership has made January fly by!!