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I am 69 and a half. I went through a period of five months recently with little or no exercise - no particular reason, just incredible laziness and lack of self-discipline.
A little over two months ago I started back, thinking that within a month I would be able to work my way back to where I had been. Five months off takes a terrible toll at our age, and the first day back at the gym I was able to jog only six minutes before I had to stop. I consider that to be near death.
Long story short, it has taken me a little over two months to get ALMOST back to the point where I had been, and that point was not even very impressive. I can now jog 20 minutes at a pretty slow speed (about 6.0 mph) and can walk briskly (4.7 mph) up a 5% incline for one hour.
Bottom line: At our age it may take a long time to come back to normal after an extended time off from regular exercise. I have learned that I can never again allow myself to take such a long time off. It also took me almost two months of exercising before feeling dramatically better, before feeling that wonderful energy in daily life, that spring in my step and so forth.
Disclaimer: I realize that one case is way too small a sample size to prove anything. Other people my age may be able to bounce back a lot better than I did; I have never had any athletic talent, even as a child. However, I still believe that my cautionary tale may possibly be valid as an illustration of this hypothesis: When we get really old, say, 70, it probably takes many of us much longer to return to a half-way decent state of fitness after a long lay-off.
It's easier, and better for our health I think, to avoid testing that hypothesis and just retain our routines! Don't do like I did!!!
I agree with you totally, Escort. My wife and I are a bit younger than you, but we experienced a similar situation a few years back. We moved to another state, and because things weren't working out there, we suffered some depression, and weren't near as active as we had been in the years previous, and got very much out of shape. Fast forward 4 years, and after moving to a different locale, we have started back trying to get back to the active lifestyle we once had, but it is so difficult. My wife had some recent health problems, and after going to the Doctor found she has some liver trouble from being overweight. We are doing our best, but like you said, age is likely a determining factor.
I don't know why anyone would want to jog when they get older. I ran track in high school and college jogged in my 20's into my 30's and just found it to be incredibly boring after a while. The impact was tough on the knees too. So I took up the bike and find exercise to be a lot easier and much more fun. I'm 61 couldn't imagine jogging at 70.
PLEASE, somebody make me go back to the Y. I started in the early spring doing physical therapy in a heated pool and loved it. Got stronger. The PT sessions were expensive and it was cheaper just to join the Y so I did.
But then I didn't have my physical therapist anymore and all I could do was join an arthritis group. That was the wrong kind of exercise for me at the time and I ended up hurting all over. But I could wait until free swim at 1pm. Yeh, I did it once and never went back.
Now I've gone the entire summer sitting around and not going to the Y. I feel stiff and a little bit sore. I just need to go for the free swim and do some gentle limbering up exercises in the water and build up to some strength using the dumbells. I should probably go back to the physical therapist one more time for some more advanced strength exercises to help my back.
I am the same age as ER. I do a little bit of gardening and that's about it--I'm so afraid to go back to the Y and bite the bullet and start all over again. Thinking.....it's a beautiful Y and it's not very far away. I always felt better afterwards. Sauna. Nice people. Not bad at all. All the people I know of who lived long healthy lives got out and exercised. Must go back to the Y.
I don't know why anyone would want to jog when they get older. I ran track in high school and college jogged in my 20's into my 30's and just found it to be incredibly boring after a while. The impact was tough on the knees too. So I took up the bike and find exercise to be a lot easier and much more fun. I'm 61 couldn't imagine jogging at 70.
No one of any age has to jog in order to get fit or maintain fitness. As you point out, there are other forms of cardio-vascular exercise. I like to jog as part of my cardio exercise because it's a good way to up the intensity of the workout and it has carry-overs into real life, such as sprinting when the traffic light turns yellow. I jog only a couple or (at most) three times a week and have no trouble with my knees.
I agree that any form of exercise which we find "incredibly boring" is a form of exercise we will not continue doing, in all likelihood. So different folks will choose different forms of exercise. I was not trying to sell jogging to anyone, but merely using a few specific examples to describe my own case.
I'm 64, never got into jogging (even when I was young) and find treadmills boring, but I really enjoy the elliptical trainer at our Y. At first I could only pedal for five minutes at the lowest intensity. Now I'm going full bore for 30 minutes on its interval program, which alternates two minutes of low intensity with two minutes of high intensity. It's easy on the joints, and I bring along an MP3 player and headphone so I can rock out to the oldies. I also do a circuit of weight resistance machines for arms, chest, abdomen and back. If I skip a week or two I have to cut down on the intensity at first, but if I keep at it I can get back up to speed in a few weeks.
To in_newengland: PLEASE go back to the Y! You'll be glad you did.
We fell off the exercise bandwagon last year when we moved, and disposed of our treadmill. It took us a long time to find a routine we like. We now go twice a week to our community center which has great facilities. I thought I would never get my stride back though. I walked jerkily and not smoothly around the track. I couldn't get up to cruise. After months, I finally put on my old gym shoes with the Birkenstock orthotics and wow, there I was cruising the track.
I started in again with the hand weights, and found out picking up with my old routine was easier. But I also started using the cardio machines, the ones that you move yourself. I use every one of them and push hard. I feel so much better than in the Spring before I restarted a fitness routine.
Yes, to ER. You need to visit a gym or walk a treadmill or track or around your block. You'll sleep better at night, and feel better in the morning.
...Bottom line: At our age it may take a long time to come back to normal after an extended time off from regular exercise. I have learned that I can never again allow myself to take such a long time off.
You are so very right! I'm only 62 years young and only do two things on a regular basis to maintain my physical fitness, cycling and tennis. Last year, right after Halloween, two things happened to alter my routine. The clocks changed and the weather turned cold. That meant that I could not ride after work when I got home and over the weekend, it was just too dang cold.
I was able to cycle enough miles to achieve my yearly goal, but didn't cycle my normal ~150 miles per week that I normally do. I also stopped playing tennis because it interfered with church to much.
Fast forward to this past spring when the clocks changed back. I started riding again, but boy! Where did my fitness go. Riding a century took about an hour longer than i used to and my average speed for a ride was about two miles per hour slower than the previous summer.
Then, I started taking weekly tennis lessons about two months ago and I couldn't play for five minutes before I was so out of breath that I had to stop. Uugh! I was never like that before. The coach said that my aerobic condition was fine, as evidenced by how far I can ride, and that it was just my anaerobic conditioning that was gone. Two months later, it still hasn't come back.
I am so frustrated! So much so that my cycling mileage has fallen way off. I just lost my motivation due to the poor results. I realize that I can't give up, but it is so very discouraging. Working two jobs and not getting enough sleep probably has something to do with it too. Tomorrow, I'm off work, so maybe I should get a ride in.
But, I totally identify with what you experienced.
Just a little tip that works for me. For those that have stiff joints, try eating "fresh pineapple 3 or 4 times a week. A friend passed this along to me and I tried it, with some doubt, and it sure works for me. I was having a bit of discomfort in the knees when climbing and coming down stairs. A few weeks of eating fresh pineapple and it was gone. Then I stopped eating it for a couple weeks and I noticed the knees acting up again. Maybe it will work for you too.
I can now jog 20 minutes at a pretty slow speed (about 6.0 mph) and can walk briskly (4.7 mph) up a 5% incline for one !!!
A ten minute mile is NOT slow... just sayin'
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just sayin'
