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68 and probably started working out with weight machines in my 30’s. Before that I was a walker. Everywhere as a kid - always to school.
Pre-retirement I worked out 2-3 days a week after work… post retirement I turned 65 and found a gym and with my Medicare Advantage Plan got it for $50 a year. Again 2-3 times a week with stationary biking and strength training with weights.
Then the Pandemic hit. We have an ancient stationary bike at home - but I just could not raise my HR.
We’ve had dogs for 18 years now - and we walk them - religiously.
I have in the past decade gained 30 pounds DESPITE all this working out / activity. So I joined Noom and started walking more. Have dropped 22 of those pounds and attribute it to my eating plan. Exercise is helpful but does not lose weight.
You do not need to kill yourself in the gym to lose weight. That is a revelation for me.
Yup - you can't outrun a bad diet.
All the exercise in the world won't help you lose weight unless your diet is good. And you CAN lose weight just by changing what you eat.
I'm 55 and currently swim 3x a week, do free weights 3x a week, do yoga for 15 minutes 6 days a week in addition to 10 minutes of basic stretching 6 days a week. My biggest fear is that as I age I won't be able to sustain this, but you guys prove it can be done!
thx!
oh and I walk a lot...
I agree I am 58 and bike daily. I need to add some upper body exercises to what I am doing. Nice to know that one can be in their 60s and 70s and still work out and improve their health. Congrats to everyone doing that.
My personal experience from being both a long distance runner and weightlifter is it is almost impossible to get your heart rate high enough for long enough to get a good cardiovascular workout. Many weightlifting exercises are not exercising large enough muscles to significantly raise your heart rate enough.
You're just not doing it correctly then....use a moderate sized weight and do not stop between sets. You will have your heart at any rate you desire for a half hour easily. Along with getting a killer workout for your skeletomuscular system....
Yup. If for nothing - take a “Learn how to fall” class. Falls are the start of the downhill slide for many people. Can even lead to death.
Now ya tell me! I got dumped off my horse last summer and I still got a few issues from that. The initial (slight) concussion and bruises weren't that bad, it was the torn meniscus that was the big PITA. It's a long way down at 68.......
with regards to the mention of "learn how to fall" resources, there are also specific exercises to improve balance, which reduce falls and prevent falls from happening in the first place.
i've worked in health care for decades, including with geriatric population. every person past a certain age (some say age 60, some say age 50) is considered a fall risk. This study reports, "Falls are not just a problem of advanced age, according to researchers, who have identified a sharp increase in falls after the age of 40." CDC reports that falls are the leading cause of injury death for adults 65 and older. https://www.sciencedaily.com/release...0821112024.htm
so it is recommended to include in our fitness plan, exercises which specifically improve balance and reduce falls.
tai chi and qi gong do this
I just started working out regularly last year. But I've kept it up. Monday-Wednesday-Friday are my days and I keep pretty much the same routine all the time, although I have added weights, reps and added exercises. Couple of weeks ago I started doing squats on the Balance Ball.
I never stop between exercises or events, so I am constantly in motion for an hour.
I've gotten good results. To me, that means I feel great. I have no problem climbing stairs, doing yard work, rising from the couch, picking a 25 pound object off the floor and so forth.
I'm 76 and had open heart surgery a year ago. Retired since 2010. This workout - 15 minute stretch and floor exercises; 25 minute cardio and 20 minutes resistance machines - was recommended by the cardio therapy people.
So how do you do it? If you're over 60 and reading this, you must have some interest in working out regularly. Share your experience!
I just turned 66. I have been a regular at the gym since I was 27 years old. That's 39 years. It's just a habit. I feel like crap when I don't work out. Sometimes I am at the gym for 3 hours, but that includes a good cardio workout (running, elliptical, bike, or step mill).
Heart issues is why cardiovascular exercise is important, even walking. You need to do it long enough and at a medium to fast pace. Weightlifting does not provide the necessary cardiovascular benefit.
So how do you do it? If you're over 60 and reading this, you must have some interest in working out regularly. Share your experience!
Age 63, I enjoy running trails twice a week. Usually not long distances, 3-4 miles with an occasional 6 miler because it's such a wonderful route. These trails always have some elevation gain (In Alaska). I'm not much interested in running on flat ground and completely avoid pavement.
Occasionally some mountain biking on the flatter trails (sometimes uphill too) , and in winter some nordic skiing.
For upper body: Crunches, pushups and pullups. Can't do many of the arm exercises, but some! My left wrist is a bit dinged up from tennis and construction work, so I do pushups holding dumbells to take pressure off the wrists.
Yes it certainly can.....it depends on the intensity and the rest periods.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Woody01
You're just not doing it correctly then....use a moderate sized weight and do not stop between sets. You will have your heart at any rate you desire for a half hour easily. Along with getting a killer workout for your skeletomuscular system....
I've been around this for a long time. Over 40 years ago, I was a fitness trainer at a Nautilus gym. The Nautilus philosophy was you could do a full body workout in under 20 minutes and get a cardiovascular workout. A trainer was assigned to every person who set up the machine weight and seat position ahead of time for the person working out. The person working out went through the workout in a certain order without rest between machines doing one set of 8-12 weights. The number of reps was charted and was increased once they exceeded 12 reps. If you had someone assisting you, and didn't rest at all, you were breathing hard during the workout. Was it comparable to running several miles or walking 150 minutes a week at a moderate pace? Not at all. In other words, there was some cardiovascular effect, which is better than nothing.
Anyone trying to get a cardiovascular workout from lifting weights is sacrificing their weightlifting workout. It worked to some extent with the Nautilus workout because the trainer assisted the person working out, the next machine was always available, and you only did one set. I start my upper body workout with 5 sets of pullups. I need to rest for a couple minutes between sets or I go from 10 reps on the first set to 2-3 reps on the following sets. In fact, if I tried to do consecutive sets of pullups without resting, I would probably not be able to do one pullup on sets 3 or 4.
The other thing to keep in mind is machines are easier to workout on compared to free weights. I can do 3 sets on a machine with minimal rest. I can't do that with with pullups, dips, or free weight exercises like squats, deadlifts, bench press, etc.
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