What Exercise Works Best?

louisemallas

Hi all you fiesty fifties!
Just wondering what you are all doing for your exercise and how hard you push it. I am walking regularly and also using an elliptical trainer but I'm starting to notice that my knees go red and hot (there's no pain - at the moment anyway) and am a bit worried that my age is starting to show. Does anyone else suffer similar? I've thought about getting into some weights but would need proper coaching and therefore to use a gym and I'm not up to that finance-wise. Ive done it in the past and wasted a gym membership!
What's everyone else doing?

Vera145

I get to the gym about 3X/week, and I'll do 20-min on the elliptical and 30-min on the treadmill, or 45-min on the treadmill. By then end of the workout, my knees are so sore that I can't bend them enough without hurting to go down the stairs. My legs feel HUGE and I just don't know what to do.

I did find that one Saturday morning, I did 20-min on the elliptical, and 15-min on threadmill while waiting for the Intro to Yoga class to begin. After 1-hour of yoga, I had absolutely NO TROUBLE walking down the stairs. None at all.

My take is after walking/treadmill or elliptical, it would be extremely beneficial is one would get in some good stretching.

viragoeap

Hi fellow fiesty fiftyer!
I run 6 days a week albeit a bit slow now as I have back issues. I do lots of walking too which I really love as it doesn't impact my back as much as running. I dance twice a week and if it's sunny I ride my pushbike! I also do pilates everyday. I have a desk job so I try and do some form of exercise at every opportunity.I can't say that I'm really into weights or other gym stuff but the resistance work I do in pilates does help keep me toned all over.

I nearly forgot to say that I have been taking 1000mg of glucosamine everyday for 6 years and I take quite big doses of omega 3 fish oils too which I'm sure do help my joints.

viragoeap

I get to the gym about 3X/week, and I'll do 20-min on the elliptical and 30-min on the treadmill, or 45-min on the treadmill. By then end of the workout, my knees are so sore that I can't bend them enough without hurting to go down the stairs. My legs feel HUGE and I just don't know what to do.

I did find that one Saturday morning, I did 20-min on the elliptical, and 15-min on threadmill while waiting for the Intro to Yoga class to begin. After 1-hour of yoga, I had absolutely NO TROUBLE walking down the stairs. None at all.

My take is after walking/treadmill or elliptical, it would be extremely beneficial is one would get in some good stretching.

I think that stretching is key, I wouldn't be able to do half the stuff I do if I didn't do my stretch and release exercises as well!

louisemallas

Hmm - I am a bit poor on the stretching but I do start the elliptical off at a slightly slower speed before progressing. This week, I did try varying my work out by going backwards but the burn on the muscles in my thighs was horrendous - my movement was not fluid at all and I could only manage half a kilometre before ending up changing to going forwards which spoilt the rest of the session as my legs felt that they'd had it. I was slow around 15 ks per hour was killing me yet I usually do 10 ks at a speed of around 17.5 ks per hour no problem. It does demonstrate that my muscles have gotten used to a certain direction though and maybe I need to continue working on that. I'm wary of over-doing it as I tore my left calf muscle badly last year and still get odd twinges and aches. Oh, the perils of getting old when your brain still thinks you're 20!!!!

paulaspatch

Hello Fabulous Fiesty Fifties!

I have a Bowflex Treadclimber and I love it. You can adjust the height, speed, etc.

Also, my husband hung a flat screen TV so I can distract myself and just get the exercise done...lol

I also have a Fluidity bar and that is great with my back / disc problems to strengthen my core.

I would love to try some Yoga...I never have before but read so many excellent articles about it.

Paula

JanetteBradleyMahnken

Hi Ladies, I get most of my exercise from doing house work and walking my dog. I am out of shape and asthmatic and have been a couch potato for far too long (really it's sitting in front of this computer for far too long, not the TV, I hardly watch TV any more, it's usually on sports or sponge bob) So any ways, I am really not up to running or even jogging very far. But I can go walking with my dog for several hrs and be okay. I try to take her for at least 30 mins almost every day, but most of the time we are out for 1.5 hrs. I have a very long and steep drive way too, so that is also good exercise just going up and down it. And I started to take the trash cans down and bring them up instead of the guys doing it as it's good exercise for me and I don't have to listen to our 8 year old complain about doing it any more. Also a couple of years ago I bought the family a really nice professional like basket ball hoop thing for our driveway and that is good exercise too, especially if the ball gets away from me and starts to go down our long driveway. We also have a Wii system and I work out and do my strength exercises with it. We have Wii Fitness, Wii Sports, Wii Resort Sports and a couple of Wii Dance ones too. I don't own a scale any more, I gave my old one away to Goodwill when I moved a couple of years ago, so I use my Wii Fitness program to weigh me and tell me my BMI also. And it also can teach you yoga and a lot more. But I am still trying to work up to the balance and endurance to be able to do a lot of the yoga and strength training exercises on it. I lose my balance easy when it wants me to do stuff on one leg, but I just keep trying and doing the best I can with it and know that as I do try it will get better and easier. But that is also when I really feel my age, trying to do the yoga and strength stuff on one leg. I really feel it in my knees too. The first time I tried to do them I was really sore for a few days after, so then I just did house work and took the dog for short walks while I recouped from it. Now I can do the yoga and strength stuff one day and the long walk the next. But I really like walking my dog the most and do that the most.

louisemallas

Hi Ladies, I get most of my exercise from doing house work and walking my dog. I am out of shape and asthmatic and have been a couch potato for far too long (really it's sitting in front of this computer for far too long, not the TV, I hardly watch TV any more, it's usually on sports or sponge bob) So any ways, I am really not up to running or even jogging very far. But I can go walking with my dog for several hrs and be okay. I try to take her for at least 30 mins almost every day, but most of the time we are out for 1.5 hrs. I have a very long and steep drive way too, so that is also good exercise just going up and down it. And I started to take the trash cans down and bring them up instead of the guys doing it as it's good exercise for me and I don't have to listen to our 8 year old complain about doing it any more. Also a couple of years ago I bought the family a really nice professional like basket ball hoop thing for our driveway and that is good exercise too, especially if the ball gets away from me and starts to go down our long driveway. We also have a Wii system and I work out and do my strength exercises with it. We have Wii Fitness, Wii Sports, Wii Resort Sports and a couple of Wii Dance ones too. I don't own a scale any more, I gave my old one away to Goodwill when I moved a couple of years ago, so I use my Wii Fitness program to weigh me and tell me my BMI also. And it also can teach you yoga and a lot more. But I am still trying to work up to the balance and endurance to be able to do a lot of the yoga and strength training exercises on it. I lose my balance easy when it wants me to do stuff on one leg, but I just keep trying and doing the best I can with it and know that as I do try it will get better and easier. But that is also when I really feel my age, trying to do the yoga and strength stuff on one leg. I really feel it in my knees too. The first time I tried to do them I was really sore for a few days after, so then I just did house work and took the dog for short walks while I recouped from it. Now I can do the yoga and strength stuff one day and the long walk the next. But I really like walking my dog the most and do that the most.

I don't have a dog - will my hubby do?

JanetteBradleyMahnken

If you could get your hubby to walk with you! LOL My boyfriend wants nothing to do with any of this! He says he supports me with my decision, but he sabotages me a lot I think too. Since moving in with him and his son my diet has totally changed for the worse. He and his son don't want to eat healthy, they like their greasy, fried, BBQ, red meats, and soda, chips and candy coming out their ears. They don't really want veggies and fruits that much, especially the veggies. And when we first met again he was in a singles group and I joined it with him and we were going out and doing stuff almost weekly with the group. Dancing, miniature golf, kayaking, going out to dinner, etc. But since we moved in together all he wants to do is play games on the computer, watch sports and fall asleep in front of the tv. He insisted on doing the cooking when we got together and if I didn't ask for seconds he acted as if I was insulting his cooking and that I was saying it wasn't good. I wasn't use to having seconds all the time, especially of that type of food. And when ever I just asked for seconds of what ever veggie he served there was never any left. And he and his son always had some type of dessert after dinner, especially as a treat for his son for finishing his dinner. If his son doesn't finish his dinner or at least most of it, then he doesn't get a treat, and usually no one else eats any that night either. But his son usually finishes so there is usually some thing. Mostly ice cream or candy, but once in a while it's pudding or apple sauce. Fruit is never a treat, it's just there if they want it. But if it's oranges, apples, bananas or etc the boy doesn't want it usually. He gets those in his lunch all the time and he usually refuses to eat it and a lot of the times he will just take a bite or two out of it and then they through the rest out. What he wants is watermelon or some type of berries and some time grapes, those are the special ones for him. My boyfriend has allergies to a lot of fruits or so he says, so he doesn't eat much of any of it. And at first I was eating some of what his son didn't eat as not to waste it, but then even as careful as I was with it, I always seemed to catch colds from him. He seems to sniffle and cough a lot but it never seems to amount to any thing with him. But after I am around him when he is like that I seem to come down with really bad sinus and chest infections as I am highly acceptable to that stuff. So I just started to refuse to eat or drink after him, if he waste food he waste food now, if it's some thing that I thing my dog will eat I will give it to her instead. And grocery shopping can be a chore too, if I go by myself then I don't torture myself going down the junk food and candy isles and don't bring any of it home. But then they pout that I didn't. And if I go with them then I have to go down those isles while they load the cart up with all that junk. And when I want to go to the fresh veggie and fruit areas they don't really want to go, and they will pout about what I am putting in the cart even thought I am not making them eat it. I have took his son walking with me before, but that is just sabotage too. He whines the whole time even if it was his idea to go with me. He never wants to mind me and tries to run too far a head of me and then I am afraid he will try to cross the street with out making sure it is safe first. Or he is dragging way behind me and won't try to catch up to me. And if I try to keep up with him or go back to where he is then he tries to run in circles trying to keep away from me. Or the worse to me is he walks in people yards on their grass and picks up tree branches or sticks and then precedes to try to hit other peoples shrubs, mailboxes, trees etc with the sticks he has found on the way. And always before we are even half way done he is always crying that his legs hurt and that he needs to be carried the rest of the way. So now when wants to go I will tell him that he can't go because I am going to go on too long of a walk for him and that he is too heavy for me to carry back. As he is almost as tall as me and about half my weight, it is just too hard for me to try to carry him or give him a piggy back like he always wants. And some times I will agree to go on just a small walk with him before or after my walk, just so he can walk my dog with me with out me getting really frustrated with him over his actions and lack of willingness to mind me.

louisemallas

Hey Janette - well you can take a horse to water but you can't make it drink! At the end of the day, you've got to do this for you.... Let them pout all they like, that can't sabotage your efforts if you stick to it. You just have to be assertive and tell them you are doing it for your own health and that if they are happy with their diet, then that's their choice not yours. I can understand some allergy to fruits but not all as if they are trying to discover what you are allergic to, they usually restrict you to lamb and pears as these items don't usually cause allergies, so, he should be able to eat one fruit at least. Might be tiring for you but maybe two walks a day would be best - your personal long one and a short one with your boyfriends son. At the end of the day, do they want you to be overweight and unhealthy? Thank goodness, the dogs on your side! lol As an asthmatic myself, I understand your difficulties as colds always go straight on my chest, however, since I packed my diet with fruit (it became a regular after previous dieting attempts and I did keep it up despite putting weight back on) I've noticed that I hardly get them anymore - it's made a massive difference and my attacks have massively decreased so there's an incentive for you. Wish you the best of luck - maybe, you'll convert them once you get on with it in your own determined way and they see the benefits. Keep us updated! Louise

JanetteBradleyMahnken

Thanks Louise, I don't really no what my boyfriend or his son want or feel. I get mixed msgs from them about it. But no matter what, I am doing this for me! I am not doing it for any one else but for me! I am tire of feeling tire, sick, unhealthy and over weight. I am sure I will have some set backs here and there, but I am just going to keep pushing forward and learn from the set backs.

JanetteBradleyMahnken

I took several small walks with the dog yesterday a long with other exercise as my busy schedule allowed.

louisemallas

Well done Janette - glad you are doing it for you as that truly is the right motivation. Keep it going, you will get there!

JanetteBradleyMahnken

Hi everyone, well lately most of my exercise has been training for my 1st 5 K that will be this Sat. I hope everyone has been doing well. I will have to remember to check in here more often since I don't seem to be getting notified of new post in here.