How long have you been consistently on your fitness regime?

Patttience

How many weeks, months, or years have you been consistently following a fitness regime?

How much time do you spend on it?
How many days a week?
What type of activity?

Machka9

I have been cycling seriously/avidly for 25 years.

On April 29, 1990, I decided I was going to get into shape by cycling, hopped on my bicycle and set off for a ride intending to do 5 miles or more. I ended up doing 2 miles and had to stop for a break at the 1 mile point. That would never do! So I kept at it, building up my strength and distance, and did a 50 mile ride by the end of that year.

Since then I've done a lot of different kinds of cycling. Recreational cycling, of course. Plus I have spent several years commuting to and from work. I spent 3 years racing. I got tired of the racing scene and moved into Randonneuring (ultra-distance cycling) which I've been doing since 2001. I've done a couple 24-hour Time Trials and love them ... would like to do more, but they don't have them here in Australia. And I've toured here and there in various parts of the world.

The amount I cycle does ebb and flow a bit depending on several factors such as seasons, weather, whether I'm just working one full-time job or whether I'm doing both work and uni, health (I was kind of knocked back with DVT for about a year from mid-2009), but I keep at it ... and as we come into summer this year, and I'm lighter than I've been in years, I'm building up again.

Right now (early spring + fulltime work + uni) ...

I walk 5 days a week
I climb approx. 125 flights of stairs each week
I cycle on the weekends ... usually a hilly 40-50 km ride one day and a flatter, faster, shorter ride the next
I try to ride my trainer whenever I can during the week
I also try to do some light weights

DST will start soon, uni will end for the summer, and hopefully there will be some good weather ... and then there will be a lot more.


Now all that said, I've been active most of my life. Even before April 29, 1990 I was into bodybuilding (1989, 1990, 1991) as well as running, cross-country skiing, hiking, and cycling a bit more casually since I was child.

I can hardly imagine not being active!

ephiemarie

I started C25K in January 2014 and have stuck to a consistent fitness routine since then, working toward various goals along the way. Initially I focused on running and later incorporated heavy lifting. In July 2014 I bought a road bike, started swimming, and began training for a sprint triathlon. I typically spend at least 1 hour every day working out (often more, if I'm doing a long run or ride or a two-a-day type of routine), with 2-3 active recovery days per month. In the course of a typical week, I spend about 10 hours walking/riding/running/swimming/lifting/stretching.

ninerbuff

Been lifting and doing kickboxing for 32 years.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Patttience

I realise now I forgot to ask another question which I hope future replies will include.

How much did you have to lose at the start.

Machka9

Patttience wrote: »

I realise now I forgot to ask another question which I hope future replies will include.

How much did you have to lose at the start.

Nothing. Oh, maybe 5 lbs ... but nothing significant. I wasn't overweight in the beginning. I've only been overweight in probably the last 2-3 years.

ninerbuff

I didn't. I worked out to gain about 75lbs.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

middlehaitch

I didn't have to lose any weight, I was at the top of the ' normal' BMI range for my height.
I did choose to lose 30lb, this took me to a weight I had been most of my adult life, and I am comfortable at that weight.

I had never done any formal type exercise until 2008 ( except what I was forced to do at school). That year I did aqua fit for a whole year 60x3 a week.

Since then do I little ( nerdfitness body weight routine x3 a week) structured exercise from March to September, I am outside and active most of the day, so don't have the energy for anything more.

In the autumn and winter I try to do 60x5 per week, of a variety of classes, this autumn it will be Zumba, aqua fit and yoga, and hit the gym x3 a week to lift a bit of what is heavy for me, followed by a little swim- still learning, or 20 min on the rowing machine.
Hells bells, that sounds like a lot of stuff for a sloth! It is well spread out though.

I am pretty consistent at getting the time in; but I do like trying something different.

Cheers, h.

MelodyandBarbells

Oh, about 7 years or so. I picked up 50-60 lbs over the course of about three years prior to that and have since lost them all

I do Les Mills group fitness classes for the most part: BodyPump, BodyAttack, BodyStep, and BodyCombat are the main ones I do now. I think about running frequently - that counts for something, right? Even when I ran, it was 1 or 2x per week at most and mainly to supplement my classes. Total, I actually spend a lot of time on this due to driving to and from the gym that has the classes I like

Patttience

Thanks for taking the time to answer Jane. Can you clarify, how much time do you spend in action each week though Jane and per day. I don't mean travelling to a class. Just exercising.

Abakan

I lost 50lbs and started running 3 years ago with C25K. I started doing 5k park runs as soon as I was capable of running 5k none stop and have worked my way up to running half marathons which I find really challenging. I spend about 6 hours a week running and do another 3 hours of a mix of strength training and pilates.

MelodyandBarbells

Patttience wrote: »

Thanks for taking the time to answer Jane. Can you clarify, how much time do you spend in action each week though Jane and per day. I don't mean travelling to a class. Just exercising.

The classes I pick are an hour long and I tend to double up on days so it's worth the drive. I'd say normal is about six hours per week, but could range anywhere from 4-9

mwyvr

@Patttience asked:

• How many weeks, months, or years have you been consistently following a fitness regime? 12 months; started with a meaningful commitment made to myself on my birthday last September.
• How much time do you spend on it? Currently? 25 -35 hours a month; really started scaling that up from April onward. Sept-Dec 2014 combined was only 25 hours.
• How many days a week? Between 5 and 7 most weeks.
• What type of activity? Mostly, I run. I love running mountain trails and enjoy running period. I do the bare minimum of body weight work and could certainly add more. I walk and hike and bike too, but mostly I run.
• How much did you have to lose at the start. 105 pounds to ideal weight as identified from some chart or another. I'm 80 pounds down, fit, and am knocking off at least another 10 - 15 - 20 depending on how everything feels. Being lighter is a bonus for running of course.

patrikc333

started to run on 03 aug 2014, 2.9 km, stopped 2 times, and I still clearly remember/feel that calf pain

from 3x week I now run everyday

I need to be constantly motivated by something, life is too boring otherwise, so I want to run for a full year without a rest day (I'm around day 105 now)

but the most important thing is that I enjoy it and helped me in becoming a better person

I started while my diet loss journey was going into maintenance to be fair, never run to lose weight, even if I was still a bit overweighted when I started

I spend about 11-12hours per week

I also walk a lot, 20-25 hours per week - nice to spend my lunch break not in front of a PC and walk my dogs, not so nice walking with the miss for...shopping

47Jacqueline

Patttience wrote: »

How many weeks, months, or years have you been consistently following a fitness regime?

How much time do you spend on it?
How many days a week?
What type of activity?

I have gone through consistent periods of a fitness routine throughout my life. There have been times when I was not active, but usually after a few months I found another activity to engage my interest and renewed my commitment.

Most recently I have been consistently following a fitness regime for over three years.

I routines spend an hour or more at least 5 days a week in formal pursuit of fitness and am consistently active throughout the day. My most recent inclusion in my day was to purchase a piece of equipment that makes me stand while I use my computer.

My workout activities include fitness classes (Zumba, Aqua Zumba, Aqua fitness, strength training), individual strength training workouts 3x a week, individual aquatic workout 1 or 2x a week, group bicycle rides around 2x a month.

My activities of daily living include, commuting to work (3 miles) on my bike, walking to anywhere that is within a mile of my home instead of taking the subway, using stairs at the gym instead of the elevator.

My work activities include teaching on aquatics class a week with two more being scheduled.

Additional activities include physical therapy for an arthritic knee and golfer's elbow 2x a week for about 1 1/2 hours and practicing those exercises 45 minutes every day on my own.

Lest you think that all I do is work out, I also am a jeweler with an Etsy shop, am enrolled in an online course for the past 3 months, have social engagements with friends on a regular basis and love movies.

mwyvr

patrikc333 wrote: »

never run to lose weight

I meant to mention that as well. My primary motivation to start running (again, after more than 13 years off from regular running) was to become fit and healthy; weight loss, sure, was impacted somewhat simply by activating my metabolism some but weight loss had more to do with what I ate, or didn't.

I run for fun. And beer.

MelodyandBarbells

I definitely exercised and continue to do so to create a bigger deficit. It comes down to personal preference, being realistic about how much you might be burning, and knowing that exercise is not a license to consume truly unlimited calories.

lisalsd1

I used to just run (for something like 15 years)...

I've been lifting for 2.5 years; specifically following 5/3/1 for just over a year. Same scale weight; down from a size 8 to a 2 in that 2+ year time frame.

refuseresist

I started going to the gym about 4 years ago. I feel like I'm going backwards though. I'm not doing it consistently enough to make progress

SuggaD

When I decided to lose weight, I immediately joined the gym and have been active ever since. That was January 2013. I have been consistent in being active since, though what I've been doing has changed.

rybo

Pretty much my entire life, minus about 2 years where I was rather inconsistent.
My inerests have gone from barbells, to running, to bodyweight to sandbags. Currently I try to workout 5-7 days a week for 30-60 mins

zyxst

2.5 years ago, the winter weather was too bad for me to go on my walks outside. I stayed in and walked while watching a movie. It evolved into me walking 10 hours a day, every day since then. It's better than sitting on my butt for 10 hours. in 3.5 years, I've lost 163ish pounds.

stealthq

Consistent, no. My routine changes depending on what I want to focus on.

I've been running for the last year and a couple of months. Started at 3 times per wk, eventually 5 times per wk. Focusing on getting back to half marathon distances. This time, I want more base miles in addition to the long run. I'm thinking about pushing on to marathon distances.

I've lifted for two years. I've not lifted the last couple of months. Schedule went wonky, most exercise went down the drain for a month. I started with Starting Strength, 3x per wk, moved to All Pro's beginner at 4x per wk, then 5/3/1 which did not agree with me so I dropped it for All Pro's Intermediate Program II at 4x per wk after two cycles. I'll get back into lifting again, I just need to get back into 'run in the morning, lift in the afternoon' again. Don't know what program I'll pick. Probably back to Starting Strength or Stronglifts while I figure out what I want to do.

sardelsa

I have been pretty active all my life, but I would say the last 1.5 years I have been very consistent
3-6x per week, right now it is 3 because I am pregnant and tired
Normally lifting 4-5x per week, cardio or yoga 1-2x per week (now much less)
I was not overweight to start, but I lost about 10lbs, but then put it back on again on purpose when I bulked

urloved33

thirty years or so. I have been consistantly in the gym 4-5 days weekly...there were times in my life that I belonged to three gyms at the same time. cardio and weigt training are staples...the third activity changes right now its yoga

nordlead2005

Ignoring my injury in the spring, I've been lifting 3x/week for ~7 months (I lifted for ~3 years straight back in high school and college). I've been playing Ultimate for 1x/week 3 years (when snow isn't on the ground), but I wouldn't consider that part of my fitness routine until I started lifting and losing weight.

SueInAz

I started getting serious about getting into shape in 2011 when I turned 45. I had 15 pounds or so to lose (or so I thought at the time). I started walking, then started C25K, then started running in races and I'm still doing that. In May 2014, I started lifting heavy and realized that the number on the scale was mostly irrelevant. I currently weigh about 10 pounds more than my smallest weight before starting to lift but can wear most of the same clothes. For me, that's a win because I can eat more and still support that smaller size. Plus I look better.

I run every other day. It depends on the season how far; it could be anywhere from 3 - 12 miles each day which is 30 minutes to 2 hours.

I lift on the weekdays I don't run, either Tue-Thur or Mon-Wed-Friday for an hour after work.

DopeItUp

Only about 4 years or so. Had 100lbs to lose or so in the beginning.

Patttience

Thanks everyone so far. Please answer all the questions if you are going to answer at all because I'm trying to ascertain something which I can't if you leave some out.

So here they are again.

How long have you consistently been exercising? In terms of months or years or even weeks.
What type of activity do you do?
How much time per session do you do?
How much weight did you want to lose when you started exercising?

here's another question: Did you take it up mainly to help you lose or manage your weight or did you take it up mainly for general health.

middlehaitch

See above for other answers. For the most recent you added: general health.

What are you trying to ascertain?

Cheers, h.

ETA: even though I have said general health, I have no health problems (never have), and take no medications.

MelodyandBarbells

Manage weight. Also curious about what you're trying to determine