Back in gym at 76

bzjan23

Only about 30 minutes each time .. to strengthen and tone what are your best ideas for routine? I do a bit of treadmill and trx .. oh. I don’t like to get on floor!.

AnnPT77

That seems reasonable, as a starting point. Honestly, the generic governmental recommendations are a good thing to work up to, at any age:

• For substantial health benefits, adults should do at least 150 minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) to
300 minutes (5 hours) a week of moderate-intensity, or 75 minutes (1 hour and 15 minutes) to 150
minutes (2 hours and 30 minutes) a week of vigorous-intensity aerobic physical activity, or an
equivalent combination of moderate- and vigorous-intensity aerobic activity. Preferably, aerobic
activity should be spread throughout the week.

• Additional health benefits are gained by engaging in physical activity beyond the equivalent of
300 minutes (5 hours) of moderate-intensity physical activity a week.

• Adults should also do muscle-strengthening activities of moderate or greater intensity and that
involve all major muscle groups on 2 or more days a week, as these activities provide additional health benefits.

You don't need to get that all going day 1, it's something to work up to, if you've been more inactive previously.

Presumably treadmill would be count toward the aerobic activity, TRX toward strength (which they define somewhat broadly).

The full US recommendation document here, with much more nuance/detail, as well as some specific recommendations for active older adults like us. (I'm 66.) It's here:

https://health.gov/sites/default/files/2019-09/Physical_Activity_Guidelines_2nd_edition.pdf

On the strength front, you could consider some weight machines or free weights if your gym has those, as part of that goal - those are pretty efficient time-wise, and don't usually involve getting on the floor. There's a good thread here about picking strength programs:

http://community.myfitnesspal.com/en/discussion/10332083/which-lifting-program-is-the-best-for-you/p1

The options aren't really different for folks our age, though from my reading, if we're starting out after being quite inactive for a while, it can be more important to start slowly and progress gradually, perhaps putting more emphasis on increasing repetitions at first vs. an aggressive increase in resistance/weight. Most exercises have adaptations that can be done at first if needed, to build up to the full thing; and it's fine at any age to use those, or to start with fewer days per week or a little less challenge in some other way, if the program as written feels too aggressive.

Personally, I think it's important (crucial!) at any age to find a set of activities that we enjoy (or at least tolerate cheerfully 😉). Why? Because exercise we like is a thing we'll tend to want to do, and so do more often. That's much more valuable than a theoretically perfect routine that we procrastinate, skip, maybe even drop entirely after a while, y'know? It can even be fun to try new things via group classes or that sort of thing, see what we enjoy most.

If your gym has trainers (with good credentials!) and it's affordable, a few sessions with a trainer can be useful, to outline a routine. Finding the right person can be important: IMO some trainers' expectations of 60+ people are way too low, whereas other err in the other direction and take too many risks without assessing the trainee's current capabilities carefully first.

A mix of activities is fine, too, and can be more interesting. As long as whatever we're doing is just a manageably moderate challenge to current physical capabilities, we'll be making fitness progress. For sure, it doesn't need to be some brutal, punitively intense thing (unless we enjoy that?), and overdoing for current fitness level can be counter productive.

Like I said, I'm 66. I've been pretty active since my mid-40s, starting after cancer treatment (but not very active before that), increasing activity gradually. These days, my summer routine is rowing (on water) M-W-F-Sa for about an hour, with a group of friends who range in age from 20s through 70s, but most are 60+ y/o; biking on Tu-Th for an hour or two (on paved trails, hybrid bike, which is a cross between road bike and mountain bike); and a rest day on Su. If it weren't fun, I wouldn't do it. In Winter, I do less volume (because it's less fun, TBH): Usually alternating around 30-40 minutes of rowing machine or stationary bike 6 days, and some strength training 3 days, plus maybe some stretching/yoga. I'm not saying you should do that, that's just what is fun for me - I'm just chatting at this point. 🙂

Sounds to me like you're doing fine, putting together a routine that works for you!

By the way, another issue that's especially important for us at 60+ is an overall nutritious diet, especially adequate protein. Statistically, the average person our age is getting sub-par amounts of protein, and spreading it through the day is more important as we age. This is a good read, not super-technical:

https://www.jamda.com/article/S1525-8610(13)00326-5/fulltext

Best wishes!