Exercising

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debrapeterson
debrapeterson Posts: 84 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I know in order to be healthy you need to exercise. But at age 57, working a full time job, and a 45 minute comute back and forth to work I'm very hesistant. I do walk the stairs at work but have not jumped into any program. I have also purchased a good pair of walking shoes but haven't used them yet. My biggest concerns is starting something and quitting it. CAN YOU TEACH AN OLD DOG NEW TRICKS? I don't have any sports I enjoy. I do have a pool that I will get in this summer, maybe that and a little walking will be enough and something I can maintain.

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  • dls06
    dls06 Posts: 6,774 Member
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    Anything helps. Your better then me. I don't exercise at all. I was always the person who waisted money on Gym memberships and never went. I will walk for a few days and stop. I just do it with diet now and let the chips fall where they may.
  • lizard053
    lizard053 Posts: 2,344 Member
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    Funny, I was talking with my mom about the same thing this past weekend.

    Getting moving is important. Even if it's only 10 minutes here and there throughout the day. My doctor suggested I do 10 minutes twice a day to get started. That's really not much. Find something you enjoy doing! Take a dance class, get outside and walk, get a gym membership and learn to use the weights. Something that interests you will be the easiest way to get started and to stick with it. My mom absolutely loves the rhythm boxing on the Wii Fit. So she'll do that for 6 minutes at a time. And she likes some of the yoga stuff on the Fit as well. It's fun for her.

    It's a lot easier to stick with a new program if it is fun for you. You may have to try several different things to find what you like. I take yoga and bellydance classes, along with hitting the gym 3x a week. I've really learned to love running, and I want to do it more. And I like getting my butt kicked by Jillian Micheals workout programs, so I do them a lot too. So now, I exercise more like an hour or 2 every day. Because I enjoy it.
  • melaniecheeks
    melaniecheeks Posts: 6,349 Member
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    Start slowly.

    For the next week, get your walking shoes on and walk for 10 minutes every other day.
    After that, you can increase the time or frequency. Or both.
    After a month, maybe try a little variety. Possibly some simple strength trainign exercises you can do at home - squats, lunges, easy press-ups.

    Build it up gradually.
  • ChanlynMay
    ChanlynMay Posts: 37 Member
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    I am only 34 but am extremely unactive. I am making small changes at a time to add more movement to my day. I park the farthest away from my work that I can (which actually adds about 250 steps) I walk for 15-20 minutes at lunch, and have started doing activities on the weekend. Anything that gets you out of your chair is a step in the right direction!! Keep it going :)

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