Wanting to understand different exercises.

Trike_Rider
Trike_Rider Posts: 5 Member
in Fitness and Exercise
I'm in my mid 60s, and I have just started a journey towards health. My goals are to lose about 60 pounds eventually, increase stamina, and maintain balance and mobility as I age. I'm not too bad right now, but not where I'd like to be. And now I'm going to show my absolute ignorance of basic exercise understanding. :8-/

On work days, I climb on my elliptical for 10 minutes at about 8-9 mph. I don't always track my heart rate, but when I do it's usually around 130. Sometimes I try to push the last 30 seconds, and that usually takes my breath away for a few minutes. What is this type/style of exercise doing for/to me?

On weekends, I try to get on my recumbent trike at least once, preferably twice. A ride is usually about 6 miles. I have a companion who is slower than I am, so when we ride together I am going at their pace. When I go alone, though, Strava says I'm averaging about 8 - 8 1/2 mph, and hit a top speed around 15-16 mph. What is this type/style of exercise doing for/to me?

(At the moment, I'm not doing any upper body workouts. I hurt myself, and am now seeing a physical therapist to work that through.)

To reach my goals for stamina, balance, and mobility, what kinds of exercises should I incorporate? I know it's all out there already, but I have no idea what kinds of terms and definitions to search for. Can anyone point in a good direction to begin, please?

Replies

  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Both the elliptical and recumbent bike are aerobic/cardiovascular exercises...you are exercising your cardiovascular system. To increase stamina, you incrementally increase the time/miles doing those things or other aerobic/cardiovascular activities for overall stamina. Keep in mind that "stamina" will also vary by practiced activity. For example, I'm a road cyclist and mountain biker and also do a lot of walking and hiking. I have very good stamina in those practiced areas. I can bike or walk or hike all day...but I don't run at all, so I have horrible running stamina.

    Yoga is good for both balance and mobility.
  • snowflake954
    snowflake954 Posts: 8,399 Member
    I'm 66 and agree with wolfman--yoga is great for balance and flexibility. I'd also recommend the pool, swimming, walking, or gymnastics in water, it's easier on your joints. I'd also recommend going to the gym and starting some strength training. It makes such a difference.
  • spiriteagle99
    spiriteagle99 Posts: 3,748 Member
    The bike will help strengthen your legs and your cardio-vascular systems. It will also burn some calories but not a lot if you are only going 6 miles. Probably 100 calories or so. Ten minutes on the elliptical will burn even less. It may help your heart and lungs, but the workout is too short to have much benefit. Going longer and easier will burn more calories and help your cardio-vascular system more. For flexibility, yoga or tai chi are good.
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    Hey, I'm 60, and I ride, run (jog, really), bike, swim, SUP, hike, rollerblade, etc. I work hard to (try) to keep my weight under control. (Not doing too well this fall!)

    Whatever level you are now, you can improve through persistence. As we age, it's easier to build stamina than speed. I wager you could take your elliptical from 10 to 30 minutes over a few months, for example. If it has both arm and leg movements, then it's a full-body exercise, which is great. The way to build stamina (for anything) is to do on/off intervals, like 5 minutes on, 1-2 minutes rest, repeat.

    It sounds like you have to get the upper-body injuries under control with the PT. I can say that most PTs are very conservative-- they don't want to be blamed for injuries, so they keep you in the shallow end of the pool for a long time. When you feel you can, you could do any number of things to improve your upper-body strength, including working with bands and light dumbbells. Moving from a PT to a trainer who is good with our age group is a great idea.

    Best of luck and have fun with it!
  • sijomial
    sijomial Posts: 19,809 Member
    Your choice of cardio is fine but your duration is very short, first thing to do would be to gently work up the length of your exercise sessions. To build stamina you start by building your base fitness with lonerg gentle paced exercise or intervals.

    But this suggests you are starting from a very low fitness point:

    " I don't always track my heart rate, but when I do it's usually around 130. Sometimes I try to push the last 30 seconds, and that usually takes my breath away for a few minutes."

    I would suggest working on duration before intensity would be more appropriate if you are taking a long time to recover from 30 seconds higher effort.

    You mention balance so I'm wondering why the choice of a trike rather than a bike?
    To get better at balance, mobility and stamina you need to be gently pushing your current limits. Yoga, Pilates and whatever choice of cardio you enjoy would seem to fit the bill.
  • Trike_Rider
    Trike_Rider Posts: 5 Member
    Thanks to all who responded. I appreciate the inputs to help me understand what this is that I'm doing!

    My 10-minute workout is dictated by time constraints. That's on my work days, when my alarm goes off at 4am. By the time I get myself ready to go, do my 10 minutes, and then stumble to the shower, that 10 minutes has stretched to 20 or 25. Given that I have to leave the house shortly after 5, I am not going longer on the elliptical.

    On the weekends, I have a longer time to exercise. I'm looking for longer trike routes where I can ride for longer times. One of my current routes has some small uphills that make me push hard. But in general the 6 miles is just about the limit of what my legs can handle right now.
  • AnnPT77
    AnnPT77 Posts: 34,585 Member
    Trike_Rider wrote: »
    Thanks to all who responded. I appreciate the inputs to help me understand what this is that I'm doing!

    My 10-minute workout is dictated by time constraints. That's on my work days, when my alarm goes off at 4am. By the time I get myself ready to go, do my 10 minutes, and then stumble to the shower, that 10 minutes has stretched to 20 or 25. Given that I have to leave the house shortly after 5, I am not going longer on the elliptical.

    On the weekends, I have a longer time to exercise. I'm looking for longer trike routes where I can ride for longer times. One of my current routes has some small uphills that make me push hard. But in general the 6 miles is just about the limit of what my legs can handle right now.

    So is the 10 minutes in the morning the only time you have on weekdays, to fit activity into your day?

    Improvements come from challenging current capabilities. That can be done in manageable, moderate ways, but continuing improvements depend on progressive challenge, as more fitness develops. Progressive challenge means adding frequency, duration, or intensity as time goes on, or maybe changing activity modes (if something gets too easy to achieve progress within one's time budget, for example).

    You mention goals of increased stamina, balance, and mobility.

    As most others have said, given where you are now, the best first starting point for stamina is more duration at moderate intensity, to develop base fitness. It could be fitting in more easy-pace elliptical or trike at other times, even something like a walk at lunch hour, dancing while cooking dinner instead of standing - mild changes will help, at least for a while.

    Recommendations of yoga or tai chi for balance and mobility are good, but some small things that take near-zero time can help a little.

    For balance, I've personally seen some minor improvements by using spare moments to challenge my balance. If I'm standing in line or waiting someplace, I stand on one foot (raise the other only a small bit, like half an inch, so it doesn't look too crazy, if others are around). As that got easier, I started standing on one foot, and either moving the "up" foot a little or reaching out with my upper body (reaching toward the tabloids when in a grocery line, for example), or shifting my purse from one shoulder to the other, to create a little instability. When I'm doing things in the kitchen at home, I might stand on one foot, swing the other leg more energetically. When I run my coffee grinder, I do side leg raises and keep that foot off the ground throughout 20 reps if I can. If I'm on a phone call, I'll stand on a balance board I have as I talk. Things like that. Progress is mild and slow, but noticeable.

    As far as mobility, moving more counts. Look for small ways to make home chores just a little bit more physically challening: Squat to get things off low shelves rather than bending as usual, sit on the floor to do some suitable things so you're getting up and down more often, generally reach and bend and lift and move more than you strictly need to. It's a tiny thing, but will have some small benefits, over longer time periods.

    P.S. FWIW, I'm 66, female, pretty active but have only been regularly active since my mid-40s after cancer treatment. I was overweight/obese for around 30 years, including 10+ years while athletically active, until losing 50+ pounds back in 2015-16 at age 59-60. I've been maintaining a healthy weight since.

    It's easy, IMO, to have low expectations (of ourselves, or imposed by others) as we age. I'm a rower, and my regular rowing buddies include women in their 70s who row on water with me for an hour or so several times a week, bike, lift weights most days, and more stuff like that. Age typically brings some challenges, but it's not an inherent limitation in the way many people assume it is, IMO. Progress can happen, and gradual progress can help with injury avoidance, if that's a worry.

    You can make progress. The issue, it sounds like, is how to fit in the things it will take to accomplish it.

    Best wishes!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    I have learned that @AnnPT77 speaks deep wisdom from direct experience. I can say also: there is no shortcut to fitness. It sounds like you are no stranger to hard work. You just need to take that attitude and allocate a bit more time to your health if you want to be more fit.

    Note that if your job is even a little bit active (not in front of a computer all day), then you can count all of that toward your fitness.

    Best of luck, and have fun with it!
  • Trike_Rider
    Trike_Rider Posts: 5 Member
    My work schedule is four 10-hour days. Most of it is sitting: in a truck, at my desk, or some other locations. The second most often activity is standing around with a clipboard taking notes. So ... not a lot of opportunity for activity.

    My alarm goes off at 4am; I get home close to 5:30pm. I can pull out enough time in the morning for 10 min - maybe15. Otherwise, it's got to come out of time after work. While I understand my health needs to be "a" priority, I do have other things waiting for my few hours awake after work.

    My weekends are normally Fri-Sat-Sun. That's when I take the trike out for about 6 miles or so. I've got two routes I use, and I use Strave to track my time, speed, and distance. Each time out, I'm trying to at least match my previous runs, if not better them.

    Had my first PT appointment today for shoulder exercises. I'm supposed to do them twice a day. Looks like I need revise my routine: stretches in the morning, then stretches and elliptical in the evening. I just want to be able to move again without hurting myself!
  • Jthanmyfitnesspal
    Jthanmyfitnesspal Posts: 3,522 Member
    @Trike_Rider Do what you can! Even small amounts of exercise and activity make a different: more movement at work, short workouts in the evening. And, of course, keeping the weight in check really improves your health. On that front, for a busy guy like you, I highly recommend bringing all your food with you every day. Then you can get control of what you eat. Also, when I need to drop a few, I have to clamp way down on "da beers" (and all other booze). Sucks until you get used to it, then it seems to be great.
  • heybales
    heybales Posts: 18,842 Member
    Ahh - 3 day weekends!

    If stamina is a goal and improving CV health - I'd try to make those longer, not necessarily try to match or beat prior time. Strava is pretty good an encouraging people to go harder each time - sometimes that isn't really the best way.
    Get up to point that you can do a decent chunk of time on all 3 days - 60-90 min.
    Then you can work on increasing intensity.
    I'd say at that point don't worry about cardio the 4 work days, do your stretching, some brief resistance work for needed areas - those are short items on busy days, along with your therapy.
  • cwolfman13
    cwolfman13 Posts: 41,865 Member
    Trike_Rider wrote: »
    My work schedule is four 10-hour days. Most of it is sitting: in a truck, at my desk, or some other locations. The second most often activity is standing around with a clipboard taking notes. So ... not a lot of opportunity for activity.

    My alarm goes off at 4am; I get home close to 5:30pm. I can pull out enough time in the morning for 10 min - maybe15. Otherwise, it's got to come out of time after work. While I understand my health needs to be "a" priority, I do have other things waiting for my few hours awake after work.

    My weekends are normally Fri-Sat-Sun. That's when I take the trike out for about 6 miles or so. I've got two routes I use, and I use Strave to track my time, speed, and distance. Each time out, I'm trying to at least match my previous runs, if not better them.

    Had my first PT appointment today for shoulder exercises. I'm supposed to do them twice a day. Looks like I need revise my routine: stretches in the morning, then stretches and elliptical in the evening. I just want to be able to move again without hurting myself!

    For your stated goals, you would be better off adding distance and time vs trying to match or best previous times.
  • rileyes
    rileyes Posts: 1,406 Member
    Trike_Rider wrote: »
    I'm in my mid 60s, and I have just started a journey towards health. My goals are to lose about 60 pounds eventually, increase stamina, and maintain balance and mobility as I age. I'm not too bad right now, but not where I'd like to be. And now I'm going to show my absolute ignorance of basic exercise understanding. :8-/

    On work days, I climb on my elliptical for 10 minutes at about 8-9 mph. I don't always track my heart rate, but when I do it's usually around 130. Sometimes I try to push the last 30 seconds, and that usually takes my breath away for a few minutes. What is this type/style of exercise doing for/to me?

    On weekends, I try to get on my recumbent trike at least once, preferably twice. A ride is usually about 6 miles. I have a companion who is slower than I am, so when we ride together I am going at their pace. When I go alone, though, Strava says I'm averaging about 8 - 8 1/2 mph, and hit a top speed around 15-16 mph. What is this type/style of exercise doing for/to me?

    (At the moment, I'm not doing any upper body workouts. I hurt myself, and am now seeing a physical therapist to work that through.)

    To reach my goals for stamina, balance, and mobility, what kinds of exercises should I incorporate? I know it's all out there already, but I have no idea what kinds of terms and definitions to search for. Can anyone point in a good direction to begin, please?

    Sports like tennis, pickleball, soccer… can be great for helping with stamina, balance and mobility. So, if any of these team sports interest you (and your companion), ask your physical therapist when you can sign up for a class at your level. Generally team activities are filled with competitive yet very helpful and encouraging folks. And the social aspect is a plus plus.

    (Choosing a sport or other goal can help with long term focus—a goal that stimulates you to be stronger, faster and fitter. For instance, to be better at your sport, you may want to strength or plyometrics train for more power.)

    Also, if you live in a walkable neighborhood, walk. Walking can help with stamina, balance and mobility. Curbs, people, bikes… lots of obstacles to maneuver. Walk to the store. Walk to the mailbox. Walk to your doctor appts… It’s an easy way to get some fitness while doing chores into your day. And you can add a boost with faster intervals.

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