let's talk fitness

[azguzzirep]

So as not to hijack a thread, let's talk about our fitness or lack ther of.

When I lost 60lbs after coming to Germany it was not only fat that I lost but muscle, too.

I do a lot of walking, swimming and bicycle riding but have also joined a group of guys who do fitness and sports every Thursday night.  The sport is volleyball which I really enjoy. The fitness part is stretching and muscle building.

Afterwards we go out for a light drink together. Lots of fun and it's making me fit again .

What do you do stay/get fit?

Tom

[Orange Guzzi]

My exercise routine has always been based on a work is exercise plan.  I try to do physical labor that is constructive as a form of exercise. I get positive results in two ways.  I can't understand having enough time in my life just to burn calories from over indulgence of food. Exercising because you live such a leisure life style is beyond anything I have ever experience .

Shoveled snow for an hour yesterday. Made money doing also.  Saved me from having the snow plow guy do it and charge me $50.   No trip to the gym for me. 

[Dilliw]

I'm doing an RPM cycling class three times a week now.  I first I didn't like it but after a few weeks it's become interesting.  I've lost a few pounds without much change to the rest of my vices so far.

[oldbike54]

 I like to walk at a brisk pace .

 Dusty

[Sasquatch Jim]

Chase hippy chicks.

[slowmover]

Steel-cut oats.Nuff said.

[HardAspie]

I'm careful about what I eat.
I ride a bicycle. Prior to a recent string of injuries I could do 35 miles in a sitting; down to about 10 at this moment.
I walk, also lower mileages at the moment, ten should be easy but I've backed off to about five.
And I try to avoid stress.

[rboe]

Walking mostly. Play on the monkey bars when possible, and do those rock climbing walls from time to time.

[tazio]

Mountain biking.
I balance this with Ho-Ho's that I keep in the freezer.
Life is good

[Vince in Milwaukee]

Aside from doing some stretching exercises at home 3-4 days a week, my job is my gym.  When I started off working nights at the commissary two and a half years ago, I was stocking shelves for 6 hours, 4 times a week.  I lost 20lbs in the first few months and my cholesterol went was down, too.  My prior job was sitting on my butt collecting money for a parking lot in downtown Milwaukee.  Needless to say, I got fat and lazy.  Toward the end of my being on nights for two years, I started to burn out and wasn't eating that much.  I lost 5-10 more pounds.  Luckily, I got to go to days 6 months ago.  I now do receiving and break down the in coming skids and sort all boxes by their respective aisle.  I was rather weak when I first started, but now can throw the 50lb boxes like no tomorrow.  I've even gained a little weight.  Best job I've ever had in my life except for the two years I spent in Japan with the Marines. 

[wavedog]

With the respiratory and other health challenges that I have its easy to gain weight. Especially if I fall for that line from the dr that he wants me on prednisone or some other steroid. Screw that. I lost 45 lbs a few years ago and manage to keep it off. I am very careful about what I eat and what contaminants that I expose myself to. I sometimes wear a breathing mask when I ride. My wife and I started an exercise program at a local gym a little over a year ago. Got an instructor and she worked with us for six or seven months and now we do it on our own. It has been great. We go three times a week. The exercise and clean diet have done wonders for my health.  It has improved my riding, but not my writing. One other note- I was pleased with the improvement in the performance of my Jackal when I lost all that weight.

[Cool Runnings]

Sauna and swim everyday.

[azguzzirep]

My exercise routine has always been based on a work is exercise plan.  I try to do physical labor that is constructive as a form of exercise. Ince of food. Exercising because you live such a leisure life style is beyond anything I have ever experience .

I work my arse  off. Today I had no break from 8 till 5:15 when I got off work. Some days I have to dig graves. Next day is the funeral and then after setting the casket in the grave I have to fill it. This is a lot of work, loading and unloading all the equipment and stuff.

And between funerals I am picking up the deceased, preparing them for the funeral, preparing the caskets, etc.

I work hard. But I still need / want real fitness exercise. I don't go to gyms because I think they are a rip-off.

[oldbike54]

I work hard. But I still need / want real fitness exercise. I don't go to gyms because I think they are a rip-off.

 Some folks seem to need the gym atmosphere to exercise . Yeah , most days I work pretty hard also , although lately not so much . One thing I will probably never do , drive to a gym to walk on a treadmill. Nothing wrong with that , but a walk should entail a bit of scenery change .

 Dusty

[keuka4884]

I ride an elliptical 30 minutes at a time 3-4 days a week while watching Velocity network.
Recently I had a heart specialist tell me that an adult over 50 needs 30 minutes of walking a day to keep the body from going south. Not even hard walking. I said to him - not on my "diet".

[HardAspie]

One thing that I must learn is to say no when asked to lift anything. I recently went against my own best judgment and regret it.

[Gliderjohn]

I was around 35 lbs overwieght and getting out of shape in general. about three years ago at my check up I was told I was going pre-diabetic. That did it and I started a routine of stationary bike or walking along with with barbells, standard floor exercises and started eating less and bit more carefully. Basically it did the trick. I still have too much body fat from drinking too much and still eating to much fried and fatty stuff but my number are good.
Since I retired I now go to a wellness center with my wife M-F. Due to her orthopetic problems she does a water aerobics class and three days a week I do an hour split between three different cardio machines and the other two days are an hour with 16 weight routines using various weight machines. This routine does seem to be putting on a bit more muscle and defiantly getting a much more rounded and proper workout.
GliderJohn

[O]

My knees could no longer handle the impact of running, so I took up cycling a dozen or so years ago.  Outside when weather permits, and on a stationary bike in the gym when the weather is shyte.  Also started supplementing the cycling with a rowing machine a couple of years ago.  I try to get in a 45-60 minute workout at least 6 days a week.  This, and walking the dog allows me to eat whatever I want for the most part, and keep from packing on the lbs.

[Two Checks]

My dr gives me drugs for fits...my job does it to me...

[cloudbase]

I'm in the gym at 0500 each weekday morning.  I started when doing some extra rehab after some surgery back in 2009, and just kind of kept it up.  I really don't like going, but I really like what it does for me.

[Aaron D.]

I ride the bicycle until there's enough snow for cross country skiing, then I do that every night.

Putting decent lights on the bike allows for night riding, ProViz 360 jacket and keep to a circuit so I'm not stuck with a flat 10 miles from home in the dark/cold/rain/snow.

Oats and fruit for breakfast most days, a salad for lunch most days, decent dinner. Pretty much look like I did in my twenties, except for the gray hair and leather face.

[jbell]

Okay, start talking...........I'm a great listener.

[LowRyter]

Now that I retired, I recently started going to the gym 3 times a week.  I am also rehabbing my shoulders.  I started in November.   

I jog -not far- but have tripled my distance.  I do a round of stretching & weight machines consistent with rehab for my upper body and core (have upped the weights 50%).  And I row 1500-2000 meters.  I do this in about an hour.  I work up a sweat until I run out of breath (from the jog until the end).  I am beat after I do this.

I have lost a complete pants size and am eating less.  I feel much better and have more energy.

Additionally, I do daily exercises for my shoulders per my therapist. 

I am still a fat ass but trying to improve my health.  I am not sharing numbers, just my improvement.

[Cool Runnings]

Endurance Exercise – Is It Worth It?

How Much is Too Much?

So, regular exercise is clearly a good thing, but like all good things it can be overdone. British researchers followed 20 veteran athletes for 12 years and concluded that high intensity lifelong endurance exercise is associated with altered cardiac structure and function, especially the development of left ventricular hypertrophy (thickening of the muscles of the left ventricle) and profound bradycardia. Two of the athletes ended up having to have a pacemaker implanted.[5] NOTE: Endurance exercise is usually defined as vigorous exercise for more than 45 minutes per session.

Swedish sports medicine experts found that elderly men with a lifelong history of regular, very strenuous exercise were more likely to suffer from complex ventricular arrhythmias than were men who had been only moderately physically active.

[6] A recent study involving 134 former Swiss professional cyclists concluded that these former athletes were more likely to suffer from sinus node disease and atrial fibrillation and flutter than were an age-matched group of golfers. The two groups were examined at age 66 years, which for the cyclists was an average of 38 years from their last professional race (Tour de Suisse).

http://afibbers.org/resources/endurancesports.pdf

Been there done that, ain't going back!

[dl.allen]

Its really more about diet and less about exercise.  Like 80% or more of body composition is diet and the rest is exercise.  I recommend a paleo or Mediterranean style diet.

A great book  to read is Primal Blueprint by Mark Sisson.  Guaranteed you will lose weight and be healthier.  Then if have time in your busy life you can add in exercise.

[guzziboy66]

I changed jobs a year ago and now my office is on the second floor.  I try to take the steps every time I go up or down.  It's s75 steps to my floor. Recently I've started going down to the basement and then doing the trek up to my floor.  I've lost a little weight.  A few people have commented that I'm looking trimmer.  I don't see it yet, but am glad for the encouragement...

Eric

[DeeG]

Indian Clubs, kettlebells, bicycling.

There is also the seasonal exercise.  SNow shoveling, and running the snow thrower up the driveways.  Rest of the year its working in the orchard and garden.
 
Spouse is more into the kettlebells than I am.

I also do karate.

[JeffOlson]

For me, moderate jogging, brisk walking, fast hiking, and casual bicycle riding. That, and cutting down on how much I eat. The key really, though, is activity--moving my body. My job is very sedentary and stressful. Exercise helps tremendously, not only physically, but also mentally.

I dropped nearly 50 pounds when I started running some years back. As I youth and young adult, I was very fit and strong. In my middle ages, however, I slacked off exercising, I ate more, and I worked more. No fun. I'm glad I can see my feet again!

I no longer run 35-40 miles per week as I did while training for the Ragnar Relay (usually seven days per week), but I do try to get in 15 miles per week now, whether jogging or hiking quickly with my dogs. I do miss the occasional 9-mile runs I would do on Saturday mornings (from our cabin on Sanderson Harbor to Steamboat Island and back), but I am not a skinny guy, and running that far takes a toll on my body. A few miles at a time is more my speed nowadays.

[huub]

i am trying to keep in shape by running 20-30 miles/week, since switching to barefoot style without injuries.
before i used to struggle with knee and back problems.
add to that a couple of speedskating or inline skating workouts a week i am having excercise 5 days a week.
still struggling to keep up with my 17 year old daughter, who has half the excercise i do.
( we run obstacle runs together)
getting older sucks. 

[ChuckH]

Yoga three days a week with a bit of cardio before.  Weights and cardio the other three days.  Decent diet, lots of sleep and watching the alcohol intake.  Don't have time for much else.

Looking forward to this upcoming riding season.