It's only uphill one way - what do you do for exercise?

[tlarson58]

I'm a bigger guy than I should be. I'm always hiking around with the pup but I gotta eat better.

What do you guys do for exercise?

I made the video below of today's lunchtime hike. It looks longer than it is. From the car and back it's about 40 minutes. Last night we received our first dusting of snow so I had to pull on some boots today. I'm not sure what happened to the video. It's crystal clear on my computer but is fuzzy now that I download it to youtube. Maybe compression? Input appreciated - but your exercise feedback is better.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I'm a bigger guy than I should be. I'm always hiking around with the pup but I gotta eat better.

What do you guys do for exercise?

I made the video below of today's lunchtime hike. It looks longer than it is. From the car and back it's about 40 minutes. Last night we received our first dusting of snow so I had to pull on some boots today. I'm not sure what happened to the video. It's crystal clear on my computer but is fuzzy now that I download it to youtube. Maybe compression? Input appreciated - but your exercise feedback is better.

No wonder you're tired out...walking that fast is crazy....ha ha ha

I exercise regularly, usually try to walk 3 or 4 mornings at 6 AM for 20 minutes and 3 to 4 times a week I do 40 minutes on an indoor exercise bike, in addition to a couple of upper body sets with either 5 KG Dumbells or a Power Bar (Spring Tension bar thingy). My biggest issue is 1) I like to cook and eat and while I eat generally healthy stuff, my quantities are way over what I should be downing, and 2) at 65 my metabolism aint what it used to be..once that little gut pouch gets a foothold, almost impossible to get rid of it.

[tlarson58]

..once that little gut pouch gets a foothold, almost impossible to get rid of it.

Word.

[Partscaster]

I'm on my feet doing house renovations and building, 5 days a week. I'm not a contractor so much as a sub-laborer. I also go ski pole running on mtn bike trails in the woods, 3-5 days a week. These trails have a good mix of terrain , flat, up/down. My runs usually last from 35-50 minutes depending on which trail options I choose. I go as fast as I can sustain, keeping a fair pace.

The great thing about ski pole running is that each stride includes a pole plant that alternates with my legs.
I can add more arm, especially on uphills, and feel it. Each pole plant is tied with a leg stride, and so the two leverage each other through the torso. And so it creates a mini-crunch with each stride.

I just eat whole foods for the most part. I have a bread machine. Tons of salads and fruits. Eggs/chicken/fish almost every day. I also take 2 big green tea extract suppliments each morning after breakfast (oatmeal) . I think the green tea extract kicks the metabolism into gear. I also drink 16-20 oz of black coffee each morning. No sugar. I put a banana and a handful of frozen berries ( from my garden) into my oatmeal water each morning. Lunch is bread and sardine spread and pre-boxed salad mix. Apples, saltines, etc. I eat a lot. lots of water, ideally.

I stay away from alcohol to a fair extent. Weeks with no beer or wine, then maybe a weekend with a 6 pack or wine bottle.

[bleys21]

I've got a 4 day a week routine: Monday and Wednesdays are weight lifting days, mainly upper body since I had surgery on my knee last year. Tuesday and Thursday are high intensity workouts with 20 minutes on the exercise bike, followed by light weights, done 3 times (so 60 minutes total on the bike)

Before my knee issues, I was also playing ice hockey on Saturday nights for around 2 hours.

For the record, I'm 53, 6'3" tall and weigh around 190 lbs. I haven't seriously changed my diet in terms of what I eat (and drink) but I have reduced the amounts.

I think once we're past 40, staying in shape gets exponentially harder. Or at least it feels that way

[uwmcscott]

Since I passed the 50 mark a few years back, the doc has been giving me a hard time about my annual readings - mostly cholesterol. I have made a lot of changes over the past decade to try and improve my health, quitting drinking was probably the biggest change that made substantial improvements. But I have a fairly sedentary job and there's only so much diet modification you can do before you realize that you have to get off your butt and do some exercise. I used to be super active in my youth, but adulthood ensued. I did a lot of downhill skiing the last 2winter, but that in itself isn't very aerobic. We took a trip to Utah last spring break and while we had a great time my body was screaming at me up at 10,000 feet.

I started a daily regimen of just taking a brisk walk and some easy weights at home with a set of light dumbells, and have continued that for about a year now and it's made a HUGE difference. My cholesterol dropped to the lowest it has been in decades, actually into the "Normal" zone even. I also sleep way better and feel better overall. My current routine is to still do the brisk walk every day - not far, probaby about a mile or two in the neighborhood. Then I do 4 sets of the following: 10 sit ups/10 dumbell curls/10 over the shoulder raises/10 tricep curls/10 pushups. The pushups took me a long time to be able to complete on my toes - I did them from the knee at first. I'm probably never going to have a six pack but it has made a dramatic difference in how i feel and look.

[Partscaster]

Cross country skate skiing is the best exercise I've found, arms legs pumping at same time, lungs and heart get worked. And all the balance muscles are at work. Plus, its still skiing, so you get the fun glide moments in between the work zones.
I need to go several times a week and then the fit feel comes in after a few weeks.

[andrewsrea]

I am on my feet for most of the day, but have not gotten back into the walking and weightlifting I did before retiring.

[tlarson58]

Cross country skate skiing is the best exercise I've found, arms legs pumping at same time, lungs and heart get worked. And all the balance muscles are at work. Plus, its still skiing, so you get the fun glide moments in between the work zones.
I need to go several times a week and then the fit feel comes in after a few weeks.

Skate skiing is a downright crazy, lung-busting, quad-screaming activity.

This is NOT me in the picture. I would be on the ground, curled into a fetal position and crying from over-exertion.

[Partscaster]

Cross country skate skiing is the best exercise I've found, arms legs pumping at same time, lungs and heart get worked. And all the balance muscles are at work. Plus, its still skiing, so you get the fun glide moments in between the work zones.
I need to go several times a week and then the fit feel comes in after a few weeks.

Skate skiing is a downright crazy, lung-busting, quad-screaming activity.

This is NOT me in the picture. I would be on the ground, curled into a fetal position and crying from over-exertion.


skate ski.jpg

That could be you in a nearish future, Tommy Larson,..."Son of Lars". Stay on flats for first many weeks and get technique. A beginner lesson with a good instructor .
I swear its addicting. Its like smoking cigarettes, its not for everyone at first, but once you force yourself enough, your hooked...except this is the activity that can turn ones health toward greatness and well into one's 80's.

[tonebender]

I power walk and ride the stationary bike. I used to be an avid runner but my knee retired from that. I also do 150 sit ups several days a week. I have a sit up bench. I am down 72 pounds from this same time last year.

[Tonray's Ghost]

Exercise while watching food videos may be sabotaging my weight loss plan

[BatUtilityBelt]

Cool video, thanks. Me? It changes as I get older. I used to play as much tennis as possible (sometimes every day), but can't tennis anymore because my serve ruined a muscle group in my forearm and ripped a calf. Getting older stinks. So I run 10K on an elliptical every 3rd day and do weights or ebike on the other days. Taxing, and pretty boring compared to tennis, but it's better than just getting old.

[Rollin Hand]

I am working towards being able to exercise again. I have been having a lot of mobility issues since 2019, but thanks to physiotherapy exercises every other day, they are now mostly solved.

Once my wife's career move is sorted out, I plan to start gently exercising (no more injuries allowed) and build up to where I am working out 3-4 times a week.

For cardio, I will either walk or use our exercise bike (aka the Perenium Falcon).

And then the lifting. I intend to go to a local gym twice a week to build my leg strength using machines before I start working with free weights. Upper body will be mostly free weights.

The biggest issue is finding time with two kids and a wife with a crazy job.

[PoodlesAgain]

Meh.
Dog (2!) walking on the many beautiful wood trails here, ain't much, but enough to ease my foot neuropathy.

Other that that, I do not really care about getting in better shape, as I have done most of what I would ever accomplish. I fail to see the humor in the future.

Edit: I forgot to add that I am impressed in you dudes' efforts!

[glasshand]

I work out three or four days a week, mostly free weights and bodyweight floor exercises, for about 45 minutes. I try to focus on my core a lot: lots of plank variations, pushup variations, kettlebell snatches, farmer's walks, etc. I am lucky that I've always found it fairly easy to build muscle, but there's no denying that once you hit middle age, it takes longer to come back from injuries, and that includes the muscle breakdown inherent to working out. I also bike to and from the gym, which includes a moderately serious hill in the middle, and I bike around the city as much as I can.

[jimbocaster]

I think I was around 235lbs at 42...HBP meds (ugh I hate to think about it). 6'0". Now at 55 I have got down to 180. Gym 3-4 days a week usually 1 hour to 1:15. All weight and I have a program that I follow for different muscle groups. Weekdays I do a 2-3 mile brisk walk in a hilly industrial park during my lunch hour...every day unless it's pouring rain or snow. Portion control and "almost" no snacks after dinner. Healthy eating but no special diet per say. No more HBP. BMI 23.8 and 13.4% body fat. Besides for a little rotator cuff issue, I'm in better shape than I was at 30.

[tonebender]

Me and my buddy shot a best ball scramble format 36 yesterday for nine holes. That is even par. My golf game is better than it has ever been in my life. I am also thinking about joining the men's 58+ softball league here in town.

[Tonray's Ghost]

I think I was around 235lbs at 42...HBP meds (ugh I hate to think about it). 6'0". Now at 55 I have got down to 180. Gym 3-4 days a week usually 1 hour to 1:15. All weight and I have a program that I follow for different muscle groups. Weekdays I do a 2-3 mile brisk walk in a hilly industrial park during my lunch hour...every day unless it's pouring rain or snow. Portion control and "almost" no snacks after dinner. Healthy eating but no special diet per say. No more HBP. BMI 23.8 and 13.4% body fat. Besides for a little rotator cuff issue, I'm in better shape than I was at 30.

Oh Snap..I see now where I am going wrong...we're supposed to be focused on muscle groups and not food groups ?

[LightWingStudios]

Absolutely nothing. I'm 5'11", weigh in at 140 lbs. and have been at that number all my adult life.

Turning 70 years old this past April, I decided to sit on my ass.

[mickey]

Absolutely nothing. I'm 5'11", weigh in at 140 lbs. and have been at that number all my adult life.

Turning 70 years old this past April, I decided to sit on my ass.

The most sensible comment in this thread yet!

[nomadh]

Walking is great. Kept me alive the last 10 years. Getting near 60 and its not quite enough to comfortably hike my12 mi and 10 hours anymore. Need to start conditioning more

[sabasgr68]

and 2) at 65 my metabolism aint what it used to be..once that little gut pouch gets a foothold, almost impossible to get rid of it.

Wait a minute, dude.

You´re not 65.

No way.

[sabasgr68]

I've got a 4 day a week routine: Monday and Wednesdays are weight lifting days, mainly upper body since I had surgery on my knee last year. Tuesday and Thursday are high intensity workouts with 20 minutes on the exercise bike, followed by light weights, done 3 times (so 60 minutes total on the bike)

Before my knee issues, I was also playing ice hockey on Saturday nights for around 2 hours.

For the record, I'm 53, 6'3" tall and weigh around 190 lbs. I haven't seriously changed my diet in terms of what I eat (and drink) but I have reduced the amounts.

I think once we're past 40, staying in shape gets exponentially harder. Or at least it feels that way

You could have been the Jack Reacher of the new show!

[sabasgr68]

I am on my feet for most of the day, but have not gotten back into the walking and weightlifting I did before retiring.

You should. Benefits are HUGE! - and no, it´s not for showing a six pack, but for feeling good -.