<p>I guess the idea is to find one you can tolerate and sustain. When we were 20 and 30, it didn’t matter as much. Studies are showing that the older you are, the more minutes of exercise per week you need.</p>
<p>As educated folks who want to live as long as we can and have a high quality of life, the message is to just find something you can put up with if not love. If you can afford to use a trainer regularly or even occasionally, they will shake it up and help find a routine you’re willing to follow. If you hate the gym, like me, find a couple of home based work out tools which can be as simple as bands or light weights.</p>
<p>It may be an effort, you may even hate it, but really, what’s the choice? Do people think they’ll just remain healthy and agile by luck? Look at the old people around you–there is an enormous difference in quality of life between the 80 year olds I know who stayed fit and those who didn’t.</p>
<p>I don’t love to exercise for the most part. But I do it anyway because it is critical to my health and well being. If I made enjoying it a requirement, I’d never get off the couch. </p>
<p>I always feel good after my workouts, though.</p>
<p>Agree Hmom. I have found things I like - and it’s been a godsend. I don’t want to wither away…and can’t stand the thought of going on those lame bus tours when I’m old.<br>
Missypie and theanalyst - I too love hiking in quiet solitude with beautiful scenery. Hard to do here in the winter but there are great spots around here in the warmer months. Now, I’m an INTJ too but I love my yoga classes…
I think it’s unfair to say you can’t find new activities at 50. H and I are now empty nesters and we have taken to biking together. LONG bike rides…sometimes 30 or 40 miles on beautiful trails. At first I had a hard time keeping up with him (he’s been biking for years) but I persisted and we now enjoy our new activity. We found trails around here and at our little vacation cabin (The C&O trail goes for 180 miles!). We even got wireless “coms” so we can communicate during our rides. And we keep a strong pace so we get some great exercise. Very cool.
So yeah, keep trying to find stuff. I’m trying golf too but got sidelined by tennis elbow!</p>
I don’t think it’s all that much to burn. I burn about 220 calories in 15 minutes on the elliptical. I burn somewhat over 100 calories per mile of walking. Of course the amount burned depends on one’s weight so an average weight woman would typically burn less but all in all, it doesn’t seem that hard to burn 300 calories. I burn over 500 calories in my daily workout not counting whatever’s burned in my weight lifting routine.</p>
<p>For someone starting out with workouts it’s worth trying the different machines and different settings since some will burn more calories per time than others (ex: elliptical vs. treadmill) and some are more ‘tolerable’ to an individual than others.</p>
<p>You’re burning significant calories in a good weigh work out.</p>
<p>Weights are something I thought I’d hate but needed to take up for bone density when I had to stop running. I still don’t love them, but do tolerate it 3 days a week and as you say UCSD, I feel great after the work out. I also love what it’s done for me, I was thin but they made me toned and defined. It’s worth it! Now I get why the Desperate Housewives look so great–I can now recognized well worked out triceps.</p>
<p>Of course, but as The Most Unathletic and Most Inflexible Person on Earth, I doubt that those new activites are going to involve sports.</p>
<p>I’ve always thought that country & western dance looked fun. If I could find me a hunky dancin’ cowboy, I might get real fit! (You’ll have to forgive me. Last night I watched the Will & Grace episode where Will and Jack were at the cowboy gay bar and there were some *fine *lookin’ dancin’ cowboys there.)</p>
<p>Wow, you must be working hard. I burn about 150 calories in 20 minutes, which feels about right to me. My resting heart rate is around 60-65, and I can get it up to about 125. Should I be working harder?</p>
<p>A word, or two about yoga. You don’t have to be already flexible to do it, the point is it helps you become more flexible. The best physical benefits from yoga, for me, are a healthy, flexible spine, good balance, and open hip joints. I know several lean and active 80+ year olds, but they are very brittle looking and worried about hip fractures from falling. Have you ever seen old people trying to get out of a car or low seat? These three benefits may not seem all that important now but they become increasingly important with age. And there aren’t many other activities that have these as benefits.</p>
<p>I don’t do yoga for aerobic training though. It’s just not gonna happen. You CAN do power, vinysasa or similar forms instead of weight training and muscle strenghtening (as well as flexibility). Just go easy at first or you will be so sore you will never go back!</p>
<p>Mousegray, have you figured out your target heart rate,? There are lots of calculators on the net. Then it’s about how long you sustain that rate. The monitors on the machines are notorious for being wrong, so you might want to get your own for a good read. Brookstone sells rings that monitor heart rate for about $35. My ring never agrees with machines.</p>
<p>missypie…lol on the dancin’ cowboys. I have a visual in my mind…</p>
<p>My neighbor retired from her job last year and her and her H have taken up ball room dancing. Sounds interesting…but I know my h would never do that. H also won’t do yoga…thinks it’s for ladies (and in fact, my classes are filled with woman). </p>
<p>So, on another topic, we have a brand new wii system. Anyone out there try wii fit?</p>
<p>The calculators for calorie burning on the machines are not accurate. Roughly, you burn 100 calories a mile running/walking. Obviously, if you are at a high HR, you are burning a few more. 220 for 15 minutes on elliptical would be about 7:30 mile pace for 2 miles. That is really flying, and you have to account for fewer calories on the elliptical since you are supported. If I did elliptical and kept my HR in my aerobic zone (136-148 for me), I would figure 100 calories every 10 minutes or so. I would be working pretty hard but not huffing and puffing to keep my HR there.</p>
Yup - I imagine I am which is why I said an average weight female would and should burn less in the same time. But I was mostly trying to point out a few things - that the different machines can cause different amounts of calories burned for a given timeframe and that different people will prefer different machines, and that in a reasonable workout period of an hour or so it shouldn’t be that difficult to burn 300 calories. Of course it takes some work but by mixing it up with different exercises, i.e. machines, walking the neighborhood, maybe running parts of it (only if ready for that), bike riding, weights, etc., it’s not that difficult to burn at least 300 calories in a workout period even for someone lighter than me. </p>
<p>The key is to start out with a fairly light workout and focus on successfully completing it, repeating it, and establishing a routine. Once a routine is established the workout can always be boosted from week to week when one is ready for it. Too many people start out gung ho then quit after a day or week when they discover it’s more difficult to do than to contemplate in one’s La-Z-Boy. It’s best to guarantee success by taking it reasonably when starting out a regimen and the success will be its own reward and encouragement to do more.</p>
<p>I did not burn 300 calories. It amounted to 266, and I am fine with that. </p>
<p>BTW - I am “fluffy”, so I don’t think 300 will be that hard to do. I walked a little over 2 miles. </p>
<p>It was nice going with hubby. He was on the treadmill beside me. </p>
<p>And we stopped at the grocery store on the way home and purchased some healthier foods - whole grain bread, etc. We are on our way.</p>
<p>BTW - You might want to check out Dottie’s Weight Loss Zone. There are menus from a few hundred (I would think) restaurants with nutritional values listed. And for those doing Weight Watchers and counting points, they are listed also.</p>
<p>I am feeling hungry, but it’s already 9pm, so I am not going to eat anything unless I am too hungry to fall asleep.</p>
<p>Good luck everyone, with getting healthier!</p>
<p>toneranger-I have a wii and the wii fit is a lot of fun. I like the step aerobics and the “skiing” as well as the yoga. I just need to get back into it.</p>
<p>D and I are just back from the gym. Today was a weights and elliptical day. We were both sweaty and tired when we were done. I really feel good! I hope I can keep it up when she goes back to school. Having a partner is a great motivator I’m finding.</p>
<p>It’s a barcode scanner similar to Red Laser but instead of scanning to find the best price, you scan the barcode of your packaged foods and it automatically computes the calories and nutritional info for you. It keeps a running total of everything you eat. If you eat a food that doesn’t have a barcode, you can search for the food the same way you do on Daily Plate. It has a huge database of items and you can also input foods manually. You can sync your iPhone with your account on the dailyburn.com website where you can record workouts, track your weight, etc.</p>