Life in Retirement - We've made it! Now what? (No investment discussions permitted)

Another who believes exercise is an important part of retirement.
When I retired I got an Apple Watch as a gift. I then went 500 days exercising 500 calories or more each day. (Then my watch broke, AND I sprained my foot). I still try to do some exercise almost every day. Travel days sometimes make it hard, but I managed to get my 500 calories even on the days we traveled to and from Hawaii from the east coast recently.

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DW and I won’t retire for at least 10 years. I contacted a local university about teaching a class. They reviewed my credentials and said I would qualify. They probably will have a night class I can do in the fall. I am going to give it a shot. I wouldn’t mind doing some teaching when I retire. I have the time now to do one class a semester since we are empty nesters.

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Definitely true. And not just limited to ladies, “old men” don’t lift heavy weights too.

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@Bromfield2, keep going. My mom had never been to the gym before age 78, when she was hospitalize for quite a while with Guillane-Barre syndrome. The rehab is intense as she needed to relearn all muscle movement. And, my father died while she was hospitalized. The docs told us almost noone her age recovers from Guillane-Barre and that we should prepare for her dying. Instead, after the extensive rehab, she started going to a local gym five days a week. Someone would call if she didn’t make it. She was holding a 1 minute plank at age 90. Somewhere after her 90th birthday, the gym took a large scale Polaroid of her on the treadmill, which they mounted and put on the wall in the gym. She died a few weeks before her 98th birthday. So, keep doing it.

Thanks to this thread, I got motivated to complete my Asian travel reservations (airfare; not hotels) using Amex points and a Paris trip using my Mosaic perks. Hopefully, life remains interesting.

@1214mom, some airports are so big that it is easy to get 10000 steps in. I don’t know how that translates to calories.

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One thing about living in San Diego is that there are plenty of seniors showing how to stay active! Women my age and beyond surfing, marathoning, biking, etc. Thanks to arthritis and unhappy feet, I cannot do anywhere near as much as I should but I am at least trying to keep with up various PT home exercises for various problem parts of my skeletal structure :x_ray:.

And I just came back from a lovely cliffside walk at Cabrillo National Monument, practicing with my new camera. Perhaps some photos will eventually land in that thread.

Edit to add that husband just called to see if I want to do Taco Tuesday at our favorite oceanfront spot where we will sit on the upper deck and watch surfers.

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Here is my question on the weight training - what does progressive load mean? I need to continue to use heavier and heavier weights?

I just do circuit training with dumbbells in my home. Can’t ever see myself going to a gym. So, my moves are all combo-type moves using a mix of body weight and dumbbells at the same time. E.g. a forward lunge while doing curls with the dumbbells simultaneously. I also have moves that work on balance and core. Is this insufficient? I am not interested in building muscle, but I do want to maintain what I have. I also run 2-3 times a week.

It really annoyed me that my young, female, PCP in Florida basically scolded me in saying I needed to be lifting heavier weights. She was maybe 35. Sheesh.

Not trying to derail the thread venturing too much into fitness. I am sort of of the mindset that with beneficial things, “something is better than nothing.” So, reading a little is better than not reading at all. Some exercise is better than no exercise. Eating healthy 80% of the time is better than eating crapola most of the time. Some volunteering is better than no volunteering.

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My understanding of progressive load is simply more – could be heavier weights, more reps, more sets or more days. So if you don’t want to buy, say, heavier weights, then add more reps or sets or days.

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But, but, but - I don’t want to do any of those. Sigh. I just hate the, “not good enough,” messaging.

And add “decreased rest time, between sets.”

Simply put, the quicker your muscles adjust to your strength training, the more the training will need to be adapted in order to make it more challenging, which in turn means more strength and muscle gains.

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Omit the not and it becomes good enough!

Any time you are being active, you are doing more than many.

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I would have asked your PCP, “What are you doing for fitness?” :rofl:

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I don’t think anyone except a dummy would say that what you are doing is “not good enough.” I think if you are lifting weights of any kind with any regularity then you are doing more than probably 90% of people out there, and like you said some is better than none. BUT if you want to continue to get stronger then there’s no way around the idea that you’ll have to step up what you’re doing. Damn logic! :rofl:

I had a nurse call me and say my numbers looked good and the doctor just wants me to get more exercise and lose weight. I told her that I exercise every day and have lost 70 pounds but, thanks, I’ll take that under advisement. :roll_eyes:

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Oh, my gosh. She was a beast!!

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I sometimes think they just have a generic list of things they’re supposed to say regardless

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Appreciate it if the fitness/exercise thread is used for discussion of fitness/exercise, or it will take over this thread. Very active conversations there!

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I am a tiny older person and last night I took a martial tai chi class where we partnered to practice exercises on which the tai chi form is based. I was partnered with a 6+ foot younger man (I am 5’1") but following the prescribed exercise I knocked him down! Well off balance anyway- he didn’t actually fall but it was close :slight_smile: I am dangerous!

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Here’s a retirement challenge you probably never confronted. A Jewish friend/colleague of mine who is basically retired (he works with me on a couple of projects) moved to Portugal a couple of years ago. He had been granted citizenship because he could document that his great grandfather five times back (something like that) was burned at the stake during the Inquisition. He divorced about 15-20 years ago and then remarried a much younger Muslim woman. He’s probably 75 and very active – long bicycle trips, plays soccer, and she helps keep him active. I’m guessing she is probably 25 to 30 years younger. They have a son who is around 8 or 9 and has a name that is both distinctively Muslim and Jewish. They stayed in Portugal for a second year so the son could get Portuguese citizenship. They were planning to return to the US but he is now wondering given the changing US politics as to whether they should stay in Portugal. He asked me for my judgment.

What do expats do for health insurance? And do countries abroad (or Canada) welcome older folks with health issues to begin with?

I had some bone loss in my hips on my most recent Dexa scan. I began adding exercises specifically focused on my hips, and I no longer have low back problems (5 months later). I am noticing that standing straight is easier. Even if we exercise religiously, we don’t always hit the areas we might need to hit - so being flexible in terms of evaluating (reevaluating) our efforts is a good idea. Maybe if I had questioned why my low back was bothering me, I might have realized that I was neglecting my hips. I was never in pain, so I just chalked it up to aging. I now understand that I need to listen to my body and try to fix it rather than simply assume it’s an inevitable part of aging. We all need to be lifelong learners!

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