How many of you exercise regularly? If so, what do you do

[MightyGiants]

what do you do, if anything, to keep in shape?

[Shoelessjoe]

I walk 3 miles a day.  One day I day a week I cut my lawn.  It's about the same in distance but with a little more physical exertion. 

The fitness room of my community is reopening on July 1.  At that time I hope to get back to a little weights for about 10 to 15 minutes and an hour on the stationary bike with every 4 minutes of regular riding followed by a 1 minute burst.  I think that this is OK for a 72 year old man.

[DaveBrown74]

I'm normally in the gym anywhere from 3-5 times a week, usually for 45 minutes a time. Average four times a week generally. I generally do 35 minutes of cardio, often on the arc trainer (similar to elliptical but wider range of motion), but I also use the rowing machine and sometimes walk on a steep incline on the treadmill. I always stretch for several minutes at the end of the workout. I've given up on trying to run, as this has led to intermittent lower back pain and (more recently) plantar fasciitis. I sometimes swim laps as my cardio, which I know is great exercise but the whole process from start to finish takes a lot longer plus I hate not being able to listen to music while I work out, so I don't do swimming that often. I do mix in strength training as well, but on average I'm only doing that about once a week. I could probably stand to increase the frequency of strength training, but I have not done that yet.

I would say I'm in average shape. Maybe slightly above average but certainly nothing to write home about. I was talking to a good friend recently who is in terrific shape, and he pointed out to me that one should not think about exercise in a binary way. Meaning, it should not be "I'm either going to the gym today or I'm not, and that's the end of it." He said for him, exercise is much more perpetual and spontaneous than that. On top of frequently going to the gym, he said if he's at home watching a game for example, he'll spontaneously just bang out two or three sets of 25 push-ups on the floor without even thinking about it. Or if he's on the laptop, he might decide to hold a few planks. Or if he's in a texting conversation with a friend, he'll just start doing squats for a few minutes. Or if he's on the subway, he might get out a stop or two before his stop and just walk an extra 1.5 miles if the weather is good, etc. He does this on top of 4-5x to the gym every week. Or maybe it's a simple 25 minute walk right after dinner. I think this is a great way of thinking about exercise and it really combats a sedentary lifestyle wihout dramatically changing how you allocate your time. I am going to try to do this type of thing more, because right now admittedly I really don't. I'm more of the mentality that if I went to the gym four times in a given week, I've covered my nut, which is not the optimal way to think about it.

All in all though I feel I do an adequate job on this front.

[ozzie]

I do a variety of things. I have recently started doing pushups every day. Right now I'm at 25 / day. My buddy and I have been working out in the park every Sunday morning for the past six or seven years consistently. Not being too stupid though, we do take off on Easter Sunday, Mother's Day, Christmas and for family obligations. Other than that, we are out there, rain or shine, hot or cold. I also do yoga at home, but I'm not quite as consistent with that as I should be. That same friend and I do some trail running once a week and we run Obstacle Course Races.
All in an effort to keep Father Time away as long as we can!

[babywhales]

A 12 year old player on one of the in town baseball teams I coach went in for his checkup / covid shot and got an earful for being 278 and about 5' tall.  he decided to start run/walk 1 mile a day but was struggling with the drive to be consistent, the other kids comments, etc.


I'm 49 yr old,  6'5" 310 lbs and have avoided planned, regimented physical activity outside of cutting wood and country chorus for too long.  I told him I would do it every day as well. Each night at the ballpark we check in with each other.  For the past 4 weeks (not very long I realize) I run and walk in intervals. I started at 1 mile and I am now just over 2 miles.  I have missed 3 days to date. 


Not very much I realize and I have not lost any weight but I can run much faster and feel better doing it than 4 weeks ago.  I have been fairly pleased with my progress. 


My oldest is starting me on weights soon. 

[MightyGiants]

Exercise is a nice adjunct to losing weight, but if you do the math it almost never works as a driving force as one candy bar can undo an hour of exercise.


For me, it's 3 days a week strength training.  A combination of a home gym that uses hydraulic resistance and a total gym

One day a week I go for an 8-mile walk or if the weather is bad 26 miles on an exercise bike

The other 3 days I do a mile and a quarter walk in the morning and after work, I will do another mile (or a bit more if the mood hits me) or 5 miles on an exercise bike

I am also big into stretching as I believe it's key to reduce muscle and joint pains.

[DaveBrown74]

Very true about the exercise/diet/weight loss relationship. Exercise is an important component of weight loss, but it won't move the needle if you're not dieting appropriately.

One thing I have noticed is that I tend to eat better when I am exercising consistently. Not sure if others have experienced that, but when I get into a rut and don't exercise enough, my diet tends to worsen.

For me, if I'm actively trying to lose some weight, I make sure I stay below 2000 calories in a day while exercising 4-5x a week. That formula has always worked for me. 1700-1800 calories is a good daily target area for weight loss, I find, assuming you're exercising. If you make good food choices that is more than enough calories to be satiated.

Of course, it's easier said than done to give up things like pasta, bread, alcohol, pizza, etc for an appreciable period of time.

[bldevil]

My observation is that you better find an activity that you like.  If exercise becomes work, then you need super-human discipline to keep at it and very few people have that.

The social angle, workout buddy system, is great.  You combine commitment to someone else with a better workout because you get to talk to a friend.

I bike 3x per week, typically once with a bike club, and two other times per week with different ride buddies.  I'm really spending time with friends, I just happen to have a bike under me.  If I'm working out with weights, or doing pushups, I'm really listening to music.  I just happen to be exercising at the same time.

Have fun first.  Then exercise ain't work.