I've moved towards less intense exercise and it feels great!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:We've always known this, OP.

It's only a subset of well-off people, mostly in the Western hemisphere, and mostly in the USA, that partake in unnatural torture sessions in the misguided belief that it does something beneficial for them.

Sounds like you’ve never made the effort to make these “torture sessions” enjoyable. It takes work to get there.

Some people like to sit around and others like intensity. It’s also been known forever that you do your hard workouts hard and your easy workouts easy and you do a lot more easy workouts by percentage. None of this is torture for those that enjoy it. Feel free to look at longevity studies on cardio adaption you get from lots of low intensity (not just walking).

[Anonymous]

I run and do HIIT and I'm in my mid 40s. There are aches and pains. I take a few rest days here and there. But I figure there will be aches and pains if I don't exercise now, later in life. I'm watching my 70ish mom deteriorate and I think a lot of her aches, pains, joint issues, are from her sedentary lifestyle. If she had taken better care of herself and exercised a little she might be able to enjoy her 70s more. No pain, no gain. I may be wrong in the end, but for now I still enjoy the exercise enough to keep going and the aches are minor.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I run and do HIIT and I'm in my mid 40s. There are aches and pains. I take a few rest days here and there. But I figure there will be aches and pains if I don't exercise now, later in life. I'm watching my 70ish mom deteriorate and I think a lot of her aches, pains, joint issues, are from her sedentary lifestyle. If she had taken better care of herself and exercised a little she might be able to enjoy her 70s more. No pain, no gain. I may be wrong in the end, but for now I still enjoy the exercise enough to keep going and the aches are minor.

I am 41 and do the same plus lift weights 3x/week. No aches and pains and I generally feel great. I thrive off the adrenaline rush. Sometimes I wonder if I am going overboard but I figure my body will let me know when its too much (and I have a few vanity lbs I'm trying to lose). So until then I'll just keep on keeping on..

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm 43 and have really found my grove this year doing lots of yoga (variety of classes including core/power) and lots of walking. I run once a week on the treadmill at the community center during my son's swim practice. And that's it! I've kept my weight down and look and feel great. Most importantly, I've kept up a regular exercise routine that I enjoy.

As a yoga instructor, I lol at this.

I generally LOL at yoga....so ya know, potatoes paTAtos

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm 43 and have really found my grove this year doing lots of yoga (variety of classes including core/power) and lots of walking. I run once a week on the treadmill at the community center during my son's swim practice. And that's it! I've kept my weight down and look and feel great. Most importantly, I've kept up a regular exercise routine that I enjoy.

As a yoga instructor, I lol at this.

why?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I run and do HIIT and I'm in my mid 40s. There are aches and pains. I take a few rest days here and there. But I figure there will be aches and pains if I don't exercise now, later in life. I'm watching my 70ish mom deteriorate and I think a lot of her aches, pains, joint issues, are from her sedentary lifestyle. If she had taken better care of herself and exercised a little she might be able to enjoy her 70s more. No pain, no gain. I may be wrong in the end, but for now I still enjoy the exercise enough to keep going and the aches are minor.

I am 41 and do the same plus lift weights 3x/week. No aches and pains and I generally feel great. I thrive off the adrenaline rush. Sometimes I wonder if I am going overboard but I figure my body will let me know when its too much (and I have a few vanity lbs I'm trying to lose). So until then I'll just keep on keeping on..

Come back in 5 years. I was well and good at 41 doing the same. I'm now mid 40s and I'm telling you, it's no joke. Big difference. You'll get there too. I can still do it, but I feel it more. I just accept it as a fact of life, but I don't let it slow me down.

[Anonymous]

As an active 50-something, I suggest a balanced approach, with at least a few high intensity workouts a week. You’ll lose stamina, cardio recovery, and generally recovery easily once you hit menopause if you don’t do regular HIIT. And you’ll quickly lose muscle tone and over time bone density without weight training.

OP, do you get regular massages? Some of your aches and pains may be from tight fascia. Or inflammation if you consume a lot of sweets, simple carbs or alcohol.

[Anonymous]

My husband is training for a big race and has gotten really into this idea of zone 2 training - basically the idea that most of us are exercising way beyond the ideal heart rate threshold and not actually doing ourselves any good. The better plan may be to exercise at a lower heart rate - jogging or walking instead of a punishing run - to build strength and longevity. I have been doing this and agree with OP - I feel much better.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:As an active 50-something, I suggest a balanced approach, with at least a few high intensity workouts a week. You’ll lose stamina, cardio recovery, and generally recovery easily once you hit menopause if you don’t do regular HIIT. And you’ll quickly lose muscle tone and over time bone density without weight training.

OP, do you get regular massages? Some of your aches and pains may be from tight fascia. Or inflammation if you consume a lot of sweets, simple carbs or alcohol.

Posts like this annoy me to no end. I have inflammation issues but this is just bs. No one I know really knows why some of us have issues with it. I don't drink eat few carbs but still have the issues.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was doing a lot of running and HIIT workouts and this fall I decided I just wasn't feeling good. Too many aches and pains and starting to dread workouts.

So I switched to low impact strength/cardio routines, yoga, and walking. I haven't gained any weight, look forward to exercising, and feel better overall.

FWIW, I'm a 45 year old woman. Anyone else found the same?

Yes. I do yoga and walking and some body weight exercises. I love to run, but running no longer loves me. My dad once said nobody over 50 should run anymore. Maybe that should be 40. I don't fully agree with him, honestly, but high intensity exercise should be done super mindfully. It is so easy to get hurt as you get older. This isn't to say that HIIT and running is off limits to everybody. I'm sure folks will chime in and say how great it makes them feel, they haven't been injured, etc. Great! I think that's super! But I'm of the feeling that you have to work smarter to not injure yourself.

This is absolute nonsense.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm 43 and have really found my grove this year doing lots of yoga (variety of classes including core/power) and lots of walking. I run once a week on the treadmill at the community center during my son's swim practice. And that's it! I've kept my weight down and look and feel great. Most importantly, I've kept up a regular exercise routine that I enjoy.

As a yoga instructor, I lol at this.

NP. A good yoga instructor would never “LOL” at someone getting exercise, enjoying movement, and sharing their positive feelings about taking care of themselves. So there’s that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Yes, I'm 43 and have really found my grove this year doing lots of yoga (variety of classes including core/power) and lots of walking. I run once a week on the treadmill at the community center during my son's swim practice. And that's it! I've kept my weight down and look and feel great. Most importantly, I've kept up a regular exercise routine that I enjoy.

As a yoga instructor, I lol at this.

I lol at your flat butt

[Anonymous]

how long are your new workouts OP? I like HIIT because I'm in and out in about 45-50 minutes. I thought this was their selling point, but I could be totally wrong.

BTW there was an article somewhere just yesterday that said HIIT is out, lower impact is in.

[Anonymous]

Kewl story OP. I feel like a rockstar after I torture my body

[Anonymous]

OP here - when I walk it's for about an hour, yoga/barre/pilates are usually hour sessions too. When I do strength training it's 30-50 minutes. I still get sore muscles (in a good way) and my heartrate is elevated during many of these workouts, but I don't get the joint pain I was getting from running and HIIT that involved lots of jumping.