Over-50 and Out-Of-Shape - Where to start?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Agree with the walking suggestion. I started with walking during the pandemic at 39 years old. I was wildly unhealthy and out of shape after years of high stress living. That lead to lifting again and running. That lead to cycling and triathlon.

You will be surprised at what you can do if you are consistent and make it part of your life.

It’s led fool

The fact that you went out of your way to post this is pathetic and demonstrates how much of a loser you are. How insufferable are you in real life anyways?

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Most important is to get your body moving on a daily basis. Consistency is most important; build habits of movement into your lifestyle.

Once you’ve done that, then you can implement other exercises. Personally, I walk minimum 12,000 steps per day, lap swim 3x per week, Peloton strength workouts 4x week. I’m 54 years and and 121 pounds (same as I was 30 years ago).

OP here. Thanks for posting. I have a Peloton and have literally never gotten on it. I know about the other workouts but never figured out how to access them. I think I will try. I feel terribly guilty about that Peloton gathering dust.

Another PP. I used peloton strength to get back into the gym lifting. Also used out peloton to get into cycling. You’ve got a lot of nearly limitless content there to follow.

They also have outdoor walking content using the mobile app.

[Anonymous]

Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

OP, please do not start with this person's suggestions.

People who have not done exercise in a while need to start somewhere. For an out-of-shape person in their 50s to start, they aren't going to start with even intermittent jogging, especially at this time of year with the heat the way it is outside. That's a good way for this person to get a quick trip to the emergency room. Between the heat, and the exertion that their body is not used to, they might get light-headed, might have heart palpitations and a number of other issues that come up.

Walking is a great way to start and ease yourself into exercise when you haven't done any for many years. She should start walking, first shorter, then slowly longer walks. When she has acclimated herself to longer walks of at least 30 minutes, and when the temperatures start coming back down, she can try what you suggest, but what you propose is a bad way to start cold turkey for someone who has gone for many years without exercise.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

OP here. This has been my experience with walking, unfortunately -- that even with a lot of it, it just isn't enough. I'll try what you suggest -- I did it once in the past and was able to work up to 20-25 min jogs. Would love to make it back there, but feeling intimidated given a few extra years and pounds.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

OP, please do not start with this person's suggestions.

People who have not done exercise in a while need to start somewhere. For an out-of-shape person in their 50s to start, they aren't going to start with even intermittent jogging, especially at this time of year with the heat the way it is outside. That's a good way for this person to get a quick trip to the emergency room. Between the heat, and the exertion that their body is not used to, they might get light-headed, might have heart palpitations and a number of other issues that come up.

Walking is a great way to start and ease yourself into exercise when you haven't done any for many years. She should start walking, first shorter, then slowly longer walks. When she has acclimated herself to longer walks of at least 30 minutes, and when the temperatures start coming back down, she can try what you suggest, but what you propose is a bad way to start cold turkey for someone who has gone for many years without exercise.

OP here. I can definitely manage a 30 minute walk, or even much longer (well, maybe not in this heat).

[Anonymous]

I was going to say walking but since you have a Peloton, start there. Take beginner rides. They have awesome other classes (strength, yoga, pilates, barre and more) and have plenty of beginner classes. And you already have access to them!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I was going to say walking but since you have a Peloton, start there. Take beginner rides. They have awesome other classes (strength, yoga, pilates, barre and more) and have plenty of beginner classes. And you already have access to them!

I'll try. I haven't ridden it because when I brought it home I climbed on and found it incredibly uncomfortable to sit on and kind of gave up.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I was going to say walking but since you have a Peloton, start there. Take beginner rides. They have awesome other classes (strength, yoga, pilates, barre and more) and have plenty of beginner classes. And you already have access to them!

I'll try. I haven't ridden it because when I brought it home I climbed on and found it incredibly uncomfortable to sit on and kind of gave up.

That will pass. Trust me. Give it time. You can also get some cycling shorts or bib shorts on Amazon for relatively cheap.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

Jogging right away will just cause back pain and joint pain and lead to quitting. incline walking is good. But really, plain old walking is the cornerstone of fitness for every human!

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I’d start with a diet and walking. Once you lose weight it will be easier to add other exercise in.

Yes but strength training needs to be part of your routine. It will keep you from losing muscle. Honestly I put it about weight loss.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

Weight loss is calorie deficit, full stop. There is zero need to run. I agree on the weights but they should be heavy.

OP, start with walking. If you can hire a personal trainer to show you proper form, start lifting. At 50 it’s critical. And increase your protein.

[Anonymous]

Op a repeated theme in your comments is you’re a quitter. You quit walking because it wasn’t working fast enough. Quit peloton because the seat was uncomfortable. Quit multiple personal trainers. Your biggest challenge is not going to be finding the magical workout. It’s going to be not quitting- you have to continue doing it even if it isn’t comfortable or fun or fast. If you can manage that, you’ll get somewhere.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Please ignore the walking advice. You will never get inshape simply by walking. Add 10 to 30 second busts of jogging into your Walks. Do 4 minutes of walk and then a short burst of jog. Cycle through this until you can hold the jog for 30 seconds.
After you find this more comfortable, make every other burst an "all out" sprint. If you can do just 5 seconds, do 5. But cycle up over weeks until you get to 30 seconds

Add light dumbell compound exercises 2twice a week.
Keep going.
Your body will make changes to handle the additional demands you put on it over time.

OP, please do not start with this person's suggestions.

People who have not done exercise in a while need to start somewhere. For an out-of-shape person in their 50s to start, they aren't going to start with even intermittent jogging, especially at this time of year with the heat the way it is outside. That's a good way for this person to get a quick trip to the emergency room. Between the heat, and the exertion that their body is not used to, they might get light-headed, might have heart palpitations and a number of other issues that come up.

Walking is a great way to start and ease yourself into exercise when you haven't done any for many years. She should start walking, first shorter, then slowly longer walks. When she has acclimated herself to longer walks of at least 30 minutes, and when the temperatures start coming back down, she can try what you suggest, but what you propose is a bad way to start cold turkey for someone who has gone for many years without exercise.

OP here. I can definitely manage a 30 minute walk, or even much longer (well, maybe not in this heat).

Try to include some hills.

[Anonymous]

Personally I love Pilates reformer. Exercise while I’m lying down? Yes please! You don’t have to worry about comparing your performance to anyone else’s- everyone is lying down on her own machine. You’ll start to build muscle and flexibility throughout your body.
Good luck!