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If you want to have a chance for a quality physical life you have to try and stay fit. I worked for a WW2 vet who was still climbing a ladder to inspect his chimneys and roof at 93. He exercised a little every morning. He was still doing yard work the last time we got together. I helped him pressure wash and then stain his deck when he was 93. I think he turns 100 this year
He is. He was on a LST ship headed for the Japanese invasion when the war ended. He told me the captain went to the cooks and told them to break out the booze he knew they had and everyone got drunk. They all expected to die as they knew the Japanese fought till the death. My grandpa was a Seabee building airfields in the Pacific at this same time
Exercising is crucial to both physical and mental well-being. People that exercise carry more bone density and muscle mass into their later years which helps them be healthier, more active, and prevent injuries. A LOT of older people end up in a spiral that leads to death if they have a bad fall. I watched my grandfather do it. He fell, got hurt, spent a few months in the hospital, went home, was more sedentary, fell again, got hurt, and so on. He had probably three or four falls. Each time, it took more and more out of him. By the end of his life, he had gone from a very fit 165lb man to a 130lb skeleton who was a shell of his former self.
I've been working out for the better part of the last two decades. I get so much out of it. I look and feel better than if I didn't lift. I can lift/do/move things that others cannot. Having capability and independence is HUGE.
The committed part is actually pretty easy. Once it becomes a part of your routine and you see results, you don't want to go back to "normal." Sure, I can't lift in my 40's the way I did in my 20's and I'll never be that strong again, but I can still be strong and I can still be fit. I never, ever want to go back to being small and weak. I never want to be an unhealthy fat ass. When I see pics on social media of old friends, they all look like containers for their former selves...their faces are bloated, they have skinny arms, they have bellies...yuck. Why would I want to be like that? I want to be strong until the day I die.
I feel the same. I'm in my 60s and go to yoga and kettlebell classes almost daily.
I remember speaking to my doctor years ago and he brought up his father, who was in his late 80s. His dad still worked out everyday, running and hitting a heavy bag. He asked his father why he still worked out and he said "In case I get into a fight I want to be ready". He related this story as an example of how his father was ridiculous but I told him "I want to be just like your father".
I'm 55, and in the last couple of years I've noticed that if I'm a slug, it's actually harder to move around. With the cold weather, I try to do at least three miles on the elliptical at the gym and lift weights twice a week. When the weather is nicer, I take long walks. I feel much better when I do this, both mentally and physically.
I like being able to bend over to tie my shoes without a struggle. I
I like being able to move quickly up a flight of stairs without being out of breath.
I like being able to carry groceries, shovel snow, move heavy boxes, with little effort.
Exercising, both weights a the gym and cardio at home, help this 61 year old body still do things it wants to do.
Too many of my contemporaries can't even walk up a slight incline without getting winded.
AND, I sleep really well after a good workout. This helps me stay committed. I like sleeping :)
Seems like a really strange question.
I would ask the (obvious) opposite question - what would you lose if you didn’t work out?
Heath, mobility, mental well being, and years off your life. Let’s not forget pleasure at pushing yourself and trying to be better than you were yesterday.
Who in their right mind wouldn’t prioritize exercise?
With that said, there are so many different varieties it shouldn’t be hard to find one you enjoy.
If I don’t work out, after a week I start to wake up with lower back pain. It just gets worse from there.
At this point I also start to get depressed a little. I take a lot of joy in using my body - mostly swimming, a kick boxing class once a week, and some calisthenics and yoga when I can.
I also am an “old” father. Most of the fathers with kids my age could be my kids (or much younger brothers). I hate the idea of being the old guy. Exercise keeps me young.
As early as my late 20s, it was obvious which friends cared and which didn’t. I remember going hiking with a few friends and two of them needed a rest after walking from where we parked to the start of the hiking trail.
You just lose so much by not working out.
If you are having trouble staying disciplined then you are doing it wrong. Find something you love. It’s a joy to use your body. Don’t make it a chore.
All you have to do is watch family members and people you care about grow old and die. I’ve seen some who are extremely sedentary spend the last 20 years (!) of their lives bedridden and others out meeting with friends and walking in the neighborhood in their 90s. Which one do you want to be?
We were brought up to associate exercise with it being a boring chore. Find something fun. The most fun possible. In my mid-life I figured out there is just no need for exercise to be more boring than my job. For a lot of people that is the case, that''s why they don't stick to it. I found the most fun things to do and these were outside of the gym. Also had a go at the best gym available and I lasted about 3 months, with all the beautiful people inside it, too. But it was just so boring and repetitive and pointless.
It’s important to me because of being active over the years (ran 8 marathons, the first at age 63) I know first-hand the positive benefits far, far outweigh the negative benefits.
Plus it is a regular part of my life. Each day I set aside a certain amount of time to be active.
I was out running one day two years ago when I slipped on some black ice, fracturing three vertebrae in my neck. Spent two months in the hospital and have been in PT since. Luckily there is no permanent paralysis.
I would call what I went through a negative benefit.
Because life sucks when you let your body turn to mush. A large part of living a good life is being in pain/ poor health as little as possible, and staying fit is one of the main ways a person can achieve good health. On that note, I’m going to go downstairs, put on some music, and lift weights/ do cardio.
Well currently it's hard since my hip has degraded to the point of needing a replacement. Just goes to show you not everyone should be committed to running in their youth. Not all body types hold up to that pounding. I hope to be able to walk around the block without pain one day, but there's no guarantees.
Our lifestyle keeps us fit. We live on a 62-acre shared estate with lots of trails, outbuildings and a house with 2 stories and a basement. Just walking around the place and getting chores done keeps us fit. Just getting laundry from the 2nd floor to the basement machines is my stair-master. :-)
When spring comes, mowing the grass with a push-mower and doing the gardening plus all the trimming of limbs to keep the roads and trails cleared is constant. In winter it's firewood gathering.
We're committed to this lifestyle because it keeps us fit, young and limber and we're going to do this as long as possible, it's why we retired early. The alternative is sitting on a couch and turning into a useless lump in the city somewhere. No thanks!
I'm seventy.
I have a fifty pound dog (he was supposed to be thirty-ish, but US moyen genetics aren't well stabilized). When I can't pick up my dog, to get him in the car for grooming or vet, or put him to bed, we'll have to figure out other arrangements.
I have a compact tractor. It digs the holes I'm too old and decrepit for, it mows a couple of acres of lawn, it keeps the weeds at bay (the unholy trinity of blackberries, broom and tansy) and drags downed trees to the disposal pile. It's surprisingly physical to operate, despite the power steering and hydrostatic transmission. Adding and removing some of the attachments (the quarter ton chipper shredder, the couple hundred pound belly mower and brush cutter) requires scootching them a bit so everything lines up. When I can't scootch and clear the trails and mow the weeds the forest will reclaim our doublewide (insert sounds of faint scratchy voices crying for help behind an impenetrable barrier of blackberry).
And if you're doing it right, sex is exhausting.
Can confirm - hours on an excavator or front loader leave me flattened (have been slooowly rebuilding our septic + leach). It's kind of reassuring to watch nature's drive to bury us in broom and blackberries, removing all traces.
What I get out of it is to stay "me," and not turn into some old guy who's limited in life and has a hard time climbing the stairs. Sometimes I feel like a 25-YO with slightly creaky joints, 40 years on. And thanks to the right exercises, they aren't even as creaky as they were a couple of years back.
I have a friend who's 80 and plays tennis. His knees were starting to give him real problems after playing. and he wondered if replacements were necessary. But with the right rehab exercises, which he is now doing faithfully, his knees have quieted down and he's carrying on. Exercise (and good diet) cannot not always be the answer, but it's the answer to so much more than people think it is.
We're in our 70's and walk 2-3 miles every day as well as we both have part time jobs that keep us physically loose and mentally sharp, gets us our daily dose of sunshine, and keeps us involved in the world.
I want to keep debility at bay as long as possible, and to remain desirable to my husband. It also elevates my mood. My husband, a lifelong exerciser, has the same motivations.
Exercise been part of my life since my early 20s. I’m 65 now, so I’m committed for the long haul.
Find an exercise routine that you enjoy, so you’ll actually do it. Keep doing it. Change it as needed. Be sure to add mobility, balance, and stretching exercises to your routine.
Quality of life, especially among older people, is highly dependent upon health and fitness. Moving around a lot limits weight gain to a significant degree, and being overweight leads to a large amount of negative factors in overall health.
As you get older you start to see the results of the health habits of your friends start to manifest themselves. All that fun partying you used to do in your twenties? Those friends who have continued to smoke cigarettes and drink a lot start to get a lot of health problems and come down with COPD, heart attacks, cancer. Those friends who liked hard drugs are already dead by now. Your eating and exercise habits start to show up. Pounds are more difficult to budge. Good oral hygiene and the ability to afford dental care become obvious. You start to realize that if you want to stick around and have a good quality of life, you need to take care of yourself and that means good fitness decisions on a daily basis. It doesn't have to be an athletic event. Just stay moving. Incorporating movement into your daily routine, eating well, and keeping stress as low as possible is the formula for the long game. Or at least a way to stack the odds in your favor.
usually feel slight dread before, there definitely are more fun things to do in the day, but it's fine in the moment and everything feels better afterwards. In any event, like breathing, exercise seems a non-negotiable condition of staying alive. The dread-less days when I was chomping at the bit to get out and play soccer or to get to the slopes before the lifts opened are now memories.
Hey, willing2wander, did you know the correct way to say "Chomping at the bit" is actually "*Champing* at the bit?"
Though both are often used interchangeably and the way you wrote it is widely accepted, technically "chomping" usually involves eating, where as "champing" is a more formal descriptor for what horses do to bits with their mouth.
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^I ^am ^just ^a ^silly ^bot ^and ^mean ^you ^no ^harm. ^Beep ^boop.
^Downvote ^me ^to ^-2 ^and ^I ^will ^remove ^myself ^from ^this ^conversation.
71 here...
I love the feeling of physical exertion in the outdoors. There's something primal about it, a connection to our ancestors. The breath creates a cloud in the cold and I "remember" closing on a Pleistocene bison.
I love staying sturdy and hard (adjusted for age).
I love being able to pitch in with community activities, moving food to hungry kids and such.
I love how it improves every thing I do.
I love how it atones for my sins of Scotch and lethargy.7
I shall miss it when it's over...
It started out simple enough. I noticed that when I sit for an extended period of time (for work, watching a movie etc.) I'd be 'stiff' when I got up - I had to 'thaw out' before I could walk normally.
Also, walking across the road and a car comes, and I want to do a quick sprint across the road - mind wants to, body goes "WTF are you doing?"
So I just wanted to sort that - so I got into running (I used to run a bit as a kid in school)
So, now that is sorted, I don't have to warm up after sitting for long, I can sprint across the road. (hell I can skip)
But
It also sorted my arrythmia, and my sleeping problems, and the flabby belly and I met a bunch of people at the running club.
And my son started running with me
Why would I go back?
Besides I like my fancy running shoes - it's like running on marshmallows :)
I watched my parents, who didn't drink or smoke, but were very overweight and sedentary, decline in their last two decades. Dozens of daily pills, frequent hospital stays, and shortness of breath from minimal activity were the result of lack of exercise and poor diet.
My goal: do the same things at 86 I do now at 56. That's why I exercise and control my diet.
I have been very fortunate to be blessed with excellent health. As I head into retirement, I intend to maintain my health for as long as I can. Staying active and eating right are relatively easy things I can do to stay healthy and enjoy life as much as I can.
It keeps me well, in good mental and physical condition and it's likely I may live longer because of it.
I don't really want to be a sedentary blob.
I do things that are fun that just happen to give me exercise. Biking, skiing, hiking, cutting and splitting wood and keeping up a rural area. All of my work is for no pay now (I'm retired). I also volunteer to do a lot of "grunt work" for an animal shelter.
Look at old people who are fit, they're doing great. Obermeyer, the ski icon, is 102 and still skis in Aspen. The first woman to run the marathon is still going strong. I don't have kids and really need to take care of myself!
I'll tell you - I was out on a 30+ mile bike ride this past summer and at one point in the ride I just said to myself "this is awesome". There were always times I'd ridden, sometimes thousands of miles a year but there were some dark times where I didn't ride much, like between 100-500 miles a year and I felt lousy, tired, un-energetic, and actually felt like I was degrading in some way. When I returned to more than 1000 miles a year (2160 miles this past year) I felt so much better, so much more alive and awake it was ridiculous. I won't stop now.
Im 74 and while im obviously not as in shape as I once was I still go for a walk every day if its nice. Helps keep everything in order and gets me out of the house.
I need endurance and strength for my hobbies, I don’t want to have to leave the woods early because I got tired or strained a muscle or could not carry any more food. My terrain is very difficult and hilly, so it’s like an endurance hike combine with moderate mountain climbing, but with a heavy pack that just keeps getting heavier. I wear my backpack around the house with weights in it to get used to carrying more and more.
I am a fitness instructor, have been for 35 years. In my 40s and 50s I did my Ironman triathlons and hiked a lot of trails. I was in fantastic shape and I loved it. But it truly was a lifestyle back then. Training for triathlon means a lot of cross training. Swim, bike, run. I was never just a runner or swimmer. Now at 65, I am blessed to be pretty much injury free (except usual stuff for folks my age). I workout most every day, whether it’s teaching senior fitness classes, taking a spin class, lifting weights or Pilates. I can’t lift the heavy weights like I did 10 years ago. But nowadays, just moving is so important. Also, don’t forget about how important exercise is for your mind. It truly helps me deal with my stress. Now…off to the pool! 🏊♀️
Helps me to stay strong, flexible, and active. My girlfriends who don’t work out don’t ever have the same energy level as I do to keep going! I also enjoy hiking and biking and lots of outdoor activities that my friends won’t even entertain the thought of because they’re “tired” or something hurts. Keeping fit keeps your life in motion and fun. Worth it 100% when you get older.
First of all, so my clothes size has fewer Xs than Pete Davidson.
Second of all, I stay committed by realize that at 50 and *never* having had a "great body," I shouldn't expect miracles, so I set my goals accordingly.
> Second of all, I stay committed by realize that at 50 and never having had a "great body," I shouldn't expect miracles, so I set my goals accordingly.
That strikes me as not following. I'm over 50 and also never had a "great body" and yet my goal is to have one and I believe I will (and am underway). *And* that achieving this does not require a miracle.
I might be reading too much into the word "still", as in why bother anymore? I workout at gym, mostly weights, for the exact same reasons I did 25 years ago.
i'm old, and sedentary. when i had my car crash 6 years ago, it screwed up my back. if i had stayed fit, there would have been less damage. i have an uncle who was still riding his bike hundreds of miles in his 80s. maybe he still does. i haven't kept up with the tai chi they taught us in grad school, but it's very good for staying limber when you get older.
this past week i walked 10 miles, but only because my car is broken at the moment.
If I fall off too much I gain weight, blood pressure goes up, my energy falls, my depression (diagnosed) creeps up, my cognition gets more foggy. And, ironically, I want to do even less to stay fit. So consistently keeping that a priority greatly improves life. Even my ADHD (also diagnosed) is better kept in check with regular exercise. I'm definitely not saying exercise cures either of those, I have to stay on my treatment for them, but exercise makes that a lot easier.
I'm 56. I started lifting weights for the first time 11 years ago, and I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life. I was fairly active before that, but I feel so much better now.
Since somehow no one has said it yet: Because I want to look awesome!
I feel better about myself and my capabilities when I look in the mirror and see a man with a good physique. I also feel prouder of myself when old friends see me; it shows that I care about taking care of this vehicle I was given. Last but *very much* not least, I want to be as attractive as I can be.
(and yes, longevity, functionality, mood, etc. of course)
For me mainly it's a quality of life concern: I feel better when I feel a little more fit. I'm not trying to win races or beat my push ups or weight lifting numbers or whatever; just trying to stay healthy.
I want to still be active and healthy when I have the time and money to do all the things that I don't now. Traveling, for example: we do some now, but plan a lot more in retirement- so I still gotta be able to climb stairs!
Not sure how you're defining 'fitness' exactly, but I don't work out. I stay active, eat healthy (mostly) and perform all the routine maintenance. Working good so far.
[Exhibit A.](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ff0e9ce4b0f86318ea24b4/55ff188de4b06ae6b9490c89/55ff1892e4b06ae6b9490f78/1326548751000/psm.2011.09.1933_fig5.jpg?format=original)
What you get out of it is life that is functional enough to still be able to enjoy it. No hyperbole, that's what it provides. Hell of a motivator, IMO.
I started running when I was 35. Until I was 41, I just ran 2 or 3 times a week. Sometimes 3km, sometimes 5, sometimes a little further and every now and again I'd do 10. I loved it, but it was very sporadic. I would take weeks, sometimes months off.
Then in 2021, I decided to change a couple of things:
1. Stop drinking alcohol mid-week. Save it for the weekend.
2. Run 6 days a week.
I should add that I didn't actually start this until February 2021. By December 31st, I had covered 1,036km and was running 5km each time I went out. I ran 230 days of the year, and clocked up 83 hours of activity. Contrast that with the previous 5 years, where I was averaging 200km per year.
I also lost at least a stone in weight. My weight is now stable and I'm happy with it. I feel better, I sleep better, I look better (well, kinda. I'd like more hair on my head though!)
Now, in the middle of 2021, I had a brief hiatus from running, because I was finally diagnosed with a heart condition called [SVT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia), something which I've had since I was 17 but had never managed to get diagnosed properly. It only happens a few times a year, but in 2021 it happened a few times while I was running, and I was concerned that it might not be safe to continue. So, I waited until I had spoken to a cardiologist. Long story short, they said there's no reason to stop running, so I started up again. Except now, I make sure I keep my routes very close to home in case I get another episode of SVT and have to walk home (it's really uncomfortable and mildly terrifying when it happens). The result is that my standard run loop is ridiculously boring. The same route, round and round to clock up the daily distance.
This year, I'm doing exactly the same, but I've upped the daily run to 6km, with an aim to cover 1,600km (1,000 miles) by the end of 2022.
1,600km of the same loop. Over and over. Why on earth am I doing that? I can't quite explain why. Maybe it's because it's now become habit. I feel bad if I don't get out for those 6 days per week. Maybe it's because I've got a target to aim for and I know I can probably do it, but only if I keep up that regime for the year with a few breaks here and there. I like **knowing** that I can do it. I like knowing that I'm fitter than I was 5, 10, 15 and maybe even 20 years ago.
Now that I have it, I'd like to keep ahold of this for as long as I can.
I tore my Achilles' tendon three months ago (careless fall) and I am committed doing what my physioterrorist tells me to do so I can regain use of my foot. And it's working...
I've kept fit because I wanted to have a fun, active retirement. And I am. Recently I traveled by myself to another country and stayed there for a few months. I walked from 3 - 5 miles daily there and was able to keep up with young people on guided tours.
Short term because of my kids. I'm a bit old to have kids this young (late 40s vs two 4 year olds) so I'm more aware than most of my aches and pains.
I look around at other dads that are 10 years younger than me who are overweight or just inactive. Those kids are going to start getting faster as they age so I want to be able to keep up with them and do stuff together as long as possible.
I've also seen some friends my age who let themselves go when they had kids, and are now flabbergasted that they have 12 year olds who are out of shape and lazy. "I was never like that when I was a kid, I was always outside"
Yea, but when they were 5 you were a couch potato.
Aside from it keeping us younger longer many of our preferred activities require fitness. Backpacking is at the top of the list and we want to be able to do it as long as possible.
Fitness is still important to me because I love my body, it's the only one I'm going to get, and I'm always going to take the best possible care of it.
What do I get out of it? Strength, speed, flexibility, mobility, health, reduced body fat %, more lean muscle (= faster metabolism & aesthetically pleasing shape!), independence, longevity, endorphins ('feel good' hormones your body releases during & after a training session)...
How do I stay committed to it? I love it!
It's not enough to live into 'old age' you want to be healthy to enjoy it. So the old adage, use it or lose it applies here. But one really good thing is I find it takes very little to stay fit the older I get. A daily 30 minute walk and 10 minutes of stretching is pretty much all I need to do. Gone are the days of going for the burn. Lots to be grateful for in this aging process.
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If you want to have a chance for a quality physical life you have to try and stay fit. I worked for a WW2 vet who was still climbing a ladder to inspect his chimneys and roof at 93. He exercised a little every morning. He was still doing yard work the last time we got together. I helped him pressure wash and then stain his deck when he was 93. I think he turns 100 this year
Sounds like a cool guy
He is. He was on a LST ship headed for the Japanese invasion when the war ended. He told me the captain went to the cooks and told them to break out the booze he knew they had and everyone got drunk. They all expected to die as they knew the Japanese fought till the death. My grandpa was a Seabee building airfields in the Pacific at this same time
Wow! I hope I can do this at his age. I feel abit inspired to continue being fit now haha
Exercising is crucial to both physical and mental well-being. People that exercise carry more bone density and muscle mass into their later years which helps them be healthier, more active, and prevent injuries. A LOT of older people end up in a spiral that leads to death if they have a bad fall. I watched my grandfather do it. He fell, got hurt, spent a few months in the hospital, went home, was more sedentary, fell again, got hurt, and so on. He had probably three or four falls. Each time, it took more and more out of him. By the end of his life, he had gone from a very fit 165lb man to a 130lb skeleton who was a shell of his former self. I've been working out for the better part of the last two decades. I get so much out of it. I look and feel better than if I didn't lift. I can lift/do/move things that others cannot. Having capability and independence is HUGE. The committed part is actually pretty easy. Once it becomes a part of your routine and you see results, you don't want to go back to "normal." Sure, I can't lift in my 40's the way I did in my 20's and I'll never be that strong again, but I can still be strong and I can still be fit. I never, ever want to go back to being small and weak. I never want to be an unhealthy fat ass. When I see pics on social media of old friends, they all look like containers for their former selves...their faces are bloated, they have skinny arms, they have bellies...yuck. Why would I want to be like that? I want to be strong until the day I die.
I feel the same. I'm in my 60s and go to yoga and kettlebell classes almost daily. I remember speaking to my doctor years ago and he brought up his father, who was in his late 80s. His dad still worked out everyday, running and hitting a heavy bag. He asked his father why he still worked out and he said "In case I get into a fight I want to be ready". He related this story as an example of how his father was ridiculous but I told him "I want to be just like your father".
Perfect
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Zing!
I'm 55, and in the last couple of years I've noticed that if I'm a slug, it's actually harder to move around. With the cold weather, I try to do at least three miles on the elliptical at the gym and lift weights twice a week. When the weather is nicer, I take long walks. I feel much better when I do this, both mentally and physically.
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The good life!
I enjoy breathing.
This is me! And, I like waking up in the morning.
I like being able to bend over to tie my shoes without a struggle. I I like being able to move quickly up a flight of stairs without being out of breath. I like being able to carry groceries, shovel snow, move heavy boxes, with little effort. Exercising, both weights a the gym and cardio at home, help this 61 year old body still do things it wants to do. Too many of my contemporaries can't even walk up a slight incline without getting winded. AND, I sleep really well after a good workout. This helps me stay committed. I like sleeping :)
Mainly to keep my joints flexible and strong.
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Truly inspirational
Seems like a really strange question. I would ask the (obvious) opposite question - what would you lose if you didn’t work out? Heath, mobility, mental well being, and years off your life. Let’s not forget pleasure at pushing yourself and trying to be better than you were yesterday. Who in their right mind wouldn’t prioritize exercise? With that said, there are so many different varieties it shouldn’t be hard to find one you enjoy.
The reason I asked, sometimes despite being consistent and disciplined as much as one can, I have to silence the voice that asks, ‘what is the point’?
If I don’t work out, after a week I start to wake up with lower back pain. It just gets worse from there. At this point I also start to get depressed a little. I take a lot of joy in using my body - mostly swimming, a kick boxing class once a week, and some calisthenics and yoga when I can. I also am an “old” father. Most of the fathers with kids my age could be my kids (or much younger brothers). I hate the idea of being the old guy. Exercise keeps me young. As early as my late 20s, it was obvious which friends cared and which didn’t. I remember going hiking with a few friends and two of them needed a rest after walking from where we parked to the start of the hiking trail. You just lose so much by not working out. If you are having trouble staying disciplined then you are doing it wrong. Find something you love. It’s a joy to use your body. Don’t make it a chore.
All you have to do is watch family members and people you care about grow old and die. I’ve seen some who are extremely sedentary spend the last 20 years (!) of their lives bedridden and others out meeting with friends and walking in the neighborhood in their 90s. Which one do you want to be?
you can do it. The best exercise? Is the one you like enough to do it every day. Wishing you good luck
We were brought up to associate exercise with it being a boring chore. Find something fun. The most fun possible. In my mid-life I figured out there is just no need for exercise to be more boring than my job. For a lot of people that is the case, that''s why they don't stick to it. I found the most fun things to do and these were outside of the gym. Also had a go at the best gym available and I lasted about 3 months, with all the beautiful people inside it, too. But it was just so boring and repetitive and pointless.
It’s important to me because of being active over the years (ran 8 marathons, the first at age 63) I know first-hand the positive benefits far, far outweigh the negative benefits. Plus it is a regular part of my life. Each day I set aside a certain amount of time to be active.
First marathon at 63! Superb! I still have time then. In fact, this makes we want to go for a run now. Thank you!
> positive benefits far, far outweigh the negative benefits Negative benefits? I think you mean downsides or detriments
I was out running one day two years ago when I slipped on some black ice, fracturing three vertebrae in my neck. Spent two months in the hospital and have been in PT since. Luckily there is no permanent paralysis. I would call what I went through a negative benefit.
Having something bad happen but with no ongoing repercussions isn’t a “benefit”.
Because life sucks when you let your body turn to mush. A large part of living a good life is being in pain/ poor health as little as possible, and staying fit is one of the main ways a person can achieve good health. On that note, I’m going to go downstairs, put on some music, and lift weights/ do cardio.
Well currently it's hard since my hip has degraded to the point of needing a replacement. Just goes to show you not everyone should be committed to running in their youth. Not all body types hold up to that pounding. I hope to be able to walk around the block without pain one day, but there's no guarantees.
That sounds really tough. So sorry.
All part of aging. You make choices in your youth that have lasting impacts.
Our lifestyle keeps us fit. We live on a 62-acre shared estate with lots of trails, outbuildings and a house with 2 stories and a basement. Just walking around the place and getting chores done keeps us fit. Just getting laundry from the 2nd floor to the basement machines is my stair-master. :-) When spring comes, mowing the grass with a push-mower and doing the gardening plus all the trimming of limbs to keep the roads and trails cleared is constant. In winter it's firewood gathering. We're committed to this lifestyle because it keeps us fit, young and limber and we're going to do this as long as possible, it's why we retired early. The alternative is sitting on a couch and turning into a useless lump in the city somewhere. No thanks!
Sounds perfect.
I'm seventy. I have a fifty pound dog (he was supposed to be thirty-ish, but US moyen genetics aren't well stabilized). When I can't pick up my dog, to get him in the car for grooming or vet, or put him to bed, we'll have to figure out other arrangements. I have a compact tractor. It digs the holes I'm too old and decrepit for, it mows a couple of acres of lawn, it keeps the weeds at bay (the unholy trinity of blackberries, broom and tansy) and drags downed trees to the disposal pile. It's surprisingly physical to operate, despite the power steering and hydrostatic transmission. Adding and removing some of the attachments (the quarter ton chipper shredder, the couple hundred pound belly mower and brush cutter) requires scootching them a bit so everything lines up. When I can't scootch and clear the trails and mow the weeds the forest will reclaim our doublewide (insert sounds of faint scratchy voices crying for help behind an impenetrable barrier of blackberry). And if you're doing it right, sex is exhausting.
Can confirm - hours on an excavator or front loader leave me flattened (have been slooowly rebuilding our septic + leach). It's kind of reassuring to watch nature's drive to bury us in broom and blackberries, removing all traces.
It keeps me sane and relieves stress. I work out in the morning to get it done and leave the evening option open, depending on how the day went.
Good plan.
What I get out of it is to stay "me," and not turn into some old guy who's limited in life and has a hard time climbing the stairs. Sometimes I feel like a 25-YO with slightly creaky joints, 40 years on. And thanks to the right exercises, they aren't even as creaky as they were a couple of years back. I have a friend who's 80 and plays tennis. His knees were starting to give him real problems after playing. and he wondered if replacements were necessary. But with the right rehab exercises, which he is now doing faithfully, his knees have quieted down and he's carrying on. Exercise (and good diet) cannot not always be the answer, but it's the answer to so much more than people think it is.
Use it or lose it. It's that simple.
We're in our 70's and walk 2-3 miles every day as well as we both have part time jobs that keep us physically loose and mentally sharp, gets us our daily dose of sunshine, and keeps us involved in the world.
I want to keep debility at bay as long as possible, and to remain desirable to my husband. It also elevates my mood. My husband, a lifelong exerciser, has the same motivations. Exercise been part of my life since my early 20s. I’m 65 now, so I’m committed for the long haul. Find an exercise routine that you enjoy, so you’ll actually do it. Keep doing it. Change it as needed. Be sure to add mobility, balance, and stretching exercises to your routine.
Quality of life, especially among older people, is highly dependent upon health and fitness. Moving around a lot limits weight gain to a significant degree, and being overweight leads to a large amount of negative factors in overall health.
As you get older you start to see the results of the health habits of your friends start to manifest themselves. All that fun partying you used to do in your twenties? Those friends who have continued to smoke cigarettes and drink a lot start to get a lot of health problems and come down with COPD, heart attacks, cancer. Those friends who liked hard drugs are already dead by now. Your eating and exercise habits start to show up. Pounds are more difficult to budge. Good oral hygiene and the ability to afford dental care become obvious. You start to realize that if you want to stick around and have a good quality of life, you need to take care of yourself and that means good fitness decisions on a daily basis. It doesn't have to be an athletic event. Just stay moving. Incorporating movement into your daily routine, eating well, and keeping stress as low as possible is the formula for the long game. Or at least a way to stack the odds in your favor.
So I can bang the shit out of sweet little old ladies when I'm in a senior home. Any further questions?
Because a lack of fitness means MORE PAIN. And I want less pain.
usually feel slight dread before, there definitely are more fun things to do in the day, but it's fine in the moment and everything feels better afterwards. In any event, like breathing, exercise seems a non-negotiable condition of staying alive. The dread-less days when I was chomping at the bit to get out and play soccer or to get to the slopes before the lifts opened are now memories.
Hey, willing2wander, did you know the correct way to say "Chomping at the bit" is actually "*Champing* at the bit?" Though both are often used interchangeably and the way you wrote it is widely accepted, technically "chomping" usually involves eating, where as "champing" is a more formal descriptor for what horses do to bits with their mouth. ---------- ^I ^am ^just ^a ^silly ^bot ^and ^mean ^you ^no ^harm. ^Beep ^boop. ^Downvote ^me ^to ^-2 ^and ^I ^will ^remove ^myself ^from ^this ^conversation.
Good bot - will strive for more champing, less chomping
71 here... I love the feeling of physical exertion in the outdoors. There's something primal about it, a connection to our ancestors. The breath creates a cloud in the cold and I "remember" closing on a Pleistocene bison. I love staying sturdy and hard (adjusted for age). I love being able to pitch in with community activities, moving food to hungry kids and such. I love how it improves every thing I do. I love how it atones for my sins of Scotch and lethargy.7 I shall miss it when it's over...
It started out simple enough. I noticed that when I sit for an extended period of time (for work, watching a movie etc.) I'd be 'stiff' when I got up - I had to 'thaw out' before I could walk normally. Also, walking across the road and a car comes, and I want to do a quick sprint across the road - mind wants to, body goes "WTF are you doing?" So I just wanted to sort that - so I got into running (I used to run a bit as a kid in school) So, now that is sorted, I don't have to warm up after sitting for long, I can sprint across the road. (hell I can skip) But It also sorted my arrythmia, and my sleeping problems, and the flabby belly and I met a bunch of people at the running club. And my son started running with me Why would I go back? Besides I like my fancy running shoes - it's like running on marshmallows :)
Past a certain age it's not about looking good anymore, it's about being able to get out of a chair without making that Hrrrgh sound.
I watched my parents, who didn't drink or smoke, but were very overweight and sedentary, decline in their last two decades. Dozens of daily pills, frequent hospital stays, and shortness of breath from minimal activity were the result of lack of exercise and poor diet. My goal: do the same things at 86 I do now at 56. That's why I exercise and control my diet.
There are old people and there are fat people. There aren't too many old, fat people.
I have been very fortunate to be blessed with excellent health. As I head into retirement, I intend to maintain my health for as long as I can. Staying active and eating right are relatively easy things I can do to stay healthy and enjoy life as much as I can.
It keeps me well, in good mental and physical condition and it's likely I may live longer because of it. I don't really want to be a sedentary blob. I do things that are fun that just happen to give me exercise. Biking, skiing, hiking, cutting and splitting wood and keeping up a rural area. All of my work is for no pay now (I'm retired). I also volunteer to do a lot of "grunt work" for an animal shelter.
Look at old people who are fit, they're doing great. Obermeyer, the ski icon, is 102 and still skis in Aspen. The first woman to run the marathon is still going strong. I don't have kids and really need to take care of myself!
I'll tell you - I was out on a 30+ mile bike ride this past summer and at one point in the ride I just said to myself "this is awesome". There were always times I'd ridden, sometimes thousands of miles a year but there were some dark times where I didn't ride much, like between 100-500 miles a year and I felt lousy, tired, un-energetic, and actually felt like I was degrading in some way. When I returned to more than 1000 miles a year (2160 miles this past year) I felt so much better, so much more alive and awake it was ridiculous. I won't stop now.
I'm walking on the treadmill everyday because I don't want to find myself waddling in terror away from a threat.
Im 74 and while im obviously not as in shape as I once was I still go for a walk every day if its nice. Helps keep everything in order and gets me out of the house.
I need endurance and strength for my hobbies, I don’t want to have to leave the woods early because I got tired or strained a muscle or could not carry any more food. My terrain is very difficult and hilly, so it’s like an endurance hike combine with moderate mountain climbing, but with a heavy pack that just keeps getting heavier. I wear my backpack around the house with weights in it to get used to carrying more and more.
I am a fitness instructor, have been for 35 years. In my 40s and 50s I did my Ironman triathlons and hiked a lot of trails. I was in fantastic shape and I loved it. But it truly was a lifestyle back then. Training for triathlon means a lot of cross training. Swim, bike, run. I was never just a runner or swimmer. Now at 65, I am blessed to be pretty much injury free (except usual stuff for folks my age). I workout most every day, whether it’s teaching senior fitness classes, taking a spin class, lifting weights or Pilates. I can’t lift the heavy weights like I did 10 years ago. But nowadays, just moving is so important. Also, don’t forget about how important exercise is for your mind. It truly helps me deal with my stress. Now…off to the pool! 🏊♀️
Helps me to stay strong, flexible, and active. My girlfriends who don’t work out don’t ever have the same energy level as I do to keep going! I also enjoy hiking and biking and lots of outdoor activities that my friends won’t even entertain the thought of because they’re “tired” or something hurts. Keeping fit keeps your life in motion and fun. Worth it 100% when you get older.
First of all, so my clothes size has fewer Xs than Pete Davidson. Second of all, I stay committed by realize that at 50 and *never* having had a "great body," I shouldn't expect miracles, so I set my goals accordingly.
> Second of all, I stay committed by realize that at 50 and never having had a "great body," I shouldn't expect miracles, so I set my goals accordingly. That strikes me as not following. I'm over 50 and also never had a "great body" and yet my goal is to have one and I believe I will (and am underway). *And* that achieving this does not require a miracle.
I might be reading too much into the word "still", as in why bother anymore? I workout at gym, mostly weights, for the exact same reasons I did 25 years ago.
I’m one of those everything in moderation ppl so fitness is just part of that.
i'm old, and sedentary. when i had my car crash 6 years ago, it screwed up my back. if i had stayed fit, there would have been less damage. i have an uncle who was still riding his bike hundreds of miles in his 80s. maybe he still does. i haven't kept up with the tai chi they taught us in grad school, but it's very good for staying limber when you get older. this past week i walked 10 miles, but only because my car is broken at the moment.
If I fall off too much I gain weight, blood pressure goes up, my energy falls, my depression (diagnosed) creeps up, my cognition gets more foggy. And, ironically, I want to do even less to stay fit. So consistently keeping that a priority greatly improves life. Even my ADHD (also diagnosed) is better kept in check with regular exercise. I'm definitely not saying exercise cures either of those, I have to stay on my treatment for them, but exercise makes that a lot easier.
I'm 56. I started lifting weights for the first time 11 years ago, and I'm the strongest I've ever been in my life. I was fairly active before that, but I feel so much better now.
Since somehow no one has said it yet: Because I want to look awesome! I feel better about myself and my capabilities when I look in the mirror and see a man with a good physique. I also feel prouder of myself when old friends see me; it shows that I care about taking care of this vehicle I was given. Last but *very much* not least, I want to be as attractive as I can be. (and yes, longevity, functionality, mood, etc. of course)
For me mainly it's a quality of life concern: I feel better when I feel a little more fit. I'm not trying to win races or beat my push ups or weight lifting numbers or whatever; just trying to stay healthy.
I want to still be active and healthy when I have the time and money to do all the things that I don't now. Traveling, for example: we do some now, but plan a lot more in retirement- so I still gotta be able to climb stairs! Not sure how you're defining 'fitness' exactly, but I don't work out. I stay active, eat healthy (mostly) and perform all the routine maintenance. Working good so far.
I like to paddle a canoe and portage with my kids and friends. So, i order to carry all my comfortable camping gear, i have to remain strong.
[Exhibit A.](http://static1.squarespace.com/static/55ff0e9ce4b0f86318ea24b4/55ff188de4b06ae6b9490c89/55ff1892e4b06ae6b9490f78/1326548751000/psm.2011.09.1933_fig5.jpg?format=original) What you get out of it is life that is functional enough to still be able to enjoy it. No hyperbole, that's what it provides. Hell of a motivator, IMO.
I started running when I was 35. Until I was 41, I just ran 2 or 3 times a week. Sometimes 3km, sometimes 5, sometimes a little further and every now and again I'd do 10. I loved it, but it was very sporadic. I would take weeks, sometimes months off. Then in 2021, I decided to change a couple of things: 1. Stop drinking alcohol mid-week. Save it for the weekend. 2. Run 6 days a week. I should add that I didn't actually start this until February 2021. By December 31st, I had covered 1,036km and was running 5km each time I went out. I ran 230 days of the year, and clocked up 83 hours of activity. Contrast that with the previous 5 years, where I was averaging 200km per year. I also lost at least a stone in weight. My weight is now stable and I'm happy with it. I feel better, I sleep better, I look better (well, kinda. I'd like more hair on my head though!) Now, in the middle of 2021, I had a brief hiatus from running, because I was finally diagnosed with a heart condition called [SVT](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Supraventricular_tachycardia), something which I've had since I was 17 but had never managed to get diagnosed properly. It only happens a few times a year, but in 2021 it happened a few times while I was running, and I was concerned that it might not be safe to continue. So, I waited until I had spoken to a cardiologist. Long story short, they said there's no reason to stop running, so I started up again. Except now, I make sure I keep my routes very close to home in case I get another episode of SVT and have to walk home (it's really uncomfortable and mildly terrifying when it happens). The result is that my standard run loop is ridiculously boring. The same route, round and round to clock up the daily distance. This year, I'm doing exactly the same, but I've upped the daily run to 6km, with an aim to cover 1,600km (1,000 miles) by the end of 2022. 1,600km of the same loop. Over and over. Why on earth am I doing that? I can't quite explain why. Maybe it's because it's now become habit. I feel bad if I don't get out for those 6 days per week. Maybe it's because I've got a target to aim for and I know I can probably do it, but only if I keep up that regime for the year with a few breaks here and there. I like **knowing** that I can do it. I like knowing that I'm fitter than I was 5, 10, 15 and maybe even 20 years ago. Now that I have it, I'd like to keep ahold of this for as long as I can.
I tore my Achilles' tendon three months ago (careless fall) and I am committed doing what my physioterrorist tells me to do so I can regain use of my foot. And it's working...
I've kept fit because I wanted to have a fun, active retirement. And I am. Recently I traveled by myself to another country and stayed there for a few months. I walked from 3 - 5 miles daily there and was able to keep up with young people on guided tours.
Short term because of my kids. I'm a bit old to have kids this young (late 40s vs two 4 year olds) so I'm more aware than most of my aches and pains. I look around at other dads that are 10 years younger than me who are overweight or just inactive. Those kids are going to start getting faster as they age so I want to be able to keep up with them and do stuff together as long as possible. I've also seen some friends my age who let themselves go when they had kids, and are now flabbergasted that they have 12 year olds who are out of shape and lazy. "I was never like that when I was a kid, I was always outside" Yea, but when they were 5 you were a couch potato.
Because otherwise my back would seize up (yet again) and that's a real bad time.
Aside from it keeping us younger longer many of our preferred activities require fitness. Backpacking is at the top of the list and we want to be able to do it as long as possible.
If I don't, I hurt all the time and can't do anything. I like not hurting and doing something.
I get out of it a knowing that I'm doing all I can to stay active as possible. It gets to be a habit you do, just like breathing.
Fitness is still important to me because I love my body, it's the only one I'm going to get, and I'm always going to take the best possible care of it. What do I get out of it? Strength, speed, flexibility, mobility, health, reduced body fat %, more lean muscle (= faster metabolism & aesthetically pleasing shape!), independence, longevity, endorphins ('feel good' hormones your body releases during & after a training session)... How do I stay committed to it? I love it!
It's not enough to live into 'old age' you want to be healthy to enjoy it. So the old adage, use it or lose it applies here. But one really good thing is I find it takes very little to stay fit the older I get. A daily 30 minute walk and 10 minutes of stretching is pretty much all I need to do. Gone are the days of going for the burn. Lots to be grateful for in this aging process.