Yoga’s good if you want to stretch and not sweat, but it won’t get your heart rate up very much. It sure if fun, though, and being able to grab the bottom of your foot and fully extend your leg is pretty cool.
You might want to take up Dance Dance Revolution. Visit your nearest arcade
I loathe spandex, jumping around to music and pretty much any regimented “buff du jour” things. Tried a few of 'em, felt stupid and then even stupider (and poorer) when I couldn’t remotely make them last for me. The might for others but most of 'em didn’t fit me.
Go for what fits you. If the tickle of interest isn’t there at the start, odds are it’ll turn into a painful failure. Take a good look at what you enjoy already and build from there.
For me, it’s a combo. Stretching feels good. Okay. Bits of yoga. Morph in a few dance things. Bum ankle won’t take jogging or running but I can walk for miles. Crunches and leg lifts, just for the power feel. Elevators don’t exist. Walk instead of ride whenever possible. Just everyday, as often as possible, get up and move, just for the pure joy of getting the sludge moving in the blood.
For me it isn’t so much a regime as a bunch of little, pleasurable habits.
Veb
Most important thing to realize when starting any exercise program, live to exercise another day. You cannot undo years of neglect in a couple weeks. You can develop tendonitis in a couple weeks that lasts for years, however.
I like to shoot baskets and rebound the (few;)) misses. It’s good aerobic exercise that isn’t boring like a treadmill or jogging. Plus, now I’m really good at seeing where missed shots are going.
I really like the Bowflex we just got. It does any resistance exercise I can think of. There are other companies with similar products now, they might be cheaper or better–dunno.
Strength training is crucial, as you get older especially. If you aren’t lifting you’re deteriorating much faster. Age sucks that way. By maintaining or adding muscle mass you burn fat much better. Therefore, the only way to really get ripped is through exercise. But, don’t hurt yourself in the process.
pilates
** j-bird** yeah, getting to work is an ace incentive!
Get poor and sleep in a lot. that way you have to run to work every day.
You’ll probably sweat tho.
I dont think i’de take a knife. it probably wouldnt be worth living after surviving it based on the ridicule the poor guy got on this thread
I was actually thinkng more about rock wall climbing than climbing real rocks. I’m a big scaredy cat.
got a free week at the gym in 2 weeks, yay.
-Qis
I’ve started riding a bike around my neighborhood.
The first day was pathetic. We live on a loop, and I could barely make it up the gradual hill. Indeed, I had to get off and walk my bike because my legs were burning.
Then my daughter told me to go the opposite way around the loop, so I start off mostly downhill, with the wind blowing my hair and feeling like I’m 12 again.
Then, the day came where I went a little farther.
Then, just a bit farther than that.
It’s a nice feeling to come home after riding your bike, your thighs burning, out of breath, your heart pounding, and knowing you went farther today then you’d ever gone.
Yoga is great for getting your heart going. take a flow class like ashtanga or an advanced class. I do yoga 3-4 times a week and I drip sweat every class. You want to really sweat in yoga, try www.bikramyoga.com. Thats how i started yoga, never sweat so much in my life.
Things you do in water are great exercises, because water cools you, and it’s more than 800 times denser than air. Swimming, water aerobics, or plainly walking around in water - start at waist high and go deeper.
For exercise machines, cross-country skiing and rowing machines are the best. You exercise all the muscles in your body and burn lots of fat at the same time.
For martial arts, I recommend either Taichi or Aikido. These are soft forms that seem slow, but you can make them as fast as you want.
My “bedroom in quiet very secret exercises”
Fifty sit ups (crunches, actually).
Weight routine with five pound weights for my arms
Hamstring stretches (I have the worlds shortest hamstrings).
A short ballet barre workout for my legs and butt.
A Sun Salutation (actually two, since you have to do both sides). Plus a couple of twists for my back.
Once in the morning, once at night. Takes about ten minutes. Notice its different types of exercise from the things I enjoy (OK, I don’t enjoy sit ups). Yoga, ballet, weights.
I also take two ten minute brisk walks a day, or ride a bike, or do something else vaguely aerobic. I don’t maintain heart rate for 20 minutes like I should, but something IS better than sitting on my butt in my deskjob all day.
Yes, I do see a difference. I’ll never be buff with this routine, but its keeping me slipping to middle age a little more gracefully - which is my goal. Combined with diet (i.e. no more french fries and donuts) it works. (The diet part isn’t a lecture or suggestion, just mentioning that I’m too lazy to work off the additional calories in french fries, so I’ve just given them up).
If you are in lousy shape, start slow. Two sit ups - good, tomorrow your goal is three. Three is better than two. Don’t worry about going backwards a little - sometimes my fifty crunches can be knocked off in one round, sometimes I need to do two sets of twenty five. Some times, I give up after the first set of twenty five. I love weights, btw. Doesn’t matter in how bad shape I am in flexibility or aerobicly, I can still lift five pounds.