Can you get fit after 40?

Do it @Scrungee ...nothing like a dog to keep you moving they do wonders for us...

 

This Xmas we really missed having no assistance with unwrapping Xmas presents, and also no dog jumping up to help pull Xmas crackers. And then there's the potential lack of company on all our foraging walks for hedgerow fruits with dog who'd want to share everything. A new dog is a priority.

 

...They leave a big gap don't they.....you've got to do it.....there's some lucky dog/pup just waiting to have a whale of a time foraging with you

 

Been out for a good walk today. I got my mam to look after the new lad so that wife, big lad and I could go further. We went over the dunes and did about 3 or 4 miles but, and here's the twist, it wasn't really a walk so much as a game. We were running most of it, and climbing up the steep dunes, and I did ok. So maybe I'm not quite as unfit as I thought.

The main problem I have is the weight I carry around. Last time I weighed myself I was 14 and half stone, and I know I've put some on since. This combined with the fact that when adrenaline kicks in (eg when I burned myself out in the paintball battle), I don't seem to feel any signals of fatigue or anything, so I just keep pushing myself until I make myself bad. I'll have to watch out for that. I might get one of those heart rate monitor thingies that send the signal to your phone, so I have something physically telling me if I'm pushing myself too hard. I think I'd rather keep my heart rate below about 100bpm as much as possible. I'll be no good to my family if I bust it now would I.

 

Dunno if it would appeal to you, but I saw an interesting Horizon program recently titled something like "Monitor me". It was amazing how much monitoring kit is available, much of it cheap, lots of it free (a phone app that will tell you how many steps you do a day / how well you sleep - just by using the phone's inbuilt motion sensor).

Two things that I took away from that:

3 ladies in a normal office who had watched their weight for years (set of scales in the office, and an Excel spreadsheet ) had tried all sorts of fad diets over the years, but never lost weight. They weren't over-weight, as such, just weight-conscious. Horizon gave them a little step-counter to wear, told them they needed to do a minimum of 10,000 steps a day (given my desk-bound life that sounds like a LOT to me!!) and a phone / bluetooth APP showed them their steps against target and then uploaded the results to a web page - that had a graph comparing their individual achievements. That created competition between the three of them and when interviewed they said things like "I now take the dog on the long route for his walk each evening as otherwise I would never achieve my target daily steps" :D. The women had lost 5 pounds at the end of the month(??)

The other story which interested me was the England Rugby 7's team. During training each player had a chest band (heart function sensor I guess) and a small pocket in the back of their jersey with a gadget - GPS I think. Coach was watching his laptop, it showed how far each player had run, percentage at full sprint, how many yards compared to target etc. It also showed weight distribution on Right/Left leg, and from that he could see players that were favouring one leg over the other - and detect an injury before the players were even aware of it; by not playing/training players with injuries [undetected by the players themselves] the coach had cut soft tissue injuries by 80% !

So ... you might find some gadgetry a) lets you compare fitness against a baseline and b) gives you some encouragement to train to a target (perhaps in comparison with others/their targets?)

 

This was the step counter they used (I think)
FitBit Zip Activity Tracker

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Fitbit-FB301C-EU-FitBit-Activity-Tracker/dp/B0096NXK7C/

The horizon programme seems to be on YouTube (dunno if it is all there as I suspect its a breach of Copyright ... but its gone from iPlayer already)

 

looking back, I think in my 40's I could bike about 20 miles a day. As I stopped using my bike, the GSD and I would walk about 5 miles three times a week, that probably continued until I was about 55 years old. With both dogs gone it takes more motivation to get out. And getting outside in daylight only happens on weekends. I do have a gym membership, have to start back in January. KeyWest swim suite time is in May.

 

There is no reason why anyone who is in otherwise good health cannot enjoy a reasonable level of fitness. I'm 57 and I can reach the top of Snowden quicker than my 23 year old daughter who's not overweight. I have a friend at work who has trekked to Everest basecamp (no walk in the park) and did Kilamanjiro and he is in his late 50's. You're never going to be as fit as when you're in your mid 20's but by no means your not over-the-hill in your later years!! It can be done with regular simple exercises like walking!

 

Are you still smoking Clue?

Jenny

 

Yes, but not for much longer. I've committed to quit before I go back to work on the 5th of Jan. I feel genuinely ready to this time.

 

But why not NOW if you are so 'genuinely ready'?

 

Too hard. My routine is all in bits over christmas. I considered it but decided I'd be setting myself up to fail. Come the new year, I'll be back to hardly drinking, hardly socialising, going to work, proper routine, little temptation.

 

I really understand. I'm having about 5 a day and it's really irritating me. It is hard.I quit for a while and then started up again. I just don't have the will power. I'm trying my utmost to save the pennies and plan to park a fair way from work to avoid paying parking and to get some exercise. I loved my sport until I injured my hip and elbows and find it so so frustrating to stay motivated to do mild exercise when I'd love have a real good run or game of badminton....yes, I know as you get older you have to know your limits...but still ... Good luck anyway.

 

You can get fit (er) at any age. You don't need techy things; all that is required is to get off your bum and get moving a bit more than your norm. Every little bit of extra exercise helps.
Though as Kristen has said if you like to have a record of progress to jolly you along, gadgetry may help. We tend to get lazy over winter, but come the better weather spend a bit of time up in the hills and mountains up here and record our walks on a GPS so we (i.e. me) can push for longer/faster. I keep telling Mrs W. - "No pain, no gain" and her reply is usually "Never again". However she's usually forgotten that by the time I suggest out next 'stroll'.