How often do you exercise?

After a long bout of laziness and injury, I got back on the trust cross trainer this morning and got my heart working hard again.
I used to do it almost daily, but recently have let it slip, and suspect it might not be helping with the ongoing health issues I have had recently.

Doing a quick 30 mins on the cross trainer, and monitoring my heart was an eye opening experience to see how much fitness I have lost in the past 2 months or so. And has also inspired me to try harder, especially after the last few attempts to return have failed to launch.

So I got wondering how often people on this forum, who try and stay active, actually get active and their hearts working.

Today’s efforts. Early days again.

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I guess every day for me and I miss it when I dont do it - I cycle 10-20 miles on a work day, with some hills thrown in and I am down the plot at the weekend getting some air in my “outdoor gym”.

It sounds odd but when I am on my hols I actually miss riding every day - I feel a bit restless so often end up going for a walk.

I think the key is to build exercise into your day/life so that it doesn’t feel like a chore - I ride to work because it is qquick and cheap but I love it and it keeps me fit. Like wise I used to swim after work (we have a 25m pool!) with some friends - it never felt like I had to do it - just like a nice way to wind down after a day at the keyboard.

Wise words there @Foresthillnick
A few months back I was active as hell, so I am mighty jealous of you right now. But I will get it back.

This.

Aside from the time pressures many of us are under, a bike ride home from work is where you let the breeze wash any bad feelings away or conversly take out your frustrations of the world on your legs if you so desire. Also it costs next to nothing and is generally faster than any other method of transport.

However, before I commuted by bike regularly I used to run home from time to time and I have to say that exercise does not need to be a bike ride or a run, There a lots of green spaces around Forest Hill to explore and wander through - this is just as beneficial than something more strenuous. Wandering around Horniman Gardens, Mayow Park along Waterlink Way etc is all good.

I tend to do about 6-10 things a week, sometimes more, sometimes less.

I commute every day, so my phone tells me I walk for about 5km daily (at the fastest pace I can, including uphill). Beyond that I try to keep exercise to an absolute minimum. I find this is the healthiest approach to life. Exercise is only going to result in pain and injury,

Remind me - does this risk aversion mean you wear a crash helmet when you do walk anywhere?

Haha my outlook for a long time, and with my recent track record, quite true.
However the pros outweigh the cons.

5km isn’t too bad, keep the heart ticking over. Scary how little some people do in a day.

I find riding very rewarding indeed, the running side, I tend to have angry runs more than angry rides. Amazing how much your pace improves when you are mad at something.
Fingers crossed in the next couple of weeks I will get back to floor work again too, hip depending.

Another great session this morning for me. Goal is to see what I can achieve before I go away in Oct.

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I like the idea of regular exercise, but then chaotic life gets in the way. Therefore my exercise is on a chaotic side and I accept it for now.

I exercise as it makes me feel good, I want to inspire my children to love exercise. I like chocolate and will not ever put my body into a state of hunger. I have never had any exercise injuries because at the first twitch I would stop / slow down / change. I hope to be lucky and avoid accidents too.

Swimming I like as I am faster than my hubby and I will only push myself to maintain that edge. Other than that I love being in water and just mucking about with the kids(does this count?). I do running under slight duress (hubby is seriously into running) I actually like the energy I feel doing it and it improves fitness for tennis, which is great for releasing frustrations of the office work by whacking the ball at lunchtimes. I am beginning to love cycling, even though the primary reason for it is to use the car less for short journeys and join the kids in the park. It is great to feel the wind through the helmet (although this is possibly the riskiest form of exercise for me as accidents can happen). So you can see multiple reasons to keep up the motivation. Health benefits are consequence of achieving other goals and not the primary motivation.

All this plus table tennis and brisk walking will amount for anything from 0.5-3 hours a week. If I did noting for 2 months I’d call that rest period and would just increase activity at comfortable level afterwards. I won’t try to make it up by harder workouts. That would imply a gilt factor, that is not something I like to entertain.

Once I get bored of the above, some things may drop out and Yoga/Pilates, badminton, riding, basketball may come back into play. Actually diving (Olympic influence) may come on the list too.

Interesting topic, but I do wonder about how people respond to being told / encouraged to exercise more.

For a long time my exercise was cycling to work, some gardening, and walking, which not being a car owner encourages, so I’m quite used to being annoyingly smug about this. Since retiring, I got into training for the Pru 100, cycling with a club, and discovering the geeky joys of data spewing out of heart rate monitors and smart phones. Even more off-putting, I can imagine, but maybe not. It’s the sort of thing someone ought to be doing some proper population wide research into … I’ll see if I can find anything.

Sounds like it is all very well thought out, whilst being done chaotically Maja.
Glad you are getting into the cycling thing, kinda supercharges your day.
As for the running, I do love a few laps of Dulwich Park, which I must get back into soon.

All in all, I have to say, well done Positive mind is the hardest part to achieve.

For running you have to try Crystal palace park. I occasionally do a park run and I did one in York few months ago. 5k something I am always able to do (be it at a slow pace) was much harder than one in Crysrtal Palace park. Yes it is harder to go uphill, but then you do get some recovery time while going downhill. York run was on the racecourse and like Dulwich had no downhills so to speak of.

@TimLund for me the data from the devices is what pushes me to try harder. Knowing there is more left in the tank. Re-riding a route with ghost on to push harder, tech is a great tool for some, and overwhelming for others.

When it comes to exercise, the strongest word I like to use is “advise”. Telling people to, or what to do is very off putting for sure. Even for someone who trains regularly.
Very much each to their own.

I have done a few 5k’s on my own in Crystal Palace and love the mixture of surfaces, and elevations, I save that for days when I am feeling I need a challenge. I did a Park Run in Watford somewhere a while ago too, wow that hit me hard. Damn hills!

Was the same for the colour run in Bexley too, Danson Park is fun, especially when you twist your ankle 2 mins in !!

Hi Tim,

I guess what I learned is that for one to change its lifestyle for better health, it is much easier to break that goal down in different much smaller chunks, and therefore failure at one will not knock them completely off course.

People know that the end result may be more exercise for them. Being told the obvious is not helping them in finding ways how that exercise will work on day to day basis for them. They need help beyond this day to day by allowing them to develop strategies for setbacks not to become failure. How to combat boredom after the novelty wears off? That it is ok to change activity.

I shared my silly reasons for exercise motivations and showed that sheer number of them are at play. It all started by having one thing at the time and adding the variety as time passed.

Fantastic way of thinking for sure, and interesting to see the path your motivation took.

Plausible stuff, @MajaHilton and @anon64893700, and I’d add, for my part, that exercise just makes you feel better - I think it’s an aspect of human physiology - c.f. endorphins. There’s also a social factor - maybe also innate - in that other people tend to give you kudos for exercising, quite apart for doing so explicitly on Strava. It’s why people will admire sports stars without asking whether they are otherwise decent human beings.

But does all this inspiring stuff actually get the population as a whole exercising more, and maybe reducing the burden on the NHS? It’s a fair question to ask, especially since the evidence of Olympic success motivating people to take up sport is basically zilch.

I used to be really active but at 57 I’ve cut it back a bit. Two x 2hrs and one x 1.5hr sessions of racketball a week plus, in the summer, frequent 2-4hr stints of kayaking on the sea (up to 5 miles out). I’ve just set up a rowing machine, cycle trainer and dips/pull-up frame at home ready for the winter but I don’t know if I’ve got the self motivation to use them as much as I intend to. Just want to try to stay fit in my old age really.

Just wait til you get to the wonderful world of power meters. Wife got one a while back when she was racing quite seriously, suddenly started talking a different language: training stress scores, training stress balance, functional power, critical power, acute vs chronic training loads. I just listened and nodded in agreement none the wiser (so no real change from normal one could argue)

Sounds pretty bloody active to me @Anotherjohn I think you are my hero lol

… and now you can get power meters for running !!

https://www.stryd.com/

I remember being in a taxi as the driver and I noticed people jogging, red in the face, sweat on the brow, hauling and shuffling their bodies across Clapham Common.

“I’ll take up jogging just as soon as I see someone look as though they’re enjoying themselves,” the driver said.

He got a bigger tip than usual, for that laugh.

Haha great observation.
That said, the common looks rather different these days. I always watch my speed (and the pavement) when driving across there.