Questions for the gym goers / exercisers
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Q2 really expanded!
I took a gym class in high school that was a game changer. It wasn't much, but I learned all the fundamentals and actually built muscle pretty quickly. The techniques I learned ~30 years ago (yikes has it been that long) I still recall very clearly.
I mostly began exercising in 2005 when I was overweight after college. Mostly running, and I got in really decent shape. Kept it that way and ran various races) until kids were born, when the 3rd kid came along in 2023, I went from about 200 to 232 pounds (back to 210 this morning).
For parents, my grandpa was a navy pilot and always in great shape. His discipline, even how he made his bed in the morning, was inspiring.
My mom never was an exerciser as an adult. Quilting, mom stuff, not sedentary, so not good or bad.
My dad decided to start running to get in shape around age 50. His knees couldn't handle it very long, but he tried, and so it was a good example. His dad was an alcoholic, so my dad never drank, so that was also a good example. Drinking (and snacking) are certainly my biggest anti-health moves I have made over the recent years. (My dad used to run a 4:30 mile in high school btw......insane)
Anyway.......your last point I think is the biggest motivation. I see folks all the time who can barely move around, especially as they get older. I see videos of something happening and a person gets up to react and just trips and can't get up. I'm not in the best shape right now I've always thought to myself... "If I needed to run 3 miles to get help, I want to always be able to do that." I hope my recent trend of getting back into shape fuels the rest of my 40s and into my 50s and beyond to stay in good shape. Not much running (hard on knees) but everything else.
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Pretty much exclusively the downhills. lol
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As kids we were always outside playing one sport or another and biking around. Once I got olde I was in a small town and did a lot of walking, but not with the intention to exercise. The local pool hall was a lot more fun.
I didn't start seriously exercising other than bicycling until my mid twenties when I started playing tennis. A couple years later I started playing racquetball regularly and still biking a lot. Around 30 I first joined a gym and started resistance training. Along with that I was walking 4-6 miles a day. I continued all those for seven years until I had a kid and was traveling a lot, then the gym memberships and training were pretty spotty. About 15 years ago I joined a gym again and exercise has accelerated since then now to five days a week lifting and six cardio. I get at least 8 hours exercise each week.
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For whatever reason, as a person who acknowledges his own laziness (profound), and his own total lack of ambition, exercise always appealed to me. I guess it's just the dopamine hit, or maybe the serotonin. I also don't mind being the biggest person in the room. Even if others in the room do. Sometimes people told me how weird it is that everybody wanted to fight me. I guess it was a combination of my social awkwardness and my size. There might be catharsis to punching me in the face. But nobody ever did. They only threatened to.
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Funny, I enjoy yard work. Most of it at least. Mowing, trimming, mulch, anti-weed, fertilizing, overseeding, pruning (except when it's buggy out), hardscape projects (I installed 5,000 pounds of river rock solo the other weekend), etc.
We also have cleaners that come twice a month. They are fast, not very costly, and it forces my family to pick up their stuff all over the floor.
Somewhat related, I've always told my wife if we won a billion dollars, our life wouldn't change much. Same house, same cars, and sure I would stop working. But one thing we would do is get a full time chef.
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Funny, I enjoy yard work. Most of it at least. Mowing, trimming, mulch, anti-weed, fertilizing, overseeding, pruning (except when it's buggy out), hardscape projects (I installed 5,000 pounds of river rock solo the other weekend), etc.
We also have cleaners that come twice a month. They are fast, not very costly, and it forces my family to pick up their stuff all over the floor.
Somewhat related, I've always told my wife if we won a billion dollars, our life wouldn't change much. Same house, same cars, and sure I would stop working. But one thing we would do is get a full time chef.
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Back to the original questions...
I broke an arm in my sophomore year of high school and was sent to a rehab gym at the school that was managed by an ex-Marine. I got to lift weight, run, do whatever - and that was more appealing than the regular gym classes - so I talked to the Marine and asked if I could just stay there. i did. In college, I took some fitness classes - and worked out as well.With employment, things went off the rails for a decade or so. In my 30s, I started going to the gym and pretending to run. By my early 40s, I was running marathons, working out a minimum or 2 hours a day - and Saturdays were 15-22 mile runs followed by a spin class, food, then weights, then stretch - then snooze at the pool - typically about a 6 hour workout. Sundays - did another long run. Did that until by early 60s.
For the last year - it's Pilates every day, supplemented by 4-5 days of lifting, 3-4 days of running including one long run. I'm a little nervous about cycling - don't like the idea of a fall at 72. When running is off the agenda, I may get a treadmill and hike uphill - along with hiking. If I do cycling, it will have to be in a safe course.
No one in my family had an interest in anything fitness focused past their early 20s.
As for gardening - we did that a couple of weeks ago - and completely wiped me out - not as up for a multi-hour workout like that. Still, I recovered quickly.
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I’ve always been the type wanting to focus with one thing at a time. I think I spent ~15 years goal setting and achieving with exercise. I was pretty consistent. Then there was Covid. So started a rebirth of a creative phase, designing, sewing, quilting. I’m happy for now just squeezing in short walks, doing a bit of stretching.
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@jon-nyc of Q1: I never did sports or exercised prior to my 40s. It was school and work then motherhood. I did do many low wage physical type jobs when I was young. Q2: My mom swam morning laps at a pool for a bit. She’d also do what she called walking the neighborhood. My dad was sedentary, no sports. Both parents prioritized academics in us kids. And chores at home. They did all their own house, yard work. I guess I was a bit like my mom.
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- When I was at school in the 1970's, gym was the disliked alternative to outdoor sports when it was raining hard.
Gym consisted of climbing ropes, bars, vaulting horse, press ups. On better days we played basketball.
On even worse days with only light rain we we went for a cross country run.
After school I played a bit of badminton, tennis and regularly squash. No gym.
In fact I don't recall commercial gyms being available until quite recently. Every town has one or two, despite the local public sports and swimming centres.
Yesterday I noticed two large adjacent shops, one a carpet showroom and the other a fireplace showroom had both shut. And the replacements... a gym and coffee shop.
- Parents were traditional, anachronistic even. Housework, maintenance, and gardening. They belonged to the church rambling club. Wanted us to be university educated.
Never encouraged or discouraged sports, a shame as I was a damn good tennis player
- When I was at school in the 1970's, gym was the disliked alternative to outdoor sports when it was raining hard.
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