What have you learned/changed about working out now that you're older?

[bubbles76]

I have only been at the home fitness game since 2007, but what I've changed as I've gotten older is the following:

• I don't have to do the workout just like the instructor. I now love to modify, and will even change the exercise entirely if I just feel that they do too much of any one thing. For example, the older Firm workouts beat lunges and squats to death. So I'll substitute dead lifts.
• There are no shame in breaks. If I take a break now, I won't have to take a break later. Yes, I'm looking at you IMAX3!
• Along those same lines, if I need a mental or physical break from harder workouts, I'll do yoga for a week or month. As long as I'm not losing my strength gains, I'm good.
• I'm doing more strength and less cardio. This is a surprise to me, as I'm a cardio hound. However, as I've gotten older, I realize this works best for me.
• I am no longer adverse to doing circuits or intervals! I use to want my strength and cardio strictly separate. Now, not so much anymore. It just depends on how the instructor structures the workout. I will try anything once.
• I've learned that shorter workouts are just as effective!
• It's good to just work out for maintenance. I used to feel that if I wasn't constantly setting some goal to achieve then I shouldn't bother. Now that I have a little one, I realize that just maintaining can be a good thing. Even though I still like to workout for strength, endurance, and definition gains, it's okay to take a mental break and just work out to maintain.

Hope this all makes sense

[Nuggie's Auntie]

I'm turning 43 next month and agree with what so many others have said.

Interestingly, I've also noticed that since I had my second child at age 39, my body is most unwilling to shed weight or get significantly smaller. No matter how I exercise or eat, my body has settled at a happy place. I'm slightly bigger/heavier (5-10lbs) than I was before I started having kids, and while I enjoyed being a little smaller, I've really made my peace with my body. My current size is a healthy one for my height/frame.

I have really found this to be remarkably freeing. I hardly ever think about my weight or size or how I compare to other women or my younger self. I focus on eating for nourishment and I exercise to feel good. I'm very thankful to be at this place and wouldn't take my smaller, younger body with all in insecurities back for one second!

[Hej]

The biggest is that there are many aspects to fitness, and different types of workout develop different aspects. Ignoring the "long and lean" or "slenderizing" blabber, Pilates mat work, Barre-type workouts, and especially Classical Stretch/Essentrics build in things that get lost with more traditional cardio/strength. If I "don't have time" to include these, I'm not going to be able to walk properly when I get up in the morning due to stiffness and knee and hip pain.

Second, I guess, is that it doesn't all have to be done perfectly today. There's always tomorrow, the next day, next week and month, and if I want to get there it's going to have to be a little less perfect today.

Third, nutrition is important. Not low fill-in-blank and high fill-in-blank. All the bases need to be covered, and I have to let go of a lot of ingrained knee-jerk purchases in the supermarket. Food also plays important cultural functions that are also important for a well-rounded, healthy life.

[Melissa C]

Originally Posted by Tanja

I started out with the Classic Firms in 1994 - then straying after six years of only firms and found Cathe, etc. - Now, after doing high intensity workouts regularly for 10 years, I am back doing the Classic Firms. They work you but they do not kill you. And, they are more functional fitness oriented than all of that HiiT that is the current craze. I am glad I upgraded my Classic Firms to DVD over the years.

I am in this camp, too. I turned 58 last week. A year or so ago, I bought FIRMs 1, 2, and 6 during the sale that Collage ran. I still haven't opened the first two but volume 6 was exactly what I needed. Long warmup and stretch, the parts I dread the most are early in the routine and then they are done; it works the whole body, and the closing stretch is amazing. Like a lot of other folks here, I need to stretch more than I did even five years ago, and I have no patience with strength training DVDs that don't include the whole body in a single workout. There is really no such thing as "leg day" or "arm day" for me. It is all or nothing at all if I am dragging out the equipment!

and I HAVE to stretch more now--particularly after a rigorous workout--in order to stay flexible. I do notice a difference in my range of motion and lack of stiffness if I stetch properly.

I still love cardio and step. Because I rotate my DVD's a lot, I don't overdo any one particular workout. Some days when I do step routines, I not only modify for impact, but also skip some of the turns, especially if I am working out during the 5:00 am hour. Which brings me to the next observation:

The biggest challenge these days is not age, but realizing that for sixteen years I have more or less forced myself to be an early morning exerciser I am starting to get burned out on having to fight my night-owl nature. (I moved my time from early evening and for a season was working out at 9:00 or 9:30pm during my daughter's early years, then began doing morning exercise because it was the only consistent time I could manage, with a family and a career). So I am trying to figure out how to get my groove back. I would say that up until about 5 years ago, I could get out of bed and get right to it. But then it became more of a struggle, and still is. I am disciplined enough to get it done most days (though. I usually have one or two days where I will only do 30 or 45 minutes because I move slowly or I oversleep). It just isn't fun and I don't know that I am really getting the benefit of the work.

Without getting too much into the d-word territory, I have also found that I have to pay even more attention to balance, moderation, and portion control.

[anne]

I'm 49 and still enjoy the same kinds of workouts that I did when I was younger. The main differences now are that my body needs more yoga and stretching and I look for a calmness in my workouts--still intense but not hyper. I have noticed though that doing too many really intense step aerobic workouts a week does not agree with me any more--I get tired and my stomach bloats more than usual.

[Jann]

Originally Posted by cherimac

Also, diet is a major key in overall health and well-being.

Yes, yes, yes and can I say Yes! I am 58 post menopause and Yes!

[SherBear]

I am 47, 48 in May. I've thought about aging a lot recently. My skin and my eyesight have gone down hill this year -almost over night (it seems or maybe I haven't been looking too closely). My smile lines are deeper, hands vein-ier, neck loose-y goose-y , cleavage-wth happened.

On Jan 11th I decided to go all out for my best body ever. I want to try and see what I can do. My innards are healthy but I feel like I'm knocking on menopause door (night sweats at times) and it will be all the tougher then once wacky hormones get in the mix. After 35, I've always been a 'big bone' girl. 5'9" and anywhere from 210 to 180. I want to See my muscles. Particularly on my ab area!

So I workout every day. A couple of days it is a karen voight yoga dvd but mostly it's Cathe's Ripped series that I love so much and other weight/cardio wo. I also joined a Crossfit gym. I went through the 7 intro classes and today I participated in my 2nd full class. Yes, I'm in class with 20 year olds but I stand in the front of the class and look forward rather than what everyone else is doing. I feel sort of welcomed and love the rowing machine, wall med balls, kettle bell training. Being a home exerciser since Jane Fonda cha cha cha days (VCR tape I still remember the steps and can see the instructors) it was time to get out and try something completely out of my comfort zone. Mission accomplished on that as I am a shy girl but my journey just started on that ab part.

[Jennifer R]

I guess so far I'm the oldest person on this thread. At exactly 61 1/2 (Joni O knows my birthday so I have to be accurate), I've been a regular exerciser since taking up yoga in my teens.

In my early twenties did a lot of cycling and the stupid things you do in your twenties. Got away with it. Mid twenties went to nursing school and learned about the cardiovascular system and how to not kill yourself--so I kept up regular exercise, which was a bit of an anomaly in my circles then.

I've always loved choreography and spent many years doing classic aerobic dance aka hi/lo on bad floors, having a wonderful time and getting awful shin splints. I then progressed to a variety of clubs and found dancier classes that incorporated weights, then discovered step etc. I had the MOST amazing low impact dance aerobics instructor--she was so talented, worked you hard and no shin splints! Still did yoga on my own.

When I moved to Hawaii in the mid 90s I was bereft, my beloved instructor was miles away, I didn't like what the clubs had on offer, and had never "gotten" video workouts. I found this place and discovered what was to be my exercise salvation!

That said, now I still love complex cardio but can't do step as often as I used to--and when I do, I want it to be FUN and challenging mentally. Patrick G and Marcos Prolo are good at filling that bill.

Doing a lot of walking and swimming when not doing choreography. I have arthritis in my hands, wrists and feet so heavy weights are not for me, and didn't work when I was younger either, looking back--lots of pains and injuries.

Any high impact/plyo is done on the rebounder for the fun and avoidance of jolting. Bodyweight moves are judicious given weight on wrists. Lots and lots of flexibility and balance work has been a conscious decision, expecially when I see people younger than me who can't get down and back up off the floor without a medical reason. Yoga, Classical Stretch, Jessica Smith and Hamelin D are frequently on the menu now.

I'm strong and have lots of stamina. Appearance has zero factor for my exercise habit now--my measurements and weight have not budged significantly for over 12 years now. My exercise is for health and being comfortable in my body.

[smith938]

I'm 48 and have never been a regular exerciser for more than 6-9 months or possibly a year at a time. I hope to stay with it as I've been thinking over things every time I start back

1) what goes in is important to my overall health and ultimately my fitness
2) I don't need to be all or nothing
3) getting skinny isn't the important goal for me - my physical, mental and emotional health is what's important
4) anything is better than nothing - even 10 min is good if that's all I have
5) exercise and diet are worth the time it takes to plan and make space for
6) the old stuff is still good
7) just because it's new and popular doesn't mean that I need it or that I would even like it
8) not everyone I talk with or see on here exercises just for health- some are bound and determined to be skinny or sculpted or whatever - and that's ok if that's their goal - I dont have to be intimidated or judmental - we each come to our own realizations in our own time
8) take advantage of opportunities to exercise outdoors
9) stretching and strength training are important - used to be only high impact aerobics counted for me (early 20s and later 20s) wish I'd focused on toning and weights and yoga as well instead of dismissing them
10) too many choices sometimes overwhelms me (wish I'd known this before accumulating so many dvds and vhs tapes...)
11) someone I like may not be liked by anyone else on here
12) it's ok not to buy everything by an instructor and it's also ok to like a workout by an instructor I can't stand
13) keep doing something and if I don't then start back and shake it off

[poohpeggy]

1. No more push ups on my feet. I want to save my wrists for fun things like badminton, surfing and paddle boarding.

2. I only use a 8" step 1x a week to save my knees.

3. I have learned that my body prefers lighter weights mixed in with heavier weights even though my mind prefers heavy.

4. Cardio is my medicine for my COPD.

5. Working out keeps me grounded among seizures, medication issues etc. I treasure every time I lace up my shoes whether its a beginner workout or advance. Year after year workouts always brings me to my happy place.