I'm 58. 30 years ago all I did was cardio (running) and high-impact fitness classes in gyms. I've changed my exercise routine quite a bit, since I developed osteoarthritis in both knees.
The bedrock of my fitness regimen is yoga/body-weight exercises. I do a yoga or body-weight routine at least 4-5 times a week. The yoga styles I do most are ashtanga and its variant, power yoga. I modify postures to accommodate my knees and a tweaky right shoulder. Even with all the yoga, I have noticed that my balance has deteriorated some as I've aged; I also have a bunion on my right foot that balance challenging in one-legged balance postures (Warrior 3, etc.). Yoga routines that emphasize balance are really important for me. Sometimes I do a plain stretching workout like Ballet Bootcamp Stretch or Mark Lauren's Mobility RX (Mobility RX is a wonderful workout BTW). Because I'm retired, I have more time to work out, so I can do yoga, body weight workouts, and stretch workouts that are an hour long. I really enjoy that.
I try to lift weights once a week. The workout I do most is Margaret Richard's 'Getting Better'--the lack of lunges and squats make this a go-to workout for me, but even without those, it is not an easy workout.
For cardio, I walk or ride my bike.
My goals are to stay active, have a good quality of life, and to stay out of a nursing home as long as I possibly can. Vanity plays almost no part in my workout routine. That said, what I'm doing works for me, appearance-wise, but of course I don't look quite like I did when I was in my 20s. That is to be expected, and I'm fine with that. Over the years I have made changes in the way I eat and that has played a really big part in keeping my weight down and supporting my exercise routine.
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Betsy
There is no way of telling people they are all walking around shining like the sun--Thomas Merton
People have done all kinds of remarkable things because they thought they could. People routinely fail to do quite ordinary things because they assume they can't--Reinhard Engels
Stay gold, Ponyboy--S.E. Hinton
Pick up your crazy heart and give it one more try--Ryan Bingham
Disclosure: I have a personal relationship with a fitness instructor who has appeared in some videos.
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