Trying new things

In walking with the fat man my physical fitness faces at least three different battles. Along with the diet and weight loss I face what is common to all of us who are getting older a physical fitness for seniors. As we get older we need to build muscle that is harder to do. We have to pay attention to our heart and cardio most days of the week. Maybe for the first time you find movement is harder and increase pain. We have to become more flexible.   

In general we benefit from exercise, (strength training, aerobic exercise, and flexibility). I think it's very important to see our need to do resistance training, and find away to move our bodies 20 to 30 minutes to improve our heart, mind, and body. Many more people have to deal with the inclination to become more sedimentary. Flexibility may be a new issue for a lot of people. But as we age we have problems with our joints, and muscles that will only improve through movement and stretching of some kind. The one signal that we may be getting is pain. There is pain relief through moving and stretching. We may find limitations with pain medication.

We are all at different places so I am showing what I do, but you may have different interests and ways to get moving. I hope to challenge to find real ways that work for you. You are probably doing some pretty cool stuff. Just don't give up and join me in pushing back against aging. Barb is back to In Home Walking in the morning. She does 2 mile walks. She is active all day, but she finds she needs that walk.

Yesterday my theme of movement was resistant training. Using two levels of resistant bands I work for a number of exercises that worked my whole body and a full range of motion. Every 15 minutes or half hour I took a small walking break and a related group of exercise, upper body, lower body in different stations around the house. Later in evening I biked for 20 minutes.

I have look at tai chi as a way of improving my mobility, balance and flexibility. Yesterday I look closely at a routine that I think might be good for me. I will also look at some routines done by senior citizens. In tai chi there is breathing similar to what I learned to relieve anxiety. The motions in tai chi are mostly circular. The routine that I will do more count as 360 steps and over 65 cal for a 9 minutes routine. 

Today I did my first workout and was able to do seven movements before I needed to take a break from my back. Then I finish to routine. As a practice the routine the movements will become more memorized where I can focus on the breathing and balance. My balance will never compete with your balance, but it is good for me to try. Movement side to side and backwards are really good for me.

The theme of my exercise today was walking up steps. My goal is hundred steps. I have already taken 40 steps and after I finish this blog I will take another 40. And then after another break I will take another 20. Later tonight I will bike for 30 minutes.

Tomorrow my theme will be boxing, I plan to do routines there will amount to three rounds of boxing. My break between rounds definitely be a little longer then a minute. In boxing I work at my footwork and balance and in shadowboxing there is no impact to my skeleton. The benefits in these routines help with all three areas I need to work strength training, short exertions of intensity, and flexibility. I also am planning to do two cycles with my TRX program that uses my bodyweight for a full range of motion and strength. Tomorrow I will bike probably 20 minutes.