Fitness After 60

Fitness after 60 is our topic for today.  I get asked all the time about how I am able to do the things I do at “my age.”  Those things include bicycling trips, walking tours, and my upcoming 200 mile hike in Spain on the El Camino de Santiago.  I wrote about it here. The answer is simple…..I work out and stay active.  My 92 year-old mother told me recently that I am not a spring chicken, and I know that.  But I truly believe in the mantra of  “use it or lose it.”  So, I plan to go down kicking!

Classes and Walking

I started working out on a regular basis 30 years ago.  Since then I have worked out in some fashion five to six days a week unless I was sick.  Those years include the years when I worked outside of the home full time and had two busy children with lots of activities to attend.  I was at every one of their activities, but I always made time in my day for fitness.  I spent many lunch times walking or went to the sports club after work.  My children often did their homework in the lobby while I worked out.  When I look back now, I don’t see how I did it all, but when I was in the midst of being an involved mom, I still scheduled some “me time” into the day.

Now that I am an empty-nester and no longer work outside of the home, I have more time.  For the past nine years I have belonged to the YMCA.  (My health insurance pays for my “Y” membership, so you might want to look into that.)  I get up at 5:20 am on Mondays, Wednesdays, and Fridays to attend an exercise class there.  The hour long class includes old school aerobics, weight lifting, ab work, and stretching.  The class is full of about 30 morning people, and we have the best time.  We care about each other, attend each other’s events, donate to each other’s charities, and are like one big happy family.  We are all ages, too – young newly weds and oldies.  On mornings when I am not at the class, I get up early and walk.  If it’s winter, I walk on the treadmill or on the track at the “Y.”  In good weather, I walk outside.  I also do ab work and lift some weights on my own on my walking days.

Biking

(This is my custom made titanium road bike by Independent Fabrication.  Love it.)

On top of all of that, we ride bicycles in the spring, summer, and fall.  We belong to the local bike club and do a Friday ride with them, and then Mike and I ride together a few times during the week.  Those rides are 20 to 50 miles long.  However, this summer I have not ridden as much because I’m concentrating on walking to get in better shape for the long days on our upcoming hike.

In addition, Mike and I walk on a regular basis around the neighborhood, to church, to the movies, to the bank, to lunch or dinner, to get a latte, and to go get ice cream.  I also have a new hybrid bicycle that I ordered from the Netherlands, and I ride it to do errands in town.  Another great form of exercising is cleaning, and I do our house cleaning, keep the courtyard neat and tidy, and tend to my herbs and flowers.  Any movement helps.

Other types of exercise besides aerobics, biking and walking that you can do included water aerobics, rowing machines, zumba, dance classes, gardening, stair master, golf, tennis, pickle ball, volley ball, the elliptical machine, and more.

So, clearly this is not rocket science.  It’s just my fitness after 60 routine.  I just move and try to eat healthy.  I know that I only have a certain amount of days on this earth.  I don’t know how many, and nobody does.  But I do know that I want to make the most of my life while I am lucky enough to be here.  If you have any specific questions about my fitness after 60 routine, please ask in the comments.

Thank you so much for spending part of your day with us.

Take care.