Fitness goals

[cjsmith]

I'm missing anything to do with physical fitness in my life.

My foot problems make many activities challenging or downright not worth it. For well over a decade, I've just ignored the whole physical fitness realm. But I'm getting tired of being a complete couch potato.

I guess the first step is to decide what my goals are. Do I want to build a STRONG body? A STURDY AND RESILIENT body? A FLEXIBLE body? A body that MAY AGE WELL?

(Note the total lack of "slender" or "sculpted" in this list of possibilities. As long as I'm still carrying breasts around there's really no point making any minor optimizations to the rest of me, and besides, I think I am past the age where skin shrinks.)

Those of you who do or who consider doing physical fitness stuff: what are your goals?

Comments

[excessor]

The goals change as we age. I don't know for sure, but I think I'm older than you are. The goal used to be “Get laid more often,” but these days it's that plus the following:

• Maintain range of motion.
• Pay attention to systems, not just body parts. For example, dental health is directly related to coronary health.
• Be solidly healthful so that if or when I'm hospitalized, I have enough strength to lift myself from the bed or move myself to a wheelchair or have enough endurance to handle periods of stress.
• Be able to fit into my clothes.

Strength, endurance, and flexibility are keys to feeling better, keeping depression away, and being able to move.

[cjsmith]

Mmm, bullet point three is a good thing to think about - part of "age well", I expect. And I hadn't thought of "keeping depression away" as a goal but darn it, it should be!

(FYI, I'm 51.)

[excessor]

I know depression. I can feel it coming on and I've learned that one of the best things I can do is to not stay in my Vulcan head but to do something physical. It actually helps a lot.

I'm a tad older at age 58. But what motivates the other comments is in watching my dad. He's 82 now and has had a few recent surgeries. Even though we have talked extensively about it, he doesn't follow through on getting exercise. So when he had a hip replacement two Mays ago, he had a hard time because he didn't have the upper body strength to push himself off a chair (or toilet) and couldn't move in a hospital bed. And these days, while healed from the surgery, he still has a hard time walking because he has allowed his limitations to dictate his range of action. So he parks near the entrance of stores. He has to rest many times at Costco. And yet he's fully aware that when he can no longer do his daily duties of grocery shopping and cleaning and watching tv, we'll have to find some kind of assisted living, to which he is vehemently opposed. You can't have it both ways.

You're far from that, and yet at this point in our lives, now is the time to build foundational strength to keep us on our own.

[cjsmith]

Wow. Watching your dad go through this... I've watched my mom go through some bad injuries, but she's not quite where your dad is (yet). I'm sure it's eye opening and tragic all at once. :(