Fitness Walking

[lowell holmes]

I don't know why I'm posting this, but here it is.

About 20 years ago I suffered a heart attack and took a middle of the night trip in an ambulance to the emergency room.
After recovery, I went online and found information about fitness walking. I immediately started a program.

https://www.the-fitness-walking-guide.com/

I am 82 years old and just completed my morning walk. We live on a street that is 0.3 miles long. I walk 4 lengths of the street every day, at least 330 days a year.
I have no physical problems, no pain, and a good appetite. I see a doctor about once a year for a check up.

I encourage you other old dogs to start some sort of regular exercise program.

I just completed my morning walk in Galveston County Texas. It is a sunshiny morning in the 50's. A great day to be alive.

[Edwin Santos]

If you have any interest in adding a whole new dimension to your fitness walk, you can look up a program developed in the 1980s by Dr. Leonard Schwartz called Heavyhands. It became a bit of a fad and then faded, but now it is making a comeback.

The premise is to take your walk with "light" dumbbells that have a grip that goes around your hand. Doing certain repetitive motions with these weights will dramatically increase the benefits to your cardiovascular system and upper body strength, both of which can be a bit neglected by just walking. You can start with 1lb weights.

Dr. Schwartz' book is still available used on Amazon for very little.

[Mike Chance in Iowa]

We had a neighbor down the road named George that was overweight and had suffered a heart attack in his 70's (prior to us moving to that area). He started walking and by the time we moved to the property, he was walking several miles 2-3 times a day depending upon how busy he was. He would briefly stop and chat while I was out doing chores in the pastures or shop. It was a real pleasure to have our daily "Good morning!" and "Good afternoon!" greetings and George was looking so fit and healthy. He said he enjoyed walking by our property each day to see how much we improved the place and cleaned it up.

We moved several years ago now and while taking my MIL out for errands we drove by the old place last month. As luck would have it, George (now in his 80's) happened to be out on his walk and I pulled over to chat. I can't describe how wonderful it was to see him still out walking and doing well.

I imagine Lowell, that you have several fans along your route that love to see you out walking every day too!

[Mike Nolan]

If you have a dog, it will encourage you to go on regular walks, rain or shine.

[Andrew Joiner]

Good for you Lowell. I'm with you.
I walk to the store, meetings and post office. I know how long a brisk walk takes to get me to all my destinations. I like to time it so I have to walk fast to not be late. I will walk just for fun or to relieve stress too, but I prefer a destination point and a deadline for some reason. I like the way it makes me feel. Nature gave me legs and muscles to use, so I use them.

[Wade Lippman]

If you have a dog, it will encourage you to go on regular walks, rain or shine.

I've always thought it was so sad to see people walking WITHOUT dogs. But I guess you do what you gotta do.

[Rich Engelhardt]

Good-on-ya Lowell!!!

Only thing I can add is that if you're 65 or over, you can see if your Medicare supplement or Advantage participates in Silver Sneakers & if there's a health club near you that accepts it.

I'm very fortunate to have two regulation sized indoor pools not more than 10 minutes away from me that I belong too - free of charge because of the Silver Sneakers program.

I'd love to be able to walk, but, the COPD pretty much disallows it.
That leaves swimming - which I've always enjoyed anyhow.

IMHO - doing something you enjoy doing is what makes it work. If it's a dog along as a buddy or talking to people along the way or just enjoying the sights of being outside. Anything that makes it enjoyable.That keeps you doing it.

[George Bokros]

I walk a mile seven days a week on the tread mill during the winter. In the summer I am quite active outside and consider that my exercise.

[Mike Null]

Lowell

Good link.

Thanks for posting it.

[Bill Orbine]

I do treadmill and exercise bike 3-4 days a week and sometimes more. Over the past 2 years I lost 25 lbs and have brought my cholesterol to well within range. My resting heart rate is below 50 BPM (44 last time checked) and blood pressure below 120/80.

[Thomas L Carpenter]

At 72 my health is reasonable. I walk 30-40 minutes 5 days a week mostly to keep my arthritis in check. Cardio is an added benefit but keeping my joints working is my main reason for doing it. Don't do it when the temp gets below freezing not because it's too cold but because i would prefer not to skip and fall on a icy patch.

[Terry Starch]

I'm 41 and January 5th had open heart surgery to replace my unicuspid aortic valve. Back in 2008 I had a aneurysm on my aorta fixed and that's when they noticed my unicuspid valve. Only .002% people have that. When I found this out I was very disappointed. We'll now I want to keep on building things. March I can exercise so I'm going to start and keep myself healthier than before. I hope everything works out for all of you. Keep it up and live on..

[Frank Pratt]

Good on ya Lowell. I'm just 62, and I run between 45 - 70 Km per week to keep in shape. 12 years ago I couldn't run a block without wanting to puke. I hope at 82 I can still be reasonably active. I sure is worth the effort.

[Harry Hagan]

I started High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) several months ago on a Schwinn Airdyne and have seen reductions in LDL, BP, BG, resting HR and an increase in HDL. Two times a week for a total of less than ten minutes actual exercise time.

[David T gray]

I started High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) several months ago on a Schwinn Airdyne and have seen reductions in LDL, BP, BG, resting HR and an increase in HDL. Two times a week for a total of less than ten minutes actual exercise time.

you trying to kill these old guys !

if u guys are worried about your health exercise is the last thing u should be doing take 10k of vitamin d3 and stop eating carbs