Workouts for 50+ year olds...

[brickboy240]

You sir, need to discover the wonder of the Camelback.

In the upcoming heat and humidity...there is no substitute for good hydration.

Take this from a 50 year old mt biker that lives where it is hellishly hot and humid! LOL

The Camelback rocks....and will save your ass.

[Det-Sog]

You sir, need to discover the wonder of the Camelback. In the upcoming heat and humidity...there is no substitute for good hydration. Take this from a 50 year old mt biker that lives where it is hellishly hot and humid! LOL The Camelback rocks....and will save your ass.

Amen! I sure wish we had those back in "the day". My wife and I are religious about carrying ours whenever we do any lengthy outdoor activity. Makes an all day hike much easier.

That and a couple of Alieve... I'm good to go...

[chuckman]

On Memorial Day I was feeling all "Hooaahh" and such so I decided to do an 8.4 mile power-walk. No ruck, weapon, helmet, or LBE, just me in shorts, tennis shoes, and T-shirt. First hour or so of it was out in the sunlight, last several miles was on a mostly shaded paved trail.

I made two crucial mistakes (one couldn't be avoided): vastly underestimated the hydration I'd need, and then an insert in my left shoe started bunching up under the ball of my foot at about the 5 mile mark. I know better than to sit during something like that and then try to resume, but I had no choice or that insert would've ate the crap out of my foot. Sat down, took off shoe, straightened it out, then got up and......could not maintain the zippy pace I had kept up to that point and the bottom seemed to fall out. Those last 3+ miles felt like the freaking Bataan Death March! All I needed was a Jap soldier poking me with a bayonet. By damned I finished but was so dehydrated that every muscle in my body was cramping and for quite a while even raising my head to drink Gatorade caused head-rushes to the point I felt like passing out. It was pretty warm out but it was still morning so I only took along maybe 8-10oz of watered down Gatorade to swill at the half-way point (not NEARLY enough).

Lessons learned? Well for starters I ain't 20 anymore. Also, should've taken the Camelback and hydrated at least 3 or 4 times along the way. I sweat like a pig, in fact so much so that by the time I was roughly halfway my shoes were squishing. Yeah, sweat that much.

I think back to Airborne school in Panama and our final run (not power-walk) which ended up being like 9+ miles. Granted, it was a fairly slow pace, just a hair more than an Airborne shuffle. However, I was 19yo and in the best cardio shape of my life. Also weighed probably 50lbs less than I do now (in fairness I am MUCH stronger than I was then and more muscled......I was narrow as a "kid"). Oh but for the glory days!

Camelback. Times, like, a million. Also, people underestimate the challenge of a fast walk.

[brickboy240]

Have you given any thought to getting a bike?

I have found that the mt. bike is much less taxing on my heels and ankles.

Depending on how and where you ride...you can go slow or crank it up and burn calories like a mad dog...sometimes all in the same ride.

I highly recommend the mt. bike to anyone wanting to keep thin and in shape and have fun doing it. I love playing tennis but the mt. bike is my favorite outdoor activity by far.

[Det-Sog]

Yes. 10 to 20 years ago, I used to hit some pretty serious trails on the mountain bike. Unfortunately, in my current theater I'm surrounded by impossible terrain, and the worst drivers in the world.

Once I move back and get settled, I'm sure I'll pick up another bike next spring. I really miss riding.

[LDM]

Aged 62 and for past 15 years been doing Advanced Response Circuit training. IRRC, this whole body workout was created by a guy named Lance Dreyer (sp?) in the 90's.
Rotate upper body, core body and lower body exercise, then repeat without any rest interval but do a different exercise for each body area never repeating an exercise. Example: 8-12 curls, 60 crunches, 8-12 squats; then pullups, Roman chair, leg curls; then etc., etc.
Weights should be light enough to do the 8-12 reps, but heavy enough the last 2-3 are taxing, but do not induce failure.
Objective is to get heart rate to 120 bpm but not go to where you cannot carry on conversation.
This is a balanced, whole body workout. Varying the body areas is supposed to push blood throughout body and mitigate soreness next day. Do not do consecutive days, skip 1-2 days before repeating.
The first time I did this routine, in 10 minutes I though I'd hurl. My "standard" routine today takes about an hour.
I rarely have pulled muscles or otherwise "break down" because I am not working any one exercise at maximum.
Part of the beauty of this is that it is entirety a personal workout at your capability. As your capability increases, it is easy to incrementally add.

[JusticeM4]

I can look at a piece of pizza and put on a few pounds.

Don't look or just close your eyes

Proper diet/eating is a big deal for weight loss. I share that weakness since I love to eat. Just balance your diet with your exercises. A cheat meal or 2 a week is not bad if you stay consistent with your workouts. But eating bad for an entire weekend can set you back.

I agree with biking, swimming, or any low-impact activity for cardio instead of running. Throw in some light-medium resistance training 2-3x a week. Don't forget stretching exercises as well.

[WS6]

The fittest 50+ people I have seen in any gym with the best mobility/endurance/etc. go to my crossfit gym. Most 50+ people I see in conventional gyms have very poor mobility and endurance, and tend to focus more on key low-involvement lifts such as curls, bench-press, and things like that which they perform at a sluggish rate. They can perform pretty well for their age along 1 or 2 planes of movement, for a few movements, and then poop.

That said, OP, you mention that you do have some physical limitations, and only you are aware of their extent, fully.

I would recommend something that focuses on mobility and cardio. At 50+, if you're still getting in bar fights, wrestling with psychotic patients or criminals, or doing hard manual labor that requires serious explosive strength...well, I'd argue that you are living poorly. At 50, I think the main goal should be mobility and productivity...at 70.

Swimming. Yoga. Martial arts (at a dojo that focuses of the fitness vs. full contact/combat aspect), etc. would be my recommendation.

[Det-Sog]

At 50+, if you're still getting in bar fights, wrestling with psychotic patients or criminals, or doing hard manual labor that requires serious explosive strength...well, I'd argue that you are living poorly. At 50, I think the main goal should be mobility and productivity...at 70.

Yeah... My days of rucking it, and chasing turds through the crack neighborhoods are long gone. I just think of the shape I was in back then, and want to get back as close as I can to it. Realistically, I was running at about 95% back then. I'd settle for 80% of that now. I'll feel good and live longer... Maybe.

I like going on mountain hikes with my wife. It's very rewarding to pass 20-something year-olds going up on the trails. ;-)

[USMC_Anglico]

Camelback. Times, like, a million. Also, people underestimate the challenge of a fast walk.

Definitely Camelback.

16yr old Girl known to my family just died of heat stroke in the Negev desert on a hike, only had a sport bottle of water. Obviously not sufficient. If going for extended periods, supplement with some type of electrolyte, my personal favorite are NUUN tabs.