Advice sought for beginning excercise at 57

[nikorasu95]

Hi. I've recently turned 57. I'm male, 6'0" 217 lbs

I have always struggled to excercise consistently. I know that if I don't shake up in the next year or so, I'll find it very much harder to do so, and I hope to live a long active life.

Things I do do. Walk c 4 miles 2-3 times a week and shorter distances almost daily with my dogs.

Things I used to do:

Run - I started about 10 years ago, kept it up for a year and got up to 5k, got an injury and never got back in to it.

Swim. I used to go a round 3 times a month and did 30+ 50m lengths. Mostly breaststroke (with proper form) with some front crawl.

Weights and bodyweight excercises. I'd get an app on my phone and do whatever, but never really progress beyond the beginning excercises. I have free weights.

Things I might do.

Yoga, all of the above. Climbing - if I lost a bit of weight

Things I won't do.

I'm not a confident Cyclist. I have no interest in team sports. Not keen on joining a gym.

Time...
I own and run an engineering consultancy business. I could take excercise during most working days, but my time is under pressure. I could walk the dogs regularly earlier in the morning and for longer.

Medical.
High blood pressure, under control with medication.

Motivation
I do struggle with Motivation and consistency, partly because of un-medicated ADHD.

Goals. Lose 2 stone. Improve fitness, improve strength and condition.

 

[sharon123]

@nikorasu95 From a 52M perspective (I run and lift and have BP issues), for strength and conditioning, look into Starting Strength novice linear progression program (NLP). This is basic barbell stuff if you have your own home gym (or build one). To get stronger you need to lift heavier. You could try running again for cardio but slowly to keep the heart rate down. This will let you go the distance without wearing yourself out too quickly. Keep a daily log of your exercise. Rest days are good to have too.

Motivation is thinking about the activity but discipline is doing the activity on a planned schedule,

 

[nikorasu95]

@sharon123

Motivation is thinking about the activity but discipline is doing the activity on a planned schedule,

My sorry ADHD ass needs to internalise this message. I'm printing this out and sticking it up.

 

[teofrastus]

@nikorasu95 62m and overweight. Started just this year. Having a trainer that I meet with 2 times a week and then working out by my self on weekends has helped me since it gave me structure and accountability since I never want to miss a session that I am paying for. Plus, he pushes me more than I would working out by myself.

I don’t want to continue paying for a trainer forever, but it helped me get off to a good start. Now if I could just stop eating so much .

 

[nikorasu95]

@teofrastus Thanks. This is obviously great advice, and it would also work for me. However, life circumstances mean I can't afford it right now.

One thing I might be able to do is get an employee to help. One of my engineers is an ex national team sports player and she's still very active. My PA and I were discussing health, weight, and exercise, as we both want to lose weight. My engineer was in the room and more or less offered to run some sessions.

 

[teofrastus]

@nikorasu95 I have a friend who works where they have a well equipped gym in their office. He has found another guy to work out with a few times a week and says it’s like having an accountability partner since they feel like they can’t cancel unless there is a valid excuse. Finding someone else would be a good long-term solution. But, I know that may be hard to find a friend nearby where that would work.

 

[newjerusalem18]

@nikorasu95 I'm 54 and never been consistent with my exercise regime. I didn't even get the 10.000 steps a day like you do. I've recently started running again with the Zombie, run! app (couch to 5k) and it's so much fun that I bought the regular ZRX app (around 30$ a year). I'm convinced that this time I will keep it up. Also to prevent injuries, do the run-walk-run method, also known as Galloway method.
You are already starting from a good walking base, you just have to turn it up a notch.