What got you into exercise as an adult?
WanderinWonder
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For all those who felt discouraged from taking part in sport at school, how have you managed to embrace exercise/sport as an adult?
I was given little to no encouragement at school and have fallen into the habit of barely exercising at all (save for the occasional country walk which I do enjoy).
I'd like to change things while I still can but, knowing myself as well as I do, I realise that the only exercise I'm likely to stick at is the fun variety. I'm not the kind of person who is motivated purely by fitness (so I'm not likely to stick to regular solo runs or hours at the gym by myself). To keep my motivation up, it needs to be a fun, sociable activity.
So I was wondering if any of you have to taken to physical activity later in life and what form of exercise got you going again?
The type of activities I'd likely be interested in pursuing are: winter sports such as ice skating or skiing (not very well catered to where I'm living), swimming, cycling, or water sports. Any other ideas?
I was given little to no encouragement at school and have fallen into the habit of barely exercising at all (save for the occasional country walk which I do enjoy).
I'd like to change things while I still can but, knowing myself as well as I do, I realise that the only exercise I'm likely to stick at is the fun variety. I'm not the kind of person who is motivated purely by fitness (so I'm not likely to stick to regular solo runs or hours at the gym by myself). To keep my motivation up, it needs to be a fun, sociable activity.
So I was wondering if any of you have to taken to physical activity later in life and what form of exercise got you going again?
The type of activities I'd likely be interested in pursuing are: winter sports such as ice skating or skiing (not very well catered to where I'm living), swimming, cycling, or water sports. Any other ideas?
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Running is the last thing I thought if enjoy but I love it! I did 5k on the treadmill this morning and body is aching all over. The satisfaction afterwards is amazing
Good for you shaggy!
It's true that we can sometimes discover a love for something we never, ever thought we would.
I just feel for me, it needs to be something really fun (and sociable). I love the idea of getting into ice skating in particular - I love how you can combine it with music and it's elegant and graceful, like dancing. And even better, despite being overweight, I actually am quite good at keeping myself up on skates - I seem to have a natural ability with it.
That's great, but this is aimed at those who were put off exercise at school.
Well done Tinkerbelle .
Hockey kind of appeals to me, well ice hockey does! Curling too - I seem to have a thing for winter sports. I loved skiing the one time I got to do it, such a shame it's such an expensive inaccessible hobby!
Interesting, the perils of the demon drink.
Power walking is a great start. Walking is the one thing I know I like to do most often, nothing like going for a walk up in the hills or along a beach.
I haven't got around to doing any exercise (always been allergic to it) but I have lost 2 stone this year just by drinking less and eating better.
What got me into running was a few people at work do it regularly and that sort of urged me to do it too. I've been a pure gym regular for well over a year but never really lost any weight despite going 2-3 times a week. Then I disxovered it's not just about going to the gym but changing your diet too. Fast forward 6 months or so and I've lost so much weight I've amazed myself and others too.
I recently disxovered a website called parkrun.org.uk . They do regular free park runs of 5k every Saturday at 9. There's likely to be one near you. It's a good way to meet like minded people who are not just runners but do other sports so why not give it a try?
A few weeks back I started using an app call nhs choices from couch to 5k. The aim is to get couch potatoes running 5k in 9 weeks. I am about half way through this and trust me, week 1 I was truly a couch potato who could barely run 100m without catching my breath and stopping!!! This morning I ran 5k non stop on the treadmill and I plan on doing this in the park in the next few weeks
My point is, if your stuck on something to do and want to get active, start with somethjng like running to get you up and about. Do what I did and use that app as a personal trainer. If running doesn't do it for you, find yourself a team sport like the poster above who found hockey. There's bound to be clubs in your area so do a quick search online and get in touch with them.
I really really want to do tae kwon do bit feel over 40 It's too late for me
^This, basically.
I'm in my 40s, my cholesterol is so high that I'm one step away from needing medication for it, and my stomach has expanded so much that part of my bowel is visibly protruding through my abdominal muscles!
I've completely changed my lifestyle over the last few months... funnily enough!
Oh yeah I forgot to mention - a health scare is what kicked me off the sofa and start taking my life seriously. I never thought I'd enjoy exercise until I was forced into action
I've read that weight loss is 80% diet 20% exercise. It's amazing how much exercise it takes just to burn a few hundred calories. It's better not to eat them in the first place.
I know a few people who have said the Couch to 5K programme is excellent so I really should give it a go.
Nowadays with working and looking after a family, I don't get to exercise as much as I want to but I have discovered metafit which is fantastic as it's short but very intense. I'm not that into classes normally due to my lack of coordination but metafit is brill because you just work at your own pace and the exercises are pretty straightforward so it's easy to follow. I love it!
For me I enjoy exercise as an individual, I could never to team sports, I like to do my own thing.
I can't recommend c25k highly enough. It's like a personal trainer in your headphones while you run. One thing I hate about the gym is I can't train very good most of the time as I am rubbish at doing so on my own. With this app you have someone pushing you to work that little bit harder.
I was the opposite. I was fairly thin and active at school but at University I discovered beer and lived on crap food.
Thanks If you live in Nottingham it's quite big up there.
I love ice hockey. Watching it though. :d
Sounds like a good sport to try.
After I left school, I was a keen cyclist. Now, in middle age am a keen cyclist (60 -70 miles every week). I find myself smiling like an idiot and feel 12 again, on a bike. Have noticed on our local Sustrans track, some days the vast majority of cyclists are 40 or 50 plus. Many of the runners, too. I wonder if it is because we had more active childhoods than many kids do now, so there is some normality in being outside and active? Maybe, maybe not.
I did run for a while and did an early version of Couch Potato - 5K, but don't enjoy running any more. Cycling, though, I never get bored of.
However when I did finally develop, I started the gym at a similar time and found I progressed pretty quickly. I joined a powerlifting club at aged 17 and was competing soon after. I never got any respect from the school PE teachers when young, but by 6th form I was outlifting them all by a long way and that changed. Competition and enjoying being strong is what got me hooked.
I would have been 16 when I first went to a proper gym, but I did get an Argos vinyl concrete filled set for my 15th. I couldn't bench 35lbs when I first started!