Be honest, how much exercise do you REALLY do?

[JMAngel1]

I think I need to up my exercise game - I'm 51 and noticing I can feel out of breath climbing four flights of stairs at work whereas I would skip up them a few years ago.
The exercise boards on here are really intimidating with everyone claiming to run followed by a swim or a HIIT class every day then yoga at night! I don't know anyone in real life like this so not sure what "normal" is I suppose.
So if you're a full time working mum like me, how much exercise do you really do each week? And how do you fit it into your days?

Yes I believe this also. I once went through a stage where I exercised loads, one or two gym classes a day...I felt fitter and moderately stronger but I didn't change my diet and my weight stayed the same. If my dh exercises he notices results very quickly. But regardless of exercise, men lose weight faster than women anyway. It's why adult women fair best in famines.

53 full time wfh lone parent.
Just checked my Strava and I've done 3 1/2hrs exercise this week. A mix of running (what I love and just getting back after injury), swimming, cycling and a strength class. Oh and a walk - a good one, not just pottering.
I do try and do my 10k steps.
I have a desk job so need to get moving.
WFH helps hugely as I have gained back so much commute time and can easily just go out then sit and my desk and have a shower a bit later.

Also because they have more muscle I suppose and can more easily turn fat into muscle.

Yep. I read a book about the north Korean famine. It said the first to die were under 5s, then the very elderly. Then men died, particularly lean, muscular men as they have very little fat stores. Adult women lasted the longest. I suppose this makes sense from a evolutionary perspective. You need as many women as possible to repopulate. One man can impregnate many women at one time but women are more valuable in terms of being able to produce children.

And why we have the evolutionary tendency to hold on to our weight, especially on the thighs, stomach, etc. The thing that breaks your theory is that our tendency to put on weight gets even worse once we are no longer able to reproduce. Something to do with oestrogen being created in fat making weight loss post menopause even more difficult...

Yes that is a bit of a puzzle.

I do squats and press up or plank depending on my shoulders. Do that in the morning, before breakfast. Started that 2 weeks ago, been going to gym for 2 years. Started with a frozen shoulder. Used to go 3 days. I’m starting to do Pilates at home too. I did Pilates for 5 years before Covid.

I’m 56.

Which exercises videos? I love vintage ones like Jane fonda workouts.

I'm curious to know what kind of job do you do.

@Pinkmushrooms I generally just put "80s aerobics" into YouTube (or whatever I want to do) and pick the one I like the look of!
I like Jane Fonda, Callanetics has worked miracles for my sciatica, and I like a bit of jazzercise.

I work full time but hybrid. My commute is 3 hours return so no exercise on those days. OntThe other 4 days of the week I'll do two gym sessions - one cardio and one weights based. I have two kids and get up 5-5.30'every day

The ability to store fat in safer subcutaneous fat depots declines as we age and it is increasingly stored around the viscera, leading to the large belly/thin limbs physique.

more muscle mass = higher metabolic rate, so fat stores tend to be depleted more quickly
adipose tissue is not turned into muscle tissue

What’s the best way of trimming down tummy fat? Will that be last to go?

Calorie deficit. Spot fat reduction isn’t a thing.

Zero. I did enough when I was younger to fuck my knees and back up.
Walking 20+ miles over rough terrain with all your kit on your back regularly tends to do that.

I'm 46, work FT with 3 young teens.

Each week I do:
1 big walk
1 30 mins cold water swim
2 kettlebells classes
Yoga 10 mins every morning

It's not as much as it should be but it fits into my life so it works

Quite a lot I think anyway. I do 2 short runs (about 5K) and longer one (10K) a week and lift weights 3 days a week too.

I try walk the kids the mile to school everyday as well.

Obviously life gets in the way some weeks, I don't manage all my runs or gym sessions because I have other stuff on, I don't make the walk everyday because it's either chucking it down or I have somewhere else to be straight after and don't have time to walk back home for the car.

I was intending to pick up a pilates class once a week too but I've only been once. I'm finding everything else so full on that I don't want to go back out after 7pm at night.

I'm pretty active at work too, I'm on my feet all the time and then carrying trays of drinks/empty stuff/plates. I can really get my right bicep going with a really heavy tray.

The downsides to so doing so much is that my house is being neglected, I do have a husband but the bathrooms haven't been cleaned in weeks since I last did it. Between the kids, work and exercise, all of the washing and the cooking I really struggle to find a gap to clean!

@Gwenhwyfar

Oh God this thread makes me feel a bit guilty! I do 10 mins yoga 5x a week, I yoga class, one swim and a few walks. That's it. Can't run due to medical reasons. Might look at booking another class.

So you exercise basically every day? Quite a lot then!
Not criticising the poster as we all do what we can but this isn't really daily exercise. A 10min yoga session is better than nothing but it would be foolish to think this would do enough to consider it a daily exercise.

You need to be doing something sustained.
I think the poster is doing really well but it's not 'quite a lot'

I do two sessions of weights per week without fail, walking a mile there and back to the gym each time. I've been doing this for a year now and I have had to jiggle other things around in my life to make it happen, but I've committed to it and I love it. I treat it like I would an important appointment and just get it done.

I have just started a pilates class (1 hour) on a Tuesday night.

Other than that I walk a short distance to and from school every day, then sit in a sedentary job for approx 24 hours a week, and care for my 5 yr old.

Occasionally I do a 5k parkrun or a big mountain walk but not regularly. Maybe every 3 months or so.

I do a minimum of 30 minutes every day. That might be walking briskly to the shops or yoga mainly.

I'm not an advocate that "exercise" means gasping for breath and pushing yourself too hard/through the pain. All that does is puts me off being any kind of active.

How can you do a park run as your only run only every 3 months. If I don't jog regularly, I can't jog 5k. How come your fitness sticks?

How can you do a park run as your only run only every 3 months. If I don't jog regularly, I can't jog 5k. How come your fitness sticks?

5k isn't that far to jog/run if you have a reasonable level of fitness.
For some it would be very hard but for many it's not a problem at all.

I don't always jog the whole thing - more like a fast walk on the hills and plod around the rest of it!

Well, thanks for that.
Why does couch to 5k exist then if loads of people can just do it without building up to it?

I would imagine the ones that don't need to train are fit from another sport?