To hope that the exercise I do now will help mobility when I'm older

[facelace]

My mum is 60, bad knee, bad back etc etc. I don't want to be like that.

I'm 38 and weight lift 2/3 times a week. Aibu in thinking this will help me when I'm her age?

My mum has never done any exercise past childhood.

I'm 47 and always been very active, tennis, running, weights etc.

I'm booked in for surgery on both knees in a few weeks time. Likely to have knee issues for the rest of my life now.

I would be aiming for more than that, personally. The recommended minimum is 10k per day.

I said I rarely do less than 8000 a day, meaning a normally do loads more!

face steps isn't really cardio though. Unless you are having a jog. Maybe carrying heavy shopping briskly too. But not walking with young kids. I suppose it would keep your heart high if they're in a double buggy and you're power walking, that might do it.

Yes this is true about the number being set for the olympics - why do we fall for this stuff?

It's the quality of the steps not the quantity though.

You need to be properly out of breath doing cardio 3 times a week for a good half hour. Looking after young children really won't get you to that level but it's better than nothing.

Likewise,10,000 steps ambling around Lakeside is nothing like as beneficial as 5,000 steps with purpose.

Depends what zone cardio you're talking about

General life is going to have you in a very low zone cardio wise though.

This is why I run. My mum used to say 'what do you want to be running all the time for, you're not young any more?' and the answer was 'because I want to be able to tie my own shoelaces past the age of 60, mother.' My mum did zero unnecessary exercise, couldn't bend down or walk up stairs without being breathless.

I'm 63 and can still tie my own shoelaces (and put my foot up on the table, but that's another story).

I was fit and healthy and very flexible up until 3/4 years ago. Spent years doing ballet, horse riding, martial arts and other sports, very active with a physical job etc. I'm on my first knee replacement at 54 after a poorly managed sports injury when I was 42. There's no guarantees op. My joints are riddled with arthritis and it's nothing to do with my earlier activity (or lack of it). Menopause has definitely had the effect of making everything seize up and I'm doing my utmost to halt the decline.

Both my parents were physically fit. My dad is in his 90s. His mindset is very positive and rather self serving. Think that helps. Mum had lots of ailments was dying for years

10000 steps I can get from walking to and from the station when I go to work and 15/20 minutes at lunch time. I find general activity like this does really help, as well as "proper" exercise for keeping weight down and so on, but I also do exercise which raises my HR to at least 140 bpm every week also.

Absolutely.

I'm 70 and fitter than most women half my age. I work out most days, I'm generally active, walk whenever possible. I can still ski for hours.

Exercising is so totally worth it. My go-to workouts:

Growingannanas for HIIT/cardio
At least a dozen push-ups every day
3-5 minutes of planks every day (Bowflex 3 minute plank)
Abs exercises most days (e.g. Rebecca Louise's Best Abs or Caroline Girvan's Braced Core and Abs)
Wall sits and glutes work (e.g. Caroline's wall sit workout and Lucy Wyndham Read's Thighs & Glutes)

And - very important!!! - WEIGHT TRAINING. Anything by Caroline Girvan. Challenge yourself and follow her programmes which are extremely well structured. Life-changing!!

More is better, but a significant improvement is shown from 4000 steps

Forgot to mention........ I also do a lot of stretches and balancing exercises

One DGM cycled every day, had an active social life, walked, gardened etc the other was very sedentary. The active one certainly fared better than the sedentary one.
DM is largely sedentary and already has lots of issues age 70.
I have painful arthritis in multiple joints but I do mobility exercises, yoga, walking and gardening to keep myself moving. The prospect of having to be in a home relying on someone else to feed and bathe me is terrifying so I am determined to keep going as long as possible by keeping active.

Hopefully it will, you just don’t know. Age 49 I could run 10k, just over 4 years later and I need a hip replacement as turns out I have hip dysplasia . Also menopause has brought on an inflammatory arthritis that is eating away at other joints too. I can’t walk at all without a stick currently and my life is incredibly limited at the moment.

I agree with ops that it definitely helps but can’t prevent all illness especially as you age.

I have been complacent/in denial for some time as I was finding it hard to get to the gym (family commitments) but wasn’t overweight and was never ill. So I have been convincing myself I was fit and healthy just by being busy and then I was suddenly struck down by an illness which can be very serious. It was a shock and has given me a wake up call.

Tbh I’m not sure if I would have prevented the illness if I had been physically fitter but I am now back at the gym and completely overhauled my eating habits too and I am feeling better for it.

You will likely be stronger and more mobile at sixty if you exercise sensibly in the meantime than you would be if you did no exercise, for sure.

Having said that, life is not fair and another person might be in better shape despite doing little or no exercise. And also the same problems your parents experience will often present themselves to you regardless what you do (hello bunions, and I am looking forward to macular degeneration and osteoporosis in future decades).

I think we are all in denial about the inevitability of ageing these days, tbh.

Indeed it will help but as someone said weight lifting is not the only thing one could do.

I think when it comes to exercise it's best to take a more well rounded approach tbh.

I lift a few times a week too but have started to incorporate pilates once a week.

Maybe look at mobility exercises... this will improve your lifts too!

I'm 57 and run 3 times a week. I've recently added upper body weights and lower body weightless exercises into the mix as DM has osteo and weights are supposed to help with that. However I was starting to feel a bit inflexible so have built in a quick 15 minute functional fitness into my morning routine - its pretty basic stuff wall sits, back shoulder and hip mobility and standing on one leg drawing circles with the other foot but I can feel the difference. TBH one of the best things you can do is sit on the floor and get up again 10x in a row.

My mother was quite sedentary although she walked everywhere she needed to go and did the garden and I sometimes wonder if doing a bit more exercise might have been useful. DF on the other hand was always raring to go off and do something and celebrated his 90th birthday last week by walking a mile and a half to the swimming pool, swimming a mile to prove he could and walking home again.......

As women we should be doing both cardio and weight bearing to prepare us for menopause.

We have a friend who has always run, nearly every day for decades. He is now 93, still runs a mile or so each morning and says he is far too young to give up yet.

I know a woman of 85 who resists all her son's efforts to get her shopping online. She walks to the supermarket about five times a week and says it keeps her active, as well as the chance of bumping into someone she knows for a natter.

At age 100 my grandmother still walked upright (no stoop and no assistance) thanks to having been disciplined into sitting and standing up straight as a child. She also had full mobility in her hands until the end because she was a terrible fidget! Turns out she was doing the recommended thumb and finger exercise for keeping arthritis at bay without realising it. She did a lot of general exercise throughout her youth and into her early thirties but I don't think a lot after that but she never over ate and never sat still!

Absolutely! If you don’t use it, you loose it.
My 90yr old Mum always tells me that what you do today will have a massive impact on how you are tomorrow.
She does gentle exercises three times a day to help with flexibility, often when she’s waiting for the kettle to boil. She can still bend and touch her toes.

My mum has never done gym type stuff but she has walked and gardened and is still very fit at 85.

So yes, doing exercise will help. So will a generally active lifestyle.