To not exercise

[Katywester]

I was reading another thread about a woman who didn't enjoy showering and the questions asking her 'don't you exercise' surprised me as if it was a given that everyone exercised!
Am I the minority mum of three full time work etc that just can't fit in exercise other than a quick dog walk every other day?

Looking at the state of the health of the nation it’s clear that many, many people don’t exercise.

Many people are time poor and stressed

Thank goodness for that

My mother lived to 93 and never did a day of ' exercise' in her life. She spent a good portion of her life considerably overweight too

My dad never in his life did any exercise if he could get away with it and he lived until 89 too

I know I know know it is all anecdotal but it cheers me up anyway

I went to classes particularly dance based all the time pre dc but i cannot fit them in now. School runs, extracurriculars, work, cooking from scratch, eating together, homework, socialising with friends and family & then one on one time with DH, Same for DH

Seeing the state of my own mother has got me exercising 7 days a week in my 50's. She never exercised and is heading for a wheelchair. Can no longer do basic household tasks, hasn't left the house on foot or alone for around 10 years, can't visit my sibling as they are up stairs. She's 75 and plagued with ill health. Comparing her to my aunt of a similar age who does yoga daily and looks after herself, it's like there's 20 years between them. With my mum it really was a case of use it or lose it. She stopped using her legs and now they can't carry her.
I start every day with a mobility routine followed by cardio then do strength workouts in the evening mixed with a bit of yoga and pilates. I do it all at home. I use bands, dumbbells, kettle bells. I like variety! Walking is great but it's not going to keep your upper body strong and your back flexible.
I want to be able to wipe my own ass as long as possible 😂

There's even stuff for kids that look fun to do with them. It doesn't have to be about the gym.

https://www.facebook.com/share/r/1KBVMgHVKY/

I think people get mixed up with health and mobility. Health is just a side effect of exercise, the universe can give our health a twatting whether we exercise or not.

Mobility however is finite if you don't. When you start sitting around more, lose muscle and end up not being able to walk far or get up out of a chair without effort, then come the mobility aids.

I'd prefer to be about to run up the stairs in my 80s than not.

And I’m sure at least some of them will have done a sport too. All my older relatives played football, rugby, tennis, badminton, hockey, cycled etc. Community amateur sport was huge in the post-war years, probably more so than nowadays when it has to compete with so many other forms of entertainment.

Most people I know don’t exercise, and that’s all different age groups. I started at 40 and wish I’d started earlier

I think we all need to aim for an active life rather than doing exercise if we don’t want to or can’t. When we talk about relatives that are of previous generations who never exercised, they were likely active in ways we just aren’t.

im a bit disabled (spinal issues and I have just had a big hip operation) so I concede I probably take some short cuts. However, I get the shopping delivered, we have a dishwasher, washing machine and tumble dryer. I haven’t ironed in years. We have a lightweight Dyson (erm and a cleaner and window cleaner). We have a relatively low maintenance garden, though needs mowing and weeding and we do have an allotment.

if we go back to the 40s to 80s running a home and garden was a lot more active and people often only had one car, if that in some cases! I’ve had several older relatives who never learnt to drive or never saw the need to run a car.

That hidden level of activity I think then stood them in good stead in later life. Many of us grew up with parents who didn’t exercise so we didn’t have that modelled to us. However, our parents and grandparents were active and so managed without it. Then life changed and we now need to specifically exercise or look for opportunities to increase our activity across the day / week.

Add in bad experiences with school PE and I can see that people are going to have more unwell later life unless they build the bone density, mobility and muscle to see them through.

@Pharazon my gran played a sport as a young woman but stopped as a dc, my dad never did. My mum played badminton once a week for a bit, aunts nothing but as I said loads of walking.

stopped when she had dc!

Many people are time poor and stressed

I'm definitely less stressed when I exercise. It's about the only thing that keeps me sane.
And most people are time poor; they just have different priorities.

We all have the same 24 hours as Beyoncé 🤣

And most people are time poor; they just have different priorities.

True, when I had dc I prioritised them. As they get older things will shift.

The long and short of it, this.

I think I’d go mental if I didn’t do at least a bit of sport each day.

The majority of mine is done outdoors, but the fitness/exercise part is a secondary perk to the actual sport, which I get so much joy out of.

Exercising for exercising’s sake would bore me though. Such as going to the gym or running on a treadmill/road.

I never used to and would say the same stuff about being time poor and stressed and then I had to do some physio to recover from an injury and found that being more active actually gave me energy and felt less stressed and I could fit it in in short bursts while waiting for other things or taking a screen break.

I now know that exercise now is like saving into my pension - putting in the work now for the benefit later.

Lots of people are similar, but it would improve your life in just about every day if you did

20k steps a day?? That’s bloody loads of exercise - you absolutely exercise.

Your aunts would have probably been naturally quite active as children or young women though before we had all the labour saving devices.

It’s steps for sure, but it very much depends on the speed of the walking whether it’s beneficial exercise or not. We need to raise our heart rates.

I go through phases. Currently in a no exercise phase after an op in May which I’m hoping to break soon as I’m feeling I need to start again
just dreading restarting and how unfit I will be

when I’m in an exercise phase I do a few 30-60 min spin classes then upper body and lower body weights plus stretching classes

@Raggededges my Dad is similar. He worked a very physical job but the day he retired it’s like he decided to sit in his armchair and that was it. Arthritis in his back and osteopenia now too means he can barely walk even with a walker.

I think ‘our’ generation also put our children’s needs way too far ahead of our own. I have a friend who says she would love to have time to play sport again but she’s too busy taking her two kids to about 45 different clubs a week.

Im another of the use it or lose it crowd

I climbed a mountain @59 and did my first Marathon aged 60 - doing another this coming year

I dont go full out gym, but I dance my legs off during the half wowser on the Sara Cox show, I walk at least 3 miles a day - mostly 5. I cycle when the weather is kinder, I do lunges and stretches when waiting on the spuds , and basically dance around the house with the music blasting whilst doing the chores

I saw my step dad retire and take to the chair, mum used to give off at him, within 5 years, he was struggling to walk to the loo. Mum is going the same way, she can barely walk 10 metres I do not want to get to that stage

Exercise isnt all about the gym and killing yourself , its about moving, Keep moving, get off the sofa and dance

Power walking cuts it , I use to power walk every day for 60 mins ..
Only reason I stopped is because I am slim & I was losing weight eventhough I ate healthy, now I do 2 circuit classes a week & 1 normal walk .

Another working mum off 3 here... no I don't. I try to but it is so hard to fit in especially when your husband is either at work or asleep. I tried to take one of my children for a run with me this morning but it was a disaster so just ended up walking.