My urologist asked me once if I was exercising. I said I was. He asked,”Are you stressing your bones?” I said I was and he replied that was good.
When my friends talk about exercise, they usually talk about walking, running or biking. Moving the whole body is important and valuable. But in only a few additional minutes, you can add very helpful exercise for your muscles. Exercising your muscles also means that tendons, ligaments and bones get some additional work, too. Canned goods can be used for light weights, as can plastic milk bottles filled with varying amounts of water.
Young people often want to get “ripped” or in a condition where their muscles show through the skin, as in the famous six-pack of abdominal muscles. I don’t say that women are not affected by a good-looking body but I do say that in general, being friendly, thoughtful and generally interesting and interested are far more important. I have heard it said that women dress for other women (although of course, décolletage and split skirts and short, shorts do have an electrifying effect on men. However, unless you are looking for an immediate - and brief - response, personal and personality aspects are more important.) In the same way, bulging muscles on men may have more effect on men, both positive admiration and negative fear or repulsion than on women.
At age 50 or more, simple strength to live well seems more important that appearance and attraction. Clearly, the average person is not going to need to lift 300 lbs. but lifting, gripping, carrying go on all day and it is nice to have the strength to do what one wants to do.
Not overdoing one’s initial attempts to build a habitual practice is very important. A fairly light weight, lifted 5 - 10 times will make a difference. I learned years ago to lift three times a week and not more than that. Monday, Wednesday, and Friday is an obvious choice but that set of days might get you to your gym on its busiest days. Working at home might be ok but safety and some thought to getting medical aid if you need it is important. I can cite sources that say for 50+ people, even one workout a week will help maintain one’s strength level.
Resistance bands are fun to use and can give a strenuous workout, although they age, break and are limited in what they demand. They are quiet and inexpensive and easy to put into luggage for a trip. One of the blogs linked to my main blog page is about using resistance bands and it often reports research that the bands have been shown to be quite effective.
Besides not overdoing the first few sessions to avoid injury and discouragement, both big anti-motivators, it is very helpful to use a clipboard or a calendar to write down what was done in each session. After a few times, the notes make sense and after a few months, you might need very little guidance through a session. As long as you increase the weight or the number of lifts, you will make notable and exciting progress over a few months.
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Bill
Main blog: Fear, Fun and Filoz
Main web site: Kirbyvariety
