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Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,917
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@SeaMaiden you can find kettle bells at sporting goods stores,Walmart and target.You can also find soft kettle bells that I have not used but might be easier on the house if you drop it.I think you should start with the lightest weight if you haven't been weight training and then over time when you get strong buy a heavier weight.There are lots of tutorials on utube showing how to use them

Honored Contributor
Posts: 14,917
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I have been a gym rat since my early twenties when I discovered that I have a defective heart valve.I have been on a health mission since then and I have not had to have surgery or take meds yet...so yay because staying strong has really worked for me.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,415
Registered: ‎11-25-2011

Re: 60 plus and exercise

[ Edited ]

@hoosieroriginal wrote:

 


@SeaMaiden - I can't even tell you where I got it - it is probably between 2-3 pounds - it has given me some muscle and the flabby underneath my arm has disappeared.  I ordered a 10 pound and it was WAYYYYAYY too heavy - had to give it to Goodwill.  This smaller one is just perfect.  I use it in one hand first and just swing it out to the side 25 times each arm, then I use both hands and swing back and forth across my chest 50 times each night. 


EEKS.

Kinda drives me crazy when I hear/see people using a kettlebell incorrectly. 

Swinging it out to the side & across your chest at 2-3 pounds...those aren't kettlebell moves.  For that small of weight, just use a sack of potatoes or a jug of water.  No need to buy anything.    

 

A true kettlebell movement will be generated by your large muscles...legs, hips, bottom, upper back. It's a technical, ballistic move...where anything at or more than 8kg (17.6lb) is encouraged for the Kettlebell Swing.  

 

If one can, say, body weight squat in everyday motion (read: lowering to the toilet), one can swing a 8kg kettlebell.  Now for pressing movements, where arms are challenged, lighter weight might be needed, but a kettlebell wouldn't be needed, as well.

 

Save your money...and just use body weight exercises.  

Push-ups are the best upper body exercise...and that's free! 

 

ETA:  If one is using a lighter KB in across the chest/out to the sides movements, I would recommend using it in the 'bottoms up' position.  Having the KB dangle from your hands in a 90degree position, it could cause stress on the wrist.

Honored Contributor
Posts: 35,597
Registered: ‎05-22-2016

I might add to my earlier post...I used to do pull-ups and push-ups everyday. I still have the pull-up bar in my house. Unfortunately I can't do either anymore because of my scleroderma hands...whaaah!Smiley Sad But if you can do them...do them!Smiley Very Happy

Honored Contributor
Posts: 18,415
Registered: ‎11-25-2011

@SilleeMee wrote:

I might add to my earlier post...I used to do pull-ups and push-ups everyday. I still have the pull-up bar in my house. Unfortunately I can't do either anymore because of my scleroderma hands...whaaah!Smiley Sad But if you can do them...do them!Smiley Very Happy


Da*mmmmm, girl!  

Pullups are a woman's exercise nemesis...and you busted them out every day!  Nice! 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 11,140
Registered: ‎06-19-2010

What I've found out about exercising is that you have to find the amount and type that works for you at your age and physical limits you have.

 

When I retired in June of 2015, I went from a fairly active person at an active job to being a couch potato watching tv.  I gained over 30 lbs from June, 2015 to June, 2016 and that's with bad knees which got worse under the quick weight gain.

 

In May, 2016, I realized that even walking was becoming an effort and my body felt like cement.  Picking something up from the floor was an effort.  I decided to join a fitness center affiliated with my doctor/hospital network.  Not only do they have an excellent fitness facility but outpatient therapy as well if your doctor prescribes it.  It sounds foreign for this to be coming out of my mouth but I love that place!  And I hate working out, lol.

 

Since I started in May, my knees have improved, my flexibility has  improved and I've lost (after including less and better eating habits this month) 13 lbs.  And it seems to me that this 13 lb lost looks better than my normal 13 lb loses of the past.

 

When I first started in May, I over did it.  I loved the place so much that I was spending almost 3 hours a day there for 5 or 6 days a week.  After a month, I was actually in more pain.  I cut back to walking no more than 2 miles a day and taking only one class a day instead of two.  (Or I take two classes and don't walk).  That was my happy medium.  You can do too much of a good thing.

 

I avoid deep squats/lunges and no heavy weights with ANY squats/lunges.

 

During the day at my center, it's mostly older people...retirees like me.  There are lounge areas for socializing which is also good, another part of being a healthy senior.

 

As long as this post is, lol, I could say more....that's how much I enjoy that place and my new found staff of quality life.

“You can’t wait until life isn’t hard anymore to be happy”. (By Nightbirde, singer of the song, It’s Ok)
Honored Contributor
Posts: 8,583
Registered: ‎06-25-2012

Elliptical every day. Woman Happy

"Pure Michigan"
Esteemed Contributor
Posts: 6,814
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

I like to do things that don’t require special equipment or gym membership. 

My daily routine includes:

Walking 5 miles a day.

For upper body:  triceps dips and pushups.

For core:  I memorized the Jane Fonda Advanced Stomach Workout back in the 80’s and have continued to do it ever since.    

Valued Contributor
Posts: 932
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

@SeaMaiden bless you on all the replacement surgery. I know how hard the hips are at least. I had both done in the past 8 months. I found that going th PT 3x/week has done magical things for weight loss. I am almost back to the weight I want to be. I need to keep this up after my therapy time is over. I'm finally walking without a cane, but the latest one I had done in May is still pretty stiff and sore. I'll get there. Keep up the good work!

 

 

 

 

Honored Contributor
Posts: 25,929
Registered: ‎03-09-2010

This summer has been too hot and humid for me to get out walking & the hills around our campground are too steep. The pool has been too crowded - you can't really swim just stand around so summer has been an exercise abyss. When we get back to Florida we will get back to our routine - for me that is water zumba 3 mornings a week, which is so vigouous we are actually sweating even though we are in a cool pool, and the other days resistance training in the gym in the mornings, then if DH feels like swimming , as he does nmost days, we will swim laps in the afternoons.It is definitely better to exercise in the water when you have arthritis as the water supports 80% of your body weight and takes that off your joints. I have arthritis in my spine and I can certainly do much more exercising in the water than on land.In the water you don't feel like gravity has any pull on you.And , so what if you fall - your in the water - big splash and your fine - you don't get hurt in the water. Most gyms with a pool or YMCAs with a pool offer several levels of water exercise, even classes for the very elderly.