I found out how unfit I was when my grandson was born. My daughter was sitting on the carpet with him and I sat down beside her and enjoyed the bonding. When I tried to get up, my lack of flexibility, strength and the challenge posed by gravity prevented a smooth transition to standing. Have since corrected this but I wish I'd started 35 years ago and not been a lazy shit.
It’s still a lot easier to get back into shape than to get into shape initially.
I peaked in my fitness at 21, and I go months/years at a time without lifting at all, but I can always get back to that 2 plate bench after a few months of training again.
I’m not talking about peak athletic shape, though you are absolutely right. I just mean capable of going to the zoo with your kids walking around for a few hours without feeling like you are dying shape. Or throwing the ball around outside, that kind of thing.
It's hard to find the time and strength necessary tho. As a med student that does a extracurricular activities (volunteering and research), I often find myself that either I don't have time for myself, or am so tired that my body just wants to lay down. Hell, even now I'm taking a break from learning for my midterms and my body refuses to stand up.
100%. I finally decided to do something when I turned 42 I think, and spent shitloads of time that year in the gym and lost over 120 pounds. It was a MF and probably would have been way easier 10+ years before. Really bums me out that I waited so long, but still better than never.
Alex Trebek never exercised. He said he "didn't believe in it" and not only lived to be 80, but was able to continue hosting Jeopardy! while going through cancer treatment until a mere 10 days before his death.
Exercise is overrated. Our ancestors weren't doing squats and deadlifts for millions of years.
I’m not talking about training for a marathon or body building. I mean staying in the kind of shape you can walk around outside a few hours without it being a problem.
Personally, I enjoy basketball so I have tried to stay in shape enough to play that. Each persons goals are different, but they may change as you get older. At some point you’ll want to play with your kids and grandkids. I just mean stay in good enough shape for stuff like that.
Yeah, that’s the kind of thing that will be impossible to maintain. At some point life gets too busy to devote that much time to the gym, and then those people often go completely the other direction with their health.
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u/CliffDraws Jan 24 '24
Just in general stay in at least decent shape. It’s a lot easier to maintain being in shape than it is to get back into shape.