Fitness is an integral part of a healthy lifestyle. We need to exercise to stay healthy. However, life often gets in the way. Most of us are busy with work, kids, household chores, social gatherings, side hustles, and other activities. With bills to pay, who has time to exercise?
That’s the great thing about retirement. You have more time when you don’t have to work. This is fortunate because fitness becomes more important than ever as we age. Muscle mass, bone density, and metabolism can decline rapidly after age 50, especially for women.
However, it is not easy to start exercising after a long break. You may find that you can’t exercise as much as you used to. That’s what happened when I put fitness at the top of my New Year’s goals this year. My body is not as young as it used to be. groan…
Joe’s fitness history
In my twenties and thirties, I exercised every day of the week. My old office had a small gym, and I would make time to work out at lunch. This is the secret to consistency. Put it in your schedule every workday and you’ll be set. This way, you’ll stay on track if you miss a day or two.
Unfortunately, early retirement derailed my exercise program. I left my engineering career when I was 38 to become a stay-at-home dad/blogger. The RB40Jr was 18 months old and it was tough. Supervising a young child took up all my time and energy. Aerobics has fallen by the wayside for several years.
Things got a little better after the RB40Jr started school. I joined a gym and got back on track by working out. Things were good for a while, but my exercise program came to a screeching halt due to the Covid pandemic in 2020. I tried to exercise at home, but I wasn’t able to do it. The living room wasn’t the right environment. Instead, I took Junior to play tennis, basketball and baseball a few days a week during the lockdown. That was good, but we stopped after he went back to school full time.
In 2022 and 2023, I tried to increase my step count, but that didn’t work either. I couldn’t motivate myself to go for a walk often enough. It was easy when I was in Thailand because I walked everywhere. When I returned to the States, it was easier to drive everywhere. (I spent a lot of time in Thailand over the past few years because my mother was sick.)
Anyway, I turned 50 last year and health became my top priority. I need to exercise more consistently to enjoy a long, healthy retirement. That’s why I’m back at my old gym and plan to work out 3-4 times a week. I’ve been very successful so far.
Joe’s routine
Well, that’s my current routine.
Monday to Thursday -I have to go to the gym in the morning otherwise I won’t be able to do it at all. That’s why I bike to the gym right after the RB40Jr goes to school. I train with weights for about 20 minutes, do 15 minutes of cardio, and then do some basic stretching. I thought I would start light and work my way up to my old weight.
Friday -I’m in ceramics class on Friday. I will write more about this in another blog post.
Saturday – Join yoga classes at the gym in the morning.
Sunday – This is my day off. I put it aside to recover, wrote a blog, and took my son to Ultimate Frisbee games.
I’ve been pretty consistent so far. Usually, I exercise 3-4 times a week. It’s good to overschedule a little because something always comes up. I’m still on track even if I miss a day or two.
Minor setback
Unfortunately, I’m not as young as I used to be. I started with light weights, but apparently, they weren’t light enough. Now, all my elbows, right knee, and lower back are inflamed. I hurt my right knee on a snowboard trip years ago, so this is old news. Yoga classes put a lot of stress on her and I feel some pain. Lower back problem has been caused by sitting in front of the computer for years. I don’t think this will completely go away. However, the elbow pain is new. This is from working with weights. These days, an ice pack is my constant companion.
My body is not as flexible as it used to be. I will continue to go to the gym, but I need to adjust the way I exercise. Over the past few weeks, I have connected again. When I exercise, I use very light weights and limit the range of motion to reduce stress on my elbows. I also no longer follow my yoga teacher 100%. I need to reduce the stress on my joints. The inflammation is still there, but I think it is slowly improving. I may need to take a long vacation to fully recover.
Fortunately, we will be heading to Japan and Thailand in June. I will be gone for 6 weeks. Hopefully, joint pain will go away with this type of vacation. We’ll get plenty of exercise from walking, so I’m not too worried about my New Year’s goal. Walking 10,000 steps is a good day for exercise. I’m sure we’ll get a lot of strides.
Conclusion
Fitness is a lifelong journey. Listen to your body, adjust your routine when needed, and most importantly, have fun! I enjoy working out in the gym, but most people don’t. You have to find some active activities that you like. Getting fit could be by biking, hiking, swimming, or joining a pickleball league. If you enjoy it, you’ll be more likely to keep going.
My best advice is to overschedule your workouts a little. This way, you can skip a day or two and still stay on track.
What do you do to stay fit and healthy? Any good tips for joint pain?
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Passive income is the key to early retirement. This year, Joe is investing in commercial real estate with CrowdStreet. They have many projects all over the USA so check them out!
Joe also highly recommends Personal Capital to DIY investors. They have many useful tools that will help you reach financial independence.
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