Hello, I am a 57 year old female and I worked very hard to get fit and stay fit. Here is a bit about what I do and I would be interested to compair notes with other women in my age group 50+ as no one else I know does this.
I started swimming 5 years ago to lose weight and sucessfully lost a lot and have kept it off. Two years ago I added strength building and more cardio work at the gym. I take the summer off from the pool and gym but kayak as much as I can to keep my fitness level as well as more walking and gardening.
I recently had hip replacement surgery but it has not slowed me down and I am now back at or exceeding my fitness plan that I had prior to the January surgery. I also have some abnormal curves in my spine and have some back pain.
I live a long way from the pool and gym so I go 3 times a week. In the morning I swim 40 lengths (25M pool) of crawl and then 40 L with swim fins to help strengthen my legs. Prior to the hip operation I was doing 80L of crawl in just over an hour. I am not a fast swimmer but am persistent!
After lunch I go to the gym starting off with some cardio (10 to 15 mins)on an elliptical trainer or bike and then do about 10 exercises on the weight machines to strengthen my arms, shoulders and legs doing 3 sets of 15 reps. Then I finish off with another 10 to 15 mins on the bike. Going to the gym made a huge difference to my swimming ability as I never was able to swim 80 lengths in a pool before. Yesterday I noticed a significant improvement in how I felt swimming and at the gym. I find that I go for a few weeks at the same level and then all of a sudden next time it seems a bit easier. At the gym I gradually increase the resistance on the machines as I get better at them. I find that both the swimming and gym help my back pain, and any other knee or hip pains I have at my age.
I started swimming 5 years ago to lose weight and sucessfully lost a lot and have kept it off. Two years ago I added strength building and more cardio work at the gym. I take the summer off from the pool and gym but kayak as much as I can to keep my fitness level as well as more walking and gardening.
I recently had hip replacement surgery but it has not slowed me down and I am now back at or exceeding my fitness plan that I had prior to the January surgery. I also have some abnormal curves in my spine and have some back pain.
I live a long way from the pool and gym so I go 3 times a week. In the morning I swim 40 lengths (25M pool) of crawl and then 40 L with swim fins to help strengthen my legs. Prior to the hip operation I was doing 80L of crawl in just over an hour. I am not a fast swimmer but am persistent!
After lunch I go to the gym starting off with some cardio (10 to 15 mins)on an elliptical trainer or bike and then do about 10 exercises on the weight machines to strengthen my arms, shoulders and legs doing 3 sets of 15 reps. Then I finish off with another 10 to 15 mins on the bike. Going to the gym made a huge difference to my swimming ability as I never was able to swim 80 lengths in a pool before. Yesterday I noticed a significant improvement in how I felt swimming and at the gym. I find that I go for a few weeks at the same level and then all of a sudden next time it seems a bit easier. At the gym I gradually increase the resistance on the machines as I get better at them. I find that both the swimming and gym help my back pain, and any other knee or hip pains I have at my age.
