For Christmas I gave my 80-something dad 10 tickets to the local community gym plus my time to go with him. When the 10 passes ran out he bought a 1-year membership. It’s been a year now and we have a regular 2x per week date. My work schedule is erratic and the days can be long. My dad’s days are full too but we manage to make it work.
Joes Pilates at 82.
(Photo of Joe Pilates, the founder of Pilates exercise, powerful at 82. Is he really standing in the snow, in his bathing suit? When you’ve got it flaunt it.)
Once the commitment is there the time somehow appears.
This is the best present that I ever gave him. When you’re old you don’t need stuff, you need time and health. We’ve both benefited. Dad’s strength continues to grow and his balance is impressive. He can stand on one foot on a bosu. 
The bosu is lots of fun. You can do a full workout on it if you want. Photo courtesy of Wikimedia Commons
It is surprising how much physical energy is really inside of you when you think you are all tapped out from using just your head all day. We leave the gym feeling fantastic. Your carriage improves immediately. It seems counterintuitive but expending energy gives energy. A study involving more than 6800 people concluded that regular exercise is more effective than stimulant medications in increasing energy and reducing fatigue. This holds true whatever the individual’s health. Exercise benefits healthy people as well others with serious health challenges like people with cancer, diabetes, and heart conditions.
The gym is an ideal place for us to exercise together because we can work side-by-side at different intensity levels which we couldn’t do on say, a hike. I always remind my dad that we are a-m-a-z-i-n-g. It’s not like anyone else is standing at the door waiting to pat you on the back and tell you the obvious truth! Someone’s got to say it. Dad always laughs but inside I know he thinks so too. :)
I love how the workout makes my dad walk tall and proud. He’s fun to work out with and he helps me get me there! The body is a great path to the spirit.
Our Workout
Half an hour twice a week <– This is how we started. KISS! A year later it’s organically progressed to an hour.
- Cardio – 5 minutes
- Our first day my dad took a break during the cardio. Now he does 2-3 times more. We vary the cardio machines. He likes the rowing machine and he usually does 1500 metres.
- Abs – about 5 minutes
- We mix it up. Here’s the one we started with. It’s easier than it looks.
- Photo courtesy of Chatelaine magazine which has a great health & fitness section. Check out more abs exercises there.
- Strength – a little more than 5 minutes
- We mix this up too, doing whatever we feel like with light weights or using our own bodies for resistance. We do full body exercises and avoid machines that work on a single muscle group in order to incorporate balance, coordination, and more muscle groups. We don’t do anything where we sit down.
- Balance – 5 minutes or more
- Balancing on the bosu or the wobble-board
- So important when you get older to avoid falls.
- After a year we’re trying some fun stuff. Today we tossed one of those 10-inch light balls back and forth while standing on one leg. People have much more power than they think they have.
- Stretching – over 5 minutes
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- Dad loves the hamstring/glute stretching machine. He zones out and closes his workout this way.
- Hamstring stretch: you place one foot on the ground while keeping the other leg straight. You let it rise toward the ceiling. When he began, he managed a 70 degree stretch. Now his flexibility is 100 degrees.
- Glute stretch: No feet are on the ground. Bend leg #1 and place foot#1 on the foot platform. Cross leg #2 over leg #1. You feel a small stretch in the glutes. Now gently let the foot platform rise toward the ceiling. You will feel your stretch deepen.
You Next Year Principle
Make fitness space for yourself in your life and never let anything or anyone (not even you) take it away.
QUOTE
A man is as young as his spinal column.
Joe Pilates, Inventor of the Pilates exercise system
The stakes are higher, the benefits greater, it is more satisfying to see results, and we stop caring so much about how we look at the beach. All good.
Hey Mueller – Those are my words too! A fit 20-year-old looks good in a bikini, and a fit 80-year-old can still do all of the things that make life worth living. The stakes get higher. Vanity doesn’t disappear with age though, and looks might always remain a fitness carrot.
Hi Dorothy!
Pretty impressive that you are going for an hour each session, that takes a lot of discipline when you are starting out. I find that if I start out doing cardio first then I am nicely warmed up and can do my other routines much more efficiently. Even as we get older if we increase our resistance we can get more benefit. Not saying we should try to lift 400 lbs, just challenge our bodies to do more. Good for you and your dad!!!
Jeff
What does your routine look like, Jeff? I am very interested in hearing what works for you. What is your strength training routine? –We didn’t start at 60 minutes. We started way easy with just 30 minutes and over the year it just grew. Thank you for the congrats!
Dorothy I am not trying to impress, but lots of exercise has allowed me to continue skiing all the black runs , skiing a minimum of 2 days a week. On the other days I usually spend 1 1/2 hrs at the gym. I usually do start with cardio for at least 30 min
Then do weights one day and alternate with the circuit room the next day. Everyday I try to do ab strengthening exercises , planks and push ups. I also do the leg machines every day that I go to the gym. This allows me to ski , bike and run and hopefully I will be able to continue for a few more years.
Jeff
How did you extend this workout to an hour? Just double each section?
Hi Aileen,
We naturally extend our times as Dad gets stronger. When we first started the strength section of our workout we’d pick a few exercises and only do a handful of reps. The important thing was to keep it safe and enjoyable while building confidence. Now after 9 months of regular visits Dad likes heavier weights and he’s mastered a bigger repertoire of exercises, so we end up working out longer. A few more minutes on each of our workout sections naturally grew 30 minutes to 50-60 minutes. Dad has found a stretching machine he really likes, so that’s added time too.
It’s a bit like the frog in water, but in a positive way. Start easy and build mastery in increments so tiny that you don’t even notice extra effort. Over time the little things add up to YOU next year, just where you want to be.
I really enjoyed reading the article about your workout with your dad. My friend recently moved into a Senior’s home and falling and the fear of falling are the biggest problems that these residents have. It’s so important to continue to keep exercising at this stage in life.
I loved your tip about walking backwards on the treadmill. I often ride backwards on the spinning bike and I notice a big difference in my hamstrings
LOVE your blog.,
Thanks Judy! I totally agree with you about the value of exercise forever in our lives. When you’re 20 you might exercise to look good at the beach, but at 80 the stakes are so much higher. A little bit of regular fitness time delivers big benefits.