So I got this from an unrelated doctor's visit but the details of that aren't really important. Basically he was going to help me lose weight and I'm fairly trim already so he said he couldn't really help me with that. So I said he is getting paid and needs to do better than that. He got fired up and here's what he told me:
One of the biggest issues old people face is lack of mobility when older and starting now(around 45) is when issues start presenting themselves. He said he would give me a bare minimum weekly exercise routine to follow and if I did I should be in good shape and able to continue to exercise for the next 20-30 years barring anything unforeseen.
So here it is for you for free:
Every two days
- 5-10 chinups; currently I'm hitting 5 barely
- 20-40 pushups; 18 only at the moment :(
- 30-50 air squats; 30 and I can do more but I'm keeping it down for now because of the lunges
- 10-20 static lunges; these were the hardest but I can do 14(look these up in a video because they are next to useless without proper technique, keep the upper body moving straight up and down and both knees at perfect right angles when fully down!)
- 20 mins walking every day broken up into morning and afternoon if I can
I'm going to be doing these every day instead of every second day because I need some pain burned into me if I'm behind on those pushups.
In his opinion if you do these 5 exercises it should keep your vital cogs turning enough to keep you out of trouble. His other bit of advice was not to push it past what you can do without straining. If you give it time you will build up enough muscle in those areas to get to the minimum and beyond.
These are fine, though at some point your knees start to go and squats and lunges become problematic. But you know if you stay active you don't need to exercise: Walk, run, or bike instead of taking your car whenever feasible. Take the stairs instead of the escalator. Carry you suitcase instead of drag it behind you. Etc. etc. It's not hard and it's much more satisfying than always relying on a machine or another person.
Having said that I'm currently in week 3 of the 100 Pushup Challenge (google it). Pushups are great because they work so many muscles, but I'm really just curious if I can do 100 of them.