EXERCISING TO KEEP FIT AS YOU AGE

 

In 2008, I bought the basic Total Gym for $250.00.  I have had that basic gym now for 18 years, and it is still working as advertised.

 

It has been an on-and-off exercise device for me, but more on than off.  I may fall away for a few weeks or a month and then return to regular use.   Having this machine sitting in my spare room prompts me to use it.

 

I am approaching my ninth decade, and I honestly feel that this machine has helped improve my stamina and has been a healthy exercise component; had I not used the machine on a semi-regular basis, my health would have deteriorated beyond my present condition. 

 

I have no connection with Total Gym.   I am sure that there are other devices available that are just as good or perhaps even better for a one-machine total workout.

 

I am just passing on my experience, hoping to benefit someone looking for an exercise routine that doesn’t include traveling to a gym

 

My exercise routine lasts about five minutes.  I do one set of ten: rowing, pulls, body twist for the abs, and curls – then I turn around and do sweeps, pushups, pullups, crunches, and situps (I don’t know the proper name for the exercises, but this may explain what I do.)

I end my workout with two or three minutes of meditation where I control my breathing.  

 

I was shocked today when I looked up the Total Gym website and found that their basic machine now cost $600. 

 

I can’t advise anyone to buy this machine on my say-so; so do your own research if you are looking for a one-machine workout. But, do consider a daily exercise as part of your lifestyle: it is not that hard to spend five minutes exercising as part of your daily routine.

the Ol’Buzzard

EXERCISING AT HOME

 

When I got up this morning I did a quick workout on my Total Gym.   I am in my mid-eighties and am in pretty good shape for my age.   I am 5' 11" and weigh 195.  This gives me a body index of 25.4 - a little overweight.   

The best purchase I ever made for my health was my Total Gum.   Seventeen years ago I purchased a Total Gym 1400 for about $200.  Except for a few illnesses, I have been consistent with a ten-minute workout most days. 

First thing in the morning I get up - feed the cat - do a couple minutes of stretches and then ten minutes on the total gym.   An easy routine habit to establish.  

I don't advertise for Total Gym or any product, but I believe my routine has benefited my health and preserved the muscle tone of my upper body.

Before the Total Gym, I had a membership with the local college gym, where I am an alumnus.  It turned out I only attended sporadically.  I had to pay a yearly fee.  I had to find the time to drive to the gym, work out, and then drive home.  On rainy days, snowy days, hot days, or almost any excuse I would skip my workout.

My Total Gym was a one-time purchase and is here in my home.   If I can't take ten minutes out of my day to workout, then shame on me. 

Total Gym prices rise over $1000; but the equivalent to the Total Gym I bought seventeen years ago is the APEX G3, which sells through Walmart for $439.99.  You don't need all the fancy attachments, you would probably never use them.  The advantage of ordering through Walmart is if you don't like the product you can take it to your local Walmart for a no questions asked refund.  (check out the length.)

I do the equivalent of rowing, an ab exercise, curls - then turn around and do push-ups, chin-ups, another ab exercise, and finally sit-ups; all on the Total Gym. Ten sets each.  It takes less than ten minutes total including stretching.  

If you are looking for bodybuilding you need to go to the gym and work weights; but if you want an exercise routine just to stay in shape, a workout on the Total Gym and walking will do the trick. 

Just wanted to share

the Ol'Buzzard

   

RAGE RAGE AGAINST THE DYING OF THE LIGHT

 

I just got through a fifteen-minute work out on my Total Gym.

 

Occasionally I post about products I like, or don’t like.   I don’t get any kick-back of any kind from the products.  For me it is just sharing my personal opinion of a product in a time of corporate hype.

 

Many times, I have posted about my Total Gym 1400; but I feel so enthusiastic about its benefits that I am posting again.

 

I bought my total gym in 2008 and paid just over $200 for it.   As some of you know, I am in my eighties.   I have used the total gym for fifteen minutes a day, occasionally missing a few days, but not for long stretches. 

 

I do three sets of five exercises facing forward and seven single sets of exercises facing backwards.  I take no time between exercise sets, so end up with a good cardiac workout. 

 

I hate to think what my body would look like and what my strength and endurance, such as it is, would be without my total gym.  

 

The Total Gym 1400 can be purchased through Walmart for $249.00.  The 1400 is a good basic gym – all you need.  Some of the Total Gym products with bells and whistles can run $800.00 or more; but they are no better than the 1400, just more glitzy.

 

 

CLICK HERE - LINK TO WALMART TOTAL GYM ADVERTISMENT 

With the total gym you can pick the exercises and the resistance that best suits you. 

 

The Ol’Buzzard is just telling you: you can do a routine of ten to fifteen-minutes of exercise right out of bed each morning and your day will be better.   You will be healthier.  Your body will be toned.   It is one way to rage rage against the dying of the light.  

the Ol'Buzzard

STAYING FIT AS YOU AGE

There is so much emphasis on dieting and healthy eating as you start to age, but other than mention the need to exercise there is very little prescription.    Perhaps that is because we have to eat daily but we don’t have to exercise, so it is easy to just veg out in front of the computer or TV.

Some people try the gym; but that requires the effort to daily dress and travel, and a cost that is prohibitive - and very few make the gym a lifetime option for exercise.   Some people buy DVD or TV exercise programs – but most people won’t stick with these.

    

As an octogenarian, I’m in pretty good shape.  I have good upper body strength.  My arms don’t sag, I can tighten my pecks, and though I am somewhat overweight (205 lbs.  – I would like to be about 180) I can even crunch my stomach muscles.

I have posted about this before.    For about the last ten years I have (pretty much) daily worked out for 15 minutes on a Total Gym. 

About ten years ago I bough mine through Target.   I have the Total Gym 1400 that now cost about $250.  There is the Total Gym Optima that is just as good as the one I have that you can get online of $180 – there is no need to spend more than this. 

Optima 

I have mine set up in the room with my computer and first thing in the morning I drink a small glass of orange juice to replace electrolytes and then spend 15 minutes on the TG and 5 min. meditating.    I do my exercises without a break in-between so there is an aerobic component in my program.

  

During the summer I mow the lawn and take care of post-winter maintenance; and during the winter I snowblow my drive, shovel where needed and haul firewood for the wood stove.   Sometimes I try to walk a couple of mines on the road in the summer time – but fine it boring after a while.    But the Total Gym is easy, available, quick and effective.

People that read my blog know I don’t advertise products, but when I find something I like (slow cooker, bread maker…) I post about it. 

Strength is so important as we age.    If you are retired, aging and sedentary you might consider a Total Gym for a daily fitness routine.

the Ol’Buzzard

KEEPING FIT

“There is someone in my head and it’s not me.”

Pink Floyd

We all have that nagging voice in our head that tells us it’s important to stay healthy.   The formula is pretty simple: control what foods you eat and how much, and exercise to strengthen cardio and keep muscles firm.

(You don’t exercise to burn off calories.  You would have to Jazzercise for six hours just to burn off half a hamburger.   Calorie control is eating control.)

I am pretty good on the exercise part; but I do love good foods and wine.  Also, at my age, I feel that austerity – not enjoying the things I like – is missing out on a quality of life for the time I have left. 

That said, keeping fit requires dedication.   I guess I can say I practice half-a-healthy-routine.  

Exercising to firm muscles and strengthen cardio is fairly easy for me.  Fifteen minutes a day.  Anyone can do that if they make exercise easily accessible. 

One of the best purchases I ever made was buying a Total Gym.   I keep it open beside my computer, so it is in my face every day.  I do ten exercises: three sets of twelve reps without a break between.  It takes me about ten minutes to complete my sets and then I meditate for five minutes bringing down my breathing rate and heart rate.     Fifteen minutes all total.

The Total Gym-1400 now sells through Walmart for $230.   You can buy a more expensive unit; but the 1400 does everything you need.

Take care

the Ol’Buzzard

MY MORNING MEDITATION

I have a routine I try an adhere to each morning.   Right out of bed I go downstairs and drink a small glass of orange juice to add electrolytes to my body; then back upstairs, stretch out, and workout twenty minutes on my Total Gym.   I go from one exercise to the next without a break in-between and by the time I am finished I am in an aerobic state.

I turn around on the gym seat and place both my feet firmly on the floor, place my right hand in my left palm with thumbs touching, close my eyes and focus on slowing down my breathing.   After about a minute I am conscious of my heart beat and I focus on slowing down my heart rate.  That done, I focus on breathing for a few breaths and then totally blank my mind.     I spend no more than five minutes in meditation after workout – and I don’t time it.  

Anyone can do this with a committed practice.   It begins with finding a quiet, private place to meditate.   Sit comfortably on a pillow, a stool or a chair.  Close your eyes and focus on your breathing: visualize the breaths going in as you expand your stomach and visualize the air exiting as you release the breath.   Breath with your diaphragm.  Relax.   If your mind wanders bring it back to your breaths.   Spend no more than five minutes – but don’t time it.   When you feel totally relaxed open your eyes, focus around you and then gradually, comfortably, move your body and continue your normal day. 

With a minute’s meditation (even in a doctor’s office) I can bring down my blood pressure ten to fifteen points.    And you can too.    

As meditation becomes natural to you, you will find you can control anxiety, and relax your body, and focus your mind in times of stress; and with five minutes morning practice you can begin each day in a better frame of mind.  

the Ol’Buzzard

A PEP TALK FROM THE OL'BUZZARD

As you grow older, staying fit is the most important part of remaining healthy.    What we eat and how much exercise we get and how we handle stress are the major defenses against aging and sickness. 

I have been a sometimes Buddhist for a number of years, and need to get back to meditation.   We try to eat local produce as much as possible and stay away from processed foods – though I do love bacon…   My wife and I have a subscription to the college gym, but due to weather, and the focus it takes to get up and get dress and travel into town, we don’t utilize it like we should. 

This is the solution we have found.   I have dumbbells and try to discipline myself to five minutes of weight exercises every other day.  I keep a ten-pound barbell beside my computer chair and when I think of it do a few curls.   Three days a week, when the weather permit, I walk the road for at least a mile.  Two years ago we purchased an exercise bicycle on e-bay for just over one hundred dollars and my wife uses it every day.  

I had constantly seen advertisements about the Total Gym on the commercial- let-me-sell-you-something channels on Direct TV.    About two months ago, out of ‘I can’t find anything to watch’ desperation I sat through the commercial.   Later, I went on line and watched the clips on YouTube.   They have weight machines at the gym and I like using them, but as I mentioned our attendance is sporadic.    So two months ago I ordered on line the Total Gum 1400 through Target for $224.  

I love this machine.  I totally feel the difference in tone and strength.     It is a little hassle to put up and take down every other day, but by going through different sets of exercises without a break in-between I not only strengthen muscles, but also get a good cardio workout in about twenty minutes. 

Life is not a guarantee and chaos theory can throw you an injury, sickness or death chit in an otherwise healthy life.  But, if you want to improve the quality of your life and possibly your life expectancy, focusing on the big three: meditation, food and exercise, to the extent you are capable, can improve your quality of life.   

I hate to quote Trump: but what have you got to lose?

the Ol'Buzzard