Author: Mark

I joined a gym this week for the first time in I’m not sure how many years. Certainly at least since 2017. As a full-time software engineer (i.e. someone who sits in an office chair all day) I struggle with finding the time and motivation for fitness. I’m in my 50’s now, so I need to invest more in keeping myself (somewhat) in shape because with every year it becomes harder to get back into shape when you fall out of it. I have been doing well for the past 3 weeks: going for outdoor walks for about an hour every day (and some days hiking for much longer), which is good for cardio but doesn’t exercise my upper body at all. Also it can become a bit boring doing that every day for an hour. I try to vary the walks (I’m lucky to be surrounded by amazing scenery and to live in a walking-friendly area), but it’s still walking for an hour.

In order to mix things up and to give myself some strength training in addition to cardio, I decided to join a gym. I met with a trainer to discuss my goals, and he created a workout routine for me. My goal is to go 3 days a week and maybe attend the occasional spinning class or else go just to do an hour of cardio on days when it’s too cold/hot/wet to want to spend an hour outside. The gym is a 10-15 minute walk from home, so if I walk there and back I’ll get some extra exercise as well. Or I might bike there, but I need to change the pedals on my bicycle before I can do that.

One new thing I’ve done this year is to change the Exercise and Stand goals on my Apple Watch from their defaults. I reduced the Stand hours to 10 because I really only care about the notifications during my work hours. In the evening while I’m relaxing on the couch, I don’t need my Watch to nag me to move around. I’m increasing my daily Exercise goal by 5 minutes each week until I reach 60 (currently I’m at 45).

The important thing for me to succeed in an exercise routine is to create habits. So I need regular days to go to the gym or to walk outside, etc. Without a habit it quickly falls apart, and before long I’ll find that I haven’t exercised in a month.