Since becoming a member here, I have had a real awakening of what I need to do to survive problem situations and be able to take care of my family. As mentioned in a previous post, if problems arise while at work, I’ll be hiking a long way (~ 25 miles) to get home. This is my primary concern and is what I’m basing my fitness program around.

My fitness priorities are:
1) cardiovascular fitness (including losing weight)
2) core strength
3) muscular endurance (as opposed to strength)

To address these needs I am doing the following:
1) 30 - 40 minute power walks at lunch time with a friend. 3 - 5 times a week depending on weather. 20 minutes on an exercise bike to start my home workout 2 -3 times a week. I’m trying to add a hike on the weekend, but that is hard to do given my family schedule.

2 and 3) These are both addressed by how I do the resistance part of my workout. I use a Total Gym (the one that Chuck Norris endorses) for my resistance training. My exercises are lower resistance and higher reps ( 20+ per exercise) to build endurance, plus it’s easier on these old joints. An added benefit of this equipment is that you have to stabilize yourself and thus work your core abdominal area hard.

I’ve also cleaned up my diet, but that still needs more work.

I’ve only been back on this program for the past few weeks, but have already lost 8 pounds. Only 20 more to go.

Any comments? I would really like to know what others are doing in this area.