Getting back to fitness - where to start to ensure success?

[TPMB12]

Had to visit my old company for my new one. Got talking to two former colleagues who are about 6 years and 8 years my junior but back when I worked with them I was fitter.  Now one I found looking rather lean and into fell running.  The other has dropped back a bit after getting married recently but I the last 10 years he had got heavily into iron man triathlon.

Oh shoot! My turn to say what I do in my free time. Erm! Family stuff.  No more long distance walking,  wildcamping,  kayaking,  climbing,  scrambling,  etc.  My free time isn't spent walking, hiking,  backpacking,  etc.  I'm getting slow and gradually declining in fitness terms heading towards old age the wrong way. Oh I'm going to turn 50 end of this year too. Time for mid life crisis?

Basically I need to get back to fitness.  I need to find motivation. I need to find an exercise I like and can do when not doing the family thing or work thing.  That leaves evenings from today 9pm when I'm usually simply knackered and need to rest.

How do you find motivation when you started on a fitness drive?  What time crunched and cheap exercises are there? Any suggestions,  things to read or listen to / watch?

I'm tall,  not overweight by any means and a recently diagnosed asthmatic with low energy levels. I need to make the change but am in a rut, fog, funk, etc.

[mark]

How old are your kids? Are they old enough to take along on active weekends/days off, even you're not functioning at the same level you did before they showed up? Are they small enough to carry along in a child carrier backpack (Osprey Poco, etc.)?

[ElyDave]

What can you do in a lunch hour,  If you have one? One of my colleagues will block out two hours in his diary and go for a ride, for example. In one job I used to extend mine by 15 mins and could fit in a 45 min run.

If you are constantly tired, you could get some blood tests done, you may be low in certain  things, including at our age declining testosterone production.

[telstarbox]

I would aim for exercise you a) "enjoy" and b) can fit into your weekly routine. That doesn't have to mean triathlons! For me, cycling to work kills two birds with one stone and I do an extended route one evening a week for some variety (and hills).


During lockdown I was doing the Joe Wicks videos on YouTube which are very time efficient for working up a sweat.

Assuming you have a partner do you think you're sharing the load fairly on domestic and family stuff? Sometimes you need to block out time for yourself before other things fill it 

[Lightning Phil]

As stated above you need to find something you enjoy and then start small from where your fitness is now, not where it was.  Make it a routine and consistent. Frequency and consistency  trumps hero fitness sessions.

[Legs]

As mark says, depending on your children's ages, try doing active stuff with them.  My boys (5 and 8) do Junior Parkrun on Sunday mornings, and I run alongside my youngest. 

[tom_e]

Aside from the kids suggestions and questions already made, what resources do you have locally that fit with the things you used to do?

i.e Do you have local paths suited to running or hiking?  Do you have crags or a climbing wall?  Do you have a river or canal nearby to get a boat out?

I'd ask if there are local clubs which you might enjoy; but that is likely to be harder to choose the times and fit into family.

[LateStarter]

While getting "outside" is best I am surprised at how much fitness benefit I get from using my fairly cheap "smart" (Tacx Flow, "wheel on") trainer and this can be done any hours, any duration, any weather, ie "no excuses".

During one of the COVID lockdowns I managed the entire 2019 PBP route, 1220 kms, mostly in 50km stages but some 80-90 kms. Following the route, elevation profile and the virtual me on the little Garmin screen was a bit addictive although a bit of headphone music helped. Setting it up for long and steepish climbs has done a lot for my real hill climbing. My sweat soaked clothing attests to the effort being fairly real.

[ElyDave]

80-90km on a turbo
That is serious dedication, I think the most I've done before my arse has had enough is 50km. I find that the lack of moving around on the bike gets to both hands and arse more quickly. I use big ring VR, and you can pick some nice hilly rides on that as well.

[TPMB12]

We got one but they're not quiet enough and a pain to set up each time you want to use it.  Young child means any home based exercise, usually at a time he's in bed,  needs to be quiet enough to keep a young, light sleeper asleep. Our smart turbo is a Tacx one and it sounds like a turbo revving up.

I think my issue is nothing I like to do can give me the benefits I need in the short time I have to do it. Would be nice to go got a fast walk for 5 hours but not got 5 hours. I'm not a jogger, left me with needing a cartilage shave after just 4 our 5 jogging sessions once. Well not just the jogging did it but can't help.

Motivation seems to be finding something new that I like and getting hooked in the initial first flush of excitement when you start off. For me if I lose that without getting hooked it's unlikely to stick as an exercise regime. You can't force something to become routine habit unless the interest or excitement is in the activity.

[Lightning Phil]

80-90km on a turbo
That is serious dedication, I think the most I've done before my arse has had enough is 50km. I find that the lack of moving around on the bike gets to both hands and arse more quickly. I use big ring VR, and you can pick some nice hilly rides on that as well.

Put your recumbent on the turbo and you’ll eliminate that problem.  Plus because everyone goes over “30 km/h” average on their turbos it’s not as long as people think.

[Polar Bear]

Rowing machines seem to be quite popular.  There is a thread somewhere about some fancy versions.  Might be worth considering if you have the space.

[mark]

Peloton? Apparently used ones are pretty reasonable.

[ElyDave]

80-90km on a turbo
That is serious dedication, I think the most I've done before my arse has had enough is 50km. I find that the lack of moving around on the bike gets to both hands and arse more quickly. I use big ring VR, and you can pick some nice hilly rides on that as well.

Put your recumbent on the turbo and you’ll eliminate that problem.  Plus because everyone goes over “30 km/h” average on their turbos it’s not as long as people think.

Tried that, need to change the front wheel out which is a right PITA on my machine, so if I intend mounting on the turbo it's likely to be for a few months over the winter rather than on/off

[TPMB12]

I got a concept 2 rower last year then broke my arm putting me out of action for using it for 7 weeks. I never had the chance too create a rowing habit before the excitement of a new toy got lost.

Motivation is a funny thing. Easy to lose,  hard to find!

[Oscar's dad]

Motivation is a funny thing. Easy to lose,  hard to find!

This is what I'm struggling with. 

Like you I used to be pretty fit, done 600k audaxes, done over 100 mile days with 32kg of kit on my touring bike.  I'm now a shadow of my former self and wondering what to do.

[ian]

Personally, set your expectations reasonably, routine exercise can be a bit boring, but make it part of your schedule so you don't have a choice. Once it becomes optional, you'll find excuses. At the end of every working day, I go to the pool, like it or not, that's what I do. This is doubly nice as it inks a firm full stop on the end of my day. Once it becomes routine, it's less of a chore.

[chrisbainbridge]

I commute by bike. I know not everybody can but could you ride part of the way? Leave the car 5 miles from the office perhaps?

[TPMB12]

Commuting is 1 minute ride to the station,  first train of the day into the city then a 6 minute downhill ride to work with 8 minute to get there or be late. No chance to extend the ride. That's the issue there's no way to link with the days activities. Any exercise will be need to be planned

[LateStarter]

If "making excuses" was an Olympic sport most of us would be on the team and I would be the flag carrier.

With regard to fitness and doing enough exercise a wise trainer once told me her "secret" was that the exercise has to be related to something you like doing and want to be better at and the occasions for doing the exercise have to be unavoidable, impediments just provide an avenue for "valid" excuses.

So for me I really want to be better at long distance (audax/randonneur like) cycling so one day (4 actually) I might get to do PBP for real and not just virtually (next year is probably my best / last realistic chance). Therefore doing some real rides is the best approach but commitments, weather, etc and a million reasons get in the way. So I have the trainer setup in the garage, usually with a spare old bike already on it, takes me 5 minutes to be on the bike (I live in an apartment and the "garage" is 12 floors below, an opportunity for using the stairs is a bonus, I am lucky that "my garage" is enclosed & secureable). I can do 30 minutes (heading up a constant 6%+ grade say) or 3+ hours (60k of rolling hills say) depending on what is available. All my trainer effort is directly applicable to the primary goal of getting better on the bike. The "experience" on the trainer isn't perfectly representative of my outside performance but with ups & downs it averages out to be close enough and the sweat & tired legs are real.

My Tacx Flow (wheel-on) trainer is fairly quite even with a standard tyre but yours might need the special training tyre to make it quitier, the more expensive direct drive (wheel off) ones are supposed to be even quitier. Doing something "different" is ok but may not be relevant enough to your primary goal to keep you motivated enough.

As they say practice makes perfect and it does get easier (I keep telling myself!)

Good Luck

[TPMB12]

Is the flow the cheapest tacz smart trainer in their range? If so I think that's what I got and got frustrated with when the smart thing never worked. I got it on offer I halfords for something like £160.

Just checked and it is.  No idea why it never worked that well for me. I only managed to get it connected to my tablet once and it kicked me off connection after a short time. A mistake of a purchase because I had only the kitchen to use it in and my old bike to use on it (on the wall sure of a two bike holder in the brick outhouse. A real faff to use so I didn't.

I now have a garage. If I can clear a space it could be a thing to try again.

[LateStarter]

Is the flow the cheapest tacz smart trainer in their range? If so I think that's what I got and got frustrated with when the smart thing never worked. I got it on offer I halfords for something like £160.

Just checked and it is.  No idea why it never worked that well for me. I only managed to get it connected to my tablet once and it kicked me off connection after a short time. A mistake of a purchase because I had only the kitchen to use it in and my old bike to use on it (on the wall sure of a two bike holder in the brick outhouse. A real faff to use so I didn't.

I now have a garage. If I can clear a space it could be a thing to try again.

That's was a good price, mostly (still) another 50% or more. Would be well worth trying to get it going.

Both DC Rainmaker and GPLAMA gave it fairly positive reviews and while it is my first "smart" trainer I was surprised at how good the ride simulation is and kept me interested enough to do a few 1000s of kms.

I don't want to be encouraging you to watch more TV (videos) but a viewing of the reviews might give you some hints about getting it going and what to expect, I am no expert but happy to answer questions to the limited extent of my knowledge.

https://www.dcrainmaker.com/2020/04/tacx-flow-budget-smart-trainer-in-depth-review.html (DC Rainmaker detailed review)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KzYlCu5oaEE&t=5s (DC Rainmaker video, also from his review, 15 minutes)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sPYyPsrgwE4 (GPLAMA video, 20 minutes)

While TACX (Garmin) will want to extract more money from you via Tacx subscriptions they have not been necessary for me and I haven't yet been seduced by Zwift or similar.

To make it work you need to connect it to either a smart phone / tablet or a recent Garmin (ie 520/530 or similar) or some other bike computer. The calibration process can be a pain and there are some tricks

You then can ride various routes provided by Tacx or if on Garmin provided by yourself or others. For the PBP I was using the TCX files provided by Wilkyboy (https://yacf.co.uk/forum/index.php?action=profile;u=5315) and cambridge CC ? You can follow yourself on the map like a GPS and the elevation profiles. You can also do various workouts. It was all a mystery to me but came together fairly well.

Have a look at the reviews / videos to see if there is enough interest in pursuing it further, it's not as good as real riding but close enough to provide some real benefit (IMO & experience)

[Lightning Phil]

I have the TACX Bushido, 2017 vintage.  It connects well to an iPad over Bluetooth. Make sure the bit on right side of your turbo hasn’t been knocked and is slightly un clipped.  If so, it’ll connect but power, speed, cadence etc will remain resolutely at zero. Just need pushing back till it clicks into place.

[ElyDave]

best turbo I've had so far, by far, is my Stac Zero, so much quieter than any other i've had - see DC Rainmaker's review of that one as well

[DuncanM]

I also have a Tacx Bushido Smart (bought secondhand on here years ago). It seems to talk to my (windows) laptop fine, either on bluetooth or with an ANT+ USB dongle (cost about a tenner), and before that it talked to my (android) phone on bluetooth. I second the bit about the right hand side being clipped in - a couple of weeks ago I moved it around loads and it unclipped slightly there and wouldn't be smart until I sorted it.