Complementary Exercise To A Treadmill

[lotus eater]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

[tattoodrob]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

if you wanted you could do some upper body work while on the treadmill......intermittently using a set of small handweights you could do bicep curls,shoulder press etc....but i think a punchbag is a good workout too but will only use a limited amount of muscles in the repetitive punching motion.personally i would suggest using small dumbells and adding a 10-15 minute upper body workout with these 3-4 times a week.

cheap simple effective,get some advice on exercises to do.....check out the net.

dumbells and punchbags can normally be bought at many of the large superstores as they normally have a sports equipment section......tesco lotus,big c ,carrefour etc.

guestimate....cheap Punchbag(need to hang it somewhere!!) no more than 2000 baht with gloves

small dumbells...no more than 1000 baht and probabaly a lot less but depends on how heavy and type but get a set that arent super light!!!

[Wrong Turn]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

Yes, a punching bag is very good.

Also, dumbbels can give you are complete upper body (and lower body work out). You can really work you legs with dubbells.

Dumbbels are better than nautilis machines. Way better.

You only have to buy dumbbells once, they are small and easy to store, and you can use them in your own home.

[thaiclan]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

Yes, a punching bag is very good.

Also, dumbbels can give you are complete upper body (and lower body work out). You can really work you legs with dubbells.

Dumbbels are better than nautilis machines. Way better.

You only have to buy dumbbells once, they are small and easy to store, and you can use them in your own home.

Yes, you would get far more benefits from doing a 20 min dumbell workout than 1 hour on the treadmill. Also at 60 it is VITAL that you incorporate some resistance training into your regime. You need to try and maintain the bone mass you have, its all in decline after 50!

20 mins would give you enough time to do an effective lower body workout. You could then do the following day on your upper body. The beauty of using free weights (dumbells) is that there are literally hundreds of different exercises so you will never get bored or plateau. You don't have to "bulk up" if thats not your goal, but as a cardio, body scuplting, bone mass maintaining, fat loss route free weights are far superior to the treadmill your running on.

[thaiclan]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

Another way to spice up your treadmill workout is instead of running at the same rate try 1 minute sprinting (as fast as you can handle), then 2 minutes regular running. If you can do this on the maximum incline all the better

Remember it takes alot more fuel to start the engine than to carry the car forwards for an hour.

Also if you look at the body of along distance runner you will see that although lean they are still a little "flabby" (not always but mostyl), then take a look at the sprinters body types - lean and muscular.

I guarantee you won't be able to do 1 hour of this interval training very easily, but 20 to 30 mins should be ample to get a higher fitness level and develop some more muscle.

[thaiclan]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

Another way to spice up your treadmill workout is instead of running at the same rate try 1 minute sprinting (as fast as you can handle), then 2 minutes regular running. If you can do this on the maximum incline all the better

Remember it takes alot more fuel to start the engine than to carry the car forwards for an hour.

Also if you look at the body of along distance runner you will see that although lean they are still a little "flabby" (not always but mostyl), then take a look at the sprinters body types - lean and muscular.

I guarantee you won't be able to do 1 hour of this interval training very easily, but 20 to 30 mins should be ample to get a higher fitness level and develop some more muscle.

[ignis]

I was told at the hospital in the UK that the treadmill workout was very bad for older people because it give a lot of strain on the ankles and knees, which is not good for the older person.

They the Hospital said that all foot/leg exercise should NOT involve taking your foot off the machine, the best being a exercise bike, rowing machine, that pump thing [forget name] bit like a bike but has no seat and you go up and down with your leg pressure..

Edited January 16, 2008 by ignis

[thaiclan]

that pump thing [forget name] bit like a bike but has no seat and you go up and down with your leg pressure..

Elliptical trainer, or sometimes called a cross trainer.

[moldy]

I am 60. My (sole) exercise routine is about an hour on the treadmill (expending around 300-400 calories) about 4-5 times a week. It occurs to me that this exercise largely neglects my upper body. Is a punchbag a good, simple and cheap item to get this upper body exercise? If so, where does one buy one and what's the approximate cost?

The most important thing is the cardiovascular work you are already doing. I'ts just right if it's fast walk, but too long if you are jogging in my opinion, and you would do better to cut it short in favour of general weight training.

My advice would be to start with low weights at first and I honestly think using the machines would be better for the first couple of weeks. I think the standard workout involves bench press, military press, biceps, triceps. I can't see the point of leg press as it might interfere with your admirable aerobic work.

Punch bag. Great, as long as your hands are well protected, the bag is not too solid, and somebody takes you through the moves, otherwise hello sprains and fractures. Just take that one easy- it is good fun though and of great cathartic value.

[moldy]

I was told at the hospital in the UK that the treadmill workout was very bad for older people because it give a lot of strain on the ankles and knees, which is not good for the older person.

They the Hospital said that all foot/leg exercise should NOT involve taking your foot off the machine, the best being a exercise bike, rowing machine, that pump thing [forget name] bit like a bike but has no seat and you go up and down with your leg pressure..

step machine or cross country ski machine I don't know the name either.

Good advice. It's an important point to make that you have to approach regular exercise with care. At first I thought their words were a bit over the top, but thinking about it, it probably is spot on for the average 60 year old, particularly ladies as I think they tend to lose bone density quicker.

Sounds like OP fits in to the natural athlete category though. It's unusual but not rare to find a 60 year old who is well up together. Stanley Matthews played prof. footie up to the age of 50, maybe 55.

[lotus eater]

Many thanks for the many responses - all of them useful.

I don't run, or even jog, on the treadmill; just quickly build up to a fast walk and an incline, and wind down in the last 10 minutes of the hour. All making up the 350-400 calories.

I bought the treadmill and relieved that while one person advized strongly against it (ankles etc at my age...) most haven't.

Dumb bells have been widely suggested, and I'll take that advice. I presume that I'll just improvize the movements with them. A punchbag is also supported so that's good too. The more variety the better.

I don't want to buy any more machines - such as the ones suggested as improvements on the treadmill. Also I'd rather just continue to do my exercise at home rather than a gym - which would of course provide many of these machines. Getting the dumb bells and/or the punchbag should be no problem.

I'm not at all exceptionally athletic - nor have ever been. And the body does now carry much more flab, in proportion to weight and muscle, than it should and that's what I'd like to reduce - other than of course just staying as fit as possible. But all in all maybe I'm lucky in having a comparatively healthy body for my age.

[tattoodrob]

[quote name='lotus eater' date='2008-01

Dumb bells have been widely suggested, and I'll take that advice. I presume that I'll just improvize the movements with them.

no...no...no. you dont just improvise with them although i have seen this many times and makes me laugh(to myself of course)......you dont want to cause yourself an injury or waste your time doing movements that dont really target the areas required.you have access to the net which should provide info or get a book from local bookshop or at least a magazine targeting fitness or mens health.even a bodybuilding magazine will show some exercises,you can do the same but with your lighter dumbells.i think with some dumbells you get a leaflet on what to do...i hope

[thaiclan]

"Dumb bells have been widely suggested, and I'll take that advice. I presume that I'll just improvize the movements with them. A punchbag is also supported so that's good too. The more variety the better."

Do NOT improvise. Do yourself a favour and book 1 session with a Personal Trainer at your local gym. I know you want to workout at home, and you can but AFTER a personal trainer has shown you how to use them correctly. He/she can then show you the exercise you need and you can feel confident to do them at home, and maybe re-visit your PT when you need some more advice.

[WaiWai]

(wrong forum)

Edited April 25, 2008 by WaiWai

[CTM]

If you can find the water filled heavy bags in Thailand they are much easier on the joints than standard fill.

Fast walking provides most of the benefits of jogging without the downsides mentioned. High intensity intervals Thaiclan talked about are better but only if your fitness levels allow them without getting injured.

For body composition, Excess post-exercise oxygen consumption (EPOC) is more important than calories actually burned during exercise. That is an important part of why high intensity intervals and weight training are superior to long steady state aerobic activity most of the time. Not to mention increased lean body mass (muscle) raises Basal metabolic rate (BMR).