Ross A. Laird

Now that I am firmly in middle-age, with my fitness declining steadily and my weight inclining at an equal pace, I have been aware for some time of the need to do more than simply stay active. That approach worked for me until quite recently; but in the last couple of years I’ve noticed my energy dropping, my waistband expanding, my flexibility starting to wither.

It’s not any more just a matter of working in the shop or the garden, or going for the odd long walk, or playing badminton whenever I feel like it. I need a consistent program to regain and hold my fitness. And I’ve tried to create such a program, haphazardly and with minimal results, over the last year or so. I managed four months of regular gym visits last fall, and I attended probably a dozen community badminton sessions (with players who were consistently better then me). But things got in the way: meetings for my work, family commitments, simple laziness. And now, it has been four months since I have done any real exercise.

Tomorrow I start again. And as I begin, I recognize that many people (and not just people my age) are in my situation, or one similar to it: aware of the need for a fitness program, conscious of the challenges of finding and sustaining the motivation (and the time) for such a program, growing every year a little more distant from full and active health.

In this section of my blog, I will write about my experiences in fighting my way back to fitness. I will post here every time I’ve done some significant exercise, whether it’s strength training, walking, windsurfing, skateboarding, or whatever. My perspective will be, as it always has been, that exercise must be fun. The motivation of losing weight (of which more later) is insufficient in the long run. Only the joy of movement and the challenge of physical exertion will, in my experience, carry one through. If I lose weight, as I should do, then I will be pleased. After all, I could stand to drop about thirty pounds. But it’s important for me not to make this my primary motivation.

As many of my readers know, I am a fan of innovative and integrative fitness strategies: power-of-ten strength training, pilates, chi kung, aikido. As I move forward with my program, I will post whatever I think might be useful in terms of working with these strategies. Strength training will be a particular focus; I’m interested in the new research about momentary muscle failure and slow motion weight training. And of course, I will surely discuss the many merits of windsurfing (the perfect sport), skateboarding (the perfect sport if you have kids), and badminton (the perfect competitive sport).

But before I dive in to those details, let’s begin with some basics:

Outstanding concerns
Generally low energy, impaired hip flexibility, right hip discomfort, right shoulder discomfort, impaired right hand flexibility (post-surgery, after my skateboarding accident last year).

Current exercise level
Eight walks (of five minutes each) to the kids’ school most weekdays.
Bike riding or skateboarding with the kids, perhaps once a week.
Skiing with the kids, five times this season.
Family badminton class once per week (mostly low intensity).

Last gym visit:
Week of November 14, 2005

This is my baseline.
Let’s see what happens.