Working out Staying in Shape

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butchiiii

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Joined
Sep 8, 2014
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347
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Los Angeles
Wife and I are trying to get our minds around the fulltime thing in about 6 years. Question
what do people do to work out/stay in shape while full timing? There are so many things
involved here and we are just starting to explore them.
Once again thanks in advance for the help.
Butch & Joanna
 
glen54737 said:
I have a stationary bike in the RV. Also RVing generally involves a lot of outdoor activities.
That is one thing we have talked about. Maybe a foldup eliptical machine that can be transported.
 
cadee2c said:
Many parks will have workout equipment like stationary bikes and treadmills, maybe even weight systems. Some have swimming pools. A lot of people walk all over the park. Also, getting a dog works well too. :)

I have exercise bands... https://www.dickssportinggoods.com/p/gofit-progym-extreme-workout-kit-16gofuprgymxtrmxxeac/16gofuprgymxtrmxxeac that I use. With a bit of adaptation, almost like lifting weights.

Good info. I had not thought that alot of parks had workout equipment. I am going to check into the exercise band thing also. Thanks
 
Walking? We do a lot of it. Great work out! We have a 25' Class A (read: very small!) and have a stretching routine we do every other day. We do it indoors when it is raining, and find a grassy spot outside when it is not. Just get out and enjoy the nature that you started RVing for. You will not become the next Jack Lalanne (oops, did I date myself?) but you will be fit and healthy.
 
The concept of "working out" can have vastly different meanings - depending on who you ask. 

If you're a "50 - 60 something" who's just looking to stay active - that should be a reasonably easy goal to attain while traveling.  Bicycling and walking are "go to" exercises for most RV'ers to keep the blood flowing.  We've found that many parks have group exercise programs such as aerobics and/or water aerobics on the calendar. 

If you're looking to up the ante a hair - look for an "exercise" park in the area your staying.  You've likely seen the parks with a handful of "exercise stations" spread out along a walking path. 

Some parks offer an "gym" (the ones we've seen have usually had a handful of machines (treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine ... along with some sort of weight machine).  More of the park "gyms" we've seen looked like they were basically an afterthought and rarely used ... but, if you're motivated ... you can probably get something out of that. 

Local bicycle shops can usually hook you up with recurring group rides held by local bike clubs. 

We like kayaking - and usually have a couple of boats strapped to the top of the toad.  If you're anywhere near water - you can work up a pretty good sweat if you put a little effort into it doing that. 

If you're staying in an area for any length of time - you might check out local gyms if that sort of workout is your thing.  You might check to see if your medical insurance offers any discounts.  Our medical insurance is under Michigan Blue Cross / Blue Shield - who offers a program called "Blue365".  For $25 a month - you get a "Blue365" card that is good for entry at something like 9,500 gyms across the country.  In our area, a "Blue365" membership will get you into national chains like LA Fitness, Anytime Fitness and Curves - along with numerous others.  If your the type who will hit the gym - it's not a bad deal, if for any reason, because of it's portability. 

Now that we're retired, we've got the one thing that is critical to making most exercise programs successful - TIME!  With time on our hands - it's just a case of finding opportunities (and there are tons of them out there!) and choosing how we want to spend it.
 
spacenorman said:
The concept of "working out" can have vastly different meanings - depending on who you ask. 

If you're a "50 - 60 something" who's just looking to stay active - that should be a reasonably easy goal to attain while traveling.  Bicycling and walking are "go to" exercises for most RV'ers to keep the blood flowing.  We've found that many parks have group exercise programs such as aerobics and/or water aerobics on the calendar. 

If you're looking to up the ante a hair - look for an "exercise" park in the area your staying.  You've likely seen the parks with a handful of "exercise stations" spread out along a walking path. 

Some parks offer an "gym" (the ones we've seen have usually had a handful of machines (treadmill, stationary bike, elliptical machine ... along with some sort of weight machine).  More of the park "gyms" we've seen looked like they were basically an afterthought and rarely used ... but, if you're motivated ... you can probably get something out of that. 

Local bicycle shops can usually hook you up with recurring group rides held by local bike clubs. 

We like kayaking - and usually have a couple of boats strapped to the top of the toad.  If you're anywhere near water - you can work up a pretty good sweat if you put a little effort into it doing that. 

If you're staying in an area for any length of time - you might check out local gyms if that sort of workout is your thing.  You might check to see if your medical insurance offers any discounts.  Our medical insurance is under Michigan Blue Cross / Blue Shield - who offers a program called "Blue365".  For $25 a month - you get a "Blue365" card that is good for entry at something like 9,500 gyms across the country.  In our area, a "Blue365" membership will get you into national chains like LA Fitness, Anytime Fitness and Curves - along with numerous others.  If your the type who will hit the gym - it's not a bad deal, if for any reason, because of it's portability. 

Now that we're retired, we've got the one thing that is critical to making most exercise programs successful - TIME!  With time on our hands - it's just a case of finding opportunities (and there are tons of them out there!) and choosing how we want to spend it.

Thanks spacenorman. the wife and I are both kinda workout nuts and when we get to the point of free time we will probably dive deeper into it.
 
A few years back Dan Wainwright made a workout station that hung from the 5th wheel hitch on his trailer.  It used a bucket of rocks, a cable and pulley and a bicycle handle.  He controlled the weight by varying the number of rocks in the bucket.  Worked pretty neat.
 
Speed walking, biking, (and when you are in good safe place do some speed work), canoeing, kayaking and stand up paddleboards.
The most important thing is to get aerobic and get the blood pumping.

We just got stand up paddleboards this year and believe me, they are a total body work out

jack L
 
    Look into Geocaching, it will keep you busy and on the go while getting to know the area you are visiting.  We have found caches in al the lower 48 states.

Bill Dane
99 Country Coach Allure
 
Some of the somewhat enlightened insurance companies offer a "Silver Sneakers" program for folks over 65.  They know that exercise will save them big $$ down the line.  You can google the program and see if the places you go have a gym that accepts S'Sneakers.  Most places have at least one gym that accepts the card. 
 
Hi Butch and Joanna-

We've had the same concern for not only staying in shape but staying busy. We are trying a new approach for us to tackle both; traveling and volunteering working on homes, mixed in with that is our usual walking, biking and hiking. We just finished a two week stint working on a new house build, feels great to have that kind of ache, just from muscles being used that have been dormant. We limit ourselves to 5-6 hour days and stay mindful of not pushing ourselves too much. Aside from that we stretch in the trailer and have exercise bands.

Gary
 
Lou Schneider said:
A few years back Dan Wainwright made a workout station that hung from the 5th wheel hitch on his trailer.  It used a bucket of rocks, a cable and pulley and a bicycle handle.  He controlled the weight by varying the number of rocks in the bucket.  Worked pretty neat.

No that sounds interesting. A MacGyver solution  :))
 
JackL said:
Speed walking, biking, (and when you are in good safe place do some speed work), canoeing, kayaking and stand up paddleboards.
The most important thing is to get aerobic and get the blood pumping.

We just got stand up paddleboards this year and believe me, they are a total body work out

jack L

Thanks Jack. All good ideas. We,ve never been paddleboarding. Will have to look into it.
 
llib enad said:
    Look into Geocaching, it will keep you busy and on the go while getting to know the area you are visiting.  We have found caches in al the lower 48 states.

Bill Dane
99 Country Coach Allure

I am going to check that out. I am unfamiliar with "Geocaching". Learn something everyday.  ;)
 
Though not full timers, we do spend a lot of time traveling. We try to make it a point to stay at state parks, to other areas with good hiking trails either right there, or at least close at hand. If the terrain isn't too rough, we'll run the trails. If you are in a big campground, it's fun to run around every loop checking out all the different rigs and combinations. I quit lifting weights years ago but still do weight bearing exercises every day such as push-ups, squats, planks, etc. You can do things like that most anywhere with no special equipment needed. Many parks have exercise trails with workout stations along the way like chin-up bars. Inflatable balance balls and foam rollers don't take up any room and there are lots of things you can do with them as well. Larger city's will often have running stores that have weekly runs or at least maps of runner friendly routes. Even small towns will have high school stadiums and tracks that you could use after school hours. Even better if you could ride your bikes over from the campground, then get in some stadiums before riding back. There are lots of options out there.  Good luck!
 
The whole problem with working out is that as you age you naturally lose the ability to work out due to muscles receding and weight gain. I spent ten years full timing and for me my workouts consisted of walking or hiking five to ten miles per day. I was diagnosed with emphysema a few years ago and hiking more that a few miles in a day is no longer possible now that I am sneaking up on 70. I have always felt that walking is the very best exercise you can do. The human being was not designed to fly, swim, hop, skip, jump, crawl, run or any other form of locomotion other than walking so therefore I prefer to walk as much as possible.
 

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