1 2 3 Workout

I like to do: walking one day, nautilus one day, and cardio one day. It’s easy.

I’m not a personal trainer, I’m just a mature woman in decent shape. I get asked (both by my friends on facebook and in real life) what my workout routine is. Women ask me “Patty send me your workout routine”. Surprisingly, my workout routine is more mellow and simple than you could imagine. I alternate randomly between doing the nautilus machines at the gym, doing cardio machines at the gym, and walking. I throw in a little bit of occasional recreational exercise (like rollerblading or biking) in the summer though that is not part of my regular workout system. My secret to staying in shape is that less is more when it comes to working out. Do a little bit of exercise consistently over time rather than do a lot and wind up flaking out. That’s the secret workout tip.

1. Walking

There are numerous health benefits of walking and exercise including the fact that it helps in the prevention of cancer, diabetes and heart disease. I love the fact that walking helps reduce my stress level. But the best part about walking is that it is still one of the easiest, most accessible exercises in the world. Did I mention the fact that it is inexpensive?

I love walking because it is easy. I don’t push it and I don’t sweat much so I can walk in my street clothes wearing just tennis shoes and get a miniature workout in. Some times I walk up the hill near my house (about a 25 minute walk) which gives me a little bit of exercise for that day. Other times when I have more leisure time, I will walk into town near to where I live if I need to run an errand. I even walk up to the stores just to window show and browse.

Walking is my “lazy” exercise. If I am feeling ambivalent about going to the gym for a few weeks, I try to keep up my motivation by talking a few easy quick walks instead. That way, I am never down to doing no exercise at all. I guess you could say that walking is my backup plan if I am procrastinating going to the gym.

One thing I noticed about walking is that it helps you maintain whatever shape you are in. This means, if you lost weight or worked out for a few months, if you continue to walk you will avoid losing your progress. But walking alone is not enough to get a killer “milf body ala Demi Moore”. You have to do some nautilus to build up muscle and tone, and cardio to get aerobic benefits also. But with walking as part of your program, you won’t have to do that gym workout all the time. You can walk and take a break instead.

2. Cardio

My idea of a cardio workout is going on that cardio equipment you see at the gym that Nautilus manufactures like the elliptical trainers, treadmills, stair climbing machines or individual bikes. When ever I go to the gym to do cardio, I just pick a machine that I feel like going on and then I go on it. I never set the settings too high or hard. I will go on a cardio machine for anywhere from 20 to 60 minutes depending on how I feel, if there is good T.V. to watch with the ear phones, or if I feel like listening to the radio or an Ipod. I get tired of listening to my Ipod all the time so if you can find a gym that has the ear phone plugins to where you can watch TV that really makes the cardio easy. I try to go at a time when its not all sports – something like Extra, News, or Vegas haha is good to watch. On the stationary bike you can even read a book or a magazine. Be extra careful on any walking treadmill because I’ve seen older people lose concentration, trip up, fall and get hurt on those at the gym. I despise running and have convinced myself that it’s very bad for the knees! A fast walk or extremely slow jog is as far as I will take it on the treadmill.

I’ve read in many workout books and fitness articles that you should do cardio to warm up and get the blood flowing, then go to the Nautilus machines for maximum benefits. Here is where I have to say that I don’t care. To get maximum benefits you are going to be exerting yourself and that totally defeats that benefit that I need most which is that I want to feel like going back to that gym. I don’t want to dread it. For that reason, I do only cardio, or only nautilus, or only walking on any given day. I don’t generally mix them like you are supposed to as that makes the workout harder. I want my workout to be easy easy easy. And because its easy, I keep doing it year after year after year, and that is why I am in good shape. I can be in and out of the gym very quickly this way and mentally its easy to go if you know it’s a snap.

3. Nautilus

Nautilus is the nuts and bolts form of exercise that is really going to get you the hard body as an older woman. You can get thin from walking alone but you’ll end up all skin and bones – in order to get an athletic shape you have to tone your body up with some strength training. You have to add the strength training to the walking. You don’t need a lot, just a moderate routine with the nautilus machines at your local gym. I really believe you have to do either Nautilus (or free weight training) to tone up your body and stay there. I am not a big fan of weight training however because it involves too much sweating and experience with handling the weights and it is way too hard core in my personal opinion for the layman workout woman. I hate free weight training in fact. And, I don’t like the buff bodies that the women get as I think once you get older too much muscle, bulk and hardness has diminishing returns and actually makes a women look unfeminine, masculine and older. I don’t want to be that aging muscular lady. I want to be young looking and curvy. I stick to the basic nautilus machines with light weight settings because that makes it easy and that’s what works for me.

Thus for strength training I skip the free weights and go the simplest route which is that I just stick to the Nautilus machines only. I believe that they are the easiest way to get that strength training in to your routine without having to learn much, know much or sweat much. What I like about the nautilus machines is that they are designed to give you the workout while controlling your form and positioning directly so you don’t have to be as knowledgeable as you would with the free weight lifting. Most gyms have a free tutorial included with a gym membership. You can get an expert to walk you through all the machines that you will be using and show you how to adjust the pins (that control the weights) and seating heights etc so that you fit on the machine just right and also know the basics of how to use them. Once you know what to do, you don’t need to spend money on personal training sessions.

So the nautilus machines are great in my opinion because they are designed and tested to be safe and effective. I also love the way they lay the machines out in a logical circuit at the gym so you pretty much can follow through them one by one in the order they recommend. Now that I am familiar with the machines I mix up the order to get variety. I always keep the nautilus machines on low weights! I don’t want to have to strain or pour out sweat. I just keep the weights light, do plenty of repetitions, and vary which machines I do when I go in. If you do light nautilus machines for a few months I promise you will see your body toning up.

I don’t have the patience or motivation to make my way through the whole nautilus circuit. I usually do between 5 and 10 machines and then call it quits. To make sure I am getting all the benefits I switch up on which machines I am doing every time I go. I found that if I try to get through too many machines when I go then its too hard and I don’t want to go back. That’s why I only hit a handful of machines at a time. I want a fast, easy, simple workout that is easy to do and easy to motivate to do and easy to keep up with year after year.

When it comes to working out, I believe that less is actually more

Obviously different workout routines work for different people. Some women get really into playing sports like tennis for example. I’m just letting you know what works for me and what has worked for me over the long run. I’ve gotten into and out of many recreational sports like horseback riding and swimming. But the bottom line is that walking near my home combined with doing the Nautilus or Cardio machines at the gym when I can get there have been the key exercise mainstays that have kept me in good shape.

If you are considering starting to work out just remember that less can really be more. Moderate mellow exercise done consistently for years is the primary way you can get into and stay in excellent shape without getting injured. You don’t have to get into hard core weight training or buy Oxygen workout magazine or eat egg whites only or get really into fitness and supplements. All you need to do is a little itty bitty workout on a regular basis. On any given day I try to either walk, do cardio, or do the nautilus machines whenever I can.

OK I hate to sound like Richard Simmons dancing to the oldies but …Get your body moving just a couple times a week and remember that the tortoise can win the race. Try my triple prong approach of mixing basic walking, a few nautilus machines at the gym, and a cardio machine. It works for me. Try to get your own system going. You know you have the right workout routine going for yourself if you are consistently doing it and not sick of it.