Summer fun fitness?

[newboots]

@newboots Mountain biking doesn't have to be uphill all the time, or even mostly; there are all kinds of trails. With a relatively inexpensive hardtail from your local bike shop you can do quite a lot of whatever you fancy. New England also has a lot of ski areas that offer downhill, lift-served MTB. For anyone getting started on DH, I recommend Mt. Sunapee's bike park. It's very beginner-friendly, they offer instruction and bike rentals, and because it doesn't have any hard trails there are no cool-guy bikers screaming down the trail behind you.

My home mountain, Berkshire East, has mountain biking - and I think it's lift-served. I feel a little old to go crashing down mountains on a bike, though. (Of course, that's what virtually everyone I know felt about me starting to ski.) I can bicycle on the roads around here to strengthen my legs.

@NewEnglandSkier
Roller blading sounds good! I can dig mine out. For several years, I was on ice skates so much that my old roller blades felt like swimming in a too-big ski boot compared to my ice skates (and everyone here can imagine that feeling). No control. I got better-fitting ones and I can try that again.

My problem is, I have to do something I love. Or else, I'm just not going to do it. Sad but true. Everyone's ideas are great, though! I believe I'm in the company of real athletes.

 

[santacruz skier]

I in-line skated for about 10-15 years and really enjoyed it up to a few years ago. Then I started having lower back pain and stopped. Still have my awesome k2 in line skates.

 

[luliski]

My problem is, I have to do something I love. Or else, I'm just not going to do it. Sad but true. Everyone's ideas are great, though! I believe I'm in the company of real athletes.

I think that's true for everybody. Find an activity you love and make the time to do it often. It sounds like you like hiking, and that's a great way to stay fit! In-line skating is great ski training. I wish I knew where my skates were....

 

[santacruz skier]

I think that's true for everybody. Find an activity you love and make the time to do it often. It sounds like you like hiking, and that's a great way to stay fit! In-line skating is great ski training. I wish I knew where my skates were....

American River has great path for in line skating. We once skated from Sacramento to Folsom. In the heat. Round trip and hot.

 

[luliski]

Yep, we get used to the heat around here. That seems like a long distance to skate! I used to skate around the greenbelts in Davis, but I seem to have misplaced my skates...

 

[newboots]

My inline skates just reappeared after my move a year ago. In a box labeled Professional Books and Roller Blades, stuck in the office, awaiting a bookshelf!

 

[diymom]

Hey, at least the box was labeled correctly. Gotta love moving.

 

[elemmac]

Roller blading sounds good! I can dig mine out. For several years, I was on ice skates so much that my old roller blades felt like swimming in a too-big ski boot compared to my ice skates (and everyone here can imagine that feeling). No control. I got better-fitting ones and I can try that again.

Ice skating doesn't have to be just a winter activity either! It's great for keeping your legs in shape for skiing, lots of the same muscles are used. Just find your local ice rink, most will have open skate, or different adult programs...maybe try an adult beginner hockey program (completely assuming you haven't played hockey, but if you have...even more reason to do so!).

 

[elemmac]

My home mountain, Berkshire East, has mountain biking - and I think it's lift-served.

Yes! It does, and it's supposed to be some of the best downhill riding in the East...it's Thunder Mountain Bike Park in the summer. DH and I have been talking about heading that way all of last summer, but just didn't get to it. Hoping for this year!

 

[newboots]

Ice skating doesn't have to be just a winter activity either! It's great for keeping your legs in shape for skiing, lots of the same muscles are used. Just find your local ice rink, most will have open skate, or different adult programs...maybe try an adult beginner hockey program (completely assuming you haven't played hockey, but if you have...even more reason to do so!).

Ah, @elemmac You - sort of - read my mind. I did play hockey, ages 48 - 52. I was older than my other teammates, most of whom actually knew how to play. They started "retiring" in their mid-40s, in fear of injury. As did other "older" women all over the league. They were replaced by gals in their 20s who played in college! Whoa! I couldn't keep up, and it did become a more dangerous game. I was terrible in terms of skill - I could ice skate, but hockey is a whole other magnitude of skating. But I love the game.

Once I said to my captain, "I wish there were a league for our age group." She said, "There is! We're in it. 19 and over!" Exactly.

I did love it, though. This picture is me "scoring" on my (quite capable) goalie daughter during a drill at hockey camp, about 12 years ago. You have no idea what a miracle this was.

 

[Jenny]

Ah, @elemmac You - sort of - read my mind. I did play hockey, ages 48 - 52. I was older than my other teammates, most of whom actually knew how to play. They started "retiring" in their mid-40s, in fear of injury. As did other "older" women all over the league. They were replaced by gals in their 20s who played in college! Whoa! I couldn't keep up, and it did become a more dangerous game.

Once I said to my captain, "I wish there were a league for our age group." She said, "There is! We're in it. 19 and over!" Exactly.

I did love it, though. This picture is me scoring on my (quite capable) goalie daughter during a drill at hockey camp, about 12 years ago. You have no idea what a miracle this was.View attachment 7076

My husband's team is moving up from the over 40 league to the over 50 league . . . Even though his leagues are non-check there are still any number of injuries because boys never grow up, so I guess they feel it will be a little safer this way. Maybe if they all know how long it will take to heal it helps mitigate it, but I dunno - hasn't necessarily seemed like it sometimes.

They do have women play occasionally, although it's more for the Friday early morning drop in play than for the leagues.

 

[elemmac]

@newboots - ah bummer about the college kids moving in! In my area, there are a few different adults leagues that are all different abilities...one being a beginner league that they won't allow people that are too aggressive into, in which I know a number of women who started playing in their 40s play in. But even just getting out for an open skate weekly would be good for the legs.

Great pic! That's awesome that you played...such a great sport

 

[newboots]

@newboots - ah bummer about the college kids moving in! In my area, there are a few different adults leagues that are all different abilities...one being a beginner league that they won't allow people that are too aggressive into, in which I know a number of women who started playing in their 40s play in. But even just getting out for an open skate weekly would be good for the legs.

Great pic! That's awesome that you played...such a great sport

I'll skate. The rink is actually about 15 blocks away. I have just been skiing instead!

@Jenny - I wish there were more choices in leagues. Maybe there are, since it's been a decade. But I do feel like my hockey days are over. I just sold the equipment last year! Not the skates, of course. They're in the back seat, always ready!

 

[newboots]

Hey, at least the box was labeled correctly. Gotta love moving.

I had concluded they were gone, somehow. Still wondering about my snowshoes, which have not reappeared.

 

[bounceswoosh]

I notice many of you mountain bike. That seems truly impossible to me (legs!!! uphill!!!). I like a challenging mountain hike uphill, but the thought of biking uphill intentionally seems out of reach. I also confess I'm very unlikely to be found in a gym.

My home mountain, Berkshire East, has mountain biking - and I think it's lift-served. I feel a little old to go crashing down mountains on a bike, though. (Of course, that's what virtually everyone I know felt about me starting to ski.) I can bicycle on the roads around here to strengthen my legs.

So, no uphill, no downhill? ;-)

Every place I've been, the lift-serviced greens are pretty friendly, not exactly "crashing" - BUT you definitely want to be solid on a mountain bike before riding them. Not crazy good, just comfortable riding typical trails for the area.

Here's something I wish someone had told me when I started riding my mountain bike: It's very normal for even proficient mountain bikers to choose to walk something on a trail. Walking is part of the deal. When I first started, I thought that because I was on supposedly a pretty mellow trail, a beginner should be able to ride everything. This got me into some amount of trouble.

However, in terms of ski fitness - cycling, even mountain biking, is not going to build up protection against the lateral forces you experience when skiing. There are ski fitness classes that crop up around here, and surely there, in the fall - I'm not sure how my knee will feel about these when I get to that point.

 

[bounceswoosh]

PS @newboots - I know I'm younger than you are, but I'm of a certain size, and I still enjoy mountain biking. I enjoy the downhill much more than the uphill, and I suspect you would, too, given how quickly you've enjoyed skiing. When I started mountain biking, I hadn't ridden a bicycle in multiple years, and was never particularly good at it.

I personally prefer rocky uphill to pure flat "fire roads" - the rocks and other obstacles distract me from the sufferfest that is climbing.

Also @altagirl taught me a good trick - when I'm really suffering, chant, "I love climbing! I love climbing!" ... fool the brain.

 

[VickiK]

I'll continue doing workouts at home in the garage. It involves aerobic, strength, and balance/flexibility training 6x/week, about 30 min long. Is it fun? Not as much as riding a bike but I like it and it works with my schedule.

@Little Lightning , thanks for info on functional movement. I agree a lot of trainers say they are functional movement specialists, and I believe they believe they are, but as you found, there's a lot more to it than counting off reps for you.

 

[veronicarella]

Swim, bike, run, yoga, hike. This year I hope to try mountain biking and Pilates. Both seems to have steep learning curves, so if there's any mountain bikers or Pilates-ers who have advice on how to get started, I'm all ears!

Every year I also daydream about skiing in the Southern Hemisphere in the summer, winter there. Maybe this is the year that I will make it happen! #neversummer

 

[bounceswoosh]

Oh, and, to answer your question:

In the summer, my exercise mostly comes from mountain biking and hiking. I miss rock climbing a lot. I was always a gym rat, but it's so nice to get an incredibly thorough workout in an hour. I've had shoulder and wrist - and now other - issues for so long that I've lost contact with all of my old gym climbing buddies. I hope my knee will get happier with climbing over the summer.

 

[HockeyMom]

I play hockey year round 1-2 times per week, which keeps the legs in shape. In the summer I kayak, swim, road bike and will continue yoga. Last year I started mountain biking by joining a weekly beginner women's ride with a great group of women at a local singletack trail. Now I'm hooked. Last summer I rode at many different trail systems in Maine and by fall was biking by headlamp in the evening to continue to ride. Many of my friends rode all winter on their fat bikes while I was on the slopes. I'm looking forward to riding with them again and expanding my list of trails this year.