Expert: Ken Alan - 4/6/2007

Question
Hello
I am a 62-year-old man. I love aerobics. I do them 6 days a week. Except Sunday. I go to a gym every day. I find I can do ANY aerobic exercise, but I like the "difficult/challenging" ones the best. The thing is, I cannot do aerobics like every one else in the gym!

Everyone else does aerobics continuously, say 20-60 minutes on a bike, or the stepping group stepping and clapping to music, and all those aerobic machines where people run, push-pull or step up and down, continuously based on a specific timer.

If I do aerobics like they do; the next day - I cannot move! The pain is terrible. I cannot walk for 1-3 days. It is awful. But I do not know why...

But I CAN do aerobics 'this-way;' Let's do Step's as an example; Mon-Wed-Fri, I do The Step, wearing a weighted vest. Tue-Thur-Saturday, I do not wear a vest. I step up and down. 10 steps. I pause for 20-60 seconds, and resume. 10 steps. Pause for 20-60 seconds, etc, and etc.

What happens to me is; although I take longer, many times a LOT longer, to do aerobics; I can do more, a LOT MORE "steps", more jump rope, more bicycle turns, etc. etc. than anyone else! in the gym. The others say I am not doing anything this way. But I question; at MY age, 500 jumping jacks per day? is doing nothing :)??

Add up all those spurts of exercise and I am probably doing more than 3 hours of aerobics a day; vs their 1 hour "full-speed-ahead" program.

I also do stretching, balancing, and weights. And PS; the weighted vest I am wearing; it has 2 lb. plates. I am up to 75 pounds of plates and I can STILL do The Step with no problem. Again, if I do step and pause, step and pause. If I try to do Step, step, step constantly, I am down-and-out for the next three days (?). I need help getting the vest ON, but once I get into it; no problems at all.

What do you think?

Answer
You're getting quite a bit of benefit from your exercise.  What you're doing is interval training - alternating short bouts of exercise and rest periods.  Nothing wrong with that.  Especially if you find continuous training doesn't leave you feeling well the next day.  Avoid being concerned about other opinions.  Keep up the routine that is working for you.