More →]]> The New York Times published an interesting story about Robert Marchand, a 105 year old cyclist who holds the one-hour distance record for cyclists 100 and older.

Scientists studying him found he was able to significantly add to his aerobic fitness late in life.  He only began exercising after his retirement.  Not only did he get in good shape by cycling most days of the week at a relatively leisurely pace, but at 103, by following a program devised by exercise specialists, which involved riding at high intensity for 20% of the time, he was able to improve his aerobic capacity to the level of a 50-year-old, and improve his pedaling power by 40%.

An inspiring example of how it is never too late to get serious about exercise!

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Finishing the last km’s

At the beginning of this week I signed up for the Jack Frost Challenge, accepting the goal of travelling 140 km under my own power in seven days.  A great idea.

The winter weather makes it hard to get outside regularly for exercise.  This week, the pressure to do 20 km a day, or fall behind on the challenge, got me out for a good skate, ski, or bike ride every day, taking extra detours to maximize the distance covered.

It was great motivation; maybe we need a Jack Frost Challenge more often in winter!

Lots of people on the skating trail

More →]]> I am just back from a long tour through South-East Asia by bicycle with some 40 other riders, mostly retired or semi-retired.
Riding a bicycle day after day, supported by a tour company that finds the route, moves the luggage, books the hotels, and arranges the meals is a close and personal way to see the world at a leisurely pace. We saw, smelled, felt, tasted and heard amazing things along the way. This was not a race. Nor were my fellow riders hard core athletes; there was quite a range of people.
Here’s how some of them describe their experiences on this trip:

Tourdafrique.com offers a number of similar trips on different routes.  Some involve camping every night, others use hotels.

More →]]> “Walking is good exercise, but you should pick up the pace to over 100 steps per minute,” according to Danielle Bouchard, assistant professor at the Faculty of Kinesiology and Recreation Management at the University of Manitoba.
In a number of experiments with older adults, Danielle has found that walking is the most popular exercise, but only 7% walk fast enough to boost their heart rates and get the full benefit of vigorous exercise.
The Canadian Physical Activity Guidelines call for 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous activity per week for boomers. She recommends that people use a heart rate monitor to walk at 55%-70% of their maximum heart rate, or use a simple pedometer to learn to walk over 100 paces a minute. “If you are taking the time to walk, might as well optimize that outing by hitting the target heart rate.”