What exercises work for you?

I developed some knee pain after stopping running at school and the phsyio said its due to stopping and the joint muscles not being as strong

I have just wasted precious minutes of my life watching a young fit chap telling me that exercise will improve my health, oh, and by the way 88% of those who watch me preach the blindingly obvious dont subscribe to my YouTube channel.
He claims this and that and definitely preaches to avoid the fix me mentality.
Having just endured 5 months of severe knee pain I am now currently pain free thanks to a ‘fix me’ cortisone injection. This is a temporary but welcome fix of diminishing cartilage between my knee bones.
Of course you have to help yourself to fix things in your body that you are not happy with but this guy is seemingly preaching that drugs and interventions are not the way to solve a problem.
Depending on how you have lived your life physically very much depends on whether your body is now a held together wreck or classic car that has never been driven in the wet.I chose a physical career which undoubtedly has punished my physic more so than a pen pushing career and am no suffering the consequences but have no regrets.
I am definitely one of the 88% who will not be lining his YouTube pocket by subscription.

On a purely technical point, subscribing to a YouTube channel does not line anyone’s pocket - except to the extremely limited extent that an extra subscriber boosts the chances of the channel appearing in other people’s feeds by a tiny amount.

Pocket lining only occurs when you become a “member” (or support the channel originator via Patreon) which then usually offers extra content in exchange for the monthly fee.

I subscribe to lots of YouTube channels on topics that interest me, so that I know when they release new videos, but the cost of doing that is zero.

Oh dear… This looks like me with my two pairs of glasses (apart from the beard OF COURSE). I’d forget where I had put the other pair if I didn’t have them both on my head.

Wrinkles and barbells! NYT.

A 96-year-old man needed a lifesaving operation but had to satisfy a surgeon that he was strong enough to withstand the operation. Barbells saved his life and also helped him to recover.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/07/26/well/move/greysteel-powerlifting-senior-gym.html?unlocked_article_code=1.Z08.InXx.kYplSKV3Q1D5&smid=url-share

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And at the other end of the weightlifting spectrum, an NYT article on how light weights can enhance the effect of stretching

Traditional stretching has its limits. Here’s how using a light dumbbell can help you move better.

https://www.nytimes.com/2025/08/27/well/move/weights-mobility-exercise-routine-stretching.html?unlocked_article_code=1.h08.99Ic.v3LvNBsrJkFw&smid=url-share

The best thing that works for me is scything - yes, the “old father time” look.

Out in the fresh air, weight bearing and shifting balance from side to side, arm and shoulder mobility and strength (especially when collecting up the mowings in a bache and dragging it away), gentle rhythmic rotation of the spine to keep the back supple, concentration and focus (its very meditative), and satisfaction of having cut a number of rows without using noisy machinery. Plus you can look out for, and avoid wild life and wild flowers.

Its not a cheap thing to get started, as a good scythe, blades etc do cost a bit (unless you find something in a vide grenier), but once you get going its addictive.

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In order to increase muscle you have to first damage that muscle. That’s where weight bearing exercises come in. You need to do them to a point where you can’t go any further. This can be many reps of light weights or fewer reps of heavier weights. When your muscle becomes ‘ damaged’ your clever body will produce muscle cells that race to the ‘ damaged’ area to repair the muscle. In this way muscle tissue increases. You do need protein to make sure this happens. It can be animal or plant protein.

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Since being able to watch BBC iPlayer now, I’ve been exploring, and came across ‘BBC 1 The Truth About… How fit are you? The chair test’.

How long it takes you to stand up from and sit down onto a hard chair 10 times, is a guide to leg strength and how fit you are for your age.

I found it easy to do and did it in 12 seconds at just short of 84 years old. Not bad for my age, and being slightly overweight.

Michael Mosley explains.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p05w69pq

Being physically active in earlier years, athletics, gymnastics, football, cricket, rugby, cycling, yoga and walking have helped with leg strength, and in current times going up and down the stairs at least half dozen time a day helps.

Sideways leg strength and balance is more of a problem, but living in an untidy house, having to sidestep around miscellaneous objects dotted here and there, and in the way, I find helps!

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Did you notice the chair flop, where you don’t lower so much as drop into the chair?

I just went up and down, just touching the seat of the chair. No bouncing off or flopping down onto. Good test of muscle strength.

EDIT - Doing that 10 times as slowly as possible and frequently, is probably a good safe way of building up leg strength.

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Just bought my wife a 6kg kettlebell from Aldi (they also have 8kg, but I’ve had one of those for years). The reason I’m posting is that they appear briefly once a year and are only €9.99, which is at least half of what you’ll see elsewhere.

My wife currently uses a 4kg one but this one’s a target to work up to.

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Yes but you only went out to get milk :joy:

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Actually it was a deliberate visit, the first to Aldi in months because they always have fitness bargains at the start of the year. Might go again when the gardening stuff starts to appear…

Action is normally good for such items as well

We probably go to Action once a week, because its more reliable than Aldi, inasmuch as their stock doesn’t change so frequently.

Would I be correct in thinking that the Walking Tai-Chi I see adverted everywhere online right now is yet another fitness scam?

I’m glad someone else wondered.

And where did his shirt go during his first month?

All the research I’ve read says you don’t lose weight by exercising, but it helps to keep it off.

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Try it - you don’t need to sign up for anything - but you do need quite a bit of room, and probably best not to do it in a public space…

Muscle is built from fat, but it’s heavier than fat, so you might not lose weight but you can be trimmer and stronger, and depending on the form of exercise, more supple.

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Pedant mode on; fat provides the energy for exercise but it’s protein and amino acids that build muscle.

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