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[Northern monkey]

Need a bit of advice on mobility and fitness training guys.

I'm pushing fifty now and need to sort my training to enable me to carry on playing, and to coincide with my diet change to sort years of crap eating and drinking
I've weight trained for years, never taken performance drugs/supplements, so no issues there, and always been reasonably bulky, if that makes sense?,(there's a recent pic of me on one of the southern net topics), but I'm more interested in mobility and general fitness.

With regards to diet, I'm drifting further towards a vegan/ fruit diet, with fish a couple of times a week, and keeping calories down to 2k a day if possible
Feeling a million times better for this, and wishing I'd started a long time ago

But
Need advice for what training to pursue

I was about to join a gym, and basically do a full body workout on machines 3 days a week, sort of a maintenance routine
Ive read conflicting reports on using stationary bikes etc and am wondering if I'm better avoiding, or not?

I also intend to try and do the 10k steps a day walking, as I'm sat on my backside driving all day,(I do around 60k miles a year)

I'm also wondering if I'm just better buying a couple of kettle bells and using these, and forget the gym membership?

Any thoughts for an over forty yr old ??
Cheers

[HallamKeeper]

Yoga is meant to be very good.

[Dunamis Cricket]

Wouldnt have put you close to 50 Mark! I've found for mobility wise, squash has been a god send to me! It covers agility, cardio, flexability and reactions all in 10 square feet!

Its hard to begin with but i felt the difference almost instantly half way through last year! Also i watched a 60 year old smashing his grandson about in the court the other week so age definitely isnt a factor!

Hope this helps

Woody

[Northern monkey]

Ah cheers guys
Often wondered about yoga

Squash, hmm
My ex and her family were heavily into squash, her brother was no3 in uk for a bit, we used to ferry him around for comps.
Was always told, get fit to play squash, not the other way round.
I was always too busy with cricket to have a go

I used to play a lot of footie up until I was 17 or so, and people I've known/met etc, who did similar have all had knee injuries etc and are now suffering mobility wise
Had a conversation with an ex pro footballer this week,(he's 52) who plays a lot of golf , who said he was OK walking but couldn't actually run if his life depended on it!
Always remember a bloke called Tommo,(Arran brindles dad) who also played a lot of football and had trouble running.
He'd tried everything but just lacked that mobility

[Shinpathy]

Try badminton, good for hand eye coordination and agility too.

Keeps you on the move if you play anything near competitively.

[HallamKeeper]

I play hockey in the winter to stop colossal weight gain. When I wanted to get fitter I tried squash but I ended up injuring myself. I also tried 5-a-side football but my knees ended up in real trouble. This isn't to say don't try new sports, you definitely should.

I think if you try a new sport you should ease into it gently, it is weird how a new sport finds underdeveloped muscles very quickly. 

[FattusCattus]

How's your swimming @Northern monkey ?

[Northern monkey]

Hmm
It's cost Brucie
Arm an a leg down here, and time etc
I had thought about the local sports centre, but it's the other side of town, and that means a half hour to add on.
Nightmare these days with three kids managing to get out the house and do something.
By the time they are in bed, I'm knackered, hence why I'm gonna get off my backside and do a coupla mile walk then.

I do miss swimming tho, and it is so good for you
Tbh I'd not thought about it
I do need to teach the kids, so that could be a bonus
Very good shout sir

[richthekeeper]

Me and my 60 year old dad did a 5k run this time last year. I stayed at his pace and he jogged/walked/limped around the course in about 40 minutes.

He's now doing weekend parkruns as well as 2-3 road runs a week and clocks around 25 mins for 5k. He's training for a 10k race at the end of February.

So run. It's free.

[Northern monkey]

Yet again, I've read conflicting reports on running
And I'm a lazy git
But, this is half the battle in staving off aging etc
It is something I do need to do, really
Plenty of good advice coming, many thanks guys

[Blazer]

Keep going to the gym and weight train, it doesn't hinder your mobility as long as you do full range of motion. It's the things you down in between that affects mobility. Plenty of mobility videos on youtube which you can do on your off days. Focus on mobility of legs especially lateral and shoulders, both of which are needed in cricket. Also look back into the season and address the mobility issues if you had them.

[Seniorplayer]

I am older and you and find bike riding keeps the weight off And strengthens the legs  and football training helps with the  cricket running don't play in matches as don't want to pick up an injury.

[FattusCattus]

@Northern monkey - I'm monumentally lazy and a bit tight and rubbish in the mornings. I'm finding the Joe Wicks HIIT style workouts that you can do at home with a dumb-bell set and a chair are more my kind of thing.

I can't be arsed to go to the gym
I'm still too Fat to run
I like to keep the exercise short and very simple.

Working on the basis that something is better than nothing and due to family my spare time is limited, this seems to be working for me.

[Calzehbhoy]

You'll find the gym a waste of money after a few weeks, the machines aren't the best

As @FattusCattus has suggested, some sort of HIIT workout would work. Also as @Dunamis Cricket also suggested Squash is great to improve your fitness, reflexes and hand eye coordination.

[Northern monkey]

I'd looked at the hiit in the past, maybe it's worth looking into
Lots of conflicting tinternet issues regarding this method tho

Squash,badminton,again, is also the time thing
I work 50/60 hrs a week, with 3 under 5yr olds at home, there's no way I can bugger off for a couple of hours to play squash.
There's just not enough hours in a day , and time with the family comes first
I'm lucky in that , my missus is happy to drag the kids to watch me play cricket, so I don't wanna push my luck too much.

Please please keep the suggestions coming, I'm grateful for any advice