A meeting place for seniors

[Oldraven]

Hello I’m wondering if there is a way for seniors to have a forum to discuss issues related to being elderly and trying to find exercises that won’t snap old bones in half.  Perhaps we could connect with one another and offer insights and encouragement for our age group. I would love to share my experiences with someone my age and hear what they have found using their Fitbits.

[LZeeW]

@Oldraven   I moved your post to the Get Moving forum.  I think it is a better fit for this topic and will generate more discussion.

[Oldraven]

Thanks very much.Appreciate the help!

[YachatsMike · Accepted solution]

I wouldn't mind that.  I'm 77 so I guess I meet the age qual.  I use my Fitbit to  track Active Zone Minutes with a goal of at least doubling the HHS minimums.  I  also track metrics for my structured exercises (rower, recumbent bike, treadmill).  I watch my joints, especially knees, back, and elbows, to make sure I'm not over-stressing or over-impacting them.   I am a lot more cognizant of my need for warm-up and stretching so I don't short change myself.  I'm mindful of my balance so I take opportunities during the day to do balance exercises.  My goals are aerobic fitness and functional  mobility for the rest of my  life.

[Oldraven]

Hi

Thanks for getting back to me. Sounds like you are more well-rounded in your exercises and more cognizant of the overall benefits of various exercises. I have mostly been concentrating on walking. When I can do it I try to walk the trails where I live regularly and put in up to five miles a day sometimes. That does wear me out. I also have resistance bands that I use now and again, but I am less regular with those as I am not familiar with the exercises yet.

I also like to keep track of RHR trends and the other metrics. It's reassuring to check how your heart is doing during exercise and when resting. I have had heart issues so that is important to me. By the way I am 73 so we are pretty close in vintage.

Will look forward to keeping in touch and maybe offering encouragement to one another now and again.

Take care

[YachatsMike]

I started out walking, too.  I used my Fitbit to track my pace and my HR.  I downloaded the Physical Activity Guidelines for Americans from Health and Human Services and adopted their exercise goals.  As I continued my exercises and online research I found a lot more helpful resources.  I have a Charge 6 but I connect it to my phone for GPS tracking because the built-in GPS doesn't seem to work for me.  You need to use the GPS to get the most accurate walking distance and pace.  I also learned to clean the back of the watch and position it a full two fingers above my wrist bone to get the most reliable HR data.

Good luck...

[Oldraven]

Thanks for that info on the Guidelines. i will look into that for sure. I don't know whether Canada has an equivalent site, but I imagine the guidelines and suggestions would be more less the same. I just got back from one of those hikes I mentioned. I am lucky in that my Versa 2 does have a GPS system so I can track my pace on various parts of the hike, along with high/low heartbeat, energy burned and duration.

What do you think of this new Cardio Load system of keeping track of your progress? I also found that cleaning the back of the watch helped a lot. 

Enjoy the rest of your weekend

[YachatsMike]

I have pretty much given up on Cardio Load.  I did another Vigorous (40 minutes @ 81% HR max) spin and got just 15 Cardio points for it   I'm sticking with Active Zone Minutes because I understand what they mean and what the standards are.  AZM and Cardio Load are both TRIMP-based measurements.  Cardio Load looks like a more complicated measure but it isn't really telling me anything new.

[Oldraven]

Thanks for that info. I feel the same. The cardio load doesn't quite gel with me either. I'm going with this guideline: if I feel energetic, I will go all out. If I don't, I will go lie down for a nap. Actually, come to think of it, that would be helpful if they added nap time daily allowances to the daily "Today" list for us old persons. Hahaha.

Take care

[YachatsMike]

FWIW, I do pay attention to my Readiness score.  If it's low, I lay off.  If it's high I might hit it a little harder.  It looks at things that make sense to me.  So far, it seems to be working out.

[Oldraven]

Yes, the readiness score makes the most sense for me as well. It seems to be a pretty accurate gauge of what my body might be up for on any given day. The stats that the readiness score utilizes to come up with the suggested percentage are understandable to me and I feel confident in the info that it provides. Usually, it reflects precisely how I am feeling and therefore I have come to trust its reliability.

Have a good day

[cat_adams]

Thank you for the info

[Oldraven]

You're welcome. I hope we can offer encouragement and any insights we might have on the Fitbit program to seniors or anyone that might benefit from them.

[YachatsMike]

So I rowed hard today.  In 30 minutes I got 55 points.  Then I got another 32 for warm-up and cool down minutes. I guess if I want to rack up points, I should row every day.

[Oldraven]

Great! Not easy to rack up points so that is quite an accomplishment. Must have been a bit of a sweat getting them though!

Well done.

[YachatsMike]

I think that the Cardio Load counter just likes the rowing machine.  I rowed today for 30 minutes at 80% HRmax and got a load score of 49 for it.  Did a 40 minute spin at 83% of HRmax yesterday and got 17.  Spinning just gets no respect.

[RiekoC]

Based on the user reports I've seen, spinning & biking activities aren't getting the same level of cardio load as other activities. Swimmers also lose out on cardio load since heart rate isn't tracked during swimming.

One of the community Fitbit users shared this article about Fitbit cardio load (<-- click link) that might be of interest.

[YachatsMike]

I've checked out their help pages on Cardio Load but they're not very helpful.  What I would really like to see is the formula they use.  TRIMP at its most basic is intensity x time.  The difference between TRIMP models is how they determine intensity.  I think the Fitbit uses some combination of the sleeping heart metrics, readiness score, heart rate, and then some scale factor based on what kind of exercise you are doing.  I sure would like to see how it actually does it.