Advise on fit or unfit husbands.

[Lora]

Have any of you had success with helping your husbands get in shape? What worked? My husband is 44 and has never been very athletic. He is a building contractor and works like a horse however. Eats like one too. I'm trying to ease him into better eating without starving him too much. He has a bad ankle and doesn't like to do any kind of cardio workout. He has allot of muscle but because he eat so much and doesn't do cardio workout he has a gut. Do any of you know of a good book for men on fitness that isn't written for the macho no brainier type of guy? Lora

 

[Kathleen]

Unfit husbands

I'd love an answer to this one! My husband thinks it is great I keep in shape, but I cannot get him to eat better or do any exercise. For awhile he was doing TaeBo tapes with me, and agreed they were good and not "feminine", but he just didn't stay motivated. My latest ploy is to ask that as an anniversary gift for me he will do what I say for four weeks (good eating and exercise) and if he doesn't get results I won't mention it again. He hasn't agreed yet, though!

 

[Nancy C]

Mine just started

Hi Lora,
I hope I don't jinx anything by saying this, but my husband is slowly starting to get back into it.

He has never been into sports or really enjoying the fitness journey (like his better half

) but he used to go with me years ago to the gym and then we both stopped for two years straight! Well, I got back on the wagon...but Mr. Couch potato didn't.

It has been over 2 years since I started back and I didn't let his inactivity stop me but wished he was doing it too....and let him know it by doing the wifely duty of nagging. Of course this didn't help, so I gave up.....nagging that is. I switched to complimenting him

. I started saying how lucky he was to have such great muscle tone for someone who doesn't workout...sad but true LOL! You know...how much stamina he has...yadda yadda yadda. I also stopped telling him he should at least ride the spinning bike and just kept saying how glad I was that I got it because of what a great bike it is...talked that little bike up a strom! Even threw in some reverse psychology..."hey, don't touch that bike..it is set up perfect for me" hehehehe...then he started mentioning that I just might want to mark my seat and handlebar settings..just incase.
Then magic...one night following a get-together with Video Fitness people(who, I am convinced, had magic fairy workout dust with them), which he tagged along to...he causually got on the bike while I was doing an Ab video...I was afraid to move for fear of scaring him off

. He actually rides it everynight after work now...bless his little heart. ssshhhhh (I'll wisper it) it's been 2 weeks...yahooooo!

So to make this veeerrry long and boring post short...don't nag..trick! hehehe Good luck and honestly...they have to want to do it for themselves.

nancy:O)

 

[Nancy C]

forgot...

first..sorry for the typos in that post.

Second and most important, I forgot to mention a good book...Weight Training for dummies is pretty good. Not to girly and not to over the top either.

nancy:O)

 

[Kristin Aziz]

Yes, above all, don't nag!

But a little encouragement here and there might just help!

My husband played tennis and soccer in high school and was also on the track team and a swim team (not all at the same time). So, he did know what being fit was like. I'm not sure he ever really enjoyed it, though. I've been exercising fairly consistently since high school (some times more than others). We're both 34. So, he saw me exercising and said that was inspiring to him. I talked him into buying a stationary bike with our tax refund last year, mainly as a crosstraining thing for me, but also because he said that he would try it. And my little encouragement--we have two small children and I told him that he owed it to his family to be as fit as possible! It worked!

He now runs about 4 times a week, enters 5Ks and 10Ks, and feels great about what he's doing! Good luck, I know it's a difficult situation. Right now I'm trying to figure out how to get him to do strength training.

 

[LeslieM]

My husband runs also, but no strength work other than pushups

I've hinted to him he should do the first half of Super Sculpting (upper body work) with Jenifer Carmen! Now what red blooded american male wouldn't enjoy working out with her?! Leslie

 

[BLinda]

My husband goes to the gym-

but he only goes 10 times a month (that's what he needs for his co to pay for his membership), and is doing the same routine he set up when he joined 5 years ago. I keep telling hem he needs to do something different, and go more, byt he doesn't. I think he would like to go more, but doesn't have the time (or focus). For instance, last week he wanted to play golf, but couldn't find a tee time that worked for everyone, so he came home early instead.
BLinda

 

[Debra]

Cardio King

My husband stays active & is certainly at an appropriate weight, but his current focus is on cardio. Doesn't do any strength work or stretching. He knows he should, but...

His diet is very good (though he's a bit of a sugar addict). We both learned a lot when I took nutrition classes last fall. I did get him to add variety & reduce the simple sugars.

My husband subcribed to the Mens Journal for a year. It wasn't hard core body building & the focus was on fitness for doing things (skiing, cycling, etc). It is aimed at the young & affluent, urbanite. Bottom line is my husband doesn't share my interest in keeping up on fitness trends. He'd just as soon get the Readers Digest version from me over dinner.

 

[honeybunch]

No husband...but have a Sweetie Pie

And I got him hooked on exercise by giving him a Y membership for his birthday-Xmas present two years ago. He loves to swim, and had bad knees from arthritis, so I bought him a membership so he could do the Arthritis Swim classes. I put the card in his hand, told him when the classes met, and the rest is history.

He swims laps before his classes three times a week, and is totally hooked! He has since had bilateral (that's BOTH knees) knee replacement surgery, and is back in the grove swimming like a fishy again. I know the swimming got him in good shape for his surgery, and he's lost weight, too. He was driving three weeks after his surgery.

The key was that I knew what he liked to do, and pushed him in that direction. I only do what I like, and men are no different! Right, chicks?