I very much like hiking. Not only is it good for your body, a walk in the woods is good for your mental health as well. So I strongly recommend it for anyone who has any inclination for it. When the weather is bad, I try to go to an art gallery or museum to get out and about, so that I am not just sitting about for weeks at a time.
For my upper body, I lift weights. To start, three times a week, no more, and never two days in a row. I hate lifting weights, but it takes very little time to get significant results, and I really like the results. (One of the tricks is to do repeated lifts, of a weight that is easy for the first lift, but hard when you get to lift 20. You build muscle, with less risk of hurting yourself than trying to lift the heaviest weight you can lift.) My wife was so impressed with the results I was getting from just 15 minutes a day, three days a week, that she now lifts weights. Her arms look better, which she likes, but also she is more able to do things without getting sore. So this, too, is something that I recommend, for anyone who can stand to do it.
Of course, if you have a particular thing that you enjoy doing, that is likely your best option (unless it is harmful), as you need to keep at it to keep in shape.
When I was young, I ran. I had a love/hate relationship with running. I gave it up for bike riding. It was nice getting rid of the pounding on the joints. That I enjoyed, but gave it up over concerns that the seat could lead to impotence. So now I hike, which I like best. Hiking is easier on the joints than running, and there is no concern about pressure on the crotch doing damage. Plus with riding a bike, there is a greater chance of sudden injury, particularly if one rides fairly fast as I did.
For my upper body, I lift weights. To start, three times a week, no more, and never two days in a row. I hate lifting weights, but it takes very little time to get significant results, and I really like the results. (One of the tricks is to do repeated lifts, of a weight that is easy for the first lift, but hard when you get to lift 20. You build muscle, with less risk of hurting yourself than trying to lift the heaviest weight you can lift.) My wife was so impressed with the results I was getting from just 15 minutes a day, three days a week, that she now lifts weights. Her arms look better, which she likes, but also she is more able to do things without getting sore. So this, too, is something that I recommend, for anyone who can stand to do it.
Of course, if you have a particular thing that you enjoy doing, that is likely your best option (unless it is harmful), as you need to keep at it to keep in shape.
When I was young, I ran. I had a love/hate relationship with running. I gave it up for bike riding. It was nice getting rid of the pounding on the joints. That I enjoyed, but gave it up over concerns that the seat could lead to impotence. So now I hike, which I like best. Hiking is easier on the joints than running, and there is no concern about pressure on the crotch doing damage. Plus with riding a bike, there is a greater chance of sudden injury, particularly if one rides fairly fast as I did.
"A wise man ... proportions his belief to the evidence."
— David Hume, An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding, Section X, Part I.
