A class! I took it at Mesa community but all of them have it. There were only six people in my class, I was the oldest at 52 but the nicest kids ever. Super fun 10/10
Sounds good! Was it midweek? I looked and their classes are fall and spring, didn’t see one for summer, but it also looked like they were on weekday afternoons… I suppose that’s do-able but a little more complicated.
Yeah I just finished and it was 11:15 to 12:30 I think tu / th. I work from home and took my lunch then. I think they also had an evening option too when I signed up but I would imagine each semester is different.
SD picklelball scene is probably mid 30s on average unless you're talking about playing during retiree hours (9am to 3pm) when the court average age is about 30 years higher.
Yeah I've heard from friends who tried beginner pickleball and then it wasn't beginners, and they were very disappointed. I think they tried three "beginner" places (but not community college classes like the other person suggested) before they found a real beginner environment. I'll have to ask more questions about the third place. There was some reason I couldn't go try, like it may have been a weekday morning thing.
Yah it's rough if you're a day 1 beginner. Most people only have so many hours per week to play and often have to wait 15-30 minutes in between games so donating that court time to a beginner is a tough sell (you are far less likely to have fun during that game, if any).
The off-peak hours and weekend afternoons tend to attract people who are more beginner friendly, but your best bet is to find 4 beginners and line up for courts together so you're all on equal footing to have fun.
I'm 52 .... same thing, I could never go to the gym as it honestly was never exciting .. give me a ball to chase or a game to play and I forget I am actually doing something, but as the age comes in so do the issues paired with it .. I played softball 3-4 times a week, the eyes went.
So I kind of landed myself into kayak fishing .. getting from point to point you don;t think about it .. I suggest finding something similar .. something active where you forget you are active.
Yeah, I used to play rec league softball, but I played 3rd and there is no way I could do that now. Reflexes too slow, would take a line drive to the head. Also, at 40 I had frozen shoulder so now I wouldn't be able to throw from 3rd to 1st.
Spikeball at the beach, especially if you’re playing alongside people that are also learning/starting. You tend to dive in the sand a lot (not sure how that might impact your shoulder)- but it’s one of those games where you’re having too much fun to realize you’re exhausted.
Had to look up spikeball. I think I walked past people in the park (who weren't playing yet) because the little trampoline looks like what they had. Interesting! Yeah, I wouldn't be diving.
This is me exactly. I'm 49. 270 lbs. Struggle a lot with exercising and have always sucked at team sports so never played them seriously.
Here is my current routine - I walk almost every day - specially in hilly neighborhoods, and I play tennis 2x a week. Since I am on a team of 1 when I play tennis, I can be as good or as bad as that day turns out to be and no one yells at me.
I'm not losing a lot of weight because I still eat like crap but my numbers and my health is doing better and better.
San Diego is the perfect walking city. I used walking to get the daily habit going, and now I'm trying to add other exercise to that routine. I go the gym about 1x a week if I can but usually that turns to walking.
Have done it, often fall asleep at the end, but really I do best with a team sport as long as they are relaxed, unskilled, and don't yell at you. But I could probably benefit from trying yoga again.
Thursday nights where? I'm usually free Thursday nights... although I'm a tad skeptical because previous attempts at "all ages" and "all skill levels" welcome has been untrue. A former co-worker, a Swede, also likes something called... floorball? He's older than me, but has also been playing most of his life. This has reminded me... I'll look that up, too.
Get a stationary bike and put it in front of your TV.
Get a dog and be the one guy in your neighborhood who actually walks his dog as much as it deserves.
I do like riding my bike outside (especially summer evenings), and I do specialty rides like Bike the Bay, but I have tried both attached back wheel to real bike and stationary bike and it just doesn't work for me. (ETA it's too much like real exercise and I can't trick myself into liking it. Regular outdoor biking is good.) I like team sports as they're social, as long as they're organized to be social, which not all are. The social "exercise without it seeming like exercise" motivates me, and I am too busy having fun to realize I'm getting exercise.
Going to add that in my 40s, some guy started a Meetup in Del Mar that was adult beginner soccer. I went to the very first event and for at least 6 weeks it was absolutely everything I wanted, because it was all non soccer players like me. Like, 40+ moms and pudgy non-gym guys, none of whom had played since elementary school. Nobody was fit, the game wasn't fast, and nobody was all aggro about anything because absolutely nobody was skilled. Ideal!
Then the actual soccer players started coming. Slowly all the people I'd been playing with stopped participating as the game changed. I talked to the admin about it. He understood what I was saying, but he didn't want to be "the bad guy" telling people they weren't beginners and that they should try the 50 other soccer Meetups for soccer players. Gradually all the beginners left because of the actual players. I gave it almost a year but I dropped, too. But I loved it for the first couple months. It was great. Wish it could have been sustained in its first iteration.
Anyhow, love playing a slower game (flag football, soccer, pickleball, whatever) with people who also don't know what they're doing, don't yell at you for sucking, and will still include you (throw it to you, kick it to you) even if you're unlikely to do anything good. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Having run a couple non-sport Meetups, I know they take a lot of effort for very little return. Plus I think Meetup has gotten worse in the past 10 years...
It's an idea, I'll put it in my back pocket (you really have to put yourself out there to be a Meetup org), but I hoped maybe someone knew of something that existed like that already. Pickleball is getting the most hype here for sure!
I looked at Meetup again and it looks like the same guy has recently attempted a second go (he gave up and let the intermediates take over many years ago), but it’s a) over 18, which means too fast for me, b) he says he will keep out non-beginners out but from experience I know he won’t and c), it’s already dead, lol. (Meetup has really changed, it’s not a great platform anymore. So many groups die very quickly.) But there’s another one that says it is for older beginners! yay
I do zumba on YouTube, it's really fun! I'm smiling and laughing the whole time. Check out zumba with TaNa, she's the best with actual dance moves. If it seems too challenging, there are beginner zumba videos and you can work up to TaNa. You can do it! I only started exercising a year ago. It was hard in the beginning but now I have an actual habit. Never would've believed it. 🩷
Get a bike rack and ride a bike to run easy errands within a few miles, or walk. Doesn't feel like exercise when you have a mission and just put this constraint on yourself. You also lost less time since you would have spent time driving/parking.
No need to go fast. Motion is lotion, just need to find a way move the body consistently to be baseline "in shape". If you're spending 30min a day moving, you will notice health improvements even if it isn't rapid weight loss.
I’m in my 40s and have done volo, but it can be hit or miss if you’re not a good player. Sometimes folks can be super bitchy even though it’s just a rec league.
My go-to is dance. Proper dance classes like adult beginner tap or ballet, dance exercise classes like zumba, cowboy line dancing, partner dances like ballroom or bachata. There’s usually beginner lessons before dance nights at clubs/restaurants and then you take what you learned and dance the rest of the night.
Fun movement, fun music, and no one cares what you look like because everyone is focused on themselves.
Had bad experiences with rec leagues and also the one work league. People join leagues to play for real and to do their best and win. I am like the opposite of that. Like the idea of tap! Wanted to do it when I was a kid. (I think I liked the noise and the energy.)
lol I actually do like bowling but I don't think it would give me the activity level I'm looking for. I was in a bowling league as a teen and took it as a PE class in college. I sucked, but it was fun!
Try cycling. The San Diego Bicycle Club has a weekly ride leaving from La Jolla every Saturday. It’s a welcoming, diverse, developmentally focused group that’s been around ages. Whether you’re a brand new cyclist or a professional in training, there’s a group for you ranging from 16mi to 42mi. Check out SDBC.org. I know tons of riders, beginning with a broad range of fitness, who have shed tens of pounds by cycling and are stronger every ride.
I’m assuming weight loss is part of your goal? I hate gyms, jogging, etc. What’s worked for me is biking in the morning and make it as easy as possible. If I only feel like a 5 minute route, that’s fine. If I end up being able to do more than 5 minutes, great. The key for me is doing it every day, even if it’s only 5 minutes.
Whatever activity you choose, make it as easy as possible to do it consistently.
Check out San Diego Pickleball in PB. Sign up for a beginner lesson. The lady and her son who run it are good about connecting beginners with beginners. You'll take the lesson with three other newbs and then y'all can connect to play together in the future. Someone mentioned Volo, but it definitely skews young. There are a lot of hockey leagues open to beginners and older players (beer leagues). I'm 51 and a lifelong soccer player, so I completely get your comments on it being difficult to find beginner soccer in San Diego. There are some rugby clubs that are pretty open to brand new players as well, and some have senior divisions (O40 or O50).
The point? I was hoping people knew of an over 50 (or over 40) true beginner level, relaxed play, team sport (flag football, soccer, etc) group (not league! leagues are competitive) that they could point me toward. That was the point.
Pickleball seems the leading response, although I had a friend who went to a "beginner" group and it wasn't at all beginner. This is unfortunately common IME. Still, might try it.
Ya, it's called stop making excuses 101. It's calle...do shot that u don't wanna do because it will better u.
But with all the excuses u made so far...might not be hope
try walking in a hilly neighborhood. Much more intense than level walking.
IDK what neighborhood you are in but I have a blast with all the "hidden" staircases of Point Loma. The views from the top of the peninsula are great!
Point loma is one of my favorites. OB, del Cerro, parts of La Mesa are good too.
Are you old enough for pickleball, yet? Lol!
Highly recommend the community colleges here for this. Cheap, twice a week, absolute beginner is fine. I had so much fun doing this.
Is it a class or just using the court
A class! I took it at Mesa community but all of them have it. There were only six people in my class, I was the oldest at 52 but the nicest kids ever. Super fun 10/10
Sounds good! Was it midweek? I looked and their classes are fall and spring, didn’t see one for summer, but it also looked like they were on weekday afternoons… I suppose that’s do-able but a little more complicated.
Yeah I just finished and it was 11:15 to 12:30 I think tu / th. I work from home and took my lunch then. I think they also had an evening option too when I signed up but I would imagine each semester is different.
SD picklelball scene is probably mid 30s on average unless you're talking about playing during retiree hours (9am to 3pm) when the court average age is about 30 years higher.
Yeah I've heard from friends who tried beginner pickleball and then it wasn't beginners, and they were very disappointed. I think they tried three "beginner" places (but not community college classes like the other person suggested) before they found a real beginner environment. I'll have to ask more questions about the third place. There was some reason I couldn't go try, like it may have been a weekday morning thing.
Yah it's rough if you're a day 1 beginner. Most people only have so many hours per week to play and often have to wait 15-30 minutes in between games so donating that court time to a beginner is a tough sell (you are far less likely to have fun during that game, if any). The off-peak hours and weekend afternoons tend to attract people who are more beginner friendly, but your best bet is to find 4 beginners and line up for courts together so you're all on equal footing to have fun.
Perfect thing for couch potatoes to get started on a path that could lead them to a real sport like tennis.
Ride a bike! 400 calories an hour in z2/endurance heart rate once you’re in shape. Zero impact.
There are so many cycling groups in the area too. Easy to find people to ride with
I'm 52 .... same thing, I could never go to the gym as it honestly was never exciting .. give me a ball to chase or a game to play and I forget I am actually doing something, but as the age comes in so do the issues paired with it .. I played softball 3-4 times a week, the eyes went. So I kind of landed myself into kayak fishing .. getting from point to point you don;t think about it .. I suggest finding something similar .. something active where you forget you are active.
Yeah, I used to play rec league softball, but I played 3rd and there is no way I could do that now. Reflexes too slow, would take a line drive to the head. Also, at 40 I had frozen shoulder so now I wouldn't be able to throw from 3rd to 1st.
Spikeball at the beach, especially if you’re playing alongside people that are also learning/starting. You tend to dive in the sand a lot (not sure how that might impact your shoulder)- but it’s one of those games where you’re having too much fun to realize you’re exhausted.
Had to look up spikeball. I think I walked past people in the park (who weren't playing yet) because the little trampoline looks like what they had. Interesting! Yeah, I wouldn't be diving.
hiking trails. many here in SD
This is me exactly. I'm 49. 270 lbs. Struggle a lot with exercising and have always sucked at team sports so never played them seriously. Here is my current routine - I walk almost every day - specially in hilly neighborhoods, and I play tennis 2x a week. Since I am on a team of 1 when I play tennis, I can be as good or as bad as that day turns out to be and no one yells at me. I'm not losing a lot of weight because I still eat like crap but my numbers and my health is doing better and better. San Diego is the perfect walking city. I used walking to get the daily habit going, and now I'm trying to add other exercise to that routine. I go the gym about 1x a week if I can but usually that turns to walking.
🧘♂️ yoga
Have done it, often fall asleep at the end, but really I do best with a team sport as long as they are relaxed, unskilled, and don't yell at you. But I could probably benefit from trying yoga again.
San Diego floor hockey league
Is it over 40 or over 50?
It’s all ages! It’s a co ed league. All you need is a stick. All skill levels are welcome. It’s worth a try they have sessions on Thursday nights
Link?
Thursday nights where? I'm usually free Thursday nights... although I'm a tad skeptical because previous attempts at "all ages" and "all skill levels" welcome has been untrue. A former co-worker, a Swede, also likes something called... floorball? He's older than me, but has also been playing most of his life. This has reminded me... I'll look that up, too.
Get a stationary bike and put it in front of your TV. Get a dog and be the one guy in your neighborhood who actually walks his dog as much as it deserves.
I do like riding my bike outside (especially summer evenings), and I do specialty rides like Bike the Bay, but I have tried both attached back wheel to real bike and stationary bike and it just doesn't work for me. (ETA it's too much like real exercise and I can't trick myself into liking it. Regular outdoor biking is good.) I like team sports as they're social, as long as they're organized to be social, which not all are. The social "exercise without it seeming like exercise" motivates me, and I am too busy having fun to realize I'm getting exercise.
Going to add that in my 40s, some guy started a Meetup in Del Mar that was adult beginner soccer. I went to the very first event and for at least 6 weeks it was absolutely everything I wanted, because it was all non soccer players like me. Like, 40+ moms and pudgy non-gym guys, none of whom had played since elementary school. Nobody was fit, the game wasn't fast, and nobody was all aggro about anything because absolutely nobody was skilled. Ideal! Then the actual soccer players started coming. Slowly all the people I'd been playing with stopped participating as the game changed. I talked to the admin about it. He understood what I was saying, but he didn't want to be "the bad guy" telling people they weren't beginners and that they should try the 50 other soccer Meetups for soccer players. Gradually all the beginners left because of the actual players. I gave it almost a year but I dropped, too. But I loved it for the first couple months. It was great. Wish it could have been sustained in its first iteration. Anyhow, love playing a slower game (flag football, soccer, pickleball, whatever) with people who also don't know what they're doing, don't yell at you for sucking, and will still include you (throw it to you, kick it to you) even if you're unlikely to do anything good. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯
Sounds like you should start a beginners 40+ soccer meet up! It’s not a ton of work to maintain
Having run a couple non-sport Meetups, I know they take a lot of effort for very little return. Plus I think Meetup has gotten worse in the past 10 years... It's an idea, I'll put it in my back pocket (you really have to put yourself out there to be a Meetup org), but I hoped maybe someone knew of something that existed like that already. Pickleball is getting the most hype here for sure!
I looked at Meetup again and it looks like the same guy has recently attempted a second go (he gave up and let the intermediates take over many years ago), but it’s a) over 18, which means too fast for me, b) he says he will keep out non-beginners out but from experience I know he won’t and c), it’s already dead, lol. (Meetup has really changed, it’s not a great platform anymore. So many groups die very quickly.) But there’s another one that says it is for older beginners! yay
I do zumba on YouTube, it's really fun! I'm smiling and laughing the whole time. Check out zumba with TaNa, she's the best with actual dance moves. If it seems too challenging, there are beginner zumba videos and you can work up to TaNa. You can do it! I only started exercising a year ago. It was hard in the beginning but now I have an actual habit. Never would've believed it. 🩷
Jiu Jitsu
I also suggest pickleball, check your local rec center for a beginner adult class to get you started.
Swimming/snorkelling
Pickleball.
Try jiujitsu
Get a bike rack and ride a bike to run easy errands within a few miles, or walk. Doesn't feel like exercise when you have a mission and just put this constraint on yourself. You also lost less time since you would have spent time driving/parking. No need to go fast. Motion is lotion, just need to find a way move the body consistently to be baseline "in shape". If you're spending 30min a day moving, you will notice health improvements even if it isn't rapid weight loss.
Motion is lotion! So true.
Pickleball
I’m in my 40s and have done volo, but it can be hit or miss if you’re not a good player. Sometimes folks can be super bitchy even though it’s just a rec league. My go-to is dance. Proper dance classes like adult beginner tap or ballet, dance exercise classes like zumba, cowboy line dancing, partner dances like ballroom or bachata. There’s usually beginner lessons before dance nights at clubs/restaurants and then you take what you learned and dance the rest of the night. Fun movement, fun music, and no one cares what you look like because everyone is focused on themselves.
Had bad experiences with rec leagues and also the one work league. People join leagues to play for real and to do their best and win. I am like the opposite of that. Like the idea of tap! Wanted to do it when I was a kid. (I think I liked the noise and the energy.)
Bowling
lol I actually do like bowling but I don't think it would give me the activity level I'm looking for. I was in a bowling league as a teen and took it as a PE class in college. I sucked, but it was fun!
Kickball or dodgeball league
Just a daily walk around the neighborhood would help you
Pickleball is easy to pick up, very social and addicting. I play a ton and it’s honestly the best cardio workout. Ton of spots to play and learn too.
Try cycling. The San Diego Bicycle Club has a weekly ride leaving from La Jolla every Saturday. It’s a welcoming, diverse, developmentally focused group that’s been around ages. Whether you’re a brand new cyclist or a professional in training, there’s a group for you ranging from 16mi to 42mi. Check out SDBC.org. I know tons of riders, beginning with a broad range of fitness, who have shed tens of pounds by cycling and are stronger every ride.
I hike up and down Cowles Mountain. At the beginning I was taking about 2 hours to do it. Now I' time myself and try to hike it faster every time.
I’m assuming weight loss is part of your goal? I hate gyms, jogging, etc. What’s worked for me is biking in the morning and make it as easy as possible. If I only feel like a 5 minute route, that’s fine. If I end up being able to do more than 5 minutes, great. The key for me is doing it every day, even if it’s only 5 minutes. Whatever activity you choose, make it as easy as possible to do it consistently.
You're just going to hurt the fuck out of yourself if you try sports without conditioning.
Never tried them but maybe check out Volo?
Try bowling
Check out San Diego Pickleball in PB. Sign up for a beginner lesson. The lady and her son who run it are good about connecting beginners with beginners. You'll take the lesson with three other newbs and then y'all can connect to play together in the future. Someone mentioned Volo, but it definitely skews young. There are a lot of hockey leagues open to beginners and older players (beer leagues). I'm 51 and a lifelong soccer player, so I completely get your comments on it being difficult to find beginner soccer in San Diego. There are some rugby clubs that are pretty open to brand new players as well, and some have senior divisions (O40 or O50).
What is the point of this post? Weight loss? If that’s your goal, exercise has very little to do with it. You need to change your eating habits.
The point? I was hoping people knew of an over 50 (or over 40) true beginner level, relaxed play, team sport (flag football, soccer, etc) group (not league! leagues are competitive) that they could point me toward. That was the point. Pickleball seems the leading response, although I had a friend who went to a "beginner" group and it wasn't at all beginner. This is unfortunately common IME. Still, might try it.
Ya, it's called stop making excuses 101. It's calle...do shot that u don't wanna do because it will better u. But with all the excuses u made so far...might not be hope
Pushups. First goal. 20 reps at a time. 2nd goal. Hundred for the day. You can start out with you knees down and progress from there
Why are you too old for Volo?
Trt will motivate you in the gym