You asked if we thought someone who had not exercised in a long time could get back in shape. well, think about this, if you DON"T exercise some, even a little, what kind of shape will you be in this time next year? You'll be worse. You want to start doing something, and walking is a good beginning, to just stay where you are. You may never get back to what you could do when you were a teenager, but you can certainly improve on what you are today. Give it a good try. It will be well worth it!!

Supposed to cut the grass today, but doubt if I'll get to it. It's not growing anymore, thank goodness, so I'm safe for another week. I've been walking all day every day at work, so I take my days off to relax, sort of, although I am doing housework, and that's enough exercise for one day. I do have one tip, though. While you're sitting in your recliner watching t.v., do leg lifts and bicycles (don't have to stick your feet up in the air) and throw in a few scissors. You'll feel that tush tightening quicker than you would imagine, and the tummy flattening too. I started out doing about 20, and ended up doing 500, and it helped me a lot. Of course, I'm not doing it now, but I'm going to start back. I just don't watch too much t.v. anymore.

"Cattle car waits "   How odd.  A Canadian friend and I were visiting Sydney a while back. My friend became ill on a Friday night. I was able to get on line and book an appointment with her at a local clinic near our hotel for the following morning. No line up at all.  And I don't know Sydney particularly well.And it was a busy family clinic in the center of the city. There are clinics which only "bulk bill" (ie charge Medicare rates) and there are clinics which charge higher fees(except to people who are on government pensions or disability).  Medicare pays the base fee and the individual pays the "gap."   Many people, with or without insurance, are quite happy to pay the gap fee and get quick service. The gap fee runs around $30 - $60 for a GP visit depending on the length of the visit. Bulk billing, walk in clinics in major cities may well have line ups (I daresay there are similar lineups in inner city New York or Philadelphia), but the clinics I've used, in 3 states and 4 cities, operate  by appointment, even the ones that do bulk bill.    This notion of cattle car service is about as accurate as the notion that every American has full insurance coverage and immediate access to top flight health care.  And in fact, in the studies I've cited in the past, while countries like Australia and Canada do have waiting lists for public health care, access in general is still better than in the US. I am about done with Elmer and his"Australian friends". I didn't intend this to become another personal debate coloured by inaccuracy and animus. I raised the subject of the bowel screening program as an example of what I think is an effective public health measure that extends screening for colorectal cancer to a broader range of people.  Nothing more. I don't dispute that colonoscopies are the gold standard, but they are simply not accessible to everyone for a whole lot of reasons. Not here, not in the US. Bowel screening is much more accessible and picks up a significant number of cases, often early enough for treatment.  Never forget that the pursuit of excellence is often the enemy of the good.  That adage applies here.

Disclaimer: I am not a trained professional weight lifter or trainer. To me it sounds like you need to increase the weights. I do about 5-10 reps, 3 sets. The old way of thinking was that women should do lower weights higher reps but that is no longer the recommendation. We aren't going to bulk up like the hulk so higher weights are good. I lift 5x / week right now (alternating upper and lower body). If squats aren't doing it alone, then add weights to your squats. I always hold added weight with my squats. Try goblet squats too. You can also try squatting side steps. Sometimes I'll do them around my basement one direction and then the other. There's also the good old fashoned wall sit from gym class (keep knees 90 degrees, don't use your hands for support). As for the shoulder, you might have an injury. It's absolutely possible to do minor injury like small tears and still be able to continue exercising with some pain. I'd give it some time to rest and then start in slow with maybe pushups from the knees instead of plank position. You might also need to add in some other shoulder exercises to strengthen surrounding muscles to support injured tissue after you've rested for healing. Soft tissue injuries can be slow to heal and it takes more and more time as we age. I don't do much abs-specific work myself. You might try looking up alternative ab workouts to try something new. There are so many different options out there and if you're not feeling the burn, you probably have plenty of strength for the exercises you're doing there. You may need to try a different type of ab exercise to hit different muscle groups or add some weights to the mix with your current exercises (ankle or hold a dumbell or kettlebell).