I have mentioned this in previous threads, but here goes:
See if there are squash courts in your area. If so, take lessons (commit to 5-10 lessons), and ask the instructor to introduce you to other novice players. The game is exhilerating, easy to learn, low-inpact, high cardio, and has a huge supportive world wide community.
In one year, I went from doing no gym / physical activity, to playing squash 3x a week (or more). Additionally, since I'm at the gym anyway, I am now doing gym routine alongside playing squash (something that during my 34 years of living, I'd never managed to keep up as a routine). A funny aside - I've never been a morning person, but I've been trying to "fix" that by scheduling squash games with people at 05:30 am. It "stings" in the morning, but it's incredible how awake you are at 6:30 after having battled it out on the court at full blast. I might flake out on myself to get to the gym that early, but I won't flake out on another person I committed to. Your mileage may vary, but just sharing something which (finally) worked for me. Good luck!
(Just played an hour of squash, 2km rowing machine, full workout - all before breakfast)
I have similar experiences with hockey. It's obviously not as cheap as squash, but most of the pickup in my area is 6:30am or so. The rink is also walkable from my office, so sometimes I bring my skates to work and skate during lunch just to get myself moving. The best part is, it's never too late to start! I took lessons starting at 22, but I was easily the youngest person in the class. Lots of people in their 40s learning to ice skate for the first time.
This is coming from a person who you couldn't pay to exercise two years ago. Recreational sports don't feel like exercise, they feels like playing a game. Also with something like ice skating all your improvements are very noticeable and it feels really good to master a new skill or pull off a deke or score a goal in a game.
Obviously also not for everyone, but these kind of stories are true for every sport. Find something you like, it's never too late to try something new.
I loved squash through undergrad for exactly those reasons - structured, high intensity, fun, low time commitment. But I couldn't call it low-impact; I don't play today because I found the game had too much stop-and-go and heavy direction changes and it was killing my knees and ankles :(
Maybe I should have said lowER impact (compared to most sports, soccer, etc). I regularly play with some older folks - and they don't move around so much... they make ME do the moving!
See if there are squash courts in your area. If so, take lessons (commit to 5-10 lessons), and ask the instructor to introduce you to other novice players. The game is exhilerating, easy to learn, low-inpact, high cardio, and has a huge supportive world wide community.
In one year, I went from doing no gym / physical activity, to playing squash 3x a week (or more). Additionally, since I'm at the gym anyway, I am now doing gym routine alongside playing squash (something that during my 34 years of living, I'd never managed to keep up as a routine). A funny aside - I've never been a morning person, but I've been trying to "fix" that by scheduling squash games with people at 05:30 am. It "stings" in the morning, but it's incredible how awake you are at 6:30 after having battled it out on the court at full blast. I might flake out on myself to get to the gym that early, but I won't flake out on another person I committed to. Your mileage may vary, but just sharing something which (finally) worked for me. Good luck!
(Just played an hour of squash, 2km rowing machine, full workout - all before breakfast)