The Perpetual People Exercise Post

Originally Posted by Winchester

My walking total for this week is 20 miles. Due to knee injuries, I cannot run, so I like to walk when I can. I love to walk.

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Wow, that is amazing, 20 miles is a lot
I ate a huge bowl of ice cream yesterday +fudge and caramel .......So, even though I wasn't planning on going to work out today, given the circumstances I had to

But I have to say it was a huge FAILURE in the end, I did 3 miles in 30 minutes at a 3% incline this time (I had to really push myself though), then I went on the elliptical for 15 more minutes..so far so good, but I was with my boyfriend who had the terrible idea to get smoothies. We usually get Freshens, which is inside the gym, but since today is Saturday, it was closed...Freshens has great smoothies, the one I usually get is just 150 calories and it tastes sooo yummy. But, today we went to Smoothie King and WOW, the smoothie I had was a small and later I looked up the calories- it had 550 calories I cannot believe so many calories can be in a drink...So that's why I don't feel like I suceeded in redeeming myself for the ice cream..Anyway, this thread isn't really about food or calories so back on topic...

I am still working on getting back to doing strength exercises. I used to do a lot of push ups, crunches, sit ups, and this is what I plan to do 3 days a week starting next week. I am intimidated to use the weight machines at the gym, for one gigantic men have taken over them, and two I'm scared a weight will fall on me and crush me

I am a wee bit compulsive about my exercise. I get six hours of dedicated cardio a week (72 min. 5 days) using the AMT and rowing machines at the gym. Then there is 3-4 hours of weight training (a week). Since I have no car, I walk everywhere covering approximately 12 miles in a week.
I am also a vegan and try to limit my consumption of junk food.

I guess because I have health problems with Neurofibromatosis and scoliosis that are beyond my control, I try to keep as well as I can with the things I can do.
Catfriend

I'm happy to finally be joining this thread SInce it was started, I have been hoping to join in it.

I used my Wii Fit for 48mins today. 10mins of it was jogging, then some balance activities and yoga.

It's a start for me.

For the last 2wks I've been focused on changing eating habits... this week my focus is to start doing a little bit of exercise each day to get in the habit of doing so, then in a week or two, actually make a "routine" to follow.

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

I'm happy to finally be joining this thread

SInce it was started, I have been hoping to join in it.

I used my Wii Fit for 48mins today. 10mins of it was jogging, then some balance activities and yoga.

It's a start for me.

For the last 2wks I've been focused on changing eating habits... this week my focus is to start doing a little bit of exercise each day to get in the habit of doing so, then in a week or two, actually make a "routine" to follow.

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Great job Chris!!

I went to a fitness class today

Originally Posted by Snake_Lady

I'm happy to finally be joining this thread

SInce it was started, I have been hoping to join in it.

I used my Wii Fit for 48mins today. 10mins of it was jogging, then some balance activities and yoga.

It's a start for me.

For the last 2wks I've been focused on changing eating habits... this week my focus is to start doing a little bit of exercise each day to get in the habit of doing so, then in a week or two, actually make a "routine" to follow.

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Welcome Chris I always admire your motivation and how you stay positive despite all of the issues you have with pain You have a great start there!!

I did yoga today. I was feeling really down for some reason all day yesterday and today before the evening, even though I was trying to eat really healthy stuff like green smoothies made with spinach, pears , carrots and bananas..I also had a sandwich with avocados and tomatoes and other veggies ..I am not sure why I was feeling so down, also really couldn't concentrate, kept thinking about a nap and when I actually took one I couldn't fall asleep but kept laying down really drowsy and relaxed but semi awake..really weird. Maybe it's due to some kind of nutritional imbalance, i dunno, but obviously it interfered with my exercise schedule and I couldn't do anything besides yoga today, although I had planned on doing cardio. I feel much better now that it's late in the evening, but it's probably because I had some caffeine. Tomorrow I can't do any exercise except for maybe some quick yoga again since I have classes from 9 am until 6 pm and a really busy evening as well...

Good morning everyone!

Yesterday I did a little jogging in front of the Wii Fit, going 3.88 virtual miles in 20 minutes. I can't wait to see how that translates to actual mileage, once I head outdoors in the spring. I'll probably drop dead. Over the course of the day, I also did 100 push ups, 10 minutes of planks, and 100 curls (60 during a dumb bell routine). My legs are absolutely aching from the lunges I do as part of the dumb bell routine, so either I didn't stretch my legs properly (very likely) or I am working some muscles that don't get much use while I am riding the exercise bike or jogging in place. Any thoughts?

Today is my cool-down day, so I just rode the ol' exercise bike for 20 minutes, going 6.5 miles on the easiest setting. I may mix in a handful of planks tonight, but that will likely be it.

Does anyone have any good plank variations they like? I need to mix things up, because I am really dreading the normal planks. LOL

Stay sweaty!

Dave

Well, needless to say, my body is telling me how out of shape I'm in.... just that little bit I did yesterday has really had an effect on me today

Thanks for the encouragement Natalie and Mariyah.... gotta start somewhere and I appreciate the kind words.... It helps.

Eventually I will need some help from ya'll.... (well, can always use encouragement as most of you know my health issues and how difficult it can be to even get out of bed some days) but once I get into the "habit" of doing some exercise daily, I will want to add in some target area strengthening... So I will hit all you fitness buffs up for some advice on different exercises.

I have a book on womens fitness, with some exercises....but its more I'll need some creativity on adapting specific exercises to my physical limitations.


For example: triceps. Like most women I have had the "flabby" tricep fat which I hate. I've had it since my early 20's.

Prior to that, I did a LOT of pushups as well as some other exercises which I'm not sure of the name.

Now: I have hand/wrist problems = no pushups. I have elbow problems = no exercises where you extend your arm fully at the elbow and bend it back in.

Can anyone think of a tricep exercise that I could do??? (if I can find something to start with, hopefully it will build up the muscle and help compensate for the elbow issues) Feel free to ask any questions you need to, in order to help find an exercise I might be able to do.

Thanks for any suggestions.

Originally Posted by ut0pia

Wow, that is amazing, 20 miles is a lot

I ate a huge bowl of ice cream yesterday +fudge and caramel .......So, even though I wasn't planning on going to work out today, given the circumstances I had to

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Thanks, utOpia. I have 4 herniated disks in my lower back, so I have to be very careful what exercises I can do. Walking, thank goodness, is something that I can do with little pain. I try.

Ice cream seems to be DH's biggest downfall, too. He loves any kind of ice cream, milk shakes, smoothies, you name it.

With me, it's the 3 Ps: Pepsi, pizza, and peanut M & Ms. It's so hard to stay away from them!

Anyway, sorry.......Sunday was an "off" day for me, but I did my 3 miles on the treadmill. Then Monday, I did my normal routine on the Bowflex and with the dumbbells. Some ab crunches. And 3 miles on the treadmill.

I do have a question for you all: I read where you're supposed to do lifting and exercises every other day, for 3x a week. Is that what you all do? Or do you work on upper body one day, followed by lower body the next? Like I said, I have to be careful not to overdo and throw my back out. But sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough. Any advice?

Originally Posted by Winchester

I do have a question for you all: I read where you're supposed to do lifting and exercises every other day, for 3x a week. Is that what you all do? Or do you work on upper body one day, followed by lower body the next? Like I said, I have to be careful not to overdo and throw my back out. But sometimes I wonder if I'm doing enough. Any advice?

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You just don't want to work the same muscles hard two days in a row. So you can work your upper body workout one day and then work your lower body the next. Or you can just work everything every other day. For cardio stuff, you can workout every day if you want, but you'll want to alternate hard and easy days.

For a few plank variations on the Biggest Loser DVD they use a medicine ball-looks like a lighter one and balance on one hand with it then switch the ball to the other hand. Slowly alternate them. One can get your legs involved too.

So the last three days I did between 48-52-55 minutes on treadmill on 2.5 incline but top speed at 3.8 mph while watching a DVD (season I of The Tudors) . No weights for me today as I had to go in early. But...it was weigh in time at work and I was down 2.5 pounds for a total loss of 9 pounds in two weeks (plus one day)!! This though was holiday weight gain so the worse is yet to come.

Bad news is lower back still bothersome in one spot-its just tender to the touch-upper glute area and to make it worse we use old desk chair/carpet protectors under our vehicles in the garage and one slid from under me tonite and I didn't fall but I jerked myself forward-grrrrr perhaps though it might even out from when I fell backwards on the ice?? Anyhow I immediately took ibuprofen and will ice it in a bit.

Originally Posted by Dave T

My legs are absolutely aching from the lunges I do as part of the dumb bell routine, so either I didn't stretch my legs properly (very likely) or I am working some muscles that don't get much use while I am riding the exercise bike or jogging in place. Any thoughts?

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Do you do lunges on a regular basis and did you increase how much of them you do recently?? When I started doing lunges for the first time I was in pain for about 3 days, I walked funny because I was trying to avoid using those muscles that hurt .. It was funny, but what I find scary is that the basketball and football players at my school always walk that way..It makes me wonder what these coaches to do them at the gym..
If you do them on a regular basis, I really don't think it's the stretching..I have a friend who is a personal trainer and he has taught me that stretching is useless. I actually looked it up and found out that the most recent studies show that what he said is true..

Chris, I have that problem with the flabby arms too. It is because of me going crazy with rapid weight loss and weight gain as a teenager, so my skin is really damaged there..
I think that there is really nothing I can do in terms of exercise that will make my arms look like they are in perfect shape. Although, they can still be in perfect shape when it comes to their strength and health I've come to terms with that so I don't really worry about it anymore..
You can do extensions without extending your elbow, it will still help. Or, you can just do yoga which also helps strengthen muscles because you use your muscles to hold the poses.. Yoga is perfect, a 2 in 1 exercises for both muscles and flexibility and it also gives you better posture..

OMG, hardest class yet tonight. Cardio Fusion...fast paced, intense cardio for 30 minutes straight followed by pilates. Yowch!

I have a question about weight training. What does muscle soreness signify? If I train in a new or little-used way I have some soreness. A day or two later I repeat the move and have no discomfort. Am I spinning my wheels or does no pain actually equal gain?
Thanks!
Catfriend

If I'm correct, the muscle soreness is your muscles healing themselves because when we do something to increase the muscle (weights, new exercise where we haven't used that muscle in a while) our muscles get tiny microscopic tears in them, that soreness is them being repaired.

OR: its a signal that you overdid it (ex: if I did 10 full pushups, which are not a good idea in my case physically, I would spend the next 2-3 days in a lot of physical pain..... that is me overdoing it......)


I'm happy to say:

I made it twice into this thread.

I was on the Wii Fit yesterday for about 30mins (less time because I did harder exercises) and, this is the best part, I enjoyed it.

I did a beginner step, a balance ball activity and a couple yoga poses for my back. I'm feeling it a bit in the shoulders, but aside from that....

I am going to do it again today.... I actually felt pretty good afterwards... I went from tired and cranky, to energised and in a better mood.

Mariyah: I understand what you mean about accepting it....but, I know mine need to be toned up a bit (never used to be that bad). Thanks for the suggestion, I will try extensions with fairly straight arms and see how that works for my body. Thanks.

Thank you for the help, Grogs.

My muscles always ache when I'm first starting out from a hiatus, but in about a week or so, things get back to normal. Right now, I'm thinking about increasing the weights of my dumbbells....I have that upper arm problem, too, not real bad, but it's there. (Hate getting old)

Anyway, I've done my 3 miles every day thus far this week. Did my Bowflex routine last night and worked with my dumbbells. Got involved in my assignment for class, though, and bagged my crunch session, so I promise to do that tonight.

Snake Lady, hang in there....and I know that sounds really trite. But I have found that when I work out faithfully I feel a lot better. Kudos to beginning!

Originally Posted by Winchester

Snake Lady, hang in there....and I know that sounds really trite. But I have found that when I work out faithfully I feel a lot better. Kudos to beginning!

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Thanks, I appreciate it.

I don't really have anyone here encouraging me, so I do appreciate it very much.


Lets see: When I was 15-16, I had a gym membership.... used it faithfully, 3-5 times a week.... at that time it was an anger release for me and I was in good shape.

I took 3 mos of karate in that age range, then couldn't afford to pay for it anymore (first 3 mos I was sponsered)

Fast forward to when I was about 21-22: I faithfully did an exercise routine at home, lifting weights, etc.... for about a year or so (again, was in good shape), till I got pregnant (was sick alot) and the weight lifting quit... I still rode bike and walked.

I haven't done any regular exercise since then I mean, I do things like walk around shopping centers, park far back and walk in, things like that..... but not an "exercise program".

Of course, now I'm approaching 33, there is no routine in my life ( currently and for the past 14mos I've been home awaiting or recovering from surgery with another one coming up) and my health due to weight is poor. My physical limitations get in the way of me doing a lot of the exercises I used to do and I now realise that that is my problem.

I use my physical limitations as an excuse to not exercise. The result: gained 30lbs in the last 14mos.

But I've realised now, that it was just that, an excuse and its time to get off my arse and do something about it. I created this mess I call my body, and I can fix it.

It will require creativity on my part, the best would be if I could afford a personal trainer who is knowledgable about my physical limitations, since they know best of what exercises to do without aggravating my existing conditions, but unfortunately I can not afford that.

While I will never be a marathon runner, I can be in better health that I am now.

Thanks for listening.... it felt good to come clean

You’re having some serious health issues, Snake Lady, and I’m truly sorry. That really bites. But you’re also starting to do something good for yourself…and that’s what important now. That darn first step is always the hardest. And losing weight is not easy.

I never had a weight problem until I hit 40; that’s when I decided to quit smoking. And stupid me, I became arrogant (for lack of a better word). “I can eat this; I quit smoking!” “Oh, I deserve this because I quit smoking!” The result? I gained weight. A lot of weight. I won’t even go there to tell you what my weight was because frankly, I’m too embarrassed.

But about seven years ago, I decided that enough was enough. I was killing myself. My blood pressure was completely out of control, despite being on a huge dose of meds. Diabetes runs in both sides of my family, so it was just a matter of time for me to be diagnosed with it. And I just looked a mess.

I started walking, not far, maybe once around the block or so at work. But I gradually increased the distance and my speed. And I started watching what I ate; I started to keep a journal. I gradually started to try some exercises, nothing elaborate, just little things. And kept track of that, too.

And….I lost 76 pounds in about 7 months. Also lost my gall bladder in the process (rapid weight loss can do some funky things to your body). I went from size 14 (going into a size 16) down to a size 8. Other than some weight gain around the holidays, I’ve kept the weight off, too. For seven years. In March, I will start my 8th year of eating healthy and regular exercise. And I did it myself, no WW, no Jenny Craig, no SlimFast….I just did it. It was harder than quitting smoking, I think. And some nights, I gave up and went to bed in a snit just so I wouldn’t eat. I love to cook and bake, but have learned new healthier recipes and how to “slim down” versions of our old recipes that we love so much.

I will be on blood pressure meds for the rest of my life (I’m 54, soon to turn 55), but now I’m taking the lowest dosage they have. We found that daily walking works better to maintain my BP than drugs. I still keep my weight and exercise journal and I still weigh myself every single morning. It keeps me honest and it helps me stay on track. Yeah, it’s a pain to do it, but what else am I doing that’s so important that I can’t keep my journal?

I firmly believe that there are exercises that everybody can do….if they want to do them. You can either find every excuse under the sun (and believe me, I know them all!) or you can face up to the fact that you need to change. If somebody can’t walk (and I know people who have foot problems), there are exercises they can do while sitting. They may not be as effective, but it keeps them moving. There are times when the last thing I want to do is pull that darn exercise mat out, plop on the floor, and do crunches and leg exercises. I may have a headache or my back hurts. Or it’s too darn cold in the basement where the Bowflex is. But DH told me one time that the best time to exercise is when you just don’t want to! And believe me, I can remember times when I was lying in bed and hadn’t exercised, and I swear that stupid mat was calling me. And yes, I got out of bed and did my crunches. Or worked those dumbbells.

It’s hard, really hard to lose weight. But you’re on the right track. And if you need somebody to commiserate with, or whine and grumble with, I’m around. Throw me a PM. Or two. Or three.

Maybe we should start our own little weight-loss group, if it's not been done already.

Now, my apologies for such a long post and for hijacking the thread. But I thought you might like to know a little about me and what I’ve been through. Certainly nothing as bad as you have and I’m truly sorry about you needing surgery. That first step is a killer and you've already overcome that....so you're doing well!

Thanks very much for the replies, GailC and ut0pia! I'll keep that in mind about the planks, and yes, I have just started doing lunges. I did them again yesterday, and my legs aren't as bad as they were. I think my body is just slowly getting used to them.

My lower back was killing me this morning, so I skipped this morning's run. I'll do some planks or crunches tonight, and will try to run again tomorrow morning.

Kindly keep the torch lit for me while I am taking a day off.

Dave

Chris, you may have used your pain limitations as an excuse, but remember a lot of people who are perfectly healthy with no pain, still don't exercise at all. The fact that you're fighting to be healthy, to be well, despite all of your limitations speaks volumes about the kind of person you are, because people without any limitations are still doing much worse than you are. Keep it up

Winchester, your story is really inspirational, you've overcome so much and you've shown so much strength and willpower
I've had issues with weight as a kid and then lost 70 pounds when I was 16 in like 4 months, I starved myself and became really skinny, then slowly gained it all back, and finally about 2 years ago (at 19) I managed to get to a somewhat normal weight (although I'm still about 15 pounds overweight) and my weight hasn't changed in about 2 years which I am soo happy and proud of...but i've been through weight struggles as well and I know how tough it is..
And I agree with the saying that the best time to exercise is when you don't want to. Each time I decide to work out when I don't feel like it, after I'm done I feel 10X better...

As far as exercising yesterday I overworked myself at the treadmill so I took the day off to recover a little bit...I will do yoga, I've been doing that every day following a video..It has helped a lot I have to say, my back feels a lot less tense and I feel in general more comfortable with my body after yoga.

I took yesterday off just for a good break.

My body has adjusted really well to eating less so no really big cravings (ok I would like a glass of wine).

This morning as the temps and wind outside weren't bad I did about 3 plus miles of walking.
I do need some new shoes which I may buy next week.

My lower back/high glute area has been feeling better the last couple of days. Still a bit stiff early morning hours but hopefully on the mend-I am paying more attention to walking outside though if ice is present!