The Exercise Motivation Thread - 2016

[artiemom]

hopefully I can join up with this 'club'....

I cannot exercise much due to a bad shoulder and knee, however, I am trying to lose weight and exercise at my own pace...which is very slow and easy.

I did join Planet Fitness. I go there every other day. I have lost 11 lbs.. I feel a lot better and with more energy. I am not getting as winded as I did when I began. 

I am starting off with the treadmill. I love walking, although it is tuff on my knee. I can do 1.67 miles in 30 minutes. To increase the level, causes too much stress on my knee. It swelled up like a balloon yesterday. I actually had to ice when I came home. 

I am thinking that the elliptical may be a bit easier on my knee.. any thoughts?

As far as my shoulder goes, it is still very low weights, because I am weak (surgery) and do not want to push it..

I remember a lot of the machines and exercises because of the physical therapy I had on both my shoulder and knee...twice on each..

I am pretty good as far as keeping the proper position.. it is the weights and fear of injury which is there...and the pain after working out, and the fact that I am so weak...but I am slowly getting there...

I started in April, but had to take the month of May off due to allergies, a cold, and it all effecting my asthma...I went back May 1....

I see my doctor tomorrow as a regular follow-up.. I am thinking I may need to find a doctor for my knee.. yes, it is that bad, but I need to lose weight and I do not want to give up the gym...

It is so easy to spend 2 hours there!! time just flies...

All of you guys amaze me!! you are all an inspiration to me.. I have been lurking for a while....

thanks for reading this....

 

[jtbo]

5 hours and 30 minutes sweating today, chopped lots of firewood and got my project almost done, there is still few days worth of chopping, but today's effort moved project a lot forward.

Cutting and splitting:

cutting_stack.jpg

• jtbo
• Jun 12, 2016

splitting_ready_40sec.jpg

• jtbo
• Jun 12, 2016

So bit over 5000 calories burned and over 21000 steps done, quite ok day for a chance, I have been slacking off mostly for a long time, I need to renew my asthma medication as I'm feeling completely out of energy without that.

I did make new handle for axe one day though, so at least that is something!

big_billnas_new_handle.jpg

• jtbo
• Jun 12, 2016

 

[tammat]

I did my back and shoulders today. I had a little play around with my functional trainer. I don't think I did well with Lat pulls however I think I did well with my shoulder press.
Keep working hard everybody.

 

[Winchester]

@Artiemom, welcome! It's great to see you in here! 

My

 ? Stay off the treadmill, esp since you're having to ice the knee afterward. Honest. I think you'd be better off on the elliptical for now. (When I had bad knee issues with that meniscus tear, my ortho told me to stay away from the treadmill.....period. Until the knee healed completely. That's why we bought the elliptical to begin with.) Some people have better luck with the elliptical; others may notice their knees ache more on the elliptical. Try it.....slowly.....and see how it goes for you. I don't think you're doing yourself any favors by hitting the treadmill when your knee is that bad; you may screw something up in there big time. And that's coming from somebody else who truly loves to walk, too, so take it for what it's worth; it's my two cents anyway Talk to your doctor, since you're going in today anyway. I wish you the best of luck. Let us know what your doctor says.

Continue with the low weights for your shoulder, too. Like I said in a prior post, I'm only using 8-pound bells because those are the lightest ones I have. Years ago, I started out with 3-pound bells, then to 5-pounds, then to 8, then to 10. And then I worked myself up more from there. But I gave my lightest dumbbells to a GF who promised me she would use them. She never did and threw them in the trash. 

 And I refuse to buy new ones to make up for my stupidity. Light weights are really good because it gets your body used to lifting and you can concentrate on good form while your body is getting used to it. Take your time. I'm sure Tammat, JTbo, Foxxycat etc will have much more advice to help you. They are truly experts with weights! 

I have my first physical therapy appt this morning; will find out what stretches I should do to help with the pain of sciatica. I hope everything goes well as I really need to get my butt out there walking again. I miss it so much.

 

[foxxycat]

 
hopefully I can join up with this 'club'....

I cannot exercise much due to a bad shoulder and knee, however, I am trying to lose weight and exercise at my own pace...which is very slow and easy.

I did join Planet Fitness. I go there every other day. I have lost 11 lbs.. I feel a lot better and with more energy. I am not getting as winded as I did when I began. 

I am starting off with the treadmill. I love walking, although it is tuff on my knee. I can do 1.67 miles in 30 minutes. To increase the level, causes too much stress on my knee. It swelled up like a balloon yesterday. I actually had to ice when I came home. 

I am thinking that the elliptical may be a bit easier on my knee.. any thoughts?

As far as my shoulder goes, it is still very low weights, because I am weak (surgery) and do not want to push it..

I remember a lot of the machines and exercises because of the physical therapy I had on both my shoulder and knee...twice on each..

I am pretty good as far as keeping the proper position.. it is the weights and fear of injury which is there...and the pain after working out, and the fact that I am so weak...but I am slowly getting there...

I started in April, but had to take the month of May off due to allergies, a cold, and it all effecting my asthma...I went back May 1....

I see my doctor tomorrow as a regular follow-up.. I am thinking I may need to find a doctor for my knee.. yes, it is that bad, but I need to lose weight and I do not want to give up the gym...

It is so easy to spend 2 hours there!! time just flies...

All of you guys amaze me!! you are all an inspiration to me.. I have been lurking for a while....

thanks for reading this....

Just go slow and steady. you might want to try the elliptical-I started with that due to that dratted knee of mine. I spent three months working on it-I started at just 10 minutes at a time. also to help soreness a bath in Epson salts which is actually magnesium works well for muscle aches.

Don't worry about how heavy everyone is doing- I know for me my knee holds me back on lunges. I can't do lunges with over 10lbs. So I have been focusing on upper body. The one thing I notice is I can't bend my arms back far enough to grab the barbell when its behind my neck for squats-I have to hold it with one hand and one finger from the other hand-I had surgery on my shoulder years ago and my range of motion is not as good as it used to be. So I just do what I can.

I am sure I will plateau soon and be stuck at a particular weight-the next month will be interesting to see if I can keep going higher-I never expected to get to where I am now. But the key is slow and steady. And ice that knee! I would highly recommend you get that knee looked at. you can try the elliptical-set it to level 1 so no resistance and just see how it feels for a few minutes. Another thing you can try-is the bike. on low setting. Try each type of machine for 5 minutes-then you will in no time burn 15-20 minutes. start with that. only go up 1 to 2 minutes a day for cardio. slow and steady!
 

 

[Norachan]

Welcome to the thread @artiesmom  I don't know much about weights myself. Have you thought about swimming? That's a great way to stay in shape without putting too much pressure on your joints.

One hour of yoga and a 30 minute run today.

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Norachan Thanks for the tip about the high protein snacks. I will keep that in mind and look for the protein bars or boil up some eggs for snacks. Hubby has lost 2 more pounds. He is now six pounds away from his goal. :nod:

 

[foxxycat]

@Winchester  I am curious to see what your doc says about the back issues-several years ago I went to the doctor and had sciatica nerve acting up-he told me the only thing to do for it-walk. Said I was sitting around too much, said that by walking I am stretching out the spinal cord and help unpinch the nerve. Every so often if I lift too heavy in squats/deadlift I get that familiar burning sensation in the back of my buttock where the leg connects. I always stretched out my leg in front of me that hurts then the other leg is bent and I think that's stretching the hamstring but I could be wrong-I know exactly that burning sensation whenever I had to sit in the car and drive. I always felt best standing up or laying down. That's probably why I stay standing all day. If I sit it bothers it more. Let us know what they recommend-curious to see how to keep my sciatica from acting up-I figure we can all learn from each other. I am just thankful I have the ability to stand all day. My feet hurt around this time of day but my back/thigh hurts more if I sit down. I am a pacer. move my feet all the time. Sometimes I sit down but then when someone needs something I get annoyed because I need to get up so I don't even bother sitting down.

I took this weekend off as rest-I think I am overdoing it a bit on the cardio but I am trying to get as much movement in so I can get down in pant size. I have to remember that about protein 20 min after my workout-I usually am starving by the time 90 minutes is up when I am at the gym. but I just push myself. going to try another hour on the cardio tonight. I think I will break it up in 15 min increments- bike-stairmaster elliptical thingy-elliptical-treadmill.

Keep up the good work.

Tonight is workout A which is squat bench press and deadlift. The gym doesn't have any of those blocks you use for step aerobics so the deadlift I do is roman style=short issue-cant get it to go down far enough to call it true deadlift unless I use the freeweight dumbbells...maybe I will try that. I just afraid I wont be able to lift the 35lb dumbbells= OMG sounds heavy!  Keep up the good work folks!

 

[jtbo]

Bit over 1 hour of bicycling and around 10 minutes of running after that, I just could not keep running.

When bicycling my HR was lot lower than usual and when running it was bit higher than usual.

 

[Winchester]

 
@Winchester  I am curious to see what your doc says about the back issues-several years ago I went to the doctor and had sciatica nerve acting up-he told me the only thing to do for it-walk. Said I was sitting around too much, said that by walking I am stretching out the spinal cord and help unpinch the nerve. Every so often if I lift too heavy in squats/deadlift I get that familiar burning sensation in the back of my buttock where the leg connects. I always stretched out my leg in front of me that hurts then the other leg is bent and I think that's stretching the hamstring but I could be wrong-I know exactly that burning sensation whenever I had to sit in the car and drive. I always felt best standing up or laying down. That's probably why I stay standing all day. If I sit it bothers it more. Let us know what they recommend-curious to see how to keep my sciatica from acting up-I figure we can all learn from each other. I am just thankful I have the ability to stand all day. My feet hurt around this time of day but my back/thigh hurts more if I sit down. I am a pacer. move my feet all the time. Sometimes I sit down but then when someone needs something I get annoyed because I need to get up so I don't even bother sitting down.

The reason I'm not supposed to walk right now is because this is not a simple sciatica problem. The piriformis muscle is right next to the sciatic nerve that runs across the buttocks......that muscle has really tightened up, to the point where it's pressing on the sciatic nerve and causing the pain. In order to stop the pain, that muscle needs to loosen back up, to relieve the pressure on the nerve and thus stop the pain. The therapist ran me through a series of three exercises that are used to loosen the muscle to relieve the pressure. And then he gave me a strengthening exercise that is supposed to help strengthen that entire area. Each exercise done five times and each to be held for 30 seconds before release. The series of exercises is to be done twice a day.

And it's definitely that piriformis muscle. The therapist knew exactly where to poke my butt to make me hit the ceiling....it hurt that badly. That muscle is really tight. After doing all the exercising, followed by 15 minutes of heat there, I felt fairly well, although right now I feel a little stiff.

He tends to agree with my doctor that it was originally caused by me being in the car all day that day.....my Tucson is not a comfortable car. It was NOT caused by me walking, but the walking did make it worse once it happened. 

I go back on Thursday afternoon and can start walking again on Friday. One mile to start.....one mile ONLY for now. 

  He does recommend that I do those stretches pretty much every day, twice a day forever and ever, amen. And he thinks I should do both legs, not just the one. The stretches  will help me in the long run.

I do have back issues (four blown discs in my lumbar area) so I have to be careful. But yes, when I have back pain, walking is recommended and walking does help with that pain. But for this? No, it will only exacerbate the problem. This isn't really sciatica per se; it's that that muscle is inflamed to the point where it's really touching the sciatic nerve. And the inflammation has to go down.

 

[foxxycat]

understand-have you thought about getting a massage? I bet a deep tissue massage could help relieve some of that tension. I am sorry I misunderstood you. What about a hottub or renting of a hottub? That sounds very painful. I too remember when my doctor pressed on that spot in the buttuck where the leg connects-yep I came off the table too. But different thing I know but I understand the pain. So very frustrating when our bodies don't work the way we want. I also wonder about an Epson salts bath? I have heard others say it works really well for pain relief for muscle/bone pain. I haven't tried it in a long time but the one time I did try it it worked really well. About the only thing I use Epson salts for is my feet. I hope you get some relief soon-AND low STRESS!

To get back on topic-did half an hour mild exercising-I don't know if its aerobics or dancing. just moving around and then some oblique dips to work the abs.

 

[artiemom]

@Winchester, @foxxycat   @Norachan

Thanks everyone for the warm welcome! I really appreciate it!

This morning I saw my PCP. She said I look great!! So nice of her!! I love her; too bad she is moving out of this area. sigh!

Anyway, I jumped on the scale this morning and I was down a pound! I am so psyched!! That means 12 lbs! One pound at a time..it has been one pound a week...

I asked about the machines. She said no treadmill--drat!! I love it!!  She said exactly what you guys did: either the elliptical or the recumbent exercise bike... I do not like the bike!! But it may work out more muscles than walking. I think I will take foxeycat's advice about trying each one to see which one is better for me.

Yup..light and easy on the arms.. I have a weight limit of 10 lbs on my arm, from physical therapy evaluation. 

I have been using the 10 lbs weights (lowest setting) and for a couple I can manage either 10 or 20..but only a couple..

Drat about the treadmill!! I was getting so good at it!! My heart rate improved so much, along with my stamina.. 

My BP today was way down!! I do not think my doctor ever saw it this low: 112/80.....my pulse rate was down to 62,,,

I know losing weight will help the knee also. so I am plugging along.

I did walk about a mile due to parking issues this morning. I had 2 appointments this morning, in different offices on the same street.

I was really limping when I was walking.

Now the knee is sore again. I am icing it and will take some more Aleve---hate to take any NSAIDS because of stomach issues...

I also got a few doctor recommendations for my knee. They are all at the New England Baptist Hospital, which is a premier orthopedic hospital in Boston. 

I did not come home until after noontime. I had to speak with the property manage of this apartment building about the huge rent increase he gave me. He is going to re-visit it and speak with the buildings owners...a couple of s.o.b. sons who inherited it from their deceased father. 

I decided not to go to the gym today. I am washing clothes. Did a quick dusting and swiffering of the place. Legs are up on my recliner, and I am icing the knee...just had an apple with some peanut butter. 

Norachan, I never learned to swim!! Right now I am too embarrassed to be seen in a bathing suit!! plus they are so expensive. I know swimming would be a great exercise...but I am not sure right now...

thanks for the suggestion...

Thanks again...

 

[foxxycat]

Artimon=I am sorry you are sore-can they help give you ideas of things to help relieve the soreness? I have looked around on youtube and found a few exercises to stretch/strengthen the knee-gonna give them a whirl tonight at the gym-its amazing what I can find on youtube.

Winchester=I looked up that muscle you mentioned-found some stretches-gonna try it-its so deceiving to think its sciatica so gonna try some of those stretches on the stretch machine-I always loved stretching my hamstrings and quads=always felt really good. especially the one where you sit and bend the leg then point the knee to the outter side-I call them butterflies-we used to as kids sit on the floor and sit indian style they called it-put feet touching each other with knees pointing outward and "flutter" the wings-I tried this the other night and it felt really good..so gonna practice my "butterflies"

going to the gym afterwork. gonna try the bike and stair climber elliptical thing. The knee is sore so I know I have to back off on the treadmill even though I love running...but the body says otherwise. Oh I bought some new duds to wear-question for you guys and gals-do you notice that loose clothing causes more issues than tight clothing? I found out the hard way that loose pants causes chaffing. So I am going to try the spandex tonight. That's the downside of having more pounds on me-I don't remember having this issue when I was younger-I wanted to know if its me or am I a baby? I just HATE tight clothes-so hopefully the pants fit ok. I would love to find something that stays put and not always pulling at the thigh or waist or riding up pantleg on the bike etc. And of course I sweat more with this synthetic material.

Thoughts?

 

[red top rescue]

That gorge looks wonderful!  Much nicer than climbing Mt. Fuji, but Fuji was one of those bucket list things for me, and now that I am closer to the bucket, I could never do it, so I'm glad I did it back in the mid-80s

 

[blueyedgirl5946]

Two miles walked today. Six miles done on the stationary bicycle. I wore a dress to church yesterday that didn't fit last year. That felt good.

 

[tammat]

Two miles walked today. Six miles done on the stationary bicycle. I wore a dress to church yesterday that didn't fit last year. That felt good.

.

Hi artiemom .

I did my biceps and triceps today with Rohan. I feel like I'm having a learning growth spurt :lol3: all these things he keeps telling me are making more sense. I started to make myself some cue cards for each exercise today. I think these will help.

Keep going everybody.

Oh and tonight when I walked out the back door 2 black kitties came running to greet me. It would seem that they were getting some exercise too I had to add some cat enclosure repairs to my daily activities

 

[Winchester]

Last night, I worked on my trunk, abs, arms, and legs with the dumbbells and the crunches. The whole routine takes me about an hour.

Then I did the four exercises that I learned in therapy yesterday, each exercise five reps for one full set. That takes me about 20 minutes or so. Slowly and steadily is how I was told to do them. And try to keep my butt and lower back relaxed. By the time I finished, that whole butt area was painful. But in a little while, it felt pretty good. The back of my left thigh is a little sore, but that's from doing those stretches and that will go away eventually.

This morning, after doing my breakfast and litter box chores, I went back to bed, long enough to do my PT exercises (in the bed, which the therapist said was fine to do them that way in the morning), again each exercise five reps for one full set. There was little pain this morning, even though I know I'm doing them correctly. I take that to mean that the muscle is loosening up nicely. I hope so.

Foxxycat, good luck with your stretches. The therapist told me that, once the area heals, I should continue to do the stretching/strengthening exercises anyway, that it would be a good thing if I did them every day from here on in. And do both legs, not just the left. Stretches are always good to do and it's something that I never really bothered with all that much. Right now, I'm just concentrating on loosening up my left butt, but I'll do both legs to keep things looser.

He told me that this is definitely not normal sciatica, it is not a hip problem, it is not a lower back problem.  It's pretty common; like I said, he knew exactly where to poke me to make me hit the ceiling yesterday. He knew. Once he pulled me back down from the ceiling, we got right to work. I go back on Thursday afternoon and then I start walking on Friday. We shall see how things go.

 

[artiemom]

I went back to the gym today. I missed yesterday due to several appointments and still having a sore knee.

I was not in the mood to exercise today. I really really wanted to use the treadmill, but due to doctors orders, I cannot.

I tried the elliptical today. I think I was on it a total of 10 minutes or more. It took me a long time to figure out the instructions. Wow.. that is some workout!! Moving muscles I have not used. So, I guess it is my 'new' machine. It will take me a long time to get the muscles into the fluidity of the movements. Right now, I am not even ready to use a program. I think that is what is frustrating. I did so good on the treadmill, but this is really at square one..

I did 15 minutes on the recumbent bike, also. I found out it is not 'right' for me. My leg kind of goes in different directions!! the top goes one way and the lower leg goes another--just a bit, but enough to get it out of line. I have weak ligaments..That is causing a lot of issues. 

I did spend the rest of the time using the other machines...slow, easy, and not heavy weights at all.. I am still very cautious with the shoulder, but I am doing better. I did improve a bit. 

I still felt out of it... I had a protein bar as soon as I finished, since I was not going directly home. 

@Tammat    HI!!!  

   You really amaze me with the amount of exercise you do!! WOW!

 

[jtbo]

30 minutes of bicycling at day, then from 1am at night almost 2 hours of chopping firewood, cutting logs with chainsaw and mowing grass.

Temperature was around freezing point at night, so it was nice to chop wood and mow grass, it is almost as bright during the night now than what it is during the day at December.

 

[reversedpolarit]

*waves* 

I think I could do with some motivation! 

I re-joined the gym a week and a half ago, with the aim of losing 15+kg (currently weight 92kg, not happy with that). I last went to the gym in January, when I had a free six month membership from the NHS to try and ease depression/anxiety, but then naturally something happened in January that made my depression that much worse. So, now I'm feeling more human I figured it was time to really do something.

I've lost 4kg since the start of the year just becasue of not eating properly, not ideal. The gym near to where I just moved to to is WAY NICER than the other one, it's cute and tiny and not as daunting. Also the pool is super lovely and I'd happily spend hours there. So that's great. I think in a week and a half I've swum four times and been to the gym six or seven times. Part of the membership is having a trainer who comes up with a programme for you to follow, which I started doing. I've only done it twice so far (in a week) because I've been feeling so bad lately. I was meant to go yesterday, and today, but so far not managed. I'm to meet up with my trainer again in three weeks to see how I'm doing and be weighed again. Ugh. 

Having read through some of this thread maybe I'll make to at least swim.