Using It - June 18 - 24

[Shadow]

Here's to another great week of exercise for all :thumbsup:! Since the heat of summer has hit :crybaby: along with having extra outside work to get done this time of year, I'm changing up my weekly schedule to go from 5 longer days to 6 shorter days. So my basic lineup will be:
Sunday, Tuesday, Thursday - cardio
Monday, Wednesday, Friday - weights

Of course, the usual walking, mowing, weeding, etc will be going on too :rolleyes:...

I will be out of town Monday and Tuesday but will get my weights in Monday morning before leaving. I'm taking light dumbbells with me to get in a power walk on Tuesday. So no worries - the exercise will happen even if I'm not here to report it.

Hope to see everyone Wednesday :).

[Mitra]

I managed a week or two of having "normal" energy levels, but am now back to being tired again - the joys of female hormones! These days I just keep the exercise routine going, and vary the intensity depending on what's appropriate. What feels invigorating on one day will wear me out another day.

I've just booked a week's yoga course in August. It's a sort of follow on from the one I did last summer, and is taught by a woman who was an anatomy lecturer at Queen's University in Dublin until she retired recently, so while she tends to follow the standard line on nutritional things, she's incredibly knowledgeable about anatomy, and anything structural, having seen thousands of bodies over the years. And she's fascinated by it all, and loves talking about it, so teaches very enthusiastically, and will answer any off-topic questions over coffee or lunch.

Last year was cardio-vascular and digestive systems, this year is structural and hormonal (with my dodgy lower back and wacky hormones it could be really helpful!). A bit of a whizz-through to cover in a week, but very interesting. And it's held in a lovely place, with a few yoga sessions here and there.

[Ottawa]

Count me in Lita. Hotter weather is really here now. Air conditioner on for the second time so far but it feels great to have so much sunshine outside.

Sunday - Heavy Weights - Bulldog bar - crunches
Monday - Day off
Tuesday - Worked through lunch - Bench Weights Ball games with Young Men for 45 minutes
Wednesday - Baseball after work - after the game with a few aches
Thursday - 100 Situps, Hand weights
Friday - Volleyball at lunch-Hand Weights evening
Saturday - Day Off

[banshee]

Well, I ended up counting one more day of exercise last week. During my "fun day" at a bead show in Wisconsin, I ended up dragging a huge cartload of stuff up and down several long runs of ramps to get it to my car to load it while my friend (who had bought all this stuff) spent an hour trying to make up her mind on another purchase.

It was a fun day, and while it was somewhat scary watching my friend go crazy at her first bead show, it was also humorous. Of course, I didn't get away totally unscathed, but I tried to keep my purchases to things that I just can't get elsewhere easily. :rolleyes:

Anyway, after spending way too much time trying to get home through bumper-to-bumper traffic yesterday, I'm physically exhausted today, and my stomach is a bit painful as well, so I'm not really up to thinking about my exercise for the week. I will do it, but I'll report as I get it done rather than planning it all out. I think I need to give my subconscious a chance to let all the data from last week, particularly the upcoming surgery, just sink in, or I'm going to feel totally overwhelmed in the next month.

My plan for today is to get to the Fitness Center and do *something*, since I haven't exercised for two days, but I'm not sure at this point what that something is going to be. I don't think I have enough energy for one of the aerobics classes today...

[Mitra]

I hope you can get your stomach pain resolved soon! When is your surgery?

I've found that when I'm not well, it's usually helpful to keep the exercise habit going (unless it's an intense illness), but to use the sessions for something mild and/or relaxing - gentle movements, walking, a little stretching - whatever suits you. A little movement generally helps me feel a bit better, and it serves as a "placeholder" so that when I'm ready to pick up again I don't have to rebuild the habit from scratch.

[banshee]

I hope you can get your stomach pain resolved soon! When is your surgery? Surgery is scheduled for July 10th.

I've found that when I'm not well, it's usually helpful to keep the exercise habit going (unless it's an intense illness), but to use the sessions for something mild and/or relaxing - gentle movements, walking, a little stretching - whatever suits you. A little movement generally helps me feel a bit better, and it serves as a "placeholder" so that when I'm ready to pick up again I don't have to rebuild the habit from scratch.
Yeah, that's what I'm going to try. The energetic aerobic class that I was hoping to try today is definitely not in the plans, but I hope to do some light upper body weightlifting and walking. And stretching - definitely lots of relaxing stretching... I don't want to backslide, but I'm just not up for anything too energetic today. I am hoping that the exercise will help me feel a bit better...

[Mitra]

I am hoping that the exercise will help me feel a bit better...

Did it work?

My energy's back again today :rolleyes: . I did the questionnaire in the "Your Menopause Type" book and it says I'm normal :paranoid: . So that's all right, then :p .

[cmcole]

Sunday - 6 km
Monday - 5.5 km
Tuesday - probably about 3 km (our rest day), plus a trip to the gym. Lots of upper body exercises (shoulder area, mainly), and a few leg exercises (which I really felt once we did the 3 km), plus crunches and other ab exercises

Wednesday - not sure. Might be another short day, as my hubby has a ball game this evening (as he did last night, too). I might go downstairs and hit the home gym if I feel that I'm neglecting the exercising too severely.

Edit/Add: Wednesday - stayed upstairs and did exercises with dumbbells and exercise ball. Did about a 3 km walk with the dogs before my hubby left for ball.

Thursday - 6 km with dogs - 44:30 minutes

Friday (so far): 4.09 km run/walk with group from the military - last 1.5 km or so was nearly vertical up to the top of Signal Hill. 29:27 minutes. Would have liked to run more (in my mind), but my body didn't co-operate. Given more time, I would actually have run back, as then it would have been mostly downhill.

[banshee]

Did it work?

My energy's back again today :rolleyes: .

Well, I'm not sure. I did just an upper body workout Monday and no cardio, mostly because I forgot to bring socks to wear with my gym shoes and I really didn't want to deal with a bunch of blisters if I had tried wearing the shoes without socks. :rolleyes:

I was feeling better yesterday. Still not 100 percent, but better, so I decided to try a kickboxing class. That was a mistake! I made it about 2/3 of the way through the class, and then my asthma kicked in and I had to stop. It was a good workout - I could feel my muscles doing the quivery sensation thing all the way til bedtime - but my asthma was also bugging me all evening and I didn't sleep well because of it. So today I'm back to being exhausted again. :(

I haven't decided if I'm going to try and work out tonight or take a break. I did pack my gym bag in case I decide to go for it, but I keep vacillating back and forth. On the one hand, I don't want to give up exercising just because I'm tired, but I also don't want to push myself too hard. I'm also starting to feel like the fitness center is a good place to go for "alone" time. Sure there are other people there, but I can relax and just think about me while I'm there and during my time there I tend to not think about anything but exercising/stretching. I don't know what it is about the place, but it's like I leave all my other worries/responsibilities in the car when I get there. It's not something I'm consciously trying to do - it just happens. So I'm beginning to want to go there even if all I do is hang out in the stretching room and relax/stretch.

[SherryJ]

Mary, is the surgery for the stomach pain??? Thinking of you!

And, cheering the rest of you guys on... WHEW!!! :D

Sherry

[banshee]

Mary, is the surgery for the stomach pain??? Thinking of you!

Well, it's to try and find out the cause of the stomach pain. Whether they'll find anything, or do anything about it during the surgery is another matter. Thanks for the thoughts. The surgery isn't until July 10th, so I'm just trying to hang on and get as much done as possible before then!

[SherryJ]

You're welcome, Mary... I'll put it on my calendar... hang in!

Sherry

[banshee]

So I finally decided yesterday that it was going to be a rest day, and I'm glad I did. I feel much better today, so today it's lower body workout and cardio.

I've been feeling a bit down because even with all the exercise, I haven't been seeing any positive changes. My weight hasn't gone down, my measurements haven't changed, my clothes don't seem any looser, and of course my body fat took a big jump up when I finally admitted that the measurements just weren't accurate for me. But today my scale showed a 1% drop in body fat for the first time since I accepted that the body impedence was giving me a pretty accurate reading. This weekend my Mom said that she can see a change in my hips, although I can't. I would think I'd notice a change in my clothes if they were truly getting smaller, but I'll take what I can get. :rolleyes:

I'm beginning to realize that I've reached the "stubborn" pounds of fat and I just am not going to see the quick losses that I did when I first started this journey. I'll just have to be content with seeing other indicators of change and be patient with the slow body fat loss. I am getting stronger and I'm starting to see more definition in my arms, so I guess that will have to be enough for now.

[Ottawa]

Re:"I've been feeling a bit down because even with all the exercise, I haven't been seeing any positive changes. My weight hasn't gone down, my measurements haven't changed, my clothes don't seem any looser"

Mary, I've been through part of this myself. There are times when you wonder where the physical results are for the effort you have been expending.

Even if the fat burning effects are not noticeable we still get a few others. Increased metabolism (be careful not to eat your way past the workout burn), increased HDL, and finally a body that can repair itself faster. Bone density and muscle mass have to be increasing, especially when working with resistance in strength training.

Re:"I'm beginning to realize that I've reached the "stubborn" pounds of fat and I just am not going to see the quick losses that I did when I first started this journey."

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I worked out Tuesday evening with heavy bench weights (120 lbs.). Not a great idea in the evening since I don't sleep as well after strength traing after dinner. I am up to 14 lifts and I do it twice a week when I am out in the garden and take 10 minutes after the garden work to do the lifts and try to add one more, though not always successful. I have the shakes for the last few lifts as well so I am hesitent to add more until I have more control.
Wednesday I went to baseball right after work, arrived just as they started and went out to third base. The second hit was a grounder right to me and when I went to throw it to first, it went short from the tenderness of the bicep. It was an embarrassing moment and included a few cat calls, :o and it did not get better through the game. We ride each other a little about things like that so I'll avoid it prior to a game in the future.

Back to the benefits.
I have not had any strenuous exercise do permanent damage. I have done a few things which leave me tender the next day but eating this way and continuing to work out, makes me a bit stronger each time. Next week's throw to first just might be a bullet.:nod:

Hope this helps.

[cmcole]

:"I'm beginning to realize that I've reached the "stubborn" pounds of fat and I just am not going to see the quick losses that I did when I first started this journey."

Gee, I'm there, too. It isn't a fun place to be.

[banshee]

Got in a killer lower body workout and an intense15 minutes of walking yesterday, plus I ended up running up and down the stairs at home a bunch of times in the evening. :D Tonight's plan is upper body and more walking.

I glanced back over my posts for the past couple weeks, and I suddenly realized I never posted my big "Aha!" moment from last week. I was telling everyone around me about it, but forgot to share it here with my fitness buddies! :o

Anyway, I've been using the leg press machine, and I think I may have posted here about how I could press 180 pounds, which explained why doing squats on my total gym (at 105 pounds) wasn't giving my legs much of a workout. I was talking with one of the employees at the center last week, and I mentioned this and how on the leg press machine I was setting the weights to 180. (Actually, at that point, I was up to 200 - I had started low because I wasn't sure what my highest weight was...) She made a comment which made me realize that when I set the weights at 200, I'm actually pushing 200 with each leg, so I'm actually pressing a total of 400 pounds!!! :eek: :eek: :eek:

Talk about a moment to be proud of! And actually, after one set, I realized that the previous user had set the mini pounds, so I was actually pressing 412 pounds. When I told my husband this, his comment was "So I won't get any more complaints from you about not being able to lift stuff, right?" To which I promptly replied, "Well, there's leg strength, and then there's back and arm strength!" This also explains why I'm very good at pushing things and not as good at lifting things. :rolleyes:

But now the lack of challenge on the TotalGym makes even more sense - I was splitting 105 pounds between two legs, so was only doing 52.5 pounds per leg instead of the 200 pounds per leg I'm capable of. I actually backed it down to 190 per leg for yesterday's workout. I may be able to press more with my thighs, but my knees are complaining a bit, so I guess I have to do lighter weights and more reps until my knees get stronger. I did 3 sets at 190 yesterday, 2 sets at 20 reps and the last at 10 reps. My knees are sore today, so maybe I should back it down again. But if I back it down too much, my legs don't get a workout. What to do, what to do... I need to review the literature on minimizing knee problems with lifting again...

[cmcole]

I'm not quite sure I understand the analogy.
If you're using both legs simultaneously, are you not dividing the weight between the legs, and pushing the 200 lbs?

I'm not trying to burst your bubble; just understand the dynamics of it all.

I sort of like the seated leg press that we have at the gym (we have a couple different ones). This one is where you actually push not only the weight you have set, but your body weight, as you are moving yourself along a track (I don't think that makes any sense in writing)

[banshee]

I'm not quite sure I understand the analogy.
If you're using both legs simultaneously, are you not dividing the weight between the legs, and pushing the 200 lbs?

I'm not trying to burst your bubble; just understand the dynamics of it all.

I sort of like the seated leg press that we have at the gym (we have a couple different ones). This one is where you actually push not only the weight you have set, but your body weight, as you are moving yourself along a track (I don't think that makes any sense in writing)

Yes, I'm pushing 200 with each leg, but that means the total is 400 pounds. I had thought that I was pushing a total of 200 divided into 100 pound each leg. And on my Total Gym at home I was pushing 105 pound divided into 52.5 pounds each leg. So my original thought was that I was able to push twice as much as my Total Gym allowed for, when actually I can push almost 4 times as much.