Home Exercise Enthusiasts - week of April 18th

[srahndennis]

I'll start us off this week! This morning I did STS Disc #34. The last chest & back workout from Mesocycle 3!!! I can't believe I'm almost done with the program. Have an appointment with an ortho doc this morning. The MRI showed a sprained MCL and some other issues but I don't think anything really major. Expecting PT if anything but we'll see. It's starting to feel quite a bit better...I guess it should be -- it's been almost three weeks.

Who's next??

[lindrusso]

Hi Stacy. Hope you're back to 100% soon!

I'm still hanging in there. It's been a busy couple of weeks and it's very hard to fit things in - seems like I'm either at a kid activity or mowing the lawn (and if I mow, I count that as my exercise for the day)!

I have been creeping along in my efforts to do more running. I'm pretty close to be able to one mile without resting. Not only is it hard to find time to do it (it's too hilly around my house to run - maybe some day I'll have the stamina for that, but not yet), but I'm also going very slowly because running tends to be very hard on my shins and knees and I'd rather take it really slow than do too much, get too sore and then get discouraged.

I haven't done weights in weeks and that's driving me nuts. But I only have 8 more days of work left and then I'll have NO EXCUSES. :) I plan to spend this summer getting me and my house in shape! ;) I received my Cathe Slow & Heavy DVD and can't wait to have enough time to try it out.

Hopefully I'll be a more regular participant on this thread very soon.

Take care!

[Valerie226]

Here to report slight progress.. did sts 6 (legs) thursday and inspite of stretching and a full hour of cardio friday, I got very very sore. yeowtch! saturday a big garden day, lots of exercise but nothing formal. sunday we rode our regular 34 mile bike trail in 2 hrs 38 minutes. monday I got #6 out again and repeated it. felt much better this time, and today on to #7. added weight to the paper plate slides. yoga this morning.

Stacy, best wishes on the knee. Hope it's something that will be Ok with a little more rest, and congrats on getting near the end of the program. I must be the slowest sts person on record. I 've repeated disks several times and finally feel I can move forward. I've done the first 6 disks 2-3x each.

Alysha, hope you like the S&H series. I don't need it... sts will be keeping me busy for a long time. "fast and light" always sounds better to me anyway....
Hill running is tough. I run on incline on the treadmill but sure wouldn't want to do it all the time. I live in a hilly area too, and it was a main reason we bought a treadmill.

[cniles]

Hey guys!!

I think of you often!!! I only ended up working out one time last week!! Alysha - I'm totally with the craziness of school and sports! UGH... I keep telling myself JUNE 4th!!!!!! And I too am dedicating the summer to getting back into a regular routine (as well as forgetting about 6th grade!:cool:)

Stacy - I hope your knee gets better and you get some relief!!

Valerie - I'm finally gardening!! Seems like you've been at it for a long time:)

I made myself do Power Half Hour yesterday - I feel so soft - yuck! We have 3 baseball games this week - will try to get something in!!!

10 1/2 more days!!!:)

[srahndennis]

Charisse - We are out June 4th, too!!! I can't wait, either -- except I don't get the summer off. I'm jealous of you and Alysha!! Why does it seem like we feel squishy so soon???? It was only a week!! Good job getting power half hour in!

Alysha - I'm a beginning runner, too. I've learned I'm much more successful if I slow down. I've also learned that I like the cardio coach mp3 workouts. They keep me focused on something other than how much time is left. I'm running 3 - 4 miles now once per week. A shape up summer sounds great! My house could sure use it. And mowing definately counts.

Valerie - I think just doing cardio the day after STS legs is a great accomplishment!! I really hated it when meso 2 changed the order of the workouts. Meso 1 had me doing legs on Saturdays --perfect since I could tack on the stretch as I didn't have to rush off to work and Sunday was my day off. Then she switched it!! I seem to remember getting very sore with #6, too. It seemed to get better after that (always sore but not SORE!!!).

Well, the knee issue is a patellar subluxation. I'm grateful it's not something worse. Dr. gave me a brace to wear when exercising and told me to keep it low impact for the next month. He likes swimming (I don't -- not for exercise) and bicycling (I don't have one inside or outside). He did say I can kickbox or jog although he was a little reluctant on the jogging. No stepping -- sad as that's my favorite cardio. No leg workouts but I do have leg exercises to do. I'll make the best of it. Any other good kickboxing DVDs out there? I have all of Cathe's and one Kelly Coffey Meyer.

[Valerie226]

Stacy, I don't know what patellar subluxation is, but the restrictions are a bit weird. they always say "swimming", but I don't have access and don't like it anyway. bicycling I like and it clearly restricts the cycle of motion your knee goes thru so it's pretty safe. but kickboxing is ok and step isn't? seeing as I detest step, it would be OK with me, but to me kickboxing would be riskier than step, and jogging less risky especially if you have a brace. I hiked/skied/ran with a ACL brace for about a year and it kept my knee from going beyond the OK range of motion. My PT was real restrictive on me running and had me doing a bunch of jumping around that seemed riskier to me, so go figure.... a month isn't that long and better safe than further injury. Do you know how you did to cause the injury to begin with?
I have really good endurance, especially my legs. what I need is better definition and trimming down the bulk if possible. I am not bult like a greyhound although I'd like to be...

We're on a house clean up campaign too, must be the time of year! It sure makes a mess before it gets better though.

charisse, we get the bulk fo gardening done in spring ...In another couple weeks I'll be getting pretty sick of it already...

And yes, the eternal question....why oh why does it take months to get in shape and it evaporates in a couple of vacation days??

[SueK]

Hi guys!

Glad to hear from all of you.

Alysha- I'm in envy of you running a mile straight! I'm doing 1/4 mile running, then walking, etc, etc. I really need to step it up because the 5K I insanely signed up for in the first week of July!

This past Sunday I did a new DVD: Jillian Michaels: Banish Fat and Boost Metabolism. I figured it would be a good workout, but she wiped the floor with me! :) Anyway, it felt great to do it.

Gotta go get the girls in bed so I can head there, too. Will check back in tomorrow.

[lindrusso]

Alysha- I'm in envy of you running a mile straight! I'm doing 1/4 mile running, then walking, etc, etc. I really need to step it up because the 5K I insanely signed up for in the first week of July!

Well, I haven't done it yet. ;) I've been doing mostly 1/4 at a time too but the other day I decided to test myself and I did 1/2, walked 2-3 laps, and then half again, so I'm getting close.

And all you insane people signing up for 5ks have me wanting to do one in the fall. :D I was thinking of signing me up along with my son who does soccer in the fall and is not in to running much but should be. That way we could train together all summer.

I probably won't get to run until Thursday this week - maybe I'll give one mile a try! Sheesh, that sounds so wimpy but ya gotta start somewhere, right?

[srahndennis]

Valerie -- The patella subluxation (as I understand it) is a temporary, partial dislocation of the knee. The knee cap is moving laterally to the outside, off the "track" it's normally in. So the brace will keep it in place while I'm exercising. I thought the restrictions were a little weird, too, but the no step is consistent with what my primary care physician said. Evidently, it's the stepping down and jumping that they are concerned about. So, I'll keep it low impact. I don't get jumping recommendation from your PT, either. Seems odd. Not really sure how I injured myself but I think it was gradual. Looking back, I can recall a few things happening that really didn't get my attention but kind of add up now. The drs to me this type of injury is fairly common in women because of our wider-hipped build.

Today I did 3 miles on the treadmill. Mostly running but did walk a little towards the end. The brace felt weird but worked fine.
And to top it off, DS and I played tennis for two hours this afternoon. We had a blast! It's great to see him improving and building his confidence. I wore the brace and was careful not to run too much.

Alysha & Sue -- I love the idea of running a 5K, too. I've never done anything like that. And I've never run outside before. But I've always heard that they are such fun experiences and that even if you aren't uber prepared, the energy from the crowd pulls you along.

Sue -- I've heard good things about that Jillian Michaels DVD. I think Kristi's done that one, too.

Valerie -- Loved the greyhound image! I wish, too!

[Valerie226]

I'd typed up a bunch of thoughts yesterday... and then my computer locked up. Annoying! I hate that!

Anyway, I did STS 7 & 8. Wow, #7 was especially tough. thought the push ups would kill me. I'm seeing a difference in the pull ups in 8. no, not "really" doing pull ups and chinups but definite change from the first time I tried. I'm getting upward movement for about 9 attempts with the first ones being more movement than the last ones, but what the heck. I cannot move from a total hang position, but if I start from a bent arm position, I can move up and down now. it's a start!

And that's what I'd suggest for running longer distances. go slower so you can keep going longer, or run, walk, run, walk, to increase your distance. Absolutely no shame in walking sections and it builds your endurance and confidence. If you worry about going too far from where you started, pick a shorter course and go back and forth, or find a circular route.
There's a tremendous amount of contagious energy at a race, plus the excitement distracts you from your own discomfort which always seems to take over your brain when you're working out alone and that's all you have to think about. I'm sure many people use IPODS to distract and as long as it's safe, it might help too.

You'll go much further and faster in a race unless it's a hot humid day and it's best to back off and be cautious. the first 10K I did went up a hill that (to this day) I have no idea how I ran up without stopping. Walking briskly over distance will give you as much benefit as running and with less risk of injury, and for most of us, the actual speed is not that different. I've always done both.

[srahndennis]

Great job with your STS workouts, Valerie!! You've got it -- focus on the improvement! You will amaze yourself with how you improved over the course of the program. I can't believe but tomorrow is my last STS workout!! Almost done....

Today I did 4DS kickbox (it's short -- only 30 minutes) & abs. Had a little trouble with the brace today -- just didn't seem to have it in the right place. I may go back to the brace center to make sure I'm doing it right.

Have a great holiday weekend, everyone!!!

[lindrusso]

Stacy and Valerie - No worried on me taking it slow - that's my only speed. ;) But I've also been working my way up very slowly too. I run at an indoor track where 8 laps=1 mile. I started out one lap at a time with walking breaks in between so that my total running time was 1 mile (with about one mile of walking in between the running). Then I upped it to 2 laps at a time, etc.

Anyway, today I finally did 1 consecutive mile. Sounds kind of puny but when I think that I went from 1 lap to 8, that sounds more impressive. ;)

Now my plan is to run 3x a week - M, W, F. Each Friday I will increase my distance by 1/4 mile (2 laps) and repeat that distance M & W, increase 1/4 mile on Friday and so on. Hopefully I can reach 5k length in a couple of months.

That's the plan anyway. Hopefully it will work out. If it seems too aggressive, I can always back off. I'm really not sure how far I want to take the running thing - it all depends on how my body adjusts.

The other focus will be weights on the off days, at least 2x per week.

Keep up the good work ladies! :)

[Jessica]

Can I join this thread? I am new to working out at home. I have two little boys (1.5 and 3) and so it is nearly impossible to get to the gym, esp. since DH travels @4 days per week.

I have two DVDs so far: a Crunch salsa dance workout and a Shape aerobics with abs workout. My biggest challenge is that our TV is in a room with carpet and so it is hard sometimes to do some of the moves, but I am just happy to finally be exercising again.

I usually get up before the boys and work out then; I've done this several days a week for a couple weeks and it seems to work.

[srahndennis]

Jessica, welcome!!! We'd love to have you join us! We're usually a little quiet over the weekends, so don't take that personally. I'm a morning carpet exerciser as well. I have an almost 10 year old DS and started getting up early to workout when he was 3. If I don't exercise in the morning, it just won't happen. And there are no basements in Texas so my workout space is our bedroom. I do a variety of cardio and strength workouts to keep things interesting. Watch out -- exercise, exercise DVDs and fitness equipment can become addicting!!

Alysha -- Congrats on your mile!! That's wonderful. I remember what a big deal it was for me to run a mile so no qualifying allowed! Kudos to you.

Well, I finished STS yesterday!! Huge accomplishment, I'm really proud of myself. I missed a few cardio workouts along the way but never an STS workout (except the 3 leg workouts I couldn't do because of my knee). Next week will be cardio only then I'll decide what to do next!

Have a great weekend, everyone!