Home Exercise Enthusiasts- week of sept 28

[Valerie226]

I'll get us started. Hello to all the new people who stopped in last week. Please join in. Charisse & stacy, hope you are getting your lives under control and getting in your workouts.

Went to Glacier NP for vacation. Our truck/camper combo is fantastic. The park was crowded as expected, weather perfect , sunny and quite warm. we did 4-5 hikes, saw mt goats, bighorns, and a few bears but no grizzlies. we planned next Waterton park..the canadian extension of Glacier NP, but camping was awful.. we left immediately, if not sooner... I need to write a letter... if I wanted to camp in an asphalt parking lot, I'd drive 5 miles to Walmart.... why drive to another country? camping in september gets difficult as parks close down for the winter but that was pathetic.

Even in a nice camper we got burned out on campgrounds. DH pulled a hip muscle making it hard to walk, so we came home (one day drive) to rest & regroup. His hip was worse, could barely walk. monday he saw an orthopod (muscle pull) ... cortisone shot & physical therapy. Since our plans were "hiking" we didn't know what else to do but decided to let the shot take effect and get a therapy session in, then decide.
Bike riding didn't bother him so tuesday we did our usual 35 mile ride. Toward the end my left wrist and arm were bothering me more than usual. to shorten the story, my bike pack pressed on my shoulder over the pacemaker wires, and it caused a small blood clot. I have a lot of muscle and not much fat on the front of my upper shoulder. not enough cushion even though the pack was very light. it rested in just the wrong place. It took two days to figure out what was wrong ..my arm didn't swell like most do. so I'm on anticoagulation meds for 2-3 months. activity mildly restricted for a week. So guys, I told you I was not going to make this thread into "valerie's medical report" but there you are....

Oh, did I mention I bought a fanny pack for bike riding without shoulder straps??

So our last week was spent with BOTH of us running to doctors, getting therapy, etc. I am so glad vacation is over. sometimes you can't win.

On that upbeat note, I'm heading for the treadmill and elliptical. can't do serious upper body stuff for 2 weeks.

[Valerie226]

I'll try to get us back to simple "exercise" mode. Don't want to scare off all the new people! I had to take about 4 days off exercise until I saw my doc to get his approval to go ahead.
yesterday I did 10 on the stationary bike, walked uphill on the treadmill for 25, and then coremax #1. I felt Ok after that... I'm on some temporary meds that make me feel less than great. this is now wed ... I'll do something similar to yesterday. Feel fine, no sore spots. The "good" news is the meds seem to suppress my appetite and I may lose a couple pounds without a struggle .
Someone else, chime in please!.

[Valerie226]

Sigh.. reported.

[Shugness]

No worries Valerie - ideally I'd like to broaden my exercising to more outdoorsy type of activities. I once considered buying a kayak because there is a small lake near by. I've also wanted to buy a pair of roller skates but there isn't any flat paved surfaces around my area that I could go skate on. Still looking into all that...

Anyhoo, three mornings this week I did 20 minutes on the elliptical and 10 minutes on the treadmill. The other morning I spent about 30 minutes doing strength training with dumb bells and my exercise ball. This morning I had to leave earlier than normal so I took the day off.

I've feeling pretty good - two weeks now of exercising is a nice start, hopefully I can keep it up. I've noticed my calves seem to be firmer already! I have lost 3 pounds, so that is good too.

I think I will do another week of what I'm doing, and then try and add another 15 minutes to my work outs - doing 30 minutes of cardio and then spend 15 minutes on strength training, alternating days between upper body, lower body and abdominal.

[Valerie226]

Shugness .. good job, keep up the workouts. You won't regret it. It takes time to build a baseline level of fitness and then even if you have to skip a few days (for whatever reason) you feel a NEED to get back to working out. I've been doing this for 35 years at some level, sometimes more, sometimes less, but I've never stopped for more than maybe?? a 2 week stretch. I don't remember any breaks that long but I don't want to sound totally neurotic!

Illness, surgery, travel, those kind of things interfere but you reach the point where you just don't feel right if you don't do some level of workout. I don't even go on vacations that don't give workout opportunities. Two days of sitting and I'm completely nuts.

Sometimes when starting an exercise program newly energized muscles will hold onto extra fluid, and of course fluid weighs a lot. this can make it seem like your diet/exercise program is not working. some people even gain a few pounds because of this. The Bob Green "Best Life" books talk about this extensively and have a much more complete explanation. Just a thought to keep in mind if your goal is weight loss. I'm someone who tends to gain a couple pounds initially if I increase my workouts but then it drops off. I use my indoor exercise program to stay in shape for my favorite outdoor activities. hiking, skiing, biking is no fun if you're sore and tired.

[srahndennis]

Hey, guys!! Yes, I'm slow to the gate this week. Finally over the stomach bug. I did manage to get in a couple of workouts this week but not my usual. Yesterday did KCM Cardio Sculpting for the first time. It's a circuit workout -- mostly weights but the cardio is a few plyo moves in between cycles. Did the trick -- my heart rate stayed up there. Also did Amy's Rumble. I liked it but the premix I chose was too short. I'll get something else in tomorrow.

Valerie - I think you and DH qualify as walking wounded!! Sorry about the episode. Hopefully, that's it for a while. You guys must be sick of doctors even if DH is one! There are better ways to lose a few pounds.....

Shugness -- Congrats on your two weeks! Great job. It's becoming a habit. And three pounds, too. Wonderful.

I'll try check in tomorrow! Y'all have a great weekend.