Prince anchored my walking exercise today....
 

I walked so much today. Probably for over 3 hours, intermittently.

And all the while, I was listening to all of the songs by Prince on my phone.

When Doves Cry kicked off my exercise pursuit today.



But my walking ended when The Beautiful Ones faded slowly as I was returning to my car, after walking all over the down town area.




It was an Purple Rain kind of day, for me, today.

Calories burned off: Probably a bazillion.
Body pain is off the charts, but I'm okay. :cheerleader:

30 min. on the stairmaster yesterday, and same today.

I'm watching a Netflix Original series "I am a Killer." What a terrible title but a very well-done show. Interviews with those on death row, including their families and victims' families and life stories. Very moving and thought-provoking.

New start
 

Nothing to report at this moment (well, 100 steps on my stepper, but the day is far from over yet!), but I'm committing to try to do at least 300 steps on my stepper, 3 short sessions with my light dumbells and one Pilates session each day, from today onwards.

Yesterday we did a lot of deep cleaning and I'm still sore from that but when J (oldest son's gf) comes over today I'm going to walk up and down the stairs until I start to feel winded and then call it a day.

300 steps and 3 sets with the dumbells done. Had to limit how much Pilates I did due to a sore back, but I did some.

I'm glad you're okay and I have to tell you that Purple Rain the album always makes me think of learning how to drive stick shift. I listened to that album all the time in my car when I was sixteen. We had this huge hill that I was always getting stuck at a stoplight on and I was always praying that I could get it to go into first without backing into the person behind me!

Yay Esme! Glad you're sharing your progress with us! :)

You know there's another option... Instead of doing the stairs you can come clean my place. ;) Actually I think that's an awesome at home workout! :)

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As for me I worked out last night at the gym and did the treadmill again. I decided to try adding 5 minutes to my routine and continued on with my mountain goat theme. The only downside was that I saw the first couple of minutes of the next chopped show and got hooked and wanted to stay to watch it. But there's no way I could have done a whole nother hour on the treadmill cuz my legs were noodly already! There was a gun show going on again at the gym so maybe everybody's just back from vacation. I have also figured out that I have a favorite treadmill which I was surprised to discover. I feel like I would like to put my name on it but I suppose that's not allowed. :blink:

Second day of 3x100 steps on the stepper, 3 sets with the dumbells, and a little gentle Pilates.

I feel good about today. J is out of town and not here to help so it would have been easy to make excuses and just sit parked in front the computer all day. I made myself get up, push past the I don't wanna, and got moving. I've lost a couple more pounds but even so I've been finding myself doing a lot of negative self talk. It's hard to keep plodding along. I know that's the best strategy for losing weight and keeping it off – slow and steady wins the race, but sometimes I still guilt trip myself for not working harder.

Hey, just move to a recumbent bike. You can sit down, watch the show and pedal as fast or slow as you want but you are still--technically--working out.

Yesterday....

I hiked for over 6 hours. A lot of uphill. Some bushwacking (it should burn more calories; it’s so arduous)

After that I geocached til dark. Most were park and grabs (where you pretty much drive up to it) but some took some walking. 300+ft x 2 adds up.

I’m pleasantly sore today. I’m also determined to do this more oftener. My soul just needs it.

Yesterday I kept up my little regimen, but today I was helping at a local dogshow held in a park, helping with setup and takedown, as well as manning the desk for the little competitions that were run. I suspect i burned rather more calories today than usual!

Great minds think alike! I looked around to see if I could do just that thing when I finished on the treadmill but unfortunately the TVs near the bikes were not showing my show. :(

I don't know what bushwhacking is but it sounds exhausting! I'm sure it burns more calories!

Oh my gosh getting your exercise while getting to spend time with dogs seems like the best way to do it! How fun!

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Today I went to the gym and thought I might attempt to get on the elliptical.

I learned that I am but a small grasshopper and cannot yet attempt such a feat. I was on there about 3 minutes when my muscles were screaming, "Get off! Get off!" That will have to be a goal for me to achieve in the future.

So I went back to my beloved treadmill.

Today I walked 35 minutes and made it to Incline level seven. Woot! I don't know if it was the three minutes on the elliptical or the going to Incline level seven but I had extremely noodly legs that felt like they were not attached to my body once I got done with my workout. :|

Maybe next Sunday I will try the rowing machine that might be more my speed.

https://s.yimg.com/lo/api/res/1.2/k4...-17.jpg.cf.jpg

1 hour on the treadmill 7500 steps

lol

The rowing machine is much harder than the elliptical, even if you are sitting down. It's a full body workout because you're engaging your core, arms and legs at the same time. I get winded after about 5 minutes at a normal pace and at about 2 minutes at a faster pace.







I like the 3rd video the best. The guy's personable and he shows you ways to fix the mistakes that make sense.

Now, I didn't watch every second of each of the videos so it may have been addressed but if you row, don't lock your knees. Locking your knees in exercises will inhibit blood flow and could, over a continuous period, cause a drop in blood pressure, which means night night, which is not good.

4x100 steps today and 4 sets of dumbell exercises. No Pilates because of aching side muscles, but I did some gentle stretching exercises.

Yesterday I did 30 minutes on the stairmaster, and today I did the same but followed it with 30 minutes on the weight floor (weights, stretching, abs, etc).

Prior to yesterday (Sunday), I had not exercised since Tuesday. Last week was my first week of school, and it was a rough week. I had my period :hamactor: and I had tried increasing my antidepressant (I lowered it back to my regular dose), so everything was just off with me. Luckily I am off today and Tuesday due to the Jewish holidays, so I can continue getting my groove back.

I saw the best friend of the perfect daughter today. Her name is Hilary (with one "L"). She's an interesting character. She does double work-outs, something I've always thought sounded cool and maybe will try out some day. She goes to the gym twice a day. Needless to say she is one of the regulars. She likes to go in the sauna with Taylor, the faster. And she and the perfect daughter study their college materials together in the locker room. So anyway, I saw Hilary on the weight floor. She was with a trainer just starting a session. I ignored her so that she could focus but she noticed me and said hello. I had JUST finished and said, "I'm just finishing." She said, "I'm just starting." I didn't know what to say. I felt bad for her because it's easier to have just finished than to be starting. I felt guilty that I was in the advantageous position. Yet I also wanted to be positive. So I said, "Work it!" and giggled, and she returned the giggle. I'm not sure it made much sense :vigil:.

Happy exercising!

I didn’t want to quote Gemme’s Entire above post (and I can’t seem to do partial quote on my phone) but I’ve been told that the rowing machine is one of the BEST machines to use. It’s also very over looked and is therefore usually available to use. Even if you use it as a five minute warmup. And Gemme is also correct in that you will use your core. Can’t beat it with a stick!

I have to thank you, Gemme. I have a rowing machine and after watching the third video, realized I have been doing the no-no's. When I went on the machine today I followed his advice and what a difference. I definitely was much slower because I kept my feet out of the straps, but also because I have to retrain myself on keeping my knees down and bringing my arms forward first. While I didn't go "as far" as I normally do in the time I row, I absolutely felt it more and sweated just as much. Thanks again!

I dida little walking to continue test driving my injured but seems to be healing well foot. I've been doing tons of foot and ankle stretches. Anyway, today I walked to the cafe, the post office, then home with no pain! Victory. I may go back to my YouTube aerobic videos starting tomorrow.

Today I did my usual 30/30 (30 minutes on stairmaster and 30 minutes on the weight floor).

Gym Tip: I do tons of counting when I'm on the weight floor. I find it helps to count down, especially for those last challenging 5 of something. Counting up towards the end always feels more tiring to me. Counting down feels like "Blast off!" :rainbowAfro:

Happy exercising!

Today and yesterday I only did 4 hours of hard cleaning. Fitpal says it
counts...

Tomorrow I’m hoping to either take the mutts for a nice hike OR go walking around at Old Sturbridge Village with my shiny new membership OR I could maybe do both.....

I also need a more formal workout time. I think mornings are just better for me. There’s so many awesome videos on YouTube AND I have both Piyo and T25. Gotta get my rear in gear.

You are so right!

I liked the out of the straps trick too. The third guy felt more genuine than the other ones and kind of had a Fast Times at Ridgemont High vibe if Sean Penn worked out more then.

I love the rower but it is super sneaky in that it makes you feel as if it's not that bad but it can whup your butt in no time. I'm done after 10 minutes--max--so I'd like to build up my stamina.

It is. It took me a bit to get up to 30 minutes. What worked for me was upping my time by 1 minute for three days and then another minute for three days, etc. Besides physically being able to adapt more easily, I found that it helped me mentally, especially on those days where it felt like FOREVER to get to the end, even though I did the same amount of time the day before. I originally tried upping it for 5 minutes for two weeks thinking that would be great, but mentally that added 5 was brutal and I would stop earlier.

As I think I have stated on here before, I have a treadmill and rower that I use pretty frequently, in the morning. I have found myself concerned about the amount of time I am not very active, especially now that I am sitting a lot doing school work. I try to go hiking when I can, but the weather has been shit. I finally set up a yoga area and am doing yoga in the evening to get the blood flowing, burn some calories, and break a sweat. So far so good. I have one of my laptops linked to a large tv my son brought with him when he came home from the army, so I get a really nice view of the Youtube video which is super helpful because I know none of the poses. I'm not really excited that I am showering twice a day, but I have to admit that the shower at night is relaxing. If anyone has a recommendation for a Youtube channel for beginner yoga videos I would appreciate it if you would pass it along.

Today I did 30 minutes on the stairmaster. There are only two Stairmasters, and they are right next to each other, so sometimes friends stair climb beside one another. When I arrived, that was exactly what was going on- two men beside each other chatting. I decided to see if I could wait them out. One good thing about the stairmaster is often someone gets off within five minutes. I just had a feeling... And within five minutes, they both climbed down. By that point I was standing there obviously pleasantly waiting, so we chatted. They both wiped down their machines. The guy who was going to be releasing the one I'd be getting on (my favorite) really went to town cleaning it. It may have been partly because I was watching, but dammmmnnn. I thanked him and said, "Now if only we could clone you."

Happy exercising! And remember: Bodies in motion stay in motion...

Grocery/food shopping , and out and about walking around for 4.5 hours. Well some of it was sitting down, about half an hour for lunch. Still that's up for 4. I'm trying to work up to 8 to 10 then 12.

Yesterday tried doing 100 steps on my stepper plus a half-set (ie: half the usual number of reps) with my dumbells once an hour for a few hours (I have to be more careful with the weights than with the stepper). Can't remember if I did 4 or 5 lots like that. Going to try to do the same thing today after I've had my dinner.

We went shopping and did some walking around today, about 3.5 hours worth. Then I put the groceries away and did some minor, just a thing or two cleaning. So I'd say I got at least 4+ hours in today and more than met my goal.

Test kits (for school psychology), graduate books, a laptop, research projects....

Oh did I mention I also saved someone's life.... a fellow graduate teacher forgot her food in the office and begged that someone bring it to her classroom. I did that, too.

That's all exercise.....right?

Joined a new gym a few weeks ago now. It's remarkable how much your general fitness improves.
Cycling to work is not as much of a struggle with 2 hills to go up.
So I don't get bored at the gym, I tend to mix it up a bit.
30 mins cross trainer, 15 mins rowing machine, 15 mins and cool down on bike. Sit ups and upper body weight training.
Other days spend longer on the rowing machine or bike.
Going to take a few classes when I get more confident.
Trying to get ya heart rate up to over 136 is a task when youre over 50.
You really have to push yourself.

Hi Gemme,
I was taught a neat trick by a gym teacher once.
Now you may look a bit of an idiot when doing this but, hell i dont care when i do this on the rowing machine, its everyones else's problem if they think i am weird ;-)
I close my eyes and visualize i am on the river of my local town where i was born.
I also have a kingfisher flying next to me, which came from years ago in a therapy tip to calm and just at peace with myself.
i swear i can feel the sun on my back, doing it creates the most inner peaceful feeling if you just go with it.
Its all in the power of the imagination.
You get to a stage where your leg muscles just totally feel like they arent working at all because of the way you focus on the image.
May sound a bit weird but works for me.
Gets you in the zone

Doing a little exercise hourly for a few hours has been working well for me, so I increased the number of steps each hour to 200, along with one set with the dumbells. Managed 800 steps, which my machine tells me is 132 calories burnt, and 4 sets with the dumbells. Feels like the regular exercise is starting to pay off, as I'm moving a bit better. My mood has also lifted today. Still feeling stressed, but not so low.

it's beautiful weather, here today, so I went on an small walking adventure to the nearby farmer's market (for veggies and fruit). Then I went by an good friend's house and she's got an miniature trampoline in her home, and a gait belt. So we put on some music and she got the gait belt around me and I used my walking poles to steady myself and she helped me 'jump' on the trampoline, for a little bit. I have an equilibrium issue, still, so we just took it easy, but gosh, it felt like old times when I used to put on music and just 'jump' away to my heart's delight. :stillheart:

I probably exerted an good deal of energy, burned up a few calories, and most of all, it just felt good to 'dance.' :balloon:

http://www.lovethispic.com/uploaded_...-You-Dance.jpg