Talk about your exercise experience today

[DapperButch]

Sorry to hear about your back, nycfem. I am glad to hear it is getting better!

I got sciatica for the first time in my life 16 days ago. I have been messed up since, not able to drive or anything. It is horrid for the first 4-5 hours every morning and then it gets better.

I am finally going to the doc tomorrow.

Oh wait, this isn't a complaining thread.....true though, the poor mutt (and me), are not happy with missing his walks! He's had like 2 in the last 16 days. Poor guy! I miss being active, too!

[The JD]

I had a very nice leisurely weekend, but tried to make up for all of it in 2 hours.. just got home from seeing Gang of Four, one of all-time favorite bands. I hurled and flailed my body around like it was still the 80s, but my body was not fooled. Payback will no doubt come tomorrow.

[Medusa]

Im taking my tennis shoes to work today because it will be 75 here and all of my work family are going to go out and walk the track after lunch. The track is 1/2 mile through the campus! WOOT!

[Gemme]

Originally Posted by DapperButch

Sorry to hear about your back, nycfem. I am glad to hear it is getting better!

I got sciatica for the first time in my life 16 days ago. I have been messed up since, not able to drive or anything. It is horrid for the first 4-5 hours every morning and then it gets better.

I am finally going to the doc tomorrow.

Oh wait, this isn't a complaining thread.....true though, the poor mutt (and me), are not happy with missing his walks! He's had like 2 in the last 16 days. Poor guy! I miss being active, too!

I'm so sorry, Dapper! I was pretty vocal about my struggle with it so I, literally, can feel your pain. You should have gone to the doc asap! Between here and the pain sufferers thread, I complained a lot. It's okay. It hurts. A LOT.

1. Go to the doctor and get a referral (if your insurance requires it) for physical therapy. PT is the only 'cure' for sciatica.

2. They can give you pain killers but you won't be able to function properly with them (ie no driving vehicles, no formulating difficult calculations, no doing anything but laying/lying in the best position you can find).

3. Pillow buffers. Use them to keep you in place during the night if you typically move around a lot. I used to just get to sleep and then BAM! a sharp stab of pain from me rolling over on a tender spot would jar me away and that would be the end of any peace for me that night.

4. Working out helped me but it's going to hurt getting in there and then when you start to do it and then through a lot of workout and then, sometimes, right afterwards too. But it will gradually get better.

5. STAY AWAY FROM THE TREADMILL. Even though it initially helped the sciatica, it created a hip problem with me. My PT said treadmills should be outlawed. The elliptical is much better.

I hope you feel better!

[afrcnqueen]

Been alternating between yoga class and the gym for the past month.
Have lost 25lbs so far....depression and heart break are good for something LoL

[Kätzchen]

Originally Posted by afrcnqueen

Been alternating between yoga class and the gym for the past month.
Have lost 25lbs so far....depression and heart break are good for something LoL

I love to practice yoga. I try to make it a part of my life on a weekly basis, primarily on my days off from work. When I was in grad school, I practiced on a daily basis.

It sounds like you're in a good place though, when you can find something good and feel a touch lighthearted.

[cinnamongrrl]

Ive been doing yoga most mornings now. I'm up early enough to do it and/or walk my dog.

I've also applied for a 2nd shift position at the local rest home. Two uber physical jobs...I won't need to work out lol

[BullDog]

My weightlifting went great yesterday. Not that I lifted massive amounts of weight or anything, but I pushed myself to the limit. I didn't strain anything, just went to the max and felt like I accomplished something.

I had several misadventures in the kitchen yesterday, but I did manage to cook myself some healthy food that will last a few days.

Great job everyone!

10min qigong morning routine
13min gigong neck/shoulder routine
The 10min morning routine is awesome and wakes up all the right energies. I started using it when recuperating from the nasty chesty thing I had in December.



ps."Tonifiy"? <<< not enough of these faces to describe my feeling upon hearing tonify.



I have weekend visitors arriving on Thursday so I'm frantically busy preparing the house from a Dak's House of Teenage Mess to an adult dwelling. That's all the exercise I need this week

[Gemme]

I got out of work early, so I hit the gym before the snow came.

I got in 45 minutes on the elliptical.

Stats: 415 cal, 3.56 mi

I finished up and then went to the grocery store and, as I was pulling in at home, the first few flurries flitted down.

Perfect timing!!!

[BullDog]

Excellent Gemme!

A couple friends texted yesterday and were wishing me Happy Spring. I was thinking, um what spring, it's snowing. Then I just said, screw it and started lifting weights!

[Gemme]

Today was amazing. I woke up at 6:50am and then made myself go back to sleep. I woke up at 8am and made myself go back to sleep. I finally woke up at noon. I haven't slept that long in loooooong time. Sleep bank account is in the BLACK,y'all.

I had to go to the post office, so I headed there and then hit the gym around 2pm. I did the recumbent bike for 45 minutes and then stretched for a few minutes.

Stats: 302 calories, 11.81 miles

[bright_arrow]

Color Me Rad 5k. Didn't start 'Map My Walk' until we actually started so the hour before hanging out didn't count, but finished it at 3.06 miles.

Half my face doused in teal at the finish line!

[Gemme]

Big morning at the gym for me. I snapped to attention at 7:01am and opted not to do a repeat of yesterday. Even though I enjoy my sleep, I hate wasting half the day.

I started on the elliptical, gravitated to the recumbent bike, slinked into the 30 minute cardio room and finished in the back doing stretches on the mat.

E21, random program, level 5
278 cal, 2.46 mi, 30:00 min

B6, random program, level 5
217 cal, 8.79 mi, 30:00 min

Now, you might say "Hey, those figures for the recumbent seem off" to which I would normally agree but today I'd say "Hell no they don't! I whipped my own butt on that."

See, what happened was....I was getting settled down on the bike (wiping it down beforehand because most folks don't have a clue how to do it right if they do it at all) and getting my MP3 player where I wanted it when a little wisp of a girl plopped down next to me and started at it, full blast.

Well, obviously this was a challenge.



So, we dueled.

And I won.

But it was hard fought, I tell you. My thighs were not happy and then the lactic acid kicked in towards the end, which is not a bad thing as it means the body's burning what it needs to burn but it is very uncomfortable for sure.

She stayed on the bike longer than I did but when I hopped off there was a 43/44 calorie and over a mile distance difference between us (including my cool down).

I totally won that shit.

So at that point my endorphins were out of control and I said, "How about some weight training? It's been a while." to myself because talking out loud in the gym when there's no one in your close proximity is deemed inappropriate by proper social etiquette standards.



30 minutes later....

I did 3 sets of 10 on each piece of equipment except my kryptonite, the shoulder press. I have injured myself on that piece more than any other so I took it easy. I did a set of 10 and then tapped out around 5 or 6 of the second set. Better safe than sorry, I say! I kept in mind my PT lessons and worked really hard to keep good form. Some of it does take some getting used to.

Then I snagged a mat in the back and a 10 lb weight (the round ones that go on the bars and look like mini steering wheels) and did some oblique V crunches followed by pelvic tilts, bridges, half Supermans (PT balance exercise), planks and some yummy stretching, paying extra attention to my typical tight zones....hammies, calves and quads.

I felt gooooood (and hungry) when I was done.

Good day!

[nycfem]

My back still has a few kinks (just like the rest of me), so I steered clear of the treadmill and also lifted weights 3 pounds lower than when I was working out more regularly. That was prudent and paid off.

I did 1 hour on the Stair Master, intervals. Then 45 minutes on the upright bike (which I think is not great for my back but my back does worse with the recumbent bikes- not all, just the model my gym has). Then 45 minutes weight lifting, abs, stretching, and yoga.

Nice to catch up on everyone's posts and to get a good work out in

[Gemme]

Sorry about your back, girl. I may have slightly overdid it today. The area between the tush and the lower back is feeling a bit tender. Not sore or achy but tender, like it could be fine or not in a heartbeat. I'm going to wait late tomorrow to work out again, especially since I'll spend most of the morning and possibly some of the afternoon sitting.

I still look longingly at the treadmill when I pass it by but my PT was right; as soon as I stopped using it, I felt an improvement and I don't want to backslide so I shall love it from afar.

[BullDog]

Today was great. I did half an hour of cardio and about 40 minutes of weight lifting. I have changed my lifting routine so that I do full body all 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri). I think this is best for my beginner phase.

I have all my food on a spreadsheet, and it thrilled my obsessive, former accountant brain that all the calories and ratios for protein, carbs and fat lined up just as I wanted them to!

Happy exercising all!

[Gemme]

Bully, are you using a program to enter your food intake? I can't remember.

I decided against working out today for two reasons. One, my upper abs are super sore and the tender back/butt area is a bit achy. Two, my errands took longer than anticipated to reach today.

Oh and I didn't want to so there!

[Kelt]

Originally Posted by BullDog

Today was great. I did half an hour of cardio and about 40 minutes of weight lifting. I have changed my lifting routine so that I do full body all 3 days a week (Mon, Wed, Fri). I think this is best for my beginner phase.

I have all my food on a spreadsheet, and it thrilled my obsessive, former accountant brain that all the calories and ratios for protein, carbs and fat lined up just as I wanted them to!

Happy exercising all!

Pro tip for the spreadsheet geek. fitday.com, paid version, classic view (not fitday2) I used it for my big overhaul a few years back and still go back to it when I need a brush up. Of course, if I had the smarts I'd do it from scratch like you.

Seriously, tracking works.

<< Has numbers envy.

Yesterday afternoon I spent a couple of hours down at the river recharging my 'outdoors' battery. Today I got to the gym for 90 mins on the recumbent, level 8, 600 cals. I wear my own telemetry strap so am pretty good on those figures even with the built in algorithm.

[Gemme]

Kelt, what did the machine say you did? When you've got your monitor giving more accurate information, I bet it's interesting to see what the bike says you did in output.

I still need to find something I can work with for that.