I bused into town yesterday and walked the mile and a quarter home, with an increasing load of shopping ...
Now to me that looks to be backwards; I'd have walked to the shops and taken the bus back, once I had things to carry.*
But I'm an idle so-and-so.
* Actually that's a big fat lie: I'd have taken the bus both ways ... blush:
Ah, but I was accumulating different items; first the hardware, then some general groceries, then the artisanal bakery, then the organic place because I couldn't get grinder salt in the Co-op, then our local butcher.
@fineline - my daughter has hEDS* and the list of approved exercise from the specialist physiotherapists she used to see is very limited - walking, swimming and Pilates. Running they didn't like her doing, nor school trampolining, nor yoga as it's too easy to overstretch. She does have weights, but they are very small, 0.5kg, because too heavy makes it too easy to sublux or dislocate a joint, and she does that often enough that I monitor how often I relocate her joints (most days at least one). Running damaged her knees.
You can lose weight and improve your fitness by walking. The heavier you are the less you need to start with.
I tried the couch to 5k and loathed it with about as much passion as the rest of you.
Fineline, I've never been able to jog/run/walk at speed either, becauseI feel like I'm being shaken apart, and I put it down to the Ehlers-Danlos. Swimming I CAN do (when there's a pool available, har har har) because for once my body parts are working as one and not against each other. I do feel like an arthritic giant tarantula most of the time.
I went for a walk in the North York Moors yesterday, about 3-4 miles. The only bit I struggled with fitness-wise was some large steps up a sleep slope (normal problem for my short fat legs. But I found a slope downhill very painful on my knees due to my arthritis (it made my heart race to 160 too, even though I felt fine!). I’m wondering whether some hiking sticks would help me when hill walking, especially as I have balance issues. I might have to wait for my heart rate to improve more as it currently doesn’t like me raising my arms.
OK, two caveats from talking to my daughter, who's now awake:
she's only recommended Pilates with a trainer who knows about EDS, as again it's too easy to overextend, and
if using weights it has to be high repetition, low impact, top weights to use 1.5kg.
At the time this was recommended she was attending hospital at least once a month for relocation of sub-luxed joints. These days I relocate at least one of her joints most days. We walk at least 10,000 steps a day to maintain her mobility as it is.
@Heavenlyannie my daughter's walking sticks (came from Trespass, and are adjustable) are meant to sit so that when her hand is in position her elbow and wrist are horizontal.
Yes, I understand about the arm position. But at the moment regular arm movement can put my pulse up, which is presumably why it was 160 just walking down a rough slope yesterday as I was using my arms for balance. I also currently get a fast heart rate if I walk while wearing a handbag so I don't think I will be able to carry even light sticks yet!
On a more positive note, my walking pulse is generally normal now and often in the 90s, not like last summer when it was in the 120s. That is almost certainly down to a high fluid intake and regular walking.
I recall the vaccination nurse asking me which side I lay on, and telling her I was a toss and turner. Because if I lie on my right that arm goes numb, if on my left the shoulder hurts.
I am trying to institute a series of neck/shoulder/arm stretches of a morning, but I really pine for the availability of a masseuse.
@Curiosity killed - your daughter's EDS sounds more severe than mine. I never get dislocations, though I have some subluxations sometimes that my osteopath fixes. I think I am okay bouncing gently on a mini trampoline. But yes, weights can be tricky. I don't have a specific EDS doctor telling me what I can't do, so I have to judge it. (I was diagnosed by my POTS doctor, and he talks more about managing POTS, as that's his speciality and that affects me more.) But I guess what I judge is similar to what your daughter has been advised, in that swimming and walking are best for me (though I overdo it a bit with the walking sometimes, and I got plantar fasciitis a couple of years ago). I have sometimes done pilates and yoga, and I've been warned about the dangers of yoga by a yoga instructor, years ago, who told me I was hypermobile before I'd heard of such a thing, and told me I should do pilates instead - but I like yoga, so I try to do it carefully.
@Lamb Chopped - that is interesting you find this too about running. I never know if it's an EDS thing or an autistic thing for me, because I've also talked to autistic people on MyFitnessPal who had the same issue - one guy described it so well, and I'd never put it into words before, but was describing exactly what I experience, and he thought it was an autistic, sensory thing. Maybe it can happens with a variety of conditions, or maybe they had EDS too and weren't diagnosed. But it does feel at least partly like a sensory thing for me.
@Firenze - do you like swimming? Because I've had an issue with really tight, painful neck, shoulders and arms for months (I'm also really missing massage therapy), and stretching exercises weren't making a lot of difference, but when I went swimming the other day, they loosened up a lot and are feeling much better. I think outdoor swimming pools are starting to be opened now, at least in England - I don't know about other parts of the UK. But I went in the sea, because the outdoor pool in the gym I go to isn't open yet.
@Curiosity killed - your daughter's EDS sounds more severe than mine. I never get dislocations, though I have some subluxations sometimes that my osteopath fixes. I think I am okay bouncing gently on a mini trampoline. But yes, weights can be tricky. I don't have a specific EDS doctor telling me what I can't do, so I have to judge it. (I was diagnosed by my POTS doctor, and he talks more about managing POTS, as that's his speciality and that affects me more.) But I guess what I judge is similar to what your daughter has been advised, in that swimming and walking are best for me (though I overdo it a bit with the walking sometimes, and I got plantar fasciitis a couple of years ago). I have sometimes done pilates and yoga, and I've been warned about the dangers of yoga by a yoga instructor, years ago, who told me I was hypermobile before I'd heard of such a thing, and told me I should do pilates instead - but I like yoga, so I try to do it carefully.
@Lamb Chopped - that is interesting you find this too about running. I never know if it's an EDS thing or an autistic thing for me, because I've also talked to autistic people on MyFitnessPal who had the same issue - one guy described it so well, and I'd never put it into words before, but was describing exactly what I experience, and he thought it was an autistic, sensory thing. Maybe it can happens with a variety of conditions, or maybe they had EDS too and weren't diagnosed. But it does feel at least partly like a sensory thing for me.
@Firenze - do you like swimming? Because I've had an issue with really tight, painful neck, shoulders and arms for months (I'm also really missing massage therapy), and stretching exercises weren't making a lot of difference, but when I went swimming the other day, they loosened up a lot and are feeling much better. I think outdoor swimming pools are starting to be opened now, at least in England - I don't know about other parts of the UK. But I went in the sea, because the outdoor pool in the gym I go to isn't open yet.
I used to do swimming occasionally but I'm not co-ordinated enough to do the breathing the way you're meant to without breathing in half the pool so I end up with a sore neck from keeping my face out of the water.
These days I just find swimming pool water too damned cold.
It sounds like a litany of moans but other people find things they actually enjoy so why do I find everything physical so bloody unpleasant?
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that EDS has a link to neurological/sensory stuff. My family has a lot of this (including me) and I can't help wondering.
I can’t really swim. My favoured interaction with open water is floating on an inflatable in agreeably high temperatures. Braving the seas off Scotland in - quick check - 6.3°C, not so much. Like @KarlLB I’ve never learned to swim and breathe. In fact, the 20 minutes a week in the Ormeau Baths probably did much to discourage me from trying.
@KarlLB you do like walking and cycling, don't you? Have you tried doing something with the walking to make the less exciting urban walks or countryside more interesting? Like Treasure Trails or Geocaching?
Geocaching kept us sane during the first lockdown, and checking caches has meant we have had some reasons to walk through this one. (Mostly it's been frustrating as we'd found all the local findable caches and publication of new ones only started this week again.)
Have you considered juggling, when you get good you can walk and juggle - some people find it a kind of physical meditation.
I can't reliably through a single item in the air and catch it with both hands. I class juggling along with ice skating and squash as something essentially impossible, but which some people are inexplicably able to do.
This is part of the problem. My co-ordination is so shocking that anything fun is ruled out. I'd quite like to play cricket but who wants a game with someone who's usually bowled out first ball, or alternatively, should he make contact, knocks the ball straight into the bowlers hands? Especially when he also can't catch a ball, can't throw it more than a few metres and can't bowl so that the ball lands on the right pitch?
I am not exaggerating. I am that bad.
A friend tried to teach me once, insisting it was just I hadn't been shown how. He stomped off after 30 minutes of absolutely no progress whatsoever.
I wouldn't be at all surprised to find that EDS has a link to neurological/sensory stuff. My family has a lot of this (including me) and I can't help wondering.
Apparently there is a known link, as yet unexplained.
For those who don't know what we're talking about, EDS is a genetic disorder that changes the formation of collagen in the body. This affects the ligaments and tendons, hence all the concerns about not straining or overextending joints, but it's also known to affect the:
gut lining;
blood vessels and heart - hence POTS and aneurysms;
skin - all sorts of skin issues including slow healing, bad scarring, thin easily damaged skin;
can cause spinal instability and some problems with the retention of the brain in the skull;
known link to multiple immune issues, the best known is MCAS - mast cell activation syndrome;
some known neurological issues including vision problems and vertigo.
The problem in the UK is that there are very few specialist centres so patients are dealt with piecemeal, my daughter is seeing a allergy specialist (who is neither helpful, nor has any understanding of EDS) for the significant immune system issues and an amazing rheumatologist for the joint issues, who is aware of EDS. She has seen a gut specialist to deal with the gut problems. ENT, endocrinologist and cardiology to try and manage the fainting. It is not joined up in any way shape or form.
And it's only just being recognised that hEDS can be severely disabling.
She says she doesn't enjoy walking either, but just has to do it to keep what mobility she still has, and that if she doesn't do it she has even more problems. She just keeps going to get the step count. I get very bored of the same circuits around the town repeatedly, she just gets on with it.
I used to do swimming occasionally but I'm not co-ordinated enough to do the breathing the way you're meant to without breathing in half the pool so I end up with a sore neck from keeping my face out of the water.
I'm afraid I can't help you with the cold pool water. However, when I went for my water walk this evening, there was a woman in the pool with the most amazing snorkel ever. I'd never seen anything like it. She said that she get's terribly anxious in the water and this allows her to see and breathe really well so that she can concentrate on her strokes and not worry about breathing.
That surprises me, though tbf I haven’t yet tried. I was considering getting one as I have an intolerance to chlorine that leads me to do the same thing as you describe, trying to swim with my head out of the water. I will check with my local pool first then.
I am currently trying Steel mace training interspersed with kettlebell swings. What I am mostly noticing is that I have become very unfit and have the stamina of a whelk.
I m told one can keep fit with items around the home.
I seem to recall a rash of sprightly young things encouraging everyone to exercise with tins of food and do strange sit up things involving one’s feet and a settee.
That surprises me, though tbf I haven’t yet tried.
Many pools round here won't let you wear any kind of dive / snorkel mask - the only thing you can wear is goggles. The usual reason given is the risk of bumping in to other patrons in a crowded pool with hard, possibly sharp, plastic objects.
Whilst procrastinating about actually doing a workout today (spoiler: it didn’t happen) I started to try and find the evidence base behind warm up and cool down because I have never seen the point. I read this: https://www.ebtofficial.com/fitness/warm-up/
They seem to be saying, if you do 15 minutes of what I would consider heavy exercise - this will make you slightly better at doing more intense exercise directly afterward (though there’s next to no evidence it’ll reduce your chance of injury - however, agility drills before field sports reduce lower limb injury in the longer term).
But what they suggest as a warmup is what I’d think of as - doing some aerobic exercise. This is their summary:
Short Guide on How to Implement the Findings
Conduct an active 10-15-minute warm-up (don’t go to easy- make sure you sweat)
Include strength and power components (push-ups, squats, lunges, sit-ups, jumps and plyometrics etc.)
Include aerobics (light cardio and some sprints)
Include static/dynamic stretching for increased range of motion and priming the muscles, respectively.
If possible, include sports specific exercises (for the gym: balancing movements, squats, jumps and so forth).
How is that not just doing a workout ?
I mean I literally couldn’t do that as it stands - as I currently lack the upper body strength to do a pushup anyway - but does this make sense to anybody ?
The explanation of cool down seems to be stopping exercising suddenly is somehow more stressful on the body than carrying on exercising a bit longer when you are already exhausted. I do not understand the logic of this, and again there appears to be sfa in terms of evidence for doing it.
Whilst procrastinating about actually doing a workout today (spoiler: it didn’t happen) I started to try and find the evidence base behind warm up and cool down because I have never seen the point. I read this: https://www.ebtofficial.com/fitness/warm-up/
They seem to be saying, if you do 15 minutes of what I would consider heavy exercise - this will make you slightly better at doing more intense exercise directly afterward (though there’s next to no evidence it’ll reduce your chance of injury - however, agility drills before field sports reduce lower limb injury in the longer term).
But what they suggest as a warmup is what I’d think of as - doing some aerobic exercise. This is their summary:
Short Guide on How to Implement the Findings
Conduct an active 10-15-minute warm-up (don’t go to easy- make sure you sweat)
Include strength and power components (push-ups, squats, lunges, sit-ups, jumps and plyometrics etc.)
Include aerobics (light cardio and some sprints)
Include static/dynamic stretching for increased range of motion and priming the muscles, respectively.
If possible, include sports specific exercises (for the gym: balancing movements, squats, jumps and so forth).
How is that not just doing a workout ?
I mean I literally couldn’t do that as it stands - as I currently lack the upper body strength to do a pushup anyway - but does this make sense to anybody ?
The explanation of cool down seems to be stopping exercising suddenly is somehow more stressful on the body than carrying on exercising a bit longer when you are already exhausted. I do not understand the logic of this, and again there appears to be sfa in terms of evidence for doing it.
Whilst procrastinating about actually doing a workout today (spoiler: it didn’t happen) I started to try and find the evidence base behind warm up and cool down because I have never seen the point. I read this: https://www.ebtofficial.com/fitness/warm-up/
My kids dance (ballet). They and their friends certainly notice a difference in their ability to perform if they warm up and stretch beforehand vs if they try to go in to it cold (when they have classes, they stretch/warm up as part of the class - often if they have a recital or a show or something, they have to warm up on their own, and are tempted to skip it). They also notice more aches afterwards if they didn't stretch / warm up first.
If I'm being really good and doing a full yoga session, I warm up with some yoga sequences - the salutations to the moon and sun - and cool down with relaxation. But I will, most days, work through 15 minutes yoga by doing the salutations and a few other sequences to keep me moving and supple. (One sequence relocates a hip that is tends to sub-lux.)
In other news, I finished March having walked 494 miles in the first quarter, which is just 6 miles off being on track for walking 2,000 miles this year. Especially when the first quarter is only 90 days (¼ 365 is 91.25) seems to be pretty much right.
Whilst procrastinating about actually doing a workout today (spoiler: it didn’t happen) I started to try and find the evidence base behind warm up and cool down because I have never seen the point. I read this: https://www.ebtofficial.com/fitness/warm-up/
They seem to be saying, if you do 15 minutes of what I would consider heavy exercise - this will make you slightly better at doing more intense exercise directly afterward (though there’s next to no evidence it’ll reduce your chance of injury - however, agility drills before field sports reduce lower limb injury in the longer term).
But what they suggest as a warmup is what I’d think of as - doing some aerobic exercise. This is their summary:
Short Guide on How to Implement the Findings
Conduct an active 10-15-minute warm-up (don’t go to easy- make sure you sweat)
Include strength and power components (push-ups, squats, lunges, sit-ups, jumps and plyometrics etc.)
Include aerobics (light cardio and some sprints)
Include static/dynamic stretching for increased range of motion and priming the muscles, respectively.
If possible, include sports specific exercises (for the gym: balancing movements, squats, jumps and so forth).
How is that not just doing a workout ?
I mean I literally couldn’t do that as it stands - as I currently lack the upper body strength to do a pushup anyway - but does this make sense to anybody ?
The explanation of cool down seems to be stopping exercising suddenly is somehow more stressful on the body than carrying on exercising a bit longer when you are already exhausted. I do not understand the logic of this, and again there appears to be sfa in terms of evidence for doing it.
You see, all of this is part of my problem. These Sport Billies cannot think down to our level. Keenie road cyclists say to take it easy for the first 10 miles as that's the warm up. Or if you're me it's at least half the ride. Or more than all of it, not infrequently. By 10 miles I'm not "warmed up" - I'm starting to work out how much further I've got to go and if there's a short cut.
I googled my problem with painful shins which start within 50 yards of a run. Lots of hits about leg pain after 15 miles...
Because there's a difference between moving smoothly between a series of poses and breathing through them, which are the sequences, and holding and stretching such poses for 30s, 1 minute, 5 , 10, 15 or more, depending on pose, which is what the full workout would include. But gently stretching between various positions to warm up gets the muscles ready to do so.
Whilst procrastinating about actually doing a workout today (spoiler: it didn’t happen) I started to try and find the evidence base behind warm up and cool down because I have never seen the point.
I do so understand and sympathise with every word of your post! My exercise is walking up and down the close, so I start very slowly and end up after about 55 minutes walking at what I consider is a reasonable pace for my age and state of health!
Similarly, when I use the tap board, I do a very much reduced version of the warm-up the class always used to do.
I googled my problem with painful shins which start within 50 yards of a run. Lots of hits about leg pain after 15 miles...
Having discovered a few weeks ago that the shin pain I've had on and off for years is a slightly torn meniscus, I wonder whether that info helps at all
Having discovered a few weeks ago that the shin pain I've had on and off for years is a slightly torn meniscus, I wonder whether that info helps at all
Only if both of them are torn. But my pain is quite a long way from my knees and has been a problem for decades.
I learn our village cricket team is absolutely desperate.
I like tea, sandwiches, cake and beer so I think I have the basic qualifications.
Here goes nothing.
Go for it!
I was always crap at football, and having played rough 5-a-side with blokes from work (where one could bounce a ball, or a body, off a wall) for a couple of years, boys I grew up with said, when we met up, 'hey, you're not as shite as you used to be!'
So if you don't bowl, field somewhere in the outfield, and bat at 10 or 11, you'll be fine. And if you go to practice, you may (like me) even get less-shite.
My bro-in-law, who reads physics books for fun, once joined a 'jazz-dance' class to broaden his horizons. The women there adopted him as a kind of mascot. He was appalling, but it was great fun...
Yeah, I have to field somewhere far enough out that I'm not expected to catch a ball a fraction of a second after it leaves a bat, but not so far out that my rather poor throwing distance becomes a problem.
My bowling career at school lasted 10 seconds:
"Let's see you try, T" (we were assumed not to have first names at my school)
I try.
Ball sails into the air lands on neighbouring pitch.*
"Probably best if you don't bowl, T"
Furthest I ever got a cricket ball, that. Shame it was completely in the wrong direction and wasn't meant to go a long way.
*I had form for this sort of thing. Air pistols in the firing range (yes it was that sort of school), 10 slugs each. At the end there were only about 7 holes in my target but mysteriously 11 in that of the boy next to me...
About breathing while swimming: this is why I like the backstroke. Athletic swimmers time their breaths, but I don't think about it.
I got fed up bumping into people. I find pool water too cold anyway these days, especially in more serious pools set for lane swimming.
We all used to have to swim at school. Everyone had to do a couple of lengths of each stroke: successful completion earned your house a point; doing it in under certain times earned additional points (I think up to 4 total per stroke.) So I gamely leaped in to the (open air) pool and began my back stroke, and kept on going until my arm hit the side of the pool, whereupon I was surprised to discover that I was at the side of the pool, having swum in roughly a quarter circle. Sadly for my house, they didn't count circumnavigating the pool in short arcs as "succesfull completion".
Shooting, on the other hand, I was reasonable at (bolt-action rifles chambered in .22 short, I think) - not quite good enough to shoot for the school, but somewhere close.
We had swimming lessons at school which focussed on those who were good at swimming; those of us who weren't were left to their own devices. I gave up swimming as soon as I could, but we had weekly lessons for at least the first couple of years. When I finished I was no better at it than I had been on the very first week. I didn't care at the time - was just glad to get out of it - but I now think what a missed opportunity it was.
Yesterday I didn't do much actual exercise, but I discovered the place in Christchurch were I could buy new rubber tips for my Nordic walking poles as I have again managed to wear out the replacement pairs I bought for both poles, which made them uncomfortable to use.
Next to the shop where I bought them is Christchurch's biggest ebike shop. I am so tempted to bankrupt myself and buy one. All the info I've read claims ebike riders get more exercise because they bike further than they would on a traditional bike. I can believe that. I no longer bike to town, which I used to do on a regular basis since I fell down the steps onto the driveway and hurt my knee.
Apart from the cost, the other worry is security. A Wellington woman found her bike which had been stolen on Trade Me, ( NZ's equivalent to e-bay). She set up a sting and pinched it back, The bloke who stole it was all set to beat her up when the cops arrived. He had previously served time for manslaughter, so she was lucky.
After getting the new tips the poles are so comfortable I was planning to get organised with my walking. Coincidently the City Council have transferred the Walking Festival from November to April - May so I don't even have to plan interesting places to walk. Walks are graded, so I already know what to avoid and although The Gruffalo Hunt sounds interesting, I don't really think it's aimed at my age group.
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Ah, but I was accumulating different items; first the hardware, then some general groceries, then the artisanal bakery, then the organic place because I couldn't get grinder salt in the Co-op, then our local butcher.
You can lose weight and improve your fitness by walking. The heavier you are the less you need to start with.
I tried the couch to 5k and loathed it with about as much passion as the rest of you.
* Ehlers Danlos Syndrome (Hypermobility)
That's quite the evocative image!
At the time this was recommended she was attending hospital at least once a month for relocation of sub-luxed joints. These days I relocate at least one of her joints most days. We walk at least 10,000 steps a day to maintain her mobility as it is.
@Heavenlyannie my daughter's walking sticks (came from Trespass, and are adjustable) are meant to sit so that when her hand is in position her elbow and wrist are horizontal.
On a more positive note, my walking pulse is generally normal now and often in the 90s, not like last summer when it was in the 120s. That is almost certainly down to a high fluid intake and regular walking.
I am trying to institute a series of neck/shoulder/arm stretches of a morning, but I really pine for the availability of a masseuse.
@Lamb Chopped - that is interesting you find this too about running. I never know if it's an EDS thing or an autistic thing for me, because I've also talked to autistic people on MyFitnessPal who had the same issue - one guy described it so well, and I'd never put it into words before, but was describing exactly what I experience, and he thought it was an autistic, sensory thing. Maybe it can happens with a variety of conditions, or maybe they had EDS too and weren't diagnosed. But it does feel at least partly like a sensory thing for me.
@Firenze - do you like swimming? Because I've had an issue with really tight, painful neck, shoulders and arms for months (I'm also really missing massage therapy), and stretching exercises weren't making a lot of difference, but when I went swimming the other day, they loosened up a lot and are feeling much better. I think outdoor swimming pools are starting to be opened now, at least in England - I don't know about other parts of the UK. But I went in the sea, because the outdoor pool in the gym I go to isn't open yet.
I used to do swimming occasionally but I'm not co-ordinated enough to do the breathing the way you're meant to without breathing in half the pool so I end up with a sore neck from keeping my face out of the water.
These days I just find swimming pool water too damned cold.
It sounds like a litany of moans but other people find things they actually enjoy so why do I find everything physical so bloody unpleasant?
Geocaching kept us sane during the first lockdown, and checking caches has meant we have had some reasons to walk through this one. (Mostly it's been frustrating as we'd found all the local findable caches and publication of new ones only started this week again.)
Cycling not so much now. Problem is if a ride's half uphill and half downhill, in time it's mostly uphill. And we don't do flat around here.
I can't reliably through a single item in the air and catch it with both hands. I class juggling along with ice skating and squash as something essentially impossible, but which some people are inexplicably able to do.
This is part of the problem. My co-ordination is so shocking that anything fun is ruled out. I'd quite like to play cricket but who wants a game with someone who's usually bowled out first ball, or alternatively, should he make contact, knocks the ball straight into the bowlers hands? Especially when he also can't catch a ball, can't throw it more than a few metres and can't bowl so that the ball lands on the right pitch?
I am not exaggerating. I am that bad.
A friend tried to teach me once, insisting it was just I hadn't been shown how. He stomped off after 30 minutes of absolutely no progress whatsoever.
Apparently there is a known link, as yet unexplained.
For those who don't know what we're talking about, EDS is a genetic disorder that changes the formation of collagen in the body. This affects the ligaments and tendons, hence all the concerns about not straining or overextending joints, but it's also known to affect the:
The problem in the UK is that there are very few specialist centres so patients are dealt with piecemeal, my daughter is seeing a allergy specialist (who is neither helpful, nor has any understanding of EDS) for the significant immune system issues and an amazing rheumatologist for the joint issues, who is aware of EDS. She has seen a gut specialist to deal with the gut problems. ENT, endocrinologist and cardiology to try and manage the fainting. It is not joined up in any way shape or form.
And it's only just being recognised that hEDS can be severely disabling.
She says she doesn't enjoy walking either, but just has to do it to keep what mobility she still has, and that if she doesn't do it she has even more problems. She just keeps going to get the step count. I get very bored of the same circuits around the town repeatedly, she just gets on with it.
I'm afraid I can't help you with the cold pool water. However, when I went for my water walk this evening, there was a woman in the pool with the most amazing snorkel ever. I'd never seen anything like it. She said that she get's terribly anxious in the water and this allows her to see and breathe really well so that she can concentrate on her strokes and not worry about breathing.
I am currently trying Steel mace training interspersed with kettlebell swings. What I am mostly noticing is that I have become very unfit and have the stamina of a whelk.
I seem to recall a rash of sprightly young things encouraging everyone to exercise with tins of food and do strange sit up things involving one’s feet and a settee.
It ‘s never appealed
Many pools round here won't let you wear any kind of dive / snorkel mask - the only thing you can wear is goggles. The usual reason given is the risk of bumping in to other patrons in a crowded pool with hard, possibly sharp, plastic objects.
They seem to be saying, if you do 15 minutes of what I would consider heavy exercise - this will make you slightly better at doing more intense exercise directly afterward (though there’s next to no evidence it’ll reduce your chance of injury - however, agility drills before field sports reduce lower limb injury in the longer term).
But what they suggest as a warmup is what I’d think of as - doing some aerobic exercise. This is their summary:
How is that not just doing a workout ?
I mean I literally couldn’t do that as it stands - as I currently lack the upper body strength to do a pushup anyway - but does this make sense to anybody ?
The explanation of cool down seems to be stopping exercising suddenly is somehow more stressful on the body than carrying on exercising a bit longer when you are already exhausted. I do not understand the logic of this, and again there appears to be sfa in terms of evidence for doing it.
Ummmm, yup, that would be a complete workout!
My kids dance (ballet). They and their friends certainly notice a difference in their ability to perform if they warm up and stretch beforehand vs if they try to go in to it cold (when they have classes, they stretch/warm up as part of the class - often if they have a recital or a show or something, they have to warm up on their own, and are tempted to skip it). They also notice more aches afterwards if they didn't stretch / warm up first.
In other news, I finished March having walked 494 miles in the first quarter, which is just 6 miles off being on track for walking 2,000 miles this year. Especially when the first quarter is only 90 days (¼ 365 is 91.25) seems to be pretty much right.
You see, all of this is part of my problem. These Sport Billies cannot think down to our level. Keenie road cyclists say to take it easy for the first 10 miles as that's the warm up. Or if you're me it's at least half the ride. Or more than all of it, not infrequently. By 10 miles I'm not "warmed up" - I'm starting to work out how much further I've got to go and if there's a short cut.
I googled my problem with painful shins which start within 50 yards of a run. Lots of hits about leg pain after 15 miles...
That's what I thought, but was too polite to say ...
Manu slorty types aren't given to logical thought.
It goes like this:
"Why do you play so much football?
"To get fit"
"Why do you need to be fit?"
"To be able to play football, obviously!"
Similarly, when I use the tap board, I do a very much reduced version of the warm-up the class always used to do.
Only if both of them are torn. But my pain is quite a long way from my knees and has been a problem for decades.
I like tea, sandwiches, cake and beer so I think I have the basic qualifications.
Here goes nothing.
I got fed up bumping into people. I find pool water too cold anyway these days, especially in more serious pools set for lane swimming.
Go for it!
I was always crap at football, and having played rough 5-a-side with blokes from work (where one could bounce a ball, or a body, off a wall) for a couple of years, boys I grew up with said, when we met up, 'hey, you're not as shite as you used to be!'
So if you don't bowl, field somewhere in the outfield, and bat at 10 or 11, you'll be fine. And if you go to practice, you may (like me) even get less-shite.
My bro-in-law, who reads physics books for fun, once joined a 'jazz-dance' class to broaden his horizons. The women there adopted him as a kind of mascot. He was appalling, but it was great fun...
My bowling career at school lasted 10 seconds:
"Let's see you try, T" (we were assumed not to have first names at my school)
I try.
Ball sails into the air lands on neighbouring pitch.*
"Probably best if you don't bowl, T"
Furthest I ever got a cricket ball, that. Shame it was completely in the wrong direction and wasn't meant to go a long way.
*I had form for this sort of thing. Air pistols in the firing range (yes it was that sort of school), 10 slugs each. At the end there were only about 7 holes in my target but mysteriously 11 in that of the boy next to me...
We all used to have to swim at school. Everyone had to do a couple of lengths of each stroke: successful completion earned your house a point; doing it in under certain times earned additional points (I think up to 4 total per stroke.) So I gamely leaped in to the (open air) pool and began my back stroke, and kept on going until my arm hit the side of the pool, whereupon I was surprised to discover that I was at the side of the pool, having swum in roughly a quarter circle. Sadly for my house, they didn't count circumnavigating the pool in short arcs as "succesfull completion".
Shooting, on the other hand, I was reasonable at (bolt-action rifles chambered in .22 short, I think) - not quite good enough to shoot for the school, but somewhere close.
Yesterday I didn't do much actual exercise, but I discovered the place in Christchurch were I could buy new rubber tips for my Nordic walking poles as I have again managed to wear out the replacement pairs I bought for both poles, which made them uncomfortable to use.
Next to the shop where I bought them is Christchurch's biggest ebike shop. I am so tempted to bankrupt myself and buy one. All the info I've read claims ebike riders get more exercise because they bike further than they would on a traditional bike. I can believe that. I no longer bike to town, which I used to do on a regular basis since I fell down the steps onto the driveway and hurt my knee.
Apart from the cost, the other worry is security. A Wellington woman found her bike which had been stolen on Trade Me, ( NZ's equivalent to e-bay). She set up a sting and pinched it back, The bloke who stole it was all set to beat her up when the cops arrived. He had previously served time for manslaughter, so she was lucky.
After getting the new tips the poles are so comfortable I was planning to get organised with my walking. Coincidently the City Council have transferred the Walking Festival from November to April - May so I don't even have to plan interesting places to walk. Walks are graded, so I already know what to avoid and although The Gruffalo Hunt sounds interesting, I don't really think it's aimed at my age group.