Daily Exercise

Sat: unexpected full day, no exercise
Sun: weights
Mon: cardio
Tue: away for the day, no exercise
Wed: alternate class (including running up and down stairs, and lots of falling off a Bosu)
Thu: rest (well, a bunch of walking which helped loosen the legs after previous day)
Fri (today): did some rolling and core exercises

Oh, and went to the chiropractor today for a not bad but nagging sore hip issue and, after coming back home, found one of the electrodes still stuck on my back.

Sat: weights
Sun: cardio
Mon: class
Tue: weights
Wed: very fatigued for some reason and no exercise
Thu (today): class (still moderately fatigued, didn't do terribly well but pushed myself -- so yay)

And these posts are getting a little dry, so .... let's see ... an little anecdote from some time ago.

[overused, televison wavey fade-in effect]

I do that thing called "plyoga". Despite the name, it's very little like yoga, and more like masochistic boot camp. It mostly makes use of plyometrics, which is what drill instructors started doing a number of years ago when they decided calisthenics weren't sadistic enough, but otherwise looks fairly similar.

A few months ago, they started offering plyoga as a new class. The instructor asked people in the other class I originally went to, "So who's coming to plyoga?"

Now, I'd looked at some videos online after seeing the description on the community centre calendar. It looked way too hard for me at that point. But I thought that the local class would probably be modified in some way and made easier, right? And the instructor will probably soft sell it anyways. So I'm expecting comments like: "It's not that bad" or "You can do it". That sort of thing.

Therefore I venture, "Is it as hard as the videos I see online?"

The instructor only says, "Yes."

Oh good.

I tried it anyways. And I almost had to be carried out on a stretcher after the first time.

So when they say "Go as hard as you can." They actually mean "Pace yourself."

I had a very rough week or so, with daily bad mood swings.
Got a fair amount done anyways, at least at first.

Fri: normally a rest day (hoped to do some rolling and core -- hope took a hike and thus got more exercise than I did -- no big deal though)
Sat: weights (really, really didn't want to do it that day -- had a huge "We're not having an argument" tussle in my head -- but finally got started and maintained amounts/reps)
Sun: cardio (meh, moderate reluctance, moderate exertion, but got it done)
Mon: class (nothing of note to report (no enemy activity in this sector))
Tue: weights (feeling very dispirited in general, another slog)
Wed: cardio (???, depressed autopilot)
Thu: class (okay, I guess)
Fri: rest from exercise day, usually (had to do lots of manual labor that was not helpful exercise)
Sat: didn't do anything (felt badly, mentally -- and sore and tired physically)
Sun: another nothing day (really felt a need to "recover" somehow)
Mon (today): class (low intensity, it helped)

(some entries from journal notes -- so varying mood in prose, your mileage may vary, batteries not included, sorry no C.O.D.s)

Cepheid, that is quite some week!

I am ashamed to admit my exercise has stalled, a mixture of reasons, some physical, some mental (motivation). Tonight I WILL go to my running group, and just to make sure I will check in here afterwards.

Coming back to fitness after a long bout of illness. Or trying to, but finding it difficult as I'm still suffering with fair amount of pain throughout the day.

Hopefully joining this thread will help keep me accountable and consistent. I want to thank all the awesome people for contributing to this motivating thread. Reading your posts inspire me to push through the mental and physical obstacles. :)

Sat: Walk around park and strength intervals 5X.
Sun: Walk around park and strength intervals 5X.
Mon: (Sore and tired from lack of sleep)
Tues: (? Hopefully)

Well I'm posting back to say I did go to group tonight and ran over 5km.

Bad news is my knee did hurt a bit.

Welcome Hearty!

Kudos to you for running 5k+! Sorry to hear about your knees though. Been dealing with sore knees myself so I've been walking and avoiding stairs/running. Have you tried Menthol balm, icing, and self massage? They seem to really help. Hope your knees feel better soon.

Thanks for the kind welcome, Prefabsprout! :)

Yeah, well, nothing like a little amateur colour commentary on my part.

Congratulations! Show that wagon whose boss!

Evenings are a tough time for me to do workouts. So, I'm impressed. Sorry about the knee though.

My knees just feel a little sore/tired at times. Not actually painful, but not right either. Probably just over exerted them at some point. But I'm giving them a rest and I found various knee-friendly leg exercises to be on the safe side. I'll be seeing a doctor in awhile and I'll have them check it out regardless.

Let me add my welcome too. Great to have another person around.

I'm sorry to hear about the lingering pain. It sounds like you're inspirational yourself.

Oh my. We have some kind of sad knee club going.

Hope everyones knees are okay today!

I ran 5k this morning a bit of a plod but no knee pain.

Ps Thanks for tips Hearty. I am finding foam rollering helps and also strengthening exercises (clams and side leg raises with theraband)

Hey prefabsprout, good going.

I just haven't been getting my established weight routines done, what with having to drop a whole bunch of stuff because of the knees and just feeling bleech lately. Then I had to stop a set in class the other day, due to sore wrists. That was sort of the final straw.

For the moment, I'm dropping my regular weights altogether and going back to physiotherapy and stabilization. It's frustrating to go backwards like that, but I think it's wise at this point. It's certainly better than not doing anything at all, which looked like it was going to happen.

I just finished a bunch of knee, leg, wrist, and core moves using some stairs, light weights, theraband, and a newel post. I need to sort out a proper routine and stick with it.

And at least I should be able to keep up my usual cardio.

Good job, prefabsprout! Yay for 5k's without knee pain!

CepheidVariable, are you using gloves while lifting? I've been using heavy-duty lift gloves with long wrist straps, and it's significantly reduced the pain in my wrists and hands.

Thank you so much for the kind words and welcome, CepheidVariable! Love this thread.

The park, usually vibrant with all kinds of people and activities was desolate due to cold and rain today. I dreaded getting out of my toasty warm car, but I bundled up in my down jacket and did my usual low-impact workout. Once I got warmed up, the cold wind was energizing and it was fun to smile and say hi to an occasional runner and walker passing by.

Sat: Speed walk + Strength Intervals 5x

Thanks for the tip. Actually, my home weight routine seems fairly benign on the wrists. It was doing plain-old push ups in class (20x3 in intervals, ugh -- I'm sure I couldn't have done 60 anyways) that caused trouble because it puts a lot of pressure on the wrist taking my weight at a hard 90 degree angle. I think it's just that my wrists are always slow to develop strength, and so become a weak point.

So there's this:
https://breakingmuscle.com/learn/7-e...ength?page=0,1

I'm glad to hear about your good day, and congratulations on getting it done. Heh, it just occurred to me -- "a walk in the park". Sorry, just kidding.

So, I'm curious, what kind of strength intervals do you do in the park?

"A walk in the park." Haha Well yes it is...once I'm out there! Don't know about you but it's always a challenge getting myself off the sofa and out the door. But after I'm outside and warmed up, moving my body becomes a fun and easy walk in the park.

Due to chronic pain, I'm doing gentle, short reps of pushups, lunges, planks, and various leg and ab work intermixed with low impact cardio. I'm taking it slow as I don't want to set myself back even further with more pain. I'm hoping to get at least 75% of my physical strength back within 6 months or so...

I was asking you about lift gloves because I always wear them during pushups to take the weight/pressure off my wrists. You might want to try them as they've lessened my wrist pain.

How long have you been working out? You seem like a seasoned fitness buff. Thanks for the heads up on the fitness website. I can't wait to peruse through it. It looks really good!

Hey Hearty!

1. Oh yes, with exercise, getting started is always the hardest part for me.

2. Ah of course, for some silly reason I thought you were doing your strength intervals in the park in your down jacket. Sounds good. I do fine with bridge, but struggle with proper plank for any real length of time.

3. Good idea. I should try the lift gloves for class, so I can keep up.

4. Seasoned fitness buff? Hardly. I went to a gym and got a personalized program around 20 years ago. Since then, pretty sedentary until about six months ago. Then I got serious about my health and using it to help with my depression. So I asked around and did some research.

And I don't know about the web site as a whole. I'm not really into actual "bodybuilding" myself. I honestly haven't gotten around to checking it all out. But the article and video seemed like one of the better ones I found regarding wrist strengthening. Please feel free to share anything useful you find.

I hope you have a good day.

Accountability check in:

Tue: cardio (not what I was supposed to do, but better to do something)
Wed: no workout (did some physiotherapy, not feeling so good)
Thu: class (struggled and felt frustrated, but got over that since at least I went)
Fri: rest day (was even somewhat restful)
Sat: aforementioned physio/stabilization/strengthening -- let's call this conditioning (felt kind of nice to do something new)
Sun: cardio (the usual)
Mon: class (la la la)

Today (Tuesday) I'm posting before my routine. I guess you'll all just have to be in dreadful suspense until the next not-so-exciting-episode.

Great to read everyone is getting on well, I too struggle with getting out the door - it's usually easier after that.

I also struggle to plank with proper form for long, I got advised to use elbows but that feels harder (even more so since I gashed one this summer coming off my bike). I do need to do more core work.

Got out for a slow 5k pad around this morning and my knee held out fine. I need to do this more often, but my instinct is telling me to keep the pace down and relax. My main goal is mood management.

This week's accountability check-in.

Tue: conditioning (settling into something of a routine)
Wed: cardio (did reasonably well)
Thu: class (was able to push to a good level of fatigue)
Fri: rest day
Sat: conditioning (feels too light, still not really happy with this)
Sun: cardio (nothing special)
Mon (today): class (calf muscles asked questions I didn't have answers to)

Tue: conditioning (too distracted to expand the program, still needs more work, gah -- excuses)
Wed: cardio (hard start, but settled in)
Thu: class (pretty good really)
Fri: rest day
Sat: conditioning (forgot to do wrists...grrr)
Sun: cardio (meter thingy went on the blink, performance unknown but I think good)
Mon: class (lots of stretchy stuff)

The knees feel better, so that's good. I just really need to get my stuff together with my conditioning program -- mainly some core work and ramping up the difficulty a little in some areas.

Good going Ceph, you are very consistent!

I have been gradually getting out running a bit more again, I like running in the frost and cold. Have even managed a 10k last Thursday which is the furthest I've ran since my half marathon and so far my knee is holding up well.