Back on track with the stretching/yoga program.

by Ted Sedgwick on July 23, 2009

 

_42456360_ap416driver

 

 

 

 

    

 

    This has been a successful week with no interruptions allowed to my program! I say ‘allowed’ because I find this to be a mental achievement as much as a physical one – there are always rationalizations for missing a session! My exercise program introduces new exercises or more advanced (difficult!) forms of previous exercises each day but the time commitment is less than 30 minutes. I’ve reached a stage where I look forward to these sessions and enjoy the satisfaction of completing them. I must admit that the commitment to this blog is a definite incentive as well!

 
I was watching a demonstration of Brazilian martial arts in the park last weekend. Years ago I might have considered it an inspirational display of agility and flexibility. Now I only watch and hope that they don’t hurt themselves!  Another clue to my ‘demographic’!

 
It is sometimes difficult to judge my progress. I have noticed an improvement in upper body –neck/shoulders – flexibility but at times my legs feel like lead! I commute to work by bicycle and I suspect that cycling is counter-productive to flexibility improvement. But then so is sitting in my office chair. Onward…

{ 1 comment }

No Pain, No Gain? You’ve Got to be Kidding Me.

by Jolene Cooper on July 21, 2009

I thought this was supposed to get easier. Not easy, but easier.
The goals were set, the strategies were laid out and the schedule was made. 
The only thing left to do was to get out there and run, sweat, and make salads.
So why did I only manage to get out and run twice last week? What broke down the plan so early in the game? What went wrong?

Bootcamp. That’s what happened.

I took a bootcamp fitness class last Tuesday, and spent the rest of my week in recovery. All my muscles were aching. No, aching is not the right word. My muscles were screaming at me, scolding me for causing them so much pain. Even muscles I didn’t know I had were hurting. And I’m a kin grad; I know my muscles. 

I spent most of last week struggling up and down stairs, so running wasn’t really a viable activity.  This humbling experience, did however teach me two valuable lessons.

1. Know your limits
I’ve participated in intense fitness classes before, and was reminded why I stopped taking them in the past.  Some masochist coined the phrase “No pain, no gain” but I think it has to be the right type of pain. I would describe good pain in the days following a tough workout as ‘stiffness’; a gentle reminder that you’ve been neglecting those muscles for too long.  Any pain that dramatically interferes with daily activities is not the pain I’m looking for.  I definitely got the hint that I’ve been neglecting specific muscle groups; I think I’ll find alternative ways of working them out from now on. I would love to be able to continue the bootcamp workout, and work out with less intensity, but the pace of the class is set for the larger group, so my pace may disrupt the flow of the group.

2. Know when to push yourself
This lesson may seem to contradict the first one, but a little bit of pain or stiffness is good.  With exercise, there’s a plateau effect. What this means is that you can’t do the exact same workout every day for years and expect to see drastic changes in physique overtime. Our muscles adapt quickly and become more efficient, so to continue to see improvements in strength and physique, you’ve got to continually challenge yourself.  Let me use an example.  If I run the same distance every day, at approximately the same speed, after a few weeks, I’m not going to get any faster or slimmer from running. To break out of the plateau, I can run faster, run a longer distance, run uphill, or a combination of these.  The important thing to remember is to know when to push yourself, and know how far to push yourself. It is pretty clear to me that Bootcamp pushed me too far, so if I’m ever brave enough to return to the class, I’ll try to scale it back a bit. 

Keep these lessons in mind on your own journey to fitness and hopefully they’ll be much less painful than mine.

{ 2 comments }

Look Mom! I Have Muscles I Never Knew Were Supposed to Be There!

by Suzanne Jolly on July 21, 2009

Clothes for Confidence

My yoga clothes are the same clothes that I wear when I often go rock climbing.  They’re a little battered by being scraped along rock faces, but they’re clothes that always make me feel powerful and strong.  (We need more clothes like this in our closest by the way).  I was nervous to try out yoga, but I put on those clothes to give me the extra motivation.

I realized as I waited to enter the yoga studio, that everyone else there was fairly new, and fairly nervous about the same things as me.  And that I was capable of trying this out, and if I didn’t like it, then I wouldn’t likely see any of those strangers again, so who cares!?

So yes, I did yoga last night (It’s likely my fifth yoga class in my life- and the first time since I started this blog.) And I really really liked it.

I’m A Yoga Cynic

Honestly, yoga seems like this huge fad- I equate it with beautiful women who are all wrapped up in “feeling one with the earth” and all that jazz.  So I’ve been a bit of a yoga cynic.  I only wanted to do this yoga thing because I’m so tired of my aching back and neck.

But you know what?  When you open your mind, and ignore all the lululemon-clad gorgeous women (yes, they were there!), yoga is really rather fantastic. (Did I really just say that!?)

It’s All About Me

I liked that it focuses so much on yourself. It’s about how you are today.  Rock climbing has taught me the same humbling lesson: Some days, I can climb 5.11s and make it look easy, while other days I struggle and whimper my way up the rock as if I never climbed before.  I found that yoga is definitely humbling for me, despite the fact that I think climbing has made me fairly strong and flexible!  There are some poses that I seem to be able to do but there are some that are definitely difficult or currently impossible.  So I’ve realized that my body has FAR more muscles in it than I was aware of, and that I am FAR less flexible than I had previously believed.

And you know what’s so good about that?  Is that in a yoga class, they seem to say that it’s all ok to be at where you are that day.  Maybe I can’t bend over and put my palms on the ground. That’s ok.  Maybe I can’t stay up in a pushup as long as I thought. That’s ok.  Maybe I lose my balance a little.  That’s ok too.

There are far too few times in our world when we’re encouraged to hold ourselves with such loving acceptance.   So I’m ok with having found muscles that don’t know really how to do what they’re made to do.  Especially since I plan on checking in with them more often, and figuring out how to build them up. 

I Can’t Wait to Return!?

I felt so energized and grounded after yoga that I couldn’t wait to do it again. I’m going back on Thursday…maybe even meeting a friend today or tomorrow to get a little yoga in via DVD.

And in terms of my neck and back- I’ve found some muscles there that are so tight and some that are so under-used, that it seems that this yoga thing might just be what my body needs.  We’ll see how this goes!

(and on another note, I just want to put out a special thanks to my body for remembering how to digest food and overcome illness so that I could feel well enough to do yoga this week!)

{ 2 comments }

Journey to Good Health

by Rick Byers on July 20, 2009

If you are like me, you have enjoyed a marvelous history of being a ‘ red meat and potatoes’ man. And I know I am not alone. The numbers in my generation are likely so large that we can have our own international organization: Meat Lovers of the World.

 

At the same time, we might as well sign up for regular blood pressure checks and cholesterol readings. With having a slower metabolism at my age, I realized that I can no longer ignore the fact that I must be more diligent and prudent with my intake of red meat and potatoes. To be clear, there is nothing wrong with red meat and potatoes. However for me, I must be more responsible in my consumption.

 

Bearing this I mind, I have increased my frequency of eating chicken and fish. The result has been twofold: 1. I have rediscovered how great chicken and fish taste and 2. I am feeling less heavy.

 

I have not eaten potatoes now for about 3 ½ weeks. Initially, I thought that I could limit myself to a smaller portion but that practice did not last. After a busy day, I would feel that I could ‘reward’ myself with an extra portion that included extra butter. So, I have had to stop eating potatoes altogether and supplement my meals with brown rice or sometimes pasta. The result has been twofold again: 1. I no longer miss potatoes and 2. I am feeling less heavy.

 

Additionally, I have stopped eating anything fried and drinking soda, even diet. I have noticed that when I stopped eating fried foods, my craving for salt significantly dropped. As per my last three BP readings, my blood pressure has dropped by 10%. My heart threw an appreciation party for me. As I replaced soda drinking with water consumption, I have noticed that my energy level has gone up.

 

For supper, I now eat a small side salad with one dollop of low fat salad dressing.  No salt on the salad as I used to do before. And the result?  No difference in taste of the salad. But on a plus sides, I am feeling better – less sluggish.

 

These are again a few simple measures that I have taken towards losing weight and increasing overall energy. Remember, I still have yet to give you a report back on the weight loss but, as we know, I have a few more weeks to go.

 

For next week, I would like to continue with the diet a bit more and then to my biggest challenge: eating habits.

  
Have a week of good health,
 
Rick

{ 2 comments }

← Previous Entries

Next Entries →