Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Time to upgrade to the new model?

I've figured out how to get my cardio in during the week. While most of my walk is kind of stop and go due to traffic, I'm able to just tack on an extra block or so of walking to the end of it that gets me to roughly 20 minutes of consistently cardio. It takes me a little longer to get home and I feel utterly miserable for it, but it gives me an excuse to shower in the evening, which is kind of nice.

Unfortunately I think I've done something weird to my left hip because now it hurts when I move my leg while walking. I'm gonna ease off on the lunges and extended route home for a while and see if it clears up. I swear, my body is trying to dismantle itself.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

In trying to jump rope today for the first time since elementary school, I've determined that my body's drivers are so far out of date they might not even be compatible with the hardware. I could not for the life of me perform the simple feat of coordination of making my arms sync up with my jumping. The best I could do was bouncing on the balls of my feet twice for every swing of the rope. If I tried to swing the rope faster I'd either reflexively bounce faster or, ridiculously, higher, which obviously did not work out. Trying to drop a hop to sync and bring up the speed of both together just resulted in me whipping myself about the toes and ankles. Eventually I just gave up and stuck with the 2:1 ratio for the rest of my time, which would still fall apart after 90 seconds at most. It was hilariously bad, and I'm so glad I wasn't doing this in public. I'm sure I looked like I spilled a whole soda in my keyboard and tried to play QWOP.

Par for the course. I had trouble starting out too, and I have read that the double skip is easier for beginners. You'll be doing it consistently within a week, but you probably won't be able to skip 20 minutes consecutively with a single hop per swing.

[DakAttack]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

If your crunches aren't giving you the pain that you'd like, try putting your arms up above your head while you're flat on your back, fingers touching, directly towards the ceiling. If that's not enough, put a dumbbell between your fingers. Just make sure you're pushing up straight to the ceiling.

[Taskmage]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Sappier than I would usually post, but ...

[DakAttack]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Lately, when I work out, I feel as though my heart continues to beat at an elevated rate, even hours after the exercise. It makes me feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen, even when I'm laying down and breathing deeply. Has anybody else had this problem?

[Takelli]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Hours after you exercise? Not sure about that. Usually it stays like that for a few minutes for me, but goes back to normal.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Lately, when I work out, I feel as though my heart continues to beat at an elevated rate, even hours after the exercise. It makes me feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen, even when I'm laying down and breathing deeply. Has anybody else had this problem?

That sounds like something you might want to ask your doctor about.

[Raydeus]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Some types of routines do pump your circulatory system into overdrive hours and even days after you exercise, specially if you over do it. But it depends on whether you just switched to a new routine that's causing this (while you get used to it) or are just starting over after a long time without exercise.

But I agree, if you don't think it's normal you should ask a Physician just to be sure.

[DakAttack]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

It's definitely something I plan on bringing up at my physical on Monday. Hopefully the doc will have some idea of what the problem might be. For now, I just try to limit any strenuous activity.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Lately, when I work out, I feel as though my heart continues to beat at an elevated rate, even hours after the exercise. It makes me feel like I'm not getting enough oxygen, even when I'm laying down and breathing deeply. Has anybody else had this problem?

When I overexert myself I usually end up dizzy and nauseus after the the work out, and have to stay put for like 15 minutes just to avoid throwing up and then end up throwing up anyways. After that I feel pretty winded for an hour or two, no matter how deep I breathe. I've never had an elevated heart rate last long after a workout though. Definitely bring it up with the doctor.

[DakAttack]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

I had my physical and there's nothing wrong with me. Well, there's a few things wrong with me, but only one of them that would mess with my heart rate, and that's the anxiety. I don't know if it's something I should push through or just give some time to. Also, my left kidney isn't emptying properly.

[Taskmage]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Checking in. I went about two weeks without doing any exercise—one being sick in bed, another being semi-depressed and unmotivated—but I started doing daily cardio again on Sunday, and I'll start my strength exercises this afternoon. Jumping rope is still harder than it has any reasonable right to be, but my coordination is improving and I can get to 20-30 with or without the extra bounce now before tripping up. Can't go continuously for the entire 20 minutes yet, though that's probably more of a willpower problem than anything else. After every trip I spend a minute pacing and panting. My heart rate stays up the entire time and I still feel about like collapsing by the end of the session, so hopefully I'm getting almost all of the effect.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

I find marking my exercise on my calendar helps. Just shade in one of the corners of a day based on what you did. So far I've got three colors, one for cardio, one for strength training and one for half-assed strength training(usually for when I skip lunges due to knees hurting).

While I haven't hit everything as consistently as I'd like, the visual record helps to keep me motivated. Even if you don't get the full workout in, I think it's important to keep the routine going, both for establishing the pattern as well as for making sure you don't give up and let all those muscles begin to atrophy again.

[Armando]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Glad to hear your physical went well Dak.

Can't go continuously for the entire 20 minutes yet, though that's probably more of a willpower problem than anything else. After every trip I spend a minute pacing and panting. My heart rate stays up the entire time and I still feel about like collapsing by the end of the session, so hopefully I'm getting almost all of the effect.

Same here, jumping rope is really fucking hard. Don't expect to go 20 minutes nonstop any time soon.

While I haven't hit everything as consistently as I'd like, the visual record helps to keep me motivated.

Funny, I saw this tip on Lifehacker before. Apparently someone asked Jerry Seinfeld for advice and he said to write every single day, and he used the calendar trick to make sure he did. Apparently it works pretty well and will even work on children if you offer them rewards for long, unbroken chains. Been contemplating doing that myself to get into the habit of drawing, instead of doing it like twice a year. I always draw something, say it sucks, and then don't do it again for a long time.

(usually for when I skip lunges due to knees hurting).

If lunges cause you knee pain you should stop and find a different exercise. Joint pain is never good.

In other news I started at around 100 lbs about 2 months ago and I can now squat 235 lbs. Feels good man. I've made absolutely 0 progress on my weight loss (since you can't gain strength at lose weight at the same time) but seeing yourself lift 10 more pounds every time you visit the gym is so much more satisfying and immediate than waiting to notice a difference in the mirror.

[cidbahamut]

Re: Time for a change... ((Health stuff.))

Been contemplating doing that myself to get into the habit of drawing, instead of doing it like twice a year. I always draw something, say it sucks, and then don't do it again for a long time.

I've heard artists say that drawing something every day is pretty much the best way to get better, even if it's just a doodle.

If lunges cause you knee pain you should stop and find a different exercise. Joint pain is never good.

I haven't had knee pain in a while, but I've let myself fall into the habbit of skipping lunges every other workout. It's partially because I'm lazy, but I also feel like I'm already getting a decent leg workout via my cardio and don't want to push it too far in case that ends up making joint pain return. Also I'm less concerned with building strength in my legs because that's always been my strongest area. Upper body strength is what I've always completely and totally lacked. Push ups in gym class...not comfortably. Pull-ups? You must be joking. etc etc. So yeah, push-ups and crunches are higher on my priority list in terms of my own personal fitness goals. I still need to figure out somewhere I can go to do pull-ups in peace.