Wellness

[terrier3]

On 7/13/2014 HonnyBrown said:

terrier, I love, love your thinking! Strength training and making my body stronger has helped me in so many ways.

However, if a cardio warm up is too much for OP, strength training will be out of the question.

I didn't start out deadlifting my body weight either! I wasn't overweight, but I was totally out of shape, weak and felt flabby.

That is why I work with a trainer. He has a Masters in PT and is working on his doctorate now. He is a toughie, but works with all ages and all levels of fitness. I used to huff and puff and needed a LOT of water breaks. His personal goal for me was to be able to do CrossFit with his class of 20 and 30 year olds. He didn't tell me (didn't want to scare me off). Now after 2 years with Matt, I do two training sessions with him a week, 2 CrossFit classes and another day or 2 of cardio. I ran in my first 5K on Thanksgiving Day with my son and didn't stop and walk ONCE.

Some times I'm scared...many times I am VERY sore the next day...or even for a few days. But I trust he would never ask me to do something that would injure me. I have no back problems or knee issues, thanks to his guidance.

His latest "torture device" is called an ox yoke. It's something you squat to get on your shoulders, then walk across the gym, then squat to put down...while it swings every which way. I go back & firth across the gym 10 times...carrying 200 pounds. He didn't tell me how much weight I was carrying until the end of the session - I would probably have refused to do it or would have been VERY apprehensive (which makes things tougher to do).

I'm not trying to down play the OPs pain...I have been there and know what it's like. I just wanted her to know that living relatively pain free and drug free and strong is possible at any age.

[HonnyBrown]

Terrier, your trainer is no joke!

I went from a jelly body with aches and pains all over to a strong, healthy body with muscle soreness if I don't stretch or cool down correctly.

I know muscle soreness is "not normal," but I enjoy it. I feel like I did something significant.

Congrats on the 5K! Is a 10K next?

[terrier3]

On 7/13/2014 HonnyBrown said:

Terrier, your trainer is no joke!

I went from a jelly body with aches and pains all over to a strong, healthy body with muscle soreness if I don't stretch or cool down correctly.

I know muscle soreness is "not normal," but I enjoy it. I feel like I did something significant.

Congrats on the 5K! Is a 10K next?

Soreness is normal...sharp pain is not.

I guess the lactic acid that builds up causes soreness...the best cure is more exercise. You have to break down muscles to have their build themselves up - biggest and stronger than ever.

No 10Ks...I want to keep my knees going strong and they twinge if I do too much.

BTW - I know you have posted about wine...that is a subject I know next to nothing about and always wanted to learn...any suggestions? books?

[HonnyBrown]

I'll post to you under the Wine thread. I don't want to highjack this one.

To alleviate my soreness and work on my flexibility (which was bad when I gained the lean muscle), I started doing Pilates for Inflexible People. I try to do one session a week, at least.

OP, that's the Pilates that I recommended for your hams. It's low impact stretching and modified for people who can barely move.

[Disneylandfan]

One of the techniques for stretching I was taught was to stand up, cross my ankles, then bend down at the waist and reach toward the floor. If you need to hold onto a chair. Change which foot is crossed in front and do it again. I was given this exercise by a physical therapist to stretch the muscles in my hips and legs to help with an old injury.