The Planets

Yesterday include an approximately 8 mile bike ride to see all the planets in the scale model of the solar system that we have here in Eugene, Oregon.

The interesting thing was how easy it was.  Not that it was entirely easy, but it was considerably easier than I expected.  I remember having a lot of difficulty with even moderate slopes when I was not physically fit before.  Yesterday I felt powerful enough to do the biking I wanted to do.  Yes, the ride was nearly flat, but I am comparing it to times I rode these paths before, and this was easier than it had been then.

The conclusion?  I'm not as unfit as I thought.  Not that I'm anywhere near "fit" ... just not as "unfit".

Now ... to go do my mini-tabata and try to keep this going ...

Once Again ...

The original reason for this blog was to help myself find motivation to start exercising in a way that would support my health on an ongoing basis and make it easier and more fun to do the physical recreational activities I enjoy doing irregularly.

In summary:

1. I feel better and am clearly healthier when I'm physically active.
2. I don't want to be so out of shape I can't enjoy a nice hike if I haven't been hiking for a few months.

To this end, I chose Tabata as an entry into the realm of everyday fitness.  Fast and easy, it seems to fit my requirements well.  Until I tried it and did it too vigorously, and injured myself.  Not badly, but badly enough to make myself wary about trying it again for a while.  When I did try it again, I did less of it and moderated the number of exercises in the set which were going to challenge the tissues around my calves and shins.

Today I got back on the horse yet again.  I downloaded my preferred Tabata timing app onto my new phone, and created a "Tabata Mini" exercise set.  Instead of the "prescribed" four minute 20/10 x 8, I created a two minute 10/10 x 6.  

The "Mini Tabata" was enough for today.  It pushed me deeply into heavy breathing and a sense of accomplishment without hurting anything.  Yeah, it's wimpy.  But I totally admit to starting out wimpy here, there are no illusions that I'm not wimpy right now.  The point is to change that, and do it in a sustainable way, not to shame myself for where I am right now.

I would love to add a bit of yoga into my routine once it's become a daily routine, or at least a regular routine.  In the past I have despaired of being able to do yoga well at home on my own.  I think getting myself out to a class on a regular basis would be even more challenging for me.  Having been in yoga classes before, I know that yoga is not just stretching, it's also full of yummy isometrics.  Being in a good yoga class also teaches you how to be in touch with your body; yoga taught me to be able to tell when I am pushing myself past a "good stretch" or a "good isometric" into something that will hurt me.  I am thinking that the knowledge of form, timing and mindfulness is all still down in there somewhere, I just need to practice to bring it out.  The yoga part of this is still in the "thinking" stage, though.  I need to figure out how to add it to the routine while keeping the investment of time relatively low.

Exercise While Doing Project

So my exercise yesterday was padding out my dress dummy.

It was very hard work, squatting a lot, having to stretch up some very firm covers and push little bits of foam where they needed to be.  I worked out my upper back, arms, shoulders, thighs, buttocks.  I worked up a sweat and had to change out of a wet cotton t-shirt even with the air conditioning on in the office.

Today I am quite sore.  Not injured sore, but really well worked out sore.

Four Minutes

I managed a full 4 minutes of tabata today.

I did about half squats and wall push-ups so as to not overdo my calves.

I feel great right now.

Walking

Yesterday we took a walk as a family for Mother's day.  That counts.

Days 3 & 4

Yesterday my daughter and I went out to Sweet Creek Falls Trail and had a nice walk/hike there.  It was, as usual, one of the most amazing places to do a short hike.  We were walking for about an hour and fifteen minutes, with an hour and fifteen minute drive each way.  It takes the whole afternoon, not something I'd do everyday because of the drive.

The walks are nice, but they aren't sustainable for me after I'm back to a day job.

Today I did two minutes of tabata.  I did running in place, squats, jumping jacks and wall push-ups.  And yes, the wall push-ups were plenty challenging for me considering I had to do them vigorously and continuously for 20 seconds.

I decided to increase to 2 minutes because it's just the foot intensive stuff, like running and jumping jacks, that have the potential to hurt my calves, which is what frightened me away last time.  I seem to be able to do two minutes, as long as only one minute of it is foot intensive.  However, I am still feeling like I got a good workout.  I need to remember not to overdo right at the beginning.  Thinking about the pain I was in back in March helps a lot.

Really Trying Again

This is technically day 2.

My daughter and I are trying to support one another.

Walking for about an hour 3x a week (MWF)

I'm going to to a very short version of tabata 2x a week.  (Tues & Thurs)
Maybe once on weekends, too.

I'm starting out with just 1 minute tabata.  Two 20 second cycles.  If I can do that without hurting myself, I figure I can gradually work up to 4 minutes.

I do expect I  might find the tabata so easy to do, I'm doing in more than 2x a week.  I'm hoping so, but not trying to set my goals too high.