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.