112 replies to this topic

[Ken-FL]

It has been a quiet few days in the Village Gym so I have decided to jump to the new month a few hours early. As we say goodbye to May I hope we will be able to say goodbye to some of the grief that Peg and Nick have had to bear and the medical issues recently encountered by Larry and by Tim. Just as I think we all felt summer was here over the Memorial Day holiday I understand that Mother Nature is playing tricks on our friends in Michigan with a cold and rainy day, the good news is the cold is unlikely to stay around long. Here in the South, June brings the start of hurricane season but we were fooled a bit also by an unusual early tropical storm this past weekend.

I feel good about what I was able to accomplish in the gym and with weekend activities in May in spite of 5 days with no activity due to a bad sinus infection. I completed the month today with gym or outdoor activity on 26 of 31 days for a total of 42 hours and 40 minutes of exercise. I have worked my way back to 12 straight days of exercise as we begin the month of June. Year to date I have exercised on 133 of the 152 days so far in 2012 and have accumulated 196 hours and 15 minutes of exercise since January 1.
As of today I have generated 334,000 points on the Presidents Challenge Website since joining in November of 2010.

I feel very blessed right now to be doing so well when so many of our active members are dealing with various health issues including Tim, Larry, Richard, Claire and I am sure others. Knowing that some of those tougher days face me in the future as they do all of us, I feel thankful for being well at the moment and I feel very deeply and pray fervently for those with issues.

It is a new month and possibly it will bring healing and improvement for all. That is truly my wish for each of you.
Welcome to June!

Ken

[Darrell]

Ken I just posted my end of month on the "May" topic
Darrell

[Ken-FL]

Darrell,
Comgratulations on a great month of exercise and activity and for breaking 200,000 points on the Presidents Challenge!
As one of my friends would say: "Well did!"

[Tim]

Finally, a little time to catch up with you folks. It seems like it's been forever since I've posted here.

Ken and Darrell, your both doing so well. You don't seem to let anything get you down and it's
always inspiring to read what all you've accomplished during the month. It's good to hear that
your both over your last flare-up and on the mend. I hope Claire is doing better with her foot
and I pray that Peg and her family are coping with their loss.

We've had rain here the last couple of days but are due for a little sun shine today with warming
temps through the weekend and into next week. I hope so, I've been driving alot lately and didn't enjoy
driving in all the bad weather. I'll be on the road again next week and hoping for better weather.

I'm going to Lunch with my daughter today. All I really wanted to do was catch up on some rest
but I know getting out of the house for something besides a medical issue will be good for me.

I hope your all looking forward to the weekend.

Tim

[Ken-FL]

Tim,
Always great to hear from you, I missed you there for a few days. Looks like you sent some of that rain south to us, it has been raining all day here which is unusual but much needed so we are glad it is here.
Hope you have a great weekend!

Ken

[LoganLarry]

Hi folks....It is June and I am officially in "aftercare". That is a phase 3 program at a GREAT wellness facility in nearby Petoskey, MI. It is open to all who have completed cardiac, pulmonary, or physical rehab programs. I also have a small gym at home in an old garage building with a bike, dumbbells and bench, and my trusty resistance bands.

My goal for June is an hour a day, everyday. I will be interested in seeing how the month goes. I am interested in aerobic conditioning, but with my new BP med my heart rate is limited by the pharmacology. I need to use the Rate of Perceived Exertion Scale to monitor my effort. That is also used by some of the pulmonary patients, as the limiting factor to exercise is shortness of breath rather than heart rate. It has a solid correlation with heart rate. I used it alot in treadmill stress testing, but now I get to really see how well it works. I also need to work on core and overall strength development. The stronger I get, the better I can cope with my remaining balance limitations.

Nice to be here folks, heading out for my home workout this am. I look forward to being a part of the group!


ONWARD!
Larry

[Darrell]

Larry that sounds like a worthy goal and you have all the equipment you need except possibly a workout partner to keep you on the straight and narrow. I never really found the value in using the borg scale since I found it way too subjective and too easy to fudge for my own convenience. Does your med allow you to pick a lower heart rate range to target? Good luck with the core exercises, I also need that work but find it the most difficult because it involves bending and the use of those large muscle groups which consume large quantities of O2.

Have a good workout and I hope you end the day standing on one foot with improved balance. Oh yeah, my wife the yoga teacher recommends that practice as a low impact means of strengthening and improving your balance.

Darrell

[LoganLarry]

Hi Darrell...I have a heart rate variability of 50-64 (on a tight leash) so right now I am stuck with Borg scale.

Planking is a lot easier on the core than the leg lift / sit up routine. Elbows and toes and count breathing reps or clock to increase time by 10% weekly.

Thanks for yoga tip! What a simple, but effective technique.....I will add this daily.

Larry

[Ken-FL]

Larry,
Thrilled to hear you are going after the exercise activity. Sometimes those in the medical field are poor patients but sounds like you fully understand what you need to do.
Exercise has vastly improved my quality of life and I am sure the same will be true for you.

Good luck,

Ken

[Laura/Ohio]

Hi Ken and everyone else!

I guess now I can officially join this page, I just completed my first month of the pulmonary rehab here in Columbus. I am still working so it was a little more challanging schedule wise but I just didn't think about it and jumped in. The first week was the hardest but I really am feeling in the groove with the schedule and look forward to the M-T-T Mid day sessions. I feel better afterward and in general can tell that it is providing a benefit. I have had a bad allergy day/heat day now and then but I still feel encouraged. I have another month of formal sessions and a free month of accessiblity before having to pay the monthly fee. But I know that I am going to do it. Right now it is hard because I am only allowed to go the three times a week. I do not have anything at home except free weights so it leaves walking on good weather days as my most practical option.

But I really want to increase the days I do this, so it will be nice once I have the free run of the facility. I know that them blasting the ac really helps me, I just don't do as well in the heat and humidity.

But I hope everyone else is alright. I heard about Peg and Nick's loss and feel bad for them both. I know he has some health battles of his own too. I am thinking of running to Meijers and getting some resistance bands and blanket binding for a blanket I am making for the next grandson. It is their 5th one, and my 7th grandchild. I now understand all the great aunts in my family giving ones in cards after they hit their seventies. There were 22 grandkids on my ex-husband's side of the family. Strong old German stock!

So take care everyone, I'll pop in this week.

Hugs from Ohio!
Laura

[claire]

Hi Everybody:

Larry, it is great that you decided to join the "Gym". Welcome, we will all look forward to your posts. I find that the "Gym" stood as my exercise partner in the beginning as I used the posts as part of my effort to be accountable - and soon I looked forward to reading what everyone else was doing also. There is a really nice group of people here and they will support your endeavors and cheer you on as well as provide tips and helpful hints as to what works or does not work for them.

Laura, welcome also. Isn't PR a wonderful way to start the whole exercise process? I throughly enjoyed my time at PR and it really helped to get me started. I will look forward to hearing about your efforts also.

I am late in posting my May chart and so here it is........18 days of formal exercise with an average of 129 minutes daily. The gardening season has really helped to increase my time as I enjoy being outside and playing in the dirt. Hopefully, I can add some days to June to the 18 done in May.....that is my goal, anyways.

Claire

[Ken-FL]

Laura,
Its great to hear that PR seems to be helping you, everyone here at the gym is a strong advocate becaise it has helped all of us a great deal. I too had to work PR into my regular employment schedule and that can be tough but it is worth it. Stick with it, it will make a big difference for you!
Claire always good to hear from you. You didn't mention your foot so I hope that means it is better/or at least bothering you less.

Back to the gym this morning after a very hot and sunny and humid weekend but I played two rounds of golf in 95 degree temps and got a workout each day doing that!

Hope it is a great week for all.

Ken

[claire]

Hi, All:

Ken, I don't know how you survive the outside temp of 95 and still get in some exercise! I am toast when the temp goes much above 80!

The "foot" is (dare I say it) almost back to normal.....a tad tender after walking this weekend but I managed to do the walking in a regular shoe and it went ok. Thanks for asking. I will continue to build up it's endurance over the next couple of weeks and, hopefully, will be back to walking 2 to 3 miles daily by the end of June. I really missed the walks these past months and am looking forward to getting back into my usual schedule.

Have the granddaughter this afternoon and the plan is to water the garden and make dinner with her....she loves to help and especially likes to play "dishwasher" in the sink.....then after she leaves it all goes into the dishwasher!

Peg, hope you and Nick have been able to rest and relax and are finding some comfort from family and friends. Please take good care of yourselves.

Tim, what is on your schedule for this week? How are your flowers doing?

Darrell, hope all is well with you and I hear you when you say that the grandson's season can be over now. Our boys all played Little League when they were young and by July we thought that we lived at the field and that home was someplace that we visited occasionally!

Have a good week, everybody.

Claire

[Ken-FL]

Claire,
Even I find the whole temperature/golf thing interesting. In general the heat is hard on my breathing or at least harder than cooler temps and it can get compounded quickly by high humidity and/or dew points. But at the same time I find that I do better during a day I stay active than I do when I am inactive regardless of the weather. So I get up and go to the course, I concentrate on my game which helps get my mind off my breathing and I do pretty well. I don't seem to really notice the heat until we finish and start home and then as you might expect I am preety tired and ready for the couch.

I do feel blessed that I can play, much as I am sure you and Darrell are, to be able to work in your yards and gardens. Weekend golf has been part of my life for 40 or so years so it would be a challenge for me to walk away from it.

Am really happy your foot seems almost normal! Hoping the problems with it are behind you now.

Ken

[Dee]

There are some good balance exercises here if you care to take a look, Larry.

http://www.mayoclini...ercises/sm00049

Keep up the good work everyone. You must all be feeling pretty good about how well you are doing.