Cautionary True Story

Last week, my dad fell.  What does that have to do with fitness?  It’s a cautionary tale.

 

See, my dad is in his eighties.  When he was young, he played pretty much every sport there was.  He also smoked for more than 40 years.  One of those things resulted in worn out knees and the other in lung surgery.  He has a variety of other typical health issues in a person of his age and lifestyle, controlled by various medications.

 

Aging happens to all of us whether we like it or not.  However, we have some choices to make.

 

See, when my dad had a knee replacement, he didn’t like doing his physical therapy exercises.  They hurt.  They were hard.  He shirked them as much as possible.  And now his replacement knee does not work as well as it should and he chose not to get the other knee replaced because he was unhappy with the results on the first one.  In other words, he still has two bad knees.

 

The bad knees mean it is hard for him to move from sitting to standing and it is challenging to walk.  So most of the time, he doesn’t do it.  What that means is that he has very little cardio endurance, which makes it harder to go for a walk, which means he is even less likely to do it.  See where I’m going here?

 

But last week, he and my mom took their little dog for a short walk to the end of their block.  On the way back, my dad lagged behind.  He wanted to stop at the end of their walkway by the car to catch his breath.  My mom took the dog inside.  And then my dad fell.

 

End result:  a visit from the paramedics, bruises to elbows, knees, and pride.  He is going to be all right, but he would be better if he had done some preventive work.

 

The take-aways:

• put up with a little discomfort now in keeping up the cardio

• our privilege level does not translate into speedier or better healing; we still have to work.

• consistent, small actions make big differences

• always listen to your physical therapist, even if you do not like what they say

 

Go play.

Monday Workout: I suggest...

We are continuing to work with multi-joint exercises and compound movements.  These challenge our metabolisms and our core and our coordination (and they make us good and tired at the end!).  As always, modify for what works in YOUR body.  This workout doesn’t have any jumping, but you can add it if you want to increase the challenge; conversely, if your knees do not play well with lunges, substitute something your knees like better.  You are the boss of your workouts!  I will, however, strongly suggest three rounds.

 

lunge with curl	30
squats	20
lateral raise	10
1 leg chop	30
deadlifts	20
pushups	10
standing mountain climbers	30
skullcrushers	20
chest lifts	10

Number 7 is in the photo!

Here we go:  ten things I am thankful for this year.

 

1.     Health.  If we’ve learned anything this year, it’s that we can’t assume health will continue.

2.     Safety.  I am blessed to live in a safe place where I don’t have to fear for my loved ones.  (Worry is another thing, but I’m focusing on the good stuff today!)

3.     Nature.  Without being able to go play outside, I would be even crazier than I am already.

4.     Exercise.  I like how it makes me feel.

5.     Food.  I have more than enough and this is not something to be taken for granted.

6.     Love.  I have family and friends who are dear to me and who haven’t flung me into outer space yet (if that’s not love, I don’t know what is!)

7.     Flowers.  I know I take innumerable pictures of flowers, but they remind me of the beautiful parts of the world.

8.     Books.  Whether I’m reading for information or pleasure or both, they add happiness to my life.

9.     Puns.  Laughter is crucial to life.

10.  Socks.  (You knew there had to be at least one random thing on this list, right?)  They’re warm and I have lots of silly ones.

 

What’s on your list?

Kicking and screaming do burn calories, but there are better ways...

Some of us find holidays more stressful than fun.  I get it.  And I have a suggestion, unless even one more suggestion is too much and will cause explosions/meltdowns/tantrums.  Find a way to do some cardio.

 

Now, depending on the tantrum, it might qualify all by itself, but it might not be the best cardio choice.  If the weather permits, I am particularly in favor of outside cardio right now—run, walk, skip, play tag with your bubble-mates or foursquare or football, bike.  If it doesn’t, inside cardio is also good:  stair intervals, kitchen dancing, stationary biking, whatever is available.

 

Here’s why:  cardio exercise reduces stress.  It improves our mood.  It gets our circulation moving.  It helps our brains work.  It makes it easier to get good sleep.  We may not be able to run away from our problems, but running might help us cope with them better.

 

Go play.

Gravy-Palooza is not a word...

It shouldn’t surprise anybody that I believe in holidays.  I like decorations and food and odd traditions and even my family (ha!).  This year is a weird one.  We’ll have the turkey and all the other good things, but we will only be three of us—no parents, no other kid and kid-in-law, no siblings, nothing.  It’s the right decision and one that I hope lots of people make so that we all continue healthy and we are eventually able to gather safely.

 

I often post about choosing wisely at holiday meals.  Not this time.  For several reasons.

 

One:  Not one of us needs something else to stress out about.  You want all pie for Thanksgiving dinner?  Go for it.  If it makes you happy, be thankful you have pie and knock yourself out.

 

Two:  It’s one day.  The occasional gravy-palooza is good for the soul.  We don’t want to make it a habit, but once in a while?  No worries.

 

Three:  We probably don’t want to indulge as much as we think we do.  If we have been feeding ourselves healthy food on a regular basis, we may find that our bodies are not quite sure what to do with so much butter and sugar and all.  We have learned what makes us feel good and overeating ourselves into a coma is not usually it.

 

I will, however, suggest that a nice socially distant walk/run/bike/whatever outside would be a good thing at some point during the day.  It’ll feel good, I promise.

Monday Workout: Whole Body!

We’ve got some whole body exercises in this week’s workout.  I like them because they burn lots of calories and boost our metabolism.  They’re efficient!  And yes, we do have burpees this week, however you do them:  stepping, jumping, with a BOSU, with a backflip (yes, people do this, but not me!).  Three rounds.

 

goblet squats	30
rows	20
burpees	10
clean and press	30
lunges	20
overhead press	10
overhead curtsy	30
flies	20
roll out abs	10

Let's feel good: four ways

Here are four things about working out that make us feel better:

 

1.     We have to breathe when we exercise.  We get breathless, we recover.  Our breathing becomes more efficient.  And poof!  Feeling better!

2.     We gain a sense of control.  Maybe the whole world is totally chaotic.  Maybe we have a ton of complex problems.  But when we go to the gym, we have simple tasks that we can do.  We leave knowing one thing is checked off the endless list.

3.     We get stronger.  Most of us can use some extra physical strength, even if we just want it to rearrange the furniture again.  But we also get metaphorical strength from the habit of working out.

4.     We like endorphins.  Our brains give us actual rewards in the form of feel-good chemicals when we work out.  And it’s all safe and legal!

 

Go play.