Exercise Actually Does Work!

I am living proof.

Last fall, my doctor took my blood pressure. She was a little concerned, it was 142/98.

In december, I began exercising regularly. I have been doing so consistently since then. Currently, my workouts include 25 minutes on the elliptical, 15-25 minutes on the treadmill, most of which is on incline, and swimming. (I was so proud of myself the last time I swam… I knocked out more than 3/4 mile -36 laps, a mile is 44 - in 40 minutes! Not bad for a fat lady pushing 50!) I always makes sure to keep my heart pushed up to 135-160.

Today’s blood pressure reading? 110/68!

WOOHOO!

Nothing else in my life has changed, and I have even gained a few pounds. So it has to be the exercise. I had just recently realized that I had actually “crossed over” to someone who genuinely, organically craves exercise, (as opposed to someone who simply made myself do it) and this is great reinforcement.

So I encourage all of you struggling with getting your ass in gear: it pays. And if you can get yourself to stick with it long enough, you will probably have the edxperience I have had, and you will come to crave it.

Absolutely.

A couple of months ago I decided I was going to start exercising regularly. I don’t do as much as you, but every day I do 30 minutes on an exercise bike and play ping pong for about 45 minutes. I don’t weigh myself or set any targets other than getting exercise every day.

Now my clothes are loose, I notice my gut going away and exercise is something I look forward to every day.

Congratulations

First of all, way to go!

As to your having gained a little weight, that is likely due to gaining muscle mass. Muscle is much more dense than fat.

A lot of people are alarmed to find they’ve gained weight after they start exercising. But it’s the right kind of weight. Very important distinction!

How big is your pool? It looks, if the distance is right, to be 20 yards, that’s a strange pool, unless they’re wrong about the distance. You might want to think about joining a masters swim team, or at least taking some lessons, you’ll get faster and get a better workout.

I need to start doing something. I have been to the pool three times in the last week, but that’s not enough for me.

Exercise rocks.

Running used to be punishment in grade school (and junior high. and high school), and now it’s how I choose to spend my time. My cholesterol went from 201 to 166 in a year and a half. And I don’t even eat Cheerios.

It’s the pool at the Y, and yes, it is 20 yards. (I just looked it up online.)

Why is that strange?

I don’t want to rain onyour parade, but I do want to strongly encourage you to find other things besides running. Over time, running can be horrific on your body. I know so many runners with blown knees, trashed backs…and the very worst of all is my sister, who has been incredibly slim, strong, and fit her whole life, always ran, and at the tender age of 54 has had BOTH her hips replaced. Her doctors told her that it was entirely due to her her running, which obliterated her hips with the constant pounding.

Every doctor I talked to about it said running is bad news over the long haul. My best friend is so bummed because she had goten addicted to it, and finally realized that the only time her back went out is when she’s been running. So she’s had to give it up. Now she bikes, walks, walks uphill, elliptical… anything but running. And her back never bothers her.

Because most pools are 25 yards. I’ve only even known of one 20 yard pool and have never swam in one, that I know of. I thought all the Y pools were 25 yards as well. Guess you learn something new every day.

Pretty cool. Enjoy your victory. :slight_smile:

Thanks for your concern!
I do know this firsthand. Last fall, I was sidelined with bursitis in my hip. At the time, I couldn’t afford a gym membership, and I really suffered with no exercise. Now I train carefully and, as you mentioned, crosstrain with other forms of exercise that are more gentle. I do Spin class, strength training, elliptical, etc, as well.

I also know that runners are reputed to be the worst athletes in terms of pushing themselves too hard and not paying attention to injury. I definitely get this and, just today, forced myself to take a rest day, even though I hate rest days, because I have been doing a lot this past week and my body was cranky.

Great job, Stoid!

When I was on my high school swim team, one of the high schools in our athletic conference had a 20 yard swimming pool. We hated it and it was quite the home team advantage–you had to do 5 laps for the 100 yard races, and it really threw off your stroke counts.

Hey, since the subject has been brought up, can anyone recommend a spot exercise for the back? Specifically, the area between my ribcage and my pelvic bones. More like the side, actually, but not the abs, is my point. I’ve been doing ab work, but I’m not sure it will tighten up that area, which is a bit saggy.

Good for you, Stoid!

I can’t recommend anything in particular, but this place will likely have it:

http://www.exrx.net/Lists/MMale.html

My husband wanted to add:

Further to Stoid’s comments regarding running, please consider the
following: What exactly can running do for you that other, safer activities
can’t? What this means is, many people have different concepts of exercise
and fitness, which means that if you ask ten different people what exercise
is, you might get ten different answers. Ask everyone why they’re
exercising and they’ll more than likely say “To improve my fitness.” What
does that mean? So now we have to ask “What is fitness?” We don’t know
what to do to improve it until we define it. Anyway, physical fitness is
comprised of six different factors: muscular size, strength, and endurance
(which are all inter-related); cardiovascular efficiency; enhanced
flexibility; a contribution to body leanness; bone strength; and increased
resistance to injury. Now take any activity and see if it will address all
of those criteria in a safe and efficient manner. Let’s look at running.
It does nothing for improving/increasing/enhancing flexibility, and may
decrease it. It does nothing for injury prevention, and may actually cause
it (as per this thread). It MAY stimulate a bone density increase, but then
it can go overboard with its force generation and actually cause
micro-fractures. It MAY help with body-fat loss, but that’s primarily a
dietary issue, since it’s easier to NOT eat a 600-calorie Big Mac than it is
to run six miles (for the average 154-lb. man) to burn it off. Running MAY
help with cardio, but so will anything performed with the skeletal muscles,
since they are what place the demand on the heart and lungs for increased
nutrient delivery and waste product removal. Finally, it MAY improve
muscular strength, size, and endurance, but compare running to proper
strength training for muscular strength/mass gains.

Hmmm. Well, again, I do appreciate Mr. Savannah’s points, and I take them seriously.

But I run for how it makes me feel. Same reason why I do Spin class and Boot Camp class, and Nautilus—although I have just started the Nautilus and am pretty on the fence about it. I do these activities because I never could, and they make me feel like I kick ass. And I do.

Athletically speaking, I was a loser in elementry, junior high and high schools. Last to be picked for teams, and with valid cause—if you weree counting on me to be competetive in softball or field hockey, then God help you, because I sure couldn’t. We had to take team sports, and had to run laps around the field every day. No one talked to us about pacing, or progressive training, so I was the one who was panting and crying, feeling a stitch in my side, as other, more athletic teammates passed me for their second lap while I was still doing my first.

Last Spring, when I started running, I went down to the high school track near my house. The snow was still melting, and the smell of mud reminded me of the Spring when I chose track and field as my sports elective, thinking that it had to be easier than my only other choice, lacrosse. I had a miserable season, another failure. I left the track that day last Spring, and returned couple of months later, when I was regularly running over 3 miles. Corny as it sounds, I defeated a lot of ghosts the day I ran a mile around that track.

A year after I started running, I ran a 10K near my house, and my husband and 2 kids were at the finish line, cheering me on. These days, an ‘average’ run for me is 6 miles. I’m working up to a half-marathon. How can I even describe how **that **feels?

**That **is why I run.

Wow–I hadn’t thought of all that. Mr. Savannah, what sorts of activities would you recommend for people who want all of the benefits you’ve listed above?

I don’t believe there is a single exercise which will confer all of those benefits, Scribble, but a solid plan of low-impact aerobic activity coupled with strength training (weightlifting) should get it all done, or nearly. “Solid plan” being key, both in the structure and execution. I jsut shake my head in wonderment when I see people in the gym flinging weights around, reading magazines on the bikes. I want to ask them: why are you bothering? Just for the mental masturbation of thinking you have accomplished something by showing up and going through the motions?

Anyway, all good fitness pros agree that you should change your workout periodically no matter what you do because your body adapts, and the point is to continue to improve. Currently my workout includes all the biggies, in varying proportions according to my mood: elliptical trainer (level 6, 35 minutes, 12-15 of those in reverse. The readout last night said 2.2 miles. Heartrate at 135-140 avg throughout), treadmill ( I walk, and I try to do as much as possible at full incline), regular bike, recumbent bike and crosstrain bike, freestyle dance (I do that at home…heheheh), and my exercise “dessert”: swimming! I’m clocking half a mile in 23 minutes these days, which aint’ too damn bad for a middle aged fat broad! (My swim is greatly enhanced by both my cool new finger lap counter and my FABULOUS underwater MP3 player…)

I also do various floor exercises, I’ve started to do some Pilates Performer stuff, and I use free weights and machines. The key elements there are isolating the muscles and doing it slowly, in a very focused way. That’s what drives me batss about people in the gym…hello, when you do it that way, folks, you are relying on both momentum and muscles other than the ones you are trying to condition. Ya aint’ gonna get nowheres that way!

I’m becoming a bloody gymrat…I LOVE IT!

(Still HATE HATE HATE HATE HATE getting hot, though. I have these waterabsorbing scarves designed to keep you cool; I freeze em and stick one down my pants, one in my bra, one around my neck, one around my head. I also will sometimes soak my wifebeater workout T and bra in cold water, and STILL I cant’ wait to get to the pool to cool off, because all those frozen water scarves are actually warm by the time I’m about 25 minutes in to the workout. Man, I really hate being hot, whether it’s from the sun or my own efforts. Bleh! that’s one thing I like about working out at home, I can manipulate the vents in my house so that my home gym is like a refrigerator. Yeah! )
If anyone reading this wants a little tip to help get and keep you motivated, especially to help make sure you are actually getting the workout you want to be getting, I can offer a big one that I think really made a difference for me: get and use a heart monitor. I bought one that can be used in the pool as well as on land, and the cool thing I discovered about mine is that its’ the same kind in all the exercise machines, so i dont’ need to hold the sensors, I’m sending the data to the machines in the same way it gets sent to the watch on my wrist. (The actual monitor is in a kind of belt you wear around your middle between your chest and stomach.) By constantly being aware of what my heart was doing, and staying focused on getting it where I wanted it to go, I was able to make absolutely sure I progressed. It really makes a disgnificant difference in my workout. I can clearly tell that it is taking MUCH more to get my heart to the same level than it did months ago. It’s also really great to see what fantastic recovery my heart has. The instant I slow down or stop my heart rate drops like a stone, which is cool. Sign of a strong ticker.)