I am so envious of those of you who can exercise the way you want to. I have terrible back/leg pain for which the doctors simply cannot find the cause. I have been off my horse for almost a year. I can only ride my bike once a week (too much pain otherwise). Walking is okay but only a couple of miles and it must be relatively flat (so no hiking). For years, riding my horse was both exercise and meditation. You cannot train effectively in dressage and think about anything else at the same time! Riding three times a week kept me thin and relaxed. Lord, I miss it.
Have you considered looking into trigger point therapy? A few years ago I was able to do 12-15 pull ups in a set and do a free standing military press at my body weight. Then I went on a three day 65 mile/2500 m up and down hike with minimal supplies (was originally intended to be ~40 miles but our route was blocked and we had to follow a streambed and repel down an abandoned damn; quite the trip). Even after the normal recovery period my strength didn’t return; I was struggling to do a single pull up, could only press about 50 lbf, and was even starting to have difficulty going up stairs or light jogging. The orthopedist I went to just kind of shrugged and suggested it was just “natural aging” (I was in my late thirties at the time). I then started working with a trainer who immediately discovered that my legs were cramping up under any load because the muscles were completely knotted. Once we worked through some initial maofascial release (basically, tenderizing the muscles and fascia) he had me start a regular routine of foam rolling and self release using lacross balls, and from there I started looking into trigger point massage. My strength still isn’t back where is used to be (mostly because I’ve been lax about exercise and working an enormous amount of overtime in the last couple of years) but I’m getting back into it and haven’t had any lingering problems with muscle weakness or tenderness beyond the normal recovery period.
As for integrating exercise into everyday activities, it is an excellent idea and as long as you avoid repetative stress conditions there is basically no functional limit to how much moderate exercise you can tolerate, but it is also important to throw in some more stressing exercise a few days a week, especially something which contributes to muscle growth/retention and strengthens connective tissue and joints. Ten minutes spent jump-roping, some kettlebell swings, or bodyweight lifts will all help maintain good conditioning which increases the basal metabolic rate and improves your ability to perform other moderate exercise without injury. A few minutes of plymetrics or weight training (personally I like sandbags and bodyweight with gym rings) if done with good form is far more effective, efficient, and functional than spending an hour on the treadmill, and far better for you than those stupid elliptical trainers that cover the gym floor like abandoned housing developments in Southern California.
Stranger
I have back pain and I find this myofascial release technique to be really effective. I have this thing called a Rumble Roller and whenever I’m having back pain, I roll around on that thing for a while and feel a lot better.
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As for integrating exercise into everyday activities, it is an excellent idea and as long as you avoid repetative stress conditions there is basically no functional limit to how much moderate exercise you can tolerate, but it is also important to throw in some more stressing exercise a few days a week, especially something which contributes to muscle growth/retention and strengthens connective tissue and joints.
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In case this was a reference to my comment about exercising an hour a day not being a truly active lifstyle, I’d like to note that I also do daily strength and conditioning workouts - cross-fit style. It’s usually something different every day. This approach has been extremely effective. Not only has my back pain diminished significantly, I can now do 100 push-ups in sets of 10! But I’ve found 15-30 minutes of intense workout beats an hour of something with lower intensity. I don’t see myself ever climbing on a treadmill again.
What I meant by my comment is that I, personally, can not sit all day driving, sit all day at work, and then sit all day when I get home, exercise for an hour, and call that an ‘‘active lifestyle.’’ I was told for a long time that exercise would help me feel better, but it never did, until I discovered I need to constantly be moving to ward off the depression. So I always do the conditioning workout every day, and spend as much time as I can outside walking/hiking or moving around throughout the day. I have a FitBit pedometer and I make sure to hit 10,000 steps a day.
So you’re, what, 37 pounds down? 
(jk, I’m just jealous)
mmm
I know what you mean. I am good about getting my two-hour walk in almost everyday, but that alone doesn’t make me feel like I’m doing enough exercise. So what I have been doing is injecting five-minute mini-workouts into every hour when I’m at work. I close the door to my office and do squats, yoga poses, push-ups, sit-ups, you name it.
By the end of the day, that’s 30-40 minutes of exercise that I wouldn’t normally had. I’m lucky that I can do this.
Rolling is good, but actual targeted and regular release of myofascial and muscular contractions will provide even better and longer enduring results.
Stranger
Don’t be so melodramatic jz … we’re your friends!
Can you spot me 20 bucks till Monday?
Once something becomes a habit, you’re not using willpower anymore. The key to overcoming your limited willpower is to use the finite amount you have to build habits, and then build up from those habits.
It takes about a month to build a habit. Because you don’t have infinite willpower, it is recommended that you build one habit at a time. If you try and fix your diet and workout routine at the same time, you might fail. The best practice is to find a diet that you can stick to for at least a month (with no short cuts) and build from there.
I switched from soda to water for a month. Then stopped drinking juice. Then I took out sugar from my tea and coffee. Finally, I limited my chocolate intake. That was enough to maintain a healthy weight for me. I worked my way up to a stable workout routine the same way.
I don’t know if I like the muscle analogy for building willpower. When a person commits to doing something he doesn’t want to do everyday, that person is signing up for a daily lesson on how to control his emotions. You realize that just because you want to do something, does not mean you should do it. After you overcome your desires a couple of times, you know what to expect next time. Everything becomes easier after that.
Instead of becoming stronger, I think you become smarter.
Do you mean like with a tennis ball? My Coach told me to get a tennis ball. I have them but never use them.
I agree! I’ve been overweight for about 7 years now (I also suffer from a muscle disease which causes a lot of pain), and about 4 months ago I moved to Colorado. The apartment complex’s pool opened June 1, and I started swimming almost every night.
It helps with the pain and makes me more flexible, but I hadn’t had access to a pool (regular and “free”) until I moved here. At first I could barely do 5 mini-laps (it’s not a full sized pool), but now I can swim constantly for about an hour or more at a time.
I’ve lighter than I’ve been in 7 years, and the pain has been dramatically reduced.
A tennis ball is too compliant. You need something stiffer to really work on trigger points as they are often kind of buried “within” the muscle (i.e. surrounded by other muscles rather than at the
surface fascia). You can find speciality products for this, but for a lot of things I find that a hard rubber lacrosse ball is just about perfect. For quads and calves I use a Quadballer or a lacrosse ball elevated on a yoga block. If you are doing it right, it should hurt like a son of a bitch when you start out (make sure not to roll over joints or straight on bone) but give rapid relieve from stiffness and muscle pain after a minute or so of recovery.
Stranger