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Fitter
Yesterday I went to the gym and did a “session” on the recumbent bike. I’d done it before but I found it was a bit of a struggle at times. This time, I must have been having a good day because it felt like very little effort at all. I think I also have built up a bit of muscle from doing these sessions and maybe I am just that bit stronger? Anyway, it was a good feeling to be so improved. Except I came back feeling like I hadn’t really done any exercise and it felt like I cheated. LOL
The recumbent bike is easier than the upright but I have been doing the harder workouts there too. I will feel more accomplished once I can complete a beginner workout with the beginner settings. At the moment I find it too hard to maintain for long so I decided to adjust the settings to make it do-able.
I feel like I have settled into a routine with my exercise lately. My goal is to do two weight sessions a week and that’s happening pretty regularly. I do one on the weekend and one during the week. On Tuesdays I have tai chi and fan/sword practice for 1.5 hours. On Thursday evenings I go to a pilates class. The other days I do cardio exercise, which is when I tend to use the bikes and treadmill. There are rowing machines but I haven’t used those for quite a while now.
For the weights workout I had one of the trainers update my list of exercises for a longer session. But I found it got a bit too long so that I was at the gym for nearly two hours. I’ve now managed to shift a couple of those exercises to my workout two and hopefully it will be more balanced.
On the treadmill I have mostly been doing interval work where I walk for a while and then I either walk really fast or do a bit of a jog. I was trying this fairly often and found I could manage with the breathing and heart rate. My feet and knees are a bit trickier to handle so I have cut back on that.
In addition to that I have been attempting to take the dogs for a walk much more often. One of the dogs is overweight and has arthritis so getting her walking is definitely an improvement. I can’t say I get that much exercise from walks with her. But the other dog moves quickly so I can get a good half hour in with him. So it’s good news for all of us. :)
I also started back to clinical pilates every fortnight and so every second Friday I have that class in the morning. Last week I had some tough exercises and I was so sore afterwards.
Overall I feel much fitter and balanced than I have in a while. I also have allowed for rest days when my muscles are particularly sore and that’s okay.
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Pilates
In the last few years I’ve had issues enough that I see my physiotherapist reasonably often. Well, the past few months it’s been quite often as I have had one issue after another. A few weeks ago it was suggested I try the clinical pilates classes they offer so I decided to give it a go. I had to attend an assessment session first but I’ve now gone to two classes and it’s been quite interesting. I have used some of the machines in the regular appointments but it’s quite different using them for a whole hour. The first week the exercises weren’t too difficult although a couple really brought on a muscle burn. This week they have ramped up a couple to more difficulty. The worst one is standing on a bosu ball for balance. I can stand on the flat side and let go but balancing on the ball side was a bit too hard when I was there this morning.
I also said I wanted to work on my abdominal muscles as they tend to be pretty weak much of the time. I can’t help thinking it will be beneficial to get that toned up a bit. It might make a different in my swimming when I one day get back to lessons.
I’m scheduled for ten sessions and then we will see how I am doing and reassess my needs. I will likely take a break at that point since I can’t afford to do it through the year. But it’s nice to have this option available to me.
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Pilates
I think I’ve added a new favorite to my exercise classes at the gym…all video classes, of course. I came across a Power Pilates class for over 45s and I decided to try it out. I really liked it and it felt great on my back. I have found it better than doing yoga when I’m exercising earlier in the day when my body is still feeling rather stiff from the night before. The other day I went to the gym before heading off to work and I thought the yoga would be just what I needed but found I just couldn’t do it that day. I switched to the Power Pilates class and it worked out really well. Â Yesterday I tried another class that was mostly pilates and that was also quite nice. I’d thought the class was one I’d done before but discovered it was mostly moves that were new to me. I’m really looking forward to trying it more and hope the Elements people who make the videos will continues to do pilates-specific classes since it’s a nice complement to the yoga classes.
Most of my exercise routines have been with these classes lately and I’ve really been focused on the yoga and pilates classes. One thing they seem to be really helping is my abdominal area which has been in bad shape pretty much since Game Fanatic was born. It’s only been a few weeks but I notice many of those muscles are getting stronger and my tummy isn’t pooching nearly as much as it used to. On top of that I’ve managed to lose a bit more weight even though I am not doing as much cardio as I was before. I think it’s helping in the strength area in similar ways to the weights. Whatever is happening, I am really liking it and with the yoga and tai chi classes, it’s going quite well for me.