Limited mobility | Unlimited stories: Felt my heart beat again

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(Edited)

I couldn't postpone it any longer: after trying to get strong and flexible again, a thing that was very very necessary after sitting on the couch for so long in order to rehabilitate from my foot accident, I also needed to up the cardio game. It's hard to get your heart pumping when you can't make a lot of steps (so walking/running are out of the question) and many classes that offer small-group training do a lot of jumping and such.

Swimming is hell thanks to the swimming pools not having enough lanes to actually be able to swim at your own pace. And bicycling in a country where bicycle lanes are aplenty but also traffic lights are a huge thing... I just couldn't find a way to move in order to get that heartbeat up again.

Sometimes I would pick up my Kettlebell - but without someone commenting on my posture it always had to stop after a few weeks when my back began to hurt and signalled I was doing something wrong.

So I knew I had to go to 'The Gym' at some point

Not just to get the heart pumping, although that's reason number one, but averaging a meagre (not @actifit proof) 2000 steps a day in the past 12 months also means weight added on to the body. Aside from not enjoying the added weight, a few extra kilos also means more pressure on those feet - those feet that I can't use to lose weight, but if I lost weight I would surely feel some improvement in my feet as well?

A lovely circle I have been in for quite a while, indeed.

So there I went

Today. On a stupid stationary gym bicycle. Ugh. It was both boring and very confronting, because I wanted to give up after 7 minutes (maybe the random 'start level 5' the machine gave me was too ambitious, but still), then continued on to 12 minutes, then took a break, then did another 10 minutes on a different but still stationary bicycle.

22 minutes of interval training after not feeling my heart pump for 3 years now - I am actually feeling super tired and still hungry after a decent meal, so something clearly did happen in my body today.

It was a start. And starting is important. I'll take a week to research some beginners schedules as I now have seen The Gym and was able to check out which machines they have. I'll write up a simple to follow cardio schedule for myself and will take advantage of some of the weight-lift machines when I'm there as well.

Who knows, maybe in a year or so I'll be a totally different person - fit and strong and averaging 3000 steps a day - that would be a huge 50% increase from the past 12 months and something I can't even imagine happening ever again.

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(Edited)

Try burst training on the bike with intermittent sprints as it makes it more bearable .... I should do the same.

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I will certainly try that. I did on/off 1 minute 'average' resistance and 1 minute 'heavier' resistance, at least you know if it's only 1 minute you can probably make it through and act like the next minute is a totally new beginning :D

I also want to try the rowing machines - all in all I think I will have three variations of cardio in that gym.

I should do the same.

I think this is one of the most repeated sentences in many people's minds :-/ Hard to fit in sports with a life like yours I'd say.

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Agree with @tarazkp. Burst will burn more fat and increase more muscles (which will burn more fat again🙌) compared with a steady pace.

Rowing is a great training but please look out with your back, you can go so wrong with this one!

Next time you’ll be around in Zeeland hopefully it will be on Tuesday or Thursday. Will bring you to my training in the pool. Enough space for you to swim your own pace. And we only have 5 lanes (and in most lanes not even two people).

Now it’s time for compliments great to read you started in the gym💪😎

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Thanks! Certainly need to read up a little, seen a lot of people talk about 'HIIT' - is that the same as bursts?

Rowing I would start very slowly and build up slower than the other exercises... There were some trainers 'on the ground' so maybe I'll just ask them for pointers the first time I'll do that exercise. But I did watch someone else row for a while and it actually looked like that added a lot of pressure on her feet, so who knows, maybe it's not doable for me anyway.

(and in most lanes not even two people).

So this is why I should leave the Big City eh? Finally some quiet swimming pools :D

Thanks for the compliments, I feel proud, well, mostly tired :P

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Burst and hiit are the same indeed🙃

Not sure about the pressure on your feet while rowing. It’s been a while ago I did it... wil ask @dikkie about it tomorrow. She did some intense rowing during university. Think she will know it🤔

Not all the pools are empty overhere but my swimmingteam has the pool reserved on those evenings. Last hour of the evening is for the triatletes and we don’t have many of them. So also people recovering and who just want to swim a bit instead of watching TV are welcome to fill the lanes. There are sessions during the season while there are only three swimmers. Tonight we had 8 total😜

Enjoy that feeling of ‘being tired’ you worked hard for it.

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I have been considering getting a used RPM bike for my apartment, but I have no where to put it and my wife would shoot me!

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Lol - tell her you'll either die from her shooting you or from not exercising too much :D

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Actions speak louder than words - perhaps I will prove it ;D

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@artemislives was trying to talk me into cardio for 'reasons' yesterday. I think seeing this post in my feed is a sign from the universe I have to actually do something to REALLY get my blood pumping. Noted. Thanks - we're gonna sign up for gym soon, although I really, really don't want to....

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haha.... you asked for abundance and now you have it! Abundant heart beats, abundant health and abundant free boot camp coaches. PS changing the negative expectation and vocab will help loads. xxx

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(Edited)

make this number four ladies @artemislives @soyrosa and @riverflows !
With getting back to Holland I need something (yeah its gonna be a 10 kilometer bikeride to work daily) to get me ready for this so I dont end up dead on the side of the road on the way towards there

ps roos: KUDOS!!

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ps roos: KUDOS!!

<3 Thanks!

And yes yes yes, lol, start training now! I hope I will be able to get to the point where normal bike rides won't kill me either, maybe in spring or so :D #goals.

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Lol - I see you're on a mission @artemislives! Good for you :D

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(Edited)

Haha @soyrosa ...yup! 1 year in a wheelchair & 6 years on crutches, every part of your post resonates. I hated cardio when I couldnt. A little coaching & a change of mindset helped a lot. I now run with only an imperceptible limp & little pain. And I LOVE it, cos I CAN. 😍 Wishing you easy & speedy recovery & endless runners' high.

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Wow @artemislives - sounds like you've gone through quite a journey yourself! I'm so happy for you that you're even able to run! I'll never run or walk a lot anymore unfortunately, the bone in my foot is permanently damaged and will only damage more of the bones surrounding it as it is 'scraping' cartilage of it the more I use it. They can't operate on it and the only thing I can do is wear semi-orthopedic shoes which prevent the foot from 'unrolling' too much. My only prospect from here on is that it's going to get worse, and instead from getting out of the wheelchair I might end up in one in the end.

But as I said, I now only walk 2000 steps on average a day (in reality it's more 4000 one day and then 'rest day' the next) and who knows if I can bring that to 3000 steps even... That's a win. And that's what I'm going for.

Cheers <3

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Haha! Ohhh I know the really, really don't want to... - and I've postponed it for ages. If this post plays even a tiny role in your decision to take (even more) care of your health then I'll take it though :D Good luck and maybe we can motivate each other somehow :')

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You have to start again somewhere. I know it can be daunting to start again from nothing but making the first step is the most important. Hopefully you can keep it up after this trip and it helps to improve the situation.

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Yes - I'm planning to go once a week for now, and see how that goes. If I feel once a week gets too easy it's maybe time to add another one to the schedule, but I've learned to not go 'too hard too fast' :-)

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I need to find my way back to health and exercise but I still feel so tired I can't break through my own lack of will snif

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