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Category Archives: Fitness
Exercise for obese women can be painful and very difficult to initiate. Look at traditional exercise and modified exercise practices that any lady can do.
Well, here I go again attempting to interest my completely disinterested mind in taking up some exercise.
I ran across this article from Women’s Health Magazine, Best Workout for Your Body Type.
This intrigued me because I have never liked the one-size-fits-all exercise model. I have pretty bad arthritis which flares up during our damp Pacific Northwest winters. I certainly don’t like having someone tell me to go do something that causes me more pain.
Walking is a Controlled Fall ~ Discover How Off-Balance Exercises Can Save You.
Walking is Falling? Reduce Your Risk of Injury!
Exercise is often one of the hardest lifestyle habits to change, especially if it’s one of your least favorite things!
However, everybody knows developing a regular exercise habit strengthens our muscles and helps to prevent injuries.
“Walking is actually a controlled fall,” says Fabio Comana, MA, MS, of the American Council on Exercise. ”Each time you take a step, you put out your other foot, which prevents you from falling.”
If you’re like me and the vision of running on a treadmill or trying to keep up with Zoomba already makes your knees hurt, off-balance exercises might be the place for you to start.
What is Pilates Exercise – A Gentle Exercise Option for Overweight Women
Exercise is just something I don’t want to do. I know in my head that exercise is essential for my health. I know people say it will help alleviate some of my joint pain.
Are You Ready To Build That Exercise Habit?
But getting up & getting moving is just not something I have ever wanted to do.
I have started out with good intentions before but I never followed through long enough to solidify regular exercise as a habit.
In an effort to get myself started up again doing some sort of exercise, I have started looking into learning some very low impact forms of exercise. I have had Yoga in mind, but lately I have heard a lot about Pilates.
What is Pilates Exercise – Is It an Exercise Option for Me
First, lets backtrack a bit and look at why I want to try out Yoga, and maybe Pilates.
Having lived my entire life sedentary, I never developed a love or passion for exercise.
I have always been amazed at how some people get right out there and jog or trot down to the gym every day.
I have very bad knees.
I always joke that I inherited my grandma’s knees instead of that old set of children’s books I always wanted. The Orthopedist says I have practically no cartilage in my left knee…something he can hardly believe at my age. In short, bending me knee is almost impossible.
I am always in pain.
My back hurts from an old injury and general arthritis makes moving hurt. I know not exercising makes it worse, but anyone in chronic pain knows how difficult it is to even think of getting started.
I am busy!
Well, everybody uses that excuse so why can’t I? I’m a single mom with a lot of kids…like the old woman in the shoe…so I just don’t know what to do to fit that ME time into the schedule.
What is Pilates Exercise – Taking a Closer Look
Since I have been making such good progress changing my eating habits to get healthier, I figure it is time to take my thumb out of my mouth and work on the exercise habit.
So off to Internet Land and Google I went to find out about this “new craze”, Pilates.
Evidently Pilates isn’t new at all. It was developed by a fella back in 1912, named Joseph Pilates. For whatever reason, Pilates became the exercise for the elite while Yoga became what everyone else did. (My take on things entirely!)
Contrology [Pilates], is not a fatiguing system of dull, boring, abhorred exercises repeated daily ‘ad-nauseam.’ Neither does it demand your joining a gymnasium, nor the purchasing of expensive apparatus. You may derive all the benefits of Contrology [Pilates] in your own home.
- Joseph H. Pilates, 1934 Return to Life Through Contrology
Pilates is one of the exercises in the family of “Mindful Movement” exercises. These are when you focus your thoughts on what you are doing with your body. The principle is that your mind and body are connected and you must develop an awareness of how your body is moving.
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The movements you make must be done correctly. Moving more slowly, being mindful of the movement, and making the movement fully is far more important than doing more movements faster or keeping up with the music.
This sounds great for me! I don’t know about you, but the thought of trying to keep up with an instructor or class who are kicking & throwing their body parts all over the place just does not appeal to me!
The other great aspect of Pilates is that you can do it laying down or sitting! I get a vision of a cat stretching and repositioning herself on the floor in all kinds of odd positions. I think I can manage cat stretches!
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An often overlooked component of exercise is breathing. Yes, of course, we all breathe involuntarily. But when we exercise, we are more efficient when our breathing is controlled. We have to be taking in enough oxygen to feed our working muscles.
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What is Pilates Exercise – Getting Started Building That Exercise Habit
Pilates Ring
And here’s the last thing about Pilates…you get toys!
There is a huge selection of equipment, home gyms and accessories that you can buy for your home.
Beginners would start with items like a mat and the Pilates Ring.
It is strongly recommended that as a beginner you focus on taking in person Pilates classes.
Your form of movement and the quality of your breathing are critical elements in doing Pilates exercises correctly. Only a live instructor can evaluate how you are doing and give you feedback.
Besides, how often have you gotten gung-ho about getting into exercise and bought a home gym just to have it turn into a clothes rack?
Remember…the key to success in learning how to live a healthier lifestyle is to change one habit at a time. When you set out to develop a new exercise habit, only focus on the beginner level, no matter what exercise you are starting.
Looking too far into the future at the big picture can be overwhelming and can easily derail you. Don’t set yourself up for failure. Set your exercise success goals in small steps.
These awesome videos I found on You-Tube which I included in this post are from Pilates Anytime. They specialize in online, home-based Pilates Exercise instruction. Check out their channel…they might be an option for you.
What is Pilates Exercise – So What Do You Think?
I’m heading down to a local fitness center my friend recommended and see about trying out the program. Sounds non-committal I know. I’m still in the thinking about it stage trying to warm up to the idea of actually exercising!
Seriously, though, I am taking the need for me to start exercising seriously. I have a life plan to live to be 100 with my mental faculties and body intact.
So how about your experience with exercise? Overweight and in pain, how do you think you’ll incorporate exercising into your lifestyle habits? Please leave your comments below.
Remember!…Sharing is Caring!…Please Like, Tweet & Share this post so others can benefit, too!
Believe In Your Success, I Do! Karen Miller Skype me! karen.j.miller Tel: 1.541.484.5455 PST
Do you ever feel like you are getting nowhere in your attempt at getting fit?
If you’re like me, getting off my butt on a regular basis just to go for a walk every day is like moving a mountain!
Then, when I read things that tell me to do “cardio” and “strength training”…it’s like…
WHAT?!?!?!
Well, Ladies, it’s about time to face the facts.
We DO have to get active and engage in these seemingly tortuous tasks of Cardio and Strength Training…ICK!
Well, first, I’d like to know exactly what cardio and strength training are.
A quick Google search later, I found some very informative articles on Cardio 101 at About.com by Paige Waehner.
Cardio exercise is “activity that raises your heart rate to a level where you’re working, but can still talk.” Evidently, Cardio exercise is what you need to do to burn calories…sweat it out!
You can find a nifty Target Heart Rate Calculator on the site where you enter your age and activity level. It then calculates a pulse range you should be at when you are exercising. That takes about 5 seconds.
In her Exercise for Beginners article, Paige recommends
* choose an activity you like…wow what a concept! No more grit your teeth and suffer!
* start with 2 or 3 days a week…no more need to feel like a failure because you can’t get yourself to exercise every day.
* focus on building the habit and a consistent amount of time spent at each workout.
Let’s face it…those of us who are obese…many of whom experience joint pain…need this grace to get started. We have lived our lives feeling like failures because we just couldn’t suck it up and exercise.
From Paige’s list of exercises, I would choose walking and swimming for myself since they are the most low impact and easier on my knees.
Strength Training for Beginners recommends absolute know-nothing beginners start off with Weight Training 101.
Weight training, or strength training, helps you lose fat, but it focuses on firming and toning the body.
Exercises involve lifting weights or using equipment like rowing machines which offer resistance. If you don’t have exercise equipment, use soup cans or bags of flour to get started.
Start off small. It is more important again to do exercises that you will enjoy and that won’t hurt you. Focus is on building the habit.
{Anyone else see a recurring theme here?}
Paige suggests beginners start out with 10-12 repetitions for 1 to 2 sets. Workouts should be 3 non-consecutive days a week so you can rest in between working out.
Repetitions are simply the number of times you lift that barbell or can of Campbell’s soup.
Sets are the groupings of repetitions. Doing 10 barbell lifts in a row (aka 10 repetitions) is one set. Then you rest 10, 20, or 30 seconds. If you do another 10 repetitions, that is your second set, and so on.
Now that seems easy enough, doesn’t it?
OF course it is. It is the effort of building the habit of doing the exercises that is the hard part.
Pick a day to start your exercise program and mark it down on your calendar. Then make the choice to follow through and do it.
Remember, it does not have to be torture or cause you pain or dread. It shouldn’t. I keep hearing how regular exercise is supposed to relieve stress and give one a sense of well being.
So let’s test it out. Commit to exercising for a month. Don’t miss a single day in your program. Maybe you will feel like a million bucks.
p.s.
I would recommend getting over to About.com and reading Paige’s articles to get the full scoop. She does recommend getting a personal trainer to help you set up a safe exercise program.
I will admit to having a sedentary lifestyle. Most people would agree that those of us who are overweight do not exercise enough or maybe not at all.
Wouldn’t we just love to be an armchair exerciser watching fitness videos from the comfort of our recliners…something similar to an armchair quarterback?
Yes that is an exaggeration and stereotype.
I would venture to say that overweight people don’t exercise because we don’t like to, we haven’t developed the habit, we think we are too busy, or we may have physical pain that makes movement hurt.
Whatever the excuse, we all know that we should be exercising.
There are products on the market that are designed solely to make the promoters rich while preying on an out-of-shape person’s laziness and desperation.
One such product is the Shake Weight.
Supposedly, all you have to do is turn on this modern wonder, hold it in your hands, and let it shake the flab right off your arms.
HA!
Anyone remember those machines with belts that were supposed to jiggle the blubber right off your butt?
I don’t know what’s worse…a blubber jiggler or a treadmill that doubles as a clothes closet!
Hmmm.
I think I’ll get a dog so I’ll be compelled to start walking.
It takes just 28 days of practicing a new action to make it a habit. Anyone want to join me?
I share my life with 2 teenagers, one son who is 18 & living away from home, and one daughter who is almost 16. Following is the story of how I started an exercise habit with their “help”.
My son listens to an eclectic mix of music. It amazes me how many moldy oldies he likes…his father would have been proud!
Unfortunately at the other end of the spectrum is that screaming “rock” that honestly sounds like the Devil’s music. Lucky for me he has an iPod.
My Diva Daughter also likes a mix of music. She actually listens to Billy Joel sometimes! Being a teenager, she also listens to rap which I hate!
She likes to get on You-Tube and play the music videos on there. Thing is, she mostly listens to her music and dances in the main part of the house.
The house rule is that whenever I am home, she has to go to her room to listen to the music that is offensive, or turn it off. We have battled more than once over this and I have pulled the plug a lot.
I finally started ‘dancing’ to the awful music when she would give me a hard time about turning it off. I was dancing so dorky and it annoyed her so much that she would turn it off.
AH HA!
I found a way to “win” the battle without a lot of negative energy! Yea me!
In the process,
I also created a fun way for me to start exercising!
Now whenever my daughter plays a music video I like the sound of, I start dancing. I am ever so careful of how I move so as not to hurt myself.
I take care of my arthritic knees! No twisting or jumping for me.
I keep my movements slow and controlled so I do not over stretch my muscles or tendons and do not pop my joints.
I make full movements so I am stretching completely.
Sometimes I sit in a chair.
I vary the movements I make, thinking of the movements I have seen in exercise videos.
Not only do I dance when my daughter plays music, but I find my own favorite music videos too.
It is important to note, if you chose a song that has a fast beat and the video choreography is rapid, you do not have to keep up! That is a sure fire way to hurt yourself!
Move according to what your body can safely tolerate.
Be mindful of your joints and over extending your muscles.
In your enthusiasm of dancing to your favorite music, it is easy to over do it.
Start with one video dance a day and increase as your body gets used to moving.
Most important, have FUN!
As you start your exercise habit, you will begin noticing how good your body feels when you are done. A lot of stress and aches and pains will be relieved and your body will feel warm.
Soon you will start finding that your energy will increase. This may mean that once a week you will be able to do your dance standing up instead of sitting in a chair. That is fantastic!
Whatever your accomplishments are, however small, they are great milestones for YOU!
These are some of the videos from You-Tube I enjoy dancing to:
Lady Marmalade is a lot of French and some off color lyrics but a very fun song. I listen to the version with just lyrics since the actual video is too risqué for my household.
Single Ladies by Beyonce is totally fun. I love to watch her & her girls dancing…a lot of energy! This is a perfect example of a video you should not try to keep up with! There are a lot of different moves you can try with your arms and swishing your hips. Try sitting in a chair to do leg lifts & ‘bicycling’.
Proud Mary by Ike & Tina Turner. Who wouldn’t want to have the energy of Tina! This is a great video for the choreography. You can get a lot of ideas for modified movements. There are a couple of other videos of classic Tina & Ike you might enjoy.
New York, New York. Was I ever surprised to hear my daughter listening to this one! This is a super fun song to move to. Pretend you are Liza Minelli performing on stage.
Before starting any exercise program, always consult your doctor first! Do not overexert! That is the quickest road to quitting and to experiencing a heart attack if you are at risk.
