I choose pain

Recently my doc got on to me about my elevated blood pressure and it lit a fire in me to get back into shape. I started walking again (on a treadmill now instead of morning walks outside as I'm busy checking the silver market in the mornings these days). I'm walking at least 2 miles a day on the treadmill (ie. non-stop).

But I also had started doing some light exercises including an old ab workout I did when I was a teenager. I ran across this video today with a seemingly simpler ab workout routine so I tried it (my experience posted below the video):


Crucifix crunches - I did 3 sets of 15 slowly with great form and controlled breathing. Easy. Abs burning slightly, but not like an intense work out.

Core Hold Series - I maintained a steady breath control and counted my exhales.
--> Form 1 - Feet up, head up, hands at hips - I go to about 10 count before I realized my mid section (above the hips) were elevated - I engaged the core (abs) harder and lowered the mid section. I barely lasted to 20 count as my form fell apart.
--> Form 2 - I regained composure and tried form 2 (same as form 1, but with arms out in "I surrender!" position). I don't think I made a 5 count before I knew I was about to fail so I decided to YOLO into form 3
--> Form 3 - Not sure if I managed to keep the abs fully engaged (and mid section low), but I managed to kick easily for a few seconds.

This series destroyed me and I plan to challenged myself with it every day until it becomes easy. Abs definitely burning intensely after this one.

Side plank raises - Looks super easy in the video, but felt totally weird when I tried to get into the hips off the ground starting position. I was wobbly and could barely hold the form for a full second. I managed to get a few reps on each side, but I have some work to do to get the form down with controlled movement and breathing. Obliques not burning - I wasn't able to maintain proper form through sufficient sets.

And streeeetch.
Good job

I tried the balanced, heavy-on-stretches workouts, too.

Frankly, first, they bore me...all exercise bores me, except for a few extreme sports. Skiing down a mountain is fun. I hated running but I could put my mind in neutral and just let the brain-stem take over, while I listened to mp3 podcasts (back then I'd manually record Limbaugh or Jim Quinn, dead now, off radio streams) while suffering.

I can't do that with the complex stretches. I have to THINK. Thinking is no problem but it keeps me in the present, and the present, on a pad in the gym, is very, very tedious.

Nonetheless, I could do it. Until I developed back spasms, and calcium spurs on the inside of my shoulder socket. It's what gave me a torn rotator cuff. The doc says LIGHT exercise is okay for that arm, no power lifting; but something caused it to tear, and I don't want it to tear again, or tear more.

I still do one hour's power-walking. I can't do treadmills. First because I broke a couple while deployed in the Navy (at the time I was an eight-mile-a-day jogger; but new policy prohibited doing laps on the flight deck or the well deck). Even in military fitness, I was 230 pounds, and the treadmills of the time weren't up to that. On my last command, a carrier, I got permission to do laps with the marine detachment...they looked at my pear shape, and said, you gotta keep up, squid. I said, fine, and surprised them by doing it.

That was then. Since then, I've twisted my spine, got various arthritises; broken my hip, and my metabolism is seriously messed up. I blame my experimentation two years ago with Intermittant Fasting. I lost the weight but gained it back after I broke my hip, and now I'm eating half what I used to and I'm still too fat.

So. Ya do what you can. I like walking outdoors, but I don't walk as fast - and traffic in this town is a MENACE. A lot of that menace is deliberate - we have crazed, pot-addled Californitards everywhere. One just today, as I was walking into a sporting-goods mega-store...the dumb SOB aimed his Subaru at me, DELIBERATELY, no mistaking it, and then swerved away at the last minute. While making a left turn. I was already over in the lane opposing his flow; but he wanted to make a point.

So I go to the gym and do laps. One hour. About two miles. I don't know how much it's doing for my health - I'm not showing improvement, but it seems the trend is DOWN and I'm maybe slowing that.

Casey Jones said:

...
I still do one hour's power-walking. I can't do treadmills. ...

Click to expand...

I got myself an inexpensive treadmill from amazon thinking I could use it with my standing desk while I work on my computer:


After using it for a while now, I have come to realize that it's not really possible to type, operate a mouse, or do anything with hands/arms while walking - at least at a pace above a snails crawl anyway. It messes with stride rhythm and balance too much.

I set the treadmill in the living room and walk for an hour while watching something on the TV. My TV is mounted over the fireplace mantle, so I look slightly upwards while walking. So far, it's working out pretty good. While I'm not losing weight (that I've noticed anyway), my blood pressure readings have gone from ~140-150 over 95 (stage two hypertension) to ~120-130 over 90 (more or less normal range), so I think it is definitely helping.

Ooof... Day 2 done.

Crucifix Crunch - Easy again today, though I was feeling a bit more residual soreness from yesterday's workout in the first set.

Core Hold Series
--> Form 1 - Feet up, head up, hands at hips - I crushed it for the first 15 breaths with good form and activated abs. I surrendered at 20 breaths. Had to catch my breath (10 secs or so) before attempting form 2
--> Form 2 - I made it to 12 breaths before collapsing. I noticed my head and shoulders were not as elevated off the floor as they probably should have been, but I didn't try to stop or adjust as it took 100% effort to just maintain what I was doing. I again had to catch a breath before form 3
--> Form 3 - I kept good enough form (abs fully engaged, legs up, but again head/shoulders not elevated as much as they should have been), scissor kicking is actually easier than holding steady in form 2, but the muscles are already tired after form 2. I think I did about 5-7 seconds maybe. I didn't push it for more.

Core hold series still kicking my butt, but I did much better today than yesterday.

Side plank raises - I rested for 10 secs or so to catch my breath before starting. I was very slow and deliberate getting into position on my right side. Today I started with hips on the floor and exhaled as I raised into the elevated position. I was still a bit wobbly, but did much, much better at holding the correct form. I did about 5 breaths (with more or less correct form) on each side. I could feel a slight burn in the obliques today. Stopping at 5 wasn't about muscle failure so much as mental exhaustion. I think this exercise will get easier as I master the core hold series and have more breath and serenity.

Go swimming it is the best exercise.