Readers' Workouts ~ flexibility and balance

This week, I want to focus on flexibility and balance.  The chart above shows stretches to help the lower back (flexibility), and the list below has ten exercises to help with balance.  I use a chair for support and don't need to repeat it in each of these ten exercises.

1.  Heel-to-toe walk

•  Focus on a spot directly in front of you and take a step forward with one foot, placing the heel directly in front of the toes of the other foot, so that heel and toe almost touch.
•  Take 20 steps.

2.  Stand on one foot

•  Lift one foot off the ground with your knee bent, and hold for 10 seconds.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times with each leg.

3.  Weight shift

•  Stand with legs hip-width apart and feet flat on the floor.
•  Lift one foot several inches and hold for 10 seconds.  Repeat with the other foot.
•  Repeat 10 times on each side.

4.  Leg raise walk

•  Stand with arms out to the sides at shoulder height, staring at a point across the room to maintain your balance.
•  Lift one leg and hold it up for a second before bringing it down in front of you.
•  Repeat with the other leg, and walk 20-30 steps.

5.  Side leg raise

•  Bend one leg slightly, while slowly lifting the other leg to the side, with your toes facing forward.
•  Hold for a second before lowering your foot to the floor.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times on each leg.

6.  Back leg raise

•  Stand up straight, and slowly lift one leg up behind you, with toes facing toward the floor.
•  Hold for a second, and then lower your foot to the floor.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times with each leg.

7.  Heel raise

•  Standing with feet shoulder-width apart, rise up onto your toes as high as you can.
•  Hold for a second, and slowly lower your heels to the ground.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times.

8.  Chair stand

•  Sit near the front of a chair with your back straight and your feet flat on the floor.
•  Put your arms out straight in front of you; then lean forward slowly, and stand up.
•  Sit back down.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times.

9.  Side step

•  Stand with your feet together and your knees slightly bent.
•  Step to the left, and bring your right foot to the left to join it.
•  Step to the right, and bring your left foot to the right to join it.
•  Repeat 10 to 15 times on each side.

10.  Balance with closed eyes

•  Use a chair, table, or wall next to you for support.
•  Close your eyes.
•  Lift one knee until your upper and lower leg are at a right angle, and hold for 10 seconds.
•  Repeat on the other side.

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We had snow on the ground on Sunday and rain on Monday.  I'm quite aware that I need cardio (strength and endurance) as well as flexibility and balance, so when the weather is good, I hope to spend more time walking outside. I prefer that to walking on a treadmill.  While typing this at 1:30 pm, the weather report says it's 61 degrees.  So I opened the window for my cat, who loves to sniff the fresh air.

TWOsday ~ exercise tips

My friend Donna on the treadmill recently

This seems like a good day for a new focus, using these tips for my exercise routine:

1. "Embrace the unfamiliar" is #13 on an exercise list I discovered.
2. "Learn something new" is the goal for the 11th day of happiness.

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It's time for me to start using the treadmill in our fitness center.  My idea of walking has always been out in the neighborhood, but it's been bitter cold in St. Louis lately.  It has warmed up to above freezing, but that's still cold.  I guess I'll just need to get used to the idea of walking without going anywhere, with better health as my destination.

Exercise ~ yoga every day

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On Wednesday (last week means last year), I met with Risé to do floor exercises in Crown's fitness center.  We plan to continue getting together.  Yesterday (for the New Year), I added these five basic yoga poses to do daily in my apartment.  So far, so good — I managed one day!  Today's another day, and I'm determined to keep it up.

If I do it too late in the day (though NOT on a Sunday morning), I can imagine it ending like this:

Her first pose is Downward-Facing Dog (that's the way I've always heard it).  The second pose looks like a very stiff Cobra.  Then she does the plank, which takes a lot of strength in arms as well as core.  Hmm, what do we call her last pose? Best suggestion wins a laugh from me.

Readers’ Workouts – Dec. 5, 2017

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Goals for this week:

Tuesday ~ walk in my neighborhood (cardio)
Wednesday ~ exercise with Melissa (strength)
Thursday ~ chair exercises and squats (endurance)
Friday ~ exercise band twists and pulls (flexibility)
Saturday ~ floor exercises (strengthen core)
Sunday ~ walk in my neighborhood (cardio)
Monday ~ chair exercises and squats (balance)

Here's a week's worth of challenging myself, since it apparently takes something like this to make myself exercise.  My twice-a-week group let me down.  When nobody showed up twice in a row, I called the whole thing off.  Now I need to find a way to do it on my own.  Maybe this will work.

Exercise ~ and all that jazz

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Apparently, I can't make myself exercise alone in my apartment on a regular basis.  I need a group setting to keep myself focused.  Yesterday, I went to the Introduction to Movement, a 30-minute class.  Today, I joined the Better Balance class, which also meets on Thursdays.  Tomorrow, it will be Fitness with Melissa and maybe Fitness on Demand a couple of hours later.

Our instructors usually have music playing in the background.  The Better Balance rotation included "And All That Jazz," which I noticed because a few weeks ago a musical group performed "All That Jazz" here at the Crown Center.  The song has come up in more than one exercise group since then.  I'm loving it!


If this video quits working, view it on YouTube.

Yoga ~ gently

My chair yoga class met this afternoon.  This is a photo taken before class of Shannon and me with Lucy, who leads us in our exercises.

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Today, we added lower body movements to the upper body work we did last week.  Lucy began by reminding us of ahimsa, "do no harm."  We are supposed to pay attention to our feelings.  We sit up straight while we move our arms and legs, if possible; Lucy modifies what we do, according to our abilities and whether we can move certain joints.  This week, only 12 came.

Chair Yoga ~ new exercise class

Today was the start of our new Gentle Chair Yoga class, meeting every Tuesday from now until April 25th.  Our instructor (Lucy) said the first and most important rule for us is to "do no harm," citing ahimsa, the Jain principle of nonviolence toward all living things.  Today we did mostly upper body work, as the 16 of us in the group learned what our elderly bodies can and can't do.  Maybe next week I can share a photo of the class.  It was good to see Eunice, who was in a health class with me a year or so ago.  And I think I've made a new friend.

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Megan's half-hour class wasn't working for me, because she plays any kind of music and then does exercises "against" the music.  Having started piano lessons at five years old ... and having played glockenspiel in the marching band ... and having played bassoon in junior high and high school concert band and orchestra and the Chattanooga Youth Symphony, I do things in TIME with the music, not against it.  In Megan's class, I had to close my ears (hard to do!) and try to follow her closely ... or else cut loose and go as fast as the music, rather than following our leader.  It's too much mental work.

So today, I'm back to yoga with another teacher.  I enjoyed the "real" yoga class I joined decades ago when I could still get down on the floor easily, and this one is off to a good start.

Fitness

Actually, what I've done was fail to make an appointment with the physical therapist immediately after my doctor recommended one to work with my shoulder.  I have, however, been to the exercise groups I told you about last week.  It feels like I'm "running" all the time, trying to keep up with things I've scheduled, even though I'm retired.

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Two become three ~ on TWOsday

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Megan is back!  I added another exercise class to my week yesterday, when Introduction to Movement started up again after a four-week hiatus.

I started a couple of fitness classes at the beginning of the year, so now I'll have group exercises three times a week.  Having these on the calendar help me exercise more consistently.

Readers' workouts ~ back in class

Melissa had handouts for our exercise class today.  All of them are from Go4Life.  Click the links to see what's inside each one or to order your own free copy.

• a120-page book on Exercise and Physical Activity
• a 20-page booklet called Workout to Go
• a pamphlet on Exercise and Physical Activity: Getting Fit for Life

My first goal for 2017 was to get started back in an exercise class or two.  Since they meet downstairs in the building where I live, it's only an elevator ride away.  I've learned that good intentions don't always work when I plan to exercise alone in my apartment.  When I'm with a dozen friends and acquaintances, however, I'm more likely to follow through.  So I have started the year by attending two different classes:  Fitness with Melissa and Fitness on Demand.

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I already have a few books showing various exercise routines, which I've done on my own. Now I have Melissa's handouts and will read through them as well. This is, after all, "readers' workouts" and I'm a reader.  Besides exercising and reading, I plan to link up with other readers on Joy's Book Blog.  Doing that will keep me focused on my goal of staying as healthy as possible.  Want to join me?

This new exercise book explains the four kinds of exercises that I wrote about in July and then has an entire chapter with sample exercises for each of the four.

"Exercises generally fall into four main categories:  endurance, strength, balance, and flexibility.  Though we describe them separately, some activities fit into several categories.  For example, many endurance activities also help build strength, and strength exercises can help improve balance" (p. 12).

The categories (p. 13):

• Endurance — aerobic activities increase your breathing and heart rate.
• Strength  — resistance training improves your muscle strength.
• Balance — these exercises help prevent falls, a common problem in older adults.
• Flexibility — stretching can help your body stay flexible and limber.

I'm off and running (well, not literally).  All I can say now is "get thee behind me, Daffy Duck!"

Readers' Workout ~ a merry month of movement

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Joy wrote this morning:

"How was your November?  What are you planning for December?  Do you expect it to be easier or more difficult than most months for exercise?"

Last week, I was on my own.  Yesterday, I went to my exercise class only to discover it was cancelled, again.  Since people were slipping and sliding in St. Louis because of ice on the roads — and on the sidewalks and on the cars — I could understand that.  In my case, since the exercise class meets on the ground floor of my high-rise senior living center, it's only an elevator ride away.  A few older adults from the neighborhood attend, but most of us live in the building.  So I went, prepared to lead the group myself, if our fearless leader couldn't make it.  Our teacher sometimes goes around the circle, having each of us pick the next routine, whether squats or stretching our exercise bands or whatever.  We could do it!  Yes!

Nope!  I arrived to find a dark room.  No one else was there.  I waited around a bit, and one other woman showed up.  I told her we could do our own exercise routine, but she said she wasn't feeling up to it, and we ended up in my apartment, talking.  Maybe I'll have to work it out with the office that we would be willing to be self-taught next time, if no leader shows up.

Today, Joy called December "A Merry Month of Movement."  I'll try to make it exactly that — even if I must do it on my own.

Readers' Workouts ~ on my own this week

Readers' Workouts is the weekly event where book lovers share workout stories, goals, successes, and challenges.

Since this is Thanksgiving week, we knew our Friday workout class would not meet.  Our leader had a death in her family and the funeral was on Monday, which meant we would miss both sessions.  So I did the exercises in my apartment, on my own.  Using a chair, as we elders do in our group, may not seem like much exercise to young folks, but it does help with our balance and steadiness.

Readers' Workouts ~ third week

Readers' Workouts for October 28, 2014

On Friday, I put in a couple of extra hours walking after my one-hour exercise class when Joy of Joy's Book Blog showed me around the Missouri Botanical Gardens.  Joy, how long was our "long walk at the Missouri Botanical Garden" on Friday?  How many minutes did you generate during our walk?  I'm sure I went a lot slower than you usually would, but I do so appreciate the tour and getting to meet you.  I didn't take a picture during my class, but here's the architect's drawing of the exercise center.  We had only ten of us on Friday, but nearly twenty the week before.  By the way, I live in a senior center, and my exercise class includes people with walkers and at least one in a wheelchair.  We do gentle exercises twice a week, for one hour each time.

Joy also mentioned our visit to the Missouri Botanical Garden.  Thanks, Joy.

Readers' Workouts ~ second week of my exercise class

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Yesterday morning, I took a friend from my neighborhood to my exercise class.  Much later, after a long day together, she marveled at my stamina.  She was exhausted, and I was still bouncing around in my seat across the table from her over a meal.  I asked myself if that's because I have a whole week's advantage over her, meaning two extra one-hour exercise classes.  Okay, I'll quit patting myself on the back and tell the WHOLE truth.  We had spent a couple of hours visiting her husband in rehab where he's been since early July after chemo for acute leukemia and a stroke that took away the use of his left side.  Her lack of energy has more to do with emotional exhaustion than anything else.

Nevertheless, I have to say that I'm enjoying the classes and feel energized by doing the exercises.  Next time, on Friday, I'll try to remember to take a picture of either our exercise area or get someone to photograph me.  At least it would "prove" I'm working on this exercise stuff.

Readers' Workouts ~ my new exercise class

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Last week, I joined one of the exercise groups here in the senior apartments where I live.  We exercise an hour on Mondays and an hour on Fridays.  They took each of us into another room and put us through a "test" of our abilities so there would be a baseline to judge any improvement in strength, balance, endurance, and whatever else they measured.  I presume they'll test us again at the end of the 20 sessions we signed up for.

Part of our routine included the use of a stretchy resistance band, also called an exercise band.  I didn't take any pictures during the sessions, but I did find this photo online. The bands are different colors, indicating different strengths.  Mine is blue and says "8.0 lbs" on it.   Except for one person in a wheelchair, we were standing and twisting and stretching the bands out to each side and behind our shoulders.

The shoulder exercise really made me feel the muscles where my shoulder was broken in December 2012, even though I faithfully did all the exercises in physical therapy in 2013.  I bought the pulley that hooks over a closed door so I could work on my range of motion, and I also used my tension cord for stretches to the side, from an angle, lifting up, pulling down, and pulling from behind me.  All of that gave me almost complete use of my right shoulder again.  Now I'm working on it with this class.