The fabled horrible storm promised to hit us like a monsoon this Friday turned out to be rain. Not a particularly heavy one. We are all very grateful as nobody wants flooding.
The AC has been fixed and the house is a balmy 70 degrees. 🙂 The doors will be delivered shortly, which means we will have to break down the pallet and haul 250 lb doors to the garage one at a time. Should be interesting. I can put all these mornings of lifting weights at the gym to a test.
I’m, apparently, one of those people who start feeling sore shortly after the workout and then continue to be sore for about 48 hours. I go to the gym three times a week, which means I am continuously sore. I’ve been going for about 2 months, and I don’t remember not being sore. I took Tylenol today before the workout.
Also, this seems very appropriate.
So far I have developed an ability to endless numbers of squats. Squats holding a weight. Squats holding a bar. Squats half-way. Squats and holds. More squats.
Have I mentioned squats? 🙂
I do enjoy getting stronger, but sometimes it’s really hard to make myself go.
I relate so much to that quote. It’s gotten colder here in Ohio,I have to motivate myself like a toddler. You can do it, look we’re doing it and hurry up so we can get back to the house and hibernate ?
PS Someone has been busy making the website beautiful.
Don’t give up! I have been doing CrossFit for almost 4 months , 3 to 4 days a week. I’m still the same weight . But I am so much stronger! I love it. One day everything will kick in. Rock the squats!!!!
Try taking vitamin C before your workout (or drinking orange juice). The folic acid flushes the *can’t remember the name* acid from your muscles (darn brain fart) that occurs from exercise. Helps reduce the soreness after exercise.
(I’m sure one of my fellow BDH can fill in my gap…)
*lactic acid ?
One of our sons was trying to remember that word the other day.
Son: lactate acid?
Us: (flat stare) Uh, no.
Lactic acid?
Thats it! Thanks (arrg I can’t believe I forgot that)
Tart cherry juice helps with muscle soreness for me.
I read about that recently—a Healthline article about the benefits of cherry juice. It referenced some interesting studies about its anti-inflammatory properties, not just post-workout either.
It’s definitely better than an NSAID, though, in the long term. I heard about this study years ago, from an MCB friend in college who was very into the science side of working out, and never forgot it: NSAIDs are counter productive because they prevent protein synthesis. You won’t build muscle. There’s a specific timing to it, too—though I can’t remember if it’s worse to take it before or after the workout. My memory is fuzzy, but there was a flurry in certain communities (bodybuilders?) for a while, because the study basically debunked a lot of people’s routines.
I wasn’t sure if I could share links here, but turns out I can! So:
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/ways-cherry-juice-benefits-you#helps-you-sleep
There have been several studies on NSAIDs and muscle growt though, ranging from research on athletes to osteoarthritis, so better just to google it and go wild.
Ack! I accidentally linked to just a subsection. Here’s the article from the top:
https://www.healthline.com/health/food-nutrition/ways-cherry-juice-benefits-you
I love that quote! I’ve seen it before and actually posted it on my fb timeline a few months ago. I received a ton of thumbs-up and laughs because so many people can relate.
Glad the storm was a dud and that all is repaired.
Question: Why 250 doors??? I’m trying to picture a house with 250 doors. It’s twisting my already twisted brain. 🙂
Bet Gertrude Hunt has lots of doors!
Seriously, are you replacing all the interior doors as well as the front door?
Its probably a typo, two 50lb doors…
I thought it was the baseboards that needed replacing.
A BDH mystery to solve 🙂
250 lb doors, total weight with the pallet 525lbs. Now safely in the garage.
Well done. Definitely a work out on its own!
Dang those are heavy doors!
Looks like 2 250lb doors, on a pallet. Exterior doors.
Man, those are *some* doors. I have an exterior door on my porch, for my porch and carried it in myself. I don’t know how much it weighs, but not 250 lbs. It’s steel with a glass triple pane insert and frame. I do my “weight training” by hefting 50 lb bags of flour around and that is about my limit of what I can lift comfortably.
And I get the sore after workout. A couple of friends and I have been walking at least 4 days a week. We’re up to 3 miles or so, about an hour (our dogs are in great shape) And every day about an hour later, I end up taking my version of a 5 hour energy (a motrin and 2 Vitamin B complex). Because I’m sore and tired. We’ve been doing this since the beginning of summer. My weight is “hovering” meaning some weeks I’m down and some I’m up but mostly in the same range. and what I eat doesn’t seem to have anything to do with it, as I track that too. Whatever. I can walk 3 miles with no issues now, even thru snow and today, below 0 windchills. The “goal” was to be able to keep up with my grandgirls… (I can do that.) And to lower my A1C, which I’ve also done. So I’m good… It would be nice if these damned German genes would let me lose a little weight, tho.
Exercising with dogs is humiliating— sweat pouring off me, breathing like a steam train while dog refuses to do a single pant.
Include interior doors, patio doors. Alot more doors in a house other entry doors
The post does have 250 at the end of a line of words. The next word on the next line is the abbreviation for pound, lb. There is not a period, exclamation point or a question mark between door and lb. It’s there as plain as American English, 250 lb. C’mon folks.
Advil, Aleve or just plain aspirin would be better than Tylenol. Tylenol does not reduce inflammation. Worse for your stomach, but better for inflammation! I’d try the vitamin C before NSIADS though. And I am also trying to process 250 doors.
Last I checked, NSAIDS, ibuprofin in particular, reduced athletic performance. Which isn’t to say there isn’t a time and a place, but vitamin I isn’t as helpful in the way a lot of people liked to think.
They need heavy duty doors to keep back the horde trying to sneak a peek at the new HL book they are writing. 🙂
I love that tweet so much 🙂
Great, now I can’t get that Santander bank commercial out of my head….Look, my bank gave me Jack Squat….Happy Weekend!
I like the Planet Fitness commercial “I lift things up and put them down”
So when I go to they gym I tell my husband that I am going to lift things up and put them down 🙂
Also the Homer Simpson – “What’s a gym?”
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PGLzm-Gy0dQ
Like you, I’ve been going to the gym 3X week for upper body only. I’ve gotten a lot stronger (bicep curl 25lb per arm, bench 80lbs) but haven’t really lost weight. I can’t do cardio (bad hip) so I have accepted my strong body as being fabulous as it is 😉
My husband swears by a small glass of pineapple juice for a recovery after working out. He is Mr. Fitness – runs 6 miles and then still goes to the gym. Ugh!
https://healthyeating.sfgate.com/pineapple-good-fruit-eat-workout-12158.html
Pineapple makes a great snack after your workout. Its simple sugar content is quickly metabolized to replace your depleted muscle glycogen stores — the stored energy in your muscles — which helps aid recovery and prepares you for your next workout. It’s also a rich source of the mineral potassium, which aids proper muscle function, and it’s 86 percent water, so it will help you rehydrate after your workout.
I had the same issues. The only thing that helped for me was doing significant stretching before and after the gym. Some stretching when taking a hot shower after the workout. It took awhile but eventually things worked better. Doesn’t work for everyone though. It’s definitely tough to keep doing something when you know you’re going to be sore. I’m going to try doing swiming and pool exercises to see if I like that better than the gym……will likely have green hair from the chlorine so free hair dye lol.
+1
+1
I found that if I didn’t stretch for at least 10-20 minutes after, I hurt all over for the rest of the day, or even the next. What’s great: I found out, several years ago, that even if I forgot to stretch right after my workout and realized it after like an hour, stretching when I remembered still eliminated like 90% of the pain, even if I did it late.
Not sure about everyone else, but stretching afterwards is the only thing that induces that post-workout floaty relaxation state so many people talk about. I used to think it was a myth because I was so sore for days without feeling good at all—but then I tried yoga (in the morning, about an hour after a light breakfast) and at the end of the session they guide you into relaxing and basically… I ended up asleep on the floor, along with several others. I felt like I was weightless the rest of the day, I was so relaxed and energetic.
Honestly, I think it’s just trial and error to see what type of exercise feels good to your body. Yoga was great for me, but I tried Pilates and it was torture, and afterward I felt like my back had broken in 10 places and I was in so much pain for literal days I wanted to curl up and die.
I have the same comments about working out. I also add in that I don’t think my body has endorphins. Everyone else says I feel great after a workout. Personally I feel tired and sweaty there is no great about it. My trainer after watching me for over a year agreed I don’t seem to get any uplifting feeling.
Omg SAME! I have never ever gotten endorphins from working out- I think mine are broken…
Either that or the whole endorphins thing is a conspiracy theory of toned people who associate it with going to the gym, but it’s really about having a perfect body and looking in the mirror.
My endorphins are broken, too. I get mild pleasure from being more fit and able to do things, and I feel some pleasure after a workout. but only because if feels so good when it stops! LOL
Swimming is the only exercise I can do that rarely hurts. (Occasional swimmers shoulder.) The most difficult part was wearing a bath suit when someone might see me! lol
Yesterday you wrote you were kidnapping Gordon to work. I’ve kidnapped my husband a few times, but never for work. I’d wait about 15 minutes into the drive before I let him know where we were really going &I I wasn’t promising I return him home. Great fun. You might consider it after the holidays.
My son is California born and bred. He is not a fan of the rain you get in Texas. (He is stationed at Ft Hood.) He was extremely unhappy at being snowed on one morning during PT! I myself am envious and wish you all the best with your rain.
So is my 18 yr old – now a freshman at UT Austin.
But he loves the rain there for now. 🙂
??
Now to see if I can motivate myself to the gym.
I highly recommend Calm Magnesium supplement. The citrus flavor is pretty good plain or you can add it to smoothies, hot tea, or fruit juice. I tend to get sore even without exercising, and it really does help.
Sorry lass, weight lifting ADDS weight. It doesn’t diminish it. As a fellow peasant on the run, I can attest to this. I row. Lots and lost of reps, removing carbs from my diet . . . it’s slow but effective. No more potatoes (), no more corn tortillas . . . skinny or happy . . . hmm. Bring on the corn tortillas.
Mmmmmmm tortillas……yaaaa happiness!!
It ads weight, but it’s muscle weight, whilst fat percentage in the body drops…right? And all in all uses up more calories and strengthens the body.
+1 Rossana – so in exchanging fat weight for muscle weight you’ll be *fitter* and therefore healthier, which also means you’ll retain your mobility abilities for longer in your later life.
Better to be just a bit in the overweight (not obese) range and fit, than a thin fatty.
(I.e. thin of the outside, but a lot of fat internally around your organs).
Muscle adds weight on the scale because it’s denser, but it takes up less space because it’s leaner.
That’s why, when people take before and after pictures of themselves after months of working out, they look leaner even if they are literally the same weight.
(That’s why measuring your progress only by weighing scale can be not only counterproductive but demoralizing and demotivating.)
https://www.webmd.com/diet/obesity/features/8-ways-to-burn-calories-and-fight-fat#1
Building muscle is good for health because it burns more calories—active and at rest—than the same amount of fat (i.e., 10 lbs of muscle will burn more calories than 10 lbs of fat). Your resting metabolic rate goes up hours and hours after exercising, so combined with more muscle burning more calories just sitting down, it’s a win-win.
+1
How quickly you gain/lose weight is, to a significant degree, a function of your gut flora. Some are very efficient at converting calories to fat. When immigrants come to this country, they tend to gain weight because their diet has changed to one their gut flora hasn’t encountered before. Of course you would think at least sometimes that would cause them to lose weight, but it never seems to work that way with the typical American diet.
Hello!
You probably get a lot of advice and unnecessary suggestions about everything and must be annoyed. But after this fitness themed blog post (and previous “health” posts this year) I thought that this time I have to share mine 🙂 (and I almost never comment on anything)
TRY (if you haven`t already) SALSA DANCE LESSONS.
The benefits:
*) Dancing brings such a joy (and I`m saying that as a not very joyful or social person :)).
*) You don`t have to pressure yourself so much to go to every lesson – you want to be there and just free your mind from everyday bullshit and stress.
*) It`s very democratic – there are no age/weight/experience/ability limits
*) It`s often not necessary to have a partner (usually dance partners change/rotate so everyone can try to dance with different partner and improve themselves at the same time)
*) You don`t have to get a new things for your first lessons – just wear comfortable shoes and clothes.
*) The backaches from long hours by computer become less and less with each week
*) In time Your posture improves
Remarks:
*) Find a dance studio / teachers that you feel comfortable with. There is no point sticking it out if afterwards you feel miserable. What I mean by that is that a lot depends on teachers ability to be positive and help you find that positivity and joy of dancing.
*) LA salsa (beat on 1) is easier for beginers (or so I`ve heard). I started with NY salsa (beat on 2, and I`m on my fifth year :)), but I think it depends on persons sense of rhythm.
P.S. My apology if You feel annoyed by this advice/comment:)
P.S.S. Keep up the great work with books and mind your health. Give Yourselves holidays more often. Don`t listen to those impatient whiners that harp for new material. Health and Quality over Quantity
I can’t imagine a door that weighs 250 pounds that one would find in a home. National Cathedral, yes (maybe), but a home? What makes these so heavy?
They are nine foot tall, solid wood, and reinforced with wrought iron. Gordon is mildly obsessed with safety and the doors we have now are old pressed wood that is slowly splitting. They’re still functional, but not for too much longer.
But it also turned out that the doors came with the frame so by the time we broke down the pallet, the frame was probably 50lbs or so, so each door ended up clocking at probably 180-190 lbs.
See, you guys ask me where do I get my ideas, like surrounding the castle with the moat, for example. This is where.
LOL!!!
May we please have a photo when they are in? Fascinated to see how close of got in my imagination!
Victoria Beckham said, “I want a big house with a moat and dragons and a fort to keep people out.”
You want to keep people out? I say:
Big house with a moat
dragons to keep people out
Not necessary
Live in a hole alone
with worms, bugs and dirt
Save money for afterlife.
A Tanka that tanked.
I appreciate these details. Have two 40 year old front doors that must be replaced. Because of massive fire recovery you can’t find handyman contractor in 500 miles. It’s all up to me. As super nerd I collect research endlessly before I make a move. Thnx.
Please tell me that you’re going to install silver-coated iron bars on the windows, just in case. LOL
Your doors sound like someone had a really great concept but the execution was a little iffy. I’ll second the request for pictures, before and after!
Regarding going to the gym, Terry Crews says, “It has to feel good. I tell people this a lot – go to the gym, and just sit there, and read a magazine, and then go home. And do this every day. Go to the gym, don’t even work out. Just GO. Because the habit of going to the gym is more important than the work out. Because it doesn’t matter what you do. You can have fun — but as long as you’re having fun, you continue to do it.”
Hi, in North Queensland Australia we are a bit excited about our rain because we have just had fires… however ask us in two weeks and it might be a different story? glad your rain did not lead to landslides! I am convinced the only euphoria you feel at gym is the ‘thank goodness this is over’! One
I dunno. As mentioned below, a good stretch routine usually leaves me feeling pretty great. I’d even go so far as to use ‘euphoric’.
Props to you for your dedication! Squats! Squats! Squats! At one point I maxed at 285 lbs…then I slacked off but I’m giving myself the birthday present of returning to powerlifting (yeah). A couple of suggestions to help your soreness. Plenty of hydration, always. Using a foam roller for myofacial release will help loads (YouTube has plenty of videos showing technique). Another help to rid the body of toxins and lactic acid is dry brushing (again, You Tube)-just make certain you get a quality natural bristle brush. Be well!!
I resemble that remark! Best of luck with the doors.
The Texas weather wizards are saying the heavy rain is coming tonight so don’t put away your ark yet.
As a lifelong fat person I couldn’t lose weight until I started keeping track of my calorie intake. Crash diets are useless, what is needs is to change your behavior. Establish a reasonable intake (tables on internet) and then nudge it to adjust the results. This will take several years! When I started I found I was eating about 3600 calories a day. I set my first target at 2400, found it was comfortable, and slowly lowered it as I continued to lose weight. This took about two years to get the bulk off. Fifteen years later I am still a good weight because I have changed my eating habits.
Exercise is necessary to keep your body machine healthy. Almost no one who is not doing hard physical labor all day can lose weight by exercise; typically after exercise your blood sugar is low and you will have a snack that replaces at least the calories you worked so hard to lose!
+ 1
I feel your pain.
No word of a lie – this guy is awesome –
in case you haven’t seen him before. His HIIT sessions are brilliant. https://www.youtube.com/user/thebodycoach1
Motivation is the hardest part of working out. Since we moved I have only been walking about once or twice a week. If these temps keep up it will be less. I used to be part of a workout group that helped to keep me motivated and committed but I haven’t found one here yet…but that means I will have to start looking…again no motivation. About weight, I never really go up or down my muscle definition changes. Right now they are lose and soft, but when I work out often to include weights and light cardio, they become more defined.
I like the sound of your doors. On Okinawa we had solid steal (I think doors). They were made to withstand the constant battering from Typhoons. Since we’ve left my husband has commented how much he misses them. I will be telling him about these. He has crazy ideas about securing our house too.
Just wait until you get into pushups! Wide pushups, triceps pushups, plyo pushups (getting air-time while changing from one type to the other). And, did I mention pushups? ?????
Good on you for sticking with it.
When I started at the gym a few years ago I was sore for three months, and then it just stopped. I just got fitter, and when I peaked my muscles stopped hurting.
Now, 7 years later, if I have a break for a couple of weeks I know I will get sore for a week or 2. Getting older sucks. But I don’t exercise to lose weight. I exercise for strength and fitness. In my doctor role I assess people for fitness for surgery, and I tell you hands down, no matter your size, fitness predicts outcome after surgery.
And you must have great persistence as shown by your amazing ability to keep us fed with your wonderful writing and to keep pushing through the blocks you have! You are obviously using that gift to keep you going to the gym!
Thank you
You probably need to do more stretching after your workout, but a lot of it is that the body needs time to acclimate to the regime. This will take more months. Also, you should try doing some light exercise on your non-gym days because this will get the blood circling through those sore muscles and speed up recovery.
I have to echo what Julie suggests. Stretching.
Underline that. Put it in bold. Change the font to 24 point.
I was heavily into exercise, specifically strength training a few years back. Squats are an absolute no-no for me now due to the arthritic knees – on that front if you are doing squats remember to have omega oils in your diet. Not only good for the brain but helps the joints as well.
Anyway, getting off point, back to the point … stretching. Done right stretching in itself is an exercise routine. Low impact sure, but it helps to get blood, and therefore oxygen pumping back to your muscles, which also means it’s pumping the resulting chemicals from a stronger strength/resistance workout out from your muscles and flushing them out of your body.
I remember when I was really into strength training just doing the stretch routine on my off days was literally like a breath of fresh air – literally, as in, my breathing would improve/ease, as well as feeling more relaxed and less tight.
Also, don’t forget to feed your muscles, as in, adjust your diet to help your muscles recuperate in the off days.
…was just thinking… you know – I’d even go so far as to suggest that you have a before and after stretch routine perfected and memorised as a priority over the more intensive strength/resistance main training. Don’t stop the strength training, still do it to keep, as a person above who mentioned Terry Crews’ attitude to gym says, the habit. But if you’re in the initial stages of going to a gym as a priority I would strongly recommend you perfect the technique of your stretch routine and how to do the exercises correctly first (so many people throw themselves into doing the exercises without thinking about correct technique they end up injuring themselves). You can worry about the number of reps later once you’ve got those basics of technique mastered first.
Focusing on these things are important to aid in your recovery from training, and preventing injury during training.
Utterly serious here.
Congratulations on heat! Congratulations also on working out for 2 months! I too get sore and stay sore (why?). After a friend saw me shuffling around after a work out, suggested a muscle roller. Rolling out your muscles makes me much less sore. (The actual rolling is ouch inducing, but immediate relief ensues.)
https://smile.amazon.com/321-STRONG-Foam-Roller-Fluorescent/dp/B07B9PKGYB/ref=mp_s_a_1_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1544217070&sr=8-2-spons&pi=AC_SX236_SY340_QL65&keywords=muscle+roller&psc=1
Combination of stretching and massage effects, I’m thinking…?
I *LOVE that quote about exercise. One of the last times I tried to follow my grueling from hell work out video, my hands smacked the exposed beams in our low ceilings and got full of splinters. I couldn’t see them (the splinters), so I had to have my daughter (She’s 9)…pluck them out with tweezers while telling me to be brave. This is why I love Helen so much. I’m not a badass like Maude though.
Like most people, I’ve tried pretty much everything recommended in this list, without losing a pound. Walked 10,000 steps a day, every day for 13 months – dog looked awesome, I was sore every day the whole time, lost 0 pounds and never really got muscle. I did lose 15 pounds when I broke the wrist on my dominant side in 5 places. Required surgery to bolt the pieces together, so essentially 3 months of food falling off my fork because I was using the wrong hand.
But afterwards I got a pedal-assist electric bike. No sore muscles (except from seat in the beginning) because you don’t overdo. Plus it’s FUN. And I finally got leg muscles! Lost another 10 pounds in the months following, to date. Winter here now, I miss it already!
You just have to find your ‘thing’. It only took me 64 years of looking, but you have your loyal BDH to flood you with ideas. Maybe you can beat that time?
I can’t do the scheduled exercise thing. My fibromyalgia will rear it’s nasty head if I do. But, I do get a fair amount picking up after my husband, walking my stubborn Boxer pup, and doing minor yard work. I console myself by remembering our good, German peasant stock.
“Come around to the side door.”
“Why?”
“Because my arms are tired and the front door is too heavy.”
“Ok. Why’d you get such heavy doors?”
😉
Oops. That was supposed to be prefaced with “{6 months in the future}”.
I learned at age 22 the only thing to get me up and moving is…you guessed it a horse…
I am pushing 68 ,and I have multiple joint replacements and I still ride 6 or 7 days a week and yes it’s mostly Dressage so at my age I too ,am always sore.
Not only do you develop great shoulders from cleaning feet ,brushing ,blanketing if necessary and mucking stalls ,but you get that critter fun only communing with a horse will give you…is it expensive…da…granted I have my own arena,barn and so on trails ,but at 55 my husband took it up and now I have someone to ride with on weekends……you get up go to the barn ,ride your horse if at a commercial stable ,they do the feeding and mucking…,you head home and write…after all your kids are pretty much raised and although Curan aka Gordon is not a fan…I am sure you are…at least when getting sore you can have fun doing it….ahhhhh. And not just do quuats,we call that posting trot…way more fun…
Juni
Ps I gained weight this spring after my mom died …Dante aka Binky is putting up with it for now
Magnesium tablets are great for reducing muscle soreness after workouts. I use them as I need them and I really notice a difference!
I’m doing PT because my left knee replacement failed after 12 1/2 years-so I got another one. I so feel your pain. I know I have to, but damn, it hurts. Do your best and if you can, Advil. Tylenol is like water-in and out, no relief of pain-water actually is much better. Heavy doors. Good luck.
Another person who has to push hard to have the motivation — two days of gym and two days of physical therapy to minimize falling. Both are so intense that they cannot be on the same day. I have to keep it up, or in 10 years I will be an invalid. Can’t have that so the gym is going to keep me from turning into a mushroom.
Good for you, Tina. I walk a couple of miles 5-6 days a week and do a 15 minute session of mixed exercises (yoga, abs, and upper body) 5-6 mornings a week, for the same reason. It took me a while to build the habit – especially the morning session; I started with about 2 minutes a day and added another couple of minutes every couple of weeks. After I had done it for a few months, I started to miss it on the days I don’t work out. And it has paid off big time with the fall prevention. My strength and balance are SO much better than they were two years ago.
I do 2-lb arm curls with intent (beginner blacksmith).
I find soaking in Epson salts helps too. A hot bath and two Advil does wonders. 🙂
Chocolate Milk for post workout recovery.
I prescribe a soak in a hot tub for post-workout recovery. And possibly a massage.
Also, are you staying hydrated? I know, I know, that sounds so condescending, but I actually have trouble staying properly hydrated, so it’s possible that you do, too.
I totally get that quote. If you have almost 100% Irish farm girl genes it’s hard to lose the weight. I could do 250lb leg presses no problem at one point but weight loss is an entirely separate matter. It’s discouraging as you said, but you are still going to the gym, so huge hand claps. Glad the doors are squared away.
That sounds like bodypump. My mama and I started that. She stuck it out and it really reshaped her body and her mindset. I have an aversion to 4:30am so I couldn’t keep up.
I so have to show that comment to my friend!!!! “Plump as a partridge”, indeed?
Congrats to you for sticking with the gym. As a morbidly obese person, I hate the gym. As a person with social anxiety, I hate people looking at me in the gym. I know I need to be healthy though, so I ride an exercise bike. I’ve only been doing this for two weeks and am sore all the time. I only ride the bike for 15 – 16 minutes ( or however long it takes me to do 5 miles), but I have to keep reminding myself that something is better than nothing. I also do the Power20 for Beginners app, which is nice because many of the exercises let you use a chair. Docs word of encouragement? “Don’t worry. You’ll probably be continuously sore for only a year.” ypa
I hate cardio. Some people like the feeling of exercising to the point of suffocation and feeling their heart leap out of their chest. I’m not one of them. That said, one tax time nearly 2 decades ago now I used my refund to buy a resistance bike/rower combination unit from a sale an exercise-equipment-for-hire company was having. Maaaate it’s so good.
The best part of the bike is the resistance knob in the middle of the handles.
I’m feeling like I’ve got some energy to burn, I turn the resistance up.
I feel out of energy, I turn the resistance down and freewheel for a while.
So, in effect, it’s kind of like an alternating high-low impact workout. High impact when I feel able, low impact when I feel out of gas, and being able to switch between means I can stay on the bike longer.
Having the radio on is key though. Having a good beat to pedal to is not only more fun, but makes it seem like I haven’t spent any time on it at all and so I want to keep going.
tl:dr (1) have fun, pedal to music.
(2) don’t be afraid to switch up/down the energy used so that you stay on the bike longer.
Also – you don’t mention a stretch routine – you *need* a stretch routine.
This is so me! 6 months with a trainer. 6 months of being sore. And those pesky 10 lbs are still there and keep inviting friends!! You forgot to mention curtsey squats. Because even though we are running from the murderous bastards, we mustn’t forget how to properly curtsey – while squatting. ;0) I am enjoying the extra strength though!
Something that is helping me is breathing exercises on You Tube by Wim HOF,
aka The Iceman. His claims about staying well and getting stronger through correct breathing are substantiated by University studies. He is Known as the Iceman for climbing Mount Everest in a pair of shorts! I just started practicing this week and already it is lowering stress and helping me to sleep better.?
I have always gotten sore at the gym but I’ve recently been trying a new way of eating – intermittent fasting. Not only do I feel SO strong now, I am less sore and seem to recover quicker, because fasting stimulates the production of human growth hormone. I’ve been obese my whole adult life basically and never could stick with a diet, but with IF I have finally found something that works that’s not gimmick or quick fix or fad diet. It’s a sustainable way of eating for life and SO good for your health. So easy since all you have to do is not eat for a set period of time. Check out YouTube videos by Dr. Fung, the book The Obesity Code by Dr. Fung and my favorite book on the subject is Delay, Don’t Deny by Gin Stephens. She has a fantastic Facebook group on the subject called Delay, Don’t Deny: intermittent fasting support group with almost 60,000 member. I’ve been doing IF 3.5 months and have lost 25 pounds. I can’t recommend it highly enough!!
Ohh I hear you about the gym. I’ve been going to a trainer for a few years now, first to improve range of motion after an accident and now to lose weight. I’m right up there with those squats to and I can easy leg press 255 lbs now but my upper body still has a long way to go. The waistline hasn’t dropped in girth much yet but my thighs are showing real progress and some overall weight loss 🙂 My trainer is really big on stretching after exercise and after you get home. She also recommended wet heat after. Meaning you microwave a wet hand towel and lay/wrap it on your muscles or bath with Epson salts. I also recommend aromatherapy analgesic rollers, this one is my fav https://www.saje.com/ca/pain/pain-release-PARECA03.html. All natural, non-staining and smells fantastic. I use it on my neck to help with tension headaches too.
Like you, I’ve been hitting the gym much more regularly for a few months, and I’m still constantly sore.
My trainer suggested adding more protein to my diet to help with recovery, whether it’s tofu/meat/protein shake, and it’s definitely reduced a lot of the soreness for me. I didn’t add much, just started taking half a serving of protein shake (I use half the powder, same amount of liquid, to reduce the chalkiness) on gym days if I don’t get around to having a more protein-centric meal.
It’s cut it down from 4 days of soreness so bad that I literally cannot get through another gym session to 1.5 days of slight stiffness/soreness. It makes it much easier to go to the gym when you’re no longer dreading the soreness afterwards.
Expecting Snow, Yay!!!, Rain and Freezing rain tonight boo! As for exercised, I did it once. It was the worst 30 seconds of my life.
Yep, I’ve been doing the same hitting the gym for a little over a month and I have learned to not expect any change until after three months. It’s annoying. But round is not my favorite shape, so I’ll keep at it. Our big rain was on Thursday, other than dumb drivers it wasn’t bad either since we really needed it here in California.
Who the heck is your trainer? And what’s up with all the squats? You will get tight quads, hamstrings and butt, but also get larger, bigger muscles in your quads and butt due to your particular body shape. You need long, lean, strong muscles. I have taught fitness for 35 years. It should be fun, not torture day after day.
And tylenol is not helping, you wont fell the pain and will do worse for your muscles.
Hey, where I’m from we call those particular large muscle “wushu butt” and it’s a badge of honor!
Taking magnesium supplements may well help with the post-workout pain issue. I call them my miracle pills.
I am mich the same as you with regard to the gym!!! My fiance (yes, I finally got a ring on it) keeps saying you can’t outrun a bad diet (not a judgement on you, related to me) now that i have changed my diet (and i am tired and sad all the time) the weight is falling off. It had been 2 years at the gym and in the least 8 weeks with adding the sad diet (all joy isn’t allowed) i have lost 10 pounds (i think that is the equivalent…..5kgs) not sure it is worth it….. good luck!!
Love the dna quote.had me laughing .thanks for the cheer.
I’m a full-time writer and I used to be a pro dancer, so I have a lot of thoughts about this. The problem with being a writer is that your life is pretty much purely sedentary until you go out into the world, at which point you go on stage and everyone is looking at you. One of my best friends is still a pro dancer and because dancers work their bodies so hard, they are very protective of being injured so there are very few machines/classes she will do. There is none of that jogging, rowing, climbing mountains stuff.
After much trial and error, this is what works for me. It is very hard to lose weight just by working out because indeed, muscle is heavier than fat and it is also HARD to burn enough calories to lose a lot of weight. But you still need to work out because of health and heart reasons and I find that when I first start working out again, I’ll gain some weight because of muscles but actually shrink in measurements. I did the gym thing for years and just couldn’t keep it up. I’d have writing deadlines and the whole system would blow up. I hate being outside too.
So I bought a very good Life Fitness elliptical cross trainer at home. I have the E1. It’s one of two machines that my dancer friend would use – the other one is the stationary bike. The Life Fitness has a very natural, comfortable stride and you won’t get injured. I put on great music, I put my iPad on it with a fun book, and I tell myself I only have to go for one minute. Yep, one minute every day. There’s a great book called Mini Habits by Stephen Guise. Overcoming that initial resistance is huge for me and once I’m on it, I’m often on it for 30 – 40 minutes but 1 minute is my daily minimum, and sometimes, it is only 1 minute. But this has radically changed my working out habits.
The other part of the losing weight thing is the diet. I can’t diet. It makes me too depressed and I love my family and kids and I love having great food together. But if you don’t diet, even with working out, you won’t lose the weight. So like someone else wrote, intermittent fasting really works for me. The basic principle is that you are completely free for some period of time and then you make up for it on another day or another period of time. So for example, you could have a feast day and then 2-3 fast days a week, non-consecutive, where you eat about 500 calories per day. Another version, which I’m doing now, is on most days to restrict the times in which you eat – basically, I skip a meal a day although I eat a lot during the other meals. Not every day but usually my work days when I’m mostly alone. Works great. I’m often feeling guilty after eating tons anyway so it’s good to make it up.
The other thing is, there is no weight loss without hunger. That’s just the truth. If you eat whenever you feel hunger, there will be no weight loss. But there doesn’t need to be constant hunger, just hunger sometimes on some days, which tells you that your body is burning the fat stores off and making you healthier. The rest of the time, you can totally eat when you feel hungry. And during the hungry moments you need to endure, you can daydream about the awesome pasta you’ll eat in the morning. Going to bed early at those moments helps.
One last silly thing which helped me – I tell myself, “I get to relax on the elliptical” instead of “have to”. Makes me less resistant. And the machine is right in my lovely, warm house, so my resistance is much less. One minute. I also have my sneakers right there, my headphones, a Sonos box, a fan, etc. – all of those tiny things that can derail my workout, I ease in advance.
I feel much more relaxed when I’m exercising, I’m healthier and less stressed, I have more energy and I lose weight when I combine it with intermittent fasting. And IF is really flexible, so right now, there are more feast days and fewer fast ones, but that’s okay, that all fits in the system. In the long run, it works like a charm. Good luck!
I’m doing OMAD- one meal a day very day and alternate it with fasting days (randomly, so my body doesn’t pick up on a pattern). I don’t count calories on my one meal, but limit myself to one course on one plate, half veg/half meat, so realistically it can’t be more than 1500 calories max.
Still waiting for any weight loss… But I will say this, it is easy to do. I really don’t suffer from hunger as much as I thought I would.
I’ve just started a month long challenge, and while the encouragement from other participants online is great, it doesn’t help the sore muscles much. (I modify everything to avoid injury) To offset the soreness I take magnesium at night, and rub a magnesium oil over the sore spots. (If you have a cut or rash it burns like hellfire-be careful if you decide to try it.)
My goal is gaining strength, so I go slow to avoid injuries. I’m glad you’re able to get to the gym. It’s nice to work out with equipment you don’t have to cart around. (I use free weights and resistance bands–can’t get to a gym)
Hope the doors go in without problems, and life evens out. Hang in there.
As someone with limited mobility I have had problems with finding a long term solution for exercise. I have managed to both lose weight and keep going with chair based exercise. The stretching before and after is vital so that I don’t increase my pain levels. I find that other people’s support helps, as does not weighing myself!
Good luck with finding something that suits you long term.
lmao @ your snippet from Jamie. I too have been battling genetics for about 20 years. Combatting the memory I have of my plump, soft, sweet smelling grandmother and the amazon that is espoused now. I wonder how my grandchildren will dissolve into my hugs, the way I used to with her. That being said, my NEW doctor, gave me the name of several personal trainers who balance nutrition/training…. and are ok with being hated from time to time. Good luck to us all
Thank you so much for this posting! Many of your postings, which make me laugh, get me going in the mornings, afternoons, and evenings.
Glad the bad storm turned out not so bad. Been freezing and snowing here in the north since October. Went from summer straight into winter. Be careful with those doors!
I didn’t start losing weight until I cut carbs. Going to the gym meant gaining muscle under my fat, making me look even bigger than I was. I worked out all of one spring/summer a few years ago, gained 20 pounds and went up a size. It was so depressing. Last year I started tracking carbs and cut them to under 50 grams most days with a few under 100 days thrown in. Lost ten pounds and two sizes without doing a bit of exercise. Then I cut caffeine. Who knew drinking coffee could impede losing weight? This summer I started swimming in cold lake water, helped even more. And I mean lazy swimming. No top lap times for me lol. Mostly I do body weight exercises, since I can do those anywhere. I can’t stand going to a gym, the ones where I live are so gross. Next year I hope to get my attic finished, and then I can get a new set up in there, maybe get some kettle bells.
Taking NSAIDs can inhibit muscle gain. Try epsom salt baths or magnesium oil sprays. Magnesium is essential for muscle repair, and most people don’t get enough through their diet. Also helps your sleep.
Good luck!
Glad to hear that there wasn’t a flood and that the doors are coming!
I and people I know use magnesium to alleviate soreness, whether as an epsom salt bath or as magnesium oil. Just passing that along in case you find it helpful. 🙂
The DNA comment had me laughing out loud, I can relate so much. My DNA still thinks that I’m a Dutch farm wife. “Sturdy” is what my Dad says. Thanks Dad.
I Will out last those murderous … huffn puffers
Ahhh thank you for that
You’ve done it! Congratulations, it is hard to do a squat. To balance, maintain stance, lower, raise, & repeat for sets! You attacked what you wanted to change the most AND have trained that beast to your command.
Time to move to your next Target. If you stick with 3X a week squats drop to 1 day and your new spot is 2 day.
My beasts are arm shoulders & back (2) inner thighs (1)
I stopped the squat routine, they are the size & shape. Exercising thighswith leg lifts keeps & tones. Alternate days M W F. for exercise, the other days l walk, on 1 of those days l try to walk same distance in half the time.
I really like my half time days! don’t know why l get a rush from walking (correctly, body centered, breathing right) & knocking even 2 minutes off my time☺
Exercise for me, is about tone. I like to be firm (not hard). My house to favorite market (rndtp) 1 and a quarter mile reusable shopping bags (10lbs ea) Walk home back straight shoulder back centered over hips, full step heel toe hips over ankle. When l feel cocky a couple of arm lifts. When l get home ? ?
Enjoy your commitment to you
Thank you, Ilona Andrews for the chuckle. I had to deal with Mother yesterday so I was totally stressed out when I got home last night to my dependants who were convinced they had been abandoned since I had left 12 hours before. No Innkeeper segment to read aloud to pup so puppy was really sure he was abandoned. So we started the edge series today. Smile.
I am in the 10 to 16 inch snow accumulation for tonight, tomorrow and Monday. Glad to know storm was okay there. It will be interesting to see how Mr I Might Melt because it is raining deals with snow. Remember this is pup who willingly jumps in pond, creek, mud…. tows you thru pea soup dense fog …..but refuses to leave porch if it is raining. My sib who asked me to train the pup gets upset when i wonder about him being from a puppy mill. Then there is the small matter of 3 months is now over 6. So i just regard that as a neurosis.
That is what I told myself when he cleared all the nearby fuel pumps at the gas station this week while I was inside dealing with attendant. You know, that pump on the other side of building is better and that’s why all those cars are over there and these 7 pumps are empty. Also that was someone else’s car horn blowing while i was in building. Grin.
Thanks for ha ha. I personally use magnesium for sore muscles. Tylenol and Ibuprofen are not helpful for me. Gym time is important for good health be it go to gym or workout at home. For me interval training works best because I am the farmers daughter and why I got stuck with the energetic maniac puppy (I have lots of acres and I am rural rural). He enjoys your work as do i.
I laughed so hard. I feel like an european peasant myself, only difference is I have to motivate myself to start exercising after a 3 year hiatus…. not really looking forward to it but it’s just one of those things that needs to be done.
Good luck with the soreness and the weights from a (soon to be) fellow sufferer.
It was Friday. Now it’s Saturday. Suffering from Innkeeper withdrawal.
Try increasing your protein, especially after your workout. Protein helps your muscles recover and heal. The soreness does mean you’re progressively loading though and that means you’re building every time. As you build, you’ll change your body composition to having less fat and your muscles burn more calories all day. Losing 125 pounds took me a few years and at times was very frustrating. Exercise is tots awesome but it’s the damn foods that really bring the loss in. Why foods? Why?! I love cake. It’s my favorite food. The eating was a struggle. Yay for you keeping on it. Make that gym your B.
Ahhh, another easy keeper! Personally, I really have to watch the sugar and carbs. While I worked and walked around four hours every night I dropped 15 to 20 pounds down a full pants size.(I called that job my getting paid to exercise program.) When I stood and cashiered those hours I gained it back. I am a stress eater, all my hobbies are sedentary, and job issues do not help at all. I’ve got some exercise DVDs to use if I can ever get the player hooked up to this Roku tv. Who knew I’d need an IT degree to exercise at home! I know it will come off again, I just need to get out and move. Now that I’m home during the day I can get out and walk. Maybe I’ll borrow the neighbors dog and do something useful at the same time. She broke both legs the last of July and is still non-weight bearing. I’ll keep my nuisance problems!
When I worked out regularly, I was never not sore. Everyone said it would get better eventually, and even after two years, I was always in pain. You are literally the only other person who has mentioned the same experience.
Catching up on my reading here. 1. Happy to know your new rings are on the way. Didn’t locate the originals yet, but don’t worry, they will surprise you one day. 2. 250 pound doors? Did you buy solid steel? 3. Squats are not good for your knees. My knees no longer squat because they seem to lock and crawling at my age is just bad. 4. Plump is ok, our peasantry background will keep us in good stead when all the skinny, in shape people are taken by aliens. Those probes don’t care for plump. 5. Unicorn Lane is ever changing, beauty or dregs, your view can change the moment you walk around a pile of bones. Just watch all around, one day it will spit peach trees at everyone. Merry Christmas
You know, when I saw that photo from a few weeks ago (it had the new floor photo too), I looked the girl (?) (and yes, my brain identified it just like that, girl, age unknown, correct term later), I wondered if that was you or your daughter.
Then I didn’t say anything because.. commenting on weight and body has so much scope for cutting a person to the quick. And it had looked like you had really looked (tightened? toned? What is it called when your scale may not change but you look dramatically more svelte and sleek?) different.
I started the gym a couple months ago too. I’m always sore. I hate sundays because I won’t work out (gym closed), and so on monday, I’m stiff AND sore, and I’m not motivated enough to do some stretches at home. It’s a struggle. My husband says that it gets better. I frankly don’t believe him, even though I think that he’s being honest (aka, it won’t get better for *me*. I have to work through about 30 years of no-work, after all). Indian women balloon after marriage. I gained 40% of my original weight. I’ve written off weight LOSS as a lost cause, but some motivation is the hope that maybe I can do something about all the fat tires. But the bulk of the motivation comes from my slightly higher energy levels and slightly more chirpy mood (and it’s SAD season), the fact that my gym is expensive and I am by god going to get my money’s worth, and that the people whom I have this class with (the whole gym is just a bunch of bootcamp classes, so there is no solo-gyming) will ask me what went wrong if I go missing.
All of which is a long-winded story to say: you’re not alone. Hang in there, Ilona!
Losing weight is really about the calories we consume. Exercise helps balance that # out, basically, plus it’s great for fitness.
I love strength workouts so much! And even if you don’t lose weight via the scale #, I bet you’re body recomping and losing the inches – so don’t get discouraged. I mean, when it comes down to it, inches matter more than the number on the scale. 😀
As for soreness, that’s odd that after 2 months you’re still experiencing major DOMS. If you’re still looking for suggestions, here are 4:
1 – Have you tried adding in yoga on off days? I love Yoga by Adrienne and it’s free on youtube so double bonus there.
2 – Foam rolling helps a lot. Once you get the hang of the basic ones, you could try out the ones with the bumps.
3 – Doing a few bodyweight exercises that are similar to the workout you just did (i.e. bodyweight squats) can get blood flowing in those areas and help your muscles heal a bit faster.
And last 4 – Creatine. Usually touted for promoting improvements in lifting, it is also suggested for decreasing DOMS (which from my own personal experience – works). You can do unflavored and add it in with a protein shake or flavored if you want to take it separately. I tend towards fruit punch flavors myself 😀
Yes. DNA me too. Ketogenic diet, fasting twice a week, Atkins. I lose a couple lbs. but that’s it. I have watched Michael Moseley on PBS. I guess sprints are the way to go but the bone spur in my heel makes that problematic.
If you are tired of the gym look into a vibration exercise machine. My mom has one and it is has great health benefits. Only takes ten minutes too.