Physically speaking...

[fajrdrako]

I thought I'd been using the elliptical machine in the exercise room at 7:30 a.m. over the weekend, but I guess that was when I started my workout in my apartment.... Because when I went down to the exercise room at 6:30 a.m. today, I discovered that they don't open the door till 8 a.m. And I have to be at work at 8:30. Rats! I prefer doing exercises in the morning - I'm usually too tired after work, or too eager to do something else, and more likely to skip it.

I did spend 20 minutes on the elliptical machine at the rehab centre. The physiotherapist, Debbie, says I've got 5^o of motion in my ankle now, 8^o being normal. That's what, 65%? It doesn't feel like that much: I'm still walking awkwardly and slowly, and limping. Debbie says I'm at a 'plateau' and if I keep doing the exercises, I'll get over this. She says I'm still losing muscle tone in the back and hips by not walking, and told me to do the Bridge every day. No problem. I like the Bridge. (I'd forgotten its Sanskrit name: Setu Bandhasana.)

Now I'm back at work and my ankle hurts. Grump.

Comments

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

I'm confused, is this exercise room in your apartment building? I wish I had one of those! If you ask the people who run your building for a key to get in early, they might accommodate you. Make sure they know that it's for physical therapy after an accident, and they might make an exception for you. I mean, they might say no, the rules is the rules, but it doesn't hurt to ask! People are usually more accommodating to someone rehabing after an accident as opposed to someone who just wants to get in early so they can keep their girlish figures.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

is this exercise room in your apartment building? I wish I had one of those!

Yes, it's quite wonderful. There's a treadmill, an elliptical machine, several benches of various types, weights of many types, a punching bag, mats, washrooms and a sauna (which I've never used), and a couple of stationary bicycles that don't work well. There used to be a rowing machine, but it broke. I miss it. I love rowing machines. Though I suppose it wouldn't help my ankle much.

You're right, they might let me use it earlier if I ask. I'll give it a try.

[teenygozer.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that sounds pretty amazing! Here's the plan:

::Doe Eyes::

"I have a note from my doctor!"

::Gets Key::

I keep saying I'm going to join the "Y" up the corner (it's a YMCA but for both sexes, not just Men), but I never get off my butt to actually do it. It's my little phobia of meeting and talking to new people that's stopping me, I think.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I've never actually used the YMCA here. I have used a professional fitness place - a gym - and it was fine; I found that though people weren't exactly unfriendly, everybody was concentrating on exercises and no one actually spoke to me much at all. Of course it may not be the same everywhere.

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

OMG I love ellipticals! lolol. I have an apartment workout center too and isn't it great? I pretty much do the elliptical and a few weights. I used to do the treadmill but I find the less forceful movements of the elliptical is better for my knee (which they never figured out what was wrong with so... who knows).

I end up working out after work because I simply can not get myself up early enough to get to the gym, do what I want, and get home and then get ready. It isn't ideal but I just have to be disciplined.

Also for teenygozer, I generally find few people talk to me while I'm at a gym but it can be intimidating to dress down and sweat heavily around strange people with big muscles (lol).

[mmegaera.livejournal.com]

Plateaus stink. The really cool part, however, is when you break past one. It's like you're making up for lost time because you can suddenly do so much more. So hang in there, 'kay?

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

'Hanging in there' is about all I can do, but it does give me even more impetus to 'get into shape' than I usually have. So: onward and upward, excelsior, and all that!

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

Ellipticals are great - they've been a favourite for a long time. Treadmills are all right, but I don't use them. When I could walk properly, I preferred walking outdoors - more interesting. Now I can't walk well, the treadmill has to be so slow there's hardly any point.

Yes, I'll have to be disciplined about exercising after work. It isn't my best thing. Last night, for example, I got home, fell on the bed, and slept for 90 minutes. If that had been 90 minutes of exercise, I'd be in great shape!

The absence of gorgeous and muscular young people in the gym in my apartment building is a mixed blessing. I don't need to feel cluncky and fat in comparison. But those people can be really fun to look at.

I remember once at the fitness centre I took a gym class, and the two people right in front of me were professional dancers. Talk about demoralizing!

[monsieureden.livejournal.com]

My complex is next to the university, so most of the people working out are twenty-something. It's fun and yes can be intimidating at least when I haven't worked out for a while. :)

I find the pool a bit more intimidating, to be honest.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

My gym was downtown, but it seemed to be the young and the beautiful who gravitated to it. Which was okay, on the whole: I wasn't the oldest person there, but I didn't feel a need to compare myself to the lithe eighteen year olds.

Yeah, the pool would be intimidating, but I don't like swimming, so I'd stay away anyway.

[walkingowl.livejournal.com]

No, it's not 65%, it's "nearly," it's "closer than it was." Unless using the numbers helps you focus better (it doesn't, me).

Your ankle hurts because it's reawakening. There will be a day when you ask it to do things it always used to do without talking back to you, and suddenly you'll notice that it isn't talking back to you anymore. But you can't stand in one place and let that day arrive by itself -- you have to walk forward and meet it.

You can do this. (This really is the hard part, you realize? Now you're doing this all on your own without constant feedback. Damn right it's harder to keep at it, now. But you have to, in order to get back to being yourself again. Hm?) You can do this.

[fajrdrako.livejournal.com]

I have no problem with doing it; but I feel impatient.