My workout today a walk run

Today in my emphasis for steps I will work up a program that I have this spring to be able to run in 20 minutes in the summertime. Last year I tried the same thing but was only able to get 10 minutes. 

One of my goals in my training just to do things without falling. Another goal is to stay within my heart range. I would not be training to win a race but to complete one. 

Every half hour I get up from the computer and do a house walked inside. I am included two fat Man exercises at my kitchen counter where I do adapted push-ups and dips off the counter. When I do the dips I also include squats with the movement. With my hand on the counter I do 10 lunges with each leg and then I finish the workout with 12 Heel raises. On every hour today I did five minutes of indoor walking with Leslie Sansone and topped that off with a one-minute run. I did three cycles of that. This gave me 15 minutes of walking the pace she laid down which was a mile walking in three minutes are running. Now don't picture gazelle running, more like a slug. This afternoon I will go over to walk around’s with my walking stick outside. Throughout my working day I will continue every half hour with small walks. My efforts today should push somewhere between 6000 to 7000 steps. 

The one principle that seems to elude me is consistency. Changing the pace every day or the workout that I am emphasizing gives my body and opportunity to work different things. 

Movement is probably the greatest friend to anybody who has cerebral palsy. Moving your body through full range of motion will give you your best opportunity for a healthy flexibility. A muscle in motion both contracts and elongates stretching out muscle. Of course when you have CP your muscles are constantly contracting. At the end of the day you're wore out and very tight. Those of you who do not have cerebral palsy may find as you get older your muscles become less flexible. 

Here are a few ideas I think might help you:

• Talk to your doctor about how you can become more flexible
• Ask about if physical therapist who specializes in helping older people. Here you might want to check out your search engine to find ways to be more flexible as you get older. There are a lot of good ideas out there. (I often do stretching from a chair or off the side of the bed.)
• Before you go to bed consider a hot shower or bath, your body is gently moving in these activities. Take a few moments before you go to bed to gently stretch and relax your body. It is a good time to do some pleasure reading and having some relaxing music in the background. Using a strong belt or towel can be used to stretch out stubborn muscles. I work my stiff achilles' heel using my navy belt.
• If you have CP, progress is very slow. But one of the real cool benefits to keeping up the fight to be more flexible is that it reduces more pain then any pain pill. I doubt many people realize how painful it is with cerebral palsy when the muscles are tightening up. Every person with cerebral palsy needs a physical therapist. We also need to learn to do is many things that we can do for ourselves because support isn't always there. 

If you have CP, I would love to hear from you. You probably have learned things that have helped you. Keep walking, rolling, and fighting back!

keep finding a way to keep walking

Hooray! I put it into my schedule today a workout on my recumbent bike for 30 minutes. I applied the principle of interval training where I cycled for different resistant levels at a fast pace. The higher resistance levels push my heart rate up to where my cardiologist wants it in a work out. I was also breathing deeper with higher intensity. 

5 minute warm-up and level 1

3 minute warmup at level 2

3 minute warm-up at level 3

3 minute higher reps at level 2

3 minute higher reps at level 3

2 minute higher reps at level 4

3 minutes higher reps at level 3

2 minutes higher reps at 2

1 minute at higher reps level 4

3 minute less intensity at level 2

2 minute cool down at level 1

5 minutes after workout heart rate recovered back to normal.

There is nothing written in stone other than I did it. The intervals can be changed. This type of training can be applied to walking, running, swimming just as easy. Intensity has to be personal and factor in age, conditioning and heart monitoring. For me it would be unwise to train as a twenty year old who is possibly training for competition.

I was reading Leslie Leland Fields blog where she walks in the mountains where she lives

Kodiak

on Kodiak Island. Her pictures are breathtaking. She calls her walks her prayer walks. I would be praying to on an Island that has the biggest bears. 

Sue and Rick have been walking all winter with the limited snowfall. They spend a lot of time in the Illinois wetlands. 

Barb has been keeping up with her indoor walking. 

Where are you at? I hope to encourage you with mini walks throughout the day. Others may be able to walk 10 steps, and others like me are trying to carve out a thirty minute workout. You know where you are at. If you are older you probably have an idea what your doctor thinks you should be trying to do. Most of us can still improve the quality of our life by moving. If we are older it may take a little longer to improve strength and aerobic performance, but the science it there that we can do this well into our 90’s.

In our 20’s we had maximin results. That declines as we age but we still get results or improvement. 

keep finding a way to keep walking 

Walking the walk without walking - Old guy adjustments

In walking with the fat Man a couple years ago I encountered a problem that mad walking hard for me. I slipped on the ice and did the splits like a cheerleader. Right before that every month or two I would take a fall. There's nothing new about that for me having cerebral palsy. But my knees ache all the time. After the splits, muscles tendons as well as a joints in the knees needed to heal. 

I had to develop a no-fall strategy. Since I never had one before, Having lived the life pushing the limits, this was difficult for me. How can I write a blog Walking with the Fatman? I don't know about you but for me hitting the wall takes some time to figure out. If you been following me for a while giving up is hard to do. So back to the drawing board.

In the overall two years of recovery I certainly lost my aerobic health. I was encouraged by my cardiologist to not give up, my heart was certainly up for it. That is the good news of all walking that I have had done.

While my body was improving I carried on with my fat man exercises of adopted push-ups, adopted dips, lunges, squats, heal raises and daily stretching.

I also discovered TRX suspension training, exercise tubes and dumbbells for strength training.

Barbara and I removed the carpeting in the lower level of our house and this reduced falling by quite a bit. When I am out and about especially if I'm going to do a carpeted place I will use my cane. When I am on uneven ground walking in a park I use my walking poles. I cannot a eliminate falling, but I sure got it done. My knees cannot take ground contact which is one of the reasons why I adopt so many exercises. My knees right now feel pretty good. (Knock on wood)

My indoor incumbent bike is a Godsend. There are three types of biking that I do. 1. I like to call walking the dog. Here and do 20 minutes rotating to stress in the first three levels just coasting along listening to a book. It sounds easier and it is. But it gets the blood moving, burns calories and it has all the benefits of a 20 minute walk at the end of the day. 2. I like to take my bike out of virtual bike trail, I can be listening two other things but as I bike I challenge myself with intensity in other levels and then bring it down to control my heart to stay in a healthy range. Like real biking sometimes it's easy and other times you're going up hill or you're trying to increase your speed. This is a good aerobic workout. 3. Here I use my recumbent bike to join in spin classes. The differences their bikes and my bikes are different, but I try to keep the same cadence when I can. Here I'm not listening to anything else about the class. This is very aerobic activity. One more adjustment I keep my heart rate within limits that my cardiologist is set. 

I think this is a very important principle that I have learned in exercising as we get older. We have to know our bodies and do things that work for us. We can still push the envelope but we don't have to do it like we did when we're younger. I encourage everybody to be on the same page as the competent Health providers on your team counsel you. We were made to move so don't give up.

Right now I am also developing exercise classes or activities to expand my interest and challenge my development. I have explored shadowboxing, senior workouts, desk workouts, dumbbell workouts, and just this week I am been doing seven minute workout on a app. I actually found jumping jacks to be quite a challenge. I was awful at them, but I think I will be able to improve. I will let you know how that works. Keep walking

Cool site to learn TRX, band and dumbbell exercises 

http://traininghomeandaway.com

Natural workout in winter

Bill Watterson was brilliant in his art world of Calvin and Hobbes. There is always two laughs, one at the script and the other the art work. Calvin really enjoyed winter. Who would think of snow sharks? Brilliant

For me today was a 2 hour + workout with my snow blower working on a ten inch snow fall. I took a few breaks but I had a good workout. Walking everyday allows one to do the work of yard care safely. When I was a kid we built snow forts and had snow fights. I remember my cousin Buddy from California visited when it snowed and He and I took on the neighbors rather successfully with our fort and good arms. Play is a great workout. More fun than snow blowing.

Winter can be for hibernation or we can find ways to keep our body in motion. I think tomorrow I will create the scene in the cartoon. Maybe a 59 year old can be a kid again. Thanks Bill Watterson! Keep walking

Winter Fitness

Courtasy of Donna Dawson

When the snow first falls it is pretty. I can remember walking with a wonderful girl when the snow was falling. It was all quite romantic. Looking at freshly fallen snow that sparkles in the night I wasn't concerned about the cold or the work of clearing it. No back then snow was fantastic. I am still the best of friends with that girl after all these years so it is a good memory to recall that walk.

Last year we had a snow fall that was nearly two feet. It was a blizzard with snow thunder, high winds that kept you inside until the storm was finished. Looking out in the night I was awed by the power of the storm. It was beautiful yet I would hate to be out in those conditions. It was quite a bit different from the gentle snow fall where I was out walking the grounds of a local college.

Today I am thankful to have a warm house and a snow blower to help me dig out of a snow. It is like pushing a lawn mower so it gives me a nice workout. I have my walking DVD's to help me get in my 30 minute walks. I have simple equipment set up to get in a strength program or I can use tubing. Tubing and indoor walking with Leslie Sansone takes up very little space. Body exercizes like crunches, pushups, squats, etc. also take little space. Stretching and flexibility can be done while you use weights or tubing. There are a lot of programs you can do inside. It is cold outside but indoors you can move and increase health and fitness. A walk, a workout you feel better and chase away the winter blues.

Barb and my family encourage me. Barb walks with me. She is starting to think about using the tubing. Tubes can come with a devise that you can put in your door jam. You can do every exercise that you can do at a local gym. The tubes come with an exersize plan that is very practical. You can build muscle at 60. Muscle looks better than fat and don't worry about looking 20. By the way did you notice the days are getting longer. Keep walking!

Resolutions - Don't expect perfection

One thing I discovered this year was an improved attitude and experience at work. For years I dreaded going to work as I saw my job as a failing life's expectations and part of being trapped in Joliet. Most mornings I had a dread of going to work.As insomnia set in and later depression set in my work phobia got worse. One of the things I addressed in therapy was to accept work as is being thankful to have a job particularly in times like these. The second thing I did was end the debate in my head and consider it as part of the lies of depression. The perseveration over it was getting me nowhere. The last thing I did was to forget the title of job and live in the moment using my skills and education to help students and teachers.

With work no longer being a daily grind and complaint I have more energy and enthusiasm. Moving what I learned at work forward to other areas of my life, I plan to live in the moment with my friends on face book and friends in life. #1 resolution be better on the phone, text messages and find other ways to make and build friends. Resolutions are funny in that we tend to not keep them. Maybe we expect to do so perfectly. One failure and we quit. So in my quest to make more friends I don't need to be perfect.

Walking with the fat man, I am back to walking. Each day my fitness improves. Resolution time. I resolve to walk aerobically 250+ times this year. Roughly 5 times a week. I resolve to do calisthenics 156 times or 3 times a week:
Push ups, sit ups, squats, and a few routines with tubes. Example work on rotator cuffs and some upper body moves.
With fitness I plan to use my total gym and weights twice a week or 104 times. Maybe that will become three time a week. Finally stretching twice a day, with other fitness routines and work on flexibility. There is a routine from Dr. Oz that works with movement and flexibility that also deals with stress I hope to work with.
How about working on losing weight? 50lbs. sounds good. Any lost weight is a win.

All of these resolutions are reasonable. Combined my body will be in motion. If I fall short a little there are a lot of things to pick me up. For example a calisthenic and two workouts with my equipment works. One week four walks and another 3 walks works and most of the them 5 walks works. Throw in some days at the zoo, art museum, swimming in the ocean it all adds up.

Diet 80% good works. How about work for 90%. If I actually do 87% lets see where we are at. Perfection that is not me, never has been but then who is perfect? Keep walking

Pick me up - work counts

Worked out with weights and total gym today. Really picked me up energy wise. Went to Church and enjoyed the music. Had a good time studying Walking with Jesus studies. I can't wait to get the work on line. Walking with Jesus on 30 minute walks really makes a difference. Seeing his life from the point of view of a walker has been interesting.

Barb is a great cook, dinner was wonderful.

Looking back this year at work I can see how a change in the way I look at work has really been good for me. I have set aside my wishing I was working somewhere else and just going about my work as an opportunity to help others. I have not allowed myself the nagging thoughts of I don't want to go to work to being present minded at work just to use my time and skills to help kids. I have accepted the fact I am skillful and knowledgeable at what I do. I have rejected the lies that anybody can do my job and I have a job that is low skill or achievement. There are teens throughout my day that I help. Almost everyday kids say thanks. My whole attitude has changed and it has opened up much more enjoyment of my life outside of work. I am using my education at work and not making excuses not to. Bottom line I feel great about it.

I am very thankful today for those who have helped me set boundaries on people who were negative in my life. It really energizes my spirit. Thanks to Barb, Billy, Deb, Bob and those involved in my therapy who have encouraged me to deal with my depression and anxiety. Living in a mindful way is so incredible healthy I can't get over the changes.

What started with lifestyle changes in walking and diet has now moved to leaps of progress in my mental and spiritual life. Thanks to coworkers and friends I may become an old man with purpose and not so grumpy. Keep walking!

Preparing for winter - work matters

Health isn't all Spartan

We are now into fall and it is time to get ready for the cold winter season. The work is all part of our bodies being in motion and better about myself. Around my house insulation, updating the electricity lines and adding an extended closet, fan and light, and new wallboard. Raising the ceiling a foot and creating a warmer space up stairs and in the house. A lot of work.
Working at work has been more in the moment. Helping kids and teachers. I let go job title and feeling of failure and I am just more involved than I have been  in the past. I am out top show how dynamic and skilled a parapro can be on the job. with skills and educatoin we have value.
Each period I work I try to walk a few hundred steps. Many ways to keep active, Keep walking