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08-17-2006, 06:37 AM
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Hawkwind's journal and musings
Aight...been a few months now hasn't it? Time to start a new journal.
For those that don't know me: I'm 45...live with fibromyalgia and lift to stay healthy, keep the daily pain at a minimum and to support my backpacking lifestyle. Some background: I've been lifting since my late teens. A very progressive physical therapist got me started. I've lifted on and off as life and raising three kids would allow. A few times I was told to stop due to my fibro. But I refused. Only took breaks when high-risk pregnancy and a herniated disk after a rather rough session with a nut-case horse put me out of commision. In my late 30's I had the first of three surgeries, lost time due to 'no lifting' orders, and then ended up sick as a dog with lyme disease. So sick in fact the doctors thought I had MS. I lost 4 years of lifting, the longest I had ever gone without training. I suffered nerve damage to my hands and feet and when I finally cleared for activity I couldn't even manage 5 pounds without dropping the db's from my numb fingers. And I couldn't manage a two mile walk after being able to powerwalk 4 miles easily before the surgeries...and so my recovery began.
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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08-17-2006, 06:43 AM
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Thursday - Upper body day
Normally I do two full-body workouts a week. But...I'm fully into backpacking season for me. So I do one full-body on Tuesday and an upper-body on Thursday. Monday and Friday I backpack. Saturday or Sunday is reserved for my Romanian Dead lifts and any other type of lifting work I'm 'experimenting' with for various reasons.
AM Yoga stretches -25 minutes AM Tai Chi Today is Budokon day. I've recently developed an interest in Qigong also. I'm always looking for something to help me cope with my fibromyalgia and Qigong looks like it might prove to be of some value in helping me keep mobile. Upper body day: Back extensions 12r/115# Plate hypers 12r/10# Lats - machine #5 12r/60#* Lats - machine #19 12r/60#*Time to go up on both of these. Seated Alt DB presses 12r/20# *Hooyah! Up 5. Incline DB raises 12r/8# *Great balls of fire...for the first time since I can remember there was no pain and I feel like I can finally bump up to the 10's. DB flat bench press 12r/20# DB Incline flyes 12r/10# *Dropped back 5# this week. I've been 'feeling' the stretch across my chest from my yoga stretching. Figured 10# was enough for the stretch/pause part of my set. Concentration curls 12r/15# Alt incline curls 8r/15# 15 sec. rest 4r/15# Triceps - machine #7 12r/60# inner setting Triceps- machine #16 12r/35# *Time to go up. Abs - no, did them during my AM yoga. Notes: Bold = 'normal' set Underlined bold = Stretch/pause set Yoga/cardio mix: Budokon - 30 minutes PM Yoga stretches - 25 minutes PM Tai Chi
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 08-18-2006 at 03:43 AM. |
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08-17-2006, 12:13 PM
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WOO HOOO GIRL's RULE!!!
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LOVIN' LIFE!! |
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08-17-2006, 01:41 PM
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Hey Nite!
 So are you going to be my 'neighbor' in the state of MA confusion or what???Quote:
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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08-19-2006, 08:31 AM
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Thanks Cammo!
 Hike musings: Yesterday's hike was relaxed and laid back. Gypsy is going through some pretty serious crap with both of her teens. And there is not much she can do about the 17 1/2 year old. I feel so badly for her. He never gave her any trouble and then bam! He's in it deep.  Anyhow...we packed light. Gypsy has been working some long-assed hours at the shop too boot, so she was pretty tired going into our hike. We chose a great little spot out in Ashfield, MA another Trustees of Reservations spot called Bear Swamp. We downloaded the map online...and headed out. Only to discover that one of the trails was not on the map and we got turned around a bit. Nothing serious. Just ticked me off a bit. But the area was gorgeous and we took a late lunch break sitting on a ledge that looked out over a pond. As we came into the area I spotted a heron come in for a landing on the far side of the pond. The heron stuck around to feed and we watched him for probably an hour. I had brought my binoculars, so we took turns keeping tabs on him. Gypsy fell asleep for a short time and I just stretched out on the ledge, with my legs resting on the branches of a tree that was growing up from the pond below us, hands behind my head which was resting on my hydration pack watching the clouds drift by and the birds flit in and out of the branches over head. We heard another group of hikers come along, but they couldn't see us as we had to do some bushwhacking through a thick stand of laurel to get to the ledge. We never did finish checking out one other trail loop in the area...the day just sort of slid by us. We are going to return to the area next week as there are still 3 spots we want to check out. AM Tai Chi AM Yoga stretches - 25 minutes My immune system is really trying to act up.  My allergies are trying hard to turn into a sinus/ear infection. This time of year can be such a pain in the rump! Right knee and lower back are cranky this morning! But by the time I finished my yoga I was feeling a bit better. Yoga/cardio mix: Budokon - 30 minutes. Qigong - 30 minutes --- I really enjoyed this. I could have easily put in 30 more minutes. Very relaxing and soothing.* J arrived home with the groceries so I had to stop. *Interesting...by the time I had finished the sinus pain and sore throat were finally gone. I don't feel quite so 'bleck' as I did when I got up this morning. I still have more stiffness than normal. But I'm not feeling like I have a flare coming on any longer. Musings: Normally I would also get some heavy bag work in...but with my immune system on the verge of a temper fit I should just relax a bit today. My weight is up, and I am not happy about it...but none of my clothes feel tight. I started on cytogainer towards the end of last week. I've never taken anything with creatine before...so I'm assuming the 5# gain is related to the cytogainer. Cardio 2: Crunch Cardio Dance Blast - 30 minutes...discovered that my joints were too stiff for me to really get into this today. I enjoyed it though.
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 08-20-2006 at 07:14 AM. |
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08-20-2006, 02:32 AM
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Good to see you posting here Hawkwind. Love to read and follow your days! Get well soon and keep on the trails!
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Papasmurf: "there are no miracle supplements, fix your diet" http://www.bodybuildingforyou.com/forums/showthread.php?t=39994 |
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08-20-2006, 07:18 AM
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Hey Narc! Thanks for the healing wishes.
*Sing along with me: Oooooooooooh! I feel achey, Oh, so achey, I feel achey yet witty and bright! And I pity Any girl that was achey like me last night. ... Hehehee  ...yep, I know, not how Maria's song should go! But I do love West Side Story.  I'm a hurtin' unit this morning! I slept terrible, the weather front that came in doubled the achey stiffness and my ears/nose/throat nearly drove me to distraction. Anyhow, I finally dragged off the couch at 8 AM this morning. I actually woke every hour on the hour throughout the night and at 2 AM decided the couch downstairs was a better spot since I could get a cross draft and hear the rain. The rain finally lulled me to sleep. AM Tai Chi AM Yoga stretches - 20 minutes ... got cut short my sil came by for coffee. I adore Joe's sis so I didn't mind cutting my yoga stretches short a couple minutes. Romanian dead lift day!  Set 1 - 12r/100# Set 2 - 12r/100# *Almost time to go up. Yoga/Pilates/Dance: 40 minutes. *Made up my lost time from this morning. I'm really 'itching' to do my heavy bag work. But my upper body is still mega cranky and 'crunchy'... I'm having to remind myself that I don't need to undo all my hard work of the last couple of months by straining or injuring myself during a minor fibro-flare. Diet is "On"...no carb cravings...which is surprizing as that often hits when I'm in a flare. Scale is inching back down. That makes me happy. Family musings: My oldest graduates his tech training at Sheppard AFB Wednesday...he'll be receiving one of the honor graduate certificates. I'm so dayumed proud of him. He heads back to Lackland on Thursday. He'll be working in the hospital on base. PM Yoga Stretches - 25 minutes *Hip/ham flexibility is slowly returning. I hadn't realized how much flexibility I had lost while working so hard to bring my deads up. I won't make that mistake again any time soon. (Skipping my stretching.) PM Tai Chi
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 08-20-2006 at 08:27 PM. |
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08-21-2006, 07:33 AM
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AM Tai Chi
Yoga stretches - 45 minutes *Oy...yep the hips and hams are starting to loosen up and gain flexibility. 'Bout time! No hike today - Gypsy had to work. The rest is probably good for me since my ear/nose/throat are still acting up a bit. *Had to take the time to break a couple knots in the right shoulder area before I started my Budokon. Yoga/martial cardio 1: Budokon - 30 minutes Cardio 2: Heavy bag work - 15+ minutes! *Note: The right knee is still feeling a bit swollen. I wish it would hurry up and heal already. I'm starting to miss jumping rope. Qigong - 30 minutes. PM Yoga stretches - 25 minutes PM Tai Chi
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 08-21-2006 at 05:46 PM. |
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08-21-2006, 07:36 AM
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When I return to the states, I want to throw in Yoga and maybe a heavy bag for my off days just to keep me busy doing something. You think this would be ok?
How long and how often do you need to do yoga for it to do you any good? Any good beginner advice (dvds, websites, etc.??) |
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08-21-2006, 08:01 AM
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Hello PhiSigPhi,
I don't see a problem with adding in yoga and heavy bag work. The yoga is purely for my flexibility since I live with a disorder that's lumped in with arthritic disorders, but I've noticed now that I've returned to my yoga stretches my ROM is better for some of my lifts. I do the heavy bag work for cardio...and in my book everyone needs some sort of cardio. I tend to get bored silly on treadmills. So anything that doesn't bore me is a plus! (It's also a great way to let off some steam too.) As for Yoga DVD's there are a ton of them out there. I would suggest something like AM/PM Yoga for beginners with Rodney Yee. You will want to look for beginner practices that focus on stretching. If you decide you like yoga and want to use it for more than the stretching he also has some pretty challenging workouts. (Doing a search for Yoga DVD's on Amazon.com will probably bring up hundreds of titles! You can also check Collagevideo.com and Gaiam.)
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... |
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08-21-2006, 08:43 AM
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Awesome thanks!
I'm pretty flexible for a guy! Army basic training, we stretched everyday, and I pushed myself to the limits. I dont stretch very much anymore but i can still touch my palms to the floor after a little warmin up! haha. I just want to improve on it . I dont want to get old and stiff and stuff. 
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08-22-2006, 05:52 AM
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Quote:
Ugh! Slow painful start for me today. I've been having a biotch of a time sleeping, so last night I broke down and took one of my herbal supplements. I did finally sleep well last night...but I woke up to some serious body and sinus pain. (Years ago my specialist taught me to rate my pain on a scale of 1-10 with 1 being normal daily pain and 10 being 'on the way to the hospital pain'...I'm at a 7 today. Hopefully I'll be loosened up and in less pain by the time I head to the gym. I will be really ticked if this interferes with my progress so close to my scheduled rest/break.) Well, well, well! What a pleasantly surprizing day for me! Aight...so here is how the training went today: AM Tai Chi - boy was I ever stiff! I had a tough time getting through the first few minutes...but I finally started to loosen up...and went on to do my yoga stretches AM yoga stretches - 25 minutes. A bit tough, my upper body was really, really 'crunchy'. That was making me a bit nervous about facing my squats today. Upper body 'crunchy' does not usually bode well for my training. I ended up with the drowsies to boot! Now that frustrates me no end when that happens and it's directly related to my fibro. So on the way to the gym I stopped and bought myself an 'AMP' energy drink by Mountain Dew. Now normally I don't do anything more than have a cup of coffee prior to any early in the day lifting. I do have a 'Monster' from time to time before my hikes...but I didn't want a whole freakin' can of 'Monster'. 'AMP' is about half the size. Anyhow, my drive to the gym is normally about a half hour. I ran some quick errands today to give the 'AMP' some time to work...if in fact it would. About the time I arrived at the "Y" I could feel a bit of a 'buzz' from the caffeine and figured well hellz...at least I won't be groggy doing my squats. Upper body was still hurtin'. I timed my arrival well.  No one was playing in the squat rack! So I strapped on my knee brace, pulled on my gloves, slid those plates in place, secured them, and got down to business.... and pulled off the first set of 20 reps without a rest!  I even tolerated the bar across my trigger points without feeling nauseous or light-headed.  Took a 15 second rest and got back to work. Put in 10 reps. Needed a 15 second break and finished the last 10 reps. My face was red and my ass was whooped...but I did it...and inspite of the pain. The knee was majorly cranky today so I did NOT dare do my leg extensions. But! The successful two sets of 20 rep squats was not all I pulled off today! So here is my workout in full: Squats Set 1 - 20r/100# Set 2 - 10r/100# 15 sec. rest 10r/100# Leg extensions skipped today Seated calf raises 12r/140# Calf machine 12r/140# Back machine 12r/120# *up 5 Plate hypers 12r/10# Lat machine #5 12r/65# *up 5 Lat machine #19 12r/65# *up 5 Seated alt. DB press 12r/20# Incline db raises 12r/10# *up 2 DB bench 12r/20# DB flyes 12r/10# Concentration-curls 12r/20# *up 5 Incline alt. DB curls 12r/15# Triceps machine #7 12r/65# outter setting *up 5 Triceps machine #16 12r/40# *up 5 I still hurt...the pain is finally down to a 3 and I'm still very 'crunchy' in the upper body tonight. But I had one hellz of a workout today inspite of it all. PM yoga stretches - 25 minutes PM Tai Chi
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...I am the wanderer's wandering daughter... Last edited by Hawkwind; 08-23-2006 at 03:14 AM. |
