Starting point
daneejela
Posts: 461 Member
This is place to write down our starting state - how flexible you are at the moment, how strong you are, what can you do easily, what do you struggle with. The idea is to have a snap of this moment to be able to see progress.
You can enter this in any format - as a description or your current abilities or as a flexibility/strength test results/measurements. It's for you and only you
You can enter this in any format - as a description or your current abilities or as a flexibility/strength test results/measurements. It's for you and only you
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Replies
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Hey there! Thanks for this. It is exactly what I need right now. I've been on MFP a long while, and I've had some medical issues the past few years that have kept me pretty inactive but I'm ready to get back on the horse, so to say.
I used to lift, but that's not in the cards now. My doc has said to start back to everything slowly with walking and some flexibility work, so yoga has been on my mind for the past few weeks. I feel like I'm starting back at zero right now, so this is going to be great!
Thanks again!
MR3 -
@Mischievous_Rascal welcome! I am happy that you like it!
I think that is a great plan to start easy, go slowly but consistently. I think that is the way our body prefers and rewards.
I am pretty much at the same beginner level. I did 2,3 weeks of getting familiar with certain poses and now I would like to make a commitment to a longer challenge.
I would love to be able to do some of those beautiful challenging poses in the future but I know that rushing into anything can be contra-productive. Plus, the main reason I am into yoga is not certain goal at the end, but all those beautiful moments of feeling connected with my body and doing something good for it.
My starting point is really a beginner one - My core is pretty week (I can hold plank for few seconds before my body starts to shake), just like my quads and gluteus muscles (I can hold warrior 3 for few seconds). My hips are pretty stiff (I can make about 90 degrees "split") just like my upper back.1 -
He connectedness is so Important! I had that with lifting but it is not a gentle exercise. Yoga does feel like your doing something kind and good for yourself. I know that gains in strength and endurance will come with regular practice but my first goal is just a feeling of comfort in my body again. 0
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Me. Today.
• I am sedentary.
• My hips are tight and shortened due to sitting.
• I am weak. Plank hold 5 seconds max!
• Stomach muscles so lax, I do not look like I've lost 50 lbs.
• Calves are tight tight tight and short.
• Lower back hurts (pretty sure my hanging belly is a huge part of this issue)
• Shoulders are tight
• Neck is really tight (headaches too)
• I'm lazy - well, that was harsh. I'm tremendously anxious and slightly depressed. THAT is causing my "laziness"(ambition and desire to do anything is at an all time low)
Yikes
How's that for honestly assessing my self? They say the first step is recognizing the issues. This is my scary first step.
I am looking forward to seeing how this changes at the end of the 100 days.
Thanks for reading this guys.
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I really appreciate your "honest with yourself moment" post jackinorrie!!! Seems as though I'm right there with you!
NEVER done yoga a day in my life.
I'm super stiff
Not flexible at all... anywhere.
I'm strong but my core sucks and I feel like I'm on the verge of some really bad back problems if I don't do something quick!!!
Plank? Ha! Like maybe 3 seconds max?
Anyways, I'm looking forward to where I end up in 100 days 2 -
This is me at day zero: I have some stamina built up. I've made it through an hour beginner yoga class, but it's hard for me to hold some poses with correct form. I can hold a plank for up to a minute, and I just completed a pushup challenge, doing 40 "girly" ones on the last day (I'd never done more than 5). I've got a (partially) frozen left shoulder (it's been 1 1/2 years in the thaw), plantar fasciitis (thanks bone spur) on my right foot (possible new on left foot for a week), a straight neck (thanks auto accident), and an unbearably tight right hip (thanks too short right leg). Combine that with some lower back spasms and throw in some occasional knee pain...and that's me. I've gone to different chiropractors, PT, and had massages for years without lasting change. Perhaps yoga?
I'm a fighter (and stubborn too), but that can also get the best of me. When I feel good, I do too much and hurt myself, then get really lazy and don't start back up again. I want to stop this vicious cycle! There's no quick fix, so I'm excited to see where the next 100 days brings me. Let's show our bodies some love!4 -
I would say I am a little past beginner. I have been doing yoga at home for the past month or so, went to a 55 minute class at the Y on Saturday and could at least hold my own. A few years ago I did hot yoga like three times a week for like a year until my studio closed--LOVED that. In the past two years I have had major back problems-back surgery last summer. I have put on about 20 pounds since then due to lack of movement from being in pain. I literally was just at the doc today to discuss another surgery, this one pretty major. I am 46 years old--too young to be in this kind of pain. Yoga and swimming help a TON so this challenge will definitely help! I also started going for acupuncture to manage pain until the surgery. If it wasn't for childs pose and down dog and cats/cows, I would not be able to walk first thing in the morning!!!
namaste to all!!!2 -
Namaste back at you, drabbits2. We can't really feel much worse, so this challenge has to help. I was thinking over the swimming thing for myself, but my front crawl sucks. I might as well just do doggie paddle. Perhaps I should watch some Michael Phelps videos, then go for it? I even have goggles, like a real pro. Ha ha! It's going to be a fun 100 days...
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I am very excited to find this group. I L O V E yoga!!! I have been playing around with it for maybe 1.5 years at home. I love Yoga with Adriene on YouTube, she has every level possible. I am in between beginner and intermediate...slowly getting there. A couple of months ago I did a personal 30 day challenge by myself - anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes of yoga every day and I felt great by the end. Not so much pain in my hips and legs Can't wait to see what 100 days will do!!! 2
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I am very excited to find this group. I L O V E yoga!!! I have been playing around with it for maybe 1.5 years at home. I love Yoga with Adriene on YouTube, she has every level possible. I am in between beginner and intermediate...slowly getting there. A couple of months ago I did a personal 30 day challenge by myself - anywhere from 5 minutes to 30 minutes of yoga every day and I felt great by the end. Not so much pain in my hips and legs Can't wait to see what 100 days will do!!!
I've practiced with Adriene too. There are so many free resources out there that are really good for anyone's level. Looking forward to changes in our bodies and minds.
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I restarted my yoga practice last night with a 20 minute beginner sequence on Do Yoga With Me (Yummy 20). I felt pretty loose going into it because I had an hour session of Reiki beforehand, but my funky knee was still really tight. That made some poses a little difficult, but I relaxed into wherever I could get to and it felt much better when I was done.
Tonight I'm going to start the DYWM 30 day challenge at the beginner level and then repeat it at the intermediate level. (I signed up so it sends me an email with a link everyday, so I don't have to spend time deciding what video to watch. )
Namaste, everyone!1 -
jackinorrie wrote: »Me. Today.
• I am sedentary.
• My hips are tight and shortened due to sitting.
• I am weak. Plank hold 5 seconds max!
• Stomach muscles so lax, I do not look like I've lost 50 lbs.
• Calves are tight tight tight and short.
• Lower back hurts (pretty sure my hanging belly is a huge part of this issue)
• Shoulders are tight
• Neck is really tight (headaches too)
• I'm lazy - well, that was harsh. I'm tremendously anxious and slightly depressed. THAT is causing my "laziness"(ambition and desire to do anything is at an all time low)
Yikes How's that for honestly assessing my self? They say the first step is recognizing the issues. This is my scary first step.
I am looking forward to seeing how this changes at the end of the 100 days.
Thanks for reading this guys.
Thank you for your honesty! Sometimes it can be hard to be honest with others and most especially with ourselves. You are brave! I will use your post as an example for my own.
Me today:
•I am basically sedentary. I am trying to get back into walking and exercising. A few years ago I was doing well, I lost 80lbs. Then the headaches started. I never suffered from them until about 4 years ago. Then one day I got a headache. It never went away. It varies in intensity from a 4 on the headache scale to a full blown migraine, but never goes below a 4. I then started having dizzy spells. Dizzy spells and headache went on for about a year or so (and I just dealt with them, it was all 'good'.) Then the fainting started. I sometimes get a wave of dizziness and down I go. I did all the tests, it's not my blood pressure-even though that's crazy too. My BP has been outlandish since I was a child. I don't have heart issues, they could never really figure out what it was. They blamed it on the anxiety I have acquired in the last few years and the fact that a few of my upper vertibrae are beginning to fall apart and are squeezing my spinal cord and whatever arteries are in there. I also have arteriosclerosis in some of the arteries on the left side of my brain. They figure that is also helping with the chronis cluster headaches/migraines that I get. Meh. So for a while I wasn't really allowed to do much exercise; because they weren't sure if it was a good thing and because I was prone to pass out LOL! The fainting and dizziness, while still a problem, has gotten better. So back to working out I go!
•My back, hips, knees, pelvic and ankles are all kinds of a mess. Partly because I'm accident prone, and partly because I'm older and fat. I haven't taken good care of myself. Both dietwise and when I get hurt. While younger, if I got hurt, I did NOT go to the doctor. Who could afford that? So I got hurt. And kept going. It's coming back to haunt me now.
•My core strength is for the birds. I can do a 10 second plank....but boy it's a close one!
•My stomach muscles are very lax. I call my tummy The Apron. I have lost weight but I don't see it.
•My leg muscles (which used to be so strong) are no longer. I am used to working a job where I stand up and move constantly. The last year and a half I've been at a sedentary job. I went from 10-15,000 steps a day to being lucky if I get 5,000.
•My joints are very tight and they hurt constantly.
•I am diabetic and I have neuropathy in my legs and feet. Not horrible, but they are uncomfortable to painful most of the time.
•I have hurt my back (and have some scoliosis) and my ankles/feet more than once in my life with little to no medical aid for it, so they hurt all. the. time.
•I'm lazy. I have all the good intentions to get up and do the workout....but something will keep me from doing. Some excuse I give myself. I also suffer from anxiety (a new thing I'm trying to learn to work with) and depression (always had it, just never really affected me as much until the anxiety). This does affect the laziness and motivation. I need to learn to work AROUND this.
Sorry this is so long!
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Mischievous_Rascal wrote: »Hey there! Thanks for this. It is exactly what I need right now. I've been on MFP a long while, and I've had some medical issues the past few years that have kept me pretty inactive but I'm ready to get back on the horse, so to say.
I used to lift, but that's not in the cards now. My doc has said to start back to everything slowly with walking and some flexibility work, so yoga has been on my mind for the past few weeks. I feel like I'm starting back at zero right now, so this is going to be great!
Thanks again!
MR
MR I could have written that entire post! I have lost over 20 lbs with food tracking alone. My health is in a much better place now. And I'm feeling well enough to add in some light exercise. I miss lifting so much!!! But the reality is I may never be able to lift heavy again. Yoga is the perfect way to get my body moving again slowly, through stretching and body weight exercises. I'm so grateful that I found the challenge right when I had decided I was beginning a yoga practice.
My flexibility is not good, my balance is not good. My attitude is great and I'm excited to practice yoga. I did yoga years ago as a bridge back into exercise after an inactive period. Currently I struggle with putting weight on my RA wrists. Also I may need to get a new mat. The one that I have isn't specific to yoga and is too small. I end up with my feet off the end of the mat all the time.
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@Wraiythe Wow! You certainly called yourself out and have set it up so that at the end of these 100 days you will be able to look back and see the progress you have made. This was a very brave thing to do - Kudos!
Let's keep in touch on the tracking thread - I am looking forward to seeing your posts! xx Jacki
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