What Was Your Work Out Today?

Got in the pool and actually managed to swim. Sounds like nothing, but I've had debilitating L shoulder pain since last November (frozen shoulder). Tried the pool once earlier this year - a complete no-starter.. I could barely raise my arm without pain, let alone swim with it.

Just over a month post-steroid injection and I can swim again. My shoulder mobility is still compromised and I'm not completely pain free, but it was absolutely bearable, and I didn't drown. It's such a big deal and hopefully represents the end of a dark 6 months or so for me with knee and shoulder injuries making the things I love practically impossible. It's not been fun!

Now I just have to go back again....

@AnnPT77 those numbers look pretty impressive to me.. good work persisting and I hope the new season is just around the corner for you! Summer is calling!

@Djproulx I think the bike is calling you! Curious to know what HED sneakers are??

10k Monday and suiting up now for maybe a 3-5 mile jog. The body will determine…. Will have some Tom Yum with chicken waiting for me when I get back home…

Was a bit sore still today from doing the garden but found out this month's indoor rowing club event is a Half Marathon on the rower. I've only done two of them in the past, so I better be getting in some longer, harder sessions. No real plan for any good time, just finish it. My best HM is like a 2:19 pace. I won't come close to that. I'll likely just shoot for sub 2:30 and a finish.

Anyway, today just pushed for an hour. Around 35 minutes hard on the rower (2500/2500/2000 meter intervals at 2:10, 2:11 and around 2:15 on last -- was gassed) and then 20 minutes on the Assault Bike. Four minutes hard, one easy X 4. 920 calories burned, avg HR around 79% of max.

Tuesday, pouring rain. Today's boring report is stationary bike, the usual 10k+3'CD, took about 28 minutes. Easy work, 102W on the 10k/81 on the CD, little over half Z3, remainder below. (Playing online game on my phone all the way. 😆)

@clairenotready, thank you for the kind words: Li'l ol' lady tries! 😉

swimmom_1 wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

swimmom_1 wrote: »

Elliptical 2 sessions, 300 minutes for 22.3 miles, finished later in the day, 54 minutes for 4.2 miles. So 26.5 mile total.

I've said it before, but will say it again, this is just incredible! I don't know how you do that kind of volume, but more power to you, swimmom!

Thank you @Djproulx
Not sure how I do it either, really. Other than the time passes fairly quick watching TV shows or movies on my tablet. Other part is I'm a Taurus and can be a bit determined, otherwise known as bullheaded! I push a bit more when I get close to a certain mileage number. The elliptical is easy on my knees. Better than walking outside. I used to jog when I was in nursing school (1976-1979) and I think I ruined my knees then. Also had a tibial plateau fracture in 2015 and besides a L broken ankle repair in 1992, I have lots of metal in the knee and ankle of my L leg.

I'm impressed with your workouts @Djproulx . I could not do what you do! I can swim well but was self taught pretty much. Nothing compared to my kids. My boys were all competitive swimmers (I pushed them into it at 3-5 years of age.) They kind of got tired of it at times then, but they all appreciate it now. At that time, I was a Pediatric RN, I wasn't going to have my kids not know how to swim well. I have taken care of drowning/near drowning kids. My kids were jumping off diving boards at 1 year old. None of them are or were fearful. So had do it.

So today I did a 180 minute elliptical session for 13.15 miles and a second session tonight, (to finish a movie) 90 minutes for 7.41 miles. So 20.56 miles total. See I had to get to the 20 mile mark at least!

The Elliptical is a great low impact machine. Clearly its been a great answer for many people working around injuries, including you.

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

dralicephd wrote: »

A little longer elliptical today: 55min instead of 45. I was watching a show that took me to 50 min., and then I was so close to the next mile, I kept going. 😀 I was excited to hit 3 miles for the first time in a long while. (Yeah, 3 miles in 55min is slow by running standards, but progress is progress!)

Anyhoo... ~60% of my time was at HR zone 3, the rest zone 2 or below.

See, you increased your elliptical time and like me, you just had to get to that next mile mark! Congrats! My mile is 13.5 minutes. You will get that number down some.

Djproulx wrote: »

(snip)

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

@Djproulx: Yes, endorsed - from a perspective of failure, in my case.

I can't blame my parents, who sent me to swimming lessons, and my aunt tried to do remedial help, but as a child - to my discredit - I wasn't having it. I still dislike swimming, maybe I would've disliked it even if better skilled, I don't know. I had to take adult learn-to-swim classes and then lap swim classes (in my 50s) to get myself to a point where I felt even barely competent at actually swimming freestyle. I wish I'd been less stupid about it as a child, honestly.

(To be clear, as a longtime canoeist/kayaker/rower, I've been adequate to save myself in the non-challenging water where I paddle/row, by swimming on my back. But my general swimming skills were terrible, and I wish it had been otherwise. They're still sub-par, and I try to practice some in off-season, but I've been avoiding the Y totally during the pandemic . . . which may be an excuse, in the case of visiting the pool. 🙄)

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Rowing machining again, usual format. I decided I'd just try to hold someplace close to 2:30 pace, for a pretty easy workout - all but 4" was Z3 and below. When I saw the monitor at the end, I had to laugh. I don't think I could be that consistent if I were trying to be, but accidents happen! 😆 I'll just throw a snap of it up here:

WOW!!!!

AnnPT77 wrote: »

RaquelFit2 wrote: »

Yesterday, I decided to do two kickboxing workouts and then some dumbbell chest presses plus a nice long stretch.

Today, my back is shot. I have a history of herniated discs so I was expecting this. I need to take my exercise down a bit. Today, I rest.

Wishing you quick recovery: It's sooo tempting to push hard for fast progress, but avoiding injury is so important. Finding the right pace for progression is a challenge. Beaming healing rays your way!

Thank you @AnnPT77 ❤️❤️❤️I feel a little bit better today but I'm not going to do any exercise. Just some light stretching.

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

(snip)

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

@Djproulx: Yes, endorsed - from a perspective of failure, in my case.

I can't blame my parents, who sent me to swimming lessons, and my aunt tried to do remedial help, but as a child - to my discredit - I wasn't having it. I still dislike swimming, maybe I would've disliked it even if better skilled, I don't know. I had to take adult learn-to-swim classes and then lap swim classes (in my 50s) to get myself to a point where I felt even barely competent at actually swimming freestyle. I wish I'd been less stupid about it as a child, honestly.

(To be clear, as a longtime canoeist/kayaker/rower, I've been adequate to save myself in the non-challenging water where I paddle/row, by swimming on my back. But my general swimming skills were terrible, and I wish it had been otherwise. They're still sub-par, and I try to practice some in off-season, but I've been avoiding the Y totally during the pandemic . . . which may be an excuse, in the case of visiting the pool. 🙄)

@Ann, understand that story. Many of my friends are terrific athletes who wish they could swim, or swim better. I'm in the latter camp. Swam for fun and took lessons as a kid, but never kept at it. The "refresher" lessons at 52 yrs old were humbling. Its such a technique driven activity, like golf.

Djproulx wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

(snip)

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

@Djproulx: Yes, endorsed - from a perspective of failure, in my case.

I can't blame my parents, who sent me to swimming lessons, and my aunt tried to do remedial help, but as a child - to my discredit - I wasn't having it. I still dislike swimming, maybe I would've disliked it even if better skilled, I don't know. I had to take adult learn-to-swim classes and then lap swim classes (in my 50s) to get myself to a point where I felt even barely competent at actually swimming freestyle. I wish I'd been less stupid about it as a child, honestly.

(To be clear, as a longtime canoeist/kayaker/rower, I've been adequate to save myself in the non-challenging water where I paddle/row, by swimming on my back. But my general swimming skills were terrible, and I wish it had been otherwise. They're still sub-par, and I try to practice some in off-season, but I've been avoiding the Y totally during the pandemic . . . which may be an excuse, in the case of visiting the pool. 🙄)

@Ann, understand that story. Many of my friends are terrific athletes who wish they could swim, or swim better. I'm in the latter camp. Swam for fun and took lessons as a kid, but never kept at it. The "refresher" lessons at 52 yrs old were humbling. Its such a technique driven activity, like golf.

Back around 10 years ago, not too long after I originally lost the weight, I wanted to get more into swimming. I never could get the breathing timing down -- but with that said, getting the breathing calm is what helps you understand your form better.

I cheated and used those Finis swim snorkels. Helps you to concentrate on your stroke. And if, like me, you're just wanting to swim for exercise, it wasn't necessary to swim without it, though it's a great transition piece for learning to swim laps again.

After relearning to swim laps, it isn't as hard to stay calm and work on your breathing timing without the fin.

Now that we have a pool in the backyard, I always kid my wife how can I even float again without a huge oversized pool noodle!

MikePfirrman wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

AnnPT77 wrote: »

Djproulx wrote: »

(snip)

I wish more people pushed their kids to swim at a young age. Not only for safety, but its a fairly low impact workout that can stay with us as we age. I see some real great swimmers who are in their 60s and 70s.

@Djproulx: Yes, endorsed - from a perspective of failure, in my case.

I can't blame my parents, who sent me to swimming lessons, and my aunt tried to do remedial help, but as a child - to my discredit - I wasn't having it. I still dislike swimming, maybe I would've disliked it even if better skilled, I don't know. I had to take adult learn-to-swim classes and then lap swim classes (in my 50s) to get myself to a point where I felt even barely competent at actually swimming freestyle. I wish I'd been less stupid about it as a child, honestly.

(To be clear, as a longtime canoeist/kayaker/rower, I've been adequate to save myself in the non-challenging water where I paddle/row, by swimming on my back. But my general swimming skills were terrible, and I wish it had been otherwise. They're still sub-par, and I try to practice some in off-season, but I've been avoiding the Y totally during the pandemic . . . which may be an excuse, in the case of visiting the pool. 🙄)

@Ann, understand that story. Many of my friends are terrific athletes who wish they could swim, or swim better. I'm in the latter camp. Swam for fun and took lessons as a kid, but never kept at it. The "refresher" lessons at 52 yrs old were humbling. Its such a technique driven activity, like golf.

Back around 10 years ago, not too long after I originally lost the weight, I wanted to get more into swimming. I never could get the breathing timing down -- but with that said, getting the breathing calm is what helps you understand your form better.

I cheated and used those Finis swim snorkels. Helps you to concentrate on your stroke. And if, like me, you're just wanting to swim for exercise, it wasn't necessary to swim without it, though it's a great transition piece for learning to swim laps again.

After relearning to swim laps, it isn't as hard to stay calm and work on your breathing timing without the fin.

Now that we have a pool in the backyard, I always kid my wife how can I even float again without a huge oversized pool noodle!

@Mike - Yes, many folks feel anxiety over breathing and that gets in the way of keeping your head down and focusing on staying long and flat in the water while pushing the water backwards (not down) with each stroke. I have a bunch of swim aids including the swim snorkel and use them regularly in my drill sets before the main swim. Allows me to concentrate on specific elements of the stroke without too much fatigue. (pull buoy, swim fins, hand paddles, snorkel).

For those who are real newbies or having trouble with head down breathing, a couple things that seem to work are 1) pull buoy between legs to stop legs from sinking and 2) repeating a mantra to yourself as a reminder not to hold your breath when head is in the water. The mantra I used when starting out was " Bubbles.....Bubbles.....Breathe" since I breathe bilaterally on every third stroke. So saying "bubbles" slowly during each stroke reminded me to exhale a constant, controlled stream of breathe into the water, and when I turned my head to breathe, the lungs would be empty so I didn't have to exhale then quickly gulp a mouthful of air.

The other thing that helped (and is silly to write!) was a trick to help new swimmers keep their legs straight and not bend the knees (knees bent =legs sink). The mental image to reinforce core tautness and straight posture was "Think of squeezing a coin between your butt cheeks and don't let it drop" because doing so forces glute activation and erect posture.