Kicking LEs butt!! Exercise & Self Care Log
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Ok, I am stoked now! This new therapist I'm going to meet Monday called me today and wanted to chat about mutual expectations. So, I'm opening up the SUSO site and finding the page on qualified therapists, and asked her basic questions and she seems like someone we would accept as qualified. She knows about garments, we're going to do a MLD refresher, measurements, and review my exercises.
Wow, I am excited for Monday to come now!
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Nibbana. That sounds great. So smart to pull of the expectation page at suso
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Hey, lots of good news in today's posts here! It's always great to read about everyone's success in working in some activity. I had a great exercise day; got up and did an hour of jogging and speedy walking, and later in the day to the gym for an hour of weight lifting and stretching, with a mile jogging to add the post-weight lifting cardio my trainer believes help to prevent soreness and reduce the risk of an LE response. So 6.6 miles today, but I still need to do MLD before bed.
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7 miles today! That is my record.
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I never report my exercises, do I?
Ok, did squats and good mornings earlier. Doing some lunges but got a twinge in one of my hamstrings, so I'm putting up the kettlebell and resting.
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Wow!
Kick butt, ladies!nibbana
I can hear your enthusiasm. I hope your LEist is great! Pls report back to us . As for the rebounder, my LEist suggests A.M MLD and then rebounder(w/garments of course) as ' the best'or ideal but whatever/whenever we can do is also good.
I have stubbed another toe. Nope, I am not QUITE that klutzy -I am living with a hazard. My husband stubbed his too the other night. I put a toddler bed right next to mine and now, getting up in the mid . of the night is not so easy. We have to work it out somehow. ( Maybe I'll switch sides with him and have him stub his nightly :>)
Anyway, I think I can do some walking later. It will be indoors- 2 feet of snow predicted.On the topic of LEists,. mine did some intercostal MLD the other day. Are any of you with truncal familiar ? I so wish I could explain it well.
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Kay, wow! Seven miles is a lot of moving!
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tai chi breather. mld, stretches this morn. That means getting up earlier for me.
Just adding in to my post that I did some yamuna body rolling this afternoon. Stretched out all that rad scar tissue. OH YAH! Look out world because I feel pretty good right now! If you are going to try it please be careful and watch your LE to make sure you are not using your arm for too much support for your body.
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Today: 4.7 miles, and 3.5 of that was on snowshoes, on a hilly trail. My quads got a real workout! It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon with DH and the poodle, so a wonderful walk. Took about one hour, 40 minutes, so no speed records! Lebed is calling me now...
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My trainer couldn't work with me today so I am just getting back from the gym.
Something funny ... a few weeks ago I was at the gym and Justin Timberlake's song, "I'm Bringing Sexy Back" was playing while I was running my last of 25 minutes on the treadmill. It made me laugh and it helped me finish. That song is definitely not in my genre of music that I usually listen to but I paid the $1 something on itunes and downloaded on my exercise mix. It came on tonight while I was dying working on my abs.
It made me smile ... we're all at different levels and ages but we all just want to be 'back' and feel pretty and sexy again. Get some music or whatever motivates you to get moving and just do it. xoxo Was really sad yesterday because I tried a spinning class for the first time and it was way too much pressure on my hands and it just made me angry. Felt handicapped. Tonight I feel much better. Hard for me to stay in the head space: "Focus on What You Can Do" vs. "Focus on What I Cannot Do" and the song "Sexy Back" while not usually my style ... made me smile tonight. Keep walking, hydrating, elevating, massaging and kicking LE's butt!
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Dawne-Hope, any song that makes you smile while running on a treadmill is very, very good music!
Yesterday and today, I got up early to get the steps out of the way. I decided to multi-task--watch some cable news while walking/jogging through the house. I kept my steps to the main floor where I could hear the news, except when commercials came on, and then I went up and down our two flights of stairs until the news came back on. I never realized how long commercials run in between news segments! Yesterday I did 48 flights of stairs and today a few less than that. I'd say that the stairs-during-commercials method is a great way to keep the heartrate up!
Also went out on the 3.5 mile snow shoe trail with DH and the pooch again yesterday, for a total 8.2 miles walking for the day. Today I'm not sure about snow shoeing, because we're expecting some icy rain, but I already have 4 miles in so if the weather does not cooperate, I'll just stay home and make some hearty soup!
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Wow- those stairs are going to have you losing weight, Carol. GREAT cardio!
I continue with the rebounder and 30 mins speedwalking per day followed by stretching.Every morning I wake with more bodyaches. This is not new for me. I believe it is related to my thin bones and past breaks. Reminds me of why I stop the exercise every now and then which stinks.
Cannot find a solution . I need the cardio for my cirulcation etc .... In the past, I tried PT twice ( hip sciatic from squats etc ) but finally realized to stop squats.
Then I all but stopped Pilates because of back pain . I have a small herniated disc. .... Riding a bike wont give me any weight bearing for my osteopenia.One would think walking wouldnt cause anything at all. I have good sneakers on wood floors with an area rug. ( I've tried this before on tile and my knees are AWFUL afterward/ I have broken one before) I also pay attention to form and good posture.
So, I am a bit disouraged at the moment , but will keep on trucking.
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Wow Carole! Yikes, don't think I could do that many flights of stars. My next house is definitely going to be a one floor. Purple, Hmmmm, that sucks, but with your determination, I know you will figure something out.
Did the circuit yesterday, then 1 mile on the elyptical and also walked 2.5 miles (in the cold, brrrr) to the restaurant for dinner. Got a ride back
. Did 6 miles on the elyptical today and heading to a baby shower soon 0 -
Purple, the key is movement, no matter the flavor. The rebounder seems to be working well for you, and if you keep your speedwalking to reasonable doses, I hope you can get the cardio benefits without triggering the other issues (myself, I know that I am not being reasonable sometimes). Do you have access to a good elliptical to see how that might work for you? It's very joint friendly, and in my view, hard cardio work.
Kay, I did the stairs in small bursts, so it did not seem like so many. All at once--not possible! You are certainly on an exercise roll lately. Have fun at the shower, especially knowing that your exercise is behind you!
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Do you have access to a good elliptical to see how that might work for
Not really, but guess I could make it happen if I really needed to. The thing is, I would think that would be an issue for the arm movements . Do many of you use this ?
No issues ?!0 -
Purple, the elliptical I use does have arms on it, but I usually don't use them. I just keep my arms in a neutral position and although the machine's arm supports move, they are not in my way at all. I do this not just to avoid the arm movement because of LE, but because it's a great way to work on the core. Our little in-town gym has three different kinds of ellipticals, and I use one of them most often, but I can avoid hanging onto the arms on all three.
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I think most of the ellipticals at my gym allow the option of using the arm thing, If I do the elliptical, I leave the arm thing alone, hard enough just doing the footsies
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The elyptical at my gym has the arms you can hold on to and move and also stationary handles that you can just hold onto and not move your arms. I think this option might be good because it would keep your arms up a bit. You could also just ignore both and hold your arms at your side any way you want. I think I might have a hard time balancing if I didn't use the handles though. Sounds like Carole has the knack of doing that though.
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I can avoid hanging onto the arms on all three.
Really ??!
Iintriguing...thanks, Carol!0 -
Purple, if balance is hard at first without using arms, you can go slowly with your legs/feet, but crank up the resistance. That way it's easier to balance, but you get a great heart workout.
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Purple - I use the elliptical with the arms for 30-45 minutes at a time and it works for me. Walking always makes me swell, even if I don't hang my arms down at my sides. Good illustration of what works for one doesn't for others. Secret is find out what works for YOU.
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Yeah, I dont think I'll need to crank up any resistance with these lungs, Carol!
Dawne, I really find that odd actually - good for you !
The thing about all this trial and error jazz is fear. If I were to ' try' an elliptical and see if , like Dawne, it was a good thing, I would be concerned that if my arm swelled it might go to a 'new normal' and stay there or be very hard to treat.
I'm used to COPD. I avoid as many colds etc ... as possible because each one takes me down just a little tiny notch. VERY tiny. However, if I get fill blown bronchitis or pneumonia , I could end up going down a LOT ...in any case, a new and permanent baselinethat I dont want to be at any quicker than age or nature will take me there.
We can't live in a bubble, and I sure don't but I freely admit - LE scares the crap out of me. Trial and error with LE 'feels' as risky as me hanging out with somebody with viral pneumonia for the day.
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I use an elliptical regularly and find that the arm lever thing actually helps my LE. The arm levers go back and forth on mine whether you use them or not. I just grasp the arm levers lightly and don't pull or push them at all - I just let the arms go with the movement of the arm levers. For me, it seems to encourage the fluid to move and keeping my hands and arms elevated prevents swelling.
Still keeping on track with my half marathon training schedule. My Sunday long run is now up to 6 miles - it was 40's and sunny so I was able to run in the park. Today is stretching day - lots of foam roller work and stretching, and I consciously slowed down doing the Lebeds today (like most of us I tend to do them too quickly) and really felt the full range of each movement.
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Wow, good luck NatsFan! Sounds like you're on track.
I have the same experience with the elyptical as Dawne and NatsFan. Purple, I think Binney told someone that once you have LE, trial and error is not a bad thing. It's before you have developed it, that you really want to make sure you watch everything. I'm not saying to go out and do crazy things, but I think a short time on the elyptical to see how you do would be okay. Maybe Binney will confirm or deny. I have good experience of getting back to where I was if I had a flare, especially if you immediately work on it.
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Thanks, Kay. Well, I have to say , all of this does sound encouraging.As I said, I have lived with ( a few ) chronic illness , and guess I am relating to that.
Many thanks - off to my rebounder and speed walk for now. ICE storm outside today !0 -
Kay, exactly. Once we have LE and it's under control (and we have the basic self-care skills to keep it that way) we start to experiment to find what we can (or can't) get away with.
Purple, somewhere (I forget where now) you mentioned intercostal work as part of MLD. My therapist does that too, and it's part of my self-MLD routine. There are deeper lymphatics that can be stimulated with "massage" between the ribs. I do it with sorta deep fingertip circles, using the pointer and middle finger in two rib spaces at once. (Hope that made sense). I had bilateral mastectomies, no recon, so I can use the whole chest area.
Be well,
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My LE-T taught me that too - about between the ribs, I think that it makes a big difference.
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My LEist goes between ribs also. I see her once a month just to keep things in check.
Purple, you said that your knees flare when you walk. When I first started walking my shins killed me, I was so prone to shinsplints. My secret to success and still is I try to walk on grass if I can. So at the boardwalk yesterday I was on brick and half the time on grass. It really makes a difference for me with my shins, hips, back disc stuff. So much softer on the joints.
At first I hated walking on grass it took so much effort to lift the leg, much harder for me than walking on cement but I figured the effort would only do good and now a couple years later i am used to lifting the leg a bit higher. My friends that come with me sometimes say. This is too much work.
It's simply the best for your joints if walking on grass after a rain. The ground is super soft but be careful you don't slip if it is too wet. You have to watch out for potholes and slippery spots every step you take but it is so worth it. Nordic poles will keep you balanced if you slip.
After my sunset walk at beach last night I did lebeds opening on the beach. Waves lapping up, oh so nice. People stopped and watched, They thought I was doing tai chi and I knew they wanted to give it a go because I was so slow and graceful when I did it and it looked so peaceful. The sun was disappearing and there was me and this beautiful beach, was a moment to remember.0 -
You guyz are just so helpful!
Yes hugz a harder surface gives me shin splints too. I think the ' knee thing' is because I broke my knee about 5 yrs ago.As for the intercostal, my LE'ist uses the whole hand, flat- fingers spread a bit. She pushes straight down ( NOT too hard, but more pressure than the light, light MLD) and then , when comingback up she has the ' twist' you might expect on your regular MLD move. ( Doubt if THAT makes any sense just reading it !
) Anyhow, she starts on the affected side- 5x ea area and moves to the mid-sternum for me. I also do it myself ... but not as good as she does :>)Interesting!
Oh btw hugz, I am surrounded by giant snowbanks and slush and ice. When can I come for a visit ?
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hugz, can I join you too? this snow thing is getting boring although, purple has it way worse than me! she needs a walk on the beach!
purple, hope you have power and heat~~
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