Mary Stetler
Well-known member
I call that unfolding when people seem concerned. I have to unfold slowly to get going after sitting.
Exercise, Walking, Etc.
- Thread starter Marie Mallory
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Mary Stetler
Well-known member
I really like this idea of fascia stretching and like this guy as he explains it. It makes me feel better. Maybe it could help you too.
The vibration plate is a totally different thing, @Marie Mallory . It is a plate that you stand on and it vibrates back and forth, which causes all of the muscles in your whole body to work and energize. It helps with circulation, and it even helps with balance because it strengthens so many muscles that we use for balancing ourselves. I can feel it clear up into my face muscles just from standing on it and vibrating.
This video shows you basically what it looks like, and there are all kind of them from cheap to expensive, on the market. Ours is just a cheaper one and I got it with my health benefit from my Medicare advantage plan a year or more ago.
You can sit and put your feet on it, like the lady in the video is doing, or you can stand on it, sit on it , and even lie part of your body on it for specific area vibration healing. The further apart your feet are, the stronger the vibration is, and they can operate at different speeds and intensity.
They say that 10 minutes is like a 20 minute workout, and all you are doing is standing there.
Marie Mallory
Well-known member
Yvonne ,which one did you get and where?
The one we have is a Merach, @Marie Mallory . It was on sale at Amazon for around $ $100, marked down from $160. However, if I were going to get another one, I would get one that has the stand with the handles on it to hang on to. Mine is just the regular platform, and I have it next to our exercise bike and can use the top of that to balance myself with , but one of the plates that come with the support handrails would be much better for me, and the cost is actually almost the same price.
It can be used either with or without the handrail, so if you need balance support , you can have it. This picture is the one I wish I had bought instead, but I didn’t see these until I had already ordered the plain one.
It can be used either with or without the handrail, so if you need balance support , you can have it. This picture is the one I wish I had bought instead, but I didn’t see these until I had already ordered the plain one.
Beth Gallagher
Well-known member
My vibration plate doesn't have a handle, either. I just posiition it next to a wall or to my stationary bike so I have something to steady me if I need to hang on.
Marie, the vibration plate can be used while you are sitting down if you don't have good balance.
Marie, the vibration plate can be used while you are sitting down if you don't have good balance.
I am about to try a walk, but I don't know how long I'll decide to stay out there since it's in the single digits, and I am wearing a pair of light pants, and don't feel like changing into something heavier. I haven't done any exercises today, and it's nearly 4:30 pm, so unless I am willing to spend well over an hour on the elliptical or cheat with some phony exercises that don't actually burn calories, I need to get some walking time in.
Marie Mallory
Well-known member
Good luck and don't freeze.
Although my Apple Watch said it was 8F, I don't think it was that cold. I walked to McDonald's, about 1.5 miles in 35 minutes, keeping in mind that the sidewalks are icy and it was mostly uphill, had a cup of coffee, and then took a circuitous route home - 2.25 miles in 43 minutes. Fortunately, it wasn't uphill both ways, but I walked uphill on the steepest route and downhill on the easier one, which also included some uphill. When I'm on a bicycle, I go the other way because I'm not very good at hills.
Marie Mallory
Well-known member
Ok thank you Beth.
Marie Mallory
Well-known member
Thank you Yvonne, I'm in and out on phone, went to town plus cleaning so just getting back to yall.
As we grow older, it's easy to persuade ourselves that we're "too old," "too stiff," or "too out of shape" to start walking again. I get that because I've lived that. But I also know that these beliefs are often based on a misunderstanding of what our bodies are actually telling us.
I'm 74 years old. I know that some of you are older, and some of you may have actual disabilities that make walking difficult or perhaps even not a good idea, but I think that many people have made this assumption erroneously.
If I sit in a chair for a couple of hours, my knees will ache when I stand up, and my hips might complain for the first few steps. If I judged my abilities on those first thirty seconds, I might assume that I couldn't possibly go for a walk. After all, it hurts to walk to the bathroom and back, so how could I possibly go for a longer walk?
However, once I get moving, the stiffness clears up. Not only can I walk comfortably, but I can walk 15 miles or more at a time, and still feel like I could go further if I had the time or the inclination.
It wasn't always like this. After I retired as a paramedic, I worked online. I spent years sitting at a computer during most of my waking hours. I gained weight, lost conditioning, and eventually lost the ability to walk comfortably.
When I finally realized that I needed to do something about that or face an early death, I didn't start with a 15-mile hike. I walked around the block, then around a couple more blocks. Then a few more.
Noting that walking uphill made me short of breath, I didn't take that as a warning not to exert myself. Instead, I made a point of walking more hills. Sometimes, walking uphill doesn't feel much more difficult than walking on flat terrain now.
On one hill in town that is a common walking route, I would be huffing and puffing, and my Apple Watch would register a pulse above 100 before I reached the top. Now, my pulse rate stays in the 80s while ascending that hill, which is still above my regular pulse rate but much improved as compared to my early efforts, and I'm not short of breath.
To be sure, I'm no athlete. I'm still fat, but I'm less fat than I was a year ago, and I feel better than I did a year ago.
As I said earlier, some of you may legitimately be unable to go for walks, and I recognize that, too, but some of you might be selling yourselves short.
Perhaps stiffness after sitting isn't a sign of incapacity but of inactivity. Perhaps your body will respond to regular movement, whatever your age.
You don't have to start big. You just need to start. Walk around the block. Then walk two blocks. Then add a hill. Let consistency do the work. You might be surprised by how far your body can take you once you stop letting those first few stiff steps decide for you.
Of course, this won't hold true for everyone, and it may not always hold true for me. There may come a time when I can no longer do this, but by doing it when I can, I think I am prolonging my ability to do so.
Keep in mind that I am not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV.
I'm 74 years old. I know that some of you are older, and some of you may have actual disabilities that make walking difficult or perhaps even not a good idea, but I think that many people have made this assumption erroneously.
If I sit in a chair for a couple of hours, my knees will ache when I stand up, and my hips might complain for the first few steps. If I judged my abilities on those first thirty seconds, I might assume that I couldn't possibly go for a walk. After all, it hurts to walk to the bathroom and back, so how could I possibly go for a longer walk?
However, once I get moving, the stiffness clears up. Not only can I walk comfortably, but I can walk 15 miles or more at a time, and still feel like I could go further if I had the time or the inclination.
It wasn't always like this. After I retired as a paramedic, I worked online. I spent years sitting at a computer during most of my waking hours. I gained weight, lost conditioning, and eventually lost the ability to walk comfortably.
When I finally realized that I needed to do something about that or face an early death, I didn't start with a 15-mile hike. I walked around the block, then around a couple more blocks. Then a few more.
Noting that walking uphill made me short of breath, I didn't take that as a warning not to exert myself. Instead, I made a point of walking more hills. Sometimes, walking uphill doesn't feel much more difficult than walking on flat terrain now.
On one hill in town that is a common walking route, I would be huffing and puffing, and my Apple Watch would register a pulse above 100 before I reached the top. Now, my pulse rate stays in the 80s while ascending that hill, which is still above my regular pulse rate but much improved as compared to my early efforts, and I'm not short of breath.
To be sure, I'm no athlete. I'm still fat, but I'm less fat than I was a year ago, and I feel better than I did a year ago.
As I said earlier, some of you may legitimately be unable to go for walks, and I recognize that, too, but some of you might be selling yourselves short.
Perhaps stiffness after sitting isn't a sign of incapacity but of inactivity. Perhaps your body will respond to regular movement, whatever your age.
You don't have to start big. You just need to start. Walk around the block. Then walk two blocks. Then add a hill. Let consistency do the work. You might be surprised by how far your body can take you once you stop letting those first few stiff steps decide for you.
Of course, this won't hold true for everyone, and it may not always hold true for me. There may come a time when I can no longer do this, but by doing it when I can, I think I am prolonging my ability to do so.
Keep in mind that I am not a doctor, and I don't even play one on TV.
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Besides walking, I also spend a lot of time on the elliptical machine, particularly when it's too cold to walk outdoors, snowing heavily, or raining, although walking in the rain during warm weather is sometimes enjoyable. There are other exercises I do, but walking outdoors, hiking (which is walking, but not on paved paths), and the elliptical make up most of my exercise time. I have tried jogging or running, but my left ankle hurts a lot, so I'm not sure whether I'm risking injury or if it's something I'll be able to work through eventually. So, rather than making a running regimen, I sometimes walk 50 steps and run 25. Walking 50 steps and running 50 steps used to be known as "scout pace" when I was a Boy Scout, but running 50 steps at a time is too painful, so I have adapted that.
I find walking to be easier than the elliptical machine, probably because I'm outside seeing stuff along the way rather than in the house on a machine while thinking about all the other stuff I should be doing.
I find walking to be easier than the elliptical machine, probably because I'm outside seeing stuff along the way rather than in the house on a machine while thinking about all the other stuff I should be doing.
We have a treadmill, but when I am walking on it, I am more like trudging along, not going anywhere. I have always been a walker, all my life, and remember my mom dragging me along on walks every night when I was probably only around 3-4 years old. We walked across town to visit Grnadma and Grandpa Bailey some nights, and some nights, we just walked.
I have gradually stopped walking outside very much, after tripping and falling over roots and other rough spots in the yard, and sometimes use a walking stick.
I can walk on the road, but with the crazy drivers in our area, it is not very safe for someone like me (who can’t dodge a car very fast), it is not something i am going to be doing anymore.
Most of my walking is back and forth through the house, usually when my Apple Watch prompts me to get up and walk.
At one time, I had a Gazelle glider, and I really loved that machine. It was easy for me to walk, I could add some music and enjoyed it. I loaned it to a lady who was a neighbor at the time, and needed something for easy exercise, and they moved and I never got it back.
I can’t get on the exercise bike that Bobby got and I hate trudging on the treadmill, but I know I need to do something to up my walking again.
I have gradually stopped walking outside very much, after tripping and falling over roots and other rough spots in the yard, and sometimes use a walking stick.
I can walk on the road, but with the crazy drivers in our area, it is not very safe for someone like me (who can’t dodge a car very fast), it is not something i am going to be doing anymore.
Most of my walking is back and forth through the house, usually when my Apple Watch prompts me to get up and walk.
At one time, I had a Gazelle glider, and I really loved that machine. It was easy for me to walk, I could add some music and enjoyed it. I loaned it to a lady who was a neighbor at the time, and needed something for easy exercise, and they moved and I never got it back.
I can’t get on the exercise bike that Bobby got and I hate trudging on the treadmill, but I know I need to do something to up my walking again.
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Marie Mallory
Well-known member
Since I haven't been able to walk now for 3 months from muscle injury, I can say without a doubt I was 100% right about, ' use it or lose it '.
Not only my body and mind but my lungs have lost their ability so I get out of breath where before although a lifetime smoker, it never was a problem .
I also am feeling more anxiety and depression from being housebound.
Not only my body and mind but my lungs have lost their ability so I get out of breath where before although a lifetime smoker, it never was a problem .
I also am feeling more anxiety and depression from being housebound.
I don't like walking along the main roads here because, while there are ample shoulders, people keep stopping to see if I need a ride, even when I am walking on the left side of the road. There isn't much of an appreciation for walking for health here, at least not along the roads, We do have a designated walking/biking trail that they built several years ago but, unless it's a class from the elementary school (which is adjacent to the beginning of it), I rarely see anyone on it. I liked a comment made by a resident when they were discussing building walking trails; he said that if anyone wanted to walk there, there would already be a trail.
Walking along the sidewalk or the walking trail is easy enough, albeit boring sometimes, but less so than the elliptical machine. Although walking and hiking are pretty much the same thing, given they both involve walking outdoors, they serve different purposes.
When I am walking, sometimes I simply do that; but, at other times, I will monitor the Apple Watch and try for a faster walking pace or to raise my heart rate above 100, which I can't do anymore without practically running or walking fast uphill.
Hiking is slower-paced but it involves uneven terrain, with logs, water holes, brush, and so on, as well as walking across logs or stones to cross a stream, so I don't get the same kind of exercise that I get from walking, but it's way more interesting so if the weather isn't severe, my hikes are considerably longer than my walks.
Walking along the sidewalk or the walking trail is easy enough, albeit boring sometimes, but less so than the elliptical machine. Although walking and hiking are pretty much the same thing, given they both involve walking outdoors, they serve different purposes.
When I am walking, sometimes I simply do that; but, at other times, I will monitor the Apple Watch and try for a faster walking pace or to raise my heart rate above 100, which I can't do anymore without practically running or walking fast uphill.
Hiking is slower-paced but it involves uneven terrain, with logs, water holes, brush, and so on, as well as walking across logs or stones to cross a stream, so I don't get the same kind of exercise that I get from walking, but it's way more interesting so if the weather isn't severe, my hikes are considerably longer than my walks.
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Krystal Shay
Well-known member
I haven’t walked for exercise in a while. I really need too, but I have having a hard time making myself do it, which is odd because I have been a walker since my 20’s. I just need to take that first walk and then I will be motivated and disciplined to get with it. I can trek some miles just walking around in the house going back and forth, when I am busy. That counts, right! That’s my story and I’m sticking to it.
On the elliptical, sometimes I'll just zone out, keeping my feet moving while I'm practically asleep; that is, until my ankles start to hurt, around the 20-minute mark. Sometimes, I'll just spend 5 or 10 minutes on the elliptical. At other times, I'll play music and try to estimate, without looking at my watch, how many minutes I've been at it, since most songs are around three minutes long.
I’m doing the walk to McDonald’s for coffee and fries thing again. It’s across town so it’s good for 60 minutes of my 90/day exercise minimum even if I go straight here (I am at McDonald’s now) and back, and if I take the long way, I can finish my minimums in one walk.
I prefer walking through the woods, but temperatures are in the low 30s, so it’s kind of messy. It's slippery and sloppery.
I prefer walking through the woods, but temperatures are in the low 30s, so it’s kind of messy. It's slippery and sloppery.
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I am drinking coffee at McDonald’s, having done the McDonald’s walk again.