HOW MUCH EXERCISE DO YOU DO?

[Carlos]

Bike ride early this morning, it was raining, and it was dark when I set off, but once I am in the move it doesn't matter how miserable the weather looks.

A bit over 40 miles round Great Wittley, Stourport and Droitwich. The only annoyance was that my derriere didn't particularly like the new seat I was testing. By the time I got to Droitwich I was struggling, so cut the route short and headed straight home. Old, cheaper and less fancy, seat is going back on.

Still, great feeling to be out.

 

[Pris]

not enough but hoping to get
moving

 

[LouisePowles]

Thought it would be a good idea to open a new thread as to how much exercise we each do on a daily/weekly basis. I for one have resumed exercising on my exercise bike twice a day to help me stay as fit as I can atm & also to maintain a good bgls. My old back prevents me from walking too far for any length of time but I'm hoping to resume swimming soon, used to swim 1mile x 4times per wk (No back pain when swimming) Didn't learn to swim till I was 63! My right knee doesn't currently condone exercise so i start off slowly on my exercise bike then build up, a replacement knee could be on the cards! I also do stretching & floor exercises.

Type2 since April 2016
Diet & exercise only

I go out walking most days weather forbidding. I've recently bought myself a smart watch which is handy. I usually walk around 6000 - 7000 steps a day. I'm lucky enough to live by coast and I like to go for walks along the coast. It's cold at the moment though lol.

 

[Leadinglights]

Pushing through pain to continue walking, old problem of plantar fasciitis has returned in right foot, hopefully stretching exercises & ibuprofen will sort it out soon.

Wouldn't care only recently started to get relief from sciatica, all fun & games.

Have you tried orthotic insoles, completely cured my other half's plantar fasciitis.

 

[nonethewiser]

Have you tried orthotic insoles, completely cured my other half's plantar fasciitis.

Have tried them but didn't get any relief, but thanks for suggestion.

 

[Deleted member 21371]

I'm finding on the longer walks my neuropathy starts playing up. It's improved so much lately. Loosening my laces certainly helps. Seeing a osteopath helped all but clear my sciatica.

Loosening my shoes helps.
Although I mostly wear sandals, so loosening the velcro?
But I did accidentally punch a nail though my foot a few years ago, that didn't really help!

 

[Admiral Benbow]

I only work out hard once a week doing sprints. Today I had some free time at work in the afternoon so I did:

-4 warm-up laps around the track (standard tracks are about 400 m)
-20 sprints down one side and the remainder of the lap jog.

So a total of 24 laps which is about 9600 meters or 9.6km. I only do this once a week, and the rest of the week if there is a break at work sometimes I lightly walk around the track a few times to feel the sunshine but because the above I find onerous, it takes a while to recover from.

 

[Autumn_Leaf94]

Hello
i was recently diagnosed with prediabetes and i have been put on the healthier you programme which i had my first session tuesday just gone, I have a fitbit and its really good for tracking how may steps you have taken as well as your heart rate and how may calories you have burned, I have set myself with a goal of 10,000 steps a day, even though u haven't reached that yet i am improving daily 🙂

 

[helli]

Unfortunately @Admiral Benbow my understanding is that our bodies will not get used to exercise if we only do it once a week. It kind of forgets in 3 or 4 days so, we need to do vigourous exercise at least twice a week. It is better to do shorter sessions more often. You will find recovery is easier and you will soon build up your distance.

For me, I try to vary my exercise so I am not using/straining the same muscles each time. A typical week is
- Monday - climbing for 3 hours
- Tuesday - weekly shop. On foot about 2 miles each way with the return route (with two full bags of shopping) uphill
- Wednesday - 1 hour spin class plus walking there and home (uphill at the end)
- Thursday - walking (about 1 hour but varies according to available time)
- Friday - rest
- Saturday - walk and gym work out which is usually a combination of cardio and weights. Plus kneading a loaf of bread for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Sunday - as Saturday but may replace the kneading with hand whisking

 

[Admiral Benbow]

Unfortunately @Admiral Benbow my understanding is that our bodies will not get used to exercise if we only do it once a week. It kind of forgets in 3 or 4 days so, we need to do vigourous exercise at least twice a week. It is better to do shorter sessions more often. You will find recovery is easier and you will soon build up your distance.

For me, I try to vary my exercise so I am not using/straining the same muscles each time. A typical week is
- Monday - climbing for 3 hours
- Tuesday - weekly shop. On foot about 2 miles each way with the return route (with two full bags of shopping) uphill
- Wednesday - 1 hour spin class plus walking there and home (uphill at the end)
- Thursday - walking (about 1 hour but varies according to available time)
- Friday - rest
- Saturday - walk and gym work out which is usually a combination of cardio and weights. Plus kneading a loaf of bread for 10 to 15 minutes.
- Sunday - as Saturday but may replace the kneading with hand whisking

I agree with you that more frequent is better, but two days of the week I am fasting, so exercise on those days has to be gentle walks (I usually get at least 30 -40 mins those days walking as I walk to work and walk outside when I get breaks) I would get so tired if tried to sprint. Out of curiosity, it seems your doing a lot of exercise, what is your BMI and weight?

 

[Andy62]

I do the Gym 4 times a week, a mixture of cardio vascular stuff and upper body weights that relatively light because i lost lots of weight leaving me weak, used to do lots of walking but my feet are too sore and painful. I've struggled with being light headed a few times now recognise i need to take a few minutes out when that happens

 

[NannaC]

No exercise at all. I do manage a short walk sometimes, when it's not raining, snowing, windy, or the sun is out. I have an allergy to sunshine, even weak sunshine.
I have neuropathy, that has flare ups, and I can't walk then.
Can't seem to get the 100% sun block anywhere, shall keep trying.
Not complaining, just explaining my daft situation.

 

[azee]

I'm a fairly active person, by nature, and I have a few golden rules I follow, like parking at the far end of the supermarket carpark (fewer paint dings is an added bonus), walking all the isles, when when I don't need anything in them, and aside from overnight, I use the loo upstairs, if I'm downstairs (and vice versa). So I'm active but also what I call sedentary active.

On Wednesday our local DUK group meeting had a speaker from the NIHR, talking about exercise, relating it to both diabetes and general health. He was excellent, and made his talk interactive. I don't mean we were doing star jumps or running on the spot, but making contributions and comment along the way.

Aside from "the more you can move around and exercise the better" generalisations, he shared a couple of absolute humdingers. The shocker for me was that studies have shown folks significantly overestimate their activity levels, but again, studies show the average person is sedentary 80% of the day. A day being a 24 hour cycle.

The second, and most amazing thing was they ran a small study (most likely a feasibilty to something bigger) into the impacts of just standing up. This is the act of standing, not the act of loitering around. Their study had participants into their lab for 2, 8-hour periods. During the first, the participants were fed a couple of set meals, and their body data (pulse etc) monitored by FitBit stylee kit, plus regular bloods (via a canula fitted at the outset).

The process was then repeated (participants, food intake, content, timing and measuring) exactly, except that participants were asked to stand up and stay standing for a 5 minute period, every 30 minutes. The improvement in their blood glucose scores was positively significant. He quoted a figure, but when I interrogated him (as I would,......... ahem), he did admit he'd have to revisit that detail.

So in effect, limiting the duration of our sitting to shorter periods of time is helpful, even if we can't do anything else.

There's about to be a feasibilty study run to look at the impact of exercise (no dietary interventions) on pre-diabetic individuals. Those measurements will be done by FitBit gizmos and participants wearing Libre sensors.

There is some fascinating work being done on diabetes at the moment, and that's only a tiny, tiny granule of it. The NIHR site details all the various studies and trials they are running, and they're always looking for trialists.

@AndBreathe I am so impressed by your record in signature. Can you tell me what's the secret? I mean your diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle? I will love to listen from you. I am also determined to beat it to 5% but I need counseling from experienced people as doctors here do not explain enough.

 

[NannaC]

Bit of a suggestion, as wearing shoes really gets uncomfortable and painful. Walking in Crocs is brilliant, for me anyway. Keeps my feet cool, and the bumps on the inner sole, stop the feet from hurting, except on a rare bad day.

 

[AndBreathe]

Bit of a suggestion, as wearing shoes really gets uncomfortable and painful. Walking in Crocs is brilliant, for me anyway. Keeps my feet cool, and the bumps on the inner sole, stop the feet from hurting, except on a rare bad day.

I prefer more support for my feet than Crocs can provide, but maybe that's just me.

 

[AndBreathe]

@AndBreathe I am so impressed by your record in signature. Can you tell me what's the secret? I mean your diet, exercise, and overall lifestyle? I will love to listen from you. I am also determined to beat it to 5% but I need counseling from experienced people as doctors here do not explain enough.

There are no enormous secrets. I eat fresh food, mainly cooked from scratch, so few additives. I keep moving, although no gym bunny, and I try to adopt a positive outlook.

The annoying thing in all of this is we have to find our own ways. What suits me may not suit you, and vice versa.

 

[DancingStar]

I used to swim a couple of times each week and was used to long walks. Now I do very little exercise. I am so unfit. I find it very hard to motivate to go out for a walk as I live in the middle of huge housing estate that is very, very boring to walk around. Tips on how to get motivated would be very welcome.

 

[LydiaDustbin]

For the last few years, since before lockdown, I've done very little exercise but, as with so many of us, being diagnosed diabetic, then pre diabetic (a month later) at the beginning of this year has given me the kick up the pants to get off my bum and do something alongside the dieting. I do the big shop on a Tuesday which involves walking about a mile around the supermarket (I've used Runkeeper to see how far it is!) so that's something, and I know from past experience that I just don't get on with running, I find it extremely hard to make progress (get faster/go further) and my various leg & hip joints REALLY don't like it much, but I'm ok with swimming, so I've returned to the pool.

For the last few weeks I've been going once a week on a Thursday to swim 20 laps (half a kilometre) which I can currently do in 22 minutes - I'm not particularly fast but it'll improve. What I found was that while I was getting changed after swimming, the Thursday Aqua Zumba class would start up & they play their music REALLY loud, and I was thoroughly enjoying it & had an impromptu disco in my cubicle, so I've decided to join - next week I'll do lane swimming 20 (maybe more) laps on Monday, do my Shopping mile on Tuesday then on Thursday go to Aqua Zumba. I suppose I should do something on Saturday but I'm quite busy painting at the moment for forthcoming exhibitions so I really need to concentrate on that but we'll see. In June we're off to Tokyo for a week and there'll be a HUGE amount of walking involved!

 

[helli]

I used to swim a couple of times each week and was used to long walks. Now I do very little exercise. I am so unfit. I find it very hard to motivate to go out for a walk as I live in the middle of huge housing estate that is very, very boring to walk around. Tips on how to get motivated would be very welcome.

The secret of motivating myself to exercise is to find the sort of exercise I enjoy. For me this is cycling, hiking and climbing. For others this may be team sports or dancing or gardening. I read about one person who enjoys housework!

Another alternative is to incorporate exercise into something else. For example, I walk to the supermarket every week and walk home with the shopping. During lockdown, I walked around the local estate seeing the changes in front gardens over the seasons (and rainbow pictures at the start). Some people get off the bus a step earlier or walk up stairs inside of taking the life.

My final motivator is other people. It is difficult to get out of climbing after a long tiring day when I have agreed to go with. friend; I don't want to let her down. Plus, the natter we have is half of the fun.

 

[Lilsis]

As the weather was so bad on Saturday, I started the day with a home workout and went out with the dog once the weather dried up.. A 3.5 mile walk on Sunday, down to the local lake and back up...