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What workout routines have worked for you?
The past few days I have been more motivated to try to get some workouts in. After a decrease in my lung function, I felt like giving up on taking care of myself. It’s frustrating to hear negative things when you are doing the right things for your body. This made me think, it would probably be worse if I WASN’T taking care of myself and doing all I could to keep my body in the best shape possible.
I used to play contact sports, do intense cardio and high intensity interval training workouts but I know this hasn’t been in the cards for me the last few years. I admittedly have pushed myself and ended up in the hospital because of it.
As I’m getting back into workouts , I am looking to find videos or routines that are lower impact but still incorporate strength training. I have been doing 30 minutes of either pilates or yoga the past week and I feel okay! I have to put my oxygen up to 4 liters with exercise to make sure my levels stay up.
What are some exercises that you enjoy doing? Do you have to check in with your body frequently or monitor your levels during activity? Have doctors given you any specific recommendations for workouts? I’d love to hear about your fitness experience and what works for you!
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7 Replies
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I have just gotten back into moving more. I have extremely bad knees and they don’t like to do exercises while I stand. So I choose to do seated exercises. Last week I started with seated yoga. It felt good to move again. I only did 10 minutes, but I did it consistently. This week, I decided I would change it up, so I did 15 and 20-minute easy workouts on Monday and Tuesday. I find my workouts on YouTube. I also have some seated workout DVDs that I’m not ready for yet. I do have to listen to my body as I work out. Besides getting short of breath, I also deal with tachycardia – my heart races when I exert myself. So it’s always a game of adjusting for me – adjusting for the breathing, the heart rate, and the knees.
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I used to bike 100+ miles a week but obviously that’s not going to happen any more.
I also find exercise has to be psychologically entertaining. For anything to be entertainment for me it has to include music. So, I’ve found a bunch of music/dance applications for my Xbox One game console. I use Dance Central, Zumba World Party, and Fantasia: Music Evolved. They work by using the Kinect body sensor.
The above are more intense than you would think for “just being video games”. My pulmonologist approved them for the “Do 45-60 minutes of moderate aerobic activity every single day” exercise prescription. And they’re intense enough to require me to take my Spiriva in advance!
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VK,
I’m so glad that you are able to stay as active as possible. It can be hard to realize that we are unable to do what we once enjoyed doing. For me, that was playing ice hockey. Even at 5’2 and a thin person, I still managed to kick some butt on the ice! I miss those days but know that my body can’t handle that level of activity anymore. Like you, I need to feel entertained when doing exercises. I enjoy workout videos and do a lot of pilates, barre, and have tried some zumba too (sometimes zumba can be a little too jumpy for me!) But I enjoy doing the workouts in my own house so I can be hooked up to the oxygen concentrator and not waste my tanks or worry about running out!
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Britt: I’m glad you were able to do ice hockey so well! I’m 5’8″ and also thin so my only way to survive in contact sports was dodging everybody, but I never played those sports outside of gym class because I will sprain everything (I have Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, a disorder where the joints are too flexible and bones break too easily — it is what caused my heart defect and a lot of other assorted misery).
I’m glad you understand your limitations. It’s hard for me to do so, but I know I’ll probably give myself a heart attack if I try and bike 50 miles in one day again.
If you can afford an Xbox (they start at $250 usually) and can find a Kinect sensor still (they discontinued them last year but they are still selling for retail price, about $60) you might want to consider exercise-based video games. The apps I mentioned are each $20-30, with an additional $2 per extra song you want to add on. Still runs cheaper than a 1 year gym membership and a lot more convenient.
Though one thing I am guessing now is that “jumpy” things (like Zumba or the other two games I mentioned) can possibly get in the way of oxygen tubing, and I mean literally.
I encourage everybody to check out examples of these games (and consider potential oxygen tubing hazards) here:
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xnrsVNklkww – Fantasia (the icon of a person you see at the bottom is a silhouette of the actual player)
* https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JVDy7bSohVM – Dance Central (the actual player is in the top right box in pink)-
Love that you linked some suggestions ! Thanks so much for that. And yes, you’re so right! Oxygen tubing is a pain in the butt when trying to exercise with it. The cord seems to get tangled at my feet . Usually I find ways to get creative and work around it like wrapping it around the top of the treadmill so it doesn’t get tangled on the bottom near my feet. Thanks again for the links and the suggestions!
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My exercise consists of going up and down basement steps for laundry, kitchen appliances, and collection of purses. Those stairs cause such sob, depending on the load of laundry I am bringing up. I sit for 8 hrs. at my job so when I get home I like to stretch out my legs and move a little, but sob limits me significantly.
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Hi Kristine,
there are definitely some days where my shortness of breath has limited me greatly too. Sometimes I am able to get up a flight of stairs and other days I can barely feel my legs at the top, it is as if my muscles just become jello! It is particularly worse with changes in the weather and with this warmer weather ! Have you ever done Pulmonary rehab to see what exercises are safe for you and manageable? I haven’t so I am just curious if others have! Also, i know there are some exercises you can find online that people do in a chair like chair yoga ! Maybe something like that will help with the stretching after work?
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