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More Buff News
I had an exceptional workout today! I've been using a machine that kinda simulates steps and gets your arms involved. Good cardiovascular exercise.
I set the timer for 30 minutes, 10 minutes longer than usual and began the workout. Well, early on I thought of my experience riding horses. My goal then was to minimize any negative effect on the horse that I might cause, and maximize any benefit that I might have. While I want to practice this, the effect was amazing.
Obviously, I had to substitute the machine for the horse, but my goal was the same: to make it and I act as one. I was able to go into a very light trance state and get a workout that did not over-stress my poor, old, overweight body. In fact, I was able to exceed my target heart rate of 130 bpm and achieve a 145+bpm rate and feel as if I could have worked much harder.
Then I did some light weights to work on abs and lower back, then back to a treadmill for a 10 minute walk to cool down slowly.
I am pumped. I am buff.
I set the timer for 30 minutes, 10 minutes longer than usual and began the workout. Well, early on I thought of my experience riding horses. My goal then was to minimize any negative effect on the horse that I might cause, and maximize any benefit that I might have. While I want to practice this, the effect was amazing.
Obviously, I had to substitute the machine for the horse, but my goal was the same: to make it and I act as one. I was able to go into a very light trance state and get a workout that did not over-stress my poor, old, overweight body. In fact, I was able to exceed my target heart rate of 130 bpm and achieve a 145+bpm rate and feel as if I could have worked much harder.
Then I did some light weights to work on abs and lower back, then back to a treadmill for a 10 minute walk to cool down slowly.
I am pumped. I am buff.
Encouragement
Several years ago, I had to walk up a slight incline for several city blocks. When I reached to top of the slight hill, I was not winded, but I felt a slight discomfort in my chest and it radiated down my left arm. I thought that perhaps that was a wake-up-call. I made an appointment to see my general practitioner right away.
He put me on a treadmill for the usual stress test. I again felt the discomfort, but all of the readings were within normal parameters; there was nothing unusual in the printed results. The discomfort continued whenever I stressed my body. Further, it was growing slowly more uncomfortable and even painful at times. I made another appointment with my GP and told him that I am not satisfied with his pronouncement that my heart is okay. He said okay, lets do the stress routine at the cardiac facility at the Minneapolis Heart Institute. A full battery of tests, with a bevy or a gaggle, or more appropriately, a bother of cardiac specialists to review the results. No need for the crowd, same result, my heart is fine.
I complained again, so he ordered a soft tissue scan, which my insurance did not cover, I did. Same result. By this time, I still felt pain and it radiated down the left arm. My heart was again pronounced to be very healthy.
I complained once again. My GP said the next step would be an angiogram. I agreed to the procedure. Again, my heart is just fine. This time I told my GP, a very traditional practitioner, that I was going to consult an acupuncturist. He threw up his hands in surrender and said, go ahead!
I have been taking acupuncture treatments for a while and taking some herbs and the pain seems to be subsiding. With the recent athletic activity, I should be in more pain that I am currently feeling, so I think that something is working. The TCM practitioner feels that there is blockage in my heart chi.
Now, to exercise with you. I would love to. However, I do not want to slow you down. By then I will have been exercising for about two months and ready to increase the intensity of my routine. Since there will be not machines there, I will have to jog in order to stress my heart and body. More importantly, (because of my tender male ego), I am embarrassed by my obviously overweight body. I still have this mental image of the (former) jockey within me and I am aghast when I see my reflection in a mirror.
I know and respect you enough to know that you will not say nice things such as, "that's okay, I don't mind." And meanwhile I am wasting your quality exercise time. So what I would like to propose is that you get your routine in whenever you are accustomed to doing it. If you still want to jog around for a few miles at a slower pace, I would really like to share that time with you. Currently, I am traveling the equivalent of about 2 to 3 miles on the machine. If I were to jog it would probably translate to about 3-4 miles of jogging and I should be able to accomplish that by the FG.
What do you say?