[seven] Exercise
Jul. 2nd, 2009 02:36 pmCurrent Work-Out Routine
- approx. 10-minute stretch
- 1 10-set straight crunch
- 1 10-set left oblique crunch
- 1 10-set right oblique crunch
- 2 10-set rapid alternating oblique
- approx. 3-minute stretch
- 2 10-set alt. forward leg-lift
- 1 10-set left side leg-lift
- 1 10-set right side leg-lift
- 2 10-set alt. backward leg-lift
- approx. 3-minute stretch
- 20 kneeling push-ups
- 5 10-second flexed-arm hangs
- approx. 5-minute stretch
This routine is performed once a day, usually between breakfast and lunch, at least five days a week. The final group of activities is occasionally altered to include a set of toe push-ups, dips, flexed-arm crunches or upward pulls (I can't do any full pull-ups yet), depending upon how I'm feeling on any given day. Some days the routine is also supplemented by taking my dog for a walk/jog/run in the park or just playing soccer with him (i.e. kicking a ball around and chasing him as he chases it) in the backyard.
After a work-out, I'm pretty sore, kind of shakey and a little exhausted but ultimately feel better, both physically and mentally. On days when I don't work out, I tend to get more restless. As a result, I also tend to save my off-days for days when I know that I'm going to be otherwise active. Typically, my off-days fall over the weekend. If I go for more than two days in a row without working out or take a day or two off where I mostly just sit around and do nothing, I typically get a bit cranky and/or depressed. For instance, I had the flu this weekend and was pretty much laid up in bed Saturday through Tuesday. After four days of very limited activity, it was amazing what just a half-length work-out did for my mood yesterday.
Of course, all of this is also affected by whether or not I remember to take my supplements each day (maybe some day I'll actually make a list of them), as they also tend to affect my energy and mood. Having an adrenal disorder, the point of some of the supplements is to help my body in its efforts to properly process energy and how well a body processes energy also has an effect upon a person's mood. Supplements help my body to process everything properly and efficiently while exercising provides my body with more to process and more need for efficient processing. Combining the two should, eventually, allow my body to do many things on its own for which it currently needs the physical and chemical assistance. At the moment, however, neglecting one thing or the other or, heaven forbid, both results in a the sort of luckily temporary physical and mental decline that makes me the sort of person I can't really blame people for wanting to avoid.
I had no intention of this turning into any sort of medical entry. That last bit just happened to be added because I realized about halfway through writing this that I'd forgotten to take my supplements this morning. Usually I take them with breakfast but I got talking to my dad over today's plate full of protein (something else my adrenal disorder requires I consume in large doses) and they completely slipped my mind. They're in my system now, though, so we're good. And it's time I dragged my corgi's lazy behind out of the Kingdom of Naps and forced him to go run around the yard.
- approx. 10-minute stretch
- 1 10-set straight crunch
- 1 10-set left oblique crunch
- 1 10-set right oblique crunch
- 2 10-set rapid alternating oblique
- approx. 3-minute stretch
- 2 10-set alt. forward leg-lift
- 1 10-set left side leg-lift
- 1 10-set right side leg-lift
- 2 10-set alt. backward leg-lift
- approx. 3-minute stretch
- 20 kneeling push-ups
- 5 10-second flexed-arm hangs
- approx. 5-minute stretch
This routine is performed once a day, usually between breakfast and lunch, at least five days a week. The final group of activities is occasionally altered to include a set of toe push-ups, dips, flexed-arm crunches or upward pulls (I can't do any full pull-ups yet), depending upon how I'm feeling on any given day. Some days the routine is also supplemented by taking my dog for a walk/jog/run in the park or just playing soccer with him (i.e. kicking a ball around and chasing him as he chases it) in the backyard.
After a work-out, I'm pretty sore, kind of shakey and a little exhausted but ultimately feel better, both physically and mentally. On days when I don't work out, I tend to get more restless. As a result, I also tend to save my off-days for days when I know that I'm going to be otherwise active. Typically, my off-days fall over the weekend. If I go for more than two days in a row without working out or take a day or two off where I mostly just sit around and do nothing, I typically get a bit cranky and/or depressed. For instance, I had the flu this weekend and was pretty much laid up in bed Saturday through Tuesday. After four days of very limited activity, it was amazing what just a half-length work-out did for my mood yesterday.
Of course, all of this is also affected by whether or not I remember to take my supplements each day (maybe some day I'll actually make a list of them), as they also tend to affect my energy and mood. Having an adrenal disorder, the point of some of the supplements is to help my body in its efforts to properly process energy and how well a body processes energy also has an effect upon a person's mood. Supplements help my body to process everything properly and efficiently while exercising provides my body with more to process and more need for efficient processing. Combining the two should, eventually, allow my body to do many things on its own for which it currently needs the physical and chemical assistance. At the moment, however, neglecting one thing or the other or, heaven forbid, both results in a the sort of luckily temporary physical and mental decline that makes me the sort of person I can't really blame people for wanting to avoid.
I had no intention of this turning into any sort of medical entry. That last bit just happened to be added because I realized about halfway through writing this that I'd forgotten to take my supplements this morning. Usually I take them with breakfast but I got talking to my dad over today's plate full of protein (something else my adrenal disorder requires I consume in large doses) and they completely slipped my mind. They're in my system now, though, so we're good. And it's time I dragged my corgi's lazy behind out of the Kingdom of Naps and forced him to go run around the yard.
