Search results matching tag 'walk'

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Wed, 24 Jun 2009 19:49:22 GMT

You are right about up and down steps. My apartment is on the second floor of a ninteenth-century building with a store on the first floor. I often get out of breath walking up the steps but my knees normally only hurt when I go down the loooong steps.

I do not know how much weight is taken off the knees when you lose 10 pounds. I will ask my reumatologist when I see him next month. Four pounds sounds reasonable.

You never realize how uneaven the sidewalks are until your knees hurt. The city put in the wheelchair ramps a few years ago when they got money to replace all the traffic signals and street signs with overhead fixtures. While the signals and signs were all done by one company the ramps were done by several companies. I do not know how many different designs and shapes there are.

The city has a lot of shade trees. The result is many uneven walks. While the city replaces some old sidewalks they did not replace the curbs in most cases. I knew we had a lot of curbs that were not concrete but I never realized how many. Some have very durable granite curbs like old banks and some old churches but most of them are slate. The slate curbs are almost gone in most places. The sidewalks that the city redbuilt seem to have been built with a normal slope toward the street. However some owners hired a contractor to do the work rather than paying the city. If the curb was almost gone they simply put the walk at any crazy angle to meet the top of what was left of the curb.

Most people probably never realize how bad the sidewalks are. It is only those of us with arthritis or knee injuries who suffer. The good news though is today I managed to walk two miles with no pain in my knees. It did not even take two blocks for my knees to stop being stiff.

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Mon, 22 Jun 2009 22:31:45 GMT

I hurt my knee last Saturday while walking. I had to cut back on my walking. I went from walking at least 2 miles every day to 1 mile Sunday. Today I upped my milage to 1.5 miles. I found my knee stopped hurting as much after about two blocks. I made sure I stayed close to home in case trouble developed.

I will limit my walking to 2 miles until I am sure things are healed. I hated the reduction in activity but I figure things could be a lot worse if I continued to push my knees which already have arthritis.

Re: Exercise

SgtCedar — Thu, 18 Jun 2009 16:35:22 GMT

For the last month I have walked every day. The last day which I did not walk at least 1.5 miles was May 19th, election day here in Pennsylvania. I was poll watching all day so I was sitting most of the day which made matters even worse. I hurt for a week after that. I swore I would walk rain or shine after that. I know form past experience that if I miss 2 days in a row it will be too easy to stop walking.

I have lost something like 20 pounds since being diagnosed with diabetes. No, that is not since May 19th. I had been walking about 5 days a week for several months before election day. I used to lose weight by running when I was in the National Guard. Since developing arthritis my doctor will not let me run any more.

My glucose reading are normal again and the A1c dropped from 7% to 6.3%. My blood pressure dropped enough that I could stop one of the two blood pressure pills. My family doctor is thrilled.

I alternate between a shorter and a longer distance. THe short distance is 2-2.25 miles and the longer is 3-3.25 currently. My eventual goal is to get up to at least 4 miles at least twice a week and 2 miles the other 5 days. These distances are symbolic for me. Two miles was the distance I was required to run twice a year in the National Guard. If you were not cleared to run you were required to walk 4 miles.

The most important thing I have learned since starting to walk every day is never stop. I have respiratory problems. Instead of stopping and resting when I get out of breath I now slow down and drink a little water. Always carry water if you are not in a city where you can always find water. I then walk slowly for a block or so until I catch my breath.

One trick I learned from a pamphlet from the American Diabetes Association is use a hiking staff. I have a fancy one but a branch will do. Use the stick to push yourself along just a little. The more you use your arms the more calories you burn. I am sure an exercise physiologist would say it does not burn enough calories to count but when you need to lose weight like I do every little bit helps.

If it rains take an umbrella. Don't let anything stop you.