Posted by Sabina on September 21, 2003, at 1:20:28
i've been doing the greatest thing lately, and i wanted to mention it in case it might be of interest to anyone else: deep water exercise. it's absolutely brilliant. i've had a lot of trouble finding an activity that suited my needs (pain from fibromyalgia) and that i could stick with over the long haul without becoming bored and/or discouraged.
i hate aerobics classes: "and one, and two, and, don't forget to breathe, and..." the treadmill is just that...a flippin' treadmill. i always feel like a hamster when i'm on it. forget that elliptical torture device and all; low impact or not. anyway, they're both in a room full of sweaty, grunting...overexerters. they make me feel nervous and inadequate. if i hate doing it then it's going to be nearly impossible to make myself do it.
i mean, i'm already dealing with near constant pain, insomnia, bipolar disorder, under-employment, trying to run a household, and stay in a relationship, among other things. i followed some advice (from here, thank you very much) saying that one way to fight depression was to find an activity that you enjoyed as a child and try it again. i applied that logic to my inability to find a good fitness solution and came up with...water.
i used to *beg* my mother to drive me to the pool every day in the summertime when i was a child. my fingers were always shriveled up and my sandwiches were always slightly soggy. i *lived* at the pool from the ages of 3-12, when my family moved into the middle of the country. it was then that i became socially isolated, hit puberty, changed my sun into a moon and became a woodsy, gothic sort of girl instead. i was also a very nervous and depressed girl with no more pool!
now that i've returned to my first love, as it were, i feel i have a chance of actually becoming as fit as i want/need to be, even with the fibromyalgia. i was *really* nervous at first about feeling like a walking grape in my purple swimsuit, when, in fact, it wasn't an issue at all. it's mostly senior citizens and morbidly obese folks, as it's the only exercise they can do safely.
of course, using the nautilus machines in the big, hip-hop noisy, mirrored room full of 20 year old hard bodies is a different issue altogether! there, i just keep my head down, get in my reps, and then escape to...the pool. that's the crafty little deal i made with myself: you can only swim after you use the machines.
below is a link to a recent article i found that explains the myriad benefits of water exercise much better than i can. you don't even have to be able to swim to do it, and it is so incredibly relaxing! even though i can swim, i choose to wear a foam "belt" that gives me a bit of extra buoyancy; but is mostly used to help keep my posture correct as i exercise/play. i also use the foam "barbells" that are provided by my gym and i've bought some foam "shoes" to strap on my feet to provide extra resistance with every movement. i look sooooo un-sexy when i suit up, but i still feel graceful in the water. anyway, these resistance tools qualify water exercise as "weight bearing" and will help fight osteoporosis, which runs in my family of small framed, pale, white women. i do all sorts of modified yoga and pilates moves, too.
i go almost every day and the time just flies by. i find myself more relaxed than i would normally be, even hours later; but without the terrible joint pain that came with overexertion on the treadmill. whenever i feel like i don't really want to be bothered to get my gear together and drive over there, i think about all the times i begged my mother to please, please, take me to the pool. that's when i say to that little girl: okay, let's go!
http://www.azcentral.com/health/fitness/articles/0811water-CP.html
poster:Sabina
thread:262093
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/social/20030913/msgs/262093.html