Exercise - Yeah!

So, okay, maybe I overdid it a bit yesterday. It's my new treadmill - it made me do it. I used it once last week and experimented with the manual program. I turned up the speed and gave myself a good walk. Yesterday I tried the "calorie burn." I was okay with the warm-up. I was okay when it increased my speed to 3.0. When it turned the speed up to 4.2, I thought, "It's okay for me to run a bit. I can do that." Then it upped the speed to 5.2. I had visions of myself skidding off the back and lying in a rumpled heap on the floor. Fortunately, I was able to reduce the speed manually and save myself. Even 4.2 is a bit of a stretch if it goes on for too long. I did that much though. Afterwards I raised an imaginary fist into the sky and did an imaginary happy dance. It was good. Until about 5:00. Then it was definitely downhill from there. I had to more or less go to bed! My legs still feel tired today.

I don't know about these pre-programmed things. When I do the manual program, I probably don't push myself hard enough. I haven't tried all the pre-sets. Maybe I will try, not "fat burn," but "weight loss." That one is supposed to be less 'vigorous.' The real question some may ask is, "Why would you do this to yourself anyway?"

The point is, I think that a lot of the physical deterioration that people experience with years is a result, not of aging, but of inactivity. In studies, researchers went into nursing homes and had bed-ridden patients do mild resistance training. Then they measured the increase in muscle. The results were amazing, leading the researchers to conclude that muscle wastage can be reversed with exercise. Exercise has an effect on a whole lot of physical processes: onset of dementia, diabetes, obesity, high cholesterol, high blood pressure, heart disease, arthritis and probably other things I haven't mentioned like reduced energy levels and back problems.

Unfortunately, in our society, if older people even go for regular walks, they are the exception. Later in life my dad had serious pain from a back problem that had been lurking there for years, occasionally jumping on him and sending him to bed. Once I suggested that if he sat watching TV for less time and walked more, he would have fewer problems. He was indignant. He said he walked a lot. I asked him how much he did. With great pride he said that he walked up and down the hall for ten minutes every day. What could I say?

So I am back to the treadmill. I might have to get into slightly better shape before I try "calorie burn" again. Too bad I let myself get like this in the first place.