Feeling good the past few days. I've been bike riding, doing yoga, weight lifting, and walking. Definitely not bad at all. So perhaps I should describe my:
Physical regimen:
- Yoga.
I do, or try to do yoga everyday. I have a special routine that my yoga instructor and I developed over the past year. Because of my fibro, I am unable to take a regular yoga class - even classes with a "gentle" focus. They're just too much - I get so sore I can hardly walk for several days. So my yoga instructor has started me at ground zero and we have built up very slowly. Yoga is absolutely critical to my overall well being. I find that if I don't do yoga for several days, I start developing muscle soreness and stiffness.
- Walking.
I am a former jock. Jocks don't walk. We like to go places fast. Walking is not fast. But, this year, I discovered that walking is an incredible way for me to get re-synched with my body. There is something about it that is purely organic - I come into a sort of balance both physically and mentally. Plus it's a great way for me to spend quality time with my pooch. I consider walking to be one of the key contributors to my marked improvement over the past seven months. And by the way, I do not walk fast.
- Weights.
Fibro/CFS sufferers are NOT supposed to go anywhere near weights. Dr Nye, the contributing doctor on our fibromyalgia e-mail list serv, is adamantally opposed to weight lifting. And I think that is a very sound directive - weights make you sore. But I got tired of my flabby underarm hangy down things. So my yoga instructor, who is also a fitness instructor, and I worked out a routine involving very very light weights. And it's working. It's a constant balancing act - if I do too much, I get too sore. But overall I'm doing very well - we've been able to gradually build up and add additional exercises. The key is to start at the absolute bottom. Most gyms will not have the patience or understanding to start you there. That's why I feel so lucky to be able to afford a good private coach.
- Bike Riding.
My summer sport was bike racing so cycling is very important to me. But due to fibro induced urinary tract issues, I haven't been able to ride a bike for a few years. However, my boyfriend just got me a brand new recumbent bicycle. And what a blast. I've been riding for almost an hour each evening and have been doing quite well.
To the average fibro sufferer this seems a like an awful lot of activity. And it is. It is actually it's the rare day when I can do all of it. Instead, I listen to my body - I do what I can and leave it at that - albeit very reluctantly.
For example, I'd like to lift weights every other day. But so far, I can't. I'm too sore. I lift every third day because it takes two days for the soreness to work itself out. And let's talk about soreness - in fibro land there is a very fine line between soreness that is actually a good thing and the hideous fibro soreness. The weight lifting soreness is right on the borderline.
Here's a summary of the guidance I try to follow:
- I listen to my body. I may have a certain amount of physical activity planned. But if I'm too sore or tired then I have to back off.
- I don't even think about doing weights or biking if I'm in the middle of any sort of fibro flare. You have to be in a very strong place fibro-wise to even consider weights or biking.
- Don't overdo it. Back when I was racing, I trained to exhaustion. By the way, there is a whole school of thought that postulates overtraining as a CFS inducer. These days, I make sure not to get tired as a result of working out. I quit while I'm still ahead energy wise.
- Yoga is the most important thing I do so it's the last to go when I'm cutting physical activities. Although there are times when I'm so whipped that not even yoga happens.
- I make sure that I keep walking. There's something magical about that one.
4:51:57 PM 
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