Cybex Arc + weights for me this morning. I’ve been waking up very early the last couple of weeks (early even for me!) and it’s best if I get to the gym sooner rather than later – you know, just get it done. More weeding before the dog and I hit the road back to Cambridge for a few days. I have Book Club tonight and my car goes in for service tomorrow. Then tomorrow night I’ll meet H for his college reunion, which also goes all day Saturday. He’s never been to any previous reunions, but feels a certain obligation since he’s now a Trustee.
Hi all - just thought I’d chime in & say hi. The hip pain has flared again & I’m pretty much sidelined -sigh. I think it is a psoas strain or tendinitis. I plan to stay on rest, gentle stretching & NSAIDs for at least another week, or at least until I can walk with absolutely no pain. Then gradually add back in the yoga, then longer walks & lastly a little running. I’m SO glad I have the standing desk - it sounds like keeping the muscle / tendon in the extended position, but without impact, is key.
blankmind: I also have osteoporosis. I’ve been doing weight-bearing exercises for more than 10 years, starting well before I was diagnosed. As time goes on, I’ve ramped it up – added running, for example. My numbers haven’t improved much. (First they got worse, then they inched slightly up, then leveled.)
I’m no expert, but here’s my thinking. First, it’s possible that while things haven’t gotten better, the result of the exercise you’re doing (and I’m doing) is that things haven’t gotten worse. Second, I think different bodies react differently – I think some of us will have declining bone density no matter what we do.
Have you had bone fractures? Have you lost height? How you react to your dexascans depends a lot on the answer to those questions. My numbers look horrible, but my specialist isn’t worried, and doesn’t think my bones are going to start fracturing anytime soon. Different doctors definitely have different reactions to dexascan results.
I watched the video, and I can’t imagine buying that machine. I suppose if it were at my fitness center maybe I’d use it, but my gut feeling is to do more active exercises.
I’m due for another scan this summer – if my numbers decline again, maybe I’ll have to reassess.
I could not get up and moving this morning, so had to run after work. 85 degrees but it was overcast at least. Only got 4.25 but am challenging myself on the hills in my neighborhood - makes it easy to slow the pace down! Plan to get out and run with the group this weekend - company is good on longer runs!
While I haven’t done everything I could as far as weight workouts over the years, I have certainly done some- especially a few years ago. Nothing slowed down my osteoporosis. A lot of it is just genetic. I don’t feel like I’m at a huge risk for spontaneous fractures, but I did finally listen to my orthopedic surgeon last year when I had the hip stress fracture (probably not from osteoporosis) and went back on the Forteo injections. If I thought doing more with strength training would really improve my bone density, I would do it. I know I need to do it anyway for lots of reasons, and I do some now (just not quite enough compared to my cardio workouts), but I really don’t believe it’s going to change things for my significantly with respect to bone density.
blankmind, I second what has been said here. If this machine was so miraculous, we would have heard about it by now from the physicians. Osteoporosis is a slowly progressing disease, and so is bone rebuilding process. Exercise is supposed to slow bone loss progression by a tiny number, but it is cumulative, so only after 5-10 years of doing what you’ve been doing you might see some results.
Wonderful twilight run tonight. I’ll give props to those of you who can rise and shine with a run or walk in the wee hours of the morning, but I personally SO prefer evening runs - even better when it is turning dusk. Tried one of my new running shoes and all seemed comfy!
fireandrain, I haven’t had any fractures and haven’t lost any height. I agree with MoWC that regular strength doesn’t seem to help with building bone density. That’s why I was wondering if being able to use a much heavier weight, which I think is what the machine is supposed to allow you to do, would be helpful for bone density. Not for fitness, just for bone density.
Upping the weights beoynd a certain point does not seem to make a huge difference from what I have read so far, blankmind. You might be putting too much unneeded stress on the spine if you have osteoporosis in the spine:
blankmind, the machine itself does not provide any “weight” resistance. It essentially provides immovable contact points and surfaces against which you apply maximal pushing or pulling forces based on the strength of your own muscles. It is really nothing more than a sophisticated isometric exercise station. What it provides that traditional isometric exercises do not is a technology based system to measure and compare your level of force generation. It is also constructed to be adjustable so that in theory each user is positioned in a biomechanically safe position for the exercise. While all of that is certainly a plus that enhances the exercise experience and modality of performing isometric exercise, at the end of the day it’s still isometric exercise with the same benefits and limitations of isometric exercise done without the machine. A good trainer could show you how to do all the same exercises in your home or at the gym without the use of a machine that I suspect is not easy to find in a commercial setting and is cost prohibitive to own as a home exercise machine. None of this is to suggest that you won’t get benefits from isometric exercise, you just don’t need the bells and whistles of this machine to do so.
So here’s a question for IDad and any other blood lipo profile experts out there. For the first time, I had a full blown NMR panel done and don’t know how to interpret the results. I know there was a discussion on the small and large LDL metrics and ratios a while ago but I’m too lazy to dig through the archives :). Here are the results:
What I also found interesting an a bit befuddling were my insulin/glucose scores:
A1c - 5.9 which was scored as high and therefore at increased risk for diabetes. But in contrast, my Glucose serum results were 85 and then, as noted my LP-IR score was <25 which is very low.
Ended up speaking to both my GP and cardiologist and also did some research on my own and now have a pretty good understanding of what my NMR panel scores are all about, what ratios and other metrics to look at beyond just total cholesterol, HDL, LDL and triglycerides. What was interesting was that my GP was unfamiliar with the LP-IR score and thought that the Ac1 score was more important while some of the literature I read suggested that the Ac1 score may not be reliable and the glucose serum levels were more important. My cardiologist didn’t think the detailed LDL panel really tells you much more than the traditional cholesterol testing. Sure glad I had all these additional tests done lol.
Those are fantastic numbers across the board. Conventional cholesterol markers are all great low LDL. High HDL, and very low triglycerides. Signature markers for low carb diets. The best news is probably the low triglycerides. That means that your liver isn’t converting excess sugar into fat (triglycerides).
The LDL particle count of 477 is super low, as would be expected from everything else. In total, you are as far from metabolic syndrom and diabetes as you can get. I wouldn’t pay any attention to the A1c in terms of increased diabetes risk. You can’t have diabetes with triglycerides that low.
Did my favorite Squam Lake/On Golden Pond hike this afternoon. Morgan/Percival Loop. 6.5 miles up and over two small mountains. Did the ladders and scary cliffs that I usually bypass. Fantastic day in the woods and excellent exercise. Video coming…
Regional track meet tonight. Love seeing the boys and girls compete. The gap between boys and girls is NARROWING. Amazed to see how far girls sports has progressed.
Thanks for the input IDad. The link you posted was one of the sites I stumbled onto today. Ha know what they say about great minds… ;). What’s kind of funny is that I don’t feel like my diet is “low carb”. My food intake today was kind of typical. Ezekial Cinimon Raisin English Muffin, 3 Applegate chicken sausage patties, slice of Sargento reduced fat cheddar cheese, spinach and cup of 1% milk for breakfast. Chipotle Chicken Burrito Bowl for lunch (4 oz chicken breast, stir fry veggies, black beans and guacamole, no tortilla etc) for lunch, 12 oz grilled Mahi Mahi, Cohen’s Potato Knish and a banana for dinner and 1 oz of roasted cashews and 5 small Back to Nature Peanut Butter Cream Cookies for a snack. 2134 calories, 203 gms carbs, 84 gms fat, 159 gms protein, 59 gms sugars and 33 gms of fiber. I still have another 260 calories I could consume as a result of lifting weights tonight, but I don’t feel one bit hungry and in fact feel kind of full. (Yeah, I know, I should eat more veggies). In reality, maybe kinda low carb but because I have my couple of “guilty pleasures”, I don’t feel deprived at all.
Need your input, CC exercise equipment gurus! I decided that I need to get a chin up/pull up stand with adjustable bar height. It has to be a freestanding piece of metal, because our door frames and walls are not designed for such loads - typical flimsy, modern PNW sticks and drywall construction. I am all ears about recommendations! Bells and whistles are not really needed. For now, I have been doing my practice pre-pull ups (from the video link kindly probided by acollegestudent) using the bar on my Precor, but eventually I will need adjustable height.
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