Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 5/26

I realize people travel from around the world to see Yellowstone, but in light of the recent pictures from mt Everest, clearly too many people are trying to see the same places all at the same time. DH and I have been visiting this area for more than 40 years and the change is dramatic. Lonely places aren't lonely anymore. we drive in and pretty much avoid the areas popular with tourists except during off seasons. early spring and fall its possible to drive thru and do short walks to popular spots, but you are nuts to do it in june thru September. it gets awful, terribly busy! you start to imagine busloads of tourists flying bridges! usually you can hike in a ways and not see too many people. we saw 2 people yesterday until we got back down, close to the parking area. a herd of bison had settled there and dozens of people were parking and walking a hundred yards to see them. we had to veer off trail a ways to avoid spooking the bison, but that's OK. we went a couple miles and up some serious elevation to avoid the mobs. we will use park trails for a short time yet because its much easier to see animals in the park, but will move to surrounding areas that are not so well known to avoid crowds.

I am happy to say I did not get sore from yesterday. I am much stronger going uphill than downhill. I have always been bad at keeping my footing downhill. I slide easily when it gets steep and need to brake aggressively, and step sideways. I get down... just slower than many.

Judy we have a lot of astilbe. it is perennial here. I have tried sage type plants but only get one season out of them. they're supposed to be perennial here but mine never come back. I miss having ornamental plants but the conditions here are too harsh for anything and we are not here enough to grow containers.
 
Today I did Party Rockin Step 1. I have my grandson here so that is all I did. It was 54 minutes, 341 calories,, met 7.0, 4,731 steps, heart rate average 146, max 174. Rain is headed our way again. These storms seem to be all over the midwest and wreaking havoc. Storms went through last night but moved away from me and my family. More forecast today. I will take my grandson and go run errands and stuff tomorrow as it is not supposed to storm. It is not just the tornadoes, it is the lakes and rivers overflowing and flooding as well. The hail that has hit hard in places.

Judy, those plants will look wonderful. I see a lot of the sage plant around here. I like the looks of that scale. That is what I wanted was one that works with my phone and blue tooth. You have had an incredible amount of steps. Amazing that you keep up with the workouts as well.

Valerie, I imagine the visitors would be infatuated with the bison. That is great that you did not get sore. Climbing made me think of a time when we went on vacation to Michigan and friends gave us a tour. We went up into an area where there was a cliff and beach below. I climbed down the sandy to the beach area that was rather small compared to where the water line was. Climbing back up and pouring sweat was a trick. I felt so foolish as I would climb a bit and then slide back down the sand. Not something that I would repeat. I worked my way toward a tree where I could find something to hold on to to pull myself up.
 
Good afternoon,

Busy day today, had to go to the lab for a follow up test to make sure my UTI is gone.

Valerie, That is amazing that you get to see all that wildlife! Good that your wrist is fine and you are able to do weight work. I remember that slanted step, and I believe there was an actual workout that went with it. I think that whole Everest thing is crazy. Why would people want to do that and pay the amount of money it costs? Years ago, it was a real feat to say that you climbed Everest. Now it is so commercial, and obviously full of people who have no idea what they are doing.

Carolyn, good job on Total Body Giant Sets....one of my favorite Cathe workouts.

Diane Sue, Nice job on the KCM workouts. Is that Ripped and Ride using a bike? or do you use a different cardio equipment? LOL on Beach Body telling people to cut the step in half or whatever...I had The Firm 14inch wooden high step that I used to use before buying the one with the risers. It was sure an improvement being able to select your step height. I actually had John make me a shorter one, once we saw The Firm step.

Judy, Nice gift! You definitely deserve it. :). You were one of the lucky employees to get Monday off. I would think they would have every person working that day. Very pretty perennial bed!

Hi to Lori

Take care,
 
Today I did Low Impact Sweat for 47 minutes and 340 calories burned. My average heart rate was 129 and maximum heart rate was 155. I have been taking note of total calories burned for the day on my Fitbit app for several months now. I have discovered that I burn more calories on days that I do strength training than on cardio days even though the cardio workout itself burns more calories. It does seem that my body continues to benefit from the strength training during the day. Because I have hypothyroidism I tend to pay attention to what benefits my body and my metabolism but I’m not obsessive about it.

Valerie, being able to see so much wildlife on your outings sounds wonderful. I can see how the crowds can ruin the experience for you. The crowds on Mt Everest are shocking. It seems like the officials could do a better job of managing the number of climbers that are allowed on the mountain at one time. I have the SPRI slanted risers but I never use them.

Judy, that scale makes a wonderful gift to yourself. My scale is very basic without the added features. I like the plants that you bought, especially the sage. I’m sure that you were happy to have Monday off.

Diane Sue, great job with Party Rocking Step. The weather has been awful this year and it just keeps coming.

Hello to Deb and Lori.
 
national parks, scenic places everywhere are being overwhelmed, besieged(!!) with tourists. Loved to death. we tried to take family to known attractions in Yellowstone last September, and lasted only a few hours. mobs and mobs of people, rangers trying to make everyone go single file and around in one direction. OMG it was bedlam! I would never do that now except off season but I'm not the only person to think of th. places that take serious international travel to get to would not be worth it, IMO.
Everest would be extremely difficult, complicated, hard to get to, expensive and look at that mess! stepping over bodies to get to the top?? they issued WAY too many permits. all about money. I think it used to be better controlled. hopefully the pictures alone will cause a lot of people to re- think their plans. we see this happening in plain old hiking too. equipment has gotten so much lighter and cheaper that EVERYONE seems to think hiking is terrific now. what used to be a 4 day trip, people now do in a day.

our hike yesterday was probably 3 miles each way, but we gained a lot of elevation. some sections are very steep, others pretty level. the steep parts are hard to come down without slipping on loose gravel and dust. we started around 5500 feet and went up to about 8000.
this is best time to see wildlife. after it gets warmer and this years babies can keep up with the herd, the herds disperse to higher elevation where they are not as easy to see.
 
Deb, for Ripped and Ride I have used my spin bike most of the time. Once now I have went downstairs and did it using the Tread Climber instead. Some women have used their rebounder for the cardio. It really does not have to be the spin bike. Actually that was Cathe that was using a high step that was pieced together from a full size. The instructions were circulating around and I think so many were harassing the step company to make them, that they were asked by the forums not to keep doing it. Somewhere along the line things worked out and they were able to market one. Now though, there are so many options for a box or something for use. I remember having my husband make me my first step since those steps were not all over the place to buy and rather expensive. It worked better than me trying to use something taller and shorter for sure. He even put rubber grid on top for me. Then years later it went in my granddaughter's playhouse my son built as a seat for the kids when they played. I remember those wood Firm steps that they made. I used the tool box step instead :) Lots of years of improvising. Beach Body has their own gimmicks they have used for workouts. I got quite a collection of stability balls and then gliding discs. I ended up with 3 pair of gliding discs when I got Cathe's with workouts. But, Cathe was the only one that came with the padded covers for bare floors. I think I just prefer pulling out a rug though than using the padded covers.

Valerie, I can understand the herds moving up for cooler temps. Nice to enjoy the wildlife while you can. Sorry that so many people want to visit those areas. I don't remember crowds when I was a child and we traveled through those areas. I just remember the cold crisp air in the mornings when we would stop and cook out places. Sometimes ice and snow patches still on the ground in areas.
I am sure some adventure hiking and mountain climbing adventures have drawn some people to think that it would be fun.

Carolyn, nice calorie burn today. I swear with my heart rate on Party Rockin Step today I should have had more calories burned. I have found the same on weight training days. Like yesterday was more weight oriented and end of day I had additional calories burned. I think I do somewhat better with less impact lighter workouts as far as increasing inflammation and probably cortisol levels. I have a lot less arthritis pain when I am more careful and put better thought into the choices. It is just hard to make myself sit back and say I am not as young and agile as I was when I was younger.
Funny though, when my friend came over and we were visiting, she said she noticed that I had no problem going up and down the stairs. My husband is always worrying about when I can no longer get up and down those stairs. I told him, as long as I am still working out (which will be till I die or am stuck in a hospital bed) I will be going up and down the stairs. I can run up those stairs and skip down, so that is not a problem as yet. I think fitness keeps me more agile than I would be even with the arthritis.

Anyone else with the Fit Bit find that they get additional calories at the end of the day if they manage to get 10,000 or more steps ??
 
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Good morning,

No workout yesterday. Today I had a semi=private agility lesson on dirt floor, which is a challenge to run on. Hopefully, it will not affect my knee.

Carolyn, that is interesting that you have burned more calories with weight work, than cardio.

Valerie, great job on that hike yesterday! I think Everest is becoming just a "status" thing with most people. They are not fit enough to do it, but as long as they have the money, they let them. I should pay more attention to my FitBit calorie count. I use my Polar HRM for workouts, and have not logged or looked at the FitBit count.

Diane Sue, yes, we sure have had a multitude of different equipment being introduced with various workouts. I like the Cathe gliding disks, but for some reason, they don't work that great on puzzle mats. They are better without the covers, but not great. She now uses a rag or something, not even the disks anymore.

Hi to Judy & Lori,

Take care,
 
This morning I did Pyramid Upper Body from the Intensity series. My time was 67 minutes with 326 calories burned. My average heart rate was 111 and maximum heart rate was 147.

Deb, I hope that your knee doesn’t suffer from yesterday’s activity. It’s not that I burn more calories during the strength training, but rather the body continues to burn at a higher level after the strength workout is over. Coincidentally, there was an article on my Spark People start page today that talked about the same thing. It was one of those “which is better cardio or strength training” articles.

Diane Sue, being able to move about and go up and down the stairs is a major goal for me too. I think that what you do is amazing, arthritis or not. I haven’t noticed extra calories from my Fitbit for over 10,000 steps, but it does give extra calories for basic metabolic functions. I don’t wear it when I sleep, but I have about 300 calories each morning when I put it on.

Hello to Valerie, Lori, and Judy.
 
Yesterday I did stacked upper again, after we did a load of house projects. DH did it too and liked it. we bought a water rower to use here and he doesn't like it. too easy. thought it would be good to try different movements but neither of us can work up much of a sweat so we might sell it if we can't find a way to make it harder. I can do kickboxing, or metabolic workouts, but he wont even try those. today we did another hike, not as tough as the one 2 days ago, but still 4 hours. it was pleasant, lots of flowers, but not many animals, and got most of the way to a pretty lake until the snow stopped us. no reason to go down to the lake itself. we got a brief look at a baby elk nursing when we drove thru the main visitor area near Mammoth. so tiny! there should be many more soon. this was too crowded to try to look so we kept going. there is still road construction going on that made it a longer day than expected.

the herds follow the greening of new grass and shrubs as the snow retreats. in areas where they can eat farmers fields, they stay down low longer. I think most elk go uphill for seclusion when they calve. some hang out right in towns, and around tourist facilities, and every year some poor person comes around the corner of a building and surprises an elk mom and gets kicked.
 
Getting here late today :) I did my workout and then my grandson and I went out. I started with P90X3 Cold Start warm up. I have always liked that one added to those workouts as it loosens things up nicely. It is 13 minutes, 44 calories, heart rate 112 average, 173 max ?? , met 4.0, 433 steps. I guess the higher end cardio must have been during the few jacks that were in there or something.
I then did Cathe Lite Strong Body Upper Body Stacked Sets premix Total Body with abs #2. This starts with Pyramid Pump Lower Body and then moves on to Upper Stacked sets finishing with the abs. 92 minutes (81 actual), heart rate average 102, max 140, 460 calories, met 5.90, 1,635 steps. Total time was 105 minutes, 2,068 steps, 504 calories.
Weights today
Pyramid pump lower
rear slide lunges 8,10,12,10,8# dbs 12,10,8,10,12 reps
step ups with 3 risers 8,10,12,10,8 # dbs 12,10,8,10,12 reps
side slide lunges 10,12,15,12,10 # db 12,10,8,10,12 reps
elevated lunges step with 1 riser 10,12,15,12,10 # dbs 12,10,8,10,12 reps
sliding cross back lunges 8,10,12,10,8# dbs 12,10,8,10,12 rpes
deadlifts 10,12,15,12,10# dbs 12,10,8,10,12 reps ( I altered these a bit to help protect my back)
calf raises 10,12,15,12,10# dbs 30,25,20,25,30 reps
Stacked Sets Upper Body
dips 32 reps
triceps push ups 12 reps
close bench /flat bench/combo 12 # dbs 24 reps
chest flys 12# dbs 8 reps one and a halfs
plyo push ups on step 12 reps
repeat
dumbbell squeeze and press 5# dbs
overhead press one and a halfs 10# dbs 8 reps
lateral raise 8# dbs 8 reps one and a halfs
lateral U raise 8# dbs 8 reps
hip huggers 12# dbs 16 reps
repeat
pull overs one and a halfs 15# dbs 8 reps
double arm dead row 15# dbs 16 reps
hip hinge back fly 3 count as 1, 10# dbs 8 reps (there is an awful lot of bent over stuff in this workout)
biceps curls 15# dbs 8 reps
8 point drop curls 12# 16 reps
hammer curls 15# dbs 8 reps
reverse curls 12# dbs 8 reps
repeat
 
Good evening ladies!!!!

I am so so sorry I have not been consistent in my posting. Work has been horrendous for me and I have been very emotional in the evenings. Hence not posting. I can’t talk about it here since this is a public forum. I need to make some decisions. My husband has been such a rock for me. Not sure how I would be handling things without him. My workouts still have been good. Most enjoyable part of my day. Did not work out today though, needed to sleep in. :) I have not read any posts since I last posted. Hoping everyone has had some great workouts and a great week. I feel like every time I post it has been depressing and whining. I know there is a light at the end of the tunnel so I am trying to focus on this! Please bear with me!

Hi to all!!!! :)
 
Deb, I hope that the knees are okay. I noticed the towel or rag Cathe uses now too. Nothing wants to slide on the puzzle mats. It is better to lay a rug on top for it. My last house I had almost the whole room covered with puzzle mats, but left one end with the carpet just for those gliding discs. The problem is having to stop and set something up or have enough space to have an area just for those discs. I wonder why Cathe changed what she used. My first gliding discs were the purple original gliding discs that came with some gliding workouts. Then some came with a Beach Body workout set and some came with Cathe. Maybe she is just trying to let people know that they can do it without the discs? Or maybe they are hard to find now. For the most part I wouldn't mind if they did not do the gliding stuff. I almost did the Pyramid full body 1 hour mix that left off the gliding moves today.

Carolyn, I understand what you mean with the weight workouts. I have noticed a difference by end of day. I wear mine to bed all of the time. It is interesting how the metabolism stays up enough to burn those extra calories after a weight workout. I look at the graphs on fitbit app and the calories burned during sleep run around 10 to 11 minutes per 15 minutes. So that is probably why you have those calories when you wake up.
It may be that when I get 10,000 steps it is usually when I am pretty active running up and down the stairs cleaning and following small grandchildren, or running all over Walmart. Those days when I am going non stop.

Valerie, I guess you can't blame the elk for kicking. Tourists probably would not be aware that that could happen though. Odd that they would want to be around places where there are many humans. Would wearing a weighted vest make the water rower more difficult? I guess it would still keep you mobile. I had never heard of one till you got one.

Lori, my heart goes out to you. I know after being in the same place for so many years, the changes have to be tough. Hang in there. I am glad that your husband is your rock. I bet some sleeping in helps with the stress.
 
Diane Sue-My fitbit calories get crazy high on the days that I am above 10,000 steps. On a day when my steps were around 23,000 and active minutes were 95 (all from work) it said I burned 2,678 calories. When I had 30,000 steps and 214 active minutes (all work again) it said I burned 2,880 calories. Both of those numbers are too high. Maybe 2000-2200 max, but not more than that. I have actually lost a couple of pounds since I started working at HD and I wasn't trying too but if I was eating as much as Fitbit says I would be gaining weight, even with the work.
 
some groups of elk live in populated areas, so they are habituated to people. still if someone accidentally or intentionally comes too close, they will charge and defend themselves and their young. it can happen accidentally to people who just don't see the baby until they are too late, and momma takes after them. after all, they defend themselves from wolves and bears, so they are not wimps! this happens with all animals in parks. bears that make a connection between people and food usually end up getting killed in some way. (a fed bear is a dead bear) if you accidentally get too close to any wild animal, it can be disastrous. bison are especially dangerous.
last night when we got home, I set up the telescope in our living room to look at the slopes of the mountains nearby. I found lots of elk as usual, and for the first time, a black bear and 2 tiny cubs. we watched her for a while. so cool! with a spotting scope you can see long distances. looked this morning but cant find them today.

Lori hang in there. the workplace can sure be strange, hostile and weird. good to keep up those workouts to channel the frustration.

DH likes cathe but hasn't done anything but STS. I showed him the stacked upper premix with warm up, main workout, abs, and stretch and I have a convert! not that I haven't tried before! he has a yoga disk here but he hated it. not cathe, but she goes too fast and does moves that are not IMO simple. he has cathe's yoga but didn't bring the disk. I think its the yoga relax one. we are to the point where we have free time and you can't drive, hike and bike every day.

I have the cathe glide disks, with covers. our floor is wood laminate, and they work fine. I never know what puzzle mats are. we used to have industrial carpeting but after a few years it started to smell sour. we tore it out and replaced with laminate. a good choice. easy to keep clean and looks great. doesn't wear out.
 
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Today I did KCM’s Step Boxing for 33 minutes and 236 calories burned. Average heart rate was 128 and maximum heart rate was 148. After that I did KCM’s Body Design Yoga Flow Stretch for an additional 13 minutes and 40 calories. The yoga flow wasn’t what I expected, but it was okay. I had not previewed it beforehand.

Lori, I’m sorry that you are having such a tough time. I’m sure that keeping up with your workouts helps during these difficulties. Please know that we are thinking of you. I always look forward to reading your posts whenever you get around to it.

Valerie, that’s wonderful that you could use the telescope to continue enjoying your surroundings. I’m glad that your husband liked the Stacked Sets Upper.

Judy, you are so right that we could not consume calories based on the calories burned data! I just view it as feedback and I’m always curious when I see significant variations.

Diane Sue, nice day with your grandson and great workout before going out.

Hello to Deb. Have a wonderful day everyone.
 
Today I did Coffey Fit Raw Step 3, 43 minutes, heart rate average 138, max 167, 4,071 steps, met 8.3, 297 calories. I then did Raw Step #2 stopping at 25 minutes when she does a break and says if you want to go on you can, I forwarded to the end where she does standing "waistline" and stretch. This was 32 minutes, 2,802 steps, 220 calories, met 8.3, heart rate 141 average, max 174. I finished off with Lite Extended Stretch #2, 11 minutes, 31 calories. Total time was 86 minutes, 548 calories, 6,882 steps. My husband and I ran errands afterward and then I went to Sprouts and came back and finished off the. I am past 10,000 steps right now.

Judy, it is hard to believe, but when I was doing daycare and my children were all home, I did pretty long workouts and was running around all day. I didn't have a step counter, but did keep track of my calories and was almost always over 3,000 a day that I ate and I stayed around 110 most of the time. Now I sit way more and things are much more relaxed and I tend toward 1500 and 1800 most days. Much more than that and I start gaining weight. I have my Fit Bit linked to My Fitness Pal so the calories sync the same.
You sure get an amazing amount of steps in each day. I bet if you leave the job, you will really notice a difference. I generally do not worry too much about weight game unless it creeps up over 120 and I can't get it back down with longer workouts and dietary changes. Sometimes I seem stuck.

Carolyn, I have done Body Design Yoga Flow a lot. It was not what I expected when I first did it, but it grew on me as a quick yoga flow since it is only 13 minutes. It really isn't a slow stretch and no real bendy twisty stuff. Just a yoga flow with a brief stretch at the end.
 
Good morning,

No workout yesterday. I am thinking about starting the Lite rotation again, but want to make sure my knee/hip are in good shape before starting.

Valerie, that must have been so great seeing that baby nursing! Too bad about the rower not being hard enough. You would figure that they may have a way to make it harder, since when people start out, they would want it easy, but as they get better at it, want to make it more difficult. I remember stories from my work peers that traveled to Anchorage for work...seeing pictures and tales of moose crossing the road right where people were etc. Like you said, they seem to get used to people being around.

Carolyn, good job on the Pyramid workout. Strange that the FitBit can show calories burned while sleeping, if you are not wearing it.

Lori, I hope things get better for you. ((HUGS)). Its good that the workouts help.

Diane Sue, I feel the same way about the gliding discs. Very precarious when you have a knee or hip issue. Not stable enough. When they are included in a workout, I do about half the distance that I used to do. I agree, it is probably just all the additional activity you do when you get over 10k steps that adds to the calorie burn.
Judy, now you can promote "The Home Depot Diet"...LOL....

Take care,
 
I did revd up rumble yesterday when we decided not to go anywhere. We had our neighbors over for dinner and needed to get things ready. Our neighbor watched an elk giving birth thru her spotting scope. I have been looking but no luck so far. That was what I was looking for when I came across the black bear and cubs, elk moms nursing or interacting with their young. The slopes of the mountains nearby have open green areas with grass and sagebrush plus bands of trees. the lighting is bad early in the morning, we are facing east, but easier as the day goes on.
So it is possible to watch a lot of activity from your living room.
the rower was DH's idea. I focused on weight and metabolic workouts and kickboxing, and am content with what I have except for adding a few slightly heavier weights, like 12's, 15's. he wont do most of those workouts. thought the rower would be more cardio than it is. it does work everything, legs, back shoulders and arms so its not "nothing" and it isn't too noisy so you can watch TV while using it. I don't think a weight vest would add much since you are sitting down and the rowing action compresses you, then stretches you out. anything bulky would interfere but not increase the difficulty. we will look at the manual and see if there are ways to make it harder.

I shorten up the motion with the gliding disks especially if i haven’t used them recently. It’s essy to slide a little too far and tweak something so I make sure I don’t over extend.

rode for 2 hrs 40 min this morning. sat for maybe half an hour. entire time. we rode to some lakes and saw all kinds of ducks, bald eagle, osprey, and sandhill cranes. then up to a high hill against a wild life refuge. a lot of work.
 
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