Pentagenarians & Beyond: W/B 7/14

This morning I did 4 Day Split Kickboxing and Legs and Core. The kickboxing was 32 minutes and 226 calories burned. Average heart rate was 126 and maximum heart rate was 153. The Legs and Core was 41 minutes with 139 calories burned. My average heart rate with that was 105 and maximum heart rate was 141.

Valerie, that’s great that you are getting the new HVAC. It’s hard to sleep if the room is too hot. Our upstairs unit was not working well last week and we had someone come out. It just needed refrigerant this time, but we know we will need to replace it soon. I’m sure that Big Little Lies is available on other platforms. I saw it on Amazon prime so it’s probably on Netflix and Hulu too.

Diane Sue, nice job getting your workout done early. I can’t stand to have other people with me when I’m shopping for food. Like you, I usually forget things because of the distractions.

Hello to Deb, Judy, and Lori.
 
Good morning,

No workout yesterday. I took Kylee for our semi-private agility class, which is in a steel building, no A/C. It was not too bad in there, being that it was 9:00 am.

Valerie, funny how things are different for people, John does most of the shopping, and cooking. He really enjoys it, and I can say truthfully, I do not. Our library has the first season of Big Little Lies, I may get that out too! Now I have to start a list or I will forget which ones I wanted to get. Are you getting the split system AC units? That is what is sounds like, with each having their own remote so you can cool one room etc? They hang on the wall, near the ceiling? I love ours, except I know they are not attractive at all, but it is the only way we could have AC other than window units, which I don't do well with at all.

Carolyn, you're doing a great job on 4DS...is this part of Cathe's rotation for this month?

Diane Sue, I hope your headache is better. As for the shoulder, like you said, it sounds like maybe it is something to do with how you are sleeping. I looked at those "My Pillow" 's, but I didn't think they would have one that I would like. I like a flat hard pillow. I don't like to scrunch it at all, and don't want my face to sink at all either.....it kind of makes me feel like I am not getting air....I know this sounds strange. I actually use a throw pillow that you would use on a sofa, and put it in a pillowcase. Yep, John always comes back with stuff not on the list. Like cookies and candy. My downfall.

Volunteering at a cancer fund raiser golf outing today, doing the registration table....It will be in the 90's with a heat index of almost 100....:(

Hi to Judy & Lori,

Take care,
 
Hi Everyone,

It's been a busy week. I need to get caught up on posting. Monday I did KCM Cardio Pump, weights only, Wednesday I did Build & Burn Lower Body Tabata and the Kettlebell only premix from KB/KB Fusion. Yesterday I did 90 minutes of various Peloton rides on our new Peloton bike.
Last weekend was my last one in the garden dept. at HD. It was a long, hot weekend and I didn't get any workouts in after work. Tuesday was my first day in the electrical dept. I also worked Wednesday night from 4-10. I was off yesterday and am off today but will be working Saturday and Sunday. Wednesday the Peloton bike was delivered. I love the bike so far! It's even better than I expected with all of the rides and other workouts offered and I love having all the metrics on the screen. That part works so much better than my other bike. The computer on that one is pretty much worthless and since they don't make it anymore, there is no way to replace it and no tech support for it.

Deb- Stay hydrated today. Hopefully you won't have to be in the heat too long. We have a heat advisory today and tomorrow. It's going to get into the upper 90's with a heat index of 108-112. It will be miserable at HD this weekend. I am not looking forward to it.

Diane Sue-great workouts this week! I'm so sorry about your headache :( I hope you feel better today.

Valerie-That's good that you are getting new AC units. That will definitely help with sleep. The one good thing about having such a small condo is that our central AC is enough to cool both the upstairs and downstairs.
Nice job with the sit-outs! They are hard for me and I tend to avoid them or modify when they come up. I should try to do them more.

Carolyn-Great job with 4 DS this week! I love that leg workout, it's one of my favorites. You've done so well with the July rotation! I saved it as I really like the look of it, but with my work schedule and everything it has been difficult to follow a set rotation. I may do it in the future though. There are so many of my favorite workouts in it.

Hi to Lori!

Have a great weekend!

Judy
 
Yes ..exactly Deb. Our upstairs never cools well. We migrate to main level or basement to sleep but when we read about these units, we decided to do it. quiet, up near ceiling. We put in three ....one in master, guest , and my office, a third bedroom. Temps are pleasant right now but it will be wonderful when hot, noisy, or smoky. Very energy efficient and will save running the main heat pump constantly for small benefit. the main floor gets cool but the upstairs is still like an oven.
Someone is coming today to figure out why cooling doesn't click in while all else works well.

Too funny! I don’t want DH near the kitchen and definitely he can't shop. The contractor was here for 2 days and called me Betty Crocker . We were stuck here so I did a lot of cooking/baking. Cookies, sweet breads, quinoa, it was mass production . I don’t get to eat most of it but still enjoy making everything. most gets frozen.

Deb we are in agreement on pillows. I cant sleep on anything elevated or thick. old feather pillows work for me. in a motel, I stuff a pillow case with a t shirt or two, or sweater, and that works. I get a headache and neck ache from thick pillows. memory foam feels revolting.

Judy the bike looks great. terrific you have room for both. the electronics on our le mond bike don't work well either, but DH and I don't use them much. hardly picks up heart rate even with a chest strap. I like the time, pedal rate but that's it.
this is weird but we have the same carpet in our MT house. we have that one and a similar one with the leaf pattern we got at HD. I think you have great taste!
 
Today was a cardio day and I chose to do Cardio Party. That was 41 minutes and 292 calories burned. My average heart rate was 132 and maximum heart rate was 155.

Deb, volunteering at a golf fundraiser sounds like fun, but be very careful in the heat. It’s going to be brutal. Yes, 4 Day Split is a part of this month’s rotation.

Judy, that bike looks fantastic and I’m glad that it’s meeting your expectations. Your rides must be a lot of fun.

Valerie, I’m not familiar with that type A/C, but it sounds perfect for you. What is it called?

Hello to Diane Sue and Lori.
 
This morning I did Raw Step 2, 41 minutes, 288 calories, heart rate average 145, max 169, 3,743 steps.
That was it for me. Still am avoiding weight work because of the arm and shoulder pain. Hopefully next week is better than this. Besides I am staying way busy.

Judy, nice set up with the bikes. You and hubby can workout together. You really have had a busy week. I bet it is nicer working inside the store instead of garden. Particularly when it is hot. Great workouts this week.

Carolyn, great job on 4 Day Split Kickboxing and the weights. You are like me with doing the calorie calculations. I would much rather do cardio separate from the strength work.

Deb, nice that you are doing the volunteer work. I hope it is not too miserable and hot. It feels like I am walking into an oven when I go outside here. I almost think I should have went for the recommended pillow size. The get denser and taller with the filling as you progress up by size. Yes, my head sinks when I shove the filling around and I have tall sides which in some ways feels good when I turn my head to the side. Last night I shook it out and quit trying to adjust the filling though and it felt better. Still, I woke up at 4 am with shoulder and arm hurting. The thing is, it hurts when I am not lying on it or anything. I am sure I have injured it somehow. I can press on an area in the front of my shoulder and it is really sore. Also, so much going on and busy stuff and I tend to not be a relaxed person so am holding a lot of stiffness and tension. I keep trying to loosen up!

Valerie, I think I have seen units like that for air conditioning in some hotels that were mounted up by the ceiling. I like having things baked and frozen for when company comes or I am busy and just don't feel cooking. Lately I have not felt like cooking too much. I keep eating nutrition bars, plain yogurt and blueberries, and salad. I cook for my husband. I really do need to put something in the instant pot so I can freeze some of it. I did make a curried broccoli slaw shrimp noodle bowl the other day and got a couple of meals out of it. The broccoli slaw is the noodles. Pretty simple and I feel I am probably not helping myself nutritionally lately. Most of the things I have read tend to suggest memory foam pillows for neck pain. I have tried several solid ones and hated them. You would not like My Pillow. They are shredded memory foam and bumpy. That is the only thing that sort of bothers me with it. But I was not comfy with my water pillow or the fiber fill ones. Feather ones end up with feathers poking out and there is not reason to get a feather or down pillow with poly fill around it. That just seems ignorant. Someday I will find something I like.

Missing Lori. I was thinking about her this morning when I thought of using Fit Split Low Impact and getting out her rendition so I could skip the to the floor stuff.
 
its basically like a room air conditioner, people call them "mini splits". there is a separate remote control on/off /temp setting for each unit in each room. coolant recirculates to a tall box, outside the house like a heat pump. it is very quiet. it cools, heats, and/or dehumidifies the air. you control it by the room, so you only turn on what you need. they are not inexpensive, but then nothing is. ours is working now, the coolant level was low so it is filled. cost depends somewhat on configuration of your house and where the lines have to go and how far.

I did pyramid Pump upper body and core 1 today. I'd forgotten about that one since it was separate sleeve from the Lite package. after Deb mentioned it, I found it and did it. I'd done it before but no notes. I used cathe's weights but some moves definitely need to go up. 5 lbs feels like nothing. still, I did a run thru at baseline and will see if I get any sore spots.


I can't stand the feel of memory foam, the "sinking in" sensation. I don't like any foam to sleep on except as a prop for reading in bed. I am a feather/down person, even old ones that are flattened.

I make sweet breads and muffins for DH. I get some rarely, though I sure like it. chocolate zucchini bread is the current favorite, so made one of those and also a cranberry bread. they really are closer to cake than bread, who are we kidding!
 
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Valerie, are you able to wash your feather/down pillows? I remember having them, but it was many years ago. When I was reading up on neck and shoulder pain the recommendation was a feather/down pillow. The ones I was looking at on Amazon had some poly fill though and I did not want that. There claim was that it was to help with feathers poking out. That is just silly. I had the same problem with the water pillow because it had so much poly fill around the water pouch that it felt like a puffy pillow that sloshed. I could never get the air out so I did not hear sloshing.
 
We are having some bad storms in SE Michigan tonight. I hope the power stays on.

Diane Sue-I've been missing Lori too.

Valerie-I feel the same way about memory foam. I don't care for it at all. I love down pillows! They are the best.

Carolyn-Nice workout today! The Peloton rides are a lot of fun. I'm going to try to do one after work tomorrow.
 
Judy, hope the power does stay on and the storms let up.

Valerie, I went back to look for feather pillows and it dawned on me that the reason we got rid of feather pillows is because my older daughter is highly allergic. We had taken her for allergy testing when she was little and the pillows were out of the house. My youngest daughter had a favorite feather pillow that she drug around everywhere when she was little. It was like those kids with their special blankets. We had to get rid of it. She carried it around and the corner was stretched out where she would snuggle it on her face. Felt bad for her.
 
Yes I've washed them. the more recent ones come with a zip off cover that I wash more often than the pillow itself. that, plus a pillow case keeps the pillow itself pretty clean. I followed washing instructions on the tag. I don't remember anything complicated. seems to me you had to put a tennis shoe or a tennis ball in the dryer to break up the down that wants to clump. because of the two layer covering I don't wash them often. Costco usually has down or feather pillows, at least they used to. I haven't looked for any for a few years.
Anything that pushes my head up won't work for me.

yes, lets all ask Lori to please come back when things get sorted out for her. I miss her too.

Judy, hope your power stays on. Hope electric works out for you at HD.

Diane sue when my shoulder bothered me, I didn't do any moves that engaged the spot. for me it was the right shoulder in the front. didn't feel like a joint issue, but a soft tissue thing. my orthopedic doc said "impingement". I got 2 cortisone shots over about a year. I paid very close attention to not lifting that shoulder up higher than it should be, and I did a few weeks of "nothing" weight related on that area at all. if I did something, I used a 12 lb dumbbell on the left side and a 5 lb on the right, so I got the ROM, but no discomfort. Its been pain free for quite a while now, must be close to a year, and I'm using heavier weights again. I'm careful with pushups and overhead presses but I do them. I never figured out what caused it but it got better without anything dramatic.
when your body is trying to tell you something, its best to listen.
 
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I decided not to work out today. I was feeling a little tired this morning and my knee was bothering me again. I think it was a smart choice to take a break. Valerie, you are exactly right—listen to what our bodies are trying to tell us. I went out for a hair appointment and I just got home.

I am always trying to find the right pillow. Maybe I should try a feather pillow.

Waving hello to everyone. Have a wonderful day.
 
Its lovely here today. I went out this morning to transplant some lettuce and weed some beds.. got about half an hours worth accomplished, went to the shed to get a tool, wham something stung me on the right calf. wowza! it hurt. so I climbed back upstairs, found an icepack and some Benadryl plus some stuff called bite blocker, but it didn't matter. I have a 6"x4 inch red raised welt. I didn't even see what it was. I was leaning into the shed to grab my bucket of tools and it got me from behind. I don't get any systemic sxs, but I get a heck of a local reaction. its 5 hours later and its still nasty looking and hurts.
Carolyn, I want a pillow to get into a particular shape and stay there. I don't want anything that springs back. Costco has been my source for a long time but I don't replace pillows often.
 
We had to run the motorcycle in to get louder pipes put on (helps people notice you so they don't run you over) We went to breakfast while waiting for the guy to come in after we signed in. When I got back and did a couple of errands I went and did Lite Pyramid Lower up 3 sets premix, 30 minutes, heart rate average 97, max 129, 874 steps. I followed with Kelly Coffey Boot Camp Bonus stretch. Total time was 49 minutes and I burned 207 calories. I was so tired from lack of sleep that I skipped cardio. I managed to get the birthday cake baked before we went back to get the motorcycle and finally got it decorated before I made dinner.

Valerie, That sounds like a big welt. I wonder what bit you. I stick a bug bomb in the shed a couple of times a year to ward off bugs in there. I have the usual shoulder neck discomfort off and on, but the shoulder itself has let up. The sore spot is right over my bicep muscle. When I touch it it feels like a bruise, but there is not one. When I add pressure it stings. Today the shoulder itself, elbow, and neck feel better. I have been doing cardio to keep mobility, but trying to find things that do not have so much boxing has been difficult. I have found icing helps a lot.

Carolyn, yes, listening to our bodies is important if we want to keep up our workouts. I am so busy lately and not really minding cutting back on such intense workouts.

Judy, I hope the storms have let up.
 

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