Healthful exercise

[louiselux]

18 miles omg, 3 hours, total: 84 miles

Have leaped ahead to day 4 and am now in the the Old Forest

Just so you know, I am not on the exercise bike when I do these huge stints of cycling that take all afternoon, but on my actual bike. So, the 18 miles yesterday included cycling in a large circle that took in Reading, Checkendon and then Woodcote and back along the lanes to Reading, nearly all of it along back lanes and woods.

It was beautiful; hot enough to warrant shorts and the sky was absolutely clear blue all day, with the trees just showing new green leaves, blossom everywhere, random siamese cats, a gang of pensioners on tandems, buzzards, kites, many cows (live ones), bluebell woods and a peregrine falcon that crashed through a hedge about a foot from my face.

I have been doing pilates for the last four weeks-- "make sure your pelvis is in neutral"-- and I am beginning to see a difference in my waistline, or rather feel a difference when I put on last year's summer clothes. Everything fits just that little bit better.

Comments

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

I'm glad you're on your actual bike! It would be sad to think of you doing 18 miles in your living room!

Oooh, pilates - I've been thinking about that. Is it good? I have no sense of balance, so does that matter?

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yes, I just thought I'd point it out just so people didn't think I was being demented.

Pilates is good - it has helped me develop actual stomach muscles fairly quickly and has also made by back stronger. It's also very gentle, so I would recommend it to anyone, bar people with disc problems probably. What I like best is that the dvd I've got comes in 25 minute chunks, which to me seem emintely do-able.

However! You are urged to clench your pelvic muscles at the same time as sucking in your stomach (as well as breathe!) and this is what makes the exercises so effective, apparently. It took me at least two weeks to master the skill though.

[giving-ground.livejournal.com]

That sounds interesting, actually. Hmm. 'Gentle' and 'back-strengthening' are traits I look for in exercise these days.

Maybe I should try it. :)

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

I really do enjoy the exercises, so I would say yes, try it.

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

I've liked the pilates I've done. Ached afterward, mind you. And I too have no sense of balance.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Also, most of the exercises are done lying down, thankfully.

[kispexi2.livejournal.com]

I am one of the people who was convinced this was all a fantasy woven around a dusty exercise bike in a back bedroom. Now I know better. Sounds like a lovely trip.

"Make sure your pelvis is in neutral", huh? Guess I don't have to tell you where my mind went.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Heeee! Well, some of it still is a fantasy wonven round my dusty exercise bike, but only the short bits I am glad to report. :D

The pilates instructor on my dvd really has a way with words. She also exhorts us to 'zip and hollow', while drawing a line up from her crotch.

[psycho-shoelace.livejournal.com]

That's so great! I have to use an exercise bike and only get to ride an actual bike every once in a while. This city is extremely slopy and doesn't allow much of that - also, the drivers aren't used to bikes and it can get dangerous.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that is not so good. I'm lucky being here in that it's quick to get out to the country lanes.

[i-am-zan.livejournal.com]

*pelvis in neutral* - I'm sorry, I just had to rescue the brain from the gutter there! ^__^...

HOwever I am glad that you clarified that you were outdoors as doing 18 miles indoors would drive me insane.

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Ha! I have to rescue my brain from the gutter every single time she says it, and she says it a lot.

[dystopiarcadia.livejournal.com]

Yay congratulations on your progress! :D And good to know you're getting some fresh air while doing all that :)


(I'm thinking of getting a counter thing for my bike, seeing as I cycle, hmm.. at least 30-40 minutes a day and it would totally make me feel better about wolfing down Ben & Jerry's >D )

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

30-40 mins a day seems like a good rate to me. Probably enough to counteract the Ben and Jerry's!

[mistressrenet.livejournal.com]

Pilates is awesome! By which I mean pain. I keep hoping the weather will be pleasant enough for me to bike soon. Yay for your shrinking waistline!

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Ya for it!

Pilates hurts, specially anything where I have to use those deep stomach muscles. Like almost all of it. Oww.

[wedjateye.livejournal.com]

Your 'gang of pensioners' made me laugh. I had an immediate mental picture of marauding hordes with zimmer frames, patrolling the streets and making sure none of those pesky young people littered.

I need to drag my mind down to the gutter, obviously.

*pelvis in neutral, pelvis in neutral, pelvis in neutral*

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

Heee. Running us down on their tandems as punishment...

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Squeefest! Are you thinking of going, and if so do you want to be in the college or a B&B? And if it's a B&B, would you like to share a room? :-)

[louiselux.livejournal.com]

B&B would be nice, if we could get one somewhere near. I've got to admit that the college rooms weren't that comfy, even if they were cheap. We should look into it. :) Can I aim you about it later?

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

Yay! I should be back in the land of internet sometime this evening. (OMG, my mother is attacking my house. It was relatively neat and now has reached its natural tip-like condition, despite having thrown out a lot of stuff. the Room of Things is half empty!)