Rosalie Ungar is the author of IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups & Downs of Life with Atrial Fib.
It’s 4 degrees outside, still dark at 7:00 AM. Mid-January. Gotta turn the heat up and get to the gym. Not easy. Last week was worse but I skipped the exercise because I still had some tendinitis in my left hip. It’s better, but not gone yet. My trainer said to come back and we’d do light upper body exercise and treadmill without the incline for now.
Do you know how hard it is to get back in the exercise habit after being off for 2 or 3 weeks… in winter? Think positive thoughts about what to wear to the gym and my new black and white Nike workout shoes. Feel the gentle aches after the workout and meeting my friend Pearl for breakfast at Panera on Mondays during summer. Those are the times I remind myself that it’s great to be alive and well.
Last week I received an email from a blog reader who read one of my earlier blogs about exercise and A-Fib. Allyse describes herself as a die hard fitness fanatic. She works for a company that reviews exercise equipment, among other things, and she told me about exercise spinning bikes that she recommends, 2 of them. One, less than $400 and another around $700.
My favorite of all cardio exercise is the stationary bike. For me it was a gradual success. I started in a sitting position and pedaling for a steady 15 minutes increasing the tension as I could. Then I did a standing pedaling position. Initially I could only last 15 seconds standing, increasing to a minute the first year and so on. I can do 6 minutes with medium tension and am getting up nerve to do a spinning class. Not bad for an 80 year old, but moderation is on the horizon.
Meanwhile, Allyse works for Reviews.com. Check it out! Then check out my book, IN A HEARTBEAT: The Ups & Downs of Life with Atrial Fib.
