I’ve joined a Gym! Exercising with Chronic Illness

A lot’s been happening around here lately! Preparations are underway for the Foggy Frog and the Pain Gang Book Launch and the AAEE 2016 Conference.

I’ve also added a bit more variety to my exercise routine by joining the new local gym (Council owned and operated).

The main reason I’ve joined is so that I could add swimming into my exercise routine but I’m also going to try out some of the classes they run.

Obviously, I’m going to focus on pacing and aim to not overdo it by adding too much too quickly but I’m very excited to have a bit more variety in what I’m able to do.

To date, my exercise routine has consisted of walks and riding my electric bike (or the stationary bike if it’s raining). I was doing some stretching and yoga, but this was very random (I wanted to do it but got bored of the same stretches over and over).

At the new gym I have access to an internal pool, aqua aerobic classes, body balance and mobilise (low impact stretching and weights) classes, and other gym equipment if I need it.

My plan is to use the pool twice a week, and try out the various low impact classes. In fact, I’ve already started…

After my swim on Monday...
After my swim on Monday…

I swam (8 laps of slow breast stroke) yesterday and today I tried out the Mobilise class. The class is stretching and light weights. I paced myself during the class; doing less repetitions, not using any weights and taking breaks when I felt I needed it. We’ll see tomorrow whether or not the class was too much for me but I think it was ok.

Outside of the gym, I’ll still ride at least once a week and go for walks with E (we’ve actually started playing that Pokemon Go game which has got us out of the house together more often).

The view from halfway through our walk on the weekend
The view from halfway through our walk on the weekend

Thanks to my current medication routine I’ve had less pain and slightly more energy than usual lately which has been great for allowing me to be more active.

What exercise do you do on a regular basis?

P.S. You may have noticed I didn’t post last week, because of everything going on at the moment I’m likely to be posting either once a week or fortnightly for the foreseeable future.

4 comments

  1. Sounds really positive. Is the pool warm enough for you? I struggle with public pools being too cold. Only ever found one that was ok, and it was a private leisure facility near to where we used to live. Too far to drive now, so I haven’t been swimming for years. I keep active attempting to keep on top of the housework/gardening, walking my dog and looking after my other animals (mucking out every day!). I want to try some Tai Chi. Ali x

    • Thanks Alison, the pool is nice and warm actually but not too hot either. It’s only an 8 minute drive from home so it’s quite easy to get to.

      I’m looking forward to doing some classes that are focused on stretching.

  2. Excellent! I’m glad you’re finding other ways to get your exercise in. 🙂 Every little helps! Good luck to you and your health. You can do it. Always a pleasure catching up on what you’ve been up to, friend!

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