I am so, so late getting here.. so much to do and only one of me!
But I am here and I hope some of you maybe are here too!
So. why am I late. Apart from rushing around madly... well.
I had a whole post written but then a reply on the C25K forum in another post made me stop and think !
Really think ! It took a while!
I know that BarbieW won't mind me quoting her here, but she made some good points and echoed some of my own thoughts , from the last few weeks.
We are all here, and when we visit, hope to find some supportive exercise for our body and mind. Whatever is our chosen main exercise ( mine is running), we all need to keep ourselves in trim for them!
Time is often of the essence for many of us and I for one currently, am struggling to fit things in.., I have done posts on this theme in the past.
But... the point Barbie made was slightly different... The difficulty on doing workouts , whilst trying to watch or listen a video, YouTube or listen to an audio …
It can be hard.
When you have figured out a workable, enjoyable and easily maintained routine, then it gets easier. Not what if, as she suggested you could have something you could see AND then print off!
Ah HA!
I have had exercises from my Sports physio on several occasions and they are always printed off... and many had illustration too ! Mr OF is doing some seated leg exercise currently as he recovers from his operation and he has a printed sheet with pictures!
So... where am I going on this?
Well... I'd like to hear from some of you... what do you think...?
Do you find it tricky to follow a video or just read something and try to remember.. how do you plan your routines.
I use YouTube, but I am lucky enough to have an area where I can set up my computer or the TV in my art studio, to do my exercise right in front of it! I can even pop my yoga mat down in my lounge and sit right in front of the TV ! But... there is only Mr OF and I and we have the room !
Or, are you someone who loves being part of a class... having an instructor to help keep you posted? I do know I found my real, T'ai Chi class much more useful than trying to follow the instructions online !
I do know, also, that many folk do go to organised classes and do really find them beneficial...
We do want folk to use the strength and flex forum to support their chosen exercise and we do need to make it user friendly.
I am prepared to give the , print off option on exercises asked for!
There are a great many printable exercise online.. so an option would be, for a link to be given to certain focused exercises and you print them off, to refer to any time …?
The one in the photograph is an example! It is quite an intensive one, but just intended to give you an idea...
This link gives you access to a home workout plan using virtually no equipment and you could print off the things you fancy trying?
Hi Floss. I read that comment and I'm so pleased you followed up on it. I've been to enough classes and physio sessions that I'm pretty confident in how to do an exercise. Even so, it's easy to forget the exact details, and some exercises look very similar but exercise different muscles, and are easy to get confused.
I like to pop my laptop somewhere I can keep an eye on it, and I've got the space at home to do it and not get in anyone's way.
I also have a folder where I keep all the exercises I've been given as printouts, so I can go back and refer to them. (Leg straight or knee soft? Back heel on the floor or not?). Sometimes I draw little stick people to illustrate if they are text only.
Then, because I'm very forgetful and easily distracted, I also make little reminder cards which I prop on the mantelpiece. They say things like
- clamshells
- squats
- balance
Or whatever my physio has got me working on, so I don't forget. I've always got the details in my folder to refer to.
A very useful printout would be for the pre- and post- run stretches that people could keep by their front door until they memorised the routines.
(They'd have to go to the site to see how they are done, but from then on a simple reminder sheet should be enough)
Thank you so much for popping in and sharing this with us.... so many good ideas and tips too, for any new exercisers or runners!
making little notes or reminder cards is so useful too.. I have little post it notes... and as you say, when you get into a regular routine, or have been to classes, the moves seem to come naturally.
My 15 minute wake up yoga routine, I can, quite literally do with my eyes closed!
Lots to think about here and I really hope some of our other friends do pop in!
I like a bit of everything, classes for company and banter, good old you tube on my iPad propped up with Adrienne or currently my strength training programme with weights but also love a tick sheet to pin on the fridge.
My old pal tmbtrain got me colouring in a picture of a trainer for every km you ran too can’t remember where we got it from but all the prompts make you accountable 💪🏻
…and you don’t know how long I debated with myself about whether I should post that one! I didn’t want to appear too critical of the work that you wonderful administrators put into these great forums. But I am glad to see it struck a chord and a few others feel the same way.
I cannot thank you enough... lots of the responses are giving me some ideas for a way to be mor supportive to our forum friends. Well done you... and. as Mr Sparks was fond of saying to Noddy, in Toyland? " I love a challenge".
Hello, like everyone who has replied so far I find a print out really helpful. Sometimes you can’t go at the same pace as the instructor in the video and then there’s times when for example you’re on the mat and the laptop is on the table so you can’t see what the instructor is doing!
Having said that, with a weights session it can be very useful to have a link to a video of the exercise to check you are doing it right.
I still find some types of exercise are best done in a class with a live instructor. I’m rubbish at yoga and find I’m better with living examples right there to show me which way to bend and so on!
Also classes like Bootcamp and spinning really make me push myself, although I appreciate that I’m lucky to belong to a gym that I can get to several times a week.
Hello... Thank you so much for popping in and for the useful comments too. I do agree...sometimes pausing or moving too slowly can be an issue when watching a video!
You are correct too, a video is useful for some exercise... and an image is vey helpful. Certainly when we first do the exercise.
Being in a group can be so motivational as you say, hence some exercise classes being available as ZOOM meetings! The whole feeling of a group class is, in itself motivational. The joint camaraderie, and general ethos.
Gosh, I have a lot to think about here... thank you again for your input!
I keep trying to do the strength & flex exercises that you suggest, & I started with the NHS ones, but once you know what to do, it seems wasted time when they talk through it all every day, (hope you see what I mean?) so a printout alongside it would be very helpful, thankyou for all the work you do. These forums really help me with my running x
Sorry for late reply, only just found this post Oldfloss ! As others have said…..I do a mixture Pilates class, Pilates YouTube (PilatesLive - brilliant choice of sessions), Active10 (brisk walks) and running. I use a record sheet in the kitchen as motivation and ‘pat on the back’ 😂. Over the years I have tried all sorts of home exercising and struggled to maintain a routine but have discovered that ‘simple is best’ so I stick to same strength exercises every day (standing press-ups, squats, heel raisers), occasionally I spice things up with some bench dips, lunges and arm exercises.
I like a crib sheet with pictures - I still have Realfoodieclubs’s exercise sheets (2017!) different set of short exercises for each day - brilliant. I expect there is a link to them somewhere?
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