21 day exercise challenge

[Casperandme]

I'm going to try and exercise 21 days in a row. Anyone want to join me?

And as a disclaimer I know that intense exercise for 28 days in a row isn't a good idea, so aiming for every few days to just make it a mild walk or some yoga or some such. I just need to get moving and make exercise a habit again.

I'm checking in for day one with a bike ride.

Well done! I've got an Apple Watch, so to 'close my rings' I need to do a minimum of 30 mins exercise a day (elevated heart rate), but happy to keep you company 😀.

Today I did a 4k jog with DS, then an hour's walk this evening with a friend.

I’m still rehabbing a knackered pelvic floor/prolapse 13 months post partum, and am navigating the return to work after mat leave, so am having to go gently and fit bits in around adulting, but could really do with getting more exercise for all-round wellbeing. Can I join in?

Hilly walk with a bit of tree-climbing today.

Yay! I’m checking in for day 2 having done a massive walk. Am a bit sore though so will leave it at that and try for something more intense tomorrow

Walked about 4 miles.

Ate an entire toblerone.

Tomorrow is a new day

20 minutes of Pilates and a reasonable walk. Also an hour of cooking with nearly-2-stone 1-year-old in the sling as he’s poorly and consequently an absolute limpet!

That's good! I'm day five and have managed a walk each day but need to do a little more I think

Sorry I've gone a bit quiet!

So, Monday I did a walk for half an hour (3km)

Tuesday went for a short lunchtime stroll (15 mins), then an hour's Power Yoga class in the evening.

Wednesday half hour walk before work.

Today: half hour walk before work and will go to Circuits class this evening (1hr).

Sounds good folks. I’ve managed to clock up nearly 4 miles walking just at work. Was planning to run this evening but struggling to drag arse out into chilly dusk - I’ve got a free year of Boxx method membership through work, most of which is too bouncy for my knackered bits, but might give one of their yoga videos a try instead (indoors, in the warm) and try and run tomorrow.

Have done some sort of yoga. Including baby coming and extricating a boob from my top and latching on during bridges.

2 mile cross country run after work, glorious autumn colours and a spectacular sky to compensate for the Baltic temperatures!

How’s everyone else? carrie tell me more about power yoga; sounds really intriguing!

Bike ride today. Not really a keen cyclist, but it was quite nice when the sun was out (but COLD).

@Verbena87 Power yoga is one of the classes at our yoga studio. It's very strong [weep]. Sun salutations are done quite quickly, and there's quite a few strong long holds. I'm dripping in sweat by the end. My teacher is amazing, she'll suggest we may want to go from one pose (slightly achievable) into some amazing bind/balance that seems humanly impossible. She will then demonstrate while 90% of the class stares in wonder and then collapses laughing at the idea that any of us could do it. The other 10% are doing it ). At the end when in shavasana, she comes round and gives each of us a teeny shoulder/head massage with yummy oils. It's amazing.

Oooh carrie that sounds gorgeous (especially the massage bit, bliss!)

Have done half an hour of yoga this morning and suspect that might be as virtuous as today gets.

Could I please join? I'm 30 with a 2.5 yo DS and been overweight most of my adult life after being a very thin, very active teen. I lost three stone by going to the gym every day and being careful but healthy with what I ate and then got pregnant

My hips/back are knackered and I've got the same 2.5/3 stone to lose but it's so much harder with a toddler that doesn't really sleep plus I have to be very very careful with my back. I got a fitbit and was using it to motivate me walkrunning a few months ago and ignored the pain, but then ended up on hands and knees one day, unable to move, sobbing down the phone at the GP receptionist and losing control of my bladder

I'm doing my physio exercises as well as trying to walkrun twice a week, but also walk briskly most days. I have found a few workouts on YouTube this week too which have been fun and seem not to impact my back so much - assuming because it's a variety of movement?? I also found yoga.

I've taken back control of my eating and hope to get 5 days a week for active minutes - I work two long days a week so can't really get a workout in then and tbh I don't really want to.

Today is one of those long days, but yesterday I hit 10k steps and 73 active minutes, so I'm pleased with that.

twllbach your active time and steps yesterday are really impressive, well done! I don’t know if you’ve tried it but I find Pilates amazing for my back (and pelvic floor, which might be good if/when you want to try running again). Important to find a good instructor and talk to them about your body’s specific crankiness, but really worth doing.

The active minutes were only through walking home with DS in the buggy slightly faster than I do normally. It’s all gravelly footpaths and he’s a ahem unit so quite heavy to push!!

I’d love to go to Pilates but won’t go to classes while I’m so fat I found yoga on YouTube and have done that a few times and marvelled at just how stiff I am, but I will definitely search for Pilates too!

The active minutes were only through walking home with DS in the buggy slightly faster than I do normally. It’s all gravelly footpaths and he’s a ahem unit so quite heavy to push!!

I’d love to go to Pilates but won’t go to classes while I’m so fat I found yoga on YouTube and have done that a few times and marvelled at just how stiff I am, but I will definitely search for Pilates too!

Well done @TwllBach, great start. Sympathies with your back, mine sometimes gets strained (nothing like as bad as your experience, obviously), and it's so debilitating. Be careful with the yoga You Tube, easy to over stretch your back out (I especially find going from upward dog to downward dog can hurt my back for days if I'm not careful). Please don't be put off going to a class because of your weight, at my classes there really are all shapes, sizes and genders, and everyone's concentrating too much on trying to do their own thing without noticing what anyone else looks like.

I managed a 5k run yesterday morning - 35 mins, so pretty slow, but I ran it all, and it's got a few hilly bits, so I was pleased enough. I don't really do much running, so was pleased my Fitness was enough to take me round (and it doesn't seem to have hurt my back - another sometime side effect of running for me).

Am currently at ILs, and am doing a lot of driving today (Kent to Oxfordshire to Somerset 😭), so cant see me getting much in today. I might just get on the treadmill when I eventually get home. For a walk only!!

@twllbach exercise is exercise whether it’s pushing the buggy or in the gym (and I’m pretty sure the former gives you bigger functional fitness gains as well). And I’d echo carrie - my Pilates classes were a whole range of bodies, and I was there to sort out mine, not think about anyone else’s. I’d encourage you to give it a try - it’s one of those things where a small shift in your form makes a huge difference, so a good instructor is really useful.

I’ve done my first 30 minute run since getting pregnant nearly 2 years ago so am over the moon. And I’ve booked a 10k for April to train towards.

I’m pretty envious of you proper runners haha even when I was ‘fit’ I was no runner!

I’m a bit gutted this morning, I’ve just weighed myself and I appear to have gained 3/4 pounds, pushing myself over what I weighed at 40+11. Frankly, I am wondering what the bastard point in even trying is!!

@TwllBach oh please don't despair! Do you follow the Body Coach at all? He calls the scales the sad step, and it's SO true. I'm probably at some of the fittest I've ever been, and also the heaviest I've ever been. But although a couple of pairs of jeans are fitting slightly snugly [ahem], on the whole, I can still fit into everything, and I'm still the same size, just a different distribution of the weight. But I feel great, I'm strong, can knock out a 5k without training for it, can hold my own at circuits etc etc. Please don't beat yourself up, and think about all the other benefits you're gaining from moving more.

Definitely get rid of the scales if they make you feel shit. And I only run because running up big hills brings me joy (suspect I am secretly a bit of a masochist). If it doesn’t make you feel good, try something else. My best friend gets her kicks lifting weights I couldn’t even contemplate, my sister rows a pilot gig, another friend does yoga and climbs. There’s loads out there and it’s worth finding the sport/activity where even a crap session feels like a treat not a chore.

Can I join? I want started early morning exercise yesterday & have again today, could do with some motivation to keep going for 21 days

Go @ivykaty44 !!

Loved that early morning exercise thread. Sadly I'm as far from a morning person as one can get 😂, so don't think I'll be adopting that, as much as I like the idea.

Managed a lunchtime walk yesterday, but am travelling again today with work, home around midnight, so don't think I'll be getting any exercise in today!!

How's everyone getting on?

I've had a shocking week this week - just been too busy with work, half term, Halloween, travel to get the exercise in. Saw my PT today, and although the session itself wasn't particularly tougher than usual, I kept getting really lightheaded especially after half way through and had to keep stopping. Annoying.

Will try to run this weekend, maybe a yoga session too.

It’s demotivating isn’t it when you don’t feel like you’re progressing?

I had a down day on Monday but I’d promised myself I would try and get 5 active days this week. I did a YouTube workout on Monday, a walk/run on Tuesday, another on Wednesday then yesterday I did 45 minutes of dance workouts but despite knowing I worked hard and clocking 11k steps I only hit 28 minutes and was so disappointed! Then today I took DS on a big sort of mountain walk and got 45 minutes so feel a bit better today.

On the advice of a friend (and maybe a PP? I can’t remember now!) I’m going to start measuring my waist and hips with a measuring tape as opposed to using scales.

I’ve got two longish days in work tomorrow and Sunday so I won’t do any exercise then, but I’m happy with this week overall.