2012-05-28 16:24:40

Hi all,

I thought I'd create a little thread for you all to talk about how you go about staying in shape.
A lot of folks go jogging these days, or hiking, or they go and play football. Of course to those who are fully blind, these options are closed to us.
There's also the exercises you can do at home like push-ups, squats, crunches etc. I have however found that if you do not know how to perform these exercises, you  are going to have a hard time learning if you have to do it alone. There's loads of video's on the net to show you how in the realm of textual description it is sort of ...lacking. Of course, if anyone knows of a resource proving me wrong, by all means tell me.
What are your experiences in this field?

Balliol

2012-05-28 16:30:54

Hi.
i go to the gym every monday and thursday for an hour and a half maybe to hours sometimes.
i go with my dad.
its fun and sometimes painful but werth every painful twinge.
oh and it only cost 16 pounds a month wich is actualy quite good.

I'm gone for real :)

2012-05-28 21:29:24

Well I haven't been working out rcently due to getting out of the habbit, so I've put a little weight on, but usually I do several minutes running, weight lifting and exercize each day.

i could never really bother with a jim myself, it requires to much effort to go and find one, but doing about 20 minutes each day when I wake up and get out of bed is easy enough.

Running I do on the spot on a small indoor trampoline, but this is only because I'm currently in an upstairs flat and me running on a tred mill or on the floor would be pretty loud, though when i used to live down stairs in colidge I used to just run on the spot on the floor, counting as I did it.

HAving a mum who is a blind physio helps qutie a lot in working exercizes out.

I have two sets of hand weights (I forget the exact weight of them), ie, two sets of dumbells, one heavy and one light that I use for different exercizes.

I'll describe what I do.

i start with 10 minutes run, usually counted by myself and done in bursts of 120 seconds run, then 30 cool down, then same again four times.

then I usually start with exercizes.

With the heavy weights (I can't remember whether their 18 pounds or 18 killograms per dumbell). I tend to start off with 20 of the weights, then increase the number over time. First I do one where I'm standing with my feet apart holding one dumbell in each hand with my arms down and my elbows almost streight (but not quite), with my hands turned so that my knuckles are upwards and my wrists are facing the floor, then bringing both dumbells up to the level of my chin and down again.

I then do an exercize with the heavier weights where I stand still, arms down at my sides but this time with my knuckles facing inward, then raise my arms to sholder hight and down again.

I then do one last one with the heavy weights where I have my hands up near my shoulders,knucknles outwards and elbows bent, and raise the weights up above my head and down again (I always think of that one as the heman exercize).

I thend lie on the floor and do 10 stomach crunches. this is like doing sit ups but slightly different. I lie on my back with my feet on the floor near my behind so that my bent legs are towards the ceiling (though not quite fully bent), and fold my arms behind my head so that I'm cupping the back of my head in my hands.

i then raise myself upwards using my stomach muscles. I can't usually get to sitting fully upright, but it's enough that I'm pulling upwards.

I usually start off with ten of those.

Finally, I get the lighter set of weights (I think they are five killograms, though they might be five pounds), and lie on my back with my legs down and my arms out to either side at shoulder level, with the back of my wrists on the floor and a weight in each hand, ---- you might call this the crucifiction position if that doesn't upset any christians here.

I then raise the weights upwards above my chest until my arms are together, then lower them. This i do very slowly, sinse that exercize is all about working the chest and pectoral muscles.

Actually describing all this makes me want to get back to it. I've missed a few months due to guide dog training and not getting started after I finished, but it always makes me feel better and is also very good for my singing as well.

I hope this description makes sense, but I'd actually recommend people go to an instructor once to get a routine, and make sure your doing it correctly, sinse you can do yourself injuries if you exercize in the wrong way.

For instance, if I did the first weight exercize where I bring the weights up to my chin starting out with locked arms, I'd risk popping my elbow joints, which would obviously not be fun.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2012-05-28 22:13:11

Hello Dark,

Your descriptions are very detailed and on par with something I would suggest a fully blind person reference. Would you perhaps be willing to put some of your experiences in one of the categories of my upcoming website? The idea of making an 'exercise'  category came into my head today and your textual descriptions are exactly what I am looking for.

Thank you,
Balliol

2012-05-28 22:34:24

Hi.
i would find an instructor but the one at the gym i go to cost 30 pounds an hour.
so if i where to go for 2 hours it would be 60 pounds all ready spent.
While i agree that finding an instructor to help you get a fitness plan isa great idea sometimes they can cost quite a bit of money and it usually isn't werth all that money.

I'm gone for real :)

2012-05-28 23:51:48

Hi Balliol.

I'm glad it helped sinse I do like explaining things as you guess. however I'd be a little concerned as to whether my description is complete enough, and if someone may hurt themselves trying some of the exercizes without at least knowing how the first time.

I could however ask my mum to write something herself, or at least to check over my description to make sure it's okay.

@Brad, I don't mean a personal trainer, they are indeed expensive and to be honest a little pointless when you can just do stuff yourself. I just mean a person who is experienced at weight training or exercizes who could show you how to do it first time round.

This need not be a professional, qualified fitness instructor, it could be someone who referees a sports team, or even another member at the gym who is good at explaining.

Heck, my singing teacher gives me pretty intensive breathing and diafragm exercizes to do to improve my voice, and she's in no way qualified in fitness, ---- though you'd be amazed at just how much muscle it takes to sing, sometimes my back and chest ache like hell after a really long practice, (contrary to popular believe, fat and unhealthy people do not! make good singers, indeed I know one chap who's a professional skeeing instructor in the winter, and a professional tenor in the summer).

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2012-05-29 02:03:04

Hi.
I work out 6 days a week well 7 days.
I did the personal trainer bit but never found it that good. most of the time getting so tired I just would sleep the rest of the day after.
I had to start after my flatting and independance course because of my group not doing or rather some not doing their share resulting in me eating kfc every day for most of it.
I have a brother that goes to the jym and also searches the net he has an instructer and asks questions.
I do pushups, standard and on elbows, planks swiss ball excersises as well as various pull ups and other bar excercises.
I also do weights on ocations.
I also walk most days of the week, 3 major walks a week and several smaller ones.
As for equipment some I got given, my weight set for example was a present, and my brother got the swiss ball for free for doing some work forget where.
The bike was at a sale for 200 bucks and everyone in the family uses it.
I have a couple bars one freestanding on a post with a couple brackets and one on a chain on brackets I can pull up and down with sighted help unfortunately though that bar is used for other things now.
Those my dad made.
We have posts that hold up the deck of our house and we can handle all that that way.
Myself I'd really like some proper gym room if I could ever get one.
One major thing I miss are things like a propper bench dip unit, I have a seat and another wobbly stool I use and my weight set but due to everything being outside it needs to be able to be carted round.\

Unfortunately I don't have enough room for all that, most of it is stored within my parents room, the rest is outside.
One thing that I am lacking is some sort of gym mat that you would usually have under the bars if for whatever reason I should fall off.
Its not happened yet,  though I need to be carefull as concrete is not the most forgiving substance.
For what it is though the bike and weights are the only proper equipment well as well as the swiss ball.
the bars etc are made out of scrap stuff well bar the bars ofcause.
the posts existed before the bars.
So its definately a home made gym.
I used to have an abb roler but don't use it anymore.
A majority of my excercises are floor ones though and for that I am happy.

2012-05-29 05:48:31

I used to go in the summers of my marching band seasons.
Every summer before band camp started, I would always go to the gym.
I would go for about an hour and a half, maybe even more.
For some odd reason I feel it was rather informal training. It was this group of ladies that would always help me out for pretty much the entire duration.
Believe it or not, it's usually a good idea to be in shape, especially if your a brass player.
@Crashmaster. Swiss ball?
I am assuming it's just another name for an exercise ball?
Do you think you could fill me in on how you use it and what exercises you do with it?
Also, what size do you have?

2012-05-29 13:59:00

Hi Omar.

i can believe that brass playing needs pretty extensive muscular work, probably not dissimilar to the sort of thing I do for singing.

Myself however, i think a lot of people go a bit nuts over fitness. While it's useful to do something, I've noticed too many people literally spend their hole life and energy on it, not to mention huge amounts of money on equipment, trips to the gym, trainers etc.

Myself I'm just content with the floor, two sets of hand weights and my trampoline as a noise reduction measure, with about twenty minutes a day.

Of course, this is not counting walking, sinse I usually do about 45 minutes to an hour's walk each day, but this is more for bennifit of Reever than myself.

The one exercize I do quite enjoy as an exercize is swimming, but the pool nearest to me closed, which is irritating sinse from where I'm living now I could've potentially gone a couple of times a week (assuming I could find someone to take care of reever), and I do enjoy the physical activities like cross country skeeing, canooing or tandom cycling (though I'm less keen on just sitting on an exercize bike), that involve going out and traveling, though I'm not really competatively minded enough to want to do any of these seriously.

I actually do wish i had enough vision to own a bike and go cycling myself, but ah well, never mind.

With our dreaming and singing, Ceaseless and sorrowless we! The glory about us clinging Of the glorious futures we see,
Our souls with high music ringing; O men! It must ever be
That we dwell in our dreaming and singing, A little apart from ye. (Arthur O'Shaughnessy 1873.)

2012-05-30 04:40:17

Nothign wrong with good old fasion pushups, situps, and jogging in place, man.

One thing I would take a note of is at least visit a professional, and see if you can set up an interview.  Go in with your weight, and ask them to take measurements.  They will give you advice, tipically on how you can improve your eating habbits (if you're not aware of how to already), give you advice on every day house hold excersizes, etcetera.  I'm not saying pay for one, but usually, if you're a member of a gym, or heck even if you're not, find one and take advantage of their offers to attempt to hook you.  For example, I took a free month at a gym simply because that came with an interview with both a personal trainer and a dietition.  Not any sessions, just a fifteen minute q and A session.  They are professionals for a reason, and if you can get their knowledge for little or no cost, even if it's just a basic overview, most people will learn at least one tidbit they didn't know.

2019-02-14 22:50:19 (edited by UltraLeetJ 2019-02-14 22:56:17)

and I am bringing this up again because its very much needed and i know most blind folk out there does not care for exercising.
Since the gym which I go to  is inaccessible, just like every gym out there in this unforgiving world (what a surprise, right?) dad and I made a few thin Styrofoam sheets you can actually put on top of each machine's dashboard. Where you find a hole, there you dip your finger and press the buttons for the basic functions: start, stop, plus, minus whether it is inclination or speed in threadmils, or hardness in bikes ETC. We went and measured everything, then made the guides according to that.
I normally go with my best friend. We have made it a plan to go every day at 6 o'clock sharp, and that leaves us with the rest of the day free. We are going 4 to 6 days a week. When he cannot go for some reason, then I spend more time in cardio since I have a labelled threadmill at home and it was recommended I do some more (thanks overweight organism).
He thankfully has explained and got me into most of the regular exercises you see everywhere for free in blogs and so on (you really need to have someone watch you at least once because words cannot convey some details), including the several types of abdominal pull ups  you can do (my abdomen at this time is protesting because we did hit that too hard two days back so I definitely feel the  DOMS, or delayed-onset muscle soreness... I bet he does too. For the most part I quite enjoy going... We talk all the time, share different things we have learned and overall exercise together in the same sets of things and so on. It also has a pool, so when that soreness kicks in swimming is a pretty nice soft stimuli to wind down. Having said this however, its too bad that gyms simply make things hard for us
And if you want described exercises (some common ones are there) I think this wonderful team has done great
now that they are being giving away for free, its your chance to get some health/life into yourself. Lamentably, the cardio is pretty stationary but good none the less. Its also important to note that you should probably start warming up, then stretch for a bit dynamically, please! and then work. Then you can do the regular stretches when you finish to cool down.

A bus station is where a bus stops. A train station is where a train stops. On my desk, I have a work station…

2019-02-15 02:19:36

As far as working out and staying in shape, I don't exactly have to do much. I just joined my local high school track team and it I just keep getting more and more fit as the season goes on. But usually at home, in the off-season or when I feel like I've been too lax with my arms, I'll do one of two things. Get my brother to play some one-on-one goalball with me,  which can be pretty taxing, or I'll do some weight lifting, as well as some planks, leg lifts, sit-ups, v-ups, and an excersise in which I lie on my back, put my hands behind my head, and lift my legs eight to ten inches above the floor. I attempt to hold them there for around a minute, while at the same time spreading and bringing my legs apart and back together. And I'll tell you what, it really works your core.
  Regarding weights, I have a few I've purchased, but I'm not after a bodybuilders fizeeque so I don't get too terribly heavy ones. I do a whole host of different arm, shoulder, fore-arm, and wrist excersises, and here are some of them.
I'll usually start out with a tri-sep  workout. I'll take my heaviest weight, and I'll bring it up and behind my shoulder. As I have no matching dumbells, I can't do both arms at once. Anyway, the weight is behind my shoulder, and my elbow is pointed straight up.My knuckles are facing the floor. I will then straighten my arm, so my knuckles are pointed up and the weight is above my head. I'll bring it back down and repeat about fifteen times per hand.
Next, I'll take the weight in my hand and position both so that the dumbell rests on my shoulder and my hand is in front of it. My knuckles are facing up. My elbow is pointing down. I'll again press the dumbell overhead, and repeat that fifteen times.
Then, in order to work on my biceps, I do the standard curls, and a modification I call hammer curls. With hammer curls,you don't hold the weight horizontally. You rotate your hand and hold it vertically, then curl it.
I then sit down on a bench to work on my fore-arms and wrists. First, I take a lighter weight and rest whichever hand it's in on the corresponding leg. From the wrist down hangs off the end of my knee. I flex my wrist until my knuckles are pointed straight out, and my arm, from the elbow on, is also straight.
And lastly, I perform something called colonel curls. I basically rest my arm on my knee again, except this time, all of my arm is there. My hand with a weight in it rests on my knee. My palm faces down. I will then use my fore-arm muscles to pull the dumbell up, until is at shoulder height. Then I'll bring it back down. All very, very slowly. In fact, everything I do, I do it slowly. If you work out fast, you do things quickly and it won't be nearly as hard.
So that's what I'll do to stay in shape, as well as some regular running. Personally, I sprint, because that's just the way I'm built. I have exactly two speeds, 0 (walking) and 100 (all-out sprinting.) But if you're after some endurance, you may want to run a little slower, or better yet, jog for a while.
So that's what I do. Hopefully some of you can benefit from it.

-
That Guy. Serving those people since that time. To contact, use that info.