The advantages of having Lupus SLE (chronic autoimmune illness) affecting joints, skin & organs. As well as other Lupus related illnesses such as chronic anaemia, kidney disease, fatigue, lupus depression: not to be confused with clinical depression as it can be a result of many factors such as hormone imbalance etc. There are many more examples & not just physical. You can check that out on previous blogs if your interested to know more 👍🏾😁.
But been a qualified fitness, health & wellbeing professional especially in lockdown & having the misfortune of Avascular Necrosis (AV) in my wrist & arthritis as a result in elbows. Picking up weights on some day’s is just not happening or beneficial. Wanting to still resistance train the upperbody doesn’t go away just because your less abled in the eyes of society’s understanding. So that’s where the ideas of adaptations start to flow. One been as I named the ‘Triangular Press Back’ just because it makes sense (looking at my picture you can understand how I thought it up)🤔. Plus been dyslexic I like to keep it simple. Haha.
As my stance on fitness is about sustainability. So having a catalogue of exercises based on your personal needs & goals which fit into your life rather than those unrealistic burst of enthusiasm to do a whole week of whatever is in trend even when you haven’t done the exercise before is usually a recipe for disaster. Not only do you put yourself at risk of burning out. But also not every exercise fits all. Of course challenging yourself to try new things is great. Like everything else you still have to decide is it realistic. Also what & why are you doing it.
As for myself my route into fitness was as a result of non medicated alternative to improving my overall health. Back in the day’s when fitness was just been able to get through a Jane Fonda workout without passing out. By the way I still do it when I’m feeling nostalgic as I didn’t realise I was doing Hiit workouts before the term Hiit was even created & yoga was a concept of been flexible enough to put your foot behind your head.
But the evolution of fitness, health & wellbeing is applicable for everyone young & old. Rich or poor. You could say fitness saved my life. Not just because I was able to get back on my feet after been incapacitated & after a spell in a coma. Also keeping at bay developing type 2 diabetes & reversing osteoporosis to ostepenia. Having my mind been energised by fitness & yoga. Starting the day or finishing the night off with my own personalised exercises. It’s given me that routine I don’t have been able to do on site work as a keyworker in schools.
With only 23-25% left of kidney function due to previous scarring & damage from 2 kidney failure episodes. We often overlook as a society or in modern culture the inside benefits fitness & yoga provides in our overall health & wellbeing. We have this way of not mentioning that word personal responsibility. Because without it, there’s always going to be an element of blame placed elsewhere. Whether that be TV, magazines, social media etc. I suppose that’s just the world we live in now. As fitness & yoga has existed long before the means of the many options as mentioned before. As a means of comparing your own situation or results wanted based on any individual who fits the criteria depending on the trend at the time.
But with all these shows showing us these remarkable transformations. The follow up doesn’t really hold up the evidence that the fast & short approach is realistic in a long term setting. Rather than slow & sensible for sustainable result that’s functional & meets your needs in your every day lives.
But the positive side to having access to a variety of TV & social media sources. Is been able to learn about a variety of experiences from different people & relate to either a situation or a feeling/mood. That may resonate & be the kick start to starting your own journey.
Because I walk a lot (that’s my thing). You know when you ask someone what’s their favourite exercise or activity & it’s that thing. That no matter how you feel mentally &/or physically the opportunity to go for a walk is always first choice. Pre lockdown I would always walk home from work so clocking up 5 miles a day was a breeze. Plus the chance to wind down & get a cardio workout completed simultaneously. So shielding put a stop to that. Not because I couldn’t go outdoors maintaining good covid19 practice. But because everyone else had no where else to congregate or go. The chances were which I witnessed on more than a few occasions. The pavements & parks were packed. So finding hidden gems among the local London streets was a positive result.
Even trips to the hospital was a invitation to walk a different route there & back. So was never a negative experience because It was like having a personal trainer making sure you did your exercise.
So sustainable fitness provides an independence to get in the habit of making the right choices for you with the right information. Because many have succumb to over exercising causing themselves injury which can have serious consequences to overall health & mindset. If you don’t build a strong foundation which starts at the why & what question. Then there’s room to doubt yourself should anything go wrong because there’s no reasonable answer if you felt you followed for example one person’s method to a flat stomach & big butt routine. Not taking into account genetics & the boring stuff I know like fat deposition. Women are prone to deposit fat around the pelvis, buttocks & thighs. Which is different for men which is their stomachs. If your expectations are not matching the reality. Like me for example I will never have the stereotypical big round butt. I’m more a from pancakes to peaches buttocks story.haha. But as I never set out to have a big butt my goal was to firm & tone that area having lost muscle mass & skin elasticity through the years of been incapacitated (illness) plus the ups & downs of my skin been stretched & then deflated more times than I can count (kidney disease fluid retention fluctuations). It was quite painful sitting for a period of time when you’ve got no cushion in the rear end. So I made it a goal I’m gonna resource simple butt exercises that I can do daily to maintain consistency whilst toning & lifting.
As fitness squats were not great for my knees so I opted for yoga squats as an alternative. The difference was so mind blowing to me that I didn’t try it before as an alternative. So combining the teachings of experienced qualified yoga teachers as an alternative to some of the standard fitness exercises such as squats & lunges for example. Resulted in exceeding my original goal because I gained so much more. Such as strengthening thighs & improvement in flexibility all from one goal to firm my buttocks. But that’s the benefit of a fitness & health professional. They know all muscles involved in what might seem just a specific muscle exercise. So when someone has just a bug butt but the thighs are not toned. Chances are they didn’t get one through exercise. The butt region is positioned in a place where you cannot tone your butt without toning your thighs in the process. It’s scientifically impossible. It’s like toning your abs. Without involving your core. Just not possible. Also not to focus only on static exercises because to tone efficiently
Also not to focus only on static exercises because to tone efficiently there should be a exercise that includes a range of motion. (Involving the whole body or more than just the target muscles) to achieve better results. Plus circulation is important not just because it helps prevent the occurrence of varacus veins forming, fluid retention (usually the legs) but also serves as a body temperature control. In the case of Raynaud’s like I have circulation is important for me to stay on top of. So a exercise involving a good range of motion for is Jumping Jack’s as one example. As the effects of Raynaud’s when the hands & feet get cold are quite to very painful. It’s equivalent to the worse pain of chillblain.
But hobbies have been great forms of exercise for me. Such as the great deals on offer on plants for indoors & outdoors at supermarkets. My mood immediately lifted when I bought a indoor flower pot & plant for a mere £2 total. Placed on window ledges. The pebbles I ordered to brighten up my little garden was a workout. The 20 kilo & 25 kilo large pebble box (more like boulders) transporting through the house to arrange in the garden was a good 3 hour activity. Which was also enjoyable & creative. Plus taking inspiration from our most treasured natural world icon ‘Sir David Attenborough’ getting up early morning trying to figure out the different types of birds nesting in the tree in my garden has given me appreciation for the things I would’ve otherwise not been interested in as an addition to contributing to my overall health & wellbeing.
With news a daily grim reminder of all that is wrong in the world. It’s great to task yourself writing down one thing that makes you happy daily. It can be anything from how the sky looks first thing in the morning to receiving a happy text message from a friend etc. Before you go to bed write one thing or many that made you smile or happy. It’s a tool that no matter how much is wrong there is always something that exists good in your life. So it’s not just been caught up in negativity. Of course should you feel it’s more serious (clincal mental or physical health) always seek professional help &/or advice. Do your research before taking up any exercises using weights including technique in picking up & using them. Posture & taking a look at your daily routine. Is it realistic to do a minute plank if you have a bad back etc. Just because you saw it toned your abs. Which is why I like to set myself the daily 100 reps. Which sounds a lot but it really isn’t if you have 4 different exercises which focus on the abs. & core at 25 reps each. Depending on your goal of course. So floor work exercises are great because you can do the exercise & stretches without needing a large space. Just as yoga poses on their own for fitness + health &/or used in combinatuon with wellness techniques. Such as in meditation. Like everything it’s experimenting with what works best for you. As well as taking into consideration your daily nutritional intake. Because if there is illnesses & injuries that can be prevented such as diabetes type 2, malnutrition due to not researching a new diet which can affect iron levels & hormones. Sprains & broken bones due to inaccurate weights usage &/or doing exercise moves with no prior experience. Also developing an unhealthy relationship with your body image allowing social media to dictate or validate you rather than be a resource for ideas &/or inspiration. Because there is no such thing as perfect but there is feeling good within yourself that instantly comes with a confidence that outshines any defects that you may consider yourself to have. Been susceptible to any type of criticism good or bad having a negative impact. When you are comfortable with yourself no matter if you’ve just started or in the process of maintaining a healthy balance in fitness & wellbeing. It all starts & ends with you. It doesn’t matter whether you’ve been solo shielding living on your own, in a household with a partner, family or friends. It’s your commitment you’ve made with yourself to invest time, money etc. In your own health, fitness & wellbeing.
That’s why sharing the benefits of what fitness & yoga can do not just in a general sense but also very important to me to illustrate it’s benefits for invisible illnesses mainly Lupus. Because there is no cure & unpredictable how it will act from day to day. But with all the painful experiences from treatments to procedures. Mental & physical. It’s rewarding to know yes there still can be bad day’s but I’m much more equipped to deal with them & hopefully others can benefit from that which I never had going through it the first time years ago.
Stay Safe ❤ Stay Active 💚
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