Renewing myself...or at least trying to!!

[sensei8]

5K's Bob? You're a better man than me! Nice work!

Thanks, Brian. You'd do just fine in a 5K, Brian!!

[LLLEARNER]

Congrats on completing the 5k.

[sensei8]

Congrats on completing the 5k.

Thanks, LLLEARNER!!

[sensei8]

Stupid Afib!!

I'll never beat this current weight loss plateau; been two months that I bounce from 251lbs to 266lbs then back to 251lbs....

Yesterday at the gym...

23 minutes on the StairMaster from levels 1-10 with 3 two minute cool-downs. Average HR = 59pbm [WRONG...NO WAY...NOT WITH AFIB!!]

10 minutes on the TreadMill on the Pike's Peak program, with a varying inclines at a .05 speed. Average HR = 178bpm [ALARMING...at one time, 183bpm with the warning alarm sounding off for all in the gym to hear]

I ended my workout immediately!!

I just don't get it.

Either the specific StairMaster and/or the TreadMill machine(s) are off calibration or what. But whatever was going on, I ended that workout session abruptly!!

Every darn time I ask my Cardiologist for workout advice while I'm in Afib, he only tells me to do what I can tolerate. GREAT ADVICE!! Thanks for nothing. I can tolerate a lot. Had it not been for the sensors on the TreadMill, I might've had a heart attack right there in the gym.

Why?

I felt absolutely fine!! I wasn't fatigued!! I wasn't huffing and puffing!! I wasn't gasping for my next breath!! I felt absolutely fine!!

Yet, I didn't push myself! I did what I felt was tolerable! I can tolerate a lot! I listened to the machine, and not to my own body warnings. My body warnings were telling me that I was fine.

Who or what do I listen to??

Why won't the Cardiologist give me a workout plan??

I've 2 months to reach my weight loss goal!!

I feel I'm failing everyone, including myself!!

I've 40lbs to go, and I'm stuck in a weight loss plateau from the depths of you know where!!!

I watch my diet...I don't binge eat...I exercise...I've completed three (3) 5K runs...I walk a lot...I drink water...After all, I'm eating more healthfully, getting more physical activity, trying to lose weight at a slow and steady pace -- and just not getting results.

Aaaaaarrrrrggggghhhhhhhhhh...I feel like a big fat failure right now. Can't seem to break away from the 250lbs range to save my soul!!!!!!!

I change my workout routines constantly so as not to allow my body to get use to something...I remember this quite well...

The mark of insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, expecting different results!!!!!!!!!!!!

I change routines religiously!!

[The Pred]

So sorry to hear it's not going well. Do you all your katas that you know one after another with no break as another way to do cardio?

[Alan Armstrong]

Don't loose heart sensei8.

The heart is a type of pump, yours isn't regulating properly and neither is mine.

By under or over working the heart; it is as if it has a mind of its own with uncertainty.

As martial artists, we can overcome pain due to conditioning and ignoring it; but pain is our body communicating that something is wrong.

Having heart issues, being in pain or not, the issue remains; not to be ignored but understanding how to coexist with care due and attention.

Having heart issues, during my next workout, I can induce a heart attack by crossing the line in to the Red Danger Zone, but by choice I stay in the Green Safe Zone.

The way I stay in the Green Zone is by doing everything that I usually do in the Red Zone, by either doing it twice as long or half as difficult twice as much.

Example: Doing 100 kicks, instead of all in a row break it up in to 2 sets of 50 and take twice as long to perform them.

The sudden starting and stopping when exercising and over straining the body is dangerous, therefore I manually regulate my actions and movements accordingly.

I love and appreciate my workouts more now than ever before my four heart attacks from eight years ago; being too weak to do anything but living in a hospital bed.

I have thyroid issues also another regulator for the body to contend with and to learn from.

As martial artists, we really do have a health advantage over all other activities due to the centuries of wisdom attached to it, if we choose to use it wisely; considering Taoist concepts for health and harmony.

[DWx]

I just don't get it.

Either the specific StairMaster and/or the TreadMill machine(s) are off calibration or what. But whatever was going on, I ended that workout session abruptly!!

Every darn time I ask my Cardiologist for workout advice while I'm in Afib, he only tells me to do what I can tolerate. GREAT ADVICE!! Thanks for nothing. I can tolerate a lot. Had it not been for the sensors on the TreadMill, I might've had a heart attack right there in the gym.

Why?

I felt absolutely fine!! I wasn't fatigued!! I wasn't huffing and puffing!! I wasn't gasping for my next breath!! I felt absolutely fine!!

Yet, I didn't push myself! I did what I felt was tolerable! I can tolerate a lot! I listened to the machine, and not to my own body warnings. My body warnings were telling me that I was fine.

Who or what do I listen to??

I can understand that this is frustrating. But you've achieved so much already.

Have you thought about investing in a heart rate monitor and possibly with a chest strap? You could wear it all day and get a good idea of your heart rate throughout the course of the day and would allow you to better monitor yourself during exercise. The heart rate monitors on machines at the gym are ok for a rough estimate but aren't so accurate overall.

How about something like this:

https://www.fitbit.com/us/charge2

Or if you wanted something that looked more like a traditional watch https://buy.garmin.com/en-US/US/c10002-p1.html

[singularity6]

A couple thoughts:

1. Could your device be malfunctioning?

2. A friend of mine went on a serious weight loss campaign. He was about 5'4" and weighted over 200lb. The first 50lb came off easy - diet, walking, cycling... did the trick! He fluctuated for quite some time after that, very much the same way you described, and with great frustration. He then added resistance training - specifically targeting the glutes and upper legs (he did work other muscles, too...) These large muscles require a lot more calories to maintain. This was key to his continued progress.

Apologies if this isn't new.

[sensei8]

So sorry to hear it's not going well. Do you all your katas that you know one after another with no break as another way to do cardio?

Thank you, The Pred!!

Yes, but only at home. I won't do that at the gym.

[sensei8]

A couple thoughts:

1. Could your device be malfunctioning?

2. A friend of mine went on a serious weight loss campaign. He was about 5'4" and weighted over 200lb. The first 50lb came off easy - diet, walking, cycling... did the trick! He fluctuated for quite some time after that, very much the same way you described, and with great frustration. He then added resistance training - specifically targeting the glutes and upper legs (he did work other muscles, too...) These large muscles require a lot more calories to maintain. This was key to his continued progress.

Apologies if this isn't new.

I immediately brought the descriptions on the HR readings to the MOD. The MOD agreed with my findings, and is going to have those two machines calibrated.

I've been doing the resistance training, but to be honest, not as often as I should be.

Thanks for the ideas, singularity6!!