Exercise thoughts

[redbird]

I'm trying some mindfulness/awareness-of-the-moment stuff, in the hope that it will help with anxiety and mood generally. I realized while doing one of my gym exercises that exercise seems to be my best focus-on-here-and-now thing: yes, I spend some time thinking about other things, but I'm also paying attention to the movements and the way my muscles feel, and the verbal part of the brain is often going …4, 5, 6, 7,… or "see if I can do another set of these" rather than thinking about plans for the rest of the day, or news, or such.

Also, I have been saying now and then that living in Bellevue and spending time here and in Seattle, without a car, is an exercise program in itself. Not a complete one, and I'm not trying to use it as such, but some amount of cardio and leg exercise. I think this is true; at the same time, it may be either an excuse for not doing as much other exercise as I believe I should, or a form of "I don't mind all these hills, they're good for me." Mostly I don't mind them, but some of the steeper bits of downtown Seattle are still no fun, especially when I'm tired. (Fortunately, if I'm tired I'm probably going uphill: up is just strenuous, down is more likely to be dangerous if I slip, at the level where it's a steep sidewalk or staircase rather than actual mountaineering.)


Squats 3x15x15
Crunches 3x15
Biceps 10# each hand 2x20
Calf raises 3x15
Opposite arm/leg 12 pairs
Lat pulldown, standing on one foot, 25# 12 each, eyes closed 6 each
Triceps pulldown 17.5# 12; 22.5# 7; 17.5 12
Chest press 50# 2x12
Leg curl 55# 2x12

Comments

[jayblanc.livejournal.com]

I had to rest up for an entire day after walking around Downtown Seattle to do the tourist thing when I was there. But that's because I can't do stairs so parts of it were pretty hard on me. I actually found Ballard a more interesting place for me anyway...