Exercise: Martha's confession

[Guest guest]

Robynn writes to me: How much exercise do I do, and for how long?

The ugly truth is that right now I have no structured exercise

routine. For the first year postop, I belonged to the Oakland Y and I

exercised 3-4 times a week for an hour without fail. I also attended

Yoga classes once a week.

About 13 months postop I developed a painful and debilitating knee

injury with sciatica in my right leg. Needless to say, that was the

end of my exercise routine. I had all kindsa swelling and even took

aspirin (with Pepcid) for several weeks. Kaiser did an MRI but found

nothing they could treat.

Over the course of the next 18 months I gradually got to where I could

walk more than a couple of blocks without ending up back in a brace.

But the sciatica still lingers and is very unpredicable, sometimes

causing my leg to buckle.

Now you don't know this about me, but during my exceedinly long life I

have tried many types of exercise: Weights, swimming, running,

Jazzercise, various gym routines. Every one of them has resulted in

some permanent injury (2 bad knees, 1 quasi-broken ankle ® and

broken foot bone (L) with major residual scar tissue, lower back

strain, etc., etc...). I am convinced that, for me, exercise is

Harmful To My Health.

With the onset of my leg injury I gave up. Oddly, I've been able to

maintain my goal weight range as long as I am careful with my food

intake. And my exercise tolerance in the real world is pretty much

endless (unless my sciatica flares up and stops me). I don't know why,

but I can walk for hours, lift, move furniture, etc. without getting

tired and it takes a LOT to make me sweat.

So I am ashamed to admit to this group that I don't exercise AND that

so far, I don't seem to need to. Rather than being some kind of

morally superior being, I have an undeserved natural advantage, like

being a natural blonde or being able to do algebra without bursting

into tears. Either this is karmic payback for something good I've done

or else there will be hell for me to pay somewhere down the line. Now

if you see me limping you'll know why, and you don't need to feel

sorry for me--it's the flip side of my exercise exemption.

Martha

[Guest guest]

Somehow it doesn't surprise me that you'd injure yourself...you seem like somebody who throws herself headlong into any endeavor she undertakes, and you probably have a tendency to "overdo" everything. However, it also seems like you maintain a fairly active lifestyle, even without a regimen of exercise, so that probably helps you. I mean, you are essentially energy personified...you probably burn a lot of calories just "being".

Thank you for your candor!

Robynnnursefera2 wrote:

Robynn writes to me: How much exercise do I do, and for how long?The ugly truth is that right now I have no structured exerciseroutine. For the first year postop, I belonged to the Oakland Y and Iexercised 3-4 times a week for an hour without fail. I also attendedYoga classes once a week. About 13 months postop I developed a painful and debilitating kneeinjury with sciatica in my right leg. Needless to say, that was theend of my exercise routine. I had all kindsa swelling and even tookaspirin (with Pepcid) for several weeks. Kaiser did an MRI but foundnothing they could treat. Over the course of the next 18 months I gradually got to where I couldwalk more than a couple of blocks without ending up back in a brace.But the sciatica still lingers and is very unpredicable, sometimescausing my leg to buckle.Now you don't know this

about me, but during my exceedinly long life Ihave tried many types of exercise: Weights, swimming, running,Jazzercise, various gym routines. Every one of them has resulted insome permanent injury (2 bad knees, 1 quasi-broken ankle ® andbroken foot bone (L) with major residual scar tissue, lower backstrain, etc., etc...). I am convinced that, for me, exercise isHarmful To My Health. With the onset of my leg injury I gave up. Oddly, I've been able tomaintain my goal weight range as long as I am careful with my foodintake. And my exercise tolerance in the real world is pretty muchendless (unless my sciatica flares up and stops me). I don't know why,but I can walk for hours, lift, move furniture, etc. without gettingtired and it takes a LOT to make me sweat. So I am ashamed to admit to this group that I don't exercise AND thatso far, I don't seem to need to. Rather than being some kind ofmorally superior being, I have an

undeserved natural advantage, likebeing a natural blonde or being able to do algebra without burstinginto tears. Either this is karmic payback for something good I've doneor else there will be hell for me to pay somewhere down the line. Nowif you see me limping you'll know why, and you don't need to feelsorry for me--it's the flip side of my exercise exemption.Martha