Do you have a regular exercise program?

Yep, twice or trice a weekf or 30-40 minutes....that is enough thank you very much.

Noone counts the steps I take or times I get up from my chair to get pts. water....bathroom breaks....snackes....blankets...pillows....temperature adjustments....cpap.....etc. etc.

I used to exercise regularly until about two years ago. I mostly did lap swimming, three to five days a week at the Y. I'd grind out slightly over a mile a workout, all freestyle. I'd do a 200 yard/meter warmup, then a 1600 meter workout nonstop (one mile), all freestyle stroke. Then a 100 cool down. Get out and take a hot shower to rinse off the chlorinated water. DONE.

I'd alternate that with five mile backpacking trips. Short trips with a pack in some local national forest that has very hilly terrain. Those leave me thrashed.

When I began having problems with my sinuses and left ear flaring up real bad, I have been forced to mostly stop working out. In warm weather, I still do the five milers on the trail once or twice a week. Maybe do a lap swim a few times a month still. But my sinuses have gotten so touchy the chlorinated water flares them up bad.

Ive discovered that I can exercise consistently in my middle age only when I am living in a house or apartment that has a good central air system, with frequently changed 3M electrostatic filters. And no smokers living with me. I believe I must have some allergies and maybe even some mild ashtma. I also can exercise better when its warm and humid out, spring thru mid Fall.

Im getting old and I think my body is falling apart. Ive done a huge amount of exercise in my life and honestly, I would have thought I would be in better condition at my age considering all the heavy exercise I did when I was younger and considering the fact I do not smoke or drink or use recreational drugs. I am obese, I suppose that is what has destroyed my health. I was not obese when younger, but have been obese consistently thru my thirties and forties, except for a two year period when I lost a lot of weight. My health did improve when I did that...hint hint.

Eric

I was just diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I want to exercise, but I'm so tired! But at least I know why, so I don't have to feel as guilty.

I belong to a gym, but I'm considering freezing my membership (I'm in New England, everything else is frozen anyway), and taking a dance class. Last week at was at a yoga and meditation retreat and I loved the YogaDance classes! I'm just afraid I will once again, pay for something, and then not have the energy and motivation to actually do it.

Winter is tough, though. As the weather gets warmer, hopefully I will be out more. And maybe once I get on CPAP, I can start an upward spiral. Can't wait to get started, but I need to wait for the second sleep study.

Janet

No, but I need to and I should.

I have a rebounder (mini trampoline) that I keep in the room with the TV. For 30 minutes a day, 5 days a week, I bounce. It is easy or difficult as I want, and fun as all get out. I added hand weights to work my upper body. I had shoulder replacement more than a year ago, and this has improved my strength and range of motion tremendously. Also, I've lost 12 pounds since August.

This time of the year seems like I am shovelling every other day. Other than that I do yoga daily and work with a trainer 2x a week.

I was very tired a lot before I got on CPAP as well. I would still force myself to go to the YMCA to swim laps. Before I went on CPAP, I would typically swim an 700 freestyle. A slow and relaxed 200 warmup, then a 500 workout all freestyle. That was about all I could do before CPAP. I know even that sounds like a lot to most of the folks on this forum, but you have to realize I come from a background of good health and a lot of endurance sports before my health deteriorated. Even with very bad health, I could still manage a 500 freestyle four or five days a week. Sounds tough to someone who never was a good swimmer to begin with, but a 500 freestyle is a joke to me. On or off CPAP. Beyond a 500, I have to be on CPAP at my age and in my condition.

After I started CPAP, I continued the same basic "500 freestyle swim" workout daily. I'd take a week off every now or then. Within about oh, six months after starting CPAP, I decided I wanted to lose weight and made myself start pushing it harder in the pool. Increased my workout from a 500 free to a 1600 freestyle nonstop. It was surprisingly easy to do and soon I was doing 1900 meters a day, six days a week, freestyle. 1600 meters of it nonstop freestyle. I got back into pretty decent shape and lost fifty pounds. I felt good after about six months of that.

It would have been impossible without CPAP compliance. The CPAP restored my cardio pulmonary capabilities and energy levels enough to workout similar to what I was doing in my late twenties, before I developed health problems.

I would recommend to hang with it and the odds are you will build back exercise tolerance. Thats what CPAP did for me, restored my exercise tolerance. I dont have a bunch of fancy twenty dollar medical words to describe what happened with the CPAP, I just know it restored my exercise tolerance. To this day, I can get back in the pool and grind out a 1600 freestyle nonstop.

I dont want to begin to imagine what I'd be like now without CPAP compliance. My guess would be either a gravestone with "RIP Eric untreated OSA sufferer" on my headstone. Or a nursing home somewhere, totally disabled.

Eric

janet444 wrote:I was just diagnosed with moderate sleep apnea. I want to exercise, but I'm so tired! But at least I know why, so I don't have to feel as guilty.

I belong to a gym, but I'm considering freezing my membership (I'm in New England, everything else is frozen anyway), and taking a dance class. Last week at was at a yoga and meditation retreat and I loved the YogaDance classes! I'm just afraid I will once again, pay for something, and then not have the energy and motivation to actually do it.

Winter is tough, though. As the weather gets warmer, hopefully I will be out more. And maybe once I get on CPAP, I can start an upward spiral. Can't wait to get started, but I need to wait for the second sleep study.

Janet

Argh, now I'm feeling guilty again, Eric.

I'm very sensitive to the cold, so I'm at my most sleepy and lethargic this time of year. But I am due for my second sleep study (titration) on Sunday, thank goodness.

Meanwhile, I may just push myself a bit more. I was at a yoga and meditation retreat last week and I loved the YogaDance. A lot more fun than the ellipitcal machine!

Janet

I get to the gym two or three times a week for strength training followed by about a half hour of aerobic exercise (stationary bike or elliptical, depending on what's available.

My wife and I do a ballroom dance class an hour a week and about three evenings of dancing a month. To me, it feels like 3 minutes of Cha Cha is about like 20 min on an elliptical.

Eh, wait until you get your CPAP gear issued to you. Once you adjust to it, give yourself say, six months of high compliance levels. And I bet your exercise tolerance will go up. Then you can crank it up, especially if the weather is halfway warm.

Also, yeah it is really important to do a form of exercise that you actually enjoy and makes you feel good. Me, I prefer exercise that is painful while I do it. But afterwards, I get a buzz or "runners high" from. Thats pretty much any kind of cardio. Lap swimming, day hiking in the mountains, using cardio machines and pushing it kinda hard. I use a Polar heart rate monitor in my middle age when I use cardio machines btw, helps prevent me from pushing it TOO HARD.

I like to go home and feel relaxed and kind of buzzed for the rest of the afternoon and night. I dont get that from weight training or from stretching. I get it from cardio.

Those yoga moves look really hard. I used to be really flexible up until my mid twenties, which was a long time ago. Now, Im tight as a drum. I bet I'd freeze like a pretzel if I tried some of those yoga moves. I have to admit that I wish I was still even somewhat remotely close to being that flexible though. Plus, some of those yoga women have awfully nice bodies!!!

Eric

janet444 wrote:Argh, now I'm feeling guilty again, Eric.

I'm very sensitive to the cold, so I'm at my most sleepy and lethargic this time of year. But I am due for my second sleep study (titration) on Sunday, thank goodness.

Meanwhile, I may just push myself a bit more. I was at a yoga and meditation retreat last week and I loved the YogaDance. A lot more fun than the ellipitcal machine!

Janet

That's encouraging, Eric. Thanks!

You know, yoga is perfect for people who need more flexibility. There's this misconception that it's about getting into crazy positions. Which is ironic, because yoga is about taking it slow, and listening to your body. I like yoga, but I can't do anything too fancy. It's not goal oriented.

Tomorrow is my second sleep study, so hopefully I will be on a machine within a week! And exercising again within six months? Hopefully, far, far less.

Janet