Shut Up and Dance

(Aerosmith – well why not, I seem to spend enough post titles working through my music collection as it is. Image from wemustobey.wordpress.com) 

For the past few months I've been searching about for another form of exercise I can take up. I always hoped to return to pole dancing for example, but I particularly wanted something much more cardio based – Pilates is wonderful for flexibility and core strength, but it’s not the sort of exercise that lends itself to raising the heart rate.

The pole dancing scenario is looking unlikely – the most promising centre holds a class too late in the week. It’s becoming apparent since I’ve returned to full time work that I have absolutely no hope of doing anything highly physical beyond about midway through Wednesday – I’m simply far too tired and could well cause the first instance of falling flat on your face off the pole because you’ve gone to sleep.

The other two centres I found are problematic too – one books on a monthly basis to guarantee space at the weekly class of your choice and that’s no good for me with my unreliable health, and the final option whilst holding classes earlier in the week sells it all wrong for the way I think about it.

To give some background, SwanseaUniversity has recently banned its pole dancing society because of “inextricable links to the idea of strip clubs and objectification”. So once again a narrow-minded few spoil something for the majority. Pole dancing is often illegitimised as a form of exercise because of attitudes like the one quoted above – but exercise is entirely what it is. It requires strength and skill to accomplish well and provides a challenging whole body workout which builds muscle tone, flexibility and fitness.

The objectification point is rendered utterly ridiculous when you consider that the vast majority of classes do not allow spectators – so who’s doing the objectifying exactly? The third centre sells the sport via the website as all about ”looking sexy”. Whilst I wouldn’t wish to belittle those who choose to participate for this fact – each to their own, after all – given my thoughts about the way pole dancing is portrayed I don’t feel I can really put my money into an enterprise which is for better or worse going along with the potentially damaging stereotype.

I then started to look around into other dance classes in the area and mostly came up against the same too late in the week issue. The couple which didn’t fall into that category are either a pain to get to because of lack of parking facilities (dear old historic Jorvik hasn’t really accepted the car yet) or they’re a long walk away.

I like a walk as much as the next person, but it brings me neatly round to the main point of this post. Walking to an exercise class of any kind involves going out in the cold.

Yes I know, it’s nearly winter and generally speaking cold happens in winter. What exactly was I expecting?

(The only Cold Winter Night which is acceptable to me any more!
Image from wikipedia.org)

The problem is that no matter how well I wrap up if I go out in the cold, I get cold. Cold equals pain, soreness and overwhelming tiredness. No matter what good the physical exercise of the class would do, it would on balance probably be undone by the getting there and back.

Back to exercise DVDs I go.

It struck me on coming to this conclusion that I had been subconsciously avoiding this pretty inevitable end. Why though? I already use one (or the basis of it) regularly, so what harm would using another do?

I find there’s something of an assumption in the realms of health and fitness that exercising in your own home is cheating and showing lack of committment. You’re not going to a gym or a fitness class, you’re not going out running in all weathers, you’re not using a personal trainer so that means you’re not trying.

Essentially, do it one way or you’re doing it wrong.

Anybody else getting a sensation of déjà vu from "I'm not like you and I don't wanna be..."?

What I realised was I’d basically been telling myself this for a long time. Sure, I could carry on doing Pilates at home, but if I was going to do something else then a rather insidious little voice kept repeating “Stop being lazy, go to a class, meet people, be sociable!”

I know. I have Fibromyalgia, work full time and walk there and back each day, do a workout three times a week and yet I was still telling myself I was being lazy. When you put that next to the poor souls afflicted with FM to the point they can’t always make it out of bed, I look and feel a prize idiot. As for the sociable point – my lack of any sort of grace and particular skills in the clumsy department don’t lend to me being particularly comfortable with the idea.

In truth I don’t think there is a “right” way with exercise, except the way that’s right for you and your circumstances. It’s the same with diet – we all know some things are healthier than others and that other things are bad for us, but in the realm of chronic ill health where you have a myriad of diet restrictions, energy deficiencies, overwhelming fatigue and in some cases excruciating pain, these clear lines become much hazier and more difficult to see.

For me, it’s much wiser to stay inside and do whatever exercise I can there, because that way I don’t have to go out and get cold and I can turn the central heating up to whatever hilariously high level I like whilst I do so. 

After looking around and much reading of various reviews, I decided on the Strictly Dance workouts.

(Strictly Come Dancing minus all the clichés, made-up stories and excruciating attempts to be funny… This has merit!

Image from www.parentingwithouttears.com)

They’re all reviewed as being fast paced and difficult when you start out. My other half has just bought himself a tablet and is making full use of Instagram, so I can just about promise with certainty that when I inevitably knock myself out and end up in a heap on the floor there’ll be photographic evidence.

If I’m feeling generous, I may even share it with you all.

Wishing you all many spoons xxx

Let's get down to business

Yes, “To defeat the Huns” did just run through my head. Mulan ruined that phrase for me. I also can’t pack anything substantial without “Hockety pockety wockety whack!” skipping through my head either (“Books are always first you know!”)

(Growing up is overrated anyway. Image source unknown)

Stop it with your raised eyebrows, I can see you.

As I promised – an exercise post!

In light of my previous post I feel I should set out why I engage in the amount of exercise I do, which is a fair bit. From childhood I’ve always been very active – we had a dog to walk every day, and also lived just over the border from the Peak District which as anyone who has been will know is a beautiful part of the world and also the biggest and best kind of adventure playground when you’re young. Like most active children I tried plenty and not everything stuck, but the two main loves were horse riding and skiing, both of which I’d pretty much given up by the time I started looking into Pilates.

I wanted something I could do inexpensively in my own home – I had been swimming regularly but found there were too many opportunities to get cold in the process and that I was pretty reluctant to venture out in the middle of winter to get wet – there’s something about it being dark upon leaving work that makes me incredibly disinclined to go back outside.

About six months before starting to have symptoms I decided to try my hand at Pilates. I had a nasty fall from a horse at 13 which left me with a back injury nobody spotted until at 17 I had to start extensive physiotherapy to rebuild the interconnecting muscles in the lumbar region which, after years of being tensed around this hidden injury, had pretty much given up working. Pilates was sold to me on its central core strength elements and its low impact nature, making it a safe option for me as far as my back was concerned - although pretty much recovered I’m still very cautious.

I don’t exercise with a specific body shape in mind and I don’t have excess weight to shift (I don’t want to sound like I’m showing off but I may as well be completely honest) so in the first instance it was mostly purely for enjoyment.

Looking around on the internet I found many recommendations for the 10 Minute Solution series. I bought their “Pilates for Beginners” DVD and spent a few weeks doing the full fifty minute workout once a week (the workout comprises of five ten minute sections) and soon found it wasn’t particularly challenging. I progressed to the “Pilates Perfect Body” DVD and have stuck with this one since. The DVD’s five sections are:

• Arms
• Bum and Thighs
• Stomach/Abs
• Silhouette
• Stretch (I use this as a cool down personally)

(My DVD, available on Amazon for very few pounds. Image from fitsugar.com)

I’ll be honest that in the strictest sense it’s in no way pure Pilates. There’s a core element to every exercise, but the full programme comprises some moves derived from Hathi yoga and even classical dance training. There’s also more resistance work using your own body weight than you might imagine upon hearing the word Pilates. Most exercises have some modifications to make it easier if you need to – the leg section in particular makes plenty of allowances for knee and hamstring difficulties (my hamstrings are terrible).

I continued with the workout as much as I could through the pain and found it actually did work as a pain relief to a certain extent. What I failed to notice until the following winter (this one just past) was just how much stiffness I had now become prone to. I gritted my teeth and upped the number of times a week I completed the workout and slowly noticed improvements in flexibility.

This is in no way a miracle cure, I’m still in pain on a daily basis and I still have a lot of stiffness to combat, but every little helps and this is something which has worked to an extent for me.

At the moment I aim to do the full workout three times a week whenever possible, and have a tendency to do sections only on other days if I spot a particular problem. What I had to learn (and fast) was the difference between pain which could be alleviated a little by exercise, and pain that exercise would exacerbate tenfold.

I’m not sure if this is in any way typical of Fibromyalgia, but I’ll get it down and feel free to open discussion with comments below as I’d be interested to see comparisons. The pain associated with stiffness tends to be a dull ache that’s always there with occasional stabs of sharper pain upon movement. The other kind I think is to do with the weather as it seems to rear it’s head whenever it’s damp or cold, or due to be. It’s a much more deep-seated ache and throbbing and the only way I can describe it is “nauseating”. It completely invades my concentration and is pretty much a guarantee of a bad day or an oncoming flare.

It’s also why I hate the winter, as I spend most of winter riddled with the latter and with episodes of the former.

(If wishes were horses.... Image from uproxx.com)

What I’ve found is the latter just can’t be relieved and I have to sit it out, but the stiff and sharp pain tends to be lessened to a degree by doing the exercise. It’s not a perfect solution and I still muck up my judgement badly sometimes, but better to have relief some of the time than not at all.

I also used to pole dance, and I’d ask you to put aside whatever preconceptions you may have involving scantily clad ladies in nightclubs for the purposes of this post. It’s a fabulous strength exercise and I found it to be a surprising amount of fun. I had two friends who taught me on their pole at home in Sheffield, and I intend to pick it back up in York when I have the opportunity. Surprisingly, if done properly it doesn’t aggravate my joints, but mistakes are painful so it’s a great incentive to learn fast and strive for excellence.

I wanted to return to it this year but the day of the classes changed to later in the week, and as by about midway through Wednesday I’m usually dead on my feet it was a bit too much. It is something I’m keen to go back to though. There’s also a jive class my other half used to go to which we are going to try. I’ll know very quickly if I’m exceeding my limits and will be sensible if that’s the case, but it’s worth a try.

So, what’s changed? The improved flexibility has certainly taken the edge off some of the stiffness, even now the weather is turning damp and cold I’m not as stiff as I was last year at around this time. The downside is I’m far more muscular and what little fat I carried has slewed away, which does have the negative impact of heightening the allodynia when it’s bad as there’s little between the skin and the burning, aching muscle underneath. The somewhat intoxicating rush of endorphins released after exercise is also quite helpful in terms of pain relief.

I always follow up exercise with a bath as hot as I can stand it to soak in and then make sure to keep all the worked muscles warm for the rest of the day/night, and as long as I stick to this routine I find it relatively non-disturbing and I don’t have too many episodes where I regret it the day afterwards.

   

What also happened as a result of the jump from once a week to three times at least is my entire body shape changed. It took me a while to come to terms with this (nobody likes having to replace half their wardrobe all of a sudden) but I’m coming to like it now. I’m the slimmest and yet heaviest I’ve ever been because I’m becoming far more muscular, which wasn’t something I aimed for but it’s not a bad thing to gain some definition and shape.

Or to put it in the rather deprecating vernacular I usually use:

 “Great Scott, where did that arse come from?”