When I went to the doctor about a month ago after coming back from Missouri sick again, I was talking to him about my cholesterol. He knows I’m not going to take meds but he was telling me that his cholesterol was higher than mine is and he started using his rowing machine daily and got his cholesterol way down.
I’ve been asking Vince to dig our rowing machine out. It was buried behind boxes and today he finally got it out where I could use it. The doctor told me to come back when I could work for 30 minutes on it. He told me not to be surprised if I could only do 2 or 3 minutes starting out. I did 10 minutes today. I may never get out of my chair again . . but 10 minutes was a good start.
Liz says
Be careful about overdoing it or you might hurt your knees or back. Make a play list of moderate-paced songs and then row to one tune and increase to eventually do your entire 30 minute playlist. You can also do the rowing twice a day to build up.
One of my doctors gave me the option of physical therapy or an app of 9 exercises to rehab my knees. I opted for both and I am glad I did. I tried the 9 exercises at home and was sore and stopped. But, after 5 weeks of going to PT twice a week, I am seeing improvement and will slowly start on those home exercises on the off days. What has really helped was doing some of the exercises first thing in the morning while still in bed (leg lifts and heel slides). The first 50-steps out of bed are not as painful.
Good luck on getting the cholesterol down!
Carolyn says
I row 2x a week. for 10 min, and then for another 10 min, w 10-15 min of yoga between it. You need to get a rhythm going. I use ‘row row row your boat’ I’ve also recently (after 3-4 yrs of rowing) that if I don’t push my legs out all the way, I get more bang for my buck.
Nelle Coursey says
I don’t think I could do 2 minutes much less 10! I am proud of you. Keep the Aleve handy! Take care! If you come to town tomorrow we will be there! Would love to see you.
Susan says
A rowing machine is one thing I have never tried. At the PT place where they let people come in from town and pay to use things like a gym, there was a machine where I laid on my back and pushed up weights with my legs. I liked that, and felt that it strengthened a lot of muscles. I wasn’t checking cholesterol then.
Joyce says
I feel your pain! I put a tarp over my leaky shed roof on Saturday which involved going up and down ladders several times. Then I blew and vacuumed leaves off the back yard for a couple of hours. On Sunday I could barely move! I went on and blew leaves on the front yard on Sunday anyway. Today (Tuesday), my legs are finally not hurting so much as to make me dread standing up. Build up slowly on the rowing machine! Sore is ok. Too sore to move is not…
Jill M says
Great job!!! I have started riding a recumbent bike at the office and take it easy on that. I am going to the doctor next week to discuss getting a diagnosis for a hypermobility disease and then I want to discuss the best options for me to work out. I know that running is out, but there is a rowing machine at work and I would love to be able to use it. Will have to wait and see.
Ten minutes is a great start!!
Judy Laquidara says
Good luck with your medial diagnosis and treatment/prognosis. I don’t even know what that is but I’m going to look it up.
Karen says
What kind of rowing machine do you have? I used to use a simple on at the college gym and would love to find one like that.