Topic: The Health, Fitness and Exercise Thread

@Zuljaras Honestly that’s what surprised me. I did ‘party hard’ at Uni, but in general I’m pretty responsible. Not a dessert or even a sweet guy, so when I was told that my glucose levels were up I was like… what😅

@Fight_Teza_Fight Well after hitting lvl 30 it is only downhill from there

@Fight_Teza_Fight I have blood tests at least every 2 months (have one on Wednesday actually) so I am pretty used to them. Actually the worst bit is when they stick the cotton wool on with tape and I have to pull it off 😂

I eat a lot of rice, moved to brown rice for a while but struggled digesting it. I think if you eat a lot of it see how it goes, you might find after a couple of weeks it’s not settling so well. My gut health ain’t the best though, sensitive chap I am.

@Kidfried I’ve got an ongoing medical issue so I have them as part of that through NHS, I’m not sure about Teza, I think if you want them as a general curiosity you’d need to pay and have them done privately though. They don’t check me for everything, having said that.

@Kidfried I have not heard about those tests either but my fiancé cares more about my health than me She is overzealous about health things from time to time

@kyleforrester87 Enjoy your blood test tomorrow!
It’s not really super surprising that something like this would show up as both my parents take more pills than there are days in the week (including blood pressure which is what I expected). @Kidfried @Zuljaras As Kyle mentioned they don’t check for everything, but I think ours was like 9 (or) 11 categories. I had to get one done anyways as, per the doctor but I have literally put it off for almost a year.
Also I have had red rice just twice since. I don’t hate it, but it’s not the same. Just so bland.

I don't think I've ever actually had a blood test. I do donate blood as often as I'm allowed so as it gets tested before it gets passed onto a hospital I must be generally free of anything really nasty e.g. syphilis 😅.

Definitely don't know where I stand glucose or anything else wise though. As I'm mid forties now perhaps I should check that out. I already know there's things I could do better as I do have a few drinkies through the week and perhaps don't eat the best all the time but generally try and keep on the straight and narrow and try to eat a good few healthy meals as time permits.

My inflammation is pretty crazy at the moment, been in so much pain - I saw my blood test results and Globulin g/L was 47, normal range is 20-35 so this seems high and reflects the pain I am in. Honestly, Saturday was so bad I actually cried for the first time in forever haha.

I'm having to nuke it with 750-1000mg Naproxen per day now with some stomach protection drugs to boot, and ride it out until I can see the rheumatologist and get my biologic drug changed. Feeling a lot better today for it but overall I haven't been this bad since my 20's when this arthritis all kicked off.

I think this summer is a bit of a write off as far as my cycling goes but it is what it is!

@kyleforrester87 That sucks mate, hope you get sorted sooner rather than later. Being in pain all the time can't be pleasant, especially when you don't know when or if it's likely to end. Do you usually see the same person regarding ongoing treatment or you just get referred to a different person each time?

@render My GP is pretty good in all fairness, but you know how it is getting an appointment. The arthritis effects my eye so I am at an eye hospital a lot, I have pretty low faith in them frankly. My next appointment there is in a month, I am going to go in strong. Been on steroid eye drops for a year and a half now, not good at all long term. I see rheumatology specialists at a general hospital, the quality there ranges, but it's not bad when there is a real problem so they should do something to get on top of this when I next see them.

Really all three, GP/eye hospital and rheumatology should be in better communication but they are not at all really, which is an issue.

I've been going swimming lately because my counsellor suggested it and I am finding it very relaxing and also good to at least be doing some exercise.

I go for an hour a day about 3-4 times a week at the moment. I currently do about 1025-1050 metres of swimming as well as stretching in each session, a mix of breast stroke, front crawl and back stroke.

I still can't really do any other exercises due to injury. I'm seeing a physio about my wrist but beyond resting it for many months, it still doesn't seem to be getting better enough for me to start using it effectively again.

I also have a GP appointment for my feet next week because both my counselor and my wrist physio have told me to do it and I shouldn't be living in pain for like 8 years lol

That’s really great that you’re swimming so regularly. I do enjoy it but I usually find it’s too much effort to go.

My health is getting better in the second half of the year and I am back on the bike more regularly, not really hitting it as hard as I was last year but pushing for small improvements - just trying to take care of my knee. In addition I’m doing strengthening/conditioning at home much more regularly, different leg exercises (lateral), sit ups, yada yada. All stuff I have been neglecting the 12 months+ prior. Pretty sure just focusing on cycling muscles in recent years has caused me problems now. My quads are good but everything around it is rubbish.

@ralphdibny That sounds like a decent amount of swimming! I'm not sure I'd be able to do that as it's been years since I was last in a pool (not counting the times I've taken my under 1 year old to swimming lessons anyway).

My hot streak of running has come to an end though as I think I've got Achilles tendonitis, mostly in my left foot but just a little starting in my right. They've been tender for a while but started hurting when setting out on runs and recently when walking too. I had the same thing when I first got back into running and I almost quit altogether so I really hope it settles in the next month.

An added shame as I'd just started taking the kiddy out running in the dedicated running buggy we bought recently. It's been good fun but bloody hell it's a killer on the hills pushing just under 20kgs up as well as running them!

@Thrillho sorry to hear that. My arthritis started in my Achilles tendons and I’ve lived with varying degrees of pain in them for 15 years now. At its worst I quite literally could not walk! It absolutely sucked. It’s why I don’t even bother trying to run now so I don’t risk irritating them. Obviously if yours is injury related it should calm down but the rest and rehab is gunna be the same. Get on top of it quickly, don’t take the pi$$ (it could be months) and be bloody patient! (See a physio to keep you on track!). Fortunately it does get better in time.

Guy I have been riding with has stress fractures on both hips so he’s not able to run for 4-6 months I believe.

Get a bike 🫣

@kyleforrester87 I’ve probably been ignoring it for a while to be honest so am worried it’s going to take a while to settle again. Currently munching ibuprofen but not sure it’ll make too much difference.

And a bike???? 😧

@Thrillho see how you get on icing them right before bed, too.

@AgentCooper nice one, well done mate 👏

@kyleforrester87 I know what you mean, with the getting changed, steam room and sauna, showering and getting changed again. An hour long swim could be a 1.5-2 hour trip. I'm just trying not to think about it and just enjoy it while it lasts

Is it arthritis that's bothering your knee or another injury? My knees been playing up lately, I've actually been thinking of doing some aquafit classes so I can do some different exercises but lessen the impact by being in the water. My partner has questioned whether I am the right demographic for aquafit though (her 60+ year old mum does it) 🤔😂

@Thrillho cheers, I think I started by doing like 850-900 meters 2-3 times a week then I built up to it. It started off with the good pain, the workout kind of pain but I am feeling strain on my tendons and joints now which is the bad kind of pain so I might dial it back a bit so I don't injure myself further.

Gutted about your Achilles tendon mate, hope it gets better as soon as it can. That running buggy sounds awesome though. I bet that's a sight, running with that! Does it have suspension or something?

@ralphdibny Joint pain from swimming sounds a bit unusual so I hope they sort that for you soon!

Achilles are feeling a little better at the moment but I know not to rush back. I’ve probably been putting off the needed rest for too long but it does seem weird to have hot when I’ve been doing the same distance and hills for almost two years.

And the buggy is good fun! It’s taken a while to get used to it, particularly what to with my hands when running, and like I said above uphills are a killer! The first time I went out with it I got a (sincere) round of applause from a group of mums at the top of one hill 😁

EDIT: and yes, it’s got added suspension and you can lock the front wheel in position so it’s more stable too.

@ralphdibny haha I didn’t factor in the steam room and sauna. That’s a luxury treat! Hard to tell if it’s arthritis causing my knee pain or tendinitis from going to hard on the bike much earlier in the year, the treatment is much the same though and it is definitely getting better (although some days it’s worse than others). Just gotta keep doing my strengthening exercises and not take the pi$$ 🤞🏻🤞🏻🤞🏻

@AgentCooper Hey man, well done for coming off of holiday and finding you've lost weight. I actually managed to do that earlier this year as well as I tried to stay active whilst we were away. I find that it's usually winter that's harder for me as that's when it's easier to shirk the exercise and just binge on stuff that makes you feel better about the cold wet weather.

@ralphdibny Good job on the swimming front. I'm a bit the same as the others in that it feels like a big effort to go swimming. I go with the kids every now and then but most I manage is 10 lengths max as they usually just want to mess around, which I'm totally onboard with as it should be fun too. It's a good low impact exercise for when you have injuries so hope you keep it up.

@kyleforrester87 I can sympathise with you regarding knee pain. Mine never totally goes away but then I've never found a complete solution for it either. Resting for a long period of time and doing recommended exercises etc calms it down some but it always comes back even after 6 months etc. I can easily blame mine on too much high impact running down stupid hills and just not being built for this sort of thing. One thing I do notice though is that it's not nearly as bad if I'm fitting both cycling and running in rather than just running. It's a combination of mixing things up so it's not all high impact as well as building different muscles which are probably not being used as much.

@Thrillho Bad luck regarding the injuries. I can't say I've ever had those specific issues but I can definitely second Kyle's suggestion of getting a bike, as I mentioned above you can at least get out and do something when impact is an issue and it might actually make you a stronger runner by allowing you to work out other muscles. A lot of the competitive running I do is in hilly places e.g. the lakes and because I live in a fairly flat area I tend to not get out on the hills so much but cycling does work the muscles that I need for the hill climbing so for me it works out really well.

I've been trying to make the most of the good weather over the summer. I got a new "to me" mountain bike and I've been loving riding something more up to date than my previous bike. Whilst it hasn't made me massively better as a rider it has made riding a lot more fun and things that seemed out of my reach skills wise now seem possible if I'm a bit braver. I've been keeping up the running too and have entered a 2 day event at the end of October with a friend which I'm really looking forward to. It doesn't feel very far away now though so going to have to step up my training on the run up to that.