Meet my new ‘best friend’.
This heart monitor and watch are going to be my new best friends for the next 12 weeks.
I was invited by my surgeon to be included in a university based study to see if there is a link between exercise and depression among cancer patients. I agreed to see if I was eligible, and I am. So… Wednesday I headed to the University over an hour away from my house. All was going well till I got to about 20 km from my destination. I say ‘about’ because that’s when the GPS screen went black and I panicked. It felt like my heart had dropped into my stomach and my legs began to shake. Thankfully, the night before I had studied the street directory diligently for about half an hour seeing all the various ways I could get there. And beside me on the passenger seat was my backup plan. I was familiar with the road till I got to a certain point, and on an A4 sheet of paper I had written in big letters: R – Wannaroo Rd, L – Ocean Reef Rd, R – Joondalup Dr etc.
I made it, and with enough time to let my heart rate and blood pressure return to a more normal reading. Then I met my supervisor, Greg, who started putting me through the physical testing phase. Height and weight measured, a body scan to assess fat and muscle ratio, a walk on the treadmill hooked up to a breathing machine. My cool-down time was spent filling out the 9 questionnaires. Then we headed for the gym where I walked as fast as I could around a 400 metre circuit, tested my upper body strength limit, and lower body strength. I discovered that I can leg-press almost two and a half times my body weight. Apparently that’s impressive, so I just had to include that bit of information :)
Today I filled in my first entry on my record sheet. I took the dog for a walk and managed to get my heart rate up into the target range by including a little jog. Knowing that Greg is going to call me twice a week for the next 12 weeks is motivation to get out there and do the exercise. It will be another 6 weeks before I go back to the University and repeat the tests. A 12 week exercise program sounds like such a long time…
DJ (c) DJ Stutley 2013
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Something a little controversial today… This saying evokes a strong feeling one way or the other. Some people believe that you take at face value what others are saying and not interpret it in any other way. Others believe that if you listen to what is not said, and watch body language, you actually get a clear picture of a situation.
