Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 40 total)
  • Exercise – why bother!?
  • the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    Since last October at age 47 I’ve…

    • As good as stopped drinking (50 pints a month to 5 or 6).
    • Gone to the gym 3 times a week, doing decent hard work-outs.
    • Cut back on chocolates and other junk.
    • Lost a stone.
    • Done longer walks with the dog.

    …and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    High Blood pressure remains the same (I’m on 3 pills a day to keep it lowish (bit still high)), but it’s no lower than before new regime.

    Only benefit so far is no weekend hangovers!

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    you expect big changes in 7 months after a life time of abuse ?

    it will come and the thing is you probably wont notice it due to it not being a stepped change – but others will notice.

    martinhutch
    Full Member

    You need to change your username to actually consolidate your gains.

    Depends on your start/end points really. In some people, high blood pressure isn’t necessarily related to diet or lifestyle.

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    spawnofyorkshire
    Full Member

    Are you doing exercise you enjoy?
    I like cycling, running and climbing so that’s what i do. Gave up on the gym because it was a lot of effort but not much enjoyment

    …and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    I would also suggest a trip to the doctors and possibly a bloodtest. If you’re otherwise fit and healthy it could be something else underlying (or not, you could just be a miserable bar-steward 😉 )

    mrblobby
    Free Member

    …and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    🙂 Sounds familiar.

    I think at our age the best we can expect is to slow down the rate of decline!

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    you expect big changes in 7 months after a life time of abuse ?

    Nope – not abuse by a long way. Last 4 or 5 years I’ve let my fitness go a bit, but for the 15 years before that I was a 5 days, 250 miles a week rider doing racing and trailquests.

    Even at my heaviest I was only a couple of stone above my racing weight of my mid 30’s.

    suburbanreuben
    Free Member

    …and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    High Blood pressure remains the same (I’m on 3 pills a day to keep it lowish (bit still high)), but it’s no lower than before new regime.

    Beta blockers by any chance? They may explain the dead brain, lethargy and flatness. They did with me. Have a chat with your doc to discuss the alternatives.

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    Beta blockers by any chance? They may explain the dead brain, lethargy and flatness. They did with me. Have a chat with your doc to discuss the alternatives.

    Amlodipine, Ramipril and Bendroflumethiazide.

    13thfloormonk
    Full Member

    My girlfriend edit: wife (must remember that now!) seems to do nothing except 1) stress at work all day and 2) lie around on the couch like a big sexy cat all evening, and yet (thankfully) she maintains a nice slender figure and never seems to get injured.

    I exercise at any given opportunity and end up with endless **** injuries that eventually just prevent me exercising until I start getting fat.

    Case in point the last three months:

    – join spin class and pay for 8 spins up front
    – herniate disc
    – abandon spin classes
    – recover from herniated disc
    – devote more time to hiking
    – numerous knee injuries (not helped by ill-advised skiing attempts on stag-do)
    – recover from knee injuries
    – focus on swimming to get a bit stronger
    – massive upper back spasm!
    – recover from upper back spasm
    – return to swimming
    – await next stupid injury

    Although if I’m being honest my coping strategy has been to insert

    – craft beer

    between every step 😳 / 8)

    I’ve lost the will to actually be fast or fit now and just want to focus on not getting visibly fatter!

    wobbliscott
    Free Member

    On the bright side just think how bad you’d be and how much fatter you’d be if you didn’t do the exercise.

    grizedaleforest
    Full Member

    High Blood pressure remains the same (I’m on 3 pills a day to keep it lowish (bit still high)), but it’s no lower than before new regime.

    I went on to Amlodipine for HBP and I’m fairly certain my own flattish, tiredness is a side affect. Due to see doc in a couple of weeks to discuss.

    nickc
    Full Member

    Gone to the gym 3 times a week, doing decent hard work-outs.

    that sounds shit TBH

    the-muffin-man
    Full Member

    that sounds shit TBH

    Can’t say it excites me, although it doesn’t bore me senseless either – it just fits it with our life at the minute. My daughter is at the leisure centre doing her Tae Kwon Do so I go in the gym while she does that rather than standing watching for a couple of hours.

    trail_rat
    Free Member

    fair enough – your first post came across differently to your second 😀 . i should also point out my last medical i was told high blood pressure and cholesterol and refered to my gp……its being monitored.

    im 30 – exercise well and eat well.

    Go figure.

    How ever i am statistically pre-disposed to get both of those through genetics…. my dad had his first heart attack at 34.

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Amlodipine, Ramipril and Bendroflumethiazide.

    I would guess one of these is why you feel flat….

    I take an SSRI every day (Citalopram) and that has removed my ability to really kill myself but it’s more like a rev limiter which kicks in at 12k rpm rather than say 3k rpm which is what a beta blocker feels like..

    DezB
    Free Member

    I put my back out changing into cycling shoes on Monday. I’d be fine now if I’d just sat in front of the telly eating buns. 😡

    Coyote
    Free Member

    ..and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    Sounds like you are not enjoying life.

    I go to the gym 3 – 4 times a week. Mixture of treadmill and weights. I enjoy it, it makes me feel good. I run on a Saturday morning with my 12 y/o son. Only 5K (Parkrun) but we enjoy it. I enjoy a few beers at the weekend, don’t enjoy hangovers so I don’t overdo it.

    Review your exercise regime and adjust accordingly. Are you *really* enjoying limiting beer to 5 or six pints a month?

    rone
    Full Member

    Simply, there is not enough ‘proper’ exercise in there.

    You need to be outdoors, getting the heart rate up and lapping up on some exhilaration and endorphins.

    Gym and walking the dog is better than nothing but wouldn’t rev me up either.

    I think one of the true realities of exercise (specifically annoyed by government outlines) is you have to crack on the intensity of cycling – i.e work quite hard and not much free-wheeling, then you get the benefits.

    Same with weight loss – I maintain weight on 8hrs cycling a week. To lose I have to work harder and do more. Besides you have actually lost a stone!!

    nickc
    Full Member

    (specifically annoyed by government outlines)

    ha, I did that “One You” questionnaire, I failed on exercise quantity as I only regularly exercise 4 out of the 5 days it wanted. despite doing nearly twice as many hours it wanted…

    LeeW
    Full Member

    It’s sad isn’t it, I’ve been back in the UK for 7 weeks now. Eaten as clean as possible, rarely have more than one alcoholic drink per week. Exercised 3-5 times per week on the bike/gym/pool and have lost no weight. Not one ounce.

    40 this year and beginning to worry that the muffin top is here to stay.

    KINGTUT
    Free Member

    the-muffun-man, considered TRT?

    molgrips
    Free Member

    I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    High Blood pressure remains the same

    Stress?

    KINGTUT
    Free Member

    @LeeW, the amount of fat people I see riding bikes and swimming at the pool makes me think that it’s not the best exercise for fat loss, have you tried HIIT?

    footflaps
    Full Member

    Stress?

    No, it’s the daily pill regime:

    Amlodipine, Ramipril and Bendroflumethiazide.

    nickc
    Full Member

    that it’s not the best exercise for fat loss,

    exercise for fitness, diet* for weight loss.

    * by this I mean “your long term eating habits”

    doris5000
    Full Member

    I put my back out changing into cycling shoes on Monday. I’d be fine now if I’d just sat in front of the telly eating buns.

    😆

    LeeW
    Full Member

    KingTut, I’ve had a while off the bike so am trying to easy myself back in – coaches orders.

    Have started this last week doing HIIT at the end of my 20, 8 and 5 minute interval sessions that I’ve been doing since back on it.

    rone
    Full Member

    Maybe you shouldn’t be getting into more TV progs as per your other thread 😉

    (Actually there is nowt wrong with watching a series like you’ve requested but bear in mind the opportunity cost of time.)

    BigJohn
    Full Member

    Those BP meds give some people side effects. I’m on amlodipine and ramipril without any negatives. I feel very perky. Have you tried cutting out food groups to see if one of those is the culprit? Cereal (bread,pasta etc) or red meat?

    jambalaya
    Free Member

    The lifestyle changes are definitely good for the body, keep them up I’d say. As above the medication is a big question mark so ask about that. Time to think about trying a few new hobbies to get some else “new” into your life ? Plan a few mini-adventures and get them done, things to look forward to ?

    tallmart10
    Full Member

    Interestingly, I am no expert but I was on Bendroflumethiazide and have been put on Amlodipine instead. Also on Lisinopril and a statin.
    I do seem to need more sleep but feel ok when I finally do wake up. Maybe look at food groups like BigJohn suggests?
    As I said I am a proper layman when it comes to all this, but my doctor did say to me once “Don’t think of medicine as a science, it is more of a black art really.” Very reassuring.

    jimjam
    Free Member

    the-muffin-man

    • As good as stopped drinking (50 pints a month to 5 or 6).
    • Gone to the gym 3 times a week, doing decent hard work-outs.
    • Cut back on chocolates and other junk.
    • Lost a stone.
    • Done longer walks with the dog.

    …and I still feel flat, little energy or motivation and generally a bit ‘brain-dead’.

    Exercise – why bother!?

    Try something that will be enhanced or improved by your hours in the gym, instead of the gym being an end unto itself.

    Take up a sport or activity that will engage you mentally as well as physically. Going to the gym is frankly an incredibly boring and abstract thing when done for no reason.

    toby1
    Full Member

    Even if you don’t feel it training makes you stronger, or should anyway.

    I’ve recently moved to more strength training and less cardio training, most cardio is a waste of time really (massive generalisation). Strength will also help protect against injuries if carried out correctly.

    Your diet doesn’t need to be filled with chocolate to be bad for you, although I’m guessing you know your way around food groups too.

    Prescription drugs kill people in the US regularly, personally I’ll do all I can to avoid them 🙂

    vickypea
    Free Member

    My guess would be one or more of those meds. If not, it could be that annoying thing I’ve found when you reach over 45 years of age and you have to do more exercise and eat less to stay roughly the same shape!

    benp1
    Full Member

    Consider your mental wellbeing as much as your physical wellbeing. Doing things you enjoy and that make you happy are in many ways more important

    Got to be the meds – if I clean my lifestyle up for a few weeks, I feel great. Doesn’t happen often though

    IanW
    Free Member

    You can only do the right things, what you get for your efforts is not gaurenteed.

    cheekyboy
    Free Member

    Exercise – why bother!?

    Because we all know the fitter you are the happier you are, your post indicates a lack of motivation, my advice would be to give something like https://www.britmilfit.com/?gclid=CPnA9fLb9cwCFeEp0wodG6sMyw
    a try.

    Best of luck whatever you do !

    jimmy
    Full Member

    Consider your mental wellbeing as much as your physical wellbeing.

    This +loads. I exercise a fair bit, always have and always eaten well. But I’m naturally anxious and sweat the small stuff which wears me out and makes me feel flat and tired most the time. If you have stuff on your mind, sort it out.

    Otherwise, could be physiological. I think I’m just not genetically predisposed to be on a high all the time.

    iancity1
    Free Member

    Another one in the “I think its the pills camp”. I’m in a job where I have to be fully focused and quick with comebacks in interview situations, a colleague was put on tablets for high blood pressure, although I dont know which ones, but the difference in him (for the worse) was remarkable – he himself said it was as if all the edge had been taken away, had to slowly consider every response which was not ideal for the environment he was in. He spoke to his doc, was prescribed something different and hey presto, back to his sharp self again…
    I myself suffer from high blood pressure, it was one of the main reasons I took up cycling. I have found just a sensible diet along with the exercise has really worked wonders, lost a little bit of weight but its the bp readings that have really come down…I also noticed when I had a spell off the bike that the bp was high again, so in my case anyway, I can clearly see that the exercise works (and I’m only talking about maybe 70-80 miles a week). Should add I’m 47 as well …

Viewing 40 posts - 1 through 40 (of 40 total)

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