It's walking and it's working - XV

The numbers please me

Since I got back from Cape Town, I have not done any of my intensive walking exercises, though I might have hit the 10,000-step threshold on some days, because it just happened.

I started this walking exercise thing two years ago on the 30^th of July 2020 just as the first lockdown of the pandemic was easing off. Progress has been slow, but I checked on the anniversary to see what I might have done.

Doing the tally for the 730 days from the day I started, I had put in 8,089,788 steps, averaging 11,081 steps a day. I felt quite pleased with myself that I had achieved that, though I am yet to complete a straight calendar year that averages at least 10,000 steps daily, I have the prospect of succeeding this year.

Just keep at it

In terms of gains, the going has been tough, as I have both reached my lowest weight in 12 years and highest weight ever in this timeframe, the work of bringing the weight down is progressing, I feel much fitter and healthier than I ever was. Though traversing the hilliness of Camps Bay was a testing experience of endurance that went to the core of everything you threw at each step you took.

Obviously, I hope to get back to the exercises, I am just hoping I have no new encounters with those out-of-control dogs. I suppose the very basic conclusion to this activity is, “It’s walking and it’s working.”

It's walking and it's working - XII

Up on my feet

When it comes to my walking exercises, I must say I have had a rather lazy year to date. Yet, there is every reason to celebrate the achievements in relation to aspects of health and wellbeing.

It was a year ago that I decided to start walking as a form of exercise as I cannot run due to longstanding shin splints and gradual bone mass reduction because of my medication. There are times when walking itself can induce chronic pain in my legs that I just have to work through the pain barrier.

Really quite a feat

Finding out about the Brooks Ghost trainers of which I have had 3 pairs has made a whole world of difference. They are running shoes, but the cushioning effect works so well for me that I rarely need my walking cane when wearing them.

Looking at my 365 days of walking, I have put in 4,654,091 steps coming to an average of 12,751 steps a day. If I had managed 10,000 steps a day this year, I would have been another 120,000 steps ahead, but I will not beat myself up, I am not that far off the daily 10,000 step count which I first breached at the end of May.

And still keeping fit

I guess what concerns me is whilst I am apparently fitter, I have not been able to shed the pounds as much as I would have liked, though my friends and especially Brian are given to flattering me about my figure, I am not that easily fooled, the scales can do everything but lie.

If there is any consolation, walking costs nothing apart from finding the time to do it and hopefully in good enough weather. No gym, no equipment and no time-limited access to anything. Just getting out there and doing it is enough without distractions or intrusion. It is walking and even if I am not so completely satisfied with the results, it is working too.

It's walking and it's working - XI

Measuring up to averages

To an extent, I have walked myself ragged, for, in the last 4 days, I have walked 85,603 steps, but that is not the landmark, I can still feel it in my body. I only really got back to walking properly on the 8^th of April, before that, I had only walked to reach or exceed the 10,000 steps daily for 31 days out of a total of 97 days in the year to that time.

Average for the year was low, and though I thought I might make it for the 5 months of walking last year, I fell short by over half a million steps to bring my average to 9,328 steps for the year. It was already the end of April before I caught up to the average for last year, though, if I had walked every day, I might have breached the 10,000-step average for the year.

It was yesterday on Day 144 of the year that I finally got there, with an average of 10,007 steps for the year 2021, but once we got to Day 145, I was short again. My intention is to keep the daily average for the year above 10,000 steps and have something in reserve. My walk today has given me a day in hand, as my total for the year is now at 1,460,470 steps.

Marketing defines the step rule

In truth, a Harvard Medical School research suggested women only have to make 4,400 steps a day t significantly lower the risk of death. There does not seem to be any significant benefit on the risk of death after 7,500 steps a day. So, you ask, where did the 10,000-step threshold come from? It came from the tradename of a pedometer sold by Yamasa Clock of Japan in 1965 called the Manpo-kei translating to '10,000 steps meter'. [The Conversation: Do we really need to walk 10,000 steps a day?]

There was no solid evidence for this recommendation, but it took hold and that became the de facto standard for walking fitness that subsequent and modern pedometers adopted. There is no doubt that exercise is good for fitness and health. I have seen evidence of it in feeling strong and able, losing weight, and the opportunity to explore nature clearing my mind of all the clutter of the day.

Whilst I do need to walk harder and work harder to reaching what one might consider the ideal weight when my electronic scale appears to suggest I am first overweight because of the BMI (Body Mass Index) measurement. For a system developed in the 1830s, the case is being made for discarding the measurement as an indicator of health and fitness. It is a crude and blunt measurement that it is suggested there is more benefit in measuring your waist. [Business Insider: BMI is bogus]

Fit on the walking side of lights

I am not for the gym

You will not see me in a gym pumping iron, the truth is I have never been a consistent gymgoer, the draw, the interest, the desire, and the drive soon wears off in novelty whilst the gym happiest cashes in a direct debit payment monthly with glee.

When it comes to gym equipment, I have enough stashed away around my apartment and under my bed for any regime to tone anything you want on your body to the muscles that can make your ears wag like elephant ears.

The walks do suit me

Yet, I find myself enjoying the walking exercises with some consistency that surprises me. The rain, the sun, the cold, the time, and whatever the weather is no impediment to getting out to do the basic 10,000 steps and a little more.

Now, I might not wake up early for my dawn walks especially if I have not put in enough sleep overnight, but soon after work, I will be on the trot, the regular route if there is still some light or the major well-lit roads when it is dark.

Black objects in the dark

I do worry about many of my fellow road users, the cars would obviously have their lights on, too many cyclists have no lights, especially the delivery couriers and they are in dark clothes too, a danger to themselves and others as moving black objects in the dark. I will have flashing LED armbands to at least make people aware that I am there.

Four vehicles flashing their blue lights, some with their sirens blaring probably needing to be somewhere fast to bring help or take the wounded or ill to the hospital. Emergency Ambulance the writing on the vans read. It made we wonder when is an ambulance not an emergency vehicle? Then, maybe there is a fee for the number of letters painted on the vehicle, do you know?

It's walking and it's working? - VII

Keeping at a good thing

It could be quite easy to relapse whilst on holiday from the routine I adopted from the end of July 2020. I guess one of the things I miss from measuring my progress is weighing scales, even as I try to ignore the issue, I could be a bit obsessed about my weight and getting it to where I want it to be has not been easy.

It is summer in Cape Town and from early in the morning, the sun is out, and the weather is warm, by the time you have done the first kilometre of the 8 you need to get your 10,000 steps in for the day or the workout, you are sweating, and you have the compulsory facemask on.

And a natural inconvenience

Soon you also want to use the public conveniences too and hopefully you are walking route takes round somewhere you can get to ease yourself or you’ll be running back home just before you wet your pants. In the meanwhile, it probably is still working from just walking.

The numbers from last year are 3,088,840 steps for an average of 9,360 steps a day, the bulk of which was done in the last five months of the year, because until then, I only exceeded 5,000 steps once and that was in January. I probably can do more but I have to pace myself, because either a strain or a nerve ending is playing up in one of my legs that gets a regular hot press.

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Blog - It's walking and it's working - II

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Blog - It's walking and it's working - IV

Blog - It’s walking and it’s walking - V

Blog - It's walking and it's working - VI 

It’s walking and it’s walking - V

Breaking to press on

As I informed of yesterday, I did not go out for my walk on Sunday and that became a break, in the streak of walking at least 10,000 steps daily from the 30^th of July. I guess I was demotivated by not getting an acknowledgement of my 100-day day streak which should have arrived on the 6^th or at worst the 7^th.

This morning, I was out of the door at 6:05 AM and I slightly varied my route because the daylight had not arrived over 4 kilometres into my walk. I was a bit concerned that for my slow pace that 9’24” per kilometre, my heart rate was in the extreme region where the maximum heart rate for my age should be 166 beats per minute (bpm).

A heart in a race

Of the 1:49:55 hours I took to complete 11.69 kilometres, 82 minutes were above 149 bpm and peaking at 184 bpm with the final 27 minutes falling to the anaerobic and aerobic heart rate stages. I put it down to my apparent lack of sleep overnight where I barely go 3 hours in.

I then began to gather the evidence to make a complaint to Huawei about the discrepancies in the walking records of the last week of November, that aggregated the tally but was only showing in one day as the average for the week, rather than discretely tabulating the steps for each day.

Proof, I did it

As I clicked on the chat button, there was a popup on my phone, the achievement medal I was waiting for, was delivered, and it indicated I had completed my feat today when it should have been on Friday. I guess that they have confused the date of attaining the achievement with the date of the granting the award because my streak was broken yesterday.

However, I am not complaining that much, the medal has arrived and the next goal that will take a while is the medal for completing 10 million steps. I wonder if I will have any legs left by then. Getting an achievement boosts encouragement and helps one unto higher goals. I hope to be back with more evidence of, It’s walking and it’s walking.

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It's walking and it's working - IV

An app in a tizzy

I am a bit crestfallen but not discouraged. On Friday, the 6^th of November, I should have completed a 100-day streak of at least 10,000 steps daily which started on the 30^th of July. My Huawei Health app should have unveiled the medal of achievement for that feat, it did not.

On further scrutiny of the situation, it seems there were was a glitch in the app that messed up the statistics for the week commencing the 25^th of October, the weekly report is not tabulating the daily counts from the 26^th for that week, though the daily view evidently shows I completed each threshold comfortably.

When looking at the monthly report, it is the 26^th of October that is missing, and it might require working with the Huawei support teams to fix this. So far, I can report that at the end of the 6^th of November, I had walked 1,922,073 steps.

It still works beautifully

I probably will not go out for a walk today, I have been trying to catch up on some lost sleep, the last week was fraught. My average night’s sleep for the week was 4 hours and 29 minutes, just not nearly enough.

On the walking front, there is progress, I have not been able to shift my weight much below 80 kilogrammes, it would probably be stuck around that number. My waist size is reduced that I can fit in shorts that I had forsaken months ago and generally, I feel fit, but for the niggling insomnia that commands some interest, concern, and attention.

On the whole, I can still attest to the fact that it is walking and it is working, I do not have to lift weights, run, jog, or perform any other exercises. It is likely I might have to do some abdominal exercises to firm up my stomach, but the distinctive paunch from earlier in the year is gone. Much as I see many jogging on my early morning walks, I have found the routine and regime that works for me and I will continue with it.

It's walking and it's working - II

Getting it done early

Just over a week ago, I decided to start putting in a lunchtime walk exercise to take the burden off trying to meet my 10,000 steps in the evening into the night. At first, I was satisfied with getting about 6,000 steps in, so that whatever I did later filled up the quota easier and the extra was just a boost on my activity.

However, on Sunday morning before church, I had done over 10,000 steps that when the day was over, I was just 231 steps short of 30,000 steps, it should not have taken much more exertion to beat the most steps of 31,687 steps that I set on the 13^th of September.

Useful results to celebrate

Four weeks ago, I wrote about the fact that all my exercise was just walking and it was working, I am losing weight which has fallen from 88.2 kg to 80.9 kg today, I am sure the girth around my belly button has reduced too, the prominent and ironically named love handles are literally non-existent and I am breaking other personal records in the process.

Blog - It's walking and it's working

For instance, on Monday and Tuesday, I got my 10,000 steps during my lunchtime walk, then yesterday, I did 7 kilometres in 56’47”, this morning, having walked 11.76 kilometres by the time it was a few minutes past 8:00 AM, the first 7 kilometres were done in 58’33”, until yesterday, I had not been able to fit 7 kilometres into an hour.

The other amazing thing was I also broke the 4,000 steps in 30 minutes barrier, I stepped out at 4081. All this I did in the pouring rain and with much gusto. My goal is to bring my weight below 80 kg, though, I can’t convince Brian of taking it down to 75 kg.

 

In a shocking pair of shorts

It is a work in progress

There are things I am probably not yet ready to acknowledge about the way my walking as exercise might have changed aspects of my fitness, my girth and my weight. Brian, for instance would protest until the cows come home that I have lost weight and I am looking trim, I would retort with a vehemence that he is only being biased.

I cannot say he has been that much help in an objective manner because only days ago, he acknowledged that my concerns about my weight that he regularly dismissed as inconsequential before I embarked on my walking regime was quite valid. I was looking like I needed to do something, but he was not going to leave me feeling that I must do something until I started to do something about it on my own, for which I have received enthusiastic partner encouragement.

He is perfect beauty

Now, Brian would most likely ask that I slow down, tone it down a little, get some rest, or something along those lines. Obviously, I do not want to harm myself with excessive workouts that I have considered I might need some deep tissue massage.

Conversely, and definitely, not inversely, I do find Brian quite attractive as he also expresses concerns about filling out places that I think are amazingly perfect as if crafted by a sculptor of incomparable talent. There is no excess, he is man-perfect or all-man, as I would tell him, trim and better than Michelangelo’s David, if I added sexy to the description, I have not even begun to give credit to the form and beauty of art that he is.

Maybe there is some bias in my appreciation, I am attracted to trim and slender men, yet, it appears, we both are caught in degrees of body dysmorphia about how we would like to change some things. In all honesty, the work has mostly been on my part to rise from a sedentary lifestyle to one of moderate to intense activity acquiring a level of fitness, especially for my age. Brian is nature’s perfect form, the model for musculature that you will teach your biology and anatomy on.

There are signs, I admit

Getting up this morning, after a long lie-in, I needed to grab something to wear and as I reached out, it was a pair of shorts that I would have strained to get round my waist just over a month ago. They would be called hot pants as to be illicit or even termed indecent dressing in conservative places. They slipped on and fitted with effortless ease, I think we are getting somewhere.

It reminds me of that nursery rhyme as we prepare for the opportunity to meet up soon within our domesticated set up in Cape Town. I, the personification of Jack and he like the wife or vice versa, which is no reference to roles we play for we are both men in a same-sex relationship without any of that heteronormative stereotyping.

Jack Sprat could eat no fat.
His wife could eat no lean.
But, together both,
They licked the platter clean.

That is the story, he is trying to put it on, I am working hard to put it off, however, we have to agree, we love good food. Then despite the occasional subjective view of how I look, I am grateful that Brian is the greatest and best supporter of my quest to fitness.

I am beginning to look quite good for my age from my perspective even if others have arrived at that conclusion long before me. There is still more working out and walking about to do, to get to the body I am happy to stand in front of the mirror and smile at.

40 days in walking mess

More walk than talk

I would be the first to tell you that not every day of the last 40 since I started my walks around Manchester as my exercise routine has had me excited and rearing to go, for I have been tired, the weather inclement, and the drive expired, yet, I have persevered.

This evening, after a night of barely 4 hours of sleep, I wanted to fall into bed after work and dream, and snore and enter the realm of deep sleep for longer than I had managed before, I could not because I felt my walk was important and I only had to make my 10,000 steps.

Numbers up and down

In that time, I have done 657,850 steps and my recorded exercises have stretched over 446 kilometres, but those are just figures, my figure according to Brian is changing, not that I can see myself, though last week I found I had lost 4 inches about 10 cm off my belly and I am today, exactly 6 kilogrammes lighter.

I guess the greatest feat in all this was on the 5^th of September when twice I managed sub 8-minute kilometres, even to my surprise at 7’56”, I am not looking to break records, I am happy with keeping it under 9’30”, though I can consistently keep it under that. I will keep at it, I think just by the results, it is a good investment in both health and wellbeing at 54.

The pace for 05/09/2020

Sticking to walking as my exercise routine

The numbers are in

Whilst I only got my tracker on the 7^th of August, one constant that has not required it though meant having my mobile phone on my person was a record of the steps I had taken each day.

With August now over, the numbers are in, I took 590,530 steps in August, up from a paltry 60,343 steps in July. Let’s not put that in the statistical comparison of an improvement because at 879% on the previous month, the question obviously should be on what I changed in my life.

Walking works for me

I bunked out of going to the gym and took to walking instead, meeting the daily threshold of 10,000 and exceeding it to put in a daily average of 19,049 steps, surpassing anything kind of exercise I have ever put in before. On one of those August days I even did 30,172 steps and did not collapse writhing in pain after.

I believe walking briskly for at least 8 kilometres daily, gets me past 10,000 steps and the extra simply brings the results forward a bit earlier than anticipated. As I don’t really want to develop anything, just keep trim and fit, this works for me, though it may not work for others. You have to find a regime that works for you.

I won't be walking to Timbuktu yet

Once halfway, do the rest

I began my last blog to write about taking a Sunday rest from my walking exercises but by the time I had been to church, took the detour via the Starbuck’s café on Peter Street and made some calls as I watched the world go by at St. Peter’s Square and then returned home, I had already done 54% of my daily target of 10,000 steps.

Blog - Can you abandon your experience for the extraordinary?

Then, I had promised my neighbour that I would be attending our Sunday soiree which was to start at 6:30 PM. After a meal and nap, just before 4:00 PM, I was on Google maps looking for a park to walk to and I decided on Buile Hill Park which I have now learnt is the largest park in Manchester and the second oldest after Peel Park that I have visited a number of times.

Resting on improvements

It was just 5.3 kilometres away and would take about 67 minutes, I probably did it in less than that time. That was not a plan for rest, I don’t think. Unlike Alexandra Park, the circumference of the park is macadamised give a more such footing to my walk with undulating roads. I did not take time to explore the park as once I had hit 7 kilometres, I needed to return home.

Taking another route back, I had a natural emergency that left me in a rather embarrassing state for another 4 kilometres of walking home and for that walking exercise alone, I completed 14.76 kilometres and made a personal record pace of 8’46” for my 2^nd kilometre.

When I got home, I found I was only 200 steps short of the 25,131 steps I achieved on the 9^th of September 2018 and that must have been on a walk when I was on holiday in Gran Canaria. I could not miss the opportunity to beat that record today.

Measure for treasure

So, after the soiree, I set out again adding over 3,000 steps to bring my total to 28,322 steps and as the day is not yet over, there might be a few more steps, probably just around my apartment. In all, I am happy with the progress I am making, I am getting used to the long walks without much stress or pain. That all adds up to 23.03 kilometres today.

Most of my walking 92 minutes fell within Aerobic heart rate range and 48 minutes in the Anaerobic heart rate range, with 7 minutes going to the Extreme that I could avoid because that is when lactic acid builds up in my system and can cause injuries.

Whilst I can see my weight coming down, I think there is still a lot of work to do before it is close to where I want it and then, I have to keep it there.

Today's achievement

Breaking my steps record from September 2018

The science of sleep and walking

On the levels of sleep and slumber

My Honor Band 5 tracker has been a revelation of knowledge and science that I hope I will find useful as I find out to utilise the features paired with the Huawei Health app on my phone.

This morning I got a good idea of how I sleep, something I need to study more, but I seemed to have a lot of REM sleep, which explains my usually vivid dreams, just about enough light sleep and definitely not enough deep sleep. The graphical illustration of my kind of night sleep at least put paid to the idea that I am a one-hour sleeper, according to Brian.

There is still much more to learn on the science of sleep, and I cannot draw any conclusions on just one day of data. I will observe the trends and with that hopefully look for ways to improve my quality of sleep. That I was able to get just over 6 hours of sleep with waking up once overnight was quite a surprise.

Every kilometre a sign

Today, I was able to set out my workout plan, or rather document it properly, working with my band, I could chart the route with announcements every kilometre of how long it took and what my heart rate was, mostly in the aerobic and the fat-burning ranges. I was able to get in 16.52 km of walking in 3:17:40 hours and an average of 105 steps per minute for 20,941 steps.

For the day, I got in 22,348 steps and that was just before a trapped nerve signalled its presence in the groin. I did not know that sleep under 3 hours is called a nap. I need to choose a day for complete rest, and I hope I begin to see changes in weight and girth soon too. I could do with a deep sleep tonight and a lie-in for Saturday. On the whole, I am happy, I can do this.

The 39 steps from looking fit

On the length of the tape

On seeing how a lady dropped the flab to a trim look, I could not help but be a little more serious about what I want to achieve with regards to fitness. Now, I have always been concerned about my tummy though it never occurred to me how out of shape I was.

Maintaining a 32” waist has not been that difficult, though when I had cancer, that shrunk to below 30” that all my trousers looked like big brother hand-me-downs. What shocked me was when I measured my girth at my belly button, I was not expecting to see 39”, I thought it would be at least 3” less.

Science the reality

Overnight, I had decided to get a Honor Band 5 which includes a heart rate monitor, a step counter, a sleep monitor, an exercise tracker and many more features I am yet to determine. I thought it would be useful to keep tabs on fat burning and how I sleep.

After trying to install exercise apps without much success or motivation to find out their usefulness, I realised I could get good enough information first from WebMD and our own NHS. I do a lot of brisk walking and I can follow the basic fitness videos. [NHS: Exercise]

Know my vitals

I won’t be dieting or calorie counting, I would eat moderately, cut out the unnecessary, increase my intake of water and put in hours of walking before going to bed exhausted with the aim that all aching muscles recover by the morning.

Critically, I need to find out how well I sleep and if there are things, I could do to get more relaxing and longer sleep. I need to see my weight drop along with the inches of lard. I have my work cut out.

I do my hair toss in the gym

Terms of wordy abuse

With the progressive easing of the lockdown restrictions, gyms are not open subject to regulatory requirements of social distancing and strict cleaning protocols. My village leisure centre that serves occupants of 5 apartment blocks became a venue of interest.

The lockdown has focused minds towards a kind of fitness regimen to lose the weight acquired over 18 weeks of sequestration with the dearth of engaging physical activity. The management company of our village fired off an email seeking interest from the village and on responding we received a 55-point Terms of Use & Disclaimer document that we had to sign before having our gym entry cards activated and getting a link to the booking system.

Definitely maybe

That in itself was a mental and agitated workout because what could have easily been digitally signed with evidence of the duration of viewing the document was sent as PDF file, in 2020. I could not let that pass without intimating them of a better way of doing things.

The leisure centre consists of a gym, a swimming pool, a games room, a steam room and a sauna. The last two are not currently open and the games room will not provide snooker or darts. The equipment in the gym is marked out for spacing, some taped off rather than being moved out. There are no weights, lots of sanitising stations and cleaning materials for post-usage cleaning.

We are allotted 50 minutes per session for one of the leisure centre facilities per day and I spent my 50 minutes in the gym, doing a brisk walk on the treadmill before attempting some floor exercises. I think it is a good thing, it might get my mind off my weight too. We’ll see. Whilst Lizzo helps me look good as hell.

[]

Caught skipping with the girls again

Between Jim and the gym

Just after my birthday, I thought about it again, the need to keep fit and trim, knowing that the passing of time leaves changes one must have in control before it is too difficult to rein it in.

Having been away from home for weeks, I first had to update my swipe card access to the village gym which has everything including a swimming pool, a sauna and games room. The swimming I have to get to eventually, I have been too much of a log or a stone in water, there is no fun in that.

Knowing me, knowing shoes

Then, I needed to get the best shoes to cushion the effect of running because of lifelong shin splints. My research online yielded lots of information which boiled down to the best shoes that had fitting, quality or durability issues, not one stood out as the best and I was in information overload already.

A visit to the shopping mall with sports shops belonging to chains did not seem to offer much encouragement, I did not see anyone who appeared to have any useful knowledge about running shoes or trainers apart from their projecting the necessity to make a sale to the most gullible customer who dared to believe anything they said.

A size for a length

I took a walk down the main street and happened upon a small family shop that had one customer inside who had tried nothing less than seven pairs of shoes, the attendant, patient, understanding, explaining and serving. He seemed to know what he was talking about as I pulled up my references to guide me in decision making.

It became clear that my shoe size for normal shoes was probably two sizes smaller when trying on trainers, but when I slid my feet into Size 19 shoes, I could only presume something was wrong with quality control or the sweatshop makers of the shoes were making skis rather than shoes.

Eventually, I settled for a pair of the most comfortable and well-cushioned shoes, the fitting was so good, knowing how my feet have suffered through spurts of growth that shoes did not expand to, this is like shoe heaven.

Altogether, with Christmas approaching, I got discount on everything and probably paid 30% less along with free merchandise to boot. I was ready for the gym.

Skipping with the girls again

I then revived my gym membership with The Gym Group with the bundle that allows me the countrywide use of any gym in the group and we were on to an exercise program for the first four weeks and then the next four.

Down in Reading, I registered for an induction that went well before opting for a boot camp class. No gym equipment, just running, jumping and stretching over the course of 30 minutes. The setting reviving a childhood experience as I was the only male apart from the trainer in a group of 10.

My childhood fragility meant I was left skipping with the girls rather than playing football with the boys, it appeared I was back doing things with the girls again. Such is life at the gym.