All right, I am finally realizing I gotta exercise. Problem is a bad hip. I won't moan and cry about how bad it hurts, but ...it keeps me from doing a lot of things. I can RIDE a bike; but I can't get ON a bike. If I had a helicopter to lift me up on it, things would be cool.
Walking any distance is out of the question -- even with my cane, it hurts. bad. I am good for the first 5 minutes, then fuggetaboutit.
I can't be the only one on here with a bad hip....so what do you all do for exercise??
My left hip gives me trouble...has since my early 20s. Deep stretching is the only thing that helps me. I'm virtually hip pain free when I deep stretch it through yoga positions focused on the hip. I do light stretching nearly daily and try to do a 30 minute, hip focused stretching session about 2 times per week. I don't know what your hip problem is, so this may not help you.
Swimming and water aerobics are great ideas. I enjoy both and neither bother my hip.
Mudbugs - just about everyone in the water aerobics class at my gym is much larger than you are! You'd feel totally comfortable in your bathing suit there and I'm sure it's true at every other pool and class. Maybe you could go watch a class first and check out the other people in it? You might feel a lot more comfortable once you see that there are people of every shape and size!
Mudbugs - I don't know about hip issues, but I do know that you shouldn't feel nervous about your body in a swimsuit. No one but you will care. I don't know what yours in like, but my local pool has ladies only sessions. Something like that may make you feel more comfortable.
Last time I went to an aqua-aerobics class (some years ago now), I went with a friend and we both wanted to lose only 14-21 lbs. We were the thinest in the class by a long way, and we were also the least fit!
Oh thanks you guys for the recommendations.....Meg, I know there are people who are "fluffier" than I am at the pool...I just don't have the guts. If I could swim in a bikini top and a pair of sweat pants, I would feel like TOTALLY self-confident.
I think I have a real problem with body image-- gotta work on that.
Mudbugs, I used to feel like a pile of poop in my bathing suit - black with a skirt, of course. Then someone (a 3FC?) told me to just pretend I was a fashion model carrying a long-stemmed rose and walk out of the dressing room and into the pool with my head held hight. It works. Just DO it! You will feel so good in the water and it will do your hip (and the rest of you) lots of good.
MUDBUGS: I have Lupus and have had serious hip and knee joint problems. I can walk, but goodness, my knees kill me when I do! Now, water aerobics...wow! I admit I am blessed with an in-ground pool, and that helps, but the water jogging and aerobics has been AWESOME. I just found out not too long ago I am diabetic, and the water workout lowers my glucose levels as well as a walk does. Sometimes better! There is no stress on your joints, and the resistance helps enhance the workout, but you hardly feel like you are working out. Instead of costly flotation belts, I use those fun noodles like a hobby horse,and they work great. My sister goes to a Y where she lives and said they use them in the water aerobics class too. You can do deep water jogging with one, and use all the same muscles as if you were biking, or running.
Go try a class at a Y. As Meg said, there are plenty of folks larger than you. I see from your ticker that I outweigh you by a rather hefty amount, and I can relate to your feeling shy about wearing a bathing suit in public. Here is how I got over those feelings: I figure if I am out DOING something about my weight, like exercise, no one has any right to look at me twice. If it is all women in the class, who cares? Most will be there for the same reason- to get exercise- and will applaud your efforts just like they do here.
I love water aerobics/jogging so much, I am panicking about when we close the pool this fall and I can't swim until spring! My husband tells me I can walk more in the cooler weather, but I am secretly considering a Y membership so I have a place to swim!
Go for it! You will LOVE it, and I am willing to bet the healing properties of water exercise is going to help your hip a lot!
You can also get DVDs of "chairobics" that will give your upper body some working out and could raise your heart rate enough to be counted as cardio. I'd have a look through Amazon - I think that's where I saw one.
Now now, thats no excuse LOL, here' a swim suit I think you'll like. It covers alot. I have a suit that covers my thighs... it looks like a skirt, really cute.
Here's the link.... surf the web, there's so much out there its mindboggling.
So, any of you guys have a hip problem?
