Breathing Deeply: My Life With Cystic Fibrosis

On Friday I finally was able to go back to the gym. I had a valid excuse for not being there in Nov/Dec. I was busy fighting to get better! Now that I am better (and a LOT better to boot!) I was eager for a chance to see what I could do at the gym. I kicked major butt. I had so much energy! I started out with some warm-ups and stretching, then I got on an elliptical for a few cycles just to get my heart going a bit. From there I went to the treadmill where I walked for 5 miles at a fairly fast clip. I hardly coughed at all, which was awesome.

The treadmills at my gym give a readout on the screen of what you've accomplished in your workout. It shows distance, time, average speed, average heart rate and how many calories were burned. I was really surprised that walking that long and that fast consumed fewer than 300 calories. That's like a glass of milk and some cookies. Easily replaced!

When I finished with the treadmill I moved on to what I call the "hand bike." It's supposed to build your upper body. You sit on the bench and paddle with your arms. I did that for several minutes in each direction. I was proud of myself for keeping up the pace for the entire time. I think next time I'll push myself a little harder and increase the tension.

My last segment of my workout was on the bike. I pedaled hard and fast and did 1 mile in under 5 minutes. Then I slowed down a bit and did two more miles. I love that my schedule is open enough to allow me to spend so much time at the gym.

As usual I was relieved to see someone walking around with sanitizer spray spritzing off all the equipment. That's one thing I really appreciate about our gym. It's very clean. I was watching an episode of "The Doctors" the other day and they were discussing the 3 biggest dangers at the gym. They were as follows 1. faulty equipment 2. inadequate training for the personal trainers 3. bacteria on the seats (not the handles amazingly enough) of the equipment, and the hordes of bacteria living in the showers. Since I don't shower at the gym I don't have to worry about that. Also, my personal trainer has a degree in kinesiology or something like that (he's what the gym calls a Master Trainer.)

On another exciting note, my FEV1 and peak flow are up even more. My peak flow was 558 L/min and my FEV1 was 2.13! Can you believe it? For the last 10 years since high school, I think I'd been overworking myself and pushing my body way too hard in the wrong ways. Now that I'm in a more subdued state by being on disability, I'm finally leveling off and feeling okay. These last several weeks have been a much needed reprieve and I am so grateful and thankful for that.