Exercise

I have seen a lot of posts asking what exercises are safe and what exercises are not. I have also seen a lot of posts where people lament the fact that they cannot exercise in the ways that they want. Hopefully, my post will not be repetitive, but I want to share what I have learned in the past few months.

I was terrified to do anything when I first found the prolapse. Even after reading Christine's book and reading posts on here about people exercising, I was afraid to do anything beyond Christine's DVD workouts. I love doing Christine's workout routines, but I wanted to do more. I was sad because as a 38 year old woman, I thought the rest of my life would be spent walking on eggshells. Over the past few months, I have become braver although I am still very cautious because I do not want to do anything to worsen my condition.

The most important thing is to maintain the Whole Woman posture. That definitely does keep the organs forward and as close to their place as they can be. Another thing I have learned is that if I listen to my body, it will let me know if I am doing something that puts too much pressure in my lower abdomen. I really can feel the uncomfortable pull. I am even able to lift bales of hay (which is very important to me) as long as they are fifty pounds or under. I tried to lift some sixty pound bales, and my body told me no. I was struggling to maintain the posture, and my body wanted to hunch forward. I also felt that uncomfortable pull below. Reluctantly, I listened and set my new weight limit. I was disappointed at first, but now I am just happy that I can lift some bales myself without having to ask people for help.

This week, I learned something really exciting. I have always liked to jog. I feel exhilarated when I break into a quick run. I tried a couple of months ago on the treadmill, and I could definitely tell that the the prolapse was lower the next day. I tried again a few weeks ago, and I did not feel any worsening the next day. When I racked my brain, I realized that the difference was the strength in my legs. The stronger my legs, the more I can lessen the impact when I land. So, I have been focusing on building the muscles in my legs. One indicator for me is to see how fast I can go no the treadmill without having to break into a jog. I used to have a hard time maintaining a walk at 3.4 mph; now, I can walk at 4 mph. The stronger my muscles are, the better I am able to maintain the strides of a walk without having to break into a jog. I am going to strengthen my legs more before I jog very much, but I feel confident that as long as I can maintain my WW posture and land softly with minimal impact, I will be able to start jogging again. I also make sure that I do fire breathing before and after my cardio workouts.

Hopefully, my small success will motivate others who are struggling with the fact that they can no longer do the things they used to do. I am actually enjoying finding ways to exercise smarter not harder. My joints are probably thanking me for making life easier for them, as well.