I prefer a boring life….I had too much excitement yesterday but I sure am thankful for the fact that I’m fit.
I got home from a morn
ing workout and thought I best take Sve for a quick pee. I have an off leash area behind my house so we were going to do 5 min loop like we always do.
Two coyotes decided to give chase to Sev.
<==This is what those coyotes looked like, they meant business with teeth barred and snarling.
It turned into a 60 min chase in -30C weather. Of course, I was hot on the trail, up and down hills and through bushes in 2 feet of snow screaming after him.
Sev wouldn’t back down or turn his back on the coyotes.
I was about six feet away trying to grab Sev, but he was having no part of that. I think he was trying to scare them away from me in his efforts to protect both of us. We ended up doing what seemed like miles in the off leash dog park woods.
Finally I lost them and in desperation, I knocked on a strangers house to warm up and ask for help. A fella offered to look with me so we split up and the fella sent me home to see if Sev returned. I went in to warm up and put more clothes on as Sev arrived on the door step, quite bloody and tired.
After a clean up and inspection, he seems fine. I think he got cut up from running in the bushes but he has no bite marks. After a long nap he appears pretty sore but only has a little cut above his eye (the good one).
Holy cow, no one needs that kind of excitement.
This is a good reason to workout. You never know when you’ll want to go for a -30C hill run 😉
I joke, but in all seriousness, functional fitness is really important.
If you feel you want to be more ‘functional’ but don’t know where to start or if you’re returning to fitness (say from surgery) read on, I have some answers for you, read on….
Question: I am bored to tears with all cardio equipment. I stopped playing raquet ball at age 60 and am now 76. What would you suggest I do instead of ‘cardio’, how can I get started? Do you offer an entry level program that’s suitable for someone my age?
Answer: I highly recommend Functional Fitness. These are follow along videos that are way more interesting and fun than steady state cardio, I hope that helps, you could advance your fitness level and move onto some Challenge style workouts after going up to level 4 in this program.
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Question: What’s your advice regarding training after surgery? I recently had a hysterectomy and want to get back into training.
Answer: You need to start off slowly. Planking exercises are best to strengthen the transverse abdominus. It’s important to reduce stress on the pelvic floor muscles. You won’t want to do any running or jumping (impact exercises). You’ll want to reduce heavy loads on squats etc for the first few weeks and I highly recommend bodyweight exercises to start. I love the ab exercises in this workout.
If you’re not super fit from the start, don’t expect to go full steam for a long time, listen to your doc and progress slowly. Of course it depends on what fitness level you’re at when you have surgery, you’ll have to back off on intensity of all training.
You will tire faster and rest is very important, allow recovery time and listen to your body. Eat to support recovery. Back off on sugars and processed foods, increase veggies and lean proteins.
Above all, love yourself and give yourself permission to take special care. Do things that make you feel good (not wine drinking 
)
If it’s been a long time since you’ve worked out, a great program to get you back in the game is Functional Fitness. This was developed by Dr Dan Ritchie and Dr Cody Sipes. It’s perfect for anyone returning to fitness after a hiatus, recovering from injury or is in the 50+ age category with not much fitness background.
