Exercise Question for Carbonman

[SleepyT]

Carbonman,
Since you are the most visibly athletic (at least as far as I've seen on this forum), let me ask you this question. It is clear you are (literally) on top of the world with good progress with your therapy over the last year. Understandably the CPAP has been the biggest reason why you feel better...but how much credit do you give to your biking activities? This is not a question about weight loss, mind you...just wondering how much you think your exercise has contributed to the wonderful way you feel.

I'm sure there are others that have become active in sports once they started feeling better..and I'd like to hear those stories as well.

SleepyT

[carbonman]

...but how much credit do you give to your biking activities? SleepyT

Hello, my name is carbonman.
I'm a cyclo-holic.

Since 1988 my philosophy of life has been:
cycling is life, the rest is just details.

Through it all, there has always been the bike.

[SleepyT]

i guess i just wondered if you would feel as great as you do were you not active. common sense says it plays a big part. it may be what's needed to push to the next level once our 'numbers' are good.

[carbonman]

i guess i just wondered if you would feel as great as you do were you not active. common sense says it plays a big part. it may be what's needed to push to the next level once our 'numbers' are good.

That is a good thought.
I guess in that light, the cycling is a daily barometer for improvement.
I did see and feel improvement after only a few weeks of therapy.
...and I see improvements almost daily.

If your therapy is improving your health but you're not doing anything
to see or feel those changes, you'll never know what you're capable of.

[SleepyT]

Right. I need to kick myself in the pants....and get moving! Thanks, CM!

Ok...who else is 'kicking it'?

[carbonman]

Right. I need to kick myself in the pants....and get moving!

...so, I'll be seeing you on the road?

[spacetoast]

I also bicycle, but mountain biking, not road biking like CM. We do, however, bike in the very same neck of the woods.

I have been riding out here on and off over the last ten years and this year (Before being diagnosed) it finally hit me that I wasn't able to get back into the same shape I was in just 8 years ago. It was a puzzle. I am riding 3 times a week which should be enough to get back to where I was.

So, I've been on the mask for one week now and I have gone riding one time. I think I felt better that day than I had in a while, but I don't know if it is real, or pie-in-the-sky thinking. Tomorrow will be my second ride. I am curious to see if I can notice a difference after a week of therapy.

Either way, I think if you were active (like me) before xpap therapy, you might not have noticed the very gradual decline of ability until it becomes obvious. Now I'm curious if I'll get that ability back. We'll see!

Get kickin', SleepyT!

[SleepyT]

...so, I'll be seeing you on the road?

hmm, don't know about that! i have a bike...but don't consider myself a biker. maybe i should hit my rowing machine!

[SleepyT]

I also bicycle, but mountain biking, not road biking like CM. We do, however, bike in the very same neck of the woods.

I have been riding out here on and off over the last ten years and this year (Before being diagnosed) it finally hit me that I wasn't able to get back into the same shape I was in just 8 years ago. It was a puzzle. I am riding 3 times a week which should be enough to get back to where I was.

So, I've been on the mask for one week now and I have gone riding one time. I think I felt better that day than I had in a while, but I don't know if it is real, or pie-in-the-sky thinking. Tomorrow will be my second ride. I am curious to see if I can notice a difference after a week of therapy.

Either way, I think if you were active (like me) before xpap therapy, you might not have noticed the very gradual decline of ability until it becomes obvious. Now I'm curious if I'll get that ability back. We'll see!

Get kickin', SleepyT!

spacetoast...i hope you DO get that ability back. i bet you will! thanks for the story.

[fishhead]

if i may jump on this thread, i used to run several miles a week, play regularly baseball, basketball, football, basically all sports. i was never the natural athlete, but i would consider myself active. a few years ago as life took over, i started to slow down in my excersize routines, then i guess i just lost interest and gave up. now, i realize that it is part of the human package - we can't just treat the mind, spirit, emotions, and body individually. they are all intertwined and connected.

in other words, in my experience, part of the improvement mentally and emotionally included treating the physical. and soon i saw the benefits that even just a little excersize would bring to my overall well being.

i have resumed running (about 10 miles a week), but sadly have been very disappointed about the lack of stamina. i don't expect at 43 that i'm going to just snap back into shape like when i was 20, but i would think after 2 years of running and/or biking 3 times a week that i would see a difference.

now that i now about the sleep apnea, i too am wondering if that is what has been limiting my improvement. maybe after a few months of cpap therapy i too will awake one morning and realize how blue the sky is!

you keep pedaling, carbonman!

[MoneyGal]

I am training for a black belt in tae kwon do (I have another 2 years or so to go).

I cycle to and from work each weekday (about 15 km in total).

And I just joined a women's indoor soccer league, because I want to add more exercise especially in winter, when I won't cycle (when there's tons of snow on the ground).

I am also starting up with an exercise walking group for early morning walks; an hour at 6 a.m. on Fridays.

I am 41 and have severe OSA. I've had OSA for at least a decade, undiagnosed; my AHI index at diagnosis was 91 events per hour, and 41 arousals per hour.

[MoneyGal]

Also - I've been active for a long time, including pre-diagnosis. I think I became active as an unwitting survival technique to get oxygen into my bloodstream.

I notice ENORMOUS differences in my training now. Also, I was completely unable to lose weight in the past and although I have not altered my eating habits, my weight is slowly coming down. I am able to lay down way more muscle now than in the past, too. These are exciting developments!

[SleepyT]

Also - I've been active for a long time, including pre-diagnosis. I think I became active as an unwitting survival technique to get oxygen into my bloodstream.

I notice ENORMOUS differences in my training now. Also, I was completely unable to lose weight in the past and although I have not altered my eating habits, my weight is slowly coming down. I am able to lay down way more muscle now than in the past, too. These are exciting developments!

MoneyGal...you are an inspiration! To do all that you do...even with severe OSA...is amazing. And you're right, I bet. It was your unconscious way of getting more O2 into your system. I suspect CPAP therapy can make us feel good.....but if we want to feel GREAT, exercise may just be the key!

[SleepyT]

now that i now about the sleep apnea, i too am wondering if that is what has been limiting my improvement. maybe after a few months of cpap therapy i too will awake one morning and realize how blue the sky is!

you keep pedaling, carbonman!

fishhead, i bet you will see improvement. keep us posted!

[carbonman]

...so, I'll be seeing you on the road?

hmm, don't know about that! i have a bike...but don't consider myself a biker. maybe i should hit my rowing machine!

"see you on the road."-euphemism for:
rowing machine, jogging, roller blading,walking,
hiking, unicycling, ______________ fill in the blank aerobic activity.

Yes, I guess I will be seeing you on the road.

Here are just a few of what have to be many inspiring results of cpap.
In the future we need to flood this forum w/success stories.

You got'a believe. You got'a want it.

SleepT, thanks for asking.