Lateral view of the human ankle (Photo credit: Wikipedia)
So yesterday we went for a hike at Chautauqua, to see the poppies. It was a nice hike, quite a bit of uphill and on the way down I did several jogs. We were strolling towards the car when my left ankle suddenly gave way and twisted under me, throwing me to the ground. My ankle was definitely sprained and I couldn't even walk to the car. Some treatments of alternate ice and mustard seed tea relieved the ankle situation, and now I can get around with an elastic bandage and a cane.
But what about exercise? Only a couple
of days ago, Dr. Weber told me that for insulin resistance I needed an hour a
day of cardio. So now I'm having anxiety about exercising enough, even though
as a spontaneous, loose and natural person, who also happens to be a
pedestrian, it works better for me to get my exercise within the flow of life. I'll also note that while cardio has been found highly effective in insulin resistance generally, (1) a 2012 study indicates that exercise may NOT improve outcomes in women with PCOS (2). Only a low-carb high protein diet seems to help. This is borne out by my personal experience--after all, I walk a lot and go on twelve mile hikes too. In fact, I decided to see Dr Kamath, my endocrinologist, based on not being able to lose wight on a weight-loss plan even when I was running regularly as well.
Anyway, a sprained ankle was clearly
going to turn me into an unwilling couch potato, so I found some seated
workouts and followed along. I certainly wasn't attracted to Senior Fit videos
showing extremely old people, nor to chair aerobics to rap music (just not my
generation). But I did find a pretty good seated cardio workout http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LAeZZbpi8Ow and seated core
workout http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=d2-B-BPmlPA#! , so I did two rounds of the cardio and one of the core, and so for
today I'm officially NOT a couch potato!
1. Med Sci Sports Exerc. 2004 Jul;36(7):1196-201.Improvements in insulin resistance with aerobic exercise training: a lipocentric approach.
2. Hum Reprod. 2012 May 2. [Epub ahead of print]
The effect of diet and exercise on markers of endothelial function in overweight and obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome.Thomson RL, Brinkworth GD, Noakes M, Clifton PM, Norman RJ, Buckley JD.
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