Exercise Possibilities

I have got to thinking about things that my dad and I could do together, and I realized that I was missing out on something that we have the ability to do now that we have finally got dependable transportation.

We are going to start driving as far as the local paved bike trails and then hike along them with him in his wheelchair and me walking. We can take the dogs along with us for moose protection (or is that moose fodder?), and hike for so long, then back to the car. A fifteen minute walk in one direction would be a total of a 30 minute walk for me, occasionally pushing the wheelchair uphill at slight inclines, so the thing will add to the workout I get.

And we can start training Bear to be a chair pulling dog, so he can assist me with the hills. Maybe teach him and Shy to pull the chair together, but she's still interested more in grabbing him by the scruff of the neck and coaxing him to wrestle, so that might not be a good idea.

Caregiver exercise

I know that it can be hard to find the time to exercise when you are a caregiver, believe me - I know. But you need to work in at least a few hours of "me" time each week to get in exercise because the wight will slowly build up unnoticed until you have no choice but to notice it and by then it can be very difficult to loose.

Golf course in the yard? Why not?

I've been talking to my mom about an idea that I have been pondering about creating a golf course around the property. As she put it, "not a mini golf, but not a full sized course either." She wants me to lay out a plan for the course when I have a little free time to work on it.

She's the one that got me thinking golf. She bought a golf club at a second hand store a couple of years ago and we have been talking off and on over the winter about going to one of the local courses this summer. I got to thinking that there is no reason we can't build a few mini courses here in the yard and we even have a nice long drive that can be used as a driving range.

I think it would be great exercise and a good way to get outside and enjoy the summer.

Walking tour videos for treadmill workouts

As a full time caregiver I find it hard to get out and go for long walks to enjoy the scenery, so I went on a mission to find myself something I can use with my treadmill to give the effect of a walk while not leaving the house.

YouTube was useless. I wasted a lot of time there looking for something I could watch and never did find even a halfway promising looking video. It did make me determined to make my own videos and share excerpts of them through YouTube. Then I found what I was looking for, not on YouTube, on Starling Fitness.

Check out the walking videos that Starling Fitness has for sale (only $5 each too, very affordable for family caregivers). These are videos from the point of view of the walker that have no annoying tour narration, just the natural sounds of the area you are walking through so that you can feel like you are there walking around. I'll be ordering one of them, just need to wait a few days to get the money in my PayPal account and decide what one to start with. LOL After I get it I'll let you know what I think of it and if I'm ordering the rest of them or not.