I'm sitting here in an after-exercise glow, something that's been too rare in recent years. I know that exercise is essential for me, it helps me with stress, with staying focused, and with my general energy levels.
But I've struggled in these last three years to get a regular routine going. For several years I was a member of Curves and went two or three times a week. Then we went to Australia in 2014 and regular exercise came in the form of riding hilly territory to school with the boys each day (about seven ks). I also learnt how to use a "real" gym. While our boys did wrestling twice a week, I worked out downstairs in the sport's centre's weights and bike/cross trainee machine rooms.
Then we returned to Japan where:
1. The boys walk 300m to school, without needing my supervision.
2. We weren't waiting 1 ½ hours for boys to finish wrestling training twice a week in a gym 30 minutes from our home.
So, what was I to do? And for various reasons I didn't want to go back to Curves.
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| A photos I took on one of my park rides. |
I wrote about my big "revelation" in October 2014 here. I would ride to the big park 5km south of here.
It's something that I've continued to do, but not as regularly as I really needed to (I managed it less than ten times in 2017). Part of that is that it took more time out of my day that I could often afford to take. Especially because I often added in other elements: photography (when I acquired a fancy camera in mid 2016), shopping, even a picnic, and or a coffee shop at times. That park is just a 30 min ride away, but usually I'd be away three or more hours. I did do some other rides: to another park more than twice as far a coupe of times and also rode a few times to a coffee shop a few suburbs over. So, it is still a good thing to do, but not really "regular" enough.
It is true that exercise is integrated into my week: I ride usually twice a week to get groceries. It isn't a long or hard ride, but still it is a ride. Walking and stair-climbing happens too, but rather irregularly if I'm going somewhere on the trains for work or to watch the boys compete.
I asked a friend to orientate me to the local public gym and I liked it there. It is pay-as-you-use, as opposed to being locked into a monthly payment. It's also a lot cheaper than either gym I'd previously used. Trouble was, again, I struggled to get there regularly.
Me and headaches During the year in Australia ('14/'15) I spent time seeing a physio for a couple of issues, one of which was seeking to get to the bottom of my ongoing struggle with headaches. I have to admit that I do hesitate to write about this, because every time I mention it to people, they've got lots of advice. Really, I have a few main triggers that I've discerned over the years, with muscle tension and low blood sugar being two major ones.
In the midst of the above I found that I was getting nasty headaches after I went to the gym—every time! Well that didn't help my motivation to go. So I tried various combinations of things around the gym times: hydration, regulating my breathing while lifting, being extra careful about my posture, eating.
I even went several months of recording my headaches and possible triggers. One thing stood out, one time that I went to the gym and didn't get a headache: I met a friend for coffee straight after I went to the gym and I didn't get a headache that day at all. Aha: maybe caffeine is a key, I thought.
Me and coffee
When I was at language school (and still drinking instant coffee) I discovered that not only do I need to eat regularly to avoid headaches, I need to "caffeinate" regularly, or more precisely, "on time". My reaction was to stop drinking coffee for breakfast, leaving the caffeine to later in the day. That seemed to work for a time. A few years later I decided to get off caffeinated coffee altogether. I became a "social drinker": only drinking caffeinated coffee when I was out. That also seemed to work for a time. But the trouble was, I got more "social" and ended up drinking caffeinated coffee more often than occasionally. Headaches continued.
It was frustrating. The physio in Australia suggested I have regular massages when I returned to Japan to help regulate my muscle tension and headaches and I have (I also hesitate to mention that, because it seems like such a luxury). But the headaches remained. The massages did get me some more built-in exercise, as I deliberately chose to go to one a bit further away that I could ride to.
Anyway, to cut a meandering story short (I learned today that there's a French word for this: "Bref" or "you get the idea")—I decided I would need to cut out coffee altogether, even for social occasions. But quite I've grown to love coffee and especially I love coffee shops atmosphere. I also love "meeting a friend for coffee". So, cutting it out altogether, especially in a land where they don't yet do decaf coffee very well (though it is much more available than it used to be), this wasn't an appealing option.
Instead, I decided to manipulate my caffeine intake the other way. Instead of trying not to have caffeine each day, I would plan on having at least one cup every morning (usually around 9.30). I've been doing this for a few weeks now and it does seem to be working. I'm not stressing if I have to have more coffee in a day and generally I think I've had less headaches. I'm happy with that outcome!
Back to my post-exercise glow today. It seems like it's all finally come together: regular exercise routine and headache modulation. These last couple of weeks I've done this twice a week:
- gone to the gym on the mornings that I grocery shop (the gym and the shop are in the same direction from my house)
- had coffee before I went to the gym
- taken a small snack to eat after working out, but before I leave the gym
- eating an early lunch when I get home
This routine seems to work and I've had no headaches on those days. There are two big problems with it, though.
1. It only works if I have a morning free to do both the gym and groceries.
2. We're about to go to Australia for six months, where I won't be riding to the grocery store twice a week.
I guess I'll have to keep plugging away at finding ways to keep myself active. But hopefully I'll be able to keep most of the headaches at bay!
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