Total Physique Online

The purpose of this post is to discuss some of the strategies I am using to recover from chronic illness – a contradiction in terms at first glance, when one considers the fact that chronic illnesses tend not to get better with the passage of time.

It is my hope that some of these strategies might be helpful to someone else who has just gotten out of the hospital, or is trying to find a way to improve their lung disease through exercise. This post will also deal with some of the obstacles that I have faced since embarking on my recovery, how I am overcoming them and what my goals are in terms of how far I want to realistically go with my recovery.

In the end, I am hoping to encourage people with COPD not to lose hope, because the discouragement that comes with fighting for your every breath can weigh more heavily on ones shoulders than a barbell loaded with 1000 pounds of iron.
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Popularity: 28% [?]

As you can see, I have not posted to the site in some time.

The reason is simple. What was left of my body after my first hospitalization (from 167 to 135 pounds) has been ravaged by yet more pneumonia and a two week stay in the hospital near to the point of death. My body weight dropped to a scant 123 pounds. I was nearly dead several times. The double pneumonia was very, very hard on on this tired body.
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Popularity: 37% [?]

Prior to writing this post, the most recent entry for a traditional workout was Sept. 28 2007. Ironically, on that day I was coming off a 3 month layoff, or thereabouts.

The fire that destroyed our home had taken place nearly 6 months prior to the Sept. 28, 2007 entry. The fire introduced a huge amount of chaos into my life, and so many areas of my life had suffered tremendous blows. I had not been able to eat well and my training was more or less non-existent. Had been for months; and judging by the numbers of that Sept 28 workout my body was clearly beginning to show the combined affect of several risk factors: stress, age, starvation, illness, poor training habits.

Yep. I was getting weaker, losing some muscle density and my health was taking a beating. Little did I know then that things would get worse. Much worse.
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Popularity: 29% [?]

I recently sent an email to a friend of mine. His name is John. John is older than I am, and a dear friend. I trust him, I look up to him. He has been assisting me since the ordeal of my life, which began some 6 months ago in Williamsburg Virginia. After I read the email I sent John, I felt that this web site was the perfect place to re-post it.
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Popularity: 24% [?]

11:20 AM EST

Did a full cycle of 10 and 1′s – this time I began with squats for ten and pushups for 1 rep – with only 1 minute rest between the two half-cycles at the half way mark. This had me sweating big time this time around.

Hard to say how my cardiovascular fitness level is responding. My lungs felt good. Very little congestion, and I felt like I was getting the oxygen I needed. I had a good breathing rhythm going and my entire body felt equally stressed, top to bottom. I have to say that I liked starting out with squats first, followed by the pushup set.
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Popularity: 25% [?]

Did a full cycle of 10 and 1′s – pushups and squats – with only 5 minutes rest between the two half-cycles.

No inhaler used today during the workout.

I may go to the gym, or if not I will use the cables.

Popularity: 24% [?]

This is my first post in a long while. Anyone who reads this web site with any regularity knows of the trials and tribulations of my homeless situation, not to mention my hospitalization with a partially blocked small bowel which nearly killed me. Yup. Life has put yours truly through the ringer and back again. So, the site has suffered in so far as I have not had the metal (or mental) energy to add new content to it.
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Popularity: 30% [?]

Out of curiosity I decided to do some additional research on COQ10. I wanted to find out if there was a connection between COQ10 and cell energy. I was also looking for information on COQ10 and lung disease. I was curious if COQ10 could oxygenate cells and improve breathing.
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Popularity: 26% [?]