pepperbelly

I had a sort of layoff recently for reasons including I just didn’t want to do anything.
I rode 5 miles today and felt great after. My bp was low normal after too.
I noticed during my last mile that my legs felt warm and sorta pumped up.
Is it normal for legs to take a few miles to warm up?
As of a couple of weeks ago I have lost 75 pounds since the first of February. My Roubaix feels much easier to pedal now. I plan on losing at least 40 more. I can’t wait to see how that will feel.

terrymorse 

Congratulations on your fitness journey.

Yes, it can take a while to warm up the legs. There’s a saying about it:

The harder the effort, the longer the warmup.

Legs may need warming up in the middle of a ride, after just a few minutes of descending.

pepperbelly

Good. I hoped I wasn’t that out of shape. If I wasn’t riding- due to heat or something- I rode an indoor bike at the gym.

downtube42

It can take me a long time to get into a groove, as long as 40 miles. I don't know whether to call that warming up or settling in; I expect it's some combination of physical and mental state. It's a good feeling, when it comes.

Alan K

Congratulations! 👍
Given your aggressive weight reduction plan in action, I am assuming that you are actively guided by your physician.

pepperbelly

I am doing very low carb. I am not comfortable doing keto due to the amount of fat needed in the diet. I had a checkup by my cardiologist at the end of August. I almost thought he was going to kiss me. I cut my cholesterol and triglycerides in half- they are low normal now. He cut one of my bp meds in half. He thinks I can get off them after my next visit at the end of February.
My bp an hour after riding was 116/76.

Alan K

All that sounds very good - but make sure to see your physician on schedule he or she has set for you, it is very important.
Your physician will probably order a renal function test and liver function test, if hasn’t already done so.

BTinNYC 

Pepper,
Super congrats on the weight loss!!!

And yes to warming up. The typical 1 hr cycling workout has about 15 minutes of warm-up and 10 minutes of warm-down, so nearly half of the time is spent 'warming'.

PeteHski

It takes me a good 15-20 mins to wam-up properly. Congrats on the weight loss too.

pepperbelly

I am not sure what renal and liver function tests are. I get a lipid panel and other bloodwork as scheduled- twice a year? My cardiologist sees me every 6 months. He watches my lipids in addition to my heart.

Alan K

Lipids and cardiac function monitoring is very important.
Liver function tests include checking levels of a few liver enzymes in blood. Liver cells are constantly renewed normally and consequently, these enzymes appear in blood. However, under normal conditions their levels are low (well known, though each lab may have their low/limits, depending on the techniques and reagents they use). If and when, the liver is overtaxed, more liver cells end up dying and the levels of these enzymes will go higher in blood and used as an indicator of liver degeneration. Fortunately, liver has the capacity to regenerate rapidly and there is no need for concern, provided the abuse to organ is minimized or mitigated. This is why, I had cautioned you to have your physician keep you under a close watch. The situation with your kidneys’ health is not identical but monitoring its function is quite easy. Kidneys, unlike liver, are not capable of regenerating. If for any reason, their function is impaired, usually the best one can do is to prevent further deterioration.
Take care.

pepperbelly

Got it. I thought ut was just blood tests but I wasn’t sure.
They watch all of that. My last bloodwork showed I had cut my cholesterol and triglycerides a lit. They had been high. They were 140 and 90 respectively. Everything else was also very good. I think eliminating the sugar and junk food has me healthy as I was as an athlete in high school.
I also used to drink mostly diet Coke. Now I drink water, about 6-7 bottles per day or more.

Alan K

All excellent!

Nature gives us a good start, usually - we can make as good a use of it as possible. For me, it has never been about longevity, only about the quality of life that I have or will hopefully have.

It turns out, sugar when consumed in large quantities as it is today, is the worst enemy of our health.

After having our first child, we almost never had packaged sugar coated cereals or soft drinks in our home, even frozen concentrated juices not bought- many of them have added sugar. If we feel like having fruit juices, which seldom happens, we make them at home or get a local wonderful grocery store do it - they have a lot of fruits and vegetables produced by local farmers. They have a small sitting area and a stall where you tell them what you want in your juice, they do it before your eyes. Normally, we prefer to eat fresh fruits and vegetables.

I have not bought into this trend of shoving everything into a heavy duty blender, grinding them, removing the fibers and drinking the liquids as a potion for good health.