need workout for my temporarily sick and homebound mother

[yafael]

My mother, normally very healthy and an active outdoor walker/hiker/bicyclist, just had an emergency abdominal surgery that has left her weak and sporting a lovely "wound pump" that needs to stay attached to her abdomen at all times for the next few months. It's basically a box that weighs about four to five pounds attached to a fairly long tube that is attached to her abdomen. She can't take it off even to shower.

In the meantime, she needs to keep walking. At this point she is walking around her property two or three times a day. That's all she can handle with the way she is feeling. But it's the winter in the Northeast, and we are worried about what she is going to do when there's too much snow on the ground or it's too cold for these short walks.

So I'm looking for a cardio video for her and have a bunch of requirements:
- she is normally quite healthy and active and outdoorsy and doesn't want to feel talked down to
- it has to be low impact without a lot of big movements because of her wound and the pump
- it has to be doable in a small space, partly because that's all she has, and partly because she is going to have to keep her wound pump close to her
- it has to be something she can just do part of until she's able to do all of it

I am thinking maybe Leslie Sansone -- I have been looking at her 2 Mile Walk. I don't have a lot of experience with Leslie, but from what I know, my biggest worry about her is that my mother won't like her style. My mother doesn't need someone telling her all the reasons why it's good to walk. Walking is already part of her life, and she's going to find the idea of "walking" inside kind of cheesy.

With my requirements would you still recommend that or other Leslie Sansone videos? Any other ideas?

Thanks!

[azelizabeth]

Is your mom getting a nurse from home care to take care of her wound? If so... she most likely will qualify for physical therapy at home... ask your nurse if she can make a referral for therapy. That way they can assess her situation and plan her exercises accordingly.

Elizabeth

[Laura S.]

Leslie seems to dominate that video walking market. Some of her workouts are more brisk than others and could be a good workout for your mom. One of her newer series, Walk Slim, seems to have some of those. However, given what you said, I'd be afraid that her constant talking and hitting how much good walking does would turn her off. Of course, in those Walk Slim workouts, I've run across one where you can go with just music - you can turn Leslie off. There may be others - I haven't tried the whole series yet.

Madeline Lewis also has a walking workout. I haven't done it myself, but have seen some good things about it. I'm still trying to come up with others, but it's 5:19 am, so I may be back!

[little bird]

I think the Madeline Lewis might be a little too high intensity. One of the segments has knee ups etc. The George Foreman and Petra Walking dvds might work. I am working on getting rid of at least 2 of those. PM me if you are interested in those. I also have a couple of sealed Leslie's. How about trying one Leslie and one George and see which one your mother likes. Debbie Rocker also has some walking workout but I have not done any of hers so I can't speak to what they are like. Good luck!

[KathAL79]

I agree that it'd be worth asking about physical therapy.

One option for Leslie Sansone, if it's still available, is a great compilation from Target called 5-Day Fit Walk. For $14.99, it has 5 of Leslie's programs: Get up and Get Started (one of the introductory 1 mi. walk from one of her series), With High Calorie Burn (Correction: this is from WATP Express for Abs; I think the 1 mi. introductory one is, too), 30-Minute Walk, Walk & Kick, and Power Mile. Many of them are slightly older, so Leslie's not as overly enthusiastically chatty as she can be in a few of the new ones. They all run about 15-30 min. each, or the equivalent of 1-2 miles. None of them have jogging in them. The only one you would want to caution your mom about is Walk & Kick, as she may not be willing or able or cleared for some basic kicking and punching.
(There's another Target compilation, Intensity Walk, which has slightly more challenging and longer programs, including WATP Express - Super Challenge 4 Mile, Walk & Jog, and Muscle Mile One.)

As to your mom not wanting to hear about the benefits of walking, she might actually like Leslie's affirmations about the power of walking, as it may help her feel that all of her efforts are validated and that she's doing a good thing. But you know your mom.

Debbie Rocker also makes good walking videos, but she includes jogging and some strength training moves like lunges and squats. Although she has a low impact modifier, Debbie doesn't always clearly explains exactly what the low impact modification is. She also doesn't mirror cue.

[bfit]

I think some of the easier Leslie Sansone ones would be fine. In some of her older 1, 2, and 3 mile sets you could start with the one mile workouts and then work your way up to 2 and 3 miles. I am an advanced exerciser, and I used Leslie Sansone videos a lot a few years ago when I had a knee injury. I did not find her condascending or patronizing at all - she is strangely inspiring in fact. There are also the Debbie Rocker walking workouts. I think most of these are kind of long, but I found them very easy - easier than most of the Leslie Sansone ones. Another possibility is the Denise Austin indoor walking workout. It has 3 separate miles and you can mix and match them. The first mile is very easy and low impact. The second one is supposedly interval training, but the intervals are not very hard. The third mile involves light weights which are always optional of course.

[yafael]

Just wanted to let you all know that I read your suggestions and shared them with my mother. She ended up healing much more quickly than anyone (especially the doctors) expected, so she was actually outside walking for real and didn't need videos. She's now back up to between 5 and 10 miles a day, hiking or on the local country roads. Pretty amazing and gratifying.

I appreciate the responses too, as I have been thinking about getting a walking video for the days when I just can't get out (kids and work) but I all I really want is a walk. Your breakdowns of what to expect from the different instructors were very helpful.

[Laura S.]

What great news! Your mom sounds like an amazing lady. It's good she could get back to doing what she loves so quickly.

[roz]

Originally Posted by yafael

Just wanted to let you all know that I read your suggestions and shared them with my mother. She ended up healing much more quickly than anyone (especially the doctors) expected, so she was actually outside walking for real and didn't need videos. She's now back up to between 5 and 10 miles a day, hiking or on the local country roads. Pretty amazing and gratifying.

I appreciate the responses too, as I have been thinking about getting a walking video for the days when I just can't get out (kids and work) but I all I really want is a walk. Your breakdowns of what to expect from the different instructors were very helpful.

Those wound vacs can do amazing things!