Exercising at the Senior Center

Bob has been going to the Sunnyvale Senior Center (SSC) 2 or 3 times a week since he finished the Pulmonary Rehab class at El Camino Hospital. The Rehab people were encouraging the class members to exercise at least 3 times a week after the class was finished. For Bob this seems to be primarily using the facilites at the SSC or taking a walk over to the middle school.

Bob uses the oxygen setup when he exercises. At the hospital all but one of the class members was on continuous flow liquid oxygen during the exercise period. The flow was set at 2 liters per minute during the exercise and cool down. The students had all gradually worked up to 40 minutes on the exercise machines during the 8 weeks (Tues. & Thurs.) of class. Bob's current oxygen setup is "pulsed" rather than continuous flow. He had started out at SSC with the metering dial set to 2 lpm. However, when he had his next appointment with Dr. Beck, the pulmonologist, Dr. Beck said that he should set the flow to 4 for the pulsed equipment.

The machine Bob is on in the photo is just like the one he had been using in the class in the pulmonary lab. The other photo was taken from just inside the door of the exercise room at the SSC and also shows Bob on the machine. His oxygen bottle is sitting on the floor on the far side of the machine so it is not visible. The bottle is only 9.5 inches tall inside a slightly taller carry pack. For walking, the pack can be carried over one shoulder. I guess we need to take some more photos for a future post.

Bob on Exercise Machine 8 April 2010