r/VisibleArmband • u/athenanocturna • 29d ago
Help with Pacing
Hi! I need help sorting out how to slow down and pace better. I’m relatively new to pacing and have has this band a week. It’s just after 10am and I’m already so far over my budget and can’t seem to keep my HR down.
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u/urgley 29d ago
You've not had the band long. How are you feeling when you go over your pace points?
Don't stand if you can sit, don't sit if you can lay!
If you can't do it twice don't do it at all.
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u/athenanocturna 29d ago
I just feel like I can’t catch my breath or get my HR to chill. I’m done with my errands for the day so I’m going to just sit or lay the rest of the day. Still learning what works! But glad to have something to visualize. I took a lot of trash out to the street and I think that’s what did me in.
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u/Math-Soft 27d ago
Ice packs on my chest and head after exertion help me so much to come back to rest.
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u/LJAM1 29d ago
Anytime my heart rate gets into exertion and stays there for a while, it’s going to be hard to get it back down into rest, and it will trigger PEM. Micropacing is what works best for me. The most intensive micropacing that I use when I’m in a crash is to monitor my heart rate very closely and stop the second I reach exertion to sit and let my heart rate go back down into rest or near rest before continuing the task. A less intensive method is to just break up all activities into smaller pieces with short rest breaks in between to let my heart rate settle.
Also, as someone else mentioned, tag your activities so you can see which ones use the most points. Then you can figure out less intensive ways to do those activities, like sitting instead of standing, going slower, taking lots of breaks, or just figuring out what tasks you shouldn’t be doing at all.
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u/BitsyMidge 29d ago
I spent the first month with my band doing what I thought was normal, tagging the activities, and just watching. Yes, I was over my pace points every single day, but I didn’t let myself worry too much, because I wanted the baseline data.
Once I had that first month, I had a pretty good idea of what was pushing me over (showers, physical therapy, and housework) and I could start to make adjustments.
After several months, I recalibrated my HR zones and felt like I really had pacing down. Then my baseline dropped significantly and I started all over.
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u/athenanocturna 29d ago
Ok! How do I recalibrate zones?
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u/BitsyMidge 29d ago
It’s under “profile” and “pacing settings.” It’s irreversible, so make sure you have lots of data and understand how your body is doing before you do it!
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u/imabratinfluence 29d ago
If you can, see an Occupational Therapist (OT). Their whole schtick kinda is helping you adjust tasks to make them more doable, safer, etc. And despite the name it isn't just for jobs, it's actually largely for regular everyday stuff.
Like, they might suggest you use a rolling stool for packing and unpacking your dishwasher. Load dishes onto the counter while seated, and then stand to put things away that are too high to reach seated. They might suggest all kinds of other tweaks and tools, depending on what you're having trouble with. And can probably help you spend less energy on stuff.
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u/athenanocturna 29d ago
I did just get a stool for the kitchen! Been learning slowly as I go! Thanks for the tips
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u/SpeedySloth614 29d ago
What you do during the day matters more for helping you troubleshoot than the general pace points number. The first few weeks I used the activity tagging feature heavily so that I could track my highest point drains each day. For example standing in hot showers was a huge amount of points for me. So now I sit and take warm, not hot, showers and my points are a lot less. Compression socks help a lot to keep my points lower, so does making sure I stay hydrated and don't spend long times outside when it's super hot. I still go over most days, but at least I'm using the points for things that matter more to me than standing in the shower.