Born Again Gym Rat: Pushing When Your Body Pushes Back

Friday, January 29, 2016

Pushing When Your Body Pushes Back

I never got around to picking up the wood rack although I brought a good third of the wood inside, one armful at a time. Then I drove around town because I had errands to do. Being stuck in traffic eats up a lot of time. After sorting through a bunch of Cub Scout stuff, I had to pick my son up from school even earlier that usual because I wanted to get him checked out by his pediatrician.

My son's developed a series of large nasty pimples along his hairline, just under his bangs where they're invisible unless you push his hair up. And because he once contracted VRSA and had to be hospitalized when he was 3, I'm extremely cautious with ailments that don't quite look right. This isn't a single angry red pimple, but a cluster. Inside the hairline, the skin looks red and rough. Could this be psoriasis? It runs in my family. Could this be a staph infection? One of my dogs had one and needed treatment. The doc says it's probably staph and not to worry, it can be treated topically with bacitracin. But just to be safe, he pops the pimple and swabs the pus for a sample to send off to a lab.

Later, we have a Cub Scout den meeting where the boys are practicing their Klondike skills while the parents confer about different activities. The moms are all involved with the Blue & Gold banquet and I'm right in the middle of it. We don't get home until late, which means we don't go to be until late. Because we need to unwind by lounging on the sofa. First my son plays a few rounds of video game, then I watch another episode of Longmire by streaming Netflix. When I'm caught up with that, I'll probably finally start watching Breaking Bad, starting with the pilot episode.

My sciatica has become a chronic pain in the butt. It's not acute, and it's not constant. I'm fine sitting in front of my computer, or in my car but suffer when I have to stand. Sliding into my car has me groaning like an old person. My calf and hamstring threaten to spasm at weird moments. Walking is okay except up and down the stairs. My dad developed pain in the back of his knee from spinal stenosis. His doc gave him fentanyl patches to deal with the pain, but I don't think he ever used them.

I'm avoiding movements that exacerbate the discomfort. Standing for long periods is horrible, but not as bad as sitting on a hard surface, especially if my feet don't sit flat on the ground. The weight of my leg pulling down on my hip has always been a problem for me, so as much as I hate seeing kids put their feet up on tables and other seats, I have to put my feet up to relieve the pressure on my sciatic nerve.

I cut my cardio down because I'm tired, and my toes are numb even before I get too far on the cross-trainer. I get sporadic pain girdling my leg just under my left knee. That's new. Luckily it dissipates before I'm done with my first 30 minutes. I don't have these issues with the elliptical, but I don't get to warm up my upper body either on that machine. Curling my knees to my chest helps a lot when I do my pull ups. I also knock out a bunch of push ups, and do planks and curls. This is my warm up. Some people might be done at this point.

The DB area is crowded and there are no free benches. I'm looking for the smaller flat bench to put under the Smith machine bar. Instead, I do three sets of light weight at the Breaker Bench, limiting my last set to 85 lbs because I can't put my feet down (they're too short to lay flat on the ground) and the actual bench is too wide, chafing me as I bring the bar and hence, my elbows down. I'm a small person. Finally a few people leave the DB area and I grab a bench and start off light with high reps. I get to 6 reps at 120 lbs before I'm done. I can probably go heavier, if I cut some of my warm up sets beforehand. My right shoulder feels slightly sore but it's not an actual injury.

I debate with myself whether to do 3 or 6 sets of DB laterals and wind up with the latter, and doing full rep sets. The 25 lb DBs are hard on my forearms, especially the right elbow. My left elbow is a bit tender from the pull ups. I guess I'll only do 3 sets today, especially since I've upped my reps on all sets. I also include Drag Curls and just one set of RG BB Curls. I do most of my Mat Stretch but skip anything that feels like a lunge. That movement really inflames the sciatic nerve, pressing the butt muscles right up against the already tender nerve.

I feel cold most of the time, except when I'm dripping sweat. I'm eating too much junk food too. This is all probably because I'm not getting enough sleep. My husband says he'll be home late on Saturday and doesn't have to leave until Monday. Of course, Monday I have to leave the house early to drive my son to his extra gym class. I haven't seen my hubs since just after New Year's so that's nearly a month. It's like he's been sent to Mars. No wonder I'm tired.

Friday Workout
(6.04 miles total cardio)