Injury Prevention Starts With Listening

I didn't have time to hit the gym yesterday so today is my first workout of the week. Even though it hasn't been that long, I've gotten used to the abbreviated full-body routine I do with my son. He's at Scout camp this week, so I'm attempting to return to my solitary ways. I start with HIIT cardio, followed by pullups. So far so good. It's so hot and humid that I can't stop sweating and my face feels sunburned pink. There's a/c but it's not arctic. The classroom is several degrees warmer than the rest of the gym, but at least it's spacious and quiet.

I breeze through Core, but the Smith is occupied. It's a Pull Day and I'm not exactly sure what I should do instead. I choose the Seated Cable Row, which I had started doing again with my son last week. This time, though, I don't have my son as a constraint and I increase the weight to 100 lbs. It's hard and I feel a slight amount of discomfort in my left hip. Normally, when I pull a weight that's too heavy, my right hip complains and I run the risk of sciatica. It's happened before. Some injuries never heal properly, leaving the tissue sensitive and prone to provocation. My right leg is like that. I've never had issues with my left side before. But for me, Seated Cable Rows exacerbates a probable weakness in my lower back, so I've been extremely cautious. I proceed slowly with all my sets.

The Smith is free and I decide to do a few RDLs. However, the Seated Cable Rows have had the unfortunate effect of pre-exhausting my back. It's not something I had really thought about until I tried to pull the 120 and felt a dull ache on my left lower back. Uh oh. Not today. The worst thing you can do is push through when your body is quite obviously telling you No! Meanwhile, a friend stops by to say hi and I pause for 10 minutes to catch up with her. She's not someone I see very often so I break my own rule about not chatting between sets. Besides, I need to assess this new potential injury.

The left side stiffens up so I'm very cautious reracking my weights. I still do three sets of RG BB Rows. I'm still able to do three sets of RG BB Curls with the 40 lb solid bar, but I'm walking with a slight limp. I'm sure I'm the only one who notices. My cure? I make my way up to the cardio platform and get on the elliptical to do program 1. I like the way the program has you pedal forward, then backward, then forward and finally backward again. Of course, I also pedal forward during the 5-minute cooldown. Cardio makes you limber, gets the blood flowing and releases endorphins. It's enough to allow me a decent mat stretch before I go shower. I still need to be cautious, but this could've been so much worse if I had ignored the dull twinge during RDLs.

Tomorrow I'm toying with the idea of doing a few rounds of kickboxing since the gym still has a Nexersys machine. But I probably won't be kicking too hard.

Sunny Tuesday Pull

Norwegian 4x4
5 min w/u (4 min on / 3 min off) x 4
5, 9, 12, 16, 19, 23, 26, 30, 33
Calories 295
Miles 2.69
HR 141-188 (88, 118)

Cage Stretch
HGPU 23

Crunches Legs Up 40
Bicycles 50
Crunches knees bent 50
Horizontal Scissors 50
Side Planks 2 x 60s
Bird Dogs 2 x 60s

Seated Cable Rows
50lbs x 12 (warmup)
70 x 12
85 x 12
100 x 12

Smith RDLs
Bar (30) x 12
80 x 12
100 x 12
120 x 7

Smith RG BB Row
80lbs x 25 x 3

RG BB Curls
40lbs x 25 reps x 3 sets

20 elliptical + 5cd
Program 1
Calories 229
Miles 2.05
HR 141-175 (88)

Mat Stretch