A Few Months Later

The last time I whacked the Nexersys kickboxing machine was in mid-July. Now it's mid-September and I'm worried that I'm totally ill-prepared for this endeavor. While I'm able to keep my 10-minute elliptical warmup and band pulls, I change the T, Y & I dumbbell raises so that I'm sitting upright instead of laying on my belly. This means that I'm not actually doing T, Y & I anymore. Instead, I substitute DB shoulder presses, front raises and lateral raises all with cute shiny chrome 5 lb baby bells. But I do 15 reps twice and they feel harder than the original prone movements.

The default setting for the Nexersys "Follow Me" program is 5 rounds. I leave it at that and select Beginner level. Halfway through the first round, the screen goes totally black except for a small white rectangle. The machine appears to have shut down. I wait. Then, the screen becomes a series of colorful zigzags and the machine reboots. Okay. I have to start over and I wonder if I'll actually make it all the way through 5 rounds. Hitting the Power Dig on lower left causes the Hitting Too Hard warning box to pop up, and I trigger that several times. Otherwise, all the rounds proceed normally. Next time I'll try for 7 rounds.

Sweat is dripping down my face, but it's still early. I can check out the Intermediate level. Default is 5 rounds and I leave it at that. There are certain combinations I like at this level and a few moves I'm not thrilled with, specifically, the Sweep. At least the dull ache in my right glute has subsided. (I must've slept funny last night because this morning I was worried about a right-side sciatic nerve flare-up.) But I like the addition of Hooks and Elbows. The Beginner level is just Jab and Cross, Dig and Body, Front Kick and Power Kick.

Round 3 and the machine is totally kicking my butt. I feel really out of shape in spite of all the weeks I've done HIIT cardio. It's probably my least favorite round because of the combos "Jab and Front Kick" and "Cross and Power Kick", usually in quick succession. It throws me off balance as I shift sides to execute the maneuver. I've been having some slight balance issues lately and I'm currently blaming it on mild seasonal allergies screwing up my sinuses and ears. (The goldenrods are in bloom, which means so are ragweeds. While I'm not sneezing a lot, my head feels off-kilter.)

I'm recovered by rounds 4 and 5, but I'm not interested in vexing myself with seeing if the Advance level is still wonky. I'm positive it is. The sun is rising higher and the glare on the screen is much worse now. Time for a quick stretch and then I'm done!

At the store, the pharmacy department is pushing flu shots. Everyone is pushing flu shots. I always sign my son up for one because he's in school, which is a hotbed of germs. I haven't gotten a flu shot since I stopped commuting several years ago. I always got sick regardless of shot or no shot. Now I'm reading that gut microbes might be responsible for a person's immunity. A study, buried on page three of a Google search, linked antibiotic use to lowered flu vaccine efficacy. The reason? Antibiotics disrupted the beneficial bacteria in the gut, and this effect persisted for months after the antibiotic course was done.

For years, the dental protocol every time I had my teeth cleaned was for me to ingest several capsules of amoxicillin as a prophylactic measure against a potentially deadly heart infection: endocarditis. I have MVP, aka mitral valve prolapse (as do a lot of people), which is a malformed or floppy heart valve. Mine has one overly long leaflet that looks like a thumb waving. It was thought that those "thumbs" attract bacteria introduced into the bloodstream by dental work. I won't lie: there's a lot of blood during a standard cleaning!

Currently, the risk factor for endocarditis includes MVP but only if the valve leaks or if the leaflets are thickened. Whew. I don't think that's me. It's interesting to note that MVP is also associated with anxiety (and heart palpitations and panic attacks) due to an "imbalance of the autonomic nervous system." I don't even pretend to know what that means. My old dentist retired and the fellow who took over the practice told me that I don't need to take the antibiotics before coming in. Which means my immune system should be more robust, but I'm only guessing that. I'm probably not going to get a flu shot. I just hope I don't regret it.

Whacking Tuesday

10 min x-trainer
Calories 0.94
Miles 0.83
HR 153-185 (85)

Up, Front & Side Raises
5lbs x 15 x 2

Mid-Band Pulls 15
High Band Pulls 15
Cage Stretch

Nexersys FM
Beginner 5r + 1/2r reboot
Intermediate 5r

Quick Mat Stretch