Sciatica woes

My sciatica is becoming more troublesome in spite of rest days and gentle stretching. I almost didn't go to the gym today because it's so cold and bleary. Friday rained all day. The weekend was brisk and sunny and I made use of dry weather to do more yard work although I'm by no means done. 

I get to the gym at noon and proceed to do my 35-minute warmup on the elliptical. My glute and calf don't hurt as I pedal forward, but backward causes some discomfort. Again, some core exercises feel fine and others cause twinging. I approach the Smith Inclined Press with hesitation because pressing heavy causes a lot of pain down my right leg. Although I'm cross-dominant, meaning that I use my left and right sides for different things, my strength is right-sided. My compromise is to do fewer reps, fewer sets. I also cross my ankles so that the left foot now provides the base support while the right foot is suspended in the air. I'm sure it looks ridiculous. It's not an ideal situation, but at least I won't lose all my strength. 

For Seated Cable Rows, I use a different approach. I know that my glute and lower back will complain if I go too heavy here so I've stayed at 70 lbs for the past several weeks. Today I gingerly increase the weight a tad using the 7.5 lb brick. It's not so bad. I put the pin into the 85 lb slot and pull the brick off. That's not so bad either. My glute doesn't hurt while I'm doing this movement, but it's not happy with me. 

After a scant three sets, I'm done. But I'm not quick enough to claim the lone StepMill so I get on the elliptical again. At first, I plan to do 20 minutes but really I just want to shower and leave so I cut that to 10. Nothing hurts while I'm pedaling forward and I ditch the idea to pedal backward. There's always tomorrow... 

19Oct2020
Dreary Monday

Precor elliptical
35 min
Program 1
HR 141, 192
Cal 310
Distance 2.81

Crunches x 60
50 Bicycles
Crunches x 60
Piriformis Stretch
Plank 60s
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Pushups 25
Piriformis Stretches
Quick Mat Stretch

Smith Inclined Press
Bar (30) x 15
+20 x 15
+40 x 15
+50 x 20

Seated Cable Row (light)
70 lbs x 15 reps
77.5 x 12
85 x 12

Precor elliptical
10 min
Program Intervals
HR 156-138
Cal 89
Distance 0.80