Coincidence?

The worse part about a sciatic flare-up is getting out of bed. I put my gym clothes on while standing up. My glute is throbbing and a burning sensation runs down my leg. Socks are difficult at this point. The only thing that hurts more is sitting in the car. Now my foot is also throbbing as we wait for the bus which (because there's a substitute driver) is 15 minutes late. Which means I'm late to the gym as well. But getting there was not without excitement: traveling at roughly 40 mph in single lane traffic, a deer bolts out of the woods and crosses between my car and the one in front of me. 

I'm a conservative driver so I always leave 3-4 car lengths before me. Unlike the idiot behind me who is riding my tail up until I slam on my brakes and the deer leaps to the other side of the road. Then the idiot car leaves a bit more space between us. I used to have a pair of deer horns on my car but shoveling snow off the vehicle dislodged one of them. I like to think that they work though since I haven't actually hit any of them, even with just one horn.

Temps are in the mid-30s so the gym is cold and I don't take my hoodie off today. Not for cardio, not for core, not for the stair machine. I'm having trouble sitting on the mat in the Aerobics Room. I stood up in the locker room to put on my sneakers instead of sitting on the most painful bench in the world (probably something to do with it's height and hardness). 

Having to stabilize my core during Rip Skulls and Skull Crushers would aggravate my sciatica so I skip those today. I toy with the idea of doing some V-bar Press Downs but note that the cable is so short that the loop to affix a handle is right up against the pulley overhead. I'd need to be another foot and a half taller to reach that! Once I'm on the Step Mill, I see that the V-bar handle is attached to a different cable station on the other side. Oh, well. Too late now. A few regulars populate the free weight area.

When I get home, my web browser's suggested reading list includes an article about lower back pain and various solutions. Wow, although not sciatica specifically, it is timely. Duck Duck Go claims not to monitor or track your searches or sell your info, so is this just a coincidence? I dunno. But the article reinforces my own beliefs that exercise and movement work just as well if not better than "conventional treatments and therapies" including chiropractic care. 

There's even a quick list of 3 exercises that help stabilize the core to reduce lower back pain. Click here for the link to the article. I do find Bird Dogs help a lot. I'm a bit more skeptical about Side Bridge, but mainly because it's stressful on my feet and shoulders, and I have enough foot trouble as it is. The cold weather is causing my heels to crack now, and I've discovered a weird cut on the side of my foot as if the skin was splitting. Ugh. Good thing temps are rising with the advent of more rainy weather. Snow in the forecast for next weekend. Maybe...

6 December 2022
Rainy Sciatic Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 + 5 (5606)
Distance: 2.84
Cal: 316
Avg Hr: 149, 184-79

Crunches 60
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 25 x 2
Bird Dogs 60s x 2
Child’s Pose
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga (sitting is a problem)

StepMill (L)
Manual 10 min
Speed 6 (52-55)
Steps 539
Floors 33
Cal 79
Hr 140