Worser, Not Betterer

I'm having to rethink the approach to my sciatic problem since my standard exercises aren't helping. Some things might actually be making it worse. While standing and walking are almost always a relief, there's only so much of that you can do, and none of that's practical when trying to read or tap into a laptop. Right now I'm kneeling on a big foam stadium seat cushion in front of my computer. 

For the past two days, I've also found that doing the Cat/Camel back stretch to be painful instead of mitigating any discomfort. Yesterday, my left glute hurt when doing push-ups. Today, not so much. But today I'm also not in the Aerobics Room, having arrived at the gym much too late. Instead, I'm laying on the dusty floor mats of the Functional Gym area... Ugh.

Sciatica impacts everything you need to do while seated. Not just reading, or driving, but even morning routines can be thoroughly disrupted. Especially bathroom routines. Which means I'm sitting in morning rush hour traffic to get to the gym and come to a complete standstill, sandwiched between cars and construction vehicles. It's a two-lane state road that traverses the county, but there's no passing lanes, and no shoulders. Just a 1/4 mile up ahead, some car has smacked into another car trying to enter the roadway. There might be all sorts of reasons why car 1 hit car 2: staring at their phone; antihistamine haze; senior with poor eyesight and reflexes; just in too much of a hurry...

But I get to the gym and put my sneakers on while standing up because sitting in the car is absolutely the worst thing for my sciatica. It's making me limp. Pedaling feels better. Crunches only work if I keep my knees bent and my feet on the floor. I kneel instead of sitting cross-leg on the mat. And I'm probably going to delete the Cat/Camel stretch from the repertoire for now. 

The heavy rainfall has knocked several of my milkweeds to the ground, and although I've propped them up and tethered them to stakes, their wilting leaves tell me that they're mortally wounded and won't recover. I'm bummed because these plants had loads of "about to bloom" buds... I still have other milkweeds, shorter and hardier, also about to bloom. Now if I can just spot a few monarchs... Instead, I find a large, odd-shaped bug I almost mistake for a Stink Bug because it's vaguely shield-shaped. My phone gives me a hard time focusing on the insect perched atop a milkweed leaf. Google Images reverse search easily identifies it as a Leaf Footed Bug. I'd rather have the ladybugs... 

30 June 2023
Late Friday w sciatica

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30 + 5 (5650)
Distance: 2.86
Cal: 318
Avg Hr: 138, 192-81


20 Hip Bridges
Crunches 60 knees bent
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
60 Dead Bugs
20 Hip Bridges
Elbow Plank 60s
Quick Child’s Pose
    Sciatica Cat stretch 12x
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Upper body stretch
Eye yoga