As good as I felt on Monday, I did not follow through on Tuesday with another gym session. And by Tuesday night, my sciatica was literally kicking my butt. While sitting was relatively painless, as soon as I got up, I was limping through the house. Even laying on a yoga mat in the living room to do some of my regular hamstring stretches offered little relief. You might wonder why I didn't just pop a couple of ibuprofen (Advil, Motrin) but since I'm on losartan, albeit a super low dose, there is always that caveat that it can interact with NSAIDs to cause kidney damage. Ugh. I just don't want to chance it! I did put a call in to my primary care doc but her office has yet to get back to me.
Sciatica is too painful for me to sit around doing nothing. Sitting around just ensures that it'll get worse, or take forever to get better. I go to the gym today and start with good ol' reliable Precor elliptical. Wind Breaker is on #2 so I get on #1. But I'm having a hard time today, mostly because I can't seem to get past the 20 minutes of slogging. Normally, after 15-20 minutes, I'm "warmed up" and able to really push hard for the rest of the workout. I thought it was just me but a recent article about raising your mood with exercise points out that newbies and seasoned athletes alike take up to 20 minutes.
I feel like I'm trying to run through sludge, and I don't make to 2.8. Well, proof that the Timoptic is working, at least as a beta blocker. Also, the elliptical, not known for HR accuracy, shows a HR of 77 for a good portion of the run. Later, the FitBit shows a peak of 116. Pathetic. If I'm consistent and keep at it, my body will overcome the effects, but I'm not sure if that also translates into a rising eye pressure. No one can ever answer my questions.
After mediocre pull-ups, I notice new equipment. The defunct Nexersys kickboxing systems are gone, and in their stead are two very large step machines. (I really miss whacking them when they worked!) Upon closer inspection, I see that they're StairMaster OverDrive machines. I have no idea what that means but I'm game for climbing on and getting a basic workout. Between my sciatica and the beta blocker, I gingerly do a quick (10 minute) basic stair climb workout while looking over the controls.
It's an expensive piece of equipment (Google shows $10-15K) that allows you to use your arms to do a Sled Push, or a Farmer's Walk. I just climb the stairs while deciphering the monitor. I guess the steps add resistance? Luckily, there's a YouTube video that purports to explain it (of course there is). I don't know what any of the other programs are though... unlike the ancient Precor elliptical. I'd skip anything based on HR though since that's completely unreliable.
I do another round of pull-ups after the stairs. And then I get on the cross-trainer to do 20+ minutes. It's a weird type of fatigue: I pedal and watch the Olympics but I'm too tired to sing. After 20 minutes, I can't muster the strength to pedal backward and the machine keeps pausing and telling me to pedal faster. It's the same machine I used two days ago (that's why I keep track of what # machine I'm using if there's more than one) so I know it's me and not the machine. I could try to do another round of pull-ups but don't want to embarrass myself.
When I get to the Aerobics Room, it's full of teenagers doing their own routines. I'm good with mine, even push-ups and squats, but just barely for squats because the knees are achy. My strength fails me at the end though, during Wall Sits. I only get to a minute and a half before calling it. Good enough. It's hot, and humid, and while the gym has a/c full blast, I'm still drenched... Apparently, we're having another heatwave this week. Well, that explains it then, right?
Tomorrow my kid has his annual at 10 AM, so I'm probably not going to the gym. But maybe I am. See how I feel...
31 July 11:23-1:33
Wednesday — All Cardio (5.14 miles / 11,769 steps per FB)
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