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Too big a bench
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I'm annoyed with my glaucoma doctor's office for scheduling me last week to come in for a Visual Field test while there were no staff available to answer any questions. It was a day I had originally planned to do a cardio day since Tuesday was a 6-hr drive to Montreal. We took a rest stop halfway there, at Schroon Lake, an Adirondack resort town just north of the Camp Read Scout Camp. We walked around a lot once we were in Montreal, having suffered the frustration of rush-hour traffic in the downtown area. Any place we could walk, we walked, and tallied anywhere from 10,050 to 19,050 steps. Then we had to drive home, so another 6+ hours on the road. Meanwhile, my sciatica made itself known with difficulties greatest in the morning as I get out of bed. Walking helps.
My sciatica has changed, not better or necessarily worse. But while sitting on too soft a chair is horribly painful, sitting on a hard seat feels okay. However, this is the first time that walking makes my lower leg, foot and toes go numb. Ugh. Eventually, I can walk it off but I have to push through the discomfort. I've been eating a lot of ibuprofen. And at night I take a dose of gabapentin to help me sleep.
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Still not a great bench
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We're traveling to Buffalo at the end of the week so my kid can move into his dorm room. He also has a few appointments this week, so I'm only able to hit the gym today and Thursday. Because I'm worried about losing strength, I decide to do an easy "normal" routine, which means cardio, weights, then core exercises. The free weight area isn't too crowded so it's the perfect time to see where I can set myself for the DB Shoulder routine. I'm going to skip the Seated Cable Row and Tricep workout until my sciatica is much better because both of those movements involve too much spine.
I'm initially on the bench inside the Smith machine, but after a quick warmup set with 10 lb DBs, I realize that this adjustable bench is too big for me. It's too tall and my feet can't reach the ground and there's no foot rest. It's too wide and sitting on it backward puts a lot of pressure on the wonky sciatic nerve. Ugh. I look around for an unused narrower adjustable bench. There are a few folks working out so I don't have free pick of the equipment. The next bench has a foot rest so Inclined Presses are better, but the yellow adjustable knob for the back of the bench is in my way for Reverse Inclined Flys and I have to keep my elbows bent to keep from bashing my hands. I really miss the old Inclined Breaker Bench since they fit a short person quite well.
Since I haven't pushed weights in a long time, I keep it light and simple. My sciatica is really bothering me for silly things like hip bridges, dead bugs, hip stretches, bird dog planks make my calf and foot go numb, push-ups make my right calf throb, but air squats are okay if I go slow. Side bends are very unpleasant. But surprisingly, Wall Sits are fine. Ugh. I can't wait until my body recovers from this... At least the temps have dropped to a pleasant mid 60s. It's good sleeping weather when temps drop into the 50s.
20 August 11:42-1:40 Breezy Tuesday
Timolol / sciatica! Over a week & many miles
Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5438)
Distance: 2.79
Cal: 308
Avg Hr: 130, 176-77
No Fitbit
HGPU 12 Ugh! No stamina!
Easing back light sets
Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 (bench too big)
15 lbs x 25/15/25 (bench too wide)
20 Hip Bridges
(right leg sporadically going numb)
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5
10 Hip Bridges & 10 one-leg ea
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose
Fire Hydrants 20 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Arm rotations 20
Push-Ups 25
Air Squats 25
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
Wall Squat 150 sec (2 min 30 sec)
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