It was a beautiful day much like today, with a clear blue sky and moderate temperatures. I'm talking about 9-11 of course, which has its 23rd anniversary tomorrow. I remember exactly where I was and what I was doing because I wasn't at work. In fact, I was going in late because I had the fuel oil service company coming for boiler maintenance. I was at the bank when the first plane hit and it had been broadcast over the radio. We all thought it must've been a small prop plane with an inexperienced pilot, not a commercial passenger jet. Today, I go to the gym. It's not crowded.
After 3 mostly sedentary days, today is cardio and pull-ups. Cardio is a skosh better and although pull-ups don't seem as good on paper, they are actually better than last week. Today I could feel the muscles that run down my spine as I pulled up. That would be the tail of the trapezius and I'm guessing that's a good thing. I'm fairly satisfied with getting roughly a dozen reps for each set between bouts of cardio. Throughout all of this my sciatica is virtually non-existent, and doesn't make itself known until I lay down in the Aerobics Room.
A few hip bridge reps later, tingling pain radiates from my hip, simultaneously clenches my calf and makes the top of my toes go numb. It progresses in intensity until I finish all the reps. Ugh. Doing the piriformis stretches offer relief and I move on to the next sets of exercises. Child's pose, cat/camel stretch and fire hydrants are all okay. The Bird Dogs are still causing me pain and numbness, but I can make it through a minute on each side. Push-ups also cause pain, but a different kind. This is actual pain starting in the glute and slowly inching down my leg until it hits the arch of my foot. Thankfully I'm only doing 25 reps!
I skip the Wall Squats today, figuring that I've done plenty of cardio. Maybe I'll do them tomorrow if I go to the gym. The Senior Class will be in session so I'll most likely do basic cardio and then look for that Nautilus bench. If it's not available, I'm not sure what I'll do. My back is too sensitive to even attempt Seated Cable Rows, much less any sort of DB rowing. I don't know what to make of the hip numbness or the tingling numbness in my toes. I didn't have these issues last year when I saw my doc although she did ask me about numbness, so I can only surmise that the tingling means a progression of nerve impingement. Not good. I see my doc in November and I hope the sciatica will be gone by then...
10 Sept 11:35-1:37
Tuesday — All Cardio Beautiful Day
Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30 + 5 (5564)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 313
Avg Hr: 152, 186-108
New FB: 51-140
HGPU 15
Matrix StairMaster (R) 12:24
Manual timer 8+2 cool down
Speed 5 (45-50) / 29-38 (2)
Steps 438
Floors 27
Cal 66
Hr 135
HGPU 12
Life Fitness X-Trainer #4
Program Manual L1
Time: 15 (ditch 3min cool down)
Distance: 1.44
Cal: 116
Avg Hr: 130-140
HGPU 12
20 Hip Bridges
Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch
DeadBugs 20 x 5
Piriformis stretches
Quick Child’s Pose
Cat stretch 12
Child’s Pose
Fire Hydrants 20 x 2
Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2
Arm rotations 20
Push-Ups 25 (creeping tingle)
Air Squats 25
Neck stretch / Eye yoga
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