I went to see two cover bands last Friday and it just confirmed what I had suspected. Everyone was all excited to see Love Sexy, a cover band for Prince and that didn't really thrill me. But another cover band, Side Car doing The Cars, with immensely danceable songs, well, that was exciting. And I went to the show just for them.
The venue wasn't very crowded, and it was kind of sad how barely anyone got up to dance for the opening songs and the Side Car band. I thought they were really good. But everyone jumped to their feet to wave their hands at basically undanceable Prince songs. I could barely keep myself from yawning. Seriously. I suspect the Queen cover band, Extreme Queen, this Friday will be much better than the faux Prince. I don't even care if no one dances to it, but I probably will.
Meanwhile, I took one of my dogs to get X-rays of the bony knob on his rib, and the consensus was that it was a benign bony growth, that warranted monitoring but nothing immediately alarming. I finally put the butterfly bushes and coneflowers I bought several weeks ago into the ground, and have been visited by a few Eastern Tiger Swallowtails and a lone Monarch. The milkweeds, unfortunately, are being devoured by brushy Hickory Tussock caterpillars...
It's been nearly a week since I last made it to the gym. My sciatica is progressing and not in a good way. Mostly, it gets in the way of things I want or need to do. Yes, I went dancing last week in spite of it. Because sitting around doesn't make it better. Cardio warms all the muscles and ligaments so eventually I feel better, but I'm always surprised at what movements make my foot go numb, or worse. The elliptical is both good and bad, depending on whether I'm pedaling forward or backward, and at what elevation. I used to exit the elliptical feeling looser. Now, I'm happy if my foot isn't completely numb or glute isn't sore.
Pull-ups definitely make the pain worse. Reps are a struggle and ugly to boot. My right shoulder is aggravated doing normal everyday chores, like backing my car into the driveway. And that's with power steering! There were a lot more people in the free weight area today, and one was quite annoying. A tall middle-age dude, (maybe he was trying to impress the thin leggy blonde HS girl?) kept grunting with every rep of bad form DB curls that were obviously too heavy for his abilities.
I tried to minimize damage to my wonky elbows and shoulders by cutting the reps slightly for the tricep supersets. Everything else was routine. The Aerobics Room was cool and I spent a lot of time doing hamstring stretches and nerve flossing because my sciatica hurt so much. I really hate it when my foot goes numb and my calf feels like half an electrical fire.
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| Butter Swim Blueberry Biscuits |
I made an interesting observation that my sciatica is aggravated by crunches if my knees are bent and my feet flat on the floor, but less so if my knees are pulled close to the chest. So, I did 50 reps of one and then the other to compare. Guess I'll skip the feet flat on the floor next time. Just like I've skipped Bird Dogs, Dead Bugs, and Push-ups. And I really hate myself for quitting push-ups. But I need to be able to walk out of the Aerobics Room. It's quite the bummer when even innocuous Air Squats cause aggravation. I'll probably make an appointment for a consultation with the neurosurgeon in the next few weeks...
My kid is leaving for Senior year of college a few days earlier than expected because the friend that is driving has work commitments. The dorms won't be open yet so I've booked them a hotel room close to campus. Meanwhile, my kid decided to remake the Butter Swim Blueberry Biscuits from a few weeks ago. They are delicious, but sooo fattening. Maybe not as fattening as the Blondies with candied bacon (homemade) and toffee chips (my god that non chocolate "fudge" was absolutely fabulous), but damn close. I tease my kid that if this biomedical engineering thing doesn't work out, they can always open up a sweet shop.
18 August 2026 12:33-2:28
Sciatica Tuesday
Drop off pup at vet
Precor elliptical #1 (1:10)
Program #2
Time: 30 + 5 (5212)
Distance: 2.73
Cal: 296
Precor HR: 145, 184-120
Google Health: 44-122
(Foot numb / calf electric)
HGPU 15 sciatica ugly
Skull Crushers/RipSkulls (1:23-2:02)
30 lbs x 24/22/20/24 reps x 4
(Progressive decrease until set 4)
S/s with
Standing DB Laterals w/ 10 lbs x 15 reps
15 x 15 x 3
S/s wit
Seated DB Alt Curls w/ 10 lbs x 12
15 x 12 x 3
Mild A/C in the Aerobics Room!
20 Piriformis/Hip flex (2:04)
20 Hamstring / nerve flossing
50 crunches x 2
Numb toes intensify during crunches if feet on floor; better if knees to chest
20 Piriformis / hamstring / nerve flossing stretches
Child’s Pose
Cat/Cow stretch 12
Child’s Pose
Fire Hydrants 30 x 2
Arm rotations 20
Skip Push-Ups 26
Air Squats 25 (sciatica!)
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