I Guess I Could Do More

Yaay for the end of the week. Tomorrow I can sleep in, or at least until 8 instead of getting up at 6 when it's still dark out. I'm really tired. Every morning I toy with the idea of skipping the gym and going back to sleep, but I find it impossible to nap when the sun is up. I am getting a wee bit bored with my workout though so I'm figuring out what I can change in the routine that I'm not going to regret, i.e., that isn't going to aggravate my lower back and sciatica, that isn't dependent on sensitive joints and won't raise my IOPs. 

These limitations are certainly frustrating, and sadly, I'm still much bigger than I'm comfortable being. Yep, a good 10 lbs of too much! But I'm at a loss as how to drop this excess size other than skipping meals... how much will my cholesterol and blood pressure rise if I don't eat oatmeal and vegetable/tomato juice everyday? Gone are the days when I could subsist on a single meal of protein and salad. Also, I don't think that's particularly healthy. 

Exercising more isn't the answer either since increasing one aspect means detracting from another. More cardio means less time for weights, or an abbreviated core session. Personally, I think I exercise enough. I'm still tempted to add some sort of rows back into my routine, but I'll have to research more to see which form is the safest for someone with sporadic sciatica. The lat-pull down machine can be hard on my elbows if I don't have the right handle and I'm not big on balancing on the seat just to reach that anyway. Yeah, short people problems... Maybe I'll test out Reverse Grip BB Rows on the Smith next week. Or super light Seated Cable Rows...

The gym parking lot is ridiculously crowded this morning but not so much inside. Weird. It's cold though, especially since half the big ceiling fans are rotating briskly. My routine is routine, even the DB Shoulders. I just wish the old disheveled "newbies" would understand that re-racking your weights does not mean dropping your BB into any available slot, but rather, putting it back in the proper slot you got it from. Ugh.

27 January 2023
Frosty Friday"

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5658)
Distance: 2.86
Cal: 318
Avg Hr: 153, 196-92

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

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys
10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up
15 lbs x 25/15/25
20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

Grown Up Thursday

I skipped the gym yesterday just so I could bring the dogs to the park early and then get errands done before the storm. Storm? The storm that had schools north of us cancel and our district schedule early dismissal. Flurries become snow becomes driving rain. Today, no rain but everything is sodden. 

Today is also my son's birthday and I planned to get some mini-cupcakes for his kung fu class. But in the car this morning, he tells me that he stayed up all night working on a project that's due tomorrow and he's so tired all he wants to do is sleep. As we discuss his project, he realizes that he's not actually done and needs to stay late to finish. I'm glad he's a hard worker but I worry how he'll handle college life...

The gym isn't crowded and the sun is out. I do my routine even though I feel vaguely sore all over. My pinky toe is better but not completely. Glutes are sore but I'm not sure if it's sciatica or not. After cardio and core, I'm mildly tempted to do a light set of seated cable rows but think better of it. My lower back and sciatica has me paranoid. Instead I do Skull Crushers: first a warm up set of 25 reps and then 3 sets at 35 lbs. It feels okay and I still have time to get my son a slice of strawberry shortcake cheesecake for his birthday. Meanwhile, I read something that makes me consider giving up the occasional sangria at dinner. Bummer.

26 January 2023
Birthday Thursday Post Storm

Precor elliptical #1
Program 1
Time: 30+5 (5604)
Distance: 2.84
Cal: 315
Avg Hr: 148, 180-76

HGPU 23

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

Skull Crushers
30 lbs x 25 reps
35 lbs x 15 reps x 3 sets

Little Things Make A Good Day

There was a bit of snow on the car but generally, the day was sunny and cold. I got to the gym and did my standard routine. But instead of doing DB Shoulders today, because I didn't have the time, I did three light sets of Skull Crushers. It's true that the human brain can't really focus on more than one painful area at a time. So, my pinky toe is still swollen and bothered, but my sciatica hasn't bothered me in a few days. Because I'm only wielding 30 lbs, I increase each set by 5 reps. My last set is 25 reps. Yeah, I can do 32.5 lbs next time. But I'll hold off on the Rip Skulls until I'm braver.

I'm tired, as usual, and because I told my son we could have spicy Jamaican Beef Patties before we went to kung fun and then Scouts, I had to do a bit of grocery shopping before taking pups to the park. Once home, I started fiddling with the fluorescent light tubes, trying to figure out what sort of ballast I needed to buy at the Home Depot. I had replaced these two bulbs some years ago and the lights flickered but never came on fully. Since the fixture was 30 years old, replacing the ballasts made sense. 

I got one bulb out but not it's brother. After 10 minutes of fidgeting while perched on a stool over the kitchen sink, I gave up and put the bulb back in. And just for fun, I flicked the light switch. And wondrously, there was light! Wow. I'm not sure why it didn't work when I originally replaced the tubes, but I'm damn happy the lights work now!

There's a new storm headed our way by tomorrow afternoon. Not sure if I'll get to the gym or not. My son's birthday is Thursday and I'm planning to buy a good dozen mini cupcakes for his kung fu class, and maybe a special little solo cake just for him.

24 January 2023
Fatigue Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1
Program 3
Time: 30+5 (5586)
Distance: 2.83
Cal: 314
Avg Hr: 150, 198-77

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

Skull Crushers (ease back in)
30 lbs x 15, 20, 25

First Snowfall of the Year

One of the dogs was acting weird this morning. He sat by the window by the stairs on the second floor and cried. He did it last night as well after my son had already walked him in the rain. The other pup had no issues and isn't vocal at all in the house. I got my son to the school bus in time and then had to turn around to retrieve the pups for a quick morning walk before going to the gym. They seemed fine when I left the house. I come back less than three hours later (from the gym) and again one dog is wailing by the second floor window. He actually won't come down until I put a leash on him and drag him out. 

I take both of them to the park but because I've been rushed out the door, I neglected to put dog treats in my pockets. Oh well. They run about like lunatics and eventually stop as if to ask if anyone else is coming. Uh, nope. We only stay for 30 minutes and the light rain has become snow that's not supposed to stick. Except that it does. On the grass, shrubs, trees, in my driveway, on my walkway... Temps hover at 31F and big fat snowflakes flurry through the air. I'm glad that yesterday I refilled the feeders with suet and sunflower seeds, and brought in a half load of firewood. 

Yesterday we celebrated the Lunar New Year by going out for gyoza and tonkatsu ramen at a local eatery and then streaming Puss And Boots 2. As long as we have dumplings and long noodles, the New Year is blessed. (Dumplings symbolize wealth because they resemble coin purses, and long noodles signify a long life.) My son wanted to see the animated flick because all his friends already have. It was very entertaining with a hodge-podge medley of references to assorted fairy tale characters. While it's playing at the local cinema, it's cheaper to pay for early streaming (and pause whenever we need to) rather than drive to the next town, find parking, pay for overpriced snacks & beverages, and then deal with unruly other theater patrons and their kids. Seriously. 

 

So, I'm at the gym a half hour later than normal. But I can still access the elliptical, do some pull-ups, and then core and stretches in the Aerobics Room before the 9:30 class starts. There are mostly regulars scattered throughout. My foot/toe still hurts but it somehow feels worse when I wrap it so really I just need to remember not to put weight on that side of my foot.

23 January 2023
Wintry Mix Monday & a Late Start

Precor elliptical #1
Program 2
Time: 30+5 (5718)
Distance: 2.88
Cal: 321
Avg Hr: 155, 198-94

HGPU 22

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

Bruised Not Broken

I had x-rays done yesterday and confirmed that the little toe is merely bruised, not broken. Whew! The doc recommended splinting the toe with the self-sticking gauze, but it's hard to hold four toes wrapped together like that when they aren't all the same size. He uses a bit of tape to hold everything together and my foot feels pretty good for the rest of the day. By bedtime though, I need to pull it all off. My foot needs to stretch and breathe at night.

It's impossible to re-wrap the toes in the morning. I do try with just sticky gauze but a few minutes on the elliptical and I have to stop to remove it because it's sliding under my foot inside my sock. I do my workout without any wrapping and the foot is okay, but does ache when I walk or step up or down. My pull-ups are back to normal though so that's a relief. Everything else feels normal too, except for push-ups because I briefly forget to put all my weight on my big toe instead of across all the toes. 

I even get through my DB Shoulder routine without any issues except for an occasional twinge when I flex my foot too much. Once I get home, I find a new roll of self-sticking gauze and wrap four of my toes and then secure it by wrapping the entire foot. It's not quite as comfortable as when the doc did it, but it's better support for the bruised digit.

I was told at the doc's that I was the third patient they'd seen this month with a wood stacking injury. Another woman had the same issue with a log bouncing out of the bin and onto her foot. She broke her index toe. A fellow had a cord of wood drop and he broke his foot. I feel very lucky indeed.

20 January 2023

Tape Splint Fail Friday

Precor elliptical #1

Program 1

Time: 30+5 (5502)

Distance: 2.80

Cal: 310

Avg Hr: 133, 184-83

HGPU 23

Crunches 60

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

60 Dead Bugs

15 Hip Bridge/Thrusts

Elbow Plank 60s

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12x

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dog Planks 60s x 2

Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose

Push-Ups 25

Air Squats 25

Upper body stretch

Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys

10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up

15 lbs x 25/15/25

20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

 

For Better or Worse

My foot was sore when I woke up this morning and that surprised me. But then again, I probably should've expected some repercussions from a full day of being on my feet. Being short means my legs don't reach the ground when I sit in a chair and that's hard on my sciatica. 

Well, I did get warm on the elliptical because I did the entire 35 minutes although I didn't pedal as fast as usual, and that shows in the steps/mileage displayed. I also consciously put weight on the ball of my foot and the big toe instead of having it evenly distributed across all the metatarsals. Anything that requires landing on the forefoot is a big painful No. I might resort to the recumbent bike at some point...

My forearms are still a little sore from using the hedge trimmers to clear thorny wineberry vines from the wood racks days ago. My damaged foot is numb at the toes. Pedaling backwards, once my favorite thing to do, puts a lot of stress on my feet and hamstrings. In the Aerobics Room, I'm good with doing all my core and stretching. I've swapped a piriformis stretch for a gluteal stretch because it's basically the same movement but less stressful on the knees and arms. I also find that as the supporting leg is lowered and the foot taps the ground, the lower abs become involved. Well, that's a pleasant surprise. 

 
As I read more articles on mitigating lower back issues, I see a variation on the Bird Dog. It's not a static plank but an alternating sides exercise. Well, I guess I'll have to try it to see how I do, but maybe not just yet. I've also read an article that makes me wish I wanted an Apple Watch because it has an awesome HR monitor in a wearable format. Apparently HRV (heart rate variability) is a good thing although I'm still concerned about my own... but not enough to consult a cardiologist.

The gym is virtually empty today. I don't mind. I do my DB Shoulder routine because that has little impact on my feet. The locker room has better lighting and I snap a few pix of my feet side-by-side for comparison. Maybe the toe isn't broken, but it's still very unhappy. Dr Google did provide me with one very useful bit of advice in dealing with a possible broken toe: wear wide but stiffer shoes with support. Looser, softer shoes have too much flex in them and put more pressure on the metatarsal base.

18 January 2023

Sore Foot Wednesday

Woke up with Foot/toes sore 

Precor elliptical #1

Program 3

Time: 30+5 (5372)

Distance: 2.77

Cal: 304

Avg Hr: 144, 180-83

Crunches 60

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

60 Dead Bugs

15 Hip Thrusts

Elbow Plank 60s

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12x

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dogs 60s x 2

Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose

Push-Ups 25

Air Squats 25

Upper body stretch

Eye yoga

Incl DB Press s/s Lateral Raises s/s Rev Incline Flys

10 lbs x 25/15/25 warm up

15 lbs x 25/15/25

20/15/20 x 25/15/25 x 3 sets

Ugly Feet Uglier

My right foot is a mess: bunion, hammer toes,
maybe broken pinky toe

I had a relatively productive long weekend. Except I might've broken a toe. I'm not sure because I've never broken anything, and toes, especially pinky toes are hard to self-diagnose. Hearsay is that nothing can be done anyway. Dr Google says go to the doc just in case to prevent osteoarthritis and possible bone infections. Yikes! 

It's not like I stubbed it, or dropped something on it. Rather, I was tossing wood into the wheelbarrow to move it to the racks for stacking when a "log" bounced off other pieces in the wheelbarrow and propelled itself out and right onto my foot. Now, I don't have steel-toed boots and doubt if I could ever find any in my hard-to-fit-size. I had on my wool socks and BOGs boots, which are thick rubber and neoprene. But not steel-toed.

So, the toe is swollen but only hurts when I'm walking the dog, or rather, being dragged by the dog down the road. The smaller dog. Because he's frantic to sniff out feral cats and raccoons. Or if I step up or down (like on stairs!) and anything that requires flexing at the ball of the foot. Otherwise, there's no pain. The toe did discolor after the dog walk, but doesn't hurt when I touch it. And I can wiggle it gently. But that doesn't mean it isn't broken. So I have an appointment with a foot specialist on Thursday. Basically because what would my primary tell me anyway, right? And besides, my primary is booked until April!

I did go to the gym today but decided to take it really easy. Slow pedaling on the elliptical. Backwards hurt and forward didn't. Pull-ups were difficult because I wasn't warmed-up after 25 minutes where I never broke a sweat. And I worried about dropping down from the top of the Stretch Cage and landing hard on my feet. 

But I ran errands yesterday and today. Took puppers to the park. Even hauled 3/4 of a wheelbarrow of firewood into the house. But slowly. Ever sooooo slowly. I might push myself a little harder tomorrow because Thursday I'll see the doc and he'll tell me it's probably just bruised. Except that it does hurt when I put weight on it. Not a bone hurt, but a weird sharp, tearing pain, like I've cut my skin on something. Except I haven't. Ugh. Well, at least there's no blood, cuz wearing a bandage on your toe sucks. Done that one already...

17 January 2023

Broken Pinky Toe Tuesday

Precor elliptical #1

Program 2

Time: 20+5? (3438)

Distance: 1.87

Cal: 197

Avg Hr: 130, 159-112

HGPU 20 (worried about landing)

Foot/toes throbbing a bit

Crunches 60

Piriformis/Hip/Pencil Stretch

60 Dead Bugs

15 Gentle Hip Bridge/Thrusts

Elbow Plank 60s

Quick Child’s Pose

Cat stretch 12x

Fire Hydrants 30 x 2

Bird Dogs 60s x 2

Child’s Pose / Cobra Pose

Push-Ups 25

Air Squats 25

Upper body stretch

Eye yoga