Foam rolling. Ice. Protein. Rest, rest rest. Much better now, but still some slight twinges. Fine for everyday activities, but tired to death of squatting or lifting being such a damn pain.
So back to basics.
I dug out the list of rehab exercises from years back. I had gone to an orthopedic doctor to help with my scoliosis and he put me through a six week regimen to toughen up my core muscles. One of the few docs I’ve ever seen who actually did something useful. Yesterday I went to the gym and did them. Pretty simple calisthenics type stuff. Look easy, but surprisingly tough.
Lie on floor and roll pelvis back and forth.
“Bridge” - lift butt off floor, hold, return.
Leg lift while arm raise - holy coordination, Batman.
Lean against wall while flexing trunk from side to side - tougher than it sounds.
“Bird-dog” - hands & knees on floor. Lift right arm and left leg straight out, then reverse. Trick: put yardstick or broomstick on back and try to keep it from falling off.
And the ball exercises.
Sit on ball, lift knees up, then down.
Repeat, but lift arms at same time.
Bridge with legs on ball.
I did an hour and a half of the stuff, and couldn’t even get all the way through them. Weird. I was never out of breath, but worn out anyway. Really strange to feel your waist pumped but nothing else.
Went home, ate well, watched some TV, went to bed. Slept like a goddamn baby for 11 straight hours. Best sleep I’ve had in ages.
My back pain is much improved. I’m impressed. But these rehab exercises are really kicking my butt. I have two sets of papers, one is the basic and one advanced. I’ll have to concentrate on the basic for the moment and wait on the advanced.
For example: the birddog. Brace on hands and knees, then raise right arm and left leg. Then switch. Turns out I need to do the basic version, just raise arms only. Twenty reps, hold 3 secs, three sets. You wouldn’t believe the burn I get in the delts.
Or ball training. I use a ball so to give me an excuse to go to the gym. Otherwise I’d do the exercises at home and would probably skimp on them. I’m doing the simplest ball exercise: sit on ball, raise one knee, hold a bit, down, then the other. They call it “marching”. Really whacks me on balance. You wouldn’t think it’d be that tough, but just try it.
So. The “bridging” - lie on back, get butt in air, hold - really works the back. The side tensing gets a pump in the side torso. Ever pump your sides? Weird feeling.
Pleasant surprise. One exercise works adductor/abductors. Lie on back, swing knee as far as possible without moving pelvis, Paper shows a few inches movement. I can actually make it nearly all the way to the floor. Yeah flexibility!
In the middle of all this, I try a gym exercise at random just to keep boredom from killing me. Did a leg extension. Half weight stack, bring up slow, hold a sec, down slow. Shocked to discover I could do 18 reps. Lactic acid burn was killing me, but kept at it. Looks like the rehab stuff is retraining me on how I do the movements.
I signed up for a doctor visit, first in several years. Just couldn’t afford it, but turns out my income sucks so much I qualified for Medicaid. Turns out they can’t see me for a whole MONTH after the phone call, so I have weeks to wait.
The rehab stuff is really surprising. Workouts are taking an hour and half, and that’s just to get the basics, not the advanced stuff in. Also, it’s really stressful. I sure don’t remember it wiping me out when I first did it about 15 years ago. Monday I was so stressed I stopped at a buffet and consumed the salad bar, then meat and tuna salad. Went home and ate hard some more. Then had a lot of sleep. Woke up next morning feeling great. But that soon went away. Had more workouts (3 a week) and each one wears me out. I’m back to bad sleeping, doze off for a few hours, wake up and can’t get back. Some heart palpitations during the day, sure sign of stress.
Last workout, after all the rehab stuff, decided to test my bench. Seems like the shoulder is much better. I knocked off several sets of 95 lbs x 10. Then took it up to 135. One rep good, the second slowed down, didn’t want to risk a third. Very heavy, especially on left arm. Pretty much the same weight I’ve used for the past ten years, when I first benched 135 after a few decades of training. Takes so much work to make any gains.
Didn’t feel like posting. Bumbling along on rehab exercises. Then car landed in shop, which kept me out of gym for a week.
Finally got to see the doc. Was afraid he’d be a real loser like some doctors I’ve known. Pleasant surprise, he was the sweetest thing ever. Went over general background. He’s impressed by my weightlifting, I’m way stronger than he is. He suggested I add cardio to my workouts, walking, biking, anything. I’ll do treadmill or cycle at gym. Then he started me on a trial dose of Prozac and will schedule time with a counselor.
So I hit the gym for upper body:
15 min on bike
OH press
45 x 12
65 x 8
75 x 8
75 x 8
65 x 8
65 x 8
I don’t normally do full pyramid, but was in a good mood and wanted to keep going but was getting worn out, so had to decrease weight.
Icarian bicep
50 x 15
60 x 9
70 x 8
80 x 6
70 x 7
60 x 8
Icarian dip machine
80 x 15
100 x 15
120 x 12
140 x 10
160 x 6
160 x 6
Cybex lat machine
20 x 20
30 x 10
40 x 8
50 x 5
50 x 5
40 x 7
hmm, did a lot of full pyramid without planning to.
Played around with one of the ab machines I haven’t used, but after getting up to the full weight stack for reps, figured it wasn’t worth reporting.
Hi, Snap. The rehab stuff definitely helped me focus on the exercises. My form’s crisper as a result.
Techno, thanks. Don’t get me started on some of the loser docs I’ve run into.
Hi, Brett! Stop by anytime.
Did some lower body stuff. Nothing fancy.
SSB Squats
70 x 6
70 x 8
90 x 8
120 x 8
140 x 6
160 x 3
140 x 6
for some odd reason, my body really didn’t like doing the first few sets, but once I got some half-decent weight, felt better.
Leg curl
70 x 15
90 x 12
100 x 10
120 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8
100 x 10
Standing calf - the tough machine
40 x 15
50 x 12
60 x 10
Got some serious DOMS next day in legs and hips. Been eating hearty and got some decent sleep. Feeling better, don’t know if it’s the Prozac - generally, it takes a week or two for the stuff to kick in. We’ll see.
I did the same upper body workout I did two weeks ago. I tried to do it. Was shocked to discover the weights crushing me. Went to failure on damn near everything, and not intentionally.
Just as the semester was ending, got the news. Anybody teaching a class with fewer than 12 students gets pay cut in half. Not a typo. And all my classes are small ones. Could barely, barely live on what they paid before, now, gotta find a new job. Goodbye teaching. Sticking it out for summer semester, boss offered me one class with 17 students. Looked safe, Then two days before semester started, half the students vanished and now I only have 10. I am PISSED. Oh well, they gave me a ton of tutoring which will help make up the money.
Delays and such, didn’t get counseling started until today. She seems nice. Will see how it works out. Feels good to have someone to talk to.
Changed program. Went to a bare bones beginner’s program. Yes, I know I’m not a beginner, but body keeps insisting it is. Took all weights down so can do 10 reps. Absolutely no weights higher. On the bright side, no injuries or sprains. Not hitting failure, which is encouraging. Actually seem to be making some progress - will see.
Today:
Deadlift
105 x 10
195 x 8
195 x 8
195 x 8
Pulldown
60 x 10
110 x 8
110 x 8
110 x 8
OH press
45 x 10
80 x 9
80 x 9
80 x 9
Sunday did the following:
Safety bar squat
70 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
140 x 10
Bench
55 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
110 x 10
Seated row
60 x 10
120 x 8
120 x 8
120 x 8
Not hitting failure (well, once last week), but tough. Strength seems increasing slightly.
That sucks about the school, but glad to hear about the counselling. I might go in myself, mainly for grief counselling, but I do have anxiety that needs working on.
As long as the program is working who cares what its called.