End of year injury

Dec31
by Duf on December 31, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Injuries

happy-new-year-gym-bodybuilder[1]So if you have been a regular reader of this blog you will know that 2014 has been a very frustrating year for me health/fitness wise.

For many years my advancing age had not meant retarding performance in the gym or on the road.  I got accustomed to slow and steady progress where personal bests were set on a pretty regular basis.  Well that streak ended definitively and abruptly in 2014. I crested the hill and felt I was going downward in a car with bad brakes.

For most of the year it feels like have been injured or sick.  In reality a big part of it is being injured from being sick after my long GI ailment in April.   After the nearly 10 days of unsettled bathroom visits my body has never fully recovered.  I still haven’t seen a doctor about the changes after I was sick although I probably should have.

It seems almost appropriate I am closing out this year once again injured and in a pretty debilitating manner.  I would best describe my injury as back spasms where a slight move in the wrong direction can make me uncontrollably yell out in pain as pain flashes out from below my right shoulder blade.

I don’t recall ever having this sort of back pain before but I know how I got it.  I spent two days hunched over, pressing a paint roller attached to a four foot pole into the ground a couple thousand times as part of repainting my pool deck the past few days.  The deck turned out nice but the back pain is awful.

Since I had no organized exercise since Christmas Eve I felt I HAD to go to the gym despite not being able to walk more than a few steps without feeling the sharp pain.  I sat my ass down on the recumbent bike and slogged through a half hour.  I was hoping that getting my body temperature elevated would perhaps loosen up my back.  Unfortunately as soon as I tried to get up I was literally brought to my knee by more searing pain.

From a wellness perspective I can hardly wait to kick 2014 out the door and only hope I start traveling in a more upward direction again in 2015.

Today’s Workout

30 minutes recumbent bike – 7.41 miles covered

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RR

Dec24
by Duf on December 24, 2014 at 7:29 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Endurance activities

article-2202780-14FFE1CB000005DC-254_306x310[1]Despite my aggravating session at the gym yesterday I returned today determined to at least get some decent intensity cardio in before Christmas.

I originally thought I would just do a straight 30 minutes on the treadmill but I opted to do a 20/10 run/row split instead.

Today’s Workout

20 minute run – 2.13 miles covered

10 minute row – 2284 meters covered

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End of year edict

Dec23
by Duf on December 23, 2014 at 6:40 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts

24bfa500c1c993c96014b18c0d1a8da9a9462cf73c4cc23a1f22803f785f3b24[1]I was very, very frustrated at the gym today. I’m frustrated with my inability to just do what I want and not have to worry about hurting myself or more specifically feeling irritation in the area where the sun doesn’t shine.

Today I did mostly lower body with some pull ups, bar dips and most stupid of all, one arm Australian pull ups.  The one hand movement without a doubt caused strain down there and it was moronic of me to even try it.

I just can’t help myself. So badly I want to return to the days of slow and steady improvement of my strength and skills.  Instead pretty much all of 2014 has been one big suckfest where all I have done is lose strength and endurance across the board as I try to tip toe through injury and the aftermath of my April GI illness that seems to have changed certain ways my body works in a permanent manner.

So anyway, the short term plan is all cardio, low strain movements until 2015 rolls around to see how things feel.  I have proclaimed before that I would stick to this plan and I find it challenging to do so.  An exercise routine that is heavily weighted in cardio is rather boring and does not provide the sense of accomplishment that moving your body against resistance does, at least for me.

So anyway, that’s the deal, I’m not even going to bother posting any specifics today.  It will only aggravate me further.

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Long ride, outrowed

Dec22
by Duf on December 22, 2014 at 6:51 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Endurance activities

10377377_10153419898372841_340175084283779063_nThis weekend I finally got some endurance training in, something I have not done at all since my latest 3 weeks of illness and in general not much in 2014. The 24 mile bike ride pointed out that I don’t have much endurance.    My legs were already feeling dead by mile 5.  Luckily dropping to a lower gear and a faster cadence on the way back made things manageable.

Today I consumed most of my time rowing after another disappointing attempt at putting pull ups, push ups back to back to back in somewhat rapid succession.

I was on the second Concept 2 rower.  The first one was occupied by a guy I have seen there before.  He is probably at least 20 years older than me but is quite tall and has a lanky yet powerful build.  He was the only other guy I have seen at the gym that will row for a duration longer than 5 minutes.

Since I was right next to him I got a clear view of how he was pulling.  The first thing I noticed was his strokes per minute were lagging behind mine.  I normally hold right around 30, he was a rock solid 24.  However the next thing I saw was his 500 meter pace was less than 2:05 where I was more like 2:20.  So of course I started to analyze what the difference was between us.  He obviously was getting significantly more bang for the buck, pulling at a 20% lower rate than me stroke wise but going almost 10% faster.

There were a few things I noticed.  His overall stroke seemed longer.  On his return stroke he was really leaning forward, to the point where the handle was almost hitting cage that the chain retracts into.  On his pull he leaned back further than I do.  I only lean back slightly.  Finally, it seemed like he was pulling the handle harder into his body than I typically do.

So I started tweaking my form a bit.  The most noticeable change came when I pulled harder during the last foot of the movement.  My 500 pace dropped almost 10 seconds from that change alone.  The backward lean didn’t feel very natural and sort of screwed my rhythm up. Things weren’t helped by the foot straps on the second rower which are worn and will not stay secured during an entire session. Still, even with those changes, this old dude smoked me.  The only saving grace was I had my air vent set at 8 while he was dialed down to a 4 which certainly helped him move the handle a bit easier.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

18 pull ups

40 push ups

10 dips

20 minutes Concept 2 rower – 4294 meters covered

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Still straining

Dec19
by Duf on December 19, 2014 at 6:45 pm
Posted In: Daily Workouts, Failure, Injuries

weight-lifting-technique[1]So yesterday at the gym I did a few things with moderately heavy weight requiring me to strain to knock out the last few reps.  Well my reward for doing so was moderate discomfort in the area you sit on for the rest of the day.

Now this is not a new scenario, for the last 6-7 months I have repeatedly had this go down at various times.  I lay off the heavier work for a few days, feel better but then I can be right back in the same boat if I try it again.

I did some searching online and found some tips for avoiding this problem:

  • Avoid heavy lifting and prolonged standing.
  • Avoid compromising positions such as deep squats
  • Use your pelvic floor muscles to brace against increased pressure caused by coughing or sneezing

Well that sounds just wonderful.  It looks like I need to figure out how to do more lower pelvis wall exercises and less low rep, high strain work.  I love getting old.

Today at the gym I did various core work, much of it probably involving more strain than it should have.

Today’s Workout

5 minutes cardio/stretching

18 pull ups

Various core work including

Full extension plank holds,  hanging knee raises, dip position knee raises, L-sit holds, bent leg toe to bar raises, dowel rod trunk rotations

 

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