Workout 120706

I reached my goal!!!  Three workouts accomplished this week!!!  Friday morning's workout:

10 min Recumbent Bike
10 Lunges each side
13 Squats with 6 lbs
30 Jump Ropes (Here I actually had a jump rope and was jumping over it - to make it over the rope 30 times took me about 2 minutes)
5 Reverse Lunges on Bosu each side
20 Bird Dogs each side (I pulled my knee in before extending back and realized that I am getting closer to these turning into mountain climbers)
10 Lateral Raises with 5 lbs
10 Front Raises with 5 lbs
10 Bicep Curls with 5 lbs
10 Shoulder Presses with 5 lbs
20 Crunches on Swiss Ball
Stretch

It was hard to get up this morning.  I didn't get home until 10pm after going out for knitting and drinks with some friends.  The drinking part wasn't what made this morning hard (though a 150 calorie Pomegranate Martini is amazing); it was the not falling asleep until 11pm.  I really really do like my sleep.

But get up I did.  And I'm happy I did.  I learned two things this morning.

One: I really find exercising on the bike to be boring.  And any more than 10 minutes and my coccyx would prevent me from sitting for the rest of the day.  And I was sooo bored.  Stationary bike is really not the thing for me.  I know people love Spinning classes and maybe that would be awesome, but just pedaling away in the cardio room?  Not so much.

Two: Jumping Rope is hard!!!!! And I kind of like it.  I'm not sure that is what my foot doctor had in mind when she told me not to exercise on the Arc Trainer or Elliptical, but so far my feet are okay.  I'll give it 24 hours before I truly declare victory, but it was fun to try something different.

Maybe there is a third things I learned as well.  I guess not learned, but found out.  My gym is offering 30 minute exercise classes for 2-3 year olds.  My 3.5 year old is very interested in mommy going to the gym and what I do there.  She knows that I go multiple times a week and it is very important to me.  Having asked to go with me a number of times now, she might really get a kick out of heading to the the gym with me on Saturday morning and attending her own class.  I'll definitely be looking more into that.

Workout 020604: Fighting Discouragement

Yesterday my physical therapist advised me to not come in and take it easy.  After no workout in the morning and no PT I determined that I needed to do something at home.  Here's what I did:

5 min Bike
15 Hip Abductors each side
15 Crunches on a Swiss Ball
10 Bicep Curls*
10 Front Raise*
10 Side Raise*
10 Shoulder Press*
15 Swiss Ball Bridges
15 Reverse Curls
Repeat all above one more time
Stretch

*All the arm exercises were done while sitting on a Swiss Ball with a 5 lb weight in each hand.

I'll start by saying I'm exceedingly happy that I did my exercises despite it being 8pm and my heel hurting me.  Given that, I will also say that nothing felt quite right.  My exercise ball didn't have enough air in it.  My coccyx started to hurt.  My foot was not better (but no worse, thankfully) from the exercising.  And I couldn't find my stick to roll out my legs.

This is why I go to the gym.

That said, I'm not sure how much I can do at the gym right now.  This morning I stopped by to drop off the gift certificate for my training sessions, but I didn't work out.  It occurred to me half way through the morning that I can swim at the gym even if my foot is hurting.  That's what I'll do tomorrow.  I'm happy to have a plan of attack to keep moving through this foot thing.  It's only been hurting me for 2 full days, but it making me very nervous.  I've made so much progress and I'm very worried about derailing it now.

I told myself I would wait until Wednesday to make an appointment for my foot, but I think I'm going to get the appointment scheduled today.  Am I being a big baby about this foot?  I'm not sure.  But I'm so tired of being in pain.  I love that I was achieving entire days pain free.  Now that I know that is possible I find this pain to be intolerable.  I also worry that I'll just get used to it like I did with the hip and knee stuff.  Then years go by and I end up a ball of disjointed mess again.  Bleck.

So that's enough wallowing for today.  Call doctor to make appointment for foot.  Swim at gym tomorrow.  The plan of action has been determined.  Moving on!

PT: Day 20

Wednesday's PT overhaul:

6 min Elliptical - Level 4
Reevaluation
Hip Warm-up Stretch
Reverse Curl with Stick - 20 reps
Cage stretch
Assisted Squats - 5 reps (40 pounds of assistance)
Modified Side Planks - 3 reps each side for 30 sec
Modified Planks - 2 reps for 30 sec
Side Lunges on Bosu - 10 each side

First thing...  I haven't been blogging all my PT visits.  I know.  Hopefully I'm nearing the end of PT, but in the meantime my progress feels frustrating and slow.  20 visits to PT and everyone knows my name.  They know my kids' names.  I know where they live.  And when they're having a bad day.  Not just my therapist, but a couple of the others as well.  I'm nearing the end of my 4th month of PT.  A lot has changed for me physically and emotionally.  And I'm worried about PT becoming a crutch.  I can't stay there forever.  Eventually I have to work through this and move on.  It's a lot of baggage.

Now for the actual workout... The Assisted Squat was something I'd been introduced to in the past, but wasn't deemed ready for.  My tendency when doing squats it to compensate by leaning forward too much.  It simply isn't the right way to do a squat.  My weak gluts are causing the bad form so this exercise adds weight to help them out.  The weight is attached to two pulleys which I hold onto with my arms.  Then I lower into the squat.  I'm unsteady enough that the therapist stands behind me to make sure I don't fall backwards.

Wednesday I was reevaluated.  I'm doing well, but my coccyx is still sore most days and my knees have begun to feel tender again.  There is a balance somewhere in all this I have not attained yet.  For the coccyx I continue working and we hope.  For the knees, I'm to reduce the treadmill incline to 0 for the next few weeks.  First to see if it helps, second to give my gluts a break.  Adding the incline makes them work harder and the suspicion is that they are just giving up.

PT: Day 15

Monday's Exercises:

6 min Elliptical warmup - level 4
Cage stretch
Prone Press Ups Right Side - 10 reps 2 sets
Swiss ball bridges - 20 reps with 5 sec hold
Leg Lifts with Arms Raised - 10 reps
Side Lunges on Bosu - 20 reps

With my left knee still acting up on this exercise, the therapist modified it today to put the foot I was lunging onto (putting my weight onto) on the Bosu.  The pain went away.  This definitely is a weakness issue, but I think I'm starting to understand it.

Sidesteps
Kneeling Leg/Arm Extension - 20 reps each side
Modified Side Planks - 10 reps with pause 2 sets
Modified Planks - 3 reps with 30 sec hold

I'm getting there.  Every day a little further.  There isn't much to report.  My spirits are still up and I'm happy to be making progress.  I have more work to do on my non-PT days.  The Prone Press Ups were added to my at home rotation and I've not been good about getting them done yet.  The theory behind the coccyx pain now is that my sacrum on the right is locked up and not moving properly (I didn't even know that was a part that could move).  The Press Ups are needed to open it up and get the movement back.  I can feel tightness there when I stretch, but honestly I'm still trying to figure this one out.  In the meantime I need to be better about doing my prescribed exercises!

PT: Day 13

Monday's PT Regimine:

6 min Elliptical Warmup - level 3
Prone Press Ups Right Side - 10 reps 2 sets

New Exercise - Laying on my stomach with my left leg hanging off the table, I press up into a cobra pose.  Lower back down and repeats.  This is to get flexibility back in my right hip hopefully alleviating some of the coccyx pain.  My right sacrum is not as flexible as my left (I may have that statement completely confused as I don't really know what it means).

Leg Lifts with Arms Raised - 10 reps

New Exercise #2 - Laying on my back hold my arms up with a bar in my hands.  Left both legs and attempt to get them under the stick without moving my arms/shoulders.  Lower legs and repeat.  Wow.  This was seriously hard and I am seriously not flexible in this way.  I was able to do the lifts, but there was no way I could get my feet any where near the bar in my hands.

Modified Side Planks - 10 reps 2 sets
Swiss ball bridges - 15 reps with 5 sec hold
Kneeling Leg/Arm Extension - 20 reps each side
Modified Planks - 3 reps with 30 sec hold
Side Lunges - 10 reps
Sidesteps
Cage Stretch


I didn't write about Day 12.  It was on March 1st.  It was a very hard, very upsetting, very frustrating day.  I'm letting it go.

Since I was out of PT for 2 weeks, I was re-evaluated upon my return.  The results?  My hips are improving as are my gluts.  Each leg can now resist pressure applied when I perform a Side Lying Hip abduction and some presses down on the lifted leg. I can also resist some pressure when lying on my stomach and lifting my leg up using my gluts.  That is super awesome news!!!!  And I haven't been having a bunch of knee pain so I'm thinking the original problem might be understood.

On the flip side, the coccyx pain grew worse as the two weeks wore one.  For that my physical therapist did and evaluation of sorts on my hip/back alignment.  From what I could tell they were measuring symmetry and watching how I moved each part.  The movements I performed seemed intent on moving every portion of my lower backs and hips separately.  I don't think I could repeat those movements without help.  The result most notably is the two added exercises above.

But there was an even more hopeful conversation.  Based on the progress the therapist is seeing, it may not be necessary for me to continue beyond the next month.  We talked about continuing as we're going now and re-evaluating again in 2 weeks.  I also have to try to stop sitting on my feet when I'm sitting at my desk.  I'm going to try really hard, but sitting with my feet folded up under me is so much more comfortable!  However, if breaking that habit means the pain will cease...  Really?  Is there any more thought needed on that one?

PT: Day 9

Monday's workout:

6min Elliptical Warmup on level 3
Side Steps - 75in each direction
Hip Rollout and Butt Muscle Massage
Butt Muscle Stretch
Swiss Ball Bridges - 15 reps with 5 sec hold
Modified Side Plank - 15 Reps
My shoulder has been getting upset by this exercise.  Next time I'm to make sure that my shoulder blades are pulled back while I'm performing it.
Bosu Squats - 20 reps with 5 sec hold
Leg Extension - 20 reps each leg
Cage Stretch
One Legged Squat and Place - 10 cones so 20 squats per leg 
Backward Lunges - 10 reps each leg
Step back into a lunge.  Then using only the front leg stand back up again.  This works the gluts.
Kneeling Leg/Arm Extension - 10 Reps each leg
The Kneeling Leg Extension was modified this week to extend the arm forward opposite the leg being extended.  It's HARD.  And I still have to keep the bar balanced on my back.

This week's workout was hard.  For the first time in a month my knee actually hurt.  And it is continuing to hurt today.  I'm a little concerned, but I know how to take care of a hurt knee and I'll do that until Wednesday when I get to go in and figure out more.

Additionally, my coccyx is still hurting.  It is strange in that I feel it all the time now.  I suspect that some of this is my own awareness.  Apparently the Butt Muscle Massage should be helping this.  I'm not really sure yet, but I'm happy to try.  At least it did feel better for the hour or two after my PT appointment.  I'm glad to get what relief I can.

Workout 120220: Repose

Following my 5K, I needed a break so I took one.  Today I returned to the gym with:

20 min Ellpitcal workout (weight loss program)
2 min Rowing Machine
30 sec Rest
1 min Rowing Machine
Hip Abduction (2 sets of 10 reps each leg with 15 sec hold on the 10th lift)
Bridges (15 reps with 5 sec hold; 15 sec hold on the 15th lift)
5 min stretch

When you are visibly physically unfit (read obese), there is a lot of urgency placed on changing you.  What you SHOULD be doing is often offered to you regardless of your opinion or goals or situation.  Doctors do it.  Friends and Family do it.  Co-workers do it.  Even the occasional stranger waiting in line behind you at the grocery store do it.  Television and magazines all offer up ways to make the change happen faster.  The dialog is very urgent and demanding.  It's exhausting.

I worried about taking a week off from my exercise routine.  I've read that it takes 6 weeks to build a habit and 1 week to tear it down.  I've been working on this workout routine for 5 months.  I've taken a 1 week break one other time, over Thanksgiving.  Without deciding my opinion on the damage a week off would do, I took one.

And it was TOTALLY worth it.

I needed a break from goals and disappointments and plans for completing the next thing.  I finished the 5K which was emotionally and physically draining and exhilarating.  Just writing the post about completing it had me crying all over again!  I even took a break from PT on Thursday.  Having new pain spring up a couple of weeks ago in the form of an inflamed coccyx (tailbone) really messed me up more than I thought.

It is frustrating to move 2 steps forward and 1 step back over and over.  Intellectually I know it is progress, but emotionally I want to see the change NOW.  I want to prove to everyone, including myself, that I CAN DO THIS!  I am serious.  I am not just making excuses!

So I took my week.  And today I returned to the gym.  Habit unbroken.  Whew!