It is showtime!
This morning: weight: 195.5 (the 193.5 was probably dehydrated)
PT plus stretching.
Walk: had intended to do 2; felt minor tingles at 1.7 but figured “2.5 was ok” and at 2.5…started to hurt a little..so worked on posture
Improving..just not great.
I don’t intend the title to be that dramatic; by pain I mean “old injuries start to ache again” and by “body pain” I mean a moderate dull whole body arthritis style ache.
I had such a wave yesterday upon waking up. It got slightly better after moderate exercise but, I finally gave in an took a single Narproxen (had stopped this in November 2022). Took one in the evening and this morning.
Prognosis: much better today, though I felt the left glute/hip at 2 miles into my walk this morning (much better pace)
Before the walk:
PT mixed with pull ups: enough reps (10 singles of crunch pull ups, 10 singles of regular pull ups, sets of 5 singles and 5 total) to get to 50 reps total.
Bench: 5 x 134, 3 sets of 6 x 155 (better)
low handle deadlift (form check) 10 x 134, 10 x 185 much improved body position.
3 sets of 10 x 94 high incline
push ups/stretch: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 10 chest tap pushups
Then the walk.
Contrast the above to the last time I tried 184.
The second: back is almost parallel to the ground (“stripper squat” position). The top: much better positioning, though on rep 1 there was a bit of hips rising too fast.
The difference: position of the feet. In the first, the hands were closer to my side rather than in front of me; I felt a bit squished at the start.
Well, I was pretty achy last night and this morning. PT went ok and the walk; 1.6-1.7 were pain free and some pain toward the end.
This is certainly not the worst I’ve done.
But I gave into it and took 2 single doses of naproxen. That is a first in a while.
Yes, finally, a reasonably warm day! (by February in Illinois standards).
I broke up my workout: first PT and deadlifts. Then T. came by to deliver a lamp. She is an Army vet and KNEW I wore the Navy shirt for her benefit.
Afterwards, I walked my West Peoria 5K course.
Bodywise: I had some glute ache after deads in my RIGHT glute, but in the evening, just the usual in the left. The walk itself: some minor tingles at 2.2 then again at 2.8 but nothing like the bad old days. The walk itself went well.
The deadlifts: I decided to tackle the “hips rising too fast” problem. I think one issue is mobility, though I show decent mobility with 134. Another issue might be that my feet are a bit too far back; I’ll try to scoot them up just a bit.
From 1 week ago with light weight. I wonder if my feet are slightly more forward? The back position looks much better.
Afterward, I decided to catch a Bradley Women’s basketball game against Belmont. I told B that I thought BU would play a competitive first quarter, and that they did: they made 4 of 6 three point attempts to lead 20-17 after 1. But then came reality; it was 34-29 at the half and 55-37 after 3 quarters. The lead reached 22 points then Belmont put in their reserves and coasted to a 68-54 win..that really wasn’t as close as the score might indicate.
Rough season for the Bradley women; they are starting from scratch.
From my end: I am just grateful I got to go and plan to make the rest of the home games (both men and women)
Well, PT mixed with pull ups: 4 sets of 8 crunch singles, 6 reps, 5 reps, then 7 singles on the 1. 50 reps total. One youtube commenter noticed that I was relying on my arms too much. Need to get the back involved.
Downstairs: bench: 5 x 134, 5 x 155, 5 x 160 (hard), 2 x 165, 1 x 175, 2 x 165 (took 20 minutes)
high incline: 3 sets of 10 x 94
Back upstairs for push ups: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 10 chest tap push ups, with stretching.
5K walk; pain free for 2.6-2.7, then some dull pain as I tired.
The warmer temperatures helped.
I am NOT fully recovered, but I am much improved from a week ago.
Strangely enough, it appears as if I have been post covid longer than I have been. I keep forgetting that I came out of isolation just a week ago yesterday.
I say this because I am a bit run down and achy; the back and glute: I would not say that I am back to square 1: far from it. But I am back to where I was in, well, maybe August/September, though I better know how to brace when I walk.
That is something to keep in mind about COVID: even those who were almost asymptomatic report some flare up of old injuries. I HAD symptoms (though never bad O2) and over the past 2-3 weeks: old frequent urination, heartburn, ache in back, some radiating pain, and a general overall “background” arthritic ache.
If you are an older athlete with a history of injuries and you get COVID to the degree that I did, your training will be set back.
Today: it was 3 F when I walked (after PT)
Then later I followed it with a commuter walk of 1.3 miles in 22 minutes. (17 minutes pace)
And by “it” I mean the glute and the back. I still get aches from time to time; I have regressed over my COVID period. That isn’t a surprise; the virus attacks ALL weak areas.
I am not back to square one however. I know how to do the exercises, and I can handle 2 milers ok. I need to build up to more “commuter walks” and not sit so much.
Weight: 193.5 BEFORE walking, so I have not gained weight.
Workout: full PT mixed with pull ups. Did “crunch” singles: 7, 7, 8, 8 then two sets of 6 reps each for 42 total.
After PT, downstairs. Bench: 5 x 134, then 3 sets of 5 x 155 with a ton of rest.
Then deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 low, then two single reps with 228, attempting to not let my hips shoot up too much. They were not great reps; maybe try with 204 next time. I see that my body CAN attain the position; but when the weight gets even remotely challenging I change to a back dominant lift.
Back up to push ups: 3 sets of 20 then 2 sets of 10 chest tap push ups.
Then the walk; it was painless until the final 0.1 or so and even then not that bad. Was not fast though. This was 1:20 slower than the previous 2 days.
Sleep is not the best, but I’ll try to go to a Bradley Basketball game. IF I tire, I’ll go home at halftime, but I anticipate watching the whole game.
AM: PT (took a while) and a 2 mile walk, followed by rolling and a lot of stretching.
The walk: appeared to be right at the limit of what my glute and hamstring can handle so I’ll keep it there.
This cartoon is popular in liberal circles:
But this cartoon convinces no one at all, though it might help liberals feel better about themselves.
The liberal point of view: “well, you’ll force a woman to carry a baby to term, but then put her on her own once it is born.”
But this is unconvincing to conservatives. Here is why:
Suppose you truly believe that abortion is the murder of a baby (I don’t believe this, but many anti-abortion types do…literally)
So, the fetus really is equivalent to a newborn baby.
Now: does ANYONE think it is ok to kill a newborn? (and no, I am not talking about extreme circumstances where the lives of the older living are at stake).
Of course not.
Now, is it inconsistent to believe that:
I don’t think that is inconsistent at all, and that is the conservative point of view.
You make it, then you have to support it (but cannot kill it). Yes, this includes both the male and female.
Now, we can debate on how much support a society should give to poorer kids and what kind of support, but that is a topic for another day..and frankly it is a difficult one. Ok, I’ll drop my thoughts below (*)
And yes, poor people in the US, on the average, have more kids than wealthier ones.
(*) my thoughts: this represents my thinking, to a degree. But no, I wouldn’t attempt to sell this with “let’s be compassionate.” I’d take a more spreadsheet approach: I’d note that putting money into the bottom of the economy means more small and basic businesses will have more demand which leads to more jobs. I’d argue that kids that are not in grinding poverty turn out better and have more of a chance to escape and break the cycle; society, on the whole, benefits.
Yes, I know, there are always some who make poor choices no matter what, and some of these will benefit from society’s generosity. They ARE infuriating, and no, Dear Sanctimonious Liberal, don’t tell me who to get angry with. I don’t like crony capitalism either..one can dislike BOTH. That isn’t logically inconsistent.
But..no solution is perfect, and under “let’s make the bottom benefits more generous”, there are ALWAYS unpleasant, unrepentant morons that will benefit. But overall, I think society benefits.
Ok, on some level, January has not been THAT bad. I caught a Bears game, got a paper accepted for publication, completed an admin task (more to do in just a bit) and have hit a lull.
But..Jan 10-25 sucked; COVID. Yes, I did my duties online and even did my PT on most days; only one day was “please kill me” and about 4-5 were “normal flu” like days, others were annoying and testing positive. What set me back was the rebound infection.
But I am teaching in person again, easing back into it…and yeah, it was 3 F when I woke up, 5 F when I did outdoor pull ups and my walk (20 seconds slower than the day before)
Today’s workout: PT, push ups: 3 sets of 20, 2 sets of 5 chest tap push ups, 1 set of 11.
pull ups: 1 set of 6, 1 set of 6 singles, 3 sets of 6 single crunch pull ups
bench: 10 x 134, 6 x 145, 5 x 150 (didn’t want to strain)
deadlift (low handle) form check: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 (hips looked good..need to carry this with heavier weights)
high incline shoulder: 10 x 94 (two sets)
walk: some discomfort in the left leg (hamstring) need to roll a bit.
Life of an old goat 