Category: cycle

Mixed

Highlight: Bradley’s Baseball home season opened. I went to the game and stayed for 4:28 of it, before I gave up at the end of 10. Iowa won in the 11’th; the game drug on due to the pitchers throwing a LOT of pitches for each batter, the Iowa manager switching pitchers frequently, and a couple of reviews.

Yes, it was cold. Oh; Iowa ended up winning 9-8.

It was 49 F and there was a wind, so much of the crowd left in the 7’th or so.

Ironically, Bradley probably blew the game in the 2’nd where they scored 5 runs, 4 on this grand slam:

It that sounds strange, the Braves actually loaded the bases AFTER the grand slam, but stranded all 3. Still the 6-3 lead..then 6-4 held for a long time; but then Iowa took the lead in the top of the 9’th. The Braves tied it in the 9’th (great small ball from both teams) and again in the 10’th.

And that was a bit of a shame; the excessive time took away from a game filled with action, steals, bunts, and a home run. The actual action: there was a LOT of it ..very entertaining.

Iowa even scored a run on a squeeze bunt.

Workout notes the butt has been in a bit of a funk; sometimes good, sometimes painful. At the game I did some stand up stretching (at the back of the stands)

Yesterday: the side was ok; I got all of my pull ups: 8 sets of 5, one of 10, then two more sets of 5, including ..total, 4 sets of 5 wide, 1 set of chins.

Full PT; push ups: 35, 30 sissy, 25 feet elevated, then 10 deficit. Down stairs: I added some hip thrusts in addition to two light sets of deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184.

I suppose my glute was ok..sort of.

Today: slept in until 6; did some light bike (5 minutes); PT before work, then over lunch: full PT (lots of it, really) then 30 more bike minutes.

Weird: forward bends and the “stenosis” exercises seem to help, even though I don’t really have it; McKenzie press ups and open books really help too.

I’ve said this before: it seems when I skimp on yoga I feel it. I suppose that is an every day necessity..post workout.

Recovering from stupidity

Doing these were a bad idea; left me very sore for a few days:

Still, today’s PT went well; the therapist knows how to order things in level of difficulty. I’ll have to use some of those lessons.

Back flexibility was ok though:

The pre-PT workout: walk (went so-so..ready to quit when I did) and 30 minutes on the bike.

The irony: this was my fastest time this year on this course and..my slowest pace because my Garmin got it shorter than the Map My Walk.

Go figure.

Mapquest got this as 1.166 which is what Map My Walk got it, which gives a 13:48 pace, which is what it actually felt like.

Learning from my miscues

No, I don’t regret watching Illinois lose to Houston; I wanted to give them a look. Better team won, period.

But in my comeback I think that I’ve tried too much “one leg chair” on my bad leg, too soon. So one leg tree and some lunges for now..keep the ego in check.

Still, not much pain for my stretch free walk (1.1 miles) 30 minute on the bike, lots of pt, head stand, 3 minute plank; really..I would have been happy with this workout 2 weeks ago.

We’ll see how Tuesday goes.

And yes, I’ve progressed a great deal on my “bad leg” tree.

On my way back, finally?

Ok, today’s workout took about 2.5 hours; I don’t think I have time for that on most days (at least not in one chunk).

But:

stretch, some glue activation (dead bug, spinal balance, one leg bridges),

1.5 mile walk (14:22 pace); almost pain free; pain free for the first mile (downright enjoyable, almost tingle free for the next 0.3-0.4 then a few tingles.

It appears that my abs got tired and I started to slump just a bit.

Then stretching and a leisurely series of PT exercises including: one leg stands from sitting, knee raises, one leg chairs, banded walks, shoulder PT too
Then inside for more dead bug, spinal balance, side leg lifts, fire hydrants, prone knee lifts

Then 30 minutes on the bike to finish it off.

No, I am NOT 100 percent healthy; not really close to that, but it has been a very long time since I’ve had a pain free walk of this duration.

I don’t know if I’ll backslide or not, but the difference, at least so far, is the open book type stretches for the lower lumbar. (0r here)

striding into mid March

I looked at Facebook “Memories”: it was 2 years ago that we had an extended break to prepare for online teaching..and a year ago I was singing my “end of the line blues” about being unable to get a vaccine.

Do things ever change. Yes, BA2 is a real possibility and it is my feeling that the attitude will be “let ‘er rip”..so I’ll protect myself with masks and social distancing, and cut back on activities if cases get too high for my comfort level.

Now as far as my immediate future: progress continues slowly on the piriformis/back, but it does appear to be different this time around. There is less day to day pain, night tingles are way down and I am walking easier, it appears.

Today:

stretch, 2 miles bike (fake…just over 6 minutes), some PT (one leg bridge, side leg lifts, spinal balance)

Walk. *almost* pain free; it seems as if symptoms come on about .2 miles later.

Then a lot of PT: one leg stands from sits, knee raises with cords, banded walks, one leg chair, 3 minute plank and yes, the full shoulder session. I need to do the shoulder stuff 4-5 times a a week; not just 3.

Inside: dead bug, fire hydrants, prone knee raises, head stand

30 minutes (10 fake miles) on the bike. Then yoga flows.

Whole thing took 2:30; I did a LOT of PT and felt it, at times.

I am thinking about adding a lunch time 17-18 minute walk on M, W, F (AFTER a good stretch, of course)

I do not that I feel a LOT stronger in the squat position than I used to. A LOT stronger.

Life is harder if you are a moron

Got up; did warm up (including 2 miles on the bike), stretched and headed out for a walk.

It went ok; almost no pain until 0.9 miles or so.

Then the full PT and more stretching; I was feeling great. I even did headstand and plank for 3 minutes…really felt good.

Walked to the office, but the usual 4 flights of stairs (felt it at the top), went back down, did my class, back up again. Then..I didn’t stretch much but I thought: “I am feeling good..why not take the long way home for lunch to get another mile?”

Now this walk really sucked; had to stop several times; got the old “knife in the butt” feeling. Ok, the first 0.5 was fine but then..OMG..awful.

Get home, stretch, eat..remembered that I had to pick up an exam at a building .2 miles away from my office…so off again..MORE walking. About .5 to the building, another .2 to the office, up 4 flights of stairs…(yep, one stretch) and found….. I. Had. Left. My. Keys. At. Home.

So..after sitting and sulking…walked back with a 3’rd unintended mile, because I was an idiot. Strangely enough, the walk back wasn’t so bad and I am feeling pretty good right now, so… perhaps I didn’t do much damage.

3 Day Catch-up

So, we are going Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday (today)

Tuesday: warm up, 1.14 mile walk at 15:58; stopped at .7 to stretch as I didn’t warm up enough and the pace was too slow. Stretch/yoga, 30 minute bike, more stretch then PT

The PT session went well; balances, assisted twisted stretches, massage, lunges..legs were absolutely glowing afterward. I also learned the proper way to do the prone twist stretch: hook the foot of the upper leg under the lower one.

Top is what I WAS doing; bottom is what I should have been doing.

Wednesday: 1:50 worth of weights and full compliment of PT (didn’t plank) some shoulder ache later; some leg/back ache too..note the tops of the thighs (where it connects to the trunk of the body) and the connection of the foot to the shin (from the dorsiflexion)
Decent pull ups, sets of 10, 30 singles, 10 then 5-5, outside PT, push ups: 30 sissy, 30 feet elevated, 20 deficit, 20 flat.

deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234 low, 10 x 285 hight.

Full PT and stretching.

The day: started off very well; one of the best days yet.

Thursday: 15 minute walk (just over 1 mile; 14:48) went great for 10 minutes; ache came later, PT (all), 30 minute bike, yoga sequence.

Day: went GREAT ….this PT is working and my back is responding to the constant PT.

Back on the right path

Of course, this is, well, nothing, but I felt absolutely NOTHING for the first 10 minutes; slight tingles for the next 3-4, and a dull ache (that was getting more pronounced in the final 5. This was much, much better than being in pain when walking the .2 miles to the office.

The improvement is real. But that I have a very long ways to go is also real.

How it went:

  1. stretching ..starting off easy
  2. The walk
  3. light stretching and PT: included: dead bugs, two types of knee lifts (standing and prone), one legged bridges, 3 minute plank, clam shells, one legged stands from sitting, behind the body leg lifts, banded walks followed by more stretching
  4. 30 minutes bike (fake 10 miles)
  5. Yoga: Warrior 1, 2, triangle, pyramid, revolved triangle, reverse warrior, wide leg forward fold and WLFF with a twist.

The whole thing took 2:20 to do.

Note: I do get an occasional shoulder ache. But overall, it is looking up.

Workout catch up

The back/glute continues to improve; I no longer dread the walk to the office. Oh, I am not close to “being there” but I can at least envision walking a pain free 5K.

I do notice that incorporating a degree of “twisting” to my stretches helps.

Thursday Stretching, ton of PT, 17:00 walk (1.2 miles) on the treadmill, lots of PT, yoga (especially the Warrior 2, triangle, pyramid, revolved triangle, reverse warrior on each side). This took 1:50..much to my surprise.

Yesterday: upper body mostly. 1:50 worth, which included all of my PT.

pull us: 2 sets of 10 singles, 2 sets of 10, 4 sets of 5 (included wide grips, chins) These went fine.

push ups: 3 sets of 30 sissy, 20 flat indoors. Lots of PT.

Inside: bench press: 5 x 167, 5 x 167, 5 x 172 (best since April, when I hurt my shoulder)

rows: 3 sets of 10 with 60

curls 3 sets of 10 with 50 (?)

shoulder presses: 3 sets of 10 x 98, using a belt and elevated seat (with rugs)

Today: I will go into more detail; this took 2:30 to do; mostly due to the warm up/stretch routine. I was hesitant to do the deadlifts with 285 as I felt slight fatigue going in; it turned out not to matter.

My “stretches” usually include: McKenzie, cat/cow, spinal balance, laying hip twists, Half Frogs, lower lumbar twist stretch. These take 6-15 minutes to do, and I usually do them before and between different activities. They add a lot of time to my workout.

Warm up.
Dead lifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234, then on the 3 minutes, 5 sets of 3 x 285 (all low). My final set was ragged and so I did not try for extra reps. Belt for the 234 and up.

Then stretching.

PT (2 sets each): single knee lifts, single leg “stand from seating” (down stairs)

upstairs: leg lifts on the side (and behind the body..straight leg), prone knee lifts (including one extra 5 rep set in a more challenging position), dead bugs, clam shells, one legged half bridges, spinal balance (again: moving)

Outside: 2 sets of banded walks.

Inside: headstand, 3 minute plank.

Stretch

30 minute bike (10 fake miles)

Stretch (6 minutes)

Videos: (PT and weight work..yesterday and today)