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.
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.
I have a hard time knowing if I’ve overdone the PT or if I am doing enough. I felt soreness in my hip flexors (where the top of the thighs meet the trunk) and roving soreness in other (top of the glute/small of the back). Walking to and from the office has mostly been ok, though I need to stretch throughout the day.
Monday: upper body; 1:45 worth. Full pt. I did the PT and 3 sets of 25 push ups indoors before going outdoors pull ups: sloppy set of 10 followed by a bunch of sets of 5; wide grip has gotten a lot better. Did the rest of the PT here.
Indoor: bench press: the best yet: 5 x 166, 5 x 171, 5 x 174, all decent. rows (3 sets of 10), curls (3 sets of 10); then the 2 sets of 10 x 88 with the shoulder press: better ROM but I wonder about the back; maybe try dumbbells outside on Friday.
Today: AM: stretch, 1 mile walk (some discomfort/pain at .86 miles), stretch, 10 fake miles, then later: PT with Tonya. I have some ideas and things to work on.
It IS changing…finally…it has been a long haul, but my hope is increasing.
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.
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:
stretching ..starting off easy
The walk
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
30 minutes bike (fake 10 miles)
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.
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.
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)
Back: much better…I now know what to do. But the road back to walking will be a long one.
B and I went to a women’s game together! Yes, a strong Missouri State team overwhelmed the Braves 72-56, but midway through the 3’rd it was only a 4 point game…that quickly grew to a 22 point lead.
Last night, the men overcame a 11 point deficit (generated by 5-7 3 point shooting) to beat Illinois State 72-64.
Though this was the best crowd of the season, there were a LOT of empty seats; maybe half full (official: 690x but…)
Yes, I sat way up there for social distance…and wore my KN-95, as we did today.
Workout notes
rehab/stretch. Then 15 minutes on the treadmill (1.1 mile walk). rehab/stretch: included clam shells, head stand (1:45), 3 minute plank.
30 minutes (10 fake miles) on the bike.
Then yoga; down dog, lunge, the the Warrior 2, triangle, pyramid pose, twisted triangle, reverse warrior on each side.
So, tonight, I’ll mask up and go to a men’s basketball game.
The academic year: ok, so far.
Glute: well, it hurt..well, the pain migrated to below the hip, on the side of the leg. BUT I seem to have found stuff that helps. Stay tuned.
Workout notes no cyling for a while.
Friday: pull ups (2 sets of 10 singles, 10, then 6 sets of 5, including wide grip and chins), push ups 25 flat (before pull ups), 30 sissy, 30 feet elevated, 15 deficit.
bench: 3 sets of 5 x 166, single with 184
rows: 3 sets of 10 single arm
curls 3 sets of 10
shoulder: 10 x 99, 10 x 104 (questionable ROM, 10 x 93 (better ROM)
Saturday: deadlifts, rehab and yoga rehab included fire hydrants, clam shell, banded walks, dead buts, twist crunches, side leg lifts etc and yoga poses including Frog pose. (I keep my upper body higher and on a level with my butt..kind of resting on my elbows.) (source)
Headstand: 1:40 worth (not hard); did some sun salutes, warrior 2-triangle, pyramid, reverse warrior series, trees, and single leg Romanian deads (weightless)
I really felt some release.
Deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 234, then sets of the 3 minutes 280 x 3, 3, 3, 3, 4 (didn’t want to press my luck with a 5’th rep)
Note: deadlifts were first; rehab and yoga/stretching came later.
Life of an old goat 