Tag: glute pain

Testing it out.

Ok, there was some mild disappointment with my walk. I did most of my PT first, stretched and decided to do 2 miles all at once.
Ok, it was painless BUT there were some tingles and some post walk “almost pain” (similar to what I used to get with “heavy” deadlifts..after the fact) Pace was not that bad (13:21 for 2 miles) but I suppose I expected rainbows, unicorns..and to be able to 10 miles without any sensation at all

It was my best walk in over 18 months, but…expectations were unrealistic.

I finished PT and ended up with a very long workout: 2:40 or so total?

pull ups: 10, 10, 5-5, 5-5, 5 chin, 5 wide, 5 mixed, 5 mixed

push ups: incline: 20, 30, then 5 sets of 10 with a banded walk, 10 on a step.

bench press: 10 x 145, 10 x 145, 7 x 150 (tired)

deadlifts: 10 x 134, 10 x 184, 10 x 260 (8 inch); very sloppy (too fatigued ..need to do this set rested)

incline press: 10 x 94, 10 x 94, 7 x 94 (lost the grip)

curls: 3 sets of 10 x 50

then the belt squat: 3 awful sets of 10 with a joke weight (22 lb) trying to learn the lift. I might try with a plate under my heels; limited mobility (too stripper like)

Reading this, I am surprised the workout took as long as it did, but I did get kind of tired at times.

Qualified success?

5 days after injection: I can say that walking is better. Yes, I get after tingles, but the neurogenic claudication is MUCH better; I am not in “pre-limping mode” when I stop with my shorter walks.

Today: PT, with some attempt to squat fully (body still won’t quite do it..ankles?) with my before and after walks (first walk was the faster of the two today)

When will I try to do it all at once? Haven’t worked up the courage..yet. This weekend?

Then I swam 1850 yards: usual 800 yards of 100’s of side, back, and 200 of swim drills and swim.

Then my old 4 x 250 (alt swim/pull) with equipment changes; 4:47, 9:25, 14:14, 18:46 or

Swim: 4:47, 4:49, pull 4:38, 4:32.

Shoulder: not an issue..but we’ll see what the night brings.

Weight: 204.7 after swimming…then again I did have a lot of water before. Dinner with Lynn the night before.

Cautiously optimistic

Well, the epidural injection was Friday morning: single level; 1 mg of dexamethasone sodium phosphate, a very strong steroid. The instructions said that I might feel the steroid’s effect in 3-5 days: so today would be about right (day 4).

And…and…..well, my walks, while 1 mile…have been pain free, and the after the fact: less pain; some stiffness here and there. The neurogenic claudication symptoms feel ..less. But..I haven’t challenged myself.

But…just weightless squats feel a LOT stronger, walking pace is picking up, and less soreness after the walk.

Warning signs: I did feel foot tingles last night around bed time, but some forward bends took care of it.

Side note: my belt squat belt and loading pin are here. I can do belt squats using weight plates as a platform..my step stools should be here soon.

Workout notes

Yesterday: BU was closed so no swimming. Still, full PT and 2 one mile walks: 1 before, 1 after with some POST WALK left hip/IT/glute soreness (similar to post deadlifts in days past) Note: top walk was walk no 2.

Today: indoor PT, walk 1, outdoor PT with pull ups, push ups), walk 2.

Then indoor weights.

Yes, the pace is improving..probably because my legs are finally getting nerve signals.

The weights:

pull ups: 10 singles, 10, 6-4, 5-5, 5 mixed, 5 mixed, 5 wide, 5 chin

push ups: 30 incline, 4 x 10 with banded walks, 30 decline

indoor: bench: 10 x 134, 10 x 145, dead: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 (focus on leg push and straight back), curls 2 sets of 10 x 50, high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 94 Swiss bar.

All in all..sweaty mess and maybe I did myself some good.

Back again

Ok, Friday was sort of a black hole.

It was not that big of a deal; took a few minutes; the doctor took a good look at my MRI and decided to put the steroid right at S1; I could feel some pressure in my left glute. I didn’t do much the rest of the day. Had some mild back ache.

Saturday; full PT, and an easy 1 mile walk. Felt pretty much nothing.

Highlight: Lynnor Visit.

The ball game: 8-2 Chiefs win..Chiefs got 8 runs in the first inning. I did meet some internet friends there.

Last night: I did feel it when I got out of bed to walk…in the glute.

Today:

About 3/4 of my PT

1 mile walk

Pull ups, push ups and more PT. Pull ups: lots of sets of 5 with full stop, 1 of 10, 2 sets of mixed grip.
Push ups: 30 incline, did 40 with banded walks, 20 and 10.

1 mile wak

3 minute plank.

Note: both walks were painless; I did feel some oh-so-slight pressure at the top of the hip, front.

Ball game: 7-5 loss, but still fun.

It is too early to tell if this will work or not, but early signs appear promising. Walks to the car were no big deal.

day before

Got back from a 12-9 Chiefs win…Chiefs were down 5-0 but then rallied…first runs came off of 3, 2 and 3 run home runs. They added a solo. Now watching the Celtics attempting to come back..looks unlikely.

Workout: weights then a 2 mile walk..note I had minimal shoulder pain (a good thing)

The workout: full PT,

pull ups: 10 singles, 10, 10, 10, 5-5 chins, 5 wide, 5 chins

push ups: 30 incline, then with an extra 2 sets of banded walks: 8 sets of 10.

bench: straight bar: 10 x 134, 10 x 145, 8 x 150

high incline: Swiss: 3 sets of 10 x 94

curls 3 sets of 10 x 50

rows: 3 sets of 10 one armed rows with light weight

dead: low: 10 x 134, 10 x 184 (appeared to have better back position)

10 x 260 8 inch.

Then the walk. Walk: very little pain until 1.5 or so.

Chiefs:

Form comparison: 10 x 184 vs 10 x 228

Come on now

The following reared its ugly head from the period July 2020 to July 2021. All are chronic and have been symptomatic from: back: 1978, shoulder: 2000, knee: 1978. They all finally became chronic in this period..right after turning 60.

Nevertheless, I still lift 3-4 times a week, walk 4-5 times a week, swim 3-4 times a week…not that I’ll win any athletic awards. But I’ve really had to manage my activities.

Above: my spondylolisthesis at the L5-S1 (L5 is too far forward and my S1 (top of the tail bone) is tilted forward . I’ve had this since the mid 1970s but it finally became a chronic problem in July 2020 or so

See the top of my shoulder (acromiale bone)? That is supposed to be straight. The os segment never fused properly. This has caused me rotator cuff problems off and on, and it came back to haunt me in April 2021

Knees: that right knee has been operated on 4 times: 1978, 1979, 1984, 2010. (left only once in 1984). Well, the wear and tear finally caught up to me in July 2020. When I ran, I could feel the pain go down to the top of my shin bone.

Notices in the flexed position, the spacing is all but gone.

Attitude Gone south

Well, I shouldn’t complain; I saw the Chiefs last night and this afternoon: won yesterday 5-3, lost today 8-1, though the game was a 1-0 ball game going into the 6’th (due to lazy base running and a couple of errors, one on a strike out)…but then the relief pitcher gave up 2 home runs in the 7’th, and one more in the 8’th, and bam, the 1-0 game was now 6-0. The Bandits added 2 insurance runs in the top of the 9’th.

The day before: the Chiefs played well though their usually strong closer loaded the bases and walked one run in during the top of the 9’th..the second closer sealed the deal.

Monster home run from Saturday:

Workout notes;

Saturday was a mess..I simply didn’t want to deal with crowded lanes in swimming. So, I did PT, deadlifts, messed around with a type of belt squat with stretch bands (too light) and walked.

Walk: 2 miles in 30 minutes (almost on the button) after the PT and deadlifts: 10 x 134 (not good), 10 x 184 (better), 10 x 260 8 inch (went well)

Sunday: (today) weights only; didn’t want to walk.
Pull ups: 2 sets of 5, 2 sets of 10, 6 sets of 5 including 2 chin ups, 2 wide, 2 mixed grip.

Push ups: 3 sets of 30 incline, 1 sets of 10 ground

downstairs: 3 sets of 10 x 134 Swiss bar bench

3 sets of 10 x 50 curl

3 sets of 10 x 93 high incline.

Note: last night (early AM) shoulder pain; think I slept on it wrong. I found that putting it in a low position took the pain away. It could also be a delayed reaction to the 2 x 200 swim on Friday (3:30, 3:33)

“Back” in business..so to speak.

What happened: in June-July 2020, I started to get glute pain upon walking…it became more and more severe until even 2 miles was enough to bring it on. Weight lifting: it did not appear during workouts, though I grew to understand that certain exercise (heavy deadlifts, arching while bench pressing, arching while shoulder pressing) brought on the referred pain AFTER the fact…not during.

I also had foot tingles/leg tingles at night; sometimes extensive.

As you can see, I am quite bent forward when I walk; I think it was my body’s attempt to take pressure off.

I sought out PT for it in summer of 2021…fall of 2021..even walking from my car to a game was painful. I tried resting from all walking, this stretch, that stretch.

Well, I’ve had this spondylolisthesis for many years; it was first noticed in ..yes, 1978 (summer). I have a pars defect (fracture of the pars; aka spondylolysis) which lead to the L5 vertebra slipping forward, ahead of S1 (top of your tailbone). I’ve had episodes for some time, most lately in 2006, 2011, 2013, 2016 and this time, conservative treatment could not quite clear it up.

Update: I just looked at my records online; in addition to my spondylolisthesis (due to pars defect) I have lumbar spinal stenosis (due to the nerve root impingement) which causes neurogenic claudication. (heaviness and pain in the leg due to the nerve root being impinged

My S1 is tilted forward and the L5 slides down, even when standing straight (shear force).

This leads to a lack of space for my L5 nerve root, hence foot tingles, sometimes shin tingles, and glute pain on my left side at about .8-1.5 miles of walking (warmed up); .4-.6 miles of walking (no warm up).

PT has helped and strengthening my glutes and core has helped. But not enough.

So, after meeting with the non-surgery back doctor, he referred me to a surgeon.

The surgeon explained that the definitive treatment would be spinal fusion, but that while the operation would probably relieve the symptoms, it would probably lead to different problems down the road and start me on the road to more surgery.

So…epidural steroidal injections have a decent success rate and possibly stop the cycle of irritation.

I get mine a week from today.

Workout and baseball again

Baseball: nice 6-3 win vs. Quad Cities last night; fun game, and there were a couple of towering homeruns, the longer one (OVER the left field picnic area) was by the Bandits.

Though the attendance might look sparse, it was not the horror story of last year. There is decent attendance in the less expensive areas.

Workout: most of my PT, swim, then a walk. And it tired me out!

The walk itself was fine …the first mile (14:25) came past very quickly…was dong really well up to 1.5 and then..descent into what ended up as moderate pain. Still, it went better than I thought it would.

The swim: 600 of 50 side, 50 either back or breast.

then 400 of 25 drill (kick), 25 swim, focusing on the high elbow. For some reason, the side kick is awful. Back position?

200 in 3:33 (chased Bob)

50 back

200 in 3:30 (darn it!)

50 back

100 pull, 50 free (tired), 50 back, 100 pull…wiped out.

Weight: 202.4 afterward. THEN some stretching and a walk.

I almost skipped the walk; it is sad that 1800 yards of swimming tires me out like this.

Glute/back: feeling it this afternoon. I think I tweaked a glute muscle slightly, but yeah, lot of it is the nerve root.

Testing just a little

Well, I decided to walk to and from the office. It went ok; I didn’t limp home though I did feel tightness ..and sitting..have to work something out there.

Full, complete PT.

Weights: pull ups: 3 sets of 10, 2 sets of 10 mixed grip (changing after 5 reps), 2 sets of 5 wide, and 5 chin singles.

Push ups: 30 incline, 30 decline, 20 deficit and 20 regular

bench (Swiss bar) 10 x 134, 7 x 145, 5 x 150

deadlift: 10 x 134 10 x 184 low, 10 x 260 high handle

rows: 3 sets of 10 with 40..need to think how to take the bicep out of it.

curs: 3 sets of 10

high incline: 2 sets of 10 x 88 (very, very easy)