Inertia Sucks!

And, I let it get the best of me today.  I’m sitting here listening to a passing thunder storm, thinking about how I skipped the gym today.  I don’t have any good excuse, I just skipped going.

I can’t let this inertia get a hold on me.  Tomorrow, there can be no excuse.  I must get to the gym.

I feel like I’ve slipped backward to the point where I first began.  I’m sure over the past week I’ve put weight back on, and I’m sure I lost some of the conditioning I had gained.  That’s a real shame with less than two weeks until I set out hiking.

Nothing more to say today.  No excuses tomorrow!  (That already sounds like an excuse.  Damn – I’m in trouble…)

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I Cut The Grass (Hip Hip, Hooray!)

Believe it or not, that is me cheering, not the neighbors, though another couple of days and they would not have been very happy at all.  Luckily, I had cut the grass shortly before I got injured, so it wasn’t as bad as it could have been.

Yesterday was the first day since I started having problems with my back that I didn’t have any pain at all.  I was still moving around as though anything could send me back to that pain, so I barely did anything.  This morning, before the rain started, I got out and cut the grass.  I don’t think I’ve ever been so happy about getting this done before.

My back got tired, which was also a new sensation for me, but it didn’t hurt.  That means (hopefully) that all is well again, so I’m going to get back into the gym tomorrow.  I’ve been afraid that getting injured would provide me with an excuse for not working out, but my motivation seems to still be there, so that is also a good thing.

I’ll need to schedule my next trainer session tomorrow as well.  I’m going to have to tell him to take it easy on my back because if I get injured again I may end up missing my hiking trip, which would not do at all.  I’m getting very excited for the trip coming up at the end of this month.

Not much else to tell today.  I’ll be back tomorrow to report on my trip back to the gym.

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Getting Better Slowly

I woke up this morning, and my back was feeling better.  It has been stiffening up a bit as the day goes on, but it is definitely getting better.  I am still hesitant to go to the gym though, even to ride the recumbent bike.

I suspect that even if tomorrow is as much improved as today was over yesterday, I will still skip the gym tomorrow.  I think it will be best to let it rest until it is almost back to normal so I don’t do any further damage.

As far as my hike goes, I don’t remember if I mentioned that my brother got a notice for jury duty to start on the same day we are supposed to start our hike.  His job may keep him from having to serve it, I’m not sure, but it could mean we need to postpone by a couple of days.  Not a big deal, just something I wanted to mention.

Not much else going on here, except for a heat wave.  I’m going to sit quietly for a while and try to stay cool.  I’ll be back either tomorrow or Monday with another update.

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Another Day Lost

OK, in the grand scheme of things, missing out two days of workout isn’t that bad.  And when compared to my track record over the past two years, it’s really not bad at all.  However, given my new found motivation, this sucks!

For the second day in a row, I find myself mainly constrained to sitting in my office chair, which is the most comfortable spot for me right now, or on the couch with pillows propped behind me.  I feel like a lump.  At least I can sit and work, so I’m not losing time there as well.

This morning when I got up I found that my back had really stiffened up during the night, and I found it difficult to move much at all.  Moving around some does seem to make it better, and the Advil is definitely helping, leading me to believe it is an inflammation of something since that is an anti-inflammatory drug.

Not much else to report today.  I’m definitely hoping to get into the gym tomorrow, even if it is jut to ride the recumbent bike, which I think would be best for my back.  I’ll let you know tomorrow how things are going.

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A (Hopefully) Minor Setback

Well, it’s been a few weeks since I joined the gym, and I’ve been going along very regularly.  Sure, I’ve had two weekends where I took an extra day off, this past one included, but 5 days of working out in a week is far better than the 0 days I was getting in previously.

My diet, on the other hand, still needs work.  I haven’t spend a lot of time talking about this with my trainer, but he made a point of telling me that it is the biggest piece of the puzzle, and he will be watching to see how my progress goes.  I suspect he will want me to make some changes after our first month is past.

Anyway, I don’t remember when I last detailed a workout here, but I’m doing 1 hour cardio on my days in between my strength training, which I am supposed to be doing three days a week.  I had my trainer session on Thursday of last week, then did cardio on Friday and took Saturday and Sunday off from the gym.  I went back in on Monday and did the strength routine Jay (my trainer) outlined followed by his prescribed post-strength cardio workout.

Tuesday was an hour on the elliptical, doing the interval program.  That was fun, and motivating.  Yesterday, after I posted about my new compression shorts, I had my second trainer session.  He had me go through a slightly modified “300″ workout, made famous by the movie.  It was one of the toughest workouts I remember doing in a long time.

After I got home, my lower back started getting stiff.  Usually a tough workout takes at least a day before I really start feeling it, so this was some cause for concern.  By the evening, my back was screaming.  I took some Advil, which helped some, and I was able to get more comfortable, and able to get to sleep last night.

When I woke up, it seemed ok, but as soon as I started moving, it started to stiffen up and get very sore again.  Within a short time it was again screaming, sending me back to the Advil, and keeping me out of the gym.  I did consider briefly the idea of going in to do the recumbent bike, but I decided it was in my best interest to just take it easy today.

The Advil seems to be keeping the back pain in check, but my hamstrings and upper back are starting to get stiff.  I’m not sure if these may come from the workout or from compensating for my lower back, but either way, it is very uncomfortable.

Hopefully by tomorrow I’ll feel up to doing at least a cardio workout.  I’ll need to let Jay know about this too, so he can take it easier on my back.  If the back goes, so goes the hiking, and that defeats the purpose of going to the gym in the first place.  I’ll let you know tomorrow if there is any news.

BTW – if you have any suggestions for dealing with back pain, or any other comments or suggestions, please let me know in the section below.  Thank you.

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New Workout Equipment (Soon To Be Hiking Equipment Too :)

So, in my last post I mentioned how I had purchased something new that I wanted to share with everyone.  This purchase has quickly topped my list of things I’ve purchased for working out, and I suspect it will be a top purchase for my hiking as well.  Before I tell you what I bought, let me tell you why.

One of the biggest complaints I had from my last long hike was chaffing.  I had brought along some medicated powder to use on my feet to avoid many of the problems there, and I ended up using it in between my thighs as well, though it didn’t help as much as I’d hoped.  I did get another product you apply, but I don’t think I applied it frequently enough or something because I’ve heard good things about the product, but didn’t have great success myself with that either.

My brother had it better, and I asked him what he did differently.  He said he wore spandex shorts in place of regular underwear, which was a trick he learned from running, where he had the same problems that were plaguing me on the hike.  So recently I went looking for spandex, but I was having a hard time finding any.

Enter my new favorite product.  I guess, technically, they are like spandex shorts, but they are designed to be worn as underwear.  And, mostly they seem to have been designed for runners, which makes sense to me.  They are called compression shorts.  They’re kind of expensive as underwear goes, but worth every penny.

I couldn’t find the actual ones I purchased here online, but if you want to see some that are very close to what I have, click here.

I’m very much looking forward to trying these out on the trail later this month.  I was starting to get chaffed badly from my workouts, and these shorts have put a complete end to that.  I suspect they will keep me from chaffing on the trail too.  I’ll definitely let you know after my hike, but for now I highly recommend these to anyone and everyone who gets even a little chaffed while working out.

And, if anyone out there has experience wearing these hiking, I’d love to hear about it.  Please leave a comment below letting me know what you think.  Thanks!

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