I'd Rather Be Anywhere, Doing Anything

Yes, I know it's been much longer than usual, but just take my word for it when I tell you there are good reasons and we really don't need to go there. Suffice it to say that after a really dramatic year from summer of '14 until this summer, I made some major life changes. I moved back to my hometown, abruptly quit pain management (thanks, Florida) and quit smoking again - and I'm really hoping this time it sticks.
Without any prior warning, I came to find out that Florida is part of about 20 states that participate in a DEA joint task force to stop prescription drug abuse. The big problem with this is that it's turned the medical communities in these areas into a police state, where anyone who says they're in pain is assessed with only a look and classified as an addict. These health care professionals are so afraid of breaking the law imposed on their state that they neglect to do their jobs.
My response to all this was to just cease pain management altogether and find another way. I switched to a nerve pain medication called neurontin and decided to start water therapy, and that's going okay.
I feel for other people who don't have that sort of option. I've heard of cancer patients having to stand in methadone lines to get relief because they can't get in to see a pain management doctor. And even if you can get in to see one of these doctors, they are generally rude and condescending.
This is a cause I fully plan to take up once things are a bit more settled for me. Addicts need to start having more help available to them and doctors need to start being able to distinguish between legitimate pain patients and addicts. You can't diagnose someone with just a glance.
In the meantime, I'm focusing on getting myself better. My therapist days I'm doing great. I'm advancing faster than expected and I can really feel it! Besides that all I really have left to say is that I can't believe how long I waited to leave Virginia. Hampton Roads was just so not for me and I'm happier than I've been in a long time now that I'm home. Hope everyone else is also doing well.

Same As It Ever Was...

Yeah, I know. It's been like a million years. I would imagine a lot of people probably wrote this blog off as having been abandoned, but I haven't forgotten about it. And with a new year starting, I want to get back to keeping this journal.

For anyone wondering, I have been staying active. My weight has been holding steady. I'm thinking I hit a plateau. I've been making plans to shake up my usual routine to try to break through that. As per usual, I'll be discussing all my efforts here.

Just as reminder, when you don't see me posting here, I am fairly active on my Facebook (http://facebook.com/laudpatty) and Twitter (@laudpatty) accounts. I hope this post find everyone well and happy and that everyone's holidays were wonderful. See you again real soon...

The Latest News

I'm going to take a break this time from posting exercises and just talk about what's going on with me.  I've been working as a temp lately and when good opportunities have been coming up, I've been taking weeks off of therapy to pursue them, with the full support of the clinic staff.  They're really great people.

When I first went back to work, I was still not in very great shape.  A couple of times I hobbled into PT appointments and we skipped exercises in order to just concentrate on fixing me.  Part of that was teaching me ways to cope with stuff I might have to deal with on a job: standing for a while, bending, picking things up.  I learned valuable techniques to deal with all of this and after several weeks, I maybe would come home tired, but not in any extra pain.

After discussing this at yesterday's appointments, my therapist decided that we would drop my appointments down to one day a week, with the intention of weaning me down and letting me get back to my regular life.  She says I'm doing fantastic and I've gotten much stronger.  Another cool thing happened.  When I jumped on the scale yesterday morning, for the first time in months I was down out of a weight range that's scary to me.  I love moving the big block down a notch!  I'm now only 15 pounds away from where I was when I was doing so well last summer.

I feel I can say with confidence that I refuse to let myself get that heavy again.  Much in the same way as when I first starting gaining weight from all this mess I set a dress size number in my head, and I told myself if it ever got to where I needed to buy that size, I would sit in the house naked until I lost enough  weight to fit into smaller clothes.  I'm proud to say it has never, will never come to that.  It really is a matter of personal choice.  When you see people who let themselves get humugous, they deicde to let that occur.  Have a conversation with any of them.  They don't eat well and they never move.  That's exatly how I gained weight.  I just chose to put an end to it before it made me totally hate myself.

There aren't shortcuts.  Crash diets will bite you in the rear when you get older and your metabolism is completely shot from it.  You have to make yourself learn to like foods that are better for you and you have to exercise.  That's all there is to it.  Most of the people you see that have killer bodies bust their asses for them.  If you want one too, you have to be willing to do the same.  I'm willing to do the work. That's what I have to say for now.  Hope everyone has a great weekend.

The Basics of Lumbar Stabilization, Part II

As I mentioned last week, it's important to remember that maintaining transverus abdominus contraction, ot TrA, is the key element to these exercises.  The following moves round out beginner level lumbar stabilization exercises.

5. Prone Alternate Leg Lift

• lay face down with a pillow under your middle area
• keep the knee straight and raise the whole leg 1/4, hold for a few seconds before lowering*
• left leg, then right leg = 1 rep
  
  *My doctor mentioned to me when I started this exercise that height is not nearly as important as keeping the leg straight and holding it for a few beats.

6.Quadruped Alternate Arm Raises

• keep your back flat
• raise one arm out in front of you and hold for a few seconds, while making sure to keep shoulders and hips square (avoid leaning)
• right arm, then left arm = 1 rep

7. TrA with Heel Slide

• beginning with both knees bent, slide one foot slowly away along the floor
• slowly slide foot back to start
• right leg, then left leg = 1 rep

 8.Back Bridge with Wide Base of Support,         Four Stable Points of Contact

• lie on your back with knees bent, feet shoulder width apart, arms extended at your sides
• push up with your hips to establish a straight line through your knee, hip and shoulder
• hold for a few seconds, then release
  
  
  TrA needs to be maintained at all times during the exercises.  I know I say it a lot, but guess what?  I'll continue to do so because it's that important.  The exertion tends to make you not want to breathe.  My doctor taught me a cool trick for that.  Go back to my last post and see the part where it says to put your hands around your waist to check if you're doing TrA right.  Do that.  Practice the contraction a bunch of times.  Hold each one 10 seconds.  Count the 10 seconds out loud, it'll make you breathe.  Do that until you don't have to anymore.  Also, with exercises that are harder than others, inhale before the exertion and exhale during the effort.  That always helps me.
  
  
  The team at my clinic discussed me last week and decided they are going more aggressive with me because they are unhappy with my pain level of late.  So this week I began late intermediate exercises.  A definite challenge, but I'm always up for that.
  
  Yesterday when I went in, they told me to start on my exercises right away.  I got through them mostly without incident.  One was too hard just yet and another gave me a little trouble.  After I was done, the tech I work with said she wanted to talk to me before I left.  She  said the biggest problem with spine stabilization is that people don't apply themselves enough.  They're all wobbly and don't try to do anything to be otherwise, which totally defeats the point of the whole thing.  I thought for sure I was in for a criticism.  Then she asked me about the one exercise I had a lot of trouble with, which is a back bridge with your arms up so you don't have them for support and your heels resting on a fitness ball.  It's very hard to balance!  I told her about a slight modification I did to get through it and she said that was exactly right.  Then she said that exercise is hard for anyone, even people without any back issues and great core strength.  She further said that the effort I have been making has been excellent, pretty much the opposite of the crappy effort she mentioned before.  Yay!
  
  I do feel so much better when I exercise, and I love the feeling after sore muscles heal of them getting stronger.  For that matter, I kind of like when they're sore too because that means I used them well.  Progress!  It's a great feeling.  Everyone have a great weekend.  See you next week!

The Basics of Lumbar Stabilization, Part I

I've beem somewhat reluctant to blog about the specifics of my physical therapy because I've been questioning the ethics about detailing my own therapy regimen.  I wouldn't want anyone injuring themseles in any way trying to do what I'm doing.  Then one of the assistants at my practice mentioned that she recommends to patients that they keep a journal about their therapy to chart their progress.  When I told her about this blog, she thought it sounded great.  So this is what I decided: I can only talk about my own journey and what that entails.  As with any new exercise you want to try, please discuss it with your doctor before starting on your own. While the purpose of these exercises is to stabilize the spine through core strengthening, doing them, or for that matter any exercise incorrectly could in fact be damaging.

The basis of all spine stabilization exercises is the transverus abdominus contraction, or TrA.  If you don't have this manuever down, the exercises will not be effective.  I found the following on the internet which I thought could explain the basics of it better than I can:

Transversus abdominis (TrA) contraction

- It is essential that this is mastered before progressing any further

- For all core stability exercises a TrA contraction should be maintained

- Lie on back with knees bent to about 90º and pelvis in neutral

- Rest your left hand on your stomach at the level of the bottom of the rib cage

- Place your right hand just inside the pelvis – on the soft tissue immediately inwards  from the bone.

- As you contract your TrA, you should feel a slight tightening under your right hand, but no change under your left hand. Think about tightening your pelvic floor muscles and the abdominal muscles below your navel. You should feel the part of your abdomen below your navel sinking down towardsthe floor – ‘abdominal hollowing’

- Make sure you keep breathing normally whilst you hold the contraction

- Practise this until you can easily

My doctor also told me to put my hands on either side of my stomach (kind of like when you put your hands on your hips) and press my fingertips in, and that a proper TrA contraction should push back against your fingers that are pressing inwards.  So it's sort of like you're holding the front of your stomach in while pushing the sides out.  It's a little tricky to learn but once you know it, it becomes second nature.  They have also mentioned to me at various times thoughout the last couple of months that without overdoing it, I should try to maintain The TrA contraction as much as possible throughout my waking day - even when I'm not exercising.  This again reminded me of ballet class when I was a child, and the teachers who taught me that if I always held my stomach in, the muscles would learn to stay that way.  I kind of wish I had stayed with that, but then it's never too late to start again.

Moving on, I'm going to share a few of the beginner exercises for lumbar stabilization.  Just make sure you have the TrA down before you start these.  That's not something you want to rush through learning. 

1. Basic TrA Activation - Quadruped

-Support yourself on your hands and
  knees with your back flat
-Eyes looking down
-Draw in yor lower abdomen while gently breathing
 Eg. "Pull your belly button into your spine"

       "Hollow out your stomach"

2. Basic TrA Activation - Supine

-Contract pelvic floor
-Draw in lower abdomen while gently breathing
-Use your fingertips to monitor muscle contraction, just inside the front corners of your     pelvis (what I was talking about earlier)
-You should feel a small to moderate amount of tension develop under your fingertips as you contract the pelvic floor and TrA (and more to that end)

3. TrA with Arms Reaching Overhead

-Manitain TrA contraction while letting arms move overhead.

-Only move arms as far as you are able while keeping TrA contracted

4. TrA with Bent Knee Fall Out

-Maintain TrA contraction while letting knee move slowly outwards  towards the floor
-Once to the right, then once to the left = one rep

I started all my exercises with one 10 rep set.  I'm onto intermediate exercises and I still do one 10 rep set of each, every other day.  When we first started they wanted me to do more than that and it ended up hurting me so we dropped back, and this is what works for me - for now.  This is not "go for the burn" exercise.  This is getting your body strong in a smart way that will help your body protect itself against pain and further injury in the future.  This is not exercise for weight loss, although now that I'm building some muscle tone I have dropped a few pounds.  So if you're looking for some crazy lose five pounds a week kind of fad thing, that's not what I'm about.  I'm okay with slow, smart progress.  You want to know why?  Because I have been feeling better, and for now that's worth more than fitting into my skinny jeans.  I'll worry about that stuff later.

I probably won't blog again tomorrow, but I am going to try to get a post up about once a week,  Hope everyone has been well.  See you again soon!



Things Can Only Get Better

I met the partner of the doctor I've been seeing so far at physical therapy today.  I learned quite a bit.  In going over my history, he explained to me exactly what got done when I had surgery last year, the "not invasive" emergency disc removal that occurred about 18 months ago.  I was told at the time that the procedure was absolutely necessary, but not at all dangerous and that I should recover just fine on my own.

This doctor today showed me on a model spine exactly what they cut through to get to the disc that was removed (muscles tendons, etc.), and told me he couldn't believe that I didn't do rehab right after.  And while he commended me for my fitness efforts this summer, he explained to me that without learning how to get my brain and body used to working around the chunk of bone that's missing from the vertebra they cut into without doing damage to the surrounding area in conjunction with learning how to deal with the as yet not addressed low back spinal injury that I also have (I'm really trying to avoid further surgery), I won't be getting the best benefits from any exercise I try to do.  I could even make things worse for myself.

It's so nice to be dealing with people that know what they're talking about, and that care about making me better, not making themselves money.  My pain management doctor recommended four to six weeks or physical therapy and I worried that that might not end up being enough.  It's clear to me that these guys are going to keep me on with them for as long as I need to be there.  I feel relieved about that.  I moved from beginner to early intermediate exercises today, which are kicking my butt, but in that good "proud of yourself" sort of way.

Hope everyone has a lovely day!

A Slow-Going Start

Things haven't been moving along all that quickly for various reasons and I'm finding myself very glad that my doctor suggested physical therapy before I went out on my own.  It's just been harder for me this time around, and I'm not really able to push it as hard as I did this summer.  But since I'm doing this not for quick results but an improvement in my overall health I'm willing to be patient and follow my body's cues instead of rushing and hurting myself.
With that, I think I'll get going on my stabilization exercises, "homework" from my physical therapist.  Happy Election Day!

I'm back!

After what I'll call a long "fitness relapse" following a hospitalization this summer and a very stupid and unnecessary distraction, I decided to return to good nutrition and fitness.  I had let myself wallow in negative feelings after some major changes and disappointments occurred in my life and the setback cost me.  I gained a good 20 lbs. or so and lost most of the muscle tone I had acquired during the summer challenge. I felt overwhelmed and helpless, but eventually a thought occurred to me: Sometimes the thing that needs to change is not your situation, but your perception of it.  And with that, I decided to dust myself off and get back to work with getting myself healthy and stronger and feeling less pain.  I was doing great before.  I know I can do it again.
I discussed my plans with my spine rehab doctor and he prescribed four to six weeks of physical therapy before I try to take on any exercise regime of my own.  I met with my new physical therapist this morning and I thought things went very well.  I had done research on local physical therapists when I made the appointment and I'm quite happy with my choice.  My journey begins again tomorrow and I will be chronicling my efforts and progress as per usual.
I'm so happy to be back.  I hope this post finds everyone well and happy.  Good night!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, LAST DAY!

For the very last day of the challenge, I thought I would revisit an old fitness "foe," the KickButt! - Volume 4 - Floor Burn video from Amazon Instant Video.  I purchased this title around 2008, the last year I toured as a dancer.  I suppose the earliest onset of my physical injuries made me feel that I should get in better shape.  (I really wish I had followed through on that notion.)  This and a few other titles I bought ended up never really being used.  I remember getting through not even 10 minutes of Floor Burn and thinking something to the effect of, "Screw this - this woman is nuts!"  I may have even said that out loud.

I still think she's nuts, but in a way I can have an appreciation for these days.  I didn't finish the video today, but I did get more than halfway through it, which made me feel pretty good.  I also noted how proper form really changes the way an exercise feels, something I've been marveling at for this entire past month.  Also, I can manage pushups and chaturangas now, which I definitely could not one month ago.  

I didn't lose crazy amounts of weight  with this challenge.  I've lost what I've been averaging the entire time I've been trying to get fit  - about a pound or two a week - which is a good, safe rate at which to lose weight.  Somewhere in the middle I even gained a few pounds as my calorie needs became greater due to the work I've been doing and (I'm assuming) muscle building.  I feel stronger.  My "tight jeans" don't feel as tight as they used to.  That matters so much more to me than a number on a scale.  My back also doesn't hurt nearly as much as it used to. (Yay!)  Two months ago, standing for an hour or doing several loads of laundry would have made me feel like I wanted to cry.  I could do either without a second thought now. 

I'm proud of myself for powering through this past week's feelings of boredom and monotony to get to the end of this challenge.  These are feelings that all of us face when it comes to making a commitment to getting fit.  How we deal with them determines whether or not we achieve our goals.  I couldn't stress more the importance of keeping it fresh on a day-to-day basis.  If I was doing the exact same thing every single day, I probably would have quit at Day 10.  I feel very confident that I'll continue this effort on a daily basis.

Now I'm ready for summer!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 29

At this point and after how I felt weekend, I'm just going to relax and have fun.  I've found I really love Pilates.  I did this video this morning:

I thought it was great, but then, I'm biased.  One more day!!  See you then...

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Four weeks!!!!

Yesterday and today I had major housecleaning to do that's been neglected since I moved here, and I dare anyone not to count that as as worthy "sweat into summer" activities, because I was busy with it for hours both days and drenched in sweat when I finished.

I'm happy that I decided to keep this blog because it really made me keep my goals in focus, but the last week or so I've had anxiety about finding interesting material to write about every day.  I feel like I've been repeating myself for a while.  These feelings are valid and worth acknowledging.  I'll just be glad when this is over in two days and I can go back to blogging about what I like instead of filling a requirement daily.  It's quite likely I'll still exercise daily as I've come to grow fond of spending that time improving my health.

Two more days people.  I can do this!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 26

I believe after reviewing all the other Android apps I found interesting enough to download that I'm through with that here.  After we make some site revisions at Tech Reviews East, I'll continue to review technology related to fitness, but so far as my purposes go here, I'd rather go back to focusing on my personal experiences with getting fit and finding simple and effective ways to exercise without having to buy lots of equipment or join a gym.

I found a short but extremely effective upper body workout on YouTube.  It only takes five minutes and you just need yourself and a little floor space.

Intense (for me, anyway) but doable.  Recommended.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 25

Today's workout video came from the Pilates for Women app from Temple of Android, the makers of the app I reviewed on Day 22.  I really like these guys!  They make small little apps that don't muck up your phone.  Basically a little search engine for the type of exercise featured in the app.  I found this video there:

Nice little workout!  I enjoyed it.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 24

Today's workout was the "Daily Yoga for Back" on the Daily Yoga Android app from IMOBLIFE Co. Ltd.  I have to say, the app was problematic and the guidance left much to be desired.

If I didn't already have rudimentary knowledge of yoga I would have been confused and probably would not have been able to follow.  I was really excited about this app when I downloaded it.  If you'd like to see my technical notes on the app, please visit my new column over at TechReviewsEast.com, which should be up later today.

Six more days, people!  I feel really good about myself for making it this far!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 23

Today's Android fitness app review comes to us via one of my favorite fitness groups, Women's Health.  Women's Health Workouts is everything I could want from such an app.  It doesn't take up very much space on your phone and it gives you exactly what you want.  Today I did the "Get a Tight Butt and Legs" workout.

You can even track number of reps you've done in a set and log them to review later.  It automatically logs time spent on each workout.  Big thumbs up.  This one's a keeper.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 22

I downloaded several fitness apps to my Android phone last night.  One simply called "Workout Videos for Women" (available for free in the Google Play store) basically does what I've been doing for about half of this challenge.  The app is ad supported, but not in a terribly annoying way.  There are tabs for different types of exercises.  My choice today was this video:

It was a good workout, but I probably would have liked it better if the video hadn't stalled on me every minute or so.  I have an excellent wi-fi connection here.  Maybe the site was just overloaded.  I'll be playing with other fitness apps I just acquired and sharing results here over the next few days.  Happy Monday!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Three Weeks!!!

Today we revisit arms.  I've always wanted to have arms that were strong, yet still shapely and feminine.  And just to have better upper body strength.  Something like this is the ideal, except in color and in this century:

I found this great workout from http://www.mademan.com.  I'm happy to say I managed two sets of most of them.  The swan pushup was one I hadn't heard of before, and the downward dog pushup was interesting.  Overall, it was a simple, solid workout.  Recommended.

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 20

Today begs to be a gorgeous, sunny day.  I am going for a nice long bike ride in a little bit and then am heading out for the day.  Happy Saturday and I will see everyone tomorrow!

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 19

Sometimes you just have to deal with accepting your limitations.  Looking for great butt workout this morning, I found this post on the Women's Health site.  When I first saw the number of sets for each move, I thought they were kidding.  Already knowing I couldn't manage 2 to 3 sets of each, I bargained for one, but I still only got halfway through the workout.  That's okay - I met my Sweat Into Summer requirement for the day and the gauntlet has been thrown down.  I'll definitely come back to this one, and eventually I'll kick its butt instead of it kicking mine!

Right about here it all went sideways (not literally).

30 Day Summer Shape Up, Day 18

Livestrong.com just became one of my favorite websites.  Almost every day when I research my morning's activity I end up on this site.  It's well worth the look around.  Today I did some lower back exercises derived from yoga poses that can be found here.

Clockwise from top left: lower back lift,
bird dog, cat pose and lower back  bridge.

These exercises improve flexibility while reducing stiffness and strengthening your abs and glutes.  Simple, yet effective and easy to get through in no time at all.  This routine is not just for people with existing back pain, you can (and probably should) do them if your back is perfectly fine to prevent future lower back issues.  Highly recommended.