Hi everyone!
Just over a month ago I moved from the country to the city... it's been a huge amount of work, nearly a year in the making, but it's all done and I'm settled.
As part of the transition, I've gone from my own home shed gym to a shared communal gym. It's a solid gym with a bunch of really good equipment and it's not too busy.
Unfortunately, within just a month, I've had overuse injuries flare up that I had forgotten I even had.
So... it's been 3 years since I put any sort of fitness funness on the blockchain, but I want to share what I'm doing so I can track what works and what doesn't do sort out these injuries.
Fitness is super important to me... firstly because sleep can be so elusive to us all, but I've found that exercise really helps me sleep well... and this really is my main motivation... but additionally I enjoy being active and moving my body and being capable of things. 3 years ago I had dreams of being on the TV show American Ninja Warrior, or at the very least competing in local ninja gym competitions, I absolutely love competing, but my overuse injuries have just been too difficult to overcome.
This is where I'm at right at this minute:
Hmm, I didn't realise but this is the lightest I've been in the last 3 years (since I got the Renpho scales). Lightest in weight and BMI, but also least muscle mass and bone mass... to be honest I don't really know what any of that means.
My diet was atrocious just before moving... I had to be out of the house at odd times for real estate reasons, and then after I moved I was so exhausted for weeks I also ate badly, but I think the last two weeks I've gotten my energy back and been able to eat better.
This is what I'm currently following:
Essentially for breakfast I have porridge/oatmeal with berries and nuts followed by an apple.
Lunch has been beans, vegetables, greens, fruit and a vegan protein shake.
I don't always eat dinner, but if I do it's been a protein shake, peanut butter on rice crackers and an apple.
On Thursday I did:
- pull ups (6 x 6) - 3 different grip options (wide, normal, narrow)
- hammer curls (6 x 6) - 25kg dumbbells
- barbell shoulder press - 22kg barbell
- front raises (3 x 6) - 15kgs dumbbells
- side raises (3 x 6) - 15kgs dumbbells
- skull crushers (6 x 6) - 25kg dumbbells
- triceps rope pulldown (6 x 6) - unsure of weight
On Tuesday I did:
- calf raises (3 x 20)
- step ups (3 x 20)
- squat jumps (3 x 6)
- kettlebell squats (3 x 6) - unsure of weight
- weighted lunges (3 x 6) - 25kg
Pretty consistent throughout July...
On Friday, however, I had an early start so didn't get to run in the morning, instead I ran on the treadmill at lunchtime.
It says I did about 6kms on the treadmill, which doesn't feel super correct in 30 minutes, but I did set myself a fast pace and was absolutely drenched in sweat. Treadmill running is weird.
So two overuse injuries have come back with a vengeance, so I basically need to do two things:
- Be very consistent with my rehab work, which is about an hour of stretching each day.
- Figure out exactly what movements are causing issues and modify until I'm pain free.
The first overuse injury that I haven't had for years, but came back this week is plantar fasciitis.
For me, it basically means my heels hurt first thing in the morning after I run.
I've been running pretty consistently 3 times a week for the last few years without issue... so I'm not sure if it's come back because my lower body exercises have changed... or if it's because I've been walking a lot more. I've been walking everywhere, and going up 15 flights of stairs once or twice a day.
I'm actually not too worried about this one because I think if I'm consistent with my stretches I can make this one disappear (fingers crossed).
The one I'm worried about and my motivation for starting these posts up again is medial epicondylitis or golfer's elbow.
I've had it in the past where it was too painful to do particular movements like chin ups... but at the moment, no exercise is hurting me... it just flares up the days after on weird little movements, ie, picking up a bottle or toweling myself off after a shower.
Previously I had done like a year of physical therapy on it, they tried everything, electroshock things and scraping metal things against my elbows, but I think what eventually worked for me was just finding variations of movements I could do.
Interestingly, last time I had this it was in my left elbow, but this time it seems to be in my right elbow. It actually woke me up at 5am this morning because it was so painful (so much for exercise improving my sleep).
I think it was the skull crushers that brought it back the last couple of weeks... so I'll give my upper body exercises a rest this week, then remove any tricep exercises and see if that makes a difference.
Thanks for reading!
Also shared on my blog : https://lifebe.com.au/fitness/figuring-out-the-overuse-injuries/
As much as it sucks, maybe you'll be happy to now your plantar fascitis seems relatively mild compared to some of my friends, they can barely roll out of bed or walk in the morning when theirs happens. Have you double checked your walking gait? In the case of said friends I have noticed that the way they walk is a bit odd and might contribute to that problem.
I'm assuming you've already checked for alignment/flexibility/weird angle when doing things with the elbow but have to ask anyway :)
Hmmm, that's a good point. I've had my running gait and stride checked... but I don't think anyone looked at my walking gait. It seems okay to me just observationally, but who knows?
I'll try to be super consistent with my stretches and if that doesn't make a difference I'll get my gait assessed.
The angles for the elbow is such a thing! When my elbow was hurting during exercises, I could adjust the angle and the pain would stop immediately... I'm finding it a little trickier now that the pain only appears a day or two after... but I'm keeping an eye on the things that I think might be affecting it - I think I might have weeks/months of trial and error ahead of me, hence the blog.
I'm not sure where you're living exactly, but you should honestly check out the concept of Earthing or Grounding. I got a grounding kit a few weeks ago, and it does WONDERS for repairing sports or other injuries. We basically are biologically meant to be in contact, bare skin, with the surface of the earth. Rubber shoes and all that shit removes and doesn't allow our bodies to do that.
There is a lot of science out there in the last few years on the concept of grounding for many people, but athletes and people that need to recover quicker. The kit I bought was 190$ I think, but it was well worth it. I sleep good using it and it adds a lot of great things to our bodies that we've been missing.
The site is earthing.com and I have no affiliation to it, but I do think you should do some research on the concept!
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On the workout front, I recently got back to the gym even once every few months. Since my kid was born years ago, I haven't gotten to go basically at all but now that he's older, I take him to a rock climbing gym and we have fun there. At the gyms though, they have actual gym equipment and I've been loving it! I did my first set of power cleans (I think that's what they're called.. don't know if that was ever right but that's what I've called them lol) and damn did it feel good! I started low and slow with 10 pounds on the bar, but it felt good to get the form back and my body felt great the next day. Hopefully I can get back into the gym soon, I miss it dearly!
Thanks dude!
I actually got a grounding kit a few years ago... at first I struggled being attached to something while I slept, I move around a bit and kept getting tangled, but eventually I got used to it. I personally didn't feel like it made any difference to me, I stopped and actually only recently threw out the kits and book when I moved - I'm glad it's working for you though, that's awesome!!!
The person who recommended it to me initially seemed to love it too so its a bummer it didn't work out for me.
Are power cleans when you get the barbell off the floor and pull it up to your shoulders? Those are awesome. My new communal gym doesn't have any barbells, but its got a ton of dumbbells and kettlebells, so I could probably do a variation of those... that's awesome. Glad your kid is enjoying bouldering, that's very awesome. A new bouldering gym will be opening within walking distance of me in a month or two so I'm excited to check it out when it opens.
Since your heels hurt when you run in the morning, why not take a break from it first or what do you feel?
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