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/