Hi everyone!
This is a follow up post to this guy. I've been trying some different things in order to combat some overuse injuries that I have that are affecting my fitness and my quality of life.
I have five things that are being super annoying:
1.) Golfer's Elbow in both elbows
2.) Plantar Fasciitis
3.) If my neck is in the same position for a while (driving, sitting at a computer, watching TV) then it becomes super tight and I get headaches that last hours.
4.) Lower Back pain
5.) Hypertonic Pelvic Floor muscles.
I mentioned 1 and 2 last post, but the other 3 are new.
Stiff neck and headaches
I don't know if there is a name for this... and I don't know if the problem is truly in my neck or my shoulders. I've had a physical therapist look at it in the past, and the work she did on it caused a super intense, debilitating headache a few hours later.
It doesn't come up often, mainly only if I have a long drive or a 2 hour session on Zoom. I have a couple of rehab exercises specifically for this - I just need to get way better at doing those consistently.
One exercise is standing, and then turning my head 90 degrees and doing 20 nods... and then turning my head to face the other way and doing 20 nods... and repeating that 2 more times. I'm not sure how this feels for you... but it always feels super tight for me.
The other exercise is lying on my back and putting a sock with two tennis balls in it at then base of my skull. The sock keeps the balls from rolling away and the goal is to try and release any tension there.
Neither of these exercises help in the moment - but if I am consistent then the problem doesn't arise as often.
Lower back pain
I think I got this from years of having a standing desk. If I stand at my desk I tend to get lazy and rest my hips on the edge of the desk, which kind of bows my back. I've had this problem for about 3 or 4 years and haven't found a cure. It prevents me from sleeping on my stomach or back and for standing for really any length of time. It doesn't affect my mobility at all, but it's always kind of around, it just rotates between discomfort and pain depending on what I'm doing.
Hypertonic Pelvic Floor Muscles
Ironically, this can come about from exercising or from sitting too much.
I think I got this about 8 years ago after working on a super hardcore IT project. I was working for a consulting firm who put me up in a weird spare unfurnished share house they had for 3 months. It had a bed, a kitchen and a broken office chair and that was it. So I was doing super long hours in the office, then driving a super stressful long drive twice a day (I had never driven in ice and snow before usually in the dark) and then sitting on another office chair until bed.
Also ironically, I got a standing desk to help with this issue, which then caused my lower back pain, so between these two issues, I can truly never been pain-free or comfortable.
I've worked with specialist physical therapists on this without any improvement... but I've really started to work on it the last few days because its affecting my work, hobbies, sleep, etc so much. It's particularly uncomfortable if I lie on my side, which, ah, doesn't give me any remaining options.
These are the measurements I took this morning.
Pretty much an improvement across every metric compared to 2 weeks ago... so I'm happy with that.
I'm really trying to save money at the moment... we've got some real life things that are kicking our butts and so I've gone into mega belt-tightening mode.
I've sold my car and canceled subscriptions and haven't had any take away/take out in the last two weeks. I'm living entirely on groceries. My diet essentially is:
450 ml water with turmeric, B12 & D3 tablets
Porridge/Oatmeal with nuts and berries
Apple or Peach/Nectarine
Vegan protein shake.
Rice, Beans, Spinach, Mushrooms, Cherry Tomatoes, Carrots with steamed broccoli, carrots, green pea beans.
Apple.
Rice cakes with peanut butter
Apple.
I'm mostly vegan, but sometimes I'll add smoked salmon if I've been feeling low on energy. I'm terrible at math so I don't know if the quantities of anything I'm eating is right or wrong.
I'm probably also not drinking enough water which is something I really should work on.
So, in order to combat my Golfer's Elbow, I actually haven't done any upper body exercises in the last two weeks.... I'm sure this has had some impact on my back but I don't know if it's a good or bad impact (maybe less stretching and work, but maybe also less stress).
I definitely missed these workouts, and am looking forward to starting them back up again soon.
I also haven't done any lower body exercises in the last two weeks either, to try and combat my plantar fasciitis.
Over the last 14 days I have:
- Run around 3.5 kms 6 times
- Cycled (stationary bike) for 30 minutes 3 times
- Use rowing machine for 20 minutes 3 times
12 days of exercise in 14. Not too shabby.
I don't know how many times I did my rehab exercises in the last 14 days, but I suspect it's only been 4 or 5 times... I really need to do them every day. It's like 90-110 minutes of stretching.. and while it's not physically hard, it is a long time and sometimes I just feel lazy.
With no upper body exercises, my Golfer's Elbow has died right down. In the last few days I think it only flared up once or twice... which is a huge improvement from several times a day.
I'm going to start upper body exercises again, but I'm going to avoid bicep and tricep exercises to see if I can exercise without causing myself pain (it's tricky because it's rarely painful in the moment, the pain might flare a day or two later) and if I can... if I write a post in 2 weeks and haven't had any elbow issues then I'll add in extremely light weight bicep and tricep exercises to see what happens.
My Plantar Fasciitis has gotten slightly worse. Only slightly, but enough to notice.
I'm going to avoid running over the next two weeks and instead will try row machines, elliptical and stationary bike. I don't find these exercises as satisfying as running, I like to get out and see the river and dogs and people rather than just hang out in the gym room being so bored - but I want to see if I can make a difference. I've been running consistently 3 times a week for years without this issue popping up (I had it really bad 8 years ago) so I'm hoping I can just calm it down and get back to my preferred routine.
To combat my back and pelvic floor, I'm just going to have to be super consistent with my rehab exercises to see if that makes a difference or not. I've never really tracked or been observant enough with it to figure it out. If not, I'll have to try something else.
That's where I'm at... I hope your health and fitness is going well!
Thanks for reading!
