Perils of Big Thighs and Bridesmaid Dresses

[mavd]

Friday
Didn't work but had several meetings lined up with contractors for window/AC replacement so didn't make it to the gym. Had a 1.5 hour kickball practice, though.

Saturday
Still no gym, but 11,100 steps.

Sunday
Double header for kickball. We won the championship. Wohoo. Also walked quite a bit too.

Condo updates: I selected a contractor. I think my expectations of what I was going to spend were probably quite unrealistic. But we settled on a number I can live with and I went with a company that specializes in Eco-friendly solutions, so all in all I'm happy. I feel like such an adult right now.

[mavd]

Tuesday
Needed to keep it light. More on why later.
Superset A
Back Squat, wide stance, toes out 4x10x70
Single arm DB skull crusher 4x10x15
Superset B
OHP 3x8x60
Single leg SLDL 4x8x15
Superset C
Assisted pullup 4x8x75
Incline DB bench 4x8x30s

*sigh* I'm falling apart. I currently am dealing with the following:
1. My right shoulder has dislocated 3 times in the last week. Once I overstretch things by dislocating once it is easier to do so again for several weeks. I need to let it recover, so I have to be extra extra careful on movements that dislocate (like, taking off my sports bras, which is becoming an embarrassingly complicated event at the gym, and no more showing off my handstands in the pool which is how the second occurrence manifested)
2. I did something to my left hamstring on Friday at kickball. The pull/strain/whatever is at mid-thigh and doesn't impact either the knee or hip joint, so it's not really crippling, but it's not going away either. Couldn't hack bb SLDL and was afraid to do heavy, normal stance squats. Stretching hurts quite a bit and I'm not sure if it's a strain that shouldn't be stretched or a knot that should.
3. A toe on my left foot feels sprained. I've got no flipping clue what happened there, but it is also one of the joints that is particularly prone to dislocation, so probably something during one of Sunday's games. Again, not crippling, but not going to get better if I keep irritating it.
4. Random pain in my right knee. Not consistent. Not anything I've dealt with before (f***ed up my left knee pretty good a few years back, but never the right). No known cause. We're talking shooting pain once or twice a day so again nothing that is impacting me hugely but generally concerning.
5. Slight strain to my right ankle. Again, no recollected cause but I assume just from running hard in cleats as I've had problems with that before. I expect that'll go away rather quickly.

I feel too young to be so beat up. I'm thinking I might need to go talk to an ortho about the hypermobility. Maybe joint breakdown is normal? Maybe there's something I should be doing for it? I'm afraid to start googling thing or else I'll end up diagnosing myself with cancer or scaring myself into inactivity.

[mavd]

Thursday
Spin, tabata focus (5 rounds with recovery between for a total of 50 min)

Hammy is feeling better, shoulder not so much (still getting micro dislocations). Ankle better, metatarsals still sore. Knee hasn't pinged since Tuesday so whatever was catching there must've worked loose.

[mavd]

Friday
Whole lotta nothing

Saturday
Finally started the chore of organizing my storage space to try to give the kiddos their closet space back. Got about halfway through. No gym but plenty of walking and lifting regardless.

Sunday
No gym again but 12,200 steps, including a hike down and then back up the cliff to Black's Beach. Some playing in the ocean, which drew to an abrupt close when a ~5 foot wave came out of no where, knocked me down and dragged my sorry ass (actually, tits, because face down) across the ocean floor a few feet. My feet managed to hit the crown of my head, which is a feat I haven't managed in a few years. I kind of figured I'd be feeling like **** today but apart from some bruises and sand burn (lol) I'm ok. Also, I had all-you-can-eat sushi for dinner. Haven't had sushi in about 6 months so I basically gorged myself in a way that should bring shame but somehow doesn't.

Monday
Decided to do an all out back day. Workout again borrowed from "30 Days Out"
Rack pull 10x3x145
Assisted pull-up 6x5x70
Cable row 5x6x85
Dumbell incline row 3x10x15s
Single arm lat pull down 1x15x25

[mavd]

Tuesday
Painted for ~1.5 hours

Wednesday
Chest day
Incline DB bench 5x6x35s
Single arm DB bench 6x5x27.5
Hammer high press 3x10x50
Plate press 2x15x5s
Single arm cable fly 30x12
Decline cable press 3x10x25

[anandagirl]

Ouch! But congrats on your scorpion!

[mavd]

Ouch! But congrats on your scorpion!

lol thanks

Been busy. Hand thing has gotten worse. They were basically nonfunctional on Sunday. This week I'm at training for work and taking notes and by the end of the day I can barely grip the pen. Typing is also hard. Hands aren't numb but they're weak, achy, and clumsy. Think I need to suck it up and see a doc. Relying on my Versa grips for lifting because otherwise I wouldn't be able to do much.

Let's see haven't logged recently so here's a catch up....

Friday
Legs. Don't ask what I don't remember. Must've been good because they only stopped hurting today.
Also finished painting.

Saturday
Personal drama. No gym but a good amount of walking.
Also lots of cleaning because stressed.

Sunday
Not much because of the hands. Did some cleaning/reorganization projects.

Monday
Still issues with the hands. Meant to lift but alarm didn't go off (>!@#$).

Tuesday
Still issues with the hands.
Shoulders. Honestly the extra typing to do a full log is unappealing so I'm just not going to.

[anandagirl]

Shoulders. Honestly the extra typing to do a full log is unappealing so I'm just not going to.

You do you, girl

[Clinos]

Could the hand issues be from nerve damage? Not to freak you out, just curious if you'd considered it.

[mavd]

You do you, girl

Thanks. It's frustrating. Marked improvement the last two days though. I feel like I'm back to about 90% function, just a bit of achy-ness left, not noticing the grip weakness as much.

Could the hand issues be from nerve damage? Not to freak you out, just curious if you'd considered it.

There's nothing I can think of that would CAUSE nerve damage. Unless it can be the fact that my neck is messed up because of the sc0li. I mean, yeah I use a computer at work but I have a decent set up, take breaks, and the problem doesn't seem to be worse at work than at home (I never use a computer at home).

Wednesday
Nothing

Thursday
Spin

Friday
Overslept again, so no gym. Maybe this evening but I doubt it. I'm in a funk.

[mavd]

I basically potatoed the entire long weekend. Funk will not shake off. I don't want to lift. Need a routine or a goal or something.

Tuesday
Bench 3x45 5x75 4x5x80
SLDL 5x95 5x105 3x5x110
Row 5x5x80

In other news, I shaved my head. Well, half of it anyway.

[Fiction2Fitness]

Potato-ing all weekend sounds like a nice option. I'm in a funk lifting wise too though spend Saturday and Sunday working.

In for pics of half shaved head.

[mavd]

Potato-ing all weekend sounds like a nice option. I'm in a funk lifting wise too though spend Saturday and Sunday working.

In for pics of half shaved head.

I'm so ridiculously bad at selfies. I'll post as soon as I take one that doesn't make me cringe. But I have so much damn hair that you can't really tell that I shaved half of it off with the way I style it for work. Not a single person has noticed so far!

Wednesday
Tried squats. Back too stiff. Need to work yoga into the routine again. Workout turned out to be a hodge podge after that.
OHP 5x5x55
Leg Extension 3x10x70
Assisted wide grip pull up 5x5x70
Leg curl 5x5x50
Incline DB bench 3x8x27.5s
Busa mountain climbers 3x10

Back and neck have been stiff and achy, and hand weakness has been off and on (also achy but not as bad as last week). Also randomly I gently bumped my knee with something the other day and was in collapse-to-the-ground-in-tears pain for about 3 minutes. So maybe something ****ed up is going on with my nervous system after all. My medical insurance is **** but something's gotta give.

[Fiction2Fitness]

Post anyways! I hate all pictures of me to be honest. I look blah and smiling is even worse, but I post on instagram on occasion despite that. I don't even know what my insurance covers since I got one of the cheapest but just try to avoid using it.

[mavd]

Doesn't show the undercut much but also don't hate the picture. From about 2 inches above my ear, all the way around, is shaved. I wish I did it at the beginning of summer because it's sooooo much lighter and cooler.

This morning I turned off my alarm and slept through spin. 10.5 hours of sleep. It's been a rough couple of weeks emotionally, which has affected my sleeping, eating, and desire to workout. I'm definitely back to the fluffy stage.

[getbigordie18]

I'm so ridiculously bad at selfies. I'll post as soon as I take one that doesn't make me cringe. But I have so much damn hair that you can't really tell that I shaved half of it off with the way I style it for work. Not a single person has noticed so far!

Wednesday
Tried squats. Back too stiff. Need to work yoga into the routine again. Workout turned out to be a hodge podge after that.
OHP 5x5x55
Leg Extension 3x10x70
Assisted wide grip pull up 5x5x70
Leg curl 5x5x50
Incline DB bench 3x8x27.5s
Busa mountain climbers 3x10

Back and neck have been stiff and achy, and hand weakness has been off and on (also achy but not as bad as last week). Also randomly I gently bumped my knee with something the other day and was in collapse-to-the-ground-in-tears pain for about 3 minutes. So maybe something ****ed up is going on with my nervous system after all. My medical insurance is **** but something's gotta give.

Dont worry I dont take many pictures on IG either its because I dont look that good.

[mavd]

I lifted on Friday; front squats, cable row, glute ham raises, DB single arm bench, DB OHP. Didn't record weights/reps. I also pulled something in my left quad AGAIN which left me limping all weekend.

For some reason my alarm didn't go off this morning (I swear for once I didn't just sleep through it). Still debating going after work but the Lions are playing in MNF and being West Coast I'd miss the entire game. We never-ever get picked for MNF/SNF/TNF because we majorly suck.

[mavd]

Well it finally happened. Was warming up on deads, heard and felt a terrible pop, and am in excruciating pain. Ended up in the ER, which did no good because apparently they're just an opioid dispensary, and have a ortho appt for Thursday. ER docs are convinced its just a sprain or spasm, but I suspect a ruptured disc at the very least, especially given lack of sensation in and ice cold temperature of my right foot. I've had spasms so bad you can see them through my skin. This is not that kind of pain. However, the muscle relaxer they gave me has my neck feeling the best its been in months. Silver lining?

[Fiction2Fitness]

Oh noes. Is it the flexeril (or the generic) or something else? *curious*

[mavd]

Oh noes. Is it the flexeril (or the generic) or something else? *curious*

No, the muscle relaxer was ******. They eventually gave me a dose of morphine which dulled the back pain to bearable for a few hours and sent me on my way. Sadly, that's definitely not a long term solution.

This whole incident has me pretty shook up. I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I've dealt with 3 motorcycle crashes, a concussion, broken bones, dislocated shoulders, knees, and toes, and sprains so bad my joints swell to 3 times their size with zero pain killers or a couple NSAIDS. I have always managed my condition through therapy and exercise and have zero interest in getting hooked on meds. But at this point, I need assistance to dress myself and get off the toilet while taking ibuprofen, Tylenol, and oxy. I don't know that I'm ever going to lift weights again. I am going to have some serious convos with the orthopedist tomorrow, but I think I'm going to scale back to swimming, biking, yoga, and possibly something like pilates. I love lifting and I love what it does for my appearance, but like I said, this level of helplessness is terrifying.

[anandagirl]

Fingers crossed for something easy

[jay283]

No, the muscle relaxer was ******. They eventually gave me a dose of morphine which dulled the back pain to bearable for a few hours and sent me on my way. Sadly, that's definitely not a long term solution.

This whole incident has me pretty shook up. I consider myself to have a high pain tolerance. I've dealt with 3 motorcycle crashes, a concussion, broken bones, dislocated shoulders, knees, and toes, and sprains so bad my joints swell to 3 times their size with zero pain killers or a couple NSAIDS. I have always managed my condition through therapy and exercise and have zero interest in getting hooked on meds. But at this point, I need assistance to dress myself and get off the toilet while taking ibuprofen, Tylenol, and oxy. I don't know that I'm ever going to lift weights again. I am going to have some serious convos with the orthopedist tomorrow, but I think I'm going to scale back to swimming, biking, yoga, and possibly something like pilates. I love lifting and I love what it does for my appearance, but like I said, this level of helplessness is terrifying.

You are one tough lady. Take it easy, your body is just healing itself

[mavd]

Update
Just got back from the ortho. It was.... enlightening. Since my insurance sucks and I knew I was going to get a big bill I decided to ask to have my neck evaluated as well, which has been giving me problems ever since my motorcycle crash two years ago. We did X-rays (spine and neck). Always fun to see my curve, which to my naked eye looks a bit worse than it used to (doc isn't a specialist so he didn't do the measurement).

The good news: I have not slipped a disc in my lumbar. From what I described and what he could see by X-ray, he says what happened is a sublaxed a facet joint. Read, minor dislocation of one of my vertebrae. Now that kind of sucks but in someone who has a diagnosed hybermobility disorder with a history of sublaxations, I guess it's not that shocking. Doc said this is exceptionally painful but as long as it isn't still out of place (and it's not given the X-ray) the only thing to do is wait out the healing process. I have sublaxed my shoulder, hip, elbow, and toes and the healing process takes about 3 weeks for me normally. I am already feeling about 50% better.

The bad news: Historically, once I have sublaxed a joint I am prone to doing so again. So, for the next month or so I won't be lifting ANYTHING heavy at all and I am pretty sure I won't be DLing anywhere close to 180 again, probably ever (that's the weight that did it, even though I've lifted 235 without problems!). I'm still not sure if I'm going to return to lifting at all but I'm for sure going to steer away from heavy. It just isn't worth it.

The ugly news: My neck DOES have a slipped disc and probably has for the last 2 years. Generally, the fix for this is "let it heal naturally in about 2-3 months" and if it doesn't, surgery. I'm obviously a bit outside of that window. However, he says I'm so extremely spasmed in my neck and shoulder region that it's not allowing the disc to heal. So I'm on an anti-inflammatory and muscle relaxant for the next 2 months to give it a chance, then I'll be up for re-evaluation.

[Clinos]

Update

good news and bad news. Some time off to heal a bit is always in good order and helps the rebound and recovery. Are you confident about the never lifting heavy again, I mean rather, can you do a 50% reduction in weight and hold at maintenance?
I see more cardio and sculpting in your future.

This thread suddenly has me so nervous about my own body pains, I get cramping arm pain in my wrist all the way down to my elbow from a fight I was in years ago/fall out of a window/bad gym accident. It only acts up once in a while but the last month it's been brutal...cramped my wrist/hand up on an OHP last week and could not let the bar go...wondering now.

[mavd]

Are you confident about the never lifting heavy again, I mean rather, can you do a 50% reduction in weight and hold at maintenance?
I see more cardio and sculpting in your future.

No I'm not confident about quitting just really scared. Part of me is like NEVAH AGAIN WILL YOU FEEL THAT PAIN! And the other part knows that I, on average, have less pain because of lifting and strengthening my muscles to compensate for my lack of tendons.

In the long run maybe I can find a happy medium of volume and lighter weight that at least allows me to retain what I've built. But for the next month or so, I'm going to focus on yoga, swimming, and biking. I need to drop some serious weight as that has always helped me with back problems, and I think tightness through my hip flexors may have contributed to the dislocation, as it can't have been just too much weight since I've done much more than 180 many times.

This thread suddenly has me so nervous about my own body pains, I get cramping arm pain in my wrist all the way down to my elbow from a fight I was in years ago/fall out of a window/bad gym accident. It only acts up once in a while but the last month it's been brutal...cramped my wrist/hand up on an OHP last week and could not let the bar go...wondering now.

Yeah that sounds kind of scary too. I know that pinched nerves in your neck can have affects on your hands/arms (heh, maybe that explains my weird hand situation?!?). It was stupid of me to ignore my neck for so long but I *did* go to an urgent care after I got rear ended a year ago where my neck went from bad to worse and they basically blew me off and said I'm just spasmed up and it'll go away on its own.

Rant time! Apparently women in general are systematically discriminated against by the medical field when it comes to pain management. Because we are perceived as weaker (cough-bull****-cough), the mostly-male-doctors assume our pain is not as severe as stated. But in reality, we tend to actually have higher pain tolerances (cough-childbirth-cough) and experience greater pain (something to do with hormones). Tots fair, right?

[Fiction2Fitness]

Sorry to hear about the struggles. ****** isn't something that comes to mind right away for muscle relaxant but guess considering everything you've got going on... different story.

For how women are perceived it depends on those involved greatly but there are some factors in how the medication is absorbed, body weight and the like I would imagine to a degree which can factor in to the approach taken. But yeah, there is some perceptions that are messed up just based on the gender factor. Though with more women in the field maybe that will change a little over time.


Hope the issues get sorted out for you to get some better healing at long last. Ignoring things tends to not be good but I admit to mostly never going to drs either for things. Though the one time I went I still ended up with arthritis so *shrugs*.

[astronut96]

I’ve been away for a bit and trying to catch up. So sorry to hear about your back, neck, and hand issues. You really have dealt with a ton of injuries. You are one tough and determined chick!

Heavy lifting as you know it now may be out in the future, but I have full confidence that you’ll find the balance that works for you. I don’t think the word “quit” is in your vocabulary.

[mavd]

Sorry to hear about the struggles. ****** isn't something that comes to mind right away for muscle relaxant but guess considering everything you've got going on... different story.

For how women are perceived it depends on those involved greatly but there are some factors in how the medication is absorbed, body weight and the like I would imagine to a degree which can factor in to the approach taken. But yeah, there is some perceptions that are messed up just based on the gender factor. Though with more women in the field maybe that will change a little over time.


Hope the issues get sorted out for you to get some better healing at long last. Ignoring things tends to not be good but I admit to mostly never going to drs either for things. Though the one time I went I still ended up with arthritis so *shrugs*.

Thanks. I am feeling quite a bit better after taking it easy this weekend.

****** in low doses (I think it's 5mg compared to the "normal" 20mg) can be prescribed as a muscle relaxant. But the ortho switched me over to Flexeril.

My claims about female pain and medicine were based off a study not my opinion, actually. The study also concluded that the discrimination has lead to unnecessary deaths because of doctor's dismissing women mid-heart attack telling them it was indigestion. I was just too lazy to look up the article again. Still am. But dig around and you'll find it if you're curious. I 100% believe having more women doctors will help but obviously I didn't get a choice in the ER and the first 30 ortho's listed that took my insurance were all men (orthopedic surgery is definitely still male dominated).

I’ve been away for a bit and trying to catch up. So sorry to hear about your back, neck, and hand issues. You really have dealt with a ton of injuries. You are one tough and determined chick!

Heavy lifting as you know it now may be out in the future, but I have full confidence that you’ll find the balance that works for you. I don’t think the word “quit” is in your vocabulary.

Thansk, Astro. Thought of you while Houston was whomping on the Tigers last week.

I went to yoga at my gym this morning. It was a pretty tame class, which is good for now and probably disappointing in the long run. She takes requests and someone jumped right into hip openers. Maybe next time I'll speak up and ask for neck and shoulder releases. Plank was too painful to work though so I had to modify here and there.

Oh, and it's my birthday today. Seeing the "31" under my SN over there is a bit sad.

[mavd]

Went to spin class today. Nothing bothered my back overly much although I was ready to get off that damned seat by the end.

For my back pain, I finally caved and bought an inversion table. Too soon to tell if it'll help long term but it definitely helps release my mid and lower back spasms. Too bad it doesn't do much for the neck and shoulder spasms that are apparently keeping my herniated disc from healing.

My appetite is currently nonexistent and I haven't managed more than a few 30-40 minute sessions of sleep for the past 3 days. I'm not sure if it's being caused by overall stress, the massive decrease in exercise/activity, or the medications I'm on. Considering I'm not feeling tired at work and I'm trying to lose weight, I'm not all that bothered to find out.

[mavd]

Friday
Tried to go to yoga on Friday but it was canceled. Didn't have my spin stuff, so I braved a bit of light weights.
Superset A
Incline BB Bench 1x8x45 3x8x55
BB Glute Bridge 1x10x40 3x10x50
Superset B
Lat pull down 4x10x75
Leg curl 4x8x40
Back was quite sore after that so I ended the workout.

Saturday
Spent the entire day on the couch watching football as my new windows were installed.

Sunday
Went to the beach for 2 hours and spend about half of that trying to teach the kids beach volleyball. Got a decent amount of movement in, and the back was again quite sore after.

Monday
Still not sleeping well so I passed on the gym this morning even though I'd planned to go to yoga.