Exercise and Fitness IX

[Liffguard]

Grrrrrr, damnation and curses. The knee pain I thought I'd managed to ease with self-massage and extra stretching has come back with a vengeance. I went and saw my GP today, not really expecting much but he was more helpful than most GPs I've encountered in regards to joint issues. After doing a bit of probing he said that since I don't have any mobility issues at the moment, any potential cure could quite probably be worse than the disease. He offered some pain-killers which I refused (nothing macho about it, since I still plan on training I don't want to mask any potential signals from my knee that something's going wrong) and referred me to see an orthopedic specialist who'll be able to discuss my options in more detail. Much more productive than the "stay off it, take ibuprofen and come back in a month if it's not better" I ususally get for joint injuries.

Whilst I wait for my orthopedic appointment there's a few other self-treatment options I want to try. Firstly, I'm going to start squatting more often. I recently decided to mix up my training a bit and ended up doing more upper-body and less lower body than usual, and doing different lower-body exercises. It was shortly after this (i.e. about a month or so) that my knee pain first started. My inexpert, uninformed hypothesis is that any muscle-imbalances I might currently have that are affecting my knees might have been caused by these different exercises. When I was squatting regularly, even though my knee still crunched and grated it never felt less than strong and well supported. So I'll see if going back to regular squats makes a difference at all.

[Eponine]

If you want to focus on cardio/running, do the running first. If you want to focus on lifting, do the lifting first. If you just want generic fitness, do the lifting first.

You mentioned that you want to run 3 miles at 10 mph... if that's your main goal, you'd better do the running first unless you're already running sub-7 min miles.

[TheLoneliestMonk]

Wow,thanks for all the tips everyone. I guess I'll stick with lifting first for now, since I'm going for general fitness. I run first 3 days a week anyways, since I don't lift at all those days.

I had a good run today, 2.02 miles at 7 mph, plus about 1/2 mile total fast walking for warm up and cool down.

Sorry to hear about your knee liff, hopefully it gets better soon. Squats probably are a good idea, as long as it doesnt hurt to do them. I've had chronic pain in my shoulder since around 16, and it always feels better when I have been working it out comsistantly. I try not to do too many reps though, since repetitive motion is what set it off(surfing and pitching). good luck

[Lord of Rhinos]

Push ups are the bane of my existence. I did 250 yesterday (3 reps of 30 full body, 2 reps of 50 from my knees and 1 of 25 and a smattering few more full body). I have three weeks to be able to do 50 full length after running 3 miles and doing 200 sit ups.

My calves are sore and stiff from opening Saturday's class with 400 jumping jacks. My abs have finally recovered from 280 sit ups Friday night.

Sorry, needed a place to whine...

Okay, game-face is back on.

I've sweated off about twenty pounds in three weeks, though. :thumbsup:

What are you training for?

[Fleeing Finn]

Push ups are the bane of my existence. I did 250 yesterday (3 reps of 30 full body, 2 reps of 50 from my knees and 1 of 25 and a smattering few more full body). I have three weeks to be able to do 50 full length after running 3 miles and doing 200 sit ups.

Here's a post I made about developing push up and pull up endurance. You might find it interesting.

[cjfshaw]

Light workout while trying to get my brain started up to work on a lab report.

1 90 second plank, 1 90 second side-plank for each side, 20 sit-ups, 20 lying leg raises, a back bridge that i could only hold for 30 seconds (I was aiming for 90, gotta work on that!), 20 'russian twists'

[Balefont]

What are you training for?

My Sho Dan

ET: Thank you for the link and post, Fleeing Finn. That's pretty much how I'm tackling my push up training. The toughest part right now is I'm doing it with a nasty shoulder injury for which I'm also doing physical therapy. Fortunately there aren't any tears in my tendons or muscles but there is fraying, swelling and bone bruising. And resting it is out of the question. grrrrr

[Vethnar]

I strongly urge you to not do cardio before lifting. Vethnar was talking about sprinting and these two activities differ like night and day in the energy systems they use.

I was, but I assumed that cardio before lifting would be no more of a problem than sprinting before cardio. I apologize for spreading misinformation.

A brief foot injury update:

This week, I've tried to let my foot rest as much as possible. I don't walk more than strictly necessary, and when training, I avoid all exercises which put any sort of pressure on the foot (apart from three sets of standing overhead presses on Wednesday, but with the pathetic weights I press, it can't possibly hurt my foot much).

Until Wednesday night, the foot seemed to get worse, but the location of the pain moved somewhat: Initially the pain was concentrated under my heel, but during the first days of this week, it slowly moved up to my ankle, which also got quite swollen. Wearing any sort of shoes was quite painful. The last two days, everything seems to have improved. There is almost no pain in the morning, but the ankle gradually hurts more and more later in the day. Even late at night, however, the pain is quite bearable.

I'm beginning to get more optimistic. It was very tempting to try some squats during today's workout, but I managed to resist. I'll try to remain careful until I've seen a doctor next Tuesday.

[lessthanluke]

Add me to the injury list. Pulled something playing football last week. Tried squatting but it was a no no.

[TheLoneliestMonk]

Got through my workout today. I was ready to quit my run after less than a mile, but somehow shamed myself into continueing on. Squatted 145, benched 120, and did a measley 5 total pull ups 2-1-2, and only had time for one set of negatives before running, since I slept in. The run was 2.15 mile @ 7 mph.

[seastarr]

I was, but I assumed that cardio before lifting would be no more of a problem than sprinting before cardio. I apologize for spreading misinformation.

A brief foot injury update:

This week, I've tried to let my foot rest as much as possible. I don't walk more than strictly necessary, and when training, I avoid all exercises which put any sort of pressure on the foot (apart from three sets of standing overhead presses on Wednesday, but with the pathetic weights I press, it can't possibly hurt my foot much).

Until Wednesday night, the foot seemed to get worse, but the location of the pain moved somewhat: Initially the pain was concentrated under my heel, but during the first days of this week, it slowly moved up to my ankle, which also got quite swollen. Wearing any sort of shoes was quite painful. The last two days, everything seems to have improved. There is almost no pain in the morning, but the ankle gradually hurts more and more later in the day. Even late at night, however, the pain is quite bearable.

I'm beginning to get more optimistic. It was very tempting to try some squats during today's workout, but I managed to resist. I'll try to remain careful until I've seen a doctor next Tuesday.

Vethnar, do you follow a high protein diet? This may sound quite weird, but your symptoms sound a little like gout. I would head to the doctor to get a proper diagnosis.

[Vethnar]

Vethnar, do you follow a high protein diet?

To the extent I follow a diet at all (the word "diet" to me suggests a regularity and discipline that I just don't have), it is most accurately described as a "high everything diet". I'm a perpetually hungry person, and eat frequent and big meals throughout the day. I almost certainly eat more protein than the average person, but measured as a percentage of all the food I eat, I think my protein intake is below the European and North American average. Compared to most people, I eat a little more protein, and much more carbs, fruits and vegetables. Most people would probably consider my diet healthy, apart from the huge amounts of carbs (mostly in the form of rice and pasta) I eat.

This may sound quite weird, but your symptoms sound a little like gout.

Ouch -- just when I begin to feel optimistic and think that I may not have plantar fasciitis after all, you tell me that it might be something even worse.

I would head to the doctor to get a proper diagnosis.

Certainly. I'm heading for the doctor on Tuesday. Until then, I'll keep pretending I have plantar fasciitis, and rest, stretch and apply ice several times per day.

[Balefont]

I've got to make myself cardio after lifting. *whines* it's so easy to do cardio, then lift. Cardio is more fun. /end whine.

Congrats on all those push-ups, Bale!!! I haven't done 250 in my whole existence :)

Thanks, love. :)

To me, cardio sucks at first but once you get past the initial push through and my body comes 'online', it's not so bad. And I always feel like a million bucks after a good sweat. Knowing that helps, too. It all depends on the cardio program, though. If you have a shit instructor or a shit DVD, cardio can easily become winded torture. I love the Kenpo by P90X because it brings you up and holds you in a nice place rather than pushing you over the edge. Their cardio DVD is good, too, but after awhile it gets sort of easy. The Plyometrics DVD is the bomb!

[seastarr]

Ouch -- just when I begin to feel optimistic and think that I may not have plantar fasciitis after all, you tell me that it might be something even worse.

Certainly. I'm heading for the doctor on Tuesday. Until then, I'll keep pretending I have plantar fasciitis, and rest, stretch and apply ice several times per day.

I'm sorry, V! I didn't mean to make you feel bad. Although consider---gout can be better than plantar fasciitis because there are ways to control it through diet and medication. I guess the swelling of the ankle was surprising to me. I am glad you are going to the doctor to get to the root of this.

For me, today is the trapeze. My mantra is "confidence and certainty." I will make my catches. I will make my catches. I am working on a skill called the whip right now, but thinking I may get to try a pullover-shoot today if my whips look good. I can't wait.

[ztemhead]

I'm just posting because I like having the 401st post. :)

I've been eating out and slacking off all week. Ah, the penne con pollo and Chilean Shiraz the other night was delightful, though one of these days I'll remember to save room for dessert. I haven't had pasta in forever, so to have a big bowl of good pasta at a local Italian restaurant was like finding fresh water in the desert. The meal was legendary.

I've packed on 5 pounds in the last two weeks, but I'll get back on the diet train soon enough. ;)

by the by, isn't chronic heel pain indicative of planar fascitis, or is it just indicative of chronic heel pain? My right heel has been nagging me a bit, but only to the point of annoyance, not to the point of injury.