july...injury recovery...it sucks...but fighting on

A couple of weeks ago I pulled the muscle in my lower back. As it seems the right side is taking the longest to heal. Strangely so, I took a week off, and then went back to the gym. The plus side is that I am not hanging back and spending months to recover the loss gains. The negative is that it will likely take up to a full two months before I notice no discomfort.

I am not one to run to the doctor every time I pull a muscle. I am not one to rest and reside on the comforts of a doctor. As a matter of fact I do not have much respect for the medical professionals who waste your time pushing muscle relaxers and PT, then reject me from more than a week or two of PT, and leave me to fill in that pain gap with OTC medications. Therefore, I shall heal myself.

Sure. If after a month I still feel the same discomfort with no apparent healing, then I will go to the doctor for x-rays to rule out major injury. Otherwise, I am good on my own.

You do not need a doctor’s comforting words to cure you, unless you are needy and require that kind of attention. I do not.

Pressure makes a diamond.

de-load

What is it? Purpose? How can I achieve this?

De-load or de-loading is a phase in which you place the body into a decreased level of activity by a small margin or cessation for a short period of time. The purpose is to provide about a week to recover from exercise.

During this layover or layoff, you can focus on nutrition, spend time researching a new exercise to fold into the new regime, get a massage, clean your house, restock your reserves, or simply relaxing and doing a total body cleanse.

I never knew how important this was although I have been familiar with it for years. I discovered that as we stay the course of a rigid routine, taking little time for rest, our bodies get overloaded with fatigue, never fully recovering before we swoop in and fire it up to go to the next phase.

Years ago, I would do cleanses each season. Since becoming a pescatarian, I don’t feel the need to cut food and juice. Don’t get me wrong, juicing is fabulous and I own one. This year, I have not juiced as much because I am focusing more on the whole foods that I eat and eliminating vitamins as much as possible.

Eventually, I will be only on an OMEGA/vegMulti.

I was set to roll out my new Sept/Oct routine straight out of the August program, not realizing that we’re facing fall, the fall runs, flu season, etc. and it has been since May that I cut and rested. My body had been feeling as if it was running into a stitch. You just know!

It was then I realized it’s time to de-load. I had to tweak the September schedule to adjust for the last week of Aug. to be a de-load week.  

Now that de-load is finally over fall can officially come into my workout routine with a front-loading vacation to commence the season. I can pick up where I left off and hit the ground running, literally.

de-load observations:

Flexibility:

My front right split was tight. It’s loosening and I can feel more relaxed, less tense when I move into it.

My full split stretches are looser, as I’m approaching 180 degrees-10.

Strength:

Upper/Back stronger, increased push-ups.  I may need to adjust the weights on my rows.

Abs stronger, more engaged during my routines.

Endurance:

Not tested yet.