I choose pain

Taking a break?

Casey Jones said:

Well, I appreciate the kind words and spirit...but the truth is, it was not my choice. It was a combination of my work requirements and various injuries, on top of age and genetics.

Every job, every career, has its hidden limitations. Someone can be a brilliant financial planner, a man who can make the numbers sing...but if he's got a personality like battery-acid, he's not going to be a great manager, and probably not an effective CEO.

Someone can run a great towing and roadside-assistance company, but unless he knows how to play the political grift game, he's not going to get access to police summons to accidents and impounds. FAIL.

Railroading...it was safety, equipment operation, practical physics, discipline. But what made it, was how well a person could live, over decades, on poor food, irregular sleep, almost no exercise. I didn't fully understand that, and what I did, I thought I could shrug off. I'd worked swing-shift and dealt with MidWatch in the Navv...nolo problemo.

I thought. Year by year my fitness went, my gut grew, my metabolic issues accelerated. By the time I understood what was happening, why it was happening, I was in the system too deep to leave, and forfeit my pension.

Now I am trying to get out. Torn rotator cuffs and bulging and herniated discs are not issues of willpower. Diet modification continues apace, and if I can judge by how my trousers fit, I'm winning...but I have the old-geezer profile now, the belly bloat that won't go. Another new-to-me feature.

I can no more wish it away than someone can will himself out of a wheelchair. I do what I can, and I keep on trying; but the last shoulder incident came FROM the PT session, an exercise I was doing under supervision.

Peace. God bless us every one.

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I read that if one eats sardines for breakfast/lunch/dinner for 3 days straight it puts the body in a keto mode where it starts consuming its own fat stores.

I started making sourdough bread about 3 years ago. Wheat, water, salt. It's all we eat these days. It's the 'staff of life'! It's given me a "wheat belly", but not too big. A couple of lbs is all. I started a new regimen of not eating anything after 7pm. Been pretty good about sticking to that and my weight has dropped from 160 to around 157. Hoping to get to 155 which is where I've been for decades except after covid I hit 145. Lost muscle mass during that episode of life.

This July I'll be in Tampa at the National Veterans Golden Age Games competing with about 1200 veterans. My first was last year in Memphis (it's a real shit hole IMO) and my partner and I took gold in pickleball in the 65+ age group. I'll turn 74 end of June so I had to play down to his age group. So, this year it's in Tampa and we hope to do it again... take the gold!

As for exercise, it's mostly pickleball 3x a week and walking 2 miles with the wife every so often. More so since she's off work (school) for the Summer. Stretching also helps keep me fit.

Voodoo said:

Oh it certainly is connected. The ear drops with peroxide help me breath through the nose almost immediately. Takes a bit of time to get into the ear but as it does and i focus on trying to breath though my nose (one side almost always clogged) it starts bubbling more and clears up the sinus pretty quickly.

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Only problem I've had with peroxide in the ear is earwax swells up and clogs hearing.

The peroxide should help clear the wax as well.

Voodoo said:

The peroxide should help clear the wax as well.

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My experience is it foams up like "The Good Stuff" and blocks the canal. I have deep ear canals which hold water for days when I swim unless earplugs are used.

searcher said:

Taking a break?

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I wanted to do my workout yesterday, but real life said no. I had to take care of some things and it took the entire morning. I was also busy in the afternoon, so I didn't get the whole routine in. I managed to get an 8 count on the active dead hang in, but no abs routine and I only walked for 20 minutes (outside) instead of an hour on the treadmill.

I forgot to mention - Nurse weighed me when I visited the doc. I lost 8 pounds since the last time I saw the doc (about 3 weeks I think). I went from 180 to 172.

Pain report

Today I started with the modified Epley maneuvers on both right and left side. I honestly couldn't really tell if the maneuver was doing anything. Every step of the maneuver is supposed to be held for 30 seconds and I didn't notice anything wonky throughout.

Crucifix Crunch - Breezed through first set and abs didn't even notice until the last rep. Starting with set 2, I switched from breathing to match the exercise to exercising to match the breathing. I maintained a steady breathing pattern and continued the crunches completely and smoothly without stopping. Sets two and three were done as a single fluid motion (each - I rested between them). It felt good.

Core hold series (resting after every form)
Form 1 - I started with amazing form. Not only my shoulders but all of my upper back off the floor. 30 breath count, but it seemed like with every breath my upper back lowered. By the time I finished, I was back to just my shoulders off the ground. Still it felt good and wasn't the Herculean struggle that I experienced when I first started attempting this.
Form 2 - Not sure I got my shoulders off the ground, but I made it 30 breaths and managed to keep my lower back from arching. I'll count it as a win.
Form 3 - Shoulders definitely not off the ground, but I maintained a controlled scissor kick throughout and made it to 30 breaths. Every time I felt my lower back start to arch, I squeezed harder on the abs and got it back flat on the ground. It wasn't really a hard struggle today. Awesome.

I sat up after the core hold series and rested a good bit before attempting the side planks.

Side Planks - I got into right face position and cranked out 10 planks fairly easily. I probably could have done more, but didn't want to push it today. I had zero problems with balance or dizziness. Maybe the Epley maneuver helped? I went to left face and did 10 planks easily.

Active dead hang - I decided I wanted to push to 10 breaths today. I grab the bar, engage the back and start to hang and immediately my left hand starts screaming pain. I'm not sure what I did wrong with my grip, but I stop at 3 breaths, adjust my grip and start again and push it to 7 breaths. I felt dead and satisfied at the same time.

pmbug said:

I managed to get an 8 count on the active dead hang in,

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what, or where is the bar? Something you installed?

Goldhedge said:

what, or where is the bar? Something you installed?

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I have a couple of those bars that install on door frames that I've used for decades, but my father gave me a free standing chin/pull up and dip bar stand a little over a year ago or so when I first started having back issues. I'm using the free standing bar for the active dead hangs.

Door frame bar looks like this one:

Free standing bar looks like this one:

Free standing looks much safer... I've seen YT videos of people crashing with the door frame units...

Pain report

I started with the Epley maneuver for my inner ears again today. Again I couldn't tell if it was doing anything.

Crucifix Crunch - Today was a bit different from normal. I did all sets with the exercise to match a steady breath non-stop fluid motion. My abs started feeling fatigued mid way through the first set. Half way through set 2, my mind wanted to quit, but I didn't relent. I pushed through and finished set 3 as well. Abs were not happy. I took a good long rest before starting the core hold series.

Core hold series (resting after every form)
Form 1 - I again started with amazing form. Not only my shoulders but all of my upper back off the floor. 30 breath count again and I managed to keep the upper back off of the ground a bit longer than yesterday. I noticed my breathing change at about the 18 count though (breathing harder).
Form 2 - Shoulders definitely not off the ground, but I made it 30 breaths and managed to keep my lower back from arching again. Seemed a bit easier than yesterday
Form 3 - Shoulders definitely not off the ground. I hit the wall at 15 breaths and stopped. I couldn't even feel my abs working while doing this one which was very odd.

I sat up after the core hold series and rested a good bit before attempting the side planks.

Side Planks - I got into right face position and cranked out 10 planks with some wobbly form (not balance/dizziness - just poor form). I went to left face and did 10 planks easily (good form). I don't feel my obliques working when I'm doing the planks, but when I rest after I finish, the obliques announce themselves with some minor complaints, so it seems to be working.

Active dead hang - I at 6 breaths, my hands were screaming at me to quit. I defiantly decided to go until failure and pushed. Pushed for 1 more breath. lol. My hands/grip could not take any more. I do think these dead hangs are helping keep my spine aligned. I am noticing less popping in the back when I move/stretch my back during the day.