Homer's Travels: A Pause For The Pain

Monday, June 18, 2012

A Pause For The Pain

I have always had problems maintaining an exercise regime.  The best I have done is six months or so before I come up with some excuse to quit.  None of my excuses before have had any real truth to them.  Once I ended a major treadmill walking regime when I caught the flu.  Sure, I needed to stop walking on the treadmill when I caught the flu and was pretty much bedridden for a week but, once I was better the walking never restart (This was before I knew what hiking was).

I am seeing a trend that started a month or so ago.  Around mid-May I reduced the numbers of miles walked because it was "too hot" - I posted about this here.  After feeling aches, pains, and weakness in my left tricep since January-February I decided at the end of May to stop doing all push-ups until it got better.  I also stopped doing one of my ab exercises because it also exercises the tricep.  It's been three weeks and my tricep is slowly ... slowly ... getting better.  It feels better in the morning but begins aching and feeling weak by the late evening.

I haven't quit all my exercises.  I am still walking ... just shorter distance.  I'm still doing my physical therapy exercises three days a week and I'm still doing the other two ab exercises twice a week.  This, though, will end as well when we leave on our vacation this week.  I have considered doing some of the exercises, the ones that do not require any special equipment like weights, but I am not sure if I will.  Walking, except for the normal, non-exercising walking, will also stop.  The only hike I expect to do while on this vacation is the one up to the Tiger Temple in Bhutan - a trial less of distance than of lack of oxygen.

So will this mean the end of my exercise regime?  No, I will restart after I get back from vacation.  If my tricep is better I will restart the push-up program.  I will definitely restart the walking adjusting for the heat in August.  The PT and abs exercises will also restart.  I also want to add a Phase IV to the the mix, this being bicycling.

I will have to restart everything from the beginning to let my body readjust.  I don't want to rehurt my tricep or hurt any other body part either.  I thought I was doing the push-up program slow enough to not hurt me but, when I got to about 70 push-ups something definitely went wrong.  I will have to rethink a few things to take my aging body into account.

So this will be a temporary thing.  My vacation will not be an excuse to stop all together.  It will simply be ... a pause.

2 comments:

  1. eeeeek! Feel better soon! Hopefully your kickass vacation will help :)

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