Exercise and prevention
Exercise and prevention go hand in hand. Thinking about it today, especially, for a lot of reasons…
When Greg was a stuntman, wrecking cars, motorcycles, doing stair falls, ladder falls, etc., his secret weapon was lifting weights. He said that building muscle protects the bones and holds you together. SO true!…
I have neck and back issues from a snow skiing accident in 96. Then, in Sept. 2006, I fell down some stairs and landed so hard that my ears were ringing for about an hour, and I couldn’t see straight. It was bad! But I didn’t go to the doctor, because I didn’t know how bad I was. I “recovered” well enough to move on. I was able to go on, because I was in such great shape. I dealt with on-going pain, traveled all over the map, and continued to work out. (Probably not a good idea in hindsight). Eventually, I hurt my neck again in May of this year just doing my normal routine in the gym. But this time, it was so bad that I went to the doctor and got an MRI. And low and behold, I had a 9 mm herniated disk in my neck, which partially paralyzed my left arm. Since I had been experiencing pain in that arm and shoulder from my fall in 06, the doctor said I probably herniated that disk in that 06 fall. My doctor and therapist attribute my resilience and recovery to my commitment to being strong and staying strong.
Yesterday, Sami and I were out at the pool. Our two big Dobermans ran into her from behind, and knocked her feet out from under her. I can still see it in slow motion… She flipped into the air, and her back and head hit the pavement with a loud “whack”!!! As I rushed over to her, I feared she could be dead, paralyzed, or at least unconscious. But she spoke to me and said she just wanted to lay there for a few minutes. When I helped her up, she said her neck and head hurt, but that she was fine. Sami works out. She does palates 4 days a week, and tons of core work on top of it. She’s in her late 50’s. She’s resilient, energetic, and… (Drum roll please)… she still looks hot!
Since May, I got out of shape while I was going through all this physical therapy and pain from my disk. I kept working out, but very light weights, and cardio, because that’s all I could do. It was dis-heartening, because I was gaining weight, and hated slipping backwards. But I resolved to be patient and follow doctor’s orders. Slowly but surely, I’ve gotten stronger. Now, I’ve been back to my normal weekly routine for about 3 weeks: Pilates 2 days, free weights 2 days, 35 min. cardio 4 days. And I’m feeling great again! I know that 3 weeks is the magical number. It’s really hard when you’re out of shape to work out consistently for 3 weeks. But once you get over that hump, you begin to look forward to how good it makes you feel.
On top of protecting from injury and promoting fast recovery, exercise helps the immune system. And that’s great news as we approach flu season.
If you’re going to start back to a workout routine, be sure to eat healthy and feed your body what it needs to be strong. And take supplements as needed for recovery from the workouts. And it’s a good idea to get a physical from your doctor before starting to work out again. Especially if you’re really out of shape or it’s been awhile.
In finality, if you’ve been putting off getting back into a workout routine, I hope my story today will encourage you to just suck it up for 3 weeks. Yes, it will be hard! But… you’ll start feeling a reward by the 4th week. I promise! Contact me on Facebook in 3 weeks, and let me know how you’re feeling. And tell me I was right!
